My name is Jenner Zachary Aley.  You can call me Jen, though.  I was born in the year 1156 in the height of summer.  My family was of average status, farmers, but had cousins in town who were merchants.  I was the second child born to my parents, the first being my twin brother Jacob.  We were nearly identical.  I say nearly, for our eyes were different.  I'd gotten my father's brilliant green eyes and Jacob our mother's soft brown ones.  My childhood was normal for the time, nothing out of the ordinary.

    My brother took the spotlight for most of our lives.  First at everything, steps, words, smiles.  I was perfectly happy to follow his footsteps.  As we grew older our personalities were shown to be as different as our eyes.  Jacob was strong and stubborn.  More inclined to hit something than to simply move it.  Not to say he was a brute, for he wasn't.  He was simply headstrong with muscles to match.  I preferred to think my way around my problems.  I would often concede to Jacob's will, knowing it to be the wiser decision, especially when he was upset.  The few times I stood my ground, he knew I had a good reason.  We understood each other, my twin and I.

    By the time Jacob and I were fourteen years, we'd gained four more siblings, only the last a female.  Out mother's eyes proved to be the dominant shade, for only Sara, our sister, shared mine.  Not a year after Sara was born our father took ill and passed, and Jacob and I became the men of the house.  James, ten at the time, as well as Caleb, who was seven then, took up our former chores and we kept the farm running.  Our mother took in work from the village to earn extra wages, mostly in the form of darning.

    The years after my father's passing were not too difficult on our family.  It was three years before Luke, the youngest of my brothers, could help out with the upkeep of the farm.  By then Jacob and I were starting our own lives.  At seventeen years, we were adults.  A year later Jacob began courting a merchant's daughter.  I was looking at going off to school.  The trip would take far more money than I had so I began saving up.  I got an apprenticeship with the town innkeeper, an old man who had no children of his own to help out.  When I was nineteen years a man found his way to our town and took a room at the inn.

    Much talk followed this man.  There had been rumors of a group of people who called themselves gypsies.  It was said they came from Egypt and had magical powers.  Another rumor followed the one of magic that simply said they were charlatans and thieves.  The man that came was one of these such people.  Though he traveled alone, which was strange for his people, they usually traveled in caravans with whole families.

    The man and I ended up becoming great friends in the coming year.  I learned that his name was Zephram and that he was, indeed, a gypsy.  He had broken from his caravan a few years prior due to a personal quest of his, though what the quest was he would not tell me.  He was learned, a foreign thing in our village.  This fact alone made him all the more intriguing to me.  I begged him to teach me what he knew, and, after months, he finally conceded.  He taught me numbers and their meanings.  Taught me words, how to read them and write them.  For a long time, this, I thought, was his greatest gift to me.

    Jacob had asked for the hand of the merchant's daughter and had been married to her in the summer, the day before our shared birthday.  I was his best man and Sara was the flower girl.  My mother welcomed the girl into our family with open arms, treating her as another daughter instantly.  In private, Sara told me that she was glad to finally have a sister, but that I would always be her favorite.

    Sara and I were the closest of any of our siblings.  Even more close than Jacob and I.  When she was very young she had told me that I was better than any dad, even ours, who she'd heard numerous stories about.  It seemed my younger brothers felt similarly, as they came to me with problems one would go to their father with, but to Jacob for anything needing an older brother's touch.  This always confused me, as Jacob was the oldest.  Wouldn't he have been the logical choice?  In time, I realized that I did, indeed, act similarly to a father towards my younger siblings.  I voiced my observation to Zephram once.  His reply was that I was a natural protector.  Said it was in my nature to look after people I cared about, even at the cost of myself.  At the time I did not quite understand what he meant.

    A year after they had wed, my mother hosted a party in joint celebration of my brother and sister-in-law's wedding, and Jacob's birthday and mine.  The day of their anniversary the weather proved foul, and so the party was pushed back one day.  On my twenty first birthday, my childhood home was filled to the brim with our friends, family and neighbors.  As the day wore on, the party broke up, with Jacob and his then pregnant wife retiring for the night and our guests all returning home.  Luke and Sara ran off to play, James and Caleb went off to do their chores and my mother, getting on in years as she was, retired as well.

    Zephram and I went for a walk around the property.  We chatted idly about random matters.  Then our conversation turned towards deeper subjects, as our talks tended to.  He spoke about missing his family, and how he longed to return to them, but he could not until he finished his quest.  I'd previously asked why he they had not come with him, his reply being that they had chosen to stay with the caravan.  I wished him luck yet again on it's success.  He was acting odd this day, his replies becoming strained the longer we talked of his vague quest and it's side-effects.  Eventually we neared he wood on the edge of my family's farm.  Luke and Sara had gone here to play earlier, and I thought to call them back to the house for the night.

    Zephram and I heard their voices long before we saw them.  Their laughs brought a smile to both our faces.  Luke often complained that his only playmate was our sister, but deep down, I knew he enjoyed her company.  The whole of our family doted on Sara.  She was easily babied by us, and, as she had five older brothers to protect her, she always felt safe.  It wasn't until years later that I realized that it wasn't always a good thing.

    We walked along the river that ran through the woods, nearing their voices as we did.  As a rule, my siblings had to keep the river in sight as they played, so that they always be able to find their way out, so we were sure to find them playing near the banks.  Soon enough they came into our sight, just a flash of their clothing or hair at first, then we could see them.  Just as we got close enough to almost see them fully, their laughter turned to shrieks of fear.  Zephram and I broke into a run.  With a sinking in my stomach I heard dual splashes.  They'd fallen in. "You get Luke, I'll get Sara!" I shouted as Zephram and I dove into the water. I trusted him to get my brother to safety, all my focus was on Sara.

    "Jen!" My name was laced with fear as she struggled to keep above the water's surface. Oh, how I wished in that moment, that any of us had taught her to swim. The water pulled at my clothes, my limbs, slowing me down. I shrugged off my jacket as best I could while still swimming towards her.

    "Hold on, Sara! I'm comming!" Stop waisting your breath! I consentrated on pulling the water, getting ever closer to her. Almost there... When I was not three feet from Sara, her head finally dipped under the water. The fear in her eyes at that moment is something I will never forget. Taking a great lungful of air, I dove under. Where is she! I spotted her, feebly trying to pull herself upwards. Small bubbles of air drifted up towards the surface, towards safety.

     I got my arm wrapped around her and hauled the both of us up as best I could. Our heads broke the surface and the both of us gasped in air. Sara coughed and took another gulp of air. "I've got you." I'd never before fully realized how small she was. My arm was wrapped completely around her waist with room to spare. She tried to dog-paddle while I struggled to tow us to the bank one armed.

     When we finally reached the bank of the river, I grasped the first solid ground I could, a root sticking out over the water. "Climb up!" She crawled over me and onto the bank. I had to push her up the rest of the way as she was weakened from the ordeal. I could feel the fatigue on my limbs, as well as the burning in my lungs. My body was not used to swimming after years of dry land. I glanced up and saw that Zephram was climbing up onto the bank with Luke in front of him. I sighed in relief. Both of my siblings were safe, as was my friend. I moved to reach my other arm up for a better handhold when the root snapped in half.

     For a moment I couldn't comprehend what had happened. Then Sara screamed my name and my mind began to work again. I swung my arms wildly looking for something to grab hold of, but the river was faster here. I tried swimming back towards shore, but it was almost helpless. Sara just kept screaming my name, and soon Luke called it too. All at once I felt a sharp pain in my head and darkness descended on me. The last thing I remembered was hearing a splash and my siblings calling my name.

---

     When I came too, Zephram was sitting over me, an odd look on his face. I could not figure out what had happened. Where were we, and why was I laying on the ground? I tried to speak and a torrent of water gushed out of my mouth, as if I was being sick. My friend patted my back as the water was finally cleared of my lungs. Sitting there, breath comming in ragged gasps, it all came back to me. "Sara! Luke! Where are they? What happened? Are they alright - "

     "They are fine. Now, lay back down." Without giving me a chance to cooperate, he gently, but firmly pushed me back down. For a moment I struggled, but soon gave up. I was still weak from my near drowning. That much of the situation, I could grasp. I had knocked my head on a boulder and Zephram had pulled me out.

     I looked at him, my friend. "Thank you."

     He balked, surprise clouding his face. "For what?"

     "For saving Luke... and me."

     He didn't respond. Indeed, his expresion became even more unreadable than when I'd first awoke. "What is it?"

     He continued to stare out for a moment before saying, so softly I had to strain my ears to hear him, "I'm sorry." I was confused. What did he have to be sorry about? He'd saved two lives today, for God's sake! I was about to voice this very thought when he said more. "I didn't get to you fast enough. I couldn't save you." He lowered his head into his hands.

     "What do you mean? I'm right here." I had not a clue what he was talking about. Of course he'd saved me, how else would I be speaking to him as I was now? "Zephram, what do you mean, you couldn't save me?"

     He did look at me then. The look of greif on his face was cause for alarm in the confines of my mind. What could have caused him to look the way he did then? "You died. If I'd gotten to you a moment sooner, you'd have been alright, but... I couldn't... and..." His head sunk back to his hands, his neck not having the strength to support it on it's own.

     "But... I'm..." I could not think of what to say. I was alive, clear as day. Wasn't I?

     He sighed, a deep sigh consisting of years of secrets and knowlege beyond his years. "There's something I've never told you, but I'm sure you've guessed at." He would not meet my eyes, instead looking at the river that had nearly claimed the lives of my siblings. "You know that I am a gypsy, that much I have told you. The rumors spread about my people are, for the most part, untrue. I, however, am an exception." He now met my eyes, and I saw the truth of the coming sentence in his. "I and my family have powers. We are the source of the rumors of magic that we gypsies possess. I... used a spell to bring you back." He looked away, at the ground.

     I pushed myself up into a sitting position. I immediately became dizzy, but forced myself to remain upright until the spinning stopped. "What do you mean, a spell?"

     He sighed again, the way one would when finally saying something that has been perched on your tongue for years. "It's a temporary revival spell. It will bring the soul back to the body for a short period of time. We mostly use it so that those who've not had time for goodbyes, can have a chance to."

     "So... I'm... dead, but... not dead?"

     "No, you are dead. But temporarily reanimated."

     "Then why bring me back at all! If I'm just going to die again, why not leave me dead!" I could not believe I was having this conversation. I didn't feel dead, though I did feel a bit odd.

     "Because... I have a question to ask you."

     "A question? A question!" I was enraged. It was unholy to mess with the dead. The look in his eyes, however, stilled my tongue as well as my temper. The guilt in his eyes was palpable, but there was something else as well... was it... relief?

     "My family has a reason for our powers. There are creatures beyond your darkest nightmares that roam this earth. For the entirety of time, my family has taken it upon themselves to make it so that these creatures never see the light of day. However, they are getting stronger, their numbers increasing. It has become far more difficult in the past hundred years to defeat them."

     "What does this have to do with me?"

     He continued on as if I had not spoken. "My family has been searching for help all the while, someone to join us in arms against the creatures. A djinni." He looked at me.

     "What is a djinni?"

     "A djinni is a creature with immense power, beyond your wildest dreams. They are immortal, never age, never fall ill. They are near invincible, and only bow to their masters. One could call a djini's master it's owner, but I prefer to see it as a partnership. A contract, if you will. My great-great-grandfather discovered the secret to creating a djinni almost a hundred years ago, and my family have since been searching for someone to bestow the gift upon. This has been my quest."

     "What does this have to do with me?" I am normally loathe to repeat myself, but this was an extaordinary circumstance.

     "I wish to turn you into a djinni."

     "What?" I could not wrap my mind around it. Me, a farm-boy, an all powerful creature? "What's the catch?"

     "Ah, you see, there's the rub of things... You would never be able to change your mind. It's an all or nothing kind of deal. You either say yes and become a djinni, live forever, serving my family, helping fight these creatures. Or you say no and you die, and stay dead. You would be able to see things beyond what even you, my friend, have imagined. You would see sights that you've never dreamed of. You would be able to learn until the end of time. And you would be saving the world thousands of times over.

     "But... There are downsides. Not many could handle all that immortality entails. It is a lonely life. Though you will try to fill the void with friends, they will age while you do not, and, in time, they will die. You will see your family age, die in time. You alone will endure. It is a grave responsibility and honor, should you choose to accept. I would not blame you if you did not."

     "If I accepted... What would my duties be?"

     "Every forty years, the creatures make a stand. It is my family's duty to stop them. Should you accept, you would have to stand alongside the heir to the power and fight as well. You would also train the heir on how to use their powers, how to fight with them. Above all, you job would be to protect my family's line, to make sure our powers continue on and that each heir knows how to use their powers. As you will not be able to die, you would protect them no matter what."

     I thought, oh how I thought. It sounded like a miracle, to be handed a second chance, one that guaranteed my wishes and dreams. But could I live with the loneliness Zephram had described? I thought of my family, the people I cared most for in this world. Jacob and his budding family. James and Caleb, just becoming men. Luke, still young enough to need a father figure. My mother, who'd already lost a husband. Sara... If I did not accept, and died there, Sara and Luke would blame themselves for my death, when in truth it was my own fault. I could not do that to my siblings. They were too precious to me. The more I thought, the more I realized that, were I to die here on this riverbank, everyone I hold dear would be shattered, in ways that may not be able to be mended. That fact was the deciding factor in my end decision.

     I looked Zephram in the eyes. "I accept."

---

    All that happened long ago.  In the past eight hundred years I have seen the most amazing sights.  I have seen wars, even fought in some of them.  I have seen wonders that I never would have imagined, and secrets unearthed from the past, literally.  I have met incredible people that history would later deem worthy of remembrance.  I have lived lifetimes more than I ever dared hope for my first time around.  My former life seems almost a distant memory now, but the faces, ghostly with time, still remain firmly etched in my minds eye.  Though loss has saddened me greatly over the years, I can not fully bring myself to regret my decision.  All I can do is strive to save the world from nightmares that I had never thought of before, but now think of almost daily.  All I can do is live up to my title of Protector.