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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

There was a strange cracking noise, and the snake’s tail began to turn grey, stone rippling up its spine. With a powerful lunge, the beast pushed forwards, throwing off both Elissa and Silvius. It happened so fast Elissa barely had time to register it. One moment she thought that Tisamenos was about to be bitten. The next, the creature had turned entirely into stone, just near Tisamenos’s head.

Exhausted, Tisamenos bandaged the Last Gorgon’s eyes, and then sank to the floor. Elissa was the first to reach him, and she quickly put a water skin to his lips. Then Silvius arrived, and, shivering and bloodied, Elissa held her old friend in a tight embrace.

The atmosphere in the temple altered a little. Elissa looked up to see Hermes before them, a small smile on his lips. In his arms he held the Bow, a thing of golden beauty, its radiance dispelling any shadows.

‘You know what that snake was,’ he said, quietly.

The fight had been a test, Elissa thought. It was a way of showing them that they could only defeat their doubts and fears when they worked together. ‘Was it the snake inside us?’ asked Elissa.

‘It was. You have now slain it. Tisamenos,’ he continued gravely. ‘You must not use the Last Gorgon’s head, except in times of great need. Or else you risk becoming like her.’ Tisamenos bowed his head.

‘Silvius. You have felt the power of Python and withstood it. You will now carry the Arrow.’ He gave the quiver to Silvius, who took it gently.

‘And, Elissa.’ The god turned his gaze to Elissa, and she felt the warmth of his beauty coursing through her. ‘You have the most important task of all.’ And suddenly she was holding the Bow, and gazing all along its golden length, and the light of a thousand suns shone all around her.

‘For now,’ said Hermes, ‘the fight begins.’

Thirty-Five

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Return to Achaea

All Tisamenos could think about was the snake. In the last minute before it had turned to stone, he had gazed deeply into its eyes, and he had seen something there that frightened him. His own reflection, staring back. And then all he could remember was Elissa, her soft voice calling to him, her gentle touch. She was now thanking the three Trojan priests, Silvius carrying the Arrow beside her, grinning.

And what did he have? A monster in his bag; a monster who had saved them.

He cradled it as if it were a baby.

‘Go to the mouth of the river Simois,’ Chryses was saying, ‘and you will find someone there who will carry you home.’

Elissa was striding ahead, Silvius walking alongside her like a puppy, whilst Tisamenos brought up the rear. When the hill of Troy had become a small thing in the distance, Silvius turned for a moment to look at it.