By Jasmine Monica

Serinina's training progressed through the year, and she learned many amazing things. Her favorite was still the Phalanx, but she acquired training with the bow and excelled so well at that, that she received her own specially designed bow for her added strength and accuracy. This was a bow made by Dianna herself and required extreme strength to pull the string back and could send an arrow out of sight and still hit the target.

Her skills and speed had become such that she figured at this point that Serin would not stand a chance against her now. She could humiliate and crush Serin and make him her bitch now. Serin would not know what hit him, but Serin had suffered so much at the hands of vindictive women wanting to make him suffer for no other reason than he was male. His attitude helped their case, but there were so many men more sexist than Serin was and more deserving of a hard lesson. He was singled out for his father and his life.

But there was one lesson that confirmed to Serinina that she was a female inside and out more than any other. That was her religious studies with the priestesses of Athena. It was about a month after she had arrived, and she was progressing with her studies on the life of Athena when they began diving deeper into the religion and a girl's skills and abilities.

The priestess looked at her that night and said, “There is an ability that all females possess and can use if they are properly trained. It will allow us to stay in contact and support each other regardless of where we are. We can communicate, see each other, and help each other. That is part of the sisterhood of the Amazon's. This skill will allow you to stay in contact with us, and you can even contact an untrained girl if you know her.”

“Can we use this for boys too?” Serinina asked.

“No,” replied the priestess. “Only girls possess this. Only our minds are so attuned that such contact across great distances is possible. Boy's minds cannot do this.”

She wondered why, but she decided she would test this and see if she could contact a boy.

“First,” the priestess instructed. “You need to be in a dream state, or near it, and you must learn to control your mind in that state.”

That part was easy. It was one of the ways Serinina learned to contact other Hekatin and even communicate with the Goddess. It was part of what they called the three ways.

“It only works when you are asleep, or nearly in a trance-like state where your mind is totally relaxed. Then you focus on the minds around you, and you can find the minds of girls around you. You can communicate, see her, she can see you, and this is how we help each other over great distances like on campaigns or traveling. I stayed in contact with the queen even when she took her fleet to the Golden Isles to find you.”

“I would love to find Emily. I miss my sister so much that I wish she could have come with me. I also worry about her.”

The priestess looked, “Yes, you will be able to contact your friends and female relatives there once you have received enough training. Even your sister Emily.”

“I hope I can see her again. I should have found her before I left,” said Serinina. “I feel so bad for leaving her like I did, but I couldn’t have seen her again. At least not now. I left the entire nation and went to another part of the world. I heard her crying before I left. We had such a connection and a weird one at that.”

The priestess smiled warmly. “I know you trained her to fight totally correcting your former attitude you held with your former sister. You helped make her strong, and she will be alright, and that's thanks to you, Serinina. Your experience helped you in so many ways. It made you a much more understanding and compassionate boy,” replied the priestess. “But you are still a better girl. Now let's begin the instruction. Clear your mind and let it slide to sleep. And I will communicate with your mind.”

The priestess was stunned by Serinina's abilities. She let her mind go and was quickly able to find her, and it was her that first contacted the priestess smiling and greeting her.

The event was so stunning that the priestess was unable to maintain her focus. It broke, and she looked at Serinina, totally stunned.

Serinina shrugged and said into the priestess mind, “I really don't know why this is such a shock. After all, I thought you had investigated my past and knew I have had extensive instruction in witchcraft, and controlling my mind. Going into a trance to communicate with other minds was a big part of the training, and I had to contact the Goddess herself and maintain that contact for an extensive period of time to pass.”

“Okay, showoff,” Replied the priestess with a hint of anger into Serinina's mind. “Let's see what you can do then. Can you find mother somewhere on this island?”

Serinina reached out and quickly found the queen. “Yes, I see her, she is with Cassandra. They are talking about me.”

“Find Hippolyta and her daughter Dianna then?” Challenged the priestess.

They had gone back to their own land. Serinina reached out to all of the islands and tried to focus on the area she figured was Hippolyta's lands and found her mind in her own palace, and Dianna was asleep.

“I found them near Lesbos. Hippolyta is in her palace, and her daughter is asleep. Let me see if I can find Emily and Aanya.”

“I don't think you should try to go that far yet.”

But Serinina refused to listen and stretched her mind way out past the Mediterranean. She forced her mind out into mainland Europe and across it to the Golden Isles. It was rough, but eventually, she found her old family in Fawnae land in their palace. But something wasn't right at all. Of course, Emily was not in the palace anymore. She was adopted by Vakia, and Vakia was her mother now. Aanya had totally abandoned Gerrik and the palace. She had left and had found her own daughter Patinea and Patinea had survived in her new family. Her brothers were long dead, the family was gone, and Patinea was all that was left. Then Aanya was there, and they were preparing an expedition to Denaerk and to reclaim the crown. How was this possible?

The priest had maintained contact with Serinina to see what she was doing or if she needed help. The priestess saw trouble when Serinina was able to extend her mind across Europe and find her former family and then contact Patinea. She felt Serinina's anger when she understood what was going on and what Patinea had done, and then what Patinea was planning.

Serinina returned back to their temple and looked across. Then she shrugged and said, “This is unexpected. But if I can break my deal and get myself involved in it all, then why can't Patinea. I should have expected that a will as strong as Patinea would find a way to break out of it all and get back to her palace. This should be no surprise to me. But I'm still going to kick her ass. Getting the control to retake the throne will take a while, and then getting the forces to restore Prognita will also take time. If she does, then we will kill Prognita.”

“Yes, we will,” replied the Priestess.

Her training went on as expected, and her skills progressed to the point that by the time she was almost fourteen, Serinina had become an extremely lethal warrior and someone that everyone looked up to and respected. She had become a leader of the Phalanxes, and that was her main assignment. Serinina was now a general. She felt it was very odd but also very appropriate.

Making a thirteen-year-old a general in charge of troops would be unthinkable in her old homeland. Hell, even a sixteen-year-old that had trained for years, wasn’t really considered ready for the rigors of war, and even though Asnyr was placed in charge of a group of friends, he was kept away from the action.

Girls matured faster, and they had spent a year preparing her for everything she was going to face. This was the way of the Amazon's, and they usually got their first taste of battle around twelve to thirteen.

She stood there in the great temple to Athena with the priestess, not really knowing what to expect now. She had a feeling that they were about to be sent into war within days. The Priestess said out loud, "You know we are getting ready for war. Our queen has been in chambers with the various generals and military leaders for days now, getting them ready and assembling the troops that will go out. You know what is going on, don't you?”

“Yes, we are headed for Troy soon,” replied Serinina, and she wasn't going to be sidelined just for being a girl this time. She was the princess, and she was going to be front and center of it all. She was frightened all the same.

“But Our queen has a surprise for you, and she has told me to hold you here until she arrives. She knows you will love it. Penthesilea will be here very shortly.”

Serinina nodded and waited. The wait wasn't long. But it was the most unexpected thing. Her mother, Queen Penthesilea, came through the enormous double doors of Athena's temple, holding the hand of a young girl that was just a little older than herself. Serinina almost fainted when she saw the face of the young woman holding the queen's hand and walking through. That young woman was always a very theatrical girl. The girl was wearing the royal robes of the house of Denae and a makeshift crown that the King usually wore that was a copy of the one Patinea wore after she seized it from Serin and holding a large two-handed longsword and a fake cut on her face. She was smiling widely.

Serinina leaped into the young woman's arms so girlike squealing, “Emily!!! I missed you so much!”

Emily wrapped her arms around Serinina, and the two young women held each other and Serinina felt tears. She was so happy. Then they got serious, “Emily, Mother, how did you get her?”

“She has been here for over seven months training. Serinina, we aren’t stupid. We spoke to many girls that knew you before we made the decision to accept you. We spoke to Emily about you and found out that you were well adapted as a girl, even as a boy that she knew. You were selfless. You gave yourself to her. You trained her very well and made sure she never got lazy. You pushed her harder than yourself and it all showed. Emily was a very skilled warrior when she arrived and was able to disarm many of our experienced warriors. Much to their embarrassment.”

Emily laughed and said sarcastically, “I wonder who taught me so many disarms. It pissed me off when he kept doing it and he taught me those moves. It was all of that and more that showed me he was a girl inside. I could see it, even if he struggled to hide it. He endeared himself to the girls so much, he was so understanding to his students that they would do anything for him and the way he was with me. He made sure I was the best I could be. Those are all qualities of a girl, and those are qualities that his other sister does not possess. So the queen was ready to accept you. And she made arrangements to bring me here to train.”

This was too much for Serinina, and she moved back and sat down looking at Emily. “You knew that I was a girl inside?” Serinina asked doubtfully. “How? I wasn’t a girl with you.”

Emily giggled softly. “Yes, you were, but you simply didn’t know it. But you were so unlike any other boy in the attention you devoted to me and all of the other girls. You struggled with the things you had to teach the little girls and you hated it. Serinina, there were so many signs, and I knew the day would come. And I liked it all. I enjoyed being the King for you and fighting with you.”

Penthesilea asked, “Serinina, do you want Emily to be the rightful heir?”

Emily nearly shouted, “No way! And don’t even consider it Serinina. You may be my younger sister, but you are stronger, much stronger, and fitter. You will make a wonderful queen, and I will follow you anywhere. Don't make me kick your ass!”

That settled it, and Serinina said, “No, she wouldn't stand for it anyway. Emily underestimates her strength. She is a very strong young woman, and you will make a great leader. Who you make the heir is your choice, Mother. You won't be wrong with Emily. She would make a great queen.”

Emily was starting to get angry. “You are meant to be our leader Serinina now you stop it right now. You have suffered so much and you are still here fighting. You were meant to be the King of the Golden Isles and you will be. You were meant to be the queen of the Amazon's because of your strength and your intelligence. And so many other reasons not least, it is Athena's will. And that you are so selfless you would give it up for your love of me really shows it over all. But Serinina, you must be willing to stand up and take what is yours. I will follow you, And I will be proud to do it.”

Penthesilea said, “Serinina, I made you the heir, and you are still the heir. I simply asked to know what you think. But Athena made it clear that it is you. That is the will of the Goddess. Your sister loves you and will follow you, even if she is older, and that is the sign of her love and her strength. It is a strength that Patinea does not possess. She is jealous and spiteful and that is not the quality of a good female. She saw that you possess the qualities of a powerful female even when you denied it.”

Emily spoke up, “I knew it even when he told me about his life as the crown prince Serin. He was so selfless. Even if he did taunt her a lot. Some of his descriptions told me of his true nature that he was hiding and came out after his brutal transformation. He stuck by her and never acted against her. Just like he did for me. That's why I am so proud of you.”

“But, what about….”

Emily spoke up again, “You stuck with Patinea until you couldn’t anymore. After that, no one can really blame you for finally taking action. Trying to force you into a marriage, yeah, all bets were off then.”

“We are going to war,” Penthesilea said. “I will be assigning Emily to your battalion. She will be fighting with you Serinina. Now let's go to the chambers. They are expecting us.”

But here, Serinina was at thirteen and made a general and was about to be sent into action, and she knew this was going to be hell. Serinina and Emily followed the queen to the council chambers, where she was holding a council of war. There were many generals assembled around the table looking at a map and talking about the Greek's declaration of war against Troy.

Penthesilea said, “Their King Agamemnon has assembled thousands of warships that are sailing right now to land and besiege Troy. The time has come to respond. Agamemnon has assembled the Greek states around him. Athens has given troops and ships, Thebes is behind him, Sparta, Syracuse, Corinth, and Argos are behind him. They will have around a hundred thousand soldiers. Achilles and Ajax are with him”

So the situation was desperate, and this was going to be total war. Nothing in her homeland could even approach what she was going to face here.

“Our first job is clear. We must protect the civilians and get them to safety. Cassandra, you will take three thousand troops I assign to you and land at Anatolia and go east. You see those cities there. You are to go to each of them and evacuate those people and escort them to Troy.”

Then her mother looked at Serinina and said, “Serinina, I am assigning you, two thousand troops. You will land there and go north. You are to evacuate all of those small towns there and escort the people to safety within the walls of Troy. I will take more troops up north and evacuate those towns. Serinina, your job is vital. You are to protect those civilians within those towns and get them safe. You and your troops are all that stands between them and death. You are to protect them. Do you understand?”

This was massive. Serinina looked up at her mother and said, “Yes, I understand and won't let you down.”

She suddenly felt an enormous responsibility and weight on her shoulders. This was enormous, and her mother was entrusting her to do this. This was so much different from her sister's conflict with Ansays. There was no vital protection of civilians there. All Patinea did there was occupy a rebel town with no resistance and bring them back into the Kingdom. She hardly fought anyone, and she slaughtered a bunch of helpless priests at a temple and released a dragon.

But here, Serinina was given troops and entrusted to protect unarmed towns full of people from raiders. She was going to be the only one standing between those civilians and their death. Her job was to defend and protect helpless civilians that were going to be sure to be targeted and killed. This was so much more than what her sister did. If Serinina failed, defenseless civilians were going to die. She could not allow herself to fail. This was what over a year of intensive training led to. Serinina looked severe and confident.

There was no question that she was now ready.

“Good,” replied the Queen Penthesilea “Our ships are assembled in the harbor. Their crews are being loaded, the troops are marching so let's go. We have no time to lose, Agamemnon and his troops are already sailing for Troy. We need to get going now to protect the people and get to Troy before they die.”

Serinina armed herself for war and donned her bronze armor and her shield and marched out to meet her troops, and Alexina and the Phalanx. There were thousands of them and a contingent of heavy calvary and bowwomen there ready. These were the troops being assigned to her command. Serinina was the leader and their general. She got a serious look on her face and said loudly, “Let's go to the harbor and board our ship. March.” And Serinina got into the front of the formation and they marched two by two down to the harbor. They were going to war and she briefly wished her sister was here. She was a very strong and competent commander, and she wondered what she would do here, but she had not trained here. She was also selfish and would probably sacrifice the people for victory.

Amazon's didn’t sacrifice civilians.

The harbor was a little over a day's march from the palace. Serinina met Emily assembled with the troops ready to march out. She was riding a big warhorse joined with the rest of the heavy cavalry. Apparently, Emily was part of the cavalry. Serinina assembled her troops into marching formation, and they began marching toward the coast, and she saw her sister's and mother's troops marching their way alongside her down to the harbor

They all occasionally stopped for rest and to eat during the day, but it wasn’t that long of a march. The harbors were only a day away from the capital, and Serinina began feeling very fulfilled. This was what she had wanted all her life, and now she was getting it. She had a feeling that this was going to be a brutal and desperate fight. The Greeks had over a hundred thousand troops. This was going to be brutal. She doubted that the Golden Isles if all of the great family's troops were combined, and a few years of conscription of everyone possible that they could get a force of a hundred thousand. They all combined for Patinea, and there were less than thirty thousand at the most that marched for Rooks Rock.

Their forces made it down to the harbor town. Serinina saw the enormous triremes being loaded with supplies, and their crews were busy loading all of the arms and provisions for the crew and soldiers that were marching onboard.

Penthesilea told them that they had to wait until the ships were ready for them. This could be the better part of a day waiting. Serinina didn't know it, but an enormous army was being loaded onboard to defend Troy. Serinina and Cassandra were only assigned a small fraction of the forces to protect the unarmed towns and get the civilians to safety. The rest were headed for Troy. Finally, they were ordered to board the triremes and set sail for Anatolia. Serinina was no longer an oarswoman. She was a general and commander of the Phalanx, and her armor wore insignia of a ranking general. Emily was appointed the leader of the cavalry. Serinina was a flag officer marching with her troops to war. The fleet set sail to Anatolia. This voyage would take under a week. They only had to cross a small part of the Mediterranean and land at Anatolia and then march for the towns to evacuate the civilians.

Serinina had found herself falling for a mysterious older boy during her final weeks of training with the Amazon's. This mysterious boy spent nights talking with her in her bedroom late at nights. She could tell he was extremely strong and brilliant, but she had no idea who he was. She could also see that he was a master at war, strategy, and tactics. They would talk long into the night and often avoiding sleep until she could not stay awake anymore. Serinina learned much from this mysterious older boy that spent so much time with her, and she would cuddle with him in bed until she went to sleep.

They would talk about her life as a princess under Patinea, and she found out that he had been watching her and he knew how strong she was. There was one fight she had with him when she found out that this boy was watching her during that time the crown was seized from her and she raged as to why didn't he help her. He simply responded that he knew she didn't need his help. She needed to do this quest on her own and that she would overcome them all. Then they fell asleep in each other's arms, but she still didn't know who this boy was. She knew she must keep this relationship a secret, but she often saw him watching her during her training.

Emily spent much time in Serinina’s private quarters onboard the trireme during their voyage, and they spoke a lot about what happened after she left. But she expected it and had spoken to Penthesilea’ s agents weeks before Serinina made her decision to leave. They also told Emily that she was going to also leave when the time was right.

And somehow Serinina’s boy had got onboard the ship during the loading and was there in her quarters again holding her. But this was more than a romantic meeting. He was here to warn her.

Emily was with Serinina talking like sisters when the boy walked in unexpectedly. Emily smirked and said, “Serinina you never said you had a boyfriend! How sweet. And who is this boy you are smiling at.”

Serinina shrugged. “He says he is Otto.” Serinina snorted as if she didn’t believe it. But she could see that whatever ‘Otto’ wanted was something severe. This wasn’t going to be a romantic encounter. She looked over to Emily and asked, “Can we have some privacy, please? I think, um ‘Otto’ wants to talk to me alone.”

Emily giggled and said, “Okay, lovebirds.” And she walked out to find Cassandra.

“Serinina, I need to tell you that your mother has made a bad mistake. By the time your ships reach shore and begin disembarking the troops, the Greeks will have already landed their troops. A massive contingent of their troops under Ajax will be heading north to the towns you are supposed to protect. Your meager forces won't be anywhere near enough, and you won't be able to hold your ground. Your position will be overrun and defeated. You must request more troops.”

Serinina’s face twisted with fear now. He never gave her bad advice. This boy had become one of her most trusted advisers, and there was something else she couldn't understand about her feelings toward this strong boy. He was always correct, so she didn't question him as she gazed longingly into his eyes. “Okay, how many more troops do you think I will need. I have been assigned about one thousand hoplites, five hundred horsewomen, and five hundred bowwomen.”

“At least twice that many,” replied the boy. “I'd ask for twice that many. You will be facing a huge number of soldiers. Tens of thousands, probably as many as thirty coming for you. She sent you to the most populated and important undefended towns of the north. You will need many more troops to defend the people and escort them to safety.”

She turned to walk out, but then she suddenly stopped and turned back to the mysterious and very handsome boy. Serinina's face twisted and turned very serious and hard. She approached the boy until she was standing mere feet from him and stood there.

“Otto,” She said in disbelief. “Do you really expect me to believe you are just some boy?”

“Excuse me,” he replied.

“You are not Otto. And you are no one from the Golden Isles. I think I know who you are. I am not stupid,” Serinina thundered. “So let's talk about something else, and I want serious answers. Are you ready?”

“Yes,” The boy replied, very unsure.

“You said we are very likely to win this war and save Troy. And that I will likely become the queen of Sparta. That's what you said to me?”

“Yes,” The boy replied. “You and your mother will crush a vast majority of the Spartan troops they send. It will be a huge portion of their troops, so they won't have much left to oppose you when you land on their shores. Where are you going with this?”

Serinina chuckled. “Such knowledge and insight for just some boy I met.” Serinina giggled girlishly. “But, let me ask you. Do you agree with the Spartan society and how they treat their defeated civilizations? Making them a serving class with no civil rights or protection.”

“No,” He replied. “But what can I do about it?”

“As queen, I could. I could free the Helots. Couldn't I?”

“Yes, but how would the Spartan's react then?” The boy inquired.

“They would probably be pissed, but I defeated them. So, the Spartan's would have no choice unless they want another defeat by my hands. But, do you think this is something that is realistic, or is there something else I am not considering.”

“No, you can, and it is something they need. What the Spartan's do is stupid, and it will end up destroying them. They know it's dangerous to have a huge class of people with no rights. Eventually, they will rise up, and it would be the end of Sparta. You can help preserve them and reform their society. But, its odd hearing a princess of the Amazon's caring about another society having a slave servant class with no rights, look at what they do.”

Serinina's face turned upward in a huge wicked smile. “Not hypocritical at all. I will also be the queen of the Amazon's. I can free the men here too when the time comes.”

“That will be more difficult. Those men are castrated so they won't resist as much.” The boy pointed out.

“You are forgetting something,” Serinina said to the boy. “I am also a mighty witch. My homeland had no idea how powerful I was. Even the Amazon's don’t fully understand. I can turn them back into men. The Amazon's don’t know my true power.”

“Neither do you,” The boy said. “You had absorbed much of Lilith's power. You are about as close to being an actual goddess as a human can really be.”

“Thank you, Lord Ares,” Serinina said with a knowing smirk. “I am not stupid, and I have known who you are for some time.”

“And you are okay with it,” He replied doubtfully.

“If I wasn’t, I would have sent you away. But going into war, it's good to have the God of War on my side. And I think I love you.”

Then the two embraced. “Now I need to speak to my mother about your advice.

Serinina nodded and made her assessments and ran to the upper deck to talk to her mother, Penthesilea. Serinina saw her standing there talking to the ship's captain about what to do if they met the Spartan fleet and got her mother's attention and then said, “Mother. I have got some new information. The Greek fleet already offloaded their troops and are now headed toward the towns. I have learned that I will need many more troops to accomplish my objective.”

Penthesilea frowned, but her daughter has not been wrong before. If she says she does not have enough troops, then she does not have enough troops. Serinina was brilliant,
and her mother trusted her. Penthesilea nodded and asked, “How many more do you need? Just tell me, and you will have it.”

“I will need at least six thousand more troops. Four thousand more hoplites for a total of six thousand. One thousand more bowwomen and one thousand more calvary. That should be enough. I am told that I will be encountering over thirty thousand Greeks and mainly spartan troops under Ajax.”

“Are you sure that will be enough?”

“Yes, we are Amazon's. Eight thousand will be enough,” replied Serinina.

Penthesilea nodded. “Then you will have them. I will give you the second battalion and the first. They will be offloaded under your command. And then you will march north, and you have a list of the towns you need to evacuate. Study the maps on the way and make plans with your commanders. It will be just under a week.”

So Serinina spent the rest of the voyage with Aries talking about their war plans and snuggling with each other. Emily felt somewhat left out and jealous.

Few war plans ever survive the first meeting with reality, and this one was no different. Serinina disembarked from her trireme, and her many thousands of troops walked down onto the beach with her, and they assembled into marching formations. Then they went down to the north to evacuate and defend the civilian population. And everything went to hell.

They could tell something was horribly wrong as they began approaching the first large town within days of landing. There was nothing except smoke rising in the air. There were no people meeting them. There were no children playing. There was nothing but silence and their boots marching on the ground approaching the town.

The town had been burned to the ground, and the dead were everywhere. All they could see was death and black flies that fed on the bodies. The stench in the air was nauseating to even the most hardened warrior. They were too late. The Greeks had already landed and sacked the town. Strangely, there was a lack of young female bodies among the corpses, and Serinina got a sickening feeling in her stomach. This was a horror beyond her worst nightmares. The stench filled the air, and she had to continuously swat flys from her face as she moved into the town.

She shouted, “Emily, take our phalanx and search each home for any survivors and be careful for an ambush. Let's move.”

Emily acknowledged her orders with a nod, even though she and her soldiers would rather deal with the monsters who had done this horrific thing.

Serinina and Emily took their forces and carefully searched the ruins for any survivors that the Greeks may have missed.

They found no survivors. They searched the ash that was still filled with the stench of rotting corpses and the air filled with buzzing flies. Some of the body's starting to stink, but some of the burnt homes were empty. They did find the path to the to the temple littered with bodies along the way. Oddly, they found many corpses of the men and young children, but there were few women to be found. That frightened Serinina more than anything else she had found. She was warned of the brutality of the Spartan's, and she felt she was prepared for a horror like this. She still felt like she wasn't. She kept feeling the urge to vomit from the stench and the horror she was witnessing.

Nothing at all prepared her for the final horror in the main temple in the center of the town. The temple was burnt. And they saw it beside the what was once a beautiful temple. The Greeks probably used the people to build a huge ditch alongside of the temple. And that ditch they were now standing over was filled with thousands of rotting bodies of the citizens of this town. Apparently, they led everything to this area and slaughtered everyone and tossed them into the shallow ditch. They found no survivors, and Serinina wanted to cry. This was her first taste of war, and this was a massacre. She reached out with her senses and found no survivors at all. But what she did find alarmed her and she knew that they must move to save the people in the next town.

Serinina shouted to her troops, “Assemble. We must hurry. The Greeks are in the next town now, and we can stop them and free their prisoners if we meet them before they leave again. Assemble and move out NOW!”

Her troops moved into marching columns, and they moved out of town as fast as possible. Serinina knew they had to move faster so she ignited her power, and it flowed through her. Serinina's body glowed with the power, and she cast a spell on her forces, and they moved faster than humanly possible. Her force raced to the next town at a blinding pace

Then just before they reached the town, Serinina ordered her force to stop. Everyone halted, and she called the commanders to her and they stood there.

“I sense that the Greeks are expecting us. They have their forces prepared to surprise and trap us in a pincer when we arrive. We won't allow that to happen. The third and fourth Calvary will remain just behind us, ready to attack and break us out. I will disguise you, so they won't see you hanging back. We will be the main force, I will also disguise the first and second phalanxes, and you will be on the wings of our advance ready to entrap the Spartan's in our pincer, and the bows will be on the sides ready to rain on them. And then we will destroy them and save what is left of the town. Does everyone understand?

Her commanders confirmed their readiness to follow her plan. Serinina was preparing to do to the Spartan's what they did to the Persians at the Marathon in entrapping the attacking force in their own pincer move strengthening the wings of their phalanx and letting the enemy move in.

Serinina ignited her power once again and cloaked her Calvary forces and her additional phalanx. The cavalry, bowwomen and additional phalanx vanished from sight. Serinina stood there on the front line with her phalanx. Alexina was right beside her, and they led the phalanx forward. The Amazon’s columns marched up to the town in front of them and they began already hearing the desperate screams of the villagers pleading as they were being cut down. Serinina ordered them to increase their pace to try to rescue them.

But she knew what they were going up against, and it frightened her. She knew the Spartan forces knew they were now approaching. She saw the hidden scouts, that watched the Amazon's approach. She saw the scouts rush forward to report their advance, and she knew that the Spartan's had overwhelming numbers. She also knew the Spartan's were going to die. Troy was a protectorate of the Amazon's. Sparta had made a mistake making war on these people now.

They marched up the road and then saw the spartan phalanx in formation ready for them. The spartan shields and their rolls of spears aiming right at them. There were thousands of Spartan's blocking their advance, ready for battle.

And just as the Amazon women moved into their battle formations, and began locking their shields and getting their spears ready. They saw another spartan phalanx move in behind them. It was just as she predicted and exactly what she prepared for. Serinina smiled a wolfish smirk and said to her fellow sisters in formation with her, “This is what we trained for. We know how Spartan's fight, and we know their weakness. We have trained to fight spartan phalanxes and know how to fight them. Use our discipline and our training, and the Spartan's will pay for what they did. We will crush them!” Serinina shouted and her forces moved into formation as one disciplined unit.

The Spartan's looked at the assembled women with doubt. And they saw the young thirteen-year-old short girl in the front issuing orders to her troops. The young girl was dressed as the phalanx general, and this was just unbelievable. It was almost as unbelievable as these women aiming spears and ready for battle against these battle-hardened powerful men. It was like a joke.

But the joke wouldn't last. Things were about to become very serious for the assembled Spartan's. Suddenly, a massive force seemed to materialize right behind the Spartan's second force blocking the Amazon's retreat. Suddenly there was an enormous force of thousands of heavy cavalry right behind the Spartan's phalanx. They were cut down before they had a chance to respond. Their spears were aimed the wrong way, and the Amazon's cavalry rode into the phalanx from behind with a vicious yell. They never stood a chance.

And now all that was left was the enormous spartan force blocking their advance into the town. They knew that half of their forces were cut down before they could do anything, but they still had over ten thousand facing the amazon women. The spartan's were still confident of victory. They still had what they thought was an overwhelming advantage. The Amazon's cavalry surprised them once, but they were not going to be surprised again. This time, the Amazon's cavalry was going to have to charge against the spears of the Phalanx. They couldn't flank the spartan's or get behind them this time.

But then suddenly, two enormous columns of Amazonian hoplites materialized on the Amazon's wings and moved into battle formation. Then the archers assembled behind the new forces. The Spartan's didn't understand what was really going on here, and the Amazon's advanced. It was a massacre. The Amazon's center was rather weak as they stood there, taking the brunt of the Spartan's attack and holding their ground, waiting for the wings to overwhelm the Spartan's flanks. That's where Serinina put the additional forces at and where their positions were the strongest at. The Spartan's flanks were weak and strong in their center.

So the Amazon's wings overwhelmed the spartan flanks and crushed them. Then they turned on the spartan center, and Serinina knew it was time and ordered her forces to advance into the spartan center. Serinina's strength and speed was unnatural and she was enveloped in a bloodlust against the Spartan's and moved in. She cut down dozens of Spartan's at a time.

Ten thousand Spartan’s were cut down within the hour, and the battle was over. Serinina had killed hundreds of Spartan's, and then they moved into the town and rescued everyone they could find. The Spartan leader was caught with his bodyguards. The guards were cut down and all that was left was Ajax himself. Or as he was called by the Greeks, Ajax the great. Serinina wasn't sure what made this brutal rapist so great. The Amazon's wanted to rip him apart, but Serinina had a better idea, and her mouth twisted up in a cruel and sadistic smile as she glared at Ajax, who showed no fear at all. He knew he was about to die, and he was going to face his end like a warrior. He would probably be pleading for mercy if he knew what was about to happen.

“Ajax, you sadistic pig. You think you are about to die, and you plan on facing it like a brave hero. I have no intention of killing you. I think a sadistic, cruel man like you needs a harsh lesson on what we face as women. I have just the thing for you, and if you can endure it, you will see that the rewards will be enormous. But I seriously doubt you have the strength to face life as a woman.”

Ajax looked at this small woman gloating in front of him and talking about life as a woman. There were rumors that this small woman was actually a prince. He didn't believe it until he started seeing enormous forces materialize out of thin air. And now she was talking about making him live as a woman, and he began to take this threat very seriously. “Please, just kill me and claim your victory, I beg you, don't make me a woman!” Ajax begged.

But the cruel smile on Serinina’s face told him that was exactly what she intended. He knelt and screamed as he watched the features of this woman began glowing. Some mysterious power began coursing through her body. Her fingers snapped. Her hair lit up as if on fire and crackled as the power ran through her body. She began chanting in an incomprehensible language and touched him on the arm. The power entered into Ajax, and he felt his entire body tingle.

Then he began to shrink, and Ajax cried out in a very high pitched feminine voice as he began to shrink. His chest expanded and grew into two soft round mounds. His hips widened, and his skin and face softened. He cried out in pain as his internal organs transformed, and his external sex organs shrank and transformed inside of him. That was one of the most painful aspects of the transformation. Ajax was blessed. If only he could take advantage of it.

Then Serinina boasted, “You are now a woman, Ajax. And we will give you a choice. You can return to the forces moving in to besiege Troy and see how your fellow Greeks treat you now.” Serinina laughed bitterly. “Or, we will give you shelter and help you adjust to your new life. The choice is yours.”

Her fellow Amazon's protested that this arrogant hateful man was unworthy of such a gift, but Serinina held firm. They would offer this girl protection and the help she would need. She had a feeling.

Ajax knew what he would face if he returned to the Greeks. He would probably be raped and beaten.

They rounded up the remaining Greeks looting the town and rescued the civilians. There were still many thousands of civilians left, and the people were gathered and ready to be escorted out. There was one problem, and Serinina faced Ajax and demanded, “Where are the women you took from the last town? Where did you take them?”

Ajax tried to resist, but he eventually said, “They are being taken to the landing area to be taken to Sparta.”

“How big is the force escorting them?” Serinina demanded in a harsh tone, and Ajax responded that the force was weak, only a few dozen at most.

Serinina had slaughtered close to thirty thousand this day. It was a significant portion of the total forces the Greeks landed. It was almost all the Spartan's forces they had here. They were almost finished as a power among the Greeks now.

She turned to Alexina and said, “You are in charge of the forces now, there should be no more resistance. Take these people into the next few towns and get the people to safety. Then take them to Troy. I will go with Emily and rescue the women being taken to Sparta. Now go.

Serinina got on a large warhorse with her sister Emily and rode out to intercept the final Spartan's holding women captive. They rode out at full speed to rescue the hostages. They headed for the Anatolian coastline as fast as they could possibly ride. Serinina felt her bloodlust filling her as she rode, seeing red and wanting the blood of the Spartan's.

The ride took several hours, and they caught up with the few dozen remaining Spartan's escorting the hundreds of bond women. Serinina yelled as they rode into the Spartan's before they could prepare. They were ruthlessly cut down, and it was over too quickly. Serinina still felt her bloodlust.

It was all over, and Serinina informed the women that they were now free, and they were to be escorted to their people and headed for the safety of Troy. They pretty much figured that, but they didn’t expect to be rescued by the Amazon's.

Their main force had already evacuated the remaining villages and were headed for Troy by the time Serinina caught up with them, and they were all marching for Troy now. That was several days away.

During the march to Troy, Emily kept smirking as she watched her sister Serinina meet with a handsome boy. The boy and Serinina had long discussions with each other. Emily could tell that Serinina was utterly captivated with this handsome boy. Emily could see her infatuations herself. The boy was extremely handsome. The boy even kissed Serinina once. Emily knew that her sister would not follow the same sex lesbian traditions of the Amazon's. Serinina would love a boy, and this was the last thing Emily ever expected Serinina to do. She knew Serinina's history and never figured her sister would ever fall for a boy

Troy was more than Serinina was ever expecting when they arrived. They approached the enormous, massive gleaming walls of the capital city. This was an enormous city, and its defenses looked impervious to any direct assault. Serinina almost felt jealous. Serinina thought that the enormous citadels of her homeland were great. She thought the defenses of her capital city of Denaerk were impressive. Troy put them all to shame. Any direct assault on this would be useless. She looked warily at the countless men and women holding their bows ready aimed directly at them as they escorted the civilians toward the main gatehouse. Its walls must be over fifty feet high, she guessed that they may approach eighty to a hundred and the towers even higher.

The massive double steel doors began parting as an army marched forward approaching them. She saw Paris in the center leading them. He had a disturbed frown and looked very unhappy. Cassandra had just arrived with her group of civilians, and Penthesilea was beside Serinina with her group. Cassandra leaped from her horse and ran toward her brother Paris and the two siblings embraced each other tightly. She asked, “What is wrong, Brother?”

He had a disturbed, unhappy look and said softly, “we can't find Helena anywhere. She was sent away weeks ago for her wedding. She is gone, no one can find her, and our father has forbidden any rescue of her. It is up to the Greeks to reclaim her, but they think we are hiding her in the city, and even Father suspects I am up to something. Don't expect to be too welcome here with your Amazon's. Father knows he has no choice here, but he won't be friendly to you all at all. I think he is conspiring with Agamemnon to undermine us all. I am so worried about Helena.”

Serinina saw tears forming in the young man's eyes. For someone so large and powerful, it looked strange. She even saw the shadow of what was once Serin in this young man's features. They marched through the gates, and they shut behind the large group. The guards barred the doors and braced them in preparation for an attack.

Then the King Priam approached with Hector greeting them all. He approached the queen Penthesilea and asked, “You rescued all of the civilians from the neighboring towns. But now I ask you,” He shouted angrily, “How in the name of Zeus are we supposed to feed all of these people? We barely have enough for ourselves to last a year, forget another twenty thousand. And in case you don’t know,”

He led the queen up the large steps into a tower and led them up. He pointed out to a mass of Greek warships. “We are under blockade. No supplies are coming in. What are we supposed to do?”

Serinina smiled, “We will destroy them and the Amazon's will send in more supplies. Right mother?”

She smiled. They knew that the Amazon's fleet was unequaled in the world. “And then, I will find Helena for you. Not that you care, but we will rescue her.”

Hector and Priam were going to be major problems here. Penthesilea then said to Serinina, “It may be time for Cassandra to assume the throne. We will have to deal with Priam very soon.

Cassandra agreed and she was ready, but not if Hector had anything to say about it.

Ares had told Serinina not to trust Hector or Priam. Poor Ajax had never been more afraid in her life as the angry amazon queen approached.

She demanded, “Serinina I told you to rescue the civilians not put them in chains. What is this.” She thundered as she approached the bond woman. Then she saw the young woman's face and put a hand on the girl's cheek. She began turning red and shouted, “Serinina, what the hell is this? What in the name of Hades are we supposed to do with a feminized Ajax, don’t think for a second we will protect this barbarian who made countless women suffer.”

Ares and his sister Athena approached the queen. Serinina said, “Ajax can be helped. I have been told by Athena. He was a horrible man but he can be better. If you remember, I wasn’t that much different.”

“But you never physically or sexually abused women. You didn’t enslave them to your will. You were an ass but that was it, Serinina. You were nothing like Ajax.”

Athena spoke up, “He has much more than Serinina to repay. And he will as a woman and will. Penthesilea, trust your adopted daughter here and help and protect Ajax.”

Penthesilea still wasn’t happy but if this was the will of Athena and her brother then that was it. No more discussion was allowed. Ajax would be protected and helped by the Amazon's and Serinina took responsibility for the new woman. Serinina was lost here. She figured that whatever anger she felt at her transformation, multiply it by a hundred and this may reach the level of anger Ajax felt. Perhaps she should have killed Ajax.