Hilqamaar and the Gravity of Love: Faljinsi

Why me? Why ME? What did I do to deserve this? Noel had only a vague idea of the conversation around her; it was about her, obviously, but she was too focused on trying to steady her breathing to hear anything.

The constriction around her chest grew even tighter, threatening to choke her. She should have known she would crumble like this. There was nothing wrong with panicking.

And yet, somewhere in the deepest recesses of her rational brain, she was angry with herself. Where was the conviction she had shown on the rooftop? Why was she cowering now? Darris was giving her the opportunity to fight for her life, but all she was doing was accepting death. She had given in to her uncontrollable fear.

Move, Noel, move! You can fight. I know you can! But her body didn’t want to obey. It just continued to hyperventilate and cry like a wuss. She was a prisoner in her own pathetic body.

“Noel.”

She was weak, after all. She deserved to die like her parents.

“Noel?”

She had lost against fate. It was unrelenting and cruel. She at least hoped she would have a quick death.

“Hey, Noel!”

“What!”

Noel looked up to see that Hilqamaar’s face was only inches from hers. Noel reeled back, her heart beating furiously. Why was he so close?! Her nose filled with that strange, pleasant scent. And her vision became blurry. All that she could see was his face.

“Sorry!” said Hilqamaar, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly, “but you were kind of out of it. Can we get back to the fight?”

Why was it so easy for him to be that cute?

“I don’t think I can.” Seeing Hilqamaar’s face dissipated her ragged breathing somewhat, enough for her to speak comprehensibly for the moment, but Noel knew that if the battle resumed, another attack was imminent.

“Sure, you can,” he said, reaching out a hand for her to grab, “the Hidaar said you were strong, and just by looking at you, I believe him. C’mon.”

After a moment of hesitation, Noel reached up to grab his proffered hand with her left. It was surprisingly hard, callouses covering it like a glove, yet his grip was gentle as he pulled her up to her feet. She thought she felt something wet touch her hand.

But as she was about to look down to see what it was, Hilqamaar suddenly brushed her cheek with his other hand. All other thoughts left her mind as his fingers wiped away a tear.

“You feeling better?” His voice was gentle and kind.

“I…don’t know.” Was she? Her breath was still shallow, yet she was filled with a hazy euphoria that made processing thoughts almost impossible. All she wanted was to stare at Hilqamaar forever.

“Give me your other hand, Noel.”

She obeyed without question. His fingers wrapped around hers she could feel their pointed ends digging into her skin. The pain thinned the haze for a moment.

What did I just do? Why did she just put her hand in his? Then his grip softened.

“Sorry, was that too tight?”

“A little.” The fog was back in full. Its warm embrace enveloped her body.

“I want you to repeat after me:” His voice grew even softer so that every syllable tickled her nose. “Alone, we are strong.”

“Alone we are strong….”

“Together, we can be stronger.”

“Together we can be stronger….”

“And what we create will become the strongest. So that we may one day surpass it.”

“And what we…c-create…w-will be…be…”

No. This wasn’t right. He was making her say… What was she saying? She tried to pull her hands from his. Though his grip was gentle, it was firm as a vise.

“Finish it, Noel.” Hilqamaar’s eyes bored into hers. “Finishhhhh.” He blew into her face.

His scent was intoxicating. The fog in her head was consuming her with its sickly warmth. From its depths, she felt herself say: “And what we create will become the strongest. So that one day…we may surpass it.”

“Thank you, Noel.” He let go of her hands and turned away. “Well? You heard her.”

“I did indeed. Both combatants have invoked Faljinsi.”

Noel was drowning in the fog. She could hear everything, but her body was adrift in an ocean. She longed for Hilqamaar to look at her again. Yet, at the same time, a bubble of anger formed.

Faljinsi…

For some reason, that word made her mad. But why? It had something to do with what she had just said. Together we’ll create something strong that we must surpass. That sounded awful, but why? She couldn’t think clearly.

Then Hilqamaar looked at her again. “I’m so glad you listened to me. But I don’t think there’s any need to fight anymore, Noel.”

“That’s a relief.” Her voice sounded distant. She stared into his eyes, happy to see them again. But they held no warmth, even as he smiled—a thousand translucent threads tendrilled behind him, all connected to her.

He reached out for her. To her surprise, she felt her hands enter the pockets of her coat.

“What’s wrong, Noel?” Hilqamaar approached, hands raised, “Isn’t this what you wanted? A way to avoid fighting? I’ve given it to you. All you have to do is submit.”

“But for what?” Noel heard herself say. The knuckles of her right hand brushed something small and cold. “What did you just make me say?” There was something she was missing. Two pieces of a puzzle that she could not fit together.

“I didn’t make you say anything. I only gave you what you wanted.” He stepped closer. “I wasn’t lying when I said I thought you were strong. But this way makes it easier for all of us. Now, take your hand out of your pockets and give them to me.”

Noel’s fingers twitched as she fought against her impulse to obey. She felt for the cold object and wrapped her fingers around it. It was flat and sharp.

“Didn’t you hear what I said?” said Hilqamaar, his smile growing stiff. “Let me see your hands.”

It felt like his smell was everywhere, more potent than ever. Noel squeezed the object even tighter. The bubble of anger remained. “You said we’d create the strongest. What did that mean?”

Hilqamaar tilted his head. “I thought that was obvious.”

He rested his hands on her shoulders. Noel felt paralyzed. Trapped within her own body again. She felt her fingers slacken on the object. The fog was closing in again.

Then Hilqamaar said, “We will create the strongest offspring, you and I.”

The bubble of anger burst, sending shockwaves through the fog. And in one swift motion, Noel yanked her right hand out of her pocket and stabbed the shard of Uzruran’s sword into Hilqamaar’s side.

Blood gushed from the wound and splashed over her hand as Noel pulled the fragment from him. But to her shock, Hilqamaar barely reacted. He looked down at her and gave her a pitying smile.

“Oh, Noel. It didn’t have to be like this.”

“Like hell it did! Did you think I’d let you…” She couldn’t even say it. She turned flaming eyes to Darris. “And you. Don’t think I’d forget you put him up to this!”

Darris stared, arms folded. “I granted him permission, yes. But he is the one who requested it in the first place.”

The fog burned away as Noel felt the inferno blaze to life. “You asshole!” She couldn’t believe she’d found anything to respect about Darris.

“There you are! That’s the Noel I remember!” said Darris, excitement sending him to his feet. There was a relieved gasp as Azrath appeared from beneath Darris.

“Oh, finally!” he said before standing up, and turning to look at Noel, “Be careful, Noel, Faljinsi is an Ahngreel breeding ritual! That monster means to defile you!”

“I know, Azrath,” said Noel, staring daggers at Darris, then at Hilqamaar, who looked oddly content.

He smiled at Darris, “It doesn’t matter, does it, Hidaar? I’ve already won. She’s been defeated.”

“You freak!” Noel took a stance and raised the fragment covered in rust-colored Ahngreel blood. “This fight hasn’t even begun!”

Hilqamaar laughed, “So you think. I’ll give you one more chance to surrender.”

“I’m not listening to you anymore, you psycho!”

She slashed at him with the blade fragment. She wanted to cut up that handsome face of his. But Hilqamaar was too quick and easily dodged out of the way. His face was smug as Noel swung the blade, and even her other fist, at him. But none of her blows landed. She kicked at him with a foot, but nothing; he was already too far away. The threads surrounded Hilqamaar, dancing and fluttering in the wind. Yet all were slack. He tilted his head and flashed her a winning smile.

“Aw, Noel, it’s too bad thing had to go this way. All this fighting? It really doesn’t suit you.” His smile grew sinister as he folded his arms, “Why don’t you kneel and know your place?”

Without warning, Noel felt an immense weight wrench both her hands downward. It was so sudden that her legs gave way beneath her so that she fell to her knees. Her hands crashed into the ground so hard that the stone cracked beneath them.

What? Noel looked down at her hands in horror. The blood that soaked her right hand was now denting her flesh. She tried to lift it but found that her hand weighed a ton.

She looked to her other hand, where a single dot of blood dented the back of it, too.

Hilqamaar laughed, “You lost the moment you let me touch you. Or did you think the pheromones were my main ability?”

Noel remembered. When Hilqamaar grabbed her hand to pull her up, he must’ve done it then.

“And what’s better is that you made my job so much easier when you stabbed me. Oh, the irony!” He paused, “As you can see, Hidaar, she’s been immobilized. I would say she’d been beaten.”

Noel could see Darris out of the corner of her eye. He was back to sitting on a crate as casually as if he lounged in a chair. “Does she look beaten? I don’t see it.”

She saw his hand tighten ever so slightly.

Hilqamaar didn’t seem to see as he scoffed. “Are you serious? Fine.”

The baton appeared in his hand again. Noel watched it as she tried in vain to lift her right hand. She tried to wipe the blood from her fingers against the floor, but then Hilqamaar’s baton whipped across them with a loud crack.

She had no idea whether the sound came from the baton or the bones in her hand breaking. It was probably both as an intense pain shot through her arm. It didn’t help that the shard of Urzuran’s sword was still clutched in them.

Hilqamaar laughed, “Like it? This baton was made from a rare tree that grows only in Sohaud. It adapted to survive the harshest winds, so the branches and trunk are incredibly flexible but firm enough to retain its shapes even when it’s bent in half. See?”

He demonstrated, his arm muscles bulging as he pressed one end of the baton to the other. Once they were touching, Hilqamaar held both ends in his right hand. “And if I let go carefully,” he did so, letting one end of the baton spring back to smack Noel in the shoulder. The pain was less than her hand, but she could still feel a baton-shaped welt growing where it hit her.

But she didn’t have long to dwell on the pain as the baton entered her vision again from her left and smashed into her other shoulder. Noel was knocked sideways, landing hard on her right side, where the pain of his previous hit made her cry out. Her hand acted as a fulcrum fixed to the ground so that she could not roll off the welt.

Noel writhed in pain. She was supposed to be protected by Urzuran’s shield! Where was it? Did Hilqamaar’s baton overpower it? Or was it his Ahngreel? Tears streamed from her eyes as she looked up at him. He leered over her.

“So? Give up yet? I’d hate to damage your pretty face. But I will if I have to.”

She looked up at him with all the hatred she could muster. “Never. I’d rather die.” Her mind raced on what she could do. This gravity power…It had to have a weakness.

An odd sense of calm washed over her as she thought.

“Wow,” she heard herself say, “what a crazy power. You kept that secret, didn’t you? Must’ve been tough. You didn’t know about this, did you, Darris?”

“I’ll admit, I did not. He surprised even me. Though it doesn’t make a difference.”

“Yeah? Hear that, Psycho-maar? You even fooled your beloved Hidaar. Bet you’re feeling all high and mighty.”

“You’d better believe it!” Hilqamaar’s foot came down on her right hand. The pain had begun to lessen as it began to heal.

Now it was double.

The blade of the fragment cut into her fingers, and she could feel the warmth of her blood seep between them. Noel wanted to scream.

And yet, her mind was clearer than ever. Her fear had dissipated with the fog. All that filled her mind was the desire to see Hilqamaar writhing beneath her feet. Even as her blood gushed from her hand, she looked up at him and flashed him the biggest shit-eating grin she could muster. For the first time, Hilqamar’s smile faltered.

Noel grinned wider, “It feels good to beat on a helpless girl. You get off on it, don’t you? What a powerful Ahngreel you turned out to be.”

“So, you surrender?”

Her next words were barely a whisper, “So, what if I did?”

“What did you say?” Hilqamaar leaned forward. “Speak louder.” He stomped hard on her broken hand. “Say you surrender, and the pain stops.”

Noel gave an agonized cry, then through gritted teeth, she muttered, “And if I don’t?”

“Then things get a lot more painful.”

She laughed, “For you.” Then, with all the strength she could muster, she lifted her left hand against the weight and opened her fingers to summon.

Hilqamaar’s eyes popped as he whipped around, only to have his ankles collide with the handle of Noel’s staff.

It didn’t cause him to trip, but he stumbled, and his foot slipped on Noel’s bloody hand.

That was enough for Noel. She swung her left hand, seized her staff between his legs, and pulled it toward her. She dragged her body toward Hilqamaar so that her head rested on one of Hilqamaar’s shoes.

Aim for the inside, just like Azrath said.

Somewhere in her mind, she could hear Azrath screaming something at her. Words of encouragement? She had no idea. His cries were just background noise as she focused on the idea that had popped into her head.

Hilaqmaar yanked a foot from her crude pincer and tried to pull the other, but Noel grabbed his pant leg and began to drag herself upward one-handed. The heavy material threatened to tear in her weighted left hand, but it held as Noel climbed. For his part, Hilqamaar tried to back away. However, Noel’s staff pressed against his legs with enough force to keep him where he was.

Noel felt his weight shift as Hilqamaar changed direction, pushing her forward. She leaned into him and hoped her right hand would be enough to hold the Ahngreel in place. It was!

Slowly, she climbed, even as Hilqamaar seized her shoulder and tried to push her off. The difference in their height was to Noel’s advantage as he couldn’t find the leverage to use his full strength.

“Get off me!” He kneed her in the face, but that, too, barely had an impact.

Azrath was right. Without the proper momentum, Hilqamaar’s superior muscles were useless. Even the sound of his baton was lessened as she felt it smash into her back several times, but she held on.

“I said get off!” Something small hit Noel’s shoulder, which then became something heavy. More blood rained down on her, each drop weighing a ton as they landed. Some even hit her body heavy, as hard and fast as a bullet. But none punctured her skin. Noel gritted her teeth and endured the onslaught pushing past the weight. It was heavy, but none were as heavy as her fist. She was so close! She just needed support from below.

At last, Noel managed to get a knee under her. Just one. But it was enough to let her launch her hand—which ached in protest from the immense weight—above her head. Though it only took less than a second, it felt like an eternity as she reached upward, hoping that Hilqamaar wouldn’t move in the brief window she had given him.

He didn’t. As much as she wished to sink her fist into his crotch, there was not enough speed in her fist to do damage. So, instead, she closed her fingers around the warmth between his legs. She felt Hilqamaar shudder as he realized what her plan was.

She let her hand drop, grip tight. If Hilqamaar didn’t act now, Noel would take his entire manhood with her. Either way, she saw a path to victory. All the extra weight he had put on her would be to her advantage.

Lucky for him, Hilqamaar did react in the way Noel had hoped. She felt the weight on her hands lift.

She only had an instant to react before Hilqamaar retaliated. Letting go of him, Noel wrapped both arms around his legs. At the same time, she sprang upward and shoved her head under his legs so Noel’s neck pushed into his groin.

Hilqamaar squirmed. “What are you doing?!” His voice was pained.

She only had moments before Hilqamaar shut her down with his gravity. Noel roared with effort as she got one foot under her, then the other, and stood, lifting Hilqamaar with her.

Noel let the momentum carry them as she fell backward. Unfortunately for Hilqamaar, he hadn’t guessed Noel would attempt a suplex and activated his powers as Noel dropped.

The weight on Noel’s hands and back pushed them both into the ground with great force.

Hilqamaar cry of surprise was cut short as Noel heard an immensely satisfying crunch of the Ahngreel’s face slamming into the ground.

She felt Hilqamaar’s legs go limp and the weight lift from her hands. Noel breathed a sigh of relief.

She had done it.

***

Darris watched in awe as the girl fought will all she had. He was bearing witness to an evolution. The moment she had transformed into a warrior.

Much could be said about a person with how they overcome adversity, but even more could be said about how a person turns adversity into an advantage.

It was true that Darris didn’t know about Hilqamaar’s second ability. Most Ahngreel only had one with multiple uses, but this was a new and separate Talent. Had he known, the girl would have faced a different opponent, especially with Faljinsi activated.

Since their first meeting, something had been off about Hilqamaar. And it wasn’t just the Talent he kept secret. The boy had an unusual obsession with the opposite sex.

The only thing on an Ahngreel’s mind was fighting. Faljisni was a ritual introduced to give a new purpose to breeding after the Ahngreel were nearly wiped out. An Ahngreel would only activate the ritual if they thought their opponent would help create a stronger foe down the line. And yet, the boy had asked for it when learning he would be fighting a human girl.

Hilqamaar benefitted from Faljinsi. The boy was the result of excellent breeding. His dual abilities were proof enough. But he was scum.

And yet, Darris knew that there was bigger scum out there. He himself was one for allowing the ritual to proceed. That was the price of agency. Right or wrong, one had to accept the choices one made. There was no going back. And if the girl hated him for pushing her past her limit, then so be it. But, in the end, she would evolve into something beyond all of them.

Keep fighting, Noel, he thought as he watched the girl embrace the warrior within, Surpass those who oppress our will onto you.

Even as the pain in his chest swelled to an almost intolerable level, Darris refused to mitigate it. This pain was his to bear. Every throb and ache was a reminder of what he had to become for his freedom. Of whom he had to sacrifice.

It was already too late for him. But he had all the faith in the world that this girl would make the correct choices.