The Nine

by Terry Cloutier

  ​ Ania looked at me sadly. “Then they are doomed to try to find their way to the Master on their own.” We were camped on open land about a mile from a large forest of oak and elm trees and Ania swept one hand toward the trees. “For a spirit not given the proper light of ascension, trying to find the path would be like trying to find one particular leaf in all those trees.” She shook her head. “Not impossible, but it would take years to accomplish, if at all.” She shuddered. “I can’t think of anything worse than spending eternity wandering the earth looking for a path and not even knowing when you found one if it’s the right one.”

  ​ I watched several Piths tamping the ground around a pole they’d just placed in the ground and I motioned to it. “So if all they need is to have their spirits released this way, then why don’t you think it will work?”

  ​ Ania blew air through her mouth angrily and then gestured to the waiting dead, who were now lying in a neat row along one wall of the palisade. “Because one of our fallen brothers was the Pathfinder!” She glanced at me and raised a hand to stop my question. “The Pathfinder is like a guide,” she explained patiently. “As the essence rises in the ascension ritual, the Pathfinder’s words help to illuminate the true path to the Master for them.” She frowned and glanced again at the corpses. “His name was Urdin and he was not supposed to join the fighting. He knew this better than any, yet he let his lust for battle overcome common sense and now he’s dead. Because of Urdin’s selfishness, he has jeopardized all of their chances of finding the right path to the Master.”

  ​ “These other paths,” I said. “Where do they go?”

  ​ Ania wrapped her arms around herself and pursed her lips. “Dark, terrible places,” she whispered. She looked up at me and I could see the fear in her eyes. “Once an essence takes the wrong path there is no turning back and it will be forever doomed to spend eternity there.” She turned away and watched as the Piths, having finished with their work, began to carefully pick up the dead from where they lay and bring them to poles. “It’s almost time,” Ania said.

  ​ I watched as the Piths gently tied the dead bodies to the posts and was surprised to see that more than one of the tough warriors had tears on their cheeks. More Piths arrived and they began scraping circles on the ground at points all around near where the bodies stood lashed to the poles. I counted twelve of the circles all made roughly the same size. “What are those for?” I asked.

  ​ “Rutting rings,” Ania said with just a ghost of a smile on her lips.

  ​ “You’re joking?” I said in surprise as I studied the rings.

  ​ Ania shook her head and smiled. “I promise you, I’m not. As the spirits ascend, we celebrate their lives by coupling beneath the eyes of the Master. Each man and woman will take a turn in the rings as we give thanks to Him for giving our fallen brothers and sister life, and for accepting them back in death.”

  ​ “But there are four times as many men as women!” I protested.

  ​ Ania just laughed. “I guess we’ll be busy then,” she said with a wink. She motioned over my shoulder. “It’s starting.”

  Einhard and Alesia appeared and they walked solemnly across the compound and stopped near the dead as the Piths assembled in a large group behind them. Several Pith women with torches walked along the perimeter of the palisade and lit bonfires that had been prepared earlier. I noted that a few Piths remained watching the open lands outside the palisade walls as Ania leaned closer to me. “The Sword of the King will speak the words normally spoken by the Pathfinder. As far as I know, this has never been done before. Hopefully the Master will not be too angered by it and will decide to show our brothers and sister the path.”

  ​ Einhard spread his arms wide and lifted his face to the sky and Alesia moved back into the shadows as the Pith leader began to chant loudly in a language I’d never heard before. “What’s he saying?” I whispered to Ania.

  ​ “He’s speaking the ancient language of the Master,” she whispered back. “Right now he’s thanking the Master for giving us time with our brothers and sister.” She cocked her head, listened for a moment and then nodded to herself. “Now he’s imploring the Master to hear his words and show the spirits the true path to His side as the ascension begins.” Einhard made a gesture with one hand and the Pith women with the torches ran forward and lit the dry brush on fire beneath the corpses. Flames shot up and instantly lit the enclosure and I turned in surprise as Ania began to strip her clothing off. When she was completely naked, she put her hands on her hips and smiled at me as the shadows from the flames danced across her white skin. Ania was no taller than my shoulders and slim, with small, pert breasts capped by large pink nipples that stood erect and proud. I stared at her flared waist with the soft blonde down nestled between her thighs and I felt instant desire come over me. I started to move toward her but she just laughed and held up her hand. “You have to wait your turn, Hadrack,” she said. Ania walked past me and ran her hands down the armour covering my chest, pausing to lean into me so that her mouth was close to my ear. “Promise that you’ll wait for me and not go with anyone else into the rings,” she whispered huskily.

  ​ I swallowed noisily and nodded my head. “I promise,” I whispered back. Ania kissed my cheek and then walked slowly toward the large group of Pith men. Her skin gleamed in the light of the flames and I thought she looked like a goddess as the Piths silently parted to let her through. I lost sight of her in the press of men for no more than a few heartbeats and then she reappeared holding Eriz’s hand. She led him to one of the rutting rings and I felt a moment of jealousy come over me as the big Pith stripped and followed her into the ring. More naked Pith women were selecting men now and stepping into the rings, while the fires raged and Einhard continued to chant to the sky. I glanced again at Ania and grit my teeth as I saw Eriz on top of her and I forced myself to look away. I had no claim to Ania, I knew, and I was determined not to let my anger get the better of me and maybe cause me to do something stupid.

  ​ Jebido walked up to me shaking his head. “These Piths sure do things different,” he said as he stopped beside me. He chuckled. “I’m too old for this kind of thing.”

  ​ I laughed, glad to have someone to talk to and distract me from Ania. “You didn’t seem too old last night with that girl as I recall.”

  ​ Jebido just grinned sheepishly at me. “I didn’t want to hurt the young things feelings. You understand, don’t you?”

  ​ “Of course I do,” I said with a laugh. “You’re good that way.” I glanced around the compound. “Have you seen Baine around?” Jebido snorted and pointed and I followed his finger to one of the rutting circles on the left side of the raging fire near the back. A Pith woman with large breasts was on her hands and knees facing us while Baine knelt behind her with his hands on her ample hips. The woman’s breasts were jiggling with each of Baine’s enthusiastic thrusts. He saw us looking and he grinned happily and waved before turning his attention back to business.

  ​ “I think that boy must have been sired by a Pith,” Jebido grunted.

  ​ “That would explain a lot,” I agreed with a laugh.

  ​ “Uh oh,” Jebido whispered in warning, gesturing with his chin as Megy ran up to us. She was naked and grinning widely with excitement as she held her hand out to me. “Come with me, Hadrack!” she cried. Her eyes were bright and gleaming in the firelight. “I’ve been looking forward to this all day!”

  ​ “I can’t!” I protested as she grabbed hold of my hand and tried to drag me toward the fires.

  ​ “Oh, don’t be shy,” Megy said with a laugh. “I promise I won’t hurt you.”

  ​ “I really can’t, Megy!” I said as I pulled back from her. “Maybe some other time.” I saw the hurt expression on her face and I looked to Jebido for help, but he just shrugged at me with a blank face. I turned back to Megy and leaned closer to her. “It’s not you, Megy,” I said. “I promised Ania I’d wait for her or else I’d go with you.”


  ​ “Ah,” Megy said in understanding. She patted my arm and grinned. “Can’t say that I blame you, Hadrack. Maybe another time then.” She turned to Jebido and held out her hand to him. “What about you?”

  ​ Jebido looked at Megy and a wide grin broke out across his face. “Well why not!” he exclaimed with a laugh. He quickly stripped and he and Megy made their way to an open rutting ring while I tried not to laugh at the sight of my friend’s skinny white ass hurrying along behind her. I looked for Ania, hoping that she and Eriz were finished, but I was disappointed to see that she was now with the ox-like Pith named Tato. I cursed under my breath in frustration and turned away from the fire and then stopped in surprise and stared at the naked woman standing behind me.

  ​ “Are you enjoying your first Ascension Ceremony, Hadrack?” Alesia asked me with an amused look on her face. Alesia was tall for a woman, reaching almost to my nose and she held my gaze and studied me openly. Her breasts were large and heavy and her deep blue eyes sparkled in the firelight as she held out her open hand to me. “Come into the rings with me, Hadrack,” she whispered. Without even realizing it, I reached out to her and put my hand in hers. She smiled and slowly drew me toward her, rubbing my hand along her naked belly, then between her breasts before drawing it to her mouth where she lightly ran her tongue across my knuckles. She turned and guided me toward an empty ring and I moved in a daze, unable to resist her. At some point I must have removed my clothes, or Alesia had done it for me, I truly don’t remember, and we lay down together in the ring and coupled as flame and smoke rose skyward around us. I don’t know how long we rutted, but at one point I became aware of a voice chanting and I realized that it was Einhard, standing not far away from us with his arms still spread as he continued to call to the Master. Alesia was on top of me, grinding her hips into me and groaning softly as I glanced up at Einhard’s face. The ancient words were still coming from his mouth, but he was no longer looking up at the sky as before, but was instead staring down at the two of us. Our eyes met and I felt a stab of fear deep in my gut as I saw the coldness reflected back to me in those bright green eyes. Then Alesia started to move on me more urgently and I turned back to her, all thoughts of Einhard or anything else forgotten.

  ​ Hours later, long after the fires had burned themselves out and most of the Piths were asleep except for the sentries, Jebido and Baine found me where I sat in the darkness with my back against the cool mound of dirt that made up the northern palisade wall. Jebido sat down with a light groan to my right, while Baine glided smoothly and silently down to my left. I just stared at my hands that lay propped up on my bent knees and waited, knowing what was coming. Finally, after many minutes of silence, I glanced at Jebido. “Well?” I said to him.

  ​ “Well what?” Jebido grunted back.

  ​ “Aren’t you going to tell me what a complete fool I was?” I asked.

  ​ Jebido flicked something off his elbow and looked at me with one eyebrow raised. “If you already know that, then why do you need me to tell you?”

  ​ I sighed and looked away from him, leaning my head back against the dirt. “What in the name of The Mother was I thinking?” I said to the sky.

  ​ “That’s just it,” Baine said with a chuckle. “It wasn’t you. It was your cock doing the thinking for you.”

  ​ “Yes,” I agreed bitterly. “And because of it we all might be dead by the morning.”

  ​ Jebido shrugged. “Maybe. We’ll just have to wait and see.”

  ​ I remembered the cold look in Einhard’s eyes and I shook my head. “No. You weren’t there. You didn’t see the way he looked at me.” I glanced at my friends. “I’m the one who did this, not you. Hopefully Einhard will take that into consideration and spare your lives.”

  ​ Baine snorted. “You’re his favorite.” He motioned to himself and then to Jebido with his thumb. “He just tolerates us. If he decides to kill you he’ll kill us too.”

  ​ I felt the anger growing in me and I slammed my fist against the ground. “How did it come to this!?” I hissed. “I was waiting for Ania. I wanted to be with her.”

  ​ Baine put his hand on my shoulder. “Don’t worry about it, Hadrack,” he said. “The Mother and The Father will watch over us.” He grinned, his eyes suddenly twinkling. “Besides, there isn’t a man alive that could have resisted a woman like that.” He made a face, clearly thinking. “Except maybe a eunuch I suppose. I’m not really sure how that works, but then again, even a man without balls probably couldn’t say no to Alesia either.”

  ​ “That’s very helpful,” I said to Baine sarcastically. I felt Jebido lightly touch my shoulder and he motioned with his chin to me in warning. Ania was making her way across the compound to where we were sitting and as she reached us, Jebido hurriedly stood up.

  ​ “Well, I think it’s time we got some sleep,” Jebido said, motioning to Baine to rise as well.

  ​ “But, I want to...” Baine started to protest.

  ​ “Now!” Jebido growled. Baine stood up reluctantly and together he and Jebido walked away as Ania sat down cross-legged in front of me.

  ​ “You didn’t wait for me,” Ania said point blank.

  ​ I spread my arms helplessly and looked at her, trying to come up with an excuse. Finally, I just decided to tell her the truth. “I don’t know what happened,” I confessed. “One minute I was waiting for you and the next I was following Alesia into the ring.” I let my arms fall to my sides and I shrugged. “I was a fool and now Einhard is probably going to kill us.”

  ​ Ania looked at me in surprise. “Kill you? Why would he do that?”

  ​ “After what I did with his wife right in front of him,” I said. “What else can he do?”

  ​ Ania shook her head and laughed, clearly amused. “Oh, Hadrack,” she said. “You have much to learn about us Piths.” She leaned forward and put her hand on my arm as I stared at her, completely confused. “The Sword of the King is not angry with you.”

  ​ “He’s not?” I said in bewilderment.

  ​ “Not at all,” she said. “He knows it wasn’t your fault and he holds nothing against you for what happened.” Ania made a face. “Alesia should not have done what she did. She took advantage of the Ascension Ceremony to rut with you, knowing that there was nothing that Einhard could do about it.”

  ​ I rubbed my hand over my eyes, feeling overwhelming exhaustion come over me and I blinked at her, trying to understand. “So I did nothing wrong?” I finally asked, hardly daring to believe that it could be true.

  ​ “Well,” Ania said with a soft smile. “It wasn’t the smartest choice you could have made, but no, because it was done during the Ascension Ceremony, you have done nothing wrong.” She looked at me with warning in her eyes. “Had you rutted with her outside the ceremony, however, then Einhard would be justified in killing the both of you.”

  ​ “None of this makes any sense,” I said in exasperation.

  ​ “It’s simple,” she said. “When a Pith man and woman marry they can choose to be exclusive with their spouse or open.”

  ​ “By open you mean rutting with whoever they wish?”

  ​ “Yes,” Ania nodded. “But it must be agreed upon by both or else it isn’t valid and would then be considered a crime.” She laughed. “Despite what you must think of us, we take adultery very seriously and it can sometimes be punishable by death.”

  ​ “So then most Pith couples must be open,” I said, thinking about all the rutting I’d seen in just the few days I’d been with the Piths.

  ​ Ania shrugged. “Some are. Some, like the Sword and Alesia are not. It depends on the couples’ preferences. Most, like me, choose to be selectively open.”

  ​ “Like you?” I gaped at her. “You’re married?”

  ​ “I am,” Ania confirmed. “Eriz is my husband.” I just stared at her in shock and Ania laughed. “Does this surprise you, Hadrack?”

  ​ “Well, yes,” I admitted. I s
hook my head, trying to make sense of it all. I looked at her. “But we’ve been together every night since I joined up with you and I thought...” I hesitated, not really sure what I had been thinking about Ania. I changed the subject. “What about Eriz? He’s all right with it?”

  ​ “As I said, we are selectively open, so yes, he is all right with it.”

  ​ “What does that mean, exactly?” I asked. “Selectively open?”

  ​ Ania grinned. “It means, Hadrack, that Eriz and I do not just rut with anyone at our whim. Very few Piths actually do that. At least the married ones, anyway. Instead, we each select one or two people who we are attracted to and we make a formal pact that we’ll only rut with them when the desire comes upon us. We call these people our other-mates.” Ania looked at me coyly. “Up until I met you, Eriz and I only had one other-mate each.”

  ​ “Tato,” I said, realizing instantly who her other-mate was.

  ​ “That’s right,” Ania said. “Eriz’s other-mate is married to Tato, but she stayed behind as she is heavy with child.”

  ​ “Is it Eriz’s or Tato’s?” I asked, instantly regretting it and expecting an angry reply from Ania.

  ​ She just smiled and shrugged. “Who can say for sure?”

  ​ I shook my head at the strangeness of it all before a sudden thought stuck me. “So Eriz agreed to me becoming an other-mate to you?”

  ​ “Yes,” Ania nodded.

  ​ “Then that probably means you had to agree to one for him. Is that right?”

  ​ “Well, sort of,” Ania said with a laugh. “In fact, it was Eriz who came to me first. I agreed and decided since he was bringing a Gander woman into his bed; it seemed only fair that I bring a Gander man.”

  ​ “Megy,” I said, understanding.

  ​ “Indeed,” Ania said. “My husband finds her quite fascinating.” She looked at me and her eyes sparkled with mischief. “I had originally decided on the older one with the big nose, but then I changed my mind and chose you instead.”