Sequel: The White Doe ›
Status: 1 of 7 volumes. Complete.
A Good Run
Six
Thessily lies on her back, catchin her breath. After a second she hears the sound of Phidippides's sandals hitting the soil in a steady rhythm, the shift of the noise as he comes closer, then passes the grove, then continues on his run. There is no pause or break in his stride and she believes he has noticed nothing, that she is still his secret guardian and she is grateful.
She tries to sit up and the pain blossoms across her chest, moving around and through it and she's never felt a pain like this.
She looks down at the remaining shaft of arrow jutting from her chiton, the spreading oval of blood running down her side and gritting her teeth, she yanks the arrowhead free. Her head swims and she sees spots as bright as sunlight. She raises the arrowhead and tries to examine it in the starlight, sees only the metal glistening with her own blood. She sniffs at the tip and recoils, dropping it.
The odor burns her nostrils as she gets to her feet and retrieves her larys. The straps on one of her sandals have torn and she discards the other rather than try to run in only one shoe. She turns and follows after Phidippides and has only gone three strides when she feels the first distant wash of nausea and giddiness stirring.
And she knows she has been poisoned.
.
It is hours later that same night and she has fought eight more vampires, each time keeping them from Phidippides. The vampires are savage and fast and she is already tired and hurt and slowing.
She wins each fight.
She runs.
.
It is today and now she runs with Phidippides following, not caring if he spots her, because it is finished and because she is going home. Behind her lie the remains of the battle, where Athens met its enemy that morning. Six thousand, four hundred dead Persian soldiers litter the field, lying together with the bodies of one hundred and nine-two Athenian men who have given their life for their city.
The sunlight is fierce above and Thessily trips as she comes off the plain called Marathon. She tumbles through dirt and scrub before she can find her feet once more. She has lost the labrys and loses precious seconds of her life trying to find it again.
Athens is only ten miles away, now, she can see it in the distance to the south, shimmering with color. Sunlight glints gold off the statue of Pallas Athena, off the tip of the mighty goddesses' spear.
She continues to run. Thoas is there, waiting and she has to tell him that they won.
She has to tell him that she is ready to die.
She tries to sit up and the pain blossoms across her chest, moving around and through it and she's never felt a pain like this.
She looks down at the remaining shaft of arrow jutting from her chiton, the spreading oval of blood running down her side and gritting her teeth, she yanks the arrowhead free. Her head swims and she sees spots as bright as sunlight. She raises the arrowhead and tries to examine it in the starlight, sees only the metal glistening with her own blood. She sniffs at the tip and recoils, dropping it.
The odor burns her nostrils as she gets to her feet and retrieves her larys. The straps on one of her sandals have torn and she discards the other rather than try to run in only one shoe. She turns and follows after Phidippides and has only gone three strides when she feels the first distant wash of nausea and giddiness stirring.
And she knows she has been poisoned.
.
It is hours later that same night and she has fought eight more vampires, each time keeping them from Phidippides. The vampires are savage and fast and she is already tired and hurt and slowing.
She wins each fight.
She runs.
.
It is today and now she runs with Phidippides following, not caring if he spots her, because it is finished and because she is going home. Behind her lie the remains of the battle, where Athens met its enemy that morning. Six thousand, four hundred dead Persian soldiers litter the field, lying together with the bodies of one hundred and nine-two Athenian men who have given their life for their city.
The sunlight is fierce above and Thessily trips as she comes off the plain called Marathon. She tumbles through dirt and scrub before she can find her feet once more. She has lost the labrys and loses precious seconds of her life trying to find it again.
Athens is only ten miles away, now, she can see it in the distance to the south, shimmering with color. Sunlight glints gold off the statue of Pallas Athena, off the tip of the mighty goddesses' spear.
She continues to run. Thoas is there, waiting and she has to tell him that they won.
She has to tell him that she is ready to die.