Attack of the Amazons Read Free

sturdy. Some were towering giants. Some had come on foot. Some, like the Sleepers, had come by ship.
    The Sleepers met a pair of Gemini twins that they had shared an adventure with, and they had just started to exchange stories when Dave whispered, “Look, there’s Goél.”
    All of them turned to see a man wearing a light gray robe, with the hood thrown back, step up onto a mound where he could be seen by everyone. It was impossible to guess his age. He could have been anywhere between twenty-five and fifty-five. He had smooth, tanned cheeks and a pair of thoughtful brown eyes, well-socketed, and his long brown hair fell back over his robe. There was an athletic strength about him but also a gentleness in his countenance that one could not miss.
    He spoke, and his voice was clear and penetrating, so that it carried back to the far reaches of the crowd.“You’re welcome here, one and all,” he said and looked around as a slight smile tugged at his lips. “Some of you have come a long distance and are tired. I wish that I could promise you a long rest, but I’m afraid my summons calls you to labors even more arduous than those you have already known.”
    â€œOh, me!” Jake groaned. “I know what that means. Off on another adventure.”
    â€œHush up, Jake,” Josh said irritably. “You’re always complaining.”
    â€œOur task is difficult,” Goél continued. “The Dark Lord has spread his venom into every corner of Nuworld. Even now he is assembling an army, the like of which you have never seen. Soon he will have his forces gathered and will throw them against us in one mighty attempt to crush those who believe in the old ways.”
    A cry went up. “He can’t beat us, Goél. Not as long as you’re our leader.”
    Goél smiled as others joined in the encouraging cries. When they died down, he said gently, “It is difficult for a commander to send his soldiers into battle, knowing that some of them will not survive. And I must warn you that in the battle to come, many of you will perish. I know you too well to allow you an opportunity to leave, for you have proved your worth time and time again.”
    Here, his eyes seemed to rest on the Seven Sleepers—but later Josh found out that every soldier in that mighty group had the same feeling. Somehow Goél had the ability to speak to a large crowd and yet make each member of it feel that he alone was being addressed.
    Goél continued to talk of the preparations that had to be made, and they were momentous indeed. Hespoke of plans, of weapons that must be formed, of strategy. Finally he said softly, though everyone could hear him, “The enemy thinks only in terms of large armies, and, indeed, he has the numbers at his beck and call. But I tell you that it is not always the largest army that wins. The race is not always to the swift, nor the battle to the strong.”
    His voice rose then with an authority that caused a thrill to run through Josh. He stood upright and hung on every word.
    â€œAnd the battles that are to come may well be the kind in which one person or one small group is able to turn the tide from defeat to victory. When you receive your assigned task, it may seem small and unimportant to you, but it is not, I tell you. Every sword counts. Even those who seem unimportant and feeble are worthy in my sight, for the House of Goél is my pride.”
    The Seven Sleepers joined in the cheers that smote the morning air.
    Josh cheered himself almost hoarse, and then, when Goél dismissed them, he turned to Sarah and said, “I never understand who he is or what he is—but he’s not like any man I know.”
    Sarah said thoughtfully, “He’s more than a man, Josh. No man could do the things that he does.”
    The crowd broke up, and the Sleepers headed back to the village where they would await Goél’s summons to receive their