Battered Lamp
by mypenname3000
Chapter Twenty-Seven: The Fires of the Ifrit
Copyright 2014

Note: Thanks to b0b for beta reading this.

Cast of Characters

Main Characters

Kyle Unmei Jr.: Half-Japanese/Half-Kurdish owner of Aaliyah and wielder of Earthbones. Poisoned by Burke as they fought.

Aaliyah Unmei: A Jann sent to marry the prophesied savior of the Djinn. Kyle’s First Wife. Kidnapped by Zaritha and taken to the Hidden Realm.

Fatima Unmei : Kyle’s younger sister and wife, wielder of Fireheart.

Christy Unmei nee Leonardson: Kyle’s long-time girlfriend turned third wife.

Fumi Unmei nee Nakamura: Kyle’s fourth wife. A succubus-like Yuki-onna and wielder of Windfeather. She is blind.

Britney Kingston: Kyle’s best friend since elementary school. She is a Rakshasa and has sworn to defend Kyle. She is a hermaphrodite and has claimed Phillipa as her mate. Wielder of Waterclaw.

Enemies

Sultan Rashid ibn al-Marid: The despotic ruler of the Djinn and leader of the Marid clan. Wants Aaliyah dead to thwart the prophecy.

Hecate: The Dark Goddess that both Ms. Franklin and Burke served. Sent a familiar to seize Faiza’s soul when she died.

Faiza Unmei: Kyle and Fatima’s widowed mother. Killed by Burke. Her soul was stolen by a familiar of Hecate. Resurrected by Hecate as an instrument of the Dark Goddess’s vengeance against Kyle.

Zaritha: An Ifrit serving the despotic ruler of the Djinn and sent to kill Aaliyah. Joined Kyle’s harem to cement her alliance to attack Burke. When Burke was killed, she kidnapped Aaliyah and took her to the Unseen Realm. Confused by her conflicting oaths to Kyle and Rashid.

Makerah: An Unbound Marid, a Djinn that has violated the Laws of his people and escaped punishment through a dark ritual. A servant of Sultan Rashid and his son. Ordered to hunt down Aaliyah and Zaritha and kill them.

Aljihm: An Unbound Ifrit and servant of Sultan Rashid. Ordered to hunt down Aaliyah and Zaritha and kill them.

Aalizunah: An Unbound Si’lat and servant of Sultan Rashid. Ordered to hunt down Aaliyah and Zaritha and kill them.

Jowah: An Unbound Ghul and servant of Sultan Rashid. Ordered to hunt down Aaliyah and Zaritha and kill them. Discovered Aaliyah and Zaritha in the Sapphine Caves.

Khiana: An Unbound Jann. Once a bitter rival to Sultan Rashid but now a servant of the Sultan. Ordered to hunt down Aaliyah and Zaritha and kill them.

Ms. Franklin: The deceased servant of Burke and leader of the coven. Also known as Celestite.

Principal Burke: The identity assumed by Alphonse of Toulouse, a nine-hundred-year-old knight. A warlock serving Hecate. Killed by Kyle.

Concubines

Chyna Unmei nee Coel: Kyle’s first concubine. Ms. Franklin cast a spell on Kyle and Chyna, forcing them into a slave/master relationship.

Shannon Unmei nee Coel: Chyna’s hot mom and Kyle’s second concubine.

Alexina Unmei nee Kendrick: Blonde concubine.

Carla Unmei nee Tyler: Redhead concubine.

Antoinette “Toni” Unmei nee Buckley: Cheerleader concubine.

Daniella “Ms. Capello” Unmei nee Capello: Kyle’s English teacher and concubine.

Lois Unmei nee Smilingfox: A lesbian Domme that serves Kyle as a concubine.

Ann Unmei nee Weaver: Fatima’s friend and strawberry-blonde hair.

Kayleah Unmei nee Peterson: Fatima’s bleached blonde concubine and former rival.

Teleisia Unmei nee Otis: Aaliyah’s African American concubine.

Phillipa Kingston nee Stoddard: Former member of Ms. Franklin’s coven where she was known as Jade. Captured by Britney, Phillipa submitted to Britney and became her mate, discovering that she is a masochist.

Mindy Unmei nee Stoneking: A nurse at the hospital where Fatima is sick and Kyle’s newest concubine.

Sable Unmei nee Purcell: Also known as Tourmaline, she was a member of Ms. Franklin’s witch coven. While fighting with Christy, she was hit by a Love Elemental’s attack and now completely loves Christy.

Other Characters

Shiekh Umar ibn al-Jann: Aaliyah’s father. Rules the Jann from Khoshilat Maqandeli

Ishtar: The Goddess of Magic Christy, Sable, and Phillipa now serve.

Thursday, January 28th – Paradise, Mount Rainier, WA

“So what do we need to cast this spell?” Kyle asked Christy.

The witch looked at her husband, then out at the eager concubines kneeling on the floor. She remembered what she had read in the books on spells on how to enhance a creature or a human into something else. “We need a focus to bind the spirits we captured too,” she answered. It had taken Sable a few minutes to bind the spirits into her tourmaline pendant. “Something that is attuned to the master of the familiar and can be carried by them. With the focus, they can trigger their change when they want or when you want it.”

“Okay,” Kyle nodded. “And what should that focus be?”

“It’s traditionally a weapon for humans,” Phillipa answered from the front seat. “Since the majority of human enhancements are used as soldiers or guards.”

“Like Braiden and those other two?” Kyle asked. Burke had done something to Braiden, Kyle’s former friend, and two of other his classmates, giving them the abilities to turn into vicious monsters.

“That’s exactly what they were,” Christy nodded.

“So we need to get weapons.”

“Oh, it doesn’t have to be weapons, sir,” Sable said. The witch had tried to kill Christy yesterday on Burke’s order, but Christy had used a Love Elemental to defeat the woman. Now Sable loved Christy with every fiber of her being. Christy had no choice but to take her on as a concubine or leave her to forever pine and suffer.

And there were perks—Sable knew how to eat pussy.

“What do you mean?” Christy asked her concubine.

“Well, I heard of this one witch that liked to enhance women for sex, and she used dildos and vibrators.”

“Oh, that’s awesome,” giggled Chyna. “No one thinks twice when women carry their personal massagers around.”

“They just think it’s gross,” Ms. Capello agreed. “Trust me. You should see the look on someone’s face when they find your vibrator.”

“Well, we don’t have either of those,” Kyle sighed. “If Aaliyah were here…”

She could conjure them. Christy felt her husband’s pain. She reached out to rest a comforting hand on his thigh. We’ll get her back. I’ll do everything I can to save her.

“It would not be hard to procure either weapons or sex toys,” Britney said from the front seat. “With the staff Christy possesses, she could easily teleport to an appropriate location and retrieve the items.”

“You mean steal them?” Christy gasped, giving the Rakshasa a glare. “I’m not a thief.”

“We are wanted for murder. Why balk at petty larceny?”

Christy opened her mouth to respond, wanting to argue with Britney almost on reflex, but then she snapped her mouth shut. “I guess you have a point.” Christy didn’t like agreeing with Britney. Ever since she had started dating Kyle, Britney had treated her with disdain, hating the fact Kyle was dating her.

Well, I did end up betraying Kyle, so maybe Britney was right to be wary of me.

“Let’s go rob a sex store,” Alexina giggled.

“I’ve always wanted to go in one,” Fatima beamed. “I think with this many women, we need to have a supply of interesting toys to add some flavor.”

“Definitely,” Missy, the former nurse, agreed. “There are some wild ones out there.”

The concubines all giggled with excitement. “Let’s do sex toys, Master,” Lois grinned.

“Oh, yes, please, Master,” begged Chyna while Toni nodded, her auburn hair swaying about her naked shoulders.

“I guess we’re robbing a porn shop,” Kyle said, a grin spreading across his face. “I’ve always wanted to go in one, too, Fatima.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Is everyone ready?” Christy asked as she stood in the center of the SUV.

“Yes,” Fumi said, adding her voice to the chorus of all the others.

Fumi could only see her wife standing up thanks to Windfeather. Currents eddied through the extra-dimensional space of the SUV, most caused by the shifting and breathing of the many occupants, and her artifact interpreted those slight breezes as a green vision. She pushed Windfeather up the bridge of her nose. The bow was currently shaped like a pair of glasses. She was thankful to Kyle for coming up with this solution. If she didn’t touch the artifact, she couldn’t “see.”

Fumi would never regret losing her sight, not when it gave her Kyle.

She leaned her head on his shoulder while Fatima clung tightly to the other side. She could sense Fatima’s fear, despite her bravado, as Christy prepared to use the staff to move the SUV to the porn shop.

“Do you remember what the Castle parking lot looks like?” Britney asked from the driver seat.

“Yes.”

“How do you remember it so clearly?” Fatima asked with a mischievous tone. “Have you been there?”

“I’ve never been to any porn shop,” Christy gasped. “But how can you not miss it? It’s huge and on the way to the Tacoma Mall.”

Fumi had never heard of Castle before. It was a chain of porn shops with a medieval theme.

“Okay, I’m going to take us there now. Get ready.”

Fumi tensed, remembering the way it felt when the Vicar had teleported her in the school during the fight yesterday. Kyle’s strong arms tightened about her, pulling her in tight to his muscular chest. She squeezed her eyes shut, an unconscious reflex, but that didn’t stop Windfeather from painting an image of the world in green in her mind.

The image vanished.

The world folded about itself.

She couldn’t breath, couldn’t move, couldn’t scream. Everything was compressed and twisted. It felt so much longer than the brief teleportation yesterday. Panic begin to trickle in. What if something had gone wrong and they were—

The world unfolded. Her vision returned. She gasped in a breath.

“We’re here,” Christy said, nodding her head, pride filling her voice. “That wasn’t so bad.”

“It was,” Britney muttered. “You folded space. We should be reduced to strings of meaningless atoms right now. I felt it. You overcame the weak nuclear force.”

“Well, magic,” Christy shrugged.

The Concubines flooded out of the car into the rain. It wasn’t nearly as cold down here in Tacoma as it was up on Mount Rainier. The rain made her vision murky, and she couldn’t see as far, but it was enough to reveal the side of a three-story tall building, its roof crenelated like a medieval castle.

“I surmise we will set off the alarms if we break in a door,” Britney said

“I got it,” Kyle said and his katana, Earthbones, appeared in his hand. He pointed it at the building and Fumi could almost feel his commands reaching out to the building from the sword. Stone ground on stone and the the plaster coating the wall cracked and crashed to the ground, revealing a wall of cement cinder blocks that were ripping out and forming a doorway for them to fit in.

“Okay ladies, find your sex toy,” Christy said with a clap. “And a bowl that can be filled with water. We’ll cast the spell in there, I think.”

The concubines all rushed through the hole, Kyle hot on their heels. Britney leaned against the SUV content to stay outside. Fumi hesitated, wondering if she should stay and help Britney stand guard or if she should go in there.

“Come on,” Fatima said, seizing her hand. “That place is full of naughty toys.”

The younger girl pulled her along, bounding with energy. Fumi couldn’t help but smile and let her wife led her into the porn shop. Her vision improved inside and they seemed to come through the DVD section. What must be adult videos were strewn across the floor, the shelf knocked over by the concubines entering.

“Sex toys are over here,” Fatima said, skipping ahead of Fumi. “Come on, I want to try one out on you.”

The store echoed with concubines gasping and giggling, exclaiming what toy they found while Christy barked orders. “Find a bowl or something we can fill with water. And don’t spend all night picking out your toy. Just grab one.”

“Ooh,” Fatima cued, then picked up a long, think cylinder of plastic that bulged with progressively wider spheres. “Do you know what these are, Fumi?”

Fumi shook her head.

“Anal beads!”

Fumi’s butt-cheeks clenched.

“Drop those pants and let me stick this up your ass.”

Fumi thought that sounded fun. So she shoved her sweatpants down her sleek thighs. She knelt and pointed her ass at her wife. Fatima fell to her knees, her hands on Fumi’s butt-cheeks, spreading them apart, her tongue darting in to rim Fumi’s ass.

“Oh, that’s nice,” Fumi panted as her wife licked her asshole, swirling about the puckered sphincter before wiggling her tongue inside.

“How kinky,” Phillipa smiled as she walked by. “You two have fun. I need to pick up some nice nipple weights and a paddle. And maybe a clit clamp. Britney and I didn’t grab any when we left the house.”

“Wow, those two are wild,” Fatima giggled as she pressed the anal beads against Fumi’s asshole. “You ready?”

“Oh, yes,” she purred.

She shoved the first bead in, so tiny it didn’t have any problems, just stretching her open enough to feel nice. Then the second bead passed through, spreading her open. Fumi groaned with the third one, and the fourth one felt nice as it popped in. Her bowels clung to the beads as they worked deeper, rippling through her.

She leaned against the shelf, Fatima pulling them out, then shoved them back in. Her juices trickled out of her pussy, filling her nose with that wonderful scent of lilies. Fatima’s lips kissed between her thighs, moving to her pussy.

“Oh, yes!” Fumi gasped as Fatima’s tongue found her pussy, swiping through her lips. “You delightful slut.”

Fatima giggled. “I just love licking my wife’s pussy. So tasty.” She pulled the anal beads out then shoved them deep into Fumi’s ass, a fifth and sixth beads popping in this time.

“I’m so full!”

Fatima giggled into her pussy, tonguing her clit as she worked the beads faster and faster through Fumi’s bowels. Her wife knew how to pleasure her, and wonderful trembles passed through Fumi’s body, bringing her closer and closer to her release.

“Harder! Fuck me harder, Fatima! They’re so wonderful! We’re taking these with us!”

“You’re going to have to use them on me sometime!”

“I will! You’ll love them!” A small burst of pleasure trembled through her, a tiny orgasm giving her taste of the explosion that was brewing.

Fatima nibbled on her clit, then sucked harder, slamming the anal beads in and out of Fumi’s ass. It was so wonderful every time one of those beads popped out of her ass before they slammed back in, spreading her open, filling her up. She arched her back, pushing her pussy down on Fatima’s hungry mouth as her pleasure peaked.

“Fatima!” she gasped. “I’m cumming! Drink it! Drink my passion!”

Fatima noisily swallowed the flood of pussy juices that burst from Fumi’s cunt as her ass squeezed down on the thrusting anal beads, adding more and more waves of pleasure to her rippling orgasm. The shelf shook as she swayed and moaned.

And then the pleasure passed.

“You two are having fun,” Kyle laughed. “I could smell you across the store.”

Fumi grinned. “Were you drawn to my irresistible pussy?”

“Definitely.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kyle pulled Fumi to him, his cock throbbing and his nose filled with her lily-scent. He had to have her. She had flooded the store with her pheromones, and he was the only male around to be affected. He he had to drown the fires her scent had ignited inside him. And only her wet pussy would do.

“I need to fuck you,” he groaned.

“I know.”

“Then get on your knees,” Fatima declared, pulling something red out of Fumi’s ass.

“Oh, yes,” moaned Fumi, giving a delightful shudder. His succubus wife fell to her knees, wiggling that wonderful ass at him. Christy could handle casting the spell, he had to satisfy his lust and give Fumi the cum she needed.

He fell to his knees, her pussy dripping wet. Kyle grabbed his cock, rubbing it up and down on her pussy, then pressed into her, shuddering as her wet silk engulfed him. She pressed back into his thrusts, tossing her black hair about.

“Come on, Fumi, fuck my ass with the anal beads!” Fatima knelt before Fumi, handing her the red sex toys.

“Oh, yes!” gasped Fumi, her pussy squeezing down on Kyle’s thrusting cock as she rammed the bead-covered sex toy up Fatima’s ass.

Fatima’s bubbly butt clenched and her back arched. She let out a wild howl as Fumi fucked her ass, burying the anal beads into his sister’s ass in rhythm to Kyle burying his cock into her tight pussy. He gripped his wife’s hips and watched her fuck Fatima’s ass harder and faster with the anal beads. Fatima’s puckered asshole widened then swallowed each bead.

“Fuck, that’s hot,” he grunted, his balls smacking into her pussy with wet slaps. “That’s it. Fuck her ass, Fumi.”

“Oh, she is!” groaned Fatima, flashing him smokey looks over her shoulder, her mouth stretching into a wide, narrow opening as she moaned. “Fuck me! Oh, yes! This is an awesome toy!”

Watching Fatima’s asshole spread around those beads, opening wide then closing shut was so obscene. Kyle’s lust was boiling over. Fumi’s pussy felt like heaven wrapped around his cock, and her pheromones were burning through his blood. He neared that wonderful moment when all he wanted was to unleash a flood of cum into Fumi’s pussy.

He couldn’t stop if he wanted to.

“Kyle!” Christy shouted.

“Almost done,” he groaned to his wife. “Just a few more strokes.”

“Yes, yes! Give me your cum! Feed me!” Fumi’s pussy rippled down his cock, hungry for his essence.

“Cum in her, bro!” moaned Fatima! “Shit! Shit!”

“We’re ready, Kyle,” Christy complained. “This is important.”

“Yeah. I just can’t stop!”

“My fault,” Fumi gasped. “I needed it.”

Christy sighed than knelt next to him and kissed him on the lips, her hands stroking his body. “Hurry up.”

He found her perky breast, squeezing it through her shirt. Christy let out a soft moan. Kyle shuddered, his balls boiling, and erupted into Fumi’s pussy. His Japanese wife let out a piercing moan as her pussy convulsed about him, She drank in all his cum, absorbing his energy. Her body writhed, electrified, and then she collapsed on the floor, shuddering in bliss.

“Thank you,” she moaned. “Oh, yes. Such a meal!”

“Good,” Christy said. “I need you for the spell, Kyle.”

“Okay,” he panted, standing up, bliss pumping through his body. He just wanted to cuddle with Fumi and sleep, but they needed to cast this spell so they could save Aaliyah. “So what do you need from me?”

“Your essence,” she told him. “It will allow you to command when the concubines change into their…enhanced form.”

“Oh, sure,” Kyle panted. “So, how do you get my essence?”

“You’re going to jerk off into a pot of water.”

He laughed. “Of course I am. Can I use your hand to jerk me off?”

She pressed against him. “Absolutely.”

The concubines were kneeling in the center of the store, each clutching their sex toys. Some had small vibrators, others thick dildos, and Chyna had several balls connected by a string that glistened with someone’s pussy juices.

“The spell has a few steps,” Christy explained. “I teleported to our schools chemistry lab for a few more ingredients. The water is boiling and I need you to cum in it.”

“Sure.”

The concubines parted and Kyle knelt before a silver pot that boiled, though there was nothing apparent that was providing the heat. It smelled a little rotten, and the water had a reddish cloud about it.

Christy seized his cock, still wet with Fumi’s pussy, and began stroking him. He hardened beneath her delicate touch, shuddering as her hand slid up and down his greased cock. The concubines all looked at him lust shining in their faces.

“You can do it, Master,” cheered Carla, a big smile on her lips.

Toni clapped, pumping her arms in the air like she was cheering at a game, and Chyna spread her legs apart and shoved those balls into her pussy, her tight slit spreading wide open and swallowing them up. She shivered then yanked them out. It was so sexy watching her lick them clean. Ms. Capello had her heavy tits out, pinching her nipples, and Lois seized Teleisia, forcing Aaliyah’s Black concubine to her lick her pussy for Kyle’s amusement.

“Make him cum, Mistress!” Sable cheered, her fingers busy working in and out of her pussy.

Ann and Kayleah scissored their pussies together and Alexina and Missy sixty-nined. Shannon seized the balls from her daughter’s hand and shoved them into her own pussy, still coated with her daughter’s pussy juices.

“Fuck, that’s hot,” Kyle grunted.

“Isn’t it,” Christy whispered in his ear, her breath hot. “All these women, showing off, wanting your attention.”

Women gasped and moaned. Kyle shuddered, her hand bringing him to the brink. His cum shot out, splashing into the water. The boiling solution hissed and popped, reddish smoke curling into the air.

“Ishtar, bless this potion. Let the seed of transformation be kindled. Shape those that accept with my imagination.”

The potion stopped boiling like a switch had been flipped, the surface of the water suddenly clearing into crystal clear liquid. The room became deathly quiet, all the concubines sitting up, staring with breathless expectation

“Concubines, dip your sex-toy into the liquid,” Christy smiled. “Then hand them to Kyle.” She turned to him. “Then you hand it back to them and say, ‘I bind you to my will, transforming you into my instrument.’ While you say this, push out your aura like when you use your sword.”

Kyle nodded as Chyna crawled up, his first concubine, her balls clutched in her hand, still dripping with her mother’s juices. “I’m yours, Master,” she grinned, dipping her sex toy into the clear liquid then handing it to Kyle.

He pushed out his aura and spoke the required words. Energy sprang up between him and Chyna, surrounding her with his aura as the spell settled down upon her. She shivered, her hazel eyes dilating until they were almost completely black.

“Oh, wow,” she whispered. “I really don’t feel different.”

“I left your free will intact,” Christy said, “Can you feel your ben wa balls?”

“That’s what those are?” Kyle blurted out and Christy blushed and looked down. How does she know…right, Ms. Franklin molested her. “Sorry, guess that’s not important to know right now.”

“Anyways,” Christy shot a glance a Kyle, “reach out your aura to it and concentrate on changing.”

Chyna closed her eyes and she seemed to ripple, letting out an almost orgasmic moan. In a single move, she sprang to her feet, moving with an almost feline grace.

“She doesn’t look different,” Kyle frowned.

“But I feel so different,” she moaned.

“Her reflexes have been increased along with her strength,” Christy said. “She should be capable of fighting anyone in hand-to-hand combat.”

“Oh, yeah,” Fatima smiled, then suddenly launched an aikido attack at the concubine, throwing a punch a fierce punch at Chyna’s face. She wasn’t holding back. That attack would land hard on Chyna’s face if the concubine didn’t do anything.

Chyna moved like water flowing, easily dodging the attack. The concubine seized Fatima’s arm, pivoted, and threw Fatima over her hip. Fatima hit the floor hard, gasping and coughing.

“Oh, Mistress, I’m so sorry,” Chyna gasped. “I just reacted.”

“It’s fine,” Fatima panted. “Why don’t you kiss me to make me feel better.”

“I think that’s going to work just fine,” Kyle grinned.

“Oh, yes,” Fatima gasped as Chyna began kissing her between the thighs. “Keep kissing me. Make me feel better!”

“Me next,” Shannon smiled, holding up a thick, blue dildo.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Sapphine Caves, The Unseen Realm

”It’s so good to be in your arms again,” Aaliyah cooed, holding her husband tight.

Kyle’s dusky, strong body held her, her breasts crushed against his muscular chest. Joy beat in her. She was with her husband, safe in his arms. He squeezed her tight, like he was afraid to ever let her go again.

“I missed you so badly,” he groaned. “You had me so worried.”

Aaliyah looked up at him, gazing into his slanted eyes that could be as hard as stone when he was angry, but now were soft as he looked down at her, full of his emotion. He had rescued her from the Ifrit and together they would rule the Djinn.

Their lips met, his tongue passionate. They were in a bed, his body atop her, his strong hands roaming her form, teasing her and exciting her. She couldn’t wait to spread her legs and submit to his desires.

“Wake up!” a woman hissed, intruding on her peace.

Kyle began to fade away, feeling lest distinct. Panic clenched her and she tried to hold on, squeezing hold of him. Her body shook hard, a woman screaming at her, banishing the sweet dream.

“What?” Aaliyah groaned, opening her eyes. She was still in the Sapphine Caves bound to Zaritha.

“What a tasty feast,” a cold, snarling voice growled.

Sleep fell away as Aaliyah bolted up right, her heart hammering for fear. A bestial, black figure crouched, a long, red tongue lolling from a mouth of sharp teeth. Aaliyah let out a shriek, kicking away from the twisted Ghul. She had never seen one so black and twisted, and the look of hunger on its face sent shudders through her.

“As you can see, I have the Jann in my custody,” Zaritha said, standing above Aaliyah. “So long as she is in the Sapphine Caves, she cannot communicate with her husband and use her powers. Go tell Rashid where we are so he can deal with her.”

The Ghul licked it’s lips and leaped at them.

Aaliyah let out another scream, helpless with her powers bound. She could summon her clothes, her beauty supplies, and transform into a whirlwind of dust. But with the chain about her, she couldn’t escape.

Zaritha conjured fire between them, stopping the Ghul’s leap. “Why do you attack me? I serve Rashid like you, Jowah. So heel and obey me.”

“You serve Rashid no longer.” Jowah licked his jowls as he peered at them between the flames. “You have failed him.”

“What is he?” Aaliyah gasped.

“Unbound,” muttered Zaritha.

A chill ran through Aaliyah. All the five Djinn tribes—Jann, Marid, Ifrit, Si’lat, Ghul—were bound by Laws laid down at the moment of creation. No Djinn could kill a mortal except in self-defense. They could not kill their fellow Djinn except at the order of the Sultan. And they could not dwell in the Mortal World for more than a year without being bound to a Master.

“How has he not been dragged into Haawiyah?” Haawiyah was the fiery hell where any Djinn should be cast who broke the Laws.

“I did terrible deeds,” cackled Jowah, his breath a rancid fume.

A roar of insects hummed through the air, spewing from the Ghul’s mouth. They crashed into the barrier of Zaritha’s fire, their small bodies consumed in the flames. Every small body puffed into greasy smoke and they died by the thousands, the oily smoke rolling across the floor of the cave towards them.

“I don’t like the look of that smoke,” Aaliyah whispered.

“It’s poisonous,” Zaritha hissed.

Zaritha fled the smoke, racing past Aaliyah. The Jann went to stand, but the chain connecting her to the Ifrit went taut, pulling her off her feet. She landed hard on the crystalline floor of the cave, pain flaring in her body. Zaritha gasped, jerked short, then turned and yanked on the chain, pulling Aaliyah away from the spreading fumes.

“Free me!” Aaliyah commanded as her wrist screamed in pain and the crystalline floor bruised her side.

“I can’t! You’re Rashid’s prisoner.”

The noxious fumes snuffed out the fire as Aaliyah managed to scramble to her feet. “Fire cannot stop death,” cackled the Ghul. “It can only make it sweeter.

“Shaitan!” Zaritha screamed, throwing fireballs at the Ghul as it cackled and hissed, leaping about the cave. Another swarm of insects surged at them, consumed by fire, creating more smoke, forcing Aaliyah and Zaritha to retreat down a tunnel, racing side by side.

“Yes. Flee. Let fear season the meat!” cackled Jowah, lopping behind them. “Marinade in terror!”

“You have to release me! I am your mistress. You shall obey me!”

“I serve Rashid!”

“Why?” Aaliyah threw a look over her shoulder at the pursuing Ghul. “Rashid sent that thing to kill you.”

The Ifrit stopped, turning to face the Ghul, her face burning with anger. “I served him faithfully and he sends his dog to kill me!”

“What a terrible Master. Kyle and I would never treat you like that. You are such a powerful Ifrit. We would respect you.”

“Such sweet words you speak,” Zaritha hissed, throwing fire. “Do you really mean it?”

“Yes!” Aaliyah huddled behind Zaritha. “Free me so we can move faster.”

The chain dissolved as the Ghul leaped. Zaritha’s hands were engulfed with flames, fire flashing down the tunnel, lighting up the blue walls. Jowah dodged each ball of fire, leaping from floor to the side of the tunnel, then racing up onto the ceiling, clawing along, his tongue lolling as he cackled his enjoyment.

“So desperate. So afraid. So tasty.”

“Get out of the cave,” Zaritha shouted. “Return to Kyle. Let Rashid stew in bitterness and fear knowing his enemies are reunited!” Fire wreathed the Ifrit as the Ghul lunged at her. They collided in an explosion of sparks, their bodies falling to the cave floor. Flames burned brighter as they grappled.

“Zaritha?” Aaliyah gasped, watching the fray. She wanted to do something for the Ifrit. To help her out.

Zaritha howled. The flaming figures rolled about on the floor. Fire crackled and popped, black smoke bleeding off of them. They crashed into the sapphire walls of the tunnel, then fell to the floor in a heap. Zaritha’s neck bled, the blood burning as it pooled on the ground. Jowah, his black skin cracked and flaking, gained his feet, fixing his bestial eyes on Aaliyah.

“Will you taste as sweet, little Jann?”

He lunged.

Aaliyah became dust, whirling in the air. She flowed around the leaping Ghul, his clawed hands swiping out to grasp her essence. She moved fast, pulling back her true essence from his touch. He missed. She flowed down the tunnel. She had to find her way out of here and get free of all the sapphire that kept her from communicating with Kyle.

She was aware of everything around her, her sight no longer limited to just a pair of eyes. Zaritha’s dark skin blackened around the Ghul’s bite, his poison devouring her body. There was nothing Aaliyah could do so she kept fleeing. The Ghul became a cloud of noxious vapors, flowing black behind her.

She raced through the tunnel, reaching the larger cave that Zaritha and her had appeared in. There were three branches out of that cave and she had no time to consider which to take. The one to her left seemed to slant up, so she raced to it, her dust whirling fast, hissing and scouring the sapphire as she past.

Jowah closed the distance, his noxious fumes seemed to move faster than her. Desperation spurred her to whirl faster as she followed the twist and turns of the tunnel. It rose up and she could only hope that it would take her out of all this sapphire.

I will enjoy feasting on you, the foul thing hissed behind her, not words, but currents that vibrated through the air.

She forced herself to fly faster as he closed the distance.

I need to get back to Kyle! I can’t die!

He neared, his foul essence reaching tendrils towards her whirlwind.

Sunlight was ahead, streaming from a hole in the ceiling of the cave.

A tendril of foul vapor wrapped touched her whirling dust, pouring into her essence.

Poison burned through her. She coalesced back into her body, falling down on to the hard surface of the cave. The vapors were above her. They contracted into a tight sea of black fog, then Jowah appeared, falling down on her. Up close, she could see half his cheek had been burned away by Zaritha, his gleaming teeth peaking through charred flesh.

She struggled to escape, but it was getting harder to move as his noxious fumes burned through her form. He licked his lips, foul spittle dripping down on her, burning like acid. Aaliyah thrashed with all her strength. But the Ghul’s grip was deathly tight.

Then the bestial thing lowered his mouth and bit into her neck, tearing at her flesh.

Aaliyah screamed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Majlis al-Jinn, Oman

Space folded around Kyle.

He held onto Fatima and Alexina as Christy used her staff. He was ready to take his wives, concubines, and Britney into the Hidden Realm to rescue his wife. He wasn’t going to let the Marids hold onto her for a moment longer.

Reality returned and Fatima laughed. “Oh, this feels familiar. We’re going to rescue Aaliyah again.”

“And we’re not going to lose her after this,” Kyle promised. I’ll hold onto you this time, Aaliyah.

His concubines all let out moans, shuddering as they activated their transformations. They all seemed more beautiful and graceful as they spilled out of the SUV. Kyle climbed out into the blistering heat of the austere desert of Oman. He summoned Earthbones, his katana feeling natural in his hand. The ground beneath his feet seemed alive, whispering to him. There was a wide, yawning space between them, a massive cave.

“There is the opening,” Britney said, pointing to a jagged hole in the ground. She had Waterclaw clutched in her hand, her hair standing up on end and faint, dark stripes appearing on her face. She was ready for a fight.

Kyle marched across the desert, shrugging out of his winter coat, letting it drop to the ground. He doubted it would be cold in the Unseen Realm. He reached the opening, peering down into the massive gallery of the cave.

“Power swirls in there,” Christy whispered as she stood near him. “The staff’s humming.”

“Take us down, Christy,” Kyle ordered.

“Let’s be ready,” Fatima grinned, her yari out, the straight blade at the end of the spear burning with fire.

Christy’s staffed glowed black. Reality folded and then they appeared at the bottom of the cave. It was huge, a current of wind stirring through the vaulting gallery. The main building of Kyle’s school could easily fit inside this gallery.

“It is the second largest known gallery in the world,” Britney said in awe as she looked about, her voice echoing back.

“You can almost hear them talking,” Fumi whispered. “Can’t you hear the voices?”

“How do we cross?” Fatima demanded, spinning about as the concubines fanned out, looking alert and deadly.

And so sexy. Focus, Kyle. You can ogle your concubines later.

“Ishtar, reveal what is hidden to my sight,” chanted Phillipa as she gazed into the depths.

“What do you see?” Britney asked.

“All the power converges near the center. Where the sunlight touches the stone. The fabric of reality is thin right there.” She frowned. “But there’s a guardian.”

“Of course there is,” Kyle groaned. “Why can’t everything be easy?”

“Then anyone would be able to enter our realm,” a feminine voice informed. Mist appeared, coalescing into a beautiful, dusky-skinned woman draped in blue silk.

Britney hissed, “Beware, she is a Marid, Kyle.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Sapphine Caves, The Unseen Realm

Zaritha struggled to get up as Aaliyah and the Ghul flew over her head. She needed to help Aaliyah. After millennium of loyal service to Rashid, he had cast her aside because she couldn’t bring herself to kill one Jann.

“One mistake,” she moaned, fighting off Jowah’s poison burning through her body. “This is how you repay loyalty!” Her words echoed through the crystalline tunnel. “I was the one that imprisoned Kalila! I am the reason the Ifrit serve you! Why, Rashid?”

Her anger burned against the poison, forcing her to stand up. Fire crackled inside her. A molten sea that she wanted to unleash on Rashid and damn the consequences of killing another Djinn without the Sultan’s permission.

She flashed into flames, the pain falling away, consumed by her living fire.

“I will see all your plans dry up like a puddle beneath the burning sun!”

She chased after Aaliyah and Jowah, rushing through the crystalline tunnels. She reached a cave with multiple tunnels branching off. The Ghul’s passage was easy to see, his oily essence staining the sapphire floor and walls as he passed. She went left, her fire crackling and roaring, echoing through the narrow tunnels.

“I’ll kill your dog and then I’ll kill you, Rashid!” she roared.

She burst into a larger gallery, sunlight streaming through a hole in the roof. Jowah was atop the Jann, his hands clutching her arms, his mouth tearing at the meat at the base of her neck. More anger burned inside her.

“That is my Sultana!”

Jowah turned, blood and flesh clinging to his teeth. Her living fire slammed into him, throwing him off her mistress. She wrapped her flames around the unbound Ghul, delighting in his howls of pain as she burned him.

He became noxious fumes, polluting her flames. His poisonous vapors mixed inside her, the pain intense. His fumes were smothering her fire, choking her out by depriving her of oxygen. She burned hotter, reaching into herself, burning her very essence.

“You will not have her, unbound!”

He howled as her flames burned brighter and hotter. She was the sun. Pure and clean. He was foul and poisonous, but fire could consume anything. She burned his fumes, oily smoke filling the cave, pouring out the hole in the roof.

Jowah tried to pull away, finally afraid of fire the way a beast should. But she didn’t let him go. She was going to consume every bit of this foul beast no matter how much of her life’s essence she needed to expend.

Her anger wouldn’t let her stop.

She delighted as she consumed more and more of him, burning every bit of his foul essence until she reached the very center of him, his heart chained with diamond, binding him to the Unseen Realm. It helped to anchor him, keeping him from being dragged into Haawiyah where he and all the foul Unbound belonged.

Zaritha burned his heart. The diamond chain fell to the cave’s floor, no longer anchoring Jowah to this reality. She felt the last bit of him die, his soul howling as the Laws dragged him down to Haawiyah.

Her fires burned out and she became flesh again. Her entire body screamed in agony. She had taken in so much of his poisonous fumes to consume him. Her skin was blackened. Her body trembled and her stomach heaved.

“Aaliyah,” she croaked, crawling to the Jann.

Her Sultana was feverish and unconscious, her flesh badly savaged, the poison consuming her. She was dying.

Zaritha seized her hand, fighting the pain. She would see Aaliyah lived to spite Rashid. She became fire one last time, pulling Aaliyah with her. Her fire burned weak, sputtering and coughing as she rose through the hole and into the pounding sun.

“Don’t die yet,” Zaritha moaned as she became flesh. They were in the blasted wastes of the Ghul lands, red rocks dotting a dead landscape. A layer of loose dirt was beneath them, blown about when the wind howled, coating everything in red.

It was what Aaliyah needed. She was Jann. The earth would heal her just like fire would heal Zaritha. Her fingers trembling, Zaritha scooped up a handful of the soil, pressing into Aaliyah’s torn neck, rubbing it into her wounds.

A whimper escaped Aaliyah’s lips.

Zaritha scooped again, packing more red soil into her wound before she began pouring it across Aaliyah’s body, letting the Jann absorb the element that gave her existence, replacing what the Ghul had poisoned.

“You’ll live,” Zaritha whispered, lying her head upon her mistress’s stomach. The Ghul’s poison burned through her, slowly snuffing out her flames. “You’ll make sure that Kyle defeats Rashid.”

Zaritha’s let her eyes close.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Majlis al-Jinn, Oman

Britney eyed the Marid carefully, holding Waterclaw before her. The Marid’s dark eyes flickered around at the concubines all poised, ready to strike, then at Kyle’s wives. Fatima had her flaming spear leveled, Fumi was drawing her bow, and Christy stood ready to begin spell-casting.

The Marid was surrounded. Yet Britney smelled only curiosity, instead of fear, from the Djinn. Britney’s heart beat faster. The change began to steal over the Rakshasa as her body prepared for battle. This creature was either so confident in her power that she could handle them all, which scarred Britney, or something else was going on.

The Marid’s eyes settled on Britney. “You wield my knife.”

“It is mine now,” Britney growled. “Try and take it from me.”

The woman smiled. “I have no intention of taking it from you. That dagger was given to the Jann as tribute so many millennia ago.” The Marid looked about. “You have all five of the Djinn Artifacts.”
“Five?” Kyle blurted out. “Aaliyah only gave me four.”

“It’s this staff,” gasped Christy.

“Yes. Wherever did you find that? The Ghul’s staff had been lost to one of Hecate’s minions.”

“Does that really matter?” Kyle demanded. “We need to get to the Unseen Realm. Stand aside and let us past or try and bar our way.”

“Forceful,” the Marid murmured. “I am Sarai, daughter of Rashid.”

“The Sultan?” Kyle stepped forward, his sword before him. “So you are our enemy.”

“Perhaps.” The Marid turned back to Britney. “My dagger chose you. I can sense the deep depths within you. The cunning. The intelligence. You serve this man. Why?”

“Because I must,” Britney answered. “I am Rakshasa. I dedicated myself to him when we met as children. I could sense his greatness.”

“And do you ever regret that decision? Has your loyalty ever waivered?”

“No.”

“Why not? Why does this man inspire you to be loyal? He lacks cunning. I can sense it in his dull eyes. His solution is strength, to batter me aside without trying another tactic first.”

“He is strong,” Britney answered, looking at Kyle. “He does not flinch from what must be done. His will is great. He has bent many to his service. And he cares. Despite his rocky exterior, warmth burns in his depths. He is the only friend I ever had. I was different. All the kids could sense it. But Kyle did not care. Even if he wasn’t a great man, I would serve him for the years he cared for me. He is loyal. He would not betray anyone to get ahead. He will come at you straight on.”

“Britney,” Kyle muttered, his eyes wide.

“Would you die for him?”

“Without hesitation.”

The Marid’s eyes narrowed, then she turned to Kyle, kneeling before him. “My father did not steal the Sultanate from just the other tribes when he selfishly held on, but he stole it from his heir. He forced my brother to commit such heinous acts that he became Unbound. Now he is little more than a monster. When I objected, he banished me to watch the portal.”

“Unbound?” Kyle asked.

“All Djinn are bound by the Laws. If we break them, there are consequences. My brother broke those rules and, instead of facing the consequences, he untethered himself from all Laws of morality. He is a beast hiding behind a cage of intellect. You will face him when you cross over. My father will unleash all his weapons to stop you.”

“We’ll defeat him and any others your father sends us,” Kyle said. There was no bravado in his tone.

“You seek the Sultanate?” Sarai asked.

Kyle nodded.

“You already have married the Jann heir,” she whispered. “You will need most of the tribes support to hold the Sultanate. Defeat my father and end his perfidy, and I will unite the Marid with you through marriage.”

“I have four wives already,” Kyle said. “And I don’t want some woman that is marrying me unless she loves me or submits fully to me.” Kyle stepped forward, cupping her face. “Open the gate, pledge me the support of your people, and you can be free to marry whom you want.”

She blinked in surprise. “You actually care about my feelings?”

“I only want women who want to be dominated by me. Who agree because that’s what burns in their hearts. Do you want to kneel before me and worship me with your body?”

“Not in the least,” she answered. “I will open the gate.”

To be continued…

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