by Kieron Uchee
That was that and with a smile, Zeus turned back to the throne and began to drink, within seconds a new maiden was walking towards him and pulling her top down. As I glanced over the crowd near Zeus I saw the second throne behind his it was closer than the other thrones scattered around. Sitting on it was an attractive lady who appeared to be in her mid-thirties with sad brown eyes and light lines of tension around her mouth.
As I began to drift towards her Bacchus arrived and offered me a flagon of his wine, taking it I thanked him but remembering the stories I quickly put it down and left it behind. As I mingled and was greeted it became apparent that the Gods were curious about me and my new perception showed that more than a few were upset that I was present. Only a couple seemed to really wish to harm me. Aside from trying to crush the bones in my wrist as they clasped arms with me, they departed quietly looking surprised as I applied more pressure to them than they did to me.
I was finally able to make my way to the sad lady and as I approached she glanced down at me. I could tell that she was lonely and proud and very sad, but still full of fire.
“I am Hera the wife of Zeus and his queen, you may approach me,” she said. I bowed before her and introduced myself, after exchanging small talk for several minutes I still could not fully understand what I was feeling from her. The emotions were strong yet tangled was how I would describe them.
Hera looked at Torn, this newly Ascended Demigod and thought, he is only level eight yet he radiates power and something more. Looking down at Torn, Hera spoke, “Let me ask you a question Torn, both Gods, and demigods, have powers and abilities, I am curious, what are yours?”
Torn thought very carefully before replying and then said, “I have been gifted in song and verse, indeed if I may, let me entertain you with a small song.” Seeing Hera smile he quickly opened his PIM and began to search for something in the music library that he felt would be appropriate.
Locating the music in the subfolder named classics he wanted I asked, “May I sing for you?” Seeing Hera nod her head I spread my arms and with a don’t fail me now, thought I began to sing Van Morrison’s song.
"Brown Eyed Girl"
I was keeping an eye on Hera as I sang and I could see her close her eyes as the music radiated out from me and when I sang the last two lines of the first stanza “My brown eyed girl, you, my brown eyed girl” I could see the tears start to fall. Hera eyes were brown I had noticed.
As I continued to sing I noticed that all the other sounds were fading away and glancing around I could see the Gods were all starting to listen, even Zeus. I continued on and as I approached the end of the song singing about making love in the green green grass with my brown eyed girl I felt a hand upon my shoulder.
All I could think of was Shit, I stepped into it this time when I heard Zeus speak. “Torn, you have awakened memories of an earlier age when my love and I would sneak off and spend time alone. Zeus then smiled at Hera and walked over to her, extending his hand he waited as she looked at him. When she reached out and grabbed his hand they both began to smile.
I could suddenly perceive her love for Zeus, and I realized that her pain and anger had to do with his constant screwing around. I am not a marriage counselor but as I looked at Hera I could see the lines disappear from her face and suddenly she seemed no more than 20. She just wanted the love of her man.
Zeus leaned towards her and whispered something which caused Hera to giggle and then she pointed at me and whispered back at Zeus. Suddenly Zeus began to speak and once again his voice was amplified so everyone could hear.
“Torn, as thanks for restoring to me and mine the memories of our youth I grant you a boon, what would you ask of the King of the Gods?”
Thinking back to all that had happened I had no clue what to ask for when suddenly Lakhesis stood in front of Zeus.
“Zeus, his threads are now tied to an island at the foot of Mount Olympus and he has indeed joined the Pantheon, yet he has a duty to finish in another realm. He must return to that realm and accomplish what his geis is before he can return here.” Her voice had also projected, and now people were beginning to take a closer look at me.
It is not a comfortable feeling when a few dozen Gods turn their attention on you. Zeus interrupted my thoughts by nodding at Lakhesis as she vanished then walking up to me and placing his hand upon my head.
“This is now your home and the land you are tied to is forever yours, receive the buff of hearth and home. Now before you begin to establish yourself here return to your distant realm and fulfill your duty.”
Suddenly I was gone, hurling through time and space like a bad episode of Dr. Who. Then abruptly I was standing on a dock behind some crates, listening to the dockworker's curses as they moved crates, bags and chests around. I glanced at the sun it was near the end of its journey across the sky. Stepping around the crates I glanced down towards the end of the dock and observed Reona being led down the dock by Capitan Draik.
She was in chains and very little else, and guarding her were two of the Capitan’s crew, aside from that she did not appear to be guarded. She stumbled and almost fell but with a savage jerk of the chains binding her she was yanked back to her feet by Capitan Draik.
She must be drugged, I thought as I knew that she was much stronger than a normal woman. She was a Dhaympire, a daylight vampire and tough as hell. Something was not right and I felt I should fix it. The Capitan did not notice me lounging around the piled crates until he was level with me, and by then my fist had broken a couple of his ribs.
He stared at me with his eyes wide with shock and stuttered, “How is it possible, you drowned in the sea, we left you fighting a giant?”
I was too busy to answer him as the first crewmember was attacking me with a rusty saber. I grabbed the blade and sent a powerful electrical current down through the metal and into his hand. This caused him to go flying across the dock and into the side of a ship after which he fell into the sea.
Those Nanobots have saved my ass several times, I thought as the second crewmember began to poke at me with a long pole with a hook on the end. Grabbing the pole, I pulled the sailor towards me and then grabbed him by his shirt and pants and using my strength I threw him over the docked ship and into the sea.
Turning towards the Capitan I caught a flash of steel as he tried to rush not me but Reona, without thinking I cast Dragon fire on him and watched as his face took on a horrified look behind the flames as the screaming started. It did not last long. Soon he was a pile of ashes on the dock which had a small seared spot where he had been standing.
Turning to Reona I found her staring blankly at me, it was clear that she was drugged and by how she was dressed I suspected the Capitan had been planning on selling her to a wealthy private individual. I grabbed the chains and easily broke them, tossing them aside I glanced at her, the sheer covering hid nothing from her flaming red patch to her dark nipples.
Shrugging, I took off my shirt and covered her up, but as my shirt came off and my chest and arms were revealed I realized that she could see that roses and swords were tattooed on my arms and the runic script that was tattooed all across my chest and back.
I could hear a stunned gasp and then suddenly a whisper, “Tor, your Tor!” I glanced at Reona as she said this only to see her face turn white and then suddenly she fainted into my arms.
Well, this is another fuck me moment, I thought as I began to walk back down the dock towards the ship carrying the passed out Reona.
Chapter 29 The Ship
As I walked down the dock I glanced around, noting a pile of barrels near the ship I decided to stash Reona behind them. It was puzzling to me why the ships decks were empty but it was to my advantage. Climbing up the plank I stood quietly and listened, tuning out all the ambient noise, I could soon here several of the sailors speaking, they were below the deck in the main hold.
Walking over to the opening I glanced down and saw that seven crew were standing in a circle around a woma
n, her hands were bound and she was naked. I knew where this was going to end and I had seen enough to know that I had to stop it. Jumping down into the hold I landed silently, none of the men had noticed me, they were giving all of their attention to one of the sailor’s as he grabbed at the woman’s breasts.
I stood there for a moment and then shouted, “What the fuck do you think you are doing?” As the men turned towards me I transformed, staying as an Elf but extending my Dragon claws from both hands and elbows. As the first man jumped towards me I punched him and as my claws exited his back I slowly lifted him above my head.
This must have been a Kodak moment as all the men froze for a minute, taking advantage of this lapse I threw the man at the two closest sailors. They all went down and I charged forward, unfortunately, one of the other sailors had a saber and unsheathing it he swung at me. As he did I slid forward and grasped his arm and then spinning around I continued to thrust his arm forward which dislocated his shoulder as it buried the saber into the closest sailor.
Letting him go I jumped towards the last two sailors standing, one managed to get a hit on me with a solid punch to the head. As I went backward I kicked out and got him right in the stones, judging by his scream it was a solid kick. The other sailor continued to advance and I knew I was at a huge disadvantage, I had landed flat on my back and could not effectively block his kicks to my legs.
After receiving two or three solid kicks I managed to grab his foot and twisted, as I felt the bones break in his leg as I swung my left leg up and kicked him in the right hip with also broke. He fell to the floor screaming and I turned to face the last of the sailors. He had pulled a knife and was holding it to the girl’s throat, whom I now recognized as the guard Tasia.
“You’re not so tough, now are you?” The sailor was red in the face and I could smell the grog on his breath, his words were slurred and I knew he had been drinking heavily. He spoke again and said, “You and me we are going to be getting off the ship with missy here and then we are going to find the city watch, it will be a pity that you had to kill the girl when she had almost escaped, but once I tell and show the guards this hold they will know what a monster you are.”
I nodded to myself, his plan was good and could work, all he had to do was kill Tasia and make sure he was close enough to the city watch to yell at them and they would come running. The other sailors would agree that I had attacked them and would no doubt put the blame for everything on me. Suddenly the man burped and then drew a ragged breath of air in.
I watched as he burped again and then as he began to breathe inwards I cast a small Dragon fire right in his mouth. The alcoholic fumes ignited and once the fires hit his lungs they seemed to explode as he tried to scream. I grabbed the knife as he dropped it and spinning it in my hand twice I plunged it into his left eye and left it there as he dropped. Turning around I saw that the first two sailors I had knocked down were now standing and had started to circle me.
I turned to face the closest one and watched as he flipped his knife from hand to hand. I tried to look him in the eyes but this one had seen combat and kept his eyes on my hands. I could perceive an overwhelming desire to kill me along with a rank stench of fear. I could also sense the second sailor creeping towards my back, probably thinking if he could grab me he would immobilize me from defending myself.
That seemed like a good idea so I pretended not to notice him as he crept closer until he wrapped his arms around me in a bear hug. He was a strong man and held his grip tight while screaming, “Cut his throat, cut his fucking throat.” The knife-wielding sailor grinned and began to walk towards me.
The sailor with the knife spoke, “I am going to cut you up, and leave you begging for your life and then I will say no.” He was almost within reach as he said this but he felt safe as my arms were bound by the other sailor.
I extended my elbow claws fully as I quickly pushed my arms back while twisting them slightly inward. Both of the claws pierced the sailor and with a gurgle of blood and air he sagged against me and then fell to the floor. I had punctured both lungs, and I knew he would not last long.
The sailor about to attack me looked down at his friend blowing bloody bubbles out of his mouth and then looked at me. “What the fuck are you?” He screamed as he darted towards me with the knife slashing towards my throat.
The temptation to use a corny one-liner was strong but I managed to resist. His movements seemed to slow down as I focused on the knife coming at me. I reached up and grabbed it by the blade and pulled it from his grasp. My strength was now so far above my level it surprised even me. As I spun around him he continued to go forward, his momentum was too much for him to stop and he then tripped on his dying friend.
As he fell I threw the knife and watched it as it entered the back of his head, in the occipital area. He was dead before he hit the ground and I began to look at the other sailors, all were now dead except the one I had immobilized with a broken leg and hip. Compound fractures, I thought as he kept screaming and clutching at the shards of bone that were visible having punctured his skin which was bleeding intensively.
I walked over to him and spoke, “You and I are going to have a little talk my friend, so I will start, where is the rest of Reona’s guard?”
“Fuck you,” was the answer.
That was the wrong answer, and to be honest I actually thought about stabbing him in the bottom of both his feet with my claws. I stopped suddenly and turned away. Here I was acting like one of the Gods, killing, maiming and about to torture someone just to find some information.
My stomach tightened and I felt both anger and shame. What the hell is happening to me, I thought. This must be due to the fact that I had four Ascended powers now joined to my spirit, and also because I was using my Dragon abilities more. Dragons can be both powerful and cruel. It seems ingame that all beings become callous as they grow in power, I thought. I will have to keep an I on myself, I don’t want to go all Jekyll and Hide here.
I glanced down at the sailor, the shock had set in and he was bleeding profusely, I turned around and looked over at Tasia and saw that she was down on the floor. Walking over to her I quickly had her free. I tried to talk to her but it was apparent that she was drugged and could not respond.
I glanced around and found some rope and went back to the wounded sailor and tied him tightly. Then I found some sailcloth and wrapping all the dead sailors in it I then made my way to the deck dragging up the bodies. I appreciated my strength more and more as I did that, it would have been impossible for a normal player unless he was high level and had maxed out strength.
Once back on deck I jumped down to the dock and collected Reona and brought her back to her cabin, then went to the hold and brought up Tasia and put her with Reona. Taking my time, I began to search the ship. It was in the small forehold the I discovered the bodies of the rest of the guards. They had all had their throats slit.
I gathered more sailcloth and laid each body to rest on the cloth, bundling it up I made my way back to the deck and place the bundle besides the other one. Going down to where I had slept I was surprised to discover my gear was still there. Bringing it all up to the deck I lit a smoke and thought for a few minutes. The watch had not approached the ship yet for which I was grateful, I thought that killing the Capitan and his men would have been enough to have someone call them.
The docks were a rough place and I guessed that most people minded their own business down here. I still had to find a way to dispose of the bodies, and then when Reona was lucid find out what had happened and what we would do next.
There was also the problem that she had identified me as Tor. That could be a game changer, the only thing I had was when I talked to her my perception would enable me to see if she was lying or telling the truth.
The plan had been to enter the city and greet the local nobility then procure mounts to travel to the Dwarven Kingdom. As I sat and thought about this it occurred to me that it could still work, I would h
ave to make a simple story of escaping the sailors and defeating them but that is where the problem is. There would be questions of how a low level like myself could defeat everyone on the ship and rescue the girls.
As I racked my brains I decided to do a little looting and making my way to the officer's cabins I started with the Capitan’s quarters. The door was locked but not for long, my skill with picks was increasing. Upon entering I noticed several things, one the Capitan was a messy guy, dirty clothing was strewn about and the bed was unmade. The second thing I noticed was that both the ship’s logbook and the Capitan’s journal were chained shut. The third thing was two chests, one large and one small with each one locked shut.
Grinning slightly, I decided to open the large chest first, it took a while, the lock was complex and well crafted. Eventually, I heard the click and the lid swung open. I glanced down into the chest and observed it was broken into three compartments, the first held gold coins, lot of them, the second held jewels some large some small but again there were lots of them. The third held maps, a dozen encased in their protective tubing. I placed the gold coins and jewels in my bag and pulled all the maps out of the chest, carefully I placed them in my bag also.
The maps were a worth more to me than the gold and jewels. They are hard to come by and cost a small fortune. The Capitan probably had been collecting them for years, I thought. I would scan them into my PIM as soon as I was done searching the Capitan’s quarters.
Turning my attention to the small chest I began to work at picking the lock, it was delicate and I took my time, finally, after a long 20 minutes, it clicked open. Standing back, I opened it and saw that it was contoured to hold vials, there were 50 of them held in place with straps against a soft velvet background.
I looked at several of them and saw that they were high level and rare, they would fetch a large profit at the Auction house or would be a worthy addition to any Houses treasury. I grabbed the chest and put it in my bag, then systematically began to pull out each map I had found and then scan it into my PIM. Finishing took a while but when it was done I could call up almost all the world's coastlines and in some cases, large tracts of land far from the coast.