The air was surprisingly crisp considering the hot tropical sun was already shining over the island. Liam couldn’t help but think this was an omen of what was to come. He looked to Kenyanire who was walking in front of him, her arms behind her head in a relaxed position. Liam on the other hand couldn’t help but be on edge as they entered the Amazonian village. He could feel hundreds if not thousands of stares from the curious yet untrusting amazons, and joyful Boruma. Despite the different reasons for the stares the one thing they had in common was that they all wished to get a good eyeful of the mysterious human that had been taken in by the royal family.

Kenyanire glanced behind herself to check on Liam, she could smell his fear, it was obvious to her that he didn’t like all the attention. Despite this though he was doomed to have to get used to these copious amounts of attention from curious amazons.

It was probably around 2 hours until the pair had walked through the entirety of the village. Liam couldn’t help but feel offset as he followed Kenyanire out of the village and onto a large winding path. Neither spoke a word as Kenyanire put her arms down to her side, signalling she was now serious. Before Liam knew it himself at Kenyanire stood at the entrance to a large dark jungle. He stared into the deep woodland; he couldn’t believe people could survive in there.

“This is it, after we enter here you shall now be leaving for weeks,” Kenyanire said, making Liam a little curious as he thought he was only staying in there for 2 days, but now she was talking about weeks? It seemed she had lied yet again to him; her lies were becoming a terrifying habit.

“Fine let’s go,” Liam said, mentally hardening himself for whatever awaited.

“Before we enter you should try to hide your fear. Us amazons are good at smelling fear, it is intoxicating for us so the huntresses may try to tear you apart before we even reach the village.” Kenyanire informed Liam as she alongside him started their journey deep into the jungle.

They walked down a well-trodden path. The only light that allowed them to see the said path was coming from lanterns that set up on small stone dishes that will little around the lower branches of the trees. It was dangerous leaving these life pits of fire unattended in such a place of such dense tropical bush that could be easily set ablaze. But despite the seemingly empty surroundings, Liam couldn't help but feel as if he was being watched. He tried to shake off the feeling by thinking of how he was going to convince the huntresses to help with his cause, but the feeling of imminent doom still clung to him.

Kenyanire could smell Liam’s fear rising once again, this was dangerous as she could now sense probably around 100 or so amazons of the huntress village watching them. The only reason they hadn’t attacked was that they were vessels of her tribe.

“Liam, what did I tell you. The warriors around here can smell your fear.” Kenyanire said stopping and allowing him to catch up to her.

“Stay close, the warriors are watching, and if they think you are weak, they may try to eat you,” Kenyanire said, as she wrapped an arm around Liam’s neck to keep him close to her side.

“Wait, people are watching us” Liam laughed slightly as he glanced around, studying the thick yet well-lighted jungle. Liam couldn’t see a signal sign of life.

“Yes, now get yourself together, we are almost at the entrance to their village,” Kenyanire said as she dragged Liam even closer to her side, trying her best to give him a sense of safety. They walked for only a few more minutes until they reached the end of his sector of the jungle. Liam clasped his hands over his mouth, as he saw the markers the huntresses used to show the border of their territory. Liam’s legs trembled and Kenyanire had to hold him still as his legs almost kept betraying him due to the horrific sight he saw before him.

Trees, for a far as the eye could see in the lush jungle before him, were decorated with the bloody remains of both human and amazon alike. Liam couldn’t help but take note that many of the bodies were spilt in half. I want to describe all the different ways the bodies were dismembered and disfigured, but honestly, I couldn’t place into words the bloody pulps of carcases that clung to the sides of the trees like gruesome decorations on a Christmas tree.

“Hold yourself, Liam, you will need to adapt to seeing this,” Kenyanire said, gently running her fingers through his hair. Liam nodded and regained his composure. As he got to his legs, still shaking like a newly born gazelle, he could hear some laughter from the trees around him.

“Are you alright?” Kenyanire asked as she looked at Liam’s deathly pale face.

“I’m fine, compared to what I saw on the battlefield when we were attacking you, this isn’t shit.” Liam lied. It wasn’t clear to either himself or Kenyanire if he said this to assure himself, or Kenyanire, that he was ready for what laid ahead; but whatever it was, it was an absolute lie.

Together they walked forward and began their journey down the naturally trodden path into the jungle of corpses. Liam willingly stuck to Kenyanire’s side as the amazons surrounding them no longer tried to hide their presence as they loudly talked to one another. Liam paid close attention to their mumbling as he could hear the name of Kenyanire being muttered amongst them. He wanted to know more but every time he took his gaze off the ground or Kenyanire, he would then again see the disfigured remains of some poor man, woman or creature strapped with vine to one of the many trees. He couldn’t help but wonder how many people had died to fill this area of the jungle with as many bodies as there were 3000? 4000? Liam wouldn’t have been surprised if they said 60,000.

Liam wasn’t a religious person, but he couldn’t help but think a place such as this had to be cursed. Kenyanire again noticed the dismal look in his eyes and gave him a firm slap on the head to get him back to his senses.

“How many times do I have to tell you?” Kenyanire said, slightly pissed off. Not simply because he wasn’t paying attention but more because she feared he was going to get hurt.

Liam felt his legs wobble slightly. As they slowly got closer and closer to the village the sound of roaring drums, ear-bleeding Amazonian war screeches and other foul noises started to be heard. The village soon came into view as the Kenyanire and Liam walked into a large opening, but like most the jungle this area was still covered with a dark dense jungle canopy above it. The canopy blocked out the majority of the light, meaning the fire lamps were still the only source of light these people had.

Liam and Kenyanire walked into the centre of the village. The village had at least 100 incredibly large huts which surrounded a circular opening in the middle of the village. Much to the dismay of Liam this circular centre of attention was where he was now standing. Liam looked to Kenyanire who didn’t seem fazed in the slightest as hundreds of Amazonian warriors, dressed in nothing but skins, blood, mud and bones surrounded them, their eyes scanning at them from a distance.

Liam took in a deep breath and did his best to hold as much courage as he could. He didn’t want these monstrous looking people to see him as weak. The largest hut’s curtain opened and a tall probably 8ft tall woman walked outside. She had sharp green eyes and long purple-black hair. She had large yet somehow still feminine muscles. Her body and face were painted in green, and brown mud as well as red paint. Her face was strong, she looked like she had been through many battles. Liam looked dead into the woman’s eyes as she walked towards him and Kenyanire.

The woman’s eyes looked to Kenyanire then to Liam. The smallest corners of her mouth turned up slightly as she looked at the brave face of Liam. She could see he did hold a strong sense of fear. The warrior walked over to Kenyanire and smiled at her close friend before gesturing to Liam. Kenyanire looked to Liam and smiled. She then nodded and said something back in Amazonian. Liam stood tensely by Kenyanire’s side. They were probably surrounded now by at least 4 to 5 hundred warriors. Even though the warriors were keeping a good distance of about 50 meters, Liam could still feel their sharp gazes on him. He then turned to look at the tall woman that was talking to Kenyanire. Maybe the stares he felt were just her, after all, she had an incredibly sharp gaze that whenever it landed on him, he couldn’t help but feel petrified.

“Come,” Kenyanire said, waving for Liam to step forward. Liam complied and now stood before the tall Amazonian.

“This is Thormoenia,” Kenyanire said, pointing to the tall woman. Thormoenia leaned down and stared Liam in the eyes. She studied his face for a while before putting out a hand. She ran her fingers down the side of his face.

“What is your name human?” Thormoenia asked.

“Didn’t Kenyanire just tell you?” Liam said, not breaking his gaze from her. This woman’s cold glaze reminded him of someone he would have rather forgotten. Kenyanire looked down at Liam curiously. Something was off about him like a switch had just flicked in his head and he was now on high alert.

“Yes, but I want you to tell me yourself,” Thormoenia said in a sharp tone.

“Liam, Liam Grey Feather.” Liam returned in an equally as sharp tone. Kenyanire could tell something was seriously wrong, she didn’t even know his last name, and now he was just telling it to someone he had just met? Kenyanire could see Liam’s growing anger in his face and quickly planted a loving hand on his head to calm him. Liam’s eyes seemed to widen as he snapped out of his hate-filled trance.

“There are some ernes I need to run, is it alright if I leave you with Thormoenia for today?” Kenyanire said, pushing his towards Thormoenia and placing her lips next to his ear.

“Don’t forget to try and talk to her about your plan?” Kenyanire said as she stood up. She planted a kiss on the lips of Thormoenia which surprised Liam. She then kissed Liam one more time before she said something in her native Amazonian and began to walk away.

Now alone with the amazons, the second Kenyanire was out of sight they pounced. Thormoenia was the first. She grabbed Liam by the arms and hoisted him into the air. Thormoenia placed both Liam’s forearms into one of her large hands as the other started to prod and poke at his body. The other senior warriors also surrounded him and started to examine the weird creature that their war chief had left them.

“Hey! What the fuck do you think you're doing” Liam said as he started to kick away the probing hands.

“We want to see more of the creature the great one has left us,” Thormoenia said as she ran her fingers across Liam’s shirt. Liam narrowed his eyes at Thormoenia, theorising why she called Kenyanire the great one.

“What do you mean?” Liam asked as he stopped struggling and stared intensely at Thormoenia.

“If we had found you before the great one did, you would have probably been roasted over a fire and eaten by now, so we want to know why she has let you live.” That was all Thormoenia said as she slung him over her shoulder.

“Come to my hut and we shall talk about this,” Thormoenia said as she started to walk back towards her hut. Liam looked to the gigantic crowd that had now formed and were watching happily as their leader carried him away.

Thormoenia pulled back the cloth that hung over the entrance of her hut and entered inside. She threw Liam down onto a pile of furs before sitting on a pile of her own. She crossed her legs and watch Liam as he made himself comfortable and checked himself to make sure she didn’t break any bones. He dusted himself off a little before focusing his gaze on Thormoenia.

“Fuck you are remarkably like her” Liam said under his breath. This woman reminded him of someone he used to know almost too much, someone that terrified him to his very core. Even more than any amazon could ever try to.

“So, tell me a little about yourself before we start our negotiations,” Thormoenia said as she leaned the side of her face onto one of her hands. Liam narrowed his eyes at her, studying her posture. He wanted to get a good read on what she was thinking. He had only learnt this recently from a book about criminology.

“I was orphaned from a young age, raised in an orphanage, trained to be a teaching assistant but before I know it, I was drafted into the army and sent to fight the amazons. I get save/captured by Yantraki and like many things in my life before I knew what was happening, I am now her pet.” Liam said, placing himself into a relaxed position of his own to show her he wasn’t scared. He placed his hand onto his lap and put his head back slightly, revealing his neck. This posture was meant to mentally show the other person that he wasn’t afraid of them and didn’t see them as a threat.

Thormoenia leaned forward and looked at Liam’s eyes. She could see the potential that Kenyanire had talked about, but it would take a long time to make him into a worthy member of the tribe. Another problem was that she couldn’t tell if he had potential as a political tool or as something else.

“Another question, why should I listen to what you are going to say,” Thormoenia said, keeping her eyes locked on Liam. Liam thought for a few seconds, he had to make his argument sound as if he wasn’t trying to give the Boruma freedom as that would upset the balance (despite giving them an amount of freedom being the exact thing he was trying to do).

“I wish to use the Boruma in a better way rather than eating,” Liam said. Thormoenia laughed, not breaking her gaze from his eyes for even a second.

“Do you know why we eat the Boruma? It is because they symbolise weakness in our tribe, and due to our religions, we must sacrifice weakness to become strong!” Thormoenia said, laughing her ass off at the idea of Boruma being used in any other way than sex slaves or food.

“Yes, but the Boruma doesn’t have to symbolise weakness, rather they could symbolise labour,” Liam said, making sure to not try and sound as if he was giving the Boruma too much power.

“Explain” Thormoenia, now showing some interest, a huge shit-eating grin still on her face. Liam grimaced slightly, he hated people as smug as her.

“I wish for your hunters to help me set up a sustainable food source. We will do this by capturing some animals of the same spices and keeping them in a field surrounded by thick hedges. The Boruma will look after the animals that I wish to capture and farm, the Boruma will also help out with other duties related to buildings and areas I wish to build.” Liam said, smiling slightly at Thormoenia to show she wasn’t annoying him.

“I see… So, you want us to be your servants?”

“Partners” Liam quickly corrected, not wanting her to twist his words.

“Well then what are we meant to hunt? Why would helping you benefit us? What are you doing in exchange for getting us all to do this?” Thormoenia said, obviously looking for any hole she could in his argument.

“First, tell me your problem,” Liam said leaning forward, a devilish smile on his face.

“What?” Thormoenia said, not understanding the small human.

“What will it take for you to help me? What is a problem you have, I will solve it, then you will solve mine.” Thormoenia smiled at Liam’s proposal. She didn’t have the slightest intention of helping the human, but her master did entrust him to her for a few weeks, so she might as well have some fun with him. But then again, there was a look in his almost demon-like eyes that sent a shiver down even her spine.

“But first may I ask if there are any large animals around her that taste nice and that you also like to hunt, even more than Boruma?” Liam asked.

“Fine, come hunting with me tomorrow and we shall decide. For now, though, relax, I shall think over what you have said, and come up with an answer to your question” Thormoenia said, being too lazy to try and talk to this weirdly confident human.

“Stay here while I get something to drink,” Thormoenia said as she quickly got up and left the hut.

Liam sat on the pile of furs for a while, thinking to himself. He could swear on his life everyone around him was a nutjob. Liam looked gazed around the room. Only now was he taking in the copious amounts of skulls that hung on the walls, skulls of both human, monster and amazon alike. It seemed the people were head-hunters; he could also probably guess they were bone collectors just from looking at the trees outside.

It was times like this where Liam missed home the most. He couldn’t help but wonder what everyone back at the village was doing now, or if the amazons hadn’t kept true to their word and, everyone in his village was dead. It was a dark thought, and probably something so pessimistic he shouldn’t be thinking about during a… Meeting? Diplomatic mission? He wasn’t sure what to call it, but he knew that for whatever he was doing now he needed to be optimistic if he was to succeed.

Liam’s ever-darkening mood must have shown on his face as he felt a slight sting from the slave seal on his chest. He smiled a little, the stinging probably meant that Yantraki was watching him. She had probably given him the shock to try and cheer him up by letting him know she was watching over him, but the possibility that it was just a warning to tell him to try and not sleep with any of the tribes’ women was also very high.

Liam lay on the pile of furs for a while longer, not wanting to have to put in the effort to go outside and ask if there was anything he should do. Liam lay back in the furs and pondered about nothing in particular for a while until a tall Amazonian woman entered.

The woman walked over to Liam and prodded him in the side with the blunt end of her spear.

“Outside, Head-hunter wants to talk,” the woman said in broken English. Snapping out his daze Liam sat up and looked at the amazon for a few seconds. She looked similar to the other warriors, the only difference being that she was taller, probably around Thormoenia’s height.

“Lead the way,” Liam said as he jumped up, putting on the politest smile he could muster in his tiered state, he could barely believe it was still so early in the morning. The amazon turned and lead Liam outside. He was immediately greeted by an overly excited yet sadistic looking crowd of amazons as they watched, as well as followed Liam through the village until they reached another large mud and wood hut. The warrior directed Liam inside the hut, and he quickly complied, wanting to get away from the mob as soon as possible.

Entering the hut Liam was immediately greeted by the scent of burning herbs.

“Fuck” He muttered to himself as he adapted to the strong scent. Gazing around the room, his eyes soon landed on Thormoenia, who sat alongside several other amazons around a small wooden stage that Liam could probably only just stand on without falling off. Thormoenia waved a hand, gesturing Liam over. Liam stood by the side of the amazon and gazed at her curiously as she was handed a bowl of green paint by one of her warriors.

“Strip” Thormoenia instructed as she pointed for Liam to sit on the wooden slab.

“You mean sit right?” Liam said walking over and taking a seat in the middle of the amazons.

“No, I mean take off your clothes, we wish to take you hunting, but first we must see what kind of body you have to decide who should be your guards,” Thormoenia said. Liam sighed, he knew Yantraki was watching and would probably activate the slave seal the second he started to strip let alone let these amazons touch him. Liam undid the buttons on his shirt and showed them the slave seal.

“My apologies, but I can’t, Yantraki would probably kill me,” Liam said, trying to say this in a joyful tone. Trying to lighten the mood Liam kept his kind smile present as the amazons started to talk amongst one another. Thormoenia grabbed Liam off the wooden slab and sat him next to her.

“Sit here, we are discussing what to do with you. After all men in our village are usually… disposed of.” Thormoenia said, in an unintentionally menacing tonality. Liam sat quietly as the savage-looking amazons carried on their lengthy conversation. Liam could feel a slight shiver run down his spine now and then when one, or two of the warriors stared at him for a few seconds without speaking, before carrying on their conversation as if nothing happened.

Thormoenia seemed to notice the small Liam’s growing uneasiness as she placed a hand on his head.

“Calm yourself human, only a few of my daughters wish to eat you, the majority do want to torture you though…” Thormoenia said, thinking she was helping the situation somehow. The amazons talked for what felt like hours. Liam’s dreary eyes were slowly shutting with each breath he took. He had been waiting so long he could feel his consciousness begging for rest. Thormoenia put a handout and ruffled the boy’s hair to keep him awake.

“Stay awake, otherwise there is no telling what an amazon might do to an adorable defenceless boy.” Thormoenia joked, prodding Liam in the side to help keep him awake.

“Sorry, I’m just tired from listening to you all talk, your language is oddly relaxing at times,” Liam said, giving Thormoenia an exhausted yet cheerful smile.

Thormoenia sighed as she stared at him, he was too young and innocent to be around her warriors unattended, they would surely eat him alive; much like she did to her sons when they came of harvesting age. Thormoenia couldn’t help but think the small human that sat next to her was probably soon to reach that age as well. He was almost as good looking as them as well, too bad she couldn’t eat him though. Kenyanire has told her to watch over him and keep him said, and no matter the circumstance not to devour or kill him.

Staring at the boy, Thormoenia couldn’t understand why Kenyanire had such affection towards him. Men, and especially humans were just food for amazons. Simple toys to be fucked then eaten, yet her closes friend and the most ferocious warrior she'd ever met now spoke of this boy as if he was something special. Thormoenia couldn’t see too much in the boy herself, but she had to admit she could see a look of fire in his eyes. Placing her hand onto Liam’s back Thormoenia started to mutter a spell.

Her eyes widened as the spell activated. The spell was to see someone’s potential as a member of the tribe, this would manifest as a flame Thormoenia would see come from the subjects back. The spell would allow Thormoenia to see a certain colour to see his level of potential. Red usual meant warrior, blue meant magic, green meant hunter or entertainer, and purple or pink meant war dancer. These were all the colours she would usually see, but when she touched Liam, she saw a different coloured flame. The flame was a mix of silver and orange. Thormoenia smiled, she saw why Kenyanire found him so interesting now. She still wasn’t sure if the small human was worth her time, but she was now much more open to the idea of finding out.

“Hey…” Liam squeaked out through painful breaths. Thormoenia looked at the now sweating boy with confusion.

“What is it small one,” She asked, wondering if he was ill.

“Can you take your hand off my back, Yantraki seems to have noticed and is activating the slave seal.” Thormoenia laughed and removed her hand, stopping the spell.

“You look hungry? Would like to pick the Boruma we sacrifice tonight?” Thormoenia asked, yet again trying to be polite and failing miserably. Liam snarled slightly. He was trying his hardest to try and act polite, despite the observatory Thormoenia had just said.

“No, I am very against the eating of Boruma, it is one of the reasons I wish to make a farm to create a sustainable source of food,” Liam explained in the kindest and calmest voice he could muster from his anger-filled state.

“I see” Thormoenia muttered, slightly annoyed that a mere human had just turned down one of the biggest honours of their tribe. Thormoenia’s eyes widened with joy as a sudden idea popped into her head. The perfect idea to see if he was worth her time.

“If you don’t want us to eat the Boruma tonight, then come with me and my warriors and help capture something else to eat,” Thormoenia said, a devious smile on her lips. Liam gulped, he was terrified to even be around these people in the first place, let alone in a dark jungle with monsters as well as them. Despite his uneasiness, Liam nodded.

“Fuck it, if I die might as well be for a good reason,” Liam said, accepting the challenge.