Amazon Judgment

The Never Ending Quest - Episode 10722

Early in the morning, Fred was given a plate of soup, some bread and a cup of cold, clear water. He was then left alone. At midday, a guard looked in on him and then left. She said not a word and offered him no more food. Fred noticed that she had a strange look on her face. Again, some hours later, another guard came. She too said nothing, but she gazed at Fred as if... well he wasn't sure why she was staring at him. He only hoped these amazons weren't cannibals. But since they obviously weren't trying to fatten him up, he felt he was safe from that particularly nasty fate. When the sun began to set and long shadows crept across the floor of his cell, two more women entered the prison room. This time they brought food. Not much, but something was better than nothing and Fred was quite famished. Again he noticed that the women were staring at him, they seemed to be sizing him up. But why? For what? He caught one of the women saying to the other, "He doesn't look like much. It's hard to believe what they say about him." And then they left.

The next morning Fred was surprised to see Queen Astra enter the room. A handmaiden by her side carried his meager breakfast. The door to his cage was opened and the maiden placed the dish on the floor. Astra bid her to wait outside and then sat on a bench outside of the cage.

"Is something going on that I should know about?" Fred asked as he picked up his plate. "As a matter of fact, yes," the Queen answered. Fred didn't like the tone of her voice. It was not very encouraging. "Do you know where you are?" the Queen asked. Fred wasn't quite sure what she meant, but answered, "In the nation of Aqualaria, home of the Amazons." Astra nodded, "And do you understand what your place is here?" Fred grimaced at her, "Oh, I think I do."

Astra stood up and walked the length of the jail room, speaking as she went. "You are angry, filled with hate for me and my people. I do not blame you. But neither do I care. What you feel, what you think, is meaningless. You are here and you are at our mercy. If you try to escape, you will die. If you try to make trouble, you will die. Unless you do what you are told, you will die."

Fred threw the half empty plate at her. It bounced with a crash against the bars of his cell. "Then kill me and be done with it!" he yelled at her.

She looked at him, like the others had. Appraising him, judging him. And then she said, "If only it were that simple. But you held the Stone of Destiny in your hands. And that has changed everything. But you are still a man, and we have laws concerning men." Upon the wall opposite of Fred's cell hung a bullwhip. Astra took it down. She turned to Fred. "There are those who say you should be sacrificed before another day dawns. That you are a threat to everything we have built here. But there are others who say that the Elementals have sent you as an envoy, to do that which we have been unable to do." Astra cracked the whip loudly and Fred jumped back from his bars. "What do you think?" she asked him.

"I think the Dragon left me here as a cruel punishment for my attempt at entering its lair," Fred answered.

Astra cracked the whip again, louder this time. "What you think is meaningless," she said. She placed the whip back on its peg. "Since yesterday, the Atha'den have been in council. I have come to you today to hand you over to our judgment." Fred had no idea who or what the Atha'den were, but he'd be damned if he'd let savage warrior women pass judgment on him. The Queen of the Amazons clapped her hands and the door to the jail room opened. Three warriors entered. They opened Fred's cell and grabbed him. His struggles against them were useless. They dragged him out of the room. "Where are you taking me?!" Fred yelled at Astra.

"The Atha'den, the immortal warriors you call Amazons, have deferred your fate to the Elementals. You are to be faced with the four trials. If you survive them then it will be accepted as the will of the Elementals that your purpose here is to aid us against our enemies."

  1. Fred versus Earth, Wind, Fire and Water. Zerm and Myrddin versus the Shedayphin. MalBoncton versus the Atha'den. When the dust clears, who'll be left standing?
  2. And whatever happened to the African Swallow?
  3. Fred is prepared for the Trials
  4. Something startling happens.

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WolfRun

6/29/2000 1:48:10 PM

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