By the Sword

by Christian Kachel

  “Callisthenes is here,” I announced solemnly, nodding in his direction. The news startled my table mates as they all jerked their necks around to spy the bane of our recruitment.

  “It is that bastard,” Bacchylides confirmed. “Should we order him a drink,” he asked sarcastically.

  “How about some hemlock?” Spear replied.

  “How about I walk over there and stab him through his throat?” Stephanos added in a grave voice. His disturbing tone drew the attention of the table for it sounded as though Stephanos was serious. He had not removed his eyes from the old soldier since first spotting him.

  “Hold on,” I interjected with hushed forcefulness. “You’re not seriously talking about killing him are you?”

  “If you don’t think he deserves to die then why don’t you go disappear for another three months and be done with it?” Stephanos snapped. An uncomfortable air settled over the table. No one said a word in response to Stephanos’ barbed retort. He had never spoken to me in that manner nor did he look remorseful about it. “I don’t tolerate injustice when it is in my power to right it. You once cautioned me against a hasty revenge back on our recruitment march and I begrudgingly heeded your words then. Now heed mine- I will avenge Labdacus tonight- in Sardis, and one of us will not make it out alive. I’ll do it alone if I must.”

  The mood of our band changed once the reality settled in that Stephanos was dangerously serious. The ramifications of such a brazen act sped through the minds of all seated while I furiously tried to summon Vettias’ powers of strategy to formulate a plot that would shield us from discovery. I quickly realized the shadow business was quite difficult without the benefit of time and a heavy purse.

  Looking around the table, I deduced my mates were not having better luck producing a workable plan. Bolstered by my newfound confidence developed over the past three months, I took charge of the situation in the hopes that talking through our current scenario would generate the best way forward.

  “Alright, first of all, if we are going to do this, we need to talk it through before Stephanos jumps over this table and makes a mad dash at one of the most lethal men we’ve met in our lifetimes,” I began confidently. My bearing quickly brought everyone’s attention to me in eager anticipation of a solution. Stephanos remained in his murderous trance, however. “That means you too, Stephanos,” I snapped- forcing my friend out of his daze. “You’ve set us on this path and we’re going to need you to keep your wits about you. A lot of good you would have done Labdacus if you confront Callisthenes head on in a drunken rage and he kills you where you stand- which you and I both know is more than a good possibility. So bring your eyes inward and join the discussion.” My command presence surprised my mates, who willingly submitted to someone taking charge.

  “He is drinking and with a woman- both facts will ensure his mind is distracted. I would initially recommend barging into the girl’s chamber upstairs while he is predisposed but there is a guard who would hamper those plans. Killing the guard would be easy enough but that would alert everyone in this tavern to us and our army would surely find out. We need to determine where he will be most vulnerable between here and wherever he will retire for the evening. I say we wait until he is finished with his whore and discreetly follow him out of the tavern.” I found myself speaking to a rapt audience as my mates, including Stephanos, looked as if I were divulging the secret knowledge of the Gods to them.

  “Ideally we would study the route he takes home tonight and determine where best to ambush him tomorrow. Since we have only this evening to execute our plan, however, we will have to decide where best to dispatch him as events unfold. As I’m sure I don’t have to remind you, Callisthenes is no ordinary target. He has the ability and motivation to kill several of us at once if we don’t do this right. Therefore, we need to stagger our formation and ensure the right people are conducting the right jobs. Stephanos and Spear- you two will be at his rear directly following him and ensuring to stay at least fifty paces behind. Rhexenor, Dion and Bacchylides, you three will accompany me on parallel streets. I will give the final signal to strike, which means Spear and Stephanos need to immediately close your distance to him and deliver a violent first blow. The rest of us will be on him seconds later. Does everyone understand?” Everyone nodded in agreement, still looking confused as to how I was able to take charge and deliver a viable plan so quickly. I decided to cease speaking about the plan’s particulars lest my mates became too confused.

  I instructed everyone to reduce their intake of alcohol as we watched our target proceed upstairs with his woman for the night. We sat in relative silence for the remaining hour it took for Callisthenes to emerge from the girl’s quarters. I had given some final instructions to the table prior and everyone appeared ready to take action. Callisthenes did not depart the tavern upon descending the stairs leading to the brothel rooms, however. He gingerly walked towards the bar and ordered another jug of wine. Spear and Stephanos continued inconspicuously observing our target while Rhexenor, Bacchylides, Dion and I positioned ourselves outside the tavern, ensuring to remain in the shadows to avoid notice once Callisthenes departed.

  “When he comes out we’re not going to know which direction he will travel in,” I explained. Therefore, we will split into two groups and parallel his movement while Stephanos and Spear keep an eye on him. We will run ahead at each intersection ahead of his movements. As he passes that intersection, we will run on to the next one. Whenever he makes a turn down an alley towards one of the teams- that team will then walk in front of him, keeping approximately a fifty pace distance. The other team will follow in the rear behind Stephanos and Spear and begin running parallel to his new route. I will be watching the operation unfold and when I give the signal of a loud drunkard’s cough, Stephanos and Spear will strike while the rest of us close in on their position to assist. Everyone understand?” All nodded and we continued to wait in silence for another half hour.

  The door to the tavern finally opened and Callisthenes emerged, slightly stumbling. He passed by without noticing our gaggle, followed by Spear and Stephanos ensuring to keep a safe distance. I nodded to them as they passed, and our group began to stalk our prey. Rhexenor and I ran down one perpendicular alley while Bacchylides and Dion ran down the opposite alley. Rhexenor and I made a left at the end of the alley and continued running down the parallel street until we reached the cross section. There we waited, until we observed Callisthenes continuing to stagger down the parallel street. Determining he continued on his straight course, we ran down our street, keeping parallel with Callisthenes, until we arrived at the second intersection.

  We waited about two minutes until we saw him continue staggering down the road. We again ran to the next intersection and waited. I thought to myself that the current alley we were looking down would make a perfect ambush point due to its lack of light and beggars. As Callisthenes came into view once more, he turned left in the direction away from Rhexenor and me and towards Bacchylides and Dion. We held our position until Stephanos and Spear followed him down the alley. We briskly ran in their direction and stopped at the intersection which Callisthenes had just turned from to determine if he was going to continue walking straight or make a turn. I observed him make a right turn, so Rhexenor and I also made a right and ran down the road Callisthenes had been travelling to stay parallel with him and pick him up at the next intersection.

  The road Callisthenes now travelled was desolate and would suffice for our purposes. Applying logic to Callisthenes’ route, I determined it would not make sense for him to turn right again in the direction of Rhexenor and I and decided to force the issue on the current road Callisthenes was travelling. I instructed Rhexenor to continue the course while I ran ahead two city blocks, made a left down the perpendicular alley, and made another left so that I was now on the same road as our target walking in the opposite direction towards him. He was about fifty feet in front of me and I began coughing loudly to alert Stephanos and
Spear to close their distance and strike. I watched as they picked up their pace and hoped they would time their strike to coincide with the rest of our party making their way down the perpendicular alleys to intercept Callisthenes all at once. I continued coughing and staggering to both keep Callisthenes’ attention on me and to ensure all of my mates heard the signal.

  As we all neared the target, I grasped the handle of my blade under my tunic. Callisthenes now yelled to me to get out of his way and I acted as though I were too drunk to comply. He yelled several more times until his breath was cut off mid-syllable. I looked up to see Stephanos had stabbed him in the back. The old soldier didn’t go down easily, however, and faced his attackers with sword drawn. He lunged at Stephanos and Spear with such ferocity it knocked them both backwards. Despite the wound, his skill with a blade far surpassed any three of ours at once. I quickly closed the distance and saw the rest of our band running down their respective alleys through my periphery. I stabbed him in the back again, which provoked a loud shriek. He turned and knocked me to the ground. As he moved to deliver a death blow, Bacchylides stabbed him in this side and Dion kicked him to the ground. Rhexenor, having never experienced mortal combat, now came upon our victim and wildly slashed at him like some giddy child torturing a helpless animal. Callisthenes was very close to grabbing our weaker friend to the ground with him before I pulled Rhexenor off. The sinister look of joy on his face was disturbing. Callisthenes’ injuries now overcame him and he laboured to regain his footing. I kicked him several times, sending him back to the ground where he now saw six familiar assailants standing over him with murderous intent.

  “What do you villains want?” he exclaimed.

  “Vengeance,” Stephanos replied sombrely. “You will remember his name…Labdacus… Say it…Labdacus!”

  “Who?”

  “Say it!”

  “La-Lab-dacus,” Callisthenes responded weakly.

  “Let the confusion over this name be your last living thoughts. Say it again!”

  “Labdacus.”

  “Now say good night.” Stephanos leaned over our former tormentor and stabbed him through his neck- dispatching him instantly.

  “We need to get back to the encampment immediately,” I reminded our band. “Now!” My words snapped everyone out of the moment and we began running in the direction of our army’s location. Everyone remained silent as we slowed our pace and neared a side entrance to the quartermaster bivouacs. Some support soldier was skulking about and Rhexenor spoke with him briefly before we entered our army’s encampment and retired for the evening.

  I had trouble sleeping that night despite being overly tired. I had conflicting thoughts about our action as well as lingering guilt. While I grieved at Labdacus’ death and wanted to see justice done on his murderer, Callisthenes was an honoured veteran of Alexander’s army. Labdacus was nothing compared to this man and he did more for the Greek cause then any of us ever did. I believed him to be overly cruel and sadistic yet he did produce hardened recruits ready to take their place among the remnants of Alexander’s army. And then there was the way in which we killed him. It was not a fair fight- none of us could ever hope to win that. We stabbed an inebriated man in the back- hardly an honourable death for someone so accomplished. Rhexenor’s behaviour also disturbed me. I would remember it and apply it to all future dealings with him.

  Finally I dwelled on how easily I followed the will of Stephanos that night to do something I wouldn’t necessarily have done on my own. My command presence and decision making certainly impressed my mates, however- I had Vettias to thank for that. But while my leadership was in line with my new persona- born in the fire of combat, Vettias’ teachings, and Alexander’s oath; blindly following someone to do murder was certainly not. I vowed to never let myself be led like that again. Sleep finally came as I began to think how close I was to Ilandra.

  Chapter 39

  The following morning we received word we were to remain camped outside of Sardis for the next several days. This news was welcome since I would use it to ask Vettias for a favour- a pass to visit Ilandra for a night. I estimated it would take two days of hard riding to cover the sixty miles separating Sardis and Ilandra, which would give me one night with my family before having to turn back around the following morning to ensure I was not left by the army. Coincidentally I was scheduled to meet Vettias this afternoon and I would humbly ask his approval.

  Stephanos did not bring up the events of last night and did not make an effort to speak to anyone that morning. His behaviour led me to believe he was having second thoughts about his actions. “Everything alright?” I asked once we were alone.

  “Of course, why?” he replied, slightly agitated by the question.

  My silence and concerned expression brought him out of his foul mood and back to being my closest friend. “About last night, you know I didn’t mean anything by my outburst towards you. My constitution cannot handle helpless people suffering injustice. I apparently have not gotten over his murder. I think I needed vengeance to help myself get over it. We’ll see.”

  “Don’t worry about it; we all knew your blood was up last night. I may be gone for a few days while the army camps here.” Stephanos raised an eyebrow indicating he assumed my absence would have something to do with my cryptic new duties with the battle staff.

  “It’s nothing important, I don’t expect to return with any stories for you this time.” I finished my morning tasks and made my way to the quartermaster bivouacs to meet Vettias. He began the way he normally did, by asking me about any information I had heard or seen, followed by some light criticism about my lack of new news. He again instructed me to expand my reach within my syntagma, to which I nodded in agreement and anxiously awaited him to finish.

  “What’s on your mind? Something more important to you than the task at hand?” he asked, a bit annoyed.

  “I-I have a small favour to ask,” I began weakly. “We are two days ride from my home. I…”

  “You want permission to go home,” Vettias interjected, finishing my sentence.

  “If you didn’t think it would have too much of a negative impact on our operations here?” I added deferentially. “The Gods know when we will be this close again and it would mean everything to me if I could spend one night with them and deliver the small amount of wealth I have acquired since departing.

  “Working for The Hand does have benefits but you have only been away from home for one year. There are men here who’ve been with Alexander from the beginning. Men who’ve been away from their families for over ten years. Some of them will never see their homes again. Many have already made that sacrifice. And you ask to take leave of this army for four days?” Vettias’ response lowered my expectation of a favourable answer. “I’m going to tell you what- I will allow this, only because my family died before I could see them again and this could be your last shot. You will depart Ilandra the following morning, understood? If you get any feelings about homesickness I will make sure you wake up to an assassin’s blade in the near future. Acquire a mount from your friend with the quartermaster, turn in your tent equipment and inform your lochagos that I have ordered you to depart for four days.”

  After hearing the answer, I wanted I departed quickly so Vettias did not have time to change his mind and ran to seek out Rhexenor. My friend was still on a high from the rush of last evening and was eager to help me. He paid me out the money I had deposited within the baggage train and provided me a sturdy mount to borrow on my short trip. After informing Croesus of my new ‘orders’ from the battle staff and returning my equipment to the quartermaster again, I bid Stephanos farewell and rode hard west out of Sardis towards the Ionian coastline. From there I would pick up the Ionian Road and head south to Ilandra.

  Travelling along the Royal Road for the better part of a year instilled a new appreciation for road construction. A road that was not properly drained, or built with inferior materials, made for much hardship during travel- espe
cially for an army. Although the Royal Road ended in Sardis, my journey was comfortable, with the Ionian Road holding up fairly well in most places.

  It was already late morning and I had several hours to make up if I were to arrive early enough the following evening to make my stay worthwhile. The noon sun beat down on the back of my neck and caused my mount to perspire greatly. I was overjoyed to be so close to home as I passed the familiar flora and fauna of my country. Fig trees and grape vines now occupied either side of the road and the unmistakable smell of sea air filled my nostrils. My mount was not the swiftest runner but was built for long hauls at moderate speed. I rode throughout the remainder of the day and about two hours into the night- making it all the way to the great coastal city of Ephesus where I secured lodging for the evening.

  I departed one hour before dusk the following morning, heading south along the Ionian Road. Familiar-looking merchant carts could be seen at daybreak and I passed several travellers along the way. My thoughts turned towards my long-envisioned triumphant return, and I reminded myself who I now was and how I would now act with regards to those that knew me from Ilandra. My hard riding paid off when I saw the faint silhouette of Ilandra about two hours after noon sun. Entering the city limits, I dismounted my horse and travelled along the many back roads and alleys to avoid being noticed. Arriving on my street, I tied my mount outside of Argos’ wine shop and entered to find my uncle half asleep behind the counter.

  “One jug of your finest wine please,” I stated, grinning widely. Upon recognizing me, Argos jumped out of his seat and ran over to me and embraced me.

  “Andrikos! What is this? What are you doing here? Is everything alright?” His expression now turned to concern as the thought of something negative having happened passed through his mind.

  “Everything is fine uncle,” I assured him. “Didn’t your court of political advisors at the Ilandra marketplace inform you the army of Eumenes now camps at Sardis?” I asked sarcastically. “I guess I outrode the news. Anyway, since we are so close, my good standing within the army secured me a pass to visit my beloved family for one night before returning tomorrow morning.” I no longer struggled to maintain eye contact and I spoke with my new command presence. I noticed a look of pleasant surprise in my uncle at my newfound confident demeanour.