Chapter 10
Village of the Amazons
Island of Theros in the Center of the Bermuda Triangle
Jake stumbled again as the small group made their way slowly toward the estuary to bathe. Instead of a massive hangover, when he awoke from is rendezvous with Queen Themys, he had an irrational sense of vertigo. Dried blood trickled from his nose and ears and his eyes were so bloodshot the sclera was almost completely covered in red. He had a pounding headache the further exacerbated his current affliction.
"You should have stayed in bed, my king," Tatiana gently chided Jake from his left side. Lenore clung to his right as he stumbled along.
"No, I'm fine," Jake replied with a slight slur in his speech. "Jus need to move around for a bit."
"You need food," Lenore said. "Do you have any more of those, what did you call them, meal bars?"
"Not sure," Jake replied. "I might. If I do, they'd be in my rucksack."
"Shit!" Sestia hissed from in front of them as she stopped. Her whip uncurled from her waist and glowing in hand, she took a stance ready for battle.
Jake looked up as his eyes tried to focus on what had the dark-haired Amazon concerned. A low, whining growl touched his ears and he tensed. "Ses--"
"I know, my king," Sestia growled. "We cannot kill her. But I will not stand by and let her take advantage of our weakened states."
"I'm not saying you should," Jake replied, the tense situation sobering his mind somewhat. "I'm just saying that if she does attack, it is vitally important that we don't kill her."
"I am aware, Jake," Sestia replied. "My mother visited me in my dreams last night. She told me of the Grak'gull's importance to our people. She told me to lay my concerns to rest and support your decision to tame her. She will not die, but I will protect you."
Jake didn't have a reply for that. The dragon-dinosaur didn't move from the path, and it appeared the two groups were engaged in a standoff as the creature stared at Sestia.
"My mother also visited me," Lenore chimed in. "She informed me that the barrier has fallen. She also instructed me to ready ourselves to leave the island."
Jake kept his eye on the Bitch, but shifted slightly to face Lenore. "She did?"
Lenore nodded. Out of the corner of his eye, Jake noticed the massive monster's head shift slightly, her eyes focusing on Lenore as well.
Viciously intelligent, Jake thought. I wonder if she really does understand us?
"What about you?" Jake asked, turning to Tatiana.
The beautiful redhead nodded and blushed. "She told me that though she was sad that I had to lead our people so young, she was proud of the accomplishments I made in the five-thousand years of my reign. She also told me that she doubted she could have done anything any different to save any of our sisters."
Jake smiled knowingly at the former queen. "I'm proud of you, too, you know?"
"For what?" Tatiana asked, confused.
"This might come off a little conceited, but I'm proud of you for passing the mantle of leadership when you recognized that you didn't want it any more."
"But, you fought me almost entirely throughout the process," the redhead argued. "You didn't want it, either."
"I didn't," Jake replied. "Honestly, I still don't, but for right now I'm the right person for the job. Your mother convinced me of that last night when she imparted her royal wisdom upon me."
"You mean she made you smarter when she fucked you," Lenore giggled.
"Hey, now," Jake playfully argued. "I was already smart. She just imparted some important knowledge while she was... um..."
"Lubricating your spear, pleasuring your mind into oblivion?" Sestia called playfully over her shoulder, keeping a steady gaze on the Grak'gull in front of her.
"Since you put it so eloquently, yes," Jake answered with a smile. Glancing over Sestia's shoulder, Jake noticed the beast had taken what appeared to be a relaxed stance as she watched the four humans talk. She perked up slightly when Jake glanced at her. "Like the fact that you're not the only survivors of the attack on Themiscyra, for instance."
Three gorgeous heads whipped around to look in his direction, totally ignoring the potential threat in front of them for the moment. Three pairs of eyes looked at Jake in astonishment; three mouths dropped open in unabashed shock; three sets of eyes began to water.
"What!?" Tatiana whispered in awe. "Truly??"
Jake nodded. "There are less than ten, and they are... a bit different from us. But they are out there."
"How did they survive through the ages?" Sestia asked, tears flowing freely down her cheeks.
"The same way you did," Jake answered. "The only difference is, they didn't inherit any abilities except longevity when the ritual took place. While you three gained enhanced strength and speed, better weapons," Jake pointed to Sestia's glowing whip, "and enhanced healing abilities, the ones outside the barrier only gained a stunted version of immortality. Well, in addition to some changes to their visual appearance."
"What kinds of visual changes?" Lenore asked.
"Well, there are two in South America right now that are in desperate need of rescuing," Jake replied. "One is a jaguar-woman and the other is a monkey-girl. They are both essentially human in appearance, but the monkey-girl has monkey ears and a tail and can swing through the trees as fast as a person can run, while the jaguar-girl has cat ears and a cat tail."
"The scouts," Tatiana mumbled absently. She looked at Jake with desperation in her liquid eyes. "How could I have forgotten about the scouts!?" she cried.
Jake cupped her cheek in his attempt to console her. "You couldn't have known for sure how many scouts your mother had in the world at the time. For all you knew, everyone was in the city when the Grak'gull attacked."
"No," Tatiana replied through a lump in her throat. "Mother always had scouts away from home. Sometimes as many as a hundred scattered throughout our known world." Tears flowed down her freckled cheeks as she cried, deep, wracking sobs started in her chest before being forced from her body.
Jake pulled the redhead into a comforting embrace as she cried. "There was nothing you could have done, Tat," he consoled. "Even if you had known, if you tried to reach them, you would have died along with the rest of your people."
The inconsolable queen just nodded her head as she cried on Jake shoulder.
"How many are there?" Sestia asked as she turned back to keep an eye on the Grak'gull.
"I'm not certain about the exact number, but according to Themys, there are less than ten left. Right now, I'm only aware of the two in South America, somewhere deep in the jungle of Brazil, and they are in desperate need of rescuing."
"How can we get to them?" Lenore asked.
"Unfortunately, right now we can't," Jake replied with a heavy heart. "We can only hope they hold out long enough for us to reach them." He looked up at the monster seeming to wait patiently for her turn. "For the moment, though, there is a more pressing matter that needs to be addressed."
Tatiana pulled back to look at Jake as she sniffled. She wiped her tears as she followed his gaze to the waiting Grak'gull. Jake release his freckled lover and moved toward the dinosaur with the dragon-like head. Tatiana grabbed Jake's arm, holding him back.
"What are you doing, Jake?" Tatiana asked with wide eyes.
Jake looked back at the redhead with a soft smile. "We have less than a week to tame her. Might as well start now."
Though she released his arm, she still protested. "Why not wait until you are in better condition?"
"Because time waits for no one, Tat," Jake replied as he came along side Sestia. "Besides, I'm feeling a little better."
Sestia put her free hand on his shoulder. "Be careful, Dikos Mou," she said with a nervous smile.