The world is changed. I feel it in the water. I feel it in the earth. I smell it on the air. Much that once was is lost, for none now live who remember. It began with the forging of the great rings. Three were given to the elves, immortal, wisest, and fairest of all beings. Seven to the dwarf lords, great miners and crafts men of the mountain halls. And nine, nine rings were gifted to the race of men who above all else desired power. Within these rings was the strength and will to govern each race, but they were all of them deceived. In the lands of Mordor the dark lord Sauron forged in secret a master ring to control all others. And into this ring he poured his cruelty, his malice, and his will to dominate all life; One ring to rule them all.
Chapter One
Six months prior to the war with Troy
King Agamemnon was pacing his throne room when Nestor looked up from the map.
"Great King, our spies have reported it to be here" Nestor pointed to a place on the far edge of the map "From what the reports say the eighth of the nine is held at this location. If our spies can be trusted then we have come one step closer to placing you as the king of kings".
Agamemnon "Damn them all, they are all fools, they think I go to war over paltry things like money or land, no my goals are far grander than that. Once I have all nine of them upon my hands I shall be the greatest king of all time and the stones in the mountains will cry out my name, shouting 'Agamemnon, King of Kings'. Remember this old friend; history remembers the deeds of Kings, not soldiers. We simply need a reason to go to Troy and claim that ring". Nestor took his time to ponder over what was to be said before speaking knowing all too well that speaking out of turn in Agamemnon's court would cause one's life to end prematurely.
"Great King, your brother's wife Helen, I understand it that she is not happy in the marriage. Perhaps if you send word to your brother to make peace then he will attract the attention of Hector and his brother Paris. If the rumors about Paris are true then he will gladly take the hand of Helen. She will follow him back to Troy giving you a perfect reason to attack the Trojans. It will come at the cost of your brother's wife but she will be an easy enough price to repay". Agamemnon seemed lost in thought for a long time before responding.
"Yes that plan will work nicely, besides even if my brother meets with his demise in Troy it will give me a reason to keep fighting. Until I get all nine rings I will not give up my ambitions. Call an envoy to send a missive to my brother in Sparta. Tell him it is time for peace".
One month prior to the war with Troy
The sun was just reaching its zenith over Mycenae as Menelaus marched towards the great wooden doors of Agamemnon's hall. Before the guards had a chance to open the gate for him he burst through the furies swarming around his face. The common man could see the anguish and rage that ate at his heart. He marched right up to the great king's throne and stood there for a moment to let his brother greet him. Once the formalities were out of the way Menelaus began to speak.
"I want her back…"
Agamemnon looked thoughtfully at his brother and spoke in the most convincing voice he could muster "But of course you do, she is a beautiful woman."
"I want her back so that I may kill her with my own two hands. So that I can put that pretty boy Paris' head on a spear and watch her scream only to be silenced by my sword".
Agamemnon couldn't help but smile, his plan was working perfectly. "I thought you wanted peace with Troy?"
In his rage Menelaus spoke before he thought and rationalized as a fool would. "I should have listened to you brother."
Agamemnon's smile faded save for the corner of his mouth. "What did I say; peace is for the women and the weak. Empires are forged by war."
Menelaus was quiet for a minute before he spoke again, pondering what next to say to his brother. "All my life I have stood by your side and fought your enemies. You are the eldest and, therefore, reap the glory—that is the way of things. But have I ever complained? Have I ever asked you for anything?"
Agamemnon spoke again in a more serious tone "Never you are a man of Honor. Everyone in Greece knows this."
Menelaus spoke again barely containing his rage at the events that had occurred "The Trojans spat on my honor; an insult to me and an insult to you."
"And an insult to me is an insult to all of Greece." Agamemnon could not believe what he was hearing. His plan for gaining the ultimate prize was going better than he could have imagined. Menelaus was much more distraught by the loss of his wife than Agamemnon had ever hoped for.
Menelaus looked at his brother with fire burning in his eyes. "Will you go to war with me brother?" Agamemnon did not respond but merely nodded and clasped his brothers' hand within his own and brought him into a brotherly embrace.
Later that evening within Agamemnon's throne room he paced the floor awaiting Nestor's response. "You were absolutely right Nestor, my brother's wife was more useful than I could have ever imagined. Only the gods could have made such a woman to be so foolish."
Nestor looked up from the map "Great King, this is but phase one of our plans, phase two is to actually conquer Troy and take the ring from king Priam's finger. This task will not be an easy one, it is said that Troy can't be conquered."
Agamemnon stopped pacing and walked over and slammed his scepter down on the table on top of the map. "They have never faced me in war!" Agamemnon's fury was clearly visible to his old friend. "Do you see this ring! It was passed down from father to eldest son for generations. I am the tenth son to wear this ring and I tell you now that I will have all the other eight. So far I have only taken seven from the other kings. It is my goal to obtain all nine of the rings. Once I have them all I will be the greatest king to ever live, and no one shall challenge my right to sovereign rule!" Agamemnon fumed for a few minutes before calming down again, it was at this time that Nestor chose to speak again.
"My king we will need Achilles and his Myrmidons." Agamemnon looked at Nestor with a distraught look upon his face.
"No, that man, he can't be controlled. He is as likely to fight us as he is the Trojans."
"We needn't control him my king, we need to unleash him." Agamemnon gave a sigh of defeat. He knew that without Achilles and the Myrmidons they would never be able to take Troy.
"Fine, but there is only one man he will listen to."
Five months prior to the war with Troy
"Achilles… Achilles, wake up, we need to train. Who knows, perhaps a great war is going on right now and you will never know of it because you slept right through the battle."
Achilles let out a groan, he loved his cousin but the annoying things Patroclus would go through to try and rouse him from a good nights rest would often leave Achilles wondering why he was left as the caretaker to such a young boy. Nonetheless Achilles got up from the bed and put on his tunic. "Patroclus, what time of day is it? Have we passed noon?"
"Just nearly cousin, I thought I should wake you before noon, seeing as you usually like to spend two to three hours training. That and I have been working on a few new tricks, perhaps I can show you them."
"Don't get too ahead of your self, learning new tools for killing is good and all, but useless unless you know when and how to use them. Remember that men need a purpose to fight, without one they will die without ever knowing life."
The two cousins sat down at the table. Food made early that day by the slaves was laid out on the table. From the salad with fennel, roasted garlic, radishes, and leeks; to the spit roasted lamb with an Olive oil and saffron marinade. Achilles had one of the slaves make him a plate of food. The thing he wanted most was a large side of boar and a goblet of wine to wake him up, but unfortunately boar was scarce this season, so instead he settled for the lamb. He did his best to lead by example, like his father King Peleus before him had done. Only taking what was available and not indulging too much in the opulence that was most often granted to kings.
"The food is especially good today, cousin. I have to say your slaves have outdone themselves once again."
"As usual you are quick to give praise to someone who does not deserve it; yes the slaves cooked the food but only at the order of our chef. Remember to think before you act or speak, Patroclus, lest you find yourself at the wrong end of a sword on a bad day. The gods may interfere with men's lives to a degree but not even the fates can be told what to do by the gods."
"I am sorry cousin, you are right. I will do my best to think before I respond to anything."
Achilles smiled at this, he loved his cousin but sometimes his cousin could be too serious. "Well you had best not think too long, lest you get lost within your own thoughts."
The two sat in silence eating for a while. They were about to finish and go outside for the day's training when a messenger came running up to the two of them. "My lords-" the messenger paused a minute to catch his breath. "Take your time we wouldn't want the gods removing you from this world before your task is complete."
"Thank you my lords…" For a long time the only thing the messenger did was breathe. Finally the messenger spoke up "My lords, I have been sent here to give you this." The messenger held out a scroll and handed it to Achilles.
"What exactly is this supposed to be?" Achilles was cautious as he picked up the letter. He was carful to check for any surprise traps since more than one assassination attempt had been tried on his life. None had succeeded but still he was taking the road of caution, just to be sure.
"It is a missive, from who I am unaware but I was handed this by a man in a grey cloak atop a horse. He told me to run this to you as fast as possible. He paid handsomely in gold; enough in fact to allow me to buy my own land with farm hands."
"Go then, live the rest of your life in ease." The messenger nodded and ran off. Patroclus leaned over to see what the message said.
"I am unfamiliar with this writing, cousin; do you know what it says?"
"I do Patroclus; it is a message from a friend of my father's. It was intended for him I believe, for only my father knew of these people. In all his wisdom he never sought to share this knowledge with me before he became a shade. I was lucky enough to learn the language, I would often spend nights studying this text in order to read it for the day I became king. For some reason when I did ask my father about it he avoided the topic, anyways the letter reads as follows
'Dearest friend Peleus,
I do hope you are doing well, you know that I would not be writing to you in this language unless it was urgent and no one else could know. The eyes of our enemy are moving. His gaze is still stuck to the north but for how long I do not know. The ring that I gave you for safe keeping, you must bring it with you to our capital five years from now. It needs to be placed in a vault until the One Ring can be destroyed. Once that is done its powers will fade and it can once again be used as a family ring. I have sent missives to all the other peoples of middle earth and await their response. You are the only one that I have fully trusted throughout all these years and I know you will not let me down; until we meet again in Rivendell.
Sincerely
E.'
Achilles and Patroclus both looked at each other with a puzzled look. Both of them thought, but neither asked, who was this E. person and where in the name of Zeus was Rivendell?
Three weeks until the war with Troy
Patroclus and Achilles were out on the training ground practicing their sword play. As Patroclus came around for a back slice, Achilles side-stepped him, swinging behind his arm and moving his blade so that it was placed against the side of Patroclus' neck. Patroclus was quick but not as quick as his cousin, he knew exactly what was going to happen but never had he been able to counter Achilles' moves. Achilles released him from his grasp and got back into a fighting stance. Patroclus did the same but instead of attacking he goaded Achilles into attacking him. As Achilles lunged at his cousin Patroclus parried and came in putting his sword up to Achilles chest.
"Scared?" Patroclus gloated, believing victory to be at hand. Foolishly Patroclus let his guard down allowing Achilles to grab his wrist and twist it behind his back placing his own practice sword against the middle of Patroclus' back.
"Petrified." Patroclus was let loose from Achilles' attack. He then lunged at Achilles and brought his sword up in an upward slash across Achilles' chest. As he did so he left his entire right side of his body wide open, Achilles used this to switch his sword hands behind his back and bring the practice sword up to his cousin's neck.
"You taught me never to change sword hands."
"Once you learn how to use one, you won't be taking orders from me." At that moment Achilles removed Patroclus' sword and threw his own on the ground. He walked over to the spear lying with his armor and picked it up. He aimed and threw the spear; its target hit dead center. Behind the target at the level of the spear head was Odysseus riding on horseback to talk with Achilles.
Odysseus walked up to the training ground with the two legendary warriors. "Your reputation for hospitality is fast becoming legend." Odysseus let out a light chuckle as the tossed the spear back to Achilles. He caught it with little effort and tossed it to the side.
"Patroclus my cousin; Odysseus king of Ithica."
Odysseus' smile faded when his eyes landed upon the young warrior. "Patroclus, I knew your parents well. I miss them. Now you have this one watching over you, eh? Learning from Achilles himself, kings would kill for the honor."
"Are you here at Agamemnon's bidding?" Odysseus silenced himself for a moment as he rubbed his beard thinking about what to say to the legendary warrior king.
"We need to talk." The two men walked away from Patroclus.
"I will not fight for him."
"I am not asking you to fight for him; I am asking you to fight for the Greeks."
"Why? Are the Greeks tired of fighting each other?" His sarcastic tone was so deafening that it almost drowned Odysseus' own wit.
"For now." Achilles smiled at this statement as though he was remembering a personal joke.
"The Trojans never harmed me."
"They insulted Greece."
"They insulted one Greek, a man who couldn't hold on to his wife, what business is that of mine?"
"Your business is war my friend."
"Is it, the man has no honor."
"Let Achilles fight for honor; let Agamemnon fight for power; and let the gods decided which man to glorify."
"For the Greeks!" Patroclus said as he lunged at Achilles for a, hopefully, surprise attack. To his dismay Achilles was fully prepared for him and parried his attack with an attack of his own.
"Forget Agamemnon, fight for me. My wife will feel much better knowing that you're by my side; I'll feel much better." As Odysseus spoke he couldn't help but watch the warrior fight. "We're sending the largest fleet that ever sailed; a thousand ships."
Patroclus spoke up this time "Prince Hector; is he as good a warrior as they say?"
"The best of all the Trojans. Some say he is better than all the Greeks too."
At Odysseus' words Achilles had a small twitch in his arm. Nothing that would have been noticeable if you weren't looking, but Odysseus was looking and looking intently. He wanted to get Achilles riled up; it was the only way that a great warrior like Achilles would ever consider joining them in the war to come.
"Even if your cousin doesn't come I do hope you will, Patroclus. We could use another strong arm like yours."
"Play your tricks on me but not my cousin." Achilles had lost all humor in his voice, if there was one thing he could not stand it was men trying to manipulate those he cared about.
"You have your sword, I have my tricks. We play with the toys that the gods give us. We sail for Troy in three days." Odysseus started to walk away only to stop at the top of the steps. "This war will never be forgotten, nor will the heroes who fight in it."