Note: This story was dynamically reformatted for online reading convenience. The Goddess has chosen me, and I am blessed. For the rest of my life, I am blessed. The Temple is the oldest place in the world. The lapping ocean wore soft, intricate tunnels into the stone here, over aeons. Generations of worshipers have added, year by year, the most intricate carved patterns I have ever seen. The stone walls are now a forest, trees and vines, beasts and flowers and women. There are no words, no letters. Only patterns, filled with a secret sense I cannot quite grasp. Two young Initiates are there to greet me at the entrance; before I can descend the smoothed, sloping steps, they take everything I have. I did not bring much. They help me peel the clothes from my back and legs; the straps of my sandals are cut away with a curved bronze knife. At last I stand naked, my belongings piled to the side. I will never see them again; I will never need to own anything again. The clothes will be burned in a great fire, late tonight. The Initiates take my hands and lead me down into the Earth. The one on my right is pale, pale freckled skin, pale hair, eyes like blue glass. She looks very solemn. Her friend, with my left hand held in two of hers, has coppery skin and dark bronze hair. She smiles knowingly when I look at her. They are both wearing shapeless, featureless white robes of rough cotton, and barefoot. Neither one can be older than 17; the blonde is quite thin and seems barely even a teenager. I feel my pulse quicken and a tingle slide over my naked skin as I stare at her exotic hair. Already I am half erect. The tunnel grows dim, now lit more by oil lamps with frosted glass than by the sunlight. I will never see the sun again. The smooth, rounded stone is cool under our feet. I descend, step by step, backward into time, into the place we all came from. I seem to hear a slow, steady beat, like a distant drummer marking a stately march, or the heartbeat of a sleeping giantess. There are other tunnels now, side branches, carved by patient hands, patient water. There are rooms now, filled with women doing things. They are cooking, they are cleaning, they are washing and dressing each other, they are eating and drinking. There are rooms for reading and counting goods and studying, but they are empty. Now the women in the rooms are doing other things. They are singing. They are dancing, not lively springy dances like the ones I know from home, but slow spinning and dipping, weaving in and out, swaying back and forth. They are drinking wine from wooden bowls. Some mark each others' faces and bodies with paints in fantastic patterns and colors; some wear so many bracelets and anklets and necklaces, that they make their own music by moving, flashing in the soft light. Some are dressed simply, like my Initiates, or are completely naked. Priestesses have sashes and tattoos; higher Priestesses have more than the lower ones. In some rooms I see many women crowded around a small brazier of coals, breathing in the sweet smoke of herbal mixtures thrown in and burned. Others are sniffing lines of powders, white, pink, grey, or brown. Some I see not eating but chewing strange roots and spitting dark juices onto the floor - or even into each other's mouths. The drum beat seems faster now, though I have not seen its source. The women are making more music themselves, some slapping drums or wooden tubes or clapping their own hands on skin. Others ring bells of many sizes, or blow into pipes. Priestesses walk behind me, insidious whispers in a babbling language I cannot understand worming into my ears; Priestesses wail and moan, pulling their hair, slapping themselves in the face. There are more smells now too, sweet and sour and smoky, strong and earthy. Some Priestesses - and some Initiates - make a point of coming into the hallway to slide a hand, or sometimes just a finger, over my body or face. The scenes in the rooms become stronger still as we work our way down, down into the World; we pass two wide-eyed, flushed red Initiates working oil into the naked body of a very High Priestess, whose skin seems to be one giant tattoo, black and red and blue and green and silver and gold, worked together brilliantly like some strange bird; her eyes follow me hungrily as I pass, my mind trying and failing to find words in the meaningless, beautiful patterns. Naked women, shining with oil, are kissing and stroking each other; now young women lap obediently at the crotches of older women; Priestesses stand behind gasping Initiates, encircling hands rubbing nipples and cupping breasts; and finally a Grand Matron, still powerfully beautiful despite touches of grey in her hair, slouches back in a massive, blackened wooden throne, feet splayed high and wide apart, sliding a spiral-ribbed rod in and out of her vagina. As we pass her, her eyes widen and she hisses at me, then chatters loudly in the unknown language and hurls her sexual fluids at us; a drop lands on my face, and I let it dribble down. My penis is aching now, stiff and red, and drooling fluid of its own. Moans and cries fill the halls around us. My head seems to be throbbing with the massive beat of the drum, now loud and increasingly demanding. I am led into a massive room, now far below the surface world. A great crevice glows hellish red and steam fills the air; the walls drip and my skin prickles. A smell like rotten eggs brushes past my face. Dim lighting throws shadows from the women here, moving in and out of each other in circles which grow as they follow us and take their places in the great dance. There is no bed, only a great mound of furs and pillows, waiting to be occupied. My Initiates dip water from a large bowl and ladle it over my head; they gently scrape my skin clean with dull bronze spoon-like tools. They dip their slender fingers into a mixture of oil and flower petals and begin to work it into my body. The blonde seems a bit frightened of me; I bare my teeth at her and pretend to bite as her hand moves closer to my face. The olive-skinned girl giggles and slides an oiled finger down the crack of my ass, making me squirm a bit. It's hard now to make out details of her face. I change my mind and decide to take her first, while the other watches us. I do not understand where the drum beat is coming from. The entire cavern seems to be shaking with it; my skull seems to vibrate in time. There must be dozens of naked women in the room now, voices mixing in terrible rising chaos. Sweat drips through my oil. At last, at long last, my Initiates lead me to the center of the circling women, the center of the soft mound of bedding. Three of the Great Matrons are here, including the one who threw her juices at me; their white eyes seem almost disembodied as the shadows cling and spin around their inked skins. A moment of confusion grips me; where is the leader, the True Mother? Perhaps I misunderstood; perhaps she is somewhere else, coming later in the ceremony. My mind is fogged and cannot keep the question in mind for long. The Priestesses are lazily groping themselves, and each other. I draw a deep breath of this hot, damp air, desperate to begin at last. I am nervous and dizzy, yet warm energy seems to flow up through my feet and swirl through my body. Enough! I pull the blonde Inititate's robe over her head and throw it on the pile below us. Her eyes are wide, fixed on me; her tongue rubs her lips and she swallows nervously. Her breasts are small, no more than a palmful each, but I can barely make out large, stiff nipples. I pull her to me, one hand squeezing a small, firm ass cheek, the other on her tit; my mouth clamps on to the side of her neck and I suck, hard. She moans in my ear, her hands floudering and then hanging useless. I feel the other girl's lips on the back of my neck and her hands at my waist, touching lightly. I lick and graze with my teeth, down to a pale breast, and I begin nursing, sucking hard with my lips and then even my teeth while I pinch and pull her other nipple with my finger and thumb. The red light seems to wash over and through me, rushing in and out of my blood; it is blood, warm and heavy, filling the room. The heat in me builds close to an unbearable level. My other hand slides between her butt-cheeks and I dig a finger into her asshole, sucking harder; she cries out and whimpers above me. The other women, chanting and wailing, seem to mock her. I see nothing now; my eyes are closed to everything but red heat. Behind me, the other Initiate is grinding and sliding her body on mine; she has obviously removed her robe as well. Her soft breasts, bigger than her companion's, push hard nipples into my back in small circles. Tiny hands rub oil into my balls and stroke at my chest; I feel her teeth as she nips on my shoulder; one small foot slides up and down the outside of my calf. Guiding her down onto the furs, I lay the blonde on her back; her breath is coming fast and shallow now, and her eyes are closed. I turn and kiss the olive girl, pushing my tongue deep into her mouth, cupping both sides of her jaw with my hands. She makes a startled noise and then returns the kiss, grasping the back of my head as she works her tongue on mine. Then I break free and pull her down with me to the furs. With my hands I push her into place on her stomach, almost as though she were going to fuck the blonde; their breasts rub together. The blonde girl still has her eyes closed, but her friend looks back over her shoulder at me, slightly confused. I kneel behind her and line myself up, one hand on her back, one guiding my penis into her virginity. I spread her brown legs, which in turn spread the pale ones; I push in, leaning forward, and hot, tight heaven grips me. She cries out loudly, and the blonde grunts in turn as our weight smashes into her. I might have once planned to take my time with this delicious work, but it's all far too much for me to bear; hugging their bodies to me as hard as I can, I begin fucking her hard, smashing the two of them together. I feel like I'm drowning in blood; the heavy air crashing into and through me, rushing forward in wave after wave, an ocean pushing forward again and again. The heat has filled me to bursting. I sense that it is flowing from me into them with each thrust. I can hear them grunting and gasping with it. The blonde doesn't seem to believe what is happening; in her confusion her eyes open and close, and her arms flail as I grind the brunette into her. Between us, the darker girl has shut her eyes now, face tight with pain and pleasure and the force of it all. She pushes herself back onto me, impaling her vagina, trying to work me in deeper and deeper. Her cries are loud now, overpowering everything but the drum beat, pounding in time to my thrusting. It comes upon me quickly; that I lasted even this long is surprising. The tip of my cock seems to burn and I roar as I come, pouring a torrent of semen into her from behind. I grab her by the shoulders and shove myself into her as deep as I can, feeling my cock pulse. She makes a whining strangled sound and begins to shake; her abdomen convulses as she joins me in orgasm. The heat is unbelievable and sweat pours from me, from both of us, running onto the snowy young beauty below, who seems in shock. She's crying; I realize that all three of us are. The women around us reach a clashing climax in their singing; they shriek and ululate, hands stretched high, fingers and feet flailing. The Grand Matrons gasp, teeth showing white in huge grins as they masturbate. But it is only the beginning. I lay limp on the two girls, gasping for air, sweat stinging my eyes. The rushing heat flows over me in a huge smashing wave, and then begins slowly to subside. It spins around me like a great whirlpool. The women dance with it; their hands guide it and are guided by it. The singing lowers and slows; but this is not a break. This is a small valley on a long climb, a dip between towering waves. The Grand Matron from the throne kneels beside us and grips my hair with the strength of old roots tearing apart stone. I have no time to understand what is happening; she shoves the tip of a wineskin into my mouth and squeezes, hard. I choke on the unexpected flood and try to push her away so I can breathe; I might as well be slapping an oak tree. I swallow and sputter, and the drink sprays on her and pours down my chin onto the girls. I swallow more. It's not wine - maybe it used to be. It's warm, almost hot, and spicy, and thick. It tastes like metal or blood is in it too, and bitter herbs. I don't want more, but she keeps squeezing, tilting my head back with ease. More and more spills out of me and onto the girls; my belly tingles and cramps with the stuff; my chest and throat burn; my tongue goes numb. I can't take it any more, but I do, because I have no choice; and then she lets me go. I gag and vomit up some of the stuff, but not much. I wheeze and cough and suck air. She tilts my face up with one hand under my chin and examines me, ignoring the stuff I've spilled onto her arm. Her eyes see into and through me. The room spins violently about me and I might fall, were she not holding me. Her face seems furious, pitiless. The patterns on her skin wriggle and blur. And then her hand relaxes and the grip becomes a caress, sliding calloused skin over my smooth, hairless jaw, fingers igniting more heat from me. She smiles and licks her lips, and I am filled with a sudden fear that I will not be able to satisfy her, when the time comes. To fail her would be the most terrible thing I can imagine. She walks away from us, back toward her place outside the circle, and I stare, hypnotized, at her ass, clenching and relaxing with only a hint of sag. Moisture glistens on her inner thighs. The girls beneath me stir and try to rise, and I tumble to my side in the furs; my penis pops out of the brunette and waves in the air, shiny with blood and come. I realize that I've never really softened, and when I see the gasping mouth of the blonde my erection begins to throb and ache once more. Blood swirls dizzily in my head and I suppress the urge to vomit again as I rise up on my hands. But the feeling passes, mostly, and the drum beat begins to speed up again, inside me and out. I crawl up the blonde's body while the brunette rises to her knees, staring around and shaking her head in an apparent daze. A thick glob slides out of her vagina and down one thigh into the furs. With one hand, I wave in her face to get her attention, then point to the blond's crotch; she blinks and then begins to position herself to service her friend. Meanwhile, I straddle the blond's face with my legs and press my penis insistently against her lips until she opens her mouth. In a strange parody of the Grand Matron forcing me to drink, I push my cock as far as I can into the girl's mouth, ignoring her feeble hands on my legs or the choking sounds she makes. I grip her head firmly and press down with my crotch for a few seconds, enjoying the sensation as she shakes her head from side to side, then pull back a bit and begin sliding in and out, cleaning my cock on her tongue. Her cries are muffled by my penis. I wonder briefly how well the brunette is working her tongue down below, and then lose all thought in the pleasure of the mouth around my cock as I push down again. The singing seems pitched higher and higher, shrieking with dissonance. Red light flashes and flickers on us while I fuck her mouth; her frantic eyes water and her hands flail. I don't go on for too long, though, and after all I do want her to enjoy this, even if I find her fear and confusion intoxicating. I pull out and, like I did, she gags a bit, spitting up slimy saliva and a bit of our come. I lie back to the side a bit and pull her head up so she can watch her friend's mouth, eagerly sucking her hairless cunt, tongue lapping up and pushing over her clitoris again and again. The blonde still can't figure out what to do with her hands, alternating between her friend's head and making fists in the furs or resting them ineffectually on her own soft abdomen. I smile at her and kiss her thin, slimy lips, and then slide my hips down until we're even. I lift the darker girl's head up a bit and push between them, setting my hips in place to begin; without looking, I pull that head back between my legs, and, taking the hint, she licks at my wet balls a few times, then moves up to my asshole and begins licking my rim. Pulling the blonde's legs up and hooking her ankles around my thighs, I place my penis at her opening. She looks down at me and realizes what is about to happen; her mouth forms a wide O and her hands grip the furs hard. Pushing into her isn't quick like it was with her friend; it takes time. Her cunt is so tight that it hurts me, a bit, as I wiggle and shove. I know it hurts her; her face is an ugly grimace. But this is how it has to be. The music seems to stagger and slow, just a bit, feels a bit off. And then I am in her, all the way, and it feels wonderful. I work back and forth, and the sounds spin up again, stronger than ever. I push the breath out of her with each instroke, shoving into her abdomen. The tongue on my asshole is clumsy as the brunette struggles to keep in place while I move, but when she really digs it in it's splendid. Now the music is in perfect time with us again; red light flares and shadows grow, bare feet and hands slap flesh and stone, and I push in and out, Huh, Huh, Huh. The blonde isn't in pain any more; she lays her head back and whines, one long sound, eyes shut, head swinging back and forth. Her breasts are too small to shake much as I thrust, but they're beautiful nonetheless. I suck on the side of her face and neck and fuck her ear with my tongue, and then I slide my hand down and rub her clit with my thumb; she shrieks and comes. And there is a flash - I am confused; the shadows play on her and change her appearance, I can't remember - is she blonde? Was she? Is this still the same girl? I smell earth and blood, and feel pain, and then it is gone and I can't remember what is gone. With a frenzy I pick up the pace now, ramming home hard, grinding, the brunette has given up trying to keep her tongue in me and shoves a finger up my ass instead, kissing and stroking my back and legs. The music builds to another climax and that's it - I am burning - I am coming. This one seems less explosive at first but it lasts a long time, and I can tell the streams coming out of me are long. The blonde makes a strangled sound and convulses in what appears to be another orgasm, or maybe some kind of continuation of the last one. I realize we are soaking and slippery with sweat; I feel our come trickling back out of us; there is a whiff of cold, dead air and everything spins again, lurching dreadfully. The world seems small and dark. Sparks swirl in my vision; I fall to the side, unable to hold myself up. I feel awful. I try to squirm and wiggle to the side of the pile of furs; then I vomit, hard, over and over again. I am panting, trying to catch my breath, crying, snot running down my nose, wiping at my mouth. But there is no time to recover; I have had my fun, and now I have a cave full of Priestesses to please. At first, they take me one at a time. Most of the Priestesses prefer to be on top, riding me, controlling the pace and the angle of our motion. Time seems to flow and ebb, one thing running into another; I have no sense of how long I've been here, of what happened before now and what before that. Never before in my life had I imagined or boasted of being able to stay hard this long. My penis is almost numb, like I'm fucking with an unbending length of wood or iron. I feel little from the friction of sex, now, but my orgasms keep coming; the bloody heat rises and falls inside me and as I'm overwhelmed with sensation I let go, again and again. The most beautiful woman I've ever seen is sliding her white-hot sex up and down my length; she holds my mouth to her tattooed breast and I suck and bite. I close my eyes and everything seems to flow away from me; I cannot remember if I am riding or being ridden. A dark-skinned Priestess, almost invisible in the low light, grips my hair and pulls my mouth to service her. After I lap and slurp her to one orgasm, she rolls over and forces me to lick her asshole until she comes again; the taste is strange but not unpleasant. When she is finished she throws me to the side and screams in my face, drooling into my mouth, white teeth flashing like lightning. I shake with fear at a thundering sound, and then wonder that it must only sound in my head. Soon they cannot control themselves and begin roughly sharing me two or three at a time. One will squat over my face while another one rides me; they swap places back and forth until they are satisfied. Not one of them is worried about my pleasure, only her own. They use me until they are finished, and then they are reluctantly pushed out of the way by the others. Some of them do put their mouths and hands on me, but somehow it is obvious they are taking pleasure from the act, not trying to give any. They suck each other's fluids and mine from my crotch, or use my mouth to pass tastes back and forth to each other, body juices and more of the spiced drink. Sometimes I turn my head to the side and spit or throw up, but they grab my head and force me back into place. After a while I am placed to service one from behind, and I try, feebly jerking around, but my body is growing weak. One of the Matrons takes control; she drapes her powerful body over mine and pushes a wooden rod up my ass, thrusting hard, to push me in and out of the one below me. It's very painful and I cry out, feeling like something inside me is tearing, but I have no choice and can only keep moving, keep gasping when my mouth is not being made to please. In time my asshole grows numb and I feel only tingling and heat, washing and crashing within and around me. My strength fades. My awareness drains away. It's like I'm asleep; it's like I'm watching it all happen to someone else. I pass in and out of consciousness. Women are splashing liquids on my body and drinking them off me; they snort powders from my chest; they bite and scratch playfully, or painfully, at my body, squeezing and pinching and punching at me. By the time the Matrons are finally ready to take me themselves, I am beyond understanding, bloody and bruised, hoarse, crying. They demand more from me than anyone before them. They slap me and pull my hair, twist my arms, dig fingernails into my skin and peel away flesh. They laugh at my pain. They lick my blood up and pass it back and forth. I have never met any man half as strong; they pick me up and hold me in the air, effortlessly, passing me around and positioning my body as they need it. They are doing all the work of pleasuring each other; my body is just a convenient tool, and I am too weak and confused to do a thing about any of it. I wake up, once or twice, being carried on someone's shoulders, full of pain, stinging skin and bruises and dripping blood. Some horrible smell is waved under my nose, and I jolt awake, head swimming. From far away, as though muffled by several walls, I hear the drum beating again. My arms are held in place while spikes are hammered through my wrists. I scream in pain, first from the piercing, then from the wrench on my shoulders as my body is suspended from only the spikes. My feet are burning; I roll my eyes enough to stare downward and see a bright glow, something burning down there, far down there. A matron steps before me with a curved knife, licking the bronze blade, and with a motion to quick for my stupid eyes to follow, slashes at my chest. Through my drugged, beaten haze, I feel the sting. They come again in groups, stabbing and slashing, determined not to make my end quick. Blood runs and drips down my body, dribbling over my legs and feet and down from my toes into the burning earth below me. The whole Earth seems to be shaking. I pass out again, and am woken again by a furious Matron with more foul-smelling stuff. At last it is too much, and seeing this, one of them brings the knife to my throat, ending my life with a quick motion. My blood sprays out and onto her face, running down darkly in the baleful light. My eyes close for the last time, and I hear and feel that heartbeat, that warm blood rush, like the ocean, all around me. I hear gulls crying and whales singing and thunder rolling and feel an embrace, a warm and loving touch, my mother's arms all around me. Her heart beats with mine and her body is warm. I am safe and loved, back with my true mother.