My eyes took a long time to adjust to my new surroundings. The area around me was midnight-blue and glowed. It was a weird blend of light and darkness. The directionless light diffused through a thick haze, but I got the impression of movement just beyond my perception. I was sitting on a hard surface that rocked gently as water swished by.

“Fucking hell, now I’m on a boat,” I said, though I still couldn’t see anything beyond the blue light.

“Not just any boat,” a woman said. Her voice was clipped and husky. “You’re on my boat.”

Her words seemed to push the not-darkness away. I was sitting in the bow of a wooden longboat. The railings were made from thick braided reeds, and every surface was painted with colorful, angular patterns. The woman sat on a large wicker chair in the center of the deck. Six burly men held the chair aloft by long poles. They swayed in time with the rocking of the boat, but the chair stayed utterly still.

I stared in awe at her. Her brown skin glistened, but not with moisture. She sat with her arms out to her sides, and feathers fell from them, black near the top, and fading to light brown at the tips. She wore thick gold bands at her wrists and neck and a finely wrought gold tiara at her brow. Her eyes were wide, but not narrow, and her flat nose gave way to a demanding smile.

Several small glowing orbs orbited a point just above her head. My eyes gravitated to them, or to one in particular. I followed that hypnotic light, ignoring everything else.

“Yes,” she said, “you know that one well.”

“I-I-I Do?” I stammered. “What is it?”

“It is not a what, but a who,” she said.

She plucked a feather from her arm, and it rose into the air. A silvery aura radiated from it, and the balls of light stopped orbiting. They looked expectant.

“Shall we see what is their worth?”

Without waiting for me to respond, the woman beckoned one the orbs. It floated opposite the feather. For a moment, nothing happened, then the feather and the ball moved as though on a see-saw. The movement stopped, and the ball rested just below the bright feather. The light of the orb seeped away, absorbed by the feather. When it was completely dark, it crumbled, and the dust it left behind blew away on the breeze. The feather flashed and disappeared.

“A shame,” the woman said. “It saddens me when they fall short.”

“They?” I asked.

“You do not know me yet?”

For the second time, she gestured without waiting for me to answer. Another sphere descended, and the scene replayed itself. This time the feather and orb rested level with one another. The glowing ball flew into the haze to my left, and the feather vanished. She reached for another and winced when she plucked it out.

“It pains me to do this, but such is my lot. At least she will remain.”

“She?” I had no idea what was going on, but something held my tongue. I got a distinct impression that this was not a person to piss off.

“After all those memories, you still don’t know?” the woman said. “We shall continue, then.”

The woman called each one in turn, and they either vanished into dust or flew off to the side of the boat. One of the orbs rested above the feather, and the woman smiled broadly. It flew into the distance on the other side, and the feather remained.

“A true soul,” she said, “such a rare thing.”

Now, only two souls were left. They both seemed familiar to me, though only the one which captivated me earlier held any importance in my mind. The woman looked up at them.

“I wonder what will happen next,” she said.

“Stop,” I blurted. “Don’t judge them.”

“You know me now?” she said.

“Please, Ma’at,” I cried, “leave them alone.”

The woman’s smile deepened. “If they are not judged, they are lost. Do you truly wish to cause them harm? Or rather, cause her harm?”

The two remaining souls started orbiting her head again. The spheres holding them vibrated violently.

“They know they are trapped,” Ma’at said. “They are searching for a way out.”

“But,” I pleaded, “if she doesn’t pass the test, she stops existing.”

“So, you care only for the woman,” Ma’at said. “Don’t bother lying. It is plain to me. I do not know what happens to the souls who do not pass. They are removed from my purview, and I know them no more. Do you think she will not be spared?”

The vibrations intensified. “I can’t take that chance.”

The woman stood. She was tall, and her face darkened. “It is not for you to decide the fate of others. She made her choice and put her soul in my care with that choice. I will do my duty!”

Emily’s soul floated down. The feather darted away, growing smaller. Em’s soul radiated a blinding light, pushing back the haze. Figures milled about on the shores. The people on the left-hand bank were morose and shambled aimlessly, their eyes dead. The right-hand bank had fewer inhabitants, and they seemed exultant.

Ma’at grasped Em’s soul with a reverence. “You, child, are pure.” She leaned in a kissed the orb. It flashed and disappeared.

“Wait!” I called. “Where did she go?”

Ma’at held up a hand, and Rawlins’s soul was judged. He flew to the right, and the feather of judgment vanished.

“He was a good soul,” Ma’at said. “Very loyal.”

I looked back at the left bank. “Why do they look so miserable?”

Ma’at sighed. “They are lost. Passing the test grants them the afterlife, but they find little happiness there. They pine for their old lives and, in time, can think of nothing else.”

“Is that going to happen to Em?” I said.

“No, she is in Aaru.” Ma’at smiled. “But we have other matters to discuss. You cannot remain in the Duat long.”

I tried to remember everything Em and I read about Egyptian mythology. Aaru was like some kind of heaven. I remembered the Duat from Rick Riordan’s books, it was the realm of the dead.

“Is the Egyptian mythology real?” I asked.

“In a way,” Ma’at said. “The Egyptians created their mythos as a way to explain our existence. Those of us who stood aside and did not wish to take part in the conflicts of others played along. After a time, we could no longer see ourselves as being anything but the gods. We took them under our wings and guided them.”

“Nice fucking job,” I said.

Ma’at glared at me. “I did not call you here to spit in my face.”

The boat lurched, and I fell on my ass. The six pole bearers leaned into the movement, keeping Ma’at’s chair perfectly still. She stepped toward me. A gleaming rod appeared in her left hand, a red orb in her right. Menace flowed from her, and I scurried away. Haliniel was a child compared to her.

“I’m sorry,” I cried, every fiber of my being trembling before her.

Ma’at calmed. She backed up and took her seat. Her eyes still blazed, but the smile was back. “Humility in the face of your betters is good. Do you wish to know why you are here?”

Her words tugged at me. I’d heard something similar before. “You’re a Malak,” I said.

“I am,” she replied. “There are both Malak and Shaytan amongst our number. Does that distress you?”

“The only Malak I’ve met was an asshole,” I said. “So, a little.”

She laughed. “Haliniel was always that way. Too bad he will have to be reborn, there are too few elders left.”

The Duat shifted. We moved into a brightly lit tunnel. Large stone columns with burning torches attached to them supported massive arches. The fast flowing water echoed off the walls, making a keening sound. The boat picked up speed.

“We have very little time left,” Ma’at said.

“Well,” I said, “why’d you bring me here?”

“You are here because you’re making a mess of things,” she said. “You were not created to destroy the world.”

“Making a mess of things?” I said. “Maybe if I had all the information I needed from the beginning, things would be different.”

Her face fell a little. “You were not meant to be so involved this soon. Alqanun are created with none of the knowledge or biases of the elder Djinn. You are supposed to come into your power gradually, if at all.”

“If at all?” I asked. “There was a chance I wouldn’t have even been a genie?”

“Yes,” she said. “All Alqanun are reborn souls from the Duat. They usually come back as a blank slate. You, for instance, are not the same person as the one who commanded your original soul. Your experiences and choices have made you utterly unique. The Zaeim Aljiniy, however, have meddled in the rebirth process. At their whim, a soul may return intact.”

“Who the hell are the Zaeim Aljiniy?” I said. “In all those memories, I don’t remember a thing about them.”

“Ah, the memories,” Ma’at said. “That was an unfortunate wish. The Zaeim Aljiniy is actually a creation of another Alqanun. She could not bring the Malak, Shaytan, and Djinn together, so she sacrificed herself and created the Muqadas Nasi, which bound the immortal beings to a single set of laws. To safeguard those laws, she created the Zaeim Aljiniy. A council consisting of a single Malak, Shaytan, and Djinn. The only way to change the Muqadas Nasi is for at least two of the three to agree.”

The tunnels gave way to a vast expanse of open water. Tall reeds grew above the surface, and the wind chimed through them as it blew. After the keening echoes of the tunnel, the melody was soft and soothing. I felt refreshed and alert. Ma’at inhaled deeply and spread her wings. The wind ruffled her feathers, and the bare patches left after her judgment started to regrow.

“Hold up,” I said. “Why was that an unfortunate wish? It gave me the information I needed.”

“True,” Ma’at said. “But it was disorganized and incomplete. The mortal mind is not equipped to handle the knowledge you now possess. Had you come into your immortality as you should, you wouldn’t have even noticed the changes.”

The boat slowed and stopped rocking. The pole bearers lowered the chair to the deck and knelt at its side. Ma’at stood and leaned over the edge, holding out a small chalice. She brought it up and put on the deck between us.

“Okay,” I said slowly, looking at the container of water. “So, the Zaeim Aljiniy can’t get anything done unless two of them agree. That doesn’t seem that hard.”

“It’s actually genius,” Ma’at said. “You underestimate how much we all despise one another. Out of pure spite, a Shaytan would deny the wetness of water if a Malak proclaimed it. In ten-thousand years, they have managed only nine amendments to the Muqadas Nasi. Even I could not have devised such an effective scheme.”

We floated to the middle of the lake, and the boat stopped moving. Ma’at held her arms wide and looked strained.

“We must hurry,” she said through gritted teeth. “The last of the amendments is the reason you have been created. The Zaeim Aljiniy are using it to punish one of your kind, forcing her to die and be reborn for eternity. The strain those actions have put on the Universal Probability is changing the balance.”

She grunted, and her arms faltered. The boat inched forward. She kneeled down and forced her arms wider. The boat stopped, but the water slammed against the hull.

“You must redress this imbalance,” she said wincing.

“I don’t give a shit about any of this,” I said. The water crested the reed railings, and the boat jerked violently to the side. “I just want to be with Emily.”

“You can be,” Ma’at said. “A soul for a soul, a life for a death, when the sun meets the moon, only one shall be left.”

Ma’at’s eyes were shut tight, and she rocked back and forth. Sweat poured from her as she tried to hold the water at bay. It sloshed over the deck, drenching the kneeling men, who did not attempt to move from its path.

“Take the chalice,” Ma’at groaned. “Find Emily. She is the key, but she has a choice. When the water runs out, you will be expelled from the Duat. This is all I can do.”

A great wave slammed into the back of the boat, and Ma’at fell hard to the deck. She gasped. The six men stretched over the top of her, locking their hands together. Water flowed around Ma’at and the men, not touching them. The boat launched forward.

I grabbed the chalice and tried to hold it steady. Some of the water spilled out despite my efforts. A small dock came into view, and the boat slowed. With a dull thud, it nudged the pier and stopped. As soon as I stepped onto it, I felt my being fade. My body became translucent, and my senses dulled. I sipped from the cup and my being solidified.

I looked over the land. The reeds extended from the shoreline into the distance. They thinned the farther away from the water they grew, looking more like wisps of wheat. The wind swept across the land, creating undulating waves of vegetation. Here and there, bright orbs floated. They dipped into the grass, then darted back into the air. Motes of radiant energy fell away from them as they moved. Where the specks fell, the plants grew taller. It seemed playful.

I ran at one of the souls. It flew away, keeping just out of my reach. The light flashed, and I got the distinct impression it was laughing at me. The soul didn’t feel familiar, so I stopped chasing it. I needed to find Emily, but where to look? The land was the same wherever I looked.

I ran in a different direction, chasing down another soul. It paused its flight, then lowered to me. I looked into its orb and saw flickering images.

A man ran along a dirt road. Explosions rocked the land, but his pace never faltered. He reached an embankment and dived behind a pile of sandbags. Two other men lay on the ground. They wore grey uniforms with black armbands decorated with swastikas. Blood covered both men, and their eyes were closed.

The soul I was watching reached down and bandaged one of the wounded men. He was removing the ensignia of the other when a shadow covered him. He looked up to see a being made of metal. Without hesitation, the man fired his rifle. The metal creature laughed and crushed him.

Tears fell down my cheeks as I experienced the man’s pain. I felt the soul’s attention on me. It wasn’t sad. It had a certainty about it, positive that its actions had saved one of his comrades. I felt unworthy under that soul’s scrutiny.

I tried to shoo it away, but my hand passed through. I was opaque and had almost no physical form left. I put the chalice to my lips again, but it took far more water to bring me back this time.

“Please help me,” I said.

The soul bobbed up and down and spun in circles. It appeared excited, which I took for assent and continued.

“I’m looking for a new soul. Her name’s Emily. Please help me find her.”

The orb shook and flew away. I ran after it, hoping it was leading me where I needed to go. It didn’t move so fast I couldn’t keep up, but my legs soon started to ache. I don’t know how far I ran, but I had to drink from the chalice twice more. Only a few drops of water remained.

We crested a small hill, and I stopped running. A long narrow valley lay below me. Thousands of souls danced around one another, and the light of them was enough to hurt my eyes. I sank to my knees, despair taking hold of me. I was fading again, and there wasn’t enough water left to keep me in the Duat for long.

The soul I was following moved around the valley, and I drank down the last few drops of water. My body strengthened a little, but it was hopeless. I laid down and looked at the sky. Em was truly gone now. I’d gotten my hopes up, and now I felt her loss even more keenly.

I lay there, waiting for the Duat to kick me out when I felt a warmth coming toward me. I sat up and saw two souls speeding up the hill. I jumped to my feet and ran to meet them. I was little more than a ghost now, and couldn’t even feel the ground I was running on. One of the souls stopped in front of me, and I knew it.

“Em!” I cried.

The soul brightened, then faded a little.

“Em, please.” I reached out to her. “you can come with me. I can save you.”

Em floated closer, then turned and moved away. She seemed to want to return to the valley.

“Please, Em,” I said, my voice shaking. “Please, come back with me.”

Emily’s soul wavered, then moved slowly toward the valley. The Duat started to fade, and I howled. I didn’t want to be a genie, I didn’t want to save the world, I just wanted Em, and she had abandoned me. I couldn’t really blame her. Heaven must be a hard thing to give up on.

The fields dwindled as I was pulled away. Just before my vision blacked, a streak of light shot into my chest. Heat suffused me, and I felt a new presence in my mind.

“Heaven is wherever you are,” Em whispered in my head.

I smiled, and everything went dark.