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She's like no woman I've ever seen. Strong, tall, and overly muscular, she is vulgarly resting on her massive stone throne, legs spread, thick, ripped muscles bulging under the skin, head tilted to the side, seemingly bored and slightly annoyed. A monstrous monument of pure savagery and might right before my eyes, and yet, despite my dread, I can't help but gaze at the deep expanse of her parted thighs, longing for a glimpse of what lies concealed by her lingering loincloth.
Am I insane for allowing my gaze to wander like that? Chained to other doomed bastards, dragged and paraded in front of this barbaric audience, knowing too well there will be little hope for any of us once this procession ends? Guess so. But in my defense, how else can one's mind cope with all the horrors and fears this day brought upon me? Fleeing from reality, letting my gaze wander, watching it settle on that forbidden place.
There's not much left for me to lose anyway. By the end of this day, we'll all be... One way or another, I suspected as much. I'm doomed; there's no way out. Deep inside, I've come to accept it, but at least some part of my mind keeps hoping, thinking, looking for a way out, torturing me with useless questions and fears. I wish for it to stop, but I hope it doesn't.
I'd rather not think about it anymore, so I chase the reality away and push the dread aside for a while longer. I give myself something to do. Yes, there's nothing good waiting for me. Still, for now, here I am, staring at this brutish Valkyrie sitting on her stone throne, this savage queen ruling over these barbaric animals, and at her vulgar display of power. Yes, I've gone crazy, or maybe not.... yet.
"Move, maggots!"
The line moves forward, and each time one of us gets dragged toward her, captives dragging their heavy chains across the cold stone floor. We are all slowly getting paraded before the massive stone throne to have our fate decided by the mighty savage queen. Clan chiefs, warlords, and warriors are standing around us, intensely watching the proceedings, perhaps hoping to be gifted a slave or two or maybe just waiting for something exciting to happen.
I can see her better now. Her wild sand-white hair flows across her back and shoulders, just like that of heroes in those epic fantasy artworks, the most savage and brutal ones, the kind that no one dares to believe could ever be real. Yet here she is, right in front of me, stronger than a wild bull and probably just as savage, a prehistoric wild beast ruling over her tribe of ferocious animals. A lioness, a beast, a savage animal. A monster that can rip a man apart with her bare hands, bored, irritated, annoyed, and slightly disgusted with us all.
Or, maybe, maybe, I'm in the wrong?! Maybe she's the exception! The wise and noble queen of this band of idiot, violent barbarians. A tolerant and civilized soul trapped inside the body of a barbarian war chief goddess. A beautiful and cultured creature forced to live inside the body of a savage war chief goddess. Yeah, sure. Dreams, dreams, and hopes of a lost soul unwilling to face the brutal reality of his last days. And yet the hope dies last, and my mind keeps dreaming. Savage or not, one thing is clear, my fate will be sealed by the nervous twitch of her right hand.
"Move, maggots!" Another push, another step forward.
The line drags on, and I slowly start to understand her boredom. There are many of us and just one of her. Clearly, she has done this before and thinks nothing of this whole event. We're just slaves to her whims, nothing more. I'm just a slave to her whims.
"Move, maggots!"
I wonder why she must be the one to see us all; after all, we're just some stupid captives, and she's basically a savage Queen of sorts.
"The Naked Barbarian Queen." Now that's a nice title for a movie. No, wait, damn, something about that title sounds familiar; I think they already made a movie with that name. I wonder if it was any good. Have I even watched it? I don't remember. It could be one of those shitty B-tier movies that I used to binge on late at night while trying to get myself tired before crashing. I'll have to remember to search for it when...
The line moves once more, and so do I. Another step forward, chains dragging. Three more maggots in front of me and...
SWOOSH!!
A sudden rush of air makes me raise my head. What happened? What's going on?
I freeze!
My brain collapses!
There it is! Right in front of my eyes!
The most horrid image I've ever seen in my life!
The poor bastard's head slowly rolls down on his shoulders, hitting the floor with a muted thud. His body stays still for a moment, then starts to twitch and shake like a headless zombie spewing its blood all over, to the audience's delight. They laugh as the headless prisoner dances in front of them! These animals are having fun!! They are laughing and cheering! This is insanity!!
I look ahead. She's back on her stone throne, cleaning the blood off her massive axe with a smug look on her face. She's amused too! No, not amused, ...her eyes seem filled with anger? Rage? Contempt, maybe?
A cold shiver takes over me. What did the poor fellow do to deserve such a fate? I wonder in shock, watching his shaking corpse finally collapse at her feet. Was he too slow to move? Did he insult her? Was he....
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"Move, maggots," comes the push again, but this time the line stands still. No one dares to take another step, and rightfully so!
Everyone has witnessed the execution or at least the result of it. She was so quick; there was no time for the poor man to react, no time for any of us to process what happened. All that was left was the gruesome spectacle, but that was enough. Fear and panic are spreading among all the captives, chains rattle, and bodies push into each other. No one dares to move one step closer to her and her bloodied axe.
But there's no escape, and the first in line is dragged by force in front of her. He's shaking in fear and instantly drops to his knees, prostrating before her. She listens to his mumbling voice and gestures with a satisfied look on her face. The maggot is dragged out of line, his neck spared. He lives! He survives! Whatever awaits him no longer matters! He just escaped her wrath, and that's enough for me right now, enough for all of us. There's hope; somehow, we believe.
Maybe, maybe that one insulted her, maybe he said the wrong words, disrespected her somehow, I dare to think. My brain rushes ahead, making up excuses, searching for reasons, probing the limits of my logic, giving me hope, struggling to keep me alive somehow. But the reality is here, right before my horrified eyes, and the panic sets in. The chopped-off head stares at me, frozen in a never-ending gasp for air. I freeze in fear, barely able to stand. Whatever he did, I better not do! These are my only saving thoughts.
I look away. The sight is too much for my stomach to handle, but there's no way in hell I'll dare to puke in front of her. I take a deep breath, ignoring the stench of hundreds of savage bodies, smoking torches, and unwashed captives. I can't calm my nerves, but at least my stomach settles for now, and for once, I'm thankful for my malnutrition and ill-treatment. There's nothing to puke, and that's the best thing I can wish for right now.
Another breath, and I feel better. No, I won't look at the corpse, ahead or around. I'll keep staring at the floor; yes, that's it, breathe, breathe. Control? Yes, it seems like it; I did it, I hope. How many captives are behind me? Yes, counting is good.
Before I can look back, the one in front of me finishes his fateful meeting with her and gets dragged away alive. Another one survives. The line breathes once more and pushes me forward, right in front of her!
My time has come!
I'm dead!
I almost trip over the dead body as I try to kneel as fast as I can before her, bowing my head as low as I can, touching the cold floor with my forehead, not daring to breathe or look up at her vulgar display of power. There's no shame, no humiliation, no end to my cowardice and fear. I have no doubts, no remorse, no second thoughts. I must survive; nothing else matters now. The world around me vanishes. There's just me, her, and her axe.
I'm shaking, I'm terrified, I'm completely broken!
"This is the one I've got," I hear a growling voice from behind.
It's the fuckhead that knocked me unconscious right after I stepped down from that blasted portal. I remember his voice and the pain of his savage weapon cracking my skull open.
"The wizard?" she asks, looking down at me just as bored and unimpressed as before.
"Yess, yes, my Queen, the wizzzard," he confirms, push-kicking me from behind, almost breaking my ribs. The fucking animal!
And yet, somehow, his words manage to reach inside the small and dark world of my collapsing mind. What the hell is he talking about? I'm no wizard! I'm just a shitty IT developer, a wannabe app designer that got teleported into this blasted fucking world by mistake! I barely made ten steps away from that fake portal thing, and this savage fuckhead and his buddies jumped me, smacked me on the head, and...
"Speak, wizard! Your name?" her voice echoes around the stone cave, silencing the agitated crowd.
Should I look up? Should I not?
"Ma... Marcus," I lie. Why? Who the hell cares? I'm dead anyway. He's my favorite Roman emperor, and whoever says otherwise can suck it! Also, it may sound important enough for these savages, and that's all that matters right now. This is my trump card, this is what my mind managed to make up, and this is all I got right now. A name.
"Marcus?" she repeats. Her voice is calm, or so it seems.
Silence. What's going on? Is she pissed by my name? Did I just fuck up? What's with the pause? I feel my knees shaking but dare not breathe or raise my eyes at her.
"Tell me, Marcus, what's this?"
I have to look, right? Yes, yes, I have to...
I slowly raise my head. She is right there, on her throne, legs spread as usual. Her massive axe is down, propped against the stone, blood dripping from its sharp blade, forming a small puddle underneath. I feel sick again; my eyes wander in panic. Her hand, her hand is no longer twitching. It's just resting away from the murderous weapon. Hope.... I can breathe for now.
"It's... my phone..." I dare to whisper, looking at my trusted iZone 750Xi, a cheap knockoff vaguely resembling the original.
"Answer!" her voice commands. "What magic is this?"
Her thundering voice sends my brain into a maddening frenzy. It tries to formulate a proper definition, to condense thousands of years of technological progress and engineering into simple words. To give an easy yet comprehensible explication of all the phone's core systems and features. To explain everything at once.... but nothing. My mind freezes, shuts down, and words fail to appear! There's nothing but sweat and terror! I'm completely lost!
"It's his magic stone," the brute behind replies instead.
A magic stone? What the hell is he....?
Wait!... yes, yes, of course! The idiot is right! It is a magic stone! And yes, of course, I am a wizard since I am the one, the one that can use the magic stone! How else to explain myself? How else to explain the phone to her? Of course, there's no other explanation! My phone is a magic stone! ... and I am a wizard...
I know it... I can feel it. My mind is going crazy. Something broke; I'm losing it. It's just a matter of time.
I wondered before how much time would take for my mind to break. Now I know. Two weeks, that's the limit, and I reached it. Barely two weeks have passed since I got sucked into this fucking world, witnessing the most abject and brutal things I couldn't even dare to imagine in my entire life, and finally, it happened....
My mind is breaking apart! I'm insane! I'm seconds away from death, and I'm smiling, shaking, and smiling. I'm completely fucking losing it!!
But you know what?
I am a wizard!
A fucking wizard, you fucking maggots!
To be honest, I’m surprised it didn't happen sooner. Possibly because half of the time, I was still expecting to wake up. A dream, a nightmare of epic proportions... what else could it be? It's not like I can actually believe a fucking portal gate could even be real?! Because it cannot happen! It is not real... it is... not...it cannot be... it is not real....
And yet... I look at the headless corpse at my feet, his blood smearing my knees, the axe blade dripping away.... This dream, this horrible nightmare, doesn't seem to end anytime soon, and I'm here, trapped inside it! This shouldn't be real, it has no right to be, but so far... so far, it is.
This reality exists, and I'm living in it!
My mind is breaking apart as this reality forces itself upon me. The fear takes hold, and my mind goes dark. I cannot flee anymore. There's nothing else to believe.
This thing.... this world... this reality...
I'm falling...
Someone, anyone... please... wake me up....
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