Corydon and the Island of Monsters by Tobias Druitt

Author:Tobias Druitt [Druitt, Tobias]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-0-307-48331-7
Publisher: A YEARLING BOOK
Published: 2009-02-25T00:00:00+00:00

FIFTEEN

THE HEROES WERE TO ASSEMBLE IN THE VILLAGE SQUARE. All the way up the hill, there were moans and complaints and grumbles, and the whole force seethed with rumor.

Most of the rumors came from Kharmides. He had been unable to hold his tongue. “Where exactly is this alleged Golden Hoard?” he asked. “I haven't seen so much as a nugget since I arrived on this godforsaken island.”

“Don't say that,” Lysias protested. “It's probably hidden in the mountains, to protect it from us. Why, I bet we're moving toward it now.”

“Well, I suppose we might be,” Kharmides agreed, pleasantly enough, “but perhaps you can tell me how exactly we are to find the cave where it lies? We've passed about six caves already, not to mention the one that the giant tried to open and couldn't. That one looked a likely bet. Except, of course, that there was a real live monster in it. Somehow when we found that out, Perseus vanished. Just the moment for a hero, and they all seemed strangely absent. Where was Pirithoos? Where was Jason? I tell you, Lysias, it's what they call a rich man's war and a poor man's fight, and I don't care who knows my opinion.”

Kharmides was an annoyance, but the views he expressed found an echo in many. Most of the heroes had been hoping to scoop up huge mounds of treasure from puny monsters as soon as they landed. Now they were finding that marching in blazing sunlight in full armor up a mountainside from which monsters might emerge at any moment was not much fun. They had all been unnerved by the frightful Gorgon with her power to turn men to stone. They were not yet sure that the metal man could defeat her. So they murmured, fearful, doubtful, but they reached the village eventually and found Perseus waiting for them, with the other commanders.

They were all wearing their parade armor, gold and dazzling in the sun. Their servants, traveling on horseback, had brought it. Perseus held the shield of Athene, which flashed brighter than the sun itself.

Beside them, Talos waited, still as a brass statue, his eyes glinting redder than lava.

The army drew up. Perseus began to speak. He explained his battle plan, got them organized into units, sent this man to the left under Pirithoos, that to the right under Jason, still others to the center, which he intended to command himself. Pirithoos's party were delighted when Talos was assigned to them. Lysias and Kharmides were there too; Kharmides was relieved not to be under the ever-dislikable Perseus, but Lysias was heartbroken; did the leader not trust him? He must prove himself worthy, then. His face went hard.

The heroes marched at first light, and soon reached the fields between the village and the stronghold, which became a kind of dancing floor for war. When everyone was in battle order, Perseus spoke.

“You know our purpose, gentlemen. Against us is ranged the foulest brood ever to face mortal men. But we fight in the power of the great sky gods.

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