The Champion's Companion Ch. 09

The next morning Kaarthen awoke late. At six and half feet tall, with heavily muscular proportions, white braided hair, full dark purple grey lips, and pale skin with odd dark under tones in the shadows Kaarthen was impressive and exotic. In between her late activities the night before, and her split consciousness with Mara, Ein, and Rinis, Kaarthen felt like she'd been in the tower for years already.

"Where did he go?" Kaarthen said feeling a fleeting pang of abandonment when she noticed Marcos was missing from the bed.

She raised herself looking around. Her overripe breasts the size of a man's head sway fluidly out from under the sheets and showed some of the deep cleavage of her rounded lactating udders. Her attractive though oversized curvy figure stopped most people from noticing her eyes had no whites, just two black voids with floating discs of quicksilver vertically slit like cat.

She wandered into the front room and heard him shouting over the clang of crossed swords. She walked to the balcony overlooking the training rooms. Looking down, she was in an excellent perch for the activities below. Several of the young girls from the upper tower were around practicing unarmed combat. Along the walls, several older women were dressing into leather and stretching.

At her feet, Rinis and Mara had short stiletto daggers and were doing quick repetitive stabs to wooden mannequins. They swapped the knife between their hands as they drove the heel of their palm up into the chin then stabbed the upper chest twice and then struck the side of the neck. She could feel their killer instincts faintly. She had the ability thanks to the Goddess 'Dark Mother' who was a passenger in her mind. The divine tourist was really after Marcos, her Champion. Sometime over the tens of thousands of years, that they knew each other, the Goddess of Death, Fertility, and Femininity had swooned over the man Kaarthen charitably considered to be a very prolific, and very lethal, misogynist of the first order.

Her twisted kind of love was expressed and had been imprinted on Kaarthen to keep things less complicated. Now as a vessel for a divine passenger in love, she too swooned over the man. It wasn't hard, what the Goddess' literally mind-blowing emotions didn't do, the figuratively mind-blowing sex had.

As his 'Companion', the Goddess had all the access she wanted to him through Kaarthen. Kaarthen had learned a lot from the satisfied deity. She controlled more directly the urges of the people around her as it related to combat, sex, or fertility. Recently, she found she could see into the hearts and minds of people like clear water.

Kaarthen watched the two girls she had bonded to repeat their movements a few times. They stepped forward, struck the chin, stabbed, then moved back. She tweaked their learning curve, showing the cruel masters they had been made to serve instead of the well-used mannequin. Instantly, the tone of the two women changed, their steps forward were further and faster, and the points started impacting the wood with every thrust. A girl, only sixteen, was watching them, and cheered the two students as they got more aggressive.

Ein was receiving different instruction. Marcos was showing her proper form with a thick bladed saber and a curved dagger. Kaarthen could feel her self-conscious fear. Marcos' instruction was quick as he continuously talked and demonstrated from different angles before turning to watch her. She was picking it up quite fast, therefore Kaarthen, Mara, and Rinis were learning it all as well.

Remy and Augussi were nearby in Safi leather. They both watched Marcos' instruction as he was going over everything. They listened in reverence over the master instruction. Kaarthen noticed another woman entered who was also in Safi armor. She was tall, skinny, very tan, with black hair pulled back in a tight bun. Following behind her, a blonde appeared. She was shorter, and curvier. Kaarthen recognized the look of ample bosoms that were bound under her leather. She was surprised when the woman turned, it was Dulia. Dulia searched behind herself and immediately lifted her eyes and looked right back up at her in that appraising manner of hers.

Uncomfortable with the woman, Kaarthen turned away from that look and went upstairs. She undressed and walked nude as the women of the tower usually did. She found Marssel lounging on the roof sunning herself. The big breasted brunette wore a gauze dress and her body's charms was easily visible under the bright summer sun.

Marssel turned her head when she heard Kaarthen's approach. "Do you happen to have Safi leather?" Kaarthen asked.

Marssel appraised the giant woman. "No, I don't play down there anymore. My sister still enjoys it. But, if death is the goal why struggle?" Kaarthen was puzzled by the awkward question. The goddess in the back of her mind seemed to like the riddle however. "I can show you a store room of Safi if that's what you want. I don't know how they'll fit though." Marssel continued. Kaarthen knew if the dress was any example, it would kill her to wear the tight leathers.

Marssel happily led her down to storage and they found a set that would work. Kaarthen had to remove the sleeves by painstakingly unthreading the bronze wire they were stitched with. The pants were easier, long thigh high black boots covered the pants that were too short for her long thickly muscled legs. She stood. With a working set of leathers that fit over her breasts after being bound and slitting the sides, she felt tight yet able to breathe.

Kaarthen knew from her girls she wasn't too late, so she got upstairs and saw for herself the things going on. Marssel followed her out of boredom. Quietly, she told Kaarthen of how she usually bested Sune without weapons. It was her secret to how she got Marcos to get her pregnant.

In the training room, Marcos fought Remy, Sune, and Augussi. The latter two had twin double-edged daggers. Remy had a cutlass and dagger combination. Marcos was unarmed unsurprisingly. His gauntlet flashed as he swam around their lightning strikes. He stood still between the three redirecting their incoming strikes with nudges to their arms, elbows, and blades. A circle of girls sat and watched. Women in Safi stood and stared intently from around them. Dulia stood by the wall with a bloody nose.

Looking closely, Kaarthen could see he kept his hands flat. Augussi stood squared up to him. She held her blades in an underhanded grip with her front hand, and a modified grip with her fingers up the blade past the hilt in back. Her style was efficient, she thrust and feinted with her back hand, and the front hand covered with swipes and slashes. Nevertheless, Marcos was defeating her with only one hand. He leaned back to avoid the many slashes and simply slapped her thrusts down. Kaarthen noticed she didn't thrust enough for him to engage her. She only thrust as an afterthought and she telegraphed her backhand.

Sune was using an underhand grip for both her daggers. Her style put both hands and feet forward and tried to stay in constant motion. Marcos was leaning only slightly away from her, and he only jabbed and pushed her chest to keep distance from her swinging arms. Her speed was dropping and it seemed she was quite tired already. In her exhaustion, she had reverted to training and fixated on finishing quickly. Her only target seemed to be his neck, or obvious nerves. She wore her hair in a bun and Kaarthen realized she was the woman who entered earlier with Dulia.

Remy on Marcos' other side was trying to stab or slash with the rapier but was in too tight. Marcos had a foot and a knee under her front leg and she was literally fighting from atop him. She needed to drop the sword or step back. Marcos kept her locked in as she tried to adjust by hooking a leg as she raised it, or pulling her arm. Remy was stuck playing his weird game trying to push away or step back as he kept her off balance and tight to him.

Kaarthen figured despite all this they were still excellent fighters. Remy would likely not face a tight immobilizing situation with an acrobatic opponent who could dance past her sword. He also stayed out of range of her dagger since she couldn't step forward. Augussi would not find an opponent who took his or her eyes off the dagger slashing to see the one thrusting up from below. Sune would not likely find herself in a fight against a legendary master swordsman, who made her look like she was just a child throwing a tantrum. Despite the fast blur of her movements, she looked like she was shadow boxing Marcos underwater.

They had killer instincts and she could feel it. Looking at them, she could see the urge direct their strikes the way they were trained, like water drops sliding down strings. The targets of their deadly urges were dark patches that slid over Marcos body. Lighter gray patches slid across the women as Marcos used his hand to knock them away. The strikes to knock away their blades were hard to see, only on his hands could she notice what he was about to do.

Kaarthen wondered about what she could do. She had learned that seeing into things usually meant she had some form of control over it. The faults of these women were few. Seen from out side they were obvious but complex. Kaarthen tried to see closer and understood away to help them if she changed all three's fighting style. She projected to the women, telling Sune to strike for the nerves and pressure points of Marcos' arm and exposed leg. She gave the trickiest thoughts to Augussi, telling her to randomly switch grips periodically before switching again.

For a second nothing happened then Marcos started grumbling. The crowd around them took a collective breathe. A few girls started wiggling in excitement. Marcos took a half step back with his back foot. He opened up facing Sune more, but he knew that letting Remy into the fight would be a disaster. Kaarthen had other plans and had Remy retire and step back.

Instantly, she dropped back a pace and Augussi stepped in to her side. Once the dynamic shifted, Marcos was in an easier situation for a second. The two moved to opposite sides in a manic offensive that would shred lesser men. Marcos had to step back in a circle to keep out of the middle.

Kaarthen directed Remy to adopt a new strategy. She lined up in the middle now stepping closer and closer. She thrust in quickly with her sword and backed away before he could do more than dodge. Marcos reacted to this new problem by stepping around Augussi who had the most gaps in her strikes. His obvious strategy now was to avoid the bitch with the sword.

Kaarthen considered what to do and the amused Goddess in her mind stepped from its corner and showed her. Augussi could try a double underhand grip, and bring both feet forward to be faster though less powerful. Kaarthen thought that she might also be less mobile, and possibly unfamiliar with the posture considering she herself didn't naturally use it. The Goddess considered that objection silly, since Marcos was fighting Kaarthen by proxy now, it didn't matter if Augussi was capable. The speed of the two women would force him to stop moving and present a better target, and it only needed to last a moment. She projected Augussi to try it, and target nerves and joints like Sune.

Remy circled looking for a shot. She found it, and with a shriek, she struck home. Everything stopped right at that instant. Marcos was stabbed in the left clavicle above his nipple by the sword coming in between the other two women. His raised left hand was hooked by Sune's knife through the exposed heel of his palm. Augussi's left hand was about to land a disabling slash across his right shoulder.

On other men, the sword wound would've collapsed a lung and the fight would go down hill very quickly. Sune's hooked in dagger controlled his left hand so now he couldn't run away or fight effectively without tremendous damage to his body. Augussi's slash would disable the right arm and Marcos would have been forfeit. They had won.

Everyone including the audience stood frozen as they looked over the scene. Augussi had faired badly also, she had stabbed herself in the right thigh. Marcos' right hand was laid flat over the butt of her dagger. Finally Augussi turned, dropped her weapons, and limped away as everyone still stood shocked. The crowd simply parted as she limped through, everyone was wide-eyed and staring. Kaarthen followed and helped her to the wall, Marssel followed them over, but she also was just staring. Kaarthen got her to make a bandage from an aid box by the wall. Kaarthen helped Augussi get comfortable and looked at the wound.

"That was you wasn't it?" Augussi asked weakly as Kaarthen pulled her pants down and started cleaning and wrapping her. Augussi's cut was bone deep, but luckily, it was angled on the outside of her thigh.

"Hmm?" Kaarthen said, trying to be vague. She had enough experience to wrap wounds in her sleep but she acted as if this was the most complicated thing she'd ever done.

Kaarthen had seen this all before. She was lucky they were in a relatively clean room, instead of being in the wilds. Augussi was in stages of shock from pain, and she was feeling the instant tiredness after the long adrenaline burst. She was relaxing and about to go to sleep, which was fine. She was sweating too, so Kaarthen had Marssel get her water.

"Those things I saw. The others saw them too. It felt weird and cold. The perspective wasn't any of ours, it was you watching." She said paling, and relaxing. "I can't believe we did it." She laughed aloud weakly.

Across the room, Remy held her sword up like it was a religious relic before the adoring masses. Girls and women collected around her and Sune who clutched her dagger to her breast. The wet-eyed women touched the weapons and bodies of those who pierced the flesh of their creator. They all cried, laughed, and celebrated at the same time.

Kaarthen had only seen Marcos fight a few times and could tell it was a less than a once in a lifetime victory they had just shared. It was still a testament to how good they were. Marcos could have defeated any number of lesser fighters unscathed. Unrestricted, he would have likely defeated them all in the blink of an eye.

When she turned, she realized Marcos was standing almost atop her. He looked down at Augussi with paternal affection. The stripped lower half of Augussi's perfect body also drew his eyes.

"Will she be alright?" Marcos asked.

Kaarthen blushed for Augussi. Even exhausted and delirious with pain, she moved to spread her legs when she heard him. "Yes, she took almost the whole blade. It avoided anything lethal. On a muscle that big however, the pain is very intense." She reported

"She broke that wrist two years ago climbing the Citadel at night. I leaned too much into it to avoid Remy's sword." Marcos said thoughtfully.

"Don't worry, she should be fine. Are you okay?" Kaarthen asked.

"Yep," He waved his hand and flexed it before leaning in to show her his left clavicle. She noticed he had not been wearing Safi armor. Instead of just two cuts, up closed she saw his expensive shirt was shredded from shoulder to shoulder. A normal man would have eventually succumbed and died from lost of functionality much earlier. "It was weird, when we were fighting earlier their eyes changed and they suddenly got more intense. I trained them, and suddenly they did things they almost never do." Kaarthen could feel him staring at her. "They fought objectively as a group, despite the fact Remy usually does not fight in groups, or with them. She took Dulia's place since she lost so quickly. I should perhaps change that style of fighting a little bit. Cutlasses are better for defense but she adapted it well in that situation. I have not been that taxed in a long time."

"That's good training then." She stood. "I'll carry Augussi up. Marssel please lead the way."

@@@@@@@@@@

For several weeks, they found a repetition and went on with more serious and intense training. Mara, Rinis, and Ein quickly progressed thanks too Kaarthen's incentives and Marcos' masterful teaching. The three moved up from one dagger, to a sword, axes, batons, to double grips, to throwing knives, to staffs and spears, and finally to whips, crossbows, and bows.

The girls developed their preferences. Rinis was well handed at everything but was better with a sword, or curved daggers.

Ein liked throwing knives and darts because she thought it was more practical. She wanted to decisively end the fight before she got dirty. She liked a small recurve bow, and had to wrestle it from the young girls who trained on it.

Mara enjoyed unarmed combat with Marcos, and he seemed to be very willing to wrestle with her all over the ground when she was learning holds, throws, or counters. If the enemy wasn't Marcos the squirming molester and his groping hands, she liked to painfully stab opponents with a sword or a knife. She found something sexual in repeatedly stabbing people and Kaarthen felt her arousal climb as she contemplated the act. Second on her list of favorite weapons was a whip. Mara had too many experiences to count with them and was able to educate them all on several styles of full whips, half whips, and crops.

Kaarthen had tightened her control of Rinis to present a quiet working personality. She was actually a huge help for learning to control her powers. Having her was like having a doll to play with, and test on. The Goddess was the first one to jump fully into Rinis' body. It was unnerving to have Rinis walk up grinning with those black voids for eyes and the dancing silver pupils. She was reminded how abnormal her appearance was. Afterwards, she learned by mimicry to do some of the things the Goddess had done.

She could directly control her angels with ease now after practicing. Complex tasks were the easiest and final step for her skill. Teaching Rinis, and simply telling her to repeat was enough sometimes. Simple things, like changing clothes and coming to dinner met personality conflicts. Rinis was likely to act as a member of the serving staff with the girls from the upper tower, despite Kaarthen's attempts to use her as bodyguard or a scout.

Another time, she was practicing multiple simple commands by fighting Rinis. She focused too much on Rinis to defend herself effectively. She lost herself and surprised people by almost letting Rinis win. Other times as they fought together it usually looked like she was fighting a mirror despite Kaarthen being a heavily muscular woman at six and a half feet, and Rinis being less than average size at almost five feet tall.

The Goddess was pleased with her adaptations. It seemed to teach her by doing things as she watched. She could only follow how things felt in her head. The real lesson came when the Goddess showed her how to pull back from herself and back her mind into the Goddess' corner.

Colors and movement became surreal. Like looking at leather and reading its definition in its place instead of seeing it. She looked and the writing of the gods was everywhere, combining into sounds, defining colors, even giving touches names, or the wind. She learned the symbols and numbers of the smallest parts of things and it all blinded her to what was.

She had weird dreams after that of being chased by green, pulling sounds, or hunting slow moving air. She gained further understanding when she was nudged to look upon the barrier on the walkway from the roof of the tower. The simple architecture she saw amused her until she realized that there was nothing under the words. Just like everything else, the words were what was real. The things she saw took shape from the unseen words and took from it their nature and purpose as well.