What History Doesn't Know

Achilles Is Here

I wrapped Aeneas' leg with a bandage. His leg was bleeding badly but Aeneas looked like he was ready to cut down some Greeks.

"Thanks, Menessus. Say, Menessus, if we ever survive this nightmare, what's say you, along with a few of my friends, and I head elsewhere. I've heard there are some nice lands not to far from here. I even want to call it a nice name. What should I call it?" Aeneas said without taking a breath.

"I don't know. Rome maybe?" I said without thinking as I tended to his leg.

"Rome...say that's a nice name," Aeneas said as he looked at his bandaged leg.

I left Aeneas who was still looking at his bandaged leg and grabbed may bow and arrow. I've already shot several Greeks soldiers but many more took their place.

As I continued firing arrows at all the Greeks that came in vision field, one Greek seemed to stand resistant to my arrows. A Greek in shining armour who was in a killing frenzy.

What surprised me the most was what didn't happen to him. No matter what our men threw at him, he continued fighting unscathed.

"Who is that Greek soldier? The one in the shining armour?" I asked the archer beside me.

"I think that's Achilles, Menessus. Rumour has it that his mother dipped him in the River Styx. Our men made a joke about him but now they're wetting themselves.

This had me worried. I ran to find Hector to report him of Achilles' presence. I found Hector soon enough and he looked tired and exhausted.

"Menessus, my friend, I can see my fate already," Hector said with a sad look.

"Don't say that, Hector. The Trojans would be nothing without you," I said worried for my friend.

"My brother Paris is too much of a coward too fight and our men are falling back"

I guess now would be a bad time to mention Achilles.

As if he read my mind, he said, "I have heard of this Greek named Achilles. Even though he is an enemy, it weighs my heart down to kill a man. I must confront him."

"But Hector, he's virtually impossible to defeat. If you die, the Trojans will have no one to command them."

Hector turned to me with a sad look in his eyes already looking like he wanted to cry. "Menessus, the man has already killed some of my beloved brothers. Mestor, Lycaon, Dryops and Hippodamas will only remain a memory in my heart."

I stood there watching him leave the room knowing that further attempts to stop him would be useless.

I quickly ran to Paris' room to find him kissing Helen.

"Paris!" I shouted.

Paris and Helen were startled but kept their hold on each other. "Menessus? Long time no talk."

"Stop fooling around, Paris. Hector is going to fight Achilles. He's not going to survive."

Paris immediately let go of Helen and looked at me with wide eyes. "Achilles? The invincible Greek? Hector is going to perish!"

Paris began running out of the room. I looked at Helen with anger.

"This is all your fault, you skank. People are dying outside there and what have you done the whole day?" I said with venom in my voice.

"But, I..." Helen said looking rather scared.

"You have been nothing but trouble. Screw up my best friend's life, cost me my friends and my homeland. You didn't even lift a finger or say anything to stop any of this. I hope you're happy with yourself. May Hades have mercy on you. Not."

I turned and left the room. As I left the room, I heard Helen's sobbing but I didn't look back. I had other things to worry about. Like a good friend of mine meeting his fate.

Outside, the war was more intense than ever. I ran to the other archers who were beginning to look exhausted and were dangerously low on arrow.

"What's our situation?" I shouted to an archer over the noise of the fighting.

"Someone's said Hector killed Achilles. But some are denying it and say he didn't kill Achilles but killed Patroclus."

"That's not too worrying," I said because I noticed the worried look on his face.

"Menessus, what worries me is that Patroclus is a close friend of Achilles. If Achilles hears of this, he will fly into a rage." the archer replied.

I didn't say another word.

The battle continued with unbroken rhythm. The fighting only stopped once night fell. The Greeks quietly camped in the distance. I think even Achilles was resting. The man may be invincible but he does need to rest. Thinking of Achilles, I remembered what the archer said to me earlier. Patroclus, a friend of Achilles, killed by Hector. I gulped. I don't think I need to power of foresight like Cassandra to tell what might happen.

"Something troubling you, Menessus?" Cassandra said all of a sudden snapping out of my thoughts.

"No. Nothing is." I smiled at her.

Cassandra raised an eyebrow at me. Yikes. Don't detect my lie. Don't detect my lie. Don't -.

"Menessus!"

It was King Priam.

"Menessus, I would like to thank you for rallying the soldiers today. Without you, our men would have run at the sight of the Greeks. Hector may be the brains but you're what's keeping our men together."

"It was my pleasure, Your Majesty. However, on a grim view, even though I rallied them, that doesn't mean we are pushing the Greeks back any further."

King Priam nodded. "Yes, I am aware of the dire situation."

"Your Majesty, may I be excused?" I said not feeling exhausted and wanting to just get some sleep.

It wasn't a good sleep. It was full of nightmares. But the most horrible nightmare was when I woke up.