Bound in Spirals Ch. 10

She was already backed into the far left corner of the room by the time she came to her senses. Her hands were clenched around two handfuls of her dress, and they trembled as she watched the knight swing at Sam again. 'Oh blight... Oh blight! No! He can't die now! Not after... Not right after I told him my feelings! Darrel! Where is Darrel?!' She looked around the room in panic, not seeing the high guard anywhere. 'Oh blight, he's off figuring out the handmaiden! Stupid, stupid, stupid! Why did I have to request that?!'

Her eyes drifted back to Sam hesitantly. They widened when she saw him. He was... smiling? He moved with an almost unnatural agility as he sidestepped the knight's thrust. He struck like a snake, his long, narrow blade skidding off the knight's armor in a shower of sparks. The knight shuffled back, more cautious now. Sam clearly had the advantage of speed, but his sword skills were clumsy and unpracticed. On top of that, the knight was wearing thick armor of what appeared to be painted velta, if it could stop his sword.

Giving the knight no breaks, Sam lunged in again. His sword clanged against the helmet before the knight's sword got up to parry. The knight attempted to counter with a slice at the left side, but Sam had already leapt out of reach. The huge sword the knight wielded wasn't felnn, if the design wasn't enough of a giveaway, the way the knight reacted to it's weight was. The sideways cut sent the knight off balance, and Sam struck again. His blade skittered off the helmet again, but it left a sizable dent this time.

He whacked at it again, but this time it was a mistake. The knight was quicker than someone had any right to be in that armor. The heavy broadsword bit into Sam's right side, cleaving straight through his jacket and into his ribs. It was stopped at his spine, but the knight kept it moving, throwing Sam to the left. The huge sword slipped from his body as he was sent sprawling. Dettella bit back a scream as her eyes began blurring with tears.

He lay unmoving on his back, his sword still clutched in his hand. The knight looked down at him for a moment and when he did not move, turned to Dettella. A soft laugh echoed in the utter silence. Then it grew to a hearty chuckle. At first Dettella thought it was the knight, but then she saw Sam's chest moving in time with the laughter. The laugh was so pure sounding, so innocently happy, that it sent a chill straight down her spine. 'Oh blight...'

A bright glow began to dominate the dimly lit room. Sam stood without pushing himself up, only his anchored legs dragging his slackened torso upward. He slumped forward, his arms hanging down limply. He continued to laugh, even as the knight swung at him again. This time the blade went all the way through his torso, but even before the sword left his body it was knitting back together. Finally, Sam looked up.

The eerie grin on his face only added to the darkening madness in his hollow blue eyes. The knight let out a distinctly feminine shriek of terror and stumbled away from Sam. Spirals of gold and silver started to leak out from his skin, writhing and dancing away from him as if they were living things. They clouded around him, nearly obscuring his form.

'This is familiar... He's losing himself again, this is bad. Very bad...' Dettella's worry grew as she watched him start walking slowly toward the knight. She could barely see his face from the side, but the smile on it was not one of a sane man.

The knight fell backward, tripping over her own feet. The sword clattered from her grasp, and she tried to scuttle back. Sam stood over her, the haze of magic growing thicker and thicker. Suddenly, the knight's body started sliding slowly toward him as if pulled by a magnet, until she lay at his feet.

The knight let out a whimper and began to plead in elvish. Dettella only picked up a few words. "Please... orders... I didn't..."

Then, Sam spoke. His voice was soft and discordant. "tAKe OfF YOuR ARmoR..."

Apparently the elven knight knew the northern human tongue enough to understand, as she immediately began plucking off the thick plating. Her hands shook and she fumbled with the straps clumsily in her haste. Finally, her helm came off and a woman's beautiful, pale face was revealed, it was only marred by a thin scar that ran from the middle of her forehead down her nose, then turned sharply to her left cheek. Her shoulder length, violet hair was damp with sweat. Sam stood unmoving for an agonizingly long moment, then his right arm began to rise.

In a flash of movement his sword arced upward and separated the elf's left hand from the arm. It happened so quickly that it took the woman a moment to react. Then she let out a piercing scream. Dettella wanted to move, to stop him from doing this, but she couldn't move. It was as if she was glued to the floor. Another slash and the right hand was severed cleanly.

"P-Please..." The elf plead in heavily accented human this time. "It just orders... Please..."

"BRitNey, I WilL noT AllOw ThIS. No MoRe." Sam replied, taking off her left forearm. "NO mORE!" His blade slashed again, taking her right forearm. "You CaN'T hurT me Now. No moRe. No mORe. nO morE. No MorE. NO MORE! NO MORE, NO MORE, NO MORE!! NONoNO nnoOMOrre eNOrenOMRe NOMOREMORENOMOREMORE!!"

With each word his movements seemed to become more frantic. He hacked into her thighs, slashed her stomach, her feet, her upper arms. Then he stopped, his words becoming soft again as he spoke to an already unconscious woman.

"You beAt me, abUsed mE. yOU BroKe me, miNd and boDy. I boRe it, but nO more. I borE the pAin, for My DaDDy. But Now, nOW I haVe reAliZed he was wRong." He laughed shrilly. "NoW you Get what You deSerVEd, My deaR StepmoTHeR. foR aLL thE yeaRs of liVing in FeAR of The neXt BeATing, I WILL MAKE YOU FEAR THAT WHICH YOU HAVE CREATED!"

A second later the elf woman's body reassembled and she woke. For a moment she looked dazed, then recognition returned to her eyes. Sam stepped on her arms, and thick bindings formed over the wrists. Dettella could do nothing but watch as he stabbed down into her stomach and twisted brutally. Blood spurted and the squelch of the woman's insides being turned sounded deafening in that moment. A scream of pure excruciation rang about the large room, accompanied by laughter that can only be described as insane.

Finally, the governor found the wits to speak, "Sthobp that! Are you inthane?!"

Sam's head turned slowly toward her, and the governor looked like she might be regretting those words already. "I Will gET to yOu in A MiNUTe, MadEliNE. PleASe wait PATienTLy for Your turN. I havE soMeTHing morE SpEcial in miNd for yoU." He said and with another shrill cackle, he turned back to the knight.

'No, I-I can't let this go on any longer!' Dettella thought, trying to force herself to move. She tried to deny it, but she was terrified of Sam in that moment. She had a terrible feeling that if he killed that woman his mind would reach a point beyond repair. 'Stop, Samson. Please stop that...' She desperately begged her body to move, to go toward him, but it refused to budge. 'Blight you, you stupid woman! Why can't you move your own blighted body!'

Tears trickled down her cheeks as she watched Sam trace his sword over the woman's naked chest. Crimson flowed down over and around the elf's small breasts, some dripping off the sides, some collecting in her navel. It seemed she was beyond screaming now. All that came out were gasps and wheezing moans of pain.

"Do YOu feel iT? ThiS is A meRE FraCtion of wHAt you'VE doNe to ME. Do YOU like It?" Sam said, the elf only let out a sob in reply. "HAhA! HoW amUsinG. You'Re fuCKIng pATHetic, you repulSive liTtle worm. FunnY tHat you COwer aNd WhiMper whEn your viCtim bites back."

Dettella finally managed to move her right foot forward an inch, then another, and another. Then, her left foot began to move and she took a second step. Her body seemed to slowly defrost and become mobile again.

"S... Sa... Samson." Her words came out in a shaky whisper. Another step, then another. "Samson... stop."

Sam did not hear her. After repairing the knight's body again, he began repeating the torture process. He did not speak, just smiled with such bliss. 'Maybe... Maybe Yalene was right...' Dettella thought, seeing that smile through the haze of spirals. 'Maybe, maybe he is a demon. A curse. Dangerous...'

She got closer, inch by reluctant inch, fighting every instinct that told her to flee, hide, scream. Only feet from him now, she could almost feel the pressure coming from the intense amount of magic. Her body trembled and begged to collapse, to fall under the weight of that power. But Dettella forced her body to continue. She could almost see his face. If she could just look into his eyes, she thought she might be able to reason with him.

His sword arm ceased it's movement, and his gaze fell on Dettella. She fell to her knees, unable to remain standing any longer. His eyes, the irises were filled with writhing patterns of gold and silver. She had never seen anything like it. For a moment she was so transfixed that she didn't see the rest of his face. Droplets fell from his eyes, tears of gold and silver streamed down his face, dripping over the wild sneer.

The sheer magnitude of the pain in his eyes shocked Dettella. Despite the story his face told, inside he was suffering with every sword strike. She let out a sob looking into those eyes, feeling awful for the doubts she'd held moments before. His legs shook, then buckled under him and he fell to his knees. His sword clattered out of his hand and skittered across the marble floor. Dettella leaned toward him, and let herself fall into his chest. She embraced him, and tried to hug away his torments.

The glow of his magic slowly faded, circling and sucking back into him like a whirlpool. His quivering arms slowly came up, and pulled her to his chest. Dettella felt like he might crush her in his grip, but at that point she didn't care. They both knelt there sobbing into each other, as the governor stared on with an expression that seemed confused as to how she should react.

She finally began shouting at her healed knight. The knight didn't move, just stared sightlessly at the ceiling, her breathing ragged.

———

When Sam came to his senses, he was on his knees clutching Dettella as if his life depended on it. While his life may not have, his sanity certainly seemed to. 'What...?' He looked down at her head, which was pressed against his chest. He felt the warm tears seeping through his shirt, and the cool air chilling his own damp cheeks. 'I was crying...? No, I still am. Why?'

"Get up alweady you damned sthupid gunt! Can you not hear me? I am your masther! You 'ave been laying there for ten minuthes (/ an exaggeration I hope) while they justh sit there vulnerably!" Sam heard the governor say.

'The governor...' Finally he looked up and saw the odd scene surrounding him. A few feet from his lay a woman in tattered leather, her body nearly completely exposed. It looked as if her clothes had been cut, yet her body had no wounds. Around her was the gold plated armor he'd seen the knight wearing earlier. 'She... is the knight?' Her eyes seemed unfocused as she stared at the ceiling almost as if she were dead, but she was still drawing breath.

Her hair which spread about her head was a light violet color and her eyes matched. 'What happened? Why is she like that?' He wondered, and finally forced himself to unclasp he hands from the princess.

"Uh... um, Dettella? What happened here?" Sam asked softly, his voice sounding dry and raspy.

She looked up at him, her eyes puffy and red from crying. Her emerald eyes looked at him with apprehension and concern. "Well," Her voice croaked, so she paused and cleared her throat. "Well, I, er... I'm not really certain."

When she spoke her eyes left his for a fraction of a second, before she looked back into his. Sam hesitated for a moment, but he pressed despite his fears. "...Please, tell me the truth Dettella."

She flinched slightly. "I, I apologize for trying to lie to you... I just want to protect you."

"I understand and thank you for that, but," Sam replied, still sounding reluctant, "I... I feel that I must know, though. So, please."

She took in a deep, shuddering breath, and closed her eyes for a moment before speaking. "You were fighting the knight, and... went berserk and your magic was controlling you so... you shouldn't feel guilty. You ended up hurting the knight there quite a bit, I think she may be in shock."

"...I see." Sam said, his mind spinning with the flood of emotions. Anger, fear, guilt, sadness, relief. The weight of them all nearly crushed him.

"...But, you did it to protect me. So, you shouldn't blame yourself. I am grateful for what you went through for me." Dettella interrupted his whirling thoughts. He looked back down at her and saw she was on the verge of tears again. "I-I can help you Samson. I want to help you. I enjoy your company, I like to talk to you, and I feel like... I feel like I just, I just want to be around you. I will help you!"

Her words kindled a small flame of joy and hope in his heart amongst the storm of negativity that seemed to be raging ceaselessly. A tear trickled from the corner of her eye, and Sam raised his hand to her face and brushed it away with his thumb. Behind him, the governor was still shouting but all he could process at that moment was Dettella.

"I..." He said, unable to form his thoughts into words. Finally, he just gave up and leaned down. Her eyes widened for a moment as he pressed his lips to hers, then closed as she kissed him back.

Sam pushed everything he was feeling into that kiss, trying to express every ounce of gratitude he had for her. His right hand came up and held the back of her head, while his left was pressed to the small of her back. His head shifted to the left instinctively, deepening their kiss. He could taste the slight saltiness of her tears on her smooth lips, and smelled that invigorating scent of hers. The smell of books and jasmine.

Their lips caressed each other as Dettella's gentle hands ran up his back, finally entwining one in his locks of wavy brown hair. Sam could feel her kind and caring nature in the way she kissed him, the way her hands touched him. Soft and graceful, yet still filled with a subtle need.

Finally, Sam broke their embrace with the need to breathe. She too was breathing quickly when their faces separated. When he caught his breath he opened his eyes and looked into hers. The emerald green that he could only describe as captivating at that moment, seemed to pull him in and promise of a tender passion.

"...Thank you, Dettella." Was all he could manage, but hoped that it was enough.

She nodded. "I would like to talk more, later. After we have dealt with the issues here." She said, and gave him a radiant smile that made him blush.

Sam sucked in a deep breath, and turned to the governor. She was still sitting in her extra-large chair, tightly gripping the chain connected to her pet man. He had not shifted since they had entered the room. The governor's face was beaded with sweat, and she was trying to get the man to move. His atrophied body remained stock-still, the only movement caused by her frantic shaking of the chain. His wispy hair swayed with the jerking movements.

Sam knelt and picked up his sword, then strode to the base of the governor's low dais. With each step he felt more and more reluctant to continue. This woman was too similar to his half-sister Britney, very narcissistic and manipulative. It was unnerving him, but he pushed on despite his trepidation. He held his sword tightly in his grip, and forced himself to straighten his back. He stood before her, silent for a moment. His fingers flexed and twitched slightly with his eagerness to lash out or flee.

Looking down at the fat woman Sam asked in elvish. "Why?"

The woman's response was not to Sam, despite her fearful eyes remaining on him. "Keep your male in line you sthtupid witch!"

Sam's lip twitched, and he brought up his sword. His desire to strike her down then and there was almost overwhelming, his whole body seemed to thrum with excitement. He had to shove it down, and his body shuddered noticeably with the effort it took to control himself. It was as if his mind and body were in disagreement and fighting for power.

He rested his sword against her blubbery neck. A rush passed through him at the moment it grazed her skin. 'No. No! I won't lost control again, I won't!' Sam told himself, but the urge was struggling at the flimsy bars of his will's cage.

"Why?" He repeated, emphasized by the blade cutting at her neck. A red pearl dribbled over the folds of her skin, and she let out a barely audible squeak.

"I-I... I wath paid to do it!" She finally squealed.

"Who?"

The governor's fidgeting ceased, "...I-I don't know." Her words were more enunciated when she spoke. Sam pressed his sword a little harder against her neck. "Alright! I will tell you the truth!" She shouted quickly. "It was the Anged'der. They paid me to kill you."

'Anged'der? Where have I heard that name?' This time there was no hesitation, but the words were still more enunciated than usual. She was still hiding something.

"Who else?" Sam asked.

The governor flinched, then finally shrieked. "The queen of Cresthtell, her sisthter!" The governor sobbed as she pointed a pudgy finger at Dettella. "She paid me to catch her!"

Sam frowned, it didn't sound like a lie that time. 'Her sister?' He looked back at Dettella, who was watching with curiosity. "She claims your sister paid her to capture you."

The princess's face darkened. "That is what I suspected. It is likely not a lie, if that's what you wished to confirm." Sam nodded, it didn't sound so far fetched to him as it maybe should have.

"Where is the money?" He asked, turning back to the governor.

"What?" She replied, sounding bewildered.

"I asked where the money is. The money they paid you."

"You are going to take it?!"

"Naturally." Sam said. "I mean, it's only right that we take the money meant to do us harm, isn't it?"

"A-Ath if I would give you my money!" The woman cried. "I'll die before I give you anything!"

Before he could pull away, the woman lunged out of her chair. She moved quicker than anyone her size had any right to. Her massive hands closed around Sam's throat, and she tackled him down off the dais. His mind went blank, and his body stiffened. Ingrained instincts took him and he tried to curl up and hide his face. His sword clattered from his hand as his back impacted on the hard marble floor.

'No... No, I need to fight back! I-I can't let myself be abused anymore. No more. N-No more. Please! No more!' He fought his instincts and tried to bring his hands up to pry hers away, but his body refused to cooperate. He couldn't even see his magic, let alone try to grasp it. Madeline slammed down on top of him, and began squeezing his neck harder and harder.

'She's going to kill me.' Sam thought. 'It's finally going to happen.' His breathing ceased, and his lungs started to itch, then burn.

"You should have thought about the consequences before going and snitching to Janine!"

'Wh-What? I-I-I d-didn't...' Black and white flecks flashed in the corners of his vision. As his consciousness slipped away, his pain began to dull. Whiteness filled his vision, and for a moment he thought he could see his father's silhouette. Then, it stopped.