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Chapter 7
 
 
There is always that moment, when you made an important decision in your life, in which everything seems to be new. You wake up in the morning and think: who would imagine that I would be here today? And, where will I be tomorrow?

After the change Erica slept soundly in her lover`s arms. When she woke it was dark, but she could see perfectly and her whole body felt different.
She felt renewed, light, as if a great burden had been lifted from her shoulder. Of course, among other things, waking up in the arms of a beautiful girl like Bastet was a nice beginning for a new life.

Erica disentangled herself from her lover and went to the pool to pee. As she was releasing the liquid she could feel the dark tendrils of the goddess caressing her legs, taking her liquid gift to the underground to make poisons and medicines.

Submerging herself in the darkest part of the pool she felt the freedom of movement given by the water and thought about how it reflected the freedom that she felt within herself.
It was weird, she had to lose something that, as Eric, she used to consider so valuable to gain this feeling of belonging. Even more strange that by belonging she felt so free.

Her breasts were growing; she could feel the two little buds shaping themselves into beautifully little domes. This was amazing and wonderful, she felt complete.

Down there her pussy was improving, looking more and more like those of the other girls. Bastet loved to play with it, reveling in each new feature, each new intricate fold.

Erica looked at her sleeping sisters, so beautiful. All still young, and she knew that they would become beautiful women.

Feeling that it was day outside Erica left the cave. As Anora before her, Erica felt the world outside refreshed, each thing full of many details that only now she could appreciate. The life of every little thing in front of her could be felt in her mind.

The desire to hunt was almost overwhelming. Eric had been a hunter above all, stoic, calm, waiting for the prey to slip. Always waiting and cautious.

In a sense this was how he had courted Bastet, waiting, bidding his time. And it had been more than worth it.
<Someone said that the best things in life have to be conquered, we never value what we get for free> Anora`s voice said in Erica`s mind.

<A little privacy, please?> Erica sent with a little annoyance.

< Don’t be a bother lover, I know that you love our little intrusions> purred Bastet, entering their mental conversation And, she playfully sent images of what they had been doing in the last day.

<Sisters, if the pleasantries are over, we have work to do> Sent Erynia in her usual a bit demanding, cold tones.

And work they did.
 
 
First they worked in their house, the pool cave as they were starting to call it. They placed rugs made of pelts on the floor, built torch sconces into the walls (that stone was like butter for the lizard women), a better fire pit outside, worked together on leather tanning and hide making along with weapon crafting: making wooden arrows, bows, and stone knifes. Finally Anora and Erynia went to the stream and obtained good clay which they started making pots from. These pots would be dried and baked in fire making the first utensils of their new home.

The goddess complained more than once that there were better caves within the mountain. A huge complex that would take days to cross and that was all theirs.

SHE kept saying that the Pool Cave was a place to catch animals, both for feeding and for taking. The best such place that SHE had since it was close to the forest.

But they were not ready to leave the sun behind and the Pool Cave was a place of good memories for all.

The goddess reluctantly decided to not press the issue, not force obedience. For now.

During that day Anora proved to be a natural born leader, keeping Erica`s and Bastet lovemaking in check, dealing with Erynia`s caustic remarks and organizing their jobs.

Anora loved this. Her father had trained her to lead and she always felt robbed of this opportunity by the sexist views of her tribe.

In future days she would write fondly about their new beginning:
 
 
Anora speaking - and then continues from her perspective:

In the tribe, even during my father`s days I was an oddity. The crazy girl that was neither demure, nor obedient and that would defy even the most seasoned warriors.

I admit that I got frustrated because I couldn`t do anything that I really wanted. Oh they would let me put the kitchens in order, keep an eye in the stock of fruits and meat, even organize and distribute the weapons, but when it came to deciding where to camp, where to hunt and who should do what task I was “just a little girl”.

My father listened to me, trained me in leadership and encouraged me. But, it was only in the confines of our wagon. Never in front of the “Good and Important” warriors of the tribe.

You may say that from a young age I learned to be subtle, to lead from the shadows. But it was SO frustrating !!!

Well, now I had power. I could feel creatures moving and crawling all around. Could control these creatures, make them hunt or feed or mate. I loved it and really, really wanted even more.

Me and my goddess, we would take the world as our playfield.

Of course, being respected and loved by my sisters also helped.
 
 
You know, at the end of the first day we were pretty tired, and yet, when we went to our beds made of furs we didn`t sleep. Not really.

We went to the spiritual world while our bodies rested. I remember that once there I felt well, I was not tired anymore.

The goddess brought us to her place. I found myself standing beside my sisters in the margin of an underground lake that stretched to a cavernous horizon. Looking up I could see a ceiling full of stalactites, but it was so far away that details escaped even my enhanced spiritual eyes. Around us there were big stalagmites, some so thick two women would not be able to hug one even if they stretched their arms with only the tips of their fingers touching.

There was a weird phosphorescent white moss in some places, an ancient life form that had projected itself in that spiritual place only the goddess knows for how many eons.

And the presence of the goddess was strong in the lake. This was perhaps the first time that I felt how big she was both in the physical and in the spiritual plane. She had tempted us with the promise of a dark kingdom stretching for long distances of tunnels and she was telling the truth.

Astonished I felt that there were so many tunnels and chambers that a normal human being could spend her whole life to explore them all.

What I had not realized before was that all these tunnels and chambers, this vast labyrinth of caves was filled by HER.

While we stood there astonished HER presence demanded our attention and SHE spoke with all HER power into our minds.

“ANORA, YOU SHALL TAKE CARE OF THE GRAINS AND THE BREEDING ABOVE GROUND, FROM YOU I WILL DEMAND FRUITS AND VEGETABLES, MEAT, MILK AND WOOL. YOU SHALL FEED US ALL.FOR THIS I GIVE YOU CONTROL OF ALL MY CREATURES ABOVE GROUND, THE WOLVES AND THE APES, THE SMALL LIZARDS AND THE BIG TYRANNOSAURUS. ALL SHALL BE YOURS TO COMMAND”

Amazed by her grandiosity and power I could only bow and accept my job. But I was overjoyed, this time I WOULD control the food and the kitchen but I knew that my goddess would listen to me to make the fundamental decisions.
We would take the world together with my sisters.

Next SHE spoke to Erynia:

“ERYNIA, I CHARGE THEE WITH THE CONTROL OF THE UNDERGROUND, YOU WILL BE THE MINER, THE ONE THAT WILL KNOW BOTH THE SECRETS OF THE EARTH AND OF MY MEMORY AS IT IS ENCODED IN THE ROCKS THEMSELVES. YOU WILL MAKE NEW WEAPONS AND TERRORIZE OUR ENEMIES WITH THE CREATURES OF DARKNESS AND SHADOW”

For the first time in years I saw a completely sincere smile on the face of my sister, I knew that she hated men even more than I did and now I was afraid of what she would cook with that cold intelligent mind of hers, in the dark bowels of the earth.

“BASTET, YOU AND ERICA ARE ONE. YOU BOTH WILL BE THE HUNTERS OF GAME OUTSIDE OUR REALM, THE ONES THAT WILL BRING NEW CREATURES, NEW IDEAS AND NEW PEOPLE. YOU SHALL GO TO THE CITIES AND LEARN FROM MEN, FACE OUR ENEMIES WITH SUBTLETY AND WISDON. TO YOU I BEQUET THE TASK OF EXPANDING MY REALM”

The two accepted their jobs, but I could see worry mixed with joy in their faces. It was a dangerous task and trough our link I could feel that while Bastet considered the task fun, a way to indulge in her infinite curiosity, Erica was more cautious, she would approach the task as the hunter that she was. Perhaps, ironic as it may seem, she would be our hunter of men.

“NOW CHILDREN, MAKE A PLACE FOR YOUR SPIRITS HERE IN MY HOUSE, A PLACE OF REFUGE BUT ALSO A PLACE FOR WORK. BECAUSE YOU, ARE MY CHOSEN ONES, AND WILL BE ALWAYS WELCOME HERE, IN MY REALM.”

Erynia had taught me that everything in the spiritual world was just a representation, an icon of its meaning or purpose. So, I imagined a new purpose for the wall of a stalagmite, it would have a gate on it.

This gate that I created led to a big room full of windows, each window showed one view, from the eyes of one creature that I controlled. For the creatures that “saw” mostly using other senses the window showed a representation that I would understand of what this creature perceived.
In the middle of the room I placed tables containing representations of the terrain or icons representing things that I found interesting like the amount of goods that we had in stock.

It would take time and a lot of work together with the goddess but one day I would be able to come to this room when my body was sleeping and, undisturbed by the thoughts of my sisters, work in my domain.

I sent to my sisters the knowledge of what I was doing and they started to work on their rooms.

Erica`s was a hunting cabin, but with windows that would, in the future, show what her creatures were doing.

Erynia`s was a large room containing many shelves full of rolls of parchment, each roll containing information about something in the underground. She called her room a library, something that I had never seen in my life before.

Bastet`s room was not really a room, it was simply a representation of a forest, one that probably she was the only person that could navigate. I didn`t understand its utility, but respected my sister`s wish.

If we were going to spend some time away from the distraction of our sister`s memories we would need a way to “catch up”, to share information so that a person leaving her room could know what the others had been doing.
I meditated a little in this problem and then I remembered going to a seer with my father many years ago. I sent the image of what I wanted to the goddess, she agreed, and Suddenly I was with my sisters, forming a circle, seated around a raised basin of water. Dark water, full of the goddess essence.

“Sisters, we need a place to put the memories that we want to share” I said. “This will be the place. Let me show you the way.”

I touched my head with my fingers, slowly extracted a glowing filament of light from within and let it caress its way into the darkness of the basin water. The light diffused within the water, slowly extinguishing itself.
Then silence.

“Please dear sisters, touch the water.” One by one, they did.

By submerging themselves in my memory they all became me, we would follow my memory together. We were all a girl called Anora in a very important day.
That day I woke from a confused, perhaps prophetic, dream. The fur over which I had been sleeping was all tangled and my hair was a mess. Sitting up I noticed that my parents were still sleeping at the other side of the wagon. A little ray of sunshine was shining onto me through the hole that mother had made at the wall. It had awoken me up, as it was meant to do.

Stretching my arms, I noticed that my chest was already showing two small mounds that one day would be beautiful breasts. Biting my lower lip, I secretly hoped to get as big as mom.

Dressing in the semi darkness was already routine; after all, it was mostly just putting on a long robe over top my leather clothing. Having pulled my hair together and tying it back with a small piece of twine (I would cut it short as an act of defiance only one year latter), I climbed out of the wagon. The water hole, being a bit off to the left of the camp, wasn't too far away. It was time to fetch water as was tradition for daughters to do.

As I passed by the corral, I greeted a brutish man that was one of the sentinels of the camp and went forth to fetch the water for my family`s breakfast.
Since I was still considered a child it was normal for me to go alone to get water in the morning. But nearing the river, I always used the trick that Erynia had recently taught me. It was a way of finding predators, crocodiles in the water or worse things hidden in the grass.

Concentrate. Feel the life all around me. Inspire. Breathe in. Exhale...

!!!

Wait! There was someone nearby... yes, somewhere behind me!

Dropping to the ground, barely daring to breath and slowly crawled over into the high grass, careful about making any sounds, I hid off of the path made by the tribe and waited there cautiously.

I could feel the sentinel nearby, looking around, searching for me! And he had a knife in his hand.

Now, spying from a little opening in the grass I recognized that towering figure. His name was forgotten but all called him Urk. He was a sort of leader to the most brutish elements in the tribe.

My analytical mind, trained very well by my father, was already thinking in the political implications. Rape was almost always considered to be the fault of the woman or of the father or husband for not guarding their women well. Of course, rape of a child was something different, but these two small breasts that had made me so proud only moments ago might be my downfall. If Urk could convince the tribe that I was a woman he could argue that it all was my father`s fault since he had not kept me under guard. Urk would argue that he simply did what any red blooded man would do in his place.

It would not work. I would not denounce the rape and if he showed that he was proud of it by telling everyone, my father would call him a liar and end his life. Actually, I was pretty sure that if he raped me Urk would be dead tomorrow. But it would be little consolation.

So, when he started to get close in his search, after all, he was a hunter and I had left a trail I decided to try another spell.

Quiet, quiet, nobody can see me. Imagine a dome around me, this dome does not allow anyone to look. I am not interesting, I am not here.
 
 
Urk was never known for his bright intellect, it was no surprise that a simple dome of protection cast by an inexperienced child and a little altered to make it difficult to see me befuddled his mind. His face went blank for a while and he started his search all over again.

After what seemed an eternity, a group of older girls from the tribe began to come into view. Coming, as I had done, to the water hole to fetch some water for their families.

Urk crudely showed his crotch to them, making a rude gesture. The girls, taken aback and upset, stopped in their tracks since he was blocking their way to the water.

Finally realizing that someone would get upset with him for blocking them, not with the girls for not bringing water, Urk slipped his knife back down in its belt sheath, smirking to himself. His eyes gazed about one last time for the prey that had somehow eluded him as he secured his blade. Reluctantly, he soon wandered off.

And I could feel this all from my hiding place using the detecting life spell that Erynia taught me. I, Anora, powerful goddess servant, the present me, ended the flow of the memory.

And we were back in our spiritual bodies, in the spiritual realm.

“That day Erynia, your knowledge saved me. Thanks sister.” I told her with a grateful smile.

“You are welcome little one” She said in her cold tones, but there was a tear in one of her eyes.

“Why your father didn`t kill him?” Asked Erica, in a subdued voice.

“He was looking for an opportunity, but the war was coming and it was difficult to justify killing one of the best warriors. Urk was stupid and brutish but also fearless in combat and good at cracking skulls.”

“Except in that day”, said Erica, “In the day of that last charge he stood a bit behind allowing your father to be cut off from us and slaughtered”.

“This is a memory that I want to see other day, but not yet Erica. Not yet” I answered with sadness.

“Hey, but I want to see Erica`s memories. I want know how it is to be a man, to show my muscles, and … yirck, how is it that you survive with that thing between your legs? It must hurt.” I could see that Bastet in her typical way had already forgotten the sadness brought by the memory that I showed and was almost bouncing with the excitement of having her curiosity about the other sex satisfied. I, of course was also very curious.

But the surprising part was Erynia adding.

“Yes, I would like to know how men think. Perhaps this will help me to understand my own past. So, I ask to you my dear sister, show us a memory that help us to study the mind of men.”

I was astonished by her vehemence. Now I understood that all the coldness in her spirit must have a male reason behind it. I hoped that my father was not involved somehow; after all, she had been taken in a raid and given to my father as a gift.

Erica smiled, concentrated for a while and brought her own little light to become part of the information kept in the dark waters of the spiritual basin.
And, eager to learn, we touched the water.
 
Author`s Note: Thank you very much Sephrena Miller for your big help with everything. But, of course people, the mistakes that remain here are mine and mine alone.
 

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To Be Continued...