SCARLETS DOMAIN

After several days we finally came to lands which were
familiar to me. The land of the Amazon was not far,
after all, from my native Scythia. Indeed were it not
for Karelia I would have left them both and returned
to my hearthland.

"They are well protected," I said to Gudrun as we
approached a ravine, at the bottom of which was a fast
flowing river. "To the north there are mountains and
to the south thick woodland. An attack is difficult,
but it makes them overconfident."

We walked along the side of the ravine until we came
to a bridge.

"We cross here?" asked Gudrun.

"No, it will almost certainly be guarded on the other
side. I know a place where we can cross."

Gudrun was hesitant. It seemed that she was ready to
throw herself on their mercy.

"They fight each other and tell themselves that they
are brave and strong, and if that isn't sufficient,
they come across bridges such as this by night and
launch cowardly raids on defenceless villages!" I said
sharply.

We kept ourselves concealed on the bank as the
woodland thickened. Finally, we came across an old
fallen tree which spanned the ravine..

"We cross here," I said.

Carefully we picked our way across. Below the torrent
raged over rocks which formed pools. I said nothing
about the creatures I knew to be in those pools.

Finally we reached the other side. I drew my sword
and looked around, my ear cocked for any sound.

"Welcome to Amazonia!" I said. "Now follow me and
keep close."

As we pushed into the dense woodland. Gudrun grabbed
my arm. "This is madness!" she hissed. "How can we
hope to capture an Amazon warrior and watch Omphale at
the same time?"

I glanced back, and smiled.

"Her only chance is to stay with us... with me. If she
strays they will find her and kill her slowly. I
think she knows this."

Gudrun looked at Omphale whose eyes darted fearfully
this way and that. She glanced back at me uncertainly
and nodded.

A little further on, I held my hand up.

"Listen!"

Voices carried over the wind.

"Not a sound, they are close."

Crawling on our bellies, we came to the edge of a
steep hillock. Gudrun gasped. It was her first sight
of Amazon warriors.

They were clearly on a training exercise, but feeling
themselves safe in their homeland, they did not keep
much of a watch. I recognised their dress, the
characteristic fur-lined pointed helmet, short leather
breastplate, and a wide studded belt above a split
kilt. On their feet, fur boots. Each warrior bore a
bow and quiver, a shield, and a shortsword at her
belt.

As we watched, they appeared to be making camp, and I
saw two of them break away from the group, laughing
and playing as they made their way into the woods,
ignored by the others.

"Stupid bitches," I muttered, "they don't know the
first thing of warcraft. How can you worship these
creatures Gudrun?"

Gudrun didn't answer. It was as if she wasn't
listening, transfixed by what she still clearly
believed was a divine wonder.

"Come, this is our opportunity."

Gudrun seemed to have been awakened from a dream, and
at first I felt that she would betray me - betray
Karelia - but she swallowed, and nodded, steeling
herself for the task.

Stealthily the three of us followed the two girls,
until they came to a brook. I shook my head
incredulously as they began to strip off their armour,
carelessly discarding their weaponry as they plunged,
shrieking, into the water, like Roman maidens on
holiday.

"This is going to be easier than I thought!" I
gestured to Gudrun, who readied her bow. "You take the
one facing us. The other one is our girl."

I drew my knife, smearing the blade with a sleeping
potion I'd prepared during the journey, then crept
forward slowly, keeping out of sight.

Finally, I was as close as I could safely get. I
raised my hand to signal Gudrun.

The girl saw me, her eyes widening as Gudrun's arrow
zinged overhead before thumping beneath her breasts
like a final heartbeat.

I was moving forward as she grunted and fell back, my
knife ready to pierce the skin of her comrade as my
arm held her by the throat.

She was fast!

She shrieked as she whirled, her fist catching me in
the stomach and sending me splashing and gurgling into
the water.

As I surfaced, I found myself staring into the eye of
the dead girls sex, as her blood reddened the water.
The other girl was scrambling up the bank to retrieve
her sword, her body quivering as she slipped in the
mud.

As I struggled to my feet, Gudrun's bow sang once
more.

The girl let out a piercing shriek and fell to the
ground writhing and screaming as she reached
desperately for the arrow that protruded from her
lower back.

I uttered a curse as I realised that not only had I
failed, but that the rest of her patrol was now
pounding towards us, death on their faces.

There are times when it is wise to abandon an
objective and retreat, but knowing it meant a grisly
fate for Karelia made it hard. Stumbling from the
pool, cursing my bad luck, I ran towards Gudrun and
Omphale. Omphale was, wisely, already running, but
Gudrun paused just long enough to loose a final arrow.
Behind me an Amazon uttered a guttural scream as
Gudrun's arrow deprived her of any chance of bearing
children.

We ran back the way we had come, making for the bridge
as the Amazon packed yelled behind us. Then, dropping
down a small gully, I caught sight of a hollow in the
thickets.

"Gudrun, Omphale! This way!"

They paused in their headlong rush, uncertain, but
that very uncertainty increasing the danger. We dived
into the thicket moments before the first Amazon
leapt, screaming into the gully.

Thankfully, she didn't pause, and she and her comrades
charged on, following the trail which we had, in fact
made in reverse when we arrived.

Only one girl stopped. A tall blonde woman with
intelligent eyes, she glanced back at where we were
hiding. I held my breath. If she discovered us, she
was a dead woman. Then we were dead too, as her
comrades would surely have returned on hearing her
death scream.

Either she read my thoughts, or she truly had no idea
of our whereabouts, for she stood for a few moments
looking around suspiciously before deciding to abandon
further investigation. She turned and ran to join the
rest of her patrol, who by now were out of sight.

I waited a few minutes, in case she was waiting out of
sight for us to make an appearance, when she would
call back the others who would then have us trapped.

Eventually, I decided that it was time to take the
risk and move on.

Moving carefully and keeping as well concealed as
possible, we followed a circuitous route back to the
tree bridge. My heart sank when we reached sight of
it. Now, four Amazon warriors stood guard, their
comrades, presumably, searching for us.

I told Gudrun to stay hidden, and to ready her bow.
There was not much time and desperate measures were
called for. Carefully I made way to the edge of the
ravine that the bridge straddled. Glancing down I
shuddered at the sight of the swirling rapids below
and the rock pools concealing those hideous creatures
that I knew from my youth. What had to be done had to
be done, though, and taking my courage in both hands,
I lowered myself over the edge, carefully seeking out
hand and footholds in the rock.

Gingerly I made my way along the rock face towards the
fallen tree, my sword clasped between my teeth.
Finally, I found myself beneath its trunk, looking up
at the guards as they chatted amongst themselves.
Carefully I took hold of my sword, watching the one
who stood closest to the edge. From where I was, I
could see the crease of her buttocks under her kilt as
they flexed with her movement.

I felt that familiar pounding in my head as I relished
the anticipation of this kill. There she was, chatting
to her friend, and in a moment I was to send her to
screaming agonised death.

My sword thrust upwards. I felt the resistance of
flesh and then the sword became part of her twisting,
almost from my grasp, as her body spasmed. Her scream
pierced the air and I saw the look of shock on the
face of her comrade. For an instant, she didn't know
what had happened, but already I was scrambling up the
rock face, desperate to reach the top before she cut
me down.

I prayed that Gudrun would take her cue, and sure
enough, as our eyes locked, she suddenly jerked
forward, an arrow point protruding from her mouth like
a grotesque tongue.

The other two were confused, not knowing whether to
face the attack from the arrow or from me, and that
gave me the chance I needed to climb to my feet.

Already Gudrun and Omphale had broken cover and were
running towards me. One of the remaining warriors
faced me, while the other went for Omphale.

My opponent was a large well-muscled woman with a
weather-beaten face. She moved towards me, depriving
me of space, and clearly hoping to drive me over the
edge.

She never stood a chance, though. In a moment, Gudrun
had her arm around her throat and had driven her knife
into her well muscled midriff. The girl grunted and
doubled over, and I side-stepped as Gudrun pushed her
towards the edge.

For a moment her arms windmilled, and then she
toppled, screaming, to splash into the river below.

Omphale, meanwhile, lay on her back with her teeth
sunk into the neck of the last Amazon. Gudrun and I
stared open mouth as the warrior writhed on her back,
on top of Omphale, desperately trying to escape the
cruel teeth of her attacker. Under her kilt her
loincloth stretched tight between thrashing thighs,
and dampened suddenly.

I could not understand how Omphale, unarmed as she
was, could have got the better of a fully armed
Amazon. Now was not the time to question, however, as
I became aware that the remainder of the patrol had
arrived.

Pausing only to kick the dying warrior off Omphale, I
pulled her to her feet and propelled her towards the
tree. Gudrun was already halfway across, and with a
quick glance behind me, I followed.

As I mounted the tree trunk I could hear the closeness
of the screaming Amazons as they closed in on me.
Slowed by Omphale, I was halfway across before they
were on me.

With split second timing I dropped to one knee,
feeling the wind of a swinging sword pass harmlessly
over my head. Twisting quickly, I sliced the edge of
my blade across my attackers bare midriff.

Blood sprayed and I had to jump back fast to avoid her
viscera as leaped out at me, as if seizing a far more
exciting opportunity than maintaining life in this
woman's body.

She gurgled horribly, sinking to her knees as one hand
scrabbled at her escaping entrails like an overworked
sheepdog, while the other clung to the rope. I turned
my attention to the warrior behind her, but it was not
necessary. She grunted and clutched at one of Gudruns
arrows as it thumped into her leather breastplate,
burying itself deeply in her breast.

There was no time to watch her fall. I ran as fast as
I could for the end of the bridge, while Gudrun
covered my escape. Behind me the Amazons yelled their
anger and frustration as one of them tried to climb
over the bodies of her fallen comrades, only to slip
on a mess of internal organs and fall in an untidy
heap. As she tried to rise, another of her comrades
came over, causing her to lose her footing. She
screamed as she slid off the slippery trunk, plunging
into the treacherous torrents below.

The disembowelled warrior was pushed unceremoniously
over the edge, and she fell training her insides like
a ribbon, into the river. A loop of gut caught on a
branch and stretched grotesquely as the torrent tried
to carry her away.

At the other side I began desperately hacking at the
rotting wood. It collapsed suddenly, and there were
screams as those Amazons already on the bridge fell,
screaming horribly, while those about to get on to the
bridge, backed away hastily.

One broke her back on the rocks below, to lie writhing
in agony, while another fell into one of the calmer
rock pools.

It was not calm for long. The water churned, and
turned purple as she screamed in agony. She was sucked
under, to resurface again momentarily, covered in
silvery creatures, before disappearing for the last
time.

Suddenly a pair of unseen hands seize my ankles. One
of the Amazons had apparently leapt as the tree had
fallen, and managed to cling to the rock face on our
side of the ravine. Climbing up, she now stared up at
me, her face full of desperate fear.

My instinct was to kick her away and hack at her
wrists with my sword, but Gudrun stayed my hand.

I understood in a moment.

Here was our sacrifice to Streeth.

Will continue in chapter 13...