Reverence Ch. 01

This (likely ongoing) story is original, but definitely not for everyone. It’s a fantasy/borderline-horror novel through and through, but the role of the sex act is FAR more than one of character development. Characters find certain things attractive from a cultural viewpoint, and come from nations and cultures that sport decidedly strange tastes from some of our own viewpoints. Constructive criticism would be appreciated.

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Prologue

Adara was getting desperate. Already on the ground, she struggled for her dear life, hoping to crawl out of the circle. If she was lucky, there might've been a mistake of some sort, but it was drawn well. A blue, perfectly drawn pentacle- a duel circle. The second her hand touched the outer rim of the circle, it dropped to the floor, as if an invisible wall was there to stop it.

Even the room's atmosphere bore a resemblance to an ancient throne room. Its tan stone walls were well lit by torch, with the very same stone making up the floor.

The horrified expression on her face grew more and more desperate. It was a repulsive way to die, what she was going through. Even worse was the fact that she wasn't the victim of a man, or even an ordinary woman, but one of the Hallowed. "Come now," the Hallowed woman's voice was sensual, but her wicked smile sent a deathly chill down Adara's spine. "Try to contain your excitement. You know as well as anyone what happens when you reach an orgasm in the circle."

Adara was shaking now, hopelessly trying to pivot and crawl away to the other end of the circle, but the Hallowed woman's naked body was firmly on top of her own.

She had a typical build for a Hallowed, but typical was the last word you would use to describe her. Unbelievably beautiful, the terrible smile she shot at Adara could almost go unnoticed under her rich golden eyes. Her soft, shiny black hair meshed perfectly with her light brown complexion.

Like any other Hallowed, she had a body to die for; it wasn't until Adara saw this woman for the first time that a woman's legs caught her attention. However, even before her mystifying golden eyes and skin that was soft to the touch, you would notice the same feature on her that indicated any Hallowed. Adara had heard rumors about Hallowed priestesses and their enormous breasts, and the tales certainly were not exaggeration. Working her way around, the Hallowed woman pressed her left breast against Adara's chest- it was large enough to cover the poor woman's entire chest, and likely heavy enough to crush her head under its titanic thirty-pound weight. She began rubbing Adara's back with one hand as she slid the other into her warm clitoris. "Your time's running out."

She may have looked like a typical Hallowed woman, but she was much more- only part of why Adara was so afraid. She was pressed straight up against Asmana the Spider. The pentacle they were locked in was called a duel circle, but Asmana made it feel like a murder circle. With no experience and a body as plain as day, there was little Adara could do but lie still, completely petrified. "Don't like that?" Asmana teased. "No matter." She pulled both her arms back and left Adara to recover. "Tell me... Adara, was it?" Asmana's golden eyes shone like a snake's. "What exactly keeps you from running away right now?"

When she gathered the courage to move, Adara panted heavily before she returned to shaking. "Th-the circle... the one d-drawn around us..." She breathed. Asmana simply smiled, rubbing a hand over her gigantic breast as if wiping Adara's inferior presence off of it.

"Good." She inched closer to Adara again, who nearly screamed. "And just as there are magical energies in this circle, the human body contains energies of its own."

"B-but," Adara backed away and crossed her arms. "Why... why are you telling me this?"

Asmana chuckled. "That's an interesting point," she agreed, "why would I be giving you a science lesson right before your death? Either way, I may as well finish." And so, she went on. "Even if encounters with other women don't stimulate you, there are energies within your own body that can. It's a difficult talent to master, but some people are able to arouse those energies within other people from the outside." Adara knew this was it. She knew that if Asmana was talking about a rare sexual talent, she'd probably be the first to have it at her disposal. Her reputation preceded her; Asmana could handle men or women (with any sort of sexual preference) like they were no more complex than a wooden club. The only reason Adara was able to last the two and a half minutes that she had before Asmana stopped was because she was toying with her.

"Good night, Adara." Before she had time to blink, Asmana already had her warm lips pressed against hers, with her soft body following. Adara couldn't think of anything else as Asmana passionately kissed her- not even her imminent doom. Her raw lust caused her to involuntarily begin kissing back, and scarcely more than eleven seconds in, she climaxed.

As Asmana pulled her lips away, Adara could only moan frantically. Every inch of her body teemed with pleasure. As Asmana tried to step away, Adara desperately clung to the Hallowed woman's unfathomably gorgeous figure. She hated Asmana for years without ever knowing her. If not for Asmana's tyrannical rule over her province, her family would still have been together. But alas, here Adara was, desperately in love with the woman who had so easily seduced her. Even Asmana's touch was well worth dying in her arms. And die in her arms she did.

Asmana carelessly dropped Adara's corpse and tossed her shining hair out of the way. "These peasant girls are too easy." She casually covered herself in a golden loin cloth and a sizeable bra of the same color. "Mahir!" She called in a young, cloaked man. He was thin, and had bright eyes; though not quite as bright as the golden eyes of his Hallowed master.

Mahir smiled. "Still alive?" He mocked. "I expected no less. In all seriousness, I don't see why you get challenges like this so frequently from people who are far too inexperienced to even threaten you."

Asmana grinned at her servant. "What's not to understand? Humans like you and I are unhappy creatures. When the imperfections of life build on one another, we confront are rulers. I admire the courage these people have."

"Courage? Stupidity, more like. I've seen the way you work before- you're nothing short of superhuman. And, if I may, absolutely stunning at that."

Asmana nodded. "You have, Mahir. Not all of my subjects know my face, I run an entire province. It's easy to say you're going to kill a lion until you're staring one in the face."

Mahir rather liked that analogy. "Well then, perhaps you should start calling yourself Asmana the Lion instead of Asmana the Spider."

Asmana let out a resonant laugh, producing a haunting echo off the stone, torch-lit walls. "You're clever, Mahir," she replied, "but I rather like my title. In either case, I'll still need you to take care of the corpse."

"As you wish," Mahir replied cordially. He approached Adara's body and quickly slung her over his shoulder. "Oh, and milady?" Asmana looked back toward her servant. "Regarding that... other matter you wanted me to take care of."

Asmana's eyes sparkled with contentment. "Did the foreign prince receive his welcoming party, then?"

In a rare moment, Mahir's ever-present smirk faded. "I'm afraid he's not quite as... dead as you would've liked, if that's what you mean."

She sighed. "Oh, Mahir, what's wrong this time?"

Mahir wasted no time getting to the root of the problem. "We didn't exactly send our two finest assassins first," he began. "That aside, there was an unexpected addition to the prince's entourage."

"Is that so?" Hearing Asmana's tone was enough to tell she was interested. "Please," she softly took to the floor and laid on her side, being careful of her loin cloth. "grace me with the details."

"The addition was only one woman armed with a sword, but she was far stronger than we expected."

"A Hallowed, I assume?"

Mahir nodded. "Just a woman. An ordinary woman- if ordinary could ever describe her properly."

Asmana scowled. "So you mean to tell me, Mahir, that one woman- one- completely turned the tables on your men?"

"Milady," Mahir countered tactfully, "I imagined you of all people would know how powerful a single person can be, Hallowed or no."

In her returning amusement, Asmana laughed. "Oh, Mahir! I can't stay mad at you for long, can I?" She patted the stone floor. "Now, I'll just need a few more details on this woman and you're free to go."

"As you wish," Mahir took to the floor, obviously quite familiar with his master. "We're dealing with a real storybook heroine here. A blonde-haired, blue-eyed creature who dresses in white. She's definitely not a Hallowed, but she's similar in a certain respect. Drop-dead gorgeous, let me tell you (and this is coming from a man who doesn't find fair-skinned women very appealing), but with the look of a warrior about her. If you saw this woman, you would know immediately that it was her based on my description."

"Dresses in white..." Asmana noted her own golden attire. "That's it. All I need now is her name."

Mahir's gray eyes seemed to smile along with his mouth. "It's a name I think you'll remember," he began. "She goes by Valeria."

"Valeria..." Asmana licked her lips. "...You were right."

Mahir seemed puzzled. "...Right about what? I think we're on the same page about the failure of the assassins at this point."

"No, not the assassins," she said, "her name." Valeria. Asmana liked everything about the woman's name. The meaning, the way it rolled off the tongue- everything. "It really paints a picture. I haven't even seen this woman and I already want to have my way with her."

Mahir laughed quietly. "Milady, please," he began, "are your desires really so insatiable that you're lusting over a woman you've only heard about scarcely a minute after sleeping with another?" He appreciated that his master was in a good mood, if nothing else. "Let's just hope you don't grow too fond of her."

"Don't worry yourself," Asmana insisted. In an instant, her jovial smile regained every trace of its former wickedness. "I'll still be more than happy to kill her."