To Keep Of Lilith

Her house sinks down to death,
And her course leads to the shades.
All who go to her cannot return,
And find again the paths of life.
    — Proverbs 2:18–19

Everything. The sand was everywhere, in everything.  There was neither a crook nor cranny that it did not work its way into. Even when there was no wind to move it, the sand seemed to creep of its own accord into the most inaccessible crevice. It was a daily battle for the young woman to keep her hut, even slightly free of the sand.  With a sigh, she brushed off the particles that clung to the rabbit she had just skinned and gutted… As she bludgeoned bits of meat off of the rabbit carcass with a dull blade, she gazed now and again out the door of her dwelling. It was same view she looked at every day, day in and day out, for the last 6 months. The dark mountains in the far distance shimmered and moved in the waves of heat that danced upon the desert. She hummed softly, a melody she remembered from her childhood days. The view was as it was the day her man left with the other hunters of the village. The game was getting scarce, the elders said, we must forage farther afield if we are to survive.  There were no real danger to the village women and children since the settlement was so remote, no raiders or slavers ever ventured this far into the wilderness seeking their wares. And most of the women were lean and rough, tough as leather and hard as nails, not the usual fare for a slaver. They preferred the softer, more docile girls of the coastal villages, who fetched a better price, and weren’t as likely to stick a blade between a man’s ribs. So it was without fear that the village men set out from their encampment on that day. A day went by, and then another, followed then by more days turning into weeks, and then months, and the men still had not returned, not one. The women lived for a bit on the meager provisions that were in store, supplementing it with the occasional rabbit, a stray bird now and again, and whatever roots, tubers, and edible plants they could find in the low hills surrounding the singular mountain that was their home. But it soon started to play out. One day, the older women decided they must leave. The danger of potential enslavement did not loom nearly as heavy on their thoughts as did the sure, impending doom of starvation for them and their children if they stayed. So, they left, one and all, with what little bit they still had, packed upon the backs of the two milk goats.  They begged her to come with them, but she declined; she would wait. She was the best hunter out of all the women, and she was not afraid, so she stayed. That had been six months ago.  And still, her man had not returned.

                During the day, she walked the land, studying the ground, looking for the almost invisible tracks of the desert creatures that inhabited the land. Careful, to cover her own trail, she would set snares and stone falls, and she would wait from a good hiding place to ambush the occasional snake or lizard that ventured out in search of prey themselves. At dark, alone and sleepless, she climbed the small mountain, just to avoid the dull ach that had come to life within her heart. In the night, the world became a different thing. The rocks and debris took a different look, and when the moon shown at a certain angle on some of the stones, she would almost swear that there was some sort of writing on the larger ones. On the crest of the mountain, instead of the usual jagged tops that defined most mounts, it was flat; as flat and as smooth as a windless lake. Except in the center, for there was a curious mound of stones in the middle. During the day, it just seemed to be a pile of rocks. But at night, there was something about the thing that reminded her of a burial cairn like the ones she remembered from her father’s village.  And at night, the mountain sang, or so it seemed to her. At first, she thought it just the ever present wind, blowing through valleys and ridges, but the longer she listened, the surer she became that the mountain was alive and sang to the night moon in its loneliness. She felt sympathy for that and at first took to sleeping by the stone mound. But as she slept, her dreams began to frighten her. And she began to feel as if someone was watching her. Nothing ever than the random owl or bat appeared, but she began to avoid the mountain and went back to sleeping in her hut.

 

                Now, the game had been about hunted out, and it was getting harder and harder to find sustenance. Soon, she must leave, or die. The rabbit she had killed that morning was the first in a week, and it was as lean as she.  As she prepared her meal, she stared out at the far mountains over the desert and weighed her options. To travel could be dangerous, but she had become a ghost in the wild and she had no fear.  Soon, she thought, tomorrow or the day after…she stopped instantly…for a moment she could have sworn there was movement on the horizon…she put her hands above her eyes to cut down on the sun’s glare and looked to the distance…yes…movement…and coming this way. Her heart raced, her temples started pounding, and her hands started to sweat…and then fear set in. Raiders maybe…slavers…she must hide… observe without being seen and weigh the potential danger. She hastily ate her food and grabbed her knife and some roots she had been saving as a reserve. Slowly she moved to the back of the hut and lifting the cover, she exited, quickly moving among the abandoned homes of the village, keeping them between herself and whoever was approaching. Crouching low, she circled out to some of the stone outcrops at the base of the mountain. She picked a spot that afforded her good concealment and still let her have a view of the immediate area. She knew she must stay hidden until dark, and then make her escape if there was danger. It might not be raiders, maybe just other foragers or hope against hope, some of the village men returning, maybe even her husband, but inside, she knew that was not the case. If they were alive they would have returned by now. So, she lay low among the rocks and waited…

Soon, the distant movement resolved into the shape of a man leading a small pack animal behind him. She narrowed her eyes against the glare. She grunted lowly in disdain. The man approaching walked along as if he had not a care in the world. He acted as if he was upon a leisurely stroll, with his pet burro on a leash behind him,  nothing of threat or danger on his horizon…A fool she thought…probably one of those idiot missionaries, that use to visit her father’s home, eager to spread the word of their god. Oddly, he wasn’t dressed like one of those though; his garments were a light shade of brown, same color of the desert sand to be exact…that must have been why he got so close before she saw him. A wide brimmed hat of the same color covered his head, so she couldn’t make out the cast of his face.

 

Within a few breaths he stopped at the old fire pit and inspected the empty village before him. Satisfied with what he saw, he staked his burro’s rope to the ground and produced a small water bag from a pack he carried upon his side.  Taking a deep swig, he returned in to its pack, and gathered some small bits of wood to start a small cook fire. The sun had started to move a little lower in the sky and some stray clouds crossing it provided some relief from the heat. Once his fire was going, he placed something over the flames with a metal spit. Pulling a small bedroll from one of his burro’s packs, he spread it on the ground, and after giving the animal some water and grain, he sat down.  While his food was cooking he lay back and covered his face with his hat. The woman watched closely, looking for any sign or body movement that indicated he might realize he was not alone. Not a twitch…not even a glance in her direction…she grinned to herself…yes…some wandering fool…maybe a missionary…with little care or understanding of the dangers around him. With contempt for one such as this, she relaxed, and waited for dusk. Then the fragrance of spiced meat wafted across her palate. Her stomach heaved, and the months of hunger bit deep. She steeled herself, and placed one of the pieces of root in her mouth. She knew better than to get careless at a time like this. She had learned patience the hard way… she chewed quietly on the root and waited. When you hunt, to get overeager and careless, meant you were probably going to fail. She waited…

After a bit, the man sat up and took the meat spit from the fire. She watched, albeit enviously, as he gingerly picked off bits of meat and ate. She watched in tortuous agony as he washed it down with more water, and put the spit back over the now dwindling fire.  As he lay back down, and covered his face once more, she decided that one such as this, a fool, an idiot, deserved whatever ill fate befell him. Sooner or later, someone would rob him, she figured, why not herself…If not she, then surely someone would… as the sun crept lower toward the horizon, she planned her stalk out in advance…after dusk, after he was sleeping soundly…probably exhausted from his travel…she would crawl over and knock him in the head with a good solid stone. She wasn’t necessarily intending to kill him, but it was now a matter of a better chance of survival for her if she succeeded…and he had just the misfortune to place himself in the wrong place at the right time…to her it was another hunt…and her life depended on winning or losing…easy call…survival of the fittest. She waited.

                After what seemed like forever to her, night finally came. She slowly rose up and peeked over the rocks that hid her. The man was still asleep on the ground, and snoring very loudly. Perfect, she thought, this was going to be easy. The burro had pulled its stake from the ground and wandered over to one of the abandoned huts, searching for something else to eat. She eased forward until she was on her hands and knees and quietly crawled around the encampment until she was in the place where she wanted to strike from. She hefted a heavy stone in her hand, got the feel for it and advanced the last few feet till she was right behind his head. Holding her breath, she raised up to get a better angle of attack on her intended victim. Lifting the stone slightly higher, she smashed it down upon his head with a deadly intent. It hit solidly and with great force, but it had a decidedly different effect than the one she intended. The man yelled at the sudden pain, but instead of succumbing to the blow, he rolled to the side with frightening speed, and spying his attacker, kicked out with his foot, catching her in the side of her head. As darkness closed in around her, the last thing she saw was the man reaching for her.

                Pain…throbbing pain…pounded in her head…she took in a breath…but…she was still alive…she opened her eyes slowly…it was still dark, as her eyes focused, she realized the stars were still bright, maybe midnight… and she was alive…what that bode she knew not…but it was something. She tried to reach out and push herself up…but something restrained her hands…and her feet…ugh…she looked across the cook fire, at the man she had attacked… holding a small bottle in one hand, he applied a few drops of some liquid to a rag and gingerly wiped a nasty looking wound above his eye on his forehead. As she struggled, he looked over at her. She stopped moving and just stared back. Swarthy features, deeply scarred, dark hair, bits of gray, here and there, atop eyes of blue; but not the sky blue eyes her father had described from his encounters with the Northman he used to trade with from the cold lands…no, these eyes were a hard,  dark shade of blue, smoky, like bits of agate, and nothing revealed from within…eyes that could look deep within you and know all your dark secrets…eyes that could kill and never blink…eyes of the devil, that lit up with a sadistic mirth as he grinned. She was in deep trouble, but she was not going to give up without a fight. Whatever he did to her, she would make it cost him as dearly as she could…She strained against her bonds, too tight, so she lifted her hands to her mouth and attempted to bite into them, but stopped quickly as something stung her sharply on the lips. She cursed the man and tried to roll over and at least get her feet under her, but could not. He just sat, tending his wound, and watching her. Finally, she stopped struggling, and just lay there…She was still alive…that meant she must be that way for a reason…maybe the reason most men have…or maybe he was a slaver… and he intended to profit from her misfortune...

He finished what he was doing and came over to her, reaching down, he grabbed her hair and twisted her head to the side and examined the bruising on the side of her face and head. Satisfied, he shoved her head back and sat down again. He took a drink of water and lit a cigarette, drawing a deep hit. Exhaling a thick cloud of smoke, he grinned and said, “Don’t waste your time trying to get loose. Those binds on your hands and feet…they’re strangler vines from the jungle…they attach themselves to your flesh…the more you struggle, the tighter they cling.” He took another drag of his cigarette.  She looked at the things encircling her hands and realized they were indeed, some sort of plant. She felt despair, but she was not done yet. She was still alive…and as long as she was she had a chance.  He laughed, stood up and then wandered off behind her range of vision. She heard him sigh, and then heard the sound of him urinating. After a moment, he spoke, “Now, don’t leave, we’ll have tea and crumpets, get to know each other, after I retrieve my poor little burro…with all the excitement, he’s run off somewhere.”  She heard him walk away. She then wriggled around so she could see… he was moving towards a small grove of bushes where his burro was eating some of the less scrubby leaves. A plant huh…she thought for a second…hmm…she looked back and scooted over to the coals of the fire…they were still quiet hot…she placed her wrist against the hot coals…instantly the pain was there and she smelled her flesh burning…but she felt the vines loosen their grip as they sought to escape the heat…yes…she wrenched her hands apart and started to grab a coal and put it against her ankles…suddenly she was lifted from behind…

”You’re a smart one, aren’t you !!!” he exclaimed…”Let’s find out just how smart you are!!!”  He dragged  her to a nearby rock… by this time the vines had rewound themselves around her wrist…He reached into one of his bags and pulled something out that was wrapped in a large, dark green leaf…pushing her, belly down, over the rock, she felt cool air rush across her bottom as he flipped her robe up…She raged inside…this is it…this how it ends…she felt his hand move between her thighs and then , a bitter thorn biting into her…  unconsciousness took her …

                She awoke to darkness…night had not fled, and the moon and the stars still shown bright above her, and she was sad because she loved them and wished that they came to visit more often, and if they would she could make tea and sweet bread for her guests and they would have such a grand fun time…something was wrong, but she couldn’t understand it because she was in love with the world…and what…some part of her knew she was going mad. Maybe the kick to the head had broken her mind…or maybe what had happened afterwards had done it…what had happened…she remembered her naked bottom…she remember his hand hold some wriggling thing…a pale ugly thing with many teeth or fangs or what…she wanted to scream but could not because she felt so happy…and so sad at it all…what was she going to do now…it would come soon…and she had no tea and sweet bread for it…she remembered his hand between her thighs…she remembered…a discomfort and then a sharp sting inside of her…what was it…if she could just remember…it would come to her…she drifted.

                She came to once again, sitting on the ground, her hands and feet still bound by the strangler vines. Dawn was starting to break in the east, as she realized she was propped up against a rock and he was wiping her face with a cold damp rag. She tried to bite his hand but it felt like she was swimming in deep, cold water, she could hardly move. He moved his hand and laughed. “You never quit, do you?  You’re a tough cookie, I’ll give you that.” He laughed again and squatted down in front of her. She wished him a horrible agonizing death with her eyes, but it didn’t work. She managed to look down and saw that she was still clothed…she was confused…what the…He caught the look and laughed…”oh, you think I…ha…no thank you…that’s not my cup tea…I prefer willing victims…partners in crime, so to speak…ha-ha…no, I just needed to slow you down a bit…so I pulled another little trick out of my hat…usually, the strangler vines are enough…but you figured out the weakness in that, so I needed a little insurance to keep you from bashing my head in again. I’ve attached a rather evil little beast to your ass…

it’s the larval stage of a beetle that feeds exclusively on flesh, dead or alive, it don’t matter. But the devourer larva, you see, it has to do its thing under even stricter conditions… It must have living flesh, so the mother beetle will implant the seed on something living and the larva that hatches will attach itself to its host’s rear end and slowly work its way inside… And to make sure everything is good; the larva secretes a toxin that will paralyze its victims, so it can have its way with them uninterrupted… Once it enters you, it will start to consume your flesh from within. The poison is why you aren’t able to struggle very well, and I’m sure it’s probably causing some strange stuff in your head too. I’ve studied them for a while, even ingested a few to develop a tolerance to the toxin. “

As he spoke, she listened in disbelief, she had fallen into the hands of a monster…she reached between her thighs with her bound hands and found the horror was true…a large thing was stuck to her bottom…she grabbed it with both hands…tried to pull it loose…instantly a pain like a thousand daggers coursed through her body…she cried out in agony…she collapsed into a writhing heap on the ground… as she lay there, she felt the worm move deeper into her…bile rose in her throat at the thought of it…the poison had twisted her mind…but not enough to dull the vivid image of this thing consuming her from the inside out…she shuddered as the worm moved deeper inside of her again.

 She should have been angry and determined, but she wasn’t, she was terrified, and the part of her that was still rational knew she was in deep trouble. She would do what she had to do, for the time…

“What do you want of me?” she slurred, drunkenly. He laughed, “Oh, yeah, you’re fucked up aren’t you? Here’s the deal…you do as I tell you, you don’t try to escape or kill me, and I will consider removing the bug from your behind, the literal bug, that is, not the figurative one that you obviously have up your ass… I have concocted a reagent that will make the larva vacate a victim without harming them. So, if you would like to not lose all your soft parts, you might try behaving a little less violently, and I might give you the cure, but then again, you did try to kill me, so I’m under no moral obligation to show you any kind of mercy.”

“You might want to make your decision fairly quickly though… I’ve seen some of these larvae consume a adult cow in a week… first day, it’s in a semi-dormant state, until the toxin has taken full effect, and then it wakes up and it’s really hungry… If I didn’t have a more pressing need for your body, I would strap your murderess ass face down in the desert, and study the entire process from start to finish. I’ve never seen it eat a person…it might be fun, huh… So what’s it going to be?” he said as he laughed.

“I’ll do whatever you want, just take it out of me, I beg of you”, she cried!

“Alright, but not just yet, he replied.  A person in your predicament would say anything to save themselves, especially from such a horrible end, no pun intended, ha-ha, I’ll feel a lot more trusting as long as I have some degree of control over those criminal tendencies of yours. So the bug stays in your ass until I’m sure you can’t cause me any more problems, or won’t. “

“You sick bastard,” she said, “WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME!”

“Ah, yes, now we get to the good part.” He said with a grin. “I’ve come here, to this place, because the Master of my order requires a certain thing to perform an important ritual, one that will give him mastery over the kingdom of the dead… Upon yonder temple, the great pyramid that is your mountain, there is a binding spell that holds a great demon within an ancient burial tomb... I’m here to release her, capture her anew and take her soul back to my Master... I had intended to come here, and free the spirit from within with certain devices and spells that were created by the higher minds of my order. They also fashioned a portable prison with which to transport my prize, but I have my doubts as to the bait they’ve supplied to lure her in; I have been on this quest for a long while and I have devoted much of my time to the study of my quarry. I have found a path of lesser resistance to my goal, one that my superiors have overlooked because in their search for power, they have renounced the passions of the flesh, and thus, have forgotten how those same passions drive all creatures... I have read every tome, every scrap of parchment, in every archive of wisdom from Constantinople to Alexandria about the first daughter, and I know what desires motivate her beyond all others. She has been locked away in her prison for centuries now, locked away from her joy; for like no other, she lusts for man flesh, in all its forms and all its manifestations.  But to be with a man, to take his lust and seed, to take his life, his flesh and his soul, she must be corporal, she must walk among the living. She must have a woman’s flesh to possess to do these things… That’s where you come in; my dear murderess…Your misfortune in picking the wrong victim is my gain… I can’t think of a more fitting vessel than one such as you. I will perform the proper ritual and free her from her confinement; released, she will enter and possess your flesh and you and she will be as one…Once she has physical form, she will attack me, intending to satiate her lust. At the perfect moment, when I spill my seed into her flesh, she will seek to slay me and feed on my body and my soul… At that moment shall I trip my snare…. When she realizes her mistake she will seek to flee, she will not return to her old prison…But the crystal receiver I possess will pull her into its grip, as surely as steel to a magnet… As for you, you may survive, although any nasty habits you might pick up from the possession, I can only perceive as an improvement over your present personality, ha-ha,” he said with a terrible laugh. She was still under the effects of the larva’s toxin, but she knew she had fallen under clutches of the devil!

“How can I know that you won’t kill me after you’ve gotten what you want… that you aren’t lying to further your own ends?” she cried.

                 “You can’t know. But you really have no choice in the matter, for while I would have preferred a willing recipient for her spirit… it is not a vital necessity. Even… IF…if  I remove the worm from your body, the poison will take some time to wear off, you will still be weakened from its effects, and since you tried to kill me for something as trivial as a bit of food, I am in no moral quandary as to sacrificing you for my own ends.  I will use you any way I see fit,” he replied with an evil grin.

I am doomed, she thought to herself, as he picked her up once more. Placing her across the back of his burro, they started the climb up the mountain, as the sun rose upon the horizon.

The Hunters:

                She awoke to the curious sensation of a wet coolness moving over parts of her body. She enjoyed the feel of it for a moment…it was never cool in the desert…and then she remembered where she was. She opened her eyes and looked around. Propped against a rock, naked to the world and still quite weak from the worm’s poison, she realized the coolness she felt came from the fact that her captor, this madman, was washing her body with a soft, damp cloth. First, her legs, then her thighs, then her stomach, and finally her breasts and arms. Whistling some strange little tune, he glanced up at her face…”Ah…finally you wake…about time.” He said softly. “I removed the worm while you were unconscious, I didn’t figure you would mind…the process is a bit on the nasty side.”

He resumed his ministrations to her body…She considered resisting, but she knew she was still too weak, and he would just tie her up again, so she let him continue his task.  She thought she knew what was coming next…she was not a virgin…nor stupid…the longer he let her live…even if he had his way with her…the better her chance for survival. He sat back on one of his burro’s packs and pulled her to him. Laying her face down across his knees, he started applying the wash cloth to her back, her neck and her buttocks, all the while, whistling his odd melody. When his hand moved between her legs, she could not help it, she stiffened …it mattered not…he washed her privates as if he was washing a shirt, not so much as lingering a moment too long at any one spot. Placing the rag on his shoulder, he looked her backside up and down…inspecting his handy work. “Yes, I think it will do…you’ve got to have a good clean canvas if you want to create a work of art…you got to see the emptiness to know what you want to fill it with…”he intoned.

“Now let’s see about your wounds…can’t have our intended tigress rejecting the sacrificial lamb because it’s not up to snuff…now can we?” He said, as he inspected the raw marks on her wrist and ankles from where the strangler vines had bit deep and the burns from her attempt at freedom. Producing a glass vial, he put a small amount of fragrant salve on his fingers and not ungently, rubbed it into her abrasions and burns. At once, she felt the pain subside, and glancing at her hands, she saw her flesh rapidly mending itself. A dark mage he must be, she thought, for surely, this was some sort of magic. Even as she was still groggy from the worm toxin, she felt the pain in her hands and legs recede even more as they healed. Before she could react, he held her down on his lap once more, and with a bit more of the salve, placed his finger between the cheeks of her ass and applied the stuff to her bottom where the worm had attached itself. She blushed a fiery red, for even as she had resigned herself to the fate she thought was in store for her at his hands, she was still unprepared for that soft invasion of her person. He laughed loudly at her discomfiture…started to speak…looked at her face… and changed his mind about what he started to say…”Nasty bites, those…get infected real easy…can’t have that, can we?” He pulled her back into a sitting position against the rock once again.

She stared at his face, looking for some hint in his cruel visage. Was he just toying with her? She couldn’t figure it out. He would not look at her for a moment as he put his medicine vial back in his pack. When he finally did look at her, she choked on the fear that rose in her throat. Within his eyes she saw a terrible conviction, and a strange sadness, and it overwhelmed her. It seemed to her that this was for her… that he was committed to his path and his task, and even if he might have felt some small sympathy for his victim, he would not alter his dire course. Her heart sank to the bottom of her soul, and she started to softly weep. She tried to fight it…she was a survivor…a fighter…this was a weakness…but she could not stop it.

 He started to speak once again, but his voice caught…he paused for a moment and then said, “Do not misunderstand me…what I let you see is real…you may think me a monster…perhaps more so than she which I hunt…but it matters not…fate  and bad judgment on your part brought you here…if our circumstances were reversed and I in your place…I might have done the same…but I would not have failed…nothing is ever easy in this life but death…this ritual has never been tried…you may live, but odds are you will not…hell…we both may suffer horrible ends…or not…it depends on my ability to steel my resolve against her power and to strike quickly…you can resist me…whatever…but the chances are good that if I am not distracted…my aim will be true…and we both may walk away from this…I with my prize…and you with your life, and a second chance…do we understand?”  She looked into his eyes and knew he spoke the hard truth. She nodded her understanding and acceptance.

 He stood up and walked away.

                She watched as he stopped and turned his gaze to the south, towards the direction of the coast. Something on the wind caught his attention, some sound, some smell…He stood motionless for a long time; just looking, and it seemed as if he was waiting for something, a word on the wind…something…he turned back to his burros packs and retrieved a glass sphere from within along with a tall three legged stand. Kneeling down, he drew a circle in the dust and made the sign of the cardinals at four points and then in the center, a point to which he aligned the stand with the sphere. He briefly glanced at the shadows cast by the rocks nearby…she realized from the shortness of the shade that it was almost noon…she heard him speak, more to himself, than to her…”High noon, a crossroad of a sort…it’ll have to do…let’s see what’s coming our way.”  He pulled a small pipe from a coat pocket, put it in his mouth, and lit it with a twig from the small fire he had started earlier. He took a deep draw from the pipe, but unlike the cigarette from before, he exhaled no smoke. For a moment, he shivered, as if he was very cold, and then he gazed into the glass sphere…for several seconds he watched it in silence.  Once again he spoke, but to her this time, “We will have company tonight…others come who have an interest in the game…they are not pleased with prospect of the first daughter being released from her prison…not pleased at all…hmm…I suppose I will have to kill all of them…goddamn cabalists…always obsessed with their fucking monotheistic fucking god…and their love of gold…if they loved the one as much as they feared the other, I could probably buy them off…oh well…never a dull moment, right?” He laughed and looked toward the stone mound…a strange smile came upon his face…he laughed once more and then went to his bedroll and lay down, pulling his battered hat down upon his face. She thought she heard him say, “They won’t get here until early night. They know I can’t perform the ritual until next full moon, so they’re in no great hurry. Their numbers and their arrogance have given them the illusion of infallibility. Their mistake. Might as well get some rest before the fun starts.” He spoke to her, “Get some sleep, if you can, when nightfall comes it’s going to be a long one.”

                Sleep…sleep…he was mad…how could one sleep…she was already in the worst nightmare of her life…beaten…drugged…bound…sodomized by an evil worm…drugged by the same said worm…facing the prospect of being possessed by some ancient demon…upon which she might be slain by the demon or this madman in the process of capturing the first daughter…he kept using that phrase…never saying an actual name…she remembered her father’s tales…about not naming a great evil for that in itself gave the evil, power over you…she was slowly recovering from the worms poison…but not quick enough to fight her captor…her only avenue lay in the chance that he spoke the truth…and if he succeeded in his task…she would survive…a second chance, he said…somehow she knew she must find the strength…she had no other choice…other than death…somehow…she  drifted off .

She awoke to darkness once again. Something had awakened her. She looked around, trying to get her bearings…she was still lethargic…but her mind was at least somewhat clear…or so she thought…a strong, musky smell hung in the air…her eyes finally adjusted to the dark…a noise to the left startled her and when she looked that way, she saw the man’s little pack animal was visibly agitated…it pulled and strained against its rope as if in great fear… a sound…a soft, almost imperceptible sound pulled her vision back to her right…her throat tightened in fear…she had to struggle to keep from screaming…a giant fur covered shape, twice the size of a large bison, was before her…a fleeting glance of a massive head…it stopped in the dim light of the moon and looked right at her... teeth glistened in the night…it turned and went into the dark…she caught the clicking of talons or claws on stone…and it was gone.

 She looked wildly about…she saw no sign of her captor…had he been slain by the beast…was it a blessing for her…or was she now in a worse predicament…she was still too weak to put up much of a fight…she saw something on the ground by his bedroll…it looked like his clothes…but in the dim light she could not make out if they were bloodied or not…had the great beast eaten him, and full, decided to go on its way…she tried to calm herself down…think, think, think…she rolled onto her forearms and her knees…painfully, she inched over to the remains of his fire from earlier…cursing, she knew the coals were dead and lifeless…

she began to cast about for something sharp, when a horrible scream ripped the night…then the yelling of men fighting…then screams, and more screams…and the roar of a great beast…a blood chilling roar that froze her to her spot…lights, flashes, strange explosions, more screams…a final yell…and then…silence.

She was stricken…panicked…she could not think…fucking poison…bastard madman…fuck, fuck, fuck…and then it was there…

 the beast…shuffling up out of the darkness…coming toward her…she could not move…she knew she was about to die…it stopped for a second by her feet… and then it was over her…the musky smell was overpowering…and another smell…the smell of blood…it’s great head and claws were covered in blood…the head lowered to her face, slowly…it sniffed twice…and yawned…revealing a cavernous maw filled with huge bloody teeth…then it lay down upon the madman’s bedroll…it’s dark eyes focused on her face for second…  then they closed and the beast started breathing softly as if were sleeping. She sat very still for a long time in fear of awakening it, if indeed it truly was asleep. She dare not move and take a chance of enraging it or arousing its hunger. The beast was right against her as it slept. She closed her eyes for a moment’s respite from the madness, trying to gather her senses, trying to figure a way out of this… Shock, poison, fear…she could not make her mind work…she was disjointed, fragmented…she could not think clearly.

Taking the muscular part of her forearm in between her teeth, she bit down on her own flesh with considerable force, the pain intense, but it served its purpose…it brought her out of her inner turmoil and into a sort of focus. As she withdrew her arm from her lips she became aware of a thick rivulet of blood pouring out of her wound…

She was about to look about for a piece of rag or something for a temporary bandage when he spoke. “That’s a hard way to clear the haze in your head, but it works, doesn’t it?” She started at the sound of his voice and turned to face him…”WHERE WERE Y...”she stopped in midsentence…The great beast was no more and where it had lain, was he, her captor…Stark naked, and even as much as she hated and detested him, she was taken aback by the number and severity of the wounds over his entire body…Deep slashes, cuts, and more than a few ugly puncture wounds covered him in a vicious mosaic…She managed to sit up and maintain her balance as she strove to understand what was happening…

For an instant, she was back at her father’s feet, an eager child, listening as he told his tales of ancient peoples and the mysteries  and magical lore of their time…she remembered one tale in particular, one of a few select individuals in elder times, who possessed the ability to take on the form of a beast…as the memory came back to her, a wolf or a great bear was the usual animal shape they took on…A shapeshifter, her father had called them…werebeasts was another name he had used…people who became a fearsome creature with all its inherent powers…

In the present, she knew her madman must be such a one…She looked at him warily…and then she leaned in close and got a better look at his wounds…From the severity and number of deep, brutal injuries, he should have been dead or dying…He was weak…he did not move as she moved her hand up to his battered face…”Ah, the tables have turned haven’t they?”…He spoke through blood encrusted lips, laughing as he winced from the effort of speaking…She looked into his eyes, disconcerted by what she saw…in his present state, she might have the upper hand, but even if she tried to kill him…Would it take…or would she just rouse his other self…and die horribly for her effort…for there was no fear in him she could discern…

If she just tried to escape, the results might be the same…or worse. In a moment of clarity, she made a decision…she was a hunter, and as much as she hated and feared this man…somehow she knew her best chance of survival lay with him…The thought made her very angry, but she was enough of a pragmatist, to know how fortunes lay…She spoke…”If I retrieve your medicines, will you let me minister to your wounds?”…He laughed at this…and then replied,” I see you have figured out the lay of the land. Yes, you can use the salve that I used on your wounds…I will heal on my own, but the ointment will speed up the process…it’s in my pack.”

She got the supplies from his pack and returned to where he lay. Her balance and some of her strength had returned…she felt a little more confident in the moment…She took one of the rags, and dampening it with water from his bag, she started on his face…wiping the blood and dirt, and pieces of matter that she realized was human flesh from his lips… Would you have some water to drink, or is it too soon?” she asked. He nodded in affirmation, so she held the water bag to his lips as she cradled his head in a slightly upright position…After he finished drinking, she resumed work on his wounds…wiping blood here and bits of gore there, she appraised the damage…and his body in the process…he was right…his wounds had already started healing, slowly, but sure…Not overtly muscular, but thick through the chest and midsection, with a workman’s build…perhaps a miner or stockman in a previous time…a physique of the working class…not a professional soldier…She leaned across him to attend to a deep cut on his left arm…as she did so, she inadvertently touched his chest with the nipple of her breast…she felt a shock immediately from the contact…and realized, with a rush of hot blood to her face, that she was still, as naked as he, and  the image in her mind sent another flush to her face…She hated this madman for the monstrous things he had subjected her to, but she was also aware that her body’s response to that momentary contact was a natural reaction of human flesh…She thought about it but for a second, and resumed her work…She knew her life was in his hands now, and regardless of her emotional state, she must follow the course of action she had chosen…any other course represented a dire outcome.

She moved to his lower torso and legs…not as many severe wounds…Ah yes, in the shape of an attacking bear, his opponents would have mainly struck at his upper body and head, as that would be how he fought them…one or two stab wounds to his legs, but one nasty looking cut to his inner thigh right next to his member…She dampened the rag once again…”This is going to be cold.” she said, as she applied the cloth to his flesh…She looked at his face, but he said naught, just staring at her with an amused look on his cruel visage…”You really are a bastard motherfucker, aren’t you?” she spit out vehemently. “Absolutely” he replied in a low murmur.

 In a fit of spiteful anger, she grabbed his penis and pulled it roughly to one side as she applied some of his salve to the wound on his thigh…she blushed as she felt the quickening in his flesh…she bit her lip to distract herself…for a moment she felt a sympathetic response within her privates…It had been a half a year since she had lain with her man…she rationalized…it was only natural reflex in spite of her antipathy for this man…Oh well…she released his captive muscle, now quite erect from her touch…She looked again to his face and at once was very angry at the sight of the open grin on his lips…”Oh, I suppose you want me to fuck you now to show my commitment to this insane arrangement you’ve forced me into”, she said with as much sarcastic derision as she could muster.

 He laughed so deeply, so heartily, that she became even madder…”You piece of shit son of a bitch, if I did fuck you, it would only be out of fear for my life, not for any reciprocal lust on my part, therefore it would be no different than common rape, would it?” she said in anger.

He laughed once again. “Whoa, whoa, you’re the one who brought all this up, pun intended”, he quipped.

 “You tried to murder me in my sleep, you have no moral high ground to preach from, woman.  But I’ve already told you, if rape was my motive, the deal would have already been done. That’s not my cup of tea, as I said before. The things I did to you were to secure your cooperation in my venture. If you had not displayed such murderess intent against my innocent personage, things might have gone quite differently. I would not have begrudged you some supplies and food to go on your way, had you but asked. You chose to ambush me in my sleep. You failed miserably, and now at the consequences of your actions, I require your cooperation in my task. I think I have treated you with abundant leniency in return for your crime against me. As to you fucking me to seal the deal, that’s on you. You could have simply addressed my wounds, and let it go at that. I told you I would heal. You chose to take it to this other place, and besides, I’m not the only one whose parts have gotten hard as a result of your touch”, he said as he stared at her very visibly flushed and erect nipples…

She glanced down and, realized to her dismay that her body, was indeed in an aroused state…

She looked back to him. She was speechless. Deep warmth started at her groin and shot all the way through her body as she turned bright red. He started laughing again and would not stop. She reacted without thinking and slapped him. She drew back her hand to do it again, but the look on his face stopped her.

   Instead of anger or insult, he just laughed once again and turned onto his side, softly speaking once more, “ Go to sleep, save all that righteous indignation for the morrow, you’ll need it to steel your resolve for the task ahead”…and then he slept.

She searched for some biting retort to his sarcasm, but somehow, she knew it would be wasted on him, especially in his weakened state. She sighed softly, cursing the fates for her misfortune of falling within his clutches. She watched him sleeping for a bit, the thought of killing him crossing her mind more than a couple of times, but she was not sure if he could be killed in a normal fashion. She wondered if he summoned the beast on command, or perhaps it came unbidden when he was under dire threat. After a bit, the weight of it all overcame her, and she lay down next to her enemy as the wall of sleep closed in around her.

She awoke to the smell of food cooking on a fire. Her stomach heaved and turned at the smell. She tried to remember how long it was since she had eaten. She sat up and looked around. He was tending the cook fire, smoking a cigarette as he occasionally turned the spit over the flames. Without looking her way, he asked, “Hungry?”  Hesitating for a second, she nodded her head. “Come and get it then, if you want some”, he replied. As she scooted over to where he sat by the fire, she realized she was covered in a light blanket that hadn’t been there the night before. Grateful for that small thing, she moved up beside him. Pulling some bits of meat from the spit, he rolled it in a soft bread wrap, and handed it to her. “It’s hot” he warned, as she ravenously bit into it. She didn’t care; it was fucking delicious, even as it burned her tongue as she chewed it.  Swallowing it quickly, she finished off the rest in short order. He looked over at her with a grin; “More?” he asked. She nodded once again. He made her another that she ate as fast as the first. Without speaking, he handed her his water bag. She drank deeply from it and handed it back.

 “Alright then, piggy, you’ve eaten it all,” he said with an easy grin on his face. She searched his eyes to see if he was being an asshole once again, but realized it was an honest effort on his part to ease the hostility that that hung in the air like the smoke from his fire. “Fuck you, fat man, she replied, you’re the one who could stand to lose a few pounds…” He laughed at that. “Good, I see you’ve gotten all your charm and winning ways back in form.” In spite of herself she managed to smile at that. But, after a second, she caught herself, and she asked, “Why so nice, dick? What the hell does it matter how I feel about you? Aren’t I still just a convenient means to an end? I know for all your grand speeches, you’re still just a ruthless asshole who intends to use me in a terrible way to catch your prize, as you name her. Don’t try to lull me into thinking you have any concern about my welfare in all this? I know it isn’t so.”

He drew deeply on his cigarette and was silent for a bit. Then he looked at her and holding her eyes with his, he answered, “You are absolutely right. I will use you, far worse than you would have used me if your attempt at robbery had succeeded. I might have died from your blow, or I might not have, but that would have been the end of it. You would have escaped with your spoils of victory, and if I had survived, you would have been long gone, and I would have returned to my quest. But that’s not what happened, and the now is the now. You can fight me all the way in this if you please. But know this. I will have my way. The fates crossed our paths and I am not one to look a gift horse in the mouth. Hate me if you will; that’s fine with me; anger is a great motivator; but you must be as focused as much as I, if I am to succeed. Put your vitriol in your quiver for afterwards, if there is an afterwards.”

She thought about his words for a long while. He was right in a twisted kind of way. She had already made the decision to acquiesce to his demands in return for a chance at life, no matter how small the chance might be. She realized that most of her anger stemmed from the fact that there was no viable alternative on the horizon. She felt helpless. She was no longer the mistress of her destiny.

“Alright, I can do this”, she said. “But I don’t want to go into this blindly, playing off your lead without some foreknowledge of what I’m going to facing?” She watched his eyes as he took in her answer.

“Fair enough”, he replied, “What do you want to know?”

“For starters, what was that about last night? Who were those men? Why were they willing to die to stop you?” she queried.

“They were a group of cabalists who are dedicated to seeing to it, that all the great demons of this world who were seized and imprisoned by an ancient great one of their order, stay that way. They are not particularly pleased at the prospect of an ancient evil, being released to plague the world of mortal men once again. And they aren’t all that happy with the idea, if my order succeeded in its quest that a man, even one such as the Master of my order, would have at his disposal, one of the most evil demons that ever walked the earth. Balance of power kind of thing; do you get the concept?”

“Yes. So the men you killed were all magicians from an enemy camp, so to speak?”

“No, he replied, a few were the leaders of the group; sadly, the rest were soldiers of fortune, mercenaries, men, who, because of the fates, made their living as paid warriors.  Good men, just unfortunate because they were on the losing side. They’re the ones who gave me the hardest fight of it. When I am in my beast form, I am still there, but I step back and let the beast do what he does best. Most of the wounds I took came from those warriors. Good fighters, when they realized what they were up against, they fought me as a team. If not for the supernatural state of the beast, they might have beaten me. But that is the nature of this world. The two easiest things in this world is the one thing; easy to give death and easy to receive it. The mages were not much, except for one; he pulled a couple of tricks out of his hat that I had never seen before.

 But the beast is immune to most weapons and most magic, he is from a time and place that was here long before man came along with his iron, fire, and trickery. He will be here when it is all gone, I believe. Anyway, they died, and here we are, waiting for our next crossroad.”

She thought about his words for a while. He seemed genuinely sad that he had to kill the soldiers that he faced. She asked him about that. “I don’t really know how to explain it to you. You hunt, you kill, and you eat; but that in itself is the rhyme and the reason of your actions. But when men kill each other, it’s different. It will make no sense to you because you are a woman, and no matter how skilled a hunter you are, you cannot think like a man. For whatever reason, when most men face a worthy adversary, they have a sense of respect for their foe.  If my enemy fights me with every last bit of his all, even in his apparent doom…” he stopped talking for a moment, “Let me put it this way. When I fought those men, those warriors, I could not lose because of the beast. I knew this. But so did they; and still they fought on, in spite of it. They were not cowed by their inevitable defeat. That is what I am talking about.”

She answered slowly, “It makes no sense to me, but I suspect it is because the way men think makes no sense to me. You are right in that aspect of it.”

Abruptly, she spoke again, this time with some enthusiasm, “Why can’t you defeat this demon with your animal form? He can’t be killed, right? Wouldn’t that work much better than this scheme of yours?”

He laughed again, startled out of his momentary reverie. “Unfortunately, no, he said. I cannot stay as the beast for too long or I will be unable to return to my true form. And the beast would only be concerned with killing her. They are ancient enemies. Competing apex predators in some sense, although I don’t conceive of him as an evil, so much as a primeval force that exists outside of the boundaries of our orderly little world.

   Besides, my quarry would not tarry for such an encounter, there would be no gain in it for her, and she would just fly, and seek suitable prey elsewhere, leaving us holding an empty bag so to speak.”

“I see,” she said glumly. “Damn it all”.

He started to say something but stopped short. After a moment, he spoke,” I have to start making preparations, even though the full moon is another whole day and night away. Are you ready to go through with this?”

 “Yes, she answered, let’s get on with it then; what do I have to do?”

“Nothing that will be to your liking I think, but one never knows the true nature of another until all the masks are removed,” he said,” First, I must prepare your body. There are certain ancient runes and symbols that I have to inscribe in your flesh; it’s somewhat painful, but given your experiences of the past day and a half, I suspect you can handle it. If it becomes too much for you, I have herbs that will make the process somewhat easier.”

“Are you talking about tattoos? As in permanent kind of tattoos?” she hissed at him.

                                     

                                                                                END PART ONE: