Fate's Pawn: Wishes Three

Chapter Four: Our Enemy

He was far tenser than I was accustomed to. I didn’t know much of this man, but the way his eyes narrowed as he sat at the window sent a shiver through me, one of fear. He glanced back over and his smile was back in place. “I’m going to need you to be as quiet as possible. I trust the manager of this place, but I’m a very cautious sort. We’re going to slip into another room in this hall.”

“Our key fits their door?”

Dagon’s lips twitched. “No, Acacia. But I’m a master of a few arts that might surprise you. Come on.”

I nodded and padded after him as got to the door. He waved me to the side before he opened it a crack and peered out for a long tense moment. I wasn’t sure how he could see out of such a tiny area, but I didn’t argue it. “Now?” I whispered as he opened the door a bit more.

“Stay with me,” he ordered in a soft voice before he slipped through and closed the door behind us. He took my hand and led me down the hallway where my shoes clattered against the rough wooden floor. “Shoes off.”

“But I just put them on,” I objected. He gave me a look and with a sigh, I slipped them off once more and did my best to not clomp down the hall.

Dagon stopped at a spot three doors down from where our room had been and pulling a cloth bundle out of his pocket he pulled out some metal tools and worked on the door. It clicked open and he smirked as he led us through. He leaned against the door as he closed it behind us and nodded at the room. “I knew this one would be empty.”

“How did you know that?” I looked around the room so similar to ours, but much older in appearance. It sent a chill through me.

“I know that manager well, including his history. This was his wife’s room.”

“His wife?” I dragged a finger through the dust that collected on the dresser. “Did something happen to her?”

Dagon shook his head. “It’s best if we don’t talk about it, there’s no need to scare you, Acacia. I’ve already promised I” ll keep you safe, remember?” I nodded and he smiled. “Good, I need you to believe me, Acacia. No matter what happens, just trust in me, okay?”

I was about to answer when I heard the thumps of the footsteps down the hall. I tensed and edged away from the door as my eyes roamed the room. Dagon noticed my panic and gestured for me to slip beneath the bed. “I thought we’d be safe here?” my voice was barely a whisper the merest whimper of fear now.

“You will be.” He responded back. I wanted to question him on his choice of words but he gestured at me once more and this time I obeyed and crawled under the bed. He followed after me brushing his hands over the spot I had crawled into. “Stay there, don’t make a noise, I’ll be back.”

He slipped back out the door and I was left by myself with only the dust motes around to keep me company. I didn’t understand why he just didn’t use a wish to get us out of this situation. Did he truly believe that he needed all of his wishes? He didn’t want power, he didn’t want wealth, the only thing he appeared interested in was a long life, so why not use a wish to get us out of the predicament we were in?

The door slammed open and the feet that stomped in were not Dagon’s. I dared not move or even breathe as whoever it was came into the room. “Damn, she’s not in here either.” My nose wrinkled as the dust motes landed on it, causing it to twitch. “Wait, what’s that?” my visitor’s shoes stepped closer to me. The twitching intensified. This defective shell was about to sneeze. I slapped a hand over my mouth to try to stifle the upcoming noise. The shoes were right in front of me now, their owner was studying the dresser. “I know you’re in here, come out and you won’t be hurt, if you insist on this cat and mouse game, I won’t hesitate to bring you in non-peacefully.”

I couldn’t hold it back anymore. My head jerked forward as I sneezed. I heard his chuckle and saw him get on his knees. This was it, I was about to be captured and torn from my master. There was nothing I could do in this situation. I couldn’t even use my own magic to save myself without access to my lamp. His hands touched the ground next, and I was startled by how smooth they were. Whoever this person was, they were young.

“I wouldn’t move if I were you.” Dagon’s voice came from somewhere behind my intruder. The hands that had been on the floor lifted up and I breathed a sigh of relief. He had actually come through with his promise. “You guys do know you’ve lost right? I won, you lost, she comes with me.” Dagon's voice was far cockier than I was accustomed to. It gave me pause.

“So you’re not giving her a choice either huh?” the intruder chuckled. “You might think you have won, but this is far from over. Nothing is going to stop us from our goal. All genies, will be ours, including yours.”

“I could kill you right now and make our troubles one less, but I don’t want to give her another nightmare to worry about. If I catch you near us again, I won’t be so lenient. I wasn’t with your teammates. Turn around go to the wall and stand facing it.”

I watched as he did as Dagon bid and then my hero crouched down to check on me. He didn’t speak but gestured at me with a crooked finger. I nodded and scooted out of my hiding spot. The intruder was staring at the wall with his hands on top of his head. I started to speak but Dagon shook his head and motioned to me with a finger on his lips. I nodded at the symbol and watched as he left me side to go to the intruder and tie him up with the sash from the curtains looped around his wrists in tight knots.

“Acacia doesn’t belong to anyone but herself, I’m going to keep her safe from the likes of you and the other collectors. You’re not getting this genie, got it?”

I wanted to ask his name, but Dagon was already moving away again and grabbed my hand as he passed, hauling me out of the room. He locked it behind him. “Now what?” I ran my hands up and down my arms as I tried to work out my jitters. The one good thing about being in a dingy cell for so long is you don’t have such exhausting and terrifying adventures.

“Considering they found us here, I’m going to have to forget my plan of taking you home. I’m fairly certain they’ll be in wait there too. That guy in there doesn’t work alone, there were three different guys out here tonight combing the hallways. We’re lucky it was that few but they’ weren’t exactly sure where we were yet. Once they have confirmation, they’ll attack in droves.”

“If they have so many genies why do they need me?” my voice came out in a snap and I tried to hold it back but it was useless. “I’m not even that good of a genie to begin with.”

“They want all the genies, and that includes you. Besides, never underestimate yourself, Acacia. You’re more powerful than you know. To be honest, I’m surprised they haven’t tried to use any of their genies to try to stop us. They might at some point, and that’s when I might have to rely on you and some of those wishes of mine. But I’m not going to do that unless I’m backed into that corner.”

“They’d waste wishes to get me?” I shook my head. “I still don’t understand. You’re wrong about this faith in my power, you know. There’s only one thing I’m good at.”

Dagon shook his head. “I’ll keep saying it until you believe me one day, Acacia. They’ll do anything to get hold of you. Thankfully, we’ll be safe at my friend’s place. He knows some magic himself.”

“A human that knows magic?” I stared at Dagon and stopped following for a moment. “That’s really rare.”

Dagon chuckled at me. “Well, he’s not exactly human, but he’s a very close friend of mine. He’ll do everything in his power to keep you safe if I tell him to. We won’t let you fall into the hands of the collectors. If we leave now, we might be able to make it to his place before the sun sets, but we’re going to have to hurry and we’re going to have to stay low.”

“He’s that far away?” I winced as I imagined the pain I’d have to endure once more. “We can’t split the trip up?”

“No, we’re running out of time. Now that we’ve stopped some here, they’ll get a bead on us and push harder. I’m telling you, these guys don’t stop until they achieve their goals.”

“You sure know a lot about them,” I grumbled as I sighed and jogged to keep pace with him.

“I told you, Acacia. I know everything about you, and that includes those that are after you as well. I saved all the money I could to challenge them for you, I’d be willing to pay any price to get you away from them. If my research is correct, which I have no reason to disbelieve, they aren’t the only ones. There will be more, but no matter who it is, I won’t let you fall into anyone else’s hands.”

I fell into silence for just a moment before I jerked. “Wait, what do you mean not exactly human?”

Dagon chuckled. “You just now caught that?” he shook his head. “He’s not human, he looks it, but he’s pretty immortal, just like you are. I mean he can be killed, but he’s not going to die of old age. Anyway, he’s been around long enough to pick up some really good magic, magic that can bust open those seals of yours and get your lamp free.”

Butterflies danced in my stomach at the thought of my own lamp. I had not been inside it for so long I had almost forgotten it. “I’ll have access to more power then, too. Is that when you’ll make your wishes, Dagon?”

He shook his head. “No.”

“Why not?” I wanted to help this man. He had gotten me out of a bad situation not just once with the auction, but once more now with these collectors that were after me and my lamp. “Why won’t you let me grant you any wishes? It’s what I’m here for, you know.”

“And once you grant those wishes you’re sentenced back to your lamp until summoned again. I wouldn’t get to spend time with you that way. No, I’m going to hold off on my wishes as long as I can, and there’s one more thing, Acacia. I’m thinking about using my last wish for something special. Tell me, how powerful is your magic? Can you grant me anything I ask, or are there limitations?”

“Limitations?” I shook my head. “No, just be sure how you word your wish when you ask for it. Honestly, there are fake rumors about that we have certain things we can or can’t grant, but that’s not reality at all. Once you have the lamp and the genie, you can wish for whatever you want, and I’m forced to use all my magic to grant, even if it drains me completely.”

“And what happens if you’re drained completely? Do you just pass out and recharge or something?” Dagon demanded.

I shook my head. “No, I’ll just cease to exist. I’m immortal, there are few things that can kill me, but using all my magic will end me once and for all. There’s no coming back from that.”

Dagon stared at me a long moment. “Just gone? Do you even know what these grand wishes are before you try to grant them so you can warn your master?”

I nodded. “I know somewhat how much power it will take. But I can’t be completely certain. For example, if you wanted to raise a village that had been slaughtered, I can do that, but there’s no guarantee I’ll survive after it.”

“What about granting yourself freedom?”

My ankle gave out and I started to tumble to the floor but Dagon grabbed me before I could. “What?” I demanded as I stared at him. There was no way I had heard right. Genies dreamed of things like that, but it never happened.

“If I want my last wish to give you a normal human life, with no magic, would it be possible?”

I wrenched myself free of his grip as I stared at the old floorboards. “I’ve never tried, it should be, but I’m not so sure about the no magic stipulation. I don’t know how I’d ever drain the magic out of myself, without dying to do so.”

“I think I know of a way, I just don’t want anyone to ever use you again. If I find a way, is that even something you’d want? Or do you want to be a genie forever?”

I didn’t answer him. I just followed as we left the hotel and slipped into the cover of the night.