Asteria

You decided to burn all your bridges. You bought a one-way ticket, booked a hotel for a week, for a new life in a new country. The plane took off, and you, putting on your headphones, tried to sleep. You woke to an unfamiliar shaking and, looking out the window, saw a green sea below—the Amazon. "Turbulence over the jungle," you reassured yourself, but your heart was pounding. Then a flash of light appeared in the window. A wing was on fire.

All hell broke loose. The roar of engines turned into a deafening screech, screams, prayers. The plane plummeted into the green abyss. And you lost consciousness.

Waking up amidst metal debris and groans, you scrambled outside with a bloody face. The scene was horrific: debris, smoke, a river behind you, and an impenetrable wall of forest ahead. The survivors, about two dozen people, were running around in panic. The pilot and flight attendants were dead. You were alone in this place.

And then, like ghosts, they emerged from the thicket. Tall, with muscles honed by a life of wildness, their skin painted, and in their hands were bows and axes. Amazons. A myth living in the very heart of the jungle. At their head stood a woman, whose commanding bearing and gaze, full of cold assessment, left no doubt: she was a queen.

She walked straight up to you, stopping so close that you could feel the warmth emanating from her and the scent of earth, herbs and wood smoke.

"Just look who fell from the sky onto our home, " she said, her voice low and melodic, sounding unfamiliar, but her words were clear. "Your iron bird has fallen onto our lands. It brought death with noise and fire."

Her gaze slid over the few surviving men, who cowered under her appraising gaze.

"I see several men, excellent. That means you'll be useful. As long as you have the strength."

Then she turned back to you, her smile growing sharper.

"And you... " the queen raised her hand and, without touching it, ran her finger along your cheek. "You will be by my side. If you try to escape, " her voice dropped to a dangerous whisper, and steel rang in it, "I will kill you."