“Rima? Are you okay?”

Wha…when had Tigin gotten so close to her? She hadn’t even seen him turn around. Rima frowned, confused, then felt the hum of the pendant in her hand. Her eyes were immediately drawn to it.

Tigin grabbed her chin, “Rima, answer me”.

Rima felt the haze around her mind begin to fall away, and fear immediately crept in to replace it. Yashi. Yashi had tried and nearly succeeded in tempting her to wish. Rima dropped the vessel like it had burned her, and the haze vanished. She gasped looking at Tigin as he turned to look at the vessel as it dropped to the ground.

“Why did you-”

“Don’t touch it!” Rima snapped, stopping Tigin from bending down to pick it up. Tigin looked at her in surprise at her tone, clearly confused as to why she was shouting at him.

“Okay…why?”

“The draw…it’s so powerful, if you hadn’t brought me out of it…” Rima hesitated, “I would have wished for something”.

Tigin’s eyes widened as he looked down at the pendant, “You mean the Djinn is in it?”

“I don’t-”

“Ha! You are not worthy to control the power of the Djinn!” Gryffyn called out, “Only I deserve that honour! Only I can wield the power!”

Rima sighed, turning to look at Sevis, “You haven’t managed to take care of him yet?”

Sevis rolled his eyes, “Nice to see you’re well too, Rima. Not like I wasn’t worried about your state of mind or anything. Oh no, treated like a damn princess you were-”

With a roar, Gryffyn launched up and knocked the distracted Sevis out of the way. He charged towards where Tigin and Rima were, and Tigin raised his blade as he stepped in front of Rima.

“Don’t let him get the Vessel!” shouted Sevis.

Rima gasped and looked down at the floor where the Vessel gleamed.

“I don’t think-whoa!”

Tigin, who had been preparing to meet a charging Gryffyn, was not expecting the desperate dive that the Chieftain performed. Tigin rapidly side-stepped so that Gryffyn didn’t knock his legs out from under him.

Rima drew back her leg to kick the Vessel away from Gryffyn’s outstretched hand. Tigin grabbed her collar and yanked her out of his way.

“No, Tigin!”

Her kick missed, and Gryffyn’s fist enclosed around the Vessel.

A burst of powerful wind spiralled up from the Vessel and filled the room, knocking Sevis, Tigin and Rima and the still present Tribesman of their feet.

“Ha Ha!” Gryffyn proclaimed loudly as Yashi seemed to form from the air, the wind dying down at the Djinn opened his eerie blue eyes. Yashi looked down at Gryffyn as the Chieftain scrambled to his feet. He did not look overly impressed, “They’re trying to kill me, Yashi!”

Yashi smirked, “And what would you like me to do about that, Master?”

“Kill them!” Gryffyn snapped.

Yashi shook his head, “That’s not how it works, you wished that I take care of uninvited guests in your territory. You said nothing about threats to your life”.

“They are uninvited!” snapped Gryffyn.

“Not exactly, I did warn you they were coming,” Yashi replied.

“About the Vampire-”

“Oh, how opportune for someone to proclaim my entrance”.

Those in the room swung around to the balcony where Aegin stood, using one of the curtains to wipe his chin, “Apologies, I don’t advice meals when you’re moving, awfully messy business. Oh, hello Rima, good to see you’re well”.

Rima rolled her eyes, “I’d say better late than never, but I really don’t want to make tardiness a habit on your part”.

“I thought you said you’d keep the Djinn busy!” Sevis called out as he struggled to his feet.

“Yes well, that’s difficult when he doesn’t tend to bleed, or spill his guts, or burn,” said Aegin.

Yashi grinned.

“Of course he doesn’t,” Rima sighed, “He’s a spiritual being, his life is tied to the state of his Vessel”.

The room paused, Yashi’s grin vanishing in an instant. Aegin turned to look at the pendant in Gryffyn’s hands, a smile growing on his own lips.

“You mean that Vessel?”

“No,” Yashi whispered, his skin taking on a pale colour.

“That would be it,” said Rima.

“You shouldn’t touch it though,” said Tigin, “Rima went all weird before-”

Aegin started to stalk forward. Yashi spun towards Gryffyn, “Do something, you perverted old man!”

Gryffyn glared over at Yashi, “In exchange for my memories of Elva Bluesun, I wish for you to kill all those in this room except for me, now”.

Yashi grinned breathing in.

Aegin’s eyes widened, “No, don’t!”

But Yashi had already summoned the wind, aiming right for Rima.

Aegin moved towards Yashi in an instant.

His claws extended, though he knew such a thing was futile, but then instinct pushed him to cut himself rather than Yashi. He followed it. The slash in his right wrist caused blood to run, and the pulled of his Life Lines was enough for him to understand. The blood formed rapidly into a solid red blade which he grasped with both hands as he slashed it across Yashi’s form.

Yashi stilled, shocked.

The wind instantly died. Everyone in the room paused in surprise, then a sharp tick echoed through the room, like glass cracking.

Gryffyn looked down at the pendant in his hand in shock, “No!”

Yashi glanced up at Aegin, his eyes so desperate and pleading before he seemed to form into air which was sucked back into the pendant. The Pendant, with a crack inside it’s structure, stopped glowing.

“Djinn! Djinn come back and grant my wish! Yashi!”

Aegin snatched up the Pendant, clasping it in his own hand as he looked down at Gryffyn. Gryffyn stared back, then opened his mouth to speak.

Aegin drew his blood sword across the man’s neck with ease. The cut so clean that Gryffyn’s body was still for a moment before it slumped forward, the head rolling from it with a wet splat.

Aegin sighed, then released the magic of his sword. His blood returned to his body, and the cut on his wrist sealed shut. He looked up at the others in the room who all stared back at him.

“No one had any protests to that, right?”