Sevis rushed into the Meeting Hall just as Aegin was wakening the last of the Elders. His father looked up at him, “Sevis? What’s going on?”

“The Djinn, the Djinn is here,” said Sevis as he rushed forward, “Aegin said he’s dream walking”.

The Chieftain frowned before turning to Aegin, “Did you discover where it is?”

Aegin pulled back closing the wound on the last Elder before he stepped away, “I was too weak when I woke up, I wasn’t confident enough that I could hunt it without committing a slaughter on the way”.

“Then you don’t know what it knows? Who it was with?” asked the Chieftain.

“Anyone you remember in your dreams with bright blue eyes?” asked Sevis.

Tigin flinched, “Mine, he was in my dream”.

Everyone turned towards him.

“He took the form of a dog, so it doesn’t have to be a person,” said Tigin, “I…I don’t think there was anything I revealed”.

“We’ll need to know for sure, what was happening in your dream?” asked the Chieftain.

Tigin’s eyes widened. Aegin and Sevis both saw the anxiousness in his gaze. Sevis quickly spoke up.

“Did you mention anything to do with this Tribe? Or the Refugees?”

Tigin shook his head, turned to Sevis gratefully, “No, not at all”.

Sevis nodded, “He may have been in mine two, I remember a servant with those eyes”.

The room instantly turned to him.

“I dreamt of my brothers sparring, and asking mother about my role,” said Sevis, “I may have unintentionally revealed the line of succession for the Tribe, but surely Black Sands knew that already”.

The Chieftain frowned, “Find Kay and Logos, just to be safe”.

Aegin nodded, “I’ll go and wake them”.

“Aegin,” the Chieftain called out.

Aegin turned back to the Chieftain expectantly.

“I assume he was in your dreams as well?”

Aegin paused, his gaze revealing his answer just before he turned away, “I did not reveal anything of consequence”.

Then he left, exiting the Meeting Hall in search of the Chieftain’s other two sons. He rounded a corner, only to pause in the street as he saw a lone figure exiting Rima’s Bein. Rima carried on his shoulder.

Aegin’s eyes widened, “Rima!”

The boy turned to face him, eerie blue eyes dancing with surprise, then amusement.

Aegin scooped up a rope near the Bein beside him and spun it launching it towards the Djinn.

The Djinn clicked his tongue in dissatisfaction.

“You’re such a weakling, Vampire”.

The rope froze in mid-air, then dropped to the ground uselessly. Aegin’s body blurred as he moved forward, but rather than cut through the air, a wall of dust, sand and dirt rose between himself and the Djinn, carried by the wind.

Aegin bounced back from it, catching his feet.

“Release her!” called Aegin, withdrawing daggers from the inside of his coat.

The wall dropped, “I don’t think you quite get the situation you’re in, Vampire”.

The Djinn stepped forward, the wind around them began to whistle as it rushed to form a circle, a funnel that carried the sand and dirt with it. As it began to whip at Aegin’s own clothes, he registered the wind picking up cloth, the rope he’d thrown, bits of wood and tools, sacks and grain. Aegin stumbled and raised an arm to cover his eyes as the sand stabbed at him like millions of tiny blades. He shifted in towards the Djinn, anything to get away from the high winds.

“Urgh!” Aegin struggled, then he heard an almighty crack, and looked in time to see a part of one of the Beins ripping away from the rest of the building. His eyes widened, “Stop! You’ll destroy the village”.

“So?” the Djinn sighed, “They’re human. They’re tenacious pests. They’ll rebuild and procreate and in a couple of years it’ll be like nothing happened here. How do you not get that? You’re on a path of Chaos”.

The wind whipped up, lifting Aegin’s feet off the ground. The Djinn handled it easily, he began to walk on air, the whirling tornado of winds moving with him out of the village as Aegin turned his body to claw against the ground for a purchase. But soon enough, the wind became even more powerful the closer he came to it, and he roared as the sand began to shear the skin from his hands, then arms, then face.

The pain was unlike anything he had ever experienced before, he imagined that it was even worse than being skinned with a blade. At least a blade was precise.

He lost his grip, and with it he began whipping around in the tornado. He could faintly hear the Djinn chuckling as he lost himself in the pain of his body being torn to pieces. Of his Life Lines being shredded just as easily. That was what really hurt. It was it’s own kind of torture, feeling your soul be ripped to shreds by a sand-filled wind that cut like a blade through butter.

How was he supposed to fight this with blades? His blades were useless when they could not meet with anything solid.

Suddenly, the wind died, and Aegin fell, hitting the ground hard among all the other rubble that had been shredded just like he had.

As he struggled to look up, he could feel the tingling of his skin as it knitted itself back together. The burning of his Life Lines on his shoulders and back made him curl up, barely biting back a whimper of pain.

“Ah,” said the Djinn, much closer than Aegin expected. But he couldn’t move, not now. The healing was taking up too much of what little energy he’d managed to accumulate through waking the members of the Tribe, “I see. No wonder you are so weak…you are brand new”.

Aegin coughed, wheezing as he spoke, struggling to get his hands and feet under him, “You’re…you’re one to talk…you’re just using…your power…where is your pride as a…man?” asked Aegin.

The Djinn watched him rise with an amused smirk, “Still clinging to humanity, I see. It’s quite amusing to watch. I’ve never met a Fledgling Vampire before. The Vampires always kept them so well protected…which leads me to question why you’re alone…did your Sire abandon you?”

Aegin turned to look at the Djinn, standing on his feet weakly as he tried to stand straight.

The Djinn, still holding Rima on his shoulder, covered his mouth in mock surprise, “No, that’s not right. You abandoned your Sire…how childish”.

The Djinn’s expression turned to a grin, his eyes still mocking as he laughed, “He turns you to save your life, and you throw all your rage and regrets on him to blame him. Truly, truly childish”.

Aegin clenched his jaw, “You have no right to judge me, you who have just cause such destruction”.

The Djinn’s laughed slowly died down as he met Aegin’s angered gaze, “Such anger…no wonder your Life Lines read as incomplete. Your story ready to start, but your anger and humanity holding you back. It will always hold you back. It will always make you weak”.

The Djinn cocked his head to the side, staring blankly at Aegin, “I use my powers because they are a part of me. There is no shame in that. I, Yashi, have won against you in every way, Aegin Bloodthorn…no, just Aegin. You bare no resplendent last name in your state. Not when your life is nothing to be proud of. Not when you’re nothing but a lost little boy, running from his past. I’m sure your Sire regrets creating the disappointment you’ve become. Just like the girl will regret ever trusting you when she wakes up”.

Then the Djinn, Yashi, turned and walked away.

Aegin, weak from merely holding himself up, collapsed on his knees, then to the ground among the rubble. Weak…he was so weak and utterly useless.