Taking Back the Eastfallon Stretches, Part 5
#11 of The Goddess Files
A continuation.
So it was that achallenge was given to the Red Wolf usurper, Shrupel. Jon-Tom wordedthe message carefully. "To the present and unlawful lord of theEastfallon Stretches. If it pleases his majesty, a challenge to thethrone is hereby presented in the name of the rightful heir, Orath,daughter of Thy-uralis, to be met tomorrow at high noon. If hiscowardly self does not appear, this vanguard shall storm the city andremove him and every one of his bastard henchmen by force. This willbe done in the most efficient and concise manner possible; with theedges of our blades. If he should win, the throne shall be his andhis heirs to posterity." Shrupel read theparchment and threw it on the floor. "Coward am I? I am not stupidenough to be drawn out so easily!" One of his men knelt and askedfor leave to talk. "My lord. If the people of this land hear thatyou did not meet this challenge, your hold will cease to be. As itis, many rally behind her. You must meet their champion or you willsurely lose all that you have gained." The red king looked sharplyat his guardsman. With a sudden move he lunged forward, grabbed thesoldier's sword and severed his head. He dropped the blade andreturned to the throne. "He speaks wisdom, which is a good thingfor last words. He is right; I must meet this giant. And I willdefeat him. Then no one will ever make claim against me again." So it was that the
challenge was accepted. Jon-Tom was mildly surprised. Only a fool
gave up a strategic location. The palace would have been much tougher
to storm. Here, out on the field, watchful eyes could be kept on all
his men. All the better for his side. Truthfully, it was all the
better for him, for the less magic he had to expend, the more this
ended up as Orath's fight. Since he couldn't fight with her or for
her, that left their love making. That night he expected his mate to
join him in bed. She politely refused. "Jon-Tom, I promise you one
more time before noon tomorrow, but tonight I must meditate on what I
am going to do. All I ask is that you keep your promises to me." He
stroked her arm. "Each and every one of them." Come morning they wereup early, watching the sun rise over the distant mountains. The oldsoldiers were just getting up, and nodded with embarrassment at notpreceding their lord and lady to wakefulness. Jon-Tom clamped a pawon Rethes' shoulder. "Don't worry my friend, there is plenty oftime. You have no battle today, only our lady here. Your job is topresent a solid front in case his horde decides to try anythingunderpawed. Rethes bowed. "You can count on us Lobo sir. Our eyesaren't as sharp as they used to be, but we can all fire an arrow andslice with a sword. All we need is the word!" Orath was walking aheadof the two males, keeping her eye on her home city. The outside worldknew it was Ironstone, for it sat on the remains of an old lava flow.While not truly iron, the rock beneath the city was hard, so toughthat stone masons and wizards once spent seven years carving out thedungeons below the palace. The lands around the city were once richwith grass and grazing lizards. They were still green, but thelizards had been hunted to extinction. She knew that Jon-Tom had beenhelping in small ways, such as providing food; ways that couldn't betraced to him. But she knew, and the men knew. Unlike her, they stillassumed he was to act as her champion. They would be filled withdismay when she challenged the red king herself. They might love her,but their faith in her abilities was limited. One against one maybe,one against five; maybe. One against them all; never. Jon-Tom caught up withher as she was leaving the borders of their camp. "Whoa. Where areyou headed?" She made an expansive gesture. "I was looking overmy lands. It's a funny thing for me to say. I never expected to behere again. The thought of taking back what was rightfully mine neverentered my mind until you came along. Of sure, I fancied that itcould happen, but I had little faith in myself. But you and yourlady, the goddess, changed all that. I'm not certain if I owe you adebt of gratitude or not. I guess I'll know that after today is over.If I survive, then yes, I owe you both. If not, then I will be freein a different way." He pulled her close. "Iwish this was easier. I have all this power now, power I never askedfor, and power I could use freely to make this so much simpler. ButI have no guarantee that doing so would provide the best outcome. Asit is, everything I have done, everything I do may have negativeconsequences on the timeline. As we speak it may be taut, vibratinglike the strings of a lute, overextended and waiting to break. Ifthat happens, I can only guess what horrors will rain down upon us. Iam
concerned that they will make this horde of reds look like aschool room full of naughty children." She pushed him away."What? Are you now believing that you are the Antochi ton Ilikion?That is an old myth. The Strength of Ages is a destroyer, levelingwaste to all in his path. While I understand your concern, if thetime comes, I believe that you will not have it in you to do such athing. If the myth is true, I feel in my heart that it will not beyou. You have more love in you than any living creature I have knownor heard about. You love me, yet you love the creator of this world,of all life here. You have children you have yet to see grown. Youhave much reason to celebrate life. I cannot say that I understandall of this, but I accept it. On top of this, you have promised tostay out of this fight. I intend for you to keep your word. Ifsomething happens to me to threaten our children, that is the onlyinterference I will allow. Saving them if I die. Pledge it again!"He did. She sighed. "Then there is nothing else to do until noon. He was going to mentionhitting the bed one last time, but decided it was inappropriate toask, and selfish to boot. She spent the morning honing her blades toa razor's edge. Strangely, she never changed out of her night dress,a filmy silken white gown that was fairly see through. While someconsidered it nearly scandalous, she ignored their looks. If she wasgoing into battle, she could do as she pleased. Armor was going to beuseless against more than one, and she preferred to fightunencumbered. Even her standard black and gray colors were shunned.Her black pants and vest were neatly folded on the new chair she hadbeen given. One of the localcraftsman had willing carved a replica of the old throne in thepalace for her to use in camp. He had insisted that Orath take itwith her, for luck, he said. She had not once sat on it. Her reason;"I will sit on the real throne. I will accept no imitations!"Jon-Tom had chided her for that. "He means it as no insult. Hecreated it as incentive, as a beacon of hope. You should sit on it atleast once!" She quietly refused. She would not sit on it for anyreason. Come noon, their forceslined up on the fields outside the city. From the city gate boiledShrupel's wolves, dressed in red and bearing swords and pikes andbows. The renegade king rode out on a chariot pulled by six of hismen. He was tall and ugly, with a scarred face. Jon-Tom's Dire Wolfform was naturally a bit homely, but this fellow, when compared tohis men, was downright disgusting. He oozed nastiness and evil.Whatever he had been born as, it had grown twisted and corrupted overtime. Jon-Tom loathed
him immediately. Shrupel stepped off hischariot and strode forward, followed by ten of his closest guards. "Iam here to answer the summons to challenge." He looked at Jon-Tomand assessed him. "My, the reports of your size have not beenexaggerated. It would seem to me that a fight with you, one on one,would hardly be considered fair." Jon-Tom, aka Lobo, bared histeeth. "Seems fair from where I'm standing, you littlecock-sucker." The king bristled. "Name calling? You will notthrow me off my guard that easily. But I stand by my words; a fairfight against you will require you to fight all of my men. Then youcan challenge me!" Orath pushed her way tothe front. She stood looking Shrupel in the eyes. "Lobo is not mychampion, you ass, he is my mate. I will be doing my own fighting,and I will do it alone. And your terms are acceptable to me; oneagainst two hundred." The red king searched her face for any signsof humor. There was none. "You? You dare challenge me? You'renothing more than a broken whore child that should have had herthroat slit years ago. Look at you, you wear a dress like a whore andyou lay with this freak like a whore. You may challenge me for thethrone, but you will die like a whore." She got a grim smile on herface. "Perhaps you're right. Maybe that's all I am. But I will showyou what this whore can do!" She turned to the old soldiers. "Getme the chair!" They were confused butcompliant. The mock throne was brought out and set in front of Orath.She turned to Lobo and commanded him, "Get undressed, and sit onthat chair." In a softer voice she added, "And show me yourbiggest cock, but make sure that when I go down on it, the damn thingfits!" He was chagrined by her request. It made no sensewhatsoever. She had promised a last time before the battle, but thiswas ridiculous. However, he did as he was told, stripping down infront of everyone. He made certain he had a big cock showing,something more appropriate for a horse than a wolf. It hung betweenhis legs like a mace. He sat down on the chair. His cock was now talland erect. Orath turned to Shrupel. "Yes, I suppose that to you Iam nothing more than a whore. It is how you have treated my kingdom.But let me show you what a whore can do. She dropped her gown,showing off her belly. She whirled and climbed on Lobo's lap. She wasquiet but distinct. "Make this look good." She pulled herself upon the tip of his cock, and with his perfect timing, made it look asif she was taking the whole thing. Of course, in truth he wasshrinking it as she descended. Thus, a stunned crowd onboth sides of the fight got an eyeful. Orath rode him right
there inthe open, like she had never had sex before in her whole life. Allthe while she was talking to him since no one could hear. "I toldyou we would have one last time before the fight. I only hope it'snot the last. It is now that I need to ask you for your fullemotional support. I know you can't and won't help physically, but ifyou lend me you love, and loyalty, and chivalry; everything thatmakes you - you, I know I can win this." He was suffering severalfeelings right then, none of them the ones she mentioned. Thefunniest was embarrassment. He felt like an exhibitionist. Her cuntwas nice and tight, so that was pretty good, but doing in front ofseveral hundred witnesses was weird. "Orath, I hereby giveyou everything you ask for. I give it to you freely and withoutlimit. What is mine is yours!" She leaned down and kissed him."Thank you mate. I only hope that you will forgive me when this isdone. For that matter, I hope I can forgive myself." Her paws wereon his sides. He felt a pulling and tearing inside. It was a bit likewhen Eve had messed up his insides; when she had taken down hisemotional wall. Only this time he could feel all his emotions drainfrom him. He looked sharply at Orath. She kissed him again. "I'msorry Jon-Tom, but I'm not touching your powers, only your emotions.I know you cannot be the Antochi ton Ilikion, but I can!" She pulled off of him,leaving him limp in the chair. He had power, but no will to use it.He could have stopped her if he had even a shred of care left in him.As he watched her back up, he could see her eyes change from pink tored to flame. Smoke rose from her fur as she enlarged. Her musclesrippled. Her voice deepened. "Pray for me lover." He found ascrap of emotion and snagged it, exerting his power. She felt hiswill and ignored it. The time had come. She turned and faced heroppressor, the one who had killed her father and had damaged her andleft her for dead. The one who had taken her kingdom, her lands, herpeople. Shrupel saw the change that came over her and wet himself.His next action was to call his guards to the forefront. "Killher!" Orath smiled, showing black teeth. "Kill me? I think notlittle cubs. I will kill you now, or I will kill you later, but Iwill be the one doing the killing. The first to reach her swung hissword in an arc. It came to rest in her paw. She wasn't even carryinga weapon. He screamed and let go as the blade grew red, then molten.She dropped the slag and punched his head clean off. Jon-Tom watched inmorbid fascination. She had taken him to his word. But what she wasdoing was bloody dangerous. If they soldiers didn't kill her
first,the emotions might destroy her. Worse yet, if she lost control ofthem she could end up laying waste to the lands she was trying tosave. He could feel the heat coming off of her, and shuddered at thethought of what he had done to Eve while under the sway of thesepassions.. The next soldier took a swing which bounced harmlessly offof her hip. She ripped his arm off. He fell screaming. That gave theothers pause for thought. Shrupel called on his archers, who fired avolley in her direction. They burst into flame a foot from her body. She was walking forwardwith inexorable purpose. In her wake she left molten footprints inthe stone. Red wolves started to break and run. Even some of thegrays abandoned the field. She inhaled until her chest was full andthen exhaled a stream of superheated air. Those nearest to her diedas carbonized statues. She broke them down as she made her wayforward, eyes always on Shrupel. The red king glanced once in Lobo'sdirection. There was no salvation there. When the king fully lost hiscourage and fled, his men fled as well. But Orath was not done. Shemarched after them, picking up stones and turning them into moltenprojectiles. She threw them with unerring accuracy. One of them himthe red king in his foot. It wasn't by accident. She drew up to him andstood over his quivering body. "My father would have welcomed youto his lands. He would have helped you rebuild yours. But you choseto do the dishonorable thing and kill him and take what wasn't yours.The things your men did me were unspeakable. You put a child throughhorror no one should have to endure. Except for you. I want you tolive through everything I did, and for just as long." She reacheddown and grabbed his head. Jon-Tom figured he was dead. But the nextinstant she let him go. For the next three days he screamed andscreamed and screamed until his heart gave out. But for now, sheturned back the way she had come. Her feet were still leavingimpressions in the stone. Smoke was still rolling off of her body.She looked like when you put wet grass on a hot fir. The smoke wasthick. She came up to Jon-Tom,who still had no urge to leave his chair. She spoke. "Look at youlittle man. You had all this extra power inside you, and you neverlet it show. I think that you have no need for it, so I'll keep itfor myself. Between your magical abilities and my new found power, wecan rule this kingdom with iron paws!" He struggled to sit upstraight. "Orath, I will not rule with you, not like this. You willbe no better than the wolf you just defeated. Worse even, for youhave power now that he did not. Is this what you want for our cubs?A kingdom worse than Shrupel made
it?" She stood over him, atowering fortress of hate and anger. She was breathing on him,causing blisters to rise from his skin. He was unworried. He had nocare just then. He had used the little bit he had. "Cubs?" She lookeddown to her belly and for the first time noticed it was flat. Shepatted it and cried out in despair. She began to shrink in size, andthe heat diminished in waves. She fell onto Jon-Tom, aka Lobo, andcried out. "Oh goddess , what have I done?" She fell unconscious.Jon-Tom put his hands to her sides and withdrew what was left of hisemotions. They fit rather lopsided now. She had burned off a goodportion of his dark side, leaving him crying in tears with the lovehe felt for her now. She was a fool; a lovely fool, a dangerous fool,but she was his fool. He would do everything in his power to bringher back. He only hoped he had enough.