The Sorcerer_s Skull

CHAPTER THREE

" You' re not drinking. Is anything wrong? Are you ill?" came the anxious words of the serving girl.

Lan looked at Ria and said, " How can I drink in the wine and your beauty at the same time?" She blushed nicely and turned to show him her profile. He' d tried to determine her age and had failed. Young, definitely, but a woman now. The ripeness of her breasts, the inviting width of her hips, the slim tapering of her graceful legs, all that indicated woman.

" Do you require anything further?" she asked. A strand of her red hair fell forward across her forehead. Quick, nimble fingers replaced the vagrant mane until her coiffure was again perfect. Dancing emerald eyes teased and hinted at pleasures no mere girl could know. It was Lan' s turn to be confused.

" I' m stuffed. The food was excellent. I can barely finish this wine the Suzerain so kindly sent me."

" What a shame she is not here to share it with you." The way Ria said the words hinted at erotic worlds Lan only guessed existed. In a way it surprised him that the woman suggested that Nashira had any but passing interest in him.

" I' d rather: " Lan began, then stopped. His train of thought derailed as he " felt" powerful magical spells whirling around him. Then the sensation vanished.

" You' d rather be with me?" Ria asked innocently. But there was nothing innocent in the way she lithely rose to pirouette. As she turned, her garments began falling off in a teasingly erotic fashion. Lan got glimpses of snowy skin as her blouse sank down her back. When she turned, she held the blouse chastely over her breasts while her skirt seemed to have a mind of its own and creep up over the flare of her hips. A tiny puff of fiery red hair appeared before Ria spun around again, dropping the blouse to stand naked to the waist.

" I am not Nashira," she said slowly, " but I hope I can please you, nonetheless."

She turned and squarely faced Lan. He felt urges within his loins that hadn' t stirred for some time. Fighting Waldron and Claybore had taken too much of his time and strength for the more pleasant activities life offered.

Ria offered the most pleasurable of all.

She came to him, her skirt slipping to the floor as she moved. By the time he took her in his arms, she was gloriously naked.

" Love me," she whispered hotly in his ear.

He rolled over to rise above her. Together their fingers removed his unwanted clothing. Then he made love to her, gently at first, then building needs until neither could stand another second. In a burst of fiery passion, they consummated their wanton desires.

Lan soon found himself responding to Ria' s knowing ministrations anew.

" Look, my friends, behold how a barbarian makes love to a woman!" Nashira pointed to the wall of her immense audience chamber. The characters etched into the pounded gold mural began to writhe and move. The gold quality faded to be replaced by flesh tones. Soon, Lan and Ria moaned and strove ten times bigger than life in front of the crowd gathered before Nashira' s throne.

" Lusty, isn' t he?" came an effete voice from the Suzerain' s right. " Hmm, interesting movement, that. Do you see how he turned her over so that she came up on hands and knees? Interesting technique, very interesting."

" Is that all it is to you, Clete? ' Interesting'?" taunted Nashira. " You make love like a mechanical. Why don' t you show us what you' ve learned from Lan and demonstrate? On Aludra."

A honey blonde smiled and began stripping off already scanty clothes. The woman beckoned to Clete, who stood stock- still.

" Why don' t you join me instead, Nashira?" the man asked. " All would enjoy that."

" Come, Clete, come and show me. Oh, look at what they do now. That is much more than interesting," said Aludra, her hands working down the front of the man' s tunic, around his waist to cup firm buttocks. Then she slipped her fingers lightly around to his codpiece. " Not all of this is cotton padding," she said, her voice now husky.

All the while, Nashira watched Clete and Aludra- and the othersslowly working themselves up into erotic frenzy. A full five hundred of her nobles had turned out for sport this evening. The attraction was obvious. Few visitors to Melitarsus showed the energy that Lan did. Nashira smiled and leaned back in her throne, her long, slim legs unconsciously spreading as she watched the pair magically shown on the wall. She reached out and silently took a cup of aphrodisiac- laced wine from an expressionless mechanical waiter.

" Ah, yes, Lan Martak and my little Ria, you are quite an attraction," sighed the Suzerain of Melitarsus, sipping at the cinnamon wine. She felt a stirring of her long skirts and glanced down. A small lump worked its way upward. She felt hot breath along her naked legs, and shivered in anticipation. Her eyes returned to the screen as her own passions rose, were fed, were tended. She shrieked out her joys, then relaxed.

She blinked rapidly to clear her vision. Aludra and Clete had long since split up. Aludra and two other women were intimately engaged, while Clete and another woman were slowly warming to one another. All had their eyes fixed on the wall, however. Orgies became so dull after a while. It required a special attraction to add zest to them. The magical eye spying on Lan certainly gave her nobles new life this night, thought Nashira.

The roar of passion rose from the five hundred- or more- gathered in the audience chamber. She barely heard the child' s voice over the groans and gasps.

" Can I go now, Mama? Will there by anything else?"

" No, Kyle, run along."

The child licked his lips, smiled, and vanished like a ghost. Nashira smoothed her skirts, closed her eyes, let her hand roam her lush body, and lost herself once again to her own sexual needs.

" You look disconsolate this fine morning, Krek. Is there anything I can do?" asked Nashira. She turned to face the giant spider, her skirts floating out from around her slender legs like a pale green nimbus. Sparks darted throughout the fabric, giving the dress the look of a sea caught on fire.

" Nothing," said Krek, munching on an especially large grasshopper he' d caught invading the premises.

" Surely, you cannot be wanting for food?"

" No."

" Come, now," said Nashira, her hands stroking over the coppery bristle of the spider' s nearest leg. " Tell me. I want only to help."

" Very well." The spider twitched his body around and started off. Nashira kept her hand on the spider' s leg as they went into the lavish quarters the Suzerain had given Lan. " Listen" was all Krek said.

Nashira' s lips turned upward in a wicked smile. The unmistakable sounds of Ria and Lan together echoed throughout the building. She felt herself becoming excited as she eavesdropped. While not so potent a stimulus for her as using the magic eye, this nevertheless provided her imagination with vistas hitherto untapped. Her hand tightened on Krek' s furry leg, and she began stroking up and down more vigorously.

" It has been like that all night long. He and that red- headed servant have been performing your silly human mating rituals. No, he cannot find the energy to leave this morning for our trip to Mount Tartanius. He is too tired to leave bed- and so is she, one would think."

" What' s one more day in our fair city?" asked Nashira, moving closer to the spider. Her legs parted slightly, and she thrust herself against the thick, furry appendage. " Aren' t we treating you right?"

" Quite so, Nashira. For that I thank you. But you are treating that weak human friend of mine too well. We might never leave."

" Would that be so odious? Melitarsus is a place where all things can happen, all good things."

Krek looked at her, as if for the first time. He twitched his leg and pulled it from her grasp.

" I feel dampness on my leg. You sweat, perhaps."

" Let' s go exploring in the city and see if we can' t find something to keep you amused." Nashira pulled away from Krek with some reluctance and smoothed her skirts.

" If I enjoy myself one- half as much as he," Krek said, bobbing his head toward the archway leading to Lan' s sleeping quarters, " I might not want to leave, either."

" I' d like that," said Nashira earnestly. " In fact, this very day is an occurrence you will be sure to enjoy."

" I am your humble servant." Krek performed an awkward bow that made Nashira smile even more broadly. She held out her hand and Krek placed one chitinous claw lightly in it. Together, spider and Suzerain left, the passionate sounds soon behind them.

" There are certainly enough people gathered about," observed Krek. " But why? We seem to be the center of attention." The spider stood in the center of a sand- covered arena, walls rising up all around before the banks of seats curved back. Not an empty chair was to be seen.

" They have come to see your fighting prowess."

" Fight? Me? I do not fight."

" Not even for me, O Mighty Krek?" asked Nashira, her hand softly rustling the copper- colored bristles on his leg.

" Why fight? There is no need. Such things are peculiarly and tediously human. We spiders might seem bloodthirsty, but such is not the case. In fact, we:"

The three men entering the arena were naked to the waist, their bare, muscular bodies gleaming with lubricants. They parted as they came from a single gateway on the far side of the pit, then drew long swords. The silvery sheen reflected back to the spider.

" What is this?" he demanded of Nashira.

" If you do not defend me, they will have their way with me."

" So?"

" They will then kill me. And you." The woman' s voice became husky, passionate. " You must fight, Krek. You must kill them. Do it!"

The men attacked in a precision movement. The one on the left flank drew Krek' s attention while the one on the right moved in for the kill. The one in the center poised on the balls of his feet to jump in either direction to aid whichever of his comrades required it.

A powerful overhead slash would have ended Krek' s life if the spider hadn' t gathered all eight legs under him and jumped straight up. The sword buried itself in the ground- and Krek' s descending body weight buried his would- be killer. Hard claws pinned the man down.

" Get him!" cried Nashira. The remaining two swordsmen were already on the attack. They circled and came at Krek from opposite sides. The spider shivered as if he had a palsy. As the men attacked, two of Krek' s long legs shot out, catching them both in the midriff. They stumbled backward, swords and attack forgotten. One landed heavily, the wind knocked out of him. The other turned and ran.

" Why do they wish to harm me?" asked Krek in a small voice. " I have done nothing to them."

" Fight, damn you!" screamed Nashira. " Don' t let that one get away."

" You wish me to stop him? Oh."

The spider made a coughing sound, then a gurgling came from deep inside. A spinneret opened on his abdomen and a long, silken strand rocketed forth. The strand arched across the arena and dropped on the fleeing man' s back. A long, agonized scream sounded as Krek reeled him in. He fought in vain against the silk rope now encircling his body.

" Here, Nashira," said Krek.

" Look. Three more!" cried the Suzerain. She backed away until she felt the firmness of wooden wall behind her. The woman picked up a fallen sword and thrust it into the sand in front of her. " Kill them, Krek. Defend me! Defend yourself!"

" I do not understand why they attack," said the spider, bemused. A humming noise filled the arena as more and more of the sticky strands of web- stuff shot forth to entangle his opponents' legs. But the number of men entering the pit soon exceeded Krek' s ability to produce web.

A quick slash of his mandibles cut one man in half. Fountains of blood gushed onto the dry sand, to be quickly sucked up. The crowd went berserk, cheering and screaming.

" Yes, Krek, that' s it! Do it! Kill them! Kill them all!" Nashira stepped forward, lifting her skirts. The pommel of the buried sword rested cool and round between her thighs, but her eyes never left the carnage in front of her. Krek bounced from side to side, appearing awkward in his movement but giving death to any who came within his range. One mighty snap of his pincers broke a finely tempered steel sword flailing too close to his head. Again the crowd left out a frantic cheer.

Nashira bobbed up and down, moaning, sobbing, urging on the spider in his battle against a full dozen armed and armored men.

Krek glanced at the woman, saw the look of stark ecstasy on her face, and didn' t understand. Even less he understood the reason for these men trying to slay him. They fought with single- minded determination, yet he had never before seen them. They weren' t his enemies. They weren' t the grey- clad soldiers who had invaded his world and many others along the Cenotaph Road. Most of all, they weren' t being sent by Claybore to permanently remove him.

The spider considered the question, then decided to be vexed.

He fought without hesitation now, his potent death scythes snapping and clacking, closing on human arms and legs and torsos. One quick nip severed a man' s head from his body. A geyser of blood ten feet high shot aloft. The crowd went berserk.

" Nashira, what is happening?" demanded Krek during a brief respite from the battle. Fourteen lay dead and mutilated in front of him while another seven limped back to the gateway at the far side of the arena. The Suzerain of Melitarsus let out a tiny gasp, then shook all over like a leaf in a high wind.

When she stepped away, the sword was still buried in the sand, the pommel damp and shiny with her juices.

" Krek, you fight like a juggernaut. You are superb! Can you fight any more?"

" Why? Why are they attacking me? I have done nothing to them."

" For a gourmet feast of insects. Succulent bugs, the finest in all of Melitarsus. Will you kill again for that, Krek?" she cried.

" I have worked up a hunger," admitted the spider, " but why must I slay these poor, fragile humans?"

" There. They come again!" Nashira cried. She pointed. A wedge of ten soldiers armed with pikes advanced on the spider.

Krek leaped into the air, all eight legs acting like coiled springs. But the soldiers reacted swiftly, their pikes planted in the sand, deadly barbed points aimed aloft. A collective gasp came from the throats of everyone in the audience. The spider now met his fate.

Krek saw the ten pikeheads turn upward. In the same instant, he spit forth a long strand of web- stuff. It arrowed upward and clung tenaciously to a thick beam overhead supporting part of the arena bleachers. The spider swung, his body passing just inches above the pikes. His clawed feet raked across the massed men, killing six. As he swung back, he shortened the strand and avoided the thrusting pikes of the remaining men who had thought to skewer him.

Krek cut loose from the strand of web and dropped. The soldiers fought, but with so many of their friends dead, they fought in disarray. Krek backed them against a wall, then attacked. His mandibles closed on metal; he fought mechanicals now. One long, hard slash ripped the artificial skin from the face of one, exposed the metallic legs of another. These soldiers did not bleed and die, but they proved easier to disable. They fought because they' d been ordered to, but lacked the human reserve to keep fighting, no matter the odds.

Krek disabled the mechanicals one piece at a time, until only twitching, thrashing parts remained.

The crowd cheered wildly and began throwing flowers. Krek bent and sampled one of the tastier- looking ones. It had only bland appeal, nothing like a juicy grub or worm. He returned to find Nashira propped against the wooden wall.

" Nashira, are you injured?" asked the spider, concern in his voice. " The front of your dress shows-"

" I am fine, Krek. You are magnificent!" She ran to him and hugged a gory leg. " They love you. I love you."

" Why, thank you. But this killing. I don' t understand it. Humans do peculiar things, but this is totally senseless. I do not like being set upon by those mechanical servants, either. Their parts nick my mandibles." He tentatively clacked his pincers together, listening to the sound they made.

" Smell the blood, Krek. Doesn' t it heighten your senses, all your senses?" she cooed.

" Smell? I have argued this point with Lan Martak. His claims for this purported sense are too wild to believe. Taste is adequate."

" Ah, you want insects. Insects you shall have!" Nashira clapped her hands and servants came forth bearing silver serving trays laden with insects of every description, small ones, large ones, prepared in a dozen different fashions. " Enjoy yourself, Krek. You' ve earned it."

The spider looked around the arena. Men with litters removed the dead and dying. A funny tremor rose inside. He felt awful about the killing, but before he could put voice to it, Nashira' s soft voice reached him. The chant was lyrical, enticing. He became engrossed in the intricate patterns of sound. When the Suzerain of Melitarsus had finished her geas, Krek found himself totally unable to say a single word about the slaughter.

He shrugged, a rippling, sinuous motion, then began his feast. He disliked the killing, but the bugs were definitely to his taste.

Nashira watched, smiled, anticipated even more to come.