Amazonia

  "I swear to Hades, the people here in Bukhara couldn't carry a tune if you handed them a bucket."

  Standing beside Amazonia in the darkness within the entrance to the Ghash-Kimil temple, Prince Timur chuckled. Behind them were her Wardogs, except for Fenris and Fox, along with the prince’s other two Bloodguards and the company of Khanda swordsmen. Everyone spoke only in whispers so they wouldn't give the group away, should someone walk by, but so far the temple district had been empty.

  Because they were off celebrating with the rest of the city. Right beyond the wall, drunken voices were singing the same song Az had heard at least a dozen times, these singers even more off-key, with other voices farther away singing along with horns and drums. Each group seemed to be trying to out-sing the others. Even farther off, the mages were throwing up massive illusions of Daemo monsters fighting mock battles while other illusions streaked across the sky like comets.

  Prince Timur stared out at the gaudy display, stroking his beard. "I was thinking. If the boy Greywolf had not stolen a kiss off that girl, you and I would likely be out there as well, drinking wine and laughing at the idiots of Bukhara instead of guarding our way out of here."

  Amazonia gave him an amused snort. "You would, my prince. I'd be trying to keep Troll from doing something incredibly stupid." Claws clicking on the paving stones were coming closer. "Everyone get ready, Fenris returns."

  Prince Timur went into a fighting stance, while behind her metal clinked and leather rustled as the others did the same. A moment later, Fenris' armored, man-wolf shape bounded out of the darkness. "Domina," he growled, "archers and spearmen just went through temple gate. They head towards building."

  "Did Castor go off to warn Kula?"

  "Yes, Domina."

  Fenris joined her other Wardogs while Prince Timur began giving orders in their tongue to the Khanda sword-leaders behind him. His warriors began forming two columns, one on either side of the passage with a wide space between, as he turned back around. "It would seem the Lich Cermet spoke the truth."

  "The dead never lie, Prince Timur." Cermet's voice never rose above a bone dry whisper, yet everyone heard it loud as a shout, judging from the fearful looks and shudders as Amazonia turned with the prince to face her. Cermet was covered head to foot by a black robe with long sleeves covering her hands, a deep cowl covering her face, and shouldn't have been the least bit frightening. Yet fear clung to her like cheap perfume on an Illyrian alley-walker as her voice whispered like dry leaves over gravestones. "Tell me, Amazonia, have you ever been a leader of men?"

  Az grasped the hilt of the Rune sword hanging from her belt, its touch giving her confidence as she shrugged. "When I was a girl in the rebellion against the Etruscan empire, I dreamed of one day commanding my own company of javelins. The slave collar they slapped around my neck quickly destroyed that dream."

  Along with every other hope and dream I had, but I'm not telling her about those, even if she asks. Standing beside Amazonia, Prince Timur growled, "Why should that matter?"

  "Because the dead fight better with someone to lead them. I can raise a thousand corpses from the charnel pits underneath this temple and give them orders to fight, but it would be like commanding the drunken fools staggering on the streets outside the temple district. However, commanded by a true Reaver Knight, they will fight like men defending their home. All that is needed is for Amazonia to complete the ritual the Daemo, who forged her Rune sword, began."

  Unease broke past the sword granted confidence as Troll snarled, "What're you talking about, undead bitch? Domina’s no false knight."

  "Then why is her blade black and not grey? Where are the runes of Shadow?"

  Amazonia gripped the hilt hard. "Lady Jhadra never said anything about the ritual being incomplete."

  "Had she told you what the full ritual entailed, you might not have gone through with it, even to win your freedom. The ritual involves two parts: first, a Daemo sorceress transmutes the blade and binds the Chaldeans, and then a necromancer, or a Lich under a necromancer's control, performs a second transmutation linking the knight to the Shadowlands."

  Keep breathing, Az. Nobody can force you into doing something you don't want to do. "Maybe Lady Jhadra didn't know about the second part."

  "If she is the same Jhadra spoken of in the lore I studied in Tesiphon, she learned to create true Reaver Knights from Tanit herself, a necromancer who developed the technique based on knowledge gained after the Prince’s War. The lore teaches how Tanit drained the few remaining Daemo-mana crystals, the ones that the last Prince had brought with him from the Underworld, to create several true Reaver Knights for Hammurabi, the Babylonian king. He used them to conquer all the city-states of Mesopotamia and create an empire. And when the Babylonia empire fell, Tanit allied with Ba'al of Carthago and helped him in the creation of Shadowmen."

  Titan told a different story about the Reaver Knights of Babylonia being first, and Shadow Knights, which has to be what Cermet’s talking about, coming later. "Lady Jhadra knew Titan as an old enemy," the Nomads said in unison.

  Amazonia nodded reluctantly as Prince Timur stroked his beard. "Let me make some assumptions and anyone tell me if I'm wrong. Odds are good that this sorceress..." He looked at her. "Jhadra?" Amazonia nodded and he went on. "That Jhadra's the same one from long ago, which means she knew exactly what the ritual needed to be complete. Obviously she was working for the Sasnayams, who wanted Az to stop my people from raiding their eastern border. Now, a Reaver Knight and her Wardogs are tough, but wouldn't be more than a thorn in our paw. However, a Reaver Knight leading a thousand of the dead? That's a different story."

  Prince Timur was building a house of straw around the lies Az had told him, and she knew a wrong word from Cermet would blow it all away. "Lys mentioned this plot, and in truth I must tell you, I never heard a whisper of it before this." Amazonia went still as the stone blocks around her as the body underneath her black robe shrugged. "However, something this sensitive Ghash-Kimil would have kept close to their breast, so your assumption is likely correct."

  Breathe, Az, just breathe. Cermet continued. "Ghash-Kimil would have likely been the one to complete the ritual, and brought every priest they could spare from across the empire to Bukhara. Prince Timur, it would not have been a thousand dead. All the dead of Bukhara would have risen up... and Amazonia would have led them over the bridge and across the plains until they reached your encampment."

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  "The people are warriors of great courage," the Bloodguard Argat said. "We would've defeated them."

  Cermet chuckled. "The first wave, yes. However, Amazonia as their general would have fallen back to the city, while Ghash-Kimil and their priests prepared the next."

  His other Bloodguard, Bogen, shuddered. "The Great Khan isn't the man he once was. Instead of attacking, he would've had us migrate away from Bukhara."

  "On the cusp of winter," Argat snarled. He whipped his arm towards the celebration beyond the district's walls. "I for one would like to see the dead rise up against them, and see how they like it."

  "I can make that happen... if Amazonia agrees."

  Hades' hairy eyeballs, this isn't what I signed on for. "I'm not agreeing to this yet, but assume I do so. What happens?"

  "The second transmutation links the Rune sword to the Grey, granting you the ability to draw upon it and become a Shadow Knight, as some call them, able to speak with the dead and lead any number of them into battle. As a Shadow Knight, you will be stronger and far faster than you are now, yet more fragile, dissolving into the Grey as a Shadow creature should you be killed."

  Amazonia’s eyes narrowed. "You're saying that, if I die, I'll become trapped in the Shadowlands forever?"

  "Perhaps. The lore tells of a Shadow-walker named Ghostdog who rescued one such trapped Shadow Knight and brought him back to the real world."

  "What happened to him?"

  Cermet shrugged again. "He wept at being returned to life and could not be consoled, though the lore does not say why. But he did return to his duty and kept at it until the Rune sword finally shattered and set him free."

  "Oh, that's a comfort."

  Dancer chuckled at the sarcastic edge to her voice. "Domina, Fox will never be the Shadow-walker this legendary Ghostdog was, but didn't you ever wonder why Jhadra included her among us?"

  "I..." Bells of Hades, he could be right. "Okay, you've got a point, but how would you find me?"

  "The Rune sword left behind would act as a lodestone and show the way. So, Amazonia, are you ready to complete the ritual and become what you are meant to be?" Az hesitated, not really wanting to do this if she could figure a way out. Cermet went on. "If it helps, I have been speaking with Antonius, the spirit of your sword, and he tells me that transmuting him again will help you get your revenge on the Sasnayams even faster." Her chuckle was dry as grave dust. "He reminds me of a chattering bird. He told me all about the both of you, the original mission, everything."

  She knows. If Timur realizes I've lied to him, everything comes crashing down on our heads. Amazonia turned towards the prince as he clapped his hand on her shoulder. "Az, what I'm going to ask you to do is evil, but if you will accept this second transmutation, I will owe you. A lot." He let go of me and turned towards Cermet. "Will she become this Shadow Knight permanently if she accepts?"

  "The lore teaches that she can return to being her normal self whenever she wants. But know this: what you do as a Shadow Knight you will always remember. Always."

  Amazonia hesitated, afraid of what the transformation might do to her and worse, what Titan might do when he found out. But then she got a strong sensation from the sword, a longing to complete the ritual and become what Jhadra had intended all along. It was almost like she could hear Antonius’ voice saying, Az, you did swear to obey Timur in all things. Amazonia closed her eyes for a moment, unsure if she should fight this feeling or not, and Antonius seemed to add, The Etruscans took your dreams away, yet I can give them back…and not just a commander of javelins. You will be a general leading an army. Her eyes snapped open. "Alright, what do I have to do?"

  "Follow me into the inner chamber."

  Cermet turned around and began walking deeper inside the pyramid as Amazonia faced Dancer. "You're in charge while I'm gone. Guard the prince, follow his orders, and don't let Troll get himself killed if you can help it."

  Troll chuckled as Dancer shook his head. "Domina—”

  "Until I know what this is going to do to me, I'm not taking any chances. Are we good?"

  Dancer sighed. "I make no promises about Troll."

  Az gave him a grin, smacking his armored shoulder before following Cermet. Amazonia caught up to her, the warriors on either side shrinking away from them in the light of the almond oil lamps they were using as much to cut the stench of this place as for light. As they passed the last of the warriors, a lamp sat on a set of stone steps leading up and on impulse, she grabbed it. Cermet gave Amazonia a dry, dusty chuckle, but said nothing else as the silence between them grew thick as the stench of rotting corpses and fear.

  They continued on until the walls fell away and they stepped into the inner chamber. "Place your lamp near the tree, taking care not to touch the branches or the trunk."

  "You can't get me if I get trapped?"

  Cermet pulled her hands out of the sleeves of her robe, her finger bones held together by black sinews, and pushed back her cowl. Her face still had places where the skull showed through, but her flesh no longer looked as if it was ready to rot away. Both eye sockets had been cleared of flesh and replaced with eyeballs of black. "I am not a Shadow-walker, only a practitioner of the Necrotic Arts." Az shuddered, then carefully set the lamp down near the tree's base as Cermet went on. "Apologies, for I know I am not pleasant to look upon, but for this I will need fine control. The second transmutation will be similar to the first in that I will open a channel directly to the tree's heart. When I give you the word, thrust your sword into the channel and pierce it."

  "You make it sound like this tree's alive."

  "The tree is alive, in a sense, because the Grey lives in its own, strange way. Did you not know?" Before Amazonia could open her mouth to reply, Cermet turned and placed her hands in a circle with the tips of her finger bones touching. "Draw your sword and make ready." Az stepped away from her and pulled the Rune sword from its sheathe, the blade pinging like tapping a crystal glass as it cleared the leather.

  She began chanting in a language Amazonia had never heard as a hole began forming between her hands, in the trunk. "The channel will hold for as long as I keep it open, and will not pull you into the Grey should the blade touch the sides. All I ask is for you to be careful of my hands." Az nodded and held the blade steady as the hole deepened, noticing something grey and definitely not tree-like at the base of it. "Get ready... now!"

  Amazonia thrust the Rune sword deep into the hole and pierced the grey heart of the tree... black lightning crackled around the blade and her hands locked onto the hilt, the Rune sword quivering in her hands. Then Az’s entire body started shaking as a black storm raged within the tree, black lightning now crackling up from the blade into the trunk...

  Cermet hissed, "Pull it out, pull it out now." Amazonia lurched backwards, the sword just missing Cermet’s curled fingers as she stumbled and caught herself at the last moment before she fell. Cermet pulled her bony hands apart and stepped back as the hole closed, the grey tree shuddering as the opening smoothed over as if it never existed. She looked at Amazonia with a horrible smile. "Well done, my true Reaver Knight. Look to your sword." Az glanced down at the blade.

  Instead of being shiny black like obsidian, her Rune sword's blade had changed into a dull grey, as if transmuted into metal. Yet it felt lighter in her hands than it had before. The red runes were still deeply etched into the blade, but now there were also black, intricate runes as well, which strangely seemed to complement the red and made it seem complete. Amazonia looked up at her without bothering to hide the stunned expression on her face. "This sword... it's unbreakable now, isn't it?"

  "Until your mission... your true mission, is complete, whereupon the spirit of the sword will shatter the blade and free you both. And to answer your next question, yes, Lys knows what I know. However, your goal to see the Sasnayam empire brought to its knees mirrors her own true goal, not to see Avitohol but Timur be made Khan of khans once Khingla dies a natural death. Thus, she will say nothing. All you both need to do is be patient."

  Az breathed a sigh of relief. "I can wait as long as it takes. How long—”

  Cermet held up her hand, head cocked as if listening to sounds Az couldn’t hear. "We were just in time. Lys tells me a confrontation is imminent, so I need you to let the sword transform you." Amazonia opened her mouth to ask a question, but Cermet said, "The lore states that the Shadow Knight will instinctively know what to do once they have been transformed. Speak to Antonius and ask him to cause the change."

  Amazonia took a deep breath. "Antonius, work your magic." For a long moment, nothing happened.

  Then the Rune sword vibrated in her hands as Antonius’s voice said aloud in a metallic tone, "Az, I will love you forever…forever…forever…"

  Amazonia screamed as the transformation began.