Serpent Goddess: The Horse Lords Book 1 Read online

  “Ask away,” Mikon’s dark eyes glinted with interest. “There is nothing I like better than to be asked my opinion, of which I have a great many. But take them with the proverbial grain of salt my friend.”

  “I have long wondered about this ancient belief in Drakons, like Mata Drakaina, half woman, half serpent. How can such a creature be?”

  “The Greeks also believe in Drakons.” Mikon nodded. “The founders of Athens, Kecrops and Erikhthonios, were both Drakons - half man, half serpent. They taught the Greeks the arts of civilization, of reading, writing and farming.”

  “Have you ever seen one of these serpent people?” Sava asked.

  Mikon shook his head. “Such strange beings disappeared long ago, if they ever existed. The true history of Mankind is a great mystery.”

  “Sava, your speech is Skythian but you have a strong accent. Why is that?” Damara asked.

  “Our accent comes from the Amazons. Our sire line is Royal Skythian, but our mother line is descended from the Amazons.”

  “The Amazons who fought the Greeks at Troy? Did such bold women warriors actually exist? Wasn’t that a tale told by Homer?” Damara asked.

  “Not a tale. The Amazons lived. They founded famous cities: Ephesus, Smyrna and Sinope.”

  “Women lack strength. How could the Amazons compete on the battlefield with men?” Damara asked.

  “It is said the Amazons sprang from a race of superior size, strength and agility. They were the first to ride horses and to make weapons of iron. They were excellent archers. All this gave the Amazons a great advantage over their enemies. The Royal Skythians called them Oiorpata – `Killers of Men’. Such was their fierce, mesmerizing visage that to look an Amazon directly in the eyes was to behold the Kako Mati.”

  “Like your eyes?” Kleo asked. “Such strange colors, blue-green with an outer circle of dark blue, like a spinning wheel. When I look into your eyes I feel as if I am being drawn into your mind to do your will…”

  “Nay beautiful princess. That is only an illusion brought on by your belief in stories told around campfires under a full moon. The mind is very suggestible.” Sava shook his head adamantly. “The eyes carry messages from which no one can escape. I too am struck powerless by your eyes of glowing amber.”

  “So how did the Amazons come to be so powerful?” Damara asked, in an effort to divert Sava and her daughter’s increasingly blatant flirtation.

  “The Amazons had a law that no woman could bear a child unless she had first killed an enemy. In this way they increased in strength and cunning. They mated once a year with men of their choice from neighboring tribes. If the child was a boy they gave it to the father’s people. If a girl they kept it.”

  “All was well until the Greeks came.” Sava continued. “After winning the Trojan war, the Greeks attacked the Amazons at their capitol of Themiskyra on the shores of the Euxine. The Amazons were finally defeated at the River Thermodon and their power broken. Forever.”

  Here Sava paused to take a sip of the intoxicating rakia. He savored the intensity of the drink, along with the rapt attention of his listeners. The fire snapped. Sparks swirled into the night air. A light breeze like the breath of ancients blew a cloud of sparks toward the river.

  “After that final battle, the victorious Greeks loaded three ships with Amazons. The ships set sail across the Euxine Sea bound for Greece. The last Amazons were to be sold. Into slavery.”

  A skilled raconteur, Sava rose and began to portray with hands, tongue and movement the final struggle of the Last Amazons. The timbre and resonance of his voice deepened, imbued with inflections of liquid gold.

  His audience leaned forward to catch every word. And then they were there…

  Chapter 12 - Daughters of the War God

  In ancient times were the Amazons,

  Daughters of Ares

  Dwelling beside the River Thermodon.

  They alone of the people roundabout were armed with iron.

  The Amazons were the first to mount horses,

  With which, owing to the inexperience of their foes

  They surprised them and either caught those who fled

  Or outstripped those who pursued.

  The Amazons were accounted as men

  For their high courage

  Rather than as women for their sex.

  Ruling over many nations,

  They achieved the enslavement of those around them –

  Lysias, Greek Orator, Funeral Oration, 395 BC

  I, Hippolyta, Wild Horse Woman – Last War Leader of the Amazons -

  Down in the dark, stinking holds of the Greek slave ships, I and my sisters plotted. We would rather die than wear a slave collar. And so we laid careful plans to kill the crew and seize the ships.

  Hidden within our tattered rags we had managed to smuggle a few small daggers on board. With these we cut our bonds, only pretending to be tied. At night we made new weapons by digging out large sharp splinters from the wooden ribs of the ship.

  The arrogant Greeks made the mistake of underestimating us in our beaten, bound and emaciated state. The winds were fair, speeding the ship toward the Bosporus Straits and then on to Greece. We had to make our move soon, before it was too late.

  On a dark, moonless night as the wind billowed the sail, we bowed our heads in prayer, invoking the War God to imbue our weakened, wounded bodies with speed and power. Crouched on cat’s feet I led my small war band up from the belly of the ship.

  Catching them unaware, we pounced on the few sailors on watch.

  Running on light feet we attacked the sleeping crew. Strike hard. Strike fast. Eee yah! THIS is for my sisters, my mother! For the land, the people you murdered, devastated, ruined!

  Catching the crew by surprise, we overpowered, stabbed and threw the dead and wounded overboard. But then we were confronted with another problem – we knew not how to sail.

  Thus we had to let the ships be driven by wind and wave until they ran aground on the shores of a strange land. With heartfelt thanks to the God of War, we splashed ashore. In time we came upon a herd of browsing horses which we seized and mounted. Then we began to raid and plunder as was our wont.

  ****

  I, Prince Davar – Younger brother to Royal Skythian King Arsen –

  How well I remember our initial confusion as to these strange, bold raiders. We knew not their speech nor their race. We were in wonder as to whence they had come. It was as if they had fallen out of the sky.

  The raiders were beardless, yet tall and strong. They fought and dressed like men, so we assumed they were youths from an unknown tribe.

  Mounting a large war party we soon caught up with these mysterious raiders. We mounted a fierce attack with spear and arrow. The strangers proved to be deadly accurate archers. In the wild melee we managed to kill a few but most escaped.

  I mortally wounded one of the raiders with my arrows. But when I examined the body, I was shocked to see the raider was a woman – Amazon.

  As she shuddered her last gasp, I marveled, even grieved, my heart struck by the poisoned arrow of guilt. Surely I thought, this woman must be of another race. A race of divine beings. For how else could anything so fine exist upon the earth?

  Her visage was regal, her taut body all woman, yet tall as a man, with broad shoulders and long legs. The bones of her body were extraordinary, her hands large and strong yet beautifully formed. And I had reduced her to this? A bloody writhing hulk where so much life, so much vitality had been? And I mourned her bitter end.

  As we returned to camp, the dead bodies of the Amazons draped over our horses, I relived the battle. A dynamic figure burst through my reverie. Once again I witnessed the striking image of the warrior maiden who had instantly assessed the nature of our attack and organized a defense against us.

  She had first covered for her comrades, even riding backward whilst shooting arrows rapid fire, then high-tailed it for safety. Aye, even then my mind had noted the exceptional balance and
grace of that warrior whom I now realized was a woman.

  How she rode with such fluid balance. She used only her long legs to wheel and gallop her horse, leaving her hands free to use the bow. Such fiery energy. And the thought came to me –

  What children, what warriors could a woman like this produce?

  That night we took council to decide what to do about these formidable women. The Amazons could not be allowed to go on as they were, plundering our property and using our own horses to do it. Long into the night we argued vehemently over these violent marauding women.

  Some said we should capture and enslave them - break their proud spirits. Others voiced the opinion that we should rid ourselves of the problem by killing them all. And some said we should just drive them away. Let them prey on others.

  Then I rose. With my long red cloak bearing the black tamgas of Mother Drakon swirling around my legs in the crackling firelight, I spoke of my idea that could herald the beginning of a new people –

  `We of Royal Skythia are renowned for our wisdom and sense of justice. Thus I say to you - With these Amazons the gods have sent us a great boon. By taking these strong, independent women not as slaves but as wives we can strengthen our tribe.’

  And so it was agreed. We would bring the Amazons into the tribe as wives with full rights. In this way the children of the Amazons, our children, would inherit the best from both races. They would grow up strong and confident, not as the inferior children of slave women.

  But how to win the hearts of these violent women who rejected marriage as slavery? We knew and had seen with our own eyes that the Amazons were trained killers. You might as well try to put a wild cat in your bed.

  Chapter 13 – A New Beginning

  She (Penthesilea, Amazon who fought at Troy)

  Was a wonder of beauty even in death…

  Yea Akhilles' heart was wrung with remorse

  To have slain a thing so sweet.

  He might have borne her home

  His queenly bride, for she was flawless

  A very daughter of the Gods

  Divinely tall and most divinely fair.

  Quintus Smyrnaeus, Fall of Troy Book 1

  “And so the Royal Skythians pondered - How best to win the hearts of the Amazons?” Sava eyed his rapt audience.

  ***

  Davar -

  After much heated discussion we came up with a plan which was very clever in its simplicity. The women were lost in a strange land, confused, hungry and looking for security. The best way to tame these warrior women was to induce them to come to us of their own free will. To make the Amazons think that joining with us was their own idea.

  To gain the trust of an animal, you get it used to being around you. Show it that you are not a threat. You draw it close by feeding it. We would strengthen this bond by pairing off with the women and then offer to take them to wife. But only at the Amazon’s own choice. In this way we hoped to sire strong confident children who would inherit the best from both tribes.

  We put together a prime group of virile volunteers, in number the same as there were Amazons. I was a willing member of this group, for I had my heart set on winning their leader whom I had seen in battle.

  Our plan was to encamp near the Amazons. If the women felt threatened and turned to attack, we would not fight but retire before them. When the women stopped chasing us, we would again approach and encamp. Eventually after we earned their trust we would pair up with them.

  Thus our group went out accordingly. In time the Amazons perceived that we had not come to do them harm and tolerated our presence. Gradually our camps came closer.

  We like the Amazons, had nothing except our arms and horses and got our living by hunting and taking booty. Sometimes we even rode together and found the Amazons to be excellent riders and archers.

  ****

  Sava paused to take another pregnant sip of rakia. The eyes of his audience urged him on.

  ****

  Hippolyta -

  I and my sisters had never seen men act like this before. So generous. Always giving, never taking. If the men shot a deer or other game, they would leave it nearby as an offering, then retreat. Always keeping their distance. Asking nothing in return.

  We were curious. Who were they? What were their intentions? Each day these generous strangers found ways to lure us closer, to gain our trust. In time their intent became obvious, they were gently herding us, like animals which they wished to domesticate.

  Yet I was not incensed by this. To my eyes these strangers appeared noble and handsome. One in particular caught my eye. He bore himself regally. His broad shoulders seemed born to bear the mantle of power. I surmised He was their leader.

  Often it seemed, I caught His eye upon me. Finally I turned and stared straight at Him. When our eyes met and engaged, in that single glance I understood what he wanted. Me. Out of all the others he had chosen me. And I wanted Him. Still I was cautious, waiting, watching.

  There was a river near our camp where I liked to go and bathe away the dust and sweat of the day. One day at the golden hour of sunset, I strode down to the river.

  Standing on the sandy bank I looked back and saw that someone followed. It was Him. I challenged him with an intense searching stare. He returned my gaze with the formidable farseeing gaze of a golden lion.

  Standing in full view, I slowly, deliberately took off my boots, loosened my girdle, undid the loops of my kurta, dropped my leggings and stripped nude. Then I waded into the river to bathe.

  He did not approach but also stripped as I watched, then dove into a nearby pool. After a time he came out and reclined on a smooth flat boulder, like a golden lion in the setting sun, exposed in all his rising male…glory.

  As if my feet had a mind of their own, they brought me close to this male animal reclining on the rock, his wet skin shining like burnished gold. And so it happened, we came together full of passion and enjoyed each other immensely.

  I did not speak his tongue but used signs to tell this `Davar’ that I would return to this spot on the morrow and I would bring a friend. Upon returning to my camp I recounted my experience to my sisters. They were excited to hear it.

  `It is time we changed our ways.’ I counseled them. `Our numbers are few. If we are to survive in this new land we need friends. Powerful friends.’

  One of my friends volunteered to come with me the next evening. And so it began. Every day we came to know each other better. In time we all chose partners from among the men. Then we began having a grand time, riding and hunting together.

  ****

  Davar –

  In time the Amazons were able to comprehend our Skythian speech, although we never understood theirs. I said to Hippolyta –

  `I will have you for my wife Hippolyta and no other. I have family and possessions; therefore let us go back to my people and live with them.’

  Hippolyta conferred with her comrades. Upon returning she shook her head –

  `We Amazons cannot live like your women. We cannot spend our lives in dark wagons and sitting around campfires. We know nothing of women’s work. We shoot with bows, hurl spears and ride horses to the chase. We are used to riding free and doing as we will.’

  `If you desire to keep us for your wives, go to your parents and ask them for your share of the inheritance. We will form our own tribe and live free.’

  I and my fellows were so smitten by the Amazons that we agreed, even though this was not our original plan. Our elders were not happy about it either but they generously gave us cattle, sheep, horses, gold, weapons and wagons to start a new life.

  ***

  Sava lowered his voice and the family leaned forward to hear –

  ***

  Davar -

  But on our return to the Amazons Hippolyta came to me with a grim face saying:

  `We fear to stay here in Royal Skythia. Not only have we separated you from your parents, but we have also done great damage with our raiding. Since you think i
t right to have us as your wives – Come, let us leave here and pass over the river Tanais, (Don) there to dwell’.

  My comrades saw the logic in this and so we agreed to go away with the Amazons. We crossed over the Tanais and made our way towards the rising sun for three days and then towards the North Wind for three days journey.

  ***

  “And when the Royal Skythians and the Amazons settled in their new home by the beautiful blue-green Lake Maeotis, (Sea of Azov), they held a great celebration of marriage.” Sava smiled with far away eyes. “I was there too. I laughed and danced and sang. And in my heart, I rejoiced.”

  Chapter 14 – Women Warriors

  Sauromatian women have continued

  From that day to the present

  To observe their ancient Amazon customs

  Frequently hunting on horseback with their husbands

  And in war taking the field

  And wearing the same dress as the men –

  Herodotus, The Histories

  “Ah, so you were there too, eh Sava?” Mikon commented with a wry smile.

  “Aye I remember that day well, some 700 summers ago, when two great peoples, the Amazons and Royal Skythians united as one.” Sava responded straight faced, blue-green eyes glinting.

  “And what of Sauromatian women?” Kleo asked. “Do they still live free like the Amazons?”

  “Aye. Our women still practice the ancient Amazon ways. They ride to the chase and act as priestesses and rulers. They go to war wearing armor and bearing weapons the same as men. Thus the blood and traditions of the Amazons were not lost. Women should be fit and trained as warriors. We still observe this tradition.”

  “The Royal Skythians showed wisdom in their treatment of the Amazons, Mikon said. “This is why the Greeks have called them – The most just of men.”

  “And what about Sauromatian men? Do you also have to pass physical tests?” Kleo asked.

  “Nay. We just sit back and let the women do all the work.” Sava grinned. “We men only have to prove our virility.”