Chapter 5: Cast into the Sea

FROM THE DAY I was born, or created, or summoned from the primordial mass, I have been in love with the sea. Of course, it wasn’t literally that day. It was when I was exploring the rooftop of my—or Pinaruti’s—home that I saw the sea, glistening miles away and seeming to go on forever.

If you are a literalist and have visited the modern site of Knossos, and want to challenge my ability to see the sea from a rooftop in the ancient city, I encourage you to repair to hell. I am a demon. My eyesight is long. I saw the fucking sea!

As I was saying, I have always loved the sea. But I knew very little about it or what lay beyond it. So, when I left Knossos, I headed more or less directly to the sea, avoiding people as much as possible. As I walked along the northern coast of Crete, I watched the fishing boats and the sailing ships as they plied the waters, oars dipping into the waves, sails billowing with the wind. It was all quite romantic. I thought, what I would like to do is become a sailor.

The salt spray in my face, the wind in my hair, the smell of the sea all around me. Yes, I would describe it as romantic, and it represented my first boyhood dream of what I would like to be when I grew up.

I SHOULD mention that, as I wandered along the seashore, I did not simply ignore the babes in a bag. I had that bag on my shoulder all the time, and I wasn’t about to lose control of it. And I knew I had responsibilities to my ladies. In fact, I had no idea how getting picked up and thrown over my shoulder as I ran from Knossos would affect the contents of the satchel.

It turned out, not at all.

I found a cave in a cliff face overlooking the sea and pushed the bag into it. ‘Cave’ might be a glorious term for the hole in the rock that I found. It was scarcely larger than the bag itself. That really made no difference, because I could still open a gateway into the bag and step through it even though the gateway was larger than the hole in the rock and the bag was smaller. It was one of the many mysteries of the bag that I was to discover over time.

I found Portia and Nimia happily arranging the replica of our home in Knossos and making sure everything was in order. So were the other three ladies.

“Who are they?” I asked, pointing at three very naked beauties who were helping with the tasks.

“You put them here,” Nimia answered. “I guess there wasn’t much choice. They were among the nymphs living with us, but one night we were all playing in the pool and they were being especially naughty. You said that as a punishment, you would turn them into stone for one day and they would have to watch everyone else playing without being able to join in. When we escaped from Knossos, you grabbed the statues and shoved them in the bag. It was only a little while later that they returned to themselves. We’ve been keeping them busy, but they’re really horny.”

“But you need to do me first,” Portia said. “We hardly got started on our wedding night before that dirty old man came knocking on your door.”

I remembered that. I’d brought her home with me after the wedding feast, but we’d been so drunk that she collapsed in bed before we finished what we were doing—and I wasn’t going to finish without her. That’s when I panicked and started packing up to leave. I sent everyone away, but when Drakomaxos came pounding on the door, I stuffed Portia and Nimia into the bag. With the statues. Ah well. There was nothing to do about it now but take Portia to the bedroom and finish the process of deflowering her. Once her maidenhead was gone, she became a sex maniac akin to what my dear Aria had been.

I learned a lot about what I came to call the infinity room in those hours—or days—or years. I don’t know how long we were there. For all I know, time was running backward. Time in the infinity room is not in sync with the world outside. There is no sensation of time passing. The girls had happily worked setting up our house. They had eaten and slept. They worked and made love. But as far as they could tell, I’d only just put them into the bag and then followed them. We picked up conversations and tasks as if I’d just turned around.

I had a lot of work to do in studying the amazing room. I’d worked the spell, but apparently, I had no idea what was included in it. I was going to need to study the scroll and see if I could decipher some of the side effects. You know, that mumbo jumbo written on a prescription bottle that says, ‘May cause diarrhea, swelling of the joints, double-vision, and other serious side effects, including death’? The fine print has been around as long as written documents have. In the scrolls, spells were carefully and clearly written, but the margins were filled with the notes of various wizards who had experimented with the spell and written a commentary on how they’d altered it or what their experience had been. Pinaruti’s scrolls were already ancient when I retrieved them and had many margin notes.

I told the girls that I’d decided to become a sailor and they were all excited about taking a cruise. They’d each heard tales of various mythological places they wanted to visit. I agreed that I would try to find a map.

I left the infinity room and tossed the bag over my shoulder once again. As I traveled, I hunted or gathered fruit and grain, which I delivered to the babes in the bag. The girls put it away and rewarded me handsomely when I got home. It was getting easier and easier to consider the room home. The five wet and willing pussies were all the reward a man (or demon) could want after a hard day’s labor.

DID YOU know that Minoa had the first navy in the world? It dominated the Central Sea for centuries. I suppose it started out as a couple of rowboats with an archer in the bow, but most of the traders were either Minoan, or were protected by the Minoan navy. The ships of the day were pretty much flat-bottom barges equipped with sails and auxiliary oars, but they floated and that was good enough for me.

I knew that if I wandered along the coast long enough, I would come to a place where the ships came to port. I felt, however, that the Adonis look had served more than its purpose and I could feel my horns pushing out. I wore a hood over my head as I traveled, looking for a good model for a new body. I needed something a little more down to earth, so to speak. Since I planned to go to sea, I searched along the coast for a fellow I thought looked handsome enough and strong enough to be a sailor.

I found him in a village drinking house where I had my first taste of sour beer. Personally, I liked wine better, but I learned to get along with the beer. I saw a fellow who matched the description I’d built in my head and had a drink with him. I found that he was a thoroughly boring young man with little to talk about other than the fish he almost caught. Nonetheless, I got his pattern set in my mind, and while he stood at the latrine to get rid of the beer he’d drunk, I whispered the transformation spell. By the time he was finished, so was I. He looked at me a little funnily and started to say something, but cut himself off. Finally, he said, “Sorry. Thought you looked familiar.” Then he left.

So did I. I kept to the shadows until I was well away from the fishing village and found another cranny in the rocks where I could conceal the satchel and open a gate into it. I just had to show the girls my new body. They all wanted to test it to make sure it still functioned in a way that pleased them. I passed that test.

I CAME upon the seaport town of Mania where there was a big project of some sort going on. Hiring agents were bringing in laborers from all around the district. By bringing them in, I mean they tapped their intended laborer on the head until he could no longer resist, and dragged him to the king’s work camp. They decided that a strong young man like me should become a laborer and attempted to tap me on the head as well.

Apparently, the thugs sent out to recruit help had never run into someone who tapped them back.

I considered my options as I looked at the two unconscious men at my feet and read their memories. I hadn’t done much of that since reading Pinaruti’s memories from his dead body. These were even less pleasant. In fact, reading the list of heinous acts the two had committed convinced me they had no need for their liberty. I stripped them of their clubs and clothing, tossed them over my shoulder, and took them to the bounty office. I dumped them on the floor.

“I have two to turn in,” I said. The bursar looked at me skeptically and glanced at the men. It was obvious he recognized them.

“And why are you not on the work crews. I’ll send for my men and have you stripped. Then I can collect the bounty on all three of you,” he laughed, moving to call for reinforcements.

“I tap harder than they do,” I said, lifting the surprised bursar off his feet and out from behind the desk. He spluttered in surprise as I stared him in the eye.

“No offense intended. No offense. It was a joke,” he stuttered.

“I don’t have a sense of humor.”

“Let me just get you your money!” I set him back down at his desk and his hand shook as he pulled two strange coins from his pouch and placed them on the table.

I’d lied to him, but had no remorse. I actually have a very good sense of humor for a demon. I love a good joke. I convinced him that I was humorless and considered that to be a joke on him.

“What’s the king need all the workers for?” I asked.