The Path to Fire

Thank you, my lord.  Yes, the food and drink are excellent;

this poor traveler is more than repaid for the tales I told last evening. More?

Yes, of course. I did tell you that they did not compare to

the story of the prince and the afrit. Would you hear it now?

Not all that long ago, in the lands to the south and the west,

there was a man. He was very unlike most men of his place and

time; he was taller than most, and the Merciful One had blessed

him with strong arms and a keen mind. He was pure of body and

soul, and he never forgot to praise and thank God for all the

gifts that he had been given. He came from a noble family,

people of wealth and influence who lavished attention upon

the child. All who knew him knew that he would be a shining

example, a role model, a leader for others to follow.

And yet there was one flaw the boy held, one thing that

set him apart from others. His eyes. Oh, yes, my Lord, he could

see as well as you or I. No, it was the color of his eyes; they were

golden, like the outer edge of a candle flame. When he looked

at you, it was as if a great cat was looking upon you. Few could

stand his gaze, for it is a common story that such eyes marked

a descendant of afriti or djinni. A child of the otherworld, a

child of spirits.

His mother was a pure woman, and his family was of the nobility,

related by blood to the kings of the desert. It seemed the

stories were true with this family, for many of them carried a

trace of the jinn in their features; but they overcame this

stigma. All could see that they praised the Merciful One,

that they were humble and grateful in his sight. And there

are many stories of sorcerors and magicians whose

appearance and history are far stranger than theirs.

They lived close to the sea, in the great cities where iron

locomotives pull great trains of cargo, where all manner

of ships from a thousand lands come to trade. The little prince

learned the knowledge of books, of mathematics and of

engineering and of alchemy, and he learned of the trade and

the economy that supported the cities and his life. There were

many tutors, some from faraway lands who taught him

strange concepts, thoughts, and magic. And he learned

of the people of the deep desert and how they were used

to drill for the precious oil that made all of the marvels of the

coastal cities possible.

Then the Merciful One reached down and touched his heart,

for the little prince was incensed by what he had learned. It

seemed wrong to him that the people of the desert would be

used so. And when the child grew old enough to fend for himself,

he left the cities and his family to defend the people of the

desert.

He found the that although the people of the desert were

numerous, much more so than was supposed by the wise

men of the cities, they were also spread out throughout the

deserts. Their nomadic life was fine for survival in the

desert, but made them vulnerable to the machines of the

cities. The little prince fought for them, but he quickly

realized that his effort were slow compared to the immensity of

the task.  There were so many that were being used and oppressed,

and the people of the desert were so weak compared to those

of the cities... the prince decided to use his heritage. Yes, he

decided to take the taint of the afrit upon himself in order to

free his people. Many are ensnared in such a way, my Lord,

with the best of intentions.

So he went to one of the wise women of his tribe, and asked

how those wizards of the world called upon the afrit. And the

wise woman looked long at him, and said, "I do not think I need

to tell you. You know how to do this already."

And the little prince was confused, for indeed he had had many

tutors as a child, and one of them had explained to him the ways

of magic and of power. It is said that this tutor... well, that is a

different story.

"But that is different," the prince said to the woman. "What I know

will not find the creatures of wind and fire. It deals with other

things of magic, and besides, I only know -of- them. I do not have

the skills to -use- them."

"Do you not?" The wise woman replied. "Or is it that you have

never tried? Dance, little prince. Dance and see." And this

had the attention of the little prince, for he knew how to

dance and had had this idea in his mind.

So it was that he found himself alone in the desert, ringed

by many bonfires; and he danced.

The flames grew higher, and the winds began to blow,

and the sand began to sting his face and body; and he

danced.

He turned, and twirled, and he carried swords in his hands

that flashed with the light of the sun. His feet and the

edges of his blades drew a curving, winding path in the

sand. And he danced.

He grew weary, for the winds buffeted him and the sand

was like a snake that bit him all over his body. But he

danced, and called to the spirits of fire.

There came a time when he finally fell; and when he awoke,

and the fires were mere black stains upon the sand, he saw

that a creature of smoke had come to him.

The creature screamed at the little prince, and made

terrible noises and faces. "Fear me!" it yelled to him. "I hold

the power of fire and death!"

But the little prince was not afraid, for he saw through

the deception of the smoke-imp, saw that it was afraid

of -him-. "Take me to the land of the fire," he said to the

imp. "Show me the path to the afriti."

"It will mean your death," the imp replied.

"If that is the fate the Merciful One has given me, then

so be it," the prince said. "But I ask, nonetheless. Take

me to the afriti."

The imp grew more afraid, for no one asked such a thing.

Surely the man would perish in fire, and somehow the

imp would be punished! But it waited on the little prince

to rise, and bowed, and showed him the way; for it knew

then that he was a prince of men.

Long they traveled, through tunnels and plains and

heat and steam and smoke, but the prince was not

burned or killed. And he was filled with a great wonder,

as was the imp of smoke.

"Surely you are not a man!" the imp said. But the prince

shook his head.

"I am a man. And I am suprised to see that the things my

tutors have said are true. While I am here, I will not be harmed

by the fire. That is my heritage."

The imp took him to a great city of sultans and emirs and padishahs

of the afriti. A great city of golden metal, floating above a lake of

fire. It was a wondrous sight, but the imp ignored it. He took the

prince to the edge of this city, where a great beast-man of red

skin waited for them. It was an afrit, a jinni of fire, as terrible as

all the stories said. Twice as tall as a man, and almost as broad;

and it held a great curved sword of metal and fire.

"Why do you come to this place?" it demanded of them.

"Master," the imp pleaded, "this man called me! And he has

followed me back to you, yet he is not burned!"

"I am not afraid," the little prince said. "The Merciful One

watches over me. I come to help my people, not for my own

selfish sake. He has blessed me in this."

"Foolish man," the afrit said. "And foolish imp. Look at

him. He has the eyes of our people. I know who he is." And

the afrit dismissed the imp with many curses, and turned

back to the little prince.

"What is it that you wish of me?" he asked.

"To learn the power of fire," the little prince said. "To learn

its shape and its magic."

The afrit nodded after a time. "These things, and more, will

I teach to you."

The prince grew suspicious. "So soon? You agree without

a price, or a trade? Why would you do this thing?"

The afrit laughed, a great booming laugh. It was

terrifying; but the prince held his resolve and stood

strong. "Partly out of respect to the djinn in your

family, little man. The other reasons I keep to myself.

You will know them, in time."

And the little prince learned the power of fire, its

shape and its hypnotic  magic; and he returned to

our world, and helped his people. But in doing so, he

lost a part of himself. It was a price that the afrit

never discussed. In gaining this power, the little prince

traded a part of his humanity, became less of a man

in the eyes of God. So it is that our choices sometimes

damn us, even with the best of intentions...