Champion

Chapter 11

Not expecting the question in the silence that had fallen over them during the meal, David was surprised, and took a breath to answer her at the wrong moment; breathing in part of his soup as well. After a few moments trying and failing to cough the broth from his lungs and stop his eyes from tearing up further, he finally mastered himself enough to answer her in a hoarse voice "What?"

Seeing his obvious surprise at her question, and assuming the worst from his response, she began to worriedly beg his forgiveness.

"I am sorry for offending you with my impertinence Champion, but no one has met a chosen of Eros since the last one perished a generation ago. Please forgive me, I was unsure what to say to one such as you, and I was curious."

Waving away her concern, he was finally able to gather enough breath to speak, "It's fine. It's fine. Nothing wrong with the question, I just had some of your delicious soup go down the wrong way."

As she sighed in relief at his comment, she noticed he had complimented her soup a second time. The soup really wasn't that good. It was quite standard fare. A dawning realization struck her. It was only after he had seen her mostly naked form that he offered to help her; offering to take her with him, and giving her the light and the jacket. Thinking on her circumstances further, she came to understand that he had helped with Meadowgrass as an excuse to be close to her; and he was paying her false compliments about her cooking to keep her happy. Like so many others he was enthralled with her beauty. Smiling at this insight, she realized this was an excellent turn of events.

Why wouldn't he be drawn to her? After all Eros had blessed her with greater beauty than any other. It must have been why she was chosen by her god, so that she could better guide his Champion. After all, every man she had ever known had done whatever she asked just to receive Eros' Blessing from her. Why should Eros' Champion be any different? And in return for her diligence and guidance she would finally be recognized for her worth by the rest of the clergy. So what if her healing magic was a little weaker than others. Her performance during worship was twice as popular as anyone else. No man in all of Sanctuary Port would refuse Eros' Blessing if she gave it. This could be her path to priestesshood, and all she had to do was what she excelled at.

She began to plan her seduction of the man. In her current state she was certainly at a disadvantage. Her once immaculate robes were a soiled tattered mess, her hair was a dirty rat's nest of tangles, and she feared her pristine face was marred by the beginnings of a bruise. Self conscious, she turned from David to hide her imperfections until she could fix them.

"I wish to cleanse myself and change into more suitable clothing; can you give me some privacy Champion?"

Confused by the title she was using for him (Champion? Of what?), but wishing for her to be comfortable after her traumatic ordeal he readily agreed.

"Certainly. As long as you stay in the cave you can use the white light on your headlamp; it won't show outside. Let me turn it on for you and I will wait outside as long as you need," David told her soothingly.

Moving towards her, he reached forward as she turned to him, and changed the light she wore from red to white. It was much brighter, illuminating the whole of the cave to her eyes. Next he took up his bowl, and walked to the cave entrance. Before exiting he reached upward and switched the light on his helmet back to red. Waiting for him to walk around the side of the cave mouth, away from direct view of her, she moved to her bags and pulled her second best set of robes out. If her magic were more accomplished, she could simply repair the robes she wore. However, her ability to conjure, craft, and repair items was very limited. The mirror she quickly summoned with a chant was by far the most elaborate conjuration she could manage, and she had worked for many winters to master it.

Looking in the large mirror, she was less than impressed with her reflection. The light on her head was glaring, and made it difficult to see anything of her face and hair. The strange coat he had given her was bulky and unflattering on her figure. What she could see of her robes beneath them were torn, and disgustingly soiled. Removing the light from her head, she focused her will. Concentrating her magic she sent it into the edges of the mirror, infusing it with a soft glow. Much better, she thought while returning to the inspection of her form.

Finally able to see the condition of her face and hair, she became further distressed. Her hair was worse than she feared, infused with dirt, tangles, and even a few twigs. It was disgusting. And her jaw sported a massive red mark; what was certain to be an ugly bruise forming already. Realizing the enormity of the work before her, she quickly stripped out of the coat and her tattered robes. She chanted her spell of cleansing while concentrating her magic on the task. The copious dirt and minimal sweat on her body disappeared while her hair untangled and shed the unwelcome dirt and twigs. Drawing on her spare robes she continued chanting, focusing her magic to remove any dust and wrinkles they had accumulated while stored for travel. Lastly she focused her attentions to her face.

The bruise was unacceptable, marring the perfection of her beauty. She was truly weary now, having used more of her magic today that she was comfortable with. But even her poor healing skills and rapidly depleting magic would fix this. She refused to allow this mark to remain. If she had to use every bit of her magic, and more, she would not allow her beauty to be marred in such a fashion. Staring intently at her reddened jaw, she focused the entirety of her will upon grasping every last remaining scrap of her magic; pushing all of it into her injured jaw while steadily chanting a spell of restoration over and over again. The bruise quickly darkened, and seemed to go through an accelerated recovery, changing color from red, to purple, to a splotchy yellow/green. The longer she focused the slower the changes occurred. Her magic was nearly depleted, and the bruised skin still had an ugly yellow tint. Steeling her determination and clamping down on her magic with her will; she forced what magic remained to work harder. She was not going to walk around with a yellowed bruise on her face. Finally, as the last vestiges of her magic waned, the discoloration disappeared from her face.

More exhausted than she had ever felt before, Laurena smiled proudly at her restored beauty. This was sufficient for now. Folding the torn and soiled mess of her old robes, she carefully stowed them at the bottom of her bags while pulling out her warm traveling cloak and drawing it on. She left the hood down and the front open, adjusting it to keep her warm but still display her flawless beauty and impressive cleavage.

Feeling much better about her appearance, she banished the mirror and moved her saddle and bags to a spot closer to David's gear. She was desperately tired, but she needed to begin her seduction of the Champion at once. She could lay the groundwork tonight, and continue to tease and arouse him during the day and half it would take to get to Wolfsvale. By the time I'm done with him, she thought to herself with a smile, he'll pop the moment the first Blessing begins.

*** Discoveries ***

102313MAR13 DW

Mountains, Somewhere

Staring up at the moon, David was dumbstruck. More specifically, it was the second moon that had rendered his mind blank.

When he had walked from the cave to give Laurena privacy, he had decided to seek out a few of the constellations that he could remember. He was terrible at celestial navigation, knowing of only a few easily identifiable constellations in the night sky. If it wasn't the Big Dipper, Little Dipper, or Orion he couldn't help you. But he had a Drill Sergeant in Basic show him how to find all three one night he was on guard duty. If he could find the Big Dipper (by far the easiest for him) then he could follow it to the Little Dipper and the North Star. That was usually enough for him to orient at night.

However, when he started searching the night sky for them he noticed something far more significant. The moon that had begun to rise earlier now had a friend. Looking back and forth between the two moons, he compared them to the single moon he had known his whole life. Higher on the horizon, the white moon was bright and full, similar but slightly larger in the sky than the moon he was used to. But the second, blue-colored, moon hanging low in the eastern sky was very different. It seemed to have an atmosphere of some sort from the wispy clouds floating across its surface. He thought it resembled pictures of Earth taken during manned space missions. Except he couldn't see any land masses on its surface.

Holy s**t Toto. f**k Kansas, I'm not on Earth anymore!

He didn't know what to think. He reviewed everything he had learned after waking up; the unexpected terrain, the movement of the sun, his compass, and his GPS. No wonder he couldn't get a signal from any satellites. There were no satellites. He also thought back to the men he had killed, the girl he had saved, and the conversation they had about the region. None of those places sounded familiar because none of those places were on his planet.

Not sure what to do with this realization and his head still pounding from the explosion and rifle wound, he began to question what to do next. Getting back to us Forces was out. There were no us Forces. There was no United States. What the hell would he do? Try to get back to Earth? He didn't even know how he got here. Maybe the girl would have some answers, or possibly know of someone who would have the answers.

Deciding to sit her down and get some kind of damn explanation from her, he walked determinedly back to the cave entrance. Striding around the corner he saw her horse standing patiently next to the cave wall, eating from its feed bag. Further in he saw her and stopped. She was standing in front of a large mirror that he hadn't seen there when he left. The edges of it were glowing, and it was floating in mid-air. She had changed clothes, and was now wearing a dress that looked similar to a toga, with sleeves and a low-cut front. She had cleaned and brushed out her hair, and was now inspecting the bruise that was on her jaw. David had seen it earlier, but had nothing with him to treat it. Her bruise began to discolor as he watched, changing shades as though undergoing a week of healing in moments.

Healing magic. Earlier she said she cast healing magic on her wrists. This world has actual magic?

As this alarming thought continued to bounce through David's beleaguered brain, he watched her bruise finish healing. Then she packed the remains of her old dress into one of her bags, pulling out and putting on what he could only describe as a cloak. Checking her reflection in the mirror again, she chanted something softly and it disappeared. The mirror just frikkin' disappeared.