I dedicate this story to both Jon-Ur AdmetoUltor14 - please, pretty please, come back to us.
Isthmus of Corinth, 10th Century BC
A lonely traveler slowly wandered through the isthmus of Corinth. His dark cape was covering his entire body, almost as if shadows decided to wrap themselves around him. He walked without any hurry as if walking in the wilderness of ancient Greece was nothing more than a casual stroll for him.
Normally, most people living at that age would tell him that traveling without escort or even a weapon would only bring death upon anyone, but the lonely traveler did not care. He did not care about anything at the moment. He just looked around, absorbing every bit of the world around him.
He knew where he was. He recognized where and when he was. The Greek Dark Ages. Two centuries after the fall of Mykean civilization, even longer after Minoan's perished from the world. The collapse of the bronze age took away and silenced forever many great civilizations. And while humanity was slowly rising back from its fall, it would take centuries for many human civilizations to once again achieve their bronze age greatness.
And this age was not too kind for any travelers. Monsters from the long-forgotten ages roamed free of their chains. Bandit groups were forming and attacking anything left without defenses, pillaging small villages and unprotected cities. Local lords were fighting over scraps of the old civilization, every single one of them claiming to be the reclaimer of the old glory.
It was indeed a dark time for anyone to live. But the lonely traveler did not care. It was not his duty to care. He was not supposed to care. People like him were not supposed to care.
And thus he walked, traveling the road that within a few days would take him first to Ishmthmia and then even to Athens. A road that was notoriously known to have a large bandit tribe controlling this area.
But the lonely traveler walked without fear. He knew about it all. He knew all about the people's problems. And he knew how to solve this one in particular.
Night came, and with it, the creatures of the night started their hunt. Most people would stay in their homes, praying to their gods for a safe night, but not the traveler. He was a child of the night as well, the darkness, his long-time friend. And thus he had nothing to be afraid of.
After a long walk, the traveler stopped for a moment and looked at the stars. Without human pollution, the sky looked like a sea of stars, full of unknown constellations even to the traveler. They shined above, showing him the entire beauty of the milky way, the only galaxy that humanity will know for many ages to come.
And the traveler could not help but be mesmerized by the beauty of the night sky. The door to the beauty of the universe, begging him to come and welcome the endless void between the stars. And as much as the traveler wished to see it for himself once again the endless universe, he knew that it was his time to come back home.
But first, he had to find a way back.
And so, the lonely one awaited, covered by the shadows of the night. The wind caressed his cloaked figure almost as if the nymphs of wind tried to take a closer look at him. The sound of the howling wind was the only thing heard within miles… and yet, the lonely one could tell that there was something more within the wind.
There were whispers, carried by the wind like small leaves, unheard and unnoticed by most. Those whispers told stories, legends and carried hope and despair of all times – past, present, and future. Throughout the whispers, he could feel the history rising around him – the images of glorious cities of the old, sounds of despair, the shaking ground of marching armies, and the aroma of sweat, blood, and hormones.
Those were all around him, those he could sense in the darkness. This place was a witness to many glorious and abhorrent moments in history.
And now, it was just him, standing in an almost forsaken land, somewhere where no one cared about anything. The only settlements of people were many miles away from him, with people hiding in their homes, behind all possible walls of either Corinth or Ismthmia. Even from here, he could hear their prayers to their Gods, begging for another safe night.
And within those whispers, he caught a few laughs. Laugh full of ego and self-wonderment. Laughs, that were slowly coming closer, assured of their dominance over the lonely one. But he already knew where those laughs were and to whom they belonged. And it was his time to silence those laughs for good.
And thus he waited, almost laughing at the pitiful example of how the owners of the arrogant laughs were trying to show. He could hear their every breath, every step, and every beat of their small hearts. They wanted to kill him and then take all of his belongings, while leaving his body to be eaten by every wild creature of this world.
It started. The first one, jumped at him, roaring and screaming, with full killing intent, ready to strike the lonely one from behind. But the traveler only sidestepped, completely dogging the incoming blow. The first aggressor was just about to fall down due to his poor imbalanced attack, but then the lonely one used his left fist. He punched the first aggressor in Adam's apple.
The first aggressor could only feel pain and suffocate for a second, right before the lonely grabbed him and broke his neck. And then, as if nothing happened, the lonely one returned to his previous position, not caring about the dead body lying near him.
The first of the aggressor's associates weren't slacking. Next were warriors who came from the trees, angered by the sudden death of their companion. Their Xiphoses were ready to strike at any moment. The first strike came from one aggressor that was closer. The lonely one punched with his right arm to the aggressor's elbow, causing him to lose his weapon. Then, without hesitation, he turned around and punched the second aggressor's neck with the end of his palm.
The second one left out only a small surprised exhale, and then he fell to the ground.
But this time, the lonely one did not have the time to return to his previous position, because the third aggressor was already attacking him. The traveler was just about to counter another attack when he heard the sound of a bowstring letting out an arrow.
The lonely saw it. The arrow's trajectory. It was aimed at his throat, eager to end his life. But it was too slow for him. Just from the speed and trajectory, he could tell that the arrow was sent from a bowstring that wasn't changed or properly used. The Archery twins would have scolded this archer for what he had done to his own bow.
The arrow was too slow to kill him. The lonely one could watch the slow and delicate flight of the arrow. And once it was close enough, to grab it, and use it against the aggressor that was aiming at his back.
It didn't even take a second. The lonely one grabbed the attacker's arm and pushed the aggressor towards himself, only to push the caught arrow straight into the aggressor's right eye socket.
The lonely one knew that soon the archer will send another arrow after him, so he grabbed the nearest Xiphos from one of the fallen enemies. And then he heard another shot. The arrow slowly moved through the air, and yet eager to kill anything that could stand in its way. Slowly, from the bow, through the leaves of the trees and then through the grassland. But for the lonely one, this arrow might have as well just not moved at all. The arrow was simply too slow for him.
He moved his head, just a second before an arrow could touch his cloak. He heard the whistle of an arrow, just a few millimeters next to his ear. And now he knew exactly where the archer was.
The lonely one knew thousands of ways he could reach the archer. He knew that he could even let himself be the cocky one and simply run towards the archer. He could do many things. But showing off was for the young and stupid ones. And thus, the lonely one just grabbed the Xiphos by the blade, and then he threw it towards the nearest tree.
A near-silent sound of a body hitting the grass was the last thing he heard from the archer.
The lonely one knew that it wasn't the end. There were still two warriors, waiting in the forest and observing the situation. And as soon, as their archer fell, they came out from hiding.
The first one was old. Or at least old for someone living in the Dark Ages of Greece. He had thick grey-ish facial hair and was wearing armor that completely didn't match the rest of his associates. While the previous attackers had nothing more than ordinary clothes combined with scraps of old and most likely stolen armors, this one looked like an army commander that deserted a few years ago.
The second one was much younger and was beaming with confidence and arrogancy. He had a new-looking Xiphos and a rounded shield that looked very similar to the ones that in a few centuries divisions of hoplites will use. But there was also something more. The lonely one felt it from the very first second of this skirmish. The young one was a demigod, a son of Ares.
The older one came out with a large smile on his face. It was almost as if he was pleased that someone killed his pathetic associates.
"Well, well, well… I thought that in this long-forsaken land I will never find anyone worth the trouble, and yet here you are!" The old one had a thick Peloponnesian accent but was not similar to the ones used in Sparta. The lonely one guessed that he was most likely from this region, from Argolida. "You just killed three of my man without any weapon! It is truly remarkable!"
While the old one looked almost like he was about to give a speech, the younger one was waiting in anticipation. The lonely one could tell it from the battle-hungry eyes of the demigod, but as well from the large smile, and twitching body position, ready to jump into action at any time. The son of Ares was blood-thirsty.
The older one continue his speech, but the lonely one didn't care. He wasn't interested in what people had to say anyway. The only thing that really caught the lonely one's attention was when the old one mentioned that he was from Argos.
And then, the demigod finally struck. First, he pushed his Xiphos with a clean straight strike towards the lonely one's chest. But the lonely one only used his left arm to push away the demigod's hand, and thus, changing the Xiphos's trajectory.
The demigod's answer was quick – this time he charged his shield towards lonely one's head. But his opponent did something that was completely unheard of in this age – he used his right hand and pushed the shield, forcing it to the lower level. Then he shifted his body mass center and with just one arm holding the shield he acrobatically jumped over the demigod.
The son of Ares fell to the ground, not able to truly comprehend what his opponent actually did. But he realized one thing – the lonely one toyed with him and did not take him seriously. And that quickly charged the demigod with a lot of anger.
And thus, filled with rage, the son of Ares jumped back and attacked once again, this time in the form of a chaotical storm of barrage attacks from his Xiphos. Perhaps if his opponent was like any other human they harassed, he would have been scared at that moment. But from the perspective of the lonely one, he might have as well not moved. The wanderer could see it clearly - his strikes were sloppy, driven by an animalistic rage.
Finally, the lonely one had enough of pretending that he has to dodge the demigod's attack and simply caught his Xiphos. And at that moment, the son of Ares felt something he almost forgot – panic.
"That… That is not… Possible…!"
"Boy… You have no idea what is possible…"
The lonely one did not care about anything. And especially he did not care about what a nameless demigod from long-forgotten times was thinking. The lonely wanderer simply held tightly onto the blade of Xiphos, not caring if it could even harm him. And then, with a small pressure put into his fist, he smashed the demigod's weapon into pieces.
Then, to add more salt into the already broken ego of the son of Ares, the lonely one simply grabbed the demigod's arm and threw him towards the last opponent.
The oldest of opponents tried to run away, realizing his fatal mistake of attacking the lonely individual. But before he could even gain speed, the body of the son of Ares fell onto his back, knocking them both down to the ground.
Both the old one and the demigod tried to get up and perhaps run away from the monster they have angered but to no avail. They all felt a delicate breeze on their backs, and when they looked up, they saw the lonely stranger already standing before them. His hood was covering his eyes and most of his face with now the exception of a weird metal mask with sapphire-like lines. The two aggressors could not help but think about the monster from Erebus, that came to torment them.
"I… I know you." Suddenly, the son of Ares mustered what was left of his strength and courage, and spoke almost with amazement. "It is truly you… The one who every Nymph from Sparta to Pont can't help but gossip… The so-called 'Something in the way'…"
The lonely one – as always – did not care about any titles or names he was given. They were all irrelevant. Just like the duo of aggressors laying before him. Before they could utter a single word, a perfectly clean cut appeared on both of their throats.
And just like that, two other people disappeared into the sands of time.
For a second, the lonely one just continued to stand there, looking into the land around him. How magical Mediterranean climate could unite and fuse a barren and almost lifeless scenery with lush vegetation, green forests, and grasslands. No wonder so many people will look forward to spending their vacation in this country.
For a brief second, he looked upon bodies of both old one and the demigod. From one of their clothes, he took out a primitive insignia.
Sigil of the city of Argos.
The lonely one only smirked underneath his mask and expressed only one word.
"Interesting."
And then, he moved away from the bodies and returned to the main trail, returning back to the Peloponnese. And if anyone would be there, to stand and witness him, maybe to perhaps thank him for killing the bandits or maybe to simply ask questions...
All one could see on their path was…
Something in the way…
Well... That is the first chapter of the Mystic Center. I hope you enjoyed it.
If you are wondering about more of my projects, visit my discord:
discord . gg/ pghekDe
As for now... See ya in the future!