Apologies again for the dry spell between posts, but life is crazy right now. Almost no down time at work, and at home, all my time seems to be going to cars. I DID get the $600 Mustang on the road just in time for my oldest son to start driving. I'll take a win on that one. I'm working on a post about that saga. Hopefully that'll be done next week.
In the meantime, it's time to abuse my main character's soul a little...enjoy.
Now that I know HOW to hurt them, I need to know why they
came after her. That little scaly bastard wasn’t part of the same guild as the
one who took my wife from me, but I’ve learned enough about their world to give
me a good idea of where to begin and what to do once I have. Their race holds
reputation in high regard in a way similar to the way the orcs hold honor. For
the Goran, your prowess in your profession is all that matters. Doesn’t matter
how you earned it as long as you did it well. Honor doesn’t come into it at
all. It’s about how many wins you rack up versus your rivals. It’s about
getting the job and completing the job regardless of who you hurt along the
way.
I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking it sounds an
awful lot like what I do, and you’re right. It is almost exactly how a
professional killer operates with one glaring difference. I’d just as soon kill
my rivals as outscore them. It’s a lot easier to be the best game in town if
you’re the only game in town. I don’t care about being known for being the
best. I’d rather be lucky than good, but that doesn’t mean I don’t work to
perfect my craft. I just want to put a pointy thing into someone. I’d do it for
free, but a fella’s gotta eat. Another big old difference is that, on most
worlds, what I do is generally frowned upon by those in power…at least until
they need my services that is.
So now the big question is why? Why come to Earth? It’s a
back water, no magic, insignificant little pocket of nothing in the grand
scheme. So why come all the way there, abduct my wife, kill a bunch of my
friends, and send my life spiraling into the pit of joy it’s in now. I’m hoping
that the message in the little box I brought back from my last trip home will
shed some light on that.
First thing’s first though. I’ve got to discharge these
runes and gems, or bad things can happen. I kind of like Bobby and The Bar, so
I guess I should disarm this stuff. I put some water into my wash tub and strip
down to the suit I was born with. On the wall beside the tub are some runes
scribed around a couple of handprints that are uncannily similar to mine. Once
I’m in the tub, I reach across and touch the runes in the proper sequence to
activate the grounding effect. I know I’ve done it right when the hand prints take
on a faint bluish glow. I so fucking hate this part. I put my palms onto the
handprints and lightning courses through me. Ok, not lightning but it’s enough
of a shock the stand my hair up and make me pee a little. Dammit, it stings
ok?!?
Once the tingling subsides completely, I know that I am
effectively a dead battery and safe to be around when I’m upset. Ok, less
accidentally lethal to be around. I’m never going to be OSHA’s poster child for
a safe working environment, but at least now I’m pretty sure I won’t
accidentally set some shit on fire.
I step out of my wash tub and towel off. Once I’m dry, I
strap on some jeans, a harness that goes around my chest and holds a few bits
of pointy goodness, and loose fitting shirt. I used to go around unarmed in The
Bar, but a random encounter with a fellow practitioner not too long ago broke
me of that habit. In addition to not sitting around unarmed, I decide it’s
probably a good idea to activate the wards on my door. I don’t doubt that Bobby
would stand in the way of anyone intent on doing me harm up to a point. Better
safe than finding out where that point lies though.
Bobby was nice enough to send me up to my room with a bottle
of a really good single malt Scotch that I favor. Sure there’s better stuff out
in the multidimensional space I play in, but I like it. It reminds me that I am
human, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing to be. It’s somewhere about
halfway through my third glass that I realize I’m stalling. I really don’t know
what to expect but if it’s to be an image of her it’s not going to be easy. Like
I said before though, there’s nothing to it but to do it, so I guess I should
quit being such a nancy about it.
I put my glass down on the table that sits beside my memory
totem cabinet. My hand lingers for a second, and I take a deep breath. On the
exhale I turn to the cabinet and deactivate the wards. I open the door and
reach in to take out the little silver box that is sitting all alone on one
side of the second shelf. Still interesting how the orc totems won’t stay near
it. I feel a little tingle run through my fingers when I touch it. Don’t
remember that from before. Maybe my own stored magic masked it. Who knows?
After I take it out of the cabinet, I close the door and
reactivate the wards. I turn to the table and set the box down next to my
glass. I pick the glass back up and take the last slug of Scotch. Then I sit
down and take a small knife out of its holster under my shirt. I prick the tip
of my middle finger and squeeze it to get a little ball of blood to well up. Once
I’ve got a drop about the size of a lentil, I touch it to the hole in the lid
of the box just above the gently glowing blue gem.
I don’t know what I was expecting to happen. Maybe I was
bracing for impact from some kind of a magical head butt or something. That is
definitely NOT what happened. Instead the room kind of shifted out of focus
making everything seem fuzzy and then she was standing there off to my right. I
turned my head slowly to face her, but it took effort, like the muscles in my
neck just didn’t want to comply with what my brain was telling them to do. I
literally had to force my head to turn to look at her.
It hurt…a lot. All of the pain of that day all of those years
ago rushed back in and damn near crushed me. I felt a tear form in my eye. I
honestly didn’t think I was capable of that anymore.
“Husband.”
The word hit me like a wall of rock. It crushed me, and I
lost track of time. I have no idea how long I lay there in the floor, but when
I came back to my senses every muscle in my torso hurt. She still stood there
patiently waiting for me to rejoin her, so I got my ass up out of the floor. I
put my chair back on its feet and sat down.
“If you are hearing my voice now it means they have found me,
and I did not survive it. I recorded this in the hope that it would never need
to be seen. The magic of the box would only have brought it to you if I were
dead. I had hoped to eventually have this conversation with you in the flesh. I
am so sorry you have to suffer this alone.”
Found me? That means
she knew she was being hunted? Why wouldn’t she have trusted me with that? How
deep is this rabbit hole gonna go?
“Please know that despite the façade I was forced to put up
to hide from those who would do me harm, my love for you was very real. Never
have I known a man of such deep passion and conviction. I was drawn to you. Men
like you are rare on your world and non-existent on mine. I could not help but
love you, and protect you. You have darkness in you that was threatening to
consume you when we met. Maybe that was what attracted me. I saw a potential
protector in you…a man capable of great violence but also a man capable of a
deep love.”
If she only knew.
“I feel I should tell you everything, but the capacity of
this box will not allow it. It will have to be the abridged version then.”
“My people are creatures of ancient magic. When a race
exists for as long as mine has, political maneuvering and intrigue become
almost innate behaviors, and my father was an elder on the ruling council for
our people. Despite our scheming and political maneuvering we could not even
fathom that one of our kind would ever seek power over all. Unfortunately that
short sightedness cost my people dearly. One of the most powerful of my people
went mad and killed our council and set himself as the supreme ruler of all. He
began to hunt down and kill any surviving family member of the council, so my
family fled into exile across the multiverse. I had been fleeing for just over
a hundred years when I finally came to your world and found you that night.”
A hundred years? Good
lord what that must have been like. It’s no wonder she was so desperate to find
a protector.
“I came to Terra looking for a protector. I never expected
to find you. When we first met, I was interested only in a warrior who could
protect me from those who would have me dead. After the altercation in the bar
that first night I knew it would be you. The way you attacked without
hesitation and the ferocity with which you fought to defend me told me you were
the one I needed. I must admit that at first I saw you only as a weapon for my
defense. That is why I did what I did, and I hope you can understand and
forgive me that transgression against you.”
What the fuck is she
talking about? What transgression?
“Before The Enlightenment, my people were also violent and
murderous. Out of that grew a magic called The Binding. The enchantment was
designed to tap into the murderous part of the target’s psyche, no matter how
small, and amplify it while also creating a bond to the caster that borders on
fanatical devotion. The target of the enchantment will defend the caster to
their dying breath and utterly destroy anyone or anything they view as a
threat. They were hardly more than rabid animals. It was barbaric but necessary
at the time. We evolved beyond our violent nature and had lived in peace for
countless millennia. My people have not used The Binding since The
Enlightenment, until I used it on you. That first cry of fear was actually a
net I cast out over the bar. It touched everyone but only the one who would be
my protector would respond. When our eyes met after the fight, I cemented the
Bond.”
I could feel my anger firing up, but there was a feeling of
hurt and betrayal that overshadowed it. Used
it on me?!?! Used it on me?!?! Was any of what I felt for her even real, or was
it all some kind of magical mind-fuck?!? Suddenly I was very glad I had
discharged all of my magic storage. I’d probably burn my room down with the way
I feel right now.
“Husband, I would be willing to bet that you’re on the edge
of a murderous rage about now. You would be completely justified in that, but I
ask you to bear with me and listen before you judge me too harshly. I bound you
to me, true, but I worked very hard to bury that binding. I did not need to
bring out your violent side. I knew that from the first night. In fact, while
we sat and talked I also wove an enchantment to suppress it a bit and bring you
a measure of peace, but that enchantment would burn away should you need to
protect me. You were in so much turmoil and pain. I needed your protection, but
you needed me as well. That is why I did what I did.”
“The Binding also made you fall in love with me, but over
time I suppressed that as well when I realized you had begun to love me truly.
I could sense it through the Bond. In the end you were bound to me, but instead
of a steel cable, I tried to tie you with a ribbon. The magic of The Binding
could never be undone. In most cases if the caster were to die, the protector
would be driven insane and have to be killed. Otherwise, they became an
indiscriminate killing machine often killing many of my people before killing
themselves. I regretted that, but I did need a protector. That’s why I bound
you, but I tried my best to bind you in a way that would be the least
controlling of your will.”
She says that as if
that makes robbing someone of their free will ok. “But why?” the words
slipped out of my mouth before I even realized I was speaking out loud.
“Because, Husband, I had seen my family slaughtered in front
of me by one of my own kind advocating a return to our unenlightened ways. A
return to the unchecked barbarism of an age long dead.”
“WHAT THE FUCK?!?” I exclaimed jumping up from my chair. Did the illusion of my wife just answer my
question? “Can you interact with me?
Up until now the image had been staring straight ahead, but
now she turned and looked me squarely in the eyes and responded, “To a limited
degree yes. Original thought is beyond my capability, but I can answer
questions about happenings and circumstances I contain memories of. What would
you like to know?”
“I just want to know two things,” I said through clenched
teeth.
“Ask and I will answer if I can.”
“Fine. How can I trust that she loved me and wasn’t just
with me for protection?”
“As I said before, in the beginning, it was purely an act of
self-preservation, but as time passed I came to love you with all my being. I
do not know how to convince you of that, but know that it is true.”
I let the feeling of that soak in for a minute. I felt the
fire for retribution in my belly reignite and give me the strength for my
second question.
“How do I turn off this goddamn box?”
“Simply touch the blue stone. You can reactivate me at any
time you wish with another drop of blood.”
She had confirmed everything Serilla had told me about the
bond, but I still didn’t know how it was purged from my mind. I touched the
stone, and she winked out of existence.
“Yeah…don’t hold your
breath.”
1 comment:
That's interesting... Well done!
Post a Comment