m/m The Culling Parts 6-8

[fillups]

The Culling Part 6

There was a tremendous, thunderous CRAAAAAASH! which echoed in the distance of the tunnel. I could see a small patch of sunlight which looked miles away in the otherwise complete darkness of the cave. There was a stillness in the air and I could hear my own ragged breathing echoing from the hard stone. The light from the staff I held played over the crags and valleys of Jedrek's immense muscles. He was taking up most of the width of the large tunnel he had created, my mind could not comprehend the power it had taken to break and shove the thousands of feet of the hard stone from the mountain's heart all the way through and out the other side. It would have taken an army of men years with heavy equipment to create such a tunnel and Jedrek had accomplished it in moments and with a sense of playfulness. I fought to hold on to my own consciousness in the face of such a casual display of power.

Jedrek was studying my reaction taking in the dampness of my breeches near my manhood with a brief smile and then said softly, "Gregor, we have only a little ways to go."

I nodded mutely. Jedrek was still too large to fit back into any of his clothing so he turned and proceeded into the darkness of the tunnel he had created just by flexing, pulling and shoving.

We walked for hours over the craggy floor of the tunnel. Little bits of stray rubble remained from the enormous rock Jedrek had forced out. Eventually the tunnel opened up and we came out into, devastation.

The countryside was twisted and deformed all around the other side of the mountain and nothing lived here. There was not even the smallest plant or sound of wildlife all was broken earth and odd deformed relics of life, broken and petrified.

"The great plain of the folly of Fearghus and Eoghan," Jedrek said softly into the dead air.

"Fearghus?" I asked softly, looking at the vista.

The miles long piece of rock from the tunnel had shot out of the mountain and come to rest a full league away churning up rock and earth afresh as it had sped away. Large chunks had broken free and lay towering alongside the path matching the ancient violence with a new upheaval.

"Of course the breeders never mention Fearghus when they tell the story, it makes the whole thing too disgusting, I suppose." Jedrek's voice broke the eerie silence of the place. "Fearghus was Eoghan's partner. The two of them knew when they were boys, that they desired men and Eoghan managed somehow to keep Fearghus from the culling and eventually get Fearghus into his personal guard. When they grew into manhood they eventually made love and they elevated to manhood. So it was the two of them that eventually destroyed the army of Durness."

Jedrek turned to face the gaping maw in the face of the mountain that he had created. He lifted up his massively muscled pillar of a leg as if he were going to take a large step and slammed his foot on the ground. His foot easily broke the earth as I might break the crust on bread. BRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAMMMMM! The force of his stamp cracked the earth in front of him and a fissure ran down the path we had come into the cave. The mountain groaned, shifted changing the shape of its craggy height as it collapsed into itself sealing the newly created cave. Great chunks of earth spilled forward and a huge cloud of dust erupted from the mountain.

After the rumbling of the earth subsided, Jedrek said darkly, "Any who follow us no longer can do so." He turned from the mountain he had half destroyed and faced the strange, twisted landscape. "We are very near our destination Gregor. You will soon be in Taiga, land of the brotherhood." Jedrek pulled on his clothes which ripped slightly as they could no longer accommodate his larger body.

The path was hard traveling with unexpected drops and gaping holes that required much detouring. We moved slowly across it. I asked Jedrek, "Why take such a slow journey? A man with your power could surely jump or fly home."

"Gregor, it is very rare when I bring one of the brotherhood, who has been raised by breeders, to Taiga. I have learned that making the journey slow helps prepare them for the shock of their new life."

We continued on and I learned more of the story of the culling. It was an ancient practice, began when the world was very young by the wise women who, according to Jedrek, were jealous of the brotherhood's dominance of female and male magics. The men of the brotherhood were not only infinitely physically stronger than men who desired women but they could call on an endless amount of magical power and they were not limited to the male magics but could direct the forces of the earth with more force than even the most powerful of wise women. A deal was struck where the brotherhood were given the vast lands of Taiga without challenge and the tradition of the culling began in the rest of the world.

King Durness had broken that deal and Eoghan and Fearghus exacted the horrible payment for that transgression: The destruction of the great empire of Erin, which left my own small country of Mediolanum a broken place full of misery and poverty.

Even in Taiga there were never many of the brotherhood. "We make up about two percent of all the people in Taiga." Jedrek said. Seeing my confusion, he continued, "That is a very small portion, Gregor. You have so much to learn about this world."

After five days travel across that ancient scar, we came to the path where Fearghus and Eoghan had met Durness' scouts so long ago. The land was again normal and I could hear birdsong. The thaw had truly come as there was green pressing through the gray of the melting ice and snow. We were now on a well marked path and made good time. Despite some of my dark thoughts about Jedrek's violence, I found myself looking forward to life in Taiga.

We traveled through a rocky terrain once again and into a canyon which ended at two gigantic metal doors. There were runes inscribed on the doors.

Jedrek sang a short song in his deep powerful voice and the runes on the doors rippled with a blue light and an audible metal clanking could be heard. The doors opened for us, slamming behind as we entered.

The landscape was immediately changed. Cultivated lands crossed by paved roads bordered with sculptured trees. In the distance I could see a mighty city, giant with large buildings. Large metal vehicles streamed in from the side of the city and out.

"The great city of Virilius. My heart beats proud every time I return," Jedrek said.

Before we reached the city I could hear it. A vast clamor of productive noise, from the metallic clanking of the metal vehicles, distant chords of music, to the hum of human conversation could be heard even as the city was some distance from us.

The city was beautiful, exotic marbles and threads of precious metals were worked into the construction of the mammoth buildings so their surfaces swirled with color and light. There were beautiful parks and I could see ornamental lakes tucked into small, inviting nooks in the landscape. All spoke to the taming of nature.

The buildings were built large because there were so many huge men in this city. The muscular behemoths strode with carefree ease paying little heed to the small, frail (who I would have referred to as normal) people who scattered out of their way. The normal sized people clung to the margins of the paths and were obviously trying to avoid crossing in front of one of these giants of men.

Jedrek matched and surpassed many of these men for size. But I was shocked to see that the men who looked to be older than Jedrek actually were bigger even than him. Their midsections were thicker with muscle as was every part of their bodies. Many of the men wore no covering on their upper bodies, so their huge chests which cantilevered over their overmuscled midsections could plainly be seen. I was surprised to see how different many of these men were from each other. While most were fair skinned like Jedrek, many of them had hair ranging from dark brown through Jedrek's red to yellow hair like gold. Some of the men even had very different skin color. There were a few men with deep brown skin and one or two with deep black skin color.

More striking to me even than their size and skin color was the open affection some of these titans of muscle showed for each other. Some of the men held hands and I glimpsed at least two male couples kissing in the park. I had never thought I would see such open affection between men in my life. I could feel my eyes wet with tears as a yearning for this sight, that I had never known I had, suddenly felt fulfilled. It was if an unknown hollowness had been filled and it was a piece of my soul that was returned to me. I felt a wholeness and a naturalness I had not known before.

Jedrek, looked back at me, his own eyes filled with pride and kindness, "It has been hard on you, Gregor, these many years."

The "normal" people who skirted around these monolithic men were more numerous but much less diverse. They were generally a pale, light haired people who must have been the original people of these lands before the Brotherhood came.

We came to one of the odd buildings massive but with many smaller lighter fixtures that marked it as a building of shared usage. Jedrek delicately opened the human sized door and led me into a spacious entryway. The room was lit not with torches but round globes of light affixed to the walls.

Jedrek gestured me to sit down on a sturdy bench, saying, "Gregor, this is the school, where you will learn your skills, history, heritage. And this is where I take my leave of you," he paused and his eyes softened in the light, "it has been fair traveling. Change boils around you. If you accept your gifts, you will be one of our greatest."

His large hand engulfed my shoulder as he gave it a very gentle squeeze and he looked into my eyes. Then he turned and left the room before I could thank him. And so Jedrek left me there in the Great School.

Thus began my time learning. I at first sat with the smallest of boys painfully tracing letters but soon moved up through the classes to more advanced studies.

Our teachers were all massive men, who gently guided us though our lessons. Besides my letters one of the first things I was taught was movement. How to control my body precisely. This lesson was forcefully taught to even the smallest boys.

I thought at first it was to help them become better warriors but I soon reasoned it was also so the boys could control their incredibly powerful bodies when they were elevated to manhood.

When a boy was found to be of the Brotherhood, usually as early as one or two years old, he was taken from his family to the Great School of Virilius. Many of the boys had come from outside the city but I was the only boy from outside Taiga who had been raised by "breeders" and so often the center of curiosity.

There was an arrogance in them that disquieted me. They expected the crowds to part before them. While it was never stated, there was a sense that "breeders" and especially women who desired other women were less than human. Despite the beauty of many of the young men around me and despite their frequent kindness to me, this arrogance kept me distant from my fellow students.

In my room there was a mirror. The first time I ever saw my own face was in that glass. I had rough light brown hair that never lay straight, skin that was lightly tanned, darker generally than my fellow students but not nearly as dark as some of the men I had seen. I had dark brown eyes and when I smiled my cheeks dimpled. My reflection at first was a stranger to me but I did think myself handsome.

Others thought so too and I was often flattered by the other boys around me who wished my company. At fifteen and sixteen it was expected that some of us would elevate and sometimes I would hear the moaning in the night and see the next day, the fresh faced boys with the bodies of gods. They would usually be moved to other quarters shortly after to train among the other giants.

However I stuck to my vow. One boy, a year younger than me was particularly persistent in my second year. His name was Sean and his hair was the color of sunlight and his eyes were deep blue. His skin had an even golden tan. He had many admirers that followed him but he was enamored of me. He often asked me to sit with him and occasionally would slip a flower into my hand. I tried to be friendly, but distant so he would not pursue me further,

There was a preparation for a dance for the 16 and 17 year olds, I had, through hard study, recently joined my own age group in classes. I had few friends as I always was studying to catch up. One evening as I walked from the library to my room I saw Sean waiting impatiently pacing in front of my door. Some of his admirers were there watching me with jealous eyes.

"Gregor," he smiled and spoke loudly for the others to hear, "you study excessively. You must put aside your books and come to the dance with me."

I knew many of the boys planned to elevate that night. I suspected that the dance was scheduled to encourage us to elevate. No one had asked me to the previous year's dance but this year a few had asked me. I had refused all the invitations.

I saw the desire in Sean's eyes, but I did not wish to elevate with him or anyone else. I stammered, "Th-thank you but I d-don't want to go with you." My voice dropped into the sound of several of his followers hissing in disbelief.

Sean slammed his fist into my door, "You reject me! I thought you were saving yourself for me, Gregor. I thought you cared." His eyes were red and he was blinking away tears.

I realized how blunt I had been, I tried to put a hand on his shoulder he shook it off, "I move like an oxen when I try to dance. I did not want to embarrass you."

"That doesn't matter to me," Sean was crying openly, his followers had moved away giving us a space, "Ever since you came to school. You were different, I tried to help you fit in. I did it because I liked you. How could you humiliate me, Gregor?"

I spoke softly, "Sean, this is the truth from my heart. This isn't about you. I do not wish to be with anyone or to elevate. I did not mean to hurt you, I don't mean to hurt anyone."

He looked at me, intensely, "You aloof bastard!" and he ran down the hallway.

My insides were swirling and I felt emotionally battered. I went in to my room and locked the door behind me. I collapsed on to my mattress and fell asleep.

I was in the smith again and it was stifling hot. The air was filled with the sound of gigantic bellows blowing the fire hotter and hotter.

I woke from the dream, my room was pitch black and hot. I was covered in sweat. I could see nothing, but I could feel an immense presence, I realized the sound of the monstrous bellows in my dreams was the breathing of something huge.

The lights of my room suddenly came on and I saw a hulking chest swelling in time to the immense sound of breathing. The chest was perfectly golden tan. I looked up beyond the vast expanse of muscle. I took in my ruined door with the lock wrenched out of it. And then I saw Sean's handsome face contorted by rage.

The Culling Part 7

I was staring at a furious golden behemoth of rippling muscle.

Sean was that behemoth. His wide shoulders almost brushing both sides of my small chamber. I could barely see my ruined door past the vast expanse of his torso. Though his thick back was near the doorway of the room the vastness of his chest overhung my bed by several inches. I seemed to see nothing but those massive striated, mountains of muscle. The heat from Sean's body made the close room almost unbearably hot, I could not get a full breath.

"Ah puny Gregor awakes," Sean sneered and moved closer, turning sideways to stand on one side of my bed, his chest hung over three quarters of my mattress, I moved away, where the other side of my bed rested next to the opposite wall. I noticed that Sean's clothes still were in tatters around his massive frame, the craggy masses of muscle had destroyed most of his clothes so only bits of rags clung to his newly grown body.

"Congratulations, on your elevation, Sean," I croaked out the traditional words hoping to still his anger towards me.

"You see I didn't need your pathetic little prick," one of Sean's muscled hands shot out, ripping my sleeping clothes from my body in one blinding motion, "touching me to become a man."

Despite the heat, I was shivering pushing my shoulders into the wall behind me.

"Gaze upon a real man, Gregor the insignificant!" He tore the remains of his breeches from his rippling midsection revealing his truly massive manhood. Even though he was not erect, his cock had almost the same girth of one of my skinny forearms and hung down swinging almost half the length of his tree trunk legs. His testicles also hung low and heavy, as fat peaches in full ripeness. I could smell the scent of him, his sweat, his musk, the recent bout of sex all clung to him.

Even though his cock was soft, it dwarfed my own manhood significantly. I curled my legs up against my torso easily hiding my pathetic member.

"Truly magnificent." he smiled fondling himself and bounced his chest, SSSLLAAAMMM! SSSLLAAAMMM! His pec muscles crashed down. The force of his muscle bounce slammed me back without even touching me. My head cracked the plaster behind me.

"You are a meaningless insect I will barely notice crushing," I opened my mouth to scream for help. In a blur of motion one of Sean's monstrous hands engulfed the lower of part of my face completely smothering my cry. My jaw was completely immobile in his vise like grip. As if I weighed nothing, Sean lifted my body in the air. "First the insect must worship the god and beg for his life. I will honor you by allowing you to touch my magnificence, insect."

Pain ran through my body as I dangled in his grip and I began shrieking in my mind for help. I pictured mighty Jedrek.

"Why do you hesitate insect?" He gave my body a small shake a bare twitching of his wrist and I heard an audible crack from my back and pain like I had never known sheared across my senses. I almost blacked out.

"Does it break so easily then?" I could not see Sean as he spoke because of the waves of pain that bled red into my vision. Suddenly the pressure on my face was gone and I was resting on my bed.

I blinked up and saw the shaved head of Master Lorcan, one of our teachers. He clenched Sean's large forearm with his huge paw of a hand effortlessly crushing the hard muscles of the massive teenager's arm forcing him to drop me. His light brown goatee framed the grimace of his mouth. Sean for all his incredible muscle looked like a child next to the monstrous shirtless teacher. Master Lorcan's lightly furred and insanely thick chest plowed into Sean's comparatively puny pectorals forcing them to flatten backwards and submit to the teacher's superior strength and overwhelming size. "Ouch," Sean's deep voice whined as he struggled ineffectively against Master Lorcan's incredible power. Sean instinctively put his other hand up to block Master Lorcan where it looked childlike and vulnerable next to the vast, crushing muscularity of the teacher. Sean reminded me briefly of a house cat in the paws of a tiger.

In a voice several times deeper than Sean's, Master Lorcan said, "You never attack a non-elevated brother." The teacher tossed Sean up to my ceiling with a twitch of his thick forearm. As Sean's body slammed into my ceiling the teacher sang a short line and red lines of power twined around Sean's body pinning him helplessly to my ceiling.

Master Thornton turned to me, all anger vanished; his light brown eyes soft with concern. He crooned a sweet song and a healing warmth washed over me, my pain vanished. I sighed and suddenly felt very tired. I could feel the rock hard ripples of muscle in his arm as he carefully picked me up. "Sleep now, Gregor," he said softly, "All will be mended soon."

I succumbed to the tiredness and fell into blackness.

A golden light pressed through my eyelids. I blinked them open and saw Jedrek's face smiling above me. There was a golden sheen over everything. "Blessed awakening, Gregor. The light is a healing spell cast by the good Master Lorcan. You are out of danger but you must sleep some more." Wordlessly I fell once again into darkness.

I felt the warmth of natural sunlight on my face and blinked my eyes open. Gingerly, I tried to sit up. My back felt stiff but I was able to sit up right with no pain. "Good morrow Gregor". It was Jedrek. We were in a room with a long line of beds and windows overlooking the green common of the school.

I found my voice, "It is good to be awake and it is good to see you, Jedrek. I thought I would never speak or see again."

"Sean has been taken from the school. His shame is great."

"is that the justice for attempted murder in your great city, Jedrek? I think little enough of your civilization." I was startled by the bitterness of the words I was directing at this man who was perhaps my only friend in this place and who was bigger even than Master Lorcan.

Jedrek ignored my statement, "It was awful, Gregor but you accomplished something incredible. Sean had cast some simple dampening spells so no noise you could make would be heard by the school, but even though you have not come into power, you managed to call me while I was leagues away on the other side of the country. You overcame both the distance and Sean's magic with no formal spell. That is remarkable."

"You heard me when I screamed in my head?"

"Loud and clear. As if I was as close to you as I am now. I quickly alerted the staff and Master Lorcan intervened. I arrived soon after." Jedrek brought up one of his huge forearms to stroke his beard, "Gregor, we're going to put you into some of the advanced magic classes. It is practically unheard of for one before elevation."

"I am honored," I twisted the words out as sarcastically as I could manage, "but I do not know if I wish to continue these studies or elevate myself, Jedrek. Most of what I've seen justifies the barbarism of the culling. I do not wish to be a part of that same violence."

Jedrek seemed to hear my anger for the first time, "It is fully your choice, Gregor. No one can force the elevation on you. But accept the training of your gifts. They are yours regardless of your feelings and you should understand the use of them. If I may suggest," he continued looking sternly at me, "it is unwise to close your heart Gregor. Not necessarily because of the power but because I fear the bitterness you have growing in you. Living a life alone is not something I would wish on anyone."

"I'll think about it," I shot back, of course intending to do the opposite.

I did compromise ultimately. I enrolled in the advanced magic courses but did not allow myself to get any closer to my fellow students.

I was the only non-elevated member of the class and I could not sustain the power of the other class members and even though my efforts were comparatively small, they left me exhausted. I was gifted though, particularly in astral travel. For some reason, leaving my body behind offered little trouble.

One night, well into my third year, I lay in my room and began the ritual. I was floating up above my body looking down. No one was observing, I could roam as far as I pleased. I spun up and up kicking through clouds high to where the air thins and runs out, up and up until there was nothing between me and the stars and I was staring down not at the flat map of the world I had pictured since I was young but at the spinning ball that the Brotherhood claimed the world to be.

There were clusters of lights scattered across the globe. Most of it was dark though. One region sparkled with light almost too brilliant to see. I flew closer and recognized the lands of the Taiga. I skimmed near to the lights but none seemed aware I passed.

In the northernmost tip the cluster of lights became too brilliant to see. I flew closer and the waves of brilliance buffeted me, tearing at my astral form. I pulled from deep within and brought my form in together against the waves of and flew into the great energy within this massive light cluster.

It was aware of me and one brilliant piece of light detached itself and hovered near me. In a voice that threatened to shatter me it asked, "Why do you disturb us little one?"

"I mean no harm," the creature chuckled when I said this but let me continue, "I only wished to understand what you are. None of the other dimmer lights even acknowledge me."

"The lights you see are the power of the Brotherhood. If you look very closely you will see very dim glows for the other wizards and the wise women. The glows represent the power that we have in this plane of existence. We are the old ones of the Brotherhood. As we age, we grow ever stronger until we have grown too large and strong, we threaten the earth herself with our movements. We wait in this valley to detach from the physical altogether. Those of us who remain, still care of earthly things and we know of you, Gregor, who brings change to the world."

Despite the claim of earth destroying power, the creature did not share the same arrogance as the Brotherhood I had met.

"You are correct, Gregor. We who have seen the warp and the woof in the world, we know our place and the place of others. It is humbling and we see the great pride of the Brotherhood as a flaw in our own pattern. You are one who reshapes patterns." it paused and I could see light sparkling between the creatures, "It is decided by those of us who remain to begin your instruction in the deep magics that come with age. We begin tonight."

And so the elders of the Brotherhood taught me skills no one knows until they are ready to depart this earthly coil. During the days I was cold and aloof and in the night I enjoyed the warmth of their fellowship. I worried that most of what they taught me, I had not the power to accomplish, "Gregor, that is of no moment to us, rather we see this as correct according to all the paths, you could follow, if you never ascend to power, this knowledge still matters." Even though I never spoke about my personal situation, the elders knew it well.

Years passed and I remained steadfast in my vow, remembering Sean's rage and Jedrek's bloodshed. At 22, I became a teacher at the Great School. I taught the beginning magic courses. I was the only one of the faculty who had not been elevated. Occasionally Jedrek would visit the school to bring a student from outside and he would look at me with disappointment.

At 25, I seemed older than my years and more closed. I did not like to spend time among my fellow teachers, their great size and power unnerved me. And I felt they looked on me with pity or as an oddity. The normal people generally seemed coarse but they reminded me more of the people from my old home. None of the men would be interested in me. Perhaps, in moments when I saw myself clearly, I could see a bitterness emerging in me, but I ignored it and continued on. I did feel happiness and warmth among the elders on the nights I left my body behind, but that was the only fellowship I allowed myself.

Sometime during that year, I remember bending over my students' exams and hearing a deep voice clearing, I looked up into the deepest blue eyes I had ever seen. The man in front of me looked to be in his late thirties, he was not elevated but he had the power aura of one of the Brotherhood. He had thick black hair and the shadow of a beard on his face. I could see lines of pain around his eyes, he had suffered before coming to his life with the Brotherhood. His skin tone was similar to mine and his features reminded me of home.

"Master Gregor? I have been moved into your class, my name is Michael."

I found myself beaming at him as I stood up and extended my hand. He was slightly taller than me and even though I tried to keep my eyes on his handsome face, I glimpsed some of his dark hair peaking from his shirt collar above his broad chest.

"Well met, Michael. Welcome to my class," I greeted him more warmly than I intended. "We are in the middle of the year of instruction, so there is much to catch up. There are books in the library and I do have office hours I'm available to help." It was my standard speech to mid year transfers and yet it felt as if I was offering him something more.

His smile dimpled his face, "I look forward to learning all that I can from you." He gave my hand an extra squeeze and went to an empty desk to sit down. He towered over the majority of my class, which ranged from 11 to 14 in years.

As I presented the day's lesson, I found my eyes frequently wandering over to Michael. The other students predictably treated this non-elevated grown man in their midst with derision. I often dealt with the same derision at the beginning of each school year with a new class. He ignored them utterly and frowned in concentration at the lesson. I could see him earnestly trying to catch all the information with his awkward scrawl in his notebook. I was aware of the dusting of his black hair on the back of his hand.

At the end of the session, I approached him with a smile, "How did you find the class, Michael?"

"This one is very different for me. Where I come from, only women can do magic. There are stories of men that do. It is like a different language for my brain." He shrugged his meaty shoulders and gave me a crooked smile, "I never thought I would be expected to do such things. I thank you, Master," and he bobbed his head down in my direction and hurried from the class with a long stride.

That evening I was in my gigantic office pacing around the huge desk trying to come up with a better introduction to the Song of Openings when I heard a knock on the door.

"Come in," I said in an annoyed tone.

There was a deep grunt as Michael pushed my heavy office door open. I could smell flowers on him although he carried only a stack of books.

"Master Gregor, I apologize for the lateness of the hour. I need help with this Song of Beginnings. Even though I know my music some of these symbols don't make sense."

"Michael," I heard my voice become warm and good humored, "please come in." I explained the symbols and the stances of power. Michael was even able to summon a feeble blue glow in the room. It was late and the exertion left him looking drawn as it does for those who are not elevated.

"I don't understand, Master, how it is that those who are not elevated and not of the Brotherhood can cast great magics, are we weaker than them before we elevate?" he asked as he sat down after the spell.

"Power grows somewhat as we use it and it takes less from us. But for the great magics, the wizards rely on the great towers which funnel huge energies into their beings. The wise women rely on time and repetition to cast their great magics so they are not expending such huge energies all at once. The Brotherhood are the only people that can call on the great magics instantly and without special equipment. But that ability comes after elevation."

I continued, "I know it is not completely orthodox, but would you care to dine with me this evening, Michael? There is a small establishment near the school that serves..."

"Yes!" Michael interrupted me grinning broadly.

Even though the food is better at the restaurants ran by the Brotherhood, I usually went to the non-Brotherhood establishments. The furniture was less awkward and the noise from the families kept me out of myself.

As we sat down, a lusty wench flirted openly with Michael as she served us our ale.

"It has been a time since I beheld a man as comely as you in this heap, sir," she said pushing her ample breasts forward.

Michael blushed, barely glancing at her display, "Many thanks, goodlady. But I am taken this evening," he said beaming a smile at me.

She instantly stood straight and one of her hands flew up to cover her breasts, "But you're so old...Many pardons for my insolence sirs, I will pay for your meal."

Michael let out a deep laugh, "We will gladly pay for our meal goodlady and we welcome your high spirits. If I were with someone less handsome, your beauty would be turning my head."

She looked confused by Michael's answer but gave a small smile, bobbed a curtsy, "Many thanks, sir" and sped away without saying another word.

"They all act like scared rabbits around us. At least they don't come with knives or stones for throwing, eh Gregor?" he winked good naturedly but I could see he was pushing away something dark in his mind.

Our server returned with a young man who had obviously been working in the kitchen, his apron was grease stained. He looked nervously at us both as he attempted a smile. "This is Liam," the waitress said, "if he pleases you, he can be your server tonight."

"Woman!" Michael growled, "Allow this comely lad to return to the serious business of preparing meals, as you return to the business of bringing ours! Only your slowness in this displeases us, in all other ways you are quite pleasing."

They sped away and she returned with fragrantly steaming plates heaped high with roasted beef, boiled potatoes and carrots. She bobbed again and Michael winked at her.

I felt dumbfounded at Michael's easy manner with everyone, "That was impressive. I usually just smile and try to ignore the flirting."

Michael was eating heartily, "I did not want to mislead or hurt her feelings. I have spent much of my life pretending."

I started to eat. The food was salty and especially good with the cold ale to wash it down. I looked at Michael and I found myself responding to a man's handsomeness for the first time since Sean. The feeling did not scare me and I could feel myself once again smiling openly at him.

"Michael, how is it a man as handsome and likable as you has not come into the power? I would think you would have to fight off potential suitors."

"I could ask you the same thing Gregor." Michael smiled with genuine warmth, took a deep drink of the ale and continued, "It is a bit of a tale. Like you, I come from Mediolanum a poor place that is faithful to the tradition of the culling. I knew very young that I was drawn to men in the wrong ways and I lived in terrible fear of the culling. I was not brave enough to take my fate, I wanted to live even if I became a monster."

"I ran away, just before the thaw. I had planned a long time and had hollowed a tree and secreted what supplies I might through the previous year. It was a hard time but I was good at setting traps and there was plentiful wildlife. I moved as far as I could in the wilderness for those years. I survived without touching other human lives. I was now a man and while I had grown taller and stronger, I had not turned into a monster.

I did train a hunting bird which became my entrance back to village life."

"I came at last to a village far from my own. The people marveled at my hunting skills and the bird of prey at my command. I quickly earned a place within the village, but I was frightened that they would see I felt no desire for women. So I befriended then married a woman. Mara was my wife's name.I found ways of pleasing her and dreamed of men as I did. She was a good woman and we had a happy life. Soon, we were blessed with a son. We named him Caleb for Mara's grandfather."

Michael took another drink of his ale, his eyes were dark with memory, "Ten years we lived happily until it was time for Caleb's first culling. I wanted to move away from the village and keep Caleb from the culling. Mara turned on me then, she called me weak. We did appear at the culling with the other families and while Caleb passed the wise woman pointed at me. The villagers picked up stones and tried to kill me as I once again fled into the forest. I lived there for a time before Jedrek found me and brought me here. That is the sum of it." He finished and spread his hands out and smiled a crooked smile.

I told him my story and he listened intently, his blue eyes soft with concern, "Such anger in your heart Gregor," we were walking towards my quarters at the school. We were outside but the moon was so bright I could see Michael clearly. "The Brotherhood has saved our lives, there is much that is good here."

I felt an emotion rising in me and I heard myself say, "When I close my eyes I see Jedrek killing those men without a thought, I see my students' arrogance. All I see closes my heart. I cannot feel love for what I am," the words ripped my heart.

Michael, did not answer he stopped walking turned and faced me. He put an arm on my shoulder. I did not resist him. He drew me close and my body was pressing into his. I could feel his warmth pushing away the cool of the night.

He spoke softly into my ear, "You are a good man, Gregor. Love yourself a little."

Gently he took my chin in his hand, and I could see his face framed by the night sky. All the stars were shining bright...

and then he kissed me.

The Culling Part 8

The kiss was warm and sweet. His lips met mine and I felt completed, my body responded. Heat and such longing swept over me. I closed my eyes and broke the contact, "We must not do this, Michael." I said, my breath ragged with strangled desire.

His voice was soft, "We do not have to travel this road alone. Wherever it leads, I will be there holding your hand, Gregor." I was overcome and rushed forward in a clumsy attempt at a kiss, my tongue inexpertly pushing into his mouth, I pushed him hard against the door squeezing him into me, the closeness, the sense of him driving away the dark thoughts and bringing on such pleasure. I could feel the hardness of his manhood through the fabric of his breeches and I felt my own member stiffen even more.

I heard a low moaning noise and I realized it was coming from me, from deep inside my chest. My door swung open and I felt Michael's warm, calloused hand in mine as I led him through the darkness of my rooms to my sleeping chamber. I switched on the lamps as we entered.

I turned to Michael who looked serious and directly into my eyes, he gently cupped my head in his hand and pulled me closer. I opened my mouth slightly as we kissed even deeper. My hands started to roam over his body, feeling him. I tucked one hand under his shirt feeling the warm, hairiness of his chest. I was twisting awkwardly and he confidently stripped off his shirt and then removed mine. His strong hands began caressing my chest and I heard his voice low and husky, "Gregor, such beauty." He tenderly bent low and his tongue played with my nipples. A small moan escaped me and instinctually my hands travelled to his waist and started fumbling with his breeches.

Roughly, I pulled them down exposing his manhood. A dark patch of hair crowned his hard cock. Michael held very still as I stroked his penis, feeling the silky skin over the hard veins. I could feel the throb of his heartbeat through my hand and the sense of connection was palpable. I looked into his beautiful eyes and then lowered myself and gently took him into my mouth. He lay his hands on my shoulders kneading them gently as his body responded to me.

Michael and I took turns pleasuring each other first slow and gentle and then with increasing urgency and hardness. Soon, I found my self forcibly pushing my cock into him again and again, sweat pouring off my body. My mind was full of nothing but the moment, the pleasure. My body knew its movements, like the sun rising, I felt at one with the course of nature. I was full of everything and nothing. A tingling that had built to the breaking point released as I came inside him. Michael began to roar simultaneously shootIng ropes of ejaculate onto my floor.

His body convulsed with the orgasm and I could see his skin turn red, flushed with effort. I gripped his shoulders still in the throes of my own pleasure and I could feel the muscle of his shoulders, hardening growing. Michael bent his arms forward, fists clenched flexing his torso as his fists met each other in front of his abdomen. He bellowed and my hand was forced up and open by the ridges of hard muscle pushing up around his thickening neck.

An enormous sense of well being and vitality filled my body. I felt alive, alert to everything around me. I began to feel a pressure growing inside me, a swelling. There was a roaring in my ears louder than Michael's outcries. An eruption of heat from my chest ran outwards filling my whole body. The veins in my hands and arms were rigid. My arms were pushed up by the pressure away from Michael's body. They were forced out stretched away from my sides. My biceps violently contracted bending my arms at the elbows. I flexed, hard, my arms felt tight and then I felt something hard pushing up against the knuckles of my fist and my forearm. I turned my head and stared at my left arm. My vision was filled with the new, vast expanse of my arm. I could not take it all in with one glance. My eyes swept lower to take in the lowest part of my flexed arm which curved with a heavy cable of thick muscle laying a massive foundation for the burgeoning peak of muscle far above it. My eyes traveled up the dense muscle, taking in the striations and the thick veins feeding the muscle running under the skin. The big bulging roundness of the lower biceps threaded with hard sinewy muscle. Finally my eyes reached the top of the mountainous muscle which crested above my eye level. It's gigantic size was pushing up under my fist and forearm like a craggy piece of cannon shot.

My arms were bigger by an order of magnitude than Jedrek's mighty limbs. I turned and my other arm perfectly matched the other in size. I bellowed and powered out of my flex and then flexed the titanic peaks again....harder feeling the skin stretch tighter as the muscles strained and pumped even bigger. A sense of power and strength filled me overwhelming everything else.

I noticed movement just below my line of sight. It was my chest. I looked down at the two massive slabs of muscle heaving out from my body. I once again pushed down my pumped up arms watching my muscular chest bulge even larger as my heavy arms came down. The pecs distended and rounded out in a rippling action. It was difficult to get my big arms to touch my waist, not only because of the pump, but because my back and chest had widened so far that when my arms hung straight they were nowhere near my waist. I once again turned right, surveying the expanse of my shoulders, they curved up thick and round, massive cables crawled over the caps of muscle as I moved my arms.

Something moist was poking into the bottom of my chest, slicking the muscled gutter between my protuberant pectorals. Stiffly I moved my big hand under my chest shelf to investigate. My hand bumped into a thick, banded steel like rod, running up my midsection; my cock. I lightly massaged the gnarled log like appendage, enjoying the tingling wave of pleasure from my light touch. The swollen head pushed more urgently and deeply into my chest as my member responded with tumescence.

I moved my hand to my midsection and my fingers found big squares of muscle, my thick fingers actually caught in the space between the flexing muscle. I tentatively pushed the unyielding surface of my crosshatched stomach. I ran my hand lower stroking the long muscles of my thigh, feeling the deeply striated muscles as I ran my hand across my leg which now had a girth greater than an oak barrel. I pushed my foot forward and was shocked at the monstrous appearance of my immense lower leg, then I noticed appreciatively how beautifully the muscles tucked tightly into the knee and then flared out again into titanically huge calves. I flexed my legs watching the throbbing musculature move in waves across this new musclescape of my body.

At the same time of this enormous physical power, I also felt all the constraints to my magic dropping away. It was as if I had been in a closed dark room and then a door opened and then the wall and then I was on a limitless plain able to see all and there were stars and all of the cosmos and universes within universes. I could feel it all spreading out around me. My consciousness seemed everywhere. I dropped back into the room as I became aware of harsh sounds.

I heard myself or Michael or both of us growling, making low guttural noises like animals. I forced my attention away from my own vastitude to Michael. He stood taller than me and was slightly but obviously bigger than Jedrek even when Jedrek was fully pumped. His body was slick with sweat and the ejaculate he had earlier spewed. His musculature undulated and shined as he moved. His dark hair and pale skin, flushed from the transformation, accentuated his throbbing physique. He looked lost in wonder at his transformation and then looked at me in the with those gorgeous eyes of his and smiled with such a sweet look of affection. I found myself grinning back in wonder at the openness of his smile. Then his eyes travelled downwards to the rest of me and he dropped to his knees before me, "Gregor, the great," he said reverently and then gently began to stroke my bloated manhood. "You are magnificent."

I gripped his colossal shoulders and effortlessly powered his massive bulk up so he was standing in front of me. I looked up at him feeling comforted by his familiar smile. I felt an ache in my heart and the words came from me as I looked straight into his eyes, "Michael, this is all you, you fulfill me, you humble me, you make me whole. The world as it was before you is unthinkable to me."

Michael did not reply, but his eyes became shiny with emotion and he tenderly kissed me.

We lay on the bed. My chambers had been built for one of the teachers at the Great School and I had always felt lost in their massiveness. Now our gigantic bodies fit the bed's dimensions perfectly. I pulled myself close to Michael, laying my head on the hardness of his chest, feeling the fine soft hair spread across it. I felt the rising and falling of his breathing and allowed contentment to fill me as Michael stroked my hair.

I looked down at the riot of muscle displayed in our intertwined bodies and an unease crept through me, I whispered, "What have we done? What have we become?"

Michael, clearly unruffled by my question or our transformation, began to stroke my manhood as he answered, "We are who we always have been." He paused as my cock stiffened at his touch and an evil grin played across his face, "we just have so much more to play with now." and he pulled hard on my erection and let go. My appendage struck across my midsection like a large piece of wood making a THWAAAACK sound.

I felt an evil chuckle rising in me and bounced the muscles of my monstrous chest. The titanic slabs slammed down shaking the room with their force. Michael's mighty body easily absorbed the impact and his grin widened, "Ah my lover likes to play rough? I believe I can accommodate." he blew the words tenderly in my ear and then we explored our massive bodies and ravaged them anew with our passion. Once again at the peak of orgasm, I felt totally at one with the universe; in bliss.

After a time, Michael moved from our bed, towards the looking glass, while I savored the amazing sight of the rippling of muscle from his movement. Michael, the magnificent. His proportions filled the wide glass, as he surveyed himself. "Gregor, come stand with me," he said. I came and stood in front of him. I looked at our reflections. I was half a head shorter and the insane broadness of my brawn overwhelmed the size of the mirror and mostly obscured Michael's magnificence. The glass was not wide enough for me to see both of my shoulders at once.

He rested his head on my shoulder next to mine staring at us, "We were poor farmers' sons who thought we would be killed and now we have a strength and a power that an emperor would envy. I will not let either of us regret that, Gregor"

"But with such power comes a heavy responsibility, Michael."

"Gregor, I am convinced we have the strength for that. But you are my intended and there is a time for all couples when they are allowed to play. I wish to celebrate!" Michael's deep pleasing voice began to hum a song and he moved his body to the rhythm of it, first swayIng both our hips in time as he pushed into me.

He then gripped my hands and crossed our arms in front of my chest and he began to sing in my ear, "I want to take you away. Let's escape into someplace where we both can play."

The words were simple and he did not follow form, but he was summoning powers and with a force to be answered. The walls of my room dissolved around us in a haze of blue mist. The mist began to seep away and we were standing naked in a clearing surrounded by lush, tropical vegetation. I could feel the sudden heat and humidity. The sky was clear blue dotted by clouds. A gentle and warm wind blew over our bodies. There was a constant rumbling sound in the distance.

I heard large animal sounds in the foliage around us. Some part of me thought of our nakedness as vulnerability, then the thought of what we had become occurred to me and I didn't worry that my tree branch of a cock was swinging exposed. I felt no fear. There was no wild creature capable of hurting us. I knew there was nowhere on earth that we could encounter a force capable of doing us harm. "Michael, where have you taken us naked in the middle of the day?"

He planted a kiss on my head, "I did not think I could actually do this. Do not worry my sweet, if this place is as I understand, there will be no one to spy your ample charms."

He strode forward towards the rumbling sound and once again, despite my current apprehensions, I enjoyed the view of my lover's backside. The earth was soft under my feet but as we moved forward it became rocky, and I felt no discomfort from the change. My feet were much tougher now than they had been.

Michael broke through one last swath of jungle and, "Here we are, Gregor! Feast your eyes." Ahead the complete horizon was filled with a roaring waterfall several hundred feet high. The thing was miles wide with white water crashing over the rocks in a tremendous rush water filling a lake that was miles wide and fed several large rivers. The base of the gigantic falls were shrouded in mist from the tremendous force of the gallons of churning water. Surrounding the lake were sands and lush vegetation.

"It is beautiful. How did you know of this?" I asked.

"When I was a boy there was a teacher who came for a time and tried to school us rough children from the village. Only me and a few of the girls came, probably because we found him handsome rather than from a desire to learn. He had books, it was the first time I had seen such things, and in one there were paintings of this place and the teacher said that many of the Emperor Durness' men had died trying to get to this region. It is surrounded by treacherous land and fed by a wild and lethally unnavigable river. Only a few survived to write and draw pictures of this place I always wanted to see it."

I lay down on the sand and felt the deep warmth penetrate my body. "Gregor, it is not time to rest, it is time to play!" Michael shouted as his mighty, tree trunk dwarfing legs launched him into the air. He sped up in a blur so high he disappeared into the clouds above. Several minutes passed as I scanned the sky for his return. Michael broke the cloud cover again slowly falling his body spread eagled, his tremendous back flexed, stretching away from his body. He seemed to be slowing his downward fall. He stayed suspended for a time and then curled his body up into a big ball of muscle and plummeted downwards. I knew he couldn't be hurt but still found myself wincing when he impacted the water. Millions of gallons of water erupted from around the boulder of muscle. The splash spewed water into the air higher than the height of the falls, briefly obscuring the sun with a cloud of droplets and raining down on the landscape around the lake drenching me with refreshing water.

Michael's head bobbed up from the water and then, even though the lake was deep he somehow managed to "stand" up in the water leveraging his leviathan's body largely out of the water upright while somehow treading water underneath the surface. He looked like he was standing in a pool up to his knees. His drenched body glistened in the sunlight. He planted his fists on his waist and slowly spread his back wider. His muscles tensed and heaved as he flexed and expanded his upper body. His stomach muscles hardened into a rippling grid. His legs bulged outwards as his body looked like it hardened into living stone. I responded to his muscle challenge by diving into the cool water. The heaviness of my body dragged me to the bottom, and the vast current pushed me backwards. My body effortlessly swam against those forces. I might as well have been in a still pool. I swam along the deep rocky bottom of the lake. I noticed no sign of fish or plant life in the clear water. There was no need for me to breathe as I stayed under for several minutes. I noticed a great churning several feet above me in the water. Michael.

I kicked up, effortlessly speeding through the liquid space towards his kicking legs. I blasted out of the water, maybe twenty feet in the air spraying Michael. Michael had started flexing his great arms into an intimidatingly huge double biceps pose. His mountainous biceps each rounded up bigger than his head with hard muscle. I landed near him and "stood" in the water matching his pose. Matched and exceeded it, my arms eclipsed even Michael's inhumanly large arms. I put one of my gigantic arms next to his and flexed it watching its himalayan peak dwarf his own monstrous muscle.q Michael moved towards me and kissed the top of my arm and the whispered in my ear, "Race you to the top of the falls!" he instantly submerged and in seconds I saw his pale body cleaving the blue water streaking towards the distant falls.

I let my body sink into the cool underwater and then kicked against the current. My body was unstoppable and this current that a legion of rowers could not have battled was nothing. Whatever I needed to battle the water my body gave me easily. I looked up to see the amazing sight or Michael's wide, muscled back easily splitting through the falls as he sped swimming up them. I put some effort and like lightning I shot up the falling water at blinding speed passing Michael and then managed to "stand" in the savagely surging waters with my hands on my hips looking impatient as he topped the falls a second later.

The crashing waters thundered around us throwing up rainbows around our impervious bodies and Michael laughed louder than the great waters. "It is good, is it not?" he bellowed against the huge noise.

I nodded. Michael leapt into the air spinning and dove once again in the lake below quickly appearing on the distant shore and laying in the sun. I leapt high in the air from treading the churning water, and thumped down on my feet next to him, my immense weight shaking the ground. Michael reached out an arm and affectionately gripped my hard calf muscles.

He stood again looking at the landscape surrounding us, "Gregor, watch this." Michael opened his mouth wide and inhaled. All of the mist in the area disappeared down his throat. Then closing his lips together he started to blow. The force of several hurricanes exploded from his lungs and blew out from between his lips. Using his cheek muscles to control the direction of the air, Michael blasted the falls with super-cold air. Well, not really air, more of a cloud of compressed cold that contained absolutely no heat energy. The giant clouds of heat absorbing matter engulfed the miles of waterfall. There was an eerie cracking, crackling sound, and then all was quiet. No rushing of air from Michael, no roaring of millions of gallons of water cascading down the cliffs. Everything was silent.  Even the animal sounds were stilled.

One part of me felt a horror at how easily Michael, literally, blew away the laws of the natural world. Another part felt excited at the potential in my own body. With the absence of any life to be harmed, I felt free to try my own, "trick".

I bent down and extended my arm and gently knocked on the ice. It felt solid, frozen harder than a rock clear through.

I rammed both my fists deep inside the super solid structure securing my grip. I felt my muscles expand even greater as they delivered the strength for what I wished. I could see my forearms bulge as the cables of muscles thickened and writhed as I started to pull. I began to stand up. All around us for miles there was a cracking noise and the ground started to rumble and shake, as I lifted the entirety of the frozen lake and waterfall into the air. Hundreds feet thick of super-frozen water, several miles across in every direction, encasing rocks and detritus moved cleanly out of the lake bed in one piece. The river rushed in underneath and filled the lake basin with water that crashed on the shores and down the riverbeds as it roared in. I held the frozen mass of thousands tons of water easily aloft. My body seemed to have an endless supply of strength and this did not tax it at all. The frozen mass looked like a strange, massive crystal sculpture. Michael gaped as I gingerly removed one hand and held it all with just one arm. My arm easily supported the colossal bulk. With my free arm, I drew Michael near me and nibbled on his ear, "Watch this, Michael" I whispered against the sound of the restored falls.

I opened my mouth wide and drew in a massive amount of air, the vegetation around us shaking and bending towards us. I held it deep with in my massive chest, concentrating and compressing it, heating it and then I directed the superheated mass upwards at the harder than granite ice sculpture I held. Upon impact of the super hot air, the ice exploded into steam forming a cloud over the lake. Boulders and debris that had been suspended in ice moments before rained back down into the lake. Warm precipitation from the cloud fell down over the lake as I blew it higher, using normal breath now. A huge rainbow stretched over the valley.

We stared at the beauty shoulder to shoulder, with our heads craned in and touching. "Let us promise to try and do no harm," I said staring at the rainbow and stroking Michael's lower back.

"Michael grasped my hand in his, "I promise to never do harm, unless it is to protect from greater harm," he kissed me on the cheek.

"I promise as well," I said solemnly.

Michael smiled crookedly at me, "We are monsters now, Gregor."