006: Calm

Asterion opened his eyes slowly as the sun rays warmed his face, he yawned softly as he watched that he was the first to wake up, his companions were considerably more tired than him during the trip and they snoring’s would not let the man rest either, so Asterion went down to the reception and took "permanently borrowed" a single sheet of papyrus from the shelf, on it the polemarch drew a ram; the symbol of the archon of light, covered it with wool that he also "borrowed" from Jason fleece, the moment the wool touched the symbol it fused with the paper and the ram lit up slightly.

-A message?

Laconia said as she went down to meet with her leader.

-Something like that, I have no way to send anything, but if the Archon writes something on a paper with this symbol it will also be written on this paper.

Laconia sat next to Asterion leaving her greatsword aside.

-What are your plans today?

-Nothing really. The archon sent us here to cover the place, but you know how he is. Surely there are only a few stragglers left.

Niko ran down the stairs when he heard that.

-Aren't we going to do anything? But the mycenaeans are very dangerous and this city doesn't seem to have very good defenses.

-Believe me Niko, you don't want to fight the mycenaeans, they are nothing like the myrmekes, if we were as a complete phalanx maybe I would, but it is very dangerous with just the three of us, let them go in peace.

Niko was upset by the situation but now that he knew Asterion a little better he decided to trust the polemarch.

-I will stay watching the walls with the guards anyway, if you look for me I will be in the western palisade.

The young thracian left through the door like lightning and silence returned to the place, Laconia took a big sip of water and went back to talking to Asterion.

-You needed to get rid of him right, what occurred to you?

Asterion couldn't help but smile at Laconia correct intuition.

-The mycenaeans are not like the myrmekes, I don't feel like returning to Helena with a corpse, but I still don't know what they're up to.

Asterion held his mouth and nose with his hand as he thought about how strange the situation was.

-Mycenaeans attack Skiathos, a small city on the shore of an island that doesn't have many resources and they are massacred by the archon, I think that they are attacking Helena, I don't know exactly because the papyrus still doesn't have anything written, it seems almost like a suicidal attack that only served to distract Jason for a day, but they were repelled too quickly, even to face an archon they shouldn't have been defeated that quickly, there's something strange here.

-Well, they don't seem to be a race that stands out for its intelligence, whenever we have fought against them, they don't have very complex tactics.

-I doubt that, the heleny underestimate the mycenaeans too much and you already know how that ended in the western territories, although perhaps it is just a suicidal charge, but I don't know... Let's go to the river and follow the current, if there are stragglers or they returned through another entrance to the labyrinth or they must replenish themselves in some other way.

Laconia and Asterion marched towards the beach and from there they headed towards the only river on the island which was the only source of drinking water in the place, during the journey as soon as they entered the forest, they saw several trees burned by the attacks of the archon and some other corpses, however the polemarch knew that there was something that didn't fit, but he still didn't understand what. The duo reached a large bend in the river that looked like a lake and from there they walked to the other end. Asterion seemed frustrated at not understanding the reason for the mycenaeans, he muttered constantly and seemed lost on the horizon, so Laconia looked for a way to distract him so that he would calm down.

-How are rivers formed on these islands? I understand that they form in the mountains but there are no mountains on this island.

-Well, it is true that rivers are born from the melted ice of mountains, but they are also formed by rain. On an island there are no mountains with ice; but if it rains a lot, another reason may be the presence of a-.

Laconia immediately jumped against Asterion dodging the direct impact of a huge stone hammer wielded by a minotaur who waited hidden on a large tree.

-River stories for later, behind me.

The mycenaean, the size of two adult men and packed with muscles, only wore a simple bronze breastplate over his tunic, let out a loud bellow and lunged at Laconia using his horns, the warrior could not dodge the attack or she would leave the polemarch defenseless, so she faced the warrior in a contest of strength grabbing him by the horns, both stopped suddenly and the minotaur seeing that they were both tied raised his head in a quick movement and tried to crush the beast with his hooves, Laconia jumped back dodging the attack, grabbed her greatsword and wrapped it in fire launched a downward cut against the Mycenaean.

- Τριμίσκον –

As he said these words, the ring piercing the mycenaean nose lit up and from there the whole skin of the minotaur turned to pure bronze. The cut that would have otherwise severed the whole body was stopped by the beast's arm, leaving the longsword caught in the bone. Laconia, who did not let go of her sword, got stuck and the mycenaean grabbed her by the head, pulled it off his arm and threw her with all his strength to the other side of the river, destroying several trees on impact. Asterion, hiding behind a tree, listened to the footsteps of the minotaur approaching his improvised hiding place, holding his breath until he couldn’t keep it longer and the moment he exhaled, the mycenaean ran up to crush him.

- λόγχη -

Laconia favor transformed into a fiery flame spear that hit the distracted minotaur directly, who fell to the ground dead from the impact, losing his bronze form.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

-Are you okay?

Laconia asked Asterion as she gave him a hand to lift him up.

-Well, there we have a straggler.

-I was distracted, sorry.

-Don't worry, although you had to ask for a favor.

Asterion calmly held his head as he walked towards the mycenaean to examine him.

-He transformed his skin into bronze so he must be blessed by Athena, his ear...

The minotaur ear was pierced, the polemarch removed the armor that protected him and on his chest laid the symbol of a two-headed horse marked in fire.

-I think you already imagined it, right Laconia?

The beastiary eyes narrowed and she looked away from the corpse.

-How was he armed?

-He must have asked for a favor to form his armor, the hammer must have been created by a companion.

Asterion closed the mycenaean eyes with his hands.

-Let's look for his companion, he must not be far away.

They marched and marched along the river while the sun was at its zenith, thoughts flooded both their heads.

-You didn't know about this, did you?

Asterion almost said no, but he turned his words back and preferred to tell the truth.

-I had a thought... It seems we still have a lot of work.

Laconia, now attentive to her surroundings, heard the movement of some bushes and ran until she found its origin. Hand in hand with a minotaur child who was wielding a bronze dagger, the bestiary took the weapon from him and brought him to Asterion. The child uttered dozens of words while crying, Laconia could not understand what he was saying.

-Asterion...

-Calm down, he's insulting us, let him tire himself out... [Hi kid, my minoan isn't very good but you should understand me].

The child stopped crying, surprised that a heleny knew his language.

-[I'm going to kill you, I'm going to kill you, damn pigskin, everything is always his fault].

Crying again, he fell on his knees and inconsolably grabbed his nose and his little horns.

-[If you tell me what happened, I swear in the name of my mother that we will set you free].

-[Liar, you're going to kill me or you'll send me back to them, pigskins are all liars].

Asterion hugged the child and shared some tears.

-[I'm so sorry, we'll take you to an entrance to the labyrinth].

The child cried even harder, until he had completely let off steam, they all drank from the river and ate some fish that Laconia hunted while they rested.

-[Are you feeding me to eat me?]

-[We are not from here, I'm sorry about what happened to you, let us help you].

Laconia, who did not understand what they were talking about, tried to communicate as best she could and gave the biggest fish to the bull, she tried to pet its head but quickly cowered.

-[We rebelled and escaped, we managed to get past all the guards but shiny pigskin killed most of them].

Asterion clenched his fists tightly but kept a reassuring voice.

-[So now you don't have enough strength to cross the labyrinth, that means your group must be at an entrance, right?].

-[Ah, I knew you're going to kill us].

The bull tried to run but Laconia stopped her path while Asterion laughed lightly.

-[If it were so, I wouldn't have said it out loud and in your language].

The boy sat back down.

-[Which door are you at?]

-[… North].

-Laconia, let's go to the north gate, [let's go with your group].

Asterion walked hand in hand with the bull along with Laconia through the forest, avoiding any corpses they might find.

…

The group was near the north entrance and Laconia looked nervous.

-Asterion, we are surrounded.

-I imagined it, stay calm and don't take out your weapon.

Laconia grabbed the bull to carry him in her arms, the boy seemed confused but he didn't worry too much, especially since he was tired of walking, when they reached the gate they saw several armed mycenaeans looking in the direction the group was going.

-Polemarch.

-Calm down, I have a plan.

Asterion took a breath and prepared for what was coming. The mycenaeans saw the group, surrounded them and quickly threatened them, one of them was unarmed and smaller in comparison to his brethren.

-Let go of the boy and surrender!

Said the unarmed mycenaean.

-We will release him when you let us talk to your leader.

Asterion whispered to the small bull in his arms.

-[Calm down, we will threaten you but we only want to talk].

The bull accepted with a movement of his head.

The three of them advanced through the improvised camp, everyone was calm until Asterion looked in amazement at a back that was similar to him and like an arrow in his head, he received dozens of memories that he did not expect to find again.

-No... it can't be.

-What's wrong Asterion?

-I know that mycenaean, it's good and bad news.

The powerful minotaur with a head taller than all the others had several bracelets on his horns and was the only one with a bronze ring on his nose, he only wore a tunic but was armed with a gigantic double-edged axe that seemed as heavy as a mountain. The mycenaean looked at Asterion in amazement.

-[Are you the same young man as that time?]

-[I'm impressed that you remember me, it's been five years, you certainly have a good memory, General Theseus].

Laconia face went blank and her eyes widened as wide as she heard the name "Theseus." She had been with Asterion for four years and not once had she mentioned meeting Theseus the founder, the great general who had won countless battles against the heleny in the west, taking away numerous lands from them and making them mycenaean territory.

-[What is someone like you doing here?]

-[A slave escaped from this island and revealed everything to us, we just arrived, a strategist like you would know what I'm planning next.]

-[… It's been five years since we last talked. Would you mind?]

-[No problem.]

-[In exchange, let my soldier go free, she has nothing to do with it.]

-[Go ahead.]

With a whistle, all the mycenaeans walked away and left the group free, the bull rejoined with his people, bidding the duo farewell.

-Laconia, I made a terrible mistake, I order you to return to Skiathos.

-What are you saying?

-I'll be fine, don't worry seriously, but you must let them know so they can evacuate the city, please.

Laconia looked into Asterion determined eyes and for a moment thought about taking him to safety by force, until the polemarch walked out of her reach and entered the labyrinth with the minotaur.

Theseus and Asterion sat on a step of the labyrinth, watching the darkness.

-[You will invade the city, right?]

-[I don't like questions with obvious answers].

-[I know, I know... Do you know that my duty is to protect it?]

-[You don't seem like a man of much "duty", last time I would even say that you did the opposite].

Asterion lowered his head.

-[I sent my partner to evacuate the polis, then they will surely strengthen the defenses].

-[You're giving me trouble again, even speaking in my language, you're a very annoying heleny, you know?]

-[There's no way to avoid your siege, right?]

-[Kid…]

-[Ah, sorry, it's hard to think about this situation].

Giving a huge sigh the polemarch made his decision.

-[I will defend the polis, I'm sorry about the slaves].

-[… I know, it's clear that you are not part of those bastards. Last time we did not have the time to introduce ourselves and although you already know my name I would like to know yours, my name is Theseus, it's a pleasure].

-[… My name is Asterion, thank you for sparing my life that time].

-[Thanks to you Asterion, thank you for not being like the rest of the heleny, next time, I promise to learn your language, well, if we have a next time, we'll see each other on the battlefield].

Asterion walked alone through the forest until he reached the river and from there, he went to Skiathos, trying to remember every detail of his first meeting with Theseus, every detail of the first time Asterion commanded a phalanx and walked towards the storms of war.