The Palladium IV

I wrote this yesterday, again I just didn't have time to type it up until today.

“Betrayal,” I shouted, thinking quickly. If Odysseus and I were going to fight then there had to be witnesses. If not and I was struck down then Odysseus would be able to say that I had been the traitor and be hailed as an even greater hero. If I struck him down then I would have to explain to the army why, and they might not believe me. Just as I wished, my shout brought an audience, and even more, to Odysseus’s obvious frustration.

We wheeled on the sand, our weapons matching the others. Both of us were skilled after all of these years, as to be expected. Athena wasn’t known to befriend the weak or stupid. Odysseus used tricks to his fighting. He feinted and jabbed without doing any straight forward attacks. In that way we were exact opposites. I am a straightforward sort, when attacking I don’t use any trickery. To be honest even I had no idea how this match would end. The troops that surrounded us cheered and mocked as they wished but I don’t think either of us really noticed. I know I didn’t even recognize words, only tones.

Finally I was able to overpower Odysseus through pure strength and stamina. His sword was knocked from his grasp and I didn’t even look to see where it had gone. I instantly brought the flat of my blade around so that it hit his sword arm hard enough that I could feel the jolt in my own arm. There was no way that he would be able to hold his sword for a long time with that arm. I had to hold myself back. There was nothing that I would rather have done then run the traitor through. I couldn’t however. That would make me the villain of this, as bad as he was. I satisfied myself with hitting him several more times with the flat of my sword before he was able to run away.

“What happened?” demanded Agamemnon, coming forward out of the crowd. “I don’t like it when I see two of my best warriors trying to kill each other.” I looked around, and decided that publicly humiliating Odysseus wasn’t the thing to do after beating him in front of everyone already.

“Come to my tent in the morning and we will talk about it,” I assured the king. Before he could insist on an explanation in front of the crowd I left. He might talk to Odysseus before he talked to me of course; I was giving him that chance. I thought I would be able to talk him around to my side however. The evidence was in my favor. I had been the one to shout, and I hadn’t killed him.

I was feeling generous about not killing him. I was in the right this time, and it was a good feeling. No one would have complained if in that position I had slain Odysseus. I would have been considered in the right. I had restrained myself however. I had done what was better for everyone rather then my own pride. Too many heroes had already fallen, to lose another one would not only destroy our chances of winning, it would also destroy the troops unity. They still mourned the death of Ajax, even though his death had been self inflicted.

I had no love for Odysseus; I hoped horrible things happened to him in the near future. For once though, I was glad he was alive. He just had to remain in good health until the end of the war, and then I was sure he would get himself into trouble with his arrogance and greed. Not everyone was going to be as kind as I was.