Desert Gardens Ch. 02

The desert was a treacherous place. It would lull the traveller in with the constant, often softly blowing winds, which made it sound as if the sand was constantly trickling all around you. Every dune looked as if an oasis would be right behind it, only to mock you with the cruel realization that all it was ever hiding was more and more sand, forever shifting, forever blowing, forever stretching out to all sides as far as the sun's light could reach.

Not everything in the desert was deserted, however. Travellers would try to cross it to places like Samarkand and the realms beyond, bringing the most precious wares on the long trek with them. It has been said that a single trip to Karakorum or one of the other cities of the East, would give you riches that would last well until the end of your life. And so, many a fool undertook the dangerous journey and many a fool's journey would end in the desert, for it was a cruel and hostile place in which mortal beings were not meant to set foot.

There were sand-devils, dervishes disguised as djinn and ifrit, mocking and wailing and laughing at every faltering step the foolhardy would take, screaming and cheering their failure and death while feasting on their corpse. And there were even darker things which only came out at night, when the freezing cold descended over the dunes. They were things that would steal your soul, driving you mad so that you would wander the sands forever and ever as a ghost, a mere shadow of your former self. For such was the nature of this place, that it abhorred and hated all life.

How she should find anything growing in this desolate place, Nilgoon did not know. Every direction looked the same to her. Every path and footstep was erased by the perpetual winds and before long, even the sun seemed to be everywhere all at the same time. She struggled, stumbled and fell from one dune to the next, soon calling herself a fool for having fallen for such an impossible task, which would surely lead to her demise one way or another. She was lost and confused. Not only did she not know which way to turn, she had also lost her way back out of this horrible place, where the wind and the voices in the wind, all sang about her death.

But die she did not, for the fruit of all life had wondrous properties indeed, just as Irsiyah had promised. She would not thirst, hunger or grow weary, nor would she be hot nor cold, but instead wander endlessly, in sweltering heat and freezing frost, across infinite stretches of sand, praying every morning and night to God for guidance, while meditating over her fate. And verily, after many days and nights of walking and praying, she finally had a dream, a dream that she was flying. She was speeding weightlessly across the dunes, barely above the ground. She quickly traversed across ancient, forgotten roads, across pillars half buried in sand, across the bones and skulls of unfortunate beings long dead and forgotten until she finally came to a great rocky expanse, where in the shade of several large, monumental boulders, there grew a tree.

It was a tree so delicate and frail, its leaves so tender and lush and its limbs so lithe and full of vigour, that she could not believe it would grow in such a place as this. And neither was it a tree she had ever seen; its bark was smooth and almost white, its leaves were of a shape she had never even heard of and it seemed as if it moved, almost by itself against the wind and the sand and the heat and the cold. When she awoke, she found herself lying directly beneath that very tree, its leaves rustling of their own accord above her, its limbs bending down as if to caress her face. For such is the greatness of God.

Nilgoon stood and wondered a long while about the place in which she now found herself and how she might have gotten there. Was this the plant that only grows deep in the desert, the place that no-one dares to go, the one that would bear the only fruit missing from the Empress' garden? She eyed the small tree suspiciously, investigating it from all sides, examining every branch, every leaf, but found no fruit upon it whatsoever. And so dejectedly, she sat back down in its shade wondering what trickery this was. Who would mock her so as to guide her to this place, only to destroy and crush her hopes in despair?

Yet still, she prayed. She meditated in its shade, and prayed every morning and evening for more guidance. For she had no desire to travel any further, certain that she would never find any other place such as this, here in this desert nor anywhere else in the entire world. It was, after all, a magical, mysterious plant, hidden deep in the sands, just as the Empress described it. Maybe, it was just not time for it to bear fruit? And finally, God showed mercy upon her and gave her more dreams.

In her dreams, she was not herself, but someone else; a princess, of a faraway land - or was it a faraway time? Was it both? She did not know. It was a wondrous place, as magical and beautiful as Guranj. But it was different from Guranj, where the people spoke a different tongue and the palaces and houses had different shapes and forms. Still, she seemed to understand what was being said, and knew the ones around her, feeling at home in that strange city, which was her kingdom.

But she was not at home for long. Through some intrigue and sorcery, she found herself persecuted, outcast, driven from her home, her palace, her people and her rightful throne and was cast out into the desert to die. And, just like Nilgoon herself, she wandered the endless waste, confused, exhausted, near death, praying and meditating, until she found that same rocky place, and fell asleep in the shade of the large boulders.

When Nilgoon woke up again, she understood. She gently caressed the tree, held it in her arms, kissed the tender, little leaves with her lips and stroked the limbs with her fingertips. Piece by piece, slowly and magically, the more she caressed it, the more the tree turned back into the woman. First, her arms, slender and light, with skin as soft as silk, fingers as thin and elegant as those of the finest harpists gave way to her shoulders, her lithe neck, the precious, lush lips, which she touched and kissed. She tenderly gazed upon the deep, dark eyes, still closed in slumber, still dreaming of her home and the throne of which she had been deprived. Leaves turned into hair, waving around her face like the waters of the sea, brown and golden like the finest of woods.

Soon her chest became apparent. Her breasts were full and round and as soft as ripe mangos. Nilgoon started kneading them gently, admiring their size and shape, kissing the small, round nipples as her hands rubbed further down to her hips. They were just as round and as feminine as her breasts and she could barely see the small, dark triangle between them which appeared as her legs started to form. Soon, the whole woman appeared before her, naked and bare. The young thief began to make love to her, passionately and gently, rubbing her fingers across the delicate snatch while sucking and tugging at her nipples, kissing and licking her lips. And slowly, the princess awoke.

As she stirred, she began to moan softly as Nilgoon caressed her arms, licking underneath them, holding her tight against herself, where she felt the soft, warm body against her own. She held the woman as they both sank to the ground, shedding her own clothing, until the two of them lay in the shade of those giant boulders, untouched by neither wind nor sun nor sand and they held on to each other tight and dear, as if their very lives depended upon it.

Oh, dear reader, the joy these two women shared! The tender caresses, the many kisses, the taste, touch, smell and exquisite bliss each felt as they moved their head between the legs of one another, licking and slurping at the soft, moist slit, nourishing each other with their juices, until their tongues dug deep inside their holes and their lips sucked greedily at the small, joyous knobs that made their wells water ever more.

Dare I say it, dear reader, for fear you might call me a devil-worshipper, or one that lays with the nonbelievers? Our Nilgoon soon felt the skilled, thin fingers of her lover move lower, deeper, into that hot, dark portal that she had allowed so few to touch, pushing fast and hard into her tight opening, and when they finally entered her, it sent waves of bliss all the way unto the furthest ends of her body. Soon she found herself doing the same, drilling two of her own fingers between those round, soft buttocks, entering realms unknown as the hot opening clasped tightly around her, as if to draw her in even further.

She did not know her cunt could get so wet, nor had she ever known a woman whose muff watered as much as the one of this princess - and Nilgoon had known many women, even in her few years as a young woman, for she was fierce and wanton and full of adventure. None of those other women however, had given her the pleasures this strange princess did as she thrust into her ass as if it was the only thing that ever mattered. Her new lover slurped every drop off her labia, calling her names she would not even dare think to herself. Whoever she was, she certainly hailed from a time and place where people enjoyed love much more freely and with great abandon. And Nilgoon tried to repay her in kind.

She pushed fast and hard into the woman's shapely round ass, slapping and squeezing it just for the sheer joy of it. She then reached deep into her wide and well-wettened cunt, like it was a pocket, with only her thumb sticking out. She crooked her four fingers and wiggled inside, touching all the secret places of which no proper woman would ever speak and the ones that were so well hidden that only the most skilled of lovers could ever find them. Finally, they both collapsed in a sea of moans and gasps, of lustful sighs and deep breaths, shivering limbs and desperate grasps until they could do nothing more than gently hold each other tight in those deep shades beneath the boulders.

Nilgoon dreamed again and in her dream, she saw the woman smiling at her, her hair waving in the wind as her eyes sparkled like the stars and her skin glowed like the sun. "Thank you," she said, and the princess kissed her gently as they held hands. "You have brought me back to life so that I may return to my people and claim my rightful throne. For this, I shall be eternally grateful." And then, the woman was gone. When the young thief next awoke, she found herself alone in that rocky place in the middle of the desert, beneath the stars.