Her name is Chryseis and she is the former Amazon Arrow. I watch as she slowly levitates an entire National Guard tank unit into the air with the power of her mind. As the massive armored vehicles leave the ground, the soldiers within leap from the floating weapons and run for safety. Once they are clear, Chryseis crushes the war machines with a thought and drops them to the pavement. Mortal Men chose to stand in the path of a mad Goddess to protect innocent civilians. I applaud their desire to defend their people, but these Men are completely outmatched.
Chryseis is an Amazon; it is the responsibility of the Amazons to deal with what she has become.
She has become a living goddess. Her naked flesh glows with an inner light. Her eyes are the color of an infinite blackness. Her soulless laughter echoes throughout the city and sends a chill up my spine. My name is Aella and I am the current Amazon Arrow. I have been tasked by The First Ones to judge Chryseis, my predecessor, to determine if she can be restored to her former self and, if not… I am to kill her. To aid me in my mission I am armed with the Black Arrow, a single mystical bolt capable of slaying a Goddess.
This responsibility weighs heavily on my soul.
I am no killer. I may be an excellent archer, but I am not a warrior. I have never taken a life. Complicating my mission further, Chryseis is more than just another Amazon sister to me. We were intimate once. It was nearly a thousand years ago, but I still love her to this day. Unrequited love seems to be a curse shared by all of the Amazon Arrows… along with a tendency to fall from grace.
If I slay Chryseis… would that not make me evil as well?
Melousa's strategy begins to unfold. We have evacuated this region of the city and our goal is to keep Chryseis confined to this area. We must achieve air superiority and put her on the ground. As she disposes of the tanks and rises into the air, one of my Amazon sisters descends from the upper atmosphere at blinding speed. Tania has answered Melousa's rallying call, and as it turns out she has unfinished business with Chryseis. The two fought recently and Ultra Woman was taken by surprise, both by the sudden assault from a friend and by Chryseis's new-found abilities. This time Ultra Woman knows exactly what she is up against... and she will not hold back.
Ultra Woman looks like a red, blue and blonde blur as she prepares to strike. She has been blessed by the Gods with astonishing might and her velocity will add to her already considerable power.
As Ultra Woman breaks the sound barrier and draws back her fist, Chryseis turns to face her…
The impact from the blow sounds like an explosion as Ultra Woman hits Chryseis with everything she has. Chryseis’s head snaps backwards as the incredible punch sends the fledgling goddess spinning through the air. I hear the windows around me shatter and I dive for cover just as the shockwave approaches my position; the pressure disturbance still manages to rattle my teeth and temporarily robs me of my hearing.
I am astonished to see that Chryseis can still bleed.
I can’t help but wonder how Ultra Woman’s punch managed to connect. Chryseis could have phased through the blow, or perhaps dodged it with her enhanced speed. She is precognitive. She has access to force fields, teleportation and probably other options that we know nothing about. Could we have somehow taken her by surprise? Could she be overconfident? Could Chryseis’s true nature still be in there somewhere, struggling to help us defeat her from within?
Or could she simply be toying with us…
Tania's second blow sends Chryseis hurtling towards the ground like a comet. Chryseis makes no effort to alter her trajectory as she falls head-first towards the pavement. I can't tell if she is dazed, unconscious or dead... though that is unlikely given the accumulated invulnerability that Chryseis now possesses.
Chryseis falls limply from the sky and Ultra Woman races after her. I abandon my rooftop vantage point and scramble to the fire escape, heading for the streets below in an effort to keep Chryseis in range in case I need to use the Black Arrow to protect Ultra Woman… though Tania’s not the one that appears to need protection at the moment.
We anticipated far more resistance from the former Amazon Arrow; Ultra Woman’s blows should not have been this effective. I take her apparent vulnerability as a sign that some part of Chryseis must not want to fight against us.
Perhaps her true nature is still in there somewhere… or perhaps some other strategy is at play…
Chryseis slams face first into the pavement with enough force to create a large crater, sending debris and broken rock flying several stories back up into the air. Ultra Woman crashes down on her at high speed just moments later; the resulting shockwave sends automobiles flipping down the street end over end. Amazons at war create significant property damage. The streets in this area are all evacuated, but this battle is going to cost the treasury at the Amazon Embassy a king's ransom.
Melousa's plan calls for a relentless blitzkrieg assault to keep Chryseis off balance... and it seems to be paying off. The stunned goddess appears to be too disoriented to mount an effective counter attack. Melousa is already airborne, preparing to strike with the Hellborne powers of The Obolos Spear.
Ultra Woman leaps aside as Melousa plunges the Obolos Spear into Chryseis from behind. I cringe as I watch my friends literally stab her in the back... but the Obolos Spear is probably Chryseis's best chance for redemption.
The handle of this enchanted weapon was once an oar used by Charon, the boatman of the river Styx and Acheron, he who is tasked with ferrying the dead into Hades. While the spear is a non-lethal weapon that produces no wounds, Melousa can grant her foes a brief taste of death. Those with evil hearts who are struck with The Obolos Spear’s glowing blade receive a vision of the fate that awaits them in Hades; they collapse into a state of shock and awaken reformed, confessing their sins and committed to a more righteous path.
Or rather... that is what's supposed to happen...
I can see from the strange look in Melousa's eyes that something has gone horribly wrong. Melousa is the Amazon’s strongest and most feared warrior and the General of the Amazon Armies. She has survived an untold number of battles and encountered every imaginable foe... but this is the first time I have ever seen her scared. Her eyes glow with an unearthly light as rancid vapors swirl around her.
I do not know what she is seeing, but it's enough to make our leader scream...
“AELLA! FALL BACK!”
Lykopis practically tackles me as our leader crumples to the ground, felled by some mysterious counterattack. As Lykopis pushes her way in front of me she deflects my aim, ensuring that I cannot unleash the Black Arrow with the Gorgon’s Bow.
“We need a new plan! We CAN’T use the Black Arrow any longer! It’s not an option!”
At first I can’t understand why Lykopis is so panicked… until I realize what Lykopis has already surmised. Our Amazon General used the Obolos Spear on Chryseis moments before they both fell screaming amid a whirlwind of green hellfire. Chryseis was affected by the power of the weapon briefly, but thanks to her vast powers and regenerative abilities she is able to recover much faster than Melousa. Even know Chryseis is rising to her feet, while Melousa writhes on the ground frothing at the mouth as unknown hellish visions plunge her into a madness from which she cannot awaken.
Chryseis possesses the ability to reflect magic that is used against her to strike down her attackers… even the powerful enchantments from the weapons of the Gods...
…like the Obolos Spear
…and the Black Arrow.
If I attempt to slay Chryseis with the Black Arrow… it will end my life as well.
This was not the plan. Ultra Woman reverses her flight path and returns to the battle as Melousa collapses to the pavement, struck down by the power of her own weapon. The Amazon General twitches and groans as visions from the Underworld assail her shattering mind.
Chryseis materializes her Soul Bow and Arrow and takes aim at the incoming Tania. The Soul Bow is a formidable weapon in any mortal's hands... but fueled by the limitless power of a living Goddess, I fear that Ultra Woman has no chance.
She is our most powerful warrior. If Tania falls we will have no way of containing Chryseis.
Firing a Soul Arrow takes strength from the archer, which usually limits the number of arrows that Chryseis can fire at one time. In her current state there appears to be no end to her strength.
Her movements are a superspeed-enhanced blur as she fires again and again, creating a screen of Soul Arrows that rain down on Ultra Woman. Tania’s speed is also formidable and she manages to deflect several with her bracers and to dodge many others, but within seconds Ultra Woman is overwhelmed by projectiles.
The battle is over once the first Soul Arrow hits, but that doesn’t stop Chryseis from piercing Tania over and over again as the defeated heroine falls. The attack is non-lethal, but it is painful and unnecessarily cruel. Chryseis's maniacal laughter sends chills down my spine... and for the first time I wonder if the woman that I love is truly lost forever.
Lykopis orders me to take cover. She leaps into action to take advantage of Chryseis’s momentary distraction…
My betrothed and my beloved are trying to kill each other. I can barely breath…
Lykopis is armed with the Soul Sword as well as a Crescent Blade capable of slicing through any known substance. The Amazon Blade has sworn not to kill her enemies, but her Crescent Blade could disembowel or decapitate a foe should she ever change her mind. The blade’s sharpness comes from the quality of its divine forging rather than sorcery, so it should still prove to be effective against Chryseis. Lykopis uses the whirling Soul Sword as a distraction while trying to create an opening for a lethal strike with the Crescent Blade.
Lykopis is a vicious warrior and she is astonishingly fast and agile; many suspect that her ancestors were demigods, though no such recorded proof exists. With an edged weapon in her grasp her spinning and twirling movements become a dance of death.
I suspect that there is a part of Lykopis that has long craved this battle. Chryseis has always held a special place in my heart and it is impossible to keep such things a secret for the many thousands of years that we have all lived together on the Amazon Isles. Lykopis would never be so petty as to use her unmatched swordsmanship skills to dispatch a romantic rival, but Chryseis’s mad quest for power has given Lykopis all the justification she believes she needs to offer no quarter.
Lykopis’s intent is clear from her unleashed ferocity. She spins and whirls at hypersonic speed and every strike is potentially lethal. I have never seen her unrestrained like this and it is frightening to behold. Even more frightening is the apparent ease with which Chryseis is able to deflect Lykopis’s skillful blows. The battle is so fast that I am afraid to blink, knowing that any one blow could end Chryseis’s life at any moment.
My betrothed is an artisan of Death… but I am no longer certain that Death holds dominion over Chryseis.
There is no explosion…
No light show…
No violent sound…
No cathartic release of energy or fury...
There is only a shocking silence as Lykopis’s Crescent Blade beheads the Amazon Arrow.
After landing countless surgically-precise blows in a matter of seconds, Lykopis at last finds her opening and does not fail to exploit it.
To save me from my terrible burden, and to save the entire world from a rampaging Goddess… Lykopis has finished it.
Chryseis is dead.
I feel faint… My knees grow weak and my vision begins to fade.
It’s over… the Power Quest is over…
Madness...
I have no other words.
The slurping sound of Chryseis’s head reattaching to her neck is sickening.
I do not know what kind of monstrosity she has become, but her power is beyond anything that I have ever experienced. The scale of destruction that this creature could unleash is unimaginable. Perhaps Chryseis’s true nature and respect for life is at work here? In the wrong hands this power could be apocalyptic.
Lykopis lies unconscious and is clearly injured. Melousa has mercifully stopped twitching and screaming, but she remains unresponsive and unaware of her surroundings. Ultra Woman has been struck down by Soul Arrows. All of this has transpired in a matter of seconds. Echephyle now rushes to the scene of the battle, but I do not know how the Amazon Shield can succeed where the others have failed.
My turn is coming… The First Ones gave me the Black Arrow for a reason, but I simply don’t see the necessity for its use. Chryseis is not a killer... not yet. And I am no assassin. Perhaps I am not seeing the situation clearly because my own life is now at risk? It’s true, I am scared… and I do not want to die.
Chryseis must be stopped, but what can I do? If I don’t use the Black Arrow, what other option remains?
The Amazon Shield is extremely powerful, but she is neither fast nor stealthy. Chryseis whirls as Echephyle approaches and unleashes an energy blast that scorches the air and steals my breath away. I am forced to retreat from the immediate vicinity of the conflict as the thermal and concussive energies rise to lethal and unfathomable levels.
Echephyle is staggered, but she does not fall.
The Amazon Shield carries no weapons, but her armor is believed to be impenetrable. Chryseis appears eager to put that to the test as she blasts away with spells, lightning, fire, radiation and other astonishing powers that I cannot identify.
If Echephyle feels any of this, she utters no complaints… as is her way. She never speaks.
The Amazon Shield was chosen from amongst those who practice the healing arts. The Shield Tournament finals were conducted in secret and judged by The First One’s themselves. Four Amazon healers entered the final arena. Three of them emerged shaken to their very core, traumatized by what they had witnessed and sworn to speak nothing of what had transpired. The fourth Amazon… the victor… was Echephyle, our most respected battlefield surgeon and our most compassionate soul.
Many believe that Echephyle died to become the Amazon Shield.
Some believe that she is now horribly disfigured, or one of the undead, or a demon, or perhaps a ghost doomed to haunt an armored shell. They say she made the ultimate sacrifice to win the tournament so that others might live. Echephyle no longer sleeps or eats or speaks. The Amazon Shield is a terrifying entity…silent, relentless and indestructible. The Amazon Shield’s gauntlets are capable of healing virtually any wound and she possesses supernatural strength.
Could Chryseis’s salvation lie in Echephyle’s healing touch?
The asphalt boils and burns as Chryseis ignites an inferno of plasma that engulfs The Amazon Shield. I do not know what Echephyle feels within her armored suit… I don’t even know if she is capable of feeling… but she does not relent. Echephyle staggers forward and reaches out with her healing gauntlets. She will be within reach of Chryseis in a matter of moments if she continues to survive the onslaught.
I wonder if the gauntlets are capable of healing Chryseis’s obviously fractured mind?
Can they repair the bizarre transformation that has altered Chryseis’s body?
The living goddess knows know fear. She could fly away… or perhaps teleport Echephyle to the other side of the city. She has so many powers and options… why does she stand her ground at all? Perhaps she welcomes the challenge? Perhaps she knows that the gauntlets will somehow backfire on Echephyle? Could the healing gloves be made to inflict damage back upon The Amazon Shield?
I try to shout a warning to Echephyle, but I doubt that she can hear me as she closes the final distance between her and Chryseis. Over the cacophony of destruction I hear Chryseis’s laughter. She taunts Echephyle and threatens to melt her down to slag.
To my astonishment, I hear Echephyle respond…
“I’M NOT ECHEPHYLE! HAHAHAHA!”
Chryseis’s expression of shock mirrors my own as she is suddenly pierced by a Soul Arrow from the Night Ring. At that moment “Echephyle” removes her helmet to reveal the wickedly beautiful face of one of the Amazon’s greatest former champions…
The First Amazon Arrow…
Concubine of the Lord of Lycans…
Sworn Enemy of the First Ones…
Chryseis’s Lost Love and Nemesis…
PYRRAH!
My mind races to make sense of what I am seeing… The “Amazon Shield” has fought at our side for months in silence... Sealed within her armored shell Pyrrah must have been patiently waiting for this moment for months… None of us suspected… I cannot imagine what terrible fate must have befallen the real Echephyle… Pyrrah has been one step ahead of us… She has made fools of us all… The villainess has been waiting to spring this surprise attack on Chryseis...
...but… why go through so much trouble?
Pyrrah needed to get close…
She needed to strike Chryseis at point blank range…
With the Soul Arrow…
And I finally realize…
This is no longer Chryseis’s Quest for Power!
I am Aella... the third Amazon Arrow... I know what I must do.
I pull the Black Arrow from my quiver and prepare to die.
It’s over in an instant… Chryseis collapses as all of her newly acquired powers rush from her body and flow into Pyrrah through the Soul Arrow.
Chryseis’s Light Rings and Pyrrah’s Night Rings are part of a set; their magics are intertwined. I can only assume that when the Lord of Lycans unleashed the power of the Light Rings, it must have amplified the Night Rings as well.
Pyrrah was always the most dangerous woman on the planet… now she is also the most powerful.
She is homicidal, paranoid, lycanthropic and insane. She has vowed to destroy all of the First Ones. She is dishonorable and a disgrace to the Amazons. I would sacrifice my life to kill Pyrrah even if she did not have the power of a living goddess… now that she does, I will not hesitate to do what must be done.
I draw back the Gorgon’s Bow and take aim with the Black Arrow…
The Black Arrow ignites and streams divine fire in its wake as it leaves the Gorgon’s Bow. My aim is true. The Black Arrow is a godslayer; there is no armor it cannot penetrate, and no foe it cannot kill.
Pyrrah is power drunk and disoriented by the sudden rush from her newly acquired abilities. She has had no time to master their use. I see the desperation and panic in her eyes as the Black Arrow races towards her. She reflexively fires blasts of energy at the incoming projectile and erects a mystical force field to deflect it, but the Black Arrow slices cleanly through all of it without resistance.
She is beaten and she knows it. I can see it in her eyes. Pyrrah’s reign as a living goddess will be mercifully brief… almost as brief as my tenure as the Amazon Arrow. My only hope is that Pyrrah has not yet enabled the enchantment that will reflect the Black Arrow’s lethal magic upon me… but if I am to lose my life also, then so be it.
I savor my last breath… content that I will die saving the world and Chryseis from one of the Amazon’s greatest foes…
I am prepared to sacrifice my life to destroy Pyrrah and end this threat once and for all... but Lykopis will not allow it.
I watch helplessly as my betrothed uses her superspeed to intercept the Black Arrow, sacrificing herself to ensure that I will live. Everything happens so quickly... there is nothing that I can do to stop her. I have no time to scream... or to cry... or to say goodbye. The very instant that the Black Arrow strikes Lykopis's breast she dematerializes and vanishes into dust. There is nothing left of her or the Black Arrow.
She is simply gone.
“FOOLS!!! LOOK AT WHAT YOU’VE DONE!!!”
The Gorgon’s Bow slips from my grasp as Pyrrah yanks me towards her by my throat using some sort of telekinetic ability. I gasp and struggle to take a breath as I dangle helplessly in the air, suspended by an invisible force.
“Who are YOU to judge ME?!?!? You tried to kill me… and now an Amazon has fallen! I am NOT your enemy! How many times must I say it?!?!”
Tears stream from my eyes. Lykopis’s death rips me apart inside even as Pyrrah chokes the life from me.
“Don’t you see?!?! You are all nothing more than the First One’s puppets! Your beloved oracles orchestrated all of this! Do not blame yourself for Lykopis’s death… it is the First Ones that set these events in motion! This is EXACTLY what they wanted!”
Pyrrah is angry beyond reason and consumed with madness and power. Her irrational hatred for the First Ones remains unchanged by her transformation. I cannot believe that the First Ones arranged for Lykopis’s death… nor do I believe that they would want Pyrrah, of all people, to wield the might of a living goddess.
“You… Chryseis… all of you… stay out of my way! Only I can do what must be done! I must lead the rebellion!”
My vision tunnels as I begin to black out. My arms fall to my sides. My legs swing uselessly. She is killing me… and I can do nothing to stop it.
“Lykopis deserves her fate… and so do you! This is just the first battle in a Celestial War! There will be a Heroine Holocaust! The Owl will burn! Only I have the power to…”
I think her rant continues, but the ringing in my ears drowns her out…
The ringing fades into silence…
I see darkness…
I feel coldness…
and then… nothing.
We did not call for reinforcements, but apparently Detective Reed anticipated the possibility of our downfall and summoned other heroes from nearby Queen City. They arrived too late to confront Pyrrah, which is probably for the best. Pyrrah could have killed us all, but instead she allowed us to live; she might not have shown such mercy to those who are not Amazons.
Pyrrah’s ravings still haunt me. Our confidence in battle stems in part from our certain knowledge that the First One’s visions of the future will guide us to success… and that our cause is righteous.
While the path to victory was never clear, I also did not believe that we would suffer such a devastating and unexpected defeat. Pyrrah’s presence in this engagement was not a factor that we were either aware of or prepared to overcome. Could the Oracles have failed to see what would transpire? Or was Pyrrah correct? Is this what they wanted to happen? Are we merely pawns in some sort of larger strategy? Would they knowingly allow a psychopath like Pyrrah to acquire such unlimited power? Would they really sacrifice Lykopis’s life to achieve their goals?
And if so… then what ARE their goals?
The First Ones have ruled the Amazons benevolently for untold millennia, so it is not my place to question their wisdom… and yet… I cannot shake the feeling that something is amiss. I owe it to Lykopis to investigate further.
Pyrrah took our weapons: Melousa’s Obolos Spear, Echephyle’s Armor, Lykopis’s Crescent Blade and Soul Sword, my Gorgon’s Bow… she even took Chryseis’s Light Rings that manifest her Soul Bow and Arrows. There are twelve Amazon Champions in Man’s World. Pyrrah has disarmed the Amazon Shield, the Amazon Lance, the Amazon Blade and the Amazon Arrow… I suspect that the other eight Champions will be her next targets. I intend to find them and warn them that they are being hunted by a mad goddess.
Melousa has stepped down as the Amazon General. She does not speak of the visions that were inflicted upon her.
Echephyle remains missing. We do not know if she is dead or being held captive by Pyrrah. The First Ones claim to be looking for her.
A funeral was held for Lykopis on the Amazon Isles, though there was no body to bury. I will never forget her love or her sacrifice.
As for Chryseis’s fate… well… that is her story to tell.
Ultra Woman is the OC of
Detective Peyton Reed is the OC of
White Owl is the OC of
Curia is the OC of
Jade is the OC of
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