Chapter 85: Book 2, Chapter 26: The Hero Visits The Demon's House and Gets a Surprise

Jack and Ebon circled wide from the scene of his encounter with the drugand and its minions, backtracking them for a number of miles. It was a task they could accomplish at speed, given the swath of ground the goblins had fouled as they’d traveled.

Their course followed the river for the most part, veering away only where they’d spotted prey and taken off after it. Thankfully, none of the bloody bones the pair encountered as they followed the monsters’ spoor were human. The trail held to its heading as the river veered north, striking out across the open. Jack backtracked the monsters as far as the North Road out of Mokkelton, the path he and Tiarraluna had followed as they’d struck out on their first adventure together.

He brought Ebon up on the far side of the cobbles, staring out across the overgrown fields and scattered trees. The trail the goblins had left led straight west, or near enough not to matter. There’d be no point going any further, he decided. They’d come from outside the zone and headed straight for someplace known. Turning his head to regard his own trail, Jack figured he had a pretty good idea of where that might be.

The possibility existed, he supposed, that they’d been heading for Heatherton. Tiarraluna had told him it was the nearest city to the east of Mokkelton, and therefore, in that direction. But regardless of their eventual target, it was undeniable they’d been directly on track to strike Tumblebrook. Chi’s village. He brought Ebon around and headed back, concerned that there might have been more than the single group.

They’d already sailed on past where he’d faced the drugand, and Ebon had barely slowed, even after hours at a breakneck pace. They should be getting close to—

Looking up, Jack winced. There was a red speck on the horizon to the east, up high in the evening sky and closing fast. He slowed Ebon and waited for her. Thinking further, he brought the spirit horse to a halt and sort of tumbled out of the saddle, clinging to the horn to hold himself upright as his legs threatened to give way.

He lay his hand against his upper thighs one after the other while he waited, mumbling the self Heal spell. His legs began to uncramp.

Chi grounded with a thump half a dozen paces shy of his position, orange-red lava eyes blazing. “Where have you been?” she demanded, stalking angrily up to him. “You should’ve reached my house hours ago! Do you have any idea how worried I’ve been?”

Jack tucked his head between his shoulders, assaying an apologetic smile. Heat was rolling off of her in waves. “I can explain,” he assured her. Then, “You gonna scorch me if I ask for a hug? It’s been a long day, and I could really use one.”

Chi froze in place, closing her eyes and physically bringing her body back under her conscious control. She was angry and hurt, and with her body in its current state, she really would burn him if he touched her skin. She concentrated for a full two minutes, willing her temperature down closer to human norm, surprised she’d allowed herself to lose control like this after so long without incident.

Finally, with a deep sigh, she opened her eyes, still stern, and held out her arms.

Jack hobbled forward and embraced her, holding her tight and lowering his head to catch her still very sizzly lips with his. Even her tongue felt like something fresh out of the oven.

As he held her mouth with his, and with his arms wrapped tight around her, Chi’s anger and fear abated, and her temperature continued to drop, until he finally released her mouth and raised his head to rest his chin against the crown of her head. He didn’t immediately speak. He was surreptitiously swapping mana for the healing of his seared lips. Truck stop coffee didn’t have nothing on this girl when she was upset, and he filed that fact away in a special folder covered in diagonal black and yellow stripes, with a bright red warning label marked DANGER!

Once he could speak again, he told her what he’d been doing, why he was late, and his concerns over additional high ranked mobs wandering around in this low ranked zone.

“They’ve only ever come one group at a time,” she told him seriously. “Every couple of months or so. There doesn’t seem to be any purpose to it other than sowing destruction, and I’ve never worked out why they never send more than one mob at a time. they're almost impossible to take alive.”

He chuckled. “Well, going by the one I talked to today, you wouldn’t have gotten anything useful out of them anyway.”

“You’re just lucky there were only seven,” she said. “Ofttimes there are upwards of a dozen. The group I encountered when I first arrived—” she stiffened, biting off the words even as the last of them cleared her lips, a bleak expression washing over her face.

Jack whistled. “That’s the low end of Overwhelm territory.”

She had her head against his chest now, her eyes tightly closed, her lower lip clenched between her teeth. “Overwhelm only activates when they’re running at you,” she whispered, remembering her initial encounter and its aftermath. She rolled her tongue around the back of her teeth, almost able to taste the foul hearts she’d consumed back then, bile rising in her throat.

She never wanted Jack to find out about that facet of her nature. That she’d done such things. That she could do such things.

“I was rank fifty-six, remember,” she added softly in an effort to push past the memory. “They started running away the instant I killed their leader.” it didn’t work. The image of them fleeing only brought forth the memories of how she’d run them down and slaughtered them. And eaten their warm, bloody hearts.

“Can we not talk about this now, Jack?” she asked huskily. “I made dinner, and then you didn’t come. It got cold.”

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“I’m sorry,” he stroked her hair and kissed the crown of her head. “We can go now. I’ll follow you.”

She nodded, although she didn’t move right away, clinging to him still. Dinner... Food again. Reminding her of who — of what she’d been. She didn’t want to think of that anymore. Not any of that.

“Alright,” she gathered in a deep breath and pushed herself away from him with a shiver. “Let’s go then. It’s getting late.”

She turned and leapt into the air without further comment, leaving Jack standing there with his arms out for a moment, wondering if this was still about him being late, or if something else had bubbled to the surface. It felt like the latter. He’d known her tells pretty well once upon a time, and they were coming back to him fast.

She had a pretty good lead by the time he vaulted onto ebon’s back and took off after her.

She disappeared from the sky forty or so minutes later, dropping abruptly below the horizon. He held his course and after a few minutes saw what had to have been her destination. A cleared area where a small farmstead stood. Or what would have been had there been anything there but the buildings and tall grass. No crops, no animals. But then, if this were Chi’s home, there wouldn’t be, would there? Many things were Chi, but farmer wasn’t among them.

He rode Ebon into the yard and up to a wooden trough built beside the barn’s doorway. It was empty. Of course it was. He dismounted and left Ebon where he was, heading for the well. He drew several buckets of water up, partially filling the leaky trough and allowing the spirit horse to drink.

After the stallion had drunk his fill, Jack led him into the barn. Once inside, he removed the saddle and tack. The spirit stallion shook himself like a big dog once he’d been released from the harness.

Jack draped the saddle and blanket over a stall divider, hanging the headstall from a hook on the wall. A few minutes of search turned up an old chunk of wool blanket and a curry comb which had obviously not seen any recent use. Inherited from the previous owners, no doubt.

He took some time rubbing Ebon down and combing him thoroughly. After which he waved a hand. “Go play,” he smiled. There looks to be some nice grass out there, and I don’t imagine anything wandering around this zone is going to give you any troubles now we’ve taken care of the orc... er, drugand. I’ll see if I can scrounge you up some sweet grain after supper.”

With that, he headed for the farmhouse, wondering where he might clean himself up a little. He hadn’t seen anything like a wash basin anywhere out here, and he didn’t feel like fouling the bucket he’d used to bring the water up out of the well, given that was probably where the drinking water came from.

He gave the door a cursory knock and entered, managing a half articulated greeting before freezing in place, mouth open. Chi was halfway across the room and to his right, in what he could see was probably the kitchen. She had a cast iron pan in one hand.

“Uhm,” he wondered after taking in the sights. “Why are you naked?

She looked over her shoulder at him, striking a coquettish pose. “Why are you not?” she teased back.

Jack opened his eyes to the morning sun shining in through the high window. He smiled in contentment at the weight against his chest and leg. Her head lay against his shoulder, and he could feel her breath hot against his neck, and he enjoyed that, too. The large bat-like wing draped across his chest like a blanket took a moment to fit itself into his comfort zone, but only a brief one. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d felt so at peace. Easily longer ago than his first appearance on Mund.

He tilted his head and lay it against hers, kissing her softly between her jutting horns. “Morning, sleepyhead,” he whispered, reaching up with his half strangled arm to stroke her hair.

He felt her shift and the wing withdrew, furling around behind her back. She looked up at him, orange-red lava eyes bright, and craned her neck to meet his mouth.

Some time later, as they lay resting, Chi raised up on one elbow and looked down at his smiling face, running a hand tenderly along his cheek. “Jackson Thomas Grenell,” she mused, voice sultry.

He smiled back. “Iktchi—”

She stopped him with a finger against his lips. “Iktchi,” she breathed, raising the finger.

“Iktchi,” he repeated only to have her finger lower again.

“Iha,” she continued in that same voice, raising the finger again.

“Iha,” he recited, catching on to the game.

“Zunya.”

“Zunya.”

“Chi.”

“Chi,” he grinned.

“Meha,” and this she punctuated with a kiss.

“Meha,” he repeated when they’d come up for air.

“Very good,” she smiled. “Now say the whole of it.”

He frowned, wondering what this was about, but she nodded encouragingly. “Iktchi Iha Zunya Chi Meha,” he said softly.

“And now,” she kissed him again, long and thoroughly. “My true name has passed your lips. I am yours.”

Wait! The import of that statement hit him. True name? “Wait,” he held her face when it would descend again to his. “True name? That was your true name?”

She held, puzzled in her own right.

“I’ve heard about the power of true names,” he pressed. “If what I’ve heard is true, why would you just come right out and tell me like that?”

She rolled onto him and lay against his chest, her face very close to his. “And why wouldn’t I?” she wondered.

“So it’s just something you blurt out?” he asked. “Just something you bandy about with your friends? I thought it was some kind of super important secret.”

She frowned. “My parents, who gave me my true name, knew it of course. And now you know it. Jehsha as well, I suppose, since he eavesdrops on everything like some sort of nosy neighbor.”

Jack felt his heart pounding and his skin flushing. He wasn’t sure he’d wanted to hear that. “But,” he hesitated. “Doesn’t your true name give me power over you? Or have I got that wrong?”

She laughed. “Jackson Grenell,” she kissed the tip of his nose. “You’ve had power over me since the first time you coaxed me into your bed back on earth.”

“I’m being serious,” he insisted.

“So am I,” she smiled. “But, fine. There is a spell involved, of course, but yes, by the power of my true name, you may order what you will of me, and I will be compelled by that power to obey without hesitation. Your Earthian demon lore has the right of it, at least in that respect.”

“But why?” he persisted.

She sighed heavily and rolled clear of him and onto her back, facing the ceiling. She touched the dark iron ring around her neck. “The Dread Lord tried for months, Jack,” she explained, her voice harsh. “Torture, beatings, threats. I would not give up my true name. Nor would Cha, nor Kahn. But he did not kill us. We were powerful, you see. Even among our own kind, the three of us were uncommonly strong And true names or not, he had uses for us. And so he came up with these damnable things.”

She rolled onto her side, facing him and propped her head up with an elbow. “Pain compels, Jack,” she told him seriously. “Oh, not so efficiently as a true name, but sufficient to the task. Moreover,” her voice tightened. “Through this device, he has the ability to take overt control of my body, turning me into no more than a horrified passenger,” her voice choked off.

“You’ve heard of fates worse than death?” she stressed. “This, I promise you, was one of them.”

He listened in silence, his face still.

“If he should once more gain access to me,” she told him, voice quavering. “He can do so again, and I will not be able to stop him. But you,” she stabbed a stiffened forefinger into his chest, her talon drawing a drop of blood. “You, Jack, now have my true name. Even the Dread Lord cannot contest that power, suppression collar or no.”

He drew in a deep breath and hauled her back onto him, holding her tightly as he felt her begin to quake. “Alright,” he whispered into her ear. “Alright. I promise. I swear I won’t let him do anything to you, or with you, ever again. I promise.”