by Mark Eller
Half an hour later the cabin’s outside door opened and a lame man stamped in. Snow coated his heavy coat, his hat, and his thick gray beard. Removing his coat, he hung it up and then beat his hat against his leg to free it of snow. Putting his hat back on his head, he looked at Phrandex and scowled.
“Better be leaving, demon,” he warned, patting the ax strapped to his side, “or I’ll be giving you some of this.”
“Devil,” Phrandex corrected. “Demons my age are much smaller, and in either case the ax wouldn’t do you much good. Neither demons nor devils can be seriously damaged by unblessed steal weapons.”
“Devils, demons,” the man muttered, pulling out his ax and hanging it on the wall. “You damn things is all the same to me. All I know is I hear more an’ more about you hell-damned every year. Seems like you folk just ain’t satisfied staying away from where you ain’t wanted.” He glared at Phrandex suspiciously. “You ain’t planning on eating any of us, are you?”
“My mother told me it isn‘t polite to eat one‘s hosts,” Phrandex said wryly. “Then again, I’ve not been out of Hell for long, so I might decide to build a few bad habits. I advise you to stay on my good side.”
The man nodded. “Seems reasonable enough.” Painfully limping over to Phrandex, he held out a hairy-backed hand. “Name’s Char, an’ it’s glad I am to meet you, just so long as you’ll soon be on your way.”
“Pull your hand back,” Phrandex warned, “or it’ll be digested by tomorrow morning.”
Char grinned, but he did pull back his hand. “No it won’t. I’m an old catamount from way back. Too old and stringy to interest the likes of you. The life we live out here, it makes folks just a little too tough for comfortable eating.” He nodded toward Hallie. “Where’s your mum?”
“Resting in bed,” Hallie replied. “She lost too much blood last night. Our guest felt playful.”
Char raised an eyebrow. “An’ she’s still alive?”
Hallie nodded.
“Wal then,” Char said to Phrandex, “Guess you’re all right after all. Sure would hate having to find these kids another new mum. Going to be hard enough finding a new hunter since Harvale is sort of off limits now thet his wife and son have almost become one of us.” Sighing, he shook his head sadly. “Got to find one though. Since Told went an’ died on us, I got to be the new pa.” He removed his boots, untied his belt, and dropped his pants. Underneath, he wore long cotton trews. Phrandex was amused when he noticed the hair on Char’s feet was at least three inches long. “Halley, honey, I need you to take a gander at my foot. Got it caught in a trap someone set out where no trap ought to be. Thing was all rusty-like, so it’s been there quite some time.”
Perplexed, Phrandex scratched the side of his face with his preening claw. Living humans, he had been warned, were strange and unpredictable. He’d prepared himself for encountering their perverse concepts of love and charity and pity. He’d prepared himself to face some of their knight things with the pointy swords and sticks. He had not prepared himself to feel so comfortably at home in their presence. Phrandex found the experience— intriguing. Then again, he was a very young devil, a century younger than he should rightfully be for his first extended journey into the upper world. The only reason he was here was because of his mother’s ambition and Athos’s anxiety about the escaped spawn. When Athos opened every pathway out of Hell leading to the Hellhole Tavern, and then sent every fiend he could find on the hunt, so many hellborn raced toward the surface in such a short period none of them noticed when Sulya arranged for Phrandex to join them.
Char held his foot out for Hallie’s inspection. “Brought home some fresh meat,” he said as she bent low over his injury. “We can throw out the stuff what’s gone rancid.”
“Your foot will have to wait until tomorrow,” Hallie said. Straightening, she gave him a shrug. “I used too much strength today. It’ll take time for me to absorb enough extra magic to take care of this. Too much other magic needs doing first.”
Cursing, Char stared down at his wound.. “See what you did to me,” he complained to Phrandex. “You made Yolanda bleed, an’ now I have to walk on this damaged thing until tomorrow.” A speculative expression crossed his face. “Unless you can do somethin’. Know anything about healing magic.”
“Most devils can’t do magic,” Phrandex said, shaking his head no. “Something to do with controlling nano outside our bodies. Instead, we ask favors of our gods and they decide if they’ll give it to us. Even then, we never ask for healing. Athos and Zorce are more likely to harm than help hellborn too stupid to eat somebody instead of healing them.”
“Shit, don’t ya just know it.” Char rubbed his bristly chin with an overlarge hand. “Well, shore would ‘preciate it if ya didn’t make Yolanda bleed again ‘til after Haley gets her strength back and takes care of my needs. I’m not going to wait two more days to get this thing fixed.”
“I’ll do whatever I desire,” Phrandex said, wondering if humans spoke this disrespectfully to older devils. “However, I prefer for my victims to be aware. The woman will not likely fit that condition soon. Don’t worry. I’ll not make the little witch wear herself out.”
“Not a witch,” Hallie protested. She dropped Char’s injured foot to the floor. Hissing in pain, Char released a soft curse. “I can only bind.” Trotting over to Phrandex, she pulled herself into his lap and rested her face against his chest. “You’re the warmest person I ever met.”
Phrandex frowned at the insult. “I’m not a person.” He turned his eyes red. “Get down.”
Hallie shook her head no. Grabbing his right arm, she wrapped it around her small body. “I like it here,” she said, snuggling deeper into his lap. “I need a new hunter so you’re going to stay.” She gave him a sweet smile. “I think I’ll like having you as my hunter. I never owned a devil before.”
“You don’t own one now,” Phrandex said, suddenly tired of this game. Enough was enough. She might be a strangely talented human, but he was a devil from Hell, brother and son of the two hell-gods themselves. Sinking his left hand’s claws into her shoulder, he started to lift her away— only his arm did not move. Small hands gripped him near his wrist so tightly he thought the bone might crack. Craning his neck around, he saw Trent holding onto him. Phrandex tried to jerk his arm free from the child’s grasp, tried to pry Trent’s fingers away with the claws of his other hand, and even tried to rip the boy’s face open. Nothing worked. He couldn’t pry himself free, and his claws scraped harmlessly across Trent’s skin.
“Play,” Trent said.
“You two aren’t like any humans I’ve been told about. What are you?” Phrandex demanded of the child.
“He’s half rock troll,” Hallie supplied cheerfully, ignoring the claws Phrandex buried in her shoulder. “Our mommy was an indiscriminate breeder, but then harpies usually are.” Her voice became a conspiratorial whisper. “Trent’s much older than me. He just ages slow, and he’s stupid. I’m young, but I’m really smart.” She arched her back and pressed into him. “Want to see my wings. They’re really small. It’ll be at least another ten years before I can fly.”
“I have no interest in your wings,” Phrandex muttered while trying to work his hand free from Trent’s unrelenting grip. “My only interest is in leaving.”
She pouted. “Be that way then. You might as well leave your claws in me. It’ll make the binding easier.”
“Might’s well not fight it,” Char added. “Getting bound’s a bitch. Feels like somebody’s pouring molten iron over your soul every next minute, but being bound’s better than being dead.” He chuckled. “Leastways, that’s what Gerd used to say after Hallie cursed him. Our neighbor, Harvale, killed Gerd when he was in mid-change some weeks back. Shame, really. I liked Gerd.”
He scratched his head. “Come to think of it, Told said the same thing before he went and climbed a tree and tied a rope around his own neck. That’s why it took me so long to find him. I thought the fool went and
lost himself out in the snow. Wasn’t till late this morning I looked up.” Shrugging, he grinned. “Guess the fellow didn’t believe his own words ‘bout bound being better’n dead.”
Hallie stared into Phrandex’s eyes. “May your heart beat faster when your eyes light on me. May your mind reach out for me, and may your only joy be the sound of my voice. May obedience be thy—
Unfocusing his eyes, Phrandex deliberately blurred her face and tried to rip his claws down the length of Hallie’s shoulder. His muscles refused to obey. He growled deep and low, but his lips refused to open. Tendrils of power groped clumsily through his hand, crept along his arm, into his chest, and explored the base of his neck. His nerves burned as the tendrils progressed. They flared and screeched and he wanted to scream, but his lips wouldn’t move. His voice was lost.
“Look into my eyes,” Hallie calmly ordered. “The worst is almost over.”
Phrandex opened his eyes but refused to focus on her. Instead, he watched as Char hung a teapot on a hook set above the fire. “Comfrey tea will help some when it’s over,” Char explained. “Not much, but some.”
“Now,” Hallie said softly, her hand gently touching his chin, turning his attention back on her. “It’s my turn to rape you.” Her voice firmed. “Char, I’m a bit drained, and he’s fighting harder than I expected. Prepare yourself.” She smiled prettily at Phrandex. “Gerd was my first experiment. He didn’t turn out well. I did much better with Char. Show him, my hunter. Phrandex, watch.”
Char grunted. “Now? I was really looking forward to my tea.”
When Char stripped away his clothing, Phrandex saw his entire body was covered by thick dark and gray hair, so much so even his sexual organs were hidden away, an unusual modesty in Phrandex’s experience. Generally, mature hellborn liked to put themselves on display. Automatically, he clicked his tongue in disgust at Char’s equipage.
He clicked his tongue.
His tongue.
Clicked
If Phrandex’s lips had been capable of moving, he would have smiled. He had clicked his tongue. How absolutely encouraging.
Using all the will left to him, he forced his tongue’s tip between his lips as more of Hallie’s tendrils crept into his neck.
“Oh cute,” Hallie said. “Purple.” She peered closer. “There’s some sort of gray fluid on one tip, and yucky pus on the other. Is that normal for you, or is it something I’m doing?”
Ignoring her, Phrandex flexed his tongue until the tips met. He waited a moment, and then contracted several muscles specific only to devils.
He was young, not yet totally formed, but he was not so young he couldn’t create a little devil’s acid when needed.
Hallie screeched when the acid bit into the side of her neck. Shrieking, she ripped her shoulder free of his claws and flung herself away. Gasping, Phrandex almost screamed himself when her magic released its hold..
“Yep,” Char said conversationally. “Thet thar shore opened the ball. Sure wish I had time fer my tea.” He began to change. His face elongated. His legs shortened, and his arms grew.
Phrandex, using the last of his stored acid, spat on both of Trent’s wrists. Green fire flared when Hell-wrought acid met stone flesh. Trent grasped Phrandex’s arm tighter and smiled while his smoking wrists melted away. Meanwhile, Hallie raced across the cabin’s floor to the water barrel and plunged her head into the water, right up to her shoulders.
Trent’s wrists fell away. Shaking, Phrandex pried the boy’s dismembered hands from his arm. Rock hard fingers snapped and then crumbled into dust. Phrandex’s arm throbbed; his hand felt numb, but by damn, he was free.
Still smiling, Trent laughed at his handless wrists. “Funny.”
The bedroom door opened and Yolanda stumbled out, an oversized robe tied loosely about her waist. Her face was drawn and pale. “Don’t eat my children!” she shouted to Phrandex. “Eat me instead! Eat me!”
Char growled from a rat’s face set above a troll‘s body. Flowing forward, he fastened his flat teeth into Phrandex’s arm faster than Phrandex could believe. New pain welled up. Black blood flowed. Grabbing Phrandex with his clawed hands, Char threw him halfway across the room. Phrandex struck the dinning table’s corner, fell to the floor, and heard shoulder bones crack. More blood, black and thick, seeped from his arm where a large chunk of flesh was missing.
“He hurt me,” Hallie sobbed from near the barrel. Water streamed down her face and hair. She held a hand to the side of her neck, smelling of fear and anger. “Kill him, Char! Kill him now!”
“Are my teeth charmed enough to kill you?” Char laughed from several feet away. “Are my hands strong enough to rip you apart?” He held up a hand, flexed its claws, and licked them clean of blood. Surprised, Phrandex glanced down and saw that his pants were ripped through, and his leg bled. He wished he had not emptied his acid reservoirs. No matter how tough Char proved to be, a devil’s acid would have quickly put him down. Unfortunately, his reserves were dry, and devils couldn’t spit their acid more than a few inches anyway.
Lowering his hand, Char studied Phrandex for a moment and then chuckled. “Who would’ve thought a cursed-changer could best a devil,” he mused— and then he leaped.
Phrandex rolled, twisted, sprang erect, and leapt back. Char crashed into a chair, splintering it. Still chuckling, he took a moment to shake a trapped leg from broken spokes.
“A bit faster and you would’ve had me,” Phrandex commented. He tried to sound nonchalant, but inside, his mind gibbered with fear. He reached out to Zorce and then Athos, tried to call a hell-god’s power to him for the first time ever, but he failed. Neither god would answer his call. Athos still didn’t care that his brother existed, and neither did Zorce.
“I stumbled,” Char explained. “My foot hurts, and it’s all your fault. Stand still so we can finish this quickly.”
“No thanks,” Phrandex replied, and he limped toward the wall. Reaching up, he grabbed Char’s ax with his good hand, spun around, and slammed the ax into the leaping cursed-changer’s side. Char squealed like a freshly castrated pig and fell to the floor. Whimpering, he reached back with a hand to pull the ax free. His wound sizzled and then sealed. Char tossed the ax aside.
“That won’t work,” he said. “Not when I’m not wearing human flesh. Nope. This thing between us can only be settled with tooth and claw.”
Desperate, Phrandex looked toward Hallie. She stretched her free arm out. “Touch me,” she begged. “One touch and you’ll be mine.”
Phrandex shuddered and stumbled toward Trent. Bending, he grabbed the child’s leg with his good hand and tried to lift him from the floor, intending to beat the changer to death with the stone child, but Trent didn’t move. His weight was too great even for a young devil’s strength, something Phrandex found unsurprising now that he knew what Trent was. A rock troll’s only weakness was their neck. Much of their magic and strength resided there. The rest of their body was surprisingly hard and incredibly heavy until their magic was disrupted by having their heads cut off. Unfortunately, Phrandex didn’t have the time or a blade to decapitate the problem child. Maybe he could use his teeth.
“Don’t eat my brother!” Yolanda screeched when Phrandex lowered his head, and then her weight struck him in the back, knocking him to his knees. Another weight struck him. Yolanda grunted and Char cursed. Phrandex twisted around to see Char toss Yolanda to the side— and then the two of them were joined, their claws hooked into one another’s flesh. Phrandex snaked his head forward to sink his teeth into Char’s throat, but Char jerked his head back.
“Not nice, me lad,” Char admonished. His extended claws were buried in Phrandex’s left shoulder and right side. Studying Phrandex’s dangling, broken arm while wearing a wry grin, he seemed to ignore the fact Phrandex’s claws were buried in the small of his own back. “I’ve more claws and teeth than you, so you might’s well admit you’re gunna die.” Raising a foot, he set its nails against Phrandex’s leg.
“You have the most claws,” Phrandex admitted, “but you forget I have a devil’s strength.” He extended his claws dangerously far into Char’s back, almost to the point where they would separate from his fingers, and pulled Char’s body tight against his own. Swiveling his hip, he moved his leg just in time to avoid the reflexive swipe of Char’s free hand.
“Kill him!” Hallie shouted.
“I will,” Phrandex answered. Rising, he lifted Char from the floor, staggered two steps to the side, and threw them both on top of the smoldering logs inside the magically burning fireplace.Char landed on the bottom. He snarled, snapped a small chunk out of Phrandex’s cheek, and howled. Smoke rose. The stench of smoldering hair made Phrandex’s head reel.
Char burst into flame.
The cursed-changer threw back its rat head and howled in pain, sending a shiver of sexual thrill racing through Phrandex. Char bucked, twisted, and rolled them both out of the fireplace. His thrashing threw Phrandex free. Wood flooring smoked and then burst into flames, ignited by the unnatural heat of Char’s burning fur. His wail drew up to a high pitch, and then abruptly ceased.
Phrandex scrambled and clawed his way toward the outside door with his one good arm and two damaged legs. Black blood sprayed from his torn cheek, blinding him in one eye. More blood dribbled down his arm from where its flesh had still not healed. He reached the door but couldn’t find its handle— and then Yolanda was there, opening it for him. He crawled out into the snow and the cold, stood erect, and stumbled to a spot where scattered bones covered red snow. Entrails lay in one cold pile; a stack of sliced meat rested on a tree stump four feet to the side.
Hair wet, mouth cursing, Hallie ran out of the cabin. Bone showed through a blackened hole from where acid had eaten away a good portion of her neck. She pointed an angry finger. “Look what you did!” she shouted. “You burned my home and my food! You killed my new daddy, and he was my hunter too.” She wailed. “What am I going to do? I don’t want to starve!”