City of gods - Hellenica (16 page)

“It’s a dream, Kayana,” said Praetor Mantus. “Hush before you’re noticed.”

“Spartans don’t have dreams of Amazons,” said Kayana, “they have nightmares.”

Kayana didn’t  like Amazons herself. She understood they had to do what they had to do to instill fear in male armies; but still,
they did things to their prisoners that should not be done
.

Kayana flew by a small, wiry Amazon who was checking for survivors. This woman had no face; her helmet cast a deep shadow, leaving only glowing green eyes. Kayana looked around and saw that none of the Amazons had faces either; they were just helmets, bodies and glowing eyes. Kayana still focused on the wiry Amazon and saw her pick up a baby and check to see if it was a female. It was, so the Amazon put her in a basket. Kayana noticed that many of the other Amazons had baskets and forks; they were collecting all female children and sticking males with their forks.

Kayana saw a man struggling in the distance and as they approached noticed that it was Dion. He and several other Spartans had been captured alive, untouched and whole, and he was now struggling with the women as they took him away.

Kayana felt Dion’s emotions; they were
deep
and
real
. She listened to his screams and they didn’t seem like yells from a dream.
Terror from a nightmare is muted and compressed,
she thought.
This is genuine fear to him.

The Amazons seemed real too. Creatures in dreams lurked in shadows or behind doors; they rarely dragged you away in full view. The way they moved seemed calculated and planned. Their dark faces communicated with each other to move, even when Dion wasn’t looking. 

“We have indeed fallen into Dion’s nightmare,” said Praetor Mantus. “So we’ll simply observe; if we add more fear, the emotion could kill him. So close your eyes and
feel
what’s happening to him. Asra, ghouls are incapable of feeling fear, but try to sense the intensity of his emotion. Try.”

Asra closed her eyes, grunted and then bashed her head on the ground in chagrin. She shook her body, flashed an angry scowl, and then morphed back into a ball of glowing light.

The Amazons took Dion to a tree in the distance and tied him up. His hands were bound backwards around the trunk, and they stood him up and tied his feet. They tied a tourniquet around his eyes then and then slapped him twice. The largest Amazon, perhaps two meters in height, walked in front of Dion and spoke, her eyes glowing green.

“They’re all out to destroy you,” said the Amazon. “When you awake you shall know this.” 

A large moon arose from behind the Amazon. The small, wiry, green-eyed Amazon who was clearing the battlefield stopped by with her basket of female babies. She laid the basket on the ground and the babies morphed into scaled, scarred women with glowing eyes. They crawled out of the basket and dragged their claws across Dion’s shoulder. He screamed in agony.

“He’s in trouble,” said Kayana. “We must intervene.”

“He’ll be in bigger trouble if we intervene,” said Mantus. “His heart could stop from the change; we must let the dream play its course.”

             
“Those screams aren’t the sounds of a dream, nor even a nightmare,” said Kayana. “He’s in danger.”

“And how would
you
know?” asked Praetor Mantus.

Because I’ve brought nightmares to people before,
thought Kayana,
and they don’t sound like this.

Kayana decided to hold her tongue, and the small, wiry Amazon got in front of Dion.

“You won’t remember this when you awake, but you’ll know who did this to you,” she whispered. “It was them, those whom you serve.”

The Amazon took a metal gauntlet and put it on her fist; it was covered with sharp edges and hooks pointing in every direction. Another Amazon brought out a pit of molten liquid and the Amazon dipped the gauntlet in it until it glowed.

She punched Dion in the abdomen and her fist went through slowly. He screamed so loudly that the ghoul rematerialized and bashed her head on the ground in frustration. The Amazon continued to push her fist into his gut and he screamed even more. The Amazon appeared to open her hand inside him and then clutch at something in his rib cage. He yelled even louder and was trying to cry but couldn’t because of his rapid breathing.

“This should not be, Praetor,” said Kayana. “End this.”

“It’s his nightmare; we can’t interfere.”

“This is no nightmare. Listen to Dion’s screams; those are screams of pain, and you can’t feel pain in a dream.”

“How would you
know
you can’t feel pain in a dream, Kayana?”

“Because I’ve tried to give it, many times,” said Kayana. “And if you don’t end this, I will.”

The moon shone on Dion and he whimpered as the Amazon pulled her arm out. A glut of black blood flowed out of him and he coughed more up as she stood up and looked away.

“Mercy …” he begged.

“A Spartan warrior doesn’t even know the word
mercy
,” said the Amazon in return. “Look what they’ve done to you; they’ve turned you into a coward.”

The Amazon snapped her fingers and four horses appeared from the mist behind her and came to a stop at Dion’s tree.

“Tie his hands and feet,” she said.

The other Amazons followed her instructions and tied his arms to two horses, then splayed him out and tied his feet to two others. Black blood continued to pour out of the wound in his midsection and soaked the dirt beneath. The Amazons tightened the rope until he was suspended, but held it loose so that his body still bounced a bit, and Dion writhed in agony as he swayed.

Kayana peered over at her classmates. They were quite affected by the scene; Anubis was looking away. Praetor Mantus had an air of disinterest to him and stayed as an outline, barely visible.

“Do you know how far you’ve fallen?” asked the Amazon of Dion. “How weak they’ve made you? You’re an embarrassment.”

“Mercy …” whimpered Dion.

“You won’t find it here, Spartan,” said the Amazon.

The horses were lined up to go in four directions and quarter him. They walked forward and tightened the rope and he screamed some more. The Amazon gave a nod to her fellow demons and they hit each horse on the back of its haunches. The horses went forward, Dion screamed, but then the horses stopped and there was silence.

“Go!” yelled the Amazon.

She went over to Dion and he was no longer screaming; he seemed to be in a trance and couldn’t feel pain. The horses backed up out of fear and he slammed to the ground.             

“Someone’s here,” said the Amazon, looking around.

“We must leave this place,” whispered Praetor Mantus.

Praetor Mantus turned around and bid the class to follow him, but Kayana wouldn’t leave.

“You must come with us,” said Praetor Mantus.

“You may go,” said Kayana. “I’d like to have a chat with these Amazons.”

“This is not your place,” said Praetor Mantus, “and you cannot wage a war within another man’s—”

It was too late; Kayana had already turned into a ball of light and was flying towards the Amazons. She flew towards Dion, but slowed before the demons saw her.
Don’t just rush in there
, she warned herself,
you’ll only get one chance to surprise them.

Praetor Mantus flew forward to block her path. Kayana looked through Praetor Mantus’s outline and saw the Amazon preparing to let the horses run again.

“Don’t do this, Kayana,” he said. “This isn’t real.”

“Then it matters not what I do,” said Kayana as she flew through the outline of Mantus’s body.

She materialized behind the biggest Amazon guard and ripped off her head in a single movement. The other Amazons took notice and crowded around her. Kayana visualized vines, and soon plants sprouted from the grounds and wrapped around the four Amazons, slamming them to the ground and immobilizing them.

Praetor Mantus had turned into himself and was rushing towards Kayana. She imagined a barrier, and soon a small dome separated her, Dion and the demon Amazons from the outside. She heard a
thud
as Praetor Mantus bumped into the wall, then heard him yelling from the outside.

“You know not what you’re doing, Kayana!” said Praetor Mantus. “Tear down this wall at once and …”

Kayana visualized silence, and soon all was quiet within the dome. The horses, the other Amazons and Kayana’s classmates were gone, leaving only Kayana and a single Amazon about to put a knife into Dion. The demon turned to look at Kayana to show that she was the small, wiry Amazon with glowing green eyes and a shadowed face. The demon took off her helmet to reveal a hairless head that was a mass of knife scars. Her eyes glowed deeper green and her jaw quivered to reveal a row of black gums and yellowed teeth.

“Pray, tell what you’re doing here, girl,” said the Amazon, “and tell me who you are.”

“This is none of your concern,” said Kayana. “I promise a quick end without pain if you leave the Spartan alone.”

“Look upon me, girl,” said the Amazon, pointing to her scarred face. “Do you think
I
fear pain?”

“I will make sure that you do,” said Kayana.

The Amazon’s eyes glowed and she got up to face Kayana. Kayana visualized Dion whole again and instantly his wounds healed, leaving only blood on his body. He scurried backwards against the edge of the dome, still too terrified to speak. Kayana visualized a protective shell around him so that the Amazon could do no more harm.

The Amazon flew at Kayana and Kayana jumped and then floated above her. The Amazon grabbed Kayana’s ankle and slammed her to the ground, but right before impact Kayana morphed back into a ball of light and disappeared. She flew upwards to the roof of the dome, materialized back into herself and then called more vines from the ground to engulf the Amazon. The Amazon pulled two knives from her leg armor and hacked at the vines.

Kayana used that moment to fly down at the Amazon and shove her further into the ground. The Amazon was on her back, trying to stab Kayana through the sides. She would have been successful, but Kayana dematerialized her own torso just at the right moments so that the Amazon kept stabbing air. Kayana pushed herself off the ground and flew up to the top of the dome and then had more vines grow to capture the Amazon. The demon struggled, but soon she was completely bound. The Amazon’s eyes burned green and her scarred head pulsed with rage as she spat angrily at Kayana.

“You think yourself strong with these thorned shackles?”

Kayana visualized the vines growing tighter and their thorns growing longer. The demon screamed in defiance.

“Strong enough,” said Kayana. “Now, I promised you a quick death had you left the Spartan alone. You failed at that, so perhaps I’ll start with your midsection …”
             

“Do what you will,” said the Amazon. “I’m the head of this little group, but still a mere foot soldier. There will be more; there are already more.”

“More who?” asked Kayana.

“More of us,” said the Amazon with a smile.

Kayana heard a rumbling and made part of the dome clear. She saw a storm on the horizon and then looked closer; there were thousands of demons coming towards them on horses.

“Not just the ones you see there, child,” said the Amazon demon. “There’s an army coming for every Spartan and god in the Academy. So make my torment long if you want; by the time you’re done half of your school’s minds will be annexed.”

“Tell me who you are,” said Kayana. “And why you’ve invaded this boy’s dreams.”

“My name is irrelevant. Tell me
your
name, so that I might invade
your
dreams next,” said the Amazon.

“My name is
Death
,” replied Kayana. “And if you dare enter my dreams, I’ll sleep forever so that I may punish you eternally.”

Kayana plunged her hand through the Amazon’s chest plate and ripped out her heart. She heard a scream; but it wasn’t from the Amazon. It was from Dion and it was real; he was awake and so was the entire class. Kayana awoke too; they were back in the Academy.

Dion kept screaming until Mania came over and put her hands on him. He calmed down a bit but kept yelling, and his eyes were extremely dilated. Mania tried talking to him calmly, but it was no use; part of him was still in a nightmare. She gave him an injection, and he soon fell back asleep.

“More dreams are the last things he needs,” said Kayana. “You’re sending him back to Hell.”

It was quiet now except for Asra the ghoul’s grunts; the rest of Kayana’s classmates were sitting upright and staring at her. Praetor Mantus grimaced, stood up and then glowered at the class.

“You’re all dismissed,” said Praetor Mantus. “But not you, Kayana. Walk with me.”

/***/

They walked through the courtyard, down the stairs, and into the artificial city where the Warriors practiced their maneuvers. It was completely empty and lit by an artificial moon. Praetor Mantus took Kayana down a dark grotto and into an abandoned building at the end. He opened a room, pushed Kayana in and closed the door. There were no windows in this room; only a single lamp in the middle and two chairs. This building was modeled after a run-down Yōkai tenement, so the room was spare, dirty, and the light flickered erratically.