I gestured to some of our warriors. They began to lead the women outside and search for clean water and pails.
“We shall gather the cubs of Hell Born. Our Queen will form them into a legion in time. They will overawe all of the people of the realm,” I said.
“This is horrid! They ought not to live,” spake Isis. My sister and future consort raised her sword in menace.
“No, they carry the blood of our own people. We shall return with them, and give the Queen her new beasts for the cages of her menagerie, by the gods,” I spake, placing my hand on her arm.
The End
**** **** ****
Lance of Power
Men of the Rebellion. We demand that you open your gates, and surrender your arms without delay. If you do not, we shall take and plunder your city, and your lives will be forfeit. You have defied the edicts of the Empire. For this you must pay tribute, and be judged as are rebels.
By Theonas, Prince Imperial.
Our war bands moved the siege shields forward, towards the bronze gates of the city of the traitors. The shield maidens loosed bolts from their crossbows. Behind them were the Hell Born bands, the Beast Men.
When we were close to the gates, Isis lifted her gold lance of power. She pointed the lance at the gates and thrust it forward. There was a flash of light, and a sound like a peal of thunder. The gates were shattered, falling to the side.
“Now!” I called.
The shield maidens rushed forward, followed by the bands of the Beast Men. The creatures howled like the wild beasts that they were. The defenders filled the breach with their warriors, to bar the way. The shield maidens closed with the rebels. The Princess pointed her spear once more at the walls of the city. Another breach opened, as our forces rushed forward.
“Follow me!” I called out to cohorts of the Imperial Guard. We advanced to the first breach. The defenders had fallen back under the fire from crossbows, and the swords of our warriors. Past the breach, they formed a line to hold us back. Isis had opened other breaches in the city wall. Our cohorts were pushing forward through the streets. Our forces appeared behind the defenders, to their surprise. Surrounded, the rebels were cut down quickly.
The defenders began to flee to their stronghold in panic. The Beast Men, the Hell Born bands, swarmed into the city. They fell upon both the people of the city and the city defenders. They went from house to house, killing the men and taking the women.
Some of the people were able to flee to the stronghold. Others threw themselves on the mercy of the shield maidens, the fools! These were gathered into the city squares and compounds, and placed under guard.
I led the advance to the stronghold, Isis at my side. The rebels had closed their gates of bronze, allowing entry to their people through the postern gate. The shield maidens formed up in the streets near the stronghold. Once more, Isis used her lance to shatter the walls.
The shield maidens pushed forward. They swept into the courtyard, then into the central keep. Some of the last defenders fell upon their swords, to avoid capture. Others had their friends slay them.
We entered the central keep, past the piles of bodies. Survivors were being herded into the courtyard and placed under guard. We found the women of the rebel leader in the throne room. His body lay before his throne, covered with a white cloth. One of the women, a matron with white hair, fell at my feet.
"Spare my daughters, Lord!" she cried. I raised her up.
"You will be taken to my tent. Your lives will be spared," I told her. We sent the women to the courtyard, where the commander of the Luxor Regiment waited.
"Strip them!" cried Isis, pointing to the women of the dead rebel. The women removed their own robes to avoid the dishonor of being ravished. "Lead them through the streets and into the camp," Isis gleefully ordered the Commander of the Thebes Regiment. This was done as a sign of their defeat. The Commander sent one of his captains and a squad of his dragoons to take them to the camp.
"To my tent!" I told the commander. I lead a cohort of the Imperial Guard into the lower city. We found the Beast Men had done their horrid work, and bodies littered the streets. The creatures were feeding upon the bodies of the fallen.
Scattered here and there were women who had been taken by the Beast Men. Some were bare of clothing. Many bore marks of claws. Some of the women were still being used by them. We gathered the women we found, and sent them outside the city.
We found the leader of the Beast Men in the central square. A young woman lay at his feet. She was naked, moaning in pain. Her legs were covered in blood.
The Alpha Male held her by his hair. “Scar, call off your folk. Return to camp, we shall give you more of the women when you are in your pen,” I ordered.
“We go,” he replied.
"Leave her with me," I told him. After he loped off, I tossed a dagger to the sobbing woman. We drove the Beast Men back to their pens in our camp. The shield maidens cleared the streets one by one. Any of the creatures that we missed would return when they grew hungry. Some of the prisoners were gathered in compounds in the city. I saw a band of men being led by the women towards the city gates.
The shield maidens would treat the men as enemies. The rebels were led outside the city. We passed through the city gates to find a forest of death. I watched as two of the shield maidens lifted a man, bound with leather rope, into the air. They then lowered him onto a sharpen stake. The man screamed, as blood and filth covered the pole.
"Does it feel good inside you, darling?" Isis mocked the man. The other women whopped in laughter.
"Come away, gentle sister," I took the arm of Isis. Near the ditch of our camp we passed men who had been bound to the wheels of chariots. One of the warriors knelt at the side of one of the men. She leaned forward.
"You are very soft, pretty face!" the shield maiden exclaimed. "You will not need these!" she giggled, cutting into his flesh with her dagger. Isis drew near, a look of madness in her eyes. The shield maiden offered her one of the twin trophies she had cut away.
"Yummy!" Isis bit into the horrid sacrament.
"Kill me!" the man cried to me. His captor cut through his bonds, tossing him rags to stop the flow of blood. Eunuchs are more docile. We feared slave revolts. He might live, and be sold to a brothel to serve men who sought pleasure with other men.
At last I was able to persuade my sister to enter the camp. We passed through the cantonment of the Thebes Regiment. In front of the tents the shield maidens stood, many of them nude. They were taking turns with some of the rebel prisoners. The men, young and fair of face, were stretched upon blanket and mats in front of the tents.
The women excited the men with their tongues then mounted them. Women who liked to be served by eunuchs cut away the manhood of the younger captives. They were given rags to stop the flow of blood. Isis was amused by the atrocities and abuse, her eyes full of madness.
I joined Isis after I had heard the reports from the captains of the guard. I went with her to the pens of the Beast Men. Our warriors had tossed some of the women of the rebel city to them. Gangs of the oversized creatures were swarming over the women. They seemed excited by the screams of the captives. Men had also been tossed to the creatures. Some of the younger men were used as women by the beasts.
The females of the Beasts sought to mate with some of the captive men. They would protect the men who were willing to service them. Indeed, some of the beast females would be got with young. Captive women might carry the cubs of the Beast Men, as well. Their litters would be taken from them. Otherwise, the women would strangle them. The pups would be given to Beast females to rear. While we were at the pens, the women of rebel Satrap were led forward.
“Shall we throw them to the dogs?” asked Isis.
“Send them back to our tent,” I ordered.
“You show mercy?” asked Isis. “Or shall we use them as whores?”
We passed outside, to the groves of death growing up outside the camp. Some of the men that w
ere impaled might last for days. Other captives were bound to trees or to stakes. Many of them had been castrated by the women and mutilated.
“Release that one,” ordered the Princess Isis, pointing at one of the prisoners. One of the women cut through the bounds of the man. He was tall, with a powerful frame. The shield maidens gave him his tunic, and a wineskin. They also gave him a stave. The women tossed him some rags, which he used to staunch the flow of blood.
He was shoved towards the Royal Road. The eunuch might reach the next city, or wander into the countryside. When Isis was sated with blood, we returned to our tent. We bathed, washing the blood and dust of battle away. Outside, the screams were becoming muted. Isis was excited by the atrocities. The Princess embraced me while I was drying off.
“Come, Theonas. Come to my mat. I have ordered two of the young women we spared at the pen to be brought to us.”
* * * *
We remained at the encampment for a few days to await any offers of surrender. We fixed the tribute to be paid, and ordered supplicants to destroy their walls – to slight the defenses. We had reports that many rebels had fled into the wasteland, or sailed away from the ports.
We remained at the camp while the wagons of gold, silver and gems were brought to us. The city of Tripolis sent an envoy to us. The man was conveyed to our tent, as we waited on camp stools. The man prostrated himself. He rose and pulled from a leather bag the head of an old man with white hair.
"This is the head of Posthumous! He was the one who called for us to revolt," he said. "We shall send you our gold. You may choose as slaves any of our daughters that you may desire. We ask that you spare our lives, and allow us to stay in our city!"
"Fill the ditch around your city with your arms. Smash open your walls. We shall not give terms!" I said. "You will live at our discretion."
"He is a traitor," said Isis. "He must suffer the fate of a rebel!" She called forth three executioners, women garbed in black leather, wearing hoods. "His ears!" she cried. The envoy was seized by two of the women in black. The third used her dagger to cut away the ears of the man.
"His eyes!" Isis said, taking a drink of wine. The executioner used her thumbs to gouge out the eyes of the envoy, as he screamed. 'No more!" I cried. "He must live to carry my words back to his people!"
* * * *
The cities of the other rebel cities sent gangs of slaves to us. Maidens fair of face were sent, as well as young men suitable for use in brothels. The men were given first to the shield maidens, to be used as toys, and then unmanned by the hellcats.
The cities sent hostages to us. These were the daughters and sons of the Satraps of the provinces, and of the magnates of the realm. The women would be carried back to the imperial city for use as concubines in the Forbidden City. The men were made into eunuchs. They would be taken back with us, and given to loyal Satraps.
Thus was the fate of the traitors.
The End
**** **** ****
The City
of the Mirage
BONUS BOOK
**** **** ****
The City of the Mirage
Copyright 2014 Jerome Brooke
Myths of Astarte
One
The muse stood at the side of the blind bard. She whispered in his ear, telling him the history of the demigod, of the Conqueror.
Myth of the Lady of the Myst, II, vii.
The mirage appeared very close. I could see the white towers of the city, as they shimmered on the horizon. I wiped the sweat from my brow with my sleeve, and took a sip of water from my canteen.
I looked over my shoulder. I could no longer see the enemy chase cars. They had been in pursuit since last night, when my plane went down. I had parachuted from my wounded craft, and landed in the desert. After I landed, I fled into the empty waste, hoping that my beacon would be heard by our rescue.
I resumed walking. Perhaps I had come all this way only to die of thirst in this wasteland. I checked my canteen. Almost empty.
I tried my radio once more. Nothing -- not even static.
I continued walking in the light breeze. I soon came to a boulder field. I walked amongst the rocks for a few minutes, until I came to the edge of a ravine. I glanced over the edge, and saw a fast moving stream below.
I climbed down the steep slope to the floor of the ravine. I filled my canteen, and pulled off my flight suit. I plunged into the water, and rinsed off the dust. I sat upon a rock near the edge of the stream, to rest for a time. I soon pulled on my flight suit, and began to follow the stream. As I walked, a strange blue mist began to form, near the ground. The mist persisted, even though a breeze began to stir the air.
I came to a large bolder jutting out into the stream. I walked around it, and saw movement out of the corner of my eye. I turned, and saw a middle-aged woman stepping out of the stream. "Hello," she said with a smile. She spoke with a heavy accent.
“Hello,” I replied, and smiled. She had black hair, and dark, olive skin. She did not seem to mind that she had nothing on, in the strong breeze.
“I am the Lady of the Myst. Are you lost, Warrior?”
“Well, yes. I am heading west,” I managed to say.
She pointed down the ravine.
“Follow the stream. It leads to the plain. If you see anyone, they may help you.” I nodded. “I must leave you now. But you will see me soon, when you are ready.” She came up to me, and wrapped her arms around me.
She kissed me, and gently bit my neck. I felt a little dizzy, and also felt a strong attraction to her. Am I enthralled by the Lady, the beautiful Lady Without Mercy? I asked myself. I put my hand on her hip, and stroked her smooth skin. She was very cool to my touch, from the water of the stream.
“I must go now, Warrior.” She picked up her robe from the surface of a rock, and slowly walked behind the bolder. I watched her go, and decided not to call out to her.
I continued to follow the stream. After an hour of this, the stream passed into a barren plain. I continued to follow the stream for a time. I stopped to rest, sitting upon a rock. I scanned the horizon, hoping to see some sign of human life. As I searched the horizon, I saw movement. Soon, I could make out dim figures, moving in my
direction. At first, I assumed that they were men on foot. Then, I realized that they were mounted. I counted eight figures.
I checked my revolver, and continued to move forward. As the men approached, I could see them more clearly. The men wore long, white robes, with hoods. The riders had seen me and headed in my direction. As they drew closer, they formed a semicircle, and stopped about thirty feet from me. Their animals were like nothing I had ever seen. They were large, stocky beasts.
The animals each had a single horn rising from the center of their foreheads. I was a “Stranger in a strange land,” a land becoming more alien as the sun rose higher in the sky.
One of the men dismounted, and walked toward me. His hair was dark, and his skin a light brown. He stopped a few paces from me, and spoke a few words in a language I did not recognize. He went back to his mount, and returned with a water skin. He gave it to me. I took a drink, and returned it to the man.
“Thanks, pal.” The man smiled, and looked puzzled.
He pointed to the north, and said a few words in his language. Perhaps he wanted me to go with him. I nodded. One of the men dismounted, and helped me onto his mount. He climbed onto the spare mount. My steed followed the others. I experimented with the reins as we went. The animal had a gentle temperament, to my good fortune.
I noticed that the men wore short swords belted about their waists. Water skins were tied to their saddles, along with other bags. We rode north for an hour. We rode up a large dune, and stopped at the summit. In the distance I could still see the mirage. I looked more closely. I could make out high city walls. White towers rose behind them. The walls did not shimmer.
“The real thing,” I said to myself. Perhaps the mirage was produced by the city we approached. In time, I
learned the city was called the City of the Mirage.
We continued to ride towards the city. We came to a dusty road, and began to follow it. We passed a number of carts on the road, drawn by more of the saddle animals we rode. The carts had only two large wheels, not four. They were stacked with goods and produce.
We soon neared the gates of the city. They were open, with carts rolling through. Men with spears stood on each side of the gate. They wore helmets of gleaming metal, and coats of mail. We rode through the entrance and into a large square.
The street was surfaced with cobble stones. On the sides of the square were rows of stalls and booths. Some were selling meat on skewers. The odor was enticing. Other stalls carried loaves of bread, bags of rice, or bolts of cloth. People on foot filled the streets and square. There were also men pulling hand carts bearing food and various types of goods.
The people stared at me, in my flight suit, with my light blond hair. They all had dark hair and eyes. We rode down the street and stopped at the gate of a large compound where we dismounted, and led our mounts into a large courtyard. We gave them to some men dressed in brown tunics who came to our assistance.
The men walked up to a large fountain. They removed their boots, and white outer robes. They wore short tunics underneath. They washed their feet, faces and hands. I followed their example. There were sandals lined up at the side of the fountain. I placed a pair on my feet.
Apis, the Baboon God: Three Histories of the Dark Empire (The High Strangeness Erotica series Book 14) Page 2