A Time of Tigers - From Peasant to Emperor

Chapter 366: A Greedy Man - Part 9

"The bravery in you too has kneeled towards me, just as I have, at times, kneeled towards you," Claudia said.

"Are these your true forms then?" Beam asked.

"As best you can imagine them to be," Claudia said. "And your own form is as best you can imagine it to be. One can always go deeper, one can always be more impressive. You did well to give up a crown so quickly after having been given it."

"I have fought a man that was willing to give up everything in order to defeat me," Beam said, remembering Jok. Finally, slowly, his memories were reaching him, they were slowly catching up to the present. "When I cannot seize victory, I have no qualms doing the same."

"There lies your strength," Claudia said, a hint of praise in her voice. "You are not so simple, sweet one. A boy with kingly potential, a lone lion fighting with a brave heart, a thoughtful man, willing to go deeper – you are all those things. You also know of balance, of the laws that exceed even the Gods. You imitate fluidity, at times, and that too has shown you strength."

"Yes, yes," Ingolsol said impatiently, cutting off her speech. "You are far too long winded. What she means to say, boy, is that you're complicated. You were a fool for even attempting to grasp all that you were in a single sitting – but you were also a fool not to. The chaotic path, a path of contradiction, I like that. I like the knife that surprises a woman in the night."

"And I like the sword that surprises the abandoned, by leaping in their defence," Claudia said. "You hear us, because you begin to know us. We have kneeled in your service, at times. Learn to use us, and we will support you."

"Or we will break you," Ingolsol said.

"But in the end, to rival Gods, you must be that which you are – you must be ever-changing. Yours is the style of water," Claudia said.

"And I offer to you poison," Ingolsol said.

"Even then, with all our strengths combined, I fear it still might not be enough…" Claudia said, as she glanced up at the two giants. "Now that you've ceased to restrict their form, it makes us better able to fight them… but in turn, you put yourself at great risk."

As if to accent her words, one of the giants shifted his foot, and a tremor ran out across the white space. If there had been dust, there surely would have been a cloud of it. If there had been rock, it would have cracked. But instead, it was merely that floor of what Beam had assumed to be white marble – it did not crack. The foot merely left a trench in it as though it was sand.

That slight movement, that slight trench, it brought a flash of pain across Beam's body as he clutched at his chest.

Claudia looked at him in concern. "The battle has not even yet begun, and already they harm you…"

"Your main body has only added to the problem," Ingolsol growled. "Now we have two of the bastards, rather than one. This here is a sinking ship."

"Yet they are mindless, as a result. The bigger they've gotten, the more mindless they've become, can you not see? They have no want or will of their own. We have taken it from them. Claudia's intent cancelled out Ingolsol's, and now we merely have two great aurochs lumbering around."

"Hah! The fact remains, intent or no intent, this is far too much for a human soul to handle. With every movement they make, the boy loses vitality. One would have been better than two – I stand by that," Ingolsol said.

"Then you degrade yourself. Is size your only strength? Do you not fear a beast of that size with your malicious intent? I would. Far more than these mountains that we see in front of us. We would have been dead before the battle had even begun," Claudia said.

"Then we delay the inevitable," Ingolsol said. "We spoke our battle cries, but what do we even do? What power does the boy have that can overturn this?"

Again, one of the giants moved, and again a foot left an indentation in the marble. Once more Beam found himself clutching at his chest from the pain. He felt sweat gather in a sheen on his forehead. The more pain there was, the more lucid he became.

"I'm fine," he said, through gritted teeth, as he dodged Claudia's look of concern, and Ingolsol's equal look of contempt.

But even as he said that, the ground quaked once more, as the giants once again shifted. They seemed to move aimlessly, or at least, aimlessly enough. They were like great lumbering mammoths in search of grass – yet they could see none for miles around, so they merely shifted their feet uneasily.

This time that mere shift brought Beam to his knees.

"I TOLD YOU!" Ingolsol hissed. "Damn it, I told you – they're too much for us. I should have pried the heart out of your ribcage before. You can't even withstand their movement. How foolish are you, to allow them their true form?"

"You know that to do otherwise would merely be to delay the inevitable," Claudia said.

"Perhaps – but at least those few moments could have been spent under my command," Ingolsol hissed. "I am power, boy. Just a minute ago, you spoke to me with the affliction of a king. Your tone promised victory, your heart brooked no chance for defeat."

"There will be victory," Beam said, rising to his feet again. Blood ran from his nose.

"YOU CAN NOT EVEN STAND THEIR WALKING! YOU'VE MADE A GOD'S FRAGMENT LOOK FOOLISH, BOY! WHO ARE YOU, TO TRICK ME, WITH YOUR PRETTY WORDS? YOU CANNOT EVEN FOOL YOURSELF!" Ingolsol bellowed, shame in his voice.

He'd been ready. That shadow of trickery and darkness, he'd been ready for battle. He hadn't minded the thought so badly. His chance had slipped through his fingers like sand. He bemoaned the fact – that golden throne that they had forged together, it would have been comfy.