The rain dripped through the trees, trickling down onto the ground, forming puddles on the path through the jungle. Harry and Ron squelched through the mud.
"This sucks", Harry complained. "We've been walking in this rain for hours, and we haven't seen a Giant Panther anywhere! The people back in the last town guaranteed that we'd see one within an hour."
Ron was struggling to look at the map they had been given without getting it wet.
"Let's see", he muttered, pouring over the map. "We should be around... here!" he pointed his finger at the map. Harry looked over his shoulder.
"Maybe", Harry commented, unsure. "I don't know how we can check where we are." He took out his wand, and said "Point me". The wand twisted in Harry's palm.
"We're still walking south", Harry confirmed. "Let's go on", he told Ron.
The two boys pushed their way through the trees.
Behind them, a pair of eyes shone in the shadows, watching them depart.
Harry and Ron were still trudging through the jungle when they first heard the sound. The sound came from behind them, and sounded like it was a mix between a trumpet and an owl's hoot. They had never heard anything like that before.
"What do you think that was?" Harry asked Ron.
"Dunno", Ron replied. "Probably just some bird. I doubt we'll see it. We can barely see anything through the trees here."
An answering call came from in front of them.
"Don't be too sure about that, Ron", Harry said happily. "You never know."
From their left, another call sounded. This one sounded much closer. This was followed by another from their left.
"I hope those birds don't plan to eat us", Ron said gloomily. "Because if they do, they have us fairly penned in."
But the jungle was now quiet, or as quiet as the jungle ever got. Harry and Ron could here the calls of other birds, the rustling of plants as animals sped through the jungle on the ground or in the trees. There was no sign of this mysterious bird or of the Giant Panther.
"Ow!" exclaimed Ron suddenly, slapping his hand up to his neck. "Something bit me!" At the same time, Harry also felt a bite on his neck.
"It's probably only a mosquito", he reassured Ron. "You know how many of them there are around here."
The boys walked on. They stumbled through the trees, tripping over fallen branches. The rain stopped, but it was no relief. Ron leant against the trunk of a tree next to him.
"I can't go on", he panted.
Harry had slid down and was sitting in the mud. His eyes were closed.
"Ooooohhhhh", he groaned. "I've got such a big headache!" Harry heard a thud as Ron slumped onto the ground. Harry opened his eyes, and saw some hazy figures approach them. He saw one of them bend over Ron before another shape blocked out everything else. As the figure reached an arm over him, Harry heard a yell from Ron. He tried to move his arms, his legs – anything – to ward off the shape, but he couldn't. In one quick motion, the shape jabbed something into Harry's neck.
"Ouch!" he exclaimed.
The figure moved away. Harry lay on the ground. Soon, his headache vanished. Harry found that he could move his arms and legs again. In fact, he felt even better than he had before. He blinked a few times. Then sat up suddenly.
Surrounding Ron and him were a group of people from one of the indigenous tribes in the Amazon. They weren't wearing much – just loincloths made from some sort of animal skin. The men all had long hair that was tied back, and were carrying an assortment of weapons. Harry saw a range of different knives, bows and even a blowpipe. He gulped. Things didn't look so good at the moment. He glanced towards Ron, and saw that he too had recovered.
One of the men, who wore a feathered headdress, garbled something in a language that Harry and Ron didn't understand. They glanced at one another. The man repeated what he said and pointed at them impatiently.
"I think he wants us to stand", Ron whispered to Harry.
They slowly stood up. The other men took positions around them. The man with the feathered headdress (who Harry supposed was the leader of the group), said something else, and the group began to walk fast. Whenever Harry or Ron fell a bit behind, or tripped over something, they were roughly pushed or pulled until they continued at the pace set for them.
Within a few minutes, Harry and Ron were completely lost. They didn't seem to be walking on any path. All the trees looked the same. Neither boy knew how they were going to find their way back.
The group marched through the jungle for some time. Harry and Ron couldn't tell for how long they had been walking – they were too busy trying to keep up. Suddenly, the trees disappeared, and the group entered a huge clearing. Harry and Ron stared. In front of them lay a village. There were hundreds of huts scattered throughout the clearing, and many people were working in the area. Most impressive though, was the huge monolith in the centre of the clearing, which had been carved into a tower. It easily dwarfed the huts.
As Harry and Ron were led through the village, the people turned to stare at them. They felt a bit unnerved. The men led them to the centre of the clearing, to the base of the tower. Harry and Ron stared up, and saw that on the outside of the tower were stairs that circled around and around it. The men pushed them, and they stumbled forwards through the puddles that had formed on the ground. Ron looked around, and saw that none of the men had stepped forward with them. The man with the headdress gestured at the tower and said something. Harry and Ron inched slowly to the base of the monolith.
There was a yell from behind them. The man with the headdress was shouting at the top of his voice. The man with the blowpipe was aiming it at them. Harry and Ron took one look at each other, and ran up the stairs.
After climbing around a hundred stairs, and when they were on the other side of the tower from the men, who were still watching them from below, Harry and Ron stopped for a rest.
"I don't like this", Ron said. "I don't know what's going to be at the top of the tower, but I bet you that we're not going to like it."
"What else can we do?" Harry replied. "We can't go back down." There was a pause as they continued to walk.
"It's a long way down", Harry said, risking a look over the edge.
"Yep", Ron said shortly. Even though he wasn't normally scared of heights, the tower was high, and there wasn't anything stopping them from falling. They continued edging their way around the tower.
After another excruciating 20 minutes, Harry and Ron were nearly at the top. Soon they would find out what exactly was waiting for them at the top of the tower.
Harry and Ron had just stopped to recuperate before finishing the climb in an alcove that sheltered them from the wind when they heard a scream. They looked up. It came again. Without another thought, Harry stood up and ran up the rest of the stairs.
"Stop!" Ron yelled. "You'll fall!" But Harry either didn't hear him, or didn't listen. Ron stood up, and quickly followed him, muttering about foolish people who run off without finding out what the issue was first.
Harry rounded the tower one last time, and found himself at the top of the tower. It was flat, and the view from there would be superb if not for the rain. Harry's eyes were drawn to the centre of the space on top of the monolith. In the centre lay a stone slab. And tied to that slab was a yelling naked young woman, thrashing on the slab. Harry thought that she was probably his age. He quickly approached her and took out his wand. With a word, he sliced the ropes off the girl. She sat up, suddenly quiet, and smiled at Harry. Harry cautiously approached her.
Ron reached the top of the tower out of breath – he just wasn't as fit as Harry and couldn't catch up with him. The screaming had stopped only a few minutes ago, and he felt better about that. But he became much more worried when he reached the top of the tower, and there was nothing there. There was just a flat surface. And most importantly, there was no Harry.
Ron frantically rushed around the small platform, but there was nothing there. He called out, but there was no reply except for a garbled yell in a language he didn't understand from below.
Despondently, Ron sat on the edge of the tower, his legs hanging down. For several minutes, he sat, trying to decide what to do next. It started to rain again.
Then suddenly, Ron heard a noise that sounded a bit like 'plink'. He looked around. The noise came again. Quickly, Ron put his ear on the rock. He heard the noise again, an echo in a hollow space. Ron scrambled around the platform, placing an ear on the rock every now and then. He stopped in the exact centre of the tower. On hands and knees, Ron examined the ground carefully. There! He could feel a slight crack in the platform. He followed in round, and realised that it was a trapdoor. But how to open it?
Ron stood up and looked around. There must be a way! Harry had definitely gone down wherever that trapdoor led. Where else could he have gone? And why did he shut the door after him?
Ron took a few steps back to look around. There was a quiet click. He looked down and saw that he had stepped onto something, which sort of looked like a button. There was a whooshing sound, and when Ron looked back up, he saw that where the trapdoor had been was a black hole. He cautiously walked to the edge and looked down. It was pitch black. Ron couldn't see anything. He had no idea how far down it was – maybe it went underground as well!
Ron gulped. If Harry fell down there (and where else could he have gone?), then what could he do? Ron cautiously walked around the hole. Then he saw it. There was a ladder just below the rim of the hole, camouflaged in the dark. There was nothing for it. Ron couldn't go back down the outside of the tower; who knew what the men would do to him. So he began to climb down the ladder. As he looked back up at the weak light, there was a grinding of rock on rock. The trapdoor slid back into place and Ron was plunged into darkness.
With one hand gripping the slippery ladder rung, Ron reached into his pocket drew out his wand and lit it. He looked around the hollow cylinder. Although his wand was lit, he still couldn't see the bottom!
A drop of water hit his head. Ron looked up. Maybe there was still a way out. But Ron could see straight away that there was no escape upwards. Rainwater was leeching through the cracks in the rock and dripping in a waterfall straight down. Ron looked down again. The ladder circled the inside of the monolith, like the stairs did on the outside. Without any other choice, Ron began to climb down.
Ron had been climbing for what seemed like an eternity. And it had definitely not been fun. The ladder was slippery due to the rain, and a number of times already Ron had nearly fallen off, only saved by a timely grab. What was worse was that as he climbed down further, it had gotten warmer and more humid. His clothes would have dried but for the incessant torrent from above. Nonetheless, Ron was sweating a lot. The rain didn't help – it had heated up, and did nothing to ease the temperature around him. By the time he reached the first landing, he had taken off his shirt. Needless to say, it did not help.
Ron was surprised when his feet hit solid ground. He hadn't thought that he was at the bottom. But when he looked around, he could definitely see that he was still high up. The landing he was standing on was small. On the side onto which he had climbed sat a small bench. The other side of the landing was blocked by a wall. Ron looked over the sides and just saw the inky blackness below. He had reached a dead end. Ron sank onto the bench, unhappy that he would have to climb all the way up.
Ron looked up and something on the opposite wall caught his eye. On closer inspection, Ron saw an image etched into the door. It showed a person (he was definitely male; there was no way to mistake it in these tribal images, because, for some reason, people never wore clothes) standing in front of the door on, Ron squinted and pointed his wand closer, some sort of marking on the floor. It must be some sort of enchantment!
A quick search of the floor uncovered a circle around a metre in diameter etched into the ground in front of the door. Ron stood on the circle, feeling stupid. Nothing happened. Ron stepped off the circle and sat back down on the bench, dispirited. He stared glumly at the door. There must be some trick to it.
In his head, Ron tried to remember what he had learnt at Hogwarts about enchantments like this. He knew the requirements were always very exact. The doors for the most protected vaults at Gringotts, for example, could only be opened by a Gringotts goblin. It was also very difficult to break these types of enchantments. It was something that he would learn in Auror training in a few months. So there must be some way for him to get through. He had to hope, otherwise there was nothing he could do.
Ron looked at the image on the door again. 'The requirements are very specific', he thought to himself. He had an inkling of what he must do. The person on the wall was stark naked. Maybe he had to be the same. It seemed stupid, and a bit too easy to guess, but there was no harm in trying. And no one was watching, so Ron had no need to be embarrassed.
Quickly, Ron stripped, folded his clothes, and placed them neatly on the bench. He then walked over and stood on the circle. Nothing. Then, a blue light shone from above. Ron was blinking up at it when the circle began to rapidly move down. Ron watched in horror as the small landing, and his clothes, disappeared above.
The circle stopped on another landing not far below. In front of Ron was a new ladder. Ron looked up again, and could just make out the hole from which he had descended at the edge of the sphere of light his wand made. There was no way he could get up there. Ron looked at the wall of the monolith, to see if there was a clue for him to get up the top. There was nothing. He stepped off the circle, and as soon as he did, it zoomed back up. Ron had no option now but to continue, in the nude.
Before long, Ron got over his nakedness. In fact, he nearly forgot about it. The heat that was coming from below enveloped him, and he was happy that he didn't sweat as much.
But soon enough, Ron reached another landing, identical to the previous one. Annoyed, Ron looked around for a circle on the ground. But it wasn't there. He looked up at the opposite wall and saw a circle, around a meter in diameter, carved into the wall, beneath another drawing. This drawing showed a person standing directly in front of the circle. Ron copied the drawing, and when, predictably, nothing happened, Ron scrutinised the drawing. The person looked like he was thrusting into circle! How did that even make sense?
Ron looked around again, but there was no other option than to solve this riddle. He looked back at the circle doubtfully, and saw that there was no place to put anything into it at all. Ron ran a hand over circle. Something moved slightly. He did it again, and this time felt a part at centre of the circle, around 5 cm in diameter, move around a bit. Maybe there was some truth in the drawing after all. Ron pushed, and the piece of rock in middle of the circle moved a fraction. He tried again, and the rock moved a bit further away. Soon, Ron had pushed it out completely. It fell out into the abyss below. He didn't even hear it hit the ground.
Ron cautiously slid his fingers into the hole. It was smooth and surprisingly warm. He couldn't feel any type of trap or anything unpleasant. Ron looked around uncomfortably. He wanted to avoid doing anything foolhardy, especially after what happened on the last landing. He looked carefully around the landing. He shone his wandlight over edge of the landing, looking for the continuation of the ladder. He even stuck his head over the edge and looked under the landing.
But there was nothing. Ron had to accept that if he wanted to find Harry and get out (and, ideally not starve to death in this dark cavern), he had to move on. And the only way to move on was to take a risk. He gulped and put his penis on the edge of the hole. Nothing happened. He pushed it in a bit. Still nothing. Ron slowly slid his penis further and further into the hole, dreading the bad things that would happen. Then, Ron pushed one last time, and he was standing straight, pressed onto the wall. Ron sighed a sigh of relief. True, he hadn't gone anywhere, but nothing bad had happened either. The hole felt warm and comfortable, and Ron felt his penis harden to the touch of the warm stone.
There was a click. Ron looked around wildly for where the sound had come from. He tried to pull out backwards, but it was too late. The circle had tightened around Ron's penis. It wasn't hard enough to hurt, but it was definitely tight enough to prevent Ron from getting out.
There was another click. The circle began, very slowly, to move forwards. Ron was pushed back as the circle exited the wall and hovered over the landing. Ron redoubled his efforts to pull away, but to no avail. Ron began to panic. He yelled. He beat at the rock. But the circle was an unstoppable force. All Ron was doing was using up the remaining energy that he had.
Ron looked around. He was fast approaching the edge of the landing, and there was nothing he could do to escape. The edge got closer and closer. Then Ron's feet were scrabbling at the rock that he had been standing on, and the circle of rock moved over the edge of the landing.
Harry opened his eyes in pitch black darkness. For a moment, he thought that he hadn't opened his eyes at all. He had flashes of memory of a tied up naked woman, and then falling...
Harry sat up quickly, and hit his head hard on something. He swore loudly, and fumbled to get his wand out of his pocket. It wasn't there. Slowly, Harry felt his way around where he was. He could feel rock above him, on either side and behind him. He seemed to be in a tube of some sort. Harry crawled slowly, down the passage, feeling his way out. Soon, he felt the rock above his recede and the rock on either side disappear. He was in some sort of cave or cavern now. The first thing that Harry noticed was that it was raining. This was pretty hard for him to wrap his mind around because he was definitely indoors, and (as far as he knew), it never rained indoors unless it was by magic.
Harry crawled further forward. Then his hand landed on something soft and warm. Harry felt around a bit, and realised that he had placed his hand accidentally on the chest of the woman that he had saved. She groaned, and he backed away from her. As he did, light began to filter in. Harry looked up and saw a small patch of light from above him. That was probably where they had fallen from. Taking advantage of the dim light, Harry looked around, and soon found his wand next to a pile of rubble. This was lucky, because just then the light suddenly cut off, plunging Harry and the woman into darkness.
Harry quickly lit his wand, and approached the woman. She had flowing black hair, and dark brown skin. Her breasts were round, and she had very little body hair. Harry hadn't realised Amazonian women shaved. The woman opened her eyes as Harry and light approached, but shrank back a bit when she saw where the light came from.
"Don't worry", Harry told her, soothingly, though he was sure that she couldn't understand a word he said. "It won't hurt you. I'm trying to help you."
The woman seemed to understand the tone of Harry's words. She calmed down, even though she still tried to keep out oh Harry's way.
Harry looked around. The walls of the cave (or whatever it was) were smooth, and seemed to go up forever until they disappeared in the gloom above. However, there was a door in the wall. Harry went over to look at it. It looked like any door. It was made of wood, and had an old-fashioned handle. Harry turned the handle, and door opened. Through the door was a dark passage that twisted out of sight.
"Come on", Harry said, beckoning at the woman, and he entered the passage. The woman, scared to be alone in the dark, scurried after him.
The two of them walked down the passage. After a few turns, Harry noticed that some sort of fungus was growing on the walls, lining them with what looked like a furry coat. Behind him, the woman began to speak hurriedly and urgently in her own language. Her voice was dulled by the fungus on the walls. Harry turned to her.
"I don't know what you're saying", Harry told her, trying to calm her down.
She grabbed his arm and pointed at the roof. Harry shone his wand, but couldn't see anything.
"I'm sorry", Harry said to the woman. "I just don't understand."
Harry continued down the passage, and the woman followed Harry, getting more and more agitated.
Soon, Harry and the woman reached another door. Now, the woman fell silent, as if she was anticipating the horrors that would be behind it.
Harry put his ear to the door and heard footsteps. Immediately, he stepped back, and got rid of the light from his wand. Now he realised what the woman had been pointing at. The fungi that covered the passage was glowing green. The gloom that the bioluminescent fungi created was enough for Harry to see the shivering shape of the woman standing a few meters back from the door, glaring fearfully at it.
"Don't worry", Harry told her. "You'll be fine." He opened the door a fraction and peered through. The space behind the door was enormous. It was also lined with the same fungi as in the corridor, so glows a faint green. Harry couldn't see the person who he had heard walking in there everywhere. Cautiously, Harry poked his head around the door. When no one yelled at him for being there, or chased after him, or even tried to kill him, Harry was quite sure that he was alone in this room. He walked in and looked around open-mouthed. This seemed to be some sort of alchemy laboratory. There were shelves built into the stone walls, and the green glow of the fungi shone through an array of jars, beakers and vials of all shapes and sizes.
In the centre of the cavern stood a battered table. Harry approached it and saw that on it sat a large bowl decorated with words in a script that Harry didn't understand. It was filled with a violet liquid that seemed to have a glow of it's own.
"Interesting..." Harry said aloud. "I wonder what this does."
Behind him, Harry heard the woman enter the room and tiptoe hesitantly towards him.
"Don't touch anything", he warned her.
Harry picked the bowl up and looked at a label that had been stuck on the side. On it, written in clear English letters were the words 'Animi Draught. Do not use.'
Someone cleared their throat.
"Not now", Harry said, dismissively. "I'm trying to work out what this potion does." He leant down to sniff the liquid.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you", said a male voice in his ear.
Harry spun around. There was no one else in the room but for Harry and the woman. Harry overbalanced, and the bowl in his hands tipped, pouring the violet liquid all over the woman, and splashing Harry's legs and his hands.
"I did warn you", the voice said again. Harry looked around desperately.
"Who are you?" he asked to the room in general. "And what does this potion do?"
A shadow detached itself from the shadows at the other end of the room and moved towards Harry. As the figure came closer to him, Harry began to pick out details. The man was average height, and very definitely European. He had brown hair and was very pale, and looked like he was in his late 20s. Harry could see that would definitely stick out among the dark Amazonians.
Now, he was standing directly in front of Harry, looking at him accusingly.
"Who are you?" the man asked. "What are you doing in my workshop? I am Luke and this is my room."
"I'm Harry", Harry replied. "I was taken by the tribe to their village and then fell down from the tower, and I'm trying to find my way out. I don't know who she is – I found her at the top of the tower, and we can't speak the same language."
"Hmm", mused Luke. He turned to the woman and spoke to her in her own language. The woman replied, happy to find someone who she could talk to. They talked for a few minutes before the man turned back to Harry. The look Luke gave him was ferocious. Harry tried to take a step back, and found that he couldn't. The stare had fixed him to the spot.
"Your friend over there", Luke began, gesturing at the woman, "is from a tribe based a few kilometres from here. She is known Talani, which roughly translates to 'one who finds bees' in English. She said they were planning on sacrificing her to the sun tonight at sunset."
"Lucky that I saved her", Harry interrupted.
"Hmm", Luke hummed disapprovingly and continued. "You, on the other hand, are very suspicious. I have many dangerous potions here. Many that I have invented myself and have not had time to test fully. And it's very suspicious that an Englishman just appears in my workshop."
"I'm not—"
"Now lets see that bowl you have in your hand", Luke interrupted Harry plea of innocence. "I need to work out which potion you spilt, otherwise I'll never be able to work out if there are any effects." Harry handed the bowl over.
"The label said 'Amini Draught'. It was some sort of violet liquid?"
"That's what I feared." Luke put the bowl back on the table. "I have only been able to test this potion of a few birds. I'm not really sure what the affect will be on humans. The Amini Draught is an experimental potion related to mind control. It's worked to some extent on the birds, however, they've ingested it. I can see that it hasn't worked on you, otherwise I would have shut you up very quickly." He chuckled to himself. "But, I wonder... I wonder..."
Luke looked straight at Harry thoughtfully. "Where did you say the potion spilt, again?" he asked.
"On my legs and hands, and all over the wom— er, Talani", Harry replied.
"Raise your hands!" Luke commanded, suddenly.
Harry's hands, without his leave, rose into the air. He saw that both of Talani's hands rise into the air as well.
"Interesting", Luke commented. "And if I asked you to walk in a circle..." Harry's legs marched him in loop.
"Well", Luke said, suddenly business-like. "I can't have anyone from Britain interfering with my work. So while I have you in my grasp, I can at least have some fun."
"What do you mean?" Harry asked, getting a bit worried.
"Well", Luke explained, exasperated. "You see, I have control over part of your body. And I probably have enough control to do whatever I want to do with you. For example, if I asked your hand to choke you..." Harry's left hand flew to his throat. "...then it will do what I say."
Harry gasped at the force of his own hand. He couldn't move either hand to stop himself choking himself. He choked as he felt his airway constricted. Meanwhile, Luke had turned to Talani and the two were talking again. Halfway though this conversation, Luke raised his hand, his back still facing Harry.
"That's enough", he ordered. Harry's hand obediently dropped from Harry's neck. Harry stood panting on the spot, unable to do anything. Soon, Luke turned back to Harry.
"Talani has agreed to go through with my plan", he told Harry. "You see, she thinks you are a demon of some sort, come down to Earth to tempt her, but she thinks I am an angel here to guard her from your evil." Luke smirked at the look of outrage on Harry face.
"But I saved her from being sacrificed!" Harry argued.
"Well, not to her", Luke explained. "Being sacrificed is an honour in these parts. Each year, one person from the surrounding villages is chosen to be that year's sacrifice. They are fed and clothed well, much better than they would have otherwise, and their family is treated well and with honour. So when you came and freed her from her bindings, she saw you as an 'alien' of sorts who was tempting her to stop the sacrifice. That perception wasn't helped by your pale visage. She thinks at the moment that you dragged her down into hell."
"I didn't mean that", Harry exclaimed, annoyed. "Tell her that I only wanted to save her."
"I think it's a bit late for that", Luke said meanly. "You've broken the tribes traditions; you've invaded my personal space. I wouldn't be able to punish you for than normally. I would have no chance in a fight. But, well, we have a great situation here." Luke gave Harry a menacing smile. He approached Harry and took one of his unresisting hands.
"Follow me", he ordered.
Harry's legs marched him after Luke, with Talani bringing up the rear. Luke led Harry and Talani through a door on the opposite side of the room from which they entered and down another corridor. This one had doors off the corridor every few steps. It also had many more twists and turns and forks in the path that the one Harry and Talani had entered in. Harry tried to remember where he went so that he could find his way out again. Left, right, right, left, straight, right, right again, left... It was too much. Harry was lost.
Finally, Luke opened a door on his left and entered as small room. Harry and Talani followed. The room was small and bare. The walls were covered with the bioluminescent fungi, but apart from that there was only a pillow sitting in the middle of the room. The floor was cold stone and there was no furniture in the room.
"Well", Luke said, "this is where I'm going to leave you. I'll just give you all my final instructions." He spoke to Talani in her own language, and then turned to Harry. "I just have one thing for you – you have to follow any orders that Talani gives you. I know that you can't understand her", he butted in when Harry began to protest just that, "but your body will know. That's the important part." Luke walked to the door, and turned back. "Have fun kids", he said, and left the room, closing the door after him.
Harry turned to Talani, and spoke to her in a low, urgent voice. "You can let me go now. Come on. I won't tell anyone." But Talani still didn't understand a word that he said. She looked at him quizzically before saying something in her own language. Harry was about to protest when he felt his left hand move. Straight away, Harry knew that what Talani had said had caused his hand to move – Harry definitely hadn't moved it himself.
Harry's hand reached under his shirt and pushed it over his head. His left arm then slipped from his shirt causing it to slide down his right arm and onto the floor. Each of his hands reached up and pinched and twisted his nipples, one on each. Harry tried to put his hands down, but there was nothing he could do. Talani was approaching Harry slowly from the doorway, where she had been standing. She stood in front of Harry, and reached out. Her fingers hesitantly caressed his chest. She took a step closer, and rubbed her body against his.
Harry couldn't just surrender without a fight. "Come on", he pleaded. "Just stop ordering me around. I'll help you get out, I promise!"
Talani reached down a slender brown hand and fondled Harry's bulge. She smiled. She knew exactly what she had to do. The pale angel had told her what she must do to defeat this demon, and she couldn't disobey the angel. The demon was talking to her now. But Talani just smiled at him. She didn't understand what he was saying, and that was just as well, because she knew he would be trying to trick her. As long as she didn't listen to him, the demon had no power, and she had all the control.
Needless to say, by now Harry was getting horny. He had been away from Ginny for a few months already, and, well, he just hadn't gotten the release that he needed. A naked woman rubbing herself on you would be enough to get any man hard, let alone one that was a bit sexually frustrated. By this time, Harry's penis was struggling to escape from the constraints of his pants.
Talani fumbled with the belt around Harry's waist, but was unable to undo it, because she was unused to such contraptions. A quick word brought both of Harry's hands down and quickly unfastened the belt. His hands moved away behind Harry's head, out of the way. Talani grabbed Harry's pants and pulled them down. Harry stepped out of them when she ordered him to do so. Harry was now left just in his boxers. Talani uttered a few words, and Harry saw his arms move, and his hands slide under his boxers, grab his penis and begin to masturbate himself. Talani smiled again, and slowly lowered Harry's boxers. His hands were occupied in getting himself off, and would have been useless in preventing this anyway, since they weren't under Harry's control.
Now safely disrobed, Harry felt embarrassed. He was standing here, completely naked, with a woman in a similar state of undress who had complete power over him. And there was nothing he could do. Harry realised that now. He hated it, but he was stuck here until the potion wore off.
Talani gestured at him, and Harry involuntarily walked towards her. Her hands wandered up and down his body, exploring what was obviously new terrain. It seemed like Luke had given Talani instructions of what she exactly had to do, since she had no idea herself. She guided Harry's hands to her own body, and, with only a few words of guidance, his hands moved all over her. To tell you the truth, in the state he was in, Harry would probably have been feeling Talani up of his own accord. The 'orders' he was being given would have been followed anyway. Harry knew, in his own mind, that he had lost – and he wasn't feeling bad about it at all.
Talani said something. Harry's legs buckled under him, and he fell onto his knees beside her. Talani put both her hands on Harry's chest and pushed. With his hands and legs refusing to cooperate, Harry toppled backwards, his head luckily landing on his pillow. Harry looked up and saw Talani standing over him. He tried to roll away but Talani's legs were positioned on either side of him. Harry was surprised at how strong she was.
Slowly, Talani lowered herself down onto Harry. Her hands held his penis straight as she slid herself onto him. Talani groaned as Harry's penis slipped inside her vagina. Harry could feel his penis being squeezed inside of Talani.
"Oh god!" he moaned, in ecstasy.
There were no words for how Harry felt just then. He had been away from his girlfriend for just too long, and although a small voice in the back of his head told him that this was wrong, that Talani had no choice in how she acted, that he was cheating on Ginny, it was growing softer as his head was filled with the sound of bliss. Harry thrust into Talani, and he could feel her thrust back against him, also enjoying every second of his 'punishment'. Harry knew that he couldn't last long like this, sexually starved for months, and now teased for nearly half an hour.
As if anticipating Harry's impending climax, Talani rolled off Harry. One of her hands found Harry's penis, and a few tug later, Harry came, in what he would always recall as one of his most intense ejaculations. His cum landed around him, though mainly on his chest. Talani slumped onto the floor and lay there, exhausted. Harry also lay for a few moments, but then remembered his predicament. He experimentally moved a hand, and found that he could move it.
Very slowly, Harry sat up. He saw Talani sitting on the pillow, looking at him. When she saw Harry getting up, she said something in her own language. Harry found that whatever she said had to affect on him. Talani, now, was getting annoyed. She evidently expected Harry to still be doing what she was saying. She stood up, and walked towards him, menacingly. Harry slowly backed away, inching towards the door. He knew, from what he had experienced, that he would stand no chance fighting Talani. He could leave his clothes behind; he had to escape.
Harry hit something. He glanced behind him, and saw that he had hit the door. Harry reached a hand behind him and found, to his surprise, that the door was unlocked. Quickly, Harry opened the door, and slipped through it, slamming it shut. As he ran aimlessly down the twisting corridor, Harry heard Talani open the door. She was after him!
Harry saw that the corridor he was on had other doors going off it. He opened one, and gazed into a room much like the one he had been in before. He slid into it, closing the door silently behind him. Harry heard the pitter-patter of footsteps as Talani ran down the corridor, past the room he was in. Harry waited a minute, and when there was no sound from the corridor he continued his journey to find his way out.
Harry tried to remember the way back to the main cavern. He tried to retrace his steps, but soon Harry had to admit to himself – he had lost Talani in the maze of corridors, but he had also gotten lost himself!
Ron screamed as the circle pushed him over the edge. His hands grabbed at the rock, and held it tight. Through pure luck, Ron managed not fall off the rock. He tried not to imagine what would have happened if he hadn't caught onto the circle in time. His minds eye saw a figure waving its arms wildly in the air as it plummeted to its death. Ron gulped, grateful for his reflexes.
The circle seemed to be moving in a lazy circle, slowly descending from the platform Ron had been on. Soon enough, Ron's arms ached. But he couldn't let go. He just imagined the falling figure, and that strengthened his resolve. Every now and then, Ron was nearly within reach of another platform. But no matter how close he was, he couldn't pull his penis out from the hole in the rock.
Soon, the circle approached a unassuming hole in the wall. It seemed fairly normal – Ron had passed a number of them already, though not close enough to see what lay inside them. When the circle closed in on that hole, Ron could see there would be a problem. The hole in the cavern wall was going to be a snug fit for the circle. There was no way that Ron would be able hold on at the same time! He would be squashed. The circle slowly slid into the hole. Ron's hands and feet scrabbled at the rock wall and managed to find a thin depression circling the hole, enough to support his weight. There was a click as the circle stopped moving. The circle fit so snuggly that Ron guessed that it had been carved from that rock. He could barely even see crack where the circle began and the rock wall ended.
Ron's fingers and toes were beginning to hurt. They were jammed into the thin depression, holding him up. It was lucky that the wall was not straight, as Ron had first thought, but tilted a bit, so he could lean into the wall.
There was another click. Slowly, the circle began to rotate. Ron's fingers and toes moved with the circle, trying to keep their leverage in the wall so that he didn't fall off. Before long, Ron was hanging upside down. This was it, Ron thought. There was nothing he could do. Soon, his fingers and toes would give out, and he would fall down to the floor below.
Luckily for him, Ron was wrong. There was a third click, and the circle began to move into the hole in the wall. Crying with relief, Ron squashed himself into the hole, where he didn't have to rely on his fingers and toes to keep himself alive. The circle moved slowly further into the hole, which began to curve downwards until Ron was lying uncomfortably on the top of the circle. This definitely made an improvement from supporting his weight so he didn't fall. Soon, as the circle moved further away from the entrance into the cavern, Ron was plunged into near-pitch darkness.
After a while of moving straight down, the tunnel Ron was in, intersected with a larger tunnel. This one was coated with a fungus that glowed green. The circle moved down the tunnel, turning corners in what seemed like a maze. Ron, pleased that he could still lie down, rested on the circle.
The circle began to pick up speed in the tunnels. Soon, it was travelling quite fast, zipping around corners and down tunnels. Ron hoped that it knew where it was going and wouldn't smash into the side of the tunnel, pulverising him in the process.
The circle entered a long tunnel that curved as it went down. As Ron and the circle progressed, the tunnel narrowed. Ron was lying flat on the circle, the roof of the tunnel a few centimetres above him. The edges of the circle sparked as they made contact with the wall as it closed in. Slowly, the circle began to slow down, slowed by the friction with the tunnel wall. When it had slowed down to what Ron would call a reasonable pace, the circle suddenly shot out of another hole in the wall. Ron saw a large cavern flash by before he smashed into something, and crashed onto the ground.
When Ron opened his eyes, a face was staring down at him. He sat up quickly. A pale man with brown hair and striking blue eyes was staring intently at him. When he saw Ron's eyes open, the man grinned nervously.
"I'm Luke", the man said as Ron sat up, feeling for any broken bones. "Who are you? Where did you come from? And… what happened to your clothes?"
Ron looked around. He was sitting, still naked, surrounded by bits of crumbling rock. The circle had obviously disintegrated on contact.
"I'm Ron", he told Luke, and began to explain his story. When he had finished, Luke seemed satisfied.
"What you said makes sense", Luke began. "I saw another white person here not long ago. But sadly, when I approached him, he ran away. He could be the person you're looking for."
"What are you doing here?" Ron asked, curious.
Luke sighed. "I got into some trouble with the Ministry of Magic back home. I was trying to sell some potions illegaly, and I was caught. Obviously, I fought back, but when I had escaped, I realised that I had to leave. I couldn't just pick up my life from where I had been. I travelled around, from France to America and China, but there was no place I could settle before I was driven out again." Luke sat down opposite Ron.
"I ended up on a ship from Singapore to Japan when it was attacked by pirates. They hexed all forty passengers and crew, commandeered the ship, and sailed across the ocean. Unfortunately, they guarded us too well for me to escape when they stopped at any of the islands on the way. Eventually, we reached the Peruvian coast. The pirates bundled us into a truck, and we were driven across the Andes. At each stop on the way, a few of the prisoners were taken away, and we never saw them again. At one stop I overheard our final fate – we were to be sacrifices for tribal rituals." Luke stopped as if the thought still distressed him.
"It was then that I decided to escape. One night, when the pirates were all out drinking, I managed to slide out of truck and sneak into the jungle. I don't know for how many hours I wandered in the jungle. Eventually, I fell into a deep hole, too deep for me to climb out. And anyway, I was hungry and tired. When the sun rose the next morning, it illuminated something I hadn't seen before – a doorway in the side of the hole. I wandered in and into a maze of corridors. Eventually, I found my way to this area here, where I was able to find some food and water."
"I think I can help you", Ron told Luke excitedly. "My father works for the Ministry of Magic, and I personally know the Minister himself. We'll find Harry, and we'll go back to England. You'll be able to stay there. I'll make sure of it!"
"Really?" Luke asked. "You mean it? You're not just making this up?" There was a look in his eye that Ron couldn't decipher. Disbelief. Hope, maybe. And something else.
"Sure. You have my word on it."
Luke led Ron to a pond, where Ron drank greedily from the clear water. The fish that swam in it glowed an eerie blue colour, and seemed to glare at Ron as he drank. Meanwhile, Luke was looking through a pile of what seemed like junk.
"Here we go!" he said, handing Ron a grubby bathrobe. It was off-white, and had strips of cloth hanging off it.
"Thanks?"
"You've lost your clothes, so here's a replacement. It's not great, but it will suffice."
Ron gratefully put on the bathrobe and followed Luke through a winding set of corridors to a spot that looked like any other.
"This is where I saw your friend", Luke explained. "He ran down that way." He pointed down the corridor.
Ron and Luke walked down the corridor. At the end, there was a fork. Ron squinted into the gloom, but both looked the same.
"Where did he go from here?" Ron asked anxiously.
"I don't know. I don't normally follow people down here. I'd just get lost myself. But if it were me, I'd probably go down the left fork. There seems to be some sort of breeze coming from there."
Ron stalked ahead, calling out Harry's name, as Luke scurried behind him. There was indeed a breeze coming from the tunnel, but it smelt a bit stale. This wouldn't be a direct route out. The tunnel veered around, and Ron was sure that he would come out again at the same intersection. But he didn't. He called again, and this time, Ron heard a reply. He wasn't sure if it was Harry or just an echo, but he had no other lead. The breeze increased, and Ron could definitely smell some fresh air – they were nearing an exit!
Ron stumbled forward, and stopped at the end of the corridor. For the corridor ended in a long drop. Ron could see lights from fires in the village far below him, blurred by the torrential rain. He had nearly stepped off the edge of the tower and plummeted to his death below. Ron stepped back, and tripped over Luke. The two men landed in a tangle on the floor.
"Dead end", Ron told Luke as he disentangled himself. "It's a drop all the way down." He looked despondently at the hole in the wall.
"Let's try the other corridor", suggested Luke. Ron followed Luke back to the intersection and walked down the right fork. He didn't have much hope of finding Harry. This corridor exited into a narrow walkway that wound its way around the huge cavern through which Ron had entered. Ron saw a number of stone circles floating from one platform to the next. The walkway passed a few openings in the cavern wall, but none seemed like they would lead out.
"This is hopeless", Ron said pessimistically. Luke didn't reply.
Before long, Ron and Luke reached a section of the walkway that had crumbled away. Ron looked at the other side of the chasm, and tried to calculate if he could make it over.
"Don't bother", Luke said from behind him. "It's too far." Ron turned to look at Luke. He didn't seem so pleased to be walking up here. "There was an entrance a few meters back that looked a bit more promising than the other ones", Luke continued.
The tunnel was similar to the other ones; it was dark, but for sporadic growths of the bioluminescent fungi. But this one lacked the musty odour the other ones had. With no other option but to retrace their steps down to the bottom again, the two men entered the tunnel.
The tunnel soon twisted and turned, blocking the light from the main cavern. It rose steeply before plateauing. For most of time, Ron and Luke were stumbling in the dark; the colonies of bioluminescent fungi were far and few between. Not that it mattered. There were no turn offs from this tunnel.
All of a sudden, Ron took a step forwards, and his foot failed to find any ground beneath it. He tumbled forward with a squeak and landed on what felt like a mesh net. From above him, Ron heard Luke mutter "Finally!"
Luke snapped his fingers and a soft glow seemed to emanate from the rocks themselves. Ron looked down and saw the light reflect off a deep lake below him. He looked up and saw Luke sitting on the lip of the hole a few meters above him.
"Finally!" Luke repeated. "I was getting sick of listening to your whining about finding your 'poor Harry'. As far as I'm concerned, you, as well as your friend, are trespassers on my property. And I know why you're here." He narrowed his eyes. "You're both spies for the Ministry of Magic!"
"We're not—" Ron began to argue, but Luke interrupted him.
"Now is not your time to talk. In fact…" Luke snapped his fingers again and two of the strips of cloth that were hanging off the bathrobe rose into the air and gagged him. Immediately, Ron reached his hands up to stop them, but before he could, the other strips of cloth wound their way around him. Within seconds, Ron was trussed up securely. If only he had gotten his wand! It was in the pocket of the bathrobe. Slowly, Ron inched his hand towards it.
Meanwhile, Luke had continued to talk. "I knew it the second I saw you", he said triumphantly. "I mean, why else would two men come all the way to this village if not to get me? And then you had the audacity to claim that you know the Minister of Magic himself! Of course, the instant I would have stepped on English soil, I would have been arrested." Luke paused his rant to look at Ron in the eye. "And I saw completely through your plan!" he crowed. Ron tried to mumble something through the gag, but Luke ignored him. He was too preoccupied with his own triumph.
"And now, I've just got to think of a fitting punishment for you," he continued, "something that you won't forget in a rush. I'm going to make this good."
At this point, Ron's hand closed around his wand. Slowly, he drew it out of the pocket.
"Ho, ho! What do you have there?" Ron looked up to see Luke grinning down at him. He jumped down onto the mesh next to Ron and slid the wand out of Ron's hand. "A wand", Luke continued. "You were planning on attacking me! Well I can't have that!" Luke snapped his fingers a third time, and the strips of cloth on the bathrobe rearranged themselves, pulling Ron into a new position. By the time they stopped moving, Ron was in a very compromising position – his legs were pushed over his head, exposing his penis, balls and arsehole to the world. Luke twirled Ron's wand in his hand.
"I wouldn't try and think of any spells for a bit", Luke advised. Then he lowered the wand and placed it at the entrance to Ron's arsehole. By this time, Ron had realised when was going to happen, and was yelling into his gag. All Luke could hear were muffled sounds. Very slowly, Luke pushed Ron's wand, and it slid into Ron.
"This is what happens if you try and double-cross me", Luke said, nastily. He pulled the wand out a bit, and then began to fuck Ron with it. "This is how it's going to work", he explained. "I'm going to do stuff, and if you cooperate, you may get out of this alive." Luke gave Ron a nasty grin. "Do you understand?" he asked, as he shoved the wand to nearly its full length. Ron nodded, tears in the corner of his eyes. Luke let go of the wand, leaving it within Ron.
"In a few moments, I'm going to untie the gag", Luke explained. "You are not going to yell. If you want to say anything, you can say it politely. And also, you are going to follow my every instruction. Otherwise, I'll leave you here. And you'll find that it's not so easy to get out of this mess. Do you understand?" Ron nodded again pitifully.
Luke reached down and pulled at the cloth that was serving as Ron's gag. It gave way without any effort on Luke's part.
"So, how does that feel now?" Luke asked with false cheerfulness.
"Fuck you!" Ron spat in reply. "Let me go!"
"No need for that kind of behaviour", Luke chided. "I think you deserve a punishment. And what every bad boy deserves is a good spanking."
Luke dragged Ron over to a ledge in the wall of the pit, and draped Ron over his knee. The cloth strips rearranged themselves as Luke moved Ron.
"This is how it's going to work", Luke explained. "You're getting 20 smacks for being a naughty boy. After every smack you're going to count them. If you misbehave, the punishment will increase." Ron nodded his understanding.
SMACK!
Ron wasn't expecting the smack. He yelped, and was about to try and get away when he remembered Luke's threat. "One", he said dejectedly.
SMACK! "Two." SMACK! "Three." SMACK! "Four." SMACK! "Five."
By now, Ron's arse was stinging. He had never gotten smacked at home – his parents didn't believe in that type of punishment – so he hadn't known what to expect. After ten smacks, Ron felt like he had never been in so much pain in his life. But there was something else as well. Some primordial feeling, that made it feel good. By seventeen smacks, Ron was a mess. His arse hurt more than ever, and tears were leaking out of his eyes. But there was still that feeling of pleasure that was sowing the seed of arousal.
SMACK! "Eighteen", Ron whimpered. SMACK! "Nineteen." SMACK! "Twenty." It was over. Luke let Ron fall onto the mesh. And Ron just lay there, unable to do anything.
As if from a distance, Ron heard Luke say, "What do we have here?" Ron came round and opened his eyes. Luke was staring down at him with a big grin plastered across his face.
"Little Ronny found that exciting!" Luke reached down and grabbed Ron's penis, which Ron only now realised was completely hard. Ron blushed red in embarrassment.
Slowly, Luke began to stroke Ron's penis, up and down. His other hand reached down and slowly removed Ron's wand from his arsehole, where it had remained lodged. From the corner of his eye, Ron saw Luke drop the wand onto the mesh. The wand rolled towards Ron, before stopping at a hole in the mesh. It teetered on the edge, before sliding through the hole. Ron heard a splash from below.
"Noooo!" Ron moaned. His only hope of escape was gone. Luke misinterpreted the sound.
"I don't care if you don't want this", he said, softly. "Your body is saying otherwise. You're enjoying this!"
Luke stroked Ron more. As hard as he tried to deny it, Ron was finding Luke ministrations appealing. He knew that he could not hold out much longer. Ron closed his eyes. He tried to imagine anything that would prevent his from cumming – giantesses, his mother, Professor Trelawney – but none of that seemed to help. Images of Hermione smiling down at him, wearing way less than what she was wearing when he saw her last, were breaking through his attempts to block what was happening out.
Suddenly, after one last tug (and one last view of Hermione), Ron reached his limit. He came, spraying his load all over his own stomach and Luke's hand. From above him, Ron heard Luke mutter in disgust.
Ron opened his eyes. Luke was sitting there, looking annoyed at the mess that Ron had made on his hand. When he saw that Ron was looking at him, Luke turned to him, disgusted.
"Look at the mess you made! Clean it up, now!"
Luke moved his hand toward Ron's face. Ron shook his head angrily.
"You don't reply have much of a choice here", Luke continued. "Only I can let you go, and if you refuse to do what I say, then it won't be for a very long time."
Dejected, Ron knew that Luke was right. He was in control. And there was nothing Ron could do about it. Ron stuck out his tongue and unhappily licked off all of his cum from Luke's hand.
"Much better", smiled Luke. "Just wait here while I get some more toys for us to play with." He stood up and walked to the edge of the pit with a jump, Luke heaved himself over the edge. There was a loud creak as he did so. "Oh, wait", Luke turned back to taunt Ron. "You can't move anywhere. Have fun!"
Ron wasn't listening to what Luke was saying. He was preoccupied with a hole that had formed where Luke had left the pit. As Luke hurried away, Ron rolled over to the hole. It was a medium-sized hole, possibly large enough for Ron to fall from. Quickly, Ron slid over and tried to squeeze into the hole. He fit! But as Ron pushed the rest of his body through, the bathrobe caught on a jagged piece of the rock wall. Ron was left hanging, half in space, supported only by that blasted bathrobe! Ron wriggled a bit, and he thought he heard a ripping sound, but he wasn't sure. Some more wriggling confirmed his ears – the bathrobe was ripping!
Ron heard footsteps above him, as with one large effort, Ron jerked to the side, causing the bathrobe to rip in half. Ron fell, leaving the tattered rag hanging above him. As Ron entered the water, he heard Luke cry of rage.
The current pulled Ron towards to tunnel that he had not seen from above. Ron floated in the subterranean river until the current pushed him onto a little sandy beach. There, to his astonishment and surprise, Ron stumbled over his wand. When he lit it up to look around, he found a small door leading into a corridor.
Harry and Ron met by chance in the middle of a corridor. They looked at each other up and down, and didn't ask anything. Neither wanted to tell their story. Eventually, they found an exit from the maze of corridors. They waited until it was night, and then snuck through the village and back into the jungle. Soon they found the path that led back to the town and managed to get themselves some new clothes. They never saw the Giant Panther.
