Cephalon's Champion Ch. 03

"What do you want with her?" My shout seemed to finally penetrate his granite like skull.

"Honeypot? She mine. You no take her from me." He grew agitated.

Obviously not playing with a full bag of marbles. Alright, time to speak the most primal and universal languages. That of the beat down. He can't be invincible if I keep carving chunks out of him he'll have to tire eventually.

Bloodlust swirled pleasantly in my gut as I darted forward kicking out with the same focus I used on the second punch, severing the recently regrown leg, before spinning and kicking my armored shin clean through the other. Staccato cracks, almost simultaneous in their occurance, cascading through the quarry as the air molecules protested my continued abuse.

Surt wobbled unsteadily before toppling over onto his back with a crash. Two severed legs stood like cooling tree stumps on the ground. The ground shook and Surt was raised by a pillar of lava that poured from the ground before it was steadily sculpted into mushy malformed legs.

At least that one got his attention. Even if it didn't do any discernible damage.

The bangle on my arm squeezed uncomfortably. I felt a wave of eagerness flow from Venonay, and I gave my silent consent.

Twin snakes coiled down my arm, coalescing in my hand for a moment before resolving into the green bladed sword that she had visualized during the feast of faith.

Maybe magical semi-sentient sword damage will have some actual impact where my fists did not.

The first stab indicated that this was not to be, a terrific sense of overwhelming heat pushing itself through our bond. Where magical armor proved to be near heat invulnerable, Venonay, was not. Sulking, she slunk back into her armlet configuration, safely underneath Ata next to my skin.

Guess we're rolling a pugilist class today.

~ Ten Minutes Later~

Pits and scars scoured Ata, and the shock of the punches were reverberating through my arms and bones, threatening to shatter them. He'd yet to land a hit on me while the chunks of smoldering lava dotting the walls of the quarry showed off my efforts which seemed to be slowly bearing fruit.

If you can call him getting angrier and hotter 'fruit'.

The madder he got, the more his internal temperature appeared to increase. This had gradually led to the melting the solid rock of his external shell, turning it to lava. I backup up to suck down some oxygen and ask him some questions when something interesting caught my eye from behind the treeline. A bald scaled head with stunted horns were attached to slit golden irises that stared at me with distaste and fear. There was little intelligence in its gaze and I caught the faint scent of reptile over the smoldering wood and smoke. I turned my attention back to surt but made a mental note to keep the strange observer in my mind.

"Why are you destroying towns? I get that you want Vespal but those two things aren't remotely connected."

"They no give honeypot. Just. Like. YOU!" He screamed, stomping the ground like a child throwing a tantrum. The ground rumbled beneath my feet.

Uh oh.

Only my ridiculous reaction speed let me avoid the brunt of a pillar of magma that slammed up out of the ground with the force of a semi. Clipping my right side, I spun through the air and across the ground, getting a slideshow that went, sky, stone, earth, tree, sky, stone, earth... And so on.

That's gonna leave a mark.

Groaning, I forced myself to my feet.

Just in time too. A foot descended where my hand had been resting.

How rude!

My foot casually pulverized the offending hand into a fine mist of lava that smoked through the air.

Kicking up, I dodged his return sideswipe, sliding gracefully over it. My tail caught me before I could hit the ground, tilting me onto my hands that I used to spring into a backflip before landing on my feet.

Gentlemen. Should. Help. Ladies. Up. I thought, punctuating each words with a thunderstrike blow to his other arm, working my way up the shoulder.

A glimpse of a nebulous glassy stone caught my attention.

Hello... What do we have here?

Stabbing out, my tails snagged the gem in a coiling embrace, yanking it free from its molten prison. It was an oozing gem, that bubbled in my hand but remained crystalline against my fingers and had the same emissive red light as lava. Surt had time for a single cry of desperation before melting into a pile of cooling rock. I flopped to my knees, exhausted but smiling. The ground felt like a down comforter as I rolled onto my back and looked up at the sky. Ata disengaged gratefully from my body, laying beside me. Twin grins dominated on our faces as a warm pool of mana wormed its way into my gut, changing me almost imperceptibly. I was too exhausted and happy to care.

"Hey Ata..."

"What?"

"We kick a fire giant's ass, that's the punchline."

Crickets, nothing but crickets.

No one appreciates my-

"Hahahahahahahahaha." A previously unheard voice burst into laughter in my brain. The sound came from Venonay. "Funny," her voice containing sultry Russian lilt to it, for... reasons I couldn't explain, but did interesting things to my libido.

I always did have a thing for women with accents. Wait a minute! Hold the phone!

"Venonay?! You can talk?!"

"Little. Still learn. Call Ona please. Enemy know Venonay. Ona to friends."

"Look at that, the little one is growing up. Not surprising with the double feast in a single day. Great food for a growing familiar. She's almost a full vestment at this point."

"Grow big. Get strong." Ona punctuated her words with an adorable growl, like a kitten pretending to be a tiger.

"I'm sure you will," I said, humoring my cute little couatl sword.

A pair of golden reptilian slit eyes peered at us from the underbrush, accompanied by frightened breathing and nervous rustling, reminding me that our conduct was being observed.

Ata how smart is our observer?

"Kobold's are not known for their brains. As shown by their formerly fiery divinity... Why? What are you thinking?

Shock and awe. Hearts and minds.

I lept to my feet.

That was a bad decision.

Various burns and attentions that I'd ignored in the heat of the moment tried to work their way onto my expression, but I fought them off, instead displaying a cocky grin to mask the pain. Holding up the overly warm dripping piece of lava that used to be Surt's heart into the air. I tossed it high and caught it with my fist, dark claws prominent over the glossy red. Bellowing loudly, my voice echoed around the caverns, ignoring the molten sun in my palm. "This is my land, my town, my kingdom! This-" I shook my fist. "Is the fate of any who dare contest this! If any seek to challenge me... I'll be waiting. You know where to find me." I pushed the maximum amount of cockiness I could. My instincts disliked turning my back on a potential foe, but I had to act like nothing they did could affect me.

Climb on my back.

Ata didn't question me or my condition. She clambered onto me, once again surprisingly light for her appearance. Which was what this was, a ruse played out for an unsuspecting audience. My muscles screamed in protest as I focused on my calves, the mana moving sluggishly through my beat up body. I had to choke off a scream as I pushed off the ground, shooting off towards the entrance to my home, hopefully out of site from any hostile eyes.

My landing was... Less than graceful would be an polite way off putting it. Less politely... I hit the ground like a ball of playdough thrown against a brick wall.

Ata scooped up the heart stone that I'd dropped, before bending over and lending me an arm, her teal light leaking from her gemstones, taking the edge off the pain. That didn't stop me from feeling like a cat that's been tossed into a dryer with a couple of bricks to keep me company. Leaning heavily onto her, we stumbled into the entryway. The stairs looked insurmountably long and deep to my weary body. Together, we slowly made our way down, successfully avoiding falling, although it was a close thing a few times. Finally, we reached the antechamber and were greeted with a surprise instead of the cheering and loving embraces that I'd been expecting. Standing in the center of the room running a hand along my throne was a strange woman. Freya and a guardian Lathen stood nearby keeping a close watch over the newcomer.

"Bast... Ata, I'm glad you're alright. While you were fighting, this woman showed up. She said she's here to talk to Bast and her name is-"

"Destiny," Ata growled, forgetting me and allowing my arm to drop off her shoulder, making me tip over and tumble to the ground. Groaning, I looked up to see Ata's crystals glowing a blazing a dark hue with hints of yellow. A look of pained rage on her face, she clenched her hands in obvious frustration. "You've got some sort of nerve showing your face to me."

"Ata, I will make no apologies for what I did. You've no idea the stakes that were involved... are still involved." Her voice was firm and cultured. A voice that didn't speak much but was used to being heard and obeyed.

"That's always the deal with you future types. 'It's for the greater good' or 'The future as we knew its at stake.' I don't give a shit about any of that. All I know is that she was my friend and you led her to that... Fucker, of a creature. I swore off anything to do with you that day."

Freya hurried over and helped me to her feet, laying her soothing hands over the worst of my bruises, burns, and cuts. The worst of the pain faded. Ata had advanced while barking at Destiny, jabbing her finger at her with each vehement word and accusation. Laying my hand on her shoulder, I examined Destiny carefully.

She was pretty short for a personification of an idea I'd never truly believed existed, maybe five feet three inches tall. She was dressed in a simple cream colored clothing, that was neither ornate nor simple. It seemed well constructed and hung off her skinny body, accentuating what little femininity she had. Oval glasses, almost too large for her face perched precariously on her nose and she had features that would best be classified as cute more than beautiful. Still, there was something about her that drew my attention, like a loose string dangled in front of a housecat.

Ata flinched at my touch. She looked guilty for a moment, flashing pink before the black light returned, her gaze locked on her enemy.

"Her story is not over," Destiny said during a pause in Ata's tirade, derailing her current thought.

"What?"

"Athena. Her story is not done yet. Her thread is not yet entrenched in Grecian's tapestry so much that it cannot be shifted from where it currently lies." She glanced over Ata's shoulder at me, shooting me a tremulous smile.

The black color deepened, and Ata basically trembled in rage. "No. No, no, no, no! You are not getting Bast involved in any of your schemes."

"Too late," Destiny murmured, inaudible to all but myself before continuing in her normal talking volume. "You've made that nearly impossible, didn't you."

Ata looked confused for a moment before her citrine eyes widened in surprise and...

Was that shame? "Ata... What did you do?"

Her gemstones lost their dark hue, fading towards an orangish pink. She leaned in close to whisper so that only I could hear her talk. "You know when I told Vespal that you were unbeaten in battle... I might've also... Maybe possibly... Told her something else," she said the last part in a rush.

"What else did you tell the people that could potentially alter the makeup of my body mind or soul?" I growled out lowly through gritted teeth, exhausted by the myriad of trials I'd had today, and in no mood to face another.

"I said you were invisible to fate, master of your own destiny."

"That doesn't sound so bad," I said after a short pause. "But what does that mean?"

"I don't know. All the soothsayer type divinities are very cagey about their methods as well as what does and doesn't affect their powers."

"How many of these people exist?"

"Many. There's Destiny here, the Moirai sisters, the Norns. Then we have the master of the wyrd, he's a strange one, tends to be fairly reclusive so not that much is known about him-"

"Alright got it. Lots. So what is she doing here?"

"I don't know. I just saw her and kind of lost it."

I glanced at Destiny who was feigning nonchalance by leaning on my throne. Her eyes gave her away, watching me with cautious optimism through her spectacles. "Can you hold it together long enough to have a reasonable conversation with her? She doesn't look to be here to threaten us, and I'm honestly in no shape or mood to start another fight with someone."

"Honestly... No. I don't think I will. What she did to my friend... Urgh." She flashed black again before glowing a dim yellow orange with purple edges.

"Okay. Okay. I get it, you go cool off champ, I'll take it from here. I'll want the full backstory later though."

"Promise," she said, almost relieved that I'd taken it off of her hands. She handed me back Surt's heart which wasn't as uncomfortably hot as it had been. A chaste kiss was pressed on my cheek and she walked regally from the room. Well, as regally as she could with her scoured and scorched body while also glaring at Destiny the entire way.

Destiny looked disappointed to watch her go, folding her hands awkwardly in front of her waist.

"As you can see, I've kind of had a long day. So what are you doing here? Ata's opinion means a lot to me so you've already have one strike against you, two more and you're out. So walk carefully."

She looked bashful again, closing the distance between us with measured steps, keeping her metallic silver irises locked on mine. Freya kept healing me, her glorious hands working their magic with every step the intruder took. The silence stretched longer and I could feel Freya's tension grow. Too tired to be worried, I couldn't tell if she were playing a game with me or if she didn't want to have to raise her voice to talk but the unease she was giving my priestess was souring my already questionable mood. My tails twitched agitatedly behind me and Ona took notice from her spot on my arm, ready to shift to weapon form at any moment. Gently, I urged her to back down, but stay vigilant.

She noticed my frown and I could see her begin to worry and second guess herself.

Why is this goddess, with arguably the greatest power, look as nervous as a suitor bending a knee to ask my hand in marriage?

"Hi," she said tremulously.

I had to fight to keep my expression neutral, a smile threatening to pull up my cheeks, brought out by her timidness. Freya could feel my lack of fear and she calmed somewhat, which in return placified my guardian instincts.

"Hi." I vollied her greeting, intrigued with where this was going.

"I um... I know you haven't been in our land long and that your still adjusting to the way things work around here but I was wondering... I mean, you're still settling down now, but in the future... The thing about seers is that it's hard for us to... It just gets so lonely... No. First I should be honest and tell you-"

"Hey," I said waving a hand and cutting her off. "Deep breaths and focus. Just say what you came to say. I'm not going to bite. Relax and start again."

Destiny laughed, but it was a thin forced thing and I could smell her sweating, despite the cool cave atmosphere. "Right. Okay. Bast, would you please go on a date with me?" she asked, pinching her eyes shut and bowing her head. Her hand shot out, rigid and trembling slightly in the air between us as if to shake my hand.

What?

It was at this point in time that Surt's heart, which had slowly grown more comfortable in my hand, wriggled sprouting tiny little arms and legs. His figure produced a fountain of lava that slowed to a trickle before morphing into a clothed figurine like person, maybe a foot tall, that stood comfortably on my hand. The heat didn't affect me at all as the glowing cherry stone cooled against my skin and the air. He had a dress shirt rolled up to his elbows and his slacks were well pressed. Arms bulging with lean muscles rubbed at his face and military short hair as coal black eyes opened and blinked as he looked about, seeing me for the first time.

"Excuse me," Surt said in a voice that combined his previous rumbliness with an aristocratic gentleman while also removing the primal rage. "If you could be so kind to inform me where I am? I seem to have gotten somewhat lost."

*****

Author's Note: Booyah. Another day, another cliffhanger. I seem to prefer that edge of your seat twist right at the end for these things. Please leave your rating and comments below. I read and reflect on them all so don't be shy. As always thanks for reading and hope you're having a nice day.