An adventure doesn’t usually begin with pomp and flair. And everything will be fine. It begins with a single step. For days, Loktai and Alexander were on the road leaving the Kingdom of Cassander. The slave had a lot to consider, as he was being led home. Being reunited with his mate filled him with happiness and pride. However, now he was thinking of Alexander.

After Alexander returned him to his village, what was going to happen? Alexander bought him for a lower price than what he should have went for. All because Alexander could shape aether-stuff into the object he desired or wanted at the time.

The days of their journey already took them beyond the kingdom of Bythynia and nearly past Ancyra along the old royal road.

“Master?” asked Loktai. “What would happen once we reach my people?”

“I don’t know, Loktai, I’ll free you, that’s for sure,” Alexander answered as he gazed the traveling map. There was certain places that even Alexander’s Phalanxes didn’t go, and the old royal road was getting treacherous as they continued nearing the border of Cassander’s kingdom. They were about to enter Anaxamander’s kingdom according to the map. Who knows what was out here. The patrols of both kingdoms usually didn’t patrol their borders until war had to break out.

“But you bought me fair and square,” said Loktai.

Alexander just shook his head, “I don’t think I paid a fair price for you. Uh-oh.”

“What is it?”

“Something’s wrong with this map, I checked it and I think we are on the old royal road, but everything is not as it seems. I think we are where we should be but the old road is disappearing. I think we are hopelessly lost.”

Loktai sighed. He hadn’t had sex with anyone for a long time, and now his Master lost his sense of direction. he tried to think about where he is and tried to find his sense of direction. Quickly he looked around, and using the Sun and his own shadow, he pointed east. “We go that way, Master.”

“Ah yes, of course, wait a second, this is headed into Amazon territory,” said Alexander.

Loktai asked, “Amazons, what are Amazons?”

“It’s a long story,” said Alexander. “But basically they do everything opposite to our culture where men is concerned. The lore of their founding is lost to myth and legend. To tell you the whole story is really some piece of exposition I’d rather not get into.”

“Oh,” said Loktai. As travelers go, they were both naked. Except for the chlamys cloak that Alexander wore, he wore nothing else as the pair walked. Loktai didn’t wear anything actually. He had just his round shield and his sword tied to a leather cord about his waist. Loktai used a xiphos, a sword longer than a roman gladius. Loktai’s scales were redish gold all over except for the golden scales that marked his abdomen. He had spikes on his head and a slim tail that ended two inches above the ground. His pride and joy, his genital slit, was closed to keep his fleshy member inside his body.

Alexander’s nakedness was strange to the reptile man, but Loktai got used to the fact that the smooth skin of his master was something he could only touch when they slept together. White skinned, Alexander was tanning in the sun, and this became noticeable in shadow and during dusk when he was noticeably darker.

“We go to the southeast and skirt around their kingdom,” said Alexander. “Lets hope we don’t bump into any amorous females.”

Loktai sighed, “I don’t understand that.”

“I am named Alexandros,” said Alexander. “A long time ago, some Amazons met Alexander and he had a tryst with the Queen.”

“Yes, the horned one.”

“I’m really hoping I won’t be mistaken for the real Alexandros by these women,” said the shaper. “We go into the south east.” He changed direction just a little bit, and started walking into that direction. Loktai just shrugged, and started to follow his Master. A pair of alluring blue eyes watched from the trees, following the move of the pair. Then there was a rustle as the branches returned to their original position.

****

The pair camped for dusk at a campsite that was out in a clearing of trees in the open. They were cooking some dried fish and some onions and carrots in a soup when Alexander added some salt and some herbs that famously went well with fish.

“Are we almost out of range of the Amazons?” asked Loktai.

“Maybe,” said Alexandros. “But you can’t tell unless we make it to Alexandria by Comana.”

“Oh, I see,” said Loktai. “The horned one really had cities named after himself, didn’t he?”

Alexander looked up at Loktai, his slave. “He really had a point to make,” said Alexander. “He wanted to be the greatest king in the known world, that’s for sure.”

A sound like a wooperwill had sounded through the forest. Loktai got up, his hand on his sword and ready to draw.

“Settle down, Loktai,” said Alexander, tending to the fire as their dinner boiled away into a gravy of fats and starches.

Loktai responded, “I tell you, Master, I thought I heard a voice. I have to protect you, remember?”

“Yes, but you don’t do it by jumping at every sound. I told you to be guarded, not skittish,” said Alexander as he checked the fish, the flesh was falling off at the bones. “Come on, lets have something to eat.”

“This forest has eyes, Master,” he said.

Alexander then sat down and closed his eyes. He sent his senses off into a remote viewing, trying to see where people are and how and why people can see what they focused on. He did this for three minutes, trying to discern from thought and remote sight. “I don’t see nor feel anything,” he finally said.

Loktai responded, “Still, we better be on guard, Master.”

Alexander dished out their food into clean dishes. “Yes, I agree.” Both ate their meal as the sun went further down and the light turned from a reddish yellow to a muted blue. Alexander reached out to the aether and a spear appeared below his hand. He grasped it, wrapping his fingers around it.

However, the raid into their camp was quick. Both human and lizard soon found themselves parrying blows from combatants wearing armor made of kurbul that hugged their forms. Immediately, Alexander could tell that these combatants were women. Having fought off a number of women, Alexander retreated to form some room and concentrated on the fire. Using the fire as a medium for his attack, Alexander used telekinesis for the fire to shoot out at the women.

Meanwhile, his slave was using his xiphos to defend himself and his Master. Loktai was busy parrying the women’s thrusts and parries, using his strength. It wasn’t long until both Alexander and Loktai were back to back. Not wanting to harm the women, Alexander used fire as scare tactic, to try to see if the women had any fear of fire.

“What are these human women doing fighting us?” asked Loktai.

Alexander responded, “These are the amazons I was trying to tell you about!”

“Wait, is it every warmblood boy’s fantasy to tame one of these women?”

“Yes, it would be great to show them their place, but this is real life, they have earned every shred of independence they have,” said Alexander using fire again to hit shields instead of the women. Suddenly, both Master and slave got rapped on the side of their heads by the butt of a sword and the world gone black for them.

****

Alexander awoke in a bed covered with tiger skins. No longer nude, he found he was wearing a loin cloth made of soft leather. He looked around in the morning light, trying to discern his surroundings. He was in a tent. And he looked around to see sconces holding fire contained a torch made from the horns a ram. He found that there was large clay pots, bigger than amphorae, put in places around the tent. There was no fire, and the tent was made of the skins of deer.

Something moaned beside him, and Alexander turned around to see a beautiful maiden sleeping beside him. Being nothing more than someone in her early twenties, he shifted around to see that she wasn’t wearing a bra, just a thin short loin cloth that left nothing to the imagination of her strong, supple buttocks. “Mmmmm, he’s awake,” said the girl as she opened her eyes. “You’re very awake, aren’t you?”

“We didn’t do anything last night, did we?” Alexander asked.

The girl lifted herself, giving Alexander a view of her beautiful orbs of flesh. “No not really,” she said. “Although a man with the name of my grandfather I kind of expected that you would father a child with me.”

“What do you mean?” he asked.

“My name is Hippolyta, I am the first inline to become queen of the Amazons,” she said. “My mother is Alexandria, daughter of Alexander the Great and her mother, Anchises. He blessed her with two beautiful daughters and one handsome strapping boy.”

Alexander then said, “I see. I’d never expect to meet up with the Amazons. Look, I’m not related to Alexander the Great. I just bear his name.”

“Hmm, well, that creates a problem,” said the Princess Hippolyta. “You are certainly very powerful, and you have excellent vibrations. Imagine the child you could give me.”

Alexander got up and out of the bed. “Wait a moment, where you hunting us down?”

“Well, yes,” she said. “I am Hippolyta, princess of the Amazons, descended from a long line of Amazon queens to Lamia herself.”

“How long was I out since you ambushed us?”

“Through the night, you have such a beautiful body,” she said. “My heart melted when I found you, and bearing the name of my grandfather Alexander the Great no less.”

“Where is my servant, my slave?” asked Alexander.

Hippolyta said, “In the next tent, with one of my maidens, Andromache. You took a beating when she knocked both of you out, though you defended yourself against my troops admirably.”

“I understand,” said Alex. He opened the flap of the tent and walked a little outside. The morning sun glared into his eyes. He had to shield himself before he could go out and find the tent. When his eyes got used to the morning light he found that the camp was encamped in a large mountain meadow by a stream. He found several women practicing weapons and even a few young girls -- young virgins -- practicing with sticks in the most serious matter. He found a fire that had burned down, with mothers putting up small logs to make a second fire. It only took him a few minutes to find the tent where his slave was. Muffled moans and screams came from the tent, along with ruffling.

“Yes, put it in me! BREED ME YOU REPTILE!” was the screams coming from the tent. Alexander turned around leaving Loktai some privacy, when his face was in the face of Hippolyta’s. “You don’t find me attractive?” she asked.

“Wait a second?” he asked.

“You don’t find me attractive enough to make a baby?” she asked, holding him.

“Hey, wait, I am reserved to wait until I find the right one,” he said, separating from her. “Although I don’t know what you see in my slave.”

“Your slave isn’t breeding me,” said Hippolyta. “He’s breeding with Andromache.” She carefully put her arms around him. “What if, I am the right one? Aren’t I your fantasy, your dreams? Don’t you want to tame me, make me your slave?”

“Amazons aren’t tameable,” said Alexander, releasing her grip. “Especially girls who are first in line to the throne. Besides, the girl that Alexander met was independent and knew what she wanted. You’re falling for a simple man that can make things come into being.”

“Even men like you,” she said in a sultry voice. “Can have an ounce of royal blood pumping through your veins.”

“Please, your trying to seduce me, it won’t work,” he said, trying to find his ass. “Where is my donkey?”

“Your ass is now in the possession of our army,” she said.

Alexander laughed at the irony. He then said, “Oh great, my ass has been appropriated by the royal army of the Amazons. And I need to get back to Phaeselis after I take Loktai home ---”

“Phaeselis, Alexandria on the Phoenix?” Hippolyta said in a surprised tone.

“Yes, I am from Phaeselis,” said Alexander. “Why do everyone keep reacting like that, it’s really annoying. One minute I’m welcome, the next moment . . .”

Suddenly, the princess grabbed his face and kissed him for a good long minute. His eyes went wide in surprise and it took only a matter of time before he stopped kissing him. “ . . . I’m kissing a really sexy amazon princess,” Alexander said in disbelief. “Mostly, women of your nation want to enslave men or kill them, but this is a new one.”

“We have respect for men of your ilk,” she said. “No other men are worthy of our respect than those from Alexandria on the Phoenix.”

“Am I loopy, or I am crazy?” said Alexander. “Did you just say you had respect for men from my city?” At that moment, the tent that Loktai opened dramatically and out came a lizard woman in stride. Colored with light scales, her crest long and proud, and her eyes blazing with satisfaction. Her snout flared when she swooned and fell to the ground in utter satisfaction.

“Gods! First time I met a male who could satisfy me!” she rasped.

“What?”

“It seemed that Andromache has claimed a mate,” explained Hippolyta as Andromache the lizard girl gripped her belly and rubbed it in pure satisfaction. She looked at the pair, her face glowing in the afterglow, eyes afire with the flames of passion.

“Such savagery, such mighty strength, such power!” she said. “And so much, much seed.”

“My slave, a mate?” asked Alexander.

“Among our people, a marriage covenant isn’t fulfilled until the wedding night,” she said. “Well, here, any way. We must breed. Fornicate under consent of the Queen while we are away from the city to ensure we raise powerful girls or gain sons with athletic prowess and strength so that they could pass their strength to their daughters. It keeps our culture alive.”

“So, you want to make a husband of me?” said Alexander. “I’m sorry, but this isn’t going to happen.”

“You don’t find me attractive to be your mate?” said Hippolyta. She then turned away and ran into the tent, and started to cry.

“What was this?” he asked. “Don’t I get a chance to explain myself?” Alexander looked around to see all the women look at him. Some of them looked fierce, others looked incredibly strong with faces only a mother could love, and then there are the crones. He was the center of attention in a moment that he didn’t want. His only ally was the lizard woman Andromache, who looked at him with dreamy, satisfied eyes.

Loktai came out of the camp and looked at his Master. “Sorry, Master,” he said. “She just came on to me so strongly, I should have asked for permission to breed.”

“We were caught off guard, Loktai, it isn’t our fault.”

“What are we going to do with all these women, looking at us?” Loktai asked.

Alexander shrugged and said, “What ever you do, don’t show fear.” Alex went behind the tent to relieve himself of some water after that.

****

A day later. Alex awoke in the tent alone. He found his clothes, finally, and put them on. He walked out in a camp full of confusion. Women and girls were running around everywhere, and only the crones could get a semblance of organization.

“What’s happening?” he asked in the din.

“It’s our princess!” said one of the crones who came up beside him. “Somehow, whatever you said to her made her leave camp. We can’t find her anywhere?”

Alexander suddenly felt guilt, his conscience weighing heavily as he started running in a straight line. “Where would she go after thinking I don’t find her attractive?” he asked. The crone was running with him, keeping up with him with amazing agility for her age. “She’d probably take one of our riding beasts. You think you can find her?”

“Most definitely, but I need my slave to accompany me!” said Alexander running towards, what he thought were horses? Nay, though, they were giant lizards. “Blimey. What are those things?”

“Our riding lizards,” said the crone. The giant lizard that Alexander was looking at had two long in back that looked powerful, and two short legs that ended in three claws. It had a mighty tail and a mighty belly. It’s head looked ferocious, with a mighty horn on the front of it’s muzzle that was blood red in the sunrise. it was saddled with a leather saddle and blankets. When it opened its mouth it showed a maw full of sharp teeth. The crone smiled as she touched the mighty one’s head to calm it down. “There, there, Tobias, there is nothing to be afraid of.”

“I think I’ve seen everything,” Alexander said.

The crone turned to the young man and said, “We will give you two of our best steeds. Ride, and find Hippolyta. She may be danger if she is away for too long.”

“I don’t know how to ride such a thing,” said Alexander in awe.

The crone returned, “If you can ride a horse, you can ride our giant riding lizard. He only eats meat other than human meat, we’ve seen to that. In fact, this one ate your ass, so Tobias is yours.”

“Great, he ate my ass,” said Alexander as Tobias blew a puff of wind into his face. When Tobias moved away, Alexander was soon joined by his slave, Loktai -- and Andromache the lizard woman. He was looking at the giant riding lizard himself.

“Amazing, these amazons rely on these?” he said. “As mounts?”

“I guess so,” said Alexander.

“You have to hurry,” said the Crone, “Every minute wasted is a minute that Hippolyta could find danger.”

Tobias sat down, kind of, and allowed Alexander to mount him as a riding animal. Alexander, on the right side of the animal, was hesitant but never the less managed to straddle the huge animal. The animal got up on his hind legs. Loktai managed to straddle the back of another and it got up. “Well, this is an interesting thing to ride, I must say,” said Alexander. The giant lizard growled.

“Yes it is, Master,” said Loktai. “Shouldn’t we go?”

“Not without me,” said Andromache. She joined them on an equally large lizard of the same kind. “You can’t find Hippolyta without my help at any rate. I know her better than anyone. She’s just not as satisfying as you, Loktai.”

“Master, what are we going to do if we leave this camp?” Loktai protested.

“Right now, there is no time to discuss it. Forward Tobias!”

The monsterous animal roared as it surged to life, running down the canyon with Andromache and Loktai following behind. The crone lifted a hand, “Farewell, men of the outside world, may you be successful.”