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The Slayer Queen Chapter Six
Sam Perlo-Freeman
A short story based on the world of Buffy the Vampire
Slayer, created by Joss Whedon. Some place names are fictitious, as of
course are all the characters depicted.
Rating: 15
Previously in the Slayer Queen...
Gorsyres: I assure you that the situation is fully under my control. No
Slayer is needed in my town!
Artemesia: That is not what your people tell me. They tell of ever greater
fear and deepening darkness!
Gorsyres: Then they tell you wrong!
...
Artemesia: What foolish pride is this of Gorsyres?
Otanes: Not pride ... but fear!
Artemesia: He fears I seek his crown? I never asked for this one!
Otanes: And yet you wear it most comfortably... It is as Queen you must
act now!
Artemesia: Then as Queen I will act! As the Slayer Queen!
....
Artemesia: Antones, I need an army! Gorsyres of Masalis is in league
with the forces of darkness. We are to march against him as soon as we are
ready!
...
CHAPTER 6: THE BATTLE OF MASALIS
And thus, the city of Amrethus and its surrounding country prepared for
war. The report of Gorsyres' alleged alliance with the vampires was spread
far and wide, eagerly backed up by the refugees from Masalis who had
sought Artemesia's aid, and many young men volunteered quite readily to
join the fight against him.
As to the truth of this claim, I would not care to pronounce with
certainty. It was certainly widely believed, both in Amrethus and later in
Masalis. Indeed, local tradition still speaks of 'Gorsyres the demon
worshipper', or even 'the Demon King Gorsyres'. Of one thing I am
definite, which is that Gorsyres was not himself a vampire, as some local
legends claim; as my subsequent account of the battle of Masalis will
show, he fought in open sunlight. In support of the claim of an alliance
is the fact that vampires fought directly in the battle against
Artemesia's forces. However, this may simply have been the fact of a
common enemy, rather than any actual agreement. And if an agreement did
exist, it is not clear whether this preceded Artemesia's preparations for
war, or was in fact the result of them. At any rate, it is hard to see how
Artemesia could have known of such an agreement, though it is possible
that she genuinely suspected it. I leave it to the reader to form his own judgement. For my part, I am of the opinion that Gorsyres was most likely
no more than an arrogant fool who placed the preservation of his throne
before the safety of his city.
In just one month, the army was ready. Artemesia herself had taken charge,
alongside Antones, of training the most promising recruits in combating
vampires. And so, one bright spring morning, they went forth from Amrethus,
their swords and armour glistening in the sunlight. Before them they carried banners with the symbol of the Slayer
Queen, and others with images of Helios, the sun god, scourge of creatures
of the night. The beating of drums and the drone of bagpipes accompanied
their march. Artemesia herself, with Otanes at her side, rode in a gilded chariot surmounted by a great sun-disc that
blazed with great splendour.
As they came into the country ruled by Gorsyres, some of the local people
fled their villages to go within the city walls, or even to leave the
country altogether. Others, however, welcomed them, as many had given
shelter to terrified relatives who had left the city for fear of vampires.
Gorsyres had sent forth some of his forces to meet the invaders and test
their mettle, but they were quickly repulsed, and retreated to Masalis, so
that no major battle was joined that day. Early in the evening they
crossed the river that lay in front of the city, and made camp a few miles
from the city walls. There, Artemesia, Otanes and Antones made ready their
battle plans for the morrow.
They broke camp just before the dawn, and arrived soon afterwards before
the city walls. Masalis lay on the plateau of Cappadocia, near where
several rivers made confluence, one branch flowing just to the south of
the city, supplying it with water. The Amrethian army approached from the
northern side.
The city was well prepared for battle, and as Artemesia's army approached
the city, they could plainly see guards lining the walls. A few hundred
yards from the walls, the army halted and spread out in front of the city.
Artemesia rode forward to the front, with Antones and Dana's chariots
beside her. The three stepped out and stood together. Dana called some of
her acolytes to her, who brought with them a tethered hen. Slaughtering
the bird, Dana performed an augury and announced that the omens were
positive. Then Artemesia spoke to her privately.
"Dana, the thing you do at the great ceremonies of Demeter, where you
make your voice echo and carry? Can you do that for me?"
"The acoustics are not great," the High Priestess replied,
"but I will do what I can." She had some incense brought forth
and, burning this, intoned some incantation, while placing a small amount
of the burning incense on Artemesia's tongue. Then Artemesia turned
towards the city walls and spoke, her voice booming as thunder from the
gods:
"Gorsyres of Masalis, you demon-worshipper accursed of the gods, I
Artemesia, the Slayer Queen, scourge of the creatures of darkness, come
before you and present you with a choice: Open your gates, that I and my
armies of light may enter and slay the evil beings that hold your city in thrall: or keep your gates shut, and be slain with
them!"
Roars of approval went up from the forces behind her, but from the city no
reply came. Then Artemesia turned to her troops and spoke:
"Men of Amrethus! The city before us lies in the grip of a great
darkness! At the centre of this darkness sits King Gorsyres, who has made
compact with the forces of evil, the very monsters that once made our own
fair city their feeding ground! And with them, many other creatures from
the darkest pits of hell, whose power he seeks to harness for himself, so
that he may spread his evil rule throughout the land!
But we do not need to fear him, nor his men, nor his vampire cohorts. We,
who defeated these very forces of evil in Amrethus, shall defeat them here
in Masalis. And I, Artemesia the Vampire Slayer, the Slayer Queen, who
slew the Vampire King Morthyrus, shall lead you! Let your hearts be bold
and strong in the face of the legions of hell, and have no doubt that we
will prevail. For there is only one thing more powerful than evil - and
that is us!"
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Just as Artemesia finished speaking, a huge boulder flew over from within
the city, and came crashing down about half way towards the Amrethian
forces. Shortly afterwards, others followed, but these also fell short;
for the engineering skills of the peoples of this region at the time were
of a fairly rudimentary nature. Nonetheless, some began to find their mark
amidst Artemesia's armies, and a few men fell. Antones swiftly had their
own catapults brought forward and returned fire, attempting to do some
damage to the city walls, though again with only limited effect. Groups
were readied with battering rams, with the force preparing to divide into
three, to attack the north, east and west gates. (The southern side of the
city backing onto the river). However, before the assault could commence,
the north gate opened, and the city's defenders, led by some of Gorsyres'
finest warriors, sallied forth, seeking to use the catapult fire from
within the city as cover.
With a great cry, Antones led forth the Amrethian centre to engage the
Masalisians. Artemesia, for her part, held back for now, saving herself
for other foes. Battle was joined, the two groups of bronze-clad warriors
locked in tight embrace, each seeking to find gaps between the shields of the others to thrust their death-dealing spears. At
closer quarters they replaced their spears with short swords to jab at
their opponents. Progress in such fighting was slow, a matter of heavy,
sweaty graft rather than skilled swordsmanship. Every so often the
exhausted fighters would break off and disengage before returning to the
fray. As the day progressed the two groups would advance slowly one way
and the other, while gradually the tally of men lying dead, dying or
wounded on the hard earth increased.
Artemesia, meanwhile, led a detachment to the east gate, from which none
of Masalis's men had sallied forth, and herself took charge of the
battering ram, seeking to force the gate open. In this endeavour they made
some impact, but were repeatedly forced to retreat by boiling oil poured from the battlements. Artemesia herself took a serious
burn, such as would have put any normal man out of the fight for the rest
of the day, but her superior powers of healing enabled her to swiftly
return.
Slow as was the progress of the battle, little by little the Amrethians
beat back and wore down the Masalisians. For though their armour and
weaponry was perhaps of a somewhat lower quality, they were inspired by
the strength of their Slayer Queen; while the men of Masalis fought under
a shadow of great fear, for whatever relationship Gorsyres may have had
with the vampires, the people of Masalis held them in terror and loathing.
Artemesia's group managed to force a breach in the east gate, and a number
forced their way through (the Slayer not amongst them), though they were
swiftly met by a large number of city defenders and were forced to
retreat. Meanwhile Antones's force managed to break through a part of the
Masalis lines, and wreaked a considerable slaughter, so that Gorsyres' men
turned tails and ran back towards the city where those as could fled
through the gates back to safety, covered by fresh Masalis troops at the
gate, supported by oil pourers. The Amrethians cut down a great many of
their number in this flight, but were unable to force entry to the city.
Nonetheless they gave up a great cheer of victory at having put their
enemies to flight.
By now evening was approaching, and a truce was agreed so that the
Masalisians could recover their dead, as the Amrethians did theirs. (It is
said that the men of Masalis reclaimed the bodies not for burial, but as
food for their vampire 'allies'. I cannot comment on the veracity of this.
Such a thing would be greatly shocking to the Greeks and many others, but
as Herodotus records, there have been many peoples who have considered
eating the dead perfectly acceptable; I am insufficiently knowledgeable as
to the religious customs of Masalis at the time to say. In any case, in
such desperate circumstances it may have been considered preferable to
have the vampires feed on the dead than on the living).
But when darkness fell, the battle did not end for the day. For another
set of 'defenders' sallied forth from the city, a ghastly, feral, undead
army. Dozens of vampires, along with many sorts of demons, huge, muscular
demons with rock-like skins; chaos demons, all slime and antlers; a
skin-peeling Gnarl; if all the tales of that battle are to be believed,
practically every demon known to the Council, and a good few others
besides whose existence I am inclined to doubt were present at that
battle. I am sure that these stories are exaggerated, but demons there
undoubtedly were.
But Artemesia was not unprepared for the hellish legions. As Antones
brought the regular troops into an orderly retreat, other warriors came
forward, who had held apart from the day's battle, in preparation for this
moment. They were armed with long, sharp, wooden staves, and wore large
Ankh symbols round their necks. (Not, of course, a religious symbol in
common use locally, but the one most effective against vampires, that
Artemesia had brought into use). The Slayer Queen joined them at the
front, herself catching one of the long staves that was thrown to her.
Then she gave out a blood-curdling ululation, joined by a roar from her
men, and the vampire killing troop charged forward as one against the
undead hordes. Their way was lit by the full moon (the attack had been
planned to coincide with this), and by hundreds of torches and numerous
balefires now lit by the rest of the Amrethian army. Dana and her acolytes
threw pieces of especially blessed incense into the fires and chanted incantations that caused these to enhance the fires with
a supernatural, silver glow as they burned.
Unused to such an assault, many of the vampires turned on their heels
and fled, and Artemesia and her men were able to hunt them down and stake
them from behind. Others stood and fought, but in their disorganisation
found it difficult to penetrate the fatal wall of wood that confronted them. Some of the hardier vampires were able to
grab hold of the wooden spears and turn them and get to within striking
distance, and not a few men fell in this way; but a second rank followed
behind to stake the vampires that got through.
However, once the initial shock of the Amrethian assault had passed, many
of the vampires regrouped, and met the attack in a more orderly fashion;
some of the demons too fared rather better, lacking the vulnerability to
wood, and inflicted no little damage. The fighting broke down into small clusters of hand-to-hand combat, with the human
warriors dropping their spears in favour of short stakes kept in their
girdles.
But in this stage of the fight Artemesia came into her own, flying across
the battlefield like a whirling zephyr, possessed of a divine fury,
rending the air with her screeching and ululating, and rending the
creatures of the night with her sharp-pointed stakes. None could stand
against her primeval rage, and demon after demon she dispatched to the
black pit of hell from whence it came.
Still the battle raged, and still the vampires came, pouring forth from
the city; but little by little, their numbers were whittled down, and
those that remained lost heart for the battle, some retreating into the
city, others fleeing into the night. The night belonged to Artemesia and
to Amrethus.
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The human and demon dead were dragged from the battlefield, and their
bodies burnt. Then, as dawn broke and the full army prepared to renew
their assault, the gates opened once again, and the depleted ranks of the
Masalis warriors came forth, led this time by King Gorsyres himself.
Nearly seven foot tall Gorsyres stood, clad head to toe in magnificent
bronze armour that glistened in the morning sun. On his head he wore a
great plumed helmet, and on his arm a huge shield, adorned with his royal
crest, and with designs of dragons all round its edge. In his right arm he
wielded a fearsome bronze sword, such as normal men would require both
hands just to hold aloft, let alone to fight with. A great and mighty
warrior was he, whose feats of strength were renowned throughout Asia
Minor, and a sight to strike terror into the hearts of the doubtiest of
enemies.
But he was no Slayer. Flanked by Antones and her warriors, Artemesia
stepped forward to meet Gorsyres. In front of him she appeared as a tiny
creature, dwarfed in both stature and girth. She bore no shield, and wore
only animal skins for protection. Against his awesome weapon, her sword
appeared but a child's toy. But in her blood she carried the ancient
strength of her line, born many millennia hence of the darkest demonic
energies that stalked the earth, and channelled and concentrated into one
young girl by the most powerful magicks that could be summoned by the
greatest shamans of the time. For this was a time almost before the dawn
of human memory, when men and women were possessed of arcane knowledge
scarcely now to be dreamt of, that they drew from the very air they breathed and the soil on which they trod.
Thus, as their war-hosts prepared to engage, Artemesia and Gorsyres both
advanced towards each other.
"Do you dare to challenge me, little girl?" roared Gorsyres
"Go home to your city and play with your dolls!"
His men laughed mockingly at this, but Artemesia replied,
"I would sooner make sport with your severed head, demon king!"
"Is that what they call me now? A fine thing coming from a creature
of unnatural birth such as yourself."
"You know nothing of what I am! But you shall soon find out, though
it be with your dying breath!"
"Slayer Queen, they call you. A fearsome title no doubt, though your
appearance does it little justice. It seems almost beneath my valour to
cut you down."
"Are we going to try to talk each other to death? Bid your men fall
back and I shall do the same. Let's end this!"
At this, Gorsyres barked a command to his men, who stepped back several
paces, and Artemesia did likewise. The two rulers advanced and faced off.
They circled each other for a few moments, then with a cry, Gorsyres bore
down upon his adversary bringing his sword downtowards her with a mighty
two-handed sweep. Artemesia caught hold of his arms as they descended,
astonishing him by stopping his seemingly unstoppable swing dead, stepped
to one side, then delivered a powerful kick to his chest, releasing him to
fly backwards across the ground. His face a furious grimace, he picked
himself up, then advanced again, this time with greater circumspection. He
struck several slashing blows, which Artemesia blocked with her blade,
which could scarcely withstand the impact, for all her Slayer strength.
But then she made her speed and skill count, spinning round from his
latest blow to jab behind his guard, piercing his armour and wounding his
shield-arm, then tumbling forward on the ground to avoid his counter-blow.
She waltzed to her feet and attacked again with a series of jabs that he
could barely block, then landed a kick in his groin, and as he bent over,
a punch to his head, which sent him reeling backwards despite his helmet.
Before she could follow this up, however, he recovered himself and batted
her away with his shield.
Enraged now, he attacked again with all his brute strength, and it was all
Artemesia could do to block and evade his furious blows. Finally, one
mighty blow caught Artemesia's sword full on, and the smaller blade
shattered! Gorsyres gave a roar of triumph, but before he could bring his sword black for the killer blow, Artemesia flipped
backwards, then launched herself forwards with a flying kick to his head;
then she grabbed his shield arm and bent it backwards behind him. With a
roar of agony he tried to bring his sword round to strike at her, but she
used his momentum against him, throwing him over her shoulder to the
ground. As he tried to scramble to his feet, she kicked at his sword hand,
and, kneeling atop him, hit his face, throat and chest with a flurry of
blows which dented his armour and helm and left him choking. Finally she
drew the short sword at her side and with all the force of her Slayer
heritage, plunged it down into Gorsyres' chest, cutting through his armour
as if it were butter.
Blood spurted from the wound as Artemesia withdrew her knife, then
Gorsyres gave an agonised bellow that quickly turned into a stifled gargle
as blood poured from his mouth. His body shuddered and convulsed, and then
finally he lay still. Artemesia sat up in shock, and for several moments
merely gaped into the contorted features of his death-mask, as one
paralysed. She gave out no victory cry, but a whimpered gasp.
Gorsyres was the first human being she had killed with her own hands.
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