Elissa came running to him, and there was a familiar presence with her.

Now larger, Ruffler was bounding by her side and he almost knocked Silvius over. ‘He came back! He came on a ship to Italia, and he found Aeneas!’ Elissa then threw herself at Aeneas, and the old warrior’s face creased into a joyful smile.

‘There now, Elissa,’ said Aeneas. ‘You have done best of us all. The centaur knew, of course. He saw it in you.’

Elissa, affecting disdain, shook her hair from her eyes, but Silvius could see that there was a deep sadness in them. The loss of Tisamenos was heavy on her.

‘The funeral pyres are lit,’ said a soldier, approaching gently.

Silvius, Elissa and Orestes bore the dead Tisamenos to the pyres on a bier. The body was heavy, but Silvius insisted on taking one end, whilst Elissa and Orestes shared the weight of the other. Aeneas was standing there gravely, head bowed.

Beside him, a fresh, long scar visible on his forearm, was Iulus. Iulus’s face lit up when he saw his younger brother, and they clasped hands. There was no need for them to say anything. Silvius saw the humility in his brother’s demeanour; the new tenderness.

Then Helenus, limping, appeared, and began to pray to Apollo. They were sombre once more as they watched the pyre, and Tisamenos, peaceful, ready to be placed on it, his father weeping by his side. Smoke billowed into the sky, and the fire crackled. All around them the sweat-stained soldiers paused in their work, and bowed their heads.

And as Helenus prayed, Silvius became aware of a presence by the pyre.

A curly-haired young man, handsome, dressed in white.

‘This is the difference between you mortals and us,’ he said quietly. ‘Your bodies fall, and fade.’ Then, turning to Silvius and Elissa, he said, ‘You have done well, as Aeneas says. Apollo blesses you, and sends his thanks. But Python is not slain. The Arrow was not shot from the Bow, and it was not shot by Elissa. The prophecy was not fulfilled correctly. This is as it has always been – a prophecy is a mysterious thing, and mortals do with the knowledge of the gods what they will. Python will return. Not as he was, but in a different guise. There is much work ahead for you to do.’

Tears swelled up from deep within Silvius

‘I cannot do this …’ he said. ‘I cannot.’

‘I will help you,’ said Elissa. Her face was drawn and pale, but her expression told Silvius what he already knew: that they had experienced terrors together already, and that this would only make them stronger. Silvius grasped her hand in thanks.

‘You will have help from the Achaeans,’ said Orestes. The men of Achaea roared their assent.

‘And us too,’ said Aeneas. ‘The whole world will help you.’

‘And Tisamenos,’ said Elissa. She went to touch his cold cheek. ‘We will always remember him.’