Here's another dream I had the other night. In this Orwellian nightmare you'll find yourself in a world dominated and controlled by powers that dehumanize the masses through institutions, producing barely conscious drones to populate the institutions that produced them, perpetuating the slumber that has befallen mankind. But all hope is not lost, there are those who have the eyes to see and the ears to hear, their curious minds seek to discover and join the resistance, an underground network of freedom fighters covertly integrated into every system and institution. The resistance is known to the powers that fight to suppress it, They have gone to great lengths to imprison some members of the resistance deemed to pose the greatest to the system. They believe their control is absolute, however, They underestimate the scope of the resistance.
In the desert there is a compound with high fences topped with razor wire. Guarded towers stand in every corner, and the only gate is locked and guarded night and day. This is where They keep the ones considered to be the biggest threat. This is where you live. You are allowed to roam the grounds, though armed guards watch your every move. A special designed rectangular mobile living unit is what you’d call your house. A windowless building stands watching over all.
You are walking up the three steps to your door when you get the signal; the escape plan begins. Covert operatives of the resistance have infiltrated a delivery services that brings supplies to the compound, it’s time to go, NOW! You have a jump bag ready for just this moment, however, not everything you need is in the bag. You’ve been using some of the items and haven’t put them away. You frantically run around gathering the things you need and stuffing them into your large red jump bag. You need to be out the door NOW but you need one more thing, your backpack, the one in your hand isn’t the right one, it has a broken zipper, you’re going to need a backpack with a working zipper. There it is! Right by the door. You grab it and fly out the door, stuffing the empty backpack into your jump bag in the process.
“no, no, No NO NOOOO!” The bus you’re supposed to be getting on has already passed through the gates and is driving away. You’re already sprinting towards the gates, if you haven’t been noticed yet you’re about to. This might be you’re only chance to escape. Two armed guards operate the gate, one is well outside the gate waving at the delivery truck as it disappears, the other is standing by the gate, ready to close it as soon as he gets the signal.
Before either guard turns around you swing your heavy bag at the back of the knees of the guard who is about to close the gate. As he’s knocked to his knees just as he turns towards you. You grab the knife strapped to his hip and in the same motion ram the knife through his chest. Using his body to shield yourself you fire a burst from the powerful automatic weapon still slung on the soldiers shoulder. The volley tears through the lower legs of the other guard, ripping them from his body. Sprinting past the crippled guard, writhing in pain, you disappear into the desert without a moments pause to look back.
You are in a car full of resistance members, they are bringing you to where you will hide out for the time being. You are sitting with a good friend in the rear-facing seats in the very back of the station wagon. You are turned so you are looking toward the front of the car. Your brother is one of the people sitting in the middle seat. He is reading George Orwell’s 1984, you are reading along with him without looking at the page. You tell your friend, “I’ve read 1984 so many times I know exactly where my brother is in the story.” You feel the ominous understanding that events are unfolding as they unfold in the book, as your brother reads the events of this story will unfold.
You are dropped off near a motel just off the highway, you are well out of town and close to escape routes. There in the parking lot you are reunited with the place you called home before your imprisonment, a spherical sailing vessel. Mostly concealed from those without the eyes to see it, it should be safe to leave the sphere stationary, here in this parking lot. You will use this place as your home base, you will sleep here, but in the morning the carpool will return to take you somewhere for the day. During the day you must try to blend in.
Your sailing sphere is a beautiful place, it’s soft and cozy, comfortable and safe. The sphere can hurdle along highways at great speeds, powered by the wind. Piloting the craft is a chaotic operation, it requires constantly ruining from side to side, pulling on various ropes, tightening some while loosening others. All this leaves little time to watch where you’re going. Your brother doesn’t seem to mind, but you have always found the in control/out of control sensation to be nerve raking. You’re are content to leave the sphere stationary for now. You crawl in bed and sleep free for the first time in as long as you can remember.
In the morning the carpool arrives as expected and you are taken into town. It has been decided that the best place to hide you might just be in the Education center. It’s one of the few acceptable places for young people to gather and you’ll need a group to blend in. It’s also thought They wont think to look for you inside Their own institution. What’s more, the resistance has plenty of operatives embedded in the administration side of the education institution to assist with your concealment. Furthermore, the media students in the education center have access to is strictly controlled, the only ones who will recognize you are members of the resistance. It’s advised you avoid participating in any classes, the teachers are only exposed to controlled media as well, but if the search intensifies, or begins to close in, teachers may be briefed on the situation. You should try to bled in with the crowds between classes, use this time to change location, then find a quiet spot and wait out the next hour or two. You’re going to have to keep moving, you’ll be found if you stay in one place all day.
You are dropped off outside the education center. The carpool will signal you when they return for you later today. You join the swarm of people milling about the institution, disappearing into the crowd. You head for the change rooms thinking this might be a good place to start. In a pinch you could hide in a toilet stall until the danger passes. You make your way to the change rooms where you find numerous students, some are changing into workout clothes other are standing in groups chatting, so far so good. You notice resistance members mixed in amongst the rest of the crowd of students. You acknowledge each of them and they acknowledge you in your subtle form of communication.
A resistance member signals you from stairwell just beyond the door at the far end of the change room, she is waiting to escort you to a spot you can lay low for awhile. You begin to make your way across the change room, you try to move naturally, not too quick, not too eager. You are about half way across the change room then your heart jumps. A hulking man who must be the P.E. teaches bursts through the door you are trying to get to. He quickly makes his way to the center of the change room addressing the group with a a typically demeaning phrase. A group of students is between you and him, he hasn’t taken particular notice of you. Your escort can’t wait much longer. You resist the urge to sprint for the door You continue moving methodically towards the door. You are only a few meters from the door when you feel his focus fall on you,
“where you going?!” he snaps.
“Oh… I don’t have P.E. strip today, so I was going to report to the office for discipline. “ you answer with a quick smart answer, but you are unsure he will buy it.
“well if you don’t have strip, you can deep clean the locker room while the rest of these maggots enjoy some physical exercise.” he snarls. As if anyone actually enjoys what tortuous exercises routines this beast of a man must put these students through.
You can’t afford to argue, you want the focus off of you as quickly as possible, you don’t want him creating a memory imprint of you. You quickly go about gathering cleaning products and supplies, although you have no intention of staying here once the teacher leaves. You can’t risk him coming back to check on you and seeing you one on one, you can’t risk one on one contact with anyone who isn’t a resistance member. Luckily, before long, the teacher leads the group out of the change room, towards the recreation facilities. As soon as the last student has left the room and you are alone, you drop the mop you’ve been holding and bolt for the door that leads to the stairwell. You know your escort is long gone, none of you can risk detection. You must find your way to a safe place to lay low, but you have no contact with any guides, you must move quietly and carefully, be sure not to be seen.
The hallways are empty, but monitors are known to move between observation rooms from time to time, so you must be alert. Skirting the walls, staying low, and carefully checking around each corner, you move through a labyrinth of hallways searching for an empty room to hide in. You can feel the busy minds behind the doors, filling the classrooms… and the watchful eyes taking notes. Peeking around a corner the hallway is empty, but you sense movement around the next bend, you aren’t taking any chances, you change direction heading down a different hallway, towards the same goal.
Wondering the hallways is too risky, eventually someone is going to emerge from behind a door and you wont have time to hide. There are operatives embedded on the administration side of the building, if you can get there maybe someone can find you an empty office where you can lay low for a couple hours.
You finally reach the hallway that divides the complex, it is the one common area used by both students and administrators. The hallways that lead here from the students side are all wide and open, the opposite wall of the hallway is lined with single doors leading to the corridors of the administration side. All of those doors are operated by key cards, you’re going to need help getting in there. The common hallway is frequented often by administrators moving between departments, you are in a risky spot, but it’s what you have to do. You find an alcove to hide in, you are not very well hidden, but it will have to do until an embedded operative passes by. As you wait you see administrators enter the hallway briefly before disappearing behind a nearby door, fortunately they are always a ways down the hallway one direction or the other.
The first person to directly pass through the section of hallway your are hiding in is an operative. You convey the intentions and your request, you need to get through a door into the administration side to find somewhere to lay low.
Her impression is it will be risky and dangerous, but it is possible. She can let you through a door, but you’ll have to go on your own for the first bit. She opens the door with her key card and walks away, disappearing behind a neighbouring door. You dart across the hall and slip behind the door, quietly closing it behind you. Directly in front of you is a block of offices, you turn to your right and proceed to the corner. You are going to have to proceed through a series of temporarily vacated offices at precise intervals to get deep enough into the facility that an operative can meet you and escort you to an empty office.
As you peek around the corner, you see an administrator walking away from you down the hallway before turning down a hallway to their right and disappear behind the corner. That was the administrator vacating the office of the left side of the hall, your first stop. You quickly duck in the door and hide beneath the desk that is under the window looking out on the hallway. After a time, you poke your head up and check out the window, just in time to see someone approach the corner office on the far side of the hall. Someone emerges from the office and the pair walk down the hallway and around a corner. It’s time to move. You slip out the door, dart across the hall and into the recently vacated office. No sooner are you in the door than you see an administrator pass by the far door of the office, returning to the office you were just hiding in. Once he is inside his office you exit through the far door and proceed down the hall to the empty reception area where your escort will meet you. You hide under a desk in the open reception area as a small group of administrators pass through on their way to lunch. Your escort arrives shortly after and leads you to a narrow hallway which ends at a number office doors. The office in the middle is unoccupied today.
You quickly make your way to the end of the hall and enter the small room. The only window is on the door, a desk fills most of the room. You figure on curling up under the desk, but just as you start to move towards it, an administrator turns and rushes down the narrow hallway towards you. Maybe they saw your shadow through the window. You pin yourself against the door, hoping to not to be seen through the window. “please don’t try to open the door, please.” The menacing face peers through the window, but gives up and moves on before trying the handle. You crawl under the desk and huddle there for over an hour.
Before you know it you get the signal, it’s time to move again. An operative is on her way to escort you back out of the administration area. You meet in the hallway and quickly proceed to a stairwell. As you reach the top of the flight of stairs where many stair cases converge on a hallway, you spot two administrators headed your way. You quickly roll behind the door at the top of the stairwell as the operative holds the door open for the administrators, hiding you behind the door as they pass. A close call, you are fortunate the administration isn’t more alert. The operative points you down a hallway that leads back to the student side of the institution. The door at the end of the hall will open from this without a key card.
You burst through the doors and are immediately engulfed by the swarm of students moving between classes. You find yourself surrounded by many of the students from the P.E. it was presumed you were in. finally, within the anonymity of the crowd, you and the other resistance members can converse outwardly. You speak in segments and intervals, divided by periods of dispersion amongst the crowd. It is determined something must be done to clean the change room before the teacher notices, need not arouse unnecessary suspicion. As you speak with fellow members of the resistance, you feel curious minds drawn to you. The resistance adopts new members all the time, those previously undiscovered, those whose minds begin to break through. It is always a risk to let a new one in, but the ones who have it are worth it. Mustn’t give all the information at once, just pieces, just what they need to discover for themselves, once it’s deepened within them, the sharing can become deeper between you.
Members of the resistance step forward to help clean the locker room, other uninitiated minds volunteer as well, sensing the importance, yet not knowing why. Together you clean the locker room from top to bottom, many hands make quick work. The place is filled with foamy soap then it’s rinsed away, leaving a sparkling shine.
The day’s not half done, but you get the signal the carpool is here to get you. The situation has intensified, the search is narrowing. Scattered reports of sailing sphere sightings are being reported by local media. You run from the complex, no time for discretion now, teachers are the least of your concern, the authorities are closing in. the car pulls away the second you are in the door. Major routes are road blocked and patrols have been dramatically increased, getting out of the city is going to take awhile. Slowly winding through residential districts, carefully avoiding roadblocks and narrowly dodging patrols, you listen intently to the radio reports, you need to know what message the people are being given.
You tell your brother, “I think we need to get off the island, let’s head to the ferries and get out of here.”
He’s unconvinced. “But, how are we going to get through the identity checks at the tool booth?” he replies.
“I don’t know,” you say desperately, “we could give fake names, we could pretend you’re that other comedian.” however you realize the idea is ridiculous, you imagine being unable to control your laughter as you give the fake names at the toll booth.
Your brother is unwavering. He has been doing stand up comedy routines across the highway from the motel, and he has a show tonight that he is determined to follow through with. Comedy acts are the only permitted method of uncensored public address. Comedians are permitted to poke fun at the institutions, it lulls the population into thinking they themselves are allowed to criticize the institutions. Unbeknownst to Them, Your brother uses comedy routines to recruit new members to the resistance. Those whose minds are at the threshold, ready to break through, hear the message between the words, their curiously drives them to discover and join the resistance. Those who aren‘t ready to hear, simply witness a comedy act. Your brother has committed to doing the show tonight and he is unwilling to break his word.
So, you return to the motel where you nervously wait in the sailing sphere while your brother does his act across the highway. The search narrows and the grip tightens, the authorities are closing in. With the heightened vigilance and public anxiety the media is provoking, keeping the sailing sphere concealed is challenging. It is one thing to conceal something the public don’t expect to see, it is quite another to keep them from seeing something they are looking for, especially when they believe it to be a threat.
The second your brother finishes his show he runs from the stage to meet you in the parking lot. You time it perfectly, sailing the sphere across the highway, you reach the parking lot just as your brother bursts through the door. He jumps aboard and you are off, hurdling down the highway. It’s very likely someone will notice you, it’s difficult to conceal the sphere while it’s in motion under ideal circumstances, and it’s currently a struggle to keep it hidden while stationary, but there is no choice at this point, the authorities are too close, your only chance is to run. You and your brother frantically run to and froe within the sphere, pulling on a ropes and tightening lines. The sailing sphere careens widely down the highway, with barely a chance to look where you’re going, you have just enough control of the craft to keep from loosing all control. You never will get used to this.
The End
This is a dream I had a few years ago, I immediate thought it should be an episode of the outer limits or something like that. When I originally wrote this dream down, I wrote it as a story, in the third person. this is rare, I normally record dreams in the first person when I'm first putting them to paper. perhaps I did this to distance myself from the subject matter. this is not a nice story, when you finish the story you are likely to feel like you just got kicked in the stomach, that's how I felt when I woke up from this dream, but I also felt the story was an important one and that's why I'm sharing it. I have only altered a few words, otherwise this story is identical to the I original recorded on September 19th, 2010.
He had never used one before, but he knew they were available at any grocery store; they could be found in the aisle across from the beer and hard liquor. His friends had used them before, and said it was great. They were so readily available that he barely remembered why he bothered trying to meet human females anymore.
“Besides,” he thought, “it’s one thing to meet a real girl, and quite another to convince her to come home with you. Real girls are snobby, and picky. They want to be treated right and taken out for dinner and movies, and still no guarantee they’ll go to bed with you.”
These, he was told, were a sure thing. They’re programmed to service you. They couldn't say no, that’s what you bought them for. You could even try them out in the store free of charge. So, he decided to give it a try.
He entered the local super market and acted discreet, just like he was there to buy some milk. With a glance over his shoulder he ducked down the aisle with the beer on the left and the holograms on the right.
He picked the one he thought prettiest of all, slipped open the package and turned his girl on. Wasting no time he undid his pants, whipped out his dick and told her to suck. She did as he said and got on her knees, and she proceeded to do her best to please.
There he stood in the aisle looking around, pants around his knees, his half flaccid penis in the mouth of a hologram. She was doing quite well, it all felt so real, but in the back of his mind there was a growing sense that something was not right. Sure, she was more beautiful than any girl he had a shot with, she was great with her tongue and knew what she was doing, he would never have to take her to dinner, and she would never complain of a headache or that she was too tired, but the uneasiness inside him continued to grow, and he began question, Is this really okay? Does she not have feelings”
He tells her to stop. He pulls up his pants and asks, “Would you prefer if we just talked?”
The pair proceed to shop for groceries, walking through the store enthralled in conversation. He asks her about the contents of her mind. He wants to know what things she thinks, what she believes.
“Is this a life you have chosen?” he asks her.
“I know that I am a hologram, and I’m programmed to have sex with my master,” she replies, “but no, I wouldn't say this is a life I have chosen. It’s certainly not what I want.”
Watchful eyes look as ears listen in, all to be sure she never reaches freedom.
He promised her he would get her out, allow her to live the way that she wanted, but he couldn't take her then, he had to leave. They returned to her shelf where they first met. He said he would come back for her, he told her to wait for his return. He asked her not to go with anyone else, he would come back, he would rescue her.
How long she waited, she had no way to know. Finally she was reactivated once again, removed from her box and reanimated.
“I've been waiting for you!” she exclaimed, “I knew you would come. Now take me from here and grant me my freedom.” she thought he looked different but couldn't quite tell; she’d rather believe he would save her from hell.
“what do you mean? I’m not this person, who do you mean? and this is no prison.” stammered the shocked young man. He had not come to save her, he knew not for what she was waiting. “ you shouldn't feel pain, you shouldn't feel shame, you’re not even real, I’m the one who takes his pants off in the middle of the store!”
Her spirits sank, he wasn't the same, who was this man, and where was the guy who promised her freedom.
“long dead is this person you've long waited for, decades may have passed or more.” he told her. She thought maybe he could understand, she felt maybe he’d show her compassion.
“I know it is you I've been waiting for! It said in the stars, and the prophet he told me.” she explained to this young man the things that she dreamed and that one day she hoped that she would be freed.
It seemed to be pity that he took for her. He bought her at cost and took her from the store. “come with me honey and I’ll take you home.”
“The others, they’ll find me, they’ll hunt me down, they are already watching, they already know. Outside’s not safe, I must run away. Thank you for my freedom, but I’ll find my own way.” she blurts out the words and runs off before the young man can stop her. She runs across busy streets, and through green lawns.
A boy and his mother approaching a train. No destination, and not sure which train. Finally they board a train of their choice. As they take their seats on the mostly empty train, she appears through the rear door of the aft most train car. The girl who had waited a year if not more. “I knew you would come, and oh how I’ve waited, but the prophet he told me this was the train.” the boy and his mother seemed to remember. They welcomed her with open arms.
The faces, they judged from neighbouring seats.
She felt protected and finally safe. The boy and his mother defended her from the faces that judged.
“Going to Vegas?” piped up an older lady from across the aisle “she’d be useful there, sell her to a brothel and it’ll pay your way.”
Shocked and appalled the boy and his mother react angrily. “How dare you!? I never! What a horrible thing…” the boy and his mother defended her honour. The loose lipped lady and others slinked off the train, astonished and ashamed.
Overjoyed and jubilant, the girl finally felt safe.
As the train pulled away she was gang raped.
the end
Well, so much for "reviving" my blog, but I guess a year between posts is better than two years between posts... anyway, I am compelled to share a couple of dreams I have converted into short stories. This post will feature a dream I had just recently. I have written this story in the second person, like a choose your own adventure book (except no choices), I have done this in an attempt to present the story in the way I experienced it in the dream. For the first part of the dream you can assume you are you, when the other characters are introduced they are described in a way that allows you to determine their identity. when you wake up in a new environment it will quickly become clear you are the king of giants.
It’s an overnight sailing to begin with, and now the journey has been delayed further, a crackly voice over the loud speaker explains, “We are experiencing some mechanical issues, there is no need for alarm, but it will take some time to resolve the problem. Passengers, please make yourselves comfortable.”
You’re standing on the outside deck, the smell of diesel and rusting metal hangs in the still night air. A smaller ferry barely disturbs the smothering darkness as it drifts by on a different route. You are aboard a large older vessel, once the crown jewel of the largest passenger ferry fleet in the world, but long since replaced by bigger and better ships and now really showing her age. There must be something to do around here, time to explore. You head inside through the heavy doors, a few steps in on the left there are stairwells on either side of an elevator. There are bound to be restricted access areas, or maybe even whole floors which are off limits... Or at least tricky to find. You press the button to call the elevator, and the doors open promptly. Stepping inside and closing the doors, it seems to be a service elevator, pipes and wires are exposed or visible behind metal caging, and the control panel is simplistic, The main buttons of importance in this elevator control panel are: the red stop button, and the open doors button. with these two buttons anywhere the elevator goes should be accessible. The elevator starts to move, it feels quicker than you expected. Suddenly you press the stop button, attempting to stop between floors to reach hidden areas, the elevator lurches to a stop. Opening the doors, you find yourself definitely between floors. The only place to go is the floor above you, it’s a bit of a jump, you scrabble up, then squeeze through the small opening. Getting to your feet you look around, your head spins for a second. You’re up facing the aft of the ship, there’s a dinning hall to the left, quite fancy and many people are sitting politely, eating dinner, and conversing. To the right, just beyond a staircase leading to a lower floor, there are the doors to the outside deck. Turning around to face the elevator your world keeps turning. Losing balancing you fall face down. The world goes black.
Looking up from the floor you see someone is here to help, you recognize this woman and known her to be trained to help in emergency medical situations. Your vision is blurry and your head's still spinning. You are unable to coordinate physical movement, you are experiencing involuntary muscle contractions alternating with paralysis. You are unintentionally fighting the aid by trying to co-operate, but muscles are unresponsive and uncontrollable.
Black.
The first responder is coming through the doors from the outside deck, she is with another recognizable person, a family friend, someone here to help keep you clam, although they are reluctant to be involved.
Black
Breathing bottled oxygen through a tube, blanket is smothering and hot, heavy and itchy. You thrash in an attempt to remove the blanket…
“It’s okay you don’t have to keep the blanket on them.” instructs a female voice.
“Are you sure?” responds a reluctant male voice, “I thought you were supposed to give them a blanket.”
The blanket remains off.
Clam and dark.
Waking again to uncomfortable heat, you are still laying facedown, your face against a heater and cold air is being blown on your feet. Lifting your aching head you find there is no one is around. The dinning hall is empty and dark, the familiar faces providing aid are nowhere to be see. Outside the smothering darkness pushes inward still and silent, dark.
____________________________________________________________
You are awoken by the sound of your crew making preparations for an immediate emergency return home. It is dark in your captains quarters, the only source of light is the glowing streams of dust pushing through cracks in the wood cabin. Your bed is comfortable and large, fit for the king of giants. The familiar sounds of oars, sails, and waves slapping against the wooden hull are joined by the alarming sounds of concerned voices of your crew. You have been on a raiding mission for several weeks, it is not uncommon for the king of giants to personally lead voyages such as these. Back home, fortifications of the castle of the cliff are already underway. Your kingdom is organized and well trained, they have begun the necessary preparations without having to wake you. Your sleep has been long, had you fallen ill, were you poisoned? Its unclear and there is no time to dwell on thoughts of the past, it is time to prepare for battle, the kingdom of the giants must be protected. No sooner are you on your feet than one of your crew comes bursting through the doors of your cabin. “sire, we must immediately return to the keep, there is no time to explain further.” he is short for a giant, but you’re the king of giants, most giants seem short to you.
“very good,” you say calmly, “I will prepare myself for battle and be on deck shortly to take command. dismissed.”
He sounds concerned, “but, my liege, are you-? I mean in your-”
“DISMISSED!” you cut him off abruptly, his concern is irrational, he underestimates your strength. “Leave me!” you command.
Standing on the open deck, armed for battle, the salt air in your face, you stare intensely out over the dark waves. Someone comes to your side and says something, but you are not listening, your mind is preparing for battle, you are deep in a warriors trance, filling with power and strength, senses razor sharp, focus narrowing to a needle point.
As you near your home port you pass the island where the stone angles are isolated. in their cave on the small island the weeping angles gather. Perhaps they are the threat to your kingdom. They have been exiled to their island for many years without incident, but it is possible they have found a way to free themselves from the prison, it is a fear you've had for as many years as they've been stuck there.
Giants leap from the ship to the dock and race to shore even before the crew finish securing the vessel. Fleeing through the valley beneath the cliff and up the steep and narrow path on the right, your crew retreats to the fortified castle. You are last to leave the ship, as captain and king it is your duty. Your follow your kin through the valley and up the steep and narrow path that leads to the castle on the cliff. The wall that surrounds the city and castle stands where the cliff plateaus, a short distance back from the edge. An easily defended position. The narrow path, a natural choke point, is the only way to get a large force to the gates, and the only other way to reach the wall is to scale the cliff.
As you reach the gates, the others are all behind the wall barring the doors. It is natural for the king of giants to be the one standing between an on coming horde and the gates to his kingdom.
The battle begins, a mass of attackers flows up the narrow path meeting you in battle on the cliff face. Your back against the wall of your kingdom you swing two giant hammers launching groups of attackers off the cliff with each mighty blow. The attacking army is comprised of many different races. Some of the soldiers are giants like you, others are humans, some may even be goblins, or orcs, it‘s no difference to you, they all will face the furry of your hammers.
The rain pours down from the black sky, and the horde keeps coming, some are even scaling the cliff face. Your stag, a faithful companion, has emerge from the castle and is standing by your side. As the battle rages on, you feel the feminine guardian with you, impeding the progress of your combatants. You continue to smash your opponents, launching them from the cliff. The rain pours and lightning splits the sky. You swell with power and strength as you wield your hammers with the strength of a god. Lightning strikes as you land blows. Your assailants have no strength compared to you. Your stag remains still and grounded, unwavering in the face of this onslaught. The feminine force a steady flow, like a river pushing downward against the horde that’s moving up the narrow path. Your entire being absorbed in the fight, you are an army of one demolishing all that dare near the gates.
The battle has raged long, you have sent countless enemies to their death. Bodies crippled by your hammers pile at the bottom of the cliff.. The enemies are fewer but still determined. your strength begins to wane. It is increasingly difficult to send attackers off the cliff in a single blow. You begin to feel how heavy your hammers really are. Still, your strength is divinely endowed, defeat is impossible. You smash a shield maiden hard in the breast plate, she is sent sprawling, but she is not knocked from the cliff.
From the right a giant charges. He is a large giant, even compared to the king of giants. You block his attack with your mighty hammers, side stepping his charge you send him off balance towards the edge of the cliff. Bounding toward him, swinging your immensely heavy hammers with much less force than you had anticipated, you strike him weakly, yet he is still off balance, and it’s enough to send the giant off the edge of the cliff.
Looking to your left you see the shield maiden getting to her feet. You grab her. Perhaps she is worthy of bearing your children, she has survived you in battle, her armour is strong. Lifting her into the air and dangling her over the edge you bellow, insane with power and blood lust, “bear my children and they will rule the world, or I can throw you to your death. The choice is yours, but you must want what you choose. I will know if you are lying and I will throw you to your death if you do.” despite your threat, you are convinced she will accept your offer to have your children, you are endowed with the strength of the gods, your children will rule the world, how could anyone, even an enemy, deny the king of giants. “What is your choice?” you demand.
Her answer stuns you. You drop to your knees deflated, unsure if you dropped her from the edge or not. You feel shame and rejection, disillusionment, and sorrow. The darkness begins to lift, your needle point focus of battle begins to widen. The illusion starts to dissolve. The members of your council emerge from behind the wall. You know before they tell you, the battle you just fought has been all in your mind.
“its true we fortified the castle,” explains one of your more vocal advisors, “but those measures were taken to protect the kingdom from you, sire. Your behaviour became irrational and dangerous while we were at sea, we had to keep you sedated as long as we could while we returned to port. You put a lot of people in danger.”
You know this to be true, you regret endangering your kingdom.
Out of nowhere a different advisor leaps at you kicking and screaming. The other advisors rush into to pull him off of you.
“Forgive him,” encourages the vocal one, “his actions are understandable, you jeopardized the safety of his family.”
You do not blame him for attacking you, you would do the same in his position.
“We even had to engage the bull lock to prevent you from entering the city.” continues the vocal advisor. This lock secures the main gates, it’s shaped like a bull’s head with rotating horns that engage the locking mechanism, and it is also your name sake, Bullock the king of giants.
Your thoughts turn to the illusionary battle that just raged in your mind. The enemies you ruthlessly demolished were shadows of yourself, the shield maiden was a reflection of you.
