Laresa's World Ch. 20: William

Laresa's skin crawled. As cruel as Laresa knew the man to be, to see him destroying two people with whom he was obviously acquainted – with such glee – revealed the true depths of Aaron's black soul. Once again, she attempted to leave with William. The other Djinn winced slightly, giving Laresa hope that she might yet overpower the magic blocking her retreat.

The two blackened, smoking bodies collapsed in a heap to the earth, still twitching in a caricature of life, though the two men were surely dead. Aaron stared in satisfaction at the corpses, and then snapped his eyes to Laresa. "You thought you'd hidden from me, didn't you, bitch."

Laresa squared her shoulders and said, "I made a mistake in leaving you with what I granted you when I left. I won't make that mistake again." She reached out with her power, to suck away the magic granted to Aaron when he had been her Master. She knew instantly that something was wrong.

Aaron laughed. "I expected that, Laresa, so I had Karida here reinforce your little gifts. You can't steal my lightning or my invulnerability that easily, now."

Laresa nearly surrendered to despair at that moment. Despite all her effort, he had found her, and even if she managed to escape, he would just find her again. Eventually, she would make a wrong move, or be too weak to resist, and he would have her.

"I don't make the same mistake twice either, Laresa. You'll find that out the hard way in a moment. Karida, kill that relic of the past who wears Laresa's ring."

Those words snapped Laresa out of her downward spiral. Summoning up all her strength, she shielded her Master, just in time to prevent Karida's magic from slaying William. She transformed her fear and hopelessness into power, pushing back against the continuing deadly thrust of the other Djinn's magic.

William kept his pistol pointed at Aaron, the words my invulnerability echoing in his head. Even as Laresa battled for his life against Karida, a war waged within William's head. Resigned to his fate now, his mental conflict was over whether to make a final gesture of defiance by shooting the arrogant bastard in front of him, or simply to accept his fate.

Laresa stood up a little straighter, feeling the attack of the other Djinn weaken. Apparently, she was the stronger of the two. That gave her some hope. If she could resist Karida's attack, perhaps it was possible that she could succeed in reversing the current situation, and kill Aaron.

His decision made, William aimed his weapon at Aaron's chest. "Die, ye yellow bilge rat!"

Aaron laughed, puffing out his chest and tapping it, "Try it, fool. You'll be dead in a few seconds any way."

"Arrogant bastard," Aaron growled, and discharged his pistol.

Laresa felt the power pushing against her vanish, as Karida reacted to save Aaron's life, freezing the bullet in time, millimeters from his chest. Reaching deep within her, Laresa built up her resolve, and drew upon reserves of power she had never before tapped. There was only one way to stop Aaron, and that was to kill him. Tasting bile, Laresa gathered her magic.

Aaron screamed, "Ignore the bullet! I'm invulnerable, you stupid bitch. Kill the idiot who fired it!"

"But, Master..."

"Ignore the bullet and kill him!"

Karida released the power holding back the bullet, and Aaron's eyes opened wide as it plunged into his chest.

Before either Laresa or William could react, both Aaron and his Djinn vanished.

A second after they disappeared, it dawned upon Laresa what had happened. The wish she had granted him originally had made him invulnerable to the weapons and attacks of the Inca.

The Inca possessed no firearms.

William burst out in laughter, "Got that son-of-a-bitch!"

"His genie will save him." Laresa decided that she could no longer risk William. Her strength was already waning, and she would soon need to return to her ring. "Master, I will return us to your time, if you wish."

"Aye, this world is bedeviled, take me home," Will responded.

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

"Both Djinn are gone," Khalid announced.

"There is no sign of Aaron on the GPS monitor, either," Sebastian confirmed.

The older, robed man said, "Summon every member of the Society here. We are exposed to the Djinn, one of our own has turned against us, and he utilizes the power of the Djinn. We must mourn those we have lost as well, for surely what we heard was the death of both Boris and Nathan."

"It will be done," Khalid and Sebastian answered in unison.

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

Laresa called up her magic, feeling the weakness within her grow more profound. They returned to the exact spot, and the exact moment from which they had departed.

Laresa immediately tried to explain to William what she believed was the only solution. "Master, I will be forced to rest soon, and you will be in danger. So long as you possess my ring, he will seek you. The only way I can protect you, is to leave you. Just as my magic remained upon him, so can it remain with you. I can grant health and stamina, for both you and your woman, for all your years. You already have the pouch that will never empty of money, and the pirates who sought your death are dead themselves."

William's brow furrowed and his lips pursed as he considered Laresa's words. "So I'll have coin, live well, and be humping with me woman in me old years, aye? I already spent too long looking over me shoulder, and I'm not for doing it again. If ye do them things for me, I'll let ye go."

Relieved, Laresa released her power, bestowing lifelong health and sexual prowess upon both Louisa and William. "It is done, Master."

William actually felt numerous aches and pains that had been with him for years vanish with the granting of his wish. "Well then, how do I go about letting ye go?"

"You can wish me away to another place and time, or simply lie to me. Either will accomplish the same thing," Laresa answered. "I thank you for not forcing me to endure the death of a Master. It is a very unpleasant experience."

William chuckled, and said, "I don't think I'd be caring for it much either, Lass. I think I'm going to miss ye, though. I didn't trust ye much, but ye've proven yer a good Lass, I'm for thinking. That bastard is a mean one, so I wish ye luck, Lass."

Laresa gasped, feeling the power of that wish wash over her.

Concern crossed William's face. "Are ye all right, Lass?"

Laying a hand over her heart, Laresa answered, "I'm fine. I hope that what I just felt was what I believe it to be. I could certainly use the luck you just wished me."

"I didn't even think about that when I said it," William laughed, shrugging his shoulders as his lips turned up into a smile.

"Thank you again, Master."

William looked down at the ring on his finger with a sigh, finding what he must do next difficult despite his words. Giving up the power to have all your wishes come true was not easy, but he knew from the encounter in the future that even a genie couldn't save you from all fates.

"I never once thought about having a poke with ye, Lass."

Laresa couldn't help but smile at that lie, as she transformed into smoke, returning to her ring, and hurtling across the face of space and time once more.

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

Aaron struck Karida with all his strength. "You stupid cow!"

"I tried to warn you, Master, but you commanded me, and I was forced to obey," Karida protested from where she had fallen to her knees.

"Find Laresa again — now!"

Closing her eyes, Karida reached out with her power. To her surprise, she could find no hint of the other genie. Concentrating harder proved to be of no use either. "I-I cannot locate her, Master."

Throwing up his hands, Aaron screamed, "What do you mean, you can't find her?"

"I do not understand, Master. I can sense neither her presence, nor her power attempting to hide her from me. Perhaps I am too weak. I must soon rest in my ring,"

Growling in frustration, Aaron waved his hand, "Go then. Return to my side the moment your power is restored."

Karida vanished back into the earring that served as her home, and Aaron sat down heavily into a chair behind him. A thousand thoughts of the torments he would visit upon Laresa, when he finally reacquired her, flitted through his mind – each more terrible than the last.

Shrouded by the magical luck bestowed upon her with William's wish, Laresa rested in her ring.

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

Thanks to Roust for his editing, as always.

Red dreamed up a wonderful character, and Laresa is a joy to write. Be sure to read the rest of the chain, and keep your eyes open for Laresa stories outside the chain as well. Danielle has an 8-parter, I'm in the process of filling in the time between Ch. 15 and 16 (first story already out), and Black Tulip is working on the ending to her last chapter as well.

A nod goes out to Deathlynx for all those IM conversations fleshing out the Society of Djinn too. What part do they play in Laresa's tale?

Only time will tell...