18 - The Immortal
By : AlibethBooks
Achilles straigthened abruptly, his voice sounding harshly in the night air.
"Myrmiddons!" There was a silence as the gathered men looked up attentively. "Assemble!"
In an amazingly short amount of time the dark clad figures of his men were gathered, their faces watching their leader as a hound watches the master. In one grim motion Achilles swept his sword from it's sheath, the rasping sound of metal echoing in the silence. There was a long moment as Achilles examined his blade, his eyes flickering slowly over the clouded surface of bronze, he had spilt much blood with this weapon, it was always thirsty, as was he. Turning slowly, his eyes fastened on those of his men, regarding them carefully.
"We do not stop until until we find the girl. Even if it leads us to the very gates of Troy."
His tone was ringing, no man alive could have withstood the authority compacted into his voice. As one the mens heads dipped, acknowledging their lords command. Achiles moved then, his feet settling into a swift loping gait, his men close behind.
Niera's breath was coming in ragged gasps, she had been running for over half an hour. The Greek camp was far behind but what lay ahead? Troy's gates were closed to her, she had known that to begin with. Her only option was to get as far away from the Greeks as she could. After leaving the shoreline she had headed for a dense inclosure of woods several miles to the right. She had no idea how far the forest continued, or whether it was such a good plan to be entering them, it seemed her only choice at the moment.
Now she had gone at least a mile into them, the thick branches overhead obscuring the moon, her only source of light. Glancing around her Niera began to feel uncomfortable. Unfriendly shadows pushed and shoved near her, the tangled roots of trees reaching out to snag her barefeet. The dark woods seemed pressing, urgent, and very black. Niera shivered suddenly, the former welcome coolness of the air had now turned to a more severe cold, penatrating Niera's thin layer of clothing and soaking into her skin. She did not like these woods, she felt as though something sinister was creeping up on her.
She had never been afraid of the dark, in fact she rather preferred it to light, but this darkness was different. She couldn't help but wonder what sort of beasts these woods might shelter. She couldn't turn around, as much as she was beginning to feel like it, behind her lead only to being stuffed up in a tent for pointless days on end. Gritting her teeth, trying to avert her eyes from the looming shadows, Niera paused abruptly. A noise? Ahead of her? Her body tensing, she stepped cautiously forward. A sudden burst of overwhelming fear struck her, freezing her feet to the ground.
The blackness was growing rapidly thicker, small wisps of fog beginning to form. She could feel a prescence just as surely as if she could see someone. Then, as she watched, silent with shock and awe, the swirling mist drew alarmingly together, within seconds shaping itself into a luminsicent figure. It was a woman, or molded as such, it's body shimmered and swayed, the restless columms of mist that it was made of contracting weirdly.
"Who are you?" The question rasped unsteadily from Niera's dry throat, her eyes wide, was all the stress she'd gone through finally beginning to take it's toll on her? The silverly face turned in a smile, the broad cheekbones stretching. Niera watched in fascination as it opened it's mouth, a voice as silvery as it's colour issuing forth. "You would know me as a myth, as a story." It laughed then, the sound akin to water running over stones. "Which story?" Niera asked, almost curious despite the situation. The mist drew itself up, as if annoucing something grand.
"I am Athena, godess of wisdom. Am I not a story to you?" Niera swallowed audibly, beginning to feel as if she were dreaming once more. "There is no -" Athena cut her off abruptly. "In your time we are dead, we have died long ago. But... In this time..." The godess's voice trailed off slowly, her mouth smiling once more. "We are very much alive in this time." Niera fell back several steps, the hair on the back of her neck prickling. "Why?" She gasped unsteadily, her eyes pleading. "Why?" Once more laughing, the godess drew nearer, the mist swirling in dizzying patterns. "Because you were chosen."