Disclaimer: I do not own anything from Diablo II or any of its various other additions.

Chapter 6: Amazon's Awakening

As we start to draw to a close on the introduction of the many heroes in our story, we come upon a great and powerful archipelego ruled by the women of their tribes. Another hero, named Lena, has been prepared, being the one chosen by the prophets. Long ago, the prophets recieved a message from Athulua, stating that the Dark Exiles (or the Prime Evils, as you know them) are returning and a child will be born on the very minute they recieved the message.

Lena had just been born, and she was taken from her happy warrior mother to be trained by the best in their techniques and powers. Her mother was immediately proud that her daughter would be the one to vanquish the Prime Evils. Sadly, Lena's body couldn't handle the stress they put her under and she practically collapsed from the sheer amount of techniques they gave her. Just as she was being retrained, the unthinkable happened. This is where I begin to tell her story. Read on, brave Adventurers.

"I am so sorry that this all happened." Lena said again, ashamed at herself for being unable to remember the techniques at all anymore. The elder amazon warmly smiled at her and told her, "Don't worry, young one, it's all right. We will just have to train you again. Work hard and don't let up, and I'm sure you'll be perfectly competent in battle in no time."

"But, my strength and knowledge overall has decreased as well." She said, as though searching for a reason to be punished. She started to cry in frustration, but the elder one gently stroked Lena's face. "Do not worry, young child. You won't be punished for this. It is our fault, after all. We just dumped too many things onto you at once. If we had timed ourselves out a bit more, then we wouldn't have to worry about this. If anything, we're the ones who are sorry."

Lena still had her head drooped, but she saw her friends and noticeably brightened. "May I go and play with my friends now, honorable elder?" "Of course you may go, my child. Just don't play too long or else Kayna will not be the happiest person in the world." Lena smiled at the thought of a fuming Kayna and walked towards her friends, smiling at them as she did so. "So then, Lena, how did the meeting go?" "Yeah! Did they ban you or something for forgetting and losing everything they taught and gave you?" She sighed, then smiled at them and said, "Of course not! They're just going to teach me again. They think that now I'm a lot stronger and a lot more attentive to all of the nuances of the powers."

Her friends (who are of no importance whatsoever, adventurer) smiled and laughed, then told her about one of the glasscrafting men, who gave one of them a...complimenting look. She smiled and walked away from the house that the honorable Elder lived in. The Elder watched her fade in the horizon of the street, and then turned back to the other window in her house, facing out towards the sea. She could feel the power of evil beginning to flow again. The prime evils had been stopped before she or her kin could do anything about it, and talk of a Great Hero made its way across the ocean. The amazons were not fooled by the fact that he had supposedly killed Diablo, the supposed "greatest" of Prime Evils.

She sighed, and looked with her eye within her head. She saw many things, but mostly she saw the town, and what remained of it. It had only been one night since she saw the dream. She saw the destruction of Tristram, and the demons march the same direction as the Dark Wanderer. She sighed again, feeling the pulses of Dark Energy, wondering how long she could keep it all hidden to her city. It was then that she felt something clawing, almost, against her heart. In one moment, she realized how foolish she had been. However, that moment was her undoing. Suddenly, she felt herself being torn from her body. Her last cry was one of anguish, that her body would be used to kill her tribes.

Lena heard the warcries in her sleep and woke up. She immediately dressed and grabbed her javelin as she ran out the door. She'd recognize that cry immediately. A cry of war and mourning. One of their own had turned on them. But who? She ran though a mental checklist, and knew that if anyone, it'd be Kayna. As she arrived however, she saw Kayna leading the other amazons. Then who? She looked over at where they were blockading and her heart broke as she saw their enemy. It was the Elder, who had helped Lena all through her childhood, who was now the corrupt Amazon, no longer with a human soul inhabiting her. Tears gathered at the bottom of her eyes, but she paid them no heed.

She readied her javelin, and concentrated with all her might, trying to remember an ability that she could use. Suddenly, it came to her and she threw 10 javelins, which spread clouds of poison around, poisoning the now-Evil Elder. She cried as she did so, mourning for her Elder, but she did what she was made to do: root out evil demons among the world. As the body fell, she sighed, then turned around, looking at Kayna. Kayna looked back at her, amazed at the skill with which she dispatched that demon, and then smiled at her, reassuring Lena that everything was OK now. Lena began to cry, now that the fighting was over.

Suddenly, a beam of light seemed to come donw from the stars and an angel appeared in front of them all, with his ribbony wings flowing, appearing soft to the touch. "Young one, please come with me. Time is of the essence." Lena looked at Kayna, who only nodded, then walked forward to greet the angel. "How may I be of use, sacred one?" She asked, wondering why she was addressing a servant of Athulua as sacred one.

"Young one, I am known as Hadriel and I do not have any more time to waste. I am opening a portal, which you will step through, leading you to the area where you may begin your quest against Diablo and the other Prime Evils." Hadriel explained, pulling out a scroll with red-blue ribbons. He muttered a word when he opened the scroll and a red portal appeared. She could see a few other portals and a man in blue with a woman wearing a green dress and holding a staff. Suddenly she felt a push on her back and she hurtled into the portal, traveling quickly to her destination.

AN: sigh Another chapter is done, but this one was surprisingly harder to make...But soon we can get on to the actual story. Please review!