Eternal Slave Ch. 03 - A Cup of Tea

"I hope you forgive us for telling you about the enormous problem we're having despite your trauma, and for asking you for your help. It is urgent."

"Of course," I said. "Anything. Just name it. Please."

Wave sighed and gave Glow a long, hard look.

"As you have guessed, this world of ours is blessed by the presence of many Gods, including the Lady of Desire and the Lord of Lust. We who live here feel their touch every day. We yearn for love, we yearn for sex, and many of us desire either to own our loves or to be owned by them."

"I understand," I said, which was the biggest understatement I had made since I said "That's too bad" when I was told Santa didn't exist.

"We've lived in peace and harmony here in this part of the Myriad for many years now, but some ten years ago this female captain we now call the Sea Hag appeared among us. She first posed as a trader in exotic goods, a very rich and successful one, but with an all-male crew that just seemed a little too eager to please their mistress. Still, nothing new there. She could have picked up the kind of men who do want to serve women unconditionally."

"I understand," I repeated, but my throat was dry. I desired to meet this Sea Hag. A lot. It was probably a stupid thought, but then most of my thoughts are.

"After a while she bought more ships and hired more men, and we heard stories that some of those men inexplicably decided to leave their wives and families and run off with her. Of course, this was not very nice of those men at all, but what can you do about such fools?"

"Were those men... slaves?" I asked. Glow chuckled and tugged at the ribbon. Viola looked at me despite her warm cheeks. Sprite couldn't stop stabbing me with her eyes.

"I like the way you are thinking, you dirty man!" the old crone said. "When I was young, men used to come begging to-"

"No!" Wave said, interrupting her. "That was the problem. Even masters joined her. It didn't stop there. She lured away more and more men, and her single trading vessel turned into several pirate ships. Whenever she caught another vessel, she would recruit, if that's the right word, the men. The women were never seen again. Then, she came here. One evening, two months ago, all the village went to sleep, fearing no evil. When they woke up, all men above the age of twenty were gone. Only one person had seen what had happened. A young woman was making love to her man late at night when he suddenly took one look out the window, stopped what he was doing, and left her. She was tied to the bed and had to struggle to free herself and follow him, scared almost into hysterics. He'd never done anything like that before. When she got out into the village, she saw the Sea Hag. A tall, beautiful woman with hair longer than the tallest tree trailing behind her. And behind that hair walked all the men of the village, dull and mindless, following her to their doom. When the young woman tried to scream, a female warrior appeared and knocked her over. She managed to crawl away, which was a good thing, because several of the Hag's women searched the streets, looking for her, carrying with drawn knives. She saw the men being led out to sea, getting into large, dark ships waiting at anchor. That was the last we ever saw of any of our men."

It felt very wrong to say, "This sounds sexy, tell me more," so I didn't. "This sounds horrible."

"After that, several other villages have been raided. Now the women of the islands keep watch at night, but it's too late. The Sea Hag raid ships and cities with impunity, and none of the local men are able to fight as soon as they see her standing in the prow of her ship. When the women try to resist, other enslaved men pour out of the ships and attack them. And that's the horror of it all, seeing men of your own people, men you perhaps knew once, charge at your with spears at the ready."

"Soon it's going to be our turn. We've been praying to the Gods for help," Sprite said, forcing my eyes to meet hers. "And they've answered. The Lady brought you to us."

"Gift slaves," Sprite went on, "have magical powers given to them by the Lady. They gift that power to women through their sperm."

"Sex magic," Glow said, winked, and tugged on the ribbon, "of the most vulgar kind."

I shifted, feeling my cock rub against the fabric of my pants. Glow's voluptuous body, Viola's feverish blush, and Sprite's burning eyes, this was all too much for me.

"When you have intercourse with a woman," Wave said, "that woman will gain your latent powers. You too, will be empowered. This is an effect that's often related, yet often much weaker. Some gift slaves have powers that can change life in a whole village, city, nation, or even the whole world. The plants we use to build our houses with our lights and our water closets and our stoves, they are all the descendants of plants once grown by a cabal of women who owned a gift slave with the power of shaping nature's bounty. Some men give strength, some give beauty, some give flight or the ability to breathe under water, some even give youth to the woman he is with. Your power must be mighty enough to help us, help all the people of these islands. Your power can save our men and bring down the Sea Hag."

Wave turned to Sprite and said with jaws clenched. "As soon as someone is willing to tell us just what that power is."

Sprite gloated, her look nasty. "All in good time. Shouldn't Mr Sam be the first one to hear who he really is? Or don't you believe in his rights and integrity anymore?"

"It's fine, I don't mind, whatever you choose," I mumbled.

Glow nudged me, yanking hard on the ribbon.

"Yes, thank you," I said in a clear voice.

"Good boy," Glow whispered.

"First I must ask you, Midnight Glow," Sprite said. "Did you have sex with Sam last night?"

All the women of the Circle turned to look at the woman with me. They were curious, very curious. The old crone chuckled and nodded.

"Me? Against your express warning? Are you crazy?" Glow had a face that made her look very, very, very innocent.

Sprite's eyes narrowed, then she seemed to decide to believe her. It was a very believable, innocent face, after all. "It's a good thing you didn't. This man is an assassin. He has the power to kill women. Through sex."

The Circle fell absolutely silent. Ten pair of eyes stared at me in shock. Even the old crone seemed put out.

But not as put out as Glow. She backed away from me, let go of the ribbon, slid off the stone. "What? For real? Kill? No!"

It was obvious to all that she had been lying, but it was also obvious that no-one was going to comment on it. They would just pretend she'd told them straight up.

"Yes," Sprite said. "Not right away, but slowly. He's like a vampire. His seed will steal women's lives from them, and while they wilt away, he will gain in power." She looked from Wave to Glow in turn. "Now, our task is in many ways very easy. All we have to do is to get the Sea Hag to steal this man, and then he'll poison her as she attempts to use his power. He's young, he's handsome, she'll want him. But perhaps," she said and looked at Glow whose face had turned white, "I think I need to do a little more work to try to find out just how his powers work. It's something I've never heard of before."

"Yes, yes," Wave said. She'd got off her own stone and stood next to Glow now, her arms around her. "Of course. Anything you need, Sprite."

"I would like to run some tests on Mr Sam, if that is all right with him. As far as I could tell, he drains a woman's life force. In the event that he actually has had sex with anyone, I might be able to find out just what he's stolen. I might see what can be done about returning it, or what can be given as a remedy to save the woman's life."

The women all looked at me now. Even Viola, her mouth open, horrified, the bright, golden hoops dimmed by fear. What was she thinking? She had wanted to have sex with me, I was sure. And now? Now I was about as desirable as cunnilingus administered by a viper.

The only one who didn't look my way was Glow. She was still staring at nothing, her breathing quicker even than before, during the act when I had poisoned her.

My mind felt numb. I was devastated. Not only had I gone from potential savior with the prospect of sex with innumerable grateful women to the erotic angel of death. I had also delivered a killing blow to an innocent woman. A sweet, nice, beautiful woman who hadn't done anything to me except to open my eyes. A woman who was now terrified for her own life. I wished it was me who could put my arms around Glow and hold her and tell her I would do anything to help her. But it wasn't. She would never again look at me with anything but fear, sadness, and hate.

"It's not your fault, Mister Sam," Wave said over Glow's shoulder. "You had no idea."

Yes, but we still had fucked, even though Sprite had warned us not to. And it had been consensual. In fact, I had been the most eager of us.

"What do you say, Sam?" Sprite said. "Will you try to save Glow's life, or not?" Her voice was harsh.

"Of course," I said. "I'm sorry, I just... It is too much for me to handle right now... Of course. Anything. Anything to save her."

"Then we have no time to lose. Come with me." Sprite got off her stone as well and beckoned for me to follow her.

"Sure..." I said, but my eyes strayed to Glow. She was still not looking my way.

"We appreciate it, Mr Sam," Wave said. "A lot. Thank you."

"Of course," I said. "I'm glad to help."

"How long... When will we know how to help Glow?" Wave asked Sprite.

"If we can help her, you mean?" the witch said.

Wave just sighed, shrugging, defeated.

"It may take some time," Sprite went on. "At least until tomorrow morning. And I don't want a bunch of you clowns coming knocking at my hut, asking silly questions, interrupting me. When I work, I like to concentrate. Leave my meals outside my door, knock twice, then go away. I come out when I'm ready. Got that?"

There came a solemn round of nods from the assembled ladies. Sprite held all the cards now, and they knew it. No use in protesting or arguing.

"Let's go, Mr Sam," Sprite said.

"Can I just talk to Glow for a moment?" I asked.

"Of course-" Wave began.

"No," Sprite said. "We have absolutely no time to lose. Come."

Even though I followed her out of the circle as meekly as any slave, my lust had disappeared. My cock was a soft as a wet sock. The ribbon that was still tied around it was a joke now that Glow was dying. Now that she hated and feared me so much she wouldn't even look at me.

"Well, well," the old crone said as we left. "That was all too bad. And he was such a stud! Or perhaps... Why not? I might just be old enough to have myself fucked to death instead of growing senile."

"Mum!" Wave groaned. "Can you please, please, please shut up now?"

***

Sprite's hut was on the outskirts of the little village, right in the middle of a grove of dark, towering, lush trees. Next to it ran a small brook, and the hut looked as if it was about to slide down the mud bank and bury itself in the middle of the stream. The structure was rickety enough to fall over, old enough to collapse, and no maintenance seemed to have been done to prevent the decay for many a year.

Sprite didn't ask me for my opinion of it, which saved me from coming up with an embarrassing lie. Not only that, she also didn't speak a single word to me as we descended the mountain, even though I had questions enough, which was somewhat unsettling.

No-one seemed to want to approach the hut, even though a few of the villagers seemed curious about what we were up to. That was even more unsettling.

The door was tied shut with so much rope that it could been used both to right the hut, pull it away from the brook, and enough left over for some kinky play. It was like seeing a rusty, old tricycle equipped with a big, shiny lock twice its weight. That was even more unsettling.

After Sprite had let us in, she retied all the ropes. There was no escape through this door, there were no windows to climb through, they were all covered up, and the cracks in the walls that were fitted with old pieces of cloth looked like they could let nothing pass larger that a flaccid penis. And trap an erect one. That was even more unsettling.

The messy workbench and big shelves that were full of the kind of bottles and jars and strange plants and stuffed animals you get in the standard witch's workshop weren't very unsettling. The huge, heavy, clean, wooden examination table was. It was old and had cut marks and was covered in spots left by various liquids I wouldn't speculate in the nature of. All around the edge were brass rings driven into the wood.

"Don't ask me to lie down on the table," I murmured to myself. "Please don't ask me to lie down on the table. Please don't-"

"Could you take off your shirt and lie down on the table, please?" Her voice was all business, but her eyes were burning.

"Eh, why?" I said.

"I want to run some tests on you," she said.

Suddenly there came a sound from under the bamboo floor in the farthest part of the hut, the one closest to the brook. It was as if some large animal shifted its position then lay down again.

"What was that?" I asked.

"That was nothing."

"But I heard something."

"Nature makes a lot of strange sounds."

I gulped, looked around me. Would anyone hear me if I screamed? Probably not. Probably by design. "Can't you do the tests if I sit?"

"Some of the tests require you to lie down."

"Without my shirt on?"

"Without your shirt on," she said. "Now get going before I get really, really bored."

I removed my shirt. For a brief moment I wanted to find her eyes on me, a candid secretive look of appreciation, but no such luck. She was facing the other way, rummaging through some of the shelves. It was I, on the other hand, who studied her butt as I got up on the table. She had a very nice butt, even in her dark, severe skirt.

"Are you going to do the same thing as yesterday?" I asked.

She started, stopped, then turned with an impassive stare. "Are you asking me if I'm going to give you a handjob?"

The correct answer would be "Yes," but what I did say was, "Uh, eh, no, of course not, you misunderstand..." until my words ebbed out.

"No, I am not partial to giving strange men sexual favors. Or any man. Your little adventure with those two harlots, Glow and Viola, has given you the wrong impression about the women of Slave Fountain Island. Some of us have a purpose in life other that gratifying gift slaves."

"Like Wave?" I said.

"Wave is a fool, whining about her missing husband all day long, unable to get out of the rut. She's weak."

"I understand how she feels," I said.

"She's not willing to do what it takes to get him back. She's weak. I'm not weak. I'll do whatever it takes to save Glow's life. Are you?"

I nodded and lay down after she had pulled out that trump card. "Of course. She's nice, and she's been good to me. As a friend, too."

"Exactly." She brought out a big, glazed pot, dark green and with a small opening. Placed it under the table. Took some dust from a small jar. Threw the dust in the pot. Found a bottle. Poured some dark liquid into the pot. Went over to a flower pot where there grew a kind of vine that seemed to have covered half the wall of her hut, its roots having forced themselves between the bamboo sticks, choking them into splinters. She pulled off two tiny branches, and I got a feeling they resisted as she did so. "Glow is important. And all I ask of you is a little time to let these do their job."

"What kind of job?" I said. I wasn't much keen on what seemed to about to happen now.

"These plants," she said and made a motion to place one on each of my wrists, "are just going to measure your pulse, your temperature, and take a small blood sample."

"They're vampire plants!" I said and put my hands behind my head.

"No, they're not," she sighed. "They'll just have a few drops each. That's all they need. Please return your wrists to the table."

"What is that?" I said as the sound of scuffling below the floorboards returned.

"Nothing, I told you."

"But there is something in the basement, down below."

"Perhaps rats."

"Something bigger."

"Perhaps a large rat. Please return your wrists to the table."

"Why do they need to drink from both wrists?" I said. Why did she have to be so beautiful? So confident and strong? I felt how something inside me longed to obey her, wishing that there was more I could do for her. Like clean up the place and give her a back massage or something. The only problem was that I was not sure about her intentions. At all.

She groaned. "Because your left hand is your emotional and passive one, while the right is the logical and active one."

"That makes sense, I guess," I said. Well, it made sense in a kind of faux spiritual way. I used to find such notions hilarious. Back before I was transported into a strange fantasy world, that is.

"Return your wrists to the table."

I returned my wrists to the table.

She placed the two vines on my wrists which were now resting on the table next to my groin. Stepped back.

We looked at the vines. The vines started moving, uncoiling, twitching, like caterpillars.

"Don't move!" Her voice was angry.

"They're wrapping themselves around my wrists!"

"How can they measure your pulse if they don't?"

"But are you sure-"

"Do you want to save your precious Glow or not?"

"I do, but..."

"It's two tiny vines, thinner that any bracelet. You're a big, strong man. Don't be such a baby."

I decided I wasn't a baby and just lay still, watching the vines stretching out, growing, looping around my wrists, again and again.

"And that's that?" I said.

"That's that," she said, but her eyes told me a different story.

"Why are they crawling towards those brass rings?" I said. Now I was moving from uncomfortable to slightly scared.

"They're not moving towards the rings, they are going for the pot I placed under the table. They need sustenance."

"But why-"

"Should I have put the pot on your precious manhood? Your all important sacred object?"

"No, but..." I trailed off. To me it really did seem they were heading for the brass rings. The very sturdy-looking brass rings. I moved my arms in towards my side, forcing them to travel further. That didn't seem to bother them. They were happy to go to any distance to reach the edge of the table. Which they did. Eventually.

"They're wrapping themselves around the rings," I said.

"They need an anchor for when they drop down towards the pot," she said.

"Are you sure?"

"I'm sure."

We waited. All the action was now going on down under the table. I was tense, but I knew that I could tear off the plants if I wanted to, that I had about two feet of vine on either side that allowed me freedom of movement.

Then, I didn't have two feet of vine. There was a slight pull at my wrists that I didn't notice until my arms were only about a foot from the rings. I flexed my muscles and started to pull back.

"Wait! Stop!" Sprite said. "You'll tear them apart. They're very weak."

"Are they?"

"Yes, they're like grass."

"Why are they pulling me?"

"They are not able to reach the pot otherwise."

"What happens when they reach the pot?"

"You'll be saving Midnight Glow."

I quieted down and let my arms be pulled to within one or two inches of the rings. This was a position I had wanted to be in with a beautiful woman like Sprite many times, had fantasized about, had prayed to experience. Now it was freaking me out.

"So, what do we do now?"

"Now, I want you to close your eyes and focus."

"On what?"

"Close your eyes, please."

"All right. Focus on what?"