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Episode
085 |
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“There’s a theory that for a human
to be killed by a god is the best thing that could possibly happen to the
human under discussion. It eliminates all questions of belief, while playing
a human life at the service of a higher power. Where do you stand on this
theory?” Luke Pinkerton, Sandman “There’s more to the box than just
a black container with a pretty design on top,” Emma reported as she stood
opposite Jason before the others. “The
golden emblem isn’t just a symbol; it’s a lock. It’s keeping the contents of the box from
getting out. What’s inside is a very
potent spell, which means that, yes, it is a spirit bomb. And it will go off when the emblem is
removed.” “What kind of bomb is it?” Sarah
asked from Assif’s left. “That’s the real bad news,” Jason
said apprehensively. “While Emma and I
were researching the cover of the box, we found an array of markings on
them. They’re the same color as the
box, which is a very fine felt, so they can’t actually be seen. We’ve itemized them and managed to
translate a few.” He turned to the
screen as a line of symbols came up. “These are written in Arabic,” he
explained. “They seem to talk about a
holy fire awakening the restless marid beneath the sands of the land between
the two rivers.” Isaiah sat up, worry
coming over him. He wasn’t able to
keep from glancing to Assif who sat at the head of the table. “What are ‘restless marid’?” Irene
asked. “Marid are pretty much a malicious
type of genie,” Alex said. “They’re supposed
to be like the biblical demon, only a little less potent.” “And they’re real,” Til added. “They’re rumored to be able to
possess human bodies and are generally invisible,” Jason said, “but they’re also
quite vicious. And, that’s not all. The box mentions the ‘breath of fire will be
renewed seven times seven times’.
Whatever effect this bomb is going to have, it will renew its area
effect and force 49 times.” “It’s not clear what that area
effect is,” Emma said, “but we can be assured it’s not going to be measured
in inches.” She sighed and walked away
from the screen to the front of the table.
“We believe that this bomb is meant to awaken the marid. I’m not sure if they’re literally asleep,
but it will most likely cause a chain reaction that will drive them out of
whatever dormancy they’re in and, given the legends concerning them, wreak
havoc unlike anything we could imagine.” “So we’re basically talking about
a bomb that’s going to wake up all the demons in a large area?” Eliot
summarized. “Do we have any idea how
large?” “Not really,” Jason answered. “What’s the worst scenario we’re
looking at?” Sarah asked. “Most magic spells have a range
equal to the sight of the caster,” Emma said.
“Assuming the caster had regular eyesight, we’re looking at a range measured
in miles.” “And that’s before the renewal
point,” Jason added. “Every marid
within the entire area will wake up and spread chaos.” Assif stared down at the surface
of the table for a moment. He took a
deep breath and sat up straight.
“Emma, Alex, find Khizer and deploy immediately.” |
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