Act III
O Dark One!
So far your plan
has worked
like a charm,
and your control of
the Sea of Shadows
has brought us
our victim,
Gonzalo --
so far
he has suspected
nothing.
When he appeared
at the mouth of
the cavern,
with her alert eyes
Tristina caught sight of him,
and drew our attention
to him.
The music ceased,
and I invited him
to descend the steps,
down, down, down,
until he reached the
cavern floor.
I crossed the lava moat
with the royal barge,
and a few other maidens.
He bowed his head
and introduced himself,
and, as the queen, I regally
and elegantly did the same.
He was taken aback
by my stunning beauty
and also my
enticing charm.
There is no question
that I am the
most radiant and the
most voluptuous
among us,
and Gonzalo could not
keep his eyes
off of me.
So I opportunely
took one of his
arms and
wrapped it,
snugly and
sensually,
around my slender
and shapely waist.
But I did so
in such a way that
my warm, perfumed
hair was brushing against his
flushed cheek.
Then I surprised him --
so insidious that I am --
and suddenly I held him
tight in my invincible arms and
kissed him,
long and hard,
with my spiced lips,
and we clung together,
with his heart pounding violently
with the strongest palpitations
against my curvaceous and
seductive body.
I captivated him
with my goddess-like eyes --
my green eye gazed intently
into his defenseless
brown eyes,
while I began to
subtly and stealthily
secrete red lava into my
bewitching black eye.
Ever so slowly,
and ever so gradually,
the hot red lava
hypnotically oozed and
blended together and
my left eye became a
magnetic, mesmerizing
tornado of swiftly swirling
black and red.
Gonzalo appeared
quite smitten,
but after the incident
involving Cassano,
I was not going to
leave anything to
chance this time.
So with full
flirtatious force,
I playfully and
smilingly led him
across the moat
and through the fateful forest
of tropical fruit trees,
slowly sauntering towards the
black altar of pleasure.
In the meantime,
the other magic maidens
giggled and whispered
among each other,
with great anticipation.
Then the two of us
sat down under the trees,
while the rest of the
magic maidens watched
me spin a tangled web
for my victim.
They observed from a
safe enough distance
in order to give us
sufficient privacy --
to avoid interference
of any kind --
so through the bushes
and around trees
they all sat there,
dumbfounded,
at my ability to
coquettishly tease Gonzalo
and lasciviously lure him
into the jaws of
my trap.
His heart,
like a budding flower
in winter,
opened too soon,
too rashly --
as is Gonzalo’s nature --
and the frost of
foul play
began to freeze
his sense of
reason.
He squinted his eyes,
scrunched his mouth
into a wry smile,
and said,
“I intercepted a
letter from
a man I despise,
and in it he spoke
of this island
as if he were a
stupid, superstitious fool --
one who is spooked
and afraid of
his own shadow.”
I winced,
ever so slightly,
but immediately
regained my composure
before he could notice
anything at all --
he was busy looking
around and marveling
at the beauty of the
fruit trees.
Then I saw
my chance and
wasted no time
in strategically
making my move.
I quickly replied,
“As you can clearly see,
Inferno Island is a
paradise of pleasures,
so just relax
and let go --
the only thing
that matters here is
to feel!”
Gonzalo smiled
a very broad smile,
and, as he chuckled,
his glance danced
back and forth,
from my swirling eye
to my stationary one.
On the soft grass,
I slowly reclined into
an arousing supine position
and smiled back at him.
I looked intently
into his eyes again
and the swirling eye
spun around even faster
with excitement.
Then I asked him,
“Would you like
some fruit?”
All of the other
magic maidens
held their breath and
awaited his response.
His face fell,
as if he had suddenly
pricked himself with
a sharp blade --
he was overcome by
a profound fear,
and he stumbled
terribly over his
words as he
tried to come up with
an excuse.
But with an alluring,
irresistible voice
I persisted
and asked him,
“Surely you’re not afraid --
are you, Gonzalo?
“Why, my love,
it’s impossible
that a handsome, brave,
and passionate man
like you
would be afraid
of anything!”
With that,
my wanton body
slithered stealthily over
that of his own,
and then he found his face
immersed in the
serpentine ringlets
of my clustered curls
and wild, wicked whirl
of my cascading dark hair.
My perfumed breath
was indescribably delicious,
and his self-control
was noticeably weakening --
he appeared emotionally chained
by the poison pride that
strongly surged within him.
I looked at the
multicolored fruit
in the tree above us,
then I stood up and chose
a couple of them that dangled,
as if hanging
by a noose,
over his head.
The two that I picked were
of a bright, fiery red,
very round, and
very, very ripe.
I placed them in his hands,
its sticky juice bleeding
in profusion over
his quivering fingers.
Again, there was a hush
among the maidens,
and the whole island
seemed to be still.
Breathing faster,
he looked at the fruit
in his hands --
I suspect that Cassano
must have said something
about the danger of
the fruit on this island,
because Gonzalo
turned very pale.
He was frozen
with uncertainty
for a moment,
but he was no match
for me.
I persuasively urged him,
“Here… take this, Gonzalo...
eat some of it…
you must be hungry.”
Then I drew near
to his left ear and
whispered,
even more softly,
“This luscious fruit
will help you relax,
and it will make our
time together
even more memorable.”
Suddenly,
he made his
decision.
He bit into the fruit,
with reckless abandon,
and I could see that
its fragrant flesh was
strikingly flavorful.
Then he bit into it
again,
and again,
and yet again,
as if eating it faster
might somehow
protect him.
He was giddy with delight
and soon said that it felt as if
his body had been placed in a
warm pool of melting sugar,
and he said he was experiencing
very intense pleasure.
I stood up and then
pulled him to his feet,
but he appeared
just a bit dizzy --
as I looked into his eyes,
I could see the potion
already taking effect:
his left eye was beginning
to swirl black and red,
and his right eye was
turning sea green.
The maidens watched with a
feeling of euphoria,
because they knew now
what was coming.
I led him towards
the flaming black altar
and said,
“My dear Gonzalo,
now all your dreams
will come true --
let us go together
into the fires of pleasure
on the black altar,
and there we will both
experience pleasures
more intense than
you could have ever
believed in your
wildest imagination!”
He stepped up onto
the black altar of pleasure
and then reclined on it --
as the flashing flames
surrounded his body
and enveloped it,
he was overcome by
an ecstasy that completely
overwhelmed him.
Act IV
As he rested on the dark black altar,
Gonzalo’s body tingled with restless delight,
Here on the flaming altar of pleasure,
His ecstasy peaked at an all-time height;
But this dream darkened into a nightmare
That for him meant certain doom,
It started with the war drums’ thunder --
Boom baba-boom baba-boom!
The altar flames flared exceedingly high,
Pulsating to the pounding drumbeat,
Pain exploded through poor Gonzalo
With each and every heartbeat;
His bones were blasted by ongoing bursts
Of scorching, unquenchable fire,
There was no question at all in his mind
That his situation was really quite dire.
He screamed and wailed in utter agony,
Writhing horribly on the altar of black,
The magic maidens happily looked on,
Assembling quickly into a large pack;
They screeched with fiendish laughter,
As if he were an insect in a trap,
Queen Thaliela had been totally victorious,
And so, they all started to clap.
He tried to escape with all his might,
But he was locked inside of the flames,
He was imprisoned on the black altar,
Yet for the maidens it was fun and games;
But then something very peculiar occurred,
When his stomach felt strangely sour,
Gonzalo vomited black-and-red blood,
At the passing of each excruciating hour.
For sixty-six endless hours he suffered,
Painfully squirming all around,
Then he collapsed from sheer exhaustion,
Without making a single sound;
The cavern was filled with a vile stench,
And a foul grey fog filled the air,
Gonzalo was nearing his inevitable death,
But the magic maidens didn’t care.
Surrounding the burning black altar,
There was a ring of fiery spears,
Thaliela grimly grabbed the closest one,
And then trebled were all his fears;
With her wild left eye spinning madly,
She raised the spear over her head,
Slamming it down, she skewered his skull,
And Gonzalo appeared as good as dead.
The spear pierced through both of his ears,
And flashing fire flared from each eye,
Blood then gushed out of both of his ears,
Yet his tortured body just couldn’t die;
Gonzalo screamed with indescribable pain,
He thought his poor head might explode,
His nightmare got worse as he vomited again,
And blistering lava from his mouth flowed.
Then the fog in the cavern rapidly blackened
Into an ominous broken ring of dark smoke,
The sulphurous smell was quite stifling,
And Gonzalo was beginning to choke;
Then a booming bass voice so shook the cave
That even the magic maidens were afraid,
The Dark One’s voice was unmistakable,
And came from the mist like a grenade.
Act V
I spit at thee,
Gonzalo,
for you are a
stupid fool!
And now you will
pay the last penny for
your shortsighted selfishness.
You are an unworthy
citizen from the land
of the hated one --
I spit at your king!
You can look forward to
an eternity of suffering --
a living death --
within the frightful flames
of this black altar,
where your unbearable agony
will only increase with the passing
of each nightmarish hour,
for the remainder of
your miserable life.