"Eewww!"

The camel just laughed. Or at least seemed to laugh. "We'll see if you laugh so hard after I skin you," threatened Kethryn. The camel just smiled wider and made a move to spit at the Amazon again.

"Camellia - behave yourself!" A woman with reddish-brown hair stepped around the other side of the camel. "I'm sorry, she's just mad that I'm not taking her on my trip. She's usually the best behaved dear," said the woman as she stroked the camel's neck.

Kethryn threw the beast a look and said, "I'm sure." Camellia just smiled wider. "So you're going on the pilgrimage to Artemis' temple also," Kethryn continued.

"Yes I am. I'm just going to walk though. Camellia carried me this far, and my un- er, unfriendly horse Azara is staying behind. I'm Rhiannon, I work with horses. And you are?"

"Kethryn. I'm an Amazon," she replied, raising an eyebrow at Rhiannon's stumble over the words.

"Oh goody. I've always wanted to meet an Amazon. Which nation are you?"

"I'm of the Laodoke Amazon nation. It's not very well heard of around here. We're from--" Kethryn was cut off by a new voice.

"South of Libya, on the border of the Great Desert, isn't it?" Kethryn and Rhiannon turned around to see a tall woman holding a staff addressing them. "My name is Angel. I'm of the Telequire tribe."

"The Telequires? Under Queen Cyane? I've met your queen once or twice. You are correct," answered Kethryn as she walked over to shake hands with the new arrival.

"I assume you are going on the journey to Artemis' temple in Ephesus? There are four other Amazons going on this journey also. One of them is over there," said Angel, pointing towards a blonde warrior with a bow slung over her shoulder. "That's Medea, of the Thermadon tribe from Thermopylae. And over there," she said indicating another blonde woman, "is Sheila from Cythera, a-"

"Xanthippe Amazon," interrupted a tall woman with jet black hair and dark eyes. When she turned her head in the sunlight, one could see blue streaks coursing her dark hair. "I am Miara. I'm from Cape Malea, near Cythera."

"Are you going on this journey also," asked Rhiannon.

"I am. So is that warrior over there. Her name is Aeaea, she's Penthisilean Amazon from Doriscus. And another Thermadon Amazon named Tern. I believe there is another traveler, named Hebe, but I am unsure of her background. But I am sure that if we don't get moving towards the fountain in the middle of the city, we won't get out of Corinth before nightfall....."

In the middle of Corinth, close to the palace is a great stone fountain. Lions representing the brave and noble kings of Corinth past and present, stand guard over the pouring waters. It is famous as a meeting place in the city, and around this fountain stood the travelers. Nine in all, the majority Amazons, on their way to Ephesus to pay homage to the goddess Artemis.

"Can we get going please? This is pathetic," complained Aeaea. The amazon paced restlessly in front of the fountain, her quiver of arrows hitting against her back with each step.

"Patience, Amazon, patience," said Miara. "You're only going to tire yourself out for the journey." The amazon glared at the sorceress, who didn't acknowledge it.

Medea and Tern both sat staring at the water, lost in meditation. Sheila walked over to where they were sitting and sat beside them. "Why are you staring into the water?"

Medea answered first. "Meditation is a Thermadon Amazon's specialty, besides fighting. We're reflecting on the journey we're about to take."

"Do you also pray to Artemis through meditation," asked Rhiannon. The horsewoman had become intrigued by the amazons.

"Some, also in sacrificial rituals. That's how most Amazons worship the Goddess," answered Tern.

"Not us," interupted Kethryn. "The main god that the Laodoke Amazons worship is Ares. As a scholar of my tribe, I'm taking this journey so that I may better understand my amazon sisters."

"Why are the rest of you on this journey," asked Aeaea. She had visibly calmed down and was getting involved in the conversation.

"I'm a horsewoman. Artemis just seems to me to be the goddess to worship for horsewomen," said Rhiannon with a sheepish smile. She couldn't let the others know her secret ties to Artemis.

"I am part-Amazon. My father's mother was an amazon, and this is one of the traditions that have been handed down in my family," said Miara.

The quietest person of the group, Hebe, just said, "I like to travel." The amazons of the group looked at the woman, wondering how anyone who just liked to travel would choose to travel a long and hard journey to the temple of Artemis.

"We should think of something to pass the time away on our journey," said Angel, breaking the silence. All of a sudden, a royal procession went through the courtyard, signaling King Jason of Corinth's return to the castle.

Aeaea sighed. "I remember when I helped Jason out. That was a long time ago."

Kethryn just laughed. "An amazon? Helping out the King of Corinth? I'm sure that went over well."

"You doubt me," asked Aeaea, visibly bristling.

"Um, why don't you tell us about it on our journey? Yes! That's it. We'll each tell a story about our lives on our journey. Tonight you can tell your's Aeaea," said Angel, trying to keep the peace between the amazons.

"Sounds good to me. Let's move," said Aeaea, picking up her pack and walking towards the outskirts of Corinth.....

The group approached the outer gates of Corinth. As they checked with the Corinthian guards to make sure they could leave, they heard a woman's voice yelling "Wait for me!!!" Kethryn, Aeaea, Miara, and Sheila turned around while the others were talking to the guards.

"Oh no," muttered Sheila, her blonde hair swinging as she shook her head.

"You know that girl," asked Aeaea. The girl's dark hair was flapping behind her as she dodged vendors and other pedestrians in the street.

"Yeah. Her name's Pelee. She's from my tribe, and she's always late."

The late amazon ran up to the others, just as the other five travelers were finished talking to the guards. "Hi," she said. "I'm Pelee. Can I join you all in your journey?"

Sheila asked, "Why didn't you come with me if you wanted to go?"

"Kreousa suggested I go, since I'm a younger Amazon and I wasn't raised in the village, that this might help me get more into the groove of amazon life," Pelee answered, playfully punching her sister in the arm.

Sheila was not amused. "You're gonna have to keep up. And be on time. We can't have you holding us back."

"No problem. I'll be good. Amazon's honor," said Pelee, crossing her heart as she did. She picked up her pack and had the guards inspect them, talking and flirting with them as they went along. After a few minutes, the guards said they all could go, and they did.

After many hours of traveling along the easterly road, the weary travelers, now ten in number, came to a campground near the road. Night was fast approaching, so they decided to make camp. As they settled around a fire, after the amazons had caught and cooked dinner, Angel spoke up. "What do you guys think of my idea, that we each tell a story to help the time go by?"

They all agreed, so Angel continued. "Would anyone like to go first?" Everyone looked at everyone else, till Aeaea finally sighed and said, "I'll start off. Since people doubted my ties to Jason...."

"This ought to be good," mumbled Kethryn. Aeaea shot her a glare, took a deep breath, and stared into the fire before beginning.

"It was quite a few years ago, ten maybe. I was a rash, stupid young amazon, out on my first journey.....

The sky was bright, and the trees provided enough shade. Aeaea walked along the path that lead to Corinth. Suddenly she stopped, looked around, and took off running away from the path.

She ran until she heard the sound again. It sounded like lots of men yelling and cheering. Thinking the worse, that some young child was being beaten for punishment and public amusement, Aeaea picked up her pace and ran as fast as her feet would carry her. Just before she burst out into the clearing, she saw tents, brightly colored tents all lined up, but forming a square around a fighting ring. In it she saw a big, brawny man and another, not as muscular but faster man darting around the ring, circling each other. A tall man stepped in front of her view, so she climbed the tree next to her to a point where she could see everything. The smaller fighter was dodging in, landing blows on his opponent, but he wasn't fast enough or strong enough to escape harm. In a matter of minutes, the little man was lying on the ground, the bigger one celebrating his victory.

"I am Pollux, son of Zeus! No man can beat me," yelled the oaf. Aeaea shook her head at the man's prideful boasts, thinking to herself that she could take him out with a few carefully placed arrows. She was about to climb down from her perch, when she heard the barker call out the next match.

"The next match is between Thelonius of Athens and Jason of Corinth." Aeaea perked up at that last name. 'Jason of Corinth,' she thought, 'as in Prince Jason of Corinth?' She decided this match should be interesting so she stayed in her perch. The combatants shook hands, and then began to bob and weave as they tried to hit each other.

Jason landed most of the punches and his opponent was getting weaker, when all of a sudden Aeaea felt a hand on her foot. She looked down and saw the barker, who said "If you're gonna watch these games, you're gonna pay to watch them," right before he dragged her out of the tree. Jason, momentarily distracted by the barker's voice, turned towards the commotion. Thelonius, seeing his opponent take his attention away from the match, barreled into Jason, sending the prince flying backwards. Aeaea cringed at the scene, when she saw Jason spring up and send a hard kick to Thelonius' abdomen, knocking him down and out. After the barker declared Jason the winner, he turned to glare at Aeaea, and walked away.

'Oh no,' thought the Amazon, 'future king or not, he's not going to blame me for his mistakes.' So she stalked off towards the tent he had disappeared into. That was her first mistake. Jason had pulled off his shirt to let his royal doctor tend to his ribs. He was strong and muscular and took her breath away. He heard her come in, and barked out, "You're the girl who almost made me lose. What do you want?"

Aeaea collected her jaw and cleared her thoughts, and answered, "It's not my fault if you get distracted. If the barker had just let me stay up there, we all would have been fine."

"Well, we're not all fine are we. Because of you... er, what's your name," asked the prince.

"You can call me Aeaea, I'm an amazon."

"Because of you, Aeaea, amazon or no, I have bruised ribs and a pain in my back. What were you trying to do, steal money from the barker by not paying." Jason was mad by now, and he walked away from the doctor, bandages hanging from his chest as he stalked towards Aeaea. "You almost cost me the match, and now you come in here. What do you want?"

Before she can answer, a horn blared somewhere in the camp, getting Jason's attention. With one last glare he walked out of the tent. Not about to be outdone, Aeaea stalked out and yelled, "If you were a real fighter, not even Zeus's lightning bolts would distract you."

Jason whirled around, and right into the face of Pollux, the champion of the match before. Pollux grabbed Jason by the shoulders, and shoved him up against a pole. "Watch where you're going little man. The son of Zeus doesn't like being annoyed."

"Well, maybe if you wouldn't follow me so closely or be in such a hurry to stuff your face..." Jason's words were trailed off as Pollux let out a yell.

"You dare to insult me? I won't hear of it. Meet me in the ring after dark." The big man let go of Jason after one last shove and stormed off towards the dining tent.

"Wait wait wait," Kethryn's voice interrupted Aeaea's reverie. "You mean to tell me that a son of Zeus wanted to beat up Jason? That's ridiculous. I know Hercules, and he wouldn't dream of being so unreasonable."

Aeaea just glared at the other amazon and said, "All sons of Zeus are not created equal. You can tell your story later, but this is mine....."

"Where was I," asked Aeaea.

"Uh, Pollux storming off towards the mess tent," answered Angel, who wanted to know the rest of the story.

"Oh yeah. Well, Jason just glared at me again and I was getting really fed up with him blaming me for everything...."

Aeaea stomped after Jason, and said, "Now just wait one minute. I didn't make you take your eye off your opponent in the ring, and I didn't make you turn around right then. I don't want you to get killed or anything, I just want you to stop yelling at me!" She turned away from him, and heard him breathe a deep sigh.

He placed a hand on her shoulder, and turned her to face him. "I'm sorry. You're right, I'm being unreasonable about this. I guess I'm just uptight about this tournament."

Aeaea laughed and waved her hand at that notion. "You're nervous? Why? You're one of the best fighters here. Besides me of course," said the amazon teasingly. "Now why don't you get over this guilt trip and buy me dinner?"

After dinner, Jason and Aeaea were walking back to his tent, laughing and talking. They walked by the ring, and a voice called out from the darkness. "So you showed up, chicken prince."

Jason stopped in his tracks. "Pollux, I really don't want to fight you. I'm sorry I ran into you, I didn't see you there."

"So, you're gonna back out? Not exactly what I thought the future King of Corinth would do," taunted Pollux. That was just the right button to push, because Jason began stripping off his vest and handed it to a stunned and surprised Aeaea.

"Jason," she whispered, "you're not really gonna fight him are you?"

"What and let my kingdom think I can't? I have to do this," said Jason, and with that he turned and entered the ring.

Aeaea rushed up to the boundary markers of the ring. Jason stretched his arms and snapped his head side to side to crack his neck. Pollux waited until Jason looked at him, then lunged straight for his chest. Jason dodged him, and swung at his back. He connected, but the blow just seemed to glance off Pollux's back, as he turned around and ran head first into Jason's chest. Aeaea cringed when she saw his pain reflected on Jason's face, and turned away. A crowd had gathered, and the watchers cheered at something. She turned back around, just in time to see Pollux flying backwards from a kick from Jason. As he fell to the ground with a thud, Jason said, "Fight's over, Pollux. This is dumb" and went to walk out of the ring. Pollux though, was not about to be let down. He pushed himself off the ground, grabbed a log that served as a bench and went to swing it at Jason's head.

"Jason," yelled Aeaea as she jumped over the markers and went after Pollux. She kicked him in the back, making him miss his target mostly, but he still clipped Jason in the shoulder and the young prince went down. Pollux turned to face his new attacker just in time to meet Aeaea's foot face-to-face. The demi-god turned away in pain, and Aeaea continued her onslaught. Pollux, regaining composure, turned and grabbed Aeaea's foot before she could kick him again. The amazon used his support on her foot to push off the ground with her other foot and plant it on his chest, knocking both of them down. Aeaea twisted in mid-fall and landed on her hands, rolling into a handstand and flipping over. She landed on her feet and spun on her heels to face her fallen opponent, who wasn't moving much at all. She ran over to where Jason was lying and tried to revive him.

His eyes flashed open, and he smiled, looking into Aeaea's eyes. He got up with her help and walked back to her tent. In pain, he quickly went over to his cot and layed down, his doctor giving him an anesthetic so he might go to sleep.

The next morning, the tournament was over. Jason and Aeaea stood in the path that ran by Corinth facing each other.

"So, you're going back to Corinth," asked Aeaea.

"For a little while, then I have to head back to the academy. Where're you going?"

Aeaea smiled. "The other way. I have to get back to my village. I... hope you feel better. Your ribs, and all."

"Thanks," said Jason, leaning in closer to Aeaea. "Thanks for everything," he finished, before he kissed her.....

"Awww," said Rhiannon. "That's such a cute story."

Kethryn just shook her head. "I have to admit, I did know of Jason fighting Pollux and of an amazon helping him out. Just didn't know who."

"Well, next time you wanna doubt me, don't," said Aeaea.

Angel broke in before anything else could get started. "Well, I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm tired. Wonderful story Aeaea. Kethryn, you can tell your's tomorrow."

The sun was barely over the tops of the trees when the group broke camp and resumed their travels east to Ephesus. Barely a word was spoken as they walked or rode. Finally, when the sun was high in the sky, they decided to break for lunch and a little nap. After they had eaten bread and cheese and a few kiwis, they formed a circle with their mats and laid down.

Medea looked to be fast asleep, but really was listening to the sounds of the footsteps that tiptoed from mat to mat. She heard the call of an owl and then more soft footsteps. When one set reached her mat, the amazon sprung up with a loud war cry, awakening the other travelers.

Men wearing black leather vests and pants and black cloths over their faces were in the circle of women, surprised that their would-be prey were no longer asleep and were not ordinary women. Their surprise, however, did not last long.

The biggest of the men lunged for Kethryn, who pulled her dagger out of it's sheath behind her back and swiped it at him, catching him just under his arm, severing the ligament. The man howled in pain, but turned and caught her by surprise with a kick at her hand, sending the dagger flying away into the grass. Kethryn flipped backwards, picking up her staff in the process and bringing it up hard into his stomach. He groaned and doubled over, and Kethryn swung up and nailed him in the head, sending him flying backwards. The man landed with a thud and didn't move.

During this time, Angel had taken to hand-to-hand fighting with her opponent. He swung at her head, which she blocked and countered with a swift punch to his abdomen. He groaned, but remained upright and spun around in a roundhouse kick. Angel ducked, and rose with a kick of her own to a very well placed location. As her attacker doubled over, Angel picked up her chobos and brought them down on his head, knocking him out cold.

Aeaea was having fun of her own, toying with her attacker. She would be standing completely still as he would run at her, then start to glow and seemingly shrink, then disappear. He stopped dead in his tracks, not noticing the mouse that scurried under his feet. His face changed from confusion to pain as Aeaea re-formed and kicked him in the back. He went flying and turned, only to find the amazon gone and a bird in her place. He pulled out a miniature crossbow and took aim at the falcon that hovered above his head. Shrieking, the bird dove at him, scratching his eyes and making him drop the bow. As he screamed in agony, Aeaea morphed back to her human form and knocked him out with the hilt of her sword.

Sheila and Rhiannon and been backed against a tree by three attackers, when out of no where they howled and jumped, the smell of burning flesh burning their nostrils. They looked past to see Hebe wink at them. Rhiannon grabbed a large stick from the ground and swung it at the first man to get up, knocking him back down. Sheila kicked an attacker in the stomach and then in the back, sending him sprawling. Hebe waited till her attacker was just within reach and then held up her hand in a signal to stop. Startled, he obeyed, and went flying when she pointed at him, lightning flashing from her fingertips.

Since they had become fast friends almost immediately, Tern and Pelee had stuck together, taking turns at striking their two attackers. After delivering stunning blows to their chests, making it hard for them to breath and therefore pausing them, the two looked at each other and nodded, calling on a spell to confuse their attackers. The two collapsed into fits of laughter as their two former attackers turned their attacks on each other, goofily poking each other in the eyes and making noises such as "Boing" and "Woo woo."

Miara laughed as she magically moved from place to place, keeping her attacker on his toes as she would be in one place and then another. When he seemed to be getting tired, she took pity on him and just disappeared into thin air, using her invisibility powers. Her attacker looked around waiting for her to appear somewhere. She didn't and he got worried. Suddenly, sticks and rocks flew up at him, tree branches crashed around his head and Miara appeared in front of him, right before she kicked him in the knees and knocking him out.

Medea seemed to be the only curious one, for in the course of her fight she had paralyzed her attacker with a pinch to his pulse point in his neck. "I've just cut off the blood flow to your brain, and you will die in less than a minute unless I decide to let you live. I'll let you, if you tell us who you are and why you're attacking us." The man nodded, and Medea reversed her pinch.

"My name is Darius. My gang is called the Green Dragon Gang. We were hired to attack you and stop you from reaching the Aegean Sea," answered the man.

"Who hired you," asked Medea. When Darius seemed hesitant to answer, she placed her fingers threateningly on his pulse point again.

"I don't know, I swear. We received a letter with instructions to attack you. We would have gotten paid 500 dinars had we succeeded," he answered, his voice shaking.

Medea could tell he was being honest and said, "You get to live." She swung her sword up and knocked him out. "But you're going to take a little nap....."

"So someone wants to kill us all?"

"Yeah, that's about it," Aeaea answered Rhiannon. The amazon just shook her head.

Kethryn looked around the circle at everyone. "Any ideas why? Does anyone have anything valuable, any information?" They all shook their heads.

"Well, there is the slave trade," began Tern. "But none of us would make very good slaves so I don't know why they'd want us."

Medea spoke up, one of the voices of reason among the group. "Let's take a step back and look at this objectively, and go one by one." She looked at Angel sitting next to her.

"Nothing here. I'm a Telequire Amazon, I've lived in the village almost all my life this is the second time I've been out of it," she answered baffled.

"What was the first time," asked Aeaea.

Angel just grinned. "I'm saving that for my story-telling turn. It's nothing that anyone would want to kill me over."

Tern shook her head. "I'm just your regular, run-of-the-mill Amazon sorceress."

"Same here," said Pelee.

"I'm just a horse trainer, I would be of no good dead to anyone," said Rhiannon. The attack had shaken her up a bit more than the others.

Miara said, "I think we're going about this all wrong. Obviously none of us would be much good dead, except for a coroner. And I have trouble believing that a coroner is so in need of a job he'd pay a gang to kill us for 500 dinars. There must be something that this person can gain from our deaths."

All the amazons in the group burst out laughing. Medea was the first to catch her breath. "What would a bunch of amazons be worth dead? We don't collect material objects like gold or silver, they'd have to kill all of a tribe to get land, and since it's probably a guy attacking us, he couldn't take over our positions on our death. There is no point in an outsider trying to kill of six amazons. Is there anything about you guys?"

The other four just shook their heads. "We're all pretty much simple folk, I think, other than our wonderful fighting abilities," said Hebe with a bit of humor to her voice.

"So we're back to the beginning," asked Sheila.

"Looks like it," answered Kethrn. "Well, its close to bedtime, so maybe I should start telling my story....."

Kethryn cleared her throat and began talking. "I am a great archer. Other than scribe work, that's what I do. So it was no surprise to my tribe that I entered an archery contest......"

The day was warm and the sun shone down on the contestants standing in a line, waiting for the signal to shoot their arrows. Gleaming in the bright summer sun was the prize for the greatest archer - the Bow of Artemis.

Gradually, the field was narrowed down by missed shots and bulls-eyes to where there were only three archers remaining- Kethryn, Hercules, and Roscoe, a warlord from south of Corinth.

"Archers! You have done well to get this far. For the final competition, you will shoot at a moving target," said Jason, who was presiding over the contest as Prince of Corinth. He gave a signal to a courtier, who began to turn a wheel. Little yellow ducks started to go across a conveyor belt. Every few ducks, there was a smaller blue duck. "You have five arrows each. Each yellow duck counts for one point, each blue duck counts for three points. The archer with the most points at the end wins."

Roscoe walked over to a shady figure dressed all in black with a cloak over his head. "Strife," he said. "I can't hit moving targets. I am horrible at these in the fairs!"

The god pushed back his hood and simply smiled. "Don't worry, worry-wart. Let me handle it."

Meanwhile Hercules had gone over to Jason and started talking to him. "You see that girl over there?" Jason tried to look around Herc's shoulder. "Don't look!" Jason shot his friend an exasperated glance. "Isn't she beautiful?"

"How would I know? You won't let me look at her," replied Jason, just before Roscoe stepped up to take his shot. The warlord pulled back his bow and let go of an arrow. A blinding blue light froze the ducks for an instance, and Roscoe's first arrow took the head off a yellow duck. The same happened for the next two, until he shot a glare at the mysterious figure who shrugged it off. For his last two shots, the blue flash stopped so that Roscoe's arrow went through two blue ducks heads. "Nine points," said Jason. "Well done Roscoe."

"What," exclaimed Hercules. "You didn't see that?"

"See what," asked Jason.

"That light! The ducks stopped for a second!"

Jason just shook his head. "Don't be nervous. Go out there and show them how we do it at the academy," said the prince, just before he slapped Herc on the back in a half-push, half-encouraging gesture.

Hercules stumbled over to his place, and took aim at the ducks. He let his arrow fly, and another blue light made the ducks stop. Hercules stared in disbelief at what had happened. He had completely missed all the ducks. He had almost taken off the head of the courtier turning the wheel!! The same thing happened for two of his for remaining shots, and when he lowered his bow, his face fallen with disappointment and confusion, Jason called out, "Two points for Hercules," his voice mimicking his own confusion. Hercules walked over to his friend.

"Herc! What was that," asked Jason.

Hercules stared at his friend. "You didn't see that blue light completely throw off my arrows? Something or someone is seriously wrong," he answered loud enough to be overheard by Roscoe.

The warlord called out, "Are you calling me a cheat" and began stomping over to where Hercules stood. Jason quickly got between the two and pointed out that it was the lady's turn to shoot.

Kethryn took her place at the line, and just as she was about to fire, the shady little man was flown across the courtyard, unbeknownst to anyone else. Kethryn fired her shots, hitting four blue ducks and one yellow duck, decapitating them all.

"And the winner is.... The Mystery Archer," called out Jason, unsure of the woman's name. Kethryn accepted the bow and walked out of Corinth, unaware that she was being followed...

Kethryn reached the borders of Corinth and was soon outside the city walls. She headed west into the woods. When she was halfway through, she stopped to get her bearings. Suddenly a hand grabbed her arm. She spun around to face her attacker, who backed off.

"Whoa," said Hercules. "I just wanted to congratulate you, and see if you wanted someone to walk with you."

"You followed me all the way out here to protect me? After seeing you work with a bow, I think I'll take my chances," answered Kethryn.

Hercules just smiled and said, "Yes but how good are you in hand-to-hand fighting?"

"Good enough," said Kethryn getting riled up.

"That's good, because Roscoe and his gang are following you. I think they want the bow."

Right after Hercules said that, Roscoe's men surrounded them from all sides. "I see what you mean," said Kethryn. Roscoe leaped out at her and grabbed hold of the bow. She kicked him between the legs and brought the bow up to hit him in the head. He fell over, and another man took his place.

Meanwhile, Hercules was fighting other members of Roscoe's gang that were rushing at him in twos. Back to back with Kethryn, he turned around and picked her up so that she was horizontal. "What are you doing," she screamed.

"Watch," he said, as he started to turn in circles. Kethryn's feet knocked over all the members of Roscoe's gang, and finally they were all lying on the ground in a stupor. Hercules stopped spinning and let Kethryn down. She grabbed onto his arm in an effort to make the forest stop spinning around her. "You okay," he asked.

Kethryn waited until she could see straight before answering. "No I'm not okay! You scare the Hades out of me by picking me up and then twirl me around like a staff, and then ask if I'm okay?!" She started to walk off, when he grabbed her arm again. "No I don't want your company now leave!"

"I will. But I wanted to make sure you wanted to go back to Corinth." Kethryn looked around to see that she was heading in the direction she had come. She sighed and looked up at him.

"Sorry I'm being snappy with you. I'm not used to people being so nice to an Amazon."

"Ah, but I like Amazons. There's a whole tribe near my academy. The Telequires."

"Cyane's tribe? I've been looking for them for days. My ship went down and I managed to get to the coast. I knew that the Telequires were near but I didn't realize how near they were. You must take me to them," Kethryn decreed.

Hercules shrugged. "On one condition. You have to tell me your name."

"OH! It's Kethryn," she answered. She held out her hand to shake his.

"And I am Hercules," he replied taking her hand and kissing the back of it. When he saw that that didn't go over all that well, he released hers. "Sorry."

"I'm not," she answered before standing up on her toes to kiss him on the mouth. When she ended the kiss, she said "Now where's this tribe?"

"And that's how I became a Telequire amazon, and met Hercules," finished Kethryn. Rhiannon breathed a deep sigh.

"That was so romantic," she said.

Aeaea answered with a loud snore. Kethryn just glared in the direction of her bedroll. The travelers all laid down, and soon were fast asleep.

The day dawned bright, but the travelers were well on the road, having started on the path before the sun came up. After walking for a few hours, they reached the coastal town of Phairos.

"This must be the place," said Tern, admiring the buildings and the catches that had already come in.

"What place," asked Aeaea. She wrinkled her nose at the distasteful smell of decaying fish.

“The place where we’ll board the ship,” answered Medea.

“SHIP? What ship? No one ever said anything about a ship,” said Aeaea, backing into a table of fish.

“What’s the matter, big bad Amazon Aeaea scared of boats,” taunted Kethryn. She laughed at Aeaea’s snarl of anger. “It’s just a boat, and we’re only on it for two days. Get over it.” With that she turned and headed toward the docks. The other travelers fell in a line to weave through the tables of goods for sale to other travelers just getting off. Reluctantly, Aeaea followed suit.

They reached the docks and started looking for their ship. “Who in their right minds names their ship ‘Web of Deceit?’ That just doesn’t sound like an appealing ride to me,” said Rhiannon.

“I know what you mean, but they had the lowest rates, and I know their captain,” said Sheila.

“Sheila! Ya finally made it!” A tall, dark-skinned woman with wild, curly hair yelled from the deck of the “Web.” “Ay see ya brought sum friens. Come along naw, and down’t dawdle.”

“I hear you Nebula. We’re coming, hold your horses,” shouted Sheila back to her friend.

“Naw, I ‘aven’t dealt with ‘orses since I was a wee lass. ‘Ow ‘bout I ‘old me rowas.” Her lilting accent made it a little hard for the others to understand.

“Sheila, how did you meet her and what is she saying,” asked Hebe.

“Once when I was little my mother took me on a journey so that I may see the world before I was a full Amazon. Nebula here was our captain. And she said, ‘Now I haven’t dealt with horses since I was a little girl. How about I hold my rowers?’ “

“Okay. How about you be our translator for the trip,” asked Kethryn with a smile, as she resumed the lead and took off up the gangplank. The other travelers picked up their sacks and hiked up to the deck of the boat. All except Aeaea.

She picked up her bag, and started up the gangplank, but made the mistake of looking down. The dark, swirling waters rushing under the board caused her to feel woozy, and she stepped back down to the docks. Rhiannon turned around and saw Aeaea, making a questioning face. Aeaea just smiled and nodded and Rhiannon turned back around. Aeaea just decided to close her eyes and walk. She shut her eyes as tight as possible and took off at what she deemed a reasonable speed. However her speed was not so reasonable to the others and she rammed into the back of Rhiannon.

“Hey watch it,” she yelled. Aeaea opened her eyes then, saw the water, and pushed her way past Rhiannon, and onto the boat.

“It’ll feel better if you open your eyes and get on deck.”

Aeaea groaned, her arm over her eyes and a greenish tint to her neck. “What are you doing here? Come to see me feel horrible so you can make fun of me?”

Kethryn just shook her head. “Actually, no I thought that I might help you get over this. But If you want to stay down here and be sick, that’s your own problem.” She turned to go out the door, but was stopped by Aeaea’s voice.

“How would you help me,” she asked warily. Kethryn turned back around to see Aeaea trying to sit up to look at her.

“I was once in your position. I used to get so sea-sick, just looking at a ship would make me woozy. I learned a little trick from a sailor one time, I’d show you, but you have to go up on deck. If you stay down here in the stale air, you’re just going to get more sick.” She watched as Aeaea struggled to get to her feet. Just then a wave rocked the boat and Aeaea went flying back onto the bunk. Kethryn rushed over to her and helped her up, draping one of Aeaea’s arms over her shoulders. Aeaea looked over at her, her eyes clouded by discomfort, and Kethryn smiled at her, leading her out the door.

In the hallway, they passed Medea and Pelee, who gave them startled looks. None of the travelers would have expected Kethryn to be helping Aeaea, but there they both were. Kethryn half-dragged, half-led Aeaea up the stairs and over to the railing. Aeaea opened her eyes to see the water off the side of the boat and turned to run back to the bunk, but Kethryn held fast, and said “Just lean over, if you have to get sick, do it over the side.” Aeaea braced herself on the rails and swallowed hard.

Kethryn took her hand and said, “This is the little trick I was taught. Take your wrist and place your fingers, here,” demonstrating as she went. “Squeeze here, and count slowly to thirty. After you get used to doing this more often, you might find you can only hold it to fifteen or so and be fine, but thirty’s a good number to start with.”

Aeaea did as Kethryn showed her, and in a few minutes she was feeling just fine, her sickness a thing of the past. She turned to Kethryn and asked, “So you used to get sea sick, too? You seemed fine the minute we stepped on the ship.”

“Yeah, I used to be so bad about it. But my tribe really wanted me to go to that archery contest, and I had to take a ship to do so. Luckily, there was a doctor on that ship, and he’s the one who taught me that trick,” answered Kethryn.

“So. Did you really kiss Hercules after that archery contest,” asked Aeaea.

Kethryn chuckled. “Yeah. Did you really kiss Jason?” Aeaea nodded. “Well then, as two people who have kissed wonderful men, how about we call a truce?”

Aeaea looked at the hand that Kethryn extended, and shook it. “Truce.”

Nebula looked over and saw the two amazons just standing against the railing. “Well, are ya two goin’ to sit ‘round all day, or are ya goin’ to ‘elp out ‘round ‘ere.” Kethryn and Aeaea laughed, and walked over, ready to help together.

As the sun set on the rippling waves, the travelers gathered in a circle as had become their custom after only two days. They sat, swaying in time with the rocking of the boat, and talked between bites of bread and cheese.

Finally, when they were finished with their meal and almost ready to go to sleep, Angel reminded them that someone had to tell their story. “We’ve had two amazons speak these past nights, how about we hear from someone who is not an amazon.”

Rhiannon, Miara, and Hebe looked at each other, the only non-Amazons on the trip. “I really don’t want to take my turn right now. In fact, if I could go last, I’d appreciate it a lot,” said Hebe.

“That’s fine with me,” answered Miara. “Is it okay with you if I go this turn, Rhiannon?”

Rhiannon nodded, visibly relieved not to have to have to tell her tale that night.

Miara cleared her throat and looked up into the stars. “You all know I have magical powers. I come by them naturally, my mother was a mage like her mother before her and her mother’s mother before her. My story is about how I used those powers to trick Jason and save his life when he was still a prince, with the help of Hercules. It all started this one day....”

The sun was warm and bright on Miara’s head as she walked along the path between Sparta and Corinth. The day was joyful and spring was in the air. Miara spun in circles, full of the wonder of spring and the joy of life. When she stopped, catching her breath, she noticed a suspicious looking character creeping down the path, alongside the bushes. Curious, she walked over and approached the stranger.

“Hello,” she said, startling him. “My name is Miara. I’m traveling to Corinth. What’s your name?”

The man was visibly stricken by her surprising him and stammered for a few seconds. “Uh my name’s Buterus. I’m going to Cheiron’s Academy, to be the new, uh, cook.”

“You’re a cook? Where’d you study? My cousin is a chef also,” answered Miara, purposely trying to act like a simpleton to figure out why such a creature would be going to the famed academy.

“In, uh, Thebes. They called me the uh, Assassin of Thebes because I could kill a prin- er prime rib in no time. I’m not a great cook,” explained Buterus. His eyes shifted from one side to the other, furtively looking for places to hide it seemed.

Miara took this opportunity to attach herself to his side and watch over what he did. “Well, my cousin taught me a few things. How about I go with you and maybe I can teach you a few things? I won’t take any of your pay, this is just a favor from me to you.” When Buterus tried to refuse her offer she said, “Don’t be silly. I know you’re worried about keeping me from my original task, but it’s no problem. Besides, I’d enjoy helping you, and I could keep you company.” Miara continued to ramble on like this as they headed down the path towards Cheiron’s.

Upon reaching Cheiron’s, Buterus detached his arm from Miara’s and explained that he had to inform Cheiron of his arrival. Miara watched him walk into the academy, then turned around, surveying the premises. Her eyes fell on three boys playing a game of bag ball. The game was intense, and suddenly one broke away. His shirt was off, since it was such a hot day, and Miara watched the muscles in his back ripple as he ran, admiring the way his legs moved and dodged his friends attempts. She suddenly realized she was holding her breath, and shook her head to clear it and took in a large gulp of air. During this, the cadet she had been watching had been talked by a shorter brown-haired cadet, and the ball was flying towards her. Only she didn’t know it was aimed at her.

The cadet she’d been admiring looked up and yelled, “Watch out!”

Miara noticed the ball flying her way, and instinctively she jumped and turned, her leg whipping out and striking the ball so hard it shattered. She landed and immediately started apologizing. “I’m sorry, so very sorry, I didn’t see it coming and then I just reacted and I’m so sorry I’ll buy you a new ball or give you money for it or-”

“Whoa,” said her cadet. “It’s okay, they don’t hold up very well anyway. My name is Hercules. What’s yours?”

“Hercules,” she breathed.

He laughed. “Um, I think that’s my name.”

Miara shook her head again, and cursed his good looks that took her breath away. “I’m sorry, I don’t seem to be myself today. My name is Miara.” By this time his friends had come up on them, and Hercules turned to introduce them.

“This is Iolaus,” he said pointing to a shorter blonde, “and this is Jason,” pointing to the cadet who had tackled him earlier.

“How’s it going,” asked Jason. “You came here just in time to watch these guys make fools of themselves trying to trick me.”

“Why would they want to trick you,” asked Miara, feeling rather naive.

Jason put her fears to the side, saying “It’s Prank Day. Every year, cadets attempt to play a prank on the outgoing seniors. Except that I’m the master of the prank, and these chumps don’t stand a chance.” Jason just laughed, and walked back into the academy to clean up.

“He’s so sure of himself. We have to get him Iolaus,” said Hercules.

“Well, if I can be of any assistance, let me know. I’m quite good at making things appear as they are not.”

Hercules just smiled, and turned to Iolaus. “Looks like we got ourselves a partner.”

The sun set quickly on the academy and the cadets gathered in the dining hall for dinner. Hercules, Iolaus, Jason, Lilith and Miara all sat at a table, joking and laughing as they grabbed their food. Buterus came around and doled out portions. Jason and Hercules were horsing around and they knocked Jason’s glass onto Buterus’ leg. Miara watched him clench his teeth in pain but he didn’t cry out or anything. She mentally noted his odd reaction, and continued eating.

After dinner was over and the cadets had gone to their rooms, Miara snuck back into the dining hall to look around. Carefully, she walked with her face towards the door, ready to duck if someone should come in, when she ran into a hard body behind her. She turned and punched at the same time, narrowly missing Hercules’ stomach as he dodged her blow. “What are you doing here,” she asked.

“I was gonna ask you the same thing,” he answered. She shrugged and walked over to where they had sat at dinner.

“I’m uh, looking for my necklace. I think I dropped it here.” She made a big deal of looking around the table and when she came back up, her face was only inches from Hercules’ who had braced himself on the edges.

“My guess is, you saw Buterus’ reaction to the glass pouring on him and came back to see if there might be any reason,” he said.

“Yeah, you’re right.”

Hercules shoved himself off the table and pointed to a spot on the table where it had been burned. “You were right. That’s an acid mark. Someone tried to kill Jason.”

Miara just stared at the spot, dazed and confused. “Why would anyone want to kill Jason?”

Herc just shrugged. “My guess is it’s someone outside. None of the cadets would. Probably someone who has something to gain from killing the King of Corinth. A neighboring king, a warlord.... the possibilities are endless.”

“An assassin. In the academy. I can’t believe this. It’s horrid,” said Miara, sitting down on the bench.

Hercules sat down next to her and put his arm around her shoulders. “Don’t worry, we’ll get whoever this guy is.”

“I hope so,” said Miara, rising and going out the door towards her bunk. She went and laid down, but sleep was not forthcoming, as she tossed and turned for a good part of the night.

The next day Miara and Hercules were trying to convince Jason that someone was after him. He was not believing much, though.

“I know it’s prank day guys! You get me to believe someone’s after me, I run around all paranoid, you guys laugh. I’m not falling for it,” said the prince.

They walked into the barn. Jason was walking backwards and tripped on a stick, triggering a device that launghed a knife. Neither he nor his friends realized that the knife had lodged itself into the door leading out of the barn. As Jason picked himself up, Hercules turned and saw the knife.

“Now do you believe us? When you tripped you must have caught yourself on a wire that released this,” he pointed out.

Jason was stunned first and then he spoke, “You’re right. I’m sorry I doubted you.”

“It’s alright,” said Hercules. “We understand where you were coming from.”

“Now we have to figure out who this is,” Miara chimed in.

Hercules and Jason looked at each other for a minute. At the same time, the pointed at each other and exclaimed, “The cook!”

Miara mentally kicked herself for not thinking that the first time. “Of course! He said he was the Assassin of Thebes, but I thought he really was referring to his cooking! Stupid, stupid, stupid....”

“Hey. Don’t worry about it. Worry about how we’re going to catch him,” said Hercules.

Miara thought for a moment before a smile crossed her face. “I’ve got just the plan.”

A few hours later, the cadets were in the dining hall. All except for Miara, Hercules and Jason. They were standing just outside the door.

“Now Jason you remember the plan,” asked Miara.

“Yeah, sure do,” he answered. Miara pushed him in through the door, and turned to Hercules.

“Do you remember our little plan,” she asked with a mischievious smile.

“Perfectly,” he said returning her smile. He walked in and sat down next to Jason. Within a few minutes, Buterus was walking between the tables doling out food. He stopped at Jason, and only Miara noticed him pouring a little something extra on Jason’s plate.

She walked over and said, “Hey Buterus, is that some new spice? Can I have some?”

Buterus was silent for a minute, and said, “This is only for the prince.”

“What? How’d you know I was a prince,” asked Jason.

Buterus’ face turned red as he tried to lie himself out of trouble. “Er, your um, princely bearing.”

Suddenly Hercules jumped up. “What’s this,” he said, pulling on a chain around Buterus’ neck. “Oh look Jason. This says the Assassin of Thebes.” He turned to Feducius and said, “Could you please get the constable?”

A short while later, Buterus and the guy who hired him were in custody and Hercules, Jason and Miara stood in the dining hall watching them leave. “Well, that’s finally over,” said Jason.

“Yeah, it can’t be fun knowing someone wants to kill you,” said Miara.

Jason chuckled. “That’s not what I mean. It’s noon, Prank Day is over.”

Hercules winked at Miara and said, “Well, it was certainly an uplifting experience.”

Jason threw him a confused look, right before he was attacked by leftover plates of food Miara had cast a spell over. Miara and Hercules fell to the floor, laughing over their wonderful prank.

“And that’s how I met Hercules and Jason,” finished Miara.

The other travelers were still laughing, some of them even laughing so hard they cried. “That was a great story,” said Angel. “But it’s really late, we should get to sleep.”

And with that, they laid down and let the gentle rocking of the ship lull them to sleep.

“Rise an’ shine, ye lanlubbers!”

The travelers woke to Nebula’s call. “Ye can’t all sleep th’ day away. Even if ‘tis a ‘oliday.”

“What’s an oliday,” asked Kethryn, cobwebs of sleep clouding her mind.

“Holiday. It’s a holiday,” said Sheila. The amazon stretched and twisted, trying to work out the kinks in her back. In her turning and tossing, she accidentally knocked Aeaea in the face, as the other amazon sat straight up.

“Ow! Watch it!” Aeaea threw Sheila a glare as she got up. Suddenly a huge wave rocked the boat, and Aeaea went tumbling backwards into Tern.

Tern had not even opened her eyes when a heavy object fell on her. Throwing her blanket back and squinting against the bright sun, she kicked Aeaea off her. Aeaea jumped up and was about to kick Tern back when Angel ran and stepped between her and Tern, who was oblivious to the going ons for she had covered herself again.

Nebula walked over and yanked the covers off Tern who sat up and glared at the captain. “Don’ ya look at me like tha. Tain’t my faul’ ya wee lasses dinna get much sleep, wha with all your ramblins late into th’ night.” Nebula turned and walked away to yell at a crew member who was not tying a knot properly.

“Can’t we call a truce? We’re stuck on this boat for another day, and then we have the return trip,” Angel pleaded with her other travelers.

“Did I hear something about a holiday,” asked Pelee. “Does that mean there’s food?”

Aeaea, Tern, and Angel all turned to give Pelee an incredulous look. Sheila was the first to answer her amazon sister. “Today is the feast of Melodius. It celebrates the birth of the man who came up with the idea of harmony. Though it’s mostly celebrated by musicians, the people of Nebula’s land celebrate it also, as music is an integral part of their culture. If you were to be in one of their cities, you could expect great feasts, but since we’re on a ship in the middle of the sea, the most you can hope for is a lot of good songs.”

All of a sudden, the skies, which had been growing darker all the while, tore themselves in two and drowned out whatever Pelee was going to say. The travelers were first fine with the rain, but then as they saw the size of the waves that were about to crash into the side, they suddenly had a sinking feeling. “Get your arses down belo’, ya foolish lasses! A storm is no place for inexperienced sailors to be chitchatting,” yelled Nebula, directing the girls down the passage way that led past the galley to an antechamber where they could stay.

Once down below, the girls huddled together while rocking and swaying in time to the tumultuous tossing of the ship. The windows that had once shone brightly with the sunshine burst open and a gale wind came thrashing in, blowing out the lanterns that had made up for the sun. Kethryn and Aeaea ran over to close one window, while Pelee and Tern and Medea and Rhiannon took the other two. The windows shut and barricaded the girls turned to the complete darkness. Water covered the floor to an inch, brought in with the wind.

“Oh great,” yelled Kethryn. “Now we have no where to sit!”

Suddenly a voice called out from the darkness, deep and foreboding. “In a matter of minutes, you won’t need to sit. Corpses don’t stay upright well.” The voice trailed off, leaving a gleaming white sadistic smile in it’s wake......

The smile advanced and a single gold tooth gleamed, followed by more gleaming smiles. Lightning flashed and illuminated the leaders face, showing a long, ragged scar running from forehead, over his bushy black eyebrows, seemingly through his dark deadly eyes, down his cheek to his chin, partially covered by a thick, dark beard and an earring twinkling in one ear. The lightning also showed the cutlass dangling from his belt, and the hilt of the dagger in his boot. He made a motion with his head, dispersing his bandits to circle the travelers.

He smiled once more, and said to Tern, “Too bad my orders are to kill you right away. I could have some fun with you first.”

“Oh really? How ‘bout a kiss,” asked Tern. The pirate’s head reared back in laughter, and Tern kicked out, catching him in the jaw and starting the mayhem. The lead pirate recovered from Tern’s vicious kick, and drew his cutlass, swinging it from side to side. Tern dodged the slices of the blade, and grabbed his arm. He crossed his left arm over the right one Tern had a hold on, and backhanded her, sending her flying. She landed with a thud, but rolled to her side to avoid being stabbed and got to all fours. She struck out with her leg, catching the pirate in the back of the leg, and he fell down, dropping the cutlass. Tern reached over, drew his dagger, and jumped on him, holding the dagger to the cutthroat’s throat.

Meanwhile, Medea had taunted a pirate over towards a corner, jumping backwards every time he slashed with his sword. Finally, she turned and ran towards the corner, her attacker close behind her. She ran up the wall and flipped backwards, getting in behind the pirate, who had run into the wall. She kicked out, catching him in the knees. Again, in the back. Again, in the head. He slumped to one side and Medea grabbed all his weapons, and turned to find another victim.

Aeaea had been cornered by two pirates, and was trying to distract them by flirting with them. “You don’t want me to die a virgin, do you,” she asked coyly. The two pirates looked at each other with smiles on their faces, only to be punched in the stomach by Aeaea. They backed up, and she moved out of the corner. They made to lunge at her but taps on their shoulders made them pause. “Hey boys,” said Kethryn, with a wink to Aeaea. Aeaea smiled and bent at the knees, then leaping vertically into the air and whipping out, water flying in an arc from her boots. Her booted foot connected with the pirate on the left, and then the pirate on the right before she landed. Kethryn then jumped and twirled as Aeaea had, sending the pirates flying back the other way. The two amazons shook hands and smiled with satisfaction, and then kicked the same way at the same time at the pirates who had tried to get up.

Angel had been pushed down to the floor by her attacker, and she rolled backwards. She whipped her head up, her long, wet blonde hair flying and sending water droplets everywhere, a few strands sticking to her face. Her attacker kicked, but she caught his foot and twisted, sending him turning over to the floor. He rolled and got up, while Angel broke a chair and grabbed two of the legs as make-shift chobos. He lunged at her and she swung, catching him once in the stomach and once on the head. He fell to his knees in pain, and she brought the chobos down on his head again, knocking him out.

Hebe, being the more inexperienced in hand to hand combat, had not been faring well against her opponent. Her lip was swollen and bleeding from his hand, but she didn’t back down to the pirate. She made a movement with her hand, and was about to hurt the pirate, when Rhiannon called to her, “Hebe don’t! The water will pick up the electricity and shock us all!” The fireball Hebe had been about to hurl at her attacker dissipated, but it had succeeded in startling the man. Hebe grabbed a dresser that was standing against the wall, and pulled it down, pinning the pirate under the heavy bureau. She smiled at Rhiannon in gratitude while she ran over and kicked Rhiannon’s attacker from behind. Rhiannon saw Hebe coming and brought one knee up to her chest to give her greater leverage when her other leg kicked straight up, catching the pirate in the jaw and laying him low.

Miara treated her opponents head like the bag ball he she had kicked. First one way and then the next, the man’s head bobbed from side to side with little control. Finally she landed and looked at the man. Her head tilted to one side and her face scrunched in scrutiny, Miara shrugged and blew on the man. He fell to the floor, and Miara laughed with glee, only to turn to see Pelee fall down from her opponents slap. Miara disappeared then reappeared behind the man, tapping him on the shoulder. He turned to face her and started swinging, while Pelee got up and shook her head. Miara saw that her fellow traveller was up and just smiled at the guy, before punching him in the face, sending him spinning right into Pelee’s kick. The guy flew backwards and landed on top of Miara’s attacker.

The sword swung in a deadly arc at Sheila’s head, before she caught the blade between her palms. Perpindicular to her attacker, she turned her head ninety degrees to smile at the man before her knee came up and caught the man in the ribs. He buckled, and Sheila dropped his sword at the same time he did. She grabbed it and turned in one smooth motion, making a complete circle before bringing the arc down to separate the man’s head from his shoulder. “Shiela,” yelled Medea. Sheila seemed not to hear, and the blade swung perilously closer. Just as it seemed the she would have beheaded him, her wrists turned and the hilt of the sword hit the base of the pirate’s skull, knocking him out. “Do you really think I would kill a man like that,” she asked Medea.

“Well, I don’t know you very well. I would hope not. But I’ve never seen anyone’s hands turn over that fast,” said Medea, explaining and complimenting Sheila at the same time.

“TELL ME!!” Medea and Sheila turned to see Tern straddling her attacker, holding his own dagger to his throat. “Who wants us dead? You’d better tell me know, so help me I’ll run you through-” Her words were cut off as Aeaea and Kethryn pulled her off him. Medea rushed over, and put the pinch on him.

“I’ve just cut off the blood flow to your brain. You will tell us what we want to know, or we will let you die like this,” she told him in a calm voice that belied her inner emotions. The man nodded, struggling to breathe as his face turned blue. Medea reversed what she had done, and the man opened his mouth.

“Ne’er thought Ah’d see th’ day a bunch o gils would best me mates,” he said. Sheila pushed her way through to the front.

“You’re from Nebula’s land,” she accused him.

“Yeah, me and Nebbie go way back. She owed me a favor, an’ that’s ‘ow Ah got on this ship. Me employa’s known as Th’ Fox. I ne’er talked ta ‘im. It was all letters, ya see, so I can’t tell ya much else ‘bout him,” the man finished.

“Okay. Thank you,” said Kethryn, before knocking him out. “Well, now we know who wants us dead. Or at least a name.” She turned to face Tern, who was being restrained by Aeaea and Pelee.

“Let me go! I’m done,” she yelled. Kethryn looked at the other travelers who nodded. Aeaea and Pelee let her go, and she curled into a ball. “I’d never kill anyone. I was bluffing. I’m too chicken to really kill someone. That’s part of my story. I was sent out of my tribe, because they didn’t think I was aggressive enough.” She rocked herself back and forth, as Aeaea wrapped her arms around her in a fierce hug. Suddenly, the travelers realized the sun had broken through the windows, and spilled over them and the men lying around them. The storm was over.

After they had cleaned up the mess and locked the pirates in the ship’s hold, the travelers all sat around in the galley. They had decided to sleep there, since the crew would be making repairs on deck to things that had been damaged during the storm during the night. The travelers tended to the wounded, stitching Hebe’s cut lip. The sun dipped lower into the evening sky and finally the stars sparkled silver over the tiny waves of the sea.

“Tern, are you ready to tell us your story,” asked Aeaea. She and Kethryn had sandwiched Tern between them, keeping her company and her spirits up at the same time.

Tern shrugged. “I guess so. It’s not a bad, as in gory or depressing story, but after I tell you you might understand why my tribe sent me away.” She paused to take a deep breath and steady her voice, then began. “A few years ago, I was traveling around Greece with five of my sisters.....”

The six amazons of the Thermadon tribe walked along the path towards the city of Rhumba. They walked in silence, having nothing to say that wouldn’t waste breath. Reaching the city limits, they decided to split up and look around the city, and to meet again that night.

Tern walked towards a large, imposing building, decked out with banners and hangings of all sorts. Paying more attention to the building than to where she was walking, she stumbled into a blonde woman.

“Watch where your going,” screamed the woman. “What do you think you’re doing, running into me like that?”

“I’m sorry! It was an accident,” stammered Tern, picking herself off the ground.

The blonde was not easily appeased. “Accident my foot. You did that on purpose!”

Tern gave her a look. “And why would I do that?”

“So that I might sprain my ankle and not be in the dance contest,” she answered.

“Dance contest? Why do I care if you’re in the dance contest?”

“I’m the best dancer in the land. Everyone knows that. And you are jealous and trying to get me out of the running.” The blonde advanced on Tern, pushing her back. Suddenly a man’s voice interrupted.

“’Tilda, what are you doing,” asked the dark haired man.

“Uncle, this peasant ran into me and tried to hurt me so that I wouldn’t be in the dance contest,” she said turning to face an oddly dressed older man.

“Excuse me,” said a deeper voice from behind Tern. “But I was watching the whole thing. This lady here was admiring the trappings on your city hall and truly did not see ‘Tilda there. It was an accident.”

“You would take her side. Who are you, her lover,” asked Tilda, getting in the stranger’s face.

“No. I’ve never seen her before, but I don’t think you should be yelling at her for no reason. I’m Hercules,” said the tall handsome stranger.

“Hercules! What a pleasure to have you in Rhumba. As the mayor of the city, may I be of any service to you,” asked Tilda’s uncle, bowing low.

Hercules waved away the mayor’s offer. “All I ask is that you not judge this girl for admiring your buildings.”

Tilda huffed at this. “Not judge her?! She deliberately tried to attack me because I’m a better dancer than she is.”

Tern, tired of being referred to in the third person, piped up. “Now wait! I don’t care about your dance contest. But I could probably dance better than you any day.” She snapped her mouth shut, regretting having ever said that.

“Well, let’s see. Of course, you’d have to get a partner to enter the Panathenian. So, oops, you’re out already,” answered Tilda snidely.

“No she isn’t,” said Hercules. “I’m her partner.”

“I am not a good dancer!!”

Tern was berating Hercules for getting her in this mess. “I can’t believe you said that! How crazy can you be? Can you dance?”

“Well, I’m not that good, but I’m sure we could learn,” he answered slowly, not accustomed to being yelled at for helping people out. “We just need to find a teacher.”

“Find a teacher? Where are we supposed to find a teacher? And this dance contest is in three days,” exclaimed Tern.

Hercules looked at her questioningly. “This is Rhumba.”

“So?”

“So it’s the dance capital of Greece. There has to be teachers.”

Tern stood, dumbfounded. “Oh. I didn’t know that.”

“I can tell.” Tern glared at Hercules. He put his hands up in defeat. “Shall we go hunting for a dance teacher.”

Tern shrugged and motioned for Hercules to lead. He, however, felt that it would be the gentlemanly thing to do to let her out the door first. They stood in a stalemate until Tern finally gave in and stomped out the door.

After hours of searching and doors slamming in their faces, Tern and Hercules were about to give up. “There has to be someone,” said Hercules.

“There isn’t okay? Theodorus must have told them all to turn us away,” said Tern, pacing back and forth.

“Theodorus? Oh yeah, Tilda’s uncle,” Hercules said, asking and answering his own question.

Suddenly, a bird chirped from a nearby tree. They looked at it. It hopped away to a different branch, then hopped back, looking at them intensely. It repeated this motion a couple more times.

“Do you think it wants us to follow it,” asked Tern. The bird chirped again, as if it knew she was referring to it.

“I guess so,” answered Hercules. The two set off after the bird, taking them to a small house with a garden out front. A woman stood there, her white hair piled up on her head.

“Oh! Visitors. And how did you get here,” asked the woman, clapping her hands in glee.

“Well, uh,” Tern struggled for the words. “A little bird told us?”

“Wonderful bird.” The woman came over to them. “I assume you are looking for a dance instructor?” Hercules stared at the woman, who for some reason reminded him of someone.

“What are you staring at handsome? Don’t you think I’m a little old for you,” she asked. Hercules blushed and apologized, but she merely laughed it off. “Don’t worry on it, I don’t mind at all.” She posed in what she thought was a provocative manner. “You can look at me all you like.”

“You asked if we were looking for a dance instructor,” interrupted Tern, saving Hercules from more embarrassment. “Do you know of a good one that will help us?”

The woman seemed insulted by this question. “Do I know one? I am one. I’m the greatest dance teacher in all of Rhumba. Oh sure that Theodorus will tell you I’m horrible, but he’s just jealous because I would never dance with him. But what could he expect, he has two left feet!”

“So you’ll teach us,” asked Hercules finding his voice. The woman stopped her diatribe to nod. “Okay then. I’m Hercules and this is Tern. And you would be.....”

“I would be the Widow Twanky.”

“And one and two and one and two-”

Twanky’s counts were cut off by Tern’s anguished cry, as she tripped and feel for the umpteenth time. “I can’t do this,” she wailed. “I’m no good. We’re gonna make fools of ourselves in front of everyone!”

Hercules, who wasn’t having much more luck than Tern with dancing, walked over and put his hands on her shoulders. “Maybe there’s just a little something we’re missing.”

“Yes, like grace,” said Twanky, a little miffed that her students weren’t catching on as fast as she would hope. “You two have no rythm, no beat.... here,” she said, pulling Tern up off the floor by the hand and putting that hand on Hercules’ chest, over his heart. “You feel that? The basic beat of life. You must learn to dance to the beat of the music, to feel the music coursing through you like the blood in your veins.”

Tern stood there, feeling Hercules pulse beneath her fingers, thumping, thumping against her hand. She closed her eyes, listening to the dudun, dudun of his heartbeat. Slowly she started moving side to side in time with the beat, and Hercules followed suit. Twanky reached around and put Hercules’ arm on Tern’s hip and Tern’s other hand on Herc’s shoulder. Then she pulled Hercules’ arm out from his side, and moved Tern’s hand from his chest to his hand. Hercules began spinning Tern around and she followed suit. They were dancing to the beat in their heads and their hearts - the rhythm of life. Twanky’s joyful cry pulled them out of the clouds and back into the dance studio.

“Now that you have that down, let’s move on,” said Twanky.

Suddenly, the doors to the studio burst open, flooding with Theodorus’ guards. “You are in violation of section two, part eleven of the Rhumba Code of Laws,” said the leader and ugliest of the guards.

“What would that be? Dressing better than you do,” asked Twanky.

The guard took exception to that, but remembered he was on business and answered her. “No. Practicing without a license.”

“I have a license! I’ve had my license longer than you’ve been alive, sonny, and I’ve had it renewed every year,” replied Twanky.

“Not you, old woman. Them,” he said, pointing to Hercules and Tern.

“You don’t need a license to practice dancing. You’re making that up! And furthermore,” said Twanky as she sauntered over towards him, “I’m not that old.” Then she lashed out with a vicious kick to the guard’s midsection.

“Awoo,” she yelled, bringing one hand over her head and the other one into her side, like some strange Jackie Chan move.

Hercules and Tern just looked at each other, stunned by her reaction, but joined in the fray. Tern drew another guard over towards the open window. He punched at her, but connected with air as she ducked. She jumped over her legs as he kicked at her and punched him in the stomach. She ran behind him and kicked him in the rear, sending him flying out the window. Two men ran at Hercules, who stuck his arms out and clotheslined them. They fell crashing to the ground and didn’t move. The leader of the guards, scared by Twanky, reached down and dragged them out of the room.

Twanky rushed over to Hercules and began to feel his chest. “Oh you poor boy, are you hurt?” Hercules, who hadn’t even been touched in the fray, just shook his head. “Well, that’s a good thing,” said Twanky, leaning in and resting her head on his chest. “Such a strong boy you are.” Hercules looked over Twanky’s head to Tern who was turning blue trying not to laugh at Twanky’s antics. Twanky collected herself, and clapped her hands together. “Now. Back to praciticing.”

The day of the Panathenian dawned brightly, and the contestants crowded into Rhumba’s city hall.

“Welcome, dancers, judges, and audience,” said Theodorus from atop his podium. “Welcome to the fiftieth annual Panathenian. We hope you all enjoy this year’s dancing and without further ado.... Matilda and Travoltus of Rhumba!”

Tern’s enemy and her dance partner took the stage. They started off slow, dramatic and mysterious, slowing picking up speed, and when the music ended, Tilda was draped over Travoltus’ arm. The audience clapped, for this was the heavy favorite. One by one, other couples from other cities in Greece took their turns, trying to score higher than Tilda and Travoltus, but none came close.

Theodorus got back up on his podium. “Ladies and gentlemen... it is my pleasure to announce the winner-”

“Not so fast Theodorus,” said a deep voice. Theodorus looked out over the floor to see Hercules walking to the middle. “There’s one more couple to go.” Theodorus was dragged from his podium by his bruised guards. Hercules looked over to the maestro and nodded. Music filled the air, and Tern walked out from behind a drape. Black lace covered her face and blonde locks and fell down her bodice, laced into a green velvet dress that was longer in the back. The sleeves fit snugly and came to vees over the backs of her hands. She made her way dancingly over to Hercules, splendid in tight fitting green velvet pants, a loose purple shirt that laced up, and snug black boots, looking every inch the dashing pirate. As she finally reached him, his arm snaked out and grabbed her, and they began to move in synch to the music.

When the music stopped, they were breathing hard and sweating. Suddenly they became aware of the loud applause of the crowd and the head judge trying to get their attention. They had won the Panathenian. Smiling and laughing, Tern hugged Hercules close. They pulled apart and looked into each other’s eyes, before leaning in for an intense, yet sweet kiss. At the sound of someone clearing her throat, they broke apart, face to face with the five other amazons from Tern’s nation.

“What are you doing,” asked Meleitha.

“I’m uh.. dancing,” answered Tern meekly.

Meleitha’s eyes narrowed. “We’re amazons! We don’t dance. We fight.” The other Thermadon’s nodded their agreement. The five turned to walk out.

“WAIT! No,” Tern picked up her skirts and ran over to them. “I can explain. It’s a long story, but I can explain it-”

“Save it,” came Meleitha’s sharp words. “You are no longer worthy of an amazon. I exercise my right as leader of our group to ban you from the Thermadon nation. Set foot on our lands at your own risk,” she said before turning and walking out the doors......

Tern stifled a sob, but the tears she had been holding back silently rolled down her cheeks. “I loved dancing with Hercules. I hate fighting. I was never meant to be an amazon, but my mother was so I had to stay there.” Her head dropped in embarrassment, certain the other amazons in the group would be just as ashamed as her tribe was.

Aeaea put a comforting arm around her, and Kethryn, Medea, Sheila, and Pelee all made noises that sounded like they were trying to hold back their own tears. Rhiannon slowly crept over to Tern and said “We don’t care if you can dance or if you can’t, if you can fight or if you can’t. Besides, you did a pretty good job back there with that scum.”

Tern laughed weakly. “Yeah I did, didn’t I?”

Kethryn finally found her voice. “You know, Teleena, my queen, would probably be glad to take you in. She loves having well-rounded amazons, as she’s so fond of saying.”

“Or Cyane. We’re always dancing,” said Angel. “Though I don’t think any of us would be as good a dancer as you probably are.”

“Thanks guys. Maybe when this is over, I’ll go with one of you. Or maybe I’ll just start my own tribe,” said Tern with a smile. The others laughed and laid down to go to sleep. They finally fell asleep, but not before quite a few of them cried out their tears.