Dar The Ogress: Elfborn Monk Book 1, page 1
Dar The Ogress
Elfborn Monk Book 1
by
Marilyn Foxworthy
Copyright © 2023 Marilyn Foxworthy
Initial Release November 19, 2023
All rights reserved.
Kindle Edition
Table of Contents
Foreword and Warnings
Chapter 1 The Arena
Chapter 2 Streams
Chapter 3 Second Quests
Chapter 4 The Way Back
Chapter 5 An Ogress in Town
Chapter 6 A Hamlet of Monks and Healers
Chapter 7 Meadows
Chapter 8 In the Body
Chapter 9 Walk Walk Walk
Chapter 10 Winnowing
Chapter 11 Healing
Chapter 12 Jok-Mor No More
Chapter 13 At Last, Baths
Chapter 14 Handfuls
Chapter 15 Clearing
Chapter 16 T’kris
Chapter 17 Widow-Wives
Chapter 18 A New Tribe
Chapter 19 Come Away
Chapter 20 Tribal Council
Chapter 21 Elven Priestess
Chapter 22 Invite
Chapter 23 A New Hope
Chapter 24 On The Road Again
Chapter 25 War Hawk
Chapter 26 Baby Goats
Chapter 27 Grasslands
Chapter 28 The Girl with Yellow Eyes
Chapter 29 Nymph Nature
Chapter 30 Fulfillment
Chapter 31 Inclusion
Chapter 32 Games of Death
Chapter 33 Lessons in Elveness
Chapter 34 The Envoy
Chapter 35 Clouds and Fog
Epilogue
About the Author
Other Books by the Author
Foreword and Warnings
At least I was out in the air again. The past few days had been underground in a prison cell. I had hardly eaten since my capture. If I won my fight, I would win my freedom. Those were the rules. I was naked and bare-handed. So was my opponent. That didn’t make it an especially fair fight. I was strong and just short of six feet tall. My opponent was at least six-nine, maybe seven feet. An Ogress. Her size and slightly mottled skin gave her away. She was naked and bare-handed, too.
And our story begins...
Before you turn the page, pay attention to this warning. Then decide if you want to read our hero’s tale.
This is a story. A fantasy. A romance. Sci-fi. Adventure. It isn’t realistic. The Heroes are good guys. They win. The Bad Guys lose. Magic and miracles happen.
There’s love at first sight, and sex, and motivations and emotions and sensations that go along with it. It’s portrayed as respectful, consensual, loving, and sometimes philosophical. But there’s no sexual humiliation, sexual violence, bondage, or anything like that presented in any erotic way.
The story tells the adventures of our hero as if he wrote it himself. The author was a fan of the great pulp writers like Edgar Rice Burroughs, and that influences the language and style to some extent.
Storytelling is mythology and allegory. This is “eroticism for philosophers.” There are mature midlife themes: longings, disappointments, soul-searching, and inner work. We are complex beings. There might be polyamorous elements that can represent various facets of one relationship. Take it how you want to.
It’s supposed to be fun, and some of the fun is obscure references to quoted movie lines, song lyrics, and passages from other books. If you get it, that’s part of the fun. OK? Still here?
One of us would leave the arena alive... I intended for that to be me.
Wait, did you read the forward and warnings? Really? OK, then here’s the story...
Chapter 1 The Arena
At least I was out in the air again. The past few days had been underground in a prison cell. Just now, the guards had shoved me up the stairs and out into the open air of the little arena. I had hardly eaten since my capture. I was a prisoner but not a criminal. If I won my fight, I would win my freedom. Those were the rules.
They had taken me as I walked alone along one of the wilderness roads, halfway between two points of nowhere. Robbers. Six of them. The only weapon I’d had was my staff. One of the bandits paid for their attack with his life, but I woke up sometime later, badly beaten and lying in a dungeon beneath the arena. My guess was that they had sold me after finally knocking me unconscious. They wouldn’t have gotten much for me.
The games happened every seven days. Today was game day.
There were only four dozen people in the stadium. It only held a few hundred. This was also somewhere in nowhere, and four dozen spectators wasn’t bad. They sat on benches above the round dirt-floored battle pit.
It was like this: I would fight one or more opponents, men or beasts, to the death. If I was the last man standing, they gave me a choice. I could leave with a small percentage of the bets made against me, or I could stay, take the same amount, and try again at the next games. Every time I won, my ranking would go up. As my ranking went up, I could compete in larger arenas. I could quit at any time. Every time I won, I would get a little money and better treatment. Every time I lost, I’d be dead. I didn’t plan to lose, and I didn’t plan to stay around to try again. I’d win this fight, take my money, and leave.
When I did leave, I’d have one-tenth of the bets against me. And nothing else. They tossed me out onto the sand naked, and I would leave the same way. My share of the bets wouldn’t be much. Fortunately, just about everyone in the stadium would be betting against me. If I won and the few who bet on me to win felt they had made a good profit, they would give me the chance to bargain for goods instead of just the money.
I was naked and bare-handed. But so was my opponent. That didn’t make it an especially fair fight, though. I was strong and fairly tall, just short of six feet. I was hungry and bruised, but I would still fight. My opponent was at least six-foot-nine, and maybe a full seven feet. An Ogress. It was clear from the size and the mottled, slightly olive-skinned complexion. She was naked and bare-handed, too.
There was no need for a signal for the fight to begin. We both knew the way this worked. Facing each other from about twenty feet, I bowed slightly as a show of respect for her, and she smiled and did the same. There was no hatred between us. I didn’t want to be here. The fact that she was in the same state that I was argued for the idea that she didn’t want to be here, either. Otherwise, she wouldn’t be fighting a no-rank contest naked. Or so I assumed.
We didn’t hate each other, but only one of us would be leaving on our feet today.
There was no circling each other. Ogres didn’t do that. They came straight at you. This one was no different. She didn’t charge. She walked straight at me and cocked a fist to throw at my face. Just before she let go, I raised my left hand and waved it in the air. She fell for it and her eyes followed my hand for a split second. In that instant, my open right hand swung upward in her blind-spot and hit her in the side of the head with all the force that I could generate, using every muscle in my body to deliver the blow.
She didn’t see it coming. It wasn’t enough to knock her out, but it did stun her. Her ears must have been ringing loudly. Moving quickly, I ducked behind the giant and jumped on her back. My left forearm went around her throat, my right arm hooked my left wrist in the crook of my right elbow, and I grabbed my left shoulder with my right wrist. Clamping her neck tightly, I squeezed hard. Her hands immediately grabbed for my arms, but locked on the way that I was, there was no way that even her massive strength would dislodge me.
Within seconds, she began to weaken, deprived now of both blood and oxygen, and she sank to her knees. I held on hard until she went limp and fell face down in the dirt beneath me. When she moved no more, I relaxed my grip but made a show as if I were viciously wringing every last bit of breath from my vanquished foe and then dropped the lifeless Ogre on the sand.
The crowd didn’t cheer. In fact, most of the spectators were silent. Some groaned in disappointment. Three clapped and started making their way down to the betting table to collect their winnings. The three out of four dozen who bet on me. It was customary for them to greet me, congratulate me, thank me, and give me my portion.
As suspected, my portion wasn’t much. It might be enough for me to live on for a few weeks and to buy something to wear again. But I’d be leaving naked. I wasn’t self-conscious about that, and neither was anyone else.
The men who had bet on me handed me a small coin purse with my winnings, and I started my negotiations to see what else I could get. I made my decision to leave very clear.
The bargaining went quickly. I told them that I would take the body of the Ogre with me if they would give me a mule and a small pack. The man who arranged the games agreed in an instant. It would take several of his workers quite a while to dispose of the Ogre, and if I was willing to do it for them, a mule was a small price to pay. It was up to me to lift the body onto the animal and tie it down.
I was out of the stadium and headed across country minutes later. This time, in this state, I would stay off the roads. I was enough of a woodsman to be able to find food and water to live in the woods indefinitely. And I wasn’t in a hurry to get anywhere.
About five miles out across the hills from the stadium, I heard a grunt and stopped the mule. Going to the other side, I looked at the head of the body draped across the mule’s back.
I said, “I’ll untie you. Stay still.”
I worked on the knots and helped the Ogress to the ground, where she laid on her back for a bit.
Sitting beside her, I said, “My name is Connor.”
I had no fear that she would attack me. I certainly wasn’t surprised that she was alive. The way that I had incapacitated her caused her to go unconscious, not kill her. She would have a nasty headache for several more hours. She wouldn’t be in any shape to fight, or even run, as long as I was watchful.
“I’m sorry, I don’t have any water yet. We will need to find some. I’m sure that we are both thirsty.”
The Ogress asked hoarsely, “Why am I alive?”
I said simply, “Because I didn’t want to kill you.”
She was weak, but smiled. “I appreciate that.”
Her people were Ogres. They weren’t savages. In fact, they were known for their good natures and sense of humor.
She said, “Sorry, what did you say your name was?”
“Connor.”
She took a deep breath. “I guess I owe you my life.”
I was happy to hear her say that. Now I could rest a bit easier. If she owed me her life, she wouldn’t kill me in my sleep. Unless I made her really angry.
I said, “If you hadn’t faced me, you would have won and wouldn’t owe anyone anything.”
“But I did face you, and you beat me in a fight to the death. How did you bring me out of there alive?”
I said, “I used a technique that made you pass out, and then I acted like you were dead. No one bothered to check. When I negotiated my settlement, I told them that I would take you away in exchange for the mule.”
She laughed. “They got the better of you.”
We rested for a few minutes until she felt like sitting up. That fact that we were both hungry and thirsty, as well as bruised and sore, hadn’t changed just because we were free and in the open. Every hour that passed now made it worse.
Finally, she asked, “What now?”
I shrugged. “We should find water. I think there might be a stream below that line of trees off that way. It isn’t that far. I don’t have a water bag, or I could go get some and bring it back to you.”
She said, “I am thirsty. I can walk that far. What I was asking was, what do you intend to have me do?”
I helped her to her feet. “I think it’s a bit early to start stating intentions. If you come with me, you are welcome. What shall I call you?”
The Ogress stood beside me, looking in the direction that I intended to go to look for water.
“I am Dar. But I have already said that I owe you a life-debt. If you want me to serve you, I won’t complain.”
I ignored her true question for now.
“Dar. It’s a pleasant name. Let’s start moving. We need water.”
Dar and I led the mule as we walked. It was trained well and followed us easily. The mule was in better shape than either of us. If things got to where she couldn’t walk, I’d have her ride.
“Dar, I haven’t spent any time with Ogre-folk. A life-debt is a life-debt, but I don’t know your customs. I don’t know your people or where you come from or who you left at home. As far as I’m concerned, the choice is yours. If you choose, I will accept you as a debt-bound companion. If you don’t feel happy with that, suggest a way for me to release you. If you have people to ransom you, I won’t take more than necessary to make the settlement honorable.”
She didn’t answer me, so we walked on.
The trees we headed for grew in a long narrow line. There had to be a stream that fed them. As we approached, we saw that the stream was full and about fifteen feet wide at the point where we came upon it. It would have small fish and frogs. There would be birds in these trees. I could survive here.
Dar and I left the mule by a tree and hurried to the stream. Instead of drinking at the edge, we both went all the way in. We were thirsty and tired and bruised and hot, and we took the opportunity to refresh ourselves and bathe at the same time.
The water was clear. It was warm enough for me to believe that it was runoff from rainwater in the hills to the south of us rather than melting snow-pack in the mountains farther away. I didn’t know this area at all, but I could read the environment. If we followed the stream toward its source, we might find a lake up there.
Dar and I ended up relaxing, lying back on our elbows in the shallows near the bank. She didn’t talk much. I liked her. Standing up, I watched the water for fish.
Dar, still lying on her back, said, “This is awkward. Because you are human.”
Chapter 2 Streams
Maybe she was right. I didn’t care. It was no more awkward for me than if she had been human. As a boy I had been told about Ogre-folk, Kobolds, Goblins, and Half-elves. As a Novice Adventurer Monk, it was part of my training. I had never seen any of them until today. She was my first.
I hadn’t had many expectations about this situation, but Dar wasn’t what I would have expected at all. No, she was definitely an Ogre, there was no doubt about that, but she was turning out to be good company. We had little to say, but we were comfortable, and comforted, being in each other’s presence. I liked her.
“Dar, I don’t feel awkward about being with you.”
I glanced down at her, and she looked up at me.
This kind of nudity wasn’t part of my customs. I had been trained to accept life as it presented itself, and right now, neither of us had clothing. It wasn’t entirely unprecedented to see a beggar or someone in dire need naked. It happened in the streets sometimes. It was what it was. You took pity on them and helped how you could. There was no shame in it except when perverse and unkind Bozos tried to make it shameful. The people at the stadium hadn’t been like that, despite their habit of betting on fights to the death for their own entertainment.
Dar didn’t act like she was ashamed of our state either. I hadn’t expected that she would be.
I understood why she felt that this was awkward. She was the one with the life-debt.
After another minute of silence, I said, “We should find food.”
Dar looked across the stream idly. “There are plenty of berries.”
I reached down to help her stand. “Where?”
It was strange that I hadn’t seen berries. If we had passed berries on the way here, I would have seen them.
Dar pointed. “This way,” and started leading upstream.
About a hundred feet up, she stopped and pointed directly across the water from where we stood. She was right; there was a large growth of berry bushes. I could see both blueberries and redberries.
“Dar, how did you see these? We couldn’t see these from where we bathed.”
“I could smell them, Connor. That’s part of the awkwardness.”
The two of us went down into the stream and climbed out the other side. The blueberries were the easiest to get to. We ate as we picked. If we’d had a bag and weren’t so hungry from days in the cells under the arena, we might have gathered them and eaten them afterward.
As I continued picking blueberries, Dar carefully picked some of the red. The vines had thorns, but not too bad. We were only a few feet from each other.
Holding out a handful of what she had picked, she offered them to me. I took the offering and put some in my mouth and gave Dar the blueberries I was picking at the time.
We continued sharing our meal until we were satisfied. After drinking a bit more of the fresh water, we sat on the bank and rested.
“Dar, we can stay here for a while. We’ll need shelter. If you are staying. If not, I will take you to your people when you are ready. Today, if that’s what you want. At least so that they know you are alive and safe.”
She said simply, “It’s awkward. Because you are a human.”
I said again, “I don’t feel awkward. Why did you say that the berries were part of the awkwardness?”
Dar said, “Couldn’t you smell them? Can you smell me?”
I said, “I smell you. But not strongly. And no, I didn’t smell the berries from so far away. I could smell the water, the trees, and the mule.”
Dar said, “My folk have sensitive noses.”
I said suddenly, “Oh! My scent is offensive! I’m sorry. I bathed, but it must not be enough. I’ll walk far from you from now on. I’m sorry!” and I started to stand to move away.
