Cain asked the support staff to continue building the arrows as they discussed yesterday. Before they went back to work in the Amazon's camp workshop, Cain received twenty straw manikins plus four hundred arrows they carried in their inventories.
Daphne took point with Lesley while Sophie lead the Amazons back to where they trained yesterday. When they arrived at the training area, none of the Amazons dropped from exhaustion though less than a third were close.
:At least none of them lost their breakfasts today. Do you have any ideas how long it will take for them to reach our levels of fitness, Rahab?: Toni asked.
[From seeing how you have changed and developed since entering Forsaken, I think another two days of hard training and they will be as fit as when you started the game. As they cannot allocate points and level up, unlike Myrina they will be stuck at low levels for the whole game,] Rahab said.
Splitting the Amazons back into their units, Cain took Alpha, Toni led Bravo, Sophie had Charley . Daphne led Delta and Lesley along with Myrina took Echo. Each group moved to different parts of the area to receive separate instructions.
Cain taught basic tactics, using a large patch of freshly turned earth covered with fine sand. He taught them how to move on a battlefield, first as an individual unit then as a unit of twenty-five. The main theme was mobility while listening to and following orders both verbal and hand signals.
Sophie taught basic battlefield first aid, without using her health spells. For realism Sophie wounded some in the group and had the others try their hands at binding their wounds. After a while Sophie healed those she'd wounded back to full health before she wounded other Amazons to continue the training.
Daphne taught the basics of killing strikes, highlighting the areas on a humans body, where one or two strikes will provide near instant kills. With three straw manikins, she taught how they could work as a group to overwhelm stronger opposition.
Lesley taught the beginning lessons of Krav Maga, showing the Amazon women how to use the size of a larger opponent against them. The most important lesson she taught was, never hit somebody with your fist, as broken bones will put you out of action quicker than the opposition will. Lesley also taught Myrina the basics and then more advanced moves which she could practise on a straw manikin .
Toni taught the basics of bow control and how to use the bow to the best advantage. Using ten straw manikins, Toni soon taught the Amazon women not only distance shooting, but how to target areas rarely armoured at close range, especially the neck, groin and limb joints.
Cain had Enoch time the sessions, stopping after one and three-quarters of an hour, giving the groups a fifteen-minute break before swapping leaders.
Myrina stayed with Lesley improving her hand-to-hand fighting skill, after the second swap of groups Myrina gaining the main skill of Hand-to-Hand fighting. Although she was not aware of the pop-up notification, though each of the DreamBabes and Cain were. Everyone stopped for a half hour break after the third session, the Amazon women sat in their groups, even though they all sat together. Cain spoke to them while they ate, he told them they were coming to sleep with them at Cybele's temple once they finished the training today, the support staff would stay at the main camp.
Once they finished the main break, they went back to their training. Lesley, pleased with Myrina's progress now let her lead most of the final session. During the last session they received a pop-up message from Bethany. They were all pleased that Bethany said she was OK. Toni and Cain told her to stay in Bounty and read the skill book. Once she had read the book, Cain asked her to go practise her skills in the workshop area.
Once the five sessions were over, Cain asked Myrina how long until the sun went down. Her reply was one and a half hands.
[The same as last night, approximately two and a half to three hours until sleepy byes, or sexy byes. From listening to you teach the women and watching their improvements, I would say you are getting a very adaptable group of fighters,] Rahab said.
:Yes, I agree. Cain spoke with me at the last change of groups, and he thinks they have shown a huge improvement. He is especially pleased with Myrina's skill of Hand-to-Hand fighting, which I told him about.:
:Like you, we both think they will provide the backbone of a flexible and deadly fighting force. Another session like today and they will be ready to teach other Amazons the basics.: Toni said.
They left the straw manikins out as Lesley said, "Who would want second-hand tatty straw manikins. Most of them show signs of heavy wear, some were armless, others have lost their heads." On the return journey, Lesley and Myrina took point, Toni and Daphne led the jog while Sophie brought up the rear with Cain.
Stopping outside the Amazons camp, they waited for the support staff to report their progress to Toni and Cain. All five came out telling them what they had managed. Areto also came with them, she asked if their group could face off against some more of her warriors. After Cain consulted with Toni and the other DreamBabes, Cain agreed and asked Toni to tell Areto, they agreed for the face-off tomorrow. He received a pop-up message giving him a quest for the fighting. The reward was seventy-five warriors if their group could best three times their number.
The support team went back into the camp and Toni led the way back to Agiasobele and Cybele's temple. Rather than jog, Cain, Toni and Sophie showed the Amazons how to march in straight lines and turn corners while marching. The training added another thirty minutes to the return journey time, but they still had a hand span before the sun went down. Toni asked Myrina to lead the group to the nearest area to buy food, where they soon emptied the shops of all fresh and dried food, handing over four gold bars, one to each shop owner.
Loaded with fresh and dried foods, as a company they marched through Agiasobele, bringing those they passed to a halt. As they reached and entered the citadel, the same voice called out from Erebus' temple, along with the sticky pulse of dark magic aimed at Cain.
Toni called a halt in front of Athena's temple and the high priestess came out and blessed the Amazons and DreamBabes, then turned and said a special prayer over Cain. When the high priestess finished, they noticed the high priest of Erebus for the first time as he exited his temple and stood on the road wearing dark grey a habit, its cowl covering his eyes and face.
Cain had a clear view of him and read the Gamer Tag, noticing the high priest was a player not an NPC, Cain laughed. Toni and his other women soon followed him, joining in the laughter. The high priest was Giant Dick, the player Cain killed back in 2027 at the old tent casino hotel, where Dick tried to rape Sophie.
"Well, well Dick, fancy us meeting here like this. You realise we will come pay you a visit. I think Dr Emily wants to say a few words to you, in the privacy of your temple. Then there is Susan Strong, you remember her, don't you? Someone killed her, your companions I believe. Then there were your eight followers, or lackeys we sent to use a respawn point last night before we rescued our wives. What do you say Dick, can we come pay you a visit?" Cain said. Laughing at Cain's words Dick replied,
"Come visit if you dare. If you can enter the temple be my guest. I'll call a special meeting of all those players who worship Erebus, such as Speedy Pete and Sir Hardy. I don't understand why you are not coming to join us in worshipping Erebus. You can have all the women you'd ever want, all you'd have to do is leave those whores."
"You are talking about my wives here Dick. You had better watch your tongue and what you say. I'll take it as a personal insult, I don't think you would want that. Well, we will see you later on Dick, bye for now," Cain said as they turned their backs on the high priest and walked to Cybele's temple.
Toni led the way and the Amazons waited to receive a priestesses blessing before they walked into Cybele's temple, away from the sound of Giant Dick mouthing obscenities, carefully avoiding Cain's women in his comments.
Nighttime Visit
The high priestess had another larger room prepared for the Amazon women to use, per Cain and Toni's
conversation with her earlier in the day. While Toni and Myrina got them sorted as to the sleeping area and places to sit, Cain and the others went to their rooms and entered Bounty.
They each greeted Bethany, who was busy in the workshop practising her enchantment skill. She was practically buzzing with excitement as she showed Cain three types of arrows she'd enchanted. The first arrow, Bethany had placed a fire enchantment on.
"The arrow," said Bethany, "Will burst into flame on impact, setting fire to the target for three seconds. The next arrow will critically poison a person and release a thin cloud of poison around them for five seconds. The last arrow looks no different but was the most deadly. I managed to make an explosive enchantment, the arrow will explode like a miniature hand grenade when it hits its target. This arrow focuses the power of the explosion around the point, it works by the speed of the arrow’s impact." Cain, pleased with what Bethany had worked on gave her a huge hug and held her close, apologising for not being there for her.
"You aren't to blame for my death you know don't you Cain?" Bethany said. "It is a game and we come back, you can't save us all the time. It only hurt for a short while, then poof, I received a nice sleep until I respawned. The javelin pierced my heart, so I didn't suffer that much before I died." Bethany then asked how the Amazons were doing. Cain told her,
"They have made huge progress and they are currently waiting for their food. Let's go help, your sister-wives collect the thirty meals for us all. Many hands make light work after all."
Ten minutes later, they each collected six meals, while Cain and Sophie carried seven. Returning to the large room where the Amazons were going to sleep, Cain handed the food out individually. The Amazons received theirs first and gladly accepted the food, then each of Cain's women too, they sat sharing their meal with the Amazons.
While they were eating a priestess came to the door and asked to speak to Cain, who waved her in. She told Cain there was a priestess of Athena here to see you and Toni. Cain and Toni followed the priestess through the basement to a room where Athena's priestess was sat waiting. When the priestess noticed Toni and Cain behind Cybele's priestess she bowed, touching her head to the ground.
"My goddess was pleased when you brought your Amazon women for a blessing, she wants to provide you with two gifts," after she spoke the priestess held a slim box around one-foot-wide by two-foot-long and six-inches deep.
"My goddess, wishes your warriors to wear this symbol, so all may know they have the blessing of Athena with them at all times," The priestess placed the case on the table and opened it. Inside the case were hundreds and hundreds of tiny boxes no larger than one-inch square.
Toni took one of the small boxes and flipped it open. Inside was a fine golden necklace, on which was a tiny figure of an owl. Toni handed the box to Cain, who likewise was impressed.
{These necklaces and owls have two enchantments placed on them. The wearers will not suffer when they receive wounds, their health will only slowly reduce, giving them an advantage when wounded. They will live longer so a healer or potion giver can restore their lives. The other enchantment will make the wearer resistant to mind control, especially that which Erebus uses,} Enoch said.
Cain told Toni what Enoch had explained to him. They agreed the gift from Athena was worthy of her warriors. After placing the necklace back Cain looked at the priestess and she said,
"Athena's second gift is one Erebus nor his high priest know anything about. There is a secret passageway between the three temples, builders built it when the temples were first constructed, to help them move between the three sites in bad weather. It has lain unused between Athena's and Erebus' temples since Hemera's priestess went missing. I have personally checked and the door which allows access to the tunnel is unlocked on Erebus' side."
Toni asked how large was the passageway. The priestess told her it was wide enough for three people to walk through, side-by-side. They both thanked the high priestess, who accepted the thanks and walked out with Cybele's priestess, to return to her temple through the passageway.
"Bethany, would you like to go visit the idiotic woman who arranged for the ambush on you. She's the high priest of Erebus' temple? You know her as Giant Dick," asked Cain.
"What, how can she be a he? Did she have a gender change or does she play as a man?" Bethany said.
"She plays as a man, calling herself Giant Dick. The first time I came across him, her was when she, Sir Hardy and Speedy Pete tried raping then killing Sophie. I put two rounds in the back of his, her skull," Cain answered.
"We need to know what the inside of Erebus' temple looks like, then we can plan an attack," Toni said. "First, we need to hand out these marks of Athena to the Amazons," Toni handed out twenty-six Athena chains and pendants. Myrina helped by telling Toni and Cain what the inside of Erebus' temple looked like. She drew a sketch on paper which Sophie produced from her inventory.
Looking at the sketch and listening to Myrina's description, Cain asked his women to return to Bounty and they could plan what to do. Inside Bounty, Cain took Myrina's sketch and placed it on the workshop table. The software scanned the image and created after a few measurements from everyone, like length, the width and a rough height; a 3D model. Cain explained what he thought was the basis of a good plan.
"We will send three of the Amazon units, Alpha, Beta and Charley to the front door of Erebus' Temple. Toni you will be in charge of those and using Rahab to change your voice, you can pretend to be me. If Myrina, Sophie and Bethany go with you, together you can all be the distraction.
Stand behind your shields and be ready to advance once we take out Giant Dick from the inside. The two units, Delta and Echo will come with me and we will perform a Cartwright manoeuvre," said Cain.
"OK, so far I'm with you, well I was but what on earth is the Cartwright manoeuvre?" Toni asked.
{Are you referring to your childhood friend, the one who used a homemade torpedo, nearly sinking the little motor boats in the boating lake? Don't answer I know you are. You thought he was a bit on the crazy side,} Clearing his suddenly dry throat, Cain explained what the Cartwright manoeuvre was.
"Thanks to Myrina's inside knowledge, we know there is a walkway around the main space in Erebus' temple. We can use the manoeuvre and drop in on Giant Dick, and those players he has called in to try to squash us. I developed and used the Cartwright manoeuvre several times in combat situations.
"What you do is find a place higher than the opponent, without making noise. You climb above them. make sure others in their group cannot see you, nobody looks upward so you don't have to worry about being seen once above head height.
"Then you either jump out or drop down onto them, both ways work. As you impact their body, breaking your fall, you stun them, giving you the time to sink your knife or sword into them, instantly killing them. It's a one-off manoeuvre but works every time," Cain said.
"Seriously, where did you learn that bloody crazy manoeuvre?" Sophie said. "Was it part of your special operations training? Did you have an instructor who taught you that? Were they bat-shit crazy too?"
"No, I learnt it while still at school. A good friend placed his mattress outside on the ground, below his bedroom window. Armed with a butterfly net, he used to leap out trying to catch bats. It worked really well. When I was in the special ops, I had this difficult mission and the only chance I had to get the target alone was as he walked around this enclosed garden.
"I climbed out of a window on the fourth floor and created the Cartwright manoeuvre. I dropped down on the target, stunned him and cut his throat. With the target dead I exited the building before someone raised the alarm. I hobbled a little as I twisted my ankle on hitting the target's head with my foot."
{Not only do I think you are crazy, it seems to give you an advantage. We don't know how many players Giant Dick will have in Erebus' temple. Taking two squads with you and two of your women, jumping down on the players below. You will kill a minimum of thirteen play
ers. Go for it, if Toni and the others agree to such a stupid manoeuvre,} Enoch said.
Everyone knew their roles, Toni was not happy with Cain's hare brained plan using the Cartwright manoeuvre. She realised achieving thirteen kills after they spent five minutes taunting those in the temple, would be a good result, if it worked as planned.
Cain, Daphne, and Lesley led Delta and Echo units through the interconnected tunnel. They passed Athena's entrance and carried on a short distance, before coming to a door blocking the entrance to Erebus' temple, it was closed but unlocked. Cain carefully pushed the door open, he tensed expecting the bronze hinges to make a noise but they opened silently, he looked and noticed they had been well oiled. :Thank you Athena for doing that, the noise from a squeaky hinge would have given the game away.: Cain led the way following a dimly lit staircase, heavy with dust.
Pausing on a landing with a door to the residential area of Erebus' temple. Cain could hear some murmuring voices but no footsteps. Checking the bronze hinge he again thanked Athena as the door silently opened. Keeping guard Cain waved Daphne forward, she led the Amazon squads up the next flight of stairs to the narrow balcony, as the last Amazon moved up the stairs Cain closed the door and dropped the latch. Silently moving across the open space Cain paused, a man walked past his eyes scanning a scroll he was holding. Cain moved slowly and then moved up the stairs to join Daphne and the two units of Amazons.
^T^ C, a priestess passed me a message from Athena's high priestess. They counted thirty-seven men enter the citadel and enter the temple of Erebus. We know Giant Dick had around six acolytes, we could face nearly forty-five players. I reckon some of them will be those who we killed in 2027. They will be out for revenge. Be careful, I love you, xx ^
^C^ Thank you, x You take care too. Remember the sequence, we don't want to be dropping in on clouds of poison. xx ^
As Cain reached the others they were all armed ready to go. Cain made the decision and they armed the Amazons with gladii back in Cybele's temple, and they had drawn them once they reached the balcony. Cain was in the middle of both squads, while Daphne and Lesley were to his right hand side, they each equipped two Gladii. The Amazons were as quiet as cats as they spread out around the balcony, ready for the firework display from the other members of their group, and their chance to kill Giant Dick and the players below.
Forsaken 337 BC Page 22