The Call
Chyemme
It had been many years since I had felt this kind of childish emotion. I was so angry I could hardly contain myself. My mother was once again treating me like the child I was not. We stood, she and I, in the temple that was our home. It was a sacred place that honored Zerae, the amazon goddess of lightning. We were arguing again, it was nothing unusual as of late. Ever since the dreams started, I suspect I must have been acting differently.
I had been having the same dream for many nights now; I couldn't recall a night I'd been without it. It was always the same, a calling to the West. In my dreams I was always transported to a lush, forest-filled land. The place really wasn't that unlike my own beloved homeland, however there were many mountains. I found myself every night traveling to a rustic tavern high in what appeared to be a mountain pass; things seemed ordinary enough at first. People everywhere were going on about nothing. Then I would see a man who was aloof in his own corner. He spoke to no one, however he watched everything. I never saw his face, for he wore a hooded brown robe, but just his posture gave away his great fatigue. He was so weak; he had trouble holding his own sword when a few of the boisterous tavern folk challenged him. Just when I thought the man would collapse, events would always take a horrifying turn. The sword would begin to glow unnaturally and suddenly rifts that I could only guess that lead to the infernal realms (judging by their spawn) would open, spilling forth demons of all kinds. The slaughter was swift and terrible, none but one man survived. An older man, he had been smoking a pipe, but was hiding in a corner. For some reason, the demons always spared him…. The man in the robe would them turn and leave without a word, but he beckoned the survivor to follow. As they left, the tavern would burst into a fire that engulfed everything. After seeing this, I would then see the face of a woman with long wavy hair that I didn't recognize. She simply said the word "hurry".
As plagued though my sleep was, I wasn't able to avoid it. Therefore lack of sleep couldn't possibly account for the irritability that was building within me as my mother stood before me yelling like nothing I had ever heard before. Like I said, arguments between us were commonplace now, however most would end with my mother merely shaking her head or forgiving me. This time it appeared that I may have actually made her mad enough to severely punish me.
"CHYEMME DIANTHIAS! YOU HAD NO RIGHT, I REPEAT, NO RIGHT TO ENTER THAT TOURNAMENT!" she thundered at me, bringing many of my temple sisters out to see what was causing all the commotion. Even the stone of the floor seemed to shake as she shouted. I stood in silence, the only amazon present whom wore armor, not the least bit ashamed of what I had done and waiting for her to yell herself to exhaustion like usual.
"YOUR ACTIONS SHAME ME! THEY SHAME YOUR FAMILY AND THIS TEMPLE! DAUGHTER, I MIGHT HAVE OVERLOOKED YOUR PREVIOUS ESCAPADES, BUT THIS…THIS IS UNFORGIVEABLE! YOU KNOW OUR LAWS AND OUR CODE! WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO SAY FOR YOURSELF?" she bellowed, coming to a halt in her ranting at last.
I said nothing at first. My mother was, of course, referring to my participation in our annual battle competition held in the main square. Our tournament was to determine the strongest of our warriors. The select few who placed were eligible to train with King Karcheus the Watcher, the master of ice who resided in the Hall of Mirrors upon Mt. Karcheus. Every year though, the champion would face our Queen, as their final challenger. If an amazon defeated our Queen, not only would she be chosen to train with the Ice King, but she also had the right to the throne. That was our system; our strongest warrior was our monarch. I had entered such a tournament, although participation by priestesses was strictly forbidden. They were allowed only to fight in defense of the temple. I however, was never initiated as a priestess, so I didn't consider myself one. My mother, the High Priestess of Zerae, was just one of many High Priestesses in our family line. She had brought me up in the ways of the temple, expecting me to carry on the family tradition. It was all fine at first, but slowly I began to question her way of life. I had arrived long ago, at the conclusion that it was not my way. I felt in my heart, I was meant for something else. I found that something else in battle and my mother simply couldn't accept this. Tradition is the core of our culture.
I had won our tournament and defeated our Queen, Chelsea. I was just as shocked as anyone, considering I had taught myself to fight by watching our warriors as they trained daily in our arenas. I had done this in secret of course, and this competition was my first. I hadn't expected to place, let alone win. The strange part was that it felt so right and every move I made empowered me against our Queen. I had been offered the crown, as was promised, but I had declined to the surprise of all. I think I was the first to ever refuse, however I held our Queen in too high a regard to simply take her place. In addition, I knew in my heart that being queen wasn't my place either. I had to wonder what leading our people must have been like, but I wasn't up to the task. Perhaps the real reason I had entered, I thought to myself, was to see if I was up to the challenge. I knew somehow that very soon a journey would soon begin and I wanted to see if I was prepared. Queen Chelsea fought my runner-up and kept her crown.
Naturally, I was the talk of the tribe and it hadn't taken my mother long to receive the news. I was now a primary topic of gossip among our people. I was sort of beginning to feel like an outcast in my own homeland. Everywhere I went people starred and whispered. No one would explain this to me and in fact, many had started to act strangely towards me. It was almost as if they were afraid of me or in awe. I couldn't tell which.
I looked my mother in the eye. It was time to confess.
"Mother, you know I only wish to make you proud of me. I did not mean to dishonor you or the temple. Surely you know that I did not take the crown? Why does this displease you so much?" I tried to ask calmly.
Anger flashed behind my mother's eyes, however she didn't yell this time.
"It angers me because you know the rules Chyemme! You should never even considered entering that tournament! It's for warriors, you're a priestess! As much as I want to forgive you, your actions do require punishment this time!" she snapped.
I sighed.
"You do not have to punish me, for my conduct broke no law. I am not a priestess of Zerae," I answered.
My mother had been muttering to herself and stopped cold when I had spoken these words.
"What did you say?" she asked, doing a double-take.
"I said that I am not a priestess, for I was never initiated as one. I am too young by the standards. Therefore I have not come into conflict with any of our codes by joining into the tournament," I repeated softly.
My mother stared at me in disbelief.
"Of course you are a priestess! You were raised as one! Even though you aren't old enough to receive the title yet, it is still what is expected of you! It has been since the day you were born as my child!"
"It is not my place. You know it and I know it. Apparently so does everyone else. I hear them whisper about it, mother. Queen Chelsea has given me a great honor, why can't you be happy for me? I have chosen my own path. I have prayed and this is what I believe I should be doing. I know this disappoints you, and I am truly sorry. I also wish to tell you that I will be leaving for the West in a few days. I have consulted you and Priestess Danri of Athulua about my dreams and I have determined this is where I must start. I will seek the meaning of this dream, and I believe that it is urgent," I said with every feeling in my heart.
For a moment, my mother's face became unreadable. She looked furious, confused, and upset all at the same time as she took in what I had said. I hadn't wanted to hurt her, but the truth had to be told. My mother closed her eyes and then spoke slowly.
"Daughter your dreams are still as unclear to you as they are to me. My innersight shows me all that you see in your sleep. You will go to the west chasing shadows. The Westmarch isn't as safe as it was years ago. It's quite perilous now, and if you go, you might not come back. Daughter, I do not wish you to die in some distant land when you go there firstly, in pursuit of that which is not certain. I will sanction no such voyage, and if you insist on going I will have to put you under house arrest for your own safety. It seems you are the only one receiving such visions, and under normal circumstances many of our sisters often have the same visions about a disturbance. Besides, what concern is it of ours what happens in the west?"
I couldn't believe that my mother had just spoken those words.
"I can't believe you, mother. What concern of ours? It is our every concern and you of all people should know this. The amazon sisterhood swore a vow long ago to uphold justice, defend the innocent, and combat the forces of darkness. If innocents are suffering, even in a land as far away as Scosglen shouldn't we still help them? It is our way. Something stirs in the west; can you not feel it too? I know you do. Besides, the Rogue sisterhood has long been friendly to our people. If it is the matter of me finding a safe haven on the mainland that troubles you, I could go there. I'm sure I'd be welcomed," I protested.
My mother grimaced for a moment and for the briefest measure of time I thought I saw fear behind her eyes.
"Chyemme, I know you mean well, but too much is shrouded by mist for us to take any action. The rogues would have sent word to us if they believed anything was wrong. I must attend to the meal preparations for after tonight's prayers. I want you to join us. I'll send Andrea to summon you when we are ready. We'll discuss this more later," she announced, suddenly dismissing the issue.
I sighed. It was too important for her to dismiss.
"But mother—"
"I will speak no more of the matter," she said curtly, before leaving the room.
After my conversation with my mother I decided to go up to my room for a while, to think. Was it just that my mother worried about my safety? Even if I did die, what would she have to be ashamed of? Amazon sisters that fell in battle, although sorely missed, were honored greatly. And defeating our Queen was no small task. I had proven capable of taking care of myself just fine. I sat on my bed for a while pondering what I should do. It was clear that my mother was not going to change her mind, and yet I felt the calling as strong as ever. It was becoming more and more urgent. So urgent in fact, that even now I was beginning to grow restless. I couldn't delay much longer, and the mysterious woman's voice was echoing in my mind. "Hurry!"
Looking out my open window frame into the thick forest canopy of our rainforest home, I finally reached a decision. The calling could not wait. I had to go, with, or without my mother's approval, and before she put me under quarantine. I had no idea where to go, that was true, so after a while, I settled on just getting away from the isles first. I would have to travel light. I grabbed only my best traveling clothes, my sash, a leather pack, and a ceremonial javelin that was leaned up against my wall. I estimated I had only a short time before they would realize I was gone. Leaving the temple wasn't difficult, I just simply walked out. The sisters guarding the door didn't know that I wasn't supposed to leave and merely nodded to me. Once safely outside, I started into a light jog and disappeared into the thick forest.
I wanted to be alone; I wanted to go to a place where the other sisters wouldn't think to look for me. Amazons were excellent trackers and I wouldn't get very far if I left a clear trail. This meant I would definitely have to leave the area, for many of my sisters patrolled these woods. The only place that I could think of that would meet all my criteria was the Woods of the Banished, a deep part of the jungle on the northwest coast of the island. This particular part of the isle had been barred to the sisterhood over a decade ago. The reason for which it had been barred was mostly unknown, expect to those in high positions. Rumor had it that the place was home to many foul creatures, including rogue amazons. However, I wasn't superstitious enough to be scared by mere tales, so I continued on my path there.
It was late afternoon by the time I reached the borders to our land; already I could feel the humidity rise to an intense level. This part of the forest wasn't cleared of undergrowth, so the going was slow. No animals were present, which I thought strange. Usually at least a Macaw or two could be seen anywhere in the forest. Intrigued by this observation, I tuned my innersight to seek out any moving life force. I could only find my own. As odd as this was, I kept walking. I could have sworn though, that I was being followed. A slight movement out of the corner of my eye, or a rustle in the underbrush had me looking over my shoulder frequently. This was a foreign part of my homeland; caution would be a wise thing to exercise. Other than that, I found the walk through the forest quite enjoyable. The exercise and the fresh air were helping me to clear my head and reduce my stress.
The Felph Flowers were particularly lovely. Felph flowers were deep magenta in color and had five, tapering petals as soft as feathers. I would've guessed they smelled nice, but no one could tell for sure. The Felph, in addition to being immensely beautiful, were highly poisonous. Breathing in its pollen or touching its pulp was enough to send a grown lion into seizures. Getting a good whiff of one could knock a human unconscious for a few days. The Felph flower was highly prized among my people; our warriors sometimes used them to poison their javelins in wartime. I grinned. This was a perfect opportunity to gather some, because they were not yet in full bloom.
I set to work collecting the flowers, and placing them in a leather pouch at my waist. Maybe they'd come in handy where I was going. It was not long before my gathering brought me to the bank of a small river. The water still flowed with the smell of salt, so I assumed it spilled into the ocean. I could see small fish in the water also, with glinting silver scales. I decided to go spear fishing later, just to stock up on food. I continued my way upstream picking more flowers until my pouch and most of my sash was full. I had just turned to leave when my innersight alerted me to something moving nearby. I fell completely silent, and sure enough, I began to hear noises, mostly grunts, squeaks, and high-pitched utterances. I focused my innersight, which confirmed my hunch.
A small band of pale blue, troll-like creatures with ugly black hair and primitive bone and animal hide armor were massed around something on the ground and poking at it with razor sharp nails. I rounded the bend quietly to get a better look. The demons, Carvers by name, were only about waist high, so I could see slightly over top of them and what they were curiously huddled around.
It was a lump of black cloth, from what I could see. I was just about to dismiss the incident, when I realized that a faint life force was coming from that huddle! Whatever it was within the huddle was alive! I waited for a few moments before the carvers shifted around the heap of cloth to reveal the shape of a human being. This unfortunate person was lying face down in the sand wearing a ratty amount of black cloth and had purely white hair. One of the Carvers extended a clawed finger to poke, or stab rather, at the unconscious person, which I made out to be male. Who ever he was, if he was already unconscious, a stab wound might very well kill him.
Just as the Carver was about to strike, I sprung from behind a large tree, ceremonial javelin poised to strike, and gave a loud war cry. The Carvers, not very brave creatures unless they were in large groups, jumped in fear before retreating hastily back into the forest issuing loud cries. I fell silent and listened to their incoherent chatter fade into the rainforest. It was safe, so I quickly moved to the injured man. I feared for the worst when I turned him over.
His face was ashen and his skin was tremendously pale. He had almost no color. He was ice cold to the touch and had several deep bruises and wounds; some of which were obviously infected to a fair extent. He had blood splattered all along his drenched and ratty robe and in his snow-colored hair. The dried blood on his face reminded me of crimson war paint and made him look much older. My guess was that under all the dirt and grime he looked maybe one or two years older than me, at most.
I lowered my head to listen for breath. I was both amazed and relieved to hear a very weak inhale and equally labored exhale. The man's chest was moving, but just barely. He would make it for now, but I had to get him to a safer place before I could treat him. What had happened to this man? He was truly lucky to be alive. If I had not walked by, I severely doubt anyone else would have found him. My current problem went from escaping the islands to now finding a place I could take him. I guessed I would have to make do with just a small clearing or such. As I went to pick him up, I found myself gazing at the young man's face intently. My innersight gave a smaller flicker of jumbled information that I only briefly understood. Although he was weak, this man gave off a powerful aura. He was a survivor. There was also something highly magical about him. He was most definitely a mage of some kind; no other class gave off a feel like this. There was also something I didn't fully understand. It was a feeling of darkness. None of the mages I had even seen or been told of felt like this to amazon innersight. It was strange though, for something about this darkness was almost beautiful…. A sudden thought occurred to me, as I picked him up, carrying him on my back. Maybe this would explain my calling to the west. Perhaps, since he most certainly wasn't from here, that if this man got well, he could even take me there. I sighed. If only.
I had begun on a route back into the forest when suddenly I heard a noise from the trees. I looked up, half expecting an attack of some sort. It was only a Toucan with a large, brightly colored beak. Just to be sure, I sat the man I had been carrying down gently, so I could have a look around. I walked a few paces in each direction, and was about to assume my environment was safe. I heard it before I saw it. A spear soared right by my left ear and embedded itself into a tree behind me. I turned around just in time to snatch another out of the air before it would have struck. My innersight quickly revealed the source of this attack. Three women crouched in the bushes behind and beside me. All three rose from their hiding places, wearing red leather armor covered in brightly colored feathers and placed spears in my direction. Each wore an ornate headdress of multicolored feathers, a symbol of Kethryes, the amazon god of seasons, retaliation, and vengeance. Kethryes was the patron god of rogue amazons.
The three newcomers stood more or less in a triangle formation. The middle amazon seemed slightly surprised as she broke the silence.
"Well, well, what have we here? Looks like a temple sister," she said eyeing my ceremonial javelin and clothing with sarcasm. "Aren't you a long way from your alter, nun? And with what, a—" She suddenly stopped speaking as she gazed at the man I had rescued.
The other two readied their spears as if any word I might have said could strike them dead. "Necromancer!" The lead hissed and pulled a bronze dagger from her belt.
At first I thought it had been me that they were poising the spears at, but I saw the man behind me reflecting in the amazons' eyes. The lead seemed to be focusing on a strange tattoo on his left palm that I hadn't noticed before. It was a dagger, with black liquid covering and dripping from a majority of the blade. At the top of the dagger's handle sat a small skull. All were signs of dark arcane magic. I knew little about Necromancer magics and even less about their culture. To my people, they were just a dark whisper in the night, a tale brothers used to frighten their sisters. To much of the known world, Necromancers were rumored to be sadistic, devilish beings that powered their craft with death and poisons. Rumors even said that they were capable of raising the dead back to life. There had been accounts of necromancers so powerful that they could raise whole undead armies, but that was just Horadric lore, and took place over 100 years ago. As if their powers over death were not frightening enough, necromancers were also supposed to be able to conjure some of the deadliest poisons known to man with just their bare hands.
Oddly enough, even though this man was a necromancer, he didn't seem very intimidating to me. Right now he was helpless. And even if he was a dark mage, I knew nothing else about him. It wasn't my place to judge. The lead renegade regained her voice as I stepped in front of the injured man.
"A strange sight indeed. A priestess and a necromancer, here of all places. Both of you are trespassing on our lands. Do you know the penalty for sisters of Athulua and Zerae who enter our domain uninvited? Death!" she hissed.
I wasn't frightened and it showed. "Really? Is that so? If it is then why have you taken so long to attack me? If my hunch is correct, you three have been following me since I entered."
The lead Amazon sighed as a scarlet red feather shifted from her headdress into her eyes. "We're not killers if we can help it, just like you, priestess. Occasionally people do get lost and manage to find their way out shortly thereafter. But when someone comes as far in as you did, picking flowers of all things, you obviously know where you are and don't care. That kind of apathy, of disrespect, will get you killed. And unless my eyes deceive me, which is extremely rare, you look old enough to know better!"
"So what are you going to do?" I asked them uncertainly. Rumor had it that rogue amazons had once been a part of our tribe not long ago. But something, or someone had caused them to split. Oddly, only warriors choose to leave, or at least that's what I'd heard. After knowing all that I that I did and seeing these three acting the way they were, they were obviously guarding something here. Something important and I had unwittingly ventured to close.
"Like I said before, the penalty for trespass is death! No exceptions! If I just simply let you leave you'd undoubtedly come back. You don't seem the type to me that can take a hint. I mean we were purposely making noise for you to hear us, in the hopes that you'd leave."
"I meant no disrespect sisters, I was seeking an undetectable way off of this island, and I just intended to pass through. That was until I found my friend here," I said gesturing to the almost lifeless necromancer on the ground.
The Amazon growled and stepped forward, her dagger in attack position while her two comrades flanked her with their spears. "Do you have any idea what you're messing with? Obviously not or you'd have just let the Carvers take him. My guess is that when he wakes up he'll kill us all, or at least try to. I'm going to make sure that doesn't happen," she affirmed and took another step forward.
I looked at the man on the ground again. It was odd, the feeling that washed over me. No matter who he was, or what he'd done, he was under my protection now, especially while he was as helpless as a newborn babe. Then again, a babe had more fight in it than he did at the moment, seeing as it could move.
"Do you have no honor? You're going to kill a man you don't even know while he lies defenseless on the ground?" I challenged.
The rogue scout locked her cocoa-colored eyes on mine. "I don't have to know him! Just knowing what he is makes it reason enough for me! And by the looks of things he hasn't got long anyway, I'm doing him a favor."
I grabbed my spear tightly and raised it to an attack position. "You'll have to go through me first," I challenged.
"I was just about to tell you that you're next, priestess," she hissed and lunged for me.
Quick as lightening I grabbed her wrist from the outside and rolled mine over it while pushing on her upper arm with my other hand. She followed the motion all the way to the ground where I kneed her in the stomach before tossing her aside. The other two were already moving, I had just enough time to vertically parry my spear against one of theirs, and snapped it to the opposite side to block the other. I then upturned the butt of my spear and caught the one on the right under the chin, making her soar backwards. I hadn't however, been in time to block the last one and the razor-sharp edge of her spear head grazed my upper arm, right across a pressure point, making me drop my spear in reflex. She tried to sweep my feet out from under me, but I jumped. Following up on the motion I did a snapping front kick to her chest. She folded her spear over it, and it absorbed most of the shock, but nevertheless she still flew back a fair ways.
I took this opportunity to retrieve my spear, kicking it up off the ground and into my hands. I stabbed at her and she blocked it. Then we began trading blows with the shafts of our spears, making it look like a staff fight. She went left, I blocked to the right. This continued more or less for about a minute, before I finally gained the upper hand as I shoved my spear against hers, forcing her own weapon towards her throat. In close a proximity as we were, I had no trouble head-butting her. This stunned us both a little temporarily but I recovered first, and jammed my spearhead against her throat.
"Back down!" I commanded harshly, pressing the point enough to draw blood from her neck.
"I've never seen a priestess fight like you," she admitted a little tensely.
"That's because she's obviously not a priestess," came the voice from the first, whom had taken back her feet. She made to attack me again, and I quickly whipped my spear around in a backspin, however she blocked it with her arm. Grabbing my spear, she tried to pull me closer to her, within reach of her dagger.
It was time to quit playing games. I focused on all the training I had received in the ways of Zerae, and channeled electric energy into the spear. Seeing as it was metal, she received a strong shock that knocked her over again. The one that I had just cornered, now behind me, took an opportunity to strike again and jabbed her spear, narrowly missing my head. I grabbed the tip of her spear, pulled her off balance, grabbed her head, and then threw her over my shoulder down on top of her other two comrades.
"That's far enough," yet another voice whispered in my ear, as I felt something sharp press against my mid back.
I cringed. It was all over. For me and for the man whose name I'd never know now. I stiffened and waited for the blow, which, surprisingly didn't come.
"Drop your weapon," the voice instructed.
"No," I said firmly. If I was going to die I wasn't going to die defenseless.
The voice laughed quietly. "Defiant to the last. I like that. I'm impressed. You fought this hard to save a man you don't even know. That in itself is worthy of honor. However, I've been expecting you. I'm not going to kill you or your friend, so drop your weapon."
Strange. Definitely strange. But then again, if this person had wanted to kill me they'd have done it by now. Especially since no one, nether I nor the other three had noticed her coming. I released my weapon and heard it clang softly on the forest underbrush.
"Take it, Teera," the voice instructed to yet someone else. Good grief, how many of them were there? Was I truly so inexperienced not to hear or feel these people coming up behind me? Something hard hit the back of my head and I fell to the ground in pain. I was eye level with the necromancer, and in moments went just as unconscious.