Author : Jason X. Bergman

“You hold my amulet. I am bound to grant you three wishes. Three wishes and no more,” spoke the jinn.

“I need only one,” said the prince. “My beloved Meredith, killed by the dark wizard Neirin. I want her back.”

“This I cannot do,” said the jinn, shaking his head. His hair was as black as the night was dark. “She was killed by magic. I can bring down the heavens with a thought, but even I cannot bring her back to you.”

The prince thought for a moment. He thought of Meredith, his love, his life. He thought of Nerin, whose cruelty took her on what would have been their wedding day. His hand clenched. He looked into the jinn’s black eyes and said, “Very well. Then I want to end it all.”

“Your life?” Said the jinn, with a smile. The jinn are dark creatures, and taking lives is something they take great pleasure in. “This I can do. Tell me how you wish to-”

“No,” said the prince. “Magic. I want magic to go away.”

The jinn was shaken by this request. “That could be arranged, but-”

“I want all of it to go away. The wizards, the unicorns, the dragons, the fairies, the ten floating kingdoms. All of it.”

“But you and I, we are creatures of magic!” The jinn protested. “If I do this it would be as if none of us had ever existed. Magic would exist only in the dreams of men. Do you realize what you are asking?”

“Can it be done?” Said the prince. “Or do you lack the power?”

The jinn was not pleased to have his power questioned. “I am the most powerful creature in all the ten kingdoms, mortal. I could do this thing with a flick of my wrist,” and he flicked his wrist, for emphasis. “But I will not.”

“You forget your place, jinn,” said the prince. “I defeated the seven beasts to find this place. I hold in my hand your amulet of power. You have no choice but to do as I say.”

“You are correct,” said the jinn. “If you command it, I must respond. But consider what you are asking! Without magic, what would remain?”

The prince held up the jinn’s amulet. It glowed with red fire, casting a flickering light across the cave. “I hold your amulet and command you. As my one and only wish. Remove magic from the Earth. Now and forever.”

“By your command,” said the jinn, resigned to his fate. “So it shall be.”

The jinn held his arms up, reluctantly, and began his incantations, but it was clear he took no delight in them. Red light poured from his body as he spoke, enveloping the room. It spread beyond the cave and swept across the land. It covered each of the ten kingdoms and flew across the seas to the lands beyond.

The world went dark. And was reborn.

And the rest, they say, is history.

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