The sky had turned clear again, when back down by the seaside the mermaids were set free of the chains that had held them prisoner on that rock for what had felt to them like an eternity. The three ladies shed tears of happiness as they swam deep in the clear waters of the ocean for the first time after so long. Daniel watched Nemo as he rejoiced with Eleanor and the other two former queens. It was good to see his friend so happy again. Nemo had been sad for a long time after Eleanor’s departure from Endërland.
Right then, he could not help but think of his own family. He had no idea where Serena was, or even if she was alive. He’d set out on a crazy mission, looking for her without any clues or leads, and he didn’t know where this trip would take him, or even if it would produce any results. What was worse, he’d separated from Hëna and had sent her in the opposite direction, on a mission just as hopeless and foolish. What were they thinking? How were they hoping to find Serena like this? And what if he never saw either of them? What if he never found his way back home? He felt his eyes burn and his throat tighten, and knew that he was about to well up, so he retreated and sat by himself on a rock far away from them. He hated crying in front of others.
He was left alone for a time, while everybody saw to their own business. After a while, however, Odysseus came and sat down next to him. Daniel had managed to stay his tears by now.
‘You’re worried about your family,’ the perceptive King of Ithaca said. Daniel did not reply. There wasn’t much he could say, at least not without turning into a snivelling idiot in front of the great Odysseus.
‘I don’t know how long it’s been since I last saw my wife,’ Odysseus continued. ‘Sometimes I struggle to even remember her face. And it scares me. But when that happens, I try to think of a special memory, and I got plenty of those with her. Like the first time I saw her; everyone had come to her uncle’s house for her cousin, Helena, but it was Penelope that had my heart from the first moment. She was beautiful, smart, strong, funny even; none of the things that women in our society usually are. We sat together making fun of all the other suitors and placing bets on whom Helena would chose. Of course, she won, though I still suspect she had inside information on the matter.
‘Or I think of the day I married her, the second happiest day of my life. I was flying high back then, and the greatest thing about it is that she was right up there with me; she was just as happy to be with me as I was to be with her. People fall in love and get married all the time, Daniel, but for two people like us, I think they should come up with an entirely new word for it. There’s not a day going by that I don’t think of her. And no matter what I go through, or how much I struggle and suffer and for however long, it will all be worth it, as long as it leads me to her. And I know that when I see her, it will all be gone, forgotten as if it never happened. She has that kind of power over me.’
Daniel listened to Odysseus talk about his wife the way he did, and could not help but think of his Hëna. That was exactly how he felt about her; he was blessed. Growing up, he’d wondered about adult life, marriage and children, and the older he got, the more he understood that it wouldn’t all be flowers and roses. No marriage is. With Hëna though, it was the closest thing. Oh, how he missed her, how he regretted parting from her. They should have done this thing together, like always. He shouldn’t be putting Nemo’s life in danger, or Séraphin’s. This was his and Hëna’s mission, nobody else’s.
‘Daniel?’ Odysseus called, consciously pulling him away from his thoughts.
‘You said the day of your wedding was your second happiest day,’ Daniel didn’t let the man probe him any further. ‘What was the first one?’
Odysseus smiled, though Daniel wasn’t sure if it was because of some memory, or because he knew that Daniel was leading the conversation away from him. Maybe it was both.
‘It was the day my son, Telemachus, was born; the first moment I held him in my arms. I’m sure you’ve felt it too with Serena, that feeling of euphoria that washes over you. When you feel like grinning for no reason at all and you just want to dance around naked and hug anyone and everyone. We celebrated for a whole month in my palace; I remember I almost went broke back then, but I didn’t care.’
Still smiling at the memory, the king turned to Daniel.
‘You will find her, Daniel, and you will be together with your family again. I promise.’
Daniel just smiled at him, but said nothing. He really hoped the man was right.
Odysseus; who would have ever thought? Even now he couldn’t believe he was sitting here with this legend from history, talking with him as with a friend or a relative, which probably wasn’t that far off.
Behind them, not far from the rock they were sitting on, Odysseus’ men were making the final preparations to resume their journey.
‘What will you do now?’ Daniel asked. ‘Did you mean what you said to the giantess, about going back to Telepylus?’
‘I did at the time,’ replied Odysseus, staring serenely at the horizon ahead. His lips then arched upwards into a soft smile. ‘By Zeus, I was angry. But, I thought about it, and I think I have a better idea. I’m gonna finish this journey and let the cycle begin all over again. Then, the next time I leave Troy with all my twelve ships, I’m gonna make sure all of us reach Ithaca. These men all have wives and families that are waiting for them; they’ve suffered a lot because of me, and I owe them that much. This was supposed to be my curse, but they bore it with me, without even knowing it. I have to make it right for them, Daniel.’
‘But, aren’t you afraid that when the cycle starts again, you won’t remember what you know now? You might not have the power to change anything if that happens and you’ll be locked in an endless cycle all over again.’
‘If it’s meant to be, it’s meant to be,’ the king replied. ‘But somehow, I don’t think that will happen. I’m fully awake now, Daniel, and it’s all thanks to you. Besides, I’m Odysseus,’ he smiled and winked, ‘I’ll find a way. As for the Laestrygonians; I got my vengeance on them. I don’t want to be responsible for single-handedly wiping them off the face of the earth; no man should bear that burden.’
‘Speaking of,’ Daniel remembered. ‘You could have killed Prince Ugly back there with a snap of your fingers, like you did the rest of them. Why did you fight him?’
Odysseus took on a pensive look.
‘There’s a difference between a kill and a murder, Daniel. If I had executed him, without giving him a chance to let us go, or defend himself, I would be no better man than he was. At least, this way it felt right.’
‘But you did sort of execute the others up there,’ Daniel pointed out.
‘Ah, well, if their champion was no match for me, none of them would have been. Besides, I was too tired to chase after them and fight them all one by one, and you so graciously declined to get involved.’
‘I was just a bit tied down, if you remember,’ Daniel defended himself.
‘I know, I know,’ Odysseus laughed. ‘The point is, they were hell-bent on having us for supper, and I don’t take kindly to those who try to eat me. Ask Polyphemus. I had to make an example out of them; and now their people know. They will think twice before they try to eat anyone else, or “Zeus” will fry them. Anyway, this is all irrelevant, as you know; once the cycle restarts, they’ll be back where they were, doing what they do best, including ugly and his big fat momma.’
‘And you’ll be there, to make sure they behave themselves.’
‘Of, course, I will. Besides, I think big momma looks rather dashing with horns, don’t you? Though I am thinking of a different model for next time. Antlers, perhaps?’ They both laughed hard. She really had looked ridiculous with those cow horns on her big fat head.
‘Don’t worry,’ Odysseus finally assured Daniel, when their mirth had died down just enough. ‘There won’t be any lightning this time around; I got that out of my system, I think.’
Daniel laughed again and dropped the subject. He somehow knew he didn’t have to
worry about the King of Ithaca going all homicidal Zeus on the giants again. There was more to the man than just wits and courage in the battlefield. If you looked closely, you’d see that there was a kind and honourable soul at the very centre of who he was and all that he did.
‘And you?’ Odysseus asked after a while. ‘What are you planning to do next?’
Daniel had been thinking about it, but had come up with nothing concrete. All he was sure about was that he had to convince Nemo to go back. He’d made a mistake taking the merman with him; he didn’t want to endanger his life anymore, like he’d done until now.
‘I don’t know,’ he replied to Odysseus. ‘I don’t sense my daughter here, and although I will keep on looking, something tells me I won’t find any trace of her. If she had come this way, the mermaids would have seen her. No, I don’t think she’s here. I will have to look for the next world; maybe I’ll find something there. Problem is, I don’t know where to begin.’
‘Well, you’re always welcome to come with me aboard my ship. I can take you as far as you want, and with my newfound powers, I’ll make sure that neither of you get hurt as long as you’re with me.’
‘Thank you,’ said Daniel. ‘I think I’m gonna take you up on that. By the way, do you know what’s next for you guys?’
‘If I’m not mistaken, we have a date with the beautiful Scylla and the magnificent Charybdis,’ answered Odysseus.
‘Oh, that’s right,’ said Daniel, ‘the whirlpool. The Whirlpool,’ he repeated, louder this time, and stood up. ‘I think that might be it.’
‘That might be what?’
‘The way to the next world.’
‘What? Are you crazy? You don’t intend to jump into the mouth of Charybdis of your own will, do you? None who’ve gone in, have ever come out.’
‘But don’t you see? I don’t wanna come out on this side; I wanna come out on the other side. It’s a whirlpool, my lord, things that go in from this side, must go out somewhere.’
‘Yes,’ Odysseus replied emphatically, ‘at the bottom of the ocean.’
‘I don’t think so. I think she is my way to the next world, it’s gotta be.’
‘Your way?’
Daniel and Odysseus turned around and saw Nemo standing just behind them.
‘Nemo,’ Daniel said, not sure how much of their conversation the merman had heard.
‘Are you planning on going somewhere without me, Dan?’
Daniel looked at Nemo standing before him, while the three mermaids watched with attention from the sea. He didn’t know if he wanted to have this conversation with his friend right here, right now; he had not prepared himself for it. Plus, he wasn’t entirely sure he wanted to continue this journey on his own just yet. There was a reason why he’d asked his friend to go with him in the first place, and that hadn’t changed. Still, the way things were going, he was sure the next death trap was just around the corner, especially with what he was considering doing. He just couldn’t do that to his friend. The thought of losing Nemo was just as unbearable as the thought of losing Hëna or Serena. No, he had to leave Nemo behind. But how and when to tell him that?
‘No, Nemo, of course not. I just thought that you might want to accompany the queens back home.’
‘No, you didn’t,’ Nemo challenged him. ‘I know you, Dan. You’re thinking this whole thing has turned into a suicide mission; you’re thinking there might not be a return journey and you want to send me back now, to keep me safe.’
Daniel didn’t know what to say. His friend had seen right through him. He looked at the mermaids, who decided to stay out of this conversation, and then turned to Odysseus, who shrugged and then said.
‘Don’t look at me. The boy speaks his own mind.’
There was nothing else to do, so Daniel decided to be upfront with his friend.
‘Alright, I admit it. I shouldn’t have asked you to come along in the first place; it was selfish of me. I would never forgive myself if anything happened to you because of me.’
‘Well, of course things are going to happen, Dan. What did you think, that this would be a nice stroll by the beach and at the end of it we would find Serena lying down on the warm sand, getting a nice sun-tan? I knew exactly what I signed up for when I decided to come along and I would make that choice every single time, because that’s what friends do. What kind of a friend would I be if I let you go on this mission alone?’
Daniel felt tongue-tied. He’d counted on some resistance from his friend, but he’d clearly not thought it all the way through. One part of him wanted to yell at his friend or maybe slap him to his senses, but another part just wanted to go over to him and hug him. He didn’t deserve Nemo.
To his left, Odysseus smiled at the two boys, while the rest of his men followed the conversation from the ship, now ready to set sail once again. Daniel made as if to say something, but Nemo cut him off, his voice angry and curt.
‘I don’t wanna hear it, Dan. I’m going with you, whether you like it or not, and that’s that. I’ll be on the ship, whenever you’re ready.’
Nemo turned his back on him and went to say goodbye to the three queens. Daniel watched as they hugged one-another once more and saw the familiar proud look on Eleanor’s face. When they’d said their goodbyes, Nemo climbed on the ship with the help of the men and sat down on the front deck, with his hands crossed and a stern expression on his ever fresh-looking face.
Damn it. Daniel had no idea his friend was so stubborn. He had no choice but to let him tag along, unless…
Odysseus greeted the mermaids too and followed Nemo above his ship. They were now only waiting on Daniel, who approached the mermaids to say his own farewell.
‘Will you be alright, my ladies? Will you find your way back?’ he asked them, not sure what else to say. He was now face to face with them, the sea water rising up to his waist. Eleanor smiled warmly and cupped his face in both her hands.
‘You shouldn’t worry about him, Daniel; he’s much tougher than he looks. He’s grown so much and is no longer the youngling he was when you first met him. And you have no one but yourself to blame for that.’
‘I know,’ Daniel said, lowering his eyes. ‘But he’s my best friend; I just can’t help but worry about him. I don’t know what I would do if anything were to happen to him, especially if it was because of me.’
‘And he worries about you, too,’ replied Eleanor. ‘He loves you, Daniel, and he would never abandon you; so don’t try to push him away.’
Daniel said nothing. He knew she was right, but he still felt that he was right, too. If it was his responsibility to keep his friend safe, shouldn’t he do anything in his power to do so?
Eleanor saw the dilemma in his eyes, but knew she could say no more. She put her lips on his forehead and gave him a kiss.
‘I will give news of you to your mother. We’re all actually looking forward to seeing home again; this journey wasn’t exactly what we had thought it would be. I think this is one tradition that we can abandon, don’t you?’ She beamed at Daniel, who smiled back and nodded.
‘You take care of each other, okay? And come back to us.’
‘We will,’ Daniel said, and with that he bade them farewell and watched them swim away into the open sea and hopefully towards Endërland. It had been a real joy and pleasure seeing Eleanor again. He just hoped it would not be the last time.
Silence reigned in the improvised camp halfway up the neighbouring peak, where the clan of Ìskender and many more from the other eleven clans had gathered around the fallen eagles. Each one of them was laid upon a pile of logs and arranged in two lines in the centre of the gathering. There were seventy-seven of them, all heroes who had fought to their last breath. Another thirty-one eagles were still missing, feared captured by the tergs, or worse.
The other ten leaders of the entire eagle race were all present, along with several representatives of their respective clans. The work had been going on all night long to retrieve the bodies of t
he fallen and prepare them for the final farewell ceremony.
Hëna and Séraphin had helped with the collecting of the firewood and preparing the stacks where each eagle would be placed upon. Junior had absentmindedly worked with them, having been under strict orders from Ìskender not to lose them from his sight. Somehow Hëna thought this was more for his benefit than theirs. The young eagle strolled alongside them, picking up wood with both his beaks and carrying it to the camp, all the while streams of silent tears ran down his faces. If Hëna had ever wondered whether birds could cry, she no longer did. Her heart ached watching Junior suffer so, but she didn’t know how to help. Mara had died trying to save her, and she wouldn’t be surprised if Junior blamed her for it. Plus, knowing how cold she’d been with him, she doubted he would want her to comfort him in any way.
Séraphin once again managed to be more helpful here than she did. He’d spent a bit more time with Junior than she had, and the young eagle had grown rather close to him. Maybe it was the wings, though somehow Hëna didn’t think so. Séraphin was an honourable wingman and a far cry from the grumpy prince he once was. A long time as a father and a king to a very proud race had supplemented his character with traits that she didn’t even know a wingman could have. There was such humanity to him now that were it not for the wings, humans would think he was one of them. And what’s more, he would have been proud of it.
Right after Junior had received the news of his mother’s death and then seen her body, he’d flown away from the camp to mourn her in solitude. Séraphin was the only one to fly after him and be with him. Junior had not objected to his presence. What the wingman and the young eagle had talked about, Hëna did not know, but she was glad Séraphin had not left him alone. She could guess though; after all, Séraphin had lost his own mother in much the same way, so they had that in common, among other things. Whatever it had been, it seemed to have helped a little. After a while, they had both returned to the camp and Junior had immersed himself in work with the rest of them.
Presently, everything was ready and they were all gathered before the fallen eagles, looking towards Ìskender, who stepped in front of everyone, his eyes fixed on the ground.
‘I have a confession to make,’ the leader started to speak, his voice low and humble, yet strong enough to be thundering through the silence of the night. ‘My heart is heavy, not only with sorrow and sadness, but also with guilt. For ages we have lived in this land, ruling the skies and the mountains, lording over all living beings that along with us have inherited this blissful place. And for the most part, we have known and cherished peace, as it’s been our birthright. But evil has always dwelled in the shadows and under the ground, and war has been hanging over our heads like a double edged sword from day one.
‘I don’t know where they came from; when I left my world and came here, I thought I’d left them behind for good. But they followed me and found me here too, and have been threatening to destroy everything we have built ever since. Maybe they spawned from the darkest corners of my mind, where my fear of their wickedness has been nesting and hiding. I don’t know. I had hoped with all my heart that things would be different here, that we could actually live in peace and harmony with each other, something I never knew in my home world. I tried so hard and fought for so long to stop this world from becoming like my old one, but I was wrong. It’s in their nature to conquer, enslave or kill anyone who is not of their race, and it doesn’t matter where they are, or who they share the world with, for that is all they ever know.
‘For my naivety and weakness, I claim responsibility and shoulder the blame for all the precious lives lost last night.’ Everyone lowered their heads, humbled by their leader’s last statement. Ìskender continued, his voice now rising louder and more powerful.
‘They were all noble and brave, and with their last drop of blood they bought for us the opportunity to reclaim our home, our land, our world. War has finally begun and we will no longer hide from it. Not only will we avenge our fallen heroes and take back our home, but we will do what we should have done a long time ago, we will rid this world of this race of vermin once and for all, so that no innocent blood should ever spill again on their account.
‘Are you with me?’ he shouted loud and spread his wings wide and high, his imposing image inspiring both awe and fear to all who looked at him. A strong outcry shook the mountain down to its roots, and all the eagles present spread their wings in the same manner, just as Ìskender took flight and arose high above them.
He circled once around the camp, while the eagles’ cry continued strong below him. He then circled once more and eventually came in from the west, heading towards the fallen heroes. Flying low above the two rows of eagles, he positioned himself in the middle, his heads looking in opposite directions. And then something happened which Hëna did not expect. She saw his chest puff up, and he began to shine with an inner inexplicable light. Wild fire then burst out of both of his beaks in a single continuous burst, setting all the stacks of wood alight, and thus giving the fallen eagles a warrior’s funeral.
Hëna’s jaw dropped as she watched in humbling awe. Séraphin was no less impressed.
‘Can you all do that?’ he asked Junior, who stood beside him in front of his mother’s pyre, his hurt-filled eyes glued to her lifeless body.
‘No,’ came the weak reply. ‘He’s the only one.’
Séraphin looked up at him, hearing tears choke his words again. He lifted a hand up and placed it on the side of his neck, keeping it there during the entire time this went on.
The fires before them kept burning bright for a good while. The eagles stood their ground with their wings raised up high, their voices joined in cries of farewell, until the very last of the fires burned out.