“What if the statue is Ishtar?” Ashley finished. James nodded, barely containing his excitement. He looked to Lilith again.
“Lilith, if we destroy the statue… we might destroy Ishtar.”
“Or we might destroy ourselves,” his mistress responded pessimistically. “Is that what you want?”
James sat back down next to the demoness. “Lilith… I know you asked me not to dwell any more on this. I know you asked me not to risk my life for this. But I have to. I can’t sit by and let our best chance at freedom slip past.” He took her hands in his as he spoke, “I love you, and I want to spend forever with you. But I don’t want that forever to be in this prison. Isn’t freedom worth the risk?”
Lilith kept her eyes down. She pulled a hand away from James’ in order to wipe away a tear. “I forgot a long time ago what freedom was. I don’t even know how to imagine such a thing anymore, James… So I don’t know if it’s worth risking everything for. But I know that you are.” She looked up and met his gaze with blue eyes filled with tears. She smiled. “Let’s do it. Let’s kill that bitch.”
James grinned broadly, wrapped his mistress up in his arms, and kissed her. He didn’t know how else to tell her how he felt at that moment. He hoped it got the point across. The two smiled together when they parted.
“Well, that was fucking adorable,” said Ashley, wiping a tear away from her own eye. “I want to help.” She straightened up and put on a serious face. “I don’t know anything about the whole magic aspect, but I do have high-level access to the museum’s most secure areas. I’d prefer if we didn’t have to destroy a priceless, 3800-year-old idol, buuut… if that’s the cost of doing business…” She shrugged.
James pulled his sister into a group hug. “We’d be happy to have your help, Ashley,” Lilith said.
“All right!” James cheered. “Let’s hatch a plan! All in favor of going in guns blazing?” He raised his hand and looked expectantly at the girls, who averted their gaze. “Oh…kay…” James sighed. “All in favor of calculated reconnaissance, careful timing, and surgical precision?” Both women raised their hands. “Damn.”
“I’ll gather information tomorrow and get an idea of what kind of security we’re looking at,” spoke Ashley.
“We don’t know when Ishtar will return,” said James, “It could be tomorrow, or it could be next month. If she comes back and learns of our plan, then it’s all over. We need to be ready to do this at the drop of a hat.”
“I can do little more than advise from here, no matter what we decide to do,” said Lilith, “But I can assist in preparing you, James, by continuing your training.” James nodded and got to his feet. Lilith followed suit, and the two walked off a ways before summoning the wooden soldiers they often used for training.
With Ash watching, and under Lilith’s supervision, James began practicing his magic. He warmed up with a few fire bombs aimed at the dummy army. At Lilith’s encouragement, James attempted to separate his magic into two distinct sources: Lilith’s magic, which he had gained through their pact and strengthened through his sexual conquests, and his own magic, which had always been within him and was now at his disposal. James found Lilith’s magic much easier to use, as he’d become accustomed to relying on it. But relying on it too much had put him in more than one bad position, so he decided he’d try and use his own magic wherever possible.
He tried conjuring fire using this other source of magic, and though it took him longer to draw out the power needed, the results were undeniable. Jets of blue fire decimated the ranks of the wooden army in an instant. Swirling and coalescing into a pillar of flame, the fire grew until it cut through the lowest layer of clouds. It took considerable effort on James’ part to quench the fire magically. When he succeeded at last, he saw how widespread the destruction was. Several gilded pillars had been melted away almost completely. As usual, they began repairing themselves, as did the scorched ground and dummy army, but it all moved slower than ever before.
“Wow…” Lilith spoke quietly as they watched the Temple repair the damage. “I don’t think I could have done that.” James looked at his mistress with genuine surprise. Was this power of his really that great?
Ashley called out from somewhere far behind them. “Was that good? I have no frame of reference! I’m gonna just assume that you suck, James!”
“Thanks, sis! Love you too!”
James continued testing the limits of his new power by practicing magic he was already comfortable with. His destructive capabilities were certainly impressive, but he struggled with the mental. Anything more complicated than basic mental manipulation drained his strength considerably, and the results varied. He tried to create an illusion for the first time, testing it out on Ashley. His goal was to make her see a tiger that wasn’t really there, conjuring sights and sounds that only she could experience. He thought he had succeeded, but based on Ash’s reaction, the result must have been closer to a house cat.
The rest of the night continued in that way. James felt he had improved marginally by the time it was time to leave the Temple, but he knew it was nowhere near enough progress. Before leaving, James asked Lilith for advice regarding the husks.
“I’m not sure how to return them to normal,” Lilith said. “It’s never been done before, but that doesn’t mean it’s impossible. I’d recommend trying to revert their condition using not the magic that turned them into husks, but your other source of magic. That might yield better results.”
James thanked the demoness and bid her farewell before returning to the waking world. He and Ash shimmered out of existence and awoke together. They found themselves spooning naked on the bed in Ashley’s suite. James, of course, had a case of morning wood that was impossible to conceal from his sister. A playful look appeared in her eyes and James knew he was in for a long day.
An hour later, brother and sister stood in the lobby of the hotel. After their early-morning fun, they’d showered, dressed, and had breakfast in the hotel’s restaurant. James was now waiting on his car to be brought around by the valet. His phone buzzed in his pocket and he pulled it out to see a text from Jess: “R u ok? How’d things go with u know who? Text me back.”
James shot off a quick reply: “Tell u over lunch. I’ll see u later.”
Turning back to his sister, he asked, “Sure you don’t want me to drop you off at the museum?”
“Nah, it’s a short walk. Thanks though.”
James nodded and smiled. When the valet returned with the keys to his car, he paid the man and thanked him before saying goodbye to Ashley. The two made plans to meet up for dinner to discuss anything Ash learned at the museum, and then they went their separate ways.
James stopped at home to grab his books before heading to school. He paid more attention in History class that day, taking notes and even asking questions about the ancient civilizations they studied. He wanted to accumulate as much knowledge as possible in preparation for whatever came next.