Chapter 4: The Ceremony Begins Again

After breakfast, on the walk back to their cave, Anna said,

“You know, she’s right. You should rest as much as possible; you’re not the young stud that was here the last time.”

“Are you calling me old?” Jason retorted.

“Of course not; it’s just that there are now twenty-seven of us. In addition, based upon our conversation with Starry, all of them are going to want at least one time with you. That means that on some of the nights you are going to have to do at least two of the younger ones.”

“Speaking of that, we had better get over to the fertility cave and plan this out.”

They walked across the valley, lit the torch, and entered the cave. As Jason glanced around the walls of the cave, he was reminded of the first time he had entered this cave and had become a participant in the ceremony. After several moments lost in his own thoughts, he felt a tug on his arm as Anna pulled him towards the entrance to the smaller waiting area, which held the ancient calculator.

The stones were still placed just where he had placed them the last time he was here. Jason looked to Anna for her input; the day she last began to bleed would be their new starting point.

“Let’s see; I started to bleed about ten days after the full moon. I’m not exactly sure, it could have been nine or eleven; I wasn’t really keeping track because I wasn’t planning the holding the ceremony again this soon.”

“That’s okay; it’s close enough. We can get more exact next time. I’m assuming you all start to bleed on the same day; is that still correct?”

“It seems so, judging by the atmosphere around here during the times that I start.”

“Alright, let’s place the stones into the correct holes.” Jason said as she placed the first stone in the hole situated under the drawing of the last quarter moon. He then placed each of the stones in their proper place, and then stood contemplating just how they should proceed.

“What phase of the moon are we in right now. I was not really paying much attention last night on the walk up here. I know there was a moon because there was light on the trail.”

Walking over to the wall, she studied the symbols and the holes and pointed to the first quarter moon as she stated. “We’re here now.”

“Oh my; if you’re right, we have to start tonight; so much for getting any rest.”

“Jason, why don’t I skip my turn this time around? You’ll have one less night that you have to do two.”

“Alright, it’s up to you. Here is what we can do. Starting tonight, I will do one of our generation for the first two nights, then I will switch to the youngest generation, one each night for the next three nights, then I will have to do two a night for the next four nights and one a night for the next three nights. That will put all of the youngest generation into the most probable period for them to get pregnant. Then I’ll do one a night of the remaining members of our generation, and last, but not least, I’ll do Starry.”

“That sounds good. Now we have to decide where. I think we should have the ceremony right here. Most of the caves have at least two people living in them. There just weren’t enough caves to house everyone separately, and I didn’t feel it was necessary for us to dig out more.”

“Okay, with the youngest generation we’ll do the ceremony just as it is depicted in the cave’s artwork. And you will be here to assist me. As each of the youngest generation gets pregnant, they drop out; the ceremony ends when they are all pregnant. As you said, I’m not the young stud who was here the last time. Finally, once the ceremony ends, I get to return to my other family. I have a lot to do there and I don’t think I have a lot of time to get it done.”

Jason turned to hold her as she digested what he had demanded.

“Anna, it’s not that I don’t love you, I do; but I have a family back there that I also love and they are depending on me to be there. I promise you that our time together will happen and for that to occur I have to get everything ready.”

“I know you do; our time has not yet come; but it will. Let us go back to the cave. I have to tell the council what we have decided so they can make the arrangements. You will rest until tonight. We’ll eat in the cave.”

Jason spent much of the day resting his body, but his mind was going over each part of their plan. He worried about maintaining this kind of pace for more than a few weeks at a time. Back home, Maria and Carlita had tempered their enthusiasm, as he had gotten older. There had been nights when all they wanted was to be caressed and held; that all they wanted was to know that they were loved. He could do that with Anna; but with the rest of the tribe, he had to perform.

He finally fell asleep and was still sleeping when Anna returned from her meeting with the council and then with the entire tribe.

“I’m sorry I took so long, but I had to convince them that this was the best plan for everyone involved. However, the really tough sell was to the young ones. They are convinced that you are too old for this. Some actually suggested that we kidnap some poor unfortunate young hiker off the trail. Someone else questioned why Starry or any of their mothers should be allowed to participate in the ceremony. Things really got tense after that. But eventually, cooler heads prevailed and we came to an agreement. The first time will be as we have planned; after that, they want to be more involved with the planning.”

“And you agreed?”

“I had to, I had no other choice. We will cross that bridge when we get to it. Let’s get through this first time before we plan for the next one.”

They settled into a period of contemplation, the silence of which was broken by Anna who asked.

“Jason, we never really talked about this. I was wondering, how do you feel about having your children participate in the ceremony?”

“Anna, they are my children, I admit that, but they are all strangers to me, even our daughter is a stranger to me. It will be just like the first time. You were all young, beautiful and very desirable young women and that is what they are now. Had I been allowed to stay here, to live with them and watch them grow up, I would feel differently, especially about Summer Rain, but sadly, that was not allowed. I can assure you that if I was asked by your sisters to be with Jenny or Becky that I would have refused.”

“I understand and believe you. I was told by my High Priestess that there was only one male who, as far as she knew, had ever been allowed to remain here after completing the ceremony with the intent that he would participate in the next one as well. That was a long time ago, and it never actually happened. He died before the time for the next ceremony.”

“Do you know anything else about him?”

“Not much, she only knew what she had been told. The man had been allowed to stay here, as a prisoner. He lived in a small cave that was dug specifically for him at the far end of the valley. One morning he never came out for breakfast. Later, when he did not come out for dinner either, they entered his cave; they found him still in bed; apparently he died in his sleep. That’s all she knew.”

“Have you ever actually seen this cave? Was there anything still there?”

“No, I’ve never been there.”

Jason sat quietly, deep in thought. ‘Could that have been Ezekiel, Joshua’s lost son?” He could not know for sure until he was able to examine that cave.

Later, they eat in silence. Jason looked down into his bowl of stew and chuckled.

“What’s so funny?”

“A few of months ago, the three of us told Jenny and Becky all about the tribe, my relationship with you, the ceremony, and the possibility that I would be leaving them to return here to participate in the ceremony.”

“That must have been a very interesting conversation.”

“You have no idea. Anyway, that night Maria and Carlita decided that they would make mystery meat stew in honor of all of you up here. Carlita had apologized saying that she couldn’t find mystery meat at the supermarket, and that I would have to settle for cubed chuck.”

“I know you miss them; I do too. Please be assured that this will all end soon. I would not be telling you this, except for the fact that I believe you already know how this will end. I was told by my High Priestess that the beginning of the end would occur when the last Priestess and the Seventh son joined and had a child. She told me that I would be the last Priestess, so you must be the Seventh son.

“I was still young, still learning the history of our people, and I had never been with a man before; so I questioned her. She told me that that was the story that she had been told by her Priestess. I had completely forgotten about it, even after I had Summer Rain. But the events of the last couple of weeks have brought back those memories and now I see more clearly the meaning of that prophesy; and I believe that you do too.”

Jason took a deep breath and began to speak.

“Anna, you’re right, I am the Seventh son. What I know is that in my lifetime, a lost tribe of Amazon warriors will be lead out of the Superstition Mountains, presumably by me, and escorted to a new land. I found this out through the research of my family’s past, as well as yours. Our story was given to my fourth great grandfather through a vision he received from the Great Spirit. He provided the means necessary for me to accomplish this task; that is the reason why I have to return to my family, so I can complete what I have started. My biggest concern is that I don’t know when this will happen.”

“We don’t know when, but we do know who will instigate it; Summer Rain, our daughter.”

“This is not the time yet. It does not feel right to me. Now that I think about it; I would have thought it would have been Angry Sky.”

“I’m sure she will have a part in it, those two are inseparable and remember it’s because of them that you are here at this time.”

Jason waited in the room adjacent to the fertility cave. He could hear Anna arguing with the first warrior; and then all was quiet.

“Jason, she is ready.”

Jason entered the cave, spied Anna holding the preparation bowl and the warrior on her knees near the bed.

“Jason,” Anna exclaimed in a voice filled with frustration, “she says that she will not assume the ceremonial position, that that is for the uninitiated. She wishes to do it her way and asks that I leave now.”

As Anna left the cave, Jason turned towards the woman. There was a smile on her face and a glint in her eyes as she beckoned him to join her. Jason recognized her immediately, she was the young warrior who had “helped” him in the toilet cave all those years ago and who had been one of the four armed escorts on his latest trip to the valley.

When he was within an arm’s length of her, she reached out and grasped his rapidly growing erection. Her hand was already slick with the lubricating gel, which she quickly spread along his entire length.

“I don’t want another baby” was all she said as she reclined on the bed, pulling him between her open legs.

Jason nodded slowly as he entered her. She was incredibly tight, her body clinging to him as he slowly moved in and out of her. Her eyes were partially closed, a smile on her lips as she reveled in the feelings of sexual bliss that were pulsing through her body. This went on for several minutes longer, then as her first orgasm rushed through her body, she announced once again, “I don’t want another baby.”

Jason just nodded to her that he understood and continued his onslaught of her sexually overloaded body. Knowing that by being first she was still days away from her fertile period, Jason increased his pace. When her second orgasm rocked her world, however, she began to panic and grasping him by the shoulders extended her arms until he could no longer maintain his penetration of her without painfully arching his back.

“I want to see.” She exclaimed as she simultaneously grasped his still very stiff and slick erection and pulled him forward, through her opened legs, until he was straddling her stomach. Still firmly in her grasp, she began to rapidly move her hand up and down his overly stimulated cock. He wasn’t going to be able to hold off for much longer. His breathing began to quicken as he approached the point of no return. Curious, he opened his eyes just as he lost control, spurt after spurt shot out of him and landed on her now laughing face, the last one into her opened mouth.

“No baby, right?”

“No baby,” he replied as he regained some semblance of control over his body.

Just as he tried to lift his leg over her body so he could roll off her, she pulled his still oozing erection towards her mouth, clamped her lips around its head and sucked out whatever remained, until he had to urge her to stop.

“Thank you, they are very lucky to have you.” She said as she got to her feet.

“No, I’m the lucky one.” He replied as he hugged her. Then she turned and left the cave.

After a few minutes, Anna returned, a puzzled look on her face.

“What happened, I thought you’d be in here a lot longer.”

“She didn’t want a baby, she’s the curious one, remember? She really just wanted to watch, to see what came out.”

“That’s good, one down, twenty-six more to go. Let’s get you dressed and home so you can rest.”

For the next four nights, Jason performed the ceremony just as the ancestors had depicted, over the protests of his partners, especially the first timers. Both he and Anna insisted that they maintain the traditions that the ancients had established. It was also the tradition that the rest of the tribe maintain a vigilance outside the fertility cave in a show of support for the first timers. This, too, took place, with each newly initiated member receiving the jubilant war cries from the assembled crowd.

After the next four nights of two first timers per night, Jason had all he could handle just to get dressed and return to her cave with Anna’s help. Jason felt her strong embrace as he cuddled in her arms.

“Jason maybe you should rest tomorrow night. You could do the last three first timers over the last two fertile nights and then one each night after. I’m going to suggest that to the Council.”

Jason never heard her suggestion; he had already fallen into an exhausted sleep. The next morning when he finally awoke, Jason found himself alone in their bed. When Anna finally returned home, Jason was still resting. “Jason, you have the day off. I convinced the Council that you needed a day of rest before continuing.”

“But we only have three more fertile days left; I could handle one per night. After all, we only have fourteen more to go.” However, even as the words left his mouth, he realized she was probably right.

“That’s the good news; the bad news is that Summer Rain and Angry Sky were both within hearing range and insisted that they go next; and the Council agreed.”

Jason was well rested, but very nervous as they approached the fertility cave. “Jason, are you alright, you’re very quiet. Are you going to be able to do this?”

“I’m not sure. I told my girls back home that this night would be just like all the others; that I had no attachment to these two because they were strangers to me. But now that the time has come I’m having second thoughts.”

“Would it help if I blindfolded you tonight? Each girl could assume the position and I could guide you through it. This way you wouldn’t know for sure who was who.”

“Ok, that will be better than nothing.”

They entered the cave and Jason retreated to his alcove while Anna prepared the ceremonial bed. He could just barely hear a conversation taking place on the other side of the wall; and then all was silent.

“Jason, come they are ready.”

Jason stood and entered the main room. He tried to not focus on the two gorgeous backsides that were presented in front of him; but just before Anna placed the blindfold over his eyes, he spotted the streaks of red hair. When the blindfold was secure, Anna placed her hands on his shoulders and begin to guide him slowly towards were the girls were positioned. Just before she asked him to kneel, he felt movement and heard the soft noises of shifting bodies on the bed. He felt the familiar coolness of the lubricating gel just before Anna guided his member to the first of the girls.

Now nature took over and in his mind’s eye, he could picture the woman before him and just what he was supposed to do. Grabbing her by the hips, he slowly applied pressure with his hips until he felt his organ slowly become engulfed in her moist heat. He heard a soft moan and felt his partner shudder as he began to move deeper into her until he had nothing more to give her. After waiting a moment or two for her to grow accustomed to the feeling of being stuffed for the first time, he began to slowly withdraw from her until he nearly left her, only to press forward once again. Knowing that this could be Summer Rain, but not knowing for sure, made the act, on some level, more exciting for him, more the taking of the forbidden fruit.