The Giving-part 14
Disclaimer in part 1
Dinner passed slowly for Beka. Tourk refused to speak of anything important while they dined. He spoke about the weather and crops, about the palace and the lands surrounding it. He asked her dozens of questions about her ship and friends but did not seem particularly interested in her answers when she gave them.
The meal was finally cleared away and Beka was determined to finally have her answers.
"O.K. Tourk," she said leaning back in her seat and crossing her arms defiantly across her chest. "I want to know just what it is that gives you the right to think you can keep me here against my wishes. And then I want to get the Hell out of here."
"Direct and to the point I see." Tourk said smiling charmingly at her. "As I said earlier my dear, you are here to be our salvation."
"Yes and you also said you would answer my questions." She said glaring at him.
"Very well my dear but it is a very long and twisted tale."
"Yes, well as it seems I am not going anywhere, YET," she said glancing at the guards standing at the door, "I have plenty of time."
"You are here as I said, to save our people. The prophecy said you would come to us."
"What prophesy?"
"Many years ago, our people were wronged by a race of cruel beings. Our medicine woman prophesized that before the end of one thousand years a Goddess would fall from the sky to save our people by breaking the curse. You are that Goddess Beka." He said. "You have to be." He added so quietly that she almost missed it.
"What do you mean I have to be?"
"Because it has been nine hundred and ninety nine years and one month since the curse was laid upon us. We only have eleven months to break the curse before it becomes permanent."
"I think you had better start at the beginning and tell me everything."
"As you wish My Lady." Tourk sighed and relaxed in his chair as he began his tale.
"I suppose the story began over two thousand years ago. Our people were simple farmers. We were peaceful and did not have much contact with other worlds. Occasionally a ship would come to our world for their own purposes but we did not have space flight capabilities or technology of any sort. The one thing we did possess was elemental magic."
"Magic?" Beka said disbelievingly.
"Yes. Our people had the ability to harness the very spirit of the planet we lived on. We were able to use this magic for many things such as medicine and healing. We used it to help grow our crops and raise our livestock. It wasn't much but many misunderstood it and many more desired it for themselves. This led to rumors and many people began coming to our world to try and steal what was ours. After many years they began to band together in an attempt to destroy us and take our magic for their own. Our king at that time was my, well he was my ancestor and was a great and powerful ruler. Using all the magic our people possessed he was able to transport our entire race to another world right before our home world was attacked. We lived in peace once again for many years but eventually the stories and superstitions began again."
"Transported you how?" Beka asked. "You said you have no space flight."
"King Atrimus was able to harness the energy of our planet and use that energy to carry our entire population to another world. I am not sure how he did it as all records of our peoples magic were later destroyed by the Demons."
"Demons?"
"That is the only name we have ever been able to give to our enemy. If any of our people knew their true name it was never spoken or written to be passed along to us."
"After King Atrimus transported us we lived in peace years with only the occasional visitor from outside our world. Because of what happened before we were hesitant to allow word of our people to leave our new home. But as stories and rumors have a way of traveling, people soon learned of our magic and once again those looking to take what did not belong to them besieged us. Again our king moved us and again after that. Then, nearly a thousand years ago we faced our greatest challenge. The Demons came and tried to take our magic for themselves. We resisted and our King fought them. Unfortunately they greatly outnumbered us and possessed magic abilities of their own. They destroyed our magic and our chances of ever recovering it. They killed King Atrimus. Then, as a last insult they cursed our females so that they were all made barren."
"But that is not possible." Beka started but Tourk did not seem to hear her as he continued.
"But we will have the last laugh. My father left the legacy of our magic to me. I will recover it all and avenge our people. The Demons made two fatal errors that will cost them their lives. Even as the curse was spoken our Medicine Woman spoke the prophecy that would one day save us and restore to us all our magic. And King Atrimus was able to hide his greatest magic from them. He left it to his heir so that the magic could once again belong to his people. So that I could bring back what was stolen from us. And when that has happened we will seek out our enemy and utterly destroy them." Tourk's voice had been steadily rising as he spoke and he ended his tirade by pounding his fist upon the table, knocking over glasses, and shattering a plate that sat close by him.
Beka had risen from the table and backed away, alarmed at the change in Tourk's behavior. The charming ruler was gone completely, replaced by an evil, enraged man hell-bent on revenge. She turned to leave the room only to be stopped by the guards at the door.
Tourk rose as well and walked towards her. Planting her feet firmly and standing tall, Beka faced him.
"You are insane. That story makes no sense. There is no way it could be true."
"Oh it is true my dear." Tourk replied having calmed down and regained his composure. "Which part do you find unbelievable?"
"How about every single word?" Beka spat out. "How could your people still exist if the females were made barren a thousand years ago? How could a person transport an entire race? And how could this King Atrimus have been there to transport you originally and then been there again to fight off these 'Demons' a thousand years after that? How could a medicine woman possibly predict what would happen a thousand years after that? And never mind the fact that MAGIC IS NOT REAL!" Beka yelled this last part as she advanced upon Tourk. "You are mad and I want out of here."
With a quickness that caught her off guard, Tourk backhanded Beka, knocking her across the room. Walking to where she laid, Tourk reached down and grabbing her arm pulled her to her feet. He then forced Beka into a chair. Reaching deep into the folds of his clothing, he pulled out a thick chain. A large amulet hung from the chain, a deep blue stone embedded in its center. Tourk held the chain up so that the stone reflected the light. He spent several seconds gazing into its depths as if seeing all the answers in the universe.
"The story is true Beka, most of it anyway." He said grinning roguishly. "It is true and there is so much more to the story." He paused for a moment looking at her. "You are very different from the other women that have come here. You actually seem to possess a brain so perhaps you can understand."
"Understand what? And what others? She asked.
Ignoring her questions he continued. "The story is true except for the part where I said my people were simple farmers. We were GODS. And now because of you we shall become so once again."
"And just how am I supposed to accomplish that?" she asked sarcastically.
Ignoring her sarcasm he continued to explain.
"My people are an ancient race. We have existed since the beginning of time. We long ago abandoned our home world to travel to other worlds, to rule other races." He chuckled and added, "We even lived on Earth for a while when it was just beginning to become civilized. My father used to tell me stories of our ancestors and how Zeus, the first of our family to rule, would toy with the humans on that pitiful little planet. They were worshipped as Gods, the way we should be."
"You want me to believe that your ancestors were the Gods from earth's ancient mythology? They are just myths. They weren't real." Beka stated firmly. "They couldn't have been real." She said much more quietly.
"Oh, they were real. But while the people of earth thought them Gods from their world they were simply…. Visitors. They grew tired of that planet and moved on. Except for a few, who thought the planet and its people had potential. They stayed behind which is why magic has been such an important part of Earths history. There was this one member of my family who was particularly fond of the backwards people of that world. Hercules was his name I think. But I am rambling. Do you begin to see what I have been explaining Beka? Do you understand all that my people once were and deserve to be again?"
"Ok let me see if I have this straight." Beka decided that humoring him was her best bet at the moment. "Your ancestors lived on Earth and were what the humans considered mythical Gods. Only they weren't myths, they were just visiting. And Hercules, the famous half-god hero of thousands of children's' tales was a member of your family?"
"Yes." He stated simply as though it was the easiest thing in the world to believe.
"I still don't understand how Atrimus could be alive for more than a thousand years."
"Then you probably wouldn't believe me if I said I was two thousand and eighteen years old and that King Atrimus was my father." He said jokingly.
Beka just stared at him.
"As I said the Demons made two errors when they attacked us. The first was that King Atrimus was able to hide his most powerful magical artifact, an amulet of great power. This amulet." he said raising it once again. "I have spent many years trying to recover its secrets and recently I have discovered how to control a small portion of its power. The second mistake they made was allowing our Medicine woman to make her prophecy. With the last of her own considerable power, she spoke the words and made them truth."
He closed his eyes and began to recite from memory.
'Before a thousand years have passed, the day shall come when a great leader will take the throne of our People. And he shall join with his one true love, the Goddess from the Sky, to become the saviors of our people. From their bonding shall come a child, whose life source, given to the spirit of the world, shall release us from the curse laid upon us.'
"Do you not see Beka? You are the one the prophecy spoke of. As am I. All we need to do is have a child together. Once the child's life is sacrificed in the Giving Ceremony, the curse on my people will be broken. I will avenge my father and what was done to us. Then together we shall rule, not only this planet but the entire universe as well."
For a minute Beka was too shocked to speak. Did this madman really think she would love him, that she would willingly have his child so that he could sacrifice it in order to recover a magic that could not possibly exist? Trying to hide the fact that her entire body was shaking Beka stood and began shaking her head in defiance.
"It will never happen Tourk. I will not be made a pawn in your insane fantasies. And I would never allow you to sacrifice a child, my child. I would die first."
"My brave, beautiful Beka. Perhaps you are not so different from the others. They all said the same thing. But they were unable to stop me, as you will be unable to. You cannot fight your destiny. We will be bonded at sunset today. And then tonight we shall begin making the next part of the prophecy a reality."
Turning on his heel, he left the room. Once she was alone, Beka sank to the floor, too shocked to move further.
A.N. sorry about the Hercules reference. I hadn't planned it as part of the story but it snuck in and I couldn't resist leaving it.
Disclaimer in part 1
Dinner passed slowly for Beka. Tourk refused to speak of anything important while they dined. He spoke about the weather and crops, about the palace and the lands surrounding it. He asked her dozens of questions about her ship and friends but did not seem particularly interested in her answers when she gave them.
The meal was finally cleared away and Beka was determined to finally have her answers.
"O.K. Tourk," she said leaning back in her seat and crossing her arms defiantly across her chest. "I want to know just what it is that gives you the right to think you can keep me here against my wishes. And then I want to get the Hell out of here."
"Direct and to the point I see." Tourk said smiling charmingly at her. "As I said earlier my dear, you are here to be our salvation."
"Yes and you also said you would answer my questions." She said glaring at him.
"Very well my dear but it is a very long and twisted tale."
"Yes, well as it seems I am not going anywhere, YET," she said glancing at the guards standing at the door, "I have plenty of time."
"You are here as I said, to save our people. The prophecy said you would come to us."
"What prophesy?"
"Many years ago, our people were wronged by a race of cruel beings. Our medicine woman prophesized that before the end of one thousand years a Goddess would fall from the sky to save our people by breaking the curse. You are that Goddess Beka." He said. "You have to be." He added so quietly that she almost missed it.
"What do you mean I have to be?"
"Because it has been nine hundred and ninety nine years and one month since the curse was laid upon us. We only have eleven months to break the curse before it becomes permanent."
"I think you had better start at the beginning and tell me everything."
"As you wish My Lady." Tourk sighed and relaxed in his chair as he began his tale.
"I suppose the story began over two thousand years ago. Our people were simple farmers. We were peaceful and did not have much contact with other worlds. Occasionally a ship would come to our world for their own purposes but we did not have space flight capabilities or technology of any sort. The one thing we did possess was elemental magic."
"Magic?" Beka said disbelievingly.
"Yes. Our people had the ability to harness the very spirit of the planet we lived on. We were able to use this magic for many things such as medicine and healing. We used it to help grow our crops and raise our livestock. It wasn't much but many misunderstood it and many more desired it for themselves. This led to rumors and many people began coming to our world to try and steal what was ours. After many years they began to band together in an attempt to destroy us and take our magic for their own. Our king at that time was my, well he was my ancestor and was a great and powerful ruler. Using all the magic our people possessed he was able to transport our entire race to another world right before our home world was attacked. We lived in peace once again for many years but eventually the stories and superstitions began again."
"Transported you how?" Beka asked. "You said you have no space flight."
"King Atrimus was able to harness the energy of our planet and use that energy to carry our entire population to another world. I am not sure how he did it as all records of our peoples magic were later destroyed by the Demons."
"Demons?"
"That is the only name we have ever been able to give to our enemy. If any of our people knew their true name it was never spoken or written to be passed along to us."
"After King Atrimus transported us we lived in peace years with only the occasional visitor from outside our world. Because of what happened before we were hesitant to allow word of our people to leave our new home. But as stories and rumors have a way of traveling, people soon learned of our magic and once again those looking to take what did not belong to them besieged us. Again our king moved us and again after that. Then, nearly a thousand years ago we faced our greatest challenge. The Demons came and tried to take our magic for themselves. We resisted and our King fought them. Unfortunately they greatly outnumbered us and possessed magic abilities of their own. They destroyed our magic and our chances of ever recovering it. They killed King Atrimus. Then, as a last insult they cursed our females so that they were all made barren."
"But that is not possible." Beka started but Tourk did not seem to hear her as he continued.
"But we will have the last laugh. My father left the legacy of our magic to me. I will recover it all and avenge our people. The Demons made two fatal errors that will cost them their lives. Even as the curse was spoken our Medicine Woman spoke the prophecy that would one day save us and restore to us all our magic. And King Atrimus was able to hide his greatest magic from them. He left it to his heir so that the magic could once again belong to his people. So that I could bring back what was stolen from us. And when that has happened we will seek out our enemy and utterly destroy them." Tourk's voice had been steadily rising as he spoke and he ended his tirade by pounding his fist upon the table, knocking over glasses, and shattering a plate that sat close by him.
Beka had risen from the table and backed away, alarmed at the change in Tourk's behavior. The charming ruler was gone completely, replaced by an evil, enraged man hell-bent on revenge. She turned to leave the room only to be stopped by the guards at the door.
Tourk rose as well and walked towards her. Planting her feet firmly and standing tall, Beka faced him.
"You are insane. That story makes no sense. There is no way it could be true."
"Oh it is true my dear." Tourk replied having calmed down and regained his composure. "Which part do you find unbelievable?"
"How about every single word?" Beka spat out. "How could your people still exist if the females were made barren a thousand years ago? How could a person transport an entire race? And how could this King Atrimus have been there to transport you originally and then been there again to fight off these 'Demons' a thousand years after that? How could a medicine woman possibly predict what would happen a thousand years after that? And never mind the fact that MAGIC IS NOT REAL!" Beka yelled this last part as she advanced upon Tourk. "You are mad and I want out of here."
With a quickness that caught her off guard, Tourk backhanded Beka, knocking her across the room. Walking to where she laid, Tourk reached down and grabbing her arm pulled her to her feet. He then forced Beka into a chair. Reaching deep into the folds of his clothing, he pulled out a thick chain. A large amulet hung from the chain, a deep blue stone embedded in its center. Tourk held the chain up so that the stone reflected the light. He spent several seconds gazing into its depths as if seeing all the answers in the universe.
"The story is true Beka, most of it anyway." He said grinning roguishly. "It is true and there is so much more to the story." He paused for a moment looking at her. "You are very different from the other women that have come here. You actually seem to possess a brain so perhaps you can understand."
"Understand what? And what others? She asked.
Ignoring her questions he continued. "The story is true except for the part where I said my people were simple farmers. We were GODS. And now because of you we shall become so once again."
"And just how am I supposed to accomplish that?" she asked sarcastically.
Ignoring her sarcasm he continued to explain.
"My people are an ancient race. We have existed since the beginning of time. We long ago abandoned our home world to travel to other worlds, to rule other races." He chuckled and added, "We even lived on Earth for a while when it was just beginning to become civilized. My father used to tell me stories of our ancestors and how Zeus, the first of our family to rule, would toy with the humans on that pitiful little planet. They were worshipped as Gods, the way we should be."
"You want me to believe that your ancestors were the Gods from earth's ancient mythology? They are just myths. They weren't real." Beka stated firmly. "They couldn't have been real." She said much more quietly.
"Oh, they were real. But while the people of earth thought them Gods from their world they were simply…. Visitors. They grew tired of that planet and moved on. Except for a few, who thought the planet and its people had potential. They stayed behind which is why magic has been such an important part of Earths history. There was this one member of my family who was particularly fond of the backwards people of that world. Hercules was his name I think. But I am rambling. Do you begin to see what I have been explaining Beka? Do you understand all that my people once were and deserve to be again?"
"Ok let me see if I have this straight." Beka decided that humoring him was her best bet at the moment. "Your ancestors lived on Earth and were what the humans considered mythical Gods. Only they weren't myths, they were just visiting. And Hercules, the famous half-god hero of thousands of children's' tales was a member of your family?"
"Yes." He stated simply as though it was the easiest thing in the world to believe.
"I still don't understand how Atrimus could be alive for more than a thousand years."
"Then you probably wouldn't believe me if I said I was two thousand and eighteen years old and that King Atrimus was my father." He said jokingly.
Beka just stared at him.
"As I said the Demons made two errors when they attacked us. The first was that King Atrimus was able to hide his most powerful magical artifact, an amulet of great power. This amulet." he said raising it once again. "I have spent many years trying to recover its secrets and recently I have discovered how to control a small portion of its power. The second mistake they made was allowing our Medicine woman to make her prophecy. With the last of her own considerable power, she spoke the words and made them truth."
He closed his eyes and began to recite from memory.
'Before a thousand years have passed, the day shall come when a great leader will take the throne of our People. And he shall join with his one true love, the Goddess from the Sky, to become the saviors of our people. From their bonding shall come a child, whose life source, given to the spirit of the world, shall release us from the curse laid upon us.'
"Do you not see Beka? You are the one the prophecy spoke of. As am I. All we need to do is have a child together. Once the child's life is sacrificed in the Giving Ceremony, the curse on my people will be broken. I will avenge my father and what was done to us. Then together we shall rule, not only this planet but the entire universe as well."
For a minute Beka was too shocked to speak. Did this madman really think she would love him, that she would willingly have his child so that he could sacrifice it in order to recover a magic that could not possibly exist? Trying to hide the fact that her entire body was shaking Beka stood and began shaking her head in defiance.
"It will never happen Tourk. I will not be made a pawn in your insane fantasies. And I would never allow you to sacrifice a child, my child. I would die first."
"My brave, beautiful Beka. Perhaps you are not so different from the others. They all said the same thing. But they were unable to stop me, as you will be unable to. You cannot fight your destiny. We will be bonded at sunset today. And then tonight we shall begin making the next part of the prophecy a reality."
Turning on his heel, he left the room. Once she was alone, Beka sank to the floor, too shocked to move further.
A.N. sorry about the Hercules reference. I hadn't planned it as part of the story but it snuck in and I couldn't resist leaving it.