Astra went through her morning ritual of sword exercises for the twentieth
time, imagining the face of an enemy as she sheathed her blade in yet another....imaginary
enemy. This time, it was that damn were-jackal who had....crippled the
man she had grown to love and admire!
Wiping perspiration from her brow, the warrior maiden sheaths her sword
and stares up at the eerie faces on the cliff sides. Her mood is as dark
as the gathering clouds overhead.
By Minerva! the amazon swears for the umpteenth time. If I'd
only been a hair faster with my sword, I'd.....been able to distract that
beast.....and my love would still be whole!
The warrior maiden recalls how.....terribly angered Fred had sounded
as he had thrown his sword at the attacking jackal. She was still in awe
at the strength of the blow, and disgusted that she hadn't thought to kill
the beast before it freed itself from the blade. For all she knew, the
fell creature had survived, despite appearance to the contrary. Something
about that beast was.....eerie. The way it had gone after Alicia was ....almost
like it had known her. All the same, the fierceness that Fred had shown
in battle had made the warrior princess stand up and take notice.
"What does this all mean?" Astra murmurs to herself. She remembers the
prophets she had consulted before embarking on her disastrous quest to
slay the dragon of the Northern Caves. Now, it seemed like this was a journey
for changes.....not only for Fred.....but herself. She was learning that.....made
her skin crawl. About warfare so widespread and destructive, that even
the most devout follower of Mars would tremble in awe....and disgust!
Three of the prophets had given off contradictory readings. It was like
they were giving readings for her....but not her. She still couldn't understand
any of it, so confused were the readings. The most reliable prophetess
however....now made sense! Too late, it made sense!
"Prepare!" the pale, shaking face of the prophetess shrieked. "Quick
though! The wyrm plans....to....." The old woman then screamed in absolute
horror....and had died of fright! It was like she'd ....seen the end of
the world.
Astra now understood now. In a sense, the prophetess HAD seen the end
of the world. Little remained of the old world, and the new one......was
a waking nightmare sometimes! If only she'd understood! If only the damn
woman hadn't died before giving a clearer message.
Astra had gone into the lair, and been captured! She should have taken
an army! If she'd done that......then.......
Now, it was too late, but now she needed to keep herself from falling
apart, and.....with a miracle.....Will would live and be whole again.
After Fred had been whisked away, the dragon had chuckled as it had
removed the clothing and weaponry left behind. A spell caused the items
to fly to various parts of the cavern....out of sight and out of reach
of the despondent warrior princess.
"Well now," chuckled the dragon as he resumed full dragon form. "That
takes care of that little annoyance.....and fixes an annoying problem as
well. Which is too bad for you, since I was toying with the idea of sending
you to fix the problem."
Astra remains silent, but frowns. What in Hades is this damn lizard
talking about?
"Now you are doomed....like the rest of your race," the wyrm chuckled.
"I'm afraid you are going to join the ranks of the saber tooth and the
Cromag man, little morsel. But not to worry! The end will come quiet quickly....almost
painless.....really. Just transport a few hundred gifts hither and yon......."
The dragon's hulking body started to shake with rich laughter, then
the dark dragon screamed in agony as a small, feathered shaft protruded
from it's breast. Astra watched in amazement as the wyrm proceeded to become
VIOLENTLY ill, and retched up it's last five meals.
A figure had dashed out, cut her chains, and together had ran a nightmare
race as the vengeful dragon had turned back..... Will had used his last
arrow to distract the dragon enough to free her, and together they had
escaped death from Minestus. Latter, that very same day.....her family
was dead. She had tried to rally what little remained of the defense forces,
but.....when days latter.....Duke Drederigo D'Honaire and his forces came
in to crush and subdue all that was left of her beloved country.
Defeated on the field of battle, the only strategically sane thing
to do was to retreat and try to regroup. However, the Duke's forces proved
to be too swift for the injured Amazons.....and they had been slaughtered.
Amazons always having been an affront to the damn Duke, he had personally....along
with a selected handful of his best hunters, had tracked her down. With
Will by her side, she had seen him in battle....and had......come to see
him as an equal......then as something possibly more than a mere comrade
in arms. Though it made her sound as silly as a swooning woman in an idiot
bard's tale, she'd come to.....love the dashing young man who'd saved her
time after time...and who'd she'd saved from death time after time on that
field of battle.
Then, almost out of strength and cornered in a small valley, Willian
had made a blessed discovery. It was a Slipgate, still intact and functional!
Desperate and hearing the hounds nearing, Will had tapped out....his favorite
waltz onto the rocks, and both were whisked away to be captured by pirates
and eventually to meet Fred and the Pack. Astra had given thanks to Zeus
and all the gods and goddess of the pantheon for her delivery and the amazing
luck Will had had. Entering a wrong code could have very well sealed their
doom. Things from merging with the ground, to suddenly finding oneself
out in the deep sea with no boat were some of the more mild things that
could happen. Ending up in a monsters lair.....was yet another possible
end.
"Athena," Astra prayed to the god of wisdom. "Grant me insight into
how to save my husband.....please!"
Noise rolled in the Channel, and Astra blinks in surprise. It was almost
like.....the gods had heard her?
-
 However, the truth of the
matter is......
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