This is the price we pay to live. VOL. 1

Chapter Seventeen

Illios, during the Trojan war, first year of war. (This is an Halloween special,just to don't leave without an update before the Vengeance Saga. So feel free to skip it  :3  

TRIGGER WARNING: BLOOD AND GORE)

Cleopas quickly ran into the woods, he had the Greek troupes behind, at least five hundred meters away. "Copper!" He yelled loudly as he received an answer from the walls, Hector's voice. They played this game once as ancient version of Marco Polo or Blind Man's Bluff, and the only reason was for having fun as children. But now, it was a way to find each other on the battlefield and in case of danger.

Cleopas watched the walls of the city, they were close to him. He tripped on the ground heard a crack, yet he managed to pass out from the pain behind a tree. When he woke up, he found a knife against his throat. Odysseus, Diomedes, Agammenon, Achilles and Patroclus stared at him as Menelaus held the knife.

Cleopas let out a chuckle as the blood on his upper lip was already dried. "Why is he laughing?" Achilles asked confused to Diomedes and Odysseus that were both confused more than the prince of Phthia. "You didn't get it, did you? You all have fallen for it." Cleopas muttered as he looked to the walls and at the dim lights of the torches that lighted the surrounding areas.

"What the heck does that mean?" Menelaus asked silently as turned to the other men. "We need to get away from here now-" Odysseus said as he watched the torches. "This is damn ambush!" He yelled and in a moment the lights went out. Menelaus made a cut on Cleopas' throat. The boy brought a hand to his throat and pressed down the wound. After some minutes he felt a hand on his, he couldn't see who was but he was grateful for the person who was helping with stopping the bleeding. 

"Her- Hermes...?" He whispered with a line of voice.

"Wrong person." Cleopas opened his eyes and stared at the what kind of angel could that be.But no,it was just Apollo. "Where is Hermes?" Cleopas muttered as eyelids became heavy. "You should worry about yourself and not the turtle boy." The god explained him before cupping his cheek with one hand, yet his touch was not gentle. "You are still alive because I made a promise." Cleopas moved away a curl of his own hair from his eyes, yet he didn't realize that his hand were stained with fresh blood,his own blood.

The red,warm liquid ended up on his eyelid. The iron smell filled his lungs,he felt his heart beat accelerating. "Shit- don't move." Apollo urged as he applied pressure on the cut which was gushing light crimson blood in the air and on the god's hands.

Meanwhile, in the other side of the wood.  It was quite a critical situation, full of Trojans were everywhere and the Greeks  had to splits in groups of two:  Patroclus with Achilles, Menelaus with Agammenon, Odysseus with Diomedes.

Odysseus sprinted next to Diomedes while he tried to don't make too much noises due the armor.  They stopped to catch  their breaths, he lean his back against a tree and looked at  Diomedes who just stood there. "He killed that guy." He muttered as he wiped away some drops of blood from his cheek. "He didn't have a choice. It was him or us and we didn't had the time to decide,that was a decision made purely by instinct" Odysseus explained as he started to walking and Diomedes followed him.

"It was purely instinct, but it could be avoided. Yet,that was just to don't having another problem to solve later."

"Ody, that guy had our age...He didn't deserve to die alone."

"It's too late. what's done is done. If it comforts you, you weren't the one who was holding the knife and you just were in the wrong place at shitty timing."

"Ody..."

"And you should-"

"Odysseus!" Diomedes snapped as Odysseus looked in front of himself. His eyes widen and his pupils dilated at the sight. Someone left some corpse there on the ground and they all wore the armors of the Greek army. The blood mixed up with the dirt,creating nasty puddles of mud, the flies roamed around like hungry beasts and the smell in the area wasn't plasent at all.

"Gods.. I think that I have to throw up." Diomedes muttered as he covered his mouth. Odysseus took a moment to recovering from the shock, yet he heard some footsteps close to them.Now, they had to two options: surrendering to the possible enemy or walking into the disgusting natural corridor of men corpses. "We have to keep going, the camp is too close to just give up." Odysseus whispered as he started to cross carefully,trying to don't touch or step on anything. Diomedes followed in silence as the two kept their gaze up. They were almost at the end of the path when the air around them became cold, they stopped as they heard a metallic noise. They stopped and looked down, Diomedes' ankle was gripped by a hand from a corpse.

They both froze in place for a moment Odysseus quickly pulled away the man from the dead body, who almost fell on him. An arrow hit Diomedes' shoulder before the duo looked back at who was.  An archer stood in the distance, bandages around his neck while almost black curls bounce on his shoulders. He lowered the bow while revealing the tunic and the tanned skin covered in blood.

The air was already freezing and now was filled with tension. Diomedes clenched his teeth as his breath came out sharp.He gasped harshly as he held on Odysseus who just stared at the figure. "This isn't over! I mean to fight this war-" Diomedes yelled.

Cleopas looked at the duo with a relaxed face before grinning. "Good, to war then." He said coldly before walking away. A shadow appeared on the spot he was, it emerged from the bloody ground before following the boy who just disappeared into the darkness of the night. The winds blew coldly through Odysseus' hair as he helped Diomedes to walk. It almost seemed as a voice, soft yet terrifying.

<<I am the who when you call, "Who's there?"
I am the wind blowing through your hair...>>

He looked behind him but nothing, maybe he had just imagined it. Like the archer... or me. You see, my dear readers, this story will not end here. This is just the beginning and would probably end in a, as most people would think, unfair way. Still, the show must go on, so I recommend you stay tuned for more.