Desperation
Hippolyta, though blessed with superhuman endurance due to the tiny meagre of Olympian blood flowing through her veins, had always found it easier to dodge blows rather than absorbing them.
She smirked, smashing her shield against the frost giant, forcing it back, before swinging her sword in a wide arc, that cleaved the creature's head off its shoulders, and the body immediately broke down into chunks of ice, that clattered on the snowy ground. She took a deep breath, before she was once again surrounded by Ymir's soldiers.
Ordinarily, any other human would have been fatigued after battling for days without any reprieve, even an amazon, but she was a daughter of Aries, and war was his domain, and hers by birthright. The grunts and cries of battle acted as a fuel, reinvigorating her.
"Lady Artemis, give me strength!" She yelled, charging into battle once more.
She felt a whoosh of air behind her, before seeing several giants sent out flying. Lightning flashed in the skies, shooting down on the battlefield, eradicating entire battalions of giants, and thunder boomed seconds later. She looked up to see Teth-Adam hovering over her, and he smirked at her, before flying away.
Hippolyta clenched her teeth. While she respected the man as a warrior, he reminded her too much of her former paramour.
She took a deep breath, before eying the giants left around her, who were unfortunate enough to be victims of her frustration.
They fell one after the other.
She drew back her sword from the last monster, and looked around. Corpses of ice and flesh on blood-stained snow.
She could see in the distance Pan's vessel easily defeat his opponents. Giant trees burst from the ground, its branches stabbing through the giants. Vines wrapped around many monsters, before constricting and shattering them. Where there was lifeless winter, there was a blooming forest. For a second, it made her forget the horrors of war, but then she looked around her immediate surroundings.
Weapons littered all over the land, and survivors tending to each other's wounds.
Once again, she and the others had managed to stave off another invasion of their realm from the Frost Giants, but not without bloodshed.
Several warriors they had been leading had fallen, including many of the women she had trained.
They might not have been born on Themyscira, but they had died as honourable Amazons.
This war could not go on.
Their soldiers were only human, but their enemies were endless constructs of ice, borne of dark magic.
Shazam was content with merely defending this land, instead of taking the battle to Ymir, much to Teth-Adam's ire.
If this went on, soon, there won't be anything left of the realm to defend. Even if they won, the world would be in ruins.
Hippolyta sighed, as she saw a young girl lying on the ground, a shard of ice jutting out of her blood-soaked armour. Her name was Helga, and she remembered regaling her and her friends with tales of the Amazon's valour in the battles past…
And she made up her mind.
As much as it despised her to agree with the arrogant Champion, he was right.
It was time to end this war, once and for all.
"Are you sure about this?" Keela asked again, as the six heroes gathered in the darkness of the night.
"The sorcerer won't approve." Teth-Adam snorted.
"Since when has that stopped you before?" Hippolyta countered.
"You are right. It has not, but I know you hold him in high regard, my lady." He said smoothly, looking at her with his piercing dark eyes, and Hippolyta felt a warmth stirring in her soul.
"I can't see more of our brethren fall." She replied curtly. "We must do what we can to end this war before the loss of more lives."
"Agreed." Maya said.
"I concur with thee." The Viking Prince nodded.
"Very well, I am with you." Keela clenched.
The dryad with skin made of wooden bark and hair of leaves and thorns, tilted his head at her.
"I wish I could go with you all." He said, his voice solemn. "However, my powers tie me to the Green… And there is no Green in Jotunheim, only frost and death."
Hippolyta smiled.
"That is not a hassle, friend. I was going to request you stay behind. You are easily the most powerful of us-" She rolled her eyes as Teth-Adam coughed loudly. "And in case our quest is unsuccessful, you are the only hope we have of defending our realm."
She turned towards the last of them, and raised her eyebrow. "And you, Teth-Adam?"
"It was my plan to take the battle to them to begin with, your majesty." He scoffed. "Besides, without me, you have no chance of victory."
"It is decided then. We storm the home of the Jotun and end this war."