Chapter 10: Chapter Ten – Rancorous

Two hundred years passed for Calamitous in much the same way. One day, he worked on little projects in the cave, the next, he practiced his flint knapping to no avail, the day after that, he explored his gray desert home, and then the following night, he traveled south to gather food.

In all that time, he never once saw another single person, and so his loneliness deepened from a tiny ache to a piercing pain that twisted within his heart. Thus, after all those years, he was driven to near madness by his utter solitude.

Now it happened that he went south to forage in the night, and while gathering fruits and nuts, he came to a small river hidden deep within the forest. The full moon had risen high in the sky, and through the dense trees, he could see glimpses of its gray light dancing upon the water.

As he drew nearer to the swiftly flowing river, the sound of a young woman singing came to his gray ears. Cautiously peering through the trees that lined the bank, his strange gray and black eyes beheld a beautiful maiden bathing in the water under the moonlight.

The young woman was singing cheerfully while she bathed, and even without the full moon, the pale-golden light within her skin made it easy to see her lovely naked body as she splashed playfully in the water.

She was so busy singing and bathing that she didn’t notice the gray-Ancient watching her from the far shore of the river. Immediately, he wanted her with a terrible desire, and so, without further thought, he rushed forward and snatched the beautiful maiden up in his huge arms.

She seemed so small as he carried her away, but Calamitous had not realized that he had grown large over the two hundred years of his solitude, and now he was near the size of a giant.

The maiden’s name was Rancorous, and when she saw the gray-Ancient charging at her, she did not see a man. Instead, she saw a giant hideous monster, for Calamitous was no longer the handsome young man he had been.

He had been badly scarred by his exposure to the sun, and his regular eating of the black mushrooms had stained his once ivory teeth and withered is very soul. Also, the frostbite that he had suffered so many years before turned the greater part of his hands and feet black. Lastly, the light of the Ancients was completely gone from his skin – no Ancient ever looked so aged.

As for his great size, the Ancients never stopped growing all the days of their long lives. This was still true of Calamitous even after his fall, thus he, being much older than the maid, was also much larger, and so, no matter how much she fought against him, it was an easy thing for him to carry her away back to his cave.

When he reached his home, he set the maiden down and backed away. As he did this, he gazed longingly at her, and his heart ached to hold her golden glowing body against his own.

So, with halting words, he tried to tell Rancorous that he wished to love her, and for her to love him, but his words made no sense to her ears. It was as if he spoke backward and even upside down.

Seeing that she could not understand him, he decided to make his intentions clear. He moved to gently caress her lovely cheek, but as he did so, Rancorous flinched with fear.

Calamitous held out his blackened hands in a gesture that said he meant her no harm. He then reached to touch her cheek a second time.

Angrily, the lovely maiden shoved his large hand away and spit upon him.

Calamitous went into a rage. His roar was so loud that Rancorous covered her ears and horror filled her beautiful face. She quickly gathered herself up into a ball and trembled with terror.

After calming himself, the gray-Ancient again gestured that he would not hurt her, but it was clear by her expression that she did not believe him.

Seeing he was getting nowhere, a new idea came into his head. Keeping one eye upon the maiden, Calamitous went over and took some of the fruit he had gathered. He cut it into tiny pieces with a stone shard, and he hid a few small black mushrooms within the diced fruit. Putting this upon a plate crudely made from a flat stone, he gave it to the young woman.

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Without even looking at the food, Rancorous threw the plate and food across the chamber.

Calamitous flew into a rage yet again. He scooped up a handful of the food and forced it into her mouth, but as soon as he removed his hand, she spat the mouthful onto the cavern's floor.

Wrath filled the gray-Ancient's mind and heart. He went and took a handful of the black mushroom and forced these into her mouth again, but this time he did not remove his hand until she swallowed.

Once he was sure she could not spit the mushrooms out again, Calamitous sat back and waited for them to take effect. He knew that he did not have long to wait.

Rancorous eyed the gray-Ancient with contempt and distrust. She had been stolen away from her family, and therefore she was both fearful and angry. However, after less than an hour, she felt very strange.

She was aware of Calamitous lifting her up and laying her into his bed, but she was not troubled. She felt he came close to her, but she did not care. Then, she experienced a kind of pleasure she had never known, and a strange euphoria followed.

When she awoke the next morning, she found that she was lying naked under a warm Lion’s pelt, but she was not alone. The monster who had stolen her was lying next to her.

In a rage, she balled up her small fists and beat upon Calamitous as one would beat upon a drum. He only groaned and rolled over, for he too had eaten many mushrooms, and now he lay in a stupor.

The next day, he awoke and tried to come near her again, but she clawed at him and so he quickly retreated.

A few weeks passed, and during all that time, she would not even look at Calamitous. Later, she began to desire the black mushrooms, but she fought the temptation.

On many occasions, the gray-Ancient brought the mushrooms to her, but still, she refused until the desire became too great for her to deny, and again, after she had eaten the mushrooms and then their effects wore off, she found herself in bed with Calamitous.

This happened many times, until finally, she conceived a child. After nine months had passed, she gave birth to her first-born son, and she named him Wroth because of the anger in her heart toward the boy’s father.

Like Calamitous, the child was completely gray, and the whites of his eyes were black while his irises were pale gray. His ears, however, were unlike his father in that they were pointed. Thus, he was the very first of the Grayling race, and in time, he would one day be their first king.

Now Calamitous and Rancorous had eight more sons and eleven daughters in this same way: Rancorous would refuse her husband until her hunger for the black mushrooms grew too great. Only then, did she go to him, and after she had eaten, she would awaken with torn clothes and lying next to the husband she called monster.

Following many years of eating the mushrooms, she slowly began to understand the words of Calamitous, but she did not let him know this, for her grudge against him had grown into a deep seeded hatred, and with every rape, Rancorous loathed Calamitous all the more, but even though she despised him, she greatly loved their first-born son. In fact, she loved him so much that it bordered on unhealthy.

She coddled him and spoiled him telling him that he was far more special than all his siblings. In fact, she overindulged him to the point that she nursed him until he was six years of age, and then she stopped only because he no longer desired her milk.

Meanwhile, her other children were often ignored. She only fed them when their cries became so loud that she could no longer bear them. So it was that the other children of Rancorous were frail, sickly, and stunted. Sadly, two of her daughters even died from lack of love and care.

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