Page 137 of Axios
“No. I will not leave you,” I spoke, shaking my head. “If we are to die, we do so together. You have always been by my side, and that is how it will forever be.”
Until the end.
A scream tore my attention from Eryx. Haden roared and hacked at the men nearest him. Frantic and war hungry. Upon a closer look, I saw the tears streaming down his cheeks. My stomach lurched as I searched for my other companions.
Quill.
He knelt on the grass, his head lolling forward as blood gushed from his opened neck. He wasn’t dead yet, but he was close.
I screamed and tried to go to him, but Eryx gripped my arm and yelled at me. I did not hear his words through my shouts.
“Quill!” I bellowed, thrashing against Eryx’s hold.
“There is nothing you can do for him now, Ax!”
It didn’t stop me from trying. As I watched him die, memories tormented me.
Quill—smiling as he ran up to us with food he’d stolen concealed in his cloak. How he’d jested about me making too much noise while bedding Eryx. Theon grinning as he and Quill mocked and pushed each other. All of the laughs and joys of brotherhood seemed so far away in that moment.
A soldier drew near him and swung his sword, taking Quill’s head off.
“No!”
Cries ripped from my throat, and I looked away, unable to bear the sight of Quill’s dead body. My vision blurred with tears, but then my sadness turned to an irrepressible rage.
Something took control of me after that.
I cut through the enemy hoplites as if they were nothing more than the tall grass that grew in the fields back home. Grass Eryx and I had once run through, laughing, as we went to our stream—the one place where everything else in the world had drifted away, leaving only us two.
It was a life we’d never again have.
Theban blood sprayed my arms and chest as I sliced into their flesh, and the feel of it only maddened me further. One man slain turned into five men. Ten. A dozen. I eventually lost count.
I caught a glimpse of King Cleombrotus. He still lay on the grass, and even though he appeared pale and weakened by blood loss, he remained conscious.
For now.
“Eryx,” I spoke after blocking another attack. “He needs help.”
“Haden, Demetrius, Cassius!” Eryx called out.
Haden was the only one not in reaching distance. He heard Eryx, though, and jabbed his shield into the side of one man’s head before pulling it free and dashing over.
“You three are to take the king back to camp immediately,” Eryx ordered, straightening his stance and staring at them with an authoritative look. “Understood?”
Warmth settled in my chest. Our fates might have been sealed, but our friends could still be spared.
Demetrius gaped at him. Blood trickled from a cut on his forehead, but he looked fine apart from that. His worried gaze flickered to me.
“It needs to be done,” I said, reassuring him.
Cassius did not look pleased at the news, but he nodded.
Haden, however, snarled, “What? And leave you and Axios here to fight? Never.”
“Do not argue with me,” Eryx growled, stepping toward Haden and glaring up at him. “I am your leader and you will do as I say. Save the king. That’s an order.”
“Eryx…” Haden shook his head, pleading with his eyes. “Do not ask this of me. Please.”
