Tales of
Erogenia
Based
on the online comic created by J.E. Draft.
Episode 3: The Mountain of
Fire
Chapter
1:
Lost
She was magnificent; perhaps
the most magnificent woman Queron had ever seen and he was a fine judge of
woman flesh. Tall, broad-shouldered,
and muscled like a warrior, he did not have to see her wield the long blade
she had strapped over her left shoulder to know that she could
fight. He adjusted the glass
and moved it over her sun-bronzed body, noting her long legs, slender hips
and narrow waist. Then she turned
slightly giving him a full profile.
He pursed his lips in appreciation, his eyes lingering on her full
breasts, flat belly, and elegant neck.
Her long dark hair was worn in a long braid that trailed down her
back, almost reaching the curve of her backside
Her eyes appeared to be
some shade of green, something that was difficult to determine through the
viewing tube, but he could clearly see her full lips and high
cheekbones. He moved the glass
slightly to take in her male companion.
He was similar in a few ways, being tall board-shouldered and dark-haired,
but there the similarities ended.
By any standards, the woman
was lightly dressed, clad only in loose-fitting trousers that allowed ease
of movement and a long flowing top.
Strapped over her clothing was a light leather harness that held her
sword, a long-bladed knife, and a few small
pouches. The man, on the other
hand was completely overdressed for the climate, wearing full body armour
that shone so brightly that Queron could barely look at
it.
They were a puzzling
pair. For one thing, they seemed
to have appeared from nowhere.
Surely with that bright armour his small scouting party should have
seen them long before they stumbled upon
them. Something equally puzzling
was the fact that they were on foot.
Walking across the never-ending plain in the baking heat carrying
that amount of armour should have been impossible, but there they
were.
Queron lowered the viewing
tube and Daget prodded him from behind.
Let me see, he demanded, holding out his hand for the
tube.
Queron
frowned. The delicate instrument
had cost him a small fortune and he hated to let it out of his grasp, but
in the interests of maintaining good relations with the other two scouts
he handed it over, but not before admonishing Daget
first. You drop it and
Ill have your balls.
Daget, however, appeared
not to be listening, he had the viewing tube jammed against his
eye. By Voln, Id
like to get between her legs. What
do you think shes worth?
Depends on whether
or not shes a virgin, Queron
answered. They always go
for more, but just the way she is Id say a gold
talent. More if she can be
broken.
The breaking part
is what I like, came a voice from
behind.
Queron turned his head to
look over his shoulder. You
think too much with your cock, Gron.
We havent even caught her yet.
Gron
shrugged. Just a matter
of time. They dont even
know were here.
Queron had to concede that
point. The viewing tube gave
him a tremendous advantage when scouting, allowing him to sit back and study
his intended victims from a safe distance.
He and his two companions were
snuggled down in a cluster of large boulders in a slightly raised position
on the almost flat plain. Hidden
from the view of any Urulana hunting parties they could scout out the terrain
before moving to a more exposed position.
The two white-skinned warriors were something of a bonus, but where
they had come from still eluded him.
He should have seen them,
but it was almost as if they had materialized out of
nowhere. That, and their rather
unusual appearance made him uneasy and he wished that Daget had not called
on the god of thieves so openly. It
did not pay to invoke any god rashly.
By the Moon and
Sun, Zenaria muttered.
Where did Alzid send us?
This place looks nothing like
Erogenia. She looked at
Varden. The knight was shifting
uncomfortably in his armour.
I dont think
we are going to be able to get back to Jingua from here, she
said. Perhaps you should
get out of all that cast iron before you roast.
Its the finest
Kivalian steel and was created by a master smith of our order, Varden
protested, his handsome face dripping with sweat.
Right now it is just
so much useless weight. We are
going to have to stash it someplace along with everything else that is too
heavy to carry. She looked
at the pile at her feet; the fine armour and other gifts given to her by
the Jinguan emperor to present to her mother the Queen of the Clan of the
Snow Leopard. It would have to
be left until she and Varden figured out where they were and how they were
going to get back to their homelands.
She looked at the bizarre
landscape in front of her. She
had never imagined there could be a place quite like it.
It was a vast plain dotted here
and there with strange trees with thorn-studded branches that spread out
horizontally from the top like giant
flowers. Here and there were
patches of brush, but the dominant feature of the landscape was sun- browned
grass that stretched as far as the eye could
see.
However, the vegetation
was the least remarkable aspect of the
landscape. Everywhere she looked
the vast plain was dotted with animals; thousands of
them. Some were recognizable
as variants of animals she had seen
before. There were herbivores
with spiked horns that ranged in size from tiny deer-like animals to others
with twisted horns that were bigger than a
horse. There were horse-like
animals striped in patterns of black and white that ran in huge herds and
other herd animals resembling cattle with massive bow-shaped
horns.
But the most bizarre were
immense grey animals with ears the size of small tents, a huge prehensile
nose, and massive teeth that curved forward from their
mouths. Only once before had
Zenaria seen anything like them and that was when she had accompanied her
mother on a two month journey to the isolated clan of the Ice
Bear. She had seen huge hairy
beasts the size of huts that very much resembled the animals she was looking
at.
It was then that she noticed
a movement in one of the trees and realized she was looking at an equally
amazing animal, one that stood the height of three men, with a neck that
took up half its body length and left it head high in the branches of the
strange trees.
Varden too stood transfixed
by the spectacle of such a huge and varied concentration of
wildlife. This be indeed
a strange land, he commented.
I have never seen so many beasts.
Yes, Zenaria
agreed. We should have
good hunting in this land. At
least will not want for food.
She turned in a slow circle and noticed a cluster of large boulders
a few hundred yards off.
That might be a good place to establish a camp and stow our
gear.
Varden nodded his
agreement. Thou speak
wisely, he said, reverting to the archaic mode of speech that Zenaria
found so annoying. But the knight
missed her frown and was already gathering his possessions in preparation
to moving toward the rocks.
Queron hurriedly put away
his viewing tube as the two strangers moved toward his hiding
place. He wasnt sure why
they had started to come his way, but he guessed it was for the same reason
he had chosen to shelter in the cluster of
boulders. Moving quietly backwards,
he and his companions moved away from the approaching
warriors.
He stopped in a small grove
of trees and bushes. There was
a muttered curse from Gron as he snagged himself on one of the thorn bushes,
and Queron glared him into silence.
Settling himself carefully
to avoid the thorns he trained the viewing tube on the cluster of
boulders.
Voln, he muttered
ignoring his own proscription against
blasphemy. He could just see
the approaching strangers between a gap in the rocks and to describe the
woman as breathtaking was an
understatement. She moved with
the fluid grace of a cat, every line of her body exuding vigilance and
danger. Suddenly, she dropped
her burden and drew her sword so quickly that he barely saw the flash of
the blade. Then she lowered the
blade lifted a still writhing form from the
ground. She studied it for a
few seconds and then with a flick of her wrist tossed the sinuous form
aside.
Thats was a
black viper, Duget whispered.
How did she move that fast?
Queron shook his
head. He was quickly revising
his plans for capturing the two
strangers. If the man had anything
like the womans reflexes he wanted better odds on his
side. Grudgingly he handed the
viewing tube to Duget. Keep
them in sight. Im going
to get the rest of the men. This
one is just too good not to take when we have the
chance.
Daget grinned, making it
plain that using the viewing tube to keep an eye on the exotically beautiful
woman was not a task he found at all
difficult. Just keep your
cock in your drawers, Queron
cautioned. I dont
have a doubt that warrior bitch could cut it off in a
heartbeat. I want you here when
I get back.
Zenaria tucked the last
of Vardens armour into the small cave she had
found. Then she got the
knights help in rolling a large boulder across the
entrance. That should prevent
any accidental discoveries, she
said. Now we have to find
somewhere to camp.
Why not here?
Varden asked, wiping sweat from his brow.
It seems defensible enough.
No water, Zenaria
answered. But with all
of this game there must be a source
nearby. I would prefer to camp
close to it rather than have to carry it all the way back
here.
Varden
nodded. He was finding the heat
oppressive and was glad he had followed Zenarias advice and stripped
off his heavy armour. He now
wore only light cotton trousers, a leather vest, light boots, and studded
leather cuffs on his wrists. Like
Zenaria he wore a leather harness that carried his sword with its hilt over
his left shoulder along with a large knife in his belt and the hilt of a
smaller blade protruding from the top of his
boot.
Zenaria picked up her bow
and slung her quiver over her shoulder.
Come; lets see if the gods will favour us with a successful
hunt.
Given the huge herds of
animals Varden had a hard time believing that a hunter of Zenarias
skills would have any difficulty and he was proven correct when in less than
an eighth turn of the sun she brought down one of the strange spike-horned
deer. Quickly she slit its throat
and then knelt beside it thanking her twin gods and the spirits of nature
that had given the animal to her.
Varden looked on curiously.
He had witnessed this ritual before, but the stern god he worshipped
did not admit to the existence of any other
deities. It was a belief system
that troubled him somewhat, given the marvels and bizarre events he had witnessed
as Zenarias companion and lover, but he suffered from a lifetime of
religious conditioning and his beliefs were not easy to shake
off.
She worked quickly, bleeding
and gutting the animal and then tossing it effortlessly over her shoulder
before heading off toward a thin line of green about half a league
away.
Why this way?
Varden asked. To him one direction
seemed about as good as another.
Those trees,
Zenaria answered, gesturing toward the
horizon. They are a brighter
shade of green than the rest of the
vegetation. There may be water
there.
Varden shaded his
eyes. If he stared hard and used
his imagination he could convince himself that the trees were actually a
brighter green, but he noticed nothing until he and Zenaria had closed most
of the distance.
The trees were not the only
thing Varden looked at. After
the incident with the venomous snake he kept his eyes open for other
dangers. He was surrounded by
strange animals, many of whom appeared exceedingly dangerous and he kept
in mind that if Zenaria had not spotted the snake he would probably have
stepped on it.
He had never visualized
dying a horrible death at the fangs of a serpent far from his homeland when
he had joined his holy order. But
he and Zenaria seemed irretrievably lost, transported far across the world
by a powerful magician. He understood
that the Jinguan magician who called himself Alzid had not intended to strand
them in the strange land where they now found themselves; on the contrary,
he had been attempting to return them to their homelands, but something obviously
had gone wrong with his spell.
Varden doubted very much that Alzid was even aware of his mistake,
which meant that he and Zenaria were on their
own. Somehow they would
have to find their way back, although how they were going to do that he had
no idea. He did know one
thing. If he was to be stranded
in a strange land forever, he could think of no better person to be with
than the resourceful barbarian he had come to love.
He and Zenaria had become
lovers by pure chance. Tricked
into obtaining a magical artefact by an evil magician, they had been captured
and imprisoned, and as part of a cruel joke by the magician turned into a
leopard and a lion. Trapped in
their animal bodies they had been placed in a cell together and fed raw meat
by their captors. Zenarias
leopard body had gone into heat and Varden had mounted her, completely unable
to control himself. It was not
exactly an act of human love, but upon being restored to their human form
they had become passionate lovers, Zenarias more relaxed attitude toward
sex overcoming Vardens religious
hypocrisy.
The love affair with the
beautiful Snow Leopard warrior had shaken Vardens
convictions. How could something
so wondrous be considered sinful and
evil? It had resulted in a
considerable reshaping of his beliefs; a reshaping that continued the longer
he was with the headstrong warrior.
He stopped his musing as
Zenaria let out a low exclamation.
There you see. I
knew I could find water.
She was pointing to the
ground and Varden noted that the surface was pitted with thousands of animal
tracks. The discovery only made
Varden more wary. Where animals
went to drink their might be predators lying in
wait.
Zenaria seemed to agree
with him. She shortened her long
stride and became even more alert, her head held high as if she was sniffing
the air. I think its
safe, she said, but we will go
carefully.
Zenaria leading, they moved
slowly through the stand of trees bordering the river and found themselves
looking at a muddy stretch of slow moving water about one hundred yards
across. If was a far cry from
the clear splashing mountain streams Zenaria had grown up with or even the
larger rivers of greater Erogenia.
This water moved sluggishly and was the home of another host of strange
creatures.
Simulating logs, huge lizards
lay along the muddy river bank and floated idly in the
water. In the river itself were
even larger creatures with mouths large enough to swallow a man
whole. Zenaria frowned as she
realized her idea of having a quiet swim was no longer
practical. Well camp
here for now. Its got water
and we can build some sort of shelter out of the thorn
bushes.
She set about preparing
their shelter first, reckoning that in this strange land security should
be the number one priority. Using
their knives she and Varden cut down enough thorn bushes to surround their
camp with an almost impenetrable barrier.
They left a gap that could be easily closed and Zenaria made a trek
down to the river bank to get drinking
water. Then she prepared
supper.
It was a meal of
meat. Zenaria didnt recognize
any of the local plants and had no idea which were edible and which were
not. She piled up firewood and
using flint and steel soon had a fire
going. She sliced off a couple
of steaks and set them to cook on a simple grill of woven
branches. While the meat sizzled
she sliced the liver of the animal she had killed into thin strips and popped
a sliver into her mouth and then offered a piece to
Varden.
The knight looked askance
at her. Shouldnt
this be cooked first?
We lack greens and
fruit, Zenaria replied.
Until I figure out what plants are edible raw liver is a useful
source of nutrients that cooked meat lacks.
Thats easy for
you to say, Varden said, as he took the sliver from
her. You barbarians probably
eat raw meat all the time. But
I like mine cooked.
Zenaria glowered at
him. We are stranded in
a strange land and we could be here a long
time. I think it might be a good
idea to eat as well as we can. But
if you dont want it, Ill eat it.
Varden looked
uncomfortable. When they had
first met, Zenaria had found him almost insufferable due to his priggish
attitudes, but he had mellowed a great deal since that first meeting and
had learned that Zenaria knew a great deal more about staying alive in the
wild than he did. Slowly he reached
out and took the sliver and popped it into his
mouth.
Zenaria grinned as Varden
grimaced. Just swallow
it whole if it bothers you that much.
She picked up another strip and chewed it with obvious
relish. When I was a girl
we used to eat the liver like candy.
Varden made another
face. I need a couple of
pints of ale to wash this down.
When are the steaks ready?
Soon, Zenaria
replied, offering him another slice of
liver. Youll just
have to wait for the ale until we reach someplace more
settled. Assuming we can find
such a place.
Varden
nodded. For all he knew they
might be the only two humans alive in this strange land.
It didnt take long
for the steaks to cook. Varden
had to be content to wash down the meal with river
water. Zenaria had taken the
precaution of digging a small well a few feet from the river in order to
filter the water before drinking it in the hope of straining out any impurities
it might have. It was an appropriate
precaution considering the amount of wildlife that had no doubt defecated
in it.
Now what? Varden
asked, as he finished his second steak.
Now, Zenaria
replied, we sleep. She motioned toward the sleeping pallet she
had constructed for herself out of the fronds of a leafy plant she had found
near the river. Unless
you have other ideas.
Varden
smiled. Slowly he pulled off
his boots. Other ideas
sounds very inviting.
It was an interesting night,
and not just because she and Varden made love to the point of exhaustion,
finally falling asleep wrapped in one anothers
arms. Under Zenarias
instruction Varden had evolved into a very good
lover. He had learned just how
to touch her and where, and almost as important he had the anatomy of a horse
in a very important area.
But the round of heavy breathing
was not the only significant event of the
evening. It was the cacophony
that erupted around them as soon as the sun went
down. Even the sounds of their
love-making and Zenarias sharp cries of passion could not drown the
sheer volume of night noises that surrounded
them. It sounded as if every
animal alive was right next to their campsite and tearing one another limb
from limb.
Predators hunt at
night, Zenaria observed, glad she had taken the precaution of situating
their campsite in the middle of a thick grove of thorn
bush. She lifted her head and
kissed Varden. Try to get
some sleep. Well need to
be rested if we are to survive in this hostile
land.
Whether Varden slept or
not, Zenaria had no idea, but she awoke just at dawn, refreshed in spite
of her night time exertions. She
kissed Varden lightly and then rolled to her
feet. Strapping on her sword
she began to tug at the thorn barrier she had erected across the entrance
to their campsite. A few heartbeats
later she was joined by Varden.
I would have thought
youd be a bit too tired to get up this early, the knight
observed. He didnt seem
at all upset at not being allowed to sleep
longer. In fact his mouth was
twisted in a grin.
I find making love
invigorating, Zenaria replied, tugging the thorn barrier
aside. She grinned at the look
Varden gave her. Later
lover. First we have to find
out if we are the only people in this land.
They emerged from the thorn
barrier. Chewing on some of the
cooked meat from the animal Zenaria had brought down, they moved cautiously
through the landscape. Other
than the sound of birds the land seemed strangely
quiet. It was almost as if the
animal world had exhausted itself during the night and was now resting
up. However, there were clear
signs of the nights activity in the actions of dog-like creatures that
were tearing at the carcasses of several dead
animals. Overhead large long-necked
birds circled waiting their turn or hovered on the edge just out of reach
of the dogs. Zenaria wondered
what had done the killing. Whatever
it was must have been powerful as several of the dead animals were the
large-horned cows. It served
to emphasize the need for constant
vigilance. As yet they were aware
of only the more obvious dangers. It would not pay to be complacent after
having survived only one night.
Where now? Varden
asked. He was allowing Zenaria
to lead, acknowledging her wilderness
abilities.
There, Zenaria
pointed.
Varden squinted off into
the distance. Why that
way?
That strange
mountain. It will help keep us
on a straight path. Other than
that, it is simply as good a direction as
any.
Varden shaded his eyes with
his hands. Far off across the
shimmering landscape was a cone-shaped peak rising out of the
plain. He
sighed. It was a long way off,
and he was not used to walking, but he guessed that he would be before this
adventure was over.
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