A Glimpse Beyond the Mists

A piercing, wailing noise filled the pit. It was not unlike a loud whistle, yet at the same time there was a melodic mixture of oddly combined notes contained within the sound. The great weight pressing upon Kane suddenly fell away save for two or three unmoving bodies that were most certainly dead. The puritan was scarcely able to realize his amazement as he pushed and kicked feebly until his trembling and battered body was free from all impediment. Despite reeling near the verge of fainting Kane gasped and panted to regain his breath. Come what might he was grateful for the opportunity to suck air back into his deprived lungs. The foul stench of the attackers remained but the puritan somehow deciphered the fact that the foul creatures had taken sudden flight....but why? And what had been the source of the strange sound?

Solomon Kane blinked and employed his tattered sleeve to wipe the sweat, blood, and gore away from his eyes. This served to make his vision marginally better but did nothing to explain what his volcanic gray eyes revealed. The puritan wondered as to whether or not he might already be dead. Through a blurry haze of whirling mist he saw, or thought he saw, several large greenish orbs that floated before him in a bright, slightly wavering pattern. He could make no sense of it.

Solomon Kane continued to blink and rub at his eyes as his breaths settled, becoming much less desperate and ragged. Fresh air flooded his lately oxygen denied brain and the puritan forced himself upright despite the pain that screamed out at even the slightest movement. Whereas it could truly be said that the gaunt wanderer had seen many astonishing sights during his life, perhaps nothing had prepared him for the startling visions he glimpsed next.

The glowing green orbs were apparently some remarkable kind of torch. They were seated atop an apparatus consisting of a bowl with a wooden rod underneath. These rods were held high in the hands of a very unusual people entirely unlike the depraved sub-human species that had tried to kill the Englishman.

While they had the dusky complexions and over-sized eyes and ears of the stinking, primitive wretches, here were men as noble in build and expression as any that lived above the crust of the earth. These men were slender in build but not at all malnourished. They wore clean white skirts that fell very nearly to their knees. About their waists were bright red girdles that appeared to be gilded with gold! Above their large dark eyes were thin gold headbands. Kane could tell little about the color and texture of their hair due their simple headdresses fashioned from more of the clean white cloth. Upon their feet were well made sandals produced from the fibers of some reed like plant. Red strings snaked about their ankles in a complex fashion, attaching the sandals to the wearer.

Kane instantly noted the simple scabbards hanging from the gilded waistbands. These scabbards held long knives adorned with handles painted a bright yellow. Two or three of these mysterious figures held no green globes but the long knives instead. They studied the puritan with eyes that spoke to intelligence and many questions. However, Kane did not sense anything overtly threatening in the sensible defensive poses of these odd warriors. It seemed wholly probable that they were as astonished by Kane as he was by them.

The Englishman sat with has aching back against the solid rock wall of the pit. He found himself wondering about the source of the power within the green orbs. Perhaps they were simply objects of green glass that held a bright candle inside?

These musings were instantly forgotten as the newcomers parted ranks to allow an utterly stunning figure to make her way forward. Solomon Kane sat seemingly as calm as before but within his mighty chest his heart began to pound from a rush of pure adrenalin.

In a word she was beautiful, exquisitely beautiful in all respects. No language could do adequate justice to the vision that stood only scant feet away from the puritan. She was slight in build like the men but quite tall, standing just under six feet. Her skin was a deep golden hue like polished bronze and completely flawless. The smoothness and glow of her flesh was truly startling. Solomon Kane could swear good witness to this simple truth because the young woman was every bit as naked as she was noble.

She wore nothing save a gleaming gold headband, ivory and gold earrings, a gold chain about her supple waist, and sandals covered with leopard hide.

The girl's hair was a shimmering, sheer black. It was very long indeed, hanging nearly to glorious mid thigh. Her over-sized dark eyes mesmerized the puritan. They were deep, mysterious, and altogether magnificent. They seemed to penetrate him, seeking out his very essence if not his soul. The Englishman could take his eyes off hers only with difficulty. However this he did so in order to drink in the loveliness of her perfectly sculpted full lips and the very generous slope of her breasts. The tender tauntness of her stomach was accentuated by a large ruby set into her navel. The thick black denseness of her pubic mound appeared pleasingly groomed.

Despite the pounding his body had taken the puritan's pride demanded that he stand or at the very least attempt to do so. This simple chore proved to be much easier thought than accomplished unfortunately. The gaunt Englishman's limbs were plagued by pain and unaccustomed weakness. He remained still for a moment, determined to try again and all the harder, as soon as the cursed swoon he felt passed. He became dully aware that he was bleeding, and quite profusely.

The woman pointed at Kane and spoke a few words in a tongue that was completely alien to the puritan. Almost instantly a male retainer was at the Englishman's side offering him a decanter filled with some unknown but aromatic fluid.

Solomon Kane sniffed at the container suspiciously. The aroma was very fresh and sweet, and immensely appealing. He decided to throw caution to the wind and appease the pleas of his sorely parched lips and throat. The dryness thereof was unbearable even for the grim puritan. He took a tentative sip and found the liquid to be some sort of very appealing wine. Kane proceeded to drain the remainder of the drink.

The Englishman licked his lips in appreciation as the fluid spread through his limbs and lessened their aching considerably. He thought to make a second attempt at standing when the golden skinned princess edged closer until her sleek frame was less than a yard from where Kane sat. Someone passed her a rod about two feet in length. Unbelievably the object glowed with the same shimmering green light that emanated from the strange orbs.

The supple female knelt slightly and smiled beautifully. She spoke in an incomprehensible but soothing tone, with a voice that echoed like fine music. She held the queer rod out as if she wanted the Englishman to touch it.

Solomon Kane did not feel at all any sense of peril. He barely noticed the thunder that crashed above, nor did he take much note that it sounded much closer than before. The drink had steadied him. He even felt slightly giddy, something ordinary wine almost never managed to do no matter how much he drank. Such was the puritan's great stamina.

The lovely woman, a vision that literally encompassed all that a man desired in the form of a female, leaned even closer with the curious rod extended towards Kane. He sensed that she wanted him to take the thing from her hand. He made as if to grasp it, but ever vigilant, the Englishman choose to first barely brush the brightly glowing object with his fingertips.

Kane immediately felt a vague jolt followed by a warm tingling sensation in his hand. This odd feeling almost instantly spread throughout his battered body creating a warm numbing. For a few brief moments he felt something akin to pleasure before slumping forward, totally enveloped in blackness.

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Solomon Kane was not a man who dreamed often but now he did. He smelled flowers and heard soft feminine voices. He could plainly hear the pleasing sound of gently churning waters not unlike the simple noises a little country stream might make.

Kane felt himself drifting along with the sounds of this merry natural brook. Suddenly the puritan realized that he had somehow traversed the great distances and returned to the English countryside and a fair land known as Devon.

The puritan had returned home. He saw the stream and discovered that he was in fact lying beside it. He rose without the slightest pain and walked into a vast field, one lit brightly by a magnificently glowing sun. Everywhere he looked gay, multi-colored wildflowers grew in abundance. Their odor pleased his nostrils. As he strolled about with limbs that felt amazingly light, Kane heard someone nearby calling his name. It was a cheerful sweet voice that he recognized instantly.....Bess!!

The surprised Englishman wheeled about and there she was, a fair haired sprite of a lass running towards the beloved man for whom she had been denied far to long. The laughing girl flung herself into his arms with such force Kane worried that she might have injured herself against his weapons. But then, with equal measures of surprise, he realized that his pistols, dirk, and long rapier were nowhere to be found.....and for the first time in many years.....he did not care.

Solomon Kane held Bess tightly and tried to kiss away the tears that appeared spontaneously on the girl's soft cheeks. Her heard himself promising over and over to never leave her again. He vowed that his restless days and nights of wandering and bloodletting were behind him forever.

Then, even in the midst of all this joy and reunion something terribly strange and unexplained began to occur. At first Kane noticed the freckled cheeks of Bess had undergone a subtle change. Although still just as smooth, the freckles vanished to be replaced by shades of deep golden bronze. The puritan could no longer feel the fabric of Bess's simple cotton dress. Nay, crushed against his chest now was the cool, abundant softness of supple naked breasts. The girl signed and began to breath heavily. With strong arms she pushed the puritan's head down towards her lurching bosom. His lips followed willingly, creating a trail of kisses down her beautiful neck. Then his eyes beheld something just an inch or two to the left of her right nipple.....an expertly crafted tattoo of a coiled serpent with tiny wicked eyes that gleamed with a bright green light.

With no slight effort Solomon Kane pushed the girl back and away. He straightened to his full height and looked full in the face of she whom so recently had appeared to be his beloved Bess. These eyes did not belong to that sweet lass from Devonshire. Rather they were huge dark pools that spoke to mysteries and ancient alchemies that lay infinitely beyond the innocence of an ordinary country maiden.

Kane recognized the incredibly beautiful face that stared back at him. His first impulse was to push her away and inquire as to the whereabouts of Bess. This thought melted away quicker than it was born. He felt the odd sensation of slipping into something of a trance-like state.

The naked bronze arms went about Kane's neck again and met no protest. The slightly built but powerful feminine perfection crushed its pure nakedness against the body of the aroused man and he was helpless to resist. She kissed his lips and her long tongue probed far beyond. Together their excited bodies entwined before collapsing onto the soft lush grass of the field.

Solomon Kane experienced fire and desire rushing through his veins unlike anything he'd ever known before. It was almost as if years of wandering, fighting, enduring, and denying had all led to this moment of intense volcanic eruption. Kane's mind shifted to an ecstatic state where he felt almost as one with the woman, wholly encompassed by wave after wave of carnal pleasures.

At this precise moment the Englishman began to hear the sound of female voices again...the same ones as before but louder and closer. They were soft but filled with youthful mischief and enthusiasm. He was curious as to their source and his mind shifted again.

Kane's eyes flashed open and he glared about himself with startled amazement. No longer was he making love in a flower scented field near fair Devon. Nay, he lay naked inside a large stone cistern that was filled to the brim with wonderfully warm water, strange healing herbs, and pleasingly scented perfumes. Nearby were two young girls, obviously attendants. They stared at him and smiled before giggling shyly. It had been their voices the puritan had heard. The girls gaped wide-eyed at the powerful lithe frame of the Englishman as he reposed naked in the invigorating bath.

Kane had not the slightest notion of how long he had been unconscious. It must have several hours....or was it days? At least he was certain this was no dream. Miraculously his strength and vigor seemed to have returned fully. He had no idea how this was possible so badly beaten and wounded he had been. The one thing that the puritan was not questioning was the fact that he was now somewhere beneath the crust of the earth. The circumstances that the gaunt Englishman had endured of late were equal parts bizarre and bewildering.

"Where are my clothes?" The modest adventurer asked before remembering that the smiling women could not possibly comprehend a world of English. Nonetheless, one of the girls approached Kane with a large clay cup in her outstretched hand. Kane inspected the cup carefully and smelled an aroma similar to herbal tea. He drained the cup and found the brew tasty, satisfying, and vaguely stimulating. The second girl drew near with a large heavy cloth.

"I suppose that must be for the purpose of drying myself," Kane noted.

The puritan hesitated for a few moments hoping the girls would take their leave. Then he reasoned logically that perhaps his modesty was misplaced here amongst these strange folk and their equally unique customs. He arose and stepped out of the bath before quietly accepting the efforts of the women to dry and groom him. Once the toweling was completed they massaged a wonderfully aromatic oil into his hard muscles. Lastly they used a colorfully painted comb fashioned from bone to shape his thick black mane.

Kane waited patiently while the unaccustomed pampering session continued. It was vanity to a fault to enjoy such proceedings yet to some degree he admitted to himself that it did bring a grain of pleasure to one who had known so little.

Somehow sensing that the devout puritan was rather uncomfortable with his nakedness, one of the girls darted away only to return quickly accompanied by a man. The couple brought with them all of Kane's belongings...his hat, clothes, the green oriental sash, his heavy leather boots, and surprisingly, his weapons. Even his empty wine flask, now refilled, his scant supply of powder and lead, and his pouch of meager food rations were laid respectfully at the tall man's feet.

His clothes had been cleaned and skillfully darned. In place of his destroyed, drab black shirt, was a newly made white tunic. Kane's boots had been stripped of any speck of dirt, mud, or blood. They had been heavily oiled and glistened like new.

Solomon Kane was both greatly pleased and humbled in kind. He managed a rare smile and uttered a word of thanks which his benefactors seemed to almost comprehend. He dressed as rapidly as possible. The swordsman yanked up and buttoned his black trousers and thought he heard the two young girls sigh slightly as if saddened by the loss of something. He considered the possibility that his thick powerful thews must have appeared astonishingly huge in comparison to those of their own slender built men.

Kane found the scent of fresh washed clothes a near forgotten and much welcome change. He carefully inspected his blades and found them undamaged. Like everything else they had been throughly cleaned. Then he meticulously loaded his heavy pistols. They appeared to be in perfect working order. Kane noticed that the stone cistern that served as his bath had been heated underneath by a oven-like device carved from sheer stone. He reckoned that it was an ancient but effective means to providing a warm and relaxing bath....provided the fire therein was kept small as it had been in his case.

Fully refreshed, dressed, and re-armed, the puritan was somewhat uncertain as to his next move. Would these people simply allow him to leave? If so, how would he find his way out? It was likely that this place was not overly far underground. He could still faintly hear the rumbling of the raging thunderstorm that had finally struck the jungle above. Kane scratched his chin and considered his options as the two females observed with huge dark eyes brimming with curiosity.

At that moment the sound of approaching footsteps accompanied by the signal from the odd melodic whistle announced special visitors to the bathhouse. The man that had brought Kane his belongings had doubtless returned to alert his superiors that their huge gaunt visitor was rested and ready for an audience. The two girl attendants immediately fell into a reverent prostrate position as the beautiful one entered the room at the head of various underlings and or assorted viziers.

Kane took quick appraisals of the various men that followed the princess. The puritan could only guess at their rank and station but it seemed reasonable to suspect that the ones adorned with the most gold were probably the more important of the crowd. Regardless, all appeared to defer to the woman.

She remained naked as before save for her jewelry and a long white garment draped over her slender shoulders, reaching within inches of the floor. This object of clothing featured an excess of gilded trim and was extremely well made....possibly it served some ceremonial function. The girl also wore a magnificent golden necklace and a delicate ivory crown in place of her headband. The crown was set with at least a dozen sparkling gems of considerable size. A retainer walked by her side carrying the mysterious glowing green rod that had eased the puritan into the realm of curious but vivid dreams. He marveled at the object and its obvious power, not the least of which was the ability to apparently heal. Altogether, the puritan found the display before him quite impressive and he was not one easily swayed by nobility or their fine airs.

The princess, for undoubtedly that's what she was, impatiently gestured and the curious dignitaries that has flooded the room hastily took their leave. Eventually only the noblewoman and four very serious looking soldiers remained. These four kept their hands near the bright yellow hilts of their long knives as well they should considering their positions as royal guardsmen.

The girls that had waited on Kane in the bath likewise hurried from the room although they had waited reverently as the ranking members of court left first. The prettier of the two who wore her hair in long braids glanced back over her shoulder and smiled fondly at the Englishman. Kane nodded slightly but did not return the bold girl's smile for fear of earning the disfavor of the princess. Noblewomen, no matter where they might be, generally sought to be the center of attention. The puritan saw no reason to suspect any exceptions to that rule would be found here or anywhere for that matter.

The princess walked up very near to Kane and appraised him for several moments at extremely close quarters. He watched the incredibly exotic creature's eyes intensely, only once daring to steal a glance at her ample young bosom. There was no tattoo of a green-eyed, coiled serpent. This gave much cause for the pallid Englishman to relax considerably.

The splendid, dark eyed beauty tapped her chest twice with her right hand, giving cause for her breasts to quiver quite wonderfully. "Neerininsia," she declared emphatically. She repeated this complicated phrase twice more whilst continuing to tap her chest. Kane was puzzled by this action momentarily but quickly grasped that she was attempting to impart her name to him.

"Ah, Neerininshia, " Kane repeated loudly and clearly as he bowed slightly. The girl's eyes flashed and she smiled at the Englishman, obviously much pleased. She then extended her hand towards the puritan until the soft tips of her fingers touched the deep chest of the swordsman. She allowed them to linger there.

Accepting the prompt, the puritan answered...."Kane," he said simply.

"Kane," the girl repeated, her fingers still touching the body of the hard muscled, lean Englishman.

Soon they left the bathhouse together, Solomon Kane walking at Neerininshia's side. She made no protest at his boldness.