Tales From Crashdown: Beowulf

Chapter 18: Let Them Win

     As Grendel was making his journey, Beowulf found herself sitting on her immaculate throne, which had been crafted from the shining ember-gold of the Notrock dwarves, and highlighted by her crown which had been embroidered with rubies. She was depressingly bored.
     From the eastern corridor came the clicking of heels on the marble floor, echoing throughout the halls. It was Freydís, wearing an elegant white dress, and her favorite tiara. She wore a cloth over her eyes, because her eyes had grown useless in their deteriorated state. Her once gaunt, pale form had been replaced with a lean muscled, green toned one, a troll's natural form. “Sulking again, my dear?” She questioned.
      Beo smiled, “Hey jolly-green, just waiting on some business. An advisor, a messenger, something.”
     “I know you can't tell, but I'm rolling my eyes under here.”  claimed Freydís as she sat in her own throne beside her wife's, “Business, business, business, not the life of a barbarian, is it?”
     Beo laid her head on the arm of Freydís, “I have a gorgeous wife, I have a prosperous country, I'm respected, I'm loved by subjects and feared by our enemies, and I have 4 amazing children. I just…..need one more. One more battle to scratch that itch. I'm more than 80 years old, my time is limited.”
     Freydís held Beo's head in her hands, “I am not married to a warmonger.”
     “I know, maybe I'm just a bit sick of this cushioned lifestyle.” Sighed Beo.
     Then came the call of the final battle, the one that would be the last time Beowulf was seen whole.
     It came from that vaporous screech, “Beowulllllllf!”
     It shook the ground beneath them, and it made them stand, rushing to the window to peer outside.
     It was slender, long, and it's sleek, metallic body wrapped around the lighthouse near the bay.
     Beo smiled widely, but Freydís shook her head, being able to make out the figure with her spirit arts. She used it in place of vision, but could only understand the shape, size, and distance, but not brightness, colour, or small details.
     Freydís shook her head, “No. I don't even need to look at you to know what you're thinking.”
     Beo threw open the window and prepared to jump, but Freydís grabbed her and pulled her back in.
     “What the hell Frey‽ Let me go!” Yelled Beo, aggravated.
     “I am not letting you run out there to fight some robotic dragon!” Yelled back Freydís.
     Frey got on her knees and grabbed Beo by the arms, “Please, let the kids deal with that thing.”
     Beo clenched her fist, but quickly dropped it.
     Freydís kissed Beo on the forehead, “Our time is coming to an end, it's time to let them prove themselves to the people as the next generation. Your name was known far before you were queen, but too many still don't know the names of our children.”
     Grendel cried out again, “Beowulllllllf! Come out here and face me!”
     The north and south towers of the castles suddenly shifted, revealing two large speakers on the inside of them. The people of the city looked on in awe, having never seen this type of monster before.
     Beo's voice boomed from out of the speakers, “Alllllllll right, you steel skinned salamander, are you ready for your world to be thrown upside down‽”
     Grendel yelled back, “Stop cowering in your walls, and face me!”
     “If you've come for a challenge, but I will not give it to you!” Spoke Beo, ignoring what Grendel had said. “Whatever you want, I'll give it to you on the condition that you best all of my children in a fight!”
     Grendel scoffed, “Fine! Whatever. If they have your blood, then they deserve to fall too.”
     “Alright kiddos, give 'em hell!” Beo yelled, excitedly.
     “And don't get hurt! Make sure you're done in a few minutes for dinner!” Added Freydís.
     That voice, that voice was one of the first memories that Grendel ever knew.
     Grendel leaped from the tower, his body unwrapping from the lighthouse as he started to jump from rooftop to rooftop.
     However, he stopped in his tracks as a cloak flew up from the street and blinded his left eye. “Ago did that? One of the children?” Grendel asked.
     “My name is Athana, thank you very much!” Said a high pitched feminine voice.
     Grendel threw the cloak to the side as he watched a figure fly up from the streets to the air above him.
     It was a tall woman, not as tall as Freydís but taller than Beo, her skin being tanned with a spotted dark green pattern, wearing a red two piece bikini along with a pointed hat, and standing on a wooden broom in her high heels.
     Grendel took a moment, not entirely sure this wasn't a hallucination. “Oh God, those two really did breed!”
     Athana snapped her fingers and she began to separate. Like a cell going through mitosis, one became dozens, surrounding Grendel. All at once, they shouted, “Those are my mothers, you steel snake!”
     Grendel screeched in pain, the shouts from the dozens of close range bodies having overloaded his audio sensors.
     “Is she wearing that bikini-witch outfit again?” Freydís asked, worried.
     Beo laughed, “She has her style.”
     Freydís shook her head, “She's fighting practically naked!”
     Beo laughed, “I remember fighting a werebear naked once. Remember? It ambushed me while I was bathing during that camping trip we took?”
     Grendel swung his arms around wildly, hitting the copies, but they would just evaporate into spiritual mana.
     “Alright, I suppose it's my turn to play fisticuffs against this rapscallion.” A baritone voice proclaimed.
     A man appeared on the rooftop near Grendel's foot. He was a large man, and pale skinned like Beo. He wore a dapper brown suit with a bowler hat that was complimented by a walking cane, tipped with a bronze drake head.
     “What are you? The bartender?” Snarked Grendel.
     “Sister!” The man yelled, “Would you care if I attempted to properly mollywhop this field?”
     The woman sat on her broom, “Fine, just make sure you don't break too many houses, Ocat!” Then, she flew further up into the sky.
     Grendel watched as Ocat tapped his staff twice on the ground before calling out, “Come here, Ritz!”
     A flash of light, a ring of flame and then there was a beast. Between Grendel and Ocat was now a bronze coated drake.
     Grendel shook his head, still trying to focus, “So, a summon type? Not only that, but a familiar type.”
     Otac patted the beast on the side, “Alright, Ritz, do me a favor and thoroughly whoop this fellow before us.”
     Without hesitation, Ritz the drake leaped up, clawed into Grendel's chest.
     Grendel flopped forward, attempting to crush the beast, but Ritz clawed into the steel and crawled on to Grendel's back.
     Ritz flew up, took a deep breath and unleashed a stream of electricity into Grendel, sending a shockwave through his system, paralyzing him for a second. Then, Ritz dived, and braced himself to collide with Grendel.
     “Encage thrusters!” Shouted Grendel as twin engines appeared on his back, catapulting him into the air, causing Ritz to blitz through the ceiling of the building Grendel had been perched on.
     “I say, old chap, this fellow is rather swift!” Said Ocat, who had moved to another building.
     Grendel tried to move the rest of his body as he hovered in the air, but was unable to curl more than his toes.
     Suddenly, a dozen of Athana appeared, letting out a powerful screech, throwing Grendel back and crashing into the ground.
     “Are you kidding me‽” Scowled Grendel, “50 years I was gone, this body was built for me, but I can't even use my damn spirit arts anymore! I refuse to waste my time with this any longer!”
     Reactivating his thrusters, Grendel shot himself straight for the castle, blasting past Ocat and Athana.
     Athana flew down to Ocat, “Think we need to go after that thing?
     “Fret not, sister. I heard Sosaz and Winkler are back from their voyage.” Answered Ocat.
     Grendel blew through the wall of the window where Beo and Frey were standing before.
     Grendel spotted the couple walking down the corridor on the side of the throne room and threw himself forward again, preparing to crash into Beo.
     Just before he collided with them, he was suddenly assaulted, a couple of forces from above, slamming him into the ground, sending a shock wave through him and the ground. He was left in pieces, barely conscious of the world around him.
     He was given a look at his assailants. They were a pair of twins, both wearing an emerald shaded armour. One had short, straight hair, and the other had long, curling hair. The short haired one also had massive gauntlets on his hands and wore a full goatee.
     Frey and Beo turned back, and Frey spoke, “Thank you, boys. I knew you'd get it over with.”
     “Ha! If you ask me, I was the one who delivered the killing blow, mom!” shouted the long haired one.
     The short haired one rolled his eyes, “This isn't a competition, Sozas.”
     Beo kicked the head of the robotic beast and then started to kick it up and down like a hacky sack. “This thing wasn't very intimidating, I'm honestly disappointed! I was hoping it would give me one last scar or broken nose.” Then, she kicked it back to the throne room, almost out of the hole it had created.
     Grendel watched as Ocat and Athana appeared from the hole and walked past his head. The family began to talk to each other, preparing to get ready for dinner.
     As he listened to the family clamming about the delicious mashed potatoes and beef gravy they were ready to eat, he felt his blood begin to boil. “This…..this is pathetic! I ruled the entire coast for over a century, manipulating powers from the shadows, I slayed tens of thousands of enemies all from the comfort of my chair! Now, I finally do the work myself, and twice my body is destroyed. If this is where I end, I'll at least bite the hand that fed me!”
     The jaw of the head popped open and a light began to quickly stockpile within the maw.
     Beo heard and was the only to notice it.
     Seeing the threat, Beo clapped her hands and sent her family through the connected hallway to the kitchen.
     Not a moment later, Grendel unleashed the concentrated blast from his iron teeth and burst through the other side of the castle.
     When it stopped, Beo stood in place, with her right arm entirely missing.
     Grendel began to laugh, celebrating what he considered a glorious victory.
     Wasting no time, Beo bolted forward, and her left hand erupted with a blue flame, crushing and melting the chrome creep's skull.
     Frey rushed to her wife and began inspecting the damage, “Honey, are you okay? Are you hurt? Do you need aid? Do you need water?”
     “Nah, I'm just hungry. I've been smelling the food for a while.” Beo claimed, nonchalantly. “Also, I got that last scar I wanted!” She excitedly claimed, pointing to the missing arm.
     The rest of the family was unsurprised.
     It was this day that taught Beowulf 2 very important lessons. The first was that she had reached a point in her life where combat was no longer an option for her. The second, was that her children were far more capable than she ever was.
     She looked around at her family.
     Athana, The Banshee. The eldest child, who could have obliterated that thing with one blast, had she used the top of her lungs.
     Ocat, The Dapper. The middle child, who could have summoned Ritz at 5 times the size he did.
     Winkler, The Imperial Gauntlet. The eldest of the twins by 2 minutes, who's hands could have torn the beast in twain.
     Sosaz, The Bold. The youngest of them all, but who's tenacity would never let him fall to any foe.
     As they all stood to venture to the kitchen, Beo turned to her beloved wife of 50, long, beautiful years, Freydís Rose Rüger.
     As the children raced to the kitchen, each starving after a good stretch, Freydís asked, “Not going to race them this time, dear?”
     “No,” replied Beo, “I think I'll let one of them win for a change.”