Chapter 6: Chapter 4: Flight

“Get up, we gotta go!” Lucas was forced awake by Vithi shaking him urgently.

“What time is it?” He groaned, sitting up.

“Three in the morning, but there’s no time for that, the Society’s coming!”

There was a click from somewhere else in the house, and suddenly Lucas was feeling a lot more awake than he had been just a moment before. “What’s the plan?” He hissed.

Vithi tossed him his slippers. “Put these on and get your phone, I’m going to teleport us out.”

“You’re going to what?! You don’t have any magic, remember?!” He objected, putting his slippers on anyway and grabbing his phone.

“Later!” She said, bringing out a small piece of paper with some sort of symbol that Lucas couldn’t quite make out on it. She muttered a few words, there was a sudden wrenching sensation, and then Lucas could feel cool air on his face.

Looking around, he was in…some sort of forest, Vithi standing nearby. “Where are we?!” He asked, panic beginning to set in as the reality of the situation hit him.

“National park just outside of the city.” She took a moment to bend down and there was a spark from her fingertips, then she straightened back up and grabbed Lucas’s arm. “They’re going to be tracing the teleport, but that takes five or so minutes and I had Judy lay a decoy trail for us. That being said, I have a crazy plan, but I need your help and I’m going to need to make another contract with you first.”

“Uh, um, yeah, what are the terms?”

“Just that you won’t treat my any differently after this.”

“What? That’s it? Yeah, deal.” Lucas felt a small spark that he assumed meant the contract had been made.

Vithi seemed to struggle with something for a moment before she looked Lucas in the eyes and began to speak. “I will to Lucas be true and faithful and love all which he loves and shun all which he shuns, according to the order of the world. Nor will I ever with will or action, through word or deed, do anything which is unpleasing to him, on condition that he will hold to me as I shall deserve it, and that he will perform everything as it was in our agreement when I submitted myself to him and chose his will.”

“What are you – ”

“No time, just accept, please!” She begged, tears beginning to form in her eyes. “This won’t work if you don’t!”

“I…fine. I accept.” The moment he said those words there was another shock, similar to the one he felt when the contract was made, but much, much more intense. It lasted for a few moments, a strange sensation rolling over him before it stopped as suddenly as it started, leaving Lucas feeling no different.

“What…happened?” He asked, swaying unsteadily as he recovered from the sensation.

“I bound myself to you like I would a lamp. And, now that I have, I would like your permission to use you as I would a lamp, as a gateway to my lair.”

“What!?” Lucas exclaimed, shocked. She had just been freed, so why had she immediately gone back into submission?!

“Long story short it’s to hide my magic. You don’t have any magical trail, so we can completely throw them off if I’m inside of you. Please? I’m pretty sure it’s the only way we both get out of this as free people.”

“Uh, yeah, fine. But you need to explain properly later, alright?”

“I will on our way out.” And then Vithi’s form shimmered, turning into a mist that drifted towards him. And instead of entering him through his mouth and nose like he expected, it just continued onwards, gliding through his skin like it wasn’t even there.

Alright, I’m in, everything’s fine. I’ve never tried this before, how does it feel on your end? Vithi’s voice entered his mind as clear as if she had been next to him.

“Didn’t feel like anything. But, how are you talking to me? Aren’t you in your lair or whatever? Can you read my thoughts?”

It’s because of the master/servant connection. I can’t read your thoughts, but I can share your senses unless you specifically disallow me, and I can hear any thoughts you direct towards me.

For Vithi. Can you hear this? Lucas directed his thoughts to her the best he could, but there wasn’t any feedback to let him know if it worked.

And then Vithi snickered mentally. Yes, and you don’t have to add ‘for Vithi’, just intending it for me is enough. Experiment later, though, we have to go. Just start going through the underbrush, they shouldn’t track us through there. I texted Judy, she’s waiting to pick us up at the end of a different trail, and we’re going to cut across the vegetation directly to our left to get there.

Lucas did as instructed, and was soon picking his way through the forest as fast as he could. Judy’s waiting for us? She knows about all of this? And you texted her? How, you don’t have a phone?!

I used yours. I know the password for reasons I’ll get into later, and yes, Judy knows. I explained everything to her when she was over for dinner and she agreed to help. She’s going to take us to her house, since they shouldn’t know where that is. And, as long as I’m inside you, my magic signature is completely hidden by your lack of one, so they can’t trace us that way. Anyway, take a left here, we need to go around a little cliff.

Lucas turned to the left. How do you know this? I can barely see a foot in front of my face right now, and you’re using my senses, right?

I’ve got a wayfinding spell from Tunem that I’m using. Think GPS but less reliant on how much signal you have. Anyway, explanations. So…magic. I’ve kind of had it the whole time. Tunem lied to you when he said djinn lose their magic when they’re freed. I’m not completely sure why, but I’m sure he had some plan. He always does. Anyway, I’m competent enough without my lamp, so we should be able to make something happen. Oh, we can start going right again.

Lucas turned to the right, hopping over a fallen log as he did. Why does the lamp matter?

It has to do with that oath I swore. Those started a long time ago as an extension of the contracts we made. Humans eventually co-opted it into their oaths of fealty, so you can kind of think of it like that. Now that I’ve made this oath, I can’t knowingly act against your interests. I don’t have to obey every little command you give or anything, I just can’t do anything I think would harm you unless you tell me to.

It’s something that’s mostly done exclusively with other djinn or people we trust, to ensure loyalty and provide the convenience of a lair access point. Occasionally you’ll even see two djinn swear to each other, usually in a marriage situation.

But, somewhere along the line, someone had the bright idea to use a magic ritual to hijack this system and force the djinn to bond with an object like a lamp made with the express purpose of being a battery of sorts. Since the purpose of the object is to store mana, and we can’t go against its ‘interests’, we’re forced to constantly dump all our mana into it.

Well-crafted lamps can store an incredibly high amount of mana so long as the djinn is constantly connected to it. The moment we stop storing mana the majority of it is lost, leaked out into the surrounding area. The result is…not pleasant.

Anyway, storing up all this mana lets the user perform great feats of magic, what people call wishes. And it’s also why I fainted after being freed. I’d been in that lamp for a long time, and there was a lot of mana stored up. And that all had to go somewhere, likely fueled into your wishes. And the act of suddenly using all that mana and then being separated from the bond really took a toll.

Anyway, I think I might have the solution to our Domain problem. I…uh, have a bit of a confession to make. I…might have invaded your mind a while back.

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Lucas stopped in his tracks. You what?!

I didn’t do anything bad, I swear! Vithi said quickly. I was only in there for as short a time as possible so I could see what was happening when you used magic. I, uh, kinda felt your feelings when I did, though, and that was what made me realize how awful I was being. But, yeah, that’s how I checked your Domain and stuff. But, there’s kind of an even bigger hint as to what’s happening.

In my lair there’s this…thing that I don’t recognize, protected by a forcefield of my magic, stamped with a label indicating it’s for you. I’m almost completely sure that it’s a direct result of your wish, and I think if you come get it, we’ll be able to start making progress.

Lucas frowned. Why didn’t you tell me about this before?

Because it’s not exactly easy to get you in here. The only feasible way to do that is to make the bond we just made, and I think you can understand why I wanted to avoid that if at all possible. I’ve been prodding at it and trying to get it out another way, so that’s why I didn’t tell you about it. Once we’re safe at Judy’s, though, I’ll bring you inside and we’ll take a look at it and see what we can do.

Alright, that sounds good, I guess. And with that, the conversation died down, Vithi just giving directions and Lucas following them until he got to another trail. From there, he began down the trail to the area where Vithi said Judy was parked.

When he finally came into sight of the dirt area, he was able to barely make out the shape of a car with its lights off, one which he assumed was Judy’s.

Go ahead and give her a call so she knows it’s you. She’s probably a little on edge right now. Vithi said.

He took out his phone and took a moment to look at the texts with Judy to find that Vithi had indeed sent a terse “This is Vithi. It’s time.” Followed by an acknowledgement from Judy. He hit the call button, and she immediately picked up.

“Lucas, are you OK?! Where are you?!” She asked, worried.

“I’m fine. I’m in the woods outside the place where Vithi’s told me we were meeting up. I see a car with its lights off, is that you?”

“Let me turn on my car and we’ll find out.” There was a pause, then the sound of a car’s engine coming to life came from in front of him.

“Yeah, the car just turned on.”

“Perfect. Don’t come yet, let me turn on the lights so you can see better.” Before he could protest. the car’s lights turned on, temporarily blinding him and causing him to raise his arm over his eyes to block out the light until it flicked off.

“Sorry!” Judy exclaimed. “I didn’t realize you had been walking without a light, I probably should have. Just use your phone light and get inside, I’ve unlocked the doors.”

Lucas flicked on his phone’s flashlight and made his way to the passenger door, opening it and collapsing into the seat. After taking a moment to buckle his seatbelt, he groaned, leaning as far back into the seat as he could, the night’s travel suddenly catching up to him. He was covered in small cuts and bruises, there were tears in his clothes, his slippers were completely torn up and he was just generally a mess.

I can deal with stuff of this level no problem. Vithi said. Don’t worry about it, I’ll take care of it once we’re out of the danger zone.

Judy wasn’t looking, she was already driving away, eyes locked onto the road. “We’re heading to a hotel a couple of cities over.” She said, tone indicating there was no room for argument. “We’re going to get you cleaned up and then you and Vithi are going to explain, alright? For now, just sleep.”

As much as she sounded insistent, though, he couldn’t just sit and do nothing while they were in danger. “I…what if someone starts chasing us or something?”

“Then you won’t be able to do anything.” Judy said bluntly. “I’m driving, Vithi has magic, you don’t have anything yet. If things get really hairy, there’s a machete under your seat, but that really shouldn’t have to come into play. Sleep. You need it.”

A machete? Where did she even get that? “Well, I can keep watch or something.”

“Vithi, he’s not going to stop arguing the point. Please put him to sleep for me, we have a few long days ahead of us.”

“But wait, the magic will be traceable, we should be care –”

Lucas was woken up by Judy shaking him. They were in the parking lot of some sort of hotel, and Judy was giving him a worried smile. “You up?”

“Yeah, I’m up.” Lucas groaned, sitting up straighter. “But I thought we were trying to be stealthy, why’d you magic me?”

“Vithi assured me her magic would be much more muted if it was cast from inside of you and targeted only you, so we should be fine. Now, let’s get you inside. Vithi’s going to mend your clothes and you’re going to shower, understand?”

“I…yeah, I understand.” They weren’t in immediate danger, or at least not any that couldn’t wait for half an hour, so he did as he was told, unbuckling himself and slowly getting out of the car. Judy guided him to their room, which was up on the second floor. Once inside, Vithi exited from her lair, hopping onto one of the beds.

“Just pass the clothes through the bathroom door and knock when it’s closed again. Neither of us will look until you do.” Judy instructed. “Leave the bathroom door unlocked, make sure the shower curtain is drawn, and when we’re done, I’ll slip them back in. Take your time in there and once you’re ready you can come out and we’ll talk about what our plan is, OK?”

Lucas nodded. “Yeah, I got it.”

The shower was nice, and it allowed him time to finally calm down from the nerves. It felt odd, knowing that he had been on the run from some sort of terrorist cell, and he hadn’t even seen the people’s faces. Honestly, he was mostly just taking Vithi’s word for it, but that car had been acting as Vithi had described, and there had been those noises in the house.

Those thoughts filled his mind until he got out of the shower, a pair of pajamas looking as new as the day they were bought waiting for him on the floor outside. He slipped them on and left the bathroom to find Judy and Vithi watching some sort of documentary.

“Oh, you’re out!” Vithi said, hopping off the bed and motioning to it. “Before we do anything else, we’re going to figure out what the deal with the thing in my lair is. So, get on the bed and I’ll bring you into my lair with me. Your physical body is going to stay here, which is why you should be laying down, but your consciousness is going to be in a copy of you that’s in the lair.”

Lucas laid down on the bed. “So, how do I do this?”

Vithi grabbed his hand. “Just focus on coming in with me and it’ll just happen. We’ll be entering right in front of the thing, so we shouldn’t need to wander too much. I’ll count down, three…two…one…now.”

And suddenly he was standing in some sort of cluttered room. Directly in front of him was a display case with an odd pulsing black mass on it. It looked slimy and disgusting, but at the same time it was…familiar, comforting. There was some air to it that he couldn’t place, one that almost felt…nostalgic.

And he had to have it. He could dimly make out Vithi saying something, but that wasn’t important. He reached over and grabbed the mass, and from there he suddenly knew exactly what to do. He turned, moving past Vithi and following his instincts as he navigated the rows of shelves of magical-looking things. He reached a door and passed through it, idly noting that this must be where Vithi watched his senses, as there was a screen that showed what his eyes saw, the room smelled like what he could smell, and the sound of what he was hearing, in this case the documentary on the TV, was audible in the room.

He didn’t take long to examine it more, there was a door on the far end that was his destination. Still ignoring Vithi, he walked over to the door, opened it, and stepped inside. There was a large black wall in front of him that he instinctively knew to be his magic. He smiled, thrust the mass inside, and lost consciousness.