Djinn Unleashed

by Mark Albany

  Even so, as she leaned closer, kissing her way up my jaw and taking my earlobe between her teeth, I found that concealing my arousal was impossible. She giggled softly as she felt it pressing into her ass and pushed back harder, sending a surge of sensation rushing through my body as she kept on whispering in my ear.

  I caught a flicker of motion as her wings flapped gently, probably out of instinct, as she moved up over me, straddling me as she pressed in closer, her lips still remaining right up next to my ear. She was still whispering, and I still couldn’t make it out. Not that I needed to, as the movement of her climbing on top of me had pulled her top down far enough that I could feel her pert, hard nipples rubbing into my chest through my clothes.

  “This is certainly one way to pass the time,” I said, feeling myself come to full mast and press up against her as she started grinding into me.

  She didn’t respond verbally, or at least not in any way I could understand although she continued whispering. I could feel her wrapping her arms around me tighter, pulling me closer as my hands glided up her sides then cupped and squeezed her breasts. Somehow, I had forgotten how delicious they felt, firm yet soft between my fingers. Her words changed to sounds more like moans. I could feel her arousal now, too. Not just from the hardening nipples in my hands, but from the wet heat I could feel between her legs, as she ground against my throbbing erection.

  The way her tongue and lips felt against my earlobe reminded me just how her mouth felt against my cock, drawing my imagination to thoughts I’d been having the night before. Not just of her mouth, but her breasts too and the wet pussy I could feel grinding against me. I felt a surge of pleasure rushing through my body as she kept on whispering and grinding.

  I pulled back as I suddenly realized what was happening. Runes were starting to rise from her arms, given light and form by what she was saying. She looked me in the eye, grinning as I realized what she was up to, leaning in to press a long, tender kiss to my lips.

  “What the hell was that?” I whispered breathlessly. “There are actual magical incantations to get a man hard and…to orgasm?”

  “Not as such, no,” she replied, still close enough to me that I could feel her hot breath on my cheek. “Certain words can help any man or woman, of any race really, to indulge them and put them in a state of mind where they could be easily coaxed into that, yes.”

  I raised an eyebrow. “Sounds like a useful trick. And one that I intend to return the favor on presently.”

  She grinned. “Well, you still have some sort of puritanical holdback over fucking me, so a woman needs to find what loopholes she can if she’s to get some satisfaction, wouldn’t you say?”

  I grinned, leaning back again in my seat, licking my lips and trying to wrap my mind around what had just happened. I’d always seen magic as something mighty and powerful, used for mighty and powerful things, never to be squandered on something as simple and dirty as getting someone in the mood for sex.

  Then again, I recalled how I’d found Vis on that fateful night and realized how stupid I was for clinging to that kind of idealistic nonsense. Whatever it had been made for originally, as long as there were people in the world who put priority on anything, there would be ways to bend any kind of power toward these priorities.

  The hours seemed to pass by quickly. Though it seemed that Aliana had lost interest in further pushing me with her magic after I discovered what she was up to, she still didn’t want to budge from her perch atop me. She smiled and moaned softly as I leaned back further, letting her lay her head on my chest. It meant that I had to move a bit to keep her horns from poking at my chin every time I inhaled, but the way she seemed so contented laying on top of me, her wings settling over us like the oddest kind of blanket, I couldn’t bear to budge. Considering that she wasn’t human, I could never tell if she was asleep or not just from her breathing patterns, but with her eyes closed and the smile on her face, it seemed like she was.

  It hit me that while my puritanical views, as she put it, had kept me from fully engaging, she had no such views.

  It would have explained why she’d stopped, I supposed. She couldn’t have known if I’d come or not, but she could have assumed that since she had, I had too which was why I was the one to stop her.

  I really needed to get over whatever it was that was stopping me.

  I looked up from watching her sleep on top of me, seeing that the sun was starting to disappear from sight through the window and I nudged Aliana gently. She made no sign that she’d felt it, so I poked her gently in the side. She squeaked loudly, dropping from where she was laing to the ground. I groaned softly as I pushed myself up.

  “What was that for?” she asked, looking annoyed.

  “Other than finding out if you’re ticklish or not?” I asked, pulling myself to my feet and stretching. “The sun is starting to set. The familiars should be resetting the wards by now. We’d best get moving if we want to catch them in the act.”

  She nodded, still scowling as she rearranged what clothes had come off while we’d been waiting and moved to join me as I opened the door. I looked around at the massive shelves full of old, dusty tomes and books, half-tempted to stay for just a little while longer to look over them and try and find something of interest.

  No time, though.

  “Come, we need to get closer,” Aliana said softly, taking hold of my arm. I knew what was coming and turned around to try and talk her out of it, but as my mouth opened, the world twisted violently. The corresponding twist as I appeared elsewhere sent me staggering a few steps forward as I realized that we were on one of the tall balconies overlooking Cyron’s mansion. I couldn’t be sure, but if I had to guess, I would have put a good amount of coin on this being one of the old lookouts used by the Lancers.

  “Why can’t we ever discuss transporting like that?” I asked, exasperated. “Now we’re right over the proverbial lion’s jaws, just waiting to get caught, and I have to deal with that as well as the headaches that always come…” I paused for a second, as that last part didn’t seem to add up.

  Aliana noticed it too and smirked coyly. “There is the possibility of it having something to do with sex. More blood in your little head means less in your bigger one. More tests are required of course, but I’m confident that I’ll be pleased with the results.”

  “Huh,” I grunted, raising my eyebrows. I didn’t have enough magical knowledge or comprehension of the human body to know if she was right or not, but from what I did know, it did make enough sense to warrant further study. “Wait, what do you mean by more tests?”

  She didn’t respond, not verbally anyways, tilting her head as her eyes moved down to my cock and back up to my eyes, grinning playfully.

  “Oh,” I exclaimed, trying to keep my voice lower. “I suppose I should have known that. But yes, I agree, more tests are required.”

  She grinned and turned back to look down on the mansion. I realized from the location of the central city square in front that it actually was Cyron’s. It was different seeing it from above, which was what originally threw me off, but after a few more looks, I realized that we were a lot closer here than we would have been in the library.

  “They’re resetting the wards, just as you said,” Aliana said. I turned, realizing that her eyes were closed. I could see the runes starting to glow softly on her skin, even on her wings.

  “I’m still not sure why he does it at sunset,” I admitted, dropping into a crouch next to her. “Are there any benefits to doing it at sunset?”

  Aliana shrugged. “None that I know of. There is a great deal that isn’t known about magic, even by me, however, and assuming that someone as powerful as Cyron does something without any reason for it is a dangerous line of thought to follow and could get us killed.”

  “Of course,” I conceded. “But what are the chances he’s just a crackpot, with that and his many other oddities?”

  “Considerably higher than the chances of him actually knowing some
thing about magic that I don’t,” Aliana said. “Back to the topic at hand. I managed to insert us past the wards that are being placed.”

  “What?” I asked. “How?”

  “The young familiar that was placing them had his mind on the young female familiar he was working with,” Aliana replied with a gleaming smirk. “All I had to do was distract him with that and push the words into his mouth.”

  “I hate to sound repetitive here but, again, how?” I asked. It wasn’t shocking, but it certainly sounded like a good trick to learn for later.

  “Are you doubting my powers of persuasion?” she asked, licking her lips.

  I found that my mouth was suddenly dry and my heart was racing in my chest as I quickly shook my head.

  “Good,” she said. “Because I’ve searched around the property and there was only one other part that has wards around it. They’re much stronger than those placed around the building, although they are being replaced now, too. In that little room, over there.”

  She pointed my eyes toward a small tower rising above the rest of the mansion, at the top of which was a small room with one single barred window looking into it. Even from here, the place looked impossible to break into, and I could only imagine that getting closer would reveal it to be more so. To anyone who didn’t have a djinn with portal-creating powers on their side, anyways.

  “Should we go there now?” I asked.

  “Probably not,” she replied. “Our familiar is actually trying to engage his would-be paramour in some poor attempts at courtship. It’s not going well, but since it seems that they are friends as well, she is trying to let him down gently.”

  “How can you see all this?” I asked, annoyed at being the single least useful partner in history.

  “If you had applied yourself better to your studies, you wouldn’t need me to tell you,” Aliana replied. “We had plenty of time to learn, after all.”

  “Less than a month,” I snapped back. “How long did it take you to do whatever it is you’re doing now?”

  Aliana paused, and I could see her runes faltering for a second as she realized I had a good point. I realized in turn that she would never admit it. I grinned as she shook her head.

  “That’s not the point,” she muttered, never glancing away from the room we were looking down on from the balcony, trying not to show the blush that was darkening her cheeks. “The point is, if you applied yourself more, you’d be more than capable of doing this for yourself.”

  “So, you have faith that I’d have been able to master these techniques faster than you did?” I asked. Sure, it was poking a sleeping bear, but it was still fun to tease her.

  “I never said that,” Aliana replied, looking up at me. “It’s just… if you… Just shut up.”

  I grinned triumphantly in response as she took a deep breath, trying to focus her mind as she created the portal.

  “They’re finished arguing,” she said softly. “The boy left in a huff, with his lady friend rushing behind, trying to salve his wounded pride. I actually feel a little bad about interfering with their friendship like that.”

  I shrugged. “It was bound to happen eventually. This way, it didn’t fester and get worse to the point where he would have gotten obsessive and vengeful about her not feeling similarly toward him.”

  “I suppose,” Aliana said. “Let’s go before they realize that the wards were left unfinished.”

  I nodded. Even without the headaches, the sensation of twisting through these portals of hers just wasn’t pleasant. It was like being washed in a river, beaten on a stone, and wrung dry. Even so, I was looking forward to further testing that might just help me get through this easier. I was putting my puritanical thoughts aside for the moment.

  Aliana gripped my wrist and we were dragged through the portal. It still knocked the breath out of me, but as I was getting used to it, I complained less about it on the other side.

  My eyes took their time getting adjusted to the darkness around us. I assumed that Cyron was the only one allowed up here, which meant he would be the only one bringing light up here in the first place. I rolled my neck and shoulders as Aliana moved up the steps to the room we’d been watching from the Lancers’ tower. There was an old door barring our entry, and I assumed that it was where the wards were placed.

  “Any ward worth its salt wouldn’t need to be broken each time someone wished to pass it,” Aliana explained. “Technically, the person who wove the thing himself would be able to enter and leave without trouble. Interestingly enough, Cyron appears to be the only one allowed into this room. I don’t know about you, but I think that sounds rather promising.”

  “Promising, yes,” I said. “How do you propose we get past that same ward, though?”

  “Well, as our bickering friends allowed in their distraction, I managed to add a few weaves of my own as they fortified the ward,” she replied, stepping up to the door. Wards weren’t usually strong enough to be visible, but I could see the effervescent shimmer just in front of the old oak. There weren’t many spellcasters capable of something that strong. Not anymore, anyways.

  “I couldn’t tell you why,” she whispered, almost like she was in a trance. “But the weaves of this spell just look so familiar…”

  I could see since Aliana’s horns dimly illuminated the stairwell we were in, so I couldn’t really tell if the shimmer of the ward just peeled away from her hand or if it disappeared altogether. In the end, as she pushed at the door, it opened with a long, loud groan.

  We both froze in place, listening with our hearts in our mouths, hoping nobody had heard. When there were no alarms raised in response, we both quickly slipped into the room.

  “Should I close the door again?” I asked, tilting my head.

  “What would be the point?” she replied. “Besides, we don’t want to make that racket again, and I don’t want to use any spells that might set the ward off accidentally.”

  I nodded, agreeing on that bit at least. There had to be all sorts of traps and the like built into this place to make it difficult to get into, but the most difficult part would be navigating the place with just her horns’ light for guidance. She wasn’t complaining, however, and I didn’t want to be the only one, so I followed closely behind her to make sure that if anything was tripped, she would be the one to do it. As far as I could tell, the room was filled with a wide assortment of magical artifacts and trinkets. I wasn’t sure what any of them were, but in this light they might as well just be a jumble of useless, if pretty, pieces of jewelry.

  “What’s this?” she asked, moving over to a book that was on a pedestal, open to one of the chapters and containing writing I couldn’t understand.

  “I recognize this sigil,” she said softly, running her hands over the book, eyes closing and the runes on her arms illuminating as she moved them over the book.

  “It’s the only other item in here that has been warded on its own,” she continued. “It’s the same ward that’s around the room, so we should be safe.”

  “Should be?” I asked, tilting my head.

  She didn’t respond. Her hands were on the book, quickly flipping the pages.

  “What does it say?” I asked.

  “It’s a story,” she replied. “But not one that usually reaches the likes of history books. This story should never have been told.”

  “What is it about?” I asked, my voice softer as I realized that whatever it was had an impact on her, greater than I could understand.

  “It’s about me,” she replied in a monotone. “Well, not only about me, but I do play a part in it. The mighty elf prince Abarat was watching the destruction of our people and knew that something had to be done. He joined forces with the Sisters Three to perform a forbidden rite that was supposed to bring back an army that would protect our people from ultimate destruction, but during the summoning spell we realized he’d tied our fates to the spell but not his. The rite was partially successful, but we were too deeply bound into the
magic. It cursed us.”

  “He used you and your sisters as familiars to protect him should the spell go wrong,” I said with a nod. “Which it did, otherwise there would have been no curse. Wait, wait…” I paused, raising my hands to bring the whole line of thought to a halt. “Our people?”

  She turned away from the book to look at me. For the first time since I’d met her, I could read alarm in her features, like she’d just given away a secret she’d never meant me to know. I understood. Elves were the reason why there was stigma against magic in the first place, and while they had gone extinct many, many years ago, the thought of them as villains hidden in the woods was still what propelled small children to do their chores and go to bed at the appointed hour.

  “You and your sisters are elves?” I asked. I liked to think I was open-minded about such things. Old stories were of little consequence to me. Besides, the stories told about djinn were a lot worse, all things considered, so in practical terms an elf was a massive step up.

  “Yes,” she replied, looking down. The light in her horns dimmed and her wings drooped. “A very long time ago.”

  I shook my head, stepping closer and wrapping my arms around her, hugging her close. She seemed surprised by the gesture at first, but quickly squeezed me tighter.

  “I know that elves aren’t exactly looked at in the best light these days,” I said softly. “But I like to think I know you well enough that any old prejudices can be pushed aside. You’ve saved my life more times than I can count, and if that’s not enough to help me be able to see past some old fairy tales, well, I don’t think you would have liked me enough to stick around this long.”

  She smiled, pulling away and brushing a tear from her eyes. The light in her horns was back, which I took to be a good sign. Her face quickly dropped again, however.