CHAPTER ONE
The village had
changed considerably in the few years since Edico and Balimber had died in the
arena. Attila had returned east but with only a quarter of his army. There had
been many die in the battle at the Catalonian Plains where he had been defeated.
There was a deadly virus that also took a great number of lives leaving his
once great army even more depleted. Where he had left the east thin on the
ground of armies he realised that on returning he was not coming back as a force
to be feared by some of the larger eastern tribes. He was still a very
dangerous adversary but with a smaller army.
He had heard
about the battles on the east coast of the black sea but refused to acknowledge
that they ever took place. On hearing the same story from the few survivors both
of his sons wanted to take a small army down and beat this Amazon queen into
the ground. Instead Attila sent commanders down to look at what defences were
in place, and on their return he forbade them to even think about it.
He had a bigger
problem at that moment on his hands. The Alani that had been fighting with
Attila, but since his return they were now distancing their army’s from him. The
Alani had grown strong since he had been in the west fighting the Romans. On
his return he had found that a big chunk of his empire in the south-east now belonged
to them. They now held and defended a long strip of land east of the Big River
and just north of the Caucasus Mountains.
Attila decided
to send two generals down with two thousand mounted warriors each to bring them
back into the fold by force. His two sons objected saying that it was their
right to go but he waved them aside. Attila along with the entire Hunic race
was mistrusting, and there was no way Attila was going to send the successors
to his empire down to war with others. He had no intention of letting them come
back strong and attacking him for the right to reign over the empire.
***
Echephyle now
had a two year old girl that was called Andromache after the child’s
grandmother. Danilo was out most days with the commands when doing their
patrols. They rode out for a few days at a time and he hunted for the commander
at the same time giving them any information about the Hun. While riding in the
winter with them he had been given a shelter of his own, which the commander’s
slaves put up for him.
The horn blew as
the lookout shouted, “Army of two hundred heading this way from the north-east.”
The three queens walked out of the palace to look towards the hill. Then
leaving Andromache with the children Hippolyta and Echephyle walked down to the
main gates. The battlements were now made of stone and at least five paces
high.
As they looked
over the wall with Alexius a group of six warriors were riding down the hill towards
the north wall. One was carrying a white flag but these warriors were not
dressed like Hun and their hair was dark in colour with long beards. They rode
around the burial mound that stretched along the front and crossed the bridge.
In front of the gates they stopped and looked up at the group on the
battlements.
The one that
Hippolyta thought was the leader rode his horse half a length forward of the
others. “My name is General Akbar we are Alani and we come in peace. We wish to
speak with the powerful Queen Hippolyta of things that are important to both of
our people. As you see we carry no weapons and my army is here are only for my
protection and will remain the distance they are now.” The queens never replied
before the great doors opened and taking it as an invite the Alani rode in.
They dismounted
just inside the gate and were met by Hippolyta and Alexius. “I am Hippolyta,
Queen of all Amazons. If this is important enough for the King of the Alani to
send the General of their army, then I think we had better go and sit about the
council fire.”
“You are very
knowledgeable of other realms and empires, Queen Hippolyta.” He gave a
courteous bow before following Hippolyta up the hill.
As they walked
up to the fire, Danilo that had just returned with Scyleia went to stand up. “Stay
where you are, Danilo, this might concern the army.”
Once they were
all sitting about the fire Akbar began talking. “We have a mutual enemy in the Hun.
At one time while Attila was fighting in the east, we the Alani fought at his
side. This all stopped when we had a new leader after the death of our old one.
Our new leader is a peaceful man but on the other hand he is powerful with a
large army.”
“Our people now
wish to trade with the west with our route being from the Caspian Sea along the
side of the Caucasus Mountains to the Black sea. From there we will take the
older trading routes to Rome and north of the Danube.”
“The problem is
that Attila has sent two generals by the name of Octar and Bleda along with
four-thousand mounted warriors south. Their instructions are to attack our
villages and trader caravans that are travelling west. Although we have an army
that is infinitely larger than your army, we need help to keep these Hun away
from our traders and trading routes.”
“Why would we
want to help the Alani?”
“Our new leader
knew that you would ask this question and told us that we had to tell you all
that we knew. We had a man that was close to Attila and his sons who was one of
the Alani. Because of the conflicting loyalties when he found out the plans of
Attila he defected or should I say returned back to us”.
“You have fought
and killed over five-hundred of Octar’s command when attacking them one night
in a village. He has sworn revenge for that night as he only narrowly escaped
with his life. He has two-thousand mounted warriors with him now, because he
has been given the western edge of the mountains.”
“Attila will not
fight you directly because it would use up a vast amount of warriors, and even
then he is not sure of victory. He cannot afford to waste his warriors in one
battle that victory is uncertain. What he has done, is place eight thousand
warriors in reserve for Octar to use if he has to deal with you.”
“I know Octar
from a long time ago and he will draw you out by attacking the villages in your
realm. Octar is no fool, and it was for that reason he was with Attila in all
of his battles. He and his command of two-thousand warriors are the cream of
the warriors in the east. He is not like Bataar or Edico.” He saw the surprise
on Hippolyta’s face.
“Yes, my Lady, I
know of all your battles. Our lookouts saw you chase Edico to the forest of
islands. We watched you defeat Bataar and Churnobog. At any time we could have
attacked you in the name of the Hun, but our leader wanted you as an ally not
another enemy to contend with.”
“He said it was
in the stars that Attila would come back a weak warrior from the battle in the
west. It was because of the prophecy the Alani never followed him. While Attila
was away and Edico was trying to carve his own empire we were slowly carving
ours. Attila had told his sons that on his return if Edico was alive he had
better have defeated you or he would die soon after.”
“We would like
you to help us to look after the trade route on the western end of the
mountains. We look after the east and help you in your battle with the Hun. We
the Alani will always have armies in the east for you to use as back up when
fighting large numbers of Hun. It will give you the freedom of riding the
Caucasus Mountain trail without the need to look over your shoulder. Your back
will always be covered by our forces. That is my word and also the word of our
leader.”
Hippolyta had
been listening to all that had been said and as soon as he stopped she asked.
“I see what you are saying about helping each other, but long term what do I
get out of this?”
“I was coming to
that, my Lady. The weapon makers will not deal with the Hun anymore because
they have a habit of stealing. We know from our informers that you and your
army have the pick of the weapons and those arms dealers will always deal with
you. Those same arms dealers will not deal with us because we once helped the
Hun. If you can get those dealers to come to you we will buy them for the
armies in the west. You will be having the lion’s share of the value by trading
for eastern products.”
“On the way back
you can trade with the same traders that are going east. You will be a trading
stop to all the traders, because they need your protection to travel north of
the Black Sea and to the centre of the Caucasus Mountains.”
“It is late in
the day, my Lady. I have two hundred warriors with me for protection only.
Would we be able to place our shelters near the forest to your front for the
night? It will give you a chance to talk with your commanders, and we can
complete our business in the morning.”
“Yes I think
that would be a good idea. I will point out that I mean no offence to you or
your leader, but we will be watching you carefully while you rest. These are
uncertain times and we cannot be too careful.”
“I do understand
your concern, my Lady, and no offence was taken.”
As one of
Alexius’s officers took the six men back to the gates Hippolyta said, “We will
have food and be back here later to talk about the alliance.”
I was an age
later before they all returned to the fire. “Alexius, you have fought the Hun
and these Alani longer than most, what do you think of this alliance?”
“I think there
is a genuine worry within the Alani. By what Akbar has told you there is at
least twelve-thousand Hun that could be here within two maybe three days. Not
only could they give the village problems, but they could give the Alani
problems with half their army and give you problems with the other
six-thousand. To the Alani twelve-thousand
is not that great and they could manage at a push, the same as we could here in
the village. Together though you could push Attila’s army back north giving the
Alani control of the trade route.”
“One other thing
that you should remember is their new leader wants to trade with the west. He
knows that the spoils of war are only that, momentary treasures. He is looking
to make long term friends with the west along with all those along the trade
route. There is no end to the basic trade you could do with furs, animal hides,
weapons. This area could be a port for transporting the goods over the sea.
This is a very rich area to those that wish to make it so.”
“So you are
saying we should form this alliance Alexius, and I for one agree with you. My main
reason is because of Attila and his army. I don’t think he is the sort of
person to stay quiet for very long. he has already showed that he is up for the
fight by sending two generals down here to put things right.”
“My Lady, these
two generals have to be sent back on their knees or captured and made an
example of. We know that it was not long ago when he was defeated, and I don’t
think he will want a repeat. It might be the real reason he is not sending his
sons down. He might be thinking that if the battle is lost by these two
generals then he has distanced himself from the battle.”
“Does anyone
else want to make any suggestions or objections?” There were no comments
because all that needed to be said had been spoken.
The following
morning when Hippolyta walked out of her palace she heard the steel striking
steel. It was the sound of Queen Echephyle and Danilo practicing. Standing
around them were at least two hundred Amazon warriors. It was a practice
session that they did every morning but it was so lifelike it looked as though
they really were trying to kill each other. It was their skill and knowledge of
each other’s way of doing battle that stopped it taking place.
Both queens
pushed through the warriors only to find Akbar and his group already at the
front. Echephyle swung her sword allowing Danilo only a fraction of time to get
his shield in the way. Again there was a clash of steel just before his sword
came in the other direction so hard it nearly took her off balance. When he saw
her catch her balance he smiled which made her mad enough to step back a
little. Then came forward with a hard left, right, left with her sword in quick
succession. He had to use his sword and shield fast to parry off the strikes
and he smiled at her knowing she was rattled.
Echephyle
stepped back and threw the sword down and took the axe the warrior gave her. On
seeing this he laughed, “Now you’re being silly, my Lady.” Danilo put his sword
on the ground and took the axe off of his back and got ready once more.
She came
charging at him swinging her axe hard from her right to Danilo’s left. He put
the shield up just in time to stop the axe dead. “I’ll teach you to call me
silly, Danilo,” and she swung the axe once more. The force she struck the side
of the shield was so hard that even Danilo had trouble keeping balance. “You’re
not fit enough to call yourself a wolf, you’re like a slow old donkey.” The axe
struck his shield once more but there was not as much power.
“Yes, my Lady,
but as you have not got me worried yet shows that I am still faster than you.”
His axe struck the side of her shield so hard that it moved her to his left half
a pace. “See you are too weak now to parry my strikes, and I see the end of
this battle with the old donkey the winner.”
The crowd that
was gathered around all laughed including the two queens. “Weak? You dare call
me weak I’ll show you who’s weak.” Echephyle stepped forward with her axe in
the air to bring down on his head. Danilo stepped forward to meet her taking
hold of her wrist. Her hand took hold of his wrist and a struggle between them took
place. Their faces were only inches apart and Echephyle’s look of aggression
turned to a smile.
She then kissed
him on the lips, and his grip on her wrist slackened. Their bodies were
touching as Echephyle curled her leg around the back of his knee and gave a
hard push. Danilo lost his balance and went straight over on his back looking
up at Echephyle who had her axe at his throat. “My Lady, you cheated.”
“Is that what
you are going to say when the Hun have you in that same position, donkey?” and
she laughed.
“It will never
happen, my Lady, because the Hun has not started kissing their opponents on the
battlefield yet, have they?” There was another burst of laughter from the onlookers
as she put her hand down to help him up. They both walked back to the fire and
sat down.
Akbar turned to
face Hippolyta, “Your warriors are ferocious in practicing, my Lady.”
“I understand
why you said that, Akbar, but the woman is Queen Echephyle and the other is my
hunter and protector.”
“Never the less,
my Lady, I have never seen two people practicing with intent. We have heard
stories about Hippolyta queen of all Amazons, and I have always been unsure of
their truth. We have also heard that you are fair in your judgment with the
ability to show mercy when you could have shown death. That is the act of a
person that has the power to give or take life, it shows strength of mind. It
was on hearing this story over a year ago why our leader sent us to make peace
with you, and if possible trade.”
“Who told you
that I show mercy when I could have shown death?”
“We caught a
thief trying to steal food and our leader was going to cut his hand off. He
begged for it not to take place crying while saying he would serve the Alani
for the rest of his life if he could keep his hand. Our leader said he would
give him one chance to save his hand if he told of one brave thing he had done
in his life.”
“He told us a
story of how he was captured by you and your army after a big battle. Then
after bringing him here you made him fight wolves with only a knife. He said
that after long battles with two wolves you showed him mercy instead of
throwing your last wolf in the pit with him. He told us that because each fight
went on for a long time he was feeling weak, but he still had the strength to
look up and shout. “Send the next because I am getting a taste for blood.”
Hippolyta and
Andromache both burst out laughing, and Hippolyta said, “That’s not quite how I
remember it, but it did take place. Did he still lose his hand?”
“No, our leader
liked the story so much that he rewarded him. He told him that as he was so
brave he would give him two hundred men and make him a commander. If he never
showed his bravery in battle his men had permission to kill him. Since that day
they have fought the Hun a few times and he is still alive.”
“We have decided
to have the alliance Akbar, and I think in the next few days we will go out on
the offensive. We have already had word from the villages that the Hun was
about once more causing problems.”
“I will be on my
way, my Lady. You will know our army from the Hun, and there are many about.
They already know who you are as they have seen you on many occasions have
orders not to take up arms against you. They have also been told to give you
assistance if you should ever need it against the Hun.” He gave another courteous
bow before he and the others walked away.
All the
commander and queens were now around the fire talking. Echephyle cut some meat
off of the wild boar and gave it to Danilo. “Thank you, my Lady. I hope this
isn’t a bribe so that I will go easy on you tomorrow morning.”
“We are now in
an alliance with the Alani and they will be available as reserve if we should
need it. Octar the commander that is in charge of two thousand Hun warriors is
in my realm somewhere and we have to find him. Two of the villagers have sent
word that Octar has already been to their villages to take their food. Unlike Bataar
he has not harmed the villagers, but at the moment they have food to give him.
We will go out tomorrow and find him before sending him up north without his
army. Is there anyone here that wishes to add anything to what I have just
said?”
No one answered,
but as they were about to get up Danilo asked, “Would it be allowed for me to
give you one of my thoughts, my Lady?”
“Yes of course,
Danilo.”
“Would it be
alright for me to go out and scout around for Octar and his army? I know the
two villages that he has sacked and somewhere in between he is hiding. I was
only thinking that maybe he has sacked those two villages to draw you out. If
Octar has been sent by Attila, then we must assume that he is not as stupid as
Bataar, Edico, and Balimber.”
Thraso faced
Hippolyta, “Danilo has a very good point, Hippolyta. We have no idea where he
is or what position he is in. As Danilo has stated he could be in a position
where he could attack us without us leaving us no chance to fight back. The
same as we did to Balimber’s marching Hun when they were in the dip.”
Hippolyta
thought about what had been said before answering. “You have both given me good
reasons to be cautious which I thank you both for. By giving me your thoughts
we have avoided a catastrophe that could have caused the death of many Amazon
warriors. In my eagerness to get into the battle with the Hun once more, I had
forgotten that we had a barbarian warrior and hunter in our midst.”
“There is no
rush to kill Octar and his army because he most probably thinks we don’t know
that his army is big. He probably thinks that we are going to go out with a
small army thinking that the Hun that were robbing the village were just small
commands. Time is on our side during the battles ahead because we are secondary
to the task Attila sent him on.”
“Danilo, there
is no rush to get the information back to the village. Your safety is more
important than speed. My army will not move out of the village until you have
returned to tell me the situation on the ground. As soon as you have eaten and
rested you may go.”
“I will go as
well,” Echephyle said.
“My Lady, I for
one know that you are capable of doing that very task. I would however advise
you against that thought for the reason you are a queen. If at all you were
captured by the Hun they would use you as a lever to get at, my Lady Queen
Hippolyta. The battle would be ended before it had even started with at least
one maybe two queens dying to save the village. I am a barbarian warrior and it
is my task to take the danger from my queens. It will be me that has to die in
place of them not another queen. My life is expendable and for my queens to use
to the full.”
Echephyle knew
that he was correct about her being a liability, and stood up with Hippolyta
and the commanders as Danilo finished his food. As they were walking away
Hippolyta turned back towards Danilo. “Your life will never be expendable for
the queens to use, Danilo. You are as precious to your queens as the army of
Amazon warriors.
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