Combat

Ruby and Georgia both looked at Yossarian, confusion and disbelief prevalent on their face.

Yossarian sighed, "How much do you two know about the infamous witch Circe?"

Georgia shrugged her head, Ruby silent for a moment, responded, "Only that she was prevalent during the Third Order. One of the first-ever witches if I recall correctly."

"You're not wrong. She was indeed one of the very first witch's, however there's more to her story than that." Yossarian informed, lying back against a thick, ash tree's trunk. "She was one of the strongest ever to exist. Able to create spells that could transform people into various beasts, once even turning a mortal into a god."

Yossarian let the words sink in. Skepticism crept into the two listener's, Yossarian knowing that to be a fair response. He too found the story to just be a ludicrous myth, however, myths, for the most part, are based on aspects of reality.

"She was able to bestow a mortal with divinity due to a certain ingredient, flowers that were birthed from the blood of titans. These flowers apparently held a copious amount of power, thus becoming a grand dream for many."

Ruby seemed to straighten her back, head shooting towards the titan above them. "You don't mean to say, that-" Yossarian threw his hand up to cut her off, shaking his head.

"No, again it's just a myth. However, something that's based more on reality is the story of the flower nymph, Demi, and her quest to find such an infamous flower. It's said she did it to turn her mortal lover, Denomis, immortal like Circe did. However, after spending half a century scouring long and wide, she found nothing, and she grew desperate. Titan blood was the key, yet no such sites remain where titan blood was still scattered. So she devised a plan."

"Better to get fresh blood of a titan, rather than dried up remnants mixed in with plants." Georgia finished, looking Him in the eyes, understanding dawning on her face.

Yossarian nodded his head, "So she visited an old being, a titan that still walked the earth, a titan that couldn't stop her."

"Prometheus," Ruby added.

"Whilst restrained, body being gorged out by crows, Prometheus spilt a plentiful of divine blood from an open wound in his gut. Thus, Demi captured plenty of his golden titan blood. Yet upon her return Her lover was already dead. Slaughtered during a sudden war breaking out from a land dispute between two kings. She was in grief and fury, cursing human greed for all eternity, tossing the titan blood onto the dirt around her, which mixed in with her own blood after she slit her throat. Thus the cursed flower Demtiter was born, a flower that if consumed in any way curses the user, giving them the opposite of what they want."

Ruby stood up, making her way to the hole, "And you're saying these flowers are over there, along with a dead body?"

"Yep, like I said, quite a combination."

"But what could it mean." Ruby pondered openly.

In the distance a horrifying cry of a doe was heard, its wails disturbing the previously tranquil forest. The cries distracting the trio from a loud rustle from bushes behind them, quickly followed by a short gasp by Georgia

Yossarian flicked his attention over to see Georgia sitting completely still, her expression fixed with fear.

Then She stood up, an older man- with shriveled skin and a bald head, a nasty smile fixed on his worn face - revealed himself from the bushes behind Georgia. He held a hunting rifle directly to her back, the barrel pushing itself into her skin.

Yossarian hesitated, Ruby didn't. She quickly grabbed the gun holstered at her side, wasting no movement flinging it up and aiming it squarely at the man's face.

He dodged his head behind Georgia's, crouching down his body, using as much of her body as a shield. "Hold up there lassie, wouldn't want to be pullen anything right now." He shouted, pushing Georgia forward with the muzzle of the rifle.

Ruby still held the gun towards him, yet didn't fire. Yossarian guessing her to be weighing up choices, a decision he was not excited for.

"We won't do anything crazy, as long as you don't do anything crazy yourself," He told the man, His eye's locked on Georgia's darting eyes.

"An I'll hold ya to that, as long as she understands that as well." He cried back, indicating toward Ruby, who emotionlessly stood there, aim trained on any part of the man's body that he exposed.

"Ruby!" Yossarian cried, "Don't even consider taking that shot right now, unless you want our partnership finished."

Ruby clicked her tongue, "You have my word." She replied, gun still held up towards the man and Georgia.

Yossarian cursed his luck at his current situation. He had a random guy holding a girl he promised to protect, hostage, all the while hoping a person he didn't trust to provoke him.

"What do you want?" He asked, bitterness building up in his throat, his heart racing at every sudden movement of the man.

"You lot out of the fucking forest, tresspassen somewhere you don't belong. Shoulda knew you lot weren't here to just deliver some ale." He spat; anger evident in his voice. "Damn you Georgia, and your loony father, always trying to get himself in our business, even after all the times I've warned him. Even got a fucking rat to tag along with you this time."

"Alright, alright, we'll leave. Just put the gun down, let the girl come to us and we'll make our way out. No need to do anything dangerous." Yossarian voiced, in a calmly, his left hand up, his right-hand etching close to the revolver strapped in his back.

"It's a bit too late for that now, boy. Let me tell you how this is going to turn out, I'm taking the girl with me, back to the village. I plan to send back one of her eye's to her dear old pa as a warning. You two can leave, but if ya ever seen in these wood's again, spyin, like you are now. Let's just say you won't want that." He snarled venomously.

Yossarian biting his lip, cursed his luck even more. "Now, now, what did I say about doing something dangerous." His eye's focused now on the man's cruel gaze.

They were silent for a second, Ruby and the man ready to fire, Yossarian now gripping his pistol's Handel, Georgia stiff as a stick.

Yossarian and Ruby didn't move, their eye's flicking to the growing form behind the old man.

He let out a cackle, his lips widening. "Now that's the look I wanna see on your lot's faces, fear. It's such a wonderful look."

Yossarian couldn't take his eye's off the large body, now looming over the man. Yossarian guessed it to be two meters or more in height, its body spanning to the size of two tree trunks. Yossarian only realized it to be a human after it raised a thick and muscular arm above the man.

The arm smashed into the man's head, tossing him a few meters away, his body unmoving after smashing into the ground. The person then raised another hand, fingers forming a fist above Georgia's smaller head.

"Fuck," Yossarian cried, whipping the gun out, Ruby already shooting a bullet straight into his head. The silence that followed allowed Yossarian to see the person in greater clarity.

It was a middle-aged man, around thirty Yossarian assumed, his muscular face covered in a thick and long brown hair and beard, his wild hazel eye's terrifying him. The man was completely naked, uncontrolled hair infesting every inch of his body, his bulking and ripped muscles clearly defined under the hair.

Yossarian realized something was wrong after the man stayed standing, whilst black, crimson blood started dripping down his head.

Doubt started to reach his mind, possibilities running wild in his head, whilst the man started to wipe the blood away with one of his hands. The wound seemingly closing up.

"Georgia for god's sake, run!" he shouted, tightly pulling down on the trigger of his revolver, the gun slamming back from the force of the blast, sending a bullet into his chest. The man merely took a step back from the weight of the bullet.

Georgia sprinted towards him, desperation crying in her eye's. The man, not fazed by the shots Ruby peppered him with, reached out for Georgia's neck, easily crossing the distance.

Yossarian cursed at his stupidity, while he rush towards Georgia, pushing her aside and planting the gun in the man's palm with his left hand. He pulled the trigger, blasting a hole in the man's hand.

The man in response, whipped Yossarian in the side, with his other fist, sending Yossarian, hard into the rough surface of a trunk, shaking the tree.

Yossarian felt his entire body cry in pain, his sides feeling tattered and broken from both the fist and the tree. His mind felt overwhelmed by the pain, his exhaustion doubling down on his consciousness.

The gunshots from Ruby's gun being the only stable sound, keeping him awake.

He cried through his teeth, forcing his wobbly legs to stand, only making it into a half-crouch, tears of desperation starting to fall from his eye's.

His mind became a torrent of swears and curses, pain and rage driving out his rationality. He took a deep breath, attempting to calm his mind.

He knew what he needed to do, his gloved fingers itching at the half-crescent shape on his right-hand palm.