Chapter Text
Twack!
A single second to shatter his world. A single second to tear a hole into his chest, leaving it bleeding and hurting. A single second to loose what he had held so dear.
Odysseus couldn’t hear, he couldn’t move, all he could do was stand and stare at the broken body collapsed mere steps from him. There was no life in it any more, no joyful laughter, no sunny smile. All of it ripped away within a second.
He could feel his knees buckling, could faintly feel the sharp sting of skin splitting open as he fell into the dirt. „Please, no.“ He mumbled. „No, no, no.“
„Captain!“ A hand on his shoulder tore to him back to reality. The cave. The sheep. The cyclops.
Without his input his body stood. He felt so far away from everything. He heard himself speak: „Gather the wounded, get them out of the way. Have the rest carve the club into a spear.“
„Yessir.“ The man beside him nodded and hurried away.
His feet moved forward, towards the body lying in a pool of its own blood. His hand reached out, touching the blood soaked hair. He closed his eyes, his chest impossibly heavy. „Forgive me, my friend.“ He whispered.
A sigh of air on his arm, just the barest shifting of air. Immediately his eyes flew open again. Did he survive that hit? Was he actually…?
Another breath escaped pale lips, more a wheeze than anything else. „Polites!“ He called out, grasping his friends shoulders. „Can you hear me?“
There was no reaction from the other man, but another puff of air. He was alive, he was actually still alive! Odysseus could barely contain his relief. „Over here! He’s breathing!“ He called to no one in particular.
Multiple steps came running towards them. „No way.“ „How?“ „I thought for sure-„
A man whose name he didn’t remember knelt by his side, pressing two fingers against the side of Polites’ neck. He waited with bated breath. His eyes widened. „Sweet gods, he is.“ He took a moment to collect himself, looking over the heavily injured man lying before them. „We need to bind his injuries, I have medical supplies on the ship.“ After calling more men over, he addressed Odysseus: „Captain, your guidance is needed elsewhere for now.“
„Yes.“ Odysseus nodded, but kept staring at his friend.
„Go.“ A small push got him to tear himself away from the gruesome scene.
Eurylochus was already waiting for him. „Where do we attack?“
Right, the cyclops. It was hard for Odysseus to keep his mind together. He forced his focus onto the battle ahead. „Stab his eye, as deep as you can. Once he is blinded we can sneak out.“
Eurylochus nodded and turned to relay the order.
Odysseus watched with great satisfaction as his soldiers pushed the giant spear into the monster’s eye. His howl of anguish shook the cave as he got to his feet, stumbling around blindly. „Help!“ He called. „Help! Nobody blinded me!“
No one answered his plea for help as he fell to his knees, making an ugly sobbing noise.
Odysseus almost felt bad for him. If the monster hadn’t tried to kill them just minutes before. He looked around and motioned for his crew to sneak out. One by one they grabbed the sheep and hurried away, making as little noise as possible.
„Captain.“ Someone called behind him in a hushed voice.
He turned to see the soldier kneeling by his friend. There was a makeshift bandage around his head and his left arm was bound close to his chest. The cyclops had hit his left side, it stood to reason his injuries would be centered there.
The soldier motioned for him to come closer as he finished tying together a makeshift stretcher with a chlamys and two spears. „We need to carry him.“ He took the bandana from Polites’ head and balled it together. Mumbling an apology, he stuffed it into his mouth.
„What are you doing?“ Odysseus hurried over.
„The second we move him he will be in incredible pain, he will likely scream. It would make the cyclops aware of our position and we won’t be able to move fast enough to get away from him.“ The soldier replied cooly, his hands steady. „Take hold of his right shoulder. We will lift him on three.“ He looked around to make sure everyone nodded in agreement.
Odysseus nodded and swallowed down the fear. Polites was alive. For now. But he was also heavily injured and they needed to carry him back to the boats before they would be able to properly treat his wounds or even give him something for the pain. Right now the main goal was to get out of the cave. Everything came after that.
The soldier nodded and whispered: „One, two, three!“ All four men lifted their injured comrade. Immediately his eyes snapped open, they were wide and fearful, tears pouring out of them. All that escaped his mouth was a muffled noise of agony.
Just seconds later, they set him down again on the cloth. Polites was hyperventilating, his eyes darting from place to place, not seeming to find a place to hold on to.
Odysseus took his right hand and squeezed it, leaning over him so he could see him. „It’s ok.“ He whispered. „You’re ok. You’ll be fine, I promise. We just need to get you back to the ship and you’ll be fine.“ He tried not to notice the still bleeding wound on the side of his head, his bloodshot eye, the expression of torment.
Upon seeing his friend, Polites relaxed slightly, Odysseus could feel faint pressure where their hands were clasped.
„We need to carry you, it will hurt, but I promise we’ll be careful, alright?“ Odysseus kept talking to him. He’d heard somewhere he was supposed to keep talking to someone with a head injury. Keep them from falling unconscious.
He looked up briefly to the soldier who nodded at him. „Let’s go.“
Odysseus looked back down to Polites. „I need to let go of your hand, alright? But I’m still right by your side.“ He was surprised at the steadiness of his own voice.
Polites managed a weak nod and closed his eyes.
„Hey.“ The soldier spoke quietly. „Keep your eyes open.“ He looked up to the other men. „We need to hurry.“
Wasting no time, each man shouldered one end of the spears. At being jostled, Polites let out a whimper of pain, silenced by the gag in his mouth.
The sun outside was brighter than Odysseus remembered it being. They couldn’t have been in that cave for more than an hour, still it felt like a lifetime. They had went in hopeful, convinced fate had given them a break. Now they staggered out broken men, horrified and burdened with too many nightmares to count.
He talked without meaning, addressing Polites by name every few steps and looking over to make sure he kept his eyes open. In the light of day, he looked even worse. His blood was crimson, his skin ashen, his eyes dull. Still he breathed. It was a miracle that he still breathed, and Odysseus was greedy by hoping for more.
The way to the ships seemed to stretch eternally. There was no path to follow, they simply hurried over fields, stumbling along, each pushing and pulling the others. It was a delicate balance to be mindful of the wounded soldier they were carrying, yet going as fast as they could.
Somewhere behind them the cyclops roared in anger. He must have discovered his prey had escaped.
When they finally set foot onto the plank, Odysseus felt like collapsing from relief. But he couldn’t. Not yet.
Eurylochus was waiting for him, looking between the group and to the island. „Awaiting orders, captain.“
„Full speed ahead, get us as far-„
A loud splash, a wave of water and the boat rocked from side to side.
Odysseus turned his head. The cyclops had followed them. He was mere steps away from the beach, picking up rocks and boulders alike, throwing them towards the noise of his escaping meal. Odysseus felt the rage burn inside him, all notions of sympathy lost. How many had fallen prey to this monster, how many fathers had never come home? Odysseus had chosen mercy, only to be met with violence. „Go.“ He called to his crew. „As fast as you can!“
He turned and was suddenly engulfed by darkness. He was not afraid. He knew this darkness, knew this sudden feeling of weightlessness. „Athena.“
The goddess was waiting for him, looking at him with a disappointed glare. „You know better than to leave a threat alive.“ She folded her arms. „Kill him.“
Odysseus braced himself before answering. „No.“
Athena was taken aback by this brazen refusal of her command. „No?“
„He is beaten. My friends needs me. I will not waste time my time killing the cyclops when I could spent it helping him.“
Her glare turned into a glower. „You dare deny me?“
„I would not deny you if there wasn’t a better way.“
Her expression melted into neutrality. „Fine. Do it your way. Just don’t come running back to me once you realize the mistake you made.“
Before he had the chance to respond, he was back to reality. The ship was still swaying, the cyclops was roaring, the crew was working hard to get them away from the island, the weight of his friend on his shoulder.
He turned to the soldier holding the other side of the stretcher. „Where to?“
„Stern, next to the water storage.“ They hurried along the ship as it set into motion, carrying them away from the accursed island.
Odysseus had known each ship had a room to treat the wounded, he’d just been lucky he hadn’t had to visit it before. It was a small room with two tables and a cupboard filled with medical supplies.
They set Polites down on the closer table. He let out a strangled sigh at the hard surface on his back.
„It’s ok.“ Odysseus leaned back into his field of vision and gently removed the gag. „It’s ok. You’re safe now. You did so well.“ He pushed some hair out of his friends face. The blood in it was beginning to dry, tangling and knotting it. It would be a nightmare to get all of it out.
Polites looked at him, though his focus wavered. His lips opened as if to speak, but all that came out was a raspy cough. Blood splattered across his grey lips.
„Hey.“ He urged, gently patting his cheek. „Stay with me now. Polites. Stay with me.“
The soldier was suddenly standing across from him with a clay cup. „Lift his head.“
Odysseus slid a hand under Polites’ head, angling it up gently. He watched as the soldier placed the cup to his lips and let a sip of the milky liquid slowly flow into his mouth. It took a moment before Polites reacted, swallowing before the soldier poured more. „Poppy juice.“ He explained. „It will help him relax and lessen the pain.“
Already Odysseus could feel Polites’ body relaxing, his eyes fluttering closed, the poppy juice dripping down his chin as he struggled to swallow.
Still the soldier poured more until the cup was empty. Almost the entire second half had ended up on the table, but he seemed satisfied. He set the cup aside and quickly took to work stripping his patient and assessing the damage.
Odysseus had to briefly turn away and swallow down the nausea that had suddenly burned in the back of his throat. Polites’ entire left arm was starting to swell and bruise, as well as the left side of his pelvis and some parts of his left thigh. The right side of his body showed only little bruising, but plenty of scrapes and cuts from where he’d fallen and slid across the cave floor.
The soldiers frown deepened as he felt along his patients shoulder and arm, skillfully tuning out the pained noises it earned.
„Can you help him?“ Odysseus asked, hands clasping the limp one of his friend.
The soldier considered his answer for a moment, looking at the man lying between them. „I can try.“ He finally looked up to his captain. „But I cannot promise recovery nor survival.“
Odysseus swallowed heavily, then nodded. „I understand.“ He didn’t need to be a doctor to see how badly hurt Polites was. He had seen men pass from fewer and lesser injuries, the mere fact that his friend was somehow still alive and breathing was nothing short of a miracle. „Forgive me, I do not recall your name…?“
„Makhanidas.“ The soldier supplied with a small smile.
„Makhanidas.“ Odysseus nodded. „Thank you.“
„Now I must ask you to leave and give me space to work.“ His smile was gone, replaced by his frown again.
Odysseus was about to protest when Makhanidas reassured him: „I will send for you if anything changes.“
Again the captain nodded and looked down to his friend. The poppy juice had completely pulled him under, giving his face an almost mellow expression. „Be strong.“ He whispered as he kissed the back of his hand. „You’re going to be alright.“ He knew Polites couldn’t hear him, he knew he was only saying this for his own benefit, to ease his own anxiety.
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When Odysseus walked back onto the deck, the island was but a tiny speck on the horizon. He breathed through the rage churning in his gut at the thought of the cyclops. He would have liked to give him a piece of his mind, but at the moment Polites and the safety of his men had been more important.
The sea air felt good in his chest, the wind rejuvenating on his face. He took a moment to center himself before walking up to where Eurylochus was standing at the bow.
„Captain.“ His second in command greeted him with a nod. He hesitated briefly before asking: „How is he?“
„Not good.“ Odysseus swallowed past the lump in his throat. „Anyone else injured?“
Eurylochus shook his head. „Some scrapes and bruises, nothing serious.“ He mustered his captain. „You should get some rest.“
Odysseus wanted to scream at him. How could he possibly lay down and sleep now that his friends life was hanging in the balance? When he could wake up and someone could tell him Polites had passed, alone and in pain, while he had been sleeping?
No, he had to stay awake, be ready and alert. Not just for Polites, for all of his men. He had a terrible feeling the cyclops wouldn’t be the last obstacle for them to overcome on their way home.