Djinn

by Mr. David R. Dorrycott

"It has come daughter. Your time is now. You may no longer hid behind this veil of false reality."

Djinn looked up from her scroll, her dark, red-black hair cascading about her like a veil. Hidden bells chimed lightly as her torso moved in response to her change in attention. "Father, I do not wish to become involved with mortals again. I..." she hesitated, looking down, to her side. Any direction but into her fathers burning eyes.

"You made a mistake. You fell in love with a mortal and he died. Such is the way of mortals daughter. Many times has that one been reborn since those days, even now he walks among his own kind. He has proven himself many times now, has been afforded the ability to make a difference in mortal history. You however, have yet to prove yourself. Until you do I cannot ask the council to return you full use of your powers."

"I... I understand father. I just... It was my fault."

"Yes" the much older male agreed. "You promised to do something, and in the doing you were not there when he was chosen. It has happened to us all, one time or another. Your own mother... I could not stop Death from taking her. No matter what my true desire."

Djinn moaned softly. It was an argument she had fought and lost a thousand, thousand times. One that had started when Babylon ruled, had burned through Egyptian, Greek and Roman rule, had smoldered until now she was just too tired. Standing she started rolling up her scroll. "Very well father. One last time. The deserts again?"

"Desert of a kind yes daughter. A new kind of desert, one created by the pale skinned ones. And, like all deserts ruled by mortals. Corrupt."

"I will be who's slave this time father" she asked, setting aside her scroll. "A young boy prince? Another thief? A spoiled Princess, or a mad assassin as I was the last time."

"None of these daughter. I have spoken with your teacher. He agrees with me. This time you will be free to choose your own path. No bottles, no rings. You must right the wrongs you find. You must somehow prove you are of true blood."

Djinn tossed aside her thin wrap, gathering a thicker one for her trip. That greyness between worlds was bitterly cold, even for creatures such as herself. Her transparent desert wrap would afford no protection against it. "If I fail again?"

"You will be stripped of all power, you will become mortal."

"Mortal" she sighed, slipping her wrap on. "To forget all I was, all I learned. To live the cycle of life and death for all eternity. Father please. I beg you, not that. Full death yes, but not that hell. Not to awaken between lives, knowing all I've been, forced to a new life based upon my actions. Reborn mindless to continue. Please?"

The ancient Jinn looked upon his daughter. He studied her form, beautiful by mortal eyes. Too much like her mother for him to be as harsh as he should be. Her dark brown eyes waited. Almond shaped, they ruled above a delicately pug nose. Small yet full lips, naturally ruby red and like her mother, skin a soft coffee brown nearing whiteness. She would pass as white among mortals if she wished, or black or even Asian. Such were her features. Though her blood was Jinn/Human, he noted with pride she shared her mothers form more than the over muscular Jinn. Her full breasts lifted gently as she breathed, bells attached to hidden rings speaking softly at every movement. Never a favorite, still... "My word daughter. I will speak to the council on that. Now you must depart." A flicker of finger changed reality about the woman. She found herself in a gray formless mist. Movement was apparent, as always, along with a bitter cold that seemed to reach her bones. By the time she reappeared frost was flaking off her wrap, a steam of cold greater than mortals could dream of even today hissed off the quickly discarded cloth. Better the warmth of morning desert than the chill of death beyond death.

Turning about Djinn studied her new home. Desert? Of a kind yes, for little natural life existed among these piles of steel and poured stone. I was nothing like her last home. No great dunes to blow like dust, great waves moving slowly across a near featureless surface. Finally she returned her gaze to a brightness before her, a guide sent by her father, to take her where she must be. A life would be waiting her their. As she thought of this her mind filled with images. She was.. Ester. Ester Miller, a librarian. A gentle smile blossomed on her ruby lips. 'Librarian' she thought. 'I love scrolls, what treasures will I find here?" A flicker of thought raised winds to lift her, to swirl dust about her, obscuring her from mortals sight. A home... that way. Moving quickly lest her presence be detected, she swept across the city like a dust devil.