by J M Hemmings
The man pulled his robe over his head and stood nude before William. His hirsute body was lean and wiry with rocky muscle; not an ounce of fat seemed to lurk anywhere on his form, and his skin was covered with many strange, faded tattoos. Then, in an instant, with a nightmarish rippling of his muscles, a lengthening of his limbs and a grotesque stretching and billowing of his torso and head, his body changed. The whole process lasted but a second or two, but afterward, standing right where the man had been, was the enormous lion that had attacked William in the ruined temple.
William screamed in fright at the proximity of the massive beast, and at the horror of seeing this man’s form change from man to beast, but the sound emerged as a strangled roar from his throat. He scrambled on all fours, backing himself up against the wall, and somehow he managed to growl threateningly at the beast.
But then, before he could react, in another rippling of muscles, a contracting of limbs and a horror-inducing flurry of motion, the lion became a man again. With a smile, the fellow pulled his robe back over his head and squatted down, edging closer to William.
‘You see, cub, I am like you, and you are now like me! The difference is that I can control this power, while you cannot. But fret not, for you too will learn to do this over time. Do not be afraid, my boy! There is no need to cower in fear. None whatsoever!’
At that moment a howling gale began to drone in William’s ears, and pain once again ripped through his system with the violence of a firing squad’s volley of bullets. His spine arched as his muscles contracted to the point of exploding, and he howled with agony. Once more the pain proved too intense to bear, and with that he passed into unconsciousness.
The next time he opened his eyes the man was still in his room with him, but outside the sky was dark, draped in the star-pierced cloak of night, and the room was lit only with a small lamp that burned in the corner with a thin wisp of black smoke. The man was reading a thick manuscript by the light of the lamp, and it took some moments before he noticed that William had opened his eyes. William looked down and noticed that he was now clad in a brown robe, like the man’s.
‘I took the liberty of clothing you while you were unconscious,’ the man said. ‘The temperature drops rapidly here at night, but our robes are well-made and keep us warm against the chill of the mountains.’
‘I…’ William began, half expecting to hear a roar escape from between his lips again. He held up an arm before his face, and saw that he was back in his human form.
‘All is as it should be, cub,’ the man said, his words and manner gentle and compassionate.
‘That wasnae a dream, was it? I was a tiger…’
‘Not was. Are.’
William got up from the floor, hauled himself over to the bed, and flopped down on it, spread-eagling himself across its breadth. His head was swimming with the overwhelmingness, with the implications, with the sheer insanity of all of this.
‘It will be difficult to accept, my boy. I know,’ the man said sympathetically. ‘It took me a great while to as well, and I too initially regarded it as something monstrous, as a curse. Fortunately, though, I was able to come to terms with it, and then eventually embrace it. I am here to help guide you through this, to help you to learn of your new, true potential. To help mould you into who you were born to be.’
‘J-, just who are you?!’ William stammered, suddenly possessed of a rash courage. ‘Who the hell are you?!’
The man chuckled lightly and did not seem at all taken aback by William’s abrupt and blunt interrogation.
‘Ah, and now the questions begin. As it should be, as it should be!’
‘You keep saying that, but this is, this is bloody madness!’ William spluttered, almost frothing at the mouth. ‘This is absolute bloody insanity!’
A sympathetic light glowed in the man’s eyes.
‘It must seem like that to you. I understand, believe me, I do.’
William was starting to feel immensely frustrated with all the vagueness. He could feel his heartbeat hammering in his ears and temples, and black spots began to pool and swirl around the edges of his vision.
‘Please, please, just answer my question, guru ji. Who are you? Who are you people?!’
‘There is who I am now, and who I was in my former life, which ended a long, long time ago … longer ago than you could possibly believe. I will tell you my story nonetheless. I suspect that you will not believe any of it at first, but in time you surely will, when you understand a few more things about who I am, who my friends are, and who you are.
Now, it might not seem like it when you look at me, and I have to admit that this is something that I am deeply ashamed of, but once, a long, long time ago, I was a man of violence. A man of extreme violence. I fought, I killed, I slaughtered other men. I revelled in it, and what is more, I was worshipped for it.’ The man paused here to sigh regretfully and shake his head slowly. ‘I am glad that that old me is long dead, long buried,’ he murmured.
‘You were a soldier? A soldier for who? And what did you do? Did you desert your regiment, like I did? Or were you court-martialled?’
‘No, William. Well, yes, I was a soldier first, when I was a young man like yourself. Then, after a few years, I became a war-chieftain of my tribe. I fought and conquered other tribes. Then we were defeated by a more powerful foe, and I became a slave. After that, I became a gladiator.’
‘A … gladiator? Do you mean a gladiator ay ancient Rome? Surely you cannae mean tha’…’
‘Oh yes, that is exactly what I mean, young cub,’ the man answered with an eerie smile. ‘Yes, “the Beast of the North” is what they once called me, in that awful Colosseum, and other arenas. A vile moniker that was, and I do not wish to ever hear it again. And there were many other things that I became after that, before I found the Way of the Five Flames … none of which I am proud of.’
‘Tha’s quite a name, tha’, “the Beast ay the North”,’ William murmured, half in awe, half suspicious. ‘Well then, what’s your real name? I am William Gisborne, former private ay the 17th Lancers ay Her Majesty’s Armed Forces. Now tell me guru ji, who are you?’
The man chuckled softly, and then looked up at William with a potent fire writhing and crackling in his eyes.
‘Once upon a time,’ he whispered, ‘a very, very long time ago, I was called … Viridovix.’
THE STORY CONTINUES IN VOLUME II OF THE TOOTH, CLAW AND STEEL EPIC…
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For updates on the availability of the next volume of the Tooth, Claw and Steel epic, visit the author’s website at www.jmhemmings.com
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
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I would like to thank the following people for supporting my creative endeavours over the years, and for providing encouragement and support in the production of this novel:
Mom and dad, and my wife Meghan. Andy, Arlene, Brad, Channie, Cullum, Dan, David, Derek, Dionne, Doug, Gareth, Gina, Gregg, Henry, James, Jason, Jo, Kalmarr, Keith, Kerry, Lawrence, Lisa, Lizzy, Micah, Mike, Nick, Paul, Peter, Prevlin, Rose, Rozz, Seamas, Sheila, Simon, Sky, Sophie, Stefan, Tarn, Terence, Tristan, Wallace and Winston.
