The Human Who Crossed into the Realms of the Jinn

The night had swallowed the entire mountain.

There was no sound of wind, no barking of animals, not even the rustling of a tree. Only a heavy silence hung over the place, as if the mountain itself were holding its breath, waiting for something to happen.

At the very top of the mountain, inside a deep cave far from any human presence, the adventurer stood before the ancient book, which he had placed upon a black stone in the center of the cave.

He lit the candles one by one and arranged them according to the symbols drawn on the page.

Then he took out the incense and lit it, and thick smoke began to creep between the rocks as he started reciting the mysterious words written before him.

He did not understand the meaning of a single letter.

But he felt something strange...

Every time he spoke a word, the air around him grew hotter.

And every time he completed a line, the flames of the candles trembled as though someone were passing between them.

Until he reached the final word.

He hesitated for a moment...

Then he spoke it.

Suddenly...

A tremendous sound exploded behind him!

He turned around quickly.

There was no one there.

But behind one of the rocks appeared a tall black shadow, shaped like a human, except that its limbs seemed unnaturally long, and its head was tilted in a way that filled his heart with terror.

He stared at it for several moments...

Then it disappeared.

The adventurer blinked and cautiously approached the rock.

Nothing.

He quickly turned toward the entrance of the cave, and the sight before him nearly stopped his heart.

The entrance had disappeared.

There was no longer an opening or a path leading outside.

The wall had completely sealed itself, as if the rocks had closed together before his very eyes.

He stepped backward several times, and his breathing quickened.

"Impossible..."

He placed his hand against his chest and felt a severe tightness, as though the air had become too heavy to enter his lungs.

He tried touching the wall.

Hot stone.

Solid.

No way out.

Then...

He felt hot breath touching his ear.

And the world around him came to a complete stop.

A deep, whispering voice, unlike any human voice, reached him:

"You are the one who chose my path..."

He froze in place.

Then the whisper came again:

"And we have been waiting for you for a thousand years."

His eyes widened, and a violent shiver swept through his body.

For a moment, he felt as though the horror of the situation could turn his hair gray.

"Who... who are you?!"

No one answered him.

But the darkness around him began to move.

Suddenly, thick black smoke emerged from the ground and engulfed the cave within seconds.

He could no longer see his hands.

Nor the candles.

Nor even the stone beside which he had been standing.

His head began spinning violently, and his body swayed.

"Stay away from me!"

He screamed at the top of his voice.

"Who are you?! What do you want from me?!"

But he heard nothing except the echo of his own voice.

Then he felt the ground disappear beneath his feet.

He fell...

Or perhaps he had not fallen.

He no longer knew.

The last thing he felt was a severe dizziness, then his eyes closed against his will.

After a few moments...

The smoke began to fade.

Little by little.

The things around him began to appear.

The ground.

The walls.

The ceiling.

He slowly raised his head...

Then his eyes widened.

He was no longer in the cave.

He was standing in a completely different place.

A huge, terrifying palace stretched before him into distances he could not comprehend.

Its walls were not built in the way he knew human palaces to be built, and its pillars were twisted as if they had been carved from something alive, while strange torches burned with a dark glow along the corridors.

And the strangest thing...

There was no one there.

He began wandering through the corridors with hesitant steps.

"Where am I?!"

No answer.

"Who brought me here?!"

Silence.

"Talk to me! Who are you?! What do you want from me?!"

He raised his voice even more:

"I have done nothing to you! Take me back to where you took me from!"

Suddenly...

A calm voice came from behind the wall.

"Do not worry, my lord... you are safe."

He stopped where he stood.

He stared at the wall.

"Who are you?"

The voice answered:

"I am speaking to you, my lord."

The adventurer laughed nervously.

"My lord? You are mistaken. I am a simple human. I own nothing."

A brief silence followed.

Then the voice said:

"But now you own everything."

He froze.

"What?"

"You are a legend that has not yet been written.

You are the one who will change this era... and this world.

You will have tasks that no one has ever dared to undertake."

The adventurer swallowed.

"Who are you?"

The answer came:

"Kanaan."

Then he continued:

"A Minister from the world of the jinn... and your servant."

The adventurer stared at the wall in disbelief.

"My servant? How can you be my servant when I have not even seen you yet?!"

A soft laugh reached him.

"Very well, my lord... I will let you see me."

A light mist rose at the end of the corridor.

It began to gather.

Then it took a human form.

Within seconds, a young man appeared, looking about fourteen years old, with calm features and a strange smile.

The adventurer looked at him in amazement.

"You... a Minister?"

The young man smiled.

"Yes."

The adventurer said:

"But you do not look older than fourteen!"

Kanaan laughed.

"That is in your world, my lord.

But in our world... I have lived for four hundred years."

The adventurer's eyes widened.

"Four hundred?!"

"And what is the problem?"

The adventurer moved slightly closer to him.

"You are as old as my fifth... or sixth grandfather!"

Kanaan laughed.

"Our lifespans are not like those of humans.

Some of us live for centuries, and some of us exceed a thousand years.

Our world is very different from yours... you will discover it yourself."

Then Kanaan's expression suddenly changed.

"But the time is over."

The adventurer raised an eyebrow.

"What do you mean?"

Kanaan said:

"I cannot remain in this form for long.

Appearing in the form of a human consumes too much of my energy."

Then he moved closer to him and said:

"When you need me, call my name three times."

The adventurer hesitated.

"Kanaan... Kanaan... Kanaan?"

He smiled.

"Exactly."

Then he pointed toward his head.

"I will speak with your qareen, and my voice will reach your ear without the need for me to appear before you."

Kanaan stepped backward.

His body began to fade slowly, as if the air itself were erasing his features.

He said:

"I am here to help you, my lord... but do not forget one thing."

The adventurer stopped.

"What?"

Kanaan looked at him one last time.

"You did not come to our world by chance."

Before disappearing completely, he added:

"And the book did not choose your place... it chose you."

Then he disappeared.

Silence filled the place.

The adventurer remained standing alone.

"Wait!"

But there was no answer.

Then suddenly...

The palace began to shake.

The walls shook violently, and the torches went out one after another.

From deep within the palace came a terrifying sound resembling the roar of thousands of creatures all at once.

The adventurer raised his head.

And at the end of the corridor...

Two red eyes appeared in the darkness.

Then a faint voice emerged:

"We found him..."

The adventurer stepped backward.

"Kanaan?!"

No answer.

He raised his voice:

"Kanaan!"

Then a second time:

"Kanaan!"

Then for the third time:

"Kanaan!"

Suddenly, the voice returned to his ear, but this time it was not calm.

It was angry.

"Run."

The adventurer froze.

"What?"

The voice came quickly:

"Run now... and do not look back!"

He ran.

Something began to move behind him.

And that was...

His first day in the world of the jinn.