Blade(Part 1): Dawn

Chapter 30: Atreus

King Atreus was at the rear of the thousands of sky-scaled draconians who fled Eleus. Phaedre and Konon were beside him, but Anorae wasn't. Atreus had ordered his caravan to stop so he and his soldiers could look for her, staying where they were until sunrise. Phaedre stayed with Konon, who still didn't understand what was happening.

"Anorae!" Atreus roared. Anorae didn't answer. He cut through the jungles with his spear, going further and further away from the caravan. There was still no sign of Anorae.

"Anorae!" Atreus called again. She still wasn't there. Atreus rushed further and further into the jungles, to where the caravan was out of his sight, and he was almost at the edge of the jungle before Eleus. Anorae hadn't followed them after the battle, and she wasn't likely to be slain in combat so easily. She couldn't have been captured either, though. Something must have happened to where she only went missing. The thought of not knowing for sure was driving the King insane. He could only imagine how Phaedre and Konon were feeling, though. Atreus simply couldn't face his wife and son without Anorae next to him, and he couldn't very well keep the composure he needed to lead his people without knowing if she was well or not, either. They needed him, though. Atreus decided to go a little further into the jungle, looking for Anorae, before rejoining the caravan of draconian refugees. He soon came to the edge of the undergrowth to see what he feared he would see. Eleus, with Skaolan banners flying over its walls. Skaola had taken over Acran's capital, and Atreus retreated from the fight. He collapsed to his knees with defeat. His father would never have allowed this to happen. Posidas would have died defending his home, but Atreus was still alive. He was still alive while thousands more were dead.

"I should have been with him," a girl suddenly said. It was Cytheris. Since Eleus' defenders were badly outnumbered, Thesean had advised that Cytheris retreat with Atreus when they left Eleus, as much as Cytheris wanted to stay with him. He died along with the thousand men and women of Acran that stayed behind for Atreus and the rest of his people to retreat from the ancient city. Atreus could imagine how Cytheris felt, though. It was similar to what his own father did during the Dragon War. He was an adult then, though, at thirty thousand years old, and had fought in plenty of conflicts before the Dragon War. Cytheris was only a child, who was fighting in her first war.

"I understand your feelings, Cytheris," Atreus assured, rising to his feet. "I thought the same thing to myself when my own father was slain in battle. He died for Acran and her people, just as your father did. He told you to come with us so you would live to continue fighting, so fight, in his name." It was the least Atreus could do to comfort the girl, but Thesean's death would never leave his mind. He had been his friend for as long as he could remember, and he was gone.

"Where is Anorae?" Atreus questioned. "She was with you, was she not?" Cytheris didn't answer at first. Instead, she only stood where she was with widened eyes.

"Tell me, Cytheris," Atreus growled. "I know my daughter was with you during the battle."

"She was knocked off the bridge," Cytheris shuddered. "She fell into the water. I'm sorry, my King." At first, Atreus' heart sank, but then he realized that the armor that Anorae wore, made from mithril, was lighter than most other armor. She wouldn't have sunk in the river. She would have been carried downriver by its current. There was a chance that Anorae was alive. That was something that Atreus could tell Phaedre and Konon.

"Let's return to the others," said Atreus. "They will need us to protect them."

"My King," Cytheris objected. "Allow me to search for Anorae. The river flows south, to the colony of Astros. If she gets there before I get to her, then she will be dragged before the public and executed." Atreus wanted to search for Anorae as well, but Phaedre and Konon needed him, and Anorae was more than capable of surviving the wild until Cytheris found her.

"Go," Atreus allowed. Cytheris bowed her head, and Atreus bowed back before she rushed down to the river. She vanished into the undergrowth, and Atreus went back to the caravan. He cut through the jungles again, thinking of what he would say to his wife and son. Atreus rehearsed several conversations in his head, but it was pointless. He couldn't have known what Phaedre would ask when she didn't see Anorae walking next to him. All he could do was answer whatever Phaedre asked while doing his best not to worry her too badly. The King arrived at the camp, filled with sky-scaled draconian citizens of their fallen city, a few much younger than Anorae or older than even Atreus. They were in no shape to fight, and the warriors that were in shape to fight were either worn down, or badly wounded from black Skaolan blades or beam rifles. If the caravan was attacked, their chances of survival were very slim. That wasn't the main thought in Atreus' mind, though. He soon found Phaedre and Konon, and both quickly stood with widened eyes when he approached them. They were both silent, but Atreus knew what they both were wondering.

"I don't know," he admitted. "Cytheris is looking for her."

"What do you know?" asked Phaedre. There was a shudder in her voice that came from her worry for Anorae.

"She may be drifting down the river from Eleus as we speak," said Atreus. "To Astros."

"The colonies?" Phaedre gasped. "Atreus, if they see her..."

"I know," Atreus interrupted. "But that will not happen. If Cytheris catches up to her, she will protect her, and even if she doesn't, I always rely on what I have always known about our daughter. Anorae can take care of herself."