Harley Merlin 12 by Bella Forrest (reading books for 4 year olds TXT) 📕

track. Actually, I guess we got on track, but still, I’d like to know more,” Santana said. A distraction tactic if ever I’d seen one. I breathed an internal sigh of relief. If we had something else to focus on, the trek might not feel so dire.

He glanced back, smiling. “I’d be delighted. In my heyday, I was a Marid: a giant being of immense power. Though, if you’d seen me then, your heads wouldn’t even reach my knees and I could have squished you underfoot. Now, my power has been diminished, and I am not nearly as large as I was. A shame, for I was truly magnificent.”

“You were bigger than this?” Santana gaped.

“Oh yes, though, like the regal elephant, it made us a target for hunters, to be forced into servitude as a genie. Then again, that may have something to do with our propensity for wish-granting, rather than our mighty size.” He waved a dramatic hand. “The greed of mortals.”

“You grant wishes?” An idea formed in my head.

“Yes, but don’t think about wishing to be delivered to the Storyteller. That is beyond my capabilities, now that my power has been reduced by decades in that lamp.” He flashed me a knowing look.

Santana paused for breath. “Don’t you want to break free? Ultimate cosmic power, itty-bitty living space and all that?”

“Once upon a time, I would’ve given anything to free myself. In Nayla’s care, I don’t mind so much,” he replied. “Besides, if this coven hadn’t trapped me in a lamp, it would’ve been another. We were constantly on the wrong side of things, sought by magicals and creatures working on behalf of Children of Chaos. One Child’s minions, in particular.”

“What do you mean?” I prompted. Despite sharing a body with a djinn, it occurred to me how little I knew about them. I guessed that was partially due to Kadar’s comparative youth, meaning he lacked access to djinn history, but it felt wrong that I didn’t know more.

Abdhi’s smoke rolled across him in excitable waves. “We try to anticipate creatures called Sylphs. They intervene in the fates of mortals more than most, so Erebus tasks us with getting ahead of them, to make other deals to mortals’ benefit—and to Erebus’s—but we always get shooed away by the Sylphs’ fiery missiles. If you ever see a shooting star, that is a Marid getting a stern telling off at the business end of their artillery.”

Santana tilted her head in curiosity. “Sylphs?”

“You’ve never heard of them?” he replied, as if she were a moron.

“I thought they were floaty Air fairies,” Santana responded in kind.

“A common misconception. There are many varieties of Sylph, similar to magicals and djinn. Certain types are mistaken for angels. But they are all creatures of the Light, as we are creatures of Darkness. The result of a Child of Chaos meddling in matters they shouldn’t.”

“You mean Lux?” I chimed in.

“Yes, that old wench.” He smirked coldly. I sensed a divide between the beings of Light and Dark. “We get tarred with the brush of evil because of our maker, and they flutter about in the fairy-like glow of Light, and everyone thinks the sun shines out of their backsides. Not entirely true, in case you're wondering. They have a nefarious streak in them, just like their maker.”

I hadn’t realized the Children of Chaos had creatures of their own making. I’d obviously known the djinn were bound to Erebus, but the fact that they were actually made by him was news to me. Lux had these Sylphs; Erebus had djinn. Plus, Gaia had the four Elements at her beck and call. I had to wonder what the other Children happened to create during their lengthy spell as watchers of Earth. And what Abdhi meant about Lux’s nefarious streak.

“What kind of djinn is Kadar?” I asked, curious. Remembering Finch’s book, I paused to take it out of my backpack and flipped to the section on djinn varieties.

“He is likely a Qareen,” Abdhi replied, after a moment of thought, “the most common type of djinn. They are companions to mortals, like shadows who follow you through life. Many people are in possession of a Qareen and don’t know it. In your case, yours is actually entwined with you, thanks to your family curse, so you had no choice but to know of him.”

Santana pressed on up the dune. “Do I have a Qareen?”

“Not that I sense. Don’t be disheartened—not everyone has one, and those with immense power of their own are often avoided by the Qareen. You should take it as a compliment to your prowess as a Santeria.” His flaming eyes sparked with humor. “Very few magicals have them, for that reason. They are more inclined to follow Mediocres and the magicless.”

“This is fascinating,” Santana declared, looking happier. “What other types are there?” I kept pace with her as Abdhi talked, his voice acting like an energy drink that kept me trudging forward.

“There are Ifrits,” I said, following Abdhi’s words and finding the corresponding ones in the book.

Abdhi nodded. “Oh yes. If you ever come across one, I’d urge you to run in the opposite direction, though they’ll likely catch you anyway.” He chuckled to himself—a djinn inside joke we didn’t get.

“Why, because they’re winged?” I scanned through the brief notes about the Ifrits.

“Exactly so, and they move very fast because of it.” Abdhi pointed to the dunes in the distance. “In fact, a few linger in this very desert, though you’re safe from them while you are with me.”

I frowned. “Are you sure about that?”

“I have existed for centuries. Even with my limitations, they have the sense to fear me.” His flaming eyes burned brighter, emphasizing his point. “Ifrits are civilized, for the most part, frequenting ruins and living in tribal societies with kings and titles and that sort of thing. But they shapeshift at will and cause sudden sandstorms. Tricksy as individuals, but fairly inert when they are in their civilized groups—they don’t want to enrage