The following story was based on an idea from robace252, whose submission to the TMF “Story Idea” thread was just one of many ideas that really grabbed my attention. Once again, you folks have impressed me with your creativity, and it made the decision process very difficult. If your entry wasn’t selected, don’t be discouraged; I will be holding more contests in the future (though I may change the criteria to allow multiple winning entries).
Your feedback will have a big impact on what (if any) stories are written in the future and the manner in which they appear. I know most of you reading this don’t post regularly, but your feedback carries a lot of weight. Please remember to include any and all thoughts regarding the story. Thanks, and enjoy.
--------------------------
“Dance of the Kera”
Story Written by Gaius
Original Concept by robace252
Lauren jogged through the thick foliage, wide ferns swatting her face and legs. A few of the collisions were mildly irritating, but there was little that could be done about that. She certainly wasn’t going to wear sweatpants in the middle of a jungle; the humidity was already brutally high. They’d been walking for several hours, and already she could feel the moisture accumulating heavily in her socks, at the brim of her shorts, along the length of her neck… and she almost felt she was swimming inside her blouse. For a brief instant, she wondered what if would feel like to remove all these clothes and simply stand naked among the ferns. This was not something Lauren would actually do, mind you. Such was the value of fantasy.
She wasn’t terribly bothered by the heat, however. For her, this place was a dream. Lauren was one of twelve biology students who agreed to take this little excursion to- wherever they were. In truth, she hadn’t given much attention to the geography of this journey. All she knew was that she was getting to study organisms firsthand for two days in New Zealand, followed by a trek on foot through some exotic jungle on a neighboring island. Her mind recorded the contour of every leaf, the chirp of every creature. She would have to look up the name of this island the minute she returned to the United States. New Zealand had been a beautiful location. She’d spent an entire hour staring at the Sky Tower while her companions busied themselves with the local boys. But New Zealand paled in comparison to this place. In her short time here, this island had been ten times more stimulating than she ever expected it to be.
After a few meters, she came to a clearing and spotted her two companions shortly ahead. They had been walking at a sluggish pace, so Lauren had decided to catch up to them later after examining a four inch weta on a branch. The threadlike antenna had kept her engrossed for quite some time, and she saw no weta of this size in New Zealand. If that tuatara hadn’t chased it off, she might still be there, while her indifferent “companions” trotted on ahead.
They made no effort to greet her, and didn’t seem to even acknowledge her return. She would have to be careful not to lag behind again, since it wasn’t likely they’d go looking for her if she went missing. Amy postured awkwardly on one knee, peering through her expensive glasses at some unseen spectacle in the underbrush. Ida was walking ahead of her, with an air of passive interest. Lauren stifled a sigh as she approached them. Did these two have any interest in biology whatsoever?
“What’s this Kauri called again?” Ida inquired, ignoring Lauren. She was evaluating the grey-barked tree as though considering it for purchase.
“Agathis australis”, Amy replied, her gaze never wavering.
No, they had an interest. They just didn’t have a love for it. It wasn’t something that filled their heads at night, as it was for Lauren. Once again, she would be ostracized for her passion.
“I’m going on ahead,” said Lauren. She didn’t expect a reply, and didn’t get one. She could hear them following, however. Perhaps that was a good sign.
Several minutes had passed when something red entered Lauren’s peripheral vision, and she halted. When she focused on the object, she could scarcely believe what she saw.
The creature was larger than she was. It had a soft, round body with pale, powerful legs. At the top of its elongated neck was a beaked, bird-like head.
This was a bird. An eight-foot bird. Wingless. A large, yellow eye blinked at her. It was like an ostrich or an emu, only somehow more startling to look at. The deep red plumage and towering presence made it seem otherworldly, like something she wasn’t supposed to see.
“Oh my God”, whispered a voice behind her. She wasn’t sure who it was, and didn’t care. They were likely just as stunned as she was. Lauren moistened her lips.
“It looks like a Moa”, she heard herself say.
“Lauren, the Moa has been extinct for centuries”. Even in these incredible circumstances, Ida’s skepticism never diminished.
No one spoke. The giant bird was motionless. It blinked twice and slowly retreated into the foliage. The three of them watched in silence. When it was out of sight, Lauren found herself grinning. Exhilarated. She turned to her companions. Amy was breathing heavily, the muscles in her forehead flexing in fear. Ida looked as though nothing significant had happened.
Amy suddenly gasped as something scurried across the ground toward Lauren. The white creature paused when it reached her feet. Not easily shaken, Lauren bent over to inspect it. At first glance, it appeared to be some kind of white-furred rodent. A rodent… with a black collar?
Without thinking, she lifted the creature and gave it a more thorough inspection. This was no rodent. It was a reptile. A lizard with grey skin, yet a soft layer of white down covering the bulk of its body. The neck was adorned with a black, feathery integument of some kind. Like a frill. It was a bizarre combination of textures and colors, yet the lizard was somehow the most lovely creature Lauren had ever looked upon. She couldn’t help feeling like she was in some Arthur Conan Doyle novel.
In typical reptilian fashion, it sat like a stone in her palm. Some might have looked into its black eyes and called it “lifeless”. Staring at it gave Lauren an indescribable sense of peace. She gently shifted the lizard’s weight in her hand, trying to encourage some slight movement. It cocked its tiny head at her, black ruffles swaying at its neck. Lauren ran the pads of her fingers along the feathered frill, then withdrew them abruptly.
That was strange.
It tickled. She couldn’t remember ever having been ticklish on her fingers. Lauren considered herself largely free of irrational fears, but she found herself inexplicably worried. She was in a strange place, with strange creatures-
“Ka tu!”
Lauren jumped, inadvertently sending the lizard to the ground. Standing in front of her was a dark woman. She was peering out from behind the trunk of a tree, observing them with a strange, neighborly expression. Her eyes fell to the ground in front of Lauren, where the lizard had fallen.
“Ka tu kera. Se pa min.”
Lauren was unfamiliar with the language this woman used. Her exotic attire also led Lauren to believe she was a native of this island, and if there were others like her, they probably didn’t see many visitors. Only without the interference of outsiders could these people have remained so distinctive. This native didn’t appear threatening at all, but then again-
The ground hit Lauren’s elbows.
“Lauren!” she heard Amy draw toward her.
She had fallen. What happened?
Her legs seemed to fail her. Even now, she struggled to keep her head above the ground. Lauren caught a glimpse of her palm, the one which held the mysterious lizard only a few seconds ago. A pair of red dots on her skin caused her some momentary confusion, until she came to understand that the lizard had bitten her. She had been poisoned.
“What happened?” Amy’s voice cracked with concern. She was trying to lift her friend back onto her feet, but Amy’s relatively inactive lifestyle was making the task very cumbersome. She cringed suspiciously at the native woman, unsure if her companion had been attacked.
“I think it bit me”, Lauren breathed heavily. This was due to her own fear; the lizard’s neurotoxin had no noticeable effect on her respiratory system. This realization was of little comfort to Lauren, though. She tried to lift her arm again to examine the wound, but her arms had also failed her. The toxin had denied her use of her own arms and legs. This wondrous journey had quickly become a nightmare.
“Se na kera uft. Uft”, the native woman spoke gently. She did not seem at all concerned with Lauren’s circumstance. She seemed to be beckoning them to follow her. Ida grabbed Lauren’s arm and slung it over her hard shoulders. It struck Lauren as odd that she was able to sense the thickness of Ida’s shoulders. She expected to lose all sense of feeling in her limbs. Strangely, she hadn’t. Although she had no control of her limbs, she could sense every physical contact as though nothing was truly wrong with her body. She could feel Ida’s coarse hair brushing against the skin of her right arm, and then Amy’s fine hair against her left. She was now hanging between these two people, those who barely acknowledged her existence only a few minutes ago, and now hurried to aid her in a time of need.
This was a strange day, indeed.
“Come on, we’re following her”, Ida commanded her only able-bodied companion.
“But what are we going to-“
“Don’t worry about it”, Ida’s icy tone cut against Amy’s protest. “I think she’s going to be fine”. Lauren felt the rugged earth dragging against the tip of her shoes as she was carried toward their native guide. The dark woman still appeared to be unworried, as though she was performing some well-rehearsed routine. She gave Lauren a smile that seemed genuine and amiable.
“How can you be sure?” Amy’s breathing became heavy. She was probably unused to lifting, even though Lauren was in excellent physical condition. Well, until now, that is.
“Because most lizards are harmless”, Ida explained. She didn’t sound strained at all. “Even those that are poisonous have to chew a while in order to get a dangerous amount of toxin in their prey.”
“I… I don’t think it’s like that, though.” Lauren was thankful that she could still speak. The muscles of her face and neck seemed to operate just fine. “I saw the bite, and it looked like a quick injection with fangs. Like a snake bite.”
“Oh, God. Ida we’ve got to take her back-“
“Just relax, Amy. It would take at least an hour to carry her back to the airstrip. Not to mention the time spent flying to a hospital.” Ida’s smooth logic reminded Lauren of her uncle, a field surgeon in the military. “If this woman has been here a long time, she’s our best bet for a quick antidote”.
There was some inherent risk in this thinking, but maybe she was right. Lauren had lost control of the muscles in her limbs, but she felt no swelling or pain. Maybe the toxin was non-lethal. Maybe this native could help her. Most humans survived animal attacks, after all.
Maybe she had nothing to worry about at all.
After what seemed like centuries, Lauren found herself laying on a soft mat of some kind. It seemed almost as thick as a mattress, as though an exorbitant amount of work had gone into its fabrication. Come to think of it, many items in this housing seemed very ornate. At her left, she saw complicated weavings and furniture and wooden containers carved with elaborate designs. She might have been more interested in the culture of these people were it not for her awkward predicament. She still had no use of her limbs, but at least they had set her on this mat in a comfortable position. It was quiet and softly-lit inside this tiny room. The air felt like it had been somehow cooled, and it was especially pleasant for her since she was practically coated in her own sweat. Now it was like she was wearing a layer of cool moisture.
“How are you feeling?” came a gentle voice.
She turned to her side as best she could manage, and saw a dark man approaching with his hands full of indistinguishable materials. This must have been the “shaman” the other natives had been talking about. They had all seemed to be very happy when she arrived; she wasn’t sure if it was in reaction to her presence or if they were simply happy all the time. Very odd, and yet trivial in comparison to the previous events of the day.
“Are you the shaman?”
“I am. Your friends are still very concerned about your condition. How do you feel?” he repeated his question.
“With my fingers and toes. Though I’d prefer it if I could move them”, she sighed. Lauren was puzzled by the shaman’s superb command of the English language. He spoke with a thick accent, but he was easy to understand.
“Hm”. The shaman strode to the opposite side of the room, never straying from her field of view. “As I have already explained to your friends, the toxin affecting you is not harmful. You will feel its effects for no more than a day, if it goes untreated.”
Lauren had suspected the bite wasn’t dangerous, but she didn’t like the idea of staying on a mat for an entire day.
“You seem to know a lot about this lizard”.
“Kera”, said the shaman.
“I’m sorry?”
“The lizard is called a kera. It is sacred to our people.”
Lauren mulled this over. The word “kera” sounded familiar. The woman she met in the jungle might have used it; she couldn’t remember. She did remember that cows were considered sacred in Hindu culture, and were allowed to roam the streets unchallenged due to their high status. If this tribe had a similar attitude toward this “kera”, perhaps she had upset them by picking one up. If so, she would have no defense against whatever retribution they planned.
“The kera is valuable creature. Its venom is useful in treating a variety of ailments”, the shaman explained. “Their flesh is considered a delicacy. But we are careful in using the kera for selfish purposes. Such hoarding would eventually result in their extinction, and so we are careful to monitor the numbers which we use for ourselves. We must be careful in all our actions, because all things are connected to each other.”
Connected to each other. This reminded Lauren of the dynamics of ecosystems, how everything could be affected by a small change. She wasn’t sure how this would apply to her current situation, though. Lauren watched as the shaman reached into one of the baskets he was carrying, and drew a kera lizard from it. It looked exactly like the one she studied in the jungle. This was a rather discomforting sight for her.
“What.. what are you doing?”
“I have several kera right now. Their venom is normally used to immobilize prey. It doesn’t matter what the prey is able to feel while they are immobilized, as long as they are easily consumed by the kera. It would never attempt to feed on you, of course. You likely gave it cause to be frightened, thus motivating it to act defensively. Normally they feed on rodents, which is another benefit of personal value to us. Their value is immeasurable, but we have decided to use a number of them to aid in your recovery. You should feel honored, though I can understand if you are uncomfortable right now.”
“How are these ‘kera’ supposed to help me? They’re the reason I’m in this position to begin with.”
“As I have said”, the shaman spoke calmly, “all things are connected. You believe your ability to detect sensations on the skin is distinct and independent from your ability to utilize the muscles of your body. As you will soon learn, this is not the case at all.”
The shaman arose with a kera in each hand. He approached Lauren, who lay helpless on the mat.
“No, wait a second!”
“Your concerns are unfounded”, the shaman reassured her. “These kera will not bite you unless you make any sudden movements. Such movements are impossible in your condition. I would advise you to allow the treatment to begin as soon as possible, but I will not begin unless you are comfortable.”
Unlikely, Lauren thought to herself.
“You’re not actually going to put them on me, are you?”
“I must follow the laws of the ritual. Besides, this is the fastest way to neutralize the effects of the kera toxin.”
“Where are my friends?”
“Your friends are waiting outside. They must remain outside while the ritual is conducted. I need your permission in order to proceed.”
While no one had caused her any intentional harm yet, Lauren was incredibly nervous. She remembered how the kera’s feathered frill felt against her skin. She couldn’t fathom what it might feel like against a more sensitive area of her body.
“I don’t think I want to do this. Why can’t we just wait for it to fade on its own?”
“We can”, the shaman explained with infinite patience. “But you would be immobilized the rest of the day, perhaps longer. It would be an unnecessary wait. I’m sure there are many things you would rather do with your time.”
Lauren considered this. In a few hours, the remaining members of her party would likely leave the landing pad to look for them. Perhaps they would bring many others to aid in their search. It might be a real spectacle, with New Zealand’s news reporters covering the story on the evening news. Then they would stumble upon this village, and learn that they didn’t actually have to go through all the trouble of searching for her. The shaman would be honest with them, and explain that Lauren was simply afraid of a few small lizards. She would likely be forbidden from any further expeditions. This was a terrible scenario. If she could leave the village soon, however, they could all return to the landing pad on schedule without arousing the slightest suspicion.
It seemed she had little choice.
“Alright”, Lauren groaned. “But, please go easy on me.”
“I’m sorry,” the shaman said, sitting down at the lower half of her body. “I cannot deviate from the law. There isn’t much I can do to make this any easier for you.”
This wasn’t what Lauren wanted to hear. The shaman raised both lizards in the air. Lauren shut her eyes.
“I am going to set the kera on your legs, now”.
“Okay”, Lauren said with clenched teeth. If she still had control over her extremities, she was sure they would be shaking right now. Who was she kidding? If she still had control, she would be running out of here right now.
Lauren didn’t actually feel anything for several seconds, and she was about to open her eyes to see what was going on. But then she felt it. The two scaly bodies were placed upon her. One on her shin, another on her knee. She could clearly sense the soft down of its body, the rough texture of its thin tail, the clawed digits on its appendages, and the frill of feathers that made her want to shake them off her body and jump into the covers of her bed in the New Zealand hotel.
Of course, she couldn’t do that.
“Now, I would like to remove some of your clothes”, the shaman said casually, as plainly as any doctor might have spoken. “With your permission, of course”.
“What? Why!?” Lauren whined. This situation was already out of control, and even though this shaman was doing his best to make her think otherwise, she was fairly certain that she was going to flip out pretty soon.
“The kera must make contact with your bare skin. The more of it they can access, the faster you will recover.”
This didn’t make any sense. If she was in a more rational state, Lauren would have immediately said “no”. But these were bizarre circumstances, and Lauren had a flurry of nonsensical thoughts and emotions swimming through her mind. If this shaman had some hidden agenda, there was probably no reason he would bother asking for her permission at all. Maybe she was too mistrusting. Maybe he was like any doctor, dealing with a difficult patient. He did seem truly interested in her welfare and recovery. And she didn’t want to be difficult. She also wanted to leave as soon as possible.
“Okay. Okay, just.. be careful.”
She watched as the shaman moved to the top half of her body, but she had to shut her eyes again when he began to unbutton her blouse. Although she was twenty years old, Lauren was very modest about her sexuality (something which, in her culture, was closely associated with nudity). She tried to steady her breathing as the cool air washed over the skin of her torso. She felt the shaman gently lifting her arm, manipulating it through the sleeve, then doing the same for the other arm. It was a soft blouse, and very comfortable, but not quite as nice as the sensation of air cooling the layer of perspiration on her chest and in her armpits.
Lauren opened her eyes, but she could no longer see the shaman. She looked down when she felt something tugging at her waist, and saw that he was loosening her shorts. Apparently “some” clothes meant “nearly all” of her clothes. At least he allowed her most private areas to be concealed. Even so, the shaman could see more than her boyfriends ever got to see. Well, most of them.
He set the two lizards on her stomach, paying little heed to the expression of terror that settled on Lauren’s face. She winced when their bodies made contact with her skin. She might have screamed if the sensation had lasted more than a fraction of a second. Fortunately, they kept still. She half-expected the shaman to begin chanting in some foreign tongue, but he remained quiet and neutral in expression. His people probably regarded him as a professional. This wasn’t so bad. It wasn’t much different from any normal medical examination. The doctor might move an instrument over various parts of her skin, resulting in an occasional giggle.
As long as these lizards kept still, she would be alright.
After relocating the lizards, the shaman was able to completely remove her shorts. The cool air was like a blessing against her inner thighs, and she felt an unexpected warmth in her womanhood. She ignored it, as she had done many times before. Lauren masturbated regularly; it had proven to be an effective method of controlling her bodily urges. She tended to wear very modest clothing, since she discovered most males approached her with only lustful intentions since the age of fifteen. Even now, one might find humor in the “modest” design of her undergarments, which were plain and white.
One of her most intimate partners had commented that her body didn’t require the enhancements of elaborate underwear.
“Now”, the shaman spoke carefully, “I want you to be prepared for what is going to happen next”. Lauren could feel warmth flooding her face as her sneakers and socks were stripped from her feet. The fresh air between her toes did little to ease her mounting sense of vulnerability.
“The kera are small creatures, and prefer to escape an aggressor rather than attack it. They instinctively seek stable surfaces. An unstable surface will agitate them. This agitation will spur them into action. It is through this action that optimal stimulation can be administered to your body. Your recovery will be incredibly swift if this ritual is carried out correctly. Do you understand?”
Lauren felt goose bumps on her bare limbs.
“They have to crawl on me?” she heard her voice waver.
“Yes, and the quicker the better”, the shaman replied. “You must initiate this ritual by creating an unstable surface”.
“How do I do that?”
“You still have control over much of your body. Right now, the kera sit upon your abdomen. If you force your abdominal muscles to expand and contract quickly, they will become startled and the ritual will begin”.
Lauren could already feel the quickening rise and fall of her abdomen. She pumped air in and out of her lungs as her heart raced uncontrollably. She couldn’t do this. She couldn’t make these things crawl all over her; she was practically naked! She was sure she would lose her mind. She glanced down at the flesh of her abdomen, still adorned with the pair of lizards. They appeared to be staring at her, patiently waiting for her command.
She could almost hear Ida right now, chiding her for delaying. No point in waiting.
Lauren drew a deep breath and exhaled, flattening her abdomen until it sunk below her ribcage. Drawing on blind audacity, she gasped and forced her abdomen to expand suddenly.
The pair of kera decided this terrain was no longer safe. They fled in opposite directions with a sudden burst of energy that would have put other ectotherms to shame. One skittered up the length of Lauren’s torso, quickly finding its footing at her collarbone and dragging its feathered frill across her bare neck before coming to a sudden halt. The other kera was not so easily comforted. It twisted its body into a full turn, brushing its feathered form across Lauren’s abdomen before dashing across the thin fabric of her pelvis and burrowing its body between the fabric and her thigh.
The lizards executed this complicated maneuver in just under three seconds.
For Lauren, it lasted three years.
She let out a feral howl that indicated neither pleasure nor suffering. The sensations had overwhelmed her with their sudden intensity. It was as if the kera left an invisible trail on her body. Although both creatures were now content and still, Lauren could still feel a tingling on the skin of her belly and chest. Her womanhood twitched, as though the lizard’s brief journey across her pelvis was still in progress.
After the years had passed, Lauren managed to steady her breathing.
“I can’t do this. Get them off!” she issued the commands as though she was pleading for her life. Her response was the gentle sensation of a third kera, which the shaman gently placed upon the recently abandoned space on her stomach.
This caught Lauren completely by surprise. She instantly lifted her head to peer down at the newcomer, but was quickly subdued by the feathers of the kera resting at her collarbone. Her careless movement had caused the lizard’s frill to rub against the thin, sensitive skin of her neck. She reflexively turned her head to the side in response to this stimulation, only to reveal a new area of her neck to the indifferent lizard’s frill. She failed to suppress the steady stream of giggles that erupted through her clenched teeth, and whipped her head to the other side, only to receive another unwelcome sensation on the skin of her neck.
The lizards were forcing her to tickle herself.
Each kera was tinier than Lauren’s hand, but she had almost instantly put herself at their mercy. Without realizing it.
These thoughts sent reams of panic up her spine, yet before the emotions could even settle in her brain, they were transformed into laughter and fired from her mouth.
“I’m sorry, but the ritual has already begun”, the shaman murmured while watching with unsympathetic eyes. This treatment procedure could not be interrupted, regardless of his will. It was through many years of practice that this treatment had become a ritual among his people. It worked with startling efficiency in a variety of conditions, and although he was extremely well-versed in the intricacies of this ritual, it always fascinated him to see it in action. This time it was a particularly unique spectacle, for he’d never witnessed the Dance of the Kera upon the fair skin of an outsider.
The fact that it worked just as effectively with this outsider only served to reinforce his religious beliefs. All things were connected. No matter how different this person might seem, her body functioned just as the body of a woman in his tribe would function. The Dance of the Kera had a universal effect. It was a ritual operating with beautiful consistency.
Lauren’s laughter was now clear and loud. Her abdomen jumped rapidly. The kera, in response, sought more stable ground. It crawled cautiously across Lauren’s torso, the drawn-out sensations bringing her to a moment of silent laughter. The alternating movements of the kera’s limbs caused Lauren to thrash her head, giving the kera at her collarbone just enough encouragement to abandon its position. It headed toward her bare shoulder, then crossed her arm as though it were nothing but a tree limb.
The kera didn’t really care how Lauren felt. It wasn’t aware of its tiny, harmless claws pressing into Lauren’s soft flesh. It didn’t matter that the soft down on its belly was gliding across the length of her bicep, and that Lauren was so overcome by the sensation that her jaw was trembling. It couldn’t comprehend that, as its thin tail dragged across Lauren’s underarm, she gasped and moaned and wished for it to stop.
It was only a reptile, after all.
When the kera reached the soft, inner joint of Lauren’s elbow, it came to a rest. Lauren could not enjoy the same luxury, however. Kera Number Three continued its lazy journey up her body, and Lauren squirmed as with all her might. Lauren promised herself that if she ever got out of this, she was never going to take her limbs for granted again.
The kera dragged its body over the creamy terrain until its path was blocked by a large, white mound. Without hesitation, it rose and pressed both forelegs into the mound. Despite its immensity, it was strangely soft. The ground shook violently, and the kera recoiled quickly. Circumventing the mound, the kera made its way down a flatter surface and detected a sharp scent. Following the odor, it came upon a shallow slope. It didn’t look particularly safe. The kera tasted the air with its tongue, bending its neck to scan the vast horizon beyond.
How do they do it? Lauren wrestled with this sole thought as a long scream emptied her lungs. Why couldn’t this one be fast, like the others? At least then it would no longer be moving, and she might have a chance to relax a moment. She was grateful that the lizard hadn’t attempted to scale her entire breast; perhaps her laughter had scared it off. But now it had found a way around, and ventured into the worst possible area she could think of. The kera had paused at the brink of her armpit, and the black feathers on its bizarre frill were sweeping away at her vulnerable skin. A quick, panicked scream shot out of her body. This only caused more problems for her, though. The kera’s footing had been disturbed, and in order to regain balance, it pressed one of its tiny forelegs into the center of Lauren’s armpit.
Another scream shot out of Lauren. All three lizards were motionless, and it didn’t matter. She shuddered as the sensations were recalled in her mind. They had traversed her helpless body with their feathery physiques, and the thought of them reanimating yet again filled her with such dread that she was beginning to worry that she might faint.
But they would never let her faint. She knew it.
“As you may have noticed, their bodies have quite an array of textures”, the shaman spoke gently. “It is the variety that prevents you from becoming desensitized. They will help to achieve optimal stimulation-”
“No!” Lauren barked with such rudeness that she felt more naked than ever. “I can’t do this anymore. Just get them off me, right now.”
“The ritual is already in progress. If it is very difficult for you, I might be able to expedite your recovery using less conventional techniques.” The shaman approached her with a fourth kera in hand, and held it several inches above the usual landing zone.
“No, don’t! I’m not going to trigger this one, this is over, do you understand!?”
“This is for your own good, I promise you.” The shaman had no hint of regret in his eyes as he lowered the fourth kera. But this was not a downward drop, like the others. Instead, he guided the lizard’s feathered body across her naked abdomen like a jet landing on an air strip.
The effect was immediate. Lauren couldn’t even shout “No!” Her abdomen fluttered continually and the room was once again filled with her laughter. The kera, free of the shaman’s hand and frightened by the instability of this new surface, scampered across Lauren’s torso in a series of random twists and loops with no particular destination. The momentary stability afforded by Lauren’s need to draw further oxygen allowed the lizard to pinpoint the location of another of its species. It immediately darted in its general direction, scurrying right over its comrade’s body which was wedged between the soft terrain and a flat, white surface. This spurred the resting kera into action as well, and it struggled out from its place of comfort and pursued its disturber until it came upon a hard lump.
Lauren was a polite woman. As a child, she never shouted. Now, here, in this absurd predicament, she had screamed more than she ever did in her entire life. First the little creature had darted all over her body, as if performing some manic inspection. Then, it sped down her leg to her foot. If it had ended there, it would already have been too much. But in its mad dash, it had disturbed another lizard. The one Lauren had nearly forgotten about. The one that burrowed into the flesh of her thigh, partially concealing itself in the fabric of her underwear. It had been startled, and wriggled its tiny body in the soft flesh of Lauren’s thigh, causing her to wriggle her body in turn. It ran down her thigh and paused at her knee, and Lauren desperately wanted to shake it off. But she couldn’t.
At the same time, the most recent visitor had been scrabbling up Lauren’s foot. She gasped in between bouts of laughter. If only she could flick it off her foot! Why did that shaman even remove her shoes!? Did he plan it this way?
Things became much worse when Lauren felt something soft and tiny pull itself into the space between her first two toes. The laughter consumed her for several minutes before it dawned on her: the little kera had wedged itself between the toes of her foot! The skin between the toes was tormented without end, all while the kera’s hind legs struggled to lift its weight out of the crevice. Pushing itself further through the gap, the kera managed to reach the surface at its anterior. It pawed and grasped frantically at the new surface while kicking itself further through the gap, thrashing and squirming with single-minded determination.
With a single kera lodged between her toes, wildly stimulating both sides of her foot, Lauren began to howl once again. She wanted it to end. She wanted to regain control of her arms and legs.
But she didn’t.
The shaman removed the kera from Lauren’s toes and repositioned it on her abdomen. The kera was too tired to move, and so was Lauren. Her heart fluttered rapidly, pumping blood throughout her entire body and radiating palpable waves of heat that even the shaman might have felt.
Presently, he sat near Lauren’s immobile feet. What had he meant by “less conventional techniques”? This entire day – and this treatment session – had been anything but conventional. Her pitiful, ethnocentric observations were the result of intense fear. Lauren wasn’t someone who put herself in stressful situations unless it was absolutely necessary. The few muscles she had control over were quivering. She expected him to drop a fifth lizard onto her. Instead, he did something much worse.
He ran an index finger up the length of her foot.
Lauren’s yelp prevented her from making any discernible protest. Before she had even a chance of recovering, both of the shaman’s hands were softly clawing at the soles of her feet. The gentle stream of giggles gave a great misrepresentation of Lauren’s actual suffering. The shaman ignored the visual clues that gave a clear indication of her agony. The muscles of her cheeks lifted to force her eyelids to meet. All her worrying and grinning had manifested itself in a rosy hue at her those cheeks that had been pale with fear before the ritual had started. Her head thrashed from side to side. If Lauren had been able to disconnect her head and find relief from the sensations that plagued her body, she would already have done so. She didn’t care if she would have to spend the rest of her life as one of those ridiculous talking heads in a jar. Any fate would have been preferable to this.
This “predicament” had become worse still after the shaman began stroking her feet. Her laughter had convinced the kera on her abdomen to relocate once again. Although exhausted, it dragged its reptilian form in a straight path up Lauren’s stomach and between her ribs. Lauren nearly choked on her own laughter when its whip-like tail grazed the perimeter of her navel. The kera had the splayed gait one would expect from a reptile. The four scaly feet hardly seemed to lift from Lauren’s bare skin as it traversed the trembling flesh of her body. It moved steadily along, a seemingly endless parade of excruciating feathers, fluffy layers of down, and irritating scales.
The powerful stimuli operating at Lauren’s torso and feet prompted an unprecedented struggle. Straining all the muscles that still obeyed her in the neck, shoulders, stomach, and back, she curled her body into a nearly completely sit-up. Nearly. Unable to operate her legs, she fell back and lay flat upon the mat once more. The exertion was not entirely fruitless.
The kera that had rested at her elbow joint made a single panicked movement before leaping to the floor and scampering off to a dark corner of the room. Lauren coiled at the sensation; if it had lasted any longer, she might have screamed. It occurred to her, through her own laughter, that she should check her arm for signs that she had been bitten again. If so, her unbearable torment would have all been for nothing. When she lifted her arm to inspect it, the skin appeared immaculate. A new disturbance shifted her attention-
The kera that once sat at her armpit decided to abandon this wiggling fortress of flesh, but not without stumbling across Lauren’s slick underarm. The sensation lasted less than two seconds, but it was enough to call fourth the loud scream that had been bubbling in Lauren’s lungs ever since the shaman went to work on her feet. At the moment, her feet were strangely untroubled. She peered down, and found that the shaman had wandered off to collect the lizards that had fled from her body. All she saw was a single kera, which immediately vaulted off her knee. The sudden pressure caused her to jolt, and then she realized-
Her arm. She had lifted her arm to check for bites. She had moved it. The arm which had once been nothing but a bundle of nerves at the mercy of the kera. It was hers again. She commanded it to rise, and it obeyed. She flexed both arms to lift herself to a sitting position. She felt incredibly powerful.
A small wince escaped her lips as the only remaining kera slid down her chest. She quickly caught it in her palm. She ran her other hand across the white down on its dorsal side. She nearly shivered. She hated it, and yet she loved it.
A large, dark hand appeared beside her own. She released the kera into it, surprised by the gentle surge of sadness that followed as the shaman tucked it away in a basket with the others. For a moment, she stared at her feet, which were now fully operational. Although nearly naked, she felt no vulnerability or discomfort.
“Thank you”, Lauren heard herself say. She swallowed, restoring some measure of moisture to her parched throat.
“It might have been faster at a greater intensity. But I doubt you could have taken it. Your kind have always been so…” he searched for an adjective that could not be perceived as offensive “…interesting”. It was an apt description, and he pondered it silently as he adjusted the basket and relocated various objects on shelves.
Lauren wouldn’t argue with that. She slowly dressed herself, feeling a bit shaken as though she’d just woken up from a dream. Power washed through her limbs as she stood, cleansing worry and doubt.
“Your friends are anxious to learn of your condition”. The shaman nodded and left the room, leaving Lauren alone in the room that had once been full of screams and laughter.
Lauren had taken no more than thirty paces outside when she heard her name called out in a voice she hardly even recognized. Amy practically tackled her and squeezed her in an embrace that left Lauren stupefied. In the two months that Lauren had known Amy, the total number of words shared between them was somewhere around fifty. When she finally pulled away, she noticed a glint of concern in Amy’s eyes.
“Feel better?” Lauren turned to the voice that was Ida’s, and her face wore the usual mask of dispassionate calm. Lauren nodded. She felt refreshed, better than ever.
“Good. Let’s get moving.”
After exchanging grateful gestures and farewells with the dark natives, Ida led them both back to the airstrip. No one asked Lauren how she recovered from the lizard bite. Lauren had a feeling that Amy was watching her, but no one spoke for the duration of their trek.
No one stopped to examine the wildlife, either.
Although it was only 11:30 at night, the hotel was surprisingly quiet. Amy and Ida slept in the room adjoining Lauren’s. Although Amy offered to sleep in the room with Lauren, she insisted that she would be alright.
It was dark and peaceful in room 252. Lauren lifted her palm to the moonlight. The tiny puncture wounds had healed to the point of near-invisibility. She rolled to the side of her bed and dipped her hand into the open backpack on the floor. Her hand descended slowly, very slowly…
There.
Her hand stroked the small, fluffy mass that sat indifferently in the darkness of the backpack. She dared to let the skin of her knuckles glide across a frill of black feathers, unable to stop a smirk from spreading on her face.
Lauren quickly fell into a deep sleep, and dreamt of the jungle.
Your feedback will have a big impact on what (if any) stories are written in the future and the manner in which they appear. I know most of you reading this don’t post regularly, but your feedback carries a lot of weight. Please remember to include any and all thoughts regarding the story. Thanks, and enjoy.
--------------------------
“Dance of the Kera”
Story Written by Gaius
Original Concept by robace252
Lauren jogged through the thick foliage, wide ferns swatting her face and legs. A few of the collisions were mildly irritating, but there was little that could be done about that. She certainly wasn’t going to wear sweatpants in the middle of a jungle; the humidity was already brutally high. They’d been walking for several hours, and already she could feel the moisture accumulating heavily in her socks, at the brim of her shorts, along the length of her neck… and she almost felt she was swimming inside her blouse. For a brief instant, she wondered what if would feel like to remove all these clothes and simply stand naked among the ferns. This was not something Lauren would actually do, mind you. Such was the value of fantasy.
She wasn’t terribly bothered by the heat, however. For her, this place was a dream. Lauren was one of twelve biology students who agreed to take this little excursion to- wherever they were. In truth, she hadn’t given much attention to the geography of this journey. All she knew was that she was getting to study organisms firsthand for two days in New Zealand, followed by a trek on foot through some exotic jungle on a neighboring island. Her mind recorded the contour of every leaf, the chirp of every creature. She would have to look up the name of this island the minute she returned to the United States. New Zealand had been a beautiful location. She’d spent an entire hour staring at the Sky Tower while her companions busied themselves with the local boys. But New Zealand paled in comparison to this place. In her short time here, this island had been ten times more stimulating than she ever expected it to be.
After a few meters, she came to a clearing and spotted her two companions shortly ahead. They had been walking at a sluggish pace, so Lauren had decided to catch up to them later after examining a four inch weta on a branch. The threadlike antenna had kept her engrossed for quite some time, and she saw no weta of this size in New Zealand. If that tuatara hadn’t chased it off, she might still be there, while her indifferent “companions” trotted on ahead.
They made no effort to greet her, and didn’t seem to even acknowledge her return. She would have to be careful not to lag behind again, since it wasn’t likely they’d go looking for her if she went missing. Amy postured awkwardly on one knee, peering through her expensive glasses at some unseen spectacle in the underbrush. Ida was walking ahead of her, with an air of passive interest. Lauren stifled a sigh as she approached them. Did these two have any interest in biology whatsoever?
“What’s this Kauri called again?” Ida inquired, ignoring Lauren. She was evaluating the grey-barked tree as though considering it for purchase.
“Agathis australis”, Amy replied, her gaze never wavering.
No, they had an interest. They just didn’t have a love for it. It wasn’t something that filled their heads at night, as it was for Lauren. Once again, she would be ostracized for her passion.
“I’m going on ahead,” said Lauren. She didn’t expect a reply, and didn’t get one. She could hear them following, however. Perhaps that was a good sign.
Several minutes had passed when something red entered Lauren’s peripheral vision, and she halted. When she focused on the object, she could scarcely believe what she saw.
The creature was larger than she was. It had a soft, round body with pale, powerful legs. At the top of its elongated neck was a beaked, bird-like head.
This was a bird. An eight-foot bird. Wingless. A large, yellow eye blinked at her. It was like an ostrich or an emu, only somehow more startling to look at. The deep red plumage and towering presence made it seem otherworldly, like something she wasn’t supposed to see.
“Oh my God”, whispered a voice behind her. She wasn’t sure who it was, and didn’t care. They were likely just as stunned as she was. Lauren moistened her lips.
“It looks like a Moa”, she heard herself say.
“Lauren, the Moa has been extinct for centuries”. Even in these incredible circumstances, Ida’s skepticism never diminished.
No one spoke. The giant bird was motionless. It blinked twice and slowly retreated into the foliage. The three of them watched in silence. When it was out of sight, Lauren found herself grinning. Exhilarated. She turned to her companions. Amy was breathing heavily, the muscles in her forehead flexing in fear. Ida looked as though nothing significant had happened.
Amy suddenly gasped as something scurried across the ground toward Lauren. The white creature paused when it reached her feet. Not easily shaken, Lauren bent over to inspect it. At first glance, it appeared to be some kind of white-furred rodent. A rodent… with a black collar?
Without thinking, she lifted the creature and gave it a more thorough inspection. This was no rodent. It was a reptile. A lizard with grey skin, yet a soft layer of white down covering the bulk of its body. The neck was adorned with a black, feathery integument of some kind. Like a frill. It was a bizarre combination of textures and colors, yet the lizard was somehow the most lovely creature Lauren had ever looked upon. She couldn’t help feeling like she was in some Arthur Conan Doyle novel.
In typical reptilian fashion, it sat like a stone in her palm. Some might have looked into its black eyes and called it “lifeless”. Staring at it gave Lauren an indescribable sense of peace. She gently shifted the lizard’s weight in her hand, trying to encourage some slight movement. It cocked its tiny head at her, black ruffles swaying at its neck. Lauren ran the pads of her fingers along the feathered frill, then withdrew them abruptly.
That was strange.
It tickled. She couldn’t remember ever having been ticklish on her fingers. Lauren considered herself largely free of irrational fears, but she found herself inexplicably worried. She was in a strange place, with strange creatures-
“Ka tu!”
Lauren jumped, inadvertently sending the lizard to the ground. Standing in front of her was a dark woman. She was peering out from behind the trunk of a tree, observing them with a strange, neighborly expression. Her eyes fell to the ground in front of Lauren, where the lizard had fallen.
“Ka tu kera. Se pa min.”
Lauren was unfamiliar with the language this woman used. Her exotic attire also led Lauren to believe she was a native of this island, and if there were others like her, they probably didn’t see many visitors. Only without the interference of outsiders could these people have remained so distinctive. This native didn’t appear threatening at all, but then again-
The ground hit Lauren’s elbows.
“Lauren!” she heard Amy draw toward her.
She had fallen. What happened?
Her legs seemed to fail her. Even now, she struggled to keep her head above the ground. Lauren caught a glimpse of her palm, the one which held the mysterious lizard only a few seconds ago. A pair of red dots on her skin caused her some momentary confusion, until she came to understand that the lizard had bitten her. She had been poisoned.
“What happened?” Amy’s voice cracked with concern. She was trying to lift her friend back onto her feet, but Amy’s relatively inactive lifestyle was making the task very cumbersome. She cringed suspiciously at the native woman, unsure if her companion had been attacked.
“I think it bit me”, Lauren breathed heavily. This was due to her own fear; the lizard’s neurotoxin had no noticeable effect on her respiratory system. This realization was of little comfort to Lauren, though. She tried to lift her arm again to examine the wound, but her arms had also failed her. The toxin had denied her use of her own arms and legs. This wondrous journey had quickly become a nightmare.
“Se na kera uft. Uft”, the native woman spoke gently. She did not seem at all concerned with Lauren’s circumstance. She seemed to be beckoning them to follow her. Ida grabbed Lauren’s arm and slung it over her hard shoulders. It struck Lauren as odd that she was able to sense the thickness of Ida’s shoulders. She expected to lose all sense of feeling in her limbs. Strangely, she hadn’t. Although she had no control of her limbs, she could sense every physical contact as though nothing was truly wrong with her body. She could feel Ida’s coarse hair brushing against the skin of her right arm, and then Amy’s fine hair against her left. She was now hanging between these two people, those who barely acknowledged her existence only a few minutes ago, and now hurried to aid her in a time of need.
This was a strange day, indeed.
“Come on, we’re following her”, Ida commanded her only able-bodied companion.
“But what are we going to-“
“Don’t worry about it”, Ida’s icy tone cut against Amy’s protest. “I think she’s going to be fine”. Lauren felt the rugged earth dragging against the tip of her shoes as she was carried toward their native guide. The dark woman still appeared to be unworried, as though she was performing some well-rehearsed routine. She gave Lauren a smile that seemed genuine and amiable.
“How can you be sure?” Amy’s breathing became heavy. She was probably unused to lifting, even though Lauren was in excellent physical condition. Well, until now, that is.
“Because most lizards are harmless”, Ida explained. She didn’t sound strained at all. “Even those that are poisonous have to chew a while in order to get a dangerous amount of toxin in their prey.”
“I… I don’t think it’s like that, though.” Lauren was thankful that she could still speak. The muscles of her face and neck seemed to operate just fine. “I saw the bite, and it looked like a quick injection with fangs. Like a snake bite.”
“Oh, God. Ida we’ve got to take her back-“
“Just relax, Amy. It would take at least an hour to carry her back to the airstrip. Not to mention the time spent flying to a hospital.” Ida’s smooth logic reminded Lauren of her uncle, a field surgeon in the military. “If this woman has been here a long time, she’s our best bet for a quick antidote”.
There was some inherent risk in this thinking, but maybe she was right. Lauren had lost control of the muscles in her limbs, but she felt no swelling or pain. Maybe the toxin was non-lethal. Maybe this native could help her. Most humans survived animal attacks, after all.
Maybe she had nothing to worry about at all.
After what seemed like centuries, Lauren found herself laying on a soft mat of some kind. It seemed almost as thick as a mattress, as though an exorbitant amount of work had gone into its fabrication. Come to think of it, many items in this housing seemed very ornate. At her left, she saw complicated weavings and furniture and wooden containers carved with elaborate designs. She might have been more interested in the culture of these people were it not for her awkward predicament. She still had no use of her limbs, but at least they had set her on this mat in a comfortable position. It was quiet and softly-lit inside this tiny room. The air felt like it had been somehow cooled, and it was especially pleasant for her since she was practically coated in her own sweat. Now it was like she was wearing a layer of cool moisture.
“How are you feeling?” came a gentle voice.
She turned to her side as best she could manage, and saw a dark man approaching with his hands full of indistinguishable materials. This must have been the “shaman” the other natives had been talking about. They had all seemed to be very happy when she arrived; she wasn’t sure if it was in reaction to her presence or if they were simply happy all the time. Very odd, and yet trivial in comparison to the previous events of the day.
“Are you the shaman?”
“I am. Your friends are still very concerned about your condition. How do you feel?” he repeated his question.
“With my fingers and toes. Though I’d prefer it if I could move them”, she sighed. Lauren was puzzled by the shaman’s superb command of the English language. He spoke with a thick accent, but he was easy to understand.
“Hm”. The shaman strode to the opposite side of the room, never straying from her field of view. “As I have already explained to your friends, the toxin affecting you is not harmful. You will feel its effects for no more than a day, if it goes untreated.”
Lauren had suspected the bite wasn’t dangerous, but she didn’t like the idea of staying on a mat for an entire day.
“You seem to know a lot about this lizard”.
“Kera”, said the shaman.
“I’m sorry?”
“The lizard is called a kera. It is sacred to our people.”
Lauren mulled this over. The word “kera” sounded familiar. The woman she met in the jungle might have used it; she couldn’t remember. She did remember that cows were considered sacred in Hindu culture, and were allowed to roam the streets unchallenged due to their high status. If this tribe had a similar attitude toward this “kera”, perhaps she had upset them by picking one up. If so, she would have no defense against whatever retribution they planned.
“The kera is valuable creature. Its venom is useful in treating a variety of ailments”, the shaman explained. “Their flesh is considered a delicacy. But we are careful in using the kera for selfish purposes. Such hoarding would eventually result in their extinction, and so we are careful to monitor the numbers which we use for ourselves. We must be careful in all our actions, because all things are connected to each other.”
Connected to each other. This reminded Lauren of the dynamics of ecosystems, how everything could be affected by a small change. She wasn’t sure how this would apply to her current situation, though. Lauren watched as the shaman reached into one of the baskets he was carrying, and drew a kera lizard from it. It looked exactly like the one she studied in the jungle. This was a rather discomforting sight for her.
“What.. what are you doing?”
“I have several kera right now. Their venom is normally used to immobilize prey. It doesn’t matter what the prey is able to feel while they are immobilized, as long as they are easily consumed by the kera. It would never attempt to feed on you, of course. You likely gave it cause to be frightened, thus motivating it to act defensively. Normally they feed on rodents, which is another benefit of personal value to us. Their value is immeasurable, but we have decided to use a number of them to aid in your recovery. You should feel honored, though I can understand if you are uncomfortable right now.”
“How are these ‘kera’ supposed to help me? They’re the reason I’m in this position to begin with.”
“As I have said”, the shaman spoke calmly, “all things are connected. You believe your ability to detect sensations on the skin is distinct and independent from your ability to utilize the muscles of your body. As you will soon learn, this is not the case at all.”
The shaman arose with a kera in each hand. He approached Lauren, who lay helpless on the mat.
“No, wait a second!”
“Your concerns are unfounded”, the shaman reassured her. “These kera will not bite you unless you make any sudden movements. Such movements are impossible in your condition. I would advise you to allow the treatment to begin as soon as possible, but I will not begin unless you are comfortable.”
Unlikely, Lauren thought to herself.
“You’re not actually going to put them on me, are you?”
“I must follow the laws of the ritual. Besides, this is the fastest way to neutralize the effects of the kera toxin.”
“Where are my friends?”
“Your friends are waiting outside. They must remain outside while the ritual is conducted. I need your permission in order to proceed.”
While no one had caused her any intentional harm yet, Lauren was incredibly nervous. She remembered how the kera’s feathered frill felt against her skin. She couldn’t fathom what it might feel like against a more sensitive area of her body.
“I don’t think I want to do this. Why can’t we just wait for it to fade on its own?”
“We can”, the shaman explained with infinite patience. “But you would be immobilized the rest of the day, perhaps longer. It would be an unnecessary wait. I’m sure there are many things you would rather do with your time.”
Lauren considered this. In a few hours, the remaining members of her party would likely leave the landing pad to look for them. Perhaps they would bring many others to aid in their search. It might be a real spectacle, with New Zealand’s news reporters covering the story on the evening news. Then they would stumble upon this village, and learn that they didn’t actually have to go through all the trouble of searching for her. The shaman would be honest with them, and explain that Lauren was simply afraid of a few small lizards. She would likely be forbidden from any further expeditions. This was a terrible scenario. If she could leave the village soon, however, they could all return to the landing pad on schedule without arousing the slightest suspicion.
It seemed she had little choice.
“Alright”, Lauren groaned. “But, please go easy on me.”
“I’m sorry,” the shaman said, sitting down at the lower half of her body. “I cannot deviate from the law. There isn’t much I can do to make this any easier for you.”
This wasn’t what Lauren wanted to hear. The shaman raised both lizards in the air. Lauren shut her eyes.
“I am going to set the kera on your legs, now”.
“Okay”, Lauren said with clenched teeth. If she still had control over her extremities, she was sure they would be shaking right now. Who was she kidding? If she still had control, she would be running out of here right now.
Lauren didn’t actually feel anything for several seconds, and she was about to open her eyes to see what was going on. But then she felt it. The two scaly bodies were placed upon her. One on her shin, another on her knee. She could clearly sense the soft down of its body, the rough texture of its thin tail, the clawed digits on its appendages, and the frill of feathers that made her want to shake them off her body and jump into the covers of her bed in the New Zealand hotel.
Of course, she couldn’t do that.
“Now, I would like to remove some of your clothes”, the shaman said casually, as plainly as any doctor might have spoken. “With your permission, of course”.
“What? Why!?” Lauren whined. This situation was already out of control, and even though this shaman was doing his best to make her think otherwise, she was fairly certain that she was going to flip out pretty soon.
“The kera must make contact with your bare skin. The more of it they can access, the faster you will recover.”
This didn’t make any sense. If she was in a more rational state, Lauren would have immediately said “no”. But these were bizarre circumstances, and Lauren had a flurry of nonsensical thoughts and emotions swimming through her mind. If this shaman had some hidden agenda, there was probably no reason he would bother asking for her permission at all. Maybe she was too mistrusting. Maybe he was like any doctor, dealing with a difficult patient. He did seem truly interested in her welfare and recovery. And she didn’t want to be difficult. She also wanted to leave as soon as possible.
“Okay. Okay, just.. be careful.”
She watched as the shaman moved to the top half of her body, but she had to shut her eyes again when he began to unbutton her blouse. Although she was twenty years old, Lauren was very modest about her sexuality (something which, in her culture, was closely associated with nudity). She tried to steady her breathing as the cool air washed over the skin of her torso. She felt the shaman gently lifting her arm, manipulating it through the sleeve, then doing the same for the other arm. It was a soft blouse, and very comfortable, but not quite as nice as the sensation of air cooling the layer of perspiration on her chest and in her armpits.
Lauren opened her eyes, but she could no longer see the shaman. She looked down when she felt something tugging at her waist, and saw that he was loosening her shorts. Apparently “some” clothes meant “nearly all” of her clothes. At least he allowed her most private areas to be concealed. Even so, the shaman could see more than her boyfriends ever got to see. Well, most of them.
He set the two lizards on her stomach, paying little heed to the expression of terror that settled on Lauren’s face. She winced when their bodies made contact with her skin. She might have screamed if the sensation had lasted more than a fraction of a second. Fortunately, they kept still. She half-expected the shaman to begin chanting in some foreign tongue, but he remained quiet and neutral in expression. His people probably regarded him as a professional. This wasn’t so bad. It wasn’t much different from any normal medical examination. The doctor might move an instrument over various parts of her skin, resulting in an occasional giggle.
As long as these lizards kept still, she would be alright.
After relocating the lizards, the shaman was able to completely remove her shorts. The cool air was like a blessing against her inner thighs, and she felt an unexpected warmth in her womanhood. She ignored it, as she had done many times before. Lauren masturbated regularly; it had proven to be an effective method of controlling her bodily urges. She tended to wear very modest clothing, since she discovered most males approached her with only lustful intentions since the age of fifteen. Even now, one might find humor in the “modest” design of her undergarments, which were plain and white.
One of her most intimate partners had commented that her body didn’t require the enhancements of elaborate underwear.
“Now”, the shaman spoke carefully, “I want you to be prepared for what is going to happen next”. Lauren could feel warmth flooding her face as her sneakers and socks were stripped from her feet. The fresh air between her toes did little to ease her mounting sense of vulnerability.
“The kera are small creatures, and prefer to escape an aggressor rather than attack it. They instinctively seek stable surfaces. An unstable surface will agitate them. This agitation will spur them into action. It is through this action that optimal stimulation can be administered to your body. Your recovery will be incredibly swift if this ritual is carried out correctly. Do you understand?”
Lauren felt goose bumps on her bare limbs.
“They have to crawl on me?” she heard her voice waver.
“Yes, and the quicker the better”, the shaman replied. “You must initiate this ritual by creating an unstable surface”.
“How do I do that?”
“You still have control over much of your body. Right now, the kera sit upon your abdomen. If you force your abdominal muscles to expand and contract quickly, they will become startled and the ritual will begin”.
Lauren could already feel the quickening rise and fall of her abdomen. She pumped air in and out of her lungs as her heart raced uncontrollably. She couldn’t do this. She couldn’t make these things crawl all over her; she was practically naked! She was sure she would lose her mind. She glanced down at the flesh of her abdomen, still adorned with the pair of lizards. They appeared to be staring at her, patiently waiting for her command.
She could almost hear Ida right now, chiding her for delaying. No point in waiting.
Lauren drew a deep breath and exhaled, flattening her abdomen until it sunk below her ribcage. Drawing on blind audacity, she gasped and forced her abdomen to expand suddenly.
The pair of kera decided this terrain was no longer safe. They fled in opposite directions with a sudden burst of energy that would have put other ectotherms to shame. One skittered up the length of Lauren’s torso, quickly finding its footing at her collarbone and dragging its feathered frill across her bare neck before coming to a sudden halt. The other kera was not so easily comforted. It twisted its body into a full turn, brushing its feathered form across Lauren’s abdomen before dashing across the thin fabric of her pelvis and burrowing its body between the fabric and her thigh.
The lizards executed this complicated maneuver in just under three seconds.
For Lauren, it lasted three years.
She let out a feral howl that indicated neither pleasure nor suffering. The sensations had overwhelmed her with their sudden intensity. It was as if the kera left an invisible trail on her body. Although both creatures were now content and still, Lauren could still feel a tingling on the skin of her belly and chest. Her womanhood twitched, as though the lizard’s brief journey across her pelvis was still in progress.
After the years had passed, Lauren managed to steady her breathing.
“I can’t do this. Get them off!” she issued the commands as though she was pleading for her life. Her response was the gentle sensation of a third kera, which the shaman gently placed upon the recently abandoned space on her stomach.
This caught Lauren completely by surprise. She instantly lifted her head to peer down at the newcomer, but was quickly subdued by the feathers of the kera resting at her collarbone. Her careless movement had caused the lizard’s frill to rub against the thin, sensitive skin of her neck. She reflexively turned her head to the side in response to this stimulation, only to reveal a new area of her neck to the indifferent lizard’s frill. She failed to suppress the steady stream of giggles that erupted through her clenched teeth, and whipped her head to the other side, only to receive another unwelcome sensation on the skin of her neck.
The lizards were forcing her to tickle herself.
Each kera was tinier than Lauren’s hand, but she had almost instantly put herself at their mercy. Without realizing it.
These thoughts sent reams of panic up her spine, yet before the emotions could even settle in her brain, they were transformed into laughter and fired from her mouth.
“I’m sorry, but the ritual has already begun”, the shaman murmured while watching with unsympathetic eyes. This treatment procedure could not be interrupted, regardless of his will. It was through many years of practice that this treatment had become a ritual among his people. It worked with startling efficiency in a variety of conditions, and although he was extremely well-versed in the intricacies of this ritual, it always fascinated him to see it in action. This time it was a particularly unique spectacle, for he’d never witnessed the Dance of the Kera upon the fair skin of an outsider.
The fact that it worked just as effectively with this outsider only served to reinforce his religious beliefs. All things were connected. No matter how different this person might seem, her body functioned just as the body of a woman in his tribe would function. The Dance of the Kera had a universal effect. It was a ritual operating with beautiful consistency.
Lauren’s laughter was now clear and loud. Her abdomen jumped rapidly. The kera, in response, sought more stable ground. It crawled cautiously across Lauren’s torso, the drawn-out sensations bringing her to a moment of silent laughter. The alternating movements of the kera’s limbs caused Lauren to thrash her head, giving the kera at her collarbone just enough encouragement to abandon its position. It headed toward her bare shoulder, then crossed her arm as though it were nothing but a tree limb.
The kera didn’t really care how Lauren felt. It wasn’t aware of its tiny, harmless claws pressing into Lauren’s soft flesh. It didn’t matter that the soft down on its belly was gliding across the length of her bicep, and that Lauren was so overcome by the sensation that her jaw was trembling. It couldn’t comprehend that, as its thin tail dragged across Lauren’s underarm, she gasped and moaned and wished for it to stop.
It was only a reptile, after all.
When the kera reached the soft, inner joint of Lauren’s elbow, it came to a rest. Lauren could not enjoy the same luxury, however. Kera Number Three continued its lazy journey up her body, and Lauren squirmed as with all her might. Lauren promised herself that if she ever got out of this, she was never going to take her limbs for granted again.
The kera dragged its body over the creamy terrain until its path was blocked by a large, white mound. Without hesitation, it rose and pressed both forelegs into the mound. Despite its immensity, it was strangely soft. The ground shook violently, and the kera recoiled quickly. Circumventing the mound, the kera made its way down a flatter surface and detected a sharp scent. Following the odor, it came upon a shallow slope. It didn’t look particularly safe. The kera tasted the air with its tongue, bending its neck to scan the vast horizon beyond.
How do they do it? Lauren wrestled with this sole thought as a long scream emptied her lungs. Why couldn’t this one be fast, like the others? At least then it would no longer be moving, and she might have a chance to relax a moment. She was grateful that the lizard hadn’t attempted to scale her entire breast; perhaps her laughter had scared it off. But now it had found a way around, and ventured into the worst possible area she could think of. The kera had paused at the brink of her armpit, and the black feathers on its bizarre frill were sweeping away at her vulnerable skin. A quick, panicked scream shot out of her body. This only caused more problems for her, though. The kera’s footing had been disturbed, and in order to regain balance, it pressed one of its tiny forelegs into the center of Lauren’s armpit.
Another scream shot out of Lauren. All three lizards were motionless, and it didn’t matter. She shuddered as the sensations were recalled in her mind. They had traversed her helpless body with their feathery physiques, and the thought of them reanimating yet again filled her with such dread that she was beginning to worry that she might faint.
But they would never let her faint. She knew it.
“As you may have noticed, their bodies have quite an array of textures”, the shaman spoke gently. “It is the variety that prevents you from becoming desensitized. They will help to achieve optimal stimulation-”
“No!” Lauren barked with such rudeness that she felt more naked than ever. “I can’t do this anymore. Just get them off me, right now.”
“The ritual is already in progress. If it is very difficult for you, I might be able to expedite your recovery using less conventional techniques.” The shaman approached her with a fourth kera in hand, and held it several inches above the usual landing zone.
“No, don’t! I’m not going to trigger this one, this is over, do you understand!?”
“This is for your own good, I promise you.” The shaman had no hint of regret in his eyes as he lowered the fourth kera. But this was not a downward drop, like the others. Instead, he guided the lizard’s feathered body across her naked abdomen like a jet landing on an air strip.
The effect was immediate. Lauren couldn’t even shout “No!” Her abdomen fluttered continually and the room was once again filled with her laughter. The kera, free of the shaman’s hand and frightened by the instability of this new surface, scampered across Lauren’s torso in a series of random twists and loops with no particular destination. The momentary stability afforded by Lauren’s need to draw further oxygen allowed the lizard to pinpoint the location of another of its species. It immediately darted in its general direction, scurrying right over its comrade’s body which was wedged between the soft terrain and a flat, white surface. This spurred the resting kera into action as well, and it struggled out from its place of comfort and pursued its disturber until it came upon a hard lump.
Lauren was a polite woman. As a child, she never shouted. Now, here, in this absurd predicament, she had screamed more than she ever did in her entire life. First the little creature had darted all over her body, as if performing some manic inspection. Then, it sped down her leg to her foot. If it had ended there, it would already have been too much. But in its mad dash, it had disturbed another lizard. The one Lauren had nearly forgotten about. The one that burrowed into the flesh of her thigh, partially concealing itself in the fabric of her underwear. It had been startled, and wriggled its tiny body in the soft flesh of Lauren’s thigh, causing her to wriggle her body in turn. It ran down her thigh and paused at her knee, and Lauren desperately wanted to shake it off. But she couldn’t.
At the same time, the most recent visitor had been scrabbling up Lauren’s foot. She gasped in between bouts of laughter. If only she could flick it off her foot! Why did that shaman even remove her shoes!? Did he plan it this way?
Things became much worse when Lauren felt something soft and tiny pull itself into the space between her first two toes. The laughter consumed her for several minutes before it dawned on her: the little kera had wedged itself between the toes of her foot! The skin between the toes was tormented without end, all while the kera’s hind legs struggled to lift its weight out of the crevice. Pushing itself further through the gap, the kera managed to reach the surface at its anterior. It pawed and grasped frantically at the new surface while kicking itself further through the gap, thrashing and squirming with single-minded determination.
With a single kera lodged between her toes, wildly stimulating both sides of her foot, Lauren began to howl once again. She wanted it to end. She wanted to regain control of her arms and legs.
But she didn’t.
The shaman removed the kera from Lauren’s toes and repositioned it on her abdomen. The kera was too tired to move, and so was Lauren. Her heart fluttered rapidly, pumping blood throughout her entire body and radiating palpable waves of heat that even the shaman might have felt.
Presently, he sat near Lauren’s immobile feet. What had he meant by “less conventional techniques”? This entire day – and this treatment session – had been anything but conventional. Her pitiful, ethnocentric observations were the result of intense fear. Lauren wasn’t someone who put herself in stressful situations unless it was absolutely necessary. The few muscles she had control over were quivering. She expected him to drop a fifth lizard onto her. Instead, he did something much worse.
He ran an index finger up the length of her foot.
Lauren’s yelp prevented her from making any discernible protest. Before she had even a chance of recovering, both of the shaman’s hands were softly clawing at the soles of her feet. The gentle stream of giggles gave a great misrepresentation of Lauren’s actual suffering. The shaman ignored the visual clues that gave a clear indication of her agony. The muscles of her cheeks lifted to force her eyelids to meet. All her worrying and grinning had manifested itself in a rosy hue at her those cheeks that had been pale with fear before the ritual had started. Her head thrashed from side to side. If Lauren had been able to disconnect her head and find relief from the sensations that plagued her body, she would already have done so. She didn’t care if she would have to spend the rest of her life as one of those ridiculous talking heads in a jar. Any fate would have been preferable to this.
This “predicament” had become worse still after the shaman began stroking her feet. Her laughter had convinced the kera on her abdomen to relocate once again. Although exhausted, it dragged its reptilian form in a straight path up Lauren’s stomach and between her ribs. Lauren nearly choked on her own laughter when its whip-like tail grazed the perimeter of her navel. The kera had the splayed gait one would expect from a reptile. The four scaly feet hardly seemed to lift from Lauren’s bare skin as it traversed the trembling flesh of her body. It moved steadily along, a seemingly endless parade of excruciating feathers, fluffy layers of down, and irritating scales.
The powerful stimuli operating at Lauren’s torso and feet prompted an unprecedented struggle. Straining all the muscles that still obeyed her in the neck, shoulders, stomach, and back, she curled her body into a nearly completely sit-up. Nearly. Unable to operate her legs, she fell back and lay flat upon the mat once more. The exertion was not entirely fruitless.
The kera that had rested at her elbow joint made a single panicked movement before leaping to the floor and scampering off to a dark corner of the room. Lauren coiled at the sensation; if it had lasted any longer, she might have screamed. It occurred to her, through her own laughter, that she should check her arm for signs that she had been bitten again. If so, her unbearable torment would have all been for nothing. When she lifted her arm to inspect it, the skin appeared immaculate. A new disturbance shifted her attention-
The kera that once sat at her armpit decided to abandon this wiggling fortress of flesh, but not without stumbling across Lauren’s slick underarm. The sensation lasted less than two seconds, but it was enough to call fourth the loud scream that had been bubbling in Lauren’s lungs ever since the shaman went to work on her feet. At the moment, her feet were strangely untroubled. She peered down, and found that the shaman had wandered off to collect the lizards that had fled from her body. All she saw was a single kera, which immediately vaulted off her knee. The sudden pressure caused her to jolt, and then she realized-
Her arm. She had lifted her arm to check for bites. She had moved it. The arm which had once been nothing but a bundle of nerves at the mercy of the kera. It was hers again. She commanded it to rise, and it obeyed. She flexed both arms to lift herself to a sitting position. She felt incredibly powerful.
A small wince escaped her lips as the only remaining kera slid down her chest. She quickly caught it in her palm. She ran her other hand across the white down on its dorsal side. She nearly shivered. She hated it, and yet she loved it.
A large, dark hand appeared beside her own. She released the kera into it, surprised by the gentle surge of sadness that followed as the shaman tucked it away in a basket with the others. For a moment, she stared at her feet, which were now fully operational. Although nearly naked, she felt no vulnerability or discomfort.
“Thank you”, Lauren heard herself say. She swallowed, restoring some measure of moisture to her parched throat.
“It might have been faster at a greater intensity. But I doubt you could have taken it. Your kind have always been so…” he searched for an adjective that could not be perceived as offensive “…interesting”. It was an apt description, and he pondered it silently as he adjusted the basket and relocated various objects on shelves.
Lauren wouldn’t argue with that. She slowly dressed herself, feeling a bit shaken as though she’d just woken up from a dream. Power washed through her limbs as she stood, cleansing worry and doubt.
“Your friends are anxious to learn of your condition”. The shaman nodded and left the room, leaving Lauren alone in the room that had once been full of screams and laughter.
Lauren had taken no more than thirty paces outside when she heard her name called out in a voice she hardly even recognized. Amy practically tackled her and squeezed her in an embrace that left Lauren stupefied. In the two months that Lauren had known Amy, the total number of words shared between them was somewhere around fifty. When she finally pulled away, she noticed a glint of concern in Amy’s eyes.
“Feel better?” Lauren turned to the voice that was Ida’s, and her face wore the usual mask of dispassionate calm. Lauren nodded. She felt refreshed, better than ever.
“Good. Let’s get moving.”
After exchanging grateful gestures and farewells with the dark natives, Ida led them both back to the airstrip. No one asked Lauren how she recovered from the lizard bite. Lauren had a feeling that Amy was watching her, but no one spoke for the duration of their trek.
No one stopped to examine the wildlife, either.
Although it was only 11:30 at night, the hotel was surprisingly quiet. Amy and Ida slept in the room adjoining Lauren’s. Although Amy offered to sleep in the room with Lauren, she insisted that she would be alright.
It was dark and peaceful in room 252. Lauren lifted her palm to the moonlight. The tiny puncture wounds had healed to the point of near-invisibility. She rolled to the side of her bed and dipped her hand into the open backpack on the floor. Her hand descended slowly, very slowly…
There.
Her hand stroked the small, fluffy mass that sat indifferently in the darkness of the backpack. She dared to let the skin of her knuckles glide across a frill of black feathers, unable to stop a smirk from spreading on her face.
Lauren quickly fell into a deep sleep, and dreamt of the jungle.
