Excerpt

THE XANDRA: BOOK TWO
 mother of light

     by

 Herbert Grosshans

Chapter One

The roar of a swamp-tiger interrupted the silence of the dark forest. Viran glanced at the team leader. He showed signs of wariness. Horgan was getting too old for these gathering missions. He should never have come on this one. Time for a younger man to take charge.

Rah and Roh, the two sky-wanderers, already appeared in the evening sky. Their silvery bright light began to illuminate the dark interior of the forest. Viran did not fear the wanderers, but he feared the night creatures they awakened.

The sea would become too choppy for the ship to begin the return journey to their island. They would have to spend the night hidden among the rocks on the seashore.

“How long?” He asked the team leader.

Horgan shifted his axe from one big-knuckled hand to the other and shrugged his massive shoulders. “Not long,” he growled.

“I hear the Tree-devils above us,” said Rim, one of the young warriors. He held his spear awkwardly in his big hands.

“The Tree-devils are harmless,” Horgan said. “It’s the Neanders I worry about.”

Viran had never seen one of those big hairy brutes that roamed the forest at night, but according to the stories they were twice a man’s height and solid muscles, their bodies covered with long shaggy hair, and their mouths so big, they could swallow a child with one bite.

Viran shuddered and gripped his war-hammer tighter. He would not give up without a fight. He would smash at least one shaggy skull.

“This load is beginning to get heavy,” a voice said behind him. Viran looked back at Deter, who staggered under the weight of the big basket full of herbs he had strapped to his broad back. Roc and Raul walked close behind Deter, equally loaded up.

All three youths were big and strong, chosen for missions like this one, but they had been traveling far too long and it began to show in their movements.

Hager, who brought up the rear, called out suddenly, “We have company!”

They must have been hiding in the trees, waiting silently for the Humans to walk into their trap. Neanders were not too smart, but they were cunning. At least a dozen of them dropped into their midst.

Viran swung his big hammer and smashed it onto a shaggy head. He uttered a triumphant war cry as his opponent crumbled to the ground. Beside him Rim pulled his bloodied spear out of a thick, hairy body.

Another huge shadow loomed in front of Viran, long sharp teeth gleamed in a gaping mouth. Viran didn’t have enough time to raise his hammer; he just lifted it, pushed it forward into the ugly face and registered the cracking of bones with grim satisfaction.

An angry roar erupted beside him. Pulling back his hammer, he drove the wooden handle into another of the creatures. He heard the dull thud of the impact, and then a pair of muscular hairy arms wrapped themselves around his chest in a crushing grip. He almost gagged when the stench of the Neander rose up into his nostrils. His arms pinned to his sides, he couldn’t lift his weapon. Even though big and strong, Viran felt helpless in the embrace of the big brute. Twisting and thrashing, he tried to dislodge the creature. When he thought his ribs would crack, the pressure suddenly lifted and he slipped out of the deadly embrace. He looked up to see Horgan grinning at him, his axe still embedded in the hairy back of the Neander.

“You’ve done well, all of you,” Horgan said.

Viran became aware of the sudden silence and realized the fight was over. He stared down at the lifeless bodies of their attackers. “They are not as large as I was made to believe,” he said.

“They are big enough,” Hager said, wiping the sharp blade of his spear tip on the shaggy coat of one of the Neanders. “That last one almost got you, Viran.”

“I know, but thanks to Horgan’s mighty axe I am alive.” He took a few deep breaths, winced when pain from bruised ribs shot through his body. Picking up his war-hammer, which had dropped from powerless fingers, he looked at Horgan. “You saved my life, I won’t forget,” he said.

Horgan laughed. “You would have done the same for me.” He looked at the others. “I am proud of you. You’re a good team.” His eyes fixed on Rim, who nursed his left arm where a sharp claw had left an ugly red mark. “You’ve been bloodied today, now you are a real man, young Rim.”

“More company,” Hager cried out and brought up his spear.

A shadowy figure dropped from the branches, then three more. Tree-devils. Small humanoid creatures with large, black eyes.

Viran rushed to his companion’s aid, swinging his heavy hammer. This puzzled him. Tree-devils never attacked Humans.

“Don’t harm them!” Horgan bellowed. He shouldered his beefy body past Viran. “I know what they want. We are being summoned.”

“Summoned?” Viran asked. “What do you mean by that?”

“The Xandra needs our services,” the older man said and a sly grin split his craggy features. “It is an experience you won’t forget as long as you live.”

“How do you know?” Hager demanded. Young, tall and lanky, he didn’t look much of a warrior, but he threw a spear with better accuracy than most.

“It happened to me when I was young,” Horgan explained, “relax, we are in no danger.”

“I don’t trust these ugly creatures,” Rim said, pointing his spear at one of them.

The little creature stared at him with his large round eyes, then it turned and began walking back on the narrow path. The other three followed him. One looked back at the Humans, lifted a long arm and made a beckoning gesture.

“We better follow,” Horgan said.

“I don’t like it.” Viran looked at the others.

“Neither do I.” Raul said. “What about our packs? I can’t carry mine much further.”

“Leave them. We’ll pick them up again when we come back.” Horgan turned to follow the Tree-devils.

“If we come back,” Hager snorted.

“We will, now let’s go.”

Muttering, they dropped their baskets and, reluctantly, they followed their leader. They didn’t worry too much about the contents of their baskets. The herbs and berries would keep. The baskets were woven from tough vines and covered with thick skins taken from sea bulls.

As they walked behind the four small creatures Viran heard twittering voices and soft rustling in the branches above. When he looked up, he saw small dark shadows flitting through the trees.

They hadn’t walked long when they came to a fork in the path, one of many Viran remembered seeing when they came this way before. The Tree-devils took the narrower path, and they followed it for quite some time.

“I don’t have a good feeling about this,” said Raul, as he walked behind Viran. “I wish I had a better weapon than just my knife.”

“You won’t need a weapon,” Horgan rumbled and laughed.

“What’s funny?” Raul demanded to know.

“You’ll see.” The big man chuckled to himself. “You’ll see.”

The path became wider, ended in a clearing. Before them lay the ruins of some kind of building. Moss covered the wide steps that led to a gaping opening. Creeping vines clung to crumbling pillars and rough stone walls. The two moons threw double shadows as they bathed the ancient ruins with their silvery light.

“What is this place?” Rim, the youngest of the team, asked. 

“It’s a place of worship,” said Horgan. “Look at those statues!” He pointed to a row of weathered stone carvings, all of them representation of the female form, in different poses. “This is where they worship the Mother of Light.”

“Pretty gloomy place,” murmured Raul, “gives me the shivers.”

Viran realized suddenly that the Tree-devils were gone. “Now what?” he asked Horgan.

The team leader stared at the dark opening that led into the interior of the ancient building. “We’ll go inside,” he said.

Gripping his war-hammer tight in his right fist, Viran followed the big man. The others tagged along with little enthusiasm.

As their eyes adjusted to the darkness inside, they saw a large chamber. Moonlight spilled through openings in the slime covered stone walls. As if by design the light illuminated a chair carved from stone in the center of the chamber.

The chair was occupied.

At first Viran mistook it for another statue, but then the figure moved and rose. Viran gasped. He’d never seen a woman of such beauty before.

Tall, her red, flaming hair falling across bare shoulders and spilling down her back, her breasts large and round, and her legs long and slim, she looked like a vision out of a dream.

She stepped fully into the moonlight, and Viran moaned when he saw her perfect naked body and her beautiful face.

“I am The Xandra,” she said in a clear, but seductive, throaty voice. “Welcome to my temple.”

“She’s not real,” whispered Roc who stood beside Viran. “No woman can be that beautiful.”

“I am real,” said the Xandra, “but I am no mortal woman. I am The Mother of Light. I am a goddess.”

“What do you want from us?” Horgan asked boldly.

The woman laughed. “You know what I want, Horgan. We have met before, when you were young.”

“How do you know?”

“I am a goddess. I never forget, but I also see it in your mind. I see that you haven’t forgotten either, that all your life you’ve ached for the time you spent in my embrace.”

“It is not you who I remember,” Horgan said.

She laughed again. “I was the one. I appear in many forms.” She paused and sighed. “This temple used to be a thing of beauty and splendor. Now it is rotting away, covered with mold and dust, home to fire-lizards and dust-vipers.” She lifted a slim arm. “My angels will guide you to a place that is more suitable.”

A shadow obscured the moonlight coming through the window. When Viran looked he saw the silhouette of a slim creature outlined against the sky. Silvery wings glittered in the moonlight as the angel fluttered gracefully to the ground.

Another one appeared, then two more.

The first one landed in front of the Humans, and Viran stared at the slim, naked winged girl. She was exquisitely formed, her breasts small, but firm, and her face so lovely he ached when he looked at it. Fine golden hair cascaded in soft curls down to her buttocks. Viran looked into her eyes. They were large and as blue as the sky on a cloudless day. She smiled, and his heart melted.

“I am Angela,” she said with a clear, but somewhat childish voice. “Come.” She folded her silvery wings and walked on small, delicate feet.

The other three angels were just as naked, just as lovely.

The men followed them outside, down the moss-covered steps. They entered a narrow path, which they walked for awhile. It led them into a large clearing, with a pond in the middle. On its placid water floated a giant plant. It appeared round and thick, its surface covered with soft, purple petals.

A group of young girls were bathing in the water. A few sat on rocks beside the pond, all of them beautiful and naked. Viran never saw so many lovely breasts and bare round buttocks before.

The men stopped at the edge of the clearing and just stared at those naked female bodies. Three of the winged girls spread their wings and lifted into the air. The remaining one looked at Viran. “The Mother has chosen you,” she said with her childlike voice.

“Chosen for what?” Viran asked and touched her gently on the shoulder. “You are very lovely,” he said without waiting for her answer.

She smiled.

His hand moved down to her breast, cupped it. She removed it with a gentle hand. “I cannot give you what you seek,” she said.

“Is it forbidden?”

“Not forbidden.” She smiled. “It is not possible.” She took his hand, guided it between her legs. His fingers encountered nothing but smooth, soft skin.

“I am forever a virgin,” she said. She looked at him sadly and added, “by design. The pleasures of the flesh are denied me.” Her lips touched his fleetingly, then she opened her wings and took to the air. She hovered in front of him for a moment. “I have no such desires,” she said, rose into the night sky and disappeared above the trees.

Chapter Two

Viran watched the winged girl fly away. How did such beings come into existence? They had no means of propagating. Such beauty--wasted! Shaking his head, he took a deep breath and became aware of the sweet musky odor in the crisp night-air. Above him, the two wanderers were nearing each other, soon they’d be touching. The sea would be rough by now, but their ship was safely anchored in the quiet bay. The guards left behind probably worried and wondered what happened to them, especially Old Grisgaar.

Viran smiled, thinking of the many nights spent listening to the exploits of the old grisly warrior.

The soft touch of a warm hand on his arm made him turn. One of the girls from the lake stood in front of him, water still dripping from her naked body. When he looked into her large violet eyes he forgot about the winged girl. Her long black hair hung loosely down her back. He stared at her large and somewhat conical shaped breasts and let his gaze linger on the sparse black hair covering her pubic area. Viran felt his penis thicken and rise between his legs. It pressed painfully against the leather breeches he wore.

The girl smiled, lifted up on her toes and put her soft lips against his. She tasted sweet, and when she parted her lips her tongue darted against his teeth. Opening his mouth, he sucked on her tongue and swallowed the sweet nectar that flowed from it. Her hands went down to his belt, opened it, and then her warm fingers circled around his manhood.

He moaned and put his big hands on her smooth, full buttocks, pulling her against him. No girl had ever done this to him. The girls of his tribe were not this bold and none of them this beautiful.

Life on the island was harsh. Children grew up fast. Girls became old women before their time, and boys became men as soon as they reached puberty. Women of his tribe needed to earn their place in the community as much as a man needed to. They didn’t have the luxury to play and relax. Most of their time they spent just to survive.

Viran remembered copulating with Gerilda, a girl a little older, big and strong like a man, and coupling with her had been rough and furious. A couple of other girls, Sinda and Nelly, proved not much different.

Now here he encountered this fragile girl with a smile so sweet and warm it could melt the rocks by the seashore, and her touch so soft that it filled his body with strange desires and made his belly ache.

She pushed down his breeches and freed his manhood. Then she slid down in front of him, let her tongue glide over his chest, his belly, down to his groin. He groaned when her warm lips kissed his straining member, and then he cried out hoarsely as she sucked it deep into her mouth.

The pleasure seemed unbearable. His penis throbbed inside her warm mouth, but before he exploded she pulled away. She lay down on her back and looked up at him expectantly.

His eyes riveted on her open thighs, they saw the pink slit underneath soft, silky black curls. He stepped out of his breeches and fell to his knees between her spread thighs. Running his hands over her flat belly, he let his fingers describe circles around her genitals. Then he bent down, put his tongue into her slit and licked it gently.

He swallowed, drank from her flowing fountain. Liquid fire ran down his throat. His rod felt like a piece of rockwood between his legs.

The girl put her hands on his head. He looked up, saw her smile. He stretched out on top of her, guided his hard member, and with a mighty thrust he entered her deeply.

She writhed underneath him with snakelike motions, met his thrusts, but she was eerily silent, never uttered a sound.

It didn’t matter. He howled like a wild creature of the night when he erupted inside her.

She pushed him off, even though he could have continued. Watching her as she ran to the water, he admired her slim form, her plump buttocks, and the way her long hair fluttered in the slight breeze.

She disappeared in the water.

When Viran looked around, he saw Horgan lying on his back, a young girl bouncing fiercely on top of him and another one straddling his head. Viran saw the big man’s mouth glued to the girl’s genitals.

Young Rim knelt behind another girl, his big hands around her slim hips. His buttocks clenched every time he thrust forward, while his lean loins slammed into the girl’s soft round buttocks.

The others were similarly engaged with the girls from the pond.

A girl emerged out of the water. She came toward Viran. When she came close she smiled and took his hand and pulled him into the path that led back to the temple.

“Where are we going?” Viran asked, but the girl said nothing, just smiled at him.

Viran still sprouted an erection. The touch of the girl’s hand in his made it worse, he desired her more than anything else right now. He watched her breasts bounce up and down as she moved gracefully, slightly ahead of him. Her thick black hair, still wet from the water, reflected the moonlight. He looked at the play of her small, but fleshy buttocks and felt the urge so strong in him that he had to force his eyes away from her.

His gaze moved to the sky. Through the thick tree branches he saw that Rah and Roh as one now.

 He shuddered.

When the two wanderers became lovers, things were not always what they seemed.

The temple loomed darkly ahead. The girl pulled him up the ancient steps, his bare feet crushed soft moss underneath them. The harsh drumming of a fire-frog made him look toward the darkness of the trees. For a fleeting moment he saw the glow of a pair of amber eyes.

He found so many unknown things here. Life on the island was harsh, but much safer. When he reached for his war-hammer, he discovered it gone. He must have left it back by the pond. He wished he had it with him.

They entered the dark opening that led into the temple. The girl walked softly on bare feet. She pulled him deeper into the interior. He had not been aware of it before, but now he detected a musky odor inside the chamber, the smell of decay, of age. They walked through the chamber, past the stone chair, down a narrow, dark corridor.

A few times he scraped his shoulders on cold, slimy stone, but the girl seemed to know their destination. She led him surefooted through the darkness, up some steps, into another chamber.

The dark water of a pond in the center of a huge chamber threw back the reflection of the two moons, visible through an opening in the top. A huge plant floated in the water. Viran saw the silhouette of a woman on the plant.

“The Mother is waiting for you,” the girl said. She stepped up to him, kissed him on the lips, turned and disappeared in the darkness.

“Come closer,” said the woman on the plant. Her voice sounded husky, seductive, and familiar. Viran remembered Horgan’s warning. The water lilies are carnivorous, never climb onto them!

He tried to resist the call, but he seemed to be drawn into the water, onto the giant plant. He knelt on the soft petals that grew like a thick carpet on the surface of the plant and looked at the naked woman sitting in front of him.

She looked the same--and yet, different.

Her long flaming hair cascaded around her like a veil. She shook it out of her face, looked into his eyes. “You are Viran,” she said and smiled. “Don’t be afraid. No harm will come to you while you are with me.” Her black eyes seemed to glow with a soft light. She opened her arms. “I have chosen you to be the father of a new generation of my children. Maybe this time I will be more successful.”

She rose to her feet, stood in her full glory. His eyes drank from her beauty, traveled over her perfect body, saw the symmetrical face, the large sensuous mouth, and the full lips that revealed white even teeth. The light from the moons set her hair on fire. It spilled down to her ankles, like a sparkling cloak, partially covering her firm round breasts. Below her flat belly a triangle of glowing coppery hair covered a swollen mound.

He stared at her long, slim legs, her strong thighs, as she slowly walked toward him. He became acutely aware of his erection and of his uncontrollable desire for this woman.

She laughed. “Not woman,” she said inside his head. “I am The XANDRA. No mortal woman can compare. After this night no woman will ever be able to satisfy your desires the same way that I can. I will be part of you forever. That is the price you pay.”

She straddled him. One slim arm reached out, pushed him gently onto his back. He looked into her night-black eyes. They seemed to draw his very soul out of his body.

Very slowly and deliberately she lowered herself onto his stiff sex-organ. Her cleft felt warm and moist, and when her sheath slipped over the swollen head of his member it sent tingling spidery fingers through his entire body. She sank lower. He watched as his aching organ slid deep into her.

He cried out with a hoarse voice and reached up to dig his fingers into her soft breasts. His hips lifted off the ground.

Her black shiny eyes never left his face. She laughed and her body began undulating above him. Her soft, liquid sheath pulsated with gentle pressure around his rigid pole. He swam in a sea of pure pleasure, delirious, his consciousness aware of nothing else but the hot, vibrating living organ that sucked up his very essence.

He erupted inside her with the force of a volcano. Without uncoupling she fell backwards, pulled him on top of her. She wrapped her long legs around him, locked them behind his thighs. Screaming and roaring until his throat became raw, he pumped his hips tirelessly between her cradling soft thighs. She offered her breasts for him to suck on. He swallowed the sweet nectar that flowed from the long thick nipples. Strength flooded through his veins.

Time stood still. He climaxed again. It lasted an eternity.

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