Jeb's Home.
Aw, they look so peaceful, The Crone thought as she stood over the sleeping forms of Jeb and Ruby. The later of which was now quite rotund with the eggs that would soon be laid.
The Crone gently stroked Jeb's cheek as he snoozed away the early light of the day.
"But all things must come to an end."
SLAP!
Jeb awoke with a startled yelp as he fumbled and rolled off the bed with a grunt and a groan. Ruby looked up from her warm spot and looked blearily up as she stared at where Jeb once was. Then she looked up at The Crone and quickly woke up and bundled the fur blanket over her belly protectively.
The Crone chuckled.
"Fear not, dear. We're not here for you. We're here for sleepy head!"
She jabbed the point of her shoe into Jeb's ribs with a snicker.
"Wake up son! It's time for class!"
Jeb slowly got up from his prone position. Groaning from the stinging spot where his Ma had slapped him, to the mild ache from where she kicked him.
"Too old for school. Go away."
"Oh trust Us son, you'll wanna come to this one! Now hurry up and get dressed!" The Crone declared as she left the two staring at her figure as she descended the stairs with a cackle.
"Old bat." Jeb muttered as he stood up with a groan as he popped his back.
"Jeb?" Ruby asked with no small amount of concern and worry.
"Relax. I'll be fine. Besides, The Chief and Trap Master are here in the meantime." Jeb made to placate her as he kissed her scaled head while he got a shirt and pants on.
Ruby whined as Jeb followed after his Ma, leaving Ruby to snuggle comfortingly in the blanket.
Jeb sighed as he stepped onto the ground floor and saw his Ma as she examined the assortment of blue/black fruits, vegetables, and candy he had made since Casius showed up and "taught" him. Jeb hoped that his Ma would have a different, and better, method than goading him. But he highly doubt it by the smirk she had as she picked and played with an turquoise orange.
Would it still be called an orange if it wasn't orange, Jeb thought sleepily as he walked over to the coffee pot and began to make some to wake him up. His Ma, however, wouldn't wait it seemed.
"No time dear. Class starts now!"
Jeb groaned.
"And what, pray tell, is it going to be?"
"Something easy, but VERY handy and fun to use!" She declared.
"And you can't just tell me what it is can you?" Jeb asked as he watched the pot begin to bubble and the aroma of sweet caffeine filled the air.
"Nope! Where's the fun in doing that?!" The Crone giddily cheered.
"Can it wait until AFTER I get my coffee?"
"Depends on how fast you learn."
"So what is it I have to do now?"
"Just imagine you're at the camp." The Crone stated simply.
"That's it? That's what you woke me up at the ass crack of dawn for?" Jeb replied irritably.
The Crone smacked her son upside the head.
"Don't sass me and just do it."
Jeb groaned. But tried to do as he was instructed.
"Fine. I'm imaginin' I'm at the camp."
"No you're not." The Crone stated.
"Yes I am."
"If you were then it would be working."
"I don't even know what you want me to do exactly!" Jeb retorted.
"Well if you would just listen the first time We wouldn't have to!"
"I am fuckin' listenin'! You just need to make more fuckin' sense!" Jeb snapped as he was already growing frustrated with the "class".
"Apparently not or it would be working!" The Crone snapped back and smacked him in the head again.
"FINE! I'm away from you and at the fuckin' camp! Fuckin' happy?!?!" Jeb yelled as he yanked the coffee pot out and turned to his mother.
Only to find a very confused Cole staring at Jeb.
"You alright der Jeb?"
Jeb just stared wide-eyed and confused at Cole before spinning around at the camp. Steaming coffee pot still in hand as the sounds of kobolds getting into cupboards and drawers was replaced with the sounds of the hillfolk going about their business. Some barely stopped to stare at Jeb as he looked around for his mother.
"How? How did I get here?"
"How da Hell should I know?! I's just goin' to da shitter when you started yellin' at me!" Cole grumbled as he went on his way, a roll of toilet paper in one hand as he made his way to heed the call of nature.
Jeb jumped when his Ma appeared beside him and took the coffee pot from him and gave it to Casius who now also stood nearby.
"See? Was that so hard?"
"How?" Jeb asked bewildered.
"Things like distance and travel on the Mortal Plane are easy to abuse for Us. The same goes for you as well! It's easier for places you've already been to and are familiar with. You can still do it to go anywhere but it's harder when you don't know where exactly you're going." His Ma explained as Casius poured himself a cup using Jeb's coffee.
"But I dreamt about goin' to all sorts of places and never just popped up there!"
"And babies sometimes dream of flying, doesn't mean they will. You gotta walk before you can run, son!" The Crone stated as Casius was called away by some cultists in dark purple robes. He bid the two of them goodbye and left... with Jeb's coffee pot in hand.
"I'm not goin' to get my caffeine am I?"
"Experience is the best way to wake up! Come on, son!" His Ma declared and led Jeb over to her cabin. He was confused, however, when she led him PAST her hut.
"Where are we goin'?"
"To get you some first-hand experience of how Realms work and what you can expect!" The Crone said excitedly.
"Aren't we goin' kinda fast? I just got the hang of makin' smurf food. Now you're teachin' me about teleportin' and realms?"
"Nonsense! The more you know the better prepared you'll be! Besides, this is more fun!"
"For you or me?" Jeb muttered but his question went unanswered as she led him deeper and deeper into the heart of the mountains. Further than him or even most of the hillfolk went. For good reason. After so far in, the air got thinner and it went from slopes to sheer faced cliffs that required serious climbing gear and experience just to brave.
The trees got sparser and sparser and before long all they were surrounded by were cold stone, their only means of ascending were worn goat trails and the rusty and rotted remains of previous explorers that tried to climb the mountains to their peaks still far into the distance.
Jeb heaved and wheezed at the thin air, but his Elder Mother hopped and skipped like a child without a care or even hint that the atmosphere affected her. She would hum or whistle as she waited for Jeb to catch up whenever she would stop and perch on the edge of a precarious ledge that barely had enough room for her to rest as comfortably as she seemed to be.
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After many minutes, or maybe hours, Jeb wasn't sure. He pulled himself up onto a ledge and gasped as he tried to suck in as much air as he could get from the oxygen poor altitude. His mother just stood over him and watched with a sour look on her face.
"Damn, you couldn't have stopped about halfway down could you?"
"Wha-wha-what are you *gasp* talkin' *gasp* about?"
"Did Casius say anything to you?" His Ma asked almost accusingly.
Jeb shook his head. His Ma just stared down at him for a long moment, glaring at him like he did something wrong. She then snorted, and planted a foot on his chest.
Then she pushed.
Jeb felt just immediate sensation of weightlessness as his heart jumped into his throat as his arms snapped out and grasped onto the ledge with a vicelike grip.
"WHAT THE FUCK?!?!"
His voice echoed against the stone as he looked between the dizzyingly far height that he had climbed, and up at his mother and her sour scowl.
"You lost me a bet young man. And I hate to lose."
With that she stepped on one of Jeb's hands until the pain was enough for him to let go. He huffed and stared desperately between his remaining hand and his mother who placed her foot on it.
"W-w-w-what?!"
She said nothing as she shoved his hand away from the ledge, and Jeb felt the sensation of being weightless once more. Then he fell, and fell. He screamed as he felt the air rush past him and deafen him as he tried desperately to reach out for anything and everything to catch him. But there was nothing save for stone that blurred past him as he plummeted down and down.
As he felt the ground near, he closed his eyes and thought of home. Of Ruby, of their kids that had yet to even be born yet, of his father, of Sammy, of Clive and hell, even Morty. He screamed and yelled as he flailed about for anything, any last grasp of salvation.
His hand grasped something nearby and he pulled with all his strength. He hugged whatever it was he managed to get a hold onto and looked franticly around him. Only to find he was on the forest floor and not thousands of feet in the air!
"Wh-wh-what?!"
"Oh don't be so dramatic! It was just a little scare is all!" The Crone stated with a chuckle as she looked down to where Jeb had clung to her leg for dear life!
"Bu-bu-but m-m-m-m-mountain!?!?!?! PUSH?!?!"
"Oh please! There was never any mountain!" She stated and gestured away from them. Jeb looked to where she pointed to, and saw the edge of the clearing where the camp was not far from where they were.
"Had to snatch you before you could snap back to your bed! Whatever will that little lizard think if she finds you screaming and wailing like a babe?! She already thinks We're some monster that likes to play tricks on people! Imagine that, Us?!" She said with mock hurt on her face.
Jeb just stared at the edge of the clearing where he could see the vague silhouette of his Ma's hut. His heart hammered in his chest and he sucked in every breath like it was his last, his hands felt raw from holding on for dear life onto a mountain that apparently didn't exist. He jumped when he heard his mother speak again.
"Come along now! We're almost there!"
He wasn't sure if he could survive whatever it was she had planned, Jeb thought as he crawled onto unsteady feet, glad he didn't have a full bladder or even anything to eat yet. He stared at the back of his mother as she walked further into the darkness of the woods.
"You know We can drag you there, right?" He heard her call from the darkness.
He groaned and looked around once more before following after her. Praying she didn't shave another fifty years off his life.
As they went deeper, the woods began to change. The trees got barer and barer until they had no leaves and their limbs were naked and bare. The trees creaked and groaned as they got further in, the strange dark bark seemed to pulse and the trees seemed to move despite there being no wind strong enough to move them.
But what unnerved Jeb the most was the figures he saw in the dark past the trees that were following them. At first he thought it was just the general sounds of animals one would hear while out in the wilderness. But these sounded more feral, more primal. Occasionally he would catch sight of curved black horns and hooves between the trees but little else.
The sky itself also looked different, it had a color like it was perpetual dusk. Streaks of orangish red lit up the sky even as the darkness beyond the trees remained pure and solid.
The bleats and skin-crawling sounds of those that followed them didn't seem to faze his mother in the slightest. She just wandered ahead without a care, then again she was like that before she pushed him off a mountain. He still wasn't sure if the mountain actually existed or if it was all fake. Either way, he wasn't entirely sure if he should trust his eyes. The ground felt constantly wet as they moved further in, Jeb noticed. Like he was walking on freshly turned dirt after a good rain.
Eventually she led them to a clearing. All around were crude huts and shelters that reeked like a zoo. Scattered about were crude idols that pictured some sort of worm-like creature that Jeb had never seen before. All around were burning fires that bellowed thick black choking smoke that burned the eyes and nose. Right above the clearing loomed a large orange full moon that glowered down at them.
"We're here!" The Crone called out as she spread her arms around the seemingly abandoned encampment.
"And where exactly are we?" Jeb asked as the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end.
"Our realm! The place in space where Our power is absolute! Nothing happens within here that We do not allow and control!" She declared.
"So all THIS is because you made it?" Jeb asked doubtfully at the crude camp.
"Well, no, these are from your cousins."
"Cousins?"
As Jeb said this, a frenzied beast rushed from the darkness of a nearby tent. The beastman lunged and tackled Jeb with a bestial roar. Jeb had the wind knocked out of him as the horned creature threw Jeb to the ground. Jeb scrambled up and quickly faced the monster.
The goat-like beastman stamped and roared at Jeb. It's vertical maw opening to reveal jagged sharp teeth and a thin dark tongue that had a barb at the end of it as it snapped out at Jeb now and again as they circled one another its six small black eyes made Jeb's skin crawl like he was looking at the face of a spider.
It's thick hoofs vibrated the ground as it sized Jeb up. Then it roared and charged Jeb once again. But Jeb wasn't going to be tossed around like a ragdoll and counter charged. He and the beastman entered a war of strength as they both tried to grapple the other in a desperate battle. Each throwing the occasional punch when the other wavered enough to allow it.
Eventually though, Jeb lost his footing and found two dark horns racing towards his face. As they fell, Jeb managed to maneuver the horns so that they planted into the ground beside his head rather than into his face. With his arms pinned, Jeb was forced to kick and knee at the very hard unyielding muscle of the beastman.
His odds weren't looking good however, Jeb thought as the beastman struggled to wrench his horns free while Jeb continued to assault his chest and stomach as much as he could given his pinned position. Calls and roars were heard as other beastmen gathered to watch the fight. They stamped and roared as the fight went on.
"Oh it's so nice to see you getting along. But we're here for other things than playing you two!" His mother said from nearby, uncaring for the bleating masses around her.
Then Jeb felt a weird sensation like falling again, and he did fall. Sideways. The beastman grunted in confusion as well as he and Jeb found themselves falling towards the dark trees at the edge of the encampment. Then his gut lurched as they started falling UP towards the orange moon!
Jeb and the beastman fought for any purchase on the nearby tree branches, only to find the branches grabbing THEM! The branches creaked and groaned as they bent and grabbed onto the two before they could become would-be astronauts.
Then Jeb's gut went into his throat as he was flung back towards the encampment. His bestial opponent crying out as he flew right beside him! They didn't land gently though. Jeb rolled to a stop just before his mother as the beastman turned up dirt as he plowed into the ground, and into a handful of onlookers.
The Crone looked down at Jeb with a smile.
"Did you have fun bonding?"
"What the fuck are these things?!" Jeb asked as he hurried to his feet and made to fight for his life again.
The Crone smacked Jeb upside the head.
"Hush! That's no way to speak to your cousins!"
"What do you mean cousins?!"
"Well what do you think happened to those that undertook the Bonding Ceremonies?"
"Gee Jeb, I know you lived almost all of your life as a normal fuckin' human, but did you really think all these fairly normal things were actually normal?!" Jeb replied with heavy sarcasm.
The Crone smacked Jeb again as a large beastman dressed like some sort of shaman walked over to stand beside her.
"Don't sass Us boy!"
"Well maybe stop actin' like I'm supposed to just accept all of this?! You mean to say all those people that were "be wedded" were actually transformed into these... things?"
"That's right! Your kin do actual marriage ceremonies, but the Bonding Ceremony is special in that they offer themselves to Us. In exchange for a portion of Our power, they are forever changed." She said as she gestured to the assembled beastmen.
They stamped and snorted, most were barely clothed in nothing more than the bare minimum to keep their private bits safe from the elements. Some still chose to go full commando though. The shaman walked towards Jeb dressed in robes made of mangy and rotted hide with crude charms of bone, ears, and teeth, and carrying a warped staff and made some kind of placating gesture and spoke in a harsh voice that seemed unused to speaking the English Tongue.
"Kin."
Jeb wasn't sure if it was supposed to placate him or the others, but it did little for either. The others still snarled and snorted and stamped as they seemed to fight themselves to charge Jeb. The shaman seemed the only one that didn't actively want to fight. But even his obvious muscles looked like they were ready to pounce.
"So how does this relate to me exactly?" Jeb asked, still on edge and ready for a fight.
She gestured to the assembled beastmen and the area.
"Here is where We are absolute. If We want gravity to go one way? We can."
"If We want to change the sky here?" The sky went from dusk to full noon and the orange moon was replaced with a normal yellow sun that burned harshly overhead. Before being changed back to dusk and the orange moon resumed its place above.
"We can. Everything here is as We desire it to be. As for your cousins here? There are those that will seek out your power and you may deem it so to bequeath some of it. For humans the changes are far more... drastic. They are so malleable to influence such as Ours, and soon yours."
"So my kids with Ruby?" Jeb asked as he stared at the beastmen with more than a little worry for his yet to be born children.
"Won't go through such a drastic change. Though they are obviously directly influenced by your power and will differ from how they look and act compared to the other lizardfolk. But that draconic blood running through their veins is stubborn and is not so easy to snuff out. Even with breeding." She said as the assembled beastmen collectively winced like they got a headache all at once and snorted before wandering off to do their own things, the shaman being the only one to stay behind. Though he looked a little more calm now, though it was hard to tell exactly.
"Even those lizards you gift a portion of your power to will have little obvious changes. Mentally or physically. Some might not even change at all! Unlike humans. So easy to twist and change to Our whims and wants. A sliver of power offered and they'll be nothing more than clay in Our hands!" His mother declared with a sinister gleam in her eyes.
"That's... kinda fucked up." Jeb stated as he looked around at the bestial creatures that once called themselves Man.
"You think so now. But when you've lived as long as We have you too will know just how useless humans, mortals in general, are! They are little better than roaches! Rats that live such short fleeting lives, clawing and scratching for the barest hint of power to make themselves greater than they are!" The Crone proclaimed with fervor.
"It is only fitting that We do with them as We please! What other purpose do they have other than to serve and die for Us?"
"NO! You might think that but I still have human friends and I'm not goin' to treat them like pests like you and Casius seem to think they are!" Jeb declared in retort.
"And you will outlive them, and their children, and their children's children. Caring for them is nothing more than folly. But that will change when your Awakening comes and the ritual strips you of those bothersome thoughts and feelings." The Crone stated coldly.
"Well fuck that! I'm not castin' my friends aside so easy!" Jeb stated and turned away to leave.
"Where you going Jeb?"
"Away from you and this fuckin' horror show!"
Before Jeb could take another step though, he found himself tugged back and dragged back to the feet of his mother that looked down on him with amusement.
"Weren't you listening Jeb? We are absolute here. You can't walk away until WE say so."
Jeb huffed and stood and bolted away. He almost made it to where they entered the encampment before he was flung back and dragged across the dirt once more. This time he heard whispering in his ears and felt a intense sense of dread as he looked up at the disappointed sneer of his mother.
Jeb snarled and got up and tried to run again, but found himself running in place. He didn't get any farther, and his rage increased at every frustrating second as the whispers increased. His blood boiled as he struggled for every step he tried to fight against the intense pressure he felt as he tried get away from The Crone, who's voice rang in his ears alongside the whispers.
"What a disappointment. Maybe We should start anew? Perhaps the next one will be better?"
Jeb didn't know what she meant, his vision blurred red even as an ethereal blue glow began to radiate around him and his arm tingled and twitched. He roared as he stopped trying to run and turned and took a swipe at The Crone!
A jagged claw of thorned wood cleaved into the flesh of his mother. Her face split and cracked as what hid underneath showed itself through the mask. A smooth face bare of any features save for a wide maw peeked through the tears.
But Jeb wasn't paying attention anymore. He instantly thought of home as he shut his eyes and concentrated while also waiting for the inevitable strike that would soon follow. He wanted to be home. He wanted to be with Ruby and the kobolds and his unborn kids. Then the whispers and pressure he felt that kept him in place was replaced with the familiar feeling of safety.
He opened his eyes and found himself in the backyard of his home. The nearby kobolds staggered back at his sudden appearance. He looked around for any signs of the beastmen or his mother. But he saw none. No feeling of dread he felt in her realm nor intense pressure like being under a steam-press. Instead he felt the familiar safety of home. He looked around at the familiar scaled faces of the kobolds, at the creek that trickled nearby, then down at his arm just as the tips of his fingers changed back to flesh and nail.
His hand tingled and he felt like he actually did climb a mountain. He would see Ruby so she didn't have to worry. Then he was going to take a nap. He should feel worried about his mother potentially retaliating for the swipe. But right now he never felt safer. He could just see the barest hint of blue flame out the corners of his his eyes. But whenever he would look they would vanish before he could spot whatever it was.
But he had enough weirdness for today, Jeb thought. He wasn't sure how long he had been gone for. But it didn't seem to have been long. Maybe he could still get breakfast and some coffee? Maybe just breakfast and then a nap. Coffee for later. Then he could plan things around his mother potentially coming after him and his new family.
-----
The Crone's Realm.
The Crone watched as Jeb faded from her sight past the boundaries of her realm. The flesh of her mask stitched itself back together with little issue. But that wasn't what she was focused on.
He had struck her! Actually struck her! Well, not HER but that was for another time. He had actually confronted and struck her with a sliver of his actual power! She felt the barest spark as he hit her, and she was DELIGHTED! What will he be able to do when his full power was awakened, she wondered excitedly.
Her smile split her face in a wide grin.
"Perhaps he'll be the one to do it this time?"
She cast her otherworldly gaze down to the cabin to watch Jeb, only to find an ethereal wall of flame around it and his little wicker creatures patrolling the edges only she could see through her otherworldly sight. Their jilted and stinted steps halting as they snapped their baleful gazes towards where they sensed her. She could easily cast them aside if she so desired. But Jeb had done what she had hoped he would. So she would leave him be. Time will tell if he has what it takes, she thought as her presence retreated away from the balefire.