Fall of the Amazons

Logrim

Night patrol on the shoreline was the very definition of worthless in Uleida's opinion. No one came to the island at night. No one dared come to the island without an invitation. The women of the island were feared across the entirety of the known world.

Still, her Majesty the Queen demanded vigilance, and it was Uleida's job as patrol to be vigilant. The wet sand squished beneath her sandals, between her toes, with each step along the beach. There was something to be said of night patrol, though. It was certainly a time when one could leave behind all else and ponder.

And so, Uleida pondered the darkness of the sea, all blackness and roaring surf lapping at the sand. That darkness seemed as infinite as the sea itself, and as lonely as she was on her patrol. The torches of the city gate were so far that they were little more than another star in the sky. Were it not for her own torch, that darkness would be consuming.

Then the torchlight fell on something that Uledia did not expect. A form, wet, huddled, unmoving in the sand. The tattered robe around the form was as black as the night itself, as was the tangled mess of hair strewn across the sand. Were it not for the flesh of the fingers, curled into a fist, Uleida might have never guessed that the form was a person.

Person it was, however. That much was clear now as she drew closer and bent to examine the body. Every third month, Uleida served on the night patrol, but in that time, she'd never seen person nor beast on the shoreline. Rarely had she even heard of such a thing. No one came to the island at night, and no one dared to come to the island without an invitation.

The drowned one, though, had no choice but to come to the island. The sea had placed them here, and fighting the whim of the sea was as useless as fighting one of the gods. You might hoist a sail or direct your ship with oars, but the power of the sea would ultimately take you where it wanted you to be.

Uleida knelt next to the figure and pushed back a matted clump of the black hair. The full red lips of a woman, coated with sand, shown in the light of the torch. Her eyes were closed. Then she drew breath, low and shallow, but breath all the same. Not drowned then.

Uleida pushed the butt of the torch into the sand and rolled the woman onto her stomach. A few healthy pumps and she spit up water, then sucked in air. Had it been a man, Uleida would have quickly returned him to the sea as an offering. A woman, though? This required her to render aid.

"Can you hear me?" Uleida asked, though she couldn't know if the stranger spoke her tongue.

The woman groaned and attempted to push herself up. She didn't have the strength. Uleida rolled her onto her back and brushed back her dark hair. The woman's lips moved, but Uleida couldn't make out any words. She unhooked her wineskin from her pack and helped the woman to drink.

After an attempt that was more choke than drink, she managed to swallow the second sip. A third one went on for much longer. The woman handed Uleida the wineskin and nodded her thanks.

"Can you speak? Can you understand me?" Uleida asked.

"Yes," the woman said.

"Can you stand?"

The woman tested her legs. They worked. Uleida put one of the woman's arms around her neck and helped her to her feet, then held her as she gained her balance.

"Thank Poseidon for his grace in sending you here," Uleida said. "What are you called?"

The woman shook her head and pushed her black hair from her face. In the light of the torch, her eyes seemed as black as her robe and her hair. The woman reached out and pressed two of her fingers to Uleida's forehead, right between her eyes.

"Bimbonica Descentia. It will spread with your touch, and you will work to make it so. Do you understand?" the woman hissed.

Uleida couldn't take her eyes off of the woman's. Those dark pools were like watching the sea rolling in and out. They were hypnotic, so calming, like the rhythmic roll of the surf. What had the woman just said? She couldn't recall. It seemed important that she should remember, but she could not. Still, she knew what she was supposed to do.

"Yes," she said.

"Then help me to the gate," the stranger commanded.

Uleida nodded. Of course, she would help the stranger to the gate. She was a woman, and one in need of aid. It was Uleida's duty to render that aid, to take her to the city, to help her through the gate. Uleida hefted the torch and allowed the woman to put her arm around her shoulder.

"Logrim," the woman said. "I am called Logrim."

"Uleida," Uleida replied.

"You've done me a great kindness, Uleida. I won't forget it."

"Yes, Mistress," Uleida said.

Mistress? Why had she said that? It seemed like the right thing to say, but… why?

***

Entry

"Hail, sentry!" Uleida called to the armored woman atop the gate.

She waved her torch in the signal pattern, which the sentry returned.

"Uleida, who is that with you?" the sentry called.

"Washed up on the beach. She needs care."

"She?"

"A woman from the sea," Uleida called.

The sentry leaned over the wall and Uleida held the torch closer to Logrim's face. She squinted against the light and attempted to look as feeble as they expected her to be. The sentry couldn't possibly see her clearly from that height in the dark. A moment passed and the sentry turned to call down on the other side of the wall. A further moment later and the gate opened.

Logrim's newest slave helped her through, where they met two more armored women with hands on their swords.

"Welcome to the isle of the Amazon's, Lady," one of them said. "Poseidon has watched over you this night."

"Thank you," Logrim croaked. "He has. Thanks be to the gods."

The sentries nodded approvingly.

"See her to quarters," the second ordered. "I'll send a runner to fetch Old Hilden."

Uleida nodded and directed Logrim away from the sentries.

"Old Hilden will have you good as new by daylight, surely," Uleida said with a reassuring smile.

The journey through the torch-lit streets took only minutes before Uleida stopped in front of a well-lit tavern. Muffled singing came through the thick wooden door of the place, and intensified when Uleida threw it open.

To brave the sea in search of men!

To raid the shores and lure them in!

To polish their spears 'for breaking their spirits!

And give them to the sea!

We fight 'n fuck!

We damn their luck!

The Amazons are we!

As Uleida helped her charge into the tavern's common room, the boisterous singing slowly died to a near-oppressive silence. The eyes of every woman in the place showed wariness and mistrust. An outsider, even a woman, wasn't exactly welcome here. No matter. Soon enough, Logrim would be more than welcome.

"Who've you got there, Uleida?" asked the woman behind the bar.

She set down the glass she'd been cleaning and narrowed her eyes.

"She's called Logrim," Uleida called. "And the sea's given her to us to care for. I'll need a place for her to rest."

There were some grumbles and murmurs, but soon the rest of the women were turning back to their drinks. The woman behind the bar rounded it, setting her rag aside and wiping her hands on an apron.

"You've sent for Old Hilden?" she asked as she took Logrim's other arm and draped it around her shoulder.

"Done, yes," Uleida said.

"I'll take her from here then. Get Leesa to serve you a drink and tell her I'll need some brought up for our guest."

"Yes, Mum," Uleida said.

Logrim reached out an unsteady hand and placed it on Uleida's shoulder.

"You've been a great help, child," she said and Uleida blushed deeply.

"Mistress," she said and dipped her head.

Logrim allowed the woman to lead her up a set of steps to the upper floor, where she opened a room at the end of a narrow hall. It was clean and spartan, good enough for a rest to regain her strength. After helping her to the bed, the woman stepped back and looked Logrim over.

"I'll have some fresh clothes brought in for you," she said.

"Thank you."

The woman looked wary.

"Uleida's a young thing," she said. "Never been off the island on a raid, so I doubt she knows what you are."

"What I am?" Logrim said.

"I met one of your kind once. An inland raid. You're a witch, if that black robe tells true."

Logrim nodded. "I am."

"Is it true what they say? That rescuing a witch means a… a reward?"

Logrim smiled and said, "It's true. Young Uleida may ask me a favor, and if it's in my power, I'll grant it."

"And—"

"And since you've also rendered me aid, you may also ask me a favor," Logrim said. "Though I'm not exactly at my best right now. Perhaps you'll dwell on that favor, and ask it of me when I'm stronger?"

The woman nodded.

"Your name?" Logrim asked.

"Ele— Elenya."

Logrim grimaced and rose slowly to her feet. She fixed her gaze on Elenya's eyes. They were pretty and green, like the sea. One hand slid from the sleeve of her robe and drew a circle in the air. Elenya's eyes followed the motion.

"The sea brings a great bounty to your island," Logrim said. "A day and a night hence, it arrives on your shore. My strength will be replenished by then, and your reward will be great."

Elenya's eyes continued to follow the motion of Logrim's finger as it drew in the air. A blue flame trailed behind her finger as she drew, and Elenya's eyes began to lose focus.

"Tell me your desire, Elenya."

"To… to be young again. To fight and… and to fuck."

Logrim smiled. "To polish their spears, before breaking their spirits, yes?"

Elenya nodded.

"Your island is feared for that, isn't it? The women of the sea. Those who break men's bodies and minds with their beauty."

"Yes…"

The blue flame followed Logrim's fingers as they touched Elenya's forehead.

"Then fight and fuck you shall," Logrim whispered. "Ask me your favor in the daylight, one day from this. Sentros. You will guard me with your life."

"Yes, Mistress," Elenya said, her voice a hollow whisper.

"I will rest now. Return to your duties."

Elenya nodded. Logrim withdrew her hand, and the blue flame puffed out. Elenya stood staring vacantly until Logrim sat back on the bed. Then she blinked and shook her head.

"Can I get you anything else, Mistress?" she asked.

Logrim shook her head. "My thanks, Elenya."

Elenya left and shut the door. When she'd gone, Logrim went to the window and drew back a curtain. The tavern looked out across the city of the Amazons, at the center of which sat a white spire. Yes, this room was a clean and comfortable one, but it was not luxurious. The tower, however, that was a place of luxury. A place fit for a queen. It would be a far better accommodation. Soon enough.

***

Kings and Slaves

The deck of the ship rolled with the sea under Prince Thespar's feet. He couldn't see the coast of the island. They were too far out for that. But it didn't stop him from looking every few minutes with anticipation.

"The men don't like it," his captain said. "I don't like it."

Thespar sighed. "You tell me that every hour. I understand that they don't like it. They don't have to. They only need to follow their orders. They'll like it soon enough."

The captain spit over the railing and said, "Witches," as if that summed up the entirety of why they were waiting on the open sea.

"You'd rather have an island full of women continue to raid and pillage our shores? You'd prefer they take men as slaves, and they continued to humiliate the known world?"

The captain shook his head. "Just saying there should be some other way besides relying on dark forces."

"Six hundred years," Thespar said. "That's how long this little island has been wreaking havoc. In all that time, what's been done? Fleets of ships sent to storm it. Alliances that fall before their might. Prayers to the gods, sacrifices, even proposals of marriage to their queens. And has it stopped them? No."

"Aye. But—"

"My father is right in this. All else has failed. Perhaps this will, too. But it must be attempted."

"Your father is smitten by that witch's cunny—"

"You'll watch your tongue," Thespar growled, "or I'll have it cut out."

The captain wisely closed his mouth.

"We have only a day and a night more to wait before the signal," Thespar said, nodding toward the island. "Perhaps you can work off some of your hesitation about this by making use of the fuckhole in the hold."

The captain chuckled. "Made plenty of use of her already. But, aye, you're right. A good stuffing of some Amazon cunt can't hurt to pass the time. The men certainly think so. They've been stuffing her pretty holes regularly."

Thespar chuckled and said, "With the exception of that… unfortunate sailor that went at her mouth before the ring gag."

The captain shuddered. "Aye. He'll not be stuffing cunt again. It won't be easy on him. They're already calling him 'cockless'."

"I'll go down and watch a while. Keep the blood up for what's to come."

The captain nodded. Thespar released the railing and crossed the rolling deck to the steps down to the hold. The grunts from the Amazon prisoner were muffled behind a wooden door, which Thespar opened.

The prisoner was a full head taller than any man on the ship, but her height had no bearing on her present circumstances. Lashed to a table, the Amazon woman's legs were spread and tied to the table legs. Her wrists were bound similarly. Though she was clearly exhausted from the crew's continuous sexual use, the rage in her eyes hadn't quite died.

Of course, she made no protests. The ring gag keeping her mouth open prevented any real speech. Instead, she made only a series of grunts as a naked crewman rammed his prick into her well-used cunt, while another slapped her big tits.

When Thespar opened the door, the man fucking her hastily pulled his wet cock out of her and stood at attention.

"My Prince," he said.

Thespar waved a hand. "As you were. I've just come to watch a bit."

The man wiped his brow and pushed his cock back into the bound prisoner. Thespar came to stand by her head, and her hate-filled eyes stared up at him with murder in them.

Thespar squeezed one of her tits and said, "It won't be long now, slut. You'll be reunited with your folk. Of course, they won't be quite what you remember. But then, you'll never quite be the same, either will you?

The prisoner growled.

Thespar smiled. "No. You're already likely impregnated by one of these good men. We'll make sure the first of our new line is well-received and taken care of. A bastard he might be, but he'll have a place in history. Think of it. You'll be mother to the first child of your kind raised in a world where the Amazons are not a force to be feared, but instead, a humiliated race of sexual servants. The honor. You must feel some measure of pride, yes?"

The prisoner growled again and Thespar tugged harshly on one of her nipples.

"Perhaps not, but you will. The witch will see to you, as well."

The man hammering his cock into the prisoner groaned and flooded her womb with yet another load of lowborn sailor's cum. With a chuckle at the prince's words, he stepped back and allowed his companion to take her next.

Thespar himself unlaced his britches and pulled out his cock. He wouldn't fuck the prisoner again, of course. He'd been the first, as was his right. Then he'd given her to the men and now slaked his lust with the pretty wench he'd brought to serve his needs. Still, the prisoner could always be reminded of her place.

As Thespar watched the sailor pound his meat into the prisoner, he groped one of her tits and jerked his cock. She continued to hiss and growl, which Thespar liked, but she shut her eyes when he directed his cock at her face. Thespar laughed as he pasted her bruised, pretty face in a healthy load of royal jizz, dragging his cockhead across her eyes and nose to mar her face further.

"There you are, cumrag. Get used to this. In less than two days, this is how all of you Amazons will be remembered. As nothing more than sexual toys for the amusement of those you once harassed."

He tucked his cock away and laced his britches, leaving the remaining sailor to his fun with the prisoner's sloppy cunt. It took an effort of will not to rub his hands together with glee. The long centuries of Amazon oppression were coming to an end, and the glory of his own kingdom was only beginning.

***

Riakus set down his pick and wiped the grime and sweat from his eyes with his ragged tunic. The fact that he could sweat so damn much in a place as cold as the Amazon mines was always a mystery to him. He flexed his tired muscles, then tugged at the collar around his neck.

"Line up!" the task master's shrill voice boomed off the stone walls from behind.

The repetitive clinking of the other slave's picks trailed off as, one by one, they set them aside to comply. Their enslaver was tall, like all the Amazon women, and stooped in the cramped confines of the mine. She was flanked by two other women, armored in leather and holding torches.

Riakus himself had to crane his neck when he stood, but even at his height the Amazon's seemed to tower over him. The task master stepped forward of her escort and peered at each of the slaves in turn, examining them. For what, Riakus wasn't certain, but he had an idea.

From time-to-time, a mine slave was "rewarded" with a tumble with one of the women. They needed to breed, too, of course. And the mines were a place where strong men worked. If you weren't strong, you didn't last long under the back-breaking labor. Riakus hadn't been here long, but long enough to know that much.

Time didn't mean a lot when you awoke before the sun, worked in the darkness, and slept after the sun was down. A philosopher might have some clever thing to say about the allegory between spending one's life in the dark, and the darkness it created in one's soul. But Riakus was no philosopher. He simply survived, thought of the green lands that had been home no so long ago, and waited for his few hours of daily rest. Escape was hopeless. Life in the mines was hopeless. All of them lived in the dark and waited for death.

"You," the task master said. "What are you called?"

"Riakus, Mistress," Riakus said, his voice cracking from the dust that always seemed to coat his mouth.

"Come with me."

Riakus shared a quick glance with the man nearest him, an ebony-skinned fellow that called himself Cochino. The man put his head down. Riakus lumbered along behind the task master, the chains on his legs clanking with each step.

The walk up the tunnels toward the surface was a lengthy one this deep. But time didn't matter to Riakus. Nothing much mattered after the months in the mine. He could see it mattered even less to the men who had been here longer. Many of them were little more than empty husks who could do little but swing their picks, like robots in from the tales of Atlantis.

As they neared the surface, the mouth of the mine's entrance was aglow with something that Riakus thought he'd never see again. Sunlight. Even this far back, the radiance was blinding. He raised his hand to shield his eyes. Tears streamed down his cheeks as the pain of the light forced him to squint painfully.

The task master and her escort paused. She reached into a satchel at her waist and produced two pairs of dark lenses. She put one of them over her eyes and handed the other to Riakus.

"Don't need you blinded," she said.

Riakus turned the things over in his hands. He'd never seen anything like it. The lenses were some kind of dark glass, set in ovular frames like a rich man's spectacles. But lenses that guarded against bright sunlight? It was a small wonder, but another example of why these women were such a force. They had magic and knowledge.

He placed the lenses over his eyes and the sunlight dimmed substantially enough that he could open them again. The task master nodded and proceeded up the rest of the tunnel.

The escorts led him through a series of back alleys, and then into an empty bathhouse. He was instructed to wash, after which one of the escorts shaved his matted beard. Had he not been chained, he might have fled when she placed the razor near his naked cock but making him a eunuch wasn't her intention. Instead, she shaved the hair around his groin, too.

Being clean made him feel nearly human again, and the smooth skin of his face under his hand reminded him of his youth.

"Not so bad when you're cleaned up," the task master said. "She'll be pleased."

"She?" Riakus asked.

The task master backhanded him across the face and snarled.

"You weren't instructed to speak!"

Riakus hung his head, his skin burning with anger that he didn't know he could still feel. He'd been punched, kicked, whipped, and beaten so often that a simple hand across the cheek should have been nothing. But it angered him. He kept that anger bottled, pushed it down, and pretended it had never happened.

The escorts removed his chains and gave him fresh clothes to wear. When he was dressed, they led him from the bathhouse back to the alleys, where he gawked at the glimpses of the city's streets he caught between buildings.

Everywhere, there were women. They seemed like giants, each of them a head or more taller than he. They were golden-haired and beautiful, as all Amazon's were, their bodies hard and lean. The sight of them had his cock hard.

They paused at the rear door of what Riakus guessed was a tavern, judging by the large bin of garbage in the alley. The task master pushed open the door, and beckoned Riakus to follow, leaving the armored escort behind. That spoke of her confidence that Riakus wouldn't attempt escape. And she was right to be confident. Where was he going to go?

An older woman, her hair graying, but with the same lean physique as all the other Amazon's, met them inside.

"Elenya," the task master said. "I believe this one will do. He fits the qualities your guest asked for."

The older woman, Elenya, looked Riakus over with a mix of disgust and disapproval before she nodded.

"He'll do fine," she said.

"Shall I chain him?" the task master asked.

Elenya shook her head. "I may be past raiding age, but I can still snap his back like a twig."

Riakus let his eyes trail down her muscular arms and decided that she was right.

"When she'd finished with him, the guards will return him," the task master said.

Elenya nodded, and the task master left through the door.

"Come with me," Elenya ordered.

He followed the woman up a flight of steps in the rear of the tavern, out of sight of the common area, where the sound of Amazon woman taking their morning meal drifted. They took the upper hallway to a door, where Elenya paused and knocked.

"Come," came a voice from within.

Elenya opened the door and led Ariakus inside. Seated next to the window was a woman who was clearly not Amazon. When she stood, she was shorter than Ariakus himself. Her height, though, was not the only giveaway. Her hair was raven black, as black as the robe she wore.

"Mistress, were the garments I sent unsuitable?" Elenya asked, and Ariakus detected a hint of panic in her voice.

"They were excellent," the strange woman said. "But I prefer my own."

Elenya let out a relieved breath. "One of the miners," she said. "As you asked for. Fit, strong, young," she paused, then nearly spat out the last word, "handsome."

The stranger looked Ariakus up and down, her dark eyes glittering in the light of the sun through the window.

"He'll do nicely. Thank you. You may go."

Elenya glanced at Ariakus and asked, "You're certain? I don't trust him."

The woman stepped forward and placed her hand on Elenya's cheek. For an instant, Ariakus thought he could see a blue spark pass between her fingers. Then it was gone.

"You're right not to trust him," the stranger said. "You trust me, though. I can take care of myself. Go. Return after the mid-day meal and your favor will be granted."

A tremor passed down Elenya's body, and she nodded. She touched her cheek as the stranger removed her hand.

"Of course, Mistress," she said, bowed, and retreated from the room.

Ariakus swallowed a lump in his throat and looked at the floor. The woman put her hand on his shoulder, then trailed her fingers down his arm until she reached his hand. She lifted it, turned it over in her own, and was silent as she traced the lines in his skin.

"You aren't meant for slavery," she said. "Nor were you meant to rule."

Arikus didn't know what to say to that, so he said nothing.

"I see strength, but not just in your body. In your spirit. You'll need that for what's to come. For now, I only require the strength of your body."

Ariakus lifted his eyes as the woman stepped back and unlaced the tie on her robe. She shrugged it off one shoulder, then the other, letting it slide down to her breasts. She gathered it in her fist, showing him only the swell of them. His eyes widened.

Her red lips turned up in a smile that did not feel seductive, but chilling. She let the robe fall, baring her naked body as it pooled at her feet. When she stepped out of it and placed her hands on his chest, the skin was hot, hotter than any woman he could remember having.

She pressed her body against him and put her lips to his neck. They were as hot as the rest of her. The freshly washed scent of her was incredible after the months of smelling nothing but dirt, sweat, blood, and piss. His breath quickened.

Her hand slid down his chest and found the laces on his pants, undid them deftly, and let them fall. Her fingers, so hot, encircled his hard cock.

"Touch me," she whispered in his ear.

Ariakus raised on trembling hand and placed it on her breast, hefting it, squeezing it gently, and her excited breath in his ear told him it was what she wanted. Her hand moved along his stiff prick, exciting him further.

When she put her lips on his, the heat of them and the smell of her made his head spin, and for a moment he thought he might fall. Then she pushed her tongue into his mouth, and the taste of her was honey sweet. No woman he'd had tasted so good. Or perhaps, he just didn't remember.

She took his hand and put it between her legs. She was shaved bare, and his fingers were wet as he carefully touched her slit. The woman guided him to her bed, where she lay him on his back, his stiff dick waving. With her legs to either side of his hips, she took his cock and placed it at her entrance.

Ariakus gasped as she slid down his shaft, enveloping his cock in a warm sheath of wet pleasure.

"Gods," he whispered.

The woman smiled her terrible smile, inhaled sharply as she came to rest on his cock, and grasped one of her breasts as she rocked her hips back and forth. She took his hands and placed them on her tits, encouraging him to play with them as she slowly moved, serpentine, her red lips parted with her growing passion. Ariakus squeezed her breasts and forced his heart to slow.

The woman rocked back and forth on him, pleasuring herself with his body, tossing her black hair as she began to move faster. After the months of having nothing but his hand in the darkness, the feel of her hot insides was quickly becoming overwhelming. Only a few minutes in, and he wasn't going to last. He gritted his teeth, slowed his breathing, and shut his eyes.

The woman stopped panting with pleasure. Instead, she began to whisper. It was so low, and difficult to hear over the pounding of his heart. Even the odd word he caught didn't make sense. He didn't understand the language. But she rode him faster as she whispered, her eyes now shut.

When she opened them and looked down on him, her smile was triumphant. That strange blue spark was in her eyes, only for an instant, and then they returned to the dark, glittering things he'd seen in the sunlight. It flared in them now, as the morning sun came through the window.

Then she tossed her head back and shivered. Her warm, gripping sheath seemed to gush around his cock, and Ariakus groaned. His orgasm was so forceful that his vision dimmed. He gripped her hips and thrust up into her cunt, making her tits bounce as he plastered her insides. The woman giggled, her head thrown back as she met his thrusts with her own.

The explosion of pleasure seemed to last for minutes, though he knew it was only seconds at most. When he finally breathed again, and the motion of their bodies slowed, then stopped, the woman placed her palms on his chest. Her dark hair spilled over her breasts as she rested her hands on him, her smile crooked.

"Rest now," she said. "Stay with me a while longer. Your days of slavery are over."

"I don't under—" he began.

"Change is coming, and strength will be necessary. Tell me, Ariakus. Do you want your freedom?"

He was certain he hadn't told her his name. "How did you—"

"You're still a slave until you answer my question."

He didn't need time to think. "Yes."

"I can give you that, and more, if you're willing to follow me until the day you die."

It seemed an odd sort of post-fuck talk to have. But then, everything about her was odd.

"Your choice is this," she said when he hesitated. "Return to the mines, where you'll toil and die in darkness. Or serve me and give rise to greatness."

It wasn't much of a choice.

"I'll serve," he said, then added, "Mistress."

The woman placed her palm on his forehead and said, "Then rest."

And the world went as black as the deepest mine without a torch.

***

The Spread

Uleida rolled out of bed with a hunger for something she hadn't felt in some time. A man. She glanced at the tangle of sheets, where Aiesha lay wrapped up with a contented smile on her face.

After a night at the tavern, Uleida had spent a long while between the girl's legs giving her that smile. Aiesha had returned the same. This morning, though, things seemed different.

It was not that Uleida felt any different about the girl. She was still a beauty, and the memory of how her cunt tasted still lingered in Uleida's mouth. But there was something else, like a brain fog she couldn't shake. It was like waking from a long nap with a groggy head. And then there was the almost overwhelming desire to feel a hard cock in her hand, her mouth, her pussy.

It wasn't something she hadn't felt in a long time. It wasn't that Aleida didn't like men. It was just that all the women of the island saw them for what they were. A necessary evil that helped to produce children. Other than that, they were only useful as slaves. They were barbarians, the whole of them.

Like most of the women, Uleida got the occasional itch in the cunt for a hard fuck with a man, though. This morning, it was stronger than she could ever remember. There was, she mused, something she could do about that, though. There were rent boys in the town brothels, for those on the island that liked the pleasures of cock more often.

Uleida stroked back Aiesha's hair, kissed her head, and slipped away to wash. It wouldn't do to show up reeking of pussy and sweat. No. A man would expect her clean and fresh for the taking.

She shook her head. Had she really just thought that? What did it matter what a man wanted? Barbarians. The whole of them.

***

When the morning duty roster was short by three, Watch Commander Altura became alarmed. An absence wasn't unexpected. It happened from time to time, but infrequently. Amazon's were staunchly punctual. Even when one had to be absent for illness or some other unavoidable cause, they sent word. It wasn't a large island, after all. Getting word out was quite easy to manage.

Two absences at the same time was highly uncommon. It had happened, but not while she'd been Watch Commander. Three absences, all of them with no word, was not only irregular, it was unheard of.

"Send a runner," Altura ordered her subcommander. "Find out what's happening."

The subcommander stared vacantly into the distance, across the assembled morning patrol in the ready room.

"Subcommander!" Altura barked.

"Hmm? Oh! Apologies, Commander," her subordinate said. "I… I'm having some trouble, um… my head."

Altura's frown deepened.

"What about it? You didn't spend the evening at some tavern, did you?"

The subcommander shook her head. "No. You know I wouldn't."

Altura sighed. She did know. The subcommander rarely imbibed at all. Instead of carrying out her orders, though, the subcommander's gaze clouded over and she stared across the room again.

"Snap to it!" Altura ordered.

The subcommander blinked and nodded. "Of course. Right away!"

She stalked off through the exit, calling for a runner. Altura turned her attention back to the assembled patrol, who stood ready to start their rounds and relieve the night shift. And her frown deepened even further.

Half the lot of them looked asleep on their feet, like the subcommander. Their eyes were glassy and distant. If she hadn't known better, Altura would have said they were smoked out. But that wasn't like them. Any of them.

Those that looked clear-headed were eyeing the others suspiciously, noting the same odd signs their commander had noticed.

"Hoshmin," Altura called, pointing to one of the flushed, wobbling girls.

"Hmm?" the woman said, shifting her vacant gaze to her commander.

"What's with you? The lot of you?"

Hoshmin looked confused, furrowing her brows, as if the question took all of her concentration. She absently twirled a lock of hair around her finger. And then she giggled like a little girl.

"I… I don't think there's, um, anything wrong. Is there?" Hoshmin asked.

Altura's face reddened. "Nothing wrong? Look at the state of you! All of you!"

Those unaffected by… whatever it was took a step away from the others. It left a handful staring dumbly at one another, and then at their commander. All of them looked stupefied and bewildered, as if they couldn't fathom why they were standing here.

Altura stepped forward and grabbed Hoshmin by the shoulders. She shook her so hard that the girl's teeth rattled in her head.

"Get a fucking hold of yourself!"

And then Altura did something that she'd never done in her decade as Watch Commander. She slapped the girl across the face. Hoshmin staggered back, but instead of crying out she… she moaned out loud. The other women all tittered like children who had just heard a dirty joke.

"Oh," Hoshmin gasped. "That…"

And then she began to rub herself between the legs. The group of women standing apart from their comrades all began to mutter incredulously. Altura, for the first time in her life, was absolutely speechless.

"None of you leave this room," Altura growled. "I'm barring the door from the outside. We may have some sort of illness on our hands."

"Commander—"

"Enough. Your duty is the safety of this city. Stay here. I'll return after I've sent a warning."

The commander stormed from the room and barred the door, trapping the patrol inside. She ran down the hall to the entryway's sentry station and grabbed the sentry by the arm.

"Quickly! Send word to the tower. There's something happening, an illness, perhaps. Tell the Queen—"

Altura stopped herself as the sentry giggled and tugged at her blonde hair.

"Oh, gods…"

***

Kajata, High Priestess of the Amazons stood on the balcony of her room overlooking the city. Her rooms faced East, and she nearly every morning she met the rising sun. Today, she hadn't, but it wasn't for lack of wanting.

Kajata had wanted to greet the sun, as was her custom, but this morning she'd had a finer distraction. That distraction was still wrapped in the sheets on her bed, and her name was… well, she couldn't actually remember. The girl was a young thing, just out of her training and ready to take on the world.

Kajata remembered that feeling herself, though it had been five decades ago. Even after those five decades, and pushing into her seventh decade on this earth, Kajata still occasionally felt the heat in her sex. Last night had been one of those nights, and she'd ordered the girl up from an old friend in the city. She was surprisingly talented for one of only eighteen years, and the night had been a very fulfilling one.

Thus, Kajata had slept in, comforted by the girl's warm body in her bed. The girl… why couldn't she remember her name? She remembered everything. Each line of the scriptures, the old legends, the incantations, each syllable of the wards that kept the island safe and darker things imprisoned. That was her duty. To remember. Why then could she not remember something so simple as this girl's name.

She stared out across the city, watching the sun spread its golden fingers over the buildings spread below. In the centuries long past, the High Priestesses had a song for the morning. It was an old custom, but Kajata had sung the song herself a few times. It was like a connection with those that had held the office in the past.

As she watched the sun break over the sea, though, she couldn't remember exactly how the song began. Was that another sign that her memory was going? She was growing too old? Surely not.

Another memory sprung to mind, one that she hadn't thought of in any of her last three decades. Why did she recall it now? It was so unimportant. The memory was of a young man's body, hard and lean. He'd been a servant in her father's house, and he had been her first and only man.

Kajata recalled with perfect clarity the feeling of his hands on her breasts, the heat of his breath in her ear. She could practically feel his hard cock penetrating her and taste his eager kisses as he'd fucked her. Even now, her body was hot with the memory. Why then could she not remember the words to the song, or the name of the girl, now awake and giggling stupidly in her bed?

***

Queen Lianna, ruler of the Amazons, had only just finished her mid-day meal when she received the shock of her life. Ruling the island for over a century, Lianna had been shocked before. She'd been shocked by the brutality of battle, and by the carelessness of youth. The evils of men had shocked her. Rapes, torture, children orphaned by war. All of these things had shocked Lianna at some point.

And yet, none of them shocked her so much as the sight of her two daughters, twin princesses, naked in bed. The two of them weren't attempting to hide it either. They were gloriously nude, their faces buried in one another's cunts, and moaning out their pleasure as loudly as a drunken tavern whore. It was not that the Queen was shocked by two women together. That was a common, expected thing. But that it was her daughters, who knew that the law of the land forbade such things, was the real shock.

"By the gods!" Lianna shouted. "What is going on here?"

The two of them, barely in their second decade, writhed and moaned, touching each other with fingers, lips, and tongue. Their mothers shout didn't stop them at all. They continued going at each other like lovers home from war.

"Stop that!" Lianne shouted and clapped her hands. "Stop that at once!"

The guard at the door peered inside and gasped, causing Lianne to round on her in fury.

"Not a word of this!" she commanded as she pulled the doors closed.

Outside, the guard began to titter like a little girl.

***

Youth and Beauty

"Uleida received her reward?" Logrim asked Helenya, when the older woman returned to her room after the mid-day meal.

"She did. A lovely reward it was, Mistress," Helenya said.

Logrim nodded. She stood nude in the light from the window, looking out across the city. Ariakus sat silent on the bed, avoiding Helenya's glower, and focusing, instead, on the well-shaped behind of the strange woman with the black hair. His savior, it seemed.

After the woman had taken him inside her, Ariakus had slept more soundly than after his hardest days in the mine. In fact, he couldn't remember ever feeling more rested than he was now. Gods, it felt as if he could swing a pick all day without tiring.

Elenya's eyes shifted from the silent naked man on the bed, to drink in the nude form of Logrim. The strange woman turned from the window and the sunlight cast a halo around her dark hair. She looked radiant that way, like some kind of goddess herself. She rubbed her belly, gave Ariakus a slight smile that made him blush, and turned her attention to Elenya.

"Come," she said and beckoned with one finger.

Elenya took a tentative step forward, then another, until she stood only inches from Logrim.

"Kneel," Logrim commanded.

Elenya hesitated but then she slowly fell on her knees. It was an odd dynamic, the towering, elderly woman on her knees in front of the shorter, younger, more beautiful one. It only reinforced the image of Logrim as a dark goddess. Ariakus watched with interest, curious where this was headed. The talk of favors and rewards was perplexing. What exactly was Logrim rewarding?

"You've aided me well," Logrim said. "Not only in providing me a place to rest, but in helping me regain the strength I need for what's coming."

Elenya raised her head. "What's… coming?"

"This will take a great deal of my strength," Logrim said. "Granting youth and vigor can only be done by taking it from another. Do you understand?"

"I think so," Elenya whispered.

"I'll require a name. A rival, or an enemy preferably."

"An enemy?" Elenya said.

"Do you have any?"

Elenya thought, and then she scowled. "She calls herself a friend. Once upon a time, she was. Now she looks down at me. Kajata."

"Kajata," Logrim repeated.

"Kajata," Elenya said again.

Logrim turned to Ariakus and said, "Go and bar the door."

Ariakus did it. He stood by it, too, as far from Logrim as he could manage without leaving. Something in her had changed when she'd said that name. Her bearing was more regal, her back straight and shoulders up. She looked down on Elenya as if she were a worm. It made his spine tingle.

Logrim put her hands either side of Elenya's head. She muttered something under her breath, then removed one hand and placed her palm flat against the window. The other hand moved to the top of Elenya's head, resting in her graying hair.

Logrim continued to speak in a whisper, and as she did the glass in the window began to vibrate. Ariakus put his back to the door. The air in the room now seemed stifling, hot and oppressive. He tugged at his collar. Outside, the sun itself seemed to dim, almost as if he'd put the darkened lenses over his eyes again. Elenya made a choking noise.

Ariakus' eyes flicked from the window to the older woman kneeling on the floor. As he watched, the gray in her hair receded. She glowed, seeming as if the dim sunlight now filled her, spilling out to radiate from her entire body. Logrim continued whispering.

The blue spark Ariakus had thought he'd imagined shot down the skin of her arm and merged with the aura around Elenya. The old woman's hair was now golden, as it must have looked in her youth. Ariakus trembled unable to look away, though his eyeballs seemed to be vibrating in his head, and he wanted nothing more than to close them.

Then, like a bottle being uncorked, the entire room popped. It was the only way Ariakus could describe the feeling. And in the same instant, the aura around Elenya vanished. The blue flame on Logrim's arm went out, and the sun was as bright as it had surely always been. Logrim removed her hand from the window, and the other from Elenya.

"Beauty and youth," she whispered.

Elenya slowly got to her feet, touching her hair and her face as she did so.

"Go and see," Logrim commanded, gesturing toward the small mirror hung on the wall.

When Elenya turned toward the mirror, Ariakus gasped. The old woman was gone. This woman was decades younger, perhaps even younger than he, and he was only in his twentieth year. Elenya, the aging tavern keeper had been replaced by this… this vision.

Elenya ignored him as she took a stumbling step toward the mirror. In silence, the two of them watched her touch and examine her face and her hair. She ran her finger along her full lips, then grasped her large, round tits in her hands and shook them playfully. They were firm with not a hint of sag.

Logrim stepped behind Elenya and reached around her to unlace the now ill-fitting tunic she wore. Elenya continued to watch herself in the mirror, but she allowed Logrim to pull the tunic over her head. Her naked tits spill out, gorgeous and round. Despite the unbelievable moment he'd just witnessed, Ariakus prick stiffened at the sight of this new Elenya.

Logrim undid the laces on her trousers next and let them fall. She ran a hand over Elenya's perfectly rounded ass and squeezed it. Then Logrim's gaze shifted to Ariakus, and he felt as he were the worm now.

"The first of your rewards," she said, and turned Helenya to face him.

"How long has it been since you've had a man, Elenya?" Logrim asked.

Something in the woman herself had changed, too, Ariakus saw. It was not just her revived youth and beauty, but something… inside. The life in her eyes had been dulled. Where once there had been an lively but aging woman, a fire, now there was simply a spark.

"Oh, um, too long," Elenya said.

Logrim smiled over the woman's shoulder at Ariakus and said, "Then I suppose you need to have some cock, don't you? You'll like his. It's very pleasing."

Elenya licked her lips. "Yes, Mistress," she said. "Yes, I'd like some cock."

"Ariakus, would you like Elenya to put this pretty mouth of hers to use sucking your cock?"

Ariakus blushed. Whores sucked on men's cocks, and he'd been too young for whores when he was taken as a slave. He'd only had one woman before Logrim, and she certainly hadn't been a whore. But he'd heard plenty of talk of whores from the miners, and many stories of cock sucking. Some of them even did it to one another, though he'd never understood exactly why.

He was curious, though, and Elenya's big lips did look beautiful. How would it feel, to have those lips around his cock? He could find out.

"Yes," he said.

Logrim nodded toward the bed, and Ariakus sat on it. His hard cock betrayed his arousal as the two nude women joined him. Logrim pushed him onto his back, then curled into his side. Her naked tits pressed into his side, and he was once again intoxicated by the smell of her as she pushed her eager tongue into his mouth. He groaned into their kiss as his cock was suddenly engulfed in wet warmth.

Gods, it was amazing! It was almost like being inside of a woman, but also different. Elenya's tongue, swirling around his crown and trailing along his shaft was certainly a different sensation. Then she began to bob her head up and down, swallowing his length until her lips touched his groin.

Logrim broke their kiss and trailed her fingers along his bare chest. He looked down at the tavern-keeper, who seemed as if having his cock in her mouth was the best thing in her life. Logrim had given him this gift. His first reward, she'd said. How many more rewards would there be? How generous? She'd given Elenya her youth back. What else was in her power for those that helped her. And how great would the punishment be for those that didn't?

"Use her as much as you'd like," Logrim said as her nails lightly raked his skin. "She's yours now. She'll deny you nothing. Now, enjoy her. After the evening meal, I'll have a task for you."

Ariakus gave the only answer he dared. "Yes, Mistress."

***

Invasion

By the time the evening meal came and went, Ariakus was certain of two things. First, having his cock sucked was one of the most amazing joys in life. Second, whatever Logrim was up to, she did not have the Amazon's best intentions at heart. Ariakus, however, couldn't have cared less.

As far as he was concerned, every last one of them could burn in Hades. Well, except for the new younger, stupider, more gorgeous cock-sucking Elenya. She was a prize worth keeping. And whatever Logrim required of him he would do.

And before the sun went down, her next requirement came. Dressed again her black robe, Logrim produced a small box from some hidden pocket and handed it to him. Elenya snored on the bed, naked and covered in Ariakus' spunk.

"Take this to the beach," Logrim instructed. "Place it on the shore and then return to me here."

"Mistress, a man out on the street… they'll think I'm trying to escape."

Logrim chuckled and said, "They'll have their own problems to worry about. You must remember, no matter what you see, you will remain on your task. Drain your balls once more if you have to, as there will certainly be temptation."

"I don't understand."

Logrim shook her head. "You don't need to. You will. Are you ready?"

Ariakus glanced at the naked woman on the bed, then nodded.

"As you command," he said.

"As quickly as you can."

Ariakus took the small box in his hand and tucked it into a pocket. With one last glance back at his Mistress, he left the room and went down the back steps.

Outside, the guards charged with returning him to the mine were gone. In fact, the city as a whole seemed quiet. Not that Ariakus had spent any time in the city proper, but it seemed as if the entire place was holding its breath. He slowly rounded the tavern toward the main street.

A pair of Amazon women across the street were entangled in a passionate kiss against the wall of a building. A few feet from them was another couple, and in the distance three of them. They were all half-naked, touching and kissing one another, moaning out their lust. Temptaion, indeed.

Ariakus forced himself not to watch, instead running the opposite direction. It was then that he realized he had no idea where the city gate was. All his time on the island had been spent going to the mine, in the mine, and coming from the mine. Yet, something in him did know where the gate was. His feet knew where to take him. Logrim's doing? It must be.

He ran through the streets, avoiding the many temptations on every corner. They were all like Elenya, obsessed with kissing and touching, licking and caressing. They paid him no mind as he sprinted through the streets, until at last he reached the gate.

Ariakus did not know much, but he did know that a gate was meant to be closed and guarded. But the gate stood open, and there were no guards. He glanced up at the wall. It was also empty. Stay on task.

He ran through the gate, tripping along the sand, until he came to the beach. After months in the mines, he was certain that he would die there. He'd never see the sun again, nor smell the sea salt or feel its breeze. Yet, here he stood, looking out across the vast, rolling infinity. And he owed this, too, to Logrim.

Ariakus fetched the small box from his pocket and placed it in the sand. Had there been any other instruction? No. Place the box on the beach and return. For a second longer, he breathed in the sea breeze, then turned back the way he'd come and ran.

***

Prince Thespar watched the sun sink into the sea. His grip on the railing tightened with every passing minute. Patience was not one of his strengths. Any of the men could have attested to that. Sitting out in the sea for days, waiting, had been torture.

But he had more waiting to do. Gods, the witch had better have done her part! He could practically taste Queen Lianne and her daughters right now. Soon.

As the last rays of the sun dimmed and vanished over the horizon, Thespar turned away and flew to the opposite side of the ship. He searched the horizon, where the island waited, still too far to see with the naked eye. The captain joined him in silence and they waited.

Minutes passed as they watched the darkness close in. Then, far in the distance, he spotted a pinprick of light. If he hadn't been familiar with every star in the sky, he might have mistaken it. But this was no star. The pinprick grew in intensity, until its light rivaled that of the newly-risen moon.

Seconds later, it outshone even the world's closest companion. A smile spread across the prince's face, and then he laughed.

"Gods! She's fucking done it!" he shouted and turned to the captain. "Raise anchor and set a course."

"My Prince," the captain said and began to bark orders.

The blazing light sped across the night sky, becoming a blazing sun that hovered overhead. The dark waters were lit bright as day, and Thespar whooped as the other ships in his fleet unfurled sails and set out oars. A witch's wind caught the sails, pushing the ships forward toward the island. Thespar grabbed the railing and steadied himself, laughing with glee.

***

Logrim and Ariakus approached the open gates to the tower. From up ahead came the cries of women and… men! Ariakus drew the sword he'd appropriated from Elenya's tavern, but Logrim stayed his hand.

"You don't know how to use that," she said. "And you need not protect me."

Ariakus sheathed the blade. Fool. Of course Logrim didn't need his sword. He'd be more likely to kill himself with it than some enemy.

Logrim started through the gates, seemingly unconcerned by whatever was ahead. Men? Why were there men in the palace?

The answer came a moment later, as Ariakus and Logrim entered the courtyard. In the grass was an Amazon woman. Her leather armor was strewn across the ground, and two dirty men were going at her mouth and cunt at the same time.

Ariakus blanched. He knew the men. They'd been in the mine. How had—? Of course. If the task master and guards at the mine had been like the rest of the women he'd encountered, then the slaves had made their escape. And they were turning their fury on their captors.

Not far from the rutting trio, another woman was pressed against a statue of some long-dead queen. Another slave held her blonde hair in his fist and fucked her from behind. On the other side of the courtyard was an Amazon facedown in the grass, taking a slave's cock in her ass and squealing.

The palace gates stood open, and chaos reined within. More slaves were fucking their former captors on floors, against walls, on tabletops, and in chairs. A pair of slaves, covered in the mine's grime, fled past Ariakus without acknowledging him, their arms filled with gold and silver trinkets. How they planned to get off the island and sell those trinkets, he had no idea.

Logrim seemed unconcerned by any of it as she glided down the hallway. She paused at a crossroads, whispered a word, then turned and proceeded. Ariakus followed. Logrim stopped again at a dead end and placed her hand on the stone wall.

For over a minute, she stood this way, her eyes closed as she muttered to herself. When she opened her eyes, she beckoned for Ariakus to follow, and then she stepped through the wall. Ariakus put out his hand and watched it pass through as though the wall weren't there. He quickly ran after his Mistress.

"Illuminatus," Logrim whispered and a puff of blue fire roared to life in the air ahead of them.

In the pale glow of the witch flame, Ariakus could just make out a narrow passage. As they traversed it, he could tell that they were heading down. There were no steps, but after months of ascending and descending, he'd become somewhat attuned to the changed in depth. They were on a spiraling ramp, and it was taking them deep. Very deep.

Ariakus let his hand glide along the cold stone of the wall as Logrim led them further and further. At last the descent leveled out, and they walked another long hall. At the end of it stood a massive iron door, barred with a thick beam of what looked like onyx. All across the door were strange symbols, carved into the metal.

Logrim traced two of the runes with her finger, leaving a trail of the blue fire in its wake. When she stepped back, the flame blazed in the runes for a long moment, then puffed out with a hiss. Logrim took another step back, making Ariakus do the same. Inside the door, something boomed. The onyx beam shook, shivered, and crumbled into black dust that spread across the floor.

Ariakus took another step back.

"You have nothing to fear," Logrim whispered in the dark. "We've come to do its bidding."

Ariakus briefly reconsidered his devotion to his new mistress, then steeled himself and put his hand on the pommel of his sword. The iron doors creaked open with glacial slowness. And Logrim stepped inside.

***

"Just as the fucking witch promised," Thespar exclaimed as he leaped from the ship to the docks of the Amazon's harbor.

All around him, their empty ships bobbed at their moorings. Not a guard stood watch. No warning cry went up from a sentry. His other ships were drawing up and unloading their crews. Gods, it seemed impossible!

Thespar turned to his lieutenant and said, "Form them up. Company one and three will secure the city gate and the mine. Warn them that there will be no raping until I hold the throne. No matter what they see. I'll personally castrate any man who fucks this up, and feed him his own balls."

"My Prince," the lieutenant said and thumped his chest. He turned to the men coming off the boats and roared, "Form up! Form up! Companies on me!"

Thespar's personal guard fell in to either side of him, swords in hand. More men flooded from the ships behind, but company one and company three hurried off to their destinations. Two more companies fell in behind their prince and followed as he marched them off the docks.

Well-trained as they were, it was impossible to keep the soldiers from staring at the chaos in the streets. Many of them had fought these women in raids. To see them like this was like victory in itself. The one proud and mighty warriors now fornicated with one another in the streets. Slaves, now freed from brothels, serving in noble houses, and slaving in the worst conditions imaginable, were all free.

Their former masters were like living sex dolls, offering their cunts, their mouths, their assholes for the pleasure of those they'd subjugated only this morning. They took them one-on-one and took them in groups of three and four. The slaves took out their hatred and anger on their former masters, slapping their faces, pulling on their tits, pushing their faces into the dirt as they mounted them and hammered their cocks into them.

They spit on them as they raped them, pissed on them and coated them in jizz. More than one of Amazon had her head dunked in a waste bucket, while a line of slaves took turns on her. They drank the women's wine and beer, poured bottles down their throats, then pushed their cocks in to make them retch.

Through it all, the soldiers and their prince marched ahead. Thespar was surprised that no bodies lay in the streets. Apparently, the slaves were happier treating their masters like fucktoys. So much the better. It was good that the Amazon's learned their place as soon as possible. Up ahead, towering over everything else, stood the palace. And right now, nothing else mattered but reaching the throne.

***

Logrim's blue flame seemed like a sputtering candle against the soul-crushing darkness and cold of the massive chamber. Even with its pale light, Ariakus could hardly see his hand in front of his face. How Logrim knew where she was going, he couldn't understand. But there was little of the woman he did understand. Nothing, really.

Logrim stopped again in front of a stone altar, atop which sat a stature. The thing was carved from onyx, much like the disintegrated beam that had barred the entrance. It stood three hands tall, he guessed, and was carved in the shape of a nude woman. Logrim knelt in front of the altar.

"Lilu," she whispered.

The blue flame wavered, and the eyes of the statue came to life with a matching light. Ariakus held his breath.

"Sissster of the night," said a voice directly in his head.

Had it come from the statue?

"My Queen," Logrim said in return. "I've come to offer you freedom and a vessel for your rebirth."

The witch stood and shrugged off her robe, heedless of the cold, and stood naked before the statue.

"For too long the Amazon's have fed off of your power. I beg you, take me as yours and let me be your hands on the earth," Logrim said.

Ariakus stood paralyzed. Should he do something? Stop this somehow? Stop what, exactly? He didn't know.

"You are worthy," said the voice in his head. "Blood…"

Logrim flicked her wrist, and a knife appeared in her hand.

"My blood in service to you," she whispered, and slid the blade across her palm.

In the light of the blue flame, the blood that welled from her hand was black like her hair, like the statue, like everything around them. She pressed her bleeding palm to the head of the statue, and Ariakus watched the blood run down to coat the statues blue eyes.

"A sacrifice," Logrim said. "Life, in exchange for life."

The witch removed her hand from the statue and turned to Ariakus. Before he could blink, Lorgim rammed the dagger into his heart. He stared down at the hilt of the blade, uncomprehending, as he died by the second.

Logrim pulled the knife his chest, placed her bleeding hand on his head, and said, "Fear not. Your service has just begun."

Ariakus fell to his knees, looking up at his mistress with a mix of pain and betrayal as he clutched the bleeding wound in his chest. As his vision dimmed, Logrim got to her knees in front of him and plunged the knife into her own heart. Somehow, watching it happen made it seem as though he'd failed in his promise. But then his vision swam, his body slumped, and he knew no more.

***

Prince Thespar stopped in his tracks at the gate to the palace. It wasn't any one thing that made him pause and order his men to do the same. Rather, it was a change in everything that caused him to stop. The entirety of the world went quiet all in a single instant. The chirp of the nocturnal insects fell silent. The moans of pleasure, cries of pain, and general din of the chaos all stilled. The breeze and the distant roar of the surf vanished.

For a moment, the entire world held its breath. And then the earth shook beneath their feet. The tremor lasted only as long as that breath, and then came a sound the prince knew he'd wake up and hear in the night for the rest of his life. It was a wail, low at first, then so shrill an filled with hate that every man standing clapped his hands over his ears.

The banshee scream drove them all to their knees with its sheer anguish, and when it passed, they drew hands across their eyes that came away wet with blood. Thespar wiped the sleeve of his tunic across his eyes to clear them, and imagined what a horror he must look like. He could see it in the faces of the surrounding men. Each of them had wept blood during that scream.

"Gods," his lieutenant whispered. "What was it?"

Thespar shook his head.

"It doesn't matter. We press on."

There were murmurs from the soldiers behind him. Thespar heard words like "demon," "devil," "god."

He turned to his men. "We press on!" he shouted. "This is our moment! Look around you! The mightiest warriors in the world have been reduced to nothing more than puppets for you to play with! The allies of your king have given them to you! Centuries of their oppression are at an end. No more will your families cower in fear at the sound of their name, or weep after they've taken everything from you! The final steps are ours to take. We need only walk through those doors and take their throne! Are you going to cry like frightened children over a noise?"

A wave of nervous laughter flowed over the soldiers. Thespar nodded.

"We press on!"

The prince hefted his blade and marched forward, through the palace gates. As they went, detachments broke away to secure their position. They left men on every level. As they climbed higher, they encountered fewer and fewer Amazons and slaves. After the first dozen floors, the palace seemed abandoned.

"Gods, I hope they haven't made it to Lianne," Thespar grumbled to his guards. "She must be mine!"

On and on they climbed until they reached the royal apartments. Along the hallways, busts and painted portraits of the Amazon queens lined the walls. There were dozens of them, stretching back centuries. Whatever magic the women employed, it kept their queens youthful for centuries at a time. Perhaps, now that he'd captured the island, he could discover that magic for himself.

His father was old. What would it be like to take his place and rule for over a hundred years? What could he accomplish in that time, with Amazon's magic on his side? It was a heady thought, but one he pushed aside. He needed to hold this place first.

At an intersection, Thespar turned toward a wide set of double doors. They were open. In the blazing light of the sconces, there sat the throne. And it was not empty. Thespar stepped inside. His guards hesitated as they eyed the woman seated there, then they followed their prince in.

"Logrim?" Thespar said to the woman on the throne.

She raised her head from her chest and met the prince's eyes. He wished she hadn't. The witch's gaze had been… disconcerting before. Her dark eyes knew too much, saw everything, and held all the lies a man wanted to hear. But whatever else she'd been, she was still human. Whatever sat on the throne had the witch's body and looked out from her eyes. But it was not human.

A ghostly blue flame danced in her eyes now, and her pale skin was bone white. The pallor of the dead. Jutting from her heart was the hilt of a knife, and a trail of black blood oozed from the wound to run like a river down her naked body. When she rose from the throne, she seemed to float from the dais.

Thespar considered himself to be a brave man. He'd never shied from a fight, even when the enemy was bigger, stronger, and sure to beat him bloody. But when Logrim took a step forward, Thespar took two back. She stopped.

"My prince," she said, and her voice came out like the hiss of a snake.

It took three swallows before Thespar found his ability to speak.

"What… has happened to you?"

"You have nothing to fear. I have taken the magic of the Amazons. Together, we will put it to use."

"The magic? Together?" Thespar said.

Logrim stepped aside and said, "Ascend the promised throne."

Thespar gripped his blade and took a step toward the throne. Logrim made no move. He mounted the dais and sat, resting one hand on the throne.

"It's mine," he said. "The throne of the Amazons is mine."

Logrim nodded and said, "As is their queen. And her two daughters."

"They live?"

Logrim nodded again and stepped toward the throne. Thespar's hand tightened on his blade. His guards took a step forward. Logrim stopped and held up her hand.

"Two thousand years ago," she said. "The women of this island enslaved Lilu, an ancient spirit. I have set her free, and in exchange we… have become one. You, King Thespar, are a man of great ambition."

"King? My father— ah… Yes. I am a man of ambition."

Logrim smiled. Thespar wished she hadn't.

"We have ambitions of our own," Logrim said. "Ambitions that require men. Our ambitions are… compatible with yours."

Thespar forced himself to relax. "Go on."

"I've given you an island, filled with vapid, sexually confused and, most importantly, breedable young women of incredible beauty and strength. I've given you a fleet of their ships, their weapons, training grounds, and two millenia of knowledge concerning warfare. I'm going to give you another gift."

"You're… quite generous," Thespar said dryly.

"I will give you the long life of the Amazon queens."

"In exchange for?"

"Together, you and I will breed an army of warriors unlike any the world has seen since the time of legends. Not since the days before Atlantis has there been an army such as that we'll create."

Thespar grinned as he imagined it. A century or more of conquest, with an army bred from his strongest soldiers and the Amazon women. An army backed by the magic of this… thing Logrim had become.

"Logrim, I think I see a bright and happy future ahead of us," he said.

"Then allow me to show you to your next prize," the witch said and beckoned, then added, "My King."

Thespar looked around the throne.

"Of course," Logrim said. "What's a king without a crown?"

The witch extended her hand toward one of the guards, and his sword was wrenched free of his hand. It flew to Logrim's. The guards rushed forward but halted at a motion from their new king.

The blade in Logrim's hand blazed with blue fire and began to sag before their eyes. The liquifying metal pooled in the witch's hands, where she molded it and shaped it, as though it were as cool as ice. When she'd finished, she presented Thespar with a crown of iron, at the tip of which danced a blue flame.

"A symbol of our unity," Logrim said.

Thespar took the crown.

"Unity," he said, and placed it on his head.

Strength like he'd never known coursed through every muscle, every fiber. The flame shot through his synapses and veins, setting them ablaze. For an instant he staggered, sure that Logrim had killed him. He'd been a fool to trust the witch.

But then the flash of pain passed, leaving in its wake only the strength and the fire. Thespar flexed his fingers. It was then that he released his grip on his sword and let it fall to the floor. The handle was crushed from his grip.

"About that prize?" he said with a grin.

Logrim glided toward the door, pushing past the stunned guards. Thespar followed, flexing his muscles in awe. Two chambers away, Logrim paused at a closed door.

Thespar put his hand on the handle. When he turned it, the entire door came off the hinges in his hand. Gods! He'd need to practice this, or he'd destroy everything around him!

On the other side of the door, were three women. One of them held her head in her hands. There were tears in her eyes as she looked up at her conqueror. Thespar saw more than fear in her eyes, though. There was confusion and arousal.

Logrim's spell, which had turned the rest of the island's women into mindless sex addicts, had taken hold of the queen, too. But she was stronger than the rest. Something in her was fighting it. But she was losing.

On the bed were two more women. They were twins, and they were fully in thrall to the spell's power. Thespar couldn't help but laugh. Their entire kingdom had fallen apart around their ears, and here they were, lapping at each other's cunts like a couple of sluts at an orgy. And in front of their mother, no less.

The queen staggered to her feet. "I… demand—" she began.

Thespar stepped forward and shoved her to her knees. He tore his britches away with ease. No matter. He wouldn't be needing any for a while. Gods, his cock had never been so hard!

When the queen opened her mouth to make another demand, Thespar pushed his cock into it.

"Your Majesty," Thespar said as he looked down on her bewildered, cock-stuffed face. "You are in a position to demand nothing. The only position you are in is that of royal cocksleeve."

"Gugh!" protested the queen as Thespar shoved his cock into her throat.

She flailed her arms, but the effects of the spell made it impossible for her to attempt to reject his prick. She might not be a fully converted bimbo, but her instinct was in the right place. Thespar flexed his cock in her throat, felt it quiver, and realized that he was in control of it like never before.

Everything about his body seemed heightened. He could feel every heartbeat, every breath, and… yes. He could control his ejaculation. With a chuckle, he let a day's pent-up charge blast the Amazon queen's throat. She glurked and guzzled as his semen poured in a torrent into her belly.

And as she swallowed it, her eyes rolled back in her head, and she groaned. Her body trembled. And she orgasmed right along with him.

Thespar pulled his sopping meat from her throat, leaving a slimy trail of cum and spit dangling from her lips. He grabbed her blonde hair in his fist, careful not to tear it out with his new strength, and casually tossed her onto the bed like a doll. The sudden arrival of their mother in their midst finally got the twins to stop licking cunt, but only long enough for them to tear away what was left of the queen's clothes.

"No!" she howled. "Stop!"

Thespar mounted the bed and pushed her legs apart.

"Let's all be one big happy family," he said. "In fact, we'll make a nice big new family together."

"No!" she cried, but as Thespar pushed his cock into her warm depths, her protests turned to exclamations. "Oh! Oh, gods! How is— why is it… so good?"

"Because you're the royal cocksleeve," Thespar reminded her. "Girls, remind your mother what she is."

The twin blondes giggled stupidly, as if it were all a silly joke.

"You're the royal cocksleeve, mother," they said.

Thespar grabbed the head of the closest one and pushed it into her mother's cunt.

"Make Mommy feel good, princess," he growled.

The royal slut began to lick and suck at her mother's snatch, as Thespar slowly pumped his shaft into her. With his free hand, he pushed the other girl's face onto her mother's tits.

"Suck them for Mommy," he ordered. "And after I'm finished breeding the royal cocksleeve, I'll knock the two of you up, too. How does that sound?"

"Mm-hm," the two ditzy blondes agreed as they sucked on their mother.

Thespar looked over his shoulder, to his two stunned guards.

"Order the lieutenant to begin rounding up all the women. Bring them here. Gather the men, and let them have their pick of the lot for tonight. Tomorrow, we'll begin putting this place together. Go and enjoy yourselves tonight!" He pushed the queen's legs back nearly to her ears and hammered her sopping fuckhole. "I sure as fuck will!"

Logrim glided from the room with the guards. The two of them hurried away from the witch. She shut the doors to the royal bedchamber and ascended the rest of the tower. At the top, she walked out to the parapet. Her fingers traced flaming runes in the air, and the sky above the palace crackled with blue lighting.

A dome of the same blue flame encased the island, protecting it from prying eyes and wandering fools. There it would remain until things were ready. When the time came, and the army was trained, Logrim would ride at their head. The men would flock to their side. The women would fall before them, stupid and enslaved to their cunts. And once the entire world was theirs, they could begin to look outward, to all the others.