Of Facing the Enemy

"A soldier on my own, I don't know the way
I'm riding up the heights of shame
I'm waiting for the call, the hand on the chest
I'm ready for the fight, and fate."

- Iron by Woodkid

Meg had firmly decided that she would do her best just like Hercules, trying her best to help keeping the citizens calm with the aid of Cassandra and Icarus. But before leaving the palace, the three of them had ran into Meg's sisters and her grandmother.

So her sisters Henioche and Pyrrha (Pyrrha being the more determined one) had persisted to join the three of them, that they could also help the citizens. The discussion between the sisters was heated, almost leading into an argument between Pyrrha and Meg.

"Aren't you going to say anything, grandmother?" irritated Meg glanced at Harmonia, who stoically stood beside her, witnessing the girls bickering back and forth.

"Why would I? If they want to help, they should help. War is a woman's affair as much as a man's. After all, men can bring death, but only women bring life," she sagely told them.

Meg sighed, knowing she had just lost another argument judging by the gleeful way Pyrrha was looking at her.

"Look after each other, girls, and look after our people," Harmonia then quickly glanced at her three girls, true worry apparent in her eyes.

"That goes to you, as well," Harmonia nodded at Cassandra and Icarus, who timidly smiled and nodded back.

"And what will you do, grandmother?" Henioche asked, apparently more anxious than her sisters.

"Running through the city is out of question in my age. I intend to keep your father in his wits. After all, someone must look after him," Harmonia shook her head before taking her direction towards the throne-room.

"Somehow I can imagine she's a tougher bone than most of this palace's guards," Cassandra retorted to Meg.

"Oh, you can bet on that," Meg snorted back.

The lowlands were quiet as Hercules inspected them. Almost too quiet.

He stood among the Theban army, the early morning sun still shedding its first light on them. Few birds circled upon them, their cawing appearing unusually loud in the uncanny silence.

The apparent peace and tranquility was only a surface as the air was thick with anticipation and dread. It felt as if the Earth itself was holding back its breathed, waiting for something to happen.

The first thing they noticed was the glow. The unusual bluish-tinted glow, so out of place in the morning sun, and it was growing stronger by each passing second. The source was the dead Trojan soldiers themselves who were emanating that strange light as they made their way towards the Theban army.

And unlike any other army Hercules had witnessed, the army of the Dead made no sound as it approached them ever closer. The lack of any sounds was possibly even more disturbing than their strange, ghostly appearance.

Hercules heard someone near him swallowing loudly. A young soldier beside him grown noticeably paler than before, looking very frightened as he studied the the strange vision before them.

"What is your name?" Hercules then kindly asked of him.

The younger man remained silent for a while, obviously at first not realizing that Hercules was talking to him.

"I'm Callistus, sir," he was finally able to make out.

"Callistus, it's nice to meet you. Is this your first battle?" Hercules then continued.

"Well, I have never fought with someone who's already dead," Callistus stiffly replied and Hercules nodded understandingly.

"That's… Understandable. Just keep your head at the game. And stay calm and collected, okay?" Hercules briefed the young man.

"I will. Thank you sir. And good luck," Callistus appeared now a bit calmer than before.

"For you, as well," Hercules bid back.

He truly did hope that luck would be on their side. They could really use that luck now, he pondered as the army was now finally reaching closer.

Now he could only follow his own advice and focus on the moment and the enemy upon them.

Meg cursed under her breath, trying her best to stay collected as she navigated through the empty streets.

First, their mission had been a success as they had been able to go through the streets, gathering the citizens who were still quite calm and readily followed their instructions.

But apparently things were running too smoothly as they heard from the newly terrified citizens that the cultists of Cybele were raiding parts of the city. And panic always brought more problems forth, so they decided to make a change to their plan.

Leading the people out of the city seemed like their best bet at the moment. So because of the current situation Meg, Cassandra and Icarus had been helping the people to retreat into the catacombs beneath the city. Pyrrha and Henioche knew the tunnels like she did, so they had agreed to lead the people to the outskirts of the city.

Cassandra and Icarus had already headed back to the catacombs, taking a number of citizens with them. Meg had wanted to take one final look searching the marketplace to make sure no-one was being left behind.

Meg could only hope that their plan would work out as she desperately searched through the city-streets, trying to find any remaining residents. But she found no one and she knew she should already return to the catacombs herself, she had made the promise to Cassandra of having just one quick final look before returning there herself.

As she was doing this, Meg had the unfortunate luck of running into a familiar face.

'Well, isn't this just great. Just when I thought one matter was off our plate,' Meg cursed to herself.

"Well, if it isn't my little songbird. Meg, I heard your real name was? A mutual friend kindly told me," the man she recognized as Barak smiled at her impishly with a sword on his hand as he approached her, trying casually to corner her into a nearby alley.

"So, you still remember me? Lucky me, I guess. And no, Hades is no friend of mine," Meg replied back, gripping her own small sword even harder.

"I'll tell him you sent him your regards. You cut our last meeting a little short. I'm offended," Barak moved slowly a little closer to her as he talked to her and Meg's mind was already forming a plan.

"I was sure you would be too drunk to remember it," Meg tried her best to look and sound as casual as possible.

"You give yourself too little credit, love. You're rather hard to forget," Barak told her.

Meg studied him closely, she could tell he was planning on something, most likely thinking he would take her by surprise.

He made a quick dash towards her, but she had been anticipating this and with a swift movement, she stabbed the man deeply into his right thigh. Barak fell to his knees with a howl, covering his wound with his hands.

"Oh, believe me, I give myself just enough credit," Meg told him, before appearing down the alleyway and disappearing into the darkness.

Hercules felt his step slightly failing as the slippery sand beneath his feet failed him. The blood of the fallen Thebans had mixed with the sand, making the whole battlefield a muddy mess. The sun was now higher up, indicating it was already past noon.

But Hercules had no time to ponder on that. Nor did he have a chance of finding a better position, as he was engaged in a battle with a huge man with visible scar on his face, sporting a long, black braid. From legends he had heard, he gathered this had to be Hector, the son of king Priam and the most legendary of all Trojan soldiers.

Hector proved to be a warrior earning his reputation, relentless and swift in his actions. He gave an equal match to Hercules, blocking each of his strikes and quickly turning them against him. But unlike Hercules, he had already passed on and was not able to feel neither hunger nor fatigue.

A little farther away Hercules could make out an archer with a dark curly hair, gracefully dancing around the battlefield, giving injuries to the unlucky Thebans passing his way. If Hercules was engaged with Hector, this had to be his brother, Paris.

As all of them had feared, the army of the dead proved out to be relentless. No matter how hard the Theban army fought, the Dead would strike them twice as hard. Thebans tried to block the enemy's way from the city, but little by little they found themselves pushed closer to the city-gates. The situation didn't look too good.

Hercules could feel a familiar presence lingering nearby, his faithful companion Pegasus, eagerly waiting to find any opportunity to help his master. Hercules was grateful for his constant support, but he had to keep his mind on the task at his hand. Literally. Otherwise he could possibly lose his life for being careless.

Hercules did his best to keep his ground and hold his position, encouraging the soldiers around him to do the same, but even with his divine strength he was starting to feel the toll of the battle. He could only imagine how his men felt being mortals without his divine stamina.

The soldiers did what they could, but it was obvious that they couldn't keep up with the undead army ceaselessly. Their luck (and even more so, their strength) was running towards its end.

They needed to find a way to end this battle, but the real question was how?

The weary mind of Hercules came up with nothing.

-A/N: Whew, the first chunk of the battle is here! So battle scenes and stuff like that is really not my forte, but I'm doing my best. Once again, thank you for all who are reading this and especially reviewing, you guys keep my motivated!

Reviewer shout-outs:

Disneylove12: Awww, thank you so much, I'm so happy to hear that! These have straining times for us all, I'm sure!