I awoke in a fog of confusion, desperately trying to remember where I was and how I may have come to be there. My body, still paralyzed by the seduction of unconsciousness, suddenly sprang to life when I became aware of my surroundings and the potential vulnerability of my situation. I lifted my head and was greeted by a sea of Trojan bodies and the unforgiving stench of death. Vultures had descended upon the fallen warriors and had begun devouring their exposed faces and wounds. No sign of human life was apparent. How long had I been lying here left for dead? Where were my Achaean brothers? How is it that all of these men had fallen, yet all of my comrades were spared?

I climbed to my feet, fearing in the back of my mind that I would collapse due to some injury I had not yet realized I sustained. I gazed as far as I could see in every direction before I came to the frightening realization that I had absolutely no idea where I was. In fact, I could hardly recall anything. The last memory I had was of saying goodbye to my brother in Alissos. How much time had passed since then?

I wandered amongst the dead, searching for a sign, hoping to know it when I came upon it. In the distance I heard a man crying out to Zeus. I followed his pleas and approached him with caution. He had been impaled with a spear straight through his belly and left for dead. The trauma and chaos of battle had a firm grip on him. Every attempt I made to get his attention was in vain. Against my better judgment I crept closer, and eventually I was inches away from his heaving body, hovering right above him. His eyes looked everywhere except towards me. When his gaze did cross mine it was as if he was looking straight through me. I concluded that he must be departing to the afterlife, and no longer aware of the mortal world. Respectfully, I left him to his fate.

With no direction to speak of, I resumed my wandering path, knowing fully well what would happen to me if discovered by the Trojans. Just as I began contemplating my own demise, as if out of thin air, a large man with a wild beard appeared before me. I reached for my sword, and a wave of regret washed over me as I realized that in my haste and confusion I had neglected to retrieve it.

“That will not be necessary, Nicholas”, he spoke in an unsettling voice. Hearing my name aloud caused me to realize how close I had come to forgetting it.

“Who are you?” I implored.

“Who I am is far less consequential than what I am”.

He then casually strode past me towards the doomed Trojan who had since begun sobbing. Then from beneath his robe he unsheathed a terrible sword and before it even appeared to be in motion the man’s head lay on the ground. The silence was deafening. My paralysis returned as he turned towards me and smiled.

“Come now, Nicholas, you’ve toiled long enough”, he stated in a matter of fact tone, almost mocking my inability to move. It was not until he produced his grim upside-down torch that the true horror of my predicament set in. Almost involuntarily, I then followed Thornatos into the darkness.

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