Goliath

The sun succumbs to the painted desert horizon. Orange and yellow hues strewn across the open sky and warm winds ride along the shifting sands. The firmament in splendid majesty gazes down upon Goliath who kneels prostrated and defeated. Blood flows from his wounds onto the hot sands. His strength spent, his will broken and his revenge unfufilled. Beads of sweat poured down his face and dripped off his chin. His heart pounding like the hooves of horses. Clutching a fist full of sand, his thoughts of her. A boy not even half his size stood over him. His face hidden in shadow but Goliath knew there was a look of malice on the youth's face. Tears began to form in the opal cresents that gleemed in his eyes from the desert sun. Feeling the prespiration at as his finger tips he drops his head in despair thinking back to when it all began and how it could have come to this.

37 years earlier.

Shemolith rubbed her bulbus belly as she felt a kick. She cringed a little thinking. "Are you a child or a goat?" Chuckling at her thought she continued rubbing. "Shemolith you've gotten so big. You're child will surely be a giant sent from Astarte herself." Said a women who entered the hut rather loudly. "Shhhh he slumbers. Be soft your voice I wish him not to kick." Shemolith replied gently. "So it is to be a boy.?" "Yes, yes it will certainly be a boy. I want to call him... Goliath." The women let the name permiate then she replied. "One who casts a great shadow. That seems fitting." Projecting her voice harshly. "Maachah please hush." Maachah sighed then sat down and put her hands on her knees staring at Shemolith's belly. Her thoughts turned to the giant who rested within his mothers womb. She wondered what he would look like. Handsome like the shepard Eeliph's sons. With their dark thick curls and olive skin. Their bodies toned from their daily labor. Months would pass and the child Goliath would breathe his first breath. He is indeed unusually large and intimidating. He is raised gently and with a tender love only his mother could provide. Her husband had died months before. He did not survive the raging sands. Alone she raised him until soon the gentle giant grew into a man. Standing over two heads above his peers. But His mother in her old age falls ill and Maachah and Goliath must care for her. In his time of grief, his mothers failing health, Goliath meets Aphrah. A goat herders daughter. Her beauty and strong spirit captivatehim. They were soon wed and their love grew as years passed. Shemolith dies and he morns her passing but Aphrah bares children and his grief is forgotten. His children are born and each night he tells them tales of their deceased grandmother and the gods. All was well for Goliath and his dear family until one fateful day.

"Run! The mercenary tribes are coming. Run or die!" Screamed a man who ran passsed Goliath's hut. Aphrah came flying out the door looking for her children who were playing in a field a good distance. Then Goliath, who came from out of the stable. Aphrah ran up to him and embraced him. From the distance he could see clouds of dust being kicked up by men and horse alike. They came with a cloud of dust in their wake. Several dozen men were making their way to the tiny little village. "Grab Ephram and Zebora. Go to the far end of the valley where the red grass grows. I will meet you there..." he was about to finish when Aphrah interupted. "Goliath?"

"They will see you. I will hold them off long enough for you all to escape. Go now my wife." But she stood firm, she would not abandon her love. "Aphrah! The children please." She stubbornly looked in his eyes but felt the quake of his love. In that she could not resist and before doing as she was commanded she kissed him with all the passion that was within her then took her leave. Goliath watched her run into the field. He turned his head back to the approaching dust cloud. Due to his size no one was brave enough to face him and as a result he had never experienced a fight. But it did not deture him. He felt fear that was certain but more so for his family. As long as he breathed he would not allow any harm to come to them. Then several men with swords and clubs ran towards him yelling frantically as they charged. Goliath took a deep breath then lunged towards them. He felt the edge of their blades opening his flesh but he endured. His sheer size sent them crashing into the earth but his wounds gave him no pause. Several more men then approached him. One saw Aphrah in the field running away with the children but Goliath noticing the point of their attention quickly obstructed in their path. Another several men arrived. The first company tried to surround him while the secon attempted to go after his wife and children. With a monsterous roar he pushed his way through the surrounding men and then gave chase. He felt an arrow hit his calve but he ignored the pain and pushed on. Running with all his might he came upon his quarry. With a broad reach he tackles them all from behind then quickly gets back up to his feet and runs after his family. He took no more then a few more steps when a spear struck his right shoulder. He fell on one knee from the immense pain that surged through him. Another dompany of men ran past him. He struggled to get back to his feet. His thoughts of Aphrah drove him back up. Reaching over he pulls the spear from his back then shakes his head. Putting one foot before the other and each step after he felt a final surge of strength. His feet pushing into the sand propels him forward and each step after closer to his beloved famly. Driven by both love and fear he pushed on with the spear in hand. The men that had passed him had caught up to Aphrah and the children. The hair on his neck stood up as he saw them come upon them. They kicked Aphrah down. Ephram turned around to see his mother laid upon the dirt then an arrow pierced his chest. His mother gave out a cry of absolute sorrow as she watched her son fall to his feet, his life extinguished. Zebora turned around then attempted to run away but she was grabbed by her little arm then struck in the face by one of their attackers. Goliath threw the spear as hard as he could and it flew in the air until it plunged into the flesh of the man who pushed Aphrah to the ground and was in the process of tearing off her cloths. The force from the spear threw him foward as the spear head dug firmly into the dirt. His lifeless arms dangling from his shoulders as blood dripped down the spears shaft. Continuing his pursuit he ran towards the man who was continously striking Zebora into submission but before he could destroy him two arrows found his back and he fell into the dirt. His strength now failing him. Unable to move he was helpless to stop the man from raping his poor defenseless daughter. More men arrived. One struck his wife then finished what the dead man had started. " The Lord your God would not have you share your seed with these people. Our blood shall not mingle with their own. Take their lives after you've taken their bodies." Said a voice that slwoly walked up from behind them. Goliath's eye lids became heavy as he watched his family being raped and beaten. He raised his arm and reached out to them but his strength was gone. Closing his eyes he succumed to his wounds.

In the fading light Goliath heard his heart slowly bearing slower and slower until it stopped. First nothing only a defeaning silence and the surrounding black. Without sight he felt a darkness, cold and empty. He couldn't feel his body only that it seemed as if he was falling. His pain had left him and it angered him but he didn't know why. The pain was reminder but he couldn't remember. Had he had forgotten something? Something he should not have. Something he was not willing to let go of. Summoning all his facualties he forces himself to memory until images trickled into his conscious mind and with it a framiliar pain. Without words or a mouth to use them he yelled. "Aphrah!!!!!!" The silence in the darkness is broken by the beating of his fighting heart. A new breath filled lungs and it burned as if it was his first. Opening his eyes he gasps as the shock of rebirth jolted his body. Closing his eyes he writhed in pain. Voices then heard carrying on the wind. "Goooooliiiiath" it sung. Opening his eyes again he looked out to see who was speaking to him but there was no one to be seen. Again the voice called out to him but again no one was there. Fearful he was to find somespectral apparition. He was uncertain if he was alive or dead. Gathering his strength he stood up and examined his surroundings. The moon's light lite the dunes that rolled in the prevailing winds. Sand whisped in his face as he felt it grinding inbetween his teeth. Again the voice called out to him. Squinting his eyes he begins to follow the voice. With each step it became louder and louder until he came upon a cave. The voice reverberated through the earthen womb. Then into the cave he descended. With each step he took he sensed his strength returned and strangely he felt it was not his own. A strange warmth intensified the further he went. Something or someone had led him here. How he knew he did not know. Deep down it stretched into the bowls of the earth until he came upon a den. A large bed there was with a wild beast's pelt strewn upon it. "Goliath" said a voice behind him. He quickly turned around but the cave was empty. "Goliath" he turned again facing the bed and there was a women of dark and mysterious beauty. Shimmering olive skin smooth with each curve and black hair flowing like the night it moved as if it possessed a life of its own. A primal heat radiated from bodice. Trapped in her gaze he could see the stars swirling in her eyes. "You've lost much." She said but no words escaped her lips he simply heard them within in his mind. Uneasy by this he took precautionary step back. But her words reverberated in his ears his thoughts of Aphrah. "So great was your desire for her that it called out to me. Such is your desire that it overcame death and now here you are standing before me, the instrument of your revenge...come."

Goliath couldn't resist her allure. As if his body moved without his consent he walked forward and approached the bed. "Who...." he was about to ask. "I'm not your wife, whose name you called out in your dying breath." Goliath felt an awesome power that left him trembling. "Ask me the right question and I will help you." It only took a moment for him to realize her words for deep within him he knew who she was. "How do I carry out my revenge?" He then asked "Come, lay with me and I will lend you my strength." She replied. "I have strength." He said as he looked down at his massive hands. "Not like this Goliath." He stopped and dropped his head then lifted it when he realized their meaning. She was now naked. Large bronze balls of flesh hung from her chest. Slowly spreading apart her legs she invites him to the bed. He felt the blood flow to his cock as he places his hands on the bed. Grabbing his arm with a supernatural strength she pulls him into her as she kisses his neck. Each kiss hardens his wiles. Spreading open the heavens he thrusts his manhood through the heavenly gates. With each subsequent thrust he felt something grow in him. In those moments forgetting time where only the warmth of her body and her dominating presense remained. She moaned in pleasure until he climaxed and an unearthly power surged in him. He felt drunk with strength as he rolled over clenching his fists. He felt it as fire coursing through his veins. She stroked the hair upon his chest then looked into his eyes. "Know this Goliath. You draw your strength from me and I draw mine from your faith in me. As do all the gods. When your belief in me wanes so will your strength diminish." He absorbed her words then closed his eyes but when he opened them he was again lying in the sand. But the strength he had gained had remained. At first he questioned if it had occured at all but he quickly reaffirmed his belief.

With his new found strength he returned to his village which was now no more then ash and rubble. Rage coursed through his veins and it was then he resolved within him to gather all men to him who would see the mercenary tribes fall. So in the years to come from village to village he rallied men to this cause until such a host was ready to strike at their shared enemy. Goliath fought in many battles but all that stood before him were laid to waste. His strength and power none could match. His enemy feeling their impending annihilation called out for a champion from their bloodlust god and indeed he did deliver such a man or more so a boy. In such a manner as to mock Goliath.

On a hot day where the stench of corpses carried on the wind the armies fought. Blood stained sand and swords were littered across the desert. In hopes to avoid more loses of his troops. Goliath challenged his enamies champion to single combat so that it may also determine the outcome of the battle. Confident in his strength he pulled his spear from the ground and walked out infront of the troops who were leaning on their spears in exhaustion. The enemy troops created a hole and out walked a boy. Goliath stopped in his tracks. His eyes widdened as he laughed. "What's this? Is there not a man amoung you? You send a child to face me?" The boy ignored his jaunts and continued walking forward. His eyes were burning coals hidden behind large dark curls. In his right hand he held firmly a sword and in the other a pelters sling. "You mock me!?" Goliath roared at his enamies. Their shields shook in their hands as they firmly gripped their spears. The youth stopped just a few meters from him but gave him no mention but merely have him expressionless stare. Goliath at first was uncertain. The boy seemed no threat to him but he was his enamy none the less. He resolved himself to kill the youth then crush his enamies for her. He walked forward then raised his sword to strike. Falling his blade it fell with such force that all were taken back. The youth raised his sword to defend but the blow barely effected him. Goliath was taken back with confusion. No mere youth could posses such strength. But it did not deture him. He struck again but the boy merely blocked it seemingly without effort. Anger now began to set in and he unleased a fury of strikes but all failed. He stopped his attack then yelled "Why can't I hit you?!" But the boy said nothing. Before he could react the boy lunged at him with a strong blow but Goliath deflected the oncoming blade. The force of the strike caused him to step back. Never before had he faced someone with such a strength and from a boy no less. He knew then that like him this boy's strength was not his own. The youth stepped forward then began his attack. Goliath was able to block his attacks but with each one he found a growing difficulty. He didn't know how long he could last until a blow reached his hip. Blood poured out upon the sands and he was striken with fear. He hàd not seen his own blood since they death of his family. Another strike and then another. Falling to his knees he looked up to the sky and screamed. "Why?!?!?!" The youth yielded his assault then turned around as to mock him further. All time seemed to come to a still as darkness began to shroud him. The voice from the cave came to him. "Goliath" it called out. He closed his eyes and she appeared. "Why can I not defeat this child?" He asked. The goddess carresses his cheek, remembering his touch from from the cave. "These peoples faith in their blood lust god is beyond terror. Such is his desire for power that he would wage war on the other gods. I tried both my wit and my wiles but nothing satisfies his lust to dominate. I admit Id hoped you'd champion the other gods and I but his power is too terrible too great to overcome. I'm sorry Goliath but even now your strength wanes." With these words she slowly faded from his thoughts and he opened his eyes to find the boy standing over him with sword in hand ready to make the final blow. He was helpless to stop him as helpless as he felt that day.

In his final moments another voice called out to him but it was not the goddess he heard but the sweet sound of Aphrah's laughs calling out to him. He reaches his hands out to grab her as the youth drops his sword and severes Goliath's head from his body. The head rolled in the shifting sands with a smile.