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The Black Dame studied with satisfaction the sleeping young man.
"Handsome," she whispered.
A wave of her hand, and the bed-sheet slipped off, revealing the young man's body.
"Gorgeous!" she said, her eyes sparkling with excitement, her hand caressing the naked shoulder and torso.
Another wave of the hand, and the loincloth was ripped off, following the bed-sheet onto the ground. She contemplated breathlessly the now naked sleeping beauty: he was green yet ripe, child yet adult, just perfect.
"Yes, you are gorgeous," she whispered, filling with desire. "You must be mine!"
A dark fog invaded the room and when it vanished, the bed was empty.
***
Tarun woke up in a big bed that wasn't his, in a room that looked more like a sumptuous cave than anything else. He was totally naked and looked around, puzzled. There were no windows, and only torches and a fireplace gave light to the rather bleak place.
Before Tarun could form an opinion of what had happened and where he was, a woman came into the room. She had strange almond eyes and a face like a full moon. Her long black hair caressed her face. She wore a full-length, black robe that barely hid her voluptuous body. Her full lips curled up at Tarun in a lovely smile.
"Welcome, Prince Tarun," she purred.
Tarun found himself retreating on the bed when she sat near him. His fear seemed to please her, as her smile widened.
"Welcome to my palace," she said. "They call me the Black Dame, but you can call me Keiko."
"What do you want from me, witch?" he asked bluntly. Keiko’s reputation as the Black Dame had traveled wide and far. She was known to be an evil and skillful sorceress, yet Tarun had never considered that one day he would actually meet her – in the form of this frail, exotic woman. He could feel her power, a hissing shadow that threatened to choke him.
"You, your body, your beauty, everything," she answered caressing his chest.
He reached the wall and couldn't withdraw any further. He shivered under her touch.
"And I told you to call me Keiko," she added in a threatening whisper.
"You cannot have me, witch, because I do not want you," he declared boldly, refusing to use her given name.
"Don't be stubborn, my sweet prince," she chided. "Don't you know your beauty is not for common women? Only someone like me can appreciate this body of yours, your face, your lips..."
She kissed him with hungry passion. He stiffened in his position, wondering how strong she was and if he could actually hurt her. Fool, she could take away his physical strength with an act of will – which she was doing right now!
"Don't force me to put a spell on you," she continued sweetly, but her almond eyes were full of threat. "I'd rather seduce you than mold you. Under a spell you'd be just a pretty doll with no personality."
"Then prepare to fight my personality!" he exploded. "I choose the women I want!"
"This time you have been chosen. You better get used to it."
"No," Tarun turned his face away with a frown. "Take me back home."
"You will have no other home than this," she replied. She caressed Tarun’s cheek and the young prince shuddered at her cold, deathly touch.
"I will not marry you," Tarun spat, “not even if you threatened to kill me.”
The Black Dame laughed – a strangely warm sound, coming from an exotic beauty. Not really the idea Tarun had had of her, although why would a powerful witch such as her look old and ugly?
"Why should I marry you?" she teased. " I'm not really into formalities, you know?"
"Who are you really?" Tarun asked.
The Black Dame pulled away from Tarun, sitting on the bed to hug her knees. She turned her head and stared at him.
"I am Keiko," she said. "My parents, my people came from beyond your sea."
"How did you end up here? Here," Tarun said, echoing his own words. "And where is here anyway?"
"This is the underground city of the Sect. I was born in Amrendra but I lived in Akkora most of my life, until we came here." Keiko lifted her gossamer hair and tossed it away from her face, and crawling to reach him in his corner.
“Here... was a bad idea," she whispered.
Tarun studied Keiko intensely. "You want me to help you escape?"
Keiko smiled, diving her fingers though his short, black hair. "You are... nearly edible," she purred. "I will enjoy your company."
Tarun shook his head free. "You still haven't told me what you need me for."
Keiko clutched a patch of Tarun’s hair. She yanked it and twisted it until he protested.
"Lust," she hissed. "You will give me power, until the day when I have figured out how to kill Ramesh."
"Who?"
She let go of his hair, frowning. "The High Priest who claimed the throne of Arquon," she said with contempt.
"So it is true, the Sect is in charge of Arquon." His heart felt heavy at the thought, but there wasn't much he could do.
"Ramesh is in charge," she snapped. "And I want to get rid of him. You can give me that power."
"How?"
"I told you..." she purred again. "Lust..."
"You want..." Tarun swallowed back his fear. "You want me to make love to you?"
Keiko pulled back. She scrutinized Tarun from head to toe. "You have not known the power of lust, yet," she said haughtily. "I will teach you." She stared at Tarun with the ferocity of a tiger.
Tarun scoffed, for he couldn't laugh openly. "You are mad," he declared.
Keiko closed in on her prey. "We will see who is mad," she replied.
She took off her black robe in a single movement.
Tarun discovered he couldn't move. "No," he pleaded.
Keiko closed her mouth over his, leaving him breathless, touching, kissing, rimming, sucking, filling him with warmth and cold, pleasure and pain. His pants and moans became a scream when she forced his orgasm from him.
Tarun saw the dark energy filling the room, then flooding Keiko’s body. He felt it burrow inside him, course through him, leaving him breathless and shivering. His own inner light fought against its possession of him, fought to keep him, and eventually succeeded in cleansing him. Exhausted, Tarun lost consciousness.
***
The bed-sheet and royal loincloth were still where the dark magic of the witch had thrown them. The sunlight came in through the arched windows, but Goldmountain could still feel the darkness that had passed through.
She passed her hand on the bed, feeling the tickle of magic, reading the signature, and sighed.
"Well?" King Arjun demanded.
"The Black Dame has taken him," Goldmountain answered. "I'm sorry, your majesty, I cannot go to the city of the Sect to save your son."
"Damn!" King Arjun grumbled. "Why did she take him?"
"I have no idea, your majesty, the nature of her magic is so different from mine, I could never guess what she wants from him."
King Arjun sighed.
"Thank you, Wise Woman," he said. "Do you think he will be all right?"
"He is strong in light, your majesty, but the Pond of Dark Magic has killed or corrupted many Humans already. What it cannot possess, it kills."
"You're not giving me much hope!"
"I have never lied to you, and never will. I don't think you will see your son alive ever again."
King Arjun lowered his eyes and nodded.
Goldmountain wished she could give him good news, but she didn't have much hope for the well-being of Prince Tarun. And it wasn't within her power to save him, or she would have done it without hesitation.
She had seen the birth of the prince twenty-two years before and was very fond of him, like everybody else. The late queen of Rajendra had been a real friend, giving her and her husband a home even if they weren't Human. Even King Arjun had great respect for them because they were Genn, and he hoped their presence would keep away the evil that was prospering just beyond the border, in the kingdom of Arquon.
Obviously their presence wasn't a good enough protection, though. Goldmountain hoped the darkness would spare at least Indira, Tarun's younger sister. But who could say how and when darkness picked its victims?
***
Keiko observed Tarun's face as he slept. He appeared troubled, struggling against a nightmare of some kind. His light was as strong as Hayato's, and destroying it, stealing it might give her the power she desired... if she was lucky.
Something about the sleeping prince drew her to reminisce. She touched the lips so similar to the ones she had longed for in a time past and she smiled. It was as if her lover was by her side now.
Kumar would be nearly thirty now if he still walked among the living, however, as she remembered him in his teens, Tarun would be a perfect substitute. Maybe she could even fall in love with him, knowing he'd never have her willingly, much like Kumar. But unlike Kumar, she could force him.
Tarun slowly opened his eyes as he came to. He saw Keiko hovering over him and fear flashed in his brown eyes.
"Let me go now," he pleaded.
"Forget it," she answered pleasantly.
"What more do you want from me?"
"Your body, Tarun... and then your soul."
"You’re mad!” Tarun snapped.
"And you repeat yourself," she whispered as she kissed him. "Now love me."
He stared blankly for a moment, then wrapped his arms around her. He rolled her on the bed and pressed his face between her neck and her shoulder, biting her. The pain sent a shiver down her spine, but he did not draw blood.
Tarun’s laughs and sobs became indistinguishable. In his fury, he grasped Keiko’s hair and wrenched her head back, giving him greater purchase to her exposed neck and breasts. He nibbled and suckled her hungrily.
Keiko pushed him back, chiding him with her eyes, teasing him. He didn't relent, though, and kept coming at her with apparently unbridled passion. Keiko gasped and moved her legs apart.
Tarun stared hatefully at her as he rode her, so she embraced him and held him tight to avoid his gaze, moving with him along the primitive rhythm pulsing in their veins.
Light and darkness merged again in an explosion of power. Keiko rolled him over and straddled him. She rode his body, listening to his moans of lust.
She assaulted him with her sex without mercy, keeping up the rhythm, finally taking him to climax once again with a scream.
"Oh, Gods save me!" Tarun cried out. The darkness of the room enfolded him... slowly stamping out his eternal flame.
He slid away from reality yet again. Keiko stroked her naked, sweaty body, savoring the power of lust.
***
Tarun stirred. He woke up next to the witch who was staring at him with hungry almond eyes. "Are you finally satisfied?” he asked.
"No, honey. You will stay with me forever." Keiko caressed his face and lips.
Tarun growled and swatted her hand away.
Keiko laughed. "So prideful, my prince. Would you like to eat something? Are you hungry?" Keiko lay on the bed and stretched her arms and legs, inviting Tarun to gaze upon her. Tears welled in his eyes, but he could not tear his attention from her.
"Yes," he muttered, "starving."
Keiko slipped a red dressing gown over her head. The material caught on her plump buttocks and she slowly wrenched it down to her legs, taking her time to bend over and expose her sex to Tarun shamelessly, teasing him all the more.
She went to a table in a dark corner and lit a candle. The table was already set and laden with food.
Tarun wrapped himself in the bed-sheet and shuffled over to the table. He sat in a chair across from her, as far away from her as possible. Tarun found the food strange and unfamiliar, but he was famished. He gobbled it greedily.
"Does your worship of evil forbid you to see the sun on occasion?" Tarun asked.
"The town has an opening, other houses have windows," Keiko replied. "But I like it this way."
Tarun pulled a hunk of bread from a loaf and stuffed it into his mouth. "Tell me you would not melt under a ray of sun."
Keiko smiled. "I just happen to prefer the night," she assured.
"Are you Human?"
"As Human as any other that walks the soil, as is the High Priest now king of Arquon,” Keiko replied.
“The king of Arquon has great power, greater than yours.”
"He just happens to have more power than me at the moment. That is because he lived down here for many more years than I."
"What is... here?"
"The Pond of Dark Magic." Keiko giggled like a child as she spoke. "Can't you feel it?"
Tarun studied her carefully.
"Oh, of course not," Keiko chided. "You're too full of light, just like Hayato."
"Who is Hayato?"
"My twin brother," Keiko replied. "Do you wish to meet him?"
"No." He threw the piece of bread on the table and stood. "Is there a bathroom? The prisoner needs to relieve himself."
***
Forgetting his predicament momentarily, Tarun strode from the bathroom holding the bed-sheet in one hand. Keiko pinched her lip to stave off her thirst for more of him. She was waiting on the bed, and shifted on the silk, passing her tongue on her lips, ready to savor him again. As she leaned back, the gown slid from her shoulders, stopping on her swollen nipples.
Tarun stood perfectly still, staring at the sight of her, utterly mesmerized. She smiled encouragingly, knowing he could not refuse her. He dropped the bed-sheet and reached the bed like a sleep-walker. He couldn't take his eyes off of her. He joined her on the bed and pushed away a lock of her hair with one hand. He tore off the dressing gown with the other.
Tarun threw himself on Keiko and bit her shoulder until she screamed in pain. He laughed cruelly and clutched her breasts, kneading them and squeezing them violently. Keiko cried out as the bliss swallowed her. He was trying to resist, and his struggle was an exquisite source of power. Even the pain he tried to inflict on her could only increase the energy. His naivety made him the perfect victim.
Tarun passed a leg over Keiko’s body and sat astride her. He sought to bury her beneath his weight, then pulled back, changing his mind. He grabbed a swatch of her hair and wrenched her face close to his.
"On your belly," he ordered.
Tarun flipped her over and pushed her face against the pillow. He took the other pillow, lifted her hips and positioned it beneath her. He wrenched one arm forcefully behind her back.
Keiko’s muffled protests echoed from the pillow. "What are you doing?"
"Considering you command me to serve you against my will," Tarun said, "at least spare me the view of your treacherous face. We will do it as the animals. I know you will enjoy it."
"Take your foul hands off me," Keiko yelled. "How dare you rebel against me."
Tarun stroked and pinched Keiko’s buttocks. He reached around and fondled her breasts. Despite her pain, Keiko moaned and heaved lustily. It wasn't really anything new for her, after Ramesh's training. She knew how powerful that way could be, and prepared to suck the energy of the young animal trying to hurt her.
Keiko pressed her buttocks further into the air and moved her legs farther apart, offering herself to him, demanding that he force his light into her, so she could have more power to exact her revenge.
But Hayato, weak as he was, rushed into the room and hit Tarun over the head, knocking him unconscious.
"What are you doing, Keiko?" he asked. Keiko had gone over the edge. She laughed and cried maniacally. She massaged her aching shoulder as she struggled to turn and face her brother.
"You're right. We should have all done it at the same time," she panted. "Why don't you fetch a woman and come here with her? When Tarun comes back to his senses..."
"No," Hayato interrupted. "You're not going to feed off of either of us."
Hayato stared at his sister. He looked sad, although in the past she would have actually felt what he felt. But now there was a wall between them.
Hayato whirled and stormed out of the room without a word and Keiko slumped on the bed with a moan.
***
When Tarun awoke for the third time, he was spread-eagled and bound to the bed. Crouched between his legs, Keiko glared at him.
"Clever, clever little prince," she said. "You would have given me a lot of power. We were so close." Keiko gently grasped Tarun’s genitals and cradled them in her hands. She stared at them inquisitively. "I’m sure it wasn't exactly what you had in mind."
"You're mad," Tarun whispered, still dazed.
"I am. I am quite mad – mad about you. You are mine. You will never go back to Rajendra, Prince Tarun. You will stay here with me forever."
Keiko removed her hands and leaned over him climbing, cat-like, towards his face. She closed her eyes and stroked his cheekbones, his nose, his forehead, as a blind person would do. She pressed her thumbs against his lips, kissed his weary brown eyes, forcing him to close them. She showered his face with little kisses, until she felt him pant. Then she kissed his lips and dipped her tongue in his mouth.
Tarun tried to resist, to control his desire, but his body overruled his mind. Keiko was unbelievably skilled as she touched him, instantly bringing him to arousal against his will. She offered him her breast, but when he tried to grab her nipple with his lips, she pulled back and slapped him.
"So, now you want it, huh?" she mocked. "Your appetite has returned."
"Please," Tarun begged. "Untie me. I won't rebel. Please, let me touch you."
"Do you surrender?" Keiko asked.
Tarun closed his eyes, exhausted. Tears spilled from his lids.
"Yes. Do what you please with me," he whispered, knowing he had lost more than control of his body.
***
"The princess of Akkora!"
King Arjun rose and so did Indira when Princess Lalita entered the throne room with a worried expression on her pretty face.
"My lord, is it true that my betrothed has vanished?" she asked, forgetting to curtsy.
"Unfortunately, my lady," King Arjun answered, depressed. "I am afraid his fate will be the same as that of your brother."
"No!" Lalita exclaimed, horrified. "I will not let the Sect kill him like they did with Yash!"
"Lalita, we have no power against the Black Dame," Indira pointed out, trying to calm down the guest. She loved Lalita because Tarun loved her, and she was really looking forward to spending some time with her before heading for her husband's palace.
"We do," Lalita assured her. "She's Human, like us. If she can draw power from the Pond of Dark Magic, so can I! I will use it to free Tarun and get rid of her!"
"You will be corrupted by that evil, you will become part of the wicked Sect!" Indira protested.
"Well, if it allows me to save Tarun, I'll gladly sacrifice myself. But maybe once he's free, he can save me."
"Oh, Lalita, I hope you can do this!" Indira hugged her on the verge of tears. "But we're just princesses..."
"Indira, I had four brothers," Lalita replied. "I can hold a sword. And your father has a Genn blacksmith, he could make me a special sword. I can win, Indira, I can save your brother and not lose him like I lost mine!"
"Princess Lalita, your words are very kind," King Arjun said, touched. "I will call Silverstar now and ask him what he thinks of your idea."
Silverstar was a tall thin man who hid his golden mane and pointed ears under a big turban. His green eyes stared at the princess of Akkora for a moment before he gave his opinion.
"Princess Lalita is probably right, a woman might succeed where most warriors would fail," he said. "I will make her a sword that won't break, but it will not be a magic sword. Any magic she'll have to provide with her strength and her love."
"I am ready," Lalita assured.
***
Tarun woke up in Keiko's arms. The windowless bedroom gave him the creeps and the Black Dame's presence was oppressive.
She caressed him, and he tried to push her away. This only aroused her more and she rolled over him, pinning him to the bed with her weight.
"Enough!" he protested, but she closed his mouth with hers.
Fighting was useless, his anger wasn't able to explode, controlled by the dark power of the Black Dame. He was so exasperated, he wanted to scream, but he wasn't allowed to. Sometimes he was allowed to cry as Keiko enjoyed catching his tears with her lips, but had no other way to let out his frustration.
Then one day he saw Lalita coming in instead of Keiko. He thought he was dreaming, and stared wide-eyed at his betrothed, who came over to the bed with a sweet smile. She was wearing male clothes and carried a strange, straight sword, she was even more beautiful than his memory of her.
"Lalita!" he whispered, incredulous and happy.
"How are you?" she asked gently.
"Take me away!" he pleaded, embracing her. She was real. She wasn't just a vision. How did she get there?
"Of course, beloved, calm down," she said holding him tight.
None of them noticed Keiko, who pointed her hand and Tarun let go of Lalita with a scream of pain. Lalita jumped to her feet, ready to fight.
"Leave him alone!" she demanded. "I came to take him away!"
"My my, an apprentice of the Dark Power," Keiko said, unimpressed.
"The Dark Power is not exclusive. I can draw on it as much as you," Lalita said between clenched teeth.
"Of course, but you're not as strong as me," Keiko smirked.
Lalita unsheathed her sword and attacked. Tarun stared from the bed at the strange duel, too weak to move.
Lalita's blade met an invisible shield. Keiko sneered and counter-attacked. Lalita collapsed with a scream of pain when a magic ball of fire hit her, sizzling her hip.
"Keiko, no!" Tarun yelled, trying to pull himself together and help his betrothed.
The almond eyes glanced at him, then a snake of darkness wrapped Lalita in its spires and crushed her. The silver sword fell to the ground, the black snake vanished, and Lalita lay lifeless.
Keiko's laughter couldn't cover Tarun's screams.
Keiko turned serious again. With a gesture, she made both princess and weapon vanish. She turned towards the bed, and her eyes locked with Tarun's.
"Did you really think she could save you?" she asked ominously.
Tarun couldn't find the breath to answer.
***
King Arjun and Indira were consulting with the captain of the Royal Guard, worried for Princess Lalita's mission, when her lifeless body appeared suddenly in the room.
Indira screamed, and even though he wasn't young anymore, the captain was the first to reach the body of the dead princess.
"Your majesty, she failed!" he announced, heart-broken. "May I try to avenge her and save our prince myself? I feel so much hatred for the Black Dame, I think I can strangle her with my own hands!"
"What if you fail too?" King Arjun asked in anguish. "I need you here!"
"Naveen can take my place. Your majesty, it would be an honor for me to die to save Prince Tarun. The princess of Akkora was bold, but she was no warrior..."
Indira was sobbing shamelessly. King Arjun looked at her and at Lalita's body, then slowly nodded.
"Don't let her kill you, my friend. I want you back with Tarun."
"Your majesty." The captain bowed deeply and picked up the silver sword.
He vanished in a swirl of black smoke, never to return.
Tarun no longer needed to be restrained. He was free to walk the underground city, because he had no idea where the exit was. He had tried a tunnel once, and got lost in the dark maze where Keiko had easily found him. She brought him back in the blink of an eye, and the punishment hadn't been sweet.
He had been to the temple. He had seen the Fountain of Power and the black statue of the Bloodthirsty Goddess, but couldn't feel the call, that magic call that had made spellbound the captain of his father's guard, now a faithful member of the Sect. Keiko had teased him, he was too pure, therefore he'd never be able to use the Dark Magic of the Pond to free himself.
He had lost track of time, between orgies and painful sessions, during which Keiko had whipped him or tortured his body in some other twisted way. So much for his royal blood, he was treated worse than a slave or a prostitute.
His mouth refused to open, to beg for mercy, to chant to the evil Goddess of the Sect. He spent all his free time following the ray of sun coming in from the opening in the ceiling of the huge cave – until only gray light came in. The monsoon had brought clouds over the mountains and part of the flattened floor was muddy from the constant rain. The change in the weather meant that at least four months had passed. An eternity, torn between pleasure and pain, drained daily of whatever energy was left in him.
Tarun slipped deeper into the well of desperation. Darkness was slowly choking him. He no longer remembered his father's face, nor his sister Indira's, nor any other face that had once been familiar. He no longer felt his body. He knew he had committed horrible acts with it, but they were of no moment, for he could no longer identify with them. All that he once was was no more. What need was there to stay and be the new pawn of darkness? It was time to leave. The next surge of power would set him free.
"Help me, Gods," he prayed. "Give me the strength to abandon what I failed to save."
Tarun felt disconnected. Suddenly he saw it, the body that used to be called Prince Tarun – now a sex-crazed, demon-ridden thing eternally hungry with lust.
He pitied himself, pitied the body that he had held such high expectations for, none of which would ever be fulfilled. He pitied as well the other body, the woman once known as Keiko, the powerful Black Dame, High Priestess of the Sect – still not powerful enough to free them both.
"I forgive you," he whispered to the two bodies, intertwined in passion. He wasn't afraid anymore... and knew he never would be again.
The power of their lust exploded again in the windowless room. Keiko moaned with pleasure, then screamed in horror as Tarun’s energy faded, taking his light and his life along with it.