Courting the Jinn

The adventurers retrieved the bracelets. Yi tried one on. It contracted comfortably around Yi's wrist, and the gems started to glow with warm, white light. Ci took the second bracelet, which did the same.

"Hey," Yi exclaimed, "look at this!" The first bracelet's light was bending into a bright beam. "I can control it with my mind!" Soon Ci had focused the second bracelet's light into two divergent beams, one from one gem and one from the other two. With strenuous mental effort, both Ci and Yi managed to separate all three beams, though rotating all three was much harder than rotating one. Additionally, they discovered they could dim or totally darken the bracelets at will.

"Alright," said Ci, "let's go."

Beyond the gate, the hallway forked, the left path labeled "Provisions" and the right "Additional Storage." The walls, unlike the blank ones seen thus far, featured simple murals. The left path's walls showed a garden of fruit trees. The right path's walls showed a group of scantily clad men and women smiling as they did various activities - playing a flute, picking fruit, lounging in a boat, and such - but each chained by one limb to some object nearby.

"I vote we check out both," said Yi.

"For sure," Ci replied, "best to get as much information as we can. But let's go left first."

The left hallway opened into a large room with an earthen floor. A stream of water ran from one side to another, collecting in a pool at the center. Short trees grew, on which hung large shapes that sparkled so much that one might mistake them for jewels, but which on closer inspection turned out to be no more than fruit. They tasted delicious. Having eaten recently, the adventurers didn't try them all, but they enjoyed those they did. Then, the adventurers returned and took the second path. It went on longer than they'd seen in the glow of their bracelets, and with each step, their eyebrows arched higher and mouths opened wider.

The odd pictures got weirder the farther they went, but throughout, everyone wore the same tranquil smile. Here, a woman straddled a man lying belly-down, massaging his back, her ankles chained to the sides of the bed. There, a topless woman squeezed milk from her huge breasts into bottles. Here, a pair of women in fancy dresses dined at a low, outdoor table, but rather than use chairs, they sat in the laps of naked men who knelt on the grass, ankles strapped to their thighs. The final picture showed the same woman seen giving a massage earlier, now lying belly-down on the bed, fully naked, as the man whose back she'd been massaging pressed his fingers into her buttocks. Looking closely, one might have noticed amidst the locks of hair a chair around her neck. One might also have noticed the head of the man's erect penis and infer the location of his shaft, nestled deep in her crack.

"I don't know whether I'm creeped out or turned on," Ci remarked.

"Me neither, although-- oh my gosh!" Yi had taken a first step into the room at the end of the hallway and seen its contents.

The room was round, with earthy walls. In the center grew a huge green plant like a pillar between floor and ceiling, thick as a cedar. Roots spread from the top and bottom, but the middle drew Yi's attention. Seven evenly spaced stalks emerged not far from the floor, lifting up pale white flowers. Each flower resembled a tilted cup: It had five petals, gently upward curving, surrounding a coiled, yellow vine resting on a central floret about a third of a human's height above the ground. The whole thing was tilted fifty or sixty degrees from horizontal. The bottom petal nearly touched the earth.

To the side of the plant was another carved stone woman (this time some sort of dryad with bark-like skin and leafy hair) who held a sign with two pictures.

The first showed a vertical cross section of a woman sitting in one of the flowers. Its petals had curved inward, tightening around her waist; vines had gagged her mouth and plugged her ears, and the tip of the coiled vine had barely entered her vagina.

The second showed a man in the same position, the tip of the vine in his ass.

"I want to try," said Yi.

"Seriously?"

"So serious. The more information we get, the better. If the Spirit likes this kind of thing, we need to know."

"What if I can't get you out?"

"Cut it open. If you can't, at least you'll be safe."

"I love you," said Ci with a quick kiss on the cheek.

"I love you too."

Yi walked to the plant, stopped, and took a deep breath. Then Yi turned around; bent, feet apart, hands on knees, causing the hem of the yellow dress to rise a little; and backed slowly into one of the tilted flowers, twisting to look backward while doing so. A few short steps, and the tip of the bottom-most petal was between Yi's ankles. One more, and one knee brushed against it. The flower twitched. Yi stopped, took another breath, and then, surrendering to fate, completed the motion, sitting with full weight on the coiled vine at the center.

The petals lazily closed, tightening around Yi's waist and thighs. Thick and strong, they resisted Yi's attempts to peel them away. The flower rose into the air and rotated upright, leaving Yi's legs dangling. A vine from the pillar of plant matter behind formed itself into a mouth gag, binding Yi's head in place, and two thin vines pushed into both ears. Yi moaned, sensing the coiled vine beneath begin to stir.

"I apologize if this upsets you," came a voice in Yi's ears, "but my master requires that I stimulate you. Do not be afraid. I'll be gentle." The coiled vine, covered in a film of slippery moisture, began exploring Yi's thighs, gliding around and between them. Yi wore nothing under the dress, allowing easy access. The vine produced a few spurts of laughter from the ticklish feeling of rustling fabric, then squirming when it made its way lazily past Yi's anus to nestle itself in the crack between Yi's cheeks.

"If you enter me, can it be my ass?" Yi breathed, managing barely to form the words despite the gag. Ci, who'd approached, could not have heard even if Yi had wanted.

"Certainly," came the voice, and the vine slithered slowly back down. Yi clenched up when the pointed tip found the hole, but knowing to try to relax, managed to open it slightly, and the tip wormed its way inside. Yi exhaled shakily.

"You okay?" asked Ci. After a moment, Yi raised a hand and gave a thumb up.

"Do you desire to orgasm?" the plant continued. "If not, I'll respect your wish if I can." Yi gave a little nod. "Very well." The vine in Yi's ass slithered unhurriedly in and out, each time going slightly farther and widening the sphincter a bit more.

"My purpose," said the voice, "is to convince your master to leave you here. Since my creation, I've handled several such pleasure-slaves as yourself. Unfortunately, such masters are often quite capable of discerning false expressions of pleasure, so I always stimulate those in my care at least a little. I'm sad to say I've had rather unpleasant effects on a few of them. But in the end, their masters perished, they did not, and they gained their freedom. My master long pondered whether to create me but went through with it in the end, for the greater good." The plant paused. "But judging from your reaction, I take it your master treats you better than most?"

Yi was reacting indeed. Hidden in the petals' folds, Yi's crotch was squirming to rub against the petal in front, but without avail. It was barely too far away. Only halfway paying attention, Yi nodded in reply to the plant's question. The vine was pistoning a little more quickly now, and Yi's eyes stared unfocused into the air.

"Some masters especially enjoy edging," said the plant, and the vine slithered suddenly out of Yi's ass before freezing in place.

"Mmm, mmm," Yi moaned, and strained even harder to find something to rub against.

"So then, how does your master treat you?"

"Very well," Yi whispered.

"Explain."

"We've known each other a long time. Ci knows what I like. I know what Ci likes. Sometimes we make love slowly and tenderly. Sometimes playfully, aggressively. Sometimes in strange places. Sometimes we roleplay."

"About what?" asked the plant, and the tip of the vine slipped half an inch back into Yi's asshole.

"Once, Ci dressed as a prince in expensive robes. I played a poor street urchin. Ci took me home, gave me a fine meal, and fucked me late into the night."

"Has Ci ever fucked your ass?" asked the plant. The vine probed deeper as the plant spoke, and it started wiggling playfully.

"Oh, so many times," moaned Yi. "Ci's an expert analinguist."

"Explain."

"I lie face-down on the bed. I prop my ass up on a pillow, leave my undergarment on. I love how I look in that position."

"What do you mean, 'how I look'? Have you seen a picture of yourself?"

"No, but I can imagine, because sometimes, in the right mood, Ci lets me repay the favor."

The vine twitched and began slowly thrusting again. Yi sighed through the gag. After a few more lazy thrusts, the plant spoke again.

"Tell me more about how Ci fucks you."

"So I'm lying on the bed -- ahhh. Ci gives me a deep massage from head to toe. Never touches my butt, but I feel eyes on it the whole time."

The vine's pace was oh-so-gradually increasing.

"Then finally, Ci peels down my panties, presses hard into my cheeks, and gives my crack a long lick. At that point, I'm so turned on, I -- oh!"

The vine had thrust twice rapidly, then resumed its former pace.

"Do that again," Yi moaned.

"Keep talking," came the reply.

"Sometimes, after Ci's been inside for a while and I'm close, Ci pulls out and whispers in my ear. Fantasies about threesomes or foursomes or -- huhh! Please keep doing that."

The plant chuckled. "Does Ci have other servants?"

"Well actually -- oh! emmm! -- Ci's my partner, not my master, so no."

The vine froze. "What?" the plant asked sharply.

"We're trying to get through the challenges together. Hey, wait!"

In a single swift motion, the plant extracted itself from Yi's ass, mouth, and ears, let its petals go limp, and dumped Yi to the floor. "Nooo, I wasn't done!" Yi exclaimed, but all seven flowers contracted into spherical bulbs and raised themselves higher off the ground. Yi gaped at the plant, gaped some more, then collapsed fully onto the floor to stare at the ceiling.

"You okay?" asked Ci.

"No," Yi replied mournfully, then took a deep breath, stood, and trudged out of the room.

Ci found Yi back in the garden. A single tear ran down one cheek.

"That must have been intense."

"It wasn't bad, it was great. I just - I was getting close, and it spat me out all at once!" Yi paused, looked down, and continued quietly. "I hate to say it, but I might have to break my rule." Yi sank to the floor and slipped a shoulder, an elbow, a hand through their sleeve to the inside of the dress. Two more tears trickled.

Ci knelt and caught Yi's hand through the cloth.

"It's like you said. You want your mind sharp. And right now, mine isn't." Yi sighed. "I wanted to go as long as I could without having to touch myself. I can't decide. Is it a silly little game, or does it mean something? Something important?"

"Like not being lonely?"

"...Maybe..."

"C'mere." Ci gestured, and Yi crawled into Ci's lap. Ci's head tilted forward, and they were kissing sweetly, tenderly, lushly. Then they were hugging, Yi's chin resting on Ci's shoulder.

"Turn out that light." Yi's bracelet blinked off in reply, then so did Ci's. The garden was pitch black. A while later, a whisper stirred the darkness.

"Turn around. Yeah, that's it. I love your thighs squeezing into mine. I wonder how sensitive you are right now. Just a light touch and--"

"Mmm-- mmmmm-- mmmmmmn!"

"Or maybe not that light..."

"Ahhh!"

🦇 🦇 🦇 🦇 🦇 🦇 🦇

"I'm feeling more confident now," said Ci. "We learned a lot." The adventurers had ascended the staircase, emerging again into the narrow trench between the huge stone legs.

"I'm feeling better too," said Yi. "Let's do this."

Not far beyond the huge stone knees, the flat ground stopped at a sheer drop-off into a chasm fifteen to twenty times a human arm span. Far beyond the opposite cliff face, the adventurers noticed a faint, orange, circular glow from some sort of crevice and the sound of trickling water. Far below, a huge spider web, a deep mesh of tangled silk, stretched across the whole chasm. Below it, gently lapping water reflected the light of the adventurers' bracelets between the gleaming strands. Both stone legs bridged the abyss. Between them, a long thread, about an inch thick and gleaming like the web, bridged the void in parallel. It was tied at both ends to metal hooks protruding from the sandstone.

Above the adventurers, an eight-limbed stone spider woman, posed as if climbing upside down on one of the huge legs, held another sign in clawed hands. Before they read it, Ci and Yi took a moment to appreciate her eight exotic eyes and plump, enticing ass. The message was written in cursive paths of glittering silk.

First task, the Web

Your goal is simple: cross. Be careful, little insect; beware, little ant! Lest you fall into a predicament you'd likely not enjoy, thus ending your journey in, shall we say, a helpless haze. He who undertakes the difficult task, placing faith in naught but his own mettle, may succeed, be he sure-footed and fast, courageous and nimble, like the gecko. But know this too: the spider's not an insect's only predator.

Luck,

Spirit of the Cave

"Hmm," said Ci.

"I bet there's something wrong with that," said Yi, gesturing to the thread. Both adventurers lay down to examine it. Yi focused the light of the first magic bracelet. "It's a single piece," Yi remarked. "No sub-threads."

Ci picked a pebble from the ground and carefully tapped one end against the thread. It did not stick.

"How strong is it?" Yi wondered. Although the foldable knife in Yi's pocket was freshly sharpened, it needed a lot of force to make even a tiny slit in the thread. As soon as it did, Yi stopped.

"Now the hook." Ci grabbed the thread with both hands and slowly shifted a bit of weight onto it. Nothing happened. Ci pulled up on it, slowly increasing the force in the same manner. Nothing happened. Ci pulled out, away from the wall, and the hook jerked forward a fraction of a finger-length, knocking a tiny piece of sandstone loose and tumbling downward. "Aha!" Ci exclaimed, and pulled forward again -- but it moved no further. The adventurers took turns trying to pull it out, the non-puller holding the puller's ankles for safety, but neither succeeded. They retreated from the edge and sat, thinking.

"Wanna give it a go?" Ci asked after a while. "I don't know what else we could test."

"Not many ways to test a cord over a cliff."

"I just wish we knew what that cryptic sign meant."

"Hmm." Yi shone the beam up to it. "'Your goal is simple'... hey, look at this!"

Below the glittering silk of the message, barely visible in even the bright light, a crude drawing was etched -- scratched? -- into the bottom of the sign. A stick figure walked on a shallowly dipping curve. On both sides, winged creatures flew. On both sides, three or four parallel lines connected an outstretched hand to the adjacent creature, an X marking the latter intersection. ← TIP, it was captioned.

"That explains it!" said Ci. "You've gotta be courageous, nimble, and quick, because something's gonna attack you on the way over."

"Take my bracelet," said Yi, removing it.

Ci took it.

"Good luck," said Yi with a peck on the cheek.

"Thanks."

Ci stepped onto the thread, arms wide. Both adventurers had walked a tightrope many times before. That wouldn't be a problem. A few more steps brought Ci one fourth of the way across.

In the distance, a winged silhouette pushed off the stone, gliding momentarily into Ci's field of view before vanishing back into the darkness. Ci focused one bracelet's light and scanned the area, but saw nothing.

A few steps later, the creature appeared again. Ci thrust the same hand forward, wobbling slightly, and tried to follow the creature's path with the beam, but it was too fast.

"Behind you!" Yi shouted.

Ci ducked, barely managing not to fall. A creature -- the same one? -- whooshed overhead. This time, Ci managed to illuminate it. "Eeek!" it wailed, and shimmered. Immediately, as if its wings had turned to mesh, it lost altitude and fell out of the light.

"Where'd it go?" Ci asked.

"I don't know!"

Ci took a few more quick steps.

"I think you should come back," said Yi.

"I'll get across before it comes back."

But Ci got no more than halfway before the two creatures, now simultaneously visible, reappeared in the air. They circled thrice like vultures, then dove from opposite directions. Ci's arms waved frantically. One beam of light found its target, knocking the creature off course. Ci glanced the other way just as the other creature made contact. Ci tumbled to one side and managed to grab the thread, dangling by one arm. For their parts, the creatures stopped their decents before reaching the web, gliding under the huge stone legs.

A moment later, Ci was back atop the thread. "C'mere!" Yi said. "I can help you."

Ci retreated. "What were they? Did you get a good look?"

"Bats, I think."

Just a few steps more, and the bats returned a third time. They zigged and zagged, swooped up and down. Ci turned, stepping backward along the thread, wobbling, waving the beams frantically.

One bat swooped low. One beam grazed it, barely managing to change its path. The other flapped upward and seemed about to dive.

"Hey!" Yi shouted, and stepped onto the thread. The bat didn't dive. "Heyyy!" Yi shouted again, taking another step. The bat soared past over Yi and turned. Yi turned too. It flew higher, and dove low. Yi leapt off the thread and caught the edge of the cliff. The bat rushed through Yi's former location. At the last moment, Ci shone both lights straight in its face. It shimmered and passed insubstantially through Ci's body. The next moment, the adventurers heard a sickening thud as it slammed into the opposite cliff face and dropped into the web. It twisted weakly, but the web held it fast.

A few more steps, and Ci and Yi were back where they'd started. "What now?" Ci asked.

Behind them, they heard an ominous scraping noise. The other bat had landed silently. It hung by one clawed wing from the stone. The other limb traced a message. The bracelets, no longer directed by Ci's concentration, emitted their normal sphere of diffuse light, by which the adventurers could see without disrupting the bat.

GOOD JOB

DO DEAL?

1 CROSS

OTHR ↓

Ci's hands thrust forward. The lights snapped to attention, but the bat was gone at the first sign of movement.

"I've got an idea," said Yi. "Let's do the opposite of what that picture said. Give those to me."

Ci took off the bracelets.

"Now go. Don't worry, I'll protect you."

"What about you?"

"If you make it, I'll throw them over. You can do the same for me."

Ci started out. A fourth of the way across, nothing happened. The beams like floodlights darted to and fro, scouring for danger. Halfway across, nothing happened. A few more steps, and down came the bat in a steep dive. Yi stood firm, feet planted, fists clenched, and trained the beams onto the creature. Amazingly, they matched its pace. The bat shimmered. It passed beside Ci and stretched its wings to break its fall, without avail. Yi let up, the beams disappeared, and the bat plummeted into the web. It managed to break the fall, leaving a deep, funnel-shaped hole.

Yi joined Ci on the other side. "That was intense."

"Yeah," Ci agreed. "Let's rest for a little bit." They leaned back against the huge stone legs, facing each other.