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o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o
o The 'Bookshelf collection' offers a very wide variety of o
o stories. They have been submitted by people from all over the o
o world. Also from alt.sex.stories (Newsgroups). There is no o
o particular order other than offering them to you in alpha- o
o betical directories. o
o I don't believe in categorizing things. "I don't want to o
o be typed therefore I don't type things myself." I think it's o
o a lot more fun to browse around and find 'little' surprises o
o that you might not have even thought of looking for. o
o Lest we forget!!! This story was produced as adult en- o
o tertainment and should not be read by minors. o
o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o
Lurker In The Pit (MF, sci-fi)
byRob Menke (rgm@cory.Berkeley.EDU)
**
For those who notice a similarity between the characters' personalities
and their own: I'm in Berkeley. You're in Santa Barbara. So sue me.
For those who wanted more sex in the storyline: Sorry, the plot got in
the way. So... you get the idea.
Comments and corrections (typographical, usage, and continuity) would
be apprectiated. (Actually, money, power, and nubile females would be
appreciated more-- unfortunately, they're hard to uuencode.)
Finally, a dedication... this one's for my favorite LJBF, Jenn.
You can discard the above rambling-- keep the copyright, tho'. I'm
starting to like these characters...
Copyright (C) 1991-1992 by Robert Menke. All rights reserved.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dria cursed the moon. The skies would have to be clear tonight, and the
moon would have to be extraordinarily bright. Definitely not the kind of
night for a kidnapping.
But tonight was the only night left. She had put it off far too long, and
tomorrow the girls would be thrown to the Lurker in the Pit. She chewed her
lower lip in apprehension. Dria hated to wait, and would do anything to
avoid it. Unfortunately, this was one situation where patience was
definitely required. She adjusted the belt again-- no matter how long she
wore it, she still was not accustomed to wearing her brother's spare sword.
The fact that the tree had such hard branches didn't help either.
Dria allowed herself the luxury of letting her mind drift for a few moments
to memories of her family. Her parents were just simple farmers who didn't
care to whom they paid their taxes, as long as they were left alone. Her
brother Dirik was the artist, the free adventurer, rogue-- thief! Dria
really loved her brother, and announced at the age of twelve that she, too,
would be a free adventurer. Her parents would smile back and say
of-course-dear and whatever-you-want-dear. Druella, the younger sister--
blond, beautiful-- was their favorite, not the lanky, dark-haired tomboy
Dria was. When Dirik returned home a few months back, he went to the
castle-- unarmed-- to appeal for his little sister's release and never
returned. Tiberus would die for that. But first--
Dria suddenly was aware of footsteps. She carefully moved a branch and
looked at the approaching party. What luck! Addon was the guard for
tonight. Addon was an old playmate, and they had many adventures together.
Dria also knew that Addon was constantly hard-up because he was
tremendously shy of women. And a vicious rumor had been spread-- it was a
joke!-- about him preferring sheep to girls. Unfortunate for Addon, that
is, fortunate for Dria. She wouldn't have to kill a guard tonight.
"Addon!" she hissed, dropping out of the tree.
Addon spun around, yanked his sword from its scabbard, and began wildly
swinging it, his arm straight out and his eyes closed. New on the job, Dria
thought to herself, and added aloud, "Stop it, Addon! It's me, Dria!"
"Dria?" Addon opened his eyes. It was Dria! "What are you doing here? What
happened to your hair? And why are you dressed like that? Isn't that your
brother's armour?"
"Addon," Dria said, trying to be as seductive as possible, "I want you to
do something for me."
"Dria, I'm on duty. I can't run an errand for you now," Addon pouted.
"No, I want you to help me." Dria walked around Addon and wrapped her arms
around him. Her right hand worked its way under his breastplate and began
to play with his nipple. "I want you to switch me with one of the girls for
tomorrow's sacrifice..."
"I can't do that!"
"Quiet, Addon. Do you want everyone to hear?" Dria let her tongue tickle
his earlobe. Addon shuddered.
"That's suicide!" he pouted. "I won't let you do it."
Dria let her left hand move down to Addon's groin. She was mildly surprised
to find that the uniform of the palace guards did not consist of pants, but
leggings and a loincloth. How convenient, she smiled to herself. She
slipped her hand under the loincloth and grabbed Addon's penis. Rock-hard,
as she expected. Ol' Hard-Up Addon had not failed her. "Please?" she whined
in his ear. "Pretty please? I'll do ANYTHING if you would let me..."
"Oh, fuck. You know you have me just where you... Get me off and I'll make
the switch. But I'm still against..."
Addon was cut short by the realization that Dria was no longer behind him,
but instead had dropped to her knees in front of him and had taken his
penis in her mouth. He was so primed that it took only a few seconds before
he was shooting his load down her throat. He fell to the grass. Dria
allowed him the luxury of recovering for a few minutes. She rolled on top
of him.
"I really do love you, Addon. I just wish you would learn to stand up to
people. You let everyone walk all over you. Like Tiberus..."
"...and you," Addon completed. "Face it, I'm a weak person." Addon rolled
Dria to the side and stood up. "But I do keep my promises. Keep low until I
tell you to come out." Addon began to walk purposely toward the cage where
the girls were kept. But he was shaking noticeably.
"Greetings, Addon. You're late." The guard at the cage saluted him.
Addon saluted back. "I was... delayed by business."
"You were jacking off again."
"Come on, gimme a break," Addon pouted.
"'Course you were. Otherwise, why would your dick be hanging out?"
Addon jumped and looked down. He had forgotten to readjust his loincloth!
He started to reach down but the guard blocked his hand. With his other
hand, the guard reached down and touched the tip of Addon's penis. He
withdrew his finger, drawing a sticky thread of semen that glittered in the
moonlight. He placed the finger in his mouth, closed his lips, and withdrew
it slowly, producing a quiet slurp. Oh great, thought Dria as she watched
the exchange, he's got the hots for Addon.
Addon obviously had come to the same conclusion. "Not tonight, eh? I've
got... I'm pretty nervous with the sacrifice being tomorrow and all."
"Some other time, then." The guard left after giving Addon's butt an
affectionate squeeze. Addon watched him leave then gave out a tremendous
sigh of relief.
"Sorry to ruin your love life."
Addon jumped a few feet. "Don't sneak up on me like that!" he hissed.
"Sorry. Open the cage. Quickly. Before lover-boy returns."
Addon released the catch on the cage and opened the door. Dria crawled in
and moved towards the first girl she saw. She clamped her hand over the
girl's mouth. No response.
"The priests get the girls drunk on wine the night before, so they won't
try to escape when the Lurker comes," Addon explained.
Dria dragged the girl out of the cage and into the bushes. She then swapped
clothes with the girl, keeping only the sword, which she strapped to her
thigh and covered with her dress. Then she crawled back into the cage.
Addon locked the door behind her.
"Will you have any trouble with the girl?" she asked.
"No. I'll smuggle her out in the laundry delivery."
"Well, then," Dria said, "I guess it's good night."
"Good bye, Dria," Addon replied softly. His back was turned on her.
Dria didn't have to see Addon to know that he was crying.
Alone in the cage save for the slumbering girls around her, Dria was
beginning to have serious reservations about her plan. She didn't know
anything about the Lurker; what it was, how big it was, even if it could be
killed. She sucked on her lower lip and screwed up her courage. "Only one
of us will survive the night. Only one of us will survive the night. Only
one..."
It was light when she awoke to the sound of chanting. She had but a moment
to collect her thoughts before the floor beneath her feet fell away,
dumping her and the eleven other girls into the Lurker's domain. Dria fell
at a wrong angle, and hit her head on the ground. She blacked out.
She awoke to find herself lying on a stone table, bound to it in the
spread-eagle position. Her clothes-- and her sword-- had been removed. She
lifted her sore head as far as she could to scan the room. Aside from a
single dark tunnel leading off, the walls were perfectly smooth. No torches
were needed; ample moonlight filled the room from a grate in the ceiling.
Her eyes drifted back to the dark tunnel. Whoever-- whatever-- did this to
her would come in through that hole.
Time dragged on. She struggled briefly at her bindings, but realized it was
in vain. She would have to wait.
The patch of moonlight from the grate crept across the floor. Dria shut her
eyes in exasperation. Anything-- even being rent apart by some hideous
monster-- was better than this waiting. "I'm ready for you!" she screamed.
"I'm here and waiting-- where are you?" She tried to sound brave, but it
came out silly.
A metal clatter from the far side of the room was the answer. She turned
her head to see the cause of the sound. Dirik's sword was lying in the
patch of moonlight. Above it, two yellow cats'-eyes stared at her. The
Lurker began to breathe heavily. Even that noise sounded inhuman.
Whatever it was, it was black. So black that Dria never noticed it. As far
as she could tell, it had been standing there the whole time, watching her.
Although for a voracious, bloodthirsty monster, it was acting quite
strangely. Despite the parts of her brain that were screaming at the other
parts in fear, some rational thoughts managed to pass through her head.
First, the creature was somewhat intelligent. She assumed that it had bound
her to the stone table. Also, it had waited until she made a sound before
revealing its presence.
Second, it had not eaten her. Yet. It was waiting for something. Waiting
for her to be... scared?
"Well?" she screamed. Her voice hinted at her fear.
The answer was a guttural snarl.
"Aren't you going to eat me?" Dria tried to smile, to force the fear from
her face and her stomach.
No response.
"I said, aren't you going to eat me?"
"Am I expected to eat you?" came the guttural reply.
It could talk! Dria was shocked, and before she could censure her reply...
"Of course you're supposed to eat me."
"Then I shall."
There was a rush of darkness as the Lurker leapt upon the table, crouching
above Dria's knees. She screamed. The creature bared its fangs at her,
lowered its head to her body, and kissed her navel.
Then it licked her abdomen. She shuddered. Its tongue was like a kitten's:
rough, rasping. But much larger-- and more agile. The kisses continued,
working their way down, until they hit her privates. Each labia was
serviced in turn: licked, kissed, stroked, sucked. Dria could smell the
perfume of her arousal, and she wondered when it would ever get around to
her clitoris...
No! she thought. And just for effect, she shouted, "No!"
The licking immediately stopped. She looked down. The creature had raised
its head, and was staring at her. She swore it was grinning. Its brow
twitched-- almost as if it was waggling its eyebrows at her-- then returned
to her labia.
It positioned its clawed, furred hands to assist its mouth, moistening the
fingers with the juices that flowed so freely from her traitorous vagina.
One finger tentatively probed her anus; then, without warning, penetrated,
causing her to gasp out loud. Then the thumb of the same hand probed the
entrance to her vagina, carefully entering unlike its impatient neighbor.
Slowly it slid in, carefully paced, Dria was sure, to extend her agony and
need for the maximum time, when suddenly it stopped.
Both fingers withdrew abruptly. The oral manipulations ceased. The Lurker
jumped up and cocked its head quizzically at her. Then a sly grin crossed
its face.
With an extraordinary display of agility, the creature did a double flip
off of the table, landing in the patch of moonlight. It shook its fist in
the air and shouted up at the grate.
"Your quality control really sucks, Tiberus. What's amatter, girls finally
wising up to your little terror scheme?" It-- he, for it was now VERY
apparent the Lurker was male-- turned towards Dria. "Are you even blond?"
he demanded.
"Wha..." The recent display, coupled with the sudden removal of
stimulation, left Dria slightly addled.
"Oh, here," he said offhandedly, lifting up the sword. With a casual flick
of the arm, he threw the sword so it severed the strap holding her wrist to
the rock. She unconsciously began to loosen the other wrist strap with her
freed hand.
"Color me paranoid, but when you get six virgins a month for nearly two
years straight, then you get someone who has been used... er, has had
experience, well!"
Dria could not think of a suitable response. She stalled. "Er..."
Absentmindedly, she picked up the sword.
"Right! I mean, the sword, well, some family member may have smuggled it to
you, but now this!" The creature was ranting. Dria suddenly found the
situation comical. He was less concerned about the sword than her hymen!
"By the way, my name is Xi."
She jumped! The creature was addressing her, extending its hand.
"Oh! Dria. My name is... Dria. Dria Iphagar."
"Charmed. Listen, I'm going to bet you came down here to 'rescue' one of
the girls. Am I right?"
Dria nodded. Things were still moving too fast for her.
"Follow me."
Xi's long and energetic strides carried him quickly through the labyrinth
of tunnels underground. Dria found her clothes in the tunnel and struggled
to put them on while trying to keep up. Finally, he stopped in front of a
blank wall. He pressed his shoulder against it and pushed. The wall
rotated, revealing a chamber behind. Xi entered, with Dria close behind.
"Take your pick. As you can see, I have quite a collection."
The not-so-nasty Lurker named Xi slumped into a chair. Dria scanned the
room.
There had been fifty-nine other girls sacrificed, and by her estimation,
each and every one was present. Aside from the mandatory blue eyes and
blond hair, they had one other thing in common: when they looked at HIM,
their expressions were of unconcealed adoration; when they looked at her,
their faces showed competitive hatred.
"Each and every one. Sometimes, two or three at a time," came the answer to
her unspoken question. "Do you know how TIRING that can be?"
Dria felt no compassion. In the ten minutes she had spent with Xi, she
figured he would rather be boiled alive than be separated from his harem.
"I'm sure you... rose to the occasion," she added aloud.
The pile of fur on the chair chuckled in appreciation to her rejoinder,
then was silent. The frozen tableau continued for almost a moment. "Who are
you looking for?" Xi finally asked.
"Druella... Druella Iphagar."
"Your relation?"
"She is my sister."
"Interesting... interesting that she hasn't stepped forward, don't you
think?"
Dria did not understand what he was insinuating, but she took offense to it
anyway. "Perhaps she didn't want to be torn from your manly arms?" she shot
back, angrily. There was a murmur of discontent from the girls.
The cold yellow eyes narrowed. "Perhaps you are right-- in more ways than
you think. Maybe I have gotten a little too... contented." Xi stroked his
chin. "What do you plan to do once you have freed sister Druella?"
"Kill Tiberus." Dria said it coldly, flatly, reflexively.
"Why?"
"He killed my brother."
"Good reason." Xi shifted in his chair. Something about her straight-minded
self-assurance made him feel guilty, very guilty. He should have done
something about the girls a long time ago. The words "contented prisoner"
and "gilded cage" nipped at the corners of his mind.
The room was silent for a few more agonizing moments. Then a tiny voice
from the back of the room spoke up. "Dirik is dead?"
Druella had stepped forward from the crowd of girls. Dria's silence had
answered her question for her. Sobbing hysterically, she collapsed into her
sister's arms.
Dria allowed herself the luxury of shedding a single tear, but no more. It
had taken her months to build up the cold detachment she had made towards
the king, and an emotional display right now could cause it to collapse all
around her.
Xi was fascinated. He had never seen such grim determination in anyone--
not even in the heartless Amazons that ruled his world. With a similar
inward display of determination that even surprised himself, he decided
right then and there that he would help her kill the bastard. But first, he
needed to get rid of some innocent-- well, previously innocent--
spectators.
"I'd like to have your attention," he said, standing on his chair. "As you
are probably aware, this young lady's presence will probably compromise our
little hide-a-way here." Murmurs-- and the occasional hissing-- greeted
this revelation. Xi held up his palms in request for silence. "It would
have come sooner or later. Perhaps this is the best, as we have gotten
advance warning." The girls talked amongst themselves. The tone was still
far from happy.
"Decide what you will. I am leaving, and I suggest you do likewise. You
know the way out: we have prepared for this moment well."
"Well?"
"Well what?"
"Aren't you going to follow them?"
"Why? I'd stick out like a cracked claw. I may be wrong, but large felines
walking on their hind legs isn't exactly the norm for this universe."
"Well then, what are you going to do?"
"I thought I'd stick around with you. See this thing out. You know, be in
on the kill, as it were."
"Oh, really?" Dria was incredulous.
"Yes, really." Xi tried to look indignant, but with his fixed grin, the
expression was comical at best. "Besides, I bet you haven't even thought of
how you're going to get into the castle, much less get near the king."
Dria was annoyed that he had hit directly upon her plan's weaknesses:
mainly, she didn't have one. "I have too!" she lied.
The eyes half-closed, the grin widened a bit, and the voice took on a
definite mocking tone. "I bet. Well, I can you into the castle... if you
are interested."
Dria weighed the desire for an easy entrance against the agony of admitting
to Xi that she needed his help. The desire won. "All right then, you win.
How do we get in unnoticed?"
Xi nodded curtly. "Easy. There is a wing of the castle completely unused,
because geological activity has opened up a fissure nearby. The sulfur
fumes have driven the castle staff to seal up that wing. But there's secret
passageways leading all over the castle..."
Dria gave Xi the honor of a smile. "And I am sure you know all of these
passageways..."
"I consider nosiness a serious tool of survival," he replied, looking prim.
His snobbish expression dissolved into a more normal grin.
Dria sat down in his chair. With her chin resting in her palms, she
examined Xi closely. "Tell me," she asked, "how come a monster such as
yourself-- no offense intended-- would have so much knowledge of the local
despot's castle?"
Xi lifted himself onto the table and sat, legs crossed and hands on knees.
Dria suddenly realized her mistake, but it was too late. "Now that's a
story..." Xi began.
"Despite appearances," Xi said, motioning towards his attire, or lack
thereof, "the place where I come from is quite advanced scientifically.
Many have said that with intelligence comes the desire to explore, and the
destination lies with the species doing the exploration. Those that evolved
from ocean and coastal dwellers explore the sea; those creatures that are
arboreal want to touch the stars; those that live below the ground dig
deeper and deeper.
"But what of cats, creatures that seem to be content wherever they can
sleep? We didn't want to go up, nor down, so we decided to crack IN. Into
alternate realities, to be precise."
"You've lost me," Dria admitted. "What do you mean by 'alternate
realities?' There can only be ONE reality, can't there?"
Xi shook his head. "Ever wonder 'what would have happened if...?' Each time
a decision is made, two realities are produced. Each time an atom decays or
not, two realities are produced. The smallest change results in a fissure
of space-time."
"So there must be an infinite number of realities!" exclaimed Dria,
standing up. "And an infinite number that contain me. That hurts my head."
She sat down again.
"Strangely enough," Xi continued, politely ignoring her interruption, "a
person can only visit a fixed number of them. And the more recent the
'separating event,' the more energy it takes to travel there."
"Makes sense," Dria replied. "Nature abhors a paradox."
Xi was staring at her strangely. He moved off of the table and began
busying himself by removing items from a chest. "You're pretty intelligent
for a farm girl on such a backwards sphere," he finally said.
Dria put her nose up in the air and replied, "Just because I am a farm girl
doesn't mean I haven't had a formal education."
Xi laughed. "I keep forgetting. Just because your world stagnated in the
kingly era, it didn't mean technology and science came to a standstill.
Goddess only knows what will happen when the Feudal Follies meets the
Atomic Age. I hope to be long gone." He pulled a coil of rope out of the
chest and threw it over his shoulder.
Dria didn't understand his comment, so she wisely ignored it. "I take it,
then, you're from one of these 'alternate realities.'"
He turned around and made a broad gesture with his arms. "In my sphere,
felines beat out simians in the race towards civilization. In fact, my
sphere is one of the few where there was simultaneous evolution of multiple
species: tigers, leopard-panthers, and lions. You think you have a racial
problem? You should see my world!"
"Fascinating, but hat still doesn't explain why you know so much about the
castle..."
Xi returned his attention to the chest. "I was getting to that. Anyway, the
devices used to travel inter-dimensionally are quite large, naturally."
"Naturally."
Xi turned around again and favored her with a dark look. "Anyway, I found a
way to reduce the size dramatically, as well as the power consumption. I
was run... er, testing my invention when I came across your charming world.
To be precise, I entered your world in the main banquet hall of the--
how-did-you-put-it?-- local despot's castle.
"At first, they were surprised and scared. But after learning that I was
intelligent..."-- Dria smirked-- "and charming..."-- that resulted with
Dria making a rude facial gesture-- "I quickly became a permanent guest of
the castle." He cuffed her lightly with his paw.
Dria blocked the cuff. "Until about ten months ago, right?"
"Woke up with a hangover and a loincloth." He tugged on the fabric. "Well,
at least they do laundry for me."
"But why the girls?"
"Don't know. Tib had a major kink... he did like to watch me get it on with
the girls in the castle."
"You let him watch?" Dria was shocked.
"Of course not. He just made so much noise behind the one-way mirror, I
knew." Xi paused, and buffed his nails against his chest. "Of course, on my
side of the mirror, it wasn't exactly silent either."
Braggart, Dria thought. "So that's how you found out about the passages."
Once again, Xi began hunting through the chest, this time extracting what
looked like a small paper hat. "That, and my aforementioned horniness, er,
nosiness." He displayed his found treasures. "Ready to go?"
Dria and Xi stood at the edge of a deep ravine. Wisps of toxic vapors
curled around their feet. As expected, they were having an argument.
"OK, look. This is a thirty-foot drop and at the bottom is a river of
semimolten rock that is in excess of 400 degrees..." Xi said.
"I don't care. You are not going to carry me. All you want to do is cop a
feel..."
"Listen. I have a filter mask, hand-made for this exact expedition." He
motioned to the paper hat. "That's going to increase the odds of my
survival by a thousand percent. You don't have one. One whiff of those
sulfur fumes and you'll start to get woozy, I promise you that."
"Well, then," countered Dria with a smirk, "how do you expect me to hold on
to you?"
"You're not going to hold on, you're going to hang on," replied Xi, pulling
a silk scarf from his backpack. "Now, hold out your wrists."
"I still think you have an ulterior motive," Dria pouted. But she complied.
Xi carefully bound her wrists together. "Too tight?" he asked.
"No, not really. Better safe than sorry."
He tugged the scarf. "Seems firm. Well, I gotta get this over with." With a
deft move, he slipped his head and right arm between Dria's arms, and stood
up. Dria's heels rose only a couple of centimeters above the floor. "I
never realized how short you were," she giggled.
"Thanks a whole bunch."
Xi looked across the chasm. It wasn't too far across, but there was the
danger of falling... No, don't think about it, do it, he thought to
himself. Do it or screw it.
He reached up and grabbed the rope. His padded paws were almost designed
for rope climbing. Unlike a human's, his palms never got sweaty.
Lift. There now, not too heavy, he thought to himself. Now, begin crossing.
Hand out, grab the rope. Swing. Hand out, grab the rope. Swing. Hand out...
This isn't so bad, Dria thought to herself. Xi is so paranoid, so sure I
can't cut it. Why, you would almost...
Xi passed over the edge of the chasm and the heat and smell hit her like a
rock. She squeezed her eyes tight to protect them from the fumes. "Xi?" she
whispered. A grunt was her reply. "Xi... I hope you don't take advantage of
the fact that I am passing out..."
Incentive! smiled Xi to himself. No, he laughed inside, no, there's no
challenge in it. Get across first. Swing. Hand out, grab the rope. Swing.
Hand out, grab the rope.
"Thirty-four swings," he said to no one in particular as he dropped to the
ledge on the opposite side. He slipped his arm and head out of Dria's arms
and carefully lowered her to the ground...
Dria felt something. It was like a very rough leather being stroked gently
across her nipple. She moved her hands across her body. Naked! The bastard
had undressed her!
The leather must be the velvets of his paws, she thought. I'll kill him.
Suddenly her body convulsed involuntarily as something rough and moist was
rubbed across her right nipple, which hardened instantaneously. Then her
left nipple was touched, and her body reacted the same way.
Thoughts of killing him were replaced with thoughts of fear. Oh God, she
thought, that's his tongue! What a wonderful tongue! No, hate the bastard!
If he... If he licks my cunt...
The tongue went straight for her clitoris. Her body convulsed as orgasm
after orgasm as his tongue quickly and lightly stroked the bud.
"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh!" she screamed.
Her body stopped shaking suddenly. That's odd, Dria thought, most of the
time my orgasms are so violent. Why is Xi laughing at me? She shook her
head. Then she realized her eyes were closed. She opened them carefully,
afraid of what she might see.
Her fears were well-founded. Xi sat, a few feet away, cross-legged and
fully dressed (if you can call that loincloth "fully dressed"), and was
laughing so hard he was crying. Dria sat up. She too was fully dressed and
no worse for wear, save a very damp spot on her crotch.
"Care to share your dream?" Xi grinned, wiping the tears off of his face.
"Shut up and go to hell," Dria replied.
"I'm just glad you didn't start up while we were still on the rope," Xi
said, ignoring the gag order. "I swear, all that happened was the back of
my hand rubbed against your left breast and you started convulsing..." He
collapsed in a fit of giggles. "Who was the star of your dream? Anyone I
know?" Xi gave her a lewd wink. Even though he had stopped laughing, Dria
could see the hilarity bubbling inside him through his slitted pupils.
"You only star in my nightmares," she barked back. "Let's get going." With
that, Dria stood up and walked pointedly towards the castle. Xi followed,
shoulders still shaking.
"Security? You call this security?" Xi shouted at the three guards just
recently dispatched. He gave one a kick in the side. "C'mon, give us a
challenge!"
"Shhh!" Dria hissed, afraid that they had been heard. The big bozo will
give us both away with his bluster, she thought. "They'll hear us inside,"
she added out loud.
"Trust me, I went over this castle when I lived inside it. There's nothing
on this side save an unused banquet hall. And by 'unused,' I'm talking
about a centimeter of dust at least..."
"Shut up and give me a boost." Talk, talk, talk. For a cat, he sure talked
a lot. She had a cat at home-- a gray-striped housecat. It would sit on the
edge of her bed and watch her silently as she swung a toy sword at her
shadow on the wall...
"Well?" Xi was standing under a window with his hands intertwined to form a
step. "Haven't got all day."
Dria hopped onto the offered hands and felt herself rise off of the ground
about a meter. "I've got a problem," she said. "I'm still a few centimeters
below the sill of the window."
"Is that a short joke?" Xi grunted. "I can't lift you farther... seem to
have pulled a shoulder muscle crossing the ravine..."
"I'll try to reach it."
"No hurry... view is great down here."
And I know what you're viewing, she thought. "Which shoulder is injured?"
"I'm sorry about the view comment. Really."
"No, I'm not going to gouge your shoulder-- although I'd really like to. I
was going to use the other as a footstep." Dria was getting impatient. They
were going nowhere, fast.
"Oh! The right one, then. I mean, use the right one."
She stepped gingerly on Xi's right shoulder. No cry of pain, good. Lift
aaaaaaaaaand... grab. "Got it!" she shouted. She lifted herself up and
climbed in the window.
"Now who's being loud?" Xi's comment drifted up to her. "Stand back."
"What?"
"I said, stand back."
She stole a glance out the window. Xi was fifteen meters back, crouched in
the classic sprinters' position, the muscles in his thighs rippling under
his black fur... With an angry snarl he hurled himself forward, running,
leaping...
Years later Dria would describe the picture of Xi, flying through the
window, his mouth wide open in a primal roar, all of his muscles tensed,
ready to curl up in a ball to absorb the impact. Beautiful, she would say,
beautiful, because a second later, Xi would catch his foot on the sill of
the window and land flat on his face.
"Oooof!" The primal roar was interrupted and Dria ran over to Xi's prone
body. He wasn't moving. She turned him over gently. "Xi? Xi? Are you all
right?"
"Dying... back broken," he gasped. "Not much time left... Dria?"
"Yes?"
"Dria... dying... last request... fuck me!"
"You are perfectly fine!" Dria said in disgust, emphasizing the word fine
with a kick to Xi's ribs. "Really, can't you get sex off of your mind?"
That was a dumb question, she thought to herself.
"Aw, gee, you really can't blame a guy for trying." Xi sat up, thought
better of it, and laid down again. After a few moments, he checked himself
for injuries-- "Didn't do this shoulder any good"-- found none, and stood
up. Dria stood facing down the hallway, her back towards him. He walked
over to her and stood behind her, staring down the hallway. Neither one
spoke for a minute.
"We've come this far," he said, quietly. "Of course, if you back out, no
one would know, and your sister is safe, and..."
"I would know," she said, matching Xi's quiet tone. "Besides, I promised
YOU that we'd get Tiberus... together."
"Together," Xi repeated, wrapping his arms around her waist. He put his
chin on her shoulder and whispered into her ear. "You know, it's really
easy to say 'I'm going to kill him,' but when you get right down to it..."
"I know." Dria reached over with her hand and stroked the opposite side of
Xi's head. She continued staring down the corridor.
"I was... I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable with my joking around. I
didn't mean it... I mean, I DO find you attractive, I meant... I don't
know."
"I do." She turned towards him and kissed him on the lips. She was
expecting something different-- after all, she was kissing a creature, a
man, who never stopped smiling. Body language, he said, my kind is more
sensitive to body language, since our facial expressions are very
limited...
Xi was surprised-- very surprised. Dria had shown no interest, no
fascination, no sliver of curiosity about him, unlike the other girls. She
had shown complete immunity towards all of his lustful advances, erotic
byplays and sexual innuendoes-- weapons that had been so effective on the
other girls. So why... Don't ask why, he scolded himself, just do it.
After a few moments, Dria built up the courage to explore Xi's mouth with
her tongue. She gently touched his teeth with the tip, feeling the long
canines, stroking the sharp incisors, then gently, slowly, reaching in to
touch his tongue...
Xi broke off quickly. "What's that smell? Something's wrong here..."
"What smell?" Dria smelled nothing unusual, save... wait, there was some
strange odor in the air. Musky, heavy, but not unpleasant. In fact, it made
her feel warm inside just inhaling it. She took a deep breath. "Some sort
of perfume. This county is famous for them. Rather nice..." Her eyes began
to glaze over. "Xi..." she mumbled, "I need..." She disengaged herself from
his arms. "I need..." Dria looked down the hall. There was something
important-- very important-- down that hall. She needed to go to it,
whatever "it" was. Needed, most important. Her skin was heating up. "I
need..." Her mind was locked on "need." She began to walk down the hall.
Xi watched Dria meander off in amazement. True, he was the one to break off
the kiss-- damn it!-- but her reaction was totally uncalled-for. She acted
if she was drugged-- was that the effect of the smell, some sort of drug?
he thought to himself. No, not a drug, otherwise I would have been affected
as well-- this backwards planet was still too primitive to design
species-specific hallucinogens. It's very familiar, but I just can't quite
place it...
Dria turned around a sharp corner, and Xi raced down the corridor after
her, trying desperately to give a name to the smell. "Damn it," he muttered
to himself, "I remember that smell! But what the hell is it?"
He turned the corner just in time to see Dria about to open a door. Even
his untrained nose could sense the source of the smell was behind the door.
No time for subtleties, he thought to himself. With that in mind, he
tackled Dria.
He half-expected to receive the tongue-lashing of his life. But she was too
far gone to do that. Instead, she began to stroke his chest. "So nice... so
big and strong..."
Xi removed the filter mask from his waistband. "Dria, now listen closely. I
want you to put this on..."
"Silly," she lilted, "how can I kiss you if I'm wearing that ugly thing?"
OK, if that's the game you want to play, Xi thought. "But Dria, I'm into
some major kink, and I can't get it up if you don't wear this mask." He
tried to match her empty sing-song voice, but he came out sounding like a
kitten.
"Well, if it's the ONLY way I can get the little soldier to salute..." With
that, she put on the mask.
Xi watched her with rapt attention. Within seconds, her pupils constricted
to normal size. A few moments later, her hands stopped roaming over his
body. After a minute had passed, her eyes came back into focus and she
spoke. "Xi?"
"Pretty powerful stuff," he replied, getting up off her. "How do you feel?"
"Like I've just spent the night with a dozen sailors that were on ship for
six months, non-stop," The wrinkles in her cheeks gave hints of a smile.
"Thanks."
"All part of the service. Now, let's see what's behind this door." He
tilted over in a complicated gesture, sweeping his arm toward the door.
"After you, milady."
"Oh no, after you," Dria replied, attempting to match his gesture with a
curtsy.
They both laughed and opened the door together.
Xi first noticed the urns. Dria first noticed the boys.
There were twelve porcelain urns surrounding a circular depression in the
floor. Each urn had a fire underneath it, and from the top, a heavy white
mist was pouring out and flowing into the depression. Some of the vapors
were rolling across the floor and curling at Xi's feet.
Xi's eyes were beginning to glaze. His jaw slacked.
Dria had been bolder when entering the room, and she could see right down
into the depression. There were at least forty boys in the room-- most
under the age of twenty, all but one with blond hair and blue eyes. Dria
watched in bizarre fascination at the goings-on in the pit. Each one of the
sweat-and-semen coated bodies was in some state of sexual arousal, and each
one was engaged in relieving that condition with the help of his neighbors.
Dria had never seen homosexuals "in action" before, and she couldn't decide
if she was fascinated or repulsed. In either case, she couldn't draw her
eyes away from the scene below.
"Pretty boys... so nice."
Dria jumped a foot. Xi was the one who had spoken. His eyes were focused on
infinity, and his head tilted to the side, as if it was too heavy for his
neck. His index claw clicked slowly against his lower incisors;
occasionally he would close his lips and suck on his fingertip.
"So nice."
Xi's finger left his mouth and drifted down to his chest. His finger
stroked his nipple with a slight circular motion. Occasionally he would
squeeze and massage his pectoral.
"So pretty."
Dria needed no more hints to Xi's state of arousal; his straining loincloth
was enough evidence of that. As if on cue, his penis popped out of the
side. Xi stopped his ministrations of his nipple long enough to break the
band on his loincloth. It fell forgotten to the floor.
"So pretty... pretty girl."
Girl? Dria had been watching Xi's crotch and not his head. She looked up.
He was facing her, shambling towards her, reaching out towards her...
Dria scrambled back as far as she could, but she was cornered. There was no
way she could dart past him-- despite his vacant expression and his slow
speech, she was sure his reflexes were still razor-sharp and he could
probably corner... like a cat.
"Pretty girl... Want some candy?... Let's play doctor... No challenge!"
The last two words had come out as a gasp. Xi fell to his knees and pressed
his palms against the sides of his head. "Head so fuzzy... So goooood. Need
to cum. Want to cum. Pretty girl, let's fuck. No-no-no-no challenge." He
smiled at her. There was a gleam of control in his eyes. But just for a
second. "So nice. Nice girl, nice urns. Wanna fuck? Fuck the urns?"
Urns? What is he talking about? Urns! Dria suddenly realized that there
were urns in the room. The vapors must be the source of this smell. She
certainly WAS going to "fuck the urns"-- as soon as she could figure out
how to get past Xi. Xi had gotten her to wear the mask by appealing to her
carnal needs... perhaps turnabout was the solution?
"Xi? I'm sure you would like some of this," she said sweetly, lifting up
her skirt. She moved her feet wide apart to make sure her intentions were
clear.
"Oh yes. Want some. Need some," he muttered, falling to his hands and
knees. He moistened his lips.
"No, no, no, handsome. I want you to stand up."
Xi instantly complied with the reply by pushing up on all fours and
spinning in midair, adding proof to Dria's theory that his reflexes were
not dampened. So now what, she thought.
"Pretty girl, why you wear such ugly mask? I say, take mask off." His head
flopped from one shoulder to the other.
He was reaching... reaching... Dria could not afford to lose the mask. She
ran forward, and pushed as hard as she could against Xi's midsection. He
gave a little yelp of surprise and fell back into the depression. There
were a few cries of alarm from the boys in the pit, but soon they faded
back into the low moaning of pleasure. Dria swore she heard an occasional
snarl and purr from Xi as well, but she decided against checking the pit.
"Some things are best left unknown," she mumbled to herself and switched
her attention to the urns.
The problem was simple: take away the heat, and you take away the vapors.
Not so simple-- she had nothing with which she could extinguish the flames.
There were some cabinets in the room; perhaps one of those would contain a
blanket or something.
Or something. Dria had never seen such a horrifying collection of
instruments of torture in her life. These were not designed to cause
cathartic pain; no, these devices were designed solely to maim-- and
eventually kill. She slammed the doors shut and turned her head, but the
images kept flowing through her mind. She forced herself to look again, and
she found something she could use-- a leather vest encrusted with hundreds
of fishhooks.
Taking the vile thing and holding it with outstretched arms as if she could
smell the stink of death upon it, she walked over and covered the flame.
The leather did not catch fire, and the fire was quickly extinguished. Then
to the second flame, and the third. Dria did it all mechanically, her mind
absent, reciting fantasies of revenge on Tiberus for the twisted, monstrous
things that he had done-- there had been ten sacrifices of six boys each,
yet there were only forty boys in the pit. By the time she had done the
ninth flame, the odor in the room had diminished to the point where she
could take off the mask. She didn't even realize when she had completed the
circle, her mind far away slicing the psychotic king to ribbons with a
scimitar. Only then did she look into the pit.
Had her mind not been so occupied, Dria may have been amused by the
situation. Xi was on top of the only dark-haired youth, pumping for all his
worth. Two other boys were attending to the crevice between his buttocks
with their tongues. Xi's expression was like the others: vacant-eyed
dullness. Also, he was panting like a dog.
Xi's eyes quickly snapped into focus. Dria expected him to be horrified of
his actions, but his response could not have been more unexpected. Instead
of leaping from the pit, he lowered his head to the dark-haired boy's neck
and kissed him. His thrusting became less staccato and more even and
deeper. Then, without warning, Xi threw his arms around the boy's chest and
reared up and back on his knees, letting out a triumphant roar seconds
before he clamped down on the boy's ear with his teeth, triggering the
boy's wild ejaculation that sprayed globs of semen all over his neighbors.
Dria caught a glimpse of the boy's face and fainted.
Dria awoke to see the grinning face of Dirik. "Oh dear Dirik," she mumbled,
"I have had the oddest dream."
Dirik softened his smile, which Dria took as a signal to continue. "There
was this man-- this creature-- and it was going to help me find you. And
kill Tiberus. And rescue Druella."
Dirik cocked his head. Dria reached up and stroked his hair. "But then it
raped you, and bit... your..." She faded off as her fingers touched the
bandage on his right ear. She sat up.
There was a black pile of fur a few meters away sitting with its legs
crossed and its eyes closed. One yellow eye slowly opened and gazed at her
levelly. She swore that the slitted pupil was laughing at her. Again.
"Your family seems to be stuck on some sort of 'D' motif, I gather." The
yellow eye closed. "Smart move, putting out those flames." Xi stood up and
stretched. Dria was immensely aware of his nakedness: he still wasn't
completely sexually exhausted yet, that was evident. She was also painfully
aware that her brother was touching himself as he watched Xi strut around
the room.
"He's magnificent, isn't he?" Dirik whispered into her ear.
"Depends on what you define 'magnificent' to be, and what you are defining
as 'magnificent,'" she hissed back.
Dirik suddenly was aware of his unconscious groping. He flashed her a
sheepish grin.
"We'll talk later," was her stoic reply. "I've got other matters to take
care of." She stood up, walked over to Xi, and stared him levelly in the
eyes. The pupils stopped quivering and dilated-- but just for a moment.
"Have you looked inside that monster's toy chest?" she hissed.
Xi closed his eyes and nodded affirmative. He motioned towards one of the
cabinets with his head. A greenish-yellow stain was on the door. "You only
saw the tools-- we saw the trophies. My stomach wasn't quite up to it, I'm
afraid." He watched her closely for a reaction.
"I want him dead," was her only response.
The rules of the game had changed dramatically. It was no longer a duel of
seduction-- it was a partnership for revenge. True, there was some minor
bickering when Xi immediately assumed he was in charge; but after
explaining the major points of his trap, the others quickly agreed.
"We have to break our objective down as follows: one, heads of state, token
that they may be, are ALWAYS closely guarded; two, this means our windows
for attack are severely limited; and three, we have advertised our
intention by destroying his little perfume factory here."
"So what do you suggest?" Dirik asked. "We start up the fires under the
urns and sneak away? I don't think our entourage"-- he motioned to the
cluster of forty-odd boys sitting behind him-- "are about to give up their
newfound freedom." He was secretly enjoying Xi's pacing and point-counting:
in all his excitement, Xi still hadn't dressed.
"What we do is turn our liabilities into assets. First, he won't know about
the urns until he comes in here. Second, I'm chancing that he's only a
voyeur and not an exhibitionist and he doesn't like to share, so when he
comes in here, he'll be alone. Third,..."
"...we jump him," Dria finished. "But won't he call the guards..."
"...when he sees the flames are out? It'll take him a few moments to
notice-- longer if he wears a mask like I did." Xi shifted his attention to
the naked, glistening throng and inhaled deeply. "Do you think you kids can
put on one final performance-- just long enough to distract him?" There was
a low murmur through the crowd, then silence. "I'll take that as a yes,
then."
Dria found herself in the unique position of being the first female to
choreograph an all-male orgy in her planet's history. Had someone told her
that she would be telling one blond teenager to lick his neighbor's ass
because "he isn't glossy enough," she would have laughed. Right now, she
was far from laughing. One one hand, she was angered by Tiberus's
instruments of "pleasure." On the other hand, murder-- even so-called
justifiable assassination-- repulsed her. On the other hand, she was still
dazed over the realization that her brother was doing something else then
playing chess all night when he invited fellow artists home for the
weekend. Three hands. She really was distracted.
A furry cheek pressed against her ear. "If you say it out loud, it won't
hurt as badly as it does now."
She turned to look at Xi. "What are you talking about? I'm not hurting."
"C'mon, say it with me. 'My brother is a homosexual.'"
"Don't be daft."
"Can't say it, can ya?" Xi's tone was mocking, challenging.
"Of course I can say it."
"Then prove it." Xi was smiling now. But then, he always smiled.
"'My brothrm is a homblsal.'"
"I didn't quite hear that," Xi lilted. "What did you say?"
She turned to face him, nose to snout, gleaming blue eye to glittering
yellow. "'My brother is a faggot who likes to be fucked by big black
cats.'"
Xi chuckled, not unkindly. "While I think your choice of... phrasing leaves
a lot to be desired, at least the sentiment is sincere." He didn't move.
This is a stand-off, thought Dria. Well, I'm not going to back down. "Which
term did you find... offensive?" she whispered back.
"'Faggot.'" Xi gave a barely detectable twitch at the word, so minute that
Dria could not be sure that she hadn't imagined it. "It brings to mind
prancing, effeminate men mincing around, their heels never touching the
ground-- of which species your brother is not."
Her volley. "Your heels never touch the ground."
Xi chuckled again. "Touche. But then, nor does any other Xian's..."
"Xian?"
"My people are Xians. From Xia."
"Xi the Xian from Xia?" She almost laughed out loud.
"A-hem."
Two heads swiveled around to see the source of the interruption.
Dirik wiggled his eyebrows twice (like the master), grinned, and simply
said, "It's show time!"
Dirik joined the other boys in the pit. Dria shot him a glance-- a
you're-enjoying-this-far-too-much type of glance-- but he replied by
widening his grin a few more notches. He's got a hero, she thought, but
why'd it have to be the fucking Xian? Fucking Xian. Described him
perfectly.
There were a few tense, agonizing moments before the doors opened. Dria
stole a quick glance at Xi. Even under all his fur she could see that his
face had gone ashen. Then the doors opened.
The chaos that occurred in the following moments was confusing to the
participants even after everything had settled down.
Xi immediately realized something that had failed to catch his eye earlier.
When the doors fully opened, he would be trapped between the door, the
wall, and a column, and would be unable to hit his guard from behind. The
only thing he could do was to confuse the situation by closing the door in
the guard's face. With a moment's prayer that Dria had reached the same
conclusion, he pressed his shoulder to the door and pushed hard.
Dria HAD come to the same conclusion, but her timing was off. Her guard
simply stepped forward, away from the hazard of the swinging door. He
turned and raised his mace, preparing to strike.
Xi tried to reach her, block the downswing, something, but he tripped over
the fallen body of the other guard...
Swish... Thunk! A crossbow bolt suddenly lodged itself in her attacker's
neck. The guard gave a bubbly gasp, then fell to the floor.
Dirik was standing up in the middle of the depression, completely naked
save for the evil-looking crossbow in his right hand.
"Interesting choice of marital aids, Tiberus." The voice belonged to Xi.
The statement was directed to the only standing member of the invasion
party.
The addressee spun around to glare at the speaker. Dria had never seen
Tiberus, and was surprised to see a very handsome young man. He could have
even been considered beautiful-- except for the vicious scowl on his face.
"You! I should have killed you..."
"...while you had the chance," Xi finished for him. "Spare me the endgame
villain performance, Tiberus. These two kind people would like a word with
you."
Dirik cracked his knuckles in anticipation. Dria made no response, her
mind-- for some ridiculous reason-- drifting back to Xi's kiss.
Dria's apprehension was not lost on Xi. "Unfortunately for them--
fortunately for you-- I am going to deal with you instead. This insures
your immediate survival." Dria looked noticeably relieved. "It may be,
however, that you will regret my... kindness." He turnd around and glared
at Dria. "Take Dirik and the boys outside. Now." It was not a request. But
his left eye closed in a half-wink. Dria and the others complied, closing
the doors after themselves. He turned to his host, pushing him down to a
sitting position on the floor. "Shall we talk?"
Xi stood up and began to pace. He rapped his knuckles against one of the
jars. "Interesting setup you have here. Somehow, with your crude
technology, you managed to locate the key pheromone linked to sexual
arousal." Tiberus was silent.
Xi sauntered over to him. He tapped his index finger repeatedly on the
fallen king's nose as he spoke. "Now, where would someone like you get your
hands on such a sophisticated chemical? By accident, of course."
Xi leaned back, crossed his arms, and smirked. "I think you found a natural
source, some THING that had never before been on your world before."
Xi moved a few steps closer. "Something else is odd. When you imprisoned
me, you were kind enough to supply three things: food, entertainment, and
laundry. The last puzzled me... until now."
Xi moved in even closer. Deliberately, he wiped the groove of his groin
with his forefinger. "I wonder how your famous perfumeries felt about
macerating used loincloths?" With that, Xi shoved his forefinger under
Tiberus' nose. Tiberus shuddered, and his eyes momentarily dilated.
"I thought so. Well, listen carefully. I have already released the girls,
and now I'm going to escort the boys to safety. I suggest you start
running, because when word leaks out about the ATROCITIES that were
committed here... well, let's just say, some mourning parents might start
using some of this equipment on YOU."
With a final smirk, Xi turned and left the room.
"You're leaving?!?" The shout came from downhill. Xi opened one eye and
gazed lazily at his awakener.
He stretched and simply replied, "Why not?"
"Because you like it here-- you don't have to work, we feed you..." Dria
plopped down beside him. "There's no reason to leave..."
"...and no reason to strain the hospitality of your parents any further,"
Xi concluded. "'sides, your brother is looking at me a bit strangely
lately..." He tickled her ribs.
She batted his hand away. "C'mon, tell me the real reason."
Xi sat up and put on his "serious" face. "Dria, how old do you think I am?
In your terms-- our lifespans and timetables aren't that different."
She thought for a minute, then replied, "Somewhere between thirty and
thirty-five, right?"
"I am twenty-four."
She didn't answer. Xi took that as a signal to continue. "I've been running
for a long time now; since I was seventeen, in fact. That tends to age you,
emotionally as well as physically."
"But that doesn't explain..."
"One gets accustomed to the constant moving," he interrupted. "Basically, I
just want to move on."
"Then take me with you."
Xi looked at her funny. "Do you know, I was hoping you... never mind. Do
you really want to go with me?"
"Yes." Dria was astonished by her own confidence.
"It may be dangerous."
"Good."
"It may be terrifying."
"Good."
"We may be forced to have sex at gunpoint."
"Dream on."
Xi's permanent grin widened a few notches. It would be a challenge-- just
the way he always wanted. "Ready to go?"
"Where? Now? What will I need?"
"Courage, stamina, and the realization that ninety percent of life is
strictly boredom." Xi removed the shifter from his belt. He had extracted
the odd device from the king's bedroom, along with a small ransom of
treasure. "War booty," he had called it.
"And the other ten percent?"
"That, my dear, is what people like you and I live for."
"Can I even ask where are we going?"
"Somewhere else." Xi pressed a button on the shifter.