I'm going to tell you a story… But not just any story… This is the story of Alexander — of course, not Alexander the Great—a young man who was not chosen for anything, who was no one's hero, and who had no prophecy guiding his fate; it was just him, living the peculiarities of his difficult and complicated life. However, everything changed when he was caught by an unexpected journey.
A WARRIOR WITHOUT DESTINY: THE GREAT GREEK REVOLT
…
It was morning at the humble home of Alexander, son of Radamanthos. The birds chirped a beautiful melody; the sun shone on Alexandre's face so directly that it was impossible not to wake up.
"Damn it! Always this unfriendly morning sun…"
He sat up in bed, letting out a deep sigh like someone who was already tired.
"What bad luck! How can someone sleep the whole night and still be sleepy? Life just keeps throwing me to the ground."
He stood up in a single leap. Glancing to the side, discreetly, he noticed that his mother was still asleep.
'Sometimes I should stop thinking out loud…'
He calmly walked barefoot to the old wooden door and slowly pushed it.
Eeeekkk!
'TCH! This damn thing always makes noise'…
His eyes were struck by the strong rays of sunlight when he finally passed through the opening he had made himself, taking advantage of his slim build.
The street in front of his house wasn't busy, just like the whole village: Sídero Heart — which means Iron Heart — as it was known in the main language of the kingdom of Earth-Greece, the language Elliniká Angliká, also called by distant peoples Greek-English
He yawned subconsciously and walked to the back of his house. It was an old, wooden house, visibly rotten and weathered, surrounded only by dry and almost dead grass. There was no wall, just the side walls of the neighboring houses, which were just as bad as his.
He walked quickly to where there was a continuous stone elevation that reached the height of the house's roof.
Driven by impulse, Alexander climbed to the top of the stone rise. There, at the top, was an extensive birch tree forest.
He ran quickly to the base of a tree a little further ahead and, with his hands, pushed aside a small amount of dirt and leaves, revealing an old, yellowed letter; it was stained with black blood and had smudged and crooked letters, making it almost impossible to read what was written.
Alexander blew off the remaining dirt and shook the letter exasperatedly, then sat down with his back against the tree, frowning as he tried to read the contents of the letter.
"Why can't I decipher this thing?!"
A wind blew across his face, and the sound of birds chirping in the treetops echoed through the environment… It was all so relaxing… Above all, his sleepiness made everything feel more friendly, and in a few seconds, he fell asleep on his knee.
…
…
The cold night breeze flowed through the trees, making the rustling leaves sound like arrhythmic but sweet music to any attentive ear.
"AH!!"
Alexander suddenly woke up to an explosion of murmurs and flashing lights, hearing the sound of people speaking excitedly.
"Huh?! What the hell is this? Did I fall asleep? And the paper?!"
He froze.
The paper had vanished; probably the wind had taken it…
The noises began to grow louder and louder, and he could distinguish voices speaking loudly and laughing, diverting his attention from the paper.
'Where is that coming from? Could it be a greekclaw?' [2]
He thought quickly and figured he should stay quiet — after all, you never know who might be hiding in the shadows…
He walked silently through the forest grass but noticed ahead a cliff blocked by bushes and saw intense strands of orange light.
When he approached the bush, he noticed that behind it was an uneven stone platform that allowed a safe peek at whoever was down below.
'How have I never been here before?'
Alexander paused for a moment and thought about crawling to avoid unnecessary risks.
When he got close to the edge of the platform, he saw below him — confirming his earlier thought — a group of soldiers sitting on logs around a small campfire. There were 4 soldiers, each on a different side, forming a square with the logs.
The heat from the fire reached part of Alexandre's face, but it was ignored due to a surprisingly strong smell of roasted meat.
Alexander swallowed his hunger — after all, he hadn't eaten anything yet today — and the smell of seasoning was all over the air.
'Those bastards have such a good life… Damn them'…
His attention, however, was suddenly drawn to the voice of the soldier on the right shouting loudly.
"What does the captain want, sending us to this dump of a village! Nothing ever happens in this trash heap!"
The soldier on the upper log, who was younger, with a slightly dirty appearance and a squeaky voice, tore off a piece of meat from the stick in his hand and mumbled while still chewing.
"Who cares… It's a good life! CHOMP! We don't do anything all day, and by the end of it, we get to eat meat and other delicacies. CHOMP! You're just complaining with a full belly, old man… CHOMP!"
The soldiers on the left logs, both the upper and lower ones, burst into a forced and exaggerated laugh, just to mock the old man…
The old soldier, however, calmed down.
"Whatever… As long as you guys don't screw up like my former partner, I feel more at ease…"
"What do you mean by that, old man? I thought you were transferred like us."
He smiled faintly and said with an almost imperceptible excitement.
"No… I already worked here before, but I only had one partner… The thing is, he tried to betray the king — I don't know how — and he was killed… But he was a good man despite that… If I'm not mistaken, he had a son who was born here, but I think he died too for being born after the law…"
He paused while massaging his thinning, graying beard.
"I think his name was Radamentos… No… Err… Radamanthos! That was it! Radamanthos was his name."
Alexander froze for a moment. He felt an indescribable chill down his spine. That was the name of his missing father.
…
[1] A mix of our English with Greek. In this language, the first word is always in Greek, and the following ones are always in English. Commonly used to name places, objects, plants, animals, etc…
[2] Common foot soldiers of the kingdom.