The Chosen (28 page)

Where once was a roughly hammered, crudely crafted breastplate, was now an item equal in craftsmanship to that worn by the Knights of Valdadore. However, where the knights’ armor was simple and elegant, a sign of purity, here was a piece in exact contrast. The breastplate was both beautiful and wicked. The plate itself appeared like a replica of Borrik's chest and abdomen with large wide ribs, a muscular chest and tight, well-defined abdomen. It was almost as if Borrik now wore his bone and muscle on the outside of his body, and upon Borrik’s left breast, where his heart lay beneath, Seth had melded the gold coin, infusing it to the black armor in the likeness of a wolf's head with small veins of gold slithering out from all sides as if the armor fed life to the wolf’s head crested upon it. Satisfied with his work Seth set about altering the rest of Borrik's armor.

Nearly an hour passed as Seth labored, though most of the work was minor. He smoothed imperfections, honed edges and heaved the armor into sharpened ghastly spikes around the neck, down the spine and at the knees and elbows. Upon Borrik's forearms Seth melded some of the goblin's wicked blades to run down the full length of the outside of the vambraces, making the armor a weapon as well. Often Seth would step back to view his progress only to step in once more and make subtle changes, though he was cautious to not overspend his reserve of power. Finally completed, Seth appraised his first completed set of armor. Borrik now appeared as a frightening beast of some nightmare world. His entire suit of flawless black armor appeared as bone and blackened spikes. Seth had done his best to nearly completely encompass the man's body, layering the joints in such a way as to not impede movement. Still Borrik's hands and face were bare as well as the bottom of his feet. Seth had had to completely rework the orc's helms to fit upon the elongated head of his servant. Now the helm left the face open with only a single nose guard running up Borrik's muzzle and between his eyes, covered entirely in a row of spikes that continued up over the top of the helm between his ears, which now pierced through holes in it. The spikes continued down the back of the head. Each of the man's massive shoulders had large, twisted spikes upon them as well, and running down Borrik's back plate were the same ribs that adorned the front, accompanied at its center with a wicked spine, also bedecked with spikes all the way down his back.

Seth admired his work with a grin, and saw too that his men all approved the alterations. Borrik was a sight both awe-inspiring and frightening, exactly what Seth had intended. Having his blueprint for the rest of the armor now, Seth went to work on his other three men, starting with each of their breastplates. It only took Seth two more hours to complete the three remaining sets of armor for his men, having already worked out the details. Upon completing them he felt assured he still had reserves enough to complete both his and Sara’s armor as well.

Helping Sara don a suit of armor, Seth realized that this particular set would be quite complicated. The orc armor was entirely too large, and the goblin armor too small. Rummaging through the pile he had earlier cast aside, Seth pulled out a few additional pieces and mixed and matched armor for Sara, finding the bits that would take the least alteration. Having her finally completely suited up, Seth knew already how he wished her armor to appear, and working from memory, Seth recreated Ishanya’s black, body-accentuating suit of armor upon the woman he loved. It was elegant and sexy, but also dark and twisted, exactly as he recalled it. Upon the center of her chest he added the head of the wolf he had adorned the other men with. When he was finished he admired the woman he loved, dressed for battle, a sight of beautiful mercilessness. Now it was time to create his own armor.

After several minutes, with both Sara and his men's help, Seth managed to piece together some ill-fitting armor from the remaining pieces his men had collected. He went about altering it for himself in the likeness of the armor his men wore. Upon his armor too he protruded bones and spikes and affixed blades to the forearms, mirroring his men’s armor exactly, and upon his chest he too emblazoned the wolf crest. However, wanting to distinguish himself from his troops, Seth took the detail a bit further. Gathering some deep red copper coins, Seth wove about his black armor blood vessels that wriggled this way and that, erupting from the armor in one place then crawling back beneath the surface in another. Having finally finished the armor upon his body, Seth poured his power into the helm upon his head causing it to stretch here and squeeze there until he got the fit just perfect. Removing it, he grabbed some smaller remaining pieces of the blackened armor and melded them to his helm, the whole process appearing effortless to those who watched. Seth began to shape the exterior, adding eyes and a toothed maw, long pointed ears, creating a face upon the helm he would wear as a mask. A face akin to his soldiers, that of a man who had become more than a man, but not yet a beast. It was both a work of art and a horror to behold. The likeness was so uncanny the helm appeared to be the once living, severed head of one of his men. When he again donned it his eyes shone through where the mask's eyes were carved, making the metal face look once more alive.

Appearing as they did, if not a bit smaller, Seth accepted his men’s looks of approval and too accepted their many thanks and blessings upon him for creating such wondrous armor for them. Seth was nearly depleted of power but had another task yet remaining. Looking through the coins Sara had sorted, he was surprised to find that a great many of them were of the make of his own kingdom, and so would not require his attention. There were also many coins of the same materials, but foreign in make. One by one, Seth took the foreign coins, and using his powers he reshaped the images stamped upon them to reflect the coins of his own realm. Perfection here was not necessary, so he left visible flaws and worked quickly to both complete the task and monitor his remaining, dwindling, reserve of power. The coins being small and imperfect were completed in short order, and having them finished Seth hurriedly divided each of the piles of different coins into roughly six equal portions. Scooping up each small pile he returned them to six nearly equal coin pouches. The coins completed, Seth had a task for his faithful priest next.

"Borrik, I have a favor to ask of you," Seth said.

"Whatever you command, m'lord," Borrik answered.

"Very well Borrik. As a priest in good standing to Ishanya, I wish you to perform the ceremony to join Sara and I in marriage," Seth said in his most regal tone.

Turning to watch Sara’s response to the surprise, Seth was astonished to see her eyes well up with tears, a giant smile forming upon her small angelic face. Seth knew in his heart that it might be in vain that he married Sara now, for tomorrow they rode to battle and it was possible one or both of them might not return. Seth also knew that he did not want to perish with his promise to join with Sara unfulfilled. So although it was with no preparation, and Seth felt forced by circumstance, he was overjoyed to see the effect his words had on the woman he so deeply loved. Seeing the overwhelming look of joy on Sara’s face, Seth vowed to himself that even if he had to sacrifice all that he knew, everyone that he served, or anything else that stood in his way, he would protect Sara and they would both return from this battle to live long, fulfilling lives.

So it was that only minutes later, after joining hands, repeating a handful of vows of their duty to the other, and an exchange of a kiss, Seth and Sara were joined as he presented her with the small teardrop charm he had created just days ago.  Now joined as husband and wife, in celebration Seth’s four most loyal soldiers reared back their massive heads and howled into the night. Somewhere out in the forest, miles and miles away, their howl was joined by other faithful worshippers of Lord Seth, the Death Mage.

After the ceremony was completed, and Seth’s men howled in celebration, Sara released Seth’s hand for just a moment, and approached Borrik. She reached up as far as she could, wrapping her little arms around his thick neck, hugging him in thanks, and gave him a kiss upon his cheek. Then releasing the giant beast of a man she settled from her tippy toes and reclaimed Seth’s hand.

"So, my husband," Sara paused a moment, tasting the words for the first time. "We seem to have plenty of coin. What are we going to do for our honeymoon?" Sara asked with an all-too-familiar mischievous grin spreading across her lips.

"Well, my angelic wife, we will go out tonight and give all of our coin away," Seth replied, his own grin mimicking hers.

Now all eyes were on Seth. None of them understood his meaning, yet none wished to question him either. So noting the many confused looks in those around him, Seth shared his plan in full, explaining that most of the people in the streets were now homeless, their small towns along the borders having been raided and burned to the ground. Most of them had little or nothing as far as wealth was concerned, and most of them would be hungry, scared and looking for a shred of hope in a seemingly hopeless world. These were desperate people with nothing to believe in, and Seth reckoned that with just a little encouragement he could gain Ishanya new followers, holding up his end of the bargain before he went into battle. Thus he encouraged his menacing, armored wolf men to go into the streets and give alms to the neediest of the people they found there. Give to the women and children, Seth told his men, for a husband's loyalty was bought through feeding his wife and offspring. Seth told his men to spread word that these gifts to the people were given by himself, Lord Seth, in service to the goddess Ishanya. Handing each of his four fearsome men one of the coin purses, he sent them on their way to show compassion to those who had lost everything.

Before the door swung closed behind his men as they rushed off to follow his orders, Sara pounced on Seth, both of them still in full armor, bearing him to the ground bodily. There they wrestled with each other’s armor upon the cobblestone floor, and finally freeing themselves of armor and clothing, Sara gave herself wholly to Seth for the first time, and the second time, before both of them lay in tangled, sweaty ecstasy, panting loudly, having consummated their marriage. Together they lay entwined until their breathing returned to normal, and although Seth was loath to do so, he stood and began to dress once again. Sara after giving him a pouty lip followed by her mischievous smile, rose from the cool floor and began dressing as well. They helped one another with the many straps and clasps of their armor, and left together, heading for the streets.

For more than four hours Seth led Sara up and down the streets of Raven's Keep, introducing themselves and giving coin to those most in need. Many times their generosity was met with tears, and many times the receiver of their kindness would fall to their knees blessing Sara and Seth and the goddess they served, sobbing all the while and groveling at their feet. They were surprised to find that even this late at night the streets were crowded with people trying to sleep while livestock roamed freely among them. Mothers tried in vain to hush their babies and fathers sat awake watching over their families lest something else be taken from them. Many of these men attempted to swear themselves into Seth’s service for his great acts of compassion, though Seth sorrowfully refused them. Seth remembered the stories he had heard around the hearths of his family’s inn as a child about many battles of the past. These were the people never mentioned in the stories, these were the people Seth had wished to help when he had traveled to The Choosing ceremony, and now he was helping them, at least as best he was able. Seth had to admit to himself, however, that he was using those he helped, at least to some capacity, taking advantage of their circumstances. As such it nearly caused him physical pain as he witnessed on several occasions as the night progressed a person’s inner aura shifting from beautiful rainbow hues to that of purest black.

Their supply of coins relinquished to those in need, Seth and Sara, weary from a long day, returned to the inn and, passing through the kitchen, returned to the storage building that would be their room for the night. Seth helped Sara escape her new armor and watched her stretch her cramped muscles before she too helped him undress. Seth, both physically and mentally exhausted, lay down upon the hard stone floor waiting for Sara who quickly joined him, snuggling into his body with her own. Though he wanted nothing more than to hold her and get some sleep, Sara had other plans, and eventually Seth gave in to her touching and teasing, and nearly tearing her clothes off, Sara was victorious once again. She gave herself to her husband, making sure he was completely and utterly satisfied, before curling up in his arms where they both slept the few remaining hours until dawn.

Chapter 10

Inescapable Future and Unwanted Responsibilities

As the sun began to light the eastern horizon, the immense walled castle city of Raven's Keep still awash in darkness, a loud bang sounded on the door to Seth and Sara’s makeshift room. Not knowing what else to do, not knowing how to repair what his peers had done, Borrik paced outside the storage building in which Seth slumbered. He had followed his master's orders precisely, telling those to whom he gave alms that he served Seth as his lord and master, and Ishanya the goddess who granted Lord Seth his power. Many times Borrik had explained his visage to those he met dwelling in the streets. At first they shied from him when he approached, but he was able to gain their trust through his words easily enough.

But the other members of his pack held different loyalties than those of his own. They were not men of faith before meeting Seth, and through their transformation, they clung to the feral beliefs of their wolf sides, understanding only what they saw with their own eyes and what they felt by instinct. To the other three wolf men in Seth’s service that night, Ishanya was a being of no substance and as such held no claim to the glory of being their creator. Thus they spread the word of Lord Seth, a walking god who had begun creating a new race of vicious fighting beast-men to defeat the enemy hordes in the south. Throughout the night, by word of mouth and through the very deeds of Seth, Sara, Borrik and his men, word spread and there were those who began to seek out this walking god, and eventually they had located him. Borrik needed to rouse his master.