Fortune Favors the Bold 3
by jobberinnyc
The third scroll... in which, pain is brought to both our heroes, sacrifices are made, a blessing is asked and you learn that which you do not yet know...
The first sweet breaths of warm air, as we came down from the mountain filled my lungs with joy. The breeze was less harsh than it had been in weeks, and when I saw the first slim blades of grass poking up through the thinning snow, it was like a kiss from the goddess herself. Even your mood had lightened considerably and, for that, more than anything else, I was grateful. As we came down from the mountain, you pushed us further into the deep woods, knowing I was anxious for a warm stream or lake for a bath and a swim. Had we been merely traveling you would have laughed that I was anxious to see you nude, but we were traveling for a reason. I knew only that you were searching for something. If I had known what to look for, perhaps we could together have prevented what would come next. The lake water was warm, and I sunk far beneath the surface, feeling the water brush the last remnants of the harsh cold from me. I came to the surface and felt my way to the ground beneath me. I bowed my head and thanked the mistress of the water for her blessing and gave her seeds in payment for allowing me to swim. I saw you on the edge of the water, sitting quietly. The noonday heat had caused you to sweat and I could see the drops glistening in the sun on the tips of your chest hair. You took a piece of grass from the ground and I watched as the sinews of your forearms twitched and danced.
As I finished my prayer and offering I stood there and closed my eyes. I reached out with my senses, enjoying the world. I was surprised at how it responded to me. As you understand the animals of the forest, so is my talent that for Mother Earth herself. I sucked in my breath and heard the soft cries of the world. It was wrong somehow. I realized too late, that the mountains had been too cold, too cruel and the forest too warm for the natural course of things. I admit, I was a fool for not seeing it sooner. Something was fundamentally wrong, and I cursed myself for not seeing it earlier. I I moved swiftly, sensing the movement too late.
I heard the roar as I waded out of the water and saw the creature come at you. My first thought was that it was a creature and it took me a moment to realize it was a man. He was bigger than you, my liege. As small as I was to you, you were to him. He wore little but a chain around his neck, and a pair of boots and a small warrior's skirt covering his sex. He was smooth, while you were hairy and he scared me more than I would have thought possible. Spittle ran from the corner of his mouth and down his chest and I watched as you waited for him to move.
The first blows of any warrior are not meant to disable not to kill. They are feints, light blows meant to test speed, strength, prowess. This, even I knew. This man creature apparently, did not. His fist flew at your face, almost faster than I could see. I had seen men Hit your chin before. Once I had to wrap a hand in ice and salves to curb the swelling. This time I heard you yell in pain and fall down to the ground. He took advantage of you and leapt upon you, pinning you to the ground. His blows rained down hard, but you were still fast and perhaps only two in five punches hit you. It was still enough to cause you pain.
I came fast upon the shore but did not enter the battle. Magicks used during wars are powerful but they require careful planning and preparation. This is why so many rulers delay battles until their mages are prepared, and so I hid carefully while I watched. I saw your thick forearm block a punch from this massive stranger and your other arm flashed quicker than my eye could follow and you struck his throat with enough force to shatter a tree trunk. He coughed and fell onto his side more surprised than hurt. You both came quickly to your feet and I could see where he had opened up a cut over your eye and the blood flowed down. He sneered, a cruel look in his eyes and he attacked. There was no strategy is his attack, there was only brute force. He took you off your feet and carried you through the nearest tree. I watched in horror as it splintered and fell into the lake. I heard your cry of pain and stood by helplessly as he lifted you over his head and threw you towards a rock. The sound of the impact was cruel and I winced in pain along with you. You tried desperately to stand before he was on top of you but there was no chance. He thundered two fists into your back and I saw blood ooze from your mouth. You coughed and sputtered and I saw your back turn red a purple from the impacts. He took your hand within his and he started to crush it. I saw your face grimly try not to show the pain until the crack of bones caused a sharp scream of agony. He tightened his grip and started to spin nearly pulling your arm from your body. He threw you and again you flew into the air, as easily as I would toss a piece of fruit and landed close to the edge of the lake. His walked, no, he thundered towards you the ground almost shaking with each step. He grabbed you by your hair, your beautiful hair, which I ran my fingers through each night since the first time we had shared our bodies and yanked you toward the lake. He waded in, dragging you behind him and thrust your head under the water. No matter how strong a man, no matter how fierce he is in battle he still has to breathe and though I saw you thrash about, I knew your struggles were more than halved by the quick and cruel beating you had already endured. I could no longer watch and I curled quietly at the base of a tree behind a bush, unsure what to do to rescue you from this behemoth. I heard, rather than saw him yank you from the water and I stifled the sob as best I could. I heard a branch snap and looked up to see a cold, cruel smile and the flash of a fist before I could move.
When I awoke, you were not in my sight, and I was naked and lying on a huge bed covered in Eastern silks. The huge creature who had beaten you was standing by the door and he stared at me as though waiting to be told to beat me. The door was huge and made of a dark wood and when it opened a tall, thin man entered the room. He radiated power, not physical, nor magickal but power instead of influence. I knew that in this land, this man was the ruler. Just as I knew before he spoke he did not rule with justice and kindness and temperance, but instead with fear and pain. His voice sound like the king cobra when I spoke to him in the far away land of India when we visited. A voice of oil and honey and venom.
"I have heard of you. Of your fortunes and augers. I wish you to tell my fortune. To tell me that which is unseen to all but you."
It took me a moment to find my voice. "I see, because I look and for no other reason. Where is--"
"Him? Your warrior? He is beneath us in my dungeon. And unless you tell me what I wish to hear, I'll allow my own warrior to destroy him piece by piece." He sat beside me on the bed and smiled a smile devoid of humor. "I am no longer content to rule this stretch of land. I will wage war on this entire world and I shall use you to tell me when it is advisable to do so. And with you and with Grendel," he waved his hand at the creature standing guard by the door, "I shall rule this entire world."
"I would never help you." He stood up and removed his robe coming around the bed, closer to me. "No matter how you try and hurt me."
He spoke not to me, but to Grendel. "Hold him." In a matter of seconds the creature had crossed the room and grabbed me. He easily flipped me onto my stomach and held me there with no effort no matter how much I struggled. I have no desire to tell you or relive what happened to me next my lord, and in truth most of what I remember is the pain, and the smell of him and the sweat from the King's face falling heavily upon my back. The King fell upon my back spent and tried to nuzzle my neck as a lover would. He laughed at my tears.
When it was done Grendel grabbed my ankle and yanked me down to the dungeons, showing me your own cell and laughing as I called to you, watched you sleep in pain and covered with bruises. And I was thrown carelessly into another cell and left.
I do not know where the idea came from. In truth it was not something to be entered lightly and it came to me as the clouds covered the moon. It was foolish and reckless and I knew the cost would be so high. As I had so recently said to you, nothing comes without a cost. And this would cost me dearly. I fell to my knees in pain and rooted around the cell until I found a shard of rock from someone who had tried to escape this dank place. I knelt and cut my palm until the blood flowed freely.
I dipped my fingers into the blood and drew ancient symbols on my face, my arms, my chest. I pushed any thoughts of the goddess aside and held out my hands in supplication to the gods of war. I prayed to the ancient gods of death and destruction and thought of the goddess in far off India who wore her enemies skulls upon her breast. The god of thunder from the land of Chin who rained destruction upon those who didn't give proper offerings. The god of war in the ancient lands of Greece who happily walked upon blood stained battlefields. And I began to dance. I thought of the dances taught to me by the shamans of Africanus whose skin was as dark as my thoughts. I danced a dance of which I have no words to describe to those who not dream of death. I spat upon the ground the remnants of my love and compassion and thought not of healing you, but of bringing pain to those who had hurt you.
I danced through the pain at first until I could no longer bear it, and I fell upon the ground and I knew that all the gods were granting me my wish that I would bring devastation in their honor. The first pain I felt in my chest and as I fell, the muscles underneath began to grow. My arm muscles felt as though they would burst through my skin. I could barely lift them, they were so thick with power. My legs ached as they struggled to try and hold up the mass of my upper body until they too began to grow. My legs which had once seemed so small compared to yours now dwarfed even what my waist had been in my old body. I watched as the muscles themselves ripped and healed over and over, growing larger and more massive. I saw my arm stripped down to the bone and regrow strand by stand and piece by piece. I stumbled and felt the ground shake beneath me with each step. I stood completely and felt the top of my head brush the roof of the cell. The pain inside me subsided and I growled stomping towards the door which I took off it's hinges with a casual flick of my thickly muscled wrist.
Had I been myself I would have rescued you first, but I was not who I was meant to be and I could only think of one thing: causing pain to those who had brought pain to me.
To be continued