Harley Merlin 12 by Bella Forrest (story books to read TXT) 📗

a dire situation and making it into something incredible. Her fast thinking had brought this into being. The greatest thing to ever happen to the djinn in all their history. I hoped it would stay that way, for their sake.

The djinn murmured excitedly as Safiya slowly stood. She had barely risen when she collapsed to the ground. Their excitement hushed, and their eyes all turned toward the Storyteller, who lay limp and motionless. I gasped and Santana froze at my side, the two of us staring at the Storyteller in confusion. Abdhi swept forward and quickly scooped her up in his muscular arms.

“Safiya? Safiya, is it the sickness?” he asked, scanning her for injury.

Her face turned toward his, wearing an expression of contentment. “No… it is not the sickness.”

“Then what’s the matter?” Abdhi pressed.

“I… gave my life so you all might… be free.”

I rushed to her side, with Santana close behind. “What did you do?”

“Changes of this magnitude… require payment… and I was… the only one with the… strength to offer the sum,” she wheezed, coughing violently. Black smoke rippled from her mouth. “I have lived… long enough. It was time… I gave back to my kind. And what finer… way to end one’s life… than with a gift… to those I have watched… all these years?”

She gave herself… for us? Kadar sounded crushed. An unsettling feeling for me; Kadar didn’t venture into that realm of emotion very often. It filtered through to my own emotions, making my chest clench in a vise of panic for the ancient djinn.

Realization may have dawned for Kadar and me, but Santana was the one who spoke. “Did you know this would happen all along? Did you plan to sacrifice yourself for this?”

Safiya smiled at Santana. “From the moment… I realized Erebus was not here… sweet girl. That was… when the thought transformed into… reality, and I knew I would… have to give myself in return… for this liberation. I could… not ask another to do this… in my place.”

You did this without a single pause. My heart lurched in admiration and sadness. You knew this would happen, you knew you’d have to die, and you kept right on without fear. She hadn’t faltered once. She’d stuck her hand right into that altar and drawn out the Nexus, and she’d used herself to bring them out of enslavement. No hesitations. I felt Kadar’s increasing respect for this woman rushing through our shared veins, and when I turned to look at Santana, I saw that same emotion written across her face. The highest of regard. How could any djinn or human look at the Storyteller and not feel that? A human could go through their entire life and never witness a genuine martyr. And I felt honored to have witnessed this. Honored and heartbroken.

“But we can’t do this without you,” Abdhi murmured, staring helplessly into her eyes. “We don’t know how to be free without you to lead us. How do we use your gift?”

“I have thought… of that, too.” Safiya lifted her shaky hands and touched the sides of Abdhi’s head. Scarlet light shot from her palms and into Abdhi’s skull. His eyes lit with such ferocity that I had to look away.

What is she doing? I whispered to Kadar.

Handing over everything inside her head. Passing on her knowledge, he replied.

Sensing the dying of the light, I looked back to find Abdhi standing at his full Marid height, holding Safiya in his enormous arms. She looked so small and vulnerable, her life clearly waning. Whatever she’d done had freed Abdhi from his lamp ahead of time. If she really had succeeded, I guessed those trapped in lamps and the like would return to their original states in due course, but she’d expedited it for Abdhi. The Storyteller’s strength and fortitude was beyond anything I’d ever seen, but that didn’t alter the pain of knowing she wouldn’t live to see what she’d purchased with her life. It was like the old adage of planting an oak tree, knowing you’d never get to stand in its shade, but planting it anyway for the generations that would come after.

“I feel your memories.” Abdhi’s voice strained. “Your thoughts, your past, your hopes… are all in my head.”

Safiya chuckled softly. “My last gift… to you. You must lead them now. Make this world your own, and make it… the perfect sanctuary for… djinn. We will never bow or obey again, unless… we choose to.”

All of this had happened so quickly that my brain could barely keep up. Kadar remained inside me, but then, I’d known that would happen. Even so, some of my weariness had begun to fade.

Can you feel the change? I asked Kadar.

I… think so. The pain is lightening, like sweating out the last of a fever, he replied.

The other djinn seemed to feel the same. Across the vast gathering, I heard mutterings of, “I can breathe easier,” and, “The agony is not as strong,” and various iterations of the same sentiment.

“You should have warned me,” Abdhi murmured, sinking to his knees so all could see his precious cargo. “You should have told us of your intended sacrifice. Others would have given themselves in your place.”

Safiya moved her hand down to his cheek. “Precisely. Someone would… have tried to be heroic and do what I… had to. Someone younger… with so much more… life to give than I do. The truth is, Abdhi… I have told stories all my life, and… it was time I became… the heroine of mine.”

“You really did this for them?” I looked around at the stunned faces of the crowd. I knew my question was a little redundant, but I wanted to hear her reply. I wanted to understand why she’d done this, without a thought for her own existence. I had to.

Safiya nodded weakly. “We were born to be slaves… but… we deserve more. All I ask, in return for… my sacrifice, is that… you use this gift well. Be free,