"Hmph." Thea glanced up at the sky, eyes sharp. Four left. "Fine then—let's fight till dawn!"
Of course, that was easier said than done. The most aggressive ones were already dead; the survivors circling above were smaller, faster, but far less brave. They refused to flee, though. High overhead they circled, screeching occasionally, keeping their fierce eyes locked on her.
Annoying. If she weren't still technically in the middle of a "holy competition," she'd have pulled out her hoverboard and shown those feathered pests what aerial dominance really meant. Instead, they hovered just out of reach, taunting her from above.
"Hey! Lend me your bow!" Thea shouted to one of the Amazons watching from the safety of a tree.
The warrior didn't understand what she was planning, but obediently tossed her bow down. It was just an ordinary weapon—no enchantments, no sentimental value.
Two seconds later, she regretted it. Pointing at Thea, she gawked. "She's not—she's not actually going to—?"
Her comrade's jaw dropped too. "Two bows… at once? Her strength must be insane…"
Down below, Thea grinned, setting one bow in each hand. She crossed them in an X, notching an arrow between the two strings so that the fletching sat at the intersection. She drew both to full tension, aiming at the lowest of the circling birds—a hornet hawk.
Thwip!
The arrow shot upward at over 300 meters per second. It covered the kilometer to its target almost instantly, punching through the hawk's left wing and sending the creature spiraling toward the ground.
She didn't pause. Two more arrows followed, felling a pair of smaller falcons midflight.
When she turned her aim toward the last one—a red-bellied hawk—it had already bolted upward, flapping frantically until it was a mere speck five thousand meters above, trembling but refusing to descend.
That… was a problem. Thea wouldn't call herself a perfectionist, but something about leaving one alive just felt incomplete. Yet five thousand meters was well beyond any bow's effective range, especially when shooting straight up.
"Suggestions?" she asked the three Amazons, who could only stare, dumbstruck. Eighteen raptors of varying size, seventeen dead, and not a scratch on her. Her archery had completely eclipsed theirs.
They exchanged helpless smiles. "We fight on the ground," one admitted. Meaning: You're on your own, lady.
Thea sighed and gave the fallen birds their final mercy shots—efficient, if a little brutal—hoping to bait the last hawk into rage. But it didn't move. It neither fled nor attacked, just hovered there, watching in eerie silence.
"Coward," she muttered, then smirked as an idea sparked. "Fine. Let's pretend to leave."
She signaled the three Amazons to start cleaning up. With most of the sky now safe, they descended, confident. Eighteen birds down to one—what was there to fear?
Thea strung the eagles together with rope, dragging the grisly line beside the boars she'd hunted earlier. "Look at you now, kings of the sky," she muttered. "Sharing ground space with pigs. Must sting, huh?"
The provocation worked. The red-bellied hawk screamed, its pride shattered. Alone, its kin slaughtered, its enemy mocking the dead—it could bear no more.
Sensing its fury, Thea gave it one final push—raising her head and locking onto it with the Eye of Horus, a direct, blatant challenge.
A shriek tore through the air, sharp and furious. The hawk's body trembled, rage overriding instinct. It folded its wings and dove—no hesitation, no fear—turning itself into a living spear aimed straight at her heart.
"That's it! Come on!"
For the first time in hours, Thea felt her blood surge with heat. This—this was the kind of fight she respected. She focused completely, bowstring drawn to its limit, eyes fixed on the descending blur.
The gap closed fast. She could see every feather, every twitch of its talons. But she didn't loose the arrow. Not yet. She waited, calm amid the rush of wind, until that precise instant when the hawk faltered—hesitating between altering its angle or continuing the charge.
That heartbeat of doubt was all she needed.
Thwack!
The arrow streaked upward, small and silent, until it grew large in the hawk's vision—then punched clean through its eye.
Thea's triumphant cry split the air. "YAAAH!" She raised her bow high, shouting to the heavens. The three Amazons, swept up by her wild energy, drew their blades and roared alongside her.
Her voice echoed through the forest. And for the first time in a long while, she felt alive. Ever since Purgatory Island—since that cursed time traveler—everything had felt like a slow suffocation. Stranded on this godforsaken island, far from home, from control, from purpose…
But this? This was release.
In that moment of raw, reckless victory, she understood herself again. The merge with the unicorn's soul, the pull toward empathy and restraint—gone. She wasn't some holy savior or self-sacrificing hero. She didn't want to be.
She was Thea Queen—fierce, flawed, alive. She fought because she wanted to. She bled because it made her feel real.
The clarity hit like fresh air after a storm. Her strength hadn't increased, but her heart felt light, unburdened. She couldn't help but laugh. "Figures. Other protagonists reach enlightenment and power up instantly. Me? I kill a few pigs and birds and call it a day."
Still, the peace that settled in her chest was genuine. Maybe she wasn't a "chosen one." Maybe she never would be. But for now, that was fine.
"Alright!" she shouted to the warriors. "Drop those. We're not done hunting yet!"
The Amazons, unsure why she suddenly looked radiant and driven, eagerly followed. To them, the clearing was sacred now—a field of glory. They truly believed they were witnessing an outsider about to be blessed by Artemis herself.
And so they continued, plunging deeper into the wild forest.
Every creature—large, strange, and misplaced from climates that defied reason—soon felt the ripple of their intrusion. Themyscira's jungle would never again be so peaceful.