Harvester

by Erik Henry Vick

  “But how can you be happy? Unless I’m wrong, you are the only one of your kind here.”

  She flapped a hand at him. “There have been sweet times along with the bitter. The betrayals…” She shook her head, and her hair seemed to float as if she were underwater. “They hurt, but I survived them.”

  “Is it enough to merely survive?”

  Lily pressed her lips together. “You ask so many questions, Tobycakes. You overthink everything to death.”

  Toby cocked his head. “I’m not sure that’s a bad thing.”

  She dusted off her hands and turned away. “Are you rested?”

  “Sure.” Toby pushed to his feet and set off walking north once more, and Lily fell in at his side. After a hundred paces, Toby glanced at her. “You said you would answer questions as we walked—and I’m curious about you. I don’t mean to give offense.”

  Lily’s head was down, and she didn’t lift it. “Curiosity aside, don’t your questions have an ulterior motive?”

  “Well, you did ask me to spend eternity with you.”

  “And knowing why I prefer to stay here rather than return home provides you a necessary insight for answering the question?”

  “I…” Toby rubbed his nose with his index finger. “To be frank, I don’t understand your nature. I don’t understand why you’ve brought me here. I don’t understand why you dangle yourself in front of me like a carrot, and… And I wonder what the stick is.” Toby scrunched his eyebrows together. “Meanwhile, I have no idea what’s happening to my friends, or what’s happening with the mazzikim and Oneka Falls.”

  Lily sucked her teeth, then blew her bangs with a gust of air. “Always with the mazzikim,” she muttered. “I dangle myself before you like a carrot, and all you do is fret and worry about Oneka Falls!”

  They walked in silence for a few minutes. “I can’t help it. It weighs on me like a yoke does an ox. Cleaning up Oneka Falls seems like my calling, what I was put here to do.”

  “Your calling? Your calling is to be by my side, Tobes. To walk with me through eternity. The mazzikim, your friends, Oneka Falls—all of that is of little importance in the long run.”

  “It doesn’t seem that way to me, Lily. Put yourself in my shoes. Imagine there was a threat to your pet djinn and your ifrit acolyte. If I said it was of little importance, would that change how you felt? Wouldn’t you still believe you owed them something?”

  She turned her head to the side, her gaze mapping his face. “Then, if the mazzikim were gone, it would be easier for you to decide?”

  He lifted his shoulders and let them drop. “It would at least eliminate that worry. But what about your daughter? What about the other ifrit and the djinn? Can you call them off my friends?”

  Lily met his gaze head-on, and her eyes seemed to flash like emergency marker lights. “All are bound to me. All owe me an oath of fealty. There is no question whether Abyzou would obey me, and left to her own devices, I have no doubt Lamia would, as well. But Naamah…” She shook her head a little. “My daughter is headstrong. In the end, she will obey, but she might resist.”

  Toby nodded once. “How would you get rid of the mazzikim?”

  “Doesn’t matter. Why should you care, so long as they’re gone.”

  “Only curious.”

  “Don’t your people have a saying? Curiosity killed the cat?”

  “Yes,” said Toby, chuckling.

  “Yes.” Lily began to hum her ghastly little tune, and a shiver raced up and down Toby’s spine. After a moment or two, the song filled his mind like white noise, and he could think no more.

  11

  “What do we do while you are off gallivanting through the astral plane?” asked Mike in a light voice.

  Benny sat in one of the La-Z-Boys, reclined as far as it could go. “Keep my body safe so I have something to come back to.”

  “Once you travel, can we talk to you?”

  “If it’s an emergency. To hear you, I’ll have to shift my mind back here, and that will increase the chance she will sense me.”

  “Can’t you link with me?” asked Shannon. She came to stand near him and lay a hand on his shoulder.

  Benny smiled at her and patted her hand. “I could, but that would expose you to Lilitu should she try to follow my path.” He shook his head. “No, it’s better if I isolate my mind.”

  “What do we do in the meantime?” asked Mike again.

  “Keep working on the lamp and the Akkadian magic angles. A confrontation is coming—whether we like it or not—and we’d best be prepared to fight these more powerful demons.”

  “I’m on it,” said Sean.

  “Good. And I hope your wife will babysit for me.”

  Kristy looked at him, wide-eyed. “I wasn’t aware‍—‍”

  “He means me,” said Shannon. “He wants you to make me rest.”

  “I was doing that, anyway. You’re still my patient.”

  Benny smiled and closed his eyes. Images of heat shimmering over golden sand began to flash through his mind at an ever-increasing pace. He watched closely, looking for a red tent or footsteps in the sand.

  12

  Toby came to himself with a start and nearly stumbled down the face of the dune on which he stood. Lily grabbed his arm to steady him, and her grip was like steel. “Thanks. I must have…”

  “Yes. The wasteland has that effect from time to time, kisa.” She patted his shoulder. “Nothing to fret over.”

  His mouth and throat burned as though he’d swallowed something hot, and his tongue lay in the bottom of his mouth like a dead snake. He couldn’t summon enough saliva to spit the taste of flint and dust from his mouth. His back ached as though he’d been swinging a sledgehammer for hours, and his feet screamed at him with each step. “How long…” he grated. He tried to clear his throat, but it was too dry. “Water?”

  Lily flashed her dimples at him. “I thought you’d never ask.” She snapped her fingers and the water barrel appeared on the dune beside her. She handed him the copper dipper and waved at the barrel. “Help yourself, chavo.”

  He should have been wary of her response, but at that moment, he didn’t care. Toby fell to his knees and sank the dipper deep into the barrel. Pulling it out, he sloshed water all over the golden sand. He sucked the liquid down his throat and plunged the dipper again. After his second drink, his mouth and throat cooled. “How long have I been out of it?”

  “Oh, I don’t know.” Lily gazed at the horizon to the north. “To tell you the truth, I was so intent on my own thoughts that I didn’t notice.” She hunkered down and turned to face him.

  “Thinking about what?”

  Lily sighed and allowed her shoulders to slump. “My past. The choices I’ve made.” She raised her gaze to his and stared at him. “Choices about who and when. Choices like the one you would force on me.”

  “Ah,” said Toby. He returned his attention to the water barrel and dunked the dipper once more.

  “Things draw to a close, Tobes. I’ll need your decision.”

  Toby squeezed his eyes shut, dropping his chin to his chest. “I…”

  “Before you finish that thought, I have something to show you.” She waved her hand at the ground beside the barrel, and the pavilion appeared. “You’d best lie down.”

  “Oh, I see where this is going.” He wagged his eyebrows at her. “At least I hope I do.”

  “That’s sweet, habibi, but there’s no time for that now. Lie down and close your eyes.”

  With a small shrug, Toby did as she asked.

  13

  The desert music woke him, creeping into his sleeping mind like an assassin in the night. He smiled, no longer thinking the melody was eerie or mournful or haunting. It just was.

  An enviable state of being, he thought.

  Toby opened his eyes to a vast stone room. He lay on a soft mattress amidst a pile of silk cushions. His flesh rippled with goosebumps as a chilly wind danced across his skin. He turned his head to
the side, and there Lily lay, her body as perfect a promise of heaven as had ever existed.

  Even in her sleep, she smiled at his thought.

  He got out of bed and wrapped the loose white silk robes around himself, then stepped into his thick-soled leather sandals. Toby walked to the window cut through the stone wall and gazed out on the miracle of the desert. He peered right and left, then stared for a long time at the single road that stretched away through the sand and heat-devils dancing upon it.

  Pilgrims packed the road.

  He wasn’t sure how he knew they were pilgrims, but he did. He also knew why they would risk such a journey through the unmarked desert: they all desired their own deals with the devil.

  The pilgrims came from all over the world and represented every race, every creed, and every religion. Lily held no office, bore no rank, but still, everyone came to her—even so-called world leaders.

  “What’s got you thinking such thoughts, Tobes?” she asked from the bed.

  “Oh, just watching the pilgrims on the road.”

  Behind him, the bedclothes rustled as Lily climbed out of bed. “I know they distress you, motek. Shall I send them away for today?”

  Deals with Lily were dangerous. As they should be, he thought. Bargains with her came with strings attached, and oft times contained a trap for the unwary. She excelled at getting what she wanted.

  Years he’d spent by her side, watching her slowly wrest the real controls of the planet from those leaders who came to her for help. He couldn’t remember if there were any hold outs or not—because it just didn’t matter. The major powers had succumbed to her charms early on, and Lily had de facto control over a wide margin of the population.

  “And why should that not be?” she asked, sounding a little grumpy.

  “A man needs his own head space to think, Lil.”

  “Then learn to think more quietly. I can’t help it if you blather along at top volume.”

  “Sorry,” he said.

  “Say what you will,” she said with a sigh. “But you must admit that my reign is much more peaceful than when humans were in control. There are no wars, no conspiracies to manipulate via the media.”

  “That’s true,” he said.

  Toby… The word echoed along the corridors of his mind like a thief, an outsider, an assassin.

  “Did you say something, Lil?” Toby turned to face her, smiling at her nakedness.

  “No.” Her attention scoured the room—no doubt she’d lost her dress again.

  She’d never caught on to Toby hiding it. It was a—

  Toby! Can you hear me?

  “Yes, I can hear you, kisa.” She stopped her search and looked at him. “What is it you need?”

  “Hmm?” Toby cleared his throat. “Oh, nothing. Just thinking out loud again, I guess.”

  She smiled at him and returned to her search.

  Toby, listen to me! You are in trouble! Lilitu is more dangerous than even Herlequin and his damn dog-things! We need to get you out of there!

  Toby had closed his eyes and staggered back against the wall at the power of the words slamming into his head. When he opened his eyes, Lily stood only a few feet away, crouched forward, staring at him as though he’d grown a third arm.

  “What was that?” she growled.

  “I don’t know. It… I…”

  She stepped closer to him and peered into his eyes. “Is someone in there with you, Tobycakes?” Her voice sounded light and musing, but it also contained an iron edge. She took another step and sniffed him as if checking him for body odor. “There is, isn’t there?”

  Don’t say anything. I’ll hide.

  “There are…words…in my head,” he said. “I don’t recognize them as my own.”

  “We can skip the audience,” she said, peering into his eyes. “Perhaps you and I should‍—‍”

  “No, it’s nothing. My mind running away with me, I guess.”

  She stared at him for a long moment, then nodded. “Will you come to the audience with me, then?”

  Sitting through another audience was the last thing Toby wanted to do, but he nodded, nonetheless. The smile she flashed at him was payment enough for a few hours of boredom.

  “Let’s go,” she said. “Give me my dress, or I’ll go naked.” Her eyes danced with mischief. “Wouldn’t that make the pilgrims blush? Can you imagine the shock value?”

  Toby grinned and pulled the black leather garment from under the mattress on his side of the bed.

  “You can have it back after we deal with the morning,” she said. “Though you might have your hands full when it comes off again.” She stepped into the dress and zipped it up, hiding all her delights from him. She turned and flung open the double doors that had been carved from thick ebony timbers as if they weighed nothing.

  Toby followed her, his gaze going to the elegant oil lamp ensconced in an alcove near the door. Cast in bronze, it bore bits of candy apple red glass and decorative embellishments done in lead. The glass seemed to glow with an inner light, and for a moment, the pattern of light reflected on the walls entranced him.

  Toby… What’s gotten into you?

  The words seemed weak, meaningless, and the voice sounded far, far away. Toby took one last smiling look at the lamp and followed Lily to the audience chamber. They passed no servants, no guards, no priests or priestesses. Lily needed none of those things—people worshipped her regardless.

  You’re in grave danger, Toby! Listen to me! I’m your oldest friend.

  Lily is my oldest friend, Toby thought. He mounted the dais a step behind Lily and sat in the gilt throne next to hers. They sat at the same level and were the same distance from the steps. Equals, she had said. We are equals in this.

  The crowd of supplicants filling the other half of the room had gone silent as they entered. Toby’s attention drifted from one face to the next, trying to guess what boon they wanted from Lily and what they would have to pay for it.

  Because they always had to pay.

  14

  Benny pulled back from Toby’s mind, reeling with confusion. Toby’s mental state was almost like a dreaming man’s, but there was a lucid quality to it.

  He hovered near the top of the pavilion, looking down at his friend’s sleeping form. Toby was alone in the tent, but he definitely wasn’t alone in his mind.

  No, she was with him.

  A feeling of helplessness swept through him. Benny had nothing to counter what he’d felt in Toby’s mind. His friend would have to cooperate, to fight with Benny, but it seemed like he wanted to be where he was.

  15

  At first, the audiences had offered a mild form of entertainment, but watching the naive or weak-willed humans walk into Lily’s traps with their eyes wide open grew tiresome. The entertainment value to Lily seemed undiminished, almost higher than when the audiences had started.

  Toby watched her for a moment, ignoring everything else. She sat leaning forward on her throne—not quite on the edge of the plush seat, but close. Her orange eyes whirled like they often did when she grew excited. Her lips were parted, and every once in a while, the tip of her tongue peeked from between them.

  As the pilgrim kneeling in front of her lifted his head to look at her, she flashed a ten-thousand-watt smile. “Yes,” she said. “What you wish for is possible, but it isn’t easy. There would have to be a quid pro quo.”

  “Anything! You have but to name your desire.”

  Lily nodded and tipped her head to the side. “Be sure you remember this promise. When I come to you and ask for my favor, remember you promised me anything I desired.”

  “Of course, Mistress! Of course.”

  Toby kept his expression neutral. They always make this ridiculous mistake. It’s as though they don’t quite believe the stories that brought them here in the first place. He studied the man’s joyful expression with a modicum of wonder and a lot of disdain.

  Lily glanced his way and flashed a happy, victorious smile at
him. “Then we have a bargain.” She waved him back, but the pilgrim stood there, looking around in the manner of a child separated from his parents.

  “Is there no…”

  “No ritual? No dark meeting at the crossroads around midnight? No contract signed in blood?” Lily threw back her head and laughed, but from the mechanical quality of it, Toby knew she’d grown bored at last. “No need for any of that. I know what you’ve promised me and what I’ve promised you.”

  “Yes,” said the man as he stared fixedly into her eyes. He stepped back, then remembered himself and bowed.

  “That will be the last one for the morning session,” Toby said. He stood and extended his hand to Lily. She smiled at him and squeezed his hand as he drew her to her feet. “Enough for today?” he whispered to her.

  She wrinkled her nose and nodded. “I’m full.” She led him out of the audience chamber and turned to face him.

  “Full?”

  “Yeah. Full to here with these petty concerns.” She lifted a hand over her head.

  “Why do you allow this? Do you enjoy it?”

  Her only answer was a vague smile.

  “And what will you ask him for?”

  “The last one?” She arched an eyebrow at him.

  “Yeah.”

  She gazed at him for a moment, then nodded. “Sometime during the next year, I will ask him to kill his political rival. The murder will occur in public, in full view of CCTV, and he will be captured immediately by the police.”

  “You know all this already?”

  Lily smiled her crocodile smile.

  “And I suppose the rival is a previous pilgrim?”

  “Not him. His wife. She’s reneged on her promise.”

  “Punishment, then. What task did you set for her?”

  Lily turned and walked up the hall.

  “Lily?” he asked.

  She shrugged without turning to face him. “Never mind, Tobes.”