It was not only the Greeks and Trojans that suffered frequent losses and pain in the war between them, but also the neighboring cities and islands of Troy. Along with his faithful Myrmidons, the mighty Achilles had sacked dozens of cities and islands, including the great city of Lyrnessus.
Lyrnessus was a city to the east of Mount Ida, and to the south-west of Troy. It was an ally to Troy, and therefore hated by the Greeks. King Mynes ruled the city of Lyrnessus, and when it was sacked he met his end by the feared sword of Achilles.
The wife of King Mynes, Briseis, was forced to watch the death of her husband. She was threatened to be killed if she tried to escape, by Achilles' fellow Myrmidons. The golden-haired Briseis was taken as Achilles' prize and concubine, and as she left her beloved city that was now showered with death and blood, she saw the dead bodies of her three brothers.
Upon arriving at Troy, Briseis met Patroclus, son of Menoetius and brother-in-arms to Achilles. Despite her reluctance, she grew to like Patroclus. He was different from Achilles, he wasn't so severe in his temperament or appearance as Achilles certainly was to her.
Patroclus was moved by Briseis's grief, she had already suffered so much and yet she never shed a tear, instead she kept them all within her eyes and showed them only to him. He promised Briseis that he would arrange a marriage feast for her and Achilles when they returned to Phthia after the war, for he was certain to return to his home and that Achilles and Briseis would wed.
However, in the tenth year of the war, Briseis was taken from Achilles and given to Agamemnon. Agamemnon had lost his war prize Chryseis, daughter of Chryses who was a priest of Apollo, after returning her to her father. He sought comfort from another woman, and was struck by the fair beauty of Briseis.
"I will help myself to another man's prize," Agamemnon had chuckled evilly, once Chryseis had been sent on a ship to her father. He had only agreed to release Chryseis if a fresh prize was sent to console him.
"You're a shameless schemer," Achilles spat, as he had sat in Agamemnon's tent with a selection of other kings, "you always take the lion's share, and use others to gather luxuries and wealth for yourself!"
Achilles then stormed out of Agamemnon's tent and returned to his own, where he sought relief from a cup of hot wine.
"Go to the tent of Achilles," Agamemnon ordered his heralds, once Achilles had left, "take the lady Briseis and bring her here. If Achilles refuses to part with her, inform him that I will come and force him to give her to me."
Two heralds slowly walked to the tent of Achilles, they wore frightened expressions and feared the possible rage of the god-like warrior. They were surprised to see Achilles sitting on the sand outside his tent, with a cup of wine clasped within his right hand.
"Do not fear me," said Achilles and sneered. He managed to stand on his feet and stepped closer to Agamemnon's heralds. "My quarrel is not with you, but with your king."
The son of Peleus then called to his dear friend Patroclus, who walked along the shores of the beach and was obviously absorbed within his own thoughts.
Patroclus quickly walked to Achilles, after being torn away from his horrid fears.
"Bring Briseis out here and hand her to these men," ordered Achilles. He then raised his hands up into the air. "I shall call upon these heralds to be my witnesses before the happy gods, before mankind, and before the brutal King Agamemnon himself, if the Greeks ever need me again to save them from disaster in this war!"
Achilles then returned his hands to his sides, breathing angrily, and dropped his bottle of wine to the floor and marched into his tent.
After that day, Achilles refused to fight, and so did the loyal Myrmidons and Patroclus. As a result of this, the Greeks suffered heavy losses to their armies, and it allowed the Trojans to threaten the Greek ships, which were the only way to escape Troy if the need arose.
All of those things only added to Achilles' pleasure, he wanted things to worsen so Agamemnon would be forced to beg for him to return and fight.
Achilles now sat outside his hut with a goblet of wine in one hand, and with the other he began to scoop the sand into it and then allow it to fall through his fingers. He turned to look at Patroclus, who sat closer to the sea than he, and examined him for a few moments.
Out of the corner of his eye, Achilles suddenly saw a wounded man being carried to a tent by Nester, the leader of the Pylians who fought with the Greeks against Troy. He sharply turned his head and thought that the wounded man was Machaon, a friend of his.
"Patroclus," Achilles called quietly.
"Yes?" asked Patroclus, and slowly turned his head to look at Achilles. When he saw the look of worry on his friend's face, he quickly rose to his feet and jogged to where Achilles sat.
"I think … I think I saw Machaon," whispered Achilles, as he became overwrought with guilt, "he was wounded. Will you go and see if it was his him?"
Patroclus nodded, he had barely known Machaon but had heard he had cured Menelaus after the king was wounded by an arrow. He quickly walked to Nestor's tent and realised that Achilles was correct in his assumptions, the wounded man was Machaon.
"He has suffered from a deadly wound," said Nestor quickly, after confirming that the man was Machaon, "but he'll live."
"I shall tell Achilles, thank you," said Patroclus and turned to leave.
"Machaon is fortunate … there are many who have fallen today that will not rise tomorrow," said Nestor bitterly. "Even King Odysseus and Agamemnon have been lightly wounded today … and all of this would not have happened if Achilles had been fighting."
"You can not blame Achilles for this!" exclaimed Patroclus, remaining loyal to his friend.
"You're right, I can't," said Nestor quietly, and he stepped a few steps backwards while men cleaned and stitched Machaon's wounds. He was thoughtful for a moment, before turning his head and staring into the eyes of Patroclus.
"I remember the wise words of your father, Patroclus," said Nestor, "the words he gave you when the war approached and you chose to fight. Do you?"
Patroclus took a moment of thought before nodding. He remembered his father advising him to give counsel and wisdom to Achilles during the war.
"You may have forgotten your father's words until now," Nestor said wisely, "but it is not too late for you to persuade Achilles to fight. If Achilles fights then the severe losses to our armies will lessen, and we will have hope once more."
"Achilles will not fight," said Patroclus, "King Agamemnon has angered him too much, and will he only fight if Agamemnon begs him to."
"I have heard King Agamemnon has offered Achilles numerous amounts of riches," said Nestor, "including the girl Briseis. Yet Achilles does not accept them, does he?"
"No," answered Patroclus. He knew how stubborn Achilles could be, but still he remained loyal to his dear friend.
Nestor was silent for a few moments while he thought. "If Achilles allowed you to fight with the Myrmidons, and if he gave you his own glorious armor to fight in … then the Trojans will believe you were him and flee to their city. It would give time for our forces to recuperate."
Patroclus slowly nodded as Nestor's words registered in his mind. He quickly left the tent and as he ran to Achilles' tent, he saw the Trojans were attacking the camps with even more force.
"Achilles!" cried Patroclus. He feared the loss of more Greeks, and felt he could have prevented it if he had given Achilles guidance and wisdom – like his father had instructed. "It was Machaon, but he will live."
"Then why do you look so grave?" asked Achilles.
"The Trojans are attacking the camps with even more force and they'll soon reach the ships," Patroclus said quickly. "If you allow me to fight in your armor, with the Myrmidons behind me, then the Trojans will flee to their walls."
Achilles knew that the ships were the only escape for the Greeks if the war worsened for them, and he begun to realise how many lives had been lost since he had ceased fighting. He was silent for a few moments and stared at Patroclus with wide eyes as he thought over the suggestion.
"You may fight," said Achilles, and he stood on his feet, "but you must only drive away the Trojans from the ships. Do not go in pursuit of the Trojans, because they will have an advantage to you once they reach their walls."
Patroclus nodded.
Achilles then gathered his armor and carefully handed it to Patroclus. "Remember what I have said Patroclus."
"I will," said Patroclus, and smiled slightly. He then quickly placed Achilles' armor on himself and called to the Myrmidons to follow him into battle.
The Trojans fought on against the Greeks, their spirits were high as they were drawing near to the Greek ships. Each swing of a sword against a Greek, by a Trojan, was bitter revenge, revenge for a loved one who had died on the vast, blood-stained plain.
The great Hector, tamer of horses, led his army into battle. He was exhausted and still he fought, he only magically felt refreshed when the Trojans finally broke the Greek line of defense. Hector watched as hundreds of Greeks fled to the ships and fought to protect them.
Out of the corner of his war-trained eye, Hector caught a glimpse of a shining gold armor. He turned his head to see who it was and thought it to be Achilles, with his faithful Myrmidons racing behind.
The Trojans turned also at the sight of who they thought to be Achilles, many of them cried aloud with fright and turned to flee to their city.
"Fight on!" roared Hector, when he became aware at the sudden fear in the hearts of every Trojan warrior, including his. "Fight on for Troy!"
Hector fought the Greeks surrounding him and with each kill he made, he drew closer to who he thought was Achilles. He wanted to fight Achilles; he always had, and now was his chance.
Patroclus had never completely understood the effect Achilles had on warriors, but as he pretended to be him … he suddenly realised what it was. Achilles was hope to the Greeks, and death to the Trojans. Achilles had the power to help or kill you, and every Greek and Trojan on the plain knew that.
Trojans were falling to the ground all around Patroclus, and instead of feeling pity for them, he felt relieved. He had seen too much suffering of Greeks to begin to feel pity for the Trojans.
Patroclus raced on and tore down all those in his path, except his fellow countrymen -who he encouraged by his splendid skill with a sword. He saw dozens of Trojans flee to their city, and instead of following Achilles' orders, he went in pursuit of them.
There were those that said that Patroclus was pushed down to the ground by the great God Apollo, but then there were those that said Patroclus merely stumbled and fell.
Patroclus did fall and his helmet immediately left his head, he tried to stand up but then saw, to his horror, that his breastplate was lose. He quickly tried to tighten it, but he then caught sight of Prince Hector running towards him.
Hector raced on towards the man he still assumed to be Achilles. He tightened his grip on the spear in his right hand, and he slowly raised his right arm. In one swift and skillful movement, the spear had left Hector's hand and shot into the chest of Patroclus.
Patroclus stumbled and grabbed onto the spear, he tried to pull it out but couldn't. He swayed on his feet for a few moments before falling to the floor. Life quickly faded from Patroclus' life, and he closed his eyes as death finally took him.
It was only when Hector reached the body of Patroclus, that he saw that he had not killed Achilles, as he had thought. He knelt down by the body of Patroclus, his mouth open in shock as he tried to comprehend what had happened.
A/N: Sorry for the long delay once again in releasing a chapter, I've been struggling on how to write this chapter in particular. Hector's death will not be in the next chapter. I'll put a warning at the beginning of the chapter that contains Hector's death, for those who don't wish to read it. Thank you for all of the reviews, and please keep reviewing :)
Queen Arwen – Thank for the review, and I'm really glad that you still love this :) I'm afraid that I'm planning for Hector's death to be quite soon, but there will be quite a few more chapters after his death.
Priestess of the Myrmidon – I'm really glad you liked how I included some myth etc into the previous chapter, thank you! I'm glad that you enjoyed the last chapter also, and thank you for the review :)
Kitera – Thank you for the review! I'm really glad you liked the last chapter, thanks :) It's also great that you felt sorry for Paris, because he had a hard time of it in the last chapter.
TheAlmightyIshizu-Isis – I'm not sure when you'll read this, as you last reviewed for chapter 1, but I wanted to say thank you for the review :) And I'm really glad you love this already :)
Topez Grl – Thank you, I'm really glad you like this story! I'm thrilled that you like my portrayal of Andromache, particularly since you've read so many books on Troy. Thank you for the review :)
Donna Lynn – Thank you for reviewing chapters 43-45 :) I understand the feeling of not wanting to review anything, so it's fine :) I'm really glad Hector's feelings are well understood, and that you're glad I'm steering towards the Iliad. Thank you once again!