Red Sonja and the Ten Hells - Chapter 1

Chapter 1 - Introduction

Red Sonja strode through the back streets of the city, with her cloak wrapped tight around her. She didn't know the name of the city and didn't much care. It looked like a hundred other cities she had visited. Dusty streets, cheap and dirty taverns, with ale that tasted like piss, whores on every street corner after dark, and people trudging around like zombies in the heat.

Sonja was only passing through, picking up supplies and then heading south to Tol Atlek, where the Prince was supposedly hiring mercenaries for some war. She didn't plan to be in this city long enough to learn it's name, or meet any of the inhabitants, unless they were unlucky enough to cross her.

"Help! Help!" screamed a female voice from the alleyway that Sonja was just approaching.

Sonja sighed and stopped. This kind of thing was always happening to her, no matter where she went. She would just be walking along minding her own business, and then someone would call out for help. In the end, It didn't even matter if she stopped to help or not.

If she stopped and saved the person, it would turn out that they were a princess or a temple virgin about to be sacrificed, and then she would have to deal with a dozen sword wielding soldiers or priests. Sword wielding priests seemed like an oxymoron, but it was always like that.

If she decided not to stop, somehow that would come back to bite her in the ass later. There would be some kind of mystic talisman that she would need, and it would turn out the person she didn't help had owned it. Sonja sighed, and figured she might as well get it over with. She stepped into the mouth of the alley, and surveyed the predictable scene.

Sonja called out, "What's going on here?"

So predictable. There were four men surrounding a half-undressed woman. Two of the men were holding her arms, another was clutching the top he had just ripped off the woman, and the fourth man was standing to the side and leering or supervising. The fourth one will have a great career ahead of him as a city worker, if he lived through the next few minutes, thought Sonja. As for the girl, rather... make that a woman, because with tits that size she was no girl. The woman, was a beautiful Nubian, with chocolate skin and large breasts topped with dark, erect nipples. The woman was struggling to get free, but the only effect that had, was to make her breasts jiggle up and down for the entertainment of the four men.

"Get lost," snarled the supervisor, with a predictable lack of charm.

The man holding the top dropped it, and began grabbed a handful of black boobs with each meaty paw.

Sonja sighed, "We can do this the easy way... or we can do it the hard way," she took a step towards the four men.

"We know what the easy way is," sneered the supervisor. "You can get down on your knees and suck me. Wait... that's the hard way, cause my hard cock will be in your mouth!"

"No," Sonja replied calmly, "This is the hard way,"

She pulled her hood back and let her cloak fall open to reveal the deadly looking sword she had strapped to one shapely hip. Of course this didn't help the situation much, since the men noticed her hip before the sword. Not just her hip either. Their eyes went up and down her newly revealed body. They took in the fiery red hair, clear blue eyes, smirking lips, two wonderful tits barely covered with a turquoise metal-clad brassiere and loincloth, muscled abdomen, long legs, and the boots she was wearing.

"Look at the size of the tits on Red!" exclaimed the thug holding the left arm of the woman. He glanced from Sonja's boobs to the woman he was holding. "They look about the same size to me," he commented, "should we put 'em next to each other to compare?"

This was boring in it's predictability, thought Sonja, as she drew her sword. She smiled sweetly, "Let's just get his over with, shall we?" Sonja charged forward.

The supervisor managed to recover from his shock, and tore his gaze from Red's bouncing tits, just in time to get his own sword out and deflect Sonja's first strike. Unfortunately, his potential career in civic works was quickly cut short, as Sonja pivoted on her heel and removed his head with her parry stroke. The supervisor's head bounced a few times on the cobblestones, and came to rest predictably, still looking at Sonja's cleavage.

The other three men gaped for a second, then thrust the half naked Nubian behind them, and pulled out their swords.

With three to one odds against, most people would have backed off and gone defensive. But that was not how Red Sonja fought. She gave a cry and charged straight at the three remaining men. She faked a cut at the head of the man in the center, and while he was ducking, cut under the guard of the man on the left and opened his stomach up. While the man on the left was staring at his entrails, Sonja parried the hasty blow from the man on the right, and brought her sword up between his legs. He gave an inarticulate scream, and collapsed to the ground in a growing puddle of blood.

The man in the center looked at one buddy trying to stuff his guts back into his body, the head lying on the ground, and the latest soprano in the city choir, and decided to make a run for it. He charged past Sonja and made it as far as the mouth of the alley, before Sonja's throwing knife lodged in his back. He staggered another few steps and then collapsed dead.

Sonja knew from past experience, that it didn't pay to let them get away. If you were nice and let them run off, they would bring back a dozen of their buddies, and on it went.

"Are you alright?" Sonja asked the black woman, as she wiped her sword clean on the headless supervisor's clothes and sheathed it.

The woman nodded, covering her breasts and looking for her top. A crowd was gathering at the head of the alley.

Sonja said, "I think we should get out of here before--"

She was interrupted by a voice shouting from just up the street. "Guards, Guards! Over here. Two whores just killed four citizens."

Sonja rolled her eyes, grabbed the hand of the woman, and pulled her along as they hurried out into the street. It was time to get out of this city, whatever it was called, before the city guard showed up and made a nuisance of themselves by bleeding all over her sword. Pausing to extract and wipe her throwing knife, Sonja began to run, pulling the topless woman along.

At first, a few of the patriotic citizens tried to follow them, but they turned tail when Sonja glared at them and waved her throwing knife.

She hurried to the stable, where she had boarded her horse, and sheathed her knife. Letting go of the Nubian's hand, Sonja quickly threw the saddle on her horse, and slung saddle bags over it's sides. She unclasped her cloak and stowed it in one of the saddle bags.

Sonja prepared to mount, and asked, "Do you want to come along, or would you rather stay here?"

"Take me with you, please," begged the woman. "If I stay here, they will kill me for refusing the advances of those men."

The logic of that didn't make sense to Sonja, but situations like this rarely had coherent logic. "Get up behind me," muttered Sonja as she leaned down and offered the woman a hand.

The Nubian climbed up onto the horse, sitting behind the red-haired rescuer.

"Hold on tight," Sonja commanded, as she put her heels to the horse and they galloped out of the stable.

It was only after they had gone a block or two that Sonja wished she had given more explicit instructions about how to hold on. The woman had her arms wrapped about Sonja, cupping her large breasts in each hand, while at the same time, Sonja could feel the woman's pillowy breasts crushed into her bare back.

There was the usual hew and cry of "over there" and "there they go" but no serious pursuit was mounted. The two women galloped out the city gates and down the long dusty road heading south.

At least I am going in the right direction, Sonja reflected, as she shifted slightly in her saddle, unsure what to do with the woman clutched against her. The Nubian's warm body felt kind of good, and that surprised the red-haired mercenary, as she had never considered what to do with a naked woman. Well that was not entirely true. There was the time in Belmarie, when she had been disguised as a man, and one of the harem girls had given her a kiss on the mouth and an invitation to her room. A fast horse had been involved in that episode as well, as Sonja had hauled her ass out of there as fast as she could ride.

Sonja and her passenger hoofed along in silence, for several hours. A few times, the Nubian had tried to initiate a conversation, but all she got back from her red-haired rescuer was a grunt or a simple "Yes" or "No".

---

Finally as dusk was falling, Sonja veered off into the brush on one side, where she found a clearing a hundred yards from the road. It was far enough from the road, that any passerby would not be likely to spot a fire. They were too far from the next town to reach it tonight.

"We'll camp here," Sonja declared, and with a sigh of relief felt the other woman let go of her and slid of the horse.

A bit later, they had a fire and red embers. Sonja cooked some of the rations from her saddle bags. There wasn't much left, but it would sustain them until they reached the next town.

Slices of pig meat sizzled in a pan, and when that was done, Sonja threw in a few chunks of stale bread to soak up the grease and soften. Plates were a luxury that Sonja didn't bother to carry, so both women shared the pan. The other woman's breasts were still uncovered, and Sonja kept finding her gaze wandering back to the dark-skinned bosom.

Eventually, the Nubian finally said, "I see you staring at my breasts. Do you like girls?"

Surprised by the blunt question, Sonja blushed, and her cheeks matched her hair color. "No!" she denied vehemently. "I was just noticing how big they are... I mean. Oh I don't know what I mean!" Sonja broke off in embarrassment.

The woman shrugged. "It is nothing to be ashamed off. I have laid with both men and women, and would lay with you, to thank you for saving me."

"No, that won't be necessary," Sonja hastily replied. "I don't even know your name!"

The Nubian smiled, "My name is Killia." She reached out and put her hand on Sonja's knee.

Sonja gulped and looked down at the hand. If a man had done that, she would have broken his fingers, but with another woman, Sonja was unsure what to do.

After she had been gang-raped as a teenager, Sonja swore an oath to the Goddess who granted her powers. She had sworn to let no man ever have her, unless he first defeated her in battle. And that was the rub here. The oath specified no man, and said nothing about a woman. Sonja had been on the road for over a decade since that oath, and she had slept with no man or woman, since that day.

On the whole, the oath left her feeling incredibly horny at times, and she learned to bring herself to a pleasurable climax on many a lonely night in solitary camps like this. Now, this beautiful woman was offering to lay with her. Sonja knew what they called women who slept with other women, and knew that some people scorned such actions as deviant. But there was an alluring and erotic attraction to the Nubian. She smelled like mulling spices. It would just be a one night fling, maybe two if the trail was longer than expected. Nobody would know. By the Goddess, she felt a desperate need for love and companionship.

"I... am Red Sonja," She stuttered in her confusion. To her horror and delight, she noticed that Killia's hand had snaked up her leg and was now on her inner thigh.

"Does that feel good?" Killia asked.

Sonja found herself unable to speak, and merely nodded her head. There was a flutter of sexual expectation in her belly. The kind she felt when she needed to with herself on lonely nights.

"You have never had another woman, have you" Killia surmised, as she moved her hand further.

Still paralyzed with uncertainty, and pent-up arousal, Sonja watched in slow-motion, as Killia's fingers slithered under her metal-clad loincloth. Sonja's body got the better of her mind, and she spread her legs a little, daring the other woman to touch her. Then she felt Killia's fingers lightly grazing over her pussy lips, calling her bluff.

Sonja moaned, "Ohh..."

The mighty red-haired warrior woman who had faced a thousand battles and single-handedly killed more than a hundred men, found herself paralyzed with fear of losing control, and overwhelming desire. Sonja felt Killia's fingers probing her fleshy pussy lips, splitting them apart and sneaking a finger inside of her.

"Mmm..." Sonja whispered softly.

She considered pulling away from the seductive touch of this Nubian beauty, but she couldn't. Then Killia slipped a second finger inside Sonja, and leaned forward to press her dark lips against Sonja's cheek.

"MMMmmm..." Sonja's moaned louder

Killia whispered huskily, "Tell me to stop and I will."

Sonja felt Killia's thumb discover her clit, and began rubbing it. The red-haired warrioress was beyond speech at that point, and she felt her body instinctively react to the caress of the other woman. Her pussy was getting wet, and before she realized what she was doing, Sonja turned her head and kissed Killia. She felt Killia's mouth open, and the Nubian's tongue demanded entrance. Goddess abide me. Sonja parted her lips and let the other woman's tongue into her mouth.

The two women clung to each other for long minutes, their tongues wrapped around each other. One of Sonja's hands crept up, and cupped the Nubian's big breast in her palm, feeling it's weight. Killia's fingers continued to play at Sonja's pussy and clit.

Sonja broke the kiss for a breath, and moaned, "Ahhhh, don't stop."

She was shocked to hear herself saying that, but it felt so good that she couldn't help herself. She spread her legs a bit more, giving access. Her mouth found the Nubian's lips, and the two continued kissing again.

After another minute of tongues dancing, hands groping, and fingers fingering, Killia broke the kiss for a breath. She withdrew from Sonja's pussy, and held her wet fingers up to the redhead's mouth.

Sonja hesitated, as she felt the wet fingertips against her lower lip. Her heart was pounding as she stared into Killia's eyes and then she began to suck on the Nubian's fingers, and tasted her own juices.

Killia smiled at Sonja and whispered, "Let's get you out of that chain mail. I don't understand how you can wear this without chafing your boobs raw."

Sonja blushed, and shyly reached behind her back to unfasten the clasp on her metal top. It was not that she had never been naked before, but she had never undressed with another woman, intent to lay with them. She felt so strange, and so wicked, but that was part of the thrill. With the straps loose, she pulled the armored top forward, and over her arms, before dropping it on the ground.

Killia smiled and gently cupped her dark-skinned hands under Sonja's generous mounds of pale flesh. Her thumbs stroking the ruddy nipples, which were already erect. Then Killia leaned forward, and both women watched as Killia held Sonja's large breasts in her hands and lined up her own dark nipples, pressing them into Sonja's stiff nipples. Killia squished their large breasts together and kissed Sonja again.

The kiss was brief, as Killia sat back and gestured for the warrioress to stand up. As Sonja stood, Killia knelt in front of the redhead and began to tug down her armored loincloth.

Sonja looked down to see the kneeling Nubian wanting to undress her. I can't believe I am doing this, was all that went through her mind. Sonja untied her loincloth and Killia promptly pulled it down. Then Sonja was lifting her feet as Killia pulled the metal raiment away and dropped it on the armored top. Now Sonja stood naked in her boots, with the firelight making sensual shadows of hollows and curves on her body and revealing her tan lines.

A silence seemed to engulf them, as Killia's palms moved to the front of Sonja's naked hips, and her thumbs stroked the curly red hairs on Sonja's mound. Then Killia's hands moved around to cup the redhead's ass cheeks, and she leaned forward and kissed Sonja's belly. She teased Sonja with her tongue for several seconds, making a wet trail down the front of her hip until her nose was in the red curls. Sonja spread her feet and pushed her hips forward.

Killia used her thumbs to pull open the Sonja's fleshy pussy lips, and stabbed her hot tongue between them.

"Ohhh..." Convulsions of pleasure rippled through Sonja. Oh Goddess, I am letting another woman touch me. This is... I don't want it to stop.

As if sensing the warrior's thoughts, Killia paused in her licking and looked up at Sonja. "If you do not want to continue, I will respect your wishes."

Panic and shame and lust warred in Sonja's mind and heart. She was shocked that she had to speak, and admit to this lesbian action. She looked down at the beautiful Nubian. She knew women were sexy and sensual and men risked all to lay with a beautiful woman, but had never thought of herself beguiled by another woman. But the sight of this dark-skinned beauty sent thrills of pleasure through Sonja, that she had never known.

Sonja stuttered, "I... I..."

The warrioress summoned up all her courage, to be strong and resolute, and considered stopping this deviant temptation. They were alone in the forest. When will an opportunity like this come again? Then Sonja looked down at Killia again, and saw the lusty desire in the Nubian's face.

Sonja whispered. "Don't stop..."

Killia smiled up at the red-haired warrior. "It will soon be your turn to lick my pussy."

Sonja gulped. She had thought fighting a dozen armed men took courage, but she did that every day without flinching. The thought of making love to another woman frightened her more, and yet the lust she felt emboldened her like a rousing speech before battle.

Sonja whispered, "I know."

Once more, Killia smiled up at the warrioress. She kept her gaze steady, staring up at Sonja as her mouth disappeared under the mat of curly red hairs. Her tongue darted in and out of Sonja's wet pussy, and she closed her lips over Sonja's engorged clit. Killia sucked on the fleshy nub, which make Sonja's mouth gape with lustful awe as she stared down between her big tits. Then Killia pulled one hand back and stroked Sonja's inner thigh. She moved her hand up and pushed two fingers inside Sonja, curling them within her hot sheath. Killia continued to kiss and suck at Sonja's clit, as she thrust her fingers in and out.

Sonja felt her nipples stiffen unbelievably hard, and a recognizable pressure was building deep within. Her Nubian lover brought the mighty warrior woman to a mind-numbing orgasm. Her hips bucked and she could feel her pussy squeezing Killia's fingers.

"OHHhhhhh!..." Sonja grabbed Killia's head, pushing it away and holding on, as her hips shook and her knees wobbled.

Killia leaned back and licked her lips, grinning proudly.

"Goddess! I've never cum so hard before," Sonja whispered, "even when I..." she was embarrassed to finish the sentence, her cheeks as flushed as her chest.

"Even when you pleasure yourself." Killia concluded.

Sonja could only nod her head.

"My beautiful warrioress..." Killia leaned back and sat on the ground.

Sonja watched the Nubian unfasten her remaining clothes and spread them on the ground before laying back on them. Her big, dark breasts spread to the sides and her dark hair pooled behind her.

Killia opened her dark-skinned legs and rubbed her inner thighs. "Are you ready to lick my pussy?"

Sonja nodded and looked down at the dark patch between Killia's legs. The woman had done it to her, so it was only fair that she return the favor. Still, her heart was pounding wildly, as the mighty Red Sonja knelt between the Killia's legs, and bent down on her elbows to face another woman's pussy for the first time.

"You can do it," Killia challenged, and moved her fingers to pull her pussy lips open.

Sonja watched Killia's fingers pry open the dark lips, revealing the fleshy pink interior. This is what my pussy looked like when she licked me, she thought. Sonja stuck out her tongue and bent forward. The Nubian's pussy was hot and wet, and Sonja tasted her first pussy that wasn't her own. To her surprise, Sonja found the taste salty, and the aroma musky, and she was mesmerized. She began to lick with more enthusiasm. What Sonja lacked in experience she was making up for with gusto as she started to forget her inhibitions, and pushed her tongue inside the other woman.

Killia watched the redhead first-timer, and moaned, "Yesss..."

Sonja's red hair fell forward in a fiery cascade and her large breasts dangled beneath her. The warrior maiden added two fingers to mimic what Killia had done to her. It felt exactly the same as when she masturbated, as she pressed her fingers into the hot pussy before her. 

Killia moaned and whispered encouragement and instructions to the novice pussy licker, "Yes, like that..."

As Sonja sucked at the dark clit and fingered the pink interior, Killia moved both hands up to her own large dark-skinned tits. She squeezed the soft flesh and lifted the nipples to her mouth so she could suck on them. When Killia looked down between her big tits, she was incredibly turned on to watch the big-busted redhead sucking her pussy like a whore. Killia arched her back and moaned her pleasure as the busty novice brought her to a climax.

Killia humped her quivering hips in the air and pushed Sonja's head away. "Oh Divine... divine..."

Sonja sat up on her knees, her mouth and chin plastered with the juices of another woman's pussy. She watched Killia writhe beneath her, and felt proud that she had given the Nubian the pleasure that she had experienced. I did it, I just bedded my first woman, she smiled to herself. Sonja stood up naked in her boots, and padded over to her saddlebags. She pulled out an item, and quickly returned to kneel next to Killia. 

She whispered to the Nubian, "I have something else..."

The red-haired warrior unwrapped the leather bundle that that she had fetched from the saddlebag. She pulled out a polished wooden rod, carved into the shape of a man's phallus without the balls. She tilted the tip to her lips and sucked on the head, slathering it with her saliva. She lifted it from her mouth and showed the glistening tip to Killia.

Killia reached up and grabbed the grinning redhead, and pulled her down into her arms. Sonja pressed the wooden phallus between the Nubian's thighs. Killia spread her legs and reached down with one hand to help her lover position the fake cock at her entrance.

"Ohh!" Killia moaned as Sonja pushed the fake cock inside her.

The campsite was quickly filled with wet sounds as Red Sonja fucked the Nubian with her wooden cock. Killia's big brown breasts jiggled as she rolled her hips and fucked the fake cock as much as she was fucked by it. Sonja watched the beautiful Nubian gasp with pleasure, and watched her lower's hips move up and down as the polished cock disappeared under Killia's tight black curls. She was glad to see Killia enjoy the pleasure of her dildo, and knew exactly what it felt like inside herself. She tilted it in a way that she enjoyed, and pushed it deep inside, pressing her thumb against Killia's clit.

"Ahhhhhhhh!" Killia grunted as another orgasm washed over her. 

After Sonja pulled the fake cock out, the sweating Nubian grabbed a handful of Sonja's red hair and pulled the warrior's mouth to hers. The two women kissed passionately, sucking each other's tongues. The two women lay together on the ground, kissing, with hands roaming over each other's naked body, and a glistening wooden cock illuminated by the waning firelight.

Killia whispered, "I love the way you fuck me. Let me use the shaft on you now." She cupped a hand over Sonja's breast and pinched the stiff nipple.

Sonja was surprised at how much she enjoyed giving the Nubian such pleasure. And she never imagined being so turned on by the flesh of another. She wanted to keep kissing Killia and make her dark-skinned lover climax in her arms again. She wanted Killia's mouth on her pussy, and had a fleeting image of Killia pushing the dildo into her. Their lovemaking was a secret that they shared, and Sonja was excited, aroused, and eager do it again.

The tender moment was interrupted by the sounds of clapping, which startled both women.

Sonja looked up in panic to see a man with a hooded cloak standing in the clearing watching them. Someone had seen the deviant act! Torn between covering her naked body in embarrassment, and grabbing her sword, Sonja dropped the wet phallus on her cloak and sprang up, quickly grabbing her sword.

She took a wide stance, facing the intruder. "Who are you? What do you want?"

The man was tall, and wore a hooded robe that made his features difficult to see, with only the light of the fire. Sonja thought there was something odd about the man, but could not determine what it was that was unusual. The robe was black, but looking closer at it, revealed silver sigils and runes that glittered.

He spoke, "My true name is not something I reveal. For I am a wizard. You may call me Taurus. As for what I want... I was passing by, when I heard the moaning and utterances of passion. You two put on quite a show. I didn't know that Red Sonja enjoyed the bed of women, but live and learn."

"I do not..." Sonja began and then stopped. She was caught making love to another woman, so there was no denial of that fact, and Goddess knows she had enjoyed it. Sonja furrowed her brow and brought her sword up to point at Taurus. "How did you know my name? I doubt it is happenstance that brings you to our camp."

"You are quite right. Your... display of affections... was an enjoyable bonus to my reason for intruding. As I said, I am a wizard... and I have come to hire Red Sonja for a quest."

Sonja continued to point her sword. "I am not interested." She starting to feel a little uncomfortable standing there naked, with a man who had just watched her first sexual experience with another woman. And he was clearly still ogling her body. "I already have a quest, and I don't much like wizards and their magic."

Taurus insisted, "I will pay you a great deal of gold."

Sonja slowly shook her head, "Not interested."

"I see. There is nothing that can make you change your mind?"

"Nothing," replied Sonja, and she gestured with her sword, "Begone wizard."

"You see..." said Taurus. "I am not accustomed to being told no. Not by anyone, let alone a naked lesbian whore!" At those words, Taurus waved his hands in a gesture of magic, and hissed words of incantation.

Before Sonja could react, she heard Killia cry out. When the warrioress glanced to where her Nubian lover had been sitting, she saw that Killia had vanished.

Sonja shouted, "What have you do to her!?" She leapt forward to put the tip of her sword under the bearded chin of the wizard. "Bring her back now, or your head will part company with your body."

"Do that, and you will never see your friend again," smirked Taurus. "All I want, is for you to undertake a quest for me. Succeed on the quest, and I will return your lover, so that you two can continue your debauchery."

Sonja considered his words. She had just met Killia, but for the first time in her life, Sonja had an inkling of what it might feel like to care for someone more than you cared for yourself. "What is your quest? And where exactly is Killia?" She demanded at last.

"The two questions are quite related. The quest that I need you to undertake, is for you to travel to ten quantum dimensions of possibility, and collect a jewel from each of them."

Sonja stared at him blankly, and her sword remained under his chin.

He reviewed his choice of words. "Ahh, right. This world has yet to discover quantum mechanics, and all that. Very well... I want you to travel to ten different... Hells... wherein each, you will obtain a special jewel."

Sonja nodded. Hell was something she could understand.

"Here," Taurus reached into his robe.

Sonja leaned forward, pressing the tip of her sword against the flesh of his neck.

"No trick. I am giving you something..." He withdrew a thin silver chain. "As you acquire each jewel, you will place it on this necklace. The necklace will protect you from... certain things you will encounter. Not everything mind you, but enough to give you an advantage."

"I don't like wizardly magic. How will I find the jewels in each of these Hells?"

Taurus leaned back slightly, to avoid being punctured, and waved his arms dismissively. "Don't worry about that, as the jewels will be obvious. Each Hell and each jewel will be different, but how you... acquire the jewels, will be the same. You have all the information you need to succeed. Now get dressed, unless you want to embark on this quest, naked as you are." He began to wave his hands in more mystical gestures, and hissed more words of incantation. 

A man-sized rectangle began to form in the air, floating on the side of the clearing.

"What about Killia. Where is she?" Sonja asked.

The red-haired warrior sheathed her sword and hurriedly put on her chain mail top and loincloth. She quickly gathered the wooden phallus and stuffed it into her saddle bags with supplies. She fastened her cloak about her shoulders.

The wizard continued to gesture and whisper his magic words. The rectangle grew more substantial, and appeared like a blue outline in the air, floating a foot above the ground The edges looked like blue fire, with wisps of blue smoke, and inside the rectangle was forest behind it. Taurus stopped chanting and lowered his arms when the spell was complete, the hovering rectangular outline silently burned with blue flame.

Taurus turned to Sonja. "Once you have acquired the jewel for each Hell, a magic gate like this will appear. After you have acquired the last jewel, the last magic gate will appear. Beyond, you will find your lover waiting." He handed the silver necklace to Sonja, "Don't forget this."

Sonja took the silver necklace and cautiously put it around her neck. As she fastened the necklace, she glared at the wizard, "Mind my horse. And If you double cross me, I will have your liver for breakfast."

Taurus smiled, "I am confident that I will keep my liver. Now go, my dear." He gestured to the blue rectangle.

Sonja raised her foot and stepped through.

---

The dark forest suddenly stretched in a horizontal blur. The firelight and the camp and the wizard and her horse, all disappeared. Sonja felt like she was trying to swim in the air, like it was thicker than water. The rumble of thunder boomed, and then there was a crack, like the sound of a whip snapping. Everything around Sonja whirled with colored lights and dizzying motion.

Suddenly, everything stopped swirling and became completely calm. Sonja found herself floating in darkness.

Then, in front of her, appeared the Goddess she had dedicated her life and body to.

The Goddess smiled, "Greeting Red Sonja, I hath been watching thee, and yon amusing wizard."

Sonja swallowed hard, suddenly embarrassed at being seen doing... things. "Watching... uhhh... for how long?"

"Long enough," Goddess laughed. "Yes, I enjoyed observing thy dalliance with Killia."

"I swore an oath that no man... You don't mind that I... um," Sonja as stammered and blushed.

"Thou hast kept thy oath true." Goddess replied. Her words sounded like music. "Gods and Goddesses enjoy many things through our avatars. Killia is very beautiful, and thee saved her once already. Thou attempts to save her again."

"Will I succeed?" Sonja asked curiously.

Goddess tilted her head. "Free will is unconstrained. Mayhaps thou shall succeed, and mayhaps thou shant succeed. But what I knoweth, is thee will have much ado along the way. That be presently, cause for mine interruption of thy journey. I hath looked into yon wizard's mind and knoweth what he knoweth, and what he attempts to hide within his mind. For this very reason... I  release thee from thine oath to me... for the duration of thy quest."

"Releasing me from my oath? I don't understand."

The Goddess smiled enigmatically. "Thy shall knoweth more carnal relations soon enough."

Suddenly her Goddess was gone, and Sonja saw a small, flaming blue rectangle with light inside it. The rectangle slowly grew and grew as she neared it. As soon as the rectangle was large enough, Sonja fell through the gate, and into the first of the Ten Hells.

Continued in Chapter 2

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