Whispers of the Past

by Shawna Hunter

  Nightshadow’s thin hand rose into the air as Silvanth and Panathea gaped in confusion. It hovered there like a pale spear tip on her thin arm before descending like a lighting bolt. Moonbane yelped but held as she was by the root throne she could do little else. The fleshy cheek of her backside bounced with the impact, and its twin soon joined its little dance. The blows came slow at first, but it was like the slow patter of rain before a torrential down pour.

  With each blow the grin on Nightshadow’s possessed features grew, and soon the skies opened into a staccato rhythm that had Moonbane crying out in pain. At first, she was inarticulate, making simple expressions of outrage, humiliation, and shock, but her defiance drained as her pale flesh turned pink, and soon the words came clearly from her tear soaked lips.

  “I’m sorry, please…please forgive me, I’m sorry!” She finally cried out in defeat and the spanking ceased.

  “Not yet you aren’t,” the many voices said through Nightshadow’s lips, “but you will be. Stand there and keep your eyes on the floor.” The roots moved Moonbane to the left of the throne where she did as she was told. Standing there, with the cheeks on her lips as red as her ass, she kept her eyes on the floor and accepted her humiliation.

  “Now you, pretty one.” Nighshadow’s finger extended towards Panathea. “Stand up.” Panathea trembled as she climbed to her feet. Where she’d once presented her body with confidence, she now moved her arms in the hope of covering herself from view. Nightshadow laughed at the sight, and Panathea braced herself for the same undignified tumble through the air. Instead, she was treated to far worse, “There’s no point in covering yourself now,” Nightshadow’s many voices mocked, “We have always been able to see you. It was only this vessel surprised by your flesh. Surprised, indeed, by the desires it provoked in her. She can see you now, just as we can, so present yourself again, and let us see if a longer look provides the vessel with certainty.” Panathea paled as she realized what the whispers wanted her to do. Her hands shook as she rose them up her thighs and across her stomach. They paused only briefly at her firm breasts, feigning a tempting massage that was little more than an excuse to keep herself covered for another moment before continuing up to her hair. She stopped there, one knee slightly bent in a false show of modesty as Nightshadow leaned forward to study her. “Turn,” the voices demanded.

  “P-please,” Panathea began, but Nightshadow would hear none of it. Nightshadow, within her own body, could only watch as her friend trembled. Panathea had been so proud of her body earlier, and for good reason. She was gorgeous. Her body was firm but feminine with its delicate curves, soft pink nipples, and smooth features. If her back and ass were even close to her front, then there was no logical reason for her to fear. Surely, the sight would please the voices and spare her any pain. Yet, she hesitated until the voices had to repeat themselves.

  “Do as you’re told, or suffer, girl.” Panathea began to sob, but she finally obeyed. Her hips rocked side to side as she turned on the spot revealing a rounded bottom which both pleased the eye and revealed one major surprise. On her left butt cheek, which Nightshadow now realized she hadn’t seen during Panathea’s display, she bore a tattoo. Panathea must have been so open about presenting her front to the group so that they wouldn’t scan her too closely and spot it. It was cute, but it was also very meaningful; a black crescent moon within a red heart. Upon seeing it, a growl escaped from Nightshadow that was entirely unnatural. It was as though the voices within her were arguing with one another in a disordered frenzy until some powerful orator silenced the rest.

  Nightshadow rose from the root throne and extended her arms. At her behest, the branches of the nearby trees grew and spread, reaching down for Panathea as she shrieked. The branches wrapped around her wrists and lifted her naked form until she was suspended in cruciform. Like Moonbane, her instinct was to kick and thrash in her bonds, and like Moonbane, this only resulted in more branches lashing out. They seized her ankles and pulled her legs apart until she had no secrets left to hide.

  “Don’t kill me,” she sobbed as her body finally came to rest in its bonds.

  “Kill you, child?” Nightshadow's many voices adopted a decidedly feminine note as she considered the helpless woman before her. “You misunderstand. A parent punishes to teach, not to harm. You suffer only because you have lied.”

  “I didn’t…I…” Before Panathea could complete her sentence, a branch lashed out with a snap and scored her back with a wicked stripe.

  “You claimed your feelings for this brat,” Nightshadow’s head inclined towards Moonbane, “were purely experimental, yet you bare her mark upon your very flesh.” The whip like branch struck again causing Panathea to thrash uselessly against her bonds.

  “No,” Moonbane cried. She attempted to rush to her friend’s defense but succeeded only in humiliating herself further when she found her feet bound in place by the root throne.

  “You will not interfere,” Nightshadow lectured her in a more masculine tone this time, “the airing is not complete.” Panathea shook with the pain of the lashing as Moonbane’s eyes went wide in horror. Silvanth, for zir part, kept zir eyes on the ground as zi trembled still on zir knees. The coven’s leader made no move to intervene or speak up on zir friend’s behalf. Even as she was lashed above zir.

  “I didn’t lie,” Panathea whimpered, causing another crack of the whip-like branch to strike her.

  “Omission is the same as deceit,” the more masculine voices lectured sternly.

  “It wasn’t relevant…” The whip cracked three times and Panathea cried out in agony.

  “We decide what is relevant. Speak the truth now or suffer.” There was no doubt that the threat would be carried out.

  “Please,” Moonbane begged as she dared lay a hand on Nightshadow’s shoulder, “she doesn’t have to…”

  “She does,” Nightshadow barked, “the circle demands truth.”

  “I can’t…” Panathea cried, defying the whipping that ensued to plead her case, “I don’t know what that truth is!”

  Chapter 6

  Nightshadow wept behind her eyes for her friend. She’d never imagined that she could feel so utterly helpless within her own body. Her hand extended towards Panathea, but she couldn’t even feel it. The voices granted her only a vague awareness that movement had taken place. Regardless, the motion had a purpose and an effect. The branches holding Panathea twisted, turning her body and exposing the marks from the whipping. They were not bleeding, but they were red and angry. They ran up and down her body, never hitting the same place twice. Nightshadow could only imagine how it must burn and note, to her horror, how hot the sight made her. Her and, by extension, the voices within.

  With another motion, they brought Panathea towards the throne where Nightshadow could examine her more closely. Moonbane gasped at the sight, and even Silvanth dared turn zir head to behold the cost of deception. Nightshadow, however, had no sympathy. With a wave of her hand, the branches shifted and forced Panathea’s enviable bottom forward. The girl was trembling now, but she didn’t dare speak as she was examined. Nightshadow’s hand extended, and with one delicate finger, she traced the tattoo.

  “Your very flesh,” the more feminine tones had returned to her possessed voice as she offered salvation, “has been marked with the truth, child. Speak it now, end your pain, and accept what fate has given you.”

  “I’m too young,” Panathea pleaded.

  “Too true,” Nightshadow replied, “but that is a blessing in affairs of the heart. An early start is the only way to add time to eternity. Now stop running from your destiny.”

  “What is she, he…uh, it?” Moonbane looked at Nightshadow who merely shrugged, “what are they talking about?”

  “I got the tattoo back when we were…” the branch snapped out again. This time striking Panathea’s stomach, “ow! Ok, maybe it was just after…” Another lash.

  “It’s not going to stop until you tel
l the truth,” Moonbane observed, “please just say it. Whatever it is!”

  “I got it…” The branch, it seemed, would even lash her when she hesitated, and yet Panathea’s jaw locked around the words bubbling up from inside of her. It was only after lashes had scored both thighs several times that she finally gave up the secret. After one final stroke, the damn burst, and she cried out for all to hear, “I got it because I love you!” The whip relented, and Panathea was turned once more to face Moonbane. Moonbane could only gasp at the pain in Panathea’s eyes as her own bonds were loosened so that she could approach. Taking advantage of this, Moonbane reached out for Panathea as Nightshadow turned. The possessed form of their friend loomed between and over them in a position of authority as if she meant to officiate this true airing.

  “What?” Moonbane couldn’t formulate a more appropriate question. Her eyes were locked on Panathea who only met her gaze when the hand made contact with her tear stained cheek.

  “I lied to you all those years ago,” she fought back sobs as she spoke, “and I lied in the airing. We weren’t just some experiment. I’d thought we were, at first, but I realized that that wasn’t the case. I had feelings for you, real feelings, and they scared me. That’s why I ended things because I knew that if I didn’t I would never be with anyone else ever again. We were barely out of high-school, Sarah. I had college ahead and, well, my twenties, I wasn’t ready for love. Especially when I wasn’t even sure if I was, you know, on that team.” Silvanth’s eyes went wide as Panathea spoke Moonbane’s given name. Zi almost let a reprimand slip, but a tiny root slapped zir even as the words entered zir’s mind. Zi fell silent once more to await zir own judgement.

  “Nicole,” Moonbane whispered as she took another tentative step towards the other woman, “you idiot!” Her hand shot out and slapped Panathea straight across the face in a move that stunned even those who inhabited Nightshadow.

  “You are the wronged party, child,” Nightshadow addressed Moonbane as Panathea’s eyes glistened with fresh tears, “what justice would you seek?”

  “Let her down,” Moonbane pleaded, “please.” Nightshadow nodded, and with another gesture, the branches lowered Panathea to the ground. Moonbane watched dispassionately as she trembled there but that didn’t stop Panathea from acting. She had barely collected herself before she rushed forward and threw her arms around Moonbane’s legs.

  “I got the tattoo as a promise to myself that I’d come back to you one day. I swore I’d tell you everything, but every time I tried I just got so scared of…of…” Moonbane pushed her back and seemed entirely unsurprised when the roots released her feet.

  “Of commitment?” She nearly spat the words. “You were scared that if you didn’t break my goddamn heart you wouldn’t get a chance to fuck other people and sow your wild freaking oates?”

  “Well, I wouldn’t put it like that but…hey, what are you…” Moonbane seized Panathea’s arms and dragged her towards where Silvanth was pressing zir face to the ground as Nightshadow floated alongside. The amused grin on her twisted features was not entirely human, but she spoke not a word as Moonbane dropped Panathea before the coven’s once proud leader and placed a foot on zir shoulder. Silvanth raised zir head to see what they wanted of zir, but Moonbane was merciless. As soon as zi rose she pushed zir onto zir back with her foot.

  “You want a cock so fucking badly? Here’s a nice big one. Go on and fuck zir.” Panathea’s jaw dropped as Moonbane thrust her forward, and she stammered over a million objections before turning to the only being with the ability to put a stop to this.

  “Please,” she said to Nightshadow as the tall form of her friend hovered before her, “I don’t want this. I want Sarah.”

  “And I want to see you get exactly what you broke my heart for,” Moonbane spat.

  “The punishment is named,” Nightshadow replied in her many voices, “and it is just. The transgressor will put zir organ to use in this task.” Silvanth, laying prone on zir back as this was decided by the others, finally mustered the courage to speak once more.

  “No zi bloody will not. I didn’t seek you out to be used like some damned sex toy.”

  “No,” Nightshadow’s many voices mocked, “you came to be transformed. You came seeking the power to deny what nature granted you and to make yourself unique. Vanity!”

  “Nature made a mistake,” Silvanth spat, “nature makes it seem as though there are only the masculine and feminine with a damn wall in between them. Well, I sit on top of that wall with thousands more! We don’t deserve to suffer because of nature’s mistakes. We deserve acceptance.”

  “And you had it,” Nightshadow almost seemed to sigh. It was as though the many voices within her were growing tired of explaining the obvious to those they deemed as children.

  “I’ve been an outcast my entire life,” Silvanth challenged, “and I will not be shamed any longer. Even by you.” Silvanth’s indignation nearly caused zir to rise to zir feet, but the roots appeared once more to hold zir in position. Zi was trapped with zir legs apart and zir cock on full display. Ready to be used despite whatever objections Silvanth might offer. Panathea and Moonbane did not seem exactly comfortable with the state zi found zirself in, but they couldn’t help but notice how it entertained Nightshadow. Nor could they miss that Silvanth’s body was defying zir words in the most shameful of ways. That hated cock was fully erect as zi struggled in nature’s bonds.

  “You, child,” Nightshadow’s hand extended to stroke Moonbane’s cheek, “have you begun to understand? Can you see what mistake this one has made?” Moonbane met Nightshadow’s eyes, and she adopted a stance reminiscent of a student who’d been called upon by the teacher.

  “I’m sorry. I don’t. I was acting in anger. I didn’t stop to consider Silvanth’s feelings,” she looked at Silvanth as if asking forgiveness from zir but Nightshadow’s hand tapped her chin and returned her gaze to the being hovering over her.

  “The mistake belongs to him,” Nightshadow chided, “it is not yours.”

  “Zir,” Panathea’s single world drew all eyes to her. She was holding herself, cradling the welts left by the lash more than concealing her body but she made no apology as she defied their interrogator once more.

  “Explain,” Nightshadow demanded as her head tilted at an unnatural angle.

  “If Nightshadow were in there, she would already have told you,” Panathea observed.

  “I asked you,” Nightshadow replied. Nightshadow could only watch as her friend struggled with rage and fear. She wanted to cry out that she was in there, but there were too many voices. Her own was totally drowned out. She could only watch silently as Panathea’s eyes widened when she saw the lashing vine rise once more from the ground at Nightshadow’s side.

  “Silvanth,” she yelped out quickly, “doesn’t use male pronouns. Silvanth exists between the masculine and feminine and has adopted zi and zir to reflect this.”

  “Inconvenient, impractical, vain,” Nightshadow said each word in an altered voice as though minds from across the centuries were each offering a criticism.

  “Not to those who love zir,” Panathea replied, “and accept the person zi has chosen to be.”

  “Such as?” Nightshadow’s voice was calmer now, but there was a clever edge to it as it asked the question. It was a teacher again, guiding them to another revelation. Moonbane was the first to clue in to what they were being told.

  “Such as I,” she announced proudly.

  “And I,” Panthea added.

  “And I,” everyone gasped as Nightshadow’s true, singular, voice escaped her lips. It was followed a moment later by the many voices of the ancients as they glared down at Silvanth’s prone form. “You who scarred the trees,” it pointed an accusatory finger at Silvanth, “you who sought powers beyond the realm of mortals. You who blinded yourself to what you already had. Do you now see why you deserve to be punished?”

  “Not like this,” Silvanth pleaded
, “take it away. Don’t make me use it!”

  “A punishment,” Nightshadow lectured, “is not something you desire. Although, you may find it far more pleasant than you imagine,” her smile took on a naughty edge as she made the suggestion, “the flesh, after all, offers many thrills that even we had forgotten.” Silvanth gulped at the sight of the smile as zi realized that zi really didn’t have a choice. What zi didn’t dare consider, however, was the state of zir’s hated cock. Zi was laying there, begging to be emasculated in a literal sense, but the ancients within Nightshadow seemed to have a different interpretation of the desire. Zi was to be humiliated.

  Laying helpless before the women zi had taken for granted, zi would be used despite zir objections. For all the imagined power zi had wielded as the leader of the coven, zi saw that, before the ancients, zi was nothing but a wretch, and it was turning zir on.

  Chapter 7

  A strange new energy was pulsing through the circle. Where once it had been the paltry powers of the coven and more recently it had been the strange beings that possessed Nightshadow, there was now something with more heat. Like an electric current that excited the flesh and pulsed through the blood of the mortals, it was affecting even those who existed beyond physical form. Born of hormones and magic, it might have been something dreamed of by those who cast love spells, but it was of a more primal nature. The intoxicating charge of pure, irresistible lust.

  “Oh my,” Panathea breathed as her hands began to move more sensually across her body, “does anyone else feel that?”

  “Fuck ya, I do,” Moonbane gasped.

  “You’re being corrupted by the flesh,” Silvanth cried out towards Nightshadow, “You’ve lingered too long in a mortal form.”

  “Silence,” Nightshadow commanded, “I hold the power here.” There was an undeniable quivering in Nightshadow’s voice as she said it, and even within her mortal soul was feeling the thrill. She moved towards Panathea as the woman’s hands grew more daring and pressed her lips into the other woman’s. Moonbane began to voice an objection, but before she could Nightshadow turned.