It was cold and dark in the ice mines of the unnamed one. The breath of the twelve women rose like smoke from little fires. They huddled around the small heater for warmth. The wooden bowls and utensils from their meager dinner were stacked neatly nearby. They kept their thoughts to themselves and did not speak to each other unless it was in soft whispers as the sound of voices carried far into the caverns. They had learned that attracting attention was not wise and many among them bore scars to prove it. All but one, the new girl had no love for men. She carried her head high and proud, with a muscular build and long brown hair. She had arrived two days ago and had let no single man touch her. It took ten men to bring her to the cave. Even though she had been bound hand and foot she was a handful for all of them. They had held her down to put on the collar, she had twisted in their grip and kneecapped two of them with one swift double footed kick. With her in the cave no one man would set foot alone in there again. She looked at the other women with disdain when they told her how long some had been held captive. She was amazed that none of them had attempted escape.

She wore a dark blue jumpsuit made of a thick shiny material. Woven into the suit were many panels of shining gold tinted steel that could only be battle armor. On the right shoulder was a patch with a single pink rose on a red background with a the initials PMS underneath. She had a stern look on her face and the other women in the cave left her alone. All but Lisbeth, who asked: "Where have you come from?" The grim faced woman looked at Lisbeth and said: "I was on leave from my sisters and while visiting my family we were attacked. Many were killed and some of us were taken captive." "What is your name?" asked Lisbeth. "I am called Lady Death, I am one of the Slayers of Men. Soon my sisters will come for me and we will lay waste to this entire region." "Not so loudly," whispered Lisbeth "they will hear you and come to punish us for speaking treason." Lady Death stood up and looked to the door: "Let them come, I have a little surprise prepared for them!" Lisbeth shook her head and said no more. She had been imprisoned here a long time. She looked over at the others huddled near the warmth of the heater. She closed her eyes and remembered.

When the evil Kuy had torn her from her home he had brought her to his dungeon and then had taken her to another device which took her from her very world. They had arrived in the middle of a wasteland. The surrounding encampment was huge and thousands of men were milling about or marching to far off locations on the plain. Smoke rose from the distant surrounding hills and it seemed the very earth itself had been scarred in some dreadful battle with huge gashes in the hillside glowing red and spewing forth steam and smoke at irregular intervals. In the center of the plain was a large hill with a darkness that shrouded the top from the view of those on the plain. She could sense it's presence from afar. The rest of the prisoners were pushed into pits with grates on top. She was carried to a nearby encampment and Kuy drug her into his tent. He threw her onto the floor and closed the flap behind him. "Tomorrow you will be wed to me and soon you will bear my sons." He said. Lisbeth looked up at him defiantly and told him: "Never will you have me, I would sooner die." Kuy laughed and struck her with the back of his gauntlet. She fell unconcious to the floor and lay there in the filth of Kuy's tent until the morning. When she awoke she found that she was being dragged out of the tent and over to an altar in the open air. The altar was made of stone and wood. In the front panel was a symbol of a lidless eye. Blood was on the altar as if some recent living sacrifice had been performed. Men in dark blue robes surrounded them and parted for the entrance of Kuy. She looked up at her captors and saw no faces in the hoods of the robes as they were deep hoods with a black hem that drooped over the face of each monk. One entered the circle dressed differently from the others. He had no hood and his eyes were red as if an inner flame burnt behind them. He was old and withered with long sparse white hair on his head. His face was the shape of a sun bleached skull, it appeared that he could not close his lips over his teeth as his skin was so dry and tight on his horrible face. He began to speak in a tongue that she had not heard before. As his voice rose above the din on the plain she saw a small blue light begin to flicker above the altar, it grew in size until it was as large as a man's head.

Out of the spinning blue ball of light came a voice, a voice that was more of a shriek than speech. The monks all knelt and Lisbeth felt frozen as if she was in the grip of an icy spell. She heard Kuy speak and then the old man. Then she heard herself speak a language which she did not know. She looked deeper into the ball and then the whole view began to spin. She fell to the ground and knew no more.

She awoke in a rough bed with a tent for a roof. As she took in her surroundings she knew that Kuy had consummated their unholy marriage the day before. How long had she lain here and what was to become of her and her family, she wondered. Sitting up she heard the stays on the tent flaps being undone. In walked Kuy, he was dressed for battle and wore his weapon at his side. "What have you done to me?!!" Lisbeth screamed. She lunged at him and he grabbed her throat and held her at arms length. "You may as well get used to it, we are married and you will soon bear my son." She struggled even harder and began to gasp for air as Kuy's grip tightened. "Guards, take this awful wench and bind her!" he said. In came two men dressed in the gear of the lidless eye. They promptly tied her and Kuy said: "Perhaps when I return from this battle you will reconsider all that I can give you and learn to respect your new master." She spat in his direction and he left her with the two guards, laughing as he strode out the door.

She waited several days until the guards returned to take her to a new place. She walked with them, her head bowed in sorrow as they approached the gate. They stepped on the anvil and arrived at a place covered with snow and ice. She was escorted into a palace of ice and locked in a room with a view of an ice plain with a grey sky. The sun never shone on this place and the wind and the snowfall was all that was visible through her small window. The furnishings were elaborate but sterile. She was attended by other maidens who had been captured in the same way she had been taken from her home. She learned from them that Kuy had many wives all taken in the same way. She was kept in this room for months until she was ready to give birth to this child that she did not want. She had planned to kill the child as soon as it was born. Her desire to slay Kuy himself grew with every passing day. She had no idea where her family was and she was under constant guard as it was suspected that she planned to take her own life and that of her unborn child.

When the day came she was led into a room with many guards surrounding her. Two midwives were present and the pains had begun. In what seemed an eternity she gave birth to a small child. The child was taken from her immediately and there seemed to be a heated discussion going on over the newborn in the cradle. She could not catch all that was being said but she could make out that the midwives were worried about something. The leader of the guards in the room left and returned soon with Kuy on his heels. The group stood back from Kuy as he looked into the cradle and inspected the crying child. He looked up at the guard captain and told him in a displeased voice: "Take the mother and this thing to the mines and leave them in with the others!" A midwife picked up the baby and carried it to Lisbeth who had no desire to touch any offspring of Kuy's. As she looked at the naked infant she realized that this child was a girl. No wonder Kuy had been upset. As soon as she cradled the infant in her arms she fell in love with the child. This little gift from the heavens was what would keep her hope alive in the dark days to come.

She looked at the small group huddled near the heater and walked over to put her hand on the shoulder of her daughter, Sharra. "Soon it will be over." she said. Sharra looked up at her mother and smiled. Always pleasant and optimistic, Sharra had been a quiet child with her mother's eyes and a bright smile. She had never known any life other than this and was protected by all of the women in the cave. No less protection came from Lisbeth's friend Denia who had taught Sharra how to read and write. Denia smiled at both of them and moved a little closer to the heater. Though Lady Death had not seen it yet, she was in the company of women of strength. Through years of adversity these women had formed bonds that could never be broken. Lisbeth thought of the brave stranger who had come a week ago. She wondered if he had escaped alive to fetch Corin and their mighty army. She was afraid to hope as it sounded like he had been caught in the hall of the gates.

Lady Death was undoing part of her breastplate to reveal a small hidden pocket in her jumpsuit. She pulled out a small box and walked over to Lisbeth. "Let me try to defuse the collar, I would try it on my own but I can not see my hands when I try to open the latch." Lisbeth said: "You are welcome to try but I have been unable to remove it for years." "We'll see about that." said Lady Death as she opened her box to reveal a device much like a tuning fork. She twisted the end of the handle and the small device began to hum. As she pushed the forked end up under the catch of the collar a small snick was heard and the collar dropped to the floor. Lisbeth was amazed and said: "How did you learn to do that?!" Lady Death said: "We don't have much time but I will teach all of you many things in the short time we do have. I will need all of your help if we are to escape from this place." One by one she unclasped each of the collars and then had the women pull a loose string from their garments to tie them back on as if they were still in use. "Weapons surround us," said Lady Death "we need to tear that blanket into strips and pick up some of those ice boulders over there against the wall." With her help they made the strips of cloth and the ice into flails that could be swung with some force and still could be hidden under their fur garments. This woman was a fierce warrior and as she pushed one of the wooden bowls into the snow at the wall she said. "Look how easily this will stove in a man's head, no skull is as thick as this bowl." With a mighty swing she cracked the bowl into two parts and sent them spinning on the icy floor. "That should do!" said Lady Death. "Now we need a few of them to come in here armed with their weapons, I have a use for them."

Lisbeth motioned them all to be quiet as heavily booted feet could be heard coming up the hallway and would soon be in the doorway. Lady Death said: "Hide your weapons in your clothing and wait for my signal to attack. If they are unarmed we will wait until some come with weapons, on this all depends." The sound of the boots grew closer and closer. Lisbeth clenched her fist around the cloth strips that made the handle of her weapon. Clenching her teeth she looked at Denia and Sharra, they were ready.

Saxon felt the cold steel cut into his neck and a warm drop of blood ran down into his shirt. He kept absolutely still. The voice had been that of a woman and he felt that she was not alone. The voice spoke again: "Who are you and what are you doing here?" Saxon cleared his throat and decided to take a chance. Not a foolhardy chance, but a diplomatic one. He said: "If you took the time to know me you would probably find that you like me." The blade stayed at his throat and the voice said: "Turn around slowly." Saxon turned and to his amazement saw eight women dressed for battle with their weapons trained on him. Their leader stepped forward and he could see a brand on her shoulder that matched the talisman he wore about his neck. Dark skinned, tall and muscular they had a familiar look to them. He had never heard of women warriors before and was amazed to behold them all. He was outmatched and he knew it. This was no way for a Defender to die, he had so much more to do.

To Be Continued..................