in surprise. It was actually pretty good for something so simple.
It wasn't until I was cleaning the last bits off egg off the plate, realizing how hungry I had been, when Hai pushed her empty plate away from her a bit and leaned back in the chair, saying, “Alright darlin', no more stalling. Just what the hell is going on here?”
I snorted when Dorian said randomly, “Your hair's purple.” She licked her paper plate clean. Hailey tried hard not to break her serious scowl but had to look away to smile at our odd companion.
I shook my head at her, threw a wing over her shoulder and closed my eyes to sort through the information in my head. “It sort of started back twenty-five hundred years ago in Sumeria, with one of my ancestors. Back when ancient Mesopotamia had become part of the Achaemenid Persian empire.”
I sat back a little in my chair pulling the information from my mind that hadn't been there just hours before, it felt like I was reading from some sort of textbook. “My family were westerners, from Briton, during their Iron Age. They were obsessed with gaining power to protect their people from the threat of growing unrest in Europe after the recent overthrow of the Roman monarchy, and beginning of the Republican period.”
I frowned and looked at the two women who were now watching me with rapt attention. I narrowed my eyes. “Somewhere along their travels, they lost sight of the reasons for their quest. To protect their people. By the time rumors of ancient powers in the far off lands of the east reached them, they were obsessed with power for power's sake. They had lost their way.”
I shook my head. “They made the journey to the lands of Babylon, to beseech the chieftains there to share the secrets of the otherworldly beings that they were rumored to consort with. When they could not gain the information they sought, they brought war to the region, killing all who withheld the knowledge they desired.”
I exhaled loudly as the slaughter played out in front of me like some chaotic movie that only I was privy to. “Finally, they came up against a great chieftain, Xerxes, a warlord like no other, who seemed to wield powers that would rival lesser gods. The battle was long and drawn out. During a respite between sorties, Xerxes bade them parle at his tents under a banner of peace.”
I shook my head. “He asked why they waged war in his lands, and why they sought the power of the demons. They put forth that it was their right to hold it over others so they would not be challenged. The man laughed at them and asked if they really wished to meet the greater Djinn, who could grant them their desires.”
I paused and asked my companions, “Were my ancestors total idiots or something?”
I shrugged at the inevitability of what transpired next. “He brought them to a mountain and spoke a word at the sheer cliffs. With a clap of thunder, the very stone those cliffs were composed of, cracked open like a gash in the very Earth itself. They stepped into the crevice and were engulfed by a darkness so profound it made them think twice about the undertaking.”
Dorian shifted in her seat cocking her head as she listened intently. She noted me looking at her and looked down almost bashfully. I tilted my head away in embarrassment of being caught, and toward Hai as I described the borrowed memories from eons ago. “The warlord stopped and told them he could go no further, that the one with the ability to grant them the unlimited power they desired was in a cavern beyond.”
I narrowed my eyes, feeling anger I couldn't quite understand building inside, at the arrogance of my bloodline. “They ventured into a cavern that was lit by some unknown source, it was magnified and glittered like a million fireflies or the glitter of gems in the sunlight. It took a moment for them to realize that was more accurate than they could ever have imagined. They walked
It wasn't until I was cleaning the last bits off egg off the plate, realizing how hungry I had been, when Hai pushed her empty plate away from her a bit and leaned back in the chair, saying, “Alright darlin', no more stalling. Just what the hell is going on here?”
I snorted when Dorian said randomly, “Your hair's purple.” She licked her paper plate clean. Hailey tried hard not to break her serious scowl but had to look away to smile at our odd companion.
I shook my head at her, threw a wing over her shoulder and closed my eyes to sort through the information in my head. “It sort of started back twenty-five hundred years ago in Sumeria, with one of my ancestors. Back when ancient Mesopotamia had become part of the Achaemenid Persian empire.”
I sat back a little in my chair pulling the information from my mind that hadn't been there just hours before, it felt like I was reading from some sort of textbook. “My family were westerners, from Briton, during their Iron Age. They were obsessed with gaining power to protect their people from the threat of growing unrest in Europe after the recent overthrow of the Roman monarchy, and beginning of the Republican period.”
I frowned and looked at the two women who were now watching me with rapt attention. I narrowed my eyes. “Somewhere along their travels, they lost sight of the reasons for their quest. To protect their people. By the time rumors of ancient powers in the far off lands of the east reached them, they were obsessed with power for power's sake. They had lost their way.”
I shook my head. “They made the journey to the lands of Babylon, to beseech the chieftains there to share the secrets of the otherworldly beings that they were rumored to consort with. When they could not gain the information they sought, they brought war to the region, killing all who withheld the knowledge they desired.”
I exhaled loudly as the slaughter played out in front of me like some chaotic movie that only I was privy to. “Finally, they came up against a great chieftain, Xerxes, a warlord like no other, who seemed to wield powers that would rival lesser gods. The battle was long and drawn out. During a respite between sorties, Xerxes bade them parle at his tents under a banner of peace.”
I shook my head. “He asked why they waged war in his lands, and why they sought the power of the demons. They put forth that it was their right to hold it over others so they would not be challenged. The man laughed at them and asked if they really wished to meet the greater Djinn, who could grant them their desires.”
I paused and asked my companions, “Were my ancestors total idiots or something?”
I shrugged at the inevitability of what transpired next. “He brought them to a mountain and spoke a word at the sheer cliffs. With a clap of thunder, the very stone those cliffs were composed of, cracked open like a gash in the very Earth itself. They stepped into the crevice and were engulfed by a darkness so profound it made them think twice about the undertaking.”
Dorian shifted in her seat cocking her head as she listened intently. She noted me looking at her and looked down almost bashfully. I tilted my head away in embarrassment of being caught, and toward Hai as I described the borrowed memories from eons ago. “The warlord stopped and told them he could go no further, that the one with the ability to grant them the unlimited power they desired was in a cavern beyond.”
I narrowed my eyes, feeling anger I couldn't quite understand building inside, at the arrogance of my bloodline. “They ventured into a cavern that was lit by some unknown source, it was magnified and glittered like a million fireflies or the glitter of gems in the sunlight. It took a moment for them to realize that was more accurate than they could ever have imagined. They walked
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