Ronan - chapter 2 - the tales of He-Ron. (Patreon)

Reader discretion is advised.

Not meant for people under 18 years of age. Contains hard emotional material. And also scenes of rough treatment and sexual nature. None of the scenes are a reflection of reality or anything that has ever happened in real life. History has shown that worse things has happened in reality, and this is just a work of fiction, meant for entertainment.

Please remember to seek professional advice or help in case you are feeling overwhelming emotional distress. You are not alone.

Now, for the story…

———————————————————————————————————————————————

The Alba settlement was being terrorized by a horrifying monster… a ten meters tall monster… walking upright like a man, but with the head and legs of a Braxon… large cloven hoofed legs, and a head of a wild Halborian ox. 

The monster was of epic proportions and it was feasting on the settlers and stomping on the settlers' buildings. 

It carried around a huge tree it had uprooted and hurled it around like a club. 

What little could be done to defend against this horrid monster had already been tried and all attempts had ended in failure. 

But what action had sparked this creature to exist? 

What cruelty had inflicted such a curse from the gods?

Manfred, a young farmer knew the answer to this… 

A few years back… the settlers had arrived in Alba and they had driven out the local residents of the plains. 

The mighty Clovehoofs. Majestic creatures, resembling cows, but bigger, much bigger. Bulky, strong and powerful. They had loved in huge heard… beyond any number, and the Alba region was their home. 

The soldiers of the army had hunted the animals… but not… in the way that hunters are supposed to. 

The soldiers had killed the Clovehoofs in such numbers… that it had been terrifying… The fields had been littered with carcasses… the rolling green grass was green no more, but red and covered in dark bodies that were rotting under the sun… making a feast for scavenging birds and even more horrifying hyenas and packs of wolves. 

Manfred had seen it… and he and his father had both felt it. 

“This is bad…” Manfreds father said with a somber voice… “These lands are the sacred lands of a goddess… and these… are her beasts… this is very bad…”

But the soldiers didn’t stop. 

They kept killing the Clovehoofs in numbers that were so unbelievable. The settlers had asked the soldiers to thin a little out in the herds, so there was enough space for their cattle…

    They had not asked for the herd's ultimate destruction. The Braxons were gone from the Alba region… but… the blood spilled needlessly on their home… had planted a foul seed… 

And… the monster had been born… 

How it had happened, none in the region knew, but… there were plenty of ideas. 

Some said the beast was a Braxon that had survived the onslaught and had somehow gotten cursed by a foul blood demon… 

Others suspected it was one of the soldiers of the kings army, that had been cursed. This idea had come from the many times they had seen the soldiers drunk and partying in the night, sometimes wearing the Braxon’s fur and heads and skulls as ornaments in their endless mocking of the beautiful beasts. 

Others again said that the creature was of Halborian creation. That the monster was a Halborian who had learned to skin change into the monster… This had caused the people to be weary of all the Halborians who more and more rarely came around their settlement. 

There were more ideas how the beast came to be… but none could agree on which one was correct… and it was also less important how it came to be… they needed to know how they got rid of it. 

Heroes from the south had been called to the region in order to rid the world of this monster… 

Some had stayed and given it a chance to slay the beast… but… those who had been brave, or drunk enough to stand against the monster had all failed miserably. They had ended up gobbled down by the maneater.

The majority of these noble heroes however… had drunken and eaten for free at the region's inns and had also had their way with the wenches at the taverns… but… when the first sign of the beast were reported, they had fled before the beast could reach them. 

The settlers knew that this was a curse… many of the settlers were hearing more and more about the old tales about the doom that befell the ones who dare invade the lands of Halboria… the songs of the Omandies… the people who once ruled most of the world… but are nothing more than goat shepherds and poor farmers today, living in the shadows of their ruins, that once were the mightiest and most wonderful temples and palaces ever made by mortal man. 

Or the tales of the Malakites, who were so strong that they conquered all that stood in their path… but their spilling of the Halborian blood caused the gods to punish them… with oblivion… and today… no one is related to the Malakites… for they were all destroyed by the divine mothers of the world.

The settlers of the Alba region had turned nearly subterranean at this point. They lived and cowered in fear in the few caves that were around. The caves ran under the city, and in a move of pure desperation, they had carved out extra tunnels in order to escape the rampage of the beast. 

They lived now… like rats… 

Hidden away, and in eternal fear that the beast would roar in the night, and go hunting for them… it’s prey. 

They had lost all hope… no heroes of the south would ever dare stand up to this beast. It was too strong… too wild… it was a curse and could not be lifted… it was here… to chase out the unwanted for the crimes of the king. 

Even the settlers in the Alba region knew their high king to be a blundering buffoon. He was despised here as he was unwanted, but… alas he was king, and he could pretty much do whatever he wanted. And they… the useless peasants… could only cower in fear and accept the fate of his decisions…

It was yet another night of terror, as the citizens of the city of Alba in the Alba region were cowering and hiding in the caves underneath their city. The huge beast was once again thundering on the lands with it’s hooves… 

Some people who had seen it eat their fellow settlers had given it the name… Gorger… as it was gorging itself on them… 

Gorger… the terrible…

Manfred was hiding in the caves with his family. His aging father and mother had already lost their house to the beast. They had narrowly survived the encounter as they had taken cover in the basement that fortunately had access to a small cave that hid them. It was as if the beast was either too dumb realize they were there, or it simply lost interest as there were other prey around. 

    They had heard the screams as Gorger had eaten their neighbors. 

The settlers in the region were growing fewer and fewer… and they knew… if this kept up… they would be gone for good. None to remember them. None to sing their songs… Oblivion was on their horizon. 

Manfred knew… in his heart… that this was their reality… they would not last long… humans… are not meant to live underground… not for long. 

As they heard the beast trample on top of the caves… making dirt and dust dribble from the ceiling from it’s huge weight, they were praying… praying to whatever god might hear them in the depths of the caves…

Manfred himself was praying. Sending his single hope out that some god might be able to hear them… 

He begged for forgiveness… for him and for his family… for his people… he begged the gods of these lands to understand that they weren’t here of their own free will, but that they were here because they would have been killed if they hadn’t come… he begged for understanding… and for this nightmare to end.

The Gorger was stomping around on top of them, and they knew it was looking for them… But it was strange… usually… it would leave and as soon as it realized there was no one around… but… for some reason, it was staying even longer this time. 

Manfred listened… it was as if it had stopped moving around up top… they would usually wait until dawn to peak out… as it was always gone by then… but… something wasn’t quite right.

Manfred looked on the others in the cave. They all seemed to share his unrest. 

Even his father. 

Suddenly… as a strike of thunder… a huge thud could be heard, almost on top of them… and then another, and another and another… 

The beast… it… it was doing something… 

“Oh gods…” Manfreds father said with a shaken voice. “He has found us…”

Manfred realized it as well… then the sight of the beast's fingers in the middle of their cave made them all scream in terror… was there no end to their nightmare… 

They heard its roar and they knew that it knew they were here. 

It turned it’s huge hand around and grabbed after them. They all scrambled to get out of the way. Including Manfred. Manfred pushed his mother and father into a tunnel for them to escape the hand, but… as he realized it… he knew he was doomed… the hand… it had gotten him. 

His mother screamed and spun around to grab Manfreds arms. 

“NO!” She screamed in the cave. “NOT MY CHILD! NOT MY BOY!!!”

Manfred was no boy no more, but a mother never stops seeing her child as the niblet he once was. Manfred tried to fight, but it was no use. He was pulled out of the cave and dragged out into the cold night. 

He soon was face to face with the monster that had been the terror of his life these past few years… 

The glowing red eyes, filled with rage and hate gazed upon him… like a human might do a piece of fruit it was about to eat. From the cave underneath him he heard his moms screams. 

He was completely captured… The beast’s strength was too much… 

He saw the drool drip down from its fang filled mouth. 

Manfred now knew his fate… and it was a grim one… 

Perhaps he had always known that it would end this way… ever since he gazed over the field of the dead Braxons… they had been killed for nothing and feasted on by ruthless scavengers… 

Was it only fair that he would now be eaten too… but this ruthless monster…?

He saw the monster open its mouth and lower his head towards it. He heard the screams of his mom, and smelled the stench of death from the beast… he hoped… only… that it would be over soon… as he now knew… that the gods had deserted him and his people… 

But as Manfred expected the fangs to tear his body apart, he heard a sweeping sound of a blade cleaving the cold night air, and felt how he fell to the ground… 

Then he heard a thundering roar of pain… 

Manfred hit the ground hard, but as he did, he felt how the hand that held him loosened its grip instantly and he pushed the fingers off of him. Above him he saw the monster grabbing its… now stump of an arm and roaring in endless pain. Next to him, stood a man… a man towering over all the men in the Alba region. 

Manfred looked at him… and he knew… he was a Halborian… He didn’t even need the sword to show that… His sword was glowing blue, like there was a magical damp fog around it… the light was strongest in the runic letters that were carved into the metal. 

Manfred couldn’t believe it… 

They had tried everything to hurt the beast, and everything had failed… yet one Halborian… one single Halborian could inflict this much damage upon it?   

The beast regained its hate and anger and roared at the Halborian. He stood between Manfred and the beast. 

His eyes glowed blue like the sword. He had looked backward at Manfred, and then back at the beast. 

He had then shook his head. 

The beast didn’t like that… apparently… and then used its only hand left to attack the Halborian. He had dodged the attack and managed to jump onto it and run up the arm of the beast. The beast could only swing its other stump of an arm, and missed its new foe completely. 

The Halborian was shaken off however when the beast hurled itself to the ground, thus getting him off. 

The beast cared not for the Halborian. It looked at Manfred. It turned and came after him. Manfred tried to run, but just as he reached a cliff, he stopped. He turned and looked at the beast that was coming for him. 

Just as he thought his luck had run out, he heard the snarl of a wolf and saw how a huge direwolf had jumped out of the night and grabbed the monster’s hoof… causing it to fall. 

The beast roared and the wolf used its powerful jaws to inflict lots of damage on the beast. Probably crushing its bones. 

But either the beast was immune to pain, or maybe it just didn’t matter to it… it soon kicked off the wolf with its other hoof and sent the wolf whimpering backwards. 

The monster… once again, came for Manfred, this time however it crawled towards him, but it was still coming. Manfred found a stone… and he lifted it up to prepare a defence… knowing fully well it would be of little use against the beast. 

But then, the Halborian was back. He saw it as the glowing sword was suddenly jumping 20 feet in the air with the Halborian as a dark shadow under it. The tip of the sword dug deep into the backside of the monster… causing it once again to howl and roar in pain. It tossed itself around in order to throw off the attacker, but it didn’t help. The Halborian sunk the sword deep, deep, deep into the beast, and caused it to roar louder and louder. 

Then the wolf came back. It had gotten around the beast and somehow got up front and it locked its jaws around the throat of the beast. 

The long dagger-like tusks dug into the beast's flesh and it kept closing its jaws tighter and tighter. 

The beast tried to roar, but it was nearly impossible now. It was still fighting, but it had only one arm, and one functional leg. And it seemed like it couldn’t breathe. 

Then the Halborian pulled the sword out… ran up its back, and jammed it deep down and this time… the beast jolted… stopped in its tracks… and… then… with a roaring silence… the beast collapsed and it was dead… 

The wolf was huffing and puffing… but it didn’t let go… it kept applying pressure… but it was clear… the beast was dead… 

Manfred looked up at the Halborian… the glowing light of the sword was being overtaken by the breaking dawn… that casted its first light upon them… the soft colors that broke the endless darkness… 

They landed on the features of a young looking man with a beard and golden hair and blue eyes… so unlike the Halborian’s that Manfred had seen in these areas. He was probably not from around Alba… but he was clearly a Halborian. 

Manfred saw how his family and his fellow settlers all had come out to see the fight… they were looking… awestruck on the monster slayer that had walked over to the head of the beast… and closed its eyes.

He said something in a language that Manfred didn’t understand… but he understood the meaning… or… he presumed he did. 

The Halborian looked at Manfred with a cold gaze. 

“Are you injured?” He asked in the common tongue. 

Manfred shook his head. 

The Halborian blinked and then tapped the wolf on the snout. 

“It’s dead Farax… let it go now…” The wolf… obeyed him… Manfred also noticed that the wolf had something akin to a saddle on its back… was the wolf… this Halborians mount? 

The settlers came over to look at the beast… it was a massive monster… standing more than 25 feet tall in its full size. It was massive… the body was a strange mix of Braxon and man… but its mouth was filled with huge teeth akin to those you see in a Hyena… maulers and slicers. 

Manfreds mom ran to him and hugged him. His father as well… they had been out of their minds of horror as he had been taken… but now… they were just so happy that they were together again. 

Manfred saw the Halborian pull a tooth out of the beast's lower jaw. 

Perhaps… a token…? 

Or… as a remembrance of his deed?

The Halborian turned around and was met by the entire settlement. They all looked upon him, like he was a god in the flesh…

It certainly was a help that he stood nearly two heads taller than most of them. They had seen Halborians before… but only now, did they see them for what they truly were… children of the gods. 

“Who… who are you, Halborian?” The mother of Manfred asked as she kissed his hand. 

“I am He-Ron,” He said. Gently, but firmly he pushed his way past them. The wolf walked next to him. 

“How may… how may we ever thank you, He-Ron?” Manfreds father asked. 

“You… you have saved us… from this… this beast…”

He-Ron took a deep breath and looked at the settlers. They looked so tiny… the last few years had turned them into fearful little creatures. Halboria was not kind to such people… 

But He-Ron knew… had they had a choice, they would probably have stayed back home, and faced the devils they knew… they were not here by choice… but out of need. 

“When the Braxons return… And return they will…” He-Ron began. “Let them be… do not hunt them, do not chase them… just let them graze here… they have done so for thousands of years, and will continue to do so for thousands of years. They are no harm to you, or your cattle… This land has ample enough space for both the Braxons and the creatures you have domesticated. I will not tell you to never shoot a Braxon and never eat them… do so… but do so out of need, and not out of joy… that beast…”

He-Ron nodded towards the huge carcass behind them. 

“Was an avenger… a spirit born out of pain and anger… given flesh by cruel powers that creep in all our world… If you continue to needlessly slay the children of Halbara… her children will needlessly slay you…”

He-Ron then jumped onto the back of the big wolf, and then… he rode off… Manfred and his settlement stared at the point in the horizon where the young man had vanished into… 

They began to rebuild… and after only a month… They had a full community and several farms sat up next to each other. 

A little and close town, and when they were all built, they began to celebrate quietly… 

The nights were once again silent and calm… no roars of the beast to send them all running underground… no thundering hooves that shattered their world… they were free… 

At long last. 

On the 33th day of the monster’s slaying, a Smouldixian legion showed up at their new little village led by a man who presented himself as Captain Dilatont. He was dressed in a wolf skin cloak and looked every bit the Smouldixian officer. 

Manfred had risen to a position of leader in the community and he greeted the captain at the edge of the city. 

“Greetings citizen!” Dilatont said. “Kings blessings upon you… have you by any chance seen a lone Halborian criminal in these parts?”

Manfred shrugged. 

“We see Halborians from time to time… we do trade with one name Anrak who sometimes travel here from the coast, but while his prices might be criminal he certainly isn’t a loner…”

“Nooooo,” Dilatont said with an annoyed sigh. “The Halborian I am chasing is not of the coastal tribes. He is blonde, has blue eyes and pale of skin.”

“Hmm…” Manfred said. “He sounds like one from the plains… perhaps if you go further north you will find him.”

“He is a criminal, citizen!” Dilatont barked. “A criminal who is under charge of his majesty’s law. He has slain several of the king's men, and I am gonna bring him to justice. He is not a part of the tribes on plains… a lone Halborian… with a sword that glows blue…”

Manfred lifted his head and his facial expression must have shown something. Because Dilatont looked mighty pleased. 

“You have seen him, haven’t you?” 

Manfred felt no loyalty to the king or his army… but… he had to protect his village… and… it had been over a month since they had seen him. He had to long away from these lands by now… and also… he sorta wanted to keep the Halborian’s legend alive. 

“We did see a lone Halborian, in fact… young, strong and mighty… and… he might be the man you are looking for, for he wielded a sword that shined blue…”

Dilatont looked very pleased. 

“And he was riding on the back of a Dire-wolf… a huge beast… I have never seen anything like it before.”

“That’s the one!” Dilatont said and he sounded very pleased. “What… may I ask was his business here?”

“Well…” Manfred said… “He slew the Gorger…”

Dilatont looked confused. “The what now?”

“The Gorger…” Manfred said again… “The monster that terrorized our region… Come…”

Manfred led Dilatont to the place where the Gorger fell… the bones were so large they dared not move them. The creature was still immense in size, but it had taken several weeks for the scavengers to pick it clean… and it was still not all bones… but you could clearly tell that the beast had been massive, and a true menace to the lands here…

Dilatont’s horse had nearly tossed him off. As the poor animal was scared out of its mind when it saw it. 

Manfred looked at Dilatont who seemed paler now. 

“What… is… that?” Dilatont said. 

Manfred shrugged. “The remains after a month… The Gorger fell here, and to this day we call our town Gorgerun, and this particular hill we call He-Ron’s point.”

“He-Ron?” Dilatont asked. 

“Yes… He-Ron…” Manfred said. “Our savior… The lone Halborian. You should have seen him Captain… he was unstoppable…”

Dilatont got a distant look in his eyes. 

“You said… a month…?” 

“Yes… The beast was slain a month ago…” Manfred repeated. 

“Damn…” Dilatont said. “Did… you by any chance notice in which direction this… He-Ron went?”

Manfred pointed westward. 

“He didn’t stick around…” Manfred said. “We barely got to thank him.”

“Good for you…” Dilatont said. “Then you wouldn’t have committed a crime fraternizing with a fugitive.”

Manfred lifted an eyebrow.

“Ah… I didn’t know that it was illegal slaying monsters.”

Manfred left the unlikable captain, and the captain returned to the camp of his legion. 

They had been pursuing the lone Halborian ever since the incident in the cave. Now they had a name… He-Ron… 

As he sat at his table and ate his dinner, he got a message in form of a rider. His staff sergeant entered and made a declaration.

“Captain, there is a message from Cinia!” 

Cinia was the main military outpost in the south, guarding the only real passageway into the Halborian lands through the mountains. 

It was the Smouldixian chokehold of the realm. Here the general staff was making the plans for the invasion of Halboria and the future for the settlers. 

The messenger stepped inside the tent, and Dilatont pointed to a chair next to him. 

“Bring him wine and a plate… he must be hungry.” Dilatont said. 

“King Jamos Blessings!” The messenger said and made a salute. Dilatont returned the salute and nodded. “King Jamos Blessings to you too!”

The messenger sat down. 

“Now… rank, name and title, my good man, and then… the message.”

"Lieutenant Jushu of Aggoria, I am a personal emissary from King Jamos.” He said with a clear Aggorian accent. He was from the heart of the Empire. The Captain immediately looked more welcoming and friendly. 

The Captain nodded. 

“I have been tasked to delivery you this.”

Jushu handed Dilatont a scroll with the seal of the king. Dilatont looked at Jushu. 

“Are you aware of its content?”

Jushu nodded. “I am.” Jushu said. “The King himself told me in case the scroll was lost.”

“Good,” Dilatont said as he broke the seal. “That means you can be present as the scroll is read.”

Dilatont let his eyes read the wonderful handwriting. It wasn’t exactly from the king, but it was from the King’s personal secretary - Cinesto. A known figure in the empire. 

The message was clear. Dilatont was promoted. He was no longer the rank of captain, but of Colonel. Dilatont looked over the scroll with huge eyes and a great smile. He had surpassed several ranks. This was marvelous. But… usually a simple messenger, a private could have delivered this… how come Cinesto sent a young officer from the capitol to deliver this?

“What is it that you are keeping from me, Jushu?” Dilatont said with a sly smile. 

Jushu brought out another scroll. 

“I was to deliver this to you when you had read the content of the first scroll. I do not know the content of this one, but I was told you would tell me, when you had read it.”

Dilatont took the other scroll and broke the seal. This was also from Cinesto. It was also a promotion, but of the young Jushu. He was to be captain, and he was to be the second in command of the now Colonel Dilatont. It was also revealed that Jushu was Cinesto’s nephew and his health and safety was a main concern of Cinesto. 

“Oh, so it seems we are both promoted, Captain Jushu…” Dilatont said with a smile. Jushu looked less pleased and more concerned as he was allowed to look over the letter. 

“And also… we have our orders… secure trade routes with the oceanic tribes, in order to secure coastal settlements. The king’s plans are beginning to make more sense. And it aligns perfectly with the little… side quest I have going at the moment.”

“Side quest, Colonel?” Jushu asked. 

“Yes Captain. I have been hunting a Halborian for the last few months.”

“A single Halborian?” Jushu asked?

“Yes… a most dangerous criminal… I need to end him before he causes irreparable damage to our conquest. But… all that I will tell you about after dinner.”

—————————————————————————————————————

About the same time as Dilatont and Jushu had gotten to the cheese of the meal, He-Ron was sailing southwards on one of the Costal tribe’s ships. The captain of the vessel, a Halborian known as Anrak approached the young He-Ron who was looking over the ocean. 

“Fantastic isn’t it?” Anrak said. He-Ron nodded. “We haven’t seen one from the Plain Clan in many years. It is great to know our brothers on the land are still growing strong.”

He-Ron had no idea what to answer. 

“So!” Called Anrak. “What seek you in the south?

“A place called the dead man’s swamp.” Said He-Ron with a look on Anrak. Anrak seemed a little surprised and also… shocked even. 

“You heard of it?” 

“All sailors have heard of the Dead Man’s swamp. A terrible place, my young friend. Dangerous. Filled to the brim with all sorts of monsters… best avoided… especially if you want to make a buck and live to keep it.”

Anrak’s gaze fell on the large wolf that was trying to rest under a shelter they had put up for it. 

“But then again… you seem to know your way around big beasts…” Anrak said with a smile. “May I ask what has driven you to seek out the swamps?”

He-Ron looked over the ocean again. 

“Probably madness…” He-Ron said. “But I can’t shake the feeling that… I have to go there…”

Anrak looked at the young man… and he took a closer look at the axe and the sword. Anrak was old enough to know the handiwork of several different tribes… and he also recognized the work of these fine weapons. The Unstoppables… 

Anrak, like all Halborians, knew the tale of The Unstoppables… their tragedy.

“Just remember, young one…” Anrak said. “Outside of Halborian lands our protection might not be as strong as you remember it.”

Anrak clapped the young man on the shoulder. 

“So keep on your toes, alright? Especially in the swamps.”

Anrak left the boy as he seemed to want solitude. 

Moni-Qua, Anrak’s daughter, had observed them. Moni-Qua was like her father, of a darker skin tone and had jet black hair, but she was gorgeous, just like her mother. Her mother had stayed home on this voyage as she was expecting, but Moni-Qua knew her way around the ship. 

Anrak had seen the look in his daughter's eyes as the young man had approached them and asked them for passage to the Smouldixian lands. 

Anrak had seen his daughter's gaze that lingered a little too long on the young man. He understood her fascination, but as all fathers are, he was weary of the new young man. 

And… 

About the time that Anrak had let He-Ron off the boat on the Smouldixian coast in the port of Alinburg, Dilatont and Jushu were about halfway to the coast.

So when Anrak and Moni-Qua came home, they were greeted, well, by Moni-Qua’s mom Domi-Qua of course, and by a Smouldixian legion, led by the Colonel Dilatont who presented himself to Anrak. Anrak, who was a trader and a salesman, was used to dealing with Smouldixians. But even he found the Colonel annoying. 

“You must have come a long way, Colonel…” Anrak said as he bowed before the small man on the big horse. 

“How about we bring out some Smouldixian ale, directly from Alinburg…? I just got it home.”

The Colonel seemed to long for the taste of home, so he agreed, and Anrak opened a barrel. 

“So, what brings you to our little piece of hell, Colonel?” Anrak said at one of the drinking taverns. 

“Sure must be important.”

“The kings orders, my good sir,” Dilatont said as he tasted the sweet well known taste of good Smouldixian ale. 

“I have been charged with preparing for better cooperation between the southern parts of the lands and these new colonies.”

Anrak didn’t like the sound of that. 

“In short, more settlements are gonna pop up along the coast… and some help from the locals sure will be appreciated.”

“I can imagine,” Anrak said. He knew fully well that no permanent settlement would be possible, but it sure would be fun to see the Smouldixians fail and realize so themselves. Halboria was a land that was completely unforgiving. The coasts…? Oh dear even more so… Outsiders would never understand. 

“It’s good to taste home on my tongue again,” Dilatont said with a smile. “Great to know that your kind also has great taste.”

Anrak understood to smile at the thinly veiled insult. 

“How long have you been trading with Alinburg? And what on earth do you provide in exchange?”

“That will be my business secret, Colonel… but I have traded there for about 23 years now.”

The colonel nodded.

“To the king!” He said and lifted his cup. Anrak smiled and met his cup. They drank out, and got another glass poured. 

“Say, if I hadn’t been charged by the king, I would have been eager to have you charter me back home, Mr. Anrak!” Dilatont said, getting more and more drunk. 

“But it would be counter productive… and also… I would never dream of finding him there anyway…” 

Anrak got interested. 

“Finding who?” Anrak asked. He was not an easy man to get drunk. Sailors rarely were, but his huge frame made him less influenced by the drink. Especially the thin piss that Alinburg sold them. Well… the stuff they gave Alinburg were stuff they had no use for here, so… win win… 

“I am chasing… a dangerous fugitive…” The colonel said, slurring his words. “Or I was… but now the King wants me to… placate the barbarians of these lands… so we can… settlement on the coast…” 

Anrak didn’t get angry. He was used to the Smouldixians drunk talk and it was rarely polite or charming, but it often was informative. 

“Who were you chasing?” Anrak asked. “Did he have a name?” 

“Yes! He had! An absurd name… typical Halborian… hic!… It was… He-Ron… the Unstchoppable or something like that anyways…”

And with that, Dilatont rolled under the table. 

Moni-Qua who had heard it all, walked past the drunk Smouldixians and leaned into her dad’s ear. 

“That must have the young man we chartered south, dad.” She said. “He told me he was tribeless… The Unstoppable’s… they were destroyed…”

Anrak nodded. 

“Indeed… I noticed as well… his sword was clearly of the Sky Iron’s forging… His axe too…”

“What do we do now?” Moni asked. But Anrak looked very relaxed. 

“Pack the ships… let’s be gone by the time this lot wakes up…”

—————————————————————————————————————

Dilatont woke up to the scent of ocean, seaweed and the sound of seagulls. He could even feel the breeze chill his thundering head. 

As she scrambled to get onto his legs… he started to remember how he had gotten so drunk and… how… how he… had gotten… here?

How the hell… where was he?

He looked around and saw nothing but sandy shores, plants and water as far as the eye could see… the Halborian settlement… was gone… 

“Fucking… Halborian… bastards…!” He kicked his helmet and cursed… as he felt like he had broken a toe… 

—————————————————————————————————————

By the time Dilatont had gotten his shoe off to check his sore toe, He-Ron was traversing the Kingdom of Mideiltona… A warmer climate and a gentler environment than what he was used to. The trees here were in full bloom and he had never experienced such a heat. He had no reason to wear a cape here.

The wolf also suffered from the weather and drank more water. Fortunately, rivers were plenty and there was a… charming beauty to the place. 

He-Ron experienced a sense of adventure that he hadn’t felt… ever… the lands of Mideiltona was… so unlike home. The scents… all of it was different. Even the people. 

They were a softer kind of men and women… caressed by the bountiful sun above them, they were all of a darker skin tone, olive tanned and with darker hair. But graceful, sure… 

He-Ron had kept his distance for as long as he could, but if he wanted to find the swamp he needed directions. 

The first time people had seen him riding Farax they had panicked and ran away from him. 

The next town he came to, he asked Farax to stay in the forest and not to make a sound. Farax wasn’t happy about it, but He-Ron told him to stay and he stayed. 

Then he walked into the town, and he immediately stood out. He was taller than all of them, and he was paler than them all. He approached a man who seemed to be a man of knowledge. He had gray lines in his dark hair and he looked like a man who had seen a little of everything. 

He-Ron bluntly asked him if he knew anything about a place called the dead man’s swamp. 

The man had shook his head and made himself scarce… he literally ran from He-Ron. 

He-Ron looked around, and the entire street had gone quite… all were gone… He got the message and continued onwards. 

For over a week, He-Ron lived on the road. He and Farax found game in the wild, but it was of lesser size down here… But the boars were tasty. 

They came to a larger city, and here the people seemed a little less prone to fear for the stranger. 

The city was buzzing with activity, and for the first time in his life, He-Ron got two experiences of the… questionable luxuries of civilization. 

Taverns, restaurants, cafes and stores, shops and bars… there was everything here, and… all over the place… women in very skimpy clothes made themselves all to visible to the cheering crowds… A promise of pleasure in return for coin… 

Such a strange concept to He-Ron… Plenty of the women came up to He-Ron but as he possessed no such thing as coin, he had nothing for them… nor did he really have any need for them. 

Sure he was more than willing… but… a part of him was… also disturbed… what joy could such pleasure bring, if he had to bribe the woman with coin…? 

It was strange to him. 

He found a tavern that seemed promising and as he entered the entire hall turned silent.

He didn’t care, and walked up to the bar. The tavern keeper looked at He-Ron with a strange look in his eyes. He seemed… nervous. He-Ron towered over him with more than a head, so that might have been it.

“Do you know of a place called the dead man’s swamp?” He-Ron asked. 

“WOW…” The tavern keeper said with a chuckle… “Did you just come into the city tonight, son?”

The keeper looked over He-Ron’s frame.

“What the hell was your mother eating when she had you?”

He-Ron blinked. 

“I asked you, if you…”

“I heard ya sonny…” The keeper said and kept drying his cup. “My ears aren’t for decoration.”

He-Ron was feeling a sense of hostility.

“And I may… and I may not know of the place you asked… but I ain’t tellin ya, unless you buy something here…” 

The keeper threw his cloth over his shoulder and faced He-Ron. 

“And something tells me that the concept of coin and commerce is as foreign to you as your fashion sense…”

The room chuckled. Not that He-Ron cared. 

“So let me make it simple for ya, sonny… unless ya have coin, ya ain’t gettin nuttin…”

He-Ron nodded. 

He ranked himself up in his full height and sighed as he turned around to leave. But his way was blocked… by a merry band of men who seemed to be slightly taller than the rest… they were battle scarred and tattooed. They were still shorter than He-Ron. 

“You sure are a big boy…” the fattest and baldest one said. It was hard to tell if he was the leader of this band, but he sure sounded confident… then again… it is often the loudest hyena that bolts and runs first. 

“We could certainly use a guy like you in our little business venture.”

“No thank you.” He-Ron said with a dull tone. 

“Listen big boy…” The bald one said. “You need coin, we need you. We have coin, and with you, we could get even more and much easier. So what do you say?”

He-Ron looked at the bald man. He looked at his band of men… He-Ron could smell that they were opportunistic scavengers… they were of the same lot that he had once chased off back home… but… he did make a valid point… 

It seemed the dead man’s swamp was a place that most people didn’t like to talk about… so he needed coin in order to encourage them to talk. 

A strange folk these Smouldixians… but he had to change his ways. 

“What do you need?” He-Ron asked. 

“Ahh, that’s a good lad.” The bald one said and led He-Ron over to a table. He-Ron sat down on a bench and was still the one most in the tavern looked at. 

“Here, let's get ya something for your throat.” 

The bald man called a wench had her bring He-Ron an ale. Ron tasted it, and… it wasn’t the ale he was used to, but he could manage. 

“Let me introduce myself, my name is Scal, and these are my men.”

He gestured towards around 14 men dressed in somewhat the same style of amor. Leather and chainmail, cheap but effective enough and all dyed black or dark gray. Probably for intimidation. 

“We are tax collectors and we are working for the King, you see.”

He-Ron blinked. 

“We need to collect taxes in order to make the kingdom work, and we are on our way to this little town that hasn’t paid their due in several months… Can’t have that now can ya, I mean… hehe, no one likes paying their taxes but… you have to fucking do it… I mean… you know that right?”

“No…” He-Ron said. 

“No??” Scal said with a smile and a confused look at his men. “What? You’ve never paid taxes before?”

“Not really,” He-Ron said. 

“Well… hah… you lucky bastard you… but you see… this town needs to pay up. Because without taxes… well… everything breaks down…”

He-Ron looked at Scal. 

“The roads… they don’t make themselves… the armies… the… the… well the aqueducts… all of it… it is costly… and that means all needs to pay.”

He-Ron nodded. 

“But… what if the town doesn’t have the coin you need?”

Scal lifted his hands in a feign way of showing a form of surrendering. 

“Well…” he began in a tone that sounded both somber and… excited.

“Then we have to go and ‘make’ them have the coin.”

He-Ron feigned ignorance. 

“Well,” Scal said. “We can take either valuables, or stuff that can be sold… like… trinkets or… jewels… and if need be… a good looking daughter or a strong looking boy… There are ways to make them pay… and if there is one thing I have learned on my time on the road… then it is, that people often have more than they wanna admit… and that “we have no money,” has always been the song of rich people.”

He-Ron nodded. To be honest he was utterly disgusted by the man and the men who sat around him. They were not only the kings men… but they were slave traders as well… 

He-Ron began to understand how the things were working here… but he wanted to be absolutely sure…

“What if… a village or a town… decided not to pay their taxes anymore?” He-Ron asked. “What would happen to them?”

The men and Scal chuckled. 

“Well…” Scal began again, “In that event… it would be up to us, to make them want to do it. One way or another, the crown will get it’s money. And a good thing too… without it, then we wouldn’t have a kingdom at all… no roads… no armies… no nothing… I am not particularly proud of selling people into slavery but… it is what it is, and I have a quota to fill.”

“So…” He-Ron said. “Without money… the kingdom would not work?”

Scal and the others cheered. They clearly took He-Ron for a fool. But all this was completely new to He-Ron. He had never known about taxes before now… never even heard the word. 

But they could think him all the fool they wanted… the dumber they thought him, the better. 

"Exactly! Now… can we count you in?”

Scal leaned in and He-Ron took his mug and emptied it in one single breath. 

He looked at Scal.

“Go and fuck yourselves…”

He-Ron stood up and abruptly left Scal and his band of slavers, or as he called them, tax collectors. The entire hall was silent yet again, and He-Ron left the tavern. He-Ron walked down the main road of the city, but he had not made it ten steps away from the tavern before he saw men dressed in the same outfit as Scal come walking up to him. 

He looked around, and saw that most of the city was either taking cover or was getting indoors to get out of the way. He-Ron heard that Scal and his men came out of the tavern… Some had weapons drawn, others had their hands on either clubs or whips. 

He-Ron noticed he was surrounded. He cracked his neck. It had been a while since he had had a good fight. 

“Listen up, big fella…” Scal said looking both smug and disappointed with how the situation had turned out.

“I didn’t want to become unpleasant… but since you seem to be about as dumb as a rock, I think I need to cut it out for ya…”

He-Ron turned and looked at Scal. 

“I am no longer asking you politely, to help us out… I am demanding it.”

He-Ron scratched his beard. 

“Yeah…” He-Ron said. “And I am still gonna tell you, that you can go fuck yourselves.”

Scal nodded with a clearly annoyed grin on his fat face.

“Well… In that case… it will be the hard way I guess.”

He snapped his fingers, and the men attacked He-Ron. But they were brawlers… not fighters. He-Ron danced around them with the same ease he would a much larger opponent. They were both clumsy and uncoordinated. 

One very young looking brute swung his club, but he had so much momentum he had to use several seconds getting back his swing after He-Ron had evaded him. In that moment, He-Ron gave him a single punch and sent him face first into the dirt. The others saw it and their fallen comrade didn’t move… at all. 

He-Ron seemed to have shook them. 

Scal yelled. “GET HIM!”

The others screamed in disbelief and anger and charged. He-Ron sent one flying with a single kick. Another was grabbed by the throat and tossed several meters through the air. 

Of one of them he grabbed the arm and twisted it so it broke like a dry twig. 

Others again he punched, kicked and tossed. The men of Scal were nothing compared to He-Ron. 

Even He-Ron was surprised. Sure he knew he was strong, but… how come it was that easy? 

The day his tribe was attacked he had been… overwhelmed rather easily… maybe his memory of the day had been… distorted…

He had been younger for sure… but he had still been a man… Perhaps living on his own had simply been good for him. 

But he still remembered everything he had learned from his father. He wasn’t taught how to fight. He was taught how to win… and how to survive. 

Scal’s men… all 23 of them… were soon laying in the dirt of the street, moaning and crying in pain. He-Ron was walking over to Scal who foolishly had drawn his sword. He-Ron drew his axe, and made a short process of the simple iron sword… he cut it like it was made of twigs… 

Scal was clearly scared out of his mind and he was sweating bullets. 

“Well… l-listen… I-I am sure we can work something out… I mean… we-we-we only wanted to help you out with some coin…”

He-Ron placed the axe on Scal’s shoulder with the blade right up against his skin. 

“No…” He-Ron said. “You wanted to use my strength and size to terrorize the locals into giving you and your tyrant money… and when I said no… you wanted to force me… and now you see the result…”

Scal nodded and gulped… he was dreadfully aware of all his movements. 

“Notice that I didn’t kill any of them,” He-Ron said. “Do not mistake that kindness… for weakness… It would have been so easy… as easy… as you yourself, kidnap and sell your own countrymen in the name of your king’s taxes.”

Scal was shaking by now. 

“I am gonna make you a deal… Scal…” He-Ron said. “You will give me your coin… right now… and I will not kill you, and your men… And if you don’t… I will kill you and your men… and then take the coin… Why don’t we call it…”

He-Ron smiled a devious smile at Scal. 

“A stupid tax…?”

Scal undid his purse and held it up to He-Ron. 

“Please… just… don’t kill me…” 

He-Ron took the purse and pulled the axe away. 

“I won’t…” He-Ron said. “But the next time I see you… I might…”

He-Ron pulled the axe back in its place and walked into the tavern again. All the people inside, including the keeper had seen the fight, and they all looked at He-Ron with different eyes now. They were terrified. 

He-Ron walked up to the keeper who seemed pale and scared now. 

He-Ron leaned in on the counter, and the keeper looked ready to shit himself. 

“I-I don’t want any trouble…” He said waving his hands. 

“Then don’t ever call me sonny again.”

The keeper nodded his head and closed his eyes. 

“Sorry… it’s an old habit…”

“And!” He-Ron’s voice rang through the hall… 

“Tell me about the dead man’s swamp… where is it…?”

“I-it’s the cursed lands… to the south of the capital… Agorria… I-I-It’s about 8 days travel from here… South south east… when you get there… there will be signs warning you about it… possibly even royal guards, who will tell ya to go around it.”

“Why?” Why He-Ron said with a deep voice that made the entire hall tremble.

The keeper looked like he was about to faint.

“I-I don’t know… but-but… rumor has it… that the king… is… very invested in keeping trespassers out of the swamp… I do not know why… I-I just know… that he is…”

He-Ron looked at the keeper. He was telling the truth. 

“8 days… south south west…?” He said. And the keeper nodded. 

“Thanks.”

The keeper looked up at He-Ron. He wasn’t smiling but the anger was gone. He dropped the stuffed purse of Scal’s on the counter. 

“Here’s your coin.”

He then left the hall and whistled as he got outside. Scal and his men were still moaning and bitching in the dirt. As he waited for a few seconds he saw Farax come running through the street and stopped right in front of Ron. He caused even more screams of terror and He-Ron quickly saddled up and rode out of the city. 

Scal had been standing where he stood with He-Ron’s axe on his shoulder… he had… defecated himself…  

“What… on earth… was that…?” He asked… as he crumbled… 

—————————————————————————————————————

8 days journey… south south west… 

Well… that must have been as a horse drawn carriage traveled because He-Ron made it on Farax in just 2. The giant wolf ran like the wind and he was tireless. They came to a small mountain ridge that once they scaled it, they had a great view over the landscape. The beautiful landscape was only interrupted by what He-Ron could only imagine was the capital city… Agorria… 

It was a sight for sure… huge marble buildings. Centered around a river and seemingly stretching endlessly. It was dusk, and the city was beginning to light up with lanterns. 

On the outskirts of the city he noticed a huge building built on the top of a ridge that overlooked the city below it… 

“Impressive… in it’s own way.” He-Ron said. In the other direction of the city, there was another landscape… the river was flattening out into a greener area and multiplied into a lot of different little rivers, that seemed to be swallowed up by trees and forests. 

“A wild guess… that is the Dead man’s swamp” 

Farax grunted. He had run for days, so no wonder he could use a good rest. 

They set up a camp, and He-Ron made a fire. It wasn’t really needed, but it helped with lights to set up the runic stones that would protect him from ambushes. 

He was also thinking… he was trying hard to remember… 

“The daughter of the Rock… She needs me… The Dead Man’s swamp…” he said these 3 sentences out loud… 

None of it made any sense at all… what in the world was the Rock? A woman… a people… a place…? And who needed him…? The daughter of the Rock? And… was she in the swamp…?

His gut told him to go to the swamp… but… he had a feeling the name was not for dramatic effect. He could sense that there was something dangerous and hidden in the area… even though it was a far way off… the swamp had an eerie feeling to it… 

He leaned up against Farax's body and soon succumbed to sleep. Perhaps… with some luck… his dreams would tell him more… 

————————————————

The scent of her was so immense… it was like he had begun his life smelling that very scent… 

Hela-Ana… 

He-Ron stepped through the blanket that covered the entrance to their hut. And there she was… rolling around on the bed… waiting for him… the hut smelling like her. Filling his nostrils with nothing but pleasure and joy… He walked over and was just happy to see her smile up at him again. Her arms running through his hair and her legs locking around his flanks… 

“You are dreaming again.” She said with a smile, yet her tone was sad. 

“Then let me please enjoy this…” He-Ron sighed… “Just a little more…”

She shook her head. 

“I am you past my love… your future awaits you… She awaits you…”

“Who…?” He-Ron said “Who awaits me? And where…?”

“The dead man’s swamp…” Hela-Ana said. “The daughter of the Rock… she awaits you… she needs you… she is your future…”

The dream was starting to break. And He-Ron hugged Hela tighter than ever, but it was like holding onto smoke in a wind… 

“The daughter of the Rock… Awaits you in the Dead Man’s swamp… You must find her…”

————————————————

He-Ron woke up… 

The same feeling of dread and sorrow hit him like a rockslide… apathy was a thing most Halborians were immune to, but He-Ron had lost more than enough to validate the feeling. 

He stood up and with Farax by his side they hunted for breakfast. They found a couple of stags that they each ate. Farax ate one whole, and He-Ron ate most of the other one… the rest Farax finished off. And then… They were ready. 

Ron was mostly drawn by the city… the swamp would still be there after a quick walk through the huge capitol. 

As they reached the city limits, Farax once again had to hide. And he did so unwillingly, but obediently. 

He-Ron hitched a ride on a carriage that transported hay, and was soon overtaken with the sight of the huge capitol. The buildings seemed to reach for the sky, and everywhere there were people. Smouldixians in all shapes and forms. Men and women draped in the finest garments and clothes. Slaves in endless droves and markets that sold everything from spices to humans. 

He even saw a Scimitar cat in a cage… the poor thing seemed to be as angry as it was possible to be.

He-Ron walked around looking at everything… he had come here in the hope to learn about his enemy… and… he seemed to know something already… his enemy was powerful… the Smouldixians were perhaps smaller than him in statute… but their strength seemed to lay elsewhere. 

He walked down a narrow street and came to a part of the city that seemed to have mostly stores filled with books and scrolls. 

The people here were dressed mainly in long robes with hoods… There was a strange scent of cinnamon and smoke… as if they were burning things here… 

There was also a strong scent of garlic. 

He walked past a character that seemed to be doing business by a store. A woman by the looks of the rump under the robe. A woman with a good and fine figure. She wasn’t as tall as a Halborian woman, but she was close. 

He-Ron couldn’t see her face, and he cared not. He cared only that wanted to walk past her, and with his huge frame and her butt in the way, there was gonna be a problem. 

He decided to wait, until she had conducted her business. 

The elderly lady who was serving the woman in the white cloak looked up at He-Ron with a surprised look. 

“What is it?” Asked the woman in the white cloak. She turned to look at He-Ron and He-Ron was shortly captivated. The woman under the white cloak had a set of perfect blue eyes and a face so beautiful and tender that it was nearly impossible to imagine anything like it. She was… without flaws… 

“Oh by all the gods…” the woman in white said, and she dropped a book in her arms.

He-Ron reached and grabbed it. 

He handed the book to the lady, and she took it with a thankful smile. 

“Thank you…” She said loud and clearly… as if she thought he didn’t understand her. 

“You are welcome…” He-Ron said. 

The woman giggled… She had a wonderful laughter. 

“Oh thank goodness you understand me…” she said it with a little blink to He-Ron. “Uhm… my name is Ann… and you are?”

“He-Ron.” He answered her. 

“Well… nice to meet you He-Ron…” Ann said. “Are you… new in the city.”

He-Ron nodded with a slight smile. 

“Well… welcome to Agorria… it’s more impressive at a distance than up close… but still very impressive… and trust me… it holds much less importance than it seems.” She laughed her gorgeous laughter. 

He-Ron smiled. There was something about her that was just… lovable. 

“You sound like you are not from here…” He-Ron said. 

“I do?” Ann looked surprised. “Oh, but… I was pretty certain I didn’t speak in a dialect.”

“No…” He-Ron said. “I mean… you sound very critical of your home… as if… you preferred to be elsewhere.”

“Oh…” Ann said and smiled. “Well… no I… I don’t come from this city, but… I have lived most of my life here. But you are right… I… I do miss the place where I was born and grew up.”

He-Ron nodded. 

Ann smiled at him. 

“Say where are you from He-Ron…? Your looks sure stand out… I mean…”

Ann reached and touched his biceps.

“Oh gods… they are hard as granite…” 

He-Ron smiled. “I come from a place that tests a man every day. And… they come completely on their own…”

Ann seemed to be completely fascinated by He-Ron’s muscles. 

“Ohhh, sweet mother of the earths… you certainly made a fine one here… ahem… I uhm…”

Ann drew her hand back like she had just burned it. 

“I beg your pardon He-Ron, I do not know what came over me…” 

He-Ron just kept smiling and then the two started walking together. 

“Where did you say you were from?”

“Halboria.” He-Ron said. 

“No way… you are a Halborian?! Oh I ought to have known! I mean… your size alone… but… I have met Halborian’s before and… they were much darker than you.”

“The Coastal tribes.” He-Ron said. They are for the most part darker in their complexion. I come from the Plains of Halboria.”

“Oh… Ooooooh,” Ann said and she looked suprised and… a little sad. 

“What?” He-Ron said. 

“Nothing it’s just… I have heard what has happened and…”

Ann looked like she was burdened by the weight of the world. As they came to a corner she looked to both sides before she grabbed his hand and looked him in the eyes. 

“I am so sorry…” Ann said looking at him. 

He-Ron frowned. 

“I am… I am so sorry… for what has happened to your people… because… because of our… fool of a king…”

He-Ron blinked. Strange… he didn’t know that the actions of the king were common knowledge. 

“I… I have heard that… the war has caused untold damage and harm and destruction on your people… all because of one little man… It is unforgivable… I am so sorry…”

He-Ron looked into the beautiful eyes, and he nodded and said: “It’s alright… It wasn’t your fault.”

“But it was… in a way…” Ann said as she held her new book tightly into her chest. 

“People who stand by and let uncontrolled power run rampant are as guilty as the one who swung the axe…”

It sounded like a quote.

“We do not appreciate the King’s needless war…” Ann looked out into the more busy street a few hundred meters away. 

“I have to believe that most of the people are against the king… and all his madness.”

He-Ron nodded. He understood. They were afraid. 

Ann kept holding onto Ron’s hand. Her hand was so small and delicate. She was clearly not a woman who worked with her hands. 

“Defiance takes many forms…” He-Ron said. “And vengeance is not always a dagger in the back… It comes when it comes… And sometimes… it is a hammer in the face…”

Ann smiled. Her hand was going up and down the arm of Halborian. Her facial expression was very familiar to He-Ron… it reminded him of the time when Hela-Ana first began to court him. 

There was a mischievous glint in her eyes, and her lips curled in a certain way. 

“Defiance…” Ann repeated his words. “… takes many forms…”

She looked around her shoulders again, and seemed to be scouting for someone. 

Then… after a few moments of silence… Ann looked up at He-Ron… at his face… his eyes… and his beard. 

“I have always preferred men with beards…”

He-Ron smiled… what was she… 

She grabbed He-Ron’s hand and said: “Come…” 

She pulled He-Ron with her down the alley. 

They walked for 15 minutes in silence and just when He-Ron was about to ask where they were going, Ann pulled him into a building. The building seemed just like a little shack. A shack at the foot of the ridge that he had seen from the mountain. The one that seemed to overlook the city.

He-Ron wasn’t surprised to see that it had only one single room… but no furniture… there was just a rock wall… 

He-Ron looked at the wall and the room… Then he saw Ann press a single rock in the wall, and a door opened in the wall. A door that was hidden when it was closed. 

Ann looked back at He-Ron with a smile. A little teasingly.

“Are you coming?” 

He-Ron was at this time very curious. Just who was this woman?

He followed her. 

The hidden door went to a staircase that seemed to have been carved in the bare rock. And they climbed the stair for what felt like hours. He-Ron was a little too large and had to bend his neck in order not to hit his head against the roof in certain places. But it finally came to an end by yet another door, and He-Ron followed Ann into a light filled room. 

He-Ron was impressed. Such opulent luxury had he never even seen before. He had never even imagined that it could even exist. The room was held up with massive marble columns that had pieces of cloth in between then to catch the sunlight. 

Plants in all shapes and forms were in pots, and several statues of… Ann… were dressed in garments and crownes. 

Ann removed her white cloak, and revealed her body, and outfit… and also… that she had worn a crown all this time. 

He-Ron had to give her credit… The cloak had not done a good job at hiding her figure, but in its defence… that figure was undeniably the most feminine and beautiful figure he had seen in a long time. 

She was a completely hourglass figure. Her body seemed completely unlike any Halborian woman he had ever seen. Women of his homeland were ripped and with muscles all over their body, like their men. 

Ann… she didn’t seem to have any trained muscles apart from the ones that made her move around. She was slinky and thin, but… the fat that came with a woman her age and also after having a few children hadn’t left her… She was stacked. Her butt was round like something He-Ron had never seen before. He was sure that she had never in her entire life worked with her back… She was rounded in ways no woman he had ever seen before. 

     While it had a certain attraction, it also caused him slight discomfort… he saw a fragile and pampered creature - gorgeous and beautiful, but not carved by necessity and strength… 

She started to drop what little clothes she had on her right in front of him, allowing He-Ron to see all of her… She bent over in front of him, wiggled her butt at him, and he knew already… she was seducing him. 

He-Ron walked over to her and placed his hands on her shoulders as she stood up straight again. 

She was not as tall as Hela-Ana had been… or maybe… He-Ron had just grown a little larger since then… 

He had been a man… but a young one… and not fully grown as most Halborians grow larger even past manhood. 

Perhaps Ann was the size of Hela and he… had just grown past his own memory. 

Ann turned around and looked up at him. Her hands rested on his broad, hairy chest. Her fingers ran through his chest hair, and she looked fascinated by his body. He was nearly two heads taller than her. 

He looked her straight in the eyes. 

“I wish to defy the king, He-Ron…” Ann said. “And I know the perfect way for me to do so…”

He-Ron didn’t even blink. 

“Take me He-Ron… defile my body with yours… pump me full of your seed… and impregnate me with your child… that would be worse than any dagger in his back, or any hammer in his face…”

“Why…” He-Ron said. “Would the Kind care for that?”

“Trust me…” Ann said. “It will bother him immensely… He despises Halborians… and having a Halborian born from me… would be a sting to his fragile ego the like none has ever seen.”

He-Ron shrugged. He grabbed Ann by her shoulders and tossed her backwards. She screamingly landed on the bed… clearly in shock. 

She looked at He-Ron with a scared look, but as He-Ron climbed the bed… she realized… she had just unleashed a beast upon herself. 

“I must warn you, Ann…” He-Ron said. “It’s been a while since I tasted a woman’s flesh…”

Ann smiled a nervous but also excited smile. 

“Gods… have mercy on my entrails…”

—————————————————————

It was a good thing the king was out, and most of his court… they were down south near the swamp lands in order to visit a friend of the King who lived in the one and only real livable castle in the lands around the swamp. 

Legends said that the current ruler built not one but several castles in the swamp… they just… kept sinking into the swamp… except for one… that burned down and then sank into the swamp… But finally one stayed up, and that was… something… 

The lord of this castle was a friend of the king… he wasn’t particularly wealthy, but none would be after building several castles that all sank into a swamp. But that only meant that the King could easily buy his services… especially if he promised him huge… tracts of land. 

The king enjoyed visiting him… because… that meant he had a shorter distance to travel to the Dead Man’s Swamp… where he kept his special little secret from the world. 

A secret… who everyone knew… but never spoke about… for it was an insult to the king to pretend anything else than pure ignorance. 

But… had the king been home… he would undoubtedly have heard the loud noises that came from the Queen’s bedchambers. 

For they were loud. They were very loud, and they were very… obscene. 

Such sounds had never been heard in that part of the palace… and certainly not in recent times. 

The maidens avoided entering the chamber as they would not bear witness to what was going on… making it so much easier to deny any knowledge about it later, but still… The fair maidens of the queen had all gathered around the big door in order to peak inside and lean their ears towards the door and… hopefully… catch a glimpse or hear something better. 

One of them dared to enter the room and what she saw… was something out of an old tale that the elderly women in the kitchen often told, when the gossip rarely ran out. 

The tales of gods that descended from the heavens and mounted mortal women in order to breed a hero on their flesh. 

The maid dared to look from behind a curtain, and what she saw froze her in place. 

The Queen… naked…and on all fours… Her skin, glistening with pearly sweat… her mouth opened… the tongue hanging out, like on a dog… 

     The sounds she made were the sounds of a woman of much lower standing… the sounds spoke the clearest language of pure bliss and wonderful and endless lust…

     Her long, red hair, undone from her usual bun, and held in the grasp of a man… a man… who was positioned behind her. 

A man… no… that was no man… the Maid gasped as she studied the body and frame of the man who right now ravished the Queen. 

That was no man… No man could look like that… he was huge… a giant of a man… his body… Oh gods alone had such bodies… The Maid’s name was Tara… and she had never seen the likes before… and she was sure she would never see the likes again… 

That… that was the Sky-father… 

She was not in doubt. The Sky-father had descended from Heaven and had laid claim on the Queen. 

The Smouldixians had strict laws for women against infidelity, but there were exceptions. 

The conceivement of a god's child was not only permissible, it was also not forbidden. In fact, a woman who had been claimed by a god had a sworn duty to protect that god’s child, and the husband of the woman who had given birth to a god's child was expected to care and raise that child with love and tenderness. Anything else would invoke the anger of the gods upon all of the people in his community. 

Tara was captivated by the scene… the Queen seemed to be completely lost to her bliss. 

The Sky-Father was not gentle with her. Not at all. He treated her brutally, harsh and… exactly how a god would treat a woman - Tara thought. 

She slapped her ass, pulled her hair, ordered her around… even tossed her around. 

At one point Tara saw that the Queen had noticed her. 

The Queen simply smiled. She didn’t care… Tara blinked. Of course she didn’t. A god was breeding her. Using her. She had no choice… The gods decide for themselves… and the humans… they were but playthings for the gods… and if the Sky-Father had chosen the Queen, then he clearly had reasons to do so.

The Queen was taken in every possible way imaginable. Tara stood for a while… how long she didn’t know… but in the end… she realized she had to leave. 

As she returned… the other maids looked at her expectantly. They wanted to know… who was in there… 

Tara told them that the Sky-Father himself was in there… ravishing the Queen. 

    The conviction in her voice solidified the others' doubt in an instant. Tara was not a liar, nor was she a grand teller of tales… 

She was… truthful… 

The Sky-Father himself… 

At that moment, the maidens all vowed to tell this in case it was ever revealed that the Queen had had a guest other than the King in her chambers… It was the truth. A god had come down to ravish the Queen… 

—————————————————————

“GAAAH FUCK! OH FUCK HE-RON… I AM CUMMING!”

Ann was starting to jolt, but He-Ron tightened his grip in her hair and pulled back harder. Making her clench her teeth as she felt how his massive cock entered her womb. 

“Then let’s cum together!” He-Ron said as he slammed his cock back and forth. 

“Ooooooooh fuuuuuuuck!” She said as she felt how the cock started growing again. It was not the first time he had cummed inside her, and she had a feeling it wouldn’t be the last time either. 

He-Ron pumped his sperm deep into her and filled her up once again. 

“Ooooooh OOOOOOHH!” Ann’s eyes rolled… she had never known such pleasure before… the intense stimuli… the feeling of her flesh getting expanded… the boiling warm feeling of He-Ron’s cum… 

She momentarily passed out as the bliss overwhelmed her brain… she had never experienced such orgasms… not even with 3 of her maidens licking her clit at the same time. 

Dawn was coming… they had fucked all night…

He-Ron wasn't at all done. His hands slit in under her thighs so his elbows were under her knees. He got to his feet and placed his hands behind her neck. She was now hanging in his grip, and he leaned forward to get her into a really good position. His cock was now deeper inside her than ever before. 

He could now fuck her in one of the wildest ways he knew how.

This, had been Hela’s favorite position to be fucked, and He-Ron was missing her… even in this moment. But Ann sure was nice to fuck as a replacement. 

He-Ron began to slam his cock so fast in and out of Ann that it snapped her out of the bliss that she had been stuck in for a few hours and brought her back to reality. 

She moaned and screamed as she realized that her body was locked in some perverse form of the full nelson. 

She could not move, she could not get out… all she could was moan and scream as the massive cock of her lover rammed her pussy like it was just a toy. She could only look down at the floor… 

While her brain was now back on again, she herself… was not sure what on earth was going on… she knew she was getting fucked by He-Ron… but something strange had happened to her… She wanted to protest… she wanted to scream out that he should stop… 

    But the words that came from her mouth were not what her brain had formed…

Instead… what came out was this: 

“OOOh Yes! Oh YES OH YEEEES! YEAH that is IT! FUCK YES! FUCK ME! FUCK ME! FILL ME UP WITH YOUR BABY! OOH FUCK!”

Ann’s brain wasn’t in control… it was… it was her body that spoke…

Ann was under a form of pressure that made her body comply with what the other part wanted to such an extent that her brain no longer was in charge of her own body…

It wasn’t possible to tell if He-Ron heard her or if her words meant anything to him… for he just kept ramming her pussy with his cock so wildly that the juices of her body kept flowing and dripping. 

He-Ron had pushed her neck and body so much forward that she could see her own pussy and see the cock that was ramming it. The speed of which he moved was insane… 

Ann was once again trying to tell him to slow down… not stop, as she wanted more sure, but she needed a break… but once again, the words that came out were not how she had formed them in her head. 

“GODS, GET ME PREGNANT, YES!” She moaned out loud. “I WANNA HAVE YOUR BABY! YEAH!… YEAH!!!… YEAAAAAAAAHH HAAHH HAAHHH!”

He-Ron kept ramming her as if he had never heard her words. 

“That’s it… that’s it… OOOOH THAT’S IT!!! FUCKING GET ME PREGNANT! EXPLODE INSIDE OF ME!!!”

He-Ron kept ramming in the exact same speed and the exact same force. Ann was more wet than ever. Her pussy sounded like something out of a dream. 

“CONTINUE! CUM IN ME! CUM IN ME! OHH THAT’S IT! FUCKING GET ME PREGNANT! FUCKING… GET… ME… PREGNANT!”

He-Ron grunted… he leaned forward and roared as he emptied his nuts inside of Ann’s womb. 

“FILL ME UP! FILL ME UP! AAAAAAAAAH!”

Ann screamed and howled as her body once again was filled with He-Ron’s hot sperm. He-Ron kept jerking his cock in and out of her pussy, and Ann was gasping and dangling in his grasp like some bizarre parody of a fruit in a tree.

She didn’t know if she were to laugh or cry… 

But her position made it impossible for her to pass out like she had before after He-Ron’s wild fuckings. 

He-Ron moved the hands behind her neck one at the time down to her breasts. But his massive hands could easily hold them like they were the utter of a cow or a goat. He held her by her tits… Ann was not at all sure she liked this… but He-Ron’s might gave him rights in this moment, and she was the one who had opened the door… 

“Tell me… about the Dead Man’s Swamp…” He-Ron said to Ann. 

Ann shook her head in order to get some clarity… had she heard right? 

“Wh-what?” She said. 

He-Ron tightened his grip on her tits, and she squealed a little. It lasted only a few seconds, but she felt it surely enough. 

“AUUCH!” She said. 

“You heard me, woman. Tell me about the Swamp.”

“Okay… okay…” Ann whimpered… “What… what do you want to know?”

“What is in it?” He-Ron asked. 

“A… a whole lot…” Ann said. “It… it is filled with all sorts of monsters… I have never seen them, but everyone knows that they are there.”

“What, does the King use it for?” He-Ron asked. 

“It… it is a prison…” Ann said. “It is used as a prison to… hold one of his captives…”

“What captive?” He-Ron once again squeezed her tits, and Ann whimpered.

“THE DAUGHTER OF THE ROCK! THE DAUGHTER OF THE ROCK!”

“Who is she!?” He-Ron asked without loosening the tight grip.

“HER NAME IS TON-RA! AND SHE IS THE DAUGHTER OF THE QUEEN OF THE ROCK - MON-LAAAAAAA!”

He-Ron loosened his grip and Ann relaxed again. 

“Why does the king hold her captive?” He-Ron asked. 

“To… to use her…” Ann said. “I am not the King’s type… he hates me… even after carrying him a daughter he despises me… He wishes to replace me… but he can’t do so openly…”

He-Ron squeezed her tits again. 

“Who are YOU to the king?” He-Ron growled. 

“HIS WIFE!” Ann screamed. “I AM HIS WIFE AND HIS QUEEN, AND A MOTHER OF ONE OF HIS CHILDREN!”

He-Ron growled in anger… had he only known… then he would have enacted his revenge… but then Ann continued. 

“I AM POSSIBLY THE CREATURE HE HATES THE MOST IN THIS WORLD!” Ann screamed. 

He-Ron blinked. An then he loosened his grip again. 

“What?”

“The… the king hates my guts…” Ann said with a sad and… cold tone. “He hates me… He always have… I have not succeeded in carrying him a son… He is to this day without an heir… and that… according to him… is my fault…”

He-Ron listened closely. 

“I hold no true love for the king… but as his wife I knew my duty… but as I brought him only daughters, his line will not follow him… he is getting older and he needs an heir… He has started to hint that he wants to replace me… and the witch that he keeps in the swamp… she is apparently the one he wants in my stead…”

“Witch?” He-Ron said. 

“Yes…” Ann said. “She is a witch… all the women from the Rock are… they are witches of powerful magic… some say… that they are descendants of the Halborians.”

He-Ron had heard the tales of some of his people leaving Halboria. But they had never heard from them since they left. 

He-Ron felt empathy for the woman in his merciless grasp. He had not had sex with her because he loved her or even cared for her. But simply because she offered it freely, and he had an itch to scratch. 

But as she had revealed who she was, he had felt the old rage and hate rise in him and he had wanted to enact his revenge on the king… an eye for an eye… a life for a life… 

But…

Ann was not loved by her husband the king… as Hela had been loved by Ron. 

Killing her… would not mean anything to the king… in a way… it would probably make him happier. 

He-Ron was ashamed of himself… his Halborian roots forbade him from killing the innocent. Ann may be the wife of his sworn enemy… but she herself had done him no wrong. 

He was about to release the grip on her tits… when…

“Uhm…” Ann said… “Isn’t there… anything else you wish to know?” Ann said lifting her head and turning to look at Ron… she looked pathetic… like she wanted… wanted him to keep interrogating her. 

He-Ron smiled… he tightened his grip again, and Ann whimpered. 

“Who are the women of Rock?” He asked. 

“They… they are powerful witches… hunters… and warriors…” Ann said. 

“Who is their leader?” 

“Mon-La… The queen of the Rock, and Ton-Ra’s mother…” Ann said. “She is also called the most beautiful woman in the world.”

He-Ron made a note of that. It might become useful. 

“What is your king’s plan with Halboria?” He-Ron asked. 

“Only to… rule them… and the rest of the world…” Ann said. 

“Why?” He-Ron asked. 

“I don’t know why…” Ann said. He-Ron squeezed her tits ever tighter. 

“I SWEAR I DON’T KNOW!” She cried out loud. “HE IS A PUNY MAN, OKAY? HE IS A USELESS, SPINELESS COWARD OF A MAN! EVEN HIS MOTHER CALLED HIM A WASTE OF HER LIFE!” 

He-Ron loosened his grip. 

“His… his mother… was never… happy with him…”

“Why?” He-Ron asked. 

“I… I only know the rumors…” Ann sighed. “But… according to the rumors… when Jamos was very young… he and his brothers were playing by a river… something happened… and… well… only Jamos returned. Jamos says fate claimed his brother's lives… including Slimos… the oldest… the one… who was meant to be the king… But who perished that day… Jamos mother never looked at him again…”

Ann held a small pause… 

“I have heard Jamos whimper in his sleep… saying… ‘I am sorry, mommy…’ and ‘It just… happened…’”

Ann stopped. 

He-Ron needed not hear more. 

“He murdered his own brothers…”

Ann closed her eyes, and nodded in agreement. 

“There is a chance… that it was all an accident… or a game gone wrong… but Jamos… he is a person who calculates all his moves… and he always makes the bad decisions…”

He-Ron was beginning to get a better understanding of his enemy. 

“Ann…” He-Ron said. “Why did you want to have sex with me?” 

Ann looked back at He-Ron in confusion. 

“You clearly know what I am… So why invite me to use your body?”

Ann tried to shrug and sound nonchalant when she said: “Well… you… you are an amazing specimen and… I was horny… and… I wanted to defy the King like you said and…”

He-Ron squeezed her tits and she squealed… 

“Your lies may work on your own people, but not on me, Ann!” He-Ron said in an angry tone… 

“TELL ME THE TRUTH!”

“I WANTED YOUR CHILD, OKAY!?” Ann screamed. 

He-Ron loosened his grip, but only a little. 

“What?”

“I… I wanted… I wanted to carry a child… a Halborian child… In order… to punish the king… as he has treated me horrifically…”

“Why…?” He-Ron asked. “Why not just leave him?”

“Because… I… I like my position…” Ann said. “I enjoy being the queen… I want to remain the queen… I do not want that… swamp-thing taking my place… and if she does… then my days are numbered…”

He-Ron listened to her closely. 

“But… if I carry a son…” Ann looked back at He-Ron. “Especially… a son… of a god… then NO ONE… can ever replace me… Jamos won’t dare to cross the gods.”

Ann in short terms told He-Ron about the laws of the Smouldixians, and the laws of fidelity and marriage… and of children conceived with the gods. 

“If I carry a son… then… I will be the one true Queen… the people will rally behind me… and Jamos would never dream of harming me… ever again…”

He-Ron lifted an eyebrow. 

“And… if you have a daughter?”

“Well…” Ann said. “It will buy me time to escape back to my fathers lands. As not even Jamos would dream of harming a daughter of the gods… only her mother.”

He-Ron nodded. He understood. One thing more than anything. Smouldixians were more different from his kind than he ever began to imagine. 

He tossed the body of Ann down on the bed and she scrambled and looked back up at him with a frightened expression. 

“Wh-what happens now?” Ann said… her brain had once again gotten control over her mouth. 

He-Ron looked at her. He then grabbed one of her feet and dragged her back and spread her legs widely. 

“You want a son, right?”

Ann nodded carefully… her eyes round and full of excitement and dread. 

“Then this… is how to make sure you get one.”

And then… He-Ron fucked the Queen in a position his people called… the mating press. 

It lasted for yet another half a day… and when the howls of the queen's bedroom finally silenced, her maidens once again dared to enter. 

The maid named Tara walked into the bedchamber and the stench of sex and sperm was all over the place. 

“My queen?” She called out quietly. 

“My queen are you in here?”

Tara was very nervous. She had heard tales of women being spirited away to the Sky-Father’s halls… never to be seen again. 

But alas, the Queen was laying in the bed… in a pool of sweat and… what was unmistakably… sperm… the seed of the Sky-father. 

The Queen was smiling, and she was coated… absolutely coated in sperm and she seemed like she had never been happier in her entire life. 

“My queen, oh gods… what happened?”

The queen didn’t answer her… she looked past Tara and into the ceiling… 

“Tara… bring in…. The others… to bear witness… The gods… they have blessed the kingdom… I am with a child… for sure… a son… of the gods…”

—————————————————————

He-Ron found his way out of the city. He had left the queen’s bedroom the same way he came in. 

He managed to find Farax the place where he had left him. The wolf sniffed him, as he smelled rather strangely. 

“It’s just these horrid scented waters the Smouldixians use…” He-Ron said. “No need to worry.”

Farax seemed to relax, but still scuffed his nose. 

He-Ron saddled up, and began to venture southwards. 

He was going to the Dead Man’s swamp… to liberate this… this… Ton-Ra… the daughter of the Rock. 

To be continued.