The Other Side of the Mountain

Getting everyone down the twenty foot precipitous drop from the opening in the mountain presented its own challenges. Sheer, and lacking hand holds required the men be lowered down to the last man. There was nowhere to anchor a rope and Marcellus Gallus, being the largest and strongest of the soldiers, had to hang from the ledge and drop into the waiting arms of the others.

“There will be no going back that way,” Pontius said, wiping his hands.

Valerius moved the group a short distance away from the opening and established a camp beneath the leafy canopy of the widely spaced and very tall trees.

Agrippa appeared. “These trees as old as the earth herself, I’ve not seen the like before,” he remarked, looking at the ragtag collection of soldiers. “So few,” he lamented.

“These are not like any trees I’ve seen either,” commented Valerius.

“I’m no forester,” chuckled Agrippa looking toward the thick gnarled trunks of the ancient beech, spruce, and fir trees.

“Any sign of hostiles?” Valerius asked.

Agrippa pursed his mouth and shook his head. “No trace of people, plenty of animal sign though,” he replied. Turning, he pointed back toward the opening in the mountain. “There is a stream not too distant in the opposite direction, I followed it down to a fairly large lake. We might be better suited there,” he suggested.

“How far?” Valerius asked.

“Hour, less if we press,” Agrippa replied.

Valerian nodded. “Our supply of food is almost gone,” he said.

“I’ve seen plenty of game,” Agrippa said. “Once we get to the lake,” he paused to look at the survivors, “Send Sulla and Atticus out with bows.”

Valerius nodded. “Let’s get situated at the location you suggested, though I’m reluctant to put us with our backs to the water with the barbarians having a higher ground advantage,” he said.

“We are barely more than two dozen, our numbers will count for naught when they decide to come,” Agrippa replied, always a pragmatist and harboring no illusions about their chances should a fight ensue.

Valerius smiled and nodded anew. Breaking camp, they started moving down the hill through the abnormally large trees toward the source of fresh water.

Progress was slow despite the gentle slope and easy terrain. Agrippa had been leading the way, but he came running back, hand on sword to prevent it from slapping against him as he ran. “Hold,” he hissed, lifting his hand to halt the two abreast line, winded from the run and taking several breaths to find his voice.

“What is it?” Valerius asked, hand drifting to his sword, eyes scanning the wooded area behind where Agrippa had just come.

Agrippa shook his head but said nothing instead he raised his other arm and pointed toward a small clearing in the trees, snow capped jagged peaks visible in the distance

Valerius frowned. He had known Agrippa many years and had never seen his friend so unnerved or rattled. Walking into the clearing, there was a small rocky knoll overlooking the large lake, he froze in his tracks. “What in the name of the gods?” he mumbled, taking a step backward.

Two nude women of impossible height were standing in the lake, water to their hips. The portion of the women visible above the water appeared to be sculpted perfection and at least seventy feet in height. One with hair the color night, the other of fire.

“What madness is this?” Valerius said, not believing his eyes. Others moved up to the vantage and beheld the scene.

Valerius looked first to the dark haired woman. Her skin pale and unblemished. Her face beautiful with large round eyes that shone with the dusky color of violet sunset. Long raven hair hung down her back almost to her buttocks as she moved about in the water. Wine stained nipples erect atop rounded alabaster breasts. The red haired woman was no less magnificent. Luminous green eyes scintillating as she splashed water at the other woman. He doubted whether either of them had seen more than seventeen or eighteen summers.

The assembled company watched in mute awe as the women, unaware of all the tiny eyes watching them, seemed to be playing in the water.

“They must surely be goddesses,” breathed Germanicus, mouth agape at the scene before him, “Maybe even Venus herself,” he added reverently.

“Wandering the barbarian infested wilds beyond the boundary of the empire is the Roman goddess Venus?” questioned Valerius, eyes also locked onto the gigantic women now embracing one another in the water.

“We are all dead. The dark haired one must be Minerva come to greet us,” exclaimed Flavius, a fevered look on his young face.

“I know not what trick of the mind this may be, but I ache in too many places to be dead,” snorted Agrippa, wind returned, a sour look on his weathered face.

Valerius turned to look at the faces of the men. Most were rapt, fascinated by the unbelievable spectacle in the water below. “We are soldiers of Rome and will conduct ourselves as such,” boldly he stated.

“What soldiers of Rome have witnessed a spectacle such as this save those that have perished in service to the empire?” challenged Flavius, a touch of madness in his young eyes. “Witness the goddesses Minerva and Venus!” He extended his arm in the direction of the two women in the water.

“Whatever manner of mysticism this is, goddesses or no, I agree with Valerius and say we must be prudent in how we proceed,” cautioned Pontius.

“Curse prudence!” hollered Flavius, “Come men, the goddesses await.” He turned suddenly, beckoning others to follow as he began to run haphazardly downhill between the thick tree trunks toward the lake. A couple of others followed.

“Valerius?” asked Titus.

Valerius again looked around at the faces of the remaining men, “Each man must decide for himself what course they would take. If it is your will to follow, then follow. I will abide and there is no disgrace.”

Another nine soldiers set off behind the tribune, including centurion Titus, followed by a few auxiliaries.

Turning sharply toward Valerius, “He’s sure to give us away,” snarled Agrippa.

Valerius shook his head. “What if they are goddesses?”

“What if they are not?” countered Agrippa.

“Fall back,” barked Valerius, nodding at the aging centurion. “And conceal yourselves in the trees.”

Agrippa shook head, “Curse Flavius!” he condemned, but he made no move to hide.

Supplication and sacrifice

The two women were facing one another, embracing tenderly before sharing a lingering kiss. Reaching the bottom of the hill, Flavius scampered across the thirty or so feet between the tree line and the shoreline. Once at the edge of the water, fifteen men at his back, he dropped to his knees. Removing his crested helm, he cast it aside before prostrating himself on the soft soil. The soldiers behind followed suit, divesting themselves of head gear and dropping down.

“Great Goddesses!” bellowed the Tribune, loud enough for the soldiers on the rise to hear. “I humbly beseech you take pity on us. We who have carried your name and honor in life now greet you in death.”

The women broke their kiss, both turning heads to look upon the source of the noise. The dark haired woman, eyes narrowed until she espied Flavius face down on his knees at the shore. A slight smile touched her full lips before she looked to the red head. Twisting in the water, she moved closer to where the men were supplicating.

“Roman,” she said, answering in the language of the empire, voice soft and alluring.

“Legion 1 Minerva, goddess we are yours,” replied Flavius without looking up at the face now less than fifteen yards from where he knelt.

She smiled more broadly, lips parting to reveal even white teeth. “You lead these men,” she said, a statement, not a question.

“These men and the others up upon the hill,” he responded, pointing back in the direction of the Valerius without raising his head.

“Others?” she said, eyes glancing up the forested hillside toward the overlook and then to the redhead.

“We are but a handful Goddess, there are at least another dozen up on the hill,” replied Flavius.

Her violet eyes seemed to sparkle. “Indeed,” she said, “Why do they tarry in the trees?”

“They are insolent fools Goddess,” Flavius indicted. “They linger because they know you will judge them and find them fearful and unworthy.”

“Truly?” said the woman with hair the color of fire, moving beside the dark haired woman, a ripple spreading across the surface of the lake causing water to lap up onto the shore.

The dark haired giantess leaned forward, nearer to Flavius. “Who are you?” she asked, looking down on the humbled tribune.

“I am Tribune Gaius Flavius,” he answered.

“Stand little one, let me look upon you,” she encouraged, reaching out to him, the nail of her right index finger under his chin to lift his face, a wide smile on her beautiful countenance.

Flavius climbed to his feet and looked up into the large comely face.

She angled her head slightly to the side. “You are mine you say?” she asked, tone playful.

“I give myself to you Goddess,” he replied. She turned and exchanged glances with the red haired woman.

Looking passed Flavius to the other men on the shore, she asked, “And what of you men, do you also give yourselves over to us?”

Many heads nodded affirmatively while a couple verbalized an affirmation. She smiled. Leaning backward and sliding back out into deeper water, she said, “Come to me then Flavius, shed your trappings of war and come join with me,” she motioned him with a beckoning hand. The red haired giantess also retreated back into the water a distance.

Flavius immediately dropped his pack and began to remove his armor. When he was naked, he waded into the water, walking toward the dark haired giantess. When he could no longer touch bottom, he began to swim toward her. “That’s it,” she encouraged as stroke after stroke brought him closer. Several others began removing armor and weapons, plunging into the surprisingly warm water to follow Flavius.

Lowering herself in the water, she submerged her entire body, before breeching the surface of the lake so that the bottom portion of her chin and lower lip remained in the water. She came toward him, opening her mouth as he neared, he eased up. She leaned forward and took the top part of his body in her mouth and closed her lips around his thighs. His legs still dangling from between her lips, she rose to standing, water spilling from her smooth skin and splashing into the lake below, she turned toward the redhead. The flame haired giantess reached up and took the other woman’s face between her hands. Leaning in close, she parted her lips around Flavius’ legs and the two women shared a kiss, Flavius vanishing from view momentarily as they pressed their lips together, mouths opening wider and tongues exploring.

When they broke the kiss, the redhead leaned back, Flavius’ head visible between lush lips. She smiled at the men on the shore before puckering her lips and sucking him all the way into her mouth, lips sealing behind him. Turning back to the woman with near ebon tresses, they shared another buss.

Flavius was in a religious ecstasy as he was passed back and forth from mouth to mouth, tongues intertwined around him. Tossed and tumbled he wasn’t sure in which mouth he was, but it didn’t matter.

Kiss complete, the dark haired giantess, now with Flavius in her mouth, maneuvered him into position at the back of her throat and tilted her head slightly before swallowing. The muscular rings of cartilage compressing around him, pulling him down her esophagus and into her stomach. She touched the delicate part of her throat with a forefinger as the tribune passed down into her. Flavius gone, she looked down at the others swimming in the water. Seeing what had happened, several of the men swimming panicked and suddenly reversed direction, swimming back toward shore.

The red haired giantess, like her companion lowered herself down into the water, leaning forward, easily overtaking the one of the soldiers trying to get back to land. Coming up from behind, mouth opening as he desperately tried to swim away, she took him all the way into her mouth before closing it over him. She paused, rearing up slightly to spray water from between her lips before swallowing the soldier. Lowering herself, she captured another and repeated the process.

Three of the stronger swimmers were near the dark haired woman. With deft finger she plucked one from the water by his leg and raised him over her head before dropping him into her waiting mouth. He thrashed and struggled but was powerless to stop her from sending him to join the tribune. The other two tried to swim away. Reaching down, she gathered them up, one in each hand. Turning her head, “Vanessa,” she said, throwing the two soldiers in her hands into the water near the redhead before moving toward the shore.

The redhead folded her legs under her and sat in the water, her thighs just beneath the surface of the lake. She swept her hands through the water toward herself and washed the two soldiers and four others onto her lap.

Septimus turned over backwards in the water, the force of the redhead’s hand through the water pulling him inexorably into the shallow water of her lap, the water shallow enough he could actually stand on her thigh and cough up swallowed lake water. Spurned by panic, he ran as best he could in the waist deep water and dove back in trying desperately to get away from her. Her hand closed around him and he was driven several feet under water before he lifted aloft and dropped back into deeper water beside her. He saw others too, trying to find escape but far too slow and too small to get away from her as she grabbed them and brought them back.

Vanessa smiled, trying to keep all of the soldiers within her grasp. She would grab them and put them near her but keep them swimming, sapping their strength.

The dark haired giantess moved toward the shore, dropping onto all fours near the shoreline. Of the four other men who had not jumped into the water to follow Flavius, three had turned and run back into the trees. Centurion Titus was the only one who remained, standing rooted to the spot, looking up into the large face of the extremely attractive woman as she loomed over him.

“Your helmet is different than the others,” she said, pointing to his red crested helm lying on the ground next to him.

Overawed by the proximity of the stunning woman he struggled to find his voice, “I am a centurion,” he replied, voice shaking.

She smiled off the side of her face. “How are you called centurion?”

“Titus my lady, Decidius Titus,” he replied.

She reached out with her left hand and touched him gently on the side of his face with her forefinger. “You did not flee,” she said.

He shook his head. She smiled and picked him up with her left hand. Leaning back, she changed position to look at Vanessa playing with the tiny soldiers now trying to clamber onto her thighs, leaden limbs exhausted from being forced to perpetually swim.

“We should go after the others Selene,” she said, looking to the forest where the trio of soldiers had fled.

The dark haired woman smiled and shook her head. “We have a bounty here now, let us return and let the others know there are little ones running loose in the forest so they too may share.”

Vanessa nodded, noticing Selene’s closed hand. “What do you have there?” she asked, looking at Selene’s left hand.

Holding it out, she opened it slowly. “Centurion Titus,” she replied.

Vanessa smiled. Looking down at the others in the water, she reached down and collected two in each hand, while Selene captured the remaining two. Rising simultaneously, they stood and moved through the water toward the shore, prizes in hand.

Once out of the water, Vanessa placed the four beleaguered soldiers down near her clothing. Immediately one of the men, rolled onto to his feet and made a mad dash toward the nearest copse of trees. Instinctively Vanessa lashed out with her right hand trying to catch the fleeing soldier before he could reach the trees, snatching him quickly. She made a frowning face at Selene. Opening her hand slowly, she revealed the little broken body of the limp man, a small trail of red oozing out of his nose and mouth.

“Too quick,” lamented Selene with a slow shake of her head.

Vanessa nodded, turning her hand over and letting the dead body fall to the ground before wiping her hands together to get rid of the blood. Dressing, she collected her three remaining men and waited for Selene to follow suit.

Despite Valerius’ order to find concealment, most of the men remained put, watching what had transpired in the lake. To a man, no one could quite believe what they were seeing as friends and companions vanished into the mouths of the two giant women.

“What do we do now?” Agrippa asked, steely gray eyes looking intently on, head shaking from side to side.

“She ate him! She fucking at him!” Pontius commented, his own hazel eyes wide with disbelief and riveted to the women as the strode away from the lake.

Valerius remained silent, shaking his head, as if not trusting what his bright green eyes told him. “This must be some foul dream, some torment from which we cannot awake,” he said, almost to himself.

“Valerius,” Agrippa said, but the centurion didn’t answer. “Valerius!” he repeated, this time grabbing the senior soldier by the shoulders. Valerius blinked at him a few times. “They will be coming for us next, we need to take flight!” Agrippa said with force.

“Back to the mountain cave, we can take refuge there!” Pontius stated.

“No,” Valerius said. “We have no means to ascend the ledge,” he advised.

“What then?” Agrippa asked.

“We curl north around the lake, staying close to the ridge to see if there is a place we can take refuge or shelter,” Valerius said.

“What if there are others? What then?” Quintus demanded.

Valerius turned sharply. “What knowledge have I that you yourself have not seen? I don’t know if there are others, all I know is we need to get out of here as fast as we can!” Looking at Agrippa, “Take point and lead the way.”

Agrippa nodded.