Read Gods and Warriors for Free Online

he hauled the horses to a skittering halt. “We’ve got to turn around! We’ve got to go
west
!”
    Telamon was furious. “Why’d you do that?” he fumed as he battled to bring the horses under control. “We can’t take a chariot into the mountains! Besides, they’re guarding the pass, we’d never make it! We have to go
around
the mountains! I’ve got it all worked out. We’ll head south to the Sea, then we’ll—”
    “The
Sea
?” cried Hylas.
    “We’ll find a boat and row up the coast, then make land on the other side of the mountains and head in from there. It’s not that far. We’ll find Issi. I promise.”
    The Sea, thought Hylas.
    And when you reach the Sea
, the Keftian had said…
When.
He’d been so sure.
    “Which way d’you want to go?” demanded Telamon.“Hurry up, Hylas, I can’t hold them much longer.”
    Hylas chewed his lip. “You’re right,” he said. “We’ll have to head south, and go around by the Sea.”
    “
Thank
you,” said Telamon. He slapped the reins on the horses’ rumps and they were off, clattering down the trail in billows of dust.
    Hylas didn’t have time to change his mind. Suddenly they were sweeping around a bend and the plains were opening out before him: a vast, flat, forested land dotted with patches of golden barley and silver olive trees—and beyond that, frighteningly far away—mountains: peak upon peak, holding up the sky.
    Hylas had never been so far east, and for a moment his spirit quailed. Mount Lykas was all he’d ever known: the peaks, the gorge, the village. He had only a hazy idea of what lay beyond.
    He knew that Telamon’s father got his wealth from the rich crops of the plains, and that Lykonia was the southernmost chieftaincy in a vast land called Akea. He was vaguely aware that somewhere far away there were other Akean chieftaincies—Messenia, Arkadia, Mycenae—and that across the Sea lay distant lands peopled by monsters; but he’d never really thought about them. Until now. The outside world was unimaginably huge. It made him feel as insignificant as an ant, and as easily crushed.
    They reached a stream overhung by giant reeds, and Telamon hauled the horses to a halt to let them drink. He and Hylas jumped down. Telamon slumped on a rock,groaning and kneading his shoulders. Even on the ground, Hylas still felt the swaying of the chariot. The reeds were three times the height of a man and gave good cover, but he didn’t like them. He pictured black warriors creeping up on him unawares.
    Telamon took a calfhide bag from the chariot and tossed him a chunk of dried sheep’s liver and a cowhorn flask with a wooden stopper.
    “What’s this?” said Hylas.
    “Walnut juice. Your hair, Hylas. No one has yellow hair, you stand out like a beacon. You’ve got to look like everyone else or you’ll be caught.”
    After gulping his meat, Hylas smeared the walnut juice on his hair, and it turned from the color of wet sand to a streaky dark brown.
    “Better,” said Telamon. He went to spy out the land, while Hylas stayed with the horses.
    The friendly one was called Smoke; the vicious one was Jinx. Smoke stood quietly with one hind hoof tilted, but Jinx snorted and tossed his head. He wasn’t as beautiful as Smoke—he had a bony nose and angry eyes—but Hylas guessed he was cleverer. It made sense to be angry. He probably hated having to pull a chariot.
    Hylas told him so, and Jinx swiveled his ears to listen, then tried to bite his hand. Hylas grinned. “Trust no one. Clever horse.”
    Just then, both horses pricked their ears and uttered piercing whinnies.
    Answering whinnies in the distance.
    Telamon came crashing through the reeds. “It’s them!” he panted. “Quick! There’s a trail up ahead!”
    Hylas jumped into the chariot and reached down to give Telamon a hand up, but to his astonishment his friend tossed him the provisions and thrust the reins at him. “Go south,” he told Hylas. “Follow the river and find a