“Where am I?” Theo asked himself. He had run, or walked as the terrain permitted, for the better part of three hours, passing through endless rows of fruit trees, grape vines, and crops. He never stopped to wonder what had given him such stamina, whether the enchanted foods of Pomona’s bounty had a virtue beyond entrancing any mortals who ate them. No, he only stopped when the orchards gave way to trees larger and wilder, when humidity suddenly hung thick in the air. Theo knew what places like this were called. They were called jungles.
He had learned that, back before Bastet had sent him away.
Theo knew he had successfully fled from Pomona’s domain, which was a good thing. He also knew he was in the domain of a different Goddess, which was less good. He knew it did not belong to Frigga, for one of the questions he had asked Peace during their hike together, which now felt like a different lifetime, had been of the nature of her home. Frigga’s land had trees, but they were conifers, and it was a brisk land, cool and temperate.
Theo was just as much in danger here as he was in Pomona’s domain, but whichever Goddess owned this jungle, she had no way of knowing that he had arrived, or so the boy thought.
The boy wandered through the jungle, cautiously, fearing that he might run into the unknown ruler of this domain, though part of him could not help feel a slight sense of arousal at the prospect. Memories of Morrigan and Juno and Pomona crept into his mind unbidden.
Through the patches of the trees he could see the sunlight beginning to redden, and soon enough he was beset by hunger. Theo scanned the foliage as he walked for signs of food, eventually spying a mango tree, growing at an odd angle over a nearby pond.
The peculiar growth of the tree meant that the fruit was not immediately accessible, as the tree grew diagonally out of a rocky outcropping so that the fruit hung fifteen feet or more above the water’s surface. There was another large rock near the pond, however, one which approached the tree from the opposite shore. Theo climbed up this rock, reaching out for a red, full-ripe mango that dangled tantalizingly before him. He stood as close to the edge of the rock as he dared, reaching out his hand, closer, closer…
“Whoa!” with a yell, Theo overbalanced and fell off the rock and into the pond. Luck was on the boy’s side, as the pool had a bottom of soft sand, so he came to no harm in the landing aside from feeling a little sore. He cringed and tried to get himself up.
“There we go,” said a smooth, feminine voice. Suddenly he felt a pair of hands on him, gently helping him back to his feet. He whirled around as he stood, his feet sloshing through the water.
She was a Goddess; Theo knew it instinctively. Her skin was a beautiful shade of bronze, shimmering like her silky black hair in the jungle heat. She wore trappings of gold, golden earrings, golden trim around her firm bosom concealing her nipples, golden anklets and bracelets, and a gold silk loincloth about her thighs. Most striking about her was her bindi, a small gem made of pure jet, in the shape of a teardrop and trimmed in gold on her forehead. Objectively (if such a standard were possible), she was no more beautiful than any of the other Goddesses, though something about her appearance was immediately and obviously alluring.
“Did you hunger after one of my fruits?” the Goddess asked.
“No ma’am!” Theo said, tearing his gaze away from her, walking away towards the edge of the pond. Gracefully, the Goddess leaped out of the water and onto the rocky shore.
“You do not need to deny it,” she said smoothly. “Wanting is no sin in this jungle.” She smiled down at him. “I am Parvati, Goddess of Desire. What is your name?”
“Theodore,” Theo said quickly. Just as quickly, he added “but I really don’t want anything here. I don’t want to be here at all. I’m leaving.” He marched out of the water and attempted to pass Parvati on one side.
She again moved to block his path. “Do not lie,” she said, her voice firm but smooth. “You are filled with desires. Some lesser,” she pointed towards the mango tree, “and some greater…” she placed her hands on her bosom.
“I’m leaving,” Theo repeated, though he sounded much less certain this time.
Now Parvati looked annoyed. “So stubborn,” she said. She reached out, touched Theo’s chin, nudged his gaze upwards so that he looked upon her face. He shivered a little, but did not recoil from her touch.
Humming softly, Parvati began to dance. She moved slowly, her body undulating like a willow tree in a gentle breeze, arms, waist, and head slowly drifting back and forth. It was the latter of these which drew Theo’s attention, as the Goddess’ bindi, once jet black, now shimmered and pulsed in a blend of gold and red, blending in harmony with her smooth movements. The boy’s head began to bob, this way and that, clumsily attempting to mimic her movements, to stay focused on the mesmerizing light.
“You are filled with desire,” Parvati said softly as she continued to dance. “But to fulfill it, you must give voice to it…”
A sudden frustration boiled in Theo’s entranced mind, otherwise filled with the sight of Parvati’s body and her enchanting bindi. It took him time to realize the frustration, and longer still to comprehend its demand. This voice… this Goddess, wanted something from him. He could reciprocate that desire. Slowly, the boy responded to what was being asked of him.
“I… want…” he began, his head still bobbing to match her movement.
“Yes?”
“I… want… you…” Theo said. He stopped moving in that instance, his head resting limply as he stood. His eyes, which had tracked the blooming colors of the bindi, now pulsed in red and gold on their own. He had acknowledged his desire, the spell was complete.
“Mmm…” Parvati sighed. “Doesn’t it feel much better to embrace your desire?” Theo did not respond, save for a small smile. “Now you shall get a chance to fulfill it.”
Parvati led Theo along the edge of the rocky pond, a short way up the stream which fed the pond, until they came to a small waterfall where the stream descended from a stony height above. Twilight now hung thick over the jungle as Parvati approached the waterfall, revealing that the fall served as a curtain to a cave within. As they stepped inside, torches burned to life in braziers on the walls, illuminated a bed of thick animal furs lying in the center.
Parvati sat down on the furs. “The virtue of desire is in motivation,” she said. “Pleasure is earned through pursuit of your goal, as your desire builds ever higher. Prove now that you are worthy,” she said.
A lustful look on his face, eyes still pulsing red and gold, Theodore acted. He approached the Goddess and undressed her, addressing the clasps on her golden brassiere and revealing her breasts, then doing the same with her loincloth.
Naked now, Parvati lay back on the furs, her legs spread. Following her desire to find his own, Theo began to pleasure her, using his fingers and tongue. Parvati moaned and squirmed; her enchantment drove her companion to strive harder to give her pleasure, though Theo’s time with Juno had also helped to sharpen his skills in this matter.
“Augh!” Whatever the cause of Theo’s skill, Parvati soon reached climax. Theo sat up, waiting dutifully while Parvati basked in the afterglow. “Well earned,” she said after a time. “Now you can take your reward…”
Theo moved forward, perching himself above her prone, welcoming body, before he dove in. He took measured strokes, unconsciously recalling the pattern that Morrigan had drilled into his mind. All the same, his surging desire meant that he quickly approached his crescendo.
Parvati felt its arrival and acted, using her legs to force Theo to pull out of her. So he climaxed, and his semen shot onto her stomach.
“Exquisite…” she breathed. “Ever it so feels when you earn fulfillment of your desire. And so it will be with me,” she said. She did not want his seed. Not yet. For so much sweeter would it feel to hold off, waiting until the ripest moment to take the boy’s seed, and his life. It would be so...
Suddenly Parvati sat bolt upright, sensing a foreign presence in her dominion. “Stay here,” she said to Theo, her seductive voice gone and a sharp, concerned voice in its place. She stood, sweeping her clothing back onto her body with a wave of her arm, and stepped through the waterfall to the outside.
Theo did not hear much beyond the vague sounds of shouting, muffled by the falling water. Then, however, he heard an air-rending shriek, and suddenly he was awake again. Again, it took a moment or two for him to realize his danger, memory coming back to him gradually. “Again!?” he groaned, more annoyed than anything else. He stood, grimacing, and slipped through the waterfall.
The shouting had moved away, though flashes of light could be seen in the jungle night. It would have been untrue to say that Theodore was not curious about what was going on out there, but even hearing the sound and fury of a Goddess in conflict caused fear to grow in the boy anew. Run, his survival instinct said. Run now.
So he ran, on into the night.
A grey dawn greeted Theodore as he left the jungle at last. The boy was fatigued. The boy was hungry, having stopped only briefly in Parvati’s jungle to drink, otherwise walking endlessly. The jungle had given way to a forest of a different kind, dead and chill. The trees there were bereft of leaves, save for a few stragglers, brown and dry, rustling in the cold wind. He had arrived in a land perpetually at the very end of fall, or very dawn of winter.
Theo felt similarly bleak. Hunger and fatigue weakened his body while loneliness and a sense of helplessness sapped his spirit. None of the Goddesses really cared about him. Bastet sent him away. Frigga had left him behind. Juno would keep him forever like an animal. The others only wanted him to father their child, before he died. And there was nothing he could do to change that.
Growing up with Bastet, he had never really grasped the vast difference in ability between him and his foster mother. Like all children, he had known his parent to be superior, but now, on his own, he was beginning to grasp the difference. These women would find him, wherever he ran. The only way he could be safe was finding protection from one of them, but then he would be in that Goddess’ power, utterly.
The wind whispered through the trees as Theo plodded amongst them, too dejected to raise his head, focusing on avoiding the grasping roots that came from the naked trees. The wind whistled among the leaves and among the trees, singing a mournful note that matched the boy’s mood, wrapping him more into his despondency, pulling him away from awareness. If he could have suspected what was going on, however, it would have made no difference. He was a trespasser in another’s domain, and falling prey to her power.
Thus it was that Theo only looked up when he found himself standing before a cottage which stood in a small clearing of trees. A snow owl slept on the roof of the cottage, eyes shut against the dawn, while smoke climbed out of a chimney, catching in the wind. Theo stood and stared at the cottage for a moment, aware in some part of his mind that he was in danger anew, but the wind continued to whisper, binding him in chains of dejection. Danger was unavoidable, inevitable.
The cottage door opened, and a woman stood in the threshold. She had skin as pale as Morrigan’s, but with long, sleek red hair. She had long white robe cinched with a red sash. “Come, child,” she said, beckoning.
Theo walked into the cottage, and the woman shut the door behind him. The interior of the cottage was lit by fire, the curtains on the windows drawn to block out the sunlight. The fire provided warmth, and heated some unknown brew in a pot above, giving off a wholesome scent that filled the cottage. There were simple furnishings: a bed, a table and chairs, but little else. It was simple, but comfortable.
“Weary wanderer,” she said, her voice creeping into the boy’s mind as readily as her whispering winds had. “You have done well to answer the summons. I am Beira, Goddess of Want. Those who lack in all things call out to me, seeking simple comforts to console them against the hardships of the world. You are alone in this world, correct?”
“Yes…” Theo nodded.
“Poor dear,” Beira said, leaning over him and cupping his face in her hands. “Tired, hungry, all alone…” she grabbed his hand and pulled him towards her bed. “It’s all okay now…” She sat down on the bed and slipped open the top of her robe, revealing a pale-skinned bosom, large and soft, much like Pomona’s. She beckoned anew, and Theo sat on her lap.
“Drink of them,” she urged, cupping her breasts. Theo obeyed and began sucking her nipple, finding that a sweet, warm milk flowed forth. He nuzzled into her bosom as he drank, and Beira held him close.
“There we go,” she said sweetly. “Don’t you feel better?” Indeed Theo could feel the nourishment from the Goddess’ breast milk, his hunger and weariness melting away, though it was not replaced with any great sense of vitality. Instead a comfortable warmth crept over him, aided by Want’s body heat, a pleasant, nostalgic feeling reminding him of Bastet, of home.
“All done,” Beira declared, pushing the boy off of her lap and onto the bed. Theo yawned broadly.
“Tired already?” the Goddess asked. She looked down, seeing Theo’s erect member creating a bulge in his pants. “Not entirely, it seems.” She got off the bed and down on her knees, drawing Theo’s pants down and letting his cock stand upright. She kissed its head, and then began sucking until the boy climaxed. The Goddess savored the taste of his semen for a time before swallowing it.
“Here you’ll find an end to your lonely weariness,” she said, sitting back down on the bed. “Though I can offer you little but my companionship, which is a thing to be treasured.” She grabbed his cock and gently stroked it back to life, and then lay back on the small bed, undoing her sash and spreading the robe open fully, revealing smooth, creamy thighs, and a pussy crowned with a patch of red.
Wordlessly she beckoned, and Theodore crawled toward her. He mounted, his cock sliding into her slick womanhood, but before he could move further, the cottage door swung open. A woman’s figure stood in the threshold, framed by the early sunlight, the snowy owl that Theo had spotted earlier clutched by the neck in one fist.
“I must ask you to desist, my sister,” the woman said.
