Chapter 12: Mothers and Daughters

Denyssa looked at them and after a moment she smiled. “I probably should jump up and flee in terror.” She shrugged. “The truth is I’m not even scared of you anymore. Don’t get me wrong, what you did to that man was scary as shit, but you won’t do that to me. I was a mean bitch to you the last year and you didn’t do anything to me, why should you do in the future? I know I’m not the smartest or prettiest girl. If my life would have taken its normal course, I would have married another fisherman in Hithad. You know what that would be like Athea. For some strange reason now I’m friends with some mystical creatures and have no idea what my future will be like. Maybe I’m just your plaything for a while, but whatever, I have to take my chance of a better life.”

Athea grinned at her. “I like to play with you, that’s true, but that doesn’t make you our plaything. As for casting you aside some time in the future, not gonna happen sweetie. My big brother doesn’t like to give away anything he deems His! I am as possessive and jealous as he is, so we have to agree on our possessions. There will never be anyone between us! We share everything. I didn’t know it at the time, but I know it now. I took you with us away from your home, because I wanted you Denyssa. You are mine! That makes you our first Nyssa. There will be more, we are greedy, but you’ll always be the first. There is something else. I told you already, we will lose our virginities the same day! I think his reason to keep me a virgin is nonsense; he just likes too much to be seduced. So I’ll need you to help me convince him.”

Roban had to grin at that. Maybe his sister was right; he would love every attempt to convince him. More important, it was the last advantage he had on her. He wouldn’t give it up easily.

Roban made up some more to Athea. His remorse was so thoroughly heartfelt that Denyssa brought Athea some water, worried she would dry out. When Athea took a rest to drink, Roban made up to Denyssa as well before they finally all fell asleep. His tireless efforts had apparently been convincing. He felt the warmth of forgiveness seeping through his body when he awoke the next morning to the pleasant feeling that two soft, wet tongues caused on his cock.

The following days they spent lots of time getting to know each other better. Not only in regards to their sexuality, though they experienced pretty much everything three people could do together short of penetration. It seemed the girls enjoyed teasing him with their lingering virginity as much as he did. There were many close calls when either he or one of the girls, mostly Denyssa, was close to snapping, but so far nothing had changed. No, they also spent many hours talking about their past and what they wanted their future to be like. They revealed many things they had held back in the past.

Denyssa wanted to escape her supposed future of being the simple wife, of a simple fisherman, in a simple village. She wanted to experience a life of intensity more than anything else. Roban and Athea could comprehend her wish, although their raging nature didn’t allow them to live any other way.

Athea showed a vast interest when Roban finally talked about the women he had met so far. She intently listened as he talked about the Canbierra sisters, especially Ynerca. She also wanted to meet a woman from Dhania, even suggested traveling to the country. She laughed and giggled when Roban talked about his first experiences with Meyra and Chalissa. Roban’s account on his sessions with Queen Leandris of Ghota was another matter though. Athea was livid about it. No one, aside from her of course, was allowed to treat her brother like the Queen had done. She made it clear that she felt personally insulted when she insisted, the only option to rectify the unacceptable situation, would be for the Queen to bow at HER feet. Of course she wrenched a promise from Roban to visit Ghota in the near future. Roban felt a shiver running down his spine when he imagined a meeting between his sister and Leandris.

Roban and Athea didn’t have any long term plans. Somehow they both were sure their future would find them.

They were right of course.

They arrived in Notabir at the evening of the thirteenth day after they left Rhagneyr Castle. The town had a population of about twelve thousand people and was a trading point for many small and big farms of the surrounding area. It was the last town before the great wilderness to the north and also the first town this side of the huge mountain chain to the west. A few caravans traveled through mountain paths from Notabir to the lands west of the mountains, and back. There was a change coming to this region though.

There weren’t many people on the streets in the evening, or at least not where the three were passing along. They asked a guard for the next inn that also offered rooms for rent. They noticed the guard’s cautious glances at Athea. Even more strange seemed that Roban’s hulking figure next to the small girl seemed to rather calm the man. When they entered the inn, the locals in attendance showed the same strange behavior. Wary of Athea, but her obvious affiliation to Denyssa and especially Roban seemed to sooth them.

When the innkeeper brought them their meal Athea finally asked him directly.

“Why are all the people looking at me like I am a dangerous animal?”

The innkeeper took a long look at her before he answered. “The north-west of the wilderness, mainly woodlands, is the home of a tribe of amazons. You look a bit like them, although you’d be the smallest one I’ve ever seen and not being a child.” He grinned while Athea looked annoyed. “Until two years ago that wouldn’t have been anything bad. They even visited our markets to trade goods. But the amazons became hostile since their new Queen, or however they call it, claimed the leadership of the tribe. At first they only assaulted a few farmsteads close to their border, but for the last year they attacked everyone they come up upon. That’s probably because a year ago a group of slave hunters took a few of them captive. They are even back in town I’ve heard, the slave hunters that is. As I said, you look like a little amazon, but if you were, you wouldn’t travel in the company of a man. The tribe detests men.”

“Just for your information, I am not LITTLE, I am PETITE!” Athea huffed angrily. “However, that solves the riddle.”

Later that evening they lay in bed and relaxed after Roban and Denyssa made sure the petite amazon was properly appeased. Suddenly Athea had that special mischievous grin on her face that they both had learned to fear.

“I think we should travel north-west next. I want to meet these amazons.”

Roban wasn’t even surprised.

“That is a really bad Idea Zeza. You heard they attack everyone they meet. Do you want to go hunting amazons?”

“Roban is right! I don’t think that ever happened before, but I have to agree. That is a stupid idea,” Denyssa declared.

Athea sighed.

“You are probably right, but it’s so tempting. Imagine a whole tribe of only women, dressed just like me. None of them has ever been touched by a man. Can you see it brother?”

Roban groaned and shook his head to clear it.

“Yeah, a whole tribe of women who detest men, sounds like fun for you!”

“Ohh, you know I would never touch a woman you can’t have too! We share everything, remember?” Athea said earnestly.

“I don’t want to share any dead women with you! That’s the only way I could see us sharing a man hating amazon.”

“You just lack finesse and imagination, but you are lucky you have me!”

“How come you are the one getting so excited by a whole lot of women untouched by men, shouldn’t it be me?”

“As I said brother, you have a tragic lack of imagination!” Athea purred.

“Would I have to wear leather too? I like dresses way more,” Denyssa asked worried.

“You two let me handle all and I promise we will have a great time,” Athea said and was grinning again.

Roban and Denyssa looked at her sternly and shook their heads, NO!

“At least let us visit those slave hunters, maybe they have an amazon. I want to see one while we are here, who knows if we ever get another chance,” Athea pleaded.

Well, there was no reason to deny that, so they agreed.

After breakfast the next morning they visited the marketplace of the town. They didn’t need anything at the moment and would buy new provisions when they were ready to leave the town again. After two weeks of traveling they just enjoyed the lively place. Athea even bought a wicked looking dagger to wear at her side. As everyone was watching her, she wanted to look more dangerous. In Roban’s opinion it was a hopeless undertaking. Who would be afraid of his doll sized little sister? He was just too scared to tell her that. Asking for the slave hunters, they were told to watch for them just outside of town at the north gate. The slavers were prohibited from entering the town accompanied by captive amazons, so they camped outside.

They found the camp easily enough. The slave hunters had pitched four tents about a hundred yards down the path that led to the north gate of the town. Walking down to the camp they could see a line of three posts between the tents. A woman was standing close to each of the posts. At the feet of one of the women sat a small girl. A man, armed with a spear, was obviously guarding them. To the side was another group of five men sitting around a campfire. Two men from the campfire approached them before they could walk any closer.

“Where do you think you’re going?” One of them asked Roban, a tall man himself.

“We heard about your group and that you caught some amazons. We’ve never seen one, and became curious, maybe even want to buy one if we like them. That’s your business isn’t it?” Roban replied.

The man scratched his chin and looked at their group. His eyes on Athea he answered. “Looks like you already have one of those, even if it’s a short one. Well, she’s pretty at least.” Turning back to Roban, ignoring the fuming Athea, he continued. “Usually we don’t sell them like that. We’re working for Camun Sul, maybe you’ve heard of him. Biggest slave trader in Ghassoa. He has some special clients who pay fortunes for these northern amazons. He’ll pay enough gold to make even the long tour out here damn profitable. On the other hand we always can get some more as long as we are here. They are not cheap though, fucking bitches. I lost two men to get these three. However, you can look at them. If you want one of them, let me know.”

The men let them pass after that.

As they got closer they could see that the women had their wrists tied behind their backs and a rope around their ankles bound them to their post. The women were in a bad shape. Dirty, their clothes partly torn and two of them had some ugly bruises on their faces. The women were all tall, about six feet in height. Despite their bad shape, the women looked defiant at their approaching group, until they caught sight of Athea. Their hostile expressions changed to wide-eyed stares of wonder. The one woman whispered hastily to the little girl at her feet. The little girl looked nervously at Athea when the whispering stopped, but stood up and slowly came closer. She couldn’t be much older than six, and looked as haggard and dirty as the other women. Standing in front of her she looked frightened up at Athea.

“Are you really the Matassaja? My mama said you are. She wants me to ask you to take me away from here, but I don’t want to leave my mama!” The girl pleaded.

“I had a bad feeling about this already! I knew some shit would happen,” Roban groaned.

“Stop whining, this sounds interesting! I’ll talk to the girl’s mother to find out more,” Athea said dismissively.

Taking the girl by the hand she walked to the mother, Roban and Denyssa following. The guard eyed them suspiciously.

The woman bowed her head to Athea when they reached her.

“Matassaja, please take my little Menja with you. The hunters didn’t take her spirit, she can return to the tribe. I beg you!” The woman fell to her knees, bent forward and touched Athea’s feet with her forehead.

“What the fuck is going on here?” The guarding hunter asked approaching them, spear at the ready and directed at Athea.

Roban was at his side before he could take another step. His left grabbed the man’s hair at the back of his head, and with his right hand he grasped the shaft a few inches below the spearhead. A twist of his wrist broke the shaft and the next moment the spearhead pierced the man’s jaw, straight up through his skull.

“Matassaja, watch out!” The two other amazons cried.

The men from the campfire came running, drawing their weapons. Roban was already shooting by, heading for the men, before their warning scream was finished,.

Now it was Athea’s turn to groan.

“Damnit, we could have just bought them.”

But when she turned to watch there was an excited little smile on her face. Denyssa in contrast was covering her eyes with her hands, looking sick already.

The first of the men hadn’t finished drawing his sword from its scabbard when the huge ax caught him square at the chest, cutting through bones and flesh. Driven by inhuman strength the ax didn’t stick but tore the body apart. The man next to the right avoided the ax, but was hit at the root of his nose by a punch from Roban’s left fist. His nasal bone was driven into his brain by the force of the blow. Following the swing of his ax Roban turned and the next man was hit by a back-kick of his left leg. The blow crushed his chest and threw him off his feet. The three men where hit in one fluid motion, so fast, the remaining two men hadn’t even time to stop their forward momentum. They passed Roban left and right, and his turn let him face their backs. They came to a stumbling halt, but didn’t have the time to turn around before they got hit. One of them was decapitated by the ax, and the other man’s back was broken by a kick to his spine. The whole fight was over in less than ten seconds.

“You can take your hands off your eyes ‘Nyssa, it’s over already,” Athea calmly stated, but a little shiver betrayed her excitement.

Athea looked down at the girl’s mother. She was still kneeling but had watched the fight and looked stunned. Her mind couldn’t fully comprehend what her eyes had seen. The other two amazons stared equally dazed. Strangely the little girl seemed unfazed.

“Well, it seems you can take your daughter back to the tribe by yourself now,” Athea stated.

The three women turned and looked at Athea, pained expressions on their faces.

“We can’t return to the tribe Matassaja. The hunters took our spirits.”

The mother had bowed her head again. Her voice sounded pained as well, and her posture displayed shame more than reverence.

“OK, let’s work through this one thing at the time. First let me untie you.” Athea sighed.

Athea walked from woman to woman and cut their bonds with her newly purchased dagger. Roban was searching through the tents meanwhile and the little girl went over to Denyssa.

“The Matassaja said you can look again,” she whispered.

Denyssa watched carefully through her fingers first before she lowered her hands. After Athea had cut them free all three amazons knelt heads bowed before her. Denyssa had taken the girl’s hand and watched from the side. Roban was nowhere to be seen.

“OK, next thing. Explain why you can’t go back to your tribe,” Athea asked the women.

“Matassaja, please don’t punish us. They took our spirits, we can’t go back,” one of the women said.

“I’ve no intention to punish you. I just don’t understand how some hunters can take your spirits. They didn’t look like some kind of demons to me, now even less so,” Athea replied.

“Matassaja, they are men, and they touched us with their maleness. Our spirits are gone.” The mother spoke again.

“Touched you with their maleness? Come on, what are you talking about. A special ritual, or did they fuck you?” Athea looked puzzled.

Athea’s bluntness caused all three amazons to pale.

“Please have mercy, Matassaja. They forced us and put their male parts inside of us. We can’t go back, our amazon spirit is gone,” the mother explained in a strained voice.

“Ouhm, I thought the little girl is your daughter?” Athea asked her carefully.

“Yes, Menja is my daughter.”

“Ehmm, not to put too fine a point on this, but doesn’t that mean it had happened at least once before?”

“Menja was conceived like every other amazon, performing the holy ceremony the Goddess Nyome taught us,” the woman replied looking puzzled.

“That clears it up nicely. However, since you can’t go back to your tribe, what are you going to do now?” Athea groaned and asked.

“Please, Matassaja, bring my daughter back to the tribe. We will leave now.” Tears streamed down the mother’s cheeks.

“Wouldn’t it be better to take your daughter with you? She doesn’t want to leave you.” Athea asked having bad feeling.

“Matassaja, my daughter Menja can’t follow where I have to go. Her spirit is with her. I have to follow mine to Nyome’s hunting grounds,” The mother stated with determined finality.

“Aww shit! You can’t do that! Don’t leave your daughter behind like that,” Athea cried.

“The prophecy said the Matassaja would come to aid the Amazons in their greatest need. I am no longer an amazon, but I am still a mother. Please Matassaja, take my child home,” the mother pleaded, silent tears streaming down her face again.