Prologue: Fire and Water

          The salty water surrounding Scyros was dominant in the evening light. There on the secluded shore, laid Princess Deidamia in the arms of the great hero Achilles.

He was there for a year on the island, hiding from King Agamemnon and a party of Greek warriors. They were gathering together to set sail for the Trojan War. Achilles disguised himself as a maidservant named Pyrra. Only when he was alone with the princess could he be a man. Deidamia bore him a son and Achilles named him Pyrrus, after his fake name. That was ten years ago.

          Achilles’s clever friend Odysseus came earlier this day and discovered his disguise. With his silver-tongue, he talked him into leaving for the war. So this night was his last on Scyros.

          Beautiful Deidamia sighed in the ocean breeze. She had dark crimson hair, like the sunset. “Will you take Pyrrus with you?” she asked.

          “Yes. That is your wish,” he promised.

          “I’m here, cousin,” said Orion. He stood at the door. King Idomeneus was sitting on the chair in his room.

          “I’ve been waiting,” he said darkly, from the shadowed corner. Only a dim beam of light dusted through a high window.

          “Things don’t seem the same here,” Orion wondered. “Everyone is setting off for the Trojan War.”

          A grim smirk crossed Idomeneus’s face. “Very true my young boy, but who knows how many long years we will be gone. Plenty of time for you to age up and take my throne…”

          The little boy’s face fell in shock. “But I would never!” he cried out. The king laughed.

          “It doesn’t matter. I’m still exiling you. I know...it’s harsh isn’t it?”

 

***

Troy was falling. Smoke filled the night sky above Pyrrus. This year he was fifteen and a Myrmidon warrior. His father’s cousin, Patroclus, had died tragically in battle. Achilles already avenged his death by killing Prince Hector of Troy.

          Sneaking into the inner sanctum, a flash of a woman’s dress caught Pyrrus’s eye. He pursued her. When he found her, she was frightened; they could hear loud screams outside the palace.

          “I can save you from them,” he told her soothingly. “Just come with me.”

          “I will if you do something for me first.”

          “And what is that?” he asked, his curiosity heightened.

          “Follow me.”

          Seizing his hand, she led him down the hallway until they stopped by a door. “Go inside and take what is there.”

          With a skeptical glance he entered the room. It was cold and musty, as if encased in itself for thousands of years. On a torch in the center was a flame burning a bright red color. Yet it didn’t give off heat.

          Pyrrus stepped directly in front of the flame, planning to take it from its pedestal. All of the sudden it engulfed him in fire. Screaming in pain, he could feel it entering his soul. Once it disappeared he was unharmed.

 

***

 

          There is a storm…a storm that is here. As I kneel in front of my brother the rain pours down. It washes away the sins being committed at this very moment. The statue of him who abandoned me is all I have left. Slowly, I bow with my face to the ground. In meditation the screaming fades into the distance.

          By the time I am drenched in water, new warmth breathes near me. “Artemis, are you okay?” It’s Hermes.

          “You’re also a coward, but not as much as him.”

Reviews

[Hester Vane]

This is very good. I might be slightly bias in that opinion because I love Greek mythology anyway! The story commands attention which is testament to the way you have constructed it and the language you have used. I like the change in narrative from third to first person. Its makes the story dynamic. A great start.