The Scarlet Cavern

by Michael Dalton

  About four blocks behind us, back in one of the dead, abandoned areas, a dark cloud of smoke and dust rose from the rubble of a building. It had collapsed partially into the street, and chunks of it continued crumbing into the ruins below. People began emerging to see what had happened, though fewer than I would have expected. Then I looked back toward the linyang compound. The soldiers were clearly on alert. Some of them emerged from a gate, moving rapidly in this direction.

  “I feel like we should get out of here,” I said.

  “Yes, I agree,” Kisarat said.

  But the blast was right back in the direction we’d come. She had to lead us down a different street, then down an alley behind the main street. I could see the smoke rising up from the building now. We were passing behind it, but there was no one ahead of us, nothing preventing us from slipping away from this incident quickly.

  Then the girls stopped short.

  “Well,” Narilora said. “It seems your reassurances may have been unwarranted, awasa-late.”

  There was a string of letters and characters freshly painted across a wall in the alley.

  “Does that say what I think it says?”

  “The Black Sky is Coming,” Kisarat replied.

  I had to look up. The sky was its normal – for Taitala – violetish blue. But of course this was a metaphor for something.

  “Let’s keep going.”

  ◆◆◆

  In ten minutes or so, we got back to the house. Ayarala and Eladra were waiting. They’d heard the explosion and seen the column of smoke. The three of us explained what we’d seen.

  “It’s the panikang!” Eladra exclaimed.

  “It is not the panikang,” Kisarat replied. “There are no panikang in Phan-garad. They live in the forest and keep to themselves.”

  “How do you know? They could be hiding, like we are.”

  “And why would the panikang do such a thing?”

  “The Black Sky! They are black, and they fly.”

  “They fly?” I asked. Taitala had animals resembling birds, but the largest I’d seen was about the size of a crow.

  “It would be closer to say they glide,” Ayarala replied. “They have wings, of a sort, under their arms.”

  Snake-people, cat-people, rabbit-people, and now crow-people?

  “If it’s not the panikang, then what is it?” Eladra asked.

  Kisarat rolled her eyes.

  “If I knew the answer to that question, I would be doing something other than standing here arguing about it.”

  “Does it really affect what we need to do here, though?” I asked. “I had hoped to meet with aJia’jara today. That seems unwise now. But perhaps tomorrow.”

  The four of them looked around at each other, then at me.

  “Please forgive our bickering, tsulygoi,” Kisarat said.

  “I’m sorry,” Eladra said, ears twitching nervously. “This is just scary. I came here to be with my cousin, not have things explode.”

  I went over and hugged her briefly. She returned the hug, and I enjoyed the pressure of her big breasts against me for a moment before releasing her.

  “Let’s sit tight tonight. Then maybe tomorrow afternoon, assuming things have settled down, we go to meet aJia’jara.”

  ◆◆◆

  Kisarat made dinner, with Ayarala and Eladra helping. I sat with Narilora on the couch, gently scratching her ears as she lay purring against me.

  “Tell me about your people. Do you get sent off to mate like Eladra was?”

  “Not exactly. It is more that if the elders feel you have a chance to mate, you are trained far more intensely. All linyang learn to fight, but those who mate must be the best of the best.”

  “What if you fail? If you fall short?”

  “You are disfigured, so that no male will claim you.”

  “Yikes. Seriously?”

  “Yes. It is to ensure you are worthy, and that your daughter will be strong. And it is a motivation of sorts, if you are chosen. So it does not happen often.”

  “But you made it?”

  “I did.”

  “And that was why you nearly killed me?”

  She didn’t say anything at first.

  “Will . . .”

  “What?”

  “I do not wish to remember that. How close I came to doing it.”

  “Good thing I beat you, then.”

  “I have not been defeated so decisively in several talons. Not since I was in training, with the swordmasters. You fought in ways I have not seen before.”

  “Martial arts are a big thing in my world. I was into it pretty seriously when I was a kid.”

  “You must have been a mighty warrior in your world.”

  “I was a –” My Marine DNA protested this strenuously, but I want to be sure she understood. “– a soldier. I fought in a war for several talons. A place called Iraq.”

  “Did you kill?”

  I tried to ignore the twinge in my gut. I still wasn’t over that bombing.

  “Yes.”

  “There has not been a war in this world in more than a kumala-talon. When things were more alive. When there were more people.”

  She turned to look up at me.

  “Taitala is dying, Will. I think that you may be here to save it. You must bring many children into being. I hope to bear one for you, or more, if you wish me to.”

  There was no good answer to that. I just held her until Kisarat called us over to dinner.

  ◆◆◆

  They made some kind of roast meat, and I offered to carve it up. Kisarat was a little surprised at the offer but stepped back to let me do it. Unfortunately, I was unfamiliar with both the meat and the insanely sharp crystal carving knife I found in a drawer, and I succeeded mainly in slicing open my finger. It wasn’t anything bad, but I could tell it was the kind of cut that was going to bug me for a few days.

  “Do males prepare meals in your world?” Ayarala asked.

  “Yes, though it depends on the family.”

  “I think you should let us handle this from now on.”

  I sucked at the cut in my finger and sat down to eat.

  The food was good. When we were done, I found the bottle of malvina and passed out a glass to everyone.

  “I don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow, but I will do my best to do right by all of you. I’m glad the three of you have come into my life.”

  I looked at Eladra.

  “None of this has to concern you. If you want, we can get you set up somewhere safe before anything happens. I know you wanted to work with your cousin. I can let you get that taken care of first, before I do anything.”

  Eladra’s ears twitched.

  “I want to stay with you.” She looked around. “All of you.”

  I nodded. “Okay. Then you can.”

  Narilora and I spent some time assessing our weapons. I sharpened my katana. She checked and cleaned the crossbows. I played with one until I felt like I knew what I was doing with it. I sincerely hoped there would be no combat tomorrow, but after the way my meeting with iXa’aliq had gone, it was better to be ready than not. What I would do if the meeting turned into another battle, well, I didn’t know.

  We went to bed a bit later. Again Eladra slept with us, lying down next to Kisarat on my left side as Narilora and Ayarala cuddled up to me on my right.

  ◆◆◆

  As with the previous night, I awoke in the dark to find Eladra next to me. I was on my back, and she was lying on top of my arm, face against my shoulder. My hand was between her legs. What had woken me up was her gently humping my fingers.

  Narilora was on the other side, curled up with her head on my chest and her leg over mine. She appeared to be sound asleep.

  I lay there for a few moments, feeling Eladra sliding her sex against my hand. She was wet, and I could feel the warmth of her.

  “Bunny-girl?” I said softly.

  “Mmm?”

  “What’s going on?”
r />   “This makes me feel safe. I’m scared. You . . . you make me feel safe.”

  I curled my fingers against her. She stopped moving as I found the bud at the top and began circling it. We lay together like that for a minute or two.

  I felt vibrations growing on the other side, where Narilora lay against me. She was purring. Which also meant she was awake.

  Very slowly, she stretched out, laying her head beside mine. I reached up with my free hand and stroked her ears slowly. The cut in my finger stung, but I ignored it.

  “You need to claim her, Will,” she whispered to me, biting affectionately at my earlobe. “You need many wives. Of all the clans. She is weak, and she needs a strong tsulygoi.”

  If Eladra heard that exchange, she showed no sign of it. She lay still against me as I stroked her with my fingers. I could feel her arousal slowly spinning up, and in another minute or so, her hips began moving against my hand. A few moments later, I felt her quivering against my chest and the energy of her orgasm flowing into me. Then she let out a long breath and cuddled closer to me. The movement freed my arm, and I lifted it up around her.

  Then Narilora began to move. She slid over on top of me, straddling me. Eladra let out a little squeak of surprise.

  “You’re not a wife yet . . . bunny-girl,” she whispered. “Be still.”

  Narilora backed down onto me, very slowly, letting herself stretch open as I filled her up. She paused as she hit bottom, and I realized she was waiting for me. I gently guided her hips, and she began rocking over me, finding her angle.

  If Kisarat or Ayarala were awake or aware of what was going on, I sensed nothing. Eladra lay still next to me. But as Narilora started to move, I felt Eladra’s hand reaching down, sliding over my abdomen. Her fingers slid between us, feeling where Narilora and I were joined. My cat-girl gave no sign that she cared what Eladra was doing, continuing to ride toward her release. After a few more minutes, as her tail thrashed against my legs, her hand shot up to her mouth and she muffled a low yowl as she came. Then she fell forward onto my chest.

  Eladra withdrew her hand. I took Narilora’s tight butt in my hands and thrust up at her until I erupted inside her. She fell to the side when I was done. I took them both in my arms and held them until they fell asleep. Both of them pressed their faces against my neck, and after a few minutes, intertwined their fingers over my chest.

  I lay there for a while just enjoying the cozy feel of their bodies against me. It was something I hadn’t enjoyed much during my marriage.

  Jacqueline and I met in college, and one of the things that drew me to her was her uninhibited sexuality. But there was never a lot of real affection, and she had never been into cuddling. Once she realized it was important to me, it became something she used against me, withholding it any time she was upset or wanted something out of me.

  So I wasn’t used to the level of unconditional affection I was getting from the girls. Just being able to lie there listening to them fall asleep in my arms was a luxury I hadn’t enjoyed much in my life. I wanted more of it.

  But sleep eluded me.

  After Narilora’s and Eladra’s breathing descended into the steady rhythm of slumber, I slowly rose from the bed. I was thirsty. As quietly as I could, I stepped down the stairs to the kitchen, wanting some water.

  There was just enough light to see. Entering the kitchen made me remember the cut on my finger, and I felt for it as I searched for a glass.

  But it was gone.

  I stopped, looking down at my finger. I picked at the spot where the cut had been with my thumbnail. But it was healed as if it had never been there.

  I sucked at it, trying to feel the spot with my tongue. It had been there less than half an hour ago, when Eladra woke me up. And now it was healed.

  Between that moment and now, I had done nothing but pleasure her and Narilora.

  I thought again about this strange emotional link I had with them. And whether it had anything to do with my healing and energy levels. There seemed to be no other explanation. The cut had been there, healing normally, now it was gone.

  Makalang.

  There was something here I needed to understand. Maybe aJia’jara could explain it, maybe not. I found a glass and filled it from the sink. I took a long drink and set it down, intending to head back up to bed.

  When I turned around, there was a black-clad figure pointing a crossbow at me. Something exploded against my naked chest. And everything went dark.

  Chapter 15

  It was kiralabar. And as before, I wallowed in a gray fog for some indeterminate period before waking up refreshed as if little or no time had passed.

  I lay on a broad bed in a largely bare stone room. Opposite the bed was a wooden door with a little window in the center. A small table with two chairs was along one wall.

  I shook the cobwebs of the kiralabar from my head and sat up. Slowly the memories came back, and a cold weight grew in the pit of my stomach.

  I’d been captured. By the same mercenaries who had been pursuing me since I arrived in Taitala.

  I was still naked. That suggested they hadn’t bothered to do anything but drag me off.

  My mind went immediately to the girls. Where were they? Had they been taken too? I didn’t know what Ayarala or Kisarat might have been able to do, but Narilora would never have surrendered to something like this. And I had basically promised to protect Eladra only to get captured a few hours later.

  The four of them had either been captured as well . . . or the mercenaries had ignored them.

  I prayed it was the latter. I’d been trying to pretend this was a temporary thing, but faced with the prospect of losing them, I suddenly wanted them back with every fiber of my being.

  Where was I? For a prison cell, the room seemed quite large, maybe twenty feet square. The bed was comfortable, similar to the fabric mattresses I had slept on up to now, but thinner and set in a wooden frame much like a bed back on Earth. The walls, while stone, were finished and modern. Crystal panels in the ceiling provided the illumination.

  I climbed off the bed and went to the door, but of course it was locked from the other side. The window in the door was closed.

  I pounded my fist on it several times. Nothing happened. I kept pounding until the window suddenly flipped open.

  A linyang looked through from the other side.

  “Stop. Yisaraq is coming.”

  “Where am I?”

  But she slapped the window shut. I kept pounding on the door. Nothing happened for about a minute.

  Then the window opened again. The same linyang was there.

  “Stand back from the door.”

  “Fuck you.”

  “Stand back, or I will shoot you through this window.” And she held up one of the black crossbows, pointing it at me. It was loaded with another of the kiralabar bolts.

  “Get back. I won’t tell you again.”

  I took a deep breath and stepped back.

  “Further. Back next to the bed.”

  I retreated to the end of the bed, and a moment later there was a click as the door unlocked and opened.

  Four black-clad linyang stepped into the room aiming crossbows at me. Behind them was a dwenda like Ayarala, though her hair shimmered in silver waves rather than gold. She was strikingly beautiful but considerably older than the girls, close to my age or older. She looked me up and down, smiling as her gaze lingered on my cock.

  “Makalang.”

  This was clearly the female who had been tracking me, and presumably wanted to claim me to mate. Which was odd, because she was easily beautiful enough to have been claimed as a wife herself. Then again, Ayarala told me the “smallest flaw” could be enough to prevent that. So who knew?

  I fought back the impulse to rage impotently at her. I didn’t know what she knew, and she might know considerably less than I thought.

  I struggled to remember what the Marine Corps had taught me about what to do as a POW. As a grunt, I’d gotten
nothing beyond the basics at Camp Pendleton when I was still a recruit. But one of those basics was not volunteering information. And not knowing if the girls had been captured, I didn’t dare say a word about them.

  “What’s that?”

  “I am Yisaraq, of the dwenda. I have mated.”

  “That’s nice.”

  Her face darkened.

  “I can see you wish to be difficult.”

  “You’ve given me no reason to be otherwise.”

  “You wish to continue living?”

  “If you were going to kill me, you would have done it already. You want something from me, and I’m pretty sure I know what it is.”

  She smiled.

  “So you do know something of our world, makalang. And I can tell you know very well what that word means. So do not play the fool with me.”

  I said nothing.

  “You are here for a purpose, this is true. But it is not a purpose of mine, though in my youth I might well have wanted that thing you are envisioning.”

  “That thing you’ve hardly taken your eyes off of?”

  Yisaraq laughed.

  “I am merely marveling at the accuracy of the legend. Though I have long known it is no legend, but the plain truth, man of Earth.”

  Earth.

  Her pronunciation was badly off, sounding closer to ear-teeth, but for the first time in the past week, I understood a word with my ears rather than my head.

  She laughed again.

  “Yes. I know of your world and how you came to be here. But I am not the one to tell you any more of it.”

  She motioned to the linyang. Two of them spread out to my sides while the other two backed into the hallway. Yisaraq stepped toward the door.

  “Follow me. Make no sudden movements, or you can sleep another day or two and we will try this again when you wake. We are well aware of how dangerous you are. They have no desire to join their sisters in death.”

  “Can I have some pants?”

  She lifted an eyebrow.

  “Pants?”

  “Clothes. I’m naked.”

  She seemed confused.

  “You are a male.”

  I struggled with myself for a moment before deciding to let it drop.