Chapter 1.8

Ax

I was pissed off, but I did my best not to show it. This was hands down the worst thing I’d ever seen in my life. I’d seen abject poverty, gang violence, and drugged out kids. Kabiri had helped us climb out of that cesspool, and I’d made something of myself with it. But I had never seen a slaughter like this before. Well, if I’d had to build from nothing before, I could do it again. I just needed to get everyone organized. Three men, one boy, and four women. We could do this.

I rallied everyone together. The boy, Alector, and his mother, Hegesandra, were tasked with locating all the bodies. The other village woman, Danae, I set to help Xene and Latona with washing the bodies for the funeral. I set Karson to putting out the fires, while Damon and I began moving bodies. We lined them up respectfully next to the deep burning pit that we’d been at only a few days before. When Alector and Hegesandra checked in again, it was clear that the village was a total loss. Every home was damaged to some degree, most were burned to the ground. All of the villagers were accounted for, and only those with us had survived. I sent them back to the woodpile to start hauling wood. We would probably use most of the stockpile to do this right.

We worked hard throughout the afternoon, but were unable to finish before dark. We gathered in the women’s quarters of Erxandros’ house, the least damaged room in the village. No one had much appetite, but I managed to force a chunk of bread down. It was important to eat something, even if it wasn’t much, to keep my strength up. I had a feeling I would need every bit of it I could muster.

It took all the way until the next afternoon to prepare all the bodies, then lay them out in the firepit. We lined the pit with huge amounts of wood, laid the bodies to rest, and then covered them with even more wood. A supply of olive oil had been located, so we drenched the pit with it as best we could, before I used my cast a column of fire into the pit. I poured mana into it until the mana pools in my batteries were nearly drained. Latona stood at the front of the villagers, bathed and dressed in a dark-colored peplos and wearing a dark brown cloak. She was dry eyed as she watched the fire burn away everyone she’d known and loved.

The next morning, I went out to do spear drill with Damon, to find Karson already stretching and warming up. Alector and Latona both walked over right after, looking uncertain.

“What’s up?” I asked them. Phrasing, dammit. Karson had warned me about that. “I mean, what’s going on?”

“We’re here to practice with you,” said Latona firmly.

“Alright,” I said easily. “Damon, you fixed the broken spears, right?”

“I did, but… she’s a woman,” he replied.

“So? Women die by the spear just as easily as men. She should be able to fight. Women are every bit as capable as men are.”

Damon seemed a bit shocked by the idea, but he wasn’t really ready to argue with me over it. I guessed that once he saw her learning, he’d see that she could do it. Once they were handed spears, it became obvious they hadn’t a clue what to do with them. That was fair, seeing as I’d only been using a spear for a couple days myself. Damon was a good sport, and walked them through the proper way to hold a spear, how to position their feet, and how to move with them. We drilled the basics slowly, working hard to perfect the very minimum movements. We also practiced marching with a spear, propping it correctly on the shoulder so that the weight of the tip was counterbalanced so that you could move easily without being unduly burdened. Finally, we wrapped up with practicing a basic thrust.

“Latona,” I called at the end of the practice. “If you intend to learn the spear, you might want to start dressing as a warrior would.”

I pointed at her long peplos that went nearly down to her ankles. It was considered the appropriate clothing for a grown woman, but it had hampered her movements and her stance during the drill.

“Are you telling me to wear a men’s tunic?” she said with incredulity.

“I am. You can hardly wield a spear correctly if your knees are restricted.”

“I will give it thought,” she said doubtfully. It looked like Damon wasn’t the only one who was struggling with gender roles.

After a simple breakfast of bread and figs, it was time to take stock and prepare. Since everyone was gathered for food, it was the best time.

“Everyone, we cannot stay here,” I started. The villagers looked at each other as if they hadn’t even considered the notion. “The raiders may come back through, and there are too few of us remaining to rebuild. It is time to move on. Karsos and I are here to strike at the Cult of Kronos. You are welcome to get your own vengeance along with us, if you’d like. Or, when we get to a town, you can stay there while we move on. It is your choice. Only know that the gigante raids are just the beginning. A war has started, and we are building an army. We are taking the fight to him, no waiting for him to come after us.”

“I’m coming,” said Latona, her voice full of grim determination.

“I’ll go with my mistress,” said Xene.

“They killed my ya-ya. I’m going,” said Alector.

“I go with my son,” said Hegesandra.

“I’ll go,” said Danae quietly.

“Alright,” I said. “Then we need to see what we can salvage from the village. Did any of the carts survive? What food can we salvage? Clothing, knives, valuables, see if the raiders left anything at all.”

“We can check the big granary,” offered Latona. “It’s not in the village proper, so they might not have noticed it.”

“What is this?” I asked.

“The big granary is out in the middle of the fields. We store the grain and olives there to deliver to the basileus every fall. There are cattle and a big wagon.”

“That sounds like a good place to start. Karsos, Alector, Danae and Hegesandra, start here in the village. Get what you can and take it to Latona’s house. I’ll go with Latona and Xene to the granary.”

It was about a ten minute walk to the granary, through a big field of ripe wheat. The wheat was nearly up to my shoulder, with fat golden heads so full they looked ready to fall onto a plate of food. On the far side of the field was a large hill with a building protruding out of the far end. The walls were made of dried mud bricks and thick wooden posts, and a large fenced area stood next to it. Two oxen grazed in the pen, oblivious to the destruction that had happened nearby. They had horns protruding from the tops of their skulls curving forward, but the ends of the horns were sawed off and capped in copper. A massive, four-wheeled cart stood nearby. It had simple wooden wheels and a long wooden tongue extending out the front for the ox traces to be attached.

Latona pulled open one of the doors to the granary, to reveal a single big room that was significantly larger than I expected. The granary actually extended into the hill, giving the room a cool temperature and an earthy smell.

“In the fall, the basileus comes by with five or six wagons that we load up, and we load up our wagon to follow him. What’s left is ours. Some years, we’ve even been able to sell an extra wagonload or two,” said Latona. “The oxen and wagon belong to the basilius, but he leaves them with us so that we can be more productive.”

There were several canvas bags of grain, and a number of large jars of olives. I found a half bag of figs, and several jars of honey. Xene located a small bag of apricots that had turned bad. In the back was a box of grapes, probably part of the first harvest. We loaded everything into the wagon, along with a pile of wooden and stone tools, a large ox hide, and four bronze scythes.

Following Latona’s advice, we covered the wagon with a thick canvas cloth and tied it down, before walking back to the village. The wagon was rarely brought to the village, and only when the harvest was done. There was no track between the two. The only track leading away from the granary headed to the same Mycenaean road we had been walking towards the day before.

When we returned, Karsos pointed wearily at a pitifully small pile of goods and gave me his report. There was a box of coins, gathered from the dead gigantes and various hiding places that had been located around the village. A fair number had been found in a hiding spot in Latona’s house. There was a pile of bread, several clay jars of rough ground flour, some of it burnt, vegetables, figs, apricots and grapes. There was also enough clothing that everyone would be able to dress properly and have a thick traveling cloak. Then there was the armor taken from the dead gigantes, and their weapons. For some reason, the gigantes left their friends where they fell, as if touching their fallen brethren was sacrilegious or something.

I traded my thin belt for a thick one that had small pouches stitched into it, and noticed Karsos had already done the same. Otherwise, I took nothing. The pile was small enough that we would all be able to carry it all to the wagon.

Latona tugged on my hand, beckoning me to the burned men’s quarters. I followed, and she led me to a corner of the room where a burned rug lay across the floor. She pulled it back to expose the stone floor.

“I cannot lift this, but you can,” she said, pointing out a handhold in the stone floor.

“Sneaky,” I commented. I pulled the hidden trapdoor open, and it was very heavy. It was stone mortared against a heavy wooden door. Underneath was simply a hole in the ground filled with a big canvas bag. I pulled out the bag.

“My dowry,” she said sadly. “My contribution to the group.”

I handed it to her.

“Keep it,” I said. “You’ve contributed plenty.”

“Thank you,” she said, her eyes glassy with tears.

When we returned, Danae and Xene grabbed Latona, and they disappeared. Hegesandra made a cookfire and put a pot on it, chopping up vegetables and tossing them into the stew, along with some flour. By the time the women returned, the stew was bubbling and thick.

I was surprised to see Latona returning in a men’s chiton. She’d gathered it at both shoulders, and pinned it along the side as well. The fabric cloth had been intended for men, so instead of falling to mid-thigh as it would on me, it actually fell to her knees. Danae added to my surprise, however, by wearing the same. They both wore thick belts and sturdy sandals. Xene was dressed in a clean peplos, and all looked bathed and refreshed.

“I think we’ll be ready to leave in the morning,” said Karsos. “If you can make rings for everyone except Alector, I can enchant them with health.”

“We have enough leather,” said Xene. “I can make bracers for Alector, Latona and Danae. You will just need to add the iron and magic. If I can ride in the wagon, I can take that oxhide you found and make leather jerkins as well. It would be better if I boiled it to shape, but we’d need to stay here for another day or two.”

“Jerkins are good enough for now,” I said. “I’d rather get some distance between us and the gigantes.”

I settled down with the pile of gold and silver, systematically separating the electrum into silver and gold piles. I took the pure silver and formed rings, then fit them to the people who needed them. After I handed them off to Karsos, I took all of the coins and bits of gold and silver, and turned them all into double-Kappa drachmas. I also re-shaped the small silver obols, giving them the perfect circular shape and the double-Kappa stamp. It was always good to have small denominations when it came to money. In the pile, I found the five silver drachma that I had given to Xene. I picked them out and walked over to her.

“Can I speak with you for a moment, Xene?” I asked.

She checked with Latona, who nodded that she would be okay. We walked outside, and I held out the five coins.

“Xene, you earned these coins. They are yours, to do with as you wish.”

“What use do I have for money?” she spat out in a heated voice. “I lost my family to those monsters. Erxandros and Genoisa bought me off a trader when I was a girl, as a companion for Latona. They treated me well, clothed me as if I were a daughter instead of a slave, and gave me my best friend in the world. He even let me learn a trade. The slaver who sold me was a horrible man, always shouting and had a heavy hand. Erxandros was kind, spare with punishment and quick with praise. When Klymene became his second wife, she treated me well also. And Polybius, poor Polybius. He was a good boy, and would have made a good husband for Latona. He was much like Erxandros. All of this is now gone. And you offer me coins?” She gave a harsh laugh. “No, do not give me coins. Give me my family back. Failing that, give me the heads of those who did it. I don’t want money. I want their blood.”

I was taken aback for a moment at her outburst, but it was a sentiment I understood, through and through.

“Karsos and I were raised by Kabiri. Kabiri had been a criminal. A thief and dealer. He was caught and punished. Once he finished his punishment, he spent his life convincing other criminals that they should become good men and women. He helped countless people find a better life. Before we came to this place, he was murdered by the Cult of Kronos. The Titan behind those actions is the one who sent the gigantes. Karsos and I want our pound of flesh. You want blood? Then stay with us. There will be plenty of blood, I swear it.”

“You’re not demigods, are you,” she said.

“No, we’re not. We’re mortal and angry.”

“You’re magoi. You have power. I have nothing, can do nothing. How do I get my blood?”

“No warrior can fight without food, weapons and armor. No warrior can fight without someone to help them. You already know about leatherworking. Put it to work. Help us make better armor, better weapons. Make us the tools we need. You are a craftswoman, skilled and capable. Help us, and you will get your blood.”

“Then you have my promise to the gods,” she said solemnly. “I will help you armor yourselves, so that you may rend my enemies to death. So I swear to Zeus the lawgiver.”