Myths and Legends: Amazons Prologue

Prologue

Anatolia

The Beginning of the End

The city has fallen. Themiscyra. The once-great city of the Amazons lay in a state of ruin. Tatiana, daughter of Queen Themys herself, swept her gaze over the fallen city in search of her queen mother. She hadn't seen her fall. She panted as everywhere she looked, dead Amazons and enemies alike littered the landscape. Some scant two-hundred of her sisters remained in formation behind her. Without word from the queen, she was the last remaining ruler alive.

A squad of twelve of her sisters formed a loose semicircle around her, facing the way they had just come. She was to be protected at all costs. She stood tall and proud, despite the utter defeat she had just witnessed. She would wait until she was alone to allow herself to grieve. She turned to look at the survivors. All eyes except the twelve guards turned to her for guidance. Her sisters, her warriors, her kin, none shorter than six feet tall, all with bronze skin from days spent in the sun, looked at her with eyes full of fear. It nearly shattered her heart to see her people like this.

They had had mere minutes to prepare for the attack that came from the cursed Grak'gull, a raptor-like species of monster that overran their defenses and now lay waste to her beloved city. Her mother had sent her away with a simple piece of cloth. Tatiana didn't know what was on the fabric as she was made to swear she would not look upon it until she was safely tucked away on the island of Theros.

Reluctantly and with great trepidation, she ordered her sisters to board the boats behind her and set sail. Once in her cabin and alone, Tatiana allowed herself to grieve. Tears flowed freely for the loss of her home, her mother, her beautiful city. What more was the loss of all the men. How was she supposed to rule a doomed people if there were no men to produce children?

A soft knock sounded on her cabin door. "Yes?" Tatiana asked.

"It is I," a soft, familiar voice called through.

"Come," Tatiana responded without hesitation as she stood.

In walked her sister, her confidant, her love. Sestia quickly entered and closed the door behind her. She embraced Tatiana, and the two lovers fell to the floor together, allowing the other to cry into each other's necks and grieve as one.

When there were no more tears to cry, they held each other at arm's length. They were both battered and bruised, with multiple wounds that were more superficial than life-threatening. Tatiana leaned in and kissed Sestia softly on the lips. The other woman winced slightly from a cut on her upper lip but didn't pull back.

It was a week-long journey to Theros, and they barely had enough supplies to make the trip. If they were off course by even a single degree, many would begin to starve. Fortunately, Sestia was a master of navigation, and the journey took just under six days with the fair winds and weather.

They were an hour away from shore when the ship directly to Tatiana's right exploded outward at the waterline. Tatiana stared in disbelief as three Grak'gull swam quickly away from the ruined ship toward the shoreline. Tatiana yelled to destroy them, and barb-tipped leather thongs lashed out at the retreating monsters from the shattered bow of the sinking ship. Some of her sisters, it seemed, were more focused on destroying the potential threat to their existence than saving their own lives. A single thong managed to open the back of the centermost monster, and it roared in defiance and agony even as its skin and flesh split apart from the wound. Weakened by the blow, the beast sank to the bottom of the ocean while its kin escaped shoring and disappeared into the trees.

Tatiana watched as the ship sank below the surface. The survivors quickly swam to the boats nearest and were hauled aboard. Word quickly came across the water that only three perished, including the warrior that took down the one Grak'gull. Tatiana vowed to erect a statue on the shore as soon as possible in honor of the fallen women.

"How did they get on the ship!?" Tatiana roared to the women on her boat. No one answered. "HOW DID THEY EVEN KNOW TO GET ON THE SHIP!?!?" she screamed to no one in particular. "Bring me Hestia as soon as we make land!" she ordered. "And Lenore!! Search the ship," she told Sestia. "Make sure there are no more."

"It will be done, my queen," Sestia said and quickly relayed the order.

When the boats ran aground, the some two hundred women scrambled to shore. Tatiana ordered fifty of them to keep watch on the tree-line of the mile-long stretch of beach for any attacks from the Grak'gull. Thirty more were ordered to hunt the beasts in three teams of ten that doubled as scouts to see what resources were available on the island. The remaining women were ordered to begin offloading whatever supplies were left on the ships.

Hestia approached with Lenore trailing behind. Hestia was taller than Tatiana's six-foot-four frame by at least a couple of inches. She had raven-black hair and piercing blue eyes. Lenore, by contrast, was a couple of inches shorter than Tatiana and had honey-colored hair and green eyes.

"My queen," Hestia said, halting just before Tatiana.

"Explain," Tatiana ordered, her gray eyes boring into the woman. She pulled a lock of her rust-colored hair out of her face and waited.

"I cannot, my queen," Hestia began with no hint of reservation or uncertainty. "We know very little of the Grak'gull as it is. Why they were able to sneak aboard the ship without our knowledge-"

"I am not as interested as to the why so much as the how," Tatiana cut her off. "How were they so intelligent to do so to begin with?"

"Again, my queen, I do not know," Hestia replied.

When no further explanation came, Tatiana looked at Lenore. "Explain."

"I take full responsibility, my queen," Lenore said, her head bowed. "I should have had the ship checked before setting sail."

"You know what this means?" Tatiana said.

"Yes, my queen." She held her head high, awaiting judgement.

"Given the circumstances, I'm inclined to give you a reprieve. You could not have known they were smart enough to stow away." She glanced at Hestia. "Still, it happened under your command, so you are responsible. As of this moment, Hestia is taking command of your camp until another can rise to lead in your place. I take no pleasure in your absence from the war council."

Lenore looked up. "You are not...banishing me, my queen?"

"I see no need for that. There are little enough of us left as it is, and we need everyone available if we are going to survive."

"However long that may be," Sestia said as she approached, her brown locks waving in the wind. "With no men to produce offspring, we will die out soon enough."

Tatiana clutched the cloth her mother gave her. "It is time to see what plans my mother had in store for us." She looked up at Lenore

Hestia turned to look at her newest warrior. No words needed to be spoken, and Lenore turned to go. "It is a shame," Sestia commented. "She was a strong commander."

"She will be again someday," Tatiana replied. "It is unfortunate. If none had died during the Drak'gull's escape, I would have allowed her to keep her command."

"I will make sure she is taken care of," Hestia replied. "No shame will come to her for this."

"Good," Tatiana said, nodding. "Sestia, will you summon Lydia, Frania, and Zerys?"

As Sestia walked away, Tatiana motioned to Hestia, and the two women knelt in the sand. Tatiana was unfolding the cloth as Sestia returned with the three other women. They knelt in a tight circle, each woman holding an edge of the fabric so the wind wouldn't carry it away. The material was about four feet in diameter. On it was depicted what appeared to be an overlay of an island. No, the island, Tatiana realized. The island of Theros. It was somewhat egg-shaped, with a mountainous region on the north side. A single river wound from the mountain's south-eastern side to join with the sea in the west. Other than that, trees covered the island in its entirety. Tatiana was surprised to discover the map was incredibly detailed. It was only a few short miles in length at its longest, not much more than a league.

Looking up into the distance, the queen spotted parts of the river coming off the mountain and surmised that they were on the southern-most edge of the island. Turning back to the map, she noticed the text inscribed next to the map. Reading through it, she found it to be instructions on how to keep the people safe.

"Thank you, queen mother," she whispered, relieved. "We will form a settlement here, but we need to start making our way to the cove on the island's west side. There is fresh water there and most likely easy fishing. From there, we will travel the length of the river to the highest point on the mountain, where Hestia and I will perform the ritual to keep our people safe for eternity." She pointed to a set of text separate from the rest. "Any objections?"

"No, my queen," Zerys said. "But how will this affect the Grak'gull already on the island?"

"Let us hope they are eradicated by then," Tatiana replied as she folded the cloth.

"We might be able to get one of the ships off the sand and sail that way," Lydia suggested.

"That would make things much easier," Tatiana replied, nodding. "See to it, Lydia. Frania, see about getting fresh water here. Maybe the river branches off somewhere close. Zerys, find a sustainable food source. Fish, game, whatever is available. Hestia, you are in charge of the scouting parties. I want regular reports of the surrounding areas. That is, when I return." She grinned.

"Where are you going, my queen?" Sestia asked.

"We are going hunting, my love," Tatiana said. "Lenore is with me," she said to Hestia.

Hestia nodded, and the women stood and went to their tasks.

~ ~ ~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~ ~ ~

The weeks turned into months with no sight of the Drak'gull. The women had managed to make their way to the cove where the estuary provided fresh water and plenty of fish to catch. The dense forest had made tracking the beasts much more difficult than expected. The way to the top of the mountain had been cleared, and Queen Tatiana was waiting for word about their prey before performing the ritual. The months had been harsh, with a quarter of her people's lives being claimed by the island in some form or another.

One thing Tatiana hadn't accounted for, nor did she even think would be an issue, was with no men around to impregnate the women, their libido increased exponentially. It seemed biology was overcompensating for their inability to conceive and causing them to go out of their minds with lust. It became an everyday occurrence to see women going at each other's bodies out in the open in the middle of the village. Several women even succumbed to infection from trying to pleasure themselves with splintered wood, injuring their vaginas in the process. One warrior so out of her mind with lust pierced herself with her sword and bled out before she could be helped.

Tatiana worried that if they didn't do something soon, her people would all die from lust-induced injuries. It was becoming increasingly difficult for her to ignore her own primal urges. It took almost piercing herself with a dagger to decide it was time to perform the ritual, Drak'gull or not.

Tatiana convened the war council, and they unanimously agreed. They made their way to the top of the mountain, where Tatiana and Hestia immediately began the ritual ceremony while being guarded by the four other members of the war council. As the last words were uttered, the ground shook, and a crack and boom that sounded like thunder rolled across the sky. A pinkish-orange beam of light shot up from the mountain then funneled outward. The light completely encompassed the island, forming a dome as high as a hundred feet above the top of the mountain and spreading out to half a mile in every direction from the island's edge.

Tatiana woke to the full moon shining overhead. She blinked, looked around, and saw, to her relief, that her sisters were also waking up. She looked to where she knew the beam of light had shot into the sky but didn't see anything. She squinted as she tried to stand. Her head pounded as if it had been kicked by a horse. It took her a moment to collect herself as the world spun around her. She almost lost her stomach contents as she got her feet under her. Panting, she finally was able to right herself and stand. Waves of nausea came and went but were less frequent as time passed.

Lydia and Frania retched, emptying their stomachs, while the remaining women collected themselves, albeit with great difficulty.

"What...urrrragh...happened?" Hestia asked, struggling to keep her own stomach from emptying. "Do you remember?"

Tatiana nodded weakly. "Light encompassed the sky." Her voice sounded as if her throat was full of gravel. "I feel...different."

"How long have we been here?" Sestia asked, voice gruff, seemingly from disuse.

"By the full moon, I would guess at least two days," Hestia answered.

"I no longer feel the overwhelming need to reproduce," Zerys commented.

Tatiana blinked. Mentally honing in on the sensation, she realized the same thing. It was still there, like a latent need to relieve herself, yet dulled. "Quickly," she said, panic trying to spur her on. "Back to the village."

They hurried as much as they could. Even so, dawn's dim rays of light approached the horizon by the time they made it back. The village was eerily still as they arrived. One by one, they checked on the women. It took the better part of the morning, and the sun was about two hours past rising when they completed their task, but all of the women were accounted for. Some were waking up as they arrived, while others still slept. Those cognizant enough were immediately put on watch duty, and just in time.

As the members of the war council made their way back to the war hall, three Grak'gull burst from the tree-line, one of them immediately clamping its jaws around a sentry. Tatiana heard the roar of one of the beasts and the crunching of bone from the sentry being crushed in the jaws of another. She rushed toward the three monsters but paused in momentary shock as a thong glowing pink and orange lashed out and flicked the leg of one of the beasts. She looked on in confusion as the leg of the Grak'gull went flying away from the beast's body, the beast itself falling to the ground with a howl of pain. The remaining two Grak'gull were quickly dispatched by a horde of glowing pink and orange thongs rendering their bodies to chunks of flesh littering the ground.

"What?" she whispered, disbelieving what her eyes were telling her.

Cheers rose as Sestia, unfazed by the new weapons the amazons carried, approached the one Grak'gull still alive. The beast roared as Sestia took her sword and stabbed downward into its head. The sound of metal on rock resounded around the area, and the women fell silent. Not a sound could be heard except for the Grak'gull's snapping jaws and remaining foot clawing for purchase, desperately trying to clamp down on a last meal before death. The women stared in stunned silence as Sestia chopped down with her blade on the beast's neck, only to have the edge bounce off as if she had struck stone.

"Your thong, Sestia," Tatiana said as she approached.

Sestia looked down at her thong wrapped around her waist. It looked like it always had, braided leather with a spiked metal tip. With a flick of her wrist, she unwound the weapon only to have it shine like a glowing pink and orange snake as it uncoiled from around her body. She gasped as she flicked it a few times, testing its weight and tension. Backing away from the Grak'gull, she flicked her wrist and sent the tip of the thong flying. The animal's lower jaw separated from its head and spun a few feet from its body. Sestia grinned and performed a quick up and down chop with her wrist, sending the thong flying to separate the beast's head from its body.

The warriors began talking among themselves about this new revelation while Hestia approached the mostly attached body of the Grak'gull Sestia had just killed. She examined what she could of the body, then went to the head. She looked at Tatiana with a worried expression.

"What is it, Hestia?" the queen asked, and a hush fell among the crowd.

"This one is young," Hestia replied. "Barely into adolescence."

"Are you certain?" Tatiana asked. This did not bode well if that was the case.

"Yes," Hestia replied.

A soft moan drew everyone's attention to the tree line. The sentry that had gotten bit was still alive! Everyone rushed in that direction before stopping in their tracks. A large Grak'gull, much larger than the ones that had just attacked, had broken through the tree line, making a beeline for the injured woman. "NO!" Tatiana roared, but no matter how fast they ran, they wouldn't be fast enough. The wounded woman screamed as the beast bit down on her head, taking half of her torso in the process, and retreated into the trees.

A dozen amazons gave chase, but it would be no use. No matter how fast they were, the monsters were faster. Their only hope was to track the beast back to its lair and kill it. Tatiana approached the gore-splattered body of the sentry. All she could do was hope that Artemis would take the woman's soul on the great hunt with her.

"Look," Hestia replied as she knelt next to the body. She had a look of morbid fascination on her face. "Her wounds were healing."

"What?" Sestia said. "That is impossible!"

"No," Hestia said. "See here, this puncture wound? It was knitting itself back together. It would have taken some time, but it would have healed itself within an hour or so unless I miss my guess."

Tatiana frowned. Not wanting to test this theory out on any of her people, she quickly drew her dagger and impaled her opposite palm with it. She cried out in pain but withdrew the blade.

"My queen!" Sestia squeaked but looked on in awe as the bleeding almost immediately stopped.

Tatiana's skin prickled as it slowly but surely started to knit itself back together. It was painful and itched like a thousand mosquito bites, but it would soon be back to normal with no evidence the wound had ever occurred. She looked back and forth between her hand and the other women for a few seconds, mouth hanging open in shock. Then she composed herself and remembered where she was and what they were doing.

"Form a hunting party and track that Grak'gull back to its lair," Tatiana said. "I want its head." She looked at the remains of the dead amazon. "Prepare her for the journey to Artemis." She walked back to her hut, wondering what other abilities her people would develop as a result of this ritual of her mother's.