Chapter 7 - The Amazons-Part II

The late fall air had a sharp crispness to it. The trees still had some frost on them, but the sun was quickly remedying that. Fallen leaves were crunchy under the boot of the figure walking alone through the forest. The figure knelt down to the water and took a long drink, shivering from its coldness. She paused, listening, then relaxed when a deer came out of the woods to drink at the stream. They stared at eachother, the woman and the deer, each with wide eyes as they took eachother in. Not one made a move or hardly breathed. A bird chirped and the deer bounded back into the woods, quickly hidden away. The woman smiled and took another drink, then wiped her mouth. She rose, adjusted the quiver and bow slung across her back and skipped over the rocks of the stream to the other side. The sun was just coming over the ridge.

Jonus loved this time of year. She breathed deeply the scents of the fall forest: the decaying leaves, the last remnants of the fruit on the trees and the water. Everyone thought she was crazy, but she could always smell the water. It had come in handy the time everyone's flask had been empty and the day extraordinarily hot. She breathed again and smiled. This was the best time of year.

She quickly climbed the slope from the river and stood on the knoll, then quickly bent down, examining some trail marks. She touched the dirt, looked in the direction the marks went and rose. The boar had gone west, something she didn't expect, but started following anyway. She trotted along the path for half a league, then stopped. She heard the sound of grunting as though an animal were rooting around for something. She easily slid her bow off, readied an arrow and approached the noise. No leaves crunched under her booted feet. No twig snapped. She was utterly quiet.

And then, she saw the beast. It was digging up some mushrooms, one of the few remaining this late into the season, and was oblivious to the predator behind it. She pulled back on the string, aimed and fired.

The boar squealed and tried to run, but the arrow landed inbetween the animal's ribs and hind leg. Blood began to flow from the wound. Jonus approached and readied another arrow. This shot found its way between the beast's ribs and punctured its heart.

"I thank you, friend boar, for sacrificing your life so that I and my sisters may live. You will be remembered for your sacrifice." Jonus looked into the animal's terrified eyes and watched it die.

After a few moments, Jonus knelt down at the animal and made sure it was dead. Satisfied, she removed the arrows, wiped them clean and replaced them in her quiver. She pulled a rope out from quiver, tied the animal's legs together and dragged it behind her, back to the stream. She lifted its front section and crossed the river to the waiting skid and dropped it heavily.

"You are going to feed the entire village tonight," she said to the boar. She paused and thought about the upcoming festivities. Tonight would be Jonus official induction into the sisters of the Amazon nation and she was intensely excited about it. She grabbed the ropes attached to the skid and began to pull.

Yes, tonight was going to be the night for her. Everyone was planning the celebration. Jonus was too. She had to create a new dress that would be uniquely her own. Until now, she had been using the "standard" kind of Amazon dress that many wore: leather skirt to the knees, leather bra top and boots mid-way up the calves. There was a place to hide a small dagger and a pouch for any necessities.

But the new dress had to be of Jonus's own creation. And she knew exactly what she wanted. She held her ideas to herself, only getting sewing techniques from her friends and doing it all on her own. Yes, when people saw it, they would know that the wearer was a true Amazon. Artemis would be proud.

She halted and thought about her protector of all those years. Artemis had not returned to her since that last night with Joxer. Don't think about him! The first while had been difficult, but eventually the Amazons helped her and she thought less and less of the goddess. There were still celebrations and sacrifices to the patron god of the Amazons, but after time, Jonus no longer was upset by them. She accepted them as part of being an Amazon. And, after time, she didn't hardly think of Joxer. For that, she was grateful.

She resumed her trek and soon found herself hauling the dead beast into the square for all to see.

"Jonus! You've outdone yourself this time," Ruth commented, gazing down at the large animal. "This is the biggest one yet."

Jonus smiled back. "Yeah, he is pretty big. But he had to be for tonight." She knelt down and began unwinding the tied legs. "You were a challenge to me and for that, I thank you."

"This will most certainly do! Good job, Jonus," the cook Katharos complimented. Selena, her apprentice, nodded her approval as well. "Come on. Let's get it prepared for the pit." They grabbed the ropes and hauled it away.

"Jonus," Danthea said, "you've got to see my latest creation." She practically dragged Jonus to her hut. "Here." She thrust a carving into Jonus's hands. It was of Artemis. "What do you think? I thought you would know her best so you can tell me what needs to be changed." She waited expectantly for Jonus's reaction.

"It's beautiful, Danthea!" Her fingers slid up and down the statue, feeling every groove, every detail the designer put into it. "You've definitely captured her. I don't think there's anything that needs to be changed." She handed the figure back to Danthea.

"Oh, good. I wanted it ready for tonight."

Jonus thought it a little strange. Maybe we'll be doing an offering to her, she thought. She shrugged her shoulders and forgot about it.

"I have to get ready for tonight. I'll see you later."

"Bye," Danthea said absently, staring at her creation. Jonus half smiled and left the hut.

The smell of leather filled the hut. Pieces were strewn throughout as Jonus discarded those she didn't need, but was too preoccupied to clean up. She walked to the bed, reached under the mattress and pulled out her new outfit, finished and ready to wear for tonight. She fingered it, feeling how smooth and soft the leather was. Days were spent oiling it to get just the right texture to allow full movement, but still protect.

The outfit was one piece. She thought protection should outweigh appearance, so most of her body was covered by the thick leather. Leather pieces covered a metal plate over both shoulders. She hoped this would give added protection in case a sword happened to try to slice her arms off. Her right arm, her string arm, had a separate leather piece that went from just above her elbow down to her fingers. The left arm was only covered with a forearm shield, but had metal detail work that Jonus found very appealing. The midsection and most of her chest were covered. She didn't much like how many Amazons exposed their hearts and other major organs with their uniforms. An arrow or sword could too easily find it's way into one of them and kill them instantly. So, she opted for more protective covering, actually layering the front section with two heavy pieces of leather. It made the dress heavier, but she felt it was worth it.

Her most favourite part, though, was the metal inlay across the chest. Working with the smith, she designed an intricate series of circles and curves that were both aesthetically pleasing and functional. No arrow or sword would be able to penetrate them. Jonus smiled and held the outfit to her, smothing it out.

"Not too bad if I say so myself...and I do." She laughed. "I can't wait for everyone to see this." She put the dress away and sat on the bed, untying her boots and pulling them off. "Oooh, that feels good," she said as she rubbed her feet. She fell back, smiling. "Tonight is going to be great!"

The drums began at sunset, just before Artemis would shoot her arrow across the sky and fill it with the stars. The beat was steady. Fires roared high. The barbeque pit had the freshly killed boar circling over it, almost ready to eat. The smell of charred flesh rose to great the new stars. Women started chanting and dancing around the fires, praising various gods and goddesses and throwing sacrifices of fat into the fire causing them to rear up even more.

Each Amazon wore a mask. Some were of eagles and hawks, while others were images of bears and leopards. The feathers were full and all coloured black and red. The women wore their own dress creation in celebration and moved their bodies to the beat of the drums, the dresses moving with them. Every Amazon, save one, was now in the square, dancing, chanting and sacrificing.

When the night sky was full, Ephiny stepped up to the altar. The drums ceased.

"Amazons!" she yelled through her mask. "Tonight we welcome a new one to our nation. She has been with us only a short time, but has proven herself to be worthy of the name Amazon!" Cheers rang out and arms were raised.

"And so," she continued, "I give you...Jonus of the hunter's bow." She turned to her right and spread her arms out to welcome the new Amazon.

From behind the altar, Jonus rose up the steps to greet her queen's regent, dressed in her finest Amazon clothes. War cries rang out, mixed in with cheers and general yelling. She stopped next to Ephiny and faced the crowd.

"Sisters! It is with honour and respect that I accept my entry into your nation, to act as you do, to live as you do, to become one of you." More cries. "I swear this by the goddess of the moon, protector of the Amazons and mighty huntress, Artemis."

The Amazons were positively delirious. The danced, stamped, yelled and cried out their approval and excitement.

Jonus bowed deeply and smiled. A woman brought to Ephiny a new mask. She held it high. "Great Artemis, bless this your newest Amazon. Once, she was sacred to you. Now, she is sacred to all of us." She faced Jonus. "With this mask, you become an Amzaon. Wear it with pride and may it never shame you or the nation." She lifted it over Jonus's head and placed it upon her, pulling it over her face. "Behold, the Deer!"

Jonus smiled and marvelled behind the mask over the roar of the crowd in front of her. She was now a part of them, one with them. She would never be alone again. Thank you, Artemis, for giving them to me.

"Now, let us feast! And then, we will attack!" Ephiny raised her sword and the rest followed suit. Jonus turned to look at Ephiny, stunned. No one had mentioned anything of attacking anyone. The Amazons were peaceful. They only protected what was their's.

"Ephiny!" Jonus shouted, but was muted by the crowd and her mask. "Ephiny! You never said anything..."

"Come on, Jonus. Let's eat." She wrapped her arm around Jonus and led her to the banquet tables.

"But no one said anything about attacking anyone," Jonus protested between servings put onto her plate. Her mask sat at the end of the table, facing the women. "Solari? You didn't tell me anything about this."

Solari just grinned.

"Ruth?"

She grinned and turned away.

"Selena? Danthea?"

No one answered her, just grinned and went on with what they were doing.

"Will somebody please tell me what's going on?" Jonus looked to the stars, begging for help.

"Easy, Jonus," Ephiny's calm hand touched her shoulder. "No one's going to get hurt." She sat down next to Jonus.

"Then what are you talking about? What kind of attack are you planning?"

Ephiny sighed lightly and looked at her son. "Do you want anything else, Solon?"

"No, mama. I'm really full."

"All right then, you go on to bed. I'll see you later to tuck you in." She kissed the Centaur child's head and pushed him off.

"Night, mama. Bye, Deer." He waved as he trotted home.

"Good night, Solon," Jonus said absently. "Ephiny..."

"Enjoy your meal, Jonus. We don't do stuff like this very often."

"Yeah. Wish we did though," Solari commented. "This boar is fantastic! So juicy!" She licked her fingers. "You picked a good one, Jonus."

"Thanks," she answered quietly, still in the dark over the "attack".

Jonus paced nervously around her hut, stopping every now and then to look through the opening up top, praying Artemis would explain everything. No answer came. She kept pacing.

A knock on the door halted Jonus's pace. "Yes?"

"Jonus, it's me, Solari. Can I come in?"

She bolted to the door. "Yes, yes!" she blurted out, opening the door. Solari entered, half smiling over the information she was going to share. She held her mask in her hand.

"Well?" Jonus asked impatiently.

"Relax, Jonus. Everything's fine." She faced her friend. "We're just going to the next village, Gregaria. That's all."

"Why? What's there?" Jonus was becoming even more worried.

Solari smiled broadly. "Men. And plenty of them!" She slapped Jonus's shoulder.

Jonus took a step back. "I...I don't understand." She sighed heavily. "Solari, please just tell me what's going on. Those drums outside aren't anything I've ever heard before."

"No, I guess they wouldn't be. Come here and sit next to me. We've got some talking to do."

Jonus did as she was told.

"Now, you know that we are a nation of women, right?"

Jonus nodded.

"And that we don't need men for anything, right? We do it all by ourselves."

"Yeah," Jonus answered slowly. "Where's this going, Sol..."

She raised her hand. "Hold on. I'm getting to that." She shifted on the bed. "Now, the problem then is that we need young girls to train and take over for us, right?"

Jonus rolled her eyes. "Solari..."

"We need young girls to train and take over for us, right?" she repeated a bit more strongly.

"Yes."

"Okay, then. The only way that's going to happen is if we, well, you know, we..." She hoped Jonus would get the idea. Nothing so far indicated that she did. "Jonus, we're going to Gregaria to have..."

"Sex. I get it now." She nodded her head in understanding. Realisation then set in and she started shaking her head. "No! Uh-uh. No way am I going there!" She stood up.

"Jonus," Solari rose with her, "you have to. It's part of the initiation into the nation. You're certainly mature enough and you are one of the best Amazons we've got."

Jonus remained unconvinced. "I'm not going to give myself up to some stranger!" She resumed her pacing. "Not to someone I don't even know and who doesn't know me. It's not right!"

Solari grabbed Jonus's arm. "Look, those are the rules. We can't just change them because we feel like it."

"Why didn't anybody tell me about this?" She looked to the heavens again. Please, Artemis, help me on this one. No response. Jonus sighed again. "It doesn't feel right."

"I know you've been out of the loop for a long time and this has got to be hard. We didn't tell you before, because, well, we thought you wouldn't go through with the ritual."

"You're right. I won't!"

"But you have to. Those are the rules. When a girl becomes an Amazon woman, and she's the right age, she has to have sex with a man in the neighbouring village. I don't know how else to explain it." She sighed in frustration.

"Maybe I can help," Ephiny said coming through the door. She gave Solari the "go outside and wait for me" look. Solari did as she was told.

"Forget it, Ephiny. If Solari couldn't change my mind, you won't be able to either." She sat down hard on the bed and looked at her new outfit. All that work and energy into making it. And for what? To strip down in front of some strange, perverted man. They wouldn't appreciate it. All the intricate metal work on the chest; the hours of rubbing the oil into the leather; the nights spent making sure each leather strip on the skirt was exactly the same as the other. No, nobody but her could truly appreciate the effort.

Ephiny reached for the deer headmask on the bed next to Jonus. "Choosing a creature for you wasn't easy, you know. You're such a good hunter with all kinds of animals. But I think you know the obvious connection with the deer." She waited for the answer to the implied question.

"Yeah, Artemis and her deers. Her favourite animal." She took the proferred mask and looked at it, turning it around. "Please don't make me do this, Ephiny," she begged her friend as she sat next to her. "I'm just not ready for this." Her eyes betrayed how scared she was.

"I can't force you into something you're not ready for. You know that. But you are ready for this." She paused, wondering if she should remind her about something. She thought better of it, thinking it may further upset her. "But you do have to come to the village and you do have to go into a hut. What you do in it is up to you."

"Huh?" Jonus stopped herself. She sounded remarkably like a funny armoured warrior she once knew.

"I'll tell you a secret." She leaned in close. "My first trip, I was scared, too. You know what we did in that hut?"

Jonus shook her head.

"We played child's games. You know, I spy and things like that. And when the horn sounded, I got up and left, acting like something had really happened." She looked away. "He was young, too, and just as nervous as me. I chose him the second time...and, well, it was a good experience for both of us. I never had a child with him, that would be with my husband, but I don't regret going into his hut."

"How will I know which man will be good and which won't?"

Ephiny smiled. "Hercules had a talk with one of them a long time ago and he passed that knowledge on to all the men. They won't hurt you. They won't do anything you don't feel comfortable doing. Trust me." She held Jonus's hands.

Jonus thought a long while. To not go would invalidate her as an Amazon and that was something she was not prepared to give up. I'm a good fighter when I need to be, she reasoned. If anything happens, I can get out. And Ephiny and Solari will be close by, I think. She took a deep breathe. "Okay. But if anything happens..."

"Nothing will," Ephiny reassured her. "Now come on. We're late as it is."

The horses were readied and waiting for Ephiny and Jonus. Solari trotted over. "So, everything's okay?"

"Yeah, for now," Jonus answered. "But I'm going to have a talk with you about keeping secrets like this from me." She grinned and pulled her mask down.

Solari returned the grin and slid her down as well. "Hope you get a daughter out of this," she called to Jonus.

"What?"

Solari started riding off. "A daughter! You know, a child!" She turned back to the now racing horses in front of her. Jonus pulled her mount in the same direction and urged it on. Yeah, a child. Sorry, Solari, but that's not going to happen. She urged the mare on to catch up.

Minutes later, the band of Amazons were entering the square of Gregaria, to a waiting group of men. Each man held some sort of gift for the woman who chose him: flowers, perfumes, food. One even held a box ornately decorated. They shuffled their feet, stammered and eyed the women nervously.

The women got off their mounts and slowly made their way towards the men. Ephiny held back, standing near her horse and carefully watching the scene before her. Never hurt to be cautious.

"Him," Solari pointed, whispering to Jonus. "He's good." She smiled and began walking to the man. "Hello, Tiberius."

"Solari. I'm glad you came back. I missed you." He held out his flowers. "For you."

Solair smiled shyly and accepted the gift. "Missed you, too."

Tiberius held his hand out and Solari accepted it, casually glancing over her shoulder at Jonus, smiling. They both went to his hut.

Jonus looked around her and watched as other women did the same. Each seemed to find a man they already knew and before long, there was only one man left. Jonus gulped as she looked at him. He wasn't very tall, or strong looking. But he had a beautiful light coloured shirt and dark red vest on. It looked quite expensive. He shuffled his feet slightly, not looking up. Jonus turned to Ephiny, who motioned for her to move forward. Awkwardly, she did.

"Uh, hi." She reached her arm out in friendship.

The man, no, he looked a little too young to be called a man, slowly looked up. Jonus nearly fell apart when she saw his brown eyes. They seemed to fill her soul. She had never felt anything like that since...a long time. They gazed at eachother for a long while.

"My name's Jonus."

The young man raised an eyebrow.

"You know me?"

The young man nodded, still not speaking.

Jonus looked nervously around, playing with her headmask. "Um, how exactly do you know me? We've never met."

"We..." He stopped, cleared his throat and spoke in his normal, lower voice. "We were told that you would be coming. That all of this was for you."

"Me? They told you about me." She glared at Ephiny, who conveniently ignored her by tending to the horses. "Uh, what did they say?"

"That you were becoming an Amazon tonight." He fidgeted with his gift.

Jonus glanced down at the young man's hands. "Is that for me?" she pointed.

He stopped. "Oh, uh, yes." He quickly offered it to her.

She accepted and slowly opened the lid to the box. Inside, was a single white rose. She carefully picked it up and looked at it in the firelight. "Thank you," she finally said.

"I didn't know what to get. All the other guys had stuff like bunches of flowers, but I wanted something special for whoever chose me."

Jonus half smiled.

"I guess we should go now," the young man broke the silence. He held his hand out. With some hesitation, Jonus accepted it and the two went quietly into his hut.

The sounds of laughter came from many huts. Ephiny smiled and continued to mind the horses.

Onto Chapter eight

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