As The Scrolls Unroll -- One

[vox]

Flashback Story

As they stood in the tavern Aphmenie remembered being young, about 4 years of age, she was being looked after by a kind elderly lady whom she fondly referred to as ‘Gnan’. Aphemenie was a very slight child, with short red curly hair and freckles over the bridge of her nose. She was quite pretty in a elfin sort of way. She was an inquisitive child and at times exasperated ‘Gnan’ with her constant questions. Especially when she asked about her parents.

Gnan was very ‘guarded’ in her responses, all Aphemenie managed to glean from her was that her parents were no longer around, whether they were alive or dead, she did not know. It also emerged that Aphemenie was an only child. That was something she would have to ask Goranje about when she next saw him. Maybe he knew more about her parentage.

There was very little affection in her life even from Gnan, the only person she felt ‘close’ to was Goranje. He was a quiet unassuming man who commanded respect, and in return he guided them with his wisdom. She had always felt at ease in his company and was comforted in the knowledge that she could always turn to him, should the need arise.

As a child, Aphemenie was left to find her own amusement and so she became quite a ‘loner’, not mixing with others. She spent her days ‘playing’ in the forest, and it became her ‘friend’. She would sit for hours on the grassy floor of the forest alone with her thoughts, watching the insects, birds and animals going about their daily business. The sunlight wafted through the trees playing on the grass, making each blade of grass a different shade of green, especially after it had rained, the myriad of colours in each raindrop fascinated her. It felt good underfoot, like a big green mossy carpet, she would sit there for hours just touching each blade of grass, smelling each flower. She knew every inch of the forests by the time she had grown up.

At the age of six years Aphemenie was still unaware that she could fly, she had always walked everywhere, in and out of the forest, for she dared not venture too far away lest she lost her bearings, and she had never seen any of the others fly. It was by pure accident that it was discovered. She loved to climb trees (as all the children did) and to look out over the landscape. She could see for miles when she was in the trees and she used to sit and daydream about what it was like in the places she could see from up there.
It was one particular day. as she was sitting up in a big old tree watching the birds and animals that something in the distance caught her eye, she stood up to try to get a better perspective and lost her footing. This particular tree was the biggest and oldest one in the forest and it was also her favourite. It had the best vantage point of all the trees. She screamed as she felt herself falling and thought to herself “Oh no!, I am going to either badly injure myself or even die!”.

As she was falling, she felt her body tense up in readiness for the inevitable impact.

Instead of plummeting headfirst into the ground, when she tensed herself, she had felt a fluttering sensation in the small of her back, suddenly she was no longer falling, she was gliding!

The intense fear of impact was immediately replaced by instant relief.“Oh my god” what just happened?” thought Aphemenie. The euphoria that followed when she realised she was flying and was not going to hit the ground overwhelmed her.

“Wheeeeee!”

She gently landed on the forest floor a few hundred yards away from the big tree. “did I just imagine that?” thought Aphemenie. She then wondered if she could ‘take off’ from the ground. She tensed her back again, and the fluttering sensation began again, she launched herself upwards, and suddenly she was ascending to wards the sky, she was flying again.

“Hey! look at me, I’m flying! just like my friends the birds”

She could see everything that she had noticed from the trees and more, but this time she could get a closer look. There was the coast to the northwest with what looked like a small fishing harbour, an old Amazonian village to the southeast, not her village, but another one, this one had huts and tents and she could see people milling about, going about their daily lives, the women doing chores, the men practising armed combat and the children playing. She had no idea that this particular village even existed, as it was not visible from the trees. Below her was just big expanse of forest, her forest, her home.

It was a fantastic feeling, gliding high in the sky, above the clouds, being up there with the birds. She felt a kind of kinship with them and no longer envied them.. She felt incredibly ‘free’. She instantly fell in love with flying.

Aphemenie did not tell Gnan that she had discovered she could fly, it was her little ‘secret’. Aphemenie had also noticed that she could ‘fly’ at great speeds, covering great distances in a relatively short time and therefore reaching her destination much quicker. She was also to find out about her other ‘abilities’ much later on.

Aphemenie was saddened when Gnan died in her own way she had loved the old woman, Gnan was a kindly old lady who looked after her, fed her and gave her somewhere to sleep. She was about 14 years of age by then and she was dependent on no one.

After the burial, she was allowed to ‘take over’ Gnan’s place and so she set to, making it her own. Out of respect she kept a couple of keepsakes of Gnan’s, an old dagger and a necklace carved out of wood. The necklace smelled of Gnan and although there was little affection between them, it comforted Aphemenie during the long and lonely nights.

With Goranje’s guidance, Aphemenie became quite skilled in the use of a dagger. It was impressed on her though, that it was only to be used to defend herself, should she be attacked.

[moonglum]

The three women turned towards Jason. He felt like shouting, ‘will this madness never end?’ Instead he merely sighed. Holstering his pistol, he stared at the unlikely trio, as the red-haired woman said.
“Now that’s all taken care of, I’ve brought help. Where is Letitia?”
Jason looked at the women. Two of them, the one called Phalon and the one called Scrappy, he recognised from the House and the clearing. Eurayle had called Phalon ‘an old friend’. The third woman, however, was a mystery. Her long red hair, bright yellow eyes and bare feet gave her a somewhat elfin appearance. Her piercing stare seemed to burrow into his skull and why …why was he thinking of Mervina?

“Why is Jason looking at me that way” Aphemenie had trouble reading his thoughts, he was a closed book. The only thoughts that were coming through were of Letitia and the woman Eurayle. Jason was unaware of Aphemenie’s ability to read/hear thoughts!
What was this strange feeling she was experiencing, she had never felt this way before, she was not sure what it was or even if it had a name. All she knew was that it was something new to her.
Jason had looked deeply into her eyes, did he see something? Was there a connection? She felt confused and she knew that feeling all too well.
“what do I do now?” "do I stay or should I just leave?” She stood there for what seemed an age, waiting for someone else to say something. It was as if she was an intruder within this little group. She had done what she set out to do, but now did not know what this ‘blonde haired god’ (that’s what he looked like to her) expected of her. Phalon and Scrappy had accepted her for what she was, but this ‘human’ was different. She didn’t know where she stood with him, she didn’t know if she would ever feel comfortable with him.
Aphemenie’s mind was awash with different feelings bombarding her thoughts. The feeling of wanting to protect was still strong. Where was the lady Letitia? Was it too late? Was that why Jason was alone in a Tavern drinking?.

He sighed again and broke the spell of the moment. Motioning for the others to follow, Jason led the way out through the door and around the back to a small hut. Opening the door quietly, the foursome made their way to Letitia’s bedside. She was worse. The blood from her coughing had stained the coverlet and although she was sleeping, her breathing was ragged.
“I need your help. I need to find Eurayle.” Jason whispered.
Phalon was surprised by his remark. At first she said nothing; instead she sat on the edge of the bed and placed a hand on Letitia’s forehead. She needed answers to her own questions, but Letitia’s condition concerned her more. Death’s perfume permeated the room, and clung to Letitia like a wet shroud. Jason’s eyes implored Phalon for an answer she could not give. She couldn’t look into those eyes and say what she knew to be true….that Letitia was dying. Although Phalon was sure he knew that too, it saddened her to dash what seemed to be his last hope. Instead, she looked at the dying woman when she said, “Perhaps there is something I can do to make her more comfortable…..but I can’t heal her, Jason.”
Jason’s shoulders sagged as he replied, “Then I have to find Eurayle. I believe she is the only one who can help Letitia now.”
She brushed the blonde hair, damp with sweat, from Letitia’s forehead, and smoothed the blood-stained coverlet, before she continued. Phalon opened her mouth to speak, but then thinking better of it she stood up and, guiding Jason over to the door, she whispered.
“How, um… How long have you known Eurayle?”
Jason raised his eyes to meet hers and replied.
“It’s very complicated. We’ve known each other for a very long time, thousands of years in fact. Of course she hasn’t always been known by that name, just as I haven’t always been called Jason.”
Phalon was thoughtful for a moment, and a small smile played across her lips. “Eurayle was my great aunt; my favourite aunt as a child. As a woman, I knew her not as an aunt, but as a powerful seeress who taught me how to control my visions, instead of letting them destroy me. She instructed me by showing me how to use them, and she taught by letting me discover things on my own….and perhaps those were the greatest lessons learned”, she mused. “But the one thing she never taught me, Jason, was how to find her. I know she’s there; there are times I feel her with me. But she left me no spells, or potions to bring her back.”
“Back from where, Phalon where is she?” Jason almost screamed.
“Jason. Eurayle died when I was a very young woman….she’s been dead over twenty years now.”
Jason’s heart sank even further. Maybe Eurayle wasn’t here after all. He had dragged the woman he loved across this cursed land to her death. It was all his fault.
He hardly heard Phalon’s words as she continued.
“When she died I was given her ring.”
He looked down and through the tears, he saw her subconsciously tracing the knotted design on the heavy silver ring she wore. Jason felt the darkness in him begin to grow once more. He felt the bitterness rise within him like a bile. Finally, raising his eyes to meet hers, he heard her say, “I am so very sorry.”



(With thanks to Vox and Phalon for all their help)

[Awesome Aphrodite]

I couldn’t believe it. We’d won! It was just the first battle in what would be a terribly long and horribly bloody war, but we’d won! As I sat watching the sun come up over the trees, I remembered something my mother had once told me. “The beginning is half of every action,” she’d said. It was at this moment, looking at the bodies of the fallen centaurs, that I finally understood what she had meant. Or… so I thought.

Many centaurs lay dead, and the ones who were still alive were severely injured, and had fled in terror. That meant, of course, that they would not fall for this same trick again. Hopefully, that wouldn’t matter. The Amazons were clever. They would figure out a way to win the war. They had to. …And I… had to help them.

I sat in front of the largest hut in this village and looked around. It had been impossible to tell the night before, but I could see now. This abandoned village where the Amazons had sprung their trap had once been a centaur village! Only centaurs built that style of hut. I knew, because I’d seen plenty of centaur villages in my time. So… how…?? I shook my head, hard. Perhaps too hard.

I realized, suddenly, that I hurt. I looked down. My front paws seemed ok. So did my back paws, peeking out from under my butt. My sides… my eyes widened. How was I just now noticing the dagger sticking out of my left side? I whimpered loudly and fell to the ground. A nearby Amazon rushed to my side. She took my head in her hands and her eyes met mine. I could see the worry behind them. Turning her head, she called out over her shoulder.

“ELLIE! One of your wolves is hurt!”

I chuckled internally. I wasn’t one of her wolves, but it didn’t matter. Ellie rushed up, seemingly out of nowhere. She knelt beside me and looked at the Amazon who had called for her.

“Thanks, Traya.”

Traya smiled. Ellie pulled the dagger out, and I cried out in pain. Traya, the worry still in her eyes, pated my head gently. Ellie placed her hands on my side, and the pain subsided. Not for the first time, I was grateful that she had that power. I looked up at her and nodded. She smiled at me. When I stood, Traya did too. She looked down at me and smiled. For some reason, standing near Traya made me feel safe. Ellie looked down at me and nodded.

“You’re ok, Annabelle.”

Someone called Ellie’s name again, and she stood and hurried off. Apparently, she had some major healing to do. Who knew how many Amazons had been wounded? I sincerely hoped none of them had been killed.

[EllieNeo]

ellie heard her name called every five seconds, and was constantly running to heal one amazon or another. so far, none of the wounds had been beyond her ability to heal. she’d even had to heal the red-furred wolf, who lauri had told her was named annabelle. so the last thing she expected to see was the sight that greeted her now. her knees gave out, and she fell to the ground, tears in her eyes.

in front of her lay queen eglise’s body. her head was missing. no one else in the tribe wore those clothes, and ellie recognized the long sword clutched in her right hand. ellie had been the first to find her. staring at the headless, blood-covered body brought back a memory that ellie had tried for many years to bury and forget about. apparently, she had failed at both. she closed her eyes tightly, and tears streamed down her face.


queen eglise pulled a horn from her belt and blew it. every amazon in the village gathered. the queen’s voice rang through the village as she addressed the amazons in greek.

“there are wild centaurs in our territory. they shot ava. they are planning an attack at dawn. but we aren’t going to wait that long. we are going to take them out! ellie, go to your hut and grab your bow. you and nela need to return to their camp. take out as many as you can with your arrows. then get the remaining centaurs to chase you back here. janis, go to rondex’s village and bring them all back here. it may be faster if you go on horseback. everyone else, protect the entrance to the village and the weapons hut. move, amazons![/b]”

the amazons scattered, following queen eglise’s orders without hesitation. ellie and ava glanced at each other. ava whispered to ellie.

“be careful.”

ellie nodded. they shared a quick hug before following queen eglise’s orders.

nela and ellie leapt through the treetops. when the centaur camp was in sight, they crouched low on the branches and waited. they watched the largest centaur pace back and forth. three other centaurs were fishing in the river. the remaining centaurs were out of sight inside the large tents they had set up. nela readied an arrow and looked at ellie. nela nodded. ellie readied an arrow as well, and set her sights on the pacing centaur. nela suddenly lowered her bow and raised her hand. ellie lowered her bow and looked at her. nela spoke in a whisper, and every word was in english; rather than a mix of english and greek; which ellie had never heard nela do.

“ellie, you are a master archer. you no longer need to look to me for guidance. over the last two years, i have taught you everything i know about archery. now all you need to do is learn to apply it. do that, and you will someday become better than i am.”

ellie raised an eyebrow. why was nela saying this now, right before a battle? and completely in english? ellie reached out with her empathic ability, but she felt… nothing… coming from nela. that was weird. was she concentrating on the coming battle so much that she felt no emotions? nela readied an arrow and shot the largest centaur. the arrow hit him between the eyes, and he fell to the ground with a mighty THUD[/u] that shook the earth. the three centaurs on the riverbank dropped their fishing rods and looked around. one grabbed a bow and arrows, one grabbed a sword, and one grabbed an axe. other centaurs began exiting the tents at the sound of the commotion, grabbing their weapons. ellie readied an arrow and shot a sword out of one centaur’s hand. nela shot him in the back of the neck when he turned to pick it up. ellie kept aiming at weapons and shooting them out of the hands of the centaurs, and nela followed up by killing them. ten centaurs soon lay dead, and the remaining ten were enraged.

ellie heard the arrow before she saw it, but neither sense helped. nela took a blue arrow square in the chest and fell backwards from the tree. she landed right in front of a black-bodied, brown haired centaur, who raised his sword and in one swing removed nela’s head. ellie gaped, not believing what she had just witnessed. more blue arrows flew through the air at her. one hit her in the right arm. she cried out in pain, turned, and ran back toward the village through the treetops. the centaurs, still enraged, chased after ellie. they kept shooting arrows into the trees, occasionally hitting or grazing ellie. several arrows hit her in the back, shredding her t-shirt, turning it into little more than rags hanging from her shoulders. tears stained her face and pain shot through her body, but she didn’t slow down. finally, the village came into view. ellie saw rondex and his entire tribe standing near the entrance to the village. ava sat on rondex’s back.

in pain, distraught, and exhausted, ellie misjudged the last jump. she landed wrong, and she felt her left leg shatter when she hit the ground…[/i]

a hand came down on ellie’s shoulder, pulling her out of her memories. tears still streamed down her face and made her eyes sting. she felt herself surrounded by sadness. when she opened her eyes, she saw several other amazons had gathered near the queen’s body. a couple of them had also fallen to their knees, and ellie could see their tears. the sadness she had felt was coming from them. omri sat next to ellie, his head in her lap. ellie hadn’t even noticed he’d walked up to her. she gently scratched behind his ears.

ellie looked to see who it was who still had their hand on her shoulder. behind her stood an amazon with red hair and dark brown eyes. ellie recognized her as ilia. ellie could only feel sadness coming from ilia. ellie had never heard her speak. though she’d seen her in the village for ten years, she barely knew her. she didn’t even know how old she was. the only reason ellie even knew her name was because she was on the council, meaning she had her own hut. her dark brown eyes met ellie’s, for the first time since she’d met her. ilia spoke to ellie in english, something that surprised ellie.

“you… are our queen now. chosen one.”

[Phalon]

“I am so very sorry”. This time Phalon met Jason’s eyes as she could not bear to earlier. They were blue. She got lost in blue eyes once.

Now she got lost in the memory of them again. She became vaguely aware her fingers moved over the ring, tracing its knots as she had so many times over the years – so many times that it seemed as if the knots should be worn away. The ring took her places…it showed her things she needed to see. But this time it took her to a place she wanted no part of. It was a dark and vile place, and she fought to keep from being dragged into it. Frantically, her eyes sought out the one person in the room with whom she felt completely safe. She felt a sudden desperation to feel safe now. They rested when they found Scrappy, and the words rang out from her mind, “Help me…”

“I am so very sorry”, she repeated not to Jason, or anyone else in the room.
Their faces blurred and the room became dim, as her mind threatened to lose itself to the vision clawing at the edges of her subconscious.

Stumbling toward the door, she fell out into the night as black as the place she struggled against being pulled into. Leaning against the outside of the hut, she breathed in deep breaths, trying to quell the feeling that she was losing control. Sobs wracked her body as she slid down, and slumped to the ground, her back against the wall.

“I’m sorry.” She spoke to someone only she saw; someone present only in her mind. And his eyes were blue.

The mood in the dining room was heavy and sullen. Malory had said her piece, explaining why she’d gathered them to this house borne of evil. Phalon and Scrappy’s bickering had subsided to a low grumble, and Jason had come and gone after declaring war on the beast, and on anyone who tried to stop him. And still they sat, disconnected from one another, each absorbed in their own thoughts.

Abruptly, Guru pushed himself from the table, sending his chair crashing to the floor. His face went pallid, and beads of perspiration glistened on his forehead, dampening his hair at his temples. Staggering across the room, he paused to steady himself in the doorframe. Turning back to glance around the table, alarm flashed in his eyes before he stumbled out of the room.

“What the hell is wrong with him?” Scrappy asked.

Phalon glared at her across the table without responding. Even if she did feel like talking to the argumentative woman, she wouldn’t know the answer. It wasn’t like Guru, a methodical man who liked explanations for everything, to suddenly leave without giving reason for his departure. It was obvious he was ill, but deciding to go off on his own in that condition, especially since they all agreed there was safety in numbers, was inexplicable.

She decided to follow. The long hall outside the dining room was empty when she entered. His steps had been unsteady; he couldn’t have gone far. The library seemed like a logical choice to look, since they had gathered there previously.

Opening the heavy doors, Phalon stepped into the dark room. “Guru?” she asked softly. There was no answer, and she nearly turned to leave when her eyes caught a glint of light from the hall reflecting off something on the floor. Crossing the room, she saw it was a sword. Guru’s sword.

“Guru?” she asked again. As her eyes adjusted to the unlit room, she made out the darker shadow of him, sitting on the floor with his back against the wall. An uneasy feeling of dread crept up the back of her neck, and she quickly turned on the desk lamp. She saw him clearly then - a red stain spreading across his shirt, and his sword, covered in blood to the hilt, lying next to him.

"Guru!" Phalon dropped to her knees in front of him. His chest rose and fell, but his breath was labored and shallow. Ripping open his shirt, she discovered the blood came from a wound above his left breast. Placing her hands over it, she applied pressure to try to stem the bleeding. Blood seeped between her fingers, running in streams over the backs of her hands, turning them completely red.

“There’s too much…..I can’t stop it!” she cried, panic in her voice.

He opened his eyes. They looked dead, like the sound of his voice; hollow. “It’ll stop”, he said dully, taking her by the wrists and removing her hands from him. “It always does.” She stared at his chest where her hands had just been and even as he spoke, she could see the flow of blood starting to subside. “I thought that this time might be different. I thought that I could….”

The realization of what he said hit her as his voice trailed off. "You did this to yourself?!!" she screamed.

He let go of her wrists and her hands dropped limply into her lap. She stared at them, the blood covering them turning her robe where they lay black…where once it was a deep blue…the color of his eyes. She looked up to them now; her own filled with tears. “Why?"

“Phalon…”

Then she saw it: his tired blue eyes flickered yellow for a brief instant, and she understood that he was not alone in his body. He was sharing it with the beast.

“My thoughts….most of them are not my own anymore. I imagine doing things…unspeakable things to you and to the others.”

"Yes, yes…unspeakable things, Phalon. Lean in a bit closer…let me whisper in your ear what I’ve got in mind for you. Who knows? You might like it."

His laughter was inhuman, his voice low and demonic. It was something brought up from the darkest depths of the earth’s bowels. It sickened her.

Phalon helplessly watched the battle taking place inside Guru as he struggled to regain control. He did…for the moment. “I foolishly thought I could stop him by killing myself. I knew it wouldn’t work – I suppose I did it out of frustration, and desperation. Or maybe it was his idea; I just don’t know anymore which my own thoughts are and which are his.”

“You have to fight him…you can’t let him do this to you”, she begged.

“I’ve lost a lot of blood; I’m weak from it. I can’t fight him anymore…I haven’t the strength. And he knows it. He’ll be invincible then. An immortal soul in my immortal body…there would be nothing any of you could do to stop him.”

“There has to be a way.”

“There is a way. It’s the only way. I’ve witnessed it long ago, when I lost Yana. It might have been a human who wielded the sword, but it was the demon that killed her. The body the demon possessed did the bidding of the demon inside him – the same demon inside me now. The only way that beast could be stopped was to behead the body it inhabited.” He looked at her to let it sink in before continuing. “I can’t do it myself, Phalon.”

This was not happening. It could not be. How could he ask this of her! How could he possibly believe she could raise her sword against him? She’d never be able to do it.

“Yes, do it, Phalon…or not. Either way, I win. Refuse and I will have an indestructible body to match my immortal soul. One by one, I’ll eliminate each of you until there is nothing left of your merry little band of crusaders. Or choose to slice off his pretty head and I’ll have your soul. I will own you…think about that…you will be mine forever, because how could you ever possibly forget what you’ve done, killing the one you love? Even death will not release you. Your soul will be tortured for eternity!”

He glared mockingly at her with yellow eyes; pupils a thin slit of black. His mouth was misshapen, concealing eyeteeth grown to fangs, and his tongue flicked out of it; blackened and forked: a serpent’s tongue.

She was unable to reconcile the beast before her with the man she knew him to be. Sobbing, she shut her eyes against the thing.

“Humans are pathetic creatures, Phalon. They let their emotions get in the way of what is really important - power. Love makes you weak; it destroys you. Look at yourself…sitting there bawling for something you’ll never have: his love. Been robbed twice, haven’t you? First with your Athan; your precious young love; now with him. Although, in this instance…you can’t really be robbed of something that’s never been yours, can you?”

He was digging where he knew it’d do the most damage: her heart. And although she realized that was his intent, it didn’t matter – he’d struck a nerve that hurt to the core of her being.

“And him…..HA! What a fool! He has power…the power of being immortal. And what’s he do? Wastes twenty-four years chasing something he’d never have….the love of his life back, and would spend an eternity more doing the same. Come to think of it, you’ve got a lot in common, haven’t you? He spends eternity seeking absolution from the guilt he shouldn’t have, just as you have done. I took them both - your Athan and his Yana. Yet the both of you feel responsible and spend your miserable existences trying to resolve their deaths in your minds; trying to seek redemption for past horrific deeds that where never your own to begin with. Control conquers love every-time, Phalon. I don’t know why humans don’t realize it. They make the same mistake over and over again. It’s a mistake I’ve never made. And that is the reason I remain. And the reason I always will. I’ll win this battle here. This time around I will gain total control”

“Open your eyes, and look at me, Phalon.” The voice was different; it was his own. She did as she was asked, barely able to see him through the tears in her eyes. “Listen…we don’t have much time. My body is healing; it’s growing stronger with each minute that passes. It won’t be long before my strength has returned….but not before my mind is completely his. The time is now.”

She shook her head, and buried her face in her hands. “You can’t ask this of me.”

“Do it now, Phalon.”

“I won’t!” She stood, and turned away from him. Her sword was unsheathed.

“You must.”

The tip of the sword wavered high above her head held by hands shaky and unsure.

“Nooooo”, she sobbed.

“It’s the only way.”

“NO!!!”

“DO IT!”

“I can’t!!!”

She saw soft blue eyes only in her mind as she stood with her back towards him.

“Phalon….please.”

Her hands were steady on the hilt; knuckles white, the blade held motionless.

"No." It was barely a whisper. She spun around to look into those blue eyes….one last time.

Swooooshhhhh.

[vox]

Aphemenie could not believe what she was hearing even though Phalon and Jason were talking very quietly, Eurayle died 20 years ago! “This can’t be it, there must be something that can be done for Letita?!” She was now in a quandary, does she let them know she heard their discussion or should she wait and see what their plans are?

She was observing Jason’s face, she saw it turn from deep concern for Letitia, to sudden despair. His features which appeared very soft, changed in an instant to dark ,demonic features , a side of him she did not like. She was suddenly very afraid of what Jason might do. What is it that Jason is hiding, or from whom is he hiding?

She was still struggling to read his thoughts through what seemed like a thick, black impenetrable fog in his mind.
“there may be someone who could help Letitia” she thought, but Jason had already made it quite clear that he did not want any help from her.

Her attention was suddenly diverted by sounds coming from the bed, Letitia was in the throes of a fever and she was moaning, calling out Jason’s name.

Jason heard Letitia’s cries and quickly returned to the side of her bed, clasping her hand in his, and offering comforting words, while Aphemenie looked on helplessly.

[Scrappy Amazon]

Scrappy kept close to the back wall of the hut. She tried to blend in with the shadows. Trying to be inconspicuous while also eaves dropping.

She listened as Jason explained that the only person he thought could help Letitia was Eurayle. But she was dead. And from what Scrappy could tell, dead for a good long time too. She waited a little tensely to see how Jason reacted to this news, and watched as Phalon began tracing the pattern on her ring. A habit Scrappy knew she only did subconsciously when she was really stressed.

Scrappy heard Phalon say “I’m really sorry” verbally before a faint “Help me” entered her mind.

Scrappy looked up as Phalon stumbled out of the door into the alley behind the Inn. Rushing out of the door Scrappy caught Phalon as she fell to the ground in a stupor. Kneeling over her Scrappy put a hand to Phalon’s forehead.

“No fever, she must be having a vision. Aphemenie can you help me get her into a room?” Scrappy stood and scooped Phalon up into her arms with the help of the winged woman and headed for the back door of the Inn.

She struggled up the stairs with her friend in her arms as the Inn keeper followed huffing and puffing and asking what was going on. When she reached the top of the stairs Scrappy turned to the Inn keeper. “Do you have a free room?”

“Einai arrosti; Den tha eho kamia astheneia stin taberna moy!”

“Damn,” she muttered under her breath. “This lack of language thing is going to be a pain.” The inn keeper looked bewildered.

Srcappy stalked down the hallway and came to the last door on that landing. Using her heavy motorcycle boots she kicked open the door and strode in. Looking around she found the room empty. The tavern keeper now going apoplectic.

“Ayto poy eseis skeftetai eseis kanei!”

Scrappy laid Phalon gently on the bed and turned back to the Inn Keeper. She reached inside her coat and pulled out the small bag of coins that Ellie had given them when they left. She pulled out two coins and pressed them into his hand.

“I know you don’t understand me and I’m sorry for that. I really am but I need this room for a while.” Scrappy pointed at her prone friend on the bed and made the gesture like she was sleeping tilting her head and placing it on an upraised arm. “She needs to sleep. Ok?”

He glared at her some more. Scrappy pulled another coin out of the pouch and placed it in his hand with the others. “Ok?” He grunted and started to walk away. “Wait!” The burly man turned back. “Maybe we could get some food?” Scrappy gestured with her fingers folded and scooping into her mouth.

“Trelloi allodapoi.” He mumbled as he nodded and left the room closing the door behind him.

Scrappy crossed to the bed and began trying to make Phalon more comfortable. She removed her boots and tried to cover her up with a blanket. Just as she was finishing the Inn keeper returned with a tray. He placed it on a rough hewn table in the corner and nodded as he left.

Scrappy grabbed a bowl of what looked like some kind of meat stew and a chunk of bread from the tray then settled in to wait. She pulled a chair up close to the table the tray was on propped her boots on the table and began to eat.

“Only thing to do now is wait. It’s probably best that Letitia and Jason had some alone time anyway.”

[moonglum]

The three women had left the room. Jason closed the door behind them and lay down on top of the coverlet next to Letitia. He slipped his arm under her and she laid her head on his shoulder. Her coughing had grown much worse and every now and then she gasped for breath.

“I want no part of this war!”

He meant it when he said it, and he still meant it. The problem, as always, was that no matter where he went or what he did, Jason attracted trouble like a magnet. He quite enjoyed it, in the beginning. In fact there were times when he revelled in it. In time he came to despise the gods for manipulating and manoeuvring him. In time he came to despise himself. He had thought he loved Elysha, but that love had proved to be yet more manipulation. Jason had seen Taimon, his own son, die by his hand. While slowly, relentlessly, the darkness inside him grew.
Then he had met Letitia. At first he thought she was just toying with him, like the rest. He resigned himself to what he was, a plaything, an amusing diversion for a bored and depraved race of beings, who really had no place in this universe, or the next. Slowly over time he fell for her and she for him, and the darkness abated. She offered herself to him and, in that declaration of her love, she offered much more. Between them they plotted the downfall of her kind.
“I am willing to forsake my immortality for you, my love.”
Neither of them could know, could ever have imagined, the extent of her sacrifice.
He hated himself for letting her do it. He blamed himself for all that had happened, and the consequences that followed.
And now, the darkness began to grow once more.

Somewhere in the depths of the night, he awoke. It was quiet, too quiet. He couldn’t hear her ragged breathing. She was gone! The coverlet held the impression where her body had lain and the door was ajar. He rushed outside and looked for her but there was no sign of her anywhere. A crowd had gathered by the doorway to the tavern and he heard voices inside. Jason scanned the faces of the crowd and pushed his way into the room. She was not here.
“Has anyone seen a woman with blonde hair,” he shouted. He pointed to a man, “About your height. She is ill, I need to find her.” A woman pushed through the crowd to speak.
“I saw a woman heading for the cliff path about an hour ago. She had light hair and she was coughing.”
Jason ran from the inn, aware that there were soldiers in the room and that they were eying him with suspicion. He had no time for that now. He ran through the town towards the cliff path. How had she managed to get all this way in her weakened state? Even further perhaps, for he could not see her on the path. He ran up the path to the top. Panting and out of breath, he looked around and……..there she was. She was standing on the cliff top looking out over the sea. He walked up behind her, his heart pounding and put his arms around her, then…………music. He could hear music. Very faintly as if in the distance. She turned around to face him and smiled.
“Will you dance with me, my love?” She whispered.
“I can’t……..you shouldn’t…………..yes, of course I will,” Jason said through his tears. Holding her lightly, he followed her lead and when she stumbled he held her to him tighter, afraid to let her go. “I love you.” she sighed and he felt her body go limp in his arms and the music stopped. He knew in that instant he’d lost her for ever, he knew the Queen of Swords was gone.

[Phalon]

”…because how could you ever possibly forget what you’ve done, killing the one you love?” Phalon woke from a fitful sleep with the demon’s words ringing in her head. How could she have forgotten?! A memory repressed in the mind’s own form of self-preservation, because now that she’d remembered, it felt as if she were on the brink of losing hers. Guru might’ve plunged his sword through the center of her heart instead of his own; it hurt that much.

She’d been moved to a bed. Looking over at Scrappy sleeping in a chair with her feet up on a table, she was grateful for her friend’s care. Grateful, but not ready to talk. Scrappy would have questions, she was sure, and Phalon wasn’t up to answering them yet. She wasn’t sure she’d ever be ready. How could she possibly explain what she’d done? She turned her head away from Scrappy, and faced the window instead, staring out at the stars, blurred by hot tears welling in her eyes.

The beast had been right. Regardless who won the war, she’d lost the battle; her fate was sealed the moment she swung her sword. He owned her now. She’d spend the rest of her life carrying the guilt of her action, and after she died, her soul would be tormented for eternity.

“He was wrong.”

Phalon sat up on the edge of the bed. “Who’s there?” she asked. A soft and sweet, melodic whisper filled the room, ethereal and coming both from nowhere in particular, and at the same time, from everywhere at once. The whisper became concentrated, still soft but clearer, as if someone was sitting next to her, speaking close to her ear. She recognized the voice – not as one she ever heard aloud, but as a remnant a spirit left behind once it left her body during a brief moment of possession. It was a gentle spirit with a voice to match. It was Yana’s voice.

“He was wrong, Phalon.” Yana spoke. “The beast was mistaken. Love is not a worthless emotion only reserved for the weak. It can be the most powerful force on earth.”

Why? Why Yana? Why now? Guru’s dead wife returned to ridicule her? To condemn her?

Yana seemed to read her thoughts. “I came to release you; to try to make you understand there can be no guilt in what you did.”

“I killed him!”

“You can not kill what was already dead, Phalon.”

She knew there was truth in what Yana said. He lived; he was immortal. But he lived a life in darkness. The light inside him went out the moment Yana’s had been extinguished. His was a light Phalon never got to see.


“But you don’t understand! I killed a man….a man I…I…cared for deeply.”

“You loved him”, Yana said softly.

“I never got a chance to know him”, she weeped, her voice filled with regret for not knowing what might’ve been. If he’d had let it….if there had been time.

“You knew him well enough to know what he said was true – it was the only way. And you cared deeply enough for him to do what he asked.”

“And what now…? This is supposed to absolve me for the deed I committed?” The thought was ludicrous. The irony of it did not escape her. Confronted with the horror that she killed a man she might have loved, she’s visited by the spirit of the man’s wife – a spirit who once possessed her and briefly entertained the thought of keeping her body to be with her immortal husband. And now the spirit was trying to convince her she should not feel guilt for taking the man’s life? Phalon almost laughed at the lunacy of it all. Yes, she thought, I have surely gone mad.

“The demon is dead, Phalon. Don’t keep him alive within yourself. It only wins here if you let it. You didn’t kill Guru. You freed him. You freed him from the beast that surely would have destroyed you all, and at the same time you freed him from a life of searching for absolution from his own guilt. Don’t let that same guilt destroy you.”

“Did he find it?” Phalon asked. “Did he find his freedom?” It was important that she know. It was important to her that he found joy in the afterlife – she hadn’t known him to possess happiness in the life he’d been living on earth. “At last, is he happy again?”

“Yes…very happy.” It wasn’t Yana’s voice that answered. It was his.

Her hands were wrapped in warmth, gentle and reassuring. Funny, she thought, I always imagined the touch of the dead would be cold.

“I have found my happiness….but I am not yet at peace. There is something more I need from you.”

She laughed sarcastically. “You asked a lot of me, Guru. And now you want more?”

“It’s true”, he said, “I better then anyone, knew what it was like to spend a lifetime feeling responsible for the death of another. How could I have asked someone to do the same? How could I have asked it of you, especially when…” His voice trailed off, and it seemed there would always be, even now, words left unspoken between them. “I am asking you not to carry the guilt for only doing what I asked of you. By relinquishing it, you not only free yourself, you free me also. Both of us will then have peace.”

“How do I know this is real”, she asked. “How do I know this isn’t something my imagination conjured up in a miserable attempt to ease my guilt for killing you?

“Believe it’s real because I’m asking you to believe it’s real.” There was no logic in the explanation, and Guru was a man of logic. He continued anyway, “People pass through one another’s lives; sometimes they leave a mark, and sometimes they don’t. But an encounter with someone we truly care about – no matter how brief that encounter is – leaves a mark not only on our lives, but also on our souls. You left yours on mine. Although I’ve found Yana, my soul can never truly be at rest until you release the burden of guilt. I am the cause of that guilt, Phalon. It's my burden too.”


A slight breeze brushed her cheek. So soft, it might be she only imagined it; so warm she knew she didn’t.

The warmth that enveloped her hands departed, and left in its place something solid and tangible. She looked down to her hands, and laughed. It was so like Guru – if words failed, do something practical: check the evidence. And he’d left a bit of evidence behind – something to tell her this was not happening only in her imagination.

Her hands now held a simple wood picture frame, resting in her lap. “Home doesn't have to be a place -- sometimes home is a person" was inscribed in handwriting on the back. Turning the frame over, Phalon recognized the photo to be the one Guru kept secretly locked in a case hidden under his bed. She’d caught him in a private moment holding it, yearning for the woman in the picture. In the photograph, she had an expression of contentment; her smile held a story of satisfaction of a life now complete. Yana. The picture Phalon held now had changed from the one she saw back then. Now, he was there next to her, his arms around the woman he loved, pulling her close to him as if he meant to never let go again. And he wore something Phalon never saw him wear in the house: a smile.

She smiled as she ran her fingers over the image. Her touch released soft golden flecks held within the glass, almost as if they’d been confined there, waiting to be set free.

“Phalon….are you okay?”

“Yeah…”, Phalon said. Scrappy sat next to her on the bed, and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. “I’ll be okay.”

They watched the golden flecks of light drift upward, swirling together with others until they gathered in a glowing orb above them. There were two golden orbs; the first one had already been there, complete and waiting for the other. The second met the first; they swirled into one, and then hung there for a moment, shining bright before they disappeared. Two souls, now united as one in a love eternal.

“What just happened?”

Phalon smiled. “Guru finally found his way back home.”

[moonglum]

A crowd was gathering on the cliff top. Watching this wild, demented man, as he cut branches and bracken with his sword. He piled it all as high as he could. He would not consign her body to the ground or under rocks, where the wolves could find her. A soldier stepped forward and spoke.
“You can’t light that; it’ll be a beacon for the Roman galleys.”
Jason snarled at him and pointed Soulrazors tip at the mans face.
“Stay away from me.”
The soldier backed away and frightened, the crowd began to disperse.
Finally Jason lifted her body onto the pyre and lit the base with a brand. Stripped to the waist, the heat of the flames causing his body to sweat, he sat at the base of the flaming pyre and wept for her.

[vox]

PARTING OF WAYS

“Love is a most powerful thing, it can make you so ecstatically happy one moment, and then drive you to the very depths of despair the next” thought Aphemenie, even though she had never experienced such emotions herself, she had borne witness to it this day, and it was something she will never ever forget.

Now that she had helped Scrappy and Phalon to reach Jason, she felt that it was time for her to get some rest. She was glad that they had left Jason’s room, as she had seen the look in Jason’s eyes. It was a look that would haunt her for the rest of her life. He needed time, time to be alone with Letitia for whatever time she had left.

And now, poor Phalon…., Scrappy’s concern for her friend was very apparent, it had been a long and tiring day, and Aphemenie felt exhaustion suddenly creep upon her and wash all over her body. It was time that she gave into her feelings. It was all too much for Apemenie to bear! She was totally drained but could not relax enough to sleep. Her mind was like a merry–go-round, she felt dizzy and sick at the same time. Would Letitia survive the night? What was Jason going to do next?

Now having decided what she was going to do, she was able to relax sufficiently to sleep, but sleep proved to be no more restful to Aphemenie than her waking hours….. She was having dire visions, it was as if there were an army of marching soldiers in her head. There was blood, so much blood and death, visions that she had never seen before. Suddenly she awoke with a jolt.

The visions had upset her so much, there was no chance of her sleeping now. She looked around the room that Scrappy had kindly arranged for her, and suddenly felt very homesick. It felt good to be awake again, at least the visions had disappeared. She sat thinking in the dimly lit room. Yes.... it was definitely time for her to bid farewell to them all, for the time being.

In the morning, she would say her goodbyes, she could not go without saying anything as she had ‘warmed’ to them and counted them as her ‘friends’, besides she knew in her heart that she would be there for them, if needed. All they would have to do would be to call her name.

She would fly back to her village………

[Awesome Aphrodite]

"You… Are our Queen now. Chosen One."

The Amazon who had spoken these words to Ellie had tears in her eyes. Ellie and several other Amazons, including Traya, had fallen to their knees in despair at the sight of the headless Amazon. I stayed back. They still didn’t know me, and I didn’t want to startle them. If I had been in human form, I know I wouldn’t have been able to keep myself from crying. I turned. The sight of the headless Amazon sickened me, and I didn’t want to see any more dead Amazons.

When I turned away from the body and the gathered Amazons, I saw Lauri. She was carrying what appeared to be two broken halves of a staff, and she was walking away from the centaur village, back toward the Amazon one. I decided to follow her.

We walked back through the woods toward the village. The silence was almost deafening. By how she was walking, I was sure that she knew I was following her.

When she reached her hut, she walked straight to the back wall and placed the broken staff halves on the floor. She then turned and looked at me. She nodded, as if she knew why I had followed her. I only had one question in my mind as I transformed back into my human form. I stepped up to her.

"How did you know I’d come back?"

Her purple eyes met mine when she answered.

"I didn’t."

[moonglum]

The flames and the acrid smoke cut into his eyes and aided the tears. The teardrops formed prisms and through those, he saw images. Images not quite formed, but formed enough to stir the dull yearnings of hope.

[Phalon]

For the next few hours, Phalon slept. It was a dreamless sleep from which she awoke feeling lighter than she had in a long time. Standing in front of the window, she watched night give way to a dawn sky that was blackish-gray and cloudy. In her pocket was the folded picture, removed from its frame. She’d keep it to remember….and to forget; there was so much she wanted to do of both. Scrappy stirred and groaned, drawing Phalon’s eyes from the window to see her friend sleeping in a chair in the corner. In front of the chair stood a table that was bare except for Scrappy’s feet propped up on it. And an empty bowl. “Hmph!” Phalon muttered, “Didn’t even save me a crust of bread.”

“Whaaat?” Scrappy woke, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. “Next time I get the bed, and you get the chair”, she grumbled, trying to work out the kinks in her neck.

“Next time I get the meal, and you get to have the horrific vision.”

“You ready to tell me what happened?”

“Later….”, Phalon sighed, and sadly added, “Right now, we need to see if Letitia… Her condition was bad, Scrappy. I don’t know that she had the strength to make it through the night.” She pulled Scrappy from the chair, swearing she heard a few bones creak and muscles groan in protest after being confined to the uncomfortable position all night. “Aphemenie?” Phalon inquired of the third woman in their party.

“She’s in the room next door.”

They gathered Aphemenie and went downstairs. Stepping out into the cool, crisp air of dawn….they noticed something was wrong. The air was not cool and crisp as it should have been, but instead was choked with acrid smoke. Hurrying to the small hut Jason and Letitia had occupied, they found the door left open and the room empty!

Rounding the corner to the front of the tavern, they stopped an old man on his way to market, pushing a small cart filled with tin and brass wares. “Excuse me, Sir”, Phalon asked. “Have you seen a man and woman pass by here? Both have light-colored, longish hair; the man would have a sword. The woman is very ill, and he may have been carrying her.”

The man started to shake his head no, then paused as a thoughtful look crossed his face. “Up there”, he pointed.

Their eyes followed the direction of his hand, and saw the sky smudged black above the cliff. The smoke rolled down from the cliff aided by a breeze, and settled upon the village. It hung there as a mist that rolls in off the sea will hang on through the early morning hours. Eventually, a mist burns away as the sun rises and the day warms. The same was not true of the smoke. It would hang there until the fire that gave it birth died. In the darker moments of dawn, the fire that produced this smoke still burned bright atop the cliff.

“Be careful!” the man called in warning after them. “Please be careful”, he muttered to himself, shuddering as he recalled the haunted look in the wild man’s eyes who fed the flames.

The market had already come to life, and they picked their way around carts, and vendors stocking their stalls in preparation for the day. Once on the path to the cliff, their pace quickened although there was no lightness in their step as there was the previous time they travelled this road. Though it remained unspoken, each woman knew in her heart the reason for the fire. It was a pyre. Letitia had died. And Jason….

They saw him then. Hair wild and silver in the pale dawn tinged red, and eyes blazing with the reflection of the fire, he reached into the flames. It was as if he was willing to let it consume him; ready to dive into it after the one that went before him. After his Letitia…

[vox]

Change of Heart

Upon reaching the cliff top, Aphemenie was completely stunned by the sight that greeted her. It was if she had been struck down with paralysis, she found herself unable to move and at the same time incapable of speech. Letitia had gone, and Jason had lit the funeral pyre to release her spirit. She wanted to run to Jason, put her arms around him and comfort him but she could see that he was beyond that.

After witnessing the dramatic scene on the cliff top, Aphemenie had a change of heart and decided she would not yet return to her village. She was still needed, she could well be of help to them all in their travels.

She would ‘tag along’ with the group that she had come to feel at home with. There would be plenty of time for her to return to her village and find out what she wanted to know, the vivid visions she experienced, the unusual feelings she has, she needs to know more about why Jason had stared at her so intensely.

The pain that Aphemenie was feeling right now, was unlike anything that she had ever known. It was as if an invisible hand had reached into her body, grabbed hold of her heart and ripped it mercilessly from her! To see Jason grieving so, for his love, his ‘soul mate’, was almost too much to bear. She felt his grief; it was as if she herself had lost Letitia. She also felt a ‘stinging’ sensation in her eyes, and droplets of water cascading down her cheeks, she was ‘crying’, this was a completely new sensation to Aphemenie as she had never known grief or sadness in her life, up until now! She wiped away the tears as she watched Jason reach into the flames……..

Aphemenie now felt that part of her was ‘missing’ and the overwhelming feeling of wanting to protect was now even greater!

[Dixie's Evil Twin]

He awoke in the middle of a forest. Disoriented, confused, cold. He remembered being in a strange house. His master had called him there. He had taken the blonde like he had been told to. But this was not the house. He took a deep breath and felt the cold damp air fill his lungs. Well not his lungs. He looked down at himself and found he still wore the blonde witch. He took another breath. It was never the same. Breathing the air through someone else’s lungs.

It had been centuries since he had taken air into his own lungs. Or felt his own heart beat, pumping that life sustaining blood through his veins. This was different. Like kissing through a mask or watching life go by through a rain soaked window.

He opened his borrowed eyes and took stock of the current situation. His senses were acute. More acute than was normal for this limited body. He could smell blood. A lot of it. It wasn’t that close so he knew it wasn’t the body he inhabited. Even at this distance, in this form he could smell the carnage. There had been a battle somewhere close. There was a lot of blood. The smell was intoxicating. It was pulling him in. He needed to investigate. But he needed to be less conspicuous. He needed a different body.

The close dense forest prevented him from seeing too far ahead, but his sense of hearing was perfect. He could hear a small animal rooting around in the underbrush a few yards away.

“Perfect.” He thought to himself.

He moved to the area he heard the animal and crouched down, waiting. The animal felt his presence and froze, waiting for the large predator to make its move. When nothing happened the animal bolted. The creature inhabiting Dixie reached out with lightning speed and grabbed the fleeing rabbit by the scruff of the neck.

Holding it up he watched it squirm. He could feel its tiny heart beating fast. Nearly pounding out of its tiny chest. The rabbit struggled and twisted in his grasp. That familiar sensation began to flow through his veins. The thrill of control. The feeling of knowing he had the power of life and death over this creature. However small. It was almost sexual. The power over that final ultimate climax, whether to let it go fast, or to make it last, long and tortuously. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and inhaled the fear pouring from the animal like sweat. It had urinated on itself in its terror and its eyes gone nearly white from fear. Yes, he could end it now and still be satisfied, but he had things to do. He would wait for the next kill. And it would be even sweeter for having tempered his desire.

“Relax little one,” he soothed with his voice, and smoothing the hair between the rabbits eyes, attempting to calm it down. “I’m not going to kill you yet. I need you.”

[moonglum]

Jason was unaware he was being watched. His whole attention was on the image he saw in the fire. The figure, small but easily identifiable, was reaching out to him. Her arms begging for his to embrace her. He plunged his arms into the flames and she disappeared. But something held him. He felt no heat from the fire; he felt nothing but the strong grip of another pair of hands in his. With difficulty Jason stood and, for a while, was partially engulfed in the fire. Then he pulled with all his might and, falling backwards, he pulled a figure from the flames. As he landed on his back, he felt unconsciousness wrap its black arms around him, and he welcomed the chance to be with her once more.

He moaned quietly in his slumber and the figure knelt down beside him. Gently stroking his forehead she said, “Ssshh, my friend, sleep. She is at peace now.”
Eurayle stood and turned to face the trio watching.
“It seems we are well met. I cannot remain in this form for very long, so we must say what needs to be said quickly.”
Walking over to them she reached out and lifted the necklace from around Scrappy’s throat. Scrappy’s hand came up to grab hers and encountered nothing. It passed straight through Eurayle’s arm like a ghost. Eurayle smiled, “As I said, I cannot remain here very long.”
Turning her attention to Aphemone, she said. “You, my child, are a strange enigma in this ever changing multiverse we choose to live in. I see a burning desire in you towards Jason. I know not why, but I hope you will stand by him. He is much troubled.”
Finally, turning to Phalon she lifted a hand and gently laid it upon her cheek.
“You, my dear, how you have grown. And so many questions in your eyes.”

[moonglum]

If she had consisted of sinew and flesh, she would have stretched. Instead, as she awoke from her slumber, her inner being vibrated with anticipation and her outer metal surface flexed ever so slightly. This time she felt something was different. He was different. She eased herself, ever so slowly out from her sheath, up across his chest and rested the flat of her blade against his unconscious cheek. She basked in the darkness building up inside him. Revelling in the thrills it created in her being. This blackness, this malignant void, this………. her molecules tingled with the ecstasy. If she had lips, she would have licked them at that moment.

This was going to be tasty.

[Phalon]

Again, just as she had with Guru, Phalon felt warmth in the touch of the dead. Eurayle's hand on her cheek brought back a flood of memories. She was a little girl again, playing in a garden, unaware thorns were hidden among the roses. Droplets of blood on pricked little fingers were wiped clean along with the tears. A kiss to the cheek was accompanied by advice the child would not yet understand. The thorns are everywhere, Phalon. But they never diminish the beauty of what surrounds us.

It was years later when Eurayle gave meaning to her forgotten words from Phalon's childhood. The visions began, unexplained and terrifying; all at once she felt trapped in an overgrowth of thorny vines, unable to fight her way out. Eurayle hacked through the brambles, freeing her by showing her there was beauty in the gift that seemed as if it had overtaken her.

“You, my dear, how you have grown.”

Yes, she had. She'd grown from an inquisitive child, to a young woman afraid and unsure of the power she inherited, to a woman confident the power was a gift and skilled in using it. And here, standing before her, was the woman who taught her that: her great aunt and her mentor – both of them long dead, except for the memories Phalon kept alive in her heart.

“And so many questions in your eyes.”

Questions? She had perhaps as many of them as she had memories of the seeress.

It was Scrappy though, and not Phalon, who asked the first question. “You want to tell me why you took my mother’s necklace?” Her golden eyes blazed angrily that the one thing she cherished most had been taken from her without explanation.

The question was a valid one, and one that needed answering. But it was a question that would have surely waited if they’d seen the blue glow of metal burning bright where Jason laid just beyond the fire. It was an eerie, foreboding glow - almost ethereal - as the sword known as Soulrazor since perhaps the beginning of time, came to life once again to protect the one who now wielded her…the one who lay unconscious while a blackness started to well up inside him. The blackness fed Soulrazor; when it awoke in Jason, it awoke her as well.

It’d do the women well to get their questions answered now, while the sword still burned bright. For when the glowing blue turned black, unanswered questions would be the least of their worries.

[vox]

Aphemenie watched in silence as Jason collapsed on the ground. She was going to go to him but her attention was placed fully on the spectral image of a woman emerging from the fire. She had a certain feeling of pride after she had spoken to her, it was as if she was guiding her and Aphemenie was surer than ever that this was indeed her destiny, the correct path for her to take, to travel with this mismatched group, learn all she could from them and protect them all along the way.

She suddenly had her attention diverted by a glinting light, it was emanating from Jason’s sword. Somewhere in her deepest memories she felt sure she had witnessed this before, but where? and when?

If she returned to her camp now she would probably get some of the questions which were running around inside of her head answered, but not necessarily the ones she needed to know at this present time. Letitia might have been able to help her, but alas she was gone, and now only Jason could help her unravel the turmoil in her brain and give her the answers she seeks.

[Awesome Aphrodite]

Lauri had left her hut, and I, in wolf form, sat in front of the medical hut for several minutes, watching the Amazons return and begin putting the village back in order. After watching them for awhile, I could no longer sit still. I decided to take a walk. As I began to walk toward the edge of the village, a voice stopped me.

“Annabelle! Wait up.”

It was… Traya…? She held something in her hand. Whatever it was smelled really good. She smiled and knelt near me, unwrapping what she held. She had cooked and de-boned a small bird for me. I couldn’t help but smile. She was kind-hearted, and I had met so few kind-hearted people in my life. She placed the bird on the ground, patted me on the head, smiled, and walked away. I looked down at the bird, and then sniffed it. It was a duck. And I was hungry. Taking it in my mouth, I gobbled it down in one bite. Yum. My smile grew wider. But Traya had vanished in the crowd of Amazons. Huh. Oh well, I could thank her later. Right now, I needed to take a walk. I turned again, and bonded off into the woods.

I hadn’t gone very far when I heard something following me. I sniffed the air. Heh. It was Omri. I turned around, and he ran up to me, his tongue hanging out enthusiastically. He wanted to play. He grabbed a stick from the ground and ran off with it. Again, I couldn’t help but smile. Seemed everyone wanted my attention today. I ran off after him, and we spent hours playing tug-of-war in the woods.

[vox]

All these thoughts and more were wending their way through her brain, in and out of each cavity like a whirlwind, a storm inside her head, causing her to experience pain which was a new experience for her.

Maybe she was thinking too much? If she tried to stop thinking, the flashbacks came back, of the battles, the pain of the injured and the inevitable death of so many people, but through whose eyes was she seeing this? So many questions!

It was going to take Aphemenie some time to even formulate the questions that she wanted to ask, let alone broach these subjects with Jason, especially as they had not yet spoken to one another. The time was not yet right; Jason still had to come to terms with losing the one woman he loved. There would be plenty of time to ask him what she wanted.

[Phalon]

“You want to tell me why you took my mother’s necklace?” Scrappy snarled.

Eurayle turned back to face Scrappy and smiled. “Fear not my young friend, I will return Balere’s necklace in good time.” The hard, accusing look on Scrappy’s face softened with the mention of her mother’s name.

“Yes, I knew her, Scrappy”, Eurayle said in a quiet tone meant to offer comfort. “I was there when she was born…just as I was there when she died. We all were there…not in a physical sense, or even in the form you see me standing before you now. But all of us who have left this world wearing the symbol, and possessed the power the symbol represents, are there at the birth, and death of its heirs.”

“You were there…and yet you did nothing to stop it?!” The softness left Scrappy’s face as she flung the accusation at Eurayle. She turned her back, refusing to let the others see the pain her mother’s death still caused her. She’d been a child when it happened, but the horrible memory of it was still as vivid as if it just happened yesterday.

“I could do nothing, child. I was there only as a witness to the passing of the symbol…the necklace that was passed to you upon Balere’s death. Maid, mother, and crone… mind, body, and soul… earth, sea, and sky – the triple knots of the triquetra represent a bloodline of female heirs to the keening each of us who wears it possesses.

“I never wanted it!!!” Scrappy screamed, as she spun to face the seeress. “It’s done nothing but cause me pain since the day I discovered I had this thing you call a ‘keening’…a “power”, as if it’s a gift to beholden, instead of a curse I’d gladly return to sender, marked address unknown.”

“None of us asked for it, Scrappy. It’s been a curse for some; for others it’s been a salvation. It’s been a cause of death, a source of reckoning, and a life force that never ceases. It just is. How it’s perceived is left entirely up to the one who bears it.

“Battles have been fought over its ownership”, Euryale continued before Scrappy could raise further protest. Quickly glancing over her shoulder, she felt her time here beginning to wane and she had much to tell and show them before he awakened. “You both fought that battle”, she said to Phalon and Scrappy, “each of you fought it within yourselves, and both of you battled the demon who would have claimed ownership – of both you, and of the power.

“I have been tasked to return to this world, incarnated again and again, to protect that power and those who wield it. For it was I who set this family’s curse in motion when I killed the man who became a beast for trying to steal it from us.

“You’ve heard my story; Malory retold it in the house…” If Eurayle felt any regret about the fate Malory sealed for herself so long ago, it was concealed behind a serenity in knowing that Malory finally found the kind of peace she sought long after the peace they’d shared together had been shattered.

He claimed that he could seduce the seeress and steal her power while in her dreams…but she was wise to his purpose. He became forceful and she unleashed the true power of her magik….She struck back at him in defense and defeated him easily. In her garden, there was no being with more power than she. In death, Ahriman found himself keeping company with Lucifer. It seemed that of all the Keepers of the Underworlds, Lucifer fought hardest to claim him. Together, they contrived a plot and struck a deal….Malory’s soul in exchange for Ahriman getting the foul pleasure of killing off each member of the line of Eurayle when he or she found a great happiness in life…Through the centuries, though, members of the line flourished…

It was the reason you both were brought there, to that house. It was partly the reason I taught you, Phalon, how to use the gift. I knew the culmination of those teachings and how you chose to learn from them and use them would be summoned in your future. It was why Malory called upon you to teach Scrappy the same.”

I brought you here to teach her the gift. She fights it, though it thunders in her blood…I need you. I need you to make her as strong as you…You were the only one I knew I could trust. Your aunt always spoke of your power and goodness. I need that now. Please forgive me. Phalon remembered Malory’s plea, and since accepting it, wondered how miserably she failed at fulfilling her promise. A glance in Scrappy’s direction, and the smile she received in return let her know perhaps she had not failed as miserably as she may have thought.

Eurayle turned to Aphemenie who had been listening intently, perhaps wondering how any of this pertained to her or to Jason. She seemed to read Aphemenie’s thoughts, “I have not been shown, Dear Aphemenie, your role here, but I have no doubt that it is an important one. You are an empathic creature; a woman who feels the emotional turmoil within others as if those feelings are your own. This may seem like a simple gift, but it is a rare and great one not many possess…or wish to possess. To have that capacity lends you a great understanding of those around you.” Eurayle smiled warmly even as her voice took a foreboding tone, “But there is danger in it too. Beware, Aphemenie, that you do not become imbued in adverse emotions which are not actually yours.”

Once more Eurayle turned to look beyond the dying flames of Letitia’s funeral pyre. Cocking her head to the side, it appeared as if she was expecting something, but it not making its appearance known, she continued with what she felt she must say before she faded once again into the realm of the afterlife.

“Malory started the motion; Jason carried it through to the end. The demon that Ahriman became is dead, the curse has been lifted, and it might seem we’ve been liberated by an unlikely source. Maid, mother and crone…it began long ago in northern land steeped in magic as thick as its forests. It’s an established trinity which is as deeply rooted in this family’s powers and its heirs, as are the trees rooted in the northern forests. Mind, body and soul; earth, sea and sky…the heirs have all been female…

…with the exception of one.”



note: the portions of this post written in italics are excerpts taken from “The House of Whoosher”, and were authored by Tami Z, also a brilliant writer of Xena fanfic. Some of her stories can be found at www.ausxip.com/bards4b.html

[EllieNeo]

ellie was so stunned, and her eyes were so full of tears, that she could barely see ava’s funeral pyre. it burned brightly, lighting up the night, and queen eglise’s sad song rang throughout the village. ellie stood near the pyre until there was nothing left but ashes. queen eglise approached ellie and handed her a small round container with a flat bottom. ellie took it, barely realizing what it was. almost in a trance, she gathered ava’s ashes into the container. without a word, she returned to her hut.

she placed ava’s ashes on the table in front of ava’s katana and sat on ava’s bed. queen eglise entered a few moments later. she stood near the door and looked at ellie. she spoke in english. it had been awhile since ellie had heard the queen speak english. ellie didn’t know why she spoke it now, nor did she care.

“come, we must complete your right of caste.”

ellie simply nodded and stood. she followed the queen to the stage. all the amazons had gathered around it. ellie stood next to the queen on the stage. the queen held her hands up. she addressed the surrounding amazons, speaking their native greek.

“we have lost ava. an amazon princess. my daughter. and the unborn child she carried.” the queen paused. ellie could feel her deep sadness. “their loss will be felt for a long time. however, we have also gained an amazon. ava gave ellie her right of caste. everything that was ava’s is now ellie’s. including her title of amazon princess. ellie has had my respect for many years, and i expect all of you to show her the same respect.” queen eglise stood in front of ellie, and held ava’s sai out to her, handles first. “i now present ava’s weapon of choice to you. may you use them as well as she did.”

ellie took them. they still had the blood of the centaurs on them. the thought almost made ellie sick. she bowed to the queen. the amazons cheered. ellie got down from the stage and walked back to her hut. she removed her weapons and hung them on the back wall. she then collapsed on ava’s bed and fell into a dreamless sleep.


the sun was beginning to set. shaking herself from her memories, ellie sighed. she had heard the song of mourning that the queen had sung enough times over the last ten years that she knew it by heart. though unsure of her singing voice, she found herself standing in front of the queen’s funeral pyre, singing it loudly enough for all the surrounding amazons to hear.

the queen wasn’t the only amazon who had been killed in the battle; but she was the only one who ellie knew. so many of the amazons were strangers to her, even after ten years. the three pyres burned brightly enough to light up the evening sky.

ellie watched the queen’s pyre burn until it had put itself out. there was nothing but ashes. ellie was barely aware of the amazon who came forward and collected the ashes into a white container and handed the container to her. ellie was barely aware of anything. she walked back to her hut, almost in a trance.

she was about to place the queen’s urn on the table next to ava’s, then she stopped herself. she turned and left her hut, walking instead to the royal hut. she had only been in this building once. she looked around. near the back wall sat a table, and the queen’s sword and breast dagger were laying on top of it. ellie sighed. she walked to the table and placed the queen’s urn on it. she realized that this hut was now hers, or would be, after the initiation ceremony. but she didn’t want it. she shook her head and left the hut.

lauri stood in front of her as she exited the hut. she had her hood up, something ellie had never seen. only her eyes were visible, and to ellie, they seemed like they were lightly glowing the same color purple that lauri’s eyes were. lauri held the queen’s ceremonial mask in her hands. she handed it to ellie, who took it, looking at it sadly.

“it is time.”

ellie simply nodded, and followed lauri to the stage.

[moonglum]

“Mind, body and soul; earth, sea and sky…the heirs have all been female…
…with the exception of one.”

Jason floated in an inky blackness. Suspended by nothing, he saw nothing and felt only a tingling numbness in his limbs and a slight burning sensation on his back where his birthmark was. He heard whispering. Slowly turning his head towards the voices he saw light blossom, revealing a group of women. They were distorted, hazy, he didn’t recognise them, and yet deep within himself a part of him knew them. The angel with wings had the eyes of a dragon. There was a girl dressed in leather. She had her face burnt away and the skin was bubbled, like the plastic of a doll subjected to the torments of a firedemon.

Eurayle turned away from the trio and walked slowly towards Jason. Stopping short when she saw the unsheathed sword lying across his chest, she hesitated briefly. Then, gathering her courage about her like a cloak, she walked swiftly up to his body, knelt and purposefully pushed the sword back into its scabbard. Although wraithlike, she still felt enough heat from the touch of the blade to remind herself of its power.

There was a woman pointing at him and screaming. The trinkets and bottles at her waist jangled as she tried to attract the attention of the people around her.
A flash of light and he was in a cave, an ice cave. He sat by a dwindling fire with a dead body. He knew she was dead, by the bloody wound in her chest. Her head was resting in his arms, as he waited for the cold to claim him as well.

She held up the necklace and compared it to the birthmark on the back of Jason’s left shoulder. The pattern etched into his skin matched perfectly the symbol on the necklace. She pressed the necklace against his shoulder, covering his mark. Almost at once his body arched and his face contorted, his mouth forming the silent rictus of a scream. Eurayle removed the necklace and watched Jason’s body relax back into its former position. Standing, she walked back to the three women and handed the necklace back to its owner.
“My apologies,” she said. “I needed to be sure.”

He was oblivious to what was happening to his body. A second flash of light and he found himself ascending a long stone staircase. Eventually, reaching the top he stood on the pinnacle of rock that reached into the heavens. It seemed much the same as he remembered, only this time the sky was devoid of stars, just blackness in all directions.

“Welcome back, my lover.”

Jason turned at the sound of her voice and froze.

[Awesome Aphrodite]

The smoke was choking the air when Omri and I started to return to the village. Wow… how many Amazons had died? It was almost pitch dark as we got close to the village. The moon above was almost full... but not quite. When the village was in sight, Omri seemed to lose interest in me, and took off like his paws had caught fire. I followed him.

The Amazons had gathered around a stage… Ellie was standing on the stage, next to Lauri. Lauri was saying something, but I didn’t understand the language. Latin, maybe…? I wasn’t sure. I sat and listened. Omri jumped up on the stage next to Ellie, who looked down at him and told him to sit, which he did.

When Lauri had finished talking, she turned to Ellie.

“Now.”

Ellie sighed, and then lifted a large mask above her head, showing it to the Amazons standing around her. She then put the mask on. The Amazons cheered.

I didn’t understand what was going on… but I had the feeling it had something to do with the death of their queen. I felt so weird, being here, among people who I didn’t know, yet had to help save. How was I supposed to help save them, anyway? I didn’t know.

“Hello, Annabelle. Enjoy your lunch?”

I looked up. It was Traya. I smiled, stood, and wagged my tail. She smiled back at me.

“Ellie was probably too busy tonight to make you anything, so that’s why I caught that for you.” She leaned down and patted me on the head. “I hope you liked it.”

Not wanting to freak her out by transforming and thanking her, I simply licked her hand. She smiled again, then turned and walked away. Almost without thinking, I followed her. She turned and looked back at me.

“Want to sleep with me tonight?”

I hadn’t even thought about it. But I wagged my tail. She must have taken that as a yes, because she nodded.

“Come on, then.”

I followed her back to her hut. She sat on a bunk, and I lay on the floor next to her. Funny how laying down makes you realize just how tired you are. I yawned. I felt a blanket cover me as I drifted off, and heard Traya’s voice in my ear.

“Good night, Annabelle.”

[vox]

DISTANT SOUNDS

Aphemenie watched as the one called Eurayle walked over to Jason’s prostrate body and touched the sword that was lying across Jason’s chest, she was still uncertain about this beautiful spectre that had arisen from the fire and did not fully understand the significance of the necklace, Jason’s birthmark and Phalon’s ring. No doubt in time, she would begin to understand.

Much to her relief, Eurayle only re-sheathed the sword which was still ‘singing’ as she did so, and what was it that Eurayle was doing with the necklace? and why did it have such an effect on Jason?

She was momentarily distracted by sounds far in the distance that could not be heard by any other. The sounds were of two people talking to each other, where were they coming from? The voices she could hear were of male origin, and voices she had heard before. They were talking about her, talking about finding her and taking her back to her village. They were arguing about the time that would be wasted looking for her. She remembered where she had heard them before. During a walk around her village she had come across a large hut, there was quite a bit of noise erupting from it. Upon investigation, she saw two men; they were working with a forge making iron utensils, horseshoes, weapons and also what appeared to be swords. There was an anvil, a heavy block of steel and they were hammering away at the hot steel, all the while singing. There were tools of various shapes and sizes, some grooved on the end or face, which were hung upon the walls. There was also a huge block, a large perforated block of iron, with grooved sides. The floor was made up of compacted mud and straw and there were sparks flying everywhere. An intense heat emanated from the hut and Aphemenie did not wish to enter. The voices she had heard were those of Fenn and Penn, the sword smiths!

Aphemenie felt chills running up and down her body’, why were they looking for her? she hoped they would not find her, but deep inside she knew she had to confront them one way or another. She did not want to flee, leaving Jason, Phalon and Scrappy and she most definitely did not wish to return to the village. She had a destiny to fulfil which she could not do so, if she were to return.

For the first time in her life she felt in control, she finally knew what she had to do. She would seek out Fenn and Penn and ask who sent them to find her, and why? Also she would try to explain to them that she would not be returning with them, make them see how much it means to her, but could she slip away unnoticed? She doubted it! ………..

[EllieNeo]

ellie realized she was dreaming. she could have woken herself if she had wanted to. but she didn’t want to. at least, not now. she so rarely dreamed of ava anymore. and dreams were better than nothing.


ellie had had the worst nightmare ever. the scream that she let out woke the entire village and rang out through the woods. she curled up into the fetal position and shivered, crying. ava, who had left early, ran back into the hut and right to ellie’s side. she sat on ellie’s bed and held her close. ellie leaned into ava and sobbed loudly. she held ava tightly, as if making sure she was really there. ava held her for a long time, and they sat in silence. finally, ava spoke, stroking ellie’s hair.

“shhh. ellie. it’s ok.”

“no… no, it’s not.”

“we’ve held back the centaurs for another day, ellie. we’re winning the war.”

ellie pulled away from ava and sat on the edge of her bed.

“i don’t care about the war. it’s been going on for months now. i’ve been here for seven years, ava. i’ve hurt a lot of centaurs. i’ve watched amazons die. if this war is what i’m supposed to save the amazons from,… i don’t know how.”

for several minutes they sat in silence. ellie’s tears still fell, and she could still see the vivid images and hear the voices from her nightmare. this had been the worst one yet. what did it mean…? it was ava who broke the silence, but she spoke so low that ellie couldn’t hear her.

“what, ava? i didn’t hear you.”

ava’s eyes met ellie’s.

“i’m pregnant.”

ellie’s jaw dropped. she stood from the bed and backed away from ava. she felt her temper starting to boil up. she fought it. she sat on ava’s bed and stared across the room at her.

“but… how…? did you…?”

ava shook her head.

“i don’t know how. you’re the only one i’ve been with, ellie, i swear. i’ve never been with a man. hell, there are no men around here that don’t want us dead.”

ava had a point. and ellie detected no hint of deception from her. but… if that was true… what was going on here…? didn’t babies require men? that’s how ellie had understood it in school.

“but… that’s…”

ava nodded.

“impossible. i know. but lauri confirmed it. she says i’m about a month along.”

ava stood, walked across the room, and sat on her bed next to ellie.

“she also says that maybe your powers had something to do with it… and that this baby…” she touched her belly, and lowered her voice to a whisper. “…is ours.”

ellie looked down at ava’s hand on her belly. cautiously, she reached out and placed her hand on top of ava’s. she could feel the emotions of the life inside of ava. it was so content. the emotion washed over ellie, and she smiled. she raised her hand to ava’s face and they kissed. suddenly, the images of ellie’s nightmare returned to her. the voices echoed in her head. she stood and paced back and forth in front of ava. the image of ava’s cut throat and faded, glazed over eyes haunted ellie. was it a prophetic dream? by the gods, she hoped not. she stopped pacing and looked at ava.

“you can’t fight in this war anymore, ava.”

ava stood and looked up into ellie’s eyes.

“i’m an amazon, ellie. our tribe is in danger. i have to fight.”

“but… the baby…”

ava shook her head.

“if we lose this war, our baby will die, whether i continue to fight or not. if the centaurs defeat us, they’ll kill us all. you know that. you’ve been fighting them, too. you said yourself how many centaurs you’ve hurt. but you’ve never killed. you have yet to lose your blood innocence, ellie. but i fear you will lose it if this war goes on much longer. you can’t avoid killing forever, not with a war going on. the sooner it ends, the better. because once you kill…” she shook her head. “…everything changes.”

ellie shook her head hard. ‘everything changes…?’ she didn’t understand. ava stepped forward and hugged ellie tightly.

[EllieNeo]

WARNING! NIGHTMARE FUEL!!! this post is considerably more bloody than any of my previous posts! read at your own risk.[/u][/i]

ellie’s dream changed suddenly. it jumped forward. she tried desperately to wake herself now, only to find she couldn’t. no… NO…!![/u][/i] she didn’t want to dream this… not this, godsdamnit…!!! ANYTHING BUT THIS!!!![/u][/font] …but apparently she had no choice.


they waited in the trees. no one moved. janis, queen eglise, lauri, ava, ellie, and several other amazons had a small band of centaurs surrounded. and the centaurs didn’t even know they were there. ellie had to force her temper down when she saw bret was among them. that traitor. staying close enough so they could see one another, the amazons followed the hand signals given by the queen. ellie readied an arrow and shot one of the centaurs in the leg. he cried out in pain, and fell to the ground with a loud thud[/b]. ellie put her bow back on her back. bret and the others gathered around as the amazons jumped down from the trees and attacked.

ellie drew her sai and went chasing after a centaur who decided it would be a better idea to run than to stay and fight. she chased him all the way to the river. he then turned and threw his sword at her. she ducked, and he kicked her in the face with his right front hoof. stunned, ellie dropped her sai. the centaur picked them up and hurled them into the river. enraged, ellie drew her katana. she sliced a large gash in the centaur’s right front leg. he fell forward. satisfied that he was too injured to be a threat, ellie turned and headed back to where they had ambushed the other centaurs.

as she returned to where the battle had begun, she saw ava engaged in a swordfight with bret. ava moved her katana expertly, but bret was just as quick as she was, and he towered over her. ava sliced into his left shoulder, and he cried out in pain. his sword came around, and in one quick motion, he sliced off ava’s right arm. when she cried out and grabbed the place where her arm had been, he sliced off her left leg. she fell to the ground, her scream splitting the air.

“AVA![/u]”

ellie charged at bret, her katana still drawn, tears in her eyes. with one more quick motion, bret sliced a hole across ava’s throat, then, noticing ellie running towards him, ran off into the woods. queen eglise jumped down from a tree nearby and ran to ava, but ellie reached her first. sheathing her katana, she placed her hands over ava’s blood-covered throat. the bright green glow appeared. she then placed one hand on the spot ava’s right arm had been and the other where her left leg had been. once the bleeding had stopped, ellie picked ava’s head up and put it in her lap. ava’s left hand reached up and gripped the right strap of ellie’s black leather halter-top. her eyes were sad.

“ellie…”

“shhhh….”

ava shook her head. queen eglise knelt by her daughter’s side, tears in her eyes. when ava spoke again, it was in greek.

“ellie… i… want you to have… my right of caste…”

tears stained ellie’s eyes. she knew what the right of caste was. ava had explained it to her years ago. it was a right of passage given by amazons when they died. all of ava’s possessions and her title would be passed on to ellie. ellie shook her head. no… she didn’t want to become an amazon like this... not if it meant losing ava. the tears ran down ellie’s face. she looked up at queen eglise, who nodded. ellie looked back at ava.

“o…ok, ava… i’ll… i’ll take it.”

ava coughed up blood. her left hand touched her belly. her eyes looked faded and glazed over as they looked up into ellie’s. she reached up and put her hand on ellie’s face. her final words were spoken in english.

“our baby… would have been so beautiful.”

ava’s arm fell. she closed her eyes. ellie felt all the life drain out of ava’s body. she and the baby were gone. slowly, ellie lowered ava’s body to the ground. tears stung her eyes. she could barely see. she felt her temper rising. she took the black sai from ava’s belt. she saw red. her head spun. she saw that the centaurs who they had attacked were fleeing; lauri, janis, and two other amazons chasing after them. ellie stood. she was blinded by rage. she took off after the fleeing centaurs, ava’s sai held out in front of her.

“KILL EM ALL!!!!!!!!![/u]”

bret heard ellie’s yell and turned in time to see her sai coming straight at him. it was the last thing he saw, as a sai pierced his throat and he collapsed to the ground. ellie took off after the other centaurs. one by one, they fell to the ground, their throats cut. ellie jumped on the back of one centaur and stabbed him in his sides as he tried to kick her off. he collapsed and she sprang forward after the last centaur from the group. he stopped running and turned to face her. his sword came down, grazing ellie’s right arm. ellie caught his next sword thrust, then knocked him off balance and stabbed him in his horse half’s chest. after he collapsed, she straddled the top half of his body and stabbed him several more times. his blood splattered all over her clothes and face. she kept stabbing him, tears running down her face and mixing with the blood. she suddenly felt a hand come down on her shoulder. she turned and looked up. it was lauri. her purple eyes looked deeply into ellie’s.

that’s when ellie saw all the blood on her hands. on her clothes. on her face. she looked around at the bodies of the ten centaurs she had killed. she looked down at the one she was straddling. it was the centaur who had spat in her face during her temper training. the one who looked so much like rondex that ellie had always thought he could have been his son. she was stunned, and didn’t believe what had happened.

“no. no… no.”

she dropped the sai to the ground. what had she done? she had never killed before, except for food. even after seven years of living here. even after almost a year of this war. she had never killed. until now. what had she done?? she looked at the blood covering her hands. she felt sick. what had she done??? the faces of the centaurs she had killed flashed across her mind as she stared at her blood-stained hands. what had she done?!?!?!?[/u]

“NOOOOO!!!![/u]”

lauri took ellie by the shoulders and helped her to her feet. without a word, lauri picked up the sai ellie had dropped and led ellie back to the village.[/i]



ellie woke up sobbing. she sat up on the edge of her bed. she was queen now… but she had no idea how to be queen. if it meant she had to kill again… she couldn’t. she shook her head hard. she whistled. omri, who had been sniffing under the curtain door, came to her. his eyes stayed on the door. ellie could hear people talking, but she didn’t really want to get up yet. she reached out with her empathic powers, to see if she could tell what was going on out there without leaving her hut.

OW![/u][/i] ellie had never felt that many people before. all their emotions were mixed together, jumbled up, and there were more than she could count. she pulled her empathic power back, rubbing her head. she felt the blood running down from her right ear, and wiped it away. holding her right hand to her right ear, she could see the green glow from the corner of her eye. she felt the pain subside and the blood stopped flowing. ok, so that was a bad idea. a very[/i] bad idea. she guessed that the other amazon tribes had arrived. why were they a day late....? she'd have to remember to ask. she’d also have to remember to control her empathy while there were this many people around, or she’d have to deal with a migraine and her ears bleeding every day until the war was over. she sighed. time to be queen. however that was gonna work. sighing, she dressed, gathered her weapons, and walked out of her hut, omri at her heels.

[moonglum]

She had lived for a long time in his shadow, and now, her time had come again. Like a faded and half forgotten photograph in the back of a wallet, Jason had carried her spirit around with him. And like a millstone around his neck, she had ground on relentlessly and slowly grown in power. Now he was weaker, while she was stronger, strong enough to take Jason’s heart for her own. She would grasp that heart, blacken it and use it to suit her purposes.

This spirit of her true form, this hallucination, walked slowly towards him and circled her arms around his shoulders. Frozen, unable to move, he could only watch as she ran her fingers down his cheek and across his bare chest.
Like a serpent, she hissed. “Now you are truly mine, my love, and we will have such times, the likes of which this world has never seen.”

Jason screamed and his body jolted upright into a sitting position. His head whirled from side to side and he rolled onto his knees and stared behind him. Looking to one side again, he saw the group of women staring at him. Eurayle detached herself from the others and walked towards him. Offering her arm, she helped Jason to his feet. He swayed unsteadily and lent on her for support. His mouth was dry, as he rasped.
“It’s good to see you, aeldre kamerat.”
Eurayle smiled. “You also Herak, or is it Jason now?”
“The latter will do, it’s as good as any.” He sighed.
She saw the haggard lines on his face and the darkness building in his eyes. Grasping his shoulder, she said. “I’m sorry for your loss Jason, I know she meant much to you.”
Smiling at her, he leant his head towards hers and, looking into her eyes he whispered, “The witch in the blade has returned old friend, and she is as hungry as ever.”