Changing his approach, he gathered tendrils of the energy and sent them out in the direction of the entrance. Riding on the residual aura present, it was nearly instantaneous. He knew his searching probes had reached the outside of the cave when three strong concentrations registered in his senses.
Two were massive. He guessed they were the deities involved, but one was located some distance away, on the top of the narrow gorge. The third was a small mass of energy just outside the cave.
He directed the tendrils to concentrate on it but couldn’t get an imprint on its appearance or actual size. But he could discern faint images of gears and other machinery.
He gave himself a few more minutes of rest.
Showtime.
He moved towards the exit. Trepidation accompanied his steps as he walked, wondering what was waiting for him. He could see nothing in the small visible and growing circle of the exit. Upon reaching it, he stopped and peered out to the sides. Nothing.
Activating the staff-generated shield as well as his personal barrier, he stepped out.
A movement to his right caught his attention. The ground was shaking. Cracks appeared in the earth. Something was trying to get out. Then with a loud tumult, it erupted, messily showering the surrounding area with chunks of soil and gravel.
Hurriedly stepping back, he could see a rising metallic form, obscured by the resulting dust and soil from its emergence. It was as big as a medium-sized car.
Finally, he saw what it was. A giant metallic insect of some sort.
Looking at it more carefully, it gave the impression of being the result of an unholy union between a scorpion and a spider. Specifically, its front was a spider, and the rear had a scorpion’s stinger. Make that two stingers.
FREAK THAT GREEK TINKERER! I HATE SPIDERS! AND SCORPIONS!
The construct oriented itself towards him and then moved in a fast crawl, its eight legs clicking like mad. Tyler thought that its real speed must be frightening. Even with the bracer, the automaton was speedily closing.
Fear and his phobia fed his panic. He really was repulsed by spiders and scorpions. At the back of his panic-stricken mind, he suspected the design choice was intentional.
All he could think of was the AWAY! spell. As he cast it, all vestiges of control over its impact were forgotten. The spell quickly picked up the insect and viciously slammed it against the side of the gorge. As it violently splayed against the wall of dirt, Tyler knew he didn’t damage it.
What a waste of a good spell! He chastised himself.
The creature fell forward on its legs and immediately again moved straight towards him. It raised its front pincers. All the while, making the loud clicking sounds Tyler so hated.
He quickly cast a lifting spell. But the construct was raised a few meters and then slammed back into the ground. Tyler could feel the strain on his mind.
Shit. Must be really heavy!
A lightning bolt flew from Tyler's right hand. The electrical attack merely gave the creature momentary pause. Tyler couldn't see any damage. He followed it up with an intense fireball with an encore of three spearhead blades. The creature shrugged off the fiery blast and the blades shattered against the metallic body.
Resistant to lightning and fire! Blades not enough! This is duck shit!
The spider-scorpion hybrid was closing the gap, despite being thrown back a considerable distance with his first spell.
"Hal!"
"Yes, Elder?"
"I am going to get torn apart here!"
"I noticed. You can try using your newest spell."
With that, he quickly cast the quake spell in front of the incoming monster. The shaking ground immediately opened in a series of cracks and small fissures, just as the creature was passing over the area of the spell. It tilted over when two of its right legs fell right into one of the openings.
Seeing the predicament of the creature, he created the biggest fire-infused blade he could muster and targeted it against the partly exposed belly. The huge projectile slammed against its belly and penetrated several inches. Seeing the effect, he willed the explosion to go forward instead of letting it detonate in a ball form.
The metal construct shuddered and then exploded spectacularly. It rained metal shards and parts. As it disintegrated, the severed tip of one of its legs flew forward. It painfully embedded itself in Tyler's left thigh as he was throwing himself into the ground to escape the effects of the blast.
THAT HURT!
He immediately rolled over and brought his left thigh up, trying to avoid contact with the ground. Blood was spurting out of the wound. The metal tip penetrated the muscle, narrowly avoiding the bone, and an inch of it protruded from the inner side of his thigh.
Son of a bitch. It nearly took me with it.
He cast the light healing spell Eira taught him. Though it minimized the shock his body felt and slightly reduced the blood flow from the wound, it was not enough. The blood loss and trauma were already getting to him. The ground was wet with his blood.
"You’re fast losing blood, Elder."
"Thanks, Mr. Obvious. Why don’t you do something about it?"
"I can’t, Elder. While that metal debris is lodged in your leg. You have to remove it first. Won’t the deities here help?"
"I can’t and won’t depend on them, Hal. You, on the other, are tied up with me. I die, you die."
"Then remove it first. I can limit the blood loss but without closing the wound…”
"I know. The blood loss will kill me. Help me handle the pain and shock."
Gathering his strength, Tyler extended his hands and grasped the longer end of the metal spear-like object. Putting his foot on the ground, he suddenly pulled it out. He was fortunate that the smooth tip was tapered in a cone shape and without jagged edges.
"AAAARRRGGHHHH!"
His painful scream echoed through the narrow canyon. His vision blurred though he could see the blood gushing from the now opened wound. He still had the presence of mind to cast another healing spell, but he could feel the wound healing from the inside. Good. Hal works fast. He dropped the metal object.
Feeling rubbery and exhausted, he remained prostrate on the bloodied ground.
Two figures materialized by Tyler's side. One was Dionysus. The other was a hulk of a man. Heavily muscled, black hair, dirty and disheveled, wearing a blacksmith's apron.
He looked to be a man of around 45 to 50 years old. He was a bit better looking than Dionysus. He could be called ruggedly handsome, though clean-shaven.
Must be Hephaestus, Tyler thought. So that’s Aphrodite’s husband. Not ugly, despite what the stories say.
The man's left leg appeared lame as he was walked slowly with a cane. Looking closer, he saw the deity had a clubfoot condition. Which for Tyler was strange. Shouldn’t these powerful entities be able to fix the problem? After all, the god of smiths is one of the twelve major powers of Olympus. His mother was Hera. Healing shouldn’t be an issue. Unless such peculiar failings are permanent in nature and an innate part of the affected deity. God knows these beings have imperfections galore in mind and body, thought Tyler.
“Well, you handled that well! Won my bet against my friend here. Thank you very much!” Dionysus exclaimed.
The dirty man, features marked by smudges and smut, looked at him. He smiled. A friendly one.
“Khaire, young man.”
“Hephaestus, I presume?” said the weakened Tyler.
“I prefer the name Polumetis. Easier on the tongue. And not the name my mother gave me.”
Hearing the statement, Dionysus gave a wry smile.
“My friend, no need to dig up old bones. Even I have a big bone to pick with that woman. Let’s talk about our young mage here. So! Did I win the bet or not?”
“You did. That was an imaginative way to deal with my pet. I am impressed, young mage.”
“You’re a pair of asses!” shouted Tyler.
To his surprise, the two started laughing.
“What's so funny?” asked the irritated Tyler.
“We apologize, young man. It’s just that humans selected donkeys as our sacred animals. If you think about it, we really are a pair of asses,” said Hephaestus.
“Why didn’t you help when I was bleeding to death?” demanded Tyler.
“It’s your quest, as I said. We can’t interfere with an ongoing quest! Before or maybe after. But not during an ongoing quest event,” answered Dionysus.
“How about my injuries? No help from you, thank you very much!”
“We wouldn’t have let you die after the battle. We just wanted to see if you can handle it,” replied the wine god.
Assholes.
"Won’t you treat me now?”
The two deities looked at each other.
“Oh, all right. Don’t be such a crybaby,” replied Dionysus, waving his hands in a peculiar motion towards him.
Immediately, Tyler felt the effect of the healing, though at the same time, he could feel some resistance to it from within himself.
His entire body felt embraced in a soothing and comfortable warmth. He looked at his thigh. The surface wound was visually knitting itself back together.
Deity level healing is really miles away from the Gothi's abilities, Tyler observed.
He looked at Polúmetis. It was the first time he had seen the deity. What he remembered about the usual portrayals of the god flew in the face of reality.
“Aren’t you supposed to have a beard?” he asked the deity.
“And get it all singed and burned? A beard is that part of your face which is closest to the forge. Boy, I am not that stupid.”
“Sorry, your sculptures usually show you with one.”
“Humans! They change their idea of me every hundred years or so! Anyway, you earned the bracer, young mage. It does all that this friend of mine had told you. I hope you do with it what I want you to achieve with it.”
“And that is?”
The gruff deity just gave him a lopsided smile. Then he disappeared.
“Let me have a look at you, boy,” said Dionysus. He went over to Tyler who remained on the ground.
“Looks like you do have some healing skills. I get a strange resonance from your initial healing.”
Dionysus looked at him, an eyebrow raised.
“Nope, have no idea what you are talking about.”
The deity smiled.
“Secrets, huh? I guess all of us need to have some of our own. Anyway, try to see if you can walk.”
Tyler shakily stood up. He cast a quick light healing spell. He immediately felt better.
“I guess so.”
“Let’s go back to town. I think I need a drink after watching that spectacle. Not that I can’t drink now, but I usually prefer to do so in comfortable circumstances. Make that very comfortable surroundings,” said the deity with a wink.
What’s with this guy and winks? thought Tyler as he started to walk back, picking up the food sack and the waterskin along the way. He really didn’t like the idea of climbing back up the gorge.
“Hey, Dio, can’t you just, you know, whisk us back? At least to the carriage?”
“Would love to, my boy, but the magical signature for two persons would be too large. Could invite attention. Anyway, the climb and the walk back would do you good. Builds character, as my father would say.”
Builds character, my ass. Now I am stuck with asinine comments.
By the time Tyler reached the top, he was exhausted. The weight of the food sack and waterskin became lead burdens as he ascended. He must have been more drained than he thought. The shock of being wounded apparently took its toll.
“Dio, would you mind if we take five?”
“Five what?”
“Sorry, it’s an expression. It means five minutes to rest.”
“Oh. That’s a quaint expression. Take ten if you want,” said Dio while conjuring a magnificent high-backed cushioned chair for himself.
“Hey, no chair for me?”
“Well, I can say I'll throw you an X or go to the lake to see if the boats are moving but I won’t do that,” said Dio with a chortle.
“Is that a no? Gods! You really are an unfair bunch,” exclaimed Tyler as he sat down on the ground.
“If you think we are unfair to mortals, just wait until you see how unfair we are to each other. Worse, I think.”
“Anyway, it’s alright. I wouldn’t want to hear how sitting on the dirt builds my character.”
“I like you, young mage. You do have a sense of humor! At least the kind that appeals to me. I think I'll have a drink now. Want some?”
“No, thanks. Water is good enough for me,” answered Tyler as he watched the deity bring out a clay jug from nowhere and start chugging it. Chugging, not drinking, observed Tyler.
“Ah! Needed that. You sure you don’t want any? This is one of the best wines in Akrotiri. Real wine, not that watered-down vinegar the Dorians prefer.”
“I'll stick to plain water for now, Dio. Mind if I ask you something personal?”
“Your loss. The wine, I mean. As to the question, ask away! It doesn’t mean I have to answer it if I don’t want to.”
“How does it work for you, being half-mortal and half-god? With your powers and immortality, I would have thought you were having the time of your life. Excuse the pun, bad as it is.”
“Well, young mage, you’re not that far off the mark. Probably for the first millennium. After that, it becomes staid. Boring. Colorless? Given my mortal nature, questions start inching their way to your deepest thoughts. Like, what will happen if I die? Deities created from pure magical energy don’t have that issue. They know they go back to the energy which created them. But it’s in their nature to think that way. They know mortals go somewhere. Not that they would know for sure. They’ve got no sense of the divine nature of everything.”
“You don’t know where you'll end up?”
“Yep! Neither here nor there. Probably will end up in limbo. A second boring existence. This time forever. Damn it, mageling! You got me thinking again. That's one of the reasons which drove me to drink!”
“Oh, sorry about that, Dio. Didn’t know it would be that important.”
“Talks about what will happen when I die and then says it’s not important. Trying existing for a few millennia and even you will begin asking questions you don’t want to hear the answers to,” said the deity, bitterness marking his words.
“Let’s change the topic then. Consider the question unasked. What do you think Ares is really planning? I mean conquering Akrotiri and other cities would fit his nature as a god of war, but the move towards Akrotiri seems too calculated. I get the feeling my presence here became a mere excuse for him.”
“You may be correct there. Ares is a battle god. Issues of broad strategy and grand political maneuverings are too much for his brain. The size of a peanut, if I dare say so. There’s something bigger than him at play here. But Athena does not tell me her suspicions, plans, and schemes. In short, it’s a conflict between Athena and whoever put Ares up to this foolishness. That would be interesting.”
“Interesting?”
“For me, at least. Not for you. You’re involved. Though you may have Athena's quiet backing,” smiled Dionysus.
“I really don’t find that reassuring,” he sarcastically replied.
“That’s the way the wind blows, my boy. Either you go with it or be like Odysseus. Bring your own bag of wind. And I don’t mean talking to Aeolus.”
Tyler remained quiet as he got up and started walking in the direction of the carriage. Too many things have been happening as of late. He knew he had to formulate his own perspective on things.
Being used as a pawn in these lands was unavoidable. Not choosing to play their game was risky. It may result in another complication. That Ares was after his head was a given. Better to have somebody beside him against the god of battle. But if he is to be a pawn for now, then he resolved t
o be a knowing pawn.
“Heads up, young mage!” shouted Dionysus.
“What’s the matter?” replied Tyler who immediately activated his barrier, his staff at the ready. He looked around. Nothing.
“Somebody's pet is coming. An Ismenian drakon. Or dragon. I guess it's one of Ares' menagerie. The creature is identified with his retinue."
Chapter Lore:
Khaire – Ancient Greek. Meaning “hello.”
Polúmetis – Ancient Greek. One of the names of Hephaestus. Meaning “shrewd, crafty, of many devices.”
Note - Cited phrase: I'll throw you an X or go to the lake to see if the boats are moving. Greek expressions. Meaning "no" and "go jump in the lake."
Aeolus – Ancient Greek. Mentioned in the Odyssey as the deity in charge of the four winds (Anemoi Theullai; the spirits of the four winds).
Ismenian drakon - Ancient Greek. Drakon means "dragon." In mythology, the Ismenian drakon was a giant serpent belonging to Ares who he tasked to guard his sacred spring near the location of Thebes.
Chapter V
The Ismenian Drakon
“Freak this, Dio! What's an Ismenian dragon? And how far is it?”
“Like I said, it’s called a drakon in Greek. Looks like a big snake. With four legs. Little useless wings. Scaly. Ugly. Doesn’t breathe fire like other dragons. 400 feet and closing. Usually moves fast but it’s hilly and rocky. And damn those spies! They do their job well. I have to admit.”
“Can't fly and no fire? Good.”
“Poison.”
“WHAT?”
“Breathes poison. No fire. You’re right about that can’t fly bit though.”
“I am in no condition to fight, Dio! Can’t you do anything?”
“300 feet and closing. What do you suggest?”
“Ares knows we’re here anyway! Bring us back to town!”
“You’re sure about not fighting that snake? Was looking forward to watching you in action again. 250 feet distance.”
“I said I am not in a condition to fight now! Later! When I am fully recovered!”
Gifts of the Greeks Page 7
