Master of Elements Ch. 07: Eye of the Beholder

Note: all characters are over 18, as established in previous chapters.

*****

"The beginning of everything is atoms and void, and everything else is perception" — Democritus, 470-370 BC, Greek philosopher.

The following day the six of us were up promptly, dressed and equipped for a hike, which meant the girls were done out in practical style - trousers, shorts or jeans, tee-shirts and heavy walking boots and ruck sacks. Somehow that didn't stop them looking ridiculously sexy, at least to my eyes. And the reaction of other males who around in the hotel at that early hour suggested it wasn't just me.

Today's objective was not tourism or pleasure. We were going to try out Athena's idea and since I feared that there was a danger it would draw our enemy's attention, we were going to go as deep into the surrounding countryside as possible to avoid the risk to others.

Most of the gear we carried suggested nothing more than a long day's hike - food, water, fully charged phones, blankets, maps, compass and so on - but in addition we each carried a large knife. Presumably any fight with the Creature would be involve the use of the girl's powers or possibly even be some sort of mental struggle, but it still gave me reassurance to think that should it prove necessary we had physical weapons to hand as well.

Our journey was not a random one. Athena had had time while she waited for our arrival to scout the area and she now led us from the hotel along the road a little way and then up into the heavily wooded hills. I say hills, but the slopes were steep and our fitness was tested. We ascended via rarely used paths for just over three hours, with only two short breaks, before Athena felt we were sufficiently far from civilisation for our purpose.

I for one was grateful to rest. We spread the blankets on the ground and ate and drank. Then it was time to begin our true task. Athena had already outlined her plan but she now went over it again:

"When our minds enter the alternative dimension our bodies will still be here. We'll probably look as if we are asleep but it will be closer to a coma since, with our minds absent, we will be basically defenceless. So we will have to protect ourselves. Firstly we need to create an illusion and a barrier that will keep away any people who happen to chance on us. That's my job, since it will be largely mental - the power of Aether."

"What will you do exactly?" I asked.

"Firstly, I'll create a perception-field that means anyone looking at our campsite will see it as empty - just another cleaning in the forest; that's the illusion part. This wouldn't stand up to close inspection, so the second aspect is that anyone viewing this area will feel a compulsion to ignore it and go on their way - that's the barrier element. I did something similar before when I entered the other dimension before, although that was in my house back in Athens and I had the advantage of a locked door as well."

"You said that was the first thing. What else do we need?" Matsu asked.

"That's where the rest of you come in," said Athena. "My illusions won't affect the Creature, it's too powerful. We are going to need something more substantial if we are going to keep it out. I don't have any experience of elemental powers but I presume you can come up with something?"

"Damn right we can!" said Freya enthusiastically. "The four of us haven't had a chance to work together yet and I bet we can come up with something awesome."

Brigit looked at me, "What do you think Chris?"

"Yes Master," added Jenny, "what commands do you have for us?"

Suddenly all five women were looking at me expectantly. It was more than a little intimidating. They had the power - or, at least, most of it- not me. But then I found that I had figured out what we needed while I had been listening. Perhaps this was my prophesied role as co-ordinator and guide kicking in. Or maybe I just got lucky. Either way I knew what to do.

"What we need is a hard shell around us while we are visiting this other world, as impenetrable as we can make it and trapped as well. It has to be spherical; our enemy is not human and is as capable of attacking from below or above as at ground level. Therefore Jenny, as Mistress of Earth you take the bottom half. Solidify the ground beneath our feet until nothing can penetrate it. Freya, create a similar barrier of air molecules around our encampment. You've done it before; I want anything trying to approach feel like they are walking into a hurricane."

I had their full attention, and seemingly their respect as well. In return they were filling me with confidence that I knew what I was doing. I looked to the Mistress of Water. "Matsu, both air and earth contain water molecules - add your own defences to those of Freya and Jenny. The combination of elements should make the defence stronger."

I realised that Brigit was looking a little disconsolate. I guessed she was thinking fire had no obvious role to play here and was feeling left out. I smiled at her; she was about to learn otherwise. "Brigit, there is a lot of pine trees in these hills - good resinous wood, which should burn well. You and I are going to collect some while the others get to work on the defences. If anything attacks us and starts to break through, I want a trap waiting for them. So we surround the site with flammable materials and then rig it so they will combust fiercely if our defences are broken."

Brigit grinned, "I can do that. And I'll set the flame to go outward away from us. No point in getting fried!"

"Good idea, but try not to set fire to the entire forest in the process. I know how strong you are, Brid." I smiled at her and she looked pleased with the compliment. "As I have some link to all the elements I will attune myself to all your efforts, ladies, and that way if anything goes wrong here I should know and we can all return to defend ourselves."

"Sounds like a plan, Master," said Freya happily.

"So let's get to work everyone", I replied.

*****

Forty minutes later I was standing under the trees on the edge of the small clearing we had camped in and admiring the girls' handiwork. If I glanced casually the place looked empty, devoid of any trace left by people. Only by concentrating hard in the knowledge that five women waited there for me could I see them. That same knowledge also let me overcome the urge I felt to leave. I was confident any random passer-by would certainly have moved on, and thought nothing more of it.

I could also faintly detect the shimmering of the elemental barrier that had been created. I stepped forward and passed through it, feeling its power as I did so and grateful that I had the right of access. Had I been relying on my own limited powers I certainly couldn't have managed it; I wouldn't even have got as far as igniting the fire traps that waited on the other side.

Once through the barrier, the five ladies were suddenly clearly visible. "Well done everyone. As good a defence as we could possibly arrange," I said. They looked happy with my praise. Once again I felt the incongruity that five women who were individually and collectively much more powerful than me set such great store on my opinion. I could only hope I proved worthy of them.

However, the next stage was Athena's show. Only she knew how to enter this additional dimension she had discovered, the one where our enemy lurked when it wasn't causing havoc in ours. We all listened intently as she explained:

"In a moment I will put each of you into a deep sleep and then free your consciousness to explore places we cannot physically enter. It will seem to you that you wake in a world very much like this one. Be warned this is not in fact so. Nothing you seem to experience there with your senses is real. Where we are going is so different to our four dimensional universe that the human mind can't cope, so it rationalises it into something that it can understand." Athena's tone was serious but not alarming.

"So if we meet these beings you said live there..." Brigit began.

"They will look like people," Athena finished for her, "But I can assure you they aren't really. Still, in this case it doesn't matter much. In my experience they are intelligent beings, worthy of respect. Their appearance is irrelevant." Then she paused as if unsure whether to add something, before continuing. "I suppose I should say there is an upside to this, of sorts. Since nothing you see is real, we can also appear how we like. Personally, I have never much liked my nose, so I always imagine myself a better one when I'm there."

I couldn't see anything wrong with Athena's nose, but then a never met anyone, male or female, who was entirely happy with their own body. So instead of commenting on this I chuckled slightly and, seeking to keep us relaxed, said, "Tell you what, why don't you ladies design my appearance when we get there. I'm sure you would do a better job that me!"

"Actually, I could fix for that to happen," said Athena.

"Hell yeah, it's got my vote," said Freya with a leer.

"So we girls get to design Chris, and in return he can give us a look," suggested our Greek companion. I could tell she was also trying to take some of the tension out of what we were about to do by distracting everyone with this bit of 'fun', but I was far from sure I liked her suggestion. However, it proved too late to say so, as Athena's idea was greeted with general approval.

Giving in to the inevitable, I just sighed and said: "Shall we get on with it then?"

Athena had us lie down on the blankets and one by one put us into some kind of trance, muttering words into our ears. She left me until last, other than herself. I would like to tell you what it was that she said, but it was in Greek, and it seemed I didn't need to understand her meaning for the words to take effect. All I really remember is the gleam of the diamond on her ring as she held it up. It wasn't reflected sunlight, rather the gem seemed to generate its own glow - with the power coming from Athena herself, I guessed.

Then I closed my eyes and fell asleep.

*****

At first when I woke I thought that Athena's plan had failed. It looked very much like we were still in the same forest clearing as before. But when I looked at my companions, I saw things had changed and knew I was wrong. We had obviously moved - or at rather our minds had. But I didn't give it too much thought; I was busy looking at the women.

They were all named for goddesses and perhaps that was what had subconsciously influenced me. In terms of their physical appearance, it hadn't changed that much. All five were recognisably themselves. It was just they were now flawless in every way. Hair, skin, eyes, figure - everything was clearly still them and yet a 'them' taken to absolute perfection.

Even more obvious was their clothing. Gone were the jeans and t-shirts their earthly bodies were wearing. My thoughts had kitted each of them out in a kind of diaphanous robe that was almost, but not quite, transparent. These swirled and shifted around in the most beautiful way as they moved, emphasising their divine figures. Athena's robe was white, Brigit's red, Freya's blue, Matsu's silver and Jenny Kitaka's was green, making for a kaleidoscope of feminine beauty.

I had also provided each of them with a staff or wand of varying designs tipped with their appropriate gem stone. Given that none of this was real - or not real as we would understand it - these were probably just for show and any powers they had here came from them. Despite this, at least some of the ladies were not wholly displeased with this mixture of magical and goddess style. Matsu was happily examining her staff which looked as if it were made of some sort of polished hard coral and Brigit gave a couple of fiery blasts from the ruby tipped red maple wand I had imagined for her.

Athena was rather cooler: "Hmm... I think you have seen too many fantasy films, Chris. Is this how you see us? As goddesses? We're intelligent modern women. Still I suppose it doesn't really matter while we're here..."

"Don't knock it Athena," laughed Brigit. "I can stand for being a goddess for a day."

Then a gasp from Matsu stopped us all. She had been looking at me at the time and I was puzzled when she said, "Which of us did that?"

I had been so busy taking in the beauties of the five elemental mistresses that I hadn't bothered at all with what they had done to me. I will also admit that I had found the look of the girls somewhat arousing. However, all five were now staring in my direction and I was suddenly feeling self-conscious. Brigit had raised her eyebrows in surprise, Freya was openly smirking, Matsu was looking shocked and Jenny was gazing intently, while Athena's expression was unreadable. Slightly alarmed, I looked down at my own body.

My first reaction was to think Athena had been unfair in her criticism of my imaginings - the girls had done something similar to me. If they looked like goddesses, I somewhat resembled a Greek god - tunic, sandals, leather belt. I also had the musculature of one too, and my second thought was to be pleased. I now had a physique that would have taken months of effort in the gym, and not the muscle-bound look of a body-builder either but the sleek power of a highly trained athlete. Thank you ladies!

Then I looked a little further and realised, with some consternation, what all the fuss was about. My excitement at being in the presence of five beautiful women, who furthermore I knew were mine for the asking, had translated itself in a natural enough way to the most interested part of me. Or, putting in more bluntly, I had the beginnings of an erection. But that was not the problem. What was causing a reaction was the huge size of the bulge that had appeared in my tunic. I mean, I'm content enough with the real me, but this was in a different league.

"Oh my god," said Brigit, "Who wished for that?" Then answering her own question she turned to stare accusingly at Freya, whose smirk merely got broader.

However, it was clearly not entirely the blonde girl's doing, as sweet, innocent Jenny Kitaka put her hand up to Brigit's question. "I'm new to all this sex business and.... Well, I thought it might be fun to experiment," she said.

"But... but..." Matsu began, clearly and understandably worried about what my seeming huge phallus might do to her slight form.

"Actually, none of you need worry," cut in Athena. "Remember, there is no real physicality to this - it is all perception. I think you will find that you can take anything Chris can give and he would find he could make love to all five of us for hours and yet not get exhausted."

"Really!" gasped Freya, sounding excited, "Wow!"

"But," Athena continued sternly, "I will remind everyone that we are here on the most serious business. Although time moves differently here and we could be here for days and only find only a few hours had passed on our world, we should still assume we have no time to waste. We really must get on with our mission."

"Quite right," I added. "Athena, you've been here before; what should our first move be?"

"We need to make contact with the locals. Find out what their Overlord - that is to say, our enemy - has been doing. I suggest we all head down the hill together but before we reach the bottom, I take Brigit and Jenny and scout ahead. I think we will find a settlement down in the valley. If we are not back in a couple of hours the rest of you can come and rescue us from whatever has happened."

"Sounds like a plan," I agreed. "But take care. This is a reconnaissance mission. I don't want anyone to run any undue risks until we absolutely need to."

*****

We made our way down the hill. The trees ended before we reached the bottom and below we could see what looked like a village just as Athena had expected. Of course that was just our mental interpretation of the settlement; who knew what it really looked like? But when you were in the middle of this mental realm it all seemed very real. I felt like I was in some ancient - or medieval perhaps - version of our world, although cleaner and prettier.

Athena, Brigit and Jenny disappeared off in the direction of the village, while Freya, Matsu and I withdrew back into the treeline to wait for their return. The others had scarcely been gone ten minutes when Freya made her move.

"So... Master," I noted she put the emphasis on the second word, "Athena said we shouldn't waste any time, but now we have to wait; two whole hours with nothing to do. So I guess it wouldn't be so bad if we put the time to good use. I got to know Matsu very well in Taiwan and she may act shy but she's game for anything really."

I was sitting, legs out in front of me, back against a tree and while she had been speaking Freya had approached and sat down next to me. She now put a hand on my leg. "You know, if this robe thing you dressed me in is just imaginary, then I guess you can wish it away if you concentrate."

Her hand slid further up my leg, stroking the flesh. One thing I had noticed earlier was that the girls had somehow neglected to imagine any underwear for me beneath this knee length tunic. My over-sized cock was reacting to what Freya was doing and the front of my garment was beginning to tent out again.

A thought struck me as I enjoyed the feeling of Freya's soft hand on my leg - this felt completely real. Further, any memories of what happened here would be just as vivid as they would of sex in our own world. In short if I wanted to fuck Freya's goddess perfect body with my huge god-like cock - and, let's be honest, I most certainly did - why not just do it? The feelings would be the same as if it were happing in our world.

By now Freya's hand had slid so far under the tunic that it had reached my balls. She gently scratched them with her nails. That did it; nothing was going to stop me now. I took up her suggestion and suddenly we were both naked as I wished our clothing away. My cock was already hard - it seemed to throb with virile vitality. I knew that scientific research had shown that the average penis length is a little over five inches - men tend to exaggerate in their own estimates - and a circumference of around four and half inches. This one was getting on for twice that length and half again the thickness. Even to me it looked enormous.

Freya seemed to agree. Her lovely blue eyes widened with something like glee and she murmured "Oh my god, that's... magnificent". Forgetting about anything else, she reached forward and took my throbbing organ in both hands, her right cupping the large balls and stroking the base, while her left slid over the head and teased back the foreskin. There was plenty of hard rod left over for at least another hand in between.

While these events had been unfolding, Matsu had quietly crept over and knelt down next to us. Like Freya her attention was focussed on my cock, but unlike her she was looking somewhat alarmed by its size, although I also detected a degree of fascination. Leaving Freya to carry on stroking my cock and balls I turned my head to Matsu and smiled reassuringly, then spoke: "Remember what Athena said - none of this is completely real. You'll be alright. Go on - touch it."

Freya looked up from what she was doing and also said, "Yes, come on Matsu. You and I have got this."

The Chinese girl tentatively reached out a hand and grasped my cock, which promptly gave a jerk of pleasure at a second female paying it attention. Somehow the feeling of the warm flesh, soft yet rigid in her hand, soothed her fears. Matsu began to move her hand up and down, stroking the stiffened pole. Seeing this Freya stopped her own movements and leant forward. Suddenly I was looking down at her long blonde hair as I felt her warm wet mouth engulfing my bulbous cock-head.