The coming days were going to prove interesting for all of Athens.
Chapter 9
The Will of the Gods
Heliodas and Thermiandra walked solemnly through the battlefield. The dead were now thoroughly picked over, their corpses bloated, discolored, and torn apart by the carrion birds that had been feasting here. The sight was gruesome, and the odor of decay was even worse. Heliodas would have avoided the place entirely, had it not been necessary to continue scavenging from the dead.
He would have preferred to let the dead rest, but they were in need of a bow for Thermiandra, as well as any other valuables they could find. Locating a bow and quiver amidst the carnage was easy enough, particularly since the Macedonians did not loot the Persians of their weapons. Locating good arrows was another matter entirely. Many of the ones they found had been fired from a distance and splintered when they either found their intended targets or the rocky ground. Thankfully, many of the projectiles survived impact, even when their targets did not. There were also a number of soldiers whose supply of arrows had not been depleted before their owners fell in combat.
Although it disgusted him to do it, Heliodas also looted the bodies of any Athenian warriors that carried coins and other valuables. Although he disliked the entire act of looting, when he found his old leather cuirass and belt, he couldn’t help but note that someone had taken the few possessions he had been carrying. The dead no longer needed their worldly belongings. Things were no different within the confines of civilization; the only difference was that people there were able to decide who would acquire their belongings, and those belongings tended to be of much greater value.
After half a day of picking over corpses, they had a pouch full of coins, several lengths of rope, and more arrows than he felt he and Thermiandra would need. Both of them had taken turns vomiting at the grotesque and smelly bodies that had been messily hacked apart and stripped of flesh. He took some comfort in the fact that there were many more fallen Persians than Macedonians and Greeks. One of his last finds, and possibly the most fortuitous, was a leather pack full of eating utensils, clothing, and other personal belongings. Eventually satisfied that they had the items they would need to make the long trek ahead of them, they left the battlefield.
He led Thermiandra east for half an hour, until they were clear of the bodies. Eventually, he spotted a small hill up ahead with a steep incline. The ground in this region was covered in light vegetation, so he gathered up some of the grasses and leafy plants, then created a mound that was roughly two feet in diameter on the incline so that it was at about chest height from the flat ground twenty paces away. “You need to learn to use the bow. Shoot the pile,” he said.
“That should be an easy enough shot,” Thermiandra said. She hooked her foot inside the bow and pulled the recurved ends of the wood, leather, and bone toward each other, then slipped the string into the notch at the top. The string was taut as the bow relaxed. She then pulled an arrow from her quiver, nocked it, and pointed it at the mound. Heliodas watched as she tried to line up the arrow and then let fly. It impacted five feet from the target.
“Try again,” Heliodas instructed.
She fired three more arrows and none of them were any closer. “I can’t do it!” she exclaimed. The frustration was plain in her voice.
“You can. A child can hit a target from twenty paces with this bow, so I know you can do it as well. What you need is technique.”
“Fine! Show me!” she said hotly, handing him the bow.
Heliodas nocked an arrow, spread his legs slightly, lined up the shot, exhaled slowly, and then released the string. The arrow flew true and buried itself into the target. He fired another one off, which hit a few inches away from the first. “Look how I’m standing. You need to widen your stance to increase stability. The next thing is to look down the shaft of the arrow to see where it’s going to hit.” As he did this, he lined up the arrow with the mound. “Slowly exhale the air in your lungs, and release the string as you do so.” Once again, his arrow flew. “Now you try again. You can learn this, but we don’t have a lot of time.”
Thermiandra took the bow, broadened her stance, nocked an arrow, pulled back the shaft to her ear and released it as Heliodas had instructed. Heliodas smiled as the arrow flew from the bow and joined the ones he had already sunk into the target. She jumped excitedly and Heliodas patted her shoulder. “You can learn to shoot a bow. It is possible,” he said with a smile. He observed as she fired four more arrows at the target, hitting it three more times.
The pair spent the remainder of the day firing arrows, first at the target, and then later at rocks, bushes, and anything else that appeared to be a good target. In little time, she was hitting more often than she missed, so he had her take another twenty paces back. Her accuracy decreased, as expected, but it was clear to him that she was picking it up quickly.
They built a fire shortly before sunset. Heliodas produced some dried salted lamb meat he’d scavenged from a slain Greek soldier, and offered it to Thermiandra, but she scrunched up her face in disgust. “I think I want some fresh meat tonight,” she said.
“Feel free to go get some,” Heliodas said. “Scream if you run into something dangerous and I’ll be right there. I’d tell you not to get off too far by yourself, but the fact that we’re here at all tells me that you can survive without me.”
“I’ll do that.” She grinned. With that, she walked off with her bow in hand.
Heliodas sat down and took a bite of salted meat, realized that it was probably rancid, and spit it out. He seriously doubted that she would come back with dinner this night, which meant that he would likely need to scavenge for edible plants. Such things were rare in this area.
He removed his new bronze cuirass and was relieved to be rid of the additional weight. The one he had always worn in the past had been made of layers of boiled leather, and worked into the shape of a muscular man’s upper body. The bronze one Thermiandra had brought him was actually a bit lighter, and he knew it would protect better. This cuirass had been taken from one of the commanders from the Athenian army, which meant that it was likely that Heliodas knew its former owner. As unfortunate as that was, he appreciated the added protection.
He leaned back on the sandy ground and ran a hand down his back and felt the scabbed over wounds that had almost killed him. They had itched all day long, and there was still a deep throbbing pain that he felt throughout the breadth of his upper body. It was not pleasant, but he thanked the gods that he had survived. Had Thermiandra not taken an interest in him, he would be just like the other bloated corpses they had picked through. He hoped that with luck, he would eventually make a full recovery, though he knew that some soldiers who suffered such severe wounds and lived were often severely crippled and were forced to leave the army. At least the priests of Ares could channel divine magic to cleanse them of the infections that would otherwise kill them. In any case, he knew that his wounds were healing faster than was normal for most wounded soldiers he had encountered.
The sun slowly sank to the horizon and Heliodas built a fire. After some indeterminate amount of time, he saw the form of Thermiandra approaching in the distance. Little more than her silhouette was visible, but as she neared he could make out a large bird draped over her right shoulder, and she was also carrying something that looked like a large lizard. Once cooked, both would probably be far more edible than the rancid meat.
“You learn fast,” he complimented, once she was within earshot.
“I always have. Now that I’ve done the hard work, I’ll let you clean them.” She then dumped the carcasses at his feet as she moved to sit on the opposite side of the fire. Heliodas drew his knife and began cutting through the animal flesh. His mouth was watering at the thought of the freshly cooked meat.
Pelephon looked down into another broad valley and again saw nothing of interest other than rocks, sand, and sparse grasses. As the sun was setting on his second day out from the army�
��s camp, he arrived at the battlefield and looked over the legion of corpses. The odor was strong, and strips of flesh were missing from the faces of most of the people lying discarded here.
He quickly rode to the far side of the battlefield, where he had last seen Heliodas alive. He again checked through the bodies and mostly saw dead Persians. He kicked a few of them over to look at their decomposing faces, but did not see Heliodas among them.
The tracks back to the river were no longer visible, having been erased by the blowing sands and the creatures that had moved through here. He did note a leather cuirass on the ground with a pair of blade punctures in the back, which could have belonged to his friend. Also of interest was a pair of foot prints that passed by them. One set was larger and clearly belonged to a bigger person, most likely a man. Next to this was a set of smaller ones. Curiously enough, judging by the amount of footprints in the sand here, it appeared that they had taken interest in this particular item. He allowed himself a moment of hope before moving on.
He followed the footprints and noted that they had stopped at several corpses. Also of interest was the trail of missing arrows he found. He could tell that there were missing arrows by the holes where they had been pulled out of the ground. Others had been pulled out of the bodies, yet most of the actual arrows he found were broken.
He followed the footprints back to the river, and then crossed. On the far side, he spotted several sets of fresh footprints, some of which were likely made by the same smaller feet he’d spotted before, while he saw the longer, wider ones approach the river only once. He continued to follow them for at least another quarter mile, at which point he found a lone tree about twenty yards from the river bank. Here he found an area with numerous footprints of various sizes, as well as an area, somewhat larger than a prone man, where the sand had been cleared away. There were also numerous rags nearby that had been saturated with blood, though they were now long-dry.
He examined the rags and dug through a small pile of them. The ones on the bottom had soaked up a great deal more than the ones on top. This indicated that whatever wound was being treated, it was closing up. Of course there was no way to tell how long the older ones had been here, but he assumed that they dated back a week to the battle.
Pelephon also saw several other sets of footprints that didn’t match the ones he had seen before. He followed them to the south, and realized that they had come from that direction. There were other indications that people had stayed under this tree for several days. There were areas that had been dug up, probably to bury their solid waste, or leftover food items. There were also several nut shells on the ground. There were no nut-bearing plants nearby, so these were likely the remains of food that was brought here from elsewhere.
Pelephon’s heart suddenly felt lighter. While he could not determine the reason behind it, the only scenario that he could construct was that someone who had been with the army, or someone else entirely, had come upon a wounded soldier, taken him to this tree, and nursed him back from a critical wound. It suddenly seemed plausible that Heliodas had somehow managed to escape death.
Pelephon spent the night under the tree, and in the morning he guided his horse back across the river. As he followed the footprints he had spotted the previous day, he became certain that they had been picking through the bodies. Everywhere he looked, he only found broken arrows. It was clear that whoever had been through here was attempting to build up a supply of arrows, and probably anything else that would be useful when traveling. On a lark, he started checking through the bodies and noted that the Greek soldiers seemed to have been looted of all coins, while the Macedonians and Persians had not. One of the looters was either Greek, or was planning to visit mainland Greece sometime soon… more evidence suggesting that Heliodas could be alive!
The footprints left the battlefield and Pelephon noted that they were leading to the southeast – the same direction as the army. He followed them a while longer and came upon a still smoldering fire and a pile of relatively fresh foliage with several broken arrows sticking from it. He examined the footprints leading away and noted that these were much better defined. They had been made recently.
Pelephon rode on for a few hours as he continued following the footprints, eventually cresting a sandy ridge. He saw the remains of a ruined polis. He estimated that it was five or six miles away, but even at this distance, he could make out half-toppled walls and a couple of large pillars rising from within. The footprints looked as though they were headed in that direction. Perhaps they were searching for some water, or a safe place to take shelter.
Somewhat worrying was the fact that he could see five men in the distance, walking in the same direction as the polis. He couldn’t tell for certain, but they looked like they were wearing the garb of Persian soldiers. Pelephon seriously doubted that the pair of footprints he’d been following belonged to them, and four of them appeared to be men of roughly the same height and build. The fifth looked to be dressed in loose fitting robes of some kind. This was troubling if they were, in fact, Persian soldiers, particularly if they were searching for those who had moved through the battlefield.
Heliodas spotted the five figures atop a ridge that was no more than two miles away. They were too far away to make out many details, but he did recall that Thermiandra had told him about the five people she’d said were pursuing her. “Look up there,” he said.
Thermiandra looked where Heliodas was pointing and the fear was clear on her face. “It’s them,” she said coolly, but her wide eyes and serious face betrayed the fact that she was suddenly afraid.
“How certain are you? I can’t make them out at all,” Heliodas said.
“There are five of them on foot. The ones who pursue me are five, on foot. It’s them.”
“Then they have probably found our trail. It’s only a matter of time before they catch up to us.”
“Are you well enough to fight?”
Heliodas shrugged and immediately winced in pain. “To be honest, I’d prefer not to, but I am able.”
“And you can take on five of them?”
“If you can shoot that bow as well in battle as you do when you’re hunting, we might stand a chance,” Heliodas said, shrugging. He again winced in pain from the action. “I’m curious, though… Why would they be on foot and not mounted on horseback?”
Thermiandra grinned mischievously. “Because two weeks ago, I snuck up to their encampment and released their horses, all while their guard was on watch.”
Heliodas shook his head incredulously as he smiled. “You are brave and I’m impressed.” He stopped and considered their situation. They were badly outnumbered in a straight fight, even if she was competent with the bow. They needed some sort of a tactical advantage.
“I don’t think we’ll fare well if we try to take them out in the open,” Heliodas remarked. “I did see some ruins in the distance.”
“A couple miles way,” Thermiandra remarked.
“Yes, but in the opposite direction from them,” he said pointing. “As long as we’re moving away from them, it will take a lot longer to catch up to us than it will take to get there. If we detour to the ruins rather than continuing to follow the army, we might have a fighting chance. If you can find some high ground, you might be able to ambush them with arrows. While you’re doing that, I can look for some nice hiding spots and strike from the shadows. I can easily take down a couple of them before they know where I’m at.”
“Then I suggest we hurry,” Thermiandra said.
They quickened their pace, breaking out into a slow jog. As if there were any question that the five figures they had spotted were the Persians pursuing Thermiandra, they could see them increase their pace in response.
Half an hour and two miles later, they arrived at the ruins. What had appeared as a polis from the distance turned out to be little more than a temple to one of the Greek gods, some sort of administration building, which was in complete ruins, and a few houses clust
ered around them. None of the structures had weathered the years well, but the temple still defiantly stood intact, its triangular roof supported by rows of ornate columns. The remainder of the town was reduced to two or three-foot-tall piles of rock where the walls had once been. There remained a well in the center of the polis, and Heliodas was relieved to see that there was water just a few feet down, but there would be time to refill their waterskins later, if they survived the coming battle.
“There isn’t as much here as I’d hoped,” Heliodas said, “but if we can get you onto the roof of that temple, you can fire arrows at any spot here. You can just move back away from the edge if they shoot back at you.”
“And where will you be?”
“Inside the temple. I’ll try to cover our footprints so they won’t know exactly where we’re at. I’m certain that they’ll search the temple, though I’ll still maintain the element of surprise,” Heliodas said. “If you can kill one or two from up there, then it might be close to a fair fight.”
“Okay,” Thermiandra said, looking to the temple roof, which was at least forty feet off the ground. “How do I get up there? I didn’t think to bring a ladder...”
“Rope,” Heliodas said. “Between the two of us, we probably scavenged four or five pieces. We can tie them together. We toss that up over the temple roof. You hang onto one end and I’ll pull you up.”
Thermiandra looked at him uncertainly. “And how will I get back down?”
“The same way. I’ll toss the rope up and lower you down.”
“Suppose you don’t survive?”
“Then I think you will have larger problems than simply getting down.”
It took only a few minutes to tie the ends of the rope together, and Heliodas pulled on them to test the strength of the knots. Convinced that they were sound, he held onto one end of the rope and gave a mighty heave, sending the other end up and over the peak of the slanted temple roof.
Echoes of Olympus (The Atheniad Book 1) Page 12
