Shannon O'Reilly was bullied and everything his older sister wasn't. When his sister Sarah gives him a chance to change things through a single wish things don't go as planned.     I Wish: Book 5 Chapter 13 What Happens in Nhekar... By Amethyst

The ramp spiraled downward, lit by the occasional stone in the wall that had been enchanted to provide illumination. We seemed to be near the bottom when I started hearing voices and motioned for the others to stop. “…are indeed fascinating creatures, Mharis. I am waiting for my supplicants to deliver specimens from a similar species that they found by the ocean. They said that one of them changed its form right before their eyes. Have these creatures displayed any similar abilities? Wherever did you find them?”

“Would you believe that they were right here in the city? We would likely not have discovered them at all if they had not been so determined to prevent my supplicants from gathering test subjects from the urchins outside of the wall,” a second voice that I figured must be Sah Mharis responded. “I have not seen them display such abilities but my supplicants told me that they looked like one of us at first. They reverted to these forms not long after my sedative rendered them unconscious. Perhaps we can run some tests once they have awoken? They walk on their hind legs, they spoke, and they wore clothing and carried devices that I have never seen before.”

A dismissive snort heralded the emergence of a third voice. “You are attributing intelligence to lower lifeforms, Mharis. They are mammals. They cannot even reproduce without a second of their species. I can see why Lortae is here, they are our foremost expert on animals, but why did you call me here before the sun was even up? My area of expertise is earth power theory, not beasts.”

“They carried items with them that I could not identify that were overflowing with earth power, Gerta. But that is not the most fascinating thing about them. They radiate earth power themselves. There was not much at first but it has been steadily increasing since they were brought to me, almost as if their bodies produce it naturally. I cannot use okka crystals to draw the earth power from either them or the items that they carried. That is why I summoned you.”

“You are certain about this?” the one called Gerta asked in sudden interest. “The Council says that the okka mine is running dry and no new veins have been found yet. If the rumors about the power vanishing from the crystal mountain are true as well, these creatures could make us the three most powerful Makers in Kavarik. I will need to study them to discover whether we can safely extract the earth power from them somehow. Two will not be enough for our needs though, can you breed more of them, Lortae?”

“They are both birthers, Gerta, note the lactation glands and the genital configuration. That could be better for our purposes though since two birthers will allow us to increase their numbers twice as quickly. Fortunately, I do not require a breeder to impregnate them. I know that it’s in here somewhere… ah here! You see, this artefact is one of my own creations, I have used it before to impregnate infertile birthers among my various specimens. While they are still asleep we can just touch one with the wand to extract a sample of their life code while securing the pad over the womb of the other. It will infuse one of their eggs with the life code gathered from the other specimen.”

“Will it work with two birthers?” Mharis asked.

“Yes, yes,” Lortae answered impatiently. “I have used it with pairs of birthers before, though it only resulted in other birthers being conceived. That would be better for our purposes anyway. Lower your barrier so I can do this while they are still asleep.”

For a second, I was too frozen by what I was hearing to move but then I felt Ziralin’s presence return to my mind. “Oh, hell no. There is no way I’m letting those assholes do that,” I snarled as my wings and tail twitched in anger. That artefact could very well be the solution to the Faery population issue but I was not about to let them knock up my cousin or my fiancée without their consent, like some sort of barnyard animals.

My intent was focused and the spell waited upon my lips even as I turned that corner to see one of the three of the snake-people in the large and dreary dungeon approaching a very naked Ziralin and Ellie. “Don’t move!” I shouted as I released the spell.

With the three of them frozen in place, I quickly set about sealing their ability to use magick. As much as I wanted very much to wake Ziralin and Ellie up and to show my fiancée in particular just how much I had missed her, I knew that it would be best to make sure that their captors weren’t a danger to any of us first. Once that was done, I relieved the one that had been moving toward the pair of Fae of the weird-looking artefact in his hands.

The artefact was literally just a wooden wand tipped with one of those okka crystals connected to a six-inch square silver ‘pad’ by an eight-foot length of braided silver wire. The pad had two long leather straps (which I assumed were to secure it on the specimen on the receiving end) connected to the rear side, to either side of where the braided wire was attached in the center. Magick was definitely weird in this world but I thought that I had an idea of how it worked now.

These people were almost like me. They could just focus on what they wanted to have happen and make it work through willpower, but instead of affecting the world directly, they put that intent and will into artefacts using okka crystals. Then the artefact drew the magick energy necessary for the enchantments to work from the crystals placed inside or attached to the artefact. The Makers didn’t seem to gather and hold magick energy internally like me, Sarah, and Lisa, they just sort of shifted it from the crystals to the objects they were using as artefact.

We didn’t have to play by those rules and these assholes could see it. If they could sense the magick energy that Ziralin and Ellie were producing, then they could probably see how much I was currently holding. The fear in their eyes told me that my suspicions were correct. “What are you? What have you done to us?” one of them asked. I think it was Mharis.

I could have made the spell shut them up as well as freeze them in place but I figured that we might need some questions answered. After a glance at my still slumbering fiancée and cousin, I leveled a glacier cold glare at them. “I’m Shannon. I cast a spell to keep you from going anywhere but don’t worry, it should wear off some time tomorrow. I also took away your ability to use the earth power. You don’t deserve it. Such power could be used to make the world a better place for everyone but you have only been using it for your own self-interest and have caused suffering for those under your power.”

“Don’t worry, you’re not alone. She’s done the same to anyone who was stupid enough to get in our way,” Rebecca added. “We’ve also torn the gates off of that wall that you’re all so proud of and drained it of its power as well. So those people who you’ve been mistreating on the outside should be visiting all of you real soon.”

I turned to my apprentice and her Familiar and finger-flicked the one who had been holding the artifact in the forehead. “Guess what, girls. This is Lortae, wasn’t this the one whose goons held you in a cage for over a week and treated you like animals?”

“Yes. Yes, it was,” Michelle said, her feline face twisting in a mix of negative emotions as she snarled.

Lisa snorted disdainfully. “It’s a shame that they’re all frozen and can’t defend themselves. I’ve been aching to teach this jerk a lesson since I woke up behind bars.”

“Just playing bitch’s advocate here but we could give them a taste of their own medicine,” Rebecca suggested with a grin. “There’s enough fear and hate in these jokers right now to curse them five times over. I don’t really like to think about cursing people but these jerks do deserve some sort of punishment. I’m thinking catgirls since they were so interested in Michelle and they think mammals are inferior.”

Lisa shook her head and sighed as she switched to English so the Makers couldn’t follow our conversation. “They’re just bullies, Becca. They’re not worth the effort and I don’t want to sink to their level.”

Oh, I wasn’t going to do it, I just wanted to see the looks on their faces. Totally worth it by the way,” Becca replied, still grinning like a madwoman. "Besides, I think they’ll get their just desserts when the people outside the wall are inside the walls and start looking for anyone in those fancy robes that they’re all wearing.”

“That’s enough,” I said with a groan. “I want to be done with the place and find the others. I’m to cast the anti-succubus spell on Ziralin and Ellie and then try to wake them up. We should probably return to our human forms first though, Beks.” The other pseudo-Succubus nodded and we both shifted away our Demonic features to become human again, or at least to look like we were.

“Do you need us to do anything while you’re going that, Shannon?” Michelle asked, still looking a bit on edge. “I need something to focus on so I don’t decide to use that jerk as a scratching post.”

“Could the three of you gather anything magical down here? I want these guys to watch me and Lisa drain it all. Except for this thing, the Faery could find it very useful,” I said after thinking for a moment and handing Michelle the weird fertility artefact. “Oh, and question Lortae about how it works exactly and see if you can find Ziralin and Ellie’s clothes and other stuff. Maybe if these jerks are helpful, we won’t leave them in full view of the public until they’re mobile again.”

“Sure,” the catgirl Familiar agreed as she took the device. As I made my way over toward the two Fae I could hear her switch back to the Nhekarian language. “Okay, Assholes, I’m only going to say this once. The two of us would really like to hurt you in indescribable ways. You’d be surprised just how much damage and pain a mortal body can take without dying. As for the Demon here, she wants to do even worse things to you. If you’re really good and answer all of our questions, we might be convinced to not do either of those things.”

“If you don’t want to cooperate that’s cool too. We’ll get to demonstrate on one of you what the others are in for, and I’m sure the others will be super helpful after that. Fun fact: in our language the first five letters of the word ‘demonstrate’ spell ‘Demon’, so guess which option we’d be choosing,” Rebecca’s voice added enthusiastically. She was enjoying this way too much.

I tried to tune out the background noise as I knelt between Ziralin and Ellie and cast the anti-Succubus spell on both of them in turn. I would have rather asked them first but I knew that we might have to fight in a hurry if anyone else came down here and I would rather we didn’t have any issues if I had to change forms suddenly before they were safe from my Succubus charms. Once they were both safe from my supernatural sex appeal I cast a purification spell on them and spoke as reassuringly as I could, “Ellie? Ziralin, my love? Wake up.”

Elsaishe was the first to wake up, her eyes fluttering open only to then stare at me in confusion. “Cuz? Is that really you? I’m not dreaming am I?”

“Nope, it’s really me, Cuz. I figured that you two needed me so we came as fast as we could. Rebecca, Lisa, and Michelle are with me too,” I assured her, squeezing her hand gently.

She was still looking pretty damn confused. “How did you…? There’s no magick here, at least we couldn’t detect any until we found Jalael, and then this city.”

“Rebecca and I had to rely on other skills until we ran into Michelle and Lisa, I’ll explain later. Wait, you foun…mmmmph.” My words were cut off as Ziralin wasted no time in wrapping me up in her arms and laying a kiss on me to show me how very much she had missed me. Her lips claimed mine and the contact was like a shot of adrenaline to my soul. I felt alive again while feeling her lips pressing against mine, her arm around me, and her free hand gently caressing my cheek. This was how things should be. This was where I belonged, in her arms.

I didn’t realize just how much I had missed her, how much I needed her by my side until then. I had to focus on surviving but now I just wanted to focus on her. I eagerly returned her kiss and it was taking every bit of self-control that I had to keep my wings and other Succubus features from popping out in my love and lust for her as I passionately pulled her closer and returned her display of love with my own.

We finally broke our amorous contact, both of us breathing heavily and gasping for air as we stared into one another’s eyes. “Babe, are you okay?”

Of course, I was okay, I had my soulmate back. It wasn’t until she had asked that I realized that tears were streaming down my face. “I… I couldn’t feel you. I was afraid that I’d lost you. Don’t scare me like that again.”

“I was worried sick about you this whole time, Babe,” she replied, wrapping me up in her arms again. “There was no magick and you were so far away. The pull was so strong that I couldn’t sense your emotions or anything. How did you…? Holy shit… just how much magick energy do you have stored right now? That’s a lot more than you can usually contain.” Her eyes went wide as she pulled away to give me a worried look.

“It’s a bit of a long story,” I said, not really eager to tell it. So I changed the subject. “You two first; Beks, Michelle, and Lisa are dealing with the jerks who were imprisoning you and going to experiment on you, and trying to find your clothes and stuff. So, you found Jalael?”

“We didn’t just find Jalael,” Ellie said with a grin as a pair of white wings appeared from her back. “Everything was kind of boring for us when we first got here, the lack of magick and that sun were pretty weird but we were able to blend in with a caravan of locals with glamours until we learned the language. It turns out they were taking supplies to a fort near this huge mountain of purple crystal with a magic barrier keeping the locals out. The people that the locals call the Makers have been trying to get past that barrier for a long time.”

“Yeah,” Ziralin said with a laugh, “They took us exactly where we needed to go within like, four days of getting here. The Makers are assholes, by the way, they hurt some people for no good reason, and Ellie and I tried to protect them. I chased them off while Ellie used one of our first aid kits to patch up the injured.”

“It turns out that Jalael was expecting whoever got Torphael’s powers and memories to bring some candidates here when the time came that their powers were needed but he was waiting a looong time,” Ellie added. “Like, way before the disaster that made magick here go all wonky and wiped out the previous species of intelligent life on this plane.”

“After Ellie got her wings we started making our way toward you, flying as fast and for as long as we could. We found this city and since there was so much magick around I thought it might be a good place for you to refuel if you needed to so we decided to wait. We wanted to try to get inside the walled area to check it out but the goons of one of those Makers were trying to snatch kids off the streets and we got in a fight. Next thing I know; you’re waking us up,” Ziralin finished with a shrug.

“That fight would have turned out differently if we hadn’t drained our magick reserves by flying here and then casting glamours to blend in,” Ellie grouched. “I could have used my new Celestial powers, though I’m not sure how good they’ll be fighting anything besides Demons, they’re actually mostly for support. It turned out that Jalael was looking for someone who was compassionate and had a desire to help and protect others. I guess that I fit the bill, but I wish you’d been with us, Cuz. I think that you would have been a better candidate.”

I shook my head. “No, Ellie, he made the right choice. I wouldn’t have been able to receive his power and memories anyway. I already have Xuriel’s, I have since my birthday, they were just sealed until we got here and I needed skills other than magick to survive. It’s a really long story and I’d rather wait until we’re somewhere safe before I tell it.”

“You’re hiding something, Shannon,” Ziralin said, taking my hand in hers and squeezing it. “What are you worried about?”

“Come on, Cuz, you can tell us. I showed you my wings, I wanna see yours too,” Ellie pleaded.

“It’s… complicated. As I said, it’s a long story and some parts might bother you both,” I said with a sigh. “Like the wings, the tail, and the horns to name a few, given the history that the three of us have with Succubae. I just have to keep them from seeing anything that might freak them out or make them ask questions until I can break it to them gently first,” I thought nervously.

Of course, that was when Rebecca came over and deposited the pile of their stuff on the floor beside me and the two Fae. “Hey, Jockettes, ‘sup? Michelle said that should be all of your stuff. For some reason those jerks are being very cooperative,” she said with a grin. “She and Lisa are gathering up the magical stuff now so we should be able to get the hell outta here as soon as they’re done and you two are… dressed.” That was about when she realized that they were both naked and turned quickly around, her cheeks bright crimson.

“Great timing, Beks,” I thought bitterly. Maybe they wouldn’t notice that she looked like a completely different person. Of course not, how could I even entertain that thought?

It was made quickly obvious that they did indeed not recognize her. Though the way that she had greeted them had probably been intended to let them know it was her, just in case I had actually been smart enough to explain things. That only seemed to leave them more confused and Ellie was gaping at the auburn-haired beauty with such interest that I had to double-check that Becca’s more demonic features weren’t on display. “Whoa, who is that?” my cousin asked in a stunned whisper.

Ziralin turned to give me an uncertain and suspicious look, those feelings were echoed in her mind as well, mixed in with a lot of worries, worry for me. Of course, she knew that I wasn’t telling her everything, and the way that she was sniffing the air had me worried too. “This could be very bad if she’s smelling what I hope she isn’t smelling.”

The love of my life calmly raised a single silver eyebrow and said, “Who is that and why do you both smell like Succubus pheromones? It’s very faint, but after that incident at the sorority house, I’d recognize that scent anywhere. You’re not really acting like yourself either, you’re really nervous, Shannon. I think you have some ‘splainin’ to do.” Then she turned toward Becca and her gaze immediately turned into a baleful glower. “As for you, if you’ve been fucking with Shannon’s head, then there will be nowhere on any plane of existence where you will be safe from my wrath.”