Hippolyta's lariat wound itself around the thick-bodied captive. The Lariat of Gaea, normally glittering like spun gold, now seemed to glow, filling the small hut with the radiance of the ancient power of the Earth Mother. Nearby, Black Canary, Hawkwoman, Shanna, and Ka-Zar looked onward, their shadows dancing across the packed-mud walls.
"Tell me where you have taken Helena!" Hippolyta commanded. She was stoic and calm, her regal bearing ever in place. The man looked at her, puzzled.
"He doesn't understand English," Ka-Zar noted.
Wonder Woman held the coils of the lariat to Shanna. "Can you try? Simply tell him what to do, and the lasso's magic will make it be done."
Shanna nodded, accepting the weapon. She started as she felt the lasso in her grip; it was smooth as silk and a tingling sensation ran up her hands as she touched it. Shaking away the surprise of the ancient weapon's feel, Shanna turned to the man it was wrapped around. Fiercely, she badgered the enemy warrior with sharp questions in the dialect of the Savage Land. The man obviously tried to fight the lasso's power, but his mind was weak. Only one individual, a woman from another universe, whose mind was trained beyond belief, had managed to resist the lasso barely long enough to free herself. The warrior soon answered the She-Devil.
"He says they are hidden in the bogs," Shanna replied. "So deep that even the Swamp People rarely venture there."
"Then what are we waiting for?" Hippolyta asked, taking her weapon and coiling it at her waist. "Let us go!"
"No," Ka-Zar said. "A night's rest is needed. I will have the cooks prepare a warrior's fest tonight, and tomorrow morning we will leave with the dawn."
The Amazon Queen nodded reluctantly. Even though she could go without eating, her comrades could not.
Shiera raised the bread to her lips, carefully biting into its tough, yet tasty, crust. The plate before her was lightly piled with beans, bits of some sort of white meat, and a leafy vegetable of some sort. A small meal; a warrior could not go into battle on a full stomach. Shiera had removed her mask, setting the hawk like mask next to her plate. Beside the winged warrior, the Black Canary tentatively prodded her meal.
"What is this stuff?" she asked.
"I'm not sure," Hawkwoman replied, after swallowing her food. "But it's not bad. A little tough . . . the meat sorta tastes like calamari."
"Squid?" Dinah groaned. "Nasty!"
"Try it," Shiera said, before carefully inserting another scrap of meet into her mouth.
Across from the chatting heroines, Hippolyta barely tasted her food. Her movements were automatic and robotic; her stare was blank. She had failed a girl she had promised to protect. As a queen, Hippolyta held herself personally responsible for any other women that were under her command. She was in charged of this small, temporary branch of the JSA, and she had failed the youngest member in the group, a girl she had taken on as her protégé. Wonder Woman wished she could be out searching for Helena, but even the best warrior must sometimes rely on allies. Without Ka-Zar and Shanna, Hippolyta had little hope of finding Fury quickly, especially not in the dark.
"You okay?" Hippolyta looked up to see a lithe figure seating herself beside her. Shanna.
"I'll be fine," the Amazon queen replied shortly; her expression and the tone of her voice, however, exposed her true feelings.
"Do not worry about the young one," Shanna said. "She is strong. Sauron will most likely not kill her... just transform her into a mutation of her former self and bend her to his will."
Hippolyta raised an eyebrow. "How comforting," she replied dryly. Shanna bit her lip, and Hippolyta sighed. The other woman was simply trying to help, but with an epithet like 'Shanna the She-Devil', it was obvious that her strengths were not in the comfort and healing of her fellows' spirits. "I am sorry . . . I am just not accustomed to putting the lives of my soldiers . . . or my friends in jeopardy. Especially one so young . . . I should have been more watchful."
Shanna's flowing blonde mane quivered as she shook her head. "You had your hands filled with Barbarus," she replied. "Believe me . . . I know how you feel. Back when I lived in Africa I preferred to spend more time with my leopards . . . yes, I know, not the most typical pets for the pampered daughter of society's upper crust. I felt so free, running with them through the jungles. My favorite, and first, was Julani. I had raised her from a cub, and I was closer to her than any of my sisters. Then . . . " Shanna choked, and what Hippolyta realized was a rare look of sadness crossed her angular features. "Then a poacher shot her. I was right near her, too. I was just too damn stupid to realize what was going on. I killed the man who shot her, but I couldn't bring her back. I wear her pelt as a sort of remembrance." Shanna added, plucking at her outfit.
Wonder Woman felt a little better. She did not know why, but having Shanna sympathize with her made her feel much better.
"Thank you," she responded, crimson lips turning upward into a small, sad smile.
The She-Devil clamped a friendly hand on Hippolyta's shoulder. "It's no problem; I'm glad I could help. I'm really no good at this sort of thing... But what I am good at is acting, and we need to act to get the girl back. What's happened has happened, but what's yet to come is shaped by what we do now. So eat up. We ride with the dawn."
The first sensation she felt was an icy, moist caress against her face. Helena groaned as she rose to painful consciousness. A dull pain still rang stubbornly in her skull, like a dying headache. Cold water caused her blonde hair to cling to her face. Above her stood a thin, wiry woman with skin like leather and wisps of dark hair jutting from a misshapen skull. Beady eyes stared down a crooked nose, and the woman gleefully ladled more frigid water onto the stunned heroine.
<"Enough already, you withered old monkey!"> Helena roared in Greek. She moved to strike at the cavewoman, but she found that she was chained down. Shackles bound her wrists and ankles together, and those shackles were attached to chains that bound her tightly to a stone slab. Helena appeared to be alone with the water-wielding woman; there was no sign of the mutated monstrosities that had kidnapped her.
<"Now, now, little girl,"> a voice chastised, speaking flawless, unaccented Greek. Barring, of course, the monstrous, screeching lilt to the voice that would have been present speaking any language.
Helena heard the soft whistle of wind, before she was bathed in a huge shadow. A vaguely humanoid creature alighted on the ground before her, talons scraping at the cold stone floor. The beast was a bizarre mixture of the flying reptilians that had borne Helena here. His taunt muscles rippled beneath scaly emerald skin. All that covered his body was a ragged brown loincloth, and leathery, bat-like wings stretched out beneath his arms. A long, wicked beak replaced his mouth, and an equally long, bony protrusion jutted from the back of his skull. A devilish tail thrashed the air behind him.
<"W-what in God's name are you?!"> Helena gasped.
The creature laughed; a painfully high-pitched, shrieking sound. <"I'm a human, like yourself.">
<"The hell you are!"> Helena replied.
<"Like you're anyone to make judgments about normality!"> the beast replied. <"Since when can a young girl go toe-to-toe with fully grown, trained warriors?">
Fury scowled. He had a point. <"Who are you?">
<"My name is Sauron, little one. I had another name, long ago, but pay no mind to that. I am a mutate, my body transformed by the same machinery that changed my underlings, Lupo, Amphibius, and the others.">
<"And why am I here?"> Fury replied. Sauron's beak twisted into a demonic grin.
<"I have always wondered what would happen if I turned my mutation machine upon a 'super-hero'. Plus... I've always wanted to... taste someone of your obvious power.">
His hand moved towards her, long, curved nails reaching out towards Helena's prone body. Fury's icy gray eyes widened in disgust and rage.
<"Don't... touch... me!"> There was the shriek of tortured, protesting metal, and Fury's bonds snapped. Her swinging fist connected solidly with Sauron's beak, sending the mutate tumbling backward. With an angry warrior's cry, Helena launched herself from her stone slab, colliding with Sauron's midsection. An enraged squawk escaped Sauron's jagged beak as his powerful wing batted Helena away.
The enraged neo-heroine tumbled across the limestone floor, rolling to her feet. Suddenly, her eyes came into contact with Sauron's. Helena suddenly felt the universe fade away; only those huge orbs of liquid amber filled her vision.
Stop, a voice hissed in her mind. To her abject horror, Helena found herself obeying. Her fists lowered and unclenched as she dropped her fighting stance. Lie back on the slab; let my servants rebind you.
Helena struggled with all her willpower, but her limbs refused to obey her as she stumbled towards the slab, laying obediently down. A few more cavemen came from seemingly nowhere; reattaching the shackles and chains. Sauron's hand clutched her skull.
<"I'm not planning to force myself on you,"> he said. <"Children these days... such perverted minds.">
The world suddenly exploded in a haze of pain as Helena's very energy was leeched uncontrollably from her body.
The Savage Land spread out beneath them; a shifting canopy of jade that was breathtaking to behold. Yet the Amazon Queen Hippolyta paid little mind to this spectacle. Strong, yet gentle hands steered the pterosaur she rode onward. Thermals of humid air were caught beneath the leathering wings of the prehistoric flier, bearing it and Wonder Woman aloft. Beside her, Shanna, Ka-Zar, the Black Canary, and a host of Fall People warriors rode on their own beasts, while Hawkwoman soared under her own power.
"Enemy leather-wings approaching!" Ka-Zar shouted over the winds.
Hippolyta had already seen them, several shadows flitting through the humid air towards the smaller group of pterosaur-riders. She tugged expertly at the reigns of her creature; it was similar to riding a horse, and the Amazons were expert horsewomen. The massive, prehistoric bird wove to the side, just as a spear, a long, fire-hardened wooden shaft, whistled past. Enraged, Wonder Woman urged her mount onward. She recognized the spear caster; the grotesque mutate that she had battled the previous night.
"Barbarus!" the Amazon cried, her voice echoing over the Savage Land. "It's time for a reckoning!"
Ducking to avoid another pterosaur's talons, Hippolyta rushed Barbarus' mount, steering hers until they were side by side. He jabbed violently with his second spear, but its wicked point splintered uselessly against her unbreakable bracelets with each thrust. Growing in rage, Barbarus tossed away his ruined weapon and reached into a large bag hanging from his mount's saddle. Hippolyta was quicker, though, drawing her sword and slashing through the tough leather, sending several small bags tumbling free from the limply flapping sack.
"Damn you!" Barbarus growled.
Unexpectedly, he launched himself from his saddle like massive missile, crashing into Hippolyta and nearly knocking her from her mount. The beast squawked in protest at its new burden, flapping its powerful wings to stay aloft.
"If this is madness, I pity you, if it is courage, I commend you," Wonder Woman commented. Her palm smashed into his nose with a sickening crack. Crimson blood spurted forth, spilling over the Amazon Queen. Barbarus roared in pain, thrashing his tree-trunk arms. One flail clipped Hippolyta's head, nearly sending her sailing from her mount. "I believe your weight is putting a bit of a strain on this poor beast . . . I suggest you leave."
A double-footed kick sent Barbarus flying off the pterosaur. Hippolyta knew that he would survive the fall. It would put him out of the fight, but certainly not permanently. Suddenly, her mount bucked, nearly tossing the distracted warrior off. Wonder Woman grabbed the reins, tugging angrily. Something swooped towards her, and she leaned sharply to the side as talons slashed the air. Glancing upward, Hippolyta spotted a massive green monstrosity. But she had no time to observe its other characteristics as she met its eyes; twin amber orbs. Her mind felt as though someone had ensnared it in a net, binding her thoughts together. Struggling to think clearly, Wonder Woman tugged the tiara from her head and prepared to throw it at her new attacker. But the net over her mind had become the strings of a puppet, and she felt her weapon's cool metal slip from her fingers. Her body felt numb, as though it had stopped responding to her mind's commands. All that filled her vision were those massive, twin amber orbs.
Cease your struggle . . . A hissing voice echoed through her skull, slashing through her thoughts. Unknowingly, she had allowed a new presence to slip into her consciousness, and it was too late to put up a proper defense. Her own, keenly trained mind could possibly fight off this mental assault, but it was like fighting off a larger army inside your fortress. Wonder Woman barely noticed the leather of the saddle slipping beneath her, as her own limbs launched her off of her mount.
Black Canary glanced over the remaining warriors. Hawkwoman had managed to avoid capture, not relying on her own mount for flight. Shanna had launched herself from her mount, preferring to die than to be captured, but Shiera had thankfully saved her. Three warriors, a burly man in his late thirties by the name of Sol, a slim youth barely out of his teens called Illanni, and a powerful woman known as Garlanna, remained. Ka-Zar and Ka-Zar had been captured. The survivors had hidden beneath the grove.
"Dinah . . . " Hawkwoman pleaded. "We've got to get reinforcements. We've just got to . . . I'm not being weak here . . . I'm being logical. I'm as much for being a liberated woman as you are . . . but we only have a handful of warriors against those mutates. Without Wonder Woman, we don't have a chance!"
Her boots carefully scrambled over the slick bark, and Dinah cursed as a sharp branch tore through her fishnet stockings, tracing a crimson line across the fine skin beneath. She seemed to be looking for something, sharp blue eyes avidly scanning the thick brush. A grin played across her full scarlet lips, and an agile gloved hand darted down through damp leaves.
"Don't you remember what Polly is always telling us?" Black Canary asked her sometime teammate. Hawkwoman saw a glimmer of gold in the Canary's ebony glove. "We have to believe in ourselves, support each other, and we can never give in. Never." It was Hippolyta's tiara. "Any woman can be a Wonder Woman."
With that, Black Canary placed the tiara on her head.
"Let's go."
Next: Black Canary leads the assault on Sauron's stronghold!