Rod of the Heart

by Cebelius

  "Yuri! Mila, and of course, Marcus. Glad you could make it!"

  Terry wore an undyed open-necked shirt. It was soaked through with sweat that made Mila's nose crinkle from across the room. He wore canvas pants and there was a very distinctive red sash wrapped around his waist. It looked like the highest-quality silk, and stood out starkly against his otherwise plain clothing. He wasn't wearing his boots though, nor socks, and his bare feet struck Mila as intensely strange looking, bald of fur as they were and with stubby toes capped by nails hardly worth the name.

  She remembered again the way he'd looked, wearing the gray raincloak and mask, when they'd first seen him in Mamma Moo's tavern. She tilted her head as she thought about that, then looked at him again.

  Is he ... bigger? Must be the shirt.

  Mila watched as Shy ran to Terry and embraced him. Having been party to her recent misadventure, she understood the extra second she held him, and the shadow of doubt that crossed Terry's features as he returned her embrace, then pulled her to arm's length and asked, "Are you okay?"

  She nodded, smiled at him, and stepped to his side, drawing him into the room.

  As he got closer Mila's nose crinkled and he must have noticed because he said, "Yeah, sorry. I'm kinda nasty at the moment."

  Mila smirked and her tail flickered in amusement as she nodded and said, "Yes, yes you are. Nice sash."

  Terry's expression twisted, and he glanced down at it as he said, "About that. Have you ever heard of a sanguine devil?"

  "Boss!" Mila shot forward and examined the sash more closely, then glared up at him as she demanded, "How did you get this!?"

  "It attacked me in the throne room. Used to belong to Volai and I uh ... fed it. We made a deal."

  Mila looked askance at Shy, then back at Terry as she picked out the word most relevant to her in his last statement. "Attacked?"

  "Apparently it was hungry. I don't know much about it myself, but it did stop the bleeding it caused until Laina was able to, uh, feed me."

  Under normal circumstances, Terry's embarrassment would have amused Mila, but she had bigger concerns. "Terry, ruby slimes are nothing to play with. Can you tell me exactly what it said to you?"

  The template looked down at the sash and said, "Speak for yourself, will you?"

  Mila watched as the knotted ball at his hip thickened a bit and started to fizz with speech. "Sorry, master. I was instructed never to speak or reveal myself in the presence of others. Do you wish me to disregard that command in the future?"

  "No ... that sounds about right, but for now speak freely. Mila knows more about this stuff than I do."

  "Very well, master. The mage is correct to be concerned, but in this case all is well. Your contract is in order, and I am content with the terms. I have agreed to serve Terrence Mack as a defensive measure until such time as he asks for more of me, in exchange for a set amount of blood once a week."

  "That's a very loose contract," Mila pointed out, looking at Terry. "You should be more specific in your dealings with devils, Boss."

  The template's lips quirked and he glanced at Laina, whose eyebrows had risen at Mila's use of her pet name for Terry.

  Yuri apparently caught the glance too because he said, "After the pit fight, we all took to calling him boss. It was just easier. Hope you don't mind?"

  Solicitous of the giant. My brother demonstrates his common sense at the oddest times. I wonder if he'll ask me later to heal his hand.

  "No, it's no problem. I just ... did he call himself that?"

  Laina was looking speculatively at Terry, who'd put his hands up as he said, "Mamma Moo asked me for a fight name. I thought of you."

  He smirked, then added, "Cowhand."

  Laina smirked even while glaring and she pointed at him as she said, "You and I are going to go round and round if you don't knock that off. I already told your friend here I don't like that name."

  He grinned and said, "I don't mind going round and round with you."

  Mila returned her attention to the ruby slime and, reaching out cautiously, picked up the trailing end again and had another look. It was feather light and felt exactly like silk, but now that she knew what it was she was amazed. She'd never seen a ruby slime before. Only the most powerful theurges were known to be able to summon them, as they were neither natural creatures, nor were they even typical for their home plane. They cropped up occasionally in dungeon delves, and the best advice to be had about such encounters — absent a pyromancer in the group — was usually 'Run away.'

  They were vulnerable to fire, but once they got past a certain size it was very hard to burn them all at once, and they could devastate a party of four in a matter of seconds once they got in close.

  "And you say this is only for defense?" she asked.

  "Correct. I will not attack anything unless a new contract is agreed to, or my existence is directly threatened," the slime burbled.

  "Damn, it tickles when you talk," Terry said, squirming and sliding a hand in between his shirt and the fizzing knot at his side. "Do you really have to be in contact with my skin all the time?"

  "It's best if I am, master. My tremor sense is very good, but being able to use your senses helps me defend you."

  Terry boggled. "Use ... my senses?"

  Mila grinned, showing her teeth as she straightened and stepped back. "Familiars share their contractor's senses and magical pool while physically connected, Boss. It works both ways too. Ask it to show you how sometime. Tremor sense is handy, or so I hear."

  "Hmph!"

  Euryale flopped down into one of the chairs by the table under the window as she muttered, "I don't see what's so great about it."

  Terry glanced at the gorgon with a bemused expression, then shrugged as he said, "You guys kept teasing me about getting armor. Well? I got some."

  Marcus guffawed, then shook his head and said, "Over-achiever."

  Yuri grinned and said, "Well, don't forget to feed the damn thing, whatever you do. Break a contract with a devil and you'll have hell to pay."

  Shy giggled and jerked a thumb at Yuri as she said, "He's witty. I like him."

  Grinning good-naturedly Terry said, "Yeah, he grows on you ... kinda like fungus."

  "Hey!"

  Both men laughed as Terry shook Yuri's hand, then Marcus', before he turned his smile on Mila. When she clasped hands with him, he surprised her by turning his palm and bringing her hand up to his lips to kiss the back.

  He let her go immediately and left her feeling vaguely embarrassed, her hand hovering in mid-air for a moment before she dropped it.

  He never did that before.

  She thought back, but couldn't remember if they'd ever shook before. Perhaps when they'd met at Mamma Moo's?

  Maybe it's a template thing?

  Her thoughts fractured as Terry turned back to Marcus and said, "You brought it?"

  "Yeah."

  The minotaur hauled the massive pack off his back and began rummaging. The first thing that came out was another pack, this one Terry's. He set that aside and pulled out a worn lumbering ax with a haft stained dark red and multiple nicks in both blades.

  "Hey, did you sharpen this for me?" Terry asked as he took the ax and looked it over.

  "Yeah," Yuri said. "You need to learn how to take care of your weapons, Boss. I had some time last night so I dressed it as best I could. It is sharp, but those nicks are not coming out without a smith's wheel and even then, you would have to take a lot off the head. Not worth it. Just get yourself a proper battle ax."

  "Damn, Boss! What the hell did you do with that thing?" Laina asked.

  "He killed a looooot of critters," Yuri said off-handedly. "Pretty handy with it too for someone who barely knows one end from the other."

  "Gee, thanks. What about that last thing?" Terry said, setting the ax against the wall and turning back to Marcus.

  The big minotaur hesitated a moment, then said, "Sure."

  The next thing he pulled out of the
bag was a massive double-bladed battle ax with a steel haft six feet long. The head had a dusky-red design on the face that, after a moment's study, resembled a minotaur flexing its biceps, complete with rubies for eyes.

  Marcus hesitated again, then handed the ax over to Terry.

  For Mila, the hesitation was significant. Marcus never hesitated. The man made decisions and acted on them. This was extraordinarily out of character ... but he'd never said a word.

  If it means that much, why doesn't he say something?

  She watched Terry turn and present the ax to Laina as he said, "Found this in Monsoon. If past experience is any indication of the future, I figure you could use it."

  Mila watched Laina's eyes widen, saw her mouth drop, and glanced over to see Marcus wincing as it became obvious that whatever Marcus might know, there was a good bet Laina knew it too.

  "Boss, do you know what this is?" the minotress breathed.

  "An ax that only tauren people, and I guess templates, can lift?" he said, making it a question. "If I didn't think it was special I wouldn't be giving it to you."

  Laina took the ax from Terry with a sort of reverence, shifting it in her hands to gaze at it as though she'd been handed something priceless. She shook her head and said, "Every tauren knows this ax. It's ..." she glanced up at Marcus and asked, "Why did you let him have this?"

  "He found it," Marcus answered with a heavy shrug of his shoulders. "Saved us all with it. It was his to take, and his to give away."

  "Okay, I give up, what is it?" Terry asked, glancing around in irritation.

  Marcus answered, once it was obvious that Laina was in a world of her own as she stared at the ax in her hands.

  "The Ax of the Great Plains."

  Laina glanced up as the minotaur named the weapon, and added, "It is the single greatest weapon ever wielded by my race. Terry, I ... I don't know what to say."

  Euryale, who despite the mask covering her expression managed to radiate annoyance, chipped in. "Some variation on 'Thank you' would probably be appropriate."

  Mila shook her head as Laina stammered her way through her gratitude, considering that — for Euryale at least — the weapon was just a piece of junk, something that she'd left on the floor of a cave near her sister's tomb for only she knew how long. The only thing she seemed to value was Terry himself.

  I guess when you're completely immortal, even legends lose their allure, and one thing is truly no different from another.

  "So," Terry paused, and his lips twisted as he glanced from the ax back to Yuri. "I guess this means I pretty much just got my cut."

  Yuri burst out laughing and slapped Terry on the shoulder as he said, "Boss? You could adventure with us for the rest of our lives and if we divvied everything from now unto death based on fair value, you would probably never make a single copper token. That ..."

  Yuri waved at the ax in Laina's hands, "Is completely priceless."

  The look on Terry's face made it completely clear he was baffled, and at a loss for words. Eventually though he looked Yuri in the eye, and then Marcus, and finally Mila as he said, "Thank you. Again, I promise to do all I can to make Yuri the chief he was meant to be. I might never be able to repay this, but I'll do my damndest. I've already given you my word. All I can do is reaffirm it."

  Yuri nodded and smiled as he took Terry's hand in his own and shook it as he said, "Your word is good with us, I will ask for nothing more. Consider yourself paid up ... at least as far as I am concerned."

  "You gave the ax to a tauren," Marcus rumbled. "I didn't even have to ask. We're square."

  When his eyes met hers, Mila felt heat rising in her cheeks and didn't know precisely why. His eyes were the green-gray of a storm-tossed sea, and there was an earnest desire to do right in him that came through so clearly that it almost took her breath away.

  "Help my brother," she said, struggling to keep an even tone. "Do that, and you will be even shares as long as you travel with us ... though we will not be giving you a token more for this last trip."

  His smile was broad and made her heart melt just a little as he said, "Done. As soon as I wrap this dragon business and stomp whoever Mamma Moo lines up for me, we'll get going."

  He scowled as he turned away, mumbling, "Though that means I'm back to broke again ... dammit."

  When Mila heard that she glanced at Yuri with a raised eyebrow, then at Euryale who apparently knew exactly what was on her mind as the gorgon said, "He's stupid like that. Hasn't touched my hoard, won't take money from Laina either even though every golden quarter in her purse was earned on his gift."

  I'm still not used to seeing Terry's mask on someone else ... not that I'm complaining.

  "By the Powers, Boss! What do you want money for!?" Laina asked. "Just tell me and I'll gift it to you. And if you say you won't accept my gifts I swear I'll clock you."

  "This isn't a question of gifts. I've got my pride as a man, Laina. Money talks, and bullshit walks," he said, folding his arms matter-of-factly across his chest. "I am not going to make my way through this life swinging on my dick, and I don't mooch off my friends or my lovers. I used to have to hide the grocery money from both my parents so that it paid for food, not drugs and booze. I am not going to be that guy. Ever. I was going to use the money from Monsoon to bet on myself during this match I've got coming up. I figured with my cut, I'd be able to earn enough to see me through to wherever the hell we're going. Maybe pick up a fight here and there in whatever podunk we pass through if I needed to supplement. Without a stake though, I'm screwed if I can't squeeze Mamma Moo for more of the house take. She's got me capped at twenty percent for a win, five on a loss. Even with a big fight, I just won't make much."

  "Nobody squeezes Mamma," Laina said matter-of-factly. "And you already got a better deal than her stable gets. You should just let me pay her off. I'm telling you, Boss, this is going to be blood and guts. If you lose, she'll be giving that five percent to one of us as next of kin."

  Several of Euryale's snakes hissed at that, and her head whipped around in alarm as she said, "Master! You can't!"

  Terry scowled at Laina, then turned his attention to Euryale. He went and knelt in front of her, took one of her brazen hands in his own and gazed into her eyes as he said, "Love, I'm good at exactly three things: feasting, fucking ... and fighting. You gotta let me do what I'm good at. This isn't me being heroic. It's me being stubborn. This is me doing what I love. Don't take that away from me."

  "Oh don't you dare ask for my sympathy, as though we're imposing on you!" Euryale snapped, pulling her hand away. "Why can't you be happy with me? With us? Why can't you let the women who love you take care of you?! You don't let us pay, don't let us protect you properly ... it's like you think we're just convenient fuck toys, like meaningless little decorations you can hang on your belt! If that's what you want, fine! I'll be that. You've earned that from me, but don't talk to me like I'm anything else! Don't pretend."

  Mila couldn't see the gorgon's expression, but her snakes were agitated and glaring in all directions. Several of them were hissing. She could see Terry's expression though, and Euryale's words clearly pained him.

  His hands dropped, and he settled back onto his ass on the floor, staring up at her. "Is that really what you think of me? That I don't want you, don't care what you think?" he asked.

  "It's not what you say, Master. It's what you do. We," the gorgon waved a claw to include Laina and Shy, "are only here for one reason: you. Our lives are bound to yours. It isn't right that you won't let us protect and care for what's most precious to us. Going into a pit fight to the death just because you want to is ... selfish."

  She lifted a hand and squeezed it closed, the metal of it making a squealing noise in protest as she forced her fist tight to emphasize her point as she said, "I am allowed to be selfish, because it's just me, always just me. No matter what happens ..."

  She sniffled, and jerked her head as though in an effort to regain control before snapping, "YO
U have responsibilities, Master. It's not about being a hero, or being stubborn. It's about doing right by your lovers, doing right by your oath to me. You swore! My needs and wants as best you can! Well I want you to be safe and I need you not to take STUPID risks for the sake of your STUPID pride!"

  Shy stepped up alongside Euryale and put a hand gently on her shoulder as she quietly said, "I agree. Completely. Tee, let us pay her off. I spoke with Mamma Moo, and I don't trust her. This fight is meaningless. You are not being stubborn. You are being foolish."

  Laina hesitated, then took a few steps to put herself on Euryale's other side. Her hand shivered noticeably as she put it on the gorgon's other shoulder, then stared down at Terry as she let her actions speak.

  Mila watched him, saw him almost visibly shrink into himself as he faced the women he'd gathered. Her sympathy was entirely with them. She knew they were right, and wondered what he would do.

  She'd seen him come alive in the pit, seen the way he dominated the space in a way he'd never done anywhere else. She realized with a start that it was the only time she'd ever seen him in a combat situation where he wasn't stressed to the breaking point, afraid for his life and fighting on raw nerve. That stress had nearly turned him into a quivering wreck in Monsoon more than once ... but in the pit, he had been the undisputed master of his fate.

  She glanced at Yuri and saw her brother looking her way. Both of them understood how much this meant to Terry. It was the only time he had acted like a proper predator, instead of prey.

  He desperately wants this fight. Victory in the pit is his validation, the measure of his self-worth ... so what will he do?

  It was a turning point for the template, and it was obvious that everyone in the room knew it.

  After long moments of silence, Terry closed his eyes and nodded, whispering hoarsely, "Pay her off."

  He stood, rubbed his face with one hand as he cleared his throat and looking at no one in particular said, "I just spent the better part of three hours working out. I need to cool off. 'Scuse me."

  Stepping through one of the doors into a side room of the suite, he closed it with exaggerated care behind him.