Chapter 8:
Choosing Sites
By Xenamungrrr
Sarah entered the cell as soon as it was opened by the vampire guard. She was met with a hug from Eve which she did not return.
“Sarah, I'm so glad you're ok? What did Varia say?”
“Before she put the knife to my throat or after?” She asked as she disengaged Eve's arms and moved away from her.
“She put a knife to your throat?” She said with worry evident in her eyes.
“It's a lot better than shoving one in my back.” Sarah's eyes were shooting daggers at the ones before her.
“What do you mean?” Eve asked, unable to hold her gaze
Sarah laughed lightly. “You suck at lying.”
“Sarah I…” Eve started.
“Oh no!” The time traveler interrupted. “You don't get to talk right now. You're mouth has already done all the damage I'm going to allow it to do.”
Eve remained silent as she watched Sarah pace angrily back and forth.
“You know, when I read Gabrielle's scroll about you being the new incarnation of Calisto's soul I truly couldn't wait to see how you turned out. Then I read all of your Livia stories and I had all these theories about how deep down Calisto must have always had a blood lust; the kind of thirst for destruction that would have arisen whether fostered by Xena's actions or not. But then you went and got all boring with your peace loving, hippie bullshit and I lost interest in you completely. It's only been since I've met you that I thought I had a grasp of who you really were. In the past few weeks I've seen you as this struggling, but sedated, ex-warlord who works very hard to make up for her past and control her violent tendencies.”
“Sarah please…” Eve tried, but was cut off again.
“You see, now you're true colors are really starting to shine through. You know damn well this alliance is the best possible move for the Amazons, yet you cannot imagine turning down a fight that your precious God might be ok with.” Sarah continued.
“You're wrong Sarah; I am the one who wants the best for the Amazons. You're the one who's having trouble controlling your desires. You're so fixated on that disgusting vampire that you can't see the risk of letting them all continue to live.” Eve fired back.
“You know, where I come from, we tend to look down on people who want to wipe out an entire race.”
“And where I come from we look down on ignorant fools who would protect soulless monsters who live merely to kill the innocent.”
Sarah growled in frustration.
“How could you possibly know they don't have a soul, Eve?”
“How could you possibly know they do have one?” The Messenger countered.
“Because I can feel it when I'm with her!”
The cell got quiet as Sarah's last statement seemed to cling to the air between them. She knew it shouldn't have come out of her mouth and Eve knew that it gave her an advantage. They were silent for a few seconds before the Messenger spoke up.
“Sarah, you're confused.” She put a hand on the girl's shoulder. “You're a very passionate person and right now you're being blinded by that passion. You can't see clearly because she's got you under some kind of spell. I need you to trust me here.”
Sarah put her hand on Eve's and sighed.
“Do you want to know what one of the saddest parts of this whole situation is, Eve?”
Eve nodded and Sarah roughly removed her hand from her shoulder.
“It's that I honestly shouldn't trust either of you. I've been manipulated by you both in the past few days and I'm getting really tired of being played for the fool. So I'm simply going to place my trust in the person who was least recent with the whole ‘dicking me over' process. Sadly, you don't get that honor.”
“And what is that supposed to mean? Are you really going to side with that vampire and fight the Amazons?”
“That all depends on you, Eve.” Sarah said, knowing that the Messenger wasn't going to like the next bit of dialogue. “Varia has asked that you be released from here before she'll even consider meeting with the vampires. Now, I think this is all just a clever ruse to get you out of the nest so she can torch the place. Once you're back in camp it'll be your job to make sure that everything goes according to plan: my plan! The Amazons and the vampires are going to ally with each other and fight off the slave traders. Then both sides will go about their merry way, never even thinking about attacking one another. However, if Varia decides she still doesn't like this plan, you are going to demand the royal challenge, naming me as your champion and then all I have to do is outlast her in the fight and we can go about our business.”
Eve huffed and smirked at Sarah's arrogance.
“And what makes you think I'm going to do any of this?”
“Because you care about Varia and you don't want to watch her die.”
Eve's anger was starting to blaze inside her.
“Are you threatening her?” Eve asked.
“Yeah, pretty much.” Sarah said. “You help ensure that this war doesn't break out and I'll help make sure Varia stays alive. If you don't, I will personally guarantee that Varia's blood is the first to soil her precious Amazon land.”
“You've gone insane!” Eve growled. “You're threatening violence to secure peace.”
“And you're not?” Sarah fired back. “We're both on the wrong side here Eve because we're fighting against each other. That's something you started and it's going to come to an end one way or another. How it ends all depends on you.”
“I could break every bone in your body right now and you'd never even have the chance to fight.” She bluffed.
“And I could have every vampire in this crypt descend upon you with one command. Is that how you want to end it?” She held out her arm in offering. “If so, go ahead. You get to make the first move.”
Eve studied her. “You know that was just a threat. I'd never really hurt you.”
Sarah pulled her arm back walked closer to her. “You don't have to break my bones to hurt me, Eve. It's a bit late for statements like that.”
Eve's body tensed as she realized the truth of it all. She stared at Sarah's eyes and noticed the anger had faded to pain. Sarah looked away quickly and moved past Eve to rest her hands on the cell bars.
“That's what this is all about isn't it?” The Messenger asked as the truth of the matter started to dawn on her. “You're not doing this to protect Khepri; you're doing it because you're angry with me. Because I betrayed you. God, you really are a part of the family.”
“I'm doing it because, as far as I can see, it's the right thing to do.” Sarah said.
“And what about your friends, Sarah? You made friends in that village, are you going to let them die in this fight just because you're mad at me?”
“Don't you dare try to manipulate me again!” The time traveler turned and pointed her finger at the Messenger. “Their fate is yours to decide, not mine. You made sure of that when you decided to work with Asteri in order to catapult this war.”
“You're not deluded enough to believe that.”
“Oh sweetheart, you can't even imagine the bounds of my delusions at this point. My brain has been fucked with by nearly everyone I've become close to around here. It's about time I started trusting myself.” She called the guard over and he unlocked the door. “It's also time for this conversation to end. Tell Varia we'll be waiting in the woods just outside the camp after sundown. You've got till then to decide what you're going to do.”
Eve walked to the opening, but paused in front of Sarah.
“Do you really think you can hold your own against Varia in a fight?” She asked.
Sarah's eyes met hers when she answered. “That's probably the only part of the plan that's a win/win situation for me. If I somehow manage to best her then we'll clean up this whole mess and you'll see that I'm right about the vampires.”
“And if you lose?” The Messenger asked.
Sarah smiled. “Then that'll mean she's completely incapacitated me and this whole God forsaken situation will finally be out of my hands.”
It was Eve's turn to look away now as she contemplated the defeated tone in Sarah's voice. She finally decided there was nothing left for her to say and walked away.
“And just so you know; the soulless vampire that is controlling my mind offered to let us both go, right before I came to speak with you.”
The statement caused the Messenger to stop in her steps, but she did not turn back before walking out of the crypt. Sarah leaned sadly against the cell door as she watched her leave.
“For what it's worth,” came the deep voice of the tall vampire standing guard, “I think you're on the right side.”
“Heh!” Sarah let out a surprised laugh before patting the vampire on the shoulder. “Thanks pal, I appreciate that.”
Khepri entered Asteri's bedroom and used her vampire speed to rush him against the wall. With her hand around his throat and a knife nailing one of his hands to the wall behind him, she growled deep in her throat.
“Are you insane?” He yelled after reeling in pain from his hand.
“No, but apparently you are! Going behind my back and working with Eve to try to start this war; I should be looking for a way to kill you right now instead of bothering with this ridiculous Amazon situation.” She drew another knife and slammed it into his free hand then backed off and glared at him.
“Well, by Bacchus, you've made your point.” He screamed. “Now let me go.”
“Oh no; you're not going anywhere. You've caused too much trouble as it is. I am going to meet with the Amazons and should they find some way to defeat me I am going to tell them exactly where you are so they can have their way with you.”
“Khepri this is crazy! You can't just betray your own flesh and blood because you have a crush on one worthless human.” He reasoned.
She got up in his face again as she spoke through clenched teeth. “That ‘worthless human' is going to be fighting beside me no matter what happens tonight, and I can trust her to do so; which is a lot more than I can say for you.”
She pushed herself away and headed for the door as she spoke to him over her shoulder.
“If they do come for you, just remember that it was you who betrayed me first.”
Asteri screamed at her to release him for a few seconds then stopped to analyze his situation. Even with his vampire strength he couldn't free his hands because the position was too awkward; both knives were slammed to the hilt in his palms. His best bet would be to slowly work at it for a few hours, but that would be very painful and he truly loathed pain.
As he tried to figure another way out of his current predicament a thought occurred to him that made him smile. His greatest hope, now, was that the vampires and the Amazons would broker the peace that Sarah and Khepri so desperately wanted.
“Oh irony,” he said to himself, “thou are a cold hearted bitch.”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa.” Zoe said to Rada. “You're telling us that Sarah is some immortal war hero who single handedly started a war in Chin that freed their people from oppression?”
“Yeah, pretty much.” Rada answered.
“Are you sure we're talking about the same Sarah?” Meg asked.
“Look, I know she might seem a little slow in the head, and she's terrible at fighting, but Sarah somehow manages to save the day. You watch, she's gonna fix this whole problem between you guys and all those other people that hate you.”
“She's going to have a hard time doing that.” Anthony said. “Varia's not just going to agree to peace with the vampires. She's going to want to avenge the Amazons that died and she won't have too much opposition from the rest of the community. The Amazon's aren't exactly known for their even keeled sense of future prosperity when it comes to making amends for dead sisters.”
“Sarah will think of a way out of it, I know she will.” Rada said, though worry was starting to temper her voice.
“What if she doesn't?” Rah piped in. “I did a little eave's dropping when she was talking to the Queen. Sarah threatened to switch sides if we didn't make peace.”
“Then we will just switch sides too.” Rada said.
A loud laugh tore out of Anthony's mouth and the rest of the Amazons looked at him as if he were crazy. He quickly reigned in the outburst.
“Sorry about that.” He apologized.
“You may be able to just jump over the fence like that, but the rest of us don't have that option.” Zoe said. “This is our family and we have to fight beside them whether they're right or wrong.”
“It's cute that you still believe in such notions.” Rada said. “Let's pray you live long enough to realize that ‘family' is just a word; it doesn't stop the people held within its bounds from being wrong. And it certainly doesn't stop them from betraying you in the end.”
They all simply stared at her until Anthony's voice broke the tension.
“Okay, so obviously somebody has some issues that need to be worked out at a later date and time.”
“Things really would be a lot easier if we just accepted the peace.” Rah said.
“We're all going to pretend you didn't say that.” Zoe warned. “Seriously Rah, you can be killed if the wrong person hears you disagreeing with whatever the queen decides to do.”
They were all quiet for a few moments.
“She is right.” Anthony said. “If we fight the vampires at night we'll probably all end up…”
“Zippit!” Zoe silenced him. “We'll end up dead for sure if this conversation continues.”
The silence lasted for a few more moments before Meg spoke up as well.
“You know if we went into battle against every nation that killed one of our sisters the Amazons would be extinct.”
“Oh for Artemis' sake, what do I have to do to get you people to understand how dangerous it is to disagree with the queen?” Zoe put her hand to her head.
“Sarah did it, and she's still alive.” Rada said.
“That's because she's immortal!” Zoe reasoned.
“But I don't think the queen knows that.” Rah interjected.
Zoe stood up. “OK, it's clear now that you've all gone insane. I am leaving this tent and I suggest you all do the same. We need to separate so that this whole line of conversation will cease. I'm pretty sure you've all got weapons that need sharpening.”
The entire group of Amazons sighed then did as Zoe said; the night ahead weighing heavy on their minds. Left up to her own devices, Rada decided to snoop around the hut. With little effort she found a crate full of wineskins. Smiling, she pulled one out and sniffed its contents.
“Well, if I'm gonna die because of these crazy bitches I might as well die drunk.” She said before turning up the skin.
As Eve entered the camp, the choices resting on her shoulders weighed heavy on her steps. Even if she wanted to go through with Sarah's plan, how could she possibly do so without betraying Varia? She was in a no win situation; either Sarah would suffer or Varia would. But what about the Amazons? Was Sarah right?
Am I simply giving in to her thirst for violence?
“I've come so far from that.” She said softly to herself. “Am I really doing this because I want to be back in action?”
She prayed for an answer to that question, but none came. As she entered the queen's hut she was greeted with a strong embrace from the woman she loved.
“Thank the Gods you're safe!” Varia exclaimed as she pulled back from the hug to kiss Eve. “I was so worried about what those monsters would do to you.”
“I'm fine, love.” Eve answered and kissed her hard on the lips.
The room emptied and the Messenger pushed forward, backing Varia up onto the desk. Her tongue delved into the queen's mouth and caused the queen to wrap her legs around her assailant. Eve wasted no time divesting Varia of her top as she sucked generously at her corded neck. The Amazon moaned and clawed at Eve's back; the pressure serving only to heighten the Messenger's arousal.
“I'll kill them all for what they've done to you.” Varia said breathlessly.
Chill bumps rose on the Eve's arms and in that moment she realized that her romantic ardor was not coming from a place of love and relief but from something much darker: battle lust. She pulled back quickly and looked into Varia's eyes. The passion between them was palpable and, no matter where it came from, it felt so right. She was there, holding on to someone who truly believed in her; someone who wanted exactly what she wanted. The guilt that Sarah had laid upon her seemed to vanish into thin air. She placed a hand on the back Amazon's neck as she pulled her into another searing kiss. The hand then followed a path down Varia's throat and paused briefly to tweak a straining nipple before descending down her taut abdomen to her warm, wet crotch.
“The Amazons will not placate a race of monsters just to recruit help against a pack of lowly slave traders.” She said as she moved the cloth barrier aside and stroked the dark haired beauty before her. “The Amazons have been bowing down to greater enemies for far too long and it's time that mode of leadership came to an end.”
Varia gasped when Eve entered her.
“We will annihilate the vampires or force them to bow to our will.” She said, pushing the queen's upper body down against the desk.
She pumped hard and fast into her lover and reveled in the cries that followed.
“Sarah is going to try to use me against you. Let her.” She commanded as she leaned down to swallow Varia's moans with her mouth before pulling away to speak. “I know her secrets, and I know how you can defeat her.”
“Believe me, that won't be a problem.” Varia managed to say through bated breath.
Eve chuckled. “I know, my love, but there are things you need to understand first. You can't just kill her; she's an immortal.”
Varia was about to stop Eve's amorous actions but was silenced by another kiss.
“You'll have to incapacitate her.” She increased her thrusts. “Cripple her, if you must, but you won't be able to kill her.”
As Eve's movements grew harder and faster Varia nearly lost all interest in the strategic conversation that was taking place. And as her lust increased, Eve too began to focus on the physical action at hand. But as she felt the queen's climax approaching she felt the need to seal it with one last bit of advice.
“You'll fight her with a staff.” She focused her hand more on the queen's hardened nub and reveled in the accelerated vocal result. “And you'll finish her off by breaking her legs.”
As Varia climaxed her own legs wrapped themselves tightly around Eve. Once the tremors stopped she looked up at her partner with questions in her eyes.
“What's going on, Eve?”
Eve leaned down and kissed her softly.
“Two wrong sides are fighting to be right.” She said sadly before placing one more brief kiss upon her queen's lips.
Sarah entered Khepri's room and softly closed the door before moving to stand in front of the vampire.
“How'd it go?” Khepri asked.
Sarah's eyes looked sad and defeated.
“I think it's going to be a long night.” She answered softly before looking down.
Khepri gently raised her chin back up.
“I know you understand that I can't call this off.” She said, waiting for, and receiving, a nod of acceptance from Sarah. “But I want you to know that you can still walk away.”
Sarah sighed before answering.
“No, I can't.” She turned and walked toward the vampire's small bar and picked up a bottle of blood. Feeling the weight of it in her hand and held it up to the light to glance at the shadows it made.
“I know you've been more than generous about this whole situation, but I'm afraid I need to ask for more favors from you.” She said as she contemplated where the blood came from.
Khepri came from behind her and gently took the bottle from her hands; placing it back on the bar. She then slowly turned Sarah around until their faces were inches away from each other.
“I don't know if you've realized this yet, but I seem to have a hard time denying you what you want.” She said as she brought one hand up to stroke the girls face. “All you have to do is ask.”
Tears started to sting at Sarah's eyes, but she held them back. She wanted to ask Khepri to take her away from all of this. She wanted to leave it all behind and lose herself in the woman whose mere presence could intoxicate her so greatly. But she knew her own mind would never allow such an escape. She could be on the other side of the Atlantic and still know that there would be so much death with her name on it if she refused to see out her destiny on the lands she'd begun to hate so much. So instead of asking what she truly wanted, she settled for what she needed.
“I need you to promise me that should Varia accept a challenge from me, that you won't allow anyone to attack until the fight is over.” She asked.
“Sarah, I can't just let her…” Khepri warned.
“Not until the fight is over!” Sarah said, fiercely, then softened her tone. “Please, Khepri.”
If she'd ever heard Sarah use the word ‘please' before she couldn't remember. And it didn't matter, for the way she said it now was enough to make the vampire afford her any wish she asked. Finally, she nodded with trepidation.
“The second thing I have to ask you for is this: if there is any possible way my friends can be spared I need you to try to see to their safety. You've met them all before and I hope that maybe something can be done to…”
“I'll tell my vampires to look out for them, but I can't make any promises that they won't get caught in the crossfire.” She pledged honestly.
Sarah nodded. “I can't ask for much more than that.” She looked down.
“There's something else, isn't there?” Khepri asked.
The time traveler tensed before she offered up her final request.
“Make sure Eve survives.” It was supposed to sound like a plea, but came out more as a command.
Khepri let out an audible growl and turned to walk away from her.
“She betrayed you and still you can't stop yourself from caring about what happens to her.” She spat.
“Kinda like how I've tried to help you.” Sarah argued. “She might be wrong right now, but she's still my friend.”
“Yeah, and I'll bet my immortality that right now your ‘friend' is telling Varia exactly how to beat you tonight.” Khepri said, turning angrily to face Sarah.
“I don't care if she is.” Sarah said, stunning the vampire. “Love and friendship don't exist on some kind of linear string, Khepri; you can't just cut them loose.”
“Love and friendship, huh? And as far as Eve's concerned, which one of those sentiments do you lean more toward?”
Sarah stared at her as if she'd grown a third eye. “You want to tell me exactly what you're implying there?”
“I think you know.” Khepri said, annoyed.
“You've got to be kidding me.” Sarah said, in English, to the ceiling as she threw her hands up in the air. “I haven't had sex in like 2000 years and yet I get accused of banging people left and right.”
Khepri simply stared at her in confusion until Sarah decided to address her again.
“Ok, let's get something straight: I am not sleeping with anyone and when I say anyone I mean Eve, or you, or whomever else you people may think I've got a thing for. And even if I was I'm not led around by my crotch, so let's just stop making assumptions about my moral fiber.”
Khepri looked down and nodded in agreement.
“Good, glad we got that straight. Now, would you please do me a favor and promise me that you will do all that is in your power to make sure that my completely platonic friend Eve escapes from all of this unharmed?” She softened her voice.
Again Khepri nodded. “I promise to do my best.”
“That's all I can ask for.” Sarah acquiesced. “Did you talk to Asteri?”
“Don't worry about him. He'll be nailed down for a while.” She answered, then her body tensed before she spoke again. “The sun has set; we should be going.”
“Yeah, I guess so.” Sarah nodded as she moved toward the vampire. “Listen, I don't want you to think that I'm not grateful for all that you've done for me. I know that you didn't have to do any of it; you could have just eaten us all and called it a day, but you didn't. I wanted to say thank you for all of it. I know they're just words, but I truly am in your debt.”
Khepri smiled down at the girl. She was so young and yet so serious. Raising her hand she playfully pinched one of Sarah's cheeks.
“Don't worry; when all of this is over I'm sure I'll think of some way for you to work off that debt.” She said with a smirk.
Sarah's eyes grew wide with surprised and she simply stumbled over her words. Not sure what the correct response was.
“Shh.” Khepri silenced her. “We'll cross that bridge when we get to it. Now let's go; we have dozens of angry Amazons to deal with.”
“Right.” Sarah said, as she followed the vampire and contemplated a variety of fun and interesting ways to pay her back.
As Zoe made her way to the podium for Varia's rally speech she lit up a quick smoke and tried to calm her nerves. Battle really was not her strong suit and she hated the idea of going up against either of the potential enemies they were to face tonight. As the smoke filtered through her system and hit her blood stream she felt a slight tingling sensation, but nothing near the sedation she sought. Then she heard Andromeda's voice coming from the clothing hut.
“I know that, Andy, but the tribe is low in numbers as it is. Making a mistake like this could cost us our lives, not to mention the entire future of the Amazon nation.”
“Oh no.” Zoe said, stopping in the middle of her tracks to move closer to the hut.
“I know, hon, but it's not like you can just go against what the queen says. She'll have you brought up on charges of treason. That's punishable by death.” Andy argued.
“Not if we all stand up to her!” Andromeda countered.
“Are you crazy! We're about to go into battle, you can't be thinking like that. Spreading dissension amongst the ranks will get us all killed not matter what.”
“It's not like I'm planning a mutiny here Andy, I'm just saying that if enough people were to stand against her, we might have a chance at salvaging what's left of our puny ranks. I'm not the only one who thinks this way; I've heard a lot of chatter around the camp about it.”
“Well I don't care what you've heard! We are a tribe that works on the will of the queen and once we start questioning that will you might as well kiss the Amazons goodbye anyway. There's more than one way to destroy this tribe.”
Andromeda growled. “By the gods, why do you have to be so damn straight laced?”
Andy sighed, then moved closer to her partner.
“Look, I'm sorry; I'm not trying to fight you on this. I do see your point; I just think that it's a little late to change anything. Let's just go out there and see how this all pans out. Queen Varia wants this nation to succeed just as much as you do, let's just hope she does the right thing.”
Zoe moved away from the tent and stomped her tobacco into the ground. She needed to find the rest of her friends fast so she headed back her hut. Once she'd opened the door all she saw were a few empty wineskins and one very drunk foreigner.
“Zoe! I'm so happy to see you!” Rada said, before embracing the Amazon in a warm greeting. “You make some of the most wonderful wine.”
“Oh good Gods!” Zoe groaned as she pushed the girl off of her. “Rada, have you seen Meg? Has she come back to the hut yet?”
“Oh Meg, yes, she came back here a little while ago to get her weapons. She's a really sweet girl.” She slurred.
“Great, that means she's probably already at the rally.” Zoe growled before turning to leave. “I'm gonna kill her.”
“Well that's not very nice.” Rada said, then shrugged before turning to grab a few more wine skins and heading to the jail to talk to Arsen.
As she stumbled over she noticed all of the Amazons heading in the same direction. Everyone except the guards at the prison.
“I'd like to go in the jail again please.” She said with a smile.
Both guards looked at her as if she was crazy.
“Here I brought this for you.” The Slav said, handing over one of her wineskins.
The guards then looked at each other, then shrugged as one of them accepted the wine and opened the door for Rada to enter.
“Well if it isn't my favorite new foreign friend!” Arsen said. “What'd you do to get back in here?”
“I just asked.” Rada said, dropping down on the bench beside him and handing him a wineskin. “The Amazons are kind of boring. I'd rather hang out with you.”
Arsen chuckled and took a swig from the skin.
“You know you might have the right idea.” He said. “If all the gossip I've been hearing manages to amount to anything those Amazons have gone bat shit crazy. This may be the safest place to be once all hell breaks loose.”
“Well there you go. We'll just wait for them all to kill each other, then we'll find a way to break out of this shit hole.”
“I like the way you think.” He said, as they brought their booze together for a toast.
Zoe made her way through the crowd and found Meg, Rah and Anthony all standing together. She could barely control her anger enough to keep her voice down.
“What in Hades have you guys been saying around the camp? I specifically told you not to talk about your disagreements with Varia! You could have gotten caught!”
“Well we certainly will if you don't keep your voice down!” Meg chastised her. “You need to relax. It's not like we talked to a lot of people about it.”
“Oh really, then why did I hear Andy and Andromeda arguing about it?” She asked.
“I don't know, I didn't talk to them.” Meg answered.
“Me neither.” Anthony said.
Then they all looked to Rah who put her hands up defensively.
“Don't look at me; I only talked to two people about it.” She answered.
“Exactly!” Zoe said. “You all have lived in this village long enough to know that lesbians do not keep things to themselves. So you tell two friends something, then they tell two friends and they tell two friends and pretty soon the whole Gods be damned village knows about it and it's bound to get around to somebody who will tell the Queen!”
“Well I doubt she plans on beheading any of us right now, she's about to start talking. Just calm down and try to act normal.” Anthony said.
As Varia stepped up to the platform she looked around and waited for everyone to be quiet. The talking died down to whispers and the whispers soon made way to silence.
“Amazons, the very fate of our nation faces a great threat.” She started. “Just outside our gates lies a nest of dangerous monsters that will snuff out each and every life within this village. We must fight to protect our homeland at all costs, but more importantly, we must fight to avenge the sisters that fell to these monsters' grasp. We cannot hold any false hopes of some ridiculous alliance conjured up by a traitorous outsider. I know some of you grew to like Sarah, but she has sided with our enemy and therefore must be destroyed.”
“I sure hope Sarah knows what she's doing.” Rada said as she and Arsen watched the speech from the barred window. “That Amazon sounds pissed.”
“They always sound that way.” Arsen replied. “Has something do with a bunch of women living together and fucking each other. Without a man to knock some sense into them they tend to go a little off the deep end. At least they're not all cycling together right now.”
“How do you know that?” Rada inquired.
“Let's just say the chick that fucked up my back came by for a little visit while you were gone and fucked up my back again in a slightly different way.”
It took a few seconds for Rada to catch on to what Arsen was saying, but she laughed once she got it.
“Nice!” She said before punching him lightly on the shoulder and returning to her previous listening position.
“Right now we must fight to ensure the survival of a strong Amazon nation. One that does not back down from the hard fight. Tonight we raise our swords together in defiance of those who would dare do us harm.” The Queen raised her sword and spoke the words of Gabrielle. “To a strong Amazon nation!”
Her words were met with mimicking actions and phrases and she then ordered them all to formation.
“You did well, my queen.” Eve whispered in her ear as she adjusted her battle gear. “Let's go.”
They then proceeded to walk through the ranks toward their future.
“I think you're friend may have bitten off more than she can chew on this one.” Arsen said.
As Rada stared at the retreating forms she sighed.
“She'll make it.” She took another drink. “She has to.”