It was chaos. Elissa took her position behind Tisamenos as a hundred red-eyed soldiers raged into the Achaean front line. Tisamenos immediately unveiled the Last Gorgon’s head, and the woman rushing at him turned to stone, mid-run. ‘Come on!’ he called. Focusing on him, Elissa followed. Silvius was just a pace behind her, sword out. Somebody fell across her path, and she had to jump over the body, turning to make sure that Silvius didn’t trip either.

Three soldiers swooped on them at once.

Tisamenos petrified the one in front of him. But the other two kept coming.

The Last Gorgon’s gaze only worked on one at a time. Elissa hadn’t thought of that. Three more were coming from the sides, and Tisamenos was not quick enough. One rammed into Elissa, taking her by surprise and knocking her to the ground. She rolled over, and Silvius stopped to help her up, swiping at the Enemy at the same time and gashing the soldier in the neck.

It was enough time for Tisamenos to turn the Gorgon’s head, and as the Enemy soldier recovered, his eyes solidified in his sockets, and he was nothing but stone.

‘What can we do? I can’t turn them all!’ Tisamenos was panting.

A fat man with a permanent grin, lit up by the red glow of his eyes, charged at Elissa, and she found herself in hand-to-hand combat.

That was not supposed to happen. The Bow was now vulnerable. He was strong, full of the power of the Enemy, and he was gaining the upper hand.

As the fat man swiped at her, Silvius came in from behind, and sliced at the back of his neck, making him falter for a sliver of time, enough for Elissa to jump backwards out of the way and regroup her strength. The onrush was relentless. Another woman soldier leapt at Silvius.

Elissa saw Tisamenos was faced with a desperate choice. He could not be sure, if he turned the Gorgon’s head, that he would not catch Silvius or Elissa with its gaze, and then they would be stone for eternity.

Silvius laid a stinging blow on the woman’s arm, and she dropped her sword, and at the same time, Elissa leapt at the fat man, knocking him to the ground. Tisamenos petrified him, and Silvius stabbed the woman in the stomach.

‘There are too many of them!’ Silvius croaked.

The Achaean forces were surging around them, the front ranks fighting as hard as they could. Helenus was at the forefront, pushing through the Enemy in the heat and rage of battle, the light of Apollo shining from his forehead. The Enemy were wary of the priest, who was like a torch burning in the night, and Helenus was pressing further ahead than the rest, with a few young fighters. Callias was with him, bloodied but unbowed.

‘Get behind him!’ yelled Elissa. ‘I have a plan!’