Haeed waited in the top chamber of the Tower of Wisdom, leaning against his mahogany throne, his black staff resting against the armrest.

He had clenched his fists in refusal of the Sultan’s summoning. How could he face that fat slob without having the upper hand? He couldn’t. Now, he had lost track of both the dragon and Crimson Thorn twice.

“You fool,” said a chilling voice right next to his head.

“Huh?” the old man hissed, looking at his staff. It was Al Kabkab, his familiar, a jinn he had bonded centuries ago. “You finally answer, you bloody creature. Where have you been? Why did you abandon me now? You could have helped me.”

“I left you because you failed. Again. I should abandon you and let you rot. I come back, just to remind you that you haven’t delivered on your promises.”

“Ungrateful jinn,” hissed Heed. “I’ve given you sacrifices, more than you could ever swallow in a lifetime, and you still come to me and accuse me. I have given you much more than any human being has ever given a jinn!”

“And yet you keep failing! No matter how good it seems to be going, you fail in the end!”

“I haven’t failed! I know what you’re doing, Al Kabkab, you’re pressuring for more sacrifices. You’ll have them, but how can I offer more to you if you die”

“You promised a world ready to be offered to me,” the jinn said, venom in his voice. “That’s why we were bonded.”

Haeed sighed. “Alright, name your price. How many children do you want me to sacrifice now? I need your power? And once again, I will capture that dragon and be done with it, bring him under your will. You’ll have his body, his blood, his kin, and whatever else you want.”

Al Kabkab hissed. “The dragon is back with his kin, but he’s bonded.”

“So it is confirmed that he is bonded. How do you know that?” Haeed asked.

“In the spirit world, we have access to knowledge of things, much more than you will ever have.”

“Yes, yes, whatever,” Haeed muttered. “Listen, this man is too much for my men to handle, especially with the dragon by his side. But I, I can capture him myself if you help me. I can become invincible again!”

“Still puny to me,” Al Kabkab responded.

Haeed gritted his teeth.

“So that’s what you want? I’ll give it to you. I offer you harvested black energy, and you help me help you. You want me to do it again, don’t you, the Rite of Incarnation?”

“It’s a good way to prove that you’re not puny, I don’t lose anything.”

Haeed grinned. “Very well, I want this to be done with.”

Last time, the ritual had gone well. He had captured the dragon single-handedly and delivered him to the Demon Knights. The ritual was a dread to go through, and getting there, well, he needed a very devout family, one that was proven to be good and righteous, and force them to kill each other. But the power that it granted was something beyond what any human being could ever reach.

Haeed cleared his throat.

“Well, well, I guess I have no choice, huh?” Haeed pushed himself off the throne. His back and knee creaked and he grunted, placing the cane on the floor and leaning both arms on it.

“You’ve changed, Al Kabkab,” Haeed said to his staff. “You promised too much, you once told me I was the smartest man you’d ever met. I mean, I know I am. No one compares to my intellect, but still… I miss the old you.”

Suddenly, a black smoke emerged from the head of his twisted staff, taking the shape of a muscular man, skin the color of brass, with curved horns on his head, although the lower part of his body was still a blur of thick smoke.

Al Kabkab now stood before him, staring with yellow eyes, crossing his arms.

“What do you expect? I’m a jinn,” he said, his eyes gleaming with a threatening expression.

“I know, I know,” Haeed said softly. “Maybe you’re right. I… I am getting old. I will finish this. I’ve planned it well, you see, after I unify the world, I’ll have thousands of sacrifices per day. I will institutionalize human sacrifice once again. And you’ll have it all.”

Al Kabkab shook his head. “Besides, we’ve spoken about this a thousand times. You have no true commitment to evil, to me, or to Shaitan. You only care about yourself. You see this as a business. How long have we been at it and you haven’t established one single kingdom?”

Haeed sighed. “Well, I had to prepare. Seven hundred years feels like a long time already, and finally, finally I’m this close and, again, my progress is thwarted. Besides, am I not doing your bidding, and that of the Dark Lord? I am doing evil, I’m causing death and destruction! How many wars have I started in my name. In the meantime, I’m taking over the world. What more can you ask?”

“A slow burn for sure. We want power. I want it too, I want to be the most powerful jinn in the cosmos. But if you plan on running the world in my name, you can’t be all alone. And those poor fools you’ve got working for you downstairs. They think they’re doing the Creator a service! It’s entertaining, but it gets old. I want evil people doing evil things to serve me! It is such a dread when they start chanting the Creator’s name. I get it, it’s blasphemous. But when will I get the praise? Listen, Haeed, you’ve done much evil, you’ve fed spirits to me and my Master, a lot of blood. But it’s only you. You are the only truly evil person in this tower. We need more, we need entire nations to turn to evil, in deed and action. You have deceived many to do evil things, but they think they’re doing good! Something is missing! And the moment where you come up with a great plan and bargain for greater power... what happens? You fail.”

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“Yes, yes, whatever you say, Al Kabkab. I’ll deliver.”

“And I don’t need you, you can only do so much. When am I going to see those thousands of sacrifices?”

“What about the wars that I started?”

The jinn snickered. “No matter how you word it, if people die in war, none of them are dying in my name. And there is no harvesting of black energy except when you’re doing it. You know my goal. We want the whole world to turn to evil, I want people hating the parents who loved them, families slaughtering each other, people eating their cats and dogs. You know what I mean. How can we make that happen?”

“I’m doing it, Al Kabkab! Everything I do is to reach this goal. What part of my plan don’t you understand!”

The jinn smiled mischievously.

“I was thinking that maybe you need more help. More people working for you, knowing full well what we’re doing. Initiates serving Darkness itself. What do you think? Of course, you’d be their leader.”

“Alright.” Haeed walked down the stairs of his tower, passing by the section where regular religious studies took place. He nodded to the teacher. Religious tomes filled the bookshelves. Stupid texts, he should burn them all, but he had to keep up appearances. He walked down the stairs to the single section of the Tower where only he and a chosen few had access. To others, it was indistinguishable from a section of the wall. But certain spirits guarded the entrance.

He walked through it, as though there were nothing there, suddenly, the light around him faded, sinking him into complete darkness. Then, his staff started glowing with a cyan light, he approached the wide staircase and descended into a dark tunnel. He could hear the chanting of his disciples. Poor fools. They had been fooled with pleasures of the flesh, with visions, or rather, illusions, with a false doctrine he had crafted out of thin air, disguising it as the Creator’s will. Torches had been lit at the bottom of the staircase, and the chanting became louder.

“Master,” said the voices of his acolytes. They wore religious attire, brown robes and leather bands around their heads. They bowed their heads.

“How are your meditations going, boys?” he asked with a grandfatherly voice.

“Very well, Master Sage,” said Barug, a tall man with a shaved head. He was one of the most devoted. He had even written a poetry book that was shared among the public.

“Excellent,” Haeed said. “I…” He looked down wearily. “I have received many new inspirations from the Creator. I must go visit the people we’re sending to Paradise.”

“Yes, Master Sage,” said Barug, nodding and turning to accompany his Master.

Haeed advanced toward the main hall. Half a dozen young acolytes waited, including three women, wearing the same robes and leather bands around their foreheads.

“My children,” he said, extending his hands. “My children. How are your meditations going?”

“Master Sage,” said the women, turning toward him, raising to their feet and bowing. He smiled fondly. He had complete control over those human souls. They thought they were doing God’s work, that Paradise was soon coming to the earth and that they were part of it.

“My children. The Creator has spoken to me once again. He has listened. I as the Master and Speaker for the Creator, must command something of you.”

“What is it, Master Sage?” asked Barug. “Should we procure more young women for you to save their souls?”

Haeed cleared his throat.

“More than that, Barug. We are doing the ritual of Purification again.”

He’d made up the name. The actual name, in the actual books of black magic he had compiled, was Incarnation. And its purpose was something else entirely.

One of the girls seemed lowered her glance.

“My master…”

“What is it, child?” he asked.

“I…”

He looked at her. She was clearly uneasy about the subject matter.

“May I speak to you in private?” she said meekly.

“Why, child? We have no secrets here?”

“I am proud and happy to serve, but… But that ritual…”

The others looked at her with frowning faces.

“Do you find it distasteful, my child?” Haeed said softly.

“Master, I understand the theory, but it feels wrong.”

“Ah,” Haeed said patiently, placing his hand on the woman’s lower back. “Child, sometimes the Creator makes us do things that sound distasteful. But you know the Secret Doctrines, we taught you the truth behind the scriptures. The hidden meaning. You know it well.”

“I do, and yet, it is not easy,” she said, with eager eyes, eager for knowledge and salvation.

It was incredible how much they believed him. They had agreed to participate in the most horrid rituals for normal human decency, contradicting the very holy books they believed in. They had come to believe that those deeds had to be done, that those unholy rituals were holy works, designed to force the Creator to save the world and bring salvation to whoever participated.

But he’d have to keep that particular acolyte in check. He’d write a note to Barug not to let her leave the compound, and if she rebelled openly, she’d have to be taken care of. Al Kabkab was always there, helping. They were, if necessary, killed by their other peers, usually during an ecstatic vision.

“We will do it for you, Master!” said the others, enthusiastically.

“I expect no less of you all,” he said to them. “Find a pious family from the community. Bring them to paradise, perform the ritual and you will ensure their salvation. Do not hesitate.”

“Aye, our Master,” they said, bowing their heads without hesitation.

Al Kabkab swelled on Haeed’s staff, making it warmer. The jinn could not wait.

“Very good,” Haeed said, nodding approval. “Now, I expect them tonight. Go search for a suitable family.”

“We shall do it, our lord,” Barug said.

“Very well,” Haeed replied, advancing toward the deepest chambers of the compound. There were cries, wailing, and other noises coming from the other sections, but Haeed advanced deep in thought. One thing was leading a cult of indoctrinated people who defiled every tenet of their own religion, thinking it a religious duty. The human mind was susceptible and could be convinced of anything. But why was it so hard to find people who really embraced what they knew to be evil, and coveted it? That should be easier to find. Maybe he wasn’t really good at corrupting people, maybe he should be more like Al Kabkab. Maybe, surrounded by naive people both in the Tower and the Temple, he wasn’t looking far enough.

“What do you think, Al Kabkab?”

“Hmm, if that is what it takes. I can scry a bit into the spirit world, look for ambitious individuals, or maybe my fellow jinn know a few. You shall visit them.”

“They should come to me, I am supposed to be their master! And don’t even try to downgrade me in front of them.”

“Would they willingly go visit a holyman?” Al Kabkab said, taking shape once again before Haeed’s eyes. “That’s the problem. You’re presenting yourself as a righteous man, of course, you’re a wolf in sheep’s clothing, but your deception is quite compelling. Few can read between the lines. Why don’t you show a different face to them?

Al Kabkab pressed his lips.

“I will think of something,” he thought, looking to the side, staring at some of the devices they used in their secret rituals, among weapons, spikes, needles and other instruments, he saw a mask with demonic horns. He fidgeted with the ends of his beard.