Ch. 6
Uneventful. That's what Perseus would have called the crossing of the Bosporus. With his luck, he thought that they would have been attacked by pirates, or that Ceto wouldn't have kept her promise and sent a massive sea monster or sea storm after them. But no, at this very moment he and the Hunters were nearing the port of Calchedon, the city directly opposite of Byzantion. The place where they would set foot in the Persian Empire, the largest empire in the known world.
Perseus twisted his shoulders. He had kept his armor on, just in case they were attacked. He was standing on the side of the ship, leaning against the wooden railing of the ship. Perseus looked in the direction of their destination. They were not far from land now.
Along with one other ship they entered the port. The other ship was sailing very close; Perseus could even see the faces of everyone. They were all men, nothing too weird. They admittedly looked a little shady. Perseus looked at all their faces. Perseus then spotted something: one of the men was hiding his face for some reason. Perseus kept staring at him. The figure turned his head slightly...
One eye! The figure had only one eye. Perseus narrowed his eyes and unconsciously grabbed the hairpin that was Riptide. He just needed a slight glimpse of its face. Perseus grabbed his bow from his back and drew an arrow. He pointed it at a shield that was on the deck of the other boat. Perseus let the arrow go; it traveled in less than a second to the shield. When it hit the shield, it gave a loud sound. Everyone looked up, even the figure.
Perseus' suspicions were confirmed. A scar ran in the neck of the figure with one eye: it was the Cyclops that Perseus had decided to spare but who had betrayed him anyway. The one Perseus swore revenge on. Perseus put his bow back on his back and grabbed his Riptide again, turning it into a sword.
What Perseus didn't see was Zoe who was walking at him. "Perseus, we need..."
Perseus didn't even look at her. "Sorry Zoe, no time now."
Perseus grabbed a rope and walked backwards. Then he began running and jumped over the railing of the ship, to the bafflement of Zoe. Midway through his flight he let the rope go, and he flew further through the air landing on the deck of the ship. Everyone on that particular ship looked at him in surprise; Perseus didn't pay attention to them and walked straight to the Cyclops, who was now cowering away: he had obviously recognized Perseus.
Perseus grabbed his sword in an ice pick grip and rammed it into the Cyclops' shoulder, making the monster scream in pain.
"You thought I wouldn't find you..., ehm, what's your name again?"
"Polyphemus!" the Cyclops managed to squeak out.
"After the most famous Cyclops that was outsmarted by Odysseus. How ironic will it be if I stab you through to your stupid eye now?" Perseus said.
He pulled his sword out of the shoulder of Cyclops but just as he was about to stab the Cyclops through its eye he heard a slight 'whooshing' sound. Perseus recognized it as the sound of a blade and he quickly put Riptide up. With it he halted a dagger from piercing his shoulder. Perseus turned around and saw that everyone from the ship he had boarded had pulled out weapons. Perseus cursed in his mind: of course this ship had to be full of smugglers.
"Get away from him, kid. He is going to give us our money!" one shouted.
He charged at Perseus with his sword held high up. Perseus stepped forward with Riptide firmly in his hand. The smuggler tried a downwards slash but Perseus sidestepped. As the smuggler was now out of balance Perseus kicked at his leg which made him fall; with one strike of Riptide the smuggler was dead, a clean wound visible in his chest. Another one of the smugglers recklessly charged forward. He held a long dagger in his hand in an ice pick grip. He tried to stab Perseus with it but Perseus grabbed his arm with his free hand as the strike was coming down. He squeezed the man's arm until he shouted in pain and dropped the dagger. Perseus stabbed him through the chest with Riptide and let his arm go.
The other smugglers now circled him more carefully. Perseus didn't give them the chance to think up a strategy. He remembered his father's lessons as if they were yesterday. If you come up against more than one opponent always stay on the offensive, otherwise you are going to get overwhelmed. Perseus charged at one of the smugglers who was holding a bow: a weak target. The smuggler saw it coming and put up his bow sideways to block the strike that was surely to come. Perseus though struck at his thigh. The archer dropped his bow from the pain and grabbed his thigh with both his hands, leaving his head open for an attack. With one clean strike Perseus slashed the man's head right off.
Perseus immediately turned around to block another strike and had to roll away after that to avoid an arrow going in his leg. Perseus tried to locate the archer: he would dangerous if Perseus didn't do something about him. Perseus saw him standing a few feet away trying to draw another arrow. But before he could do that a silver knife hit him in his neck. He almost immediately dropped dead. Perseus saw Zoe jumping upon the deck with one hunting knife in her hand. She ran to another smuggler: before he could try to strike at her she slid on her knees and hit him with her knife in his leg. The man fell down in pain and Zoe struck her knife right into his heart.
She looked at Perseus rolling her eyes. "Just can't stay out of trouble, can you?"
With Zoe's help Perseus started to take out the smugglers and soon there were almost no left: almost all had been killed or seriously injured. Perseus eventually finished off the last one by stabbing his sword through the man's guts, making him drop dead.
Perseus grinned and turned his sword back into a hairpin. "Good practice, wasn't it?"
Zoe shrugged. "I guess."
She looked around. "There is one problem though: we are on another boat and our boat has gone to a different part of the harbour."
Perseus also looked around and saw she was right. During the battle he had not noticed that the ship they were on had sailed to the other side of the harbour from the boat were the other Hunters were located. Apparently the boat had drifted off."
"Ah, shit. Well, we will just find them again," Perseus said with his no worries smile.
"I think that won't go that easily," Zoe said looking worried all the sudden.
Perseus turned around to see multiple soldiers with bows that were pointing at Zoe and him. One of the soldiers, who wasn't holding a bow, came forward. He was most likely their leader.
"You are under arrest for smuggling goods and people here!"
"That went worse than expected."
Zoe sighed. "You could say that, Perseus, seeing as we are now in prison."
After they had been arrested by the guard of the city they had been transported to the city's jail. They had both protested saying that they weren't smugglers but the city guard was having none of it. So now Perseus and Zoe were trapped in a dirty prison cell. The leader of the guard had insisted that their hands would be chained after he saw what Zoe and Perseus did to the actual smugglers.
Perseus shrugged. "I'm sure we will get out: the Hunters are probably already looking for us. The only thing that really bothers me is that that damn cyclops Polyphemus got away."
Zoe frowned at him. "I am worried that we will be sentenced to dead: if that happens the Hunters might be too late to safe us."
Perseus nodded. "That's true."
There was silence for a moment.
"Where is Artemis anyway?" Perseus asked. "She could get us out of here with her godly powers and shit."
"I don't know," Zoe said. "Probably at some council meeting or something else."
Perseus rolled his eyes. "Great."
He turned his head towards Zoe. "How long have you known her now?"
Zoe sighed. "A long time: a few centuries I think."
Perseus whistled. "Wow, you are old."
Zoe glared at him.
"And... you have aged very well, you look very young," Perseus quickly added.
Zoe looked content with that; Perseus let out a sigh of relief.
"How did you meet her anyway?"
"That is a long story," Zoe replied.
"Tell me: we have got plenty of time here."
Zoe stared away somewhat sad. "Long ago I used to be one of the Hesperides. I lived in the most beautiful garden of the world along with my other sisters: I was pretty happy. But it is also lonely there: almost no-one comes there because they fear Ladon, the dragon that protects the Apples of Immortality. One day a man comes by. His name is one I know you surely recognize: Heracles. He promised me that he would take me with him on his adventures. I believed him, the naive girl I was, and gave him a sword that was made from my immortal power that I got from my mother, Pleione. He used it to defeat Ladon and grab the golden apples. He then left me behind: I was banished from the garden by my sisters and father. That is when Artemis found me and I joined the hunt."
"Wow, that's... That Heracles is one big dick for that," Perseus said.
Zoe smiled slightly. "Yeah, tell me something I don't know."
"So, you are a daughter of Atlas, the Titan?" Perseus asked.
"Yeah."
"That is pretty cool," Perseus said.
Zoe sighed. "Depends on your perspective."
"Did you ever get that sword back?" Perseus asked.
"Yes, but at that point I had already gained partial immortality, so I didn't want to see it anymore," Zoe said.
"What was the sword's name?" Perseus asked.
"Anaklusmos, Riptide," Zoe said.
Perseus now realized. "So, that sword that Hyas, your brother, gave me is yours?"
"Yeah, it is."
It was silent for a moment.
"Do you want it back now?"
"What?" Zoe asked.
"The sword, do you want it back?" Perseus asked again.
Zoe raised her eyebrow. "Are you really prepared to do that?"
"Yeah, of course," Perseus said. "It is yours, after all. I'll find another sword."
"I... No, you keep it," Zoe said after some pondering.
"Are you sure?" Perseus asked.
Zoe slowly nodded. "It's a bad memory for me anyway: in your hands it can at least be used for good."
"Then I will be honored to wield it in your name," Perseus said jokingly.
That made Zoe smile: they fell into a comfortable silence. It was suddenly interrupted by the prison doors of their cell opening. A few heavily armed guards came in. Perseus and Zoe were released from their shackles.
"Stand up," he ordered. "The regent of the city wants to see you."
Perseus and Zoe looked at eachother worriedly but eventually both stood up. They were led through the halls of the rather small prison. Soon they went up on some stairs and ended up in a palace that was connected to the prison. Perseus looked for a way to escape this situation but it was seemed impossible. After passing through some more halls they arrived at their destination: a large chamber that was richly decorated: the office of the regent.
The regent was sitting at a table with all sorts of papers and documents on it. The regent clearly had a busy life.
"Ah, the prisoners," he began. "Sit down, and let us talk."
He waved at some chairs. Perseus and Zoe sat down, albeit reluctantly.
The Regent put his arms on the table. "My name is Pylas and I am the regent of the city, in service of the Persian Empire."
He stared at Perseus and Zoe for a moment. "I am going to be straight with you: right now you have been sentenced to death because of your smuggling. But I have an offer for you."
"We haven't smuggled anything! If we were smugglers why would we be attacked by our fellow smugglers?" Perseus interrupted him.
Pylas shrugged. "You tell me? Rivalry? A disagreement over money?"
"You have no evidence that we are smugglers," Zoe said.
"That is the thing: I have. A whole boat full of wares. And since you were the only ones on the ship I will have to assume that you are smugglers."
Perseus wanted to protest again but was silenced by a raised finger from Pylas. "That is where my offer comes in: I saw what you did to the rest of the smugglers. It was most impressive: you two beat ten others with no visible injuries. What I offer you is a place in the army of the Persian Empire: they will surely appreciate your talent."
"And what's in it for you?" Zoe asked looking at Pylas disdainful.
Pylas laughed. "Well, I will get a reward from the army."
He now stared at them serious again. "It's either this or execution: so, tell me what it is going to be."
Zoe and Perseus looked at each other and nodded. They both agreed that they couldn't be sent out to the Persian Empire: it would take them a long time to get back to the rest of the Hunters if that would happen.
"We politely refuse your offer," Perseus said.
Pylas sniffed. "Then you will die. Guards, bring them away! I want them executed tomorrow."
The guards roughly picked up Zoe and Perseus and led them out of the door. Perseus looked back at Pylas and saw something curious. His eyes flashed orange for a second: someone was standing behind him. It was a womanly figure, but not normal: her legs were somehow... distorted. Like they had been changed by the Mist... She saw him staring and smiled evilly at him.
Perseus cursed in himself. It was a Dracaena! And it clearly had Pylas under some kind of spell.
Perseus pondered on this as they were being dragged back to their cell. When they arrived back at their cell they were quite unceremoniously thrown into it.
"Did you saw that too?" Perseus asked.
"What?"
"When we exited the office of Pylas I looked back: I saw his eyes glow orange and a woman. Her legs were weird: I think they were edited by the Mist," Perseus told Zoe.
"A Dracaena. She has the city's regent under her control, she has probably ordered our execution," Zoe said.
Perseus nodded. "This is bad: if this city on the edge of the Empire is under the control of a Dracaena, I am worried about the rest."
"If the whole Empire has already been infiltrated by dracaenae our mission will become very hard," Zoe said. "We need to get out of here and inform Artemis of this."
Perseus grinned. "Luckily we have a way now: they forgot to chain us."
Perseus grabbed Riptide from his pocket and turned into a sword.
Zoe looked at him in surprise. "How did you get that?"
Perseus shrugged. "I don't know, it always returns to my pocket."
"We need to lure a guard in here: if we are going to escape we need the keys and get out of the palace," Zoe said.
Perseus agreed. Zoe walked to the door and knocked on it a few times.
"Can we have some water? I am so thirsty! Please help..."
She saw a guard coming to the door. She pulled Perseus out of the sight of the bars in the door. They heard the guard curse when he saw no one in the cell and heard him fumble with his keys before the sound of a door opening. As soon as the man came in Perseus came forward and hit him on the head with the flat of his blade. The man dropped and Perseus caught him to make sure he didn't make any sound.
Perseus grabbed the keys of the man and signaled Zoe to come with him. Zoe picked up the dagger of the guard and then followed Perseus. When they had both left the cell Perseus locked it again.
"Do you still remember the way out?" Perseus asked.
"Yes, I think I do," Zoe said.
"Lead on then, we have to get out of here."
They sneaked through the corridors, constantly checking all the corners. A few times they had to take out guards but it was mostly a smooth trip. After some time they reached the exit of the castle. Then Perseus realized something.
"I have to get back." Perseus suddenly said.
Zoe turned around and looked at him like he was insane. "Why? We have just escaped and you want to go back in there?"
"I have to take out that Dracaena, otherwise she will inform Echidna about us. We can't let that happen," Perseus explained.
Zoe looked thoughtful for a moment. "That is true. I'll come with you," Zoe said.
Perseus shook his head. "No, this needs to be done stealthily, something we can't do with two people. You find the Hunters and tell them to get ready to leave the city. I will meet you outside of the city walls, on the road to the east."
Zoe bit her lip in thought but then nodded. "Good luck Perseus."
Perseus grinned. "Thanks, I am going to need it."
Perseus turned around and started walking back into the palace. The Dracaena would probably be somewhere near Pylas: she needed to keep up her spell. Perseus decided that he would look there: he'd see how he was going to kill the monster.
Perseus sneaked on his own through the palace: so far he hadn't encountered any guards but that was probably because Zoe and he had taken a lot of them out. Perseus was soon in the same hallway where the office of Pylas was: the Dracaena had to be close. Perseus just needed to find where...
He suddenly heard the sound of a door opening; Perseus quickly hid behind a corner. He slowly looked around the corner. Someone normal would have assumed that it was just a normal woman walking there, but Perseus saw better: the way she awkwardly walked indicated that she wasn't used to legs. This had to be the Dracaena. She went away; Perseus followed after. At the very end of the hallway the Dracaena opened a door and went in.
Perseus ran quietly to the door and listened to what was going on the other side. He didn't hear anything. Perseus backed up and thought about his situation for a second. He couldn't stay in the palace waiting for a better chance: soon the guards would find the bodies and then all hell would break loose.
Perseus sighed, this was going to be risky. He knocked on the door and prayed that the Dracaena wouldn't recognize his voice.
"Lady, I have an urgent message for you."
"Not now, guard," Perseus heard.
"I assure you, my lady, that this is very important." Perseus tried again.
"Stop bothering me, I will hear your message later,"
Perseus cursed. He was going to have to try something better.
"But my lady, the prisoners have escaped!" Perseus said.
Now he did hear footsteps coming from inside the room. Perseus grabbed Riptide and got ready.
The door opened. "What are you talking..."
Perseus immediately went inside and put his sword at the Dracaena's neck. With his other hand he closed the door behind him.
"What in the gods' names are you doing!" the Dracaena screeched. "I will have you killed for this!"
Perseus eyes narrowed. "You can't fool me, lady, or should I say Dracaena."
The Dracaena looked at him in shock before her eyes narrowed. "A demigod."
"More like clear-sighted mortal. Now, you will tell me how you came to power here: you couldn't have done this alone."
The Dracaena smiled at him. "Do you really think I am going to tell you that?"
Perseus sighed. Why did he always have to do it the hard way?
He stabbed his sword in her shoulder. "Tell me, now."
The monster yelled in agony from the celestial bronze; it had made her lose her concentration and her legs slowly turned back into a snake tail "I was put here by Echidna, to control this city and part of the Empire."
"This part? What do you mean by that?" Perseus said.
Even though there was a sword in her shoulder, the Dracaena still managed to put out an evil smile. "Mother had this brilliant plan: take over the Persian Empire by infiltrating positions of power and putting the mortals under spells. It worked brilliantly: the whole empire is now under her control."
"Where is Echidna now!" Perseus said twisting Riptide for good measure.
"In Babylon, controlling the King of Kings!" the monster almost yelled out.
Perseus pulled his sword out of the Dracaena's shoulder; she looked relieved for a second. That look of relief was quickly washed away when Perseus stabbed her through the chest. A pile of gold dust was all that was left when Perseus pulled his sword back.
He closed his eyes for a second, thinking about what he had found out: Echidna controlled the entire Persian Empire. This was bad. Really bad. This would make killing Echidna very hard; she had an entire empire protecting her. Perseus had to tell Artemis this.
Perseus heard footsteps coming from outside the door, along with shouting and weapons being drawn. The remaining guards had finally found their unconscious comrades. He needed to get out of here. Perseus looked around for a way to escape: the chamber he was in was very big: suited for royalty. There were all sorts of decorations and golden statues. This city clearly was very rich from all the trade that passed through here.
Perseus quickly looked around for a window; it wouldn't be long before the guards came to check up on their 'lady'. When he had spotted one he quickly walked to it and looked down.
There was a knock on the door. "My lady?" Perseus heard. When no-one answered it was asked again.
Perseus heard that they were trying to force the door open: he really needed to get out of here, and there was only one option.
"Here goes nothing, I guess," Perseus mumbled before jumping out of the window.
He flew through the air for a few seconds before he began dropping quickly. Perseus landed on the roof, rolling his fall out so that he wouldn't break a leg. He was now standing on the roof of someone's house; Perseus began sprinting over the rooftops to the city gates. People were looking at him in awe as Perseus jumped from rooftop to rooftop, eventually reaching the city's eastern gate.
Perseus quickly jumped down onto the streets and went up in the crowd that was leaving the city. The guards tried to control the mass but, as usual, couldn't so Perseus didn't get noticed. When he finally exited the city Perseus sighed in relief; this had been a close one.
Behind him guards shouted and the gate was closed in an attempt to keep the escaped prisoners in. They had finally heard what had transpired. It was too late though; Perseus and Zoe were both gone.
Perseus sat on the grass looking at the sky. It was very late but he couldn't sleep. Too much had just happened. Perseus thought about him a few months back: his intention first was to just get revenge on Echidna for his parents. He would just go to where the monster was and kill it, just like a simple hunting trip. Perseus now realized that he had stepped into something a whole lot bigger. He sighed: nothing in his life was ever simple.
After his escape from the city Perseus had regrouped with the Hunters. They had decided to get as far as possible from Calchedon. They had walked east until it was too dark to see without torches. They made their camp far from the main road in a forest. Artemis had joined them there again. Perseus and Zoe told her what had happened. What worried Perseus was that Artemis actually looked concerned, even though it was just a little. Perseus didn't think he would ever see a goddess concerned about something.
Perseus was shaken out of his thoughts by a figure approached his campfire; he reached for Riptide but as soon as the figure came into the light Perseus could see it was Artemis; Perseus was curious what she was doing here.
Artemis sat down next to him, just like when they had first met.
"Are you all right?" she asked.
"Yeah, for being in prison I am fine. Unfortunately, I have lost all my weapons, except for my sword."
Perseus then rubbed his temples. "I will have to make or buy a new bow and a new dagger."
"You can have these."
"What?" Perseus asked confused.
Artemis smiled slightly at his face. "You can have these weapons," she said giving him a silver dagger and a beautiful bow.
Perseus raised his eyebrows. "I can't accept this, these are yours, and you need them."
"I have a lot of bows and daggers, some of them ten times more beautiful than these," Artemis said.
That wasn't entirely true: this bow and dagger were very well crafted and she didn't have a lot of these at all. For some reason Artemis just felt like giving them to Perseus.
"Well, in that case..," Perseus said picking up the bow.
He stood up and drew back the bow's string. An arrow materialized on it.
Perseus grinned. "That is so awesome!"
He pulled back the string again and aimed his arrow at a tree. He released the string and the arrow borrowed itself into the tree.
Perseus then put the bow down and grabbed the dagger. He messed around with it for a moment, testing its balance.
"Wow, these are amazing." Perseus said looking at the dagger and feeling the point. It was razor sharp.
Artemis now also stood up.
Perseus looked Artemis in her eyes. "Thank you, Moon Girl. I love them."
Artemis blushed a tiny bit from the intensity of Perseus' sea green eyes. "No problem."
Perseus then smirked mischievously at her. "Archery contest?"
He, not surprisingly, lost.
Author's Note: So, what I think I want to do is, while they travel to Babylon to face Echidna, write different side stories/adventures that Perseus, Artemis and the Hunters experience on the way there. So, it won't just be straight to the end and done. Expect a few different arcs in between about whatever I come up with. (Not entirely sure about this though). If you want to write a review, please do: they make my day! X