"Did you miss me?" said the creature wearing Father Sandra's face.

Felix felt his hackles rise and his muscles tense. This was clearly not Father Sandra, despite having the man's body. That didn't mean he felt safe in that knowledge.

"If I'm being honest, I can't say that I did," Felix answered, grabbing the few items he had set aside so far and placing them on a tablecloth he had found among the priest's things. He then quickly wrapped up the cloth like a makeshift bag.

"Oh? Are you in such a hurry, darling boy? When I've been so kind as to spare you this far? Don't you think you should at least try and pretend to be grateful?"

"Thanks for not eating me?" Felix said awkwardly. "What happens now? You leave wearing the dead priest's skin suit and we never see each other again?"

"Hardly," said Umma Ghula, smiling. It was a bit strange, seeing that feminine smile on the oily priest's face. "I can wear the face of any creature I eat. Much like you can, though I can tell you have yet to truly embrace your gift. We are much the same, you and I."

Felix didn't like the sound of that. He hated thinking that she might be right.

What do you think, Fortuna? Felix asked into his mind.

Don't be scared of her, she answered. She made a deal. She can't hurt us.

Umma Ghula put a hand to her mouth and laughed again. More hyenas.

"Such a foolish child," she said, eyes widening. She spoke in an amused but cruel sing song. "Don't presume to know my mind the way I know yours."

Had she heard the words spoken in their private conversation?

The jinn in the priest's skin grinned. Icy blue eyes studied the scene around her, looking upon the crumpled minions under their white hooded blankets. They had all gone inert some time between the ceremony that summoned Umma and the death of their master.

Umma Ghula raised one of her arms and waved her hand magnanimously in a circle. "Rise," she commanded. "And come to me."

With his new perception, Felix could see the wave of powerful magic that spread from that hand as it entered the flesh golems. The intent poured into a point within each of the minion's chests, and then blossomed. The eight minions' limbs were flooded with unnatural life, and they all lumbered awkwardly to their feet.

Should we run? Felix asked.

Maybe? Eva Fortuna said, sounding much too uncertain for Felix's taste.

Felix hefted his makeshift bag over his shoulder and prepared to run.

"Your bosom buddy is not wrong," Umma Ghula said. "Did you know that for many summoned jinni, words are powerful? An agreement, a wish, a prayer... these can be tantamount to a magical contract. Of course, it is always in our creative interpretation that our greatest freedoms are exercised."

Felix remembered the legends of genies (Disney genies notwithstanding) from his own world and how they always inevitably turned on their masters.

"I will not harm you," said the jinn over her shoulder, inspecting the minions as they lined up in front of her. She pulled off the white sheets that covered the flesh golems and tsked as she stepped from one to the next, her eyes stopping briefly on any of the damaged or charred limbs.

When she was done, she turned to Felix, who was starting to back away slowly around the altar, readying to make a beeline across the chamber and out of this cavern. He hoped he wouldn't have trouble finding Muzio, or the exit for that matter.

"I will keep my promise, you see," the priest-shaped jinn said. She picked three of the minions, muttering for them to step forward and follow her. "I will leave with these three specimen, while leaving the rest for you and your friends. I'm sure you have no trouble disposing of the rest. My former host had some interesting plans for this place. I think it might be unkind to my would-be master if I failed to honor one final wish? And irresponsible to just leave a spell five-years in the making tethered to this place without addressing it. How many bodies do you think are buried under this place? I wonder. Perhaps you will tell me when we next meet. I think I would like that."

With that, Umma Ghula chuckled eerily as she sauntered toward a dark corner of the cavern, the feminine and fluid movements alien in Father Sandra's body. Three minions followed. The shadows seemed to deepen and rise from the ground until they wrapped around the four of them. Then they were gone.

Fog began to rise from seemingly nowhere, covering the floor of the cavern and pouring in from every entrance to the cavern. The light that was coming down from the crystals embedded along the cavern walls began to dim and a deep groan seemed to rise from deep underground.

The five minions that were left began to stumble forward. They were much less agile than they had been while under Father Sandra's control, but Felix wasn't going to wait to see if their coordination improved.

Probably a good idea if we boogie out of here, Fortuna said.

Yeah, I agree, Felix answered, taking a last longing look at the pile of treasure that had once belonged to the dead priest. There were probably useful things there, like pants. But, there wasn't any time to investigate further. He sprinted toward what he hoped was the exit.

***

The cave system was a network of twists and turns, but, luckily, Muzio wasn't hard to find. Felix just followed his ears.

He had been left unconscious but had long since recovered and, finding himself alone, had proceeded to use flail against the walls of his confines. When Felix followed the grunting and grinding sounds, he found that Muzio's cage had flopped on its side and leaned at a weird angle against the wall. Muzio had succeeded in pushing his head and shoulder through a gap in the bars, but it was hard to say if he was making progress or if he was stuck.

His very red face might give us a clue, Eva Fortuna said.

Before Felix could think of a clever quip to make fun of his precarious position, Muzio spotted his approach.

"Kid, you're alive!"

"Alive, kicking, and bearing gifts I stole from ol' Sandy Claws," Felix said.

"What?" Muzio asked, looking foolish with part of his upper body stuck between the bars.

"You need help getting out of that or what?"

Muzio pulled himself painfully back inside his confines and cheered when Felix produced a key, unlocked the padlock and let the man out. He had already taken off his own chains and suppression collar, so the only thing left was to equip him with a pair of lightning batons and explain the situation, which Felix did in as little words as possible at Muzio's request.

"The priest is dead but five of his minions and a lot of zombies are coming after us so we need to get the hell out of here before they overrun us."

Muzio nodded.

"What are zombies?"

"Oh, uh... they're animated dead... or, undead. They're coming up from the tunnels under this level of the cave system. Plus the five minions I mentioned before are probably close behind."

I thought I should mention that you wouldn't normally be able to see magic through that much stone, Fortuna chipped in. The only reason you can see them through the cave floor is because there are so many of them. There are probably hundreds.

"Great," Felix muttered out loud. “It’s just another swarm. Third one I’ve faced since I was born, actually, but who’s keeping count?”

"What are you talking about?" Muzio asked, thinking Felix was asking him.

"There are hundreds of zombies, er, undead headed this way."

"And how do you know this?"

"I got new eye powers and an invisible best friend when I chomped on Father Sandra's head. Not that I ever know why anything really happens. Once upon a time, I thought my status was going to be like a user manual and explain everything to me, but she wound up being a cute cat girl instead."

Hey! Fortuna shouted indignantly, making the inside of his head hurt more.

To his credit, Muzio didn't bother asking for any more elaboration. He merely took the information in stride by taking a moment to stretch, crack his back, neck, and knuckles, then lead the way. Felix hoped he knew where he was going.

"Stay behind me," Muzio said, turning the corner to find the five flesh golems bearing down on them. "Harden your skin if you can but leave the fighting to me."

He doesn't look very worried does he? Fortuna said.

No, he doesn't. Do you think that's a bad thing?

It turned out not to matter much.

Muzio's faith in his own abilities was not ill placed. For what felt like hours, Muzio made quick work of the undead with brutal swings of the lightning batons, twirling them and thrusting them like a pair of swords in the hands of a master.