Hilde captures the castle

Hilde and Meister Zinnober slowed down, creating a distance between them and Morgenstern’s warriors. “Well Hilde, this is it,” the wizard said. “Your first assignment on your own. This is what we worked for the past eleven years. Now it is up to you. We both know what you are capable of. The time has come to show your powers to the world.”

Hilde smiled. “I am confident. I am grateful that you made me what I am. Thank you, Meister Zinnober.” She hesitated, then quickly kissed him on his cheek.

The old man blushed. “Let’s catch up with the men. We are almost there.”

The warriors had been waiting for them on the edge of the forest. “It is over there,” one of the men pointed out. It was a big castle with high, thick walls and impressive corner towers.

She shrugged. “Easy.”

The warriors stared at her with their mouths open. The wizard, on the back row, winked at her.

“Watch me,” she told the men and she turned around.

She slowly walked to the castle and remembered when she had first met Meister Zinnober. The twins were two years old and she was four when their parents were murdered by plundering troops. The innkeeper had taken care of them for some weeks, but had sold them to the old traveler, because he couldn’t feed the three of them. As soon as they had arrived at Zinnober’s cottage, he had started training them. In her fourteenth summer, he had started giving her the potion that had changed her body so dramatically.

The guards behind the battlements saw her coming, but didn’t react. After all, she was just an unarmed woman. She stopped in front of the moat, which was about 30 feet wide. She flexed her thighs and jumped across the moat with ease. Above her she heard cries of disbelief. She smiled to herself. They hadn’t seen anything yet!

Hilde looked up. The walls towered over her, more than 60 feet high. The walls were smooth and there was nothing to hold on to. No problem. With her fingers she dug holes in the stone wall. She pulled herself up and maneuvered her feet into the holes, raised herself up and made new holes above her head. She climbed the steep wall using just her bare hands and her inhuman strength.

This caused some turmoil above her. The men behind the battlements had decided she was dangerous after all. Arrows were shot at her, but she didn’t feel anything but soft taps on her steely skin. The arrows broke and fell to the ground. She steadily continued her climb.

When she was almost halfway, she heard groans and shouts above her. She stopped for a moment to look up. She saw that the defenders were turning a cauldron upside down. She dug her hands a little deeper into the wall and braced herself.

Moments later the burning pitch streamed over her. She didn’t flinch, the heat felt comfortable to her. When most of the pitch had dripped to the ground, she continued her climb. She heard more cries of disbelief and astonishment. She shouted: “Wait until I am up there, then I will show you something!”

She was met with a shower of arrows and other objects. “How long would it take until they realize I am invulnerable?” she thought. She stopped a moment to thank Meister Zinnober for his sorcery. She felt invincible!

When she reached the top of the wall, she swung one muscled leg over the battlements. Hands tried to push her back, but she barely noticed. “O yes, push me, you wimps! I am so much stronger than you are.”

When she stood on the gallery, two men jumped on her broad back. They hit her where they could, but she didn’t feel their puny blows and she didn’t pay attention to them. She was surrounded by a dozen of men. They attacked her with their swords. She let them play with their little weapons for a minute and laughed at their desperate efforts to pierce her skin.

When she got tired of them she reached out her hands. With both hands she grasped two swords at a time at the edges, and pulled. The men had to let go, dumbfounded about her enormous strength.

“Pay attention now, weaklings!” she said. She piled the four swords and started to bend the whole pile. The eyes of the men almost popped out when they saw her biceps swell to massive proportions, much bigger than theirs.

When she had almost bent the swords into a circle, she reached with her hand through the loop, took the sword points and made a crude knot. She dropped the heap of mangled steel to the ground.

Then she decided to do something about the two men who were still on her back. She flexed her back muscles, the men lost their grip and fell to the ground. She was pleased to see how the other men stared at her. She loved the effect her body had on them!

Hilde picked up the dumbfounded men, one in each hand. She raised them high up in the air. They weakly struggled in the hands of the young woman. She held them up for a minute. Then, with a small flick of her wrist, she tossed one of them into the moat.

She brought the other at eye level and saw fear in his eyes. “Well, little man. What shall I do with you?” she asked him. With her free hand she grasped his mail. The small metal rings surrendered to her strength. She tore the mail off his body without any effort. Then she threw him away. He flew through the air for almost half a mile and landed in a field.

The other men stared at her with open mouths. When they realized they were no match for this women, they ran away in fear.

“Yes, run, you cowards! I will get to you later. You cannot escape me!” she shouted.

She jumped down on the other side of the wall. After a free fall of 60 feet she absorbed the shock with her strong legs. She walked towards the gatehouse. Several brave men tried to stop her, but she brushed them away with a simple motion of her hand. They sailed through the air for 15 feet and passed out when they hit the ground. O, how she loved using her powers!

A knight on a horse rumbled towards her. He clearly wanted to overrun her. She just held her ground. The horse reared up when it was close to her. She grabbed the horse with one hand and lifted it high above her head, with the knight still on it. “What did you think?” she asked. “Attacking a respectable young woman? You deserve this!” With a swing of her muscled arm she threw the man and his horse over the wall.

The other men had concluded she could not be stopped, so they cowered back and let her walk to the gatehouse. She looked at the retraction mechanism for a moment, but she couldn’t work it out. Impatiently she grabbed one of the huge metal chains and flexed her muscles. Her biceps grew when she slowly tore the steel chain apart. The chain gave in to her enormous strength and broke. She did the same to the chain on the other side. She felt some taps on her back, but that had to wait. Slowly, she lowered the bridge.

She turned around to see a big man attacking her with an axe. He had probably already hit her five or six times, but she had hardly noticed his futile blows. She put one hand on the axe handle and forced the man to his knees. Then she used her other hand to deform the axe blade like it was made of soft clay.

She stepped over the man and returned to the middle of the lower bailey where some people had gathered. She shouted: “Listen, worms! From now on, I am the one who tells you what to do. And those who do not obey me…” She looked around and walked up to the well. She put her left hand on the stone wall. She pulled and a big piece of rock fell to the ground. She picked up the rock between her hands and started pushing. The rock was no match for her. After a couple of moments, the rock shattered into dozens of pebbles.

Hilde turned to the big cauldron with hot pitch. She drew back her arm and slammed her fist right through the cauldron. She didn’t even feel the hot pitch that streamed over her arm. She lifted the heavy cauldron with one hand.

“Can’t you see that I am much stronger than you are?” Once more, she flexed her biceps until they were the size of pumpkins. “You don’t want me to use these against you, don’t you?”

She was satisfied to see that the people looked at her with awe, fear and disgust in their eyes. Some dropped to their knees.

From the corner of her eyes, she saw Morgenstern’s warriors march through the gate.