Champions Vol. 01

Suddenly everything started to make sense to David. The sword wielding bandits holding a beautiful prisoner; rescuing a damsel-in-distress that was literally the most gorgeous woman he could imagine; and actual magic. He was so fucked. He must have been hit by an IED, and now he was a vegetable laying in a coma in Ramstein. He was stuck in some weird fucking coma dream, the product of too much Dungeons and Dragons growing up, and too many Role-playing video games as an adult. It was either that, or he was dead, and this afterlife stuff was really poorly marketed back on Earth. He wondered if it mattered which it was. If he was stuck in a coma there was nothing he could do about it, and if he was dead then that was it. Game over. Either way, he was here and he might as well go with the flow. He figured if this was some weird dream he would probably be given some grand quest, like slaying a dragon or shit like that. And if he was dead then he figured his ancestors would start popping up soon. He missed his mom and his dad every day. If this was the afterlife he should get to see them again, or he was going to give whoever was in charge the biggest ass-chewing ever imagined.

Seeing Laurena finish up and settle next to his gear, he carefully stepped back from the cave entrance. He didn't want her to think he was spying.

"Champion David," he heard her call to him a few moments later, "I am finished cleaning up. You can return inside now."

Clearing his throat to announce himself, he walked back through the entrance and into the cave.

"You look nice. Are you feeling any better?" he asked, trying not to stare at her ample cleavage, or get lost in the memory of how magnificent her breasts had looked when they were bared to him earlier.

"Much better now, thank you. I am still upset about my favorite robes, but I am sure Astinus at Wolfsvale will be able to fix them for me."

Nodding in sympathy, he walked over and sat on top of his ruck next to her; trying to organize his thoughts enough to begin his inquiry. It was difficult. This close to her he could smell her body's natural scent, as well as a hint of roses that must be some type of perfume. The two smells combined to intoxicate him more than any alcohol ever had. It was really distracting. Hoping to jumpstart his higher brain functions, he began with a simple question about something that had been bothering him.

"Why do you keep calling me Champion?"

Laurena looked at him slightly puzzled, but answered him all the same, "Because you are the Champion. Eros came to me in a dream three days ago and told me that I, and a handful of others, had been chosen by him to seek you out. The one who found you was to bring you to meet with him. He even showed me an image of you, standing in the mountains, dressed as you were when you rescued me."

Nodding his head as though he expected the answer, David fell into quiet thought for a few moments.

Yep. Grand Quest. It's a coma. Damned insurgents blew me up, and now I'm in a damn coma. A coma where I'm apparently some frikkin' chosen champion of a deity, who crawls into the dreams of Playboy Bunnies to turn them into my own private nubile GPS's. Fucking IED-laying, goat-raping, child-killing, brain-washing, Quran-thumping, Islamic radical fundamentalist, terrorist, jihadist, insurgent MOTHER-FUCKERS!

Shaking his head in absolute disgust, he decided to just push ahead with his inquiry; 'in for a penny, in for pound' after all.

"Okay...one, who is Eros? Two, what does a Champion do? Three, why do I have to go to him? Isn't he a god? You know...limitless power, omniscient, omni-present, etc?"

Laurena became increasingly confused with each question. This was Eros' Champion. The vision was rather clear about that. But it seemed as though he had no clue about anything. Who was Eros? Everyone knew about Eros. He was the only god of this realm. This whole world was his dominion, and he was a kind and benevolent caretaker of it. Where could David possibly be from if he didn't know who Eros was?

"Eros is our god. He is the One True God of our realm, and Love is his divine message and gift. He wishes for all people to love him, and one another. He guides parents to birth and raise strong, kind, and happy children; and we, his clergy, are responsible for spreading his love through the intimate union of Eros' Blessing and Eros' Healing.

"You are his chosen Champion. I am only an acolyte, so I do not know of all the intricate details of that divine mandate. I do know that you are responsible for defending this realm, and protecting its people in his name. When we get to Wolfsvale there is a priest there named Astinus, who may be able to tell you more.

"Lastly, we go to him because he commands it. I know not why it is thus, and I care not either. He is my god. I have dedicated my life to his name, and feel honored to be entrusted with a task of such importance to him. Perhaps as his Champion you can ask him this question directly," Laurena answered him to the best of her ability.

"Why do you ask these things? You are my god's Champion? Surely Eros can explain these things far better than I?"

Realizing his dream / psychosis was far more elaborate than he originally thought; David decided to just go with it. "I am not from your world. I come from a nation called the United States of America, on a planet called Earth. I have never met Eros, and this is the first I've heard of being his Champion. I think there was a mix-up somewhere. I'm an Artillery lieutenant that was in the middle of a war in another country called Afghanistan. It looked a little bit like here, but there were a lot more mountains, and a lot less trees."

Processing his comments, and stumbling over some of his strange words, Laurena puzzled out the gist of his meaning. He wasn't from Erosius. He may not have even been from this realm. That seemed unlikely, since Eros always chose his Champion from within his own realm to defend it from attacks by other realms. But perhaps David was such a powerful warrior that Eros chose to bring him here because her god believed that those here were not powerful enough to stop the next attack. She worried how powerful this new foe could be if that were the case.

She remembered the stories she and others were taught growing up in the Great Temple. Those training to be future members of the clergy were expected to know the history of Eros and his realm. His Champions were each beautiful and powerful in their own way. Some were powerful magicians, some were brilliant strategists, and some were deadly fighters; but each had been the best in the land when they were chosen. If the best this realm had were not good enough to face what was coming...

"Well, you are in the Abatinus Mountains now, on the continent and kingdom of Erosius. Tomorrow we will continue on the path to Wolfsvale, and we should arrive there in a day and a half by horse. I will answer any questions you have on the morrow; but tonight I am truly exhausted. Might we get some sleep?" she inquired with hooded eyes. As she finished speaking she leaned in closer to him, reaching up with a hand to twirl a lock of her hair around one finger, and reaching across her stomach with her other arm to push her breasts together and up, deepening the valley between her magnificent, lightly-tanned mammaries.

Looking down from her eyes to the top of her chest, David became momentarily lost in the depths of the smooth, plunging valley of her cleavage. He suddenly had trouble remembering what she had said, or his name, but he definitely knew he should be answering some question of hers.

"Sure, that will work," he said, hoping it was the correct response and unable to tear his gaze from her chest.

Leaning back with a smile on her face, Laurena reached down near her feet for the unusual coat he lent her. She picked it up and handed it to him while looking back up, but remained leaning forward; this allowed her robes to drape further open and expose more of her smooth flesh. This is way too easy, she thought to herself with a barely concealed grin. It's like he hasn't even seen a woman in years. He can barely keep his eyes in his head. I'll have him eating out of my hand before we make camp tomorrow.

Amazed at this beautiful woman who seemed to be oblivious to how exposed her charms were, he took a ragged breath and politely accepted the return of his fleece jacket. Tearing his eyes from her he looked over her saddle and bags. "Will you be warm enough tonight without a fire?" he asked, not seeing anything big enough to be a thick sleeping bag.

Unable to restrain her grin now, Laurena shrugged her shoulders. "I have a bedroll and blanket that I use, but I wasn't planning to spend the night in the mountains without a fire. It is a bit too cold up here for the sleeping gear I have."

She knew she had him. He couldn't take his eyes off her chest, and he had struggled to string two intelligent words together for the last few moments. He would take her statement as an invitation to sleep close to one another, snuggling up to share warmth against the cold. After one night with her soft form pressed against him, he would be putty in her hands.

"That's ok. I have a solution that should work," he responded confidently.

It worked. He was done for. After tonight she would be able to demand anything from the Champion of Eros. She was the happiest she had ever been. She knew her beauty was a powerful tool for guiding men. But she never thought her charms would work this well on her god's Champion.

Watching as he reached down and grabbed a bulging sack from inside his bag, she wondered how he would make the offer. Would he be demanding, matter-of-fact, humble, playful, or something else? She was becoming aroused at the thought. For the hundredth time she wished she were a priestess. Then she wouldn't have to wait until they reached Wolfsvale. She could conduct a worship service this very night, and render the Blessing of Eros on this Champion over and over again, until they both slipped from the waking world, their passions at least temporarily sated.

Opening the sack, David pulled a large, thick bundle of strangely patterned cloth from the bag. Shaking it out, he walked over to a smooth area in the back of the cave. Leaning down, he moving a few small rocks until there was a cleared man-sized space on the soft dirt ground. Spreading the bundle out on the floor, he opened it up and turned to Laurena.

"This is the ECWS sleep system. In the current three bag configuration it is functional down to negative twenty degrees. Climb on in."

Smirking, she walked over and removed her traveling cloak, rolling it up to use as a pillow. This 'E-C-W-S sleep system' seemed barely big enough for one. Apparently they were going to get very close tonight. She would need to remind him of her acolyte status. The clergy could only have sex as part of Eros' Blessing during worship; or, on extremely rare occasions, with their spouse. If Eros permitted them to marry. Laurena knew of no one in this generation that had been blessed by Eros to remain in the clergy with a family.

The reason this was so rare was that Eros commanded his priests and priestesses to be vessels for spreading his love; and choosing one partner to love was considered to reduce their ability to equally love all others. It was not that he did not wish his faithful to marry and be happy, quite the opposite. Eros believed that those who wished to have a family should put that family before all other mortal concerns. But that shift in priorities meant they must leave the priestess/priest-hood. He expected his clergy to put his worshipers first in their lives, which left little room to love their husbands or wives, and children as they should. As the old saying goes, 'one cannot serve two masters at the same time.'

Stepping past his kneeling form, she gathered her robes around her legs and slid into the oversized bag. The material was cold, but its softness felt wonderful against her skin. She wondered if she would be able to convince him to continue sharing the bag with her, or even let her use it alone, after this night. She slid to the far side of the bag, trying to make enough room for him to slide in beside her. It would be a tight fit.

Reaching down to the middle of the sleeping bag, David grabbed the zipper, and zipped the bag closed. Then he snapped the flap on the outer cover closed as well. That would keep the dirt out, and stop it from jamming up the zipper. Looking up to make sure she was comfortable, he saw a look of disappointment and confusion on Laurena's face.

"It's ok. It's a little cold right now, but the two inner bags are designed to trap your body heat and reflect it back on you; and the outer bag is wind, snow, and rain resistant, so it will keep the chill outside from seeping in. Just give it three minutes or so, and you'll be toasty warm.

"Try to get some sleep, I'll wake you in four hours and you can take over the watch while I get a few hours myself."

Reaching up, he turned off her headlamp and carefully pulled it from her head, trying not to mess up her hair in the process. Putting it in his pocket, he turned back to his gear, taking off his wet-weather top and putting on his fleece. His body heat in the thin mountain air had already started to dry the sweat from his combat shirt and trousers, and he could always toss the wet-weather top back on over the fleece later. Next he grabbed his M14 and two additional mags. He was going to take a walk outside and see if there was anyone out there searching for him. He doubted it.

Night operations in Afghanistan were conducted by US Forces occasionally, but the ANA very rarely fought at night. The insurgents never attacked at night. The Afghans were like a throw-back civilization where everything seemed stuck in the 1800's. If those bandits (?) he had killed and the lady inside were any indication, he was now in a civilization that was thrown a hell of a lot farther back than just the 1800's. But paranoia didn't play favorites, and he wasn't going to gamble with being snuck up on just because things should be a certain way. Stepping out of the cave, David was momentarily distracted by a whiff of Laurena's scent. His jacket still smelled like her, and she smelled good.

Laying in the dark, in David's strangely comfortable bag, Laurena was frustrated and angry. She couldn't figure out what happened. She did everything right. She had tantalized him with glimpses of her perfect body, she knew he couldn't stop looking at her breasts, and when he stood up she had caught sight of the sizeable bulge tenting his trousers' front. Each step of the way, every tease, titillation, and temptation had elicited an obvious response from him. Why wasn't David's body pressed next to hers right now? Not realizing how different David's world, and his views about sex, were; she was at a loss to explain how her plan failed. She decided she was being too subtle. She had heard of some men in Sanctuary Port who were completely oblivious to subtlety. He must be like those men. She resolved to be more overt in her teasing and seduction tomorrow. She had only had a little time to work on him tonight, but after a full day with her he would be begging her to share this bag.

*** Chapter 9: Growing Closer ***

110605MAR13 DW

Near Snow Gap Pass, Abatinus Mountains, Erosius

Returning the freshly cleaned and oiled bolt carrier assembly to his M4's upper receiver; David swung it back down onto the lower receiver and secured it with the takedown pins. He then went through a functions check, verifying he had cleaned and reassembled his rifle correctly.

After leaving the cave the night before he had done a quick sweep of the area, but nothing had been moving in the darkness. Returning to the cave front, he had noticed his hands had started shaking again and stopped to smoke a cigarette. He had thought about his team, and the men he had killed that day. He was angry about losing his brothers-in-arms, and guilty over the deaths his hands had wrought. He was an artilleryman; it was his job to rain death upon his enemies. But he had never seen his work up close before.

Searching the pockets of a man he had shot moments earlier, and looking into his lifeless eyes had been easier for him than he had expected. The same was true of killing Laurena's attackers. They were rapists, scum of the vilest sort, and they would have probably killed her after they finished violating her in the worst imaginable ways. He had felt no remorse when he ended their lives.

But in the stillness of the cold night he had time to reflect on his actions. He had killed without hesitation, his morality easily cast aside by his anger. Unfortunately, while his anger had faded, the faces of his slain foes had not. He could see them clearly, and he had wondered if God would forgive him. 'Thou shalt not kill'. Pretty clear instructions from the Bible about not doing exactly what he had done. On the trip over from the states he had asked a chaplain about that commandment, and he still remembered what the chaplain said.

"The King James Bible states 'thou shalt not kill.' But keep in mind that the King James Bible is an English translation from the earlier Latin, which was itself a translation from the earlier Greek. The Old Testament from which the Ten Commandments come is actually a Greek translation from the Torah, written in Hebrew," the chaplain had explained. "If you go back and read the original Hebrew it doesn't say 'kill'. It says 'retzach', which means murder. The original Hebrew commandment was 'Thou shalt not murder.' So the real question you should ask is: Are your actions in war murder, or are you trying to protect the lives of God's children by stopping those who wish to kill you and others?"

He still didn't have an answer to that. The Afghan PSD members had been trying to kill him and his team, but they had stopped. He was pretty sure they had already started to run away when he and Captain Epps had engaged them. As for the criminals...he could have tried to wound them first, or given them a chance to surrender. It wasn't like they had guns, and he had the Mk 48; except he hadn't known that at the time. Besides, they probably weren't even real, just products of his coma-bound mind. Besides, even if he got a pass on killing people that attacked him, there was always that other thing. He was certain he would never be forgiven for that; and he knew that even if God did somehow forgive him, he could never forgive himself for what happened.

He had managed to smoke his cigarette to a tiny nub, and ended up burning his fingers with it while pondering his moral quandary and the fate of his immortal soul.

It was then that David decided to keep busy. After a day with two short but intense fights he had plenty of things to occupy his time and mind. He had field stripped and cleaned his Mk 48, his M14, and had just finished with his M4. He was extremely tired, but worried about sleeping after the IED explosion and the head wound. He was no medical expert, but he had suffered a concussion as a teen after being thrown from a horse; and he still remembered what it was like. Severe headache, impaired mental function, and lethargy were all major symptoms, and he'd had that trifecta in spades since the explosion. So rather than risking a nap that he may not wake up from, he decided to let Laurena sleep through the night while he kept watch and cared for his equipment. It also gave him some time to think about his situation.

He was still pretty certain he was in a coma. It was the explanation he was most willing to believe, but the longer it lasted the less he trusted that answer. While he had never been in a coma before, his normal dreams never lasted this long. Also, in the past, once he realized it was a dream he would wake up; or in rare cases dream of waking up only to start another dream that was more believable to his mind. This place was far from believable, but his mind refused to wake him or change the dream. The longer this lasted the more he entertained the possibility that one of the other two options might be true.