— Chapter6 Beck and Call
Tom found himself beside a raging bonfire, the wicker effigy of a giant humanoid creature crackled and burned. Tom noticed that it bore two large horns that stretched up into the night sky. “I’m in Hinba’s dream?” The realization hit him quickly as he whirled himself around. “Hinba!” he yelled, no longer needing to be quiet. There wasn’t time to doyle about. They needed to escape.
Tom started to run around the perimeter of the massive fire. Thankfully it didn’t take him long to spot the towering red figure standing still a small ways behind the inferno. She was facing away as Tom approached. He called up to her to try to get her attention. “Hinba. Come on, we have to go. You can enjoy Burning Man later.”
Tom’s blood ran cold as she turned around, as “it” turned around, as “they” turned around. There wasn’t just one Hinba. There were several moving in unison and occupying the same space. Their faces morphing in and out of one another to create a nightmarish visage of Hinba’s face passing through a kaleidoscope.
It was too late to run as Tom found himself already standing on her open palm, high above to earth. This was it. This was his chance to get her to wake up and get them off the fucking mountain. “Hinba. This is a dream, and you need to wake up.” Tom wished he could have said more before a cacophony of voices shouted at him.
“Lies!”
“He’s lying.”
“What is he doing here?”
“That isn’t my Tom.”
“What is he trying to say?”
“This isn’t a dream.”
“That isn’t our Tom.”
“Follow him!”
“I need to find Tom!”
All the voices seemed to hit him at once. He was having trouble parsing out any real language from all the static. The sound was more akin to a lion's roar than actual speech. “We are both in danger! If you don’t wake up, then that other Oni is going to come back and fucking murder both of us! You need to snap out of this!” Her faces seemed to strain in all directions at once as if they were trying to pull themselves apart from one another.
“Not Tom!”
“Prove it!”
“It’s a trick!”
“Tom wouldn’t lie to me!”
“Find the real Tom!”
“Prove it!”
“Kill him! Stop the lies”
“It’s all a lie!”
“Sniff him out!”
“PROVE IT!”
He heard enough to make it count. “You want me to prove it? To prove this is a dream?”
“Prove you’re Tom!” The voices screeched in unison.
Tom couldn’t help but cover his ears at the noise. This was not a version of Hinba that he was used to and not one he would even like to see again if they lived through this. “This is a dream and I’ll prove it! Go ahead and eat me!”
“What?”
“It’s a trick!”
Tom continued, “Do it! I know it's a dream, so nothing you do to me here will actually kill me.”
“He’s lying!”
“That’s not my Tom”
This wasn’t working. “Fucking do it, Hinba!” he screamed at the top of his lungs in an attempt to cut through the dense psychosis of personalities.
“That’s what he wants!”
“It’s a trick!”
“He’s trying to escape!”
“That’s a lie!”
“He wants to die!”
“He wants to be rid of us.”
“The real Tom would want to live!”
“He wants to be rid of ME!”
“The real Tom wouldn’t give up!”
“Fucking eat him!”
“Don’t let him escape!”
“Don’t give him what he wants!”
“Kill!”
“RIp him apart!”
Tom watched in utter horror as all the faces passed in and out and through one another. He clawed at his ears as they began to sting from the verbal assault. Some of the faces were even completely upside down as they betrayed all semblance of reality. There was one face that blipped in and out of focus.
“This is what he always wanted!”
“He doesn’t want to be with us any more!”
“Don’t let him go!”
“Don’t let him leave!”
“Feed!”
There was one face that didn't have a panicked expression. One face that seemed strangely calm in the midst of all the chaos.
“The real Tom wouldn’t give up!”
“It’s a trick!”
“Not Tom!”
“Where is the real Tom?”
The more he focused on the one calm face, the more frequently it seemed to appear. He willed himself to quiet the other voices ringing in his bleeding ears and just train his mind on the small bit of Hinba that wasn’t experiencing utter turmoil.
“THAT’S NOT ….”
Silence greeted him. He was staring face to face with a singular Hinba, a cold Hinba. Her expression looked as though she didn’t care what happened to him. While the giantess that he had come to know wasn’t exactly the fountain of empathy, her expression in this moment made him feel as though he were nothing more than an inconsequential speck. He gulped. He knew that he needed to shock her awake and he had an idea of how to go about doing that. “Hinba. Bring me closer.” His voice was calm and focused.
Her hand brought him within meters of her face. There were small hints of contortion on her face. The prior chaos tried to regain disorder once again, but Tom didn’t let it. He focused on the quiet. There was a cold fury beneath the surface. He focused on the cold and indifferent version of Hinba… And he spat at her face.
There was a moment when he swore he started to hear his heartbeat. Hell there was a moment he could hear her heartbeat, specifically when it started to drum in her chest. Her face contorted into a blind rage. “IT’S A DREAM.” he screamed as her fingers curled up and around him.
There was no mental filter in place to modulate his pain. There was not a modicum of belevilounce from Hinba and he felt his bones crack and splinter at the core of her closing fist. The only positive thing about experiencing his own death was that it was quick as his screams were cut short when his knee passed through his windpipe.
—
Hinba shot upright, the motion caused Tom to fly off of her forehead. In one fluid motion she snatched him out of the sky. “Gotcha.” she sneered, and brought him to her face, “What was that?”
Tom didn’t allow himself time to recover. “No time to explain. Hinba we need to leave right now.”
“Tom, what-”
“Run! Now Hinba!”
She didn’t need any more encouragement. Tom felt her grip tighten around him as she got to her feet. He was having trouble even focusing his eyes on what was happening as Hinba darted towards the winding pathway that led down the mountainside. She’s not slowing down, Tom thought as blind terror started to claw it’s way though his broken mind. He tried to yell through the thunderous drum of her feet cratering the ground. “What are-”
The noise seemed to disappear for a moment then replaced with the sound of rushing wind. Tom watched the zigzagging pathway pass under them and quickly shrunk behind them. There was nothing left to do but scream. He was flying through the air in the balled fist of a giant that just lept off the side of a fucking mountain.
The ground rose up to meet them as Hinba tucked her cargo close to her chest. As soon as her feet made contact, she shifted her weight forward and rolled with the momentum. If Tom had anything left in his stomach, he would have most definitely been reintroduced. Hinba repositioned her feet under her as she continued to slide down the steep incline.
As soon as they made it to level ground, Tom was sure that she would slow down but that never happened. She continued to pump her un occupied arm as she barreled through the dense trees and full speed. Tom could tell she was doing her best to keep him from shaking too much, but the sheer force of her movement forward was leaving him nearly breathless. It didn’t take long for him to pass out.
—-
Hinba was not a marathon runner. She was a sprinter at the best of times. Her breath was harsh and her lungs burned. They were almost to the desert. As soon as they passed the threshold she turned onto her back as she fell. There was a cloud of sand that kicked up as she hit the floor of the valley.
She dropped Tom on her chest as she struggled to catch her breath. “When did you come too?”
Tom shook his head, “I’ve been drifting in and out the whole way.” he couldn’t seem to find his breath either. “Did you really just run the whole way? That had to be five hundred miles at least.”
“Yeah… I mean I ran the whole way. I have no idea how far it was.” her arms spread wide into the sand. “I think we got away.”
Tom tried to stand upright, but Hinda’s heavy breathing prevented him from finding his balance. He could only manage to meet her eyes right as she looked down at him. There was a moment of silence before they both began to laugh. “I think we gave her the slip, alright.”
“Tom? What happened?” Her breathing was still heavy but at least she was able to get her words out without pausing to gulp down air.
Tom tried to pull himself out of a daze. “The other Oni did the whole ‘go to sleep’ spell on you.”
A smirk appeared on Hinba’s face but she didn’t move. “I mean after that, I only remember waking up and it was just you and I there. How’d you convince her to let you go?”
“I didn’t. She told me to wait there with you while she left to grab something.” It didn’t feel like a win. Sure they made it out with their lives but he couldn’t shake the feeling that he was merely ‘allowed’ to live. “She had her foot on your throat and…”
When Tom didn’t finish the thought, she finished it for him. “You what? Asked her to stop?”
He didn’t want to remember, but just started to nod.
“Tom.” He knew that voice. “Did you hesitate?”
His blood ran bold as he heard her question. “I don’t know-“
She cut him off. “Did you hesitate to save me?”
He immediately felt her presence in his mind. She wasn’t going to let him lie. His chest started to burn as the residual trauma of the whole ordeal shot through him. “Please Hinba, don’t make me answer that…”
“That’s a yes!” She chuckled softly. “I still want to hear you say it.”
He heard the echo of his bones cracking and resigned himself to whatever cruel fate would await him. “Yes, Hinba. I hesitated. Please…. Don’t be angry. It all happened so fast I wasn’t-“
“You’re fine, Tom. Really.” She pressed her chin down into her collar bone so she could look him in his eyes. “I’m not mad at you.” Tom could only manage a nod. “Then what happened.”
“She just left me with you, saying I need to say my ‘goodbyes’ or something. You were out cold.” Hinba lay her head back down, and Tom knew that was his cue to keep going. “I was somehow able to get into your dream. The only thing I could think to do at that point was convince you that you were unconscious.”
“Well it worked.” She said as she was finally able to start breathing normally again.
“Yeah…” Tom desperately wanted to go home, and sleep in his own bed.
“What’s wrong?” Tom didn’t answer, but soon found the ground moving as Hinba sat upright. “Tom, how were you able to convince me it was a dream?”
He wasn’t sure how to answer but he made an attempt. “I spat on your face and…” Hinba’s eyes went wide, “and you crushed me in you hand, and I guess-“
“Oh no…” her other hand covered her mouth. “Tom, are you ok?”
The sudden shift in her demeanor left Tom in a state of whiplash. “It was just in a dream, so I’m not-“
“Did I hurt you?”
Tom tried to lie, “It happened so quick…”
“I’m sorry. Tom, I need you to know that I’m sorry and… I know I’m a monster in a lot of ways but I really do not like to cause physical pain.” Their eyes met and for a long moment Tom couldn’t look away.
“But you…”
“I need humans to survive, but I always go out of my way to make it as… humane as possible…. Just tell me how I can make it up to you.”
Tom needed a moment to collect himself before he blurted out, “Freedom?”
“That’s not happening.” She said with a chuckle. “You’re still mine.” He wasn’t sure if he had said the word out loud or if she just heard his thoughts. “How about we just rest for a bit and you think about it? Sounds good?”
“Please no more dreams… I think I’ve had my fill for a bit.”
Hinba adjusted herself back into a reclining position. “No dreams? Of course, I can manage that.” Neither of them said anything else as she laid him down in the center of her collarbone. He didn’t need any convincing to take a short nap in the afternoon sun. They both had a very eventful day and a short break from the chaos was most welcome. Neither of them took very long to drift off.
—-
“Where are you!” It was hard to see through the dense snow fall. “Hello?” He kept trudging down the city street fighting against the torrent of wind that threatened to lift him up and away. The bitter cold bore into his exposed face. He heard a female's voice coming from inside a small diner tucked in the side of a much larger building. “Can you hear me?” He called again.
The building did little to stop the wind, or even slow it down. Broken glass and snow covered the floor as Tom carefully navigated a shattered window to gain entry. It was dark inside, as all the lights were blown out but at least there was some respite from the gale. “Is anyone here? Please I need to find…” he turned and saw Hinba. Still sporting her red skin and horns but approximately his height.
“Who are you looking for?” She asked.
“Who…” she nodded again. “Who am I looking for?”
“Tom. Are you ok?”
“This is a dream?” He pointed a finger at Hinba. “You said ‘no dreams.’”
She nodded and took a step forward. Tom flinched at the motion and took a step back. Then they both froze in place, Hinba not wanting to advance and Tom not wanting to retreat. “I meant what I said… but you seemed to be having a nightmare, you were moving so much that you almost fell off me in your sleep.” She shrugged. “I wanted to check on you.”
Tom motioned to the frozen hellscape, “Why are you doing this to me? Haven’t you done enough?!”
Hinba raised both of her arms. “This isn’t me, Tom. This is all you…” she her palms in a placating motion. “I’m going to come near you, and you are going to stay still. Understand?” Tom didn’t respond and Hinba didn’t wait for one. She slowly started to make her way forward. “Just stay calm, and we’ll figure this out.” Her words made him feel more like she was talking to a wild animal than a person. He watched her every movement, the way her bare feet passed through the snow and broken glass, her arms forward while her fingers seemed to be reaching for him, her eyes were wide but her face was trying to be a calming presence.
The wind outside started to howl as it snaked its way through the tall building. The deafening noise pulled both of their attention away. “Tom, don’t worry about that. It’s not real.”
“It’s not real.” he repeated as their eyes met again. “It’s not real.”
She was less and an arms length away. Hinba reached her arm out to touch Tom’s shoulder. “See? Nothing bad is going to-”
As soon as she made contact with his shoulder, she heard a sickening crunch. It made a similar noise of a dead tree branch being snapped underfoot but it was significantly louder and rang out from all directions. “What was-”
Her question was cut off when Tom dropped to his knees and began to scream as he clawed for his ears. She immediately got down to his level, trying to soothe the panic away. “Tom, what’s wrong? What was that?” The only response Tom was able to muster was another shrill scream.
Hinba let out a long sigh. This wasn’t working. She stood upright and regarded Tom one more time. He was still clawing at his ears. She quickly snapped her fingers and then everything went quiet. Hinba, Tom, and the rest of the dream disappeared.
—-
Hinba awoke to the starry night sky. She got to her feet but was careful not to disturb Tom who was still asleep. His turbulent nightmares quieted for the moment. “I really hope I didn't break you.” She mused to herself as she started walking to the center of the desert.
“Who broke what now?” came Tom’s groggy voice.
Her eyes went wide for a moment. “I thought you were still asleep. I, uh, didn’t mean to wake you.”
“I’m actually a really light sleeper when I'm not forced under.”
He was supposed to be her pet, but for some reason she was genuinely hurt by his comment. “At least you know it wasn’t me.” They made eye contact for a moment before Hinba rolled her eyes. “This time! You know it wasn’t me this time.”
“I know… it’s just been a rough few days.” Tom’s gaze drifted to the cloudless night sky.
“Are you mad at me?”
“Like I said, it’s been a rough few days.” He clenched his eyes shut.
Hinba just sighed. “Yeah… is our deal still on? Whatever happened back there… I didn’t-”
“Hinba, I know you were lying about the berries.”
That stopped her dead in her tracks. For a moment, she debated if she should try and extend the con. “When did you find out?”
“Honestly, I wanna say I never believed you but that might be giving myself too much credit…”
They walked in silence for a few long minutes. Their path illuminated by the twinkling star light. “For what it’s worth, I really wanted you to feel safe with me. Not… well.” she was tripping over her words. “I don’t know, Tom.”
Tom nodded his head, “Stop. You don’t need to say anything. Look, even though I knew you were lying through your teeth, I know what you were trying to do.” He hated what he was saying. “I know you’re not going to deliberately hurt me.”
She set him down on the ground as they approached the oasis. “-or kill you? Right?”
Tom shook his head. “Not any time soon, I guess.” He watched as Hinba started to strip out of her clothes. “I know I’m still going to end up there at some point.” he said while staring at her abdomen. Their eyes met and Tom immediately regretted his words. He started to take off his clothes to try and shift her attention.
“That doesn’t need to be anytime soon.” she watched him disrobe. “Would you like to join me?”
Tom could feel the dirt and grime from the past few days clinging to his skin. He dropped his pants and moved to Hinba who already had her feet in the water. After she picked him up she moved into the center of the pool and floated on her back. She placed Tom on her stomach. The water lapped up enough for Tom slash handfuls all over his body. He did his best trying to scrub away the memories of the past few days. The bracing cold wasn’t helping.
“Would it really be so bad? You know, after we find the missing people?”
He wasn’t sure what she was talking about but he could take a guess. “I’m not food…”
She stifled a laugh so Tom wouldn’t be thrown into the water. “That’s not what I was asking, and yes you are. I was thinking about you staying with me long term.”
His brow furrowed. “Wasn’t that your plan already?”
“Yes but I’m asking you.” She moved her hands to either side of Tom to protect him slightly from the cold night air. “What do you think of it?”
He was either too tired to recognize a trap or he just didn’t care. “I have a life back home! I have a career and-“
“Name the last time you went out drinking with a friend. Hell, you don’t even have a pet!”
Tom threw his hand up, “Jee! I wonder what ruined the idea of owning a pet for me!”
Hinba started to laugh once again at his outburst. This time she made no attempt to hold back as Tom stumbled into her hand. He held on through the quaking before it eventually died down. “How about this? What if we could both get what we want?” She nudged him closer. “Imagine a situation where you get to keep your career and I get to keep my pet.”
“I don’t think that would work out…”
“And why the hell not?” Tom hoped she was only pretending to be hurt.
“Well there’s one reason but I-“ he was cut off by a low grumble emanating from below his feet. “There are two reasons.”
“That daring escape really took a lot out of me. Now what’s the other reason?”
Tom shook his head, “I’ll tell you later.” As soon as the words left his mouth, he felt Hinba worm her way into his mind. “Please Hinba, trust me. I will tell you later.”
She pursed her lips at him, “Why can’t you tell me now?”
“Because I’m still putting all the pieces together. I need to get back to the human world to check something.”
“That’s fine with me.” She chirped.
His eyes narrowed, “That was easy.”
“Did you expect me to need some more convincing?” Her lips curled into a mischievous smile.
“No, well yes. Anyway…” he tried to get back on track but there was a twinge of fear for whatever she might be planning. “I need to make one more quick stop before we head back.”
“Hmm?” She started to drip water onto her forehead while she listened.
“I’m going to pay our friend a visit one more time.”
She stopped what she was doing and looked at him for a moment. “The naga?” He nodded. “I’m going with you.”
“No, I need to go alone and… I need you to not intervene. No matter what.”
“Out of the question.” She said curtly.
“Just trust me on this, please?” He started to walk towards her between the canyon of her chest.
“That’s a dangerous spot to talk about trust.” She moved her arms together causing her breast to softly engulf the tiny human. There were several muffled cries that rang out from her chest. Nothing that made her believe Tom completely hated the experience, but she still couldn’t make out what he tried to say. “Come again.” she said as she released him.
“Is that a yes?’ Tom managed as he fell to his hands and knees.
“I guess… just please be safe.”
“Yeah you bet…” he was still in the process of catching his breath.
“Now that you’re all clean, I gotta get myself clean as well!” She announced.
“Alright, can you just drop me off at the shore?”
Hinba turned to the nearby shoreline. It was definitely too far for Tom to swim but was probably about two or three arms lengths for her. She could drop Tom off with relative ease, but she had a better idea. “But it’s sooo far away.” She drawled.
“Maybe for me, what are you-“
Tom was unceremoniously plucked up and dangled over Hinba’s face. “I’ll just be a second.” She said before dropping him into her mouth. The transition from the cold night air to the heat radiating from her tongue was enough to make him dizzy.
He grumbled for a moment as he could feel Hinba changing her position. She’s really going to clean herself with me in here… He could feel his feet dangling over the back of her throat. It could be worse. It could be worse. It could be worse. Tom repeated the thought over and over again for the duration of their “bath.”
—-
Hinba enjoyed every minute of their dip from that moment onward. She made it a point to stay under the water's surface as much as possible with her “passenger.” Mostly, this was to ensure that his taste coated every corner of her mouth, but she also loved the idea that Tom was completely at her mercy. The small pool of water wasn’t all that deep to her, but for Tom, it could have been the bottom of the ocean.
Eventually, her fun needed to come to an end. She released Tom, who required a second bath. At first he was actually unwilling to wash off again. He saw it as an invitation for another trip into her mouth, but he was easily persuaded otherwise with logic and reason.
“I should have seen that coming.” he grumbled as he wiped the thick globs of spit from his face as he walked back into the water to rinse off yet again. Her aim at this distance was annoyingly precise.
“You should have listened the first time.” She called back as she wiped the remaining water off of her skin. Towels were an absolute luxury of the human world. She waited to get dressed until Tom was ready. The cold water mixed with the chilly night breeze was bearable for her, but she was used to it. She never had a problem keeping herself warm. Tom, on the other hand, needed more help, especially with winter right around the corner. Tom moved a little bit faster when he saw that she was waiting on him.
Neither of them were in any real rush to get moving again. They were both still tired from the events of the prior day and feeling very groggy from their jumbled sleep schedules. Tom slipped into his worn clothes and hinba followed suit. Once they were both dressed, Hinba placed Tom on her shoulder. Walking with the light of stars was easy enough on the relatively even surface of the desert sands, but she had no desire to navigate the eastern woods without daylight. The main reason she wanted to get to the edge of the desert was simply to get out of the harsh wind while they waited for morning. “-good a spot as any.” she stated before sitting down. They both were unable to fall back asleep but enjoyed the simple act of watching the night sky in silence as the stars slowly turned overhead.
—
It was a stupid idea. This had to be the single worst idea he ever had. “God damnit.” Tom mumbled to himself. There was a very high likelihood that the naga he was going to meet wouldn’t be happy to see him. He had already been walking for over an hour and the forest gave him no hint of how much further he needed to go. There were no signs of the struggle that occured the last time Tom was on this side of the desert but he did notice the blind spots. The small spaces missing from his conscious perception. He would never have noticed if he didn’t spend five years training to use an amber stone to block Hinba’s perception. Notice the gaps, he told himself.
Tom stopped. This was it. This was as far as he went. The forest looked the same if he only took into account the things he saw but there were areas he couldn’t see. He never really noticed a huge amount of wildlife but the sound of nearby birds was suspiciously nonexistent. Try as he might, he couldn’t even spot a single insect on the ground. “It doesn’t even smell like anything.” He said to no one.
Tom let out a pained sigh as he lowered himself to his knees. “Easy does it,” he reached into his pocket and clutched a small silver locket. There was no stimulus around him, even the warmth of the sun seemed to dissipate without cause or reason. “Please, just hear me out…” he said in a low, even tone.
In an instant, he felt something being shoved into his mouth. The intrusion was so quick and without provocation that Tom was completely caught by surprise. The taste was foul and bitter and he immediately wanted to expel the gross substance.
There she was. The naga loomed over him, wiping her fingers off on her hip. “Apologies for that. You’ll have to forgive me for taking some extra precautions after our last visit.”
Tom caught a gag. “No worries, but could you-“
“It’s sap. It doesn’t last as long as a stone, but I needed you to be cut off from your owner.” She examined her fingers. They were still damp but she got most of the sap into the human’s mouth. “That should get us at least a few hours.”
He pushed his nerves down with gulp as he shifted uncomfortably on his knees. Her words sent a shiver up his spine. “Ok, look, I never got an opportunity to apologize for the mix up earlier. That was-“
She cut him off, “You never got to apologize? Well I never got to thank you.”
Tom really didn’t like the look on her face. He watched as she approached, her snake half slithered up to him with an inhuman smoothness. At her full height she was well over ten feet but Tom couldn’t even start to estimate her total length to include her snake half.
“Stand up, human.” Her red hair billowed in the wind, the forest finally deciding to make its presence known again.
He wasn’t keenly willing to follow her demands but preferred to keep that a secret for the time being, rising to his feet as slowly as possible. If dealing with with Hinba required kid gloves, dealing with this naga was like disarming a ticking time bomb. With no training. his mind added. “While I made Hinba promise not to interfere, she still expects me back at some point… preferably in one piece, I’d wager.”
The naga lowered herself until they were relatively eye to eye. Her hand came up to rest on Tom’s chest. For a moment he wasn’t sure how to interpret the gesture. A forceful shove threatened to lay him out but he managed to keep his feet under himself as he stumbled backward. “What are you-” Was all he managed to say before another quick shove landed on his shoulder. It all happened so quickly that he couldn't fully process the blur of movement.
Every floundering step backward was doubling as an effort to put distance between him and the naga. She closed the distance every single time.
Tom slammed his back into a tree. Before he could steady himself, he felt the smooth scales wrap around his midsection. “Shhh, that’s enough.” She pinned his arms by his sides as her tail continued to coil around Tom and the tree until just his head was visible. “There we go. Comfortable?”
“No.” He gasped for air in his compacted lungs.
“How about now?”
Her coils loosened slightly, Tom was finally able to breathe normally but was still struggling to move a single muscle below his neck. He managed a nod.
“Perfect.” The tip of her tail moved under his chin and pushed his face to the left. She regarded him for a moment before doing the same on his other cheek. A worried look appeared on his face as he was being studied. “Oh relax, I assumed you’d be used to this by now. Tell me, how is your life as a pet to a demon going? Is it everything you hoped it would be?”
Tom winced as the coils tighten again, seemingly unable to decide if they intended to break bones. “Peachy,” came his laconic response. “She’s expecting me back.”
“You already said that. Like I said, I just wanted to say thank you for saving my life from your owner… even though you’re the one who put me in that situation by seeking me out to begin with.” She released Tom completely, allowing him to slump to the ground. “This forest is not a kind place. Many have met their end for less so consider us even. Ask your question. I know you didn’t come here without a reason.”
Tom got to his feet. “I have several, but could I start with your name?”
“I’m called Zmera. Ask your next question.” She wasn’t wasting time with pleasantries.
“Tom, charmed.” He reached out a hand but the naga made no attempt at a hand shake. For a moment Tom wondered if she was familiar with the gesture.
“If it’s all the same to you, calling you “human” suits me just fine. What else?”
“Ok…” Tom pulled the small necklace out of his front pocket and held it out. “Do you know who this belonged to?”
Zmera’s eyes went wide as she saw the small locket dangling from a silver chain. “Where did you get that?”
“I found it on the corpse of a naga at the epicenter of the village abduction. Since I haven’t met many other nagas, I thought you might have known each other. I’m sorry for your loss.”
She balled her fist but remained still. “Give it to me now, human. Don’t make me take-”
“It’s yours,” Tom tossed the locket to Zmera before could finish her threat. She caught it with a smooth motion. “I’ll also see to it that she gets a proper burial.” They were both silent for a moment. “I need another stone.”
The naga looked up from her cupped hands. “What are you planning?”
Tom shook his head, “I don’t know yet, but I think the missing people are somehow trapped in the worldstone. I figure if I can somehow weaken the worldstone’s magic, that I could somehow free the folks trapped inside.”
“And what do you plan to do?”.
“Ah, well, erm…I ” Tom picked his next words very carefully, not entirely sure of his plan himself. It was a price he had to pay to keep secrets from Hinba. “I’m going to break it in front of the worldstone. I’m also going to have to convince Hinba to release her charm as well but…” That wasn’t going to be easy. “If it took these two schools of magic to trap them in the worldstone, then it’s worth a shot to try and free them by nullifying the effects of those magics next to the worldstone.”
She nodded before chiming in. “Make sure you are on either side. Hinba will need to release your charm on this side while you remain in the human world.”
“Why’s that?”
The naga reached into her wool satchel and pulled out a glowing yellow stone. “What you're suggesting will not just weaken the worldstone… it could potentially kill it, severing the link between our worlds.”
Tom reached out to accept the stone, transfixed by twinkling beauty. “It looks different then the last one.”
She plopped the stone in his hand. “That’s because it is. Now listen carefully, you need to know how it works.”