It was just another day on that fantastic island lost in the middle of the ocean. The light passed through the trees, giving the forest a vibrant color in the morning but, for the upset full-time Amazon and part-time naga, it was just another day in Hell.
“God, it's so fucking hot.”
I hate wildlife.
Cassandra had spent the last two days traveling in the middle of that forest and she still hadn´t found a trace of her prey. Have been two days since she had left the city of the nagas, Speira, on a journey to the west coast of the Island; an unexplored region inhabited by unknown creatures and, if she was lucky, that might include her prey. None of the tribes that inhabited the Island had maintained a strong presence in that place or claimed it for themselves, but from time to time, they sent an exploratory force to map the area or on special missions for their tribes. Ahura, in a small ceremony before all the inhabitants of the city, had warned her about the presence of patrols of centauress in the area and had exhorted her to stay away from them to avoid that those "savage quadrupeds" ended up tearing her apart, an advice that Cassandra intended to take to heart. So far, the golden-scale naga had not found any members of that tribe, but she preferred to avoid conflict with them if possible.
After six hours of travel and a rather embarrassing attempt to hunt down a squirrel, Cassandra decided to stop under the shade of a tree to rest for an hour or two. With a jaded gesture, the tired naga reaches up to the bag that she wore fastened under her breasts, opening it and revealing the poor content of her achievements: A couple of fruits that she had plucked from a tree and a small canteen half full of fresh water that she had collected in the riverbed of the river that crossed Speira. At the bottom of the pouch was her most valuable possession: a Medical Kit that Liz had given to her and that she had managed to hide from the rest of the snake women “in a place they´d never look.”
Next to the metal casket, a flat object gleamed in the sunlight, with some anger; the Amazon extracts the metal disk and observes the effigy of her prey, the one that had given her so many headaches since her meeting in the court of Ahura. A quadruped figure, with a feline body, wings and a human head. This was the preys he was looking for due to the goings-on of the Elder of the Python Clan.
Cassandra still remembered the meeting whit her friends after leaving the Elder's court.
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"A Sphinx!?" If looks could kill, the ex-MI6 agent would be a serial killer.
"That's impossible." A silver-scaled naga replied with identical surprise in her voice. Melody had joined them both in the Champion's hut "No one has seen one for centuries. They are believed to be extinct.
"How do you know that?" Cassandra asked intrigued. Her friend looked embarrassed by the question.
“Our oldest sisters have been with our clan for a couple of centuries. According to them, the last sphinx was hunted down by Ahura's grandmother two and a half centuries ago.
“Typical of the nagas,” The blonde woman did not hide her dislike for that statement, “Killing another living being for the simple pleasure of doing it.”
Melody had perhaps been a naga for less than a couple of days, but she had accepted her new identity quite quickly. Just look at the furious way she reacted when that stranger had insulted her people, even if her words were true.
“Hey! By hunting them, our Elders have ensured that our people remain safe from external threats. Take a look at what happened to the Anaconda clan: They were decimated by the mermaids and forced to leave their lands.”
“Because they were first thrown out of their breeding places! , Throwned by the furious hordes of "your" sisters!”
“And that excuses them from put them on the brink of annihilation.”
“I doubt that your sisters had such qualms with the mermaids when they attacked them, treacherously, n first place.”
"We need to stop this right now!" The golden-scaled naga stood between the two of them. "We have more important thing to deal with."
“You're right. We will forget this for now.”
"Anytime you want, bitch." Melody stuck out her forked tongue at the furious succubus.
“Let´s return to the topic at hand, what do we know about the Sphinxes?”
“They are one of the rarest creatures that inhabit this island.” Elizabeth was an authentic encyclopedia with beautiful legs. “N ancient times, they were considered a symbol of wealth and the afterlife.”
“Their kind used to live in small groups on the coasts and on the tops of the mountains.” Melody adds, while lowering her voice. “But when our ancestors arrived from the continent...”
"The nagas considered the sphinxes a very valuable prey." The succubus finished. "They had hunted them for millennia on the continent, a tradition that they continued on the Island. Although, if we are being fair, it was not that they stood still while they were annihilated. Stories are told about that a single sphinx was capable of decimating large numbers of snake women.”
“Then why would they put a token with her effigy in the bowl?”
"It's a trap." Said the succubus with conviction, "The Hunt is one of the most important and sacred rituals for their kind. If a member of the clan could not find the prey or refused to do so ... She would end up being expelled from the clan. In a way, I have to admit that it is a good plan. It is the perfect excuse that Ahura needs to get rid of you without provoking the wrath of the Amazons who would come avenging the death of their champion in case something happened to you.”
“Then what do we do? There must be someone in this crazy village that can get us into Ahura's mind and her intentions.”
“I know someone who could help us.” Melody adds.
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"It's impossible," Camilla said vehemently.
“Thank you for your ancient wisdom. Oh! Black mamba.” Elizabeth mocked the black-scaled naga. The tanned naga's eyes widened briefly and her fangs poked out but she reverted to her previous stance as if the naga hadn't heard the succubus words.
“You asked me for my honest opinion and I am giving it to you. There has been no mention of a sphinx in more than two centuries. Anyway, our Elder's actions are completely ridiculous. I mean, I figured I'd try to kill you somehow, but this…?”
Elizabeth seemed willing to say something that she knew you both would end up regretting, so the red-haired Amazon decides to intervene by putting herself between the nagas and the succubus, attracting the attention of the "black mamba." “Is there any way I can compensate this? Perhaps if I bring a prey that is worth as much as a sphinx...”
"Forget it." Camilla shook her head, leaving the redhead hopeless for a simple resolution to that situation. "The Hunt not only seeks to test the personal abilities of a naga for the hunting. It also tries to demonstrate your abilities to support and defend the rest of your sisters.”
“What do you mean?”
“When one of ours brings back a deer that was captured from a herd, it is not only the animal itself that she brings back; she has also found a food source that can sustain the rest of our sisters for months. Another sister who brings with her a poisonous animal that secretes certain types of toxins can be of use to our healers to obtain new medicines or poisons. Likewise, the ritual Ahura wants to submit to you is not just to demonstrate your abilities to hunt down superior preys and get in touch with your "inner hunter". It´s an ancient ritual that candidates to Elders must go through to prove that they are capable of eliminating threats to the clan with nothing more than their intelligence and personal abilities.
A ritual for candidates to Elder...
Cassandra wanted to say something but didn't want to interrupt the older naga.
“When Ahura proposed that you go through this test, it is clear that she was looking for a way to get rid of you. But, as the "she-devil" will have already told you, the sphinxes are something else for our people.” She put the image of the mythical creature in her hand. “The sphinxes are known for their ferocity in combat and their unparalleled intelligence. Our own people have come to regard them as equals, and we revere their hunts regardless of the outcome.”
"Then why would your Elder propose such a test if it is something so important to your people?"
“I imagine that she didn´t imagine this result. You are marked by the Gods; no doubts about that.” Cursed by the Gods more likely, “Let's forget for a second about your possibilities and imagine that you managed to hunt down one of these beings. If you were victorious, you won´t only have won your place among the ranks of our sisters and the hand of the Elder in marriage: you would be cementing your position as the future successor of Ahura.”
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She had been moving east from Speira for more than three days now, and her initial impression of this place had not changed in the least. The heat was becoming unbearable as she moved west and to top it off, her entire body stank because of the sweat. That is why when she hears the blessed sound of running water, she approached without hesitation, to what it turns out to be a small waterfall where the water fell into a deep pool.
Happy with her discovery, the amazon introduced herself in the cold water and feels as if all the accumulated tensions of the last days go away and, for a moment, she allows herself to lower her guard.
Of course something bad was going to happen.
Bubbles exploded on the other side of the pool, where a pink fin rose above the surface of the water. To the naga's delight, the being was heading in her direction with hostile intentions.
At last, some exercise.
Using the muscles of her tail, she projects her upper body, which falls over the surprised predator. She had acted in the same way Camilla had taught her during her short but rewarding training sessions in Speira.
“You must learn to use the two halfs of your body as one. Don't focus your strength only on your upper body. Learn to use your tail and she will take care of you”.
Taking advantage of the fact that the animal had stopped its attack, the naga twirls her immense tail around the scaly body of that bastard who, too late, had realized his fatal mistake by considering her has a simple prey instead of the apex predator of these forests. And it was going to pay the ultimate price for that fault, Cassandra would make sure of it.
"That's right," recalls the professional voice of the black-tailed naga, "use your upper body to maintain your grip on your prey and use your tail to imprison it. Crush the body of your opponent. That way it will be difficult for your enemy to hurt you.”
The black mamba had been an excellent teacher, despite the little time they had spent training together in the city of the naga, her advices have been useful to subdue that bastard with suicidal tendencies. Using her powerful razor claws, the red-haired Naga pierced through the weak protective layer between the gills causing that the creature roars in pain.
Remembering the performance of the black mamba with the centauress, Cassandra opens her jaws exposing the deadly sharp fangs, that they were being reflecting in the large pupils of that marine monster.
“Once he doesn´t pose a direct threat to you, then it will be time for you to deliver the coup de grace on your foe.”
The fangs pierce through the flesh as if it was paper, sinking down to the bone. That monster was only able to emit a muffled groan as the poison injected into its body took effect. As that creature was losing strength, Cassandra relaxes the muscles of her tail leaving it floating in the water, immobile.
Well, thought the red-haired naga, at least now I have some real food. While using a loose scale as a knife to pierce the skin, she heard a distant sound. Using her enhanced eyesight, she could see through the undergrowth, the thermal forms of various beings advancing in her direction.
Without wasting time, the red-haired naga unleashes her prey and begins to slide through the rocks of the small waterfall, until she is protected from prying eyes. From her privileged position, she watched with curiosity as the figures approached the pool. At first, Cassandra mistook the strangers as Amazons when she saw a torso of one of them covered by a layer of armor, but as she emerged from the bushes, she realized her mistake.
The figure she had mistaken for a member of the Amazon tribe belonged to a different class of warrior. At over six feet tall and with a muscular body -she must be a formidable warrior- the female standed high above all the other creaures on this island. but what really caught the attention of Cassandra was the rest of her body. Joined to her torso, the human upper body merged with an impressive chestnut-furred equine body.
That creature was certainly a centauress. That was the first time she saw one of their kind and, she preferred to avoid a posibble confusion that ended with her pierced throught the impressive trident that she was carring as a weapon.
Behind her, came at least half a dozen more horsewomen, all of them ready to take a fight. One of them wasn´t wearing an armor except for a leather breastplate that covered her breasts. This allowed the curious observer, to look for the first time at the physical complexion of those beings.
As the red-head remembered from her mythology classes, centaurs were a combination of a human and a horse. But instead of being two completely different bodies one on top of the other. The "real" centaurs had other physical attributes that made them look more equine than they had appeared in modern depictions. To begin with, there were their faces; they were long and aquiline. The pupils of the eyes were slightly larger than those of a human being and the nose was two nostrils protruding from the skin. On either side of the head of the warrior were a pair of bumps, must be the ears, sticking out above her head. The hairstyle of that particular centauress was braided into a single hairline that descended from the forehead to the withers as if it was a horse's mane.
It was clear to Cassandra that those people had not come on for a picnic. Apart of the tridents, the warriors were equipped with short swords and knives except for one of them, the one that was without armor, Cassandra thought that it was possibly some kind of tracker because of the way she looked all the time to the ground as if she was searching for something. She carried a long wooden bow and a quiver on her equine back, full of black arrows.
She had seen the horsewomen moving through the brushes and around the pool. They seemed to be looking for something- or someone- she thought uneasily, remembering her friend's accident when she arrived on the island. They may have followed Cassandra's trail as they searched for their comrade, and that had led them to the pool where the naga had been relaxing until a few minutes ago. After ten minutes of searching, the centauress had disappeared into the bushes again, and the redhead felt as if a weight were lifted from her. She decided to spend the night among the treetops and if it the coast was clear, she would return to her search in the morning.
Her eyes were beginning to weigh and she fell asleep.
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The Amazon watched the sunset from the window of her bedroom. There were only 12 hours left of the 48 set as the limit for the ritual participants to have to leave Speira. In the little time that The Amazon had, she had received certain advice on how to navigate the jungle from her companions. She had also learned certain martial techniques from Camilla that had ended with her earning some bruises, not that her opponent had gotten without any marks, either. After finishing, the black-tailed naga suggested at the tired amazon that she should go back to her hut and try to get some rest. Cassandra did not argue with her and returned to her hut where she intended to spend her last hours in Speira.
In less than a day she would have to go out into the jungle and maybe she won´t return. Not using tools included not carrying the magic sword that had send her into this mess. In a way she felt naked without her encouraging voice and presence. Despite the little time they had spent together, Cassandra had gained certain affection for it.
At midnight, Elizabeth joined her and didn´t leave her side. Cassandra was silent. She was just glad to have some company on this night. A couple of hours later, she woke up with a sensation of pressure where her old thighs had been, at first, she thought it were Elizabeth's fingers, but feels something cold and metallic penetrating deep into her. Flushed, she opens her mouth to say something, but the scheming succubus stops her with a squeeze of her hand on her shoulder.
"Don't say anything," she exhorts her, "The walls in this place have eyes and ears.
Cassandra lowers her voice. "Do you have any idea how I can get out of this mess?"
"Maybe, although it's a bit desperate." The blonde woman's voice sounded tired, "Go west, to the coast." In that place live mythological creatures far from the claws of the nagas and other vicious creatures like them that want to hunt them down. If the sphinxes have sought refuge anywhere on this island, it will be there.
“And if they haven't?” Cassandra wanted to know what options she had at her disposal, “You said that the nagas would expel me from their clan but that doesn't mean that I won´t be able to continue fulfilling my duties as the Champion of the Island.”
“If you fail, you will never be able to return to naga territory. Even as a Champion, to the naga you will only be another "exile" disgraced by her clan. If you try to come back by force, they will try to kill you. "The blonde succubus gives up her grip on Cassandra´s shoulder and places her hands around her belly," I care about you. You know it, right?
“I know. I wish this night would last forever.”
Elizabeth's voice sounded slightly annoyed by that statement.
"Personally I would rather not have to spend the rest of my life in this den of vipers."
"You haven't told me the problem you have with them yet." That had been something Cassandra had wondered about since they both returned to town.
“I'd rather not have to. Trust me, those are not pleasant memories.”
“You remember about what you told me about mutual trust? I hoped my "personal advisor" would apply her own advice with herself.”
From her position he could not see the face of the succubus, but she imagined the expressions that must be passing over her face. In the end she gives in to Cassandra´s request.
“Do you remember what I told you about my mission on the Helga, the German ship? About the dark powers that inhabits this island?”
Of course, Cassandra still felt dread when she remembered her friend's words about her trip to the Island.
“As I told you, there is a dark power on this Island that uses its powers to corrupt other beings, but it also calls other creatures to join its ranks.”
Cassandra could imagine where the story was going.
“Since their arrival five centuries ago, the nagas have always fought for it or supporting it, in the shadows. During the last conflict with that Evil, more than half a century ago, the nagas opposed the rest of the island's tribes, pushing the centaurs and mermaids out of the western regions of the island, leaving the Amazons completely alone in the face of the growing threat. It was in those times that evil struck hard on the tribe of Amazons. For three days and three nights the malevolent forces and their henchmen struck hard at the Amazon settlements causing heavy casualties among our brave warriors. Despite everything, our forces managed to repel the attack but the price was still too high. Aegea died during that final battle.”
“I´m orry.”
“Don´t say that again, okay? I've been hearing the same phrase since her death. I'm sick of others feeling sorry for me.”
The two of them don´t said another word for the rest of the night.
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The smell of burning wood filled the naga´s nostrils. Alert, Cassandra slides through the upper branches and pokes her head above the foliage of the tree, from her position, Cassandra saw a cloud of smoke rising a couple of miles from where she was.