Page 72 of Beyond the Storm

His attempt to lighten the heaviness pressing down on us. If only pain soothed that easily.

I gently squeezed his fingers. “A bride? No.” I rested my cheek on his. It was like we were locked in a dance, hands joined and bodies close. “You’re my warrior.”

He whimpered and hid his face against my neck. “My brothers are waiting for me. They allowed me time to…” He breathed out. “To say goodbye to you.”

“Where will you go?” I asked.

“To the next battle. Wherever it may be.”

“You never told me why you fought beside us,” I reminded him. Was I curious about the reason? Yes. Very much so. But more than anything, in that moment, I only wanted to hear his voice… for as long as I was able to.

“Demons.”

“Demons? I’m unfamiliar with the word.”

“Much like how my brothers and I possess… special gifts… demons are not mortal either. They have gifts of their own and use them to spread chaos. Demons hid themselves amongst the Athenian and Theban soldiers, and we were tasked with defeating them.”

“I believe I understand. To an extent.”

“Elasus!” Nikandros called over to me. “It is time to march.”

Kallias and I stared at each other. The pit of my stomach knotted with a desperation that quickened my pulse and shortened my breaths.

“You are a Spartan,” I told him, holding his face with both my hands. “It is not too late to return to your home. Come with me. I beg of you.”

“Gazing upon you, Elasus, I feel as though I’d follow you into the depths of Tartarus. My soul aches knowing this is goodbye. But I cannot abandon my brothers.”

Nikandros came to my mind, as did the other men in my syssition. I thought of the many faces of the warriors I had trained beside, fought beside. Bled with and protected.

“Neither can I,” I whispered.

An impasse. Duty pulled us in different directions, neither of us able to change course lest we forsake those we’d pledged fidelity to.

“Perhaps fate will bring us together again someday,” he said as a sad smile touched his lips. “Another battlefield.”

Fractures formed in my chest, like a cracked vase moments from shattering completely but still somehow in one piece. “And you’ll find me again.”

His grip tightened on me. “We’ll find each other.”

Kallias was like the flowers that grew along the hill I often sat upon while overlooking the valley, beautiful when in bloom but gone much too soon. His smile reminded me of them too, bright for a moment but scattering like delicate petals caught in the wind.

He kissed me before pushing away. I watched him leave, part of me hoping he would turn back to look at me… and the other part dreading him doing so. As he reached the forest, he stopped walking but didn’t turn around. His hands balled into fists.

And then he vanished into the trees.

***

The softness of Kallias’ lips was a memory I firmly held on to during the trek home. However, as Mount Taygetus came into view and the surrounding land became familiar, that memory seemed so distant. Like the sweetest of dreams I struggled to remember once waking.

Our army was greeted once returning to Sparta. Families were united as women and children found their husbands and fathers. Those without families of our own advanced toward the barracks to remove our armor and rest after the long march home.

A youth with golden hair ran past me.

“Ery!” a dark-haired boy called after him, a smile in his voice.

“You are too slow, Axios,” the one with golden hair said back to him.

Axios laughed and chased him through the tall grass. The two boys appeared to be no older than twelve years of age.