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The Strength of the Ages


CardiMuscleman

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Part One

"What's the matter, lad?"

"Grandfather, will I ever be as strong as you are?"

"Now, now, Henry, give yourself time. You're just a lad!"

As Henry Cardigan, grandson of Lord Cardigan and father of the House of Lords, sank into his grandfather's muscular chest and bawled his eyes out, Lord Cardigan knew the reason for his grandson being so upset. He was by far the smallest member of the Cardigan family, standing a mere four foot six inches tall and aged just eleven, he was always being bullied by the older children at the school he attended on the Westminster estate and this really got Lord Cardigan deep in his heart. After all he was the strongest man in the House of Lords, whenever they had a tug of war with the House of Commoners he was always at the lead. Indeed just last week he had helped the Lords to their sixteenth annual win, a feat that caused the leader of the House of Commoners, Oliver Cromwell, the member for Oxford to say, half jokingly "It's enough to make you want to ban you from attending!" but as Henry's sobs continued, Lord Cardigan decided to try and help his grandson by telling him a story about his days as a Musketeer in France during the reign of Louis XIII when, as part of a secret mission by the former First Minister George Villiers, the Duke of Buckingham, he had met a man who had made him the man he was today.

"That man" he said, holding up Henry's head, "was a living Titan. Before I met him I was like you, Henry, but in the ten years I spent in France, he taught me everything he knew about being strong and powerful. If you promise to listen to my stories about him, I will ask you a question when I have finished. Do you understand my lad?"

Henry nodded and with that Lord Cardigan began.

"He and I got on like a house on fire, Henry" he started, "indeed when I first met him I accidentally challenge him and his friends to a duel, but we soon became best friends and for that first year he was always telling me tales about how big and strong he was. I shall now tell you the first tale he told me, about his grandfather, called Antoine and a feat of strength and power that sealed his legend in the land of his birth!"

"What was this man's name?" asked Henry, rubbing his eyes

"Porthos" came the reply

Prompted by the recent postings about older men who are fairly muscled, I thought it might be interesting to post a story about some of the feats of strength that Porthos, his father and his grandfather got up to as mentioned in the stories by Alexandre Dumas in that context.

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Would be funny if the stories Lord Cardigan told were the other stories about Porthos you wrote in the past. ^^ Without the graphic ess of the sex and that stuff of course. ;3

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Part Two

"As I tell you these stories, my lad" said Lord Cardigan, with his grandson now sitting on his lap, "try and imagine what I am telling you. Imagine the size of these people, the strength demonstrated by them and the awe they inspired in others!"

Henry nodded and as his grandfather started, he closed his eyes and allowed his grandfather's words to be his canvas.

"Porthos's grandfather was called Antoine and as Porthos told me on several occasions, he was at least twice as strong as he was himself. It was suggested that this meant he was Samson, the mightiest man ever to live, however Porthos always said "No, he is nothing more than my grandfather". The story he told me that stuck in my mind most was this. One day, when he was out hunting in the woods, he heard a cry. It was the sound of a boy, not that much older than you my lad. Following the sound, he found this lad, restrained to a tree crying for his master. He was a servant boy, my lad, who had been punished by his master for not obeying his every command. When Antoine heard his tale of woe, his heart broke in sadness and so used his great strength to help this lad. He wrapped his arms around the tree, a tree that was as wide as he was, and taking several deep breaths summoned every ounce of strength he had and do you know what he did my lad? He lifted that tree, a tree that seemed to stretch to the very heavens, out of the ground and lay it flat. Then, he took hold of the chains that held this lad and ripped them apart as if they were made of wool. As the lad collapsed to the ground with exhaustion he whispered "Thank you, monsieur" before he passed out, but Antoine had not finished yet. Gently picking up the lad, he took him to a family that he knew of who, despite all their efforts, had never managed to have a child of their own and willed that lad to them. They knew the lad well as he was the servant of their landlord and so armed that with that knowledge, Antoine went to the landowner's house. The landowner was not in, but telling all the servants inside to leave, he made his way to the cellars and just like Samson, wrapped his arms around the pillars and brought that house down around him without receiving anything more severe than a very dusty head"

Henry opened his eyes wide as the last image played across his mind and as he turned to his grandfather he asked "Did you meet this man, grandfather?" but as Lord Cardigan shook his head he added "No, my lad, but I was honoured to meet his son, a man twice as strong as Porthos, whose tale I will tell you tomorrow!"

If anyone wishes to draw that last scene I am more than happy to let them. As a guide it is estimated that Antoine was seven feet tall and weighed around 300 lbs. This means that based on the long standing formula we have (which I wish I could remember the name of the person who posted it) his chest measured sixty inches, his waist measured thirty inches, his biceps twenty four inches, his quads would measure thirty inches, his calves would measure twenty five inches as would his neck, his forearms would measure nineteen inches and as to state of dress that is entirely in the eyes (or in this case, arms) of the beholder.

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Part Three

As Henry sat on his grandfather's lap he said "I am ready for the tale of the father of Porthos!" and with that closed his eyes adding "Tell me what he was like and the feat of strength that so impressed you and I will imagine it as best I can!"

As Lord Cardigan chuckled to himself he began the tale of Gaspard, Porthos's father

Gaspard was a true solder, serving under both King Henry III and IV of France. People often described him as rough, but one thing was true. His place was on the back of a horse and it was a feat of strength involving his horse that I witnessed. It was during one of the many battles I served alongside him, I honestly forget which one, but we were both pinned down by enemy fire. It looked a desperate situation but Gaspard, sitting as he always did on his brave horse, told me to keep faith that our guns would free us. Just then, there was a mighty explosion that we were both thrown from our horses and before I had time to roll away both mine and his horse fell on me. I was trapped, unable to move and still being pinned down by enemy fire. That man, my grandson, bellowed "I will not leave you" and with that performed a feat of strength I have never seen before and probably never shall again. Placing his hands underneath both horses bellies he grunted "Roll" and with that lifted them both just enough so I could roll away.

As Henry opened his eyes again he gasped "How..." before his grandfather answered "Both horses weighed just under two thousand livre de Paris, my lad, that is the same as nineteen hundred pounds here in Britain". Henry just stared at his grandfather in disbelief and asked "If Antoine could destroy a house and Gaspard could lift two horses, what could Porthos do?" to which the reply came "Tomorrow, my grandson, tomorrow I will tell you the feat of strength that secured Porthos's place..." and with that he let his grandson jump down and only finished the sentence when he was out of earshot adding "...in my heart"

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Part Four

"Porthos was a living Titan, to understand what I am about to tell you, you have understand that. Do you my child?"

Henry nodded and with that closed his eyes

"He stood at least six feet tall in his prime and weighed as close to a falconet cannon as it was possible to be. And, oh, his feats of strength took away the breath of all who witnessed them, myself included, but this tale of strength I am going to tell you was a feat of strength like no other. It took place when we were in Spain on a mission to hand back a collection of jewels known as the King's Lights. Yes, that's right, my child, I said we. I too was a member of that mission and that is why I can remember what happened that day with absolute clarity"

"Mi bebé, por favor, mi bebé!"

As we all turned we gasped as there in the middle of the street was a baby playing with a rattle and at the far end a bull, the largest and most angry looking any of us had ever seen. As the baby looked up, it gurgled with joy and with that the bull charged. Porthos, without a moment of hesistation, leapt off his horse and ran towards the bull with Aramis shouting "Come back, not even you are that strong" but nothing could stop him and just inches from the baby, the bull met an immoveable force, Porthos.

As the two forces met, Porthos's back arched forwards and he groaned, almost in agony, but managed to take a couple of steps forward before the bull started to resist. From that moment on it was a titanic human against a titanic animal. First the bull moved forward, but Porthos resisted and then he stepped forward but the bull resisted. The sheer agony writ on Porthos's face, it...it did something to me.

Henry opened his eyes and asked "What, grandfather?" to which the reply came, "It made me the man I am today" and with that gently closed his grandson's eyes in order to continue the tale

"Porthos, I'm coming!" I yelled and dismounted my own horse, charged towards him, jumped onto his back and wrapped my arms and legs around his bulging torso.

"Thomas" he grunted, "get off me!"

"Take me, Titan" I moaned, squeezing hard, "I have spent the last five years under your tutelage to become stronger. Please, I am begging you, take my strength, let me help you!" and with that I closed my eyes and started whispering a spell that I had learned as a child, a spell that was only to be used in extreme danger, a spell that would allow me to feed the Titan my own strength. As Porthos continued to battle the bull, I could feel his body bulging under my arms and legs and so willed myself to let my strength flow into him. The more I willed myself, the more I could feel his body bulging and the more his body bulged, the more I...the more I....the more I...the more I wanted to be part of him and screamed "PORTHOS, TAKE MY STRENGTH" and that is when it happened. Porthos roared with an almost animalistic sound, knelt down on one knee and lifted that bull over his head. As he did, I felt something I had never felt before. Love, love for the man who was performing the impossible and as the bull passed over our heads he roared "TAKE MY STRENGTH" and as he slammed it down to the ground behind him I felt...I felt..I felt..more alive than I had ever felt before and screamed like an animal before passing out. When I awoke, Porthos was leaning over me and chuckling "Hello, Thomas, who is the Titan now?" and with that helped me to my feet and kissed me adding "Whilst thou be thy lover?"

Henry's eyes opened wide as he looked at his grandfather who simply nodded and said "You are looking at the only man alive who has loved the Titan" and with that allowed Henry to jump down and said "You have heard all of my stories about the Titan and his family. I will now ask you the question I said I would ask" and with that he stood up and announced "Henry, do you wish to learn the secret of the Titan's strength?"

Henry nodded without hesitation and as his grandfather picked him up with a smile he said "Then, tomorrow we shall start and ensure that a new Titan is born!"

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Part Five

"What news have you brought?" asked Captain Dennis as his second in command Lt. Jones entered into his tent and saluted

"My lord" he declared, "we are surrounded on all fronts!"

Captain Dennis cursed as he thumped his table with the maps of the battle on it. This wasn't supposed to have happened. His tactic of encamping the night before in a secure location had turned into possibly the worst decision of the entire war and now it was only a matter of time before the Parliamentary forces opened up their cannons and blasted them all to bits. As he looked up at his second in command he sighed "David, we need a miracle!"

"Did someone call?" boomed a voice as, after ducking to ensure he didn't bring the tent down, a literal giant walked into the tent stood to attention and saluted. As he did the Captain's face started to beam and he asked "Is that really you?"

"What?" chuckled the man, his laugh as big as he was, "you don't recognise the English Titan?" and with that he picked up Lt. Jones and lifted him above his head and with that lifted the man over his head without stopping as he said "I believe that I can stop those cannons and promise safe passage out of this wood, and all I ask is one thing!"

"Name it, Titan" replied the Captain, "and it shall be yours!"

As he lowered the Lt. to the ground who had to steady himself against a pole, the Titan laughed "I'll let you know when I have completed my task. All I need is the cartographer to this battalion!"

As the Captain pointed to a tent at the far end of the camp, the Titan bowed, ducked again and as he walked the two officers watched him saying "He exists" almost as if they had seen a ghost.

Inside his tent, Tim, the cartographer, was pouring over his charts trying to work out what had gone wrong. This area had been mapped just two weeks ago. As he continued to search he almost failed to notice the shadow over his maps and as he looked up, and up, and up, a smile crossed his face.

"Hello there, Henry" he smiled, "What's this, our third visit?"

As Henry boomed "Can't keep a good Cardigan down can you?" the two men shook hands or rather Henry shook Tim by the hand and then apologising forgetting his strength asked what he could do. Tim, pointing to the map, said "There's an old earthworks not far from here, if that were to increase in height by around five feet, that would make the cannons of the Roundheads useless" adding as he looked up from the map, "so fancy a good exercise session!"

"So long as we celebrate in the usual way?" chuckled Henry to which Tim replied, "I wouldn't have it any other way, my friend!"

***

"English Titan, I...I...I cannot thank you enough" said the Captain two hours later, "Increasing those earthworks in height by nine feet by merely burrowing through the ground like that, I mean, it, it beggars belief!"

As Henry smiled, he apologised for the clumps of earth that he had dragged in on his boots to which the Captain replied "A small price for our lives!"

"Which reminds me!" chuckled Henry, "my price. I wish to take your cartographer, Tim, and ensure that he returns home to his family safe and sound"

"What sort of a man would I be to refuse such a request!" said the Captain, "It is granted" and as Henry bowed and left the tent, he knelt down so that Tim could scramble up his back and wrapping his arms about the giant's neck whispered "Home Henry!" which was greeted with a "For the honour of His Majesty" and Henry bounded off almost jumping a fathom at a time. As he watched him go, the Captain's heart sank. That man, that English Titan was a legend to all Cavaliers, and he wished, oh, how he wished, that he too could feel the strength and power of that man.

***

"Ah, hello there lad" said Captain Eric of His Majesty's Cavaliers based outside Nottingham, "come to sign up in defence of His Majesty have you?"

The lad nodded saying "Aye, sir, my name is Jim and I believe that I can make the best maps this side of London!"

"Oooh" replied the Captain, "a cartographer eh? We could do with one of those! By the way, I cannot help but notice you seem to be wearing a badge of some kind, are you a member of a special family?"

As Jim looked at the badge he smiled replying "I am the adopted son of a man who I know that this country looks up to, sir, a man who makes ever the most powerful Roundhead quake in his boots, I, sir, am the adopted son of the English Titan!"

As soon as Jim mentioned that name, the Captain went weak at the knees and steadying him answered, in a falsetto voice, "Good on you lad, well get drawing then!" and as Jim was dismissed with a moan from the Captain he whispered under his breath "Henry Cardigan, lord of the county that bears his name, and the man taught in the ways of that true Titan, Porthos!"

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