So hello again! I decided to write a crossover of sorts for Children of the Lamp and Books of the Beginning, so here it is! It's essentially just a djinn folk tale, but I figured that since the Emerald Atlas talks about Rhakotis and Alexander the great, I'd go off on a tangent from Holly's and Cas's second adventure, The Heir of Alexander. Enjoy!
1.
"Tell us a story, dad!" Begged the small four year old boy, pulling energetically on the cuff of his father's shirt.
"Nimrod Godwin, you know that your mother and I are going out tonight!" scolded Nimrod's father, a twinkle in his eye, and gently detached his son from his shirtsleeve, only to have Nimrod latch on to the edge of his unbuttoned waistcoat.
Nimrod's older sister, who had been seated across the room in a big squashy armchair, concentrating hard on the large book she held in her small lap, looked up. "I want to hear a story," she announced. "Tell us one."
Their father smiled again."Very well, Layla. What do you want to hear a story about?" He grunted as he sat down in the large armchair and pulled both children into his lap.
Layla shrugged, and said "I don't know."
"I don't know," Nimrod parroted, still clinging to the edge of the unbuttoned waistcoat.
"You want me to pick? As you wish, children." Layla and Nimrod's father thought for a moment, allowing his half-moon spectacles to slip further down his nose than usual. "All right, I have a story. This is a story that my father told me when I was about your age, Layla." he nodded sagely. "It begins in a city that we now call Alexandria, in Egypt. We may visit there, someday soon. In any case, it wasn't always called Alexandria: before Alexander the Great came along, people called the city Rhakotis.
"Now, the City of Rhakotis was a true haven for all manner of djinn, magi, and all sorts of other, inhuman beings that were abroad in the world at that time. But no one in the city had ever seen a more talented magus than a young man called Kalefe. And they had never seen a more selfish, underhanded, dishonest magus, either.
"Kalefe had not begun that way, of course. At first, Kalefe had been a charming young apprentice priest, eager to please his master, and eager to serve Ra in his best ability."
"What's Ra?" Nimrod interrupted.
"Ra was what the Egyptians called their god of the sun," Dr. Godwin explained patiently, momentarily reverting to his usual role of Egyptology professor. "In that day and in that place, Ra was worshipped similar to the way Christ is worshipped today. Now, back to the story, my children. Kalefe had been an eager apprentice priest until the day that he met the infamous Dire Magnus in a dark alleyway."
"What's the Dire Magnus?" Layla asked curiously.
Dr. Godwin sighed. "You know, I'm not entirely sure. He appears throughout history, but always seems to be a different person. Quite odd, really. My knowledge of him extends merely to the fact that he was in that place, at that time in history, and spoke to this young apprentice priest. The Dire Magnus offered Kalefe such riches that defy imagination, but Kalefe, being a good and zealous young man, refused. The Dire Magnus would not be deterred, however. He went further, offering Kalefe power beyond compare, but Kalefe refused again. Now, it is said that before he accepted the duty of becoming an Egyptian priest of Ra, Kalefe had been...erm... in love with a very beautiful woman."
"Dad!" Nimrod protested loudly, visibly affronted. "That's icky! Why would he want to hang around with a girl? They're so... so... icky!"
Dr. Godwin laughed quietly at first, then, slowly, began to roar with uncontrolled mirth.
Layla, who had been listening with quiet fascination, scowled and punched her little brother on his left shoulder, just hard enough to let him know he'd done something wrong. "Nimrod!" She scolded petulantly, "Now daddy is laughing too hard to finish the story before he has to go out with mummy!"
Nimrod looked suitably chastised, and pulled sheepishly on Dr. Godwin's sleeve once more. "Finish the story, dad."
Dr. Godwin finally managed to stop his guffaws, though his eyes still sparkled with mirth, and he cleared his throat. "Where was I? Ah, yes. The third and final thing that the Dire Magnus offered to Kalefe. He offered him a way to raise the dead."
"But daddy," Layla interrupted. "Surely you can't raise the dead! Even djinn can't do that, can they?"
"You are quite right, Layla." Dr. Godwin said kindly. "Djinn can't raise the dead, nor can any human magus, at least not properly. But the Dire Magnus was not at all bothered by this. He offered to bring Kalefe's love back from the grave, and Kalefe could not help but accept.
"The Dire Magnus' price for this woman's resurrection was steep: Kalefe had to leave the service of Ra, and all that he found to be holy, and serve the Dire Magnus and the Dire Magnus alone, with his newfound magical ability. Kalefe agreed."