Blind Fury

Ares unwrapped Eden from around his body and got out of the bed, trying his best not to disturb her. But as soon as he had got up, she awoke anyway. She watched him dress in an instant through sleepy eyes.

“Where are you going?” she asked while yawning.

“I have business to attend to. Go back to sleep. I’ll be back before you wake again.” He walked over to her and gently kissed her forehead.

“I don’t want you to go,” she said, disappointment rang clearly in her voice.

“I must,” he answered. “It’s my responsibility. One in which I’ve been neglecting lately.”

She sat up in the bed. “Then take me with you. Show me what you do.”

“No. It’s too dangerous.”

Eden copped an attitude and laid down again, turning her back to the god. “I thought you thought that I was a good warrior. I suppose that was another lie too. Well, don’t be surprised if I’m not here when you get back.”

Ares sighed. “Eden, I thought we already worked this out.”

She turned around and glared at him. “We haven’t worked anything out, Ares. I never said I was going to stay. I just got . . . sidetracked, that’s all.”

He sat down next to her and stroked her cheek. “Isn’t that enough to make you want to stay?” he said seductively. “Come on, Eden. Can’t you forgive me? I don’t want you to go.”

His dark brown eyes cut straight through to her heart and she found it hard to deny him. She let out an exhausted sigh. “I’m still upset.”

“I know.”

“And there are more questions I want answered.”

“All the more reason to stay. I can’t very well answer them if you’re not here to ask me. I promise, I won’t be gone long.”

After a moment of hesitation, she answered, “Okay.”

Ares smiled sexily. “Good. Now, get some rest and we’ll talk some more when I get back.” He kissed her on her forehead.

Eden wasn’t all that happy about giving in. She turned her back to him again. “Whatever.”

Another moment passed and he disappeared.

*********

Eden tossed and turned in the bed, unable to go back to sleep. She was actually thankful for thme ame alone, so she could sort things out in her head. She knew she still cared for Ares, but something had been lost. Something vital. Trust. She no longer trusted the man to have her best interests at heart. His best interests – yes. But hers? She didn’t think so. She also wasn’t too quick to believe what he told her. This was a problem.

Angry, she grabbed a pillow and threw it across the room. “Damn you, Ares. Why did you have to be a god? Why couldn’t you have just been Aaron? Now my whole life has been upturned.”

She rose and dressed, knowing now for sure that she couldn’t go back to sleep and decided to meditate to help calm her down. She allowed her spirit to seek out Ares again and found him on the battlefield. Making sure that she stayed out of his sight this time, she watched him in awe as he demonstrated his prowess at war. She couldn’t help but marvel at the manly specimen he was. Every muscle bulging as he held up his sword to strike, his strong jaw square and tight, with teeth clenched. His swift moves. Eden thought that even if he were not immortal, he probably still would not be wounded in battle, since he was truly a great fighter.

When the battle started to wind down, Eden returned to her body, thinking she could rest again, however, she discovered that she felt the opposite. Instead of being calm and peaceful, she was charged and anxious. She couldn’t get the vision of Ares in action out of her mind. She found herself mildly turned on by the thought. She wanted to be there – physically. She wanted to feel the power of it all. She had experienced similar feelings in the past while training with him, but they had never been so strong before.

She stood and stretched and mused, “Maybe my trust has been replaced by lust. Blood lust.” She laughed to herself, not being serious about it.

She grabbed her own sword, and examined it closely, running her finger down the length of the blade. It was very sharp and she accidentally cut herself and then sucked the blood from her finger. It tasted good, sweet, and seemed to make her warm all over. Yelling out a battle cry, she swung the sword around, pretending to be fighting at Ares’ side on bat battlefield.

Suddenly, Ares appeared behind her and out of instinct, Eden swung around and rammed her sword into Ares stomach, shoving him against the wall at the same time. She backed away from him in horror, leaving the weapon sticking out of his gut, and covered her mouth with her hand in shock.

“Oh gods, Ares! What have I done?” she exclaimed with wide eyes.

Ares just smiled. He was impressed by her quick response to an unknown, sudden presence. He casually pulled the sword from his body, the hole sealing up as quickly as it had been made, and tried to hand it back to her.

“Very good, my sweet. Very, very good!” he praised.

When she realized that he had not been hurt, she grabbed the sword from him and then punched his arm.

“You jerk! Don’t you ever do that to me again. I thought I hurt you.”

He laughed. “You can’t hurt me, Eden. Not with a weapon anyway. But I am so proud of you. You sensed me right away and responded without thinking.” He moved closer to her and wrapped his strong arms around her waist. “I told you that you were a natural at this. Perhaps I was wrong about taking you with me in battle. I think you might be a good asset to my flanks.” He bent his head and started to kiss her neck.

Eden chuckled and shook her head. Ares stopped and lifted his head to look at her. “What?” he asked.

She backed out of his embrace. “You’re as bad as a woman,” she teased.

Ares looked at her puzzlingly, putting one hand on a hip. “What is that supposed to mean?”

Eden smiled. “It means you can’t make up your mind. One minute – I can’t go. The next – you want me there.”

Ares frowned. “I never said that I wanted you there, Eden. But I’m not going to lie to you; I can see you’ve got skill. And you just seem to get better as time passes. I’d be a fool not to allow you to fight for me,” he said seriously.

Eden could see the war god at work in him. His words were so . . . business-like. “So you don’t want me there?” she questioned. “Well, if you don’t want me, perhaps I should find someone who does.”

Ares narrowed his eyes at her. Just what kind of game was she playing? “Eden, I just said that I’d be a fool not to let you fight – if that’s what you really want to do. So, what’s this crap about finding someone else?”

“Ares, you just said you didn’t want me there. Oh, but because I’m good, you’ll let me –since it would be in your best interest as God of War.” She sighed and threw her hands in the air. “Ya know, I don’t even know why I’m still here. This just isn’t going to work between us.” She sat to put on her boots, readying herself to leave.

Ares was confused why she was upset so suddenly. He thought she wanted to be on the field with him. Then when he offers her the chance, she gets mad. He just couldn’t figure her out.

Frustrated, he sat on the bed next to her. “For the love of Zeus, Eden, what do you want from me? What am I doing that upsets you so?”

Eden stopped what she was doing and calmly looked into his eyes. “Ares, this is just as hard for me as is for you. I love you. Well – I love Aaron, you – I’m still getting used to. But when you touch me – it feels the same. When you kiss me – I still melt. When you’re holding me – I feel safe.”

“Then what’s the problem? Why are you fighting me on this?” he asked, taking her hand and rubbing it.

“Because it won’t work between us!”

“Why? Why can’t it work?” He stood and paced in frustration. “I’m a god – I’ll make it work!”

“Nooo. You see, that’s the whole problem. You’re a god. If you will it, it happens. You say I’m a good fighter, but you don’t want me on the field, yet you’ll allow it because it serves your purpose. I suppose you planning on throwing a protection spell on me, as well.”

He shrugged. “The thought had crossed my mind.”

“You see? You see how you control everything? I bet you’re not even aware of it, huh? It’s so natural for you to do that you don’t even think about it. Am I right?”

Ares thought a moment before responding. “I suppose so. So what’s your point?”

“The point is that I can’t live my life that way. I won’t. There would be no challenge – no struggle, nothing to look forward to, knowing that it’s already handled. I’d be dead on the inside and grow to hate you for i
“
“Hate me? I don’t understand . . .”

“Let me put it to you this way. Say that you had to start a war between two provinces. All your favorite warriors fought for one province, and all Athena’s favorites fought on the other. You both placed protection spells on your provinces, so when they fight, no one dies, no one retreats, no one wins. Wouldn’t you think that was boring and pointless? Wouldn’t you lose interest? Perhaps even resent it someday?”

Ares nodded. “Yes. Without the prospect of winning, of something to gain, it would be a waste of everyone’s time.”

“Right. Now apply that same perspective to my life with you. Do you understand where I’m coming from now?”

“I think so. You’re trying to say that without the chance that you might die on the battlefield, the act holds no personal value. I can understand that.”

“Thank the gods. So now you understand why it won’t work between us.”

Ares shook his head. “No. What does dying in battle have anything to do with us?”

Eden rolled her eyes, frustrated. “It’s not just on the battlefield, Ares, it applies to life in general. If you control everything about us, control my atmosphere, my health, my situations, then what is the point of my living? I will gain nothing.”

“What do you mean? I can give you anything your heart desires.”

“I know that. But it’s not the same as working for it, setting a goal and obtaining it, learning from your mistakes. I don’t expect you to understand this. You’re a god, and you are accustomed to making life the way you choose it to be, without effort. And that’s fine – for gods. But for mortals, it’s different. We get satisfaction from things like building a new home for our family. Or pride when completing one’s education in medicine – so others can benefit from their knowledge. And happiness in finding that one true love in life. All of these things bring meaning to our existence.”

Ares suddenly flashed back to the time he spent as a mortal. He remembered the seof aof accomplishment he felt when he finished to repair Eden’s roof, and he remembered how it made him feel when she was so grateful to him. As a god, petty feelings and emotions were irrelevant to life. He lived only for himself, it was true. But he could change this, he was sure.

He took Eden’s hand again and stroked it affectionately. “You’re right, Eden. That wouldn’t be fair to you. You would be unhappy eventually.”

Eden looked at him with scrutiny. Did he really get it, or was he just saying that. “Really?”

“Yes. I remember when Zeus made me mortal – it was different. Things seemed to matter more. I can recall how excited you made me feel when you were pleased with something I did for you – no matter how small a task. It gave me the incentive to want to do more, so I could get that emotional payoff again.” He brought her hand to his lips and kissed it gently and lifted his delicate eyelashes to reveal the most intense, brown eyes. “I don’t want to deny you life, Eden, I just want to be a part of yours. Isn’t there some place in the middle where we could meet?”

She sighed as relief flooded her. He finally understood! “I don’t know. Maybe.”

“So what now? Where do we go from here?”

“Well, I don’t know about you, but I’ve got some thinking to do,” Eden answered.

Ares looked surprised. “You’re not staying? I thought . . . “

“Ares, if I stay, nothing will change. If you truly want this to work, to meet in the middle, as you put it, then we are going to have to work at it. It’s not going to just happen because you want it to. That would defeat the purpose, now wouldn’t it?”

“I guess,” he whined.

“Let’s just think about things for a few days. I’ll come back and see you then. Okay?”

A sexy smirk slowly formed on the war gods’ mouth. “Okay,” he agreed. He had to, or she wouldn’t return. He was willing to try things her way, if it made her happy.


**********

For the next few days Eden spent most of her time meditating, deep in thought, questioning herself about if it could truly work between her and Ares. She always came back with the same answer: yes, she believed it could. She loved Ares, no matter how angry ade ade her, no matter how he upset her, and despite how much he had let her down. She felt that even though he had pretended to be someone else, the core of the man was the same. Aaron and Ares were as one. The only real difference between the two was that Ares was god, and Aaron was not.

That night, she dreamt about her family. It began with Ares making love to her, setting her body on fire and then he said he had to leave. Eden insisted on going with him and suddenly she was standing on the sidelines of a major war.

Then other people started to appear: first, her father, Cashius. She saw him and Ares on the battlefield together. Then her two brothers appeared. The scene intensified, the battle worsened. She watched her father get struck down. Her brothers soon followed. She looked to Ares, who watched it happen, but did nothing to stop it; too busy with the group of soldiers he was fighting.

Eden turned and ran. She ran and ran, and eventually ended up at home. When she entered, her mother and two sisters were sitting around the table, crying. She started to walk towards them – to comfort them, when suddenly a strong wind entered the house, blowing open the door and rushing violently through the small room. It knocked over a cup on the table, which fell to the floor in slow motion and then finally busted into pieces on the hard ground below. A loud rustling sound caught her attention next and Eden looked up to see a calendar hanging on the wall. The wind was tearing the pages from it – month after month after month.

She heard one of her sisters scream, “No, Mama!” and froze in place when she saw her mother fading away from where she was sitting. Eden ran to her chair a moment later, touching the empty seat, as if she could still feel her. She slumped into the chair and laid her head on the table as the tears spilled from her eyes.

Then she heard a baby crying. Immediately, she raised her head, listening intensively. “Cashius?” She noticed a crib in the corner of the room. “Cashius?” she repeated. She ran to the crib and found her son lying there. As she went to pick up the boy, more screams came from behind her. She turned around and saw her two sisters being drug out of the house by Manitos, the same man who courted her briefly.

“Julia! Kara! NO!”

She turned back to grab her son, and gasped. The crib was totally burnt now and the baby was nowhere in sight.

“CASHIUS!” she screamed, before turning around and running after her sisters. As she left the house and ran down the road, she could see her sisters in the distance. She ran faster, but tripped. As she got back up, she noticed the house was ablaze now. She took off running again and tried to catch up to her sisters, but it was too late. Stopping at the water, she stood on the dock and watched their boat against the horizon become smaller and smaller.

Then she noticed him. Further down the dock, Ares stood, looking out over the same horizon. He glowed, as if he had just been filled with the praise of his worshipers. He must have felt her gaze because he quickly turned around and saw Eden. He smiled as he approached her.

“Here you are, my love. I’ve been looking for you everywhere. Let’s go home.”

He wrapped his arms around her and instantly there were back in bed again, making love – where the dream had begun.

Eden awoke with a start and sat up. Her pillow was soaked with sweat and the covers had been kicked off the bed. She rubbed her eyes.

“Boy, what a nightmare!” she said to herself. “Really weird.”

She lay back down to sleep again, but couldn’t shake the strange feeling that the dream was trying to tell her something. Finally nodding off, she did not dream again that night, however the vision of it would not soon leave her waking mind.


************

Ares was away the day that Eden returned to the temple. She kept herself busy by meditating and exercising. Her sisters had been on her mind a lot recently. She needed to find them, especially since she had the dream. Although she didn’t know for sure, she strongly felt that they had been taken somewhere overseas, and the dream had revealed this to her. At least, that’s what she thought, but there seemed to be more to it than that. She just didn’t know what.

Determined to do something about her it, Eden went to the meditating room, having a particular exercise in mind. She began her relaxation breathing and soon after allowed her spirit to leave her. She was not sure how far away from herself that she could travel. That was something her and Seth never had a chance to discuss before he left.

Her spirit traveled to the water’s edge and stopped. Looking out over the vast blue Aegean ocean, she wondered how far it was to the next land. Surely she could travel it – it couldn’t be that far. She took a big breath, concentrating all of her energy in her spirit and then ran towards the water, lifting off the ground just before touching it. She flew away from the beach, unnoticed, passing a number of large merchant ships. She kept going, flying further and further in one direction, hoping to see land soon. But it never came. Discouraged, she decided to turn back and return to her body. She was getting tired both physically and mentally and needed to rest.

Eden had been traveling over the ocean for more than an hour. She had to concentrate hard to kehe lhe link between her body and spirit at full strength. A passing ship briefly distracted her attention, so she never saw the flock of seagulls about to cross her path. Suddenly she was whirling around, knocked on one side and then the other as the large birds passed her by. She tried dodging as many as she could, and then as quickly as they came, they also passed.

“I’ve got to watch where I’m going,” she said to herself, continuing on.

She flew on and on and on. Surely she should have reached her home shore by now, yet no land seemed to be in sight and the sun was beginning to go down. She knew that it would be dark soon and it frightened her. She would be lost for sure if she didn’t find land. Desperate, she pressed on, traveling even faster than before.


************

In the meantime, Ares arrived back at the temple, pleased to hear that Eden was waiting to see him. A mischievous smile found his lips as he headed for the meditation room.

“I wonder if she’s been watching me out on the battlefield again,” he thought.

He entered the room and saw that Eden was, indeed, on another one of her spiritual flights. He sat on the pillow directly across from her, where Seth used to sit during their lessons, and waited patiently for her to return.

As the sun settled over the horizon, Eden panicked. Soon it would be pitch black, since there was no moon during this part of the month. As Ares watched her, he noticed a change in her posture, and the expression on her face had the war god concerned. He gently touched her hand and then her shoulder.

“Eden,” he whispered. “Eden! Return, now,” he said a little louder.

She couldn’t hear him; her mind was overwhelmed by fear and panic. The blackness came quickly, and hopelessness soon washed through Eden’s spirit. Still, she pressed on, trying to find her way home.

Ares’ concern grew when she didn’t respond. toodtood. Using his powers he reached out with his mind to search for her but couldn’t find her. Frustrated, he tried a second time, traveling further across Greece and then into Rome. No Eden. Worried now, he squatted in front of her, grabbing both shoulders and shaking her.

“Eden! Come back to me. I want you to return right now,” he practically yelled.

Suddenly, Eden began to make strange sounds, like gurgling, and her arms started wailing around in a fit. Ares stepped back and looked at her. It almost seemed like she was drowning . . .

“Drowning?” he exclaimed, “The ocean!”

Instantly he transported himself to the shore and began searching with his powers. He found her, her drained spirit fighting to stay above the water. He materialized above her in mid air and reached out his hand.

“Eden, grab hold of me and I’ll pull you out.”

She looked up and saw him – her savior, with his strong arm extending out for her to take. The look of concern on his face made her gasp. He was a vision and he was there for her. She reached out, taking his hand and immediately felt his heat. He quickly pulled her into his arms, holding her tightly against his body and they disappeared, arriving back in the temple moments later.

He released her, and she practically fell back into her body. Her body slumped forward and it took longer than usual for her to awaken again. When she did, when she finally opened her eyes, there he was again.

She smiled weakly. “Ares, you saved me! Thank you.”

“Eden! What in Tartarus did you think you were doing? You almost died!” he said in angry relief.

“I know. But you rescued me – again. I just don’t know what I’d do without you, Ares.” She smiled slyly, hoping he’d up up on her little clue.

Ares paced. “You’re damn right, little girl. Now what . . . wait a minute. Did you just tell me that you don’t know what you’d do . . ?”

Eden finished his sentence. “Without you. Yes, that’s what I said.”

“Does that mean that you forgive me?”

She nodded quickly.

“For everything?”

She nodded again, but not so quickly this time.

He smiled sexily and sat down next to her, wrapping an arm around her. He kissed her cheek. “Thank you. That’s the best news I’ve had all day.”

She looked at him out of the corners of her eyes. “Just don’t make me wish I hadn’t done so. Okay?”

He turned her to face him. “I guarantee that you will not regret this, Eden. From now on – nothing but truth passes from these lips, I swear.”

Eden nodded. “I believe you,” she said. And she did believe him too. When he showed up to save her out on the water, she knew he loved her. She had seen it in his face – he feared losing her. And if he loved her like that, then he would surely respect her wishes. She gazed at him as she moved to snuggle up to his chest in a hug, sleep demanding her attention, and sighed. “I love you, Ares,” she whispered.

Ares stroked her hair. “Yes, I know. But you still haven’t told me what you were doing out on the ocean.”

“Looking for my sisters. I had a dream the other night. It revealed that my sisters were overseas. I wanted to find them.”

“A dream told you this?”

“Um-hum,” she said, getting more comfortable.

“So you went to find your family. What then?”

Eden yawned. “I couldn’t find land, so I turned back to come home. Somehow I lost my sense of direction. I think I got all disorientated in that flock of seagulls. Then it got dark so fast and I was lost.”

“A flock of seagulls? You birdbrain!” he teased. Silence. “Eden?”

She was asleep in his arms, exhausted from her spiritual excursion. He transported them both to bed. As he lay holding her closely, he was satisfied. She was safe, she forgave him, and she was in his arms. Things were going well.


************


For the next month, Ares and Eden spent day after day training vigorously. She was truly exceptional, easily becoming his best warrior – even though she had never actually fought in a real war. Ares often pictured them together fighting on the battlefield, just the idea of it would make his cock hard. But the fact that she wouldn’t allow him to use a protection spell, made him nervous. Nevertheless, he had learned his lesson, and no matter how badly he wanted to, he wouldn’t. He’d have to do it without her knowledge and that would be the same as deceiving her. He wasn’t going to make that mistake again. Instead, he focused his efforts in molding her into the best she could be and would rely on her god-trained skills to protect her.

Throughout the entire time they trained, Eden pestered Ares about joining him in battle. His answer was always the same: ‘No, you’re not ready yet!’ She approached him about it again one evening after she had successfully beaten him in practice. It was an oversight on his part, allowing his attention to briefly waiver and that gave Eden the opening she needed. She had taken advantage of it immediately. He never saw it coming. Now he knew that there was no more deterring her with excuses. There was no way that she’d take ‘no’ as an answer. So it was agreed that the next small battle that arose, she could join him. Start small; get her feet wet, so to speak. Then if she proved herself worthy, she could move on to the more important wars.

He had no doubt that would happen sooner, rather than later. And it did.

Before the seasons made a full cycle, Eden was fighting at Ares’ side in some of the most brutal battles. The power of bloodlust would fill her and she would fight savagely, with all of her might, slaying anyone in her way. At first, Ares’ flanks hardly noticed her, thinking that it some weird prelude to sex for the couple, fighting together as they did. But soon Eden had gained the respect of every soldier and general she fought with. They compared her rage and skill to that of Xena when she was still in league with the dark god. Some thought Eden was even better, but all agreed that she, at least, equaled the Warrior Princess.

Ares was in ultimate War God bliss. She was everything he wanted. Savage, skilled, tender, smart, and the sex – it was better than ever! They fucked after every battle, with the adrenaline still pumping through their veins and blood and dirt covering their bodies. They couldn’t get enough of each other. It was explosive!

Things went on like this for a whiand and both the war god and the girl seemed content with their relationship.