Protector's Curse

by Keith Walsh

The horse would surely have connected with the creature had it not moved in time. Astride the magnificent beast sat a powerful-looking man who began to draw a double-winged axe from a brace on his back. The creature hissed from the tree it clung to and focussed on the giant of a man. He stopped instantly as he drew his axe and it hung halfway in the air, his huge hand clasped around its hilt, frozen in place. The creature leapt for the giant but something caught it mid-air and it was knocked off course. It crashed to the ground, rolled and scrambled to its feet.

  The giant finished pulling his axe clear but before he could launch an attack the creature’s tail whipped towards him and knocked him from his saddle. He fell awkwardly, one of his feet remaining caught in a stirrup, his axe lost. As he struggled to free his trapped foot another man came into sight. His build was slender and he wore a chest baldric with room for four daggers but only three were seated there. He held an elegant but deadly sword in his right hand and moved to place himself between the creature and the fallen giant. He started to speak and Cara focussed on his words.

  “By the Gods what is it Atheles?” shouted Kalen raising his rapier towards the creature instinctively while his eyes looked to the fallen giant. “I have no idea. Perhaps if we survive you can ask one of your bards about it,” retorted Atheles, clearly struggling to free his foot. Kalen didn’t respond, too busy diving to his left to narrowly avoid being struck by the creature’s tail. As his shoulder hit the ground he rolled with it and came neatly to his feet. His action had been pure instinct as his eyes had been on Atheles at the time. He had just sensed the attack. Now he gave his full attention to the creature and locked his cold eyes on it, an innocent mistake that could very well prove fatal. His body instantly became frozen, his speech robbed, he stood helpless.

  Cara looked to her husband as he lay unmoving, either dead or unconscious. She switched to the giant man called Atheles and saw he had freed his trapped foot. His axe reclaimed, he slapped his horse on the rear and it trotted away leaving him a clear line of sight to the creature. Atheles saw it leap for Kalen and flung his hefty axe, catching the creature’s rear shoulder and sending it spinning to the ground. Its gaze no longer on him, Kalen burst back to life and spun, launching a lightning strike towards the creature’s neck as it sprung to its feet. His rapier hit home but simply flexed almost double, unable to penetrate the thick scales.

  Kalen recovered quickly but could not launch another attack, instead having to move his head swiftly to avoid a tail lash that could have decapitated him. He felt a trickle of blood run down his cheek giving evidence to just how close the lash had been, and his rage flared. The creature possessed ferocious speed, tremendous strength, great agility and a paralysing stare not to mention lethal weaponry and thick natural armour. How can we beat it? thought Kalen while dodging several more strikes of the whip-like tail. Its speed so frequent that he could not launch any counterattacks of his own. He had learned to avoid eye contact with the creature, and between his peripheral vision and intuition he kept himself alive – just.

  Atheles managed to regain his axe thanks mostly to the creature being so interested in Kalen and he made to attack again. He swung it expertly overhead to bring it down on the creature’s back but at the last second it leapt away and the axe instead caught Kalen’s leather leggings tearing them open. “Damn Atheles, you almost cut my leg off!” Kalen exclaimed, but he did not dwell on it, suddenly aware they were missing the scaled menace.

  “Where the hell did it go?” he asked, his head turning in all directions looking for some sign of the creature. “I don’t know, but it’s still here. I can feel it,” replied Atheles.

  His eyes scanned the trees and bushes surrounding them. A cloud passed overhead and suddenly the moon’s glow bathed them. In the silvery light, Atheles noticed a tree that looked different. He followed the lines within the bark but they stopped at its base – it looked like the tree had a large tumour growing out of it. Atheles knew it was the creature. “There!” he shouted, pointing at his discovery.

  Kalen followed his companion’s finger but could not see anything until without warning yellow eyes suddenly blinked and glared at them. Atheles’ body stiffened immediately and the creature launched itself through the air straight for him. With razor-sharp reflexes Kalen drew a dagger from the sheath on his chest and threw it at the creature, but this time it missed the head and bounced harmlessly off its massive body.

  The creature landed on Atheles and the two were sent head over heels. Kalen noted that the creature’s scales had turned from dark green to dark brown, matching the colour of the trees. Incredible, he thought as he rushed to his companion’s aid. It had Atheles pinned down and its elongated jaws bit into the struggling giant’s right shoulder. He let out a deep scream as pain ripped through him but he fought back with all his strength. Its stare no longer on him he parried an attempted tail strike with his left arm. Even though only a parry his arm throbbed from the blow.

  The creature released its jaws to attempt another bite but Atheles grabbed hold of the open mouth with both hands, his left clasped on the top and his right on the bottom. He pulled them apart using all the strength he could muster, bolstered by the adrenalin his pain caused. Its jaws did not seem to possess the same strength as the rest of it and it hissed loudly while trying to shake its head free. Atheles could feel its strength fading as he pried the jaws further apart but his actions ceased as a tail strike landed. He felt as though he had been kicked by a horse, his grip released instantly and his vision swam.

  Any killing blow the creature may have dealt was halted as it turned instead to lash its powerful arm towards Kalen who bore down on it from behind. He anticipated the attack, somersaulted over it, landed perfectly and spun, instantly thrusting his rapier towards its right eye. Within the split second it took to land he felt his body start to stiffen but was freed when the rapier hit home.

  The creature fell back reeling, clawing at the wound in a frenzied state before locking its one remaining good eye on Kalen again. Feeling triumphant at landing the blow Kalen’s arrogance got the better of him and force of habit caused him to meet the stare. Instantly he froze to the spot.

  Cara had been silent during the fight having no desire to attract the creature’s attention again, but now she could bear it no longer. Her son dead, her husband possibly mortally injured and now these brave men about to be slaughtered, she no longer cared for her own safety and released a high-pitched scream. Kalen noticed the creature instantly focussed on the screaming woman. This time Cara had her eyes shut tight, choosing not to see her death coming. She did not realise this meant the creatures stare had no effect and she continued to scream unhindered, and unaware that the creature became more frustrated.

  Kalen saw it though, and he also saw the creature desperately trying to escape the noise, its large hands pressed over its head as though covering ears. It staggered backwards, its head tilted to the sky hissing. Kalen took the time to search for a weakness or vulnerability, something he hadn’t had a chance to do up to this point. It is covered in scales except for… The weakness realised he rushed forward, dipped his right shoulder low to the ground and lashed his rapier up into the unprotected groin of the creature.

  It gave a long loud shriek as the blade slid home. Kalen wrenched his weapon clear and made to strike again spinning in a 360-degree turn to avoid a tail lash before landing his second strike. Again and again he slid the blade home until the creature collapsed with a thud, its tail writhed on the ground for a moment and its legs twitched before finally it lay still.

  “Shut up!” Kalen roared at the screaming woman, his breathing heavy. Cara did as instructed and opened her eyes, a look of disbelief upon her face.

  “…how?” she finally managed to say, but Kalen ignored her, more concerned that his weapon was covered in thick, almost black blood. He would normally wipe it clean on his opponent’s clothes but this creature wore no such attire. Breaking his tradition he cleaned the rapier on his own tunic, m
uch to his disgust, before sheathing it. A loud groan came from behind him and Kalen turned to see Atheles trying to get up. “Yet again I manage to win without your assistance Atheles,” Kalen mocked, unaware of his companion’s injury.

  Atheles paid no heed to the remark. His shoulder throbbed and his head pounded. He pushed himself to a seated position and through squinted eyes took in his surroundings. The creature looked dead, and a man lay close to its body, possibly dead or perhaps unconscious, he couldn’t tell. He then saw the woman, and the boy’s body next to her, and finally Kalen who stood over the unmoving creature, eyeing it. A dead horse lay nearby and some snapped reins dangled from a small tree trunk. Satisfied he had seen everything he focussed on Kalen.

  “Damn that thing hit hard,” he said, rubbing his eyes. “How the hell did you manage to kill it?” As he spoke intense pain pulsed across his shoulder but he fought against it. “As I may have mentioned, I am magnificently skilled,” replied Kalen, taking a theatrical bow. Atheles looked at his master, his eyes heavy and his breathing uneven.

  “As much as I dislike your arrogance Kalen, I cannot argue with you,” he grimaced. “What’s wrong Atheles?” asked Kalen, suddenly aware that all was not as it should be. “That thing bit me. It didn’t feel too bad at first but now the pain—” He let out a roar, unable to finish the sentence, which caused Cara to jump and then regain her senses. She had been transfixed by Kalen and his victory over the creature. Aware once more, she glanced at her son’s body.

  “The bite is venomous. It…” she paused, struggling to bring herself to say the words, her hand covering her mouth, tears welling. “It what?” pressured Kalen, unmoved by the woman’s obvious distress. She got to her knees, one hand still covering her mouth, and she reached the other to the boy’s body. “It killed my son,” she said at last, her body shaking as she cried. Kalen moved quickly to her and, pushing her aside, knelt to examine the boy’s body.

  Atheles roared again and forced himself to his feet, bracing his huge frame against a tree he cursed the pain, desperately trying to fight the nausea that threatened to overwhelm him. He could feel the poison coursing through his veins. “No. Leave my boy alone,” shouted Cara, angry at being shoved aside by Kalen. She tried to push him back but he caught her hands and rising sharply threw her to the earth.

  “Don’t you dare touch me you bitch!” he screamed, locking his ice-cold eyes on her. He lashed his right arm out and pointed in the direction of the downed man, her husband. “What of that man there? Is he nothing to you? Why focus all your energy on this lifeless corpse?” he continued waving his hand back towards her son’s body. Shock robbed Cara of her tears and she glared at Kalen who turned away from her and knelt once again at her son’s body. Despite his lack of subtlety and her growing hatred of him, Kalen’s words did hit home and she climbed to her feet to check on her husband.

  Atheles hugged his right arm and grimaced, his breathing coming in short bursts as he fought against the venom. “I can’t bare it Kalen, I want to rip the skin from my body,” he said, clawing at his shirt as though it was his skin. The shirt tore open and he could see his right shoulder had several puncture wounds that oozed with a green slime. Just under the skin he could see green tributaries that crept towards his chest. Ignoring his cries Kalen examined the left leg of the boy’s body, where the leggings had already been cut away, and he noticed what looked like similar branching veins, green in colour, spreading to the upper part of the body. Taking the dagger from its sheath on his chest he cut away the boy’s shirt.

  Several of these green veins could clearly be seen on his chest forming a path heading to the boy’s heart, and in that instant he thought he saw a faint heartbeat but dismissed it, more concerned with Atheles. He jumped to his feet and dashed towards his companion, drawing his rapier. Atheles did not see Kalen approach, too busy eyeing the green lines spreading across his body, the pain almost unbearable. Kalen did not hesitate and slashed his rapier across the big man’s chest with surgical precision, just ahead of the creeping veins. Within moment blood seeped from the wound followed by the green slime. Atheles was shocked but did not care about the cut, he had received many like it in the arena. His eyes widened when he realised the slime seeping from the cut had some sort of squirming parasite in it.

  “This is no venom,” he said, panic briefly blotting out the pain. Kalen moved closer and with lightning speed extracted one of the parasites between his thumb and finger. It flexed and wriggled within his grip. He raised it to his eyes and upon examination decided it looked like a leech although it did not try to attach itself to his skin. His curiosity satisfied he dropped it to the ground and stood on it, grinding it into the dirt under his boot. “Disgusting thing,” he said, a shiver running through him.

  Atheles was horrified. He pulled a knife from his belt, fully intent on flaying the entire right upper torso of his body but then he noticed the green network disappearing. He continued to look along his arm to his shoulder and finally his chest and it looked normal. The last of the green parasite-filled slime oozed from the open cut on his chest and he glanced to the ground and spotted several wriggling creatures in a pool of green. He stomped his boot on them again and again, and when finally he stopped he shivered and scratched at his injury. “You’re infested Atheles. Make sure you get them all,” Kalen said, laughing.

  Atheles just shivered again, disgust etched on his face. The almost unbearable pain he had felt before had passed with the eviction of the parasites. His head still pounded and his chest stung but he could easily deal with that kind of sensation. Cara had not witnessed any of what had transpired, her attention solely on her husband Tom. She had managed to rouse him and felt huge relief knowing that he lived. “Cara, you’re alive,” he said, struggling to sit up. She tried to help him but paused when he cried out in pain.

  “Oh, I’m sorry my love,” she said, moving around to lift him by his other side. “My arm… I think it’s broken,” he said. “And maybe a rib or two,” he continued, spitting a little blood from his mouth. Seeing the blood she lifted the hem of her long dress and gently rubbed his mouth clean. Then she took his head in her hands and looking into his eyes she kissed him tenderly. “You were so brave,” she said and he smiled at her, coughed and swallowed the blood that came into his mouth. “And stupid,” she added, her tenderness turning to disapproval. He gave a half-smile in response.

  “Whatever joy I can feel at a time like this is due to seeing you well my Cara. What happened?” he asked, still unaware of Atheles and Kalen. Cara shifted her weight and waved an arm in the direction of Atheles and Kalen. “We owe our lives to these men,” she said. It was only then that Tom spotted the enormous man braced against a tree and a smaller man standing in front of him appearing to examine his companion. “Please, help me stand,” Tom said, sliding his good arm around Cara’s shoulder to brace himself as she lifted him. Together, they managed to stand. Tom glanced briefly at the dead creature’s body before shuffling, with Cara’s help, towards the two men.

  “I’m no expert but it looks like they are all out of you Atheles,” said Kalen, searching for any unnatural lumps on his companion. “I hope so,” replied Atheles, shivering again. “I never thought of you as the heroic type,” he added, smiling at Kalen sarcastically. “Me?” shouted Kalen, pointing a finger at himself with his eyes wide in disbelief. “I seem to remember it was you that went crashing to the rescue,” he continued, pointing his finger at Atheles now. “Had it been up to me we would have been far from here by now,” he said, shaking his head.

  “You could have ridden away without me, you didn’t have to fight,” said Atheles. “But it warms my heart to know you care,” he added, grinning at Kalen.

  “Ha, don’t flatter yourself Atheles. Simple logic dictated that I stay. Had the creature killed everyone here there was nothing to say it would not have pursued me anyway. I stood a better chance within a group then alone,” explained Kalen, but secretly he knew his actions had been out of
some concern for the giant. Atheles took his turn to shake his head. “Gentlemen, please forgive my interruption,” sounded a voice from behind Kalen and he turned to acknowledge Tom.

  He’s no gentleman, thought Cara, casting a hard look towards Kalen. He met it with one of his own and a sly smile, as though he knew her thoughts. Tom disliked the way the man looked at his wife and Kalen, feeling the man’s gaze upon him, turned his attention to him. Tom swallowed hard – the man’s eyes were unnerving to say the least. “Tha… thank you,” said Tom at last, his speech faltering under the icy stare. “…for saving our lives. My name is Tom and this is my wife Cara. I would offer my hand but…” Tom looked to his broken arm, then to his wife and finally back at Kalen, a half-smile appearing. “As you can see, I am unable to.”

  “Indeed,” said Kalen, making no effort to hide his obvious disinterest. Instead he eyed the ground, looking for his missing daggers and, spotting one, made towards it. Tom glanced to his wife and she could sense his unease. She felt the same. Atheles caught their exchange and eager to put the memory of the parasites from his mind he spoke. “My name is Atheles,” he said. “And that is my master Kalen,” he continued, waving his hand towards Kalen searching for his blades.

  “Nice to meet you,” said Tom with a nod and Atheles couldn’t help but sense the ‘You’ to be literal as Tom flicked his eyes sheepishly over his shoulder in Kalen’s direction, before resting them back on him. Atheles followed Tom’s look then smiled and Tom felt instantly more at ease, realising this giant obviously had mixed feelings towards the man known as Kalen too. “The boy…” said Atheles nodding at the body to his right. “Your son?” he asked softly with a sorrowful look, confident he already knew the answer.

  Cara instantly turned her head into her husband’s chest and started to sob. Tom ran the fingers on his good hand through her hair and gently holding her head he rested his cheek against it and kissed her. Holding the embrace he strained his eyes to look at Atheles and nodded gently, his sorrow clear to see. “I am sorry for your loss,” said Atheles, “and for upsetting your wife, I did not intend it,” he added. “Thank you,” replied Tom, his voice barely a whisper, his body rocking his wife gently. The movement caused him considerable pain but he tolerated it, realising his wife was more important.