Page 133 of Axios

“You had me worried,” I said, pulling back and punching his shoulder.

Haden approached Quill from behind and wrapped his beefy arms around him, picking him up off the ground and swinging the smaller man from side to side.

“Release me, you big oaf!” Quill bellowed, but there was only joy in his tone.

Eryx smiled but made no movement to embrace him. There were times where he let go of the distant attitude he carried and displayed his emotions, but those times were rare. However, when Quill looked up at him and gave a slight smile, he stepped forward and enveloped Quill in his arms.

Quill raised his brows with his shock before returning Eryx’s hold. It was clear he did not know how else to react to a man who rarely showed such affections.

Then someone approached who I hadn’t expected to see.

Felix.

The last time I’d seen him had been during the campaign with Agesipolis, nearly ten years ago. When our army had returned several times to Sparta, Felix and his unit had stayed away, remaining garrisoned in other cities or traveling to different areas, always on the move. I hadn’t known if he was even still alive.

“I’ll be damned,” he said, grabbing my shoulder and pulling me in for a hug. “I hardly recognize you boys.”

The same could be said about him. Although his dark hair was tied back with the leather strap he’d always worn, the years had caught up with him, and there were streaks of gray within the black. His face looked more weathered and rough and wrinkles had formed around his eyes and mouth. But he still had his strength and large build.

“It is good to see you, old friend,” I admitted, smiling up at him.

“Old?” He furrowed his brow. “I shall forget you spoke such a word.” He then greeted Haden and Eryx before looking at Quill and shifting his gaze around the area. “Where is the other? You and Theon were inseparable.”

Quill’s smile slipped from his face, and he looked to the ground. “Dead,” he answered. “He fell at Tegyra.”

Felix stopped searching and became still. Sadness briefly flickered in his eyes before it was replaced by emptiness. It reminded me of Eryx, of how he hid his pain.

Silence passed between us, as I suspected our minds were all on the short, dark haired man who once stood at our sides.

“He was a fine young man,” Felix said at last.

“He was,” Quill agreed. “But I shall see him again someday. It is not goodbye.”

Commotion stirred among the surrounding men as they all stood and stared out over ridge and across the plain. The sun had almost sunk below the horizon, but the remaining light of day showed a large force of men gathering on the ridge across the valley.

The Theban army.

“Do they plan to attack?” Quill asked, scrutinizing them.

Eryx regarded the enemy force and shook his head. “No, they are making camp. There will be no attack this night.”

“Why are they not charging us?” I asked, trying to shove away the fear knotting in my gut.

Fear is for the weak.

I had fought in too many battles to be afraid. Nevertheless, my throat tightened and my lungs fought for air. I did not show my distress, but it consumed my insides as if I fought an internal battle of my own in that exact moment.

“Because their goal is to bar us entry into their territory,” Felix answered, standing beside Eryx and watching the Theban army opposite us. “It is a warning. If we attempt to cross, there will be a fight. Do not doubt that, boy.”

“Then we will fight,” Haden said. “And they will die.”

***

It was dark, but none of us slept. Not yet. We had built a fire and sat around it—talking and reminiscing about days long ago. I watched as the wood crackled and flames shot up into the air. The night was quiet apart from our voices.

And oh how the stars shone above us, appearing even brighter than I ever remembered them.

Haden spoke next.