Inannas Descent Into The Underworld Ch 03

[This story contains depictions and descriptions of muscular women doing all kinds of stuff, sometimes to each other, sometimes not. If you don't like such themes, please stay away.]

[I would like to thank LaRascasse for being someone whom I can bounce ideas off, and who also contributes his copy-editing to my work. We are all our own worst editors, and LaRascasse helps me on a regular basis.]

[Despite the fact that I mostly try to use Sumerian naming, I found that certain Babylonian or Akkadian equivalents were more evocative than the Sumerian versions. So, any such inconsistencies in my story are intentional.]

Ninshubur dropped into a wild-eyed crouch of readiness, her entire body rigid and tense. She backed away fearfully. This was a monster even the gods regarded as being vile and fearsome – this was Lamashtu, Mother of Ills, Bringer of Tears to Mothers, Slayer of Infants.

She manifested as a crawling, leathery, multi-tentacled creature, with her vaguely woman-like face set in the midst of the entire mass. Slowly, her monstrous form slithered forward by some means Ninshubur could not fathom, and the shadows seemed to rise behind her, blotting out Ninshubur's view of the suffering Inanna.

The young lissome goddess cast about wildly, but no weapon was within reach, and she had nothing at hand that could serve. Her mind raced as she strove to discern the answer behind this conundrum.

"Was not Lamashtu sealed away with seven seals, one for each of her names, all these long aeons ago?" she thought wildly. "Is not the place of her eternal imprisonment far from here, far below even gloomy Irkalla, abode of Ereshkigal and the damned souls of the mortals? Why is she here? Who has released her, and why?"

And of more import and urgency, "How shall I do battle with her?"

All of a sudden Lamashtu's tentacles snaked out, lashing at her. Fleet-footed Ninshubur, herald of Inanna's divine army and messenger of the gods, reacted quickly and the first few tentacles missed her, coming within a hair's breadth of her skin, as she twisted her agile body every which way. But one tentacle unseen coiled itself around her left ankle, and lifted her bodily, suspending her in the air.

Ninshubur gave a short scream, and with a flex of her abdomen she bent her body upwards in half, allowing her to take firm hold of the appendage holding her ankle. Lamashtu laughed, though, the sound echoing hollowly through the hall, as Ninshubur struggled in vain to uncoil the demonic limb.

"Release me, monster!" Ninshubur cried out in desperation.

In answer, three more tentacles shot forward and Ninshubur found all four of her limbs caught, and her whole body drawn towards Lamashtu's face. Lamashtu's mouth was widening slowly into a gaping maw, and a long pink tongue emerged from its depths. It dripped pale saliva.

Aghast, Ninshubur hunched in reflex. The tentacles at her wrists and ankles exerted force, and Lamashtu began to pull Ninshubur apart, as if Ninshubur were being stretched out on a torture device. Whimpering in fear, Ninshubur flexed her limbs inwards, striving to keep her legs firmly pressed together and her arms covering her breasts.

"Ssssurender to me, morsssel..." Lamashtu's voice was snakelike, and sent chills of dread through Ninshubur. The pink tongue approached, the tip trembling, promising the vilest of violations.

By degrees, Ninshubur's arms and legs were pulled wide open, despite Ninshubur's mightiest exertions. The muscles in her limbs stood out and bulged, but Lamashtu's strength was utterly irresistible. She toyed with the captive goddess, the tongue tip flickering over the taut lines on Ninshubur's muscled midriff, as she slowly opened up Ninshubur like a flower.

Soon, Ninshubur was spread-eagled in midair. Her muscles were hardened from her continued effort, but she could move only her neck, or wriggle her fingers and toes in contemptible futility. Sweat beaded her body despite the chill air of Irkalla.

"What fate will befall me now?" she bemoaned her situation silently. "And my brave mistress – who will convey to you the Food and Water of Life that I have been given?"

There was one name that could save her – a name lost to the mists of time. A name belonging to one of their number, one so feared that he too had been sealed off from the mortal realm. The mortals used to call upon him, when Lamashtu was still rampaging in the sunlit world, and such was his power that even while sealed away, the invocation of his name was sufficient to ward off his wife – for he was the husband to this many-limbed monstrosity.

But what was his name...? For the life of her, Ninshubur could not remember!

"Nnnnnggg!" she grunted desperately, flexing and straining with every ounce of strength she could muster, but her limbs were drawn out tautly. Lamashtu's tongue, which was starting to drip slime, travelled down Ninshubur's body, brushing her clitoral hood. Ninshubur felt her body shiver involuntarily at the contact. Then it began to probe her opening, almost tenderly peeling her labia lips apart...

Inanna tried to speak, but her voice came out as barely a whisper. Her arms, her mighty arms that had strained so hard for so long, could no longer support her. Her body had settled completely on the cruel hook, and she felt as if her body was being torn apart at the crotch.

She knew the name, the name of Lamashtu's bane, the name that Ninshubur had to call upon. But she could not give voice to it. The unimaginable agony that permeated her entire body was enough to slay any mortal being thousands of times over, and it paralyzed her. She was fighting to stay conscious as it was.

Ninshubur screamed. Inanna raised her head weakly. The tongue had entered her... sweet Ninshubur, ever the obliging lover, ever the loyal servant, ever the brave maiden, was being violated by the most grotesque being to have ever existed. The minor goddess thrashed about futilely, her doe-like brown eyes flaring wide open.

Inanna's body shuddered. She gathered all her essence deep into the very core of her being. Sensation faded. She could not know what the consequences of this action would be, but she was past caring. She could not allow this to happen in front of her eyes – she could not let her brave, loyal Ninshubur be ravaged by the ancient Mother of Beasts.

Her lips trembled, and opened. Her tongue moved, to form the syllables of the word she would utter. Her chest muscles undulated as she drew the chill air of Irkalla into her lungs.

"Pa... zu... zu..."

Suddenly, Lamashtu froze. Her tongue retracted itself, and drooped. Ninshubur, still held suspended as in the web of a gigantic spider, opened her eyes, blinking away tears. On Lamashtu's face, she discerned a look, an expression... was that... horror?

"Pa... zu... zu..."

That voice... it was Inanna's! It was her dear mistress's voice! And those sounds... that was it! That was his name!

Lamashtu's husband, King of the Wind Demons, Son of Hanbi, Lord of Plague and Famine – Pazuzu!

Throwing back her head, Ninshubur screamed:

"From her who from Heaven down to Earth was cast, protect the one calling upon your name! Bringer of Storm, Lord Pazuzu – I beseech you! Come!"

Lamashtu's howl of mingled fury and terror echoed through the entire chamber, reverberating beyond. She flung Ninshubur aside, and the maiden was thrown violently against a wall. The breath was knocked out of her and she fell in a heap to the stone floor, moaning in pain. Lamashtu's ungainly form turned as she tried to flee –

- but he was in her way.

Pazuzu, who could only be called into reality again briefly by the earnest entreaty of a god or goddess, was standing in front of Lamashtu.

A shadow of his power was sufficient, in ages past, for mortals to call upon to ward off Lamashtu, who relished the flesh and life force of human babies. He appeared now as a man, a creation of Enki, perhaps for parodic purpose. He was hugely muscular, standing ten feet tall, bald, hairless. A huge male member protruded from his loins, standing fully erect. His face was a mask of unearthly cruelty.

As Lamashtu's entire form recoiled, the member began to ooze a clear liquid. Pazuzu's face broke into a terrible grin. His mouth became a black gash ringed by jagged teeth.

"I greet you... wife. It has been... too long."

And he fell upon her.

Lamashtu's tentacles lashed at him. Pazuzu gathered them up easily, grabbing a bunch in each hand, somehow wrestling her to the ground. He seemed to engulf her entire monstrous form. Her wailing took on the quality of pure fear – and it sounded horribly wrong, issuing forth from Lamashtu rather than from a mortal woman about to be forcibly taken by men.

Ninshubur curled up, her eyes wide as she took in the scene. Never, even in all her thousands of years, had she ever imagined what the senior gods had sealed away. These were two of the evil Elder Ones, the compatriots of Enki and Anu, Tiamat and Lahmu. She could not fathom their powers. Lamashtu was a nightmare creature terrifying beyond reckoning – but Pazuzu seemed irresistible. For all of Lamashtu's flailing, he subdued her entire form with almost contemptuous ease.

Ninshubur shut her eyes where she lay. But the hearing was enough. Her very soul was harrowed. Her divine form shuddered and trembled, as Lamashtu was chastised by her lord husband.

Then... silence. Eventually, Ninshubur opened her eyes. Lamashtu was nowhere to be seen, though the floor and walls were now splattered with ichor, where her monstrous form had been pressed hard against. Had she been destroyed? Ninshubur thought it unlikely – but it was certain that she had been thoroughly overcome by Pazuzu.

The huge Elder One was now standing, right in front of Inanna's suspended form. A pale, translucent liquid oozed from the tip of his dripping cock onto the stone tiles, but he seemed not to care. Instead, he simply stood there, looking down upon Inanna's body, which now looked truly corpse-like.

"You call yourself Queen of Love and War." His voice was redolent with untold malice, cold and sardonic. "Yet now, you flicker less strongly than a lost soul."

Scrambling to her feet, Ninshubur overcame her sheer terror and approached her mistress. "Mi- Mistress!" she cried out, stumbling as she came. "I have brought you..."

Pazuzu turned his gaze upon her, and she quailed. "Her hope?" he laughed mockingly. He took a deep breath theatrically. "Is that... is that Enki's essence I smell? Oh, how long I have been away from this realm of light and flesh! I will be gone again soon, little one, but," he turned back to Inanna, who had raised her face weakly, "think on this, you who call yourself Strong Mother."

"You have tried your strength against your sister, and failed. Perchance you have guessed the source of her newfound power. It is my beloved wife, Lamashtu, that she has unsealed and unleashed, and with Lamashtu she has made a bargain. She will ravage this mortal world, and then take her war to the gates of the high Heavens, until her lust for dominion is satisfied. And I care not about the outcome, but think you that you can challenge her again and prevail, being no mightier than you were when you first faced her?"

Inanna's dry, cracked lips parted. "A... bargain?" she croaked.

"You know what I wish," Pazuzu grated harshly, the syllables discordant in Ninshubur's ears.

Inanna closed her eyes. "You... offer?"

Ninshubur trembled, and mustered up every ounce of courage she possessed. "Mistress, no!" she cried. Pazuzu turned slowly and focused his gazed on her once again, but she pressed on. "I carry the Essence of Life in me, granted by Almighty Enki. It will restore you, and make you whole. Do not taint your divine soul with corruption; do not let the mud stain the white garment; do not let the offal of death spill into the waters of life. Accept Enki's gift from me, and be pure and strong once again!"

Pazuzu's eyes – deep, dark pits that were best not looked into for too long – revealed nothing of his emotions. "You have much courage, little one," he growled. "And you summoned me, so I shall not harm you. But your mistress must choose. Yes, Inanna. I offer you what Ereshkigal has gained from my wife – I offer you a portion of my essence that will make you far more potent than you have ever been. In return, you will be a gate for me, as Ereshkigal has become a gate for Lamashtu."

Inanna knew what this would mean. Lamashtu was now loose in the world, thanks to her sister – little wonder that in recent years the mortals had been suffering more ills than ever before, from Eridu to Shuruppak. If the Lord of Plague and Famine were to be unsealed, with Inanna herself as the gate for him to exert his presence in the world... the consequences were unforeseeable. He would always act to counter the Mother of Ills – but he would bring woe of his own upon the children of Enki. Fighting poison with poison was ever risky.

If she could seal Ereshkigal away in the Underworld, Lamashtu could be re-sealed together with her – but how would she have the strength to do that? How else, but to become a tool of this Elder One? And here was Ninshubur – brave, loyal Ninshubur, with her wide eyes, silently entreating her mistress to eschew this dark gift, but instead accept the purer one she bore.

Yet if Ninshubur were to pass Enki's Essence of Life to her, then Inanna would regain somewhat less than the strength she used to have in all her glory – her power had been reduced by the amount of death brought upon her devout worshippers, especially poor Puabana. Inanna felt the bitter shame twisting within her like a knife in the gut – she knew her strength would not be enough.

She had to make the choice, for the sake of all mankind, whom she had grown to love. She knew, too, that Ereshkigal would not stop until she stood atop a mountain of divine corpses as well as mortal ones. Even though Inanna was well aware that most of the heavenly pantheon was jealous of her, and resented her exalted station, she could not condemn her fellow deities to such a horrible fate.

Raising her head and looking Pazuzu straight in the eye, Inanna gave a single, heavy nod of assent, in a gesture that took all the remainder of her energy. Ninshubur uttered a wordless cry of futile denial.

Pazuzu only grinned mirthlessly, his eyes gleaming with anticipation. With one hand he took Inanna's form by the throat, and lifted her slickly off the cruel spike. Unceremoniously he dumped Inanna onto the cold stone floor, where the goddess flopped helplessly and then lay still, bleeding. Ninshubur cringed at the horror of it all.

"I would prefer to derive some measure of pleasure from this rite, O Goddess of Warriors," Pazuzu laughed. "You, little one. Handmaiden. Minister to her. She requires revitalization before I can perform the rite."

Ninshubur slowly collected herself. "Be brave!" she told herself, trying to prevent her hands and knees from shaking. "Your Mistress needs you!" Mortals reverenced her as Inanna's second in command, a powerful being in her own right, but she was a lesser goddess who had just come face to face with two nigh-forgotten evils from the most ancient of days, and who had been physically assailed by the former of those. Fear was not unknown to the gods, and right now, it was threatening to overwhelm her.

But as she gazed down upon the horrifyingly broken form of Inanna, Ninshubur felt a surge of pity and love wash through her. Tears sprang to her eyes as she beheld the wondrous form that had been the epitome of all feminine beauty in the world. Inanna's skin was pale now, where she had been bronzed – her limbs were splayed out in an ungainly fashion, where previously she had moved with unmatched grace – her teats flopped to either side where they had once jutted out proudly. But one could still see the ridges of muscle on her abdomen, still hinting at the strength the goddess once possessed – could possess again.

Knowing what she had to do, Ninshubur knelt by Inanna's form. Her goddess looked up at her, the eyes showing the flicker of consciousness that remained. Ninshubur dredged up the Essence of Life from within herself, preparing to let as much of it as possible flow to her Mistress. She endeavoured not to be overly concerned with the fact that Pazuzu had settled himself not five feet away, and was gazing upon her activities with prurient interest.

She bent over Inanna's still face, and slowly melded her lips with Inanna's. Fresh tears sprang to her eyes and flowed down her cheeks, dripping onto Inanna's face. Those lips, that had held so much warmth, that she had kissed so many times before... this body was strange to her, this body that she had been as familiar with as her own! Now, it was cold... so cold...

"Flow, O blood," she thought. "Beat, O mighty heart. Live, Goddess!"

And the Essence flowed from her lips to Inanna's. As a mother bird fed her children, so too did Ninshubur feed her divine Mistress. By degrees, Inanna's life force began to resurge. Her fingers twitched – then she stirred, and moaned. Ninshubur's tongue went into the cavern of Inanna's mouth, and began an intimate exploration, one that she had performed many times. Worshipfully and lovingly, she probed her goddess's mouth, letting her tongue slide warmly against the roof of Inanna's mouth.

Inanna's breathing became stronger. Encouraged, Ninshubur moved to straddle her Mistress, not breaking the kiss. She moved her hands down to Inanna's slack breasts, hanging to the side, and she began massaging them firmly, letting more warmth and light flow from her hands to Inanna's chest. Under her skilled and loving ministrations, Ninshubur could actually feel the chest muscles regain resiliency, swelling up slowly with renewed strength, causing Inanna's breasts to rise just a little more than before. Hearteningly, she could also sense Inanna's broken spine starting to heal.

"Yes... yes!" she moaned into Inanna's mouth, gasping. "Take it... O Mistress, take all I can give..."

She rubbed Inanna's nipples with her thumbs firmly with circular motions. These breasts, small like a warrior's yet ample and bountiful like a mother's, had given suck to her before. Now Ninshubur strove to restore them, making them fonts of nourishment once again.

And on the back of her neck, she felt Pazuzu's gaze boring into her. Was Pazuzu going to let her finish with her ministrations and rejuvenate Inanna with Enki's Essence? Perhaps... if Inanna could feel her own pure unsullied strength coursing through her veins once more... she would realize the folly of consorting with Pazuzu, and she could renege on the compact, consigning Pazuzu once more to whichever abyss he came from...!

She had to give Inanna as much of the Essence as she could, in as enjoyable a manner as she could fashion! Her confidence grew. Was she not Ninshubur, the sultry and seductive Queen of the East? Was she not the closest to Inanna's heart? Did Inanna not sigh once, in a garden of pleasures, that no being mortal or immortal could equal Ninshubur's deep familiarity with Inanna's loins, and could give as much pleasure there?

"I am all you need now, my Mistress," she whispered huskily into Inanna's ear as she nibbled it. "Through me, feel the strength you had, and be strong once more. It will be enough, my queen, my goddess!"

Inanna made no reply, but her arms stirred. Ninshubur paused, and watched with rising delight, as Inanna began to raise her arms to embrace Ninshubur. The muscles in her arms coiled and undulated, as if Inanna were exerting great effort to move them, but bit by bit the movements were becoming less jerky and more fluid, as if Inanna was slowly recovering control over her own limbs. Ninshubur sighed with pleasure as she felt Inanna's hands rest upon her back, completing the embrace.