Magnus

“What is a carnival?”

Reluctantly, I released her hand and knelt. “It’s a human thing. A place of games and rides, food, animals, and all kinds of assorted things.”

As I mentioned each thing, I weaved a foot-high replica of a carnival over the path. Colorful tents sprang to life, and roller coasters and carousels rose from the ground. The miniature humans strolling the midway pointed to the games and rides. Barkers leaned out to wave at them as they encouraged the humans to spend their money.

When Amalia knelt before me to examine my creation more closely, the colors of the carnival flickered over her face and illuminated her awe-filled, coral eyes. She laughed when the roller-coaster wheels clattered over the wooden tracks and screams echoed from the humans when the cars plummeted down a steep hill.

With two fingers, she tried to touch the top of the carousel as it rotated into life and the proud horses started to rise and fall in rhythm with the music playing. Unlike the malevolent carousal and carnival I’d created in my corner of Hell, this fair held only the delights of the human world. Amalia had witnessed enough ugliness in the Abyss; I would make sure she didn’t see any more of it than she had to.

A bell rang as someone slammed a hammer down on the strongman game and a giant teddy bear was handed over to a woman who hugged it. More tents and buildings rose from the ground. Animals stood idly by as people strolled through the barns to admire them.

Amalia clapped her hands when the racetrack materialized and the harness horses and their drivers raced around it. The horse’s hooves pounded across the dirt as the crowd cheered them on from the grandstand.

“Amazing,” she murmured.

“Humans are creative creatures,” I said.

“Yes, they are. How did you know these places existed on Earth?”

She never took her eyes off the carnival as I weaved new rides and games into place.

“Once I retreated from the war, I started reading through the scrolls, but they weren’t exactly entertaining, so I spent a lot of time watching Earth too.”

“How did you do that?”

“I would journey to the oracle.” When she gave me a confused look, I realized she didn’t know what that was either. “The oracle is a lake of fire in the bowels of Hell, and the focus of all the heat in Hell, but Earth could be looked on from it.”

“Oh,” she murmured and focused on my illusion again. “And you saw this through there?”

“This and many other things both gruesome and astonishing. Humans are a fascinating, loving, infuriating, self-destructive, angry, and selfish species. Some are as cruel as demons, but as horrendous as some of them can be, far more of them are good and loving. I was fascinated with Earth, humans, and the magnificent things they created before I ever left Hell.”

Behind the carnival, I weaved the pyramids, Taj Mahal, Great Wall of China, and Sistine Chapel into creation. “And Earth itself is remarkable.” Niagara Falls, the Grand Canyon, and Mount Everest came to life. Above it all, the Northern Lights shimmered over my creations. “Everything about the human world interested me, and I found myself watching it more often with every passing year.”

Her striking eyes took on a more ochre hue again when she lifted her head to look at me. “Is it all gone?” she whispered. “Did all of it get destroyed when the gateway opened?”

“No.” Gradually, the illusions faded away. “Some of it still exists. One thing I’ve learned about humans over the centuries is they often come back stronger after they face destruction. And much of the natural beauty of this planet remains.”

“Since coming to Earth, I’ve tried to learn as much as I can about it. I find this planet fascinating with all of its creatures, plants, and people, but I haven’t met many humans who can answer the questions I have about it.”

“I know plenty of humans who will be more than willing to answer your questions.”

Hating the sadness in her eyes, I lifted my palm again. Within it, I brought to life a bouquet of lilies that matched her hair and eyes. “I’ll answer what questions I can for you and reveal to you anything you ask to see,” I vowed.

Offering this wasn’t exactly the best way to keep my distance, but if she were my Chosen, I wouldn’t be unkind to her; she deserved far better than that, and she would have it.

“Do you miss Hell?” she asked.

“Not at all. Do you?”

“No. I’ve fallen in love with Earth, especially the butterflies.”

Lifting my hand over the flowers, I constructed an orange monarch to perch on top of them. The butterfly’s wings flapped, and Amalia laughed.

“It’s wonderful, and the flowers are beautiful,” she whispered.

“Take them,” I encouraged.

She frowned at me before gripping the stems. Her mouth parted as she lifted the bouquet and held it before her. Leaning over the flowers, she inhaled deeply and sighed. Then, she skimmed one finger over the butterfly’s wings and gasped.

“It’s… it’s real!” she cried.

“It’s more real than any of the others,” I said. “I hated removing myself from the war, despised they considered me a coward, but I became far stronger in the three hundred years I remained in self-imposed exile. I can make illusions a reality now, something no other illusionary demon could ever do. It takes some time to construct elaborate illusions, but I can weave small ones into existence far faster. Before me, my father was the strongest illusionary demon to exist, but I have grown stronger than he was, in many ways.”

“Three hundred years? Why so long?”

“That’s how much time it took for me to strengthen. Then, one day, Kobal’s queen stumbled into my corner of Hell, and I knew it was time for me to return to the war.”

“In what ways aren’t you stronger than your father?”

I wiped my palms on my thighs and stood. Extending my hand to her, I waited for her to take it and rise, before speaking. “I’m not very good with cloaking illusions. I can do them, but they’re draining for me. My father was a master at them.”

She glanced at the flowers in her hand and smiled. “I’d rather have something real than nothing at all.”

I couldn’t stop myself from bending to brush a kiss against her temple. When the increased beat of her heart thudded in my ears, I remained leaning forward for longer than I’d intended before reluctantly pulling away.

“Can you make a duplicate image of yourself?” she asked.

“I can.”

Her eyes widened. “Can you make it as real as these flowers?’

“It would take some work, and the duplicate couldn’t talk or reveal emotions, but it would be solid until it was destroyed.”

“Amazing,” she breathed as she gazed at me from under the lowered fringe of her thick, multi-hued lashes.

“And what of you, Freckles, why do you like the human world so much, aside from the butterflies?”

“It’s far better than the four walls of a seal,” she said with a laugh as we started walking again. “And what I’ve seen of it is interesting. The jinn haven’t traveled far since being freed, so I haven’t seen as much of it as I would like to. For a time, we lived underground, but after some of the jinn met with Astaroth, we moved.”

I stiffened at the mention of the fallen angel who had risen to take Lucifer’s place. “Why did you move?”

She lowered her bouquet. “I don’t know. I’m not exactly kept in the loop. The other Faulted had already split off when the meeting occurred, so I’m not even sure they know about it. I didn’t expect the jinn to align with anyone as their loyalty lies with each other, but a lot of them are pissed about being locked away. After eighteen thousand years behind the seal, the jinn were accustomed to their surroundings, they had no other choice, but now that they’re free, they want revenge.”

“And are you pissed about it?”

“It wasn’t the greatest life to have, but it was all I knew. I couldn’t be pissed about missing out on something I’d never experienced before like the other jinn were. Sometimes, I’d dream about what it would be like to be free, but I knew it was a waste of time, and that it would destroy me if I did it too often.”

Stepping in front of her, I blocked her from continuing and gripped her shoulders. “You shouldn’t have endured that.”

“You didn’t put me there, Magnus, and you didn’t keep me there.”

“No, but if Kobal had known there were jinn such as you who existed, he wouldn’t have kept you there either.”

“You’re so sure of that?”

“He is tough, but he is not cruel. And he was not the varcolac who sealed the jinn away.”

“Wasn’t it cruel to lock so many away for so long to begin with? There were two hundred three seals.”

“Perhaps it was cruel, but if the occupants of those seals were all slaughtered outright, you wouldn’t be alive.”