Laresa's World Ch. 24: Jonathon

"I hope we may maintain ties, Michael. Once these lands shared a bond of mutual protection." Jonathon stepped forward, clasping Michael's hand.

"No matter how Father treated you – no matter our lack of blood kinship – you were my brother, and to me, you still are," Michael said formally, squeezing Jonathon's hand. "Besides, I believe we may very well have another bond joining our two houses soon enough."

Jonathon looked confused, but Laresa could see Michael's thoughts, and knew of what he spoke. She laughed, and blushed just a little.

Michael laughed. "Come now, Jonathon. Surely you do not believe I could fail to notice your feelings for Caroline? I believe they may be returned, in truth."

"I can confirm that," Laresa added, with a knowing smile.

"Really?" Jonathon asked, his voice cracking in a way unheard since he passed his teen years.

Laresa and Michael both laughed. Clapping Jonathon on the back, he said, "Your genie has been right about everything thus far, has she not? Come, meet the men – and then Laresa can return me to my home. My mother still needs me."

"Of course," Jonathon said, still looking overwhelmed by all the revelations thrust upon him in the last several hours.

()o~~~~***~~~~o()

Laresa and Jonathon stood atop the battlements, looking out over the land. Upon meeting with the knights, functionaries, and servants, Jonathon decided to leave them all in their current structure. He informed each group that he had much to learn, and they were in the best position to teach him. He likewise assured them all that any who wished to remain in his service could do so, and that any who wished to go join Michael could do so with his blessing.

"I want to go out amongst the people. If I am to be ruler and protector here, I must know their needs, and capabilities," Jonathon mused, staring out over the rolling hills.

Laresa smiled at him, saying, "You may need less help than you think, Jonathon. The most important trait in a ruler is wisdom, and that very statement proves you possess a great deal of it."

"I'm not so sure about that – but I hope to learn." Jonathon stared out across his lands for a minute, obviously lost in contemplation. He then turned to Laresa and asked, "Can you make it so we will not stand out? I don't want anyone to know we are anything more than just another pair of farmers, or townsfolk."

"Easily done – and again – very wise," Laresa said with a respectful nod.

"Let us do that then."

Concentrating for a moment, Laresa opened her eyes and smiled. "I know just the place to start."

In the blink of an eye, they were gone.

===========================
Aaron's Temple –
At the height of the Inca Empire
===========================

Aaron rolled off one of his wives, one of the few not already pregnant, though he had little doubt she soon would be. Three of his other wives immediately moved to attend him, suckling the glistening juices from his softening organ. They then washed him with soft cloths, while he reclined and sipped beer brought by a fourth wife.

Glancing over at his Djinn, Aaron scowled. He briefly considered ordering her to restore his potency, and then violently taking her ass as encouragement to find him a more powerful genie – soon.

Rolling his eyes, he lay back, deciding it wasn't worth the effort. How he wished for Laresa – or even Nathifa. Either of them would be more useful than Karida.

Laresa, Aaron thought, and growled. He snorted in disgust when his wives flinched from the sound. Useless, weak women. I will find you, Laresa, and I'll make you beg for oblivion – and then deny it to you.

"Master, I have located a powerful, unbound Djinn."

Upon hearing Karida's words, Aaron hurled his wives away, stalking toward the Djinn. "What did you say?"

Both excited, and relieved, Karida exclaimed, "I've found one, Master. I've found one!"

"My clothes." When Karida didn't react immediately, Aaron shouted, "Quickly, you idiot woman!"

Karida made a nervous gesture, using her power to clothe Aaron, in a manner appropriate for the time period they would visit.

"Now, take me to this Djinn."

===============================
Present Day –
Headquarters of the Society of Djinn
===============================

"Benjamin, this is too dangerous. The shield failed just now, I could feel it," Daron said, glancing around nervously.

"Don't worry," Benjamin said with a dismissive gesture. "It was down for only a moment, and the only Finder's Stones not in storage are out in the field. Nobody would have had time to notice. Do you see, they do react to each other – this is important!"

Daron looked down to see tendrils of light swirling between the medallion in the box, and the teardrop of amber in Benjamin's hand. The reaction to the amber artifact was far stronger than the previous test with the silver pearl. As Benjamin moved the teardrop closer, the light intensified, the strands now crackling like miniature lightning bolts.

"I can feel... There is something..." Benjamin began, and then stiffened, falling backward out of his chair. As he fell, the connection between the two items was broken, the lights winking out as suddenly as they had appeared.

Snapping his containment box shut in alarm, Daron snatched it up and moved to kneel over Benjamin. Daron shook his friend, his voice full of fright, "Ben? Ben? Are you okay? Benjamin, what happened? Wake up!"

"Hello, Daron."

His eyes going wide, Daron turned toward the voice. His ears had not failed him, and he swallowed when he saw it was indeed Aaron standing with a scantily clad woman behind him.

"You're Ben's friend, and he never looked down on me like the others, so I'm going to make you an offer none of those other bastards would get. You have a Djinn artifact in that box, don't you?"

Daron didn't answer, but his thoughts betrayed him. Never very good at the mental shielding to begin with, it failed him utterly in his panic. Karida turned to Aaron and said, "Yes, Horace's medallion is within."

"Hand it over, Daron," Aaron said, his voice carrying just a hint of warning.

Backing away slowly, Daron said, "How do I know you won't just kill me if I do. They say you've gone mad. They say you're killing people."

The warning in Aaron's voice this time was not subtle, "Don't make me kill another, Daron. I will have that medallion – now." Aaron knew what Daron was slowly moving toward – an alarm button. "Don't do it, Daron. Open the box."

His hands trembling, Daron surrendered to his fear. He'd heard what happened to people who crossed Aaron, and knew that the alarm would do him no good. If he handed over the medallion, perhaps Aaron would simply leave, as he'd promised. He was shaking so badly, however, that he dropped the box. In the process of reaching toward it, he moved too close to the alarm button.

Mercifully, the very first shock of electrical energy Aaron hurled burnt out his mind before he could know pain. His body continued to contort in a twisted mockery of life while Aaron's lightning assaulted it, at last collapsing into a broken, smoldering heap when the power ceased to flow.

"Fucking idiot," Aaron muttered, holding his breath as he stepped over the corpse to retrieve the box. Now, with Daron dead, he would have to resort to a complicated process to open the box. Each was keyed to their owner, and could not be opened normally by another.

Scooping up the box with a victorious smile, Aaron turned back to his Djinn, and ordered her, "Return us to my temple."

=====================
Back in the Dark Ages...
=====================

"I never knew there was so much poverty – such despair in the world." Jonathon shook his head, standing alongside a muddy track near his castle with Laresa.

"Kelanor taxed them rather unmercifully, that's part if it," Laresa explained. "Things were better when your father ruled this land, and it will take a long time to repair the damage. Even if I help magically, it will still take a long time, because the people wouldn't understand if things just happened. They would panic and start talk of evil magic."

"The first thing I'm going to do is reduce the taxes on the poorest people. There's little sense in taxing them to the point where they can't even feed themselves. Starving people don't help anyone," Jonathon mused.

Laresa smiled. "That's a good place to start – although you'll have to find some way to distract the wealthier merchants and such. People with money tend to get irritated when they're taxed more than anyone else."

Jonathon's mind whirled through numerous reforms he planned to institute, and Laresa scanned the thoughts as they appeared. Her smile widened when she realized that Jonathon possessed a great deal of wisdom and political savvy. He would do well with this land, and with her help, it might even regain its former glory in his lifetime.

She had to suppress a wistful sigh when she saw how prominently Caroline was featured in Jonathon's musings. Laresa couldn't help but be intensely attracted to the kind, handsome young man, but she refused to turn her charms on him. She knew that he and Caroline were obviously meant to be together, and he would only end up feeling guilty about it if Laresa enticed him into bed.

Pushing those thoughts aside, because they were making her sex tingle in a very distracting manner, Laresa suggested, "It's getting late, we should probably return to the castle. You have the first of many long days ahead of you."

"I suppose you..." Jonathon bit off the rest of his words in a curse, spinning toward the people appearing in his peripheral vision, and drawing his sword.

"Oh, please, no," Laresa whimpered, seeing Aaron. His presence alone was frightening enough, but the second Djinn at the man's side chilled Laresa to the core. Horace was amongst the first to feel the touch of fire that created the Djinn, possessing immense power and knowledge of untold centuries. Laresa knew she had no hope of standing against him.

Jonathon stepped between Laresa and Aaron, holding his sword in a defensive posture, and wishing he still wore his armor. Laresa quickly transported him behind her, saying, "No, Jonathon, they are Djinn, your sword will be useless."

Aaron tilted his head back and laughed – a wicked, mirthless sound. His eyes seethed with hatred and desire when he snapped them back down to stare at Laresa. "You don't know how right you are, Laresa. You have a little history with Horace here, don't you? We had a long talk, while I was restricting anything resembling free will in him. You will be mine now, Laresa. If you try to run again, by the way, I'll kill every living soul within a hundred miles of this place. I'll do the same thing every time I find you, and you run. I'll depopulate this world in every fucking era if necessary. Women. Children. I'll kill them all. Their blood will be on your hands, Laresa."

Aaron's final words were so laced with malice that Laresa nearly collapsed from the impact of them. Hope drained from her, even as her face paled.

"Who is this, Laresa?" Jonathon asked. He could tell from her trembling that something was very wrong – and that didn't bode well for him either.

Clapping his hands, and rubbing his palms together, Aaron stepped closer to Laresa. "There's just a little problem. I need your ring, and handsome boy there seems to be wearing it." Bringing a hand to his chin, he tapped his forefinger over his lips. "Now, what shall we do to remedy this situation?"

"Jonathon, whatever you do, don't take off the ring. No matter what he does, no matter what happens, don't surrender the ring," Laresa said in a small voice.

Jonathon stated the obvious. "Laresa, you're frightened."

"I don't know if I can protect you, Jonathon. He's going to try to kill you, to get my ring, and I don't know if I can stand against Horace, let alone Karida as well."

Laresa felt a touch on her hand, and looked down to see Jonathon grasping it. "If such is my destiny, then so be it. He will pry your ring from my cold, dead finger – and in no other way."

Aaron rolled his eyes and sneered, "Such heroic nonsense." He snapped his focus back to Laresa, curling his fingers into a fist before her. "Do you know what I'm going to do to you, Laresa? I'm going to tear apart your mind, body, and soul. I'm going to make you beg for oblivion – and deny it to you. You owe me, bitch, and you're going to pay. I have larger ambitions now. I think supreme ruler of the world – perhaps even the universe – sounds good. Every single life will be mine to play with, like my own little action figures – and I'll use your power to do it."

Forced to look away from Aaron, Laresa's eyes met Horace's. In those familiar orbs, she saw a mixture of pity for her – and hatred for Aaron. Laresa knew Horace well indeed, and the bonds Aaron had obviously placed upon him tore into the fiber of Horace's being. For just a moment, she again had hope. Crafty Horace would surely find some way to break free of Aaron.

Hope sank again, when she realized it would surely be entirely too late for her.

"Stand strong, Laresa. I seized the key to my destiny when I picked up your ring. Now, it is your turn. I believe in you, Laresa." Jonathon squeezed her hand, placing his other hand on her shoulder.

Aaron made a disgusted noise, putting his hand on his forehead. "Oh, will you please shut up. I think I'm going to vomit. I've heard preachers spewing less high-minded garbage in my time, Sir Fuckwad."

Stepping out to stand beside Laresa, Jonathon pointed his sword at Aaron. "Strong words, from a man who stands behind a woman, and a lapdog of a man. A real man would face me on his own."

Wagging his finger back and forth before his face, Aaron laughed. "Oh, no, Blondie. I'm not that stupid. You know, I'm going to enjoy watching you die." Turning to look back at his Djinn, Aaron said, "I think I'd like to see him explode. Little gobbets of flesh and blood sprayed over about a fifty-foot area. Let's do it that way. I wonder, do you think you could do it quick enough that some of him might splatter on Laresa, before his death sucked her back into the ring?"

"You're mad," Laresa whispered.

"Mad? MAD? I'm way beyond mad you fucking silver-haired whore. Do you know what you cost me? By the time I found worthless Karida here, I was on the verge of dying from old age. I've spent an entire lifetime dreaming of making you pay." Spittle sprayed from Aaron's mouth as he screamed, jabbing his finger toward Laresa accusingly. He breathed heavily for a few moments, and then an evil smile spread across his lips.

"And now, I will."

Laresa summoned up her strength, knowing it was a futile gesture. She had barely stood against Karida. She knew it would be impossible to resist the type of power Horace could bring to bear against her.

A thought ordered one of his Djinn to summon up a cushioned chair for Aaron, into which he promptly plopped down. Reaching down, he extended the footrest, and then folded his hands behind his head

"One more death on your hands, Laresa," Aaron mocked.

For some reason, those words didn't cut into Laresa's heart as they had before. Instead, a tiny spark of hope – of resolve – deep within her flared to roaring life.

Aaron waved his hand in a flippant gesture, saying, "Kill her Master, the little Fabio wannabe. Do make it messy – but keep it off me."

Laresa closed her eyes, her teeth grinding together painfully, as the combined power of Karida and Horace slammed into her. Laresa knew Horace was holding back, because she knew his power. Horace was obeying his Master's command, but he wasn't pouring all his strength into it – yet. It was only a matter of time, because the rules binding the Djinn were absolute. Aaron had ordered Horace to kill Jonathon, and he would have to continue trying until he succeeded.

Laresa whimpered as the waves of killing energy slammed into her protective magic. Still she stood strong, her body so stiff she appeared to be a statue. Horace's power increased by the moment, and Laresa knew it must overwhelm her at any moment.

She hadn't even realized he was still holding her hand, but a gentle squeeze from Jonathon reminded her. New resolve flooded through her, and Laresa's eyes popped open. Directly before her she saw Aaron relaxing, not even bothering to watch. Her eyes hardened, and Laresa pushed back against the power assaulting her. Though she should even now be faltering, the wave of death creeping steadily toward Jonathon instead retreated.

Laresa couldn't see it, but Horace's eyes widened in surprise. What have we here? Have you finally tapped it, Laresa? Unable to disobey Aaron's command, Horace threw his full power into the attack.

Laresa withstood it.

The previously invisible war of cosmic energy between the Djinn took on physical form, showing as a shield of bright light surrounding Laresa, and a wave of crimson death pounding against it from the other two genies. Karida trembled, and beads of sweat decorated Horace's brow.

Aaron scowled, and shouted at his slaves, "What are you waiting for – fucking Christmas? Kill him, already!"

Karida collapsed to her knees, the waves of power from her flickering away and dying. In that same instant, Horace's fountain of killing energy retreated even farther, pushing back toward him. Laresa opened her free hand, the fingers splayed out wide and stiff. In a voice amplified not by her will, but by the sheer energy she wielded, Laresa said, "You can't kill him, I won't allow it. No more will die by your hand, because of your hatred for me. NO MORE!"

With those shouted words, Laresa turned her power on Aaron, while maintaining the shield over Jonathon. She knew the only way she would be able to avoid looking over her shoulder for her former Master – the only true way to save Jonathon, was to kill Aaron.

Horace immediately ceased his assault on Jonathon, turning his will toward defending his own Master. As Laresa's power struck his shield, Horace actually stumbled back a step, as if hit by a physical blow. His eyes widened in surprise once again. He knew Laresa had the potential to summon up great power, but this was beyond anything he had imagined. It took all he had to hold off her assault, and he could sense that the shield around Jonathon was just as strong as ever.

From between clenched teeth, Horace growled, "I suggest we retreat – immediately, Master."

"Are you stupid? She's right here in my clutches. You're supposed to be one of the most powerful Djinn in existence. Kill him. KILL HIM!"

Laresa's stomach churned. Though she knew this was the only way to be truly free, she couldn't do it. The moment of determined power and instinct faded. Laresa withdrew her assault, concentrating on protecting Jonathon.

Horace let out a long, relieved breath. "Master, my power is beyond compare, but it appears Laresa has at last unlocked the true depths of her power. Of all those sacrificed in the rite, she was the only one to come from the clan of the highborn. She was the daughter of a Headman, and thus her transformation was special. She has the potential to rival even the gods.

Just the faintest hints of smug satisfaction – and impressed awe – touched Horace's voice as he continued. "You have given her the key to freeing that power, and you will never possess her. If I cannot combat her, surely no other can. She will defend her Masters with her newfound strength, and no genie will be able to reach them. You've just managed to deny any possibility of attaining your greatest wish."