《An Awful Story》Chapter 10: Astride a Jini's Back

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I tilted my head in thought, and said, "(Home)?"

I did not wait for an answer, however, as the word tickled free a recent memory.

"Take us home," I said to the rocklurker, and I was hefted into the air and thrown onto its flat stone back. Nani made a frustrated noise as she fell on top of me, and then the other two sisters were piled on after.

The cool night air whipped through my hair as the rocklurker hastened to obey, darting across hill after hill. In the distance, a few scattered fires burned revealing the settlements of man. We did not approach them.

"You said..." Nani began, and I shook at the suddenness of her voice. My body still shivered with remembered pain. "You woke Sofh? What do you mean?"

"I... woke the fiery sister," I said, the words slow to form.

Because Nani had wanted life returned to her sister's breast, and I had done just that. Her husk drew breath. But I did not think that would be enough to satisfy Nani, and I shivered in human (fear) at what my failure might earn.

We remained silent the rest of the way. My earlier concern for Aua had vanished. I could think only of the terrible itch and a constant need to obey.

We arrived at the burnt hilltop, and I surveyed three fires that burned in the distance. For the first time I realized one cluster of firelight could be an (encampment). The Konac warriors had to have fled somewhere.

"Where... are we?" Nani asked, her words hesitant.

"The tent," I said, and then I continued, "Or at least where the "

"B̷͉̈́h̵̻̐ȁ̷̘r̸̗͝ ̵́͜ĺ̵̤i̶̗̓f̴̞̑ ̵̝̌d̷͎̿a̵̢̎r̵̮̒ !" Nani cursed, and I fell off the rocklurker's back as pain wracked my body.

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"I said home," Nani screamed. "You... you..."

I struggled to my feet, and said, "I was... born in the tent. It is my "

"B̷͉̈́h̵̻̐ȁ̷̘r̸̗͝ ̵́͜ĺ̵̤i̶̗̓f̴̞̑ ̵̝̌d̷͎̿a̵̢̎r̵̮̒ !"

It felt as though a thousand (centipedes) crawled and chewed at sinew and muscle from beneath my skin.

"I am your master," Nani shouted. "When I say home, I mean my home!"

I turned towards the glow of fire as pain lanced through my body. The distant flames seemed somehow smaller without the billow of smoke that had once filled the morning sky. Vaguely, I wondered how different things would have been if I had set off for the city when I first left the tent, for (Tharem).

The rocklurker carried us in silence towards the distant dance of flame.

A strangeness tickled at my stomach. It was not a lingering hurt from Nani's (hex), but rather human (relief).

Because Nani was human. She could die a hundred different ways without my intervention. She could eat moldy bread and fall (sick). Rats and other vermin could make a (pox) on her, and such vermin delighted in the acts of human war.

I could suffer for a hundred years in her hate, but then she would die, and I would be free.

"Stop."

"Stop," I said, immediately, eager to obey Nani's sudden command. And suddenly a hundred of years of hate did not seem so pleasant. Perhaps I could hasten her death in some way...

"We are headed for Tharem? For the... the burning city?" Nani asked through the cover of night. The rocklurker vibrated underneath us, chittering in its impatience.

"Yes," I said. "I am taking you home."

"Good," Nani said, but there was no satisfaction to her words. "There are warriors... Will you be able to enter the city? It is surrounded by many warriors. The same ones who attacked you."

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"I... will bring you home?" I said, unsure how to answer. I was compelled to obey.

Nani clicked her tongue, and human fear lanced through my body. I awaited the words.

But instead she said, "Are you as dumb as this stone-brained jini? I am asking if you... I do not know how powerful you are, creature. Will the warriors impede us?"

I puzzled over the question for a moment before I understood, and a dozen distant memories broke free from their haze. Because Nani had ordered me to take her home, but now she worried if I could carry out such an order when t̵h̶e̵ ̶e̷n̸e̴m̶y̴ surrounded the town.

Aua's heavy breathing and the rocklurker's impatient chittering hummed around us as Nani waited with drawn breath.

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