Gifts of the Greeks

by Edmund A. M. Batara

  “That’s good to know. Though in the end, only the future will show her mettle.”

  “Or the fire may temper her.”

  “Let’s all pray it does. Though Habrok did have his trial of fatherhood today. How about you, Jorund? Any plans on starting a family anew?”

  The huskarl had a far-away look in his eyes.

  “When the world is a safer place for raising a family, then perhaps I would consider it.”

  “For now, Jorund, that future rests on us. But don’t tell the others, it may be too much.”

  “I already know that, Sire. From the opponents we have faced, are facing, and will probably face tomorrow, one could assume the kind of quest we are on. I don’t want to know the details but I have seen how you comport yourself. It is not an easy journey, maybe even impossible. But I believe it is one worth taking.”

  “Thanks, Jorund. Though tonight’s attempted visitation does bring up some initial conclusions on my part.”

  “Yes, Sire?”

  “These kinds of attacks will continue. Somebody’s trying to drive us out of this safe area. They know it’s safe for us and a defensible position. The pressure is going to increase. And when we go out due to the pressure, we’ll find an ambush waiting for us. There is also another possibility but I’ll wait for the news to confirm my suspicions.”

  No further noise intruded from the outside.

  “I guess the night’s practice is over except for the body count. Those three will be arguing who got the most. Warriors and their bragging rights,” said Jorund.

  Tyler laughed.

  “Kids will be kids,” he said. Though his casual reaction to the killings outside bothered him. Is he becoming hardened about the deaths of people around him? True, they were going to try to kill him, but the lack of a nagging conscience on the situation was disturbing.

  “Oh, I forgot to tell you, Sire,” said Jorund, interrupting his train of thought. “I did hear something about those sons of Ares. But I don’t trust the information. Even my source said so. The information came up as a rumor, up two layers of informants. It says the two sons of Ares have separated. One took a lochos with him to another city while the god of terror continued to Dori with the remaining soldiers. They’re said to be about fifty miles from the city. Right now passing through a hilly area.”

  “Thanks, Jorund. That’s the final piece of the puzzle. First, the prod. And when the prey moves out, the bait. Then the trap. What do they think of me? As dense as their father?"

  Chapter Lore:

  Lochos - Greek. A subunit of ancient Greek armies. The use of the term and the number of men assigned to it vary from city-state to city-state. But it is usually composed of 640 hoplites.

  Wesekh - Egyptian. A broad, layered collar usually hung down in front of the neck. This form of jewelry is favored by royalty and the large necklace is generally made of gold and decorated with precious stones.

  Pschent – Ancient Egyptian. Also termed as Psjent. A Pharaonic headdress which has a combination of the colors of upper and lower Egypt.

  Kohl - Origin of the word is claimed by Hebrew, Biblical, Egyptian and other ancient sources. It referred to an eye cosmetic similar to mascara and applied to the eyelids and around the eyes.

  Chapter XIV

  Bait and Switch

  “Jorund, can you check if they’re back in the main hall?”

  “A moment, Sire,” replied the man as he stood up. He went out of the room. After a while, he returned.

  “They’re down there, Sire. With Master Dio. As expected, arguing about bragging rights.”

  “Go and join them, Jorund. Let them have their fun. Just remind them of the meeting tomorrow. For me, it’s time for bed. Oh, and don’t be surprised if you don’t see me in this room during bedtime. I will be in a safe place, but I am making arrangements for me to know when somebody is in the room.”

  “Very good, Sire. I will now take my leave.”

  “Good night, Jorund.”

  “And to you too, Sire.”

  The huskarl went out and closed the door.

  Time for bed, Mr. West, he thought as he activated the entrance to his private space. When he materialized within the attic room, he noticed that the image outside was still of a morning scene. Have to fix that sometime.

  He went to his bed and got ready to sleep. Then he remembered the instruction for the room to wake him up. How do I go about this? he wondered.

  “Guys? How do I get the room to wake me up when it’s morning?”

  “Elder, everything in the room except for the furniture brought in is of your creation. Even the energy within the room is easily subject to your will and therefore malleable. A good practice for an apprentice Elder mage,” replied X.

  “What X is saying is you can configure the room to wake you up upon sensing it is daylight on the outside. But I believe that would be too complicated a solution for such a simple problem. A small mechanism to wake you up when it’s time would suffice,” added Hal.

  “An alarm clock.”

  “Precisely, Elder. We are familiar with clocks, having such devices as part of our original systems. Time here would be similar to that of the First World though I suggest you create a device familiar to you. Our devices are more complicated.”

  “A simple digital clock would suffice, I guess,” he replied.

  He focused his will, gathered energy, and fashioned a generic digital alarm device. After getting the time from X, he set the alarm and went to sleep. He slept very well. A fact he noted when he woke up. No dreams or visitations from either familiar or strange beings. I am going to get used to this, he thought. Though he wondered whether nobody did try to visit him or was the fact attributable to him being inside his space? Putting the thought aside, he guessed he would know sooner or later.

  He materialized back in his room. And remembered what he wanted to ask the AIs.

  “Guys, another question.”

  “Yes, Elder?”

  “While we are in the private space, is it possible for you to monitor if somebody came inside the room back in the real world?”

  “Of course, Elder. It’s just a matter of leaving an ambient field in the room. It would tell us when somebody enters. In some instances, even the particulars of the intruder,” answered X.

  “Good! Next time, please monitor it for me. Take turns.”

  “We will, Elder.” That was Hal.

  They do have their protocol worked out, he thought.

  "And please try to find other Elder temple sites. I hope X's new data will show us some locations."

  "Of course, Elder," replied Hal.

  With that over, he went through his morning routine and then stepped out of the room. His sensitive senses picked up the energy of the warding spells covering the hallway and the stairs as he made his way to the main hall. He found Eleos sitting at the bar.

  “Good morning, Master Mage,” greeted Eleos with a smile when he saw Tyler.

  “Good morning to you too, Eleos,” said Tyler as he took the seat beside the man. The inn was empty. It was still early even for house guests.

  “I guess congratulations are in order, Eleos.”

  “My thanks, Master Mage. Though I remember I owe you my life.”

  “Think nothing of it. Your father would have fed me to his maenads if anything happened to you,” said Tyler in a low voice.

  Eleos laughed and gave a hand gesture to Danay who was cleaning at the end of the counter. The man left.

  “He finally called me his son. I guess I also have to thank you for that.”

  “Maybe. A little nudge works wonders. You having breakfast?”

  “I already had mine together with your merry band of killers. I already asked Danay to bring you breakfast.”

  “About last night, thanks!”

  “No need. We can’t have the riffraff dictating the way we run our lives. We got the lot of them, though I let one escape.”

  “May I ask why?”

&
nbsp; “Fear and a message. A man who just escaped having his throat slit will add a lot of details on how horrifying the experience was. Also, a message that we are not to be trifled with.”

  “You know your profession well, Eleos.”

  “A lifetime of training. But it’s not enough. It will be a busy time ahead for me. More training under the guidance of the Lady. And then, work. A worthwhile cause, I believe.”

  “Protecting people? Always a worthy one.”

  The clatter of plates told them breakfast for Tyler had arrived. Danay looked funny trying to balance three plates of food and a jug of water on his way to them. Eleos went to the man and helped him out. The assassin returned to his seat beside Tyler.

  “You know, Master Mage, life is indeed strange.”

  “Why is that, Eleos,” replied Tyler in-between spoonfuls.

  “Just a few days ago, I was not sure on how my father looked upon my status. All my life, I looked upon him as my father yet I never heard him call me his son. And then, I went to those hills with you. On a job for him. Nearly died. And now, he called me his son and found that he beseeched Zeus to make me a demigod. He did explain to me why, even the reason why he avoided calling me his son, but it still shows one how life can be instantly be changed from one road to another.”

  Tell me about it, thought Tyler. Running from neighboring hoodlums and instantly found myself in another world. A life-changing incident in the blink of an eye, to say the least.

  “Life is indeed like that, my friend,” he said.

  “And a friend to you, I will be, Master Mage. With a debt I can never repay. My services are yours whenever you need them,” answered the assassin in a serious tone.

  “A friendship born in a field of dead and cooked Empusas is something which cannot be forgotten. And as for your services, I do hope I wouldn’t need to avail of them.”

  “A field of…” repeated Eleos who then laughed. “You have a way with words, Master Mage. As to dealing with garbage, it is indeed unfortunate, but sometimes things need to be done to avoid a greater calamity or mete out justice. For mortals such as us, we usually are left to ourselves do those things. To pick up the pieces. Forget the new status, I still consider myself a human.”

  “And never forget the human side of Eleos the new demigod. Anyway, I have finished, and I guess our merry band is wondering what is taking me so long.”

  Eleos smiled.

  “A human I was born and a human I will remain. The merry band is where you met last night. Good day and the best of luck to you, Master Mage.”

  “And to you too, god of assassins.”

  Tyler walked in the direction of the back room. Reaching the door, he stopped. He recalled that there are three heavily armed individuals inside the room. No telling what their reflexes will be if he just barged inside.

  He knocked. Loudly. Three times.

  Tyler opened the door and looked inside. A smiling Dionysus was in his usual place. Jorund and Astrid were seated beside each other, Habrok was in the opposite chair. A chair near the deity was left for the mage.

  But the three each had some weapon at the ready. A seated Jorund had his axe on his lap with a hand on the shaft. Astrid was standing and facing the door with a lowered but with a naked sword in her right hand. Habrok, seated like Jorund, was also facing the door but had a throwing knife. Tyler smiled and entered the room.

  “Good morning, everybody,” greeted the mage while going to his seat. “I trust everybody had an interesting night and a good night's rest?”

  “Oh, they’re entertaining me with how they greeted our late-night callers with welcome stabs and thrusts. I tell you, young mage, I never had such excitement in this inn,” said Dionysus.

  “And here I was, worried that we may have been abusing your hospitality,” answered Tyler sardonically.

  “Don’t worry about that. If I do get tired of your company, you'll know. But this! It’s like I am in a saga. Living it. Breathing it. Even had to cut down on my wine intake, one never knows what’s going to happen! And I want to see it happen while sober.”

  Tyler could see the excitement of the deity. At least, we’re not boring him, he thought.

  “I talked with Jorund last night. Some news about the brothers. A rumor that they have separated, one going somewhere while the other is proceeding to Dori. Each with a lochos ," he told Dionysus.

  “Really? I haven’t heard anything like that,” replied the deity.

  “You won’t. At least from your sources. The origin of the rumor cannot be trusted. And since you haven’t heard of it, it’s a trap. A crudely crafted one, but still a trap.”

  “It appears so, Sire,” said Jorund.

  “And what does one do with a trap?” he asked the huskarl.

  “Disarm it?”

  “Yes. Or spring it. Avoiding being hurt while doing so, that goes without saying. And this trap will have a group of waiting hunters around it. I suspect it’s the rest of the war-god’s retinue. At least that’s my suspicion on why they appear to be missing.”

  “Oh, I see,” commented the now very interested god of wine.

  “The problem is we will be facing demigods and minor gods. We are all mortals. Master Dio can’t fight with us. And another question is how many of his entourage are we facing, if we do spring the trap.”

  “That would be four of them, excluding the brothers, of course,” Dionysus volunteered.

  Tyler looked at him.

  “You didn’t ask me to tell you how many there were. Only where they are,” said Dionysus defensively. “At least that’s what I remember.”

  Tyler sighed.

  “Do we have information on who they are?” he asked.

  “Easy. Nike or victory, though she really has her own mind. Sticks around Ares because of the battles. Homados, the spirit of the din of battle. Same as Kydoimos, who is not around. Though I really don’t understand why Ares needed two noisemakers. Another is Furor, who exemplifies rage. And finally, Mors, who represents death in battle. All heavily equipped with armor and weapons from Hephaestus.”

  Another god of death? A death-in-battle god? But a minor god, so not in Supay's league. Though the presence of Nike was not reassuring.

  “How do they fight? Magic and other esoteric means?”

  “A bit of magic. Enchanted armor and weapons. Excellent skills. Homados exudes confusion. Furor is a swift warrior with incredible strength. Not as fast as Ares though. Mors, well, what I remember is he just appears as a black armored figure with a closed and horned helm. Fights well though. I think he relies on and increases fear. The fear of dying in battle.”

  “What about Nike?”

  “Nike is one strange woman. She does walk around armed and with a powerful divine shield. Rarely does any fighting herself. I think it’s her presence. Intimidates enemies and encourages her own side. But that's all I know. I never did have any taste for war. Instigated some but actual fighting? That’s dangerous.”

  “Thanks, Dio. At least we have some idea of who we are going to fight.”

  “You're serious about going up against demigods and minor gods? Wait. Don’t answer that. I should have learned my lesson by now.”

  “The three of us are armed and protected enough. And hopefully, we have the element of surprise. Finally, we need a good plan. Though we do have to avoid killing any of them. Not that we could easily do so. Just avoid cutting off their heads. With all the expanded families in the Greek pantheon, a bunch of angry and vengeful relatives shouldn't be in the equation. Astrid, on the other hand, needs better equipment.”

  “Sire?” asked Astrid. “I got the armor and my weapons from the smiths of Scarburg.”

  “And the smiths of Scarburg never had the skills to forge drake and drakon armor. Nor the knowledge to craft the weapons these three are carrying,” piped up Dionysus. The deity looked at Tyler and his armor.

  “I never thought I'd see armor made out of Old Stoneskin's scales,” he added.

&nb
sp; “They were gifts,” Tyler clarified, his hand sweeping in the direction of Jorund and Habrok.

  “I know. And I've met the beings who gave you those items,” replied Dionysus. “Quite powerful beings. Polite too. Had a drinking session with one of the pair, that earth-head. Never thought I'd hear of him again.”

  Dionysus turned to Astrid.

  “Look, lass. The best smiths in this world today couldn't come up with what these three are wearing. Right now, only a god could. Forget what you know or have heard about good armor and weapons. There are much better ones out there.”

  “Jorund, can you find something better for Astrid?" asked Tyler. But Jorund didn't get the opportunity to answer.

  “Nope, I don’t think so. In this dump?” interjected the deity. “Tell you what, go with Danay and check out the armory. Maybe you'll find something there. Ask him about the items, he knows them better than I ever will. He’s the one in charge of maintaining them anyway.”

  “Thank you, Dio,” said Tyler.

  A knock on the door sounded.

  The three warriors immediately took defensive stances.

  “Oh, don’t mind it. It’s just Danay,” said the deity. “Come in, Danay.”

  Danay’s head poked through the half-opened door.

  “My apologies for disturbing you, Masters. But there's somebody here for Master Dio.”

  “I guess I have to ask for the room, gentlemen, and lady. Stay please, young mage. Your presence is needed,” said the deity.

  “But since Danay is here, the three of you can go with him to the armory. Danay, help them choose and let them have what they want,” he added.

  The two went back to their seats.

  “Am I really needed here?” asked Tyler.

  “Oh, yes. Remember the unexpected help Athena mentioned? Well, this is it. An emissary from the Pelasgoi . Followers of Hephaestus. And I don’t like them.”

  “Why?”

  “They don’t allow taverns in that insignificant border town of theirs the name of which I don’t remember.”