THE RUIN

They picked their way carefully through the untidy tangles of verdant forest life that almost seemed to be consciously trying to impede their forward progress. At times they had to draw their swords to hack at the vines and branches that barred their way. Not one word had been spoken for some time, since they had first turned onto the road that led to their beloved City, and came upon the first signs of decay.

They were a small group. Women who had willingly gone from their City years before to carry the honour of the Amazons to other lands, where they had since been living, as ambassadors for the famed women warrior nation. They had come to like their lives in those other places. The people were, for the most part, kind and generous and not at all given to warmaking. This might have been at odds with the womens natures if they had not come to see the fruits of the peacefulness enjoyed in those other places. At times they were called upon to take up their arms in defence of their adopted cities, and they did so willingly, only too glad to repay in some small way, the acceptance and kindness of the citizens of these far-flung cities.

But all the time, in the heart of each woman there had beaten a longing to, at some time, return to the City that had given them birth.

Now the time was at hand, and instead of a mounting, joyous anticipation, they were filled with growing dread. The road leading to the City was all but completely overgrown, the surrounding forest appearing to have long reclaimed a road that wasn't often travelled, if at all.

Instead of the sweet, fresh smell of the forest, and the welcoming aroma of freshly-cooked food, there came to them sluggish, rank tendrils of something that could only be decay.

Grimly now, they pressed on. All eyes were now scanning the distance for the first sight of the great gates that guarded the entrance to the City. When the cry of recognition came, it was a cry wrested from a throat that was tight with shock.

There were no gates. No more did the tall, beautifully carved gates, nor the sentry towers, stand to greet or ward. They were there, crumbled and rotting piles beneath a carpet of forest detritus.

Just feet away, the women, who had travelled for many weeks to return to the City, at last came to a halt.

Before them, the once-great City of the Amazons, and the Hunters who had lived within its walls, hunched - a massive, empty, rotting pile of unrecognisable ruins.

For long moments the women simply stood, their shocked, disbelieving eyes roaming almost desperately over the landscape in search of something that might have given lie to the reality that lay before them.

Inevitably, almost as one, they began to move forward, stepping around the ruins of the gates and into an area that used to be the main square of the City. A statue of Artemis lay broken in half and face down beside the mound that had once been the City's main fountain. Around them, at varying heights stood ruins covered in ivy, vines and all manner of forest plants.

In eerie silence, they slowly made their way up what had once been an avenue leading to the living quarters of the Amazons, the Meeting Hall and the training fields. The path was falling away on one side, and the footing was treacherous.

Then they were out in the open. Before them, the once-pristine training fields were now swampland. The forest encroached from every side, containing the area in steaming, fetid clouds through which roamed creatures of indeterminate shapes.

"Gods..." That one horrified word contained dreadful pain, sorrow, disbelief, and a plethora of other emotions.

Beside the speaker, another woman suddenly bent over and expelled the contents of the noon meal from her stomach.

"What happened here?" A third woman whispered, her attention momentarily distracted by a hissing sound.

To their right, on top of a large mound that was once the Meeting Hall of the Amazons, sat a cat. Its ears were flattened against its skull, its yellow eyes glared at the intruders and it's mouth was open in what was obviously a territorial snarl. Beside it, laying at its ease was another cat which was ignoring the newcomers, seemingly content to lick its fur.

For several long moments the only sounds to be heard was the miserable retching of one of the company, the periodic warning hissing of the cat, the buzz of flies in the oppressive heat, and the movement of the herding animals in the swampland.

The women, their hearts numb, stood trying to assimilate the magnitude of whatever tragedy had killed their beloved homeland.

Clouds drifted over the late-afternoon sun just as a voice came from behind them. "Not a pretty sight, is it?"

The women whirled to find Ares, the God of War sitting on the stump of a dead tree, his darkly handsome face for once sombre and musing.

One of the women raised her hand in what could almost have been an imploring gesture. "What happened here? Where are they all?" She searched the god's dark, fathomless eyes for some sign of reassurance.

But there was no reassurance - only an uncharacteristic bleakness that caused the warrior's heart to tighten even more painfully.

"The Amazons? Gone," Ares replied with a slight shrug, his dark eyes moving over the landscape before returning to the visitors. "See those creatures over there?" His chin indicated the direction he was meaning. The returning warrior women looked up on the roaming and grazing animals. "They're all that's left. They're what the Amazons and Hunters became," the god added quietly, swallowing hard.

The tallest of the women shook her head slowly in disbelief. "What are you talking about, Ares? They're..." She shook her head again.

The gaze of the God of War locked on her. "No, they're not quite...human," he agreed, the last word almost a bark of derision. In one lithe movement, he raised himself from his wooden seat and took a few steps forward.

"You see, the day the honour died - the city died," he told them, his face devoid of any readable emotion. His fingers moved idly over the jewel on the nub of the great Sword of War that rested at his waist.

Another of the woman stifled a sob. "They can't all..."

Ares turned to her. "Oh no, they're not all still here. In the last days, when some began turning on others, quite a number could see what was happening and left. They moved out and into villages both near and quite far. As things deteriorated, even more left. After all, once the honour died..." He hesitated, closing his eyes for a moment as unwanted memories flooded his mind. Memories of once-honourable Amazons tearing and gouging at unsuspecting sisters, as if some form of madness had come upon them. Perhaps it had, he reflected to himself. Collecting himself he opened his eyes and continued.

"Once the honour died, the magic died," he explained. "The City of the Amazons was always held together by something other than stones and mortar. There was a special, magical ingredient that kept everyone united and at peace with each other. But after the honour died...well, the magic died too."

There could have been pity in his eyes as he continued relating the City's final days. "As the Amazons began to move out, newcomers began to file in. They didn't know - didn't care - to hear about the Amazons who had built the City. All they cared about was claiming the name of Amazon for themselves, as if that in itself made them somehow...special. But it didn't. Oh no, it didn't. They professed unity and love and caring, but...," he shrugged. "Really, they were only words - there was no depth, no passion behind it - no caring of any real import."

Ares' words were interrupted by a flurry of activity from the swamp. One of the grazing animals had wandered too close to the edge of the mire. Without warning, a spiked tentacle surged up out of the mire to lash at the poor creature before tightening around it and dragging it under the reeking, sluggish water. In very little time at all, the surface of the water was calm, and one less grazer populated the scene. The other animals, having briefly stopped to watch the action, returned to their grazing

It was as if nothing had happened at all.

The tall god silently watched the now-calm landscape for a long moment before resuming the story of the final days of the City.

"That was what was happening at the very end, too," he told them with steel softness, almost as if his disgust threatened to overwhelm him. "Once honour was abandoned, almost everyone became free game for others who let the darkness rise up and fill them. Of course, there were still a very few of the original Amazons who remained, if not in the City, at least close by. They kept coming by, doing what they did best, and out of their own sense of honour, providing nourishment and caring for what now inhabited the City. But it was no use. The City began to visibly crumble, as those remaining became something else."

He drew a deep breath and exhaled slowly.

"Very few of your sisters visit here now. And their visits are less and less frequent." His lips twisted wryly. "Occasionally I drop in, out of amusement more than anything else. I put on a sound and light show for them and they seem to get really excited. Not much else excites them, that's for sure," he finished almost sarcastically.

The cat who was sitting on the ruin of the Meeting Hall, suddenly sat up and started hissing at him, for no discernible reason. Ares laughed quietly. "It thinks it's defending something," he told the visitors, as the ruin the feline was standing on shifted precariously under it. "It actually thinks it rules this place," he added, before his laughter died as quickly as it had come upon him.

"It doesn't realise there's nothing left to rule."

"My advice to you, my dears, is to go back to those places from which you've come. There's nothing left for you here. You've been happy in your new homes - and you always will be as long as you hold honour and truth close to your hearts. You may not always be marching to war to defend your new homes, but if you hold those ideals close, you will always be Amazons."

The warrior women could only stare at him, their hearts breaking for what had been, and for what was no more.

Ares smiled, and for once, it was almost a sweet smile - somewhat at odds on his normally severe face.

"It's funny, don't you think?" He asked them, "People only ever think of the down side of war - the hatred and fear that drives people to hurt others."

"They never seem to remember that courage, honour, loyalty and truth are so much a part of the true warrior," he mused, somewhat sadly.

He remained standing there for a long time - long after the warrior women had disappeared slowly back the way they had come.

With one last, lingering look, the God of War vanished, leaving the once-great City to its ruination.

Finis