The
High Priest
Blair Sandburg slowly opened his eyes and groaned at the
flash of pain that
tore through his head as light fell upon his eyes. Closing the lids quickly
to block out the light, Blair groaned again. Then he felt a hand on his
head, a heavy hand and his first thought was, "Jim?"
"No Sandburg, its Simon." Captain Banks voice cut through the
pounding in
his skull.
He opened his eyes, this time tentatively and saw the face of the big
Captain of Cascade's Major Crimes Unit. "Uh, Simon what happened."
"The plane crashed." Simon answered.
Blair stared at Simon wide eyed. "Jim!" He suddenly began to fight
his way
to his feet. Simon tried to hold him down, "Simon where's JIm! Jim!"
"Easy, Sandburg. He's alright. He's fine. He went to find some food and
water. Said to watch you for when you woke up. Your head injury's not to
bad, and you only have a few scrapes and bruises."
Blair calmed down at Simon's insistence that Jim was fine. "Darryl?"
"I'm fine, Blair." Blair looked over and saw Darryl sitting not far
from
where he laid breaking sticks and tossing them in the fire built on the
sandy beach. Blair looked around.
They were on a beautiful stretch of beach with white sand and blue water
sparkling in the sunshine. Behind them was a jungle with towering trees and
behind the jungle was a mountain range.
"Where are we?"
"There's no telling. The storm veered the plane off course, and that
strange
light knocked out the navigation systems. I didn't get to see our heading
before we crashed."
Simon had been taking piloting lessons secretly for a few years along with
Darryl. The surprise had come on Darryl's seventeenth birthday when Simon
asked Blair and Jim to accompany them on a flight to Mexico for fun and
fishing.
"Then there was this strange light." Simon said then trailed off.
"Strange light? Lightning?"
"No it wasn't lightning, I'm not sure what it was. It was all purplish
blue
and it seemed to engulf the plane. You don't remember?"
Blair shook his head.
"Awe man it was so cool! I bet it was a UFO!" Darryl put in.
Simon grunted at that.
A few moments later, Jim returned, making his way out of the jungle foliage.
He had the canteens that had been in the plane on his belt, a bundle of
bananas, some coconuts, and pineapples.
"Simon and I can go fishing later and supplement the fruit with meat. But
I
thought this could tide us over till then." Jim said.
"Oh yeah!" Blair said taking one of the bananas from the bundle and
peeling
it.
They all sat down in front of the fire. Jim used a stick stuck into the
ground to break open the coconuts. The drank the milk and dug out the meat.
Simon used Blair's Swiss Army knife to cut up the pineapples. They ate, and
talked about cases, school, and sports as they ate and drank.
Finally night fell and the friends laid down on their leaf and foliage made
beds on the sand while Jim banked the fire.
Jim looked up at the stars and for the first time realised they were in
trouble. He didn't recognize the patterns in the sky at all.
"You don't recognize them either, huh?" Simon asked Jim as he sat down
beside the sentinel.
Jim shook his head.
"I thought it was just me. Damn, what the hell happened?" Simon said.
"I don't know, Simon. But, now that I look at it, I see patterns that look
sort of familiar. Its as if there are more stars, and they are closer
together."
"What would make them do that."
Sandburg answered from his pallet near Jim, "Time."
They both looked at the anthropologist. "Do what?" Simon asked.
"In the past, there were more stars, and they were closer. Scientists
claimed the universe is expanding, so in time, stars would burn out and
drift further apart. Its just a theory."
"So you think we've travelled back in time?" Jim asked his guide.
Blair nodded.
"That's just crazy. But it explains them damn stars better than anything
else does." Simon grumbled. More than any of them, Simon was a born skeptic.
But it was hard to deny with the proof right before his eyes.
"Get some sleep, guys. I haven't detected any people within my range, nor
anything dangerous. So let's get some sleep. We can figure it out tomorrow."
Jim said as he lay down on his own pallet next to Blair's.
They laid down and it wasn't long before sleep overtook them.
The next morning, Jim led them through the jungle to the fresh water he had
found the day before.
Jim's fresh water hole turned out to be a magnificent waterfall that
diverted itself eight times to make eight beautiful waterfalls of various
sizes and heights, all splashing down into a large pool of water that was
nearly crystal clear.
Blair and Darryl were the first to strip down and leap into the pool.
"Sandburg, I could gone my whole life without seeing you naked!" Simon
shouted.
Blair and Darryl swam like otters, splashing around and generally having a
good time.
Simon watched, wiped sweat from his brow, and realised how cool the water
looked. "Awww, hell." He growled as he stripped down to and slowly entered
the cool water. "Damn this must come straight from the mountains."
Jim smiled and shook his head, then with a last check of the surrounding
area with his sentinel senses, he too, stripped down and climbed into the
water.
While Darryl and Blair frolicked, Jim and Simon just sunk down to their
necks and allowed the cool water to refresh them.
Jim dunked his head underneath and came back up, water falling from his
short brown hair. Jim shook his head, water flying everywhere.
"Man, this is some paradise. I think we need to build a resort here. We
could make millions!" Blair said.
"Yeah, and who show up here, Chief. The millionaire and his wife?" Jim shot
back.
Blair and Simon laughed, but Darryl looked confused.
"Who?"
Blair groaned, "Oh man do I feel old."
Jim and Simon just laughed harder.
Sometime later, the four of them exited the pool and lounged on large rocks
to dry off.
They were redressing when Jim's head suddenly shot up like a hunting dog
going on alert.
"What is it?" Blair asked.
Jim cocked his head to one side as he put up his hand to motion the others
to silence. "Shit." He whispered.
Simon looked around nervously.
"What is it?" Blair asked again.
"We're surrounded." Jim answered.
"What."
"Oh shit. By who, Jim?"
Jim shrugged. He wasn't sure, "They're human, I think. I don't know."
"Why didn't you sense them before?" Blair asked.
"I don't know. Its as if all of a sudden they are there. I never heard them
get into position."
Eventually, the ones that had surrounded them revealed themselves. They were
all tall men, with dark skin, but lighter than Simon's and Darryl's. They
all stood over six feet, and many were as tall as Simon. They were dressed
in kilts made either of well tanned and cured animal hide or finely woven
cloth. Some had animal head skins on their own heads, painted symbols on
their bare skin, and bracelets, necklaces, and armlets made of gold with
relief carvings in the gold. On their feet were sandals. A few of them had
rings of gold in their ears, nose, belly buttons or nipples. All carried
weapons. Either finely carves bows, spears, or blowguns. All pointed at four
men from Cascade who raised their hands in surrender.
The crowd parted, and a man came forward. On his head was the head of a
spotted jaguar. Four parallel paint streaks decorated the left side of his
face. He wore an elaborate chest plate made of gold with jaguar designs on
the front. His kilt was made from the skin of a spotted jaguar and instead
of a weapon, he carried a carved staff. On his wrists was a bracelet of
jaguar claws, and around his neck was a necklace of jaguar teeth. The man
stood taller than Simon and was well built. All and all, he was impressive.
The man stood before them as warriors came forth at his verbal orders and
tied the men's hands together in front of them. When one of them began to
tie Jim's hands, however, the leader stopped him. He stepped forward and
stood directly in front of Jim and stared at the sentinel intently. His eyes
widened a bit in surprise, then he stepped back and gave more orders in a
language unfamiliar to Jim. It certainly wasn't Quechea.
A warrior came to Jim and pulled the sentinel's hands behind his back were
they were tied tightly. Two warriors stationed themselves on either side of
each man and grasped their upper arms in a gentle but firm grip. Except for
Jim. One of the warriors handed the leader a rope to which the leader tied
in a knotted loop that he secured around Jim's neck like a collar and leash.
The leader then turned and with a tug led Jim away from the pool. The other
warriors holding the other Cascade men followed the leader still gripping
the upper arms of their prisoners. The other warriors slipped into the
surrounding jungle and practically disappeared.
"Sandburg, do you recognize the language?, or the tribe?" Simon asked.
"No. Not really. They look Mayan, with a bit of Incan, and maybe some Olmec,
but the language is completely unknown to me."
"Why they hell did they do that to Ellison?" Simon asked.
"I don't know, Simon. Maybe they thought he was more dangerous than the rest
of us."
"Blair, are they going to sacrifice us?" Darryl asked, the fear evident in
his voice.
"I don't know, Darryl. If they are Incan or Mayan, or Olmec, then yeah, that
could be a possibility."
"Shit." Simon said. Blair agreed with his assessment.
They walked through the jungle for several hours before the
leader called a
halt. The warriors seated their prisoners on the ground, and the leader gave
orders to them in their language. The warriors brought the prisoners leather
botas filled with water and allowed them to drink. With their hands tied in
front of them, they were able to grip the botas and drink. The warriors
handed them dried meat and bananas to eat and stood guard over them.
The leader tugged on Jim's leash and the sentinel sank to the ground on his
knees, hands still tied behind his back. The leader wrapped the end of the
woven hemp rope around his wrist, then removed a bota from his belt. He
poured some of the water into his cupped hand and held it to Jim's face. The
sentinel looked at the leader, blue eyes glittering like ice, anger burning
inside, then sipped the water from the leader's cupped hand.
Much to Blair's surprise and Jim's disgust, the leader patted Jim's head,
then gave orders to the surrounding warriors. One of the warriors not
guarding the prisoners came to the leader with two small golden bowls. The
man set the bowls on the ground then went back to guarding the perimeter.
The leader poured some water into one of the bowls> The leader tied the bota
back to his belt, then withdrew a piece of dried meat from a pouch and held
it under Jim's nose in the palm of his hand. Jim's anger increased, but he
snapped up the meat and chewed it then swallowed knowing he would need the
food and water to keep up his strength for an escape. Again the leader
patted Jim's hair, this time moving over Jim's head and neck in a caressing
petting motion. Jim jerked away from the hand, and the leader frowned, ut
did nothing. Instead he placed more of the dried meat as well as some cut up
bananas in the other bowl. Jim had no choice but to lean over and eat and
drink from the bowls like an animal. Blair, Simon and Darryl watched for a
moment in shock, but turned their heads to give the sentinel some dignity.
The other warriors ate and drank as well, as did the leader, all the while
standing over their prisoners.
They only rested for perhaps an hour before they were forced to their feet
and made to follow them again.
"Why the hell is that guy treating Jim like a..a..pet." Simon hissed
low
enough not to be overheard to anyone but Blair or Jim if he was listening.
"I don't know. I've never read or seen anything like this in my
studies."
They continued on.
Before night fell they stopped two more times. On the third time, the
warriors led each man a little ways into the jungle, and while one of them
pissed against a tree, the other held the prisoner until his fellow was
finished, then he took his turn. They then waited. The prisoners then
realised that the warriors were waiting for them to do their business.
Blair sighed as he unzipped his jeans with his bound hands and pulled his
cock from beneath his shorts. Its was embarrassing to be pissing while two
guys held his arms, but there was little he could do about it. When he was
done, he re-zipped and buttoned his jeans, and the guards took him back to
the camp.
Simon and Darryl both finished their business quickly, though Darryl at
first had a hard time even thinking about pissing, but eventually was able
to do it. His face flushed red as he did so.
Jim was not so lucky, however. The leader took him a little off into the
jungle. Rope wrapped around his wrist, the leader took out his large cock
and pissed against a tree. Shaking his cock he tucked it back beneath his
kilt, then walked over to Jim. It took the leader a few minuted to figure
out Jim' button fly jeans, but he managed to open them even though Jim tried
to get away. When he did the man cuffed him on the head and tightened the
rope just enough for Jim to feel it.
The leader unbuttoned Jim's fly then found the slit in Jim's boxers and
pulled out the sentinel's cock. He held Jim's cock gently pointing the head
int he direction of a tree.
When Jim held back from pissing, the leader rubbed Jim's lower back in a
circular rhythm, and finally Jim decided that the man was willing to stand
there forever and relieved himself. His own cheeks flush a deep crimson, and
his ears turned pink.
When he was done the leader shook Jim's penis, then tucked it beneath Jim's
boxers and managed to rebutton his fly. He then led the embarrassed sentinel
back to the others.
When they stopped for the night, they were given more water and food. Jim
again drank the first drink from the leader's cupped hand, and the first
bite from his hand before he ate and drank from the golden bowls. The
warriors built a nice sized fire, and the prisoners were led around it. They
were pushed down until they laid on their backs and then their feet were
tied. The warriors who held them would then tie a small rope leading from
their bound wrist to their own wrist so they would know if their prisoners
tried to escape. The two warriors then laid down on either side of their
prisoner.
The leader gently pushed on Jim's shoulders until the sentinel was lying on
his stomach. The leader tied the end of the rope to his own wrist and laid
down next to the sentinel one hand reaching out to Jim's head and stroking
it in a petting manner. Jim endured the petting because he had no choice.
Not with Simon, Darryl and especially Blair in the hands of the leader's
warriors.
Eventually sleep overcame them, exhausted as they were from the long walk.
When morning came the prisoners were given another chance to relieve
themselves, then given more food and water. When they were done, the leader
had them continue to travel through the deep jungle toward the mountains.
As the day before, the party stopped a few times to rest themselves and
their prisoners. The prisoners were given water at each stop and allowed to
sit down. They travelled several miles through the dense jungle and the heat
and humidity had the prisoners sweating profusely.
On the fourth stop of the day, the leader was retrieving his bota from his
belt when it slipped from his hand to fall to the moist ground. The leader
bent over to pick it up, and the incident decide Jim's actions. In one swift
movement, Jim lashed out with one foot and kicked the leader in the head.
The man dropped to the ground dazed, his grip lost on the rope. Jim
scrambled up and raced for the thicker jungle around them. The warriors were
so startled by Jim's actions that they hesitated.
The leader however, did not hesitate. Ignoring his own sore head, the leader
stood and chased the sentinel, and Jim discovered that the leader was faster
that he was.
Fifty yards from the rest stop, the leader knocked Jim down in a flying
tackle worthy of a NFL player. Jim struggled, but was unable to escape as
the leader picked him up and flung over his shoulder. The leader stood, one
hand on Jim's thighs holding him in place, and walked back to the rest stop.
The warriors all had the other prisoners laying face down on the ground,
holding them in place by their weight. The prisoners had not tried anything,
but the warriors had not taken any chances.
The leader dumped Jim onto the ground once he reached the clearing. He then
removed a golden handled dagger from a sheath on his belt. Blair seeing the
dagger screamed, "No!" and tried to struggle with his guard, fear for his
sentinel giving him strength.
But the two guards managed to hold him in place, and Blair watched as the
leader bent down over Jim, knife in hand.
However, the leader never cut Jim's skin as he skillfully cut off ever
stitch of clothes from Jim's body, until the sentinel lay on the ground,
nude, hands still tied behind his back, and the makeshift collar and leash
still around his neck.
The leader then gripped the rope and hauled Jim to his feet and led him over
to a tree with a low hanging branch. A warrior stepped forward and handed
the leader a long piece of handwoven hemp rope, and the leader tied one end
to the ropes bounding Jim's wrist, then tossed the rope over the branch and
tugged his tightly till Jim was forced to bend over, his arms uncomfortably
stretched upwards until his shoulders ached. Once he was in that position,
the leader tied off the rope to the tree trunk, then held out his hand.
Another warrior placed a long nettle branch in his hand.
Blair figured out what the man planned and increased his attempts to escape,
but the guards held him easily.
The first strike across his bare buttocks was a surprise and Jim jerked away
only to put more pressure on his shoulders. Again the branch fell heavily
across his butt cheeks, and Jim bit back a yelp.
The blows increased in speed and strength until dialing down the pain did
not help and Jim was whimpering in pain, his butt and thighs red from heat
and some blood.
No count was taken, no word was said. The leader beat Jim until his arm
tired. When he was done he tossed away the branch that was now stained with
Jim's blood. He then took a piece of cloth and wet it with water from his
bota and cleaned Jim's butt and thighs, washing away the blood.
While the guards gave their prisoners more water and food, the leader made a
paste from local plants in a small wooden bowl. He then spread the paste on
the cuts on Jim's butt and thighs. When he was done, only then did he
release Jim from the tree.
The sentinel drank his first sip from the leader's hand and accepted the
petting on his head. He then drank all the water from the golden bowl.
When they were done, they continued their journey toward the mountains. They
did not give the sentinel any clothes, and Jim was forced to walk naked and
barefoot through the jungle following the leader on the end of his leash.
It was about a few hours before dark when the group reached
their
destination. At a river, boats waited for them on the banks. The prisoners
were loaded into the boats, one prisoner for each boat, and the warriors
rode in with them. The warriors who were not directly guarding the prisoners
paddled the long canoes made of wood and hide down the river, eyes keenly
searching for crocodiles and hippopotamuses.
The river was wide and deep and flowed in a gentle manner. The river itself
flowed almost parallel to the mountains, with only a few bends and curves
along the way. As they went further along the river, the prisoners began to
notice the structures built along the banks. Stone buildings with carvings
and statues of jaguars, snakes, people, and crocodiles dotted the shore. The
temples were not ruins, no vines covered them, no creepers pushed through
stone cracks. They also noticed people moving through the temples, women
carrying woven baskets upon their heads, children running and dodging. As
they went further, the ground on the banks gave way to stone, individual
blocks handcut to fit so that no space lay between for plants to grow. The
buildings grew higher, until they were the size of the pyramids, living
quarters were built upon living quarters, with gardens on roofs and porches
tended by older children, all made of grey stone with gold relief
decorations. The jungle's canopy still lay above the highest building so
that it blocked the view of the city from others.
Citizens spotted the warriors coming in and began to gather around what
appeared to be the dock where other boats waited. The women and children
wore brightly colored clothing unlike the drab colors of the warriors. Gold
jewelry decorated the women's necks, ears, arms, and ankles, and the
children wore little jewelry beyond small earrings.
The boats stopped at the docks, and the passengers disembarked.
A man wearing a headress of a peacock, tail feathers in abundance, came
forward.
The man was big, but not fat. His skin was oiled, his nose was pierced, as
was his ears. The rest of his clothing was made of animal hide dyed with
rich colors of green and blue, and more feathers decorated it. Gold
bracelets and armlets carved with crocodiles, and snakes matched the gold
jewelry he wore in his ears and nose.
The leader of the group, still holding Jim's leash, stepped forward and
bowed with only a small bending of the waist and and slight lowering of his
head.
The peacock feathered man bowed his head and waist just as much, as a
greeting between equals.
The leader the raised his arm sweeping it back to point at the prisoners
being offloaded, inviting the man to see.
The peacock feathered man strode forward at the invitation and stared at
each of the prisoners. His hand reached out and lifted up a lock of Blair's
hair.
A growl from Jim had the peacock feathered man dropping Blair's hair and
turning to look at the sentinel. He said something in his language, then
laughed. The leader laughed to, and cuffed Jim's head in punishment.
"Sandburg, do you recognize any of this?" Simon asked.
"It looks like a cross between Incan and Mayan. I can't get over the
similarities and the differences. Some of its just plain baffling. I think
the peacock guy is the Chief, and I think the jaguar man is a priest."
"A priest. Shit, are they going to sacrifice us?" Simon asked.
"I don't know."
The chief turned back to look at the prisoners. The man was taller than
Simon, and was well muscled for his size. The chief nodded, then gave orders
to the guards who immediately took the prisoners away from t he docks.
The priest did not follow the guards. Instead, he spoke to the headman, then
after a nod from t he chief, he headed in the near opposite direction,
walking up massive stairs to the highest building in the city. Jim had no
choice but to follow. As he he did, he kept his sentinel sight on Blair and
the others until they disappeared inside another building.
When they reached the top, the priest swept aside a jaguar hide from t he
entrance, and walked inside.
In the room, statues of gold and jade shaped to look like jaguars dotted the
room. Jaguar hides hung from the walls, and jaguar skulls lay on carved
shelves.
"This guy has a serious jaguar fetish." Jim said to no one in
particular.
The priest looked at him curiously, then called out.
Several men came out form the back rooms wearing only white loinclothes that
only hid their genitals, but left their asses bare. Tattoos of jaguars
marred their left cheeks, and the men came to stand before the priest.
The priest gave orders, and the men rushed to obey.
Jim was taken into the back room where a pool of water and the tattooed men
waited. The priest handed the leash to one of the tattooed men, and two
others helped the priest to undress.
Once the priest stood nude, his large uncut cock hanging passively between
his muscled thighs, he took back the leash and descended down the steps into
the pool of water. Jim followed to avoid strangulation.
The water was not hot, but cool, and felt good on Jim's raw, sweaty skin.
Once they were in, the water up to Jim's chest and the man's waist, the
priest barked orders, and two of the tattooed men stripped and headed down
into the pool. Jim's nearly keeled over in shock as he saw that the tattooed
men were eunuchs, and then fear set in wondering if he was to be one of
those tattooed men.
The eunuchs picked up clothes, and a gentle soap made from soaproot and
other herbs, and while one lathered up the priest, the other lathered up
Jim's body.
The sentinel stood stoically as the eunuchs soaped up every part of his
body. He did not react when they cleaned his cock and balls or when they
soaped up his bruised ass cheeks gently, or cleaned between his ass cheeks.
When the last of the soap was poured off of them, the priest led Jim out of
the pool.
The priest waited while the eunuchs dressed him in a clean white kilt, and
sandals. Jim was not dressed, and the priest led him away from the pool
chamber and into another room.
Inside the unbearably hot room, a eunuch stood before a hot forge, tongs in
hand, and a strip of gold being heated in the hot coals. The eunuch took out
the strip laying it on his anvil, and began to beat it with a hammer.
The priest said something, and the eunuch stopped what he was doing and
bowed, the hurried to the back of the room.
When the eunuch came back, he had in his hands a large gold ring carved with
jaguars, and a pair of tongs which he stuck into the flames. While the tongs
heated, the priest brought Jim forward, and with a push on his shoulder had
him kneeling in the room. The eunuch brought the ring over to them, while
the priest removed the rope from around Jim's neck, and the eunuch replaced
it with the ring. On the ring, the eunuch placed a pin, then removed the now
hot tongs from the flames, and melted the pin in place securing the collar
around Jim's neck.
Jim rejected the idea of fighting back. Blair was a prisoner somewhere, and
fear for his guide stayed his hand. Instead the sentinel passively accepted
the collar, and forced the anger and rage deep down within...to be used
later when the situation permitted it.
When they were done, the priest tied the rope to the collar, and led Jim
from the forge room. Jim wondered what was happening to his guide, and his
friends as he followed the priest.