TAKEN By Dap ("Cumluvnbottom") Hargrave
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Author's Note: This story contains man to man sex, Dominance / submission, verbal abuse, and watersports. The story also includes science fiction / fantasy images and one very minor reference to a heterosexual encounter (to show the progression of a character). If you are not interested in these topics, if you are offended by them, or if you are not 18 / of legal age in your jurisdiction, do not read further.
Still here? Ok. The story has a fair amount of buildup / development. But I promise we will get to the good stuff (sex) in due course. This story currently consists of 12 parts (chapters) and each post will include 1 - 2 parts (chapters). I am considering adding an epilogue but have not yet decided (I like the idea of exploring the world further but also like the ending of the story as it now stands).
The story, its settings, and the characters are property of the author. Ok... all good? Then lets get started.
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PART 1: THE CAVERN
I can't move.
My hands and legs are restrained. Tied. I struggle, try to break loose, but the bonds are secure. My hands bound behind my back, my legs fastened together.
Something hits me on the ass. Hard. A spanking. A warning like you would give to an errant child, but no words are spoken. I stop struggling.
I need to figure out what is going on. I am aware of movement. Of arms around my legs and chest. My 6' 1" frame is being carried.
What the fuck? The last thing I can remember was being in the grocery store. Smiling at that hot woman who lives down the street from me. We've been flirting in the store for a few weeks now. Blond hair, blue eyes, hot body. So far it's just been glances, smiles. I've been wanting to talk to her but it's just never been the right time. I'm in a rush or she's with a friend. Whatever. Today I had finally been about to make my move and invite her out for a drink to celebrate my 21st birthday tonight...
... But there was something else. No. Someone else. A man. He had seemed out of place in the upscale market. Long hair and beard. His clothes worn, ill fitting, and out of fashion. I kept seeing him in aisle after aisle. Never too close but always seeming to be watching. He was kind of creeping me out and I had thought about getting the store manager to drive him off. But I had seen that woman again and was focused on her.
And then... nothing. I can't remember anything after that first step towards the woman in the store. The strange man must have done something... it had to be him. But the market was crowded. How had anything happened in such a public space without someone doing something?
I feel dizzy and have a headache. I open my eyes but can barely see. Something is covering my head. It feels like some sort of heavy hood, tied securely at the neck. The air is warm and stale... not getting much fresh air through this hood.
But that doesn't explain the headache and dizziness. I'm not suffocating - the hood is not completely airtight - but something is not right. The stale air is not helping, but there is something more. Something I can't remember. A flash of something flits in my memory but slips away. Leaving just an echo of a sensation, a hint. I was falling. But I can't remember any more that that.
I'm scared, I admit it, and the sheen of sweat is making my shirt stick to my skin. I rub my hands nervously against my jeans.
Whoever is carrying me stops. I feel myself being lowered... and then drop.
I hit the ground hard and it knocks the wind out of me. I struggle for air. A low, hoarse moaning escapes my chest as I try fill my lungs. If you've ever had the wind knocked out of you, you know what I mean. Panic.
It takes a few minutes but gradually the noise from my chest subsides. The panic eases. But only barely. My head feels worse now. The air my lungs were so desperately pulling in was the stale air under the hood.
The floor feels cold beneath me. Like some kind of polished stone or marble. The air feels cold as well.
I listen. Hoping for some clue about what is happening around me. I hear the crackling of a fire. It sounds close but I feel no warmth. I can smell the smoke through the hood now though and it makes me cough. I hate smoke.
I hear footsteps and rustling like a group of people milling around but no one is speaking at all. I want to call out. But I'm afraid.
A sudden loosing at my neck and the hood is pulled off.
I take a few deep breaths of the cool air. The smoke makes me cough but I am just relieved to be able to breath easier.
My eyes are stinging and squinting in the sudden light after the near darkness under the hood. I let them adjust. My hands and legs are still bound but I make myself look around for anything that might tell me where I am, what is going on, and how to get the fuck out of here.
I am in a very large room. A fire is burning on either side of me, each in a metal "bowl" shaped from metal bands. Some kind of andiron or brazier then... the kind of thing you would see in a horror movie or some ancient ceremony.
The fires are burning not 6 feet away on either side but I still feel no warmth. The flames are bright but most of the room is still in shadow. The floor beneath me is a black stone of some kind, polished like glass but with no reflection. The ceiling, maybe 20 or 30 feet above me, appears to be the same.
I cannot make out the walls of the room clearly through the shadow but the room has a feeling of weight to it. Am I underground somewhere? A cave or cavern? Yes, this definitely feels more like a cavern than a room.
I seem to be facing the front of the cavern. There is a raised platform about 8 feet away. The only word that comes to mind to describe it is an altar. Pale blue light seems to hover around it but I can't see where it is coming from. It lights the altar but doesn't shift any other shadows.
I look behind me and see the man from the market. His dark eyes glare down mockingly at me. He is dressed differently now in some kind of leather trousers and vest. The clothes are strange but seem more appropriate on him than the clothes he had been wearing in the grocery store.
Two other men stand nearby... one a step from my head, the other a step from my feet. They are dressed in sleeveless grey robes. They each glance at me occasionally but they don't seem overly concerned about my getting away. I'm still tied up... so I guess I understand that.
Further away, in the shadows, I can make out two groups of people... maybe 30 or 40 people on the right of the room and a smaller group on the left. They are deep enough in shadow that I cannot make them out. Just shapes in the shadows.
The air in the cavern smells strange. Stale but not like the stale air under the hood. Musky. It reminds me vaguely of the smell of the locker room after gym class in school. Yet... not like that. I know that doesn't make sense but I don't know how else to explain it.
The fires in the braziers give no heat but smoke hangs heavy in the air. Even the smoke smells odd. It burns my throat and makes me want to choke. I hate smoke.
A flicker of movement. Caught just in the corner of my vision. My eyes dart back to the altar.
A figure stands in front of me. Where in the hell did he come from? He wasn't there just a few seconds ago.
The figure is completely covered in a black hooded robe. Completely shrouded. The robe is stretches all the way to the floor, hiding feet. The long sleeves completely cover the arms and hands. I cannot even see a face under the hood, only shadows.
A feeling of dread hangs over the room. Something dark and primal. I try to shake it off. I'm being stupid. The cavern is dark and I was distracted. I simply didn't notice him approach. That's what I tell myself. But I don't believe it.
"Greetings, Hunter." A deep and raspy voice says, speaking to the bearded man from the grocery store. There is something about the voice that chills me to the bone. It is the sound of the tree scraping your bedroom window when you were afraid of the dark as a child. It is the sound of the brakes on your car when you know you can't stop in time.
"My Lord." The bearded man replies with a bow.
"What offering have you brought us?" The raspy voice asks.
The man from the market, the Hunter as the shrouded figure called him, puts his heavy boot on my hip. "I bring this soul to you from the mortal world. I've been watching this one for some time and bring it to face your trials."
Mortal world? And what does he mean calling me `it'?
"Very well. Release it from it's bonds. It will be Tested."
"Wh-what is going on here?" My voice is quivering. "How dare you kidnap me like this? Is this some kind of cult? I'm going to be missed, you know... you had better let me go!"
The Hunter swings his heavy boot, hitting me in the back. "Be silent! You have been brought before the Tribunal. Keep your tongue in the presence of your betters." He hisses.
The black-shrouded figure holds up a hand. "Be at peace, Hunter. It does not yet know our ways. Untie it so the Testing can begin."
The Hunter pulls a long knife from his belt and kneels next to me. He doesn't say a word but his look tells me that he will gut me if I try to run. I believe him. With a couple quick swipes the straps holding my hands and feet are cut away.
"You will be rewarded in the usual manner, Hunter. You may go. The Grey shall watch over him from here."
The Hunter bows. He pauses only briefly, his eyes boring into mine with an unspoken threat, then turns and walks out of sight.
The two men in grey robes still stand on either side of me. Like guards holding a prisoner. I take it that they are "the Grey".
I rub my wrists and arms. Hoping to get circulation back to them. I need to be ready for anything that might happen. I start to stand but one of the grey robed men silently puts a hand on my shoulder, stopping me. I am kneeling on the cold stone floor.
The smoke from the two braziers is getting thicker. It is really starting to bother me.
For the first time, the Tribunal speaks to me. "The Hunter has called me the Tribunal. I have been known by many names but that will do as well as any other. You will be Tested according to the Old Law. The Testing will reveal the truths that you hide even from yourself. And truth will determine your fate. Do you understand?"
I start to cough, trying to cover my mouth to keep the smoke out. It burns my eyes, my throat. I'm having a hard time drawing a breath.
"Do you understand?" The raspy voice demands.
"Yes... I - I think so." I manage to choke out a reply. The cavern is spinning around me, my vision blurring.
"Then let the Testing begin."
I can't breath at all. The cavern is getting dark. Panic again overtakes me.
I struggle to get up but am pushed down again. I can barely see, just indecipherable motion and light. My arms flail. Desperately. Instinctively. But touch nothing. Only empty air...