Chapter 4B
Though Varia’s bed was made and both women looked to have bathed before the meeting, the smell of sex still lingered in the air. Even if it didn’t, both of their faces were damn near glowing. Sarah had never seen Eve smile that much. She tried to keep a straight face so that they could at least discuss the dangerous situation brewing just outside the village gates, but that was going to be easier said than done. Luckily Varia went into leader mode once they were all inside and the mood became more serious.
“Anthony tells me that there was some trouble in the woods last night, and that we probably aren’t dealing with simple thieves out there. Would somebody like to give me an explanation as to exactly why any of you were outside the gates last night?”
All of the Amazons immediately started speaking at the same time, trying to cover for themselves and each other. Zoe seemed to come up with a sleepwalking story, Meg insisted there was a bug problem, Anthony asserted that they’d heard noises, and Rah settled on bodily functions.
A sharp whistle came from behind them and they all looked to Sarah who stepped in front.
“The events that led us outside the gates last night really aren’t as important as what we found.” She said to the Queen.
“Really?” Varia said with a head tilt. “You must forgive me, I was under the impression that I was the queen of this tribe, and that my questions concerning their welfare were all very important.”
Fucking Amazons. Sarah thought as she gritted her teeth. When she glanced over at Eve the woman’s eyes were very obviously pleading with her to be more respectful. She then swallowed hard and proceeded.
“Please forgive my arrogance, your highness.” She said with a slight bow. “You are absolutely right; I simply got ahead of myself.”
Varia nodded in acceptance then signaled for her to continue.
“You see it was my fault that your subjects were out last night.” She said and noticed a small intake of breath coming from one of the Amazons behind her. “I had a little too much liquid courage and decided to head out to the woods to see if I could put an end to your problem myself. If it weren’t for Khepri and your subjects, I can’t even begin to think what would have happened.”
“Speaking of which, who is this woman and what is she doing here?” Varia asked and Khepri stepped forward.
“I’m sorry, Queen Varia.” She said. “It was not my intention to trespass on your land, I was simply travelling through and I came upon the fight in the woods.”
“It’s not exactly safe to travel at night.” Eve said. “What were you doing out there so late?”
Sarah shot her a look that had daggers in it. Eve obviously still didn’t trust Khepri.
“It’s embarrassing to say this,” The warrior started. “But I got a little lost out there, and I had to double back several times. Luckily I was able to find Sarah and her friends in time to help out a little.”
“Yeah, she killed one of them.” Sarah said pointedly in Eve’s direction and the sentiment didn’t go unnoticed by Khepri.
“That’s very convenient.” Eve countered, still not buying it.
The little non-violent one is going to be difficult. Khepri thought to herself.
“Listen, if my being here is a problem I can leave right away. I only wanted to stay to help you all.” She said as sincerely as possible.
Both Varia and Sarah looked to Eve for approval. The Messenger knew that if she went against Sarah on this it would make things tense between them, but there was just something about the outsider that she didn’t trust. Every time Khepri was around Eve had this awful feeling rise up her spine.
“Eve?” Varia finally asked. “Do you have any objections?”
“No!” Eve said quickly, embarrassed that she’d paused long enough to be noticed. “No, I’m sorry, I think I’m just tired from the journey and I guess it’s making me a little paranoid.”
“Then it’s settled.” Sarah said. “Khepri stays.”
Sarah was going to leave it at that, but immaturity got the better of her and she opted for a low blow and a smirk to embarrass Eve. “And since you’ve obviously already secured other accommodations she can continue to bunk up with me.”
Eve’s eyes went wide and Meg didn’t manage to get her hand to her mouth quick enough to catch the first hiccup of a belly laugh that was threatening to erupt. Khepri allowed a mischievous grin to cover her face as she looked at Sarah with greater interest. The girl was feisty and fearless; these were traits she found incredibly desirable in women. Varia glared at the young time traveler for a moment, but could not muster a retort as her claims were accurate. Instead she chose to chastise her and change the subject.
“Let’s move along and work out the details of the outside threat before your mouth gets you into anymore trouble, foreigner.” She said, standing and resting her hands on her desk. “You may not be an Amazon, but you are still on my land and must obey my will.”
Sarah stared on stone faced at Varia and nodded her head. She moved to the side so she could look between both groups.
“In my travels I’ve heard stories about very powerful, soulless creatures who feed on the blood of humans; they’re called vampires and they are obviously very dangerous. Now, I don’t know the exact history of the vampire, but I think I know enough to help us kill them.” She started to pace between the two groups as she spoke. “The most important thing we can do right now is make sure they shrink in number instead of grow, and the way we do that is to not get bitten. I’ve seen a lot of different mov… myths about how a person is turned into one of them. Sometimes it just takes a bite, sometimes you have to drink their blood, but whatever the method really is I think we can all agree that getting bitten should be the number one thing we guard against.”
As Khepri listened the hair on the back of her neck started to stand up and she grew more and more uneasy. This girl knew plenty of information about her minions and she still had more to go.
“Now, these motherfuckers are tough.” Sarah continued. “We saw last night that they have incredible strength, speed and not to mention a vicious immunity to being stabbed. But there are ways to kill them. Any kind of wooden object through the heart will do it; we know that for sure. But there are also rumors about sunlight and beheading working against them too. We can make stakes, shoot arrows, and swing swords in an effort to fight them manually. Now the hand held weapons will be great for self defense, but where I come from we have a saying: The best defense is a good offense. Our greatest weapon is the one we can’t control: the sun. And even though we don’t have the power to control it, I think we can manipulate it.”
Khepri’s eyes were growing wide as Sarah continued. This was much worse than she thought. If this girl found a way to manipulate sunlight she could destroy everything she and her brother had worked so hard to create. Her strategy would have to change, and now she would have to find a way to leave camp and warn the others. The only thing she was grateful for was the fact that at least now she would have a head start on mobilization now that she was being told the plan.
“Xena and Gabrielle once used mirrors to flash sunlight into the eyes of a giant so that he would remove his helmet and reveal his weakness. And barring any rain in the near future, we can use the same tactics. All we have to do is find their nest, round up the mirrors and set them up to shoot the sunlight into their hole. Then poof! No more vampires, no more dead Amazons.”
“How long do you think it will take to scout out their location?” Varia asked.
“A few days, maybe a week tops.” Sarah said. “We could probably just start out where we were attacked last night and try to follow their tracks from there. One of the vamps was fairly large; he should have left some nice boot prints on the ground.”
“How do you know they won’t try to attack us in the mean time?” Eve asked.
“Well they haven’t tried it so far, which makes me believe another rumor about their species: for some reason they can’t go into someone else’s home without being invited. Because your village is enclosed by a gate, those rules may apply.”
“So at least we’ll be safe if we stay inside during the night.” Zoe asserted.
“Exactly.” Sarah said.
“Good, that’ll give us time to send some sisters to town to buy some mirrors.” Varia said.
“You don’t have any mirrors in the village?” Sara asked incredulously.
“We’re Amazons not priestesses of Aphrodite’s temple.” Varia said matter of factly. “Vanity is not looked upon highly in our culture.”
“Right.” Sarah said, sarcastically. Because it sure isn’t vain to walk around in leather miniskirts and tube tops all day. She thought. “So, anyway, we should have everything we need to do this within a week.”
“That sounds about right.” Varia said, standing up straight. “In an effort to keep any possible panic from breaking out in the village I want to keep things as quiet as possible, so I’d appreciate it if this conversation did not leave this room until we’re prepared to attack.”
Everyone nodded in agreement.
“I want you all to start searching as soon as possible.” The Queen ordered. “Take whatever weapons or supplies you need. This mission is going to be our top priority; I’ll have a meeting with the elders to discuss it. Sarah, I’m putting you in charge since you seem to know the most about these creatures.”
Sarah nodded with confidence. Keeping everyone safe for this mission should be simple and she was more than willing to take command of the group when she didn’t really expect any casualties.
“I’ll want a full report at the end of each day to monitor your progress.” The Queen said.
“Not a problem.” She said.
“Good, then you’re all dismissed. Get started.” Varia said, and they all headed out the door.
“Sarah.” Eve called and Sarah turned. “Can I speak with you for a moment?”
The time traveler nodded her head and followed Eve out of the hut to take a walk. They were both quiet at first, but Eve finally worked up the courage to start the dialogue.
“Look, Sarah, I know you like Khepri, but you have got to be careful. You can’t just trust every single pretty face that comes along.” She said.
Sarah was fuming. She couldn’t believe Eve was still pushing this point with no more proof that her ‘feelings’. Her tone suggested her distaste for the conversation.
“You really need to drop this Eve. Last I checked, you were sleeping with someone who has tried her damndest to kill you, and I shared a bunk with someone who tried to save my life. Which one of us is being more irrational here?” She asked venomously.
“Oh, don’t give me that…that…” She searched for one of Sarah’s words. “… That cock shit. You don’t think Varia is a threat, you’re just trying to embarrass me so I’ll shut up.”
“Ok, first of all it’s bullshit, not cock shit.” Sarah said, stopping to explain. “And second of all, you’re right; I don’t have a problem with you and Varia. What I have a problem with is you not trusting my judgment. This is my life, Eve. You can’t stop me from living it just because you have a strange feeling.”
“It’s not just your life we’re talking about here, Sarah.” Eve said forcefully. “You are making friends here and they don’t have your little gift of immortality. They can still get hurt.”
“They’re trained fighters, Eve!” Sarah argued. “Most of them are better than me. Plus they almost always travel in groups. I don’t think one little warrior, that hasn’t shown any interest in harming anyone, is going to pose that much of a threat.”
Eve sighed. She was having trouble winning the argument and she was starting to realize that it was because Sarah was right. She had no proof that Khepri was dangerous, in fact all signs pointed in the opposite direction. Sarah noticed that Eve was retreating and decided to give her a break instead of going in for the kill.
“Look, Eve,” She said, placing her hands on the Messenger’s shoulders. “I just met the girl. I honestly don’t even know how much I trust her, but she’s given me no reason to believe that she’s bad news.” She sighed and dropped her arms. “But since I know that you are worried about it, I’ll make sure to keep an eye on her and see that she doesn’t go off alone with any of the Amazons.”
“I want you to watch your own back too.” Eve persisted.
“As physically impossible as that is, I’ll put forth my best effort.” Sarah conceded. “Are we cool now?”
Eve thought for a moment then nodded her head.
“Good, then I’ll see you at dinner. I’ve got some vampire slaying to start planning out.” She said and started to walk away.
She then thought of something and stopped abruptly to turn towards Eve.
“Oh, and you can thank me later for hooking you up with Varia.” She said quickly, and then proceeded in her previous direction.
“What is that supposed to mean?” Eve asked, but was met with silence. “Did you tell her to come talk to me?” Still no answer.
Eve smiled to herself. “I think I have a wingman.” She said softly before heading back to Varia’s hut.
“Anthony tells me that there was some trouble in the woods last night, and that we probably aren’t dealing with simple thieves out there. Would somebody like to give me an explanation as to exactly why any of you were outside the gates last night?”
All of the Amazons immediately started speaking at the same time, trying to cover for themselves and each other. Zoe seemed to come up with a sleepwalking story, Meg insisted there was a bug problem, Anthony asserted that they’d heard noises, and Rah settled on bodily functions.
A sharp whistle came from behind them and they all looked to Sarah who stepped in front.
“The events that led us outside the gates last night really aren’t as important as what we found.” She said to the Queen.
“Really?” Varia said with a head tilt. “You must forgive me, I was under the impression that I was the queen of this tribe, and that my questions concerning their welfare were all very important.”
Fucking Amazons. Sarah thought as she gritted her teeth. When she glanced over at Eve the woman’s eyes were very obviously pleading with her to be more respectful. She then swallowed hard and proceeded.
“Please forgive my arrogance, your highness.” She said with a slight bow. “You are absolutely right; I simply got ahead of myself.”
Varia nodded in acceptance then signaled for her to continue.
“You see it was my fault that your subjects were out last night.” She said and noticed a small intake of breath coming from one of the Amazons behind her. “I had a little too much liquid courage and decided to head out to the woods to see if I could put an end to your problem myself. If it weren’t for Khepri and your subjects, I can’t even begin to think what would have happened.”
“Speaking of which, who is this woman and what is she doing here?” Varia asked and Khepri stepped forward.
“I’m sorry, Queen Varia.” She said. “It was not my intention to trespass on your land, I was simply travelling through and I came upon the fight in the woods.”
“It’s not exactly safe to travel at night.” Eve said. “What were you doing out there so late?”
Sarah shot her a look that had daggers in it. Eve obviously still didn’t trust Khepri.
“It’s embarrassing to say this,” The warrior started. “But I got a little lost out there, and I had to double back several times. Luckily I was able to find Sarah and her friends in time to help out a little.”
“Yeah, she killed one of them.” Sarah said pointedly in Eve’s direction and the sentiment didn’t go unnoticed by Khepri.
“That’s very convenient.” Eve countered, still not buying it.
The little non-violent one is going to be difficult. Khepri thought to herself.
“Listen, if my being here is a problem I can leave right away. I only wanted to stay to help you all.” She said as sincerely as possible.
Both Varia and Sarah looked to Eve for approval. The Messenger knew that if she went against Sarah on this it would make things tense between them, but there was just something about the outsider that she didn’t trust. Every time Khepri was around Eve had this awful feeling rise up her spine.
“Eve?” Varia finally asked. “Do you have any objections?”
“No!” Eve said quickly, embarrassed that she’d paused long enough to be noticed. “No, I’m sorry, I think I’m just tired from the journey and I guess it’s making me a little paranoid.”
“Then it’s settled.” Sarah said. “Khepri stays.”
Sarah was going to leave it at that, but immaturity got the better of her and she opted for a low blow and a smirk to embarrass Eve. “And since you’ve obviously already secured other accommodations she can continue to bunk up with me.”
Eve’s eyes went wide and Meg didn’t manage to get her hand to her mouth quick enough to catch the first hiccup of a belly laugh that was threatening to erupt. Khepri allowed a mischievous grin to cover her face as she looked at Sarah with greater interest. The girl was feisty and fearless; these were traits she found incredibly desirable in women. Varia glared at the young time traveler for a moment, but could not muster a retort as her claims were accurate. Instead she chose to chastise her and change the subject.
“Let’s move along and work out the details of the outside threat before your mouth gets you into anymore trouble, foreigner.” She said, standing and resting her hands on her desk. “You may not be an Amazon, but you are still on my land and must obey my will.”
Sarah stared on stone faced at Varia and nodded her head. She moved to the side so she could look between both groups.
“In my travels I’ve heard stories about very powerful, soulless creatures who feed on the blood of humans; they’re called vampires and they are obviously very dangerous. Now, I don’t know the exact history of the vampire, but I think I know enough to help us kill them.” She started to pace between the two groups as she spoke. “The most important thing we can do right now is make sure they shrink in number instead of grow, and the way we do that is to not get bitten. I’ve seen a lot of different mov… myths about how a person is turned into one of them. Sometimes it just takes a bite, sometimes you have to drink their blood, but whatever the method really is I think we can all agree that getting bitten should be the number one thing we guard against.”
As Khepri listened the hair on the back of her neck started to stand up and she grew more and more uneasy. This girl knew plenty of information about her minions and she still had more to go.
“Now, these motherfuckers are tough.” Sarah continued. “We saw last night that they have incredible strength, speed and not to mention a vicious immunity to being stabbed. But there are ways to kill them. Any kind of wooden object through the heart will do it; we know that for sure. But there are also rumors about sunlight and beheading working against them too. We can make stakes, shoot arrows, and swing swords in an effort to fight them manually. Now the hand held weapons will be great for self defense, but where I come from we have a saying: The best defense is a good offense. Our greatest weapon is the one we can’t control: the sun. And even though we don’t have the power to control it, I think we can manipulate it.”
Khepri’s eyes were growing wide as Sarah continued. This was much worse than she thought. If this girl found a way to manipulate sunlight she could destroy everything she and her brother had worked so hard to create. Her strategy would have to change, and now she would have to find a way to leave camp and warn the others. The only thing she was grateful for was the fact that at least now she would have a head start on mobilization now that she was being told the plan.
“Xena and Gabrielle once used mirrors to flash sunlight into the eyes of a giant so that he would remove his helmet and reveal his weakness. And barring any rain in the near future, we can use the same tactics. All we have to do is find their nest, round up the mirrors and set them up to shoot the sunlight into their hole. Then poof! No more vampires, no more dead Amazons.”
“How long do you think it will take to scout out their location?” Varia asked.
“A few days, maybe a week tops.” Sarah said. “We could probably just start out where we were attacked last night and try to follow their tracks from there. One of the vamps was fairly large; he should have left some nice boot prints on the ground.”
“How do you know they won’t try to attack us in the mean time?” Eve asked.
“Well they haven’t tried it so far, which makes me believe another rumor about their species: for some reason they can’t go into someone else’s home without being invited. Because your village is enclosed by a gate, those rules may apply.”
“So at least we’ll be safe if we stay inside during the night.” Zoe asserted.
“Exactly.” Sarah said.
“Good, that’ll give us time to send some sisters to town to buy some mirrors.” Varia said.
“You don’t have any mirrors in the village?” Sara asked incredulously.
“We’re Amazons not priestesses of Aphrodite’s temple.” Varia said matter of factly. “Vanity is not looked upon highly in our culture.”
“Right.” Sarah said, sarcastically. Because it sure isn’t vain to walk around in leather miniskirts and tube tops all day. She thought. “So, anyway, we should have everything we need to do this within a week.”
“That sounds about right.” Varia said, standing up straight. “In an effort to keep any possible panic from breaking out in the village I want to keep things as quiet as possible, so I’d appreciate it if this conversation did not leave this room until we’re prepared to attack.”
Everyone nodded in agreement.
“I want you all to start searching as soon as possible.” The Queen ordered. “Take whatever weapons or supplies you need. This mission is going to be our top priority; I’ll have a meeting with the elders to discuss it. Sarah, I’m putting you in charge since you seem to know the most about these creatures.”
Sarah nodded with confidence. Keeping everyone safe for this mission should be simple and she was more than willing to take command of the group when she didn’t really expect any casualties.
“I’ll want a full report at the end of each day to monitor your progress.” The Queen said.
“Not a problem.” She said.
“Good, then you’re all dismissed. Get started.” Varia said, and they all headed out the door.
“Sarah.” Eve called and Sarah turned. “Can I speak with you for a moment?”
The time traveler nodded her head and followed Eve out of the hut to take a walk. They were both quiet at first, but Eve finally worked up the courage to start the dialogue.
“Look, Sarah, I know you like Khepri, but you have got to be careful. You can’t just trust every single pretty face that comes along.” She said.
Sarah was fuming. She couldn’t believe Eve was still pushing this point with no more proof that her ‘feelings’. Her tone suggested her distaste for the conversation.
“You really need to drop this Eve. Last I checked, you were sleeping with someone who has tried her damndest to kill you, and I shared a bunk with someone who tried to save my life. Which one of us is being more irrational here?” She asked venomously.
“Oh, don’t give me that…that…” She searched for one of Sarah’s words. “… That cock shit. You don’t think Varia is a threat, you’re just trying to embarrass me so I’ll shut up.”
“Ok, first of all it’s bullshit, not cock shit.” Sarah said, stopping to explain. “And second of all, you’re right; I don’t have a problem with you and Varia. What I have a problem with is you not trusting my judgment. This is my life, Eve. You can’t stop me from living it just because you have a strange feeling.”
“It’s not just your life we’re talking about here, Sarah.” Eve said forcefully. “You are making friends here and they don’t have your little gift of immortality. They can still get hurt.”
“They’re trained fighters, Eve!” Sarah argued. “Most of them are better than me. Plus they almost always travel in groups. I don’t think one little warrior, that hasn’t shown any interest in harming anyone, is going to pose that much of a threat.”
Eve sighed. She was having trouble winning the argument and she was starting to realize that it was because Sarah was right. She had no proof that Khepri was dangerous, in fact all signs pointed in the opposite direction. Sarah noticed that Eve was retreating and decided to give her a break instead of going in for the kill.
“Look, Eve,” She said, placing her hands on the Messenger’s shoulders. “I just met the girl. I honestly don’t even know how much I trust her, but she’s given me no reason to believe that she’s bad news.” She sighed and dropped her arms. “But since I know that you are worried about it, I’ll make sure to keep an eye on her and see that she doesn’t go off alone with any of the Amazons.”
“I want you to watch your own back too.” Eve persisted.
“As physically impossible as that is, I’ll put forth my best effort.” Sarah conceded. “Are we cool now?”
Eve thought for a moment then nodded her head.
“Good, then I’ll see you at dinner. I’ve got some vampire slaying to start planning out.” She said and started to walk away.
She then thought of something and stopped abruptly to turn towards Eve.
“Oh, and you can thank me later for hooking you up with Varia.” She said quickly, and then proceeded in her previous direction.
“What is that supposed to mean?” Eve asked, but was met with silence. “Did you tell her to come talk to me?” Still no answer.
Eve smiled to herself. “I think I have a wingman.” She said softly before heading back to Varia’s hut.