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Talis

Libyan Royal Executioner 

Vanyarli Koritsi (Livestock Caretaker Apprentice) 

Cumae Potami Thermadon (Guardian of the River Thermadon)

Tamboo Koritsi (Social Apprentice)

Daughter of Alcera

Talis knew about the close blood ties between the Egyptians and the Amazons of Libya and Numidia from her mother, Alcera. In fact, Talis' father was an Egyptian scribe. Maybe that was why she had such a love of writing and reading. Her mother surely thought so. "That's your father's gift to you." she would often remark. In every other way, though, she was an Amazon like her mother and her grandmother and all the countless generations of Amazons before her.

At nineteen, Talis had an unusually vivid dream. "You should have your dream interpreted," Alcera told her the next morning. She went with Talis to Artemis' Temple, an oblong building of white alabaster with many side rooms. They entered the room dedicated to Artemis as the Lady of the Animals. The priestess in charge listened intently as Talis recounted her dream.

"I was engulfed in darkness. I dared not move for I could see nothing. I reached out and felt nothing. A light then appeared in the distance moving towards me. As it neared me, I saw it was really a lioness walking towards me. She gave off a golden light and it dispelled all the darkness. From deep inside I heard a voice not my own. 'I am here to help you.' It was as if I had always known her."

The priestess smiled. "Each of us had a spirit guide. This lioness is yours. Do always as she instructs you."

When Talis turned twenty-five, the Queen summoned all her Amazons to appear before her. Those between the ages of twenty and forty gathered in the center of the throne room while the younger girls and older women, Alcera among them, sat up in galleries that ran the length of the room on either side. Beside the Queen sat three Egyptian priestesses in their white blue trimmed linen dresses. Talis recognized the insignia on their necklaces. It was that of Nut, the Sky Goddess.

The Queen stood. "My sisters, a tragedy has befallen our Egyptian kinswomen and they have come to us for help." A slight murmur ran through the assembly. "One moon ago, the High Priestess and Oracle of Nut, keeper of the All-Seeing, was murdered." Talis gasped. "And the All-Seeing was stolen."

Alcera had taken Talis to Egypt when she was twelve and Talis remembered their visit to Nut's Temple at Dendera. In the center was a circular dark blue curtain embroidered with stars that hung from the ceiling to the floor. An apprentice pulled back the curtain to let them enter the place where the All-Seeing was kept. Surrounded by four small fires in tiny cauldrons atop iron stands, the All-Seeing rested in a niche made of gold and silver and adorned with gemstones of all colors. The All-Seeing was a black shiny oblong stone that had fallen from the sky when the temple had first been built. The High Priestess of the day dutifully accepted the Goddess' present and had a special place built to house it in the center of Nut's Temple. The mysterious stone enabled the High Priestess to see both past and future and she became Egypt's first oracle.

The Queen continued. "A Hittite captive escaped and hid in Nut's Temple. An apprentice witnessed the murder. While she went to summon the guards, this murderer fled, taking the All-Seeing with him. He eluded all forms of capture and is believed to left Egypt by now. The Pharaoh, as you all know, is preoccupied with his war plans and has no interest in obtaining justice for our sisters, so they have rightly come to us.

Looking at her Amazons in the center of the room, she touched a large cauldron beside her. "To this end, a name shall be chosen from among your names written on lots in this cauldron. She who's name is pulled out shall have the honor of rendering this service to our Egyptian kinswomen. Any among you who do not wish to participate, speak now." Silence greeted her words. The Queen thanked her Amazons for their courage. Without hesitation, she plunged her hand deep into the cauldron then raised her hand above her head, a lot visible through her clenched fingers. "The Goddess has spoken! She chooses for this noble task," the Queen looked at the small clay lot. "Talis."

Talis glanced at her mother. Alcera's head was flung back and she was biting her lip. The Amazons stood aside to let Talis approach the Queen. "Do you accept the Goddess' decision?" the Queen asked her.

"Yes, I do." The Queen brought out a black leather cord. On it was a silver labrys. She tied it around Talis' right forearm. "I make you executioner. You are charged to find the High Priestess of Nut's murderer, execute him, secure the All-Seeing and return the sacred object to its rightful place. Know that you may not return to us until you have accomplished what has been asked of you."

Talis bowed her head. She felt numb in her body but her mind was reeling. "Great Artemis, help me."

Talis left the next morning on her black mare, Zara. She accompanied the three Egyptian priestesses back to Dendera. The apprentice who had witnessed the murder gave her a description of the man. Talis wondered how in the world she would ever find him. "I will ask Nut to help you everyday until you return." The apprentice patted her arm. Talis thanked her.

That night, Talis dreamt of the lioness. This time they stood by a river. The lioness then lead her to a small clearing a short distance away. "Remember this place."

It took Talis three years before she found the All-Seeing in the Temple of Gaia at Troy. The priestesses told her how a stranger had sold the beautiful stone to them but now knowing its true history, they gladly returned it to her. Talis secured the precious stone in the special box she had brought along for it. She thanked her translator, one of two warrior women she had run across on her long journey. They both knew the Amazon tongue which had surprised Talis. The taller one had the air of a queen. Her companion was an amiable redhead who amused Talis with her stories. Her intuition told her she could trust them. They were headed for Egypt and Talis dared to ask them if they would take the All-Seeing to Nut's Temple in Dendera. "It would be an honor." The tall one took the box and hid it in her saddlebags on the back of her handsome steed.

"Thank you, Xena." Talis clasped her arm in the traditional Amazon handshake.

"Good luck, Talis."

"Thank you, Gabrielle." Talis watched them leave, till they vanished into the horizon. "Great Artemis, may I have done well. Grant them a safe journey."

Another three years passed. Her intuition kept telling her to head north, so she did. One summer day, Talis came to a river which lead to a sea she could just make out in the distance. "What a beautiful place," she thought as she refilled her water bags while Zara drank. Suddenly an old dream rushed back to her. A snap of a twig echoed through the forest behind them. Talis motioned Zara to stay as she removed her sword from its saddle sheath. Without a sound, Talis made her way to a small clearing. There stood a tall man armed with a dagger. Talis knew. "It's you! Murderer!"

Talis brandished her sword. The stranger hurled his dagger at her. Talis easily deflected it. It was then Talis felt a sharp pain. She quickly looked and saw a small dagger's hilt protruding from her right side. The stranger had tricked her. He had had a second dagger. This did not weaken her. Far from it. It seemed to energize her but for a moment Talis feinted weakness and knelt down on one knee. In a sight hand motion invisible to the stranger, she scooped up a small flat stone and flipped it with her thumb into the undergrowth behind him . The tactic worked. The stranger was distracted for only an instant but it was enough for Talis. She leapt up and in one sweeping movement with both her hands she brought her sword up and over her head and straight into the murderer's chest. A look of surprise was in his eyes as he fell backwards. Talis stepped over him. "Return to your maker and pay the life debt you owe." With those words, Talis pushed the sword through him then grasped it firmly and yanked it out. The stranger died that second. Talis dragged the body to a larger clearing that the carrion might find it.

Talis returned to the stream. She removed the dagger and cleaned her wound. She rested awhile but the wound kept seeping. Talis began to feel the heat of fever in her brow. Slowly the realization came - poison. The dagger had been dipped in some sort of poison now cursing through her body. She laid by a tree staring up at the sunlight falling on her through the dancing leaves. "What a nice place to die," she thought. But what of Zara? "Great Artemis, help us." At that moment she heard soft footsteps cautiously advancing on her. With all her strength she turned her head to see two women. She imagined they were warrior women. "The last thing I shall see is a vision of Amazons." She smiled to herself and fell unconscious.

Talis is 5'6" tall and slender with a muscular build. Her eyes are a chestnut brown and she has an olive complexion. Her dark brown hair is shoulder length and she wears it in three braids to honor the Triple Goddess of the Libyan Amazons: Artemis, Demeter and Hecate.

Talis was killed in an unfortunate accident involving a bow.

Tae'Nah athelfi arche: 24 September 2003

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