I can still feel his scent embedded in my thick hairs. I take a deep breath in and think about the next time I'll have to take a dip in my swamp. He's laying down on the soft grass and the moonlight hits his copper brown hair with such gentleness. How can I think of gentle thoughts when I murdered his kinsmen and friends? How can he keep coming back when he knows that he would surely be killed for treason. Hrothgar would have his head on a stake if he knew. Unfortunately, I've grown attached to this virgin hero and don't want to give him up. He is a monster between men.
This marks about the twelfth time that Unferth came by my swamp. He likes to jump inside the swamp and drench in the sickly waters just to tease me with his wet body. The glimmer of his metal only seems to grow with the swampy waters. The fool, I can't do anything near my cave nor could he do anything near the mainland. If anyone were to find us, it wouldn't matter to me. I'm the monster. The bane of man. But Unferth... He is a functioning member of the Danish society and finding him in such embarrassing acts with me would surely lead to his death and the end of my fun. I don't know if he sees me as a fun time as well. He has me in a rather awkward situation. If it weren't Unferth, I could simply kill him the minute that I bore of him. However, that's not a bad thing for him. If I kill him, he'll be seen as glorious and oh I do love to see him humiliated. Perhaps when I become bored, that's what I will do: expose him and let him cry to death of humiliation. Still, that's only a hypothetical way out because I can't leave him. He makes me feel like man. He makes me feel like he's the monster when I'm exposed to his nude body. He makes me feel like he's the monster when my nude body is exposed to him.
"What are you doing here, Unferth? It's soon to be dawn." I tell him.
His eyes glistened and he smiled. I notice each time he smiles because I love the way his dimples cave into his face. It reminds me of the way my mother's arms could hold me as though I was some kind of dog. A very comfortable sleeping position that brought me warmth. It's too bad he can't see his own dimples when he smiles because it's adorable. "Is it wrong for me to visit you?"
"A sinner knows no good," I reply.
"Right, right. It's wrong for me to visit whenever. Gah. Heathenism. Well the Lord knows of my sins and if he truly had a problem, I would've been dead by now. Why didn't you kill me the first time?"
"Easy," I chuckle, "I thought it would be funny to keep you lathered in embarrassment and shame. I almost pity you at how you're so willing to lose your humanity. Do you even have a god anymore?
"Dangerous words for someone I can turn shameful in a matter of minutes. Kneel and forgive, beast." You'd think I'd feel used to these kinds of orders by now, but I still feel the hint of resentment on my throat begging to rebel against his authority, asking for a punishment for this war I call my life. Wait, that's not resentment. That's his rope.
"What are you doing?!" I exclaim. My voice resonates between the woods with the trees shaking from my outburst. He instantly grabs the hair on my head and pushes me to eat the dirt. I deserve it. I know I'm supposed to be quiet.
He kneels and whispers in my ear, "you fucking idiot. Are you trying to expose us?" He shook his head and started to laugh. "Ha, hah. Oh, Grendel, you're in for a treat." I let out a squeak and this amuses him.
My body is still flat on the cold ground. I can feel the dust accumulate on my thick, brown fur. I wonder if Unferth will be able to feel the dirt stuck in between my chest hairs. Maybe if he digs deep enough, he'll be able to feel my bare skin hidden in between my tangles. If he wanted to, he could find it; he's always been good at finding my most vulnerable skins.
He keeps me pinned to the ground and before I know it, my hands are tied behind my back held together with an inescapable rope trap. I tried to tug but the rope pulled on my neck and I choked. Unferth laughed at my try to escape from this vulnerability. I feel so insignificant. A giant monster down on his stomach with his body exposed, unable to move. Unferth moves his hands and inches it close to me. His finger lands on my shoulder. His other hand grasps at the rope. His finger glides through my fur down through my back, stopping at where my hands converge. His other hand gently tugs down on the rope and my head tilts backwards to try to counteract his pressure. I let out a whimper and he tugs harder. Harder. Harder. Unferth could kill me. The dragon charm protects me from any kind of weapons that try to pierce my body but I've tripped many times and still get hurt. I get bruises and at one point I got a cut from a thorny branch that violated my skin.
I get a rush of hot blood go through my body. This is dangerous. Do I trust Unferth? I don't think he realizes that I have weaknesses. I can't tell him my weakness or he could tell others. But if I stay quiet, then he might actually kill me. Would death be a bad thing though? Before I could get into another mental argument about my existence, my attention was shifted to rustling about 50 meters away. Unferth heard it too because his hands release from the rope and my lower back. He takes a couple of steps back and looks at me. I mouth, ¨Go!¨ He shook his head and I growled at him until he backed away from my loud sound, not wanting to be discovered. And it was a good thing he backed away, cause the guard patrol showed up from the bushels. Shit.
