010: Return
The sun warmed the phalanx while Laconia loud snores made the ship rumble, Niko slowly woke up while rubbing his eyes, most of his wounds were healed by Laconia's blessing who still continued to use it in his dreams. Asterion was not on the deck and the young thracian searched everywhere until he found him resting on the sand.
-Good morning captain, what's the plan for today?
-Hey, good morning Niko. Just bathe and eat, I'm hungrier than the red wine archon in December.
Both entered the destroyed city, almost all the copper, livestock and weapons had been looted from the place, the houses destroyed and the closer they got to the palisade the more terrible the smell was, there was something extremely strange about the situation
-Where are the corpses?
Asterion wondered while collecting food from the houses, there was not a single corpse of either the heleny or the minotaurs in the streets.
-Maybe the minotaurs ate them?
-No, they don't do that, only four-fingered beasts enjoy heleny flesh, it couldn't have been that.
The palisade was charred, and a row of burnt grass showed Theseus way back to the labyrinth.
-Whatever they did with the bodies is not important now, let's go back to the ship.
-Aye captain.
Niko and Asterion returned to the wrecked ship, Laconia was still sleeping and they both had breakfast on the deck in the meantime.
-Today is a new month, so the labyrinth must have already changed. When Laconia wakes up Niko we will make a decision.
-You sound more serious than usual, but we will just do our job.
-Explore the labyrinth and look for new exits, the problem is that the path to Helena was destroyed.
-What are you saying?
-The minotaurs buried the route next to the temple, so our only way back is where they entered and now that we are in another month I have no idea where we will end up.
-Where was that tunnel connected to last month?
-It was connected to the foothills of the mountains north of Helena, near the Hyperborean territory, so we'll probably end up somewhere nearby.
-Hyperboreans, as if the minotaurs weren't enough.
-I'm not worried about them, they never come down from their mountains, the problem is their creations.
-Automatons.
-If the minotaurs came in through there they must have cleared the territory before, but more always appear and the return trip is not a short journey, it's at least three days, not counting the trip through the labyrinth which we have no idea how convoluted it will be.
-Maps are no longer useful, the mycenaeans planned this quite well, they attacked a day before the labyrinth changed and now not only do we have no way to follow them, but we are abandoned.
-Yes... Hehe, Theseus is certainly incredible.
Laconia had woken up a while ago and immediately began eating everything they had collected.
-Good morning, Miss Laconia.
-Good morning, lizard Laconia.
Laconia tried to say good morning but the food in her mouth turned her words into meaningless babbling, Niko smiled back and then continued his conversation.
-Asterion.
-Mhm?
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-Do you think we can beat Theseus?
The polemarch tilted his head towards the sky.
-I don't know.
Niko laughed.
-I was expecting you to say something like that, anyone other than an archon would surely say no.
The thracian stood up.
-Whatever you decide I will follow you, we are in this together now, captain.
The bestiary stared at Asterion.
-You already know my answer.
The polemarch smiled happily as he placed his hand on the back of his neck, slightly embarrassed by the situation.
-It's not that complicated, let's find a large papyrus, a pen and some ink to map the labyrinth and then return to Helena, we have to tell them what happened here.
Laconia noticed a slight glow inside Asterion's clothes.
-The seal.
Asterion took out the papyrus blessed by the fleece and words of light were written on it.
-“Map the classical route to Skiathos and bring the polemarch Asterion and his phalanx back to Helena,” the archon is looking us already, the refugees surely reported what happened here, but they have no idea that the place was destroyed and that the entrance collapsed.
-Even if it wasn't like that, it will take days to find this specific entrance again.
Asterion stood up and got off the ship.
-Well, we could wait here for them to rescue us, but I don't want Theseus to go undefeated, let's go after the minotaurs.
Niko and Laconia nodded in unison and the phalanx headed to the city well to clean up and prepare for the journey.
Everyone's wounds had finally healed and they were ready to enter the labyrinth. Laconia and Niko's equipment hasn't changed much. The bestiary carried two javelins on its back to have more options against enemies at a distance. The thracian carried at least twenty incendiary bombs, not as common as stones for his wave, but much more effective against the myrmekes. Asterion this time decided to arm himself and his companions with leather armor and helmet, a spear and a shield.
-So, this time you're going to fight with us, captain?
-It's just to defend me in case of an emergency. It'll take at least a day to find a way out and any mistake could be fatal.
-You look pretty good.
-Stop bothering me.
They both shared a few laughs before going down the stairs into the darkness. The two soldiers carried heavy backpacks full of water and food, while Asterion carried a large blank papyrus, a small bag of ink and a pen on his belt.
The labyrinth was completely changed, the walls that were once black concrete, clearly built by intelligent hands, had now been replaced by stone and earth, like a common cavern, the ceiling was filled with stalactites full of salt and minerals everywhere, it was hard to believe if they hadn't seen it before. Niko looked in all directions, slightly nostalgic.
-This is what it looked like the first time I entered the labyrinth a year ago. How was it for you?
Asterion touched the back of his neck.
-Everything was frozen, I was freezing to death and all I wanted was to go home, it was definitely the time I wanted most to give up on this job.
Laconia walked ahead lighting the way.
-Black concrete and full of ants, just like last month.
The phalanx reached a crossroads of two roads and the polemarch quickly mapped the route, meanwhile a strange sound came from the road on the right.
-Asterion, go left quickly.
-Yes, let's go.
Niko was confused and while his companions walked quickly to the left he stayed a few moments to listen more carefully, identifying the sound with something he did not expect to hear in the labyrinth, a soft bleat. He returned to his companions.
-Is it a sheep?
Hearing that, Asterion and Laconia decided to run.
-Yes, closer than I expected, what bad luck, we will stop at the next crossing.
-I assume it is bad news. It is not a common sheep, right?
-Oh, it is a completely normal sheep, what worries us is the owner of the sheep.
Niko understood what they were facing.
-I did not know that they also lived in the labyrinth.
-Only the strongest, greater reasons to escape.
The phalanx continued exploring and drawing the routes, when they heard the bleating they escaped in another direction, but the darkness of the labyrinth became stronger and stronger, a long "room" in which inside there was a myrmeke queen strongly protected by myrmidon ants, taller than normal myrmekes, they had four arms with which they fought using two large spears and had wings that allowed them to fly for a few moments, Asterion grabbed is chin while he watched the nest.
-If there is a nest of this size here, it means that the exit must not be far away, but going over this army is suicide.
Niko was further back, keeping watch while the polemarch and the bestiary thought about what to do.
-Asterion, it's better to take another path, finding the exit in less than a day is tempting, but we can't fight so many.
-Well, we think the same, so there's nothing to do, let's look for another path.
When they both turned around, they saw Niko running as fast as his feet could carry him while taking a breath to shout.
-PROBLEMS!
-What's going on?
Asterion and Laconia said in unison.
-There's no way back, we have to go fast, we have to move forward.
-We can't go forward, there's...
Asterion saw several myrmekes running in his direction behind Niko, Laconia prepared to defend herself, but the ants passed the group by.
-No...
The bestiary grabbed her companions and ran with the ants towards the nest, slowly descending with her wings. Myrmekes came out from all directions trying to surround the group, but they all stopped at the same time as the air filled with lots of bleating, hundreds of sheep slowly descended through the nest, coming down like goats one by one, the ants instead of hunting them let them pass and everyone prepared to defend their home, the myrmidons took flight and the eight-cubit tall queen raised her gigantic abdomen, releasing dozens and dozens of newborn myrmekes, which were born ready for battle, the phalanx quickly ran to the wall opposite the entrance and the polemarch gave his orders.
- Aim for the eye.
A monstrous four-fingered hand covered the floor of the cave and the gigantic beast showed its face. When it saw the floor cleared of sheep, it descended into the nest with two other companions. They were covered in primitive animal skin clothing and necklaces of teeth. They carried clubs that could easily be an unearthed tree. A huge woolen cloth on their back carried a huge stone and their only eye had a black pupil with a blue iris. The common four-cubit-tall myrmekes looked totally diminished against the monster's seventeen cubits. Their skin seemed made of stone and their gigantic muscles were only contrasted by their enormous stomachs. Cyclops’s, all sons of Poseidon, are said to have once had five fingers on their hands, but were taken away by their own father for some reason. Whatever it was, the sea no longer blesses them, but they still retain a force that makes the very foundations of the earth tremble.
A wild roar from the tallest cyclops’s scared the sheep out of the nest and the moment the phalanx tried to follow them a stone the size of a house flew towards them, blocking the exit and killing some ants that were trying to return to the nest to defend themselves. The three sides prepared their weapons and even without being able to understand each other's languages, the polemarch, the queen and the tallest cyclops all gave the same instruction.
-LET'S GO!