By Shsway

Her hair whipping wildly around her body, Shsway executed a spin slash that freed the raider who had struck at her from his lower half. The Celts had successfully driven the enemy right into their trap, as the woods resounded with Amazon war cries and zinging blades.

From the corner of her eye, the scout noticed Ephfan delivering an impressive double kick to a couple of eagerly waiting chins. Just as quickly, and before Shsway could call out, the warrior swung her staff up to block a sword chop to her head, swung around, and unceremoniously cracked her attacker's skull.

  Ephfan noticed the dark-haired apprentice's gaze and with a grin, saluted her friend bringing two fingers out from her forehead. Shsway rolled her eyes and smiled. 'She enjoys this waaaayyy too much.'

The raiders occupying her time were just poorly skilled enough for her to take a glance around the wood. Her scout friends were making good use of their arrows and every available woman was here. If there was one thing other than a party that an Amazon could not pass up, it was a good fight. Nike was wreaking havoc with her sword, Craig was easily beating small and large man alike into submission and Marty wasted no time demonstrating to the raiders what would have been his preferred fate for their comrades. Gabrielle and Xena lashed out in combined attacks, often fighting back to back. Those two would not leave each other's side for a second.

Shsway smiled internally, as she continued to kick, punch and gut. Alaya. The scout was a little worried, since she couldn't see the beautiful warrior anywhere. 'No matter, I'm sure she handle herself, wherever she is.'

Littlearsonist was also absent from the scene, no doubt looking for her love and Nightsong. Oh well, these wonderful Celtic women were doing their job quite well, although more than once Shsway found herself distracted by their, ahem, skills.

She suddenly paid for this error by being grazed by a raider's arrow. She was sure it wasn't a deep wound, but she none the less screamed her pain and anger.  Without a second thought, she picked the spear of his recently fallen comrade and with a practiced toss, paid her foe back in full. 'Oh yeah, Hades will have a full house tonight...'

By Martman

Marty saw the injury to his sister and went into a blind rage

"ILL KILL YOU ALL!!"

Without hesitation or remorse, he picked up his knife and gutted one of his opponents.  The raider gave out a primordial scream as he died.  Marty looked on with glazed eyes - taking sheer pleasure in the kill.

  Another marauder snuck his way towards the injured Shsway. he charged the rogue and tackled him, then used his knife to tear open the mans chest and rip out his heart.

"I don't have my soul right now", he said coldly, "so I'll just take your heart!"

The marauder briefly looked at the still beating organ, dripping with blood, and quickly died.

Then Marty crushed the heart in his hand.  With a sinister grin in his eyes and bloodlust in his heart, he continued to fight

By Pixie

Pixie looked at Nightsong, " Fast enough. But neither of us knows this cave."

Lyco waved up at one of the side tunnels "The way out is down that tunnel just a short way. Still don't trust me do you, little princess?" lightly touching the small tattoo on Pixie's arm. " Go ahead check. You won't hurt my feelings."

"So we should be able to escape quickly. But how are we going to release the steam?"

Nightsong was looking up at the stalactites hanging from the ceiling. "Leave that to me. Let's get up to that tunnel mouth."

The climb was an easy one. Nightsong stood on the small ledge in front of the tunnel. She closed her eyes and let her mind open to the cavern in front of her.  She searched mentally until she found what she was seeking. A tiny crack at the base of one of the larger stalactites. Careful she gathered energy to her, then compressed it into the crack. Letting go of all of her rage at once Nightsong fell to her knees panting. The crack expanded, then the stalactite wavered. It fell swiftly and with a deafening crash.

At first it seemed that nothing had happened, Nightsong started to growl in frustration until she heard a faint hiss that was getting louder.

Pixie helped Nightsong up, "Come on lets get out of here. Or were going to be well done." They raced out of the cave into the cool night air and straight off of a small cliff into an icy river.

Both screamed in shock at the cold water. Lyco who had been more careful stood on the shore laughing, as the two climbed ashore dripping wet.

"Next time I check." Pixie growled at her.

"Darling you should never assume anything." Lyco purred. Then turned to begin gathering firewood. " Looks like we will be spending the night here. You two need to dry off and rest. Tomorrow morning you can get your bearings and head home." With that she threw back her hood and turned to face one very surprised woman.

"YOU!?!"...

By Littlearsonist

Littlearsonist kicked yet another raider from her sword. She looked around the chaos of the battle field, the evening raid had gone off perfectly. Anyone dumb enough to run into the forest died by amazon hands, and those crazy enough to stay in the camp died at the hands of the Celts.

The tents had been the first things checked. Nightsong and Pixie were no where to be found. That only left one place. LA stopped and looked up towards the caves littering the hillside. A raider lunged at her only to find his throat held in a grip by Martman.

"Wait! Before you kill this one", She said putting her hand on Marty's arm. "I have a question to ask him."

Martman looked at her then nodded. "Ask."

"Where is Lyco keeping the hostages?" LA asked but upon seeing that the raider was not going to tell her she turned to Martman. "Have fun, but make it slow and as painful as possible."

"The caves!", The raider squeaked.

Martman snapped his neck one handed. "Since he gave you the information, I thought I'd reward him."

La looked around noticing the Celtic following that Marty had acquired. "Your making fast friends, Marty, what did you do rip someone's heart out and eat it in front of them?"

At the gleam in his eyes she decided that she just didn't want to know. As the amazons advanced into the encampment to clear out the last of the raiders LA started for the caves. Before she was halfway there a distant rumble halted her. She looked on in horror as raiders poured from the caves closely followed by clouds of steam.

  Ephfan, Nike, and Shsway had caught up to LA just as Taran stumbled out from around a boulder. Seeing them his eyes fell and then lit up.

"Well at least I got one satisfaction today. And before I die I'd like to share." He whined, smiling up at the small band, fingering the back of his bloody sword.  "You'll never see your friends again I killed the two amazon bitches."

By Ephfan

A low growl came from Ephfan's throat that the others barely recognized as the words "He's mine". She quickly closed in on Taran and lifted him off the ground with a hand around his throat.

"You're lying dead man. One LA would know if her bondmate was dead and two you're not smart enough to get close enough to Pixie or Nightsong to say boo let alone kill them."

The struggling man clawed at Ephfan's hand to no avail and his eyes looked ready to pop out of his head. "Now tell the truth little man and I'll put you down." She loosened her grip enough for him to grasp out

"They're alive, by the gods they're still alive." She dropped him to the ground and looked at her mates.

"You three go find them. I have some unfinished business here and it's not going to be pretty."

Nike, Shsway, and LA decided they really didn't want to argue with her at that point and started off in search of the missing duo.

"Are you sure you'll be ok?" Nike asked as they turned to leave.

Ephfan looked at Taran and then at Nike. With a murderous glare in her eyes she said "I'm gonna be just fine. I'll catch up when I'm done but this may take awhile." The three continued towards the caves as

Ephfan bent down to Taran. "I believe I told you when you stole my sword," she said as she removed the weapon from him "That I would use it to kill you. Just how long do you think it's going to take you to bleed to death?"

The cowardly raider started shaking and crying as she advanced towards him. By the time she made the first cut he had passed out.

"I have all the time in the world." she thought as she sat down and waited for him to wake up.

By Pixie

" Faela!! What in name of the gods above and below have you done this time?" Pixie roared as she advanced at Lyco.

Nightsong stopped at the edge of the water unsure of what was happening. As Pixie and Lyco began screaming at one another she looked around,"I hope none of the raiders are within a few miles of here."She muttered under her breath. As that it didn't seem that the two were going to attack one another yet, she began the process of making a small fire. As the fire began to blaze,she wondered just how long the pair could keep the fight up.

Pixie yelled at Lyco," I didn't have a choice and the only choices you've made have been wrong!"then stalked off into the night

Lyco sat down beside the fire,"She has her father's temper." It was then that Nightsong noticed that Lyco's hair was the same color as Pixie's."But then so do I."
"Yes my dear, Pixie is my half sister. You see my dear father fell in lust with a slave girl he saw in a caravan traveling through his lands. He raided the caravan took the girl and ran. The raiders retaliated by raiding the village. I was one of the ones taken. Queen Ana bought me when I was only 6 summers old. I grew up in her court. A little over two years ago I managed to get back to the village. Imagine my surprise at finding the whelp of the slave my father abandoned me for was his new heir."
Lyco looked back at the figure on the rocks outlined against the moon." She should thank me I'm the reason she met Littlearsonist."

"Your dear Queen Gabrielle, should ask Littlearsonist why she really brought Pixie to Greece." She looked back at Nightsong the gleam in her eyes spoke of a story that she wouldn't tell...

By Nightsong

Nightsong followed Lyco's gaze to the silhouette of Pixie. So, the two of them were sisters? Interesting. Nightsong turned her attention to Lyco once more.

"If I didn't know you better," Nightsong smiled, "I'd say you where fond of your sister."

"What makes you say that, I was going to sell her!" Lyco shot back.

"You were an imp and made her fall into an icy stream. And I think that it was more than a simple ploy to see how the silk looked wet!" Nightsong shot back.

Lyco gave her an appreciative glance, "And how wonderful it looks too!"

"Down girl!" Nightsong grinned at Lyco, "I should see to your sis. Can I trust you not to make any trouble?"

"Maybe, maybe not." Lyco teased.

Nightsong smiled at Lyco and went to see to Pixie.

By Littlearsonist

Littlearsonist reached the mouth of the largest cave as quick as the terrain would allow. She looking helplessly into the darkness, she could feel the immense heat and had to take a step back from where she was standing.

She stilled her body and reached out with her mind. 'My little one if you can hear me, please tell me that you are okay.'

Shsway and Nike watched LA go still.
"We better keep an eye on her," Shsway told Nike. "She seems to be trying to find Pixie."

Nike started to wonder how Shsway knew this but was interrupted by movement to her left. Turning she saw four raiders trying to sneak up on them. "Well, I guess it's time to play bodyguard then."

LA opened crazed eyes and looked at Shsway. "She's alive, I know it with all that I am, but she can't answer me." With a cry LA advanced on the raiders, with Shsway and Nike close behind. LA swung her sword quickly beheading the first raider.

Running past the other two going for their leader. "Little man, you, and the rest of your worthless friends, are going to die the slowest deaths your Hades has ever seen if you don't tell me where you've taken them."

By Nike

After they had finished with the raiders, Nike watched as LA demanded information out of the "little man" with a psychotic look in her eyes and a firm grip around his neck.

"We're....looking..." he gasped, "Looking...for them...too! AGgggghhhagggggg"

"You mean, YOU'VE LOST THEM?!" Littlearsonist screamed, but then dropped the poor man and started talking to herself. "My beloved will be safe. She can fight. She's with friends, I know it. She's still alive..." She absent mindedly killed the man and headed back out of the cave.

"Hey, um, don't you think there will be more...?" started Shsway, but was silenced by a look from Nike trying to say She's pissed, don't worry about it.

LA froze again, trying to contact her love, but got no reply. Instead, she got a vision of sorts, of a cliff overlooking a river.

Nike was busy studying the night sky to see exactly which direction they were going, while Shsway looked around the ground for some possible dinner. They were getting used to LA periodically stopping for moments and so decided to make the most of their free time. "That's it..." LA muttered.

"What?"

"I know where they are. On a cliff...overlooking-"

"A river, where the moon peaks just over the cliff right about this time." finished Nike.

"Yeah...how did you...?" LA started.

"I know the terrain all too well. That's just South of here, over the valley and through these caves. It'll take a while to get there, but we can make it." Nike told her. Shsway was unsure. "Are you positive that's where they are?"

"It's the only lead we have, and I'm sure Pixie sent the vision too me." LA answered. And with that, the trio set out to the cliffs...

By Eptalk

Dum diddly do dah! Dum diddly day~~~...my oh my ~ what a beautiful day ~Eppie sang as she decided time to move her camp on further east. Having been on her own now for several weeks, she had enjoyed the peace and tranquility of the smokey mountain region. After locating one of Terpsicord's Lyre's, she had become one with nature and joined the birds in song. A harmony had formed among other animals of the wild and a normal day left Eppie feeding birds, squirrels, rabbits of the forest and creatures she didn't even know the kind.

Only one bear had come near camp and upon hearing the wondrous harpsichord ~music~ the young bear danced about with glee. A look in the bears eyes almost wanting to sing. The bear visited for a time and then the week before, having found a hive of honey, the bear was bee stung and ran off in a growl. The honey bee's were not as happy to share as Eppie. BuZzzzzzzz BuZZzzzzzzzzz.....

Eppie gave thought of her sweet, wonderful Amazon sisters as she moved further away from their direction. Surely they have had some enjoyment of the new spring air and hopefully they weren't spending all their days in war.

~War ! what is it good for! ~ Absolutely NOTHING !!~ Eppie chanted and picked up her walking pace.

Like the end of a season, the new spring air felt warm but even that was changing daily now. The trees, the bush and the waters mist all gave signs of summer wasn't very far away. With much information gathered and in Eppie's mind, it was time to reflect and complete the many scrolls she had begun or planned.

Thinking strongly and hoping the message of well wishes would be felt by her Amazon sisters, Eppie found a new camping area near the the eastern coast. Here she would stay for a time and allow the ocean waves to be her company. With a lovely sunset tapping the waters edge, Eppie sat calm on the sand and took quill in hand.

By Shsway

"Look, up ahead!" Shsway noticed a glint on the floor of the cavern. The scout sprinted over to pick up a little golden bell, then handed it to Littlearsonist with a smile.

"My Rionnac" the Celt murmured as she tenderly clasped the bell to her heart. She turned to Nike with a weary yet hopeful gaze. "It would seem that we are on the correct trail all along. Let's hurry, they can't be too far off."

Nike grinned with pride and led the warrior and NightSong's young apprentice through the caves. The surrounding stalagmites seemed to give off an eerie sort of glow, though all were grateful they were not completely in the dark. Bringing along a torch might not have been the wisest thing, considering the chemical composition of some of these deep caverns. Shsway thought that she ought to have been cold, but felt surprisingly comfortable, even a little warm.

As the trio advanced, they came to a reasonably large stretch of boiling water which had settled into a natural indentation in the floor of the cave. As they looked down on it from a small rise, they could see that it would not be easy or advisable to leap. The dark, churning liquid challenged them to continue.

"OK, this shouldn't be too hard," Nike said with a smirk.

"All we need is to execute a front flip to that wall there," she pointed to the right, "propel ourselves off it to that other little indentation on the left, and from there we can hopefully leap across the remaining distance."

Shsway looked uncertainly at LA. She knew the others may well have been capable of such a maneuver, but she couldn't trust her own skills to that degree. Besides, any sort of miscalculation and any of them could fall into the seething pool.

"If you will indulge me, I think I have a better, safer idea," the scout said as she furrowed her brow in concentration. "LA, if you'll permit me the use of that rope at your hip, we can tie it good to my sword and use it as a sort of grappling hook. Nike, your arm is better than mine. You can toss it up there to that piece of ceiling jutting out over the rise we want. Then, we can simply cross hand over hand on the rope till we reach our goal." Shsway looked hopefully from the Celt to her friend.

Littlearsonist smiled. "I think these amazons will have a new warrior on their hands soon, my friend. We have nothing to lose except our leathers, let's try it!" Grinning, the Celt handed the rope over to Shsway who tied it firmly to the hilt of her sword. She desperately hoped the rope would stretch far enough, and that the blade of her weapon was sharp enough to imbed itself strongly in the rock. With quiet concentration and a few practice aims, Nike through the sword across the small abyss, to their surprise, it sunk into the ceiling wall to the hilt.

"Let's hope it stays there," Nike observed and the friends began to inch their way to the rise. With relief, they made it across and could see the sun's rays shining from somewhere ahead.

Shsway waited till her friends jumped off, called for Nike's sword and used it to slice through the rock in order to drop her to the rise and free her own sword. The rope dangled alone and torn over the water. "I'll get you another when we get back to the village my friend," she promised LA and patted her on the back. "Let's go." They all turned to continue their journey. As they walked,

Shsway felt a surge of warmth fill her heart, easing it of it's vengeful nature. The others seemed more at peace as well. One thought ran across her mind: 'Eppie.' she smiled. And so they went.