It took longer than I would have liked, but I was eventually able to dig a hole large enough to bury the family. I would like to have dug proper graves for each of them, but the situation just did not allow for it. Every minute I was out there, with my back to the road and my face to the dirt, risked me getting caught off guard by some more bronze assholes. I flung the last pan-full over their new resting place, patted it down, and called it a day.
The girls turned to me as I came in. Helen was sitting at a table, and Cressida was on the floor on the other end of the room.
“They’re buried,” I said, making my way over for some rations to snack on. “We shouldn’t sleep so long tonight. So, that means the first person to wake up wakes everybody up, okay?”
Helen smirked. “But I do not rest like you, Troy. I can continue traveling at any time.”
Cressida turned to her with a wrinkled brow and curl of the lip that I took to mean she thought Helen was out of her mind. I gave her the chance to say something before I continued, but she had no further input. I thought maybe she was comparing what she just heard to the previous night when Helen acted as if she were dying for sleep.
“Good point,” I said. “Cressida, you wake me up if you get up first and I’ll do the same for you, all right?”
“Yes, Troy,” she answered. “I will keep first watch then and give you more time to rest.”
“Oh, you don’t have to take first watch every time,” I said. “In fact, I insist.”
“No, Troy, this is not necessary. You have been working so hard already. Please, let me. It is the least I can do to contribute. I must pull my own weight here.”
“You’re doing great, Cressida. Nothing to worry about. You’ve been leading the way since we hit shore. That’s been extremely helpful.”
“Yes, Troy, but I have done nothing more than take you along a couple roads. Anyone could have done this. Please, I will keep watch first if that is well with you.”
“Yeah, that’s fine. I just don’t want you feeling an obligation to do that.”
“No obligation.” She went for the door.
Helen smirked behind her and, raising her voice loud enough for her to hear, said, “This is well with me, too, Troy. We can have more fun together tonight.”
I shot her a withering look, not understanding why she needed to make a show of things. She simply winked at me in return.
We did not sleep together that night. It wasn’t because I was second-guessing my decisions or anything like that—I just could not stop thinking about the next encounter we were likely to have. The whole of that day I had expected to run into another gang of thugs and show them what was what, but we saw no one. Now my urge to fight was even stronger since I had cleaned up after them. I knew firsthand the kind of evil that war brought out in men, but I knew many heroes forged in the heat of battle as well. Though my senses had been dulled to the obscene refuse of combat over the years, I had never grown desensitized to it. I made certain the girls saw no sign of emotion from me as I carried the bodies of that family, one after the other, out the door to bury, even though I still felt their pain in my core. I imagined what they must have gone through, how their happy lives were ruined in an instant by some bastards who had nothing better to do than assert their dominance on innocent bystanders. The thought of such gross abuse of power made me sick.
I looked at Helen where she lay snuggled at my side. I was unsure of how conscious she was, and from what I gathered by our talks, so was she. She wanted to become a human. She wanted the potential to have the will to commit such atrocities as these Greeks she so despised. Everything I learned about her so far suggested she already had that power. It was hard not to wonder how far she would go to be rid of her enemies-- and if she might become like them in the process. I hoped she would be one of the heroes at the end of this war and not another villain, but only time would tell. In the meantime, it was my responsibility to guide her as best I could.
The sun was only beginning to twinkle through the cracks in the shutters when my eyes came open, and Cressida was still deeply asleep. She had come in from watch duty after I dozed and had replaced Helen at my side. I was sure I would have woken from the motion, but I did not remember it. After fastening my belt and shield, we were on our way again.
The day was as beautiful as the last. I imagined the bloodshed we would soon see in contrast and gripped the new sword at my hip in anticipation, ready to avenge the poor fallen whose graves were fading into the distance behind us.
“We are making good time,” Cressida said, yawning. “It is likely we will be there by noon if we continue at this pace.”
“That’s wonderful,” I said. I suddenly remembered my boat and had a flash of worry I would never see it again, either because I was about to be killed in battle or because some undeserving ass wipe was going to steal it before I could make it back. I brushed the thought away, determined to attend to the more important matters at hand. “Thank you for being such a good guide, Cressida.”
“It is my pleasure, Troy.” She smiled back at me. “Thank you for saving me—both of you.” She nodded to Helen, who did not acknowledge her. “I do not know what would have become of me if I were still held captive on that island.”
“Yeah, it was the least we could do,” I said, thinking it might be as good a time as any to pry a little. “So . . . how did you end up on that island? Were you taken from home, or . . .?”
“My ship had crashed in the middle of a terrible storm,” she began. “The island, even though it was so close to the mainland, none of the crew knew anything of it. It was as if it had just appeared, and before we knew it, we were stranded on its shores with no time to think.”
“Oh, I’m so sorry to hear that. Were you the only survivor then?”
“Yes. Those who lived through the wreck—and there were not many—did not make it off the shore.” She looked off into the distance, lost in thought, as we walked. I let her take her time, and she continued after a brief pause. I could tell by her tone that it was hard reliving the events. “There were four or five others, all good, battle-capable men . . .” She was trying to conceal her tears.
“It’s all right, Cressida.” I put a hand on her shoulder. “You don’t have to continue if it’s too hard.”
“No, it is fine.” She wiped her face. “The men . . . they did not make it further than the shore. The Cyclops came before any of us even realized what was happening. Several men were trampled immediately, and the rest were ripped apart.” She paused again. “I still hear them when I try to sleep. For some reason, it spared me and took me back to its cave.”
“So, you’re telling me that, as far as you know, it was just you and the Cyclops on the island before we showed up?”
“Yes, I suppose so. I never saw another soul. I . . . did not think to even question if there were others until now.”
“Well, you’re safe now. We’ll help you as long as you need it. If there is too much trouble when we get you back home, you can stay with us as long as you need.” I knew my words of comfort would bother Helen, but she needed to learn a little humanity in her journey to becoming fully human. “Is that right, Helen?”
She did not respond.
“I appreciate all you have done for me,” Cressida said. “I can never thank you enough.” She quickly embraced me. “I still cannot make sense of it all. The bodies—my crew on the shore—when you rescued me, I remember passing their remains. I could not understand how their bones had been wiped clean in the time that I was captured. It is true that I was trapped for a time, but nowhere near long enough for them to decay the way they had. I have never seen carrion eaters make such quick work of bodies before.”
I remembered what Helen told me about golems after I slayed the wretched thing. They feed on flesh. Surely that had something to do with all the clean bones spread along the shore, but I did not see a reason to give Cressida more fuel for nightmares with such dark imagery.
“That�
��s definitely a mystery,” I said. “But no use dwelling on it now. I’m just glad you’re safe.”
I didn’t bother asking her any more just then. I felt like I had enough information to paint a solid picture. It was not important to me where they were going or why. Perhaps that would be revealed in the coming days. There were two important things I took away from the conversation: the Cyclops was likely going after women for some reason, and there may not have been anyone else on the island.
I thought back to what Helen said about there needing to be someone controlling the golem nearby and wondered if she knew that with any certainty. I thought that there might be a chance it was managed over a great distance, possibly by that computer-thing I found. My list of things to ask her grew.
It was close to noon when a line of figures appeared in the distance, coming toward us. It was too hard for me to make out any distinguishable features from such a range, but it was no issue for Helen’s enhanced vision.
“Greeks,” she spat. “We will make light work of them this time, Troy.”
“Yeah,” I agreed. “No more talking. How many of them?”
“Eight, as before. I can see their pompous faces even from here. Let us find out if they can maintain their arrogance while being sliced into little pieces for the scavengers to dine on.”
I smirked. It seemed like we were on the same page. The excitement bubbled up from my belly.
“How are they armed?” I asked.
“Same as the others; each with a sword, spear, and shield.”
“Let’s hope they don’t go long ranged this time.”
“It will be no matter if they do.”
She seemed confident, but I wasn’t about to let bravado overshadow the reality of the situation. I was ready to take them down, but these were eight more warriors we had to dispatch, and I still was not sure whether last time was a fluke or not.
“Never underestimate your opponent, Helen,” I said. “The last crew could have taken us down easily if they weren’t concerned with trying not to hurt you two. These guys might not mince words. They might be the ‘shoot first, ask questions later’ kind of gang.”
“I am not afraid,” she said.
“And I’m not saying you should be. Just don’t get so over confident that it creates a blind spot for you. Your enemies can be total worthless assholes and still pull one over on you. Just proceed with caution—that’s all I’m saying.”
“If you say so, Troy.”
“Cressida, it’s best you keep your distance.” She moved behind us before I even finished. “If one of them manages to slip past us, shout for help and I’ll take care of it, okay?”
“Yes, Troy,” she said and lessened her pace.
It was not long before they were within shouting distance. “Hail,” one of them greeted.
It occurred to me that they might see an allied shield and confuse us for being on their side. I proceeded under that assumption as the man continued.
“Lo, brother! What tidings do you bring us of—GUH!” He wasn’t able to finish with a Thirian spear penetrating his throat. I was amazed at my aim, knowing I could not have made a better throw. Helen laughed and I privately dedicated my kill to the family behind us.
The soldier fell backward and writhed helplessly in the road. His pals fanned out, yelling and readying their spears.
“Beautiful shot, Troy,” Helen exclaimed. “I will have to try that myself soon.”
I pulled out my sword and readied my shield. “Cressida, come here, quick! You, too, Helen!”
The girls came closer, eyes bright with excitement and worry.
“Stay at that distance from me until you see them throw their spears, then huddle up under my shield. Don’t do it too soon or they might not throw. The idea is to get them to go ahead and waste their ranged attacks, understand?”
“Yes,” they said in unison. Things were about to get serious, but the enemy was already one man down.
Adrenaline pumped through me as my rage grew. The men pulled their spears back, and several of them hurled loose. The girls did as I instructed, and the three of us crouched down, leaving very little exposed behind the wall of my shield.
Thunk! Only one battered our defense as three more struck the ground around us. If my math was correct, that left them with five ranged attacks; three from the living men, and two spears they could take off the dead guy.
“Spread out a bit,” I said. “Get the spears, and stay close. We’ll block again if they toss any more our way.”
I sheathed my sword and picked up the spear that had fallen in front of us. The girls each took one as well. Helen got the fourth and loaded it into the holster at my back. The soldiers did not come closer, and neither did we. The other three held their spears out but looked unsure of their next move. I myself did not know whether I wanted to throw another weapon their way in an attempt to reduce their numbers, or keep the spear to use if they charged us.
“Hold on to your spears for now,” I said. “We might throw them in a bit.”
“Come to us, snakes,” one of the men shouted. “Let us handle this like men.”
“They are not men,” Helen hissed to me. “They would just as soon kill us the moment we drop our guards.”
“I know. They’re likely scared right now and will try anything to be through with us.”
One of the soldiers who had already thrown his spear began to bang his sword against his shield in a taunting gesture. They would be ready for any ranged attacks now.
“Let’s get closer—slowly,” I said.
The girls drew nearer to me and we crawled forward.
“Ah, welcome!” one shouted. They fanned out further as we approached, trying to try to flank us.
“Okay, stop for a second,” I said. “They’re going to try and get us from both sides. We need to be careful. We can’t defend against that with one shield.”
“Do not worry, Troy,” Helen said. “They have already sealed their fate—in letting us get so close and in coming closer themselves.”
“Helen, I’m serious. Don’t be so over confident. They still outnumber us more than three to one.”
“This has never stopped us before,” she responded with that wild, malicious look in her eyes. I heard her tic again, the first time I had noticed it since we reached land, and it was the last thing I remembered before she drastically changed the situation.
Tic. Her sword was back in her belt, replaced by her trusty daggers. With machine precision, and speed faster than I could make sense of, she launched both weapons into the heads of the two farthest men on either side of us. They dropped where they stood, forcing their allies to reconsider their next steps.
The rest of the gang looked on in stunned amazement, every one of them with mouths agape. I took the opportunity to aim my spear at the man nearest me. He was too shocked to move in time, and my attack sent him hurling back off his feet and onto the ground, pinning him where he fell.
Another man shot his spear straight for me, but I turned in time to block. His was probably more a desperate attack than anything and not very well-planned. Helen was on him before he had time to draw his sword. Without even stopping, she charged for him and severed his head clear from his neck. The man nearest him looked on in horror as she ran to him next and thrust the tip of her blade down behind his armor and into his chest.
I tried to meet her in the middle, making my way to the man on the opposite end of the line. His sword was ready as I brought mine crashing down on him from overhead. He hunched under the weight of my attack and tried to kick me away. Inspired by my years of Mixed Martial Arts, I reached my leg out to meet his and pulled it forward, causing him to slide down further into a split. He screamed, clearly not used to stretching that far, and looked up at me, eyes wide, as I delivered his fate with one decisive blow. His shield dropped uselessly to the side.
I heard a roar to my right as another took a swing at me. I ducked behind my shield, and his blade cleaved ov
erhead. My hair rustled from the wind left in its wake, taking me back to my fight with the Cyclops. This guy couldn’t hold a candle to that encounter.
The moment the sword was gone, I jabbed outward, my blow knocking the assailant back but doing no real damage against his chest armor. He hollered in response and fell to his knees.
I was confused for an instant because I knew my attack should not have had such an effect on him, but then I saw Helen on his other side as he dropped. She had come up from behind and stuck her blade into him from below. He twitched at our feet, screaming as he died in one of the most painful ways I could imagine.
She slowly pulled her sword from his groin, wiggling it around on its way out. She had managed to push it about two feet deep before he keeled over.
I laughed over his screams. “You certainly have me beat this time,” I said.
She winked. “Would you like to do the honors of putting this one out of his misery?”
“No, I think we’ll leave him be,” I said. “I’m not usually one to prolong suffering, but all these guys seem rape-happy, and they need to pay for that. Maybe he was even responsible for that family we found last night. I’d like to think we did this in their honor.” It was hard to talk over his constant wailing, but she seemed to hear me.
“You are a fair man, Troy Weston.” She stepped on his back on her way to close the distance between us, and he let loose another burst of tortured sobs under the weight of her bare feet. She looked into my eyes and kissed me. “This is bliss,” she whispered.
I had to agree, in an albeit twisted sort of way. I did not think it evil to kill evil men, but there was something that felt a little strange about celebrating in such a way before one of them even finished bleeding out within an arm’s reach of us.
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