Varus, give me back my legions! -Emperor Augustus
Bishop Ademar was huffing and puffing. He had come to this forsaken land to free it from it's chains, not become chainfved himself.
"Soldiers?" He shouted. In his pouting frustration, he noticed that about half his soldiers had gone to the small village near him. He became disconcerted by this, knowing that these rowdy crusader soldiers often went without permission to loot and pillage. Or commit even worse acts.
"Those of you who followed my order to wait for me, come with me now. We have to find those soldiers who chose to wander off." Ademar mounted his horse, and rode alongside a soldier he liked well enough. "Lord give me strength" He muttered.
"Bishop?" The soldier asked. He was concerned about Ademars health.
"Soldier, it is nothing, I swear. Well, not much anyways. I just…despise these soldiers. I am glad that they are here, crusading for Jerusalem of course. But…if they could act like Christians, instead of like Gallic barbarians, or the Muslims. But no, they want to loot and pillage the countryside. The Christian countryside." Ademar waved away his thoughts. "But, we will find them. I should've prevented this mass looting earlier, but I think it's better to be late then to never act at all."
The soldier nodded. "I would say so sir."
"Of course, we would all rather be at Nicaea. Instead, that weasel Bohemond sends us out here so that he can scheme on how to depose Emperor Alexios. Well, he won't succeed. Hopefully, he at least accomplishes getting Nicaea."
"He will sir." The soldier smiled. He was some basic spearman, with little more then a wood shield and sturdy spear. Ademar pitied him, but he was good company none the less. And even better, he spoke French.
The area around Nicaea was not completely barren, but like much of Anatolia, it was nothing you could call fertile. Markets and little farms dotted the area, with a small village called Nuz keeping the whole thing together. Nuz had not yet been looted, and it was to stay that way under Ademar. However, the soldiers he was looking for had other ideas, one of which was probably to pillage the city for gold it did not have.
After almost an hour of riding, Ademar and his loyal soldiers arrived, and saw the disloyal soldiers leaving with arms full of food. However, the back five soldiers of the disloyal runts had a different prize.
Young women.
"What in God's name?!" Ademar shouted. He quickly did the cross on his body, hoping heaven above would forgive him for taking God's name in vein. "What do you think you're doing?!"
"Bishop, we found these women! We haven't felt the touch of a woman in months, years maybe!" One soldier said, licking his lips like a dog with new meat.
"Wha-No! No, no, no!" Ademar dismounted and drew his sword. Only supposed to be used for defense, he was ready to slay these fools if they were willing to defile God in his presence.
"Hey! I don't think Bohemond would be too happy if you killed us!" The lead soldier said. There were forty soldiers, who had left his detachment of one hundred. Luckily, the few knights Ademar had stayed loyal.
The leading soldier, a man called Rolkin, realized this. He drew his sword as well.
Ademar, dumbfounded, called his soldiers over to get into formation. Soon, it was clear who would win.
"Why can't we?!" Shouted Rolkin, whose soldiers were shaking in fear. The desert sun was high above Anatolia, and everyone but well clothed Ademar was baking.
"Because not only is it un-Christian, these people are Christian!" Ademar shouted. "You are raping your own people, the people of the Book!"
"Yada, yada, yada!" Said Rolkin. Ademar was furious now. "Who gives two craps about God, eh? I'm here for riches and flesh, not faith and freedom!" Rolking was clearly a nobleman. A peasant would never speak to his better like this.
"Would you shut—" Ademar began, when Rolkin suddenly slashed out at him. He mostly missed, only cutting Ademar a little bit. Then, while Ademar was on the ground and getting up, Rolkin ran as fast as he could back to Nuz. He and his soldiers holed up in the villages storehouse, which was fairly large to keep all the food they didn't have in there.
Ademar, after being bandaged and given the green light that he wasn't going to die, mounted his horse, and chased after Rolkin. When he arrived, all but ten of the most depraved soldiers of Rolkin's force were standing there.
"He's lost it sir, really lost it!" One said.
That soldier that Ademar liked, without hesitation, peered into the storehouse. He lived, after someone tried to rip his head off with their shield, and looked at Ademar with a strange expression. One of fear and terror, mixed with surprise.
"He's about to rape her!" the soldier shouted. Ademar was horribly angry, ready to send the cur to the depths of Hell, when he heard some commotion. Then, a woman, tall and with light brown skin, burst from the house. The armor clad Rolkin, his pants at his legs and his member swinging like a sword, ran out with his eyes like a wild bear. Ademar was now just as frightened as the woman. He readied himself.
The woman fell to the ground. She was wearing some middle noblewoman garb. She looked at Rolkin. The other women had attempted to run as well, but were in the hands of the other soldiers that were like Rolkin.
The woman in front of Ademar on the ground had a strange look. She was oddly athletic looking, with a fit body and chest, defined legs and arms, and a tall look to her. She was tall, to say that. A little more so then Rolkin.
"I like this one!" Rolkin said. "She's feisty!"
"Oh my God!" Ademar exclaimed. He couldn't move. Rolkin's evil had paralyzed him.
"Please, I am a scholarly women! I can give you anything, anything, as long as you let me go home!" She shouted. "Please!"
"Ohh, a smart one!" Being a noble, Rolkin could speak Greek. "Maybe when I rub on you, your smarts will rub onto me!"
Rolkin grabbed her. Ademar lunged at Rolkin, but was hit back. Ademar was getting up when the woman looked to the sky. The blue sky was light and filled with fluffy clouds. The desert sun shone on Anatolia.
"I am in need of help! I have done all I can, yet me and my fellow women are trapped. God has chosen not to help me, so I beg you, Goddess Athena, hear my prayer!" The woman shouted. Everyone stopped. Rolkin was holding back laughter, while for a moment, Ademar was dumbstruck. Flabbergasted, confused and freaked out. She was a different type of hertic.
Then, booming from the sky, screaming like a ravens screech and speedy like a wolf on the hunt, a massive, unnatural bolt of blue lightning struck the woman. She screamed, as the bolt of pure blue lightning coursed through her. It struck at her heart, and all Ademar could do was stare in awe.
In awe. In awe. That was all anyone did. Look in awe, as the awesome power of a God not their own made this woman scream. She screamed and screamed and screamed, a power nobody had ever comprehended rippiling through her. Ademar could see it, blue stealing her veins, her eyes filling up with electricity. Then came a voice.
"I AM THE GODDESS ATHENA! YOU HAVE TREATED MY PEOPLE POORLY NO MORE!" It shouted. A womens voice, deep and angered, rang across the land. Then, a bolt of lighting struck the other women. They all screamed, banshee screeches that rung like church bells from the depths of hell.
"God save us all!" Rolkin shouted. Ademar looked at Rolkin with disgust, as he cowered in fear. Rolkin's pants were still down, which Ademar told him to pull up. Rolkin did as he asked.
"God save us?! I hope God saves us!" Shouted Ademar.
"YOUR GOD CAN'T SAVE YOU NOW! HEAR MY POWER, FEEL MY ANGER! I VISIT UPON ANATOLIA THE RAGE OF THE GREEKS! MAGIC REAWAKE!" Then, the women were all lifted a few inches from the ground. They were no longer screaming, for out of their mouths came a deep rumble. The clouds came together, the sun was blotted out by the bleak clouds. All the world was dark but for the lightning. The soldiers began to weep. Ademar began to beg on his knees.
Then, the final booming command.
"FEEL THE POWER OF ALL THE GODS! OLYMPUS REAWAKEN, CHRISTEN ME YOUR RULER, AND LET MY PEOPLE DO WONDERS!"
And then, the clouds sped off, the sun returned, and a flash of light threw every one on their backs. The women were slowly lowered. Their eyes re-opened, as if they were newborns come into the world. They looked around. The leading one, felt herself, as if she was a new woman. Then, like a rocket from the stars, a chest plate of glowing iron came from the sky, and locked onto the woman. Then a hoplites spear into her hand, and then a Spartans helmet onto her head. She took it off, and examined it. Ademar examined it from afar, too broken to even speak. Rolkin looked at it. He stood up, trembling legs and feet. His arms shook with despair.
Despair. Yes, that is a good way to describe these foolish knights and spearmen.
"I…" The woman began. She felt the spear. Then, she froze for a minute, before un-freezing.
"I am Zoe, Representative of Athena on Earth!" She shouted. She then stood triumphant, and an aura of blue light glistened around her, and a light aura around the others. "I will rid you of the Holy Land!"
Ademar stood up, looked at her, and then promptly started to step towards her. He could tell she was made taller by the lightning, for she stood at an immense eight feet tall. She dwarfed the small Bishop, who barely walked as he neared her. She looked down on him.
She then pushed the Bishop aside, and looked at Rolkin. Rolkin opened his mouth to speak, when she thrust her arm right through his chest, pulled out his heart, and crushed it like it was a leaf in her hand. Blood spilled everywhere, and Rolkin fell to the ground.
Ademar ran to his horse, as she used magic previously unheard off to slaughter the Crusaders. She called upon arrows of fire and javelins of ice to pierce the Crusaders. She let Ademar and that one soldier go, they knew that as they rode back to Bohemond.
When they arrived, Bohemond didn't believe them until she was standing over a hill, with almost two thousand Greeks with her. The four other women who gained powers with her as well. Bohemond looked upon the force with fear.
God had left them. Abandoned them in a land supposedly holy. Magic had reawakened. No God could save them now.
It had been three weeks since Emperor Alexios heard of the news. Tens of thousands of soldiers, slaughtered by this mysterious women, this Zoe. Near him, a top military aide was standing.
Alexios was a smart man, and new his time was near. He would follow the example of Justinian, and stay in the city of dreams, this heaven, his Constantinople, until she came and forced him out. The Greeks were, apparently, giving up the ghost on God. Alexios would not, no matter what. His daughter had left as well, so he stood alone. Alone, in a city to big to be alone in.
"Sir, what would you like me to do? I can send more soldiers to slaughter the girl. She is, after all, just a girl."
Alexios looked at him. He frowned and nodded.
"Varus?" Alexios said.
"What, my name is no—"
"Give me back my legions." And Alexios retired to his bedroom.