Thrilled to have had a decent enough night of sleep, Daniel woke up with the first rays of the sun. Odysseus’ men on shift kept about their business as usual. The king himself still slept, not two feet from where Daniel lay. Daniel did not blame him; they’d been through so much these past couple of days that he felt he could sleep for a month. But he knew he couldn’t; soon they would reach Charybdis, and he’d have to go on with the next part of his journey, arguably the most dangerous one so far. Only, now that they were getting closer to it, he wasn’t so sure about it anymore.
He’d been convinced that this was the way to go; somehow, he wasn’t sure why, he knew the whirlpool was his way out of this dreamworld and into the next. But he also knew that there was always a chance that he was wrong, and that he would find nothing inside the mouth of Charybdis but his death. And for that reason alone, he was even more certain he had to leave Nemo behind.
Nemo.
He turned and looked at the spot where he’d last seen his friend. Sure enough, Nemo was still sitting there, as if he’d never slept, which was very uncharacteristic for Nemo. They had not said a word the entire time since they’d gotten back on the ship. He wanted to, but he didn’t know what to say. He was sure Nemo would want him to apologise, but Daniel did not feel he needed to. He was right to want to keep his friend safe, alive, and he wasn’t going to apologise for that. In fact, he was feeling rather angry himself that Nemo would get mad enough to yell at him. This had never happened before.
‘You don’t know how you’ll be able to convince him, do you?’ the voice of the King of Ithaca startled him. Daniel turned and smiled at Odysseus. With all that he had come to know about the man, his powers of perception and wisdom still amazed him. He couldn’t help but think of his dad just then; they weren’t so very different after all, the two of them.
‘Good morning, my lord. Did you sleep enough?’
‘I’ll sleep enough when I’m in my own bed, with my wife lying beside me,’ the king answered, stretching. ‘Maybe not even then,’ he added and winked. ‘Not for a good while at least, if you know what I mean.’
Daniel knew what he meant. He missed his own wife too, and worried about her. He hadn’t told this to Nemo, but he had begun to regret the decision to let her go her own way. But then he would remember that he had not had much saying on the matter; Hëna was a strong-willed woman and there was no way she would have stayed put while he was away searching for Serena. Still, he could not help but worry and even feel a bit guilty. What if something were to happen to her and he never saw her again?
‘Isn’t it a bit too early to be swimming in dark thoughts?’ Odysseus claimed his attention for the second time that morning. Daniel smiled again.
‘It’s always too early to be swimming in dark thoughts.’
‘So, you’re going through with it, then?’
‘I have no other choice.’
‘Even if it kills you?’
‘I’m hoping it won’t come to that. I don’t know how to explain it, but I just feel that Charybdis is the way.’
‘Then, take the boy with you. He might prove more than useful in there.’
‘I can’t. If I’m wrong, we both die; I can’t make that choice for him.’
‘And what if he makes it all by himself?’
‘Not for my sake,’ Daniel replied. ‘I won’t let him take that chance for me.’
‘He’s a merman, Daniel, you know he cannot drown like you can.’
‘No, but the whirlpool could still kill him. And if it’s not Charybdis, it will certainly be something else further down the line to threaten his life, and I will not risk that any more than I already have.’
The king looked at him long and seemed to decide he wasn’t going to push anymore. He stretched his legs and crossed his arms over his chest, his olive skin lustrous at the golden touch of the morning sun. Thoughtfully, he threw his gaze far in the horizon before them, as if looking through a window peering into the past. Then, as if out of the depths of the sea, his voice rang again in Daniel’s ears, bringing some of that past with it.
‘You two remind me so much of another pair of young men I met a long time ago. They were probably younger than you are now when we first made berth on the sandy beach of Troy. They’d grown up together and were inseparable. I’m still not sure if they were cousins, friends, or lovers, but I have seen no two people more devoted to each other than those two. When they fought, enemy soldiers fell around them like flies, yet there was never a scratch on either of them, not one. They protected each other, and never got out on the field without one-another. And they were formidable with both sword and spear. For ten years, the entire Greek army won victory after victory mainly because of the two of them, but the walls of Troy would not fall.
‘But as you well know, Troy did fall, and I want to tell you why. A day came when our great commander messed it all up for us,’ here his expression turned sour. ‘Agamemnon greatly insulted one of them, and that’s when things changed for Greece. They withdrew from the battlefield, causing our army to suffer defeat after crushing defeat at the hands of Hector and his Troyans. This lasted for weeks, until one day the other one decided he could no longer ignore our losses, and went back into the battlefield, alone. He was killed that day. His friend, overcome with grief and inconsolable anger, charged into the battlefield and almost single-handedly destroyed the entire Troyan army. And he would have, if it wasn’t for a single arrow that found him and claimed his life too, only hours after his friend.
‘I may be credited with breaching the walls of Troy, Daniel, but the truth is that because of those two men, the Troyan army was left with barely a tenth of their numbers when we broke in using my wooden horse.’
Daniel looked at Odysseus in awe. He had not expected this little piece of history shared, but now that he’d heard it, he realised that he had craved it ever since he’d first realised who this man really was.
‘You’re talking about Achilles and Patroclus, aren’t you? I thought Achilles fought alone? Wasn’t he the greatest warrior and hero of the Greeks?’
Odysseus looked at him and had to remind himself that Daniel actually knew a great deal.
‘That, he was,’ he answered, ‘but he was no fool, nor arrogant. He knew that no matter how great of a warrior you are; in the battlefield you need to have your back covered. And they always had each other’s backs, until that fateful day. Going into battle alone cost them both their lives, and almost cost all of us the war.
‘Do you understand why I am telling you this, Daniel?’
Daniel understood perfectly, and a part of him was already convinced that being separated from Nemo was a mistake. But as is usually the case with stubborn minds, the other part of him insisted that he was making the right choice and that they would both be fine.
‘I do, my lord,’ he replied to the king of Ithaca. ‘And I appreciate your sage advice, but I have already made up my mind on the matter.’
Odysseus shook his head and sighed in disagreement, but did not press any further.
‘What was he like? Achilles?’ Daniel asked again, while the story was still fresh in his mind. It was such a shame he didn’t have more time with Odysseus; there were so many things he wanted to ask him about.
‘He was young, handsome, strong, unbelievably fast in his moves; everything a godling was supposed to be and more. But most of all he was honourable. They were both honourable young men, inseparable, as I said. Their men loved them, they gave their lives to protect theirs every day. The entire Greek army worshipped the ground they walked on. It was why Agamemnon went mad and did what he did. Achilles might have been the prince and the hero with the greatest glory and strength, but he would have been nothing without his Patroclus. My position required me to spend time with all of the kings in the camp, but it was the two of them I admired the most. Alas, that they were to die there and I to live. But, who am I to contest such decisions of the Fates?’
Daniel heard the admi
ration in the king’s voice and could not help but be infected himself by it.
‘I wish I could hear more about them, about the war, about all of it,’ he said, with a dreamy look on his face now.
‘Who knows, maybe we’ll meet again at better times,’ Odysseus offered and smiled. ‘Then I would tell you all that you wish to hear.’
‘Yeah,’ said Daniel, ‘I’d like that very much.’
They both sat in silence for a while after that, both sunk deep in thoughts that took them back to a time long gone, but never forgotten. The names of Achilles and the like would live on for aeons to come, clothed in the glory only awarded to heroes and legends.
Eventually, the king spoke again.
‘So, then, I still owe you a bet, don’t I? I don’t like to leave off owing anything to anyone, so what will it be? What would you have of me before you go?’
Daniel thought about it for a while. He hated the idea of leaving his friend behind, alone to fend for himself and find his own way back home, but he had to believe he was doing the right thing. Nemo could hate him all he wanted; the important thing was that he lived.
‘I would have you look after Nemo when I go,’ he finally said. ‘He will be hurt and angry, but I would like you to try and make him understand why I had to do this.’
‘I’m not sure I understand it myself, but I will try,’ Odysseus said, without taking his eyes off Daniel. He then added. ‘But you have my word; I promise I’ll look after him as long as he’s in my presence.’
He then made as if to stand up, when Daniel asked him, ‘What would you do? You’re one of the wisest people in the history of mankind; what would you decide, if you were in my place, if it was your choice to make?’
Odysseus sat back down and for the first time that morning seemed to frown a little. He had to take a moment and think before he answered.
‘Honestly, Daniel, I don’t have a clue. I don’t know whether you’re being noble or a fool for leaving your friend behind, but I would have probably done the same. Then again, I did take all my men down to Hades with me, so, there is that… But the issue here is not what I would do; the important thing here is for you to be able to live with the choice that you’re about to make and its consequences, because, trust me, you will face them sooner or later.’
Daniel shook his head in agreement. He believed he knew what the king was talking about.
Odysseus finally got up and Daniel followed suit.
‘Do they really speak of me as “one of the wisest men in the history of mankind”?’
Daniel laughed and was just about to try and reply with something funny, when the watch called out loud, ‘Land, land.’
Odysseus walked over to the ship’s bow, with Daniel following close behind him. On the horizon they saw what appeared to be an island only a small distance from the mainland.
‘We’re finally there,’ Odysseus said. ‘You see that small strait of sea between the island and the mainland? That’s where she is, Charybdis. And the other one, Scylla, she’s hiding up there in the rocks of those high cliffs, waiting for us to go serve ourselves up to her. I hate this part.’
‘And yet, you always chose her, every time.’
‘It’s my own difficult choice to make, Daniel, and despite whatever happens, I always live with it, knowing that it was the right one. I just thank the gods that my men never remember any of this.’
Daniel could not help but agree with the king.
As the ship kept sailing towards the narrow strait they had to get across, Charybdis began to make itself visible. The men saw it and began to spread the word. All of a sudden all hell broke loose. Whoever was not otherwise engaged, ran to the helm to see the monster with their own eyes. Nemo was among them. She was still a good while ahead of them, but was approaching faster now. All Daniel could see was a huge line of white foam in the distance, right next to a very tall cliff. The sound of the gurgling mass of water, however, was getting louder and louder now. Daniel’s heart began to pound uncontrollably inside his chest in sync with its roar.
‘We don’t have much time,’ Odysseus came back next to him after shouting a bunch of orders and instructions to his men. ‘Whatever you have to say to your friend, you better do it now. Once we reach Charybdis, you have to jump in right away. We’ll need to manoeuvre quickly to gain a safe enough distance from her.’
‘There’s nothing I can say to him,’ Daniel answered, which wasn’t entirely true. He’d been playing different scenarios in his head and they all made sense to him. But they all required him to actually take the courage to speak to his friend, and somehow, that was the part where he failed. ‘Just promise you will make him understand, please.’
Odysseus shook his head affirmatively.
‘I promise.’
‘And remember what I told you,’ Daniel now addressed him, ‘You’re “Zeus” now; you’re the lord of this world. You don’t have to fear Scylla, or anyone else anymore. So, take yourself and these men home, safe and sound.’
‘Aye; I promise that, too,’ Odysseus answered and winked at him again. ‘Don’t you worry about us, I will never lose another man again; in fact, I plan on getting back everyone I left Troy with. Poseidon has tortured us enough; we will have our peace.’
Daniel shook hands with the King of Ithaca, who took him in his arms, as if he was hugging his own son.
‘You take care of yourself, Daniel of Endërland. I hope the gods will bring us together again one day.’
‘You too, my lord Odysseus. Thank you for everything.’
Having said their goodbyes, Odysseus returned to barking orders at his men, while the ship grew ever closer to the monster whirlpool. The men began working the sails, so that the ship manoeuvred its way around Charybdis. They were getting ever closer to the first monster. Within a minute or so, they would see its enormous mouth and Daniel would have to make his move then. He looked for Nemo and found him still at the bow of the ship, his eyes fixed on Charybdis. Daniel felt a tug at his heart. He knew he was doing the right thing, but it still felt so wrong leaving his best friend behind. Now that he thought about it, he wasn’t sure he would be able to do this without Nemo. But he had to; Nemo wasn’t going to die today, or anytime soon, not because of him.
When they were about to get close enough to Charybdis, Daniel took the courage and walked over to him, along with two of Odysseus men, who were instructed to stop Nemo, should he try to follow Daniel down the whirlpool. At the very last moment, he’d decided to tell Nemo he was going and that he could not follow.
‘Nemo,’ he called him from behind, while the sea monster was now coming into full view. Its roar had grown to deafening levels, and its waves made it rain over the men, all over the ship.
Nemo turned around slowly, and it was as if Daniel was seeing him for the very first time. He had a peculiar expression on his face and looked at Daniel straight in the eye, as if defying him. But he said nothing. Daniel wondered what this meant, but had no time to ask. Before he could even open his mouth to speak, Nemo flew overboard and into the open mouth of Charybdis. The men next to him were too slow to grab him in time.
‘Nemooo…,’ Daniel called, horrified. He had definitely not thought of this. His friend had known and had already made his choice, without giving him the chance. He’d gone in and Daniel had no other choice now but to follow.
Without wasting another precious second, Daniel gave one last nod to the King of Ithaca who was watching from the helm, and jumped in after Nemo.
What followed, Daniel could not describe with words, even if he tried. As soon as he touched the water, he was violently taken away with the current and thrown around like a rag doll in the mouth of a playful dog. He immediately lost sight of the ship, or anything else for that matter, and struggled in vain to have some control as to where he was headed. He realised quickly that this was the one situation he could not control, so he gave up and let the whirlpool take him wherever it wanted. After all, the bottom of the monst
er’s belly was his intended destination anyway.
After whirling him around a few good times, Charybdis dragged him down and under, in great speed. Daniel managed to fill his lungs with air one last time, before he was immersed fully under water. He was now completely at the mercy of the sea monster. He could only hope that if there was another world attached to this one, he’d cross over to it before he ran out of air. He had no air tank with him this time and Nemo was nowhere to be seen. If he had been wrong about this, he would find out soon enough.
More than a minute passed since he’d gone under and the whirlpool continued to drag him down. He felt like Alice following the white rabbit down the endless hole, only he did not have as much time at his disposal. His lungs were soon empty and began to demand air. Daniel had to fight hard the urge to breathe; if he did, that would be it. He had to resist; he knew he could. Serena and Hëna depended on him staying alive; they were counting on him. He couldn’t let them down.
But the need for air was so strong. If he could only let in just a little bit; maybe no water would come in. Resisting was becoming oh so difficult, and the bottom of Charybdis was nowhere to be seen.
Eventually, Daniel got too tired of resisting the urge to breathe and he caved. He released his muscles, inhaling just a little bit at first, but nothing but water entered his lungs from his nose. He regretted it immediately, but it was too late. He started to choke, and the more he coughed, the more water got inside him. The sensation was unspeakable, the pain excruciating. Within a very short time, Daniel stopped fighting and lost his senses. His eyes went glassy and empty, losing their focus. The last thing he saw before he closed them, were the faces of all his loved ones, Hëna, Serena, Diane, Damien, Nemo…
It didn’t take e genius to realise that Junior was angry. Asking him to leave his people behind exactly when they were preparing to go to war was bad enough, but forcing him to take the terg along, was so much worse. He wanted to grab the little ugly creature with his talons and split him in two, or four, or eight pieces, and send them all back to that fool of a terg who called himself a sultan. Old Ìskender must really be getting old and losing his mind for wanting to find these monsters another place to live in. What was he thinking? They deserved to die, all of them.
Sensing the hostility, poor little Nazir had shrunk into a ball of a man, sitting in front of Hëna and not even daring to touch the young eagle to hold on. He was really struggling not to fall down, somehow doubting that, if he did, someone would catch him. Junior made it even more difficult by flapping his wings more than he actually needed to and beating the air with great fury. Were it not for Hëna, who every now and then would hold the terg in place to keep him from falling over, Nazir would have been lost a good while back.
Séraphin flew alongside the three of them, keeping an ever watchful eye on Junior. They’d been flying non-stop for almost a day now and soon they would have to stop. He knew that the young eagle was tired, but he also knew that he was too proud to admit it and would not stop unless he was told to.
They’d been following the great river for the best part of the day; it ran straight and wide in these parts, and there was so much life on either side of it. The endless fields were frequented by all sorts of animals going about their business, completely oblivious to the war that had just started. They were safe for now, so far as they were from the battleground, but should the tergs win the war, that would not be the case for long.
Séraphin noticed a small meadow down ahead of them, which would be perfect for spending the night around a nice campfire. The sun had just gone down and soon it would get dark. They’d better settle in for the night.
He motioned for Junior to follow him down and headed first towards the meadow. Begrudgingly, Junior followed him and eventually landed after him, just a little too roughly. Hëna and Nazir toppled off of him, landing not so graciously down on hard ground.
‘Ouch…, thanks for that,’ Hëna said out loud, getting back up and rubbing her shoulders. Her wounds were still fresh enough, but she had not complained once in all this time.
Junior noticed and immediately felt guilty.
‘Sorry,’ he murmured, lowering his heads.
‘That’s alright,’ Hëna replied, ‘I’m fine. You alright, Nazir?’ she then asked the terg, helping him to get back up. Junior gave him what Hëna thought was an angry look and turned his back on both of them right away.
‘I’m good, thank you,’ Nazir said, happily accepting her hand. ‘I’ve fallen harder than that, mind you, loads of times. In fact, just the other day before we were all captured, we were having a free-climbing contest, one I am very good at, I might add. I mean, I should be, after all I have won the championship for so many years in a row that I can’t even remember now. I think I was ten when I first started competing, no wait, I was eleven, my sister was ten; you see she likes to climb too, only she’s not as good as me. My father used to tell her she was the best, but only because she is a girl and he was much softer with her, and I don’t mind you know; she’s a good girl, my sister, she…’
‘Nazir,’ Hëna interrupted what she was sure was going to be a very interesting and very, very long mishmash of a non-story. ‘Did you hit your head somewhere perhaps, or do you always talk like this?’
Nazir looked guiltily up at her and then at Séraphin, who was clearly trying to stifle his laughter. Junior still had his back turned on them and seemed to be scanning the surroundings.
‘Sorry, they do tell me that I talk a lot when I’m nervous.’
‘You don’t say?’ Hëna teased him and laughed lightly. ‘Well, one thing’s for sure, this trip is gonna be anything but boring. Come on, then, let’s go gather some dry wood for the fire.’
She took the terg and together they headed away from Junior and Séraphin, giving the two of them a chance to talk. Junior seemed restless, as if he wanted to get back up in the air right away.
‘You need to rest, Gjergj,’ Séraphin told him, coming up on his right side. He’d taken to using Junior’s real name when talking to him; something no one else ever did. Junior seemed to like that.
The Sky-King took a sit on a fallen log facing the river that ran only a couple yards from there. Its song was deep and soothing, and Séraphin quite enjoyed it. There were no rivers this big in Endërland.
‘We don’t have time,’ Junior replied, pacing anxiously around him. ‘The tergs only gave us three days. Three days, Séraphin; that’s not enough time for us to even reach the end of the river and then get back, let alone go beyond it. And we don’t know what awaits us down there, or even if we can get back up. What if I can’t, Séraphin? What will I do?’
‘We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it,’ Séraphin answered. ‘And I promise you that we will be with you for as long as you need us; we will not leave you.’ Here Séraphin paused for a moment and then added. ‘But that’s not what’s got you so angry, is it? You wanted to stay behind; you wanted to fight, didn’t you?’
Junior stopped pacing around him. He cast his gaze farther down the river and did not feel like answering. How was it that Séraphin always knew what he was thinking or feeling? He liked the little winged man, more than he’d ever liked anyone else. Everyone always treated him like an eaglet, like he was frail and useless, but not him. Séraphin spoke to him like he was an adult, like they were equals, and he appreciated that.
‘I don’t understand why Ìskender sent me away,’ he finally spoke. ‘Maybe he thinks I’m weak, just like everyone else does. I know I’m strong; I can fight just as well as anyone else in my tribe, if only they would give me the chance to prove it.’
‘I know you can fight, Gjergj, I do. And you know how? Because it takes more than size and muscles and training to be a fighter; it takes heart and courage most of all. But we don’t fight to prove that we are strong, we fight only when it’s right to do so, like when we need to defend our homes from people like this sultan.’
‘But I too want to fight for my
home. Why did he have to send me away? Why not someone else?’
‘You were not sent away, Gjergj, you were sent on a mission; you were chosen for this, and you should be proud. Your leader is very wise; you should have more faith in him. So what if he’s trying to keep you away from the battle; is that so wrong? He just lost one of his greatest leaders, he wouldn’t want her legacy to end there. You have to live and carry on her name and her place as the future leader of your tribe. Isn’t that worth more than proving yourself on the battleground?’
‘I guess,’ Junior replied with his heads down. ‘I’m just tired of the others mocking me and thinking me weak. I want to show them that I’m not.’
‘And you will, but only when the time is right and for the right reason, not because you’re bothered by what others think of you. Alright? Now, promise me you’ll try to be just a little less angry and not so worried all the time.’
‘We’re still short on time,’ Junior insisted. ‘We’ll never make it back before the deadline.’
‘That is not our mission. War is happening, whether we like it or not, and there’s nothing you can do to stop it. I have faith that victory will belong to your people, but what happens to the tergs afterwards is up to you. If there is a world on the other side, we better hope that there is a place there for them too. Otherwise, there may no longer be a race of tergs.’
‘I’m not sure that’s such a bad thing,’ Junior mumbled.
‘I know you feel very angry right now, Gjergj, but eventually you will have to let go of that hate. Nothing good ever comes of it, trust me. I’ve done things that I’m ashamed of because of hate, things that caused some people their lives, things that I wish I could undo, but I cannot. So, please, listen to me; find the strength in your heart to forgive and you will become the eagle that you want others to see you as, the eagle that everyone will respect and admire. It’s our hearts that make us who we are, Gjergj, not our courage and strength in a battle. Be the eagle your mother raised you to be; make her proud.’
Séraphin stopped there, noticing a fresh streak of tears running down Junior’s cheeks. He was about to get up and give the young eagle a hug, when they heard the voices of Hëna and Nazir heading back.
‘I need a little time on my own,’ Junior turned and told him, before taking off swiftly into the darkening sky. ‘I won’t go far.’
Séraphin followed him with his eyes and had to resist the urge to fly after him. He felt strangely close to this young eagle, related to him as if he was his own son. And it was even stranger how much they had in common, his son and Junior. Spending the past few days with him, had made him appreciate even more the wingman that Mikael had grown up to become. He’d always been a wilful son, too eager to prove himself, just like Junior. But he had always known his place and obeyed him, and difficult though it was to test him like this at such a young age, Séraphin was not concerned about leaving the kingdom in his inexperienced hands. He had faith in his son. He just hoped nothing bad would happen in Endërland while they were away.