There were no words. It was a sea of emerald that stretched for miles and miles beneath them, rocks jutting up from the swaying canopy, hazy in the veils of humidity that hung heavy in the air. Deep pools of sapphire twinkled in the sunlight, but there was really no sunlight. A canopy of shifting, glowing clouds stretched overhead, touching the peaks of the mountains that encircled this impossible land.
But the four heroines, tumbling head over heels towards the ground, had no time to marvel at the sight below them.
First, clad in star-spangled armor, was Queen Hippolyta of the fabled Amazons. Armed with her unbreakable Magic Lasso, indestructible bracelets, and her mighty Amazon strength, she left her idealistic utopian home to combat evil in the name of Aphrodite, goddess of love, as Wonder Woman!
Next to her, small frame wrapped in gold, fell Helena Kosmatos. Her parents slain by the Nazis, the ancient Erinyes gave Helena the power to avenge their deaths and fight alongside Wonder Woman as the ferocious Fury!
Alongside the Amazon Queen and her protégé fell a slim woman clad in ebony, with flowing golden locks. Trained in the martial arts, Dinah Drake was gifted by Aphrodite with a piercing sonic scream, allowing her to embody the name of the Black Canary!
Finally, the wife of the famous Hawkman, debutante Shiera Hall used her wings, anti-gravity belt, and fierce fighting skills to aid her love in the battle against the Nazi powers!
"Great Hera!"
Hawkwoman twisted, wings flaring as she caught herself in midair. Swiftly, she caught Fury and the Black Canary. Beneath her avian mask, her face twisted in strain as her arms were nearly pulled from their sockets. Her wings flapped against the heady air, struggling to stay aloft with their uncommon burden.
"Hippolyta . . . I . . . "
"Go! Save Dinah and Helena . . . " Hippolyta cried. "I'll take care of myself!"
The Queen of Paradise Island twisted as Hawkwoman soared away in what was more of a controlled fall than actual flight. She was a few yards away from the rocky face of the cliff. Swifter than thought, she hurled her lasso towards a rock jutting outward. Its loop pulled taunt, and she slammed her shield against the rock to absorb the impact.
Breathing a sigh of relief, Hippolyta let go of the coiled end of the Magic Lasso. Its golden length unfurled, rolling swiftly down until its tip dangled, still several miles above the ground.
Son of a Sire! 'Tis unfortunate that my lariat is not longer . . .
Suddenly, the lariat seemed to stretch, its end becoming far longer, and Hippolyta dropped onto another ledge, several hundred feet beneath her with a hearty slam.
"Oomph!" In shock, she glanced at her shrinking lariat. "By the gods! It appears the Golden Lariat can lengthen at my will . . . "
Shaking her head at the hidden marvels of her ancient tool, Wonder Woman loosened the loop on the rock ahead of her with a deft flick of her wrist. It slipped from the jutting crag and fell into Hippolyta's waiting hands. She stood, preparing to loop it around the precipice upon which she stood, but she felt her perch giving away. With lightning reflexes, she dug her fingers into the rock. Like a cat hanging from a tree limb, Hippolyta dangled, miles above the ground. Paradise Island had little in the way of mountains, and even the caverns below the island were not on this scale.
Suddenly, a quiet cracking reached her keen ears, and the entire face of the cliff seemed to crumble, sending her tumbling through the air at the center of a hailstorm of stone.
"Black Hounds of Hades!"
Wonder Woman crashed through the trees, landing on the ground with startling finality!
Hawkwoman swerved and careened like a rogue kite. She knew she could extend the anti-gravity properties of her belt to her passengers, but not without wrapping part of the belt around either of them, and doing so would require letting go, allowing the Canary and Fury to fall to their deaths. She glanced at the ground below. They were maybe two or three miles above the treetops, and about to plunge into a jungle of unknown terrors.
"I drop!" Helena cried. Shiera tightened her grip around Fury's wrist, even as the neo-heroine loosened hers.
"No! You don't know . . . if you'll live!" Shiera replied through gritted teeth.
Not understanding or not caring, Fury twisted her wrist, breaking away from Hawkwoman and dropping like a stone into the jungle. Trees and branches whipped at her face as she plummeted out of sight. Praying, Shiera fiddled with her belt, and instantly the Black Canary grew lighter. The considerable strain on her arms ceased, and Hawkwoman was free to actually fly.
They soared into the branches, leaping agilely downward. Black Canary's boots struck the soft jungle floor, and Hawkwoman alighted gracefully nearby.
It seemed as though they had entered a different world. Massive, thick trees stood like ancient columns, supporting the emerald roof of leaves. It was dim, with tiny rays of light piercing through the canopy and illuminating a floor strewn with leaves and branches.
"Wow . . . It's beautiful . . . " Hawkwoman marveled, her avian cowl turning about like the head of an owl.
"This can't possibly exist in the middle of Antarctica!" Black Canary cried, glancing about in shock. "It's like a tropical rainforest . . . smack dab in the middle of a frozen wasteland!"
"Mmmm . . . can you smell the air?" Hawkwoman asked, breathing deeply. Her ruby lips parted as she exhaled. "I've flown over wilderness before, and this air is even clearer! There's not an ounce of pollution!"
"Amazing . . . "
"D'you think you can blast through the leaves?" Shiera asked. "I can fly up and scout around for Wonder Woman and Fury."
Black Canary inhaled, filling her lungs with the sweet, clean air. As she exhaled, her cry turned into a shrill shriek that shattered a nearby tree into a whirlwind of splinters.
"The earth!" Canary cried. "It's quaking!"
"Huh?" Dinah's cry had left Hawkwoman's ears ringing, but even she heard the bone-rattling roar that echoed through the trees. The earth shook again, and a massive creature exploded from the brush.
"Dear God . . . " Hawkwoman whirled away from the attacking monstrosity, and Dinah launched herself into the shelter of the bushes.
Dinah was crouching instantly, peering through the thick leaves. "Christ! It's a Tyrannosaurus Rex!"
Shiera flapped away as the beast snapped its huge jaws at her. "I thought these over-grown iguanas were extinct!" She swung her mace with all of her strength, clouting it full force on the snout. "Hah!"
The Rex inhaled through its massive nostrils and blinked its liquid amber eyes. It appeared almost curious. Gritting her teeth, Shiera attacked again. The slowwitted dinosaur apparently decided that the feisty heroine was not something to study, and opened its cavernous maw, unleashing an ear-splitting roar.
Hawkwoman fluttered backward in disgust. "I've met three thousand year old mummies that smell better than you, buddy . . . "
Her insults covered up her fear, however, for each of the ancient beast's teeth were as long as her arm, and sharp as her spear. Shiera swooped away as the jaws snapped closed. A piercing wail caused Hawkwoman to wince, but she barely saw the echo of the Black Canary's concentrated scream, and the Tyrannosaurus reeled, crashing backward through the trees. Tossing her mace into the underbrush, Shiera pulled an object from her belt. It turned out to be a collapsible spear; a weapon created by her husband. The spear's head, however, was slightly odd. Instead of a point, it was a blade.
With a shrill cry, Shiera dove, using the razor edge of her weapon to slash through the Rex's thick hide. She grimaced as thick blood oozed from the wound. Roaring in pain, the T-Rex thrashed its tail, felling a tree, and lunged for Hawkwoman. She was too quick, flitting away instants before its jaws would crush her.
The Black Canary launched another supersonic assault, causing the dinosaur to reel in pain, its thunderous footsteps echoing as it staggered forward.
"Hawkwoman! There's a pretty big ledge right over here . . . See if we can drive it over!"
"Right!" Shiera dove, tracing a long crimson line beneath the beast's eye. It roared, and she hurtled towards the direction that Dinah gestured wildly in. Chasing its prey, the Rex stopped a few feet from the edge of the ravine. Apparently it was not that stupid. "C'mon you engorged gecko! Come and get me!"
The tyrannosaur roared, but would not go over the edge. The Black Canary let loose with another banshee wail, sending her reptilian opponent toppling over the edge. It rolled, roaring in pain, into the ravine. Hawkwoman let loose with a cry of triumph, waving her spear in the air.
"Look out! Here comes the big brother!" Dinah cried. An even larger beast thundered towards them, its roars echoing out of the jungle and into the sky.
Hippolyta attempted to move. Pain lanced through her shoulder, as if someone had driven a flaming spear into her body.
"Gaea!" she cursed. The massive boulder pinning her painfully to the ground rolled away as she sat up, breathing heavily. Her shoulder was dislocated. "Well . . . I'll simply have to amend that. Hera give me strength . . . this will hurt . . . "
With a sickening crack, the Amazon Queen righted her shoulder. White-hot agony lanced through her body, causing her to wince, but she pushed it back with all of her discipline, focusing on the task ahead of her. A loud roar echoed from the jungle, and a familiar, keening wail caught her attention.
"Dinah!" she cried. Swift as the gods, Wonder Woman sprinted into the jungle.
Suddenly, it stopped in its tracks, letting loose a growl of pain. The two heroines looked towards its back, where a shining golden figure wrapped her slim arms around its massive tail.
"Fury!"
<"Damn lizard! I'll tear you apart!"> Helena snarled in Greek, tugging on the Rex's tail. The green-gray beast staggered backward at the young girl's strength, but apparently it was smarter than it looked. Snarling, it lifted its tail into the air and flicked Fury towards the jungle.
"Go limp!" Hawkwoman cried as she dove with all her speed towards Helena's sailing body. The slim girl smashed into Shiera's midsection, driving the wind from her lungs and sending both heroines toppling into the trees. Black Canary badgered the beast with her wails, but it merely let loose an earth-shaking roar of pain, and bore down on them.
"Hold, monster!"
A tree trunk cut the air like a massive javelin, driving itself into the Rex's side. It stumbled back, flailing its undersized arms and roaring with rage. Hippolyta leapt from the jungle whirling her lasso about her head. Its golden loop closed around the beast's neck, and she pulled, flinging the ten tons of beast over her head and into the ravine. She pulled her weapon away before it could strangle the beast.
"Wonder Woman! Thank God!" Hawkwoman cried as she landed gracefully, scooping up her mace.
"Are you well, sisters?" Hippolyta asked, coiling her rope at placing it by her hip. "What manner of demon was that?"
Black Canary shook her head. "It wasn't a demon, Your Majesty. It was a dinosaur."
"A what?" Hippolyta asked.
"A dinosaur. Millions of years ago, before mankind existed, the world was populated by beasts like this creature. But . . . They're supposed to be extinct."
"Great Hera . . . " Hippolyta murmured. "Such creatures . . . like the monsters of the Ancient World . . . "
Hawkwoman shrugged. "I'm as interested as you guys are in this thing . . . but can we please figure out where we are first?"
"Of course," Hippolyta replied. But they had no time to react, as several inhuman shrieks pierced the air. They looked upward to see several shapes swooping towards them. They were armed, burly men, riding atop shrieking creatures with leathery, flapping wings, long sharp beaks, and slashing talons. "Great Hera!"
"Pterodactyls?" Hawkwoman cried, shattering the shaft of a spear with her mace.
The heroines dodged, and, with reaction times honed from centuries of leading the Amazons, Hippolyta began to bark out orders.
"Canary! Use your cry to disorient them!" The air swished as a deadly hail of arrows rained towards her, splintering against her interposed shield. "Hawkwoman, keep them from taking off, and try to dismount as many of the riders as possible!"
Switching to Greek, she shouted to Helena. <"Fury, try and knock the men off the monsters!">
Wonder Woman used her lasso to pluck the riders from their mounts, as Black Canary assaulted them with her shrill wail, causing the pterodactyls to panic, screeching and bucking as they slammed into one another. Hawkwoman hurled a net, ensnaring one of the mounted warriors. Flapping her wings, she pulled hard, yanking him away. She hurled several small weapons, tiny blades and spheres, to slash through the leathery skin that stretched to form the flying monstrosities' wings.
Helena launched fragments of the log Hippolyta had thrown at the monster. One of the men hollered in an unintelligible tongue, and they wheeled away, turning towards the sky. With a ferocious battle scream, Hawkwoman swooped upon them, but was knocked away by the swing of a massive club. She slammed onto the ground, dazed. Wonder Woman knelt next to her, checking her wounds.
"She's only stunned," the Amazon warrior said. "She'll be fine!"
"But will we?" Black Canary asked, pointing towards the brush. A host of warriors, armed with an assortment of primitive spears and clubs. One man stepped forward, and Black Canary gasped. He was amazing, a bronzed, muscled figure, wrapped only in a small loincloth, and a necklace of wickedly curved fangs. Around his perfectly sculpted arms were wrapped several different manner of rings. He clutched a long spear in one hand, and his wild mane of blonde hair poured over his broad shoulders. "Holy . . . "
"We can admire this Adonis once we've determined that he isn't an Ares," Hippolyta warned her teammate as she fell into a ready stance.
The man murmured something to one of the barbarians beside him. The men, and women; Hippolyta noticed that many in the assembled host were female, lowered their weapons. The man then spoke to them, his voice hinted with an exotic, musical accent and . . . a British lilt?
"Hello . . . Please, calm down. We wish you no harm," he entreated, tossing his spear with a soft thud onto the grass in front of him. "I am Ka-Zar, Lord of the Fall People and protector of the Savage Land."
"Greetings, Lord Ka-Zar," Wonder Woman said. "I am Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons. We have no violent intents, either."
"Your Majesty," Ka-Zar ambled across the soft forest floor with the grace of a cat, and carefully pressed his soft lips to Hippolyta's softer hands.
"Damn Amazons . . . " Black Canary grumbled.
One of the men shouted in their gibberish language. Ka-Zar replied, before turning to Hippolyta.
"He wants to know how you were able to deal with these raiders so deftly," he translated.
"It is a long story . . . and one that can wait until my comrades and I get our bearings," Hippolyta replied.
Ka-Zar flashed a charming smile to the other heroines. "Of course. Where are my manners? Come back with us to our village. You can rest and be fed there."
Wonder Woman narrowed her eyes. She had been tricked by a handsome man once before, centuries ago, and it had resulted in the enslavement of her entire Amazon nation. Before Ka-Zar could blink, the Magic Lasso was wound around his torso.
"Please . . . I hope you aren't offended," she said. "But I need to be sure you aren't trying to trick us. Tell me . . . are you planning any sort of betrayal?"
"N-no . . . I only wish for your assistance," Ka-Zar replied, obviously puzzled by the lariat's powers. Satisfied, Hippolyta withdrew her lasso.
"Lead on." With that, the women of the JSA followed Ka-Zar deeper into the thick jungle.
Next issue: Hippolyta and the others learn more about the Savage Land, and the mysterious ills that plague it!