The Island Pt. 02

"Sounds good. Here's to us and a great future!"

The clinked their glasses and drank.

"Now drink up, and I'll take you inside and fuck you till your brain falls out!" Brynhild smiled.

- and it was another long night!

Chapter Fifteen - Present Day - Planning and Discovering

by o_girl © 2024

"Good morning, my love! Did you sleep well?" Bryn moved her leg over Sunny's body as the morning sun brought light to their tent.

Sunny yawned. "Yes and no. I had strange dreams. Maybe this place really has something going for it, maybe I am just overly tense by the stories we have heard and the behaviour of the villagers. I can't remember when I had such wild and vivid dreams before."

"Me too! This night I have really had more and wilder dreams than I have had for a long time, but let's not be intimidated. It is probably coincidental. Maybe it is because our life has changed so dramatically over the past weeks. Anyway dreams can't hurt you. Let's get up and have some breakfast!"

They crawled out of their joint sleeping bag, and stood admiring the sun that started painting colours on the mainland in the distance.

An hour later, Bryn had had a quick morning swim along coast. Sunny had prepared breakfast and they sat in front of the tent and enjoyed their bacon, egg and cheese sandwiches accompanied by very hot coffee.

"So, Bryn! What's the plan of the day?"

"I'll clear the path of the cuttings I made yesterday and pile them up here on the beach. Then we can have a bonfire later. If I there is more time I'll go on with the brush clearer. It is tough going. The place is totally overgrown, but I seem to have hit a former path where the undergrowth is not so dense. Maybe I am imagining things, but I will let my intuition and the apparent easier cutting guide my way. Seems like if it is a path it is meandering a lot. We will have a lot of clearing to do all over the place eventually. So, I might as well just work on."

"OK. I'll clean up here and make it a bit more like home. Then I want to have a look at those cave paintings we found at the bottom of the cave. I'll also take samples of "Nea" for DNA and other tests and pack her up safely. I think I would like to keep her here on the island. We will find a suitable final resting place for her eventually."

"Hehehe..you already christened the baby Neanderthaler: "Nea". Seems like a very appropriate name for her. I like that."

They had a quick look at the bones, and Sunny explained that the shape of the hip indicated it was a little girl. Then Bryn went to start gathering the cuttings and Sunny unpacked her gear and went into the cave.

They met again on the beach for lunch. Bryn had cleared almost all the cuttings off the path and made an impressive heap beside the cave.

"I found something. Come and have a look, Bryn!"

They entered the cave.

Almost in the exact middle Sunny had uncovered yet another skeleton. This time a grown up.

"Have you found Elsa then?" Bryn giggled.

"Not so. this is also a much older skeleton, but younger than "Nea" and definitely a Sapiens."

Sunny knelt and used a big, soft brush to remove even more sand from the bones in the shallow recess, she had already made in the sand.

"The plot thickens", said Bryn. "I wonder how many skeletons we will find? Not Surprising that there are stories going on about this place."

"Well. This is also a quite old skeleton, but not recent enough to be Elsa. Look at the decay of the bones - and she is very fragile."

"She?"

"Yes, once more: Look at the hip bone. It is wide and flat. This is definitely a woman, and not a very old one. Her teeth hardly have any wear and the tendon fastenings on the bones are typical of a young person. She was in her prime when she died."

"Strange. very strange. Anything else remarkable about her?"

"Yes, and this is even stranger. Look at the way she lies. In a bundle, but not like she curled up and died. I have taken a lot of pictures", Sunny patted her trusted Nikon. "and I have found a good forensic expert with special knowledge of historic and ancient finds. Let's see what she has to say about it."

"You do find the weirdest people!" Bryn smiled and shook her head.

"Well. This is a good one to get us more answers. I would love to find out how she died and also why she's here if possible." Sunny lit the cave up with her flash. Taking more pictures.

"Something is obvious strange and not right about her!"

"Yes. Apart from her lying dead and bundled up in a cave on a deserted island I suppose?" Bryn giggled again.

"Hey. Try to be serious for a minute. Look here!" Sunny pointed to the rear part of the bundle of bones.

"Yes. I see bones, and more bones. So?"

"Well, her feet, they are not supposed to be there. Like they have been detached and thrown on top of her. Why are they together? And why are they parallel like that?"

"You tell me or rather: Intriguing. Let's wait and hear what your bone doctor has to say. It is not just some animal messing around with the body or skeleton then?"

Don't think so. Have not found any obvious teeth marks, and I will leave her here till I have some lab results."

Anything else interesting? No more bodies?"

"Nope. I tried poking with a thin steel wire throughout the cave and there seem to be nothing but sand. Except there are traces of a fire just in front of her. Look at those stones. They are arranged in a circle, and there are markings from strong heat on the inside of the circle they form. Some of the stones have even cracked by the heat."

"Yes, Sherlock? So, what are we looking at here?"

"A female body. Probably late prehistoric or early historic. Bundled up in a strange way and with her feet definitely in the wrong position. Finally, I have not been able to trace any material other than the skeleton. Maybe her clothes decayed easily and traces are gone, maybe she was naked when she died? I do have one more puzzling thing though: I found small traces on and around her feet of something. Look at the dark granulate."

Sunny pointed with a finger, and Bryn could distinguish the faint powder that had a different colour from the surrounding sand and bones.

"Maybe she wore shoes?"

"Well. Another set of samples are ready to go out. So, we will see. As with baby "Nea", I have taken a tooth and cut some small bone fragments out for testing. We will have to wait for that."

"What about the wall paintings? Do they give any clue?"

"Well. I have used infra-red and ultra violet to get the most out of them. A lot of algae growth - especially on the ones near the entrance makes it difficult to distinguish what is actually going on. We will need to have an expert cleaning them. Come have a look."

Sunny turned on the lights from her many tripods.

"First the older ones at the back. They are a mess, but human figures are distinguishable. See! It's the ones looking like leaves with matchstick arms and legs and small circles as heads.

The male ones have a 'stick' penis, and the female ones are more bulging."

Bryn looked closer. "Yes, I see them and above is something that looks like a running bull or cow?"

"Yes. I will send the pictures for interpretation by another specialist I have sniffed out. This one is a Finnish woman called Aino and she is a specialist on prehistoric wall paintings among other things. Again, we'll deduct as much info as possible. I am will also ask her if there's some kind of lacquer or preservation process we can give the paintings."

Bryn studied them up close. "We seem to have bought an ancient preservation site?"

"Yes. I think we should do our best to preserve as much as possible and right now we have two skeletons. So, we might even have our own graveyard!" Sunny giggled.

"You're so morbid at times!"

"Not at all. We will honour the two dead we have found and try and piece together as much of their history as possible. Now look at the other wall paintings! They are more recent and if we assume the two sets belong to each their skeleton, we are well on the way to placing them both on a time-line."

Bryn stuck her nose close to the paintings nearer the exit from the cave. Sunny adjusted the lights.

These paintings were obviously more refined. The humans had human form, but still matchstick arms and legs. They all had raised arms and above was a big, round circle that might be the sun.

The strangest thing though was the long row of hand prints below the paintings.

Sunny had also taken micro samples of those, and by now had quite a big collection of material in a sturdy steel suitcase.

They decided to stop for the day as the sun was almost touching the mountains on the mainland.

They warmed a nice stew on their camp kitchen and sat quietly looking at the sunset while eating.

After dinner they had hot coffee and sweets. Brynhild lit the bonfire and it burned quickly but with a huge flare. Not even the lighthouse could compete with it for a short while, and it made the summer night warm and pleasant.

Together they stowed their dining gear and washed the plates and cutlery in the salt water on the beach.

"This feels just right. Now come to bed, my dearest love."

Sunny hummed as Bryn crawled in the tent: "Come into my parlour, said the spider to the fly..tralala.." Then giggled.

From inside the tent, Bryn replied: "Well do come in my delicious, little fly!"

She smiled at seeing Bryn naked sitting on the sleeping bag, and quickly slipped out of her own clothes. Under Bryn's watchful and smiling eyes.

"Now come here and sit!"

"Yes, Miss", Sunny immediately caught the meaning. Her heart began thumbing in her breast and her breath increased.

Bryn grabbed her wrists, used a leather belt strap to tie them together parallel on her back. Then grabbed her shoulders and pushed her down on her stomach.

She swung herself over Sunny's body and sat with a leg on each side. Pushed her knees apart and used another belt to tie her ankles together. Also, almost parallel. Then she pulled her feet up and slipped another belt round her tied wrists and ankles, locking them together.

Finally, she grabbed her shoulders again and lifted her upright.

Sunny tried to wriggle a little, but as her ankles were tied parallel, and everything was locked in this simple, but efficient tie, she could not move her knees together. She was definitely in a helpless position.

She looked up at Bryn: "I'm a good girl, Miss. You now that?"

Bryn frowned: "I'm not really sure about that. Who told you, you could speak for instance?"

Sunny blushed: "No one, Miss",

"Exactly", Bryn lifted the thin braided crop that she had concealed in a fold in the sleeping bag. Swung it a few times in the air, making an ominous sound.

She smiled as she let the little triangular flap at the end of the crop caress Sunny's body, slowly and carefully.

Sunny shivered.

After a long caress by the crop, Bryn began letting the crop dance in a rhythmic but not very hard way on selected parts of Sunny's body.

Each time keeping on till the skin began taking colour, and Sunny started grinding her teeth and closing her eyes.

Then she changed target and let another part of the shivering flesh have the 'pleasure' of the tapping..............again it became quite a late night, and they both ended up

screaming in a wild orgasm.

Chapter Sixteen - 525 AD - Athena

by o_girl © 2024

Athena stood on top of the cliff. Behind her the rickety wood staircase squeaked in the wind. The waterfall that ran down from the spring at the top of the cliff, splashed before ending in the pond way down at the foot of it.

The birds had their usual domestic disagreements as they flew to and fro their nests on the narrow ledges of stone.

She was not aware of any of this, but kept her dark eyes permanently fixed on the village in the distant shore to the west.

Her long, black hair flowed behind her in the wind, and her damp silk dress was pressed tightly to the front of her body. Making the embroidered, red "Athena" on her chest stand out against the white.

Times had become unsettled and now they took turns scouting from the top of the cliff around the clock.

Athena was one of seven virgins on the island. Attending the Oracle and her duty of keeping the sacred flame constantly burning.

They were the only ones living there on the sacred island.

They had never had any need for protection as the Oracle and the open temple with the holy flame was enough for them to gain deep respect and keep them safe.

For a very long time they had had their own secluded and safe little world on the island, and the Oracle had been respected by all.

Whenever someone came, they always brought gifts and supplies to honour the Oracle and the holy flame. They had never lacked anything.

The seven virgins had been selected from the best families. Although some, like Athena, were there because her parents had had too many girls, and it was cheaper to let one go off to be a holy virgin than to pay a dowry. After all, the donations to the Temple and Oracle were on a strictly volunteer basis, although rich families like hers would not be seen to be turning the coins.

The temple was in the middle of the island and basically a round, beautiful mosaic platform with a small square block of marble in the middle. The hollow at the top of this marble block held a bronze cauldron in which the holy fire burned.

Around the edge of the mosaic was a series of thin, cannelured marble pillars connected at the top with a circle of slim marble overhead slabs.

There was no roof so during rainy periods it was difficult to keep the holy fire going.

A group of small, wooden huts made another half circle outside the mosaic of the temple. The girls shared two and two to a hut, and this was practical as they always were attending or doing chores together in twos.

Only the Oracle slept in her own hut and rarely ventured outside it.

No one knew how old she was, but her skin was almost transparently strung tightly over her limbs. She had long, bony fingers, almost no teeth and a face so wrinkled that the girls joked in private that if a fly would land on her face it would break all its legs.

The few strands of grey hair still growing on her skull hung down straight on each side of her face.

The Oracle did not see. At least not like the rest of us do. Her eyes were just two grey-white orbs, but they still followed sounds. Voices and movement.

All the girls were a little afraid of her.

They bathed her, chewed her food for her, lead her around on the few times she ventured out of her hut, and they followed her instructions mixing powerful potions and sweet-smelling incense.

Their luck was that the Oracle was widely known and respected, so ships travelled long distances to consult her.

They all brought gifts in the form of wine and food, silver, and gold to pay for her services.

They traded a lot of the goods. Exchanging surplus for other and more needed stuff.

They had a deep earth cellar a little bit away from the temple. Here they kept everything that was donated or traded.

Apart from the business of the Oracle, they also tended sick and wounded people.

Another row of small huts was reserved for them.

Athena was always the first down at the wooden dock when a ship came in, and the first to attend the sick and wounded.

She also sat with them for many a night. Watching and bathing fever hot foreheads, changing bandages and singing softly to them.

The otherwise nameless island began to be known as "Cape Athena" among people on the mainland.

Despite her friendly and mild appearance, Athena also had another side. She was independent and cocky, and never missed a chance to point out an injustice or an unjust punishment by the Oracle to any of the other girls.

Therefore, she went to bed without food very often and sometimes went hungry for days.

She often annoyed the Oracle and was sentenced to this the most common punishment for not complying or pleasing her.

Athena never gave in though. She would rather starve for a week than give in to an injustice.

Apart from that they had a good and peaceful life.

One place they hardly ever went was the holy well.

It was a small pond that bubbled and smelled strange.

The water was not drinkable and sometimes strange vapours emitted from it.

--

That spring people had come from further away than ever to seek advice.

They told of barbarians spilling over the border and the legions losing battles.

They also told of rape, plunder, and murder of the local population.

The famous legions that had kept the Pax Romana for centuries now seemed unable to guard the borders, and the barbarians ventured further and further into the realm.

The Oracle was not able to offer any comfort, and the people had left as depressed as they came.

Omens also appeared in the skies. Dark rain, falling stars, sudden storms, hail as big as a knotted hand and their cows and goats had stopped giving milk or when they eventually gave milk, it was sour and useless. Even their hens stopped laying for long periods.

A certain nervousness spread. They knew they had no defences and there was nowhere to run.

Athena's only comfort was that she shared her hut with Letitia. She was the love of her life.

Being an all-woman island, it was not uncommon and no one noticed if and when noises of joy was heard from one of the huts at night, or when two girls would vanish into the undergrowth for an hour or two.

Not so with Athena and Letitia. They were always together. Worked together, held hands at any given and ungiven moment, and it was obvious that they were deeply in love with each other.

All attempts by the Oracle to split them up had been futile, and eventually even the Oracle had given up and accepted the relationship between the two girls.

Once, when a jeweller had come to ask the Oracle about his future as he was thinking of relocating further into the realm because of the unrest, they had charmed and persuaded him to make two identical, silver rings. Each with the letters "L" and "A" engraved intertwined into each other on the outside.

They both wore the rings proudly and it was a constant irritant to the Oracle.

It had cost them both 4 days without food, but they had resisted the demands and punishment from the Oracle to give the rings up to the hoard of offerings in the earth cellar.

Now Athena had been watching the distant shore for a long while and was beginning to freeze, when she finally heard the creaks and cracks from the staircase announcing that her replacement was on the way.

It was the little Amara, a girl different from the rest. Dark skinned and curly hair.

Maybe a slave that had escaped from somewhere, but no one asked about each other's past here. Except Letitia and Athena that shared everything. Even stories of their families and faith.

She gave Amara a long, soft hug, stroked her forehead with a very cold hand, and then climbed quickly down.

--

The next morning a really bad omen appeared.

Drusilla and Oriana had walked past the stinking holy pond and seen something in the water.

They had used some branches to get it up on land and found it was a mummified body. Or rather two mummified bodies, that of a woman and a small child.

They seemed to have been bound together and held down by stones. There was still one large stone entwined in the old leather rope that held them together.

The increased bubble activity in the pond had probably made the rope loose and as only one stone was still attached to them, they had floated to the surface.

Their skin was totally brown-black tanned by the chemicals in the pond and the child looked 'different', somehow unnatural.

They carefully carried the two back to the temple.