Carnival of the Soul

by Cebelius

  Before he finished, Euryale was already shaking her head, and said, "Nope, she's here. She knows Master is a hero. She knows he won't run. My sister's taunting him."

  "Then we need a plan," Yuri said. "Stheno is like nothing we have ... well, okay, she is like Euryale. If we so much as notice her, it could be death for us. I have thought on this, but aside from sending Euryale and Prada in to fight her, I have few ideas."

  Terry nodded and said, "I've been thinking as well, and I have a plan, sort of. Baba? You told me you could do the same sort of curse on Stheno that Vlad did on Euryale. You're sure?"

  "Of course I can. I'll use the doll the Hellequin gave you. I had one that might have worked, but yours would be better for it. It's invested."

  Terry understood her meaning through the knowledge he had obtained from Koschei. An invested doll was one in which a great deal of emotion was bound up. Since the Hellequin had given it to him in appreciation for restoring her and her husband to legitimate rule, it made sense.

  The investiture of the doll would make it easier for it to accept a soul.

  "The problem is I'm not immune to Stheno's curse," the witch said. "And I have to be able to see her to cast the spell. If our eyes meet, I will petrify."

  Nodding, Terry looked apologetically at Euryale as he said, "Sorry love. You're going to have to sit this one out."

  "Oh no I don't!" she said, waggling a finger at him. "I've got Stheno's old mask! I'll give that one to Baba Yaga."

  Blinking, Terry said, "Oh. Yeah, I completely forgot about that thing."

  At Baba Yaga's curious glance, he absently said, "It's hideous. You'll love it."

  Her face twisted into a 'That was a cheap shot,' expression that made him smile. As their eyes met though, he noticed a subtle aura of magic around her. The colors swirling within it were impossible for him to describe though, and he had bigger concerns than whatever magic the witch was covered in. It wasn't reaching out to anyone, so it wasn't relevant.

  As he thought about the fight he had coming, his smile faded. Asturial said, "Euryale will still not be able to fight with you, Terrence. You will also require a mask."

  "Master won't be fighting," Euryale declared.

  "Yes, I will," he retorted. "But I won't need a mask."

  "I am not certain I like this part of your plan, Husband," Prada said, joining the discussion as she spoke from the sash at his waist.

  He glanced down at her in exasperation. "Why not?"

  "I ... you are not accustomed to fighting blind. Just because you can use tremor sense does not mean you have mastered it."

  Terry knew from his sense of her that had not been what she'd first intended to say, but he let her moment of self-doubt pass.

  "That's why I have you," he said. "Besides, if everything works out I won't have to fight for long."

  "Master, no."

  Euryale lifted her chin defiantly. "You will not fight my sister. It doesn't matter what you think you can do, she'll tear you apart."

  "She'll try, which is kinda the point," Terry said. "I need her attention on me if Baba Yaga's going to get close enough to pull this off."

  "So you really think you can steal my sister's soul?" Euryale asked. "Just because I don't do magic doesn't mean she doesn't. She's had plenty of time to learn how to defend herself from stuff like that."

  Baba Yaga gave Euryale a cheshire smile, but didn't say anything. The gorgon glanced at her though and several of her snakes hissed. "Underestimate us and you'll regret it, witch."

  "Us? And here I thought you were on my side," Baba said.

  "I'm on his side, not yours," Euryale said. "And he's about to do something stupid."

  As she glanced over at him she added meaningfully, "Again."

  "I am his only real chance to seal Stheno away indefinitely," Baba Yaga said primly. "The best you could manage would be to give her indigestion. She's got the size and form of a hydra now. She could literally eat you whole."

  "How?" Euryale asked, her aggression seemingly forgotten in her curiosity.

  Baba Yaga shrugged and said, "Echidna."

  Euryale's snakes hissed in chorus as she turned her attention back to Terry and emphatically said, "Master, no. NO. I will distract her."

  "It has to be me," Terry said. "If I'm not there, she'll be constantly on the lookout for me, and Baba will never be able to get close enough."

  "I can create an illusion of you," Asturial said. "You don't have to get close."

  "We can't have more people than we have masks and Euryale is immortal. She goes, I go with Prada, and Baba goes," Terry said with quiet finality. "The chances for success do not increase with more people. She could turn any of the rest of you to stone instantly. Baba will be as safe as we can make her, and I will have no eyes."

  "If you will have no eyes and you insist none of the rest of us come, then Euryale doesn't need my mask," Shy pointed out. "Give it to Asturial and allow her to join the fight."

  "That's right," Laina spoke up. "If we aren't there with you, she'll be lookin' for us just like she'd look for you. We have to send as many as we can or she'll know somethin's up."

  "No," Terry said. "Prada can save me from poison, Euryale can't die, and the plan involves Baba not being attacked at all. There's nothing to save Asturial if she's bitten. Someone once told me a gorgon's snakes were poisonous."

  As he said this last, he glanced pointedly at Euryale, who scowled at him while her snakes seemed to be trying to hide behind her head.

  "He's right," Euryale said, though she sounded surly about it. "Asturial would die."

  "No, I won't," the dragon said, and sounded so certain about it that Terry blinked and looked at her curiously.

  "How can you know?" he asked.

  Glancing at Yuri, Asturial spoke with the air of a woman confirming something she already knew.

  "The village is two miles away."

  Yuri nodded, and Asturial closed her golden eyes and let out a slow breath. Then her form began to flow like melted wax.

  Terry boggled as Asturial slowly stepped out of her own body.

  It took no more than ten seconds. When it was done, a naked Asturial strode purposefully toward the back of the wagon while the one with clothes on remained behind and said, "I will fight with a proxy. If it is slain it will hurt, but I will live."

  Terry glanced at the departing figure, then at her, then shook his head and said, "Whatever. Fine. I can't argue and we could really use the help. So that makes it Euryale, me-"

  "You stay here!" Euryale said to Terry as she thrust a claw at Asturial. "She can make an illusion of you and since she'll be there, she can make it convincing!"

  "Yeah, right up until it gets hit! Or are you telling me you can make an illusion that will offer real resistance, bleed and die just like the real me?" Terry said in exasperation.

  "You not bleeding and dying is the whole point!" Euryale screeched, her volume rising dangerously.

  Terry rubbed a hand over his face, scrubbing vigorously before dragging it down as he took a deep breath to control his temper. "Euryale, I have to be there for this to work. I will not take a chance I don't have to, but I have to be there!"

  "Does she sleep?" Shy asked.

  "What?" Euryale, Terry, and Asturial asked in unison.

  Every eye turned to the dryad, who asked again, "Does Stheno sleep?"

  "She sleeps, why?" Euryale asked.

  Isthil spoke up as she said, "Because if she sleeps, I kin keep her that way."

  Shy nodded toward Isthil as she added, "Nightmares can induce slumber, and sustain it. It is part of how they feed on their victims."

  "She's not stupid. Her curse will be naked while she sleeps," Euryale said waspishly. "Medusa was asleep when she was killed. Why do you think Perseus still needed a mirror on his fucking shield? Snakes sleep with their eyes open!"

  "Love, no one else could possibly know that," Terry said quietly, holding out a calming hand. "Aside from you and I, no one else her
e knows her story."

  "Actually, I do," Baba Yaga said cheerfully as she held up a hand.

  Terry gave her an incredulous look as he snapped, "Not helping!"

  The witch shrugged and stuck her tongue out. Terry sighed in exasperation and turned to Isthil.

  "We could give you a mask to protect you from Stheno's curse, but what you'd be doing would be ... well, you'd be putting more than your life in danger. Stheno knows you, doesn't she."

  Nodding, Isthil's voice was quiet. "She does. If this fails, I be a marked woman at the least. She knows what I kin do as well. If she's not already asleep when I come upon her, I dinnae think I'd be able to get close enough to touch her at all."

  "Something's coming!" Euryale blurted as her snakes all oriented toward the village.

  The group turned and spread out, but the figure that raced toward them wasn't Stheno.

  It was a wolf.

  31

  Climax

  The wolf skidded to a halt so abruptly that its haunches dragged the ground, then it stood on its hind legs. As it did so its body distorted and gained size and a shape much closer to human.

  "A werewolf?" Terry asked, not surprised so much as confirming what his eyes told him.

  "One we've seen before," Shy said, bringing her staff around as it began to hum with electric potential.

  "Wait, no!" the creature pleaded, showing its hands as it got back down on its knees and put his palms flat on the ground. "Not me! I'm warning you! The monster that was hidden in the village is coming this way. It will be here in moments! If you are not prepared, you must flee!"

  Terry didn't need to be told twice. His mind spun into overdrive as he glanced at Yuri and said, "Get the wagon out of here. Shy? You, Isthil, Laina, Halla, and Mila need to leave with Yuri. None of you will have any protection. Euryale, give the spare mask to Baba Yaga, and once everyone's out of sight pass Shy's mask to Asturial. Move move move!"

  To his vague surprise, no one questioned him. They simply got moving. That didn't mean they did exactly what he told them though.

  Mila stepped in front of him and raised her staff as she chanted. A green nimbus manifested around Terry, and then it faded as she said, "Miss chance. Good luck, Terry."

  He nodded as she ran for her horse and Laina stepped up and looked up at him with a frustrated expression, then handed him a bottle of her milk. It was tiny in his giant hand, and seeing his problem, she took it back long enough to open it.

  Terry didn't need to be told. He said, "I'll take it right before battle begins. I love you, Laina. Get going."

  "I love you, Boss. Get this done."

  Halla asked, "I really can't do anything?"

  "'Fraid not, La. Get going. Having you safe will make things easier on me."

  "Okay. Like she said, get it done."

  Shy looked up at him, then blew him a kiss as she said, "When all this is over, we need to talk about setting up a schedule."

  He blinked, then grinned bemusedly as he caught on. "Fucking now you bring this up?"

  "Just to remind you what you're fighting for," she said with a sultry smile.

  "What do you want me to do?"

  Terry glanced over at the werewolf. It was obviously a she — he could tell that at a glance — but beyond the gray fur and green eyes, she looked pretty much like a Hollywood werewolf. It was almost weird how much the movies got right.

  "Run like hell," he said. "Thanks for the warning."

  Terry shifted toward the back of the wagon and quickly found his pack. He pulled both the Rod of the Heart and his old bloody lumbering ax out, then looked through the length of the wagon at Yuri, now ready at the reins.

  "Stay safe," Terry said.

  "You too, good luck."

  He turned, and with a loud crack of leather, the wagon rumbled away as Terry felt the burn of the Rod flood through him. Given the time he'd spent training with it, the pain was manageable, even without Prada's interference. He straightened, glancing from it to the ax.

  It had grown. He had suspected it would, and was justified in having taken the time to retrieve it. The ax was invested, just like the doll Baba Yaga would hopefully be using to capture Stheno's soul. It was his ax now, and it would always be his size.

  Okay Prada. Lights out. You know what to do.

  'I still do not like this.'

  Doesn't matter. Time's up. Seal 'em.

  Terry closed his eyes, and Prada sealed them shut, literally fusing his eyelids to his face.

  He took a deep breath, let it out, and felt the world around him come to life through his feet.

  He swapped the ax into his left hand and put the Rod of the Heart in his right, then focused as he spoke in English.

  "By the power in my veins, I demand that my strength and speed be increased to the limits of my physical endurance.

  "By the power in my veins, I demand my perception be enhanced to the limits of my mental acuity.

  "Let my power be made manifest in a tendril of blood, and let its touch inflict my greatest pain upon my enemies."

  'These spells in combination will only allow you to fight for perhaps five minutes, Husband.'

  Let me know at halftime, and with one minute remaining.

  'As you wish.'

  The Rod of the Heart was now pulsing strongly in sync with his heartbeat, and from the rough-cut ruby at its head blood sprayed into a long, coiling arc that wove through the air as though questing for prey. It would follow Terry's mental direction and just as he quested outward in all directions with his tremor sense, it moved aimlessly, searching for a target.

  He could feel it intimately, because the line of blood it was made from was his own. Every time he struck out with it would cost him, but the sort of pain it could dish out would be impressive, given how much Terry had gone through recently.

  He knew he couldn't kill Stheno, so it would be silly to try. Instead, he wanted to incapacitate her if he could, and pain seemed as good a method as any. Better than most, seeing as how he now had an affinity for evil, and the deliberate infliction of the sort of pain he had endured on anyone was exactly that.

  Stheno entered the radius of Terry's tremor sense, and he shuddered as he saw just how big she was. He had hoped that as a giant he would have an advantage, but apparently being a giant would only barely make him competitive. What had once been her hair were now her primary heads, and she had at least ten that he could sense. At their height they probably topped him by a bit, but they wove and twisted so wildly that it was difficult to tell. She probably weighed more than he did, and her entire body seemed to have been built to support the weight of her many heads.

  Terry tightened his grip on his ax and strode forward to meet her. She crested the rise and paused, her many gigantic serpentine faces regarding him from several angles. Her heartbeat was so heavy that it made her vivid in his tremor sense.

  Baba Yaga had her mask and had vanished from his perception. He could only hope that she kept up her end of the bargain when the time was right. Asturial was off to his right and behind him a bit, while Euryale was also invisible to him.

  'She has taken flight, Husband.'

  Noted.

  "You're Stheno?" he asked. It was rhetorical, but he wanted a sense of her. Was she here to talk or fight?

  "I am. It is a pity we meet like this, Terry Mack. I had hoped you would serve my lord as so many others before you, knowing what havoc Celestine wreaks on your kind."

  "My kind come here willingly, or so I've been told by a source I think's a bit more trustworthy than you. Is this really the way you want to play it? Battle to the death out here alone?"

  "I can't die, mortal," Stheno said, laughing. "If my sister has not taught you even that much, she has served you poorly. If you agree to come along quietly, serve Thomas, then perhaps she and I can reconcile. I would like that."

  "Fuck you!" Euryale screamed from somewhere above and to his left.

  Terry popped the tiny bottle into his mouth, swa
llowing it whole before he spread his hands, his bloody ax in one, the Rod of the Heart in the other. "She's not interested. Something about you ditching her in a cave for a few thousand years."

  "That's nothing compared to the eternity we will live," Stheno said. "Last chance, Terry Mack. Surrender. My orders were to make sure you knew where to go when you found the village. Seeing as how it was empty when I got there, I figured I'd make a mess of things and wait for you instead. You should know that I promised my lord your head. The body attached to it is optional."

  Terry started laughing.

  As he did, he shook his head and thought, Vlad could have saved his own life at any time. He KNEW. He knew, and let Yuri kill him anyway. He wanted things to happen this way.

  'Vlad the Dreamer was certainly a strange creature. And here I thought you were difficult to understand.'

  "So be it, template," Stheno hissed, taking his laughter for mockery. "I'm going to enjoy this."

  "Oh, I doubt that very fuckin' much," Terry said as he strode forward, the tongue of blood lashing out from the Rod to wrap one of her heads as he swung with his left, effortlessly decapitating another snake's head with his ax as it lanced in from that side.

  A massive ball of fire exploded against Stheno, the impact and radiant heat flaring across Terry's tremor sense.

  He wasn't sure what to expect from the pain lash, but he'd expected something. The head he'd hit arched and writhed, but the effect seemed limited to that strand only, as several more wove into position and struck with a speed he was only able to avoid because of the magic enhancing his movement and the preternatural sense of danger he now had. It seemed to overlay his own senses, extending them into the future by fractions of a second.

  For a man like Terry, that sort of advantage was huge.

  He caught one head coming in with the butt of his ax and another by jamming the ruby of the Rod into the mouth that gaped wide, its fangs dripping poison that burned on contact with his flesh.

  Two others he twisted his body to avoid, and dropped his elbow squarely atop another, slamming the mouth shut before it could latch on.