The Unusual Apprentice
Chapter 3: Kiss The Soil
The young men found themselves drifting on thick planks of wood with the items they had gathered from their ship. Officially scared straight, the young men realized that they had to navigate carefully the rest of the way to Crete or die trying. The Gods still observing the young men's difficult journey, are still debating Markavious' fate.
"I say that he has beginners luck. Any man could have taken the initiative to attack a creature that threatened the life of the crew & himself." "Markavious & his ally's will make it to the island of Crete & will get Pathos Verdes the 3rd's scrolls. Markavious will lead, Lord Zeus." Kratos responded to Zeus' snide comment about Markavious' success in defeating the sea creature. The majority of the Gods on Mt. Olympus agreed with Kratos that Markavious is a contender to be the next Champion Of The Gods except Zeus & now Hera. "He is going to need more then luck if he wishes to get the lost scrolls of Pathos Verdes the 3rd." Hera mumbled still catching the attention of Kratos.
In the Aegean Sea, the young men finally floated on land, but it wasn't the land that they expected to float upon. "Where are we Itonover?" "I don't know, but I hope that we are on Crete Markavious." The men each stood up with the only items they could grab before their ship sank. Now standing solid ground, the four began to search for a cave so that they could camp some where until day light came down on them. They were lucky to find a nice sized cave not to far off the shore they arrived on & with out any questions they went in the cave expecting it to be abandoned.
"Wait…Gods on high what is this?" Markavious asked in confusion as he eyed the millions of homeless & scared civilians. The civilians stopped & looked at Markavious with fear. "Oh no! Another beast that has found our hiding place! Kill it!" They screamed & hollered as the woman ran further in the cave & the men stepped up to kill Markavious. Markavious knew that he had to reason with the people or they would tear him to shreds, so thinking quickly Markavious prepared to say the words that would save him. "Please, stand down. I am not the enemy that you assume that I am. I & my child hood friends here merely came here for some rest after the long day that we have had. We mean no type of disrespect or threat towards you all." The cave dwelling men looked at each other & one of them walked out of the group. "Why do you look like the creatures that we have battled for so long?" "I have a Satyr father. It seems that I inherited his physical appearance." The man looked at Markavious & finally he introduced himself. "I am Mokhava, king of this miniature island. We don't have a name because we don't want outsiders to remember us." "This island does seem some what small, is that why you live in a cave?" "No, we live in this cave to hide from our enemies outside."
Markavious then thought about when he & his friends arrived at the island, he didn't recall any enemy creatures when they arrived just many rocks, but it is dark & maybe they are in hiding too. Suddenly a woman came up to Mokhava & whispered something in his ear, he nodded & then he looked at Markavious & spoke what the woman told him to. "Sirs, what are you names?" "I'm Markavious, to my left is Chauvinsta, to my right is Itonover, & to my furthest left is Tolliver." The other 3 young men waved nervously towards the cave dwellers out of kindness & to show that Markavious was right about them. "Good, well you 4 can stay for the night, but we do ask you of a rather large favor." The adolescents looked at each other. "What is the task sir?" Markavious asked out of curiosity. "Defeat the creatures that forbid us to leave this cave. If you do you will be bestowed upon with riches beyond your wildest dreams." "Uhh, Markavious we have enough riches at Ath…" "We will complete the favor sir if it means that all of your citizens will be safe & won't worry about having to stay in this mucky cave." Tolliver looked at Markavious with his mouth agape. He could not believe that his friend just got them in to killing unknown creatures & they a while ago just killed a giant sea creature.
Mokhava signaled for some one to come out & 4 women came out from the back of the cave & stood by Mokhava. "These woman will take you to the back of the cave & give you only the best treatment." The 4 teens in unison grinned & said, "Thank you." The women grabbed each of the young men & took him to the back of the cave for relaxation.
"Kratos, what do you see in Markavious? He's the off spring of a beast & a "loopy" mortal woman." "Why do you constitute his mother as a "loopy" mortal?" "It is obvious Kratos, any mortal woman who finds love in a creature such as a satyr…" "Why did you find love in a man who raped you & has many affairs?" Hera grew silent quickly, she knew Kratos was right about what he said. She really didn't know how she found love in a man who raped her & made her marry him. Before Hera could answer Kratos walked off to his throne & left Hera standing there looking stupid. Kratos didn't bother telling Hera or Zeus why he thought Markavious would be an excellent choice as the new Champion Of The Gods because they would never understand the spirit of Markavious.
What will happen to our youthful hero's? Tune in to chapter 4.