The young man shivered and opened his eyes to see a cloudless sky, framed by tall evergreen trees that reached for shimmering stars. The water of the cozy rock pool had expended its heat during his slumber, and Ben grumbled about the unfairness of the world. He had experienced the bliss of hot, steaming water for all of ten heartbeats before he slipped into the comforting embrace of sleep.
He jolted upright from his slackened position, which submerged his body under the cold water, as he remembered the events of his dream. He stood and climbed out of the natural bath, only to find that the chilly night air wasn’t welcoming to his dripping form. Ben reached for his clothes and found that they were not where he had left them.
He stood and stared at nothing in particular, shivering from the cold and the eventual interaction he’d have with his companions. The young man felt as if his mind had been slowed by the cold, as it took surprisingly long for a logical thought to tell him that it was probably one of the women who had taken his dirty laundry. He was torn from his self-pity by the patter of light footsteps on the rocky path he had taken to reach the lower pool.
"I. I’m undressed." He stuttered through chattering teeth in warning to whoever was approaching him.
The sounds of footsteps stopped, and he heard the soothing voice of Ann call out to him.
"It’s me. I’ve washed your clothes and dried them by the fire. Should I leave them here, or may I come and give them to you?" She asked.
I suppose she’s seen everything there is to see already.
Ben thought to himself as he looked down and realized that it was indeed, quite chilly.
"Uh, thanks, Ann. Please leave them there for me. I can manage the rest." He replied quickly.
Ann remained quiet for a beat.
"As you wish. Could we have some time to talk? Later, once you’ve settled in." She asked with an uncertain tone.
"Of course, I’ll talk to you later."
He waited for the woman to leave and wondered what was so important that she felt the need to ask him for his time. She would usually save her thoughts or opinions for times when the two of them were alone.
Huh.
Ben thought he would feel anxious at the out-of-character request, but he was only cold and hungry. He heard the Priestess’ bare feet leave the area, but he still heard murmured voices from their camp in the alcove above. It seemed that Jor and Ainsle were in the middle of a spirited conversation. He shrugged and went to retrieve the clothes that Ann had left for him. He found his boots, trousers, and a different linen tunic neatly folded on top of a piece of scrap fabric. The clothes felt warm to the touch, and he began to dry his body with the loose piece of fabric. He got dressed and slipped on his clean boots before walking and climbing up the steep, rocky hill toward his companions.
"…ancient ones. Almost as if-"
Jor, who wore her white skirt and tunic, had her obscenely long hair hung in damp locks behind her back as she stood and spoke to a sitting Ainsle. She paused at the sight of the young man as he joined the pair next to the fire. Jor turned to face him and spoke.
"Ben?" She hesitated.
Ainsle sat lazily near the fire and grinned at the Archer's obvious discomfort. She wore a loose white tunic and short pants made of an unknown, rough material that exposed scarred, muscled calves. The bandage around her eye had been cleaned, and her grey-blonde hair was loosely tied back in a frizzled bun that was still damp from her bath. She winked at Ben.
The young man sat cross-legged on the cold stone in front of the fire, and Jor seemed to relax at the motion.
"Gods..." The Squad Leader whispered to herself as she exhaled in relief and her posture relaxed visibly.
"Did something happen?" He asked.
Ainsle was the one to answer.
"Fucked if we know. Wanna tell us something, Benny boy?" The Berserker asked teasingly.
"What do you m-" A thought interrupted the young man’s response.
My Avatar
He recalled the events of his dream, and an understanding came to him. He couldn’t find words to describe the sensation, but he knew that he was different. Perhaps a bit more whole than he had been before.
Ainsle reacted to his abrupt pause with a low whistle.
"I’m thinking that you found the way in. I’m also thinking that you put that bastard in its place." Her eye smiled as she spoke in a coarse, mocking voice.
"Yeah. I think so. I feel… different." Ben tried.
"We felt it too. So, you’ve tamed your Avatar? Do you know its name?" Jor asked.
Ben opened his mouth to answer the woman but was interrupted by a warm hand on his shoulder.
"Squad Leader. If you don’t mind, I’d ask that you allow Ben some time to process his bond before prying." Ann stood behind the young man and spoke in an even tone.
The Archer cast her gaze down to her bare feet and nodded, her hands clasped together and her lips pursed at the implied brazenness of her questions. Ann faced Ben and smiled with soft blue eyes.
"Would you care to go for a walk, my Champion?" she offered.
"Ah. Yes, you wanted to talk?" Ben avoided commenting on her choice of address.
Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
He stood and nodded to Jor and Ainsle; the latter had remained silent with her ever-present grin plastered to her scarred face.
"Don’t wear him out too much." She teased.
Ben rolled his eyes and followed the Priestess a short distance away from the camp. Her long, straight hair was loose, and it glowed an ethereal, pale gold in the moonlight. He caught her scent in the brisk night air, and he thought that she smelled of fresh mint and lavender. She stopped at the foot of the rise, a few paces from the trail they had traveled earlier that day, and turned to face him.
"I had intended to wait until we made it to safety. I had hoped that we would have more time, but…"
Ann knelt on the mossy ground and averted her gaze, her blue eyes seemed uncertain.
Ben was taken aback at the gesture, as his eyes widened and his shoulders tensed. He decided that he would allow the Priestess to express herself, as he thought back to her distraught face in the abandoned cabin in Shalebeak.
Just let her speak her mind, Ben.
He told himself, and his posture relaxed as he regarded the woman kneeling below him.
"I’ve felt the call of your essence, your being, resonate with my own. You have bonded with your Avatar and have begun to settle into your Path. I know that you may have reservations regarding my intentions with, or… feelings for you, but I beg that you consider my plea." Ann’s voice trembled, and she paused to regain her composure.
The air in the wooded mountain pass began to nip at Ben’s exposed neck and forearms. The world appeared to grow quieter, the shadows in his periphery, longer. The young man tasted something in the cold breeze that spoke to him of a pivotal moment. It evoked the same indescribable emotion he had experienced while witnessing the loss of Jor’s Avatar.
"I prostrate myself before you, Champion. I ask that you heed my brazen request to entwine our fates together. I ask that you accept me as your Keeper so that my body, mind, and soul will be yours to wield as you see fit. And I ask that you accept my Sacrifice as payment, as I renounce my ties to all that breathes in Aetheria and all that does not in the Divine realm, so that I may devote the entirety of myself to you."
The words of the Priestess echoed in his mind, and he felt his body resonate with the oath and plea. A warm breath caressed his ear and once more, he felt the claw of the beast—his Avatar—rest on his shoulder. However, for the first time outside of his dreams, Ben could feel a concept conveyed by the entity. It smelled of anticipation and desire.
You want her? No. You want everything.
The weight of the moment settled on his shoulders, and he regarded the supplicant before him. He wondered what the implications of such a powerful oath would be and whether or not his decision was his own or that of an ancient being with motives he could not fully decipher. He paused for a moment and spoke.
"I accept your submission."
Ben’s shoulders became lighter, and he had the impression of satisfaction or approval brush his mind. The starry sky, cupped by the tall trees of the mountain pass, seemed to brighten, and it was as if the world exhaled a breath held in anticipation. He regarded his kneeling Keeper, and he noticed that she seemed more substantial to him. More vivid, as if he could perceive her with his eyes closed.
He closed his eyes to test the thought and found that he could feel her presence as if it were something tangible that he could reach out and call to him. He let himself follow the current of his instincts, and he felt the woman’s presence approach him. He opened his eyes to see the top of a blonde head, which reached the tip of his nose, slowly bending. Ann reached down and took the young man’s hand in hers, as she bowed to kiss his pale knuckles.
The contact of her lips against his skin caused Ben’s vision to flash white. He saw an image of a bleeding, dark-skinned, nude woman whose hands were raised high above her head, her feet were placed on top of each other, and her head was bowed with long black braids that hid her face. The figure was nailed with angry spikes through her hands, shoulders, thighs, and feet to a thick, obsidian post on top of a pure-white dune in a desolate desert. The sand around the black-glass post was dyed red, saturated with the blood of the damned woman.
"She is the Martyr. My Avatar of Sacrifice. We belong to you." Ann spoke with soft blue eyes that gazed into his chest.
Ben’s heart ached for the tormented woman in the vision, and he considered what he knew of the concepts and ideals of Avatars and their Wielder's embodiment of them.
Is Ann constantly suffering like that? Or, rather, would her nature lead her to accept that fate gladly?
The young man thought and resolved to ensure that he prevented that degree of pain for the Priestess.
"What happens now?" Ben tried to meet her eyes, but she hadn’t torn her gaze from his chest.
She reached up and placed a soft, pale hand on his cheek, which had gradually grown a coarse stubble over the past few days.
"We go where you will it, my Champion. Follow the tug of fate, and you will find your destination as clear as the moon in the sky." She spoke with a tone of deference, which bothered Ben.
"Annie. Would you look at me for a moment?"
Ann looked up at the young man’s face, but she didn’t meet his eyes.
"Here. Please." Ben said as he gently cupped her chin and tilted it upward.
The woman didn’t resist; however, when her blue eyes met his, she shuddered and closed her eyes tightly.
What have I done?
"Hey, is everything okay?" He asked her in a panic.
She opened her eyes once more and shivered as she maintained eye contact. He felt a significant amount of distress through his raw, newly-formed bond with her. Slowly, she calmed, and the emotion he felt from her warmed to that of comfort or the feeling of home.
"Forgive me. I am too weak as I am, please allow me time to improve so that I may follow you."
Ben felt content with her words and her submission to him, yet there was a nagging feeling that itched the back of his mind.
"Listen. Please don’t change. Talk to me the same way you always have. I don’t want any of this… Champion stuff. I’m just Ben, remember?" He paused to consider his blabbering and decided to take another approach. "Okay, I’ll be your Champion. You are my Keeper. I'm fine with that. But I want Ann, the person. Not some tool to be used for whatever end. Sure, we can play our roles if you’d like, but I want the real you."
Ann gasped, her eyes widened, and her lips parted as she appeared startled at the torrent of words that flooded out of the young man’s mouth. She closed her mouth and exhaled with a smile.
"As you wish, Ben."
"Thanks. I just want some normalcy… not that I’m even sure what normal is. Anyway, I would appreciate it." He sighed in relief.
Ann regarded him once more intently with a familiar expression.
"You know, I noticed that fine dagger you found. It’s quite sharp." She paused as Ben gulped. "It’d be a wonderful idea to clean the prickles off your face, wouldn’t you agree?"
There it is…
Ben groaned internally at the mildly scolding tone of the short, blue-eyed, blonde woman.
"Yes, ma’am."
The pair made their way back to the camp under a clear, starry sky, with smiles and an easy air about them. They arrived to find Ainsle sitting next to the fire, and Jor lay next to her, fast asleep and wrapped in the blankets she had originally protested against the Priestess bringing. Ainsle had been staring into the heart of the fire, her grin absent and her single eye, deep in thought. The Berserker looked up at the approaching pair, and her grin returned.
"I hope you lot checked for ticks. I had a few romps on the forest floor in my day, you know. It pays to find the cunts early, cause you don’t wanna rip them off your ballsack after they’ve had time to dig in." Her eye smiled sweetly, and her grin mocked cruelly.
Ann smiled and nodded to the old woman.
Why are you encouraging her?!
Ben pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed.
"Aw, don’t be such a prude, Benny boy. By the way, you wanna hear something good?" She winked at the young man.
Ben hesitated at the magnitude of the old woman’s grin. He remained silent and nodded his head.
"Ol’ Ain’s gonna treat you to a little secret about your Path."