Krystallina's Crisis

by Adrianna Dane

  "You would find that over time your energy would be drained. Just as before, your powers would be diminished, leaving you vulnerable and unable to defend yourself against attack."

  She straightened her shoulders and her up thrust breasts taunted him. He was surprised at how much pleasure he took in her delicate femininity. “I've managed thus far. Even the great underlord couldn't keep me enslaved. And I didn't really have any powers then, now did I?"

  Sarek had the greatest urge to forget the communion ritual and take her deep into the forest to make love to her. He wanted her all to himself, even if it was only for a short time. Once the midnight ritual was completed, she would become as much of the forest and the earth as he was. He had to wonder what it was like to not be weighed down by the responsibility of guardianship to the land. To be truly free.

  He forced those rebellious thoughts away. “Once the communion is complete, I think you will understand better the ties to the land.” He gripped her arms and yanked her close. She surprised him by reaching for the ties of his pants and unlacing them with nimble fingers.

  He held his breath and looked deeply into her eyes. His own reflection, the dark desire of lust, was mirrored back at him.

  "You want me now,” she said in a sultry, deep voice. Her hand wrapped around his stiff prick.

  He couldn't let this happen. But he couldn't lie to her either. “Yes, I want you.” He lowered a hand and peeled her fingers from around his penis. “But we can't do this now."

  She tilted her head. “Why not?"

  "Tonight you will become the bride of the forest. I will not take what belongs to another. Not tonight."

  One of her winged golden eyebrows arched. “Bride? I thought I was to be your bride."

  He smiled. Nothing was quite so simple for the Aestivali. “Does your father not have more than one wife? For those of Aestivali heritage one is always wedded to the land and to the man, or woman, who is soulmate. We have dual natures, and you will discover how much so as you learn more of your ancestry."

  Sarek released her, stuffed his painful erection back into his pants, and re-laced them. He glanced up at the sky and noticed the bright moon high above, almost in position. He took Krystallina's hand. “It's time."

  "You won't tell me more?” she asked as she accompanied him into the shadowy forest.

  "You will know. You will understand. Goddess Night will guide you.” He turned to her, cupping her face, and kissed her. “When it is completed, you will return to me. Will you trust me in this?"

  "I'm not certain I have a choice. I should be running as fast as I can to get away from you, but there's still this sense, this something inside me, that tells me this is where I belong. That if I leave it will be the worst mistake of my life. Much as my instinct told me when the time was right to escape from Kadin. It seems I don't have a choice but to stay."

  "Then come with me. Everything has been prepared."

  "You won't leave me, will you?” Her fingers tightened on his hand. He squeezed back.

  "I won't be far away. Once I've prepared you, you will remain. The Goddess will take care of you."

  He led her a short distance down the path. Gar had already made all the preparations and there was a circle of tall, white pillar candles. Within their midst to one side was a gigantic, ancient tree with trailing branches and vibrant green vines twirling and cascading around and up over the thick, smooth, tanned trunk. The Matanda tree was an ancient and mystical tree, the only one in the forest. At least that Sarek had ever found. Matanda were rather a shy species, so it really wasn't a surprise that only one had revealed itself to the Aestivali magician.

  Verdant, feathery ferns had been spread all over the ground. Sarek and Krystallina stopped just outside the sacred circle.

  "You will need to disrobe,” he said to her. “You cannot enter the sacred circle with more covering you than your flesh."

  Krystallina hesitated only slightly before unwinding the green silk from around her body. Sarek took the cloth and folded it across his arms.

  "Walk to the center of the circle and face away from the Matanda and close your eyes."

  "How long will this last?"

  "As long as necessary,” was his simple reply. “When it is finished, you will come home to me. And then you will understand."

  "I'm taking your word for it, Sarek."

  "Your trust will not be misplaced. When you are ready, simply follow the path back to the compound. I will be waiting.” He stepped away from her.

  She turned and walked to the center of the circle. Her hands at her sides, Sarek saw her take a deep breath and then she closed her eyes.

  Setting the cloth on the ground, he straightened and raised his hands. With a wave, all of the candles flared to golden, glittering life simultaneously. With one last look at Krystallina, he turned and left the clearing. In his wake he heard the steady beating of the drums, like a heartbeat of the earth, throbbing with intensity, calling forth Goddess Night.

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  CHAPTER 11

  At first the beating of the drums took Krystallina by surprise. Of course, she hadn't known what to expect. And then long moments later she felt the beating of her own heart slow to matching the throbbing rhythm of the thundering drumbeats. The sound seemed to fill the air and her body began to pulse in response. She felt the heat of her blood rushing through her veins. Cream dripped from her pussy and her clitoris engorged. Her breaths increased and her nipples screwed into tightly knotted pinpoints of sensitivity.

  The cool night air had, at some point, turned hot and clinging. She jumped when she felt something curl around her ankles, cool and silky, tightening. She tried to kick it away, to break the hold, but she couldn't do it. It felt like vines, but the strength was more like a rope that bound her. And then more vines curled around her wrists and another at her neck. Her hands were drawn behind her back and bound there. Slowly, she was reeled backward. She stepped cautiously until she felt the smooth bark of the Matanda tree at her back.

  The vines encircling her ankles pulled outward, forcing her to shift her legs apart. More vines twined around her thighs and stroked upward to curl around her breasts. Leaves teased at her sensitive nipples, and she found herself thrusting her hips, seeking relief. The pressure of desire built to a crescendo inside her, throbbing as the drums grew louder, until she was completely surrounded and filled with the sounds of the forest. The whisper of the wind flayed her skin, causing a whirlwind of sensation.

  "What's happening?” She couldn't help but voice the words, the fear, the knowledge that something inside her was changing. It was elemental, an understanding inside her mind and her body, as though she were being forced to attune her physical and mental rhythms to that of the forest. A violin string being wound tighter and tighter, strummed until the pitch was exactly perfect, completely balanced.

  With the vine at her neck holding her anchored to the tree, she couldn't move her head. She felt the sensual caress of the vines as they covered and twined around her body, more and more vines joining the first, and then she felt something else.

  A wispy presence began to tease at her pussy lips, feathering her slit and twirling over her clit. It swept back and forth and then another, more solid presence slowly penetrated her vagina. Thick and hard, smooth like the bark of the tree she was imprisoned against, it was wide enough to stretch and fill her, nubbed enough to enflame her passion to the brink of explosion and yet no more.

  It withdrew and then thrust deep, again and again. Hardly realizing the music of the wind had altered, it now sounded like humming, a steady deep pitch that vibrated through her body and down into her vagina. She felt it through the element that was fucking her and she screamed as she came. So hard, so beautiful.

  She shuddered and came again and again, spilling her cream onto the object embedded inside her channel. The bindings at her wrists loosened and she was lifted high off the ground, cradled by the vines. She felt the ground melt away a
nd the moon seemed to come closer and closer. The wind whispered again, words she now understood with clarity.

  The whispers welcomed her, vowed to protect her, to cherish her, to accept her as a part of the forests. With a final sigh she gave herself to the land, dedicated herself to serve and to guard. The object inside her began to vibrate again, pressing against her clitoris, sending her soaring. Released from her body, she flew toward the moon.

  A quick glance over her shoulder and she saw herself cradled in the branches of the Matanda tree, a slick, smooth branch pressed tightly against her crevice. She was bound to it completely as the vines and branches practically mummified her body. Only her face was visible, eyes closed, hair trailing, she was an offering. The limbs lifting to the Goddess supported her, made her a part of its ancient heritage, yet a supplicant and a living sacrifice to the Goddess above. She was as one with the earth and the sky and knew a sense of glorious wholeness and purpose she had never known existed.

  Krystallina turned and flew upward. Suddenly everything seemed so very clear. Everything that had gone before, the trials and tribulations she had suffered had all served to temper her for her true purpose, to bring her to this moment of oneness with the earth. It wasn't just sounds she heard, it was voices all around her. They had attuned her to their pitch to listen and serve, to give and to receive.

  She screamed as another powerful orgasm ripped through her. She was of the earth, formed from it, and would return to it to be resurrected again and again and again, her soul a seed that would sprout and give life. Communion and renewal, time and time again. This was her purpose. And to learn and to teach, to guard what was precious, and to love. She closed her eyes and allowed the land to claim her completely. She smelled the living vines as they curled around her lovingly. She scented cedar and pine. Even the river gurgled and laughed, telling Krystallina how much she enjoyed her visit earlier in the day. Along with the two fine males. It invited her to come and play within its welcoming depths. It liked touching her, stroking across her naked flesh, surging between her thighs, mingling with her cream.

  "Visit me again,” it called.

  Krystallina was so overpowered by the welcome of the forests when up until that point in her life she had been used and hidden, feared and enslaved. Yet here, in this moment, she felt nothing but cherished. She knew she had purpose and would find acceptance. She had no desire to ever leave its loving arms again.

  Sarek had been so right. It was as though a veil had been pulled aside, a notch fit into the correct hole, and she was home, exactly where she belonged. She was a part of the forests, of the trees and the earth, and here she would be nurtured and would grow. She would be loved. And she would love without reservation. This was her destiny.

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  CHAPTER 12

  Krystallina awoke slowly and found she was still in the circle, covered in a blanket of green ferns, a pillow of soft, fragrant leaves beneath her head. She stretched and, for the first time, a sense of true peace filled her. She rose to her feet and when she looked around it was as though it was a different world from what it had been the night before. Before she'd entered the circle. Before she'd mated with the earth. Before she'd accepted Sarek and Gar.

  She spun in a circle, the sunlight bathing her in rich gold, warming her skin. It kissed her good morning, and she reveled in the passion of nature.

  "Sarek,” she whispered.

  "He's waiting for you,” was the answer from the trees.

  How had she never understood their language before? It was so absolutely clear now. As she left the circle, after donning the sarong that Sarek had left behind, she turned down the path. Leaves and vines reached out to caress her as she walked past. Echoes of morning welcomes surrounded her and she smiled. An offer of succulent, juicy berries to feed her, a trickle of water cascading through the vines to soothe her thirst. There was so much warmth in their voices, in their words.

  And then she stilled as she felt a shadow pass over her, and had to listen closely as the words of the earth turned frantic.

  "There is danger, danger. Go quickly.” Ferns pushed against her legs, tree branches and vines pressing against her, forcing her forward, urgency in their touch. But then she heard a loud gasp and a high, piercing scream. Pain vibrated through her as something connected with her head, and she crumbled to the ground.

  Hazy with pain, she rolled onto her back, the loud protest of the forest filling her ears. She gazed up into the triumphant expression of a familiar face. She cringed as he reached out to grab her arm and yank her to her feet.

  "The underlord is going to reward me handsomely for this."

  "As-ya, what are you doing?” To her ears her words were slurred. Her head throbbed from where As-ya had hit her. “I thought you were traveling in the opposite direction.” She shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts.

  He whirled her around and tied her arms with a rope, then pushed her to the ground and did the same to her ankles before tossing her over his shoulder and loping off in the opposite direction from Sarek's compound.

  His hand caressed her buttocks. “I've been watching you, Krystallina. You've never shown that kind of enthusiasm for our underlord, or for me for that matter when we've fucked. No wonder Kadin wanted to find out exactly what kind of powers you had."

  Krystallina heard the moans of the forest as As-ya forced his way through, breaking branches, tearing out ferns. It broke her heart to hear their death cries. She kicked at As-ya, hoping to land a lucky connection with something vital. He grabbed her legs and anchored them to his chest.

  She heard him chuckle. “Still feisty. Kadin has promised me limitless wealth to bring you back. I've been watching you. He gave me a potion to mask my thoughts and purpose from this place and my presence from the magician. You never realized that he let you go on purpose, did you? You were such a fool, Krystallina, and now he'll make you pay."

  "No, As-ya, you don't understand. I can't leave here.” A crack split the air as a tall tree dropped in front of them, attempting to bar their path. As-ya fell as he tried to sidestep the massive tree, tripped up by vines strung across the path. Krystallina heard the death throes and her heart broke. When As-ya fell, she rolled away from him.

  Anger and rage filled her mind and suddenly she was free of the ropes as they burst into flame and fell away. She scrambled to her feet and turned her thoughts to As-ya.

  Traitor!

  "After everything Kadin did to us you would do this? You would make me go back to him knowing what he'd do to me?"

  As-ya pulled to his feet and started toward her.

  Whirling her hands angrily in front of her and pointing in his direction, she was as shocked as As-ya when a bolt of bright lightning erupted from her fingertips, tossing him back onto the ground, slamming him against the broad trunk of a tree. His eyelids fluttered downward and his head flopped to the side. The strength of the attack knocked her backward and onto the ground. She blinked and glanced quickly at As-ya.

  Had she killed him? She knelt there and looked down at her hands with awe. What had happened to her last night that gave her this kind of power? That certainly had never happened before.

  "The Goddess bestowed upon you your birthright,” the wind answered back.

  "But how? I didn't feel a thing. Should I have experienced some surge of energy or something?” Again, she looked at the unconscious As-ya. She never would have expected such a thing.

  Vines wrapped around his arms and legs shackling him to the ground. He wasn't going anywhere until Krystallina allowed it.

  She gazed up at the trees. “Thank you. Without your help, he might have accomplished what he came here for."

  "Never,” the trees whispered back. “He'd never have been allowed to find his way out of the forest. We will always protect you, Krystallina. Always."

  Suddenly two men burst from the trees and Krystallina stumbled backward. Her heart thumped until she recognized them. With a sigh of reli
ef she held up a hand. “It's all right."

  Sarek rushed to her and helped her to her feet. “The forest warned us of danger. We came as quickly as we could.” With her cradled within his arms, he turned and glared at the fallen man. “Who is he?"

  As-ya was slowly coming around and he opened his eyes and groaned. “What did you do to me?"

  Krystallina jutted her chin. “No more than you deserved.” She turned to Sarek. “He's from the underlord. He came to take me back to him."

  She saw the storm forming in Sarek's gaze. As though mirroring his emotions, the sky above them churned with thick, black bloated clouds. She placed a hand on his arm and attempted to quell his anger.

  "It's all right. The forest protected me."

  Sarek's angry gaze scoured the forests. “How did he get in here?” he demanded of the vegetation.

  To Krystallina the whole area seemed to droop beneath Sarek's anger.

  "It wasn't their fault,” she rushed to assure Sarek. “As-ya said Kadin gave him some potion so he could penetrate the forest and no one would realize he was here or his reason for being here."

  She felt Sarek's muscles relax beneath her grip on his forearm. “Kadin.” He spit out the word as though it left a bitter taste in his mouth. “I should have known. He couldn't come here himself so he sent one of his human minions.” He turned to look at Gar, who hovered over As-ya in case he tried to escape. “Get him out of here.” Sarek then turned and glared at As-ya. “Tell your ... master, if he ever tries to communicate with my woman again, he'll be sorry. He tries to cross the line again and he will have the wrath of the Goddess to deal with. Now get out of my forest."

  Sarek gripped Krystallina's arm and pulled her along the path. She stumbled after him. Finally gaining some purchase, she dug her heels in and forced him to stop. He swung around to face her.

  "There's something you're not telling me isn't there? I want to know what it is."

  Something flickered in his eyes and then dimmed. “Later. I want to get you back to the compound so I can look at that bump on your head. Don't argue with me. Not now."