Having lost her kingdom, what will be Kendraha's next step. Retake it, or disappear into a new persona. What will the Time Core agent's best strategy be for survival while she waits for an unlikely rescue. Kendraha must face the knowlege she has gained from her role as Queen of Egypt, and try to figure out how to survive in a world full of nothing but humans.
Stranded in Alternate Time 4-6,
by Py, (c) 8/17/2000,
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No one is quite sure if Amazonians truly ever existed, that is the formal group of fighting women found in legends worldwide. There are many such legends from many cultures, Some reaching back to times when man was barely civilized, others to times as recent as Africa in the early 19th century. Cave drawings even suggest prehistoric Amazons, However this is still an unrecognized conclusion of some scientists. True, many women are often referred to as Amazons, but the question is did such a group of warrior women ever exist.
Evidence suggest so in many places around the world, Asia, Japin, South Ameris along the Amazon river, however, the best evidence may be from Egypt and Greece, The legends for Amazonian women in each are almost simultaneous, starting in Egypt around Queen Kleopatra's reign, ending shortly after, and appearing in Greece about the same time. However in the Greek case the legends go on much longer, one might wonder at the significance of a possible connection here. In the mid 20th century some bones were found in Northern Greece, many of the bones have been identified as belonging to women, and more startling, weapons were found close to most of these bones. Similarly, Weapons with female bones were found in burial sites used for the capitol city of Egypt during the reign of Queen Kleopatra. If Amazons did not exist, why did man invent the various legends, and if they did exist, what caused these women to become Amazons? Also, if they existed, is there any connection to the bones found at these 2 separate sites, or is it a case of Amazons developing independently?
Excerpt from a lecture on Amazon existence,
Prof. Simon Dell, P.H.D. Westerton, (2077 AD)
4. For several days she rode down the dirt roads which were surrounded by several kinds of trees, meeting no great difficulty along the way. The few who noticed Kendraha generally ignored her. The honest thought she was no threat, and the criminal thought she had nothing they wanted. The Egyptian soldiers she saw occasionally had there own ideas about what to do with a beautiful woman caught traveling alone, some of which was not entirely pleasant. Most of them were dissuaded by the sword on her back, preferring to try there luck elsewhere, and the few that weren't found their minds turned to other thoughts by Kendraha.
She couldn't call herself Kleopatra anymore, and her link as queen to the new Goddess she had named Kendraha was now broken, but at least the Time Core would still know she was in this time and place if they saw the new God's name. A search by her own people using mental powers should have no great problem in finding her wherever she was. She picked up a lot of new human names from people's minds, and chose one for herself. Her new name would be Kenji, and her story would be that her village had been on the border with the neighboring country during the most recent troubles. Everyone there had known how to fight except her, and the last attack had killed everyone except for her, because she had run as the villages fate had become obvious. So she now wandered alone, and if anyone thought her story wasn't quite right, she could make sure they believed her. Kendraha knew she could change enough minds to find her way back to being Queen after returning to her normal appearance, but decided that might not be wise or desirable, especially with fighting for the throne going on. She also knew she could just as easily start over in some other country, but she had thought on that for a year, and wasn't sure developing such power was a good idea, it made you a target for many reasons.
It wasn't long on this day before Kendraha saw her first fighting action. First she heard the clang of metal on metal, then whoops and yells mixed with some male laughter. Quickly rounding a corner she found a woman standing in the road, furiously fighting off 5 male bandits who surrounded her. Kendraha wasn't sure why they were attacking in this manner but had a good idea, clearly these men didn't only plan to steal the gold sack tied to her waist if they could avoid killing her. There minds were clouded with many emotions Kendraha wanted to drink in, chief of these were greed and lust. She watched and fed off the men's emotions as the beautiful auburn haired woman fought wildly with her sword, blocking blows and receiving cuts to her legs and arms mostly, and once to the belly slicing her garments while drawing just a little blood. Kendraha probed the mind of the woman to add her fear to the feeding, and found rage, determination, and murderous anger. She suddenly knew what the woman was, and charged forward on her horse, her sword held high as she yelled and projected fear into the minds of the men. The effect was instantaneous, the woman cut down 2 of the men as they hesitated, and 3 men ran away as fast as they could.
Kendraha did not pursue the men, she immediately approached the woman who took up a defensive stance. "I mean you no harm!" she announced as she projected feelings of trust. The woman hesitated, then began relaxing as Kendraha dismounted. Without a word they each chose a fallen man and finished them off, Kendraha drinking in the last of the escaping life force of her victim as quickly as she could, and without appearing to do anything out of the ordinary. Then Kendraha helped the staggering woman to a fallen log at the side of the road.
The woman sat and began removing her outer leather, then rolled up the top of her inner garments to reveal the bloody stomach area, "I am Vessinar of the Royal Amazonian guard, or I was until the people rose up and the soldiers turned traitor. That was nearly a year ago, I am nothing now, we failed our Queen." After cleaning most of the blood from the stomach area with a piece of silk she had stolen, Kendraha gave the woman some water from a sack she carried, "I've heard the stories, the guard did as well as any could, and some say the Queen did escape, but now fears for her life if she returns." Vessinar nodded, "Perhaps, I know she would be a fool to return now, and she did escape with Tannar, another Amazonian guard. But my Queen was injured somewhat, and Tannar was badly wounded according to some of the stories, probably mortally wounded which would leave my Queen undefended." Kendraha began to stimulate part of Vessinar's mind to improve her immune system's reaction and healing, "That's not a bad wound, but we should clean it. Come, we can get on my horse together, and return the way I came, help is not far."
Kendraha let Vessinar drive the horse while she rode behind her, and tried to hold on without doing further injury to the Amazon's stomach area. She thought it would have been better the other way, but it was natural for the Amazon to want to be in control of the beast since Kendraha was not an Amazon herself. This gave Kendraha one less thing to do as she tried to stimulate Vessinar's healing, while also keeping up a conversation at the same time. She explained that her name was Kenji, sole survivor of her village when raiders from the neighboring country had attacked. Arriving at the village Kendraha had left that morning, they found a doctor, who happened to be the Innkeeper also, but Kendraha thought his attempts to help did little. Fortunately he was a devoted citizen of the former Queen, and was more than happy to treat an Amazonian guard, provide them a room in the Inn, and keep their presence quiet to any soldiers or others who might ask. Kendraha couldn't monitor his mind all the time, but he seemed trustworthy and unlikely to betray them short of torture or threats to him or his family.
The two of them talked more in the room while Kendraha tried to clean blood off of Vessinar's garments, and the Amazonian tried to rest although she couldn't sleep yet. Kendraha knew the woman's healing seemed to be going well, but her adrenalin was probably coming down now. Between that, the shock to her system, and the slight added tiredness she would feel from the healing efforts being promoted, she would sleep for some time and very soundly when she finally surrendered to slumber. When the tall Amazon was almost asleep, Vessinar's eyes widened at something Kendraha said, "You cannot use a sword?!" Kendraha smiled a bit sheepishly, "Ah, no, not for fighting anyway." Vessinar furrowed her brow, "Woman, how have you survived since your village was destroyed, and how do you come to have this fine sword? Why do you have a sword if you can't use it, and that dagger on your thigh?" Kendraha smiled slightly, she hadn't thought of all that. Of course one of her Amazons would notice her dagger under her skirts where most people would miss it, and would make all those connections. "I picked up these weapons from fallen people before fleeing my village." she lied. "The dagger comes in handy, and the sword deters people who think I can use it as you did." She sighed, "Certainly those 5 bandits thought I would help you to cut them to pieces, when in truth if they hadn't been so concerned about me and my sword, they probably could have defeated us both." Vessinar frowned, then smiled, then laughed, "A bluff, and they ran like rats!" She through her head back as she laughed, trying to hold her stomach from moving and causing pain, and Kendraha simply soaked up the emotions and smiled a bit. Vessinar finally stopped, "I think you have the heart of an Amazon, we shall get along well. When I am fully healed, we shall begin work on your little problem. No woman should travel the world without someone's protection, or better yet knowing how to use her own weapons. With your bravery you should do well in the world, but you do need to be able to fight with your sword." She smirked, "A bluff is a fine weapon, but it is only good until someone decides to accept your challenge."
They stayed at the in for some time, Kendraha finding it difficult at first to hide her secrets. She wanted to blurt out that she was the Queen, or duck out and change then return, but it made for so many unwanted questions and problems. Also accidentally letting slip little things she read in people's minds, then trying to explain them was an additional difficulty. She could make Vessinar believe her, but inconsistencies would build, it was best to fool her with small lies and such, until she became more accustomed to keeping mental readings completely to herself. It was so hard, in the palace no one had been as close as often as Vessinar was now, not even Tanner who she only saw for a small fraction of each day, nor the personal servants who were more concerned about keeping out of trouble. Vessinar was here, and Kendraha had to be alert all the time, she even had to sleep oddly. Kendraha had to change to her hunter or feeding form to sleep and rest her body, so she placed a strong influence on Vessinar to see only her human form when she slept. If they both woke in the middle of the night, she would have to use her mental powers to make sure Vessinar didn't see the giant serpent tail while she transformed to full human form again.
Still, she was concerned about her regular life force and flesh feedings. She wouldn't have to do that for over 2 months if things kept going this way, but it meant inventing a reason to spend a night separate from Vessinar. If she abruptly left or made a poor excuse and upon returning made false memories for her, that would be very dangerous, discovery would only require Vessinar finding inconsistencies in her memories and realities compared to other humans.
After a week Vessinar was much better, almost all her wounds fully healed, and most of her strength and agility had returned. She wasn't feeling capable of sparring with Kendraha, but after paying the Innkeeper the remainder of what they owed for their stay, they set out along the road. They stopped at a clearing off the road to camp, find food, and Vessinar began the training with the sword. Because she still wasn't at 100 percent, Vessinar began by teaching fighting stance with the sword, basic movements, and having her repeat those movements while walking on a log. When Vessinar was ready she began crossing swords with Kendraha, slowly at first, teaching the motions before speeding things up. She taught Kendraha to watch her opponent's shoulder's and eyes mainly, how to alter speed and style of attack to throw an opponent off, and the advantages to her being shorter, as well as those of a taller opponent such as herself.
After 7 weeks of training Kendraha woke in the middle of the night in their campsite, realizing that she had been ignoring the hunger building inside. The following day had to be it. When they came to the next village Kendraha knew what she had to do. They had lived off the land, Vessinar and her doing odd jobs to earn the local currency or gold for times of need, such as medicine or equipment. Most of what Vessinar had possessed had been spent, first at the Inn they had originally stayed at, then in buying some leather that fit on her body over Kendraha's tunic. It reached to the waist of her skirt, and had no arms, and Vessinar said that although wearing her regular clothes was fine, wearing this over them would offer minimal protection to her body.
Now with almost nothing left of there currency and with no gold at all, it was easy for Kendraha to contrive a need. When Vessinar was within earshot but couldn't see, Kendraha swung her sword hard into a huge boulder with a loud but dull crack of metal against stone. She shouted an oath, and rested the sword tip on the ground. Using her foot to push down with, she strained briefly and the sword snapped where it had cracked. Vessinar came running, and upon inspection of the sword agreed that there was no choice, "A blacksmith to repair it, or a new sword, one or the other." Kendraha sighed, "I was just practicing, I guess I forgot the boulder was there." Vessinar forced a smile, "That's okay, but we need money. You have no weapons except that little dagger if there's trouble, and I don't like this area." Kendraha knew she could get a great price, but that wasn't part of her plan.
The next day Kendraha made sure that the local blacksmith was down with a sudden illness by planting the suggestion in his mind, and that anyone else who had a sword for sale was asking an outrageous price. In the end Vessinar found a job guarding the workers in a field from human and animal raiders, but they didn't want Kendraha because she had no weapon. "Don't worry, I'll be fine on my own." Kendraha assured. "What can you do all day?" Vessinar asked. "Something." Kendraha replied. "The Innkeeper says he needs a barmaid, I'll do that, and together we'll soon have enough for the blacksmith just about the time he's recovered from his illness."
The first day went fine, Vessinar returning to find Kendraha working the tables, annoyed to see some of the drunken men taking liberties. With Vessinar sitting in the room with a drink, that tended to slow down, but a few still grabbed or verbally taunted Kendraha. In their room that night before going to sleep Kendraha broached the subject, "Tomorrow I will,... be away for the evening, but I will be back in the morning." Vessinar scowled, "You need not do that Kenji." "I must." Kendraha insisted. "Your money and mine are not earning us nearly enough as fast as we need when you consider the cost of this room." "It will take us longer then!" Vessinar insisted. "Far too long." Kendraha pushed. They were silent for a while, then Kendraha continued, "It's not like I haven't done this before, the road is difficult for a woman traveling alone." Vessinar said nothing, then sighed, "If you must." Kendraha was somewhat pleased, the Amazonian had put up little argument, and then had accepted. She hadn't needed to do anything mentally, it pleased her, but she didn't like seeing Vessinar angry right now even if the emotions were nourishing.
The next day Vessinar left for her guard duty with little in conversation as she prepared. When she returned, she sat down as usual with a drink, watching Kendraha serve drinks to men at tables. When the place was closing for the night, she saw Kendraha leave with a large man. The following day the situation was repeated with a different man, and on the 3rd day she saw Kendraha leave to meet someone outside in the shadows. She had no idea who the man had been in the shadows, but hoped this wouldn't last much longer. This one was going to keep her away for an entire day, and the more she thought on that the more it annoyed her. Vessinar knew this was not at all the proper way for an Amazon to behave, they were powerful and didn't take money for sex. However, Kenji wasn't an Amazon, at least not yet, and Vessinar didn't think it was her place to say anything even if she already were. Amazons were by nature in charge of their own live's, but she didn't have to agree with Kenji's choice, only accept it. She comforted herself with the knowledge that Amazons came from many different backgrounds, and some had done similar if not worse things before joining the ranks of the Amazons.
Kendraha sat behind her victim as they rode her horse into the black woods very slowly. She held a lamp to light the way, her victim had worn a cloak and hood for concealment. Once to a spot they followed an overgrown path, which led them to a secluded and seldom used clearing, where her victim tied the horse to a tree. Kendraha knew this field was secluded but not too far from civilization, and thus dangerous, but she had no choice, she had to eat. The 2 men she had seen the other nights had been to convince Vessinar, and sex with them without feeding on their life force had been interesting if nothing else., now she needed to feed though.
Kendraha dulled the senses of the horse so it wouldn't become frightened, and the cloaked figure approached. Kendraha had insisted on the cloak and hood as well as meeting outside to disguise the victim's identity from Vessinar, and the victim had easily agreed since she didn't want anyone to know either. The cloak came off revealing a woman with blonde hair and a petite body, which Kendraha thought best for now. She didn't need too much extra weight, she feared Vessinar would notice changes in her fighting which she might not disguise well enough.
They found a spot in the tall grass that seemed comfortable, and began undressing each other. Kendraha explored the sexual angle of this new relationship, feeding on the excitement of her prey, noting her own building excitement. Kendraha continued the play as she began shifting to the hunter form, squeezing the woman at the same time they brought each other pleasure while hidden by the tall grass. Then after the woman's last orgasm, she became fully aware of Kendraha's nature, and began to struggle and scream. Kendraha muffled the screams with her hand, while quickly moving her coils to trap the woman's arms, then get a good grip on the woman's body.
Kendraha squeezed slowly, prolonging the fear and other emotions as usual, slowly constricting the woman until she couldn't breathe. Several times Kendraha let her go almost unconscious, then would loosen her grip so the woman could recover her strength, only to squeeze her again to near unconsciousness. Kendraha hadn't stopped the feeble screams and gasps with her hand beyond the first minute of the first constriction, and the woman had worked one arm lose, frantically pushing against the coils in vain. Finally the fear was gone, the woman looked into her eyes and seemed to beg for her life, so Kendraha tightened her grip to finish her. The woman gasped and strained for air, then finally fell limp. After absorbing the woman's life force as it escaped her dead body, Kendraha transformed to the full serpent form to feed on the flesh, wasting no time in swallowing the woman. The serpent curled up in the grass, and Kendraha sent one mind probe to the horse, making sure the mental blocks against fear were working, and it was still calm before she went to sleep. Her very last thoughts before sleep were of how much more difficult mental blocks were for an animal mind like a horse as intelligent as they were, but she had enough nourishment from her recent encounters with the humans for her needs, especially with this last feeding from this woman who had paid extra for secrecy, and she wouldn't need to touch the horse's mind again for a while.
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5. Kendraha was sick, hanging over the side of the rail of the ship as it sailed across the slightly turbulent water, while a few of the Amazons watched and chuckled, Vessinar standing with arms crossed trying to decide if she should join in laughing or scold the others. Kendraha had never before been so sick on a ship at sea, but she knew she was prone to it. At home on her time line's Earth most travel by her people was done on land or air, but traveling on the sea at a young age had convinced her that it upset her system. It tended to upset her mind so much that it effected those around her. Fortunately it wasn't too bad even in rough seas, and Humalli could screen her thoughts out, but having to contain her own mind strictly while on this ship full of humans was taking it's toll on her. So Kendraha went along with the bit, making her face and body turn the proper shades, pretending to vomit using her mind to create the illusion in the mind's of those who looked, or once actually vomiting, and all the time hoping no one noticed that they might be picking up some of her ill feelings. The humans couldn't screen out the feelings of illness that escaped her defenses, but she was confident that they wouldn't make the connection. Kendraha had seen a Humalli doctor on the issue, he had shown her how to exercise her mind to control the problem, but it was only a temporary treatment. She had to perform the doctor's ritual everyday of such a sea going journey, beginning a few days before the trip, and clearly she had forgotten this time. As soon as the first wave of illness had hit her, she had begun the mental ritual, and she could already feel the illness decreasing.
It had been a bit over 2 years now that she had been traveling with Vessinar, and as far as they knew they had found all the surviving Amazonian guards. It had started shortly after her first full feeding while traveling with Vessinar, they had decided to use there accumulated gold to buy a new sword instead of wait around to get the other repaired, since Kendraha made sure that one of the sellers had a change of heart, and had come down significantly on his price. They had given him the broken sword in trade along with the price, which pleased him as he planned to have it fixed. They traded sheaths, and Vessinar had told her that she had gotten an excellent deal.
As nothing was remaining to keep them, Vessinar told the man she had been guarding fields for that she was moving on now, which irritated him, but he just grumbled. Two days later they stopped off the road near a river, finding a horse but no signs of a rider. A small dark haired figure dropped out of a tree and charged with a yell and a sword ready to strike. Vessinar met the newcomer, swords crashing together, as a dance of death began. Kendraha plunged the tip of her sword into the ground and sat on a log, she had seen her traveling companion fight before. Finally after what seemed a long and prolonged battle, Vessinar was on her back, the newcomer's sword at her throat. "I surrender oh mighty little one." Vessinar said with a grin. The other pulled back her sword and stuck it point first into the ground, "I'm not little! By the lady it's good to see you." The newcomer helped Vessinar to her feet and promptly found herself flipped over onto her back, a sword at her throat. Vessinar began helping her up, "How about some introductions here." said Kendraha with a touch of sarcasm.
That was how Kenji had met another Amazon. Her name was Rykuu, from a far distant place called Japin far to the East. Kendraha knew that in alternate Time lines sometimes things were the same, sometimes slightly different, sometimes radically different. This Japin sounded like the Japan found in most other Human-centric time lines, Rykuu had the looks to match, and had to be the smallest Amazon ever. Kendraha slowly remembered, despite her beauty she had been too small to be an Amazon, until Kendraha as Queen Kleopatra had seen her defeat several of her best Amazons at individual hand to hand combat. Rykuu had explained that many people in her country knew special arts for such fighting, but they did not teach women usually, and she had learned only a few things from her brothers. Kendraha couldn't get over the differences and similarities sometimes. Here Japan is now Japin, but Rome and Greece are still Rome and Greece, and in most of these Human-centric time lines China and Japan seemed to develop some extraordinary fighting skills. Kendraha as Queen Kleopatra had allowed her the tests, and after passing Rykuu had shared her small amount of fighting knowledge with the other Amazonians. Rykuu had confessed that she did not know nearly as much as a well trained student, but what she had taught the Amazons had increased their effectiveness immensely.
Rykuu herself was pleased to meet Kenji, stating that if Vessinar called her friend, she would also. Vessinar was eager to begin training Kendraha to fight against 2 swords at the same time, teaching her not to let one outflank her while the other kept her busy, and other tricks 2 attackers could try. First though she simply taught her how to fight someone shorter, they had discussed that possibility, but before because Vessinar was a few inches taller they hadn't been able to try that. Now Kendraha could because Rykuu was about a head shorter than she was.
As they traveled together for many months, Kendraha thought she'd have to develop other excuses to be alone for feeding. It proved to be not so difficult since the Amazons often had taken such breaks away from palace duties, sometimes finding themselves pregnant some weeks after returning. A side effect of her mental conditioning of these women and there isolation from the general population, was that occasionally they would 'take time to see the world' as Vessinar put it, or 'go on shore leave' as Rykuu had said. Of course Kendraha wasn't an Amazon, but she was taking their life style, and the excuse suited her purposes. So neither of them said a thing when she decided to spend a few days away, they merely nodded and agreed that they also would go their own ways and meet back at this Inn in 3 days.
It was more than enough time, and Rykuu dropped Vessinar off in another village using her horse, which left Kendraha with that much more time alone. She went in a different direction from them, passing through several villages until night was approaching. Ready to begin searching for some victim, she heard sounds of screaming. She knew these were rough times, but she didn't want to deal with violence between humans today. Sometimes the 3 of them ignored the violence, other times they intervened, Kendraha just wanted to eat in peace. She couldn't bring herself to leave without at least finding out what was going on first, and thought maybe an easy meal would be in the making. However, if the victim were badly hurt or unconscious, it wouldn't be as satisfying to absorb the life force and consume the body without the emotional feeding first.
Kendraha arrived at a secluded barn next to a small home. Several horses were outside, and using her mind she sensed 6 men inside with a badly beaten woman on the ground amongst them. She was barely conscious now, and the men were preparing to take advantage of her. Kendraha knew she couldn't feed on the woman with the men present even assuming she could chase them all off, if nothing else the 6 surviving men would know her location if pressed to tell. Unexpectedly she found herself getting off her horse, ordering it verbally to stay, and barging into the barn with her sword drawn. The men looked at Kendraha in surprise, and as she projected fear towards them, 2 men ran out a side door in the barn, but 4 men only looked briefly confused, then drew their weapons also. "Oh crap!" she said using a human curse phrase from her own time.
Kendraha backed up quickly, slamming the door behind her, and moved to one side. She checked for the sense of an approaching man on the other side, and as he through open the door she brought her sword around. His own sword held vertically in front of him had deflected most of the blow, but enough caught him to make him stagger and fall backwards, and she quickly poked her head back in the barn and slashed his legs so he hopefully would not be able to walk soon, or at least not well. She would have killed him but one of the other men was too close, and Kendraha was almost immediately driven back.
In the open she saw no signs that the other 2 had returned, but the 3 on their feet were approaching. One hadn't possessed a sword, but now put his dagger away and used the sword of his fallen friend. Kendraha tried to release the blast of mental energy she had used before in anger when Tannar had been mortally wounded, it had probably saved her own life at the time. She knew it might kill the woman in the barn also, but Kendraha was more concerned for her own life, and the woman would most likely not be killed at that range. However her training to fight had conditioned her too well, and the mere sight of 3 men with swords ready to attack wasn't enough to cause her mind to release the power. Her teachers at the Academy had said it was an hysterical release of power that her people possessed at times of great stress, driven by adrenalin and often sudden shock, and there was no known way to call it up at will. Now apparently her training from her Amazonian companions was making it even less likely to show up.
Kendraha briefly considered the situation, she couldn't hope to do more than shock them by transforming, perhaps in the hunter form she could mentally control one enough to make him kill himself, or 2 enough to hold them stationary while she cut them down with the sword, but she couldn't do either while fighting the one or two left, and they'd cut her to pieces. Therefore it was up to her human form, using her fighting skills and maybe some minor mental assistance.
One man charged her while the others watched. She dodged to one side, tried to slice at him, but was blocked by his sword. He was bigger than her, so Kendraha used the techniques of a shorter and more agile fighter. She kept retreating as they crossed swords, partly because he had a longer reach, and partly to make him overconfident. The other 2 seemed happy to watch and wait for now, talking in low tones and laughing occasionally. Kendraha suddenly found herself backed against the barn, her sword the only thing between the large man's blade and her own throat. The 2 men were laughing more loudly, and the big man smiled, "Surrender pretty one, or I'll cut off your arms and take you anyway!" Kendraha let him see the fear in her face, while trying to project overconfidence into his mind. She let her sword drop, and he stood back a few steps. "I get this one, you 2 can have the other." he said as he turned his head.
Kendraha reached into the folds of her skirt, quickly withdrew her dagger, and plunged it into the man's stomach as his head turned to face her. She smiled as the Amazonians sometimes did at times like this, "Never turn your back on an opponent." The big man fell backward, losing his sword and clutching at the dagger. Before the other 2 could charge Kendraha had regained her own sword, cut the big man's throat, and retreated from the barn wall without having time to grab her dagger.
The 2 men stood next to their dead companion and the skinny one frowned at the other, "What now?!" The heavier man snarled, "We finish her, then have some fun. When the other returns we get her as planned." They charge together, and Kendraha fought 2 swords as she had been taught, although they were about the same height now. She fought as well as she could, causing minor damage in the form of small injuries, once from her blade and once as the big man fell against a sharp rock. She herself received 3 small wounds, and ultimately was tripped by a leg as she concentrated on the blades. Quickly she was hauled to her feet, the skinny man holding her from behind as the big man slapped her into unconsciousness.
She awoke in the barn to find herself tied at wrists and ankles, and unable to see much in the gloom. Her mind didn't want to focus, the combination of needing to feed and the effects of her beating were both taking a toll. Eventually she sensed the room, the wounded man was gone, she guessed probably dead from blood loss and the body removed. The woman was unconscious, and a man lay sleeping off to one side near the woman. Further mental probing showed the other man somewhere outside but too far for her to tell anything.
Kendraha focused her mind and made sure that the man would stay asleep, and that the other was not likely to come inside the barn, he was on guard duty and waiting his turn. She guessed he was waiting for her, as her clothes showed no signs of having been ripped off or otherwise torn. Her hands were behind her back, but not restrained otherwise, so she began shifting. Kendraha couldn't make her wrists and hands thin enough to slip out of the ropes without a full shift, so she did. She became the hunter first, and now her lower half being serpent in form it was easy to simply drag her tail free of the loose loop of rope near it's tip. Further shifting to the full serpent feeding form caused the wrist loop to fall off, as her arms grew thinner and retracted into her body. She had to quickly crawl free of her clothes, trying to shift from serpent form back to human form directly into her clothing, had always been a showy trick she had never succeeded in mastering back in her own time.
Once back in human form, she went over to the sleeping man. It was the skinny one, and using her mind to guarantee that he'd stay asleep, she withdrew his sword and cut his throat. As Kendraha killed the man, she made sure she was almost touching him, and as his body bled to death a short time later, she drank in his escaping life force. Kendraha smiled as the feeding gave her strength and cleared her mind, and although she knew it was no substitute for a full feeding, it was sufficient.
With her refreshed mental powers and clearer mind, she checked outside, found the larger man, and prepared to rush him. The man was caught off guard completely and stunned at the sight of a naked red haired woman rushing at him. Kendraha managed to cut his arm before he began fighting his best. After a prolonged and noisy battle, Kendraha staggered back and fell while there swords were locked, because the large man's other hand hit her in the jaw. She was still dazed and did not see as the man raised his sword high in one hand, yelling as he prepared to strike her dead. She also didn't see the arrow streaking through the air, burying itself deep in the mans stomach.
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6. Kendraha came to full awareness several minutes later, jerking to a sitting position at the sight of a dark haired woman kneeling next to her. The woman smiled, "He's dead, I got him for you." Kendraha took a moment to register this, then pointed to the barn, "Someone else, in the barn, she's hurt." The woman wasted no time in running to the barn, "Alli!" Kendraha stood to follow at a walking pace, and found the brunette untying the blonde. "I arrived here not long ago." Kendraha explained. "I found her like this, 6 men were here. I managed to frighten 2 off by tricking them into believing there were more people with me. But I had to fight the rest." The woman turned a concerned face which broke into a smile, "I saw the end of your battle, and the results. Two bodies outside, that one over there, and the one I killed. That's 3 for you, impressive." Kendraha smirked shyly, "Well that one I only snuck up on and cut his throat while he slept." The woman finished untying the blonde on the barn floor, "Still, that's 2 you beat in a fair fight isn't it." Kendraha said nothing and the woman took it as a yes, then she stood to face her, "How did you get to be out of your clothes anyway." Kendraha looked at herself, then the brunette's eyes went unfocused, "I'm fully clothed, I've been fully clothed the entire time, now I'm stepping out for a moment to check the horses." The woman returned to kneeling by her friend as Kendraha gathered her clothes and dressed, maintaining the thought in the woman's mind that she wasn't here. Lastly she took the loops of rope outside when she left, cutting them in half with her sword after retrieving it, and tossing them into the bushes. She hadn't thought it would be easy to explain how she escaped, and harder how she got out of her clothes, and now she wouldn't have to.
The brunette came out a few minutes later, "Ah, there you are, I lost track of you." She held out a hand to the squatting Kendraha, "I'm Junnia, and my friend in there is Alli. Thank you so much for coming by and helping when you did. That gang of fools has been running a rampage in this area for months, maybe now things here can return to normal." Kendraha yanked her dagger from the dead man's stomach and began cleaning the blade with a leaf, "I'm Kenji, and was just passing through and saw what was going on, and didn't like it one bit. I thought I might do something, but was honestly hoping more would run when I tried to trick them."
They talked for a while, Alli woke and surprised Kendraha by how well she seemed to take things. In the small house Junnia explained that the 2 of them lived here alone, and naturally people talked, gossip became rumors, which became stories, "And the next thing you know we're the spawn of the underworld." said Alli "Well, at least you get some knew horses and equipment out of it all." said Kendraha as she sat at a table in their house drinking a small cup of a nutty drink. Junnia snorted, "You did most of the work, take what you want." Kendraha thought, "Well, we could use another horse, and a sword is good for trading if nothing else." "Done, a sword and a horse." Junnia said and Alli nodded agreement. "Anything else?" Junnia continued. "Feel free, but may I ask who's we? You wouldn't happen to have a man out there, he'd be taking his life in his own hands with you?" Kendraha laughed, "I'm traveling with 2 friends. We split up for a few days, then we're meeting up again later." Junnia's face dropped and she sat down, "That's an odd thing to do, I used to know some people who did things like that. May I ask what are their names?" Kendraha took a sip and put her drink down, "Vessinar and Rykuu, 2 of the former Queen's Amazonian guard." Junnia smiled widely, "This is wonderful, Alli and I are former Amazonian guards, we know Vessinar and Rykuu." Kendraha was momentarily surprised, but she hadn't had time to thoroughly check through their minds, nor reason to suspect. Now that it had been brought to her attention, she remembered them both from Queen Kleopatra's force of Amazonian guards. Junnia had been one of the best with bow and arrow, and Alli had been in the room often those last few years when the Queen's court had been held.
It was a great reunion for the 4 Amazons and their new mutual friend, Except the Innkeeper wasn't happy to have 5 imposing women with swords in his place. Others tended to be nervous around them, and ultimately they climbed onto their horses and went to the house where Kendraha had met Junnia and Alli. There was enough room there for the 5 of them, providing 2 slept in the barn. So they took turns Over the next few weeks as they talked, worked the small plot of farmland, hunted for food in the surrounding woods, and doing sparring exercises with each other when not training Kendraha. She even got her first taste of using other weapons, such as the bow and arrow, and staff, as well as being shown a little of how to improvise with objects similar to weapons she knew, or even how to use whatever was handy if there were no better choice.
By the end of 2 months Kendraha knew a lot, but also knew there was much more to learn. Her own specialty hadn't shown yet, but the others remarked on how well her horse behaved, and she could only smile and not tell them the real way she managed to get along with her horse. After 4 more weeks Kendraha felt something change in the way they treated her, and found by reading there minds it was because they felt she was an Amazon herself now. They were planning some sort of ceremony which she couldn't read in their minds, but Kendraha reasoned that after that things would surely return to normal. When she had been Queen there had been such ceremonies among her Amazonian guards, but they had been more a right of passage to determine their standings in their own group, as win or lose the test they were Amazons because the Queen said so. Kendraha read in there minds that she would be one of them no matter how she did in the ceremony, unless she refused to try.
This time it would consist of all of them accompanying her to the nearest village, drinking until she couldn't see straight, and her bedding some man in the place. The 4 of them escorted her to the village, where they joined her in drinking. Kendraha wasn't concerned about getting drunk, it wouldn't hurt her any more than a human, but she didn't want to lose her shape in front of anyone. After many hours when Kendraha was definitely seeing the world funny, she looked at Rykuu who was unconscious with her head laying on the table. Alli's head was drooping a bit, but Vessinar and Junnia seemed to be doing fine. She stood, "Time for the next part." then she said a short phrase in the Humalli language which the others ignored or took for granted.
Kendraha staggered slightly to the far side of the room, almost every eye on her at this point. At a table she chose a muscular man with a mustache and she pulled him to his feet, planting a long kiss on his mouth. Upon breaking the kiss she whispered, "Let's find a room for ourselves." The man was quite flustered for a moment, then regained his composure and began leading Kendraha to a back door while holding her upright, after getting a nod from the Innkeeper to let him use a room he had empty in the back area.
The following day Kendraha woke alone with a splitting headache. Upon noting her nakedness and the room she was in, she first checked to see if she had devoured the man. She quickly realized she hadn't and had only had sex with him, and finding her clothes and sword still present she knew he hadn't robbed her. She dressed, trying to focus her mind and having no luck through the haze of the hangover. Before picking up her weapons she vomited, and told herself to tell the Innkeeper before she left the Inn. Before leaving the room she sat on the edge of the bed a while to clear her head and consider her situation as best she could right now. Kendraha hadn't considered sex much when she had been queen, she always hoped to be rescued, and humans had seemed to be little more than intelligent animals. She knew plenty of Humalli who engaged in sex with human slaves back in her own time, but it had never been something for her. Now it seemed almost natural, Kendraha knew she should feel appalled at what she had done, but she didn't. It had all started with her recent female victim in the field, but she had been female, and had become food afterwards, this had been a male and he hadn't been intended as food. She hadn't even fed on his emotions of sexual arousal as she had the woman. Eventually she decided that there was no point in worrying about it, she was stuck here. No rescue would ever come, leaving her alone without any other Humalli, so if she occasionally needed sex with a human there was no reason to feel embarrassed about it.
As soon as she arrived downstairs she found the others waiting. Vessinar and Junnia smiling, and both Rykuu and Alli looking half dead but smirking. They all somehow managed to get outside, Junnia holding Alli on one horse, and Vessinar holding Rykuu on the other, while Kendraha managed to keep herself on her horse as they proceeded home at a walking pace, leading the other 2 horses which were tied together so they could follow her. When they reach the small place they called home at the moment, and finished tying the horses in the barn, Vessinar walked next to Kendraha, "All but Junnia didn't think you'd go through with it, I mean the last part." "Of course I would, did, wo.. did." said Kendraha. "I want to be an Amazon, so I had to do it." Vessinar shook her head, "A true Amazon would have told us to go to the underworld." Kendraha stopped, "Wait wait, you mean I failed because I did what you said." "Vessinar laughed, "No, you passed. You showed the Amazon spirit, to face the situation head on and achieve your goal." Kendraha staggered a bit, "Wait wait. Now if I had told you to go to the underworld I would have succeeded?" Vessinar nodded, "Yes." Kendraha paused, "And because I went through with it I succeeded." "Yes." said Vessinar as she began to leave. Kendraha grabbed her arm and yanked her back, "So, your saying that I succeeded, have a head the size of Mount Artinus, and I left my insides all over the place for nothing, because I could have simply told you to go to the underworld!" Vessinar smiled wickedly, "I wouldn't say it was for nothing, your an Amazon now aren't you." Kendraha spit out another sharp phrase in her own people's tongue, then vomited on Vessinar's sandals.
No one was quite sure who had the idea, but shortly after Kendraha returned from a period of isolation, they decided to look for other surviving Amazons. They got some gold and local currency for the earlier captured swords, extra horses plus two of their own, and a little for other equipment. With it they purchased a small wagon, a strong horse to pull it, and supplies. With only 3 horses, Alli and Vessinar rode in the wagon. Kendraha often rode ahead out of sight, taking time to sense around. She knew that her range was good, and picking up the touch of an Amazonian mind among the rest would be almost impossible, but she tried anyway. She had better luck in villages, reading people's minds and finding clues. She would then simply go off alone, and return announcing that someone had told her this, then they would quickly ride off in pursuit. A few times she had to make sure they didn't try to find her source, and the method worked well in the end, her new Amazonian sisters only remarking on her ability to get the information they needed.
First they found one Amazon living with a sheepherder who didn't want to lose her, but he didn't try to stop her from leaving. They found another pair living together in a dock-side village, guarding incoming and outgoing ship cargoes, and doing numerous odd jobs around the docks, whatever was handy depending on whether a ship was in or not. These 2 had begun training a young woman to be an Amazon, and she joined the group as well. She wasn't ready for her final initiation yet, but Kendraha knew she would eventually, and she wasn't going to spoil the surprise. Still another had been recently captured and thrown into a group of slaves taken after a battle, where she had been paid to fight in defense of a city. She was being led in chains along with many other people, heading for a place where they would be sold to the highest bidder. The captive Amazon played as meek and helpless as possible dressed in her Amazon garb, and she planned to escape at the first opportunity, which seemed to be nowhere in sight right at that moment. Abruptly the caravan of slaves was under attack, with Amazon women running from cover screaming. Many slavers died, some managing to escape. All the slaves were released with the keys, as the attackers had managed to determine who held the keys and they had killed him first, then all the Amazons fled before anyone returned.
There were 9 original Amazons, 3 training to become Amazons, and herself, the first new Amazon. They had a total of 7 horses between them, not including the stronger and slower wagon pulling horse. They had plenty of weapons, almost enough for 2 each, mostly sword and dagger combinations, and they had a few things worth trading, supplies, plus some gold and local currency. As they spent the last 6 months in a fruitless search for more Amazonians, they developed a lot of ill will. Innkeepers and villages in general didn't like the hoard of warrior women around, it made them nervous. The Amazons themselves did little harm, except when they had to defend themselves from insult or injury. A few disappearances of people Kendraha had fed on were noticed also, and word reached the current government.
This leader seemed to be holding onto power, and he was a harsh man who used to be a soldier in Queen Kleopatra's army. He held a hatred for the former Amazonian guard, blaming them for the death of his daughter, who had become an Amazon and died in the battle for the palace that final day. He sent a large group of soldiers to find the Amazonians, bring them to him, and he would dispense justice. He also made it clear that he preferred them alive, but if they died in the attempt to bring them in, then so be it.
Word reached the Amazonians quickly through those who still saw them as defenders of the old and rightful order, and although they loved a good fight, they heard of the numbers sent after them and decided it was best to run. So they found there way back to the dock-side village where 3 of them were known, and selling all there horses and the wagon, they bought passage on a ship to take them all away. They weren't sure where they would go right now, but planned a short voyage where they hoped the current ruler wouldn't pursue them, because he would lose the use of many men plus a ship, in this time when at a moments notice he might need everything he had to stay alive and in power.
So they crossed the Mediterranean sea, choosing Greece as there destination because several of them knew a little Greek. Kendraha didn't care, using her mental ability she could learn any language quickly by reading minds and comparing thoughts with actions or objects, but she couldn't tell the others that. She knew it would be necessary to pretend ignorance and that she was learning the language slowly like the rest of them.
The Amazons were the only one's on the ship aside from a crew of 7 men. So they practiced sword play on the rolling deck, wrestled although partially clothed at the time, and all helped in teaching the 3 newcomers. Kendraha did get seasick, but recovered in a few days. Some of the Amazons spent time learning how to handle the ship, and Rykuu who understood a lot about ships already spent a good deal of time looking at the horizon, and dreaming of the home she had been kidnapped from when she was barely 12 years old.
A few Amazons took men below, found what privacy they could, and others either tried to ignore the sounds they heard, or teased the Amazon in question afterwards. Kendraha tried that once, but found she couldn't enjoy it as the seasickness threatened to return. When they finally landed in Greece they found a wonderful place, roughly equal to Egypt in law, about even in living standards, and with a rough people who could fight, but the country currently was peaceful in nature. It had lots of open lands that no one claimed as well, the Amazonians thought that they could make a nice home for themselves here. As they set out to buy horses with gold they had left over from the sale of their previous horses, Kendraha smiled and thought to herself, "A new beginning, but I won't be a Queen this time, just another Amazonian, got to remember to age this time though."
To be continued
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By Py