Amazon

тwᴇɴтʏ тwo

Amazon | Twenty Two

Days seemed to meld together slowly; they were not any closer to finding an Amazon camp. It seemed the forest had been cleared of them, Rhea felt suspicious. The women grew more and more tense as the days wore on, they would snap and one had even managed to steal a sword and almost impale one of Bastian's men. Tensions were high and Rhea felt like she was drowning.

But even though she worried she had never been happier. She had always wondered why they had been sworn off loving men, but Rhea felt as if she finally belonged. Bastian was perfect, he understood and he let her do exactly what she needed to do. He did not expect her to rely on him, it was a factor that made her feel more deeply in love with him than she had before. Bastian respected her and she couldn't help but love him for it.

She was not afraid to announce that she loved him either; it seemed that once she let herself feel she could not control it. Bastian worried for her, Rhea would shrug her shoulders and tell him not to worry about her. Eleni and Achilios were two other people she had grown to love, she loved the darling little children and she hoped that Eleni would come live with them when they left.

"Rhea," she looked up as one of the men began moving toward her, his face was pale. "You might want to see this," Rhea looked at the young man in confusion.

"What do you mean?" She began to follow him away from their camp.

"Bastian said to collect you," he gulped, "We have never seen something so horrifying."

As a warrior that was saying something, he pushed away large leaves that blocked her view and she stepped out into devastation. Bastian and his men were all looking at the horror that lay before them, Amazon women torn to pieces, raped and murdered in cold blood. Bodies littered the field, fire had engulfed a few tents and there was no evidence of life. Rhea's stomach curled in disgust, she looked up to meet Bastian's eyes.

"What happened here?" She asked him as she hurried toward him.

"Scouts," he answered, "It would have to be or an army. But whatever happened here cannot be excused," he shook his head as Rhea looked at a rotting head of what once could have been a young woman with her whole life ahead of her.

"There are only a few here," she took a deep breath; "The others were either captured or might not have been here." She frowned and noticed the limited tents, "No." She shook her head, "This was a hunting party."

Bastian looked around, the earth had moved and there were no signs of footprints. "Do you think they could have taken one alive, forcing them to show them where the rest of them where?"

"It's likely," Rhea clenched her jaw and squeezed her fist together, "The women will not be happy about this Bastian."

"I know," Bastian sighed heavily and ran his fingers through his dark hair. "They will cause a riot if they find out about it, we will not tell them just yet. Perhaps it would be best if they do not find out at all," Rhea gulped at the suggestion but she wasn't going to argue with him. They began to head back to their camp, Rhea's mind haunted with the images of the small encampment that had been slaughtered.

When they entered their own camp Rhea checked to make sure everything and everyone was where they should be. The women were all standing by their own tents and were talking together, eating quietly and glaring at Rhea and the men as they entered the camp. Rhea hurried to her own tent and pushed the door open, her heart squeezed in panic, where were Achilios and Eleni?

Of course they could be down by the small creek near their camp. Her hands shook nervously as she pushed her way out of her tent. Bastian was talking with the men and she did not want to bother him. She bent down to collect a small sword and headed behind the tents, walking toward the creek. Leaves crunched under her feet as she slowly made her way to the creek.