A Tale of Revenge Ch. 05-06

She considered her answer carefully. "I killed one of the men who had raped and killed my sister." Dev's eyes grew wide as she spoke. "I had him on his knees and disarmed and he said something about how she had wanted him and the others. He was a horrible wretch of a human being, but I did not feel vindicated after killing him. I once thought of killing them all. But I know now that it would warp me into something closer to what they are. I was not a killer before that man. I am now. I will try not to be again."

Dev continued his wide-eyed stare as she finished. She moved to take the meat off the fire, barely taking the time to let it cool before she cut off a hunk of it and began to eat. She was still terribly hungry. She let Dev consider her cautionary tale. She could see he still had questions.

"Are you a witch?" His voice was quiet again, maybe a bit afraid.

Anna shook her head, her mouth full. Then she thought about it and shrugged. "I don't know if I qualify," she said when she had swallowed. "I was not born with magic and I didn't learn to acquire it. If simply possessing magic makes me a witch then I suppose I am." She leaned to take another bite.

"Then how did you get it?" Did he sound eager? Anna paused. Her face turned dark and she looked away from the boy on the far side of the fire.

"That is not a story I can tell you. Suffice it to say I would not recommend it." She looked up at his hungry eyes; she saw his desire for it. "I mean it, Dev. It is a curse that lives inside your body; it eats away at you. It causes more harm than good and opens up avenues of action that you are terrifyingly unprepared for." His look didn't change. "I didn't learn to fight," she continued, hoping to get through to him. "The magic moves my body when I am in battle. Had I learned over years, I would have the discipline to go along with the ability. Instead, I struck out at the first man I found and killed him without a thought. Nothing comes free."

Dev looked away from her but she could see she hadn't gotten through to him. She shook her head and kept eating. She should have just kept her mouth shut. Now he'd think magic was a glorious idea, a shortcut to being a super warrior. At least he seemed less afraid of her now. She watched him as he thought it over. She could seem him wrestling with the idea. Consequences, especially long term ones, had hardly been a deterrent for her. Why would he be any different?

"Is there anyone left on your farm?" Anna asked.

Dev nodded absentmindedly. "My cousin and his wife took over the lands, their farm is next to ours and they were spared the attack. They are keeping it for me if I return."

"Were you not intending on returning?"

"I don't know if I can go back," he said darkly.

Anna nodded. She knew that feeling. "Do you still want to travel with me?" she desperately wanted him to say yes.

Dev looked at her, a bit shocked really. "I—" he stopped, unsure. He didn't want to be left behind and she was still a better bet than striking out alone, Anna reasoned. He was scared of her but smart enough to know that she was his best chance. She hoped he would reason his way to coming. "I do."

She gave him a real smile then. "Excellent, you can finally tell me what happened to the sea maiden who loved the sun," she said referring to a tale he'd been dragging out for days.

He hesitated and smiled back, "I'm afraid it doesn't end well."

She gave a theatrical sigh. "The sun is a poor choice of a partner."

Ch. 6

Ch. 6

It was three days before the god came to her. She had done as he bade, eating ravenously for days to restore her strength, never intentionally using the magic. She found that she couldn't quite turn it off completely. She still felt slightly disconnected from her actions when she hunted or read from the healer's book.

She was coming to understand that the magic was an entity apart from her, a strange passenger that was beneficial as much as it was an imposition. But, at the time, it was fully integrated into her body. At night she would try to feel for the magic inside her, to see where it ended and she began, but she found the space between her and it to be too small to sense properly. Dev continued to ask her sly questions about her magic, trying to catch her off guard. She remained completely opaque in response. She had already told him too much.

For two nights now she had slept badly, nervous and anticipating the arrival of the god. When she did fall into an uneasy sleep she had fractured, erotic dreams that left her unsatisfied and more anxious upon awaking in the morning without the nightly interruption. When he woke her on that third night, she almost felt relieved, or she would have if her heart hadn't immediately lodged itself in her throat and a familiar tightening hadn't settled in her lower belly.

He smiled knowingly and held out his hand. She took it and he whisked her off again. This time she found herself amongst ancient twisted trees with soft moss under her bare feet. The trees glowed white in the moonlight but also seemed to hold their own inner light, the way the god did. Anna looked around in wonder. This was the first time it occurred to her that he might be taking her rather far from her camp.

"Where are we?" she asked, her voice hushed in reverence of the scene around her. She couldn't tear her eyes away from the twisting branches of the trees. They seemed to reach out and cradle each other in never ending loops.

"A personal favorite of mine."

Anna turned back to look at the god. He looked less out of place here, more human. He released her hand and stepped into the ring of tree. She followed, nervous again at what was coming. He turned to face her and she saw something in his hand.

"What is that?" she asked before she could stop herself.

"This," the god said, "is for your punishment tonight." He held up a leather strap, about as thick as three of her fingers. Anna tried to suppress a shiver, of fear? Of anticipation?

"Why pain?" she blurted out. Why was she suddenly talking so much? She bit her lip, wishing she would just keep her mouth shut instead of dragging this out.

"Why pain what?" he asked her patiently, as a parent might talk to a curious child.

Anna's cheeks burned at his tone. She felt small and stupid, human she supposed. "Why pain as a punishment? Doesn't that seem a little...fanatical?"

The god actually laughed. "I'm impressed you chose to bring up theology with a deity." He gave her a real smile that made her knees wobbly. He was never this animated outside of her dreams. "I suppose you are referring to the northern priests who whip themselves to purge themselves of their earthly sins?" She nodded. "They believe that in service to the Dark God they must punish their mortal forms. It is an idiocy but so is worshiping death. No one claimed northerners were the most rational lot."

Anna was fascinated. "So why are you punishing me with pain? Why choose what you've deemed an idiocy?"

"Oh I didn't choose this, sweet girl," his tone had lost its playful edge. His face lost its smile. "You did." Anna didn't understand. She looked up at him confused. "The moment I came to you in that inn and found you with a knife sticking through your hand. You chose to punish yourself with pain for that man's life. I am simply making sure you don't mutilate yourself in the process."

Anna rubbed the hand she had stabbed, flooded again with the horrible memories of that night. It felt like looking through someone else's eyes and feeling someone else's emotions. One moment she felt sure of herself, confident in her path and strong enough to handle the burden. Then Leonid would come for her and she would just break into tiny pieces inside. Shameful tears burned her eyes. He had told her to leave the self-pity behind and instead she seemed to be more susceptible than ever when he was around. But it was unfair that in the moments she was most vulnerable with him, she was also meant to be the strongest. Part of her desperately needed relief, some break from the constant shoring up of her defenses. She took a breath to refocus.

"So if I had chosen something else? Or not at all? What would you have done?" She reminded herself not to seek what he was not willing to give. She felt better for it, putting her energy into the moment rather than worrying about what came before or might come after.

"Why so curious tonight?" the god said. Anna took a breath, mustering some semblance of composure.

"Maybe it's just nice to hear you say more than just 'disrobe.'" She gave him a wry smile that was miles more confident than she felt.

He returned the smile and then leaned in, his cheek passing hers with barely a breath of space between them. He was as close as possible without touching her. Anna's entire body felt like it was alive with the play of energies from his skin to hers. Her skin tingled, her mind suddenly completely blank except for the sound of her heart pounding. She was sure he could hear it from where he stood. His lips hovered right next to her ear so his voice went straight through her. "Disrobe." It was hardly more than a whisper but it echoed through her head. She felt an undeniable shock of excitement. She bit her lip to keep from voicing her arousal. It was bad enough he knew her thoughts already.

He leaned back so they were facing each other and locked eyes with her as she slowly began to remove her shirt. Instinctually, she knew not to pull her eyes from his gaze. A small smile played on his lips as he watched her bare herself once again. When she was done, he let the silence and stillness fall on them again. This time she didn't fidget. It didn't feel oppressive as it had in the past. The still moment felt like a small caress before they began in earnest.

"Reach above you," the god said softly. His face had softened as he had sensed her calm. She didn't move her gaze and simply reached her hands above her head. Her fingers closed on what could only be the branches of a nearby tree. But they hadn't been there a moment ago. She gasped as she felt the wood move slowly around her fingers, growing down her hand to her wrists. It felt smooth and oddly warm. In her wonder she looked up to see the glowing branches twist around her hands and begin down her arms. In contrast to the ropes he had used before this was a soft touch on her skin, albeit an unmovable one as it held her fast. The branch pulled her up, stretching her arms till she was once again balancing on the balls of her feet against the soft moss floor.

The god brought his hand to her jaw, running his fingers to her chin. She looked at him, her eyes wide but unafraid. She knew what was coming.

"This is going to hurt," he said simply, no emotion at all behind his words.

"I know," she said, surprised her voice didn't waver. She was apprehensive of the pain but something had changed. She couldn't quite understand what.

"Next time you will be more careful." It wasn't a question or a command. Just simply stating it aloud.

Anna nodded. The god brushed his thumb across the skin of her face once more and then moved behind her. Her breath got faster in anticipation. This was going to feel very different from the smaller whips he had used before.

The first blow stole her breath away. The strap was heavy and bruising; the pain it inflicted was deeper than anything she had experienced up until now. The strap had fallen across her shoulder blades, and it burned brightly across the bones. She choked on her gasp and tears stung her eyes. The next one came, directly below where the first had fallen, as though he were painting stripes down and across her back. She screamed then; the pain echoing through her body. Tears began to flow freely down her cheeks and her breath came in pants. Again he struck her and again she screamed. It hurt so much. The thickness of the strap meant he could hit her harder without fear of breaking the skin. The fourth came and she sobbed, twisting in her binds. She could just barely feel the branches' loving embrace as they moved further down her arms, cradling her as she grasped them for support.

Again and again the strap fell across her body, down her back and to her buttocks. She shrieked in agony when it struck her where her legs began. By the time he had finished with her thighs, she was whimpering. The branches had come down her arms and started across the back of her shoulders, cradling her head as it fell backwards. She lost her footing and slumped into their embrace.

No more blows came. The tree continued to move around her. She felt more branches grow down her sides. They slid between the places he had struck her back, twined themselves around her legs and under feet, offering their own support as her muscles gave out completely. She felt her legs spread, not of her own volition but the branches themselves separated her thighs. She gasped in pain, any movement awakening the strokes across her body to full, flaming misery. She closed her eyes, giving in, letting this strange scene take control. She had no desire to fight it.

She felt the cool evening air against her sex and gasped again. She was aroused? From that pain? It seemed impossible and yet there was no denying it. She felt a finger trace across her side, the branches moving out of the god's way to let him touch her. His hand smoothed over the tortured skin of her ass and she moaned in pain and fervent arousal. His fingers found her soaked sex. She gasped as he began to stroke her. Everything felt so impossibly sensitive to his touch. Her body was arched back towards his questing hand, the tree moving her for better access. His finger stroked around her clit bringing more moans from her lips. She was so close. All her energy focused towards whatever he was doing between her legs. His other hand came to her back, touching the raised welt at her shoulders as his mouth came down at the base of her neck, first in a gentle kiss and then a nipping bite. The shooting pain from his other hand, in contrast to the one doing such wonderful things to her sex burst the dam of the pressure growing inside her. Her body shook, and she cried out into the night.

She collapsed against the branches. Her eyes stayed closed, it seemed too much to try to open them. She felt the touch of his hand across her collarbone and she knew that he was standing before her. She felt the branches move her body again, turning her head to the side and baring her neck to him.

"Lovely," she heard him say. His mouth descended on her overly sensitive skin and she moaned again. The branches pushed her back so that her breasts thrust out, another offering to him. His mouth trailed kisses to her right nipple, his tongue dancing wicked circles around the aching nub. His lips closed on it and his teeth scraped her skin.

Anna was lost in a sea of sensation. Nothing seemed to exist outside of what he was doing to her. A small part of her was scared to open her eyes lest it all be a dream. The pain in her back still radiated through her but the sharp distracting edges had faded and she could focus on his mouth moving down her stomach. The branches were still arranging her, offering up her body to his mouth.

Kisses trailed along the inside of her hip bone, right above her sex and again on her inner thigh. She groaned, the tree spreading her legs further. She was arched backwards, almost as though lying back on this strange bed of moving branches that held her tightly in place. How wonderful, she thought, that the very trees comply with his wishes.

She could almost feel his chuckle. "No sweet, it's not me they are listening to." That wasn't right, was it? Her muddled mind could not grasp what he had said. All thoughts of trying to disappeared as his mouth descended on her wet slit.

Anna's eyes snapped open. She was starting up at the clear night sky framed by the white branches in the grove. The trees had grown in, as if drawn to watch the spectacle. All of this barely registered with her. His tongue was drifting across her most intimate place. The sensations were overwhelming. She whimpered, confused. The gentle caress was almost painful against the overly sensitive skin. His lips closed on her bud and she convulsed. He moved down, laving her slit with the broad part of his tongue before returning to the apex, teasing more delightful sounds from her.

She was mad with pleasure. She twisted in the branches embrace. It was too much, but it wasn't enough. Something ached deep inside her, something that called out for satisfaction. His hands roughly grasped her ass, pulling her into his mouth with a growl and she was lost. The pain flared from the welts there and again she was spiraling into her orgasm. It seemed to go on forever, rocketing through her prone body, exciting every nerve in her body until she thought she might faint from all the parts of her calling out in ecstasy at once. He didn't stop either, dragging out her pleasure until it hurt, until she begged him to stop, and still he kept at it.

Anna's eyes closed, her body jerked and stilled as he drew away from her. Lights danced in the darkness of her eyelids. She felt the branches lift her again, offering her to the god. She felt very far away as his arms closed around her and the branches receded. The pain in her back seemed to fade as she slipped further away, and the darkness closed in on her.

Leonid stood for a moment, holding her limp form. He looked down at her tear stained cheeks and full red lips. Then he stepped through space back to her camp, pulling her clothing to follow. He laid her on her bedroll, intending to replace her clothes when a soft snore sounded out from the other side of the fire. His eyes narrowed at the boy. He looked back at Anna's naked form. He closed the bedroll over her and sent the clothes to the other side of the camp, folding them neatly over a log. Anna groaned softly in her sleep. She would be in pain tomorrow when she woke up. He crouched down, looking intently at her sleeping face as her frown softened and she drifted deeper. He brushed a lock of silky black hair from her face. And then he was gone.

*

Pain worked its way into the peacefulness of sleep and Anna swiftly came to consciousness like a swimmer coming up for air. She gasped and jerked to sitting to relieve the pressure of her body weight on the lines of deep pain across her back. The ones on her ass called out loudly but she couldn't bring herself to move again. She bit her lip but she still whimpered. Despite the pain, and there was plenty of it, she felt this deep and satisfying peace at her center. Last night had been terrible and incredible. Her body seemed to agree. She grasped her bedroll to her naked chest, clenching it in her fingers. She was so distracted she didn't hear Dev until he dropped the firewood he had been collecting as he entered the camp.

From where he stood he had a perfect view of the dark welts across her back, drawn in perfectly sloping lines across her body. Shock kept him still but he heard her whimper of pain and the daze broke. He rushed to her side.

"Gods, Anna, what happened?" he breathed as he crouched next to her. Her eyes were squeezed tight, her lower lip white against her teeth and her hands were shaking. She opened her eyes, looking shocked, as if she'd forgotten he'd be there. She looked strangely embarrassed at her state. Unthinking, he brought his hand to her back in a comforting gesture. When his fingers hit her bruised flesh she gasped and jerked away.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," he coughed, holding his hands up in front of him. "Sorry, I'm an idiot. Sorry."

Anna shook her head and closed her eyes. She wanted to tell him it was okay, to stop apologizing, but it seemed like too much effort. She was mortified that he had seen her punishment, and worse that he had interrupted her rather lustful recollections from the night before. Suddenly the whole situation struck her as very funny. Here she was, naked as the day she was born, clutching her bedroll and suffering the pains of a morning after a punishment and Dev was apologizing. She started laughing; she couldn't help it. The strangeness of her life was either going to break her or she was going to start taking things in stride.