Champions Vol. 01

Laurena felt the beginnings of relief. Her god did not blame her, or fault her for her actions. He forgave her, and that meant everything in that moment.

"Now please dear one, rest yourself this night. Tomorrow will be a big day for all of you, and you need your sleep as badly as the others. I will watch over you until the morning."

Laurena wanted to argue, she desperately wanted to remain awake and continue to talk with her chosen deity. But before she could begin to formulate her response the god leaned over and kissed her gently on the forehead. She exploded into a power climax, and rode the aftershocks of it into her dreams.

Eros gathered up the young woman carefully, and carried her into the tent. Using a tiny drop of his power, he lifted Sapphire and David into a large, comfortable bed that he conjured for them all; removing their equipment and bulky clothing, and ensuring that it was all clean, folded, and neatly stacked by the bedside. Doing the same for Laurena, he tucked her in next to them.

As he did this, he noticed that the sleep of both David and Sapphire was troubled. They appeared to be experiencing rather violent nightmares, which was understandable given what they had just been through. He leaned over the trio carefully, and softly kissed each of them on their foreheads. Each kiss contained a small amount of his power, to ensure that their sleep would be long, restful, and would banish their nightmares, replacing them with pleasant dreams.

***

David was in COP Able-Main. He was walking back from the ANA artillery section to the SFAAT offices. It had been a tough day of training, but his counterparts had started to improve. Suddenly he heard the zip of a round cutting the air nearby. Getting shot at on the COP was a common occurrence, but the insurgents' aim was usually too shitty for him to ever hear the rounds come in. That one was close. As he heard the report of the rifle, he ran to a nearby rock that was barely big enough to take cover behind.

While he crouched there waiting for the shooter to stop, other soldiers kept walking around like nothing was happening. Another round came in, and pinged off the rock he was behind. The shooter was good, and was targeting him. Turning to the side, David yelled to one of the soldiers that walked by for help. He needed to get to better cover, but was pinned down at the moment. However, the man just kept walking, ignoring him.

As he crouched behind the rock, waiting for the sniper to kill him, he kept yelling to anyone that walked by, hoping someone would help him. But they didn't. He was stuck, he was going to die, and no one cared...

Then he was somewhere else. Looking around, he was at Sapphire and Zaffre's home. He and Sapphire were sitting at her table in the kitchen, sharing some joke he could not remember. The previous dream was completely forgotten, and for some reason, he was happier than he had ever been.

***

Sapphire was riding with her father. It was after nightfall, and they were only a few miles from Wolfsvale, where they would rest for the night. Tomorrow they would set up their trading tent, and remain in town for a few days. Her father always enjoyed his time in Wolfsvale, especially his visits with his friend Astinus.

Suddenly a man stepped out from the trees by the roadside and blocked their path.

"Can I help you?" her father asked the man.

"Certainly. You can give us everything you have," the man responded.

As her father sat astride his horse in silence, shocked at the man's audacity, hands grabbed her from the side and pulled her from her own horse. She screamed in surprise, and heard her father yelling for the men to let her go.

"Oooo, she's pretty one ain't she?" one of the men holding her said.

"That she is. It looks like our haul tonight just got a bit sweeter didn't it," the other man holding her responded.

Struggling in fear, she heard her father cry out, as he was pulled off his horse. Before he could even begin to try to rise more men swarmed him, yelling at him to stay down, and beating him when he refused...

Then she was somewhere else. Looking around, she was in her home. She and David were sitting at her table in the kitchen, sharing some joke she could not remember. The previous dream was completely forgotten, and for some reason, she was happier than she had ever been.

*** Chapter 39: Champions ***

150746APR13 DW

The Field of Woe, Erosius

David woke slowly, enjoying the feeling of two lush, unclad female figures pressed against him. Smiling at his good fortune, it took a few moments to remember who they were, where he was, and thus realize that no one was on guard duty.

"SHIT," he exclaimed loudly, leaping from between them and scrambling off the bed. The moment his feet touched terra firma he began searching for his weapons. As his brain struggled to throw off the fog of sleep still clinging to him, he noticed a few key details that had previously escaped him, and both women in the bed - awakened by his curse and sudden departure - tried to gain their bearings as well.

"Laurena, why aren't you on guard duty, why are we naked, and where did the bed come from?" David asked, confused and angry over their situation.

Laurena looked puzzled for a few heartbeats, clearly as confused as they were, then her face brightened into a joyous smile. "Eros!" she exclaimed happily, looking past David to the tent entrance.

Whipping around quickly and dropping into a fighting stance, David prepared himself for an attack, confused why such a thing would make Laurena happy. Thus he was completely unprepared for what he found. Standing before him was what could only be a god.

The man was a few inches shorter than him, but exuded a presence that spoke of great power and absolute confidence. David felt the man's - god's he mentally corrected himself - power.

"Hello David," he addressed the soldier, "and Sapphire," he added, turning to look at the stunned Dracian. "Good morning Laurena," he continued his greetings. "You have all had a long and troubled journey to find me, and I felt you all deserved a restful and untroubled night before we got started. So I put Laurena to bed and guarded your sleep.

"Please, dress and join me for breakfast at your leisure. We have a long day ahead, and I am certain you have many questions for me, so let us begin with full bellies and untroubled minds."

David could merely gape in silence as Eros turned and left the tent. After struggling for a few moments to wrap his mind around what had just occurred, he finally moved to stand by his clothes and equipment, and looked to Sapphire for something. He didn't even know what he was looking for when he turned to her. Answers, reassurance, confirmation that what had just happened had not been a figment of his imagination? He was clueless at first, but her smile and nod became everything to him, his answer to an unspoken and unthought-of prayer. He smiled back and returned the nod, then began getting dressed. Apparently they were going to break bread with a god.

***

A few minutes later the trio stepped from their tent, fully clothed - and fully equipped at David's insistence. As they stepped into the dawn's first gentle rays they were forced to stop and absorb their new campsite.

What was once a small clearing in a bare patch of trees, was now a large, open grassland, with only a handful of trees in the distance. A gentle breeze caressed them, but it did not hold the chill that they expected for this time of year. Before them was a large table, with elaborate carvings on the sides and legs, and four comfortable arm chairs around it. On its surface lay every breakfast item any of them could think of. David was stunned to see items from his world that he had never witnessed in Erosius on the table as well. Pancakes, waffles, omelets, doughnuts, cereal, and even toaster pastries were mixed in amongst the more standard Erosian breakfast fare. Beside the table stood Eros, facing the dawn with a look of calm happiness and contentment.

Once they overcame their shock, the trio hesitantly moved to join the deity.

"Despite the many millennia I walked the last world, and the two I walked this one, the grandeur of a sunrise never fails to remind me of both the beauty, and awesome power, contained in this universe," he explained, continuing to study the sunrise as though it was the first one he had ever seen.

After looking to each other for a moment, David, Sapphire, and Laurena slowly turned to view the sunrise as well, and were forced to agree with Eros. It was a truly beautiful sight, and for a few minutes each allowed themselves to put aside their questions, fears, and worries. The three mortals and the one god merely soaked in the birth of a new day.

As the sun crested the horizon the vista became too bright to continue gazing upon, and the three mortals turned to see Eros watching them with approval. Motioning to the table, the four sat. Following Eros' lead, they all served themselves from the many dishes on the table. David attempted to begin questioning the god immediately.

"Why was I..." he began, before being interrupted with a raised hand from the God of Love.

"Patience David. We have time to discuss anything and everything you wish, but for now I would like you to relax and enjoy this meal," Eros explained. "Some of the answers you seek will upset you, and some of the questions you have will upset your companions. This may be the only time I will ever be able to sit and calmly share a meal with you all. After today I will have much to do - I have been away from my people for a long time after all - and some of it will take me far from Erosius. So please, hold your questions for a bit longer, and try some atal le` faire. It is excellent."

Annoyed that he would have to wait even a moment longer for his answer, David looked to Sapphire at Eros' mention of her, and realized that at least one of his requests would upset her greatly. Home. Realizing that perhaps listening to a god might be a good idea; David calmed and did as he was bade, and the atal le` faire was excellent.

The meal quickly became a journey of exploration for all of them. Both Sapphire and Laurena followed Eros' lead, and recommended a few of their favorite dishes for David to try. In return, David recommended they try a few of his favorites from his own world. The question of where the food came from was one of the few that Eros was willing to answer.

"I pulled them from your mind," the God of Love explained calmly. "You have been in my realm for over a month, and away from your homeland and its comforts for much longer than that. I felt that these few items would be a welcome succor."

"They are, thank you," David replied.

"You are very welcome."

After that they all tried small amounts of the many different dishes. Laurena admitted that the doughnuts were now her favorite food. Sapphire tried a bite of waffle covered in strawberries and whipped cream, and then finished the rest of the dish with a happy smile. Eros added that from now on he would have to teach his entire clergy to make Pop-Tarts®, as they had become his favorite food and he wanted to share them with his faithful.

Once everyone was finished eating Eros banished the table and remaining food, and conjured small end tables with drinks beside each of them. David raised an eyebrow in a questioning look, and Eros just smiled, answering his look with the vague reassurance, "I assure you, you will enjoy it."

Taking a hesitant sip, he recognized the taste of his favorite energy drink, and quickly took a larger gulp. It would certainly help perk him up. He noticed both Laurena and Sapphire doing the same with their cups, so he figured they had also gotten some personal favorite beverages as well. Turning to Eros he nodded his appreciation, which the god returned with a smile. The smile slowly turned to a frown, and Eros said with some reluctance, "It is unfortunately time for you to ask your questions David."

Now that it was finally time for answers, David could not think where to begin with his questions. After nearly two minutes of deliberation, he finally decided.

"What was the spell that affected us while we traveled here?"

"It was a curse placed on the Field of Woe, to enrage anyone who approached until they were driven into madness by it," Eros explained. "Those unfortunate people who attacked you had been driven insane by the rage it causes."

"Who cursed the field...why?" Laurena interjected.

"Enyo, Goddess of War. She chose to repay an old slight by attacking this world. When her first attack failed she decided that that little bit of petulance was appropriate. Think of it as a young child breaking an adversaries favorite toy after a failed attempt at bullying," the God of Love explained. "Since she could not attack me directly, and her forces were already beaten, she decided to punish my people because she knows how much I care for them."

Processing this information for a few moments, David asked his next question, "Why was I chosen?"

"I do not know David," Eros replied.

That was the last thing the soldier expected to hear, and some of the anger and frustration he had battled since arriving in this strange land spilled out.

"What the fuck does that mean? You are a god aren't you?" he said heatedly.

Sighing, Eros worked to answer David's first - and toughest - question. "I do not know why you were chosen, or why you were brought here. My father - The Creator - chose you for this, and sent you to me in my time of need.

"The Creator brought the universe into being, and in the process made many worlds and many life-forms. Eventually he created Earth, your home, and my former home. While he has made millions of worlds, with a nearly infinite number of life-forms, it was humans that he had the most hope for at the time. He chose to create us - myself and my fellow gods and goddess - to watch over and guide your race in order for you to reach your full potential. We were given great power, but also limits to that power so that we would always remember our responsibility.

"Unfortunately, many of my brothers and sisters grew resentful of those limits, and began to punish and torment your kind. They began to view humans as playthings, an amusement rather than a responsibility. They set humans against one another to entertain themselves, and eventually began to fight amongst themselves out of boredom and spite. In their foolishness they nearly destroyed our father's favorite world, your world.

"Because of this he grew angry, separating us and casting us from Earth to other worlds of his creation, only allowing the most devote of our faithful to accompany us in our banishment. We were commanded to care for our new realms as we had failed to care for our last, and to never again forget the task he charged us with when we were created. I have tried to do exactly that since, and I had believed I was successful. Unfortunately, my siblings did not all share my feelings, and some continued to pursue old grudges and petty slights. They chose to persist in fighting amongst one another, only they now risked destroying multiple worlds. With an equal measure of fear and wisdom, Ares, God of War, composed limits for how we could settle disputes that would prevent the destruction of any of The Creator's realms. Certain that destroying one of his worlds would anger our father even more than we already had, all the gods and goddesses agreed to these limits.

"Thus Champions were born, and have existed for nearly two millennia. They are vested with enough of our power to do battle for control of worlds, but not enough to destroy them. I have been fortunate enough that my world has never faced a challenge before now, but it seems that the time has finally come.

"As I mentioned earlier, Enyo had chosen to repay an old slight, and began converting my faithful into her own. She had such disdain for my people, and my Champion, that she sent an invasion force of her converts to destroy Erosius before she had enough power in my realm to bring in her own Champion. This land is the only one in my dominion to possess dragons, and as such it is the most magically powerful on my world. She sought to surprise and overrun her greatest source of possible resistance before I was aware of her interference. It was a mistake, and in doing so she lost her army; but I also lost my Champion.

"Sadly, in my desire to nurture and protect my realm, I failed to guide it. Overcoming adversity and challenging oneself is an important part of growth and advancement for any people, and in that respect I have failed. The people of this realm were not prepared, and she nearly succeeded. Though her first attack failed, and delayed her encroachment into my home, I could find no one left in my world capable of taking up the mantel of my new Champion. Since then I have done what I could to help, separating myself from their day-to-day lives these past decades, allowing hardship and adversity to occur in the hopes that the strength I needed would appear. But I knew it would not be enough the day my last Champion fell. I had failed in my mission once again, and in my fear and shame I begged my father for his forgiveness. Instead, he sent me you.

"I do not know why he chose you, or even if your presence here will be enough to turn the tide in the coming battle for my realm. I do know he must have a good reason for sending you here, though I cannot fathom what it is."

It was a lot of information for David to absorb, and he sat in quiet thought for some time before he was able to ask his next question.

"So if you don't know why The Creator chose me and sent me here, why are you so certain that I should be your Champion?" he asked Eros.

"You misunderstand David. You are not my Champion," the god replied, "you are his."

*** Chapter 40: The Next Champion of Eros ***

150944APR13 DW

The Field of Woe, Erosius

"Huh?" David replied. What he wanted to say was 'what the fuck?'

"You are not my next Champion David, you are my father's first," Eros explained calmly.

"What? Why would The Creator make me his first Champion? Why would he even need a Champion?"

"I am not entirely sure, but I would assume it is because he feels that once again his children have lost their way, and he chose you to remind them," Eros suggested.

David was speechless. He was a Champion of The Creator now? He was supposed to teach GODS object lessons? How in the hell did that work? He had no idea what to do with that information. It was too big, too powerful a revelation. He decided to deal with it later.

"Are you able to send me home?" David asked.

"Would you even want to go now?" Eros responded, looking meaningfully in Sapphire's direction.

David followed his gaze, and saw the concern there. She did not want him to go, and he did not want to leave her. But he had responsibilities back in his world; people who had probably died looking for him, and would keep looking for him. As much as he wanted to stay with his love, he had to try.

Turing back to Eros, David explained himself. "I don't want to leave Sapphire, but there are people who will risk everything looking for me. Some of them have most likely already died searching for me in Afghanistan. I can't do anything about that, but if I don't at least try to tell them that I am safe, and that they can stop looking, then I am responsible for every death that happens because of it. I can't live with that." He finished, turning back to Sapphire.