by Cebelius
Her fingers stopped, then started again. She didn't look away from him though, and when his eyes met hers she said, "Okay."
He forced himself to his feet, then turned and offered his hand to her as she looked up at him, still kneeling.
"Come on. We are not done yet, and we cannot rest. Thank you." He glanced around, looking at each of the women with him in turn as he said, "We have done well, but we must still find this sword. This floor should be tighter than the last. We are still climbing, and there simply is not as much mountain."
"Everybody should drink," Laina said by way of answer, passing bottles to everyone else. "Milk's good for bein' tired too."
"What about you?" Yuri asked, gazing at her in concern.
She shook her heavy head, a thoughtful look in her soulful brown eyes as she said, "You know? I just don't feel tired. I don't know why but ... I could do this all day and then some."
"Are you certain?" he asked.
She shrugged and nodded. "Yeah. I'm good."
As he bent and retrieved the guttering torch, the light glimmered off the rubies set in the head of the Ax of the Great Plains. It seemed to Yuri for a crazy moment as though a hugely muscled minotaur, far larger than any he had seen in life, was standing behind Laina with his hands on her shoulders.
And then the impression was gone.
He glanced around, but if anyone else noticed, no one said anything. Even Euryale seemed not to have seen it, and she saw everything.
A residue of my pain, he thought grimly, remembering the crazy moment earlier when he'd thought she was Marcus.
"Come on," he said. "At this point, our best bet is to find this Halfrekkr. If he does not have the sword, he should know where it is."
"I'm sure he'll be thrilled to tell us," Euryale said drily.
"I will be very disappointed if he is," Yuri said with grim humor.
21
Out of Time
The sun was still above the mountains when Ivar and Terry stepped through the doors, but only just.
Glancing around, Terry caught the looks the tiger-kin women tossed his way, saw their expressions change when they saw who was with him.
Not all the women looked away quickly enough, and Terry noticed more than one tail lift a bit before the woman attached to it focused elsewhere.
Now that's interesting.
He felt Prada examining his thoughts, and she asked, 'You think he was a prostitute? THAT is why he stayed?'
I think it's a better theory than true love, Terry thought as he glanced at his companion, who was stretching idly as he glanced toward the sun. Yuri said when the heat comes on, single tiger-kin women have two choices. I'd bet good money he was one of them, and more than one or two picked him. Makes sense, doesn't it? He's damaged goods and no girl wants to have his reputation tied to her, but as a fuck-toy with no strings?
Terry shrugged.
'That begs the question of why he wanted this other so badly. If he was getting that much pussy, why give it up?' Prada asked.
Getting passed around with no respect from anyone? I could see getting sick of pussy after a while, Terry thought wryly.
'Well I can't, but perhaps you are right. Ten years is a long time to serve as the village doorknob.'
Terry snorted, then burst out laughing before he could stop himself. Even as he tried to regain control he thought, There you go again, making me laugh at the worst times.
As though on queue, Ivar asked, "Something funny?"
"Obviously," Terry chuckled, struggling to restrain himself. The sense of outright predatory amusement flooding through him from Prada didn't help.
After a moment's pause, Ivar folded his arms across his broad chest and pointedly asked, "Anything worth sharing?"
Terry met the other man's eyes for a moment and almost managed to say something sensible before Prada deliberately sabotaged him.
'Used hard, put away wet.'
"Nnnope!" Terry squeaked before he burst out laughing again.
"Why is he laughing?" Ivar demanded of Mila as the rakshasa approached.
She glanced at Terry's frantic attempts to regain control of himself and gave a one-shoulder shrug, tail flicking idly as she said, "Whenever he does something strange I blame Prada. It saves on questions."
Terry fell over, practically howling with laughter as Prada said aloud without a trace of shame, "Guilty as charged."
"I cannot believe you let that ... thing, have you," Ivar said. "He's a furless, insane freak."
Mila looked speculatively at Ivar, who stood a few inches taller than her despite her recent increase in height and size. He met her gaze, his tail lashing as he scowled, clearly expecting an explanation. Whatever she thought in those moments, she kept to herself. She turned instead to Terry as she said, "He is allowed to stay because he serves as relief for those unattached females who choose not to be alone during their yearly heat."
Terry's arm's shot up in victory as he rolled to his back and shouted, "Called it!"
"I'll mark my calendar, Husband," Prada dryly assured him as he kipped back to his feet and dusted his pants.
"Why is he out here?" Mila asked.
"He's going to be my bait. Once the song takes him I'll follow him out to the cave and see if I can catch whatever's there."
"And how will you be protected from ... ah. You will have Prada take away your hearing and rely on tremor sense."
Terry blinked, then shrugged and said, "That was my idea, yeah."
"Think of another idea," Mila said sharply. "Sound is a tremor. It can be heard through the ground as easily as through the air."
"She has a point, Husband," Prada said aloud. "Fortunately, with me inside you an aural enchantment will not be a concern. I can keep you from hearing the music as long as I am within you. It was too subtle for you to be conscious of it, but I will know."
"Sure you don't want a familiar, Mila?" Terry asked. "They're pretty handy."
Mila stared pointedly at him as she said, "Yes, Terry, I am certain. My life is complicated enough as it is."
"Oh Mila, you sweet summer child," Prada said sweetly. "You have no idea."
The rakshasa rolled her eyes, then glanced toward the now setting sun as she said, "It should begin soon. I will gather the others."
He nodded, then glanced over at a still visibly angry Ivar. The tiger-man's ears were flat and his tail lashed as he glared at Terry.
"Oh lighten the fuck up," Terry said.
"You were laughing at me."
"Yes I was, what of it?"
The sound Ivar made was distinctly feline and at one time it would have raised the hairs on the back of Terry's neck. Now though, he just felt shades of pity for Ivar as he said, "Relax. You'll get your chance. I'm pretty sure you'll turn on me when we get where we're going."
Ivar blinked, his ears flicking up as the sound in the back of his throat cut out and he asked, "Why would I do that?"
"How could you not? Trust me, you'll see. I'll keep the fight clean, though ... and one on one if I can. My word on it."
Terry glanced toward Ivar's back as he said, "Not carrying any hidden weapons are you? If you are, I suggest you drop them now. You won't want anything dangerous on you if you want to come through this in one piece."
"My claws are enough," Ivar said, hints of the previous rumble returning to his voice.
"Yeah, sure. By the way, one last thing before we get started."
Terry stepped up to him and slid the claw out of his left forefinger. He nicked his right forefinger and squeezed the blood out as he said, "Hold still."
Despite the man's obvious dislike, he was smart enough not to protest as Terry took Ivar's left hand and exposed his wrist, then drew the word 'Celestine' up the inside of the other man's arm. It was rough going because he was essentially writing on fur, but he made it work, and when the word was done he spoke in careful English, "By the power of the blood I have spent, bind the marked into this world."
"What did you d
o to me?" Ivar asked as the blood on his fur erupted in flames that vanished too quickly for the tiger-man to do more than widen his eyes. The fur left behind wasn't even singed.
"That should keep you from being pulled into the Wildervast, or some other plane. If this thing wants you, it'll have to come get you."
Terry sucked on his bloody finger idly as he watched his women assembling in the courtyard of the crumbling fortress, and jerked his head toward them as he said, "Come on, let's go. We already know where you'll be headed. Get a move on."
Ivar shrugged and spread a hand indicating the other precede him. Terry shook his head and said, "Nuh uh. You first. I might be ugly, but I'm not stupid. Backstabbing is the whole reason you're in this mess."
"Heh!"
Ivar started off, and Terry trailed after him.
As they passed through the decrepit gates, Shy fell in next to him and said, "It's started. Tell us if you begin to feel strange."
"He cannot hear it, love," Prada said before Terry could get a word out. "I am making sure of that."
He wrapped an arm around Shy's waist and gave her an absent hug as he said, "I'll be fine this time around. I've got you all with me."
"The yearning has returned," Ivar said softly. "I cannot hear music, but I can feel it. I understand now why you believe I will turn on you. I thought I should say it, before the urge to hide my desires becomes stronger."
"Just remember that you've always got a choice, Ivar," Terry said quietly, with none of the bite or sarcasm he'd used earlier. "What you're feeling is magic, not reality. If you can hold onto that, you'll come out of this with more honor than you went in with at least. Perhaps Miri will notice."
As he spoke, Terry wasn't looking at Ivar, but at Mila. He noticed one of her ears flicker in his direction, saw her weaving tail freeze, then start again.
"So, d'ye have a plan for what happens?" Isthil asked as she drew alongside.
"Yeah, no killing if you can help it, and if Ivar does turn, let me handle him. He obviously wants a shot at the champ."
"I do," Ivar said. "When I get through this, I will still want it. You are an asshole."
"When this is all over, feel free. Brawling is my second favorite thing."
"What's ... oh."
Halla cut herself off and grinned as she glanced down at him, and he grinned at her in turn as Shy and Isthil chuckled. Mila glanced skyward and shook her head, though her tail flicking had gone from idle to playful.
Most of the rest of the trip was made in silence, though as they got closer it was obvious Ivar was resisting the urge to run.
"It's just magic," Terry said again. "Not asking you to resist it, just to remember that it's not real."
"It feels real," Ivar said, and the unmistakable longing in his voice actually sent a pang of sympathy through Terry. "Emotions are all ... fake. So what is the difference?"
"Your mind is broken," Terry said, careful to keep any judgement out of his tone. "You think it's fake because you never saw the value of the bonds those emotions can bring. You always saw them as chains."
"How would you know?" Ivar asked, glancing back at him.
"My parents taught me a lot about people like you," Terry said. "But my sister was the one who really drove the lesson home."
"Yet?" Ivar asked.
Terry shrugged and said, "Man, I have to trust. It doesn't come naturally for me either but if I ... if I didn't love I'd have lost my shit a long time ago. I want to see the good in people, you know? I want to believe. I think that's where being a good man starts."
"There is no such thing as a good man," Ivar scoffed. "You think you are good? You can say that with a straight face?"
"I'm workin' on it. It's not easy."
"It is impossible, and that is why it is all fake. Fake smiles, fake love, fake loyalty. It always falls apart."
"Feels real now though, doesn't it?" Terry asked.
Ivar wasn't looking at him. He was looking toward the cave that had just become visible across the clearing. "Yes. I do not understand ... but I want this."
"Yeah. I know. People like you don't believe until someone ignores all your bullshit and loves you anyway. And if that does happen you destroy it yourself, convinced it's all a lie."
"You don't know me."
It was barely above a whisper, but audible nonetheless. They were halfway across the clearing now, and nearing the spot where the scouts had said the others disappeared.
"We're about to find out," Terry said. "Go on."
He made a hand gesture indicating the others spread out, and they did so as he walked forward a few feet behind Ivar.
'It almost sounds as though you hope he will find happiness with this ... woman.'
Wouldn't be the worst thing that could happen, but I'm pretty sure we both know that's not in the cards. True love is earned, not stolen.
Terry stopped and watched as Ivar reached the spot where the others vanished. He took another step, and faded from view. Aside from the tumble and roar of the waterfall nearby, silence settled over the clearing. Silence Terry shattered in his frustration.
"Okay, what the fuck!? My spell didn't do anything to keep him here!"
"What spell did you cast?" Mila asked.
Terry described it for her, and Mila thought a moment before she nodded and said, "So, if the spell did not react, then Ivar is still here. We just cannot see him."
"Or smell him, or hear him, or sense him at all," Terry ground out. "So how is that different from not here?"
Mila had no immediate answer. Terry closed his eyes and silently queried the eye-demon flying high above them, but only got back the mental equivalent of an unknowing shrug. It hadn't seen anything at all at the cave since it had been sent out that Terry hadn't seen firsthand.
"Okay, keep a look out, I need to think about this," Terry said, and closed his eyes, though he continued to speak aloud, hoping someone else would have an idea.
"We have to assume they're still here. But we can't perceive them. Hey, Isthil, are there other places like the Wildervast?"
"I dinnae ken," she said. "If so, I cannae get there, at least, not on me own, an' the spell ye used would work against goin' t' such a place."
"God damnit. Figuring crap like this out is not what I'm good at," Terry muttered.
"So, if we can't see them ... can they see us?" Halla asked, glancing around.
Terry shrugged and said, "No way for us to know. Maybe."
"So ... is it safe here?" she asked.
"Probably not, but since we came here to mix it up anyway I'm not sure that makes any difference. Anyone got any ideas for a ritual I could try? Something that would ... hell, at this point I don't even know what to try to do."
"Something that would bring them to us?" Shy asked. "Since we cannot go to them, perhaps we could bring them back to us."
"I didn't think to take anything from Ivar I could use, and I don't ..."
Terry trailed off, blinking. "Actually, I might."
"Might what?" Halla asked.
"Have Ivar's full name. He was disowned. No family name. Mila, do your people use middle names?"
The blank expression she gave him told him all he needed to know, and Terry started flattening the grass.
"What are you going to do?" Shy asked.
"I'm gonna summon him as though he were a demon whose name I know," Terry said as he opened a gash in the meat of his palm and began to craft the diagram he'd need.
As he worked, the others stood guard. With no idea what he was dealing with, Terry had no idea if that made any difference, but as he prepared, nothing happened, and he began to suspect that whatever had been done to hide from him worked in both directions.
Still, Ivar's with whoever now. He'd have told them I was here.
Which in turn might mean that whatever it was didn't want a confrontation, or just felt secure enough to ignore him.
Terry finished, stepped back, and spoke carefully. He hadn't bothered with any of the
secondary warding elements that would properly go into summoning a demon. He knew what Ivar was, and didn't fear him.
When he finished the spell, he spoke the tiger-man's name, and smiled slightly when he saw a shape begin to manifest in his summoning circle.
As that shape grew more distinct, his smile faded. It was Ivar, but he wasn't unarmed anymore.
The tiger-man turned and lifted a pair of small hand axes that lit the area all around with the orange blaze of firelight their blades gave off.
As Ivar took a step toward him, Terry asked, "So? What is she?"
"Never seen anything like her," the man said as he advanced.
Terry took a step back, then another as he inwardly warned Prada not to try stopping the fiery axes in the other man's hands. She readily agreed. Fire was the one thing the sanguine devil truly feared.
"That all I get?" Terry asked. "Sure you want to do things this way?"
Ivar shrugged and said, "I kill you, and she will get rid of the rest. She does not care about honor, or promises. She suits me."
Terry laughed, and Ivar lunged.
"Need help?" Halla asked, lifting her club off her shoulder a bit.
"Nah, I'm good," Terry said. He slipped outside the arc of one ax and sidestepped to put himself out of reach of the other. The danger-sense he'd gotten from Kalty made every move Ivar tried painfully obvious, and easy to dodge. With only one man facing him, it didn't matter if he had flaming axes or swords or fists or claws. As long as Terry had freedom to move there was no real threat.
As he kept his eyes on Ivar's continued assault, he began to notice other things. Shadowy shapes ringed the clearing, standing among the trees, sitting on some of the boulders by the pond below the falls.
They seemed just out of focus, and Terry couldn't examine them closely because the tiger-kin with twin flaming axes doing his level best to kill him took most of his attention, but they were there.
He smiled.
"Ivar, I got what I needed from you, no sense in keeping this up. You have to know by now you can't win."
"You can't touch me eithUGH!"
Terry lifted the man by pressing the fist he'd put in Ivar's guts up, his other hand locked onto the other's wrist as he flung him up overhead and slammed him down on his back.
