Chapter 15: The Little Desert

Rebecka didn't stop walking until she was knee deep in sand. Only then did she let her shotgun slid to the dune she was failing to climb and shrug off her backpack full of supplies. Then she took in the deepest breath of her life, her lungs so full of air they ached.

"WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT YOU PIECE OF SHIT!?" She bellowed.

WHY DIDN'T YOU USE ME IN THE BATTLE? Aettartangi screamed back.

"That wasn't a fucking battle! That was an ambush that you could have prevented! I know you picked those fucks up with your gods damn sensors! You let them attack us! Someone could've been killed you piece of shit! What makes you think pulling a stunt like that's going to make me ever want to use you?!"

Aettartangi was silent. Rebecka could feel anger, confusion, and shame coming from the weapon living in her flesh. It made her want to scream even more, so she did. A guttural wordless shriek that disturbed birds in the forest from the direction she'd come. She caught her breath then hissed through her teeth as she shook.

"Did you do it just so you'd have bodies to eat?"

No...I...

Rebecka inhaled through her nose. "Then why didn't you warn me we were being surrounded?"

I...just...wanted...

"What?! WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU WANT, AETTARTANGI? You're the one who pushed to have Dyr and Rifa come with us so they would live but you could've gotten them killed! They could've have died! Because of you! What the fuck is wrong with you?!"

I...

"You WHAT?!"

I...don't know...I'm sorry, Rebecka. I don't know what's wrong with me...I just...why...why are you scared to use me? Aettartangi asked weakly, confusion and desperation coming across in force through the connection it shared with Rebecka.

"I'm not scared to use you!"

Then why didn't you?! It shot back, frantic again.

Rebecka tried to pace but the sand was too deep. All she could do was shuffle a few steps back the way she'd come. She threw her hands up in the air in frustration.

"Those guys were barely even armed. Using you would've been like opening up on a house fly with a howitzer!"

Bullshit.

"What?"

Bullshit. You froze. You were scared.

"Don't you fucking dare."

Ingimund wouldn't have frozen like that. He would have used me immediately to dispatch the attackers and let me feast on their blood and bones. We would have worked together to defeat them all. None would have escaped. Ingimund was a true warrior, unlike you, Aettartangi spat proudly.

Rebecka took another deep breath. "You expected me not to hesitate to kill someone? I'm just a fucking bartender!"

Your bar burned down, it said smugly.

"That. Was. My. Home. You. Little. Shit."

She wanted to tear Aettartangi out of her body, pull the metal from her veins and bones and leave it in the sand. Logically, Rebecka knew that wasn't possible. She was as stuck with Aettartangi as it was with her. That was, until if found someone else who was a good match to infect, right?

But would it?

Based on the emotions she felt from Aettartangi, she had little doubt it would leave her the first chance it got. Sure, she'd die if that happened but she doubted Aettartangi really gave a shit about killing her, even if it had previously seemed to feel a little guilty for condemning her to death. At least she wouldn't have to worry about the party being hung out to dry again.

Aettartangi grew silent.

"I'm done talking to you, Aetty."

Likewise. If Aettartangi had arms to fold and a corner to sulk into, Rebecka was sure it would have done so.

***

The stars were beautiful, even if she couldn't recognize any constellations. The debris trailing moon was still visible as the other side was slowly falling to darkness thanks to it being a waning gibbous. It seemed larger than the moon back home and the craters on it looked nothing like the moon Rebecka was used. Still, laying on a sand dune and looking up into the night sky to watch the foreign stars and moon was the sort of relaxing exercise she was desperate for. Best of all, Aettartangi had remained quiet for several hours.

It had given her time to think.

She was at peace with the idea of Aettartangi leaving her to infect someone else. There was very little she could do to prevent that from happening. She'd already been granted a few more days than she would have had if it had decided to outright eat her. She'd been able to say her goodbyes to her friends, which was more than many people got before they died. Not to mention, she'd personally seen two of her gods in the flesh. She didn't know where her Uncle Blake was but hoped he was still back on Earth. As for Yggdrasil, if Aettartangi jumped to someone else it could go about completing its mission unhindered.

Rebecka didn't stir at the sound of the cart approaching on the road. She didn't even bother to look. If it was her party then it would be fine. If it was someone else, well, she'd deal with that when they got closer, probably with the shotgun. The snort let her know it was indeed her party.

"Stay here," Sigyn said before marching over to Rebecka. She stood over her for a minute before finally saying something. "You're still alive."

She glanced up at the giant dragon woman. Her jeans were stained a deep red. Rebecka could still smell the blood.

"What did you think I'd be?"

Sigyn shrugged. "Chipped beef."

Rebecka huffed out a little laugh.

"You good to continue this trip?" Sigyn asked.

"Probably."

"Probably?"

Rebecka twisted to look up the dune. "We gotta find a way around this little desert. Wagon won't make it and the forest is pretty thick. Not to mention those people who attacked us."

"I'll carry the cart," Sigyn said.

She was easily seven feet tall, but Rebecka wasn't sure the dragon woman could carry the little wagon full of supplies. Much less the horse.

"How?"

"You think this is my only form?"

She let her head rest against the sand. "I honestly have no idea. I don't know shit about this world or where you're from. I've got a talking robot axe living in my body that won't do it's job because it's acting like a child. It's probably going to turn me inside out the first chance it gets. If you say you can carry the cart, I will defer to your judgment. What about Baby?"

"First trip will be the cart and one of the knights, Rifa, so she can guard the supplies on the other side of the desert. Second trip will be Baby and Dyr," Sigyn explained.

"You know you don't have to run this by me. You could've just done it and been on your way."

"Except, this is your quest, Rebecka," Sigyn said.

This is Aettartangi's quest. I'm just its meat taxi, Rebecka thought.

"Right. Will you give me a lift too?" She asked.

Sigyn snorted. "Why do you think I'm standing here?"

"Fine. I go last."

The dragon woman nodded with a growl, then hiked back to the road by the wagon. She was far enough away that Rebecka couldn't quite make out what she was saying to Dyr and Rifa, but neither knight seemed surprised or alarmed. They also didn't seem shocked when she started to take her clothing off.

Huh?

Sigyn folded her pants up, placing them with her hoodie and shirt in the back of the wagon. She walked a couple yards toward Rebecka, far enough to be back in the mass of sand. Her body was covered in the same gold and white scales as her arms and face, with no breasts, not that Rebecka was looking terribly hard or expecting them. Sigyn's t-shirt had been tight enough to show that she didn't have any. She was a wall of muscle, covered in scales, with a big crocodile tail and face. Rebecka wasn't sure what the dragon could do to be any bigger until she crouched down on all fours and became far less humanoid, more than doubling in size as great leathery bat-like wings grew from her back to spread wide. After a few moments she stretched like an enormous cat before standing on all fours the shape of a giant gold and white alligator with wings, a crown of black horns in her bright red mess of hair.

No wonder she wasn't worried about being in the dungeon. She could have just taken out the walls, Rebecka thought to herself.

She half expected Aettatangi to chime in with an 'I told you so' about having Sigyn in the party, but it remained silent. She couldn't even feel it's emotions anymore. She knew it was still inside her. Still possessing her body, somehow wrapped around her bones or living in her blood somewhere that didn't make sense. She couldn't shake the strange sensation of not being alone.

Sigyn's enormous dragon body blocked much of her view, but after a few moments she gently picked up the wagon, with Rifa in full armor holding onto the sides of the seat, in both of her front claws. She spread her wings before pushing off the sandy ground and flapping hard enough to stir up a whirlwind that stung Rebecka's eyes. Dyr shielded Baby with a spell. None of this seemed to bother the horse, which Rebecka found pretty weird. Either he was the most relaxed animal she'd ever seen or he had been through enough weird stuff that none of this was out of the ordinary.

It didn't take Sigyn long to fly over the patch of desert and set Rifa and the wagon down on the road. She didn't bother flying back to Dyr, opting to fold up her wings at her sides and walk across the sand dunes instead. She passed Rebecka like a cruise ship to a rowboat, giving only a snort of acknowledgment to show she knew where the human was. When she reached the road again Dyr said something to her that Rebecka couldn't make out. Then she gently picked him up in one great hand and Baby in the other. The horse didn't protest as he and the knight were carried off into the sky just like the wagon and Rifa had been.

"I admit, Sigyn being in the party was a good idea," Rebecka said.

Aettartangi remained silent.

She rolled off the dune, gathered her bag, axe, and shotgun and waited for Sigyn to pad back across the sand to her. The dragon woman seemed to shrink with each step she took. When she finally reached Rebecka she looked almost as she had before she had transformed, save for the giant wings growing from her lower back just below her ribs.

"We walking?" Rebecka asked.

Sigyn snorted as she stretched both arms out before her like she was asking for a hug. "No reason to carry just you in that form."

"You're not scared of me?" Rebecka asked.

She wasn't sure why she even asked that. Sure, Quincey had been scared but there was no reason to assume Sigyn would be. She'd easily torn limbs off the people who had attacked their camp. Aetartangi was the only thing anyone had to fear.

"You're terrifying," Sigyn replied as dryly as the desert sand that filled Rebecka's boots. "Come on."

She stepped forward. "How are we gonna do this-"

The dragon woman wrapped her arms around Rebecka in a big bear hug before she could finish her sentence. One moment they were on the ground, the next they were in the air high above the sand. Rebecka could only see the sky behind Sigyn's bare chest and shoulders. The sharp wind cut into any warmth she felt from the dragon woman. Shortly, she was set back down on the ground near the rest of the party. Dyr and Rifa had finished hitching Baby up to the wagon.

"Were you able to clean them?" Sigyn asked after landing.

"Yes, they're right here," Rifa replied gesturing to the back of the wagon.

Sigyn pushed past Rebecka to the wagon as her wings shrank into her back. She gathered her clothing. She snorted in approval as she inspected the now bloodless pants and shirt.

"Thanks."

"Are you alright, Blad-"

"Don't call me that," Rebecka cut Dyr off. "'Rebecka' is fine."

He nodded. "Are you alright, Rebecka?"

She dusted some of the sand off her pants. "We need to find a place for everyone to rest."

"I saw a good area through the trees a little ways up the road. I'll keep a better watch this time. Y'all should get some sleep," Sigyn said.

"Sounds good," Rebecka said.