Aegis

Chapter Twenty--A Hero's Regret (Pt.2)

The ride back to the apothecary was silent. Only occasional roars from far off lions or monsters interrupted the quiet. Once they reached the apothecary, Ares jumped off his horse and headed inside. When Kyros hopped off his horse to hitch the animals back up, both horses flicked him with their tails.

When they flicked him again, Kyros said, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry."

Then the horses flicked him again.

He deserved that for chaining them down.

Kyros followed after Ares into the apothecary, but Ares wasn't in the main room. He wasn't in the room they had kept Erianthe in either. Kyros threw open the closet door half-expecting to see Ares.

"Ares, where are you?" Kyros shouted.

No answer.

The apothecary had one room left, the other room the doctor had used to house his patients. Kyros' father's quiver bounced on his leg when he ran to check that room. The knife inside made a clacking noise.

"Ares--"

Ares sat right in the middle of the room with a book laid open in front of him. The man wasn't reading it though. Instead, Ares swirled around some liquid inside a glass bottle.

"What are you doing?"

Kyros didn't wait to hear an answer. He snatched the bottle from Ares hands and stepped away in case the man tried to grab it back. Even if Ares was feeling guilty, drinking wasn't the way to solve his problems.

Ares blew out a breath. "It's not alcohol, Kyros. It's salt water. It helps me heal faster."

Kyros took a sniff of the bottle then dipped his finger in to taste the liquid. It was saltwater.

"You can't drink too much saltwater. And this looks like a wine bottle."

"I couldn't find another bottle that was big enough. And I wasn't drinking it. You pour it over the wound, not down your throat," Ares replied.

Even though he had argued to get the water back, Ares made no attempt to grab the bottle from Kyros. The man just leaned back and sighed.

"Look at you. Even though you're being held captive by the enemy, you have concern for my health."

Ares made a good point. In a low voice, Kyros tried to explain his actions.

"I hate what you did to me. But I don't see any justice in letting you drink your mind away."

"I wasn't drinking," Ares said.

Ares motioned for Kyros to take a seat next to him. When the boy refused, Ares shook his head. For a few moments, the man flipped a page back and forth as if he couldn't decide what to do.

Kyros stood there unsure of what to do, so he set the bottle down. After a few moments of weird silence and indecision, Ares finally spoke up. A strange unfocused look settled in the man's eyes.

"We didn't know the lions were still tracking us," Ares said.

Kyros stiffened at Ares words but he stayed quiet and waited for the man to finish speaking.

"The pride must've been attracted by the Orichalcum pieces we still had. That was my first mistake." Ares leaned back and covered his eyes with his hand. "It was night when we made it Delos. Everything was quiet."

Kyros wondered if he and Erianthe could have stopped them if they had stayed in town instead of scouting the woods.

"The lions must've started attacking while we were underground. I was the one who broke the Orichalcum out of its holding cage. That was my second mistake."