Author's note: Back to normal chapter length, everyone. I didn't even realize how much I was writing about so little until I went back to check and found four pages. They appeared like magic almost! I thought I'd only written 2 pages, but there were 1,541 words right in front of me! And in 3 hours... that was something. I must have been getting something out of my system, writing so quickly.

As you can see, I quite enjoyed describing Ajax. I mean, the game designers put a bear on his head for Christ's sake! Golden opportunity for descriptive narration.

And there's more dialogue this time. I like dialogue.


They did stop at an island every couple days to beach the ships and rest the crew, but Denae didn't like knowing that she would get back on a boat the next morning. After more than a week of this, she was ecstatic to be back on ground that wasn't moving. She could have kissed the grass, but decided against it.

It was just as Homer had described it, only the added perspective made it very, very different. Ships were beached along a mile stretch and the camps of armies of all the city-states of Greece were sprawled across the landscape. Further in the distance than she had expected were the walls of Troy itself, standing like a white blob on a hill in the haziness toward the horizon. A dirt road ran all the way from the city to an area now occupied by Greeks – the remains of a coastal town that once belonged to Troy.

A man stood by a campfire at the top of the beach, waiting for them to reach him. As soon as Arkantos, Marcus, Denae, and several Hoplites arrived at the spot the king spoke, "Arkantos! By the gods! I-I did not expect mother Atlantis would send her best admiral to fight for me!"

"Gracious words, King Agamemnon." Arkantos bowed slightly just as he was cast in the shadow of a towering figure. Denae assumed it was a man, but his massive size and the bear hide – head included – on his shoulders didn't reveal the truth. The fact that bears don't usually wear Greek armor was the only giveaway. At the sight of him, Arkantos greeted, "And look at this – Ajax! I'm surprised to see you still drawing breath!"

Ajax either chuckled or growled, and said, "These Trojan dogs keep trying, my friend... good to see you again. Who did you upset to get sent so far from home?"

"Well... someone had to come to help you put an end to this," replied Arkantos lightly.

The bear-man nodded and added, more seriously, "Helen is held behind their walls, and we've had little luck breaking through."

Agamemnon finally seized a chance to put a word in. "We're about to change that. You have arrived in time for our final push, Arkantos. Get your men ashore. You can make your camp to the east – but be careful. The Trojans have some scouts in that area. When you are done, we will start preparations for our assault," he finished haughtily. Sticking his nose in the air, the King of the Achaeans stalked off to his men.

As soon as Agamemnon was out of hearing, Ajax sighed. "He's always like this. Nine and a half years here isn't anything to be happy about, but at least Achilles stopped pouting in his ship and got his butt out here. And you're here, too! We might actually win a few fights for once!"

"What was wrong with Achilles?" Arkantos questioned.

"Had a row with Agamemnon, actually. Over a girl. Even the gods intervened."

"I had no idea things were so bad."

Ajax laughed suddenly, even more shocking because his voice naturally had a slight roar. "Ha! Odysseus has sure been a sight! Running back and forth to make their agreement for them, looking like all he wants to do is smack their heads together! I almost wish he had, but hey, at least it's over."

Arkantos raised his eyebrows. "Honestly, I'm glad I missed it. I didn't come to watch the Greeks quarrel with themselves."

"The only other thing to see is Trojans winning," Ajax said with a hint of venom – not toward Arkantos, but the Trojans. Even his thick beard appeared to be bristling with hatred.

"We'll change that, Ajax." They shook hands by the wrist.

"I certainly hope so." With that, he bowed his head slightly and lumbered off toward his troops.

Arkantos turned to Marcus, who looked a bit surprised at the state of things, and to Denae, who didn't. "Let's get our ships on the other side of these trees at set up camp so we can eat," he ordered impatiently and stalked off toward the water with the rest of his men who had come ashore.

"What was the point of us even being here for that whole conversation?" Denae asked Marcus.

"To make Arkantos look more important," he grumbled as he followed the Admiral.

Denae sighed and looked at the thick clump of oak trees that stood in the way of their campground. When they were back on the boats and directing them to a spot not much farther down the beach, a young man at the bow spotted the small group of Trojans on the other side of the trees. They had probably been spying on the Greeks for days, and Agamemnon hadn't even considered poking around in this rather obvious hiding spot. He seemed to know they were there, but it was unclear why he didn't bother to deal with them.

Denae figured he was just lazy.

By the time the scouts were visible, though, they had already seen the ships and were more prepared for the fight than the Atlanteans. Arrows came flying soon after the warning, so she hid below decks with the old priest and waited for the fight to finish. Before the shouting stopped, though, she felt the hull run onto the sand as the ship was beached. She took a peek and saw one horseman running away and five more quickly following. It didn't look like they would catch up.

She hopped off the boat, easier said than done as she thanked the gods for sand, and huffily sat down to the west of the boats and the beginnings of a camp. The initial gladness that had come with being on land for once had dissipated with the bad news. She'd studied – rather than read – the Iliad many, many times owing to her profession as a mythology teacher, so she knew how things were going to be and that they would get better. Still, the sour mood spread whether she was surprised by events or not.

Arkantos approached her, and she had to try very hard not to scowl at him. She thought her body language and facial expression were making it quite clear that she wanted to be left alone for a bit, even if alone-time didn't help in the least. He didn't seem to notice because of his own foul mood, and asked, "How long do you suppose we'll be here?" He implied that here was a very disgusting place.

"Give it six months," she snapped.

"Hmpf." The noise suggested that it preceded a sarcastic, or at least snide, remark. "We'll just make ourselves at home, then."

"Great."

"Hmm."

"Hmm... what?" she insisted waspishly.

He ventured into dangerous territory unawares, remarking, "You seem a bit annoyed about something."

"Really?!" She won the award for bitter sarcasm with that.

"Yes." He took a deep breath because here came the plunge. "Is there anything I can do for you?" While I deal with my own problems, thank you very much, he added to himself.

"Unless you can find me a proper bed, a good book, and a cup of coffee, I don't think so! I'm homesick, I'm sore, I'm irritable, and I want coffee!" said Denae, standing up because she couldn't contain the energy required for anger sitting down.

He forgot about his own ill-temperedness for a brief moment, wondering what on earth coffee could be, then he remembered to retort, "As the Achaeans fail to fight off the Trojans, is that it? Just sit here a-and huff up a storm while I'm left to win the war that the Greeks started and are too distracted by greed to win themselves?!"

"Well, now that you're here I'm not worried about anything, am I? You're here to save the day! We can all go home now and leave it to Arkantos because he's favored by the gods! No more worries, everyone—"

"Please, please! Peace, bickering couple!" Marcus put a hand on each shoulder and shoved them apart forcefully, though they continued to glare at one another. "The riders who chased the scout are returned."

Arkantos' attention immediately snapped to Marcus at those words. "Is the Trojan dead?" he inquired.

"No." He saw Arkantos open his mouth but raised his hand to stop him. "But they did manage to do a little bit of scout work on the way back. There's a bear in the area, possibly more than one."

"Bears?! You came to talk to me about bears! But the Trojans will know we're here!"

Marcus patted him on the shoulder and walked away, giving Arkantos absolutely nothing to do with the anger he'd just built up. He slowly deflated.

Denae crossed her arms and sat down again. For a little while Arkantos stared at nothing and his expression changed from angry, to peeved, to confused. He eventually walked away like a limp balloon.