by Kelex
“Will you come? To see our babe?” Maal asked him. Fear gripped at him some. He’d be alone to give birth to this child within him.
Their child. His hand instinctively went to lay over Dag-ra’s at his stomach.
“I will return in the summer, at the first day of the Feast, just as I always have.”
Maal relaxed some, but then another thought came to him. “And they’ll sacrifice another to you.” Maal felt the sickness rising. “You’ll claim another.”
Dag-ra collected both sides of his face in his large hands. “I want no one but you, Maal-ra.”
Maal’s gaze met the god’s. Maal-ra?
“Yes. You have a part of me growing within you. You are forever bound to me and I to you.”
The deity drew him close again, pressing a gentle kiss to his lips.
“You are more than I could ever want… or need… you are perfect, Maal-ra.”
“I… I love you, Dag,” Maal whispered.
The god smiled down at him before capturing his lips for a ferocious kiss.
And they spent their final hours together, wrapped in one another’s arms, seeking absolution before Dag-ra left for the final time.
* * * *
The months passed and grew harder. After the fall’s harvest, the winter came and tested them anew. Their dry, hot winters were a thing of the past and the snow and cold came nipping. Their stores grew thin once more, but nowhere near the limits of where they’d once been.
With each month, Maal grew larger. His stomach swelled with the demi-god he carried. Each day, Maal stepped out into the sun to gaze up at Dag-ra and hope the deity saw him filled with child. Maal had come to love the babe growing larger inside him, without ever meeting him.
He spent every night before the fire, telling the child tales of Dag-ra, the beforetimes, and the aftertimes. His grandfather stayed close, filling in the details Maal had forgotten or never heard before.
Slowly, the winter’s freeze began to thaw and the stream through the village swelled as much as Maal did. As spring approached, he grew fearful of what was to come. His stomach was so large he struggled to walk, to stand, to sleep…
Late one night, a pain came. Maal screamed from it, feeling the baby moving within. He lay in the bed he’d shared with his god, his body writhing in agony.
Suddenly, he wasn’t alone.
“My name is Ben-Ostre,” the god said to him. “Fear not, Maal-ra, I’m here to bring a new life to this world.”
Maal lifted his head and saw the god had brought another with him, a young girl close to Maal’s age. She approached and took one of Maal’s hands. “Squeeze my hand when the pain comes. I’ll help you breathe through it.”
Hours later, after much pain and many screams, Ben-Ostre placed a babe into his arms. Maal still wasn’t sure how it had happened or how the god had done it, but he wouldn’t ask. He didn’t have the strength.
The god leaned down and placed a gentle kiss on the babe’s forehead. “Care for him well. He’s a demi-god, and he’s fated to be very powerful.”
A demi-god? Maal hadn’t even considered that his child could have powers like Dag.
“I’m leaving Penelope here to help you with the babe,” Ben-Ostre said as he rose to his feet. “She is a wet nurse and can help you care for the little one.”
Little? Maal gazed down at the writhing bundle and the boy-child seemed larger than he’d expected.
“Of course he’s bigger,” Ben-Ostre murmured, apparently having heard inside Maal’s mind… or had he spoken aloud? “He’s part god. As is Penelope, so she will be able to fill his need.”
“Thank you,” Maal whispered as the god began to fade.
Penelope sat down on the side of the bed and smiled down at him. The babe began to rub his face against Maal’s chest.
“That’s rooting. He’s searching for a breast. He must be hungry,” Penelope said as she reached for the babe.
Maal didn’t want to let the baby go, but knew he must. Penelope cradled the swaddled infant in her arms. “He’s so beautiful,” she said, smiling. She turned to leave.
“Must you go?” Maal asked.
“If you don’t mind watching him nurse or a stray nipple here or there?”
Maal scooted in the bed, and winced painfully. “I don’t mind at all. Come sit beside me and let me watch my child nourish himself at your breast.”
Penelope smiled before climbing into the bed beside him. Maal looked on with wonder as she brought the babe to her breast. The babe latched on and began to suckle from her.
“You’ve done this before?” Maal asked.
“Many, many times before,” she whispered, caressing the side of the babe’s face with a finger.
“You must have many children.”
Her smile faded. “I have none.”
Maal frowned. “How can that be?”
“Each demi-god has a power. Apparently mine is to be barren, yet filled with milk.”
“That doesn’t sound like much of a power,” he whispered. “But then, if not for you, I would’ve struggled to meet his need.”
“At times, it’s more a curse than anything.” She paused, looking down at the babe. “Until moments like this, when I can help a babe like yours.” She caressed the babe’s face lovingly. “In these moments, the ache is less and I have purpose.”
“I’m thankful for the help.”
Penelope smiled. “So what are you to name this little whelp?”
Only one name had been circling in his mind since the moment he learned he carried a child. His father’s. “Ash.”
Sunlight began to stream into the room, the night fading into day.
A smile came to his lips. Dag-ra was there with them, he could feel it.
* * * *
Three months later…
Penelope came flying into the bedroom as Maal rocked Ash to sleep. “I went to the storehouse, and I heard that the council’s convening.”
Maal frowned. “For what reason?”
“To pick another sacrifice.”
Maal rose from the chair and handed Ash over. He’d already told the council he would sacrifice himself once more, and they’d assured him he would be granted his wish, so why would they be convening? Without him?
“Stay here,” he murmured to Penelope before racing down to the village.
As soon as he entered the hall, he saw a screaming match between multiple tribespeople.
“He has too much power! Let another be sacrificed!” one of the councilmen said.
“Maal lived with the god for a summer… he has given so much of himself and deserves what he’s asked,” his grandfather argued.
“Share the wealth… we should all be allowed to give ourselves to Dag-ra!” someone from the crowd cried.
The voices quieted as they seemed to notice him there. He stood there seething.
“Last year, no one wanted to sacrifice themselves. You were all too happy to hand over my grandfather. Year after year, you gave the god you supposedly treasured your weakest… your criminals… the aged…” Maal stepped toward the center of the hall so all could hear him. “Now, your greed makes you brash.”
No one spoke.
“I gave my life for this tribe… I thought I would die that day. I was willing to give myself to Dag-ra to save you all. This is the thanks I get in return?” Maal chuckled mirthlessly. “Dag-ra spoke so lowly of you all… I argued that you were better than this. I argued you could learn and grow. I see I was wrong… and he was right. You don’t deserve the gifts I shared with you.”
“Dag-ra shared those gifts with us all,” one of the councilmen said. “Not you alone. Your ego has grown in the last year, and it shows now.” He turned to the others. “We choose another to sacrifice him or herself to the god.”
The council members nodded in agreement.
All but Mera. “You bring Dag-ra’s wrath if you do this,” she said. “Mark my words… he will not be happy. And we will all suffer for it.”
Maal met the older woman’s stare. He knew her lone voice couldn’t turn the tide, though.
An argument rose again, too many voices at once.
The lead councilman roared to bring quiet. “It’s decided. Another shall take Maal’s place.”
Maal closed his eyes, pain stabbing him in the chest. He heard his grandfather continuing to argue on his behalf, but he knew it was too little against the roar.
Mera was soon at his side. “Come,” she whispered into his ear.
He let her lead him from the hall. A few others followed them out, appearing to support his cause. Among them were the family he’d saved from A’gust, who had remained in the village at his suggestion. There were other new travelers there, who had come to join their ranks.
“We have our own ceremony,” Mera said. “Upon the cliffs. You can still sacrifice yourself to him, and we will follow you, Maal.”
The few heads surrounding him nodded. He gazed at maybe a dozen souls.
“What if I’m wrong and Dag wants another?”
Mera shook her head. “You’re not. I saw the way he stared at you at the last two ceremonies. You were made for him.” She grinned. “You have given him a son. You held a piece of him within you.”
Maal smiled slightly at her words.
“Tomorrow morning, ready yourself. We’ll all come to you and call Dag-ra,” she murmured.
Maal nodded before giving the woman a hug.
The following morning dawned bright. Maal awoke early to tend to Ash alongside Penelope. Once he was sure they were both cared for, he bathed and dressed in the outfit he’d been given after the last ceremony. He painted dark circles around his eyes with powder, the only remnant of the ceremony of old.
After he was done, he met the group outside his home, along the banks of the river that fed the falls. It had grown in number slightly, filled with more of the old tribe than he’d expected.
“I spread the word,” Mera said. “Anyone who is here today has been exiled from the village, they say. Yet we are still here. We believe in you, Maal.”
Maal drew in a deep breath, the added stress of their exile now on his shoulders.
“Kneel,” Mera whispered before lifting her head to the sky. “Dag-ra, we beseech you! Come take this offering we make to you this day. Come, Dag-ra! Accept our sacrifice!” she cried to the heavens.
The light grew… but no one came.
Mera began again. “Dag-ra, we beseech you! Come take this offering we make to you this day.”
Off in the distance, Maal heard screams. He rose to his feet and went to the edge of the cliff. He could see the town hall erupting into flame, with members of their tribe running in fear.
Mera came to his side, clutching his arm. She dragged him back, away from the edge and pushed him down to his knees. “Dag-ra, we beseech you! Come take this offering we make to you this day!” she screamed. “Come, Dag-ra! Accept our sacrifice!”
The screams below grew louder…
And then there was silence.
“Dag-ra, we beseech you! Come take this offering we make to you this day! Come, Dag-ra! Accept our sacrifice!” Mera cried again against the quiet.
Light shone around them, heating Maal’s skin.
And then he was there.
Maal dragged in a breath, staring up at his god.
A small smile twisted on Dag-ra’s lips. He lifted his gaze from Maal and glanced at the crowd.
Mera dropped to her knees beside Maal. “Please, mighty Dag-ra… please have mercy upon us. We did not agree with the council’s choice to give you another sacrifice.”
Dag-ra placed a hand onto Mera’s head. “I see what is in your heart,” he said, his voice echoing around them. “All of you. I know you were not caught up in the greed as the others were. They have paid for their sin in blood.”
Maal inhaled in shock.
“They did not learn their lesson,” Dag-ra whispered. “Not as you have.”
Dag-ra placed a hand under Maal’s arm and drew him to his feet. “I have missed you so, Maal-ra.”
The others gasped at the god’s use of his name. It was the last sound he heard before his deity took his lips in a hungry kiss.
Maal’s body heated. His cock thickened and grew even harder. It had already stiffened some simply from the sight of this male he loved.
When Dag pulled away, his eyes burned with fire. “Are you ready to give yourself to me?”
“I am,” Maal said, trembling.
With the wave of a hand, his clothes were gone and he was bound to a wooden X. His wrists and ankles were cuffed in soft leather, his back to his god.
The first lash of the whip streaked across his bare bottom and made him howl in pleasure-pain. The ones that followed trailed over his flesh, teasing and tormenting him. His heartbeat thundered in his ears. His body breaking out in sweat. Moans erupted from his lips, over and over again, as he took the god’s sensual punishment.
When it was over, he was suddenly bound to a bench. He felt the prodding of the cock behind him and his body hummed with the need to be filled. One strong hand clasped one hip seconds before that huge, monster cock began to spear inside him.
A long moan of pleasure erupted from him as he was once again filled with his god.
“How I’ve longed for this,” Dag whispered into his ear. “How I’ve missed the feel of you gripping me inside you. Of being against you and hearing your heart beating in primal need.” Dag pulled out a few inches before sliding back home. “Of seeing the love in your eyes and knowing I feel it, too.”
Maal closed his eyes. Was that an admission of love? He smiled on the next stroke, sensing it was.
Loved by a god? He was blessed to be sure…
The thrusts of the god’s cock were slow and steady, gentler than the year before. Dag-ra’s hands slid all over him, caressing his flesh with loving strokes.
They writhed together, Maal pushing back to meet each of Dag’s powerful lunges. They were made one, together again after so long apart.
A hand gripped his cock. He closed his eyes, the added pleasure of the stroking of his shaft only adding to the intense pleasure.
It took almost nothing to push him over the edge. Maal came into Dag’s hand, emptying all of himself. Dag-ra came soon after, a heated blast of golden cum to fill him once more.
And then it was over, too soon.
“I want to spend the rest of my life doing that,” he murmured lowly.
Dag-ra laughed. “Your wish is my command.” The god pulled out and released Maal’s hands with a wave of one of his own. “Now show me my son.”
The god helped him to his feet. When he turned, he saw every member of his tribe that was there bowed to them both.
Dag-ra looked pleased.
He waved his hand again and several long tables appeared, laden with foods. “Go, feast in both our names,” he announced. He turned to Maal. “Now, I wish to meet my son.”
Maal nodded and drew his deity toward their home. Penelope waited just inside with the babe in her arms. She quickly handed Ash over to Maal—who just as quickly presented the babe to his other father.
“Our son. Ash.”
Dag-ra took the sleeping baby into his massive arms, a look of adoration on his face. “I knew you would give me a strong son.” The god traced his finger gently over the babe’s nose. “He’s perfect.” Dag lifted his gaze to Maal. “Just as perfect as you.”
Maal smiled and nestled closer to his god, watching the man hold their child.
“As will be the next one,” Dag said.
“Next one?” Maal asked.
Dag turned to smile down at him. “You sacrificed yourself to me… and I planted my seed within you.”
Maal lowered a hand to his stomach. “Again?”
Dag grinned even wider. “Now you know why I gave you such a big house.”
Penelope giggled behind him.
“You find this funny, wench?” he asked, turning with a sm
ile.
“At least I’ll be kept in a job for a while,” she said, grinning.
Maal turned back to Dag-ra. “I love our child with all my heart,” he whispered. “Another will only make my heart grow even more.”
Dag-ra lowered his head and captured Maal’s lips. “That’s going to be one big heart you’ll have.”
* * * *
Nineteen years later…
“Go get cleaned up,” Maal cried down the hall, keeping the newborn in his arms as far from his lips as possible. “Your father comes tomorrow morning.”
He heard the scampering of little feet and knew he needed to go check on their progress. A house filled with twenty demigods was chaos on a good day.
Twenty-one if he counted Penelope. At least she helped quell the madness, instead of adding to it. He found her nursing the second youngest in the nursery, and a toddler sobbed at her feet, wanting his last feast before bedtime, as well.
He lowered to press a kiss to her lips. Over twenty years, love had grown between them, but not romantically. Maal still loved one man and one man only…
“Are you excited for tomorrow?” she asked.
He was always excited for summer to arrive. “You know I am.”
“Number twenty-one,” she sighed. “I wonder how many babes he will make off you.”
“As many as he chooses, I assume,” Maal said. He loved all their children and wouldn’t change a thing, especially when Dag-ra loved their brood just as much.
They were blessed, and Maal wouldn’t question that blessing.
“The fact he keeps you young and healthy helps.”
Maal caught his reflection in the mirror on the nursery wall. The flame from a candle flickered, the illumination washing over his face. He still looked like the nineteen year old Dag-ra had taken that first time. With twenty boys to chase after, he was glad for the stamina of his youth.
“There you are,” a voice called behind him.
Maal turned to see Dag-ra standing in the doorway.