But nothing of the ordinary jinn, I was pretty sure this was one of the gods of their kind. Pure fucking legend. And it was staring at me from across the forest. I’d seen an image of one once, in my history class. Vendir Vamissa, the teacher, had raved on and on about how this species had either escaped to another dimension or were somehow wiped out from their own warring.

Jinn had not been seen for a thousand years. Hence why I had been so shocked to hear Quale say they were in the desert – and a jinn elemental … I did not have a clue how long since they’d last been seen. The lore said one could tell an elemental by the intricate black markings which began in the center of its forehead and spanned outwards to stop at the top of the cheekbones. This one had very pronounced markings.

It stood in shades of red, its skin like a burnt sunset, its features elongated and jutting, with black glittery eyes. The jinn were from the land of fey, or so the legends said, but sort of from their underworld part. Not evil, per se, but definitely had a streak of “don’t mess with me or I’ll stomp your ass.”

I could only wait and see which side of the line this one was on. If it was here to eliminate me, I had no doubts it could. The Four might not have found a weapon to kill dragon marked yet, but I just knew there were plenty of other creatures who could bring about my demise.

No worries.

Despite my instinct being to attack first, I didn’t challenge the jinn elemental. I had the very faintest of hope that it was just curious of me and not looking for blood.

Those hopes were soon dashed.

“You shouldn’t have come here,” it said, its words like whispers on the wind, weight to each and every syllable. “You are north, and north is the most important direction for the king.”

Well, shit, it was getting harder to pretend I wasn’t one of the four points to open the damn tomb. And apparently north at that. No movement from the jinn, but my survival instincts quickly rose to epic levels. Something big was about to happen.

And I was probably not going to like whatever it was.

I finally found my voice. “Are you going to kill me?” There that wasn’t so rude, I even managed not to call it an asshole.

Black eyes glittered as they scanned my face. The force of its whispered words slapped me in the face. “I did plan on it, but … there is something about you. I’m curious to see this play out now.”