Disclaimers: See Part 1
PART 5
XXVIII. Through the Mirror Darkly
“Unh!” My breath vanished in a huff as I hit the ground, knocked off my feet by my captors. I panted in the confines of my hood, sweating as much from fear as from the heat. Sweat stung my eyes and I shook my head, trying to brush a lock of tangled hair out of my mouth.
“Stay still.”
No problem. Just getting my breath back would have prevented me from moving too far anyway.
“Should I go back now?” Iskra asked. All semblance of her earlier leering bravado had disappeared, presumably with what I guessed was the death of her companion. Admittedly, I'm rather glad I hadn't had to watch.
“Oversee things there. I'll be joining you shortly.”
There was no answer from Iskra; just the sound of quickly receding footsteps as she ran through the underbrush. I couldn't guess what her mission was, but I had no doubts it meant big trouble. Mindful of the fact that I was now alone with this person, I eased further onto my side, my fingers—a little numb and thick—hunting hopefully over the ground for a sharp chip of rock to use on my bonds. A boot caught me solidly in the ribs. “Uugh!”
“Stop that.”
I had no choice; just having barely caught my breath from the last time, I was forced to curl around the hurt while my rigid fingers clawed themselves into the soft, vulnerable skin of my palms.
“Gaaaaab-ri-eeeellle…” Slow steps circled me while the woman's voice sang my name softly. “ Tim e to play, Gaaaab-ri-eeeeeelle…”
I let my head rest on the ground and panted for breath, my eyes searching blindly in the darkness for a glimpse of my captor. “Who are you?” I asked thickly.
Laughter. “Don't you know me? Or was I just not memorable enough for you? I guess when you hang out with gods and the Destroyer of Nations everyone else pales by comparison,” she said scornfully.
“That's not true!” I argued, stung.
“Truth hurt?”
“I know you're an Amazon.” I knew that much for sure.
“I'm not giving you any points for that one. It was obvious.”
If I made it out of this, I wasn't going to pass that comment along to Xena. “Take the bag off and we'll talk.”
“No. You have no say here, or hadn't you noticed?”
The knife pricked my belly again. I needed a softer approach. “We only got to the village yesterday and I haven't had a chance to really talk to many people. All of it was kind of a whirl—”
“Don't give me that! I saw you with her! She had her hands all over you!”
All over me? Unaccountably I felt myself flush. What had she seen? When?
“I saw you,” she said. “I saw you with her. How could you?” An edge had entered her voice and I felt myself tense, wondering what she might do next.
“I'm… I'm sorry?” I said, feeling twice as confused. I was conversationally adrift with no port in sight and it wasn't hard to tell that her anger was growing.
“You should be.” Boots scuffed the dirt near my head. “You should be.”
I wasn't even sure how to respond. The woman's voice sounded angry, betrayed, hurt and threatening all at once. The hair on the back of my neck stood straight on end in growing dread. I swallowed to moisten my mouth. “I'm not… I'm…what was I doing?”
“You know what you did!”
I was grabbed roughly and shoved forcefully against a tree trunk, the unexpectedness of it knocking my breath from me in a coughing huff. I barely had time to recover when I felt the prick of a knife tip against my belly. I couldn't afford to panic; to breathe harder would make me move and I could already feel the point pricking into my skin with stinging results. My breath was a tight, shallow whistle between my teeth.
Conscious of the cold sweat breaking out down my spine at the tangible evidence of menace, I did my best not to react, to keep calm, while over and over again the broken thought in the back of my mind kept repeating itself: …you're alone… and no one knows… “Whatever you think I've done, I'm very sorry.”
“That's not good enough!”
A fist grabbed a handful of hair and sack and banged my head against the tree leaving me seeing stars. I felt a wave of nauseating vertigo hit me along with a sudden burning frustrated anger. “Then what the Hades do you want me to do?! She likes me, I can't help it!”
“No!”
It was the most irrational, stupid, asinine thing to do, but I felt the overwhelming desire to piss her off. “Tough chobos. Get over it! In fact,” I added, trying to sound smug, “she's probably already looking for me right now.” Gods, I hoped that was true; nothing would be a greater relief than to hear Xena's war cry right about now.
“She doesn't ask about me? Doesn't she talk about me?”
Aside from cursing Artemis' name and generally disliking the Amazons as a whole? “She's never mentioned you in particular.” Crazy images filled my head again, of Xena with another woman. Touching another woman… kissing her… I shook my head roughly, blowing out a breath between my clenched teeth.
“Why doesn't she love me?”
Because she thinks all Amazons are ridiculous? “She doesn't love any Amazon!”
“She loves you!”
She does? “How do you know this?”
“It's obvious!”
It is? My heart fluttered crazily in my chest. “What do you mean?”
“It's there every time she looks at you, fool!”
Xena… I'd wondered about that myself, but I was never completely sure. Without her saying so, how could I have been? Despite the situation, I felt my heart expand with uncontainable hope even as doubt assailed me. “I…I don't know…”
My captor released an explosive noise and even blindfolded I could tell she was flinging her arms out. “She's tried to kiss you!”
Tried to… Xena never… At least not that I… That was a while ago and only Autolycus… In bewilderment, I blurted, “Waitasecond. Are we talking about Xena?”
“Xena?! What does Xena have to do with this?!”
“Then…”
“Artemis!” she shouted. Her hands slapped down on my shoulders and I jerked in surprise and then grunted as her grip tightened. She shook me hard, making my head smack against the tree. “She tried to kiss you! She wouldn't let me do that. No, never that! She pushed me away! ‘Filth!' she said! ‘Slut!'”
“…stop…” I felt her blind rage barreling us out of control. The sackcloth did little to protect me; the bark bit into my skin as she repeatedly banged me against it.
“She didn't want me. I wasn't pure enough. But you… I see how she looks at you…” The woman sobbed and the shaking gradually stopped until I felt a pressure against my shoulder. She breathed against my skin, so close that her warm breath made my skin crawl. “Why doesn't she love me, Gabrielle?” Her hand cupped the side of my face with terrifying gentleness. “Why can't she love me?”
Her presence, hot and sweaty against me, our skin touching, I was overwhelmed. I wanted to get away. I wanted to be anywhere else but here. I was trapped with no way to get away and she was touching me and this close I felt myself irrationally reacting to it and I hated it, hated her, hated myself… “I don't know,” I said, my breathing hitching even as my eyes prickled with hot, damp, fearful tears. “Did… did she say she doesn't love you?”
“She didn't want me.” Her hand stroked my hidden cheek, over and over again, in a fretful caress. “A nymph can't know the touch of men. She didn't want me. No one wants me…”
A runnel of perspiration slid down my face.
“Don't you?” she murmured. “Couldn't you want me? You love them . Can't you love me, too?” The edge of the knife trailed across my belly.
Oh Gods. Xena, where are you? “I-Is it still love if you command it with violence?”
The weight of her head disappeared as she roared her anger and I felt myself wrenched forward and tossed to the ground again, bruising my shoulder. This was it. I'm going to die. In spite of the pain, I levered myself to my feet and immediately had them knocked out from under me. The hood was ripped from my head and for a moment I was paralyzed with joy, oblivious to the imminent danger; the cooler air was a godsend and I could only lie there feeling the most delicious breeze dry the sweat and tears from my face. It was brutally short lived. A fist buried in my hair and used my pain as leverage to force me upright until my head was bent back to meet a fierce pair of familiar eyes.
“Dimitra!”
The Amazon whom I'd thought sweet and kind (apparently I needed more work on discerning the nature of evil) sneered at me. Her eyes glared into mine and I gasped when they altered, flattened, contract into unnatural slits and an inner milky lid blinked across them. She hissed at me and, right before my eyes, the tip of her tongue flicked out across her lips, narrow and forked.
“No!” I jerked back in reflex, tears springing to my eyes when her grip in my hair tightened and prevented my escape.
The dark of her eyes silvered and glowed like moonlight, her skin paled even as it took on a rippling hint of scale—snake-like and cold. Had I any doubts before now, this would have ended them… Dimitra had the belt.
She bent me back further and I struggled to breathe, struggled with the fear that threatened to overwhelm me.
“You will love me!”
My vision exploded in a shower of light.
* * *
XXIX. Sticks and Stones
Unless they're halfway up a tree, Amazons can't run worth a damn. I was at least ten strides ahead of Eponin through the underbrush and Ephiny was even further behind her. Pulling back a little, I let them catch up to hear what I had to say.
“How many of them are there?” I asked Eponin.
“At least a hundred.”
I mulled it over. Sounded like the bulk of their group. Why? “Where are the slavers concentrating their attack; the southeast or northeast flank of the village?”
“Southeast,” she huffed, leaping over a half-buried rock.
“Good.” I thought for a moment as we sprinted along. “Take a group of your best archers and close-fighters and move in on their northwestern flank. My guess is we can push them back and they'll have to regroup around the river flats.”
Ephiny grinned. “Where they'll have to fight uphill with water at their backs.”
“Exactly.” I shook my head. “Doesn't make sense though—why attack in the day?”
Eponin grunted her agreement. “Slavers are usually less direct.”
“And less stupid.”
Ephiny concurred, her breathing starting to roughen with the effort to keep up with my longer stride.
I exhaled sharply in resignation. “But they're there and we've got to deal with them.” I caught Eponin's eye. “Take the northern path and collect your troops. We'll head through the center of the village and rally the main defenses there for a charge—wait for our signal.”
She nodded and raised her spear as she headed to the north. “Good luck.”
Ephiny and I continued along, straight for the center of the village. I felt her eyes on me, watching, appraising.
“What is it?” I demanded, not taking my eyes off the path ahead as we neared the outskirts.
“What are you thinking, Xena?”
“What?”
“After what we found back there—the staff, the blood—you're just going to turn back and help defend the village?”
The Regent was definitely good at her job. I sighed. “Whoever took her, took her alive—and they'll keep her that way.” At least for now , I thought, my insides going cold. “With any luck we'll get our hands on someone who'll know where she is, or who has her.”
Or they'll just beat her, torture her and then …
I tried to keep my mind free of the images but they kept coming. Leaving the trail and returning to the village was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do. Under normal circumstances, Gabrielle would be able to take care of herself—but what if I was wrong?
“I hope you're right.” Ephiny exhaled. “After all… she's your friend… but she's our—”
Before the Regent could finish, I dove at her. Her eyes widened, mouth falling open in surprise. “Xena, wait—” Then I had tackled her to the ground. A rush of air streaked through where her head once had been and something impacted hard with a nearby tree. Lifting our heads, we saw a heavy stone slump from the crater it had left in the oak's trunk and thump to the ground.
“Well, well,” a man's voice said. “Looks like the cavalry won't arrive after all.”
Seven ragged looking slavers stepped out from the underbrush, brandishing various weapons. One had a dangerous-looking sling loaded and spinning at his side. They quickly formed a circle around the two of us as we got to our feet and stood back-to-back.
Ephiny chuckled mirthlessly, unsheathing her sword. “I'm really starting to hate the holiday season…”
* * *
XXX. In the Name of Love
Shattered light rained down on us both like sparks and my cries joined hers as she struggled and bent and whipped about like a tree in a storm. Her fist in my hair convulsed and I fought her enhanced strength, no longer a thinking being, but a terrified animal mindlessly seeking escape and preservation.
“You'll love me! I'll make you love me!”
Light burned beneath her skin and I could see her struggling with the power, almost as much a victim to it as I was. Her eyes bulged monstrously and her skin marbled as the veins rose to distended prominence across her bare, sun-darkened skin.
“…Dimitra…” Whatever held her in its thrall, I couldn't get through to her.
Her other hand wrapped itself around my throat. “You'll love me and not her. She doesn't deserve to be loved.” Her grip tightened further. “I'll kill you first!”
“Kill me…” I gasped for air. “…you… can't force… my… heart…” Spots were prickling my vision. My thoughts reached for Xena even as my efforts to break free began to weaken.
The pressure ceased abruptly and I found myself on my belly, the throb of my blood howling in my ears. Gagging and wheezing, I laid there, tasting the dust and grass, unsure of what had happened.
Before I could orientate myself, Dimitra pushed me on my side; the fearsome signs of metamorphosis now vanished. Somehow Dimitra had regained control, but at the same time her stillness, the sudden calm, was even more frightening than before. “I won't kill you.” She leaned down over me and brushed her fingers along my face. “No. But if you don't convince the Amazons to denounce Artemis and worship me as their goddess instead, I'll kill them . I'll destroy them all. They're all here and in one move I'll crush the entire Nation as if it never was. The Amazons, Artemis, even Xena. I'll make you watch all of it. I'd rather us dead than worshipping her!”
Hundreds of women, hundreds of years of history and tradition, all proud and fierce and stubborn as stone… “I can't.” They accepted me reluctantly as it was. To attempt to force them to turn away from their beliefs… “They'd neve—”
“You will. Mia was right; Artemis is a self-centered, sanctimonious, two-faced windbag. She doesn't deserve the Amazons. We need better than her. I can be better than her. You make them love me or they die.”
She's insane. What am I going to do? My thoughts raced fruitlessly, panic setting in.
“What's it going to be, Gabrielle?”
What would Xena do? What would she come up with? If she were here…
The rules of survival… Xena's voice whispered in my mind. Number two: if you can't run—surrender, and then run.
In the face of such hard-earned and well-considered advice, I couldn't help but listen, especially considering the alternatives I was facing. On the one hand, she'd kill Xena along with the Amazons and their rightful goddess, or, on the other, likely my own gruesome death. The knife was sharp. Assuming she even bothered with it. I suspected she could make my death horribly painful without it. If that were the end of it, I could face dying, but there were no guarantees Dimitra wouldn't still try to wipe them out afterwards.
Which meant I had to get away to warn them. I made what was only partially a show of slumping in defeat. “I'll try.”
She stared at me angrily, suspiciously, as she pulled on her lower lip. “You'll do it.” The blood-stained tip of her knife stabbed at the soft grass. “You'll sacrifice Artemis during the ceremony. To prove you mean it.”
I opened my mouth to protest, but she added, quickly, “Remember; I can kill you all. I can.”
“I can't do it from here,” I reminded her, trying to keep my voice soft and calm, despite the barely discernable tremble in it. “You'll need to let me go.”
“Maybe I should carve the message in your skin and leave you at the edge of the village.”
The curve of her eyes sharpened, silvered, and I felt a wave of nausea come over me like it did before. I swallowed and wiggled, trying to break her focus before the surge of raw power wreaked its havoc again. “Let me go and talk to them, Dimitra. You said you wanted me to convince them.”
“Tell you what,” she countered. “How about I give you a head start?” Then Dimitra gave me a chilling smile devoid of the sunlight warmth glittering off her knife blade.
* * *
XXXI. Fight Club
Of all the many different variations on the theme of cutthroat ambush I've encountered through the years, you can really just boil them down into two types—well-timed and “not now.”
Sometimes a well-timed ambush by a bunch of trashy thugs is just what you need to get the juices flowing. Gods bless Gabrielle, but wandering around with the same person has its dry spots; things get stale and there are times when you feel like you're just waiting for something to begin. A brawl usually shakes things up nicely—and nine times out of ten it leads to some other kind of trouble. Funny how that always seems to happen …
The first thing I thought when I knew that rock was headed straight for Ephiny's head was: Not now … “Not now” ambushes happen when you're busy with something more urgent and important and you don't have the time to waste on a bunch of toothless, hairy types. Granted, this bunch was probably a part of the overall slaver attack, but Ephiny and I were still on the way to more pressing things and didn't have time for this.
“We don't have time for this,” the Regent muttered.
The fighting in these things didn't take all that long—especially if I had a little help—but the preamble ate up valuable time. These sorts liked a lot of buildup and they would want to trash-talk a little. Admittedly, during a well-timed ambush, I enjoyed it too—especially if you squared off against someone who was really good at it, like (as much as I hate to admit it) Ares for example. This wasn't a well-timed ambush, and these guys were certainly nothing like Ares, so, as I've said, things would have to be cut short.
The leader stepped up, passing to the left of the sling-twirler, ready to talk. “Well, well, well looks like we've got ourselves a couple of feisty ones.” He made his face “dangerous”-looking. “I wouldn't try anything, though, not with Fedris here.” He indicated the sling-wielder. “He's a master of the stone-thrower.”
On cue, Fedris stepped forward, twirling and spinning the sling over his shoulder and under his legs. I have to hand it to him, he was pretty good.
The leader thought so too. “Behold the skill, the precision, the mastery of—”
Before he could finish, I hurled the chakram at “Slingy.” The blade struck the leather of the sling, neatly cutting it as it was arcing back toward its user. The stone came free and slammed into the guy's face. He fell back onto the forest floor, out cold.
I saw Ephiny charge into battle as I flipped into the midst of the slack-jawed batch of slavers. These guys really needed to work on their reaction time. I suppose several blows to the head wouldn't help with that, but under the circumstances it couldn't be avoided. That's what these guys get for starting a “not now” ambush.
Soon we had them all nice and incapacitated and, after tying them up (more wasted time we couldn't afford) we made our way into the village. Some smoke was visible from beyond the line of huts. The sounds of battle could be heard to the southeast and we sprinted for them. Thankfully, Ephiny remained quiet.
We arrived at the rear of the battle, just as an Amazon charge led by Solari had begun. Arrows hailed upon the blurry line of slavers, followed by a thrust from the spear-maidens who quickly gained ground. By the looks of things, the slavers weren't doing so well.
Ephiny made herself known to some of the war leaders and soon a scout had run over to us. She nodded to us both. “Eponin's group is in position and waiting for your command,” she said.
Ephiny shrugged. “By the looks of things we may not need to out-flank them.” She pointed to several lines of Amazon warriors still waiting to engage the enemy. “It looks like it's going to be a rout.”
None of this made sense. It was a distraction of some kind, but from what?
“Ephiny!” Solari came running in from the front lines. “They've called for a lull in the fighting.”
The Regent looked to me with a quizzical expression. I shrugged. “A what?” she asked.
“They say it's not a truce, or surrender.” Solari looked skeptical. “They have terms.”
I smirked. “I've got to hear this.”
We moved to the front of the battle lines, passing through the war-ready Amazons, most looking none the worse for wear. Standing across from us as we parted the warriors was the slaver contingent—three ragged and now bruised looking men. All around, the slavers were moving their dead and injured off the field. Whoever was behind all of this had this bunch paid enough to face off against the Amazons outnumbered at least seven-to-one—that, or scared them enough to do so.
Ephiny stood at the point of a wedge that had Solari and me at her flanks. She crossed her arms. “We're here to listen to these terms of yours,” she said—very nicely, I might add; with the perfect mix of haughtiness and condescension.
The slaver spat then shouted. “We ask that you release to us our leader then we will leave you in peace.”
“Your leader?” Ephiny tilted her head. “Who in Zeus' name is your leader?”
But I knew who he meant…
“Autolycus,” he yelled to the cheers of the rest of his men.
* * *
XXXII. There's Always A Catch…
I panted as I continued my headlong sprint through the blinding sunbeams and over the uneven terrain. I rubbed the angry, red abrasions on my wrists, now free of the rope. “‘More sporting this way,' she says,” I muttered under my breath as I duck under a branch.
“Keep going, Gabrielle! I can still hear you!”
I cursed to myself, saving my breath for a harder push forward. My muscles burned with the effort and my mouth was as dry as the dust my boots kicked up in my wake. A bush exploded in flame next to me and I flinched aside from its heat, the young leaves and green wood giving off a thick, bitter smoke.
“You're making this too easy!”
A tree to my left exploded in a shower of bark and splinters, and I threw my arms up over my face praying I wouldn't be impaled on the spot. Somehow it shouldn't surprise me that I was barely touched by the flying debris as I ran past; it would ruin the chase, after all.
I veered in another direction, slightly away from where I knew the village to be, hoping to tack back and forth to avoid getting singed by her instant bonfires or speared by flying trees.
A rock tripped me up—one I could swear wasn't there a moment before—and I sprawled to my hands and knees, my skin stinging from the impact. There was no time to feel it; I scrambled to my feet and tried to continue. Branches reached for me and I could feel them raking over my bare back as I ducked low beneath them. If she keeps this up, there's going to be nothing left of me by the time I reach the village.
I'd gladly sacrifice myself if it meant that Xena—and the others—would be safe, but I knew that's not an option I could consider. If I don't warn them, we'll never have a chance. But I needed a plan. Unfortunately, the only one I could think of right now was to survive Dimitra's little game of cat-and-mouse until I could get back to Xena. If we played along for just a little while—
The gully full of last season's dead leaves rose up around me just as I made to leap over it. A growling wind churned into a whirling dervish, the edges of the leaves and the kicked up grit biting at my skin, choking me. I cried out before I could stop myself.
“This will be such a fun game. Better not let me catch you; you won't like it if I do…”
Laughter echoed through the forest and over the scream of the wind. My eyes, wind-stung and tearing, were useless and I stumbled into trees and over jutting roots, desperate to keep going, to get as much distance between us as I could before—
“ Time's up, Gabrielle,” her voice carried to me. “Here I come…”
I fell into a muddy, water-starved creek and splashed my way across, harried by the winds and the prick and sting of dirt and twigs. Her words sliced to the core of my fear, and my heart throbbed with renewed terror.
“…Here I come,” she sang again. “Ready or not.”
* * *
XXXIII. Couldn't Stand the Weather
The slavers continued clanking sword against shield, spear against spear, all the while shouting for Autolycus; their “leader.” The Amazons stood firm in their formations, but a tension was building; I could see their knuckles tighten around their weapons. Clouds gathered in the sky, a storm building quickly over the village.
Impatiently, Ephiny pulled Solari and me into a huddle. I shook my head, indicating the slavers. “Autolycus isn't their leader.”
“I know.” The Regent nodded. “Maybe he took the belt, but this doesn't seem like his style.”
I scowled at Ephiny, my anger peaking quickly. “He didn't take the belt, either.” I crossed my arms and stepped forward. “I wish you would get it through that thick, bushy, Amazon head of yours.”
Ephiny didn't back down. She pointed a finger in my face. “Maybe you'd like to try and make me?”
There have been times, in the past especially, where I have been so angry that I actually saw red. I know you hear every second tavern tough-guy from here to Damascus say that they “just see red” and then all Tartarus breaks loose—but I'm telling the truth. I can't explain why, but it's happened, although not in a very long time. That's why it was odd that it was happening then, and because of what Ephiny had said. I was about ready to snap the Regent's arm like a twig—and for what? It must have been that damn belt again; its influence waxed and waned, each time growing in intensity. It was becoming hard to resist.
Solari stepped in, looking to soothe the situation. “Uhm, so, what about the slavers?”
I stepped back and exhaled, and Ephiny did the same. She looked to me with a grimace. “What do you think?”
“Eponin is still in position.” I shrugged. “Finish this.”
Ephiny nodded, sneering at me. “Looks like we actually agree on something.”
Storm clouds swirled overhead, blocking out sunlight. The Regent moved back to the front of the lines. “We reject your offer, prepare for battle,” she yelled at the slavers and moved back into position.
Thunder crashed above, the storm coming upon us with a strange intensity. The slavers reluctantly dragged their sorry behinds into position and tried to look ready, all the while passing unsure glances from the solid Amazon lines to the darkening skies. I drew my sword and fell into place alongside Solari.
It would be a huge waste of time to describe the battle in great detail. I'm not a big fan of that sort of thing anyway. I mean, war is so chaotic and one has to remain so focused that it's hard to remember and catalog every little thing that goes on. Too many times there are things you'd rather forget anyway.
What there was of this battle was straightforward and not of note. We pushed the slavers back with charge after charge, scattering them to the river flats with Eponin's attack. Archers let loose from the banks, felling many who spilled into the mud or the shallows. From the flats the slavers retreated into the water and across to the other side, which was probably for the best as they wouldn't have lasted too long had they stood their ground.
The Amazons celebrated and tended to what wounded and dead they had. Ephiny and Eponin moved off to supervise the clean-up, clasping hands and hugging with many of their sisters. I didn't share the enthusiasm; I had only one thing on my mind—finding Gabrielle.
We had wasted a lot of time with this attack and I tried not to worry about what that might have meant. Keeping the hundreds of possible horrors that might have happened to her was impossible, so I let them flash by and fade, one after another until I could focus on the task at hand. More thunder and lightning clashed above, and the air became ripe with the smell of rain. I needed to get back to the woods and resume the search for her, time was wasting.
Ephiny approached, looking as intense as always. I felt bad about earlier, so I started to work myself up for an apology. “Ephiny I—”
“Shawna is leading a large mob back to the village.” She seemed ambivalent about it.
“I'm sorry to hear that.” I shook my head. “But what's that got to do with me?”
“They're going after Autolycus.”
“What?”
She crossed her arms. “And they're pretty worked up about it, too.”
“I hate that damn belt!” I growled. “Come on.”
I sprinted past the stunned-looking Amazon warriors and headed straight for the village. Ephiny fell in beside me. “Don't do anything stupid,” she huffed.
I tried to stay focused. “Only if they don't.” I motioned ahead to the large crowd gathering outside the jail. They had spears raised and were shouting at the two guards who were doing their best to keep everyone at bay.
I pushed my way to the front of the crowd, having to get rough with a few people. With any luck, that would be the extent of everything. Ephiny shoved her way into place beside me. I put my hands up for silence and reluctantly, they complied.
“What's the meaning of this?” I demanded, looking straight at Shawna.
She raised her chin in that defiant manner all Amazons seem to have perfected. “You heard the slavers; the thief is their leader.” She turned to address the mob. “He needs to be punished for his crimes against Artemis! For the Amazon deaths—the deaths of our friends, our sisters—the deaths his men have caused!”
Cheers roared and the crowd surged forward. I pushed back, managing to stagger a group of Amazons away from the front of the jail. With a lunge, I brought myself face-to-face with Shawna. “You'll have to go through me to do it.” I turned to the crowd. “All of you.”
Thunder slammed and clattered in the heavens. Ephiny stepped up beside me. “You'll need to go through both of us.”
Shawna narrowed her eyes and tensed. I shook my head. “Don't even think about it.”
Her breath stopped abruptly and before she could attack, I had grabbed her arm and spun it behind her back. With a quick pivot and thrust, I slammed her head into the side of the prison. I let her go and she slumped to the ground in a daze.
I tensed my fists, cracking my knuckles loudly, and looked out at the mob. “Who's next?” Ephiny remained where she was, ready for anything. With some grumbling and without apology, the soon crowd parted, spreading out through the village.
I turned to Ephiny. “Thanks.”
“The Queen wished Autolycus unharmed, I was merely doing her bidding.” The Regent was stone-faced and formal.
I scowled. “You still think he has the belt, don't you?”
“He is the King of Thieves .”
“Look, I don't have time to waste.” I motioned to the jail. “Why don't we go in there and ask him?”
We entered the jail as the skies continued to boom. I led the way through the neat, though somewhat cramped corridor. Before we got to the cell I knew something was amiss.
Ephiny sighed as she looked into Autolycus' prison. “Gone.” She nodded as if it wasn't much of a surprise.
“I'm gonna kill him.” I couldn't believe it. “Of all the times to break out, he picks now?”
Ephiny shook her head. “We can't bother chasing him, Gabrielle is—”
“My problem,” I finished. “You need to stay here and make sure things are under control.” I looked to her. “The slavers could come back and that belt is only going to make things worse.”
“Fine.”
“Look, Ephiny, I'm—”
She silenced me. “Just find Gabrielle.”
I smiled and nodded once. The thunder rattled the roof overhead and I rolled my eyes. “What else could possibly go wrong?”
Suddenly, there was the sound of something hitting the roof. Then another something. Then another. Soon, there was the steady sound of many of these somethings crashing against the roof and ground outside. It sounded like falling rain, only heavier. We raced to the door of the jail to look outside. Our mouths fell open.
Falling from the skies in an endless and impossible torrent, were thousands of large toads. I shook my head in disbelief. “Remind me to never ask that question again…”
* * *
XXXIV. Mind Games
I was staggering, falling from the support of one tree trunk to the momentary brace of another. …so tired… My hair, wind-whipped and soaking, fell in my eyes and I scraped it back as I paused, trembling, to get my bearings.
I could barely tell where I was, having run blind or been forced off course by Dimitra's elemental pranks. Except for the sound of my heavy breathing, the woods were deathly silent. A poor choice of words, if ever I picked them.
“Do you know fear has a smell?” Dimitra's voice was everywhere, carried on some divine breeze filling the spaces between the trees. “I can smell your fear, Gabrielle…”
I shivered.
“…it's delicious. ”
My eyes desperately searched the horizon, but nothing seemed familiar and with the heavy green canopy overhead, I couldn't even get a bearing on the angle of the sun. She'd catch me for certain if I tried to climb a tree for a look.
“I'm going to love watching you betray your friends. Seeing Artemis' surprise and shock when her precious ‘chosen one' hands her over is going to be almost as satisfying as when I start pulling her guts out of her belly.”
My jaw clenched. I didn't particularly appreciate her effort at prophecy.
“Her wonderful Gabrielle, whom she loves so dearly. Can you imagine?” Dimitra chortled. “I can't wait to see her face.”
There was no way to tell how close she was to me. As quietly as I could, I hunkered down and began moving with greater stealth from tree to tree, boulder to bush, concentrating on trying to control my emotions. Focus, I reminded myself. You can't think if you're panicking. Not an easy thing to do under the circumstances.
“She loves you so much.” Dimitra's voice became harder. “Gods know why, cuz I sure as Hades don't get the attraction.”
Me neither. Artemis' interest, while flattering, was utterly bewildering. But I wasn't about to say that out loud. I pressed my back against a broad trunk and peered cautiously around its edge. The trees were thinning out here, which was surely a bad sign; none of this looked familiar. I can't believe I'm lost. What do I do now? I had to stay calm. If she thought she could smell me before… I sniffed. Gods, I could practically smell myself. Yuck. C'mon! I admonished myself. This was no time to lose concentration.
The ground beneath me began to quake and the trees groaned at the roots; a low, cracking noise that made the hair on my stand up in rigid attention. I lunged to my feet just as the tree behind me shuddered, its roots erupting, tentacle-like, from the ground to latch onto my arms and legs.
“NO!” I struggled wildly, barely managing to free one hand when more roots grabbed me and yanked me to the ground. Laughter filled the air, echoing hollowly through the woods.
“Stop fighting me, Gabrielle.”
“Go to Tartarus! Ughff!” The roots tightened across my chest and suddenly I found it difficult to breathe.
“Tsk, tsk.” She was there, above me, smiling down with a kind of malicious intensity that made my skin crawl. “Where're your manners?”
“…wasted… on you…”
Dimitra's eyes narrowed. I didn't miss the obsessive way her thumb scraped over the blade of her knife. In an instant she was hovering over me, intimately close, her hazel eyes lightening to a colorless hue and glinting with an almost metallic sheen. “I was willing to give you a chance.”
I wrenched at my bonds, frustrated, fearful and angry. “I was running,” I reminded her.
“No, you weren't!” She straddled me on her hands and knees, her body and mine separated only by the thick interlacing of roots covering my body. “You went to ground like some terrified rabbit. What kind of queen are you?” Her face twisted with contempt, the expression made all the more unnerving by the unnatural glow of her eyes.
“Evasion isn't going to ground,” I spat through clenched teeth. The harder I fought, the tighter the roots squeezed me. I had no choice but to relax. “Mindlessly running away isn't always more effective.”
“I still caught you!” she charged.
“By cheating!” I shot back.
“Shut up!”
“What kind of Amazon are you ?” I taunted her. “Can't even track a peasant girl without using your powers?”
She growled deep in her throat and for a moment I thought she would abandon her plans altogether for the chance to bury her knife in my throat. Dimitra regained control of herself, just barely—I could see the edges of that metamorphosis threatening again and somewhere, off in the distance, I thought I could hear a rumble, like thunder. “I caught you,” she said softly, ignoring my comment. “That means I get to say. I think we need to up the stakes here.”
Oh no. Why couldn't I keep my mouth shut?
“Yeah,” she continued. “I caught you, so now I think we should make this a bit harder. Let's make you earn your feathers, my queen. ”
My breath caught. “What do you mean?” I demanded through numbed lips.
“I mean I think we should make things a bit more challenging. Yeah.” She nodded, thinking. “You have to denounce Artemis and get the others to accept me without telling them why. If you tell them, I'll kill everyone before your eyes. Slowly. And I'll let them know it's all your fault.”
An icy chill swamped me even as my heart lurched in my chest. It would have been a struggle before, but now it would be impossible. “Dimitra…” I barely knew how to begin to protest this newest restriction. The light around us began to fade, swallowed by encroaching shadow.
Her smile made me feel distinctly unsafe. “Wouldn't it be better to love me? I could be so good to you if you loved me.”
I couldn't pull away from her hand no matter how hard I tried, and I was forced to endure the sickening tickle of her fingertips gliding along my exposed skin. “Don't,” I told her, my breath faltering. “Please, Dimitra; stop.”
She yanked her hand back and glared at me, her teeth bared. “Stop. No. Don't.” She pressed a hand to her temple and rocked to one side, as if in pain. “It's always no! Why? Why not?! Why not me?!?” Her voice rose with each exclamation, her pain and rage etched across sharpening features.
“Dimitra…”
She screamed and it felt as though something inside my own head were being ripped apart, forcing my voice to join hers. Violent light pierced her skin, blinding us, and the thunder rumbled again. I could hear the whip-slap rustle of the leaves and branches overhead as things heavy and wet smacked hard against the unyielding earth. The sound of the sky ripping itself apart above us filled my ears, the lightning flashing like an extension of her fury.
Dimitra fell on me and crawled forward until she could press her forehead to mine. “You're mine,” she gasped. “You'll always be mine. Love me, Gabrielle… I want you to love me… Only me…”
My body arced even in the confines of the roots as ragged power surged through me, thick and viscous, like sludge.
--love me… it sighed through my veins, poisonous and cold.
I moaned and struggled, trying to avoid the blazing eyes that burned into mine even behind my clenched lids.
--worship me…
Her tears scalded my skin as she wept, her hands cradling my face. “Give yourself to me, Gabrielle,” she begged, her words hitching as the power washed through us both. “Love me… please, I want you to…”
It stabbed through me and I shrieked again.
“…yes…” she mumbled, her eyes falling shut. “…almost… I can feel it… your love…”
It moved through me, into me until even my soul trembled as her power threatened to steal my soul, consume my sense of self and rob me of my will. I battled to hang on, to find some shred of self, some moment or memory to cling to.
“Your love,” she panted, “it's so beautiful… I can make you… love me…”
--give yourself to it…
The power flashed again, burning, searing.
I writhed inside, clinging to what she wanted, until finally the pain was so great it was simply easier to surrender myself to it, to give myself to what she wanted…
…and then everything was fine. Very fine, I realized, as the invasive battering faded as she felt my acquiescence.
After a time, my eyes blinked open and I watched her for a moment, her face pale and tear-stained. The weather raged around us, but we were left untouched. It didn't seem important to me right then.
“…love me…” Dimitra pleaded through her quiet sobs.
I rubbed my cheek against her palm and watched her startled eyes flutter open. Carefully I examined her face, seeing the fine spray of freckles across her skin, the deep auburn tint of her lashes and the flecks of faded green and brown nearly hidden behind the silvered discs of her eyes. Such terrible beauty.
“Love you,” I answered and witnessed the dawning joy in her gaze.
* * *