Splitgrave's Plan

"But you're a powerful mage. Why can't you do that for yourself?" "Because I put such powerful magical wards around the vault, in fear that some powerful wizard who wished me ill might get their hands on the orb, that even I cannot get past them. With hindsight, that was a miscalculation, but it never occurred to me that there would come a time when I would want to end it all."

"But how can we get to the orb if even you can't do it?" "Astra's magical power is very different in its nature from the type of magic that is practised by the mages against whom I was guarding. Therefore, though I don't think she could wish the orb out of the vault, I believe that she can wish you into the vault. Then you can destroy the orb. I shall give you a special hammer with which to hammer it till it shatters. Once you've destroyed it, my spirit will be freed and I shall cease to exist. At that point, the magical wards I set on the vault will disappear, so you'll have no trouble getting out again."

"That's all very well," Fred said, "but how will that help Astra and me? We'll be separated, I'll have used two wishes out of three, the dragon will still be alive and Astra will still be enslaved." "I shall prepare a special potion. When Astra sees this body collapse as I truly die, she must drink the potion. Once she does so, she should no longer be a slave to the owner of the lamp."

Fred still had several questions. The one he asked first was:

1. "Why can't Astra drink the potion before you die?" "Because if by any chance I don't die, it will signal that something has gone wrong. Then her still being a genie might help us."
2. "But what about the dragon? You said that you'd help us to kill him."
3. "Wouldn't it be better if Astra wished herself into the vault as well? She could bring the potion with her, to drink once the orb was destroyed."
4. "You said Astra would no longer be a slave. Does that mean she'd no longer being a djinn?"

Add New Option

Go Back

View Forward Story Tree
View Back Story Tree