The Maze (6 page)

Suri screamed and struggled, unaccustomed to such an intimate form of punishment.  It was almost invasive, the way he held her against his bare thighs, her naked stomach and pubic area grinding into him while she attempted to escape.

Once again his rough hand, callused from a lifetime of wielding a weighty blade, focused its attention onto a young, impressionable, and wiggling bare bottom.  He found himself comparing the way her flesh moved under his blows, enjoying it less than he did when he punished Lina.  He
also was not quite getting the response he was aiming for.  He desired some sort of submission or, at least, a show of tears. 
He picked up the cinquedea, eyeing its wide, flat blade.

Without hesitation, he smacked the smooth cold metal harshly across the crown of her buttocks.  Suri screamed out, the pain penetrating deeply.  A purple bruise was already forming.  Traisk repeated the process four more times, admiring the additional bruises that popped up on her backside. He then returned to using his p
alm, knowing that her bottom had been sufficiently tenderized to help her attitude.

“I’m sorry I bit you!” Suri wailed, ashamed at her inability to either ignore or escape the pain in her bottom.

“You will calm down and obey me, woman.  If you want to live, you will listen and listen carefully,” he whispered, too low for the microphones to pick up. “If you don’t, we will have a repeat performance of my playing the flat of this blade against the round of your butt.  Got it?”

Suri froze, mid-sob, as his continued hushed words immobilized her.  She nodded tearfully, knowing that sitting would not be an option anytime soon.  The pain he dealt out was so different than the type she had been trained to endure.  It confused her
and, in
its own way, it comforted her! She did not
answer him as he rained another ten mind-boggling blows onto her aching bottom.

“I will obey.  For now,” she fin
ally sniffed, unable to fight him any longer.

“Stubborn fem
ale.  I’m not asking for that much, am I? Well, maybe for the likes of you.
What’s the matter? Sore back end?” he asked with amusement, pulling her to her feet
and fixing her leggings over her swollen, purple backside
.  She blushed, facing the floor.  Silently, he restrained her just as he had Lina, and led her back to the ‘holding room.’ Lina yelled through her gag when she saw Suri being led in as Traisk’s prisoner.

“You have her too?! Are you ok?” Suri asked, ignoring the agonizing sting to her own bright red bottom.  Lina nodded, still on the bed.  Traisk sat Suri down at the table and, as before, ordered her to eat from the bowls he set before her.  She glowered at him, but slowly and tenderly, she obeyed.

The crowd was silent.  The Strong Man had captured not one, but two Trained Ones! That had never been done in the 60-year history of the Maze events!  More bets were laid as they speculated on his next move.

Traisk ungagged Lina to ask if she had changed her mind about relieving herself.  Blushing, she nodded.  Without any expression, Traisk released her from the bindings that held her to the platform bed and then carried her to the outpot.  He gently removed her shorts and plopped her down upon it, then retied her hands to her sides and her wrists to her ankles.

“Do your business and then call for me.  If you try to get off without my help, you will fall flat on your face and get another ass warming.”

Lina stared at the floor, her face bright red with shame.  Traisk watched her for a moment and then returned to Suri.  Th
at one was trying desperately to stand and relieve the pressure from her terribly bruised rear end.  He pushed her back down and tied her in place on the chair to force her to feel her punishment.  He then looked over as Lina fell, face first, to the floor.  She had disobeyed him and tried to get down from the outpot on her own. Seeing that she had not finished her business, he lifted her with one arm and applied ten hard smacks to her bare bottom before seating her firmly back in place.

He never thought taking care of two women would be so much work! He found himself longing for the ring where he could fight
again
like a man.

He asked Suri if she also needed to relieve herself as she stared dumbfounded at Lina, who finally gave up and emptied her bladder loudly into the metal bowl. Suri looked back at Traisk helplessly. 

“You have got to be joking.”

“Does it look like I’m joking?  Does your backside FEEL like I’m joking?” He walked back to Lina and pulled her with one arm off the outpot.  She struggled in embarrassment as he gently cleansed her with cool water, p
arting her delicate flesh gently as he washed her nether parts slowly and deliberately before patting h
er dry.  He did not miss the moist, furry lips that peaked out the entice him.  He fought against any arousal, although he was tempted to see how much he could make her beg.  No, not now, he reprimanded himself.  You still need to focus on your target.  Keeria.

“Wh
at do you think you are doing, miss?” he asked as Lina started to grind her hips seductively against his leg before twisting to smile sweetly at him.

“If you want to, you have my permission to touch me.  I like being touched and you do it so nicely.”

Traisk frowned, seeing through her game. “Do you now? Like this? Do you like when I touch you like this, Lina?” he asked, reaching between her legs and stroking her wet pussy and slightly swollen clit as Suri watched them, stunned.

“Oh, Strong Man, I do! More, please.” Lina faked a groan, although one pretty darn close to being real!

“Do you like this, too?” Traisk asked, plunging his finger inside her slit and wiggling it gently.  Lina gasped with the delightful penetration, nodding and squirming some more. “How about this?”

His finger made its way to her bottom hole and slipped in, to her surprise and repulsion.

“No! I don’t like that! Stop and do the other thing!” she ordered.

“You STILL have not learned to use the word ‘please’!  Really, now, a big girl like you needs more lessons? I promised you an ass warming for getting off that pot by yourself, so let’s see if you like this type of touch as much as the other.”

Lina begged forgiveness as he removed his large, leather sandal and brushed it off on his thigh.  The sharp
Crack
resonated through the room as the thick leather slapped briskly over her still tender hindquarters, making her bellow out protests, apologies and plenty of pleases for him to stop.  He did not, however, and continued to cover her entire rear end with dark red marks.

Lin
a, breathless from her struggle, finally grew silent under his discipline.  He lifted her onto his lap and wiped her face with his hand before gently kissing her forehead, “Will you please watch your manners for now on, and mind me?” He sounded sad!

“Yes, sir. I’m sorry,” she whimpered, leaning into his hard, furry chest and relishing the odd comfort she experienced in his arms.  She had never been held like this and it felt, well, safe. “I did like what you were doing, though.  Not the spanking, but the other stuff.  Except back there,” she admitted shamefully.

“If you try to seduce me again, you will feel more than my finger ‘back there’, young lady,” Traisk warned her firmly, “so think twice next time you get the urge to wiggle on me.”

He tied her once
again to the bed and, with another kiss on the temple, he turned to Suri.  She sat, eyes wide and mute, absorbing the scene she had witnessed.
Without asking, Tr
aisk strolled over to her, lifted her from the hard chair, bared her, and
deposited her on the outpot.  He stood in front of her, hands on his hips, d
aring her to challenge him as he waited
for the telltale sound of her relieving herself.  Still very sore
and not desiring a repeat punishment, Suri blushed tremendously as she voided. Traisk
cleansed her as he had Lina, noticing that her fur was very dark and her pussy p
ale within the folds of her womanhood.  She, too, was very wet
.  Hmmm, so this excited this little beast
as well
?  No rew
a
rds for her, though.  Not yet!

With a loud swat, and a resultant satisfactory yelp, Traisk lifted her off his lap and proceeded to tie her to a hard chair, making sure her welted bottom experienced the most discomfort possible.  Teach the little wench to cut me up and then bite me, he thought.  Satisfied, he took the time to cleanse his own wounds in the b
ath
, ate, and then settled back to grab some much needed sleep.

Chapter Four

Keeria shivered as she felt the suns go down in the north and clouds loomed overhead, threatening rain.  She had found her way outside of the artificial BioDome, thanks to her little prickly guide, whom she had named Churros. 
She searched for shelter but found only large, broad leaves that she could use to ward off the droplets that fell sporadically around her.  Rain was not a welcome event on Elien; pollution had turned it highly acidic and it could cause a nasty burn to anyone who came in contact with it.

A drop fell upon her foot and she grimaced, huddling atop a rock and under several leaves.  She closed her eyes, knowing that it would take hours for the stream to dilute any acid that fell into it, so fresh water was out of the question for a while.  Churros climbed under her legs, making her yip as one of the quills pressed into her thigh.

It gave her an idea.  Carefully, she made a cup out of a broad leaf and placed it out to capture some of the corrosive rain.  She gently stroked Churros, and several quills dislodging easily.  She studied one and smiled.  It would make a perfect dart.

The sky was a beautiful bright green the next morning and Keeria carefully stepped out onto the path, watching for puddles as she walked in sandaled feet.  She had the tips of twelve quills soaking in the cup of acid, and she had begun to fabricate a blow stick from a hollow rod plant found near the stream.  She occasionally dipped a leaf into the stream to check to see if it changed color or shape. Finally, after nearly two hours, the water was once again safe. She chuckled, watching Churros drink.  It knew, even if she hadn’t.

She waded in the stream, hoping to cool some of the burning that her feet had suffered as they meet with splatters of liquid left on the ground and the plants.  If it rained again, she promised herself to wrap her feet in leaves as well!  Damn, it smarted.

Gathering her little arsenal, she glanced at First Sun.  She estimated that she had only a couple of hours of daylight left before it would sink again and the air would become unbearably cold.  She was hungry and suddenly very lonely.  She had never been out of her litter or left alone except to be punished.  She picked up Churros, holding the little creature close while trying to avoid being pricked. She mused that only a rebellious Trained One would pick a porcupine as a pet!

Her stomach growled as she ventured through the brown vine-covered forest and she wiped the perspiration from her face.  It had been a long time since she had been placed in the maze. She also noticed that the temperature changed constantly, probably because of the damage to the planet’s atmosphere from years of mistreatment.  She sighed, remembering her history.  That was what caused the ultimate destruction of Earth.  Too many people, too much greed, and too few resources.  History, unlearned, was bound to repeat itself. If only she had the power to change things. But then, she was just a Trained One.  Without True Freedom, she would still be some man’s slave.

Her mind ventured to Traisk, the Strong Man who wandered around somewhere in the Maze hunting for her.  He was certainly handsome and so incredibly big!  She knew the Strong Men were bred, as were the Trained Ones, for their intelligence and strength, but they were also known for their cruelty and brutal pleasures.  Her trainers had proven that to all the girls early in their lives, and the Trained Ones had felt the full impact of men’s merciless nature once they turned 18. She also thought of the Head Trainer and how gentle he had been with her during her ‘testing’.

She thought back on her time with him as a child.  Yes, she had been subjected to many canings, but she admitted they were of her own making.  He had also insisted on being the one to punish her and had never allowed the other trainers to beat her for her misdoings. Unlike the others, he had never drawn blood or left her unable to function, even once she had turned 18. He even praised her often on her ability to take punishment from him without a sound. She wondered why he seemed to favor her so much. She also wondered if he had been so kind to the other two, but they had not been permitted to talk once they had been removed for preparation. If only this Traisk could be half as gentle as the Head Trainer… What was she thinking?  Killing him was her only hope of real freedom.

Her blistered feet ached as she sat on a log and looked around her.  If only she could climb high enough to see where she was. Keeria decided to try.  She had always hated climbing and she was terrified of heights.  Nonetheless, she shimmied up a tree as high as the branches would allow her and peaked over the thick canopy of acid burned leaves.  She gasped.

There was nothing but brown as far as the eye could see, with heavy, thick yellow clouds quickly approaching, promising a gale. Where was this place, anyway?

The crowd laughed, seeing Keeria’s despair over the vast miles of dying forest.  There was no way she could ever escape this trap!

“We need to get out of here fast, little buddy,” Keeria said, picking up Churros and starting to run back downstream as fast as her tender feet would take her.  She knew that if a powerful storm hit, she and her friend would be crispy critters within minutes.