Lords of Eros Ch. 09

9. The Dark Labyrinth

Evelyn shivered a little.

She found herself standing naked, her staff in hand, on a broken sheet of granite at the apex of a dreary mountain pass. Looking behind, she saw a long, rocky climb she was happy not to have made. Ahead of her lay a large valley swathed in a grey fog. The path at her feet wound down the slope in front of her until it disappeared in the scraggly trees and low hills. The moist air was unusually cold for Eros, and there was a light breeze chilling her skin, but which seemed to not bother the fog in the valley.

Evelyn had been teleported to this remote location at the conclusion of her meeting with the watcher's council, as Don called them. Her assignment was straightforward, if rather enigmatic: "Reach the center of the Dark Labyrinth." She supposed the labyrinth must be ahead, probably in the valley below. It didn't really make sense for the council to put her here otherwise.

With a shrug to herself, she started down the trail. Given the nature of the unpaved and sometimes slippery path, Evelyn was obliged to keep her eyes on the ground and didn't really notice until she was well into it that she had descended into the fog. Looking around, she found herself struck by how actually creepy the landscape appeared in the thick mist. The mostly bare trees were twisted in attitudes that suggested they were clutching upward at the unseen sky above. The rolling, rocky ground was ideal to hide any number of potential hazards. Everything had taken on the grey of the fog; any hint of color was washed out in the twilight.

At least without the breeze it was a bit warmer.

Still, the mist was XYZ and inevitably Evelyn found herself growing frisky again. After all the sex she'd had lately, particularly during what she was now thinking of as her cock hunt in the Manor just a day ago, she had thought she might be good-to-go for at least a few days, but the moisture gathering on her naked flesh and slowly soaking her thick auburn hair covered her body in a glistening aphrodisiac sheath lightly caressing her with every motion.

For a moment, Evelyn considered stopping there on a moss covered rock to relieve some tension, but then remembered her earlier thought about those potential hazards hiding among the rocks and decided she could wait at least a bit longer - perhaps even until she got through the fog. Besides, she thought, one orgasm would only satisfy her for a little while in this situation.

As it turned out, it took her over an hour to climb down through the fog until she could look out and see the rest of the valley spread out before her underneath the grey cloud blanketing it. Casting a quick look around to make sure she could actually see her surroundings clearly, Evelyn found a soft enough spot to recline upon. With one hand gripping her staff and her gaze sweeping the area around her, at least to begin with, she slipped her fingers between her legs and then up into herself. Soon she had let go of the staff so she could use both hands - one to shove three fingers into her grasping pussy and the other to frantically stroke her clit.

Momentarily careless of the fact that she was out in the open and vulnerable, Evelyn closed her eyes tightly as a blistering orgasm tore through her body, nerves firing wildly and muscles clenching tightly. Her fingers kept fucking and rubbing furiously as she pushed herself on and on, prolonging her ecstasy until she collapsed back on the ground, grinning up at the clouds so close over her.

Remembering where she was, Evelyn sat up and looked around frantically, half convinced she would see a bear or wolf creeping up on her. When she was quite sure she was still alone, she noticed that she was still slowly frigging herself. She decided she wanted something harder, more rigid, inside her. Her eyes lit upon her staff then, and she noticed that the end was nicely round and smooth.

Soon, Evelyn was lying there on the ground underneath the heavy, leaden cloud cover, naked and pale in the wild grey landscape, strong legs spread, arms taut and reaching downward, incidentally pushing her small, firm breasts together, as she played with her clit and fucked herself with the end of her staff. She cried out as she came again, arching her back and shoving that wooden shaft up into her pussy, squeezing it intensely. Then her teeth were clenching as the orgasm's second and third waves rolled over her.

When she finally found herself relaxing, she laughed at how ridiculous she must look, naked in the open with a long wooden stick up her pussy.

After Evelyn collected her wits, and took her ersatz dildo out of her vagina, she got up and got a more careful look at her situation. Walking a bit further down the path she'd been following, she came to a tall, bare tree at the head of a long series of rough, uneven stone steps leading down into the valley. Without the masking effect of the fog, she could make out the maze that had been cut or built into the vast majority of the valley. At her crude estimation there were at least fifty miles of twisting pathways there waiting for her. She could see that there were occasional openings and other aberrations, but none of those things allayed her apprehensions.

The maze at the Manor had been bright and green, with nice right angles and a geometric design that was pleasing to the eye. This was dark, grey, and anything but pleasant.

"Scary, isn't it?"

Instinctively dropping into a crouch and raising her staff defensively, Evelyn looked around for the speaker. It had sounded close and came from her right, over by the dead tree. She noticed that there was a grey bird with a reddish-brown head and white throat looking at her calmly. She thought it looked like a small hawk.

"Did you say that?" she asked the bird skeptically.

"I did," the bird gave a little nod.

"A talking hawk," Evelyn chuckled. "I shouldn't be surprised, I guess."

"Excuse me, miss, I am not a hawk," the bird stretched its wings and puffed out its chest a bit. "I am a red-necked falcon."

Lowering her staff, Evelyn smiled and said, "I'm sorry. I didn't know. Ornithology is not really my specialty."

"I forgive you," the bird said.

Evelyn decided she should just roll with the situation and said, "You were saying something about the maze?"

"Yes," the falcon nodded a bit. "It's rather scary, isn't it?"

"Is it actually dangerous, though?"

"Naw, I fly over it all the time."

"I'm afraid I don't have that option."

"Oh, well, yes, I suppose you don't," the falcon said. "Does that mean you are actually going to go into it."

Evelyn frowned, then said, "Well, is that the Dark Labyrinth?"

"I believe so. I have heard it called that, anyway."

"Then I have to go into it. I need to reach the center of it."

"Whatever for?"

"It's my quest," Evelyn smirked, mostly just to herself.

"Oh, well, I guess that makes sense, then. Annoying things, quests."

"You're not wrong," she smiled.

Just then a loud voice called out from above them, "Horace! What are you doing down there?"

Looking up, Evelyn saw another falcon circling them in the grey sky.

"I'm just being friendly," the falcon in the tree, who Evelyn now supposed must be named Horace, called back.

"Leave that poor girl alone," the falcon in the air called down.

"We're just talking, honey," Horace shouted. Then, addressing Evelyn in a normal, quieter voice, he said, "Sorry about that. The missus gets a bit jealous sometimes."

Evelyn smiled and said, "That's alright, I should be on my way anyway."

"Be careful," Horace nodded.

"I'll do my best. Any advice?"

"Don't get distracted," he said. "There are things in there that will try to trap you, or at least get you very lost." Then, as he flapped into the air, he added, "Oh, and don't let the Beast catch you!"

"What? The 'Beast'?!" Evelyn called after him, but he was already too far away to hear, or at least to reply.

With a serious scowl and her staff at the ready, Evelyn started down into the labyrinth, entering it near the closest end of the valley, but quite high up the slope.

For the rest of that first day, Evelyn worked her way through the maze slowly and carefully. She decided it would be a good idea to follow the left wall, just to help keep track of where she'd been. She wished she'd managed to bring along some chalk.

Before it started to get too dark, she found a section of wall that had collapsed, forming a little cave she managed to crawl into without scraping herself up too badly. She felt far from secure, but she thought it was the best shelter she was likely to find before night fell. Stumbling around that maze in the dark seemed a sure recipe for disaster. Before she was able to drift off into a restless sleep, she gave herself a quiet orgasm, clutching her staff to her as she shuddered in the rubble.

Early the next day, Evelyn found some blueberries growing down the side of a wall and drank the water that gathered on the leaves from the misty air. She was starting to think it could take a very long time for her to reach the center of this damned thing. She was trying to use the trick Don had taught her to use in navigating the Manor, but she couldn't tell if it was helping at all.

Toward midday, when she was thinking about taking a break anyway, Evelyn came to the first opening in the labyrinth. Like the rest of the maze, this clearing was in a state of serious disrepair, but there was an apple tree surviving and bearing fruit in the corner, and a large pool taking up most of the center of the space. Jumping up and swinging her staff, Evelyn was able to knock down a couple of apples. Biting into one, she found it surprisingly tart for Erosian fruit, but it was still delicious.

As she ate her lunch, Evelyn strolled over to the pool of water. It looked too still to be safe to drink, but she might be able to use it to clean up a bit. Looking at her reflection, she saw that she was indeed quite disheveled and dirty. She tossed the core of her apple off to the side, dropped to her knees and set her staff down next to her as she cupped her hands to splash some water on her face. After a bit of rubbing and splashing, and running her fingers through her hair, she waited for the water to calm to see if she was actually helping her situation.

Looking down to her reflection, she was surprised to see another face looking up at her. Bright emerald eyes regarded her from beneath the water, and then as she scrambled backward a pale woman with blonde hair broke the surface and said, "Well, hello there." She had a vaguely Scandinavian accent and a sweet, sexy smile.

"Um, hello," Evelyn responded.

"Sorry if I startled you," the girl in the water said. "You're just so pretty, I had to come say 'hi.'"

Not knowing what else to say, Evelyn smiled and said, "Well, thank you."

"I'm Trielle," the woman said as she extended her hand, leaning on the bank of the pool, her porcelain breasts brushing the grass.

"Uh, Sage," Evelyn said as she shook hands. "Nice to meet you, Trielle."

Trielle continued to hold Evelyn's hand, her clasp becoming a caress, and purred, "It's been a long time since we've had a visitor here. I'd love a chance to get to know you better."

The smile on Trielle's lips and the glimmer in her eyes as she said this left very little doubt as to what sort of getting-to-know she had in mind.

Evelyn swallowed, and said, "Well, that certainly does sound nice."

Trielle's green eyes were certainly inviting, and Evelyn found herself moving closer, until she was leaning down to kiss the girl's cool, moist lips. Trielle's slender fingers moved up to gently brush the sides of Evelyn's face and then held her there lightly as her tongue slipped into Evelyn's mouth. The feeling of the girl's tongue on hers as well as the soft pressure of their lips together was intoxicating, and Evelyn felt herself leaning forward to indulge herself more deeply in the kiss.

Suddenly remembering herself, Evelyn pulled back, regaining her balance on the grass. Trielle smiled back at her. If she was offended by the abrupt withdrawal there was no indication.

"You're a good kisser," the woman smiled, "and you taste so good."

Evelyn found herself blushing a little and said, "Thank you, so do you."

"Would you let me taste you down there?" Trielle asked with a wink.

"Down there?" Evelyn found herself suddenly a bit confused.

"Mmm-hmm," Trielle nodded, biting her lower lip a bit. "You can just sit here on the edge."

Evelyn caught on and said, "Oh! Well, I guess it would be rude of me to say 'no.'"

"It certainly would," nodded Trielle emphatically. Then she pushed back from the shore to let Evelyn rearrange herself so that she was sitting on the edge of the pool with her legs in the water.

Smiling up at Evelyn, Trielle moved smoothly through the water between Evelyn's legs.

Evelyn shuddered a little in anticipation as Trielle's cool, light fingers moved up her legs. Then she sighed when Trielle's lips brushed over her labia, which were already quite moist and very ready for some affection. Soon, Evelyn was leaning back on one arm while she held Trielle's blonde head in place while the girl in the pool licked and sucked at Evelyn's clit. It didn't take long before Evelyn's orgasm wracked her body with intense, fiery delight, muscles clenching and heart pounding.

Slowing her ministrations until Evelyn could regain her breath, Trielle kept her mouth on Evelyn's sex, and then, when Evelyn was ready for more, she began to tongue her clit again, slowly but firmly. Even quicker than the first time, Evelyn's body responded to the woman's cunnilingual skills. Crying out and arching her back there on the bank of the pool, Evelyn came and came, shuddering intensely until she collapsed, spent.

As Evelyn lay on her back, looking up at the leaden clouds, heart pounding in her chest, she said, "Thank you! I really needed that."

"It was my pleasure, Sage," the woman in the water said.

"Can you come up here so I can return the favor?"

"Oh, no, I don't think I can do that, but you could come in here and play with us."

"Us?" Evelyn asked, and then hauled herself up to see that she and Trielle were no longer alone. Four other people were there in the water. Three of them were handsome men, two of whom were lounging back against the far shore of the pool, muscular arms resting on the ground and broad chests on tempting display. The third man was closer, leaning on the ground, his chin propped on his palm, watching Evelyn with a playful smile on his lips. The new woman was slowly bobbing in the middle of the pool, just her head above water. All of them were staggeringly attractive.

"Oh," Evelyn said, drawing back a bit. "Hello there."

"Come on in, Sage, and we'll have a wonderful time," Trielle smiled.

Evelyn was thinking they did look like they would be a lot of fun, but she managed to say, "I don't think I should."

"Can't you swim?" Trielle asked as if that were the only possible objection one could make to her invitation.

"Well, yes, I can but..."

"She can't breathe underwater," came a familiar voice from behind Evelyn, in the direction of the apple tree.

Evelyn nodded, "Yes, that's right; I can't."

Trielle pouted a bit theatrically, and said, "Horace, you're always spoiling our fun."

"I doubt that," said the falcon.

"Are you sure you don't want to come in for a while?" Trielle asked, though her tone suggested she knew what the answer would be.

Evelyn drew back from the water, curling up well out of reach of the people watching her in the pool, but smiled and said, "I'm very flattered, but I really must continue on my quest."

As her companions began dropping down into the water, Trielle said, "Oh, a quest? Well, that's understandable. It was very nice meeting you, Sage."

Then, with a wave and smile, Trielle dove beneath the water, which was broken again a moment later as a very large fish-tail flipped up and splashed before disappearing again.

After realizing she was gaping at the fact that she'd just been eaten out by a mermaid and invited to participate in a mer-orgy, Evelyn shut her mouth, stood up and turned to see Horace perched in the tree. She smiled and said, "Thank you. I wasn't thinking too clearly there for a minute."

"Don't mention it," Horace said. "Might be a good idea to be a bit more careful, though. This whole place wants to keep you from getting where you want to go."

"The place wants...?" she started but Horace had already taken to the skies again.

Carrying an apple in one hand and her staff in the other, Evelyn spent the rest of the day making her meandering way through the Labyrinth. She found that the more natural-seeming surface maze was combined with the occasional overpass and tunnel. She moved as quickly as possible through the latter but tried to appreciate the view afforded by the former. Unfortunately, the Labyrinth now stretched out in every direction with no clear end in sight.

Toward evening she heard her next sign of animal life, and it was not at all welcome. Rising in the distance as she started down from one of the overpasses, Evelyn heard something that sounded uncomfortably like the howl of a wolf. Spinning around with her staff at the ready, apple falling to her feet, she scanned her surroundings for any movement or other sign. After several minutes of nothing, she hurried back into the maze. She was now looking for some kind of shelter for the night.

The best she could do before it got too dark to continue was to climb up a tree that had enough leaves on it that she wasn't completely visible from the ground. As she finally ate her apple, Evelyn realized that her precarious perch was far from ideal. She might fall in her sleep, and she had no assurance whatsoever that the beast Horace had mentioned couldn't climb this tree as well as she, or better. She wasn't even sure that the howl she had heard belonged to that beast. For all she knew, there could be several beasts about.

Still, she would be even more vulnerable on the ground, wandering about the maze in the dark, so she made the best of the situation. Wedged as comfortably as possible, she passed a fitful night in the branches of her tree.

As soon as the sky began to lighten in the morning, Evelyn managed to climb down. Rubbing her stiff muscles, she congratulated herself on still being alive and in one piece. Then she started off again.

That second day was a long, tedious one, punctuated only by the discovery of another apple tree and then, in the evening, another howl. This time she was sure it was closer, but she still couldn't tell from which direction it came. She managed to clamber up onto the top of a wall, where she managed to sleep a bit during the night. She dreamed of a black shape looking for her with blazing red eyes.

Soon after her first masturbation break (spent huddled in a corner, thinking about her fun on the Riverboat with Don) on day three, Evelyn came upon what she took to be a hopeful sign.

Her way was blocked by a heavy stone gate with a broad platform set above it. It didn't seem to her that whoever had designed the Dark Labyrinth would put such an obstacle here if it was just a dead end.

As she approached the gate, there was a loud flapping sound - much, much louder than anything Horace could make. Craning her neck, she was able to catch sight of a massive shape swooping overhead just before it landed on the platform over the gate.

Evelyn was amused to see a winged sphinx perched there regarding her carefully. It had the body and limbs of a rather large lion or some other cat, enormous feathered wings at either side, and the dark-haired head of a handsome, bearded, man. It had been several days with mostly herself for company, and the encounter with Trielle had been all too brief, so she wasn't too surprised to find herself wondering if she was about to experience some sphinx sex. She was more surprised to find that the idea was more intriguing than troubling. This was Eros, after all.