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Back The Arrow of Apollo
Chapters (52)
  1. Cover
  2. Title
  3. About the Author
  4. Dedication
  5. By the Same Author
  6. Author’s Note
  7. Map
  8. Domus Libris
  9. House of the Wolf
  10. The House of the Wolf
  11. One
  12. Two
  13. Three
  14. Four
  15. Five
  16. Six
  17. Seven
  18. Eight
  19. Nine
  20. Ten
  21. Eleven
  22. Twelve
  23. Thirteen
  24. Fourteen
  25. Fifteen
  26. Sixteen
  27. Seventeen
  28. Eighteen
  29. Nineteen
  30. Twenty
  31. Twenty-One
  32. Twenty-Two
  33. Twenty-Three
  34. Twenty-Four
  35. Twenty-Five
  36. Twenty-Six
  37. Twenty-Seven
  38. Twenty-Eight
  39. Twenty-Nine
  40. Thirty
  41. Thirty-One
  42. Thirty-Two
  43. Thirty-Three
  44. Thirty-Four
  45. Thirty-Five
  46. Thirty-Six
  47. Thirty-Seven
  48. Thirty-Eight
  49. Timeline of the Trojan Cycle
  50. Further Reading
  51. Acknowledgements
  52. Supporters

‘The Arrow of Apollo!’ Hermes called, voice ringing and echoing through the chamber. ‘The weapon that will lay Python low once more. Tisamenos, son of Orestes; Silvius, son of Aeneas. You have brought them together. And now you must find the Bow.’

Elissa remembered the vision she’d had when she’d first touched the Arrowhead. She knew the god would have a message for her.

‘Where is it?’ Elissa asked.

‘The Bow lies across the waves.’

Another journey then. Another chance, perhaps to see someone from her own country.

‘You will find it in the ruins of Troy.’ Elissa’s eyes lit up. She saw a worried expression pass over Silvius’s face. ‘Apollo placed it in his temple there, and when Troy fell it was forgotten. Now you must retrieve it. But it must be done by one who is neither Achaean nor Trojan.’

Hermes replaced the Arrow in the quiver, and presented it to Elissa. ‘Silvius carried the Arrowhead. Tisamenos led you to the Shaft. And now, Elissa, it is your turn – to bear the Arrow and find the Bow.’

Elissa held the quiver, trembling, as Silvius and Tisamenos looked on.

The air was suddenly tinged with sweetness, then Hermes was gone; there was only blackness where he had stood, and a lingering scent of wine and honey.

Silk-covered couches lined the walls of Orestes’s inner chamber, which was now lit by dozens of torches whose light gleamed off the surfaces of gold and silver vessels and the bronze armour that stood always at the ready by his dressing table. Elissa had never seen such luxury. The King of Mykenai was resting in a carved wooden chair with a soft cushion behind his back. Electra was next to him, her eyes blank, her gaze steadily but not unkindly on Elissa, her fingers interlaced.

Seated on three smaller chairs in front of Orestes, each inlaid with golden enamel, were Tisamenos, Silvius and Elissa. Elissa had gulped down three tall beakers of cool water, and was now devouring some cured and salted hams, whilst Silvius and Tisamenos regarded each other warily, each picking off bits from a roasted partridge. She finished the ham, and then took a sweet, juicy date from a silver plate.

The delicious taste of the food overwhelmed her, making her forget for a moment about the unaccustomed weight of the quiver on her back and the power of the Arrow it held. An Arrow that had brought down a monster, that had been wielded by a god, that now she, and she alone, was carrying.