PAT2014 – 02 Wiglaf x Margaret by Blackford
2014 Pair-a-Thon Entry
Exotic Encounter
by Blackford
Stroke. Stroke. Stroke.
Wiglaf vigorously pushed against the ocean’s surging waves, casting his arms over his head again and again as he swam through the churning waters. He recalled how he had ended up in the middle of the ocean in the first place, hearing news of a ship being caught in a dangerous storm at sea and then racing to carry out a rescue. After organizing a group of Coast Guard rescue boats, he had led the rescue party to the location where the passenger ship had been wrecked on some jagged rocks.
Because of his superhuman strength and speed, Wiglaf had been able to make the rescue proceed much faster than would have been the case if the Coast Guard personnel were alone. Wiglaf had ripped open a side of the solid steel ocean liner and had carried dozens of passengers at a time to be taken to safety by the Coast Guard, defying the raging wind and rain of the storm at every turn. For any other person, this would have been the challenge of a lifetime, but for Wiglaf, it was just another routine day.
Still, he couldn’t afford to get cocky. While he had been loading a group of people into a boat, one of the ship’s passenger’s had been swept off the boat by a sudden wave and was now floating away. Wiglaf had immediately given chase, diving into the water and swimming as fast as he could to save the unfortunate passenger. It was so dark and stormy that he couldn’t see who the passenger was, but he kept swimming in pursuit.
It’s always something in this hero business, he thought. But as long as no one gets hurt today, I can call it a job well done.
He kept swimming toward the imperiled passenger. From what little he could see of his quarry, it seemed that it was a woman. She was struggling to keep her head above water as the waves carried her farther into the middle of the sea. Wiglaf was getting closer, and as he swam nearer to the woman, he noticed in the distance a large mass of land with trees and rocks rising from its ground. It was some kind of island hidden in the middle of the ocean.
Wiglaf was worried that if he tried to bring the woman back where he had come from, they both might end up lost at sea. The storm was getting worse, and it was getting harder to see anything. At least all of the other passengers had been safely escorted into Coast Guard vessels and were being brought back to the mainland. All Wiglaf had to do was make sure this woman didn’t drown.
I’ll take her to that island for the night, he thought. When the storm clears and daylight comes back, then I can figure out how to get us back to the mainland.
At last, Wiglaf grabbed hold of the drowning woman and forced his way through the sea toward the island. The wind kept howling and the rain continued to drape the air as Wiglaf moved closer to the shore, carrying the woman with him. Far in the distance behind them, the shipwreck site and the Coast Guard vessels seemed like tiny specks now that Wiglaf had drifted so far out into the ocean.
The waves finally washed Wiglaf and the woman onto the beach. The sand of the shoreline looked nearly black in the darkness, and the rocks and trees of the island were cloaked in shadow as rain and wind continued to assail the scenery. Wiglaf, drenched and worn out, still could not tell who the woman was. Both figures lay on the beach for a few moments out of exhaustion. Then Wiglaf picked up the woman and took her into a grove of trees a few yards up from the shore to provide some protection from the rain. The woman lay limply in his arms, alive and breathing, but no longer conscious.
When he had laid her down beneath one of the trees, Wiglaf was finally able to get a good look at the person whom he had just saved. To his surprise, he recognized her right away.
It’s Margaret! he thought. It’s Boudica’s manager! I had no idea she was on that ship. I’d better keep her safe until morning.
Margaret, still unconscious, lay in deep sleep under the tree. Exhausted, Wiglaf sat himself down next to her, and eventually, he fell asleep as well.
* * * *
Hours later, daybreak came. The storm had cleared away, and the sun now shined down on the island. Everything was quiet except for the rumble of the waves on the beach and the chirping of seagulls.
Inside the grove of trees, Wiglaf awakened and looked at Margaret. Her eyes were still closed, and she was breathing deeply in her sleep. The trees and the tropical undergrowth surrounding them were now lush with green leaves, in contrast to the previous night, when the shadow of the storm had concealed their richness. Now the island was brightened by the sunlight and could be seen in all of its vivid natural charm.
Wiglaf gently nudged Margaret, and she began to stir. She slowly opened her eyes, and then jerked her head up in shock as she surveyed her surroundings.
“Wh-What?!” she sputtered. “What happened?!”
“It’s okay, Margaret, it’s okay,” Wiglaf assured her. “We’re on an island. You nearly drowned last night, and you’ve been out of it for hours.”
“Oh my God!!” Margaret blurted out. “I almost got killed! The last thing I remember was struggling to keep my head above the water and…and…and you saved me!”
Margaret wrapped her arms around Wiglaf and hugged him tightly. Wiglaf looked mildly embarrassed at the gesture but didn’t say anything.
“Thank you so much, Wiglaf! You’re a blessing from God!” Margaret exclaimed. “I owe you my life! It’s just so hard to believe that I was almost lost and…!”
“I know, Margaret,” Wiglaf nodded sympathetically. “But you don’t have to thank me; I always save people in need. It’s what I do. I’m just glad you’re alright.”
“I’m definitely alright now that I’m on dry land again,” Margaret said. “But…where do we go from here?”
“Well, we’d better try to find a way to signal a ship or a plane,” Wiglaf said. “We should be able to signal someone and get rescued, but it might take a while. I think we’re pretty far out to sea.”
“Uh oh,” Margaret frowned. “Do you think we can survive on this island long enough?”
“Oh, sure,” Wiglaf said. “I’ve been in worse situations than this before. If I don’t have the necessary survival skills by now, I never will.”
“Whew!” Margaret exhaled. “That’s a relief! We’ll have to work as a team. We’ve got to do whatever it takes to get enough food and shelter. If we take a look around this island, maybe we’ll find what we need. Come on, let’s get going!”
She jumped to her feet and started walking fast toward the wooded area of the island, gesturing back toward Wiglaf to urge him to follow her.
Wiglaf smiled in amusement at how quickly Margaret had regained her assertiveness. He picked himself up off the ground and followed her.
* * * *
Hours later, Wiglaf and Margaret had done a considerable amount of work to prepare for their stay on the deserted island. They had located an empty cave in the forest for shelter, and had also found food and water. After they had stored various island fruits in the cave, they went back to the beach to look around.
“If we can make a fire, we can send up smoke signals to get someone’s attention,” Margaret observed. “That should be our next order of business.”
“Yeah, I think it should,” Wiglaf affirmed. “By the way, Margaret, why were you on that ship anyway?”
“Oh, I was traveling by water because I was planning this big event for Boudica on a cruise ship,” Margaret said. “The owner of that ocean liner had expressed interest in having Boudica perform a piano recital for the passengers on his next cruise. He and I were still working out the details for the event when the storm hit.”
Margaret groaned as she continued. “I hate the idea of not being around to manage Boudica’s agenda. This shipwreck has thrown my whole schedule out of whack! And if I don’t get back soon, Boudica isn’t going to know what to do for her next piano recital. She’s never been able to get anything together without my help.”
“Sorry to hear that,” Wiglaf said. “I’ll try to get us off this island as soon as possible.”
“I sure hope it won’t take too long for us to get rescued,” Margaret frowned.
Despite himself, Wiglaf couldn’t help grinning humorously at that moment. “Just sit right back and you’ll hear a tale, a tale of a fateful trip…” he said in a sing-song voice to the tune of the familiar ditty.
“Oh, be quiet, you silly man!” Margaret laughed as she playfully slapped Wiglaf on the shoulder. The two of them chortled uproariously in spite of themselves.
Margaret put her arm around Wiglaf. “You know, you’re cute,” she said with a smile. “Maybe I should more properly thank you for saving my life, in a fuller way.”
Wiglaf looked confused. “Uh…what did you have in mind?” he asked warily.
“Well, you see, I’m a professional,” Margaret explained. “I never mix business with pleasure. And since it looks like I won’t be able to do much business while I’m stranded on this island, I may have time to give you some romantic company to show you my gratitude.” She snuggled closer to Wiglaf.
“Woah!” Wiglaf started. “Look, Margaret, I think you’re really nice and all, but I’m really not interested in having a romantic relationship with anybody right now. Being a hero is just too exhausting without having to worry about romance.”
Margaret shrugged her shoulders. “Well, you can’t blame me for trying,” she said. “Either way, I’m grateful for what you did.”
“Oh, it’s no problem at all,” Wiglaf assured. “But the thing is…in addition to me not being able to handle a relationship right now, I’m not sure Boudica would enjoy having me around. She was pretty ticked off at me when I accidentally upstaged her at that one piano recital I attended.”
“Oh, don’t worry about that,” Margaret said. “We just needed you to help with her p.r.”
“Yeah, and you pushed me into it,” Wiglaf reminded her. “I didn’t exactly come out of it in Boudica’s good graces.”
“Oh, she’ll get over it,” Margaret scoffed. “It didn’t hurt her career one bit—it probably gave her career an extra boost, in fact. You mustn’t feel badly about it at all.”
“Well, that’s good to hear,” Wiglaf said. “But like I said, let’s not get overly involved. Let’s just work together to get back to civilization.”
“Fine by me,” Margaret replied. “What do you say we go look for some wood and some stones we could use to make fires for smoke signals?”
“I’m game,” Wiglaf said quickly. The two of them left the beach and headed into the island forest.
* * * *
As Wiglaf and Margaret walked through the forest in search of tinder, they explored the island’s natural environment on the way. In the distance, however, Wiglaf thought he saw something different.
“Hey!” he said. “There’s something through those trees. Let’s check it out.”
The two companions rushed through the groves of tropical trees and made their way into a clearing in the forest. There they discovered a completely unexpected sight: a series of ruined brick walls and structures dotting the land, all shining brightly in the sunlight. The ruins all displayed strange pictures, symbols and runes upon their bricks, and the entire area appeared to be the remains of some kind of lost city from history. Wiglaf and Margaret stared at the ruins for a moment before moving closer.
“Now this is cool!” Margaret commented.
“Yeah, but kinda weird, too,” Wiglaf observed. “I didn’t expect anything like this. It looks like the ruins of a lost, ancient island civilization. To think that people actually used to live here!”
“Now I’m really getting the safari-adventure vibe,” Margaret said. She walked over to one of the ruined walls of a building which appeared to have a particularly elaborate and elegant design to it, like a temple of some kind. Margaret picked up two loose bricks from the deteriorated structure and held them in their hands.
“Well, if nothing else, maybe these old bricks can at least come in handy for starting a fire,” she commented. “It might work if you can create enough friction. You know, like this.” She began to rub the two temple bricks together.
As Margaret was grinding the two stones together, a small spark suddenly leaped from the stones and flew through the air, landing on part of the ruined temple. To the shock of Margaret and Wiglaf, the temple suddenly caught fire and was completely engulfed in flames!
“What the–?!” Wiglaf gasped. “Since when does stone burn like that?!”
The flames continued to bathe the ruins of the ancient edifice, and a crackling force of light burst out from within the brick walls. Then, lo and behold, right before Wiglaf and Margaret’s eyes, a prodigious figure took shape within the flames and emerged from the fiery walls of the temple.
The figure that appeared was a bipedal creature standing over twenty feet tall, and though it stood upright like a man, it had the head and body of a lion. Every inch of its body was covered with golden lion’s fur, and a lustrous mane encircled its head. The lion’s head had a mouth of jagged teeth, and a pair of piercing eyes.
But that was not all. The giant monstrosity also had two curled horns of a ram sitting upon its lion’s head, with the ram’s horns forming a peculiar counterpoint to the lion’s mane. On the creature’s back were two gigantic bat’s wings, and it also had a green, scaly lizard’s tail writhing behind it. And lastly, upon the lion head and between the two ram horns sat a gold crown adorning the monster’s brow.
As Wiglaf and Margaret continued to stare, the creature raised its head to the sky and spoke, to no one in particular, in a deep, booming voice.
“All you denizens of the earth, surrender your blessings unto me!” it thundered. “I am Amarr Zaydonn! I now lay claim to all that is here—to make it mine alone!”
“I’m guessing this thing isn’t a friendly type,” Margaret whispered to Wiglaf.
“Doesn’t sound like it,” Wiglaf muttered back.
The monster turned in their direction, as if noticing them for the first time.
“Ahhhh,” it said. “Thus do I see my newest task accomplished. Having been liberated from the binding confines of my own mystical world, I sought my prized quarry from this mortal world—and behold, with great haste my quest is ended before it hath begun!”
The creature strode in the direction of Wiglaf and Margaret.
“Hear me, children of the Earth!” he boomed. “You have been blessed with the fortuity of being the first of your breed to look upon the face of the Earth’s future. I, Amarr Zaydonn, shall lay waste to the brittle temples of human civilization and usher in a new and glorious era under my supreme reign. All humankind shall be slaves to my glory and to my power!”
“That’s pretty big talk, mister,” Wiglaf said. “Now what makes you think we’re just going stand around and let you take over?”
“Thou canst not stand against me,” Amarr Zaydonn said. “No mortal weapon can pierce the form of Amarr Zaydonn. All I desire now….is the woman.” The lion-headed beast eyed Margaret.
“Excuse me?” Margaret cocked an eyebrow. “What are you saying?”
“As the ancient rites decree, I must have the blood of the first earthly maiden on whom I lay my eyes,” the demigod declared. “Only when her blood is given up to the altar of Amarr Zaydonn will I be guaranteed the ability to freely cross between my world and yours.”
“Okay, this is getting way too creepy now,” Margaret said with a twitch. “I’m not planning on ending up on some freaky animal’s dining table. Wiglaf, fighting monsters is your department, right?”
“You’d better believe it!” Wiglaf grinned. He charged forward and struck the creature in the stomach , toppling it off its feet and sending it tumbling to the ground.
Amarr Zaydonn was stunned. He had not expected anything like this. He stared and glared in Wiglaf’s direction from the ground.
“Zounds!” the creature exclaimed. “This human doth possess strength beyond any mortal measures! But thou shall not keep me from my quarry! The power of Amarr Zaydonn bows to none!”
“When I’m through with you, pal, you’ll be ‘bowing’ from the splitting headache I’m going to give you!” Wiglaf retorted.
While Margaret ducked behind some trees, Wiglaf drew the monster’s attacks. He dodged several blows from the creature’s giant fists, then grabbed him by his scaly reptilian tail and slammed him hard against one of the brick walls of the ancient ruins with a loud crash.
Amarr Zaydonn picked himself up again, with fury in his eyes. “Ah, thou most vile blasphemer,” he snarled. “You dare to defile the sublime person of Amarr Zaydonn?! For that transgression, thou shall taste bitter fruits!”
The monster’s hand began to glow, and a bolt of mystic energy burst from his fist and knocked Wiglaf backwards across the ground. Another blast of lightning from the monster’s hand caused the ground to break apart from underneath Wiglaf, causing him to fall and disappear into a chasm in the earth.
Then the creature took flight with its giant bat wings and lashed out with its prehensile lizard tail. The scaly tail caught Margaret by the waist and dragged her into the air. Amarr Zaydonn flew to the ruins of the ancient temple from which he had emerged, and he set Margaret down upon the altar.
“And now, my fair maiden,” he declared, “thou shall be the sacrifice to make my magic permanently free to travel between both worlds so that I may remain as long as I wish. Once I was worshipped as a god by the ancient islanders, and now I shall be so honored throughout the entire Earth.”
Margaret snarled. “Listen, creep, if you think I’m gonna put up with your nonsense any more, you’ve got another thing coming!”
“You need not fear, young human,” said the demigod. “After your passing, your immortal spirit shall be well-rewarded with a place of honor in my eternal mystical realm!”
Margaret rolled her eyes. “Lucky me.”
Amarr Zaydonn looked like he was about to strike Margaret as she lay on the altar when there was suddenly a loud eruption from the earth. Wiglaf came bursting out from under the ground, and then ran up the steps of the temple and snatched Margaret off the altar before the monster could make a move.
“What?!” Amarr Zaydonn shouted in anger. “The author of insolence returns?!”
“You didn’t really think I was gonna stay down there, did you?” Wiglaf smiled. “You really need to get a better handle on these hero-villain battles, pal.”
“It looks like somebody’s got a handle on them,” Margaret said with a favorable grin toward Wiglaf.
“Enough!” the demigod growled. “Neither of you shall leave here alive!”
Wiglaf whispered something to Margaret, and she nodded in approval. When Amarr Zaydonn fired another magical energy bolt at them, Wiglaf and Margaret ducked the blast and grabbed hold of the stone altar. Together, they pushed the ancient table over the edge of the temple stairway, sending it clattering down the temple steps until it shattered into pieces below them.
“Noooo!” the monster cried out. “The altar! My shrine is destroyed! I cannot remain in this world without it! I cannot–!”
A flash of light from inside the temple suddenly zapped the monster, pulling him towards it and into the entrance to the barrier dividing the mystical world from the Earth.
The creature struggled against the power which was pulling him out of the mortal world until Wiglaf marched up and punched him in the gut. The beast gave a loud roar, and then Amarr Zaydonn was dragged back across the boundary between the two worlds and disappeared for good.
When the mystical doorway closed, a flash of crimson light flashed through the air and shot up high above the roof of the ancient ruined temple, illuminating the sky with its dazzling glow.
“Yes!” Wiglaf and Margaret said simultaneously as they high-fived. They then left the temple and the ruins and began walking back through the woods.
“I owe you another one, Wiglaf,” Margaret smiled. “It’s always good to not have to be a human sacrifice if you can get out of it.”
“Glad I could help,” Wiglaf replied. “But you helped me, too. We both got rid of that guy’s altar, and that sent him back to his own world.”
“It was actually pretty neat to be part of an adventure like this,” Margaret chuckled. “It was definitely something new for me.”
“Yeah, but it’s pretty routine for me,” Wiglaf nodded. “It’s all in a day’s work, I guess—find a mysterious place, explore some magical buildings, save the world from an evil, megalomaniacal demigod. Pretty standard, I think.”
“Except this time you had some company,” Margaret said as she patted Wiglaf on the back. The two of them chuckled as they headed back to the beach.
* * * *
Things turned out even better for Wiglaf and Margaret than they had expected. After they had destroyed Amarr Zaydonn’s shrine, the burst of red light which had erupted from the ruined temple had caught the attention of the Coast Guard far out at sea. The crimson luminance in the sky which had resulted from the creature’s banishment back to his own world had led a group the Coast Guard’s vessels to the deserted island.
So Wiglaf and Margaret didn’t even need smoke signals after all. Soon the rescue party arrived on the shore of the island and brought Wiglaf and Margaret onboard one of the boats. Then the rescue party left the island, taking the two adventurers back toward the mainland.
As they rested in the Coast Guard boat, Margaret leaned toward Wiglaf and said, “I know you’re real busy with your hero stuff, and I’ve got a ton on my plate working as Boudica’s manager. But if we coordinate our schedules, maybe I could take you out to lunch some time…if it’s alright with you.”
“I think I might like that,” Wiglaf nodded. “Yeah, I think so.”
They enjoyed the rest of the peaceful ride across the ocean back toward civilization.
The End
1 Comment
I like it. It is well written and funny. I also like the Gilligan’s island reference.