Descent into Tartarus

by David Thompson

  She shrugged and led Connor to the first one. The key didn't fit, then she stumbled backing up. Connor caught her and felt his juices begin to stir as his hands were over Valerie's firm breasts. She laughed and pulled away, weaving to the next RV that advertised a specialty rental company that promised great times on the road. Connor looked at his hands then grinned, following Valerie.

  She pulled on another RV's door, which opened. She stumbled up the stairs and fell onto the small couch along the opposite wall. Valeria wiggled out of her bikini bottoms and held her arms out as Connor tripped climbing into the RV. He was on his knees, looking at what has evaded him since he had started puberty. There it was! His grin got bigger as he stood and dropped his thong.

  Just as he was making his move, a huge, hairy hand slapped him on the shoulder and a loud voice announced: "God dammit! This is my place!"

  A burly man in a black leather harness and chaps picked Connor up like a small puppy and looked back at Valerie.

  "Grab your shit and get!" he bellowed, kicking at Connor. Connor finally looked around and the props and wardrobe on display shouted "Get the Gimp!" He spun as fast as he could and fell out the door. Valerie followed, mumbling apologies, as their discarded clothing following. The door slammed shut.

  Valerie looked around and spotted another RV. She stumbled in that general direction with Connor following closely. His eyes were glued to Valerie's bare bottom as she led him around pitched tents and parked cars.

  <<<>>>

  Dan kicked back and relaxed, watching the desert in the darkening night. He had missed the initial portal opening, but the next effort got his attention.

  It was a bright blue flash to his east, followed by a minor tremor, then an afterglow of blue dimming to deep purple.

  Dan sat in his camp chair, sipping on a cup of warm coffee. He picked up his binoculars and scanned the area where the blue flash occurred. In the dim light, he was able to make out several figures moving in that area. Weird shapes, but no demons he recognized yet.

  "Huh, I guess Sorath hasn't come through yet," Dan muttered to himself.

  "I thought I saw him in that first blue flash," Brianna said. Her sudden appearance made Dan drop the binoculars and spill his coffee.

  "Bree?" Dan said, astonishment in his voice.

  "You can see me? You can SEE ME!" Brianna jumped and shoved both of her hands into the air. "I'm back!"

  Dan stood and Brianna rushed into a huge bear hug. Dan let go and watched Brianna bounce around a bit, then she turned to look out across the desert.

  "You didn't see the first flash, you were in the tent," Brianna told Dan. "It was smaller than this last flash, and I saw a tall thing walking towards the party."

  Dan turned and started scanning towards Black Rock City. "Things appear normal, I guess. No one is running in panic."

  "They might think it's just someone in a weird costume," Brianna suggested.

  <<<>>>

  To the south, the party lurched forward into another cool evening. Few partiers noticed the bright blue flash a few minutes after the night sky was totally dark. The few who did simply figured the drugs had kicked in and they doubled-down on the drinking. It was a delicate balancing act, pot and beer to mellow the effects of the designer drugs.

  A tall figure moved against the glow of the bonfires. He stood a good head taller than the tallest partiers.

  He didn't walk so much as he stalked through the crowd.

  Soon, all these pitiful humans will be bowing down before me, Sorath thought as he walked through the crowd. No one took much notice of him, believing him to be in costume. Two overly joyful men pushed plastic cups of beer into his hands. Sorath quaffed both cups quickly and crushed the cups.

  "Dude! I love a guy who can party!" one hirsute young man in a very brief cowboy costume yelled. His costume showed little imagination and was inspired by a disco band from an earlier era, complete with the chrome plated cap pistol. He gave Sorath another cup of beer, this time spiked with MDMA, following a long tradition of drugging people to aid in sexual conquests.

  Sorath downed this beer in a single swallow. He grinned at the cowboy and exposed long, sharp teeth.

  "Hey, want to party? I'm game!" the cowboy said, turning around and exposing his bare butt cheeks.

  "Fine by me," Sorath said, while glancing around. He reached out and grabbed a dowel rod holding up an arrow pointing to the communal showers. With one motion, he grasped the cowboy by the throat and inserted the dowel as far as possible into the cowboy's rear and let him drop to the ground. "There. Thanks for the drink."

  Sorath stalked through the crowd, his eyes sweeping the women. A few caught his eye, and he smiled. This was going to be fun.

  Sorath happened to look south and spotted Valerie. He grumbled. She reminded him of the Fury: Megaera. He watched the woman staggering to an RV with a tall man in tow. He lowered his head and took off in that direction.

  <<<>>>

  Valerie had finally found her RV; the key opened the door, and the couple spilled into the dark. She picked herself up and grabbed Connor, then she gently pushed him away.

  "I really have to wash off. You don't mind, do you? We got all night," she said as she stumbled into the tiny bathroom. She poked her head out and crooked a finger. "Say, why don't we both wash up? It'll be loads of fun."

  Not needing to be told twice, Connor hurried to the small bathroom and wiggled inside. She turned on the water, and a cold, but welcome, stream of water washed over them both. Valerie washed the fine sand off herself and Connor just stood like a recently stunned Jersey cow.

  Valerie turned and washed Conner and she began kneading his manhood, which responded with a charming swiftness, then it went a bit too far. Connor gasped for breath as he let go, making Valerie giggle.

  "Man, you were eager," she said, rinsing herself off again. She shut off the water and opened the door, letting them both out into the darkened RV. She took him by the hand and led him to the rear and into the bedroom. "I sure hope you can recover quickly, 'cause I'm as horny as a horned toad!"

  She pushed him down onto the bed and began attending to him, her mouth kissing his penis, urging it back into service. Being young, Connor was starting to respond. He knew this was finally it. He gazed at Valerie's head bobbing up and down, amazed at his astounding good luck. Few of his friends would ever boast of having their cherry broken by such a gorgeous, older woman.

  "Oh, my gawd, I am so lucky!" Connor said, breathing heavily.

  "You like this? Just remember, it'll be my turn in a second," Valerie said, then going back to the job at hand.

  "Oh man, oh man. You know, it's my first time!" Conner gushed.

  "Oh? Great! I'll make sure it's extra special!"

  Once she was sure Conner was up to stay, she crawled across his body and began kissing him, trying to get him inside her.

  That was when Sorath tore open the door and barged in.

  Valerie stopped and turned as the monster filled the door to the mini-bedroom. He reached out and grabbed her by the shoulder and pulled her towards him, his massive claws digging into her skin. He lifted her up and inspected her face, her eyes going wide.

  "Dude! Seriously? I had no idea she had a boyfriend! Honest!" Conner shouted as he pulled himself up, pressing himself into the wall behind the small bed.

  "He's not my boyfriend! He's a freak in a costume!" Valerie shouted, starting to kick at Sorath.

  "It's not a costume," Sorath growled, tossing her to the floor. "You're not a fury, but you will do! I need release before the war starts!"

  "Dude! Seriously?" Conner shouted, reaching out to grab the monster's arm. He pulled, trying to execute a wrestling hold to drop the large creature to the floor. Sorath watched as Connor grunted and pulled on his arm.

  Sorath turned and threw Connor to the front of the RV, then slammed the door.

  Valerie had climbed off the bed and switched on a small light. She turned and gasped as Sorath removed his loi
n cloth, his penis as large as a deli salami. "Oh my god!"

  "I want to hear you scream," Sorath said, lifting Valerie, and throwing her onto the bed, then he pressed himself onto her. She felt him enter her and the pain shot through her insides as his member tore the flesh.

  In the tiny living area, Connor heard her yell and he stopped and looked around for his thong. Mumbling, he pulled it on and stood in the open door, looking back to the noise from the bedroom.

  His head down, Connor moped back towards the chaos ahead. He passed small knots of revelers, many in neon glow sticks, all just a blur to him.

  "So, fucking close! Jesus!"

  "What happened?" A stringy old man with dirty gray hair appeared out of the darkness. He passed a large joint to Connor and watched as the young man inhaled deeply.

  "Man, I had this hot lady, an older woman, oh my God!" He exhaled. Then took another hit and handed the joint back. He blew a cloud of blue smoke and continued: "Man, we were right there, just getting started, when I guess her old man busted in and grabbed me."

  "Damn."

  "No kidding. This guy was huge, a monster. Red skin! Teeth like knives and man, his eyes!"

  "What happened?" The old man took a long toke, waiting.

  "He had these huge claws, grabbed me by the throat and threw me across the place! Man, his eyes fucking glowed!"

  The old man held his breath a bit, then exhaled. "Dude, I really hate it when that happens, you know?"

  "It wasn't a costume, bro."

  "Hey, no kidding? Damn," he handed off the joint, now considerably smaller. "I know a tent with a bunch of older gals, all ready for a party," the old man said, nodding his head back to the brightly lit crowd.

  "Lead on!"

  The pair staggered towards the main party, leaving the RV in the background, it was still rocking and wobbling as Sorath relieved any pre-battle tension.

  <<<>>>

  Just north of Black Rock City

  Darkness. The sky a velvet black with brilliant stars, a bright glow from the moon rising in the east, illuminating the desert floor.

  A brief blue flash and the Furies appeared in a cloud of ionized air molecules, rolling along the hard-packed dirt of the desert. Their motorcycles kicked up a plume of dust, glowing in the moonlight.

  They aimed south, riding three abreast, with Tisiphone slightly in the lead. She felt the portal that the Tartarus engineers had opened up. She slowed and glided to a halt.

  "It's a smaller portal. They won't be able to bring everyone through at once. We strike fast, and catch Sorath unprepared," Tisiphone shouted above the roar of the bikes.

  Megaera and Alecto followed Tisiphone as she drove further south, across the desert floor.

  The blue flash was spotted by Rommel, who was busy eying the area with his field glasses. He turned to Themis, currently supervising the assembling demons.

  "Get his Lordship." Rommel ordered. "Tell him the Furies have arrived."

  "Last I saw, his Highness was in that mass of people. He said he was going to relieve some tension." Themis paused, then asked: "Just the Furies? Anyone else? No heroes?"

  "Just them, so far. Our efforts at sowing dissent among the heroes appears to be working," Rommel said, looking through his binoculars again. He swung the glasses to his left and picked up a small light in the distance. "Interesting. Someone on the other side of the basin is watching."

  "Do you wish for me to dispatch something to check it out?" Themis cocked his head.

  "No," Rommel answered. "Just someone camping, it appears." His binoculars had spotted Dan, who was looking to the north.

  Dan had also caught the blue flash of the Furies arriving. He watched the cloud of dust rise as the Furies rode towards the center of the large desert basin.

  "They're here," Dan said. "Sorath's group has yet to arrive in full strength. They may have a chance if they can attack now."

  "Hermes was talking about trying to get a hero army up here, without much luck," Brianna said, worry in her voice.

  "Looks as if they're going straight to the attack," Dan said, watching as Alecto and Megaera peeled off, each circling wide, then back towards the assembling army.

  Rommel was watching as well. He turned to Themis. "It's well past time to get Sorath up here. Dispatch someone to drag his scaly arse here, or I'll sound retreat and let him fight the Furies by himself, his threats be damned," he ordered.

  Themis dropped his clipboard and ran towards a group of R'giers.

  "I need three of you to go to that gathering, and find the boss. Tell him the Furies are attacking!" Themis ordered, pointing at three of the bigger guards. They snapped off a salute and started running towards the huge party to the south.

  Themis turned and began shouting orders at the other R'giers. The demon army began running and grabbing weapons.

  <<<>>>

  Dan watched with fascination as Tisiphone began slowing down, then he saw the motorcycle had morphed into an enormous black horse. They didn't lose any speed as the transformation took place. The horse galloped towards the assembling demon army.

  To Tisiphone's left, Megaera was riding her white mare, her bow already in her hands. Opposite Megaera, Alecto was on her maroon stallion. A lethal sword glinted in the moonlight.

  The R'giers spread out, swords held high, and Tisiphone bore down on them.

  The first pass was over in seconds. Tisiphone passed within feet of Rommel, who was running for his command post, a tent surrounded by sand bags. He ducked in time and felt Tisiphone's axe whistle through the air where his neck just was. Themis wasn't as lucky; he turned and then felt his head leave his body. He was still conscious as his head hit the ground and rolled. It came to rest, staring at Rommel, eyes blinking.

  "Shit" was all Themis got out before he was dead.

  Rommel scrambled and dove behind the sandbags and watched the attack, speechless. It appeared as if tracer rounds were coming from that woman on the pale horse. She was firing her arrows so fast it looked like an automatic weapon. She rode her horse like the Mongol warriors, her arrows uncannily accurate. He ducked as her aim shifted across his position. A barrage of flaming arrows crossed over him.

  Megaera circled, flaming arrows streaming into the assembled troops, while across the camp, Alecto galloped through the assembling R'giers, slicing arms from bodies and heads from necks. The Furies broke up the attack and ran to the south. They paused only to assess the attack.

  Tisiphone surveyed the carnage. The main tent was smoking, and dozens of R'giers and demons lay dead or wounded.

  "Where the hell Sorath?" Tisiphone shouted.

  The three R'giers strode through the party, pushing people aside and searching the crowd. No sign of their leader. They were amazed at the people and activities all around them. Women decorated in glowing tubes, men riding bicycles, covered in the color lights.

  They passed Connor, his arms around an older woman, long pale hair dyed multiple colors. He stopped cold and turned. "Those guys! You see them?"

  She laughed and turned him back around. "C'mon, hun. I have a few things I want to teach you," she said. "We can look at costumes later."

  "No seriously, those aren't costumes!" Then he was distracted by the hand slipping into the front of his briefs. He paused and grinned. "Yeah, okay. Alright."

  "Did you know my pussy can smoke?" the older woman asked.

  "What?"

  "Yeah, sweetie. It can inhale smoke and blow it out. You are in for a real treat!"

  "What if I don't like smoke?" Connor asked, still staring at the backs of the R'giers.

  "Oh sweetie, I'll have you smoking by the time the sun comes up," she cooed, leading him off into the darkness.

  The three R'giers walked past the main party, their keen senses were starting to pick up a voice that sounded like their leader, Sorath. It was coming from a line of parked vehicles a few hundred yards to their right. The strode that direction, violently shoving people out of their way, knocking one clown
off his unicycle. They left angry people, bruised ribs, dislocated shoulders and one twisted ankle in their wake.

  They arrived at Victoria's RV, which was still rocking. One pulled the door open and went inside.

  In the small bedroom in the back, Victoria was on her stomach, Sorath riding her from behind. She'd been peaking for the past fifteen minutes, having gone past pain into the zone many masochists would spend entire lives trying to achieve. It had awakened a sleeping desire deep within her being.

  Sorath stopped suddenly and turned around. One of the R'gier guards stood at attention in the bedroom's doorway.

  "Sire, the Furies attack," it said, snapping off a salute.

  Sorath glared at the interruption. He looked back down at Victoria. He'd never encountered such a sturdy human, male or female. He was hesitant to leave.

  He sat next to her and gripped her hair, pulling her head back.

  She gasped for breath, then managed to speak. "Do you have to leave? I was almost there," she gasped.

  "I will return," he said, dropping her head back onto the bed. He stood and grabbed his loincloth and left with the tall demon guard.

  She rolled over and breathed heavily. Even after an hour of rough sex, she wasn't even remotely satisfied. She looked around at the ripped sheets and the remains of her bikini. She stood and gasped at the pain that made her double over. She hissed through her teeth as she wobbled into the bathroom to rinse off.

  Sorath, followed by the three R'giers, plowed his way through the throngs of people, many still upset at the treatment by the demon guards. They were ready when the trio showed back up. They were suddenly pelted with rocks, bottles, and a unicycle. Sorath grabbed one angry man by the neck and hefted him to eye-level.

  "Dude! Chill, brother!" the man squeaked.

  "Die!" Sorath roared and threw the man into the air. He flew over the heads of the other angry people and landed in a heap next to a metal drum filled with refuse. "Make a path, then we'll return to kill them all, once I'm done with the Furies!"

  In the distance, the Furies continued to ride in a circle around the small demon army. From Dan's camp, he was able to see Megaera's arrows streaking to their targets. He watched in fascinated horror as the woman bearing his child rode through the demons, firing arrows like a member of Atilla's Mongol Calvary.