The Mares of Thrace

Eighth Story of History of the Twelve, previous Story The Cretan Juggernaut

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

"Alright." was Bull's reply when he was told that he needed to tell the story of how Diomedes joined The Dodekathlon.

"You don't seemed surprised to hear that he's dead." Thoth said.

"Diomedes was a violent man who loved to torture people with his Illusion Magic." Bull said. "I'm not surprised he's dead because I knew one day someone would break free of his Illusion and attack him. He couldn't do anything without Augeas by his side to protect him from those who could beat Illusion Magic. I'm guessing Augeas died too, if Diomedes is dead."

"Yes, they're both dead." Thoth said, understanding why Bull seemed uneffected by the news of his comrade's death. Bull nodded a few times then seemed to remember why Thoth was there and began speaking.

"Diomedes was born and raised in the city of Thrace in the country of Seven. Thrace is in the mountains of Seven, so the Council of Elders can't do much with the locals." Bull said. "And with their high beliefs in the Occult and spiritualism the city turned to their gods more than the Council. However, Thrace began turning towards the Council when Diomedes became active."

"They knew it was Diomedes?" Thoth asked.

"No, no one knew it was Diomedes who began killing all those people in the alleyways of the city." Bull answered. "But all the people practice mental magics, like Telepathy and Empathy, so people appearing to drop dead of fright had them concerned that someone in their city was a serial killer."

"Those who use Empathy should've been able to figure it out. Being able to sense the emotions of others around them." Thoth said, he had dedicated a lot of time into researching other magics and had a pretty good understanding of how Empathy worked.

"You'd think so, but some how Diomedes' sadistic nature slipped by or had them so confused that someone could be that sadistic." Bull sighed. "And those who used Telepathy, apparently, were too terrified to call out for help."

"So the entire city was up in arms trying to find the man who had been killing everyone, not knowing it was Diomedes?" Thoth asked.

"Diomedes was scared," Bull replied. "When he first started, killing one here, waiting several months, then killing another there. The more people he killed, the stronger his Illusions became and the more confident and sadistic he became. He started killing more people more frequently and no one knew it was him because he knew how to hide his emotions from those with Empathy and Telepathy and was also helping to look for the killer."

"So by being a part of the search he could make sure to leave false clues and trails so no one would figure out it was him..." Thoth said, begining to understand how Diomedes was getting away with murder. Bull nodded.

"Then one day, after the sun set, Cerberus entered Thrace, via the alleyways, and ran into Diomedes." Bull continued. "Diomedes figured he'd kill the stranger and add another body to his list of victims. He cast his illusion and attempted to torture Cerberus. Diomedes was shocked with Cerberus easily dispelled his Illusion Magic. Cerberus did stay under the illusion long enough to discover how sadistic Diomedes was and, after he was out of the illusion, told Diomedes that if he joined The Dodekathlon he could use his Illusions on more people."

"And The Savage was more than eager to join, wasn't he?" Thoth asked. Bull nodded again.

"Yes, Diomedes was very eager to join with the promise of having more victims than Thrace had to offer." Bull said. "And the rest is history. Thrace still doesn't know who the killer was, but they didn't care that much after the killings all suddenly stopped."

"I see..." Thoth sighed, he was disappointed in how easily people could ignore the evils in their pasts once the evil is in the past. "Well, thank you, Bull. I need to go and talk to Hippolyta now."

"I don't know how much she'll tell you." Bull said as Thoth began limping away. "She really hates men."

"I'll keep that in mind, thank you, again." Thoth said over his shoulder as he disappeared from Bull's view.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

Continued in Thermodon's Amazoness