From the Annals of Bastet
The conqueror King's sword arced out against his enemies. The battle against the invading force had been fierce and he had lost many men. He looked around to see his Red Dragon Guard dwindling in numbers under the vicious attack of the unearthly foes. They seemed like wraiths, the enemy, barely visible yet strong. Their blades cut his men down mercilessly but the loyal guards stayed around their king, regardless of the cost. Kull continued to wade into his adversaries, his battle ax slicing the ethereal creatures, yet more came on. It was not long before he realized he was surrounded and alone. He redoubled his attack, crying out a battle cry in his native Atlantean, but the blade became heavier and heavier and the numbers never ceased.
He continued to wield his weapon, stepping back. Suddenly, he tripped and fell. He realized he had tripped over one of his men, dead now and gone to the world where heroes hung up their weapons forever. As he fell, the world seemed to slow down to an unnatural speed. He watched with tense impatience as the foes closed in on him like a pack of wolves around a tiger. He thought of this image as fitting as he hit the ground and his world went black.
Kull felt cold air on his body. He was chained to a rough stone wall with his arms outstretched and pulled tight. He was standing with little more than a breechcloth around his loins. It was chilly and damp. He hesitated to open his eyes as he knew he would not like the result.
A thin laugh made him. He looked up to see a slender woman sitting across the dungeon room looking at him from her chair by a warm fire.
"Well, the King is awake," she said quietly, smiling. "Would His Majesty like a cup of mulled wine? Perhaps a hot bath and slave girls to tend to your every whim?"
"There are no slaves in my kingdom," Kull said curtly.
"But there use to be," she replied, "before you came and spoiled everything. Freed slaves, put out Akavasha's fire. You've been a bad boy. You have made the darkness have to work all the harder."
"Then I can die a happy man," the barbarian said.
"And die you will, but not today, and not quickly. I will use you to entertain myself and my guests," she said, sipping on a goblet of wine, "and sharpen the skills of my gladiators. I am Kalia and I have come to Valusia to avenge the death of my sister … Akavasha," she finished, with an angry edge in her voice. She got up and Kull felt a chill go through him as she approached.
The woman was dark-haired and had pale blue eyes that were cold. She was not as beautiful as his deceitful bride had been, but Kull suspected by her presentation, and his animal senses, that she was more powerful. She smiled as she stood close to him.
"You are correct," she said, reading his thoughts. "I am more powerful and I will make you wish that you had never left the hovels of your barbaric land." She reached out and touched his chest and he felt a stab of pain go through him. He willed himself to stay silent but the agony was so great that a scream forced it's way out of him. He put his head back on the hard stone and closed his eyes to keep his suffering from her.
The other fighters gave the tall man a wide berth as he was led into the gladiator's chambers. Kalia had quickly taken over the city and had converted his Red Dragon's lodging into a Gladiatorial barracks. The men around him had a desperate look in their eyes, and he knew that they had been put under a spell of obedience that Kalia had told him he would soon undergo. He was dressed now in leather breeches and boots of black. His chest was still bare as were his arms and his long brown hair flowed down his shoulders. His bracelets and the belt that held his tiger's head buckle had been taken from him. He looked around at the men who were sizing him up as an opponent. His face was unreadable, but inwardly he was counting the numbers and making note of the exits and where he saw weapons. He guarded his thoughts, as he knew that periodically, Kalia would read them to see what he was thinking. Her first act of domination had been to put a gold ring through his right nipple and hang a small charm of her symbol, the snake, from it. He recalled, as the metal had pierced the tender skin, he stiffened, as much in the horror of feeling her will invade him as from the pain.
Now he looked around at the other fighters. Some nodded curtly to him and he acknowledged them likewise. This fate was not new to the barbarian. Before his years as a king or a pirate, he had been sentenced to the galleys after being forced into service as a gladiator. This unfortunate turn of events in his life had come about because the army that he had been in had been defeated by a powerful warlord, and he and a few of the surviving warriors had been taken by the victor as loot. They ended up in the arenas of Tartania, the Gladiatorial Center of the East.
Kull had proven to be unmanageable as a fighting slave. He had led several revolts. He had killed the Commander's favorite bodyguard, and the final straw was when he had insulted the Commander's wife by refusing to couple with a slave girl for her voyeuristic pleasure. He was then sentenced to a life as a galley slave.
But slavery was slavery whether you swung a sword or rowed an oar. A fury rose up inside the Tiger as he looked around at the men who were as much victims as they were predators. They all looked resigned. He knew by the look in their eyes that they would not be able to resist the sorcery that made them obey. He hoped that he could think of something before that fate overtook him. He always had, and he was as much an optimist now as ever about his ability to survive and prosper.
The sergeant behind him pushed him along and he was led to a cell. "Dinner's in an hour. You fight well, you eat well," the man said flatly.
Kull walked into the cell and sat down on the hard cot in the back. It felt good to sit down. He heard the cell door close and lock but he did not bother to look up. His arms and legs felt like they were made of stone. He felt the small gold charm on the nipple ring hit against his chest. Every bit of his angry will wanted to rip it off but he could not make himself do it. The rage swelled in him and he suppressed it knowing that Kalia might be able to feel it. It would give her pleasure.
"So true," said a voice out of nowhere. Kull knew the sorceress was near in spirit though her form was miles away. He cleared his thoughts and lay down on the bed, falling asleep immediately.
Tedras slept fitfully in her hut. The day of training had been hard and she should have been exhausted, but she woke frequently and felt troubled. She was an Amazon, and a member of an elite and once secret group called the Forum. The Forum had been formed to fight the tyranny of Hera among the Amazons, but now with the disappearance of the vainglorious Queen of the Heavens, Forum members had turned their attention back to the day to day defense and running of the villages. Now the energies of the demure Amazon, dark-haired and quiet, went to training young women and teaching about the lore of the Dragon race from which she sprang. Now it was well known that the small and soft-spoken warrior was, in actuality, a huge blue dragon, the last of her kind among the race. She tossed and turned now in her cot, feeling the warmth of the room too oppressive.
She finally got up and went out into the moonlight. The moon was full and the air smelled of newly blossoming trees as the spring approached. Tedras went through a series of slow exercises to relax but still something nibbled at her thoughts, a feeling of unease.
"Hmm," she whispered, as she yawned, running her hands through her long brown hair. "How fortunate that we have a sorceress in our village at this time to help with feelings like this."
She knew that waking anyone at such a late hour would be rude; but she also knew the sorceress, Waart, who was also known as Bastet, would very likely still be up. She wandered over to the guest huts where the sorceress was lodged. The little woman had come down from her mountain retreat to visit with friends in the Amazon Nation.
Tedras neared the hut and raised her hand to knock softly. Even as she closed her hand in a fist, she heard Waart's voice.
"Come in, Tedras," the little woman said. The door to the hut opened and the slender, pale sorceress smiled. The woman looked at her with pale blue eyes and smiled. The sorceress was barely five feet and unnaturally thin. She was always dressed in long robes, even in the hottest of summer and had white hair that fell down her shoulders, making her look even more wraithlike. The sorceress' only vanity was her long nails. "I'm glad you're awake. No one is around and I can't sleep," Waart said.
"Neither can I. I feel like something is wrong," Tedras replied "but I can't figure out what. The Nation is at peace. Hercules and Iolaus are well and happy. Everyone is safe. Yet, I feel an unsettled feeling."
"Yes, I feel it too," the sorceress replied, embracing her friend and ushering her into the small room. A fire roared in the fireplace and Waart motioned her to sit down. The sorceress went to the cupboard and got out two goblets, filling both with mulled wine that she was warming on the hearth.
"I have been thinking," Waart said.
Tedras frowned, taking the goblet and thanking Waart. "And?" she asked, after taking a sip.
"Well, I have been wandering through the corridors of time and space, I think that something is wrong with someone you love," the Sorceress replied. "I hear your image being summoned in the thoughts of another, someone who needs you but doesn't know it."
"I don't know who would need me. Everyone in the village is fine. The Forum members are all accounted for and Hercules and Iolaus are well. They are here in the village. The Dragons are all fine." Tedras shrugged. "Who else is there?"
The Sorceress got up and went to her satchel on the bureau. She pulled out a silver bowl and brought it back. She laid it on the small table between the two chairs that sat before the fireplace, then she poured water into the bowl from a jug that sat on the hearth. As she poured, she began to chant quietly. Tedras sipped her wine, closing her eyes and willing herself to go into the sound of the chant.
Soon the waters of the bowl began to tremble, and ripple slightly, as the Sorceress sat down in the chair. Both women looked into the water and images began to appear. Tedras gasped as she saw Kull's form. He was chained in a dungeon, a look of agony lined his face as a woman did something to him. Kull closed his eyes, and his head fell back as the woman removed her hands and blood trickled down his chest.
Waart waved away the image and the water cleared.
"Wait, I need to see more," Tedras said, upset.
"I dare not stay any longer or Kalia will know that we know of her," Waart explained. "She is a powerful sorceress like myself and she is ruthless. She is Akavasha's sister."
Tedras gasped again. "Then she is seeking revenge on Kull for killing her."
"I would suppose. I thought that when Akavasha was destroyed, it would close the portal for Kalia into that world also but apparently not." The Sorceress thought for a moment. "We have to help Kull quickly. She has strong spells of obedience that have allowed her to amass huge armies in the past. I would not doubt that she will use these spells on Kull and he cannot hold out against all of them. Even the Tiger is not that strong."
Kull stood in the gateway, a sword in his hand. He was next to go out in the arena. Beside him stood a huge man armed with a battle ax. Kull thought idly that he wished that they trade weapons as he was always more comfortable with the battle ax. The man was as tall as he and well muscled, with long black hair tied back in a braid. Both men were naked to the waist and it was easy for Kull to see that his opponent had the scars to prove that he had been a warrior of some experience.
The man turned and looked at him as the horn sounded and the doors to the arena opened. "I hope we fight well," the man said quietly. "My name is Sandolo. I am from Aquilonia." He reached out his hand and Kull took it, shaking it firmly.
"Fight well, brother wolf," Kull said. "I have been to Aquilonia. They breed fierce fighters and beautiful women."
Sandolo smiled. "May at least one of us live to hold another woman in our arms."
Kull nodded his acknowledgement and the two men walked out into the arena.
The stands of the arena were empty. Only Kalia sat in the seat which once had been Kull's seat overlooking the palace arena.
There, not so long ago, Kull had sat and watched his Red Dragons train. He had even gone down and trained with them at times, eager to keep up his skills and ward off the boredom of ruling. Now the Sorceress sat alone, looking down at the men..
"I feel like watching a particularly ugly fight today, gladiators," she said from her lofty spot. "Do not disappoint me. Sandolo, if you can wound Kull mortally, I will set you free."
"How often have I heard that, mistress?" Sandolo said quietly.
"But if you disappoint me, you will suffer!" she replied, angrily.
"As usual," he answered.
Kull looked up at the small figure, trying to gauge the distance but he felt the pull suddenly of her spell and his mind went blank.
Suddenly, Kull was standing in the battlefield. Men fought around him, his Red Dragons holding off enemies from Aquilonia. He looked through the fury and the screams toward the man that he knew was the leader of the enemy forces. Sandolo looked back at him and the two men raised their weapons, readying themselves for the fight. Kull growled and lounged at his enemy, screaming a battle cry. The fight was on.
The frenzy of the battle faded and Kull looked down at the vacant eyes of his dead opponent. He looked up at the Sorceress and a rage came over him that threatened to consume him. He put his head back and bellowed out in anger, remembering the worthy warrior that now lay dead at his feet by his Kull's hand.
"By Crom, I will avenge his death," he shouted out.
"Don't be foolish," the woman laughed. "He died a warrior's death. That was his dream. You should be flattered, he was my favorite. I knew you could vanquish him. Prepare yourself for the next spell. I will call for you tonight." She waved him away and Kull turned and walked from the arena, turning back to look one more time at the dead man.
"I will avenge him," he said as he walked into the shadows of the gateway and down into the depths of the caverns.
Kull sat alone on the floor of his cell. They had removed the cot some days before as a punishment for his insolence. Every time they punished him, it strengthened his resolve. He wondered now as he sat thinking about Sandolo, whether his will was being strengthened or whether he was just fooling himself to keep up his diminishing spirits.
"Perhaps I'll end up like Sandolo," he thought. "A fitting end for a man who stumbled into a crown."
"Don't be so hard on yourself," said a voice in the recesses of his mind.
Kull sat up, looking around, unsure whether the voice was from within him or in the cell. He began to speak but then stopped.
It wasn't Kalia's voice but the warm, soft whisper of a familiar woman. He smiled as he recalled whose voice sounded so comforting.
"Tedras, is that you?" he whispered, looking out at the men beyond his cell, to make sure he was not being overheard. No one had heard him. Men were busy gambling or boasting. Some tended to weapons and others talked or listened. Kull was still locked away till his domination had been completed. He whispered again, "Are you there?"
"I heard you call over time and space," said the soft voice. Kull closed his eyes and put his head back. In his mind now, the demure woman appeared. Her hair flowed around her as light from behind her lit her silhouette. "I know about the sorceress and I can only appear to you for a moment. I do not want to risk detection. I am coming and I will bring help. Hold on and be brave, my friend."
"Come quickly," he replied. "She will come again tonight and carry out the second spell of obedience."
"I am on my way," replied the Amazon. Her image vanished.
"The very most that we can take is three," Waart said, as she transformed herself into the cat that was faster and more agile than her human form. Her image flickered and faded and the brown tabby appeared before the Amazon, crawling out from the heavy robes that now lay crumpled on the floor.
Tedras nodded as she finished putting on her armor and buckling the belt that held her short sword. "I need to take Amazons that can work flawlessly as a team. Most of us can, but some flow together better than others. Kendaa would be my first choice."
As if by magic, there was a knock at the door of her hut and Tedras turned to see the elfin face of the tall half-dryad champion appear as the door opened. Tedras looked back at Waart and the cat smiled.
"I knew you'd pick her. It only seemed right to call her."
Tedras smiled and the two women shook hands as Kendaa came in.
"I know I'm suppose to go somewhere," Kendaa said, putting down her staff and stroking the cat who responded with a contented purr. "Do I get to know where or shall I just be surprised?"
"Well, I could tell you but you still get to be surprised," Tedras replied. "Valusia."
Kendaa thought for a moment, picking up Waart and continuing to pet the small cat. "You're right, I get to be surprised."
"My other choice would be Calico," Tedras said to the cat.
Waart smiled again. "Excellent," she replied, and began to speak about how they would be transported to the other world.
A knock at the door interrupted the cat. Tedras went to the door and opened it. There stood Calico with Tosh, the eastern tiger who had come to the villages of the Amazons some years ago.
"Am I suppose to be here?" the Amazon said, yawning. She had obviously been awakened from sleep and was still buckling her armor even as she stepped into the room. The huge tiger followed her, chuffing quietly. "Tosh followed me," she added, gathering up her waist length hair and beginning to braid it. "I have no idea why." She yawned again.
Tedras turned and looked at Waart. "What do you think? Can he go? I know Kull would find this most amusing. It's only fitting to send a tiger to help a tiger."
"Kull?" Calico said, looking around. "Who's that?" But everyone's attention was now turned to Waart.
The cat jumped down out of Kendaa's arms and trotted over to the beast that dwarfed her with his size. She touched noses with the tiger.
"Just don't get any ideas about snacking," Waart said. She sat down and looked around at the women. "All right, Tosh goes too. So it's Tedras, Kendaa, Calico and Tosh. Oh, and of course, me."
"Who's Kull?" Calico said again, checking her sword quickly. The blade was sharp and the hilt firmly bound.
Tedras looked over at her. "Imagine Hercules with longer, darker wavy hair and more of a temper. That's Kull."
"Ooo," Calico replied. "When do we start?"
Kalia stood to the side of the room, watching her spell take form in a pentacle drawn on the floor. Kull knelt in the middle of the mystical symbol, all the emotion drained from his face. He watched the misty vapors swirl around him and his mind was a blur of images that chilled him to the core, yet he could not react.
The sorceress raised her hands in supplication and cried out to the dark forces in a strange chanting sound. She moaned as her head fell back and her eyes closed in the trance of deep magic. Then she began to laugh quietly. She opened her eyes again and walked over to the outer edge of the pentacle. As she did, she pulled up one sleeve of her long gown and took a small knife from her belt.
"The forces of darkness require a sacrifice," she said to Kull as he looked up at her. "Ordinarily, I would not comply and my spell would be weaker but I didn't care with the others. For you, I want complete control." She took the knife and carved a deep scratch in her arm. Blood sprang to the surface and ran down her arm. She let it drip onto the five points of the pentacle as she began to chant. Kull gritted his teeth as he felt odd sensations run through him. He set his face in stony resistance knowing that his will was being eaten but the Sorceress could not touch his desire.
"Can make me obey," he forced through clenched teeth, "but never make me want to."
Kalia stopped for a moment, a look of surprise dawning on her face. "You are stronger than I imagined. By now, your ability to speak should be under my control."
"Couldn't control Sandolo," he said with effort.
"True, but I didn't have to. Grief did with him what I will have to use force to do with you. I killed his entire family. It took his spirit, poor thing. Besides, I liked his insolence."Kull forced myself to close his eyes. He imagined the plains of Atlantis. He called up the warm image of his wife, gone now in death. He concentrated on the shadowy figure of a small, strong woman who had come from another place and time to share his world. In the instant that Tedras' image came into his mind, he heard Kalia gasp.
"She is coming!" the Sorceress exclaimed. "I can see her clearly!" Kull looked up, angry at himself for not guarding this thought. She was looking around. "She's close."
Kalia began to scream for guards and quickly bind the wound on her arm. Kull heard footsteps in the hall. He tried to stand but couldn't. Sweat began to run down his muscular chest as he willed himself to move.
Kull strained to turn his head as the door crashed open and two strange women dressed as soldiers came in. One carried a sword, drawn now and the other had a fighting staff.
The taller one carrying the staff jumped over the table that was in their way, and the smaller one, a long braid swinging out behind her, circled around the edge of the room as the Sorceress snarled, looking from woman to woman. Both were athletic and well-armed, they moved like seasoned warriors and Kull recalled the comments that Tedras had made about her friends.
"Amazons," he forced himself to say.
"At your service," Kendaa said, watching the Sorceress who was now chanting.
Kalia's form began to flicker and swirl. The woman faded and a hideous demon took shape. It's head snaked toward Calico and a bolt of lightening surged toward her, throwing her back against the wall. She crashed to the floor, then got up, shaking her head.
"I hate that when that happens," Calico said, annoyed. She picked up her sword as the creature turned toward Kendaa.
"Any time now, Waart," Kendaa yelled over her shoulder as she crouched into a fighting stance, twirling her staff around. The creature was preparing to release another blast of power.
Tedras came running into the room with Waart in her arms. "Sorry we're late. Waart got lost."
She tossed the cat unceremoniously into the pentacle and drew her sword as the demon's reptilian head swung toward her.
"I'd like to say I'm happy to meet you," Tedras said, as the demon growled and snapped at her, "but I'm afraid we have to kill you."
"You will never kill me!" the monster screamed and began to chant with a reptilian hiss. The three women gasped as a chill came over the room. Kendaa looked at Waart.
The cat was licking something of the floor. Kendaa groaned. "Waart!" she screamed as her staff swung at the beast.
"I can't believe you would be so stupid," Waart said casually, sitting down and looking over at the demon. The demon looked at the cat and a look of surprise came over its grotesque face. The cat began to grow and change and soon there were two demons face to face in the room.
"You would leave your own blood around," Waart said as she lunged at her opponent. "And here I was worried!" The two beasts began to grapple at close quarters, their bodies throwing the furniture around and forcing the Amazons to retreat to safety.
Tedras went over to Kull and took his arm, putting it over her shoulder and helping him to his feet. They ran from the room just as the creatures rolled over onto the pentacle, crushing the table that was in front of it.
In the hall, Kull and the women stopped and rested.
"How did you pass all the guards?" Kull asked as he looked down the hall. A deafening roar answered his question.
"Eaten," Calico said flatly.
The fight went on within the room, jarring the walls and shaking the foundations of the building as the two beasts wrestled and fought.
Tedras hugged the tall man, who towered over her. She smiled up at him and he returned her gaze.
"I knew you'd come," he said quietly.
Tedras smiled. "These are my friends, Kendaa … "
The tall blond warrior shook his hand, cocking her head to one side. "It's true, you do look like Hercules."
" … and Calico."
Calico shook the warrior's hand. "Glad to meet you," she said, laughing.
"And the other one, the cat?" Kull asked.
"That's Waart, you remember the sorceress," Tedras explained.
"I thought her name was Bastet," he replied.
All three women shook their heads, rolling their eyes. "Whatever," Kendaa said.
The noise in the room had stopped. The four warriors looked into the room but could see nothing but broken furniture and pool of green goo on the floor where the pentacle had been.
"Waart?" Calico said, concerned. She went into the room, looking around. The others followed her, searching the room for the little sorceress. The cat came out from under a chair, stumbling drunkenly across the floor and hissing as it neared the ghastly liquid remains of the enemy. Her fur was wet with slime and she had a gash on one leg.
"Oh, my God," Waart gasped, "I am going to be bathing for days."
"And he looked just like me," Hercules said, taking another of Lyrical's delicious biscuits and smearing it with jam. He took a bite and looked back across the table at Kendaa. The Amazon laughed and shook her head. She looked over at Tedras and then back at the legendary hero.
"I wouldn't say 'just like you'," she said, sipping the wine that she had poured.
Lyrical came from the kitchen and put out more of the stew that she had worked on for the evening's dinner. Iolaus clapped his hands with relish and poured most of the thick, spicy entree into his bowl. He turned to get more salad from down the crowded table and while his attention was turned, Hercules switched his empty bowl for Iolaus' full one. Then he dipped his biscuit in the stew and continued eating.
"Hey," Iolaus said, figuring out the problem when he went to start his next helping.
Hercules laughed. "You are my best friend, but when it comes to Lyrical's stew, it's every warrior for himself."
Iolaus took the serving bowl and got up. "Lyrical will give me more. I have a special relationship with her," Iolaus replied. He went into the kitchen.
"Yes, you're her chief customer," Hercules retorted and then turned back to Kendaa. "Exactly like me?"
"Well, he's darker and, oh, maybe a little … tougher," Kendaa said, trying not to laugh as Hercules' face took on a look of wounded pride.
"You mean tougher looking," Hercules replied.
"Yes, that's what I mean," she said. She looked at Tedras who glanced back and winked.
"Oh, I see what you two are up to," the hero said. "You want me to think that this warrior is bigger and stronger than I am. Well, I don't care." He started eating the stew. "I'm secure in who I am. I don't need to prove anything."
Lyrical came up to the table with a bowl of sauce. She put it down by Hercules and smiled at him. "Watch out, that is very hot," she cautioned.
"I can take it," Hercules replied, annoyed.
Lyrical frowned with confusion and looked at the two Amazons across the table who were laughing now.
Hercules looked up again at Lyrical with a sheepish grin now. "I'm sorry, Lyri," he said.
Suddenly Kendaa burst out laughing, spilling her wine all over the table, then Tedras began to laugh and others joined in as they saw the sight in the dining hall door. Hercules turned around and broke into laughter also.
There, in the door, was Calico with Waart, just bathed, wrapped in a towel. The cat's fur was disheveled and stuck out in all directions. Her eyes flashed with indignant anger.
"I have fought demons, summoned darkness and faced down Dahak, but this has been the worst night of my life!" Waart said, as Calico finished toweling her off. "The worst!"
Iolaus came out of the kitchen to see the wet cat. He burst into gaffaws. "Furball! You poor thing," he said between gasps of laughter.
Waart jumped down from Calico's arms and the Amazon threw the towel aside and joined the feast. The cat trotted over to the fireplace where a blaze was warming the room. She jumped up on the hearth and began to lick the disheveled fur back into its smooth glossy place. The diners had gone back to talking and eating, leaving the sorceress to attend to her unmannered coat.
Hercules came over to the small cat and sat down next to her on the hearth. He stroked her fondly, watching the festivities. Then he leaned down and tapped her on the shoulder.
"Do you think this Kull is tougher than I am?" he whispered.
Finis