by Travis Bughi
“Pardon me,” she tried to be as polite as possible, “but were you attempting to get my attention?”
The minotaur nodded, so Emily took up a pace beside him.
“Hello,” she nodded. “My name is Emily Stout.”
Paul had taught his children well about the manners of minotaurs. Despite their ferocity when crossed, they were actually polite and gentle creatures. They just happened to demand the same from those around them and had about as much tolerance for rudeness as they did for treachery. All one had to do was be gracious and honest to fall into their good graces, and Emily felt herself rather capable of that.
The minotaur did not answer her for a few moments, which was not surprising. Their race never said anything fast, and Emily wondered if this was the reason they spoke so rarely.
“I am . . . Talvorn Bloodhoof,” he said, snorting and whipping his tail. “I . . . heard . . . your mother.”
Emily’s eyes opened wide, and she looked ahead to see if her brothers were listening in. The wind was blowing towards them, thankfully, and they were too far ahead to here Talvorn’s deep yet quiet voice. If they did hear anything, Nicholas was making no notion of it, which meant they had, indeed, heard nothing.
“You did? What were they talking about? I mean, uh,” she cursed herself. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Talvorn Bloodhoof. Could you be so kind as to tell me what they were speaking of? It would be much appreciated.”
“You are . . . an amazon.”
Emily blushed, her cheeks reddening from hope rather than embarrassment.
“My grandmother, Chara, says I am,” Emily smiled. “However, the other one, Adelpha—yes, that one—says I’m not. My mother is, or was, I’m not sure really, but I’d like to be one.”
The minotaur swished his tail. Emily paused to look up at him and marveled at his size. Even the shortest minotaur was taller than the tallest human. Ogres were bigger than humans, too, but they weren’t as tall as minotaurs. If a full grown minotaur stood at full height, it would probably come up to the knee of a colossus. That was a guess, of course, for Emily could not be sure.
“It . . . was not . . . a question,” Talvorn said.
Emily mouthed an ‘O’ in understanding. He’d called Emily an amazon, but his slow speech had caused her to think it was a question. She sighed at her mistake and looked down at her feet. For once, it was Emily who took a moment to respond.
“I see. I apologize,” Emily said. “Thank you.”
The minotaur nodded, grunted, and then turned his head away. Short though the conversation had been, it was now over. Emily clenched her teeth, wanting to ask the minotaur more questions, but knew she risked offending the creature if she did. Her father would frown on that, and her mother might get involved, too. Emily grudgingly accepted this and opened her mouth to say goodbye, but then thought it more polite to end with the ‘thank you.’ She nodded back to Talvorn and picked up her pace until she caught back up with her brothers.
“What did he say?” Abraham asked.
“He said his name is Talvorn Bloodhoof,” Emily started, “and he wanted to let me know that I’m an amazon.”
Emily gave her brothers a hopeless shrug, deciding to leave her mother’s argument out of it. She still wanted to speak to Chara alone and on her own time.
“Did he say I was a gunslinger or a knight?” Nicholas asked.
“No, he said you were ogre food.”
Abe chuckled, and Emily gave Nicholas a playful shove when he frowned.
“We’re not far from home,” Abe said.
“I want to ask her about where our mother came from,” Nicholas said suddenly.
“Who, Chara?”
“Of course!” Nicholas confirmed. “You think I want to talk to that scary one?”
“Nicholas!” Abe scolded. “Your voice carries.”
Emily looked up at Adelpha. If the amazon had heard anything, she gave no sign.
“Sorry,” Nicholas slouched, “I just get excited sometimes. I want to talk to Chara, but I’m worried Mother will get mad again.”
“I have a feeling she’ll be getting mad no matter what,” Emily muttered.
“Why do you think that?” Abe asked.
“Just a feeling,” she lied.
“Well, you’re probably right,” Nicholas grinned, “because I’m going to ask Chara what a jungle is!”
He lifted his chin, filled with determination. Emily was glad for it, too, because she also wanted to know about their mother’s homeland. As it stood, it was far better for Nicholas to be asking such questions than her, for she already had her own list of things she wanted to ask. Whatever amount of anger Nicholas could shoulder was a blessing. Once the group reached the farm, and their mother ran out of things to catch-up on, maybe the rest of the family could get some time to speak with Chara.
Little else happened on their journey back home. The Great Plains were well known for that, but they did see a thunderbird during their travels. It was far off, traveling away from them, and thus the Stouts did not feel the need to veer from their course. The dark clouds that followed the magnificent creature—or were created by it—swarmed around it as it flapped its wings. It must have found something, for it stopped to circle over one particular spot. Then, with a fearsome screech that split the air, it dived down. The thunderbird’s talons were outstretched and it dug into its prey, attacking and trying to kill the poor creature.
It must have been a wandering behemoth, Emily guessed, because the thunderbird was unsuccessful in its first attack. The dark clouds shielded the area from the light, so Emily could not be sure of what was over there, but only a behemoth stood a chance of fighting off an attacking thunderbird. The thunderbird flapped its wings and leapt back from its prey, hovering just above the ground.
It was all over then, Emily knew. Even the largest behemoth on the Great Plains could not hold out for long against such power. The thunderbird took flight and soared up into the dark clouds, delaying the final blow for what felt like ages. Emily winced and counted the seconds until the thunderbird swung its wings down and clapped them together. A bolt of lightning struck down from the tips of its feathers to the ground. Just like that, the fight was over. The wounded beast was killed and cooked with one swift strike. In a calm manner, the thunderbird descended slowly to feast on its prey. It screeched, announcing its victory and warning any other predators in the area not to investigate the smell of cooked flesh.
Emily shuddered as she watched. If they weren’t so deadly, they would be wondrous creatures, but as it stood, only banshees made her skin crawl more.
Chapter 12
As expected, the group reached the Stout farm by midday. The unicorns were untethered from the cart, and Paul took them away to be rubbed down and fed. The sun was high, and the journey tiring, so everyone else retreated to the shelter of the house, except the minotaur, of course. The tiny home would be a tight fit for him, so Talvorn Bloodhoof sat with his legs folded over each other on the back porch. When Emily passed him on the way in, she noted how he was as tall as her when he was sitting on the ground. His swishing tail flopped mindlessly across the wooden deck.
Once inside, Mariam gathered up cups and gave them to her children. They obediently went outside and filled them at the well. Normally, the Stouts kept a barrel of water filled so that access to a cup of water was easier, but since they had gone on this trip, the barrel had been emptied back into the well to keep it from going stagnant.
Carefully, Abe lowered the bucket into the well and then heaved it back up. Emily and Nicholas then took turns filling the cups until they had eight of them. Then, they carried them back inside and distributed them. Emily brought the minotaur his cup on the porch.
“Here you are, Talvorn,” she said. “Compliments of the Stout family.”
“Thank you . . . amazon.”
Emily smiled and retreated back inside.
The home did not have enough chairs for this many people, but Paul was s
till outside tending the unicorns, and Adelpha made it easier by leaning against a wall apart from the group. She didn’t have to be asked, but Emily needed no help in knowing that had less to do with manners and more to do with keeping her distance. The young amazon had only taken interest in the things around her once, and that had been to watch the thunderbird hunt and kill its prey.
“Well now,” Chara started out the conversation, “that wasn’t so long of a walk. If I had known Paul’s farm was this close by, I’d have just come here myself. What a waste of twenty years. I should have tried harder.”
Molly—er, Mariam, she’s Mariam now—took a drink of her warm water and said, “Paul and I made sure to never give out directions to our home once I left with him. I was worried the others, or even you, would come and drag me back. It wasn’t a difficult secret to keep. Paul and I are rarely in Lucifan, and only our neighbors know where to find us. Still though, I’m surprised you didn’t try.”
“I did,” Chara said defensively, “but like you said, I had nothing to go off of. Tens of thousands of people live in Lucifan, so trying to find one who knew Paul Stout was damn near impossible. I tried the minotaurs first, thinking that he’d probably hired one of them once, being a farmer and all. I found one who said he knew where this farm was, but he wanted payment to give the information over. I think I might have been a bit forward with him in my eagerness, and thus ruined my chances of getting it for free. Well, as luck would have it, the next I came with coins in hand, he’d gone. Never found him again. Must have died, I’d imagine.”
A brief moment of silence passed, possibly in mourning over the missed chances of Chara finding them sooner. That was what Emily was thinking, at least, imagining how her life might have changed if she’d been introduced to her amazon heritage sooner. Would anything have changed?
Pointless, she sighed. I’m here now, and that’s all that matters.
“So, Emily?” Chara asked.
“Yes, Mother?” Emily said, remembering to call Chara by the name she preferred.
“Mariam tells me that you have a healthy appetite for the unknown.”
“I said ‘unhealthy,’” Mariam muttered.
“Yes, well, like mother like daughter, no?” Chara teased.
“Hey, I’m not the only one,” Emily shied from the attention. “Nicholas does, too. He’s always getting in trouble for asking too many questions.”
“Yep! I sure am!” Nicholas jumped and beamed with pride. “Like this one, Mother! What’s a jungle? Can you tell us? Mother said she was born in the jungle, at Themiscyra, but I don’t know what it is. Is it like a forest? That’s what Abe thinks it is, but he’s never been there, so how could he know? He always thinks he knows more ‘cause he’s older and been to Lucifan more, but now I have, and I still don’t know anything. Can you tell us? You’ve been there. Were you born there?”
Nicholas stopped his barrage to breathe, but the dead silence following it made his ramblings cease out of embarrassment. For a moment, Chara said nothing and just stared at Nicholas with one eye narrowed. He shrunk under the gaze, but then she favored him with a smirk.
“You see,” she said to Mariam, “this is why we do not keep our men.”
“I assure you he would be no less talkative had he been born female,” Emily’s mother replied.
“Very well, I shall entertain the youngling,” Chara sighed. “Yes, a jungle is similar to a forest—you would do well to mind your elders—but with a few differences. First, there are just as many bushes and plants as there are trees. Second, it is thicker, denser. While the forest is easy to see through, the jungle is difficult to walk through. The jungle is also warmer, wetter, and generally more dangerous.”
Emily tried to imagine what Chara was saying. She tried to picture something thicker, denser, and warmer than a forest. The only problem she was having was that she hadn’t seen a forest yet, either.
“So, what’s a forest look like?” Emily asked.
Chara took a long, slow glance at Mariam, the words on her mind plainly written by her expression. Have you taught them nothing? Mariam’s cool, stern glance in reply was a warning as far as Emily could tell. Chara must have ignored it, though.
“You three haven’t heard of much, have you?” she asked.
Emily, Nicholas, and Abe shook their heads.
“A forest is place filled with trees as tall as Lucifan’s tower, and wider across than you are tall. It’s dark, the floor covered in leaves and bushes about the size of that minotaur back there and bigger. Inside, you’ll find elves, centaurs, kobolds, harpies, bugbears, and of course, treants.”
Chara tapped her bow in such a way that Emily guessed the meaning behind the movement should be obvious, but Emily had lost about half of what Chara said. Some of those things she’d never heard of—actually most of those things she’d never heard of—which only enticed her more. Emily and her brothers leaned in across the table, their eyes, mouths, and ears open as wide as they could go.
“That sounds awesome,” Nicholas nearly drooled.
“What about you, Emily?” Chara asked, smiling. “What do you think?”
“What? Oh, yes . . . Mother. That sounds amazing. I . . . I would very much like to go there.”
“Is that so?” Chara’s eyebrows rose up, and she looked at Mariam.
Mariam returned her mother’s gaze, the cool stare growing colder. Chara smiled, as if to acknowledge the look, and then turned back to Emily.
Then, quite suddenly, she said, “Would you like to come back with me, Daughter, and become a true amazon?”
“Yes!” Emily shouted at the top of her lungs.
Her reaction had been from the gut, for her thoughts had been stunned by the offer. Indeed, everyone except Chara had their mouths gaping open. Even Adelpha exchanged her constant look of loathing for shock. A long pause ensued, where no one said anything, but simply stared at Chara and Emily. Emily tried to comprehend the offer she’d just accepted. Was Chara serious? Emily couldn’t believe it. Had she heard correctly? The door opened, revealing Paul, and everyone turned to look at him.
“Did I miss something?” he asked.
No one gave him an answer. They turned back to each other, and then Nicholas stood from his seat. He opened his mouth as if he were going to say something, then thought otherwise and closed it. With a glance at Emily—his face wrought with contempt—he pushed past Paul and darted out into the sunlight.
“Ah,” Paul said, and then looked at Mariam. “So your mother made the offer you feared she would?”
Mariam nodded.
“Well then. Abe?” Paul asked.
“Yes, Father?”
“Come with me.”
Abe stood up and followed his father outside. He paused at the door to turn and look at Emily, the jealousy clear on his face. Then he left—the backdoor squeaking closed behind him as he followed Paul—and only the amazons remained.
“Chara!” Adelpha shouted. “You can’t bring her! She is untrained; she will be a burden on everyone!”
“We were all untrained at one point, Adelpha, even you. Besides, I’m sure Emily will prove to be quick learner and a stout traveler.”
Chara chuckled at her own joke. It took Emily another moment to realize that she wasn’t dreaming. It took her mother less.
“Mother!” Mariam finally spoke up. “I already told you that she’s too young. You can’t do this!”
“She is of age, and it’s her decision,” Chara said and turned a harsh eye to her daughter. “You of all people have the least say here. Emily is not much younger than you were when you decided to run away from home, and I don’t recall you asking my opinion about that.”
Mariam’s mouth clamped shut, and her eyes shot burning daggers at her mother. From a gaze like that, Emily would have turned tail and ran, but Chara didn’t flinch. The old woman was a mountain to Mariam’s fire, her rock untouched by the rage. Time, patience, and understanding were etched into her wrinkled face, and her
words were cold enough to leave Mariam speechless.
Emily’s eyes flickered between the two of them. The intensity of their stares made her hesitate, but she wanted to answer. This conversation was about her, and she’d be damned before she was forced out of it again.
“I want to go,” Emily said firmly. “I’ve always wanted to see more, but—”
“But what?” Chara asked.
Emily paused before answering, “But what about my brothers?”
Chara leaned back in surprise, and Adelpha’s eyes widened hopefully.
“Well,” Chara said, “they’ll have to stay here with your parents, of course. We don’t accept men to be amazons. I couldn’t ask them to go even if I wanted to.”
“Oh,” Emily said, looking down. “I see.”
A pause passed, and then Mariam spoke up and surprised them all.
“I’m sure your brothers will understand,” she said.
Emily’s lips parted as she turned to look at her mother. To this expression, Mariam just shrugged.
“I still think you’re too young,” she said. “You don’t know what you’re signing up for. The jungle is a dangerous place, and amazon life is harsh in order to survive it. However, that doesn’t mean you should worry about what your brothers think.”
“Mariam is right, Emily,” Chara said. “You’ve got a lot of catching up to do if you want to live with us, so don’t take this decision lightly.”
“In fact, it’d be best if you didn’t come at all,” Adelpha added.
“Adelpha!” Chara scolded. “Why don’t you take a step outside?”
Adelpha scoffed but obeyed the older woman. She gave Emily one last scathing glance then walked to the door and stepped outside. Once the door had squeaked closed, Emily turned back to her mothers. They were both watching her, waiting patiently, and she understood they were giving her the chance to think.
Don’t take this decision lightly, Emily repeated the words. That was easier said than done. Her heart yearned with every fiber to see the world beyond. Emily pictured her mother downing a behemoth with a single arrow and relished the thought of performing such a feat. She dreamed about seeing a forest, a jungle, Lucifan again, and so much more. There was so much she could do and see, if only she’d take this opportunity.