Disclaimer: I own Beowulf because I went back in time and created this
story... Ya right
Grendel´s Story
Surely you don't know me, you may have heard of me, my name is Grendel by the way, but you don't know me. Let me tell you my story:
I am the only child to Lewkina, my grandmother was wife to a land-walker warlock, another one of the beings rejected by God Almighty and the world for their nature. Therefore, the female of our family are destined to the water and the male to the land, but it doesn't mean that we cannot go into the water or the female to land. My mother mated with her brother, so my father is my uncle. He never accepted the shame that I represented to him. You may call me a bastard because it is actually what I truly am.
I was born in the waters of the Baltic Sea, I came from by mother's womb and not from an egg as is the general belief. I passed my youth inside the water with my mother as my only companion. By the time I was 13, I could go on miles by my self, but I always returned to my mother. She was very harsh on me, and always left me to my own longer and longer as every day passed.
One of these days, as I was swimming, I saw a young man in the middle of the sea, fighting the waves, and alongside another man who easily swam by his side. They were both young and healthy, powerful muscles claimed their not completely grown arms.
I felt curiosity towards them, but as I sensed a storm approaching as only I can, I fled from the place to find my mother. Later, the next day, when I was alone again, I saw one of the men of the day before very much of-curse. I thought that maybe he was caught up in the storm. I saw as the strength slowly left him and he was left to only floating in the water and I took pity on him. By that time I was an innocent lass, I knew nothing of the loathing humans took to monsters. I helped the kid out of pity and a sense of wanting to do something good, little did I know that the food my mother gave me were these creatures themselves. I took the boy carefully in my teeth, and swam to the nearest land I thought of to be populated by these beings, the southern coast of Norway, or so the humans called it. The boy was too tired to notice who carried him, he was too much near fainting to notice who saved him. He only knew he had to thank what ever force kept him from drowning.
After many hours of swimming, I came upon a shore wish I knew not to be yet Norway, but suitable for resting a bit. I carefully put the human on the shore and went to fetch my mother and made a mental note to myself to return in the morning as the sun rose.
When I found my mother I was completely unprepared for the sight that met my eyes, I saw as she just snatched up one of those humans and killed it, turned it to shreds and started to eat it.
To say I was horrified is an understatement.
And she was just eating it as if it was the most normal thing in the world! There she was eating a human while I was saving one from dying!
Contrary to all common knowledge, we monsters are not stupid, at least not in the majority of the cases, or the same time of cases as if it was human. Quickly all thought as to tell my mother of my new human find, the adventure for the day, left my mind.
I suppose my face just betrayed my bewilderment too plainly, or had I stayed immobilized for too much a time. It was one of those times when you don't know how much time has passed.
"Grendel, stop standing there like an idiot and come and eat, the food will get putrefied even though you got here early today do you want to make up for lost time just standing there? "she said harshly
Suddenly out of my shock to come crashing to the real world, I had to ask the question
"Why did you do it? "
"Do what? "she retorted
"Kill that human!. Is that the food I eat every day? "I shouted to her near hysterics.
Big mistake.
Nobody. Nobody ever talks with Lewkina like that. Let alone shout!
She just looked up from her food with a calm face to anyone who did not know her. But wish I knew to be the face she wore on her angriest moments.
Again I was completely unprepared for what she did next
"How dare you..."she growled.
In a swift movement I found myself to be falling backwards into the walls of the cave with a great wound on my chest.
"Sorry" I managed to gasp out
"You idiot! How dare you speak to me that way! Humans are the most exquisite food a creature could ask for! I only want what is best for my child! "
"Sorry mother" I croaked out, even though I knew better than to think that would get me anywhere
"You are a bastard! And an ungrateful bastard at that! You should have never been born! There you are, like if you cared for humans. I thought you were intelligent, but it seems that the genes have deteriorated in your case. You worthless bastard. Have you taking a liking for a human my sweet child?" voice dripping with sarcasm, not good "I will let you eat for today, but tomorrow you shall bring me a human's heart"
There you go, the final sentence. I was actually shocked that I would get out so easily. The only thing I thought was that I would get some animal I found in the woods and bring her the heart of the thing, while I ate the rest and maybe even share it with that boy.
Only it didn't just work out that way
The next day, I went on my way and easily found a cow there by the water. The stupid animal didn't even know what hit her, I took out her intestines and her heart for my mother. Later I took what was left of the food and went back to the island. There I found that the human seemingly did not like the sun, he had made a hey shack and was sleeping in there. I went to him and told gently touched his face. It felt raw and hot. He must have a sunstroke, I thought. I put the meat by his side and brought some water in the caving of a fallen coconut tree from a near by river. I poured some water over him for some time and left it there to see if it healed him. Taking the heart of the animal, I left.
I presented my mother with the heart and waited.
"My son, do you think that I am so stupid not to notice that you didn't kill a human but some stupid cow? " she said after a while.
I was shocked for the second time in two days. I didn't even know she would notice
"My son, the difference between a human heart and an animal one, specially a cow is very simple, see the vesels here? Well in a human, they would be smaller and more hemispherical, in a cow, there are four stomachs, so the heart..... "
And so she went on with the lesson wish I knew that I better take in.
"...And so my son, that is why I shall have to accompany you to your next hunt"
And the number strikes to three ladies and gentleman, now we have just about the biggest number of times to be surprised (horribly) by Lewkina
That same night my mother virtually dragged me to a human village, everybody was asleep. There was a banquet hall full of unsuspecting sleeping forms. I had to kill every one of them except one who would recognize me as Grendel. The man was terrified of me. I hated that. But I told him who I was and ran away. It was the most miserable day of my life. That pang of guilt seemed to never leave me. It is not rare or weird what happened next.
The next day I asked my mother to give me the date of my birth. To all of our species it means that one wanted to be an adult, or in my case to be away from one's relatives
"Mother, I formally ask of you my date of birth"
Oh my God! What have I done?
"Child I think that you are in no conditions to knowing it. You are most definitely not an adult yet, and I don't expect you'll be for a very long time indeed"
That just made me angry
"Mother! I think that I am in perfect conditions of taking care of myself, and if you don't care to give me my birth, I shall have to resort to other options"
"And what do you mean by "other options" "she said laughingly
Before I knew it, my anger took my body, and within minutes, I had her body pinned down before me
"This options" I growled
She let me go with my birth, but warned me that I would never be loved or cared by anyone but herself. As if I cared.
I retuned to the island where that human lay. He had recovered after three days only. I was impressed. He was desperately trying to clutch at a fish, I supposed he had ran out of food.
"Hello there, here take this meat"
What happened next was very sudden, all I recall is seeing a blur of colour as he tried to pin me down. But he was still very weak from recovery I noticed. I could only understand his feelings. If suddenly saw a predator big enough to eat me coming out of the water, I would do the same. I could only laugh. And laugh I did.
"What are you laughing about monster, if you haven't noticed I have pinned you down"
I could only laugh harder. He tried to squeeze me, but he was too weak. After a while, I let him out of his misery, gently taking his arm of me.
"I'm not here to eat you boy, now calm down"
"If you are here so I can make a deal with the devil, then I must assure you that no, I will not serve your cause whatsoever and.. "
"Oh come on, I'm not a monster. Well.. actually I am, but it is not as if I would do that. If you have not noticed, I am the one who saved your life, you should be thankful"
He stared at me in shock. It was quite amusing to see him that way.
"You have permission to speak" I said sarcastically
"Sorry. I am usually accustomed to slaying monsters, not speaking to them in civil manners. My name is Beowulf" he said extending his paw
"My name is Grendel" I said repeating the gesture, not quite sure what to do with it, so I left in that position... I guess it was a custom of a sort
He took my hand in his and shook it as he said "Nice to meet you Grendel, and thank you for saving my life, I am in debt to you"
"Nah, keep it to yourself. So, are you going to eat or not?"
"It's not human flesh, is it?" He said as he eyed it warily
"Of course not! How could I? "
"Well, sorry, I just have to get used to you"
Well after a few days of recovering, I took him to land, I bid him farewell and told him that I would come back tomorrow for a chat. We were like that for a month until one day he told me he had to move on to his land and never see me again. I felt helpless and asked, no, begged him to stay, but he said that he could not. It is too painful to remember.
One day, he came back, it was after many years of my solitude and his famous and glorious achievements. Wish too many included killing some type of monster. Over the years, and the tales I heard, I started to despise him for doing so and still having me for a friend, or so I thought. He came with a company of men, all of whom were armed. I waited for night to come before I shook him to wake with a claw over his mouth, he got up and whispering I told him to follow. Once we were out of hearing and sight range of the other men, I started speaking
"So long, how have you come to this? "
"To what? Don't tell me that you have not, once in your life eaten a human, because I know it is not true. I came here in pursuit of you because of a banquet you trashed some years ago. "
"You mean that you are here to kill me? " I bellowed, angry at him
"Yes, but shut up. You will wake my companions. "
"Yes, I will, it will be the best thing for you, wont it? Why have you not killed me yet? " I said in a low angry voice
"Because I wanted to know what happened"
"I'm a monster, isn't that all you need to know? "
"You are not only a monster, you are my friend and I owe my life to you"
"Yea, and this is a really good way of demonstrating it"
"Yes but tell me. Why? "
"No, you tell me, why did you kill so many of my family. Was there nothing in your heart that made you remember that we are not all that hard to deal with. You just have to talk to us and we might even get to an agreement"
"I thought of that, but the people wouldn't even think about it"
"Yes, that is exactly what I thought, the only reason you ever did that was because of the fame it would get you! " I shouted. But I was not so lucky this time a man got up and started alerting the others. In a matter of seconds, they had their weapons in front of them, my magic skin was not formed yet, so I could get hurt badly with those weapons. I would have died there if it were not for Beowulf: he told the others to lay down. But before I escaped, I turned around and said: "Consider your debt paid, you do not owe me your life anymore"
I ran. Many years passed and one day in the land of the Geats, wish was my residence back then, I found a crying baby. She looked like a three year old, and even though my broken friendship with Beowulf had made me to despise humans, I felt pity on her and took her to my care, because she seemed so abandoned.
I saw as she grew over the years. I raided nearby towns to look for clothing for her and suitable food (not the humans of course, but what they ate). I did not care for any other human than her. She was my life. I could even say that she was like my daughter because she even called me "father". Even if she knew it wasn't true.
One day as she was 13 years old. She came to me in a terrified manner just after dawn.
"Father! I don't know what is happening to me. I'm bleeding! What is happening to me?"
I got completely out of control as I desperately searched my mind for an option but I couldn't find any. I went out after telling my daughter to lie down and wait. I could only think of two people I could turn to: my mother and Beowulf. I figured that my mother would most likely not have an answer as she was from a different species as my human girl.
I made my decision and made a journey to were I heard he was at the time
Once again I waited for the night to wake Beowulf. After he recognized me I started to speak.
"Beowulf, I must turn to you as my only human helper. My daughter is bleeding for some reason and I need you or some one to check on her a doctor of yours"
"Wait, you have a daughter? Why do you turn to me and not to your kindred? What would a nurse know about the body of a monster?"
"My daughter is a human child, unlike me. Please help me"
"All right, I will. But you have to tell me later how that happened."
I took them to my lair. Beowulf had found a nurse of his confidence and told her I was victim of some dark magic by a sorceress. My daughter was in the same position I had left her. She was sleeping and I woke her up.
When the sleep left her eyes and she was aware of the people behind me, she quickly hid behind my back staring with wide eyes the new creatures she had never seen before. When realization of what horrors were plaguing the mind of my girl, I softly told her that they were just humans and they would help her.
The nurse stepped up and examined my daughter. And while she did, I waited outside with Beowulf. He saw me with curious eyes as I passed worriedly.
"What are you looking at?"
"Just wondering how could you produce such a beautiful being, being as ugly as yourself?"
"Gee, thank you for the compliment"
"No charge"
I grunted
"So, tell me, how did it happen?"
"If you must know, I love her as if she was mine, but her antecestors are not those of Cain."
"You mean that you adopted her?"
"In a way, yes"
"You know, she is growing, she needs to live with her own."
"No she does not, she is perfectly happy were she is."
"Look at the way she reacted to us, don't you think that she should have another kind of company? As charming as you are, of course" he added with what he passed as humour
"She shall live with me always and only me. I will not have her turn into one of those stupid village women" I growled
He kept quiet after that.
At last the nurse got out after what felt like hours.
"She is in healthy condition, what happened is that she is now a woman and must face community as one. I already had a talk with her about her new responsibilities and privileges that this means"
I fought the urge to ripe her to shreds: I was worried here, and she was all but talking in there. And about "society" no less. But I chose to say "Miss. I assure you that she will need nothing of the sort, but thank you for your kindness"
Later that day, my daughter came to me
"Father, I am curious as to society"-I flinched inwardly, the word sounded so alien in her lips-"I want to go there"
"No"
"But"
"No buts"
That night, Beowulf took my daughter while I was sleeping, causing me to hate him with renewed forces. The worst of it all is that, deep down; I knew that it was the best for her. All I wanted was for her to be happy, and if being away from be is what it took, then so be it. But to me, my daughter had just died, and Beowulf had killed her. __ Some time passed. I looked for my daughter everywhere for 3 years and finally found her in a remote village.
I almost didn't recognize her; she looked like if she had lived there her whole life! She wore a dress and her blond hair was combed. All in all, she was still my little girl. I followed her to what seemed to be her house and waited until it was night time.
"Father!" she said when she saw me. After the momentary shock, she started running to my outstretched arms to give me a hug.
"I missed you so much my little beauty, why did you leave me?"
"Oh father, I never left you, I was kidnapped by your friend"
"Friend" I scoffed "Friends don't kidnap their friend's daughters; I will kill him for this. Come on get your things, we are leaving"
"No father"
I was startled. I had certainly not expected that answer
"I wanted to try out society, so I did. I have tried hard to fit in, and I never have been one to leave my goals. Besides, I think I'm already getting the hang of it"
I considered her answer. I knew she was determined, I had found that out on many number of times during her childhood. When she set her goals to something, she finished them. I suddenly remembered when she started climbing trees, no matter how many times she fell; she would always get up and try again. In the mean time, almost worrying me to death and giving me a bad case of continuous migraines. Her determination was admirable, but humans were stupid creatures. All except my daughter of course, I hoped I had raised it out of her. Society was a concept wish humanity was not ready for. Society was still not existent, but humans preferred to pretend it did, I noticed.
"This is not society my beauty, this is just a small village were people don't know their right hand from their left. They are stupid, uncultured and cruel, you do not need to be here"
"Then I shall learn what and how they think. I will become one of them and then I will choose"
"They do not think!" I shouted
"Lower your voice father, the neighbours will think I'm being unfaithful to my husband"
"Husband!"
"Yes, my husband, every woman needs one you know?"
"How did that happen?"
"Well, it was very sudden. I had just come to town with Beowulf and the lady nurse, when he left us and I stayed with the lady for a while"
"Yes, well that doesn't explain anything"
She continued as if I hadn't interrupted
"After that, the lady became very strict and started teaching me manners and nursing skills, she said that I should have learned this long ago and that a woman's only occupation should be the well being of her husband"
I seethed and boiled in hatred for that wench. She was the principal cause for this. Now I knew the reason she had a husband. It was the only idea that was pounded into her for 3 years. Now I see the reason for village girl's stupidity. They were taught not to think, just to be mindless slaves of their husbands.
"This caused me problems, since I had never gone out in the open. I did not know the first thing about men. I told her the nurse of this and she said it was already taken care of. I was confused. Shouldn't the bride be the one to choose her husband? But it seems that it's only a fiction and that usually the first man to ask for marriage to the girl's parents was the husband. The bride had no say in this. I told her that she wasn't my parent and that they should look for you and ask you, but then I got a good beating and I shut up after that" she said with a wince as she recalled the memories
As she spoke, I was almost ready to get out of the house and kill that woman who had dared touch my girl. I was furious, but my love for my daughter and a large curiosity kept me to hear the rest of her story
"By then I think two years had passed and 3 or 4 months. I still had to learn more about how to be a "proper" girl. I had learned everything there was to know about the house, but I wanted to get outside, so I waited until she slept and crept out of the house. I saw through the windows of another house a married couple. The woman was doing some shores when her husband came behind her and started kissing her. She left everything she was doing and gave her complete attention to her husband. They seemed happy and they both seemed to like it. I decided I had seen enough and left to my house. I wanted to know how that was like..."
At that point, we heard footsteps outside. My daughter quickly looked through the door and then looked at me in a horror stricken face
"Father get out, he is coming" she whispered
"Who?" I asked in an equally hushed tone, though I already knew, I just wanted to know why my daughter was so afraid
"My husband father, now go"
She pushed me out the window and I hid in the shadows of the night.
What happened there is one of the main reasons that my despise to humans turned to hate. First of all, I was not very impressed with him. He was drunk and slobbering fat. But that was not what shocked me the most.
He stumbled through the door and brusquely raised himself to his full height.
"Where is my food?" he bellowed
"We have no food, honey, you were supposed to bring some today" she gently told him
"No food? What kind of a house wife are you?" he shouted at her
"I'm sorry"
"Sorry is not good enough. I kill myself working and then when I get home I'm still supposed to do wife shores like buy stuff."
"But we have no money and you don't like me leaving the house"
"No excuses!" he shouted, and proceeded to hit my daughter across the face
I hated him there at that instant. Who was this slobbering fool to lay a hand on her? From what I saw he was a lazy drunk and expected his wife to do everything against all odds. Even if my daughter could work, how was she going to do that if he did not let her out of the house? This idiot should not be drinking in some tavern but working. This was a slobbering fool I intended to kill. So I got closer to the window and was about to enter. But my daughter saw me and mouthed to me not to.
"I'm leaving this place. Maybe I will come back tomorrow"
And he left. To that tavern surely.
My daughter opened the window and I entered. I was furious with that man and I intended to take my daughter home.
"We are leaving after you tell me how did you end up with that"
"Well, he was the nurse's son and I suppose he was the only one for me"
I looked at her. The angry red mark where her husband hit her was there.
"He hit you. He does not deserve you"
"Every man hits his wife when she is not good. That is normal"
"No, it is not. Are you happy?"
I don't think she expected that question. She looked startled for a moment and then pensive. She opened her mouth to answer, but at that moment the door opened and her husband came through. He saw me. I saw him. His eyes widened in fright and he started yelling and running as my face turned into a sneer of hate. He didn't get very far of. I caught him by the foot and would have killed him if a voice hadn't stopped me.
"Father don't!"
I looked at her.
"You are not happy with this man, he has caused you pain"
"I am happy"
"No you are not. If you don't come with me, I will kill him"
"All right, I will go with you, but let him go"
I lowered him to the floor
"You have until tomorrow to pack your things. We will lea..."
"No!"
It was the man. I looked at him how dare he interrupt me.
"Penethelle is my wife"
"Penethelle? Is that the name humans gave you my daughter?" I asked
"Yes, the nurse chose it"
"You are his daughter? He is your father? I wondered were your family was. I thought you were an orphan. No wonder you had never been seen around here before. A great beauty like you would surely have many proposals, I should have known you where a demon that came from the earth"
"So now you say I'm beautiful, when you think I'm a demon? I think I should have left you long ago. But I am not a demon nor did I lure you into my trap. I am a girl who is miserable and wishes to leave this stinking place you call society, Ha!"
I was proud of her. She was coming with me and putting this man in his place.
"I am leaving and I forsake this place. If you do anything to me, the whole human race will have my father to answer to"
"Are you threatening me?"
"No, she is just stating the facts" I cut in
I turned with my daughter to her house
"Oh, and don't bother to follow us, your house will be available to you once my daughter is ready to leave, not before"
I left my daughter to gather her things. I told her I would be back in two days, as I needed to find a suitable place to live in. But when I came back, she was not there.
__ I waited until night time had passed and took a drunk out of the local tavern.
"Do you know where that who you call Penethelle is?"
"Penethelle?" he said uncomprehendingly
"Yes, I think you may know her husband. She is a blond, small, beautiful girl"
"Oh! Drunken Bob's wife?
Even drunks called that man a drunk!
"Yes him, answer me"
"That girly was a beauty. Tis' a shame really"
"What?" I was getting impatient
"She was the daughter of a demon. She was hanged this afternoon for witchcraft. I don't know how we didn't see the evidence before. She was always as tempting as whore. She was..."
He never got to finish that sentence. I killed him and left the body to rot. I went to the town plaza. I didn't want to believe what I had just heard. But the evidence was there, clear as day. I just stared as her body hung lifelessly from that rope. I howled in rage, despair, anger, sadness and pain that tore at my heart. I started to methodically kill every human I could find, just like my mother taught me. I killed every one of them and tore down their houses. These beings did not deserve to live.
The next day, I took down the body of my daughter and buried her. I gave her all the honours I could and vowed revenge on the human race.
And so I left with my shattered heart. I left to the land of the Danes to rest. I hated the world. I wanted nothing but to be left alone. Then, that party comes to ruin my sleep. I was blinded with rage. This is what these humans call society? Brawling and becoming drunk and then coming home to their wives to hit them?. I went to that party after they were sleeping and snatched up thirty men, finding a strange enjoyment in the killing and relief of the pain that burdened me at other's expense.
I love to kill. I love chaos. I hate human kind with only one exception wish was lost to me...
___ Damn him to hell...what a fool I was to forget about him. Of course he'd still see through me and know me for who I once was. He had always seen through me.
Why was he at that party that I raided?!
It was a celebration of some sort and of course, I had to destroy it along with the happiness that came with it. Happiness is quite a disgusting thing. Very disgusting. Wasting all their time on drinking alcoholic drinks, talking, and having a good time while they should be working. As well, they should be more weary and scared of what might happen to them. I was going to try and destroy every single bit of happiness I find...they should fear me.
But that will come in time. After all, I have been only terrorizing for the past 12 years and I had just only started to let myself be known to the world. They didn't properly know the danger that they were in from me yet. But I will make them know and no one will have joy anymore. I would personally love to crush everyone's joy.
That's why I went to that party and so many others before that.
Yet that fool, Beowulf was there and stopped the worst of the attack.
When I arrived at the party, everyone started to panic as I started to crush and kill people. Destroying other people's happiness is the most wonderful thing that one can do. Why did they deserve the happiness that I could never have?! It's so joyous to see others scream and yell, desperately trying to save their lives.
But then HE appeared. He yelled out "Stop!" and amazingly everyone stopped, even me. I wondered who could've possibly done that, but then he stepped out of the crowd and looked at me...
At that moment, I wanted to run and hide for the idiot man looked at me with such pity in his eyes that it disgusted me. Why pity?! I don't want pity. Pity is for people who can't do anything for themselves. Pity was for the people who had no where to go...
Why was he looking at me like that?!
I was panicking in my head, knowing that he was a powerful man...but to all outward appearances, I tried to keep a calm appearance.
But the stupid man started to talk to me.
"Grendel..."
"What are you doing? What have you done to yourself?"
In a panicked voice, that I thought I did not possess, I retorted, "I am not the person you think I am! I'm not some stupid little child. I am Grendel the Great and I will kill you!"
Taking out my claw, I tried to rip the man apart, but was stopped in crunch by a full body bind arm.
Beowulf was quicker with his reflexes than I remembered at the beach as his experience showed. After all, he was the one that defeated Grindelwald. But I was more powerful than that snake who had terrorized the world when I was young. I broke the grip easily after a few seconds.
Glaring at him, I cast my killing claw at him, but he had disappeared before it reached him. I smiled, thinking that I was too much for him and that he had run away from me.
But I heard a soft laugh from behind me. I thought that no one was there for everyone had taken advantage of Beowulf distracting me and escaped. I would've escaped by now, but as I turned around to see the source of the laughter, I saw him.
Of course, it was the stupid man. He was LAUGHING at me.
"Stop laughing at me, stupid man!"
"Calm down, Grendel. You're just the same as always. Temperamental."
"I am NOT temperamental!"
Disgustingly calm, he raised his arm and ripped my arm apart. I quickly blocked anything else happening to me, but it got through and hit me. I cried out in pain and fell, the pain taking me by surprise. I quickly got up and tried to grasp him with my teeth, but he was gone before that got there as well.
"Dammit, stop dodging and fight!"
There was no answer...he had left, but I knew it was not because he was scared. Beowulf never did seem to be predictable...maybe he was waiting for something...looking around I see he was still there, looking at me...The place where my arm was supposed to be tinged with pain. Holding my side, I fled from there, knowing that I was beaten like a insolent child and that's all he seemed to think of me at the time.
Now that I am escaping, I realize that I am dying, and it is the most blissful thing that there could happen to me. I go to the lake seeking a last reunion with my mother, who I had not seen in so many years, and there, in the lake, beautiful and terrible as always, she was.
"What do I owe to this visit of yours after so many y... "
I suppose that she finally saw my wound
"Oh, Grendel, what has happened to you? You look terrible! My son, I... have no words to say"
"Mother, I am dying this is not just a wound, it is the door to my soul, I came to you because of that, and to let you know that I love you, as I always have, you are my mother and always will be... "
"Grendel, I am honoured to have you visiting me, of all people in your deathbed, stop talking after telling me who did this to you"
"Beowulf of the Geats, but he only gave me freedom mother, don't worry mother, it doesn't hurt anymore, I will go to hell with our father Cain, and together we shall plague his nights in the form of a fire dragon"
"Grendel! "
"Do not ... cry"
I cannot speak anymore, I hear my mother crying in the distance, I see nothing, only darkness enveloping me. This are my last words, and even if nobody hears them, only I shall know they were being said.
Grendel´s Story
Surely you don't know me, you may have heard of me, my name is Grendel by the way, but you don't know me. Let me tell you my story:
I am the only child to Lewkina, my grandmother was wife to a land-walker warlock, another one of the beings rejected by God Almighty and the world for their nature. Therefore, the female of our family are destined to the water and the male to the land, but it doesn't mean that we cannot go into the water or the female to land. My mother mated with her brother, so my father is my uncle. He never accepted the shame that I represented to him. You may call me a bastard because it is actually what I truly am.
I was born in the waters of the Baltic Sea, I came from by mother's womb and not from an egg as is the general belief. I passed my youth inside the water with my mother as my only companion. By the time I was 13, I could go on miles by my self, but I always returned to my mother. She was very harsh on me, and always left me to my own longer and longer as every day passed.
One of these days, as I was swimming, I saw a young man in the middle of the sea, fighting the waves, and alongside another man who easily swam by his side. They were both young and healthy, powerful muscles claimed their not completely grown arms.
I felt curiosity towards them, but as I sensed a storm approaching as only I can, I fled from the place to find my mother. Later, the next day, when I was alone again, I saw one of the men of the day before very much of-curse. I thought that maybe he was caught up in the storm. I saw as the strength slowly left him and he was left to only floating in the water and I took pity on him. By that time I was an innocent lass, I knew nothing of the loathing humans took to monsters. I helped the kid out of pity and a sense of wanting to do something good, little did I know that the food my mother gave me were these creatures themselves. I took the boy carefully in my teeth, and swam to the nearest land I thought of to be populated by these beings, the southern coast of Norway, or so the humans called it. The boy was too tired to notice who carried him, he was too much near fainting to notice who saved him. He only knew he had to thank what ever force kept him from drowning.
After many hours of swimming, I came upon a shore wish I knew not to be yet Norway, but suitable for resting a bit. I carefully put the human on the shore and went to fetch my mother and made a mental note to myself to return in the morning as the sun rose.
When I found my mother I was completely unprepared for the sight that met my eyes, I saw as she just snatched up one of those humans and killed it, turned it to shreds and started to eat it.
To say I was horrified is an understatement.
And she was just eating it as if it was the most normal thing in the world! There she was eating a human while I was saving one from dying!
Contrary to all common knowledge, we monsters are not stupid, at least not in the majority of the cases, or the same time of cases as if it was human. Quickly all thought as to tell my mother of my new human find, the adventure for the day, left my mind.
I suppose my face just betrayed my bewilderment too plainly, or had I stayed immobilized for too much a time. It was one of those times when you don't know how much time has passed.
"Grendel, stop standing there like an idiot and come and eat, the food will get putrefied even though you got here early today do you want to make up for lost time just standing there? "she said harshly
Suddenly out of my shock to come crashing to the real world, I had to ask the question
"Why did you do it? "
"Do what? "she retorted
"Kill that human!. Is that the food I eat every day? "I shouted to her near hysterics.
Big mistake.
Nobody. Nobody ever talks with Lewkina like that. Let alone shout!
She just looked up from her food with a calm face to anyone who did not know her. But wish I knew to be the face she wore on her angriest moments.
Again I was completely unprepared for what she did next
"How dare you..."she growled.
In a swift movement I found myself to be falling backwards into the walls of the cave with a great wound on my chest.
"Sorry" I managed to gasp out
"You idiot! How dare you speak to me that way! Humans are the most exquisite food a creature could ask for! I only want what is best for my child! "
"Sorry mother" I croaked out, even though I knew better than to think that would get me anywhere
"You are a bastard! And an ungrateful bastard at that! You should have never been born! There you are, like if you cared for humans. I thought you were intelligent, but it seems that the genes have deteriorated in your case. You worthless bastard. Have you taking a liking for a human my sweet child?" voice dripping with sarcasm, not good "I will let you eat for today, but tomorrow you shall bring me a human's heart"
There you go, the final sentence. I was actually shocked that I would get out so easily. The only thing I thought was that I would get some animal I found in the woods and bring her the heart of the thing, while I ate the rest and maybe even share it with that boy.
Only it didn't just work out that way
The next day, I went on my way and easily found a cow there by the water. The stupid animal didn't even know what hit her, I took out her intestines and her heart for my mother. Later I took what was left of the food and went back to the island. There I found that the human seemingly did not like the sun, he had made a hey shack and was sleeping in there. I went to him and told gently touched his face. It felt raw and hot. He must have a sunstroke, I thought. I put the meat by his side and brought some water in the caving of a fallen coconut tree from a near by river. I poured some water over him for some time and left it there to see if it healed him. Taking the heart of the animal, I left.
I presented my mother with the heart and waited.
"My son, do you think that I am so stupid not to notice that you didn't kill a human but some stupid cow? " she said after a while.
I was shocked for the second time in two days. I didn't even know she would notice
"My son, the difference between a human heart and an animal one, specially a cow is very simple, see the vesels here? Well in a human, they would be smaller and more hemispherical, in a cow, there are four stomachs, so the heart..... "
And so she went on with the lesson wish I knew that I better take in.
"...And so my son, that is why I shall have to accompany you to your next hunt"
And the number strikes to three ladies and gentleman, now we have just about the biggest number of times to be surprised (horribly) by Lewkina
That same night my mother virtually dragged me to a human village, everybody was asleep. There was a banquet hall full of unsuspecting sleeping forms. I had to kill every one of them except one who would recognize me as Grendel. The man was terrified of me. I hated that. But I told him who I was and ran away. It was the most miserable day of my life. That pang of guilt seemed to never leave me. It is not rare or weird what happened next.
The next day I asked my mother to give me the date of my birth. To all of our species it means that one wanted to be an adult, or in my case to be away from one's relatives
"Mother, I formally ask of you my date of birth"
Oh my God! What have I done?
"Child I think that you are in no conditions to knowing it. You are most definitely not an adult yet, and I don't expect you'll be for a very long time indeed"
That just made me angry
"Mother! I think that I am in perfect conditions of taking care of myself, and if you don't care to give me my birth, I shall have to resort to other options"
"And what do you mean by "other options" "she said laughingly
Before I knew it, my anger took my body, and within minutes, I had her body pinned down before me
"This options" I growled
She let me go with my birth, but warned me that I would never be loved or cared by anyone but herself. As if I cared.
I retuned to the island where that human lay. He had recovered after three days only. I was impressed. He was desperately trying to clutch at a fish, I supposed he had ran out of food.
"Hello there, here take this meat"
What happened next was very sudden, all I recall is seeing a blur of colour as he tried to pin me down. But he was still very weak from recovery I noticed. I could only understand his feelings. If suddenly saw a predator big enough to eat me coming out of the water, I would do the same. I could only laugh. And laugh I did.
"What are you laughing about monster, if you haven't noticed I have pinned you down"
I could only laugh harder. He tried to squeeze me, but he was too weak. After a while, I let him out of his misery, gently taking his arm of me.
"I'm not here to eat you boy, now calm down"
"If you are here so I can make a deal with the devil, then I must assure you that no, I will not serve your cause whatsoever and.. "
"Oh come on, I'm not a monster. Well.. actually I am, but it is not as if I would do that. If you have not noticed, I am the one who saved your life, you should be thankful"
He stared at me in shock. It was quite amusing to see him that way.
"You have permission to speak" I said sarcastically
"Sorry. I am usually accustomed to slaying monsters, not speaking to them in civil manners. My name is Beowulf" he said extending his paw
"My name is Grendel" I said repeating the gesture, not quite sure what to do with it, so I left in that position... I guess it was a custom of a sort
He took my hand in his and shook it as he said "Nice to meet you Grendel, and thank you for saving my life, I am in debt to you"
"Nah, keep it to yourself. So, are you going to eat or not?"
"It's not human flesh, is it?" He said as he eyed it warily
"Of course not! How could I? "
"Well, sorry, I just have to get used to you"
Well after a few days of recovering, I took him to land, I bid him farewell and told him that I would come back tomorrow for a chat. We were like that for a month until one day he told me he had to move on to his land and never see me again. I felt helpless and asked, no, begged him to stay, but he said that he could not. It is too painful to remember.
One day, he came back, it was after many years of my solitude and his famous and glorious achievements. Wish too many included killing some type of monster. Over the years, and the tales I heard, I started to despise him for doing so and still having me for a friend, or so I thought. He came with a company of men, all of whom were armed. I waited for night to come before I shook him to wake with a claw over his mouth, he got up and whispering I told him to follow. Once we were out of hearing and sight range of the other men, I started speaking
"So long, how have you come to this? "
"To what? Don't tell me that you have not, once in your life eaten a human, because I know it is not true. I came here in pursuit of you because of a banquet you trashed some years ago. "
"You mean that you are here to kill me? " I bellowed, angry at him
"Yes, but shut up. You will wake my companions. "
"Yes, I will, it will be the best thing for you, wont it? Why have you not killed me yet? " I said in a low angry voice
"Because I wanted to know what happened"
"I'm a monster, isn't that all you need to know? "
"You are not only a monster, you are my friend and I owe my life to you"
"Yea, and this is a really good way of demonstrating it"
"Yes but tell me. Why? "
"No, you tell me, why did you kill so many of my family. Was there nothing in your heart that made you remember that we are not all that hard to deal with. You just have to talk to us and we might even get to an agreement"
"I thought of that, but the people wouldn't even think about it"
"Yes, that is exactly what I thought, the only reason you ever did that was because of the fame it would get you! " I shouted. But I was not so lucky this time a man got up and started alerting the others. In a matter of seconds, they had their weapons in front of them, my magic skin was not formed yet, so I could get hurt badly with those weapons. I would have died there if it were not for Beowulf: he told the others to lay down. But before I escaped, I turned around and said: "Consider your debt paid, you do not owe me your life anymore"
I ran. Many years passed and one day in the land of the Geats, wish was my residence back then, I found a crying baby. She looked like a three year old, and even though my broken friendship with Beowulf had made me to despise humans, I felt pity on her and took her to my care, because she seemed so abandoned.
I saw as she grew over the years. I raided nearby towns to look for clothing for her and suitable food (not the humans of course, but what they ate). I did not care for any other human than her. She was my life. I could even say that she was like my daughter because she even called me "father". Even if she knew it wasn't true.
One day as she was 13 years old. She came to me in a terrified manner just after dawn.
"Father! I don't know what is happening to me. I'm bleeding! What is happening to me?"
I got completely out of control as I desperately searched my mind for an option but I couldn't find any. I went out after telling my daughter to lie down and wait. I could only think of two people I could turn to: my mother and Beowulf. I figured that my mother would most likely not have an answer as she was from a different species as my human girl.
I made my decision and made a journey to were I heard he was at the time
Once again I waited for the night to wake Beowulf. After he recognized me I started to speak.
"Beowulf, I must turn to you as my only human helper. My daughter is bleeding for some reason and I need you or some one to check on her a doctor of yours"
"Wait, you have a daughter? Why do you turn to me and not to your kindred? What would a nurse know about the body of a monster?"
"My daughter is a human child, unlike me. Please help me"
"All right, I will. But you have to tell me later how that happened."
I took them to my lair. Beowulf had found a nurse of his confidence and told her I was victim of some dark magic by a sorceress. My daughter was in the same position I had left her. She was sleeping and I woke her up.
When the sleep left her eyes and she was aware of the people behind me, she quickly hid behind my back staring with wide eyes the new creatures she had never seen before. When realization of what horrors were plaguing the mind of my girl, I softly told her that they were just humans and they would help her.
The nurse stepped up and examined my daughter. And while she did, I waited outside with Beowulf. He saw me with curious eyes as I passed worriedly.
"What are you looking at?"
"Just wondering how could you produce such a beautiful being, being as ugly as yourself?"
"Gee, thank you for the compliment"
"No charge"
I grunted
"So, tell me, how did it happen?"
"If you must know, I love her as if she was mine, but her antecestors are not those of Cain."
"You mean that you adopted her?"
"In a way, yes"
"You know, she is growing, she needs to live with her own."
"No she does not, she is perfectly happy were she is."
"Look at the way she reacted to us, don't you think that she should have another kind of company? As charming as you are, of course" he added with what he passed as humour
"She shall live with me always and only me. I will not have her turn into one of those stupid village women" I growled
He kept quiet after that.
At last the nurse got out after what felt like hours.
"She is in healthy condition, what happened is that she is now a woman and must face community as one. I already had a talk with her about her new responsibilities and privileges that this means"
I fought the urge to ripe her to shreds: I was worried here, and she was all but talking in there. And about "society" no less. But I chose to say "Miss. I assure you that she will need nothing of the sort, but thank you for your kindness"
Later that day, my daughter came to me
"Father, I am curious as to society"-I flinched inwardly, the word sounded so alien in her lips-"I want to go there"
"No"
"But"
"No buts"
That night, Beowulf took my daughter while I was sleeping, causing me to hate him with renewed forces. The worst of it all is that, deep down; I knew that it was the best for her. All I wanted was for her to be happy, and if being away from be is what it took, then so be it. But to me, my daughter had just died, and Beowulf had killed her. __ Some time passed. I looked for my daughter everywhere for 3 years and finally found her in a remote village.
I almost didn't recognize her; she looked like if she had lived there her whole life! She wore a dress and her blond hair was combed. All in all, she was still my little girl. I followed her to what seemed to be her house and waited until it was night time.
"Father!" she said when she saw me. After the momentary shock, she started running to my outstretched arms to give me a hug.
"I missed you so much my little beauty, why did you leave me?"
"Oh father, I never left you, I was kidnapped by your friend"
"Friend" I scoffed "Friends don't kidnap their friend's daughters; I will kill him for this. Come on get your things, we are leaving"
"No father"
I was startled. I had certainly not expected that answer
"I wanted to try out society, so I did. I have tried hard to fit in, and I never have been one to leave my goals. Besides, I think I'm already getting the hang of it"
I considered her answer. I knew she was determined, I had found that out on many number of times during her childhood. When she set her goals to something, she finished them. I suddenly remembered when she started climbing trees, no matter how many times she fell; she would always get up and try again. In the mean time, almost worrying me to death and giving me a bad case of continuous migraines. Her determination was admirable, but humans were stupid creatures. All except my daughter of course, I hoped I had raised it out of her. Society was a concept wish humanity was not ready for. Society was still not existent, but humans preferred to pretend it did, I noticed.
"This is not society my beauty, this is just a small village were people don't know their right hand from their left. They are stupid, uncultured and cruel, you do not need to be here"
"Then I shall learn what and how they think. I will become one of them and then I will choose"
"They do not think!" I shouted
"Lower your voice father, the neighbours will think I'm being unfaithful to my husband"
"Husband!"
"Yes, my husband, every woman needs one you know?"
"How did that happen?"
"Well, it was very sudden. I had just come to town with Beowulf and the lady nurse, when he left us and I stayed with the lady for a while"
"Yes, well that doesn't explain anything"
She continued as if I hadn't interrupted
"After that, the lady became very strict and started teaching me manners and nursing skills, she said that I should have learned this long ago and that a woman's only occupation should be the well being of her husband"
I seethed and boiled in hatred for that wench. She was the principal cause for this. Now I knew the reason she had a husband. It was the only idea that was pounded into her for 3 years. Now I see the reason for village girl's stupidity. They were taught not to think, just to be mindless slaves of their husbands.
"This caused me problems, since I had never gone out in the open. I did not know the first thing about men. I told her the nurse of this and she said it was already taken care of. I was confused. Shouldn't the bride be the one to choose her husband? But it seems that it's only a fiction and that usually the first man to ask for marriage to the girl's parents was the husband. The bride had no say in this. I told her that she wasn't my parent and that they should look for you and ask you, but then I got a good beating and I shut up after that" she said with a wince as she recalled the memories
As she spoke, I was almost ready to get out of the house and kill that woman who had dared touch my girl. I was furious, but my love for my daughter and a large curiosity kept me to hear the rest of her story
"By then I think two years had passed and 3 or 4 months. I still had to learn more about how to be a "proper" girl. I had learned everything there was to know about the house, but I wanted to get outside, so I waited until she slept and crept out of the house. I saw through the windows of another house a married couple. The woman was doing some shores when her husband came behind her and started kissing her. She left everything she was doing and gave her complete attention to her husband. They seemed happy and they both seemed to like it. I decided I had seen enough and left to my house. I wanted to know how that was like..."
At that point, we heard footsteps outside. My daughter quickly looked through the door and then looked at me in a horror stricken face
"Father get out, he is coming" she whispered
"Who?" I asked in an equally hushed tone, though I already knew, I just wanted to know why my daughter was so afraid
"My husband father, now go"
She pushed me out the window and I hid in the shadows of the night.
What happened there is one of the main reasons that my despise to humans turned to hate. First of all, I was not very impressed with him. He was drunk and slobbering fat. But that was not what shocked me the most.
He stumbled through the door and brusquely raised himself to his full height.
"Where is my food?" he bellowed
"We have no food, honey, you were supposed to bring some today" she gently told him
"No food? What kind of a house wife are you?" he shouted at her
"I'm sorry"
"Sorry is not good enough. I kill myself working and then when I get home I'm still supposed to do wife shores like buy stuff."
"But we have no money and you don't like me leaving the house"
"No excuses!" he shouted, and proceeded to hit my daughter across the face
I hated him there at that instant. Who was this slobbering fool to lay a hand on her? From what I saw he was a lazy drunk and expected his wife to do everything against all odds. Even if my daughter could work, how was she going to do that if he did not let her out of the house? This idiot should not be drinking in some tavern but working. This was a slobbering fool I intended to kill. So I got closer to the window and was about to enter. But my daughter saw me and mouthed to me not to.
"I'm leaving this place. Maybe I will come back tomorrow"
And he left. To that tavern surely.
My daughter opened the window and I entered. I was furious with that man and I intended to take my daughter home.
"We are leaving after you tell me how did you end up with that"
"Well, he was the nurse's son and I suppose he was the only one for me"
I looked at her. The angry red mark where her husband hit her was there.
"He hit you. He does not deserve you"
"Every man hits his wife when she is not good. That is normal"
"No, it is not. Are you happy?"
I don't think she expected that question. She looked startled for a moment and then pensive. She opened her mouth to answer, but at that moment the door opened and her husband came through. He saw me. I saw him. His eyes widened in fright and he started yelling and running as my face turned into a sneer of hate. He didn't get very far of. I caught him by the foot and would have killed him if a voice hadn't stopped me.
"Father don't!"
I looked at her.
"You are not happy with this man, he has caused you pain"
"I am happy"
"No you are not. If you don't come with me, I will kill him"
"All right, I will go with you, but let him go"
I lowered him to the floor
"You have until tomorrow to pack your things. We will lea..."
"No!"
It was the man. I looked at him how dare he interrupt me.
"Penethelle is my wife"
"Penethelle? Is that the name humans gave you my daughter?" I asked
"Yes, the nurse chose it"
"You are his daughter? He is your father? I wondered were your family was. I thought you were an orphan. No wonder you had never been seen around here before. A great beauty like you would surely have many proposals, I should have known you where a demon that came from the earth"
"So now you say I'm beautiful, when you think I'm a demon? I think I should have left you long ago. But I am not a demon nor did I lure you into my trap. I am a girl who is miserable and wishes to leave this stinking place you call society, Ha!"
I was proud of her. She was coming with me and putting this man in his place.
"I am leaving and I forsake this place. If you do anything to me, the whole human race will have my father to answer to"
"Are you threatening me?"
"No, she is just stating the facts" I cut in
I turned with my daughter to her house
"Oh, and don't bother to follow us, your house will be available to you once my daughter is ready to leave, not before"
I left my daughter to gather her things. I told her I would be back in two days, as I needed to find a suitable place to live in. But when I came back, she was not there.
__ I waited until night time had passed and took a drunk out of the local tavern.
"Do you know where that who you call Penethelle is?"
"Penethelle?" he said uncomprehendingly
"Yes, I think you may know her husband. She is a blond, small, beautiful girl"
"Oh! Drunken Bob's wife?
Even drunks called that man a drunk!
"Yes him, answer me"
"That girly was a beauty. Tis' a shame really"
"What?" I was getting impatient
"She was the daughter of a demon. She was hanged this afternoon for witchcraft. I don't know how we didn't see the evidence before. She was always as tempting as whore. She was..."
He never got to finish that sentence. I killed him and left the body to rot. I went to the town plaza. I didn't want to believe what I had just heard. But the evidence was there, clear as day. I just stared as her body hung lifelessly from that rope. I howled in rage, despair, anger, sadness and pain that tore at my heart. I started to methodically kill every human I could find, just like my mother taught me. I killed every one of them and tore down their houses. These beings did not deserve to live.
The next day, I took down the body of my daughter and buried her. I gave her all the honours I could and vowed revenge on the human race.
And so I left with my shattered heart. I left to the land of the Danes to rest. I hated the world. I wanted nothing but to be left alone. Then, that party comes to ruin my sleep. I was blinded with rage. This is what these humans call society? Brawling and becoming drunk and then coming home to their wives to hit them?. I went to that party after they were sleeping and snatched up thirty men, finding a strange enjoyment in the killing and relief of the pain that burdened me at other's expense.
I love to kill. I love chaos. I hate human kind with only one exception wish was lost to me...
___ Damn him to hell...what a fool I was to forget about him. Of course he'd still see through me and know me for who I once was. He had always seen through me.
Why was he at that party that I raided?!
It was a celebration of some sort and of course, I had to destroy it along with the happiness that came with it. Happiness is quite a disgusting thing. Very disgusting. Wasting all their time on drinking alcoholic drinks, talking, and having a good time while they should be working. As well, they should be more weary and scared of what might happen to them. I was going to try and destroy every single bit of happiness I find...they should fear me.
But that will come in time. After all, I have been only terrorizing for the past 12 years and I had just only started to let myself be known to the world. They didn't properly know the danger that they were in from me yet. But I will make them know and no one will have joy anymore. I would personally love to crush everyone's joy.
That's why I went to that party and so many others before that.
Yet that fool, Beowulf was there and stopped the worst of the attack.
When I arrived at the party, everyone started to panic as I started to crush and kill people. Destroying other people's happiness is the most wonderful thing that one can do. Why did they deserve the happiness that I could never have?! It's so joyous to see others scream and yell, desperately trying to save their lives.
But then HE appeared. He yelled out "Stop!" and amazingly everyone stopped, even me. I wondered who could've possibly done that, but then he stepped out of the crowd and looked at me...
At that moment, I wanted to run and hide for the idiot man looked at me with such pity in his eyes that it disgusted me. Why pity?! I don't want pity. Pity is for people who can't do anything for themselves. Pity was for the people who had no where to go...
Why was he looking at me like that?!
I was panicking in my head, knowing that he was a powerful man...but to all outward appearances, I tried to keep a calm appearance.
But the stupid man started to talk to me.
"Grendel..."
"What are you doing? What have you done to yourself?"
In a panicked voice, that I thought I did not possess, I retorted, "I am not the person you think I am! I'm not some stupid little child. I am Grendel the Great and I will kill you!"
Taking out my claw, I tried to rip the man apart, but was stopped in crunch by a full body bind arm.
Beowulf was quicker with his reflexes than I remembered at the beach as his experience showed. After all, he was the one that defeated Grindelwald. But I was more powerful than that snake who had terrorized the world when I was young. I broke the grip easily after a few seconds.
Glaring at him, I cast my killing claw at him, but he had disappeared before it reached him. I smiled, thinking that I was too much for him and that he had run away from me.
But I heard a soft laugh from behind me. I thought that no one was there for everyone had taken advantage of Beowulf distracting me and escaped. I would've escaped by now, but as I turned around to see the source of the laughter, I saw him.
Of course, it was the stupid man. He was LAUGHING at me.
"Stop laughing at me, stupid man!"
"Calm down, Grendel. You're just the same as always. Temperamental."
"I am NOT temperamental!"
Disgustingly calm, he raised his arm and ripped my arm apart. I quickly blocked anything else happening to me, but it got through and hit me. I cried out in pain and fell, the pain taking me by surprise. I quickly got up and tried to grasp him with my teeth, but he was gone before that got there as well.
"Dammit, stop dodging and fight!"
There was no answer...he had left, but I knew it was not because he was scared. Beowulf never did seem to be predictable...maybe he was waiting for something...looking around I see he was still there, looking at me...The place where my arm was supposed to be tinged with pain. Holding my side, I fled from there, knowing that I was beaten like a insolent child and that's all he seemed to think of me at the time.
Now that I am escaping, I realize that I am dying, and it is the most blissful thing that there could happen to me. I go to the lake seeking a last reunion with my mother, who I had not seen in so many years, and there, in the lake, beautiful and terrible as always, she was.
"What do I owe to this visit of yours after so many y... "
I suppose that she finally saw my wound
"Oh, Grendel, what has happened to you? You look terrible! My son, I... have no words to say"
"Mother, I am dying this is not just a wound, it is the door to my soul, I came to you because of that, and to let you know that I love you, as I always have, you are my mother and always will be... "
"Grendel, I am honoured to have you visiting me, of all people in your deathbed, stop talking after telling me who did this to you"
"Beowulf of the Geats, but he only gave me freedom mother, don't worry mother, it doesn't hurt anymore, I will go to hell with our father Cain, and together we shall plague his nights in the form of a fire dragon"
"Grendel! "
"Do not ... cry"
I cannot speak anymore, I hear my mother crying in the distance, I see nothing, only darkness enveloping me. This are my last words, and even if nobody hears them, only I shall know they were being said.