The Huntress and The Hunter
The Hunter knew the goddess very well from previous meetings and had been struck
by her manner of polite distraction and her curiosity for mortals. But it was a
chance meeting in the forest of his great Estates that encouraged him to be
bold. His own hunting party comprising his dogs and of course two servants,
entered the clearing and in the centre crouched a vision that delighted the
Hunter. Though it caused his dogs to quieten and his servants to stop and wait
nervously at the edge.
She was crouching in the centre with the strong dappled light playing across her
tunic and her dishevelled hair. A delicate leg was revealed by her stance to be,
nevertheless, strong and beautiful, though it was her arms which steadied
herself and clutched her bow which attracted the Hunter's particular attention.
They were also delicate but striated with a web of sinew and muscle which
suggested considerable strength but nevertheless maintained an attractive
femininity.
"Good day, goddess" he ventured
"Be quiet Hunter, I know you are there." She said this without looking at him.
He stood patiently until she had finished her examination of the ground. Clearly
exasperated she stood and faced her bold subject.
"I have failed to find my quarry today, Hunter, and I am not in the best frame
of mind to receive obsequities from such as you" The goddess scowled at the
Hunter and stood up with arms folded and leaning on her bow.
The Hunter bowed and gestured with the minimum of movement necessary to avoid
impoliteness. "My apologies goddess, I did not mean to interrupt. We on the
other hand have been very successful."
"If your intention is to irritate me, Hunter, there is no need. You have already
succeeded. What is it you want, mortal-for-very-little-longer!"
The Hunter had wondered himself what he wished to do. But there, instantly,
formed a thought in his mind. He smiled.
"In other, less distracted moments, you have often said that you wished to
experience the feelings and thoughts of mortals. Especially that of the pleasure
of erotic pain. I am offering the opportunity today, goddess of that
experience."
"Hah, I have no interest in your trivial games today, Hunter. I have watched you
perform your, only very slightly interesting, rituals with your female servants
and that is sufficient to tell me all I wish to know."
The Hunter did not believe her, and had anticipated her stubbornness.
"I am offering you a competition, goddess with a prize for the winner. If you
win, you may punish me in whatever manner you have observed me undertake with my
servants and wife as you wish. If I win, I will be allowed to do the same."
The goddess lifted her chin and could be seen to have taken a great interest in
the Hunter's offer. She spoke slowly; "So, this appears to be a very one-sided
game Hunter. You are, after all, no match for my ability, strength and wit."
The Hunter explained the terms of his competition to an increasingly delighted
goddess. He would tie the girl servant, who had accompanied him, to a tree as a
target for the display of the bowmanship skills of both goddess and subject.
The other male servant had gallantly started to object, but was silenced by his
glowering master. Thus, the girl was led to an immature beech and tied securely.
"Goddess", pronounced the Hunter, "The purpose is to strike an arrow as close to
the heart of the girl as possible without wounding or, of course, killing her.
From this distance. We shall have three arrows each"
The Hunter marked a position on the ground with the heel of his boot and it
seemed, to both the whimpering girl and the other alarmed servant to be a
considerable distance from the target. The girl had been divested of her outer
clothes, but even so, the light cloth of her slip fluttered in the occasional
breeze and this would hamper accuracy.
"There is one further condition. You must become mortal yourself for both the
competition and the punishment afterwards. You will accept?"
The goddess was angered by this as she was well aware of her vulnerability if
she accepted this condition. The Hunter could see her thoughts pass through her
body as she appeared to grow taller and emanate an aura of rage. However, this
passed because, first, she knew that she was more skilled, even as a mortal,
than any man. Secondly she could admit to a thrill of excitement at the prospect
of giving a very mortal beating to a very arrogant man. Her only regret was that
she would not lose and would have no opportunity to receive the same. She
smiled.
"I accept Hunter, but you must begin."
The Hunter nodded and he positioned himself behind the mark. He stared
thoughtfully at the girl who was now rigid with fear ..... and common sense. He
placed an arrow and drew his bow, then paused, concentration evident in his
steely gimlet eye. The arrow, released, sped through the air and struck the wood
of the tree barely a handbreadth above the girls head. The girl in turn cried
out as she flinched away from the quivering stem above her.
"A fine shot, Hunter. I will congratulate you but of course, it is not nearly
good enough"
With that, the goddess took her position, placed one of her arrows in the finely
carved bow and drew back effortlessly. The Hunter could not help noticing how
even the arrow was decorated with polished inlays and iridescent feathering. He
was also impressed by the tautened muscles across her arm and the smile that
danced across her lips. She loosed the arrow. It whipped through the air and
embedded itself in the wood, splitting the Hunter's arrow into a frond of waving
tendrils.
The smile of the Hunter's face froze as he realised that the goddess was playing
with him. He knew that he was skilled but had counted on the goddesses powers
leaving her as she became mortal. It appeared not to be the case.
"Please, Hunter" she said and gestured to the mark. The Hunter took his place
and pulled a second arrow from his quiver, placed it on his bow and drew back.
This time, he was not so confident and took longer to steady his aim. Once
loosed, the arrow sped towards the girl and entered the space between her legs.
It tore through the cloth and the girl squealed as she felt it brush the lips of
her sex and enter the wood, burying itself up to the full length of the arrow
tip. Closer perhaps than his first, but not as good as he would have wished.
The goddess laughed; "that was not nearly good enough Hunter." She was now
clearly enjoying herself and had banished all previous thoughts of her
disappointing day's hunting. The bow was drawn back casually once again, but
this time her face had more determination. The arrow whistled through the air
and it was perfectly placed to enter the wood to the side of the girl, just
below the arm and undoubtedly closest to her heart.
The goddess raised her bow in the air in a gesture of triumph and looked at the
Hunter with unconcealed delight. The Hunter massaged his chin and looked
thoughtful. To the goddess's consternation, the Hunter stood on the mark and
started to pace and count his way towards the girl. On reaching her, he could
see the girl tremble and the fact that she was standing, almost on tiptoe to
avoid touching the arrow shaft that protruded from between her thighs. He did
not smile.
Instead he stood behind the tree and paced the same distance away from it in the
opposite direction. There he drew a mark. He turned, but could see neither the
girl, nor the goddess who were now concealed. If he had, he would have seen that
the girl was oblivious to anything but maintaining her uncomfortable stance, and
that the goddess simply looked puzzled.
This time, the Hunter chose his arrow with considerable care and took out the
straightest, strongest arrow with the sharpest and heaviest point to it that he
could find. Placing the arrow to the bow, he drew back and pulled it as far as
he could muster. And with veins bulging and pounding across his face, neck and
arms he then drew back some more.
This time as the arrow left the bow, it whistled and shrieked then entered the
wood of the tree with a resounding scream. Splinters from the tree showered the
air as it buried itself almost up to its end feathering into the soft green
wood. The Hunter ran to the target and arrived just as the goddess, who had
realised what he had done, reached the girl and was pulling her roughly away
from the tree as far as the tight bindings would allow.
There, at her back, the tip of the arrow protruded from the bark no more that
the thickness of a fingernail. It was undoubtedly closest to the girls heart
than any other possibility.
The goddess screamed with rage. "You have tricked me Hunter, you have tricked
me. I will not forget this and you will suffer. I say that you will suffer!"
The Hunter had seen the rages of the goddess before and was not unduly
concerned.
"But goddess, we have an agreement. And you will honour it as much as I honour
your word."
The goddess pounded the tree with her fist, which shook and caused the girl to
close her eyes and whimper. Eventually, the goddess calmed herself and the
Hunter spoke.
"In any case, goddess, you still have your third arrow."
The goddess looked back grimly at the Hunter as she walked to the centre of the
clearing;
"As you well know, my clever Hunter, I cannot better that and so will not try.
I concede defeat and you shall have your prize. Come here and do with me as you
wish and desire." With that she threw her bow across the clearing in disgust
and crouched down as before, though this time only to reflect and not to hunt.
As the Hunter, smiling now and with his own heart beating faster, walked over to
claim his prize, he said;
"I am honoured by your gracious admission of defeat. It is more than I could
have possibly hoped for. However, I have one final humiliation to give to you."
The goddess looked up with a start. "What is this, what do you mean,
humiliation?"
The Hunter stood over the goddess-that-was, folded his arms and smiled; "Well of
course, there is one final arrow that you could have used to win the
competition."
The goddess frowned and demanded what she could have done that she had not
already considered before admitting defeat.
"Do you see my servant over there, gently untying the girl. He is her lover. If
you had shot your arrow and killed him, you would have been closer to her heart
than any physical object could possibly have reached. That is how you could have
won."
The goddess closed her eyes and drew her lips into a thin line. There was a
pause whilst the Hunter wondered if he had now gone too far. Eventually she
spoke.
"You are clever Hunter and I did not think of that. Being mortal for me
obviously has its disadvantages. Why then, Hunter did you not kill your servant
with your first arrow and be done with this comedy?"
"Because my goddess, I am here only to entertain you and where would have been
the element of danger, the excitement of the hunt to obtain your appreciation of
the punishment to come or the distraction that you so obviously required." The
Hunter paused, then could not resist a final remark.
"And in any case, if I had had to kill him, he would have been unable to help me
carry back to the castle, the boar I shot earlier today. You would not have
wished to deprive me of my hunting success even as you were unsuccessful?"
The goddess-that-was stood up. "You have indeed humiliated me. What is it that
you wish me to do."
The goddess-that-was placed folded her hands in front of her white tunic and
stood with downcast eyes, now wet with suppressed fury and humiliation. But she
will have her revenge. For now, she would have to endure the punishment.
The Hunter began.
First, he sent his servants away to collect his boar and to return to the
castle; they were grateful to leave. Then he turned to the downcast but defiant
figure that stood before him. He sat on a fallen trunk .
"Now, goddess-who-was, I believe that for your punishment, you will be beaten.
And for this it is necessary for you to disrobe. Please do so."
"Is that necessary?"; said the goddess with iron in her voice.
"Most certainly it is, and I would suggest that your tone is
more.........subservient if this punishment is not to take longer" smiled the
Hunter.
The goddess reached behind her neck and undid the clasp which allowed her tunic
to fall away. The goddess stood in all her magnificant nakedness before the
Hunter but she was clearly discomfited by the gaze of a mortal upon her. The
Hunter could not suppress a sharp intake of breath which revealed his obvious
and all-encompassing desire to possess this exquisite body. The strong arms and
athletic legs that he saw before were now seen to complement a beautifully
toned and very feminine body. Her breasts were small but shapely and she seemed
not to be affected by the cooling air that had crept into the clearing as the
afternoon sun fell.
The goddess burned under this possessive gaze and had to speak;
"Recall, Hunter, the fate of the last mortal to see this goddess naked. My
hounds were well fed that evening"
"But for the moment, you are the goddess-that-was and we have a bargain."
Replied the Hunter and once again he smiled.
The Hunter swung his leg to sit astride the trunk of the tree; "Come here and
lie across my knees."
The goddess shook her head in refusal and with that, the Hunter reached out and
grasped her wrist; "It will be better for you goddess if you comply; my patience
is wearing thin and I have not yet decided how severe your punishment is to be."
The goddess, who in her observations of similar games played by the Hunter,
remembered their severity. She shook off the hand that held her and she lowered
herself upon his lap. Losing her balance, she fell across until her hands
grasped the rough ground. This allowed only her toes to stretch and touch the
ground. It was an uncomfortable and extremely humiliating position.
The Hunter had placed their belongings in a pile by her head and now he reached
for them to choose an appropriate device for the punishment. His hands paused
briefly over the bow belonging to the goddess. She saw this action and looked
back to the Hunter and mouthed a protesting "no". She was well aware of the
strength and suppleness of her weapon and what it could do. The Hunter smiled;
"Perhaps a prize for another competition" conceded the Hunter and moved on.
Reaching instead for his satchel, he produced a fine silver metal handmirror
which he displayed before her eyes.
"Note, goddess that the handmirror not only has a polished silver face, but an
embossed back."
The goddess looked over the item and could see that the back was covered in a
raised and engraved picture of the Minotaur.
"Which side shall we use goddess, you may choose if you wish."
Somehow, the goddess felt that she had no choice and indicated her desire for
the decorated face.
"A wise choice goddess-that-was"
With that decision, the Hunter placed one hand against the nape of her neck and
pushed her forward. This required her to lose the tenuous grip of her toes and
so her exquisite bottom rose and squirmed in the Hunter's lap. Eventually,
balance was regained and the Hunter drew back the handmirror.
SMACK! The metal mirror made contact on the fleshiest part of one buttock and
the goddess let out a surprised. "Ow" which disturbed the quiet air of the wood.
She started to pull away, but the Hunter grasped her firmly and held her still.
"Be still, goddess, we have barely begun" said the Hunter and he paused to
examine his handiwork. Within a few moments a gratifying redness appeared on the
pale flesh. He laughed with pleasure as the red mark he had made revealed itself
as the perfect imprint of the Minotaur.
The goddess struggled to look back but could not see the cause of his merriment.
She could still feel the cause of the mark, however. Again the Hunter pushed her
back into posiiton and he raised the handmirror again. This time he delivered
several blows in quick succession.
SMACK, SMACK, SMACK, SMACK, SMACK, SMACK, SMACK.
The goddess screamed and bucked under the stinging blows and cursed this
impudent mortal subjecting her to such indignity.
Gasping for breath between the blows, she managed to speak;
"You...will....feel.....my....OW.....revenge.....m...mortahhhhl."
Now glowing redder than the late afternoon sun, the Hunter stopped to examine
his prize. The buttocks now glowed with a fresh scarlet colour and he placed his
hands upon the surface of the skin. The goddess was mollified by their cooling
action. She started to rise.
"But we are not yet done, goddess, that was only the beginning" said the Hunter
calmly.
Biting her lip and closing her eyes, she knew that argument was impossible. As
the stinging blows that made a fiery heat of her buttocks returned, she
whispered to herself;
I will be revenged Hunter, and you will regret these moments. Enjoy them while
you can.
SMACK, SMACK, SMACK, SMACK, SMACK. SMACK, SMACK, SMACK, SMACK, SMACK, SMACK,
SMACK, SMACK, SMACK, SMACK, SMACK, SMACK, SMACK, SMACK, SMACK.................
