Chapter 4: Shards

It was another of those silent dreams. Jack knew it was a dream, but he couldn’t do anything about it. Sure, the dreams were related somehow to the crystal, he called out in his mind while he slept, “Construct, what’s going on with these dreams?” But there was no answer. I’ll have to ask him when I wake up, he told himself.

He was in that room in that ancient palace again, his palace. His women were there, in the background, kneeling, quiet. There were other men there too, six of them, tall, handsome, and something beyond that. Each of the men had an aura, a golden halo surrounding his body. Each also was wearing a gold chain around his neck, and each chain had a large colored stone at the end. Each stone was a color of the spectrum - red, orange, yellow, blue, indigo, and violet - and he wore the green stone.

Jack was seated on a large, straight-back chair carved out of a huge white stone, his throne. The men were talking, arguing, some so vigorously that Jack needed to raise his hand to quiet them. He stood and glancing down, saw his body surrounded by that same golden aura he had seen in the men.

As he addressed them, his aura suddenly flaring when he spoke, they grew calmer, listening to his words. More discussion followed, again very animated. Finally, he spoke again, giving his command, the men listening respectfully, the women in back staring at his face.

After he rendered his decision, some of the men, clearly not happy, objected in what he guessed were loud voices, gesturing broadly. Still, when he again raised his hand, they grew quieter. Soon, one by one, the men came to embrace him, take his hand, kiss his cheek or his hand. And then they were gone.

Jack stood by the window, watching the six platforms flying above the white city, then over the sea until they disappeared in the distance. Slowly, he returned to the white throne, taking his seat. In a moment, a lovely young girl was kneeling before him, offering him a gold cup. Quickly, he quaffed down the cool wine, then closed his eyes.

Immediately, his dream changed. It was night now, but light from the stars and moon was shining through the wide windows, filling the room with a soft glow. He was on his bed, really several thick carpets and soft pillows arranged in a pile on the floor. With him - under him - was the young girl who had served him the wine. She was writhing beneath him, her arms around his neck, gasping, whimpering as he thrust into her virginal pussy.

There was another change of scene. Now it was day. The girl was there, in the great room of his palace, but now obviously pregnant. And the other women of his harem were there too, many of them also pregnant. They came to him, kneeling before him, kissing his hands. Soon he was alone, looking out the window at the ships sailing out of the harbor, across the sea, carrying his women away, to safety.

Without warning, he was on that flying platform again, seeing his city, his palace, once more drowning under the great wave. The platform lurched, as it did in that earlier dream. Again, he cried out as the crystal exploded, and he was falling ... then he was awake.

He must have shifted on the bed, or made a sound, because with a sigh Sharley moved closer, pressing her soft belly against his erection. Half asleep, with a sigh, she kissed his chest, rubbing herself against him. Though he had become aroused dreaming about that girl, most of the arousal had passed upon experiencing his death for the second time - at least in a dream. He stroked Sharley’s shoulder, kissed the top of her head, then closed his eyes and slept once more.

Jack awoke to the sound of a radio. He pressed his head into the pillow, then was disturbed again by an alarm clock going off. Dakota reached up, turning off the alarm and radio. “I set them yesterday,” she said as he raised his head. “I’ve got a shoot today, but I can call and tell them I’m sick, it’ll be alright. Then I can spend the day with you Lord.”

He looked at the clock, seeing it was a little past six-thirty. “No, you go do your shoot. I’ve got to go to work today. I’ll see you later tonight.” He laid his head back, admiring Dakota’s naked body as she crawled out of bed, heading for the master bath. As he moved to the edge of the bed, Sharley turned toward him. “Mmmph,” she said, her eyes half open.

“Are you working today?” he asked, touching her cheek.

She answered with another “Mmmph,” which he took to mean ‘No.’

He got his shorts from the floor. Downstairs in the kitchen, he got coffee started, and used the downstairs bathroom. Within a few minutes the coffee was done. Sitting at the table, sipping the hot, black coffee, Jack was feeling pretty good. He felt like he had more energy now, maybe that was another result of his transformation. The three of them didn’t go to bed too late last night, even if they did play for a while.

With some time to himself now, Jack was ready to find answers to some of the questions that had been nagging at him. “Construct, tell me about the dreams. Why are you giving me those strange dreams? And what do they mean?”

“Lord? Dreams? I know nothing of your dreams.”

That surprised him. Could he be misleading me? Jack described the strange dreams, the city, the palace, the women, and his death falling from that flying platform. Construct said, “This is more than expected, that your genetic memory would be so explicit, that you could recall incidents that happened millennia ago, that is truly remarkable.”

Jack was about to ask about that genetic memory, and about the ancient blood Construct had mentioned Sharley possessed, when Dakota came in. She was wearing jeans and a white tee-shirt, carrying a bag and a denim jacket. Her face was bright, scrubbed clean, free of make-up, her hair shining, and she was smiling a big, happy smile.

Grabbing some coffee, “So, Lord, will you be here when I get back?” she asked, staring at him with those big blue eyes.

“I’ll be here. I don’t know what time you’re getting home, but I’ll be here tonight.”

“Good, you know I belong to you now?”

“Yes, I know. Hope you don’t mind.”

Her arms around his neck, kissing his lips, “Don’t you know I couldn’t mind, not after last night.”

He kissed her again, quickly. “You’re mine now, a concubine in my harem. You don’t mind sharing me do you.”

“No, I don’t mind sharing, as long as once in a while we can do something as good as last night.”

She pulled away from him, lowered herself, performing a kind of curtsey. Taking his hand, kissing it, “I’m your concubine, to serve you and give you pleasure any time, any way you want.” And with that, rising, giving him an enigmatic smile and a wave, she was gone.

Jack had another cup of coffee and showered. He got out his shaving stuff, but when he saw his face in the mirror, covered with a fine, gold-blond beard, he remembered those men in his dream, all with light brown or blond beards. He considered skipping shaving for a while. Or did the crystal want him to stop shaving? He didn’t like that thought. He grabbed the can of shaving cream and squirted some on his fingers, and a sense of dread came over him. As he worked his fingers into his whiskers, a headache began. “Construct, what is happening?”

“I don’t understand, Lord.”

“Why don’t you want me to shave?”

“Lord, I don’t understand.”

Jack picked up his razor and the headache worsened. “Construct, stop it! I am Jack Winfield, not a Lord of Light. I will not become a Lord of Light!”

“I do not understand, Lord.”

“Listen, ever since I decided to shave, I have had a headache, and it is getting worse. Stop it!”

Jack received the same “I do not understand” response, but the headache lessened slightly. Deciding to compromise, he shaved the sides of his cheeks and under his chin, leaving him with a mustache and goatee. He also noticed that the grey hairs he had started to show were gone. He wasn’t sure whether he believed Construct, though; who else could have caused the headache, or stopped it?

He went upstairs and got his clothes, kissing Sharley goodbye on the cheek, his reward another “Mmmph,” and with the crystal in his pocket, left for the office.

Once he was on the road, he asked Construct about the ancient blood he referred to. “ Lord, you have in you the blood of the ancient lords, quite a lot. The Lords of Light they were called by the people they came to rule. It’s in your genes, inherited from your ancestors. Some others also have it, as does Sharley, but not as much as you. It is the ancient blood that has made you worthy to possess the crystal and me, and the power I can bestow.

“As I said, in my opinion, it is your genetic memory, perhaps activated by the crystal, that is causing you to dream of that ancient city and the disaster that overtook it. And when you have the other fragments of the crystal, I believe that not only will you possess the full power of the crystal, but also what happened in those ancient times. And then, who and what you are will become clear to you.”

“So, we need to find the rest of the fragments. Do you know where they are?” asked Jack

“I sense there is a large fragment about four hundred of your miles east of here. But you’re not yet ready to try to obtain it. The fragments confer power on those who hold them. And such a large fragment, approximately as large as the one in your pocket, will confer great power on anyone who has it, power that can be dangerous. You must develop the powers that are available through the fragment you possess before attempting to wrest more fragments from others.”

Jack pulled off the freeway and stopped at a traffic light. “And I do that by getting more concubines?”

“You develop your powers by exercising them. Gathering women for your harem is one way. Any time, any way you use your powers will help you become stronger. You might have a higher motivation if you use your powers for your sexual pleasure. You seem to have a strong drive in that direction. Of course, if you want to use your power on men or boys...”

“No, that’s not something I’m interested in,” Jack said as they started to move again. “So, I need more practice and more women ... how many?”

“I estimate a minimum of about four women to start, more later, and now if you want, and about two weeks to develop your powers before you’ll be ready to try to capture a fragment that large.”

Jack liked sex as much as the next guy, maybe more than the next guy, and the idea of having four or more playthings sounded like fun, but he wasn’t sure he could keep up with that many women, and that’s what he told Construct.

“Don’t worry, your powers and your sexual potency will develop to meet your needs. Commanding and controlling the women of your harem is one of the most effective ways to develop your powers.”

Jack was going to ask another question when suddenly Construct said, “There’s a fragment over there, to the right, a small one, about three miles in that direction.”

They had to go around the block to turn where Construct wanted because they were already past the intersection. After driving about three miles, Jack pulled up in front of the office of State Senator Diego Solana.“It’s in there, I’m sure,” Construct said. “Lord, you must go in and find the fragment.”