And Eternity (6 page)

She turned to face the tri-bucks. “Now charge me, dogmeat!” she cried. “You’ll get roots up your nose!”

Jolie, breathless from running, was unable to speak. She was amazed at the strength Orlene had shown in ripping out the tree, and at the sheer aggression she was showing. But there were too many of the odd creatures to fight!

The first creature charged. True to her word, Orlene countered it with the rooty end of her pole. The front pair of horns rammed into the roots and shoved the pole back. Orlene, at the other end, was pushed down the path, cursing. The creature tossed its head, throwing the staff clear, and resumed its advance, the others close behind.

“The wand!” Jolie gasped.

Orlene’s lip curled into a snarl, echoed in her throat, but she did bring out the wand. She evidently wanted to fight, but appreciated the odds against victory, so gave way grudgingly. That was, of course, the man’s way.

The cloud appeared. In due course they were back inside the mountain, on the descending slope.

Jolie didn’t want to look, but had to. Her fear was confirmed: Orlene was another stage more masculine than before, being larger, hairier, and now proportioned like a man. The exposed bra hung pointlessly; there was muscle rather than mammary flesh there now. Was her genital anatomy changing similarly? Jolie was sickly certain that it was.

“Well, come on, cutie, we’re almost there,” Orlene barked. She forged on down.

Cutie? Jolie liked this least of all. What was Nox trying to do here? What was the point in turning a nice young woman into a brutish man? Was it a joke? It certainly wasn’t funny!

Near the bottom of the pit they encountered another hazard. It was cold here, the heat of the prior session gone as if it had never existed. Ice appeared-but it did not stay in place, it moved. Glaciers were developing in the angles between facets, flowing as if liquid, but they were solid. Ice was coming down behind them and wedging together ahead of them. They tried to climb over it, but it was slippery and numbingly cold.

“Damn it!” Orlene exclaimed, slamming a fist into it. A slight patina of cracks appeared at the point of contact, signaling the power of the blow, but that was all. “What is the point of this interference?”

She perceived the external threats but not the internal one! “Nox is playing with us,” Jolie said. “Incarnations can be cruel.”

“Well, I want to tackle her face to face!” Angrily, Orlene invoked the wand.

When the cloud cleared, they were almost at the peak. The bushes surrounded a small bare region. That was all.

Orlene was now completely male; no vestige of femininity remained, except for the tattered and incongruous clothing. She even had a light beard. But she, Jolie found that designation anomalous, but refused to concede the inner reality of the change, still refused to acknowledge her situation.

Orlene tramped on up to the top. “Well, at least there’re no monsters this time,” she muttered with rough satisfaction. “But where’s Nox?”

Jolie followed. “She may not be here at all. This may merely be her diversion for us, a dream sequence that expends our energies but leads only to futility. The Incarnations can have unusual ways to-”

“Don’t give me that noise! I came here to see the bitch, and I’m going to see her! Where is she?”

What an ass her companion had become! But it was pointless, and quite possibly dangerous, to dally here longer. They were in Nox’s power, and if they affronted the Incarnation, things could get much worse.

“Nox won’t see us unless she chooses to,” Jolie said carefully. “I think we should accept the fact that she’s not interested, and get off this mountain before we annoy her.”

“Listen, doll, whose side are you on?” Orlene demanded. “I didn’t come here just to quit! Where the hell is Nox?”

“This isn’t wise!” Jolie said pleadingly. But Orlene turned with masculine arrogance and gestured at the sky with a fist. “A pox on Nox!” she bellowed. “Get your ass down here. Incarnation!”

Horrified, Jolie grabbed at Orlene’s arm. “You mustn’t!”

Orlene turned, trying to shake her off, but Jolie clung.

She had to get them away from here before something terrible happened!

Then Orlene’s eye fell directly on Jolie. Her mouth pursed appraisingly. “Say, I never realized what a piece you are. C’mere, girl.” Her muscular arm came around to catch at Jolie’s free arm.

Suddenly Jolie was being hauled in and lifted by a body much stronger than hers. “What-?”

“Gimme a kiss!” And their faces were together.

“Stop that!” Jolie cried, amazed and dismayed. She fought to get free, and managed to twist one arm away.

But Orlene didn’t stop. She grabbed again, this time catching at Jolie’s skirt. Jolie tried to spin away, but the hold on the skirt inhibited her motion, and she fell.

Orlene went down with her, pinning her to the ground. There was no longer any question about the hidden anatomy: it was male and functioning. Jolie realized that the situation was already beyond protest; she was unable to dissipate in ghostly fashion here, and she had either to fight free or fail to. Why hadn’t she taken warning when she saw the changes occurring in her companion?

She could, of course, revert back to her drop of blood. But would Orlene come with her, and if so, would she revert back to her original form and nature? Jolie didn’t dare risk it. She fought, but knew she was losing.

Then a cloud formed, not black but white, its vapors swirling internally. “What is this?”

“Nox!” Jolie cried, recognizing the strange, soundless way the Incarnation spoke. She had never seen Nox before, but Parry had described it.

Orlene paused, looking up. “The bitch is here?”

“Come to me, man-thing.”

Orlene got up. She stared at the Incarnation. The mists formed into a phenomenal woman-shape, naked and beckoning, with writhing tresses of vapor and two compelling dark eyes.

Orlene walked into the shape, embracing it. Her loins thrust and thrust again, and the form wrapped itself about her. The face kissed her ardently. The merged forms floated from the ground, not noticing in their preoccupation.

Jolie’s amazement was admixed with disgust. Orlene had tried to rape her, and now was having sex with Nox! How could she ever forgive either of them for such a thing? She had only tried to help a woman find her lost baby!

“There is much you do not understand” Nox said to her directly.

“There is much I do not care to understand!” Jolie retorted, made bold by her shock.

“Here is part of it.”

Then Orlene emerged from the white cloud, her female form restored. She stood there, her mouth opening in an ‘O’ of wonder, horror and dismay.

Simultaneously, Jolie felt herself change. Suddenly she lusted after the woman who stood before her, her passion so compelling that it admitted of no interference. She strode toward Orlene.

Only to be intercepted by the cloud. “Love me instead,” Nox said. Her female aspect was the most utterly arousing and inviting thing imaginable, making any human body hopelessly crude and clumsy.

Jolie stepped into it, her member stiffening. She plunged into Nox, and found herself floating, unable to achieve the culmination. The frustration was maddening.

Then the cloud dissipated, depositing her on the ground. “Remember!” Nox cautioned.

The two women stood looking at each other. Both were fully female again, each appalled.

“Oh, Jolie,” Orlene said. “I don’t know what, I cannot ask you to forgive me, I am so ashamed-”

Understanding was coming. “Nox made you into a man,” Jolie said. “And you were overwhelmed by male passion.”

“But you were my companion, my friend! How could I-”

Jolie would not have understood, except for the brief lesson Nox had given her. If Orlene, unwarned, had run rampant, what of Jolie, who had seen it all, and run rampant herself the moment the Incarnation afflicted her with the same complaint? She was the one who truly knew better, yet she had been helpless before her abrupt desire.

“It seems that men have passions that women do not,” Jolie said. “I have indulged those passions in my own man without ever really understanding their nature, until now.”

“But men do not-” Orlene faltered, unable to say the word.

“They have learned control. We did not have time. Like a fire which burns out of control when untended-”

“Remember,” Nox repeated, her semblance returning.

“How can I endure this shame?” Orlene exclaimed and collapsed.

Jolie ran to her, finding her unconscious. For the moment, that was a relief. “Why did you play with us, Incarnation of Night?” she asked, no longer concerned about manners.

“You have much to learn.” That, it seemed, was the extent of the answer they were to have.

“She came to recover her baby, Gaw-Two,” Jolie said. “Please, Incarnation, return him to her, now that you have humiliated us.”

“I have her baby,” Nox agreed. “I lent her his semblance as he will be when grown.”

Orlene, stirring, reacted as if struck. Jolie, appreciating her horror, interceded. “A man-like his father.”

“No!” Orlene cried in anguish. “Norton is not like that!”

“Like Gawain!” Jolie exclaimed, catching on. “His genetics were changed!”

“Like Gawain,” Nox agreed. “As he will be, grown naturally.”

“But he died of a genetic malady!”

“Which continues in his Afterlife.” Orlene was horrified anew. “My baby, still diseased! Out of control!”

“Leave him to me,” Nox offered. “I can control him.” That was yet another horror. Orlene fainted again. “Not that way!” Jolie protested, “Give him back to her; we will cure him somehow!”

“Not readily. His soul has been tarnished; he can never exist free without extensive revamping.”

“She’ll do whatever needs to be done!” Jolie cried. “Then you must obtain items from each of the current major Incarnations,” Nox said. “Fail in any, and it is lost.”

“She won’t fail in any!” Jolie promised. “Here is the list. From Death, a blank soul, that the spoiled one may be reimplanted on a clean sheet, lacking the fatal flaw. From Time, a grain of sand from the Hourglass, that time may be reversed for the transfer. From Fate, a thread of life, to realign the one spoiled. From War, a seed, to generate the violence inherent in man as a healthy competitive spirit. From Nature, a tear, to restore animation in the newly implanted soul. From Evil, a curse, to put the fear of evil into the soul. From Good, a blessing, for this can be done only with that blessing.”

Jolie listened, aghast. That was an impossible list! But she couldn’t give up on Orlene! “And when she gets these things, then you will restore her baby to her?”

“Then will I restore him,” Nox pledged. “She’ll do it!” But Jolie, experienced in the ways of Incarnations, knew that it would be the miracle of the millennium if she succeeded. No wonder Nox had sought to discourage Orlene, by physical and emotional challenge; it would have been better if she had given up on her quest.

Then Nox faded out, and after her the mountain, too, and great dark mists swirled up to mask everything. When they cleared, the two were standing back at the fringe of Purgatory, just before the path diverged from Clotho’s path. In fact, the path they had followed no longer existed.

Jolie literally dragged Orlene back to Purgatory proper, for the woman had reverted to inchoate soul form, intent only on drifting down to damnation. Her balance had been good, and she had fought to remain as a ghost; now her balance had shifted bad, and she no longer fought. But Jolie refused to let her go, not until she had consulted with Gaea.

Once firmly in conventional Purgatory, Jolie was able to make the jump directly to the Treehouse. She laid the limp soul on the bed, but the moment she let go, it began to sink through the bed, starting its journey toward Hell. She had to grab it again and maintain her hold.

How could this have happened? Souls weren’t supposed to change their balance in the Afterlife! Not suddenly, like this! They could have their evil ground out slowly in Hell, or leached out gently in Heaven, but that took centuries. It seemed that Nox had done more than merely tease the woman!

Soon Gaea returned. “You seem to have a problem,” she remarked, noting the flaccid soul.

“Nox teased us cruelly,” Jolie explained. “She caused my companion to become a man, who was then overcome by his passion, and he tried to ravish me. For a moment she changed me, too, and I too was overcome. I have been attacked before, and have sinned before; I was able to endure it. But my companion-”

“It isn’t like Nox to tease without reason,” Gaea said. “She seldom concerns herself with our activities, and seems to have little interest in them. There may be more here than we understand.”

“She did agree to help the baby, but gave an impossible list of requirements. We would have to get something from each of the Incarnations.”

“It is also unlike Nox to bargain in such fashion. This is strange indeed.”

“Now this soul is weighted down with evil, and I dare not let go. I feel responsible, for I was with her, encouraging her to visit Nox, thus bringing this humiliation upon us both. I don’t want to let her go to Hell on such basis, after she fought so hard to avoid Heaven so that she could help her baby.”

Gaea hesitated a moment. If she did not know the identity of Jolie’s friend, whom Jolie had carefully avoided naming, she surely suspected. She was being circumspect in her comments, speaking generally rather than specifically. “Do you wish help in this matter?”

Here was the crux. Gaea could not help without discovering for certain that it was her daughter at issue. How could Jolie confirm that at this stage? Not only would it bring personal grief to the Incarnation, it would represent a conflict of interest.

“Forgive me, Gaea. I think I do need help, but I prefer not to ask for yours. You have been generous in giving me leeway here, and I do not want to inflict the consequences of my error on you.” Which was true, as far as it went.

“Perhaps another Incarnation?”

“Have I the right to ask?” What she meant was that though Gaea would help because of Jolie’s closeness to her, other Incarnations might be more cynical. Jolie knew them all, except God, and they all accepted her, but this was a matter of courtesy rather than respect. They were apt to consider her request seriously only if Gaea asked them to-and Jolie didn’t want to ask for that, either. What a predicament she had gotten into, unawares!