Carnival of the Soul

by Cebelius

  Terry hid half under the door, praying that his mouse disguise wouldn't choose this of all times to fade. If it did, the door would probably cut him in half, but he couldn't afford to be seen by these two. He knew he'd have no chance against them.

  "Are you sure putting her down here was wise?" the headless man asked.

  Vlad stopped right in front of Terry's door. He turned to glance back down the hall as he said, "I do not make mistakes. She is not ready for Koschei yet. I will leave her to stew in the witches madness for a bit, then bring her up properly seasoned. Besides, the idea of a dragon in chains is oddly appealing. I am sure you understand."

  The headless man chuckled darkly as Vlad asked, "By the way, where is your brother?"

  "Beamis is still in the whorehouse as far as I know," the guard replied. "He likes to take his time with those girls. Bastard knows I don't get my time off til he gets back. I might have to thump him a time or two if he makes me wait too long."

  Vlad glanced down, right into Terry's eyes.

  He froze. There was no way the tiger man hadn't noticed him, but he didn't dare move.

  "I see," Vlad said, and smiled faintly, jaws parting just enough for his tongue to swipe his teeth as his eyes stayed riveted on Terry.

  "Asturial is fortunate she didn't fall into your brother's hands," the shaman added, his eyes flicking away as he started to walk again.

  The headless man chuckled darkly as he followed along behind, a long, wickedly barbed spear slung easily over his other shoulder as he held the torch aloft.

  "Got that right," the thing said. "A bit of torture now and then is all right, but my brother's twisted."

  "One of these days he'll suffer for that ..." Vlad said absently as they turned the corner, and then the two were out of sight.

  The headless man's laughter echoed in the hallway, but Terry did his best to ignore the chilling sound as he scampered across the hall and down toward the door the two had come from.

  There was light coming from under the door, and without hesitation Terry squeezed through the gap and into what turned out to be a torture chamber.

  Unlike the one in the sex tent though, this chamber wasn't an impromptu setup. Chains hung from the ceiling and brackets in the walls. Tables of various design and purpose were at intervals, along with whipping horses and other, less recognizable objects. The presence of an iron maiden in the far corner caught Terry's attention, but thankfully it was open and empty ... though the spikes were rusted and the device had obviously seen a fair amount of use.

  There were two people in the room, and one at least, he recognized.

  There was no way they could have seen him due to the angle of one of the tables, and it abruptly occurred to him that he couldn't do much of anything until the Hellequin's spell wore off.

  Not knowing what else to do, he sat down and waited, and as he did, Asturial spoke.

  "You choose your agents poorly."

  Baba Yaga's voice was cheerful as she said, "You are a mere hatchling, ignorant and stupid. I have been manipulating mortals since before your mother's mother was a seed in your great grandsire's sack. Did you enjoy getting a good look at your life through laughing eyes?"

  Terry was surprised to note that Baba Yaga's apparent age — early twenties — matched her voice fairly well, circumstances aside. She had limp black hair that draped her shoulders and hung down to the floor in a tangle that obviously hadn't been cut or tended to in a very, very long time. Her eyes were almond-shaped and dark, and combined with her complexion she looked like a stereotypical gypsy woman, albeit severely malnourished.

  She hung by her wrists from a bracket high on the wall, and wore not a stitch of clothing. Despite this, she was clean and unblemished, with modest breasts and an unruly thatch between slim thighs.

  Asturial had also been stripped, and there was a divot above her left breast. The cream-colored scales there, ordinarily all but invisible, were twisted and frayed. She was locked to an angled table, her wrists and ankles secured by thick metal manacles. Her hips were thrust lewdly forward by her rather thick tail — pinned against the table — the tip of which dangled past the end of the wood and kinked against the floor.

  "It was all lies," Asturial snarled.

  "It was not. If they had all been lies, you wouldn't have suffered the way you did. You should be grateful."

  "So you say. Being an ignorant, stupid hatchling, I'm afraid you'll have to walk me through that little gem."

  Baba Yaga smiled, showing even, white teeth. "I put you through hell, hatchling. It's a minor miracle you didn't die under my curse, or at the least, lose your mind. Having survived it intact though, I have thus weighted the scales in your favor."

  "I have no use for a witch's arcane babble. Spare me," Asturial spat. "I feared you once, but no more. You are right, you put me through hell. Your only success there was to inspire my rage."

  Baba Yaga tittered. It was a high-pitched giggle that made the hackles on the back of Terry's neck go up.

  "A tisket, a tasket, hatchlings in a basket! He came to me without his light and lost his dragon to the night!" Baba Yaga sang in a lilting singsong. "Last night, last night, perhaps the night before, but when he finds her once again she'll pine for him no more! hehehehahaha!"

  The witch cackled madly, head tilted back in manic delight as Asturial screamed, "You mocked me once, NEVER do it again! I'll see you dead! You hear me!? I'll kill you myself!"

  "We'll see, stupid woman. We'll see," Baba said, still chuckling. She sighed after a moment of silence, then added, "Actually, we probably won't. More's the pity."

  Asturial was straining against the metal cuffs that bound her to the table to no avail, her golden eyes fixed with unnatural intensity on the still grinning witch. Baba Yaga hung limply in her place now, head lolling forward, her matted hair covering most of her face from Terry's perspective. But he could still see her grinning, as though she knew a secret that made all the torment worthwhile.

  Once brute strength failed, Asturial began casting, her words sounding familiar to Terry, but not enough for him to identify the base language. She finished her incantation without apparent effect, and the witch said, "Calling you stupid does not obligate you to prove me right, hatchling. You think if magic could get you out of those bindings, I would still be here?"

  Asturial didn't bother to answer verbally. She simply glared across the room at her fellow captive in sullen silence.

  Baba Yaga glanced up abruptly and said in a musing tone, "I sense something, a presence I've not felt since ..."

  Terry rolled his eyes as he said, "Okay, for reasons beyond my understanding, I actually get that one. I'm not sure how you watch movies hanging from the wall like that, but props."

  It was only after he said it that he realized he was human again. He glanced around as he patted himself down, but everything looked to be in place.

  "Terrence? How in Tiamat's name did you ..."

  Baba Yaga started giggling again, a mad glint in her eyes as she looked at him. "Beautiful man! You continue to meet and exceed all expectation."

  Terry moved to Asturial and examined her bindings. Unlike the ones that had secured Shu, these were solid, and not only did they not have pins he could pull, they didn't even have locks.

  She watched him, and when his eyes met hers she said, "Isthil and Yuri made it safely out of the Wildervast. Only you and I remain."

  Nodding, his eyes flicked to the wound on her chest as he asked, "What happened?"

  "Isthil carried me to him. In his rage, he had to be subdued. I did that without any permanent harm, and Isthil transported him out. Then I was ambushed. I will mend. Can you get me out of these?"

  "I don't know," he admitted, circling the table, but there was no help there. The manacles were solid, and so was the heavy, seasoned wood of the table. "Maybe I can cut the wood with one of these hooks or knives or ... hey, is that your sword?"

  Terry was looking at a massive blade hung on pins from th
e wall just behind Asturial. His question had been rhetorical. It was definitely her sword, he just couldn't believe it had been left here.

  It made no sense.

  "T-Mack, you aren't here for her you know," Baba Yaga said peevishly. "She'll keep. So will I to be honest, but I'd prefer not to wait anymore."

  Irritation surged in Terry, and he tilted his head as a sudden thought occurred to him. Something Asturial had said shortly after their arrival in the Wildervast clicked into place.

  He wondered if what he was contemplating would be worth it, and as he thought about that he glanced around for something fitting for what he had in mind. Considering he was in a torture chamber, an appropriate implement was not hard to find.

  Selecting a blade that looked like a fillet knife, he turned and approached the bound witch, whose eyes widened a bit and focused on the knife.

  "Tee, um ... that ... isn't the right tool for the job."

  "'Tee' is it now? Well, we are just becoming the best of friends, aren't we?"

  Terry tossed the knife idly, flipping it and catching it by the handle as he looked at her, watching her increasingly nervous expression.

  "It's occurred to me," Terry drawled, "that there are two ways I can end your curse, Baba. The first is to free you, just like you wanted. The second ..."

  He flipped the knife again, then examined the edge before setting it on Baba Yaga's shoulder, its blade angled toward her throat. Hung from the wall as she was, they were eye to eye.

  "You fucking cursed me," he said quietly. "You isolated me from my women, forced me here against my will. Your agent allowed Yuri's whole village to die when a simple warning would have moved them to safety, you tried to drive him nuts, and now you're taunting Asturial, who you also cursed ... just because she came with me. You are not very high on my favorite people list right now."

  "Kill me and you won't be able to collect on your other favors," Baba Yaga hastily said, unable to keep from glancing nervously at the knife. "There's more you don't know. You still need me!"

  "I don't know that I do," Terry said, his eyes never leaving hers. "If you've been watching me you know I am well and truly sick of fucks like you interfering with my business and putting the people I love in danger. You also know that I'm not really inclined to leave evil people in power."

  "I've told you, I'm not evil!"

  "Cursing people seems pretty textbook evil to me."

  "You're being deliberately simple, Tee. You know life isn't that black and white!"

  "Maybe it is, and you're just making excuses for bad behavior."

  He slid the knife in close, setting it against her throat. "It'll be quick. I won't let you suffer, but I really do think the best thing I can do long-term for both me and mine is put you out of my misery."

  "You spared Ariadne!" Baba cried.

  "I could take her power away," he hissed. "The only thing she's in charge of now is making Marcus happy. You on the other hand ..."

  He shook his head. "All this talk about balancing scales sounds like bullshit to me. I'm not a trusting man by nature, so if you've got any ideas, I'd sure like to hear 'em. Killing you isn't something I'm going to enjoy. In fact, I'm sure it'll make my nightmares even worse, but you know what?"

  He smiled faintly. "I think Isthil will probably help me with that."

  She was shaking her head, arching her whole body in a vain effort to pull her throat away from the knife. "You're not a monster, Tee. This is murder. In cold blood! You can't!"

  "Wrong answer."

  Terry shut his eyes and steeled himself for what he was about to do. Then he opened them and looked Baba Yaga in the eye. He owed her that much.

  "Goodbye."

  "Stheno!" she cried, eyes wild as she stared at him.

  He tilted his head, then raised his eyebrow.

  "You need me to deal with Stheno! I can't kill her, no one can, but I can steal her soul, just like Vlad did to Euryale. It's why he showed you that particular curse! I've already got the doll I'll need. If you kill me, you've got no way to stop her!"

  "You were planning on making that one of my favors, weren't you."

  "Yes! I tell you what. Spare me, and I'll do it in exchange for my life. You'll still have both favors to ask!"

  Terry sucked his teeth, then shook his head as he said, "There's still this little matter of I don't fucking trust you!"

  "You can."

  Blinking, Terry lifted the knife away from Baba Yaga's throat as he turned to look incredulously at Asturial. Behind him, he heard the witch breathe an audible sigh of relief.

  "Of all the people I'd expect to back her up, you? Okay, I'll bite. Why can I trust her?" he asked.

  "You remember when I said that there were differences between witches and mages, but most of them were academic, and they preferred curses?" she asked.

  "Yeah?"

  "Well ... curses exact a toll on the people who cast them. In order to mitigate that, they operate under what amounts to a self-inflicted geas in the form of a code of conduct. I don't pretend to know all the details, but I do know that if they don't balance the scales, they have hell to pay. A witch's word is surprisingly good, Terrence. You can trust it."

  "Case in point," Baba said quietly. "My scales are balanced. That's why Asturial is in here now, able to defend me. Do you really think Vlad did that on a whim?"

  "He doesn't work for you anymore," Terry said irritably as he turned to look at her. "I heard that whole conversation."

  "Psh. Of course he still works for me. I needed him close. How else was he supposed to get in here!?"

  "Uh huh. So let me ask, he did some kind of pact with you, right?"

  Terry turned back to the witch, who nodded, eyebrows raised as she said, "Yep. The kind of pact that does really, really bad things if you break it."

  "How exactly did he pull one over on Koschei then? Isn't he some kind of warlock? Wouldn't he have the same sort of hiring requirement you've got?" he asked.

  Baba Yaga rolled her eyes and spoke as though explaining something obvious to a very small child. "Yes, he does. Vlad took a solemn oath to Koschei, but riddle me this, T-Mack. Where is Koschei's soul?"

  He blinked, then pointed at her incredulously as his jaw dropped.

  She smiled beatifically. "As I said to Asturial earlier, I've been manipulating people for a very, very, very long time."

  "So ... if I free you and I wind up with ... doesn't that mean ..."

  Again she nodded, this time in resignation. "Cost of doing business. Vlad becomes your servant. He knew it going in."

  She grinned and chuckled as she added, "Shame Yuri killed him, huh? He's stuck in the Wildervast now."

  "Wouldn't his oath to you supersede the one to Koschei?" Asturial asked.

  Baba Yaga glanced at her, then shrugged and said, "It might, come to think of it. I'm really not sure. I'd planned to free him anyway after this is over seeing as how he did die for me, and I suspect T-Mack would do the same given it was his word that condemned him, so it's a moot point either way."

  "This shit's too complicated for me."

  "Well, there is something rather simple you can do if you're now reassured that I will be keeping my word and helping you from here on out ... or at the least, not hurting you," Baba said. "Free me? Please?"

  Terry tossed the knife into a corner and sighed as he said, "I really have to do this?"

  Baba Yaga apparently had enough sense not to push her luck. She simply nodded and said, "You figured it out?"

  "Of course I figured it out. I'm just not at all fucking happy about it."

  27

  One and One Make Eleven

  Asturial looked on as Terrence hesitated.

  She could see the frustration in him, and wondered what he was struggling with. Then he looked at her, and his eyes reflected an agony of indecision.

  "What is the problem?" she asked.

  He strode over to her, ignoring the impatient shifting of the witch behind him, and set a han
d on the table next to her hip. The table was angled at forty-five degrees and locked into place. She tilted her head up a bit to meet his gaze as he said, "Do you know what I have to do to free Baba Yaga?"

  She glanced at the witch, then shrugged as best she could as she said, "Loose her bindings. I am sure there is a key somewhere."

  He shook his head and said, "There is no key. Her cuffs don't have locks, and neither do yours."

  Asturial frowned, then looked around at the various implements in the room. Most of them were designed for delicate work, and would be unsuitable for trying to pry metal loose from stone.

  "I'm sure if you search, you'll find something you can use."

  His lips twisted and he said, "I already have the tool I need, but before that, you and I need to ... talk."

  She smiled wryly as she said, "Well, Terrence, you have me as a captive audience. Rest assured I will listen."

  "I've been avoiding you."

  "I am aware. I spoke to Mila, and Shy, regarding your reticence. I am patient. I will wait."

  His frown deepened and he glanced up and away in apparent frustration. Asturial said, "What? You disapprove?"

  "No, I don't. I'm just not very good at this. I guess I'll just take a page out of Eurayle's book."

  Blinking warily, Asturial said, "I'm not entirely sure I like reading from that book. It is dangerous and unpredictable."

  "It's also direct."

  Terrence looked into her eyes and said, "I want to fuck you."

  Asturial's brow lifted and she felt a curious flutter inside. She said, "I'm certainly glad to hear-"

  "Now."

  The flutter turned into a skipped heartbeat, and she glanced at the surroundings, then back to him. "Now, now? Or you want me now but-"

  "Now now. Right now." His gaze was steady, unwavering. "Right here on this table."

  Asturial stammered, "I'm sure there's a, a reason ... but I don't see it. We are not exactly in a good place for this." She jerked her wrists purely for effect as she added, "I can't exactly participate even if you truly want to go through with this apparent insanity."