When Masu and his small court left the capital of Machi-Sanisu', he told his friends that he had decided to walk back to his future home, so they sent back the ship. They resumed the way that Masu had walked when he had to go into exile. "I still have a mission," he explained to his Kuda.
"What mission?"
"I have to set a pending matter, to fix an issue. Now I know that not only I can, but I have to do it."
Kuda did not press him for more information. At the first stop they made, Masu once again wore his ancient warrior dress.
They traveled for several days, until they found themselves on a road going up in large bends along the mountain's slope, nestled in the forest. Masu and his followers climbed it with firm steps. At the edges of the dirt road Masu saw bushes full of tempting, juicy and ripe berries. He immediately warned his comrades not to grasp or eat any of them. They continued to go up the bends, increasingly steep and narrow, until they found themselves on top of the hill. Now the road proceeded straight and the forest gradually thinned out, giving way to vast, sunny and gentle meadows.
In front of them opened a lovely valley, sloping with gentle cliffs toward the course of a small meandering river, whose waters sparkled in the sun and seemed like a long ribbon of pure silver, studded with precious diamonds. Finally they saw down below them a round building of black stone, similar to a low tower, surrounded by a wall in the shape of an equilateral triangle, enclosed by a pentagon wall, all circled by a wall with seven sides. Three-five-seven, the numbers of evil. This time Masu was fully conscious of that.
They turned unto a straight road, flanked by rows of trees, which ran through the three walls, ending in front of the low circular tower. Among the trees in the garden, Masu saw again the white statues, narrow and tall, arranged in an precise geometric design, representing young warriors of great beauty.
Masu and his companions arrived in front of the black heptagonal wall and its wide open gate. Here the Taota ordered his companions to wait for him and tried to cross the gate alone. At that moment a deer appeared, stopping at Masu's side. The warrior patted it on the snout, and the animal looked at him with it's big, round eyes. Then, instead of opposing him, as it tried to do the first time, it lowered it's head adorned with beautiful antlers, almost as greeting him, bowing to him, and quietly went away, leaving him a free passage.
Masu crossed the first garden at a quick pace, until he found himself in front of the pentagonal wall and its gate. The Taota admired again the incredible beauty of the statues, and the skill with which all the anatomical details were represented, from the navel to the nipples, and even the slight fuzz around them.
He was about to cross the second gate, when a flock of birds with long blue feathers went down to hover above the passage, but also these, instead of trying to hinder him, flew back in the air throwing melodious calls. In determined steps Masu also crossed the second gate. Next he went beyond the third gate, and found himself in the inner garden, at the centre of which stood a low, black and round building.
He watched the stone statues of warriors, who were represented here in their beautiful nudity, and admired once again their nice members, also finely carved with all the pubic hair, that were in semi-erect state, with under them the heavy ball sacs, these also carved with striking realism. He stopped at the door of the tower and waited. Almost immediately the door opened with a slight but very noticeable hiss.
In the doorway appeared the woman of incredible beauty that Masu had already met, wearing as usual transparent black veils that allowed a glimpse of her perfect forms; she was leaning languidly with one foot behind the other, as if she had just stopped in mid step, and looked at him with a sweet, inviting, and sensual smile.
"Come, my handsome warrior, I was waiting for you..."
"Really, woman? You were expecting me?" Masu asked sarcastically.
"Yes, I like you, you're really beautiful!" the witch said, her voice low and warm, artfully batting her long black eyelashes.
"But I do not like you, you're too old. And then, how many cocks have you already taken, so far? Hundreds? Thousands? Your cunt should be as wide as a cargo ship..." Masu said in a voice full of scorn and contempt
"What are you saying?" the witch said with her sensual voice and she let slip away her robe of black veils, revealing her full nakedness. "Don't you want to have fun with me?"
"No, you're too old for my taste, I told you... You are too fat and too feminine. I like younger, firmer and smoother bodies, you know."
"I see... Well, I want to please you. If later you sleep with me, I will before let you enjoy my daughter. She's still a virgin, you know?"
"Oh really? You have a daughter? And she is a virgin? Hear, hear..."
The witch turned inward and called, her voice sweet and sensual: "Nakaa, my darling... come here, love."
A very young woman, her body still immature, who seemed to be no more than thirteen years old, dressed in transparent black veils, was at once next to her. Masu was amazed how much she resembled the witch.
"Here, my dear Nakaa, this beautiful warrior wants to sleep with you, and enjoy your still virgin body. Invite him with you, take him into your alcove, baby. Give yourself to him without fear, and let him experience the joys that he longs to try..."
"So, just to have me, you are ready to sacrifice your daughter to my cravings? What a generous and loving mother you are!" Masu scoffed her.
"Yes, you're so beautiful, so strong and virile, such a handsome warrior... I want you. Enjoy my daughter, take her virginity, make her lose her head for you! Then you'll be mine, you promise me? "
"Well, witch, your daughter will lose her head... since you asked me, I promise that! Yes, she'll literally lose her head. Then I'll take care of you, I promise that too."
"Then come, handsome male... Nakaa, honey, take this handsome warrior's hand and guide him inside with you," the witch said, pushing the girl towards Masu.
He let her approach, pulled at a lightning speed his sword from its sheath that was behind his back, had it twirl quickly, and cleanly cut the girl's head, causing it to fly away. The decapitated body slumped at his feet, lifeless, without even uttering a cry.
The witch screamed. Her face had now lost all sensuality and was contorted with rage. She raised her arms and began to shout with an hoarse voice filled with hatred: "Be damn..."
She could not finish her sentence, because Masu swung his sword again and cleanly severed both her arms. Two new arms sprouted from the stumps, and the furious woman tried to hurl herself against him. Masu pulled from under his cloak the sceptre and pointed it at the witch. A blue ray came out from it, crackling and wrapping her naked body like a second skin. Screaming in pain, she fell lifeless to the ground, wincing. With a sharp blow of his sword Masu beheaded her and kicked the head away.
The earth trembled like there was a strong earthquake. The tower collapsed and a dense black smoke rose from its ruins. Masu jumped back to avoid being hit by the stones that rolled down, covering the corpse of the witch, crushing it. A new flame arose from the stones.
Behind him Masu heard a series of loud cracklings. He turned, ready to face a new threat.
The statues of the warriors were beginning to stir, gradually assuming the color of human flesh, and dozens and dozens of warriors appeared instead. The young men looked around astonished, as if they were just awakening from a long sleep. They saw Masu, who still was clutching his sword in one hand and the scepter in the other. Then the first of them knelt before him and a word ran from mouth to mouth: "The Taota... The Taota... The Taota came to liberate us!"
Gradually more warriors came from the other two gardens, and crowded around Masu, kneeling promptly. Masu made them stand up, and asked one of them to tell their story.
The warrior told him that all of them had fallen prey to lust, and had lain with the witch or, over time, with one of her daughters, or daughters of daughters. This had been going on for centuries. Just after the orgasm, they felt emptied of all energy, vigor or willpower, and were conducted to a pedestal and turned into white marble statues. They could hear and see, but not move or talk. So they saw their comrades fall into the arms of a witch and could not warn them, they could not do anything to save them. Some had been there for centuries, others for just a few days.
At the end of the story Masu remarked with a smile: "You see, my poor fellows, isn't it a wise tradition for us warriors to join just between ourselves, and not with women?"
"Yes, you are more than right, but the berries we ate along the way weakened our will and make us fall prey to her lust. The beauty of the place also lowered our defences, and the witch's magic did the rest..."
"What will you do now, when the witch is finally dead, and her daughters too, and that you are free? Some of you have been here for more than five hundred years, from what you said... Do you want to go back to your lands?"
"Lord of Lords, thou didst free us. For most of us there is no place in our land, where we are long gone, where we were certainly mourned as dead or missing, or even thought to be deserters. And how should we explain that we were captivated by a woman? Let us go with you, to live at your service," one of the warriors asked. All the others promptly repeated the same desire.
"Well," Masu said, "I am happy to accept your request. All of you who want to come with me, will be warriors of the Taota in Chuma... But you must promise me that from now on, none of you will ever look at a woman, let alone lie with one," he concluded with a laugh.
"We swear!" all the warriors responded in a happy chorus.
"Good, then follow me."
Loud ovations greeted his words and everyone, without exception, again knelt in front of him as a sign of submission and loyalty.
Meanwhile his friends had come to Masu, initially attracted by the smoke and flames, then by the loud ovations. Masu told them what had happened, then presented his Wisa to the warriors. The Wisa immediately divided them into groups of eight, made them align, and everybody escorted Masu and the others along the rest of the way, to reach the territory of Chuma-Hirosawa.
Along the way, many freed slaves asked to join the procession, to be allowed to serve the new Taota.
They crossed the mountains and entered the territory of Chuma. Here they followed the paved road that led from the east to the Castle of the Needle. The land was green and full of flowers; here and there trees were growing up, still young, but already towering and strong. After traversing the area, they arrived at the castle. They walked around it, then crossed the wide ditch full of clear water, using the white marble bridge.
As Masu approached, the high gates opened one after another, letting in the long procession which went up the winding road. Masu had everyone installed in their quarters, and so the old castle was now seething with life.
Producers with their seeds, their tools and their herds began to arrive in Chuma. Toma and his aides assigned them pieces of land, where they immediately began to farm, and where they built houses and fences for the livestock.
Also artisans started to arrive from the surrounding territories. Masu decided that they should build their first city around the crossroad of routes leading to the south, west, north and east. Then, as they increased in number, he made them choose other places along rivers and roads, to found new cities, towns and villages.
Then merchants began to come and go, and messengers were linking the Castle of the Needle with the castles of the seven Shitis of the surrounding areas. At times Masu had to solve a dispute between two territories, sometimes a dispute that arose between the various classes in a land. He had strictly forbidden the warriors of territories to fight each other. Their task, as he had eliminated war, was only to enforce laws.
One day Masu gathered his family, that is Kuda, Thomas and Ja, and Jule with the little Sho.
"Apparently all the territories at last live in peace. The gods are honored again, peace reigns in all the territories. There are still many problems to solve, it is true, and certainly new problems will arise, but we will solve them together... There is just one very important problem that I have yet to solve and so I'd like to hear your advice.
"You see, on one hand it is good that each territory is governed by a Shiti, then by one of his sons, or by another heir the Shiti chooses. On the other hand, I think is not good if the next Taota is chosen by me. I do not want a repetition of what happened to last the last Taota, five hundred and twelve years ago."
Toma said with a smile: "None of us will ever do anything like that, you know we all love you..."
"Not you, but it could happen again, maybe to one of my successors. Evil is not defeated yet and I don't know if it ever will be. We can do our best to fight it, to contain it, but... Anyway I do not want something like that to happen again. You see, there is also another problem: the more absolute power a man has, the less a son, be he natural or adopted, can be guaranteed to be worthy to fill that role, to hold that power. So we must establish a new rule, the best we are able to imagine, that will guarantee as much as possible that the succession to the office of Taota goes to a worthy man."
They discussed the matter. The first rule they established was that the Taota should not marry a woman or have biological or adopted children. Then, after further discussion, gathering ideas and advice of his family, Masu came to a solution of the problem.
In each territory there were among the nobles Tu men, who loved another man and had celebrated the rite of union with him. Masu ordered that those pairs had to choose between themselves one man, which they deemed the best, to go and live with his mate in Castle of the Needle, and constitute the Council of the Taota. If one of the Tu died or was giving up his position of Councilor, another had to be chosen from his territory to replace him and be immediately sent to the Castle of the Needle.
On the death of the Taota, the eight Tu of the Council, along with their eight companions, were to meet and elect among themselves a new Taota. The others would all become the new Taota's family, but none of them could ever aspire to become a Taota. The new Taota would summon eight newly elected couples from the territories to form his new Council.
This established, Masu sent messages to all the territories to organize everything and to choose the pairs to be sent as Councilors to the Castle of the Needle. He also had their quarters prepared. Gradually the elected couples from each area reached the castle. They presented themselves to Masu and soon the Council was complete.
Having settled this problem, Masu felt satisfied.
One day, after performing the rites in honor of the gods, Masu climbed to the top floor of the Castle of the Needle with his Kuda, up to the belvedere. From behind, Masu embraced Kuda. who was gently leaning his back against his strong chest. They admired the landscape around them, now dotted with industrious cities, towns and villages, cultivated fields and woods, looking like a garden.
"This all is your work, love..." Kuda whispered.
"The work of our love. If I had not fallen in love with you and you with me, maybe I would still be a wandering warrior, and you a blind bard..."
"It was written that we would meet, and fall in love... That you would become the new Taota."
"If what was written was bound to happen, did it necessarily have to happen? Are we just puppets in the hands of the Kaoka and the gods?"
"No, my love. No more than the inhabitants of Z'uyoote are puppets in your hands. Just as the Wisa of Machi-Sanisu' and all your comrades opposed your Shiti to protect your life, in the same way each of us can oppose the will of the Kaoka and the gods. But one who has a pure heart knows how and when to obey, as well as knowing when and how to disobey."
"Well, I feel better knowing that I am not just a puppet. And yet, if it was really written as you've just said..." Masu argued smiling.
"The script of a play is also written, but it can be interpreted in many different ways, maybe even changed... You give the script to an actor, but then he makes of it what he wants, different ways are possible."
"Right. But if the actor changes it, it's no longer the original script, it's different."
"Sure, if we had changed what was written for us, we would not have met, we would not have fallen in love, very probably you would not now be the Taota, and the two of us would not have be here."
"But fortunately we have followed the script, and now we're here, and you're in my arms... and I love you."
"So let me see, let me feel how much you love me," Kuda whispered in a low and warm voice.
Masu took him into his arms, embraced and kissed him. Gradually their caresses became more intimate, warmer, and their bodies quivered in the growing desire to join, to restore the unity they felt. Their souls were one, but their bodies had to continually renew it.
Their clothes fell one by one, and using them as a bed to protect them from the cold hardness of the white marble floor of the belvedere, there they lay, their limbs intertwined. The soft rays of the sun wrapped their naked bodies, caressing them as if to emphasize the caresses that they were giving each other.
Masu was lost in the pure, deep eyes of his lover, was melting for the tenderness that Kuda made him feel, was exalted by the love that surrounded them. Both were shivering with a growing desire to give oneself to the other, to merge with the beloved.
"Are you glad to be able to see me, love?" asked Masu.
"Yes, sure, but I've seen you also before, with the eyes of my heart, my soul, my love..." Kuda whispered.
"And am I very different now compared to what you saw?"
"No, you're the same. So very beautiful. Come into me, I've waited too long..."
Masu knelt between the legs of his lover, who promptly spread them. Masu made them lean over his shoulders; with his knees he enclosed Kuda's hips, then slid toward him. His handsome member found its way to the small, firm buttocks of his young lover and paused, strong and vibrant on the hidden flesh bud.
Kuda slid against him and the tender meat ring readily opened to accommodate the welcome visitor. Slowly, but with manly force, Masu pushed forward again, slipped inside and filled his love channel.
The bard sighed and a sweet, happy smile lit up his face. "Yes, come on..." the young and beautiful Kuda sighed.
"Here I am, my love..." echoed the strong and beautiful lord.
When they were totally and strongly united, Masu stopped, leaned over and deeply kissed his lover. While their tongues were happily playing, Masu began to retreat, then to return to his beloved, in a firm and gentle to and fro.
Kuda shuddered and pushed against him with each lunge, while still kissing deeply.
The old and always new rite of love took place and was accomplished once again, up there at the top of the Castle of the Needle, the centre of the continent of Z'uyoote, the Hand of the God of all Gods. Like the fire of a lighthouse shows the way to the sailors, their love was brightening all the world around them.
The contrast between the black eyes of Masu and those blue of his beloved, between the fair hair of Kuda and the black hair of his lover, between the tanned skin of the strong young man and the clear and velvety of the sweet bard, was the most harmonious and sensual thing one could imagine.
Both lovers were happy to be able to give themselves to each other once again. Masu, strong, tireless, vigorous, and determined, and Kuda, tender, serene, sunny and sweet, so closely united, were really one complete reality. Their bodies danced in that tender, strong and passionate lovemaking. They were still two bodies, but their souls were really one.
The pace of Masu gradually became more vigorous and strong, the abandonment of Kuda more tender and sweet. The force of one became gentleness, thanks to the other, the sweetness of one became strength, because of the other.
So Masu came inside his beloved with tenderness and the sweet Kuda came with him with manly strength. They stood up, unmoving but trembling, both once again astounded by the beauty of their love. Satisfied for the moment, but not sated, they looked at each other with eyes full of love and joy.
"I love you, my Kuda," Masu whispered.
"I love you, my Masu," murmured Kuda.
"I love you, I love you..." Their words were echoed all around them in the sky, echoed in the waters, fields and woods, like a gentle breeze.
"I love you, I love you..." echoed a thousand hearts, a thousand lovers.
"I love you, I love you..." echoed all creation.
And the God of Gods, looking at them, smiled quietly and said: "I love you!"