The Horny Thorny Tree

The wind howled like the baying of hungry wolves. The sky blackened as bilious clouds rolled across the expanse hurling themselves at each other. Thunder roared as if in competition with the screaming wind. Lightning streaked across the clouds momentarily splitting the darkness only to be swallowed up again and again.

High on a cliff edge the sorcerer stood proud. His sword held high as he chanted his incantation. A few feet away his young acolyte cowered kneeling on the floor. He was trembling.

*

Deep in the heart of the woods at the foot of the cliff was a small ancient stone circle. Long forgotten by man and long overgrown by nature. The seven stones still stood, they were about four feet tall. Now they were covered in lichen.

In their centre kneeled a hedge witch. A solitary figure huddled over a small campfire she was grinding herbs with a pestle & mortar. Between her knees lay an empty poppet in the shape of a human. She continued to mumble her ancient chant, oblivious to the howling wind that was whipping at her back.

*

On the edge of the woodland in a small clearing Bill crawled out of the tent to secure more 'guy' ropes to the nearby trees. Inside the tent Bethany shivered and pulled the sleeping bag tighter around her shoulders.

"Hurry up Bill, I'm freezing"

"I gotta secure this down babe. You will be a lot colder if the tent blows away and we spend the night under the stars"

"Bloody stupid idea anyway, next time we vacation in a hotel with a pool", she grumbled.

Bill ducked back into the tent and climbed back into their double sized sleeping bag. Beth squealed as his cold arms wrapped around her. Bill mischievously giggled.

*

The sorcerer had planned his ritual meticulously. For months he had poured over his tomes. He had studied the movement of the stars. He had planned it all down to the last detail. His acolyte had devotedly run back and forth from one library room to another fetching and carrying his master's books. He had prepared his meals, washed his robes and sat at his feet while the master explained the point to the ritual. They were to conjure a demon, an ethereal servant to empower the master with yet more hidden knowledge. The young acolyte was in awe of the great sorcerer. He knew that after thirty or forty years then he too would be as great as his master and one day all this would be his.

*

The witch changed the tone of her mumbling chant as she began to stuff the now ground herbs into the poppet. The ritual was almost complete. She had spent weeks collecting and lovingly drying the required herbs. She had spent many long evenings reading and re-reading her book of shadows as she memorised the chant. The moon was in the right phase. The season was perfect. Tonight she would conjure a succubus, a spiritual lover to satisfy her more base needs. Tonight, if all went well not only would she have great sex but would also be left empowered by her demon lover. She believed her magic would be even stronger for the coming year.

*

Bill's tongue pushed past Beth's teeth seeking hers. Their eyes closed. She moaned softly as his hand slid down her back and cupped her knicker clad buttock. Her heart began to quicken as she felt his member begin to stiffen against her stomach. His fingers slid inside her knickers and continued to knead at her bare buttocks. She lifted her leg over his and slid on top of him. Her heart began to slam in her chest as she ground her hips on his erect member.

Bill moaned. His hands hooked the sides of her T shirt and pulled it over her head. His grin widened as his eyes roamed over her dark stiff nipples. Beth smiled too then dropped herself back on top of him. Their mouth's mashed together again. Their tongues began the lover's dance together. The howling wind outside was all but forgotten as their rising passion took control of their minds and bodies.

*

The sorcerer's body stiffened as his ritual reached its zenith. He began to scream the last of the chant over and over into the raging storm. Clasping his sword in both hands he turned to his kneeling acolyte and slashed downwards towards the astonished boy's neck. The blade cut through flesh and bone alike. The head rolled to the sorcerer's feet as his body slumped forward. Blood pumped from the stump of his neck as his heart continued to beat for a few more moments. Then the body began to twitch in its final death dance.

The sorcerer turned again to the howling storm and commanded his demon to appear. Life began to form within the black chaos above.

*

The witch ran her sharpened athame across the palm of her left hand. She smothered the now filled poppet with her blood ensuring that extra blood filled the heart and genital regions of the doll. Her mumblings became a scream as she tossed the poppet into the flames of her campfire. The fire roared upwards as it devoured the poppet. Smoke and desire rose upwards to the waiting black chaos above. Kneeling upwards with arms outstretched she commanded her spectral lover to take her.

*

Bethany rode up and down on Bill's cock faster and faster as her orgasm began to fill her. Sweat glistened on her brow and neck as her fingers clawed at the hairs on his chest. Bill's hands crushed her breasts and pulled at her nipples as he thrust deeply into her, in time with her own thrusting. He knew his own orgasm was only moments away. He was determined to hold it until she also started to cum. He didn't have to wait long as he felt her hips stiffen above him. Her stomach convulsed as she rammed her hips downwards and impaled herself as deeply as she could onto him her eyes screwed up and her mouth open. Bill loved that look on her face. It was a mixture of surprise and pleasure all rolled into one expression. She collapsed on top of him and buried her face into his neck. Bill came, his hands grabbing at her buttocks and pinning her to him as he thrust upwards a final time. He moaned in ecstasy as his semen filled her waiting womb. They held each other tightly for eternity.

*

The wind seemed to howl even louder. The storm grew more ferocious as it filled with chaotic life. Thought and desire mingled together. It was shapeless and formless yet aware of its existence. It rode the lightning downwards towards its creator's.

Forking, it struck the sorcerer and the witch simultaneously. It blasted the edge of the cliff tearing off a great chunk of rock. The sorcerer screamed as the ground beneath him crumbled to air. He screamed all the way down as his body bounced and broke on the side of the cliff. The last thing he saw as he hit the bottom was the astonished look on the head of his acolyte staring up at him. He shared the same expression.

The witch screamed as the lightning speared the campfire before her. Hot ash and burning embers flew upwards burning and blinding her eyes. Her scream ended abruptly as a burning branch also erupted from the fire. It pieced her throat. Her hands clutched at the burning log only to sear her palms. She was vaguely aware of a smell not unlike cooking pork as her body slumped forwards to the waiting fire.

The demon returned to the storm seeking another bolt to ride. It did not have to wait. Lightning flashed again.

It rode the singe streak straight downward. The lightning hit the tent. The tent exploded into a ball of fire engulfing all within it. Bill & Bethany were still locked together in their lover's embrace. The lightning stabbed through their bodies like a spear made of fire. Electricity spread through the ground ignoring the burning ball of the tent above it. It found more life below.

The roots of a nearby Hawthorne tree were eagerly sucking nutrients from the soil and sending life force upwards to the waiting branches and leaves above ground. The demon followed the flow into the sap of the tree.

The storm dissipated as quickly as it had begun. The clouds began to part and stars shone through the gaps as twinkling diamonds in the sky.

Knot's in the bark of the tree twisted into elongated eyes. A crack began to form across the trunk giving the semblance of a mouth. A guttural cry came from within the tree.

"I live" cried the demon.

It knew only life and death and sexual desire and now its desire was to grow. A new branch pushed its way outwards and upwards from the bark sap dribbled from its tip. The mouth grew wider apart.

The 'knot' eyes twisted shut again. Life for a tree moved at a much slower pace than it did for the walking flesh that had called it into existence. It knew that one day more would come. Then, it would feed again.