Chapter 3

When Alexander appeared fully dressed in armor, we all shivered. His armor shone with a dull blaze, and his face glowed almost pale blue in the light of the full moon. He did not look human at all, he actually looked like the mad king of the prophecy that the people in the East believed and feared. I feared for the army, as I was so certain that if Alexander ever lost Hephaistion, he would burn us all with his passion of rage until we all turned to ashes, and that he would take us all on a journey to Hades.

"Lead the way," Alexander ordered the old man. This time we took a narrow valley to the north. The path was rough and lots more steep than the one we took at our earlier attack. A small brook, snow and ice added to the challenge, along with the darkness. Foot soldiers slipped and fell, tried to cling to each other for support, yet resulting in both of them falling down again. The path was not any easier on the horses either. They often stumbled, and crashed hard into each other's bodies.

Nothing slowed down Alexander though. He pushed us so hard that we were all sweating thirty minutes into the expedition, despite the freezing cold temperature of the air. The strange thing was that this old shepherd had not slipped even once; he walked so effortlessly that it looked as if he was floating above the earth.

It was just after midnight, the moon was high above us when we arrived at the saddle. Alexander ordered Philotas to turn south, and wait for the signal of the first war cry before attacking the enemies on the cliff. We continued to march to southeast. It was not until almost dawn when we finally got behind the gate.

We noticed that the Persians had not even set a guard, being so confident from their victory on previous days. Alexander saw an opportunity, and charged with a loud war cry. Most of the enemy was not even dressed in armor, and their minds were clouded with traces of heavy sleep. Alexander did not have any mercy. He killed everybody within arms' reach. The Persians did not have much of a chance to escape, especially when Philotas attacked the flank on the north cliff, and Craterus was charging through the original path directly to the gate.

Through the veil of morning fog and the weak light of dawn, we saw a lump of heavy coverlet in a cage set by the fire close to a large tent, which seemed to belong to the commander of the camp. When I saw a discarded chiton and cloak outside the cage, I realized that it was Hephaistion who lay under the cover. Alexander noticed it as well. We both rushed to the side of the cage.

As we came close, we saw Hephaistion's pale face half hidden under a heavy cover, and his silky auburn hair spread over it. At least the Persians had not left him to freeze to death. However, they had made sure that Hephaistion would not escape. His right wrist and left ankle were cuffed, and securely chained to the sides of the cage; exposing his stretched naked arm and a leg out of the cover. He looked even more beautiful in this vulnerable state despite a bruise on his cheek, and mud smeared on his forehead. Still, it was an agonizing sight to see such a brave and noble warrior reduced to nothing, being chained and caged like a wild animal.

"Hephaistion…." Alexander muttered and crumbled in front of the cage. I heard Cleitus groan behind, and looked back. He was parting soldiers with a hammer and a chisel in his hand. It was then, I noticed that soldiers in Hephaistion's company had surrounded the cage in two ranks, all facing out. All of them were fighting to stop tears from being shed, yet lots of them were unsuccessful. They were all grieving with vexation seeing their officer treated so disgracefully. Even hardened warrior Cleitus had tears in his eyes.

Cleitus broke the lock with one blow, and hurried inside the cage to work on the cuffs. Alexander followed right behind Cleitus, and gathered Hephaistion in his arms as much as the slack of the chains had allowed him to do. Cleitus carefully broke the cuffs trying not to hurt Hephaistion further. Ugly bruises and scuffs appeared when the cuffs were removed. Alexander gently caressed the scar, took his cloak, and wrapped Hephaistion before carrying him out. I followed them to the commander's tent.

Alexander gently lowered Hephaistion onto the bed, his breathing was shallow and uneven. Alexander sat on a stool by the bed holding Hephaistion's motionless hand in his, and whispered in a distressed voice, "Hephaistion, please don't leave me." There was no response. Hephaistion's breathing was becoming more uneven. I feared that Hephaistion would not last until the surgeon, who had stayed behind with Craterus, arrived.

Next moment, I suddenly noticed the old shepherd standing beside Alexander. I did not hear him enter nor the guards stopping him. He moved closer to Hephaistion, and hovered his hands over the face almost touching it, then slowly moved them down to his chest, and to the waist. He finally settled his left hand on top of Hephaistion's head, and kept it still for a moment. We noticed Hephaistion's breath becoming easier.

I saw Hephaistion squeeze Alexander's hands. Alexander's eyes lit up, and he brought Hephaistion's hand to his lips, kissing his knuckles tenderly. Hephaistion sighed and opened his eyes. I was never happier to see those beautiful blue orbs. Now I knew that Alexander's army was saved, and we were in order once again.

"I thought I had lost you."

I heard Alexander murmur softly in a relieved voice before I left the tent. I looked for that old shepherd to thank him, but he was nowhere in sight. I asked around, and the answers were all the same. They had not seen him since we arrived at the camp, the only souls left at the camp were a handful of Persians who managed to flee. Later, Alexander told us that he believed the old shepherd was actually Zeus himself who came down from the mount of Olympus to save Hephaistion for Alexander.

I met Craterus' flushed face. He was dragging a Persian solder behind, and a translator followed them.

"How is Hephaistion?" He asked worriedly.

"He is better, I think he will make it."

"By Zeus." Craterus sighed heavily.

"Who do you have there?" I asked, glaring at the Persian.

"He was just about to escape from the crack of the gate when we caught him. He has information Alexander wants to hear."

I nodded to him, and we went back to the tent. The surgeon had already treated Hephaistion. We could see a bandage around his head, and a wrist, but surprisingly, the bruise on his cheek was already starting to fade. Alexander was stroking over the bandage with his thumb while holding Hephaistion's hand and watching him sleep.

"The surgeon said that he would be up by tomorrow morning. I almost lost him, almost…"

Alexander spoke without taking an eye from Hephaistion. We could sense in his voice the emotional tremors he went through.

"Alexander, I have some information you may want to hear. We caught this Persian soldier, and he told us a story behind this attack." Craterus spoke up.

Alexander looked at Craterus for the first time since we entered the tent. His eyes were wet and red; it was obvious that he had been crying silently.

"Go on." Alexander encouraged Craterus.

" He told us that after the battle of Gaugamela, they were convinced that Hephaistion was the man behind the Macedonian King. Darius knew Alexander would fail without his companion. He promised Halicarnassus the Regent position at Persepolis if he captured and brought Hephaistion to him. He said that Darius was afraid if he killed Hephaistion, Alexander would hunt him down to Hades, but if he had Hephaistion, he thought he could control and destroy Alexander."

"Release him." I could not believe what I heard.

"Alexander?" Craterus asked with a questioning expression.

Alexander repeated. "Release him, and tell him to go to Halicarnassus and Darius to tell them that Alexander will hunt them down, no matter how long it takes, I will find them."

Craterus told the interpreter to translate what the king said, and called the guard to take him out of the camp and release him. The guard looked puzzled, but he just followed the order.

TBC