CONTENT ADVISORY / TRIGGER WARNING
THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS DEPICTIONS/STRONG IMPLICATIONS OF THE FOLLOWING THAT SOME READERS MAY FIND OFFENSIVE OR DISTURBING:
~ NUDITY
~ BLOOD
~ VIOLENCE
"Slayer!"
Libelle closed her eyes as a frown formed and creased her brow. Eskil appeared in the doorway with blood running from his nose and down his chin, droplets of the red liquid spattered across his chest. He was still nude, completely exposed to everyone's gaze. She felt the flush return to her cheeks when he stomped down the stairs and across the room towards her seat. His muscular chest was taut, and his arms were flexing as he clenched and stretched his hands.
He slammed his hand down onto the table in front of her and bent down, his gold eyes narrowing even more. Libelle felt uncomfortable, but thankfully, she did not feel endangered. She stared into his eyes, his mortal face just as intimidating as his scaled form, but she did not feel that tingle of danger she had felt in previous weeks.
"Tell me what you did," he growled.
She growled back at him, "I said I would tell you, and I will tell you...when you get yourself covered."
"You will tell me now."
"I will tell you when you get yourself covered. I will not repeat myself again," she hissed as she began to question her rising temper. Why was she losing her patience? Why was she not able to remain stoic and calm?
Eskil snarled again and leaned closer to her, his face only a few inches away from hers. "You will tell me now."
Davyn and the three remaining priests stood up from their seats as they eyed the situation. They were ready for the worst, ready for Eskil to strike, and ready to defend their temple and ally. Despite what she said, they had not seen any of it with their own eyes. They were still ready for him to become the man-eater that he was known to be.
Libelle felt the intimidating aura rise from Eskil, it was invisible, but it was still there. Just as dark as he was, it was like his soul was reaching out from his body to strike fear into her. To scare her. The stronger his aura became, the stronger the twinge of fear jumped about inside her belly. Is this what made her scared? Was this the sensation that caused her blood to boil before turning into ice? This heavy feeling that he emitted from his body brought tension and fear to those it weighed down. Libelle pushed past the feeling of despair he was crushing her with and quickly stood up. She knocked him backwards and jabbed her finger into his bare chest, taking wide steps forwards as he took wide steps backwards.
"You want to know what I did to you, you devil? I have stopped you from killing anymore of my people!" She jabbed her finger hard into his chest again. "I might not be able to kill you, but I found a way to stop you. You cannot kill anymore!"
Eskil's eyes widened in anger. "That does not explain why I look like this! Like a mortal!"
She glared back at him. "I do not have an answer for that. The magic and power we used were only meant to prevent you from killing anyone. This," she gestured up and down his body, "I cannot explain. None of us knew this would happen."
He growled and tried to push himself away from the wall she had him cornered against, but she didn't budge. "Change me back."
"I cannot do that."
"Do it."
"I cannot do it, because I do not know how to do it!"
Eskil paused, his expression changing from anger to frustration, and then to a look of realization about his situation. "I..." He narrowed his eyes at her again. "I am stuck like this?"
She nodded. "Yes, but for how long, I'm not sure."
There was a moment of hope in his eyes. "It's not permanent?"
"I don't know."
He looked at the ground, desperately trying to find a solution to his situation. He was a mortal. He had his magic, but he did not have his wings. He appeared weak, so how was he to remain the prince of the dragons? The glorious creation of Búri was no mortal. The slayer had spent a lot of time arranging her plan and praying to the gods who had allied with her. What she had discovered was not simply a spell that would prevent him from taking mortal life, it had changed his physical form as well. How in the name of all the gods had a mortal stumbled upon such ancient and powerful magic?
"Loki," he whispered. His head raised and rested against the stone wall as his eyes directed straight up to the ceiling.
"Yes."
"You trusted that bastard to help you?"
"Yes."
Eskil cursed and snarled at her, still more beast than man. "You delved into forbidden magic, you fool!" he hissed out, forcing himself to speak despite his rage.
Gods, he was in a terrible situation. One god, Loki, had aided her in her studies and was up to nothing but mischief no doubt. If the god prince was involved in the magic behind her spell, he was in for a long and rough road until he found a satisfactory solution.
"You will help in changing me back," he said.
Libelle shook her head, her blue eyes narrowed just like his. "I will do no such a thing. Your mortal form was not involved in my plan, but it is now. You're stuck like this, like it or not."
Eskil bellowed out a roar of frustration and picked Libelle up by the collar of her cotton shirt, spinning the surprised dragon slayer around and pinning her against the wall. He pushed hard, the sound of her back slamming against the stone slab echoed all around them. Even louder was his garbled scream as the same painful electrical current rushed through him. He collapsed onto the ground, shaking, dry heaves clenching his abdomen and making him want to hurl up the non-existent contents of his stomach.
Jolgeir approached the pair with wool pants, a simple cotton shirt and a vest. Silently agreeing that the nude man-beast should be nude no longer. Libelle accepted them and knelt down in front of Eskil who was trying to slow his breathing as he worked through his pain.
"Like it or not, Eskil, you are stuck like this until further notice. I cannot change you back, and even if I could, I would not do so. You cannot harm a mortal any longer, and you cannot defend yourself from them either. You are to come with me so I can keep my eye on you."
He growled again, "I will not obey you like some dog, she-elf."
"Yes, you will. You're mortal now, Eskil, you may even be able to die now. You have three choices, and I am being generous by giving you that. One: You will come with me where I can keep you safe. You will be fed and clothed, and you will be free to go about with some discretion. Two: I can let you travel down this mountain by your lonesome self, ass-naked and with nothing to defend yourself. You may be able to fend off the packs of wolves and the occasional troll, but you come face to face with a bunch of bandits and you'll be nothing more than a notch on their belt once they're through with you. Three: I can test my original theory and see if you can die in this form with my blade. I won't make it fast or easy or anything of the sort. I will have my revenge for all the pain you have caused this land. Understand?"
Libelle was playing dirty; she knew it, he knew it, and the priests knew it. If Eskil ever wanted to find a way to return to his dragon form, he would return with her to her home, he would behave himself, and he would not seek out trouble. Without his wings, without her, he was defenseless against any man who sought to bring him harm. He could not ask any of his brethren for their help; it would be an utter disgrace to show his current self in front of them. He was alone without the cursed slayer.
Eskil looked up at Libelle, both with an unwavering stubbornness in their eyes. "Fine," he snapped, pulling the clothing from her extended hand. The other hand remained on the hilt of her sword.
"Get dressed, eat something, and we are leaving before the sun rises above the eastern peak." She turned away from him, walked up to Davyn and said something in a whisper before the two began to leave the room. Once again she left Eskil on the floor, only this time he had three men silently staring at him. He unfolded the cotton shirt, found what he assumed was the front of it and pulled it over his head, still glaring cold daggers at the woman who was well out of his sight.
Dragon slayer, I will break you.