Ronan - chapter 5 - the tales of He-Ron

Hello everyone.

Please remember that this writing is for adults only. It might contain scenes that are harsh or bloody in description but remember it is all fiction. All NSFW scenes are between consenting adults. But also remember the world that we live in is a dark place sometimes. Remember to talk to your family and friends about thoughts that can be hard. It really helps.

That being said, remember that this writer has English as his second language and that this writing is only meant as a work of fiction meant to entertain.

Yours truly

Hammer

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The legend of He-Ron was growing. 

It had begun in the small, a young man who helped the northern settlers in Halboria. A lone Halborian, ever on the road, ever on the move.

A poor and sad character, but one who had found friends among the settlers. He had always provided a helping hand or a piece of advice. 

The tales quickly spread like a wild fire. 

Later tales claimed that he was the stride of a huge white Dire Wolf. The majestic and powerful top predator of the Halborian plains. 

The tales would know that he fought off an entire army on the back of the wolf. Fighting side by side with the beast like they were brothers. 

Later he became the bane of the Gorger… the huge disgusting monster that ate the settlers and ruined their houses. 

He-Ron slew the beast with the help of his magical sword. 

The tales about him grew as well. 

He was of the Unstoppable tribe. The protectors… the guardians of Halboria. The Tribe that had been brutally and dishonorably destroyed by the cowardly tactics of the Smouldixian army. 

He-Ron was said to be as cunning as he was powerful. He was not only a brute, oh no, he had cleverly escaped the army that was hunting him, not once, but at least 3 times already. 

The tales of his deeds were not only told in Halboria. They were supplemented with new stories from the south. 

A tale of a young and handsome man who fought to protect the common folk of the southern kingdoms. 

Not only that, but a claim had been made about the Queen’s future child… Many speculated that this divine pregnancy was with either the Sky-Father himself, or… by the Hero He-Ron who had somehow entered her boudoir and claimed her body and impregnated her. This made people suspect that He-Ron was not only the child of the Sky-Father, but the actual Sky-Father in a reincarnated form. 

    Thus making him a god in human flesh. 

It had not made a villain of the queen. Quite the opposite. Everyone knew it was foolish to resist the gods. Or their divine will. Her Majesty was known as a beauty. It was obvious why the Heavenly Father would claim her as his own and impregnate her. Her offspring would become the next king. It was divine wisdom at work.

“Only a Halborian could become a living god,” had an old man said in a tavern in the settlement of Elba said to a crowd of farmers who had come to mingle. 

“They are the children of the gods… only they have the internal power to carry the soul of a god.”

The crowd had whispered over this comment. When the Smouldixian soldiers had entered the entire tavern had turned silent. 

The Smouldixian soldiers had not felt welcome. They were seen as the lackeys of the King… and he… was beyond unpopular at the moment. Because he… was hunting He-Ron. 

The latest stories of the Lone Halborian was that he had entered the Dead Man’s swamp and liberated the Princess of the Rock from the monstrous guardians that the King had used to keep her imprisoned.  

That had been several months ago, and the story was still the most fantastic to this day. 

All the many monsters that dwelled in the swamp, including a fully grown Hydra had not stood a chance against the son of Uzaron. Artists all over the world were depicting the scene… of the noble and strong hero that fought against the multi headed monster- the one beast that many claimed were unkillable.

    Yet against the Lone Halborian, had this creature met its match and perished. People had taken the chance to investigate the swamp… and they had found… there were no beasts… usually they had been visible or even audible… but not anymore. The Swamp was now a place filled with lovely birdcalls and they even saw a herd of water buffalo wander in the shallows around the swamps edges… something that had been unthinkable just a few months ago. 

But for what had the Lone Halborian wandered into the swamp? What prize was worth a painful death in the most inhospitable of places?

The question was answered when the rumors started flying. 

The Princess of the Rock. Ton-Ra… the most beautiful woman in the entire world. A witch of renown. A powerful magic wielder. And… according to the gossip… the King’s prisoner. 

    The story went that the King ages ago - 20 or so years, had gone before the Queen of the Rock. The mighty Mon-La herself, and asked her for her youngest daughter's hand in marriage. That he would make her his Queen and father a strong heir on her daughter, and unite their bloodlines. 

Mon-La hadn’t laughed at the King’s request, but she had instead scuffed and told him that she would NEVER lower her people’s genepool by letting them breed with Smouldixians, no matter if they were King’s or not!

    Any character who are so foolish to attack the noble men and women of Halbor were destined to die alone and useless in the gutter, and she for one would NOT let such a man pull her people into such a travesty. 

She had ordered the Smouldixian King to leave the Rock and NEVER return. And to forget any idea of ever marrying any of her children. 

The King had left, scorned, bitter and full of hate. 

Shortly after the Queen of the Rock took action. She sent emissaries to the Kingdom of Malantis and the Kingdom of Guna. 

Both powerful, and both with righteous Kings. Each one rivaled the Smouldixian alliance alone, and she took the chance to expand her influence. 

She begged them for aid in this situation, and their price for their alliance was expected. Each had sons who soon would come of age. And each son needed a future queen by their side. 

Mon-La knew the price. She went to her two oldest daughters and told them to pack for a long travel, for they were soon to leave for their new homes. 

Mon-La had insisted that the princes travelled to the Rock to meet her daughters at the very least. They obliged and Mon-La took the chance to expand her population. 

The Rock is populated by women only. Not by choice mind you. 

The Women of the Rock are known as powerful witches and warriors. They are hunters and said to be the finest women known to exist. But they are not looking very much alike. One Witch of the Rock might look pale and with blonde hair, where another is as dark at skin and hair as the southern tribes of the Monalauo’s - another divine bloodline.

    This is because the men of their clan disappeared a long time ago. None of them really know why. Some suspect it was because of war. Others that they just traveled so far away that they got lost. Others again that they were slain in an ambush. Others among the women say that the goddess of the hunt claimed them all and took them to her own hunting fields - not for the hunt, but to keep her warm at night. 

Outsiders tell more cruel tales of why there are no men on the Rock. 

“The women bash the male babies against the deadly cliffs of the Malatea mountain.”

A cruel and completely invalid claim. 

Mon-La’s father was born on the Rock, and when he was born she was told that the Rock partied for several weeks. 

A Halborian had visited the Rock. They were rare outside of Halboria, but he had bedded the Queen - Mon-La’s grandmother, and made a son on her. He became the King and took Mon-La’s mother as his Queen and bedmate and made Mon-La. 

Cruelty of the gods then later took her father and mother away from her, and she became the queen. 

Later she took travelers to bed and made daughters upon them. It was not love. It was required. They had no men around, so they bedded travelers whenever they came around. 

The same happened when the princes came to see her two oldest daughters: 

Con-Ra and Lon-La. 

The princes were of course not alone, and though young they were not children. They were men.  

Mon-La ordered them to share the beds of her daughters, and if they pleased them, they were worthy of breeding them and fathering their children. 

The rest of their following, a whole regiment of soldiers were bedded by almost the rest of the Rock’s population. 

There were MANY women of the Rock who had the swollen belly of pregnancy after the princesses departure, because of course they were pleased - their mother had instructed them to be, and two key alliances had been forged. 

The Rock was now impenetrable. Impossible to attack without getting attacked by two other kingdoms. A sound and wise strategy. One that would deter any would be conquerors. But alas… King Jamos was either too foolish or too dumb to understand this. He came up with a plan that would have Princess Ton-Ra kidnapped and brought to him. 

In the meantime he also married another woman to throw off the ever worried and ever watchful Queen Mon-La. 

It worked. 

King Jamos managed to kidnap the princess and bring her to his own lands. And here… he took her as his prize. Later he was scheming to have Queen Ann thrown out, imprisoned or better yet, executed for treason… then he could marry Ton-Ra and finally have everything he wanted. 

But alas… that was all lost now. Ton-Ra was gone and Queen Ann was now pregnant… with something that the Royal Healing Mages said was probably the strongest boy child they had ever felt grow in a woman. 

“Of course he is strong,” Queen Ann had said when she was rubbing her ever growing belly sitting next to Princess Bonniera who also rubbed it. 

“He is the son of a god… one who took me like I was just an object.”

Queen Ann cooed over her belly and Princess Bonniera looked very pleased. She kissed the belly and whispered to it:

     “When you grow to manhood, I will let you do whatever you want with me, little demigod.”

The King was losing his mind. For well over 4 months his armies tried to catch up with the Lone Halborian. 

But instead of results, they only brought back… casualty reports, and requests for reinforcements… for every single encounter with the Lone Halborian resulted not in his capture… but in more men lost. 

The King was losing men faster than his population was growing… and he was dead set on capturing this wild man and having him publicly executed. He had therefore begun the task to conscript more men, and… he had also slacked several laws. The laws against prostitution were to be relaxed. And every… ahem… a woman of this particular cloth who had a child, could go and claim a good amount of money from the crown.

    The crown began to value any woman who brought children into the world. 

The age of conscription was lowered and raised.

Men who were barely men of age, were now given the choice (choice?) to sign up as a royal soldier and bring peace to the realm. And veterans were pulled back in to help train and manage the new recruits. 

The Smouldixian lands were getting short on food. They relied on the northern settlements now. The growth of cattleherds had exceeded all expectations. The Northern settlers were now ordered to transport their herds south. Something that did NOT raise the Smouldixian kingdom's popularity. 

“First they order us up here… take away what little we own… and when we finally start growing something of our own, they take it from us, and call it ‘our duty’!?”

Janex had screamed in the tavern one evening. 

“We didn’t ask to be here! We didn’t get a choice! I lost a father to famine because of the travel arrangements and now I have lost everything I have toiled to get… I have 4 cows left and no bulls… How am I to grow a herd from that?!”

The mood of the settlers was growing more and more rebellious every day. 

The soldiers who were stationed in Halboria frequently got jumped and sacked in the dark of night. It was not a good time to be a soldier. They tried to push back, but they were too few, and the settlers were either family or friends. What little they could do, they hesitated on doing. 

And to make things even worse?

Winter was getting here…

—————————————————————————

The eastern plains of the Smouldixian lands. These needed to be crossed in order to get to the mountain ridge that was the only entrance to the Rock. 

A wild country. 

And now, that summer had ended, the lands were slowly turning into a winterscape. The long tall grasses were getting covered with winter's first thin veil of snow, and the trees lost their colors. Small waterponds started to freeze to ice in the night, and the animals were now more alert than ever. 

The season of the wolf was upon the lands.

The eastern plains were known as the hills. These hills stretched for hundreds of miles in all directions. They were scarcely populated with small villages. A great place for big game, and in this season, a good place to get lost. The snow was both an ally and a traitor to anyone who wanted to get lost. 

Fortunately, the people here were as sick of the king and his men as all the rest of the kingdom. 

So when a platoon of the king's soldiers entered a tavern of the small little village of Gruntberg, they weren’t exactly cheered in celebration.

The leader of the group walked up to the keeper and asked for food for him and his men. 

The Keeper went to the kitchen and gave orders. He returned to politely ask if there was anything else. 

The leader of the soldiers pulled out a poster that had a fine illustration of a handsome looking man. Clearly a Halborian. 

The Keeper looked over the illustration under the script - Wanted Dead or Alive. 

“We don’t see many Halborians in these parts.” The Keeper said as he kept polishing his glasses. 

“They usually remain on the other side of the widowmakers mountains.”

“I know where they usually remain, I was asking if you had seen this one!” The leader said. 

“I got the hint,” The Keeper said and looked at the leader of the soldiers. “And I told you, we don’t see many Halborians in these parts. That means we haven’t seen any… I thought that was a given, sonny.”

The young leader blushed and the rest of the tavern giggled. He wasn’t very old. He had probably only just reached manhood. 

He took the scroll and walked over to the board at the other side of the tavern. A huge wall filled with different posters. 

He took the centerplace, and hammered the poster of the Lone Halborian into the board. 

He then turned around and looked at the tavern’s guests. 

“There is a king's reward for this particular Halborian. He is a murderous vandal who has brought nothing but death and destruction in his path. A dangerous man, No… A beast in the shape of a man… not to be approached… A hundred thousand gold crowns to the one who brings this Halborian criminal to the King… dead or alive!”

The tavern was silent. 

“And…” The soldier continued. “Double that! If you bring back the princess he has kidnapped!”

People kept drinking their ale. These were all old songs from new bards. Nothing to get excited about. 

The Keeper brought food to the table of the platoon. 

“The people seem pretty uncaring, lieutenant.” The sergeant said as they dug into the food. 

The lieutenant didn’t answer him.

Iorek was not pleased. 

Life in the army had not been what he had been promised. Usually the army boasted about going to new places, seeing the world, and women… endless women that would throw themselves at ya. He had been dying to get some of that action when he signed up. 

But he was now almost 6 months into service, and he hadn’t even gotten his dick sucked once. 

He missed life back home on the farm. Sure it was boring as heck, but it sure was better than this. He wondered if his father had gotten the harvest inside yet… it… it sure would be difficult without his help. 

    But he thought that with his brother's help then it might be possible. Sure they were still young but they were strong and could help. 

He was… probably… hopefully… worrying about nothing. First he had to serve his time and bring this criminal to justice. 

A bard in the corner began to play a few tunes on his instrument. He was skilled. The tunes were a comfort in these darkening winter days. 

The bard began to sing a nice song… it sounded nice enough but… Iorek listened to the theme… it was about the ill fate of the Malakites and the Osmands… the former conquerors of the Halborian lands…

The bard sung about their might and splendor… how they each ruled their times with undisputed power. How round was the Osmands crown and how tall the Malakites Tower. 

The magic of Malakites, rivaled that of the gods… The sword of the Osmands reached the end of the world.

     Oh save us from the dark, save us from the famine and save us from vengeance of Halborian man…

The song spoke of the greed of one man… of the over reach of power. How the mighty tumble over their long legs. 

How an ant has no power, but an antswarm brings down even the strongest elephant.

There is no saving from the anger of the gods, there is no excuse for weakness. 

Don’t go obey a tyrant, and I was only following orders fools no one…

     Oh save us from the dark, save us from the famine and save us from vengeance of the Halborian man…

The soldiers felt how the song didn’t feel so good anymore. They felt a shadow upon them. The Keeper noticed and loudly told the bard to shift to something less… ominous.

The bard smiled and began to sing an old classic song that brought more joy. 

Iorek was happy with the change. He had felt how the public didn’t really like the soldiers anymore but… surely when they caught the villain Halborian, it would bring them around… right? 

A good while into their meal the stories began to be told around the tavern. And the stories were all about the Lone Halborian.

The soldiers all tensed up to listen to the tale. Apparently this region had had a problem with bandits that kept attacking their travelers in the absence of their regiment of soldiers. 

But the bandits had been dealt with. Few had survived, but the few who had spoke of a man with a glowing sword and a woman by his side, who used wild magic. 

The men at the table next to the soldiers spoke as if the had been there. 

“Ay ay, I will never in me life forget the look on that bandit’s face. That was a sight of true horror let me tell ya! He had seen the true might of the Lone Halborian… only the son of a god could bring that much power down upon so many bandits.”

“Ay,” Said the man beside him. “He must have been strong… there must have been two hundred bandits at the least…”

“Three hundred!” Said the third guy at their table loudly. “And all able bodied men! How they have escaped the kings conscription I do not know… but chance is they were once the kings men… who just took their chance to run… as any clever lad should…”

He sent a long gaze towards Iorek. He felt angry but… he also felt… a slight bit of sense in his words. 

Desertion had been a huge problem lately. 

Iorek sorta understood. They had signed up to serve their country… their king… he had no idea that meant… trailing a single man… Halborian or not… he could not be that important. 

“Let’s get out of here Lieutenant…” said the sergeant with an annoyed face. 

“We won't get anything from this lot…”

He stood up and ordered his men to follow him back to camp. As he did his eyes fell upon a shadow in the corner of the tavern the furthest away from him. Two hooded strangers sat in complete darkness and Iorek could not see their faces. He blinked and looked again… but he saw nothing… just that… the man had to be unusually large. But… well every town has a large one in them, doesn’t it… 

He walked outside and thought nothing more of it… or at least he tried to… He… he could have sworn he had seen two glowing blue eyes stare at him… like… like a wild animal that lurked in the dark. 

He mounted up with all his men and spurned his horse back towards camp. As they were a little outside of the town… when it happened. 

Right next to a gathering of trees on the roadside where they jumped by a pack of black dressed bandits. Iorek shouted commands but as his horse reared up on the hind legs it tossed him off and as he got to his legs he felt a sharp pain to the back of his head, and then everything turned black. 

——————

Iorek had no idea where he was… he was only about getting back his consciousness. He wasn’t sure what had happened… but the pain to his head sure was strong. 

He felt how he got dragged by his arms, and then… he was placed on his knees with his hands bound behind his back against a pole. He opened his eyes, but saw nothing but darkness. 

“Any casualties?” A deep voice asked. 

“None sir… only a few of theirs…” Another voice answered.

“Dammit Gult… Didn’t I say I wanted them alive and well?” The deep voice sounded angry. 

“They fought back, sir… we only killed two… There are still plenty, and the camp has even more…”

“Ay, you bleeding fool… let me see them… Oh… this one sure is an ugly one…”

There was laughter around them. 

“Ah… oh and you sure must have made it hard for me men ay? Heheheh!”

And then, Iorek felt his hood be removed. Fresh air around him again. 

“Ah… and who do we have here?” The Deep voice said, and guessing from the foul breath Iorek now felt on his face and in his nose, the man was right in front of him. His vision was still blurry. 

“That is the leader of the platoon.” The other voice said. The one called Gult. 

“I can bloody see that, Gult. He is a lieutenant… a young one… must have a good family back home.” 

“Sorry sir, I don’t have your experience in the matter.”

Iorek caught on… the deep voice… he… he was from the army.

“You…” Iorek said. “You were in the army?”

There was silence. Then the man in front of him seemed to giggle and smirk. 

“Ay… Ay I was in the army… for a while that is… until I felt it didn’t serve me anymore… or at least… until I didn’t feel it served me anymore.”

His men around him laughed. 

“My name is Hultan. I was a Colonel in one of the northern regiments. Served 3 times in the Halborian lands… lost most of me men… but what little survived I have brought with me to these lands… Oh boy… you won’t believe the things I have seen… nor the things I have done… All in the name of a king…”

“You… you deserted…?”

There was another silence.

"Ay, I deserted. If you wanna call it that. There is money to be made in the army, son. Sure the many wenches in the many taverns made up for it… but… the thighs of young women don’t always pay your way in life… well not unless you have a collar around the women’s necks…”

The men laughed again. 

“But… that is a lot of work, and a lot of troubles… and for a man who has seen entire platoons lost to bleeding hyenas in the dead of night, I am done with trouble…”

The man leaned in towards Iorek. 

“No, I took what merry men from my regiment that I felt I could trust… killed those who couldn’t and then… we set the course for better lands with better… opportunities. Such as these lands… No wild animals that we can’t deal with… no monsters lurking in the night… and the people here don’t tower over us and they are certainly not descendants of the gods… Just how we like ‘em…”

“So… why did you not kill me?” Iorek said. 

“Because I bleeding lost over 300 men the other night, that’s why!”

Anger… The man was angry. He looked at Iorek. He was finally able to see his face. A worn and torn face of a man a little past his prime, but still looking strong.

“300 hundred good lads who all were trained and well prepared for a good battle… My lads! And I am now opening up new positions in our little… enterprise… and I would like you and your little regiment to come work with us now.”

“I… I serve the king… and not you…”

“Oh boy WAKE UP!” The man yelled in his face. “The king is a cuckold! The child in the queen's belly is not even his own! And now he has his army running around looking for the lover he lost! If a king can’t hold his women, he is NO KING AT ALL! The King isn’t even a man! I saw him!”

Iorek looked up at Hultan. 

“Yeah I have seen the king. He stands a head shorter than I, he is chubby and stinks like wine and these sweet oils the women of the capital like to wear, to make us think their piss smells better than ours! If that is a king, then any man could be the Sky-Fathers son!”

The men around him laughed again. 

“Son… listen to an old trotter, ay? Don’t forfeit your life for a king you have never seen or even met! You should build your own life, not throw it away. Listen. Join us, and we shall let ya have a proper cut of the things we get from the traders. Heck keep the uniforms, that may even help us in the long run. If this war lasts long enough, you will be a king of your own when we are done… ay!? What say ya!?”

Iorek was not certain what to say… his men… their lives were in his hands now. 

“I… I can’t betray my oath… I swore to… to serve…”

“Oh…” Hultan said. “Well good for you son… but I was also talking to your men around you… Anyone else who loves the fat useless king as much as your lieutenant?”

Iorek looked around at his men… they were all… seemingly… considering his proposal… 

“MEN! Remember your oath! Remember why we ar-ARGH!”

Someone slapped Iorek out of his speech. 

“You are here, because someone far away felt it was worth your lives sending you here.” Hultan said.

“It was worth your health, your lives, your soul… and your families future… to send you here. That… is how little they value you… you aren’t even human to them… just fodder for their endless goals… I saw that in Halboria… a land that no one can claim… but the Halborians… I slaughtered many of them… until the land started hiding them… endless mists… beasts of unspeakable horror… lads… don’t make the mistakes I did… don’t follow your false loyalty to your king… a king who would send you to your death… without a second thought.”

There was a long silence. 

“Think for yourselves… and pick yourself for once… take charge of your own destiny! And help me build something…”

“By stealing…?” Iorek said. “And making it even harder for our families at home.” 

“We take what is ours by right,” Hultan said. “That is what the gods approve of. The King has overstretched his bounds… his might will collapse on him soon enough… just ya wait… but at least… help yourself by climbing a little higher. I promise it is worth it… gold, wine… and women… what say you?”

There was a long silence again. And just… as Iorek thought his men was about to falter, he heard a loud roar from somewhere, and the entire gathering tensed up. 

“What the-“ Hultan began, but then-“ARRRGH!” He screamed in pain. A glowing blue axe had planted itself right in his right chest and shoulder. Iorek felt his heart stop and looked the other direction. There stood a shadow against the full moon. He came running down towards them. Iorek saw how Hultan’s men ran towards him, and how they were cut down by the shining blue blade in the axe-thrower's hand. 

The warrior was on another level entirely. Hultan’s men seemed to know how to fight but it was no use at all. Their blades were cut like butter in the presence of the magical blade that shined like a beam of light from the gods. When the last of the bandits had finally fallen the huge warrior stood in the light from the fireplace before Iorek, and he looked up under the hood of the massive man… a set of glowing blue eyes glared down at him, and he knew… how he knew he would never know, but he knew… that this man… this… was the Lone Halborian. The monster slayer… the man who was the last of the Unstoppables. 

To Iorek… he had just proved his legend. 

Hultan was gasping for air and coughing up blood a few meters away. 

The massive man in the hood walked over and knelt down next to Hultan. What was said was too soft for Iorek to hear… and he was too distraught to care to memorize it…

———————————

“So… huck!… You found me… At last…” Hultan looked up at the blue eyes as the man knelt down next to him.

“You… sure have grown… since last… I saw you…”

“I was hunting you…” A deep voice answered Hultan. “It was pure dumb luck that I ran into you…”

“Bullocks…” Hultan said still shaking with shock… he was done fore… he was losing too much blood. 

“The gods are on your side… Are you still doubting…”

“The gods took everything from me… allowed a maggot like you to strike down my wife… how are the gods on my side?”

“They have given you vengeance… haven’t they?” Hultan smiled. 

The stranger grabbed the hilt of the axe, and twisted it just a millimeter. It was enough to make it hurt like endless hell for Hultan. 

“If they were on my side… I would be busy naming my 7th child by now… with my wife by my side… Vengeance… is not repayment a debt… it is simply owed…”

Hultan giggled with his blood soaked teeth showing. 

“We are but playthings for the gods…” Hultan said. “But if vengeance means nothing to you… then why am I lying here?”

“I told you…” He-Ron said. “You owe it…”

“So what now…” Hultan said. “Are you coming for all who fought that night?… That will pull you around the world for sure…”

“I have nothing tying me down.” 

Hultan smiled. 

“You know… We would never have found your camp… If… He… hadn’t told us…”

Hultan looked smilingly at He-Ron. 

He-Ron twisted the axe again. Hultan grinned in pain. 

“Who told you… what?” He-Ron growled…

“Another… loner…” Hultan smiled. “A big one… stank to high heaven… messy and… redheaded… With a scar… running down his face…”

Hultan drew the line over He-Ron’s face with his left hand. 

“Canaan…” He-Ron said… 

“Ahhh… you know him…” Hultan smiled. “Now… send me off… I have given you more than most in my position… and for what it’s worth… I am cheering for you…”

“Your crimes are still vast… against me and my kin…”

“I know…” Hultan said… He looked like he was regretting his choices… 

“Is it too late to apoligize…?”

“I don’t know…” He-Ron answered. 

“I am sorry…” Hultan said… and with that… his eyes lost their light… and he passed on…

He-Ron lowered his head. 

“War… will make corpses of us all…” He said as he stood up. 

He turned and looked at Iorek who was shaking. He-Ron stepped over and as he left Hultan, he pulled the axe out of his lifeless body and swung it towards Iorek’s neck and placed it right at his jugular vein. 

He removed his hood and showed his face. 

Iorek recognized him instantly from the posters in his bag. 

Iorek could smell the blood on the axe. 

“A murderous vandal am I?” He-Ron said. “A beast… in the shape of a man?”

Iorek closed his eyes, and cursed himself and his tongue. 

“Irony is cruel, isn’t it, Smouldixian?…” 

“Pl-please…” Iorek said. He wasn’t proud right now. He was so scared.

“Please is an empty word these days…” He-Ron said. He knelt down, took the bag around his shoulder and saw it was full of posters. He took it from Iorek and tossed it on the fireplace. 

“Tell me…” He-Ron said with an angry voice. “What would a beast do to men, tied up for slaughter by those he would once call his brothers…?”

Iorek’s lip wobbled. He was not sure what to answer… or even if he should. 

“I can tell you…” He-Ron said. “In my lands, the first to find you would probably be the Hyenas… and they would feast upon you… while you were still alive… they are sloppy… they tend to feed from places where you won’t bleed to death… crafty right…?”

Iorek closed his eyes… he could see it for his eyes. 

“But the noises you would make would easily attract others, like the scimitar-cats. They would start fighting the hyenas for your flesh… Now… I know in these lands they don’t exist… but I have seen wolves…”

Iorek was starting to panic. 

“Not nearly as big as the ones in my land, but big enough… and they don’t seem particularly picky…”

“Pleeease…” Iorek cried. “I beg you please…”

He-Ron breathed loudly out through his nose. He used the axe to cut open his ropes that bound him, and Iorek was free. 

The huge man with the blue eyes stared at him in the truest anger. 

“Do not mistake my kindness for weakness… the next time I see you, Smouldixian… you will die…”

Iorek nodded and ran out of the huge cavelette in pure panic. He wasn’t sure where he was going… but he just ran… With no thought of his men. 

————————————

Not too far away… in Gruntberg, Ton-Ra was waiting in the room over the Tavern that they had rented - against their better judgement. But they had been drawn to the rumors of the bandits in the area, and He-Ron - wonderful as he was - was drawn to find out where they were and what they were up to. 

Ton-Ra had agreed, on the condition that they slept in a real bed for once. She was not as used to sleeping in the rough as He-Ron was, and she enjoyed to be pampered once in a while. A warm bath was also on her wishlist, so… they also had to get a room with a bath tub. 

And that was where she was right now. Resting in the warm waters, while the little tavern girl came up with bucket after bucket of warm water. 

One time, Ton-Ra moved herself so the girl could pour the water over her long curly hair… taming it the way only water could. 

She noticed the girl sending her long and lustful looks. Like she was in awe. Ton-Ra didn’t mind. She allowed the girl to have her looks at her. 

She went for another bucket, and Ton-Ra got back to lean against the back of the tub. 

She was not worried for her husband… yes… she called He-Ron her husband. She was sure the gods had gotten them together for them to become a pair. 

She leaned her head back, and closed her eyes… and as she did she saw them…

She always saw them when she closed her eyes, and really focused… like now. Relaxed and warm. 

She could see her daughters… all 3 of them… 

So beautiful. So gorgeous… and… oh… hehehehe, what a lucky little manservant… he had just gotten the right to be mounted by her middle child… Lonniera… She smiled. She was truly her daughter… 

     When Ton-Ra woke up it was to the sound of the door opening, and her husband coming inside. 

There he was… soaked in blood and sweat… she smiled. 

“How was your hunt, my love?” She asked kindly. 

He-Ron didn’t answer her. He just… walked over to the chair and began to undress himself. 

Ton-Ra loved him when he was in that mood. 

She stood up and grabbed her brush and her soap and began to make it foam and started rubbing herself all over with the white foam. 

She lifted a leg and stood on the edge of the tub with it, as she rubbed her long muscular leg. She soaped in her leg, and… a hand might slip down between her legs in order to play with her pussy. 

She bit her lip as her hands touched her most delicate and delicious parts. She rubbed it, and thus began to moan ever so wonderfully. Filling the room with the sounds of a woman. 

He-Ron who had just returned from a trip to the past, had not really been in the mood for sexual intimacy… but he knew Ton-Ra well enough now… they had been on the road for months together now, and she rarely left a chance for some good action. 

Even if he was filthy, soaked in sweat and the blood of his enemies… that particular part only seemed only to intoxicate her even further. 

And now… that her moans filled their room… Let’s just say that He-Ron was getting into a really strong and vicious mood. One… that he hoped Ton-Ra could handle. 

He undressed himself completely and walked over to Ton-Ra, who had somehow found a reason to stick her fingers up into her butthole… in order… to get clean…?

He-Ron looked down on her, bent over as she was… she was soaked in soap and water… clean… the completely opposite of him…

Ton-Ra reached for her towel and began to dry herself… it would be hours before her hair was really dry but… she knew that her cleanliness would be ruined anyway… and that a new bath was gonna happen soon… so…

She turned her gaze backwards without changing her position… theatrically she smiled and feigned ignorance of the situation. 

“Beloved…?” She said with a teasing tone. “Did I… annoy you?”

More wasn’t said. 

He-Ron grabbed the woman and practically tossed her to the bed. Ton-Ra howled in pure shock, and as she landed on the bed she growled like a wild scimitar-cat and hissed at He-Ron. He walked over to her and reached for her. He grabbed her by her legs, but she was not so easily swayed tonight. She wanted a fight. She wanted it rough! She wanted it how the legends said Halborians did it after a fight!

      Brutally and with NO regard for her wishes!

Ton-Ra slapped and kicked, but it was all to piss him off. She wanted him to be angry! She wanted the warrior who had just stepped inside. She wanted to be taken! Brutally and without a shred of mercy! She howled and screamed in wild fury. He-Ron tuzzled with her for a while, until a simple backhanded slap on her face made her moan like crazy. He got the grip of her legs, twisted them around so she got onto her stomach. He grabbed her ass and lifted her up and then he impaled her with one firm and hard shove… Ton-Ra’s warm pussy and innermost sanctum welcomed him with all it’s curling folds that immediately seemed to recognize his cock and as he fucked her, reward him with warmth, moist and all the sweetness of carnal love. 

But just because he was now embraced by the warm flesh of Ton-Ra it didn’t mean his anger had in any way subsided. He fucked her. Hard and brutal. With his big hands around her throat, making her sounds of moan and sex distorted and full of gags and coughs. But moan she did, and when she felt her husband got a little too nice or slow, she slapped either his thighs or his hip with a sharp nailed hand to get him back in gear. This was to be a brutal fuck and NOT a gentle and tender moment. 

     Ton-Ra was a Woman of the Rock and her kind did not fuck gently! Especially not with a man of worth… a man who was meant to be bred like a prizewinning stallion. 

The grip around Ton-Ra’s throat tightened and she knew that was because he was cumming. She gasped for air, but as her lover's cock grew inside her she felt how she was slowly getting asphyxiated. Darkness almost took her as she felt her insides explode and melt… her husband was filling her up and then… as all seemed to darken completely, light filled her mind as drew air down her lungs and she came harder than she had ever done before. 

In fact she wasn’t really getting strangled. It was simply Ton-Ra’s immense ability to live into the situation. He-Ron had his grip around her throat sure, but she was in no danger of strangulation at all… her pussy clamped hard around his cock and she was cumming over and over again. 

He let go of her throat and tossed her down on the mattress… the crazy bitch sure loved this part. He slapped her huge ass and fucked her gently for a moment. 

Ton-Ra was out for a while, so he had some time to just enjoy her flesh… He let a finger slip into her butthole. 

He was definately gonna fuck her there tonight. She might have just played around, but he had been angry… and she was gonna pay for it… but first… he wanted his cock deep in her mouth, and all the way down her throat. 

But for now… he just enjoyed her pussy. 

Ton-Ra lifted her head and got up on her hands. She was on all fours, and she felt her husband inside of her. 

“Mmmh, that was wild… I love it when you fuck me like that, babe…” she looked back at him. 

There was a sound at the door, and it opened. There stood the little wench from before again… she looked pale… like she had just heard someone getting murdered… perhaps Ton-Ra had gone a little overboard tonight. 

“Oh,” the little wench said. “Oh I… I am sorry I… I thought… I mean I feared that… uhm…”

Ton-Ra smiled at the little wench. She stood up and walked over to her, cum dripping down the sides of her legs. 

The young girl looked at Ton-Ra like she was a goddess. She loved that look. 

“How many summers has your pretty face seen, little one?” Ton-Ra asked. 

“Uhm… I am twenty-one this year, miss…”

Ton-Ra smiled. Pulled her inside and locked the door this time. 

—————————————————— 

There are moments that are best spent celebrated with others, even if you are in a committed relationship. 

Ton-Ra got the clothes off the wench, her name was Zitalaz. Her black hair and dark skin told Ton-Ra she was from the south. Or at least one of her parents was. 

She was a novice when it came to sex, but Ton-Ra gave a few quick lessons. Before Zitalaz even knew it, she was on her stomach with her ass in the air, getting her pussy rammed by He-Ron.  

He was not her first ever man, but he was definitely the largest she had ever had. She had not much on her chest, but her ass was a fine collection of delicate womanly flesh and fat stores.  

Ton-Ra was watching the young wench getting hammered by her husband. She was fingering herself. She took pleasure in watching. It was something she had always enjoyed. And it had been a long time since she had had the chance. 

The sight of people fucking had always been a wonderful sight for her. Especially in this situation. Her husband and some pretty tavern wench they would most likely never meet again. 

Zitalaz was moaning like crazy. She had never in her life felt anything so amazing. 

He-Ron reached out for her black hair and grabbed a good handful of it and pulled back hard. 

Zitalaz couldn’t stop cumming over the huge cock that kept impaling her. 

Ton-Ra moved her body so Zitalaz could use her tongue for something else than just hanging out of her mouth, no matter how charming she found it. 

Next she was polishing her womanly pearl. 

She loved it. Oh how she wished they could take her with her in the morning… but… alas… it was impossible. 

He-Ron made both women squeal in agonizing pleasure. Both were filled over and over again with his potent seed. And when the morning came, and He-Ron and Ton-Ra had one more bath… shared this time… they ventured forth from Gruntberg and out into the wild…

They did notice the military camp was… very silent this particular morning. And there were no guards stationed at the gate. 

He-Ron decided he wanted to go and take a closer look. But Ton-Ra held him back, and blinked. In the next moment she turned into a raven and flew over the palisades and into the camp. There were no one… it was dead silent. 

She flew back and turned into a human. 

“I had no idea you could do that?” He-Ron said. 

“Well… a woman must have a few surprises for her husband.” She blinked and He-Ron smiled. 

They walked into the camp and He-Ron walked over to the captain's tent. The place had been left in a hurry. And in the captain's tent there were several documents. Most of them meant nothing to He-Ron. There were tons and tons of posters of him. All with allegations that he had done all kinds of crimes. 

Ton-Ra looked at the stuff the regiment left behind. Not much was worth salvaging. It was mostly junk. They must have taken what they greatly needed and left the rest. 

“What are you looking for, my love?” She asked when she closed a box that was full of clothes. 

“Something… anything… that could… perhaps explain… something I learned last night…”

“What did you learn?” Ton-Ra asked. 

He-Ron sighed. 

“I learned… that my tribe was betrayed… by one of our own…”

He looked at Ton-Ra with the same dark stare he had had the night before. When he had interrogated Hultan. 

“One of the bandits that night was one of the men who had been at the scene when my tribe was killed. He told me… on his dying breath that one of my own had sold us out…”

Ton-Ra felt He-Ron’s pain. One thing was having an enemy… another thing entirely was to know you had an enemy within the ranks of your own family…

“What would you hope to find here?” Ton-Ra asked. 

“I don’t know… I was hoping beyond hope that there would be some… something… an indication on where he might be or… how I would find him.”

Ton-Ra nodded. And then she looked at He-Ron. 

“In case you found him again… or a way to find him… would you then… go after him…?”

He-Ron sighed again. 

“I want to…” He said. “I want to stare him down as push in his eyeballs…”

“Yuck, honey I love that bloodlust but…” Ton-Ra walked over to him and wrapped her arms around him. 

“Perhaps it is also in its place if you ask the bigger questions… What is it that you want?”

Ton-Ra looked him up in his eyes. He met her gaze. Her teal green eyes were amazingly calm to watch into. 

“I don’t know… I just…” He-Ron shook his head. “I just know that… what I once wanted… was lost… because of that man… and now… I don’t know what to do anymore…”

Ton-Ra blinked and hugged him. Tightly. 

“Whereever you go… No matter how far… I will be by your side…” Ton-Ra said into his chest. He-Ron closed his arms around her. 

He placed his head on top of her huge brown mane of curly hair. He felt the same calm and the same warmth he had felt the first time he had been with her in the swamp. 

He felt… home… 

They got out of the camp a little later and continued to travel further north. They were draped in cloaks and thicker clothes, but they were both impervious to the harsh weather. He-Ron as a Halborian could withstand cold better than anyone. Ton-Ra as a woman of the Rock was near impossible to freeze. 

They walked through the snow covered hills with a steady course towards Ton-Ra’s homeland. It was still a good trip away but they made good progress. 

They stopped at night, made a fire and made love to each other all night. 

In a sense… He-Ron felt like this was truly living. Living in the moment. It helped him sleep better at night. And for the first time in a long time… he didn’t dream endlessly about that horrible night… 

———————————————

Somewhere, far further to the south, General Dilatont and Captain Jushu were moving their army to the north. But their progress was slow and it ached Dilatont. It had taken them forever to regroup their entire army. Their losses in the Evergreen had been near catastrophic, but eventually they got the men they needed to get on the move again… 

They still lost a ton of men… but it was a necessary loss- or so they claimed. 

What horrified them was the amount of deserters they had caught on the road while traveling north. 

They were often easy to spot. Some of the men caught were offered a redeeming position in Dilatont’s army in order to get rid of the shame of desertion. A crime punishable by death. 

One of the men, a ragged and starved young man, looked at Dilatont and Jushu’s lavish meal while he was questioned about why he had deserted his position. 

“I was saved…” The man said with a weak voice. “By the Lone Halborian…”

That made Dilatont’s head move so fast Jushu thought his neck might snap. 

“WHAT?” Dilatont sprang to his feet. 

“THE LONE HALBORIAN!? WHERE?! WHERE DID YOU MEET HIM!?”

“Uh… just outside the city of Gruntberg… far to the north… but… but he must be over all mountains by now…” 

“It’s better than nothing!” Dilatont screamed. “Jushu! Make the army ready to march! We are heading north!”

Orders were issued. Men were commanded. And in a jiffy the army was on the march north… 

For some reason… it felt like going uphill for all the men… 

Jushu was beginning to see the waste of both manpower and resources… all for one man… 

“You look somber, Captain.” Dilatont said as he mounted up on his horse. 

“Speak your mind.”

“I was just… thinking…” Jushu said. “Why… all this… for just one man…? Why not use our forces for something… more… productive? Especially the way the western Kingdoms are acting up.”

“Our duty, is to obey the king, Jushu.” Dilatont said with a proud voice. “We get our orders and follow them to the letter. That is the duty of a soldier. And there is no room for questioning that, so get your mind out of the fantasies and get the men marching at double the speed.”

Jushu sighed. “Yes sir…” 

And then… began another long march for the men in Dilatont’s army. 

“It would be nice to know where he is going…” Jushu said out loud while he rode next to Dilatont. 

“Maybe he is homesick,” Dilatont said sarcastically. “I have stopped trying to figure out the Halborians. Sometimes people should just know when they are conquered.”

There was a silent moment. 

“The woman…” Jushu said. “Who was she again?”

“The daughter of the Queen of the Rock.” Dilatont finally revealed. It had been classified, but… he felt it was time he slacked that information. 

It finally clicked for Jushu. 

“The Rock…” Jushu said out loud. “That’s where they are heading! The Rock! He is taking the princess home…”

Dilatont looked at Jushu… impressed… or shocked… How could he have been so stupid. 

“To the Rock!” He yelled. 

————————————————-

To be continued.