Saravia was a village bordered by the sea. It lies on the tip of a peninsula, scenic, remote and almost forgotten by the rest of the world. When Hippolyta and the Amazons decided to abandon the island they called home all those years ago in search of a new one, their s.h.i.+p came across a small forest of mangroves.

Beyond this forest lies a stretch of white sand where a huge bleached rock stood guard. Hippolyta saw the rock and was intrigued. She took a boat to see for herself and realized the rock was a stand in for a wall against the elements. It was very solid and very big and shone white under the sun.

The peninsula was actually part of a tribal land owned by an old despot who was related to the king. This old man had many wives and was on his way to acquiring more when he met Hippolyta. He was a very sensual man and was immediately attracted to the Amazon but something stopped him from following on his baser instincts.

Hippolyta was not only cool but cold to his ardor. She was also the most intelligent woman he had ever met so he was a bit intimidated. But his main reason for not making a move on her was that he liked her. Hippolyta had a talent for winning men over with a natural friendliness that came off as very genuine. She had no qualms about saying or doing things any cloistered female would hesitate to do. Despite her mesmerizing good looks, Hippolyta didn't come off as a calculating seductress. And he could talk to her equally as if she was a man.

She also had good instincts for conflict so when she told him that his younger brother was planning to overthrow him and take over, he believed her despite the fact that his brother was closer to him than any of his siblings. But there was some part of him that didn't want to believe so he waited, waited until his heir was kidnapped and killed, his house attacked and his wives raped, until there was nothing left for him to do but kill and behead his brother.

He learned his lesson. Hippolyta came to his aid unasked. She helped quell the insurrection, turned the tide in his favor so when she came to him and requested to buy the land the Amazons now called home, the old despot was very happy to give it to her as a gift. But Hippolyta didn't trust good will even if shown by a friend so the Amazons acquired the land by turning over a chestful of treasure to him.

Hippolyta immediately cut off access into her territory by simply planting trees and shrubs around the mouth of the peninsula. Years later, the old despot's great-grandson Li Cheung found his way into Amazon territory by hacking his way into the thick jungle then knocking on Hippolyta's door by mistake. An Ma followed an open trail that led to the village and accidentally met sixteen year old Ceres who came to his aid when his car broke down. An Ma had been on a school break and was staying with some friends at a resort owned by Li Cheung's family.

An Ning found the village by following the same route taken by her grandmother centuries before. The forest of mangroves had thickened over the years, the sand dunes had acquired a tanned sheen, while the big rock looked as pearlized white as ever.

Over the years, the trail had been taken over by brush and bushes but the houses which had been designed and built by Li Cheung's great grandfather had strangely withstood the changing times. There was not a roof shattered, a window unhinged, a wall collapsed. It was as if time stood still for Saravia.

They landed around lunchtime. An Ning was the first to land after taking a dinghy with Taey. The sea was an astonis.h.i.+ng blue green, the water so clear you could see the bottom where the fish frolic and swam. The sand was warm under her shoes, the huge rock looked like an inscrutable monolith under the shade of the mangroves. Everything was quiet and still but An Ning was already expecting the two people that came to meet them as they neared the rock.

Ceres' eyes went past her daughter to the group of women walking behind her. Her heart gave a painful lurch because she couldn't find a familiar face, even when they came nearer and brushed past her, she couldn't find a familiar face.

She didn't know she was crying until An Ning came to her side and gave her a fierce hug. The mother turned to her daughter and sobbed brokenly. Their role had reversed. It was now An Ning who gave comfort; and her mother was now the child that needed her protection.

When they reached the village, the women silently separated and each went and entered her own house. There was a sort of tingling pleasure in the simple act of opening a gate, opening the door and walking over the threshold of a home that smelt, felt and looked familiar. The village settled again into silence but not the lonely kind.

Smoke started wafting from the chimneys. The sound of TV came on. The sound of radio. The sound of refrigerators opening. The sound of water running. The sound of laughter.

Enxuo had not spent the last twenty years idling by looking only after the imprisoned Ceres. The two of them had concocted a plan especially when they found out about Yu Yan and her tech company. Their revenge needed money, which they had plenty of, they needed to understand technology, which they knew next to nothing about.

So Enxuo studied and read everything he can about the subject while Ceres studied the ins and outs of the banking system. When Ceres took over a failing credit union bank eighteen years ago, Enxuo was her front man. They needed to get to Yu Yan and one way to do that was to have access and knowledge of her finances. They did that after fifteen years.

Yu Yan was a very rich woman whose wealth came from defense and military contracts. Her company was very innovative and governments trust her implicitly. They knew she was also selling weapons to terrorist groups but as long as the weapons she sold them were faster and deadlier than their enemies, they didn't really care one way or the other.

The amount of money that pa.s.sed through Ceres' bank from Yu Yan's several enterprises was staggering. Sometimes, Enxuo was tempted to enact his longed for revenge by destroying Yu Yan financially but he would remember his beloved Merius and the numerous friends he had made among the Amazon tribe since a long, long time ago when he first snuck into that pirate's s.h.i.+p and met Hippolyta.

So, he would curb his anger, go back to Saravia and exhaust his energy by trying to preserve the village as it was once when the Amazons lived there in peace and harmony. The trappings of civilization followed not long after. He installed lights, water lines, sewers, build bathrooms, kitchens, lofts. He repaired windows, shutters, roofs. It was as if all of his actions were not something he had total control of.

He would often say to himself it was no use. Merius was lost to him. Ceres will never see her daughter again and the Amazons will never return to Saravia. But some part of him still hoped, still dreamed. So he would buy the latest TV model, the latest 3D refrigerator, the latest gadget, the latest car model and allowed hope to stir his heart again.

And after twenty years, here they were all again, breathing the free air of Saravia. Hippolyta was missing. Many Amazons dead. His Merius still brainwashed by Yu Yan but there was also something to be thankful for. Ceres' daughter An Ning, her baby, the new generation of the long line of the Amazon tribe still alive after centuries of war, peace, and war again.

An Ning went over to him after talking to her parents.

"Yu Yan came back here years ago supposedly to meet a family member. Do you have any idea why?"

"Was that the time she returned with Maya?"

"That's it."

"She was looking for a book."

"What book?"

"On raising the dead."

"Raising the what?"

"The dead."

"Why would she want to raise the dead for?" An Ning frowned.

"I don't know because she didn't find the book."

"Where you here when she came back?"

"No. She went to see Ceres. To brag about how An Ma married her and about you, who now call her mother. It was very upsetting so the two of them had a screaming match. The book was thrown in the argument because Yu Yan got very angry. But she didn't find the book. Even when she looked for it she didn't find it."

"d.a.m.n that woman," An Ning said furiously. "d.a.m.n her and her obsession with magic. She had men killed with her experiments and now she wants to raise the dead. f.u.c.k!"

"What are you so angry about?" Taey had followed her and frowned when he saw her angry expression.

"Just letting off steam," An Ning said. She turned to Enxuo. "Merius acts as her right hand man, right?"

"Yes."

"Have you ever met with her?"

Enxuo hesitated.

"Once I tried to...but your mother stopped me. She thought Yu Yan might have planted some bug in her to spy on her in case...it was too dangerous so we never tried to contact her."

"She used some kind of a mind trick on the women. It was not very complicated but strong enough to fry their brains. They were kind of zombified when we found them. But I had them drink the water from Hippolyta's grove which seemed to undo the spell."

Enxuo stared at her, shocked.

"The water from the grove? You mean the pool?"

"I have Taey here fill up twelve wooden barrels and gave it to the women to drink. I experimented on Nyra first and the effects didn't take long. She drank one gla.s.s and she remembered everything. She mentioned your name, in fact."

Enxuo was still frozen in shock.

"Why didn't I think of it?" he muttered. "Hippolyta once told me the water was enchanted. She said it was filled with her essence so every living thing that surrounded it will never die. Why didn't I think of it!" the last sentence was uttered in a choked scream as Enxuo became totally unhinged. "I have to get some of the water. The water. I have to have some of it. Merius will drink it and she'll finally remember me. She'll remember our son. She'll remember how he died. I have to go get some of the water."

Enxuo broke into a run in the direction of the jungle. An Ning followed him, screaming for him to stop. But Enxuo was deaf to her words. After twenty years, he finally found a way to bring Merius back to him. It had been h.e.l.l without her. It had been torture to spy on her and never talk to her or never feel her.

Enxuo was tired of waiting. He had to go to Merius now and tell her about the Amazons' return. She will come back to him again. She will remember him. She will remember Trei. She will remember how he died. She will remember how she killed him as he, Enxuo, stood there horrified, watching his wife kill their only son. She will remember both of them. Otherwise...otherwise...it will be for nothing.

Enxuo broke into an anguished sob as the jungle swallowed him. After a while, his cries grew muted and distant. There was no trace of him when An Ning finally entered the jungle a few minutes later.