Arric

“You’re going to wear a hole in that rug,” Isla said, drawing me back to reality.

“What?”

We’d been home for about a week, and I was having a hard time ‘relaxing.’

She pointed to the floor. “If you keep pacing back and forth like that, you’re gonna wear a hole in that incredibly old, irreplaceable, rug.”

I looked down to see the rug in question. “If it’s so old, why have it on the floor?” I asked.

“Probably because it’s in a room that’s hardly ever used,” she replied.

“Why’s that?”

She shrugged. “Because it’s at the far end of the house, away from everyone else.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Then why did you choose it for us?”

“Beeeecause it’s at the far end of the house, away from everyone else,” she grinned devilishly.

“Oh, I see.”

“Good,” she said with a smile before licking her lips. “So, is there something I can do to help you to stop grinding your gears over there?”

“I need a workout.”

“Oh, good,” she said excitedly before whipping off her t-shirt and throwing it at me.

“Hold on,” I said, handing it back to her. “I’m so sorry babe, but I think I’d tear you apart if we had sex right now.”

“I fail to hear a problem,” she said, causing my cock to go rock hard.

“Shit, Isla,” I groaned. “I’m already in enough pain.”

“Oh, my god, love, are you really in pain? I’m sorry, I thought you were joking.” Isla’s tone shifting from sexy to concerned, then confused. “Wait a minute. Didn’t you already work out today? Is that why you’re sore?”

“Twice,” I confirmed. “I got up at five this morning and did a full work out, and then lifted again after breakfast.”

“Did you overexert yourself?”

“No, and that’s the problem!” I bellowed.

“I’m lost,” she said, patiently.

“Imagine being hungry, but no matter how much you ate, never feeling full.”

“That would be horrible.”

“That’s how I feel when I work out right now. No matter how hard I push myself, it’s not enough. My body craves more. I’m afraid if I got physical with you right now, I might not be able to find my off switch. I can’t even trust my own body right now,” I said, my tattoos glowing red. This time signifying my anger at the enemy within.

Isla stood and placed both of her hands on my chest, immediately turning the red glow to amber. “Look at me,” she said, drawing my gaze to hers before bending us into a private moment.

Typically, Isla’s touch would calm me immediately and stop me from glowing. This time, however, we remained bathed in light, frozen in time. I could feel her attempts to soothe me, but my body resisted. Rejecting any substitute for the only thing it truly craved.

Battle.

Isla broke our embrace and I finally stopped glowing... sort of. My tattoos were more of a yellow, less amber, but still brighter than I’d like.

“I have an idea,” Isla said excitedly before taking my hand.

“Where are we going?”

“We’re not going anywhere. You are going to stay in this room, and I am going to find my dad and uncles,” she said, donning her shirt again before opening the door.

“Why?”

“Because we’re gonna need them for what I have in mind. Plus, I don’t think they’d want to miss out on all the fun.”

* * *

An hour and a half later, Isla came back to find me climbing the walls.

“Where have you been?” I demanded.

“Come with me,” she said, ignoring my question, taking my hand, and guiding me out of the room.

“What’s going on? Where are we going?”

“Not far, just out to the back lawn,” she replied with a mischievous smile.

“Why? What’s so special about the back lawn?”

“Nothing, in particular. But, I have something special planned for you.”

“For me? What is it?”

“If I told you, that would spoil the surprise. And no trying to read my thoughts, either,” she bossed. “That would be cheating, and cheating is rude.”

“I promise not to be rude,” I said, unable to contain my smile. I had no idea when the last time someone had done something nice for me was, but I was deeply touched that Isla had done so. Whatever it was.

As we neared the top the hill which led to the back lawn, Isla slowed our steps.

“Before we get there, I want to warn you that some of my family will be joining us.”

“Oh, okay,” I replied. “Who?”

Isla said nothing, but as we crested the hill my question was answered. As far as I could tell, every one of the Gunnach family were present on the field. The men were dressed in their kilts and the clan tartan was proudly on display. A section of portable bleachers had been set up along with three competition stations, including a hammer throw, an over the bar weight, and of course a caber toss. In the bleachers were Isla’s mother, Pepper, sitting beside Queen Samantha, as well as a few of Isla’s cousins, and various other female family members. On the field, the men were warming up and joking loudly with one another.

“What is this?” I asked, amazed at what I was seeing.

“Welcome to the first annual Mann Invitational Tournament,” Isla said, proudly displaying her handywork. “I figure if you needed a proper Cauld Ane workout, the other boys were probably long overdue.”

“But...how...how did you put all of this together so quickly?”

“It’s amazing what a girl can accomplish with a couple dozen Cauld Ane and Winston at her disposal.”

“That’s it. It’s official. You’re planning all of our kids’ birthday parties,” I said, leaning down for a kiss, but pausing when I saw tears sliding down her face. “What’s the matter, babe? Did I say something wrong?”

“No,” she said, smiling up at me. “That’s just the first time you’ve mentioned us having children together and it...it just came out so...naturally. I wasn’t expecting it, that’s all.”

“Wasn’t expecting it, and it made you happy?” I asked.

“Aye,” she said.

I pulled her close and kissed her as deeply as our physical bonds would allow.

“I still can’t believe you did all this for me,” I said, holding her close.

“You said you needed to exert yourself, and I felt bad that you came all this way for the games and never got to compete.”

“No,” I corrected. “I came all this way to meet you.”

“Good answer,” she said, before kissing me again. “Now, go and have your fun with the big smelly men,” Isla said before smacking me on the bum and shoving me towards the field.

“Come on, son! Come suit up so we can show you how we do things around here,” Isla’s father called out, holding up my kilt. “I promise, we’ll go easy on you,” he said to laughs all around.

It was only as I got closer to the group that I noticed all the competition equipment was larger, heavier, and set up higher than usual. With no humans around or secrets to protect, here the family was free to play without constraint or fear. Along with Connall, on the field were Brodie Gunnach, Alasdair, Duncan McKenzie, Dalton Moore, and king Kade himself. There were a few other men I’d met briefly at our handfasting but hadn’t interacted with much. I had a feeling we’d all know each other a bit better after today.

“This equipment’s been sitting in the storage sheds for a while now. Apparently, my daughter felt it was time we dusted it off,” Connall Gunnach said, handing me my kilt.

“Looks like fun,” I said.

“That’s because you’ve never competed against Clan Gunnach before,” he said to grunts and laughs all around.

“Don’t forget, brother. He’s an oracle,” Kade said. “And we don’t yet know what he’s capable of.”

“He’s a shiny new toy, barely out of his shrink-wrap,” he taunted.

“Okay, how ’bout I get changed and you can do the honors of showing me how to swing that hammer,” I said, pointing to what looked like Thor’s Mjolnir laying on the ground.

“The ladies change rooms are just over there,” Connall said, pointing to a nearby hedgerow.

“I’m good here,” I said, turning away from the bleachers before taking off my shoes and dropping my pants.

I fastened the belts on my kilt and put my shoes back on before turning to face the crowd of women who were all now hooting and shouting.

“Alright, Magic Mike. Let’s see how you do with your clothes on,” Isla’s father said, picking up the hammer by its heavy leather handle strap.

Normally in modern competition the device used is a ‘hammer’ in name only, as the end is a sphere, attached to a long flexible handle. This thing, on the other hand, was the real deal.

“What’s the matter, boy? Is our gear a little different than what you’re used to?” Connall asked.

“Different to what I’ve seen in books, but I’ve never done any of this before, so I guess it’s all the same to me.”

“You mean you came here all the way from America to compete against seasoned athletes and you’ve never so much as tossed a hammer?”

“I guess so, yeah.”

“It’s a good thing you didn’t compete after all. Those guys would have cleaned your clock,” Brodie Gunnach said.

“I don’t know,” I replied. “The guys at the gym showed me clips on the internet. Nothing looked all that complicated to me.”

The crowd of men groaned and jeered.

“This isn’t the internet, boy. And these aren’t your typical games. This is Castle Gunnach,” Connall said, stepping up to a white chalk line that had been sprayed onto the grass. “So, please allow me to show you how we do things around here.”

I backed up and joined the others a safe distance away. If there was such a thing.

“A competition hammer is typically around seven kilos,” Kade whispered. “Ours weighs twenty-five. And those flags out there mark distance,” he said, pointing.

“How far will he be able to throw?”

“The human record is around seventy-five meters.”

“That’s almost two-hundred and fifty feet,” I said.

Kade smiled wide. “Our closest flag is three hundred feet away.”

Connell began swinging the hammer over his head. His feet digging into the earth below him as he spun. Once he’d completed five revolutions, he released the hammer and it sailed through the air with ease, landing well over five hundred feet away.

Cheers erupted from both the spectators and competitors alike as Connell basked in the applause of a spectacular, and clearly unhuman, throw.

“I can see why you don’t let the Cauld Ane compete in your games, Kade.”

“Remember what Haddi told you,” Kade said. “Your increased strength will come to you as you need it, but you can’t force it. You must let your powers flow through you.”

I nodded, then walked out to the pitch, passing Connall as I did.

“Did I not mention this is my best event?” he asked with a smirk.

“Thanks for the lesson,” I replied, in a polite and respectful tone, of course.

“Careful not to hurt yourself,” he called back.

I knew nothing could break the bond between me and Isla, but I was fairly sure shoving what was likely an ancient Norse relic up her father’s ass would make family dinners awkward, so I said nothing and toed the line as I began psyching myself up.

How hard could this be? Sure, the hammer’s heavy, but you’re a strong guy, Arric. In fact, you have magic fuckin’ powers just like these guys. Maybe even more. Yeah. Fuck these Scottish arrrrrseholes. What kind of way is that to say ass anyway? Arse. It sounds stupid.

I gripped the leather strap tightly and began my wind up, quickly finding I had the needed strength to whip the hammer around my head.

One rotation.

My feet began to slip up from underneath me, so I dug deeper into the earth as I pick up speed.

Two rotations.

My chest burned and the hammer began to feel lighter as I picked up even more speed.

Three rotations.

As I swung around for the fourth rotation, I thought about the timing of my release when my feet came out from under me, causing me to completely eat shit in front of everyone.

I hit the ground with a thud, face first. The hammer went the opposite direction, flying straight up into the air before landing inches away from my rattled skull.

My ears rang and I struggled to decipher the sound I heard all around me. After a few disoriented moments, I recognized the sound as the laughter of a dozen Scotsmen and looked up to see just that. A dozen laughing Scotsmen. They weren’t laughing, so much as crying with laughter, but at any rate, no one seemed particularly concerned about my well-being, so I figured I must be okay.

I got to my feet and looked to the stands to see a horrified Isla. Her hands were to her mouth and I could sense her deep concern for me.

Are you okay? Isla demanded frantically in my head.

I’m fine, baby.

Do I need to come down there?

Fuck no.

I dusted myself off and found that, in truth, I really was okay. More than okay. I felt completely normal.

I looked over at Kade, to see he was the only one of the men not laughing. He stood with arms crossed. His eyes locked on mine.

I nodded, picking up the hammer and toeing the line once again.

You got this, love, Isla encouraged.

This time, as I began to spin, I ignored the number of rotations, the timing of the release, the feeling in my chest, and the weight of the hammer. This time, I didn’t think about how I felt at all. I simply allowed myself to become part of the transference of energy between the hammer and the air molecules that would keep it from flying. Then at precisely the right moment, I released the hammer from my grip. After that all I had to do was increase the gravitational field between the hammer and the ground beneath it.

Of course, all of this happened within seconds, without me leaving the spot where I was standing, and I had no control of it whatsoever.

The hammer rocketed through the air, screaming past where Connall’s toss had landed, imbedding itself into a limestone wall at the far end of the field.

I turned to a sea of green and blue tartan and the whites of a dozen sets of eyeballs.

“Looks like proper games are afoot, boys!” Brodie Gunnach yelled to the roar of all present.