Charity had been unfettered and she was standing in the crate that would be her home for the rest of the day. Empusa had lined the crate with a blanket. Charity felt like she was about to be kenneled.
"Bark!" Charity said suddenly.
"Are you OK, babe?" Faith asked.
"Yes... I'm just making commen... uh... whatever you call it... like sports people on TV," Charity said.
"Commentary?" Faith asked.
"I don't know."
"OK. This is your gag," Empusa said, handing a small leathery mask up to Charity. "I have filled the pouch that goes in your mouth with some medicinal herbs. They are fairly strong muscle relaxants, so you won't have to worry about muscles cramping. You may feel a little numb. I just want to make sure that you are expecting this and don't start to freak out or anything."
"No problem," Charity said. The mask felt fairly flimsy as she pulled it over her head. She stuffed the pouch in her mouth. "Mmm!" The pouch had a pleasant taste.
"There are some air holes around the top edges of the box walls so you can see out a little," Empusa said. "And, even though I'm going to have to place a cloth cover over the crate, the weave is light enough that you should be able to see out a little, but no one will be able to see in."
Charity squatted down. She had to bend over a little more when Empusa pulled the lid over on top of her. She heard the padlock being placed through the hasp and locking. Charity pushed up on the lid, but it didn't move at all. She could move around a little bit. She wouldn't be held in one position the whole time. She was settling down, when she felt a slithering feeling across her face and over the back of her head. Something tightened a little bit around her neck. She reached up and felt her head begin being squeezed a little. It seems that the mask had expanded and was no longer so flimsy. She tried to peel it from her cheek, but tight straps had encased her head and the material had become much more stiff.
She looked out the holes, but there wasn't much to see other than the trees along the side of the road. After a few minutes, the cart began moving and they started up over the mountain pass into the Valley of the Guardians.
<>--+-
It did not take long before Charity felt the effects of the muscle relaxants leaching from the pouch of her gag. She soon felt warm and fuzzy all over and the gentle rocking of the cart as it rattled down the road quickly lulled Charity to sleep.
When she awoke she looked out through the hole in the crate. They were descending into a large valley with rich, green fields. The valley featured a large number of small green hillocks, many of which were topped by a single, huge tree. Each tree seemed to be of the same species, yet the color of leaves were one of a collection of possibilities. The trees were both tall and had a wide crown. Charity decided that they must be some sort of fruit trees being cultivated by the inhabitants of the valley.
Charity noticed a split in the bark of one of the trees that the cart passed. Someone had carved the likeness of a woman's face and a breast into the hard wood. These trees must be the so-called "Guardians'' of the valley.
Soon Charity heard voices. Ten to fifteen small girls were running to the cart cheering. She heard Empusa shout out a greeting using a musical language very much like that which Hope spoke. Soon, Charity saw older women moving out to greet their queen. Just as Empusa had described, there was a complete lack of teenaged looking girls.
Eventually, the cart pulled up alongside a hillock that had no tree on top. Rather, there was a tall metal pole with a horizontal arm from which a chain with wide cuffs descended. Empusa had labeled their stop as a 'ritual'. She had seemed to imply that this was a happy celebration. Charity was certain that the cuffs were meant for someone. She hoped the bondage was used for some sort of symbolic purpose, but her mind kept being drawn to movies she had seen over the course of her life that pitted an unwitting modern day protagonist with some ancient and mysterious sect in some isolated corner of the world.
There was not much for Charity to do all afternoon and into the evening but peek through the small holes in her crate. At one point she saw Faith walk by in the cropped top and low waisted skirt. She was wearing her gag too, but it had not transformed its configuration at all. She seemed to revel in her femininity. She was more beautiful than Charity could ever remember. Little girls would run up to Faith with a bundle of small flowers in their hands. She showed them how to tie them into daisy chains which the girls could wear on their heads like crowns. Faith looked happy. Charity could see it in her eyes.
Hazel and Garnet meandered over to the side of the cart where Charity could see them. Neither wore fetters or a hood. Occasionally another naked, armless woman would come by and nudge them. The three would kiss and smile. She must be a ponygirl as well, Charity thought, but without a committed partner. She was teasing Hazel and Garnet - pushing them a little then running away. They would follow for a little while but stop before they got too far away. The new ponygirl would look at them provocatively over her shoulder, but she was never able to get them to move too far from the cart.
"They are protecting me," Charity realized. Hazel and Garnet knew where Charity was and they seemed determined to make sure they watched her crate at all times. Charity felt her heart swell with emotion. "I'm falling in love with a pair of ponygirls... How... odd!"
Charity started to worry about Hope. Was she still following their trek through the mountains? Was she still OK? How would she feel about making love to ponygirls? Charity was really, really horny,
She started imagining what she and Hope and the ponygirls could do together. She thought about the first time Hope pushed her over the edge on her rack back home. What if Hope tied Charity's ankles to a tree and the ponygirls each pulled an arm while Hope ran her magic metal fingers over Charity's tensioned body.
No. That scenario wouldn't have the ponygirls contributing to their maximum potential. Their tongues were magical, and Charity loved the light nips that Hazel gave her. A good scenario would include Hope's magic green paste, her metal fingertips, the musical sound of her voice and the rattle of all her jewelry chains, and then the ponygirls had their magical tongues, and Charity loved the way their sheer weight held her so firmly to the ground. Maybe she could braid their long thick hair and use it to tie her wrists together... No... That's kind of ridiculous.
Charity was so horny. She was pinching her nipples and stroking any place that was sensitive. She was sucking on the pouch locked in her mouth. She felt like she was floating on a cloud. The sun had set and it was getting dark in her crate, but there was a distinct blue glow emanating from the inverted Y symbol on the faceplate of her chastity belt. Charity suddenly worried that the light was so bright it shone out through the air holes, so she covered it with her hand.
There was the sound of boxes being moved around. Suddenly, she felt her crate lifted into the air. Charity looked out the air holes to see what was going on. She was being carried away from the cart. Her crate was turned. For a brief moment she was able to see a fair sized crowd of women gathered together. A fancy chair on a mobile platform sat facing the crowd of women. A tall willowy young woman, topless, with long straight blonde hair and pale, pale skin stood near the chair. A line of women were waiting to speak with the woman. She was smiling, but also wiping away tears.
Charity's crate was turned again and set on the ground. Unfortunately, Charity was facing away from the crowd and could not see what was going on.
The skies grew darker as night pressed in. Eventually, the voices of the women became quiet. Someone stepped up on Charity's crate. It was Empusa. She could hear her voice - loud - addressing the crowd of women. She spoke in a language that sounded exactly like Hope's. She tried to listen well enough to recognize any words that Hope may have taught her. Sadly, she could not understand anything Empusa was saying.
As Charity sucked on the pouch in her mouth, she started to drift into a trance, hypnotized by the rhythm of clicks and pops and the melodious vocalizations. Holy shit! Charity was horny! The women in the crowd were chanting. Charity heard the rattle of metal and occasional cheers from the crowd. Blue lights began to flash outside Charity's crate and the crowd would ooo! and ahhh!. Maybe they were lighting off fireworks. Empusa was singing a beautiful song. Other voices started to join in. Sounds of awe and wonder echoed through the crowd, slowly rising to a particular climax and then they transformed into a great cheer that lasted for quite a while.
Empusa said some final words and the crowd cheered once more. The formal parts of the ceremony must have ended. Empusa stepped down from the crate. Charity felt like she was hidden in the middle of a party. Voices were coming from all directions. She could see younger girls running around and playing in the darkness. It was pitch black inside the crate. Charity closed her eyes and slowly drifted off to sleep.
<>--+-
Charity awoke suddenly when her crate was lowered onto a hard wooden surface. Hopefully, she was back on Empusa's cart. The sky was just beginning to brighten with the rising sun. She could see the nearby hillock, still illuminated by an arrangement of burning torches. Charity felt her stomach churn when she saw that, indeed, a woman had been bound in the cuffs hanging from the tall pole. Her legs were spread apart by more chains so that she was arranged like an inverted Y. It was the tall, willowy blonde - her body now covered in various symbols. Had she been sacrificed in this ritual?
Some sort of magic had been performed. A series of woody vines had grown from the ground beneath the woman overnight. Some of the vines wrapped around her legs. Others twisted around her waist. A particularly thick one encircled the woman's neck. The tops of the vines already stretched above her head where dark purple leaves had freshly uncurled. Was the woman dead?
No. She was alive. She saw movement in the woman's torso. She was breathing. It seemed she was breathing fairly heavily. It seemed that some vines had teased their way between her lips and into her mouth, another had entered one of her nostrils.
The woman let out a groan. It was not a groan of pain though. It sounded more like ecstasy. Charity watched a branch form on one vine and push its way between the woman's legs. It penetrated her, bringing forth more moans and her entire body shook in orgasm.
Charity heard Empusa's voice and the cart started moving. Soon, the small hillock with its bound sacrifice was no longer visible from Charity's small viewport. They were back on the road again. Faith was walking along the side of the cart. She still wore her gag. She glanced over to Charity's crate and winked. Charity assumed that meant that everything was going as planned and she settled back deeper into her blanket.
It was another two hours or so before the cart stopped and Empusa unlocked the lid. Faith was smiling at Charity as the lid came off the crate and the two women lifted Charity from the box. They set her down on the side of the cart and, with a bit of flourish, Empusa pulled the gag from Charity's head.
"Pee," Charity said, but her voice was nothing but a whisper. "I can't talk!"
"That's the muscle relaxant," Empusa said. "It might take a few minutes for your voice to return."
Faith picked Charity up in her arms and carried her to the side of the road. When she set her on her feet, Charity's legs immediately buckled. Faith sat down beside Charity and hugged her close. "Let's give it a few minutes before you walk, baby. Are you ok?"
"Did they kill that woman?" Charity whispered.
"Oh, no!" Faith smiled. "The woman and the tree were melding into one being. She was becoming one of the Guardians of the valley. All those trees on those small hills back there were women."
"Ok, but forget the ritual bullshit! Those vines looked like they were about to gut the woman," Charity said with a tear dripping from her eye.
"No, Charity, the tree was mating with her. Empusa said that over the next few months the tree will grow up around her and she will live in the tree."
"So, the tree is eating her!"
"No!" Faith said, smoothing Charity's hair. "Part of the ritual, that you probably did not see, was a gathering of all the Guardians of the valley. I could see the glowing spirits of all the women from the past who had mated before. They walked into the crowd, hugging and kissing loved ones from the villages. They were alive! All those trees... and women... Empusa made it happen. She provided the magic. She said that the villagers told her that they had never seen such powerful magic performed before. They said that they had never seen such a beautiful new tree grow so fast as last night. She said that the villagers thought that the reason the queen's magic is so powerful is because of me! Like, I'm her muse." Faith looked lovingly towards Empusa who was repacking Charity's crate.
