Nyka shook her head. “No, the Acephali have essentially allied themselves with the Dark Legion by declaring war on us. Our best bet would be to get the Kouretes tribesmen involved. They love fighting and don’t care very much who they fight. If we could get them to fight either the Dark Legion or the Acephali for us, that would make our lives a whole lot easier.”
Hector shook his head, “The Kouretes are too chaotic to be reliable. They are just as likely to attack us as they are anyone else. That would leave us with three armies ready to destroy us.”
The spirit spoke up in my mind: What we need are allies. If we had some reinforcements, we just might stand a chance. I bet the Myrmidons would help if they are still around. In my time, the Myrmidons were very helpful to any Argonauts who needed help. There was this one time—
I interrupted him, and said aloud, “What about the Myrmidons? Would they help us?”
All the heads in the room turned towards me. “The Myrmidons…” Nyka murmured. Vienna nodded slowly and said, “That’s actually not a bad idea!”
Hector was the only one that looked skeptical. “We haven’t heard from the Myrmidons in hundreds of years. For all we know, they never recovered from fighting in the Trojan war under Achilles and have completely died off now. Our best bet is to take our enemies one at a time. If we can surprise the Acephali at their home base, we can defeat them before the Dark Legion can react! We will crush the Acephali and then turn around and destroy the Dark Legion!” He said this so passionately that I found myself nodding unconsciously. It took me a second to realize that he was disagreeing with me.
Even Nyka had come around. “A surprise attack might work. If we can beat them or get them to surrender in the first battle, that will give us more than enough time to make it back here before the Dark Legion can do anything. Still, it would be very risky. We still know nothing about this new leader that is uniting the Dark Legion. Without proper information about him, we won’t be able to anticipate his reaction.”
I held up my hand and said, “Wait, what? The Dark Legion has a leader? I thought they were just an unorganized band of baddies?”
Vienna replied, “Yes, there is a new leader of the Dark Legion. We have noticed that the Dark Legion has been a lot more organized over the past few weeks. Only recently did one of our scouts report seeing an encampment of them in North America. The Dark Legion only gathers together formally when they have a leader. Unfortunately, like Nyka said, we have no idea who the leader is.”
She sighed and leaned back in her chair before continuing, “Whoever they are, they must be very powerful to unite the Dark Legion, which is not good for us. The last person to unite the Dark Legion to his side was Hitler, and we all know how that turned out.” I definitely didn’t learn about that part of World War II in history class…
Hector spoke up, “Unfortunately, none of our scouts have put eyes on this leader. It shouldn’t make too much of a difference in our plan though. As long as the attack against the Acephali goes well, we won’t have to worry too much about the Dark Legion. Besides, we have a nearly impenetrable castle and the entire Horatii Quarter to guard it. What can a bunch of monsters, no matter how organized, do against that?”
I nodded. “Hector has a point there. Has there ever been a successful attack against Argos? It seems like the castle is completely impregnable.”
To my surprise, all of their head dipped slightly, as if they were having a bad memory. “There have been a few incidents,” said Vienna. “The most recent one was about 20 years ago. Let’s just say that is part of the reason why everyone here is so young and leave it at that. It was a very harsh and embarrassing defeat that will be remembered for a long time.”
After a few moments of silence, Nyka finally spoke up, “Before we do anything, I still think we should talk to Donovan and get the full story. There is definitely something fishy going on and I can’t believe that he would have anything to do with it.”
“Oh boy, here we go again!” Hector interrupted as he leaned back in his chair.
Nyka’s eyes flared with anger, “He is not a traitor! Vienna, hear me out! There is no way he would betray us after all that he has done for us. You have known him since you got here. Do you think he would ever betray us?”
Vienna looked between Nyka and Hector and said, “I don’t know. Donovan has been my friend ever since he saved me from the Dark Legion, but I am realizing that since I have become the leader of the Argonauts I don’t know him as well as I used to.”
The wistfulness in her voice was very evident. She sounds really sad, I thought to myself. She and Donovan must have been a lot closer than I realized. Nyka and Hector both looked like they wanted to add something, but I guess both of them picked up on the sore subject. Their eyes met and they agreed to an unspoken temporary truce.
Nyka changed the subject, “I still think the Myrmidons are a good option. We should send someone to track them down and ask them for help. Worst case scenario, we discover that they are dead and gone, and that is one less player on the field to worry about.”
Hector leaned forward, saying, “Oh, and I suppose you want to volunteer?”
Nyka nodded. “Absolutely! I will go and I will take Donovan. It will be a perfect way to test his loyalty. If he does anything strange, I will be there to stop him and we will know for sure that he is a traitor. I can leave within the week. You can even come if you want to, Hector.”
Hector looked incredulous, “You have got to be joking?” He looked at Kam and me for support. “She’s joking, right?”
Nyka tried to defend herself, but Hector spoke over her. “For one thing, why in the world would we send the person who just started a war with a powerful tribe to another even more powerful tribe? That is just downright arrogant and it is asking for the same thing to happen again! Even with that put aside, only the Edicts and Vienna can assign missions, and there is no way either of them would allow that.”
There was a small pause as everyone realized what Hector had said. They both looked at Vienna, waiting for her response. “Nyka, I cannot send you on a quest no matter how important it is. I need you here. Even if I could, two Argonauts would be in huge danger with both the Acephali and the Dark Legion hunting for them and I can’t spare extra warriors for an escort. I am sorry, but it is simply not the logical thing to do.”
Nyka sat back in her chair with her arms folded, looking dejected. Under that look of dejection though, I thought I could see a little bit of determination. Before I could think about it, Vienna spoke up. “Now that that is done, Garrett and Kam, I need you two up bright and early for tomorrow’s guard duty. Nyka, Hector, and I are going to be fortifying Argos’ defenses and you two are going to be serving as my bodyguards.”
So much had happened today that I had, once again, forgotten about our jobs for this week. By the look on Garrett’s face, he had forgotten too. “Ummm, ok. Where would you like us to meet you?”
“I will send Nyka to find you. Thank you for coming tonight and for defending Argos. I will not soon forget what you have both done today. You did your duty, despite being so new to this.”
And just like that, the meeting was over. We said our goodbyes and walked back to the barracks together.
13
The Disappearance
GARRETT
Neither of us talked on the way back to the barracks. When we got there, we said good night and went straight to sleep. Before long, I could hear Kam snoring from the bunk above (He tries to deny it, but he totally does snore). I, on the other hand, slept terribly. I had a creeping feeling in my stomach that something bad was about to happen and that I needed to be doing something. You know how sometimes when you leave the house and you have that feeling that you have forgotten to bring something? It was like that, but with a more eerie undertone.
When I finally did drift off to sleep, I instantly went into a dream. Well, not really a dream, more of a meeting. Sorta like a conference call in my head. Without a phone. At
night. While I was asleep. You know what, let’s just forget that analogy.
I was surrounded by white and a voice came out of the light around me. Luke! I am your father! It took me a couple of seconds to notice Bione’s natural sarcasm hidden behind the Darth Vader impression. Seriously? Sorry, I have wanted to do that for the longest time. You have no idea what it is like being trapped in a box with Phelix for centuries. He never gets any of those pop-culture references!
I mentally blinked several times, trying to comprehend what was just said. Phelix? That’s the other spirit’s name? Well, yes. But we have more important things to discuss. You need to prepare yourself for what is to come. I cannot see the future like the Edicts can, but I know something bad is about to happen. I wish I could be of more help, but you are about to wake up. Wake up? I have only been asleep for a few minutes! Well, yes, but time goes faster in the dream realm. You remember going on trips with your family? Well, you would fall asleep in the car and—
I woke up in the middle of his sentence and he finished it in the back of my head, which was one of the weirdest feelings ever. —when you woke up you would be at your destination! I groaned as I sat up. Even without the wolf attack and the broken ribs from Albert, I would have been sore. I was not used to so much running around, let alone in heavy armor.
I heard Kam still snoring away above me. The rest of the barracks was getting ready. Albert smiled at me. I didn’t see Nyka; she must have gotten up early. Early! Guard Duty! It was a little before 8:30, and I wasn’t sure when Vienna wanted us to be there. Nyka was supposed to take us there, but she must have forgotten!
I gave the bunk above me a sharp kick and heard a satisfying groan in reply. “Kam! We have guard duty this morn—” He landed on the floor next to me before I could even finish the sentence. He was already fully dressed, minus shoes. Did he sleep in his clothes last night?
As he began to get his shoes on, he said with a smirk, “Well yeah! What are you still doing in your pajamas?” He is so annoying sometimes…
I hopped out of bed and started to get ready myself. He ran out of the barracks as I shouted at him to wait. When I finally managed to get my feet into my sneakers, I ran after him. As I ran through the door, I nearly skewered myself on a couple of swords. The guards that were holding them gave me the stink-eye and went inside the barracks. I didn’t recognize either of them as being from our barracks, but hey, I have only been here a few days.
I started in the direction of the Palatine, but faltered as I notice more armed guards on the street. All of them had weapons ready to go and appeared to be searching and patrolling for something. That’s weird. Shouldn’t they be on the wall? I kept walking, soon moving into a jog, ignoring the groups of armored teens roaming the streets. By the time I got to the Palatine, I was breathing hard from all the running. Kam was already on the front porch talking to Vienna and Hector.
Kam turned to me, “Have you seen Nyka this morning?”
“Uh, no. I have seen all of the armed guards though. What’s going on?”
Vienna responded, “Nyka and a couple of others have gone missing. Nobody has seen her since last night. It appears that she may have left Argos without permission, taking Donovan and a Horatii named Daniel with her. We are doing a full search of the castle, but I am sure they are gone by now.”
Kam broke in, “Didn’t you leave someone to guard Donovan overnight?”
Vienna sighed, “Yes, but unfortunately that guard was Daniel. She must have convinced him to come with her. They have been good friends ever since she assisted in his rescue a year ago.”
Hector, who had remained quiet until now, spoke up, “Or we just haven’t found his body yet. There is a lot of assuming that is being done here. We don’t know for sure if they have actually left, nor do we know for sure WHO has left. Hence, we don’t know who the traitors are. We need to complete the search before we assume anything.”
Kam opened his mouth to say something, but I cut him off. “Can we help in the search? You probably need all the people you can get.”
Vienna nodded. “Hector will be helping with the search in a minute. One of you will go with him, and the other will stay here with me as a guard. It’s a good thing we got two guards this time around because now would be an excellent time for the Dark Legion to try something.”
Both Kam and I shouted at the same time, “Dibs on searching!” We both looked at each other, and I said, “Rock-paper-scissors?” He nodded and we did a quick round. I won with scissors. Kam shook his head and said “Come on! Best two out of three?”
“Ha! Nice try! Let’s go Hector!” I started in the direction of the barracks, before Hector yelled, “We are searching the Horatii quarter! It’s that way!” He pointed in the opposite direction. I turned around and followed behind him. “Right! I knew that. Bye Kam!”
I followed Hector all the way to the Horatii Quarter. When we finally got there, he talked to a couple of the guards who were already there, splitting up the search between us. When he was done, he turned to me. “Okay, we are going to be searching the stables to see if any horses were taken. Just a warning though: These are not normal horses. Don’t make eye contact and don’t touch them unless I say so. You will see what I mean when we get in there.”
We walked over to one of the buildings next to the entrance of the castle. I don’t have enough experience with stables to say for sure, but the building didn’t look like a stable the way I imagined it should. It looked like a normal house on the outside, just with a bigger door. It was a double door, big enough to drive a car through it. Hector grabbed the handle and pulled the door open. I was assaulted by all sorts of smells, and they weren’t the normal, gross stable smells. There was a slight smoky smell mixed with… mint? I couldn’t identify it, but it actually smelled pretty good.
I glanced through the doorway and gasped. The horses were incredible! One of them was bright red, glowing like he was made of lava. I thought the horse’s hair was on fire for a second, but then I realized the fire WAS his hair. The horse next to him looked normal until it moved. When it moved its head to look at me, his head became a blur. He had turned so fast that I hadn’t even seen the movement.
I moved past them and looked in the next stall. It was completely empty. I was about to move on until I heard a snort right next to my ear. I jumped back just in time to see the mist from it. I was confused because there was nothing there.
Here, let me help you. My vision suddenly changed, and there was a horse in front of me! It was slightly transparent, almost like a hologram. It nickered at me, like it was saying, “Come on over.” I slowly started in that direction, extending my hand towards the horse.
“I wouldn’t!” A voice came from behind me. I turned, my vision returning back to normal, and saw Hector. “That is Asterion. He is one of the few truly invisible animals, which is part of the reason why he is not really known in mythology. Another reason is he has a habit of killing the people who can actually see him, including Argonauts.”
I looked back at the horse, which I could now see without my vision going weird. It was hard to tell, because it was a horse and all, but it actually looked offended. It snorted, as if to say, “That’s not true!” Now that I looked closer, I could see the multiple padlocks on his stall, as well as the bars that would keep him from jumping over. “How did he get here?”
Hector answered, still looking around. “He was captured 8 years ago by a guy named William Stevenson. He has been with us ever since. Nobody can get close enough to ride him, but we can’t exactly let him go either. He is a bit of a menace to the Argonauts. I think it’s because he just wants to be left alone, but nobody knows for sure. None of us speak horse.”
The horse was still studying me. Its eyes glistened with intelligence. I turned away from it, but I could still feel its eyes on me. That is a beautiful horse. What Hector says is only partially correct. Believe it or not, I remember a time when seeing that horse was a rare, but very good omen. Bione d
idn’t elaborate on what he meant. Typical.
Hector and I kept searching the stable, which was a lot larger than it appeared to be from the outside. It had a LOT of places where a person could hide in. The horses became more and more elaborate: There was one with three heads, another with more legs than I could count, and still another that didn’t look like a horse at all. I took a moment to look at this one more closely because it resembled more of a four-legged hawk.
Hector saw me looking at it and said, “That is Titan. He is really well known in mythology, but all of the myths always get some details wrong. The Greeks thought he was Pegasus. There are more than a dozen folklore creatures that people confuse him with, including hippogriffs and griffins. You can get close to him if you want; he likes Argonauts. He is always helping us in battles and quests. He is currently owned by none other than Vienna, who won him to her side when she… Oh never mind. That is a long story. Anyway, she has a real soft spot for him and he knows it.”
I decided to take his word for it. Titan looked friendly enough, but so did Asterion and that turned out to not be the case. The glint of light shining off of his razor-sharp beak was not an encouragement. We finished our search and walked out of the stable. Asterion gave a final whinny of farewell.
14
Insert Witty Title Here
KAMARON
Garrett was wondering why I was fully dressed; it was because I had terrible nightmares last night. They were the kind that make you wake up in a cold sweat with armor and weapons. When I awoke, I had to resist the urge to reach for my sicas. When I finally calmed enough to breathe, I made my armor and weapons disappear.
Because of the nightmares, I was awake a little before 5:00 in the morning, and after a few minutes, I decided I should just get ready. I put my clothes on as quietly as possible so that I didn’t wake anyone up. Once I was fully dressed, I hopped back up in bed and, to my surprise, fell back to sleep.
The Wish Box Page 9