The Champion's Companion Ch. 21

"Well as long as it stays warm I will be fine." Saliss snapped.

"Umm, I think if we were to fight, it would be best if I had a sword..." Janis squeaked.

Saliss turned to her with a blank look and Marcos ignored her.

"So she speaks... What do you say Marcos?" Saliss pondered aloud not really asking him.

"She needs something cheap and short. Just so she isn't getting her skinny ass raped when we need to be going somewhere." Marcos remarked making Janis blush.

"Hmm, let's head back to the armor-smith. I think we passed one over by the inn."

Saliss led them back the way they came, and sure enough, they found a blacksmith/swordsmith shop tucked into the corner of the block with the inn, and traveler's stables.

Inside, there were a few barrels with swords, and a few spears. The three looked over the brief weapons selection. Janis looked over at the swords till she found something similar to what she carried before. A long straight edged double bladed sword roughly more than two feet long. Once in her hands, it seemed heavier than what she remembered.

"That's a lot of sword for you." Marcos noted. "I think you'd be too slow with that in your hands."

That was true, Janis was having a hard time even keeping it steady. "Here," He said picking out a long dagger. "You can use with this, and when you get your strength back you'll be able to take up a short sword again."

"But-" Marcos raised a finger.

"Well, it looks like my part is done here." Saliss said breezing to the door leaving Janis and Marcos to come to the front and pay.

"When will you start to train me?" Janis asked sullenly realizing how much more she needed training.

"When you can handle a real sword." Marcos grumbled as he dropped a few coin for the dagger.

"But-!" Marcos darted out into the street before she could finish.

"Oi! Train me!" Janis shouted running after him up the street.

Marcos didn't even turn back as he met up with Saliss and walked out to the road leading out of town. The pair ignored her as they wandered through the town, farmland, and forest. The group of 'dragon hunters' were camping on the western edge of town. The clearing they chose was bordered by swamps on three sides. Finding a campsite at a discreet distance was difficult. They ended up having to share the clearing with the other group up the road a little bit. Little more than fifty yards separated the two camps.

"Train me!" Janis shouted as her frustrations peaked.

Watching Marcos set up camp silently as Saliss sat watching him from her stool irritated her. She wanted a response.

"Train me!" she shouted again spring out to slash at him with her dagger while his back was turned. In an instant, he twisted and caught her arm while she was in the air before shifting his weight and swinging her over his back.

Marcos returned to digging out a spot for the fire. "No, you aren't even strong enough to begin."

"Train me!" she shouted leaping up from the ground. Again without moving his feet, he warded her off so she crashed into the ground on his other side.

"I'm being gentle. Quit now, before I lose patience." Marcos warned turning back.

Janis didn't listen and got to her hands and knees before launching again. This time she tried to land on him instead of running into him. He changed her direction effortlessly, and threw her up into the air to land next to Saliss.

"Can't you just teach her something?" Saliss asked quietly as Janis pulled herself together.

"Too weak." Marcos breathed as he caught Janis's next attempt and swung her through the air. "Why don't you join up with some mercenaries to get some experience?"

"I have, I've drawn blood!" Janis cried. "I'm just too weak to keep up." Marcos caught her as she ran in again and threw her hard so she went spinning through the air well over Saliss' head.

"She has determination Marcos. You can't teach that." Saliss observered.

"I don't want to hold people back anymore! I can't protect anyone this way!" Janis said popping up as if she had springs in her legs. Trying to be clever, she tried to get him in the leg or knee with a kick.

To her surprise, she made contact with her foot and got his left shin pretty hard. In the fraction of a second it took for energy to move his left leg moved back and away with her kick, his hips stiffened and his right foot planted. His shoulders went in and down as the left leg came up from behind. That brought up his left elbow so the back of it caught Janis in the nose. Janis didn't know what hit her. It felt like she was just kicked in the face, which was partially correct.

"That was dirty Marcos." Saliss announced from her stool. "Look at her she's been through so much and here you are...playing around..."

"Well it will take more than determination if you want to win a fight." Marcos retorted as he retreated to the pack. "You have to be ready to die if you fail." He added quietly.

***********

"Again, do we really need to go over all of this now?" Janis bemoaned.

"Context," Ruegin answered as Janis gave her look of pained humiliation.

Ein made a point, "Listen you were bad back then and Marcos toyed with you, I get it. You get better, and we have to realize what you were before to see the changes now."

"That Saliss was something else back then though huh?"

"Her motto was 'You don't need to worry that an honest may be smarter than you, but worry that a man is smart enough to appear honest'. I think it was after her third or forth husband had died under suspicious circumstances they called her 'Saliss of Sweet Dreams'. Of all the royals, she loved Marcos the most. Even though, or perhaps because of the fact he never would say no to her."

"Well he wasn't romantically involved with her back then. None of us were." Janis spouted.

"Nossin is going to lose her place," Kaarthen chimed in.

*******

After a few more throws with strikes mixed in, Marcos had the tent set up just as Janis passed out and slept fitfully.

*******

"See that all she had to say from the beginning," Janis hissed, "That girl talks too much."

*******

When she was awakened, the moon was out and Saliss stood over her with a mischievous grin. "Come, let us ladies walk while Marcos hunts for dinner."

Walking through the clearing to the forest, they came over to a clear stream just as it ran into a pond. The full light of the moon illuminated the area. The soft ground, and mossy undergrowth gave the area a serene beauty in the blue light.

"Your speech earlier touched my heart, and your determination would put many gallant knights to shame." Saliss said sitting on a large moss covered log and motioning her to sit. "It touched Marcos too. Towards the end, I think he was smiling even."

"Pfff..." Janis snorted as best she could with her swollen face. She had seen his grin too but she though it had more to do with the punches and kicks he was raining down on her.

"Before you met us I'm sure you practiced a lot to get stronger. I have heard about what Amazons go through. You must have tried really hard haven't you?" Saliss asked leaning in.

"Yes, but I could never move as well as the others. After a certain point, it all gets harder and harder. I can't breathe and my body gets numb. I don't get stronger. I can only run as fast as the young girls in my village, and I'm weaker than many of them."

"Ah, that sounds like your blood isn't moving right." Saliss remarked. When Janis looked at her quizzically she explained further. "When we looked at you earlier, Marcos noticed the pulse in your arms are weak. I didn't check your legs, but I wouldn't have been surprised to find it there too. Sometimes people are born with...well the blood gets pinched in your body. Anything more than everyday activities and you'll feel the constriction."

Janis thought on this. "You probably fainted from exhaustion earlier too, it didn't seem like it, but Marcos was taking it easy except that one time." Saliss continued. "It's impossible for you to get stronger. Just go off and have your children somewhere with a strong man."

Janis hissed and bolted to her feet with balled fists at her sides. "I won't do that! I haven't listened to them, and I won't listen to you! If I won't grow stronger then I will die doing what little I can! You expect me to just give up, rely on others, and spread my legs for some protection? Who will take me?! I'm tired of my disgusting pathetic life! I want to change!"

For a long moment, both women stayed quiet looking eye to eye. Around them, the glade was silent as they reflected on themselves. Then without warning, the mood of Saliss's face changed and she softened some. "Well there is one way..."

She reached into the neck of her robe and pulled up a little vial dangling off a thin silvery chain. Using both hands, she snapped the chain and handed it to Janis.

"What is this?" Janis said looking at the vial filled with black liquid. Though slightly wider and shorter than a finger it was very heavy. In the bluish light of the moon it darkened her cupped hands.

"This special medicine will show you a new world. If you are happy with your life, or you can find happiness, you shouldn't take it. If you do drink it, then whether you like it or not, you will enter a completely different world."

"Then the blood flow thing can be fixed?" Janis asked hopefully.

"Yes," Saliss nodded then leaned in close covering the vial in her hand. "There is one other thing though."

"Um...what is it?" Janis asked breathlessly. Already visions of victory were carrying her away and clouding her judgment.

"Well, only a fraction of people can survive. Most others die, or go quite insane I've read."

"Eh?" Janis snapped her head up and nearly dropped the vial. Saliss kept her hands from moving.

"I've been told it was something like a one in five chance. You'll be fine, but you should know the costs." Saliss said flatly looking deep into her eyes and sitting back pulling her hands away.

"But I'll be better?" Janis asked quietly staring intently at the vial.

"Yes..." Saliss giggled in her ear as she leaned in closed to whisper into the intrigued girl's ear. "No one will ever call you weak again..."

********

"So what was in it?" Asked Ruegin leaning in.

"Don't ask her questions right now."

"She'll forget later," Ruegin pouted.

"It was Master's blood during the height of an orgasm, and harvested exactly at midnight." Ein offered as if she knew.

Ruegin bolted upright. "Really?"

"Yes, His blood, and four parts Myhn resin to assist absorption." Nossin replied slowly. "Forbidden art: Two poisons to make a medicine, or two ways to die make one way to live."

Ein shrugged. "I didn't know, sounds good though."

"It tasted like nothing," Janis said puckering her face. "My whole mouth went instantly numb like it was cold."

********

When Marcos got back to the campsite he was immediately irritated it had been left alone by his princess. "Where did she traipse off too?" He asked himself looking around at the abandoned site.

He had bought some vegetables, caught a rabbit, and another animal he wasn't familiar with yet. Sitting down on Saliss's three legged 'throne', he took a closer look at the mystery animal and started skinning it.

Caught up in his new discovery he barely noted Saliss returning and dropping something heavy on the blankets.

"Hey, Marcos?" He recognized the tension in her voice. He turned to his ward already fearing the worst.

"Umm... can you take a look at some thing for me?" Saliss asked giving him her rarely seen puppy dog look.

Ambling over after making sure he could spare a moment from his cooking, Marcos came around to her and found Janis on the ground red from head to toe sweating profusely. The body of the once skinny girl was grotesquely swollen as she struggled to breath.

"What the-?!?" Marcos shouted in surprise. "What happened? What the shit-"

"We were by the water at the edge of the clearing on the other side of the trees." Saliss started. "She said she felt sick and fainted. Maybe she was having a reaction to a bite or the food?"

"Did she eat something?" Marcos asked bringing out a waterskin and looking around. "Where- What happened?"

"No- well she was showing me mushrooms and plants we could eat."

"What? What was it?" Marcos asked turning to her. "Did you-"

Saliss leaned past him and pointed at Janis as she started to convulse. "Marcos look!"

Marcos casually looked over. "What? It's probably an allergy. She shouldn't have been picking shit at night."

He straightened, looked at the pot before looking back, and preparing to stand. "Well this is how the stupid ones learn. By the way Saliss, did you eat-?"

He stopped short looking at her, there was intensity in her eyes. "No. Marcos, don't worry about the food, just help her okay?" Saliss grabbed him be for he could move away. "Really look at her. Okay?"

It was then that he noticed Saliss had taken Janis's left hand as she sat with the girl. Taking her other hand, Marcos noticed a few things. First, an odd type of familiarity seemed to connect him to the girl. Secondly, he felt her power, or more precisely, he felt the energy she had all over her body backing up with nowhere to go. The energy following through the blood vessels, muscle fibers, and nerves of her body wasn't being contained. Like a river behind a dam, it had flooding its banks it had become more akin to a lake. The excessive energy made changes to her as it saturated her body. Under the sheets of sweat, her struggling body was showing the stress it was under to contain the torrent.

"She's going to burn up like this. How did she gather so much energy?" Marcos asked aghast as he realized what was happening.

"What can you do? Can you help?" Saliss prodded. "Can you try to curb it and contain it?"

Marcos closed his eyes and leaned over her with his hands on her head and stomach. "...I can try. She's under a lot of tension." As his body made the connection, the energy coursed through him too as it tried to seek a balance of pressures.

Two bodies, two spirit energies, and two minds worked. One set was in anguishing pain as it flailed in an inescapable pool of searing energy. The other floated above warily as it tried to help without being pulled in. Janis didn't know the name of the other as she felt it loom over her, but she learned what the being was beyond words.

As Marcos tried to balance her, his stronger consciousness connected with her body to strengthen it. Her form grew outward and lengthened as he added dimensions to her petite frame. Muscles were added to burn more energy. The circulation of blood and air throughout her body was improved to allow the energy that flowed within her an easier path with less friction. Everywhere Marcos's adapted senses found struggling places inundated with rogue energy pooling threatening to burst. He turned the stagnant potential energy into working energy and redesigned a new efficient body before turning the stored energy loose to rebuild her.

Finally, her body was changed as much as he dared. She could breathe easier, movement was more dexterous with larger and more efficient muscles. Energy circulated throughout her entire body seeking balance along every fiber of her being in waves that were bounced and reflected not unlike the gentle controlled waves within a reflecting pool's walls.

Now no one place had an overflow. Her center where the energy resided and circulated from was expanded to become larger than her physical body. If someone with the ability looked at her, they would have had to cover their eyes. She would appear to them as if she were standing in the middle of a blazing fire of golden light.

Leaving her body after watching her energy complete a few cycles he slowly surfaced. Opening his eyes finally, Marcos looked at any outward changes he had made. Her once cherry red skin flushed with blood had eased but remained a brick like reddish hue from the damage it took initially. Her skinny frame been stretched taller, and her once scrawny limbs had thickened with several layers of large, healthy, feminine, energy burning muscles. Her body had grown to become quite shapely and mature. Her calves became shapely tight defined bulges. Her quadriceps in front had grown substantially and counterbalanced her two swelling globes of her ass. Her back and torso had tightened giving her a natural arch as she lay before him. Her breasts had swelled to huge tear-drops that were as perfect as he could make them. They dominated her chest with their dark brown nipples as increased storage for energy.

"Are you done already?" Saliss asked looking at Marcos quizzically. He seemed to shimmer as though he was about to disappear from this plane.

"If her energy wasn't so easy to work with and intuitive to what I was doing then the result would have been much different." Marcos moaned. He looked around to note barely an hour had passed. "I need rest."

Saliss thought on that for a moment. "Will she be okay?"

Marcos waited a moment before answering. "...her mind isn't ready or this, and neither is her body. Her spirit is strong now. Through her spirit, she'll have enough power over herself to stop her own heart. But she doesn't have the mental disciple to control all that. Her body can keep up now, but barely. But if she panics, her body will follow her will. If she is not in control of herself by then, she could tear herself apart."

"Well I think you should take a well deserved rest." Saliss said moving to cover herself and Janis with a blanket. "I'm glad we'll be able to stay here one more night. She'll need new clothes. We can't have a champion of justice fighting in rags."

"...she can't do all that..." Marcos started to protest before falling asleep on the other side of her.

"She will after you train her..." Saliss whispered to herself as she snuggled against Janis's warm body.

The next morning, Saliss awoke to find Janis looking at herself in wonder. She had uncovered herself and looked at her naked arms, legs, and chest in wonder as she sat up next to Saliss.

"It worked!" Janis blurted.

"Shhh..." Saliss cautioned sitting up. She took one of Janis's hands and looked into her eyes. "The miracle medicine mushrooms you ate must have been the real deal." She said slowly and evenly.

Janis looked at her confused but didn't say anything as Saliss continued. "That's what happened. Thankfully, now you are strong enough now that you can train. In fact, when Marcos wakes up he'll tell you how badly you need too. I should go get some clothes for you though..." She muttered looking Janis over closely.

Janis's new form had stretched and split the rags she had worn to shreds. The contrasting light grey cloth and her reddish skin made it plain to see that she had a perfect body that was displayed for anyone in the clearing who was close and cared to look.

"Eep!" Janis blushed pulling her blankets in tight. The fabric split over her back as she wrapped herself in it. "Huh?"

"Don't worry..." Saliss said noting her confusion. "Take it easy, your body is stronger, a lot stronger actually, and you're not used to it. You literally don't know your own strength."

Janis looked at her fearfully, "Was this supposed to-"

Pushing her face forward, Saliss made sure she got Janis's attention. "Does it matter? Won't it help you? You'll get used to it. You just woke up. Now just stay here and when I get back I'll help you." Saliss quickly started dressing and rushed to the road into town.

Janis watched her leave apprehensively. Looking around at her surroundings, she noticed her vision was so much better now. Her eyes landed on Marcos sleeping on her other side. There was an odd familiarity about him, like she was seeing someone with an identical sword, or perhaps someone that she had met intimately before.