The Tale of Gottfried

Greetings! I apologize for how long it took for this chapter to be published. The next one shall be submitted in a week or two!

Gottfried groaned and felt the back of his head. There was a painful lump. The power from the stone had flung him into the trunk of a nearby tree. "Fuck," he moaned, trying to focus his vision. He pulled himself up against the tree and looked across to see Gretchen in the opposite direction, still unconscious.

"Shit, shit, shit," Gottfried repeated under his breath as he leapt to her. He put his hands on the sides of her head and tried to shake her awake. Her hair had turned white. Gottfried patted her cheek and said, "Get up!"

Gretchen's eyes fluttered open. She gave him a look of confusion. "What's going on?" she asked nervously.

Gottfried grabbed her jaw and forced her to face him. "I'm going to teach you a lesson, that's what."

"Okay," she replied uneasily, her eyes darting around their surroundings despite his hold on her face. "Remind me, who are you again?" she asked.

He couldn't tell if she was trying to manipulate him or if she was just stupid. "Don't you try and play games with me Gretchen, I'm not a fucking moron."

Gretchen's face was not one of fear, but bewilderment. "Is that me?" she asked, pointing to herself.

Gottfried gave her a harsh slap on the face. "Snap out of it," he growled when she yelped and reached for her cheek.

When her only reaction was her eyes widening almost innocently, Gottfried grasped at her hair and pulled her scalp, keeping her as still as he could. "Don't move," he said impatiently. He pressed his fingers at the base of her skull.

To Gretchen, it felt as though his fingers had slipped into her mind, prodding and poking her brain. She froze in place, her eyelids feeling as if they were being pulled back by rubber bands. She saw Gottfried's eyes turn into a glaze, his pupils dilating until they were nothing but black pools staring aimlessly at her. She wanted to scream as she watched them start to roll into the back of his head.

Meanwhile Gottfried had started to explore her mind. He was standing alone in complete darkness. He looked at his surroundings, but everything was blank. No memories, no feelings, nothing. There was no noise, no internal dialogue from the past to be heard.

He started to walk through the void, searching. When he did stumble upon something it was Hedy, her familiar, in a long deep sleep. Hedy had also turned from a dark blue to a pearly white. That was not good. When his search was clearly futile, he carefully slipped out of her mind.

Gretchen felt his fingers leave the base of her skull. It had not hurt, but it had been incredibly uncomfortable. She watched Gottfried's eyes roll forward, the glaze enveloping them disappeared and his pupils returned to a somewhat normal size.

Gretchen shuddered. That was not natural and had not looked comfortable. It hurt her own eyes thinking about it.

Gottfried backed away from her. His entire plan of exacting his revenge had been destroyed. He wanted to punish her for a lifetime of abuse, but if she did not remember abusing him, was it really revenge?

Gretchen had seem to become aware of her nudity, covering herself in the cloak and fiddling with the bell around her neck. "What's happening?" she asked curiously, taking in their surroundings.

Gottfried's eye twitched and his fists clenched so hard as to almost unbearable. He had waited too long for this, and it was over before it barely started. 'I just need to think,' he thought, trying to quell his frustration.

"Get up," he said sharply.

Gretchen arose, looking at him without a glimmer of fear in her eyes. Her expression was one of awe, as if seeing things for the first time.

This only angered Gottfried more. He wanted to see her hard and superior behavior so he could tear it down, show her who was better. He wanted her to know who was the one to finally defeat her. He needed that satisfaction. He didn't need a random girl to demean, he needed Gretchen. She deserved it.

He took a deep breath, attempting to control the twitch in his eye. "Follow me," he demanded. To his surprise she did without hesitation. They met Basil and the elk still dutifully staying next to the inn.

"Where are we going?" Gretchen asked as he mounted the elk.

Gottfried didn't reply. His frustration was making it hard to concentrate.

"Can I get on?" she asked, stepping to the side of the elk.

"No," he spat.

That did not seem to discourage or affect her. She still seemed absorbed in their surroundings and questioning everything around her. Gottfried grumbled and they started to make their way onto a wide path in the forest.

He did not have to call her with the bell. She did not seem to understand the gravity of the situation, who she was following willingly. Ideas of her fate whirled in his mind, almost too fast to focus on one at a time.

He could kill her. He would get a significant amount of satisfaction from it. He had planned on dragging this out much longer. Savor every bit of her humiliation and pain. Killing her so soon would only be a fleeting joy.

He could go along as if she never lost her memories, still exact the revenge he had wanted for so long. But if she did not know the reason for his need for vengeance, what was the point?

"What are we doing?" she asked for a third time.

"Don't talk to me."

"Are we going somewhere?"

"I said shut up," he grumbled, his patience wearing thinner with each question.

"Who are you? Are you my friend?" she asked, tripping over a tree root.

Gottfried stopped the elk. He dismounted and approached Gretchen, standing over with a threatening look.

She looked at him nervously, her attention now solely on him.

"No, I'm not your friend," he growled, giving her a hard push that landed her in the grass.

Gretchen yelped as she fell back and hit the ground. Gottfried kneeled and wrapped his hand around her small throat, pushing her on her back.

"And I promise you, I never will be," he said.

For the first time fear showed in her pale eyes as she tried to pry his hands from her throat. He pulled the cloak open and looked at her terrified expression. His other hand found her hip and dug his nails into her skin. When it forced a small whimper from her, he let his hand move up her smooth stomach to her breast. He began to knead and cup it, circling his thumb around her nipple.

He tried to reason with himself that this was good enough. It was still Gretchen's body he was torturing. That was what mattered. She began to squirm, still clawing at his hand around her throat. The greater her reaction, the rougher he acted. He started to pinch sharply at her nipple, watching the panic grow in her eyes.

"No, no, no..." she repeated hurriedly, twisting underneath him.

The sound of her plea was somewhat gratifying. It was still Gretchen's voice. His gaze never left her eyes as he released his grip from her throat and his fingers wandered between her legs. She was already moist. Her juices had started to coat her inner thighs.

He pushed two fingers deeper inside of her, ceasing her struggling and turning her pleading into stuttering.

"You really don't remember me?" he snarled. "You don't know why you deserve this?"

Gretchen's eyes fluttered about, as if she would find the answer around her. She did not utter a word. Gottfried could see she was feeling just as confused as she was scared. He began to slowly pump his fingers in and out of her, coaxing more juices to escape.

"I'll make you remember," he said as he pulled his fingers out to unbuckle his belt. Gretchen's back arched as she felt something hard press between her legs. In a panic she twisted and writhed underneath him, pressing her hands against his chest to shove him away.

"Look at me," he commanded. When she refused, he grasped her jaw in his hand and forced her eyes to meet his.

As he pushed his hardened cock inside of her, he watched her eyes widen and her mouth gape open. He gave her a hard thrust, causing her to cry out as he stretched her out with his shaft. It was still Gretchen's face. It was still her desperate reactions. He needed it to feel real, not as if it were some fake doppelganger.

"Just stop, no," she whined, attempting to push him off. But her begging only egged him on. He pumped himself inside of her, watching her look of desperation. It was still Gretchen's eyes, those wide and fearful eyes, an expression he'd waited so very long for.

But having to constantly convince himself only made him angrier, his movements becoming increasingly forceful.

Gretchen's chest heaved, her breathing quickening. An uncomfortable warmth gathered in her lower half, sparking an ache that was progressively getting more painful with each thrust. As she felt his cock pulsing inside of her, she started to get lost in the sensations, as if being swept away by a raging river. She couldn't fight it any longer. Her eyes started to cross, and her toes curled. The back of her head dug into the grass as her back arched.

When Gottfried felt her legs open just ever so slightly, he became more forceful. He didn't want her to enjoy this, he wanted her to hate it. He wanted it to hurt. But with every thrust her moans got louder and any struggling had ceased, instead taking in everything he could give her.

Without warning her body tensed all at once and she started to twist and scream, her legs widening more while she felt a rush so powerful it almost left her unconscious. Her body squeezed around Gottfried's cock, as if trying to trap him inside of her.

Gottfried growled as he put his hand over her face. He was so furious he didn't even want to look at her. Her small moans were now muffled, and her eyes were half closed. He kept pumping wildly into her until he backed away and released himself on her chest, leaving a white streak of fluid to drip down her stomach.

Gretchen gasped as his palm left her face. "Eat it," he demanded. At first, she was unsure of what he was referring too, but quickly realized his command.

Her face scrunched and she groaned, "Please don't make me do that."

"I said do it," he said threateningly as he fixed his pants and buckled his belt.

Gretchen gave him a pitiful look, but he did not give in. She dabbed some of it onto her finger and put it in her mouth. She cringed and turned her head, spitting it into the grass.

Gottfried snatched her arm and gave her a deadly stare. "Eat it all."

Gretchen hesitated, but obeyed, each time she sucked some of it off her finger she waited in hopes he would tell her she had had enough. But he did not release her arm until she was just left with a sticky film on her chest.

She huffed and turned her head, refusing to look at him for even another second. Gottfried mounted the elk, letting Basil land on his back. Gretchen didn't get up from the grass. She covered herself in the cloak and hugged her knees to her chest.

"Don't be so dramatic. Get up," he said before continuing their journey down the path. When she did nothing but scrunch her face angrily, he put his fingers to his temple and thought to himself, 'Fuck I have to go through all of this again.'

Gottfried called her with his quiet clicking and all at once the world screeched in her ears. Somehow this had been the only thing that seemed somewhat familiar. Her hands clamped over her ears and she started writhing on the ground. It was so loud she couldn't hear herself yelling for it to stop.

When the noises subsided Gottfried rolled his eyes and said, "Now get up."

Gretchen winced but managed to pull herself from the grass onto her feet. She followed him but kept her distance. Basil, who was still attached to Gottfried's back, eyed her the entire time, never blinking. She did not recognize the expressions of a dragon, but it didn't take a genius to see he did not trust her.

The path seemed to go on forever until the forest began to thin out, leading them into a desolate rocky landscape. Gretchen became progressively more nervous the farther they walked into open land. Stakes and remains of old battles were rotting along the ground for what seemed like miles. Everything appeared dead and brown.

Gretchen's stomach curled when splintering tall crosses and decaying corpses began to line the path. The smell was horrific and made her nose sting. She was not so much as scared as she was nauseous. Various traps and cages suspended from dead trees also held long-deceased bodies trapped inside.

Gretchen was so distracted she did not even realize they had stopped until she bumped into the elk. The path had split, one leading back to the forest, the other through the rocky terrain. Gottfried dismounted the elk and walked off the path to a firepit in the open.

Gottfried took her arm, squeezing tightly, and brought her to one of the suspended wooden cages. "Hey!" Gretchen yelled as he started to unlatch it.

"In you go," Gottfried said playfully as he pulled her off her feet and flung her into the cage. Gretchen fell backward as the cage shook, and he managed to latch it before she could leap out.

"No! Let me out!" she cried in a panic. Gottfried ignored her and started a fire, sitting on a flat rock. She cursed and rattled the bars, trying to break them. She tried shaking the cage but it was securely tied. She had not even noticed the sun-bleached skeleton lying limply in the corner until she fell into it. She yelped and kicked it away.

Basil had curled himself into the embers of the fire, while Gottfried pulled a book from the endless void of a bag. He ignored Gretchen as she continued to thrash away, trying to break free.

"Let me out! You can't leave me in here," she said furiously.

Without peering up from his book he replied, "Oh yes I can."

Gretchen plopped on the bottom of the cage stubbornly. She grabbed the severed leg of the skeleton and threw it at him but missed. Gottfried snorted, half absorbed in his reading, half amused by her frustration.

When night had fallen, Gretchen had given up, the cage gently swinging with the wind. All to be heard was the crickets, the crackling of the fire, and the flipping of pages. She stared aimlessly at the fireflies wandering from the edges of the forest.

When she saw he was eating food she coughed dramatically, getting his attention. He finally looked up from his book, while she gave him a look that demanded food.

"Oh you're hungry?" he said with a smile. "Eat your friend over there," he said, referring to the remains of the sun-bleached skeleton. Gretchen snapped off the boney hand and threw it with as much force as she could muster. It bounced against the back of Gottfried's head.

"Hey!" he said as he turned to her, surprised by the sudden attack.

Gretchen gave him a deadly glare while the cage drifted back and forth. Eventually Gottfried did give her food, but it was only enough for her stomach to stop eating away at itself.

Gottfried turned and looked to Gretchen, who was now sleeping and snoring loudly, being gently rocked by the wind. He had been looking up every spell, every counter curse, anything that would allow him to bring her memories back. And hopefully turn her hair back to its original color, not this stark white that made her look even paler than usual.

But everything that he found helpful required memories to be hidden, not totally eliminated. When he had reached into her mind there should have been something, anything. That would have been an easy fix. But it was just an empty void.

Gottfried scoured a third book, looking for enchanted places that might prove useful. But no fountain of youth or magical healing puddle was going to help for this specific situation. He searched for objects with magical properties, but that was just as futile.

He fell asleep on his back in front of the fire, book open on his chest, and snoring just as loudly as Gretchen.

Gretchen woke to the sounds of people, talking and clanking. She peeled her eyes open, looking to her side. There was a long string of people traveling down the wide path. From what she could see it was mostly civilians, though there were knights and soldiers scattered along the line.

Nobody seemed to pay any mind to Gretchen or even Gottfried, who had already woken long ago. He was standing with Basil on his shoulder, watching the commotion. They all looked disheveled and dirty, and quite frankly very annoyed. The knights shepherding them did not look too pristine either.

Gretchen sat up, causing the cage to swing below her. Before she could ask Gottfried what was happening, not that he would answer anyway, three men broke from the line and approached him. Two were dressed as knights, the third was dressed in a cloak and black clothing similar to Gottfried's. His eyes were the palest of blues and hair was so blonde it was nearly silver. He was thin and one eye bulged, looking off in another direction than the other.

"Look who it is!" said the third man.

Gottfried shrugged and replied with a sigh, "Hello again Lawrence."

"Have you come to join us?"

"Absolutely fucking not. I already said no."

Lawrence gave a laugh that sounded like a high-pitched cackle.

Gottfried leaned back, perturbed by Lawrence's excess energy and wondering what was so funny about his rejection. "What are you even doing with them? Why did you align with this kingdom? Don't they hate magicians? I mean, come on," he scoffed, gesturing to the disheveled knights, who now both looked offended.

Lawrence cackled again, his lip twitching and hands shaking. Gottfried had always questioned his sanity and odd physical behaviors, but he was being a lot more dramatic than usual. "Fight fire with fire."

Gottfried put his fingers to his temples and muttered, "That...That makes no sense, you realize that right?"

Lawrence's bulging eye swiveled to look at Gretchen. "What's that?" he asked.

"Nobody of consequence," Gottfried replied, eager to keep this lunatic out of his business.

Lawrence pointed a thin finger at her, slightly shaking. "That's the witch!" he said as If he had just heard the punchline to a joke.

Gottfried looked to Gretchen, then back at Lawrence. "She's not a witch. Between me and you, she's lost her mind."

Lawrence's bulging eye flickered back to Gottfried and he said, "Are you going to see Mildred?"

Gottfried rolled his eyes and cursed at himself. How he had not thought of that before made him feel slightly ashamed.

Mildred was an ancient enchantress, centuries old, and in turn she carried centuries worth of secrets and magic that had been believed to be lost with time. If books did not give him the answer, she would. But finding her was not as easy as you would imagine, which is exactly why he never considered it.

"So you won't join me brother?" asked Lawrence.

"Nope, I'm not getting involved. I have nothing to do with this. I don't hold any allegiance with you, nor them. And I really don't understand why you do."

Lawrence reached into his pocket and pulled out something balled in his fist.

Gottfried opened his mouth to say something, but Lawrence opened his palm, showing a small pinch of jade-colored powder. He blew it onto Gottfried's face. He scrunched his nose, but before he could spit out the powder he started to sway. His eyes closed halfway, and he fell back onto the ground with a loud 'thud.'

Gretchen watched as Lawrence shook the remains of the powder from his hand, being sure not to inhale it himself. While the two sloppily dressed knights grabbed the unconscious Gottfried from the ground, Basil leapt and flew to the tree line. She was shocked a dragon could be so cowardly in the face of danger.

Lawrence's eye swiveled to Gretchen. She backed clumsily to the far side of the cage, causing it to tilt and swing. As the two knights dragged Gottfried away, Lawrence went to the cage and halted its swaying, unlatching the door.