Chapter 55: Chapter 55 – The Second Binding

Chapter 55 - The Second Binding

Sherr Hess was not in a good way.

The ‘giraffe’ monster, if indeed you could even call it that, had spent the final seconds of its life in trying to bite her in half. And if it were not for the terrific amount of healing energy at play within her, it probably would have succeeded. As it was, she now had its mouth… neck… area — detached from the rest of its body thanks to Jax — embedded by the teeth around her torso. And because of all of that healing, they were stuck there rather solidly.

“It’s…” she swallowed, twitching in pain, “a l-little hard to breathe,” she responded at my questioning.

Nodding as much for her reassurance as my own, I said, “Don’t worry. We’ll have you loose and mended up in a jiffy.”

But before I could move, her hand shot forward to grasp my arm, “Also… I can’t feel anything… past those teeth.”

I took a breath, “In that case, one of them must have severed your spine. Normally, that would mean that you would probably never walk again.” Not without a lot of surgery and physical therapy, anyway. Even then, I had no idea what would be involved back home. But it would not be an easy recovery. “But if I can magic your ribs back together, I should be able to do the same to your back. It might take some doing, though.”

She did not reply at first. Instead, she shifted her gaze to the blue tarp covering the thing in the middle of the square. Now that the forcefield was gone, it was billowing slightly in what wind was filtering through the burned out buildings.

After a moment, she looked back up at me, “That would be the exit. I have…” She paused as a wave of pain overcame her. Swallowing again, she steadied herself and continued, “I have fulfilled my part of the bargain. Now I will have you do the same.”

I nodded uncertainly, “I-I mean… Of course? If that really is the exit, then I would be glad to. But wouldn’t you rather…” I stopped, grimacing as her hand tightened about my arm. Very. Very hard.

“No more talking,” she stated, matter-of-factly. “Now, Donum.”

Jax’s eyes flashed dangerously, and she growled low in her throat. Stalking forward, axe in hand, she whispered, “Sherr Hess. I’ll have ye remove yer hand from my Master.”

“Oh?” she replied, not taking her eyes from me, “You mean to betray me then? After all that we have done? And… and said?”

“No, Hess,” I said, waving Jax off. She still looked ready to chew Hess’ eyebrows off, but she complied instantly. “I am not going back on my word.”

“Then why do you hesitate?” she asked fiercely. “Am I not worthy? Hmm? Am I too much of a…” She stopped again, her lips pulled back from her teeth as another wave of pain took hold.

“Hess, please? Let me heal you first, and we can talk about this.”

“What more is there to talk about?” she growled. “Do you want me to reconsider? Do you think I have not thought of the consequences? Of what this might do? Every waking moment since we made our bargain? I want this. I want…” She hesitated slightly, her eyes beginning to shine with unshed tears, “You will cast your spell. Now. Or I will have no more of your healing, and the sweet lies that come with it.” With that, she released me and looked away. As if she were waiting for the executioner.

I settled back on my haunches, exhaling slowly and cast my eyes to the sky. So that was it. My heal meant pleasure. And for her, if I went back on my word, that would be nothing but pain. The pain of loss. Of what might have been. She would rather be paralyzed and left here than that.

On the other hand, there were a million and one reasons not to cast this spell. Chief among them was the fact that there was the very real possibility that Hess would become other. Herself no longer, and not just physically. She knew it, too. She had watched it happen in real time to Jax. When we had come to this place, Jax had been a sarcastic jack-ass who would not give a person the time of day without insult. And that was how he treated his friends. Now, she was an entirely different gender, practically fawned over me, and was sex-crazed to the point of distraction. She still swore a lot, though.

And I loved her dearly.

So now, Hess was resorting to emotional blackmail. She knew me well enough. For all of our assurances, she knew that I would be more than a little hesitant to do that to her, if for no other reason than the fact that I felt very much the same toward her. And leaving her here, unable to walk, was not something that I could do. Would not do.

But there was something else. I could recognize in myself the desire to do exactly what she wanted, and that frightened me. It was not… a good thing. To want to do that to someone. Was it? I wanted to be a good man. A just man. And I tried to be. But knowing right from wrong is not an easy thing sometimes. Not when something that felt wrong was also staring you in the face. Begging you to do it. Wanting it even more than you did.

Hess pulled at me in a way that no mere words or petty attempts at emotional manipulation could. There was a nascent bond forming between us that I could feel. Tangibly. It was a tenuous thing, really only barely there, but I could sense it, nonetheless.

And I could cut it. If I wanted to. Let it wither away like a vine on a tree, severed from its roots.

Or I could nurture it. And see what it would become.

Though… in doing so, it might well kill the tree.

I sucked in a breath, “Very well, Hess of the Sherr. So be it. Is there anything you would like to say before I begin? Any promises you would extract?”

She shivered at my words, the tears flowing freely down her cheeks now that the tension had released, “N-no, I… I hadn’t really thought…” Pausing for a moment, she began to work her jaw, considering how to respond. Finally, she said, “My people, the Keltha… We value honor. If you can say anything about my people, it is that. Glory in combat, steadfastness to a cause, and the value of one’s word. And for me… being what I am. What I… have been…”

I nodded, understanding. She was an Ignoble Tramp. A drunk, occasionally a prostitute, and I was sure, any number of other things. In many ways, particularly to her own self-evaluation, she probably felt like she was the polar opposite of all of those things held in highest esteem to her own kind.

“Ye ain’t gonna be Keltha after this, hen,” Jax sighed, squatting down next to us. Calm, now that the threat of violence was over.

“Even so,” she shifted in her urgency, grimacing as the fangs embedded in her flesh pulled at her, “I would ask you. Help me? To be… what I was not?”

I shook my head, “What am I? A Paladin? I can barely keep to those standards myself. But… I’ll see what I can do.”

“That’s all that I can ask,” she replied, settling back. “I am ready.”

I nodded and set about trying to figure out exactly how to initiate the process before Jax abruptly spoke, “What about her name?”

“What?” I blinked. “What about it?”

“Did ye nay tell me, back when?” she prodded. “That ye’d to give me a new one? Do ye nay think it might be the same again?”

“You don’t think I’ll be able to keep mine?” Hess asked, concerned.

“Well, I don’t know, of course,” I explained, “But she’s right. I did have to change it. I mean, I can try to keep it the same or fairly close, but… Maybe you should suggest an alternative? Just in case?”

Hess frowned contemplatively, “I don’t know. Hess was my great-grandmother’s name. It was important to my father that it be carried on, but… maybe now, it’s best forgotten.” Sighing, she murmured, “’Snails… maybe… Ahriksa? It was my mother’s name.” Then in faint whisper, she added, “And I’d bet he’d just hate that.”

I tilted my head to the side. That sounded like some family drama. And I wanted no part of any of that. But here I was, about to cram my foot right into it. Hell… I was, in more ways than one, about to marry this woman, and I suddenly realized that I had never even met her family. I had not even met any of her friends. I barely even knew her!

Scrubbing my hands over my face, I sighed. I was insane. That is all there was to it. I was on some kind of Hunter S. Thompson-esqe drug-induced frenzy somewhere, and now I was having an appropriately Las Vegas-style wedding with some hooker I had met.

“Yeah, alright. Screw it.” I said aloud. If I was going to wake up with a facial tattoo and a missing tooth, then at least I would have quite the story to tell. Then, muttering to myself, I began, “Let’s see here… how do I…”

<bing!>

“Ah! Here we go,” I smiled before glancing down at Hess one last time. “Uh… Last chance to back out. Are you… absolutely sure about this?”

She nodded firmly, “Do it. Please.”

I sighed, “Okay.” Just don’t blame me later…

And with that, I touched the little shining ‘yes’.

The Words came once more, forcing themselves out of my mouth. And this time, I knew them for what they were. Words. Those things of magic that this world seemed to revolve around. There were so many Words. So very many.

Now that I had some experience with them, I could tell, this was no mere phrase. Nor even a sentence. This was paragraphs of Words. Far, far more than I could manage on my own. I knew the feel of them. Their weight. This should have killed me outright. The mere thought of trying to Say so many at once boggled my mind. And I was not the only one.

“No…” Hess whispered, shaking her head, her eyes wide. “How are you…? It isn’t possible!”

I could not stop, however. Though the Words were emerging from my mouth, none of this was under my control. I had done this once before, but I did not know these Words. They did not even exist within my brain to be Spoken. Where they were kept or how any of this was happening was beyond me.

And when I finally finished, I sagged from exhaustion. But I had experienced far worse. On more than one occasion, I had pushed myself to the very edge of my endurance and beyond, so I knew my limits. This had tapped me, to be sure, but it was not as if I were about to pass out again. And that made no sense.

Glancing up, I could see some significant few of the Words I had Spoken, hovering as though crystallized in the air. Now, as before, I had no idea as to their meaning. And when they zipped into Hess, they seemed to merge with her flesh, and she gasped. Trembling, she began to shiver. And then quake.

Looking up at me fearfully, she whispered, “Donum…?”

And then she exploded.

---

I was in shock, to say the least.

Little bits of my former companion were dripping off of me. Rivulets were running through my hair, and I was pretty sure a bit of flesh was dangling from my nose. I could fucking taste her. In my mouth. I wanted to puke.

So when the Lady’s message came, I did not know exactly how to react.

“Uhm…” I vocalized, not knowing what else to say.

She was dead! I had killed her, and this stupid… thing still wanted me to give her a name?! Unless… maybe if I went through this, she would reform somehow? Like Jax did? It was a tenuous thread, but I held to it firmly, if for no other reason than because my own sanity was at stake.

Slowly, I nodded to myself and took a steadying breath, trying very hard to ignore the sensory input that provided.

“Master?” Jax whispered to my side, and I glanced over. And then down. She was crawling toward me with her face pressed firmly against the cobblestones, like a soldier might crawl under tripwire. Stretching a trembling hand out, she lightly caressed my leg before glancing up at me furtively, as if afraid to meet my eyes. “Be ye well? Ye ain’t… hurt are ye?”

“Fine…” I mumbled faintly, just as the bit of something finally fell away from my nose. Unbidden, my gorge rose.

“Ye ain’t fine,” Jax returned. Then looking more closely, she scrambled up and began hovering over me, “Ye ain’t fine, at all! Look at ye! Ye’ve got bits of bone pocked to yer flesh…”

“Jax!” I interrupted, swallowing roughly. I had not noticed that. I felt numb. “I’ll be fine. Just… give me a few minutes here. Bline and I need to… discuss this.”

“Oh, but Master…” Jax sighed unhappily. And unbidden, she began to pick at me, grooming away the pieces of Hess that were stuck to me. And if I did not have a blue box hovering in front of my face, offering the faintest bit of evidence that perhaps she might not be permanently… detonated, I would have been livid at the callous display. Even so…

“Jax, what are you doing? How are you not… freaking out about this? Why…”

“Master,” she stopped me, “Seeing what I just seen, of what ye did… There ain’t no way me sister be gone for good. And I ain’t gonna let meself think otherwise. So, you do what ye gotta, and let me busy meself.”

I took a breath through my mouth this time, very much, at the moment, wanting to avoid the coppery scent all around me. She was coping, then. Okay. I could understand that. Now, I just needed to make sure that I would not need to.

“Her name is Hess,” I began.

I grimaced. Damn it. I had a feeling that was coming. And if I could not use anything from the Kelthic tradition, then I was sure her mother’s name was out, too.

“I don’t suppose You might tell me what those are, would You?” I asked, hopefully. But as usual, silence was my answer.

Wincing slightly as Jax loosened a piece of bone from my cheek, I glanced over at her. She had a haunted look about her. Or perhaps she was just deep in thought. I was not certain. But perhaps it would be helpful to open the floor, so to speak, to the question.

“I can’t use either name. She says it has to be suitable for a lilim, and I guess those aren’t for some reason,” I explained. “What do you think?”

Flicking the speck of white away, she stared off into the distance for a moment before asking, “So it’s gotta be like mine, then?”

I tilted my head to the side slightly, “Maybe. She won’t explain the rules, of course.”

She nodded, understanding, “How did ye come up with mine then?”

“Honestly? I just started sounding things out until something stuck.” Then, my mouth twitching a bit, I added, “Sorry about that.”

“Why?” she replied, turning to me in surprise. “I love me name.”

“Really? But it doesn’t mean anything.”

Or at least, I did not think it did. It was hard to say with names. There were a lot of them. And a lot of languages. I happened to know that for a matter of absolute fact. Honestly, I was lucky that it did not coincidentally mean ‘toilet’ in any language in my lexicon. Mine did in at least three. Actually, so did ‘hess’, but in that one, there was a bit of a dance involved, so I was not sure that it counted.

“Jax means me,” she returned with a smile. “It were the first gift ye ever gave me. How could I not be happy to bear it?”

I smirked, slightly embarrassed at the open display of affection, “Well enough. So what do think for Hess’ new name?”

“I dunno,” she shrugged. “Just use that one she gave ye, but sound at it until something sticks. Well enough for me be well enough for her.”

I scratched at my head, a little frustrated by the answer. I really did not want to give them both random names. But, I supposed, I did not have much choice.

Uh… let’s see… Ahriksa, huh? Well, assuming it has to be short, then I could go with Ari or Rik or something… Or if I try to make it like Jax’s name, then… maybe I could interpret that k-s sound as an x. So maybe Rix? Or Arx.

I paused, recognizing the name I had arrived at as a word from Latin. Just like mine. It meant something like ‘citadel’ or ‘castle’, which was appropriate in a way.

“Uh… What do you think about something like Arx?” I asked, but the moment I said it, I was already ready to discard it. It did not exactly roll off the tongue.

Jax made to reply, but before she could, a wave of dizziness overcame the both of us.

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Blinking owlishly, Jax shook her head for a moment before responding, “What uhm… what about her?”

Fighting off my own wave of vertigo, it took me a moment to realize that I was staring at a new box.

Slowly, my face contorted into a snarl. Mother… Fucker…

“Master, what is it?” Jax asked, concerned by my sudden change in mood.

I just sighed. I was doomed, it seemed, to forever remain the kicking boy of this world. Scrubbing a bit of blood off of my lips, I glanced up at her, “I seem to have accidentally named…” I paused, and slowly, my eyebrows bunched together, “Uh… I just…?”

“Yes?” Jax gently prodded.

Taking a steadying breath, I said, “I… can’t seem to remember what Arx’s… old name was. Can you?”

“Nay?” she replied, as if that were obvious. “Course not. I don’t even remember mine own. Ye had to figure it’d be the same this time, right?”

“Well… I mean…” I tilted my head. “I guess so. Still…”

“Ah, don’t ye worry, Master,” she reassured me, before resuming her grooming, “I’m sure she’ll like it fine. Besides, it be right fitting! She always were a bit of an arse.”

“Yes, well. Who isn’t?” I grunted pointedly. “But doesn’t it bother you that her name was just… erased like that?”

Jax had knelt down and was distractedly picking at something that was lodged in my thigh, “Aye… now ye mention it… But I suppose, what good’s having a new one if everyone’s gonna confuse ye for it.”

I nodded slowly, unconvinced, “Maybe…”

<ding!>

I breathed a sigh of relief, my previous concerns evaporating. She was definitely alive, then. As long as that remained true, everything else was a triviality.

Uh… let’s see here… Yada yada… Kind Characteristics, huh? Oof… I was sort of hoping to ease her into this a bit, but I guess that’s off the table now. Oh well…

And boy was that going to be one heck of a conversation.

Well, whatever. Nothing I can do to change it. I would just have to be there for her when that particular wad of shit was fastballed into the ceiling fan.

<bing!>

Hmm… Interesting choices.

If I allowed her to start at my own Layer, that would be the most convenient. Although, I did not like the sound of her attributes being randomized. I tended to have fairly abysmal luck with that sort of thing. I mean, yes. Technically, she could start off with all tens, but on the flip side…

Plus, there was the question of whether she would have all the stat points to spend that she normally would have. Bline had left that part out. I assumed she would, but then I had also assumed that she would not take the first random word I spat out as Arx’s new name!

As for the other choice, she would be guaranteed to have some pretty good attributes to start out with. If I recalled correctly, some of them were around twenty, so she would be able to start off, at base level, with one or two perfect stats! But the downside was that it would take a couple of weeks to get her up to speed again.

So the question was: Did I feel like gambling? The answer, of course, was fuck no!

Yes, maybe she would have to start from scratch, but there was no way I was going to take that kind of risk. Besides, we were still pretty flush with Power Gems. And she deserved her fair share, after all.

“Option two, please,” I said aloud.

“Eight hours?” I grumbled. I had to suppose that was better than the full day it took Jax. Maybe it was giving me some kind of boost due to the fact that it had exploded her all over my face. As for the rest, it was fairly self-explanatory save for the bit about body configuration. Lilim complete as base… okay, fine. But from former Core initiation? What did that mean?

I shook my head. I guess I’ll find out.

“What happens in eight hours?” Jax asked. She had managed to pick most of the shrapnel from out of my skin by that point, and distractedly, I expended a small amount of Life to finish the job.

“That’s when Arx will… I dunno. Reconstitute, I guess,” I explained. Then, twitching my head slightly, I rephrased, “She’ll… flash back into existence. Like you do when you die. It’s a little like what happens with your axe, actually.”

Understanding finally, she raised her eyebrows, “Really? Hmm… I’d like to see that. So, what do we do in the meantime?”

I shrugged, “Leave, I guess. There’s nothing else to do here, right? And I, for one, would quite like to put this place behind us.”

“Agreed,” she smiled. But then she pursed her lips, “But… if she comes back where we be, and we ain’t here, would she still get the Word?”

I blinked a few times, and slowly, I let my head fall back. “Gzarkn,” I muttered, tapping my middle finger to my thumb twice. There really were quite a lot of ways to say ‘toilet’, after all. And honestly, the fact that I was not making use of them was a crime.

Jax tittered, “Ye shouldn’t speak such, Master, but I’ll let that one slide. Who’d know what ye were saying besides me?”

“Who else is even here?” I returned before sighing, “Well… I guess we have to kill eight hours. Any ideas?”

“One,” she grinned, working at one of her fangs with her tongue.

Naturally. Why did I even bother to ask? Grunting a bit, I climbed to my feet. “Fine. Let’s go find the entrance to the waterway.”

“What for?” she asked, following me. “The dirt be good enough.”

“Because we’re covered in… person, that’s why,” I explained, gesticulating grandly. Unnecessarily, to my mind. “And I would quite like to wash the taste out of my mouth, thank you very much.”

“Fair.”

---

Now that the Dungeon was more or less complete, the place seemed rather dead. Nothing moved or jumped out at us. It was all very… peaceful in a way. Not that I would want to build a vacation home here or anything, but still.

So, we took our time with things. And the first order of business was bath time.

We were a state. Neither of us had seen a comb nor soap in weeks, and while that had not changed, the simple effort of scrubbing ourselves with a bit of clean water did wonders. Jax insisted that I go first, and what is more, that she be the one to bathe me. Apparently, she was owed the privilege because Arx had done it the one time, and the fact that I had been unconscious was irrelevant. I chose not to fight her on it.

Mostly because I well intended to return the favor.

“Oh, Master… that ain’t…” she began, but I did not pay her any attention. I was too busy enjoying the softness of her as I ran my wet hands slowly over her flesh. She really did need this, arguably more than I did. Miscellaneous bits of dirt, plant matter, and monster parts were stuck to her skin, and her hair was a complete disaster. And with so much time to kill, I intended to fix that.

“M-Master, I can… can do this meself,” she whimpered, starting to shiver lightly.

“Why? Am I making you uncomfortable?” I asked honestly, vigorously scrubbing at her calves.

“N-never!” she exclaimed. “But it… hnnah~ It be beneath ye t-to…”

“Oh, that business,” I said dismissively. “No, I think that I will decide what is beneath me and what isn’t. Besides. I like doing this.”

“I know… know it,” she said, twitching her torso to the side. “I can… f-feel…”

“What are you carrying on for?” I asked, taunting her a bit now. “I’m not even trying. Or maybe I should, eh? Maybe a touch of the Hammer would sort you out?”

“Oh, Master, don’t!” she exclaimed.

But it was too late. I had her in my clutches now.

---

Several minutes later, she was resting her back to my knees while I busily finger-combed out her wet hair. It was a little difficult, what with her horns, but I was making headway. There were fewer knots, anyway. And now that it was wet, I could tell that it was approaching shoulder length, though it was not styled at all. We would have to rectify that once we returned to civilization, I decided. We had a bit of money in our pocket, so some pampering was in order. She deserved it.

And speaking of, Jax was relaxing against me like she was putty. Sighing, she moaned, “That feels incredible. Every time ye brush me horns… ah~”

I smiled, “You’re welcome.”

Rolling her shoulders a couple of times, she murmured wistfully, “I wish I could make ye feel like this.”

“I suppose you could,” I said, not really thinking about it. “You have a skill point, right?”

She stiffened at my words and turned to look back at me, “And ye’d be okay with that?”

“Well, you certainly seem to be enjoying it,” I shrugged.

“But ye’d nay be upset?” she prodded. “That it be a waste?”

I bobbed my head, “A fair point. Well… let’s think about this. Maybe we can work up something that is useful for more than just play time?”

Grinning now, she settled back to allow me to resume, “Master be wise.”

Chuckling, I asked, “Okay then. What exactly do you want to be able to do?”

“I want to be able to make ye feel like I do when ye touch me,” she replied instantly.

“Only that?” I asked, quirking an eyebrow, though she could not see me. “What about when I channel?”

She snorted, “Then it’d be over too quickly.”

I thumped her head, “Here now. I’m getting better.”

She just snickered teasingly.

Clicking my tongue once, I asked, “Alright… so what are we talking about here? Pleasure? Arousal? What?”

“Not arousal,” she replied quickly. “That be what I feed off of. If I make ye feel it, then I nay think it’d taste the same.”

“Hmm… well, what then?” I asked. “It’s not like I have some skill that makes you feel a certain way at my merest touch.” Not without effort, anyway. “When did that even start happening?”

“When ye started wanting to touch me,” she explained easily. “Yer want reflects mine own, and it sort of… magnifies everything.”

Oh. That made sense. Or it was consistent, at least. It must be weird to be an empath. Curious now, I asked, “Would the same thing happen with anybody? If they were to touch you while they were all hot and bothered?”

She snorted derisively, “I think I’d be more inclined to slit their throat.”

I averted my eyes for a moment before clearing my throat, “Yes, well… That might be… a bit extreme.” It was easy to forget Jax’s background when she fretted over my slightest injury like a mother with her only child. “But, anyway. About this skill. Do you want… your touch to somehow feel better than it should? Or maybe the ability to project your emotions? Like with a glance maybe?”

She sighed before stretching her arms out to the sides, “I dunno. I’d want it to be useful in a fight, though. And all I feel then is… pain. Anger. Fear.” Then tilting her head slightly, she added, “And horny. Always that.”

“Quite a cocktail,” I murmured. Then, stewing through our conversation thus far, I had the germ of an idea. “What about this… magnification business? Like… say you were to take your feelings, enhance them somehow, and blam! I’d imagine that most things would be a bit stunned to have all of that extra emotion suddenly thrust on them. Especially that last part. That would be confusing, to say the least. Although, the results might be a little unpredictable. Might be better to pick one and go with that.”

“So…” Sitting up, she spun around to look at me. “Yer saying, the skill’d be to push a stronger version of me own emotions on something?” She frowned slightly, “Aye, that might well be useful in a fight, but I also want to use it on ye.”

“Right… uh… is pleasure an emotion?” I asked, really only talking to myself.

However, she answered anyway, “Nay. But it be a part of it. It be what ye feel when something be nice. Agreeable like. Then ye feel an emotion about that.”

I nodded along at the explanation. That all sounded reasonable. “Well… how about… instead of using your own emotions, you just magnify what they are already feeling? That way, you could touch someone in a pleasant sort of way, and when they react to it, you just reinforce the ones you want. Being an empath, I’m sure you’d be able to pick out all of that. But you’d want to be able to scale how much to do that by, of course. That way, you could do a whole lot in a fight or more subtly in social situations.”

She raised an eyebrow at me, “And ye’d be fine with me doing that to ye?”

I nodded, “Sure. As long as I knew you were doing it. And you don’t try to use it to coerce me into your bed all the time. So, I guess you would need to ask permission first.”

She smiled beautifully, leaning down to hug my knees against her cheek, “As ye wish, Master.”

Needless to say, the remaining hours were spent less than productively.

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