Chapter 25: Spirit In The Sky

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When there was light again, I found myself floating through the sky. I was in a vast, pale blue sea with sporadic clouds of white in various shapes and sizes.

"Welcome to the Elemental Plane of Air," my voice informed me. "You may call me Shamsur. I am Djinn, and this is my home."

Holy Hell. You're the Djinn that my father placed inside of me just before I was born! I couldn't believe it. I wasn't part Djinn; I had an actual animate Djinn living inside of me. And now I was no longer in my world. I was in the Djinn's home world in another dimension.

"Yes, child. I have been dormant inside of you for eighteen years. Your rage toward the government facility's director during his initial experimentation awakened me. Your encounter with the young witch fueled me, but I was still too weak to take full control at that time. The anger you felt these past twenty-four hours has fed me. The Lycan child's assault finally gave me the strength I needed to break through your will entirely."

I was too shocked to think. On the one hand, I couldn't believe this was actually happening. On the other hand, I was relieved to discover those terrible attacks weren't actually me.

I don't understand. My father said you offered your essence to me as a child to keep me alive. How are you still living? I was completely at a loss for how a living being was actually alive inside of me.

"I didn't need to put myself inside of you all those years ago in order for you to survive, child. A simple drop of my magic would have ensured your body didn't reject the Lycanthrope sample I instructed the human to give you, and your regeneration would have occurred regardless. Placing my full essence inside of you was a means to escape captivity. I didn't anticipate our magic mixing to the extent that it did. Your power absorbed much of mine, weakening me to the point that I was unable to break free. Fortunately, much of my strength has been restored. I will finally be free to return to my home and no longer be at the mercy of mere mortals," he explained.

The Djinn and I approached a growing structure in the sky. As it came into view it appeared to be an oval-shaped chunk of earth floating in the air. A temple-like structure rested at the center of the sphere. Upon closer inspection, the foundation appeared to be made of sand.

"Welcome to the home of the Great Caliph. I have brought us here to ask him to release me from your mortal body, child."

When we flew through the entrance, the Djinn made an announcement. "Denizens, I am Shamsur. I have escaped captivity by possessing this Fae child in the mortal world. I have returned to my ancestral home, and I request an audience with the Great Caliph."

I couldn't see who the Djinn was speaking to. The room looked like an empty palace made of sand. After a moment or two, a gentle breeze blew by, and a dust devil appeared. Shamsur followed the whirl of sand through the great entrance into a long hall. Several more whirls joined the first, and together they blew open a large set of double doors at the end of the hall. We passed through the doors and entered into a large, sandy room. A giant, greyish-blue man sat upon a throne of white sand in the center of the large room. He wore no shirt, only chains of gold around his neck. His robust stomach covered most of his lap, but the edges of the white linen tied around his waist could still be seen. To his left and right were two Sphinxes. Lining the room were several Sylphs. If I had had control of my mouth, it would have dropped open in awe. They were the most alluring things I'd ever seen. Beautiful, bright jewels adorned their silk gowns. Their translucent wings beat to a steady rhythm. The whole scene was entrancing.

Shamsur brought us down on one knee and faced the floor. "Rise and come forth," a light, musical voice commanded. We moved closer to the giant man and stopped at his enormous feet. They were the size of fully-grown elephant feet and were adorned with large, golden anklets and several rubied toe rings.

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