Short Summary from Story One:
Amerlin was one of four queens that ruled in the Forest Valley Amazon Nation and had been involved in a four way bitter war when word came that a new threat had appeared in the form of Queen Contrez from the distant ‘Smoking Mountains’ who brought with her more fighters than the remaining four queens had combined, and divided as they were it would be easy for them to over run the individual queens. To save them all Amerlin called for the Duel of the Queens to fight among themselves until only one had survived to rule the entire Amazon nation. Amerlin would end up as that one queen and she had maybe three to four months before the invading army arrived and she had to prepare for them.

The next three weeks, Amerlin found herself wanting to be a lot more active physically than she was, but with busted ribs and other injuries sustained from the battle she just won on the sacred isle, that made her the sole queen over them all she had to settle for essentially administrative work while her body finished healing. She soon enough found that even this could take a lot of her time as she considered and then appointed a new ‘chieftess’ for each of the four villages including her own so she could concentrate on the more ‘queenly’ matters at hand. She also re-organized the fighting groups in each village setting new leaders over them that met her ideas and style of how all the fighters of all villages combined should fight and got them busy training so they would be ready when the invading army did arrive in a couple more months. Finally, there was the matter of the two remaining spies which she had transferred to her village and began to closely question them for information about the approaching army it’s make up, numbers and who led them. For the most part, they refused to offer anything except little bits of information that she slowly began to piece together, but most of it remained locked behind closed lips, and as she was finally cleared by the priestess as being fit and in good health she took the interrogation to the more drastic levels of bringing them to her ‘special chamber’.
One and then a couple days later the other spy was brought to the chamber not knowing what to expect and found themselves facing a very angry queen who went directly to the attack, but this time knowing she had some time, the breaking of each spy was much slower and more methodical than the first endured. Both eventually would crack and yield all they had to the queen as she established and maintained virtual domination over them, and in the end as befitting the fate of any spy, executed them herself. As she left the chamber after finishing with the second one and had her dragged away, she went to her council room and considered what she had learned and called for her councilors as well as the warrior leaders of all four villages, all being assembled there a week later as she briefed them on her information and they began to prepare for the attack.
The army of their enemy consisted of a mixture of both fair skinned people unlike their own dark skin as well as dark skinned ones like themselves though the ratio of fair to dark was about five to one. The information suggested at least nine thousand to ten thousand would be attacking and this compared to the less than eight thousand she had available at present. The numbers gave them an edge as did the metal swords they used in close combat versus the short bows and spears and war clubs they used. The arrows of her bows could allow some attacking from a distance before they could close enough and the hope was that would cause them to lose more than enough to even the odds. The queen herself sounded something like a giantess of legends described by both spies as easily a head and neck taller maybe more than her and close to half again her weight and all of it solid flesh and muscle. This queen Contrez seemed to fear almost nothing from what clues she had gained and was more than decent at fighting in the open, but perhaps lacked knowledge for fighting in the heavy woods that made up most of their forest valley kingdom.
It was clear that both sides no matter which tactic they used would inflict heavy casualties on both sides and until they got a better feel for how they fought, it was perhaps anyone’s fight a feeling that Amerlin didn’t care for at all. It was getting well in to the summer season as the advance scouts she had out there came racing in to advise the army was about two weeks out and moving slowly towards them. When they did arrive, they immediately set up a camp on the high plateau a good five or more mile away from the forests edge showing good tactics for not being too close to possible ambush.
The plans were made to try and score an early win to rattle them but it involved risking about half their archers and some fighters. In the morning the attacking army formed a pair of columns about a mile apart and started towards the forest close to a thousand in each of them. They were met by Amerlin’s 600 who came from the forest the fighters out front half hiding the archers but their presence caused both columns to bend inwards towards them to attack and as soon as they were in range the arches let go with a veritable storm of arrows to both sides in quick order dropping a couple hundred and then all retreated in to the forest behind them, the angry troops in hot pursuit. A few archers did die as the army caught up to them as they turned and fired again, but they did so willingly as they led them a couple miles in and then Amerlin closed her own trap as the remaining archers rose to either side and fired their arrows in an onslaught that caught many flatfooted and then the warriors rose and charged from both sides and the remnants quickly regrouped and turned to flee the forest unable to handle the two sided trap they were in, Of the close to 2,000 that entered the forest a bit over 1,000 made it out alive and a couple hundred of them had serious wounds making them not so useful for future fighting anytime soon.
It was the first fight, it would not be the last as over the next couple months, smaller fights of smaller groups from a couple dozen to a couple hundred attempted the forest and many died but so did the Forest Amazons and both sides soon would find out that the attacking army could not sustain the losses much longer. Amerlin had several captured prisoners from the fighting and soon discovered that the people of the smoking mountain were in desperate need for a new home and place to take care of their people, some kind of disaster had occurred and the land could barely sustain the people now. Queen Contrez hearing of this kingdom decided to take it and use it to her people’s advantage and salvation even if she had to wipe out those there already.
Problem was, the food supplies they brought with them was also running low, and Contrez’s army could barely get any food from the forest before being beaten back, and if she did not succeed in the next couple of weeks, she would be forced to retreat to reach her home land before what they had left gave out on them. All signs pointed to a massive attack soon as a desperate last attempt to gain access to the forest, one that could possibly wipe one or both sides out on the battleground or leave the survivors so weakened they could not defend their homeland any more. Plans were quickly made to establish most of her army along expected routes in to block any attack, and she was going to be among them as she had been for many of the fights to direct the defense and send them home in defeat.
Shouts at the edge of the village however interrupted the planning and a runner came in with news that a small group of the other camp had entered the forest showing the signs of a truce and were being escorted here even now to speak to the queen. They would soon arrive and as Amerlin asked them why they were there, the leader of their group said, “Queen Contrez has sent us to seek out you Queen Amerlin and ask for a face to face meeting between her and you in a place that is both neutral and safe to discuss the war and how to possibly end it.”
Slowly and deliberately Amerlin allowed them to wait outside as she conferred with her own people. This truce and one on one talk did not sound like the style of Contrez as many had seen her in battle as well, including Amerlin and she had indeed matched the physical description of her foe. Yet if she was willing to talk, she was willing to listen. She decided to use the sacred isle on the Sur River as the meeting point, but she also set conditions as well that she may not like. “I will meet with her two days from now shortly after dawn on the sacred isle; if she truly wishes to speak she will come with just two of her guards, and all without weapons. I will have an escort of ten fighting women meet her at the forest’s edge shortly after high moon, and escort her to the river edge; there she will swim out alone to the isle to meet me and say what she has to say and I will listen. These conditions are not negotiable; she can take them or leave them as she wishes.”
It was clear the envoy didn’t like the terms but Amerlin met her angry looks with a firm one of her own and told her, “You will be safely escorted to the forest edge to deliver my response. I suggest you let your queen decide and not you on this matter, nor attempt anything foolish as you are brought back to the safety of the forest’s edge.” It was a clear warning and the envoy took her offer and left. Plans were made to both meet the queen and escort her in as well as have the whole army in place ready for an attack in case they did while the two queens ‘spoke’ to one another.
Surprisingly, it appeared that Queen Contrez might actually be willing to keep the truce in place until they had spoken, as shortly after the envoy returned to the attacking camp all attempts to penetrate the forest also stopped, though Amerlin was not willing to take chances in case it was an attempt to make them lower their vigilance and the plans to have all ready for the possible final battle moved forward with additional orders that the fighters would stay with half of them awake at any time and the other half asleep or resting.
As dawn of the second day approached, Amerlin herself briefly stopped by her own village to clean up a bit from her time in the jungle and then with a half dozen guards of her own in tow, she began the trip towards the sacred isle arriving just before dawn. There, she found a messenger awaiting her from the advance guard with the message that Contrez had apparently accepted and was even now not too far behind and enroute here. In roughly another hour and a half and shortly after dawn had came to the forest, the escort with Contrez made their appearance on the far bank from where Amerlin waited. Stepping forward towards the rivers edge away from her guard Contrez was even from that distance an impressive woman and Amerlin stepped forward in turn and then began to peel off all she wore until she was naked showing she was unarmed and open. For a few seconds, Contrez studied the other queen and then perhaps with a shrug, she stripped down as well and as she finished Amerlin gave a small nod of approval and plunged in to the waters and with sure strokes swam for the sacred isle. A splash of water told her that Contrez had done the same and almost at the same time, both women emerged on the isle from opposite sides and began to stride towards each other stopping just a few paces apart. Seen up close, Amerlin could see just how they could call her a ‘giantess’ easily 6’7” or 6’8” in height she had to weigh close to 260 pounds and there was no fat or flab that Amerlin could see just solidly toned body much like her own.
Contrez for her part was not willing to waste time on small talk and went straight to the matter. “I am no fool, and from what I have seen and heard, know you are not one either. You no doubt know that we must either attack with all we have to secure food and gain a foothold within days or be forced to retreat in defeat to a land that can no longer sustain my people. If this battle happens, both sides will suffer greatly for I will give orders that none surrender and must fight to the death and most of your own fighters will die with us, and your own people will be at the same peril we are lacking the ability to support and protect ourselves. I offer you a chance to avoid this bloodshed by asking you to surrender yourself and your people to me at this time.”
It was a bold and daring request from the queen, but Amerlin didn’t even need to think about the matter. “It was you and your people who came and attacked without provocation, we have lost far to many as a result to just surrender, and even if I did, I would be challenged for the throne and if I fell, the winner would fight even as I am ready to, to drive you back and keep you out of our lands.” Contrez’s face fell though it also showed she was not surprised at the answer. “The same would happen to me” she said, “if I returned in defeat and so many losses as well. Unless you have some other way we can settle this without further bloodshed, then there is a strong chance both our people will be doomed to disappear from this world and forgotten in time.” For the moment, Amerlin considered the other queen and had to ask her, “Why did you choose the course of war then? I heard from prisoners we captured of how you and your land had troubles.” Several seconds passed as Contrez considered how to answer as if she was afraid to divulge some dark and dangerous secret, but then said “What other option would there have been? Had we simply demanded you surrender the land to us, you would have refused and then been forewarned knowing we would then probably attack.” For her part, Amerlin’s voice when she answered was not quite as hard and angry. “If you had demanded as you just said you would, you would have been right. But if you came peacefully and asked to share in the land you may well have found us a lot more willing to consider that within reason.”
Pausing just a few moments to let that sink in, Amerlin continued, “Even if you had on first arrival sought us out and tried to peacefully do this it may well have worked but you chose to attack instead and now there are too many losses for either of us to just surrender to the other.” Contrez sighed, clearly unhappy that the fight would have to go forward and looking around at the isle and perhaps thinking out loud said “This is the sacred isle where you emerged as the one queen in a one on one battle is it not? Did you in asking me to come here to meet be perhaps thinking to resolve this in a similar manner? With one of us dead, the other side would likely win easily with no leader to guide the fight and lead it.”
That got several seconds of silence from Amerlin as she considered those words. The thought had popped briefly in her mind when she had named the place a couple days ago, but quickly forgotten, but now that it had been brought up, she found herself studying her possible foe a lot closer considering how a one on one fight between them may play out. It was certain it would be her hardest fight ever against this much bigger woman and she had to be honest she could easily lose to her, but it was a chance to end the fight without further bloodshed if the two sides agreed the loser side would surrender with no further fighting, and for that, she would willingly put her life on the line to save the rest of her people if possible. Meeting Contrez eye to eye, she replied, “I had thought of it but not in earnest until now, but if such a fight would save our people I am willing to risk it all in a queen’s battle here to the death.”
For the first time, there appeared a spark of hope of a way to resolve this without her people dying as well on Contrez’s face as well, though she also studied carefully her would be foe as she considered it and Contrez asked “Must it be to the death? I would propose a different end result to such a fight that may settle it still and leave us both alive.” Amerlin raised an eyebrow at that, such a fight was normally to the death, but she nodded her head willing to hear the proposal. “Rather than to the death,” Contrez began, “let us fight until one has fully broken the other body and spirit until they not only yield themselves to the victor but also their people as well the full surrender of the loser’s kingdom at stake and the loser further forced in her surrender to become the prize and slave of the winning queen.” The terms were indeed different, and such a fight would also be very long and fierce for both sides as she knew she would have to be broken fully before she unwillingly surrendered her people to the attacking enemy, and instinctively knew Contrez would fight with the same feelings. A death fight could end in minutes, even seconds if someone made a critical error, this would take hours maybe even more than a day if they were evenly matched for fighting skills.
Knowing she might have just made the greatest mistake in her life, Amerlin agreed to the terms of the queen’s duel to the total breaking of the loser, and added a couple extra terms that it be at dawn in three days time and she would be escorted in under the same conditions as before but could bring eight of her fighting women with her. She also had to agree to a full cease fire until their fight was over and pull what was left of her camp back another two miles from the forest in the meantime. Contrez didn’t even pause to consider the requests and agreed to them at once, the point that she was willing to do this to avoid further bloodshed was not lost on Amerlin.
The ‘negotiations’ all completed, it was time for Contrez to be returned to her attacking war camp, but as she turned and began to head for the water, she turned back towards Amerlin and asked her if she would object to “grant me a favor so that I have a better measure of you, and you of me for the fight, a small fight of sorts for now if you are willing.” The request got a frown and almost a scowl from Amerlin and she replied, “I have given orders to my people that if you prove treacherous during this truce meeting and attack now, or your people attack trying to use this meeting as a diversion, your two guards would be slain on the spot and word sent to my watchful warriors to attack, your request may well trigger this event, are you willing to risk that?”
Now it was Contrez’s turn to frown and after a few seconds she nodded yes and spoke. “A good and sound tactical move on your part, and my compliments. But what I had in mind should in theory not be misinterpreted. Still just to be safe may I suggest calling a guard of your over and give amended orders that they do this only if a serious fight broke out between us? What I have in mind would not be serious or dangerous in the eyes and minds of most.” Amerlin’s own eyes narrowed as she considered the request. Contrez was trying to be accommodating, and she decided to trust her for now on this. Taking a couple of precautionary steps back, she called one guard from both sides to come to the isle and directly before Contrez so she could hear her amended her orders as “Contrez and I are going to try something here, you will not react or attack per my earlier orders unless this for some reason turns dangerous for us or becomes noticeably violent, if it does, then proceed as my earlier orders stood.” And then dismissed them back to the two sides and waited until they returned and had time to relay her commands.
That done, she turned full attention back to Contrez and asked her what she had in mind. Contrez while this had been happening had herself been looking around the immediate area and pointed towards a small nearby rise and asked Amerlin to stand there and face her. Curious but still somewhat mistrustful, Amerlin did this and then Contrez putting her hand and arms behind her back stepped forward and closed until they were barely a foot apart and face to face. She could easily see the distrustful look on Amerlin’s face her own hands still by her side and slightly raised as if expecting treachery of some kind, but Contrez was confident enough of what she had in mind and took a small slow step forward and their bodies came in to contact with each other and in particular as she had planned it, the contact was breast to breast.
The move and placement got a raised eyebrow from Amerlin and she realized the fight that Contrez had in mind, and her own hands and arms slowly went behind her own back and grasped each other and she pressed slightly in to Contrez with her own breasts to see if this what she had in mind. The look in her eyes and on her face was clear that she had guessed right, and she half smiled herself. Breast dueling was a very common practice among the warrior women even among her own people, and often used to establish a sort of pecking order among some of the warrior women.
Apparently, such practices existed among Contrez’s women as well, and she wanted to test the two of them in this duel and realized she had chosen her spot to deliberately put their bodies at even heights to offset the height difference between them ensuring a fair start to the fight. Such duel’s usually was until one either pancaked the other’s breasts with their own, or made the other climax first through a deft series of thrusts and grinding tactics of their breasts to the others. Amerlin had herself done this several times and won most of hem, and she was willing to try now and pressed harder in to Contrez and she was matched as they slowly began to press harder and harder seeking initially to pancake the other by pure body pressure.
For about three minutes both women leaned in to the attack watching between them as the breasts on both sides slowly crushed under the pressure but neither was so weak as to completely pancake under these conditions, and then reacting to the crushing stimulation their bodies reacted pumping more blood to the breasts and slowly they began to rise and grow, the erotic sensations also starting to grow with it, and it was time to move in to that part of the duel. Contrez saw this as well and she initiated it with a swaying motion making their breasts push to one side or the other and occasionally thrust upwards with her breasts against Amerlin. She in turn allowed it and more or less matched her adding her own upward thrusts when she felt the time was right and added from time to time a twisting grinding motion as well from one breast to the other, and the breaths of both women soon sped up and became short gasps as they felt the sensation of a climax rising in them and strained to suppress it even as they tried to bring the other woman’s up and make her climax.
Even as they did this, from time to time either would suddenly switch to the direct crush tactic seeking the pancake, another tactic often used to throw the other off as under certain erotic conditions despite the engorged breasts they could suddenly deflate under hard pressure and then a pancake win would be scored. It was not working for either however here and both were getting close to a climax when a harder than usual push from Contrez seeking a pancake made Amerlin stumble back a couple paces as she lost her balance on the slope and immediately stepped forward ready to resume the little duel between them. Contrez however held a hand up signaling a stop, her face a definite smile and her breath a bit short she said “I’m very temped to continue this and wish we could lock arms around each other adding the crush to the fight, but your guards may not like that. A draw for now between us on this, but if you are willing, when we meet formally in a couple days, care to allow the crush and pick up this fight where we left off to start our breaking of each other?” Amerlin didn’t answer out loud, but the smile was on her face at the invite scored home and it was apparent she was willing to do that. Contrez smiled in turn and said “Until then my future slave, I’m definitely going to enjoy having you as mine when this is over and I rule us all.” And then she ran towards the water and dove in swimming for her shore and her waiting escort and began to dress for the return trip to her camp.
Clearly bemused, Amerlin swam back to her side and after dressing crossed the river herself and met with the leaders of her warriors watching the others and told them of the pending queen’s duel and the agreed to truce in the meantime, giving additional orders that a group of hunters were to go in the forest and kill a dozen food animals, and under a flag of truce deliver them to Queen Contrez so she and her people had some meat for at least this night. That done, she returned to her own village arriving near nightfall herself and sent messengers to each village of the coming duel and giving orders that if she lost the fight, the villages should surrender peacefully. By right and what was proper, Amerlin would normally have returned to the woods herself to share in the watch over the enemy, but with this fight for it all, she found herself sleeping in her own bed at the village and for once she slept good, and arranged in the morning for a select few of her fighting women, the larger ones she knew of, to quickly come to her village to train with her for the upcoming fight, including the possible if not probable opening gambit.
The time until the new Queen’s duel arrived a lot sooner than Amerlin would have preferred, and despite a desire for more practice, she had called it a night early the night before to get as much rest as possible before the fight itself, realizing she would need every bit of it for this one. It was not expected that Queen Contrez would arrive until close to high sun if she started in to the woods at dawn, yet Amerlin rose barely at dawn herself and collected her own ten guards and the young priestess and set out for her meeting with fate then as well despite the sacred isle being barely two hours away, and once there settled herself and her escort under the trees to wait for whatever the Warrior Goddess would give her and Contrez when she arrived.
Either Contrez herself had arrived at the forests edge before dawn to start in, or else she had pushed herself and her escort hard to get to the sacred isle for she arrived a good hour and a half early herself, and promptly when she saw Amerlin rise from where she sat went to rivers edge and stripped down and plunged in heading for the isle and the battle between them, Amerlin herself hard pressed to quickly strip and match her pace to arrive at the isle at the same time and followed on both sides by the guards of hers to serve as the circle around the two queens to keep them fighting together until it was over.
Contrez as she emerged scowled as she saw the approaching guards and the priestess from both sides and turned her anger directly on Amerlin believing she had been tricked. Amerlin realizing that there had been no attempt to explain this part of the ritualistic battle quickly explained their presence but realizing the guard presence was also all hers and none of Contrez decided the rules here could be broken as well. Raising her voice so all could hear her she declared. “This is a matter between two queens of honor, there shall be no guards to keep us here on this isle, return to your respective sides and stand your watch there should one of us show the heart of a coward and spear her is she comes ashore there.” That took care of the guards and left the matter of the one priestess herself who also held once more the circlet of the one queen in her young hands. Her presence she explained was that of the neutral party and as the eyes and ears of the Warrior Goddess that they both acknowledged. Only she could, formally confirm that one of them had formally and properly surrendered to the other and would proclaim for all to hear and then crown the victor. Her presence was proper, and even Contrez when she heard her mission was more than agreeable to have her stay on the isle as a neutral and impartial watcher and declarer of the winner.
Amerlin had over the last couple of days realized that Contrez loved challenge and dares from what she saw, and had learned as well from reports she got the last couple of days, and decided to use this to possibly give her an edge by throwing dares at her that she felt might work in her favor, and even before the priestess could begin her formal declaration, she held her hand up to stop her and speaking to Contrez said she wanted to change the winning conditions just a bit to make it perhaps harder and ensure a full fight from them both. That got a quizzical look from the bigger woman but she nodded her head willing to hear the offer and Amerlin knowing the extra risk threw it out with as much boldness as possible.
The terms to lose the fight shall remain the same, and the loser must still make her declarations as we discussed and agreed to, but the winner I want to also have a say in this, if she feels there is still fight in her or she had not fought hard enough she has the right to reject the loser’s claim and force the fight to continue until either she is herself satisfied, or the one declaring her loss manages to reverse the situation and she in turn accepts the loss from the person who had refused her earlier.” It was a bold move, as it would ensure neither simply gave up and if they did and the winner felt it was not right she could reject it so they had to give their all and lose it all to either win or lose. The extra clause brought a slow smile to the face of Contrez, “I like your style Amerlin, win or lose this will be a fight to go in to the tales told for many generations to come for both our people. I agree to it.” The priestess also hearing this also accepted this understanding now she could not make her own declaration until one had formally surrendered and the other in turn had accepted it, and was not forced to accept it instead.
The new terms agreed to, she had then to step away a few paces formally and standing between them held the circlet of the one queen high and made the formal declarations in a loud and clear voice that carried to all, even those across the waters and then shouted “Begin” and stepped away from them both allowing them to start what could be the most important battle to ever take place on the sacred isle in all of history.
Immediately as was habit, Amerlin dropped in to a partial crouch when facing an opponent in combat and began to circle. Contrez though reminded her of the offered resuming of the breast fight including crushing hugs and she rose and nodded acceptance and the two moved to where it had started a couple days ago and slowly stepped together and set breast to breast wove their arms mirror style around each other in a bearhug and settled their grips. Looks and messages passed unspoken between their eyes as they locked and then at the same moment arms tightened to full power for them both and twin cries of pain rang out as the battle began in earnest. Both women immediately pouring full strength to the bearhug trying to crush the other’s breasts literally in the first few seconds, causing both to throw their heads back at the intense pain and seeking air almost completely denied by both but still allowed in short supply so the other would not pass out at this early stage of the fight.
Within seconds however the heads came down as they sought to control their own pain and each other as they watched between them as their breasts responded to the intense attack on them and quickly softened and began to mash down, willing them to not yield all the way as they tried to outlast the effort before their breasts began to respond to the intense pressure. It was looking like Contrez who had a slightly larger pair close to a pair of 40DD’s had the edge her, but Amerlin’s own were barely smaller, a pair of 39DD’s in fact and while they softened they would not yield fully and after the first couple of minutes, the erotic sensations kicked in for both women sending blood to the breasts and causing them to swell for now ending the initial pancake stage of the duel and they began to thrust and grind against each other seeking to force the climax that could cause the breasts to collapse from the erotic release.
Much as it had been in the first session a couple of days ago, the two women found themselves shifting and adjusting how they used their breasts against the other as they worked to force the other’s state of arousal up seeking the climax, but the arms still locked around each other added a new wrinkle to it keeping the contact very close and both using it to not just add an extra element of the pressure to control it, but also in part to stifle the other’s movements keeping their efforts from becoming too effective. The next half hour would be punctuated by low moans and groans as they struggled to force the other over and to keep themselves from rising too far in turn. The arms soon after that began to play yet another element in their sexual duel used not just to test the other’s breasts with flesh collapsing crushes, but also to literally bring the duel to a brief standstill to allow one or the other to ‘cool off’ when they got too close to a climax by enough pressure to keep the other’s movements frozen as the crush was applied.
Amerlin as the first hour was close to passing, began to strongly suspect she was gaining the edge over her foe as she was resorting to the crushing effect more and more often if the little sounds in her throat and her shortened breath were any real clues she was getting her real close repeatedly and she was countering it with a crush to block it. It was time to try for a slightly different tactic and when the next crush came, she joined the crush herself throwing herself in fully this time to stop her foes breath for a bit before she could fully emerge from the erotic fog to the assault and match the intensity and cut her breath as well. The move worked as her head snapped back and for a couple of seconds her hands and arms faltered and unlocked their own hard grip. It was the opening that Amerlin needed and she slid her outside arm to the inside and locked her in a much stronger hold and easing the crush, suddenly thrust hard forward using her position on the rise and toppled Contrez backwards the two going down to the ground hard and as they hit the breath was knocked from Contrez by Amerlin’s weight over her and she began a fierce grinding and thrusting action combining all the moves she saw seemed to work best on her.

Contrez caught out as she was, laid almost helpless for several critical seconds as Amerlin rapidly built up her sexual attack and then the arms locked again around her stifling the movement and a hard twist rolled Amerlin under and Contrez tried to use the topside position herself. Her smaller foe however had worked this kind of duel from underneath before and was good at it and Contrez found herself gasping as she reached her climax and desperately tried to crush her foe to stop it. The move backfired though as Amerlin literally writhed under her part from the pain but part deliberately grinding in a corkscrew like motion up in to her foe’s breasts and it was enough to trigger Contrez’s climax.
Amerlin had the mini duel but now that she had her, she was not ready to end it yet while she had advantage and a hard roll brought her on top and continued grinding away still even as Contrez still continued to buck from her release and within seconds managed to trigger a second even more violent climatic release from the bigger woman before she groaned and went all but limp.
It was the right time and Amerlin made her own move disentangling herself from her foe and quickly rolling her over on her stomach and straddled her facing the legs. Grabbing them both she bent them back and crossed then in to an X and then locked her hands and arms around the legs just below the knees and drew her up and back in to a Boston Crab style hold that had the legs of her foe locked in a manner where she could not apply a power thrust to break free and reefed her way back, arching her back at a very painful level and dug in by shifting to a deep crouch to hold her there slowly rocking her back and forth breaking the back down as a part of her own goals to ground the bigger woman and deprive her the use of standing style holds where she would have an advantage over her in this long fight.
The new pain to her back quickly broke the erotic fog Contrez was in, and she found herself in a bad situation as she tried to thrust free and was effectively blocked even as she also tried to push up on her hands to take the pressure off only to have Amerlin drive back harder on her position forcing her not only down but the arch a bit deeper. Slow minutes passed as Amerlin worked the hold and kept her foe trapped under her as she struggled to get out. Contrez was no fool in such fighting tactics and she knew what Amerlin was trying and did her best to escape but was not succeeding and she was slowly weakening under the assault on her back, and slowly being driven to the point where she was close to passing out from the strain and pain.
Amerlin however was not looking for such an action, she was watching carefully as she felt the struggles weaken and judging she had her weakened enough, she dropped the crab like hold and went to the next attack at once from right there. Standing up as she let go, Amerlin grabbed the legs to keep them Locked in the X pattern and stepped between her foes legs before thrusting her foes legs between her own and locked the ankles behind her calves and leaned back in to the hold. That got a scream of pain from Contrez as the new pressure hit both her knees and lower legs straining both as Amerlin leaned back letting her body weight do all the damage with no effort from her at all except to keep her arms up and away from Contrez’s grabbing hands as she desperately tried to grab them to jerk her to one side and off balance to break the hold. For now, Amerlin seemed to be holding the distinct edge, but the fight was yet young and she knew she had to break the whole body if she was going to win this fight, and there would be many chances for the tables to be turned on her and then she would be trapped as Contrez used her holds in turn.
Contrez was herself frustrated at her loss of control and the fact she had now taken a fair bit of damage already first to her back and now her legs. Cursing hard, she swore at Amerlin and told her “You will pay for this one bitch, I will return the favor of this hold and make you pay in full and more!” Amerlin had no doubt of it, but she half mocked her foe in turn with, “In time it probably will, but for now it’s you who has to suffer from my skills!” That got yet another curse and a dangerous attempt to power roll the two of them, but Amerlin was expecting it and twisted in the opposite direction the pressure on the legs and knees suddenly rising to the point they almost blew the knee out of the socket and Contrez within a second or three abandoned the attempt to avoid such an injury. Slowly, Amerlin worked this leg breaker hold knowing she had her and if held long enough could half cripple her for several long and critical minutes where she would have a distinct advantage to get other holds on her foe.
But even as she worked the hold, Contrez’s words came back to her as well as her own reminder that the bigger woman seemed to revel in challenges, and if she could give her more challenges within the overall fight and win them it could go a long way towards breaking the bigger woman and winning the fight. There was a challenge she could do that used this hold differently but it was a dangerous two edged sword that could easily backfire against her, and once locked in the challenge hold, breaking it by either was going to be almost impossible until one of them was limp from the damage of the hold it would inflict. Still, she suspected the bigger queen would rise to the challenge if she offered it the right way, and decided to take the chance and hope she didn’t also know all the tricks of the duel she had in mind.
Looking down at Contrez as she struggled, Amerlin put a little sneer in her voice as she said, “So you want to return the favor of this hold do you? I know a duel that uses a version of this hold that would allow you to do that and a lot more if you are good enough to control the hold which is reversible, but it’s also a dangerous duel that once locked would be almost impossible to break until one of us is all but exhausted from the duel itself. I accepted and met you in your breast duel, are you wild enough to risk this more serious one that could potentially tip the overall fight to the winner’s favor?”
That got Contrez’s attention and she actually stopped her struggles to escape for a few seconds as she clearly seemed interested and then her voice clearly strained from her being trapped for so long said “If it means you’ll suffer as I now am, I’m listening, what must be done?” Amerlin told her, “Ill have to ease off this hold and then modify it a bit to allow it to happen, you could probably escape at that point but you’d be hurting and hard pressed to use those legs, if you did and I could easily go for another hold while you are like that. I want your word of honor as a queen that you will not attempt to escape at that time allowing me to lock the modified hold in and show you what must be done.”
It was a lot to ask for, being in a position to escape when Amerlin released the hold, but Contrez also knew she was right her legs were damaged already and she would be at a disadvantage the other queen could fully use if she knew her fighting and the fact she had control of her now showed she did. Her best bet was to accept the duel and gain control of it and reverse it to damage her smaller and tough opponent even if it meant not escaping for now so she could control her foe later instead and break her even as she was doing so to her now. Her thoughts took several seconds to argue it out but when she had, she twisted her head so she could look at Amerlin and said “By my word and honor as Queen of my people, I agree to not escape as you reset the hold for the duel.”
Satisfied that Contrez would honor it, Amerlin slowly raised herself back to the upright standing position. As she did so, the pressure came off the legs and knees of Contrez and half watching her for possible treachery as she made the move, and Contrez could try to escape voiding her word, she unhooked her legs from behind her calves and slid them from between her own. This was the point where she could escape, but Contrez’s only move was to crane her head a bit further watching the whole thing carefully perhaps to remember it for a future time herself. Amerlin had a strong hunch she would not try it, everything she had said and done showed that she would fight with all she had, but she was also a woman who understood honor and what giving her word meant, even the fight so far had been clean with no real dirty tactics used by either of them so far.
Taking a deep breath herself knowing she was about to commit to a dangerous move, Amerlin from between Contrez’s legs still crossed her own and then thrust the trapped X legs of Contrez back through her own again rehooking her feet behind her calves and leaned back getting a hiss from Contrez as the pain and pressure returned. “Don’t fight this!” Amerlin said, “Allow me to set the position for the duel and then explain it.” Contrez said nothing only nodded and continued to watch as Amerlin leaned way back, arching herself until the back of her shoulders came in contact with Contrez under her and reached back and under her armpits to clasp her shoulders from the other side and told her to reach up and take a similar shoulder grip. Once done, she explained the duel. “From this position you can see every time I raise the arch over you I can punish your legs as I have been,” and demonstrated the move briefly before subsiding. “But there is more to this duel, you can also thrust up and forward and when you do. . .” and she did, it also put the pressure on the legs but also arched the back Boston crab style adding punishment there as well, the further forward she pushed the deeper the back arch and greater the pressure on her legs.
Shifting back to the shoulder to shoulder low arch where pressure on Contrez was minimal, Amerlin told her the bad news about the duel. “This hold we are now both literally trapped in is unique in the fact that it is almost impossible to be broken if there is even so much as a token resistance from the other side. One of us has to be taken to the point of total exhaustion from the hold so that she goes totally limp, or else she will have to of her own free will go voluntarily limp for the other person to be able to shift enough to the one position to now extract our now locked legs. Either way it happens, it signals that the one who went limp has lost the duel, do you understand this? It means even if either of us offers the least amount of resistance the hold stays locked because the other will be unable to reach the point to unlock the legs.”
That got a small gasp from Contrez below her as she realized just how serious this duel was as well as the fact that whoever emerged from it stood if she was not herself more than half crippled from it a major chance to seize the control for the rest of the fight and force the total surrender, if the duel itself didn’t possibly end the overall fight in itself. But she still had one major question to ask about the duel, and she didn’t hesitate to ask it now.
“That’s all well and good, and I’ll be the one that will emerge unlocking us I think except for one little problem, so far I’m the only one that seems to be getting the damage here, how do I make you take it?!?” Amerlin smiled, she was holding that information for the last and she once more went to the high arch and thrust forward a bit putting the pressure back on Contrez. “I’ll explain that to you once and once only and allow you the chance to do it once freely without fighting back too much after that however the duel is on for real.” A second or two for that to sink in and then she explained, “The trick is in your legs and your arms use them both to stretch me out forcing my arch to break and bringing me prone back to back with you, now you try that.” Offering only light resistance, Amerlin allowed Contrez to stretch herself using the legs and arms and as she came down back to back she dropped the key point. “The reason you are taking it now is because I am above you, should you be able to flatten me out to this position however and then roll so you can get on top in turn. . .”
Contrez gasped as she realized what was needed and reacted with the fighting instincts that had made her queen in her own land and before Amerlin could react in turn had twisted hard and rolled the smaller queen under her and threw herself up and forward using her own extra height to drive the pressure up even deeper than Amerlin had on her. Elated she now had her foe trapped and being punished she gloated “Now bitch! Let’s see how well you can take some of your own hold’s punishment!” There was a groan from underneath in response but then the smile faded from Contrez’s face as Amerlin started to shift and stretch and despite her fighting the move soon hand her arch broken and in a hard twist was rolled underneath again, and Amerlin from above simply said, “You were saying?”
The duel was on now however and the action slowly moved across the ground one half roll at a time as both struggled to get and remained on top and do damage to the other’s back and legs. Contrez already some damage from the initial one sided torture she had taken, but she clearly had a lot in her and Amerlin was hard pressed to get and keep control for any period of time just as Contrez was. Punishment was taken in spurts of only a half minute to a minute or a bit more before the other could break the arch and force the reversing roll, and Amerlin didn’t have to tell her foe this was a fight that would be decided in part by attrition as whoever wore down first would suffer the longest as they would then be trapped for longer and longer period in the duel torture hold until one could reverse it no more and had to take it.
The young priestess herself had never seen this kind of hold and duel before, and while she had to stay clear, she chose to break that unwritten rule and moved closer that she could fully watch as the women strained, breathing hard as they sought to control and punish. The moans as they took it and the quiet hisses of satisfaction as they gained the top and started to damage the other as sweat started to pour off them both, the ground under them dampening and starting to cling and coat the front of their bodies in a near mud like state and still they fought, grunted, and hissed as the fight went back and forth neither showing any hints of surrendering to the hold or the other. The minutes passed slowly as the heat of the mid day also started to take it’s toll there in the open, and the minutes became an hour, a second and a third and it became sunset, and the moon made its own appearance to change the lighting to a soft white one and the air began to quickly cool as the heat fled in to the open night sky. By now, attrition had definitely taking effect on them both the shorter period were noticeably longer now and Contrez could trap Amerlin under her for a good two to three minutes at a time doing more and more damage each time, but she had suffered as well, those times Amerlin regained the top, her own time being worked over was closer to four or five minutes, A quiet request to Amerlin if she had had enough and was willing to surrender was met only with silence from her, she felt she was gaining the edge here and was not ready to concede anything though her back and legs were now screaming in pain every time she went under. Had this been a simple submission match, she suspected both would have surrendered a long time ago, but with all at stake such surrender was not even worth considering right now as far as she was concerned. One thing was certain however, her respect of the larger woman had risen considerably as she fought clearly willing to honor the fight terms and not lose the extra duel early by deliberately going limp.
Indeed, if anything she was showing signs of frustration at the slow pace and said as much during one of the times she managed to regain the top and was torturing her foe. Amerlin’s own reply was somewhat blunt as she said “It’s a risk we both accepted, most usually have control established long ago, but you and I have been able to keep that from happening though I seem to be getting the edge over you.” Contrez for her part was looking to push the battle forward as she realized the slow attrition was working against her, and decided to up the stakes in the current duel since Amerlin had not said anything about taking the hold any further. With herself currently in control over Amerlin, Contrez half snarled, “Then try this for a new way to use your dueling hold!” and lunged forward even harder than usual drawing Amerlin up and back in a very deep arch getting a cry of pain from her and then a gasp of both shock and surprise as Contrez from her position tucked her head way down and literally rolled under herself coming out so she was facing her foe on the ground, their legs locked above them at the top of an arch they now shared and both of their back drawn in to a cruel and tight arch that was pure agony if the looks on both of their faces was any clue.
Even the priestess gasped at the new contorted position the two were in, her mind could only imagine what they were dealing with pain wise as Contrez deliberately upped the duel stakes forcing them to both suffer at once and then she began to use her locked legs to draw the arch tighter on Amerlin and ease the arch on herself. Amerlin caught on at once to the new duel and accepted the new version without question and began to pull back in turn and soon managed to get them even and then capitalizing on Contrez’s weakened position started to draw her arch in tighter and eased her own. The duel again began to shift back and forth as they fought using their legs to shift the pressure to each other. Contrez had hoped when she saw and went to the arch they were now in her extra height would work for her as she would not be arched as bad and regain the edge. She had not counted on the persistence of Amerlin however or her flexibility which she had yet to really explore but was discovering now as she once again established herself doing the longer periods of time punishing Contrez in the new hold and she found her own strength fading even faster than before as her plan backfired on her and now she was close to exhaustion as Amerlin took full control and kept the pressure on her fully slowly rocking her with additional pulls in an attempt to break her.
The minutes passed slowly and painfully and it soon became clear that Contrez had little left in her and was hanging in there by sheer will power and determination. Amerlin knew she had her now and asked her if she was willing to surrender, but Contrez shook her head ‘no’ her face streaked with tears in the caked mud as she took it and refused to quit. Her voice was faint as she refused. “For my people’s sake, I can not yield; they must not be allowed to die which they will if I lose this fight!” The words touched a nerve on Amerlin however as she saw Contrez not even thinking of herself but rather of her people, she was willing to do whatever it took to save them, and might well end up half crippled and broken before she could be forced to surrender. Amerlin’s own back was on fire from the long duel even though she was on the lesser end of it, and knew whoever won the duel they would themselves be handicapped in what they could do afterwards to continue the fight. Looking at Contrez’s face panting before her as she tried in vain to draw strength and reverse the legs to no success her legs now essentially useless from the hold, Amerlin decided to take another chance that was dangerous for them both and could reverse the situation she now had with a clear control in an attempt to speed up the duel’s finish and perhaps even the Queen’s battle.
Looking Contrez squarely in the eye she said, “Match me if you dare, let’s make this duel go from extraordinary to exquisite in a way that songs will be made of the fight!” That said, she slowly and painfully twisted her upper body to one side and saw Contrez look curious despite the agony and she slowly levered her own upper body to one side matching her. A few inches at a time, Amerlin used her hands on Contrez’s shoulders to draw them closer together and the arch even tighter getting moans from them both, and Contrez matched her though as they came face to face she half said, half whispered, “I can take the extra strain on the back if you think that’s enough to break me you are wrong!” Amerlin however was saving her own breath as she let go of her foes shoulders and reached further down the body and slid them deeper in to the arch but the extra arching was only a part of the plan her real goal laid just inches away and after a pair more draws that got sharp cries of pain from them both she was at her destination as she was looking directly at Contrez’s heaving breasts and a glance back saw her own were in the same position.
Sliding her hands up along her foe’s body, she locked her arms around Contrez’s head and used them to bring her face to the edge of her breasts, her nose and mouth just barely in the cleavage, and the challenge plain to see. Contrez breathed out a “Yes, this can end it for sure.” as she realized the offered add on to their struggle. Both women well endowed as they were, a smothering seal was virtually guaranteed, but this was not to render the other unconscious but rather was one of woman’s oldest ways of dominating another woman by using the smother and the humiliation it can cause to break the other’s spirit by rendering them all but out and keeping her there by judicious allowances of air. Contrez’s arms rose from where she held Amerlin and locked in turn around her head the offer of the smother accepted, and a moment later she went to the attack driving Amerlin’s nose and mouth deep for the seal and followed barely a second later as her own face was forced down in to Amerlin’s dark cleavage and the seal went home.
Instincts took over both women realizing their bodies would not take a lot more of this in addition to the rest they were enduring and that chances were this was the end fight move, neither would surrender and go limp willingly, they would fight until one did break and surrendered fully. Amerlin reminded Contrez that the fight was a three way one as she suddenly jerked hard on the legs overhead arching her foe again even harder and was rewarded with a muffled scream of pain as she lost her air in the cry and found her lungs now without and quickly went white hot in pain.
Fighting to suppress the pain, she waited for the expected air and gulped it gratefully for a couple of breaths before Amerlin sealed her in and tried to sense when she had to let Amerlin breathe in turn, allowing her a couple short breaths as well before she drove her back down for the seal. The next twenty minutes quickly became pure misery for both women as Amerlin’s risk also worked against her and she found herself now dangerously weakened and at risk of being broken in turn. Her best defense and offense was her legs still strong enough to use the arch over them to repeatedly make Contrez scream and lose her air at once, but the bigger queen seemed to have a better sense on how long to hold the smother and it was steadily sapping her strength making her use of the arch steadily weaker, it would in maybe another ten minutes devolve to just the strain on the backs as they hung there and who could torture the other in to surrender with the smother.
Neither woman could really tell where the other was in terms of reaching her limits, though both asked the other to surrender on more than one occasion, and both refused. To the priestess it looked like Contrez was the one in more trouble, her voice was desperate to her as she refused each time, and more than once she be cried the need of her people and she had to win. Amerlin was herself all but exhausted and determined to outlast her foe somehow, but was still impressed by the fact she spoke only of her people’s sake and never her own. She decided to take a new chance and change her tactic with a new offer next time she gave her air as she was finding herself able to now start to break Contrez’s smother hold rather than wait for her to let her breath showing she was gaining an edge over her as she could not do so yet.
“Yield to me woman, yield yourself and your people to me, and while I will not guarantee your fate, I will give your people the chance to live and start a new life. I will not offer this again, yield now or risk it all, you can feel me taking this and your breath away, do not force me to injure you beyond possible healing as after this your smothers will last longer and longer before I grant you air.”
Slowly to show she meant it, Amerlin started to force her foe’s face down again in to the cleavage and then sealed her up holding her until she actually started to buck in the start of her death throes before granting her air and found her barely conscious and a wild look in her eye. Her spirit however appeared to be broken and she gasped, “Do you promise, will you save my people no matter what?!? I want your word as a queen on that or I’ll die first rather than see them slowly die at your hand!” It seemed to be enough and Amerlin told her. “I make no promises to that, I will try my best but if they refuse my rule and will not obey, then they will have to take what happens afterwards as brought on by themselves.” Several long seconds passed and she started to force Contrez in to the smother again but almost at the last second, she with a sob in her voice said “I yield this fight!”
It was almost enough for Amerlin and she stopped the descent and allowed her a couple more breaths. “Say it, all of it, loud and clear for the priestess, and our warrior goddess can hear it and for me to decide to accept!” Her own voice was firm and said she was ready to drive her back in to the smother, but Contrez had finally yielded. “I swear with the goddess of the warrior women as witness that you have bested me. I yield this fight and with it the fate of my kingdom and my people to your hands and declare I am your slave until you choose to release me from such.”
The words were right and correct, and Amerlin had to admit to herself she wanted to punish her a bit more for all the lives lost, but she was too exhausted herself to really continue it. “I accept the surrender of you, your kingdom and your people; you are now mine for whatever I wish!” That was enough and the priestess rose from where she had knelt and watched and raised her hands and proclaimed so all across the river could hear. “It is done! Amerlin has defeated Contrez in this battle and is now ruler over not just the Forest Amazons but the people of the Smoking Mountains!”
As she was saying this, Amerlin had untangled them both from the smother embrace and after resting a minute and ordering Contrez to go limp managed to unroll them so they were back on the ground and slowly unhooked the dangerous hold before collapsing back herself next to Contrez taking deep breaths as she regained enough strength to slowly stand up and leaving Contrez for now to recover started to walk around the isle even as all the guards plunged in to the waters to serve their queen’s needs. Contrez was soon on her own feet, a testament to her own youth, though on very wobbly feet as well. The guard looked like they may have to help them both back from the isle, but Amerlin waved that off declaring “The two of us will remain here on the sacred isle the rest of this night as I take my slave here and teach her what to expect of me in the future. Dispatch runners to my warrior leaders as well as to the army of Contrez of the news of her loss and my win, the rest of you will pitch camp on the one shore and are forbidden to look towards this isle the rest of the night and not respond to anything you hear, even if it is a call for help from me.”
As the guards turned to depart the queen caught the eye of one of her favored guards and beckoning her over sent her back to her village with extra instructions and to get some things for her to use in the morning. That guard also took off and as she came ashore took off with a stride sure to quickly make the miles pass quickly. Amerlin then looked at the priestess. “Your duties are also done here, what happens to night is a matter between a queen and a former queen and not for your eyes and ears. Go this night with an escort to my first leader of war, taking the queen’s circlet with you and await my arrival in the morning to claim it as I also claim the people of the smoking mountains.” It was dismissal plain and simple, and the young priestess nodded and also swam for shore to begin her own trek that night.
Looking at Contrez, she considered how to best enjoy her and make her aware of her new station in no uncertain terms and then began to look around and soon found the spot she wanted. A depression in the ground about 15 feet long and 10 feet wide and close to 3 feet deep would grant her some privacy just in case a guard did either accidentally or deliberately looked towards the isle responding to things she might see or hear from here and ordered Contrez to lies down at the bottom and face up.
Clearly unhappy at her new station, she did so but slowly, perhaps a bit of rebellion yet in her face but at least she was obeying and as she settled down, Amerlin came in as well and straddling her waist knelt there effectively hiding them both from view and leaning forward sank her hands claw like in to her breasts getting a hiss of pain and her arms jerked up in response and then faltered and went limp, she realized she had to take whatever the queen and her new mistress dished out but she still watched with wariness in her eyes. It was perhaps well founded as Amerlin stretched herself out over her and grapevined her legs pinning her there and then drawing her legs up so she could slide up the larger woman’s body positioned her own breasts over Contrez face and said, “take the smother and listen and obey without question I am going to try and smother you unconscious,” That said she wrapped her arms around the fallen queen’s head and slid the breast smother home.
Again the arms of Contrez jerked, naturally wanting to fight back, but then subsided and she took the smother and after just a couple of minutes she passed out to it, only to be woke up by Amerlin and then she began a session of deliberate smothers and releases to keep her breathless and exhausted but not passing out. As she did so, she told her beaten foe, “As the former queen, you are responsible for your people and their actions, many of my fighters died as a result and you will over time pay a price for those deaths. This smother session is just the start of it as you suffer some of their pain of death, you however will live.” For the better part of the next twenty minutes to half hour she kept the slow torturous smother on and then changed to a body scissor, her legs locked tight across the ribs and lungs and slowly punished her that way in turn, and after a similar period of time she went to the figure X leg lock and backbreaker that had started the eventual end hold one upmanship, but this time it was all one sided as Contrez paid the price.
After a bit, she went back to the smother but almost immediately swapped that for a bearhug and as she worked her fallen foe over she said softly in her ear. “I heard that the bearhug is a move you also favor and do well, I know I saw you kill one of my fighting men with it and smiled as he died, that man was a favored one of mine, and also one I was considering to be my man choice, you denied me that, and for that one in particular you’re going to pay a stiff punishment, but not here, and not now, there will be a proper time for that.” Another couple minutes passed as she continued to punish the body of Contrez and more than once her arms jerked and dropped, her desire to fight back clear and also noted. “You want to put your own bearhug on, don’t you?” It was more statement than question, but the answer was in her eyes even as she nodded her head yes. Amerlin smiled and it was not the most pleasant one, “Let’s see what you have still in you, go ahead lock your arms around me and lets see who passes out to the other’s arms.”
A look of shock and surprise crossed the face of Contrez, this she had not expected after all this punishment, she had not expected the queen to offer her a new fight but then the look she had earlier of battle filled her eyes and her arms swung up and around Amerlin and settled in a bearhug of her own. Still silent perhaps to save her breath, she searched Amerlin’s face for a sign she was kidding or treachery and saw only acceptance and a small nod to go ahead and taking a deep breath, her arms tightened with all she had in her still. Contrez did the same and both women cried out under the pressure before air became too much a needed commodity to cry again and they began to struggle to crush the last of the air out of each other and make them pass out. The struggle lasted only a couple of minutes before Contrez found herself slipping down in to darkness, but kept trying until she was no longer aware and her arms fell limply to either side.
Slowly Amerlin rolled off her and breathing hard, and smiled at the contest. She suspected Contrez still had a lot of fight and spirit in her and she had tested it and found she was right. Contrez had in her mind thrown the fight between them in the Queen’s duel just to save her people staking it all on Amerlin’s word and willing to trust her word, but in her fatigue she had forced here she had dropped her guard enough and shown her hand, and Amerlin’s respect for her rose sharply for it as well as for her arm’s power. She had not really had a chance to attack those arms in the main fight and was largely undamaged and when she healed up, they could be very lethal and as far as Amerlin was concerned, also very useful for her.
This time, she woke Contrez a bit more gently and allowed her to actually rest up for the next hour or so and was ready then to resume the punishment for all who died when she noticed the forest around them starting to lighten up. Dawn was coming and she would have to postpone punishment for later, as there was still much to do this morning to hopefully and successfully bring this war to a close. Rising to her feet and having Contrez do the same they swam across to the guard camp and then had Contrez marched with guards around her to just inside the edge of the forest but not before a stop to meet with her war leaders and give new instructions on what to be done and give them time to relay it to the rest.
Just inside the forest’s edge she stopped them again and from the guard that she had sent to the village overnight took a bag and from it took a vial of a sticky substance and five strips of leather three black and two red ones and dipping them in the vial wrapped them one at a time around Contrez’s neck in alternating bands. “These bands mark you with the black as a slave of my people until you earn the right to have them removed at my will. The red bands mark you as my own personal property so that none may lay claim to you except by going first through me. You are forbidden to ever touch those bands or to try and remove them in any manner. If someone other than me tries to remove them, regardless of who they are, you are ordered to slay them where they stand. Do you understand all this?”
Contrez nodded ‘yes’ and Amerlin continued, “The next part will be the hardest for us both, but if you obey me fully, we may both live to see the night sky tonight. Betray me however and I guarantee you will die before I do. I will march you out right up to your army stopping a short distance from them so they can clearly hear my words, you will remain no less than four and no more that seven paces ahead of me as we do so. I will have just a hundred of my warriors with me but the rest will emerge and follow a half mile behind us all as a show of force. When I tell you to stop, you will immediately do so, turn and kneel before me and loudly declare so as many of your army can hear you declare that you lost the fight and I am now the new queen of your people. You will stay on your knees until I tell you otherwise as I then speak to your people and give them their fate as well as yours. Do you understand all this?”
The words at the end sounded ominous to Contrez but she was as far as she was concerned bound to Amerlin now and hoped she was not doing a double cross at this time. She nodded her head ‘yes’ again and repeated it aloud to show she had it right, and then the two of them with her 100 woman guard stepped from the forest and advanced on Contrez’s army. As they reached a bit over a half mile out the rest of Amerlin’s army also emerged and started to form a shallow curve and follow the queen but staying at least a half mile back as ordered by Amerlin. Steadily they marched towards the waiting army until there was barely a hundred fifty feet from them and the edge of them when Amerlin gave the order to stop.
Contrez hesitated just a moment, barely noticeable but then turned and dropped to her knee facing Amerlin and raising her voice as loud as possible she declared “Hail Queen Amerlin, my new queen and Queen of the People of the Smoking Mountains! You have met and bested me in honorable combat and now rule us all. Command me and my people as is your right under the eyes of our Goddess!” That said, she bowed her head and waited and hoped for the best.
Behind her she heard a definite mutter from her people they were not happy to see this and have the story they were given last night confirmed by their own queen. Amerlin however ignored it and allowed it to go on just a few seconds before she took a step forward her own voice rising to a shout she made her will known. “You had fought well as did your queen in a battle that lasted well in to the night as she took the final battle upon herself to try and save you and to become ruler over my people. But the Goddess of War looked upon me and I emerged the victor and you are one and all mine as well as those beloved of you in the smoking mountains. We of the Forest Amazons are not however a hateful people and I am aware now of why you sought to conquer our lands, Therefore it is my decree that the following will happen, Contrez shall be returned to you to serve for now as your queen and leader as you return to the smoking mountains. But because your land will no longer sustain you, I order you will gather all your people, tools, and whatever else you can carry in any manner and abandon the smoking mountains returning here one and all to join the villages of my people. Not as a prisoner, not as a slave, but as free men and women, equal to and with all the rights of my own people!”
That said, Amerlin went silent and waited to see how they would react. It did not take long as a new murmur started and then from here and there a cheer began and was picked up by others and slowly swelled as they realized and word got back to those who had not heard the words that the war was over, and the victors were not only setting them free but giving them a new home that they could actually survive in! Smiling Amerlin called out to Contrez, “Arise Contrez and take charge of your people and bring them forth to join me and my people!” Contrez herself slowly rose looking almost in shock and disbelief at the proclamation, she had feared it would be a lot worse, but never this! Lowering her voice more so for Contrez’s ears she added, “For now you remain with the title of Queen, but only until you return with your people, at which time you will formally surrender to me, and declare openly that you are queen no more and my slave as witnessed by the War Goddess as a condition of the battle. Now go and bring your people to their new home.” Contrez’s voice was filled with joy and she turned and started to her people but then turned back and quietly mouthed “Thank You” and then turned and dashed back to her own people and the matters of breaking the army camp and going home.
Amerlin for her part, took her own group back to the main army and watched from there as preparations were made, and had a hunting party made up of fifty and sent a runner to Contrez’s camp to send twenty five of her own to hunt in the forest a few hours to get some fresh meat for the initial trek back home to help make what they have last long enough. The large group quickly made a number of kills in the forest and brought it to the camp of Contrez and came back reporting the fresh food had made spirits rise as well. It was a good move and a good start. A couple hours before sunset, they were on the move heading home and as they disappeared over the horizon (and followed from a distance by a handful of scouts for the next few days) One of her best friends and a warrior leader had to ask her queen, “Are you sure they will come back? They may decide just to stay there and may become a new threat in a few years.” Amerlin glanced at her friend and there was a note of amusement in her voice. “She’ll be back come springtime, they have enough time to get there and a month or so to prepare and get clear of the mountains before winter sets in. Weakened as they are, if they stay they are as good as dead, unable to defend or provide the needs of the remaining people. Contrez told me there was close to twelve thousand people left when she left; the numbers will be smaller when they return as they had virtually no real protection. Contrez is no fool, and wise in many ways though not all. She’ll be back as she had promised and vowed to the War Goddess, besides I suspect she will want to return anyway because of certain things I said to her last night after the fight.”
That got a curious look from her friend, but Amerlin said no more on it and shortly after nightfall when the first scouts returned with reports, the army at last broke up and returned to the four villages and the restoring of life as they knew it as well.

To be continued: