Forsaken 337 BC

by Sharon Leslie

  "I will not let my warriors leave unless I know someone can best them, one of you perhaps," she looked at Cain, then a glimmer of a smile broke on her face. "Your man can pick one of you to fight the leader of the squad."

  ^C^ T, pick a fight with the overall leader, we don't want to be going through this each time. These women will fight dirty, but I have confidence in each of you. Who should I pick? ^

  ^T^ I would say Daphne, but I think we let them pick any of us from our side. If you choose, I think they will believe you picked our best fighter. If they pick, they won't know who they are getting. ^

  "I have total confidence in each of my women," Cain replied. "You choose. But they get to fight the leader of all your warriors. One fight, if we win, we get to select who we take this time and every time we return."

  "You would challenge me, Athena's champion? I am Areto, the champion and leader of all Amazon warriors on Cybele's island, but we answer to Athena. Surely Cybele told you this?" Areto said.

  Areto stood looking carefully over each of Cain's women, her eyes kept returning to Lesley, whose avatar was the youngest and softest looking build of Cain's DreamBabes. Cain watched, as Areto laughed out loud, then pointed to Lesley, saying.

  "This one, I will make lamb stew of her," The warriors who stood with her laughed, followed by those clustered around the gate.

  Cain looked at Lesley, who gave him a small sad smile, as she stepped to the edge of the marked circle, Areto led them to.

  ^T^ You sure about this? Lesley is young, she has had little hard life experience. ^

  ^C^ Ask Rahab to check the last three winners of the under eighteen MMA, Mixed Martial Arts, open weight competition in Paris. This happened before the car put her in the hospital. ^

  :Rahab can you tell me the answer to what Cain told me? He knows more about Lesley than she has told us; he looks rather smug.:

  [Yes, so he should be. Lesley won the open class of MMA by age division, for the three consecutive years before her accident. I have seen the vid-feed of her last fight. She pummelled a man who was twice if not three times her weight. Her father was an instructor in Krav Maga, which he taught to Lesley from a young age. You should get Sophie, ready to heal Areto as she is going to get her arse handed to her,] Rahab said.

  :Thank you for the information you gave me on Lesley, Enoch. I knew finding out about each of my women would come in useful. Shame Areto will get a much needed lesson in humility. Maybe this will show the other Amazons we can teach them how to fight, especially if Areto is regraded as Athena's champion,: Cain said to Enoch.

  It looked like most of the Amazon warriors had come along to witness the beating of a quest winner, by their company's leader, Areto. They stood around the circle, two deep; leaving only a small section for Cain and his wives.

  Areto stripped off her cloak, standing in her leather cuirass and leather pleated skirt. She wore leather sandals and bronze greaves, Cain had not seen previously on anyone in Agiasobele. Lesley stripped and stood in her sports bra and a pair of tight shorts, which looked like a pair of Cain's boxers, shrunk to fit. Before walking into the circle, Lesley walked to Cain and pulled him into a deep kiss, then she kissed each of her sister-wives, including Myrina who blushed when Lesley moved across the circle's edge to Cain.

  One of the Amazons placed a medium-sized knife in the circle's middle, Lesley turned to Cain, asking him what he wanted her to do. Do I kill her, keep her alive but maimed or humiliate her. Cain said humiliate but give her a chance to stop it before you rub her nose in it. Remember, there are no rules here, then gave her another kiss and patted her bottom as she walked into the circle.

  Chapter 15

  Collecting Amazons

  One of the two Amazon who walked out with Areto shouted begin. Lesley turned from kissing Cain, walked into the ring three paces from his position, bouncing on the balls of her feet. Areto, head down rushed to the centre of the circle, slid on her side and grabbed the knife. She looked up thinking she would have to fight the woman she chose and found her still at the edge of the circle.

  Armed, Areto was confident in her skills with a blade, she knew the other woman had no chance, this was not her first time in a combat circle and she could not remember the last time she lost. A murder of crows flew overhead, turned and landed on the palisade, like they came to watch the fight shrouded in black. Areto thought the birds were a good omen, somebody would die here and it would not be her.

  Looking over at Lesley, Areto noticed for the first time, :Look at her youth, her innocence the perfection of her face. It looks as though she is but a slip of a girl, barely a woman and easy pickings for me. How can she even be in a circle, oh yeah I remember, I picked her to prove a point to my Amazons and these quest winners. I am Athena's champion and these people need to respect that, then maybe I will work with them.: Setting her feet flat to the floor she wondered why the youth was making small jumps landing on the balls of her feet; :Does she think the hopping will distract me. Maybe she needs to go have a pee, she will soon not be bothered about such worries.:

  Now that the leader of the Amazons had retrieved the knife, Lesley moved closer to the warrior and was paying attention to everything about her; especially the muscles in the woman's face. Lesley knew those facial muscle tells would give her a single moment of time to act and react. Areto wondered why the woman was looking at her face, :no worries: she thought and leapt, leading with the knife aiming to mark Lesley's flesh to end her life.

  :I'm going to give her a nice scar across that beautiful face. It will be the first of many in this fight,: Areto thought as her arm moved hastily, slashing at Lesley's face.

  Lesley noticed the woman's face changed and warned her of the attack, aimed high, possibly targeted on her neck or face. As Areto's knife cut through the air Lesley moved a step closer to her blocking the arm, redirecting the knife away from her body, down toward the ground. As Areto's arm changed directions sliding down the outside of Lesley's left arm she twisted her wrist. Lesley caught Areto's right wrist and hand holding firm she squeezed on the wrist joint, and forced Areto's fingers to spasm open. Lesley grabbed the falling knife with her right hand.

  Using her shoulder, Lesley pushed Areto back giving herself the space to step back and toss the knife over toward Cain; who easily snatched it out of the air. Lesley's eyes not once left Areto's face waiting for the next move. Shaking her head, Areto did not know how the young female stole the knife from her hand. She flexed her fingers to get feeling back into them.

  :Perhaps magic, maybe the girl invoked a magic spell, though no magician can cast defensive spells so fast. I noticed no mouth movements or her moving her hands in set patterns. She does not look like a mage so maybe it was pure luck that she took the knife.: Trying to use her size and physical strength, Areto attacked Lesley again.

  The crowd of Amazons stood shocked at how easy their leader had lost the knife. Shaken out of their shock they roared her on as she rushed toward Lesley. The roar ended no sooner had it begun, the Amazons silent as they watched Areto who was now face down on the ground unable to move. Areto could not understand how her arm ended being twisted so high behind her back and her face was pushed into the ground. She thought the girl was going to rip it from her body. She envisioned being beaten to death with her own arm.

  "Do you want to surrender now? This will only get painful and humiliating for you,"said Lesley. Areto laid there unable to move, she could not understand how the girl had taken the knife from her on her first attack. Now she could not understand how the girl was pinning her to the ground, rubbing her face in the grass with her arm pulled up at an impossible angle.

  Areto heard the words, but refused to acknowledge them as the girl foolishly let her arm go and took her foot off the back of her neck. The girl stood back and moved several strides away, letting her up. Angry with herself, Areto chastened her mind to stop messing around, she had other weapons hidden on her body. It was time to end this farce and kill the girl. Reach
ing behind her back, Areto's fingers found and grasped a slim dagger from the hidden sheath in her skirt pleats.

  "Death to the challenger," Areto bellowed as she charged at Lesley for a third time, swinging wildly with the new knife. Areto smiled as the knife directed by her arm headed toward the girl's gut. :It will be a shame to kill the fresh-faced girl, but I have my position as Athena's champion and leader of these warriors to think about,: she thought.

  Areto's rage led to her downfall. The knife went spinning through the air toward the man, as though it was pulled by a magnet, he snatched the knife blade first and dropped it to the ground, next to the first knife. Areto heard, then felt the snap of bones in her forearm as Lesley tired of Areto's antics. Taking the illegal blade then snapping the arm was easy, a move Lesley had practiced hundreds of times in training.

  Not slowing her own attacks, Lesley kicked Areto's left knee, bending it the wrong way until the patella broke and the femur snapped in half. As Areto fell, Lesley hit her twice in the chest in quick succession with the heel of her hand, breaking ribs and sternum on each hit. As Areto's body was still falling, Lesley's right elbow connected with the back of Areto's head, causing a hairline fracture, knocking her out cold.

  There was a deathly hush from the Amazons as Areto fell, Cain could hear the birds as they took flight from the palisade, now the fight was over. All the Amazon women standing silently around the circle knelt and bowed toward Lesley. Who then turned knelt and bowed toward Cain, placing her head on the ground. Asking her to stand then taking Lesley's hand, Cain embraced her. Holding Lesley close giving her a hug and kiss, Cain whispered to her,

  "That was beyond awesome, truly it was. It was one of the best one-on-one circle fights I have ever seen. I am so proud you are one of my wives, a DreamBabe." Cain's words meant a great deal to Lesley, she liked the feel of his arms around her. She smiled up at Cain as he let her go so the her sisters, the other DreamBabes could hug and kiss her.

  The Amazon woman who held Areto's cloak went over to Areto drew her own knife, placing it against Areto's throat. Cain shouted to Sophie, "Shield Areto," who cast a shield spell. Try as she may the Amazon could not kill Areto, her knife kept bouncing from the shield each time she thrust her blade at Areto's neck.

  "Why have you stopped me? Areto is a crip.., she is no.., no longer Athena's, no longer her champion. Your woman now, that young woman has that, has Athena's title. I know Areto, I know she would want to, want to die. She would not want to, not spend her life crippled, useless, a shadow of her former self," she said with a mix of passion and anger, tears running down her hard, stern face. Before anyone else spoke Areto groaned, her eyes fluttered open. The pain from her broken body soon replaced the pain from the back of her head.

  "Kill me, I cannot live like this. Would you dishonour Athena by letting me live as a cripple?" Areto shouted to her former aide. Cain walked over to her and knelt, speaking softly with compassion, compassion for an NPC. He laid his hand gently on Areto's shoulder keeping her from doing any more damage to herself.

  "I would rather you live Areto. Your warriors need you, as their leader, they look up to and respect you. Though I think your training methods need changing for something more flexible, more deadly," Cain said. Crying openly, unable to move under Cain's hand, Areto replied,

  "I cannot, even if I heal, and the humours or evil spirits do not kill me, my leg will always be weak, my arm will never hold a blade, Doru or shield again. I will be useless as a warrior let alone a woman. What man would want a cripple such as I?"

  "We can take care of those problems for you. If we heal you, will you pledge your allegiance to us? You can still worship Athena, be her champion, what do you say?" Cain asked looking directly at Areto. She moved her head and tried to raise herself, to look up at Cain as he knelt beside her, she was lost for words.

  :How can he make such an offer. I tried to humiliate the quest winners by going against what Athena had commanded. Some of my troops given over, traded as a favour to Cybele. How I rejected that command and look where it brought me. Here I am brought low by my own actions, yet this Lord the fighter's husband who she called Joseph. Look how he cares even for me a fallen champion, brought low by my own arrogance. See how he places a hand of ownership, camaraderie on my shoulder, offering me forgiveness and healing. Areto nodded to Cain's questions.

  Sophie came and sat on the ground at the other side of Areto, Cain took hold of Areto's hand as Sophie told her this may hurt a little. Areto screamed louder now than when Lesley broke her body in the fight. The bones in Areto‘s knee moved back to their correct positions, her femur realigned and fused as one.

  The scream when her forearm bones moved was not as loud, as Areto's throat was raw from the first healing. Three minutes after Sophie started she had healed all of Areto's broken bones, repaired her neck and sorted a brain bleed out. Together Sophie and Cain helped Areto stand, Toni walked over and offered Areto the two knives. One of which Areto knew was her own shame, yet these people forgave her, as though it was nothing.

  "These people, Joseph and the DreamBabes are family, they are our sisters and he is our brother, our Lord," shouted Areto, to the cheers of the Amazons. Areto walked beside Cain as he suggested and she picked twenty-five warriors and five support staff, the payment of Cybele's quest. Once selected the warrior and support staff lined up outside the palisade. Areto promised Cain they would be ready for whenever they were needed, as she handed a chest of twenty-five gold bars to him. Cain asked Areto how many more warriors were still in the camp, she said.

  "There are another seventy-five warriors, seven support staff, two adjuncts and myself. There are more Amazons back in the main camp and down at the port city too. This camp is only a forward base, where we maintain a presence and occasionally guards for convoys.

  Toni carried out a quick inventory check of the twenty-five Amazons, each warrior had two Doru, three javelins, a Xiphos and a small dagger. Along with their weapons each warrior had a Parma shield, the five support staff had wicker shields called Pelte. The support staff's jobs included repairing the warrior's armour along with making the Doru and javelins. They also took care of any wounded in a battle, which normally meant slitting their throats if they classed the warrior's wounds as serious. The coldness of their words chilled Toni, she vowed to change their attitudes.

  Basic Training

  Cain had the warriors show him how they would attack a group of opposing warriors. Bethany, Sophie and Toni moved to the edge of the training area, pretending to be the opposing warriors. Cain asked the five support staff to make ten straw manikin targets, while the Amazons new training began. The twenty-five warriors moved slowly as a single unit, shields side-by-side, Doru extended at a slow step. Across the training field toward Bethany, Sophie and Toni, who sat on the grass.

  {Six minutes to reach Toni and the others. Four minutes time they would be in javelin range. They may be renowned warriors, but they move no faster than snails. You'll have your work cut out to change their habits. Areto is watching from the palisade walls, I think she is confident in her warrior's ability. Although she may be thinking you are all like Lesley and demon fighters,} Enoch said.

  :We need to move away from here, lets move behind the hills. We can leave the support staff making the straw manikins and loads of Doru for when we return,: Cain told Enoch. Giving orders to the support staff, while they went further afield to train the Amazons. Cain knew they would make as many Doru as they could but they were short on wood, bronze and iron. Cain gave them ten gold bars to buy enough materials to make thousands of Doru and hundreds of Aspis shields.

  Daphne led the way with Sophie at a slow jog singing a nice tune they encouraged the warriors to join in. Toni ran with Cain at the rear while Lesley on one side of the warriors with Bethany the opposite. They all joined in, and sang Sophie's song after Cain and the other DreamBabes followed Sophie's words.

  We don't care what people say,

  We don't care what p
eople say,

  We're the DreamBabes every day,

  We're the DreamBabes every day,

  Chew them up and spit them out,

  Chew them up and spit them out,

  We're the DreamBabes here to stay.

  We're the DreamBabes here to stay.

  Sound out,

  one, two,

  Sound out,

  Three, four,

  Who are the DreamBabes here today,

  We're the DreamBabes, here to stay.

  Daphne kept the pace steady as they moved away from the camp, rounded the edge of a small mountain situated on the western side of Agiasobele. After thirty minutes of running, Cain called a halt using party chat.

  Only three of the Amazons were still upright, five were bent over, hands on their knees as the jog ended, the others collapsed on the ground exhausted, while three lost the contents of their stomachs. Toni said to Cain.

  "I was not expecting the fabled Amazons to be so unfit physically. All we did was run for a short time and look at them."

  "To be honest I kind of expected their level of fitness. When all you train for is to walk into a battle at a snail's pace, one where you seldom come face to face with your opponent. Amazons are know for their fearsome attack and fighting ability, not their levels of fitness such as each of us are blessed with. It will come though, they will soon get into shape, you'll see," said Cain.

  Cain gave the warriors five minutes to recover, he and the DreamBabes gave water to each Amazon and helped those who collapsed get back up, and walked them around. After the five minutes they had the Amazons sit on the ground facing him in a semi-circle, so he could talk to them. Cain said,