Atlas Of Megaras

Midnight walks

When I woke up at the crack of dawn, everyone was readying their weapons. Movement in the Greek Camp had been reported. The bronze armour that we all wore made a lot of noise as the army moved out to the battle field. The Greeks turned up this time. The Megaran army was placed at the left end of the box formation.

The Greek side carried the oval shields that they were famous for. They gleamed in the sunlight along with their pointy spears. The fight broke out with the Greeks launching the first round of spears. It wasn't easy trying to keep out of the way of Heroes. The Greek side were crawling with them. Battles were a blur. I remember seeing Prince Hero. He wasn't close. But the spear he threw flew past me hitting a Lycian. I had never seen anyone throw a spear like that.

The days were seeping past in battle. It was difficult. We didn't even have the time to do their last rights properly. And let's not talk about the number of limbs and body parts that were just lying around. Or torsos with missing heads.

It had been a week already. There was no sign of stopping. Until one sunny day we managed to stop to bury the dead. The battlefield was full of dead people. And it wasn't easy to recognise them. Sometimes someone remembered that this was the armour that their friend wore into battle. It was heart-breaking. Unluckily for me, I remembered a lot of the dead men from my army. I had lived with them, ate with them and now to see them dead was unsettling. We weren't close, but I knew that they had hopes and a will to live. All of that ended in a spear through the chest, which sent them to Hades.

The bodies were loaded off on Ox driven carts so that they could be driven to the Temple of Hades were their last rites were to be performed. Flames leapt up high, so high that I was sure that the soldiers manning the walls could see them.

And like this we fought, 3 days to honour the dead and seven days of constant battle. We went through four cycles of this. It was damming to all of us. Prince Isander had fallen off a horse, injuring his shoulder. Prince Polydorus from Cadena died at the hands of King Cadmus on the Greek side. My head was aching. I couldn't sleep and it felt as if my soul would crawl out of my skin.

Finally, one day, they decided to stop. Not for any other purpose but just stopping. It wasn't a peace treaty. Just an agreement. Keep away from us and we keep away from you. Winter was near now, the time to cut the crops had already past and the ground was getting colder to sleep on.

After the guard rotations would be set I would go back to the city. It had been two months since I had seen Día and Carme. I had heard regular updates from Eda when I meet her at the walls. "Carme and Día managed to chase their writing instructor away. Father is at his wit's end on how to deal with them." or "Carme wanted to learn archery."

Prince Isander had volunteered to teach Carme and Día archery. It would be good for Carme to learn from Prince Isander because he was one of the best archers. He was still struggling to get back into the good books of Eda. It was quite funny to see the Prince struggle with words whenever he saw her disguised.

Sleep evaded me as tossed and turned around in my bed. Every time I would fall asleep I dreamt of dead soldiers and people I knew. The exception of this was Prince Hero. He haunted my dreams, standing at the very edge of the battlefield wearing brightly polished armour over his blue chiton. Walking up to me, offer me a hand. I never took it. I didn't need his help that too in my dreams. I have no clue why I dreamt of him or his golden eyes so often. I finally threw off the rugs. This won't do. I pulled on my dark cloak and sandals. I needed to take a walk to clear my mind. The lack of sleep could be just getting to me but I could just sleep when I was at home, in bright sunshine.

I walked out of the camp towards the woods nearby. The cool wind and gentle rustling of the leaves provided me with some comfort as I wandered through the forest. It was a new moon night so a lot of stars were visible. Finding a grassy grove, I just laid down in the middle, resting my head on a fallen wooden trunk. Covered with moss it cushioned my head well. Looking at the stars was extremely peaceful. It was as if there were no problems no grief, just me and the stars. Spotting Orion and the seven sisters, Ariadne's crown, my mind started to drift off to a world of its own. Just as I was about to fall asleep, I heard some rustling. Just as I opened my eyes, I saw a deer bound over the fallen log and run away.

I stood up. Something must have scared the deer hard enough to make it run away. And I wasn't about to stay and find out. Pulling my warm cloak closer, I got up. I got away a few paces when someone thing fell against my back. Tumbling to the ground, I heard a groan. A very human groan.

I turned over only to find my eyes staring back into the golden eyes of Prince Hero. I sucked in a deep breath. His hair was wet, water dripping from his midnight curls onto my tunic. One of his hands were planted near my head, probably to stop his fall. The other currently massaged his forehead.

"So, I guess I not the only one who likes wandering the woods in the night."

Swallowing a reply. I pushed at his shoulders. "Will you move?" we were stuck in a rather questionable position. And for some weird reason my heart was beating faster than a drum.

Instead he leaned closer, "No, why would I. I rather like this."

"No, I don't." His hand was dangerously close to my thighs. And by dangerously I meant very close. I mean if he moved a little his hand would be on my thigh. His lips turned up in a smirk. "I think you like it." His hand was on my knee stroking the skin. I thought he would pause at the scar I had from a discus accident when I was younger but his hands inched higher.

I grabbed his wrist, "Tell me something, do you dream?" His hand brushed again my cheek, my hand still wrapped around his wrist.

"Uh...huh." I couldn't think straight. All I could think was about him and I kissing. The very thought of it made my ears burn. He laughed, "You look cute when you are flustered."

His lips brushed against mine. What would it fell like if we kissed? "Next time you dream, take my hand." He tucked a stray strand of red hair that had escaped the bun behind my ear.

"Why?" How did he know he was in my dreams?

"You would know if you would take it." My lips brushed against his jaw as he pressed an open mouth kiss against my throat. I never felt this warm in my life.

"Sweet dreams." He muttered. Wait what? His lips brushed against my forehead as overwhelming darkness took over me.