Inferno Ascended

Everything swayed around Glax, and when the last remnants of the potent medusa poison ceased to take effect, his sword fell from his hand on the ship's deck. Glax bent his suddenly weak knees and wiped away the stubborn tears of anger, frustration and... anger and frustration, basically.

With a glance, he realized they were laughing at him. Discreetly, since he was the damn champion of Armorion. He was back on the ship going to Thepomesos. It was there that they threw him when it was over.

He couldn't interfere with anything that was done after the events in the mausoleum, and he just remembered that Nikandros threw a bucket of dirty water at him. 'That asshole. He could have killed me if my sword was energized.'

The old man had done this to wake him up, diss him, threaten him, and only stopped because the archigeos arrived.

Demophon also laughed when he saw Glax and Rasmus, both paralysed, but he wanted explanations.

Proctius told what he knew - Glax even discovered that another raiding party was found inside the mausoleum. Two men managed to escape, and one was taken for questioning. The man with the mechanical eye, they said.

"Did this scum reach the capital?! Are you going to do something, general, or do I have to ask someone else?! Sweep your feelings out of the way to find out which route they used and what to do to cut it. Or if you can't, someone else will take charge of it!"

Nikandros wasn't in Glax's field of vision, but Alexander and Proctius were right in front of him. The Fury remained unmoved, but Alexander was nervous. Soon after, it was his turn to provide clarifications.

And he snapped,

"The champion was sure they would try to steal Chriseis, if they hadn't already done so. That's why he came back. And it was good he was there, because after Captain Proctius had beaten the minotaur, the gorgon would have paralyzed him next."

Proctius' eyebrows suddenly became heavy.

"Why did you go there, captain?"

"I went there as a favor for Guardian Iasos, brother of Lady Chriseis. He's investigating the strange events after the general's death. And the seals for protection of the mausoleum have been broken."

"The body was stolen!" said Alexander quickly. "When we got there, the body was no longer there."

"The body was not stolen. I hid it." Old Nikandros finally confessed.

"WHAT?!" The archigeos yelled, exasperated at his brother. "What is the point of this? Won't the poor girl have peace?!"

"To be quite honest, this is exactly what th..." Alexandre was opening his mouth to talk about Hermes, but he looked at Glax and changed his speech. "That worried Glax. He said he was dreaming about her spirit, asking him to do the rites..."

'What a liar. Come on, keep it up,' Glax scoffed internally.

Alexandre probably knew his family very well.

"You must return her, Nikandros." The archigeos demanded.

"No. I hid her. After the due time I will return the divine arm to the gods, as my offering to them..."

The subject made everyone in the room uncomfortable, and Glax wanted to scream in anger. Now he was sure that Nikandros was lying and had strange plans for Chriseis.

Proctius was looking down, and Alexander looked concerned.

"I don't wish to be forced and interfere with that, brother. She was your daughter. But this is going too far." The archigeos was uncomfortable and didn't want to put pressure on his brother. It was obvious. But he knew things were not as they were being said.

"As you said, it's my damn fucking business and a lot of people are interfering. Let me do it my way. I always take care of all my responsibilities, in one way or another. Don't I?"

There was a silence, and Demophon finally agreed. "Okay, Nikandros. You will be responsible for all of this, and I hope you know the consequences."

Nikandros just grunted, and came to stand in front of Glax,

"Now what am I supposed to do with the man who defected on his first day in the Echelian army?"

"I agree it's a serious fault." The archigeos sounded grave.

"And the example that he set for his son?! Hmp, he may be a good warrior, but he is certainly not a good soldier."

'This is worse than a parent's high school reunion,' Glax agonized, recollecting the weird moments when he was forced to listen to the adults discussing his achievements and setbacks.

Alexander advocated for his cause, or rather, in the cause of both;

"When we returned to the mausoleum, Lord Glax taught me several useful things with his actions. He is as wise as the famous Odysseus, skilled, and certainly loved by the gods. In addition, we have a deadline to check in at Marbium!"

"Shut up, Alexandre, don't overdo it," his father said, and the boy immediately obeyed. "Glax has yet to prove it all. If it's not a big problem, he can go back to his duties now, since he now understands that Chriseis will be guarded by his father."

"Pfff, you are spoiling your son, Demophon!" Nikandros accused.

"It looks like our kids have the same bad taste, and his name is Glax. It's decided. Glax has a second chance if he can make it to Marbium on time."

If that was an affront to the archigeos for his brother's insane whim toward his dead daughter, Glax didn't even know if he should thank him. From Proctius's subtle and disapproving reaction, it seemed to have been a great waiver, indeed.

But when Demophon called his son to talk alone in another room, Nikandros approached, making a point of running the wheel over Glax's foot.

"Listen here, you insolent little prick, this is the last time I say it: dare to bring shame to this house and you will regret being born. I just want to hear your name and see your face - half face - when you do something worthy for the clan. If you leave your post, you are DEAD!"

That was how it had been. After washing his head and face with the help of a bucket, and replacing his mask, Glax went to Alexander, who had been watching over him since they boarded.

Now that he had control of his muscles, he felt an intense cold. He looked for a cloak in his personal belongings the boy took care of, and kept the sword the god had lent him.

"Thanks for your help, Alexandre."

The boy scratched his chin with a smile, and got up from where he was sitting. "Hey, what could I do after you spare me of being a statue for a day?"

Glax had been loaded like a statue onto the boat, and he wouldn't soon forget that blunder. It was late afternoon - an entire day had passed while they were sailing north.

"Any news about Rasmus?"

"Ah, nothing happened to him. The Rhoas wasn't on duty that day."

"I'm talking about his paralysis." It was a relief to know that Rasmus would not be punished, however.

"He must have recovered, shouldn't he? His family picked him up." Alexandre shrugged. "At least we know what's going on. My uncle is going to regret what he's doing. What do you intend to do?" he asked quietly.

Glax sighed, because he didn't really know. "As I understand it, those creatures we fought with ... they came from far away for that, didn't they?"

"Yes, these non-human tribes live beyond Erimos. I don't understand, though... Why are they involved in this? I mean, Chriseis fought in Thepomesos and the plundering tribes had to retreat, but that happened a long time ago."

"Victum. Does that word make sense to you?" Glax asked, assuming he could trust Alexandre to ask about it. The place the Mech-Eye mentioned in his threatening letter.

"They say it's a big city in Erimos. And also a river in the capital of Stygia, Hylon." The boy took a map out of his belongings and showed it to Glax.

The Valosian smiled. He was going to the troubled region, very close to the border with Erimo.

"Why are you smiling? Glax, you are an Aegeon, you must show up at Marbium!!!"

"I won't turn my back on the intervention of the archigeos himself, Alexandre." Glax calmed the boy's fears. "But you said yourself that Chriseis feared the prosthesis. And I have hints that something terrible happened at Victum, involving my wife and that Mech Eyed man. He brought friends from Erimos for several kilometers inside the enemy territory, to get revenge on Chriseis ... or to take the mechanical arm from her. I couldn't talk to him, and I don't think he just wanted to pay homage to her. I want to find out what's behind all this, and why Hermes needs this soul orb in particular."

Alexandre nodded, showing that he understood. "We'll arrive at the Thepomesos at dawn, I was told."

This time it was Glax who nodded, realizing how tired the boy looked. "I think now it's your turn to sleep. As you know, I had little to do while I was paralyzed." It was a lie. He was exhausted.

"I'm going to sleep, yes, but I have something to tell you. I overheard conversations here and there about Marbium ... I think we should be concerned."

TO BE CONTINUED