Barbarian Amazon Warriors

                                                                           Chapter One

                Two thousand years ago was history's first mention of a race of warrior women found in Homer's ILIAD which was an account of the Trojan War. According to Homer he described the Amazons as "warriors to be reckoned" who were a race of female Scythian fighters. They kept only the female children they birthed and mainly occupied the north shores of the Black Sea. They replaced the original Cimmerian barbarians who occupied the same land through wars and assimilation. The area was flat and difficult to defend relying heavily on mounted defenses. The land was cursed with frequent battles with enviously neighboring tribes wanting to farm its rich, black soil.The Amazons had to keep at bay the Scandinavians to the north, the Slav tribes to the east, and the Germanic tribes to the west. The biggest threat were the Persians to the south with their highly organized military. Two Amazon warriors were busy preparing for battle with the Persians. Antiope had her left hand cutoff from a previous military encounter and Otrera had an advanced form of arthritis which gnarled her hands in the latter stages of her life. They both assisted each other as much as they could using their teeth to help tie a sword and shield onto their hands and arms. They affectionately spoke of their deep love for each other.

"I will always profess my love and remain devoted to you. Over the years we shared consenting lovers but we have always stayed emotionally faithful to each other," dedicatedly stated Antiope. "You have been loyal and still married me even though I was missing a hand and considered damaged goods."

"You will always remain my true love because you returned the never-ending affections and continued to stay committed even though my hands became all twisted and bent later on," Otrera devotedly acknowledged. "When I was young, healthy and first married to you I had many pretty warriors fling themselves at me but I was simply not interested. They did not have your deep rooted compassion."

"The constellations foretold of our everlasting love," passionately declared Antiope. "I want to continue fighting our glorious battles as a proud Amazon rather than to idly retire and discuss our conquests around campfires."

"I share the same vision as a warrior but I can't stand the thought of losing you," Otrera lovingly replied. "If I must die an honorable death I want us to die together in combat."

"Promise me that I will never die alone. In the next world I want our souls to intertwine together forever," longingly sighed Antiope.

"I promise that we will die at the same time and live amongst the stars feasting and singing about our eternal love," Otrera yearningly affirmed.

         On the day of the battle the mounted Amazons were half the size of the Persian army and made the effort to occupy the higher ground for military advantage. The rest of the Amazon military were within a half day's ride from the battlefield. The Greeks whom they were allied with at the time were at sea and would attack the south-eastern Black Sea shores. The Queen Amazon was too impatient to wait for the rest of the troops to arrive and had previously fought under the same odds and won. She sent in one mounted division who shot arrows with deadly accuracy as they weaved through the enemy ranks. The Persians used their long shields to ward off the attack but many died. On top of another hill were hundreds of wolfhounds originally obtained when the Celts invaded Greece and was the Queen's secret weapon. They followed only two commands which was "sit" and "attack." They were trained to track only the scent of males and grab their sword arm. They also nipped at the horses' legs of the enemy to weaken them through loss of blood. Their teeth were sharpened to a razor's edge using sandstone and poppy sap mixed into their food to deaden the pain. They could leap up to great heights and disembowel the horses with a sharp grip to the belly. All the Amazons had rubbed menstruating blood onto their horses' undersides so they would not be attacked. The wolfhounds created the desired effect of mass confusion for they could not be seen through the tall steppe grass until it was too late. The Queen had many of her warriors carrying babies wrapped up and tucked in front or slung on their backs, so they would fight harder, by tapping into their more volatile maternal instincts. Baby boys were considered more disposable and always used in battles. If a baby ended up on the ground crying he was quickly snatched up and strapped securely freeing arms to carry weapons of war. Just as the lowly mother rat would fight to the death when cornered with her helpless litter many Amazons were pregnant and fought harder to ensure their future offspring would survive. Menstrual blood was smeared on their faces like war paint to disgust their enemies and to trigger synchronized periods amongst the Amazons as the pungent pheromones permeated the ranks. Alpha females in particular with their dominate scent helped coordinate period cramps that made the female warriors more irritable and violent. Many Amazons had one of their breasts removed so that it would not interfere when drawing their bows. Like the modern day Danes, dairy consumption and genetics caused the Scythians to be a foot taller than their enemy who averaged five feet with their starchy diets. The lower center of gravity due to wider hips and longer legs plus stirrups kept the Amazons firmly on their horses. This allowed them to fully turn their upper torso back 180 degrees when shooting arrows. Towering over their enemy they were able to effectively use axes, spears and swords to rain down on their heads. Every Amazon had a leather covered small dagger inserted in their vagina to be used as a last resort if they were knocked off their horses. Normally they wore pants to minimize saddle burn. However, they wore short leather skirts in battle to access the hidden daggers and to distract the horny enemy who knew they weren't wearing underwear. If they were dismounted they fought using two swords and crossed them to fend off blows instead of using a shield. Daggers, axes and spears continued to be weapons of choice in close quarters. They didn't have the upper body strength of their male counterparts but compensated by using their long muscular legs for effective arm, choke and leg holds when pinned.