VARA THE MERCENARY
by RW



Vondra Keep was slowly strangling the realm.  Chorin had enjoyed decades 
of peace and prosperity behind the security of the fortress guarding the 
narrow pass over the Vanteen Massif.  Then the Killeen Band, led by the 
6'2" tall Amazon, Omphale decided that holding Chorin for ransom was 
easier than defending the land.  The Band turned on the male co-
defenders of the Keep and massacred them in one bloody night.  At dawn 
the Band's leader sent the head of the Keep's former commander to Queen 
Azaria: "your throne, or your people will never use the Pass again!"  
Without access to the Vondra Pass and the chance to trade for fen-spice, 
Azaria's realm would slowly die horribly as disease ravaged the children 
and infirm. 

Several members of the Killeen Band were in the capital of Chorin when 
Omphale went rogue.  All were immediately seized and thrown into the 
castle's keep.  When Omphale sarcastically laughed at and rejected Queen 
Azaria's offer to negotiate over the release of the Band members she now 
held, Azaria's first impulse was to send the heads of captured Band 
members to Omphale - by catapault.  Then she reasoned that the prisoners 
might be of more use as her allies.  (Almost half the kingdom's warriors 
were killed in the Keep, and another large proportion of the defense 
force was in the Killeen Band, so the Queen needed ANY allies if she was 
to regain the Keep.) 
 
The first member of the Killeen Band to be taken from a cell for an 
audience with the Queen was Vara, a 5'10" Amazon and a team leader in 
the Band.  Vara was brought to the Queen by a pair of burly male guards.  
She was dressed only in a simple sack-like cotton shift and was manacled 
by hand and foot.  She hobbled to within five feet of the Queen and was 
then roughly shoved to her knees by the guards.  The bruises on her face 
attested to the treatment she had received when she was captured and 
during her time in the cells.  She slowly raised her face toward the 
queen, the defiance in her soul visible in her eyes. 

"Think carefully before you reply, woman," Queen Azaria said in a voice 
that was at once soft and rich with powerful implications.  "Your 
companions have inconvenienced Our land; you may help Us recover Our 
Keep in the Vanteen Massif, or return to your cell to await your fate.  
What is your choice?" 

During the last four days in the Keep, Vara had already considered her 
fate.  She enjoyed working with the Band but had few friends there - in 
fact, most were now languishing in the Keep in other cells.  When Vara 
had rejected Omphale's bed, early in Vara's career with the Band, 
Omphale seemed to become distant and relatively unconcerned with the 
younger woman's fate.  Clearly, women in the band who shared a bed with 
the Chief had ... advantages ... which others did not.  Although as a 
mercenary, Vara's first loyalty should have been to her company, the 
Killeen Band, the fact that they had not apprised her of the plan to 
seize Vondra Keep, did not try to ensure that she and her friends would 
not suffer from the action, mitigated against continued loyalty to 
Omphale and the Band. 

"What do you want from me, Highness," Vara said at last, lowering her 
eyes.  

"A wise choice, girl," the Queen said.  "My advisors say that you are a 
very dangerous warrior.  Too dangerous, in fact, to work beside my 
regular soldiers.  I should use you as a scout or assassin, I've been 
told.  Do you think you could attack members of your Band and kill them, 
if so ordered?" 

"Highness," Vara replied, eyes still looking at the Queen's feet, "when 
the Band abandoned me here, my contract with and loyalty to the Band 
ended.  Use me as you wish, Highness." 

Queen Azaria was silent for several minutes.  As she looked at the 
warrior before her, she considered whether to trust the woman.  Finally, 
trusting her insights into human nature, the Queen made an offer: "If 
you will penetrate the Vondra Keep and kill Omphale, and as many of her 
mercenaries as you can, Our attack on the Keep two days hence will be 
much easier.  We will allow you to leave Chorin with a small fortune.  
We will also release any of your comrades who are now in Our Keep and 
choose to not fight with Us against the Band." 

"What of the Band's wealth?  Surely Omphale took that with her when she 
took the Keep?" 

"Anything that belongs to the Killeen Band will be taken and sold.  
After We give a portion to the families of the warriors killed by the 
Band, and keep some to put new troops in the Keep, the rest is yours.  
But you and all other mercenaries must leave Chorin.  In the future, if 
WE cannot fight to protect what We have, We don't deserve to keep it." 

------------------------

Vondra Keep nestled beside the High Road that ran northward from Chorin 
through the Vanteen Massif to lands beyond.  The Keep functioned both as 
a strong position to block movement through the Pass and as the garrison 
for a large portion of Chorin's army.  Recent problems with Serrano, a 
kingdom beyond the Pass, led Queen Azaria to strengthen the Keep's 
garrison by adding a mercenary force.  The all-female Killeen Band had a 
good reputation and was relatively inexpensive. 

A large central courtyard was surrounded by an 11' tall palisade on the 
north and west sides.  An 8' wall faced south toward Chorin.  The rock 
wall of the Pass was on the east side of the Keep.  Four large and two 
small cannons on the northern palisade and four small cannons covered 
the western side of the Keep.  In the narrow confines of the Pass, loads 
of grape shot would decimate any force attacking the Keep from the 
north.  There was no vegetation within 200 yards of the Keep, no way for 
an attacking force to sneak up to the walls.  Queen Azaria's soldiers, 
observing the Keep from afar, reported seeing new holes punched through 
the south palisade - undoubtedly ports for the Keep's cannons.  Guards 
could be seen patrolling the south and western walls. 

Vara was an adequate swordswoman.  Her true skills, though, were as an 
advanced guard for the Band.  She and her team often preceeded the Band 
by hours or days, when on a combat footing.  They would secure key 
points, kill leaders of the opposing force, gather information for the 
Band.  Vara enjoyed her work.  

All the members of her team, held in the castle Keep, joined Vara in 
support of Queen Azaria.  The Queen was wise enough to realize the 
possible danger in letting all of these woman attack the Keep.  She kept 
the rest of Vara's team in the Castle and gave Vara one night to 
"soften" the Keep's defenses.  

Vara approached the Keep from the south, crawling in a rain rut on the 
far side of the High Road.  Vara wore her usual fighting outfit - a 
black cotton-and-leather body-suit, tailored to fit every curve on her 
body, a black cotton hood that revealed only her eyes, black leather 
ankle boots, and black leather gloves that fit her hands like a second 
skin and reached just beyond her wrists.  For this mission, she brought 
only a pair of throwing stars and her specially-designed club, "Wicket".  
Wicket was a simple piece of wood about 12" long and almost an inch 
thick.  Iron caps on the ends of Wicket made it a lethal weapon when an 
end hit any part of a human body.  The stars and Wicket fit small 
pouches on a leather belt around Vara's waist. 

Vara reached a point within ten feet of the southwest corner of the Keep 
and paused, watching a cloud pass in front of the moon.  Waiting a few 
moments, she rose onto her hands and crab-walked slowly across the road, 
her body suspended only on the tips of her toes and on her palms.  When 
she was within a foot of the wall, she heard someone inside ask: "Kara!  
Did you see that?  There, outside the wall ... is it ... ?" 

Vara froze, exposed on the bare ground less than a foot from the wall.  
Breathing slowly, she waited; suddenly a torch flew over the wall and 
landed about fifteen feet to the south of the wall.  They didn't see 
her!  Slowly, carefully avoiding anything that might make a noise, Vara 
reached the corner and rose to her feet, her back along the south wall.  
She moved slowly along the wall, listening to the guards overhead 
talking about what they saw or didn't see near the still-burning torch.  
Vara finally reached the first of the new 'gun ports' in the south 
palisade. 

"Mmn hmn," she thought, "to be useful, a gun port had to allow the 
cannon to traverse or elevate.  I can squeeze through this port, I 
think!"  The dark avenger started to slip through the gun port when she 
heard footsteps approaching - AND THEY WERE OUTSIDE THE WALL!  Pulling 
out of the gun port, Vara again stood with her back against the wall and 
turned toward the footfalls.  Someone was walking around the corner of 
the Keep, maybe five feet from the wall.  Vara slowly slid down the wall 
and huddled her body against the juncture of the palisade and the 
ground. 

"See anything?" a voice said from a post on the palisade.  

"No, this is a waste of time.  Those fools won't do anything against us 
- this place is too easy to defend!" 

"Well, go all the way to the rocks and check around the torch!  Omphale 
will have our hides if we aren't careful!" 

"Yeah, yeah!  She just wants an excuse to whip us!  Hmnn, maybe not a 
bad idea, after all, eh, Kara?"  The sentry continued walking, 
alternately looking toward the rock wall, toward the south, and toward 
the top of the palisade.  She passed within four feet of Vara, who used 
the darkness and her own black suit to lie, almost invisible, against 
the foot of the palisade.  The sentry and the guard on the wall - 
Kara(?) - continued walking toward toward the wall of the Pass. 

Vara seized her opportunity and slo-o-owly and carefully rose to her 
feet.  She turned and began sliding into the Keep through the gun port.  
The fit was tight, she had wisely put her belt and weapons through 
before trying to squeeze her body through.  A twist, a bend, another 
twist ... THERE!  She was through and on the ground, under the barrel of 
a small cannon and inside the Keep. 

"If they ever make these things small enough for one person to carry and 
use," Vara mused, looking at the ugly little weapon, "my job will become 
a lot bloodier!"  Again the lithe woman rose to her feet and ran, under 
the overhead catwalk which provided platforms for archers manning the 
palisade, and quickly reached the rock wall on the east side of the 
Keep.  Four small cannon had been moved off the other walls; they could 
fire a Hellish salvo of grape shot at any attacking force.  Vara doubted 
that Chorin had any more of the rare weapons of mass destruction.  

The inside of the Keep consisted of a large parade ground, maybe forty 
feet wide and one hundred long.  At the base of the rock wall was a pair 
of small buildings - the officers' quarters and the armory.  Both 
covered entrances to caves that extended into the rock wall of the Pass.  
Along the west wall were two small barracks - the garrison was supposed 
to share cots between shifts - you either stood watch or slept.  Vara 
suspected that quite a few of the Band were sharing cots, but not in the 
sense originally intended!  The only construction along the north wall 
was a shelter that served as the smithy and stables. 

From her position under the catwalk, Vara could see four more guards on 
the western and northern walls, and two women walking from the far 
barracks building toward the stable.  The barracks were low stone 
buildings with a few narrow slits as windows and a large oaken door 
which opened outward.  Silently, Vara moved toward a ladder which led to 
the south catwalk.  As she started up the ladder, she saw that Kara and 
another woman were on this wall.  At the top of the ladder, as one guard 
looked outward to the south, Kara at the far end of the catwalk seemed 
to be talking with the outside sentry.  Slowly, Vara pulled herself onto 
the catwalk and, in a crouch, moved slowly toward the first guard.  When 
the guard suddenly turned toward Vara, possibly in response to a sense 
of danger, Vara rose and rammed the extended fingers of her left hand 
into the woman's throat, crushing her thorax.  Gasping, the woman took a 
step backward, and fumbled for a weapon while one hand clawed at her 
throat.  Vara immediately stepped forward with her right foot and 
slammed her right palm against the woman's nose, breaking it, driving 
cartilege fragments upward into the woman's brain.  She was dead before 
she hit the catwalk.  

Vara turned and crouched - no one else saw or heard the attack!  A quick 
look suggested that Kara was too engaged with the sentry to worry about.  
The nearest guard on the western palisade seemed to be dozing at her 
post - her arms were on the top of the wall and her chin was resting on 
her forearms.  Moving quickly and lightly, in a low crouch, Vara crossed 
the twenty feet or so to the first guard.  Rising beside the snoring 
woman, Vara chopped the back of the woman's neck savagely with the side 
of her hand, snapping one vertibrae.  Vara caught the woman as she 
sagged downward, dead.  Vara propped the woman back on her feet, in an 
apparent sleeping position, held up by a spear which Vara stuck in the 
woman's back. 

Vara leaped off the catwalk and landed beside the southern barracks.  
Moving to the door, she found a large oaken plank which she jammed 
against the door, effectively locking it shut.  Vara continued moving 
northward and managed to repeat the action at the door to the northern 
barracks.  Just after she had barred the door, making it almost 
impossible for anyone inside to open the door outward, the two women who 
had gone to the stables began to walk back toward the barracks! 

Vara crouched behind a large barrel outside the barracks door and 
awaited the approach of the two women.  As they reached the barrel, the 
dark-clad warrior woman rose from her cover and took one step toward the 
women.  Her right arm sliced through the air and one metal-capped end of 
Wicket hit one woman in her temple.  As this woman sagged to the ground, 
dead from the head shot, Vara's swing continued and, turning 180 
degrees, she leaped lightly into the air and the heel of her boot hit 
the second woman on the side of the head. 

"Unngh!" Shaylin grunted when the boot crashed into her cheek, 
shattering the joint of the jaw.  The woman staggered backward, moaning 
in pain, but only for a second.  Vara instantly stepped forward again 
and, swinging her arm overhead, Wicket hit the guard's forehead, the 
metal cap savagely shattering her skull. 

"HEY!  Serina!  Kaitlin!  What's going on down there!" the other guard 
on the west wall hissed (not wanting to disturb the sleep period of the 
others).  

"Clumsy BITCH!" Vara hissed back, "learn to walk!".  A moment later she 
was sure that the guard fell for the ruse.  The guard, believing 
everything was okay with the courtyard guards, returned to her post and 
watched the High Road.  She pulled the bodies of the two guards against 
the wall of the barracks.  Good!  No sounds of stirring inside the 
barracks, and the guards still on the walls were not looking into the 
courtyard! 

Vara moved back to the south wall of the Keep and manhandled two of the 
small cannon so that one faced each barrack.  She hoped that no one 
would notice the change, since this wall projected long shadows into the 
courtyard.  Moving lightly and quietly, Vara continued under the catwalk 
(slowing as she passed under Kara) and reached the rock wall on the east 
side of the Keep.  Moving slowly along the rock wall, Vara saw Kara 
walking back toward the slain guard.  Have to move fast, now! 

Vara jogged silently past the armory and reached the door leading to the 
officers' quarters.  Opening the door slowly, she saw steps leading 
upward to a long room with beds for the officers, and a second door 
leading to a small cave and Omphale's quarters.  Vara crossed the floor 
and listened at the door.  Hearing no noise from inside, the dark woman 
slowly pulled the door open and slipped through the doorway.  After a 
short walk up a hard-packed slope, Vara reached a larger cavern - along 
one wall was a large bed, other furniture was scattered throughout the 
room.  

The woman in black approached the bed, Wicket in one hand, a star in the 
other, when she heard noises from the bed!  Omphale was not alone.  As 
Vara neared the bed, she was startled to see her friend, Maya, on her 
knees, head toward the foot of the bed but close to Omphale's crotch, 
obviously pleasuring the Band leader!  The leader was lying, legs spread 
wide, hands massaging Maya's butt, and moaning from the pleasure of the 
other woman's tongue on her clit and love lips. 

Vara didn't know how to proceed.  She knew Maya was probably here in the 
Keep, but NEVER expected to see her trusted friend with ... with this 
... this BITCH!  They were not lovers, so Vara shouldn't feel jealous of 
Maya's actions, right?  Right?  But then why ...?  Maya suddenly raised 
her head to take a breath and saw the dark-clad figure at the foot of 
the bed. 

"WH- what do ... ?" was all Maya managed to say before Wicket slammed 
into her jaw, lifting the woman upright, only to topple sideways off the 
bed.  Vara hoped that she had not killed her friend - she HAD pulled her 
punch. 

"Do-don't ... nnngghh ... stop ... now ... mmnnn!" Omphale moaned, 
starting to rise in bed.  Suddenly she too saw the black figure at the 
foot of the bed, and realized that Maya had been knocked off "her post".  
In an instant, the veteran warrior woman rolled to one side, off the 
bed, and snatched her sword off the table beside the bed.  Landing in a 
crouch, the naked woman was completely awake and ready for combat - the 
mark of a true professional. 

"Is that you, Vara?" Omphale hissed, rising from her crouch.  "What do 
you think you're doing, you tight-assed cunt?" 

Vara said nothing.  She flicked her left wrist and the star flew toward 
the warrior woman.  Omphale had begun moving to her left, so the star 
only managed to skim the edge of the warrior's bicep, drawing a spurt of 
blood from her sword arm and a grunt of pain from her throat.  She 
continued sliding to her left, her left hand now squeezing her right 
bicep to staunch the blood flow. 

Vara stepped backward slightly and assumed her defense pose - left leg 
forward slightly, toes aimed at her foe, right leg slightly back, foot 
at a 90 degree angle, knees bent, one arm raised and facing the Band 
leader, the other arm, holding Wicket, behind Vara.  The club twirled in 
Vara's hand. 

Omphale shrugged off the cut on her arm and lunged at the black-clad 
woman, sword slashing toward the woman's body.  As the sword approached 
Vara, she expertly batted the blade aside with one hand and followed her 
hand into a swivel - turning 180 degrees.  Vara completed her turn as 
Omphale's lunge brought the warrior leader close, and Vara hit Omphale's 
right shoulder with the one of Wicket's ends, smashing the woman's 
shoulder.  Omphale screamed in pain as the sword dropped from her now-
useless sword arm.  Before she had a chance to recover, Vara dropped 
into a crouch and turned slightly, then kicked outward with her right 
foot.  The kick landed against the outside edge of Omphale's right knee 
and the loud snap meant that the knee was dislocated by the blow.  

"Noo-oo!!" Omphale cried as she sagged to the floor, her right shoulder 
and knee shattered.  "N-n-need ... time!!" 

Vara smiled inwardly at how easily she had defeated this bitch.  How had 
she ever become leader of the Killeen Band?  That attack was CHILDISH!  
Omphale was now lying on her left side, moaning from the damage to her 
right side.  Vara turned to look for something to bind and gag the 
leader, to take her back to Queen Azaria. 

Omphale had a vast array of whips, chains and bondage gear on the wall 
beside her bed - newly added since she took the Keep and this room.  
Vara selected a rope - less noise than a clinking chain, and a ball gag.  
As she turned back toward the fallen woman, Vara was suddenly shocked to 
see Omphale advancing on her, sword raised! 

"Stupid cunt!" Omphale roared, charging with an upraised sword.  The 
sword slashed downward and Vara was barely able to use the bondage gear 
to deflect the blow away from her wrists.  The momentum of the charge 
drove Omphale into Vara's body and the two women slammed against the 
wall, grunting.  

The best-kept secret of the Killeen Band was that the leader had amazing 
recuperative powers she had taken from a shaman during a war in a far 
off land.  Cuts, breaks, bruises all healed within minutes thanks to a 
potion she had consumed years earlier.  For all intents and purposes, 
Omphale was invulnerable, as Vara had just learned to her chagrin. 

The two women struggled, Vara pinned against the wall by the taller 
woman.  Omphale was trying to bring the sword down to cut the woman in 
black and was slowly inching the hilt toward the black shoulder when a 
knee rammed into the tall woman's crotch, hammering her clit.  

"GODS!" Omphale grunted, her grip easing as her body sagged from the 
pain.  "I'LL KILL YOU FOR THAT!" she roared, tears filling her eyes.  

Vara had one hand on each of Omphale's wrists and wasn't sure how to 
defeat someone who was apparently invulnerable.  The kick bought her 
time - but to do WHAT?  Seeing Omphale's head drop as the woman sagged, 
Vara head-butted the swordswoman, hitting her nose.  As the taller woman 
tried to shake off the blow and clear her eyes, Vara landed another hit 
onto Omphale's face.  Feeling the woman's strength fade, Vara pressed 
forward, pushing the warrior queen away from the wall.  As Omphale 
backpeddaled, Vara slipped a foot behind one ankle and the two women 
fell to the ground with Vara on top.  Vara slammed Omphale's right wrist 
against the stone floor several times and the sword fell to the ground.  
Pressing her advantage, Vara head-butted Omphale one more time and was 
relieved to see the larger woman shaking her head in pain. 

"Nnnghh!!  Get ... off me ... you COW!!" Omphale roared, raising her 
legs and hips in an attempt to toss Vara aside.  When Omphale's hips 
rose off the floor, though, Vara slipped her legs around the leader's 
waist and scissored her.  Omphale bucked harder, in pain from the 
powerful clamp around her waist, but Vara now had her legs tightly 
around the other woman's waist and her gloved hands pinned the Band 
leader's wrists to the ground.  

When Omphale sagged to the ground, suffering painfully from the legs 
squeezing her waist, Vara released Omphale's left wrist and a powerful 
blow by a closed fist smashed her cheek, throwing her head to one side.  
Vara continued to rain blows on Omphale's face until the larger woman 
finally slumped into unconsciousness from the blows, her face bleeding 
from numerous cuts. 

An exhausted Vara carefully eased off the fallen leader of the Killeen 
Band.  She quickly retrieved the bondage gear she had selected earlier, 
and in just seconds had the Amazon warrior queen bound and gagged.  Just 
in time, as the captive's eyes opened as the ball gag was settled in 
place over her mouth!  Seeing her predicament, Omphale screamed and 
began shaking to try and remove her restraints.  The muffled cry and 
limited movement allowed by the tightly-wrapped rope demonstrated Vara's 
control over the warrior leader. 

Grabbing Omphale's hair, Vara dragged the woman across the floor of the 
cave and through the doorways, through the officers' quarters and out to 
the courtyard.  Worried that Omphale's muffled cries would alert the 
guards, Vara knelt for a moment and smashed Wicket against the woman's 
skull, silencing her and ending her struggles. 

Vara dragged her captive toward the south wall, planning to leave via a 
gun port and then down the High Road as fast as possible.  As she 
approached the catwalk, though, she heard Kara cry: "ALARM!!  SHATANKA 
HAS BEEN KILLED!!  ALARM!!"  Damn!!  She had discovered the body of the 
other guard on the south wall! 

Vara managed to reach the wall underneath the catwalk when several 
torches were lit on the palisades, illuminating the interior of the 
courtyard.  A second cry indicated that the body on the west wall had 
also been found.  Suddenly, Vara heard pounding as women inside the two 
barracks tried to leave and found the doors blocked.  Their cries for 
help added to the din filling the courtyard.  "Check the stables!" "Call 
Omphale!" "Where's the Guard Captain?"  "LET US OUT!!" 

Vara thought she might use the confusion to slip away from the Keep with 
her captive but suddenly Kara dropped to the ground not four feet away.  
"ALARM!!" she shouted when she spied the huddled dark figure behind a 
gun (a gun facing the wrong way!), "SOMEONE'S INSIDE THE KEEP - AND SHE 
HAS OMPHALE!!"  Kara started toward Vara, sword rising over her 
shoulder. 

Vara dropped Omphale and immediately vaulted over the cannon before her, 
putting her hands on the barrel and swinging her finely-muscled legs 
sideways across the top of the weapon.  Pushing off with her arms, Vara 
was able to bring her feet around and slam them into Kara's chest, 
knocking the swordswoman backward and causing her to drop her sword.  
Pausing just a second, Vara pulled her last throwing star from the pouch 
on her belt and savagely hurled it at Kara, lodging it deeply in her 
throat.  As blood gushed from the severed artery in her throat, Kara 
sagged backward and died. 

By now, someone had removed the timbers blocking the barracks doors and 
almost thirty Amazons, in various stages of undress, were armed and were 
charging across the courtyard toward the south wall.  Vara turned and 
leaped onto the barrel of the gun she had just flown over and used it to 
leap onto the catwalk.  A few steps took her to one of the newly-lighted 
torches and the courtyard crowd turned toward the steps to this catwalk.  
When they reached the bottom of the stairs, Vara sprinted back and 
dropped off the catwalk by the body of Kara.  

Snarling as one in a feral rage, the Amazon warriors changed course 
again and after a moment's delay were thundering toward Vara and her 
captive.  Calmly, deliberately, Vara lowered the torch to the cannon's 
touch-hole and as the Amazons approached to within a few feet of the 
cannon's mouth, there was a tremendous roar and a double load of grape 
shot - planned for Chorin's warriors should they try to retake the Keep, 
sliced through the warrior women, savagely ripping apart the bodies of 
over half.  As the throng of survivors staggered in shock, Vara leaped 
back to the second cannon she had turned inward, adjusted its aim, and 
fired a second powerful blast at the closely-packed group.  Again, 
scores of flechettes ripped through naked or nearly-naked Amazon bodies, 
dropping all but a few women.  

Vara rushed forward and scooped up Kara's sword, then waded into the few 
Amazons still standing after two grapeshot blasts.  "If this is the way 
of warfare in the future," Vara thought, "I'd better find another 
trade!"  Two quick slashes dropped two stunned women.  Before the other 
two still standing could react, Vara lunged and drove her blade deeply 
into one woman's stomach.  Pulling out the blade as the woman dropped, 
Vara turned to the last woman, who suddenly dropped to her knees and 
begged for mercy. 

The young woman was Raisa, a recent addition to the Band.  "Give me your 
parole that you won't raise a hand against me," Vara said to the young 
girl, "help me secure this fort, and when I leave, you may take a horse 
and go the other way!" 

"I agree!" 


Together, the two women checked the rest of the Keep.  Vara encountered 
three more Amazons - latecomers to the battle (slow to untangle from 
their menage a trois).  All quickly surrendered to the woman in black - 
they had seen the carnage she had wrought and wanted little of it.  
Finally, less than an hour after entering the Keep, Vara was ready to 
leave.  In the eerie dark of the Keep, lit by flickering torches still 
on the ramparts, several injured Amazons, piled onto a cart, moaned for 
help.  Five women, including two "walking wounded" were roped to the 
back of the cart.  Several chests taken from the barracks and officers' 
quarters were also in the cart under the prisoners.  Raisa had asked to 
join Vara and was assigned to drive the cart.  Ahead, riding through the 
Keep's gate on Omphale's steed, Vara had the invulnerable leader of the 
Killeen Band, still bound and gagged, lying across the horse's back 
behind its head.  She would be back in the Chorin's army's lines before 
breakfast!