The Elect 17, part 2 of 4: Amazon Mindy

March 8, 2016March 7, 2016M G Kizzia Leave a comment

“Maynard in a moron!” Emily griped about her professor and slammed her Earth Science book shut. She slouched down in her lounge chair and ran her hand through her hair. It was coming along nicely, but still in that awkward short but not too short stage. “I swear she just hates people, all people. I don’t take it personally.” Maria and Amina looked up from their studies, but only briefly.

Jessica returned from the vending machine with a bag of peanuts that she was trying to open. “Ugh. Why do you think I am majoring in business? Ugh.”

Emily put out her hand. Jessica handed her the bag and Emily opened it easily, except one peanut shot across the room.

“Hey!” Jessica protested. “I am perfectly capable of spilling them myself.” Maria had her hand out. Jessica gave her a few. Amina lifted her hand and got a few as well. Emily just looked at her but Jessica shook her head and pointed. “Yours is over there.”

“I don’t need them,” Emily said with a pat on her stomach.

Amina tapped Emily’s arm and smiled. “I have seen you eat. You should be very fat.”

“High metabolism,” Maria said without looking up from her book.

“No, it’s those workouts with Heinrich and the sophomore ROTC class,” Emily said. She put her book back into her backpack, which was sitting on the empty chair between her and Jessica. Maria and Amina were on the couch.

“So no word from Detective Lisa?” Maria looked up then and wanted to talk.

Emily shook her head. “They have people searching as far away as the Philadelphia shipyards, but no sign of any lab.”

“Oh, thanks for reminding me about the zombies.” Jessica threw her pencil down and stared at Emily. It did not take much to turn her from her studies. “I just hope this semester I don’t have another teacher killed.”

“You passed art history,” Maria pointed out.

“Yeah, but I spent a whole semester buttering up Missus Farmer for an A. That was all wasted.”

Amina and Emily just looked at each other and shook their respective heads before Amina spoke. “Funny. The magic involved in making them was so very strong even if it only took a small spark to make it work. But you would think such a thing would be easy to find.”

“Easy for you, maybe,” Emily said, and Amina looked away.

“I imagine it is hidden on many levels,” Maria suggested.

“Please, magic?” Jessica started up again. “I mean, I know. I’m not stupid, but I’m still trying to get used to the idea of zombies.” None of the people on campus had any memory of their time as Abby worshipers.

“More like Frankenstein type monsters,” Emily used the term her sisters used.

“That is actually a very good description.” Maria had not been there when Emily and her sisters met and described them. Maria liked the description, but she did not have time to comment further. She fell silent as someone came in the door. It was Mindy from Daughters of the Amazon fame. Mindy came up, acknowledged them all by name, and turned to Maria.

“Do you mind? I heard you say you were having some trouble with Crocker’s class.” Mindy had her book and Amina scooted over so Mindy could sit between her and Maria.

“Actually, I would not mind some help,” Maria said. “Calc,” she said to the others. “Math,” she added for Jessica who pretended offence. They no sooner got settled when the door opened again. It was Connie and she had a girl on her heels that at first glance looked more like a football player than a female.

“Mindy.” Connie got ready to scold her roommate for some offence, but Emily interrupted.

“Homework. Math. Priority.” Connie just looked at Emily for a second before she introduced the group to her friend, Lilly.

“So you’re Emily,” Lilly said through a crooked grin that creased her face. Connie stepped back a half step to stand behind the couch. She was beaming. “I hear you think you’re pretty tough.”

“Me?” Emily widened her eyes. “No, I like people, unlike certain Earth Science professors.”

“Well, I think you should move over and give me your seat.” Lilly threatened without actually saying it out loud.

“No problem.” Emily got up, moved her backpack and took the empty seat. She pointed to her former seat as if inviting Lilly to sit. The girl sat, but Amina could not contain herself. She giggled. She tried to cover up with both of her hands. Lilly turned on her like a shark.

“What are you laughing at, shithead?”

Emily had to move fast. She caught Lilly’s fist before that fist touched Amina’s face. She also squeezed a little which had to hurt poor Lilly. She grabbed Lilly with her other hand on the girl’s shoulder and tossed the girl five feet down the hall. Lilly landed on her back and continued to slide another five feet before she stopped.

“Ow!” They heard Lilly say, but when Lilly looked up, Connie was already racing for the door. Lilly decided to go out the door at the other end of the hall, and Emily reclaimed her seat, after she picked it up.

“Sorry.” Emily spoke to the group, but she said it loud enough with the hope that Lilly might hear. They all looked at Mindy, but she seemed unfazed by it all, until they noticed a tear in Mindy’s eye. Amina was the first to speak.

“We are getting a suite next year in Brown. You could be my roommate.”

Mindy let her tears out and threw her arms around Amina. “Oh, thank you, thank you.” Then she turned on Maria. “Thank you.” Jessica got up with “what the heck,” and gave the girl a hug as well. Emily counted.

“But that only makes five. The housing office will assign a stranger.”

Maria raised her hand. “Melissa.”

“Oh, right.”

“So, we are getting a suite?” Jessica looked nonchalant and sounded unruffled by the news.

“The Sybil has spoken,” Maria said. “Welcome to the club,” she added for Mindy.

Mindy smiled and picked up her math paper. She looked around, then looked seriously at her math while her mouth spoke. “So were we talking about the zombies or the witch?”

The Elect 10, part 2 of 4: Afternoon to Kill

January 19, 2016January 9, 2016M G Kizzia Leave a comment

Thursday, mid afternoon, Emily and Jessica took Maria for a latte. Amina, already there, held the table. The problem was Maria found her new roommate impossible to live with. The only sleep she had gotten lately was on the floor in Emily’s and Jessica’s room. Emily and Jessica were fine with helping their friend, but it was becoming a strain on them all since the rooms were hardly big enough for two.

“You don’t understand. All Melissa does all night long is burn incense and chant praises to glorious Abby. I mean, who is this girl?” Emily had an idea in the back of her mind but she did not say anything because the word witch sounded so insane. Fortunately, she did not have to say it.

“She is a power,” Amina spoke up even as she looked down at the table. “She is a witch of great power and I see no good in her.” No one questioned what Amina saw. She rarely spoke that way, but when she did, the others had learned to listen.

Jessica broke the spell when she spoke. “Maybe Emily could knock Melissa unconscious every night so you could sleep.”

“Ha, ha.” Emily did not laugh. She rubbed her stiff shoulder, instead. “I just had the first real workout in my life. That old man is strong.” The others said nothing. “Stronger than I am, and quicker, but he says strength and speed are not the keys. He says after he finishes his task he will go back to being normal so I will have to take it easy on him. I don’t know, though. The man’s skill with weapons is amazing.” She probably should not have said that much, but she was not in the habit of keeping secrets from her friends.

“Hey, Emily.” Someone called from across the room. It was Connie, and Mindy came with her and several Daughters of the Amazon.

“Hey,” Emily was not unfriendly, but she had her sword up on the table and felt sorry it was too late to hide it.

“We have missed you at the meetings,” Connie started right in. “And you,” she turned to Amina and paused.

“Amina.” She gave her name.

“Right, anyway—“

“Is that real?” Mindy interrupted.

“Of course it is,” Amina responded. “And the reason Emily has not been to the meetings is because she is not a Daughter of the Amazon. She is the real deal.”

Emily turned an eye on Amina, but Amina was serious and did not imagine she said anything wrong.

“Riii-ght,” Connie drew out the word with sarcasm in her voice. “Anyway, it will be good to see you at the next meeting.” She turned and her followers turned with her, except Mindy who hesitated and looked at Amina.

“I believe you. I have learned about such things. The queen is always one of the elect.” Mindy whispered, and Emily frowned again at Amina, but Amina just smiled in return and stood up to the frown.

“It is true,” Mindy said and said no more, as Connie came back to drag off Mindy. Mindy’s eyes pleaded with the girls, but that was one can of worms where they were not yet willing to open.

“No word on any attacks?” Maria thought to change the subject.

Emily checked her phone and her beeper and shook her head. All of the sisters were given beepers so they could all be notified, simultaneously. They could call in and be told where they were needed. Presently, ten of the younger and hardier souls were camped out around Latasha’s house. When the call came, they had plans to drop Latasha’s family at a motel for the night, all prepaid.

“ROTC has been put on alert, sophomores as well as the upper class. There is not much they will be able to do, though,” Emily said. “I don’t suppose they will even be able to gather fast enough before it is all over.”

“I don’t know,” Jessica thought aloud. “They are mostly big, strong, well conditioned young men.”

“Does Tom know you noticed?” Maria teased.

“Yes, they are,” Amina whispered at the same time, and several eyes went to her.

“What would your family say?” Emily teased, but felt bad about it the minute she said it. Amina’s face reddened and Emily felt obliged to give the girl a hug of reassurance.

Jessica ignored them. “I was saying they ought to be worth something in a fight.”

Emily nodded. “I am sure they would do well. Trust me, if it was just me in this thing, I would be depending on them, big time. The thing is with so many sisters here it is just as well they only act as back-up. We have lost the freshman class already.”

The library was the next stop in the itinerary. They all had to study for finals, which New Jersey State got in before Christmas break. Even Jessica studied, but as the sun set, she was also the one who reminded them they needed to get to the dining hall before it closed.

“That library is a madhouse,” Jessica added as they walked.

“What would you expect?” Maria said. “Everyone has papers and projects to finish and some of those back areas and side rooms are still the best for study groups. Dorm lounges are too tempting to not get serious.”

“Or to sneak off to your room for a nap,” Emily added though Maria rolled her eyes as if to say, if only she could.

“So of course the library is a madhouse,” Amina concluded.

“Isn’t that what I said?” Jessica finished that conversation.

They headed back to the dorm after they ate and saw Melissa outside the dorm with three other women. She was sitting on one of the outside chairs under a spotlight, talking, and the others were at her feet, shivering.

Emily’s beeper went off.

“Did I mention she now has some glorious Abby disciples?” Maria said, but Jessica put her hand to Maria’s arm to quiet her as Emily got on her phone.

“They’re in the library.” Emily began to run. The others kept up as well as they could. By the time they arrived, people were screaming and streaming out. Emily raced through the main room, not terribly worried about the people there. They would get out well enough. It was the ones in the side rooms and in the stacks among the books that might be caught.

At the third side room, she saw a group of students inside. Two boys held the doorknob so the zombie could not yank the door open. A second zombie arrived just before Emily and cracked the window that looked out into the stacks. The students all screamed.

Emily pulled her sword and sliced off the head of the one at the door. In a perfect execution of the move she practiced for two hours after lunch, she followed her stroke with a stab to the heart. The handle of her sword was strongly insulated now, so she did not feel the shock. One was down, but the other was on her. Her left hand shoved her knife into that heart and the zombie stopped and looked at its chest for a second with the same bewildered look Libby had seen. That was enough time for Emily to leap back and two hand her sword through the neck. The head rolled away. Emily had to force open the door and sent both boys sprawling in the process.

“Get out!” she yelled once and ran on.

A moment later, she heard the fire alarm go off. Someone was thinking. Then she heard a male voice in the muffled area among the books.

“Dude, Halloween is long over.”

Emily heard the crack as she rounded the corner. The zombie had grabbed the boy and snapped his neck. She stopped that zombie from killing again, but there was already one death she was unable to prevent.

One more corner and she saw seven zombies inside, and more streaming in the back door. She was not going to get to check upstairs. She turned and ran toward the front, hoping that she was not already cut off. There were a dozen zombies in the otherwise empty main room when she arrived. She got up on the tables, ran and leaped from table to table to get out the door.

Maria and Amina were on the front steps. “I didn’t get to check the upstairs,” Emily shouted through the sound of the fire alarm. Amina and Maria did not care about that. They grabbed Emily by the arms and dragged her to where Jessica was standing back, safe, watching. Lisa ran up the walk as they stopped.

“They are attacking Latasha’s house,” she shouted before she came to a stop as well. “There are twelve who won’t be here.”

“Twelve?” Jessica asked.

“The ten we sent plus Latasha and Libby Carter.”

“That leaves how many?” Maria asked.

“Fifteen, if they all get here.” She looked all around and then ran to speak to Rob Parker and the police sergeant when they arrived. Ashish came huffing and puffing along a moment later.

The Elect, the beginning, post 6 of 8: Given Notice

November 10, 2015November 1, 2015M G Kizzia Leave a comment

Friday after supper, Emily and Maria came back from the dining hall and stepped right into the beginning of the Daughter of the Amazon meeting. Both had forgotten.

“Emily. Glad you could make it,” Connie drew them in. Emily glanced at the women and thought fast. There were nine angry, forgettable faces around Connie’s calm exterior. Connie, number ten, collated papers. Mindy, who made it eleven, looked at Emily with puppy-dog eyes that said she needed to go out. One last woman, who made it an even dozen, stared back at Emily with the biggest, darkest, most piercing eyes Emily had ever seen. Emily guessed the woman had some African heritage, but light skinned like an Arab or North African. And those eyes penetrated.

Fortunately, Maria managed to think fast. “We just came by to say sorry we couldn’t make the first meeting. Library calls.” Maria wiggled her glasses and took the papers Connie held out.

“Things should lighten up after the first couple of weeks,” Emily added, not wanting Maria to be the only liar. They turned toward the door and just got outside before that Arab-looking woman caught them.

“Elect,” she said, and Emily stopped still. The woman spoke directly to her. “You are a called one.”

Maria looked up and saw a frown form on Emily’s face. “That is not for public consumption,” Emily said.

The young woman looked down and then looked away. “I am sorry. My grandmother says I am a seer like her, but I am just learning. I did not mean to speak out of turn.”

“That’s all right,” Maria jumped in and Emily wondered what kind of discipline might be exerted at home to cause the girl to apologize and turn her head away like that. “I’m Maria and this is Emily, of course.”

The young woman looked up and smiled. “I’m Amina. Amina Yousef. Yes, my family moved here from Morocco when I was just a baby.”

“I didn’t ask the question yet,” Emily said, and Amina lost her smile and looked away again.

Maria wrinkled her nose at Emily but talked to Amina. “So, you are going to be the Sybil of the group?” The others looked at her. “I read,” she defended herself. “Every Amazon tribe has a Sybil, a sort of seer-shaman type person.”

“Oh, no.” Amina shook her head. “I won’t be staying with this group. They are not real Amazons. Not like you, Emily.”

Emily did not know how to take that. “Not all Amazons were elect.”

“But the queen was, always. I am sure. These women are not real Amazons. They just hate men.”

“See?” Emily turned on Maria, hoping to get off the topic of being an elect.

“I should be getting back.” Amina turned again to the door.

“Hey, how did you know?” Emily had to ask for a rational explanation.

“You shine so brightly.” That was all Emily was going to get.

After Amina disappeared behind the door and Emily and Maria turned toward the campus center, Maria asked. “So do you think you should wear more make-up against the shine?” Emily had no idea where that quip came from so Maria explained. “Jessica isn’t here, so I said it for her.” Emily nodded, and Maria waited until they got to the campus center door before she asked the real question. “So what is a called one? What did she mean, elect?”

“Something to do with destiny,” Emily said, and then she had to explain what little she knew.

The Elect, the beginning, post 4 of 8: It’s All About Biology

November 5, 2015October 31, 2015M G Kizzia Leave a comment

“Hello neighbor.”

Emily looked up as Maria sat down beside her. Maria lived in the next room over in the dorm with Gloria Sanchez who liked to play dance music at two in the morning. All things considered, Emily decided Jessica might not be such a bad roommate.

“Where’s Jessica?” Maria spoke of the devil.

“Probably in nail painting 101. I think she is majoring in football players.”

Maria smiled. “I’m majoring in biology and thinking about medical school. I did AP Bio in high school, but I hear this class is a bitch.” She wiggled her glasses and got out her laptop.

“Honors Bio. I’m thinking about nursing.” Emily had never associated the name Maria with the word nerd before.

Maria shook her head. “Why nurse when you can doctor?”

“Doctoring doesn’t pay these days. Haven’t you heard? All of the money is in nursing.” Emily sat up when a woman came into the room and placed a soft briefcase on the front table. Emily had been slouching and decided she ought to consider her first impression. “I thought Professor Hilde was a man.” She ran her hand once through her short black hair.

“He is. He’s over there.” Maria pointed and Emily saw an old man with metal forearm crutches who dragged his feet to a chair where he could sit, comfortably. “The instructor is Morgan Granger, Hilde’s teaching assistant. I heard about her. She is hell frozen over.”

“That makes my day.” Emily could not avoid the sarcasm and that time she did not feel the least bit guilty about it.

“You could beat her up, maybe?” Emily looked and saw Maria staring at her. “I heard. Jessica.” Maria did not have to say more. Emily rolled her eyes and wondered who else Jessica told.

“All right people, listen up.” Ms Granger spoke up and paced a little while the auditorium style room quieted. There had to be a hundred students in that class. When she had everyone’s attention, she turned and smiled for the group. It looked to Emily like an unnatural occurrence on the woman’s face and Emily feared it might injure the woman. “I look forward to the day when I get to put a big, fat “F” on a third of your final grade reports.”

“Morgan,” Professor Hilde coughed and the woman took a few steps in his direction, which brought her back to the center of the room.

“If you are serious about biology and do the work, there is no reason you should not pass this course. The truth is every year about a third of the students in freshman biology do not belong here and end up majoring in Art History or something else. I recommend first of all that you consider this. You have until the end of next week to alter your course schedule.” She waved the paper in her hand, which appeared to be the class roster. “After that, it will be too late.” That smile flashed again across that face, but this time Emily thought she saw a bit of evil glee in it.

“Ready or not,” she whispered and began to slouch again.

“Yes,” the woman said and looked right at Emily. She glanced at the paper in her hand and came right back to Emily. “Please stand up.” Emily got up slowly and pulled her shirt down in the process. She looked around the room to see all eyes on her before she looked back at the woman up front. “Your name?”

“Emily Hudson.” Emily could not help the rise in her voice at the end of her name. It reflected her question as to why this woman decided to pick on her, but the woman made a joke of it at Emily’s expense.

“You don’t sound too certain about that.” Some of the room snickered at the old joke. “So tell me, Emily. Why are you here?”

Something rebellious and stubborn rose up in Emily and she responded sharply. “I am a biology major. I am going into nursing. And I am here to learn what you have to teach.” She did not say, “if anything,” but it was strongly implied. Ms Granger clearly did not like the answer. The room fell completely silent except for a brief guffaw from Professor Hilde, which he quickly stifled as he covered his mouth.

Ms Granger picked up a pen and made a quick note on her sheet before she spoke again. “I will teach plenty. The learning it is up to you.” Emily started to sit down but paused when the woman spoke again. “Emily Hudson.” The woman looked right at her before she let her eyes wander around the room. “I heard. I may call on your services if any of these students start acting up or get out of line.” Emily felt stunned to stillness. Everyone looked at her again and a few of them grinned. She wondered who had not heard. “You can sit down.” Ms Granger finished and pulled a stack of papers out of her briefcase.

Emily sat and thought, so much for making a good first impression.

“The syllabus,” Ms Granger announced and began to pass them out.

As soon as the class ended, Emily found two girls at her elbow. They had a flyer. She vaguely recognized them from the dorm and thought they might have the room down at the end of the hall. “Mindy?” That sounded right. Mindy was supposed to be some whiz-kid genius.

“And Connie,” Connie said. “We wanted to invite you to our group. We are starting a club and we think you would be a great member.” Mindy nodded when Connie looked at her. Emily remembered when she met Mindy. She thought of Mindy as the shy and quiet type, a bit of a wallflower. Connie apparently came prepared to make up for it with an annoying, assertive personality.

“You really need to come,” Connie went on. “We are going to meet Friday evening in the downstairs lounge in the dorm. If we get a good turnout, we already have plans to apply for room time in the campus center.” She stuffed a piece of paper in Emily’s hand and added an afterthought for a Maria. “You can come too.” She turned to Mindy. “Come on.” As a parting word Connie said, “See you there.”

Maria leaned in, already peeking when Emily unwrinkled the paper. The group called themselves the Daughters of the Amazon. Maria took the paper and read as they walked. “Daughters of the Amazon are like-minded sisters who are willing to stand up and fight for fairness, justice, and the opportunity for all women to achieve greatness and success in this world ruled by men. We stand against the patriarchic thinking that dominates our culture and keeps women oppressed…” Emily did not hear much more. Something itched in the back of her mind, but out of respect, she waited until they reached the outside walk and Maria finished reading.

“The problem is, I don’t hate men,” Emily said. At that point, she had said nothing to anyone about being one of the elect, whatever that meant. Detective Schromer’s attitude suggested that it should not necessarily be public knowledge. But if what the detective said was true, about her being elected to fight, Emily imagined being mixed up with an Amazon group might not be the best idea.

“I didn’t read anything about hating men,” Maria responded honestly, but Emily stopped walking until she remembered what troubled her. She had an appointment to see her academic advisor after class. She said as much and turned back toward the science building steps but stopped again as a young man ran up.

“Hey, Maria.” The guy had no eyes for Emily.

Maria made the introduction. “Owen, Emily. Emily, Owen.”

“Hi,” Owen said the obligatory word before his eyes went right back to Maria. “Coffee?”

“Chai latte,” Maria responded and turned again to Emily. “Owen is a sophomore. We both have Doctor Zimmer as advisor.”

“Zimmer?”

“Bio-engineering,” Owen said. “Though I really should be with Hilde. Bio-chemistry.”

“Owen is looking at medical school as well.”

“I need to go,” Emily said and felt glad to see that Maria did not hate men either. “I need to go see my advisor. I got Swenson, the department head.”

“Luck,” Maria said, but Owen said nothing and had already turned Maria toward the student center.

By the time Emily got back up to the second floor offices, she felt anxious about being late. She did not read the signs well and opened a door without knocking. She found a young man rifling through some books on the shelf.

“Can I help you?” He turned to face her. Neither said a word for a good, long pause. The view was enough. Emily had to shake herself awake.

“Oh, I’m looking for Ms. Swenson’s office.”

The young man smiled and Emily felt warm all over. “Next door,” he said.

“Sorry to interrupt,” Emily responded, though she could not get her feet to move.

“No problem. I’m just waiting for Doctor Zimmer. I’m Pierce Davis. I’m his TA.”

A graduate student, Emily thought. “I’m Emily Hudson, the freshman who is easily lost.”

“I could help you find your way.” Pierce hardly masked any of the innuendo in that statement. Emily felt her face redden at her thoughts when an older man barged rudely into the room.

“What is this?”

“She came here looking for Professor Swenson’s office,” Pierce spoke up for her.

“Next door. Get out.” Doctor Zimmer went beyond rude. Emily did not argue. She backed out but stole one more glance at Pierce as she did. His face seemed to apologize and she hoped hers said, “That’s okay. Lovely to meet you.” She closed the door and paused to think, “I mean it was wonderful meeting you.”

After a deep breath or two she knocked on the next door and only opened it when she heard the words, “Come in.” She sat quietly as the words continued. “Emily Hudson. You are late. I was beginning to wonder if you were coming.”

“Yes. I apologize. I went next door by mistake. I talked with Pierce, er, Mister Davis.” Emily fought it, but she could not avoid thinking Emily Davis, and then she went further to think Pierce and Emily Davis. She refused, however, to imagine names for the children.

Ms. Swenson stared at her. “You and half the women on campus. Take my advice and avoid him. I am your advisor, you know.” Emily just rolled her eyes as if to say it was not like that, even though it was exactly like that. “So tell me about Biology 101.”

Emily opened her eyes wide and sat up straight. “I did not make a good first impression.”

“I heard.”

God! Emily wondered how news could travel so fast around campus. “Maybe I should change to Art History and take biology in the spring with you?”

“Not by my advice.” Ms. Swenson looked down at Emily’s file. “I’ll admit that Morgan Granger can be hard, unbending and pulls no punches, but you can learn a lot from her.” Emily sighed and spent the next five minutes hearing all about how she had to stick with what she had and do her best. Then she got dismissed.

************************

Be sure and return next Monday (T, W, and Th) for the second half of The Elect, the beginning episode. If you miss a post, you can always find it on the side of the blog under the heading “recent posts”. In fact, you can wait until Thursday (F, Sat, or Sun) if you like and read all 4 posts together in one sitting. It is up to you.

After this first episode, all 22 of the regular episodes (chapters in this serialized novel) will be posted in 4 posts (M, T, W and Th) over a single week. Again, you are welcome to wait until Thursday (F, Sat, or Sun) if you want to read the entire episode in one sitting.

Thus far, Emily has been told she is an elect and show some signs of unnatural abilities, but she is not sure what being an elect means. She has to puzzle out what she can. She may not have much time. Something is happening in and around the university campus that has Detective Lisa worried…

Avalon 3.3 part 5 of 6, Three Witches

May 19, 2015May 18, 2015M G Kizzia Leave a comment

Martok heard the cry from overhead and he dared to look. The flying creature of the witches was a griffin, a magnificent creature, and bigger than he imagined. It was a lion with eagle wings, an eagle head and eagle claws instead of the lion’s front paws. That was how the humans saw it and revered it in stone in the millennia to come. But Martok was not human. He was Bospori, and with his alien eyes, he saw something alien about the creature. He wondered briefly what planet the griffins came from, but then he returned to his work because he had more adjustments to make.

The Griffin swooped down to hover in front of the witches. Its powerful wings blew the thatch off the nearest houses and stirred up a dust storm. Martok had to lean over to protect the exposed internal electrics of the Gott-Druk scanner. It did not hover for long, though, before it started over the houses toward the villagers and the children huddled down on the beach.

“Damn,” Martok breathed and he twisted the Blueblood tube half a rotation. The griffin instantly fell unconscious from the projected feedback, and it crushed a house on its way to the ground. Martok hoped it was not seriously hurt, but he knew he needed a stronger wave to take down the witches. He was afraid if the witches were smart enough to recognize what he did, he might not live long enough to make that happen.

“Move village. Move village.” The witch in the center repeated its programmed speech twice, and if a robot could be said to be angry, this one sounded angry.

“We bring ourselves,” The one on the left had to say something.

“Ourselves, come,” said the one on the right, and it was followed by several rapid explosions and sudden holes in the ground all around where Martok was working. Decker and Katie answered with their rifles. A few bullets penetrated and created sparks, but most merely dented the robot’s metal skin. Arrows and spears did not even do that much, but then Elder Stow stepped out from behind the house where he had taken refuge, and he fired a wide angle shot that took in all three witches.

The two witches on the outside wobbled in the air. They stopped firing briefly. The witch in the center fell to the ground, but it rose back up again before Andovar’s men or the Amazons could get to it.

“It is going after movement,” Major Decker yelled in the momentary lull.

Katie imagined motion detectors and yelled. “Alia, everyone stand still, stay where you are.”

Most of the men and women did not stand still, so the witches started firing again. They fired some kind of pulse from their right hands at the end of stiff right arms. Katie and Decker continued to search for joints and weak spots while people died and the center witch flew over to the back side of the village.

The witch ran straight into Lockhart. Boston was the first to fire, but her Beretta did nothing and Roland pulled her down to shield her with his own body. The witch turned on them, but Lockhart fired his shotgun before the witch could take aim. Unlike Katie and Decker, he did not aim for the robot middle. He shot the hand – the weapon that was wreaking so much havoc. The hand broke off at the wrist and fell to the dirt. It held wires that sparked and sizzled. The witch gave the hand an uncomprehending look, but managed to rise up again before Lockhart could shoot the head.

“I thought we were dead,” Roland admitted.

“No. I came this way to get close up for a shotgun blast. I see I was right. Come on,” Lockhart came to a space between two houses which was right alongside the witches in the square. Before he reached a position to fire, he felt a deep pulse in his chest, and the two witches in the square collapsed.

The one with the missing hand appeared It was going after Martok, but then Elder Stow stepped out again from his hiding spot and fired at the robot head He had turned his weapon back to a narrow beam and turned up the power. The head of the witch vaporized, and the last witch fell in flames.

Iddin-Addad came back when Martok went away. He handed the scanner back to Elder Stow and took out his long knife. He went to all three grounded witches, including the headless one. “They are self-repairing up to a point,” he said to anyone who was listening as he tore the back of the Witch’s dress, opened the back panel and yanked out the power source. “If they can’t repair, they may be designed to self-destruct,” he added the last note more softly.

Men came from all around the village and they were soon followed by the women and children. Most celebrated, but that was blunted some by the four dead men and the number of wounded. Alia lost two women from her troop. Katie and Decker both took a couple of cuts from shattered rocks, but otherwise the travelers were not affected. By chance, neither the monsters nor the witches touched the house that held Alexis, Lincoln and their wounded man. Of course, Alexis now had more wounds to tend to, but Doctor Mishka returned to give her a hand.

“Indo-Aryan,” Katie explained to Lockhart and Boston. “Most of the ones north of here have already pushed into Europe and down into Italy and Greece and up into Scandinavia, pushed by the movement of the Slavic peoples that are more slowly expanding into the west. The ones here are like Cimmerians, and on the other side of the Caspian they are like the Scythians. They are also the same people who eventually move down and take over India.”

“Indo-Aryans,” Lockhart repeated.

“So this is like Hitler’s famous people?” Boston asked.

“In name only,” Katie answered as Boston looked around.

“But I don’t see many blonde hairs or blue eye in them,” she concluded, and then she excused herself to find Roland and make sure that hobgoblin was not making any moves.

“Sorry,” Katie apologized. “Sometimes I can’t help it. I see things that were not entirely clear, sort of theoretical in graduate school, and now they make perfect sense. I just talk too much.”

“No,” Lockhart waved off her concern. “I was never good at history, at least the details, but I enjoy it when you explain it.”

Katie had to turn her head to the side to look at the village. “And you pay attention,” she said as a smile touched the corners of her lips.

“Yes I do,” Lockhart said, and he thought close, personal attention.

Avalon 3.3: part 3 of 6, Serpents of the Deep

May 13, 2015May 12, 2015M G Kizzia Leave a comment

Iddin-Addad stood on the beach and took a long whiff of salt air. “One day those hill will be covered with grass and trees. All they need is several thousand years for the wind and rain to leach out all the salt in the soil.”

“How do you figure?” Clicker asked.

“Easy. The Caspian Sea is shrinking. Once, it covered those little hills and deposited plenty of salt. Now, it is drying up, and the sea will continue to get smaller over the next some thousand years.”

“I like it,” Serpentelle said as she splashed her feet in the water. “I never got to see the water before in the sunlight.”

“You are a hobgoblin now, no longer stuck in the dark,” Iddin told her for the thousandth time.

“I know, and I can’t wait to have a handful of little hobgoblins.”

“Not with me you don’t,” Iddin said as he looked down the beach in the direction they had to travel.

Serpentelle smiled at him even if he did not notice, before she turned to the imp. “How about with you, Clicker.” She bent down to kiss the imp’s gray, bald forehead and gave him a good view of her scantily clad body. Iddin noticed a little reddening underneath Clicker’s gray skin.

Clicker coughed when Serpentelle stood up straight again and looked once more at the sea. “We best keep moving on,” Clicker said.

“I don’t think we can,” Iddin responded. Nine riders, warriors by the look of them, were blocking their path.

###

The three witches floated in the air and let their eyes look all around the village, like they were calculating something. “Move village.” The one in the center spoke in the local tongue.

“We bring the three serpents of the deep,” the one on the left spoke. It was in a language unknown to the locals, but thanks to the translation gift of the Kairos, the travelers understood perfectly what the witch said.

“Serpents, come!” The one on the right shouted.

“Move village,” the center one repeated and the three witches flew off down the beach that the travelers had just come up.

“Congratulations Major,” Lockhart said. “We managed that whole exchange without you taking a potshot at one of the witches.”

“It was tempting,” Decker said. “Just to see what they were made out of.”

“Some kind of robotics,” Elder Stow reported what they already guessed.

“The serpents?” Katie got their attention and they followed her down to the sea which was already beginning to bubble with activity. Of course, it turned out there was only one serpent left, and it squealed when it saw the travelers, like it recognized them and did not want to be there. But it could not help itself. It was still bleeding from several bullet holes it received earlier in the day, but it dutifully began to reach for boats and nets, to tear them up.

“Allow me,” Elder Stow said, and he fired his weapon. The energy beam sliced perfectly through the neck, and like the last time, the head fell before the body joined it “Mercifully quick,” Elder Stow added even as Andovar and some thirty men armed with spears and bows came to the beach.

There were several moments of silence and dropped jaws before spontaneous joy erupted from the men on the beach. It was quickly joined by shouts and cheers from the people around the village. Boston took Roland’s hand and said they had to check on Alexis. The others and Andovar abruptly paused the celebration when they saw the witches returning. It was hard to tell on those unexpressive faces, but the travelers imagined the witches were not too happy

The witches moved again to the edge of the village and the center one spoke once more. “Move village”

“We bring the Giant of the Transvaak,” the one on the left said.

“Giant, come!” The one on the right shouted.

“You got a stun setting on that thing?” Lockhart asked.

Elder Stow fiddled with something on his weapon, but shook his head at the same time. “I don’t know about robots as you call them, or giants,” he said as the witches once again flew off down the beach to the south.

“We may have a wait,” Andovar said “The giant lives some distance from here.”

“Good to know,” Lincoln said

“How big?” Elder Stow asked.

“Which direction?” Major Decker asked.

“Hold up!” Katie yelled and pointed. There were twelve horses riding toward the village, eleven with riders, though one horse appeared to have two figures on it. Andovar quickly gathered his men into some semblance of a defensive formation, and they waited.

The riders were mostly women, as it turned out. One man and one of the women dismounted immediately on arrival. “Hey, Lockhart,” Iddin got that much out before he was surrounded by spears. The woman drew her sword. The other women appeared to have bows already strung and ready for battle.

“No, no,” Lockhart spoke quickly. “Andovar. That would be most unwise.”

There was serious tension in the air until they heard a squeak from the back of the horse that appeared to be wandering off down toward the beach.

“Help.” It was a pitiful sound.

“Get your paws off of me.” The response came in a woman’s strong voice.

Iddin rolled his eyes. “Clicker! Serpentelle!” he yelled and pointed at the small space in front of where he stood. The little ones appeared as out of nowhere. Clicker breathed. Serpentelle brushed off her little bit of clothes and remarked.

“Normally I don’t mind hands all over me, but you were preventing me from getting down.”

The men with the spears backed up. It was hard to say what was more frightening, the imp or the hobgoblin, or maybe the fact that this man just called them to appear out of thin air. Iddin signaled to the woman beside him and she lowered her sword. She turned to her troop and shouted, “Lower your weapons.”

“Borsi, put down the spears,” Andovar shouted as soon as he found his breath. The spears were lowered, but Iddin was already on another track.

“Hey, Katie. I brought some friends of yours.” The woman beside Iddin opened her mouth and her eyes, wide. She rushed to Katie and two of the women in the troop leapt from their horses and joined her. All three went to their knees.

“Elect,” the first woman said. “The second in all the world. Zoe is gracious to her humble servants.”

“Yeah.” Iddin was still speaking. “The Amazon seer said I was going to face a terrible monster and she sent help all the way from the Black Sea. They have been chasing me for weeks, and finally caught me just up the beach here. Say, where is Little Fire?”

“You? Facing a terrible monster? Hard to believe,” Lockhart said and Decker almost smiled.

“Here I am,” Boston said as she and Roland came back out of the house. “What’s up?”

“Iddin-Addad,” Lincoln pointed at the newcomer.

“Just Iddin,” Iddin said. “Addad is a reference to our family god, if you follow me. Nice guy, by the way. I met him.”

“Come on Alia.” Katie was already giving orders. “Let’s get your horses rubbed down and put up for the night.”

“Can someone explain what is happening?” Andovar shouted to the sky. Lincoln and Lockhart decided to try to explain the inexplicable.

Boston and Roland came close and Serpentelle became very animated. “An elf. A light elf Well, well. I could have fun with this one”

Boston grabbed Roland’s hand. “Not a chance. He is taken.” The fire danced in her eyes.

“I don’t traffic much with hobgoblins,” Roland said, honestly.

“I could show you how,” Serpentelle batted her eyes and wiggled her fine figure in an enticing way.

Boston found the fire down in the palms of her hands and Roland had to let go quickly to keep from being burned.

“Hold it” Iddin bravely stepped between the women. “Boston. You have no claim until you and Roland make a decision.” That stopped Boston cold and she looked at Roland, but he deliberately kept his eyes on the Kairos whom he hoped was not finished speaking “And Serpentelle. You keep your wiggles to yourself. You can practice on Clicker, but that is it.” Serpentelle pouted.

“Incoming,” Major Decker interrupted everyone. At least he was still keeping watch.

“He is bigger than I thought.” Elder Stow shook his head again.

The giant began to throw stones into the village that were more nearly the size of small boulders.

Avalon 2.7: Changes

May 8, 2013M G Kizzia Leave a comment

Since leaving the deepest past, the travelers have picked up any number of creatures – creatures that are hunting them, following them through the time gates from time zone to time zone. The power of the Djin has attracted them and the travelers have to fight for their lives. They no sooner drive one off and another comes.

###

“Boston?” Alexis called up to her. She was concerned. She knew like no other what magic could take out of a person.

But Boston stood again and climbed slowly back on to her chair. “Just like an all-nighter at school,” she shouted. “I could use an energy drink.” She raise her arms and began to glow once again, just like she did before she sent the great wind. Then she shouted, “Ameratsu, give me your light and strength.” Down below, Katie tried to be more practical about it all. She prayed for Zoe to send help. Two hundred men presently faced Lockhart’s one hundred, and a hundred and fifty skirted Lockhart’s position and were presently headed for Katie and her warrior women.

###

Oktapi and a dozen gnomes came in from the west, driving a small herd as agreed. The animals were mostly lame, halt and broken in some way, but that would hardly matter when the creatures of mud and blood cut them up for food.

Beltain waited patiently. She folded and unfolded her hands in front of her belly and tapped her foot, but that was about as patiently as she could wait.

“Lady.” Oktapi stepped forward and bowed as soon as he arrived. “The animals agreed.”

“I thank you, Oktapi, on behalf of all your people. You have been a great help to us all as we cross this land and do not settle here. I know it is your wish that we be gone from your territory, and that is our wish as well. But tonight I have a special request.” Oktapi looked at Beltain with a twisted eye. This was not the goddess he knew and loved. Okay, he admitted it to himself.

“You may certainly ask,” he said.

“I know I can only ask, and here it is. Some geis has fallen on the other camps to make them believe we have not shared fairly from the herd. Even now they are attacking us. I have every hope that come daylight, we may be able to work out our differences, but for now we are in grave danger. My request is to ask if you and your people may help us defend ourselves on this one night. I would be very grateful.” Beltain quieted for an answer, and that was when the Djin descended on them.

The Genii had seen this troop of gnomes travel through the boundary set up by the old one. He watched the elder elf, aided by his son and that other gnome, lay hands on each of these little spirits in turn. He expected to find a resistance to his power, but imagined he was too clever for them. He found the spell of resistance and easily vanquished it. Then he swallowed the will power of the little gnomes almost as easily and he swallowed the human will power. The gnomes were completely his, but then he was distracted by a great light in the battle and just had to see what these clever people from the future were up to.

Oktapi finally answered Beltain’s question. “Not a chance. We would like nothing more than to see you destroy yourselves in blood and go back to the mud from whence you came.” He laughed, and several of the other gnomes laughed with him. All the same, the gnomes spread out to circle around Beltain. They began to dance around her and quietly chant. There was a compulsion laid inside of them all, much deeper than the surface resistance found by the Djin. They belonged completely to the Djin and would do whatever his will required, after they finished doing what they were compelled to do.

Beltain watched them dance and chant. They had her surrounded. She fell to her knees in their midst and became afraid.

###

When Boston was fully cooked, she leaned forward, suddenly, which almost made her lose her balance. She was indeed glowing like the sun at that point. People could not look at her directly. And all that energy projected from her in a single beam of sunlight.

Lincoln was backing up from the snarling wolf and telling others to stay behind him. He had a copper sword in his hand, not that it would have much effect on the drooling beast. The wolf looked hungry when the light fell on it. The wolf howled. It was trapped in the light. And Lincoln watched as the snout became a human mouth and the claws became hands, and very quickly a filthy, naked man collapsed to the ground.

“Rope, quick!” He rushed forward into the light and pinned the man to the ground while others came up with rope. They tied up the man, hands behind, legs together, and Lincoln determined he wanted a rope mummy. The light went out all at once, but Lincoln knew they had to have the man completely incapacitated before it turned back into the wolf.

Boston fell. The chair slipped off the table which was on top of the upside-down wagon. She fell, and would have landed hard on the ground, but Katie was right there to catch her as easily as a mother might catch a small child. Katie could not stay, however, because the attackers were getting close. She put an unconscious Boston in Alexis’ arms to work whatever healing magic Alexis could work, picked up her spear and rejoined her Amazons.

“Archers ready!” She shouted even as Lockhart was shouting the same thing out on the perimeter of the camp. “Aim.” She yelled and raised her hand with the spear grasped tightly even as a lightning bolt struck the earth between the two opposing groups.

A figure appeared between the combatants, some of whom were looking up because the sky became suddenly cloudless and the full moon made everything visible. The figure was a woman. Katie recognized her at once. It was Zoe, but the goddess, not just Zoe the human Queen she knew. This was Zoe transformed, the Queen of the Amazon Pantheon of goddesses, and she looked pissed.

###

Avalon 2.7: Death and Life … Next Time

Avalon 2.7: Mindless

May 3, 2013M G Kizzia Leave a comment

Beltain. There is an image the travelers don’t want to repeat. She is rough and bawdy, but still the Kairos on the inside. She is quick to point out that Katie (the elect) and Boston (the Spell Caster) are not the ones the women are looking for to complete their Amazon council, but then I would guess the great and terrible power lurking on the horizon decided not to lurk anymore.

###

“What happened?” Boston shouted her question though the whining sound had subsided.

The Sybil spoke. “The other camps are in rebellion. They think we are saving the best of the meat for ourselves and not being fair in the sharing. They plan to attack us after the sunset delivery.”

“Oktapi must be warned,” Katie said as she picked up a nearby spear. All of the weapons from the future had vanished, and the travelers never noticed. What is more, their fairy weave clothing was shaped to match the local clothing, and the travelers thought nothing odd about that, either.

“Oktapi and his people can take care of themselves, but I will tell him when I meet him. We cannot count on his help or the help of his people. He would just as soon we all die, but I will ask all the same.” Beltain tipped her head to Katie. “Majesty,” she said.

“Thank you Priestess,” Katie responded before she went into queen mode. “Lockhart and Lincoln, gather the men, young and old. Lockhart take the south. Lincoln take the north. You must defend the perimeter for as long as you can, but if they break through, fall back to our line. Star, gather the women. With our smaller numbers we will hold the reserve post.”

“The women are not going to like that,” Star admitted. She already had her bow off her shoulder and an arrow in her hand.

“The decision has been made,” Katie said in a voice which also said she did not care if the women liked it or not. “Our place is to defend the children and the fut… fut…”

“Future.” Old woman Hannah said it because Katie seemed to have trouble with the word.

“Hannah.” Katie turned to the woman. “Gather the rest of the women in the center with the children. Your words and stories will have to be strong tonight to keep the children calm and safe.”

“What about me?” Boston stepped up.

“I want you in the center, but not with the children. It would be best if you could get up high enough to see the edges of the camp. I do not yet know where your power may be needed, but if you start in the west and we need you in the east it may be too late by the time you get there.”

“I will find a way,” Boston said. “But what of the healer?”

“Here I am!” A woman shouted and ran up to them.

“Alexis, you need to stay near Boston at the center. If there are wounded, we will bring them to you. If there are many, we will probably retreat to you in the center.”

“Pray to the gods there are no wounded,” Alexis said with a glance at Beltain.

“Amen,” Beltain said, though the word caused the others to start. It sounded odd.

“Move it!” Katie knew they would have to worry about that later. The sun was already touching the horizon.

###

Roland looked up when they sky over the camps clouded over. His good elf ears barely discerned the shrill sound through Elder Stow’s screen. He was surprised when Gnumma came to stand beside him and the carcass of the beast to look out over the darkening camps.

“The Djinn.” Gnumma named the cloud. “But what game is he playing?”

Roland could only shrug and worry about Boston and his friends. The greatness of the Genii prevented him from knowing anything for certain and the power was almost unimaginable. “This one is as close to being one of the gods as a greater spirit can get.”

“We will find out soon enough,” Gnumma said and walked away again so Roland could finish his grisly work.

Roland got a steak sizzling on the stone Elder Stow heated with his sonic device. He was not much of a meat eater and neither was the Gott-Druk. He imagined the gnome was a strict vegetarian, but they had to eat something and the Elder was also not a big fan of elf crackers.

“I guess the Djin has no interest in us,” Roland said at last to make conversation. The gnome was altogether too quiet and Elder Stow seemed glued to looking at his screen device.

“An elf, a gnome and an old one? What would he want with us?”

“Hey! I’m not that old.” Elder Stow objected but never looked up.

“Okay,” Roland surrendered. “What is so fascinating about your screening device.”

“Eh?” The Gott-Druk looked up briefly before he looked again at the box. “Something came through the screen some time ago. I have been tracking it.”

“What? Where?” Roland stood and Gnumma sat up straight and looked around.

“Right here.” They heard the voice before they saw Mingus walk into the light.

“Father?”

Mingus came to sit and spoke right up. “I would not say the djin is disinterested in us, exactly. He covered all the camps but just did not bother to stretch it out this far. I was almost taken. Only my mind magic allowed me to hold out until I was out from under.”

“Alexis?” Roland asked right away.

“Completely taken. She thinks she is an Amazon healer, of all things.”

“Katie Harper is an elect,” Roland said to catch his father up with more recent events. “And Boston has shown some magical ability.”

“Really? Katie doesn’t surprise me. I thought there was something about her. But who would have thought that frivolous little red-head would ever amount to anything.”

“Father! Boston is the most brilliant, beautiful and capable person I know.” Roland was miffed. Mingus rubbed his chin.

“So it has gone that far already,” he said.

“Elder Stow,” The Gott-Druk introduced himself again and nodded his head. “Yes it has, and I say that as a disinterested outsider.” The elder stared at Mingus because of what happened the last time they met, but he said nothing so Mingus said nothing.

Gnumma was obviously not following much of the conversation, primarily because his mind seemed focused elsewhere. “I wonder what is happening in the camps,” he interjected.

Every head turned though they could hardly see through the encroaching dark. Mingus picked up the tale.

“Well, as I understand it they have a huntress, a wise woman and a Sybil already. It was the Sybil that found us and saw right through my glamours. Now with an elect to be their queen, a woman of magic and poor Alexis as their healer, they have the foundation for a real Amazon tribe.” It was hard to tell, but Mingus appeared to not think much of Amazon tribes.

“All they need is a priestess,” Roland said.

“Beltain.” Mingus and Gnumma both spoke at once.

“The Kairos? How can the Kairos be taken in by the spell?”

Mingus got fatherly. “Son, the Kairos in this life is simply a human being like any other. As such, she is subject to the full limitations of the breed.”

“She is mere mud and blood.” Gnumma gently stroked his beard.

“Then we need to save her.” Roland got excited again.

“I have already discussed this with Oktapi. Yours is mind magic?”

Mingus nodded slowly. “I have some skill, but nothing to counter the power of the Djin.”

“But with my help and your son. Let me tell you what I was thinking which I did not share with Oktapi.”

###

Avalon 2.7: The Trenches … Next Time

Avalon 2.7: Mind Your Matters

May 1, 2013M G Kizzia Leave a comment

It looks like the travelers are going to be allowed to see Beltain. There is a Sybil, a seer in the camp who has said as much. But then she also talked about a terrible power looming on the horizon.

###

Lockhart stepped up to Katie and the Sybil. “I think you better take us to Beltain.”

The Sybil looked up in surprise and immediately looked again at Katie.

“He’s the boss,” Katie said, and the Sybil looked very confused for a minute before she seemed to understand something.

“Of course.” She spoke as Katie and Boston helped her back to her feet. “I must remember you come from a very strange world. This way.” She started to waddle off. “But I advise against seeing Beltain right away. She is very busy right now.”

When they arrived outside Beltain’s tent, they were met by two women, one maybe eighteen and one that looked closer to eighty. The eighteen-year-old jumped in front. “Hi,” she said. “My name is Asterasine, but everyone calls me Star.” She shook Boston’s hand and repeated the same phrase for Lockhart as she shook his hand. Lockhart laughed and looked at Boston.

Lincoln at least said, “Nice to meet you.”

When Star got to Katie, she was smiling and already had her hand out to shake, but the girl stopped still, and after a moment went down on one knee, lowered her head and eyes and said, “Majesty.”

The Sybil took over. “Hannah is our wise woman.” She pointed to the old lady. “Asterasine is our hunter. I am as you have named me, the Sybil. Beltain is our priestess. All we lacked was a woman of magic, a healer and our Queen to make the Amazon pantheon complete. And now you have come.”

“Oh, no –“ Katie started to speak, but Lincoln interrupted.

“Beltain is the priestess?”

“What priestess has ever had a greater claim than one who is herself counted among the gods. Beltain is a holy vessel –“

This time Lockhart interrupted. He pushed passed the women and into the tent. The others followed and everyone froze. Beltain was naked and giggling. A naked man was on top of her and moaning. And the two appeared to be having a wonderful time. Everyone turned around, but not before the picture was indelibly etched into their minds.

They heard Beltain speak. “Damn it. Grogan get off. We have company.” There was the sound of shuffling and cloth being tossed here and there before Beltain spoke again. “Okay.” They turned again to face her. “Sorry ladies, you especially Boston. Lincoln, close your mouth. Lockhart, how the Hell are you?”

“Holy vessel?” Lincoln whispered.

“I see you have met Star, Hannah and Anath-Isis.”

“The Sybil?” Boston asked.

Beltain nodded while she tugged on her dress. She was a short, plump woman, not fat like the Sybil but leaning in that direction. She had long, light brown hair with a few streaks of gray which she took a moment to put up while she eyed them all through very ordinary brown eyes. In every way she appeared unremarkable, so much so that Lockhart was prompted to ask.

“How is it you managed to be the one to lead all these thousands on this migration? I assume this is a migration.”

“Right,” Beltain said once her hair was in place. “The Sahara, Arabia, and even Caana are suffering through a dry spell, like for the last thousand years.” Beltain rolled her eyes. “The last ten years have been especially bad in Caana. Blame man-made global warming.” Beltain smiled, and it was an inviting smile. “You know, Anenki built some nice permanent settlements around the Tigris and Euphrates in the east. Then Cophu finally showed up with his Shemsu people. They turned those settlements into cities, massive stone walls and everything. Now we, and hundreds of other migrations are going to fill the places up. My own people call it the land of green and plenty, but most call it Sumer.”

“Sumer?” Katie had to ask.

“The Ubaidian way of saying Shemsu. Some of the originals still call the land Ubaidai, but even most of them now call it Sumeria.”

“Wow!” Lincoln mouthed the word before Katie could.

“But you –“ Lockhart started to bring them back to his question, but Beltain waved at him to quiet him.

“So there are cities in Caana, like from Byblos to Sodom. You have been to the biggest, Jericho. But they are in no better shape than the countryside. It was Astarte that first contacted me. The gods want the migration. Enlil and Enki want to see the cities in the east fill up. They are anxious to see real wars start. I told them that was stupid, but you know how boys can be.”

“Enki with his glasses. He did not seem like the warrior type,” Boston said.

“Yeah, well, I made him the glasses to see but I have no control over what he sees,” Beltain threw her hands to the side like she was washing her hands of the whole thing. “So anyway, we are not the only groups migrating. Some went ahead of us. Many more will follow us over the next hundred years or so.”

“But you in charge?” Lockhart would not let go.

“Easy,” Beltain responded. “We travel a day and stop for three or four before we travel another day. When we stop, my little ones bring what they cull from the herds which we then divide between all the groups. You know, people will follow anyone who feeds them.”

Lockhart nodded, but Lincoln thought to say something to the man who was standing by, silent. “Grogan, is it? Sorry to interrupt you and your wife.”

Grogan smiled, but Beltain laughed out loud. “Grogan is not my husband. I mean, my husband is probably around here somewhere screwing some young tart. We don’t have that kind of a marriage.”

“Oh.”

“Grogan was third in line.”

“Oh!”

“Forget it,” Beltain said with a final grin at Grogan. “Oktapi should be here soon. I suppose we should go out to greet him.”

As they stepped outside, the Sybil nudged Lincoln. “What priestess has more direct access to such things as Beltain.”

“I suppose,” Beltain heard and responded. “But there is nothing more natural in this time and culture than having a priest and priestess in the ruling position.”

“How about an Amazon Queen?” Katie whispered to Beltain as they went outside.

“Oh yes, sorry.” She turned just outside the door of her tent and spoke to everyone. “Listen up. Katie is an elect, and Boston, I suppose, is a woman of magic, but Zoe says they are on special assignment. Hannah, Star and Anath, they are not the ones you are looking for. Just wanted to be clear about that. Beltain turned again and whispered to Katie. “And I can hardly be my own priestess.”

“Exactly,” Katie responded in the same soft tones. “You are Zoe, or at least you were.”

“Exactly,” Beltain echoed. “Right now I am not Zoe, I am Beltain, and while I would not mind loving Artemis, Vrya, Astarte and the others, being Zoe’s high priestess would be too weird even for me. What is that noise?”

Beltain asked the last because there was a shrill sound in the air that was growing louder by the second. It sounded at first like the screech of the bokarus, but this was much, much bigger. People covered their ears, and still the sound grew until no one could think straight.

###

Avalon 2.7: Mindless … Next Time

Avalon 2.4: Fight to the End

March 11, 2013M G Kizzia Leave a comment

The oldest war of all is that between men and women.

###

Zoe led the others down to the open field and stopped some distance from the line of men. Chloe and Zoe got down, and Iris held the reins. Katie stayed up on her big stallion where she could look down on all the others and she held her rifle gently in her arms like a mother might hold a baby, just in case.

After a short wait, three riders came out from the other side. Two of them looked like tough old hunters who were no strangers to battle. The man in the middle looked to be Zoe’s age and appeared in Katie’s mind like the proverbial tall, dark and handsome that she so despised. That man dismounted when he arrived to face Zoe.

“The child,” The one who also dismounted to hold the reins recognized Chloe.

“She is here only to observe,” Zoe said quickly. “She will be Queen after I am gone and must learn.”

The dark man paid no attention to the girl. His eyes were all on Zoe and he stepped up to face her. He was a head taller than her and looked very strong and in excellent shape for a middle-aged man. He looked down at her when he spoke.

“Zoe,” he said.

“Revelon,” she responded, and they simply looked at each other for a long minute before he spoke again.

“Are you expecting to die so you have selected a Queen to follow after you?”

“I am not even expecting to fight unless you insist on the foolishness.”

Revelon touched his well-trimmed, dark beard that was only just showing signs of the coming gray. “Lord Ares is not pleased with what you have done, you know. You stand in the way of wars between many lands and build a nation of women.” Revelon shivered slightly, turned up his nose and spoke his sentiment. “It is unnatural.”

“Ares has no place here,” Zoe said. “And peace is always better than war.”

“Ares is welcomed all along the coast of the sea.”

“And he better not show his face, besides. He has been warned, you know,” Zoe finished her thought.

Revelon took one step back. “I will never understand the attitude you sometimes display toward the gods. It is a wonder to me why they don’t strike you down dead where you stand.”

“Because they know I speak out of love,” Zoe said in a very coy voice.

“What do you know of love?” Revelon suddenly sounded angry. “You are not haunted by it and unable to sleep,” he yelled.

“You do not know how I sleep. Everything haunts me,” she yelled back.

“But for you, love is a mere moment of passing pleasure. It is the man, not the woman who goes away feeling ashamed. It is unnatural. You are unnatural.” The man drew his sword and took a great swing at Zoe’s head. She ducked, stepped back and drew her own sword from across her back. They went back and forth for a good five minutes, and Zoe got in the stronger blows, but after five minutes, Revelon stepped back and raised his hand. Zoe waited.

Revelon threw his broken copper sword away. The man who was still mounted put a new sword there. “I brought extras,” Revelon said.

Zoe lifted her sword and looked at it. “Bronze,” she said with a glance at Katie. “That won’t happen for another thousand years.

“It is a wonder to remember that some of the gods actually like you.”

“Hephaestus does good work,” Zoe said, and they started again. This time they traded barbs between swings. They got nasty, personal and ugly. And it went on for another five minutes before there was an explosion in the rear among the men. Everyone stopped and a beautiful young woman appeared behind Chloe. She put her hands on Chloe’s shoulders and looked around. Iris went straight to her knees.

“Hello Chloe, Zoe, Katie,” the woman said. She knew them all, well.

Katie squinted, but recognized something in the bow, the dark hair and sparkling eyes. She swallowed before she said the woman’s name. “Artemis.” Artemis smiled for her and she smiled down at Chloe who took one look with her mouth open and then closed her eyes like she was waiting to see if those soft, motherly hands on her shoulders were going to hurt.

“Poor Boston couldn’t keep the wall up any longer, and Roland refused to help her more,” Artemis reported. She looked at the two men with Revelon and they jumped. All of their weapons vanished. “I hate poison knives. That’s cheating.”

“What?” Revelon was too angry to think straight. “So you blew up my sorcerer?”

“No, I did that,” a man said as he appeared on the men’s side of the action. “I hate magic. That’s cheating.”

“Ares,” Zoe named the man and she did not say the name like he was a particular friend at the moment.

Revelon’s anger finally overflowed. He threw his weapon away and took a swing at Zoe’s head with his fist. Zoe dropped her weapon and swung back. Revelon got in a few good hits, but again Zoe got the better of it. She beat the man. He kept trying to grab her to wrestle, believing his weight would prove to his advantage, but Zoe used the man’s weight against him and tossed him in several directions. Still, he got up and came back for more.

At last he grabbed Zoe by the shoulders, and though she tossed him, this time he did not let go. When he landed on his back, Zoe landed on top of him, and they stopped and lay there, face to face for a long time. Revelon finally spoke.

“Can I at least see our daughter?”

“Of course,” Zoe said as she appeared to squirm a little to find a more comfortable position. “You know the rules.”

“Come alone and unarmed,” he said and Zoe nodded. “But you know I could steal a weapon after I arrive.” He was being clever.

“You would not live long enough to make it out of the valley.”

“I will not be a consort.”

“I don’t want a consort.”

“Good, so we understand each other,” Revelon said and he reached his hand behind Zoe’s head to draw down her lips. After that it was hard to tell who kissed who more passionately.

Chloe turned away embarrassed, and Artemis looked away with her. “I agree,” the goddess said.

“I hate happy endings,” Ares said and disappeared.

Revelon and Zoe stood and immediately turned away from each other. Zoe retrieved her sword while Revelon made sure there were no stray weapons to be found on his person or the back of his horse. Katie holstered her rifle as Revelon turned to his men. “Tell the men the bitch defeated me once again. Tell them to wait, I will be back in a few hours.” Zoe coughed. “Tell them I’ll be back in the morning.”

Zoe gave Artemis a sisterly kiss on the cheek and Artemis kissed her in return before she vanished. Iris got up, but looked reluctant to touch Chloe so Katie called her over so she could ride with her. It was four horses that climbed back up the hillside, Katie with Chloe, Zoe, Iris and a humble Revelon.

The Sybil took Amira on her pony again. Roland tied the reins of Boston’s horse to his saddle and picked up the sleeping Boston very gently. He cradled her in his arms as they followed the procession back to the village.

###

Lockhart filled Elder Stow’s tankard with that poor ale they were drinking. The Gott-Druk had no jokes to tell. He swore his people had no sense of humor, but he laughed readily enough, and all the more as he drank, even if he did not drink much. The four woman escort them stayed with them as well as the husband and wife that brought all the food, and they laughed as well, no matter how bawdy the jokes got.

One of the escort got close to Lincoln and only looked slightly disappointed when he said he was married. Two of the others cozied up to Lockhart and they were not at all put off when he said he was seeing someone.

“Harper?” Lincoln asked.

“Of course Harper,” Elder Stow yelled. “Your human eyes are too small. The mother-father relationship is as plain as can be to my big eyes.”

“Oh, I see it,” Lincoln responded. “I just wanted to see if Lockhart might be too embarrassed to admit it.”

Lockhart said nothing. He was feeling very much like a sixty-eight year old man. Then he thought of Katie and felt like a teenager. It was confusing.

The door opened and Zoe came in followed by a man with a little girl in his arms. The escort slid away from Lockhart and Lincoln and looked a little embarrassed, especially when Elder Stow laughed. The couple that brought the food stood, bowed and exited no doubt to get more food.

“Fine chefs you have,” Lincoln told Zoe, but before she could answer, two women came in carrying a cot. Roland followed with a sleeping Boston that he laid down gently and covered with a blanket. Katie came in next and went straight to Lockhart.

“Sadie Hawkins,” she said and bent down to plant one right on his lips before she moved a chair up to sit beside him.

“I said I was seeing someone,” Lockhart told the young women who looked at each other and scooted a bit further away from the elect.

The Sybil was the last to come in. She had an arm around each of the sisters, Chloe and Amira. They looked happy, and Chloe began to cry. This caused Katie and Zoe to both turn to her, but Amira stopped them with her hand and her word.

“It’s okay. She is just so happy to be home.” And Chloe nodded and proceeded to hug everyone in the room, except maybe Revelon and Elder Stow.

“I like this place,” Lincoln slurred through his ale. “It is quiet. Nothing ever happens here.” He laid his head down on the table and shortly began to snore, and the two women who brought in the cot were sent to fetch some more.

###

Depression, anxiety and a little dementia are hard to cope with, especially when there is not a convenient pharmacy on the local street corner. Heck, around 3650 BC there aren’t even any streets, or corners for that matter. But when the dementia strikes the Kairos, that means the travelers need to figure out this time zone on their own.

Avalon 2.5: Broken Days … Next Time.

…

Storyteller Tales & Thoughts

Stories and reflections on storytelling

Amazons