"Um, she knocked you out." Lyric reminded her, earning himself a scowl from the demoness.
"I was already wounded from fighting an entire clan of yetis in a weakened state because I'm tied to your candy ass and had just run across half the globe. I'd love to see her do it again."
"Still, it is hard to believe she managed this, there must be 10 of them here. I didn't release any magic to attract them, who are they?" He asked her, watching her deftly take meat off the fire. She pointed again, this time to a rock.
"My attackers?"
She nodded.
Lyric looked over at Acheron who shrugged.
"Makes sense after our visit to Mom and Dad’s. Do what you want Lover, keep your little pet. But she's not human. No human can move that fast, if I'm not convinced she's on the up and up, I'll be taking her with me on my next hunt."
"Not human?" Lyric looked questioningly at the woman who shrugged. "What are you?" Again the shrug. "You don't know?" She shook her head as she pressed a plate of food in his hand.
* * *
"So you were hunting a Yeti and its clan attacked you?" Lyric continued digging the pit for the bodies with the strange woman's help using shovels Acheron magically materialized while the demoness sat on the edge of the hole dangling her booted feet.
"No, Lover, I was hunting a clan of yetis and got them cornered. Something happened to you; I felt pain and blackness in our tie. I was pissed that you went and got yourself in trouble before I ate. Yetis are immune to magic and those bastards are fast. When I turned to come for you, they attacked. Then the craziest thing happened. They hurt me! Do you know why entire clans of yetis run from me? I'm stronger and faster than all of them put together, and I'm damn hard to hurt. I've hunted them for centuries. They call me Alofth Hing’ed Thew “the flowing death”. I’ll spare you the details, suffice it to say I make a glutton of myself and leave enough of them alive to spread the fear of me. Over the years, they've built up a lot of aggression toward me. Once they saw me bleed it got a little crazy, so there was no way I was getting back to you without wreaking some havoc. Unfortunately, while I make you stronger, you make me weaker. It took a lot longer than it should have to beat them into submission. By the time I got here I attacked the first thing I saw that wasn’t you, your little pet here.”
The stranger continued digging as though she didn’t hear a word.
“She saved my life and right now is the one next to me digging this pit.”
“And that matters to me why? Don’t get me wrong, Lover, I love you as much as I hate you and want to screw you just a hair more than I want to murder you. I feel no inclination to share your silly ideas of propriety. Dig your hole, bury your bodies, I’m not in any hurry. Don’t expect me to feel bad about not helping and don’t think anything this bitch does is going to change my mind about her.” She pressed the toe of her boot against the side of the woman's head. In a flash, the stranger grabbed the demoness' foot and yanked her into the pit. Acheron landed on her back with the woman's boot on her chest and her shovel against her throat. “That’s kinda sexy,” Acheron smiled and the shovel disappeared in a puff of smoke. Kicking her legs out from under her, she pulled the woman down and rolled on top of her. “You might be fun after all if you’re going to be all flirty.” Acheron kissed the tip of her nose while the smaller woman struggled against her and turned her head away in anger. “Don’t try anything like that again unless you want to go all the way sweetie.” Acheron got up and hopped back on the edge of the pit. “Sorry, Lover, looks like you’re down to one shovel, I’m not going to arm your sexy psychopath after she just tried to decapitate me.”
The stranger flipped to her feet and scaled the side of the pit away from Acheron and stalked away, shaking in fury.
“You’re a bitch.” Lyric told Acheron as he climbed out of the pit to go after the stranger.
“Sweet talk isn’t going to change my mind,” Acheron called after him.
* * *
Lyric caught up with her wading fully dressed into a nearby river. He stopped at the edge and watched her rinse off the dirt from the pit, a dark look on her face.
She didn’t even look at him. As she rinsed her hair, he saw a bright violet streak that ran up her neck on the left side, in front of her ear and disappeared into her hair. Where it disappeared into her short blonde tresses, the hair was the exact same color.
“I’m sorry about Acheron. Unfortunately, I am tied to her so I’m kind of stuck. You don’t need to stay with us, I’m able to take care of myself, and she’s not going to let anything happen to me.”
The woman stood up and shook her head at him violently. Aggressively she pointed at herself and then at him and clasped her hands together.
“Why is it so important that you stay with me? You don’t even know me.”
A frustrated look stole across her face and she turned away and continued rinsing.
“Would you like me to leave you in peace?”
A simple nod.
“I’m going to finish the hole. I’ll ask Acheron to make herself scarce.”
No response. With a sigh, Lyric headed back to the campsite. When he arrived, he discovered that the hole was gone and so were the bodies. Acheron lay across a low limb of a tree directly above the fire, tossing colored fireballs from her fingers into the flames."
“Where’d the bodies go?”
“In the hole, Lover, that’s where you wanted them, right?”
“There is no hole.”
“I got bored and don’t feel like staying here. I put them in the hole and filled it.”
“But there’s no trace of it.”
“Demoness.” She reminded him.
“Why do you hate the woman who saved my life so much?”
“I hate everyone. She managed to do something no one has ever done and it pisses me off.”
“I need you to be nicer to her.”
Acheron just laughed.
“I’m serious, it’s bad enough being tied together, don’t make it harder than it needs to be.”
“You want to bring your pet, that’s fine, as I keep reminding you, my interest in this little adventure is keeping you alive long enough to serve our purposes. Once that’s done we’ll be free of each other and I probably won’t kill you.”
“Serve whose purposes?”
“Yours and mine, Lover, I told you my reasons are my own, just accept that our purposes align.”
“Is that supposed to reassure me?”
“I have no interest in reassuring you. I hear your pet coming, wanna have sex?”
“What? No! Just stop being such a bitch.”
“Nope.”
“Okay, how’s about you go hunting again, you never got to eat right?”
“I’ve eaten.”
“When did you do that?”
“Don’t worry about it.”
Lyric thought for a moment about what might or might not be lying in the bottom of the hole. Their new companion came walking into the clearing, dripping wet. Without acknowledging either of them she went to her pack and pulled out some clean clothes, then turned and disappeared back into the trees.
“Mmmmm, I’m going to go examine the goods.” Acheron said with a wicked grin.
“Acheron, don’t.” Lyric protested.
“Try and stop me, Lover.”
Lyric was prepared. She had been the one to tell him names were important. He sang an old lullaby, planting Acheron’s name in it. Acheron turned and looked at him in annoyance.
“You’re an asshole.” She dropped to the ground.
* * *
Lyric's phone rang and he answered quickly.
"Lyric my friend, hope I'm interrupting something." Lyric smiled at the welcome sound of his friend's voice on the line.
"Nit, I'm drawing blanks, do you have news for me?"
"Rumor has it the Prophet Man is a crazy old man living in a bayou town called Sta Catoe down in Louisiana. Apparently, he's the real deal. He's
nuts, but he has made several predictions that have come true. Otherwise he generally makes a pain in the ass of himself."
"Sta Catoe? I've never even heard of it, can I find it online?"
"Nope, it's a small second sight town, won't show up on a map. Only reasonable way to get there is by boat. Take it down the piece of the Atchafalaya River that runs south of Bay Sirius. If you have to go by car, it is about three miles east of Catahoula Levee rd where it turns into Bayou Benoit Levee rd. That way is rough goin’ though, I recommend the boat."
"Roger that, thank you friend I'll send you a postcard when I get there."
A few minutes later the stranger came back out of the trees, wearing new clothing, this time her shirt was short sleeved, but she wore a black glove on her left arm that went up to her shoulder. Jeans and hiking boots made her look like any other pretty girl - Her tousled blonde hair was still dripping and Lyric found his eye pulled to the violet streak - except for that. It seemed less noticeable now for some reason. She saw Acheron lying in the dirt and grinned broadly at Lyric. As she walked by she seemed to stumble and accidently kicked dirt all over Acheron’s flawless face.
Lyric didn’t comment, he tended to his pack and made sure everything was present and accounted for. He supposed he could travel lighter, considering he was a companion to a demoness who could materialize most anything he needed out of thin air, but decided the less he had to rely on her the better.
Walking over to her, he nudged Acheron’s ribs with a boot.
“Wake up,” he said. “We’re leaving.”
Acheron’s eyes snapped open and she stood up slowly. Shaking her head all the dirt fell away like it was repelled from her skin and hair. Smiling that dazzling smile, she sauntered up to Lyric and punched him in the face so hard he landed flat on his back. The stranger turned and prepared to attack but Acheron held up a hand.
“I have no interest in fighting you, bitch. He had it coming.” Turning to Lyric who was getting back up she said, “don’t ever do that to me again. By the way, I learned some fun things about your pet while walking the dreamscape. You wouldn't believe what she was in a previous life. Maybe I'll tell you, if you're nice. Of course, you might not want her around so much if you knew the truth.” She walked away with far more roll to her hips than was necessary. The woman started moving toward her with a purpose.
“Wait, no,” Lyric said, rubbing his jaw. She stopped and looked at him in annoyance. “I’m not in any danger from her, let it go and let’s move on.” She shook her head in disgust and shouldered her pack, walking away from him.
Lyric paused for a moment wondering at Acheron's cryptic remark, then sang a prayer over the spot where the attackers from the night before were buried, wondering briefly if he should be praying over Acheron's belly instead. Hefting his own pack, he followed his surly companions back to the car.
They drove with the windows down in silence for a few miles when the roar of some large creature made its way to their ears.
“What?” Acheron looked in the direction of the sound with a start. “No way.” She disappeared in a flash of dark.
Lyric and the stranger looked at each other in the rearview mirror in confusion for a moment then Lyric decided that they should investigate. Pulling the car off the road yet again they got out and followed the sound of the roar. A half-mile or so into the trees they found Acheron standing quietly watching something. Approaching her position Lyric looked to see what held her attention. As he came up to her she held a finger to her lips and pointed. Fifty yards away an enormous creature towered over a rather round old man. The man was shouting at it and brandishing his cane like a weapon. The creature was easily fifteen feet tall, and about to flatten the man. Lyric started singing, but Acheron grabbed his arm and shushed him.
“Do you know what that is?”
“Something about to eat an old man.”
“No, yetis don’t like the taste of human flesh.”
“That’s a yeti?”
‘I don’t know. Every Yeti I’ve seen is white and lives at the top of the world in the mountains.”
“But this thing is black.”
“Obviously, but color aside, everything about that thing screams yeti. So don’t bother singing, they’re related to trolls, ogres and sasquatch. All of them are immune to magic.”
“I don’t practice magic, I use the Soul Song.”
“Trust me, it won’t work.”
Lyric prepared to try it anyway when he noticed movement behind the giant yeti. Suddenly a blur of black, blue and silver was racing its way up the yeti’s back and sinking two long knives into its neck on either side.
“Stupid bitch,” Acheron snorted. “Yeti’s main arteries are in the center of their necks, not the front. Your pet’s about to be squished.”
The yeti roared again, this time in pain and surprise and threw the woman off its shoulders. The woman turned impossibly in the air and landed on her feet. Acheron grunted in surprise.
“You hunt clans of these things, go help her!” Lyric yelled.
“Nope.” Acheron smiled and kept watching. The monster had turned away from the old man and fixed its attention on the woman who stood defiantly in its path. Lyric started toward her but Acheron grabbed him from behind and covered his mouth. "Let's see how your pet does, Lover."
Lyric struggled furiously against Acheron but could not get free. He watched helplessly as his self-proclaimed protector squared off against the giant.
The yeti swiped at her head with a clawed hand. She dodged it easily but instead of dancing away, she ran up inside its reach, planted a foot on its knee and leapt up to grab the hilts of the knives she’d left embedded in the beast’s flesh. Lyric struggled harder but physically he was simply no match for the demoness.
The monster roared again as its attacker pulled the knives free and flipped away from it, pushing off its nose with her boot heel. Landing again on her feet she shot forward and dodged beneath its grasp to roll up behind it, turning she slashed viciously at the back of its legs. The monster’s roar turned into a keen of pain as it fell to its knees. Climbing it again from behind, she wind milled over the top of its head. As she came down in front of its face, she left one knife buried to the hilt in its eye and the other in the center of its throat. The mortally wounded creature gave a last gasp of pain and shock and fell forward heavily, dead. The woman dove out of the way and came up in fighting stance.
“She’s definitely not human,” Acheron said, releasing Lyric and looking at the dead giant.
Lyric glared at her angrily. Then closed his eyes and started singing a song of binding. His eyes opened in surprise as the left side of his face suddenly set fire. Acheron had just slapped him across the face.
“Hard to sing when you’re getting smacked in the head, isn’t, Lover?”
Lyric flushed and focused on their tie, intending to teach the demoness a lesson.
“Dick!” Acheron yelled as she vanished in a flash of black.
“Thank you, oh thank you so much!” The round, old man had the stranger clasped to him in a giant bear hug. The woman tensed and Lyric was worried she might attack the oldster, but she kept herself in check and endured the man’s gratitude. “I’ve never seen the like. That thing came out of nowhere and started roaring at me. I’ve never seen a bear that big before.”
“Are you injured?”
“No, no young sir, I’m fine thanks to your beautiful young woman.” The man beamed at her.
“Is there any way we can be of further assistance to you, sir?” Lyric asked looking around the wooded area. “You seem to be in the middle of nowhere.”
The old man chuckled.
“Looks can be deceiving, son, my home isn't far. I was simply out for my walk when I encountered this creature.”
“Then we’ll be on our way, have a better day.” Lyric smiled.
“You as well, son, you as well.” The old man winked at the woman and turned toward the ridge. Lyric watched him go fo
r a moment before turning to his companion.
“Part of me is inclined to do something about this carcass,” he said. “But I don’t know that we have the time.” His companion shook her head and pointed to the sky. Lyric looked up and saw buzzards already circling. “Good point, let the Song see to its rest.” He looked at the woman closely. “You were amazing; you really have no idea what you are?” She smiled a bit sadly and patted his shoulder before turning back to the road.
Lyric followed thoughtfully. Acheron appeared at his side.
“Why are you here?” Lyric asked, immediately he began quietly exploring their tie.
“Just figured I’d give you a moment to relax before I came back to you. You were about to be mean to me again.’
“I was about to be mean to you? You forced me to watch someone I owe my life to fight that thing alone. She could have died,” Lyric’s anger returned as he turned on the demoness moving a little further along the tie. “You should have stayed gone.”
“But she didn’t. I told you she wasn’t human. And the simple fact is, you've never faced a creature immune to your singing. If I didn’t stop you that thing would have turned you into goo, which is no good for you know who.”
“I've faced worse, and really it’s not about you.” Lyric prepared a quick blast. “I’m sorry for this.” He sent a surge of song down the tie, which stunned the demoness long enough for him to sing a holding song. She crumpled to the ground and he caught her up in his arms. Even unconscious he found himself reacting to the close proximity of her body. How soft and light she was in his arms. With steely determination, he shoved such thoughts aside as he walked to the car and laid her on the back seat.
The strange woman looked at them in surprise but otherwise did not react. She slipped into the passenger side and fastened her seatbelt. Lyric climbed in the car and got back on the road.
10 WELCOME TO STA CATOE, NOW GO AWAY
Lyric had a decent amount saved in his checking account, but wasn’t sure if and when he’d be able to make any more money, so decided rather than renting a boat as Nit suggested, they’d take the long way and reserve their resources.
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