Unexpected Cargo Ch. 17

Broken Contract

       “Woof!” Precious replied in acknowledgement, reaching for her father.  Johnny grasped her wet scaly hand, giving it a return squeeze and a quick kiss.  Then she let go, falling away from the window, wings snapping open as she twisted in midair, letting out another frustrated screech as she left.
      “What’s the plan?” Johnny asked the rats, eager to do anything he could to help.
      “Sorry, no time to explain,” Goldie replied as she led the other two rats out of the cell.  “We will be back as soon as possible with the keys.”
      “Be careful,” Johnny cautioned as they disappeared out of sight.  Then he sat down on the cot again to wait and pray, feeling useless and helpless.
      “Did I just hear those rats talk?” the beggar asked uncertainly.
      “Yes,” Johnny replied as he massaged his aching lower back again.
      “And they said something about keys?” now he sounded hopeful.
      “Yes.”
      "Will they help me get out of here too?"
      "Sure, why not," Johnny groaned.  Another contraction was starting, he clutched his belly and rocked a bit in his distress.
      “Thanks," the beggar replied gratefully.  Then the ragged man finally took notice of Johnny's posture and labored breathing and said with genuine concern, "Hey, you don’t look so good."  
      “Uuugh, I don’t feel so good,” Johnny panted as the contraction reached a crescendo and then slowly let go.  He mentally prayed to the Goddess that his family would be able to get him out of here in time.  
      The beggar started to say something else, but Johnny noticed something odd in the quality of the air and told him to be quiet, so he could watch and listen to what was going on.  Something was wrong and becoming more wrong by the second.
      “What is that?” the beggar said nervously as he too picked up on the sense of absolute evil that seemed to have a source from the end of the hallway.  There was a doorway there leading to a stairwell, the same one the rats had gone down to steal some keys.
      “You need to hide,” Johnny said as his own instincts practically screamed at him to do just that.
      “Hide?  Where am I going to hide in here?” the beggar said with a nervous laugh.
      Johnny thought he had a point as he tried to think of a solution.  He stood up slowly and looked again at the interior of his cell.  A cot, a chamber pot, a tiny sink in the far corner, nothing he or the beggar in his own identical cell could be effectively used as camouflage.
      Suddenly, the air temperature plummeted and ice crystals rapidly formed on the metal bars.  Something huge and malevolent shot into the corridor between the cell rows, pausing there to take stock of its surroundings.
      Too terrified to turn around because he recognized the looming presence, he did the only thing he could think of, he fell to his knees and prayed for protection with his eyes closed tight.  The demon was here, the very same one that had nearly killed him and his nephew with just a look.
      The beggar screamed in abject horror and his cry was cut short with a sickening wet crunch.  Johnny covered his eyes with his hands and bowed his head, helpless to do anything, but pray for help.
      Don’t move.
      Johnny froze obediently at the words that seemed to rise almost silently from his subconscious.   Thunder cracked deafeningly and his hair stuck to his face with static electricity.    He couldn’t stop shaking; he had never been so scared in his life.  The only thing stronger than his terror was his faith in the Goddess.
      The stench of blood and fresh carrion filled his nose and mouth as the air around him became even more bitterly cold.  He could sense the demon was behind him.  It was bending down, nearly brushing its nose to the back of his neck.  It smelled him, taking in deep lungfuls of his scent, blasting him with its feted breath with each arctic exhale, working its way down his spine and pausing by his butt.  It took its time there, growling, snorting and huffing.  Then a long slimy tongue, cold as ice, flicked up into his pants leg, tasting the birth fluids that had run down his left calf.  Johnny had to fight to not to pull away in revulsion.
      “Umph,” it grunted to itself thoughtfully as it backed away, smacking its lips.  Then its presence broke apart into something less solid, like an icy wind, it rose and left through his cell window and into the night.  Johnny heard something smack the bars as it left, apparently carrying something by the sound of it.  Like maybe a short rope of some kind.
      The air around him instantly warmed, almost returning to its original temperature, which was not great, but relatively better than it had been.  Johnny continued to shake uncontrollably as he placed his hands on the frozen stone floor, daring to open his eyes and tried to remember how to breathe.  He could see his breath now that his eyes were open, puffing out of his nose and mouth as he tried to regain control and slow his racing heart.
      A low moan escaped him as another contraction rippled painfully back to front around his midsection.  It hurt so bad, the added cold from the demon still lingered in the stones, seeping into his body and making his pain even worse.
      When the contraction let go he made himself get up off of the floor and sit on the cot again.  He didn’t want to see what was left of the poor man in the opposite cell, so he refused to look.  As he sat there catching his breath, he could suddenly hear the approach of little rat feet and the familiar sound of heavy metal keys being dragged on the stone floor.
      Johnny stared out his cell door at the floor space just outside of it.  He didn’t have to wait long before the three rats came into view with a heavy key ring carried between them in their jaws.  They were making no effort to be quiet as they approached Johnny’s cell and slipped under the bars.
Gracie was serene as ever, but the other two looked terrified as they handed Johnny the heavily laden ring with its multitude of skeleton keys of varying sizes.  
      “Dead!” Goldie squeaked as soon as she let go of the key ring.  “All the guards and prisoners below are dead.  Something ate them.”
      “It was the demon the boy keeps as a slave,” Gracie said quietly.  Johnny almost didn’t hear her over the pounding of the rain on the roof.  She was shivering from being cold and wet, but strangely that was all.
      Johnny was still too overwhelmed by his last encounter with the demon to do more than register what they were reporting to him.  Well kid, he thought to his nephew as he briefly rubbed his belly and looked down at the keys, if we can get past the demon, we can get out of here without much trouble.  Just hang in there a little longer baby, please don’t try to come out just yet, it’s not safe.
      The baby kicked him as if in response and then was still again.
      “Where is the man in the other cell?” Rosie asked as she shook visibly from being cold, wet and scared.  “I can’t even smell him.”
      Johnny blinked in surprise and suddenly realized that he too couldn’t smell a ripped up corpse.  There wasn’t a trace of blood or fecal matter in the air and now that he was thinking about it, that was rather odd.  When he nerved himself to look at the cell opposite his, he could see nothing there at all as a flash of lightening briefly illuminated it.  Not so much as a smear of blood or shred of clothing remained.
      “Never mind that,” Goldie said, sounding shrill as she shook from head to foot with fear and cold.  “Jonathan, hurry up and find the key.  Let’s get out of here.”
      “No,” Gracie said as she turned to stare down the corridor.  “We must all stay here, just for a little longer.”
      Infuriated, Goldie started squeaking at her in rat language.  Johnny didn't know enough rat to really make it out.  What little he did understand wasn't kind.  
      “Stop being mean to her!” Rosie snapped and bared her teeth at Goldie.
“Enough all of you,” Johnny said to them as he carefully stood, making sure he had his balance with the aid of the wall behind his cot and stepped over the rats to the door with keys in hand.  “Have you heard from Aiko and Precious?  Do you know if they are okay?”
      “No,” Goldie replied worriedly.   "They should be waiting for us outside.  We can't teleport to go check on them..."
      “Then we better hurry and find out,” Johnny selected a likely key and started to reach through the bars to fit it into the keyhole.  He paused when he heard two familiar sets of foot falls and two more sets of unfamiliar ones.  Three sounded as if they were made by humans, the fourth set was made by someone sharp clawed and four footed.
      As they approached the air temperature began to drop again and a thin coating of frost reappeared on the cell bars.
      “Don’t be afraid,” Gracie said quietly as she gazed in the direction of the approaching group through the cell door.
      Confused by her apparent lack of fear, Johnny glanced at the white rat then returned his gaze back to the dim corridor as he hid the keys under a fold of his cloak as a precaution.  As for himself, he was scared stiff and ready to snap his eyes closed if necessary.  He would never look the demon in the eyes again if he could avoid it.  The only thing stopping him from not falling to his knees again was the familiar foot falls that had to be Precious and Aiko.  He had to see if they were alright, he just had too.
      “Precious?  Aiko?” he called to them.  “Are you okay?”
      “Oh, they are just fine,” said a familiar voice as the small party came into view.  Johnny saw the Black Witch looking the worse for wear after months of unemployment.
      In a flash of lightening and a crack of thunder, Johnny saw to his horror that Aiko was being held captive by the demon.  This time it had taken the form of a semi visible humanoid thing made of air and shadows, one hand had hold of Aiko’s arm up behind her back and its other hand around her mouth.  She was soaked to the skin from the rain outside where her cloak had come open and her hood had fallen back and shivering with the cold the demon was radiating.  Her dark almond eyes were nearly round, looking as if she were trying hard not to scream.  
      His Little Girl on the other hand, was standing next to the boy placidly with what at first appeared to be a short rope tied around her neck as a kind of makeshift leash.   She stared dreamily at nothing with her head and wings half hanging as water and frost plastered her feather mane to her neck and dripped off her to make a thin slush puddle on the floor.
      Then with another flash of lightening, he saw that it wasn’t a rope, but his own severed braid.  The evil sadistic brat was using it as a binding spell!
      “Let them go,” Johnny demanded angrily.
      “Oh I intend to do just that,” the boy smiled.  The smile didn’t reach his eyes however, they were as dead and emotionless as ever.  “My name is Jacob by the way.  We never got the chance to be formally introduced.  And you are Jonathan Taylor Smith, also known as Desert Rat.  Well, well, well.  You are a slippery one, even my demon couldn’t find you until today.  You had so many protection spells wrapped around you I think even the Goddess herself would've had a hard time locating you.  That rumor of you hiding in the desert had me searching for you in all the wrong places.  Then my demon finally managed to catch a whiff of you this afternoon and I had it carry me here – “
      “What do you want?” Johnny snapped, interrupting the boy and noticing that he was the only dry person in the corridor.  He guessed the boy had used a spell to keep himself dry.
      Looking vaguely annoyed at the interruption, Jacob answered him, “I have come to help you free of charge.  By the looks of it, you really could use my help.”
      “Why?” Johnny asked warily.  “And why would I trust you?  Especially when you have Aiko and my daughter held captive?”
      “Because even though Richard broke our five year contract, I am still bound by it,” Jacob said with the first sign of real emotion.  He looked furious and glared at Johnny, “I can’t blame you for what happened when we first met.  My demon saw an opportunity to make trouble and did as its nature dictated.  And yes, I know now it was you.  My demon managed to momentarily break through your protections that day and it eventually told me.  It also told me that you are pregnant and Richard had been right.  Elena really is too smart to do something obvious as use a maternity transfer spell on one of her handmaidens.
       “When we made the contract of employment, the nature of my magic binds me to it word for word, vengeance is a necessary part of a binding contract if it's broken.  Richard was shrewd enough to realize that he could negotiate the nature of the retaliation should he not hold up his end of the bargain.  At first I wasn’t going to agree to his terms that I shall do no harm to himself, his property, his family, his servants, their property or their families.  Then I saw a loop hole that he hadn’t foreseen and agreed to the terms.
      “The finished contract left me the option of aiding someone that he didn’t want me to help.  He also didn't define exactly who he considered family.  After all, families can be formed without any blood ties.  Elena would have been my first choice, but that would mean helping the war effort, which would lead to a direct violation of the contract.  Then there is her baby, the true heir to the throne and Richard wants him dead and he will kill you to accomplish that.  As far as I can tell, all you want to do is run cargo and keep a low profile; so obviously, you are not planning to harm His Majesty.  Actually, I was nearly ready to give up looking for you and find some other way to exact my revenge, when you lost all of your protection spells today.
      “You know, I met Aiko outside the entrance of this prison and even before I could explain myself, she drew a knife and tried to slit my throat.  Lucky for me, my demon came just in time to put her in a temporary enchanted sleep.  Next thing I know, this horrible beast comes out of nowhere and tries to kill me too.  My demon helped to catch and bind her, using your love and your hair, since it knew I didn't want to hurt her.  Really I did try to talk to them; they are the ones who struck first.  I am not sure who was the most fearsome, your lady or your dragon.”
      “You sick monster!” Johnny snarled.  “Using my love and twisting it like that!  Remove that spell!  Let them both go!”
      “I said I would do just that,” Jacob said coldly.  “But you must convince them not to attack me again.”
      “Fine,” Johnny growled after a moment’s thought.  He could see no way out of this if they didn't cooperate. “Aiko, think we can call a truce?”
      Aiko nodded at once in agreement from behind the demon's restraining hand over her mouth. By now she was shivering so hard her teeth were starting to rattle.  Ice crystals were forming in her wet hair, turning it white as if she were doing some rapid aging before their eyes.
      “Let her go,” Jacob commanded the demon.  It did as ordered, backing away and losing its form, becoming a sort of dark cloud up by the ceiling.
      “Precious,” Johnny called to the dragon.  “Baby, can you hear me?”
      “She can’t hear you,” Jacob replied.  “I will keep her bound until I can get you all back to your ships.  I promise I will release her then and part company with you.  You will never see me again.”
      “That may happen sooner than you think,” squeaked Gracie.  Unnoticed by anyone, she had been slowly walking up to the boy while listening intently to him speak.
      The boy jumped and stared down at her in surprise.  “It talks!”
      The demon laughed at the boy, saying in a taunting voice, “Of course she talks, all desert rats can talk.  Elena has been using them as spies.  They have been messing up your spells and potions when you weren’t looking.”
      Johnny was rather taken aback when the demon decided to speak.  Its speaking voice, unlike its mental voice, was actually rich and pleasant to listen to.
      “G-Gracie get back,” Aiko warned through chattering teeth as she tried to place herself between Gracie and the Black Witch.  The demon growled a warning and she froze, knowing she was helpless against it.
      Gracie ignored her friend and said to the boy instead, “Last warning Jacob.  Seek the light, ask for salvation, give back the demon to the Goddess as you were shown how to do.”
      “Never!” Jacob snarled as he stepped back in fright.  “That bitch never did anything for me!  She let my parents abandon me!  She let my master die in a pool of his own vomit because he drank himself to death.  The only thing he left me with was this stupid demon and only one book with any decent spells in it.  So she says she loves me!  With love like that I don’t need her, I can take care of myself!!!”
      He was screaming at the rat by the time he finished answering her, shaking with rage and with more than a little fear.  He was acting as if this wasn’t the first time he encountered a messenger of the Goddess.
      Gracie remained ever serene, staring sadly at the boy.  Johnny noticed that he had no trouble at all seeing her in the dim and uncertain light.  At first he thought she had acquired an inner light, but that wasn’t quite right.  Then he got the impression that she had somehow become more real and that was the reason she stood out so clearly.
      In a blur of motion almost too fast to see, Gracie leapt at Jacob’s throat, bit down on the gold chain around his neck that held the perfume bottle, snapping it with her sharp teeth.
      Jacob cried out as he swatted her aside.  Gracie hit the wall with a pained squeal and the vial cracked as it too smacked hard against the concrete wall.
      “Free!” roared the demon gleefully as it grew and began to take shape.  “I'm going to eat you all before I go home!”
      Multiple blinding flashes of lightening lit everything up, with the biggest crack of thunder Johnny had ever heard.  He just barely caught sight of Gracie trying to say something to the demon as she lay there on the floor.
      The demon apparently had no trouble hearing what she had to say, in spite of the thunder.
      “No!” it screamed.  “I will not be denied!  Mother, please!  Just this once!”
      “In Her true name and yours I command you to take your due and go home!” Gracie shouted as her legs worked feebly in a vain effort to stand up.
       “You used a rat!  A filthy rat to order me!” whined the demon at the Goddess.  “I deserve better!”
      Gracie just lay still and unmoving, no longer the extra real creature she had been a moment ago, making her into a white blur in the shadows again.
      Then with a resigned sigh the demon’s flaming eyes focused on the boy and narrowed.
      “N-n-no,” Jacob cried as he backed up a step, eyes wide with horror.  The demon followed him and the boy tried to run.
      Look away.
      Instantly everyone shut their eyes, even Precious now that the boy wasn’t holding her charmed lead.  She was just awake enough to understand the Goddess’s warning.
The boy didn’t even scream, there was just a sickening wet crack of bones, a great icy howl of wind, then an anticlimactic pop as the demon disappeared.