“I never really knew what they were, their deformity.” Though they were given the name slithers, not all of them shifted to snakes. A few, like Mike, could take on the form of multiple reptiles though he had his preference for the anaconda.
“They are shifters, gone wrong. The failed experiment of a young witch trying to make something unnatural happen.” Jinn looked at Mike pensively before he continued to relay the history that wasn’t his own. “Mike’s parents were at a resort, vacationing. They’d just gotten married. As far as I understand it, the witch came out of nowhere with her spell. She wasn’t provoked, just bored, is more likely. Nearly everyone at the resort, some five hundred people were changed that day. They didn’t know it, though. They left, went back to their normal lives, business as usual. It took a few weeks for the effects to really show. It wasn’t long after that when they realized they would have to hide. Mike’s mother got the worst of it. Her body deformed—half human, half reptile—but his father loved her, and stayed by her side.”
“Mike was born this way?”
“Yes, and to be honest, he’s a lot better off than anyone would have expected. Unlike those before him, his generation can actually shift from a bi-pedaled form to others, but as you can see, his skin is still not quite what you would expect of a human.” They were alone, Mike had gone off with Cole to allow the two of them time to settle in, and to give himself a breather from the judgement of Briar.
“Damn. Well, I feel like shit now.”
“Why?”
“I’ve judged him, and those like him, all of this time. I never knew.” Her eyes followed the path of the hall that led east. “That family, their children, they’ve probably never seen the light of day, or played in a field. It's so beautiful up there and they are stuck down here, fearing for their lives.”
“Well, we often make unfortunate judgements, based on biased information. That is, until we take the time to educate ourselves. Maybe you can use this experience to do that, learn more about these people and their lives. Outside of what you were told before.” Without realizing it, Jinn had already started to help Mike. Briar was listening to him, considering his words.
“We got grub!” Mike announced as he returned with armfuls of nearly expired food and some that were far past their prime.
“We’re going to eat this?” Briar picked up a piece of overly ripe fruit from the pile of food that Cole laid out before her.
“Let me guess, not good enough for your highness?” Mike huffed.
“I j-just m-meant,” she stammered, trying to find the appropriate words. “This isn’t right, I mean…”
“No worries,” Jinn stepped in, saving Briar from her bumbling mind. He waved his hand over the haul. Before their eyes spoiled products turned to new—including the piece of fruit in Briar’s hand. “Sorry, but I have to agree with Briar, tempting sour stomachs the night before going into battle isn’t a great idea.”
“Whoa.” Cole picked up a handful of food. “You think you can do that for some of the others down here? I hate to ask this of you, but I mean, these people haven’t had a decent meal in, well, ever.”
“After all of your help, I would be happy to.” He paused. “What about risking setting off the magical alarms? This wasn’t much, but a large-scale change will put out a lot of energy.”
“Oh, we are still outside of the barriers, it should be fine.” Cole wasn’t entirely sure of their proximity to alarms, but he couldn’t pass up the chance of getting his people fresh food.
“Well, by all means, lead the way.”
“Thanks. You have no idea how much this is going to mean to them, especially the kids.” Cole chattered on as he headed off down the tunnel that led to the general population. Jinn followed behind him.
The tunnel was about fifty feet long, and at the end of it was a large cavern that went deeper into the ground. A stairwell carved into the walls was the path down from the entrance to the bottom of the cavern where everyone sat. As they entered, slithers of all sorts watched them. Cole grinned. He would be celebrated forever as the one who brought the djinn who fed them like kings for a night.
“Everyone! Please gather around!” He gained the attention of the group quickly.
“Cole, who is this?” A lanky man asked with a voice that possessed more bass than his gangly form would suggest.
“Jeremy, before you freak out, I know that none of us like unexpected visitors, but trust me, he is okay.”
“That doesn’t tell us who he is,” Jeremey insisted as he looked Jinn up and down.
“My name is Jinn.” The visitor spoke up for himself; there was nothing worse than being talked about like you weren’t in the room.
“Jinn, as in Jinn the djinn?” Jeremey asked. “Funny about that naming, huh?”
“I can’t say I hear the differences in the words, but yeah, that’s me.” He’d learned laugh at the coincidence of his name and what he was turned into a long time ago. If he’d let it bother him every time someone pointed it out, he’d spend a lot of time pissed off. For someone who was set to live and eternity, that wasn’t a good outlook. “Look, Cole here has offered to help me and my friends out, and I would like to return the favor.”
“How?” A small voice questioned, a little girl who held a piece of what looked like week-old bread from the green spots on it.
“Like this.” Jinn walked over to the girl, knelt down in front of her, and turned the bread into a fresh roll. It warmed in her hand, feeling as if fresh from the oven. The smell rose from the cooked dough, filling the room. “Try it.” He smiled at her and she lifted the loaf to her nose.
“It smells so good.” Her eyes grew wide, she had never known that smell. “I’ve never smelled anything so good before.”
“It tastes even better.” He nodded. “Go ahead, take a bite.”
As the small girl bit into the bread, everyone in the space inhaled, waiting for her verdict. At first it seemed she might be unfavorable to the taste she had never experienced before. But the skeptical frown that marked her face gradually turned into a smile. “It’s so good! Can you make more?” She beamed and Jinn nodded.
“I’ll make as much as you like.”
“I’m sorry,” Briar told Mike as she picked up a piece of fruit. The cheers echoed through the tunnels; Jinn must have been working his magic.
“What do you have to apologize about?” Mike sat down after getting his cot as comfortable as it was going to get.
“Being a bitch to you all this time. I don’t mean to be.”
“It’s fine.” He picked up a fresh piece of bread, popped it into his mouth, and groaned, then chose another piece of fruit.
“No, it isn’t. You didn't choose the cards you were dealt. It's not my place to hold any of this against you. It's just hard to separate the things I’ve heard, from what is the apparent truth.” She waited before continuing. Mike lifted his eyes to her; he was listening. “I grew up being told about how horrible you and others like you were. Those stories told of thieves who were aggressive and abusive, monsters who preyed on my kind. I see now that what I was told, what I was taught, isn’t the truth, at least not about all of you. I will try harder to judge you solely on the person you are, and not the stories I’ve been told all of these years.”
“You know, you could try not to judge me at all.” He winked at her before handing her half of the loaf of bread he’d been chomping on, an offer of peace.
She accepted it and pulled a piece from the loaf, popping it into her mouth. “Yes, I could, but we both know that I would fail.” She grinned.
“True. I guess I will have to take what I can get.” Standing up, he stretched his arms over his head. “Look, you aren’t the only one with preconceived notions. You’re not exactly what I thought a fairy to be.”
“I’m not?”
“No, you’re much worse.” He laughed so hard at his own joke he snorted.
“Very funny. Where are you from, Mike?” Briar pulled a bottle
of water from her backpack, drank half of its contents, and offered the other half to Mike who eagerly accepted the chance for hydration.
“Well, I was born in New York, but I’m not really from anywhere. My family, my people, we don't ever really lay down roots, it's a life of a nomad. Stay in one place too long and you get caught up. It's different now, at least we get to call someplace home, not that home is something worth bragging about. It’s just good to be able to go back to the same place every night, see the same people.”
“Do you have a family?”
“Yes. My parents died a while back, they didn’t make it through the war, but I have three brothers and a sister.” He paused, as if considering how much he wanted to tell the woman who had yet to earn his trust. Briar wondered how much he would share with her. She understood why he wouldn’t want to, but apparently, he decided it was worth continuing. “My wife and I are expecting a little girl now.”
“Really?” Briar smiled.
“Yeah, in just a few weeks someone will be calling me daddy.” He chuckled. “You know, a few years ago the thought of being called daddy had an entirely different effect on me. I’m looking forward to it, though. My wife, Iris, that woman is absolutely amazing. I can’t imagine my life without her. Now, my focus is just trying to provide something better for her, and for our daughter.”
“That’s intense.”
“Tell me about it. Why do you think I’m here?” He looked around the tunnel and thought of the angry witches above ground who would like nothing more than to dissect them all. “I mean, I care about Jinn and his wife, really, but risking my life to save a chick I don’t even know just weeks before my child is born, that isn’t exactly a smart idea. I have bigger plans, a hope for change, and I’m hoping like hell that Jinn can help me do that.”
“That is noble of you.” She wondered if she would be able to do the same, put so much on the line, as he was.
“Noble, yeah. I guess that’s one way of looking at it.” He sighed. “Some might call it selfish.”
“Looks like you two are getting along.” Cole walked in, chest puffed out, and head held high.
“Where is Jinn?” Briar glanced behind him and saw no one. She stood, ready to fight if needed.
“Oh, he is coming, just saying his final good-byes.” Cole smiled to ease the tense warrior.
“You look mighty proud of yourself, old friend.” Mike patted the chubby man on the back.
“They will revere me.” He laughed. “They will speak my name and think of the great gift I brought upon them.”
“Is that so?” Mike peered around him. “I don’t see anyone revering you.”
Cheers from the festive slithers echoed down the tunnel. “You hear that? All of them, so happy, bellies full, and they will think of one name when they think of this night.”
“Jinn! Jinn! Jinn!” The crowd cheered on.
“Doesn’t sound to me like they are shouting your name, buddy.”
“Well, those ungrateful…” Cole huffed.
“Ah, don’t let it bother you. We all know who the real hero of the night is, and it isn’t the man with hands of magic that turn rotted food into a feast meant for a king. It’s you!”
“You know, he conjured up steaks, magically, perfectly cooked steaks.” Cole was drooling. “I haven’t had one of those in a very long time.”
“Steaks? Um… I’ll be right back!” Mike took off running toward the sound of cheers, hoping to get a fresh T-bone for himself.
“Some friend he is. They ate them all anyway,” he muttered, and Briar laughed.
“That guy has some real issues.” Jinn laughed as he appeared in the corner behind Briar. “Sorry, I had to get out of there. You know Mike came running in and dived at the table of steaks? It’s a good thing I conjured more, or he would have likely killed that little girl for her piece.”
“Yeah, more steaks, great,” Cole mumbled. “I need to go check the guard posts. I’ll be back.” He sauntered off.
“What’s wrong with him?”
“I think he really wanted to be the hero of the night, and well, the steaks kinda overshadowed him.”
“Oh, steaks have a way of doing that. Why do you think I left Praia with so many of them?” He laughed. The steaks had been his way of apologizing for putting her on babysitting duty. If he ever needed her to forget about something, he just had to plop down a fat prime cut in front of her.
“I spoke with Mike.”
“Yeah? How ugly did it get?”
“Surprisingly, it went well.” She paused, as if recalling their conversation. “You’re right. I need to educate myself more on him and his people. A lot of my people need to do the same.”
“Well, it’s a start.”
“Man, you sure do know how to conjure up a mean steak!” Mike walked back into their little dugout with two steaks in hand while he chewed on the rest of another.
Jinn laughed. “You are a heathen, Mike.”
“What? You know as well as I do, steak is a rare commodity. Sure, it may not be the real thing, but it tastes just as good!”
“Not the real thing?” Briar asked.
“Well, it’s magic. It isn’t carved from an actual cow,” Jinn offered.
“You mean to tell me you happily eat fake food?” She looked at Mike, who started on the next slab of meat.
“Hell, tastes good, and fills my belly. What’s fake about that?” He grinned around the mouthful.
“Huh, so this bread, not real?” She lifted the bread from the platter.
“The bread is real. It’s a time isolation spell.” Jinn picked up a piece for himself. “I reversed time, for just the target intended, in this case, a loaf of rye.”
“After eating rotted fruit for years and having to pick around the parts the flies beat you to, a piece of fake steak. Bread reversed in time is the best a man can get down here!” The slither sat down on his cot and finished off his meal. He offered Briar a piece of the meat, but she declined.
Jinn took this as his time to exit. He left the two to have what would be the most normal conversation he’d heard the two of them have since meeting. His designated nook waited for him with a cot that sat in the far corner. Walls of compacted dirt muffled most of their conversation and gave him enough quiet so that he could meditate. Providing a night of happiness, of good food and peace of mind for others was great, but he had so much more to worry about. In less than a day he would be face-to-face with her, and with his fear that she no longer loved him. As much as Mike’s bickering with Briar, the temporary underground lifestyle, and the shit he would most likely be stirring up with the fairies by helping the slithers all weighed on his mind, nothing was heavier than that of his concern for Nitara. He cleared his head, centered himself in his magic, and escaped the world, back to her, when she loved him without condition, without fault. Her smile was his breath, her eyes, his heartbeat. Her every imperfection, his reason for living. He loved her without regard for himself. It was those moments he needed to hold on to, those moments would be the ones to push him forward when shit got real, to save her life, even if she made it clear that she wanted nothing to do with him.
“I hope you all are rested up and ready to go! We have a lot of ground to cover,” Cole announced as he approached the three of them. They were up and ready to start the next leg of their journey.
“What happened to you last night, I thought you were coming back?” Mike stood, worried about his friend. Cole always kept his word; his absence had thrown the man off.
“I intended to, but it seems one of the checkpoints was overtaken, which means we have been rerouted.” Cole omitted how it was overtaken and no one asked. They assumed he meant the witches.
“Rerouted?” The fairy asked, confirming what she overheard.
“Yes, unfortunately.” Briar rolled her eyes and Mike huffed. “Rest assured, we still have safe passage. This is just a minor setback.”
Jinn exited his makeshift room. “How minor?�
�
“A few hours, tops,” Cole quickly responded.
“Great, then I suggest we get going.” Jinn picked up the bag that held the few possessions he brought.
“Yes, but first we need to go over a few things.” Cole sat down on the ground, inviting the others to join him. “I thought this might be helpful for all of you. This is the place we’re headed.” Cole rolled out the large blueprint.
“How did you get this?” Mike peered over the plans of a massive home.
“Witches didn’t seem too concerned with public records when they took over. There is a building that stores blueprints for every structure within a hundred-mile radius.”
“So what are we looking at?” Jinn swept his eyes over the blueprint laid out on the ground.
“The home is large, but lucky for us, access to the basement is pretty easy. Head through the front door and make it down the hall straight ahead. Access to the basement is the second door on your left.”
“Have you been inside before?” Mike doubted his friend was that brave or that foolish.
“Me, no, but some of the humans up there, the ones they haven’t chopped up, they help us. That is how I got the picture.”
“Thank you for this.” Jinn stood. “It will make this easier knowing exactly how to get to her.”
Mike and Briar gathered their things, they made sure that nothing was left behind and strapped their packs on tight. As the group headed off with Cole at the lead, they passed a family who smiled at Jinn, thanking him for his gifts of the previous night. Briar smiled at them as she passed, but all but the children shied away. The little girl, who looked wide eyed and happy with her belly full for the first time since she was born, smiled at Briar and eyed the bottle of water she held in her hand. Briar handed the water to the girl who happily accepted it. Though her mother relaxed, happy that her daughter would have proper hydration, her father still bristled. Well, it was a start.
Djinn Rebellion Boxset (Books 1 -30: A Post-Apocalyptic Fantasy Page 8