Defying Fate

Chapter 4-p3

Soon the storm was all around them, and the figure in the clouds was nothing more than a vague outline occasionally picked out in flashes of lightning.

The lightning stuck the waves around them, as if they were being herded. The wind blew harder and the mast twisted and creaked under the strain. The waves, though large, strangely did not overwhelm or swamp the deck.

"At least the god of the sea is staying out of this," Odysseus muttered, grabbing a line and helping to furl the sails so the mast wouldn't split. Losing the sail entirely would slow them down, and if it fell only partially, and dragged in the sea, they would fall to Zeus' wrath almost certainly.

"The gods have demanded that you show no mercy," Cassandra was there, suddenly, in the wind and rain. Her hair was soaked, her tunic blew around her knees and in her arms she held Asterion, who was crying, though the sound was lost in the wind. "Zeus will not let you reach home unless he dies..." She held up the child, over the edge of the ship. "I will do it, and save you the pain."

"No!" Odysseus let go of the rope, with a cry from several crewmen as the sail dropped and they were pulled forward by the force of it. "Cassandra, stop!" He took her by the shoulders and spun her around before she could drop the child over the side of the ship.

"I made the decision," Odysseus continued, shouting over the sound of another thunder crack. "I made the choice to save him, and to save you! I will not go back on my word. What's done is done, and there is no way to take it back. I took 600 men to war and for ten years none of them died, and Zeus may take me off this earth this very night, but as long as I breath, I will fight to get us all home alive. And that includes him!" Odysseus pointed a finger at the child, crying in Cassandra's arms. "Now get below, and stay there. That island we passed must be close by now."

Cassandra's brows creased, and her expression was stony, but she did as she was told. Odysseus made eye contact with Polites, who was tying up the rope that Odysseus had let go. The sail was secure. With a shared nod, Polites followed Cassandra belowdecks, and Odysseus went back to the task at hand, taking the tiller from Eurylochus, who was leaning against it, keeping it steady with his whole weight.

Together, they shared the load, and got the ship to sail straight, away from the wind. Rain pelted them, cold as ice, and lightning crashed all around them. Odysseus shouted until his throat was sore, urging the men to sail on.

The storm blew itself out as the sun began to rise. illuminating the shape of an island.

Safety.

But they'd sailed all night in the wrong direction, and the sun was coming up in the wrong place.