The Beast and The Brain.

I handle the first night and the first day. The sun and heat weigh heavy upon my shoulders and I allowed the chains to hold my body up to rest my legs. My stomach growls and my throat dries but I survive. I don’t catch so much as a glimpse of J just soldiers and guards meant to protect and keep an eye on me. Not that I’m going anywhere. When darkness falls it brings with it the small relief of a humid breeze. Torches spring to life around me and I see shadows silhouetted behind the wax paper. Low murmurs of music and voices drift to my ears from far away.

I want to reach out and speak to J, but I know if I try it won’t do any good. An hour past sundown someone walks out of the house and across the courtyard. They approach me with sure steps and even from here I can smell the cooked meat in his hand, my mouth waters and my stomach growls. The man’s face comes into view, shadowed and illuminated from the torches.

“Kegan.”

“Hello Asher.” He rips a piece of meat off and swallows it. He’s come here to taunt me, I lick my lips and try to block out the smell.

“Been a long time Kegan, how have you been?”

“Don’t play with me Asher.” He says hotly. He throws the meet to my feet and steps forward. “I only came out here to say that I will enjoy watching you die. If David let me I would kill you myself, but watching you suffer will suffice. And I want you to know that J and I have become quite close, and I enjoy putting her under my boot where she belongs.” He’s come too close, I spit in his face and he reels back. “Do what you like Asher, it changes nothing.” He walks away and disappears.

A part of me hoped I’d never see Kegan again, but I knew it would have been too good to be true. He’s the strongest defensive Brain, of course he’s been assigned to J, but how long can they guard her before they slip up? How long to they expect J to sit idly by before she decides to do something crazy?

J I whisper her name in my mind but there is no response. I close my eyes and block out the smell of meat and the feeling of my dry tongue and throat.

The second day is worse. I wake up with hunger and thirst and know it won’t get any better. My legs are week and my muscles ache and scream whenever I try to shift my weight. I feel as though my arms will fall off at any moment. And it only gets worse as the sun rises and the day grows hotter. I feel my exposed skin burning against the chains, and my lips start the crack and bleed. I’m not sure how long I will survive being exposed like this. I can only go so long without water. The soldiers switch every two hours and none of them look twice at me. It’s as though David wants to make a point, I am nothing and I will die alone. I drift in and out of sleep but for the most part I stare at the ground and watch ants carry pieces of the meat away to their home.

The third day brings relief. A thick fog rolls around the trees and the air is thick and heavy. My shirt clings to my skin but a few hours after sunrise it begins to rain. I never thought I’d be so happy to feel rain against my skin. I tilt my head back and open my mouth. I soak in the rain and swallow as much as I can. But even after a few hours I still feel as though I could drink gallons. When the rain stops my tongue is still swollen and my throat is still dry. If anything, I feel worse.

I give up trying to stand. The chains hold me up and I don’t have the strength to spare. It’s then I realize that I’m actually dying. There is no trick now. There are no frogs or allies. I am dying. I am tied to a post in the land of my enemy, and I am dying.

“J.” I speak her name out loud; it escapes as a harsh whisper past my chapped lips. “Jack.” It’s the last think I say before I fall unconscious.

On the fourth day I know I’m not going to last. The sun is high, the air is dry and the wind is gone. My body is shutting down. I feel it. My heart has slowed and my head is swimming. Around noon David emerges from his home surrounded by soldiers, and J is behind him escorted by her own people. I barely have the strength to look at them.

“Well Asher, still set on dying?” I say nothing. I just stare at J. I soak in the sight of her. I will die with her on my mind, even if it’s the last thing I do, I will love her to my grave. “Very well.” He turns to face J, “I will let you say goodbye.”

J looks at her brother then she looks at me and walks forward. I force my feet under me and I slowly stand. I will find the strength for her. I manage to stand just as she reaches me. Her arms reach out and wrap around me and her head comes down upon my shoulder. I drop my head onto her hers and breath in her scent.

“J.” I whisper her name and she grabs me tighter.

“I’m sorry,” she says quickly, like she desperately needs to say this to me, “I’m sorry for everything Asher. For the way I treated you, for doubting you, for everything. I’m so sorry. I wish I could go back and change everything.”

“I don’t,” I say. “I wouldn’t change it for the world. Know I have no regrets J.”
She pulls back and looks me in the eyes. “You keep calling me J.”

“It’s your name,” I say simply.

“Asher,” She comes in close, “I love you.” She kisses me. Her soft lips against my chapped ones, but she doesn’t care. She kisses me and I know that I could die right now and I will not regret anything. What I said was true. And then something deep inside sparks inside, behind my close eyelids there is sharp flash of white light and a pulse through my temple like someone has hit it with a hammer. J pulls back and I open my eyes…and see myself.

I blink and then I’m looking down at J, and her thoughts in my head and my words on her lips. We’ve bonded. We don’t have to say it, deep inside and in our minds we both know what has happened. J and I have bonded.

”Asher.” J is in my head and I am in hers. I see myself through her eyes while seeing her with my own at the same time. Like seeing double, my head spins and David steps forward.
“You’ve said your goodbye Jack. Now back away.” J slowly obeys, we don’t break eye contact. Our thoughts are running through or heads like a river.
”I love you J.”

”I know. I love you too. I feel the pressure from the other brains as if they were containing my own powers, but they cannot break the connect between J and I. It will never be broken. Pride rises in my chest as I watch J draw away and David comes closer. I bonded with J. Me the son of a horse breeder, a beast, a no one. I feel, for a moment, invincible. I turn and look David in the eyes, my legs feel sturdier somehow. The ruby on his sword hilt catches the light and shimmers like blood.

“Are you ready to die?” He asks and pulls his sword out. I feel J’s presence in the corner of my mind, I sense her emotions without even trying. Fear rolls through her like a heavy wind. And under that, like a small ribbon, is a hard strip of anger. My heart jerks at J’s response to my approaching death. She doesn’t want me to die. Damn it. Why did things turn out this way? Now I’m getting angry, now I want to run to J and hold her. I never want to let go. I might be happy now, but I want more. I let out a roar that comes from deep down in my chest. It’s half human and half beast. I push against the chains securing me to the post. David laughs at my struggle “Have you forgotten what chains do to a Beast?”

I yell out again, the roar sound more beast than human this time. Anger bubbles and boils over inside of my chest and my connection with J holds strong in my head. My vision shifts as my eyes turn beast, I try to force my power out, but it doesn’t go. The chains hold my body tight and instinctively I reach out for J’s connection. Our minds meld together until she and I are completely inside each other’s head, and suddenly, there is clarity like I’ve never experienced. Control ripples down my spine, unlike I’ve felt before, I have complete control. Not just of my power, but of my thoughts, with the help of J, I see my potential.

J and I realize what is happening and she encourages me with excitement, ”You can do this, focus Asher. So I do. My skin ripples under my clothes and chains. My eyes stay beast and the world is sharp and focused. I feel my muscles hardening and my skin stretching. I push against my chains and they groan and snap. The soldiers and David all back up. I look down at myself. I am still human and yet, I am a Beast. My skin has turned hard as dragon scales, my hands have grown longer and sharper and my muscles bulge under my clothes. This is my potential, a human with the strength and protection of a dragon.

I look at David and I attack.