From the Annals of Bastet

Kendaa limped back from the battlefield. Each time she put weight on her left leg, she felt more blood run down her calf from the gash on her thigh. It could have been worse, she thought. But it could have been a lot easier if we had competent leadership. The queen at this time was Laurissa’s second cousin and the next in line for the crown of the Amazon Nation. The former Queen, Apollena had died after a long illness. The fevers had robbed her mind of reason and logic. She had handed her throne and her right of caste to Lillia. Lillia had been a young and angry girl from the time she was born. She had been befriended earlier by Cassopeia but over time even her legendary indulgence was used up by the girl’s intrusiveness, irritability and suspicion. And now, as the new queen, Lillia would have plenty of ‘friends.’ Forum members had advised Cass to pull away from the friendship and this had served to fuel Lillia’s growing paranoia and anger. Now all the Forum members had to watch their backs. And battle took on a whole new level of vigilance.

Kendaa trudged along feeling someone come up beside her. Laurissa put her arm out and steadied the Champion Amazon. They walked together.

“Now this is exactly the time that I need Ares,” Kendaa said out of the blue. “And do you think he’ll show up? Probably not.”

“Wasn’t he around just a night or two ago? You tired the poor boy out,” Laurissa answered smiling. She was amazingly unscathed, though she had been put in the leading ranks of the attack.

Lillia hated her even more than most. Lillia was short, flat, wiry, and hard. Her hair was coarse, her skin pale and blotchy. And her sight was poor so she was always squinting and frowning.

Laurissa was tall with long legs and pleasing curves. She was buxom with skin that tanned but never burned and ash blond hair that she carelessly hacked off at her shoulders and brows and despite this it always looked good. It was fine and soft but she had a lot of it so it flowed around her face, framing the perfect oval well. It drove the mannish Amazons crazy, even more so as they swore that the sensual beauty of such women meant nothing to them. Secret envy is a death trap for the emotions.

Kendaa was similar to Laurissa in height and figure. In some ways, they looked like sisters and their bond was close so some of the Amazons that did not know them thought they were related. But if one looked closer, Kendaa was very different. There was something about her looks that one had a hard time characterizing. She looked a little feral, slightly eldritch in her appearance. Those who knew her, knew that this was the dryad blood. Her hair was blond also but more golden than Laurissa’s and long. Her eyes were green with hues of gold in them. Laurissa, taken out of the war garb, would look at home stretched out on a divan in the lap of luxury. But Kendaa looked like a wild woman, stripped of armor, she belonged in the forest of the night, dancing in the moonlight.

The two trudge along together now, gathering others as they made their way back to the camp. As they entered the site they had set up, Laurissa guided Kendaa toward her camp fire. Others broke off as they got to their sites and went about the business of making ready for the night watch, the meal, the medical attention and rest. No bathing tonight. The enemy was not far away. No one would undress or even take off their armor. Meals would be hasty, medical attention quick and rest as much as one possibly could.

“Be strong in a world that is weak,” Laurissa said to Whisper as the two parted. Whisper nodded once and went her way. Response took too much energy. She had done more than her share that day of holding the Amazon contingent together under the misdirection of their Queen. The Whisperer, known to her friends simple as Whisper, had trained as a leader under the best commander one could have. Ares himself had had her as his second.

However, like many of Ares’ other protégés, Whisper had returned to the land of her sister soldiers. They trained under the iron hand of the War God but sooner or later, the call of the sisters lured them home. Ares let them go, grudgingly for some, with relief for others. With Whisper, he visited periodically to see how she was. With his Chosen, Kendaa, he never really let go. There was always a part of Ares watching her. Right now, as the half dryad lay down after attending to her wound, she hoped that he was watching and waiting for the camp to quiet so that he could appear and take her to some unknown place where time stopped. He had been around a night ago but they had slept together but just that, slept. She needed his breath on her face, and his arms around her. She needed his attention.

She waited.

The moon was high in the night sky now. It brightened the plains and forest around, being full in the sky and looming amid the myriad of stars. Kendaa had slept, eaten and slept again. She’d dressed her wound again which was healing nicely, a gift from the dryad side of her. She’d sharpened her sword and inspected her armor and arms, ready for the battle tomorrow if that was how things would go. There was no reason to believe that they would not engage the enemy again.

Lillia had come through the camp, talking up the campaign and checking on her troops. Kendaa realized that this was not her idea but had concluded that Whisper, who trailed behind her, talking to this unit leader and that scout, was the one who had recommended the walk through the camp.

Kendaa and Whisper had exchanged knowing glances but said nothing. It was better that way.

Now it was quiet. Kendaa loved the night. She wished she could steal off into the forest where she could commune with the forest life and soak up its ever deepening life force. It was too dangerous though to go and she knew that if there was a surprise attack, she would be needed here. She stood up and tested her leg. It was nearly strong again. She smiled to herself and thanked her mother again for the many gifts that being a forest being afforded. She decided to take a walk around the camp herself. Laurissa was asleep. Kendaa stirred the fire and put on another log to keep it going, then took her staff from the group propped up together and headed out.

Kendaa stood at the periphery of the camp, looking out toward the forest like her sisters who were on guard. Any hint of movement there would bring the camp to immediate alert. Kendaa squinted for a moment as she saw what wasn’t a movement but a kind of hole. It was like a blackness where the forest and trees and bushes should be.

“I’m going to check this out,” Kendaa said to the guard on duty. The woman nodded back. “If I don’t return or signal the all clear, you know what to do.”

The other Amazon nodded again and leaned on her staff, going back to the chat she was having with her friend. Kendaa felt a little uneasy about whether they even cared but shrugged to herself and loped off toward the forest. In a way, she was relieved to have a reason to go into the green world.

She entered the forest warily, poking at bushes and stepping carefully into the mossy undergrowth from the plains. She saw the blackness recede and followed it slowly, letting her eyes adjust to the darkness. Soon the light of the campfires was lost amongst the growth of the forest. Off in a small clearing, she saw a the blackness now begin to glow, and then take on the standing form of the War God.

Kendaa smiled and then frowned. Ares stood shirtless, his leather pants half open and torn down his left leg. He swayed as if he was dazed. The Amazon closed the distance between them so quickly that she almost ran him down, making him jump back. He took defensive swing and lost his balance.

She caught him, avoiding his fist and guided him to the ground.

“What happened to you?” she said as she laid him down on the mossy ground.

Ares let out a deep sigh. “Oh, god,” he whispered. “Oh, right. That’s me.”

Kendaa scowled. “You didn’t lose your godhood again, did you?”

“No,” he said, getting up on one elbow then laying back down again with a grimace. “Hades did this. Well, I let him. There was this young man. He died and got sentenced to Tartarus and I felt bad for him ‘cause he was following orders and he called out to me for before he died, and blah, blah, blah. Anyway…. Hades has this revenge thing going with me right now. It worked to get this poor kid off the hot seat and I do mean hot.”

“Wonderful, a regular hero. Just lay back,” she said pushing his head back down. She looked around. “I can’t really tell which plants are which in the dark. I need to take you back to camp.”

“No,” Ares said, relaxing a little. “Just let me rest here. It’ll be all right in a while. I just need to get my strength back.” He closed his eyes and for a moment, Kendaa thought he had gone to sleep.

She looked at her chosen one. He had a bruise under his right eye, strangulation marks on his neck and the bite of a whip blazed, glowing a little, on his chest. Kendaa wondered whether there were marks also on his back. She looked down at his half open pants. His superb musculature did not escape her but now the tight undulating waves of the muscles that rose and fell with his breath had thin lacerations. She thought about the story he had given and wondered what it was really about. Had he really taken on the punishment for a mortal?

She sat back on her haunches, putting her hands on her thighs. She sighed and looked up into the canopy of the forest. As the branches above swayed back and forth in the slight breeze, she could see the stars peek through and wink at her. She smiled sadly.

“Kendaa?”

She looked down at her love. “Better yet?” she said knowing this would annoy him. Maybe he would let her take him back to camp so she could take a better look at his wounds.

“No, I’m not better yet and thank you for asking,” he answered sourly. He sighed again and put his arm across his face. “Hell! Why is my family so contentious? If it isn’t my black hearted, completely amoral mother, it’s a brother from the world of the dead or my niece…” He paused.

“There are no words for Discord.”

“How is the little ferret faced whore?” Kendaa asked sweetly.

Ares peeked out from under his arm. “A little jealous, are we?”

“No, not me,” the Amazon answered, “Not at all… the bitch.”

Ares laughed. “Good girl.” He went back to his rest, blowing out his tired breath between his lips. “How’d the battle go today?”

“We got kicked in our curvy little asses,” Kendaa said, lying down beside him on the moss.

“Whisper?”

“Drove us like a slave master. Kept the flanks tight. Whipped up the point,” Kendaa replied. “Saved our butts.”

Ares put out his arm and she lifted her head, letting his arm lay beneath her. She rolled over on her side against him, running her hand down his chest. It was healing nicely. The bruise was gone from his face, the lacerations on his belly disappearing into barely red marks. Only the marks on his neck were still fresh and angry. She touched them.

“They’ll take a lot longer,” he said quietly. “The other wounds were made by Hades’ minions. Hades strangled me himself with a wet hemp rope soaked in ambrosia. Keeps the wounds eternal, like us.”

Kendaa shook her head in disbelief. “I know Hades. He can be a pain, but he’s not deliberately cruel. Well, what am I saying? He thought up Tartarus.”

“No, he didn’t. He inherited it from the older gods,” Ares muttered. He took her hand and kissed it gently but absently. He was still staring up at the sky. “Layers and Layers of beings mucking up the Universe, claiming they’re the ultimate beings. Who’s the top of the heap?”

“I think you know,” Kendaa said quietly. She put her head next to his, kissing the line of his jaw gently. “Want to go back to my camp?” she whispered.

“No,” he said, closing his eyes. “I’m tired of angry people. I’m fed up with the fight.” He laughed. “Get it, me, the War Lord of War Lords… tired of warring.”

Kendaa kissed his cheek. “You’re allowed your rest,” she said gently. “You’ve changed and you deserve better than the cowering, ambitious dogs of Olympus give to you.”

Ares smiled, rolling his head toward her and kissing her on the tip of the nose. “Not really. You know, there isn’t much that I don’t deserve. Like Xena, I have a lot to make up for.”

“And how many times do you have to make amends before you’ll let it lie?”

Ares smiled again. “I’ll tell you when.”

He closed his eyes again and let the life of the forest and the soul of the dryad sooth his wounds.

Finis