Early in the summer of my twenty second year, I undertook a journey to Athens, the noble seat of King Aegeus. I had longed to see this fine city for many a year. After a pleasant three months stay, I embarked upon the return journey to Thebes, my home, with only my trusty stallion and a sturdy pack horse for company.

About a day's ride from Thebes, I passed through the ancient forest where for many years I had hunted choice game. It was a fine woodland, as familiar to me and as beloved as my own home. But on this occasion I took a seldom used path, a way that would pass close to a crag known as Falcon's Rock. The rock bordered a clear spring whose waters were as sweet as wine. It was there that I resolved to camp for the night.

The path, in places, was overgrown, thorny and difficult but I persevered and reached the spring around noontide. The cool water was most welcome. I immediately watered my horses, rested and bathed my body. It was then that I heard it; an enchanting and ethereal song bournfor only a moment, upon the breeze.

My horses heard it too. I noticed their ears move to pick up the airy notes. But they were not startled, far from it, they stood still and silent, listening intently should the tune return. Return it did, stronger and clearer than before. I looked up and for a long while I tried to imagine whence it came. It was surely a woman's voice; sweet and delicate, yet with an underlying strength.

The breeze that had brought this sweet music to me had again died down, so I looked around; particularly towards the mulberry trees that grew beyond the stream. After several moments I returned to my bath and shortly thereafter I heard the song again, much more distinctly. I listened carefully and finally determined that it came from above. I looked up at Falcon's Rock and slowly walked towards it through the stream's crystal waters. I paused on the far bank, still listening intently. In an instant I decided to climb the crag. I gave no thought to the fact that I was stark naked and unarmed.

I had anticipated a difficult climb but succeeded in finding many foot and hand holds. The rock was not unknown to me; I had climbed it in my youth but I could not recall ever having reached the top. I wondered what awaited me there. A considerable time later I came to a place where a sizable flat ledge allowed me to rest. Looking up, I estimated that I was close to the crag's summit. The song had not returned but then I glanced at the wall behind me. There, a large cylindrical boulder, falling from above, had long ago come to rest at an angle to the rear wall of the cliff. I looked behind it and saw to my surprise, that it partially covered the entrance to a cave.

I peered inside. The cave was large enough for me to enter on my knees, and despite a few dangling strands of cobweb and a faintly musty smell, it could have made a good place to shelter quite comfortably from the rain. Carefully, I ventured inside. It was dark but I immediately felt a slight breeze upon my face coming from the gloom beyond. The cave soon became a tunnel, a tunnel that turned quite sharply at one point and peering beyond, I saw light.

To my surprise, there was a chamber before me, filled with gloomy light. I quietly stepped into it and paused, stock still, to listen. Hearing nothing, I walked forward slowly and once my eyes had grown accustomed to the gloom, I saw the outline of a slender young woman standing by the far wall.

She was dressed totally in black, wearing a long, sheer gown that reached to the floor. She had long, lustrous black hair cascading to well past her lower back and I could see a delicate white hand on her hip. She had her back to me but her pleasing figure and noble bearing were clearly evident. Beyond her was a large hole higher up in the wall of the chamber through which the faint light came. As I glanced at the hole she suddenly turned around.

Her features were delicate and refined, her chin pointed and her skin pure white save for a slight blush upon each cheek. But most of all I was entranced by her eyes that day, eyes of mystic green below narrow arching brows. Now with a look of alarm on her face she spoke. It was only a few words and in a language that was totally foreign to me, but her tone was clearly insistent and questioning. She might have asked, “Who's there?”

When she repeated the phrase, with less confidence in her tone, I answered,

“Do not be afraid, I mean you no harm.”

Her eyes met mine as I slowly approached with my palms raised. She looked at each of them and her questioning look returned.

“You are a Greek?” she asked in a strange accent.

“Yes, and you, clearly are not yet you speak our language.”

“Aye, amongst others.”

“I was watering my horses down by the spring when I heard you singing.”

She studied me for a moment then, in a softer tone she asked,

“What land is this?”

“Boeotia….. We are in the kingdom of King Laius, son of Labdacus, scion of the royal house of Kadmos. He and Queen Jocasta reign here, seven gated Thebes is their seat. The city is only a day's ride away.”

“Never have I heard of it nor of the royal house of Kadmos.”

“Nay?”

She shook her head slowly and looked at me steadily.

“My name is Phyx.”

“A strange name.”

“Aye it is uncommon, even in my homeland.”

“And where is that?”

“I was born in Aethiopia, the kingdom of King Memnon, just beyond the upper reaches of the Nile.”

“How did you come to be here, atop this desolate crag?”

“I am the victim of an enchantment. I was a noble woman, a priestess of Hera, honoured and revered amongst my people. I was King Memnon's lover until our love was discovered by his wife, a witch of evil reputation and incomparable skill in the black arts. By her magic, she transported me here and banished me to this cave. I cannot leave. If I set foot upon that threshold my body is racked with the most excruciating pain. I cannot eat nor touch a drop of wine or water, nor do I feel hunger or thirst. All comforts, all pleasures and all desires are denied me. All except one…

“I see. Indeed, I have heard of such things from our seers and soothsayers.”

I was about to ask what single desire she was permitted her, when she asked me,

“What is your name kindly sir?”

“I am Agathon, the son of Archelaus. I am Theban”

“Greetings Agathon. My wish it is that you are more fortunate in your life than I.”

“I thank you.”

“And how comes it Agathon, that you are nude.”

Up until that point I had forgotten that I stood before her without a stitch of clothing upon me.

“Ah, forgive me, I was bathing in the stream below when I heard you singing. My curiosity got the better of me. In this country is it the custom for men to exercise nude, and I had an overwhelming desire to climb this crag as I once did in my youth. I meant you no disrespect.”

She smiled and slowly came closer.

“Fear not, you gave no offence and I understand the promptings of overwhelming desire….”

She smiled again and her beautiful green eyes widened as they met mine. She came even closer and looked slowly down. With her head at an angle and a faint smile upon her lips, she

met my eyes again and, for the first time, I felt their bewitching intensity. At that instant I knew that I wanted her, and that one thought alone made all other considerations swiftly receded into insignificance. Now a cool hand passed lightly over my abdominals and down my thigh.

She looked up at me and in a playful voice she asked,

“Answer a riddle for me...please.”

“An odd request but I shall try.”

She smiled sweetly and said,

“The house of a corpse from the sea,

A house I can hold in my hand

And take far away from the sand,

A house of many jewelled halls

Wherein the sea forever calls.”

She looked at me intently then whispered,

“Tell me what it is...but take your time, think on it.”

I pondered the strange rhyme for a few minutes, repeating it again and again in my mind. Then I said,

“A shell, a sea shell.”

She looked at me and nodded then gently pushed me back against the wall and smiled slyly. In one graceful stroke, she was on her knees. Looking up, she whispered,

“Allow me the honour my lord.”

As her slender fingers and soothingly cool palms touched my glistening skin, I felt a surge of energy in the depths of my heart and with it came a yearning and a hunger such as I had never felt before. I could not reply, so in answer, I gently grasped the back of her head and brought it forward. It was merely a token gesture and to this day, I remember the finespun gossamer softness of her hair. Her beauty and her elegance were outstanding but it was her seeming innocence and purity that struck me most on that first day we met. I felt a thrill when her cool hand first took hold of my shaft. She played with my foreskin for a while; flicking it back and forth as though it was something new to her. But soon it was forgotten and I felt her gentle, warm breath on my skin and I luxuriated in the smooth, easy gliding of her lips back and forth across the length of my shaft. Harder and harder I grew until, with a quick glance up at me, she fed my cock into the very back of her throat several times, as thought to display her skill. She need not have, but I expressed my approval and was greeted with a smile, a smile such as Aphrodite herself might posses.

Now the pressure of her hand and mouth increased until she held my cock high and licked my loose balls. This she seemed to relish most of all and soon my nether regions had become a moist grove. A few delicious moments later she returned my cock to her mouth and from one cheek to the other then to her lips and tongue; letting it explore the entirety of her mouth. The whole time, quiet sighs and gentle murmurs filled the room whose strange light seemed to make the walls glow. I looked about me as I felt her hand cup my balls and feed even more of my cock into her mouth. The air about us was quiet, so quiet that we might have been in the depths of a lucid dream.

Now I felt a hand rake across my abdominals. Her beautiful black nails shone with moisture from my skin and only then did I become aware of the ascending, tingling sensation that was rapidly building in my flesh. She seemed to sense this as I began gently thrusting my shaft into her mouth. This was all the prompting she needed to clamp her lips firmly around me. Her hands now gripped my hips and her head thrust forward in a seeming blur. Never once did my cock slip out of her mouth as she unleashed a rapid onslaught with every force at her command. I groaned and my muscles tensed over and over again until the welling of my seed overwhelmed me. I caught a hint of a smile on her face at that instant as she stopped and took hold of the base of my cock. Then she pumped it until I uttered a triumphal chorus of sounds; the like had never escaped my lips before.

I came in glorious, radiant waves, releasing all my pent up energy into her mouth. She was a willing and able receptacle, swallowing my every drop. Her moans and sighs were as music to my ears and she kept my cock between her lips while her tongue cleaned every trace of seed from it. My passions, in that instant, were spent but beauty, wherever one encounters it, is a rimless treasure. As I looked down at Phyx, licking her lips, I saw that the gods had indeed blessed her with divine beauty. I felt the need to protect her, to bring her joy but above all, to keep her for myself.

I took hold of her shoulders and picked her up. She was taller than I had first thought and now her emerald eyes sparkled with renewed light as she smiled and giggled.

“My, Agathon that was fine sport. Your cock and body are a delight. Your seed is….delicious.”

“I am honoured to have pleased you my lady.”

“Come, rest with me.”

She led me to the rear wall of the cave where there was a well swept raised area. Upon this I saw a sizable rug of quilted furs but from what animals they came I could not tell. The rug had been arranged between four smooth boulders of equal size to form a bed. Apart from this, the room was devoid of furniture or any other feature conducive to comfort.

“Is this where you sleep?”

“Aye, the sorceress queen allowed me the very rug upon which her husband and I had often made love. Come, let us rest.”

The rug was soft and remarkably comfortable. I lay down on my back and she sat cross-legged beside me.

“You say that you have been banished here with no hope of escape and that you can never leave these dismal caverns.”

“Aye.”

“And you have no need to eat or drink.”

“None. I fear I shall go insane before the spell is broken.”

“Fear not, I shall return to you and I can bring help. I have many servants.”

“No Agathon, tell no one about me.”

“Oh, why not?”

“I am a foreigner in your land, my situation would make me the object of scorn and ridicule. Furthermore, I cannot defend myself nor can I leave here to find other shelter. It has been my good fortune that you found me and I want you, only you, to return.”

I looked at her for a while then gently I said,

“Very well, as you wish.”

This seemed to make her happy and she came closer. Her luminous face hovered over mine and again, I marvelled at the beauty of her eyes, like the buds on the sacred oak of Zeus at springtime. We kissed tenderly and passionately for what seemed a sweet eternity. I tasted lips as fiery and as sweet as the finest wine from distant shores. I rubbed her shoulders and ran my hands down her sides. As I did so she gently pulled away and with her smile returning she whispered,

“The hour is late lover and if you are to return home you still have a day's ride ahead of you.”

Playfully, I pretended to ignore her and tried to kiss her again when she added,

“Besides, It would be imprudent of me to let you taste of all the fruit in my grove and to show you all my treasures. What if you tire of me and forsake me?”

I laughed but then I thought of my horses tethered below. Reluctantly I got up and looked back at her laying upon that luxurious rug. She was a paragon of beauty but she remained a mystery too and I wanted to get to know her better. As though reading my mind, she said modestly,

“As you have seen, the sorcerous queen chose not to deprive me of all my pleasures. Many delights await you and I if you return to me…... but it must be alone...”

“Have no fear, I will return and I will say nothing of your existence.”

She rose, took me by the hand and led me back to the entrance in the wall. As I was about to climb in she said,

“Farewell Agathon, until your safe return.”

I was still holding her hand when I stepped up into the entrance of the tunnel that would lead me outside. I looked back at her, smiling and gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. I was about to let her go when she pulled her hand back and screamed. At first I was bewildered but then I realised that her fingers must have entered the space beyond the edge of the stone aperture. She clutched her hand and started sobbing. I returned and held her.

“Go now Agathon. Fear not, I will recover. Go now and sacrifice to Hera on my behalf”

“I will.”

I kissed Phyx one final time and bid her goodbye, promising that I would return as soon as I could.

At the base of the crag I dressed and filled my water skins. I sat down by the horses and thought long about the remarkable, enchanting woman I had just encountered. The forest and the stream soon reminded me of their beauty so I decided to stay on in that beautiful place, at least for a few days, and hone my hunting skills. Moreover, I would be close to my captive nymph.

On the next day I left my camp at sunrise and rode out into the forest. The game was plentiful at this time of year and this was a locale known to very few. With my fine bow I shot a few hares with relative ease and caught sight of mountain goats and a pair of deer atop some of the many precipitous crags.

Over the next two days, I explored the forest, marvelling at it's beauty. I camped in several places and saw many captivating sights. The hunt was good but always my thoughts returned to Phyx….

It was late afternoon on the day that I returned to the stream by Falcon's Rock.. I lit a fire and settled down to eat two of the fine hares that I had shot earlier that day. I prepared them expertly to make a meal, grand in it's rustic simplicity. I had with me a wineskin from Athens too, which I greatly enjoyed.

So nightfall came and with it the countless soothing sounds of the forest; the lovely cricket song of late summer, the calls of the amorous turtle-dove and the lordly owl intermixed with myriad others, too subtle to name and too fleeting to ponder. The stars above too, shone fiercely in their sphere; the divine twins fast by Orion's majestic manly shape, Perseus the tamer of Pegasus, milk-white Cygnus and Orpheus who hailed from distant Thrace 't is said, and whose notes could charm the very birds from the trees.

And then I heard her. Almost imperceptibly at first, then slowly rising above the echoing forest, Phyx was again singing her song. The strange lilting words seem to fill the place with a mystery and a charm the like of which I had never before heard but perhaps, I thought, this might have been the tune with which Orpheus himself charmed his every listener.

In no time at all, spurred on by the charming sound from above, I had scaled the crag and I stood upon the threshold of the tunnel that led into the heart of the rock. Now from within there came a new sound; a delightful humming, growing louder and louder as I swiftly made my way past the bend in the tunnel. As I approached the end, these sweet sounds abruptly ceased to be replaced momentarily by girlish laughter.

My eyes did not need to adjust to the moon glow in the stone chamber and no sooner had my feet touched the floor, than I saw two pale yet fierce eyes meet mine; eyes framed in a face of utmost white and utmost beauty. I opened my mouth to speak but I was swiftly silenced by the press of warm, sweet lips and the rapid, urgent embrace of strong, supple hands upon my shoulders.

My hands encircled her waist and it was only now that I realised that she was completely nude. Long, cascading, raven hair covered her shoulders and draped her back almost to her hips and firm pointed breasts pressed themselves snugly into my chest. She kissed me intensely for several minutes, scarcely breathing, and only then did she break away to utter a few broken words.

“Oh..Aga..thon...you have..in..deed returned...”

“Aye,” I whispered.

”I fear the night, oh Agathon...I fear it so!”

Before I could reassure her she kissed me again with renewed and redoubled intensity. Again and again our lips locked, as though looking for a way to get closer than was humanly possible.

“Oh, my love, I'm so happy you are back. I feared you had forgotten luckless Phyx.”

“No, in fact I've thought of nothing else but you and longed to see you again.”

I saw her smile then and she met my eyes with scare sly veiled emotion. Her hands travelled down to

My abdominals and up my back then she led me slowly to the rear of the moon drenched chamber where her bed lay. Suddenly she turned to me and I could see that there was joy in her lovely eyes. Now in a playful, lilting voice she sang the song that I had first heard her sing,

“Two sisters, to each other born;

One at evening, one at dawn.

Each will open her sweet eyes

Only when her sister dies.

On and on and on they go,

In turn ascending and laid low,

On and on, forever so.

Who are they, I long to know?”

“You sing beautifully.”

She smiled at me sweetly.

“...and I think I know who they are, these sisters.”

Suddenly she laughed and put her hand upon my lips. Gently but firmly she said,

“Be careful how you answer for It is ever the fatal folly of man to brazenly flaunt his cleverness only to then find himself in error.”

“Wise counsel my lady but your two sisters, I feel certain, are night and day!”

As before, she said nothing but smiled, shut her eyes modestly and nodded. When she opened her eyes again there was deep longing in them. I took her by the hips and kissed her mouth. Her reply was to slide her tongue between my lips. Our tongues entwined like vines, seeking to know each other intimately. We kissed for many long, delicious moments running our hands up and down our bodies until mine came to rest upon her firm ass cheeks. I kneaded them and spread them, working my fingers ever closer to the lips of her pussy. She responded with ever more intense kisses and marvellously melodious sighs.

After a time she drew her head back and once again I marvelled at her enchanting eyes of green. Without a word she glanced at the luxurious rug of furs and I gently set her upon it. For the first time, I was able to take in her entire form. She was beautiful beyond compare, a nymph such as the bards would never tire to laud. Now she held up a hand to me and I lay next to her. She kissed me tenderly and her hand travelled down to my eagerly awaiting cock. She gripped my entire shaft and massaged it slowly. My hands found her pert, rosebud nipples and I rubbed her smooth alabaster skin. Now I sat up and my hand gently fell between her thighs. She parted her legs, wriggling her hips in anticipation. I was in no hurry and Iran my palms up and down her inner thighs, marvelling at her silken skin. She sighed and moaned gently, eventually guiding my hand to her moist and enticing pussy. I gently parted her lips and rubbed some of her own juices onto her sweet little nub. She responded by rotating her hips and grinding her clit into my fingers. Her hands gripped the rug and she sighed deeply as she pressed harder against my hand.

The aroma of her pussy was sweet as Hymettan honey and my mouth watered at the mere thought of savoring those glistening rosy lips and exploring her secret inner depths with my tongue. So I lifted her knees and placed my hands beneath her firm buttocks. Immediately she knew my intentions and spread her pussy with her ivory fingers. As my tongue lapped and feasted upon her every hidden treasure, from her tender nub to the folds and fruits below, she spread her lips further and further apart until like a beautiful flower, her pussy smiled before me. What a delight it was and what delicious squeals, giggled and moans it inspired in her.

By now, I longed to fuck her more than I had ever wanted anything in my life. I looked deeply into her bewitching eyes. As though reading my mind, she smiled and nodded, swinging her lovely hips towards me. Now with two fingers she gripped my cock just under its head and guided me gently between her lips. Her pussy was gloriously wet and I luxuriated in the cosy smoothness of her inner depths. I was overcome with desire and found Phyx an eager recipient of my increasingly powerful thrusts. She bucked and returned my every stroke, greeting me with a look of ecstasy on her radiant face. She arched her back and brought her legs to rest upon my lower back . Thus we were locked tightly together in the most delicious embrace. Now she brought her lips to mine and we kissed deeply while we fucked, and fucked and fucked for what seemed a sublime eternity of passion.

I could feel her breathing rise and her body heave with pleasure so I thrust my hips harder and faster into her. By now my cock felt as is it was one with her body. She came in waves of unalloyed bliss like the pure rays of the sun rising behind broken cloud and there was a radiant light in her eyes of limpid green.

After the storm had subsided, she regarded me with a pensive look I had not seen before. Suddenly she whispered,

“On your back now.”

I did as she asked and in no time at all she had slipped effortlessly back onto my shaft. With hands on my flanks to balance her, Phyx wriggled and bounced as her pussy drank the full length of my bending spear. Her gyrations followed the rhythm and grace of a dancer and so did her boundless locks of hair, framing her exquisite face like the darkest thunder clouds. On and on she danced, arching her back and clenching the muscles in her pussy to milk my cock.

Soon I was fully in her power and it might have been her touch, it might have been the sheer, overwhelming power of her beauty, but something took hold of me and I sent volley after delicious volley of hot seed into her sublime depths. I groaned as a man wounded, I shuddered as a man in the grip of deep emotion. And after an eternity of blinding pleasure I breathed again.

She looked down at then and her face was serenity itself. With my cock still rigid and tucked snugly inside her she said,

“What beast is it, of all beasts born;

Four legs propel this beast at dawn.

Then, come noontide, two legs has he

And dusk finds him about on three?

Answer me this and from here fly.

But if you fail, you'll surely die!”

I laughed in my good natured way and ran my palms up her ivory hips to her rose-budded breasts. Then, more insistently, she whispered,

“Answer me Agathon.”

I laughed again and fondled her breasts.

“Oh, I don't know.”

“Think, man think.”

Now her tone was strange and it prompted me to go over the lines again in my head. As this was a favourite game of hers, I was keen to indulge her. But my powers of reasoning and my imagination at that moment abandoned me. Again I said,

“No, really I have no idea. Now let us rest and make love again.”

She didn't move. Instead, her entire body shimmered with a dark radiance. Now where there was smooth, faultless ivory skin I saw the sleek black fur of a beast. Where her slender, perfect fingers had gripped my flanks, there were the velvet paws of a giant cat. A long, sensuous tail flicked from side to side behind her and, most terrifying of all, a huge pair of black eagle's wings sat folded behind her shoulders. Only her face, her breasts and hair remained the same; as beautiful as they ever were. All this I witnessed and there was terror in my heart, yet I was held motionless and rendered powerless by the green of those ethereal eyes.

Tears then ran down her lovely pale cheeks like morning dew upon a lily. I felt the velvet paws slowly encircle my throat.

In an anguished whisper she said,

“Forgive me, my love.”

……………

The lord Pluto, king of Hades, sometimes allows us poor shades to write our stories. It amuses him to read them and helps him while away the aeons of his own cursed immortality. This has been mine, Agathon of Thebes, the son of Archelaus…..