Gauntlet

"I wanted you to have this."

I watched as the small girl lifted a heavy iron box out from under her bed. She could barely lift the damn thing, much less actually get it on top of her bed, and I genuinely wondered how the hell she had managed to bring it home and hide it under her bed. Her arms were shaking as she set it down. With a breath of relief at that job being done, she reached into her cloak and pulled a key from between her breasts. She slipped it into the lock on the box and turned it, and the box unlocked with a soft click. She stepped away, gesturing for me to open it.

With one eyebrow raised, I stepped forward and lifted the lid of the box, which given that it was made of thick iron, was lighter than I expected. Inside rested a large, golden gauntlet, with dull looking gems imbedded in each of the knuckles. Taking hold of it, I lifted it from the box, and was immediately made aware of the fact that this was the cause of the great weight, and not the box. While it still wasn't much trouble for me, there was no question in my mind why she had had so much trouble with it.

I looked at her, confusion splayed clearly across my face. She just smiled gently and nodded, as if telling me to put it on. I looked it over for a moment, determining that it was meant for the right hand, and slipped my own inside. The power was abrupt and overwhelming. It felt like a whitewater river was rushing around my hand, pushing and pulling violently in every direction. One moment it was scorching hot, the next it was a frigid cold that made my hand numb. It felt like my breath was being pulled from my lungs out through the pores in my hand, ripped into the gauntlet to be a part of its violent flow.

I pulled the gauntlet off hard, tossing it to the ground in the process. It dented the stone of the floor rather than the other way around. The skin on the back of my hand was standing on end.

"What the hell was that?" I demanded angrily. I wanted to swing a fist at her, but I was having trouble controlling my hand, and I needed the other to hold on to it and keep it steady.

She just smiled at me, almost apologetically. "I want you to keep it," she said.

"Why the hell would I do that?" I interjected loudly before she could say anything else. "I felt like it was going to kill me! And just from my hand! What the hell is this thing, and why are you giving it to me?"

She shook her head and just kept smiling. "I promise you it will be important someday. Can you put it back on?"

"What is wrong with you?"

She knew she couldn't lift the gauntlet well enough to get it onto my hand, much less force me to wear it. So she just waited patiently. I waited a long time before I finally knelt down and picked it back up. Hesitantly, I slipped it back on, and the torrent of energy rushed around my hand once more like it had never stopped.

I watched in agony as she reached out and put her hands on the gauntlet. I clenched my fist and was surprised to see the gauntlet actually accommodate the action. But then the pain doubled as the energy rocketed directly into my skin, like the rapids had suddenly frozen into icicles that all were piercing me. I cried out in pain, but couldn't pull my eyes away, and watched the gems on the knuckles begin to glow and come to life. Each was a different color - red, white, blue, yellow, and green.

She pulled her hands away. It had only been a moment, but it had felt like an eternity. Abruptly, the pain vanished. The current of energy was gone from the gauntlet. I dropped to my knees, panting hard. It wasn't in the gauntlet anymore, but it wasn't gone. It was in me. Rushing through my entire body now, making my head numb.

Gently she reached down and pulled the gauntlet off of my arm. Everything slipped away with it. I gasped for air as I could feel my brain come free again.

"It will take some getting used to," she said, letting the gauntlet drop to the ground once more, as she watched my heaving body as I panted heavily. "But you'll get the hang of it."

I looked up at her, hoping my seething anger would show through the exhaustion. "I am never putting that on again," I said between breaths.

"Oh, you will. You'll need to. Hopefully later rather than sooner."