The Dragon Chief Ch. 06

Some insight from the Author:

I'm glad everyone is enjoying this weird, gross, angsty brain-child of mine. I'm sure you all know I'm a horny freak by now. This story has been a very dark and somehow therapeutic way for me to cope with the assault that happened to me when I was a teenager. It is all totally fictional and not based off of anything that happened to me, but the complex relationship between Jorvun and Willa is pretty representative of my own internal struggle with the violent rape fantasies I developed after my assault. This isn't meant to trigger anyone. I'm writing it for me and publishing it here so that it isn't just a sitting in a 100 page word document. I hope others can appreciate the healing and forgiving process that develops between Jorvun and Willa. P.S. I'm in a loving and understanding relationship now and my Fiancé has done a lot to help me get through my mental hangups. Thanks for the support!

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Barr dragged her into a large, beautifully decorated washroom. After closing the door, he pivoted to face Willa.

"Let's get that metal off your wrists." Willa nodded and turned away from him. Barr slid the robe off her shoulders, leaving her naked again. He unlocked the handcuffs with a small key, retrieved from his woolen trousers. Willa rubbed her wrists and smiled shyly up at the huge marauder.

"Where did Jorvun go?" Willa asked him as he filled a tub. He clenched his jaw.

"To take care of some things." Willa frowned.

"You're going to pretend like I'm not part of this?" She started but he crossed the room in a bound and slapped a hand over her mouth. She jumped but didn't pull away.

"We can't talk about this here," Barr hissed the words at her and Willa nodded wearily, startled slightly by his quickness.

When he hooked a finger in her collar and dragged her towards the tub, Willa dug her heels in.

"Hey!" She fumed. "You will not treat me like this anymore."

Barr looked puzzled. "I won't?"

When he gave her a wily grin and started dragging her again, Willa punched him as hard as she could in his ribs. The dark-haired marauder wheezed out an 'oof' sound and whipped around to look at her, shocked. Willa was equally as shocked at herself. When his shock broke into a wide smile, Willa wasn't sure what to prepare for. So she spoke.

"You need me. I will be treated with respect." Barr was quiet for a moment as he raked his eyes over her soft form. Willa stared him down stubbornly.

"As you wish, Adhvhar." Barr gestured toward the tub. She decided to accept her victory without further pushing when he settled onto a small bench, watching her intently. Willa tried to ignore his gaze as she cleaned herself. She was just grateful for the opportunity to scrub away her filth. Barr was mostly quiet and watched her thoughtfully. As Willa finished and rose from the tub, she spoke.

"Can I ask you something, Barr?"

"Yes. I may even answer you." Willa rolled her eyes.

"Do your people know how the Hyena came to be? Or who he is?" The handsome smirk fell from his face.

"No," Barr answered shortly.

"Could... he be the man who stabbed Laya?" Barr thought for a moment, his creased forehead making him look older than he was.

"Maybe. I think that was a long time ago." Barr answered as he stood, retrieving a towel for her. Even after he'd been in most of her orifices, Willa's other arm still crossed over her body shyly to cover herself while she reached for the towel. She looked deep in thought.. As she dried herself, Barr thought about how soft and plump her breasts had been in his palms. As his eyes explored her, Barr found himself anticipating the next time Jorvun asked him to join them. He was generally weary of accompanying Jorvun in bed because of his reputation for brutality. Now, watching the Adhvhar's hands dry her soft body, Barr was hard at the idea of it. She pulled the towel tight around herself and looked upon him with big, nervous eyes. He frowned.

"Is something wrong?"

Willa considered voicing her thoughts. She could not help but wonder if this apparently ageless sorceress was The Hyena. Maybe "The Hyena" was not a leadership position but a title or nickname. Willa remembered the way Barr reacted before when she started to speak and thought better of it. She decided to voice a different, similarly troubling thought.

"Why am I the only woman here that is owned?" Willa furrowed her brows.

"The Chief is the only one permitted to own a bedslave." Barr answered easily. Willa cringed at the word.

"I'm a... bedslave?" She gave him a queasy look. He snorted.

"Not quite. You're more like a consort." She dropped her eyes to the ground. Willa knew that one little vision would not change their entire way of life, but she had hoped it would offer some respite.

"Do I have a room?" Willa asked in a whisper. She did not look at Barr.

"His room is your room."

"Take me there, please." Barr nodded at her request and wrapped an arm around her toweled waist. He guided her out the door and led her back to Jorvun's place silently. Barr knew how hard his words had been. He found himself incapable of lying to her, which made him feel strange. He could not tell the woman that her vision had changed her situation because he did not know. The look on Jorvun's face, though, had Barr feeling on edge. The Chief had looked as if he were piecing a puzzle together in his head, and he was pissed at the picture.

When they entered the apartment and he closed the door behind him, Willa looked nervously at him.

"I don't get any privacy?"

"No."

He strolled into the kitchenette, pouring Willa and himself a glass of straight whiskey. When he looked up, Willa was still watching him. Her towel was still clutched close to her body and her dark hair fell in heavy ringlets, still damp and clinging to her pale shoulders. Barr slipped around the bar and back to the living area. He handed her the glass and settled into a black leather sofa and met her gaze.

"So you're just going to sit around?" Willa asked, frustrated. Barr sighed.

"Yes."

"Can you at least tell me what's going on?"

Barr took a swig of his whiskey and set the glass down on the wooden coffee table in the center of the room.

"Come sit." He gestured to space next to him. Willa eyed him suspiciously, her knuckles going white against the glass she was holding. "Please?"

At the soft word, Willa moved toward the couch. She curled herself into the opposite arm, careful to cover her body with her towel.

"Jorvun has things he is dealing with. In the meantime, someone he trusts needs to protect his most important asset." He nodded to Willa. "That's you."

She took a sip of her whiskey, her hands trembling slightly, and looked over the glass at him.

"Could I have some clothes, at least?" Barr nodded and stood, going to the bedroom and returning with a black, silky robe.

"Jorvun said you could wear this."

He tossed it to her and she stood up from the couch, letting the towel drop around her feet as she hugged the robe around herself. The hem floated just inches below the peak of her thighs. Although immodest, the silky robe was more than she'd worn in a week. She settled back on the couch, slightly more at ease. Willa sipped steadily on her whiskey as they sat together in silence. When her glass ran dry, Barr snatched it away and refilled both of their drinks.

They both drank the second round as they sat quietly.

"I think... I'm going to lay down for a while." Willa muttered as she finished her second glass. Barr just nodded and she rose, disappearing into Jorvuns room. She took in the beautiful bed, draped in red, black and silver. Throughout the room, Jorvun had small collections of odds and ends. They looked like they were from the old world. One corner was adorned with framed photos and paintings that looked as old as the building itself. The photos sported beautiful places and smiling people in what Willa assumed were old-world clothes. Some of the photos had pictures of what looked like brand new cars. Willa had seen the skeletal remains of such devices strewn through the dustlands and lining the black runways that criss crossed the land.

She had never thought much about the old world, except for in terms of the valuable artifacts that could be sold for significant gains on the market. Jorvun was apparently much more interested. Everywhere she looked, Willa spotted trinkets and devices from before the plagues. She thought he must be a collector.

Willa sat herself on the edge of the bed, closing her eyes tight in an attempt to banish the arousal she felt when thinking about the memory of his loving touch. The transition between absolute cruelty to sweet intimacy had made her dizzy and confused. She still couldn't wrap her mind around Jorvun. In his past life he had seemed rough around the edges but not cruel. The way he'd touched Jaya and the soft lull of his past-life's voice when he spoke to his lover was so far off from what he was now.

Willa felt a great sadness tug at her chest when she remembered the vision of Drue and her manipulative abuse. The young Jorvun had looked so broken. Thu's vision gave her a glimpse of the tenderness that Drue so passionately crushed. Willa struggled to condemn Jorvun, though the resentment boiling in her was very real. She relaxed herself into the fabrics on Jorvun's massive bed. Slowly, she drifted off, trying to sort through everything that had happened.

"Willa." When she opened her eyes, Willa startled backwards. Standing in front of her was a beautiful, armored warrior. Willa knew her voice. Laya. They were surrounded by warm light that was so bright it should have hurt Willa's eyes, but it only comforted her and blinded her from everything except Laya. She was in a flaxen apron dress and was unarmed and unarmoured except for the axe resting on her hip. Her hair was the color of baked clay and wove in wild curls down to the small of her back. There were small braids adorned with beads on either side of her weathered but feminine face.

"So you have seen for yourself the atrocity committed by the sorceress." Willa nodded, dumbstruck. She had to be dreaming. Was this really Laya? Or was it a form conjured from her confused and traumatized mind?

"I know you are tired. I am a part of you, as are all your lives, so I have seen and felt your hardships. But this is the only way I can speak with you." Willa felt tears well up in her eyes.

"I don't know what to do. The things he has done to me... I don't know if I can go on like this."

Laya reached out to her and Willa accepted her arm They began to walk aimlessly through the light as Laya spoke.

"I cannot tell you what the right thing to do is. When Brandt and I occupied the material world, I was his equal. He was a warrior and he had needs, but when I bowed to him, it was of my own will and only in our chambers. Ours was a balance. I needed his firm and loving hand. He needed my trust and warmth."

"I know that we are tied together, Jaya, but I can't..." Willa struggled to find the words.

"No doubt, the Hyena has thoroughly corrupted his soul. As I said, I have felt your trials. I... I have felt your pain." Jaya stopped and pulled Willa into an embrace. The smaller woman broke down and sobbed into the warrior's chest.

"So why do I care at all about him? Why can't I get him out of my head?" Willa cried into Jaya's dress as the woman stroked a dainty but strong hand through Willa's onyx brown curls. "Why did I feel so angry at the Sorceress when I saw her hurting him?"

"Because, young one, he is Your Warrior. Nothing will change that his essense and ours are one. His pain is our pain now that our souls have become entwined in this life." Jaya's voice was soft. She took a step back from the woman, her hands resting on Willa's shoulders.

"But if you must free yourself, do as your gut leads you. Thu speaks to us from the smallest corners of our mind. He knows how to guide us."

Jaya took her arm again, and they continued strolling. The pace eased Willa's anxieties. She chewed on Jaya's words a moment.

"What would it mean? Escaping even though we are tied together?" Willa frowned. "Would I still feel him?"

Laya nodded. "With such a bond, distance does not mean much. How do you think Brandt knew to come when I was bleeding in that field?"

Willa suddenly felt a shock of sadness tug at her chest. Laya continued.

"He felt me. He felt the sword. He could feel... my sorrow. We should've died at each other's side on the battlefield." Laya looked distant. "Perhaps if things had been different, you might have seen the true Dragon when you first met him."

"The Dragon?" Laya nodded.

"Your warrior is the Dragon. He has been known as such through each incarnation. My Brandt founded the House of the Dragon. Up until 3 centuries ago when the plagues struck, we were an honored people. In that lifetime, that witch managed to claw her way into the heart of our clan."

Willa gasped. Drue had been influencing these people for 300 years?

"Are you saying Drue is over 3 centuries old?" Jaya laughed. It was a musical sound that made Willa smile.

"Oh, my child, her name is not Drue and she is much more ancient. Her true name is Sezja and that witch tormented us from the shadows for a millennium before she was able to take advantage of the confusion wrought by death and disease." Jaya had a scowl set on her lovely face.

"Our clan and many others came to know her as The Hyena . She came to conquer our land. She was ruthless and cruel and spoke to her soldiers in a strange language only known to members of her clan."

"She won't hunt me down, though. I'm not a threat if I'm not with Jorvun. She even said in my vision that if I die, the cycle will just restart," Willa recalled. Jaya nodded solemnly.

"You are right, young one. Should you be able to flee, the sorceress will have her way. It does not advantage her to slay you." Jaya sighed. "It would leave her free to continue driving the wedge into our bond with the Dragon. After a few more lifetimes of separation, it is very possible that you will be cut off completely from him."

"Maybe... that's for the best." Jaya looked at her with sadness.

"Perhaps."

"So why does it hurt to think about it?"

Jaya flashed her a melancholy smile. "Because he is a part of us."

Willa was dead asleep when a calloused hand landed on her cheek. She sleepily pressed into the warm hand.

"Willa?" Her eyes fluttered open at the sound of her own name. Jorvun was settled on the floor, so he was face to face with her sleeping form. He looked exhausted. The hardness in his eyes was gone and replaced with despair.

"I... I'm sorry to wake you." Willa's heart jumped. Were things truly going to change? "I need to speak with you."

"Sir?" Her voice was groggy still from her nap.

"Don't. Don't call me that." Willa blinked, stunned and confused. She nodded slowly at him, fully waking as she awaited an explanation. He looked into her face for a moment before he could form words.

"I... went to speak with Drue. She's gone." He started shaking his head. "You were right. This is wrong."

Willa felt lightheaded. Was she still dreaming?

"I knew it was wrong. There were things she said and did that weren't consistent. Things that didn't make sense. I just... I wanted it so bad. I wanted to be a good leader. I thought this was the only way."

"Owning me?" Willa scowled down at him. Just because she couldn't make herself condemn him did not mean she couldn't be pissed. Jorvun was silent for a moment. He didn't meet her eyes.

"I talked with Barr. I think you should go." Willa shot up in the bed.

"You... what?"

"I brought you some decent clothes. Get dressed and leave. I'll help you get out without anyone seeing. You don't deserve this. Or me."

She started shaking her head. After all this, he was going to just set her free? Emotions flooded her mind. This is what she wanted, isn't it?

"Ok." Willa responded numbly. He stood and left, flicking the light on as he went. She looked at the pile of clothes apprehensively. She'd seen the visions and heard Thu. But why was it her responsibility to repair their weird soul bond? Why should she have any desire to fix him. She should hate him. So why didn't she?

Willa began to dress, pulling on the tight jeans and loose t-shirt he had left on the bed. When she exited the room Jorvun and Barr were standing in the kitchen, speaking over cigarettes and liquor. Jorvun's gaze landed on her. His eyes were sad and tired. He moved around the counter to approach her and to her suprise, Willa found herself standing tall and confident against him.

"Leave us, Barr. Thank you for staying with her." Barr looked anxiously between them but nodded and exited the building without a word.