4. CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FOUR
Leukos
T he nightmares had returned, filled with flashes of blood stains, blank stares, and the quiet halls of the palace.
Too quiet.
Visions of a terrible morning that had haunted Leukos’ mind ever since he was a child.
Startled awake, Leukos jolted and cursed. Another rough encounter between the cartwheel and a stone on the road sent one of the sacks stuffed with wool tumbling over his legs. Pushing it aside, Leukos stretched and rolled his stiff shoulders. He’d been sitting against a wooden plank amid the sacks for two days now, rocking back and forth and with only his thoughts for company.
The shepherd he’d been fortunate to encounter on the road leading out of Thracia sat up front with his daughter, guiding the two mules that pulled the cart. They’d taken him with them in exchange for a few coins. With some luck, the stench of the mules and unwashed wool would be enough to throw the Blood Wolf—a feared Rasennan tracker, one of the best, who used his Gift with wolves to capture his prey—off his scent.
He’d narrowly escaped the Thracian village where he and the other Megarian rebels had taken refuge after their presence had been reported to the Rasennan patrolling soldiers.
They’d lost two rebels in the scuffle—two Megarian warriors who’d followed Leukos from the beginning. Good men whose lands had been confiscated by Rasennan soldiers after the Empire had invaded Megara, and who’d sought to fight back ever since.
Leukos had been numb to it all. He’d known the two men for years, and yet he’d accepted their deaths with detached indifference.
Pain, grief… such strong emotions no longer registered with him. Not since that fateful morning ten years ago. His heart had frozen over then like a block of ice, and he’d grown into the hollow shell of a man.
A man haunted by ghosts and with only one thought in mind: revenge.
After the Rasennan attack, the rebels had scattered in the wild, promising to reunite at one of their hidden camps, but the fate of the Megarian rebellion seemed bleak against the might of the Empire.
Still, Leukos would not stop—he could not stop until he’d fulfilled his vow.
The midday sun bore down upon him as he sat back against the hard wooden plank of the rocking wagon. The shepherd had skirted the Empire’s outposts, following a well-trodden path without ever coming too close to the legion camp that sullied the valley—which suited Leukos. He needed to keep a low profile more than ever now that he was alone. He hoped Theo and the other rebels had found their way to the camp the scouts had set up north of Eluvia. If he’d had any faith in the gods, he’d have prayed night and day for Nisos.
Leukos had been the one to start the Megarian rebellion after Rasennan soldiers had killed his family. He’d spent the following years gathering support from scattered warriors and Achaean allies, but Nisos had been part of the king’s personal guard—a Silver Shield. He held more knowledge about military strategy than Leukos’ twenty years could ever hope for. And he wasn’t the only one. Pelagios, a brawny warrior with a thick beard whom Leukos had known his whole life, was also a Silver Shield who’d joined the rebellion.
Both men had fought the legions their whole lives and knew how and when to strike at them. Nisos had been the one to plan an attack against a legion mining camp where they’d rescued Elishat, one of the rebel scouts. He’d mapped out their route through a heavily patrolled Achaea as they met their allies in secret. And it was also Nisos who’d known how to evade the Blood Wolf.
Nisos’ latest ploy had consisted of switching clothes with Leukos to confuse the tracker’s wolves and their sense of smell. They’d gone their separate ways, Leukos heading north through the Thracian mountain passes while Nisos followed the Dalmatian coastline. With any luck, the Silver Shield had lured the Blood Wolf and then managed to evade him. If anyone could outwit the Rasennan tracker and his wolves, it was Nisos.
Even as doubts about the rebellion’s prospects clouded his thoughts, Leukos had little choice but to find his way back without getting caught. For better or for worse, he was their leader, and he had vowed to bring down the Emperor. The ghosts of his past would not rest until they were avenged.
The cart ascended a ridge, and a glittering river came into view below, winding through the valley where clusters of wooden huts nestled. Men and women milled about the golden fields surrounding the villages while others tended to cattle.
The mules made their way down the narrow dirt path, halting upon their arrival at the nearest village. Leukos grabbed his satchel, checked his sword hidden beneath his cloak, and hopped off the back of the cart.
The farmer’s daughter, Cora, jumped down to meet him while her father remained seated, reins in hand.
“You could come with us.” She closed in on Leukos, hope shining in her light brown eyes. “Our home is only another day’s ride. You could rest for a while before continuing your journey.”
Her silent invitations had grown less and less subtle with each passing day, but he’d ignored her as he did with most women who approached him. If they knew the horrors that plagued his dreams, would they still smile so prettily at him? Would they try to engage him in conversation with hidden intentions?
When he didn’t answer, she reached out to touch his arm, but he pulled away.
“Thank you for the offer, but I can’t afford any detours,” he said. “I’m still a long way from Eluvia.”
He’d spun an all-too-common tale of travelling to rejoin a distant family in the west after his village had burned down in Thracia.
Her expression fell. “Oh… so won’t we see you again?”
“Cora.” The shepherd shifted in his seat, his sharp gaze taking in the exchange between them. “It’s time to go. We’re losing the light.”
The girl pouted but did as she was told and hopped back onto the bench beside her father.
“Goodbye, Chrestos,” she said. It was the fake name he’d chosen to give them. Then, leaning forward, she added in a softer voice, “May the Messenger guide you on your travels.”
Thankfully, no one else was close enough to hear them. The Empire had outlawed any mention or worship of the Achaean Twelve, under threat of punishment.
Leukos nodded, thanked the shepherd for his aid, and headed to the village for a meal. After paying a blacksmith a hefty sum for a sturdy mare, he set off north. He followed the river winding its way between the mountains like a snake. It would take him not far from the Noricum province, then west to Eluvia.
Days of travel on horseback lay ahead before Leukos reached his destination, but he didn’t mind the solitude. After all, since the morning that plagued his dreams, he’d been alone most of his life.
Two days later, he was being followed.
Deep within the woods, a horse whickered in the distance. Twice.
It had been close enough that the nearby waters of the river hadn’t quite drowned out the sound. He’d thought the Blood Wolf had caught up to him at last, but he’d seen no sign of wolves and without a doubt, the tracker would have sent them first.
If an enemy was following him, he had to deal with them now in the forest while they were alone to avoid being seen by passing patrols.
Leaving his mare to drink by the river’s edge, Leukos climbed up a sturdy oak tree, with branches thick enough to support his weight. Each gnarled knot and groove provided leverage as he ascended until he reached a height where the trail came into clear view. Among the dense foliage concealing him, the air carried the crisp scent of early summer leaves.
In quiet anticipation, he waited until a chestnut horse emerged from between the trees, bearing a woman. She was dressed in riding leathers, adorned with the pelt of a leopard upon her shoulders. Two sheathed daggers dangled from her belt, while a bow was slung across her back.
She stopped a few paces in front of the oak tree and glanced right up at Leukos.
He gritted his teeth. How had she spotted him so easily?
Upon further inspection, the woman seemed to be twice Leukos’ age, and a bandage covered one of her eyes. The other one seemed to glitter with an ethereal light, like a star in the night sky.
Only one type of female warrior had Gifted eyes that shimmered a pale silver—Amazons. Their patron goddess, the Huntress, Gifted them all with the same glittering eyes that gave them formidable skill in combat. Leukos still remembered all the facts he’d learned about them as a child. Memories from a time untainted by death and ruin.
Amazons had once been Megara’s ally in the fight against the Empire, but Leukos couldn’t fathom why one would seek him out now. The ones who’d survived the Emperor’s trackers were in hiding and had refused to join any rebellion.
“You can come down now,” the Amazon called out.
After some hesitation, Leukos climbed down from the tree but kept his distance. His hand hovered close to his sword.
The Amazon cocked her head, her entangled dark brown hair falling over her shoulder. She pushed it back with a flick of her hand and observed him with keen interest from atop her horse. After a moment, she gave a long whistle. “Well, aren’t you the handsome one? It’s no wonder that shepherd’s daughter wanted to take you home with her.”
He brushed off her comment with a dismissive silence, accustomed to such remarks over the years. Most people, women especially, failed to see beyond his outward appearance.
What concerned him more was her mention of the shepherd’s daughter. Exactly how long had she been following him?
“Who are you?” he demanded at last, frustration slipping into his voice. He needed to keep moving while the sun was up, yet her presence piqued his interest.
“My name’s Phoebe.” She didn’t offer any further information.
He narrowed his eyes. “What do you want?”
The intensity of his glare had most people scurrying away from him, but she held her ground. “I came to warn you.” Her matter-of-fact tone reminded Leukos of Nisos. The Silver Shields always spoke to the point. “The Blood Wolf wasn’t fooled by your little trick, pretty boy. He’s headed your way.”
Leukos stiffened before scouring the trees as if the tracker was already upon him. “How do you know?”
Phoebe shrugged. “I saw him with my own eyes… well, eye.”
Had Nisos failed to lure the Blood Wolf his way? Had he been captured? Leukos didn’t dare ask until he knew more about the Amazon’s intentions. Without another word, he went to his horse, grazing by the river, and jumped atop its back.
The Amazon, Phoebe, was still watching him.
Waiting.
“Why would an Amazon travel all this way just to warn me?” he asked.
It made no sense to him. Before tracking their rebel group, the Blood Wolf had hunted Amazons, capturing or killing dozens of them by order of Emperor Caius. All Amazons knew to stay far out of his reach if they wanted to stay alive. And yet this Amazon had willingly gone near the Rasennan tracker and put herself in danger.
Why?
Phoebe adjusted the bow at her back and rolled her neck. “The goddess who sent me asked me to keep a close eye on you.”
Out of all the possibilities, the involvement of an immortal surprised him the most. “The Huntress sent you to watch over me?”
“Not the Huntress.”
He kept his emotions in check, although her answer caught him off guard. The Achaean Twelve were gone. And the Amazons didn’t care for any of them, except for the Huntress. “Then who?”
Her response was delayed, her lips shaping into a secretive smile. “What do you care? From what I’ve observed, you’re not much for worshipping.”
“I have my reasons.”
The Sea God had done nothing to save Megara. And the North Wind had let Rasennan assassins kill his mother in the dead of night. Why should he worship them when they’d so easily forsaken their most devoted followers?
The Amazon’s smile grew wider. “And yet, despite it all, they seem to care a great deal about you, pretty boy.”
He doubted it, yet he didn’t like the knowing look in her eye. As if she could unravel all the secrets he’d worked so hard to conceal.
“Why?” he finally asked.
“Who knows? But I’m here now and can help you escape the tracker.”
His frown deepened. “I can handle him myself.”
She arched an eyebrow. “Are you that arrogant to refuse my help?”
Leukos didn’t honour that with a response—because it was true, he didn’t need anyone’s help—and turned his mare around back onto the forest trail. He’d wasted enough time. If the Blood Wolf was tracking him again, he needed to keep moving.
Behind him, the Amazon snorted. “Of course you are.”
He galloped away and breathed a sigh of relief when she didn’t pursue.
Leukos tried to put the strange encounter with the Amazon to the back of his mind. But the next day, as he cooked over the small campfire he’d lit close to the forest edge, she found him again.
“You’re going the wrong way,” she announced, emerging on foot from between the trees like some angry dryad. Her horse followed at her back then veered off to go graze beside Leukos’ mare.
Leukos’ attention returned to the rabbit skewered on a stick, roasting over the fire. “I’ve been heading north for days. The Blood Wolf can’t have overtaken me.”
“The Blood Wolf isn’t the only danger in these parts.”
If she meant Rasennan patrols or brigands, Leukos could handle them. He was used to such encounters after travelling through Achaea for most of his teenage years. Yet he said nothing, hoping his cold attitude might discourage the Amazon.
Instead, she laid down her leopard’s pelt and sat across from him. Up close, the firelight revealed an array of thin scars adorning her arms. “Why do you refuse my help?”
Leukos raised his head to meet her lone shimmering eye. “I don’t trust you.”
She scoffed and leaned back on her hands with an amused expression. “If I wanted you dead, you’d be dead already.”
“Is that supposed to reassure me?” His attention shifted to his sheathed sword, which lay atop his discarded cloak a few feet away. He should have kept it closer.
The Amazon’s lips curled at the sides. “I’ve pledged myself to the Achaean goddess who sought my help. I am bound by honour to keep you safe, whether you like it or not.”
Achaean goddess? It couldn’t be. She was either misinformed or lying.
Either way, his patience ran thin. Did she plan on following him all the way to Eluvia? He didn’t know what the Amazon wanted with him or why she insisted a goddess had sent her to him, but he needed to get rid of her. He didn’t need her help, and travelling with an Amazon at his side would only draw attention—the kind he didn’t need.
He turned the stick in his hands with more force than necessary. “And as I made clear, I don’t care about the gods.”
“Careful,” the Amazon warned, her tone sobering as she glanced up at the darkening sky. “They might be listening.”
“Stop talking about them as if they are still here!” he snapped, unable to contain his ire any longer. “They haven’t been seen in years. The Rasennans destroyed so many of their temples after the invasion that they’re no doubt dead. No one is listening and no one is coming.”
Her lone eye narrowed and roved over his face, suggesting his words might have struck a chord with her at last. That they might even be enough to convince her to leave him alone.
Instead, she kicked out her legs in front of her, the flames casting elongated shadows across the forest floor. “That’s not how it works.”
He glanced up from his roasting meal. “What?”
“That’s not how it works, how the gods remain alive.” Her words hang in the night air like a riddle to be solved and her annoying, secretive little smile returned. “For someone who grew up at the Megarian court surrounded by tutors, you seem to know very little about the immortals. It’s not about the temples, but our faith and belief. As long as some continue to believe in them and make offerings, the gods are never truly gone.”
Leukos’ father had once said something similar, but delving into memories of his deceased family never ended well.
“And if you know their true name,” the Amazon continued in a smug tone, “you can summon them. Even force them into a pact to gain a Gift.”
She stared at him from across the crackling campfire, looking far too pleased with herself, and Leukos wanted to throttle her. Every child throughout the Empire knew about the Gifts. You were either Gifted by a patron god or you made a significant enough offering and hoped for the best unless you knew the god’s true name. Then the pact was sealed no matter what.
He forced a breath through his nose, but the cool night air did little to quell his frustration. “The gods’ names are long forgotten,” he argued. “The priests kept them secret and now they’re all dead.”
“Well, the Empire’s invasion of Achaea doesn’t sit right with the Achaean Twelve, I’m told.” Sitting up, she leaned closer to the fire, its glow illuminating her determined features. “They want to help.”
Leukos scoffed. “They’re ten years too late.”
With a shake of her head, Phoebe pulled back, muttering something under her breath that sounded like “Huntress save me” and seized the waterskin from her belt. She quenched her thirst with hearty gulps, water trickling down her chin in a manner somewhat undignified for an Amazon. It made Leukos doubt whether the Achaean artists who had drawn their portraits had been at all accurate.
“So much anger against the gods.” She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. “What have they ever done to you?”
The image of his mother’s lifeless body, pale and lying in a pool of her own blood, flashed before his eyes. His stomach soured. “I’m from Megara. What do you think?”
Her expression softened, and he couldn’t bear to look at it. “The massacre wasn’t their fault.”
“I don’t want to talk about it.” The echoes of past horrors reverberated in his mind, but he kept his focus on the skewered rabbit, pulling it from the fire before unsheathing a dagger.
“Leukos—”
He didn’t know how she knew his name, but in that moment, he didn’t care. “Either hold your tongue or leave.”
The warning in his voice snapped between them like a whip. When she didn’t answer, he turned his attention back to his meal, slicing off some juicy meat with his blade.
They travelled north together.
Or rather, Leukos rode north, and the Amazon followed at a distance. She was never visible to the eye, but hovered on the periphery of his awareness, the rhythmic sound of her horse’s smooth gait echoing in the distance at times.
They journeyed along rocky mountain paths and lush green valleys, and still, there was no sign of the Blood Wolf. Soon, Leukos began to question whether the Amazon was mistaken or had simply lied to him. He was following yet another forest trail among a carpet of brambles and ferns when he decided to confront her and halted, waiting for her horse to catch up.
When he peered over his shoulder, a wolf stood between two birch trees in the distance.
Leukos froze. One grey wolf in the wild meant nothing… And besides, it soon disappeared in the foliage.
But then a moment later, another appeared.
Closer, this time.
“Scouts,” the Amazon called out, appearing at a trot. “They’ll report back to the Blood Wolf. He must not be far.”
As much as Leukos wanted to confront the tracker and be rid of him once and for all, he also knew it wasn’t wise. Besides his pack of wolves, the Blood Wolf was often accompanied by soldiers. Facing them alone could prove challenging and he didn’t trust the Amazon to help, not to mention he’d promised Nisos to avoid any altercation.
Leukos wheeled his mare around, scouring the dense foliage for any hint of movement. “I’m heading back to the river. Once I cross it, he’ll lose my trail.”
It was a risky move, but he had little choice.
“No.” The Amazon jerked her head towards the trail winding through the trees. “If we keep heading through the forest, we’ll come across the river again. I know the area. It’s quicker this way.”
She spurred her horse into a gallop before Leukos could object, leaving him cursing under his breath. After pondering his two options, he decided to follow her. At least he’d soon be able to discern whether she was reliable or not.
They rode through the towering beech and oak trees, sunlight casting dappled shadows on the forest floor. They didn’t stop until they reached a ridge that overlooked the meandering river below. A well-worn path stretched out ahead. Beyond, a dozen wagons pulled by aurochs were gathered in a circle to camp for the night. At its centre, dozens of people converged.
Leukos’ heart stopped. Despite the distance, the haunting cries of women and children and the distinct sound of whips cracking made it clear what they’d stumbled upon—a slavers’ caravan.
Leukos lurched his horse back, and Phoebe silently pointed to a cluster of fallen trees blanketed in moss and ferns, providing a natural cover for them. When they reached it, she dismounted, her expression dire.
“Slavers,” she confirmed.
From atop his mare, Leukos searched for another path. “We can’t stay, not with the Blood Wolf at our back.”
The Amazon took a seat, leaning against a trunk. “The horses need rest. Let’s stop for a moment and then follow the ridge. Hopefully, it’ll skirt around the slavers.”
She had a point. Begrudgingly, Leukos dismounted and reached for his waterskin. He found it empty.
“Here, you can have some of mine.” Phoebe threw her leather pouch at him, and he swiftly caught it. “We’ll fill them again once we reach the river.”
Leukos nodded, too thirsty to protest. He took a sip and settled down beside her.
They sat in silence, Phoebe cleaning her fingernails with the tip of her dagger while Leukos kept watch on the surrounding foliage for any sign of danger.
Exhaustion tugged at his senses, and Leukos stifled a yawn. Next to him, Phoebe gave him a rueful smile that left him perturbed.
“I know you said you can handle yourself,” she said, standing up to retrieve a dark blue cloak from one of her saddle bags, “but I can’t take that risk.”
Leukos frowned, wondering what she meant until a numbing sensation took hold of his limbs, turning them soft like melting wax. “What… What did you do to me?”
She knelt before him, plucking the waterskin from his hands and pouring the rest of the water onto the ground. “What needed to be done. It’s for the best, trust me.”
“Trust you?!”
He never should have accepted anything from her. She’d drugged him the first chance she’d got, and the gods only knew what she’d do to him next.
She unbuckled the sheathed sword at his hip and then his dagger. “You’re a farmer from one of the villages the slavers just raided, looking for his wife,” she explained.
Leukos blinked at her. “What?”
She let out an impatient sound. “I’ll find a way for the slavers to stumble upon you while you sleep, so make sure to play along once you wake up. The Blood Wolf will lose your scent among the mass of slaves, and you’ll be safe until you reach your friends. I mean, you’ll be enslaved, but at least you’ll be safe from the Emperor for a while.”
“Safe?!” he spat out and Phoebe recoiled at the chill in his tone. “Was this your plan all along? The Twelve take you! I’d rather confront the Blood Wolf myself than become a slave. Nisos didn’t trade places with me so that I could hide like a coward—”
“Nisos is dead!” Phoebe exclaimed, genuine emotion underlying her voice. “He’s dead , Leukos. The Blood Wolf tied him to a tree and cut him to pieces like he’s done to so many of my Amazon sisters before him.”
Dread coiled like a serpent in Leukos’ gut, Phoebe’s words ringing in his ears like a haunting echo.
Nisos was dead? He searched her face for any hint of uncertainty but found none.
“I saw it with my own eye,” Phoebe confirmed.
It seemed unfathomable. Nisos was a battle-hardened warrior, a force to be reckoned with. He’d been so adamant, so convinced that he could outmanoeuvre the Blood Wolf… that they would all see each other again.
Twelve be damned, how many more deaths would it take to free Achaea from the Empire’s rule? How many more until he stopped the Emperor and made him pay for what he’d done to his family?
He opened his mouth to ask more, but the effects of the drug were already making him drowsy. The surrounding forest became a mosaic of indistinct shapes and colours.
A strong hand grasped his arm and he struggled to pull away.
Phoebe’s hard expression emerged from the haze. Beads of sweat glistened on her brow, mingling with the dirt marring her skin. The bandage encircling her head was in dire need of changing. Once again, Leukos wondered who had sent her and why.
“Stop squirming and let me put this cloak on. It’ll mask your scent.” She wrapped the cloak around his shoulders and Leukos felt his strength slip away, his eyelids growing heavy.
“Don’t give up on the rebellion just yet.” The Amazon’s voice cut through the fog of sleep, her words hovering in the air.
Leukos pictured Theo, Pelagios and Xanthos waiting for him at the rebel camp, their support unwavering even in the face of his misgivings.
“Help is on the way. You’ll meet her soon… the goddess said so.”
Who? The question clawed its way from the depths of Leukos’ waning consciousness. Who would he meet?
But darkness swept in instead, a silent wave pulling him under.