ã€ŠDreambreakerã€‹


 A warning that mustnt be

    The weathered old knight slowly hobbled along the freshly snow-covered field.  A thin layer of fine white powder lightly covered the ragged grass and crunched slightly as he carefully paced up and down the inspection field.  At his age, he knew the risks and dangers of slipping on the snow and ice, but his pride made it impossible for him to ask anyone for help.  He¡¯d be damned and dead before he¡¯d be confined to a wheeled chair like some of the healers advised.

    Lord Mourningblade may have become an elderly man, at the ripe old age of eighty-two, but his pride and spirit was just as strong as it ever had been ¨C and he wasn¡¯t going to show any weakness at this point to his graduates!

    All along the field, lined up in perfect rows and standing firm and proudly at attention, were this year¡¯s candidates for inclusion into the Order of the Rose.  Knights of the people, sworn to uphold the laws and protect the weak and innocent, without bias to rank, wealth, status, or influence, the Order of the Rose was one of the most prestigious and well respected of all the orders of knighthood ¨C and these were the finest applicants to the Order.

    Hobbling up and down the rows of young men and women standing proudly at attention, Lord Mourningblade occasionally hummed or hawed at the squires assembled before him.  A good lot these were ¨C exceptional in many ways, with some of the greatest potential that he¡¯d seen in years.  It was just a shame, a damn shame, that the best and the brightest was going to be doomed to become such a total failure.

    Never before in his life had he considered judging the applicants unfairly, but this year he was tempted to do so.  Sorely tempted.  Stroking his well-manicured beard with his hand, he finally stopped at the end of the columns and rows and stared unabashedly at the young lady standing tall and proud there.  The High Lady Elissa, Third Child of the House of Thunder, was a very beautiful young woman ¨C and also the top ranked squire for this year¡¯s squadron of cadets.

    ¡°Lady Elissa,¡± Lord Mourningblade slowly nodded his head towards her and slowly turned to walk away with troubled eyes.  Going only a few steps, he stopped and then called out over his shoulder, ¡°Milady, walk with an old man this evening.  There are a few things I would like to discuss with you before you¡¯re free for the night.¡±

    ¡°Of course, Milord!¡±  Snapping her the heels of her boots to attention, the young blonde-haired beauty saluted briefly and then quickly strode forward to walk a single step behind the old lord.   ¡°You wished to speak with me,¡± she asked, being careful to stay polite and respectful even though she was nearly consumed with curiosity.  The final test for the cadets was scheduled to take place tomorrow and it could greatly affect their standings.  At the moment, she was first, but that could change at any time in the battle to come tomorrow; if the Lord Mourningblade had any advice for her to help her maintain her ranking, she was anxious to hear what he had to say.

    Instead of answering, the old lord simply continued to hobble around ¨C seemingly aimlessly ¨C while lost in his own thoughts.  Taught to respect those of higher rank, and to honor those with more age, wisdom, and experience, Lady Elissa tried her best to remain patient while she followed behind Lord Mourningblade.  For almost an hour ¨C well past what should have been her free time for self-study and supper ¨C the older knight laboriously paced circles around the massive courtyard.  It wasn¡¯t until his fourth complete lap before he stopped and looked back over his shoulder to make certain she was still there.

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    Sighing slightly to himself, almost as if he was hoping that she¡¯d given up and left already, Lord Mourningblade coughed a few times and cleared his throat.  ¡°Lady Elissa, do this old man a favor and hear him out.  I have troubles weighing on my mind, and I feel that I would be remiss if I didn¡¯t try and address the situation somewhat.  Just keep in mind, what I say, I say as a friend of your father¡¯s and as a friend to you; not as a Lord nor a Knight of the Rose.

    ¡°I fear my thoughts are darkened, and I must say what I mustn¡¯t.¡±  Staring deeply into her pale blue eyes, the old lord looked troubled; divided by his duty as a knight and his friendship to the Lady¡¯s family.

    ¡°Lord Mour¡­  No, allow me to correct that.¡±  Shaking her head from side to side slightly, Lady Elissa¡¯s long blonde hair waved and rippled rhythmically behind her as it cascaded freely down almost to her knees.  ¡°Uncle Moo-Boo,¡± she addressed him by the nickname that she¡¯d bestowed upon him so many years ago when she was just a child and couldn¡¯t say his name properly.  ¡°Uncle Moo-Boo, you know if there¡¯s anything you ever wish to tell me, I¡¯ll listen.¡±

    Gently the old knight reached out and rubbed his leathery old hand against her soft and gentle face.  ¡°Allow me to begin by saying how proud I am of you, Little Lissa.  You¡¯ve exceeded all expectations; both mine and your fathers.¡±  Smiling lightly, he called her by the familiar youth-name he knew oh so well.

    ¡°Thank you.¡±  Elissa couldn¡¯t help but smile at the older gentleman¡¯s praise and gentle touch; she truly did regard the older knight almost as an uncle.

    ¡°And that¡¯s what makes what I¡¯m going to say next, so hard to do,¡± Lord Mourningblade said, slowly.  ¡°On the marrow, skip the competition.  Be sick.  Oversleep.  Lose in the first round.  Whatever it takes, do not win the contest tomorrow.¡±

    ¡°Wha¡­¡±  Elissa blinked back tears.  To first be praised and told that she¡¯d done well, and then be told to lose on purpose?  She didn¡¯t understand at all.  ¡°Uncle Moo?¡±

    ¡°I cannot speak any more on the matter, and I should not have spoken what I have,¡± Lord Mourningblade slowly shook his head from side to side.  ¡°All I can do is follow what my heart demands, and it demanded that I make such a request from you.  Your points are high, you¡¯ve held yourself with the highest pride and greatest honor.  No matter the outcome of tomorrow¡¯s trials, you have already proven yourself worthy to join the ranks of the Order.¡±

    ¡°But¡­¡±  Elissa was completely baffled; never would she have expected the Lord Mourningblade to say such things to her.  ¡°Shouldn¡¯t a knight always try their hardest?  Fight with all their strength, heart, and courage in all contests or battles?¡±

    ¡°They should,¡± Lord Mourningblade agreed slowly, ¡°and a Knight Commander should always encourage those under their tutelage to do their utmost; it¡¯s why I speak to you as your Uncle Moo-Boo and not your Lord Commander that I ask such a thing.

    ¡°But, I can say no more.  I have followed my heart, perhaps even when I shouldn¡¯t.  Now, you must follow your own.¡±  Coughing slightly, the old lord slowly and deliberately turned his back to show that the conversation was finished.  ¡°You¡¯re dismissed.  Do what you feel you have to do.¡±

    Without looking back, he slowly strode off, leaving Elissa standing alone in the gentle snow to try and sort out what she was going to do when tomorrow finally came.

 Resolution

    The night was long and dark for the Lady Elissa as she struggled with Lord Mourningblade¡¯s request.  Never would she have imagined that she¡¯d be placed with such a dilemma ¨C follow the path of the knights and do her utmost in a fair competition, showing respect for her opponent and the value of fair play and honorable combat; or else honor the request of someone who was like family to her and abstain from the battle.  Even when the sun broke through her window in the early hours of predawn, Elissa hadn¡¯t made her decision, and then she realized that the decision had already been made for her.

    One of the Lord Mourningblade¡¯s requests was that she become sick before the competition ¨C and that was exactly what she¡¯d accomplished with all her worries and indecision.  Missing supper, forsaking her sleep, and wrestling with her choices, Elissa was already tired and weary almost beyond belief.  Only her heart was at ease, as her body and mind suffered from the mistreatment of her actions and worry the night before.

    Exhausted, but with a light heart, Elissa resolutely began to dress and prepare for the contest.  She¡¯d fulfilled her uncle¡¯s request already and was entering into the competition with a heavy handicap to begin with.  Now, she could fight to the utmost of her abilities and fulfill her duty as a knight as well.  Laughing lightly, she recited some of the adages she¡¯d heard as a child.  ¡°Fortune favors the just.¡±  ¡°Where there¡¯s a will, there¡¯s a way.¡±  Both seemed to suit her mood this morning.

    ¡°Perhaps it should be, ¡®Where¡¯s there a will, there¡¯s a way; Fortune willing.¡¯¡±, Elissa laughed lightly as she stripped and began to wipe clean with the water from the nearby basin beside her bed.  Examining her own body, she couldn¡¯t help but frown slightly.  Long, silken blonde hair draped down her back and caressed the curves of her knees.  Herbed and enchanted, it actually required very little maintenance and was the one luxury she allowed herself to keep as a woman.  Smiling, there was nothing that she could find at all wrong with her hair.  Fine, naturally smooth, with no split or damaged ends, its soft yellow shade resembled the shade of a daisy in the morning dew.

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    Her hair was perfect, she thought, as she ran her fingers through it indulgingly.  The problem was the rest of her body.

    Breasts which were too large to fit comfortably in the standard knight¡¯s armor.  Large and round, they were more than a handful ¨C and were larger than most of the other girl¡¯s at her youthful age of sixteen ¨C which meant she had to wrap and bind them tightly any time she wanted to don the armor the knights wore for practice.  They were her first disappointment.

    Her general build and frame was the second.  No matter how hard she worked now, she couldn¡¯t seem to overcome the softness that thirteen years of pampering in her father¡¯s home had created in her.  The herbs and lotions she had been exposed to daily had permanently softened and altered her skin, making it almost impossible for her hands to take on the callouses of a blademaster.    No matter how often she walked barefoot, the soles of her feet never developed the callouses which would help toughen them against the ground.  She was smooth ¨C hairless from the neck down like a new-born babe, thanks to the herbs she had bathed in while at her father¡¯s estate ¨C and soft.  Her body hardly looked at all suitable for fighting or combat.

    Unfortunately, for better or worse, she was always going to be cursed with the physique of a ¡®High Lady¡¯, and not a ¡®True Knight¡¯ ¨C and that was why she had to work twice as hard, try twice as much, have twice the determination of all the others.  She had half the body of a true knight, so she had to overcome her weakness with twice the will and focus of all others.

    Fighting back her tired yawn, she determinedly began to focus her thoughts on the upcoming battles of the day as she started to dress in the common cotton underpants and undershirt which helped protect against the cold metallic plate which was worn over it.  Her exhaustion and hunger was her handicap which she was giving the others, to honor the Lord Mourningblade¡¯s wishes.

    Now, it was just up to fate and determination to see if she could overcome her weakness and still emerge on top.

 First Battle

    The bells signifying the eighth hour had finished their mournful toiling as Elissa joined the rest of her class in the courtyard.  The tests in antique, history, law, and heraldry had already been taken over the last few days, and all that remained now was the trial by combat.  Loosely organized, the purpose of the trial was simply to see how the new applicants to the knighthood ranked in combat prowess.  No lots were drawn, and no system was set for whom could challenge whom in the match-ups, and the simple rules were that no challenge could be refused ¨C not for any reason.

    It was up to the students to choose their own matches, and who they choose to challenge themselves against would also become part of their grade.  Challenge one whom you knew is much weaker than yourself, and the judges would look negatively upon you ¨C the spirit of a knight was not in bullying the weak.  Challenging one whom you knew was much stronger than yourself, would be judged depending upon your result.  Win, and you were daring and pushing yourself and your limits.  Lose, and you were foolhardy and overconfident.  Who the students challenged, and how they paired off, was also an integral part of the trial.

    Knowing this, and also knowing that there was no real pressure on her in this contest, Elissa decided to simply not challenge anyone; to wait until someone would challenge her before doing battle.  She was tired, she hadn¡¯t eaten neither supper nor breakfast, and she was the top-ranked squire in the class.  There was no reason for her to go seeking opponents; she knew before long one would seek her out -- and, she was right.  No more than a few moments after the eighth bell quit tolling, a young male in similar plate armor to hers walked up and saluted.

    ¡°Lady Elissa, allow me the honor of being your first opponent.¡±  Lean and wiry, the young man before her was the Lord Tristan Starre.  A lesser child from one of the many houses of petty nobility, it was obvious that he was out to enhance his title and reputation.  Defeating her would raise his rank considerably amongst the placings, and he knew it ¨C as did Elissa.

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    ¡°Are you certain you wish to challenge me,¡± Elissa asked, while trying to stifle a yawn.  Tristan was definitely below her standards in fighting, but yawning in his act would be an almost unforgivable act of rudeness ¨C and one she didn¡¯t even intend!  Admonishing herself, she promised to accept his first blow squarely for the affront she¡¯d almost allowed herself to commit.

    ¡°I do,¡± he nodded, lifting his blade high in salute.

    ¡°Then I accept.¡±  Elissa raised her blade in salute as well, signifying that she was prepared and willing to accept the duel.

    Within moments, Tristan brought his sword down in an arcing sweep and leapt forward.  Bracing her legs and gritting her teeth, Elissa stood stoically and accepted the ringing blow to her midsection.  Air gushed out of her lungs and a burning pain knocked the sleep and weariness from her in a sudden burst of adrenaline.  Eyes widening in surprise, Tristam hesitated, never expecting his first blow to strike home so soundly.  Taking advantage of the momentary pause in her opponent¡¯s reactions, Elissa brought her own blade down, swift as a falcon¡¯s strike; ringing it soundly across the top of Tristam¡¯s helm.

    Though the blades had been purposefully dulled for the contest this morning, the sound of solid steel crashing against solid steel echoed and intermingled with the sound of other blows of combat in the courtyard.  Blinking twice, Tristam¡¯s grip on his blade grew weak and he first dropped it, and then he himself dropped with a resounding crash onto the cold ground.

    Stepping back, Elissa lifted her blade once in swift salute and then called out, ¡°Healers!  We have a man down here!¡±  Turning her back on the situation now ¨C live or die, Tristam¡¯s fate was now out of her control ¨C Elissa slowly walked off and awaited her next challenger.

 Tristams Test

    At the end of the evening, it was the Lady Elissa who had emerged victorious.  Having battled and beaten over a dozen opponents, her strength and prowess in combat had been proven beyond all doubts.  First in etiquette.  Second in history.  First in heraldry.   First in law, and now also first in battle.  By all means and reckonings, she had proven herself to be the first and foremost amongst all the squires.

    As the last opponent conceded defeat ¨C Lord Jerimiah Brightblade ¨C a loud chorus of cheers rang out.  Squires stomped their boots in unison, clanged their blades against their shields, and a general uproar of whoops and shouts congratulated all for a job well done.  Lord Mourningblade allowed the racket to continue for several long moments, before he finally held his hand up.   Silence instantly settled in, with one last clang of boots snapping together as all the knights present lifted their swords to the sky in proud salute.

    ¡°My Brothers!¡±  The old lord¡¯s voice echoed and carried across the courtyard, enhanced by a small touch of magic from a helpful healer standing not far from his side.  ¡°As the sun settles on this day, let us recognize all who have tried with all the power of their hearts, and the might of their blades, to join our Order today!¡±

    ¡°HURRAH!!¡±  A loud cheer rang out from the older knights who stood gathered around, though this time the young combatants remained silent and waited patiently for the lord to continue.

    As the deafening cheer slowly tapered off, the old lord finally raised his hand and spoke once again.  ¡°Many of these fine young men and women have proven themselves worthy and have passed all requirements to stand proud within our ranks!¡±

    ¡°HURRAH!!¡±  This time, it was the youngsters who yelled, while the older knights remained silent and smiling.

    Once more, Lord Mourningblade waited for the clamoring to settle before he lifted his hand and sighed deeply.  ¡°And unfortunately,¡± he continued in a softer voice, which was still carried strongly by the healer¡¯s magic, ¡°there were many who fell short and found lacking this year as well.¡±

    Silence from both sides greeted this proclamation.

    ¡°However,¡± the old lord continued, starting to raise the volume of his voice once again, ¡°it is the mark of a man not in how he succeeds, nor how he fails.  The true spirit of a man shines only when he faces himself, and chooses how he lets his success and failures define him.  Too much pride in one¡¯s success leads to arrogance and vanity!  Too much doubt, regret, self-pity or self-doubts leads to a different road of depression and darkness for a man!

    ¡°I say to you now, one and all,¡± Lord Mourningblade¡¯s voice was loud and thunderous across the courtyard once again, ¡°to become the greatest that one may be, you must be both humble and persistent.  Success today may very well grow into tomorrow¡¯s failure, if one does not continue to grow and evolve!  Failure today is nothing more than a building block, laid upon the road to tomorrow¡¯s success!

    ¡°Who here amongst you is certain of your success?¡±, the old lord asked, slowly and deliberately.  ¡°Who here knows they¡¯re worthy to be a Knight of the Rose?¡±

    Silence greeted his words for several moments, until a young boy standing off to the side yelled out, ¡°Me!  I¡¯m worthy!  And so is my older brother Tristam!¡±  All eyes turned to stare at the young child ¨C a strapping young lad no older than five or six at most ¨C and then Lord Mourningblade tilted his head up and laughed freely.

    ¡°If we all could but have the innocence and confidence of youth,¡± Lord Mourningblade exclaimed, a smile still twitching across his lips.  ¡°What say you, Lord Tristam?  Do you have the confidence of your brother?  Are you certain you have passed all requirements to join the Order?¡±

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    All eyes turned to look at the young man that Elissa had defeated first in the competition.  Saying nothing for a few moments, he considered carefully how to respond and then shook his head from side to side.  ¡°I do not!¡±  His voice rang back, loud and clear, so all could hear his response.  ¡°I challenged above my station and lost in the first match-up of today¡¯s competition.  I barely passed the test in law and did not much better with heraldry.  I still have many flaws, and I cannot say with certainty whether the Order has found me acceptable or not.  That is for the elders to decide, not I.¡±  Slowly, he bowed his head respectfully to show he¡¯d given his answer.

    Lord Mourningblade was silent for a few moments, and all in the courtyard grew silent and restless waiting on his response.  ¡°You show much wisdom,¡± he praised, ¡°for you have not passed.  For many of the reasons you listed yourself, the Order has found you unworthy to join the ranks this year.  How do you wish to proceed?¡±

    Silence laid heavy all around as Tristam weighed his options.  After a few short moments, he slowly sank to one knee.  Drawing his blade from its scabbard, he held it in both palms, offering it back towards the older lord.  Lowering his head in respect, he spoke slow and deliberately in response.  ¡°I have been found unworthy.  This blade is not mine.¡±

    Taking a moment to pause and take a deep breath, he slowly lifted his head and stared defiantly at Lord Mourningblade.  ¡°At least,¡± he continued, ¡°at this moment, I¡¯m unworthy and it is not mine.  That does not mean that I shall be unworthy tomorrow, nor that it shall never be mine.  If you would have me, Milord Mourningblade, I would like to remain a squire and continue my training until next I can test my mettle and prove my worth to both you and the Order of the Rose as a whole.¡±

    ¡°Well spoken, young man!¡±  Lord Mourningblade turned and looked back at the other knights standing behind him, who were lined in two neat orderly rows.  ¡°What say you, my brothers?  Shall we allow the young Lord Tristam to stay and continue his studies?¡±

    Slowly, without saying a word, nor watching another, each knight drew his blade and held it high into the sky.  Sunlight danced and reflected off the steel as Lord Mourningblade nodded, understanding their verdict, and turned back to face Tristam and the crowd.

    ¡°Sheath thy blade, if you so desire young one, and remain with us¡± he commanded.  ¡°It is the wish of the Order for you to stay and continue your learning.  The final choice however, must remain yours.  Sheath thy blade and stand proud behind the knights on my left, a squire still; or, lay down thy blade and walk thy own path wherever it may lead you.  The choice is completely yours, and all here will respect whichever path you choose to follow.¡±

    Nodding slightly, Tristam slowly rose to his feet and sheathed the blade back into its scabbard once more.  Holding his head high and proud, he slowly walked from his place in the line he was standing in and strode across the courtyard to stand with the knights off to Lord Mourningblade¡¯s left.

    ¡°HURRAH!!¡±  A cheer went up from both the squires and the knights.  Even though he may not have earned his place amongst the Order, Tristam was still a brother walking the same path as the rest of them, and they cheered to see the strength of his spirit and determining shining bright and unbent at this minor setback on his journey of life.

 An Unexpected Path

    As the evening rolled by, other names were called one by one by Lord Mourningblade, usually in the order they fell during the day.  Those that were found worthy took their proud place with the knights to his right.  Those that had fallen short had a choice to make.  A few simply returned their blades and said their goodbyes, to seek their fortune elsewhere in life.  A few others underwent the same trial that Tristam had, where the elders were asked if they wished to allow them to remain as squires.  In all but a handful of cases, the elders accepted the applicant back into squireship to continue their learning.

    William Longfellow was refused, with the elders instead recommending that he follow the path of the warrior, over the path of the knight.  His fighting spirt was too strong, often trampling the needs for compassion, mercy, or law.  William¡¯s motto was simply, ¡°All¡¯s fair in a fucking fight!¡±, which didn¡¯t quite meet the standards of the knight¡¯s code; though it did suit the warrior¡¯s creed perfectly.

    In an act that surprised almost everyone present, Jerimiah Brightblade ¨C ranked second amongst the squires -- was also refused entry into the Order.  Instead, a recommendation was made for him to apply to the Order of the Golden Sun instead.  In the opinion of the elders, his devotion to the gods was too great and should their ever come a time when Jerimiah would have to choose between his duty to the gods and his duty to the people, they felt as if he¡¯d choose the gods.  The Order of the Rose was dedicated to the people, first and foremost, and thus it was felt that he was completely unsuitable for their ranks.

    Amazingly enough, Jerimiah laughed heartily hearing the reason for his rejection and proudly saluted the elders with his blade.  ¡°You¡¯re correct, Milords,¡± he agreed easily.  ¡°Though I do have a burning desire to help and serve the people, I freely admit that my devotion to the Gods comes first in my heart.  Never had I considered the two to be in conflict, but I accept the wisdom of the elders and listen fully to their advice.  Should I ever be placed in a situation where I would have to choose between the people¡¯s needs and the god¡¯s desires, I would be forced to set the people aside and follow the wishes of the heavens.

    ¡°I readily accept that I may not be suitable for the Order of the Rose.  Your assessment that the Order of the Golden Sun may both suit me better, and I suit it better, is both reasonable and logical.  Should they have me, I shall attempt to walk the Path of the Golden Sun instead.¡±  Proudly striding forward, Jerimiah turned the blade he had been holding and presented it hilt-first to Lord Mourningblade.

    ¡°If the Heaven¡¯s will it, we shall still become brothers, my lord ¨C just brothers of different orders,¡± Lord Mourningblade replied with a smile as he accepted the squire¡¯s blade.

    ¡°If the Heaven¡¯s will it,¡± Jerimiah agreed before turning and proudly walking to the edge of the courtyard to stand with the other witnesses.  His father, who was standing amongst the crowd, pushed forward and hugged him once tightly; a large smile beaming across his face.  There was no shame in being told to choose one Order over another.  All knights were part of the same brotherhood; some simply held tighter to one set of virtues than another.  To the Lord Brightblade, his son hadn¡¯t failed in becoming a knight; he¡¯d simply found a different road of virtue to travel upon.

    And then, there was only Lady Elissa left standing in the center of the field.  First amongst the students, she was the last to receive the Lord¡¯s decision and learn her fate, but Lord Mourningblade was silent; silent for so long that people began to fit and whisper uneasily to themselves as he seemed to be struggling to offer his judgment one last time.  Finally, after what seemed like an eternity to all present, he coughed slightly and cleared his throat.

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    ¡°High Lady Elissa el¡¯Thundra,¡± pausing, Lord Mourningblade nodded his head slightly in respect before continuing.  ¡°It is with great pride and much honor that the Order of the Rose finds you worthy to join our ranks.¡±

    ¡°HURRAH!¡±  A cheer erupted from both knights and squires.  ¡°HURRAH!¡±  A second cheer erupted from the crowd as they joined in the celebration, glad for the awkward silence to finally be broken with the good news.

    Lord Mourningblade simply held up a hand and waited patiently for the hubbub to die down.  Once the courtyard was quiet once again, he coughed and cleared his throat a second time before continuing.  ¡°Unfortunately, child, it is my duty to inform you that you cannot join the Order at this time.¡±

    A small gasp of shock slipped from the onlookers and the old lord raised his hand once more for order.  ¡°By a covenant long established, and with a duty that transcends the whims and wishes of an old man, I am duty bound to inform you that there is another path which you must follow.  As first among the students, strongest of arm and greatest of knowledge and wisdom, there is another duty which you cannot refuse.¡±

    A low murmur went up from all around.  The Order was an organization established upon the principle of honor, dignity, and free will.  All who were here, were here willingly.  Those that had failed, had the choice of whether to remain in service as a squire for another year, or else leave and find their own path.  It was unheard of for one to be forced onto a path, without choice.

    ¡°And, if I refuse this duty?¡± Elissa asked what everyone was thinking.

    ¡°Then you will be stripped, enslaved, and forced to fulfill it regardless,¡± Lord Mourningblade answered coolly, with steel in his voice.  ¡°The covenant is one that must be upheld, regardless of one¡¯s personal wishes.  You are first amongst the squires, the duty is yours to fulfill ¨C willing or not.¡±

    ¡°I¡­ see.¡±  Elissa¡¯s mind was in shock.  Now, she understood her uncle¡¯s request.  Had she placed lower in the rankings, it would be another who would stuck with this unrefusable burden, and not her.  ¡°What exactly is this duty,¡± she asked hesitantly, filled with apprehension.

    Slowly the old lord hobbled over to where she was standing in the field and held out a small golden scrollcase to her.  ¡°Your orders are inside here,¡± he explained as he waited for her to take it.  ¡°Do not open it until you are packed and have everything you need to travel.  Say your goodbyes before the sun rises in the morning.  If you¡¯ve not fulfilled your duty by then, you will be hunted, arrested, and charged with High Treason.¡±

    Nodding slightly, Elissa slowly and deliberately reached out for the scrollcase.  Her mouth was dry and she didn¡¯t trust herself to speak at the moment, so she simply nodded slightly to show she understood.

    ¡°Then all are dismissed,¡± Lord Mourningblade shouted, his voice reaching every corner of the courtyard.  ¡°Let the celebration begin!¡±

    ¡°And,¡± he whispered quietly so only Elissa could hear him, ¡°may the gods have mercy on you, my child.¡±

    Refusing to wipe the tear in the corner of his eye, Lord Mourningblade turned and slowly walked back to join the rest of the elders ¨C many of whom were already participating in the festivities.

 An Obligation Fulfilled

    That evening Elissa made her rounds between her classmates and teachers, congratulating those who had been allowed into the Order and offering words of encouragement to those who had been found lacking and remained in squireship for another year.  Many speculated about her assignment, with theories ranging from a secret mission for the kingdom to an adventure exploring some forgotten labyrinth to recover an ancient artifact of untold power.  Many asked if she¡¯d opened the scrollcase and read the contents, and her burning curiosity made her want to do so ¨C but she obeyed the older lord¡¯s command and waited until she was ready to travel first.  All she could do is guess and speculate like all the others as the evening grew late and night descended upon the chapterhouse.

    Around the tenth bell of the evening, Elissa finally said her goodbyes to everyone and actually began to pack.  Uncertain if she would need to pack lightly to travel on foot or by horse, or if she would travel via carriage and have room for more supplies, she packed for both.  An essential pack with tent, sleeping bag, cookware, spare clothes, and travel supplies which she could easily toss over her shoulder and carry was placed in prominence on her bed.  The rest of her clothes, soaps, shampoos, and personal items were packed up into crates along with several weeks'' worth of dried foods and general supplies, and stored neatly along her wall.  Should she be traveling by carriage or wagon, she was ready.

    It was after third bell when she¡¯d finished her packing, and Elissa was exhausted.  She¡¯d stayed up the whole night before worrying over Lord Mourningblade¡¯s request, and then she¡¯d spent all day facing one challenger after another ¨C just to end up having to miss a second night¡¯s rest to pack and prepare!  Yawning heavily, she debated going to take a bath to refresh herself in the short time that remained, but then dismissed the notion.  As tired as she was, she¡¯d probably fall asleep in the tub and end up being guilt of high treason after the break of dawn!

    Taking a short moment to wipe herself clean from the basin in her room, Elissa stifled her yawns and dressed in a clean cotton shirt and pair of cotton pants, before finally dressing in her personal armor.  Polished bright and made of the finest steel, Elissa normally didn¡¯t wear her own armor while learning at the knight¡¯s chapterhouse, but she donned it now.  She was no longer a squire, so the plain armor they all wore was no longer suitable for her.  She had been refused entry into the Order of the Rose however, so she hadn¡¯t been granted a new set to match her rank.  Told to prepare for a journey, she prepared by wearing the only armor that was left to her ¨C her own.

    One thing that stood out immediately to her was that she had grown since the last time she¡¯d worn her personal armor.  The breastplate was tight and uncomfortable, requiring her to wrap her chest much like with the standard armor the squires were given.  The greaves and arm-plates were a little shorter than was fully comfortable, and the hips were hard to fasten and buckle.

    Thinking back on it, Elissa couldn¡¯t remember the last time she¡¯d actually put her own armor on.  Probably not since she¡¯d been accepted as a squire and expected to wear the same gear as everyone else, and that had been over three years ago.  A young woman¡¯s body can still grow and change drastically in that amount of time.  Honestly, it was almost a miracle that she could even buckle and fasten it on at all!

    Uncomfortable in the ill-fitting suit, Elissa hoped that there¡¯d either be time to alter it before her duty forced her to journey out of the town ¨C or at least that there¡¯d be a chance to adjust the straps and loosen it a bit before she actually needed to fight in it against something!  ¡°Beggers can¡¯t be choosers,¡± she muttered under her breath, and then finally sat gingerly on the edge of her bed and pulled out the golden scrollcase Lord Mourningblade had given her.

    ¡°I guess it¡¯s time to finally see what type of duty I¡¯ve been given,¡± Elissa fretted.  Truth be told, she was actually feeling quite scared at the moment.  Uncle Moo-boo¡¯s request and then his reaction after the competition was beyond her comprehension, and in her exhausted state, her nerves were frayed and getting the best of her.  It took several deep moments and multiple tries with her trembling hands, before she managed to unscrew the end of the scrollcase and tilt it up.

    A single rolled piece of parchment, a plain vial with what appeared to be water inside, and a simple silver ring tumbled out and into her hands.

    Examining the vial, it was a tiny glass bottle, no larger than a fancy perfume bottle, with a common wooden cork used as a stopper.  The ring was common silver, polished to a gleaming shine, but with no other identifiable engravings or markings.  Sitting both aside, Elissa gently picked up the paper and unrolled it, before looking to see what was one it.

    On the page was several small neat paragraphs of writing, with each paragraph being written in what appeared to be a different language.  She¡¯d seen some elvish writings in the past, and some dwarvish, and she recognized both as being used.  Several other languages which she couldn¡¯t comprehend or identify at all were used as well, and it was down about midway on the page where she finally recognized the letters and runes used to make her own people¡¯s language.

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    <hr />

    Champion of the Human Race,

    It is now your responsibility to serve The Darkbringer.  The convenant must be kept at all costs, and you have a duty to follow and obey The Darkbringer for a period of not less than one tenth the average lifespan of your species.  By ancient agreement, thou shall journey to wherever The Darkbringer currently resides and shall devote thyself completely to service to The Darkbringer.  This journey shall be accomplished by the use of the Ring of Many Travels and the Water of Journey.

    Sprinkle a single drop of water from the flask onto anything which you wish to take with you upon your journey; be careful as size, weight, and mass is not a limit to the powers of the water.  A drop upon a house will journey the whole house.  A drop upon a mountain may simply journey the rock that the drop fell upon, or it may journey the whole mountain range if proper precautions are not taken.  Be certain that anything you wish to journey is self-contained and independent.  A drop placed upon bag upon a table would journey the bag.  A drop placed upon the table instead would journey the table and all that sits upon it.

    The Water of Journey is a great and ancient device of immense power and responsibility.  Misuse it at your own risk.  You have been forewarned; may The Darkbringer have mercy on thy soul.

    Once thy has dropped water upon all thou wish to journey with thee, all that remains is to simply place the Ring of Many Travels upon one of thy digits; as is suitable for thy race.  Fingers or toes work fine for humanoids.  A tail, talon, or horn may be used by races with those characteristics.  Simply don the ring, and thy journey will begin.

    Once thou have traveled to The Darkbringer, thy duty is simple and easy to understand ¨C complete and utter obedience to The Darkbringer.  For a period of no less than ten years, thy will serve The Darkbringer fully, or thy bloodline will be removed from creation and thy race itself will suffer the consequence.  Only death may set thee free early; and only then if it is the will of The Darkbringer.

    The convenant has been struck.  All races are expected to fulfill their obligation to the convenant.  Failure to perform the duty as required may release the wrath of The Darkbringer upon all creation; and should it not, it will release the wrath of all races upon thy own.

    The bargain struck.

    The gift is given.

    May the darkness forever be held at bay.

    Let the convenant be kept forever more.

    The hope and wishes of all creation journey with thee, and the fate of all creation rests upon thy shoulders.

    <hr />

    Laboriously, with trembling hands, Elissa slowly rolled the scroll back up and placed it inside its case.  Her mouth was dry and her mind was racing.  Convenant?  Darkbringer?  Serve with complete and utter obedience for at least ten years?

    What the hell had she gotten herself involved in?!

    Wrath of all races upon her own.  Threat against her bloodline, and some danger to all of creation if she failed her duty.  Just who ¨C or what ¨C was The Darkbringer?  And how the hell was she supposed to serve it?

    Besides ¡®utterly and completely¡¯, of course!

    Completely uncertain where fate might lead her, Elissa slowly tried to calm herself and get herself back under control.  Whatever the future held for her, it was obvious that the situation was one of the utmost importance and responsibility.  It was obvious now why the highest of the squires was given such a duty ¨C from the way it sounded, the very fate of all creation itself might be at risk if she shirked her responsibility or ran from her duty.

    Trying not to shake and tremble, Elissa was determined to face her fate with as much courage, determination, and dignity as she could muster.  Slowly, she walked around her room and placed a single drop of water on each container which she¡¯d packed up, being careful not to accidently let a stray drop fall somewhere unnoticed or unintended.  Once she¡¯d finished, she carefully placed the bottle back inside the scrollcase with the paper and then screwed the end back on.

    Tucking the golden scrollcase between her belt and her armor, Elissa tried hard not to let tears fill her eyes as she fumbled with the silver ring.  ¡°Mother, Father,¡± she whispered at barely a squeak; it was as loud as her voice would work at the moment; ¡°I¡¯ll do my duty.  For you.  For the people.  For all of creation, the way it sounds.  Heaven watch over me,¡± she pleaded, ¡°I¡¯ll do my duty.¡±

    Without another word, she slid the ring upon her finger and disappeared along with all the things that she¡¯d packed so carefully in her room.  Had someone walked into the room as it was now, there¡¯d be no trace that she¡¯d ever been there or had ever even used the room.

    Elissa was well and truly gone.

 A New Beginning

    A strange feeling of coldness washed over Elissa the instant she slid the ring onto her fingers, causing her to close her eyes in an involuntary reflex.  When she opened them, she was in a dimly lit room filled with dust and cobwebs.  Squinting and looking about, it appeared that she was in some sort of small underground basement, which was now cramped with all of her things.  Pale moonlight drifted in from small square window frames ¨C the windows themselves having been broken a long time ago ¨C and everything was covered in a thick layer of dust and cobwebs.  A single rickety looking set of wooden steps lead up to the exit, with several wooden steps cracked, broken, or gone.

    ¡°Where the hell am I?¡± Elissa muttered quietly to herself.  ¡°Looks almost like a cellar in some abandoned house,¡± she mused softly, ¡°and it looks like I¡¯m trapped.  There¡¯s no way what¡¯s left of those steps will support the weight of me and my armor!¡±  Sighing quietly, she slowly began to unbuckle and gently sit down each piece of armor that she¡¯d labored so hard to put on just a little while ago.  Once she¡¯d stripped out of it, she took the extra time to pull of her cotton socks as well and tuck them into her boots.  As dusty and dirty as this place was, she¡¯d ruin them just walking from where she stood over to the bottom of the broken staircase!

    Wearing nothing but the cotton shirt and pants that she normally wore under her armor, Elissa took time and fastened her scabbard to her waist before starting to tiptoe over to the steps.  The floor was perhaps stone, but with the large accumulation of dust and dirt over it, it was almost impossible to tell for certain.  It was either a dirt floor with some stone laid in it, or else it was a stone floor simply covered in dirt, and Elissa wasn¡¯t certain which it was!

    Ancient spider webs and cobwebs hung in thick layers all around, disturbed and broken by the crates containing her stuff that had appeared scattered around the room.  Strands of webs drifted and stuck to her face and tangled in her hair, giving Elissa the feeling of something crawling all over her.  By the time she worked her way across the room, she felt dirty and dingy from top to bottom.

    Staring up what remained of the steps, they looked old and fragile, and almost ready to collapse at a slight sneeze.  Slowly, gingerly, Elissa placed her right foot on the first step and tested it with her weight, causing the old wooden boards to crack and pop warningly, but they didn¡¯t break.  Testing to second step the same way, it gave dangerously under her slight weight and she didn¡¯t chance actually stepping on it.  The third step held, but then the next few didn¡¯t seem as if they would, causing her to back down to the bottom and start over.

    If the steps wouldn¡¯t hold all her weight, Elissa thought that perhaps they could hold a smaller portion of it at a time.  Ignoring her dignity, in an act that would cause her father to gasp from the sheer shock of seeing it, the High Lady Elissa got down on all fours and slowly crawled up the steps one by one.  Being careful to never place her full weight on the feeble boards, she tried hard to distribute it as equally as she could.  Slowly, hand by hand, she tested and eased her way up the steps.  Several times she felt as if a board under her knees or under her palm was giving too dangerously and might collapse at any moment, but by some miracle she managed to work her way up to the top, where she collapsed on a dingy wooden flooring.

    Taking several moments to catch her breath and calm her nerves, Elissa finally eased to her feet and began to look around.  A wobbly old table sat whop-sided in the middle of the room she was in, with several cheap and dirty stools scattered around it.  Plates, dishes, and bowls of all sort were piled several feet high atop the table, and the smell of rotting food was ripe in the air as flies lazily buzzed all around.  There were two exits in the room, each in opposite directions of each other, and a window so covered in mold and dirt that it was impossible to see out was shut tight across from what was left of the steps going downstairs.

    Figuring one direction was as good as the other at this point in time, Elissa tiptoed to her left and away from the stench and buzz of the table.  Easing out of the dining room and into the next room, it was a kitchen in the same sad condition.  A cast iron stove sat off to one side for cooking over, but it was so covered in pots, pans, and plates that it¡¯d be impossible to use. A countertop was buried under a mound of¡­ something which looked and smelled rather unpleasant, making Elissa quickly turn her head before she could make it what it was exactly.  A rotted dog carcass?  Pig?  Shivering slightly, she wasn¡¯t certain, and from the smell alone she didn¡¯t think she really wanted to know what it was.

    Back out of the room slowly, she backtracked past the steps and worked her way around the table while trying not to look too closely at what was on the table.  The stench was almost overpowering, and made her hold her breath and quicken her pace on past and out of the room.  Entering the next room, it appeared to be what looked like a rundown sitting room.  Trash and garbage was everywhere, but the thing that drew her immediate attention was the form of a man sitting in a cheap rocking chair and swaying slowly back and forth.

    ¡°So,¡± he slurred, ¡°you the next chosen one?¡±  The man was dressed in some sort of dingy gray pants and had no shirt or shoes on.  His hair was long and unkempt, with a beard that grew out raggedly in all directions and concealed most of his face.  Pale, ghostly white skin reflected in the moonlight, giving him and almost corpse-like appearance.

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    ¡°I¡­ I am,¡± Elissa stammered.  Whatever this was, it certainly wasn¡¯t anything like anything she¡¯d ever imagined.  ¡°Are you the Darkbringer?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m Dark,¡± the man slurred, before commanding her to, ¡°Strip!¡±

    Blinking a few times, confused, Elissa simply stared as the figure in the chair continued to rock slowly back and forth.  ¡°Wha¡­ What?¡±  She was completely lost.

    ¡°Strip,¡± the man commanded again.  ¡°It¡¯s a simple enough thing to do.  All you have to do is take off anything that you weren¡¯t born with.¡±  His speech was slurred and he almost seemed like he was ready to fall out of his chair at any moment as he swayed from time to time as he slowly waved his hands in a motion indicating that she should get on with it.

    ¡°Umm¡­¡±  Pausing a moment, Elissa hesitated.  Her instincts told her to ignore such a ludicrous request, and her sleep deprived mind wanted to stubbornly argue.  For a moment, she considered refusing outright, but then she slowly shook her head and pulled her shirt off over it.  Her duty was supposed to be ¡®simple and easy to understand ¨C complete and utter obedience¡¯, and the price of failure was supposed to be devastatingly high.  Swallowing back her pride, she unbuckled her scabbard and held it in her left hand with her shirt.  Finally untying the string that held her pants up, she let them fall to the ground and stood there naked, awaiting to see how the man would react, and what he¡¯d expect next from her.

    For several long moments, he simply rocked back and forth, saying nothing and not seeming to move as he stared at her.  ¡°Turn.  Slowly,¡± he finally commanded.

    Having determined to already come this far, Elissa slowly stepped forward to step out of her pants and then turned slowly.  Trying not to blush, she held her arms out to either side so she could be inspected easily.  If her father could see her now, he¡¯d probably go into a fit and die of embarrassment.  ¡®Duty over pride¡¯, she reminded herself.  The fate of her family, her kingdom, and the human race itself seemed to hang upon it.

    After she¡¯d finished completely rotating for the second time, the figure in the chair nodded to himself.  ¡°Stop,¡± he ordered, ¡°and wear this.¡±  In one wild movement, he tossed a bundle of cloth towards her; his aim wildly inaccurate, it landed well off to Elissa¡¯s side.

    Working her way carefully around the broken bottles and heaps of trash in the room, Elissa bent and slowly picked it up.  Examining what she¡¯d been thrown, it looked to be nothing more than a dusty grey set of washrags tied together with some sort of old string.  ¡°This?¡± She asked, questioning if she¡¯d picked up the right piece of garbage.

    ¡°That¡¯s it!  That¡¯s your uniform,¡± the man confirmed and then chuckled roughly.  ¡°Wasn¡¯t expecting no woman.  Never get a woman,¡± he muttered drunkenly to himself.  ¡°It¡¯s a loin cloth for a guy, but it¡¯ll just have to do.  That¡¯s your uniform now, and you can¡¯t wear anything else as long as you¡¯re here.  If you don¡¯t like it, you can always not wear it!¡±  Cackling wildly, the man swayed forward and almost fell out of his chair before he caught himself and flopped backwards in it hard enough to almost make it flip over in that direction.

    Shaking her head and blinking several times to try and clear her thoughts didn¡¯t help Elissa at all.  Trying to ignore the figure laughing, she gently sat down her sword, scabbard, and shirt, and untied one side of the string.  Wrapping the cloth around herself, she tied it back and then stared down at herself.  The dingy grey fabric in front wasn¡¯t much wider than her hand, and not much longer than that!  Even under the loosest of standards, it wasn¡¯t honestly enough to say that it covered anything really!

    Sliding the rope down so the cloth rode low and covered what needed to be covered as much as possible, Elissa tried to ignore the feeling of the cool wind on her backside.  The cloth in the rear was just as small and uncovering, and did very little to conceal the bottom curvature of her butt cheeks and nothing to cover her hips.

    ¡°My top?¡± Elissa asked, looking around to see if she missed it.

    ¡°Nope!¡±  The figure in the chair cackled wildly once again and rocked violently back and forth once more.  ¡°What you have is your uniform.  Wear it or not, I don¡¯t give a shit.  You just can¡¯t wear anything else besides it.¡±

    ¡°And..  What¡­ what am I going to be doing?¡± Elissa asked, worried but determined that she¡¯d handle whatever fate sent her, way for the sake of her family and people.

    ¡°Fetching me a beer,¡± the figure slurred, as it settled back into a slow rhythmic rocking once again.

    ¡°A beer?¡± Elissa asked, confounded.  ¡°How am I supposed to get a beer?¡±

    ¡°Go wench for it if you have to,¡± the figure shrugged.

    ¡°Is that an order?  I have to wench?¡± Elissa gasped, feeling week in the knees.

    ¡°The orders to get me a beer.  Steal it.  Wench for it.  Kill some bastard and take theirs.  I don¡¯t give a shit how you do it.  Just go get me a beer,¡± the figure commanded.  ¡°And soon too!¡±

    ¡°I¡­ I¡¯ll be back with a beer soon, Milord.¡±  Shaking her head to try and clear it, Elissa slowly worked her way back into the dining area.

    Bewildered, she couldn¡¯t help but wonder: Just what the hell had she gotten herself in to?!

 Escape?

    Retreating back to the kitchen, Elissa tried to fight back tears.  Born a daughter of one of the High Lords of the land, she had been raised in a lifestyle of wealth and pampering.  Wanting to prove her own strength and choose her own path in life, she decided to devote herself to the law and the people and join the Order of the Rose.  And now?  Now she was stuck running around as good as naked, living in a house of filth, and sworn to serve some drunken fool who was willing to wench her out just for a beer!   And for at least ten years!

    Never had she imagined such a nightmarish turn in her life.  Devastated and with her heart rocked, she tried to pull herself together as much as possible.  No matter what happened, she still had her duty to fulfill.  If she just clung to it, she assured herself, she¡¯d manage to be okay somehow.  She¡¯d pull through ¨C somehow.

    After all, ten years was only about a tenth of her lifespan.  She¡¯d still be young enough when she got out of her service to The Darkness to have children and raise a family.  Trying to cheer herself up, she wiped her eyes with the back of her hands, refusing to let the tears that oh so desperately wanted to escape, out.

    Looking around the kitchen, the place was an absolute horror.  To compare it to a pigsty would be an insult to the sty!  Holding one hand up around her face and mouth to help stifle the odor of the room, she gingerly tiptoed around and tried to look for anything that even resembled a bottle of beer.  Dozens of bottles were scattered and intermingled amongst the mess, but all had been opened and discarded; not a single one held anything that even slightly looked drinkable.

    As she rummaged through the garbage, Elissa tried to tell herself that her current predicament had to be nothing more than a test of some sort.  A trial of humility, perseverance, or fortitude.  Surely the great race destroying darkness wasn¡¯t just some slobbish drunk, intent on simply shattering her self-worth.  She had fought, and earned, the Trial of the Champion!  Surely there had to be some higher purpose behind it that she just didn¡¯t realize yet.

    At least, that¡¯s what she was trying to convince herself.

    After nearly a half hour of searching the kitchen ¨C and having to fight with her stomach so she didn¡¯t lose to the rancid nausea that the odor and mess generated ¨C sunlight finally began to weekly attempt to break through the gunk and grime over the window.  She¡¯d spent most of the night preparing to travel, and since she¡¯d gotten here and met The Darkness; or ¡®Dark¡¯ as he seemed to be calling himself; the sun had finally risen and was casting its predawn light upon the world.

    ¡°There¡¯s nothing in here except trash, garbage, and shit,¡± Elissa mumbled into her hand in disgust.  ¡°If I¡¯m going to pass this test, I¡¯m going to have to seek almighty beer elsewhere, it seems.  I suppose, in its own way, it¡¯s to be expected.  Mentioning wenching for beer wouldn¡¯t have been necessary, if there was already some around to be scavenged up.¡±  Sighing deeply, she reluctantly worked her way out of the kitchen and back into the room where The Darkness¡­ Dark, she reminded herself.  To where Dark now slumped low in the rocking chair, looking as if he¡¯d passed out.

    For a moment, Elissa argued with herself and had to resist the impulse to try and get closer to the figure and get a better look at him.  She had the next ten years where she was going to be staying and ¡®fulling his every whim¡¯.  She was certain there¡¯d be plenty of chances to see him better in that time.  For now, she only had one single task ¨C find and retrieve a bottle of beer somehow ¨C and chances are she¡¯d probably need to complete her mission before Lord Dark awoke.

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    Glancing around, she was tempted to put her pants and shirt back on before going out ¨C or at least her shirt, if nothing else ¨C but then she stubbornly shook her head from side to side.  She had her uniform now, and even if it was barely enough to be considered scraps, it was what she was ordered to wear.  Duty and honor said it was all she was going to get for foreseeable future; may as well start to adjust to it now.  Besides, she had to ask herself, was she really prepared to face the horrible consequences invoked in the letter, if she failed in her duty?  To think that wearing a shirt or pair of pants might destroy her family ¨C or even the whole of humanity!

    Shaking her head resolutely from side to side, she was determined not to let that happen.  She had wanted to serve and protect the people by joining the Order of the Rose and even though that wasn¡¯t possible now, it didn¡¯t change her determination on bit.  If she had to sacrifice her modesty to keep her family and the rest of the people safe, then she¡¯d simply sacrifice her modesty.  A person can do amazing things when they have to, she reminded herself ¨C but that still doesn¡¯t keep them from being embarrassing!

    Blushing, and half trying to hide her top with her arm, Elissa slowly tiptoed across the hazardous minefield that was the sitting room.  Broken glass, garbage, and all sorts of rusted, twisted, or broken junk were scattered haphazardly around; a danger to her soft bare feet.  She hadn¡¯t even been given a pair of slippers or sandals to wear!

    Cautiously, she finally worked her way to the open doorframe leading outside.  Breathing in the fresh air of freedom, Elissa took in her first look of her surroundings.  She was in hell; or at least, it was what she¡¯d consider a hell, if it wasn¡¯t the hell.  Garbage was scattered all about the depilated and rotten porch she was now standing on.  A yard of thigh high weeds and trash lead out to a broken and rusted iron fence.  The gate had been broken and leaned half against the fence, where it had probably laid for years!

    Outside the fenced off area that was apparently home of The Darkness, were other broken down shacks that appeared to be in just as retched of a state of disrepair as the home she¡¯d just come out of.  Thin, ragged looking dogs roamed the dusty dirt street, searching for a meal to fill their empty stomachs.  Glancing left and then right, Elissa was afraid that she¡¯d been deposited in some sort of forgotten wasteland.  She had heard of the slums back home where the truly poor and destitute lived.  With the knights, she had even traveled to there a few times to offer aid to the people ¨C and never had she ever seen any place that looked so utterly run down.

    Honestly, Elissa couldn¡¯t imagine that anyone would live in such a place.  She could hardly believe that The Darkness, which was supposed to somehow be a threat to all of creation, could be found in such a place!  Honestly, she was even having trouble believing that such a place could even exist.

    And, worst of all, somewhere in this hell, she was going to have to find beer before The Darkness woke up!

 Champion of the Maze?

    Glancing around and straining her eyes in the dim predawn light, Elissa decided that one direction would be as good as any other for now.  Normally, when in unfamiliar territory, she¡¯d try and find high ground to access the situation, but not this time.  High ground here would be a rooftop of one of the buildings, and she didn¡¯t think that was such a good idea.  As rickety and dilapidated the buildings looked, she was afraid they¡¯d simply collapse under her weight and then she¡¯d be trapped and helpless prey for the packs of dogs which wandered hungrily about.

    For a few moments, she considered going back inside and getting her sword at least, to have it for protection, but then she dismissed that idea as well.  She had no clue how easily The Darkness would be to awaken, and no idea to how he¡¯d react if she returned without fulfilling his request.  It simply wasn¡¯t worth the risk.

    Glancing around, she picked up a rusty metal pipe and swung it once or twice to get the feel of it.  Brittle with rust, it still had a study heft to it and she thought it¡¯d be more than sufficient to beat off a dog with, if it came to that.  In a swordfight, it probably wouldn¡¯t hold up long, but for nothing more than a feral animal, it¡¯d be sufficient

    Slowly working her way through the yard, Elissa carefully watched where she placed each footstep.  The grass here was ragged and up almost to her waist, and broken debris and junk was intermingled freely throughout it.  Several times, she almost placed her foot down on something sharp and dangerous, and it was only the extreme slow and cautious pace that she was using that allowed her to move her foot back and find another spot to sit it.

    Tall weeds and grass tickled her legs, her butt, and sometimes stoked against private areas between her thighs that made her intimately and uncomfortably aware of the lack of underwear.   Born a High Lady, trained to be a knight, and now reduced to this!  Her cheeks grew red and flush from embarrassment, though she swore she¡¯d get that reflex under control.  She didn¡¯t intend to give The Darkness the satisfaction in knowing how much he had rattled her already.

    If one is in a situation where they can¡¯t be strong, at the least, they can act strong.  At least, that¡¯s what she told herself.

    By the time she¡¯d managed to work her way out of the yard and to the gate, the sun had risen high enough in the sky that she could say dawn had truly broken.  Glancing up and down the street, the pack of dogs had left the area and the town ¨C if that¡¯s what one would call such a wrecked wasteland ¨C was now completely empty and devoid looking.  She¡¯d heard tales of ghost towns, but this was the first time she¡¯d ever actually experienced being in one, and the experience sent shivers down her spine.

    To the left, down the ragged and dingy dirt lane was dozens of shacks and shanties much like the one she¡¯d just emerged from, and she couldn¡¯t imagine their being anything of value in any of them.  Off in the distance, at the far end of the lane, was a large stone wall which towered at least twenty meters in the air.  If anyone was on it, or patrolling it, she couldn¡¯t see from this distance away.

    Down the right side of the lane were dozens more of the same rugged and ruined buildings.  Neither direction offered any encouragement at the moment to her, and Elissa was at a loss on how to proceed.  ¡°Think calmly and rationally,¡± she commanded herself.  ¡°What¡¯s the first thing that I need to do in this place?¡±

    ¡°I suppose that would be to make certain that I can find my way back,¡± she reasoned.  Looking up and down the street, there wasn¡¯t much to distinguish one hell hole from another in her opinion.  ¡°I guess for starters, I need a marker of some kind in front of this gate,¡± she told herself.

    Looking around, Elissa began to gather up various pieces of the garbage which was strewn up and down the road and carried it to the center of the dirt lane.  Arranging it carefully, she placed it to shape a very simple arrow which pointed back to the rusted gate that she¡¯d just came from.  ¡°It¡¯s not pretty, and it¡¯s not strategic, but it looks like it¡¯ll serve the purpose here,¡± she laughed.  ¡°It¡¯s not like anyone is just going to walk along and mess with it!¡±

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    Making certain that her marker was large enough that she could easily see it, Elissa finally picked up her pipe and started down the lane to the right.  ¡°No need to go to the wall.  Even if it does have guards atop it ¨C which is doubtful ¨C they won¡¯t be trading or bartering while up there and I¡¯m down here.  I know that way ends, so it looks like this way is my best choice.¡±

    Knowing she was talking to herself like an idiot, Elissa didn¡¯t like it, but she couldn¡¯t deny that just hearing her own voice somehow made her feel better in the unreal stillness that was all around.  She¡¯d been born in a city and had spent her whole life in a large bustling city.  The sounds of people, merchants, criers, guards, horses and wagons, and all the thousand other noises of suburbia had been her constant companion.  Now, there was just the howling wind and the occasional sound of a rat or dog disturbing the trash littered all about ¨C and even that made her jump every time she heard it!

    Slowly, cautiously, with her nerves on edge, Elissa made her way down to the next intersection and looked up and down every direction to see nothing more than the same.  Sighing, she once again gathered up debris and laid it to form a marker going back the way she came.

    ¡°I feel like a rat in a maze,¡± she muttered to herself.  ¡°In the worst damnable maze that someone could ever imagine!  If this is a maze, then I guess the only thing to do is just ¡®follow the right wall¡¯ until I find something interesting in here.  At least,¡± she mused, ¡°I think that¡¯s what one is supposed to do when trapped inside a maze.¡±

    Shrugging since she really didn¡¯t see how it mattered one way or another at this point, Elissa turned right again and moved ahead to mark the next intersection, before turning right again.

    For several hours, the sun rose higher into the sky and Elissa began to work up a thorough sweat exploring the general surroundings.  After walking a distance in every direction, she became certain that the area she was in was enclosed completely by the wall she¡¯d seen earlier.  To the west, was the wall.  To the south was the wall.  To the east was the wall.  Everywhere was the damnable wall, and there wasn¡¯t a damn thing except trash and garbage all around her!

    Apparently The Darkness lived inside a damnable dump!

    Sighing, with her feet starting to hurt somewhat from walking across the rough stone and ground barefoot, Elissa finally decided that the only thing left to do now was to walk the damn circumference of the wall and see if there was a gate or opening in one side of it.  The damned Darkness had said she could wench for beer ¨C how the hell was she supposed to do that, if there weren¡¯t any damnable people around to wench too!  There had to be some sort of way out of the damn maze she was stuck in.  She just had to find it first.

    Starting at the southwest corner, she kept the wall to her left and followed it north, until she reached the northwest corner.  Continuing on, she followed the wall to the northeast corner and then back down to the southeast corner.   ¡°The damnable exit has to be on the south wall,¡± she muttered to herself, weak from the heat, sweat, and pure exhaustion.

    Turning and following the south wall, she made her way all the way back to the original corner where she¡¯d started from ¨C the wall had no opening in it!

    Exhausted, almost feeling faint, Elissa slowly turned and began stumbling her way back up the rugged winding streets until she could find a marker than she¡¯d placed pointing her way back.  Too dehydrated from the heat and sweat to even cry, she dropped her rusted pipe and slowly worked her way back to the lair of the darkness, her shoulders slumped in defeat.

    Her first task ¨C and something as stupidly simply as ¡®go fetch a beer¡¯ ¨C and she had failed.  Her only hope was that The Darkness would take his wrath out on her and not on her family or the people of her kingdom.

    Some Champion of the People she was; she¡¯d failed in her very first duty.

 Punishment

    By the time Elissa managed to make her way back through the ruins of Helltown, as she was calling it now, and back into the shithole The Darkness resided in, Elissa was exhausted almost to the point of fainting.  Staggering inside the shack, The Darkness sat waiting in that same rocking chair, slowly swaying back and forth.

    ¡°My beer,¡± the figure demanded, the moment she staggered in through the door.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡±  Trying to bow in apology was too much for her, causing Elissa¡¯s head to spin and her vision to blank, and she collapsed in a heap onto the ground.  Her hand bled slightly from where she tried to catch herself and slammed it into the edge of some worthless junk lying scattered in the floor.  ¡°I failed.¡± Elissa barely managed to get the words out, her mouth was so dry.

    ¡°Then you face the consequence,¡± The Darkness hissed evilly as it slowly rose and approached her.  With spots dancing across her vision, Elissa tried to agree that she was willing to accept any punishment, but no words would form in her dry and parched throat ¨C not that they would¡¯ve mattered.

    Cackling wildly, The Darkness tossed itself upon her weakened form and roughly pulled Elissa¡¯s arms above her head.  In her almost delirious state, boarding on the edge of heat stroke and exhaustion, she couldn¡¯t even muster up the strength to attempt to resist.  With a harsh shove, The Darkness forced his knee between hers and then pushed them apart.

    ¡®Is this how I lose my chastity?¡¯ Elissa mused, heartbroken and helpless.  ¡®Where¡¯s my prince in shining armor to come save me when I need him the most?¡¯ Closing her eyes, she struggled to stay conscious.  Even if it was a nightmare, it was still her first and she had always wanted to remember such a special moment.

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    Harshly, and completely uncaring about her discomfort or wishes, The Darkness ripped the tattered loin cloth from her waist and began groping, kissing, fondling all over her.  Too weak to do anything more than simply lie there and accept it, Elissa slowly drifted in and out of consciousness as she was pushed, pulled, posed, and taken dozens of times in dozens of different positions over the next several hours.

    In one rough session of pure debauchery, all her precious ¡®firsts¡¯ were stolen from her.  Her first kiss.  The first man to touch her breasts.  The first man to break her purity.  Her first taste of a man¡¯s seed across her lips and down her throat.  Not even the inner recesses of her ass, nor the mounds of her breasts were spared, as they were sprayed and filled with the hot warmth of a man¡¯s seed for their first time as well.

    Violated and used as nothing more than a limp living doll, Elissa passed out being violated and when she regained her senses, she was still being violated.  For countless hours, her ravishing continued ¨C regardless of her state of being or awareness ¨C and when The Darkness finally quit the sun had set and darkness had settled all around.

    ¡°Bitch,¡± The Darkness spat on her; not that it mattered since she was already so covered in his sweat and his seed; ¡°next time you¡¯ll do as you¡¯re told.  Fail, and I¡¯ll just have to punish you again.¡±

    The wild cackling of a madman was the last thing Elissa heard as she gratefully slipped off into unconsciousness for the rest of the night.

 Stubborn Resolve

    Waking, Elissa groaned with pain.  Trying to force her eyes opened, spots flickered across her vision several times before she could focus enough to make out the heap of garbage that she was sprawled atop.  Covered in sweat and the flaking crust of dried male seed, every muscle screamed and ached as she tried to force herself to move and sit upright.

    ¡°You failed.¡±  A cold, emotionless voice reminded her from off to the side.

    ¡°I did,¡± she agreed, barely being able to even rise up onto her hands and knees.  While down on all fours, she weakly bent her elbows and dropped her head to the floor in shameful apology.

    ¡°And you¡¯ve been punished for that failure,¡± the voice stated matter-of-factly.

    ¡°I was,¡± Elissa agreed, trying hard to fight back the tears that tried to form in the corner of her eyes.  Defiled and ravished, even now she was still covered in the sweat and stain of her failure.

    ¡°So now what?¡± The Darkness¡¯s voice was cold, low, and completely unemotional.

    ¡°My lord?¡±  Unable to maintain the strength to hold herself even half upright any longer, Elissa¡¯s arms buckled and she sprawled out face first onto the dingy grime-covered floor.

    ¡°It¡¯s a simple question,¡± The Darkness stated.  ¡°Now what?  Tuck your tail between your legs and run?  Slice your own throat and die?  Give in to despair and grovel as a worm forevermore, only fit for use in the basest of pleasures?  What now?¡±

    For several long moments, Elissa laid unmoving and unresponsive on the ground.  She struggled and forced herself upright and into a kneeling position.  Head still hung low, she slowly shook her head from side to side.  ¡°You¡¯re wrong,¡± she forced the words out of her dry, parched lips.

    ¡°Wrong?!¡±  At first The Darkness sounded startled, and then it laughed wildly.  ¡°Wahhaahaa!  And pray tell, how am I wrong?¡±  For some reason, he seemed to find her words endlessly amusing.

    ¡°I must humbly disagree, upon some minor reflection,¡± Elissa muttered, trying to lick some moisture onto her cracked lips.  ¡°I neither failed, nor was I punished.¡±

    ¡°You didn¡¯t?  You weren¡¯t?¡±  The Darkness leaned back in its rocking chair and one thin white hand slowly stroked its chin.  Deep black eyes that were like gazing into an endless abyss started down at her, but Elissa somehow resisted the urge to flinch back from their penetrating gaze.

    ¡°The task I was given was to fetch My lord a beer,¡± Elissa stated, head lowered.

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    ¡°Which you failed!¡±

    ¡°Nay, My Lord.  There was no limit set upon the time for me to complete my task.  I have not failed it yet; my duty simply remains unfulfilled.  I have been delayed on the completion of my task, but I have not forsaken it yet.  I shall still complete it,¡± Elissa argued, stubbornly.

    ¡°And your punishment?¡± The Darkness asked, quietly and in a voice that sounded thoughtful and curious.

    ¡°There was no punishment,¡± Elissa stated slowly.  ¡°My lord desired the pleasure of my flesh, and I have sworn to obey him and fulfill his needs.  My lord took what was his, and I simply fulfilled my duty and submitted to my lord¡¯s will.  You cannot punish your hand by using it to pick up a cup for you, and my lord cannot punish me by exerting his will upon me.

    ¡°I am sworn to obey the lord¡¯s will,¡± Elissa argued.  ¡°Doing so is not punishment.  It is simply a fulfillment of my duty.¡±

    ¡°I have neither failed, nor have I been punished,¡± Elissa stated stubbornly.  ¡°I have simply done my duty, or attempted to do my duty and have not completed my task yet ¨C as is the issue with the request from yesterday ¨C and my lord has simply indulged himself with that which is his by rights.  The matter is a simple as that, my lord,¡± Elissa adamantly declared.

    ¡°Wahhaaaahha!¡±  Cackling laughter, The Darkness rocked back and forth several times.   ¡°Interesting.  Very interesting.¡±  Stroking its chin a few times again, The Darkness appeared lost in thought for several moments.

    ¡°You still haven¡¯t answered my question,¡± it finally stated, cold and uncaring once again.  ¡°What now?

    ¡°Now, I continue to serve my lord for a term no less than ten minus one,¡± Elissa answered, trying not to sway side to side.  Weak, hungry, parched, bruised, exhausted, and covered in stuff that she didn¡¯t want to think about, it took all her willpower to simply remain sitting upright at the moment.

    ¡°I do my duty,¡± Elissa muttered, as the room spun in her vision and she began to lean dangerously backwards.  ¡°Nothing more, nothing less.  I simply do my duty.¡±

    Unconsciousness once again washed over her, as she fell backwards and sprawled out awkwardly on the trash covered floor.  Rubbing his chin, amused and seemingly in deep thought, The Darkness simply stared at her.

    Never moving.  Never blinking.  The Darkness simply stared.

 A Second Task

    When Elissa¡¯s consciousness returned to her, she found herself sprawled out on her back in a most unusual position.  For arms were crossed behind her head, and her legs were bent and opened wide, with her feet numb and asleep from her butt resting on them.  She¡¯d been sitting on her knees and when she¡¯d passed out, she¡¯d simply fallen backwards.  Her feet and legs now tingled and protested as sensations of pins and needles throbbed in them, and her lower back ached and throbbed from being arched in such an unusual position for so long.

    The discomfort in her lower extremities was so great that it took several moments before she realized that her head was otherwise clear and her thirst, hunger, and exhaustion was gone.  Except for the ache from her body protesting the position it¡¯d been trapped in for so long, she actually felt okay now.  She felt dirty, sticky, and covered in grime and filth, but she more or less felt better and more refreshed than she had in several days.  She¡¯d come here already suffering from the effects of hunger and exhaustion, and those conditions had only worsened as she wandered the ruins under the hot sun the day before, but now she felt fine.

    Stretching her arms slightly, she felt an unusual touch between her legs and against her groin.  Startled, instinctively she struggled to sit upright and see what was almost molesting her.  Oddly enough, she had somehow been moved ¨C slid forward from her previous position in he room ¨C and was now sprawled directly in front of The Darkness and the chair in which it sat and rocked.  Befuddled, it took a few moments before Elissa realized that it was The Darkness¡¯s bare foot which was rubbing up and down against her as it rocked back and forth in the chair.

    For several moments, she sat half upright, resting on her elbows, and stared.  For the first time since coming here, she was alert and close enough to get a close look at the creature before her.  After a close observation, Elissa had trouble believing that The Darkness was human; nor could she identify what race it might descend from.  It was roughly the height of a human male, but it looked impossibly skinny and malnourished, with skin hanging tight against a ghastly grey white skin.  Bare chested, she could see and count every rib on the creature; it looked as if it hadn¡¯t eaten in months ¨C or even years!

    Its face was almost impossible to make out from under the mass of tangled, dirty hair that sprouted unkempt over it.  The hair on its head was long and tangled, flowing down the back of the rocker and almost dragging the floor as it rocked backwards.  Its beard was shaggy and branched out like a tangled bush, concealing its mouth and most facial features.  Most disturbing of all was the creature¡¯s eyes ¨C or its lack of eyes.  Where normally one would have an eye with iris, pupil, and such things, The Darkness had only two deep swirling pools of blackness on its face.  Seeming devoid of light¡­

    No, Elissa corrected herself, they didn¡¯t seem devoid of light.  They seeming to absorb all light that touched them, pulling warmth and color into their endless depths, leaving nothing but shadows and darkness behind.  Staring into them made her feel tiny and inconsequential, a mere speck of dust lost in the nothingness that was the darkness between stars.  Shivering, she tore her gaze away from its eyes and forced herself to inspect the creature completely.

    Its arms were the same pale grey-white, and just as emancipated as the rest of it.  Its hands had long, boney fingers, and ended in short black claws that appeared to naturally sharpen to a peak like an arrow tip.  How strong or sharp the claws were, she had no way of knowing.  All she could tell by looking was that they appeared to be functional more than ornamental.

    Over its legs, The Darkness wore pants of some unknown black material.  At first, Elissa thought the pants might be silk, but after staring intently for a few moments, she convinced herself that she¡¯d never seen any material like it.  Perhaps no one had ever seen a material like the pants before.  Having no stitches, nor any discernable weaves, the pants looked as if they were made of a single piece, much like a second skin that The Darkness wrapped to cover itself from waist to calf.

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    And The Darkness¡¯s foot, which was probing her most private of places so intimately, resembled its hands.  Pale, grey-white skin stretched over boney toes, which had the same blackened nails at the tip of them.  Staring and watching the sharp black tip come so close to slicing her most sensitive of skin, Elissa trembled slightly before forcing herself to lie back on the floor once again.

    Slowly, she crossed her arms back under her head and closed her eyes and tried to ignore the painful discomfort in her lower half as she worked on sorting things out.

    She had proven herself and became the first amongst her class of knights.  Given the most essential of tasks, she was tasked with traveling and serving The Darkness for a period of not less than ten years.  Upon arriving, she¡¯d discovered that things weren¡¯t at all as she could¡¯ve ever imagined, with The Darkness apparently living in a ruined city of garbage, trapped inside an unscaleable wall.  Tasked with her first duty, she had failed to complete it and exhaustion, dehydration, and hunger had overtaken her.

    And yet, here she was now, sprawled out naked and helpless before the darkness, yet no longer feeling that thirst, hunger, or weariness.  She couldn¡¯t fathom how she¡¯d regained her strength.  All she could imagine was that somehow The Darkness had healed and tended her somehow, helping her regain her strength.  Apparently, The Darkness didn¡¯t want her to die or released from her duty so easily.  It must¡¯ve been responsible for healing her, though Elissa couldn¡¯t figure out how or why it did so.

    ¡°The dawn breaks anew,¡± The Darkness uttered coldly, breaking Elissa from her inner thoughts.  ¡°Are you going to lie there all day and simply let me indulge in the look and feel of you, or are you going to complete your task?¡± The Darkness asked, seemingly not to care one way or the other.  Its voice was cold, harsh, and unemotional.

    ¡°I¡¯ll complete my task.  Somehow,¡± Elissa answered, stretching her arms lightly once again.  Attempting to move her legs, they were numb and unresponsive from how they¡¯d been trapped and positioned under her all night long.

    ¡°Then, as this is your second day, I give you a second task,¡± The Darkness chuckled.  ¡°This one shall have a  limit to the time and will be one you can fail, should you not meet its conditions.¡±

    ¡°And what task is that, my lord?¡±  Slowly and against the painful protest of her hips and body, Elissa forced herself to roll onto her side.  The moment her weight moved off from her lower legs and the blood flowed back into them freely, the muscles cramped and screamed in agony.

    Seemingly uncaring about her pain, or perhaps even amused by it, The Darkness chuckled coldly and lightly.  ¡°Be back by the sun¡¯s fall and prepare to entertain me as you did yesterday.  If what we did was indeed not a punishment, as you assert, then it must not be something which you would object to doing again.¡±

    ¡°It wasn¡¯t a punishment, my lord,¡± Elissa asserted stubbornly, as she tried to rub and work feeling back into her legs.  ¡°It¡¯s my duty to serve you, and if that¡¯s what you wish from me, it¡¯s your right to demand it.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll be back before the sun sets to entertain you again, my lord, if that¡¯s your wish,¡± Elissa promised.

    ¡°It is your second duty,¡± The Darkness replied, before leaning back and rocking in its chair once more.

    Unblinking, the endless pools of darkness stared relentlessly at her as Elissa struggled to work feeling in and pain out of her legs so she could try once again to ¨C Heaven help her, it was so absurd ¨C find a beer for The Darkness.

 Living Hell

    After what seemed like forever to Elissa, the tingling in her legs and feet finally eased and she managed to stretch and move until she popped her back.  Glancing around for a few moments for her loin cloth, she finally gave up the task as helpless and wandered outside without it.

    Looking around, the scene before her hadn¡¯t changed any from how it was yesterday ¨C she was still in the middle of nothing more than what was ruins, and there wasn¡¯t anyone around besides her and The Darkness.  Even if she was willing to wench to fulfill her duty, there wasn¡¯t anyone to wench too.  The area was walled off, and they were trapped inside those walls alone.

    ¡°I wonder if it even knows things have gone to hell,¡± she mused to herself.  To be honest, she didn¡¯t know anything about The Darkness.  With those eyes, could it even see?  It seemed to somehow be watching her, but was that perhaps in her imagination?  No, she assured herself, it could see somehow.  It knew that she was a female and not a male when she first walked into its lair.  Or den.  Or sitting room ¨C whatever the hell you call where it was she¡¯d met it!

    Apparently The Darkness could see, or had some means of identifying what was around it, but that didn¡¯t mean it had any knowledge of the state of the city they were trapped within.  From the overall size of the walled off area, this had to be a bustling metropolis sometime in the past, with thousands of people and businesses all here together.  Surely, somewhere within all this ruin, there had to have been taverns or general stores, or some other place, that sold drinks to customers.  Maybe even a whorehouse, since The Darkness had suggested she wench for it.

    Not having anything else to go on, Elissa slowly worked her way through the overgrown grass and weeds, avoiding the dangerous trash and garbage concealed by it.  Making her way to the street, she took her time and slowly walked up and down the various overgrown roads and alleys to try and get a better understanding of the place she was in.

    Elissa expected to find normal divisions inside the town ¨C an area for the rich and fancy, another area for government businesses, a section for the average, and a section for the poor ¨C but instead all she found was the same old same old.  The way one street looked varied very little over the way another looked.  The houses ¨C or ruins of houses to be precise ¨C were all about the same size and shape.

    The only time Elissa had ever seen anything even remotely like it, was when she once visited an army barracks.  If that was the case, and this was once an area where soldiers lived with their families, it was by far the largest base she¡¯d ever heard of!  The was enough room for tens of thousands of soldiers ¨C and their families ¨C to live inside the encasing walls.  If it was just soldiers, and they didn¡¯t have families with them, perhaps a hundred thousand would have been living here in the past!

    Oh, how she longed for a look outside the walls!

    Perhaps in the future, there might be a way to get on top of them, or even go over them, but now wasn¡¯t the time to worry about such things, she reminded herself.  One thing she was certain of; if this was some sort of giant military base or barracks, beer shouldn¡¯t be too hard to find ¨C even if it was against their rules and regulations.  Somewhere, one of these buildings would have a basement with a hidden room where the soldiers hid their stash.  Honestly, Elissa thought to herself, there was probably a whole network of buildings where the soldiers worked together to move and store contraband which was against regulations.

    The only real problem was finding them, and hoping that someone else hadn¡¯t come along and looted those stashes already.  Sighing deeply, Elissa slowly worked her way back to the front of the house that contained The Darkness, and then went into the nearest shack beside it.  Since the outside of the buildings all looked the same, the only thing to do was to do a careful inspection of their contents one at a time.  She was lucky in the fact that she didn¡¯t have a time limit set on her first task, because it might take her days or even weeks before she could find and scavenge what she was looking for out of the ruins ¨C if it even existed.

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    The troublesome thought that the ruins had already been looted and picked clean over the years kept drifting into her thoughts.  What if there wasn¡¯t any beer to find?  What if she only found wine or whiskey instead?  Could she honestly swear that there was even beer here somewhere to be found?  The more she rummaged and carefully searched the nearby ruins, the more she worried.

    Finally, as the sun was starting to reach its zenith in the sky, she decided that she¡¯d rummaged around enough for one morning.  Since time wasn¡¯t an issue, Elissa decided to break the problem down into two possible solutions.  One, she could search the ruins and find what was needed to complete her task, or two, she¡¯d simply have to make her own.

    She¡¯d never brewed beer in the past, and really didn¡¯t know what was required to make it, but Elissa knew that it¡¯d require growing crops and that there currently wasn¡¯t any place suitable for such an endeavor that she¡¯d seen.  Besides, if she was honest with herself, she simply had to admit that she didn¡¯t like all the trash and garbage lying about.  The front of the yard was overgrown and dangerous to try and walk through.  All it¡¯d take is one mistake and she could end up seriously hurting herself with some danger hidden in the weeds.

    So, to work on both problems and both solutions at the same time, Elissa decided to devote herself to two separate tasks.  Mornings she¡¯d go out and search the ruins in the off chance that she could beer as she¡¯d been requested to, or, barring that, find anything useful or helpful at all.   In the evenings, she could work on clearing and cleaning the yard out front of where The Darkness resided ¨C she was loath to call it her own home for now ¨C and eventually prepare the ground for tilling and planting.

    Just because she didn¡¯t know anything about brewing beer, that didn¡¯t mean she couldn¡¯t learn through trial and error.  Ten years is a long time and a person can learn all sorts of things in that period, she told herself, but if the town had been looted, it¡¯d be impossible to find something which might not exist at all in it anymore.  The only way she could be certain that she¡¯d eventually have beer, is if she produced it herself.

    The first step to that was clearing the yard and fixing a field suitable for growing things, and to that end, Elissa devoted her afternoon to the grilling labor of pulling weeds and clearing a path from the broken gate leading in from the street, to the broken door which led out of the house.

    The sun was hot and merciless, relentlessly radiating down on her bare skin, and the weeds were tall and deep rooted.  Progress was painfully slow and there was nothing to eat or drink to help keep her hydrated and her strength up.  By the time the sun began to settle behind the wall that evening, Elissa was tired, sun burnt almost to the point of feeling blistered, dehydrated, and with what felt like a hole in her stomach from where she was so hungry.

    And for her troubles, all she had to show was a line of pulled weeds too narrow to even be called a real path from the door to the gate.  She¡¯d thought she¡¯d did more, that she¡¯d have more to show for all her effort than that!  Looking at what she¡¯d accomplished, and what was still left to accomplish, Elissa felt her heart shrink back in despair.  Even with ten years, could she even manage to clear the yard by then?  It all felt so hopeless. Feeling bleak and overwhelmed, Elissa wearily shambled back into the house before the sun set.

    Inside, The Darkness was waiting, and uncaring of her physical or mental state, it grabbed her almost before she¡¯d even fully gotten into the room and ravished her again for several long hours.  Held, tugged, positioned, and used like nothing more than a doll built solely for pleasure, Elissa couldn¡¯t help but feel like she was in hell.

    In all honesty, it was a blessed relief when exhaustion and weariness took over and she passed out while her knees were being pushed up towards her head and she was being rode mercilessly.  The dark oblivion of unconsciousness was the only relief which she could look forward to.  She truly was in her own personal hell.

 Metamorphosis

    Life after that settled into a terrible and grueling blur of hellish repetition for Elissa.  Wake in the morning sticky and covered in the aftermath of the previous night¡¯s ravishing.  Spend the morning wandering the city and exploring one shack after another, being careful not to hurt herself in the process.  Afternoons were spent in the blazing sun pulling weeds and slowly clearing the yard.

    On those days when it rained, she had a chance for the closest thing to a shower since arriving in The Maze, as she had started to call it.  No matter how much she¡¯d wandered, or how many wells and fountains she had checked, Elissa hadn¡¯t found a source of viable water in the whole ruins.  There wasn¡¯t water for baths or showers like she was used to, and Elissa slowly grew accustomed to the intermingled smell of her own sweat and the odor of The Darkness¡¯s lust he indulged upon her body, and the difference in the smell and feel when she did get to indulge in her first rain shower amazed her.  It was almost like she¡¯d been reborn!

    But, that feeling didn¡¯t last long, as there was always more dirt, more grime, and more sweat waiting for her ¨C not to mention the promised ravishing which occurred every night and left her stained and lust covered every morning.  A shower in the rain, as refreshing as it might be, didn¡¯t last long, and neither did the water in the city.

    How she survived without drink, or even food, confounded her.  Each evening when she performed her duty, and submitted herself to The Darkness, she was parched and wracked with hunger.   Each morning, when she awoke, she felt sated and refreshed.  Somehow, sometime during the night, she was restored, but she didn¡¯t know how or when.

    One day blurred into the next, and then one week into another.  Diligently, Elissa tried to count the days that she¡¯d served, but as time passed, it became harder to keep track of them.  Soon she found herself scratching marks onto the wall in the kitchen to remind herself how long she¡¯d been there, and then soon after that, she found herself wondering if she¡¯d scratched each day properly.  Had she forgotten and missed some?  Thought she¡¯d missed some and counted them twice?

    After that, she simply gave up counting and resigned herself to the monotony.  Mornings spent searching, afternoons spent cleaning the yard and working the land, evenings spent as a ragdoll for The Darkness¡¯s endless lust, and nights passed out in an exhausted slumber.

    Slowly, at a pace so gradual that it was hard to notice on a daily schedule, Elissa began to illicit a change to her surroundings.  After the first week, she had a usable path to the gate.  By the end of the first month, she¡¯d cleared the front yard.  Weeds had been pulled and left in the road to wilt and dry under the scorching sun.  Garbage had been collected and dragged all the way to the end of the street and piled in one massive heap.

    The yard was slowly being worked and rich dirt was replacing the overgrown weeds.  Not having any seeds, and not wanting the grass to come back and take over her freshly worked soil, Elissa wandered the ruins and collected dozens of flowers and planted them in the yard to protect the integrity of the top soil.  From ragged wasteland, the front yard slowly bloomed and became a vibrant flower garden.

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    As the outside of the house slowly changed, so did the inside.  On days when the rains would fall, Elissa would rush outside to wash herself as clean as possible ¨C especially her long vibrant hair ¨C and then after she would come back in and devote the day to cleaning the home as much as possible.  Slowly, bit by bit, Elissa picked up the garbage, cleaned off the dirt, and wiped away the mold.

    Most of the garbage ended up joining the ever growing pile at the end of the street, but some things she managed to creatively find a use for.  With the rotted hog¡¯s carcass, even though it gagged her, Elissa tore off chunks of the blackish green flesh and bones and used those to introduce herself to the dogs that roamed around the ruins.  At first, skittish or wary, over time they warmed to her presence, eventually even wagging and waiting for treats when they crossed paths.

    Some of the putrid and rotted vegetables, Elissa tried to plant and grow.  Most were too far gone to do much more than decay and fertilize the ground, but after a while a few tomatoes and onions began to sprout amongst the flowers.  When the first tomato ripened enough for her to sink her teeth into it, the flavor and juice was so sweet that Elissa nearly swooned with the pleasure.  After months with only drinking the rain she caught on tongue, and without eating anything, a tomato was a gift from the heavens above, and Elissa had to resist the urge to indulge and not eat the whole crop in one setting.

    Also, though she didn¡¯t notice it herself it was so gradual, Elissa herself began to change.  Already fit and muscular from her training as a knight, Elissa began to shape and tone her body even further.  Endless hours laboring and sweating under the hot sun melted any of the last vestiges of soft fat from her body and replaced them with well-developed muscles.  Her hair, already long, grew even longer with no one around to cut or trim it, and her body developed a uniform light tan, with no lines or discolorations.

    Athletic by nature, Elissa found herself growing much more flexible and limber, thanks to the endless manipulation of her body when The Darkness indulged its pleasure upon her every night.   Over time, her strength grew as did her endurance and stamina, with her remaining awake and conscious ever longer into the nighttime hours while being ravished.

    Slowly, a metamorphosis was occurring all around, with the exception of The Darkness.  The Darkness never moved.  Never offered to help.  It simply sat and rocked, staring endlessly at her, until the sun went down and then it would have its way with her until exhaustion set in and she passed out.

    No matter how much other things might change, The Darkness simply sat and rocked, only stopping to ravish her, before going back to its sitting and rocking.  Other things might change, but The Darkness simply was.

 Uncovering The Dark

    It was after the first harvest of her tomatoes that Elissa decided to take a chance on making another change.  The Darkness had never blinked, never moved when she spent endless hours on rainy days picking up the garbage or cleaning the home they were living in.  It never moved a hand to help her in her cleaning, nor did it lift a hand to stop her.  The Darkness simply sat, rocked, and seemed completely indifferent to everything around it until the sun set and it indulged itself with her body.

    It was several days after her first harvest, when the day grew dark and cloudy and a steady rain began to fall.  Washing herself as clean as she could, Elissa marveled at how long her hair had grown.  Originally down below her buttocks, her hair was now almost to her calves.  Wistfully, she thought of trying to cut it, but then disregard the idea as it was the only thing she had left to try and take pride in.  Her clothes were gone, her family, her friends, her home; they had all been taken from her.  The only thing she had left from before was her hair and she just couldn¡¯t bring herself to cut it.  Hair grows from the base of the skull out, and she¡¯d be cutting off the ends of it ¨C ends which she¡¯d grown and nurtured amongst her friends and family.  She simply couldn¡¯t bear the thought of that.

    But the Darkness?  It was fair game.

    Working up her courage one rainy morning, Elissa carefully braved her way back down into the dusty web-filled basement and rummaged through the crates that had held the stuff she¡¯d packed and brought with her.  The Darkness denied her the right to wear anything more than the ragged loin cloth that did almost nothing to cover her, and which she honestly hadn¡¯t even bothered to try to keep clean and wrapped around herself for quite some time now, so her clothes and armor she simply ignored and pushed away.  For the next decade or so, Elissa had a feeling that she was simply going to be streaking all the time, so she had no use for them.

    Instead, she looked for things which might be of use to her even now.  A sharp dagger, a sturdy leather cloak, a large purse, a backpack, and various other little small things which she could load and pack into them, were all gathered up and collected.  Finally, satisfied that she had all that she needed for now from her own things, Elissa slowly and carefully worked her way back up the steps and back into the kitchens, with a self-promise that sometime soon she was going to go back and see what the other crates and containers held down there.  But for now, Elissa had what she¡¯d wanted.

    Carrying everything into the room where The Darkness sat and rocked, Elissa walked over and sat everything down in the corner.  Even after all her hard work picking up and trying to clean the place, it still wasn¡¯t what she¡¯d truly consider livable.  The large piles of garbage were now gone, carried out and tossed onto the pile at the end of the street, but the floorboards were stained and contained a putrid odor that just wouldn¡¯t go away no matter how many times she scrubbed over them with water alone.  Truthfully, Elissa knew, even soaps or dyes probably wouldn¡¯t take the stench or stain out now; they had become part of the wood itself.

    Shrugging slightly to herself; one of the things that she was learning from her time here was to accept that not everything was in her control and the she could only do what she could actually do to make life around her better; Elissa laid the cloak down across the floor as bedding and then carried her backpack over to where the darkness was rocking.  Working her way behind its chair, she sat the pack down and rummaged through it until she found her scissors.  Pulling them out, she placed a foot on top of the back of the rocker¡¯s leg and forced the chair to tilt backwards.

    ¡°This place has been cleaned somewhat,¡± she muttered, with a half grin to hide her trepidation. ¡°Now, it¡¯s your turn.¡±  Swallowing back a lump of uncertainty in her throat, she leaned forward and snipped a large chunk of tangled hair from The Darkness.  As the hair slowly fell to land upon its shoulders, The Darkness slowly tilted its head back to stare at her with those cold, unblinking voids which were its eyes.

    Elissa trembled for a moment, half afraid that she¡¯d done something wrong or that she¡¯d somehow offended The Darkness, but it never spoke nor moved after that.  It simply sat leaned back in the chair, head tilted back to watch her, and stared silently with its cold, never changing gaze.

    Seeing that no reprimand was forthcoming at the moment, Elissa worked up her courage and snipped another long strand of hair, and then another and another.  Trying to ignore the unblinking stare which never moved from her, Elissa cut, snipped, and chopped at The Darkness¡¯s hair for so long that her foot and leg got tired forcing the chair back as she was.  Finally moving her foot, the chair rocked forward while her knee and leg trembled slightly as it recovered from the resistance suddenly being gone.  Elissa took a few moments to rub her leg and massage the knee, while The Darkness simply rocked and loose hair scattered all around him.

    ¡°Up.  Get up,¡± Elissa ordered, as she finally walked around the chair to stand beside it.

    ¡°Why?¡±  As always, The Darkness¡¯s voice was cold, harsh, and unemotional as it slowly turned its head to stare at her.

    ¡°Why not?¡±  Elissa answered, still rubbing her leg slightly.

    For a moment The Darkness slowly titled its head left and right as if pondering her question.  Finally, it shrugged its boney shoulders and stood up.  ¡°Why not, indeed,¡± it mused.

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    Emboldened by her success, Elissa reached forward and took The Darkness by the hand and tugged lightly.  Tilting its head again curiously, it hesitated for a moment, and then shrugged once more and followed along docilely behind her.

    Leading The Darkness outside and into the rain, Elissa walked behind it and brushed what loose hair that remained off from it.  Grinning lightly at seeing it just standing there now, seemingly oblivious to everything once more, Elissa resumed her assault on the tangled mess that remained of its hair.  From the way it sat before, she could cut the hair in front and top, and now she could finally get to the mess in the rear.

    Working her hands through its hair, Elissa finally felt and then got to see The Darkness¡¯s ears for the first time.  Roughly the same size as a human¡¯s, they nevertheless highly resembled the elves¡¯, with a narrow build and the top rising up to a tight triangular peak.  Neither human nor elvish, The Darkness¡¯s ears resembled both but was neither.  Strangely, Elissa somehow found them cute and rubbed them several times with her hands while The Darkness simply sat there unmoving and unnoticing.

    By the time she¡¯d finished cutting the hair on the top of its head, The Darkness was almost bald, with only a short jagged stubble left.  Working her way back around to stand in front of The Darkness, Elissa turned her attention to doing the same for the ragged beard and mustache which grew haphazardly entangled in all directions.  Through it all, The Darkness simply stood unmoving, unblinking, and seemingly unnoticing or uncaring.

    The rain had picked up from the gentle drizzle which was falling earlier and was now beating down hard enough to bounce droplets back up from the puddled and muddy earth.  Loose hair floated listlessly in puddles and mixed haphazardly into the mud as it squished between their toes.  Not wanting to let the chance pass, Elissa ran into the house, not caring about the muddy footprints she left behind, and grabbed her purse, before running outside with it.

    ¡°Strip,¡± she commanded, while tugging at the dingy gray pants The Darkness always wore.  For a moment, The Darkness tilted its head back and forth, but it didn¡¯t resist as she pulled the pants down and lifted its legs to tug them off.  Standing there naked and almost shaved, Elissa got her first good look at The Darkness, and much to her surprise she could no longer think of him as an it.

    The Darkness was obviously not human, but it was also obviously a man, in all parts of the word.  Thin and gaunt, with a frame that looked like it had been malnourished for all his life, The Darkness still had the sort of face that made Elissa think he¡¯d be could easily be considered an attractive man if he¡¯d just put on some weight.  Narrow, pointed ears jutted slightly to the side of a perfectly sculpted and framed face.  The nose was in perfect proportions to the face and forehead, the mouth not too large and not too small.

    Placing her hand up to cover the dark holes that was its eyes, Elissa had to admit to herself that The Darkness had a cute face, and with a little fleshing out, it¡¯d be what most women would call strikingly handsome ¨C if they could just ignore those endlessly cold black holes where the eyes normally were.  Those eyes were one thing which were simply hard to get past, no matter how hard one tried!

    Moving her hand away from his eyes, Elissa glanced down and giggled lightly.  ¡°Happy to see me?¡± She asked, staring down at the erect man part which pointed so prominently towards her.

    ¡°No.¡± The Darkness answered in that same harsh, coldly unemotional voice.  Then, tilting his head slightly, the corners of his mouth twitched for a moment before he revised that to, ¡°Perhaps.  Why do you ask?¡±

    ¡°Just because of that,¡± Elissa said, pointing down and trying not to giggle.  Somehow standing out in the pouring rain, shaving and stripping The Darkness, simply felt completely surreal to her.  For so long now that she couldn¡¯t remember the exact number of days, The Darkness had simply ignored her all day long, until it ravished her all night long.  They didn¡¯t talk; they didn¡¯t really interact; and yet, her it was now talking to her and even following along with what she asked of it.

    Tilting his head to glance downwards, The Darkness slowly shrugged his shoulders.  ¡°I stay like that,¡± he replied coldly as he looked back up to stare unblinking at the rain.

    ¡°Always?¡± Elissa asked, a little surprised.  From what little she knew about anatomy, men were only erect when aroused and staying that way too long was bad for their health.

    ¡°I am what I am,¡± The Darkness replied, seemingly unconcerned.

    ¡°I suppose that¡¯s all that can be said about any of us,¡± Elissa laughed lightly as she dug in her purse and pulled out several bottles of soaps and shampoos.  Taking time to first wash and lather herself thoroughly, she then took the time to repeat the process on The Darkness, scrubbing hard to flake and scrub them both as clean as possible.

    Once finished, she gently took the ivory pale hand that belonged to The Darkness and tugged it gently back towards the shack they had been staying in.  ¡°Come Dark,¡± she whispered, lost in her own thoughts, ¡°let¡¯s get inside and out of the rain.¡±

    Without speaking, and without resisting, The Darkness allowed itself to be gently led back inside by the hand.

 Before?

    Getting back inside, The Darkness casually strolled over and sat unabashedly naked in the old rocker and began to gently rock back and forth as usual.  After several moments, Elissa stared in amazement as a thick black smoke wafted in through the door from the outside rain and slowly gathered itself around his waist.   After a short moment more, the smoke grew into a thick cloud which concealed The Darkness¡¯s lower half and the rocker from view, before it began to slowly scatter and drift away.   Once the smoke was gone, Elissa couldn¡¯t help but stare wide-eyed as The Darkness was once again clothed in the same dingy gray pants which it had always seemed to have worn since she¡¯d first met him.

    Born of a family of wealth and prestige, Elissa had seen magical effects and watched people perform magic all her life, but never once had she witnessed such a scene.  Magic involved willful manipulation of the primal forces of nature.  Mana had to be drawn in by the user, then focused, shaped, controlled, and released through various means and rituals.  Incantations, runes, embroidered patterns, scrolls, wands, staffs, rods, and other various magical devices helped control, shape, and manipulate the primal energies of creation and force it to the desired outcome, but what she¡¯d just seen had defied all of that.

    Simply by doing nothing more than rocking in his chair, The Darkness had unraveled the tattered clothes outside, transformed them into smoke, maintained the smoke¡¯s integrity through the pouring rain, and then willed the smoke to come inside, wrap itself around him, and then transform back into the same tattered and worn clothes.  No incantations.  No symbolic gestures.  No device to channel the energy.  The Darkness had simply sat and rocked, and did what everyone she¡¯d even known would call impossible ¨C all without seeming to even notice!

    ¡°Wha¡­ What are you?¡± Elissa stammered, staring in amazed disbelief at the thin male rocking back and forth before her.

    ¡°I am,¡± was the only reply from those cold, unemotional lips, as The Darkness continued to slowly tic back and forth.

    ¡°That¡­ That doesn¡¯t tell me anything,¡± Elissa snorted.  For too long she¡¯d simply tiptoed around the man before her, only really interacting with him every night as he forced his self upon her.  She had been knighted.  She was first of her class!  To live in a constant state of fear and apprehension was not her way ¨C or at least she wanted to tell herself that.  Perhaps time had taken some of her initial fright from her.  Or familiarity.  Definitely the fact that The Darkness had followed her outside, allowed her to cut his hair, strip him, bathe him, and question him had made her more confident about pushing to see exactly what he¡¯d tolerate from her and what he wouldn¡¯t.

    ¡°Just what are you.  How long have you been here?  Where the hell is here?  Who are you?¡±  Several questions she¡¯d been holding suddenly swelled up and burst out of Elissa in a quick rush, causing her to tremble slightly, fearing that she was pushing for too much, too quickly.

    If The Darkness was bothered or offended, he showed no sign of it as he continued to rock rhythmically back and forth.  ¡°I am,¡± he answered once again in that same cold, harsh, unemotional voice, ¡°and I¡¯ve been here from before.  This is, and I am.¡±

    ¡°GAAAH!!¡±  Tossing up her arms in frustration, Elissa plopped down and sat cross-legged on the dingy wood floor in front of where The Darkness rocked.  ¡°You are.  This is.  From before!  Stupid, worthless answers!¡±  Crossing her arms over her chest in disgust, Elissa stared up into the cold unblinking dark holes that was The Darkness¡¯s eyes.  ¡°None of those tell me anything,¡± she sighed.  ¡°Just tell me how long you¡¯ve been here for starters.  From before, you said.  Before what?¡±

    ¡°Yes,¡± was the cold, cryptic reply.

    ¡°Yes?  Yes what?¡±  Several times in her life Elissa had been forced to talk to players of The Game of Thrones, and she knew full well how royalty and those vying for power would twist the truth until it was almost unrecognizable, without breaking it completely, but she¡¯d never met anyone who answered in such a cryptic manner.

    ¡°Yes,¡± The Darkness clarified, ¡°I was here before what.¡±

    ¡°That¡­  That doesn¡¯t make a damn bit of sense,¡± Elissa complained.  ¡°Before what?  Before me?¡±

    ¡°Yes,¡± The Darkness answered simply.

    ¡°Before you got a rocking chair,¡± Elissa prompted.

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°Before this house was built?¡± Elissa continued, relentlessly.

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°Before this city?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°Before what else?¡± She mused, half talking to herself.

    ¡°Yes,¡± The Darkness answered, still rocking back and forth.

    ¡°Before the kingdom was founded that we¡¯re in?  Whatever kingdom that might be,¡± Elissa asked.

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    ¡°Yes, I was here before all that,¡± The Darkness replied.  ¡°Before the grass.  Before the tallest trees.  Or the highest mountains.  Before the first clouds ever blew or drifted across the barren stone rock below them.  I was before.¡±  Slowly lifting a withered white finger, The Darkness pointed a long black claw at her.

    ¡°Tell me, child, the story of beginnings as you know it.  Tell it to me in reverse,¡± The Darkness commanded.

    ¡°The story of beginnings?¡± Elissa asked, confused.

    ¡°What tell does your people tell about the beginnings of the world?  The gods?  Of creation?  Tell me the tell of the beginnings, in reverse,¡± The Darkness commanded once again.

    ¡°Umm¡­  Let me think of how we heard it for a moment,¡± Elissa muttered, frowning slightly.  Everyone knows the story of creation, but having to tell it backwards wasn¡¯t something she found natural at all.  It was much like someone being ordered to recite the alphabet in reverse ¨C doable, but only with a little thought and effort.

    ¡°Life was brought to the world, and the races scattered upon it,¡± Elissa began.  ¡°Before that Fire was gifted upon the ground to warm it by the Gods.  Before that, Air was gifted to blow across the barren landscape, and before that Water was created to fill the dips and voids of the earth.  The Earth was created first of all the elements, and was the base which all the rest was laid upon.  The Gods came before all of this, as they were born in a great burst of light.  That¡¯s basically the story of creation told in reverse,¡± Elissa finished, biting her lip and hoping she didn¡¯t leave anything important out which might upset The Darkness.

    ¡°So basically the Gods were born from the light, and they crafted the world as you know it,¡± The Darkness asked.

    ¡°Well yeah,¡± Elissa confirmed.  ¡°It¡¯s a longer tale than that, and a bard or a priest would probably be the best at telling it to you, but that¡¯s the general idea behind it.¡±

    ¡°And what was before the Gods?  Before the Light?¡± The Darkness prompted.

    ¡°Nothingness.  Just a great nothingness from what I understand,¡± Elissa answered, frowning with uncertainty.  Such questions as ¡®What was before the Gods,¡± wasn¡¯t ones which most priests wanted to hear, or that most people even wanted to think about.

    ¡°Nothingness,¡± The Darkness mused, slowly lifting its hand to rub its cheek.  ¡°Interesting.  Quite interesting the things people make themselves believe.¡±  Lifting his head slightly, The Darkness stared directly at her, making Elissa shiver slightly.  ¡°Let me ask you something different then, child.  What do you have when the light goes out?  What is there when there is no light?  Nothingness?¡±

    ¡°No,¡± Elissa answered, shaking her head slightly.  ¡°Just because there¡¯s no light, that doesn¡¯t mean there¡¯s nothing there.  You¡¯re just in the dark.¡±

    ¡°Exactly! Kakakakakaka!!¡±  Leaning back rapidly in the rocker, The Darkness cackled wildly just like it had on the day when she¡¯d first met him.  ¡°Before there was light, there was The Darkness.¡±

    ¡°Wai¡­ Wait a minute,¡± Elissa exclaimed.  ¡°Are you telling me that you were here before the Gods?  Before the Light of Creation?¡±

    ¡°I am.  I was,¡± The Darkness confirmed, slowly nodding its head up and down.

    ¡°Then¡­  Then what created the light?¡±  Elissa asked, feeling lost and bewildered, as if her whole world was somehow coming unraveled.  ¡°What made the Gods?  How did they truly come to be?  Did you get to witness it?¡±

    ¡°I witnessed them as I birthed them,¡± The Darkness answered slowly as he stopped rocking and sat stiff and unmoving in the chair.  After a moment, he slowly shook his head from side to side and then shrugged slightly.  ¡°Though I don¡¯t know why I bothered, to be honest.¡±  His cold harsh voice suddenly sounded almost sad -- melancholic even.  ¡°What was cannot be.  Not anymore.  No matter how much I try, what was done cannot be undone.  It doesn¡¯t matter anymore.  Nothing matters anymore,¡± The Darkness sighed.

    ¡°What was done that cannot be undone?¡± Elissa asked, feeling even more confused than even before.

    ¡°What was done, child?¡± The Darkness reached up and stroked his chin several times several times, apparently lost in distant thoughts and memories of a time beyond the comprehension of any other living creature.  ¡°What was done, you ask?¡±  Leaning back in the rocker, The Darkness suddenly cackled wildly once again.  ¡°Kakakakakakakaka!¡±  When he was finished, the chair tilted forward as far as it could go and he leaned down to stare almost nose to nose with Elissa.

    ¡°What was done that cannot be undone, child?  Not much.  I simply destroyed Creation.¡±

 Beginnings and Endings

    Elissa blinked a few times, uncertain if she¡¯d heard him correctly.  ¡°Destroyed Creation?¡±

    ¡°Aye,¡± Dark answered in his dry, emotionless voice, ¡°That¡¯s what I said, wasn¡¯t it?¡±

    ¡°But..¡±  Elissa¡¯s mind reeled, trying to make sense of what he was claiming.  Was it a lie?  A metaphor? A riddle of some sort?  ¡°I don¡¯t understand,¡± she finally admitted, completely at a loss.

    Dark tilted back his head and laughed wildly once again, ¡°Kakakakakakakaka!¡±  Once he was finally finished, he slowly began to rock back and forth in his chair, once again staring unblinkingly ahead at nothing.  ¡°Would you like to hear the truth of The Beginning, child?  I suppose you¡¯ve earned that much here, at least.¡±

    ¡°I¡­  I would,¡± Elissa answered, not fully certain if she did.

    ¡°In the beginning, there was,¡± Dark started cryptically and then fell into silence.

    Finally, Elissa had to ask, ¡°There was what?¡±

    ¡°It simply was,¡± Dark finally continued.  ¡°Tales, stories, and religions tried to explain how came to be, but all had different theories.  All I know is that when I was born, Creation simply was.  Stars and suns.  Planets and moons.  Life and death.  Gods and demons.  They all were already in existence when I was born, much as they were already here when you opened your eyes and first saw whatever it is you saw.

    ¡°Do you know how this all came to be?¡± Dark asked, slowly turning his black whirlpool eyes to stare at her face.

    Elissa thought for a few moments and then shook her head silently from side to side.  Wizards had one theory, priests a different one.  No one seemed to have indisputable proof and each major movement seemed to have their own theory.

    ¡°So, for you, what is here now simply was.¡±  Dark nodded to himself slowly, as if content that he¡¯d explained something good enough for his own satisfaction.  ¡°When I was born, the world was,¡± Dark continued on after a long moments pause.  ¡°I had a mother.  A father.  I grew up, much as I imagine you grew up, with very few friends or allies.  I was stronger, smarter, and different from all others and as such I was isolated and grew in solitude.  For years, I attended our schools and academies, seeking the power to fill the dark emptiness that was inside myself.  I learned the art of magic.  I studied alchemy, religion, sciences, and followed the craziest of theories.

    ¡°I came from a race similar to what is now the elves of the land, and I was quite long lived,¡± Dark explained, his voice fading to a rough whisper as he stared off into nothingness once more.  ¡°After countless years, and countless forbidden rituals and experiments, I had become a truly powerful and feared wizard.  The gods declared me a heretic for my studies and the kingdoms raised their armies against me.

    ¡°I was considered the darkest blight of my people¡¯s history and I was exiled, with my name stricken from their records.  The whole of existence declared me its enemy, and tried to destroy me.¡±  Slowly, Dark¡¯s voice faded off into silence and Elissa simply sat and stared wordlessly, using the opportunity to take it all in.

    ¡°In the end,¡± Dark finally continued, several long minutes later, ¡°I had grown too strong for even the gods to destroy.  I tied my essence to the shadows, stealing energy from the plane of darkness.  I consumed souls ¨C even angels and demons ¨C to heal and grow my power during our battles.  As the gods fell, I consumed their power, their essence, and I made it all mine.

    ¡°It was a battle that last eons, but when it was all finished and I finally looked around, I was the last one standing.¡±  Dark paused again for a moment and then slowly shook his head to correct himself.  ¡°I was the only one standing.  The gods had fallen, but before they fell they used all their strength, their angels, and their peoples to try and destroy me.  As I consumed them, the fire left the world.  The waters faded.  The earth disappeared.   The air winked out of existence.

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    ¡°However Creation had come to be, I don¡¯t know,¡± Dark muttered, mournfully shaking his head from side to side, ¡°but I know how it came to end.  I destroyed it all.¡±

    ¡°When all was said and done,¡± Dark muttered, almost too low to be heard, ¡°I¡¯d destroyed everything.  Surrounded by nothingness, only I remained.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s¡­¡±  Elissa slowly shook her head from side to side, not having a clue what to say.  Dark simply shrugged, as if knowing her internal conflict to find the words.  ¡°It simply was,¡± he finally supplied for her, sounding almost rueful.

    ¡°In time, and in arrogance, I thought I could use my power to remake that which was destroyed,¡± Dark finally continued, ¡°and that is when I realized that for all I had learned, all I had known, I knew nothing.  Why does mana flow like blood throughout the nothingness?   Why does a dragon breath fire?  Why do things fall down instead of up?  Some things I had learned the answer to, but countless others I had not.

    ¡°This world is not my world,¡± Dark muttered, draping his head lowly.  ¡°The rules and reasons are not the same.  The races are not the same, nor the gods, peoples, or histories.  Though the elves are similar to what my people were, they are not my people.  No matter how much I tried to guide them, shape them, mold them, they always went their own way.

    For long moments, Dark sat without speaking or moving, seemingly a statue in his chair.  ¡°Or else they went the way of the mindless, soulless drones, only obeying the rules I set for them,¡± he finally whispered quietly.  ¡°Free will, or no will.  Those are the only choices I could give them and free will meant they could never be my people, while no will simply made them puppet mockeries of my people.

    ¡°Those that I longed most to see ¨C my father, my mother, my ancestors, and even those few whom I had grown to call my friends over my lifetime ¨C they were gone.   I could recreate them as I remembered them, but that was just a pale shadow of who they were.  And, as endless time and endless attempts failed, I came to realize that even my memories of them were growing dim and fading.

    ¡°I could create this new existence, but what use was it to do so,¡± Dark asked, slowly lifting his head to stare at Elissa.

    ¡°Several times, I erased it all to start over and try and correct where I thought I¡¯d went wrong.  Every time, it was less and less of what it used to be ¨C or of what my unreliable memories tell me it used to be.

    ¡°I cannot replace that which is gone,¡± Dark muttered lowly, ¡°and I do not enjoy the nothingness which is left when this is gone.   There is no place for me here,¡± Dark grumbled, sounding moody for the first time.  ¡°With a thought, I can alter, change, or destroy anything around me.  I stand above this creation, not a part of this creation, and I am unwanted.  Unneeded.¡±

    ¡°I am alone,¡± he finally muttered, slowly lowering his head once again.

    Reeling, Elissa said nothing and simply sat, trying to take it all in and make sense of it in her own mind.

 The Discarded

    For a long moment there was nothing but the light creaking of the chair rocking back and forth which disturbed the silence.   ¡°So¡­¡±  Hesitantly, Elissa bit her lip and slowly swallowed past the lump forming in the back of her throat.  ¡°You¡¯re God?  The true God?¡±

    The creaking stopped suddenly as did the chair Dark was rocking.  ¡°Me?  A God?¡±  The harsh, discordant voice sounded partially amused, partially scandalized.  ¡°Not by the slightest stretch of the imagination!  I¡¯m the maker of the Gods, not one of them.¡±  Dark slowly stood up and lifted a frail bony hand in her direction.  ¡°I¡¯m the slayer of Gods!  I¡¯m the destroyer, the annihilator, and the end.¡±  His voice was slowly rising and a cold misty wind drifted all around, seemingly coming from nowhere.  ¡°I am no worthless God,¡± Dark sneered.  ¡°I am The Darkness That Devours!¡±

    ¡°But¡­¡±   Working up her courage, Elissa slowly rose to stand toe to toe and stare into the dark empty pools that were Dark¡¯s eyes.  ¡°¡­Didn¡¯t you say you made this world?  And the Gods in it?¡±

    ¡°I did,¡± Dark sneered.  ¡°What of it?¡±  His lips half twitching in a snarl, it was the first real emotion that Elissa thought she¡¯d seen displayed on him since her arrival.

    ¡°Then¡­¡±  Taking a moment to chew on her lower lip for a moment, Elissa tried to round up her thoughts and form them in a manner that might not raise his anger any higher.  ¡°Why me,¡± was the first question she finally settled on.  ¡°Why this place?  Of all of creation, and with the power to create whatever you can imagine, why me?  Why here?¡±

    ¡°Why?¡±  Dark slowly growled, his lips snarling up at the corner and twitching several times, before he finally let out a deep sigh and flopped back down into his chair.  ¡°Why not?¡±  Sounding almost expectant, his dark gaze stared up at Elissa, sending goosebumps up and down her arms.  ¡°Why not you,¡± Dark asked again.  ¡°Were you not chosen by your people to be their sacrifice?  Weren¡¯t you the one they most wished to rid themselves of, of all your race?  Are you not chosen to be sent here to serve, die, and perish at their amusement and not mine?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not like that!¡±  Shocked, Elissa shook her head from side to side to deny what he was saying.  ¡°I was chosen because I was the best.  I was chosen to represent my people¡¯s honor, strength, and courage.  As a nation, we had an obligation to fulfill and I was chosen as the one most capable of fulfilling that obligation.¡±

    ¡°And you believe that?¡±  Dark sounded shocked for a moment and then tilted his head back and laughed wildly.

    ¡°Kakakakakakaka!!   Foolish little thing!  Did they not tell you that normally it was the darkest scum of the dungeons that were sent here to pay the price?  The orphans, the murderers, the crippled, the broken, and the unwanted?  The peoples of the land do not send their best, brightest, and strongest here ¨C if so, why would they choose you and not one from their royal line to represent them in such an important and honorable undertaking?

    The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

    ¡°You were cast away.  Discarded and sent here as trash to be disposed of and never to darken their steps again,¡± Dark finished, sounding smug and amused.

    ¡°I¡­  I wasn¡¯t!¡±  Shaking her head back and forth, Elissa vehemently denied what she was hearing.

    ¡°Then answer me one thing child,¡± Dark whispered softly, ¡°you were gifted some form of magic to send you here.  When your sentence passes here, exactly how were you supposed to return back whence you came?¡±

    ¡°I was given a travel ring,¡± Elissa answered slowly, worry starting to gnaw at the back of her mind as she chewed her lower lip hard enough to make it bleed.

    ¡°A ring?¡± Dark asked.  ¡°How exactly does this ring work.  Does it take you where you wish to go?¡±

    ¡°No¡­¡±  Alarm bells were starting to sound in Elissa¡¯s head and she felt tears slowly begin to form in the corners of her eyes.  ¡°I placed it upon my finger and it took me to the basement under this wrecked house.¡±

    ¡°So something to send you here,¡± Dark chuckled lightly, ¡°but what were you given to send you back?¡±

    ¡°No¡­  Nothing.¡±  Her knees starting to go weak, Elissa slowly sank down to the ground before they collapsed out from under her.  ¡°Was I really sent here to be discarded,¡± she whispered almost breathlessly.  ¡°Why?¡±

    ¡°Who can say what motivates the flawed and worthless heart of man,¡± Dark shrugged.  ¡°But you have your answer.  I didn¡¯t choose you.  Like all the worms which slither across the ground, you mean nothing to me.  One of you, all of you, you¡¯re all the same flawed shadows of what was once the reality I walked.¡±

    Coldly, uncaringly, Dark relentlessly continued to hammer his point home.  ¡°I never chose you to fulfill some noble position as my toy.  You were discarded and sent here to perish; thrown away by your own people.  When you ask ¡®Why you¡¯, you mustn¡¯t ask me, but instead seek the answer from your own people.

    ¡°As for ¡®Why here¡¯,¡± Dark chuckled coldly, ¡°the answer there is very simple.  Where else does one send unwanted trash, except to a forgotten junkpile?¡±

    Getting up, Elissa slowly stumbled out of the room and into the kitchen, as Dark¡¯s wild laughter followed mercilessly and echoed in her head.  ¡°Kakakakakakakak!¡±

 NAC: Stable Writing Schedule

    With the summer months starting to slowly settle away from us, my time and desire to be running around outside has been getting smaller and smaller.  (Maybe I''m solar powered and the lessening hours of daylight means my outdoor power source isn''t sufficient to keep my battery charged anymore?)

    I was going to start my rebooted vision for The 8th Day when autumn rolled around, but I got involved in it early and there''s already 34 chapters written for the new story!  I''ve focused more or less on it this last month, to put it up and share the vision behind it so all the loyal readers who enjoyed The 8th Day can see for themselves if they think I made the right decision by backing up and restarting my modern vision of Reality-turns-Game.

    But...  as much fun as I''m having working exclusively on ''Game On'', I think my other stories and readers also deserve my attention and care.  It''s time to go back and start focusing on some of the other works and getting them back up and into rotation in my writing schedule once again.

    So, here''s what''s up with my current plans for my writing schedule and my stories:

    The GOD Chronicles</a> -- this is a "niche" story that I just need to be in the properly twisted and dark mood to work on.  I have no idea when/if it''ll get updates again.  It''s kind of like Halloween stories -- you want to read those spooky little ghoul and goblin tales then, but otherwise you just put them aside until the following year.

    Game On</a> -- this is my rebooted vision for a modern day "What if reality turned into a game" story.  I''m going to keep developing it and would encourage people to take time to read it.  (Especially if they read and enjoyed The 8th Day.)  This will be part of my regular writing rotation.

    The 8th Day</a> -- my original "reality-turned-game" story.  This still has a special place in my heart, and even though I''m doing a reboot on it, I find myself wanting to go back to the original itself from time to time.  I put a lot of work into planning the thing out, but a lot of crap that came up on the site soured my enjoyment working on it.  With some time and space, I find myself able to put all that behind me and the desire to finish this ultra-long epic still lingers.  I may come back to this sometime in the future, but there''s no plans for it yet.  I have so many other things I want to finish up first.

    (That said, I do this for my own enjoyment primarily and if I''m even in the proper mood, I might pick the damn thing back up at anytime and continue it, no matter how much I swore I was through with it.  Honestly, I don''t think I''ll ever be finished completely with The 8th Day until I die.  It''ll haunt some fragment in the back of my mind!)

    Winter''s Tale</a> -- The first book in the series here in finished.  After much thought and deliberation, I''m wanting to shift gears and back up a step or two for the second book and tell "Jason''s Tale".  I think it''s essential for the reader to understand and help them appreciate all the movings and shakings in the world of Winter''s Tale.  A lot of people want me to stick to "Kyle''s Tale", but that''s going to take a backseat for a bit for Jason''s life and adventures.  This story is going to go into my normal rotational schedule.

    You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

    The Fallen Ascending</a> -- My published book, this one actually makes me money.  The first novel is still selling amazingly well on Amazon and I haven''t forgotten it at all (even if it hasn''t had an update for a while.)  This is one which will go back into my rotational schedule.

    Dreambreaker</a> -- This is probably what folks would call my "darkest" story, and it''s actually based from a series of repeating dreams which just won''t leave me alone.  This story is just wanting to escape, no matter what I try to do.  I could claim I wasn''t going to work on it, but it haunts my mind until I have to write stuff down just to purge it.  This will definitely be a story that I''ll be going back to and updating regularly.

    I finally sorted out a semi-suitable description of it, rather than just "I don''t know what the hell it is, but it won''t leave me alone!  Read it or not, I don''t care!  It''s being purged!!  For those that have read the 18 chapters out so far, see if this doesn''t sound appropriate for Dreambreaker:

    <blockquote><cite>Quote:</cite>The tale of the Lady Elissa, aspiring knight of the people, and the dark twists and turns which will shape her fate and ultimately the fate of the world.  Follow her in her triumphs, her brightest moments, and follow her as she falls into the darkest of fates.

    Follow her tale as she falls into the hands of The Darkbringer and finds herself with nothing left.  Nothing, except The Darkness.

    Can she rise above The Darkness?  Can she be a Light in the Void?  Or will she be tainted and fall into the shadows herself?

    Rated: M[18+]  Contains sex, nudity, rape, violence, gore, and lots of goodly evilness and evilish goodness!</blockquote>

    <hr />

    So to summarize, my writing schedule should look like:

    Game On

    Winter''s Tale 2: Jason''s Tale

    The Fallen Ascending 2: Rise of Darkness

    Dreambreaker

    With breaks, pauses, and an author reserved right to shift focus as need and desire commands.  If ''Game On'' has an update today, that doesn''t guarantee that Winter''s Tale will have one tomorrow.  I might drop 3 ''Game On'' chapters in a row, have Dreambreaker interrupt my brain uncontrollably and do a few chapters of it, and then release a Winter''s Tale chapter.

    All I''m really saying is I''m going to shoot for regular updates on all of these once again, and with my writing habit, that means they''ll each probably get 1-3 chapters a week (with around 1800 word chapters as my normal writing average).

 Duty, Determination, And The Price Paid

    Author Note: Dreambreaker is now available over on Inkitt.com for those who may prefer their site for their reading pleasure.  Personally, I find it holds certain formatting better (italics and bold definitely, as well as proper spaces between paragraphs), and I prefer to use it when reading on my mobile devices.  The only thing I dislike about their site is that there''s no real way for readers to offer feedback to the author.

    Both versions hold the same content, so feel free to read at whichever site is the best for your OS/device, and whichever you enjoy the most.

    <hr />

    For the rest of that evening, Elissa sat slumped and forlorn on one of the rickety old chairs in the kitchen and laid her head on the table, letting her long hair fall around her face and help hide her from the world.  Dark¡¯s laughter continued to echo in her brain and she couldn¡¯t get his words out of her mind.  She hadn¡¯t been chosen as a champion for her people.  She wasn¡¯t sent here to honor some ages long promise or fulfill some debt to protect the kingdom.

    From what she¡¯d seen and experienced, there hadn¡¯t been anyone else who¡¯d stayed here for years besides The Darkness.  Wasn¡¯t someone supposed to be here constantly?  One champion at a time, chosen from each land and people in some predetermined order, serving a ten-year duty and then being replaced by the one who came next?  It¡¯s what she was told, but not what she¡¯d experienced.  There hadn¡¯t been a champion when she¡¯d arrived.  There hadn¡¯t been anyone but The Darkness, sitting and rocking unceasingly in his chair, for no one knows how long!  Even Dark himself was completely unreliable when it came to a matter of time ¨C when one had a lifetime that stretched back to before the beginning and ending of multiple creations, what sense did they keep for hours, minutes, or even centuries?

    Desperately, Elissa tried to find some reason for it all, or find some flaw in what The Darkness had told her, so she could discredit his words and thus lay her own doubts at ease.  Lord Mourningblade had been like family to her.  He was the one who had passed the duty down to her.  Surely he wouldn¡¯t have cast her here, if he¡¯d known how meaningless the whole thing was.  The Darkness wouldn¡¯t hunt down her people and erase them from the world.  He wouldn¡¯t even get up to trim his own damn beard or hair!  He was completely apathetic to everything around, except for his memories of the past!

    She wasn¡¯t protecting her people.  She wasn¡¯t making a noble sacrifice for the greater good.  No matter how she looked at it, she had simply been sent here to be cast away and discarded as The Darkness laughed so merrily over.  The only thing she couldn¡¯t determine was why?  Why discard her and send her to some giant junk heap in the middle of nowhere?  Why not just kill her?  Why had Uncle Moo warned her to lose the competition.  Why? Why? WHY!

    Disgusted and no closer to finding her answers or settling her mind than when she¡¯d first stumbled into the kitchens, Elissa forced herself to go up as the shadows in the room were getting deeper in the evening.  She may have been cast away like some sort of unwanted rubble, but the only one who could make her throw away her honor was herself, and that was something she wasn¡¯t willing to do.  She¡¯d promised to return by sunset and submit herself to The Darkness.  She wasn¡¯t certain if he¡¯d even notice if she failed to appear any more, but she knew she¡¯d notice.  Her honor was all she had left, and she was going to clutch onto it tightly.

    Slowly, forlornly, Elissa shambled into the living room where The Darkness still rocked back and forth.  Working her way across the floor, she slumped down to the grown and sprawled out invitingly before him.  Closing her eyes, her mind drifted far away as she let her body submit to any carnal desire The Darkness might have for it.

    The sun was shining higher and brighter in the sky than usual when Elissa awoke the next morning.  Instead of getting up to bathe, clean, or tidy out outside and check on her plants she had growing, this morning she simply stretched and then stayed sprawled out, arms and legs wide apart, so The Darkness could continue to feast his eyes on her as much as he wished while rocking and overlooking her.

    ¡°Why me?¡± She finally asked, softly.

    Dark said nothing.  Sat unmoving except for the relentless rocking, deep black holes gazing down upon her, where his eyes should¡¯ve been.

    ¡°You didn¡¯t choose me,¡± Elissa mumbled, ¡°and yet every night you take your passions with me.  Why?  Aren¡¯t there others more skilled?  Built more to your pleasure?  You may not have chosen me to come here, but you could have anyone in existence as your partner at night.  Why me?¡±

    For several long moments Dark sat in silence and said nothing as he rocked and stared, while Elissa continued to wait patiently, sprawled out and on display, before he finally shrugged his boney shoulders.  ¡°Like all creatures, I too enjoy the act of procreating,¡± he explained, voice cold and gravelly.  ¡°You may be right,¡± he agreed simply.  ¡°Perhaps I may be able to have any I wish, but they are not here.

    ¡°They are not willing,¡± Dark emphasized, as he stopped his rocking and slid one bare foot up the inside of her legs to rub his toes across the center of her groin.  ¡°You are lacking in build and talents that others¡¯ may possess, but you are here and you are willing.¡±

    This time it was Elissa who was silent for a while, before she finally slid herself several feet across the floor closer to Dark¡¯s chair.  ¡°I haven¡¯t truly been willing,¡± she admitted softly, her lower lip quivering lightly as she struggled to find the proper words.  ¡°I haven¡¯t been resisting, but I haven¡¯t been truly willing either.  I¡¯ve resented your touch.  Dreaded the nights.  Hated the filling I awoke with each morning.¡±

    ¡°But, I endured for my duty.¡±  A few quiet tears trickled down the corner of her eyes, running down the side of her head to fall and gently moisten her hair.  ¡°I allowed it, believing that my people would suffer if I didn¡¯t,¡± she whispered softly.  ¡°You don¡¯t even know who my people are, do you?  Or where I come from?¡±

    Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

    ¡°Up.¡±  Giving just a single word command, Dark rocked forward and held out his malnourished hand down to her.  Taking it, Elissa uncertainly wiped at her tears with her other hand and let herself be pulled to him.

    ¡°Sit.¡±  He commanded, not letting go of her hand.  Elissa found herself wondering how she could fit her legs inside the narrow rocker and still face him as he seemed to be wanting.  Frowning, she bit her lip lightly, and then placed her hands on his shoulders and half leapt up into his lap, legs awkwardly on the outside of the armrests of the chair.

    ¡°Like this?¡± she asked, wrinkling her forehead somewhat from the general discomfort, as Dark wrapped his arms around her to keep her from falling out of his lap as the chair lurched violently forward and backwards.  Sitting as she was, she was now forced to stare into those endlessly black pits which were Dark¡¯s eyes, and which always made her shiver uncomfortably.

    ¡°You are correct,¡± Dark finally admitted, his voice betraying no hint of emotion.  ¡°I do not know your people.  Nor from whence you came.¡±  Staring directly at her, he asked, ¡°Do you seek to leave here, to return to them?¡±

    Elissa stared back for several moments, trying not to blink any more than she possibly had to while peering into those endless deep pits.  ¡°Not anymore,¡± she whispered, feeling like a frog staring into the eyes of a snake.  ¡°Not until my time is up.  Even if I was discarded, I accepted the duty.  I shall not break it,¡± she asserted firmly.

    There was another of the long pauses which she¡¯d come to expect from The Darkness, before he finally nodded once.  Voice cold and impossible to read, he asked, ¡°You do not wish it.  You do not accept it.  You will not refuse it.  Is that how it goes?¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t accept it,¡± Elissa corrected, ¡°but I will.  Even if all my people believe me to be just trash and only worthy to be discarded here, I am not,¡± she asserted, voice growing louder and more confident as she spoke.  ¡°I am still a Knight of The Rose, champion of the people.  I cannot, in my heart of hearts, believe that it was the people¡¯s will for me to be discarded and forsaken.

    ¡°Someone, somebody is a position of power or authority, is playing a game with the knights of the land,¡± she continued, sounding more sure and certain every moment, ¡°and I can only believe that their actions are selfish and dark in nature.  A sickness is spreading in my land back home, and removing the champions of the academy is but a symptom of that disease.¡±

    ¡°Then does that not make you wish to return even more?¡± Dark asked, slowing the rocking till it stopped.

    ¡°It does,¡± Elissa admitted, ¡°but I won¡¯t.  Returning now serves no good purpose.  It would break my duty to serve for at least ten years.  I would return discredited, my honor and name sullied.  With no troops, no wealth, no authority, there would be nothing I could do but watch the darkness spread across my land and curse my own weakness.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t want that.  I won¡¯t accept that,¡± she declared defiantly.  ¡°So I find myself at an impasse.  My heart cries to help my people.  My brain tells me I am powerless.  My honor demands I finish my time here.¡±  Hanging her head, she leaned forward and rested her head upon Dark¡¯s shoulder.

    ¡°Even after my time is up,¡± she admitted, mumbling into his neck, ¡°I doubt there is anything I can do on my own.  I lack the strength, power, or knowledge.  I could leave here and spend a lifetime searching the world on my own, and never find my way back to my people.¡±

    ¡°Help me, my lord,¡± she whispered, having a hard time to work up the courage to get the words out.  ¡°Lend me your strength.¡±

    ¡°Hmmmmm¡­¡±  Dark let out a long, drawn out hum, while playing with her hair softly.  ¡°Why would I?¡± He finally asked.  ¡°What¡¯s in it for me?  The people do not want me.  The gods do not want me.  Much like you, I too am left here in this forgotten junk heap, unwanted and discarded by creation.¡±

    Leaning back again, Elissa wiped a few tears from her eyes and then stared deep into his.  ¡°I have nothing to offer you,¡± she admitted softly, but determined.  ¡°No wealth.  No lands.  There is nothing in my possession which I could give to you, which you could not create for yourself.¡±

    ¡°Nothing, except me,¡± she finished, with a weak smile.  ¡°I can offer you my friendship.  My trust.  My companionship, and perhaps in time, even my heart.  Lend me your strength, my lord Dark, and when I have fulfilled my duty to protect my people, I shall return to you, and stay by your side, for the rest of my days.¡±

    Deep holes staring, Dark said nothing for several long moments as Elissa¡¯s legs began to tingle and sleep from the awkward position they were in.  Saying nothing, she forced herself to endure and never moved her gaze from his eyes.

    ¡°You still have to complete your time here,¡± Dark reminded her.

    ¡°I do,¡± she agreed.  ¡°Regardless of whether you¡¯ll lend me your strength or not, I¡¯ll stay for the ten years I had agreed to, no matter what.  I¡¯ll fulfill my duty here, before I return to fulfill my duty to my people.  Besides,¡± she answered, a slight smirk forming at the corner of her mouth, ¡°I still have to fetch you a beer.¡±

    ¡°Kakakakakakakak!¡±  Dark suddenly burst out laughing and stood up, unceremoniously dumping Elissa on the ground.

    ¡°Kakakakakakakak!¡±  Stepping over her, he slowly strode to the doorway and gazed outside.  With a dismissive wave of his hand, the rain and storm scattered instantly and a warm, gentle breeze blew across the clear blue sky.

    ¡°It seems,¡± Dark chucked, ¡°that it may be time for this old one to stretch his bones once more.  I accept your bargain.¡±

    ¡°Kakakakakakakak!¡±  With another long series of his strange laughter, The Darkness stared out into the light for the first time in a very long time.

 Three?

    If Elissa expected things to change after that, she was vastly mistaken.  After standing and staring out at the sun for a while, Dark eased back over and settled back down into his chair and resumed his regular routine of sitting and rocking, while otherwise staring unmoving across the room.  His days were the same.  His nights were still filled with the same forceful passion as he indulged himself for ever longer periods of time as Elissa tried to give him what she thought he wanted.

    The only thing that really seemed to change over the next several days that Elissa noticed was that Dark would now follow her with his head, staring at her, wherever she went when she was inside the house.  She awoke to his dark eyeless gaze staring down at her.  When she went into the kitchen, it followed her.  When she came out of the kitchen, it was there waiting for her again.  When she went to the door and walked outside, Dark¡¯s pale, withered face followed her, those dark holes which were his eyes watching unblinking and waiting for her return.

    It was after about a week of this that Elissa couldn¡¯t bear it any longer.   Waking up and finding that same unwavering gaze on her, she stretched lightly several times before getting up and easing over in front of where Dark rocked.  Placing her hands on the arm rests, she gave a light hop, leaping up in Dark¡¯s lap, her legs back wide on either side of the arm rests again.  As the chair jerked unsteadily back and forth from her sudden weight leaping into it, Elissa wrapped her arms around Dark¡¯s neck and held on tight.

    ¡°Why do you stare at me at the time now?¡± Elissa asked, starting into the deep whirling maelstrom that was his eyes, determined to no longer be intimidated by them.

    ¡°One,¡± Dark answered, his voice cold and rough.

    Puzzlement obvious across her face, Elissa asked, ¡°One what?¡±

    ¡°Two,¡± Dark answered cryptically, the cold cracked voice giving no hint of emotion or intent.

    You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

    ¡°Have I done something wrong?  Are you mad at me?¡±  Elissa was frowning hard, wondering if she had perhaps overstepped some unspoken bounds by sitting uninvited in his lap and ended up offending Dark.

    ¡°Three, and you¡¯ll have to wait until tomorrow,¡± Dark replied calmly and coldly.  ¡°For your first, it is so I may observe your growth.  For the second, it was the first of your answers.  For your third, I do not believe so.¡±  Rubbing his hands gently through her hair, he said nothing else and slowly went back to his normal, rhythmic rocking.

    Blinking, Elissa rubbed the hair out of her eyes and stared for several moments confused.  ¡°Are you saying I can ask you questions now?¡±

    ¡°Tomorrow,¡± Dark replied, in his ever cold, gravelly voice, as he stared unblinkingly at her.

    ¡°It¡¯s three questions a day?¡±

    ¡°Tomorrow.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re not upset?¡±

    ¡°Tomorrow.¡±

    ¡°Can I get up then and do my chores?¡±  Elissa asked, a smile lightly twitching at the corner of her face as she half thought he might say tomorrow again.  Instead, Dark leaned forward and stopped the rocking chair.  Moving his hand out of her hair, he gently motioned with one bony hand and pointed towards the door.

    Laughing gaily, Elissa suddenly leaned up and kissed Dark passionately, wrapping her arms around the back of his head and pulling him close.  After several moments, she laughed merrily and hopped back off the chair, watching it rock erratically again at her sudden movements.  A slight twinkle in her eye, she half skipped out the door to go tend her garden and clean the neighborhood, not caring ¨C or even thinking ¨C about the fact the she wasn¡¯t wearing clothes anymore.

    A lot more had changed in her in the last few months than just the length of her hair or a lack of tan lines on her body.

 Learning to Question

    The next several days were a frustrating experience for Elissa as she learned exactly how annoying it could be to have someone holding all the answers, and then only dole them out in limited supply.  Instead of allowing her to ask one question, get the answer, then ask another question, Dark always counted until she had given him three questions before answering.  The drawback to such a method was that it either required her to wait until the following day to continue a line of questioning, or else waste questions by assuming which way he might answer.

    Asking a series of questions like, ¡°Do you know the gods?  Which is the mightiest god?  Do they watch over us?¡±, could lead to worthless answers if she wasn¡¯t careful.  ¡°No.  I don¡¯t know them.  How would I know, since I don¡¯t know them?¡±  By assuming Dark would know the gods, when he didn¡¯t, all three questions were worthless and wasted for the day.

    Another problem with the answers Dark gave was the simple fact that he only answered the question and never volunteered any extra information.  ¡°Can you teach me magic,¡± might be answered with a very simple, ¡°No.¡±  If Elissa wanted to know the reason why or why not, then she¡¯d have to wait and ask the following day, or else gamble that she could guess at what direction his answer might take.

    Elissa needed to get stronger if she was going to return home and someday protect her people, and she realized this was an incredible opportunity.  How many people would be willing to give up everything, for a chance to learn the answer to any question they could ask a being older and more powerful than the very gods?  It was more than what she could ever dream of, and yet, it was one of the most incredibly frustrating times of her life ¨C which isn¡¯t to say she didn¡¯t learn things.

    Elissa learned a lot of different things; it simply took her days, and sometimes weeks to make sense of the things she was learning.  Being given the answers to your questions one at a time, once a day, didn¡¯t seem the best way to learn things to her ¨C but that¡¯s because she failed to understand one underlying thing:

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    Dark wasn¡¯t giving her answers to her problems; he was evolving her way of thinking itself.

    By only being allowed to ask limited questions, Elissa was forced to think about what she truly wanted to know.  She had to decide how far down the rabbit hole she wanted to chase an answer.

    She had to think on the proper way to word a question, without wasting it.  ¡°Do you know what happens when a dragon dies,¡± was a worthless question ¨C all it led to was a simple ¡°yes¡± or ¡°no¡± type response.  ¡°What happens when a dragon dies,¡± wasn¡¯t much better as it resulted in a worthless, ¡°It rots.¡±  The best question was one worded precisely to give her the information she wanted ¨C ¡°Explain the decay cycle of a dragon¡¯s corpse.¡±

    Most importantly, she had time to think about the answers herself, before asking what she might want to know next.

    Over time, Elissa¡¯s mind sharpened and grew intensely focused.  She learned to say precisely what she wanted, and she learned to think ahead to anticipate what answers might be given, and what fields of questioning those answers might lead her into next.  Just as her body was slowly changing and adjusting to its new existence, so was her mind.

    Of all the questions which Elissa asked, three gave her the most to think about.  ¡°Why are you called the Darkbringer¡± led her into a sad realization about the state of humanity ¨C perhaps even existence itself.  ¡°Why do you stare at me at the time now¡± led her into a worrisome set of questions about her own fate, and ¡°Can you teach me magic¡± taught her that the world was much more complicated than anyone would ever believe, and was full of fools who only thought they had all the answers.

 "Why do you stare at me all the time now?"

    Asking ¡°Why do you stare at me all the time now¡± was a question that led Elissa down a rabbit hole which she wasn¡¯t certain she wanted to follow, once she¡¯d found herself at the end of it.

    ¡°So I may observe your growth,¡± was the cryptic answer she was given.

    ¡°I¡¯m not a teen or a child anymore.  How am I growing?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re growing beyond what you were.¡±

    ¡°What do you mean, ¡®beyond what I was¡¯?¡±

    ¡°I meant simply what I said.  You are growing beyond what you were.¡±

    ¡°What was I then?

    ¡°You were human,¡± was the cold answer that sent chills up and down Elissa¡¯s spine and haunted her dreams for a long time to follow.

    Nervously, the next morning she asked, even though she wasn¡¯t certain if she wanted to know the answer, ¡°I was human. Does that mean I¡¯m not now?¡±

    ¡°That depends,¡± was the only frustrating answer she got that day.

    ¡°Depends on what,¡± was her following question.

    ¡°Depends on who you ask and what definition they use for human,¡± Dark answered, never betraying any hint of emotion.

    ¡°You said I was human, implying past tense,¡± Elissa argued the next day.  ¡°By your own standard and definition, tell me how you¡¯d classify me in relation to the rest of humankind.¡±

    ¡°You are human,¡± Dark coldly assured her.  ¡°You are also more now.¡±

    ¡°How am I more than a regular human,¡± Elissa demanded to know the next day.

    ¡°How?  By feeding from a source they cannot.¡±

    ¡°What source?  The vegetables?  The animals here?¡±  The next day, she was so frustrated she asked all three questions at once.

    ¡°You have fed directly from me.  No, the vegetables have no effect.  Nor does the animals which you consume,¡± Dark assured her calmly.

    The next morning, Elissa asked another series of three questions all at once.  ¡°How have I fed from you?  What exactly did I consume?  What has changed to make me more than a regular human?¡±

    This time, Dark chuckled slightly, before reaching and slowly stroking his hands through her hair as she sat straddling his lap, while they gently rocked back and forth.  ¡°How have you fed from me?  How could you think you have not, when your stomach is full of my seed every morning?  What exactly did you consume?  Nothing less than the seed of life from a source older and more pure than all of creation.¡±

    ¡°What has changed about you to make you more?¡±  Suddenly grabbing the back of her head in an ironclad grip, Dark pulled her up until her nose was directly against his.  Dark, endlessly swirling gaze locked onto her own, he held her trapped for several long minutes, before finally releasing her and letting her go.  ¡°Your spirit has thickened.  Your soul has grown stronger.  Your flesh is altering, strengthening your bones and muscles.  Your endurance grows.  You are becoming more flexible.  Quicker of eye and sharper of reflex.  These things change from day to day and, as most of your race, you do not notice your own gradual growth.¡±

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    ¡°You are who you were,¡± Dark assured her emotionlessly. ¡°You are simply who you were, a little more.¡±

    Elissa left that morning and spent all day assessing his words.  Stronger?  Faster?  A greater endurance?  She had to admit, she was lasting longer and longer into the night all the time, before passing out from Dark¡¯s nightly indulgence with her body.  She no longer woke tired, and even though she still sweated bucket loads working out in the blazing hot sun, she didn¡¯t come back to the hovel exhausted anymore.

    The next morning, she had only three questions left she wanted to ask, before dropping the subject and moving on to other things.  ¡°Since I am changing, what will I change into?  Will I remain human?  Will I someday be able to have children like others, or is that a lost dream of my youth?¡±  Almost dreading the answers, she held her breath and stared into the void of Dark¡¯s eyes while waiting his answer.

    He was silent for several long moments, and then Dark uncharacteristically shrugged.  ¡°Even I cannot be certain how much you can change.  The flesh is limited by the bounds of the spirit, and your spirit thickens and grows each day.  The more you feed, the more you accept the strength from my essence, the stronger your soul becomes.  Until your soul has reached its limit, it¡¯s impossible to say what the limit to the changes to your body will become.

    ¡°As for remaining ¡®human¡¯, that is as I said before; it depends on the definition one uses to define what is human.  Many would say you are.  Many more would claim you were something else entirely already.  Me, personally?¡±  Once again, Dark shrugged uncharacteristically. ¡°I do not care.  You are what you are, regardless of how one other wishes to label you.¡±

    ¡°As for children¡­¡±   Dark trailed off into silence for several moments, before sighing deeply.  ¡°One may only have children with the flesh, if they find a partner with a soul of suitable strength to match theirs.  No matter how much a chicken tries, it cannot breed with an eagle.  As your spirit grows stronger, the pool of partners available to you grows smaller.  Already, most among the human race are too weak to sire a child with you.¡±

    Standing abruptly, Dark unceremoniously dumped her out of his lap and upon the ground.  Turning, he walked and stared outside, as dark clouds blanketed the sky pitch black.  A torrential downpour of rain and lightning crashed all about, setting several of the ruined shacks on fire, before the rain quickly drowned them out

    Easing up, Elissa walked over and stood beside him, gently resting her head over upon his chest as she watched the torrential storm tear roofs off buildings and scatter debris and trash all over the streets and yards that she¡¯d worked so hard to try and clean.  Her garden was drowning under an ever growing lake of water, and the raging winds snapped cornstalks and sent them flying like spears through the air.

    Somehow, she found it to be a beautiful sight that seemed to suit her mood perfectly.

 â€œWhy are you called the Darkbringer?â€

    The second topic which had a large impact on Elissa¡¯s way of thinking was one that she asked only out of passing curiosity as she was learning to discipline her questions; ¡°Why are you called the Darkbringer?¡±

    ¡°Because the races of creation are fools,¡± was Dark¡¯s cold response.  His voice never betrayed emotion, always sounding like ice water gurgling across a bed of gravel, but his nose wrinkled and the corners of his mouth twitched in an obvious scowl.  One of the first signs of visible emotion from him, that she¡¯d thought she¡¯d seen, Elissa just couldn¡¯t let it go.

    The next morning, Elissa¡¯s first question was, ¡°Why do you say the races of creation are fools to call you the Darkbringer and not the Darkness?¡±

    ¡°Because they are,¡± was the only response Dark gave in return, though the brief scowl and curling of his nose did occur a second time.

    ¡°How are the races foolish by calling you Darkbringer?¡±  She persisted the next morning, determined at this point to weasel the root of the answer from Dark, no matter how many times it too.

    ¡°It is only a foolish title that the idiots bestow, when their desires are fulfilled,¡± was the cryptic response that Elissa got that morning.

    Over the next few weeks, she tried to worm her way around the problem with various different wordings of questions, by changing ¡®how¡¯ to ¡®why¡¯ to ¡®when¡¯ to ¡®what¡¯, by simply dropping one method of questioning and trying something completely different.

    Eventually, she came to the conclusion that pulling needles from a porcupine would be easier!  Dark apparently didn¡¯t want to talk about it, but he never actually refused to answer the questions. He just gave the most unhelpful answers he could, and she had to try and work her way to the heart of the matter.

    After about a whole month of worming at the problem, Elissa thought she¡¯d finally came to an understanding about it.

    Apparently at one time, long ago, in the recesses of history, Dark actually walked among the races and spoke to each as their ¡°Creator¡±.  He was worshiped, revered, and treated with loving respect and honor.  The races he visited asked for simple boons to help make their lives a little more bearable, enjoyable, or easier.

    Since it required barely any effort upon his part, Dark gave the races what they wanted as he slowly toured his creation.  When he returned, eons later, to visit the same races again, they all feared and reviled him, calling him ¡®The Darkbringer¡¯.  All he¡¯d done was give them what they wanted, but by doing so, he¡¯d became the most hated creature in existence.

    A tribe of humans living in the dessert might have asked for a resistance to the heat, an ability to hunt effectively at night, and the ability to feed on all sorts of creatures with no harm befalling them.  At first, they thrived with their alterations in their environment.  Over time, their natural growth rate as masters of their domain led them to overpopulation.  They had to expand or perish, and since the peoples of the neighboring lands no longer resembled them, or had been a part of their culture for so long, they were fair game in the battle for survival.

    Gifts given freely, to those that asked, drove the balance of things out of whack.  Those that had been weak, and prey for the strong, were now suddenly preying upon the others.  By giving to one, another always suffered.  Sometimes, even amongst the same race, it led to sudden upheavals and turmoil.  The slaves might overpower their lords, or the lords of one land would enslave another.  Everywhere, the balance of power was destroyed and all those that had fallen spit upon him and called him The Darkbringer.

    So, to right his wrong, Dark traveled creation once again and removed the gifts he had given.

    Thinking he had corrected the problem, after eons of wandering, he returned to the first that he had restored and was met with even heavier disdain and hatred.  Those that had grown to enjoy the taste of their borrowed power had suddenly had it stripped away from them, leaving them bitter and longing.  Those that were now able to rightfully retake their place as rulers over the weaker, remembered that it was The Darkbringer who had cast them down to begin with.

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    The weak despised him for their flaws and weaknesses.  The powerful feared him and despised him, knowing that they couldn¡¯t stop him from overthrowing them again, if the whim crossed his mind.  He was no longer their savior; their creator.  He was now The Darkbringer, a bane upon existence.

    And so, Dark found a quiet corner and simply sat and did nothing.  Fulfilling the races¡¯ desires had gained him nothing but anguish.  Returning things to how they were before had didn¡¯t nothing more than exasperate the issue.  And doing nothing?  Doing nothing led to even more hatred and animosity from the races towards him, as they called him ¡®cold¡¯, ¡®distant¡¯, and ¡®uncaring¡¯.

    All of which led Elissa down a different road of worries.  Give the people what they want, and they hate you.  Don¡¯t give it, and they hate you.  Do nothing, and they hate you.

    ¡°So how do the Gods manage to resist being hated?¡± Elissa finally asked, thinking about how they were probably the closest beings in creation which could relate to Dark¡¯s existence.

    ¡°They think only of themselves,¡± Dark answered, chuckling coldly.

    ¡°But they help the people.  The protect them, help feed them, help them grow.  How can the gods be selfish?¡± Elissa asked the next day, struggling to reconcile what she was hearing with her own beliefs.

    ¡°They only help those they wish,¡± Dark reminded her gently.  ¡°Follow them.  Praise them.  Offer them your devotion and do what they tell you, and they will reward you with a treat.  Much like a well-trained puppy,¡± Dark replied, barking his strange laughter for several moments.  ¡°Kakakakakakakak!¡±

    Mockingly, Dark asked, ¡°Did you truly think they cared at all about you?  Your prayers, your devotions, are like food to them.  They simply give you what they must, for their own benefit.  Does a God of War aid your people because you are righteous, or because he adores your worship?  What happens to those who don¡¯t bow enough, sacrifice enough, appease him enough?  Doesn¡¯t he simply turn his back upon them, leaving them to whatever harsh fate the world might have in store for them, until they atone and regain his favor?¡±

    ¡°Even some so called God of Justice only favors the one who offers them the most.  If the king of a land sacrifices and teaches his people to follow such a god, that god enforces the morals as set by the king.  It may be wrong to rape today, but if a plague hits and the children die, it could become a crime for the women to refuse a man until they had born enough children to repopulate.¡±  Tilting his head back, Dark burst out laughing again, seeing the unhappy expression snaking across Elissa¡¯s face.  ¡°Kakakakakakakak!¡±

    ¡°The gods couldn¡¯t care less about justice.  About whether helping one group harmed another.  They have absolutely no concern for the balance of the world, nor their impact upon it.  They only care about themselves and those that will feed their vanity and increase their power,¡± Dark concluded, darkly.

    As a knight of the people, Elissa felt a deep and burning betrayal in her heart at his words.  She had been taught to respect and honor the king, the gods, the people in authority who maintained the order.  Now, she wasn¡¯t so certain anymore.  What was justice anyway?  Why did one man hold any authority over another at all?  Laws came and laws went.  In the long view of a being like Dark, she could see how they¡¯d flip and flop to cater to the whims of the moment.  Wasn¡¯t justice and honor supposed to be something more?

    Wasn¡¯t she supposed to be something more, as a knight, representing those values?

    Somehow, she just didn¡¯t know anymore.  She had been shaken to the very core of her beliefs.

 "Can you teach me magic?"

    The last line of questioning which Elissa pursued, which might have affected her most of all, was ¡°Can you teach me magic?¡±

    ¡°No,¡± was the simple, unequivocal answer.

    ¡°Why can¡¯t you teach me magic?¡± She asked the next day.

    ¡°Because there is no magic,¡± Dark replied, smirking as he plainly dismissed an obvious aspect of reality.  Elissa had seen wizards all her life, and she¡¯d seen them perform great feats of magical aptitude.  To simply claim that there was no magic was something that she found hard to believe and understand.

    The next morning, she couldn¡¯t help but ask, ¡°If there¡¯s no magic, then what are the wizards doing when they seem to produce miraculous feats of power?¡±

    Dark smirked again and then cackled his strange laughter.  ¡°Kakakakakakakak!  The fools are scratching at a door of knowledge they don¡¯t have the brains to unlock.¡±

    ¡°What door of knowledge,¡± Elissa asked the next day, frustrated once again by the run around.

    ¡°The door which leads to the knowledge that there is no magic,¡± Dark smirked, making Elissa want to scream and poke her fingers into the dark holes that was his eyes, on the off chance that she might be able to knock some sense into his brain!  She was right back at where she¡¯d started, several days before, and not a bit wiser than before!

    ¡°So what is the knowledge that the wizards are scratching at, but can¡¯t accept?¡± Elissa asked the next day, after having given her question a lot of thought.

    ¡°The knowledge that there is no magic,¡± Dark told her, patting her on the head lightly, much like one would a puppy who had finally performed a trick correctly.  ¡°There is only the blood.¡±

    His answer was one which left her mind in a state of turmoil all day long as she tried to ponder on what he meant.  ¡®There is no magic, only the blood.¡¯  What blood?  Was magic something that wizards could only do because of some element in their blood? The more she tried to puzzle it out, the more confused she got.

    Seeking the answers to her question was a long and laborious process, with Dark giving answers that ran in circles, and required her to rethink and reword them properly.  The delay in getting to the truth that she was seeking slowly expanded her thirst for the answer, and strengthened her resolve to get to the core of what she wanted to know, no matter what.

    After several long and persistent months, Elissa had finally weaseled an existential truth about creation out of Dark, and it shook her to the core.

    There was no magic; there was only blood.

    What wizards considered to be nodes of energy ¨C they called them ¡®mana streams¡¯ ¨C were nothing more than the veins and arteries of the universe itself, pumping its own unique blood throughout the cosmos.  ¡®Mana pools¡¯ were nothing more than places where the universe¡¯s blood gathered, much like how it would gather in a human¡¯s heart.  Different flows of mana could be understood much like different parts of blood inside a person ¨C white cells, red cells, antibodies.

    The universe itself was alive and all the creatures inside it ¨C even Dark himself ¨C were nothing more than parasites living inside their massive host.  What the wizards called ¡®magic¡¯ was nothing more than one parasite taking a bite from its hosts blood, and then using it to corrupt or mutate the cells around it.  Wizards could be regarded as a cancer inside the living truth that was the universe, warping, twisting, and corrupting what should¡¯ve been.

    It was after learning this ultimate truth, Elissa shut down.  She quit asking questions.  She quit tending to her garden or trying to clean.  Everything she had ever known or believed had been torn out from under her.  Much as Dark only sat and rocked, she simply laid sprawled out in the floor before him, awaiting for him to ravish her however he pleased when night fell.

    She was no longer human, and each day she became a little less human.  Even her own soul was changing ¨C growing as Dark called it, ¡®beyond the limits of humanity¡¯.  Her people had betrayed her.  The gods weren¡¯t benevolent providers or nurturers as she¡¯d been raised to believe.  Wizards were cancerous parasites corrupting reality and wearing away at the life of a creature too massive and too powerful to even comprehend.  Justice was nothing more than a falsehood perpetrated by those in power to control those beneath them.

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    Countless days passed as her mind struggled to adapt and process the destruction of everything she had ever believed in.  Part of her mind wanted to lash out at Dark for bringing such turmoil to what had been an iron-clad code of honor and beliefs which she lived by.  Had he never told her¡­  Never started his accursed game of question and answer¡­  Resentment started to build in her mind, as Elissa started to blame Dark for all the dark and troubled thoughts in her heart.

    Eventually reaching her boiling point, she did the unthinkable ¨C she fought back.  Leaping up, she pounced on Dark with a primal scream and beat at his face.  She gouged at the dark holes that was his eyes.  The chair he sat upon collapsed under her wild attack and she grabbed one of the splintered pieces and slammed it into his chest dozens of times, before leaving it sticking jagged from the center of his heart.

    Blood-covered and exhausted, Elissa finally stumbled up and staggered her way to the door; her rage drained out of her, leaving her to feel numb.

    ¡°Don¡¯t forget my beer,¡± Dark called out from behind her, voice cold, emotionless gravel as if nothing had happened.

    The last of her strength melted with his words and she sank to the ground and collapsed into uncontrollable crying.  When nightfell, Dark ravaged her much the same as always, somehow bringing peace to Elissa¡¯s troubled heart.  Even with her outburst, her attack, Dark hadn¡¯t changed how he treated her.  He didn¡¯t pull away, nor did he cast her aside.  He simply accepted it as it was a part of her.

    Elissa fell asleep early and heavy that night, leaving her body a limp plaything for Dark to indulge upon as her mind rested peacefully.

    The next morning, she got up and hopped astraddle the arm rests on Dark¡¯s rocking chair and wrapped her arms around his neck.  Leaning forward, she pressed her lips against his and kissed him passionate, before resting her head against his neck.  ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± she whispered softly, wigging herself down further into his lap.  Her legs were bent awkwardly, forced upward even beyond what was a full split, but she didn¡¯t care.  Grabbing the armrests with each hand, she pulled her body downward, until her hips popped loudly as they dislocated, forcing herself fully down into Dark¡¯s lap.

    Breathing heavily for a few moments, she tuned the pain out of her mind ¨C somehow finding it to be an easier task than she would¡¯ve believed possible ¨C and then she leaned forward and wrapped her arms around Dark as she pressed her bare body tight against him.  ¡°Can you ever forgive me for yesterday?¡± Elissa asked, nuzzling her head into his neck.

    ¡°There is nothing to forgive,¡± Dark told her coolly, as he slowly wrapped his arm around her.

    Shock coursed through Elissa for several moments ¨C not from his answer, but from the fact that he didn¡¯t wait for her to ask two more questions before replying first!  Shaking her head a few times uncertainly, she finally asked, ¡°If¡­ If the wizards are using the universe¡¯s blood to do whatever they want, can other blood be used for the same results?¡±

    ¡°All blood holds strength and power,¡± Dark assured her.  ¡°What one can accomplish with it is only limited by their will, the amount of blood available, and their skill and focus in controlling it.  Even one¡¯s own blood is sufficient for many of the feats the wizards perform.¡±

    ¡°Will you teach me to work and shape the strength of blood?¡± Elissa asked, not entirely certain what she even wanted the strength for anymore.  Her people?  Her honor?  Duty?  All that she¡¯d believed in had been shattered and proven false.

    ¡°Yes,¡± was Dark¡¯s monosyllabic response, and the last of the answers and questions.

 Broken

    Elissa¡¯s life became an endless blur of painful sex and endless dry lecturing after her request to learn the ways of blood. Many days, from the moment she woke, Dark was bending her, twisting her, and using her in some odd and extremely painful ritual of lust; all while dryly rambling on about feeling her ¡®pools of power¡¯, ¡®circulating her blood¡¯, or ¡®opening her essence¡¯.

    Battered and used beyond the points of her own comprehension, days and weeks passed for Elissa as she was lost in an endless haze of pain and lust. Dark deliberately pushed her into positions that dislocated joints over and over in his endless orgy of lust, and then forcefully pushed her bones back in place. No joint in her body seemed safe from the dispassionate pain he inflicted on her as he systematically dislocated her fingers, shoulders, hips, legs, and her all other joints while incessantly riding her first in one obscure position and then another.

    After a while, Elissa began to feel less and less like a human and more and more as nothing more than a rubber doll built simply for Dark¡¯s amusement. Hours blurred together endlessly with her body wracked with pain and covered in a rainbow of bruises and her mind shut down and drifted into peaceful oblivion while she was awake.

    How many days or weeks had passed in her endless blur, Elissa had no way of knowing. She could¡¯ve been a prisoner of Dark¡¯s ritual of lust for months, or even years, and she wouldn¡¯t know. All she knew was she endured an endless eternity of torment, a plaything for The Darkness, and then one day it suddenly stopped.

    One moment her mind was lost in a daze as her body was pushed, broken, and violated. The next, she groggily realized that she was sprawled out in some unspeakable position on her back, with her head resting impossibly on her ankles.

    For a long time; she didn¡¯t know how long as time no longer seemed to have any meaning to her; she laid there and tried to comprehend the change. Dark¡¯s incessant ravaging of her body had finally stopped and he had returned to sitting in his chair and rocking contentedly as he stared down at her twisted and seed-covered form.

    At first, her body refused to obey her commands. Disjointed, wracked with pain and covered in a myriad assortment of new and old bruises, Elissa couldn¡¯t even make her own fingers twitch. A panic of being paralyzed and trapped in her own body ¨C nothing more than a true doll ¨C filled her being. For days she struggled with tears leaking down the corner of her eyes, until she could twitch her fingers again.If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.

    As if the first sign of movement from her was a sign he was waiting for, Dark instantly stared up his lecturing once again. ¡°In all things, existence seeks to find balance,¡± he told her, his voice as dry and unnaturally unemotional as ever. ¡°Water flows from the highest to the lowest. Fire exists only where there is fuel to feed upon. There can be no light without darkness, no life without death. There is a balance for all things. A yin for each yang, an ending to every beginning. All things in existence have a balance.¡±

    ¡°All things save one,¡± he warned her sternly as she struggled to wiggle her toes and force her legs back into their proper human position. ¡°I broke the rules of nature. The laws of creation. There has never been any balance to my existence. I alone simply am.¡±

    ¡°Or, I was,¡± Dark chuckled cryptically. ¡°I have only planted the seed within you. Your body has been filled, covered, and infused with my ¡®blood of life¡¯ ¨C some of my most powerful essence. My energy has infused you and your essence must either grow to equal it, or else be burned and destroyed by it. If your yin can not grow to balance my yang inside you, then you are doomed.¡±

    ¡°If you do manage to grow and find an inner balance, even I have no idea what you may become,¡± Dark warned her. ¡°Will you grow to become my equal? Once you begin the road of blood, will you eventually surpass me? Will I finally be allowed the release from existence I desire?¡±

    ¡°Much as a parent does not know the destiny of their child, nor how great they can soar, I do not know the answers to these questions. I have planted the seed of possibility into you,¡± Dark chuckled, seemingly amused by his own words, ¡°and it is up to you to determine what it blossoms into.¡±

    Still struggling to force her body to respond and unpretzel itself, Elissa could say nothing. Weaker than a newborn, she was slowly coming to realize that she had experienced some twisted ritual of breaking and remaking. An endless nagging worry began to take root in the back of her mind. If she was being remade, what was she being remade into?

    She didn¡¯t know, and from Dark¡¯s words, it didn¡¯t sound as if he knew either. Was she even human anymore? Would she keep her humanity? Or would she eventually become more like The Darkness?

    Not knowing was a fear that eat at the corner of her mind and which pushed her to struggle even harder to try and bend herself back into proper shape. She had to hold on to what she was ¨C what she¡¯d always been ¨C so she didn¡¯t lose the most important parts of herself as she slowly became whatever she was transforming to be.

 Arc 1: Chapter 1 -- The Test of Power

    A slow murmur was arising in The Golden City at the two strangers walking nonchalantly down the center of the street. From first glance, it was obvious that the two were outsiders and not native to the lands of Summerset. One was a tall, ghostly pale gentleman wearing an unnaturally black robe that flickered and moved as if in a breeze, even though there was no wind blowing. Large straw hat pulled down over his head, the shadows concealed his face and blanketed his eyes in darkness, making it impossible to see where he was looking.

    The other stranger walked respectfully a step behind him. A beauty, by all accounts, the other was a well tanned young woman, in the prime of her youth. Long strands of pristine white hair stood out oddly, highlighting her youthful face, hanging long down her back and almost to her knees. Outrageously enough, what the young lass the young lass was dressed in ¨C or almost not dressed in ¨C was a scandalously skimpy outfit that made mothers cover their children¡¯s eyes and women glare at their men.

    Pure white sandals laced up to her knees, with heels of such height that they lifted the girl up onto the tips of her toes and made her hips sway outrageously with each step. Around her waste was nothing more than two long, narrow strips of white silk cloth which draped in front and back like a loin cloth, leaving her long legs bare and visible and doing nothing to conceal the sides of her hips as she walked. From the rear, the round curves of her tanned buttocks was teasingly revealed with each sashay of her hips as she moved.

    Most outrageous of all was the shirt¡­ Shawl? Not-shirt? Was whatever she was wearing over her top!

    Appearing to be nothing more than a single piece of white silken cloth, the top did precious little to hide her well rounded womanly attributes. Hanging by small silver chains which attached to a set of large rounded earrings, the cloth draped loosely in front of the girl and hung freely in front of her. As long as she kept her head down and didn¡¯t look around, the cloth would drape and somewhat conceal the view of her breasts from the front ¨C though it did nothing to hide their ripe rounded view from either side. Unfortunately, the girl had apparently never seen a place as majestic as The Golden City before, and she kept shamelessly turning her head left and right to gape at first one sight and then the other, causing the cloth to move scandalously from side to side, revealing first one full breast and then the other.

    Such outrageous strangers! Such disrespect! The further into the city the two walked, the louder the mumbling behind them became and the larger the crowd that formed to follow them.

    For all the girl¡¯s wide-eyed wonder, the man was completely the opposite. He walked slowly, seemingly without taking notice to anything or anyone around, and kept his head down as he stared at the ground several feet in front of him. Several times, people moved to block his path ¨C sometimes guards of the city, sometimes others ¨C and always they found themselves walking to the side and remaining silent as he and the girl passed on by. Many were questioned about why they didn¡¯t stop the two outsiders, but none could give a reason why.

    Soon, the two strangers started up the massive golden steps leading to the shrine in the center of the city. Dozens of elite guards formed a line blocking the steps, each being a master of their own art. Veterans of thousands of battles, each of these men had the strength to make an army tremble in fear. Masters, standing at the pentacle of cultivation and war, they feared no man nor beast under the sun ¨C and yet, they respectfully stood to the side and allowed the two strangers to pass without uttering a single word.

    Their honor was shattered in less than a second, and none knew the slightest reason why!Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

    On to the top of the steps the two outsiders walked, heading to the center of the shrine and the heart of the city. The massive golden bell which took the might of a dozen masters to ring suddenly started to sway violently, echoing thunderous ringing which carried for miles around. A single old man ran out of the nearby temple and stared in disbelief as the bell seemingly rung itself repeatedly and effortlessly.

    ¡°What¡­ What is going on here?¡± The old man¡¯s beard hung nearly to his ankles and he was wearing a long golden robe. A look of astonishment filled his face and he stared bewildered at the two strangers and the crowd which had encircled them.

    ¡°It is time for a testing,¡± was the dry, harsh, unemotional voice from the strange man, who simply stood and stared off into nothing.

    ¡°A testing?¡± The older man blinked several times, looking baffled. ¡°The next testing isn¡¯t for another three years, I¡¯m afraid.¡± Opening his mind, the old man reached out his senses to scan the two strangers before him.

    Nothing.

    Absolutely nothing ¨C that¡¯s all he was sensing from the two! There wasn¡¯t a sense that they were blocking his probe; he didn¡¯t feel as if he had encountered a wall or met any resistance at all with his art. It was simply as if the two weren¡¯t there before him!

    ¡°Who¡­ Who are these two?¡± Shaken, the old man tried to wrap his mind around what had just happened.

    ¡°We apologize, Patriarch!¡± One of the men nearby rushed up and knelt before the old gentleman. ¡°We do not know why, but we could not approach nor even question these two. I know not what power they hold, but we were unable to resist it at all.¡± Blushing in shame and anger, the young man held his head in shame.

    ¡°It is time for a testing,¡± came the dry, harsh, unemotional voice from the strange man once again, who still simply stood and stared off into nothing.

    ¡°We are not so easy to order around!¡± Unable to bare his shame any longer, the young man kneeling at the patriarch¡¯s feet leaped up, spun around, and unleashed a powerful blast of qi energy which would¡¯ve toppled a dragon. The ground erupted in a massive explosion which sent people flying and caused screams all around.

    When the dust settled, the strangers were still standing untouched on a small rise of stone, in the center of a massive crater which had formed all around them. ¡°It is time for a testing,¡± was the dry, harsh, unemotional voice once again.

    Seeing his attack fail completely, the young man¡¯s eyes opened wide and his face turned beet red. Never had he imagined that someone, or something, could completely disregard his power! Reaching into the bag at his side, he drew forth one of the great artifacts from his clan, an ancient silver spear of the greatest power. With a roar of anger, he rushed forward, stabbing the strange man through the chest. Channeling his energy into the spear, primordial waves of death energy rippled out and into his opponent.

    Grinning triumphantly, the young man pulled his spear out from his opponent and turned back to beam proudly at the patriarch. Nothing could survive a direct hit and infusion with so much pure death. Just as he was beginning to get ready to brag on himself, the young man realized something was wrong. The crowd had gone deathly silent and the patriarch¡¯s eyes were wide as he stared unblinkingly.

    ¡°¡°It¡­ It is time for a testing,¡± the patriarch commanded in a quavering voice. ¡°Let all know! It is time for a testing,¡± he repeated, louder and more authoritatively. ¡°Let all know that the testing will begin at the end of the month¡­¡±

    ¡°Week,¡± corrected a cold, dry, unemotional voice from behind the young man, causing the hairs on the back of his neck to stand up in alarm. Slowly he turned around to stare at the strange gentleman who had apparently not been affected by his attack at all. A feeling of dread welled up in his heart and his mouth instantly went dry. It was impossible! Nothing could resist such a direct infusion of death from his spear. Feeling his knees quiver, Warmaster Silver sank to the ground and trembled in utter defeat.

    ¡°A week,¡± the patriarch corrected. ¡°Let all know that the testing will begin at the end of a week!¡±

    Seemingly satisfied, the stranger said nothing as a strange old rocking chair floated down from out of nowhere. Sitting contentedly, the gentleman slowly began to rock back and forth in the chair while the girl respectfully sat upon her knees in front of him.

    The Golden City seemed to fall silent, as no one appeared to have a clue as to what had just happened.