The Portal
Disclaimer: The standard words that someone else owns all of the main characters in this story.
Rating: R (Where's the fun, if you can't push the boundaries a little further.)
Chapter Fourteen
"Before I start the story," began Chloe. "I am going to Americanized the names and such. Since Clark and Lana are busy learning a bunch of new Latin words, there is no point confusing things with a lot words in a couple more long dead languages."
"This story starts on a pleasant spring day when my best friend, Gwendolyn, and I were traveling by caravan to Angel's Keep. I suppose I should start by telling you a little about Gwen. Remember how after my 5000th birthday debacle I made my way to my villa on the tip of the Arabian Peninsula? Gwen's father had been managing that estate for me for the past 20 years. Actually, as I frequently arranged, the manager position for that estate was a hereditary one and Gwen's family had been running it for seven or eight generations. This provided much needed stability and continuity while I moved around steadily to conceal the fact that I didn't grow old.
"When I arrived at the estate this time, after an absence of nearly forty years, Gwen had just turned 13 and was starting to bloom into a beautiful young woman. Tall and willowy, she had wavy, almost black hair and the most piercing, pale green eyes. I guess if you need someone to complete the mental image of her, think a very, very young Carrie-Anne Moss.
"Over the next few years we became the best of friends, doing all of the things girls growing up together do and more. Talking about boys. Flirting with boys. Dancing with boys. Making out with boys. Well, you get the common theme.
"Mostly, I was trying to get over the mess I had created with the big party. After living for 5000 years I had long since accept that I frequently had to move on and leave friends behind or watch them grow old and die while I remained young. But rarely had my actions directly resulted in the deaths of so many I cared for. For the first couple of years I seemed to be continually in this sad, melancholy mood. Eventually it was Gwen who pulled me out of my funk and got me looking forward again.
"My villa was on the edge of the town of South Harbour. A town of about 30,000, it was situated at the mouth of one of the major rivers in southern Arabia and had the best harbor for a hundred miles in either direction. My financial interests there were primarily in shipping, both oceanic shipping, as this was a popular transfer point between India and the Mediterranean, and river shipping to the cities located further upriver. It was a bustling little town, but the 'artsy' entertainment was very limited.
"Therefore for Gwen's 20th birthday, I decided we would make a pilgrimage to Angel's Keep, one of the biggest metropolitan cities in the Mediterranean. Every ten years it hosted a major art festival with lots of plays and musicals, this just happen to be the right year. Gwen had never been to such a grand city and was both nervous and excited. I was just very happy to do this with my best friend.
"The journey would take about two months with the first portion by ship across the Red Sea to what is now the southeast corner of Egypt. From there we traveled overland by caravan to the Nile. At the Nile we boarded another ship and traveled north, downstream to Golden Hope, the northernmost major Nile City about 30 miles before the great falls. Since Golden Hope was the first true city we visited after setting out from South Harbour, we spent several weeks there shopping, taking in the local arts, and just getting acclimated to big city life. With a population of 200,000 it was still almost a burg compared to the 1.5 million of Angel's Keep, but it seemed like paradise compared to the backwater town of South Harbour.
"Finally, it was time to move on towards Angel's Keep, if we were to arrive in time for the best parties and balls. I had a really grand palace in Angel's Keep that I hadn't visited in a number of years. I had not mentioned it to Gwen, as I wanted it to be a big surprise.
"From Golden Hope the best route to Angel's Keep was due west through the highlands for 300 miles before turning north and dropping into the Mediterranean basin for the last 50 miles. This was a regular caravan route with large parties setting out about every two weeks. At that time it was advisable to travel with a large caravan as the political squabbles between Angel's Keep and the other great southeastern Mediterranean City, Lion's Roar, had recently heated up. Lion's Roar was located barely 40 miles from Golden Hope, as the crow flies, but it was below the great falls which required traveling 100 miles either east or west to find an easy route down into the basin.
"Gwen and I hooked up with a caravan that was setting out to Angel's Keep. I had acquired a luxury land barge for the journey. At nine feet wide and eighteen feet long, it was pulled by a team of eight great oxen. It had a tall canopy top and shear gauzy curtains for side walls that kept out the dust during the day and insects at night. The interior was fitted out with one of the most comfortable feather beds I have ever experienced. The hours Gwen and I spent in that bed were like heaven."
Lex, who had been nearly drowsing from the hard horseback ride in the morning, suddenly came more awake. Was Chloe's story going to be some kind of kinky lesbian adventure?
Chloe continued, "I had another wagon following with six servants to take care of the cooking and all of our other needs. This trip was turning into the ultimate hedonistic lifestyle.
"We had been on the road from Golden Hope for about a week when this story really starts. It was mid-morning and the caravan had been on the move for about five hours. However Gwen and I were still lounging around in the bed. For late spring the weather had been unusually hot. Many days we spent the heat of day in bed wearing nothing or only the sheerest of satin. This morning I had my flute out and we were working on composing a new sonnet. Gwen had incredible talent with words, but always claimed to be most inspired when I played my flute. We had been at work for several hours . . . perhaps work is an exaggeration since we took frequent breaks for touching and kissing . . . when Andrew, my chief servant, rapped on the side of the wagon to get our attention.
"'Miss Chloe,' he began. 'There is a large party of armed men approaching from the north.'"
"Gwen and I pulled aside the curtain and looked out at the group of men. They were still a good mile away, but I could tell from the tight formation in which they rode that this was a true military force and not some local band of cutthroats and thieves. They numbered about 100 men which was roughly equal to the men of our caravan, but with little more than a glance I could see that the men of the caravan wouldn't survive long, if it came to a battle."
"Still I wasn't too concerned. Usually, an armed force like this would extract a tariff from the caravan and after a couple of hours we would be on our way. So I returned to my flute and Gwen went back to her sonnet.
"About ten minutes later I realized I was hearing war-cries and before I even reacted, arrows started raining down on our wagon. Unfortunately, one of the very first arrows caught Gwen through the shoulder and she went down with a scream.
"I rushed over to her, jerked out the arrow, and created a pressure bandage from some of the bed linens. By this time some of the arrows coming down were tipped with fire and it was obvious everything in the caravan was going to be destroyed.
"Once I was certain Gwen's bleeding was under control, I hurriedly grabbed my flute and then dragged Gwen out of the burning wagon. So there we were, two naked girls - one hurt - crouched next to a rapidly burning wagon in the middle of a battle. And the battle was going badly for the men of the caravan with many hurt or dead.
"I was still deeply bothered from seeing so many of my friends killed at my big birthday bash and it looked like Gwen would soon be killed or worst. Anyway something snapped and I allowed myself to go into full combat mode, which I hadn't done in at least a thousand years.
"With the fire at our back, I stood between Gwen and the attackers and used the flute to deflect the incoming arrows. As the caravan slowly died, more and more of the attackers were focusing on me. Soon the speed at which I was moving the flute from hand to hand was causing it to whistle out this strange melody. Eventually, I was spinning it like the baton of some demented cheerleader and the ground around me seemed to be ankle deep with broken and deflected arrows.
"Finally, I screamed 'STOP' at the top of my lungs and the enemy leader told his men to stand down. One final man let loose with an arrow, but I merely reached up and plucked it out of the air with my left hand and then dropped it to the ground.
"Now in those days I happened to wear my hair a lot longer than I do today. With all of the exertion it had billowed out into a large golden mane. So there I stood, naked except for a big mass of hair; holding my flute like a weapon while surrounded by a field of spent arrows, dead or dying men, and burning wagons. A large mass of horsemen were staring incredulously at me for the unbelievable martial exhibition I had just put on, when suddenly one of the troops shouts, 'My god, she is the Lioness.'
"Suddenly, a lot of the soldiers were jumping down from their horses and going into full recline, even pressing their foreheads to the earth.
"At this point even the officers dismounted and one of them says to the leader, 'If she is truly the Lioness, the legend says she will beat the champion in single combat.'
"The leader was this big hulking brute, at least 6'3" and 270 pounds - all of it muscle. He wore armored chest and back plates and metal guards on his shins and forearms. Between the bits of metal numerous scars showed through indicating he had seen more than his fair share of combat in his life. He was armed to the teeth with a long curved sword on his left hip, a large hunting knife on his right hip, and a small throwing knife strapped to each calf.
"And I had my flute.
"After looking me over for a couple of minutes, he finally said, 'If the legend says she must meet the champion in combat, so be it.' Then he pulled out his sword and took several swings to warm up his arm.
"By now, all of the soldiers who had bowed down before me were sitting back on their haunches waiting to see what would happen.
"I didn't know anything about this legendary Lioness they were talking about, but playing that part seemed like the best way to get Gwen and myself out of this mess. With the hardest, coldest voice I could muster, I pointed to Gwen and said, 'SHE IS MINE.' Then I gave a very, very small nod of my head towards the leader and dropped into a martial arts stance with my weight back on my bent right leg, my left leg and arm forward for balance, and the flute held back above my head in my right hand. I crouched a little lower than was optimal to make me look even smaller and have him feel even more overconfident.
"He was big and strong, but my size gave me a significant speed advantage. Plus just as my 'bot processor network gives me the perfect timing to catch or deflect arrows, it gives me perfect timing for one-on-one combat and generally can predict my opponent's moves three or four steps ahead just like in a game of chess.
"The leader came at me with a wild 'let's end this in one blow' swing of his sword. I rolled under the swing and then kicked my right foot into his balls as hard as I could before continuing the roll. Hey, anything is fair in 'love or war' as the old saying goes. As I completed my roll he had turned away grabbing his crotch and bending over slightly. Therefore my roll left me on my back directly behind him. I pulled my knees up to my chest and then thrust my feet into his ass, hard. He went sprawling to the ground about 10 feet away.
"I have to give him credit, in less than 10 seconds he was back on the attack and only slightly slowed down. And this time he was taking the fight seriously. Or the strike to his family jewels had seriously pissed him off.
"He came at me with a simple combination of slash from right to left, slash from left to right, thrust towards my abdomen, and then repeat. The blade of his sword was 30" long and slightly curved at the end. This blade was designed for use on horseback and was longer than optimum for fighting on foot. The blade was a little over an inch wide and as long as I only contacted the side of the blade I could deflect it with my hand or the flute without cutting myself or breaking the flute.
"Unfortunately, against such a large, tall opponent neither my hands, feet or the flute made good offensive weapons since the only kill-blows with them are crushing the windpipe or driving the nose cartilage into the brain. Therefore I needed to acquire a better weapon. Fortunately, my opponent was carrying several perfectly good weapons he wasn't using, so I just needed to get one of his knifes.
"I deflected several more of his sword thrusts with the side of my hand before I achieved the positioning I needed. He made a slashing cut downward from left to right, which I just deflected with my flute, when I appeared to lose my footing and slipped forward. His sword was out of position as I was too close to his body. My head was falling towards his left knee, so he smashed his knee up into my jaw and everyone heard the loud snap as my jaw broke and then I went flying back. What no one noticed was that I pulled his throwing knife from his left calf scabbard just before his knee contacted my jaw.
"Of course, when I flew backwards and slammed into the ground everyone assumed I was already dead or unconscious.
"The leader slowly walked over and stood astride my limp body to deliver the final killing blow. He raised his sword above his head for a mighty downward stroke. Just as he had the sword fully extended, I took the knife I had palmed and thrust it into his abdomen and ripped it across with the same motion a Japanese samurai uses to commit seppuku.
"The swordsman got this shocked look on his face as the sword slipped from his grasp and fall to the ground behind him. He wavered for several seconds before falling to his side, dead.
"As he started to fall, I rolled to the other side and stood up. Fortunately, my 'bot network had shutdown my pain receptors before his knee ever contacted my jaw, and the repair 'bots were 90% complete with fixing the broken jaw and the couple of loosened teeth.
"A little blood was on my chin from a split lip, but once I was sure all of the eyes were on me I covered this by making a show licking a little of my opponent's blood off of the blade of the knife. Standing there naked, having just taken down one of their largest men without appearing to have been seriously hurt or even breathing hard, I stared at the remaining officers for a minute. Finally, I said, "Does that fulfill the prophecy or does another one of you want to try me?'"
"With hardly a pause, all of the officers fell to their knees. The next ranking officer spoke, 'Forgive us, Lioness. We didn't expect the prophecy to come true today. Let these, your unworthy servants, escort you to Lion's Roar where proper tribute can be paid to you.'"
"I probably couldn't have walked away, even if I had wanted to. But I was still very angry towards them for hurting Gwen and I wanted to get to the bottom of it. Talking to the leaders of Lion's Roar was the only approach I saw.
"Therefore, I looked down to where they were kneeling and said, 'Arise, you and your men are now the personal guard of Chloe, the Lioness. You will swear an oath to serve me against all of my enemies. Then you will find appropriate transportation to Lion's Roar for myself and my handmaiden.'
"After the men had sworn an oath to me and started to make ready for our departure, I walked over to Gwen. I knelt down beside her, asking, 'Are you okay?'
"She nodded her head. 'Where did you learn to fight like that?' she asked. 'I have never heard of anyone able to deflect arrows the way you did and then the way you handled that giant. . .' She just petered out and seemed to have a mild case of shock, although whether from witnessing the battle or from blood loss, I was not yet sure.
"I helped her to her feet and then wrapped my arms around her. After a gentle kiss, I pulled my head back a little and said softly, 'There is a lot I need to explain when we have some time alone. Until then you need to trust me to take care of things. Can you do that?' After she nodded her head, I smiled. "Good. Let's go find some clothes and take a look at your wound.'
"With my arm still wrapped around her, we set out to see what had survived the fires."
At this point Clark's stomach began to rumble and Chloe realized that most of the afternoon had gone by and this story was a long way from being finished.
Chloe sat up from where she had been leaning against Clark. "This is a good point to pause the story. Let's go get some food, see where Nicholas is, and if he has found us a place to stay tonight."
After Chloe stood up she reached her hand down to help Lana up. As Lana stood she grimaced. "I am already hurting from this mornings horseback ride. I am dreading tomorrow when the stiffness sets in."
As Lex stood he moaned. "Right now I am wishing I had your 'bots, Chloe. It must be wonderful to never be sore or tired."
Chloe smiled politely. "I'm afraid there's nothing I can do in that area, but I have heard that a long, hot soak at the baths does wonders."
As they started to move back towards Narbo, Lex looked over towards Chloe. "If you don't mind, just a few questions?"
Chloe rolled her eyes, "Sure, Lex."
End of Chapter 14
Disclaimer: The standard words that someone else owns all of the main characters in this story.
Rating: R (Where's the fun, if you can't push the boundaries a little further.)
Chapter Fourteen
"Before I start the story," began Chloe. "I am going to Americanized the names and such. Since Clark and Lana are busy learning a bunch of new Latin words, there is no point confusing things with a lot words in a couple more long dead languages."
"This story starts on a pleasant spring day when my best friend, Gwendolyn, and I were traveling by caravan to Angel's Keep. I suppose I should start by telling you a little about Gwen. Remember how after my 5000th birthday debacle I made my way to my villa on the tip of the Arabian Peninsula? Gwen's father had been managing that estate for me for the past 20 years. Actually, as I frequently arranged, the manager position for that estate was a hereditary one and Gwen's family had been running it for seven or eight generations. This provided much needed stability and continuity while I moved around steadily to conceal the fact that I didn't grow old.
"When I arrived at the estate this time, after an absence of nearly forty years, Gwen had just turned 13 and was starting to bloom into a beautiful young woman. Tall and willowy, she had wavy, almost black hair and the most piercing, pale green eyes. I guess if you need someone to complete the mental image of her, think a very, very young Carrie-Anne Moss.
"Over the next few years we became the best of friends, doing all of the things girls growing up together do and more. Talking about boys. Flirting with boys. Dancing with boys. Making out with boys. Well, you get the common theme.
"Mostly, I was trying to get over the mess I had created with the big party. After living for 5000 years I had long since accept that I frequently had to move on and leave friends behind or watch them grow old and die while I remained young. But rarely had my actions directly resulted in the deaths of so many I cared for. For the first couple of years I seemed to be continually in this sad, melancholy mood. Eventually it was Gwen who pulled me out of my funk and got me looking forward again.
"My villa was on the edge of the town of South Harbour. A town of about 30,000, it was situated at the mouth of one of the major rivers in southern Arabia and had the best harbor for a hundred miles in either direction. My financial interests there were primarily in shipping, both oceanic shipping, as this was a popular transfer point between India and the Mediterranean, and river shipping to the cities located further upriver. It was a bustling little town, but the 'artsy' entertainment was very limited.
"Therefore for Gwen's 20th birthday, I decided we would make a pilgrimage to Angel's Keep, one of the biggest metropolitan cities in the Mediterranean. Every ten years it hosted a major art festival with lots of plays and musicals, this just happen to be the right year. Gwen had never been to such a grand city and was both nervous and excited. I was just very happy to do this with my best friend.
"The journey would take about two months with the first portion by ship across the Red Sea to what is now the southeast corner of Egypt. From there we traveled overland by caravan to the Nile. At the Nile we boarded another ship and traveled north, downstream to Golden Hope, the northernmost major Nile City about 30 miles before the great falls. Since Golden Hope was the first true city we visited after setting out from South Harbour, we spent several weeks there shopping, taking in the local arts, and just getting acclimated to big city life. With a population of 200,000 it was still almost a burg compared to the 1.5 million of Angel's Keep, but it seemed like paradise compared to the backwater town of South Harbour.
"Finally, it was time to move on towards Angel's Keep, if we were to arrive in time for the best parties and balls. I had a really grand palace in Angel's Keep that I hadn't visited in a number of years. I had not mentioned it to Gwen, as I wanted it to be a big surprise.
"From Golden Hope the best route to Angel's Keep was due west through the highlands for 300 miles before turning north and dropping into the Mediterranean basin for the last 50 miles. This was a regular caravan route with large parties setting out about every two weeks. At that time it was advisable to travel with a large caravan as the political squabbles between Angel's Keep and the other great southeastern Mediterranean City, Lion's Roar, had recently heated up. Lion's Roar was located barely 40 miles from Golden Hope, as the crow flies, but it was below the great falls which required traveling 100 miles either east or west to find an easy route down into the basin.
"Gwen and I hooked up with a caravan that was setting out to Angel's Keep. I had acquired a luxury land barge for the journey. At nine feet wide and eighteen feet long, it was pulled by a team of eight great oxen. It had a tall canopy top and shear gauzy curtains for side walls that kept out the dust during the day and insects at night. The interior was fitted out with one of the most comfortable feather beds I have ever experienced. The hours Gwen and I spent in that bed were like heaven."
Lex, who had been nearly drowsing from the hard horseback ride in the morning, suddenly came more awake. Was Chloe's story going to be some kind of kinky lesbian adventure?
Chloe continued, "I had another wagon following with six servants to take care of the cooking and all of our other needs. This trip was turning into the ultimate hedonistic lifestyle.
"We had been on the road from Golden Hope for about a week when this story really starts. It was mid-morning and the caravan had been on the move for about five hours. However Gwen and I were still lounging around in the bed. For late spring the weather had been unusually hot. Many days we spent the heat of day in bed wearing nothing or only the sheerest of satin. This morning I had my flute out and we were working on composing a new sonnet. Gwen had incredible talent with words, but always claimed to be most inspired when I played my flute. We had been at work for several hours . . . perhaps work is an exaggeration since we took frequent breaks for touching and kissing . . . when Andrew, my chief servant, rapped on the side of the wagon to get our attention.
"'Miss Chloe,' he began. 'There is a large party of armed men approaching from the north.'"
"Gwen and I pulled aside the curtain and looked out at the group of men. They were still a good mile away, but I could tell from the tight formation in which they rode that this was a true military force and not some local band of cutthroats and thieves. They numbered about 100 men which was roughly equal to the men of our caravan, but with little more than a glance I could see that the men of the caravan wouldn't survive long, if it came to a battle."
"Still I wasn't too concerned. Usually, an armed force like this would extract a tariff from the caravan and after a couple of hours we would be on our way. So I returned to my flute and Gwen went back to her sonnet.
"About ten minutes later I realized I was hearing war-cries and before I even reacted, arrows started raining down on our wagon. Unfortunately, one of the very first arrows caught Gwen through the shoulder and she went down with a scream.
"I rushed over to her, jerked out the arrow, and created a pressure bandage from some of the bed linens. By this time some of the arrows coming down were tipped with fire and it was obvious everything in the caravan was going to be destroyed.
"Once I was certain Gwen's bleeding was under control, I hurriedly grabbed my flute and then dragged Gwen out of the burning wagon. So there we were, two naked girls - one hurt - crouched next to a rapidly burning wagon in the middle of a battle. And the battle was going badly for the men of the caravan with many hurt or dead.
"I was still deeply bothered from seeing so many of my friends killed at my big birthday bash and it looked like Gwen would soon be killed or worst. Anyway something snapped and I allowed myself to go into full combat mode, which I hadn't done in at least a thousand years.
"With the fire at our back, I stood between Gwen and the attackers and used the flute to deflect the incoming arrows. As the caravan slowly died, more and more of the attackers were focusing on me. Soon the speed at which I was moving the flute from hand to hand was causing it to whistle out this strange melody. Eventually, I was spinning it like the baton of some demented cheerleader and the ground around me seemed to be ankle deep with broken and deflected arrows.
"Finally, I screamed 'STOP' at the top of my lungs and the enemy leader told his men to stand down. One final man let loose with an arrow, but I merely reached up and plucked it out of the air with my left hand and then dropped it to the ground.
"Now in those days I happened to wear my hair a lot longer than I do today. With all of the exertion it had billowed out into a large golden mane. So there I stood, naked except for a big mass of hair; holding my flute like a weapon while surrounded by a field of spent arrows, dead or dying men, and burning wagons. A large mass of horsemen were staring incredulously at me for the unbelievable martial exhibition I had just put on, when suddenly one of the troops shouts, 'My god, she is the Lioness.'
"Suddenly, a lot of the soldiers were jumping down from their horses and going into full recline, even pressing their foreheads to the earth.
"At this point even the officers dismounted and one of them says to the leader, 'If she is truly the Lioness, the legend says she will beat the champion in single combat.'
"The leader was this big hulking brute, at least 6'3" and 270 pounds - all of it muscle. He wore armored chest and back plates and metal guards on his shins and forearms. Between the bits of metal numerous scars showed through indicating he had seen more than his fair share of combat in his life. He was armed to the teeth with a long curved sword on his left hip, a large hunting knife on his right hip, and a small throwing knife strapped to each calf.
"And I had my flute.
"After looking me over for a couple of minutes, he finally said, 'If the legend says she must meet the champion in combat, so be it.' Then he pulled out his sword and took several swings to warm up his arm.
"By now, all of the soldiers who had bowed down before me were sitting back on their haunches waiting to see what would happen.
"I didn't know anything about this legendary Lioness they were talking about, but playing that part seemed like the best way to get Gwen and myself out of this mess. With the hardest, coldest voice I could muster, I pointed to Gwen and said, 'SHE IS MINE.' Then I gave a very, very small nod of my head towards the leader and dropped into a martial arts stance with my weight back on my bent right leg, my left leg and arm forward for balance, and the flute held back above my head in my right hand. I crouched a little lower than was optimal to make me look even smaller and have him feel even more overconfident.
"He was big and strong, but my size gave me a significant speed advantage. Plus just as my 'bot processor network gives me the perfect timing to catch or deflect arrows, it gives me perfect timing for one-on-one combat and generally can predict my opponent's moves three or four steps ahead just like in a game of chess.
"The leader came at me with a wild 'let's end this in one blow' swing of his sword. I rolled under the swing and then kicked my right foot into his balls as hard as I could before continuing the roll. Hey, anything is fair in 'love or war' as the old saying goes. As I completed my roll he had turned away grabbing his crotch and bending over slightly. Therefore my roll left me on my back directly behind him. I pulled my knees up to my chest and then thrust my feet into his ass, hard. He went sprawling to the ground about 10 feet away.
"I have to give him credit, in less than 10 seconds he was back on the attack and only slightly slowed down. And this time he was taking the fight seriously. Or the strike to his family jewels had seriously pissed him off.
"He came at me with a simple combination of slash from right to left, slash from left to right, thrust towards my abdomen, and then repeat. The blade of his sword was 30" long and slightly curved at the end. This blade was designed for use on horseback and was longer than optimum for fighting on foot. The blade was a little over an inch wide and as long as I only contacted the side of the blade I could deflect it with my hand or the flute without cutting myself or breaking the flute.
"Unfortunately, against such a large, tall opponent neither my hands, feet or the flute made good offensive weapons since the only kill-blows with them are crushing the windpipe or driving the nose cartilage into the brain. Therefore I needed to acquire a better weapon. Fortunately, my opponent was carrying several perfectly good weapons he wasn't using, so I just needed to get one of his knifes.
"I deflected several more of his sword thrusts with the side of my hand before I achieved the positioning I needed. He made a slashing cut downward from left to right, which I just deflected with my flute, when I appeared to lose my footing and slipped forward. His sword was out of position as I was too close to his body. My head was falling towards his left knee, so he smashed his knee up into my jaw and everyone heard the loud snap as my jaw broke and then I went flying back. What no one noticed was that I pulled his throwing knife from his left calf scabbard just before his knee contacted my jaw.
"Of course, when I flew backwards and slammed into the ground everyone assumed I was already dead or unconscious.
"The leader slowly walked over and stood astride my limp body to deliver the final killing blow. He raised his sword above his head for a mighty downward stroke. Just as he had the sword fully extended, I took the knife I had palmed and thrust it into his abdomen and ripped it across with the same motion a Japanese samurai uses to commit seppuku.
"The swordsman got this shocked look on his face as the sword slipped from his grasp and fall to the ground behind him. He wavered for several seconds before falling to his side, dead.
"As he started to fall, I rolled to the other side and stood up. Fortunately, my 'bot network had shutdown my pain receptors before his knee ever contacted my jaw, and the repair 'bots were 90% complete with fixing the broken jaw and the couple of loosened teeth.
"A little blood was on my chin from a split lip, but once I was sure all of the eyes were on me I covered this by making a show licking a little of my opponent's blood off of the blade of the knife. Standing there naked, having just taken down one of their largest men without appearing to have been seriously hurt or even breathing hard, I stared at the remaining officers for a minute. Finally, I said, "Does that fulfill the prophecy or does another one of you want to try me?'"
"With hardly a pause, all of the officers fell to their knees. The next ranking officer spoke, 'Forgive us, Lioness. We didn't expect the prophecy to come true today. Let these, your unworthy servants, escort you to Lion's Roar where proper tribute can be paid to you.'"
"I probably couldn't have walked away, even if I had wanted to. But I was still very angry towards them for hurting Gwen and I wanted to get to the bottom of it. Talking to the leaders of Lion's Roar was the only approach I saw.
"Therefore, I looked down to where they were kneeling and said, 'Arise, you and your men are now the personal guard of Chloe, the Lioness. You will swear an oath to serve me against all of my enemies. Then you will find appropriate transportation to Lion's Roar for myself and my handmaiden.'
"After the men had sworn an oath to me and started to make ready for our departure, I walked over to Gwen. I knelt down beside her, asking, 'Are you okay?'
"She nodded her head. 'Where did you learn to fight like that?' she asked. 'I have never heard of anyone able to deflect arrows the way you did and then the way you handled that giant. . .' She just petered out and seemed to have a mild case of shock, although whether from witnessing the battle or from blood loss, I was not yet sure.
"I helped her to her feet and then wrapped my arms around her. After a gentle kiss, I pulled my head back a little and said softly, 'There is a lot I need to explain when we have some time alone. Until then you need to trust me to take care of things. Can you do that?' After she nodded her head, I smiled. "Good. Let's go find some clothes and take a look at your wound.'
"With my arm still wrapped around her, we set out to see what had survived the fires."
At this point Clark's stomach began to rumble and Chloe realized that most of the afternoon had gone by and this story was a long way from being finished.
Chloe sat up from where she had been leaning against Clark. "This is a good point to pause the story. Let's go get some food, see where Nicholas is, and if he has found us a place to stay tonight."
After Chloe stood up she reached her hand down to help Lana up. As Lana stood she grimaced. "I am already hurting from this mornings horseback ride. I am dreading tomorrow when the stiffness sets in."
As Lex stood he moaned. "Right now I am wishing I had your 'bots, Chloe. It must be wonderful to never be sore or tired."
Chloe smiled politely. "I'm afraid there's nothing I can do in that area, but I have heard that a long, hot soak at the baths does wonders."
As they started to move back towards Narbo, Lex looked over towards Chloe. "If you don't mind, just a few questions?"
Chloe rolled her eyes, "Sure, Lex."
End of Chapter 14