Message-ID: <34436asstr$1010027404@assm.asstr-mirror.org> Return-Path: X-Original-Path: not-for-mail From: mandil_k@hotmail.com (mandil) X-Original-Message-ID: Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit NNTP-Posting-Date: 3 Jan 2002 01:59:00 GMT X-ASSTR-Arrival-Date: 2 Jan 2002 17:59:00 -0800 Subject: {ASSM} Masters of the Arches chapter 3 Date: Wed, 2 Jan 2002 22:10:04 -0500 Path: assm.asstr-mirror.org!not-for-mail Approved: Newsgroups: alt.sex.stories.moderated,alt.sex.stories Followup-To: alt.sex.stories.d X-Archived-At: X-Moderator-Contact: ASSTR ASSM moderation X-Story-Submission: X-Moderator-ID: RuiJorge, kelly Masters of the Arches by Mandil Chapter 3 Until now they had been walking in a region covered with many rocks and just a few trees. But an hour after leaving their camping site of the previous night, they stood at the very edge of a dark forest of extremely high trees. None of them could Vincent identify, their enormous trunks were covered with thick and scaly dark brown bark while their deep green leaves were the size of the pages of a book. The look of the place didn’t reassure him much. He told himself that he would only go a few miles inside this sinister forest and then he would turn back with or without Nika. Their progress was difficult. All the time they had to walk around the trees or clear away from the mounds in the ground that their many roots was causing and it was impossible to walk in a straight line for long. To make matters worse, the ground was littered with dead branches and even fallen trees would block their patch once in a while. After over an hour of difficult progress within the forest they heard the breaking of small branches. The noise was very similar to the sound made when someone was walking on dry branches on the ground. They immediately took cover in the low foliage next to one of the trees and they remained motionless for a while. Soon, not more than fifty feet from where they were, a group of twenty to twenty five of the ugly creatures that Nika had called Arons, appeared as they walked in a single file. They were walking in a north-westerly direction almost in the exact direction from which Vincent and Nika had come from. The group was entirely made of adult males and aside from the noises they made while walking, not a sound was heard from them. They disappeared into the dense growth of the forest as quickly as they had appeared. But before Vincent or Nika had a chance to get out of their hiding place, a second group of Arons appeared. This time it consisted of females and young ones. Vincent was surprised to see how quiet they were. There was no talking whatsoever and no laughing or running around from the children. It occurred to Vincent that if they were on the move all the time as it seemed they were, their survival depended on strict discipline and of course in making the least noise possible when they moved from place to place. They must have had enemies since they were much too careful and quiet. It was only because of the unavoidable noises of the breaking branches that they had heard them. They both remained another ten minutes carefully hidden so as to make sure than there were no more of them coming their way. When they went to the spot where they had last seen the Arons, there was a well used path there. It went between the trees turning here and there, and by its appearance it had been in used for a great many years judging by the depth of the eroded ground of the trail. That did it for Vincent. There was no way that he was going to go further without being better prepared and also knowing more about the dangers to be expected in this place. First he would have like to questioned Nika about the topography of the terrain ahead of them, and then he had no idea as to where she was trying to take him. He only had three dozen bullets left for his rifle, and as for the food, it was almost all gone now except for half a bag of biscuits and two remaining cans. He took her by the hand and he pulled her gently toward the general direction of the north where he could still barely see the tip of the mountain that marked his entrance in Nika’s world. It was his intention to make her understand that this was where he wanted to go. She resisted him and he could see fright written all over her face. She then began to talk very fast in her language. Of course, there was no way for him to understand her words but it was plain that she was still trying to convince him to follow her. When he realised that there was no use in insisting, he released her hand and he began to walk toward the north on a path parallel to the direction they had watched the Arons go. Even though he did hear her shouting at him, he didn’t bother to turn or look back, he just kept on walking. After a minutes or so, she was back walking behind him. There were no more protest from her and she followed him. They proceeded toward the mountain by a different path, one that was well off the trail of the Arons. That night they both slept in the sleeping bag in a spot that was well hidden near a large rock. While they were in the bag together Vincent had the impression that Nika was doing all in her power to arouse him sexually, but he was much too tired to pay attention to her advances. When he woke up the next morning, he had his arm around her and one of his hand was cupping her left breast. He had placed his hand there in his sleep without even being aware of it. They ate the last of the biscuits – Nika was crazy about them – and drank water from the bottle he had filled from a small stream they had passed the previous day. They were just about ready to leave when Vincent noticed many small fragments sparkling on the ground. Had he been on his world he would simply have dismissed it since he would have concluded that it was caused by broken glass. But there was no glass here; at least he had not seen any yet. Bending down, he picked up a few of the shinning stones. Much to his surprise, he realised that they were unpolished diamonds. Some were as big as his thumb and there must have been thousands of them lying on the ground just a few feet in front of the rock that they had choosen to place their sleeping bag. Before leaving he did gather a few dozen of them, he placed them in his knapsack while Nika watched him and didn’t seemed to understand why he was placing stones in there. Around noon of that day, they were almost at the base of the mountain that hid the cave leading to his world. Nika was very nervous now and she kept repeating over and over the word “vopa” as she pointed toward the solitary mountain. Then by late afternoon they were both standing in front of the entrance to the cave where was hidden the arch. Vincent then realised that he was going to have a problem to bring Nika to his world and not frighten her to death in the process. His intention was to get back again with her, but first he wanted to rest for a while and also to get more supplies and also plenty of ammunition. During the few days that he intended to spend in his cottage, it was his intention to teach Nika a few words of English so that he could get informations from her. They ate the last of the food in front of the cave with grapes still on the vines which were hiding the entrance. While eating, he thought of a way to get her across to his world without frightening her too much. As soon as they were finished eating, he removed the ammunition from is knapsack and he placed it over her head. He then guided her inside the cave. She didn’t protest, and he realised that she had complete trust in him by now. He could feel her shaking in fright as he held her arm and leading her directly toward the plate. They stepped on the plate together. By now he was holding her in his arms and he had to half carry her off the plate as soon as the numb sensation disappeared. He next removed the knapsack from over her head and he guided her toward the small exit near the floor. She was very surprised when she saw his house and while walking toward it she kept pressing herself very close to him, as if seeking his protection. As soon as they got inside Vincent had a look around so as to see if everything was as it should be. Once he was satisfied that everything was as he had left it, he sat in his favourite chair and by mean of signs with his hand he invited her to sit on the couch next to him. It was now almost eleven in the morning and when they had eaten last in front of the cave on Nika’s world; it had been late afternoon. Of course to Vincent it was again one more proof that her world was on a completely different star system than the Earth was. Even if the sun shining over this other world was very comparable to his own sun, the planet’s period of revolution was not the same since the length of a day on her world was definitely shorter than the length of a day on his own world. Judging by the two days of her world’s time that he had spent there, and the difference in time that his watch was showing, he estimated that her world had days of approximately twenty hours. This, of course, was the ultimate proof that the arch was transporting him on a completely different world. As soon as he felt rested well enough, he started the generator. Then taking two frozen steaks from the propane freezer, he cooked a good meal for both of them. His freezer and stove were gas operated; so it was not necessary for the generator to be on all the time. This is the reason he would always stop the generator when he was away from the house more than a couple of hours. Nika was examining and touching all that she could see in the house. Everything was so strange and mysterious to her. But it was the ice cubes that he placed in her water that fascinated her the most. She couldn’t help herself from taking one in her hand and laughing loudly as she felt the ice melting on her fingers and hand. It was evident to Vincent that she had never seen ice before. Seeing her going about completely naked in the house made him feel uncomfortable. So he went into his room and he got her one of his white T- shirts and a pair of navy beige shorts that he use to wear when he was much younger. She was very pleased with both garments and she considered them a present from him. They ate in silence and as soon as the meal was over he proceeded to teach her a few English words. First he began by touching and naming different parts of his face and his body. He next did the same thing with some of the articles that they were going to need when he would be back on her world. Things such as rifle, water, knife, and so on. Vincent noticed that once she knew how to say the name of something, she would never forget it. He was also greatly surprised by the speed at which she was learning new words. He did try of course, to learn a few words of her language, but it was very difficult for him since some of the words would end with a high pitch pronunciation. He discovered much later that the same word in her language had different meanings depending on the intensity and pitch that it was pronounced. A couple of hours after they finished eating, she was able to compose a few very simple sentences. That night they both slept in his bed since Nika insisted on sleeping next to him. He tried to make her sleep in the spare bedroom, but she wouldn’t stay there by herself and a few minutes after he would leave the room, she would come back to his bed and curl next to him. At last, he gave up and they both spent the night together. The following morning while they were sitting at the table he once again taught her new words. As they ate breakfast, he would make her repeat the name of words he had taught her the previous day and he also added new one to her increasing vocabulary. She was learning much faster than he had dared hope, and having now learned a few verbs, Nika could make complete sentences. They even went outside where he set a small fire using matches so as to teach her the word for the process of burning as well as the words for stick and matches etc. His teaching went on for the rest of the day and by early evening he was able to learn from her that the mountain they had climbed to get to the arch was "vopa", which met sacred and that it was the house of the gods. Each and every time he would refer to the mountain he would see the fear in her eyes. ( end of chapter 3 ) -- Pursuant to the Berne Convention, this work is copyright with all rights reserved by its author unless explicitly indicated. +---------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | alt.sex.stories.moderated ----- send stories to: | | FAQ: Moderator: | +---------------------------------------------------------------------------+ |Archive: Hosted by Alt.Sex.Stories Text Repository | |, an entity supported entirely by donations. | +---------------------------------------------------------------------------+