Chapter 2: Nahri

Shaken after the zar, Nahri lingers at a coffeehouse, then leaves into a curfewed night and becomes lost. Seeking a route home along El Arafa’s cemetery, she’s followed and confronted by Baseema, now confident, burned-stained, and speaking of marid and testing blood. As unnatural winds gather, Baseema demands to know whom Nahri “sang for.”

A blinding rupture scorches the tombs, and a robed, weapon-laden figure emerges, furious at being summoned. Realizing he speaks her mysterious native tongue, Nahri tries to flee, but he tracks her, wounds her with an arrow, and is stunned that a human understands him. He notes her rapid healing, calls her “shafit,” and presses for answers as the ground trembles.

Dead figures rise—ghouls—and he thrusts his sword to Nahri while aiming his bow at Baseema, whom he names ifrit. Baseema taunts him as “Afshin” and hints that Nahri is tied to the “Banu Nahida.” When ghouls surge, Nahri and Afshin run. He proposes finding a large rug to aid escape while he holds off the dead.

Inside a tomb, Nahri locates a carpet as Afshin slaughters ghouls, then summons a storm of sand with a sweeping gesture, revealing his djinn nature. Distracted, Nahri is ambushed; two ghouls maul her, tearing her throat despite her struggle. Afshin charges in, beheads the attackers, and carries the bleeding Nahri out.

He places her on something soft—the carpet—and, with a brief apology in their shared tongue, lifts them into motion. Nahri, barely conscious but healing, is forced into an uneasy partnership with the djinn to survive the encroaching dead and the ifrit’s designs.