Hedda: Defender of Olympus
"The Tapestry"
TEASER
FADE IN:
A Dark and Stormy Night. Three Women, cloaked and on horseback, race along a muddy dirt road at breakneck speed. Though unseen, we can hear the sounds of two-dozen men, also on horseback, in hot pursuit. The women occasionally look back to see how far behind their pursuers are, but mostly they just stare ahead, as if will alone could make their steeds move faster. A particularly loud and bright clap of thunder and lightning illuminates the faces of the women and we now see they are none other than Hedda, Eve, and Gabrielle.
Hedda:
(shouting over the storm) Remind me again why we're out here in the pouring rain, freezing our heinies off, and being chased by a bunch of bloodthirsty zealots, when we could be back at the village, safe, dry, and relatively warm?
Gabrielle sighs in annoyance, as she has explained it several times already.
Gabrielle:
We have to help the people of Kiota who are under siege by the Christians who retreated from Corinth.
Hedda:
You'd think that the Amazon Queen who defeated the Christians at Corinth would have had enough sense to take out the stragglers there instead of allowing them to retreat and regroup; (looking accusingly at Gabrielle) wouldn't you?
Gabrielle:
(frustrated) Shut up, Hedda!
Having said her peace, Hedda does indeed shut up and the three women ride on in grim silence. As they continue up a steep hill, Eve looks behind her, and we see the faint glow of several torches that were not there the last time she checked. She looks down at her horse and sees the animal is tiring.
Eve:
(nervously) Our horses are tiring! They're gaining on us!
Hedda:
(rolling her eyes) No, really! (looking around her and making a decision) To Tartarus with this! (nudging her horse to go faster) Follow me!
Gabrielle and Eve look at one another uncertainly but follow Hedda. They continue down the road when Hedda suddenly turns her war-mare, Bellona, onto a hidden turnoff along the roadside. Gabrielle and Eve's horses have to follow in single file, as the pathway they're on is narrow and rough. As they continue through this passageway, the trees become denser and thin, stray, branches begin slapping the three riders. Then, abruptly, the mass of trees come to an end and the horses burst onto an open field, about the size of two modern day football stadiums, with a massive, pure stone temple in the center. The thing looks like Dracula's castle, but considering they have no other options, Gabrielle and Eve continue to follow Hedda's lead. Smiling widely, Hedda nudges Bellona as fast as she can go, and plows towards the temple.
When she gets to the temple, she hops off her horse and rushes to the large wooden door, banging furiously with her whole arm.
Hedda:
Tellata! Tellata, it's Hedda! Let us in! The Christians are hot on our tales! Let us in!
FIVE MIDDLE-AGED PRIESTESSES drag open the huge door just enough for Hedda, Eve, Gabrielle, and their horses to squeeze inside, then bolts it shut again. Turning around, the Head Priestess, TELLATA, steps forward and bows before Hedda.
Tellata:
Mistress… I mean, Defender…
Hedda:
We don't have time for formalities. Code D Urgent! NOW!!!
Tellata:
(at the top of her lungs)Code D Urgent! Code D Urgent!!!
TWO NOVICES come out of the back room and join their superiors in rushing around the temple, turning wheels and pulling on ropes. Several thuds are heard in succession, the last and greatest coming from behind the wooden door and shaking the temple itself.
Gabrielle:
(demandingly) Alright, Hedda, where are we?! What was that?!
Hedda:
(proudly) That was Code D Urgent, this temples' last line of defense should an aggressive force make it past Athena's Elite Archers who used to guard the temples perimeter. The sounds that you just heard were its automated defenses and battlements falling into place, the largest of which being a solid stone barricade to protect the main entrance from burning or breaking apart under an assault from a catapult or a battering ram. In short, we are now inside a large, impenetrable, rock, and we can remain in here for up to 50 years if need be.
Gabrielle:
50 years?
Hedda smiles at the shocked look on her companion's faces and folds her arms across her chest in satisfaction.
FADE OUT
It was supposed to have been a Golden Age…
Humanity had cast off its god-wrought shackles
And mankind was no longer beholden to Fate;
But in our newfound freedom we forgot one thing…
Absolute Power Corrupts ABSOLUTELY!!!
Now one woman stands at the crossroads of history.
She is Hedda:
The Daughter of War himself and the greatest mortal warrior of all time.
She will save us from the forces of Hell.
She will save us from the forces of Heaven.
And though historians may claim that she failed…
We are still here!
END OF TEASER
READ ACT 1