bourgeoicheese : What a review! Thank you! I'm so pleased you liked it. Yes, I tried to keep it as close to the sore material as I can. More honest that way.
bourgeoicheese : Glad to hear you like long stories...so do I. And we get a glispe of Phaethon here.
readerguy264 : I promise you I won't. I adore this story.
Vanessa Masters: Phaethon will be much as he was in his myth
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Chapter: XIV
At the end of their journey's first day, when night would not allow them to travel any further, Iris and Tumulus promptly settled in a grove of rustling poplar trees, tying their steeds' reins around a sapling's low hanging branches (naturally after asking the sweet hamadryad's permission, of course) before curling up in their woolen himations on the moss-covered ground. Neither of them wished to risk the trouble that could arise from starting a fire, so they didn't...and truthfully, it would have been a vain thing, solely for pleasure, as the night was perfectly warm enough, and almost a blanket in and of itself -a lingering gift from Mother Gaia to Zeus and Hera on their nuptials feast.
Iris fell asleep with the sight of Uranus' stars whirling in spheres above her eyes, and the whisper of the poplar leaves in her ears -and in her color-laden dreams, the goddess maiden saw through dewy mists the object of their search. In the land the mortals called Thessaly, a small village of low hanging houses existed in the shadow of only a sightly more impressive megaron hall -a poor try on the mortals' part to imitate the great hall of Zeus upon Olympus, with it uneven columned porch of limestone, and faded paint of crimson.
Here in the courtyard there was a young boy; their boy, Iris sensed, though she saw he was younger in her dream vision than he would be now, dark haired and about eleven harvests old in a sheep-skin tunic that passed over one thin shoulder, his feet bare and dirty as he fought his way out of the arms of a bejeweled woman, whose lovely-face resembled his enough for the Handmaiden to know she was his mother, the mortal bride of Helios.
Once free, he ran to the group of grimed-faced, ragged men standing in worn armor -obviously preparing to depart (though, the sound of young girls crying from inside the house also gave that fact away). The leader of which resembled the woman enough -even in his white breaded age- to be know as the boy's grandfather. The fact that his stern eyes soften behind his the plates of his plum helm cremated the fact like a fired pot, as he clasped the child on his neck with one hand -the other holding his bronze shield.
"Phaethon," the old lord chided his grandson, even as he looked into the boy's bright burning face. "You know your place is here. Lord Foresight will not allow a child your age to fight in the formation. And neither will I."
"Why shouldn't I?" the boy, Phaethon said back, bitterly. "I rather die with the chance of gaining kleos than waiting here to die like a dog. The titans's monsters will kill us all in the end Grandfather. Why can't I die like a man, fighting for the gods to notice me?"
A one-eyed man in the group snorted, shaking his graying head.
"You have to have a beard to die a man, boy," he said dryly. "And in these times one shouldn't be eager to rush it. Get to your mother," he added, jerking his head in the woman's direction, as she stood looking pained in an old blue himation, the end of it unraveling in the dust. She tipped sorrowful gray eyes to the sun, mouthing words to her boy's father than none could hear, though her quiet desperation was obvious as tears rolled down her face.
"As you were, soldier," the old lord commanded, and when the man had turned away, the grandfather regarded Phaethon with a knowing gaze.
"Here daughter's son," he said, easily lifting his shield before the youth's eyes so that its bronze gleamed like a smaller model of Helios' light. "If it be your wish to join us, hold this in front of you as you would in the shield-line."
Phaethon didn't make any move to take it, his throat flexing shamefully. "I...I can't, " he admitted. "Its too heavy for me-"
"Yes," his grandfather said softly. "And in the phalanx, each man relies on the one besides him to guard his uncovered side...don't ever try to carry a burden before your ready, daughter's son. Not when it could decide the fates of others, but when it concerns only yourself, as you please; when you're a man, you will join us. But for now, look after your mother and your sisters."
Phaethon ducked his head, and there the dream ended.
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Waking up in the light of the new day, the Handmaiden wasted no time in sharing with Tumulus what she had seen, as the companions sat under the rustling tree shade, eating a small bite of their packed ambrosial bread for breakfast (and giving some to the horses), before washing it down with goat-skin sacks of nectar.
The satyr appeared thoughtful as Iris related her story, nodded here and there, and stroking his curly beard. But prudently, he saved his commentary for the end, after he was sure he had all the facts in his possession.
"Well Thaumas' daughter, it's apparent we're on the right track. But this set me to wondering whether Helios' boy might be a unable to join us after all -I'm aware that in the war, many human chieftains perished protecting their lands from monsters...this Phaethon may have the leadership of his grandfather's people resting on his shoulders. That is not something to be abandon lightly."
"But he said himself he wanted kleos," the honey-haired girl objected. "Glory, renowned -all things one can't get by sitting on a lord's seat in some hall."
"All things one can not get quickly in the seat of a lord," Tumulus corrected her, standing up and trotting forward to untie the horses. "But in these -timmmmeeess!"
Gasping, the goat-man's sentence ended in a screaming yelp as a expertly hidden snare closed around his hooves, and hauled the herald to the air to dangle like a fresh kill. It was a most undignified state, and even as Iris scrambled to her own feet with her jaw hanging open, she was quite glad that it wasn't her who stumbled into the trap (since her disguised dress would have fallen downward) and fluttered for a moment too and fro below, debating how to handled the situation.
Normally, Thaumas' daughter could've merely snapped her fingers and have the bond release her friend...but there was magic woven in the vine that had him, the tell-tell sign of infamously wild hunting nymphs who were famed for their skill at their profession...and their fierce territorial aggression towards those that came unbidden to their lands. Even against the gods.
Matter of fact...with a sinking heart, Iris looked around her at the well keep grove, the neat beds of flowers, and pots of incense and plates of honey cake that had been left here as offerings -things she hadn't paid attention too last night. This wasn't merely a grove, it was some wild nymph shrine to Gaia. And they had slept in it.
They had to get out of here.
"Tumulus! Are you alright?" she called up to him.
Her friend fumbled pitifully in the cocoon of his own cloak for a moment, muttering incoherent nonsense before the cupbearer finally managed to get his head free, gasping desperately for useful breath.
"...I... think that would depend on how you used that term, milady," he told her frankly as he spun in mid air, the branch creaking under his strain. "And how soon we manage to get me down out of this thing..."
The rainbow goddess nodded frantically, pushing strands of her hair hurriedly behind her ears. "Of course-"
Biting her lip, Iris was loathed to take off her cloak and use her wings, when it was not one full day into their journey (such a thing would bring every monster in the vicinity to them), so the goddess maiden carefully made her way over to the tree that held her friend, stopping only to retrieve the uneasy horses and motioning them to follow her in her steps. Her bright eyes traced along the ground as they doubled checked every step for addition snares...and avoiding three of them, the clever steeds doing likewise.
When she finally reached the poplar's towering truck, Iris took in a breath before clinking her tongue to summon her mount Aiolos besides her, as the goddess was to...erm...height deprived to reach the lowest hanging branch on her own merit, without the aid her powers and abilities.
"Come here, boy," she cooed softly to him. "Come here."
Aiolos huffed, and tossed his head once before complying with the command of his young mistress, and when his sleek form stood in front of her like a concealing cloud, Iris wasted no time before swing herself onto his mighty back, using a rock for aid in the feat. Stretching carefully, the goddess maiden seized the lowest branch with both hands before scrambling up the tree like a squirrel to the where her friend hung like strung cattle before an offering.
"Top of the morning, milady," he greeted her morosely. "It's a lovely view from up here-"
But suddenly, the goat-man self-deprecation humor dribbled away like morning mist as his pointed ears suddenly perked, turning to the east. And his very red face drained of blood.
"Milady..." he managed to say. "You must cut the snare. Now."
Iris froze. "What is-"
But her question was answered when the sound of an unmistakable hunting keras (ram's horn) came echoing through the poplar trees -along with the howls of blood crazed hunting hounds.
The groves nymphs were returning from the hunt. And to judge from Tumulus' paling face, they would not be happy with them.
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"Quickly my lady, quickly," Tumulus pleaded, as Iris fumbled with the vine, grappling with it in her hands. But the satyr was trembling so terribly at this point, Iris couldn't even being to unravel the knots.
"You have to hold still, Tumulus!" she finally cried out in a furiously whisper. "I can't help you if you don't hold still!"
"Then use my hoof!"
Even with her ichor pulsing at the pace of a chariot cart, the rainbow goddess found herself pausing at that, unsure if she had just been insulted. "Pardon?"
"My hoof, milady!" he repeated, his voice growing desperate, eyes wide like a cornered hare. "Do you think we satyrs have them for nothing? They are sharp enough to cut bronze if properly maintained-"
By now the nymphs were close enough for the companions to actually hear their voices -rough and angry and dishevel -arguing with each other in crude language. It didn't sound as though Moirai had favored them greatly in their hunt last night...for which it would be all to easy to lay blame upon the strangers in their grove, then humble their pride and admit to a bad night.
With this thought in mind, Iris abruptly grasped one of Tumulus' hooves with one hand, and the snare with other. Twisting Tumulus' ankle (and muttering an apology, as the goat-man yelped) the goddess maiden began to hack at the at the vine with all her strength, and was soon frustrated with the slow goingness of the task.
"What was that about satyrs hooves cutting through bronze again?" she asked.
Tumulus flushed. "Well I said when properly maintained milady. With the war over, many of my brethren have rather...erm...let ourselves go more or leeesssss!"
With a satisfying sound the vine-snare at last snapped, and by good fortune the goat-man landed directly upon the back of his mount -who only snorted in mild indigence at the sudden increase of weight upon him.
The horses could clearly sense the trouble approaching them...Iris could sense their tension, their primeval desire to flee danger. And yet they stayed, waiting for them. Dear creatures. Not wanting them to wait any longer, Iris scrambled down to her own patiently waiting mount...just as piercing shriek struck them like an arrow from across the grove, more akin to an animal than a woman.
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Eyes snapping up, Iris' mind nearly faltered at the wild sight before them -a slim, and-lovely-as-any dryad, was standing in animal skins with her hair undone, grown-limbs bare, bow in hand, and murderous rage thundering in her pool dark gaze.
"Sisters!" the nymph maiden scream again, teeth gashing like a lion tearing meat -or wanting too. "Blasphemers have profaned our shrine to Mother Gaia- a satyr and his hetaera has used our shrine as their lust-couch! They have spoiled our hunt!"
By this time a dozen other nymphs had pored out of the woods, as wild as the first, and just as ignorance, and their sister's accusations turn their sullen mood into a frenzy of fury -pulling their hair, stomping their feet, and stupidly braking their own bows and spears.
"What?!" spat one, green eyes churning fire.
"Blasphemers!" howled another, as she held the lease of the snarling hunting dogs.
"Cut their throats!"
"Cut off their fingers! "
"Smite their necks!"
"Spill their blood! Appease the Mother!"
"Tear them to pieces!"
Not inclined to attempt any contour statements to such insanity ( were these nymphs really, truly, so blinded as to see the Great Mother beneath them was not trembling in appropriate fury to back their claim, given the nature of such an offence?) Iris was about to swing herself upon Aiolos and never look back...when she remembered something terrible.
She remembered the oinochoe.
Paling, the goddess maiden recalled that she had (stupidly, stupidly) untied it from her waist in order to sleep on her side as she preferred, and that it still sat besides the trees they had rested under. And she absolutely couldn't leave it, not if she wanted this quest to succeed, and be able to show her face on Olympus again.
Iris swallowed hard, and heralded to mind Lord Prometheus' words on the genealogy of kleos (success, renowned, glory, the words spoken of you by other mouths). Honor... and sired by courage. There could not be one without the other.
"My friend, I hope you forgive me for this," she said to Tumulus as he struggled to straighten himself upon Daidalos. The satyr stared at her.
"My lady-"
Without pausing to think twice about what she was doing -for fear her wavering courage would abandon her, Thaumantias bolted, storm-footed, across the grove soft grass to fetch her gods-aid, single-minded in want and purpose. She ran as she had been trained to run -like a swift doe instead of a lazy sow, toes barely touching the ground in the peak and excellence of her technique -tried and perfected during the Titanomakhia.
The dryads didn't seem to believe their eyes, as they watched her race towards them -clearly they were more use to things running away from them. So dumbfounded were they that those who hadn't broken their bows didn't loose them -the nymphs with the hounds didn't release them. Not until Iris had snatched the red-fire oinochoe and began doubling back towards her companions with her prize held to her chest, though now with the added title of thief being screamed at her alongside with hetaera.
Iris heard the mad stomping of feet as they came after her, as the whoosh of arrows as the shafts began to fly pass her, barely missing, but nothing to be concerned about, Iris thought confidently, being to run with somewhat more ease. She had dodged far worse in the war after all-
At least, until one hit her dead in the heel that is, and brought her tumbling down in a mind blinding shock of pain. As her leg gave out beneath her, all the rainbow goddess could do was gaped at the irony in having avoided the wrath of Titans and gods from the time of her infancy -to wound up the prey of crazed nymphs. Scrambling to her side, Iris cringed at the nearest figure approaching her, a spear raised overhead to run her through, and a hound at her side to take the first bite.
While the daughter of Thaumas was Deathless, nothing in the divine rules that interlaced through the cosmos stated that the Deathless were painless, or removed from feeling it. Or being mutilated -crippled- on account of if. Desperately, she tried to crawl backwards -the arrow coming loose from it's spot in her heel. But their was no more point in this than in sapling defending itself from a woodman's ax...nevertheless, Iris lifted her hand naively -her other still clenching the oinochoe- hoping to fend off the coming blow by that alone -now too dazed with unfamiliar, foreign pain to even try and use her additional abilities to defend herself.
Fortunately for her though, her companions weren't. There was a furious thundering upon the ground, a sky piercing whiny, a sudden whoosh of air that stirred the hair off her neck, and then the lashing out of twin white hooves that kicked Iris' would-be-attacker in her formerly flawless face, knocking the mad nymph effectively away from her, making her sisters scream harder. Aiolos then processed to defend the fellow child of the sea from the nearest hounds that leap at her -rearing and kicking the mutts with abandon, madder than the steeds that pulled the sun.
Flee sister! a roaring voice cried in her head, when Aiolos' dark eyes briefly meet hers. For our father the Sea flee! I will hold them!
Iris didn't have much time to process this -seeing that in the next moment another steed was at her side along with the first, and Tumulus was seizing her by the wool of her chiton, and hauling her onto his mount before himself, before the goat-man gave the terror filled cry of "Ha!" and urging Daidalos to race into the woods like a raging torrent -not that the frenzy-eyed horse need much encouragement in that department.
They flew like a mad wraith between the trees, the hunting dryads screaming in furious pursues. And even on horseback, it was clear that they would have a task in outrunning them.
"Do-not-ever-presumed-such-foolishness- my lady," Tumulus managed to speak between gasps, as he held his mistress around the waist with one arm and attempted to steer their steed with the other. "Or-you'll-shorten-my life con-siderable."
Iris could make no reply, as all her engery was being spend making sure she didn't drop the oinochoe. It was a horrible, bouncing ride.
They near the brook that reputedly belonged the beautiful dark-haired Aegle, the most fair of naiads who had, for a brief summer, won the love of Helios, and borne him the Charities. And as their steed leapt over the pleasantly clear water, and then turn to run along side it, briefly Iris thought she saw a pair of lovey and -more importantly- civilized blue eyes staring in bewilderment back at them.
"Help us," Iris mouthed pleadingly, as more arrows again began to dart pass them, and the shouts of nymphs grew louder, and the barking of dogs -picking up the sent of the rainbow goddess' bleeding ankle- began howling in pursue of questers. At once those lovely eyes widen in both understand and pity, a graceful hand flying to her mouth, before the naiad began to nod fervently. And a voice spoken in the handmaiden's head -both urgent and gentle.
"Follow my waters to river Peneus, and beg the god for sanctuary from his daughters, he is the only one they will yield too, above even Zeus Kronides, or any Olympian."
Reviews make me happy so tell me what you think and I'll update sooner.
Well, exciting little first adventure -poor Iris got shot in the Achilles heel, luckly she had friends to take care of her. How was it -I tried to show on this adventure, both Iris and Tumulus will be taking care of each other. Any thoughts on what will happen next?