The Minoan Rhapsody

Respite

"I told you this old shack would stand up to the storm!" the Fallen One enthusiastically told Arindraii while exiting the old house at the olive grove. He closed the door behind him.

The air was fresh, cleaned by the storm that just passed. What little foliage the olive trees had was gone. Many branches littered the ground, like a battlefield full of limbs and carcasses.

Ari looked at Hephaestus with doubting eyes. "We got drenched. Somehow the roof managed to let more water inside the shed, than the storm poured. It was the mercy of the Gods that spared us."

"Nonsense!" he replied while slapping one of the walls.

The house crumbled to the ground, its brittle bricks turning to dust, the roof tiles breaking into pieces. The door, against its frame was all that remained standing.

One of the brothers opened the door and grinned. The second brother remained sitting on a chair in the middle of what used to be the house. The chair succumbed to the brother's weight. They both dusted themselves off as they joined Ari while laughing at themselves.

"I take that back." Ari forced herself to regain control amid the unstoppable chuckle. "The feeling of seeing you burn alive will be soothing compared to the pain of resurrecting this place." She took Hephaestus hand and squeezed it.

He jerked the hand away from her.

She reached for it again and passed her fingers over is fresh scars. "You're not healing as well as you used to, are you? Your hand still hurts."

"Not as much as when I was burning alive."

"Oh, I apologize. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings. I thought gods could take sarcasm." She walked away from him. "Ah, yes. I forgot. You are not a god anymore."

"Don't be concerned," The Fallen One went through the open door, inside what it used to be the shed. He bent over the rubble and retrieved Apator from the debris. He dusted it off and twirled it. He smiled at Ari and said, "I still have a little bit of god left in me."

#

"What is left standing?" Thoas asked his younger brother, Latramis, while staring at Poliochne's devastation from the outside of his house.

Latramis was the most respected man in Lemnos. A capable warrior, he was valued for his wisdom and foresight. He was Thoas right hand. "Not much is left: a couple of temples, a handful of houses. Most of the livestock is lost or dead. Say nothing of the harvest."

"What about the warehouses?"

"There is one grain storage still upright."

"The ships?"

"About a third remain afloat. The storm crashed most of them against each other or against the coast. We can perhaps rebuild a handful if we salvage enough wreckages."

"Gather the captains. All of them. We'll meet tomorrow at sunrise by Hera's temple."

"What about Sisyphus? He is not here."

"Especially Sisyphus," Thoas firmly replied. "Best get someone for him. He is at Moudros Bay."