he's come out

It came first as a deafening ring, before forming a sound like that of a grown man in the pits of agony. With this, the room ascent into a chaos that involved running mages and flying crates raining splinters of wood. The curses that followed would have sent Sufian into an uproarious glee.

I forgot the command I was to give and made way towards the retreating crowd, all the while feeling my patience wearing thin by the second. The crates should’ve been neutralized by now. What’s taking them so long? I looked at the liturgy dealing with the bigger crates and glared at the mages from my castle. How embarrassing. They flinched and raced to help quell the whining coming from far south of the room.

I made way to the secluded room to bring in the raucous djinn that threatened to break free of its binding. It was still in its budding stages of becoming a full-fledged shapeshifter, so it’d be too early of a statement to tell what form it will take on when it's at its peak. 

“Prince!”

Shareef ran towards me, eyes wide in disbelief.

I ignored him and waved Khorasa and Faruq over.

“Prince,” he said again, now out of breath.

“Shareef. I’m going to neutralize those crates myself. As for you,” I stared him down, “take the injured and show them to the infirmary.”

His response fell flat on my ears as I turned and grabbed the heating crates, flinging them towards the open doors Faruq and Khorasa held. They slowed the impact of it by hitting the floor by mumbling a few spells. I passed three identical crates and the one that was howling in need.

That one. I needed to deal with that one first.

Like it was my child, I single-handedly carried the crate out of the hall. The relief that passed assured the rest to continue with no struggle now.

A mage looked up at me, and I took in the flaking blood that coated his forehead. I nodded at Shareef and he helped guide him towards a nurse who was now tending to the bleeding mess of mages. The black markings on their skin told me that an injury wasn’t all that they suffered.

Injured and marked, I recall.

The djinn clutched whatever it can find to imprint itself on them. Luckily, it didn’t happen, or else the aftermath would’ve led to a bloody massacre.

Of everyone in this room. The thought should have disgusted me, but my indifference paid no heed.

I walk into the interrogation room and dump the contents of the box on the metal table, encompassing the width of the room.

The investigation room was dark, save for the brilliance of the overhead lamp. Books lined the shelves, and potion bottles to spellbooks covered a far table. After shoving those aside, I took my usual place and waited for them to prepare themselves in front of me.

Khorasa and Faruq pulled on identical masks, as the stench of whatever had piled out roamed freely, like a yawning lion.

The smell of the room was familiar. It was something I grew accustomed to smelling from my days working as a mage. But right now, the usual smell of the lab became influenced by another putrid smell that I still can’t get used to. The putrescine smell that I always linked to rotting flesh, and subtle indices of other chemicals, I note.

I pulled on a mask of my own.

“Demisten.”

The glittery sheen of an air bubble formed around me, purified air free of the rotten stench now surrounded me like a cool spray of water. I could control the flow of what stenches I could smell through mental commands at the air bubble. Spells like these usually only require a spoken and then the control of the mind. Of course, not everyone can do this.

That’s why Faruq may need to step out occasionally. I left the door unlocked… just in case.

His careful demeanour and the avoidance of what’s on the table told me enough about how he felt about all this. Khorasa, on the other hand, sparkled with greed.

Her eyes found her prey, and now she was ready to decode whatever had spurred everyone into a rage back in the interrogation hall. I shook my head at her blatant amusement.

“Khorasa silence the thing,” I said, gesturing at the now tired piece of djinn, and pulled on my gloves.

“Let’s begin.”

……

“Your highness, are you telling me that the crate was full of… human flesh?”

Khorasa’s question broke the silence of the room. I nodded, prodding at what I suspected was a dismembered hand of a man.

“The bone structure mirrors a human’s, so assuming the worst,” I looked at her, “it’s most likely human remains.”

“Assuming... the worst?” Faruq voices what Khorasa wanted to ask.

“Well, if we don’t assume the worst now, something worse will take effect the next time. Let's assume the worst to plan two steps ahead, alright?” I brushed my hands off a marking that began latching to my skin. 

Faruq and Khorasa didn’t quite agree with my statement, but I gratified their skepticism. Their curiosity. It was enough to let me know that they wanted to do this. 

I pulled rotten flesh free of the bones it held onto, despite being in its decomposition stage. Owlish eyes followed my procedure, and I sighed. There was a lot left for them to learn.

They should be thankful they had the best teacher in the Empire. My mother’s cane briefly flashed through my head, accompanied by the dreary sounds of flesh against hardwood. I blinked to clear the image.

I held the rotting flesh in my hand and realized I made a mess on the table.

You’re not like that, Calaf. My doubt told me otherwise.

“See how the flesh sticks to the bone.” I gestured at the flesh before turning away to recollect myself. I wiped the table before tossing the bloodied towel into the sink.

They peered at the rotting mass, then flinched. Then came closer and flinched once more. I came up close to their sides and grabbed the rotten flesh, slapping it in front of them.

Both of them shrieked at the same time and clasped their hands around each other.

I glared at them. “Focus.”

They nodded in unison. Skies, why am I doing this to them? More importantly, to myself?

“Okay, we can do this,” Khorasa says, fists clenched.

Her brother stiffens beside her but doesn't add on.

“Alright.”

I release a wavering sigh, before ripping off the sheets attached to the box. Flyers, I note.

“Recognize this?” I ask.

“… Ababeels’ Meat Shop?” Faruq takes the paper and looks at it closely. Khorasa’s eyes circle with shock.

“We literally bought meat from him the other day.”

“We bought it from him?” Faruq looks at her, unable to register what he heard. “Khora, stop playing with me-”

It takes Khorasa a second to catch on before the light goes out of her eyes.

“N-no, it’s not that.”

She looks at the meat and clasps her mouth, unable to handle the burden of it being human meat.

“Human flesh tastes similar to the flesh of swine.”

“Swine?”

I grabbed the rotting flesh in front of them. Faruq glanced at Khorasa and a flash of relief crossed his eyes. They can decide what to do with that information. There were more pressing matters that I have to attend to and they don’t include the possibility of cannibalism-

Cannibalism, Calaf. I looked at the two in front of me. It was taboo to even talk about it in this empire, and now we have men who are distributing it? I need to look into this. But that’s something I’ll assign my mages. These two should concern themselves with something that won’t result in their guts being puked out every five seconds.

“Listen-” I drew their attention to the crates, “-the shipments we’re receiving are seeing dislodgments at these specific sites. While the shipments are being tracked by the Second Division knights, I’m entrusting you two to encode the hieroglyphic messages that are coming with each package.”

“Hieroglyphic messages?” Faruq asked.

“Yes. Their need for anonymity has risen now that I’m getting involved in the case.”

I pointed towards Ababeel’s flyer.

“That is our first destination. Am I clear?”

“Yes, your highness.” They said in tangence.

I nodded and picked up the writhing djinn I told Khorasa to silence earlier.

“I expect a report in two days by nightfall. By then, get ready to deal with using countermagic, and mind mapping skills.”

I pointed at Khorasa. “Especially you. Polish up your techniques.”

Her face reddened, and she hung her head. Faruq consolingly nudged her with an elbow, and I turned to him.

“And you. Practice purifying your air bubble. We can’t have you going out to barf every two minutes.”

Now it was his turn to hang his head.

“You both can leave now. Once you’re done decoding the sets of sheets in the remaining crates, come to me so I can assign you your remaining tasks.”

“Yes, Your Highness. May the light bless you.” With that, they left.

And now there were two things left in the room.

I shut the door and turned to the smiling djinn, who rested on the table. It collected whatever limbs it could find, and now attached them to his body in a sickly manner. The sounds like that of a man trying to crack his dislocated bones into place. The thump of rotten flesh hitting the table now stopped as it hung on the bones from its tendons.

“What a sickening image.”

That should’ve been what I said. But I didn’t have time.

The djinn had already claimed me by my threat the moment I raised my hands.

“… my s-sister,” he hissed, “I feel her s-soul.”

My breath chilled, and I felt prickles behind my eyes. I was going to pass out. And this thing was going to possess me.

Fucking hell.