This is a story I've been sitting on for a while now. It's a bit raunchy (as in roughly written, not erotica) because it's on of my earlier works. I want the public opinion, so please, I would love even the most hateful of critics or briefest of ratings. Do your worst...
Prologue…
“...And there will come a warrior from the world
Which hath betrayed us, a demon Djinn of great measure
Who will bring a tide of hope amidst the darkness.
Bring the end to the land Ingeo
And free the Creatures of their hidden nature
To become the teachers we all once were.”
The monster cackled as the words bounced off the rough walls. A human woman swayed back and forth in the corner, praying for her sister and her own child. How could this happen?
“Those were the last words ever spoken by Everelle you know, before she committed suicide. I am very lucky he came along when he did. A kind of bonus, don’t you think?” His claws dragged across the rocky floor. His armor was burned from the battle with the Djinn from the prophecy, and the burns would last forever on his skin.
“He even got Haruax senior out of the way for me. Now it won’t be so hard convincing the silly humans he is a danger.” Suddenly the creature buckled up, convulsing with a thought. His golden goat-like eyes darted around, never holding still. “And he is a danger. He is. He will drive the creatures into the ground if cannot stop him.” He slinked toward the shivering woman. “And your sister. Don’t worry love; I’ll save her from her fate. The day she met that Djinn was the day her soul entered great peril, but worry not, I will save it. And put it to good use.” A claw drew itself a line of blood on the woman’s’ cheek. She whimpered, but just barely.
“A Djinn who murdered his own father, hmhm well, the humans will have no trouble putting that to evil causes. Now, all I have to do is wait. Ride out the storm that comes with tall, black, walls of darkness.”
Suddenly a toddler tumbled into the picture. A little dark headed girl with black eyes, courtesy of a demon for a father. They glittered like mica. “Mama!” She cried, and ran for her. However, a paw swooped in from the sky and snatched the child up. It dumped the toddler onto a ledge, where a rope was quickly knotted around its neck.
The monster harrumphed, and peaked out of his hideout. The Goblins in the valleys were scouring the earth of Ingeo, but they wouldn’t find them here. Not this far in the Mountains. -What was that? His watery goat eyes darted to the base of his mountain, then glided on. Just a Shadow. They were harmless. Off in the distance, he could see the black walls that inched forward, slowly, surely, consuming Ingeo as it went. The world was ending. No, the old world was ending. Earth was waiting. That was their world now.
“The humans won’t stand a chance.” He allowed himself a small smile. He turned back to the whimpering woman. “And neither does Alister. As soon as he has settled himself on Earth, and with your sister.” The woman looked up with fear in her eyes, “The baby can be put to good use. Burned of course, for the greater good. For,” he both slithered and walked deeper into the cave for a rest, “No two Djinn can exist at once.”
Chapter 1……… A Change
A great eagle soared over a world that was not ours. Its crest was an odd color of silver, as if it had been dyed, other than that the eagle was black. It was twice the length of a school bus, dwarfing anything that flew beneath it. It surveyed its kingdom, letting its shadow grace the plains below it. It flew higher; bursting through a thunder front that had rolled over the sky earlier that day. It could see nothing, until it burst through the top a few minutes later. Crystals of water clung to its feathers while it dove through the clouds again, shredding them into pieces. As if something had flipped a switch, it was once again in open air and the earth was hurtling towards it. The eagle pulled up, snatching some conifer branches as it flew farther up into the sky. Its wings drew the air around it like water, the majesty of it all stopping all who watched.
He changed his course, flying instead to a waterfall that dwarfed all who compared it to our own world's waterfalls. A quaint courtyard rested in the center, water parting around it just before crashing into the abyss below. Like an island in a storm.
The eagle sighed as he looked upon his home, and came in for a landing. Smoke tendrils escaped through his feathers, and he caught fire as he hit the flagstones. The fire boiled up, then cut off, and all was left was tall, thin king with olive skin, burned clothes and leopard's fur for hair. It rose along his scalp, forming a natural crest he would carry on him no matter what form he took.
Alistair scanned the yard. It was strangely silent, and a bit forlorn. Usually bustling with activity, today it was silent. The First Djinn, Everelle, stood in the center, bravely starring off into the distance. Alister studied her for a second, and then looked away, a pain in his chest of memory. He decided instead to find Tiberius, or Shadow. Shadow preferably, but he hadn't seen a lot of his friend lately. The Halls were empty as well, which was also odd. Usually at least a couple of Bats and angels wondered around. The silence unnerved him, for it hadn't been this silent in three months. Since when Alister took the throne and the Griffins and his Father, were overturned. Alister made his way toward the war room, deciding to find Tiberius, a sure find, instead of wasting time summoning Shadow.
The Chamber itself was a room of arches, with circular table. Tiberius was, as always, studying a map of Ingeo. Several spots of paint dotted the map, color coded for goodness knows what.
Tiberius turned, and smiled, showing off two long vampire canines. His blood red eyes were darker than usual, which was a sign that he was moody. Alister debated whether or not to flee, but the choice was made for him as Tiberius greeted him in the usual.
"Young wildfire! How are you? Been ignoring your duties again?"
"Yes." Alister replied, not in the mood for a play argument, "Where is everyone? The halls are empty, and the Bats aren't in the courtyard." Alister let a bit of concern leak into his voice.
"Oh, I diploid the lot to patrol the borders, especially in the Delta." Tiberius pointed to a corner of their small, special world were a line split into a dozen and emptied into a sea. Three black dots populated this area.
"The entire force? What's happened?" Tiberius sighed. He looked up to Alister from the map. The King stared at him hard. Tiberius studied his new king. Alister’s eyes were black, not in some form of dark brown, but genuinely black, as are all the eyes of Haraux decent. Charles Haraux, said to be the right hand man of the devil himself, had sired the Djinn, as was tradition for all Djinn creations. Each Generation, the mother is to be burned, and father to be alternating between an angel and demon. His king landed on the demon's card.
At first, Tiberius was sure Alistair was to be a carbon copy of his father, but, as it turns out, Tiberius was wrong. It isn't often Tiberius was wrong either. Alister was a good man, and an even greater King, and probably the Greatest Djinn since Everelle, the first of the rare species. Tiberius frowned. "Alister, sightings have been reported, disturbing, sightings." "Yes, what, what are they?" Alister was impatient to fix whatever problem presented itself. "Well, Majesty," This snapped Alister's attention, rarely ever did Tiberius call him anything other than a fire to be put out. "It seems as though, the borders," Tiberius stopped, trying to find the words. "Yes, yes, get on with it." "Sightings of darkness, from overseas, have been seen in the south. Like, like ink on satin they call it." Tiberius pointed to the north, "Blackness was never known in the Ice Abyss until a few weeks ago, when a mad Ice Owl came from it's place in the fields." Tiberius paused, uncharacteristically weak sounding and feeble.
"Sire, Ice Owls have never been known to be even remotely close to the mountains. Only twice have expeditions made it that far north and returned."
Alistair felt the panic in his gut twist, begging to be free. "Why wasn't I informed of this?" he hissed.
"I thought it was a single Mad Owl, but then reports came form the Dune Runners in the far Southwest, and several cranes reported it in the Marshes. Something is wrong."
"You think?" Alister nearly shouted, but quieted. Tiberius scowled, searching for a way to retort. "What is this blackness?" Alister asked, controlling his anger.
"We don't know," replied Tiberius haughtily. "We have never encountered this in both worlds. Not even my sources of Earth can find something that matches these descriptions. But the Ice owl said," Tiberius’s eyes stared at the blank edge in the map that read Ice Abyss. It lay just beyond the mountains were the Courtyard Alister landed in resided. "Said it was like an infection, once the darkness swallowed it, it no longer was healthy or, existing."
Alister looked, and shook his head. "What of the Delta? Surely this, this, thing, can't be coming that close so soon?"
Tiberius answered doubtfully, "Selkies are moving northward, and the spots of blackness grow by the second. Selkies aren't made for freshwater living, but they say they have no choice the seas are dying."
Alister took a seat at the table. "Who else knows about this?" he asked.
"No one, only the Bats and those who spotted the problem." Tiberius said, cautiously. "Call a Council, bring everyone, they have to know what's going on the fix the problem."
"But that could cause such a chaos-," Tiberius tried to interject.
"No, they have a right to know." Alister turned from the map, and sat on the chairs. "Call the council Tiberius, I want to discuss what we can do about this, and whether or not it is a threat." He sat heavily in one of the chairs that sat around the table. His face contorted, and for a moment the pain of the world showed on his face, then it vanished. Alister was getting a little too good at hiding the emotions that buffeted his insides, but they must be kept away. He raised his eyes to the vampire. "Do it." and Tiberius, with a sour look behind him, disappeared into the hallway. Alister sat alone, the silence of the Halls weighing down on him.
It would be a couple of hours before he would be needed back here to be on the council, and he needed to see her. He felt the resolve in him to stay away tumble down, like a twig bridge. He needed to see her. Alister got up, and checking for watchers, which he saw none, gave into the feeling of turning inside out, of having everything inside of you suddenly become outside, and he was gone from the room.
He reappeared silently in his first world, where he was born and raised, and burned. Earth was turning to fall in front of him, and he was slightly shaken. It had been spring the last time he had come here. But no matter. He waited in a park, and with no one looking, changed into a large black dog. Smoke leaked off his skin, and a small burst of flame went up before a dog stood in his footsteps. He smelled and sniffed, wary of how odd it looked to have blonde fur on his head, when the rest of him was black. It was conspicuous, so smoke once again boiled off his fur, and he was a blonde dog, with a little brown in his fur, matching the hair color perfectly. His hair hadn't always been that color, but an unfortunate change into a Leopard changed all that. He had lost himself in the form; to occupy to find Rags that he forgot his humanity. Shadow said he was lucky it hadn't taken up in some other form on his body, like a tail, or a snout.
Alistair trotted out of the park happily, passing a hobo and an early morning jogger on the way to her apartment. He took a left, and tried to remember how to get to that cafe as rain started to pour, as it always did in Seattle. City of Rain, not exactly prime conditions for a Djinn, Alister thought happily. Steam evaporated off his coat from his fiery insides, and wafted up into the sky. He couldn't help but be a little afraid of all the water, it made him nervous. As it should, he chided himself; this is one of the only two ways you can get killed. Immortality was a fickle thing. Three months had passed since he last saw her; burning her neck with all the power he had shot her with, so that she would forget him. But he couldn't do that to himself. Alistair took a right as he ventured into the city. Where was that damn Cafe? He wracked his brain for directions. Tracing his memory for a glimpse of that cafe. He was pretty sure it had been downtown, on a street with a pizza place. Alister didn't even know if she'd be there, but he couldn't go into her apartment for sure.
A few people started to populate the streets now, men with stern expressions and briefcases, women with ipods plugged into their heads and kids with schoolbooks at bus stations. Alister walked past it all, and couldn't help but be a little bewildered. Was this the same world he belonged to not three months ago? It all seemed too, human, to be his world. But he was human then, and Alister supposed he didn't have need to notice his human world. He hadn't known what was about to happen.
Alister wandered through the streets, trying to find the mysterious cafe, or even downtown. His time was running out, Tiberius would be heading back to the Chamber right now. Alistair broke into a run.
Rags sipped a mocha freeze, watching the rain fall down underneath the awning of her favorite cafe. She studied the people as they passed by. They all seemed preoccupied. Unlike her, she was about as unoccupied as a person could get without being dead. Three months of her life had been erased. The last time she had marked an x on the calendar was three months ago, and she was always careful of marking an x on the calendar. She got confused easily, and dates were hard to remember. Her sisters, her father, all were missing. The police have nothing to say, no facts, no accusations, nothing.
She was alone in the world.
Rags continued to sip on her mocha freeze, saddened by her plight.
Suddenly, a brown haired handsome sidled up to her out of the rain, and sat down beside her.
"You look depressed." He said.
"I feel depressed." She said. Rags was not one for talking to total strangers, but this boy seemed nice enough, and she needed something to occupy her time.
"Can I get you anything?" He asked, smiling sympathetically.
"No, I just want to chat." She said, setting her mocha aside.
"Jake Silina," the boy said.
"Rags, or, Macy, LaCrosse. Macy is my real name, but Rags is what friends call me."
"Good friends, but talk about what? There is a movie about a man who hires a hit man, but thinks the hit man’s a clown. Have you seen it?"
"No, but it sounds stupid, no offense."
The boy held up his hands, "None taken."
What was she doing? This kid was probably a stalker, some type of perv! Why was she even talking to him? "I would have like to seen Star-Crossed though, before it went out of theaters, have you seen it?" She asked, entertained the boy a little longer.
"Oh, ya, it was okay, not really worth seeing in 3-D, but the CGI was pretty well done."
She nodded, starting to get a dangerous feeling in her stomach. It flipped and flopped, trying to tell her this was not right. But it wasn’t about the boy, the boy was fine. Both figuratively and literally. His green eyes blinked, and he said something, but it was muffled, as if said from far away. She shook her head, and her ears returned. "I'm sorry, what?"
"I said, would you like to got to a movie with me." He smiled, "It's the Samerson's Art Celebration, and they are going to show some homemade movies, like Sundance, only waaayy smaller scale."
That sounded like a blast to Rags, but something in her stomach told her not to, to stay away. But the boy wasn't dangerous. Something Rags was doing was causing this, but what? But she managed to smile and nod, but added, "Being since I don't know you that great, I'll have to bring some friends of mine though."
"Oh, that's fine, it's not really a great place for one on one anyway." He laughed easily.
Something twisted in her mind, a voice, telling her to back away. Finally Rags realized what if felt like. Like she was cheating. She had never cheated in her life, but this was definitely the feeling. Cheating on whom?
Rags looked around, and could hear the boy ask for her number, but didn't reply right away.
After a moment of checking over her shoulder, Rag gave him her cell phone. "Just text me," she said.
He started to talk some more, but a voice shouted in her head to take it back. Rags looked around again, and her eyes fell on a large yellow dog. It stared at her and the boy, ears flat back on it's knack, and ruff raised. It was going to attack. She gasped, and shied way, standing up, knocking over her mocha. She could here the boy jump up to, and come around the table to her side. The dog growled, and there wasn't a doubt in her mind it was going to rip her throat out.
The boy held her hand, and spotted the dog. He took her toppled mocha cup and threw it at the dog, shouting, "Get out of here, go on, get!" the cup landed on the dog's snout, a perfect shot. The dog shook itself, as if out of a trance, a stared at her for a split second before bolting down the street, across the road where a few cars slammed on their breaks, and out of sight. "I didn't know you were afraid of dogs," the boy breathed heavily, as if the dog had scared him too.
"Yeah, wait, what?" She shivered, wiping her arms, as if to rid herself of the trance like spider webs.
"That you were afraid of dogs," Jake said.
"Ya, don't know why." Rags laughed, but it was empty, all the laughter had been scared out of her.
"So, you alright?"
"Yeah, I'm fine."
"Cool, so I'll pick you up at, three? On Saturday?" The boy grinned, revealing a perfect set of teeth.
"Yeah, cool." Rags was distracted, but smiled. The boy left. She did too, paying the waiter, and walking home in a trance. She had never been afraid of dogs before, not like that. Those eyes, they didn't belong to a dog. They were so familiar, so familiar. It seemed like a stranger had walked by wearing her favorite shirt. But she feared them too. She hated them, and was confused at them belonging to a dog. Then again, she was happy to see them, they meant safety, and love. But that wasn't love behind those eyes, that was bone-crushing hate. They were so black. So black. Not brown, not blue, but black.
Once she was home, she cried, Rags couldn't even come up with a solid explanation for it, but sorrow whipped through her, tearing her to shreds.
Alistair ran from the scene. He bolted though the street, knocking a few people down, and earning many cusses and names along the way. But he didn't stop until he was safe in the alley. Alister felt as if his heart had been stuck with Novocain, then sent through a shredder. He could feel the blades moving against his heart, but could feel no physical pain. He let out a sob, which came out as a whine. The look in her eyes when she saw him. Terror, then that, that boy came to her and threw that, what was it? A cup? He had been knocked out of his trance, and had run away.
He should be happy for her that she's moving on. But then why do I feel this way? Alister thought. He felt the bottom of his heart bleed out, and wither. She had forgotten him, and had found another. Smoke riled off his skin, and then he was human. No, not human, Alister thought, just looking like one. He let the flame inside him consume his hand, and he watched in fascination as it flickered across his skin, but he felt no pain. This was him. He wasn't human, he didn't belong with Rags, and he no longer belonged in this world. He let out dry sobs, but tears did not come. The fire inside him burned them up before they could be let out.
He had loved her so much.
Alister was reminded again why he had left her in the first place. She was human, mortal, far to venerable to be in his world. There was so many ways she could be hurt. For instance, attacked by a dog. So many ways she could die, and it would be his fault. He closed his hand, extinguishing the flame.
Shadow noticed Alister seemed different than when he was last with him, which granted, was a while ago. Alister had never been the talkative type, or the smiling, or the laughing, but he hadn't been like this. He had been quick to be angry, and quick to care. Now, it was as if he had been scooped out of any emotion. Only a cold, hard, shell.
He danced up to Alister when the Djinn came into the room, the full council already assembled.
Shadow was one of few Shadows that still existed, feeding on stories the way plants feed on sunlight. He looked like smoke, like smoke come to life, and served as one of Alister's top advisor, that is how they met after all. Once, a few months ago, Alister had been burned, and had came to Ingeo confused and a bit scared, not knowing he had just inherited the genetic Mandate of becoming a Djinn, and therefore King of Ingeo. It was Shadow that had told his father how to burn his son, against his will of course. Alister had quickly forgiven Shadow for taking away any chance of him living a full human life, and had taken him on as his best friend. Shadow still could not believe it.
Alister stared off into space though, when Shadow asked him what was wrong. "Nothing, of course Shadow." he said, in that silky voice of his. "Liar," retorted Shadow's airy one. "Maybe we should postpone the Council," said Shadow, wrapping his non-solid form around Alister's shoulders.
"No!" Snapped Alister a little too loudly. All eyes turned to him. "No," he whispered to Shadow, "This needs to be dealt with now." Alister slipped away before Shadow could put in another word.
Alister turned to the Council and sat down.
"Let this meeting begin, then," said Tiberius, giving Alister a piercing look. Alister ignored it, and began.
"We all know of the Darkness spreading at the edges, correct?" He received nods, "And what else do we know? Nothing. This is our purpose, to determine what these, areas, are, and what they mean to the well being of Ingeo." Alister surveyed the table. Not one being was human.
When no one spoke, Tiberius said gruffly, "Clearly this isn't something good can come from, our sources say that once the, clouds, lets say, touch the land, it changes. It no longer exists."
"Could it be a plague of some sort?" asked a pompous looking goblin, but a Kelpie, taken to human form, gunned down the notion. Water rot had taken to his body, lips, ears, and fingers decaying, along with patches of hair missing.
"Whatever this is, it's clearly not a plague, and for a plague spreads, and this has been coming from every corner of the map, working it's way inward."
"Perhaps it is from a single carrier," Suggested a plump Elf, who had reformed during Alister’s ruling and turned to their side.
"A single being going from the Delta, to the Ice abyss? Impossible." the Kelpie waved the notion aside. "The things happened at the same time, making it impossible for the thing to travel from one corner of our world to the other."
"Unless it blazed," suggested the Elf, referring to the Ingian term for teleporting.
"Only higher individuals can do that, Demons, angels, the like." Snorted the kelpie.
"Djinn," Said the Elf. All eyes turned to Alister.
"Why would I want to plague my own country?" Alistair narrowed his eyes, "If I had wanted that to happen, I would have let my Father take the throne." The elf turned red under Alister's stare, and turned away. "I agree," said Shadow, dancing above the table. "Perhaps he is looking for an excuse to relinquish his rule, maybe the pressure came on too fast." An Angel on the far end started to speak, "After all, all Djinn before him have had training, preparation, lessons, what did this one have? Three weeks work with a shadow." the angel's lips perked up, in a small smile. Alister glared, knowing he wasn't the least bit sorry. "What proof do have of this neglect for the throne," Tiberius challenged, "what facts do you have for this alleged crime?" Alister knew what the angel would say next, and desperately wished Tiberius had let it go. "Why, wasn't it just this mourning the King slipped away to Earth? To check on a sweetheart, my sources tell me."
Alister felt the air in the room suddenly become heavy as eyes turned to him. He nodded, "Enough," he said. "But, He admits to it. Why is he even on the throne now, if he favors his old girl who's already forgotten him over his own world that depends on -," the Angel didn't get to finish.
"I said ENOUGH!" Alister bellowed, and the flames in the candles that surrounded the room flared up, suddenly wild. "This council is about the Darkness that threatens to consume Ingeo, if you have trouble with my policies, take it up with me, or my people, but, NOT, in a War Council! And make no mistake, that is what this is," Alister glared at the angel, who had grown white. Alister felt the feathery feeling of flame glide across his cheek, and he realized he had nearly Accessed in front of everyone. He got his flame under control and under his skin, straitening his clothes.
Everyone was silent for a moment, stricken into the quiet. Shadow drifted in a corner, staring at Alistair.
Alister let out a shaky breath, and said, "Anyone, else, have a theory." He visualized how he must have looked, a flaming man with black eyes yelling at everyone. Like a demon. Like his father. Alister felt horror in his mind, but was careful not to let it show on his face.
"Well, it might be a spell of some sort," said Tiberius, breaking the quiet. "It's too big and widespread to be a spell," mumbled the Kelpie, almost a whimper. Alister felt his cheeks turn red against his will. He scared his own parliament.
"Maybe it's not any of that," said a witch, who had not spoken until now, and was the only one not flustered by Alister's outbreak. She was old and granny like, almost as if she should be baking cookies instead of brewing deadly concoctions. "My ancestors assisted Everelle in creating Ingeo, the safe place of the Creatures." she continued, taking everyone full in the face. "Everyone knows this story."
"Except the person who should." muttered the Angel, and this time it was Shadow who snapped up. "Get out!" He yelled, flying at the Angel, "Get out of my sight!" When the angel stood defiantly, Shadow flew up and into his nostrils, billowing in and out of his ears. The angel started to cough hysterically, trying to get his wings up to blow Shadow away, but it was as if Shadow was a shadow, attached and never to be rid of. Finally the Angel ran out of the room, Shadow slipping in just in time to avoid being shut out.
"Anywho," the Witch continued, unperturbed, "When humans started to hunt the creatures, Ingeo was created, until humanity was ready to accept the creatures back into our first world." She smiled kindly at Alister, "The humans are ready."
This was greeted in an uproar.
"This is insane,"
"Who let her in here?"
"Guards!"
"This is mockery!"
"This is Contempt,"
"Blasphemy,"
"Juju,"
"Ridiculous!"
"SILENCE!" Alister cried over the din, and it was obeyed. "One, at, a, time." He was shaken himself, but why, he didn't know.
Another babble of noise ensued, so Alister picked a person to speak. "Tiberius!" People quieted, and waited for the Vampire to speak.
"Explain yourself, Witch," Tiberius snapped, wanting to know more before he stripped her down of her beliefs.
"The darkness is the unraveling of Ingeo, it has happened before, before our time." She spoke, surprised that this was so hard to believe. "When a world dies, all who are left in it become Shadows, drifting in time and space until another world is created in its place. The connection along with the worlds die as well, so the Shadows are trapped in the world until then."
Alister's thoughts caught on something, "Wait, you said, Shadows, like real Shadows?" "Yes, I mean real Shadows," the witch retorted, "Just ask your friend over there." All eyes turned to Shadow, who hovered in the corner, playing with a near finished candle.
