Myths and Legends - Amazons Ch. 02

Chapter 2

Lost Island of the Amazons

Center of the Bermuda Triangle

Jake reloaded the Ka-Bar as they approached the entrance to the cave, and they smelled Sestia before they saw her. When she came into view, she was covered from head to toe in yellow and greenish goo and reeked of rotten eggs. She had a shit-eating grin on her face as she carried an egg the size of her head under each arm. Jake tried not to hurl at the stench she was emitting, and it was only by some miracle he could keep it together. "Eggs!" she exclaimed, eyes shining with happiness.

"How many were there?" Lenore asked, holding her nose.

"Hundreds," Sestia replied. "Maybe thousands. These two were the freshest, laid today or yesterday at the latest."

"Bring them," Tatiana ordered as she bent and picked up the fallen tail of the monster. There seemed to be quite a bit of meat on it, so Jake assumed that was what they were having for dinner. If Tatiana was affected by the smell coming off of Sestia, she didn't show it.

Sestia happily trailed after her queen, with Jake and Lenore bringing up the rear. "I destroyed the remaining eggs, my queen," Sestia said.

Jake walked a bit slower, distancing himself from the foul-smelling woman. Lenore hung back with him. "I am curious about your weapon, Jake," she said as she walked beside him.

"I'll tell you all about it," he replied. "I'll even teach you how to shoot it."

Her head whipped up to look at him, her eyes wide and excited. "Truly!?"

"Sure. However, we'll have to conserve ammo. I only have a limited supply."

"Ammo?" she asked.

"Ammunition. You know, bullets?" She looked confused still. "Like arrows or crossbow bolts? That's ammunition."

Her eyes lit up with recognition. "I know arrows."

"Speaking of which, I thought amazons were famous for their archery skills. I haven't seen either of you with a bow. Did the history books get that one wrong?"

"What is a book?"

"You use scrolls to write on, right?" She nodded. "Think of it like a series of scrolls stacked together in sequence to form a complete story."

"There are scrolls about us?" she asked, wide-eyed.

"Sure," Jake replied. "Many different historians wrote about the Amazon women with opinions varying from the minute to the extreme."

"What kinds of things do they say about us?" Lenore asked with almost child-like excitement.

"Well, as I mentioned, your archery skills, for one. They say your skills with the bow were unmatched for the times."

"At one time, yes," Lenore replied somberly. "Though, we did not exclusively use the bow for battle. That would be absurd. However, a majority of our warriors were highly skilled."

"Are you?"

She nodded. "I was one of the commanders of the bow maidens."

"Wow. Were you all as accurate as the history books describe? I mean, they say you could hit a moving target at up to two hundred yards with ease."

She thought about it for a minute, calculating what she knew of distances. "So, a stadion. One-quarter of a hippikon?"

It was Jake's turn to calculate in his mind. If a hippikon was about half a mile and half a mile was 880 yards, then he supposed a stadion would be the closest approximation of the distance. "That sounds about right," he replied with a smile.

"Then your history books would be incorrect," she replied. "There are those that probably could accomplish such a task with efficiency. However, their number would be few. Only a handful of my maidens could land the target with any degree of accuracy. Even so, less than half the time."

"Huh," Jake said. "Wonder what else they got wrong. Besides the exposure of one breast, that is." He looked away shyly for a moment before looking back at her.

She had the strangest look on her face; amusement, for one, also skepticism. When she realized he wasn't joking, she burst out laughing. She stopped walking to double over with humor. "They say we walk around with one breast exposed?" she asked, laughing.

"It gets worse. Some have speculated that you completely removed one of your breasts as children so as to have the strength to draw the bow back further."

She gasped mid-laugh and choked as she looked at him in shock. Coughing and spluttering, she exclaimed, "What is wrong with your people!?"

"Hey," he protested, putting his hands up in defense. "It wasn't my people that proposed such nonsense. Every modern-day female archer knows you can pull the bow back just fine with two chest melons." He grinned.

She laughed again as she continued walking. Jake was looking at her as she pulled on her molded leather armor. She tugged it away from her body far enough for him to see one bare breast. His eyes went wide, and he immediately looked away. "Well, whoever it was, they were wrong. I still have both of mine, as you can see." She grinned mischievously.

Jake coughed. "I, uh, yeah." He cleared his throat before suddenly realizing the women didn't wear any clothing underneath their chest armor. "Wait, don't you have a shirt or chest wrap or something to wear underneath that thing?"

She shook her head. "All faded away to nothing long ago. The bare armor is uncomfortable and scratches our breasts, not to mention what it does to our exposed nipples, but necessary for our protection."

"Damn, that sucks. I'm sorry you have to endure that every day."

"What does it suck?" she asked curiously as they continued walking.

"Er, another expression. It just means that's unfortunate."

"Oh. It is not so bad. We take the armor off at night, and with our accelerated healing, our breasts are healed by morning."

"Yeah, but to have to keep going through that day after day?"

"I got used to it long ago." She smiled at him.

"So," he said, changing the subject, "I take it from your demeanor toward me that you don't hate men?"

She laughed good-naturedly. "Why would we hate men? We must be able to bear children somehow."

"A necessary begrudging act to populate your people?" he offered.

She shook her head with an amused smile. "Again, your historians are incorrect. I suppose they think we kidnapped men and forced them to lay with us."

"And when they outlived their usefulness, you sacrificed them to Ares in exchange for more strength and the power to defeat your enemies," he said with a humorous smile.

"They thought that?" she asked. Jake nodded. "What foolish thinking. Most of the men in our city were invited to live, and lay, with us. The others, a much smaller amount, were prisoners of war that were conscripted into our army. But no man was ever forced to provide children for us. Any Amazonian warrior that dared to commit that act was either exiled or executed."

"So it did happen?"

Lenore shrugged. "On rare occasions, yes." Then she stopped and looked at him as she thought of something. "If we were supposed to hate men, what do your historians say we did with the male children we bore?"

Jake looked down at the forest floor. He couldn't meet her eyes. "I...would rather not say."

"Tell me, Jake," Lenore said, bending down slightly to look him in the eyes, forcing him to look at her. Her emerald-green eyes bore into his with an intensity he couldn't ignore.

Jake looked at her. "Tell you what?" Tatiana asked, coming closer.

Jake realized they were at a riverbank now, the river curving around a small clearing. Sestia was in the water, washing the egg goop from her body, and Jake had barely gotten a glimpse of her naked form before widening his eyes and turning away. Her breasts were on the full side of average and he couldn't help but replay the short video in his mind of them bouncing slightly as she moved. He also noted she still had her lasso looped around her waist as he looked at Tatiana.

"He tells me his historians say we hated men," Lenore explained, never taking her eyes off Jake.

"That is preposterous," Tatiana replied with a scoff. Her gray eyes turned in Jake's direction.

"I was just asking him if we hated men, what his historians say we did with the male children we bore," Lenore explained. "He does not want to tell me, so it must be just as ridiculous."

"More than ridiculous," Jake said. "More like evil."

"Well, now you must tell us," Tatiana all but ordered.

Jake sighed in resignation. "The, uh, lesser evil part is that the children were given to outsiders; the families of the fathers."

"And the other?" Tatiana asked.

"They uh, say that...you...killed them," Jake explained hesitantly.

"WHAT!?" the two women shouted in horror.

"Why would we kill them!?" Tatiana practically roared in anger, her hand going to the hilt of her sword.

"They are just children!" Lenore screamed, palming her dagger. "We would NEVER do something so vile!!"

"I'm not the one that said that," Jake said, backpedaling to put some distance between himself and the furious women. "It wasn't even any of my people! If anything, it was the greeks that started it all!"

"Gamiménoi Éllines!!" Tatiana cursed and stormed away.

Lenore had taken her hand off her dagger, but she was still fuming, her green eyes murderous. "We would never!" she hissed through gritted teeth as she followed her queen.

Jake reluctantly trailed behind her, though he still kept his distance. Now that he really thought about it, it was ludicrous to believe that anyone would kill their own children, male or not. Without anyone to deny the claims, however, how was anyone truly expected to know?

Deciding it was best to leave the angry women alone for the time being, Jake decided to go through his gear. Specifically, he was looking for his spare clothes. He smiled when he came across a brand new package of standard issue coyote brown t-shirts. He'd forgotten he didn't even take the time to remove the plastic packaging before packing it in his flight seat. He opened the package, pulled out the three shirts, and stuffed the plastic wrapping deep within his rucksack.

He walked toward the bathing beauty, keeping his eyes to the ground the whole time. Tatiana eyed him as he approached her companion. He placed a single shirt atop Sestia's freshly cleaned armor and gear before quickly turning away.

"Why do you look away as if you were a child caught in disobedience?" Sestia asked.

He stopped and cleared his throat before answering, his back to the bathing woman. "You're naked and bathing. I didn't want you to think I was ogling you."

"What is 'ogling'?" she asked.

"Uh, looking at you with the intent to...um...desire to...er...have sex...with you," he replied uncomfortably.

"You assume I would care if you were?" she asked.

"Every woman I've ever known would," he replied with a shrug.

"Truly? Why?"

"Women in this day and age don't like to be thought of as objects of men's desires."

"Even though they are?" Tatiana asked. Her question had a tone of inquisitiveness.

"Especially because they are," Jake replied. "They want to be thought of as intelligent beings and not the satisfactions of a mindless horde of male hormones."

"Interesting," Sestia said.

Never taking his eyes off of Tatiana, who was sitting cross-legged with her back against a tree, Jake said, "Besides, it's not considered proper for a man to watch a lady while she's bathing." He smirked at the amazon queen. "Unless, of course, the two have already been intimately familiar with each other and she doesn't mind him doing so."

"You find me so unsightly as to not desire to stare at my body?" she asked.

Jake's cheeks heated up as blood traveled to his lower body. Tatiana continued to stare at him with an inscrutable expression. Her leather skirt barely covered the area between her legs, and it was all he could do to keep his eyes from traveling south. Jake got the impression she was gauging his reaction to Sestia's questions, measuring his character. Would she tear him apart if he turned around to stare at the naked woman?

"On the contrary," he replied. "You three are the most beautiful women I've ever seen."

"Then why do you not look?" Sestia asked.

"I'm not so prudish as to ignore the requests of a naked woman," Jake replied with a slight smile to Tatiana. "However, I am not familiar with your customs. I've already made my ignorance of the amazon women glaringly obvious and wouldn't want to further embarrass myself by assuming something that could get me killed."

The corners of the queen's mouth twitched ever so slightly. "You may look if you wish," Sestia said. "Truth be told, I would rather you did."

Jake could hear water splashing gently as she continued to bathe. He raised his eyebrows to Tatiana, who smiled slightly and gave him the barest hint of a nod. There was a fire still in her eyes. She was still angry from earlier, but the nod of her head told him she didn't mind if he did turn around and look. Jake chuckled slightly as he shook his head and walked toward the redhead. "Ask me again later," he called to Sestia while still looking at Tatiana. "For now, I'd rather not risk losing my head." Then, with a playful smile, he added, "Either of them."

Sestia roared with laughter behind him as he approached and handed a t-shirt to the amazonian queen. "What is this?" she asked.

"A gift of sorts," he replied. "Lenore told me of your predicament." He glanced at her chest. "Maybe this will help." She held the shirt at arm's length as she looked at it, then back up at him. "The, uh, tag goes in the back."

She looked at him with a raised eyebrow. He reached down and fingered the inside of the collar where the brand information was printed. She looked at it, then back up at him. "Why?" she asked.

He shrugged. "Why not? It's not like I absolutely have to have them for myself." He unzipped the front of his flight suit and showed her the one he was currently wearing.

She nodded. "Thank you. We will return them to you when we find suitable replacements."

He was shaking his head before she finished speaking. "Keep them. They're yours. I doubt you'll find anything before they wear out anyway."

"True enough. We have had no protective clothing under our armor for some years now." Then she blushed slightly but smiled mischievously as she raised the front of her skirt. Jake's jaw dropped as his eyes involuntarily sighted in on her red carpeted womanhood with laser focus. Before he could do more than lick his lips, she lowered her skirt again, shielding her gorgeous, yet unkempt sex from his gaze.

Jake cleared his throat and looked back up into her eyes. "So Lenore told me. She said you'd gotten used to the scratching, but still, if this helps, you are welcome to them." He handed the third shirt to her as well. "For Lenore when she comes back from wherever she went."

"She is scouting, most likely curbing her anger on some unsuspecting animal. Your words enraged us both. To think that we could kill children, of all things? We are fearsome warriors but are not so dishonorable."

"I admit it's crazy. However, in five thousand years without anyone to refute the claims, when you think about it, it's not so far-fetched for the world to believe the lie."

"I suppose you are correct," Tatiana replied.

"May I ask another question?"

"Speak freely, Jake," she replied with a comforting smile. "You will be with us for a long time. There is no sense in attempting etiquette. I may be queen, but a queen of two is hardly that."

"Technically three," he said with a shrug. "If I'm going to be here forever, I might as well acknowledge that now."

She got a humorous glint in her eyes. "I cannot tell if you are sincere or just attempting to gain favor."

"Eh," he said, shifting his feet and rubbing the back of his head. "It might be a little bit of both. More sincerity, though."

She laughed. It was a husky sound that sent shivers of anticipation down his spine. He started to walk away when she said, "What is your question?"

He stopped. Then he chuckled. "I honestly forgot. Ah, well. It must not have been important. If I remember, I'll just ask next time."

She chuckled and stood. He had resumed walking back toward his gear when he heard her footsteps crunching on the ground behind him. He looked over his shoulder and smiled. She returned his smile, and to his surprise, it was almost demure.

"May I confide in you, Jake?" Tatiana asked as he got back to his rucksack. He knelt in front of it and looked up at her. He grinned. "There's no call for etiquette, my queen." He winked at her.

She rolled her eyes at him, but her smile stayed. He paused for a moment. He thought he heard something. He stood up and looked around. Seeing nothing out of the ordinary and purposely passing his gaze over the bathing Sestia, he looked back at Tatiana.

"Did you hear that?" he asked.

She tensed, her hand going to her sword hilt, and looked around. "I heard nothing. What did you hear?"

"I thought I heard a splash. It might have been my imagination, though."

"Gather your things," the queen softly ordered. "To the river bank." She walked backward while scanning the tree line. "LENORE!" she called. "TO ME!"

"Your spider sense?" Tatiana nodded, never taking her eyes away from the trees. "Where is Sestia?" Jake asked, looking out over the river and not seeing the bathing beauty.

The redhead whipped her head around to the water, panic-stricken. "SESTIA!!" she screamed. "MY LOVE, WHERE ARE YOU!?!?"

No answer. Lenore came up behind them a few moments later. Jake readied his fifty cal and shouldered it, sweeping the water back and forth. Tatiana began to pant, panic really starting to set in now. A hundred feet downstream, the water exploded upward as the Grak'gull burst from the water, Sestia held firmly in the monster's jaws by her left thigh. Sestia screamed as her glowing whip arced and bit into the monster's hide. The beast roared in pain and dropped the amazon, retreating into the trees.

The three of them bolted to Sestia's side. She was trying to crawl to them but was quickly losing strength. Jake's heart sank as he saw blood pouring from various teeth marks on the woman's upper thigh. When she opened her legs to try and push herself forward, blood spurted from a wound on her inner thigh. "SHIT!" Jake exclaimed. "She's got a punctured artery!"

Tatiana arrived first and knelt by the wounded woman. She cradled Sestia's head and began to cry. "A mortal wound," she said, sobbing. "She will not heal. Oh, my love, I am sorry I did not see."

"It's not a mortal wound, Tatiana," Jake replied quickly. "Let me see."

"It is!" Tatiana cried, pushing him away from her. "I will not let you defile her body. Artemis will take her."

"Bullshit!" Jake said, kneeling and holding his hand to the wound, applying pressure. "She will live."

"NO!" Tatiana cried.

Jake reached over and slapped the redhead in the face. Hard. It barely fazed her but it got her attention. "I can save her, but you have to pull it together and HELP ME!"

"Please," Sestia weakly begged. "I am not ready for the great hunt, my queen. If there is hope, allow him to try."

Tatiana looked down into Sestia's eyes. Already, her skin was growing pale. "She has seconds left, Tatiana! Help me save her!" Jake yelled, infuriated.

Tatiana sniffled once. "What do I do?"

"I need something strong to wrap around her leg," Jake said. "To make a tourniquet."

"What?" the queen asked, confused.

"Here," he said. "Put your hand right here and press into the skin as hard as possible." He showed her a spot just above the wound on Sestia's inner thigh. She did as he told her. She pressed so hard the bleeding immediately slowed to a trickle, then stopped altogether. "Excellent," Jake said. Lenore had arrived and was kneeling beside him. He glanced at her, then grabbed the headband off of her head. It was long and braided, thick in the middle where it rested on her forehead, then tapering off to woven strings in the back. "Sorry, I need this."