He glanced at Rasmus, who was also staring at them in disbelief. His friend murmured.
"If you're down for it, count on me, man."
"Thanks man."
"Is there a problem, Glax?" Proctius, always the man with the smile of a drunk dog, provoked him. "Facing a monster that you can't trick seems too big for you? You can always ask for my help."
He controlled his tongue to not ask Proctius about being tricked into something. But he had had a lesson on the stairs for the pythoness. Laughing, he raised his empty cup with the bitter bacchante, in a toast,
"If necessary, Proctius!" He should measure and refine his words, and not be made a fool of by them.
"It is a sea monster capable of destroying crews and ships," Lydia reminded them. "It is better to be prepared. It won't do you any good to go there without proper weapons or ships!"
'Certainly the only voice of reason here,' Glax thought.
"It's not enough just to have courage and the favor of the gods," Ione, the Augurer, made herself heard. "I recommend, Lady Chriseis, that you do not do this. Be sensible this time."
But Glax knew what was on his wife's mind. The pythoness' tempting words hours earlier. The words that said she would return home shrouded in honor and fame. She was obsessed with glory.
'Damn! Damn it! Can't we just 'travel by map' to the capital? My goal is the Hall of Bones, not to meet the Kraken!'
"I think it would be immeasurable beyond measure," Yet, he took the floor again, trying to mitigate the risks "to prevent heroes like Captain Proctius and the other champions, as well as General Megara and Captain Lydia from accompanying us... Ngh!" he suppressed a cry of pain as Chriseis's metallic fingers pinched his thigh under the table.
"I wouldn't dare to share the glory of yet another victory for Lady Chriseis," said Megara mockingly. Proctius laughed, nodding his head.
"So this is the big difference between us, Glax?"
"Huh, what are you talking about?"
"'Live boldly, for the gods are watching us," quoted the captain. "You don't think like a true Echelian. You are not prepared to die in battle."
"You, captain, rang the bell. I, a Valosian with no rank, came, saw, and won. Who doesn't take risks among us?"
The table fell silent, and the strange smile on Proctius' face disappeared, replaced by shock and then anger.
If to survive among Echelians was to create a mask of efficiency, honor, and power, Glax must use the well cards he had available for this.
Chriseis' hand _ the soft one_ ran up his thigh under the table, toward his groin.
::::::::::::
The striking daylight and the squeaking gulls caused his eyes to tear and squint. Glax had a great hangover to deal with this morning.
He was walking alongside Rasmus across the harbor, feeling the sea breeze hit the unmasked half of his face, relieving his headache a little.
"My memory hasn't come back yet, Rasmus, and I don't even know who my parents are. My crazy wife wants to face a sea monster capable of destroying ships, and because of my champion title, I have to go along. Can we go back to Valosia now?" he complained.
As if he had heard nothing that Glax was randomly regretting, Rasmus sighed and mused, looking at the horizon. "If no one survived, how do you know the monster is called Sillabot?"
"Good point, buddy. But ... Will you help me with my memories? I don't want to appear weak to people like Proctius and his wife."
"I can tell you what I know about your family, but it's not much. But first, we have to do something."
"Is that why you brought me here so early?"
"We have to get our things. The things we left on Laertes' ship."
Glax agreed, and followed the big man across the pier.
They arrived at a ship that had White sails and a black hull with strange eyes painted on it. Glax guessed it was a bireme, and looked with interest at the figurehead and pointed keel. The flag at the highest point had the symbol of a two-faced human head, each looking to one side.
The ship drew attention in contrast to most other ships moored in the port of Temnos. It had a triple set of sails, two of which were triangular. The other ships he saw, including the huge trireme at the end of the pier, had only round sails.
Once again, Glax had his vision expanded to recognize that there was a special mechanism inside. Medeia was a bireme with an internal system that used a gear transmission system capable of multiplying the power of the oars, and consequently, the speed. There were more intriguing details to analyze, but Rasmus slapped him on the back, urging him to continue walking, and it took his concentration away.
When they arrived at the access board, a guard greeted them with a smile.
"Congratulations guys! Glax and Rasmus are champions! I was at the festivities yesterday! You surprised everyone!" The boy had a spear and what Glax judged to be a guard uniform, which had the double head on his chest, and a pompous helmet topped by a mohawk made of horsehair.
'Cool!' Glax wondered if he could get such a cool item for himself at some point.
"Thanks! I hope last night was worth it! " He replied cheerfully.
The guard let them in and said that Captain Laertes would not be long.
While they were there on the deck of the bireme, waiting for Laertes, Glax discovered that this was a ship of the imperial fleet. The rowers were returning to their posts, as they would soon be leaving. The few officers present were divided between service crew and a few warriors.
Medeia was an imperial messenger ship, responsible for carrying official correspondence between the cities of the empire. On the deck of the ship, drawn on a large board, was a map of Stygia.
Upon seeing the map for the first time, Glax understood a few things about Stygia.
There were six regions marked with large letters. The name Echelian Clans, in the West, occupied a huge part of the map. Bordering that kingdom or state, there was the little Pharys on a peninsula in the far north, and Rhytosia, in the south. Thyria, the second-largest state, bordered the Echelians, Rhytosia, and the easternmost state, called Delpia. Bordered by everyone but Delpia, a small state near one of the numerous estuaries was marked with the name Hylan. The coast of Stygia was very indented and full of islands. A region painted black in the north, which bordered mainly the Echelians and also Pharys, was called Erimos.
Rasmus pointed out a place near Pharys and Hylan. "This is where we came from. Crona, the last city before the Hermos Pass, at the foot of the mountain. We hitchhiked with your father's friend, Laertes, Medeia's captain."
Glax nodded, still looking fascinated at the map.
"When you say, 'Ascended Hell', what exactly do you mean?"
Rasmus scratched his head. "Oh, it's the old legend. The ancients believed that Stygia actually came out of the underground one day. They believed that all of these lands were transported from the underworld. Where everyone who lived there was... dead. Basically. They believed they had been brought to life when the Titans Ascended. Well, there are a lot of stories and songs about it."
"Like ... burst out of nowhere in the middle of the sea?" Glax's eyes widened.
Rasmus shrugged. "I don't know, I wasn't there. The old folks swear for it."
"So Stygia really was hell, Hades' hell, Cerberus and such?"
"Shhh! Don't keep saying the name of the Invisible God aloud. He can catch you and drag you to the bottom again, hahahaha!" Rasmus laughed, as if to say that the boogeyman is going to come out from under the bed.
"Wait ... Why do you speak of the God of the Dead as if he were a fantasy, while saying that Hell ascended?" This was confusing and shocking for Glax. But he understood little about Greco-Roman mythology, just the most basic of stuffs.
"Why, because..." Rasmus scratched his back, stretching. "There are people who believe he's still around. They worship him as the God of the Dead and all that. We have to respect it, don't we? But ... If Hell ascended, did it come to the surface with Hell? Or stayed in the Underworld, to take care of the new dead? Should we ask a priest? I don't know, I don't understand. I only know that even his followers don't speak his name."
If Rasmus didn't know, it would be difficult for him to explain, and Glax sighed.
Then he saw Chryseis and a few more men running down the pier in that direction.
"THERE! He's there!" Someone pointed at Glax when he saw him. Chriseis looked up menacingly and came towards Medeia like a wild bull, drawing everyone's attention.
"What did you do?" Rasmus asked, placing his hand on the short sword he carried. Glax did the same instinctively. "What did you do to make her angry with you?"