Author's Note - Please read from Chapter 1 to make sense of this. This is not a quick stroke story. There will be sexy-times, but they will only happen as the story's pace dictates, and that won't start quick.
All characters participating in sexual activities are 18 or older.
Chapter 32
Struggling back to consciousness, Ray realized he wasn't waking into his normal life. He was re-entering the dream with the void bubbles again. The white and black ghostly silhouettes seemed to concentrate more around his point of presence than before - the far 'side' of the bubbles was a lot more sparsely populated than this, assuming 'side' was the right term to use in such a confusing place.
The ancient Hinn sent warm greetings without words, to which Ray responded with gratefulness and a mental image of Tauriz. The response from the Hinn were mixed. Some were upset to see her collared as a genie, others were happy that she continued to exist, yet others were much more interested in himself. They seemed to argue with each other, perhaps even coming to blows.
That was another eye-opener (perception-opener?) for Ray. This bodiless realm still appeared to allow for some form of fighting. Ray felt like a nervous white belt before his first lesson, knowing there were techniques and skills he'd never known out there without understanding what they could even be.
Nearby he saw a familiar face, if not a welcome one. The darkest outline he could perceive followed the shape of Baba Yaga. She smiled her horrific iron-edged smile at him and nodded, perhaps in acknowledgment or with some other meaning behind it.
Time froze for a split second, nothing moving, and then resumed as if nothing had happened. The silhouettes he could see all seemed to be stirred up, reacting strongly to whatever it was that just happened. He felt anticipation, concern, and curiosity from the ancient Hinn, but frustratingly was unable to get more details from them.
A flood of images inundated him, too fast for him to follow. He'd been subjected to a rapid drumbeat of situations the first time he'd been here, but this pace? This was many times faster and covered a broader base. He caught glimpses of people he thought he knew, people he felt he'd never seen before, creatures of nightmare and blissful dreams, terrifying locations, heartstoppingly beautiful locations. Almost as fast as it started, it stopped, almost as if it realized it was going too rapidly for Ray.
He saw Tauriz shatter her sheathe again, feeling the world change in the vision, but frustratingly he was still unable to tell if the result was for the better or worse.
He saw Jann assaulting Jann with Jinn hiding in the shadows in a wooded setting. The location was new to him, but the skyline was clearly from the Keane Valley, a few hours' drive from the University, home to the highest mountains in New York State. The last crescent of the moon featured prominently low on the western edge of the sky.
He saw the ocean, lit by a gorgeous sunset on the shoreward side. On it rode a small wooden boat no more than four or five feet long, laden with a bonfire. The fire ignited and the boat's sail was lifted, driving it out into the ocean to its eventual fate.
Faster and faster, he saw more and more. He saw Amber and Monica standing on either side of an older copy of themselves. He saw Jonathon lying dead, and jarringly felt satisfaction. He saw a desert and a cliff and a cave and a long walk in the dark. He saw an ancient pillar of stone with carvings that appeared to have been carved the previous night. A pile of reeds. An ancient khopesh sword. A snapped stick. Footprints which lead out into the dark night.
Head spinning under the assault, Ray woke up.
Chapter 33
Waking for real this time, Ray felt the comfort of Tauriz' flawless skin on his own. Her presence flooded his restored Hinn, more reassuring even than feeling her warmth in his arms. It amazed and awed Ray that he was coming to trust Hinn more than his own eyes and sense of touch.
"Hinn are named for Hinn, not for eyes, not for the mind, not for samum, Ray," Tauriz quietly said. "We are more than the whole of our bodies, and when more of us gather, we are much, much more. None have stood against a hundred enraged Hinn, no matter how many they have brought to the battle."
"Now we just need to find, rescue, or make ninety-eight more then," Ray chuckled.
"You laugh, Master, but it is an option open to us. It is a dangerous proposition to those who would change unless you used a wish as I used the wish you gifted me to assure your successful transformation. Then, it is merely exceedingly painful."
"Is that something you'd desire? To create a new generation of Hinn?"
"Yes and no both, Ray. It would solve some of our problems, but it would also cause others. The Jinn would become enraged as soon as they become aware of it, and Jinn do not enter the battlefield in a forthright manner against Hinn, they learned that bloody lesson well."
"Do you think the angelics might take a position?"
"The angelics generally do not interfere with mortal matters, for some unknown or unknowable reason. Occasionally one of the 'Fallen' angelics will use mortals as pawns or resources, which appears to be the primary exception when angelics become involved with mortals."
"They're mostly interested in their own?"
"That is the speculation that seemed to become the accepted wisdom among those who have studied these beings."
"You still access Hinn much easier than I can. To me, it's something I consult. You seem to comprehend immediately."
"That is because I am well used to its ways, Master. Your use is impressive - most young Hinn have greater trouble than you do."
"I'd guess most young Hinn had no idea about databases, content retrieval systems, or the like, either."
"Interesting - perhaps you are correct, Ray. Perhaps human technology has begun to catch up to Hinn in some ways."
"Starting to, perhaps, but Hinn is beyond the greatest ideals of human technology I've yet heard of."
"The universal encyclopedia comes close, as do the collective and other stories of your human history."
"Mm. Something to think about - new ways for me to consider using Hinn. I do worry that Hinn used the way you do affects your attitudes, though."
"Because we treat Hinn as memory?"
"And because people can lie via Hinn."
"That, dear Master, is a much longer discussion. I shall share this much with you now - there are ways to tell how many have accessed a thought, and their attitudes about said thought. But for now, we must up and create a breakfast for our guests."
