To Be Chosen By A God

Chapter 11

                “Chelsea, run!  Down the path.  There is a village nearby, go to it!”  He transported his broadsword to his hip and pulled it free from it’s sheath.  As he ran to meet the creature, she did as she had been told.  She sprinted down the path with it’s twists and turns and saw the village in the distance.  There were dirt roads here between the fields.  She arrived in the village and there were people traveling to and fro along the cobblestone streets.

                “Ma’am?  Are you ok?”  A man called out to her.  He could tell she was shaken.

                “Micah and I were at the waterfall and something came out of the woods.  He told me to run.”

                The man approached her and took her hands.  “What was it?”

                “I don’t know.”  She began to cry.

                “It’s ok, Chelsea.  You must be Chelsea.  Can you describe it?”

                “It had these teeth and it looked like it had some kind of dreadlocks but it didn’t look like hair.”

                “Claws?”  He asked.  There were now several men gathered around them.

                “I think so.”

                “It’s ok.  It’s probably a demon.  Micah will take it out in no time.  In the meantime, some of the men are going to go out to offer support if it’s needed.  My name is Thomas.  My wife, Jessa is going to take you to our home now.  Ok?”  She nodded and he gestured over to his wife to lead the girl away.

                As Chelsea was led away, several men headed to one of the centrally located sheds that was filled with weapons.  All of the inhabitants of Micah’s Haven knew how to fight.  It was the only thing he required of the people who lived here.

                Micah watched as Chelsea dropped the blanket, picked up her skirt and ran for the path.  Satisfied that she would be safe, he turned his attention to the demon in front of him.  It was a little smaller than himself; closer really to Chelsea’s size.  That told him that this type of demon was going to be quick and agile.  The odd appendages that came from the thing’s head were dangerous.  They could move just like a snake and the tips would pierce the skin and inject the victim with venom.  The demon had sharp claws and talons and the skin would be very thick, acting much like an armor for it.  These were probably the most dangerous of the demon types he had encountered.

                He approached the demon, making it so that it wouldn’t think of going after Chelsea.  They attacked and blocked, trying to get behind each other to get in an unobstructed blow.  The demon feinted and caught Micah flat-footed as he tried to bring his blade back up to block.  It was too late and he felt the demon bite into his neck and the multitude of appendages striking the area around the bite, injecting their venom.   Micah locked the creature to himself by grasping it around the neck as he skewered it with his sword.  He threw the demon away from himself as he lowered himself to the ground. 

                The men from the village arrived in time to watch the last encounter.  Some went over to the demon to make sure it was dead, while Thomas and a few others went to Micah.

                “That looks bad.  Are you ok?”  Thomas asked.

                “I’ll be ok.  The venom will weaken me for a time, but that’s all.  Chelsea made it to the village?”

                “Yes.  I have her with my wife at my house.  Which direction did it come from?  We’ll check to make sure it didn’t bring any of it’s friends.”  Micah pointed and the other men headed in that direction.  Thomas stayed with Micah and when he was ready, helped him up and walked back with him to reunite him with his beloved.

                “I think I’m out of practice.”  Micah remarked.

                “Those ones are tricky bastards.  Don’t be hard on yourself.  If you want to, I can arrange for some of the guys to come up to the house on occasion to spar with you.”

                “That might be for the best.  It’s been too long since I’ve sparred with an opponent and I fear I’ve become lax in my discipline.”

                “I’ll make sure it happens then.  Just send me a message when you’re ready for it.  I know this will take even you time to heal.”  It took a while, but they soon enough came to the village and he led Micah to his house and set him at one of the benches at the kitchen table.

                Chelsea heard the men entering the house so she quickly went to see Micah, having been worried about him.  The sight of him made her gasp in fear.

                “It’s ok, Chelsea.  It looks worse than it is.” Micah said weakly.  The venom was affecting him and he was trying desperately to not show her that he was affected.  He somehow thought she would think less of him for it.

                Jessa had some water boiling and had bandages ready just in case as she had seen more than one man after a demon hunt and had actually expected Thomas to come back with wounds.  Chelsea sat next to him on the non-bitten side and they held hands while Jessa cleaned the wound, stitched it up the best she could, where she could and applied honey to the wound before wrapping the affected area with clean wound binding.

                While his wounds were being seen to, he answered Chelsea’s questions about demons and how one got into the Haven.

                “I think demons can sense Havens.  We’ve never had a dragon, so I don’t think they can find the Havens, but demons do find their way in from time to time.  I think they come because they can, not for any over-reaching reason.  No one even knows how they came about.  It’s like they’ve always been around.”

                “How long will it take you to heal?”  She asked.

                “Maybe a week or two.  The venom will have to burn through my system.  Demons can weaken gods, but they would never be able to kill one.  If they weaken a god for long enough, and prayers go unanswered and the clergy don’t hear from a god, eventually the people will stop following that god and move on to another.  While this would take a long time, this is the only way they would be able to kill a god; keep them weakened and away from their people so that they age and die that way.  I hear that it did actually happen once, but it was before I was born.”

                “So what happens if you weren’t here to fight the demon?”  She asked.

                “Well, all of the Haven’s inhabitants can fight.”  He scrunched up his face in confusion, not understanding why she didn’t know that and then it dawned on him.  “Oh!  Of course, why would you know?  You know that I’m a god of war.  It’s part of the agreement for anyone who comes here to live and work the fields or take care of the animals.  They also have to be either able to fight or willing to learn.  The exception is you.  But all the children eventually learn how to fight, even the women.”

                “Why am I the exception?  Won’t I be taught to fight too then?”

                “There should never be a reason for you to fight, Chelsea.  We can talk more of it when I’m better.  Most of the time, the people in the villages will take care of any demons that make their way into the Haven.  They will usually pray to me to let me know one has been spotted and they will usually only ask for help if there are not enough people in the area to fight it that can get there fast enough.  If it’s children that spot it first, calling on me is one of the first things they learn how to do.”

                “But no one looked like they were wearing weapons, so how do they fight the demons without weapons?”

                “There are sheds located all over with weapons inside of them.  They don’t have any locks on them so it’s always easy to get them if needed.  There is a way to lock them from the inside, so if there is a child running from a demon, they can bar themselves inside if need be.  I’m sorry.  I’m making it sound like this is a frequent thing.  It’s not.  Demons show up maybe once every twenty years or so.  And all the information about demons is handed down from parents to children so everyone knows what to do if one shows up.”

                “There, Micah.  You’re all patched up.  How are you feeling?”  Jessa asked.

                “I can feel the venom traveling through my system and it’s weakening me already.  I will not be able to Step back to the house.”

                “I can have a pair of horses saddled for you.”  Thomas offered.

                Micah chuckled.  “I don’t think I’ll be able to hold on the entire ride home either.  It’s quite a distance and the venom is pretty strong.  Is there a cart we can borrow?”

                “Of course!  I’ll get the cart and horses ready for you.”  Thomas replied.

                “You get to learn how to drive a cart, Chelsea.”  He smiled weakly.

                “I’m worried.”  Chelsea confessed.

                “Don’t worry.  You’ll be fine.  Help me up and we can start moving towards the cart and I’ll be able to climb into it.”  He put an arm around her and she put her shoulder underneath his armpit as she wrapped her arms around his waist.  They stood up together and Jessa showed them where the community carts and horses were that were also nearby.  Thomas pointed out the cart he was going to harness the team to, and Micah climbed into the bed of the cart.  Jessa handed him a pillow and he thanked her as he tucked it under his head.

                “Thomas?  I’ve never driven a cart before.”  Chelsea confessed after getting his attention.

                “It’s pretty easy.  I’m only going to harness two horses to the cart.  You’re going to sit up here.”  He patted the bench.  “And you’ll have the reins to the horses in your hands.  You can flick the reigns and they’ll smack against the horses’ rears which will tell them you want to go forward.  Don’t worry about how long the ride takes, so you won’t have to worry about getting them to go faster.  The more you flick the reins, the faster they will go but you shouldn’t go faster than a trot for now.  If you want to stop, pull back gently on the reins.  They will follow the curve of the road, so you don’t have to worry about that.  If you need to turn, you can pull a little on the side you want to turn.  The horses are trained well, so you don’t need to make strong movements to get their attention.

                “Now, this is the North Village.  The manor is closest to the South Village.  If you follow the road, it will eventually bend and take you on a straight line for the East Village and the main road there will take you to the South Village.  By then, you should be able to see the manor, but if you get lost, don’t be afraid to ask for help.  There isn’t a person in the Haven who wouldn’t die for him.”

                He waited for her to nod and then finished harnessing the horses to the cart.  When he was finished, he helped her up to the bench and then led the team out to the road and pointed her in the correct direction.  Thomas and Jessa waved as she flicked the reins and the cart lurched to start.  She was white faced and white knuckled, but determined to do this for him.  Thomas was right that the horses were easy to direct.  It was full dark by the time she reached the South Village and Micah was snoring softly.  She reined in the horses and found a house to knock on.  She knocked a few times and waited.

                She could hear movement behind the door and it was opened after a few moments.

                “Can I help you miss?  You must be from one of the other villages.  What’s brought you out at this hour?”  A middle aged man asked her.

                “My name is Chelsea and Micah and I were at the waterfall near the North Village when a demon attacked.  He’s been patched up, but there’s no way I’ll be able to move him up to the bedroom and I don’t know how to unharness the horses.  I can rub them down and brush them because Micah showed me, but they’ll have to get back to the North Village along with the cart and….”

                The man held up a hand to stop her.  She was clearly distraught.  “Let me see how he’s doing.”  She led him to the cart.  “My name is Mathias, by the way.”  He checked the binding and saw that it was done by someone who knew how to bind wounds.  He checked Micah’s temperature and found him to be fevered.  “How long has he been fevered?”

                “I…I don’t know.  He didn’t have a fever when he climbed into the cart and he was awake with me for a little while because I was so nervous about driving the cart but he was so tired that I told him I’d be fine and to rest.  He would groan when we hit a bumpy section of road, but that’s all I’ve heard from him.”  She wrung her hands with worry.

                “Fever doesn’t affect him the same way it would us.  High temperatures would eventually damage our minds after, say, a day or so of having the high fever.  Lower fevers would take longer to damage our minds.  It would take weeks of high fevers to damage his mind.”  He said to ease her mind.  “But we can still try to fight the fever.”  He went back to the entrance of his house and called inside.  “Margaret!  Please come out here.”  Chelsea was confused.  Was this where Margaret lived?  She thought Micah said she lived in one of the out buildings near the manor.

                A middle aged woman exited the building.  She looked like an older version of Margaret.  She saw the confusion on Chelsea’s face so quickly explained.  “I’m the Margaret you know’s mother.  There are currently three generations of us named Margaret.  You can just call me Mother Margaret so if you were to speak to someone else, they know which Margaret you are talking about.  People refer to my mother as Grandmother Margaret.”  She smiled and came out to the cart where her husband had returned.  He quietly explained what Chelsea had told him.  She felt his face and forehead to check his temperature and agreed it was elevated.  Margaret went back inside and Mathias began waking up Micah.  He shook him and smacked his cheeks lightly while calling his name.  He eventually opened his eyes.

                “Mathias?  Is Chelsea ok?”  He rasped.

                “I’m right here.  I needed to stop and get some help.  I happened to knock on Mathias and Mother Margaret’s door.”  She took his hand.

                “Micah, Margaret is making a tea to help bring down your fever and it’s easier to do that when you’re awake.  Is there anything else you need?”

                “Teach her the ointment.”

                “Ointment?”  Chelsea asked.

                “It keeps wounds clean and helps them to heal faster.  The honey they used was to help the bleeding stop and to keep out infection.  When you change the dressings, the bleeding will have stopped so using the ointment will be better.  Margaret will teach you after he’s had the tea.”  He stayed awake while they waited and when it was ready, Mathias helped him to sit up and Margaret held the cup for him.  When the cup was drained, he was eased back down where he fell back asleep.

                “I’ll go rouse some men to help transport him and take care of the horses.  Micah wants Chelsea shown how to make the wound ointment.”  Mathias told Margaret.

                “Of course.  I’ll see you in a little bit.”  They pecked each other on the lips and Margaret turned back to the house.  Chelsea followed her inside where Margaret taught her how to dress a wound, what the wounds will look like when the stitches are ready to come out, and how to make the ointment.  She wrote down the instructions and made sure Chelsea knew how to do each step.  She also gave her a pouch of the tea for the fever should he still have it in the morning.

                When they exited the house, a group of men were milling about the cart.  Margaret got up into the bench and helped Chelsea climb into the seat next to her.  She took the reins and guided the horses first to her daughter’s house.  She entered, wrote a note about the cart and horses and where they needed to get back to and then drove the cart as close to the manor as possible.  Once there, the men picked up Micah and carried him up to his bed while Margaret took the horses and cart to the stable along with a couple of the men that had not gone with Micah.

                Margaret looked over at Chelsea.  “You’re tired.  The guys here will take care of the horses and my daughter will see that they get back to North Village along with the cart.  You need to go on up and go to bed.”

                Chelsea nodded and headed to the manor.  As she was entering, the men were leaving.  They nodded to her as she passed them.  She took care of the candles and lamps still burning as she walked up to the bedroom.  Once inside, she saw that they had pulled back the bedding and had laid him down, but had done nothing else.  He was still fully clothed and his boots were even still on.  Even his sword belt was still on complete with sword.  She had to take a few moments to see how the sword belt was attached before undoing the straps and tugging it loose from him.  She set the sword against his wardrobe and then looked him over.  He was wearing leather arm guards that went up to his elbows.  He hadn’t been wearing those at the waterfall.  He must have brought those to him with his power when he brought his sword.  She had never seen the sword before and wondered if he kept it somewhere or if he had just created it on the spot.  He rarely wore arm or wrist guards.  Actually, now that she thought about it, she had never seen him in the full arm guards, just the smaller wrist guards like her father and brother wore for work.

                His shirt had been cut away at his right shoulder so that Jessa could bandage him up.  She was happy he hadn’t been wearing the shirt she had made for him.  She would have been sad to see it destroyed so soon after finishing it.  She checked to see if it was salvageable, but there was not only a lot of blood splattered all over it, there were multiple holes and tears where the demon’s head appendages had torn into him.  His pants and boots, however appeared to be completely undamaged.

                She removed his boots and socks and then went to remove his shirt but found that his shirt was damp with perspiration.  She didn’t know if it was from the fight or from the fever.  Chelsea decided it would be best to clean him which would also mean changing his bandages.  If she was going to change his bandages, she should have the ointment made.   She put her hand against his face and forehead to check his temperature and his skin was a little clammy, but not flush with fever.

                Nodding to herself, she pulled out the recipe for the ointment and checked the ingredients.  She recognized them all and knew she would find them all in the pantry.  She kissed his forehead and hurried down to the kitchen to prepare the ointment.  It took about a half hour to make and she only made enough for a single batch.  She could always make more tomorrow and she still had a lot to do before she was going to bed.  She also grabbed a large bowl and a steaming bucket of water up to the bedroom.  She left again and picked up a pair of scissors and a few wash cloths along with clean bindings for his wounds.

                Now for the hard part.  She cut the shirt from him and pulled it loose from beneath him.  Next were his pants.  She undid the lacing up the crotch, covered his waist with the bedding and tugged from the ankles and sometimes having to grab at the pants in other areas to pull them completely free of him.  Last were the wound dressings.  They weren’t bleeding anymore; Mother Margaret had confirmed that.  She had also told her that she would have to soak the bandages against his skin in warm water to loosen up the honey so that she didn’t pull away any scabbing and cause him to bleed all over again.  Margaret had warned that she would have to be patient with this part.  As soon as a bandage tugged a little, Chelsea dunked a wash cloth in the now pleasantly warm water, squeezed out the excess water and placed it against the bandage.  When the honey had heated back up and also loosened any scab’s holding to the cloth she gently pulled up the bandage, always stopping when there was resistance. 

                When all the bandages were clear, she began cleaning him of the blood and sweat.  She had cleaned his front everywhere but the crotch, which she had kept covered all this time.  Should she uncover him and clean there too?  She was too shy to do this so kept him covered while she put a hand underneath and quickly cleaned the creases where his legs came together, creating a ‘v’ and also around his p***s and scrotum.  She was glad no one could see how red her face had become. And she was also happy that Micah had not awakened to witness it either.

                She still needed to clean his back so figured out a way to maneuver him onto his side, but leaned over with his right leg as a prop, keeping him from rolling all the way onto his stomach.  She was less concerned about seeing his rear as she had seen it often enough when he was still listening to evening prayers and had been caught before he had been able to put on pants.  Cleaning his back and rear went without issue and she rolled him back onto his back so that she could redress his wounds.

                The covers were arranged so that they again covered his waist and she began applying the ointment to the multitude of wounds.  There was the central wound at his neck near the crook of his neck and then smaller wounds that radiated outward from it.  There were a few on his face, his shoulder, and upper chest.  It was the central wound that Jessa was unable to stitch as there were sections of skin missing.  Chelsea was surprised to notice that while the wounds were all fairly deep, none of them seemed to go through all of the layers of skin.  She was applying the ointment when Micah opened his eyes.

                “Chelsea?”

                “I’m here, Micah.  I’m just finishing cleaning up your wounds and redressing them for the night.”

                “How long has it been?”

                “You were attacked this afternoon.”

                “Why are you redressing them so soon?  And….I’m naked?  And feel clean…”

                “I didn’t want you to be uncomfortable.  I took your clothes off, but you had sweat through your shirt and were covered in blood still so I cleaned you up, but I also had to take off your dressings to clean you the rest of the way.  The wounds had stopped bleeding so I made the ointment and I’m redressing the wounds.”

                “But…”  He made a vague movement towards his lower half.  He knew she would have been self-conscious about seeing or touching his genitals.

                “I kept you covered for that….”  Chelsea replied, her cheeks flaming crimson. 

                “I’m sorry I couldn’t help you.” He cupped her cheek with a hand, stroking the cheekbone.

                She kissed his hand.  “It’s ok.  You had me worried showing up to Thomas and Jessa’s house all bloody.  I’m glad you’re ok.”

                “Not yet, but I will be.  I will be very weak for the next couple days.  I’m exhausted now.”

                She could hear it in his voice.  “Go back to sleep, Micah.  I’ll finish redressing your wounds and be in bed soon.”  He nodded as he closed his eyes again, and he was soon asleep.  She finished binding the wounds and then quickly dressed in her nightgown, made sure Micah was covered with the bedding, blew out the lamps, and got in next to him, falling asleep almost instantly, exhausted herself.