It was a time when men didn't record history and the gods who remained were treated as little more than legend, but the land still needed a hero. Every day was a challenge just to survive as war and hunger flourished. There many nomadic groups that roamed the Byzantine Empire in these early days of the Middle Ages. In one of these nomadic groups, arose such a heroine. Her name was Xenia and her journey became as epic as the ancients...

Lucius, her younger brother shimmied up the tree like she'd taught him when they were young. He went up the tree with a carefree expression, but he came down wearing one quite grim. "It's the Slavs. They're coming this way."

It was always a possibility they could be attacked. One could even argue that it was likely. The news didn't shock her much. "We have to tell the others."

They went to their mother first with the news. She had been in the middle of roasting a lamb, and she cried when she heard it.

Xenia knew why. They had only just planted grain in hopes that they would still be here in the fall, the first crop Xenia could remember, but it seemed it was not to be. And yet, why couldn't it be? It just wasn't fair.

She almost surprised her own self as she said, "We must fight them."

Her mother didn't even pause in her hasty packing. "If we try to stand up against men who are experienced with weapons, we will all die."

"Mother," she argued, "if we don't try anything, we still die. If not by their blades than by starvation when they steal our already meager flocks."

"We can run to the hills," Titus said, who'd been silent until now but spoke with the authority of an older brother. "We'll just have to start over somehow."

"Too many are too weak to run, and we would have to leave the animals behind," Xenia argued, trying to make him see sense.

But he ignored her as well and helped with the packing.

Not Lucius though. "She's right. If we don't fight now, when will we? When it's too late?"

Her mother began to consider staying but not Titus. "I am leaving, and if you have any desire to survive, you will too."

Titus was true to his word and was the first to leave, but Lucius gathered the others. There were nearly fifty of them that made up their community and only about thirty or so were capable of putting up a defense. Not an army by any stretch of the imagination but at least it was better than doing nothing and hoping for the best.

"The Slavs are coming," she announced.

Nervous talk began almost at once.

"But we shouldn't run. They are gong to overtake us, and they're going to steal our herd. We can't afford that. If we don't stand up against them, we may lose our very lives. Here is what I propose, some of us have other weapons that have been handed down in our family. And almost all of us have bows and arrows that we use for hunting. I say let's defend our families, let's defend what's ours, and send them running instead. We will show them we're not lambs to be led to the slaughter!"

Something happened while she spoke. She, who was barely out of her girlhood, inspired her people. She gave them hope and more than that she gave them a fighting spirit. She hadn't known she was capable of such leadership, but it served to bolster her own courage and made her believe that they could do this.

Lucius took the bow and arrow. They'd been hunting since they were kids. She felt he was safer wielding such a familiar weapon, and he wouldn't have to get close to enemy.

She chose. to use the rusty sword her father had left behind when he took off. It took all her strength to wield it, and she'd had no training at all, but she had something the enemy wouldn't have, determination to succeed at all costs and people who believed in her.

They formed a wall around their tents, archers in front and those with swords and daggers behind as the second line of defense.

As they waited, she slashed her stola to free her movement before the impending battle. They had to win. Failure was not an option