Stony Mountain

An Athena Colony Story

De: Stephanie Lafond

Narrado por: Virtual Voice

Stony Mountain A Short Story of the Athena Colony Scouts by Stephanie Lafond

Before dawn in Ridge Crest Village, the quiet tone of the night bell sends the First Troupe of Scouts into motion. What begins as a routine forty‑kilometer conditioning run becomes the start of a day none of them will forget. When a slip on icy cobblestones injures a young librarian‑turned‑Scout, Troupe Leader Banshee steps in to lead a rescue through the winter darkness, revealing the quiet competence and fierce protectiveness that bind the Scouts together.

As the Troupe reorganizes and marches east along the EasterHigh Road, Cataphract, former horse archer and now Band Leader, watches her newly mixed teams of Carols, Joans, and Erins learn to move as one. Their journey takes them through frontier villages, across frozen fields, and into the heart of a massive bridge construction project at Harper’s Ferry, where the Carolina River runs deep, fast, and dangerously alive.

When a triad of plesiosaurs erupts from the turbulent waters during the ferry crossing, the Scouts’ discipline and training are tested to the breaking point. Puma, a proud former Ranger, makes a split‑second decision that changes everything, leaping from the bridge to intercept a charging predator. Banshee follows in a breathtaking dive that becomes legend. What unfolds is a desperate fight for survival, a rescue under impossible conditions, and a reminder of why the Scouts exist at all.

By the time the Troupe reaches Stony Mountain, they have faced predators, weather, exhaustion, and the limits of their own courage. Yet they march on, singing in the rain, carrying one another forward, and building the future of the Athena Colony one step at a time.

This story features: • Sisterhood and solidarity across sororities and backgrounds • Leadership under pressure from Banshee, Cadiz, Cataphract, and Puma • Frontier survival on a dangerous, beautiful world • Military discipline and training in a young, evolving Corps • Heroism without glory in the face of overwhelming odds

Stony Mountain stands alone as a complete short story and also expands the larger Athena Colony cycle, offering a vivid, character‑driven look at the Scouts’ earliest missions, their traditions, and the bonds that make them a family.