"Don't look at me like that" Eos said as she put her hand on her head, "You have to stay here".
The lycaon was sat with such a stern looking face, Eos had started to wonder if there was indeed a man under all that fur.
Wet fur.
Wet smelly dog fur.
"If Deimos knows anything, I need to know, I need to know if he's coming in my direction". The lycaon still wasn't convinced. "I need to know if he does anything terrible to Melaina" she added it as if it would change the lycaons mind but, it seemed he was in no mood to babysit oracles or demi-gods today. "Laelaps, he'll know something is up and, I need to know if he decides to act on it" the lycaon tilted his head at her, 'll wait in Argolis for you, I promise", the lycaon had snorted at her – the last time they'd 'split up', she'd ended up in a volcano.
Eos sat herself down on some steps. They were still out in the rain, having just ran from one side of the city to the other.
So, Melaina hadn't exactly gone terrible. It had gone better than she'd expected – except, the only way Melaina could be free of the cult was for Eos to kill the eye – and most likely the rest of the cults littler eyes – and Asphodel was missing, taken by the cult to somewhere where even Deimos couldn't find her.
And she had no leads.
Except, she did have Elpeanors breastplate and, at least that meant that there was one less eye of kosmo to deal with. Which also meant that maybe Kassandra had some sort of clue as to where the sage, or the others would be.
Which also meant she had to leave.
"Laelaps" Eos sighed, "I know it's probably a terrible idea but" she shrugged a shoulder, "If Deimos decides I'm worthy enough of his thoughts" the lycaon snorted at her again, "if he does" Eos repeated, "I need to have some sort of warning... and, yes, you could come with me and then tell me if he is close or some shit like that but, is it just coincidence or... is it because he decided that I am not dead".
The lycaon looked at her so sourly then but, she could see the give in his shoulders as they slouched, accepting his inevitable defeat on the decision.
Wrapping her arms around her knees, she put her head down on them, shivering a little as she took a deep breath. She'd thought about going back to the temple of Asklepios but, it was in the same direction that Melaina and Deimos was and, even though she had no worry about him, or her, traversing the stormy darkness, she didn't want to chance it. So, instead, she angled her way in to the small house Hippokrates had been in.
It was obviously just a house that he'd rented but, fortunately for her, it hadn't been rented out again. The lycaon, having followed her quite miserably, had lay himself down at the door as she pulled off her soaked-through travellers cloak and flung it over a chair. The leather belt she was wearing had been that little more defiant but, she lay that over another before she sat down on the small raised bed, that the man with the broken foot had lay on. Her arm didn't look all that bad now - the rain had washed most of the blood away but, it had also ruined her terrible attempt at bandaging it. Unwrapping it had caused a few curses which had made Laelaps look up from where he lay.
The lycaon thought he would feel worse about having bitten her but, considering his new job and her stupid decisions, he was hoping it'd be a reminder that he was always right.
*
The morning came quicker than Eos hoped - and, once Laelaps had brought her the scaled breast plate she'd left on that ledge in the temple of Asklepios, she and him parted ways. Hopefully by now, Kassandra would have found what it was she was looking for on Thera and, perhaps she was even making her way to Argolis herself. Perhaps she'd decided that Argolis wasn't high on her agenda at all and Eos would have to do it all on her own.
She couldn't blame her. Chrysis was a terrible person who deserved to die but, Kassandra had other things she had to do and Eos wasn't afraid to face her on her own. She'd only asked Kassandra if she'd like to come because, she knew that Chrysis was one of the sole reasons Kassandra was fighting against her own brother – not to mention all the things the old hag had done in the name of love to her adopted children - and all the things she'd continue to do to the babies that mothers foolishly left in her care.
And, if Eos was sure of anything, it was that, to kill a snake – and make sure that it stayed dead – you had to remove it's head.
It may also lead her to Asphodel.
Asphodel who, as sweet and helpful as she could be, had a love for drama. Something that Eos had never really understood. She couldn't say that she hadn't enjoyed the killing but, Asphodel found this sort of sick little enjoyment in it - a bit like Deimos did but, it was all the worse coming from someone like her.
Maybe it was because Asphodel hadn't suffered as much as them. The cult had taught her to defend herself but, she hadn't been thrown around a training ground by guys twice her size and instead, her skill for potion making had developed in to a fine line between healing and killing. But in all honestly, she was probably more useful. The Persian had this exotic beauty about her that made it easy for her to get men, or woman, to do whatever it was she wanted - which usually involved drinking some poisoned wine. Although, not before falling at her feet and begging her to bed them. If it wasn't for Akin, she was sure that the Persian flower could have at least made a lot of people happy before they died.
And, if it wasn't for Akin, Eos could imagine herself hating her so much more than she sometimes did.
But, Eos had realised that it was just her way of coping – just like Kallinos' schemes were his.
And now, she was either dead, in hiding or in serious trouble. The latter being the most likely if Melaina's words had any truth behind them and, she had to help her. No matter what she'd done, Eos had this belief that if the Gods could let her live after all her regrets, they could let someone like Asphodel live no problem. Even if her kill count was probably bigger.
Argolis would also have someone else she could use – the real son of Chrysis, Dolops. An old farmer who'd fostered some orphaned children.
She didn't know if he thought her dead but, they had history and, if she was to go after the eyes of Kosmo, her existence wasn't going to go unnoticed for much longer so, she decided that revealing herself to a few extra people here and there wouldn't hurt the situation any more than she already had herself.
And, hopefully by the end of her little trip to Argolis, Chrysis would be dead and she'd have a lead on a flower and some eyes.
If she remembered correctly, Argolis would take her about a day of non-stop walking to get too – which, after the night she'd had, was not going to happen.
Passing over a small bridge, Eos looked back at the scorched lands that surrounded Attika one last time, waving at the invisible lycaon she was sure was watching her and then, turned to the path that would take her through to Megaris.
She passed by the Kerkyan wrestling grounds - where contenders were training for the Olympics, an event she'd been too a few times if only to poison some politicians and, she stopped in the Sanctuary of Eleusis, listening out for any news that might help. It hadn't.
Back on the path to Megaris, it wasn't long before the valley she walked through started to narrow, high walls of stone towering over her on both side - which could only mean that she was minutes away from the valley of King Lelex; and, the city of Pigs - very tasty pigs Eos remembered as she passed by one of the butchers just inside the gates, picking up some pork scratchings to chew on whilst she wandered slowly through the streets.
The citizens didn't have much to say but, as she passed by some guards on her way out, she back-tracked a little to hear about some sort of disturbance in Argolis.
"I heard that she was doing it for years" the spartan guard said,
"Did the priests know" the other asked,
"Apparently not. The maters went to her with their broken babes and instead of return them, she kept them for herself" he shrugged a shoulder,
"What did she do with them" the guard asked,
"I would guess she sold them" the guard shrugged again, "I do not think there is much you could do with a babe".
Eos had a want to tell them that you could do a lot with innocent little babes but, not to dampen her own mood, she let them be. For, just this one time, Eos couldn't help but think, in that very moment, the Gods were smiling down on her.
Following the path, past the Isthmus of Poseidon, Eos remembered that there was a small cave just over the hill, almost on the border of Korinthia. And then, somehow, she decided that instead of going around – and wasting the daylight that she had left, she would walk up the hill and scale down the cliff to it.
Everything had been going fine until the entrance to the cave was just below her feet - and she'd realised that someone else had claimed it.
Two bodies lay in a heap at the entrance, splayed and bloodied. A warning used quite thoughtfully by the followers of Ares.
It was as she got herself ready to traverse over to the side a little, so she could jump down and be disguised by the bushes that she heard the echoes of someone coming up out of the cave, followed by a torchlight splaying a large single shadow across the ground.
Flattening herself to the cliff face and pulling out her dagger, Eos waited until the lone body was right below her before she let herself fall, taking him out quickly with a quick jab to the back and throat.
The white face told her what she needed to know – and also gave her some warning of what she would find inside.
Passing a broke-down wagon and more dead bodies, Eos found three others. One had been lying on his side, near a fire and a cooking pot, tucking in to a bowl of red meat - which was most likely the innards of the man who's torso lay on the altar - where two more were stood, chanting some incoherent words to their God.
Wrapping her arm around the lying mans throat, Eos had broken his neck before she'd even jabbed him with her dagger. He'd made a little gurgling noise as he slumped to the floor, his mouth still full of food but, before the other two could turn around, Eos had grabbed the dead mans sword and rammed it threw one of their backs before pushing them aside and then, only had to dodge the last ones swing before she kicked out at him, watching him fall backwards and crash in to the cooking fire.
He had screamed and threw himself away from it, trying to dampen the flames but the damage was already done; searing red welts were starting to appear all over his body. Waiting until he stood back up, Eos had thrown her dagger at the back of his head as he'd attempted to run, the flames still clinging to him as he hit the floor, the dagger sticking out the back of his neck.
The followers didn't have much but, it was only as she looked up that she noticed the sides of a chest on a small ledge above her. Climbing up on to it, she found a dead goat – which for a moment she considered roasting over the small iron barrel of fire that was there – and inside the chest, another trackers cloak and a pouch of drachmae. Enough drachmae to get her a room for the night.
However, with the sun already going down, Eos decided to stay on that ledge instead. Using the trackers cloak as a pillow, Eos had pulled her hood over her eyes and got a few hours of rest in.
Whether she slept or not, she couldn't say but, when the sun started to rise and she could hear the bird song echoing inside the cave, she knew it was time to pass over in to Korinth. No matter how achy all her bones felt. She'd spent days on that ledge in the temple of Asklepios, lying on stone with nothing but a small pillow she'd taken from the altar and never had a night as bad as this.
Stretching her legs by walking through the puddles of dye helped but, Eos was sure that the bottom of her sandals and feet would be stained orange forever.
*
Once inside the city walls, just for a moment, as Eos had looked from the horses to the pouch of drachmae she now had secured to her belt, she wondered if she should just get her very own Phobos and make life all that easier.
Except, it would most likely hate Laelaps with a passion – like almost everything did. It was almost as if they knew as much as the people, that he was some creature sent from Hades to eat them. When really, despite what the oracle had told her that day, despite the fact that he had lived a very long life - for a wolf – and that he had this unnervingly human thing about him, Eos liked to tell herself that he was a very 'big' well-behaved dog that people would be very jealous of if they did more than scream whenever they saw him.
So, instead of that horse, she decided that finding help from a local healer was a better waste of drachmae. Her hand didn't hurt half as much anymore but, Eos was sure she could see some of it turning green.
Which, despite her realising quite quickly that she was defending the same animal that had bit her, was a much better use of the drachmae because, the healer also had some choice words about what had been happening down in Argolis. A priestess had been found to be stealing babies, a priestess who hadn't been seen since the 'eagle-bearer' had saved one of them.
Except, despite the healer wishing her a painful time with Hades, Eos knew that Kassandra hadn't killed her. She was still out there, hiding but, it meant that cults hold had slipped and it would make it all the easier for Eos.
It also meant that, in all the healers faffing about it, she'd bandaged Eos' hand in such a way, she could only just move her fingers.
By that second night though, she finally walked in to Argos.
Finding a cheap bed was that little bit easier than Attika and, in the quiet of the night, she decided it was best to go down to the docks and leave that message for Kassandra, like she said she would and then, she'd find Dolops – and then, depending on what happened, she'd make her way over to Epidauros to put the feelers out for both the baby-snatcher and Asphodel.
Feeling much better after having had a soft bed underneath her – and perhaps still a little giddy after accepting a few too many glasses of wine from some drunk Spatans, Eos picked up some breakfast from a breads stall and made her way down the road to the kingdom of Hope.
The port was busy but, there was no sign of the Adrestia and, after talking to an eager little dock hand, she'd been told that a ship by that name hadn't made port yet. Which meant, after leaving the young boy with a little bit of drachmae and a folded piece of parchment – to give to the white eyed man aboard the ship – with nothing on it – which had only confused the young dock hand when he'd taken a peak at it later, she headed up to where she remembered Dolops had lived.
He used to live on a farm. She'd lived with him for a few years, worked the fields with her brother; Akin; Deimos. It was under his watch that her brother had died but, her grudge wasn't with him and, despite the jealousy that he always seemed to radiate, she knew he was just as much a victim as the rest of them.
She wasn't completely sure of how their meeting would go though.
But, she hadn't expected him to slam the door shut in her face.
Guess he thought she was dead too.
"Open the door Dolops" Eos said,
"She said you were dead" he cried from behind it, "She... she cried". At least someone had Eos thought but, it wasn't about to change the outcome of their next meeting,
"If it was not for her, you would not think me dead" – it wasn't exactly true, a few of the others had been involved too, but - Chrysis and her had not exactly left each other on very good terms. She couldn't remember much from that night – she didn't want to – but, Eos remembered trying to grab at her head and pull the eyes from her sockets.
"They said that they lost you. That you-",
"Dolops" that night was the last thing she wanted to talk about, "Do you know where your mater is". After a moment, she heard the door unlock. She stood back, letting him pull it open,
"If I did, would you kill her" Dolops asked,
"Uh... what" Eos had almost about to say yes but then, she remembered who she was talking to,
"I know what she did now. To you. To the others. I do not know where it is she hides but, if I helped you find her, would you".
Out of all the things she'd expected, it had not been that. Still, she nodded.
Eos saw a weight then, like it had been around his shoulders for years just lift off of him – as if he'd finally found someone to confide in - it almost made her feel sick with jealousy but she'd squashed it down. Since it had been found that his mater had been stealing babies, maters from all over had come to him – knowing of the orphans he'd once cared for – and begged him to tell them where they were.
He never knew. His mater would bring him children, too small and feeble to face the world alone and in turn, he would raise them; his mater would help, would lead them away for weeks on end, only to return them to him more hardened, more broken, only for them to eventually go away and never come back. His mater had always told him that she'd found them new homes.
He'd been younger, much younger, when Eos and her brother had been brought to him. His mother had told him of some twins she'd found, left to die and he'd taken them in without a thought. Along with Akin and Deimos, who was his maters pride and joy, they had been the only babes in which he knew that his mother had taken more of a liking too – he'd known of the others – of a baby from fire, another from the sea, one from the gutter and a flower - but, other than seeing the blonde a couple of times whilst travelling his wares, he didn't know much about them.
"Do you have any idea where she is" Eos asked,
"I wish I did. I wish a lot of things but, I..." Dolops sighed, "The last I saw her, she came here, crying about having lost a babe. I turned my back and then... she was gone" he shrugged his shoulder as he turned around, he wrapped his arms around himself. He was useless. Completely useless. But still, Eos said thank you. She knew now that by the sight of the empty wine bottles on his table that he was telling her the truth – and that he'd most likely be waking up the next morning with a head full of pins and may even convince himself that this was all some sort of dream.
She should have known, he never would have asked her to kill his mater had he been sober. He was too much of a coward.
"I'll come back if I hear anything",
"Yes, please do... and Eos... I am sorry" Dolops said, she gave him a smile before she left.
For the best part of an hour, Eos watched the farmers house. Dolops didn't leave and, on closer inspection, she saw him splayed out on his bed with a wine glass in his hand. The sun wasn't even in the middle of the sky and he was already snoring.
Under normal circumstances, she'd get Laelaps to trapes back and forth for her but, considering he was in Attika – or she hoped he was and he wasn't out there looking at her right now – it meant that she just had to go with her gut feeling that Dolops was in no way a threat and head to Epidauros.
It wasn't long before she was walkling under the olive tree of Herakles. As old as it was beautiful.
In the sanctuary of Epidauros, she saw the sick and the injured splayed out on their beds, the priests working tirelessly. A man, who had been lay in the corner had died, gone unnoticed and, a small skinny boy lay on one of the beds, an older boy sat next to him, clutching his hand.
A small girl had passed by her then, holding some medical supplies, only for her to back-track a little,
"Does your arm need seeing to" she'd asked, she couldn't have been anymore than ten but, she looked so willing to help that once she'd passed what the priests needed over – even though Eos hadn't answered her - she'd came back with a clean bandage.
Eos had sat down with her, near the sick boy. The girl had unwrapped the bandage so carefully, Eos hardly felt the fabric pull at the skin around the bite.
"What bit you" the girl had asked, her eyes going wide as she looked up at her,
"A very big wolf" Eos said,
"Ouch" the little girl had replied before pulling some salve from the pocket in her robes. Using a piece of cloth and a small water basin she'd pulled over, she washed over the teeth marks and wrapped Eos's hand back up.
She'd done an even better job than that healer in Argos. She could actually move her fingers now.
"It looks like it's healing nicely but, I will give you some extra bandages, it needs to be kept clean – especially a wolf bite – they can have all sorts of diseases inside them",
"Thank you" Eos said, flexing her fingers as the girl sat back, smiling. Eos had almost wondered as if she was expected to give her some drachmae but then, the girl had jumped up at the sound of the coughing young boy and she'd gone over to comfort him.
"Be still" she'd said quietly, "You'll see your mother soon, she'll be waiting for you". Eos sat and watched as both the little girl and, what she assumed was the boys brother, held the dying boys hands, comforting him as he fell off to sleep.
After a few minutes, Eos saw the little girl touch the boys wrist with her fingers. She moved, put her small hand on the brothers shoulder and squeezed it. He burst in to tears and buried his face in his brothers chest.
The girl returned to her then, her head down as she cleaned up the little bits of cloth cutting and ointment she'd left,
"He was really sick" the little girl told her, "They just lost their mater a few months ago... she left them homeless and hungry... we tried to help them but, it was never enough... the priests said that he died from a broken heart... that he didn't try enough..." the little girls lip had started to quiver, "But... its my fault really" she said quietly,
"Did you make him sick" Eos asked,
"No but... I was sick... before... really sick... but... they prayed for me... not for his mother and...",
"That's not your fault... if the Gods had wanted her to live, they would have... sometimes, it's just your time to go... no matter how much you think it's not",
"I know..." the little girl said, "that's why I'm still here... the woman who asked the priests to pray for me instead... she was this... I don't know... like an angel... she even had an eagle flying over her head",
"Kassandra" Eos said quietly - she wondered if the mistios knew how much of a mark she was leaving on the world.
"I don't know her name but, she was wonderful. She tried to get us a bull so she could save us all but, it was already dead. And the priest asked her who to save and she said me..." the little girl sat down, "and then, when I got better, when the others got sicker, I knew I had to do something. If they could save me, then maybe I can save others, you know",
"That's a lovely thought" Eos said.
"I want to be like her" the little girl nodded, "hse did so much for us - she rid the baths of snakes, she even showed the world how horrible that priestess was, how she was stealing babies" she wrapped her arms around herself,
"Yes, I heard about that",
"No one's seen her since. Do you think she could be dead",
"Maybe" Eos shrugged,
"I hope so... I have a baby brother... I'd never let anyone take him – ever",
"Good, you make sure of it" Eos told her. Leaving the girl to her work, Eos ended up near the guesthouse where a group of women had gathered, all shouting at the guards who were stood there.
"We want it destroyed" the head woman had said, "we do not want any more of these shrines tainting our land",
"Woman, come on. It is one shrine. It is full of those white-faced freaks. It is not worth it",
"We. Want. It. Destroyed" the woman repeated,
"Go and do it yourself" he shrugged, making himself chuckle. The woman had got up in his face then, pointing at him,
"You Spartan scum have no-" the guard pulled out his sword,
"I should think you'd stop there, midwife" the guard had said. The woman had sneered and then turned away from him, followed by the crowd of angry woman who threw taunts back at them as they walked away. The guard had sighed heavily and re-sheathed his sword.
Waiting until the women had dispersed, Eos went over to him.
"Not today mistios" he had said, putting his hand on his head as he closed his eyes, Eos smiled,
"You seem to be in need of one", he'd smiled, not opening his eyes,
"We don't need help of the likes of-"
"Yes, we do" another guard, bigger and more important from the looks of his helmet, most-likely a captain, "We can't spare any men but, we could spare you",
"We can't spare the drachmae" another who was leant up on the wall said, chewing at his finger nails,
"Perhaps we could sort something else out" the man had said, gazing up and down at Eos as she raised her brow a little – he reminded her of a Spartan Kallinos and, she wasn't about to go there,
"Well, if you have enough drachmae to pay this one to threaten women" the Spartan had scowled so much at her, the Captain had laughed, "I'm sure you have enough drachmae to pay me".
"Well, if you're sure we cannot find anything more pleasurable to exchange" the Captain said, he pointed over his shoulder "The shrines just over the way, destroy it – help those cannibalistic bastards meet their God and then, we'll talk about that drachmae". Eos nodded.
It didn't take her long to find the shrine.
She'd almost hoped that she'd find Chrysis in amongst the followers that were there but, she had no such luck. There was six of them. And, after dispatching the first two without the rest of them being none the wiser, Eos had grabbed the third, only for him to make a small yelping noise before she'd stabbed him in the throat, alerting the others. Pushing the now dead man at one of them, she'd taken the other two out quickly enough to grab a fallen spear and push it through the one who hadn't stood up yet, impaling him on the ground.
The shrine was decorated with pink petals which, Eos had let fall through her fingers before she destroyed it – making a promise to herself that if Asphodel was alive, she wouldn't be able to slip through so easily.