14 comments/ 467960 views/ 11 favorites Bride of Sacrifice By: Akito01 The 'Book Of The Dead' states that the will of the Gods is absolute. The ties of destiny and fate are unbreakable. As a chantress in the temple of Amun-Re, Panya grew up within the confines of strict ritual and service, never seeking to question the rules that governed her entire life. If the young woman yearned for anything, it was only that her faith and devotion be rewarded in the afterlife with a better fate than the one she was made to endure here. Word came of a discovery made in Luxor, of a cave that contained an unspeakable horror. This was not common knowledge, but as the seat of all political life in the kingdom, the temple was rife with rumor and intrigue. "They say none other than Set himself stalks the sacred valley," one of the guards whispered in her ear. Such talk was frightening, but the unchanging ritual of days gave Panya a profound sense of security. Nothing could ever change in the secluded and sheltered world in which she lived, no abstract and distant threat could possibly affect her. The high priests were determined to maintain order. Meeting in secret, they arrived at a solution to the problem of the mysterious beast. If the monster truly was of divine origin, or even the most dreaded Set, then the only sensible course of action was placation. An offering was sought, and quickly found. Panya, having completed the morning prayers to awaken the sun god, was gently taken aside. "You've been selected for a different kind of service," she was simply told, and taken away from the temple without further explanation. Locked within a secret building, she was kept isolated and alone. Barely anyone spoke to her during this time, her only contact being with the slaves who silently brought her food and water. Normally shaved bald, she wasn't permitted the use of a razor, so her hair grew out as the days passed. It was clear that life in the temple was over. Panya paced the small stone room, wrought with anxiety, unable to determine what transgression could have brought this fate upon her. She didn't realize it was exactly because of her purity that she'd been so selected. After a matter of weeks, she was finally removed from this prison, but hardly freed. "Try not to be afraid," she was told, the man greeting her wearing the headdress of a high official. "You are accustomed to service to the Gods, so I trust that you won't flinch in your duty now. We head to Luxor, where you will be our living offering to a wayward God." Panya palled at the news, but had no means to protest as she was indeed taken into the sacred valley, which houses the most reverend dead. The desert heat was terrible, and though she served the sun God, life in the confines of the temple had left her pale skin unaccustomed to the harsh glare of full daylight. The only small mercy was the care her captors took to ensure her health and comfort, supplying her with water and shade. Clearly they were determined that their holy offering arrives intact. Standing before the cave's narrow entrance, Panya shuddered, but tried not to let her feelings show. Even as she was stripped of all her clothing and had her wrists bound with thick rope, she endured it all with quiet grace. The soldiers and priests were nervous as well, but the high official assured them of their safety, that the beast did not stalk during the day. Marched a short distance into the rough stone cavern, the other end of Panya's rope was tied to a thick bronze spike driven into the ground. She retained the strength not to beg or plead for her life, remaining calm and silent even as the entourage quit the cave, leaving her entirely alone in near prefect darkness. For a very long while, she was convinced that she was indeed entirely alone. There was virtually no sound at all beyond the echo of her quietly muttered prayers, and as she looked back into the depths of the cave, she could sense no movement at all. She could easily be convinced there was no danger, that the rumors of some God-beast were only rumors after all. As the sun set, and the faint light from the mouth of the cavern faded out, she couldn't fight back the trepidation that began to take hold. Panya thought she could hear a slow muted shuffling from behind, an impression that grew until she was convinced that it wasn't a trick of the senses. She remained kneeling, rigid with fear as the unknown thing stalked closer. She imagined a jackal, a manifestation of the terrible god Set, with pitch-black fur and a maw of slavering fangs. She prayed that the end would come quickly, that it would leap upon her and snap her neck before she could experience the horror of being dismembered and consumed. The creature, defying her silent wish, only crept closer with a plodding and ambiguous gait. She could hear its breath, a strange unearthly wheezing that beggared identification with anything familiar and safe. She was far too frightened to move, though it must be nearly upon her. Then came the first tentative touch, a brushing of something against her bare foot. Panya whimpered, shivering as the unknown thing touched her again. It wasn't claws or fangs, but something smooth and soft. Suddenly, and with unexpected speed, long tendrils of slick black flesh assailed Panya. They wrapped around her body, encircling every limb, and climbed up the length of her naked torso. Panya screamed, losing all sense of calm or reason. The thick ropes of flesh possessed great strength, holding her fast and nearly threatening to choke off her breath. They were hideously like snakes, but moving with an orchestration and purpose that hinted at a more monstrous source. Guided by senses that certainly weren't human, they slithered against her skin, attracted by scent and moisture. Blind, they hunted her body for the source. Helpless to stop them, Panya felt the black coils force her legs even further apart. The thick tapered end of a tentacle slid across her pubis to the exposed lips of her labia. It pushed and pressed, moving between them. Strong and slick, the head of the creature's uncouth limb easily penetrated into her cunt. Panya let out another scream at the moment of her violation, but was quickly muffled as yet another tentacle took advantage of the offered opening. Her eyes bulged in abject horror, tasting the alien skin that now filled her mouth. The creature huffed and wheezed close to her back, perhaps taking pleasure in this obscene exploration of her body. Undaunted by her futile struggles, the first tentacle continued to push and stretch inside her distended vagina, filling her up with its pulsing flesh. Another began to hunt at the dimple of her anus, while the horrid tendril in her mouth sought for the back of her throat despite her attempts to bite into its elastic skin. She thought she must go mad, that such torture couldn't be endured for very much longer. In such traction, a second is a lifetime, so it's hard to know for certain just how long the beast had taken her before the blade flashed out of in the darkness, severing the first tentacle clean. There was a strangulated, inhuman cry quickly followed by another swipe of a sword. Freed from the grip of the monster, the rope binding her wrists together was cut as well. "Quickly, get out of here." Panya didn't pause to acknowledge the source of the voice, but ran stumbling towards the mouth of the cave. Lingering echoes of pain and combat followed her until she was out of the cavern. Collapsing onto the sand, she stared manically back into the abyss, heart racing with fear and confusion. In a more rational frame of mind, she may have continued to flee. Instead, she was frozen to the spot, waiting to see who, or what, would eventually emerge from the cave. Her eyes adjusted to the pale moonlight, and the sweat covering her naked skin began to chill in the night air. She didn't know for how long she'd been lying there, minutes or seconds, but finally a figure did step out of the shadows of the cavern mouth. Bronze sword still dripping with ichor, the soldier glanced around until he spotted the girl lying on the ground. "It's alright, I've taken care of that... thing," he said with a naturally deep voice, stepping towards her. Flooded with adrenalin and fear, Panya automatically flinched away from the offered hand. "You don't have to be afraid, Panya, honestly." The mention of her name snapped her out of her reverie. For the first time, she looked at the soldier properly. He was very tall and extremely muscular, possessing the darker skin of those from the southern lands. There was something familiar about his face that she couldn't immediately identify. "How do you know my name," she asked meekly, accepting his help to regain her feet. "You don't recognize me at all," he asked in turn, offering her a smile. Standing before him, painfully aware of her nakedness and still in shock, couldn't get her mind to focus. "It's alright, you've been through a lot. I didn't know if I'd get here in time to save you, or even if I could." "To save me... from..." Panya felt a rush of panic, but before she could relive the horror in her memory, she blacked out in a sudden faint.