Creative Myth

The night was beginning to fade fast, with only the stars above to provide my light. Each one was unique with its own twinkle, its own shine. But the light was fading so fast, more than I was comfortable with. I crossed the same dirt path once more; this would be my fourth tread over the same small rocks. They made a small crunch as I took each step, reminding me that they were there. There was a river to my left, and though it looked so strong almost pulling me in, it was so silent. I watched it more, waiting. I wasn’t even sure anymore what I was waiting for, whatever it was I felt it must have been important.

I spun, then turned back to my former direction. I had thought I had heard someone behind me all night, so much time wasted and I was still fooling myself. I realized this was a trait that I must have always obtained. My paranoia, my constant burden.

I did not always consider my paranoia to have been a curse, but sometimes my own sixth sense. It could come in pretty handy within dangerous situations where being safe is always better than being sorry, sometimes you don’t even get the chance.

I could recall a time where this truth had saved my life. This is a time that I could understand better than the present itself. The story in my mind began to replay itself as I thought back. I was so young; a fragile girl who had so much to learn in my years that would be bestowed upon me, and innocent of the destruction attempted on those years. I was brought from a foreign country, one with little housing and green as far as you or I could see no matter whether it be of forestry, field or garden. The land was rich until the gods wished it not to be. They did so when the men came. They were of surrounding islands with the same goals of stealing our food, wine and lives. I was one of those taken from my land with a promise never to reach it again in any way other than in my dreams.

When the men had stayed past their agreeable visit, which was not long I assure you, the gods willed the land unfertile and the waters welcoming. The men left absorbing the hint but held more than their worth in cargo with me and three others on board, against our wills. They sailed far with us in tow until Lyra, a humble servant of our true king, jumped ship, only to be pulled under by the ship. I’m sure she didn’t mean for the punishment to have been placed on our backs, but the lashings were done with her in mind. After that failed escape, the rest of us were tied to separate sections on the boat. When this course of action was taken, I realized that my life from now on only had meaning if I fought my way back to my home, to the land that preserved my memories and waited patiently for my return.

With my change of attitude and spirits the crew of my cage on water decided to rename me. I was given a name seen more fit to my adaptations in the month aboard that had passed. Thaddia was to be my new name meaning ‘one with bravery in her heart.’ In the short quantity of time that passed I felt like I was an entirely different person, like I was reborn to live someone else’s life. My name gone forever; even to my own mind, and my condition poor. The other girls and I were mostly neglected, but often abused and were most often left tied to our posts without consent.

All the time alone with only my thoughts gave me time to let the reality of my choices sink in. I figured that I could do nothing really until I was on land; and that no action could be decided without knowing the situations with wherever I was going to be taken. What I did know though is that I would do anything to get home and I was willing to kill for it.

Seven more days of isolation and the wrath of the ruthless crew were absorbed in me, but really it all seemed to fade away with the sight of a village and a sanded beach. It was as if none of the torture had happened at all. The crew went ashore to investigate the area and only two oarsmen and their three hostages were left aboard the vast ship. By morning my wrists were bloodied from struggling. No good had come from the action though. The knots were only half undone by the time a figure stepped in between the sun and me. I looked up cautiously expecting the same old ragged men I had watched for the last five weeks. Instead I found myself looking up at a young woman who strained to keep her smile placed, as she gazed at me. She took a step closer and produced a knife from her clothing. I flinched as she brought it closer to me and then her eyes met mine. I found trust in her heart as she lowered it to the ropes that held me from the free world. The woman cut through the ropes with effort and strength that showed me this was no land where women were much lesser than men.

“Come with me.” Her voice was jagged as she turned her back to me proving her trust. I followed almost reluctantly, fearing the outcome of my decisions. I found each one to be critical.

“Have you found the other girls?” I asked afraid of the answer.

The woman spun around to me with a look of surprise on her face. “I found one dead,” My face drained. “And only one.” So she had escaped in the night? Or could she have been kidnapped? The questions raced about in my mind as I fell into darkness.

Zeus pitied me and gave a sleep that would last a day and a night. When I opened my eyes from my sweet serenity, I glanced around the room. It was clean and had a gentle but sophisticated look to it. I stood quickly studying the area that I appeared to be alone in without being bound, then my focus rapidly changed. My blood-smeared wrists were now cleansed and wrapped, and I was dressed in new clothes that smelled of primrose. With my new discoveries explored, I found my way to the door. I hesitantly opened it with a gentle slide from the soft wood frame dreading the consequences and found a welcome waiting outside.

“Our guest has arisen!” announced a young man standing half in the doorway. The words that spilled from his mouth created such astonishment that I felt I may still have been sleeping.

Then I caught the eye of the beautiful woman who had rescued me. She approached me with poise and wonderment in her eyes. Aphrodite made her hair and bright green eyes glisten in the candlelight. “I have been waiting for you.” She embraced me as if we were of the same blood. “My name is Astra, I hope to have the pleasure of knowing yours after we eat.” She tugged me to a table filled almost to the point of overflowing onto the floor, but with so much unknown, I had no hunger, only thirst for the truth.

“Astra, fair lady of this house, your feast looks most wonderful, but my stomach does not pick at me as my mind does. With so much unanswered, I could not bear to even touch the food placed so gracefully across this fine table.”

Astra looked to me with peaceful eyes, “I will feed the hunger of your mind if that is what you crave most, but first you must answer to me what your name is and what land you have been taken from.”

I saw these as safe questions and gave her my reply, “My name was not always, but now is and may stay Thaddia. I come from the land where green is forever and there are no cliffs; this land I speak of is called Nera, near Kos.” I closed my mouth after such a statement, too eager to listen than to talk.

“Welcome Thaddia, you have reached Troy. I am sorry to say you are the only survivor of the ship you sailed in on. When the men strode into our city off of their vast ship they were welcomed, but that was cut off quite soon. Without manners or respect, they tried to ravage our city, trying to get away with many deeds that we will punish people for here. A fight broke out with an officer of this land and he was killed mercilessly,” My face began to twist as the story went on. I had not expected news like this. “After that,” Astra went on, “the men of this land banded together to kill the thieves. Their deaths were brutal, nowhere near as clean as a soldiers, though they didn’t deserve it.” She looked at me to make sure of my approval of her statement.

“We found the other girl that came from your boat.” My hostess paused to find my gaze and hold it. “I’m very sorry, she did not make it. We held her in our hospital for seventeen hours. She was lost after that.” Astra closed her eyes in respect, as did I. My arm reached up and patted her right shoulder to motion to her that all was going to be all right.

“Thank you for your kindness, but there is one more favor I must ask of you.” Astra and many others signaled for me to continue. “All I ask is that I can return home, to Nera.”

I followed the young woman’s eyes to the floor; it looked as if she was thinking. They came back up with her words. “We will help you back to your land, but if that is what you wish than we may have to cut your stay here in this house quite short for this land that you are a part of is on the brink of a terrible war. If the gods permit, then we may be lucky enough to escape before the battle starts. I know that when I return my heart tells me that there will be nothing left of the land I see in my eyes this very day. Therefore I wish to make the trip as soon and as fast as possible so that I may once more sit here in this hall again; even if it is the last place I ever sit before my visit to the Styx.” One single tear formed in the corner of Astra’s eye and I did not understand her words.

“Why come back to the promise of death when you could stay in Nera with me? My land is wide and hardly inhabited; why not bring all of Troy with us?”

Astra’s tone changed as her eyes flashed in disbelief. “Do you really want to bring the plague of the Greek’s wrath to your land?” She leaned closer to me and I stiffened signaling I was determined not to move back. “Do you really want to be responsible for the death of your people? They will find us, they will follow.” My heart sank from my chest falling lower than I had thought it ever could.

Astra stood to gather the attention of the room. “We will set sail as soon as dawn reaches the very edge of this land. We will travel on our very fastest ship.” Astra motioned for me to get more sleep. That she would wake me when the time came to speed across the seas of Poseidon’s domain.

I stood slowly watching the few left in the room find their way out of the hall. Making my way to my bed of hide and fleece, I thought about Astra’s words. Reciting them in my mind over and over, then stopping for only a moment to think about the state of depression I had put myself into. Could I really leave knowing the fate that awaited their return? If they were to die this way I felt that I should.

My thoughts of dejection were soon cut off when I realized that there was a strange noise outside. In the state of mind I was in, I would have ignored it if not for the man that burst into my room. He was a soldier if Troy. He threw armor at me and motioned to it. “We need all the help we can get ma’am.” These were the only words that found their way to me before he ran back into the blunder outside.

I stared at the armor in front of me for a time until I realized that I was just told to join in on the battle against the Greeks. I was left in shock pondering on the decision that had just become mine. Only a moment ago I had been talking myself into giving up on my own future, but now I was asked to save not only my own, but the lives of others. I was asked to protect so many that I didn’t even know existed and endanger my own. Was I really going to go out there and get killed? I asked myself again until I found the answer. I had told my self upon the boat that I would do anything to get home, even kill. Now it seemed that my words were proving my determination.

I knew now what perseverance and bravery I held as I pulled on the armor. But that wouldn’t matter if I was killed. I kept telling myself how easily this course of action could go bad, but it seemed like the only thing I could do besides hide, and there was no way I would be found in that position.

I pulled one strap tighter around my body and noticed a small sword in the belt. It was supposed to be light, but a month of being neglected didn’t do me any good. I was also afraid of my experience level as I pondered on the thought that I may have won many awards and titles as an archer, but had had little training with melee weapons. I tied another strap and found my body covered in leather. I thought back to the encouraging words that my mother had given me as a child when I wanted to quit my archery lessons. She had told me that if I wanted to quit then quit, but the little faith she had in me would vanish. Only if I kept going would the faith grow and eventually, when the faith had compounded enough, she would know that I would be one to take my talents to great use. After that I wanted so much to reach that stage and had been practicing my archery ever since. Now it was time to broaden my skills and take this sword to use. I cut through the air and took a step to the door. I glanced in the mirror next to me and than pried my eyes away. I was truly no longer who I had been in Nera.

I door made a sound as I separated it from its smooth frame. As I stepped through the silence hit me. Fear suddenly overwhelmed me as I heard someone coming my way. I grasped the sword in both hands, with all my will keeping me from retreating back into the room I had just emerged from. Once the noise of the footsteps stopped and then turned away I began my journey to the opposite side of the hall. I inched, trying not to make any sound, and then pressed my back up against the wall next to the door so that I could peer around the corner.

I would have screamed if I had not been too terrified to talk. As I looked again I knew that the battle between me and the ship I was to leave on was real. There were bodies, dead and alive, everywhere. I tried my hardest to compose myself as I took one step at a time, always doing my best to stay out of the way. One’s luck can only hold so long though. Soon I found myself surrounded by men slashing at men with no recognition of me. One man came at me, and before I knew what I was doing I had stuck my sword out and the soldier had thrown himself into it. I stared at him in disbelief about what had just happened. He began to fall with my sword still in his gut, which pulled me down with him. I pushed him back and returned to my feet with weapon in hand. The sensation of pulling it back out of someone had felt so strange to me. I turned to get out of the way of the men fighting around me when a figure ran straight into me, knocking me off my feet. I looked up to see a man on top of me.

The man examined me to confirm to himself that he had seen correctly. “What would a little girl such as yourself be doing in this battle?” the man asked. By the smile on his face I knew he wasn’t planning on giving me time to answer. Like a hidden natural instinct I elbowed his right arm making his body collapse on that side and giving me room to roll out from under his left side. I scrambled to my feet and ran in the direction of the dock. I tried my hardest to concentrate on my direction and to form a plan so that I could avoid as much of the fighting as possible, but I kept looking back. My paranoia was acting up; telling me that someone was behind me where there was only empty ground.

I swerved again to evade a mob of men ahead of me and tripped over a body. I was horrified when I landed next to the man that had greeted me in the earlier morning. He was bleeding from his shoulder and neck. He appeared to be dead. As soon as I comprehended what I had seen I jolted back into a sitting position, I had his blood on my hands. It was still warm and I was terrified once more. These people were so nice to me and were being massacred for an unjustifiable reason, I felt sure of that.

I composed myself upon standing and could feel something inside me. I knew I was close now, but no matter how close I was to my freedom, these people here could never feel that. I raised my sword and ran for my life toward the ships. On my way, a Greek soldier met my eyes. In my Trojan armor, he felt he owned the right to swing his sword out to dig into my right arm, my fighting arm. I dropped my small sword, and while still running, scooped down to retrieve it with my left. I spun, maintaining my pace, to once again view my opponent. He looked like he was laughing on the inside, as if he had enjoyed his hit. I had never had such feelings as spite and disgust build up so much. I had a strong urge to run back to him and give him a taste of his own medicine with the help of my sword. I wasn’t stupid enough to follow through though. With my lack of potential and in the state of being wounded, I knew it was no use. He would see me and then I would be struck down with one stroke of his sword. I cursed myself for being so rational and not following my heart. If only I had the guts to try, even with the chances of success being so negligible.

I looked at my arm when I had found a shadow next to the docks. I was bleeding badly. The only medical attention I felt I could give myself at the moment was pressure, so I ripped the bottom of my shirt off. I pulled another piece from it and placed it in my mouth. Next I gently wrapped the original fabric around my arm. I gripped the material in my mouth before I pulled to tighten my bandage around my wound so that my scream would be muffled. I was surprised that no one had heard me at all. When I was finished tying the fabric, I knelt on the ground. I began to cry not only from pain but also from distress.

After a few moments I rose to my feet. I stepped out into the light and glanced around me. All I could think about was my arm; it was so sore now, and holding my sword only made the pain worse. Two more steps; I was counting to try and not think about my surroundings. I would have considered this move useful if I had not lost track so many times. This usually occurred when a noise, such as a cry out, would interrupt my train of thought.

The sun was almost above the horizon now meaning I had been on the battlefield almost three hours. I quickened my pace and made way for the boat nearest to me. It was small enough to be managed by one man, but a little difficult. I had made it. There were boards beneath my feet and I was halfway up the wood path up to the boat deck. I turned to take a last look out at the battle I had crept through before boarding the ship. I would do my best to set out on the water before anyone would notice me. But my plan fell short.

I turned to walk the few steps left until I would be on the deck and found myself breathless. As I had turned I became directly face to face with a stranger. He looked into my eyes intently and then placed his hand on my lower back to pull my body closer. As he did so his eyes lowered and I felt a sharp pain in my left side.

* * * * *

There was a pain. I’d forgotten about it until now. I walked over the rocks again and looked into the river at my side. There was a pain and then….

Then I looked at the man. He had a look of guilt on his face, as if he was sorry. He let me drop to my knees in front of him and then walked around me as if I was only a rock in his way. He left me on the walk.

* * * * *

I was on the walk. My hand began to caress my left side where the pain had occurred and I was sure that I was feeling it again. I was feeling something else too. My hand now was covered in it. I looked to the river again before looking at my blood covered hand and forearm. It was deep red, and though it was mine, I did not panic, I was unafraid of my own blood.

The blood was running down my side, and I dropped my sword so that my other hand could also be included in this exploration. I looked up and saw more men in a crowd. They looked at me only shortly and then tried to forget as they made their way off the boat. I was a sight to see. A young girl in Trojan armor with wounded arm and unmistakable gash in my side. It was a true vision that would make you have to think about what was right and wrong.

* * * * *

I was a sight here too. On my knees in the dirt, still captivated by the rush of the water more than my own suffering. I couldn’t remember what had happened next. The men walked by and then…

Then I laid on the smooth wood beneath me. It was cool and I really noticed the sweat rolling off of my face now. Sounds of the battle started to drone out and my vision entered upon becoming blurred. I could smell fresh water, and everything I heard became unfamiliar than turned into the sounds running water.

* * * * *

It began to sound like the Styx. I was kneeling next to the Styx; my blood running into it, soiling it’s purity. I now understood. I had passed on and was awaiting judgment. I had failed my mission to return home and to see my land again. Yet, somehow in my heart I was satisfied with my arrival at the Styx, like I was meant to be here. I felt a sense of completion as I stood and walked over to the Styx. With my left foot dipped into it I could feel a sensation like I was being cleansed or removed of all the unpleasantness I had encountered. I was happy and in a way I knew I was home.