Desert Snow... Pt 3

The man looked down at Marlene. He stared at her for a moment before slowly lowering his hand.
"Why... why should I spare him or your friends? What are they to me?"
Marlene looked up at him. Her tears ended and she pulled herself from the ground.
"They are nothing to you. To me, they are my love and my friends. Does that mean anything to you or are you as cold as the stone you stand on?"
The anger in the man's eyes was so evident that it almost caused Marlene to step back but stepping back wasn't something she was accustomed to doing. She stood her ground.
"I should kill you for your tone... but the child has done nothing to earn it's ending. I will spare you for her sake... only once. Our people once held the passion and compassion as you do now. We found it was only a tool that our enemies turned against us. Our strength returned to us only after we stopped caring for anything or anyone but our own." There was a sadness in his voice as he spoke now. "A day will come that you too will understand this that i have told you. So shall your daughter."
"I pray that we never know that coldness."
"I am Sharu. I am the leader of my people. I find you to be strong, Marlene. It is that strength that has saved your life. Allow me to end the life of the weaker man and you can sit at my side. We would be a strong tie for my people."
"I would never allow you to hurt the man I love. I would die first before that happened."
Sharu looked into her eyes. He himself was amazed to find such a strong woman among a people he could conquer with just a wave of his hand. "It is good that you have come here. I wish for you to sit with our woman and teach them some of your strengths. It will be good for our colony that they can protect themselves when the men are gathering."
As Marlene helped Dan to his feet, she saw what was to be another first for her in this crazy valley they had stumbled on. As she looked at Sharu, he began changing right before her eyes. Marlene and Dan watched as this cold man became a beautiful woman. Her long hair, touching the tip of her buttocks, shined in the Sun's light. Her huge fawn-like eyes of almost purple looked back at them. She was still tall and her long legs were as perfect as the rest of her body. Marlene took her blouse off and covered the woman's top as much as she could.
"Are you embarrassed by my nakedness, Marlene? Are you not more shocked at my transformation?"
" I don't want my man to have a stroke out here," she answered with a smile. "What is it that I am looking at?"
"This is what I truly am. I appeared to you as a man because in your world, that is who is respected and feared. Few would fear a woman as they do a man. It was not always so with my people."
It all became clear to Marlene then. "You, are the lost civilization of the Amazon women we have read of and written books and comics about. We called you "Wonder Woman." What is it you want here?"
"We wish only to be left alone and go back to where we once called our home. We need certain things to survive there and we are gathering all we can. Our home was once like this that you see. And then the great ice came and we lost it all. We are freezing what we need and will take it back with us when we leave. Animals and trees and people to help us rebuild our home will go with us. We will freeze your desert and take it with us also."
"Where is it that you once lived?"
"In a place you call Antarctica. We will make it our home again. And then we will find those that tried to destroy us and we will take back everything with their blood."
"Those people that you fought then are long gone."
"Not their ancestry!" Marlene and Dan stepped back from her as she spoke. Heat came from her body that seared the hair on Dan's arm. Her body glowed like hot embers. "Do not try and protect them, Dan! We know their families and we Will have our vengeance!"
Dan wished he not spoken out. He did not want to anger this, this creature, whatever it was. He was certain it was not from Earth.
"Where we came from is of no concern of yours, Dan! Worry for your own safety and the safety of your friends. They are being brought to us now as we speak."
"Then you will spare their lives, Sharu?"
"For now, Marlene. They owe their lives to You. Their lives are in your hands. You are respected but make no mistakes. I will kill you and them as quickly as I blink should you press my anger."
As Marlene stood and listened, a Dragon suddenly came into view. It was enormous and walked across the desert sand swinging it's head from side to side. But there was something different about this Dragon. Instead of spewing fire from it's mouth, Marlene and Dan watched in awe as ice came from it's huge jaws. It froze everything that came into contact with the ice, sand and creatures alike.
"It's snowing in the desert! I have seen it all now" was all Marlene could say.
"No, you have not yet, but you will, if you live long enough. Take care of the child."
Marlene wondered what Sharu meant by her words. It sent a chill down her spine.