Defying Fate

Chapter 5-p2

The ship was pulling into a natural bay on the northern shore of the island as Odysseus and Polites came up. Polites was still attaching his sword to his belt.

The bay was shallow and sandy, maybe only a few feet deep, and the bottom of the ship rocked up against the sea floor and stayed there.

A crewmen took the anchor and tossed it overboard, and Odysseus got up on the railing in preparation to jump into the water.

But before he jumped, he turned to the crew.

"Polites and I will scout ahead. The crew is under orders to get some rest, leaving only the watch rotations. If we do not return by sunrise tomorrow, sail on without us, and return home."

More softly, he added to Eurylochus, "After the men have rested, gather what supplies you can from the beach and the surrounding sea. Some time spent fishing will be good for us all."

With a splash, he was in the water, which soaked the hem of his chiton. Odysseus tried not to let it annoy him, he was not the tallest among his men, but still, the salt water would irritate his legs for several hours to come. Polites jumped in after him, and the pair made their way to the shore.

The beach was smooth and sloped gently from the sea to the edge of a forest, where the sand melded with the fallen greenery and soil of the forest floor.

A little ways along the beach, a stream flowed into the sea. Tasting the water, Odysseus found that it was fresh, not salty.

"There must be a spring further inland," he said.

They followed the stream into the forest, the sunlight dappling the ground and their faces as they wandered further inland.

After a little while of walking in silence, Odysseus found himself lost in a different forest, shadowed and filled with danger. His thoughts grew dark, and his dream of Penelope with another man came back to his memory unbidden.

"Captain, relax," Polites urged behind him, making Odysseus jump, which caused Polites to chuckle. "You got us through the war, you will get us home again. Cassandra is certain that you will make it."

"She was wrong about that island, had we stopped there—"

"If Zeus wanted to sink our ship, he would have," Polites said. "Instead, he's led us here. There must be some reason the gods want us on this island. Perhaps this is where we were meant to be all along."

"The gods are not always on our side, Polites," Odysseus said, stepping over a large root. "Sometimes, they work against us just to test us."

"What happened in Hector's palace, Odysseus?" Polites asked. "What did he ask you to do?"

Odysseus glanced up, they'd come to a clearing, open to the sky. He hung back, under the trees.

"I wasn't honest with you," he said quietly. "Asterion was not a child I found in the streets. He is Hector's son. Zeus says that one day, he will discover who he is and kill me for it. Unless I kill him first."