20: Priestess
Tessellating geometric patterns of tiles lined the floor and walls of the steadily declining tunnel. Stone statues of enticing angelic figures sat in alcoves that lined both sides. Their lifelike visages watching Jonathan as he helped Talitha carry the newly acquired unconscious priestess. Jonathan was going to have a word with Talitha about aggressive tendencies later, she couldn't just knock out every strange lady that rubbed her the wrong way. She needed to have a bit more tact. But what was done, was done and for better or for worse they had found their way into the Sidim's catacombs. At least that is where Jonathan thought they were. The tunnel seemed to have no end, just dim light illuminating their way. Come to think of it, Jonathan couldn't tell where that dim light was coming from. It just seemed to radiate from the walls.
"Moonstone." Talitha said as she saw her Chieftain gawking at the stonework around them. "It is taken from deep under the forest. That is why the tiles and statues here shine like the night sky." Jonathan nodded. The moonstone was convenient considering that he had forgotten the first rule of dungeoneering, always bring a torch. At least he remembered rule number two, always bring a weapon. His spear was still in the unassuming burlap sack on his back whilst his dagger laid hidden under his robe.
Jonathan struggled under Sala's weight even though Talitha was doing a large majority of the carrying. At home he wasn't a lifter... or runner, or well, an 'exercise' person. If not for his metabolism Jonathan could have easily been twice his size, he was grateful for his lean genes.
"It's beautiful." Saikhi said softly. "I have never seen a place with such detailed sculptures. The way the light shines off of them is like the stars." Saikhi had been chronicling all that she saw. She had taken to keeping her quill, ink and parchment close at all times. It was nice to see her marvel over the new things, when Saikhi shared in his awe, it made him feel a bit less like an alien on a foreign planet.
"That's odd." Saikhi muttered as she scrawled.
"What's odd?" Jonathan asked with an exhausted huff. They stopped a moment to allow Jonathan to catch his breath.
"The statues, they are all depicted as wearing the traditional gowns the Sisters wear." Saikhi pointed to their unconscious priestess. "At the start of the tunnel they all looked just like hers."
"That seems normal though." Jonathan shrugged, if the Sisterhood carved them, it is reasonable to suspect that they would depict them with the same religious attire as they wear.
"Yes but look at that one." Saikhi pointed to a statue in the alcove just in front of them. It seemed normal to Jonathan. He squinted as he inspected the curves of the statue. These Sisters could sure make art. Wait. Jonathan spotted something off.
"The gown on that one, is shorter than the ones before it." Jonathan's eyes widened. "And the neckline is much lower." The statue showed substantially more cleavage than the original gown did.
"Exactly. They are gradually becoming more revealing. I don't know what it could mean though." Saikhi continued to take notes. The group resumed their trek down the tunnel. Jonathan started to worry about what kind of kinky stuff these Sisters were into. It's always the innocent looking one that are the freakiest. Maybe it had something to do with why Sala didn't respond to Jonathan's touch.
"I have a bad feeling about this." Jonathan quoted before immediately regretting that he did. 'Now something is definitely going to go wrong.' The reference, as usual, went over his companion's heads.
The group continued for what seemed like an age. In reality it was only about fifteen minutes but Jonathan's sense of time was greatly altered by the person he was carrying. At some point the watching statues had become completely naked. Their faces and stance changed from being solemn and reserved to excited and extremely lewd. The Sisters really knew how to do art.
Eventually, the tunnel levelled out into three identical branching paths. Jonathan had seen this before, it was a staple choice in many a roleplaying game he had played before.
"Left." Jonathan said confidently.
They could have stayed there and discussed the merits of each path, weighing up the pros and cons of the identical tunnels but Jonathan was sure it wouldn't matter. The group continued onward. For a catacomb there was a surprising lack of dead bodies. 'Aren't these places meant to be packed full of them?' Jonathan pondered.
After a few bends and turns the narrow pathway opened up to a large round chamber with a dozen stone doors. Various geometric shapes were carved upon their faces. This too was a familiar sight, another game trope. Each of these doors led somewhere and hopefully one of those places would allow Jonathan to lay low for a day or two. In the centre of the room was a waist-high cylindrical stand with markings corresponding to those carved into the doors.
"A control panel perhaps?" Jonathan said as he approached the stand, a carving of a diamond lit up with a blue shimmer. It's position seemed to correspond with the direction of the doorway from which their group had entered. "Well then, shall we see what is behind door number one?" Jonathan pressed down on a triangular symbol located on the far left side of the panel.
"Master, perhaps we shouldn't-" Saikhi was cut-off by the sound of the door behind them closing. The light in the room turned from a pale white to a blaring red as hissing sounds escaped from small holes that lined the bottom of the chamber. Shit. Jonathan had forgotten rule number 0 of dungeon crawling. Always check for traps. Jonathan breathed in a scent reminiscent of lavender as he felt his eyelids grow heavy and his sight fade to black.
'Fuck.'
When Jonathan came to his head was a mess. His brain was trying to hightail it out of his skull and given his recent blunder, Jonathan could hardly blame it for trying. As his vision slowly returned, he noticed that he was in a small tiled room, no bigger than a jail cell. The only entrance was a stone door with the same triangular marking as the one he had pressed earlier. Next to the entrance was another waist-high cylindrical stand. He looked around the cramped cell, his companions were nowhere to be seen. Someone else was with him in that room and that someone was Sala. She was upright, conscious and looking right at him.
"You have an odd way of keeping the peace outsider." Her melodic voice hummed. Jonathan struggled to move but his muscles responded with only a dull ache. "Oh I wouldn't try to move just yet if I were you. You have inhaled a lot of moctus root gas. It tends to paralyse the uninitiated for quite some time. I can still remember my first time, your poor head probably feels like bursting." She ran her hand through Jonathan's hair. Jonathan noticed that he was completely naked, his sorcerer's mark in full view. "Quite an interesting power you're cursed with. Unfortunately for you it is ineffective against us priestess-protectors. Our hearts are hardened against succumbing to our sexual desire. We run hot, always." She stroked Jonathan's chest and traced her finger around his markings. "But that doesn't mean we don't like to have a bit of fun now and then."
"Where... are-?" Jonathan struggled to get the words out. He needed to find out where Saikhi and Talitha were.
"Oh your friends?" Sala smiled. "Don't worry they are being well cared for, they are currently contributing to the good work of the Sisterhood as we speak." That sounded bad. Sala walked over to the control panel and pressed down on a discrete pressure pad on it's side. She then pressed the triangular symbol on the top of the stand. The stone door slid down into the ground. Jonathan was looking back into the main chamber. Saikhi and Talitha were naked on their hands and knees side-by-side. Behind them towered two bestial humanoids, rippling muscles, dark skin and bearish features. They were fucking the girls with ferocity. Both of the girls' bodies bounce in unison from the force of each thrust. Jonathan's manhood started to stiffen.
"Oh naughty, naughty sorcerer, you like seeing your friends fucked by brutes?" Sala walked back over and slid her hand down to Jonathan's cock, she wrapped her slender fingers around the shaft and began softly stroking. Her breasts pressed up firm against Jonathan's side. "Well, Jonn, these brutes aren't your ordinary kind. You see, your regular brute is about a head shorter and much fairer than the ones we breed here. Not to mention much tamer. Our specimens rely more on their primal instincts. They love to fight and they love to fuck." Jonathan felt the pain starting to fade from his body, replaced with the pleasure from Sala's deft handiwork.
Saikhi and Talitha looked exhausted, their eyes flushed with weariness and pleasure. Both girls released tired moans each time the brutes' members plunged into them. They were not exactly reluctant moans. They were either past the point of caring or perhaps even enjoying it.
"Don't hold their passion against them, our enhanced brutes make for excellent and enthusiastic lovers." Sala laughed. Jonathan would be lying if he said he wasn't enjoying the view. The sight of his women being violated by much larger beasts was exquisite. It didn't help that Sala was helping him along with her remarkably skilled handjob but he'd feel a lot better if he could actually move. He could see his clothes and burlap sack in the corner of the room but despite putting every effort into willing his body to move it just stood there motionless. Nothing seemed to be restraining him and it was strange that he was able to stand upright despite being completely immobilized. Shouldn't he be slumped in a heap on the ground?
"Oh... I am going to break." Saikhi reached out and grabbed Talitha's hand with hers. She grasped with the remainder of her strength. Talitha looked directly at Jonathan, or was she looking through him? It was like she was gazing at a solid wall. She turned her head to Saikhi. "Don't worry my sister, I am here with you." Talitha leaned to the side and kissed Saikhi on the mouth. Initially intended as a sweet gesture, her lips continued with a renewed sense of vigour as her tongue explored Saikhi's mouth.
'Fuck that is hot.' Jonathan thought to himself. He tried to call out to them and to his credit several syllables crawled out.
"Oh, don't bother, they can't hear us, or see us for that matter. It is a one-way door." Sala increased the vigour of her strokes. "It's nice seeing their pussies pounded isn't it?" Jonathan gritted his teeth and held back his load, he wasn't going to give Sala the satisfaction. "It's going to be a shame seeing you get unbranded. I quite enjoy your power and the process probably won't leave much of your twisted little mind left." She giggled. "I am sure your friends will make wonderful new initiate Sisters though."
"You run hot all the time, right?" Jonathan forced the question from his mouth.
"Yes Mr. Nightmare, I find your power quite soothing, the heat is my comfort." She licked the side of Jonathan's face.
"Conievo."