Hippolyta: The Pits Of Death

Hippolyta: The Pits of Death

by Ian Johnstone

Smashwords Edition

Copyright 2015 Ian Johnstone

Published by Strict Publishing International

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

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CHAPTER ONE

The horn was blown three times for the Amazon warriors to amass in the centre of the village. Each warrior stood by her horse, ready to mount and counter attack any invading army. There was a thundering sound from the hooves of more than two hundred mounted Hun riding along the eastern side of the village firing arrows indiscriminately into the buildings. The sound was deafening, and the ground closest to the wall vibrated. The Hun warriors rode the whole length of the stone wall on the eastern side, on the natural stone road. Some of the arrows struck a random target, killing a few warriors and injuring many more.

They had appeared almost without warning, using the ‘dead area’ where they could not be seen from the watchtower, the area behind a small forest to the rear of the mountains on the eastern mountain spur. They had found a pass through the Caucasus Mountains and now they were attacking the Amazons from the south.

Danilo had been the first to respond to the horn. He ran to the young Hippolyte who was standing looking confused. She was only four years old, alone, and Danilo was determined to shield her from the arrows. The attack had been so sudden and unexpected that although she was only just outside the doorway of Hippolyta’s palace, there had been no time to take her inside and out of danger before the arrows started to fall.

He placed her near the tablet of the fallen heroes, and then positioned three steel shields in front of her. Stay there and do not move, he said as he picked up another shield for his own protection, but not before an arrow struck him in his left arm.

Hippolyta ran out, quickly mounting her waiting horse to lead warriors from the village in pursuit. The Amazon warriors on the walkways near the wall were shooting back as the Hun passed, and several Hun lay on the ground either dead or wounded. As Hippolyta rode out, some of the remaining Amazon warriors jumped over the wall to check the dead and dying. Those that were wounded were marched back into the village and thrown into the keep.

By the time Hippolyta returned, the village was quiet once more. Danilo was sitting next to the tablet with Hippolyte on his lap, the arrow still sticking out of his upper arm. After dismounting, Hippolyta came over and took hold of the young Hippolyte’s hand, looking at Danilo. Thank you, my wolf and hunter. You thought of my daughter before your own well being, and that will not go unrewarded.

I seek no reward, my Lady. I am your daughter’s protector as well as yours. Might I say something, my Lady?

Yes of course, Danilo.

I know that you have already realised what I will say, but these attacks cannot go on unpunished. This Hun general, Edico, has no idea of your worth, and he thinks you are weak because you are a woman. This is the third attack in less than ten days. I ask you to let me find his camp so that you can turn his attacks into your attacks. I know this land like the back of my hand, and I will be able to travel by night. He held his arm towards her, showing her the arrow in it. Edico has now made his battle personal.

Hippolyta knew all that Danilo had told her was correct. The Hun thought that she and her army of Amazons was an easy target. Thraso, fix my hunter’s wound, and then we will talk of warring against the Hun again.

Hippolyta and her commanders walked over to the council fire that was always alight. It was around this fire where all the orders for the daily running of the village were made. Once there, Phoebe put her knife tip in the red hot embers while Thraso turned his arm towards her. The arrow had gone right through his arm and the tip was visible on the other side. Thraso snapped the flight of the arrow off just above where it entered his arm, and then she placed a thick leather gag in his mouth and told him to bite on it. When he nodded to indicate that he was ready, she pulled the arrow through and out. Phoebe had walked up and pressed the knife tip over the wound on both sides to stop the flow of blood.

The pain was worse than the arrow striking him, and Danilo could feel tears welling up in his eyes. Thraso looked at his tear filled eyes and said, It hurt me more doing that than it hurt you, Danilo.

He took the gag from his mouth, moved his face close to hers and stared intently at her.

What are you staring at, Danilo?

If that was hurting you more than me, I was just wondering why I see no tears in your eyes.

The commanders and Hippolyta burst out laughing, along with most of the warriors that had ridden against the Hun.

A warrior came over to take Hippolyte from her mother before she and the commanders began to talk. My hunter is correct, because this Edico is beginning to be a thorn in our side. We have had peace with the Hun since the death of Bataar, but now Edico has ventured south. We have no idea how big his army is, but my hunter is going to find out.

Hippolyta, nearly all of the village elders and the traders have said Edico has been attacking and pillaging the villages, along with the trade route. These attacks started ten days ago, but until this morning when one of the village elders arrived here we had no idea. The story from a village elder was that Edico has a big army to the north-east of the Mountains.

I can say for sure, Thraso, that Edico will not remain in my realm much longer to mount his attacks. Danilo, I grant you your favour. You may go in the morning, once you have rested your arm, to find his camp. Do you need a horse to cover the eastern side of my realm?

No, my Lady, a horse would only slow down this wolf.

Hippolyta laughed. You amuse me, Danilo.

Scyleia then said, We have three Hun captives, Hippolyta.

Are the wolf pits full?

Yes, they were filled in advance of this attack, Hippolyta.

Then bring out the prisoners, and they will die as punishment for killing my warriors.

The three men were led out. One of them was no older than Danilo. There was no mistaking the fear in their eyes as they looked at this queen who was known for not showing mercy to Hun warriors. Hippolyta spoke harshly as she said, "You have reason to fear me. You are about to die for invading my realm and disturbing my peace, robbing my people and killing my warriors, so for you I can show no mercy. You and your foolish general believe you can come to my realm and attack me in my own village without reprisals. He will soon realise he has made a mistake, but for him it will be too late.

I have a law that states all invaders must die, and each one of you is an invader.

Hippolyta pointed at each one of them in turn, showing them her face of anger. There is no time to build a fire outside the gates, so I am afraid you will be thrown to the wolves. I will allow you a knife, because I feel like a merciful queen today. If I think you put up a good fight and you manage to entertain me by killing the wolves, I will give you your freedom. If you die, then you can take with you to hell the knowledge that Edico will be joining you there very soon.

Just as they were about to start, Danilo asked, Can I say something to you, my Lady? It is important to what you are about to do.

Yes, come here and tell me. Danilo walked over and spoke to her quietly. What a good idea, she replied. I love torturing the condemned prisoners’ minds.

She then looked at the three Hun, and spoke as she pointed to the youngest Hun. You are going to be spared the wolves until we capture you again. You are going to take a message to Edico. Phoebe, walk him to the other side of the pit so that he can see his friends fight for their lives.

It was quickly done, and the young man was looking down into the pit trembling in fear, even though he had been told that he was to be spared. On seeing him, the wolves jumped up and tried to get at him, and he pushed back at Phoebe and the other warrior a little. The sharp teeth of the wolves glinted in the sunlight, and there was saliva hanging from the corner of their mouths. As their paws pressed against the walls of the pit, their sharp nails could be seen spread out. The Hun warrior knew that only the lucky would survive being thrown to these wild beasts.

The first Hun was given a knife and pushed into the pit, but he had not touched the ground before the wolves were on him. His screams became louder for a moment, and then there was silence except for the sound of the wolves devouring their meal It was the same at the second pit, and after a few minutes of silence the young Hun was walked back to Hippolyta.

"You have been shown a short mercy and are the lucky one. It is late now, but in the morning you will be released. I want you to take a message to that pig Edico. You will tell him of what you have seen, and tell him that because he attacked me and my warriors I will destroy him. I will not rest until he is in one of my pits of death. You can tell him that I will throw him in the same pit where I hung Churnobog and Bataar.

Throw him back in the keep, Phoebe. Give him food and water. I don’t want him dying before he gives my message to Edico.

Phoebe led young Hun back to the keep and closed the door, and then she returned to the fire where Hippolyta and the commanders were sitting. Thraso asked, What is all this about sending messages to Edico, Hippolyta? Why are you letting this Hun go free to attack us again?

My hunter asked me to do it. When we release the Hun tomorrow, Danilo will follow him back to Edico. We could have tortured him for the answers, but we would be unsure whether he told us the truth before we threw him to the wolves.

So you have another hunter that thinks ahead, Hippolyta.

We have to find out how big Edico’s army is before we can do battle with him. We don’t have any idea where he is at the moment. I don’t want to chase him all over my realm the same way as I did with Bataar, because that takes a lot of time. What is the strength of our army, Thraso?

We now have four thousand in the village and another two thousand patrolling the villages. Queen Andromache in the south has roughly the same. The army has grown over the last four years since we had the trouble with Bataar. Attila has expanded his army east a little, but thankfully he is attacking the Romans in the west and is somewhere north of Rome.

There was more talk that went on late into the evening, but nothing of any great importance was discussed or decided. By the time Hippolyta stood up to go in the palace, Danilo was near the fire asleep under a deerskin. She stepped over him after saying good night to the commanders.

The following morning, Danilo built up the council fire before taking meat out of his oven at the edge of it. The meat he killed for Hippolyta and the commanders was cooked on this same fire, and it was around this fire that the commanders ate their meals, discussed, and made decisions. As he was eating, Danilo watched Thraso walk up to the keep and open the door. The young Hun came out, and Thraso handed him his sword.

You have a message to deliver, she told him. As she spoke she was looking at Danilo, who nodded. Go now, and make sure you tell Edico everything that Queen Hippolyta told you.

They watched him run north out of the village, but Danilo remained seated, eating his meat.

Are you not going to run after him, Danilo?

I will wait until he is out of our sight and then I will leave, Commander. I know from the land around here that he only has one way to travel at first, which will be northward until he gets to the edge of the mountain. I will catch up with him long before he gets there.

It was a long time before the lookout shouted down that the young Hun was now out of sight. Danilo put his axe in the sling on his back and placed a bow on his shoulder with a spear in his hand. He then ran in the same direction the Hun had taken, but Thraso could see that he was running a lot faster than the Hun.

* * * * *

It was almost midday when Hippolyta came out of her palace and walked over to the fire.

The Hun has gone, and your hunter left a short time later.

At that moment the lookout shouted, There is a legion of Romans riding towards the village from the south.

Hippolyta jumped up at the same time as the commanders. Sound the alarm and get the defences ready for attack.

The horn was blown three times, and the Amazon warriors were ready and mounted in no time. There were warriors with bows and spears at the ready all along the eastern wall, and the lookout shouted down, Queen Andromache is with the Roman General, and she has a small detachment of her army with her. Her warriors are still armed, Hippolyta.

Shortly afterwards, the legion stopped almost three hundred paces away and a small group rode forward with Andromache. The group was let through the entrance to the village, following Andromache. She led them over to the council fire where her slave jumped off a horse behind her and took hold of the reins of her horse. She dismounted, and the slave helped her keep her balance. Once both her feet were on the ground she told the slave, Look after the horses.

Yes, my Lady, and he ran off leading them.

Andromache pointed to the Roman officer. Hippolyta, this is a friend of mine from the old days. His name is Alexius, and he has some important information for you.

The officer dismounted and looked around at the spears and the arrows pointing towards him. Queen Hippolyta, there is no reason fear me. I am here to help you destroy the Hun army to the north and east along the Caucasus Mountains. I am sure they have attacked you since you killed Bataar and Churnobog. I know all about your battles with the Hun in the past, but you are probably about to do battle with a general of a higher standard than they were.

Tell the archers to rest, Thraso.

While Thraso went over and spoke to the army, Hippolyta stepped across to the council fire. The commanders had already returned to their seats. The Roman officer with Andromache stepped over to join them. Three junior officers stood behind him.

The Roman General smiled as he spoke. "Queen Hippolyta, I have known you were here for many years. The Roman Emperor of the Eastern Empire has allowed you to stay here unhindered, because he and I know the history of your people. I was a young captain in charge of the Roman army escorting your mother and Queen Andromache to where you are now. It was I who gave your mother and Queen Andromache this land, with the full knowledge of the Emperor, and we have no intention of taking it from you.

There is a Hun army to the north-east, with a leader called Edico. He, along with Attila, has been a thorn in Emperor Arcadius’s side for a very long time. Edico is a very dangerous Hun and he must be destroyed. His army consists of between five and ten thousand warriors, battle-hardened and very dangerous. We know that he is no fool or he would not have stayed alive for so long. I have been given the task of destroying him, and to hold this side of the Black Sea against any Hun invasion.

"We have a large army at Lazica in the garrison, but you know all about our wars with Persia. We know that you have an alliance with the kings and you trade with them, but you have never gone to war at their side against Rome.

"The Romans, unlike you, do not have a substantial force of mounted soldiers we can call on, because the Persian war has drained our resources. I estimate that you are able to draw six thousand mounted warriors if you were in need, and that is without the warriors Queen Andromache has under her command. The Emperor is offering you one thousand gold coins to fight for Rome and destroy not only Edico but any other Hun armies that try to work their way south on the east of the Black Sea.

"As you see, I have a legion of soldiers with me, and I stress again that