Sword of the Tyrant

by Cebelius

  As he spoke, his expression was one of inconsolable regret. "Don't put yourself in that position. If you do, it'll never leave you."

  He shrugged and shook his head. "Never."

  "You do not understand!" Mila shrieked again, venting her pent-up emotion at Terry rather than Yuri, simply because the template had made himself a target. "He killed my family!"

  Terry shook his head and spoke with quiet certitude. "Mila, he is your family. The people who accepted Vlad's quests did so willingly. They knew the risks, and the bones were cast for them all. I don't believe in that shit but ... you do, so consider what that actually means. Unless Vlad told them all they were destined to be chief, they made the same decision Yuri did. They all tried to be something they weren't meant to be."

  Mila gaped. Her jaw worked as she struggled to speak and failed. Terry's eyes hardened as he said, "Mila Kolenko, I do not believe in destiny, and I will not condemn a man for doing what he wants with his life. Not those who took Vlad's challenge and died, and not Yuri. If you will ... that's on you. You're right about one thing though: what we do has consequences for everyone around us. I can't even begin to tell you how much I paid to learn that lesson. The decision you have to make now will have consequences. If I know Yuri even a little bit, his love is worth more than your rage. Much more. Remember that when you pick which of those feelings to act on."

  He hesitated, then shook his head. "I've said all I plan to."

  With that, he turned and walked away.

  "Terry, wait!"

  The template neither turned nor slowed at Mila's plea, crossing to Baba Yaga's hut, which crouched to admit him.

  In the clear, still air, both siblings heard the latch as the door closed behind him.

  A mix of emotions all clamored for attention in Yuri as he looked after the man, but the one that rose to prominence was gratitude. The emotion was so powerful that it threatened to choke him. He turned to face his sister, only to find Mila staring at him with an unreadable expression.

  Her tail was lashing frantically behind her and her ears were laid back, but her lips were working over tightly clenched teeth, and it wasn't anger that seemed to move her now.

  After a moment her scent came to him and Yuri recognized her emotion for what it was.

  Fear.

  "You will not lose him, no matter what you decide," Yuri said quietly.

  "If you believe that you are an even bigger fool than I know you to be," Mila hissed before adding after a moment's hesitation, "Hold still."

  Yuri watched as Mila reached out to his wounded face and with a whispered spell sent healing magic coursing into his cheeks, closing the crusted-over set of gashes she had left him with last night.

  "I cannot help how I feel," Mila said quietly. "More than that, Terry still does not fully understand that this is not his world. His disregard may yet be his undoing. But I also cannot deny his logic. I find it vanishingly unlikely that those who took Vlad's quests did so following their auguries."

  Her eyes held his and there was still pain in them, but most of the rage was gone as she said, "That is not to say that you could not have prevented what happened to our brothers ... but you did not choose their fates. They did."

  "You never told me what yours was," Yuri pointed out as Mila dropped her backward hand from his face.

  "You never asked," she said shortly.

  Yuri simply watched her. When her eyes flicked to his, he quietly asked, "What did Vlad tell you?"

  Mila's gaze wavered, and her eyes filled with tears.

  "He said I would be the one to save my family," she whispered. "It would seem we are both failures."

  Yuri shook his head as he reached out and took Mila's hand in both his own.

  Her eyes blazed for an instant, then softened as she looked into his face and saw the love there.

  "Not yet," he whispered.

  Her expression softened further, then cracked as she stepped into his arms and they wrapped each other up.

  Yuri squeezed her tight as she said, "No, brother. Not yet."

  He held her a moment longer, then brought her to arm's length as he said with renewed urgency, "We need to gather everyone. There is something you all must know. This needs to happen now, while Boss is occupied with Baba Yaga. She will keep him for some little while I think."

  "What is it?" she asked, eyes narrowing as she looked at him.

  For the briefest moment, Yuri considered making her wait until the rest were gathered, then dismissed the thought. She needed him to be straight with her, especially now.

  "Baba Yaga told me his destiny. If he does what he plans next, he will die."

  "But, he does not believe in ..."

  Mila trailed off and her eyes widened. Yuri nodded. His sister understood.

  He said simply, "We have a problem."

  3

  The Best Excuse

  Despite the fact he'd just had a filling breakfast from Laina, the smell of ham made Terry's mouth water as he stepped into Goran, Baba Yaga's chicken-legged hut.

  She sat in her rocking chair, leaned forward over a small table set for two. Sure enough, she had ham, eggs, a thick slab of toast, and even a small jar of what looked like some kind of jam set out before an empty stool. It was obvious that while the witch may have predicted his coming, she hadn't been willing to wait for him.

  The food on her plate was more than half gone, and she waggled her fork cheerfully at him as she chewed, then pointed it in obvious invitation at the setting across from her.

  He sat and, despite being full, ate. It had been a long time since he'd had ham and eggs, and it really did smell delicious.

  Neither spoke. The eggs needed salt, the jam turned out to be blackberry, and the meat was ... perfect.

  As Terry finally leaned back from an empty plate, having gone from full to stuffed, Baba Yaga cut loose with a modest belch, one fist over her heart as she said, "'Scuse me. Say what you want about that lunk Yuri, the man can cook."

  Terry blinked and asked incredulously, "Yuri cooked you breakfast?"

  "I asked him to," she said with an enigmatic smile before tilting her head a bit to look at him. "So, come to cash in your favors before you kick me to the curb?"

  "Something like that," he said, feeling a bit bad now about so blithely accepting her invitation to eat.

  "Well? Spit it out, and I don't mean the bacon."

  Baba seemed perfectly at ease, and Terry inwardly shrugged as he got down to business.

  "You still want me dead, don't you."

  "What on Celestine makes you think I'd answer that question honestly?" she asked.

  Terry grinned without humor as he said, "Prada told me lying is for amateurs. I'm pretty sure you went pro quite a while ago."

  Baba Yaga cackled at that, her eyes twinkling as she said, "I always did like her. She was absolutely wasted on Volai."

  He gazed steadily at her, and Baba's good humor gradually faded until she leaned back in her rocker and sighed.

  "Well, yes. But not so you'd notice," she hedged. "Everything I told you about templates still applies. If you're allowed to go on too long, you're going to wind up an enormous pain in the ass just like all the others. That said, I owe you, so I won't exactly be trying to get you killed. After saving me and handling my vengeance, stabbing you in the back would hardly balance the scales."

  She grinned and cheerfully admitted, "Right now I'm hoping you and Thomas kill each other. Best possible outcome for me. For everyone really."

  "I disagree."

  "You would. Ask your favors Tee."

  "I want you to take Stheno's body to the Hellequin, and I want you to keep her doll company at least until Thomas is dead and gone. What happens to her after that is up to you, but I'm kinda hoping you think she's worth another shot at life ... someday. When that day comes, reunite her with her body and set her free."

  Baba Yaga blinked, then tilted her head and looked at Terry as though he had done a magic trick she couldn
't quite figure out.

  "What exactly do you mean, 'keep her doll company?'" she asked at last.

  "Be a friend to her. Her doll isn't like the one Vlad used on Euryale. I know she can interact. I don't want her left alone."

  "You're wasting your favor."

  "I give no shits what you think of how I use my favors. That's what I want, and it's well within your power."

  The two looked at each other for a long moment, then Baba got up and slipped around the table, tapping it once as she said absently, "Take care of the dishes."

  Before Terry even had time to think about doing as she asked, the dishes lifted themselves off the table and took themselves away as the table slid off to a far corner.

  He twisted and watched as Baba stepped through the door in the back of the small hut, returning a moment later with what amounted to a bird cage. It was a wire frame cylinder with a rounded top about four feet tall. Inside it was the blemmyes doll the Hellequin had given Terry in thanks for freeing the Carnival of the Soul from Koschei.

  That doll was about two feet tall, and shaped vaguely like a headless Hulk Hogan plushie, with eyes sewn into the shoulders and a nose and mouth stitched into the chest and abdomen respectively.

  It was hideous.

  It was also awake and aware. The blue eyes set in the shoulders of the doll stared balefully at Terry as Baba Yaga set the cage down and opened it.

  Stheno stepped carefully from the confines of her prison. The mouth didn't actually open, but it did move as Stheno asked, "What further humiliation is this?"

  Chucky's got nothing on this thing, Terry thought bemusedly.

  Baba Yaga snapped, "You twit. He's asked that I tend you properly, and friends don't keep each other in cages."

  "'Tend me?'" Stheno scoffed.

  "Yes," Terry said, addressing her directly. The doll strode across the floor of the hut and came to stand in front him. She put the nubs of her fabric arms on her hips and said, "This is temporary at best, you realize. My lord will come for me."

  "Doubtful," Baba said mildly as she moved back to her own chair and sat down. "I cannot be scried. As long as I hold you, not even Thomas' mightiest auguries will find you."

  "Do you love him?" Terry asked.

  "I don't have to answer to you!" Stheno snapped.

  He nodded. He hadn't really expected her to answer, but his curiosity had forced the question from him anyway.

  "No, you don't. I'm going to restore your body to the way it was before, and give it to someone for safekeeping. When Baba thinks you're ready, she'll put you back in it and set you free."

  Stheno's doll couldn't actually blink, but it froze for a long moment before she suspiciously asked, "Why?"

  He looked into those fabric eyes and said, "Because no one deserves to be alone and hopeless. Not even you. If I could kill you I would, but I can't. This is the next best thing."

  "What makes you think you can fix my body?" she asked. "Echidna herself twisted me."

  "I don't know who that is, but flesh-crafting is something I already know I can do. Euryale will help me make sure all the details are right."

  "She would never help you," Stheno spat. "She hates me."

  "Yes she does, but she loves me, and because this is what I want, she'll help. When you get out, you'll have a second chance. It'll probably be a long, long time coming, but you're immortal. You can wait."

  He hesitated, then asked, "Do you want to say goodbye to her before we leave?"

  Stheno turned to Baba Yaga as she demanded, "What is this? What are you two playing at!?"

  Baba Yaga spread her hands, eyes wide as she said, "Don't look at me. This is all his idea. I was just going to keep you in the closet until the end of time."

  "As though you'd live that long," Stheno scoffed.

  Baba Yaga quirked an eyebrow. She leaned forward in her chair, set her elbows on her knees, twined her fingers together under her chin, and smiled sweetly down at Stheno as she said, "Watch me."

  "I know you don't believe me. Given you're out of the game now I really don't care what you think either. If you don't want to say goodbye I won't make you. In fact, I can't even promise you she'll come if you want her to, because I won't order her," Terry said.

  Stheno's fabric body twisted as she looked from Baba Yaga to Terry and back again, clearly taken aback. Finally, she sat down and stared at the floor, visibly defeated as she murmured, "I would like to say goodbye."

  Terry nodded and said, "I'll tell her you want to see her. I can't ask her to forgive you because she takes pretty much everything I say as a command, but I do hope one day she does."

  "What's your second favor, Tee?"

  He glanced over at Baba Yaga, surprised at the witch's tone. She sounded genuinely solicitous, almost friendly.

  He thought about it for a moment, then said, "If you can, I'd like you to watch out for me. Keep people like ... well, you, from finding and coming after me. At some point I plan to disappear, but I can't do that until I deal with Thomas. You may not believe me, Baba, but at this point I really do just want to be left the hell alone. I want to make the people I love happy ... I want a chance at a family. I think they deserve that from me."

  "That's more than your favor is worth, I'm afraid," she said after a moment's thought. "I will shield you from all scryers save Kalty, and I will divert one plot. Beyond that, you will need to provide for yourself."

  Her look turned sly as she glanced at Stheno and said, "If you wanted to use both-"

  "Nope. First favor stands. We're agreed. Do what you can, and thanks."

  Baba Yaga blinked as Terry stood up and reached out to her. She looked at his hand, then into his face as she asked, "What did you say?"

  "I said 'Thanks.' It means I'm grateful," he said, smiling slightly.

  "I know that, you ass. Grateful for what?" she asked as she reached out and took his hand in her own. "I'm just doing what I'm required to do."

  "You'd be surprised how many people don't even manage that much," Terry said ruefully. "I still think you're a pretty shit person ... but I believe you'll keep your word. That means a lot to me."

  He turned to the door and it opened before he could touch it. He tilted his head up to look into the rafters as he said, "Thanks for the hospitality, Goran. You play a mean game of checkers."

  The house creaked and settled a bit, and Terry got the impression somehow that he'd be missed. The feeling made him smile.

  He saw that Stheno's doll had taken over his stool and was looking after him steadily. Baba was too, and he was mildly surprised to see her open, seemingly genuine smile. As their eyes met she coyly asked, "Sure you don't want me to stay? I've forgotten more about good sex than you'll ever learn."

  "Hah! Yeah. I'm sure. I've already got more than my fair share of cougars to care for."

  Baba Yaga cackled at that, her eyes glimmering with good humor.

  He said, "I'll send Euryale over to say goodbye before we leave. Please don't go until then."

  Baba Yaga nodded. "I wont. I wish you success Tee, if not long life."

  He rolled his eyes and shook his head at that, but didn't bother to shoot back. There was nothing left to say.

  With a last look at each, Terry turned away, lifting a hand in farewell as he stepped out.

  The door of Baba Yaga's chicken-legged hut shut with a quiet click behind him.

  He looked around and, seeing no one, his brows drew down.

  The village was a mixture of yurts and more permanent structures made of loose rocks fit and mortared together. Between many of the structures were stone plinths that supported wooden crossbeams. Had he not seen Mila hitch her horse to one of these he wouldn't have known what they were for. Their presence and number, though, gave him the impression that Yuri's people were dedicated riders.

  Which is weird. Tigers riding horses?

  He laughed as it occurred to him that one of the women in his company had the lower body of a horse, and that he really didn't hav
e any legitimate cause to call anything weird at this point.

  Terry wandered for a time, enjoying the peace of being alone. The winds blowing off the Steppe were cool and he saw mountains to the east, their gray slopes trending up into snowcapped peaks. The buildings were only recently abandoned, but the village still gave the impression of a ghost town. The wind played with the fabrics of the yurts and made the more permanent structures creak and settle.

  He caught movement out of the corner of his eye and turned, but saw nothing.

  Curious, he opened himself to his tremor sense, and was startled when it showed him the female werewolf hiding behind the corner of one of the stone buildings, her heart beating rapidly.

  Terry turned and walked away from her, eyes slitted as he concentrated more on his tremor sense. She started following him, and he noticed that her hands were flexing open and closed with what he presumed to be nervous tension. Her expression wavered between determination and fear.

  Is she ... going to try and attack me?

  It didn't make sense. She'd warned them of Stheno's attack last night, been petrified and revived by Euryale, and had the whole night to try something if she had murder on her mind.

  Then again ... I wasn't alone last night. Now I am.

  He glanced to his left and ambled toward a squared-off building that looked like a trading post. Her muzzle tipped up slightly, and it occurred to him that he was upwind of her ... and that he probably reeked of sex.

  As soon as he rounded the corner, she crossed the open space between buildings in a bound, cutting the space between them down to less than fifteen feet.

  Still uncertain of her intentions but deciding he'd had enough of the game, he turned and rounded the corner again, startling her into a backward leap as she yelped in surprise.

  He leaned against the corner post of the porch in front of the abandoned trade post and looked at her curiously.

  "Something you need?"

  No longer relying on his tremor sense, he looked her up and down.

  She looked like a Hollywood werewolf ... though as he looked at the shape of her, any movie that featured this particular creature would probably be for fetishists. Her chest wasn't extravagant but definitely feminine, and she had the kind of full hips that just didn't belong on a movie monster. Her fur was principally gray, though he noticed streaks of black in her ruff, in the fur of her flanks, and the thick patch covering her crotch was salt and pepper as well.