Serpent Mound - 13. Fever Dreams

Rodney lay on the fluffy bed in the cabin’s bedroom, unconscious, writhing from the pain of the wound to his abdomen.

Bill was partially correct about his injury. He had been poisoned, but not by bearsbane or any other known herb. He had been infected by the wights.

At the Academy, the wights had seized upon the opportunity to invade his open wound, and once inside his body, they set to work, festering and inflaming it, preventing him from healing properly. As they occupied his body, they spread out, following his bloodstream, and settled into his other systems, making themselves at home in his lungs, liver, kidneys…

As he moaned in unconscious pain, one bold wight followed the path of his carotid artery and discovered the werebear’s brain. It spread through his neurons and memories, making itself comfortable.

“Rodney,” a voice whispered in his head.

“Who’s there, where are you?” Rodney asked, unaware that he wasn’t speaking aloud.

“I am everything. I am everywhere. I exist in every mighty oak and humble blade of grass upon this mountain. I am all around you and I am inside you Rodney.”

“Inside me?” Rodney asked. “Who are you?”

“I am the bear-god of the Tuath Dé,” the voice stated. “I have brought you to my mountain to join The People and become my follower. Open your heart to me that I might taste of your soul.”

“I must be dreaming,” Rodney stated.

“Yes! You are!” the bear-god cried within his head. “It is during dreams that I can speak most clearly. I am pleased that you have come to join with me, Rodney.”

“I hate to burst your bubble, god-of-assholes,” Rodney replied, “But I didn’t come here to join you. I came to protect the boy and let my friends know where to come to rescue him.”

“I know why you and your friends are here,” the bear-god replied. “It doesn’t matter why you came; you will be mine anyway.”

“We’ll never join your cult!” Rodney shouted within his mind.

“Not we, Rodney,” the bear-god said, “You. You will be mine.”

“Why do you think I’m going to betray my friends?” Rodney asked. “For someone who calls themselves the bear-god, you don’t seem to understand werebears at all. You’re the god-of-lies.”

“I can show you, Rodney,” the bear-god replied. “You’re currently injured and very sick. I’m sure your friends are sitting at your bedside waiting for you to wake up, right?”

“You’re damn right they are,” Rodney said. “Werebears stick together, and we care about each other.”

“Rodney, I’m going to pull you out of your body so that you can see your friends for what they really are. You won’t die, it will be a sort of, out-of-body experience if you will.”

“Fine,” Rodney said. “Pull me out and we’ll see my friends taking care of me while I’m sick.”

Rodney’s world tilted at a strange angle, and in a moment, he was standing at the foot of the bed in the cabin, looking down at himself. He was sweaty and he moaned. The bandage covering his wound continued to seep blood.

“Wh- Where are Marcus and Bill?” Rodney asked.

“They’re obviously not here taking care of you,” the bear-god replied. “Look how you lay there, suffering. Let’s go and find them, shall we?”

The voice of the bear-god turned and passed through the closed door of the bedroom.

“Come along Rodney,” the bear-god called from the living room, “It wouldn’t be much of an out-of-body experience if you had to open doors everywhere you went! Just walk on through!”

Rodney held his breath and walked through the bedroom door. When he was in the living room, he heard moans coming from the alcove in the side wall.

“Oh, Marcus or Bill must be hurt as well,” Rodney said.

“Why don’t you see for yourself?” the bear-god replied. “They’re right there in that alcove. Together.”

Rodney walked into the doorway of the alcove and froze in this tracks.

On the bed, Marcus lay on his back with his arms wrapped around Bill’s muscular shoulders. Bill had Marcus’s legs hooked over his arms and he was spearing Marcus’s tight hole with his thick bear cock.

Bill pumped the prone bear beneath him with a steady rhythm, his heavy balls slapping Marcus’s ass cheeks with each thrust.

“Oh Bill,” Marcus moaned, “You’re so fucking hot. Fuck me harder!”

Bill pushed himself up onto his knees and held Marcus’s legs by the ankles as he increased his pace and intensity. Marcus grabbed his cock and began beating himself off in time to Bill’s powerful thrusts.

“I don’t want to see any more!” Rodney shouted, but he could not move, and he could not close his eyes.

“No,” the bear-god replied. “You need to see what your so-called ‘friends’ are doing while you lay in the other room, suffering.”

“Oh, gods,” Marcus cried, “That’s it, Bill. You’re going to make me come! Don’t stop!”

“I’m almost there,” Bill growled in response, “I’m going to breed that ass.”

“Yes Papa!” Marcus growled, “It’s your ass! Claim it! Breed it!”

Marcus reached his orgasm and began shooting his load in an arc through the air, landing in his own chest fur. Bill followed soon after, bellowing loudly and slamming his hips against Marcus forcefully as he emptied his balls into the bear.

They both panted heavily, and Bill dropped Marcus’s legs, laying down onto his sticky chest and kissing him deeply.

“Bill,” Marcus said, “Will you sleep here with me for a while? I’m just so tired.”

“Sure, buddy,” Bill replied, and they rolled over onto their sides, spooning with Bill’s chest pressed against Marcus’s back.

“Bill?” Marcus asked again, “Could we sleep with your cock in my ass? My Papa used to do that when I was feeling down, and it… made me feel loved.”

“Sure thing,” Bill replied, focusing on extending his bear baculum. He pressed his length back into Marcus’s rear and the bear sighed in contentment.

“Thank you, Bill,” Marcus said, drifting to sleep, “This means a lot. I’ve… wanted you for a long time.”

“I’m sorry I made you wait so long for it,” Bill whispered into his ear, “Sleep now. Rest.”

Rodney continued to watch as the pair cuddled together with Bill’s muscular arm wrapped around his best friend, and his thick cock buried in his ass.

“Now do you see?” the bear-god said, walking up behind Rodney, “They don’t need you. They don’t care about you. They’ve already paired off with each other, leaving you as the third wheel.”

“Stop it,” Rodney said, tears rolling down his astral face, “I don’t want to see any more.”

“I will take you from this cabin where your so-called friends enjoy the pleasures of the flesh while you suffer in the next room, but I have much more to show you, my Cub.”

Rodney’s world seemed to smear, like a wet painting, and he suddenly found himself outside in the late afternoon sunshine. The People of the village bustled about their duties and tasks, smiling, and greeting each other as they worked.

A smiling woman appeared among the group with a basket overflowing with freshly baked bread, and she shared it among all gathered in the village, bestowing each with the blessings of the Tuath Dé.

A pair of lean male wolves strode into the village center carrying a deer that they had just hunted. The villagers gathered around them with smiles and praise for the skill of the hunters and songs of glory to the Tuath Dé for providing the deer to nourish them.

“Do you see The People?” the bear-god asked Rodney, “They are happy. They are at one with nature. They help each other in their daily lives.”

“When I lived in the bear enclave at Atikokan,” Rodney replied, “We were all happy there as well, and we didn’t have to sacrifice children to maintain that happiness.”

“You don’t think that children are sacrificed in your world?” the bear-god raged. “How many children die in their schools from gun violence? How many die of cancer because your humans pollute and poison the land? How many die crossing the street, only to be run over by one of your machines? Don’t tell me that children are not sacrificed to maintain your way of life!”

“That’s not a fair comparison, and you know it,” Rodney replied.

“Oh, I know,” the bear-god growled, “It’s not fair to The People! We sacrifice four. Four! Every hundred years, and we don’t even sacrifice them when they’re children, we have the decency to wait until they are adults! Comparing the actions of The People to the thousands of children who are killed in your world is very unfair!”

“We value life!” Rodney cried, “We don’t sacrifice to gods any longer!”

“Do you think that The People don’t value life?” the bear-god asked, “Let me show you something else, Cub.”

The wet paint of the world smeared again, and Rodney found himself standing in a grove of red cedar trees. The People were gathered here, but the happy smiles that they wore while working were gone. The mood now was one of sorrow.

A wolf-lycan woman with flaming red hair stood in front of the group and flanking her on either side laying on wooden platforms were the bodies of male wereboars in human form, dressed in simple woven clothing of white linen.

Rodney looked closer at the bodies and saw the bullet holes in the skull of each. He realized that these were the bodies of the two wereboars that were shot by Susie during the battle when she had rescued him and Marcus.

The red-haired woman looked out at the gathered people and began to speak.

“In the tradition of our ancestors, it was understood that the soul travelled across the western ocean to the place of the sunset, diving there to the otherworldly islands of paradise that lie beneath the sea. There they rest, their spirits fed and nurtured, bathed in the beauty and abundance, finding the healing they need before they return along the path of the sun, through the darkness beneath the worlds, to rebirth with the rising sun in the east.

“Within this sacred place, we call to the gods that our boar brothers may know this road and travel it with courage and with joy, accompanied by friends, companions and loved ones. May they find the mead sweet and the bread always fresh upon their way. So may it be.

“Death is merely that place where souls are detained only long enough to be cleansed with the purifying smoke, fanned by the white wings of the sacred winds, until they are whiter than the swans of the songs, whiter than the seagull of the waves, whiter than the snow of the peaks, whiter than the pure love of heroes. Death is no oblivion, but a journey through cleansing, healing, and change. We will meet again those whom we have loved. Such is the law of existence.

“So do I call to the guide and guardian of the dead, you who ride the night with the wild hunt, gathering the souls of the departed, leading them along the hidden ways to paradise, where they will rest after the struggles of this life, nourished and healed for their journey of rebirth.

“May those who have gone before prepare a joyous welcome among their company in that blessed land, far beyond the shores of this world. May understanding grow there with the stories told, may nourishment be found in the food of angels, with remembrance of love and the soul’s release into perfect freedom. So may it be.”

The red-haired wolf ended the words of the sacred rite and four others stepped forward wrapping the bodies tightly in white linen shrouds. When the bodies were prepared, all The People stepped forward, and as a group, lowered the bodies into the freshly dug graves.

One-by-one, each of the People took the spade in their hands, recited a prayer, and then scooped a shovel full of dirt onto each of the bodies. They would then hand the spade to the next in line and walk silently alone from the grove in tears.

After the final mourner had recited their prayer and placed the dirt into the graves, the red-haired wolf bowed her head and made a motion with her hand. Immediately, the white mist moved in to fill the remaining dirt into the graves. As Rodney watched, fresh green grass covered the bare dirt, and wildflowers sprang up over each of the graves.

“Tell me now, Cub,” the bear-god said, “That The People do not value life.”

“I don’t know anymore,” Rodney replied. “I feel like I don’t know anything anymore.”

“You have become an empty vessel,” the bear-god said. “That is the first step in learning the peace and tranquility that is the Tuath Dé.”

“I have one last thing to show you, Cub,” the bear-god said to Rodney, and once again, the colors of the grove became smeared before the bear found himself standing among the effigy mounds at the peak of the mountain.

“This is where the Tuath Dé dwell,” the bear-god whispered into Rodney’s astral ear. “For millennia, we dwelt across the great ocean, but our tribe was in danger of being erased from the Earth. The People gathered our essence and carried us with them on their journey west to this New World, four centuries ago. Since that time, the power of the Tuath Dé has made this mountain an oasis of nature where The People may dwell in peace forever.”

“Do you see my mound, Cub?” the bear-god asked.

“Yes,” Rodney replied, he was in a daze now, barely able to resist the words or actions of the bear-god.

“Your life has been leading you to this moment, Cub. This is the day that you join The People and become one with nature and the Tuath Dé. Are you prepared to give yourself to me?”

“No,” Rodney resisted, weakly, “I have a mission. I have a duty!”

“You are an empty vessel,” the bear-god roared, “You are ready to be filled with the power of the Tuath Dé! Stand upon my mound, Cub and prepare to receive my essence!”

Rodney’s astral body moved to the middle of the bear mound. The ground began to glow an eerie green. He looked down and realized for the first time that his astral body was naked. When he looked up again, the bear-god was standing before him in all of his glory. A massive bear, standing on his hind legs, over ten feet tall. The bear-god’s penis was enormous and erect, and as he stepped forward, he forced Rodney onto his back.

Rodney could feel the pain as the bear-god penetrated him but his senses were beginning to dull from the strain. The bear-god held his astral body by the ankles in the same manner that Rodney had seen Bill fucking Marcus what seemed like ages earlier. The bear-god tipped his massive head back and bellowed a roar as he violated Rodney on top of the mound.

“It is time, Cub,” the bear-god cried, “It is time that your empty vessel is filled with my essence!”

He bellowed again and Rodney felt the bear-god’s semen burning his insides like molten lead as he was bred and filled.

“Rise Cub!” the bear-god cried, “Rise and love me! Rise and serve me all the days of your life!”

****

Bill and Marcus heard a loud thump coming from the bedroom. They sprang from the bed in the alcove and ran to the bedroom door, throwing it open.

Rodney had fallen out of the bed and was laying on the floor, sweating and panting for breath.

“Rodney!” Marcus cried, “I thought we were going to lose you! I was so worried!”

Rodney stood up and then sat down on the edge of the bed again, eyeing the two bears.

“Let me check your wound, buddy,” Bill said, sitting next to him and pulling the bloody gauze away. “Much better! The wound is finally closed, and there is no more bleeding. Just a scar and a bruise that will probably be gone by tomorrow.”

“Yes,” Rodney said, still staring at the bears he once called his friends. “All things should be resolved by tomorrow.”

Bill looked up at Marcus in confusion. Marcus looked back and gave a small shrug in response.

“Why don’t you try to get some more sleep, buddy,” Bill said, “We’ll wake you if these people ever bring us anything to eat.”

“The Tuath Dé will provide,” Rodney said, laying back down and closing his eyes, “And The People will share the blessings and the bounty.”