Chapter 4C
Upon entering the armory they were all greeted by the weapon’s master.
“Hey, here come the party monsters.” She said jokingly to the woman to her right. “What’s going on, guys? Who are your friends?”
“Sarah and Khepri, meet Andromeda the weapon’s master…” Anthony said, gesturing toward the woman who’d greeted them. “…and Andromeda the tailor.” He then pointed to the other Amazon in the room.
“You can call me Andy for short.” The weapon’s master said as she offered up a hand to both Sarah and Khepri.
“Yeah, it get’s confusing otherwise.” The tailor said, taking their hands as well. “Plus it helps out in the bedroom. Calling out your own name can seem a little narcissistic.”
Andy’s eyes shot daggers at the tailor and Sarah laughed.
Andy spoke with a calming tone that, in her own time, would have led Sarah to believe she was either a surfer or a musician. Andromeda was the polar opposite. She gave off a feisty and fun vibe that was something the time traveler looked for in her friends.
“Are you always this blunt or are you just trying to make sure to claim your territory?” The time traveler joked as she took Andromeda’s hand.
“She’s just always this blunt.” Andy said with a smile. “I’m surprised she hasn’t started in on your clothing preferences yet.”
“I was gonna wait till after the introductions, but before any weapon requests were approved.” Andromeda said. “Thanks for setting me up with a segue, baby.”
“Sarah, I offer you my condolences.” Andy said with a smile.
Sarah chuckled at the interaction between the two, and then spoke. “Looking around the camp, I’m sure you could do wonders for my wardrobe, but I think I’ll stick with the digs I’ve got for now.”
“We’ll see how long that lasts.” Was the reply.
“So, what can I help you all with today?” Andy asked, changing the subject.
“We get to play with the swords!” Rah said with a huge smile on her face.
“The Queen should have given you permission to suit us up with a few weapons.” Anthony explained.
“She did.” Andy replied, moving toward her stores of both swords and sheaths. “Said you guys were on some kind of super secret mission. Must be exciting.”
“It looks to be.” Sarah replied as she was handed both sword and sheath.
It was a typical Amazonian sword with the crescent like guard and short blade, but it was heavier than it looked. As she secured the belt around her waist she noticed a small problem with keeping her cargo pants up. She knew she’d lost a few pounds since she’d been away from fried food for so long, but her belts had been helping with the sag before. She didn’t think they would do much good against the weight of the sword.
“Looks like you’re having a little trouble there.” Andromeda said, moving closer to Sarah. “You know a pair of pants that fit might stay up better.”
“They’re fine.” Sarah said, as she started to demonstrate her point by walking around.
As if my some ironic kind of magic the pants started to slip and she was barely able to catch them before they fell to her knees. Andromeda simply stared at her in victory.
“Ok, one pair of pants.” Sarah said, divesting herself of the sword. “But you come near me with any of those short skirts we’re gonna have a problem.”
Andromeda smiled and put an arm around Sarah as she led her into the other room. “Oh don’t worry, I think I’ve got a pair of pants that will fit you perfectly, and the leather top that goes with them will really show off those breasts you’re trying to hide under that hideous thing you call a shirt.”
“Hey, I didn’t say anything about a top.” Sarah’s voice could barely be heard by the group as she moved further into the room.
“Sarah, it’s best to just let her do her thing.” Angie yelled toward them. “Arguing only makes the process take longer.”
The rest of the group chuckled as they checked out their swords and waited for their team leader to re-emerge. It was Khepri who caught a glimpse of her first. She nearly dropped her sword as she looked the girl up and down.
“See, it’s not so bad now is it?” Andromeda asked facetiously.
Sarah looked at her new attire and was actually somewhat impressed. The leather pants were low rise and snug enough in the waist and butt to keep from falling down then frayed at the bottom. The top was more like a leather vest that hugged her curves and dipped low in the chest. It was a bit of a compromise, seeing as how Andromeda had preferred a much more revealing option and Sarah wanted even more fabric, but in the end they worked it out.
“So what do you guys think?” She asked, nervously.
Meg whistled, Rah offered up a smile and thumbs up and Zoe just giggled about how uncomfortable Sarah looked.
“Well, it definitely helps the sword stay up better.” Anthony said before mumbling to the group. “Among other things.”
Sarah smirked and nodded her head, knowing she’d only allow the jokes to go on for a few more minutes. She then looked to Khepri who had not said anything, yet her opinion mattered more to Sarah. She walked up closer to her and held her hands out a bit.
“C’mon. Take a shot.” She said. “Any latter infractions are gonna be met with a mild slap to the wrist.”
Something was happening inside Khepri that she hadn’t felt in years. She was nervous. Not to mention at a loss for words. Sarah had been cute before, and mildly interesting. Now she was down-right sexy; and the confidence that she was having to build up made her even more so.
“You…Uh…” She struggled and noticed that everyone was staring at her.
Noticing the tension, Andy decided to pipe in.
“Well I think she looks great.” She pulled Andromeda closer to her. “Nice job, babe.”
Sarah continued to stare at Khepri for a few seconds and then shrugged her need to know what the other woman was thinking and returned her attention to the rest of the group.
“Ok, it looks like we’ve got everything we need and probably about three more hours of daylight left. I say we start off into the woods for a little recon.”
Everyone voiced their approval and then thanked both Andromedas for their help.
“So how long you think it’ll take those two to work up the courage and get it over with?” Andy asked Andromeda once the group was out of earshot.
“Depends on how much ceremonial wine Zoe has left from the party last night.” Was the casual response.
Once the group had made it to the scene of all of last night’s action they became a little disheartened. The ground was not as soft as they’d hoped and the tracks were either not visible, or easily confused with those of the Amazons.
“God I hate tracking.” Zoe said.
“Yep.” Meg answered.
They were all standing around scratching their heads and trying to make heads or tails of what was going on. Sarah crouched down and tried to move some of the leaves away in hopes that a solid trail might magically appear. When it didn’t she sighed and stood up.
“Well it looks like we’re gonna have to do this the ‘even harder’ way and simply go off in different directions hoping to find something.” She saw the rest of the group nodding their heads and then continued. “Just keep your eyes open for anything that might be helpful and remember that we’re not going into any caves or crevices today. Everybody good?”
She was met with affirmative responses.
“Ok then. I guess just pick a direction and go.” She said.
After they left, Sarah turned around to face Khepri.
“You ready?” She asked, looking at a severely rudimentary map Anthony had given her.
“When you are.” Khepri said with a smile.
“Great.” Sarah said, putting the map away. “I guess we’re off.”
As they made their way through the woods there was an odd silence permeating the air. Sarah couldn’t stand silence when someone else was around; it was uncomfortable. So she simply threw out the first thing she could think of.
“So do you often just offer your services to villages in need?” She asked.
“I help out where I can.” Khepri answered. If eating a few highway thugs is what you would call 'helping out.' She thought. “What about you. I mean I know you get around a lot with all of your travels, but do you travel just so you can help people?”
“Not originally.” Sarah answered. “But lately it just kinda seems like those are the situations I keep getting myself into.”
She stopped check out a piece of cloth on the ground, giving Khepri a perfect view of her back. It was then that she noticed the scratch marks peeking out on the skin of Sarah’s shoulder. They were fairly new; healed, but not completely. She gasped thinking about the pain that would have accompanied them. The time traveler heard this and stood back up to see what was going on.
“What’s up?” She asked, moving closer to Khepri and looking around. “You ok?”
“Yeah, I just saw those scars on your back and…What happened?” She asked, not knowing how much her prying would be appreciated.
“Oh, that’s what I came out of the tiger fight with.” She said casually before ushering them to continue on their way. “I know it’s pretty bad looking, but it doesn’t hurt anymore.”
“Wait, you mean that whole story was true?” Khepri asked.
Sarah looked over and smiled at her. “Of course. Did you think I was making it all up to impress you or something?”
“Well… yeah.” Khepri answered.
“Did it work?” Sarah asked.
“Not till now.” Khepri answered honestly. “You must be incredibly brave.”
This time Sarah looked down at the ground and answered. “No, I’m really not. And if you’ve figured anything out about me at this point it should be that I’m not humble either, so you know I’m telling the truth. I just did what I had to do in order to save Eve.”
“Hmm.” Khepri replied with disdain. The mere mention of the Messenger’s name was now making her irritated.
“Guess you’re not her biggest fan right now, huh?” Sarah asked, picking up on her tone.
“She has every right to be suspicious of me.” Khepri said. Really has every right.
“She’s just had a lot of experiences in her life. Sometimes they start creeping back up on her and make her paranoid. It’s nothing personal, I promise.”
It will be when my fangs are ripping through her throat. Khepri thought.
“I’m choosing not to take it that way.” She said. “What about you? Do you think I’m this evil beast that’s out to get you?”
Sarah chuckled. “No, not at all. I know it’s weird, but for some reason I actually feel really safe with you.”
Khepri felt a sense of shame clutch at her heart. You won’t even see it coming, will you Sarah? So trusting. I’ll make it quick with you; make sure the others don’t get to you first. A rustling in the bushes brought her out of her string of thoughts.
“I hope it stays that way because I think someone’s out there.” She said.
“Shit, how far away?” Sarah said looking around and bracing herself.
“I don’t know, but he’s coming up fast.” Khepri drew her sword as did Sarah.
“Get behind that tree and stay there.” Sarah said, pointing to the side and moving behind one of her own across from Khepri. “Don’t move unless I tell you to run.”
“I’m not going to let you fight him on your own.” She said sternly.
“We don’t have time to argue about this, now just do as I say!”
Both women shut up and listened for the approach. It was a man on horseback and he was slowing down. His horse came to a full stop just a few feet away from the trees.
“Too late to hide, Amazons. I already saw you and I don’t plan on this taking too long.” The man said as he dismounted and drew his sword. He wasn’t very large, but he did look strong; and his words led Sarah to believe that he was either very good in a fight, or extremely arrogant.
“Now, one of you is coming with me. You can decide amongst yourselves who it’s gonna be, or you can make it difficult and fight me and possibly both end up dead.” He said calmly.
Sarah emerged from the tree and twirled her sword. Though their attacker’s words were threatening, his tone was more matter of fact; as if to say ‘nothing personal.’ It would have been charming had he not been planning to kidnap them.
“I think I’ll go for door number three.” She said taking a defensive stance. “That’s the one where you get neither of us, and I decide at the end of the fight if I’m pissed off enough to kill you or leave you tied to a tree to face the demons of the night.”
He answered her with a laugh. “I love Amazons. You’re kind puts up a fight the entire time. There’s just something about that fact that really drives up your prices in the body slave market.”
“Khepri run.” Sarah said, cursing her when she stayed put.
“I’ll try not to mess up your face too much.” He said as he gripped his sword with both hands.
“It’s always smart to protect your investments.” Sarah said as she moved in and swung hard.
Khepri moved from behind the tree, but did not run away as she’d been told. Instead she watched intent on jumping in the second she thought Sarah couldn’t defend herself. What caught her off guard was the fact that the young time traveler really wasn’t all that good to begin with. She left openings all over the place then somehow avoided falling victim to them at the last moment. The only advantage she really had was the fact that the man wished to take her un-harmed. Should he choose to switch tactics, Sarah would be in trouble. It was ironic that just as this thought crossed her mind the attacker chose a more lethal approach.
“You know I may very well have sold you over to the slavers, and then helped you escape just to stick it to the bastards, but now you’ve pissed me off.” He said, slightly out of breath, when Sarah had divested him of his sword. “So I figure I’m just gonna have to kill you and take the pretty, tall girl.” He drew a knife.
“Well it is the thought that counts.” Sarah said, dodging his strikes.
The knife swished and whizzed through the air as the fight grew more intense. Sarah was breaking a sweat and the man’s eyes shown with laughter.
“Khepri, do not interfere!” Sarah yelled as she dodged yet another lethal strike. “I told you to run; go get help!”
“I can’t just leave you here.” She yelled back.
“Fuckin women; they never listen.” The man joked.
Sarah would have laughed, but she finally saw an opening and took advantage of it. He was just about to swing hard at her head and if she timed it just right she could parry around him and swing low enough to catch his calf. The problem was she closed her eyes when attempting this move and, though it did work, her attacker acted as if he felt nothing and recovered quickly enough to stab straight into her stomach.
“Hey, here come the party monsters.” She said jokingly to the woman to her right. “What’s going on, guys? Who are your friends?”
“Sarah and Khepri, meet Andromeda the weapon’s master…” Anthony said, gesturing toward the woman who’d greeted them. “…and Andromeda the tailor.” He then pointed to the other Amazon in the room.
“You can call me Andy for short.” The weapon’s master said as she offered up a hand to both Sarah and Khepri.
“Yeah, it get’s confusing otherwise.” The tailor said, taking their hands as well. “Plus it helps out in the bedroom. Calling out your own name can seem a little narcissistic.”
Andy’s eyes shot daggers at the tailor and Sarah laughed.
Andy spoke with a calming tone that, in her own time, would have led Sarah to believe she was either a surfer or a musician. Andromeda was the polar opposite. She gave off a feisty and fun vibe that was something the time traveler looked for in her friends.
“Are you always this blunt or are you just trying to make sure to claim your territory?” The time traveler joked as she took Andromeda’s hand.
“She’s just always this blunt.” Andy said with a smile. “I’m surprised she hasn’t started in on your clothing preferences yet.”
“I was gonna wait till after the introductions, but before any weapon requests were approved.” Andromeda said. “Thanks for setting me up with a segue, baby.”
“Sarah, I offer you my condolences.” Andy said with a smile.
Sarah chuckled at the interaction between the two, and then spoke. “Looking around the camp, I’m sure you could do wonders for my wardrobe, but I think I’ll stick with the digs I’ve got for now.”
“We’ll see how long that lasts.” Was the reply.
“So, what can I help you all with today?” Andy asked, changing the subject.
“We get to play with the swords!” Rah said with a huge smile on her face.
“The Queen should have given you permission to suit us up with a few weapons.” Anthony explained.
“She did.” Andy replied, moving toward her stores of both swords and sheaths. “Said you guys were on some kind of super secret mission. Must be exciting.”
“It looks to be.” Sarah replied as she was handed both sword and sheath.
It was a typical Amazonian sword with the crescent like guard and short blade, but it was heavier than it looked. As she secured the belt around her waist she noticed a small problem with keeping her cargo pants up. She knew she’d lost a few pounds since she’d been away from fried food for so long, but her belts had been helping with the sag before. She didn’t think they would do much good against the weight of the sword.
“Looks like you’re having a little trouble there.” Andromeda said, moving closer to Sarah. “You know a pair of pants that fit might stay up better.”
“They’re fine.” Sarah said, as she started to demonstrate her point by walking around.
As if my some ironic kind of magic the pants started to slip and she was barely able to catch them before they fell to her knees. Andromeda simply stared at her in victory.
“Ok, one pair of pants.” Sarah said, divesting herself of the sword. “But you come near me with any of those short skirts we’re gonna have a problem.”
Andromeda smiled and put an arm around Sarah as she led her into the other room. “Oh don’t worry, I think I’ve got a pair of pants that will fit you perfectly, and the leather top that goes with them will really show off those breasts you’re trying to hide under that hideous thing you call a shirt.”
“Hey, I didn’t say anything about a top.” Sarah’s voice could barely be heard by the group as she moved further into the room.
“Sarah, it’s best to just let her do her thing.” Angie yelled toward them. “Arguing only makes the process take longer.”
The rest of the group chuckled as they checked out their swords and waited for their team leader to re-emerge. It was Khepri who caught a glimpse of her first. She nearly dropped her sword as she looked the girl up and down.
“See, it’s not so bad now is it?” Andromeda asked facetiously.
Sarah looked at her new attire and was actually somewhat impressed. The leather pants were low rise and snug enough in the waist and butt to keep from falling down then frayed at the bottom. The top was more like a leather vest that hugged her curves and dipped low in the chest. It was a bit of a compromise, seeing as how Andromeda had preferred a much more revealing option and Sarah wanted even more fabric, but in the end they worked it out.
“So what do you guys think?” She asked, nervously.
Meg whistled, Rah offered up a smile and thumbs up and Zoe just giggled about how uncomfortable Sarah looked.
“Well, it definitely helps the sword stay up better.” Anthony said before mumbling to the group. “Among other things.”
Sarah smirked and nodded her head, knowing she’d only allow the jokes to go on for a few more minutes. She then looked to Khepri who had not said anything, yet her opinion mattered more to Sarah. She walked up closer to her and held her hands out a bit.
“C’mon. Take a shot.” She said. “Any latter infractions are gonna be met with a mild slap to the wrist.”
Something was happening inside Khepri that she hadn’t felt in years. She was nervous. Not to mention at a loss for words. Sarah had been cute before, and mildly interesting. Now she was down-right sexy; and the confidence that she was having to build up made her even more so.
“You…Uh…” She struggled and noticed that everyone was staring at her.
Noticing the tension, Andy decided to pipe in.
“Well I think she looks great.” She pulled Andromeda closer to her. “Nice job, babe.”
Sarah continued to stare at Khepri for a few seconds and then shrugged her need to know what the other woman was thinking and returned her attention to the rest of the group.
“Ok, it looks like we’ve got everything we need and probably about three more hours of daylight left. I say we start off into the woods for a little recon.”
Everyone voiced their approval and then thanked both Andromedas for their help.
“So how long you think it’ll take those two to work up the courage and get it over with?” Andy asked Andromeda once the group was out of earshot.
“Depends on how much ceremonial wine Zoe has left from the party last night.” Was the casual response.
Once the group had made it to the scene of all of last night’s action they became a little disheartened. The ground was not as soft as they’d hoped and the tracks were either not visible, or easily confused with those of the Amazons.
“God I hate tracking.” Zoe said.
“Yep.” Meg answered.
They were all standing around scratching their heads and trying to make heads or tails of what was going on. Sarah crouched down and tried to move some of the leaves away in hopes that a solid trail might magically appear. When it didn’t she sighed and stood up.
“Well it looks like we’re gonna have to do this the ‘even harder’ way and simply go off in different directions hoping to find something.” She saw the rest of the group nodding their heads and then continued. “Just keep your eyes open for anything that might be helpful and remember that we’re not going into any caves or crevices today. Everybody good?”
She was met with affirmative responses.
“Ok then. I guess just pick a direction and go.” She said.
After they left, Sarah turned around to face Khepri.
“You ready?” She asked, looking at a severely rudimentary map Anthony had given her.
“When you are.” Khepri said with a smile.
“Great.” Sarah said, putting the map away. “I guess we’re off.”
As they made their way through the woods there was an odd silence permeating the air. Sarah couldn’t stand silence when someone else was around; it was uncomfortable. So she simply threw out the first thing she could think of.
“So do you often just offer your services to villages in need?” She asked.
“I help out where I can.” Khepri answered. If eating a few highway thugs is what you would call 'helping out.' She thought. “What about you. I mean I know you get around a lot with all of your travels, but do you travel just so you can help people?”
“Not originally.” Sarah answered. “But lately it just kinda seems like those are the situations I keep getting myself into.”
She stopped check out a piece of cloth on the ground, giving Khepri a perfect view of her back. It was then that she noticed the scratch marks peeking out on the skin of Sarah’s shoulder. They were fairly new; healed, but not completely. She gasped thinking about the pain that would have accompanied them. The time traveler heard this and stood back up to see what was going on.
“What’s up?” She asked, moving closer to Khepri and looking around. “You ok?”
“Yeah, I just saw those scars on your back and…What happened?” She asked, not knowing how much her prying would be appreciated.
“Oh, that’s what I came out of the tiger fight with.” She said casually before ushering them to continue on their way. “I know it’s pretty bad looking, but it doesn’t hurt anymore.”
“Wait, you mean that whole story was true?” Khepri asked.
Sarah looked over and smiled at her. “Of course. Did you think I was making it all up to impress you or something?”
“Well… yeah.” Khepri answered.
“Did it work?” Sarah asked.
“Not till now.” Khepri answered honestly. “You must be incredibly brave.”
This time Sarah looked down at the ground and answered. “No, I’m really not. And if you’ve figured anything out about me at this point it should be that I’m not humble either, so you know I’m telling the truth. I just did what I had to do in order to save Eve.”
“Hmm.” Khepri replied with disdain. The mere mention of the Messenger’s name was now making her irritated.
“Guess you’re not her biggest fan right now, huh?” Sarah asked, picking up on her tone.
“She has every right to be suspicious of me.” Khepri said. Really has every right.
“She’s just had a lot of experiences in her life. Sometimes they start creeping back up on her and make her paranoid. It’s nothing personal, I promise.”
It will be when my fangs are ripping through her throat. Khepri thought.
“I’m choosing not to take it that way.” She said. “What about you? Do you think I’m this evil beast that’s out to get you?”
Sarah chuckled. “No, not at all. I know it’s weird, but for some reason I actually feel really safe with you.”
Khepri felt a sense of shame clutch at her heart. You won’t even see it coming, will you Sarah? So trusting. I’ll make it quick with you; make sure the others don’t get to you first. A rustling in the bushes brought her out of her string of thoughts.
“I hope it stays that way because I think someone’s out there.” She said.
“Shit, how far away?” Sarah said looking around and bracing herself.
“I don’t know, but he’s coming up fast.” Khepri drew her sword as did Sarah.
“Get behind that tree and stay there.” Sarah said, pointing to the side and moving behind one of her own across from Khepri. “Don’t move unless I tell you to run.”
“I’m not going to let you fight him on your own.” She said sternly.
“We don’t have time to argue about this, now just do as I say!”
Both women shut up and listened for the approach. It was a man on horseback and he was slowing down. His horse came to a full stop just a few feet away from the trees.
“Too late to hide, Amazons. I already saw you and I don’t plan on this taking too long.” The man said as he dismounted and drew his sword. He wasn’t very large, but he did look strong; and his words led Sarah to believe that he was either very good in a fight, or extremely arrogant.
“Now, one of you is coming with me. You can decide amongst yourselves who it’s gonna be, or you can make it difficult and fight me and possibly both end up dead.” He said calmly.
Sarah emerged from the tree and twirled her sword. Though their attacker’s words were threatening, his tone was more matter of fact; as if to say ‘nothing personal.’ It would have been charming had he not been planning to kidnap them.
“I think I’ll go for door number three.” She said taking a defensive stance. “That’s the one where you get neither of us, and I decide at the end of the fight if I’m pissed off enough to kill you or leave you tied to a tree to face the demons of the night.”
He answered her with a laugh. “I love Amazons. You’re kind puts up a fight the entire time. There’s just something about that fact that really drives up your prices in the body slave market.”
“Khepri run.” Sarah said, cursing her when she stayed put.
“I’ll try not to mess up your face too much.” He said as he gripped his sword with both hands.
“It’s always smart to protect your investments.” Sarah said as she moved in and swung hard.
Khepri moved from behind the tree, but did not run away as she’d been told. Instead she watched intent on jumping in the second she thought Sarah couldn’t defend herself. What caught her off guard was the fact that the young time traveler really wasn’t all that good to begin with. She left openings all over the place then somehow avoided falling victim to them at the last moment. The only advantage she really had was the fact that the man wished to take her un-harmed. Should he choose to switch tactics, Sarah would be in trouble. It was ironic that just as this thought crossed her mind the attacker chose a more lethal approach.
“You know I may very well have sold you over to the slavers, and then helped you escape just to stick it to the bastards, but now you’ve pissed me off.” He said, slightly out of breath, when Sarah had divested him of his sword. “So I figure I’m just gonna have to kill you and take the pretty, tall girl.” He drew a knife.
“Well it is the thought that counts.” Sarah said, dodging his strikes.
The knife swished and whizzed through the air as the fight grew more intense. Sarah was breaking a sweat and the man’s eyes shown with laughter.
“Khepri, do not interfere!” Sarah yelled as she dodged yet another lethal strike. “I told you to run; go get help!”
“I can’t just leave you here.” She yelled back.
“Fuckin women; they never listen.” The man joked.
Sarah would have laughed, but she finally saw an opening and took advantage of it. He was just about to swing hard at her head and if she timed it just right she could parry around him and swing low enough to catch his calf. The problem was she closed her eyes when attempting this move and, though it did work, her attacker acted as if he felt nothing and recovered quickly enough to stab straight into her stomach.