Page 78 of Axios
I yearned for security of home once more, of waking beside Eryx—not out in the open in unfamiliar land—but in our barracks. Our home. I missed training our youths, boys who now trained under another’s command.
For many years, I dreamed of leaving Sparta.
And now I just want to return.
Chapter Twenty
Battle of Olynthus
Teleutias summoned more warriors as we advanced farther north. Allies joined our cause and supplied soldiers, including Thebes who had refused to aid the other armies that had traveled through the area before us. Messengers were sent to Derdas, the Thracian king, requesting aid and he joined our campaign as well, bringing four hundred cavalry men with him.
When we finally reached Potidaea, our army included Spartan hoplites and men from Macedonia and Boeotia. The other Spartan army, commanded by Eudamidas, waited in the city as well and joined our ranks, raising our numbers to well over ten thousand men.
The night before the battle, I lay awake, knowing I should sleep but unable to. When I closed my eyes, I saw slaughter. Swords clashing against shields and spears piercing flesh as cries of war echoed all around.
Unlike other times when my mind reacted irrationally, that time it had purpose, for the images I saw in my mind’s eye was the reality of events sure to come. Not just foolish musings, but possibilities that awaited us.
Olynthus—where the battle would take place—was only an eight mile march from Potidaea. Once we awoke on the morrow and headed to war, it would not be long before we reached the gates of Olynthus… not long before I partook in my first battle.
Perhaps my last.
“Ax, I can sense you overthinking,” Eryx whispered, his breath tickling my nape. “Turn and face me.”
His words, along with the fear gathering in my gut and worries flooding my mind, reminded me of the morning of thediamastigosisfrom so long ago. I’d feared death that morning, but greater than death, I’d also feared failure—disgracing my father’s name in a meaningless blood sport.
I turned and looked at him. After a moment or two, my eyes adjusted in the dark and I was able to see him. The moon helped with my sight too, casting its light upon his face. A face that stared back at me with a creased brow and slightly parted lips.
What if he falls in battle?
Death only frightened me because it would take me from Eryx. I had told him that before, but that had been during a time when we were in Sparta, away from war—when we’d been boys, lying in the grass and only able to imagine the truth of what we spoke.
Our situation is different now.
“I fear losing you,” I confessed, feeling my eyes burn with the tears I kept at bay. “It is a thing I have said many times, but I fear it even more as we lay here, facing battle with the arrival of dawn.”
“You trust me, do you not?” he asked in a soft tone, moving his hand along my bare stomach and causing chills to spread from where his fingers caressed my sensitive skin. “If so, hear these words and hold them close whenever you are in the clutches of doubt. You and I willneverpart, my warrior. In this life and the next, we will be just as we have forever been: side by side. There is not a thing that can take me from you, neither the slashing of a sword nor the impalement from a spear, for I willalwaysfind you.”
The beautifully spoken words that fell from his lips were what I needed to chase away the unsettling thoughts—the hope and speck of light I had desperately sought.
“Swear it, Ery.”
He nuzzled his nose against mine before pulling back and taking my face into his hands. “By the gods, I swear it.”
We sealed the oath with a kiss, and I knew it was an indestructible thread that connected us, one that could not be severed. Not even from death.
***
The army stood about a mile from the city’s gates. Waiting. The cold morning licked along my skin, feeling like a sear from a flame. Yet, I was not bothered by it. There was a greater threat looming in the distance.
I’d been forged to tolerate any weather conditions, but war was another matter entirely. It was a thing that could be instructed on, but nothing could truly prepare one for what it actually entailed.
Teleutias and the other commanders worked out a plan of attack.
The Thracian king, Derdas, formed his men on the left side, along with the Spartans commanded under Teleutias, and they faced the city gate. The rest of the Spartan army and the Theban and Macedonia allies formed on the right side.
“Spartans!” Polycharmus, one of our cavalry commanders, shouted as he rode his horse before us, up and down the line. He had dark hair and his beard was long and black, braided and tied off at the end. “Take a look at the cloak you wear upon your backs. Do you know why we choose red? It is so our enemies do not see us bleed. We are gods in their eyes. Powerful. Invincible.”
Roars and chants erupted within our ranks. The men hit the ground with their spears over and over again, creating a chorus of rumbles like drums of war.
