Bound in Spirals Ch. 14

After a moment he said, "Then I concede."

"Ooh, very fluent. A nice surprise." She grinned. "Anyways, on to matters of import. I hear you were involved in the killing of some of my subjects. I assume you have an explanation prepared?"

Sam shuffled uncomfortably, made even more awkward by his boots squeaking on the polished blue marble floor.

He blinked, and suddenly Dettella was speaking. "—defense, I assure you. We would not have acted in such manner were it not necessary." She finished.

"I understand, yet— Hm? Is something wrong?" The queen looked at Sam as he stumbled to the right, clutching his head.

"A-Ah, just... just a dizzy spell. I'm alright." He replied hurriedly, waving his hand reassuringly. "Don't... don't mind me, please continue."

Dettella frowned worriedly at him. "Are you sure? You look quite pale."

"A-Ah, I think... I think I just need some water." He replied, trying to smile.

"Dheina, please fetch some refreshments for our guests." Elleifren said to the purple suited servant. "Bring in a few chairs while you're at it."

Sam gripped the hilt of his sword as tightly as he could. 'What the hell is going on with me? I keep having blanks in my mind!' He shook his head. 'Is this something to do with what the tree did to me?'

"Samson?" Dettella looked at him oddly. "Why don't you sit down?"

"Huh?" Sam looked around and realized the elf had already returned with chairs. On a tray she carried a tray of various colored drinks. Everyone was already seated around him. "A-Ah, sorry. Still a little dizzy I suppose."

"Well then, if that's settled we can return to the discussion." The queen said, looking at Sam with a strange expression. A mix of confusion and concern, and yet there was a hint of empathy in the creasing of her face.

Sam's trembling hands took the glass of chilled blue liquid and he nodded gratefully to the elf as he sat carefully. "Yes, I had just finished telling what had happened and our reasons behind our actions." Dettella replied.

Sam nearly fumbled the glass out of his hands at her words. 'What?! She explained all of it?!'

"Samson, you should drink some before you spill it everywhere." Dettella said softly, leaning over to him. Even more softly she said, "Are you sure you really are alright? I am sure the queen would be gracious enough to let you go rest if you need it."

"N-No... no, I'll be fine." He said urgently, wiping the sweat from his brow. "I need to be here for this."

She nodded in understanding. "Queen Elleifren, let us continue." Suddenly Dettella had a slightly predatory glint in her eyes as she looked to the queen. The princess sat straight-backed, cool-faced, and the atmosphere changed around her. Her commanding presence seemed impossible to ignore. It was a glimpse into what she would have been had she ascended the throne instead of her sister. Sam couldn't help but admire her confidence in that moment. And yet, at the same time, he couldn't help but feel some apprehension as well.

'This is what she wanted, right? A challenge?' He thought, looking at the princess over his glass. Then he glanced at the queen and, for a moment, saw the reason Dettella was so excited. The elven queen was completely calm. Her own aura of command outweighing even the princess', and was the embodiment of dignified regality. 'Looking at this, I can't help but think Dettella is the caterpillar and Elleifren is the butterfly. This queen is what she aspires to become... or perhaps there's more to it.'

"Ah... I must apologize." The queen said, brushing a lock of hair behind her pointed ear. "I'm afraid I can't give you the argument you were looking forward to. I'm giving you an ultimatum."

Dettella flinched as if she'd been struck. "I... I see. What are these terms?"

"I will be borrowing your man for a night," She stated coolly. "Or you will return to Crestell immediately."

This time Sam did drop his glass. 'No no no no, I can't. I... I can't.' His body shook convulsively against his will. Fear and revulsion hit him like a flying brick to the back of the head, and he couldn't see where it had come from. His right eye twitched spasmodically as he suddenly turned and saw who had thrown the brick. 'Madeline! No no no no no no no. I'll kill her. I'll kill her! Not again, not again. Don't touch me! Cut... Cut her neck. Break it. Break it! I'll do it... I'll do it...'

He felt two hands grasp him at once. One he immediately recognized as Dettella's, and the other seemed to belong to the queen. His eyes regained focus and he saw that they were both kneeling over him, and that he had fallen from his chair. He felt shards of glass piercing his cheek and some had cut through his coat and into his shoulder. A slow wave of calm swept over him, taking the negative emotions with it.

Dettella looked frantically into his eyes. "Samson! What is it?! What happened?!"

"A-Ah... just... just the usual, of course. No need to... to worry." He replied, forcing a smile. Though it was more of a grimace than what he'd aimed for.

Dettella whirled on Elleifren, wearing a fiercer glare than any Sam had seen. "You!" Her face contorted into confusion a moment later. "What...?"

Sam felt a warm drop hit his nose and roll down his cheek. He looked up at the source. "Why...? Why are you crying?" He imagined his expression of bewilderment was the same as Dettella's at that point.

The queen trembled and her grip on Sam's arm tightened. The elf servant, Dheina, hurried over to her. "My queen! What is the matter?!"

"I-I'm fine Dheina. It's just my... my ability again." Elleifren took a quivering breath and brushed the tears from her eyes. She slowly released her grip and stood. "Ah... this is my fault. I... I should have been more clear in my phrasing. The northern human tongue makes it difficult for me to be concise at times. I did not mean Samson, I was referring to your loyal sword captain."

'I see...'

Darrel stood sharply. "I refuse." He said, his voice startlingly angry.

Dettella's expression looked somewhat relieved, but still troubled as she turned to Darrel. It was utterly silent for a long time as no one knew how to react. For his part, Sam carefully pushed himself to his knees and began to pull some of the larger shards of glass from his shoulder. When he'd removed most of them, he summoned his magic and the last tiny pieces were pushed out of his skin as it sealed. The falling pieces tinkled against the floor, and Sam frantically released his hold on the magic; afraid of holding it too long.

Finally, Dettella spoke, "I understand. I will not order you to do it, but I must ask you to reconsider..."

Darrel's left eye twitched and he didn't respond immediately. He glanced at Sam for a moment and seemed to come to a decision. Sam realized then, that Theodore's life had been riding on Darrel's decision, perhaps even Dettella's life as well. Through gritted teeth Darrel said, "Very well. In the interests of both you and Samson, I will do this..."

A huge crash of relief pounded into Sam and he let out a shaky breath. 'I'll make sure to thank him later...' He thought. He got to his feet, righting his fallen chair as he rose. He slowly removed his coat which was now soaked in his spilt drink.

"Thank you Darrel, your sacrifice will be appreciated." Dettella said, giving him a slight bow.

'Why did you say that as if he's gonna die...? He's not gonna die, is he? No, no. He won't die.' Sam thought as he rubbed at his temples. 'My mind is really uncooperative today. It's probably a Tuesday. Tuesdays are never good for me.'

"Well, now that that is decided..." The queen said, turning to her servant. "Dheina, would you lead these three back to their respective floors for the time being? I have more to discuss with Samson but the others won't need to be here for that. Ah, and let dear Zierel retire for the day. I imagine she would like to meet with her daughter."

The servant bowed and quickly began shepherding them out, leaving only Sam, Dettella, and the queen in the room. Fenella tried to turn back and say something, but Dheina shut the door before she could get it out. Elleifren waited a moment then let out a sigh of relief.

"Phew... Thank goodness they are gone! I was starting to get a headache with all of those intense emotions in one room." She said, sitting back heavily into one of the extra chairs Dheina had brought. "Bah! I'm probably not making any sense... Please sit, I just need a moment to collect my thoughts."

Sam slowly sat back into his chair, folding his coat carefully over his lap. Dettella sat next to him again, looking at the queen hesitantly. "Queen Elleifren—"

"You may call me Ellei." Elleifren said.

"Er... Then, Ellei, why did you keep just us two here?"

"Well, first I figured I would talk to Samson about his friend." She replied.

Sam stiffened and his head whipped toward her, his eyes intent. "Theodore—! I—! He needs—!" His mouth was moving too slowly to keep up with his thoughts and the words ended up coming out in a jumbled mess of incoherence.

"Yes, yes, don't worry. I will make sure he is helped. Please settle down though." The queen said, pinching the bridge of her nose.

"Wha?! What... What do you mean?" He frowned, trying to calm himself. "Why would you help us for free?"

"Well, let me say that I only set the ultimatum earlier because it was the only way to get Darrel to accept my help. I wouldn't have really forced you to leave." Elleifren said bringing her hands back to her lap and sitting straighter. "You see, he had some issues in his past... Well I won't divulge too much. To put it simply I think I can help him, but if I had simply asked him plainly he would have refused. I regret to have had to do it this way, but I used his sense of duty and his protectiveness over you two to force his acquiescence."

'I don't like it.' Sam thought, 'It feels wrong...'

"I can understand why you wouldn't approve, Samson, but I felt that it was the best way to handle it considering the circumstances."

Dettella was still looking at the queen hesitantly, but now a spark of curiosity lit her eyes. "How do you know so much? It seems almost as if you can read our minds."

"...Something like that. I can explain that later, for now we'll talk of Samson's friend." The queen said. Her deep blue eyes turned to him, "I will have him healed either way, but I have a proposition for you. In his condition I am not certain how effectively our mages can restore his legs, so I am willing to add my own power toward healing him if you will do something for me in return."

Sam blinked, trying to make sense of her words. "...You're not going to force me to do the same as Darrel, right...?" He shuddered involuntarily.

"No! No, no." She laughed gently, glancing briefly at the suddenly even more intent princess. "I had considered offering the option in order to help relieve some of your... traumatic experiences, but having met you up close now... I just don't think I could help you, not in that regard anyway. I will leave that to the princess. I mean something else; have you heard of our sport, pugilism?"

"You mean... like... boxing?" Sam asked, his sudden relief turning into confusion.

"No, pugilism, not packaging." She replied.

"Uh... Yeah..." Sam scratched his head for a moment. 'Is boxing not a thing here...? Probably not.' He thought for a moment. "Pugilism is just fighting barehanded without any protection or anything, right?"

"Yes, there you go." She said, smiling broadly. "Anyway, what I would like you to do, is fight in some of our official matches. My noble people tend to get excited when a foreign visitor joins in, so it would create good revenue and could even help you to grow stronger. And of course, I will make certain that your friend will be able to walk again in return."

"I'll do it." He replied as soon as she finished.

She smiled with real warmth. "You don't even want to ask how many fights you need to participate in?"

"I don't care." He said, feeling a pounding excitement in his chest. "If Theo will be healed properly I'll fight a hundred fights if necessary."

"Well, let's just see how you perform in the first one..." Elleifren said.

Sam stumbled as the torrent of memories finally ceased. "Damn..." He muttered under his breath. He nearly brought his right hand up to hold his head straight, but he was quickly reminded of it's crumpled state. '8 - 9...' He thought, glancing at the scorecards.

He stood straighter as the mountain elf approached the center again. His darkly tanned skin already glistened with sweat. A rivulet of blood trickled over his brow and to the left of his twisted nose. The man smeared it about as he wiped his face with the cloth around his hand.

'With my hand like this I'll have to use my range and hope my left arm will be enough to do some damage...' Sam stepped forward and met the man at the center. For a moment they just stared each other down. The elf's dark eyes were intense despite the unfocused look to them. Sam's eyes were clear, and a faint wolfish ferocity resided somewhere in the back of them.

The elf moved first, swinging his left fist at Sam's unprotected cheek. Moving with surprising speed, Sam ducked under the blow and slammed his left hand into the elf's stomach. The elf managed to clench his abdominal muscles just before he hit, taking away much of the effectiveness. Sam quickly jumped back, just out of the elf's range. Before the man could react Sam was in again, sliding his fist past the elf's arm and into his ribs.

He jumped away before the the elf could counter. He needn't have worried, the man hadn't even tried. The elf grunted as he grabbed at his side. 'Did I break a rib?' Sam wondered as he watched the elf slowly stand straight again.

The elf jumped forward faster than Sam would have credited him capable of. A flash of skin color skimmed past Sam's face, barely missing him as he stepped back to avoid it. The elf stumbled forward with the momentum of his punch and fell into Sam's half of the mat.

"Red loses a point for crossing the line!" The smooth speaking elf shouted over the crowd.

The elf gradually rose, growling lowly as he stepped back onto his side. 'I think he's getting slower than he was earlier... Did I give him a concussion?' Sam wondered as his opponent swayed like he was on a boat. 'I should end this soon... For both of our sakes.'

Sam stepped forward again and lunged quickly, shooting for the man's nose once again. The elf shoved his fist aside and countered, aiming for Sam's jaw. Tilting his neck, Sam avoided the fist and struck for the elf's cheek, not bothering to realize he was swinging his right hand. As he did, he pulled just out of the elf's range. His fist missed it's mark, instead slamming straight into his foe's neck. Sam pulled back his utterly shredded hand, and let out a howl.

The elf stumbled backward for a moment before falling down. He didn't move beyond his heavy breathing, and Sam felt himself hoping vehemently that he wouldn't get up again. Sparing a glance for the scorecards, he saw that it was now 8 - 7 in his favor. Over a minute passed with no movement from his opponent and the scorekeeper removed another point, making it 8 - 6. Finally, the elf began to stir.

Then something bizarre happened. The elf's chest shifted as if something was moving beneath it and he roared with rage. His skin stretched as bone moved under it. His body seemed to grow larger before Sam's eyes, huge plates of bone clicking into place beneath the elf's skin. Then the skin began to peel away, sliding into the cracks between the dark grey carapace that was revealed. The man's legs grew longer and split, more bones snapping into place beneath skin. Then, that skin too was pulled back and the insectile limbs beneath were exposed.

"What in the fuck?!" Sam was so stunned that he didn't even think to move as the creature rose.

Six spiny legs clacked against the ground. Sam's head slowly looked up to meet the clouded gaze of the creature. A rapid hissing and clicking thundered from the monster's mandibles and mouth. Flecks of saliva splattered against Sam's chest. The huge insect reminded Sam of the potato bug his father had once caught for him, only this one was the size of a minivan and had mandibles capable of crushing his head.

The enormous bug's abdomen rose a foot off the ground as it sped toward him. Sam barely managed to leap out of it's path as it lunged for him. Without realizing, he landed with most of his weight on his right hand. He growled in mingled frustration and pain as he jumped to his feet, already summoning his magic. 'Well, I guess the rules don't really count much anymore...' Gold and silver spirals bloomed to life in the back of his mind. He grunted as the sharp bones in his hand shifted back through the muscle and the flesh knitted itself back together.

Everything happened so fast that Sam hadn't even realized the crowd's boisterous cheers had become screams of terror. 'Sword! I need a sword!' He thought, searching frantically for help.

The dark suited nobleman cried out as he turned to flee, "SCARANLOS!"

At the same time, the massive insect turned towards the elf and charged. Crunch! Dark blood and pieces of brain splattered against the stone floor. Sam could hear the gruesome sounds of the creature chewing the man's head. Seeing an opportunity, he sprinted toward it. As he neared it, the creature whirled on him. The lower half of the torso and legs belonging to the elf dangled from it's mouth. 'Damn it.' The beast lunged again.

Sam dove beneath it, sliding on the slick mat as it sped over him. He quickly came to his feet again as it passed, and he saw the jewel encrusted cane the noble elf had held. He quickly retrieved it, noting the surprising weightiness in the gilded neck. As he spun toward the mountain elf's transformed body he shifted his grip to the base. He tested the spherical handle of the cane and it popped out, revealing a short, thin sword.

'Ah, so he was one of those assholes.' Sam thought, shaking his head. 'Well, I suppose I can't criticize him now that I'm using it.'

The great insect was slow to turn, its movements tremulous and ungainly. Before it could fully turn, Sam ran at it again. His body felt lighter than air as he dashed past, hacking heavily at one of the beast's hind legs. The first blow just missed the middle joint, where he'd been aiming, barely scratching the hard exoskeleton. But the second blow found it's mark and the leg crumpled with a loud, painful crunch.

The creature let out a deafening screech and whirled around faster than Sam could avoid. A single mandible caught his left arm, tearing straight through his elbow. He cried out in pain as the sheared lower half of his arm flopped to the ground. He immediately summoned his magic again, but his foe was faster. It flicked his severed arm across the arena with a swipe of it's clawed foreleg.

Sam's blood poured out his arm, only to be pulled back in by his magic. If it hadn't hurt so much, he might have thought it looked cool. He dragged more magic into himself, hoping his arm might come to him. When it still refused, he opened himself to even more magic. His body looked like a giant fluorescent gold and silver bulb. A small haze of spirals began to leak off of his skin. Finally, he felt the lower half of his arm move slightly.

Suddenly it sped up, flying up off the ground and slamming into its upper half. Sam spun with the impact, reducing some of the shock. He grinned as he released his magic and opened his eyes. Afterimages of the spirals still writhed in his vision where they'd been moments before. He could still see his surroundings enough to realize his opponent had been temporarily blinded. The huge bug shook its head mechanically, looking around through sightless, beady eyes.