Kairos 18: Land of Monsters

Nessus had gathered quite the warband at the camp’s gates for the scouting mission. Not only had the horned hunter brought his merry satyrs, but also new faces Kairos didn’t recognize.

With one notable exception.

“No way,” Kairos said, upon recognizing a brown-haired, freckled teenager among the troops. “Orion, is that you?”

“S-sir!” The young archer immediately bowed at the pirate lord’s approach, like everyone else but Nessus. The boy had brought a black cerberus the size of a heavy horse with him. “It’s been a while!”

“Indeed!” Kairos replied. The young recruit had left the crew after the Pelopidas raid, abandoning piracy entirely. “What are you doing here? Did you come to settle the island?”

“Yes, I did,” the archer said, reddening in embarrassment. It seemed Kairos’ new status as a [Hero] intimidated him. “I arrived on a colony ship. My family had too many mouths to feed, so I seized my chance when I learned of this new island.”

“You know the lad, oh my captain?” Nessus asked, a little amused by the scene. “I recruited him for the scouts a while ago. The kid has keen eyesight.”

“And you brought a hound too,” Kairos said, as he patted the cerberus. The beast responded by licking his fingers, and even let the smaller Rook climb on his back. “What’s your name, brave one?”

“Young Master calls me Firecracker,” the cerberus replied, wagging his tail at the attention. “Because I love watching fires!”

“Sometimes I wish I had the [Beast Tongue] Skill to understand what you say,” Orion said while petting his dog. “Is there any [Rogue] Subclass with it?”

“I heard of one called [Beastmaster],” Kairos said, having been interested in it once. “But I personally never managed to unlock it. The full requirements are unknown.”

“Considering our ship’s menagerie, I don’t think it will take long, oh my captain,” Nessus mused. “However, we can discuss that on the way. We’ve got a good walk ahead of us.”

“The young master’s friend wants us to find someone?” Firecracker asked, eager to help.

Kairos nodded, Nessus bringing clothes belonging to the lost patrols. The hound’s three heads studied the smell, and prepared for the hunt. “Is everyone ready?” the captain asked his troops. “This scouting might take days.”

“We’ve got enough supplies to last a while,” Nessus replied, showing him his travel bag, “and we can always forage from the land.”

“Very well then.” Kairos himself had brought a few things. Besides his spear, he also carried crafting material and a few doses of mithridate, the Poison King’s homebrew antidote. When facing the unknown, it was better to expect the unexpected. “Let us go.”

For hours after, the group walked west until the camp of Histria vanished out of sight. Rook flew above them, while the cerberus led the way.

Though the island was lush with trees and vegetation, most of the forests were located north near the Mint Woods. The eastern lands, located far above sea level, greatly contrasted with Travia’s barren soil. Vast plains of grass and flowers went on as far as the eye could see, with the occasional hill here and there. The southern wind warmed the skin to the touch in a peaceful way, unlike the roaring storms coming from the Eye of Typhon. Wild sheep herds and hares populated the fields, and didn’t flee at the sight of the scouts. Perhaps they had never seen men at all.

This place was a summer island.

And it was hot.

“We really need to import horses,” Kairos said after hours of marching under the harsh sun, sipping some water from his canteen.

“Wait until I grow!” Rook replied from the skies above, sounding a little jealous. “Then you can ride me!”

“Already tired, Captain?” Nessus asked, amused. Unlike his superior, he looked like he could walk for days. “You should exercise more.”

“Unlike you, I only have a C in Vitality.” Kairos strongly considered ranking up that stat once he had the necessary Skill Points. “It’s average as they come.”

One of the hunters, a human with Thessalan features, cleared his throat as if wishing to speak. Kairos raised an eyebrow at him. “Say what’s on your mind,” the pirate lord said, “we don’t flog people for speaking up in Travia.”

“It would be a great honor if we alleviate your burden, oh great [Hero],” the man said, others nodding in the group. “We could even carry you if you wish.”

Nessus exploded into laughter, while Kairos replied with a thin smile. On a closer look, the speaker looked rugged, perhaps from hard work, and carried the scar of a removed neck brand. “You come from Boeotia, right? What’s your name?”

“Sicinnus, Great Kairos.” The man bowed deeply. “This one was a galley slave, before your Scylla ate his master.”

“I appreciate your offer, Sicinnus, but I can carry my burden like everyone else.”

“Our brave [Hero] faced much worse odds,” Nessus mused, putting his hands behind his head. “He infiltrated Boeotia’s palace alone, abducted the queen with one arm, and slaughtered her guard with the other. When the city’s greatest warrior managed to wound him in the fight through treachery, Great Kairos fell him with a single blow!”

While the men’s eyes widened in awe, the tale’s protagonist frowned at the storyteller. “That’s not what happened.”

“But that’s how it will be remembered,” the satyr replied with a smirk. “You won’t have much of a [Hero] cult with that attitude.”

Many [Heroes] started religions around their person, including Kairos’ predecessor Pelopidas. Since [Legends] were as much linked to fame as personal achievements, cults helped spread their master’s word, and thus increased their power. “I am more powerful than most, true,” Kairos agreed, “but I cannot create life like Talos, or shepherd souls in the afterlife like Charon.”

Nessus chuckled. “So what? The gods almost never heed prayers, and yet people pray all the same.”

“The gods did not answer our prayers for freedom, but you did,” Sicinnus said. He sounded a bit too obsequious for the pirate lord’s liking.

“You have it wrong, my friend,” Nessus argued. “It’s by being worshiped that you will grow more powerful. Not the other way around.”

“Still, I would rather avoid the power getting to my head. Pride invites foolishness.”

“My, what will we do with you?” Nessus shrugged. “Anyway, we should be close to the patrols’ last recorded location. Does the griffin see any sign of humans?”

“Rook?” Kairos called his partner above. “Do you see anything?”

“I see bones!” the griffin replied. “Not human bones though, but a lot of them! And a big bird feeding off them!”

“Dead horses,” Firecracker said, frowning as it hummed the air. “And a smell of… a lion. Big lion, and something else. Another big cat.”

“What kind of lion?” Nessus asked, Kairos remembering that he had [Beast Tongue] too.

“Nemean, Horned Hunter.”

Everyone capable of understanding the hound immediately drew their weapons.

A Nemean Lion. A big cat with an invulnerable hide and claws that could cut almost through anything, they were some of the fiercest monsters known to mortalkind. Their remains provided excellent crafting material, but they made people work for the prize.

They had found what killed the patrols. “Everyone, prepare for combat,” Kairos told the men, with Orion anxiously raising his bow. Even if Rook and the hounds could probably detect the creature before it attacked, he wanted his troops prepared. Nemean Lions’ attacks were swift and deadly.

Guided by their pets, the warband made its way to an open graveyard. The remains of six winged horses had been gathered in a small hole in the ground, all flesh removed from their bones. Kairos identified them as a pegasi family unit, two parents, and four foals.

As Rook had stated, a bird feasted on the corpses, but it was no eagle or raven. The monster’s metallic feathers reflected the sunlight, and its beak of solid bronze shattered bones to feed on the marrow. The creature reminded Kairos of a twisted heron bird, and it was about the same size. Yet when it heard the warband approach, the animal’s shining golden eyes betrayed its cold intelligence.

A Stymphalian bird.

The group’s archers immediately raised their bows at this vicious monster, but Kairos calmed them with a raised hand. The bird didn’t seem intimidated in the slightest.

“You smell good, twoleg,” the monster told Kairos, his masculine voice sounding like a sword chipping wood. “And you can understand me. I see it in your eyes.”

“Indeed, I do,” Kairos said. “We wish you no harm.”

The monstrous bird glanced at the troops and Rook flying above them. “I will not share the bones,” the monster declared, “I found them first. If you attack me, I will come back with my flock, and you will become the food.”

Unfortunately, the threat sounded credible. Stymphalian birds lived in large groups, usually near lakes or marshes; these pests devastated crops and ate farmers close to their territory. Perhaps they had eaten the patrols, when they approached too close to their nest?

“We’re not here to steal your food,” Kairos reassured the monster, trying to talk it out. “In fact, if you can answer my questions I’ll give you some of mine.”

The Styphalian bird leaned his head down and tilted it to the side. “Show the food first, twoleg.”

Kairos opened his bag, and tossed dried lamb at the avian’s feet. The Stymphalian bird carefully examined the meat, as if expecting to be poisoned, but eventually his gluttony overcame his caution. “I’m listening,” he said while swallowing the meat whole, delighting at the taste. “So tender...”

“We’re looking for our friends. Three groups of humans. Did you see them?” Kairos frowned. “Did you and your flock eat them?”

The creature shook his head. “My flock hasn’t eaten a twoleg in a long, long time. But I may have glimpsed a few lately...”

“They were moving west. We sent them to explore the region, but they failed to return.”

“Those ones, yes,” the bird said, as if reaching a eureka moment. “I see. They must have gone to the Garden of Stone.”

“The Garden of Stone?” Nessus asked with a frown, having caught the word.

The monstrous heron nodded. “You will understand the name when you see that cursed, poisonous place. It is full of basilisks and the lair of an ancient evil that our flock fears. If your twoleg friends went there, they are dead.”

Damn. They would have to check that place anyway, in order to confirm the scouts’ demise, but the news didn’t give Kairos joy. Basilisks were already extremely dangerous monsters, and very few creatures could survive their presence. The pirate lord expected a hydra, or worse. “What can you tell us about this ancient evil?”

“I do not know much. Our flock has been avoiding that place long before I hatched.” The bird seemed ill at ease with this line of questioning. “Do you have more meat?”

“He has a voracious appetite, that one,” Nessus mused. The men in the group exchanged glances, unable to understand the avian’s side of the conversation.

“The only certainty in life is that I won’t have eaten enough when I die,” the bird shrugged. “I never say no to meat, especially when it costs me nothing.”

“Who slaughtered this unicorn herd?” Kairos asked, after tossing him a few scraps. The [Hero] already had his suspicions, but he wanted to see if the bird would lie.

Thankfully, he didn’t. “Two great beasts from the north. Big cats, one with wings and a twoleg face. They hunt south sometimes.”

So some monsters could cross the forest’s barrier. Interesting. “Have you seen a phoenix too?”

“That big, fiery bird?” Kairos’ heart skipped a beat, as the monster confirmed his suspicions while swallowing more scraps. “It flew north, to the forbidden zone and the mountain. I do not know if it left since, nor do I care.”

Nessus crossed his arms. “Could you go north too, tell us what’s there?”

“No. An invisible force makes us turn away.”

It turned out the Stymphalian bird didn’t know anything else of value, so Kairos decided to cut this short. “Thank you for your answers, feathered one.”

“Horace. My name is Horace, twoleg.”

“Kairos.”

“Kairos.” The bird examined the troop, as if expecting a betrayal. “You have made a nest on the island?”

“Will that be a problem?” the [Hero] asked with a frown.

“If you stay away from our nest, we will avoid yours. Though we will always welcome someone with meat.”

Kairos sensed an opportunity. “We could offer you food, in exchange for giving us warnings or carrying messages.”

His words amused Nessus greatly. “You want to turn Stymphalian Birds into messenger birds?”

Except unlike pigeons, these creatures could fight, shred sails, and pierce armor. “Might be a trap,” Horace said, suspicious. “To kill us. That twoleg [Demigod] Heracles almost hunted us to extinction.”

“It’s just a proposal.” Kairos shrugged. “You can take it to your flock, and we will deal with those who are interested. Certainly, it will be easier than hunting.”

The Stymphalian bird let out a sound that could pass for a snort, but the [Hero] could see the glint of interest in his eyes. “I will carry the message to my flock,” he said, before focusing back on the pegasi’s bones. “Now, leave me to my meal.”

Kairos granted him his wish, though he asked the men to check the area for signs of the flying horses’ slayers. He waited for critics, but strangely, nothing came up. Orion eventually noticed his confusion. “What bothers you, sir?”

“I admit, I expected more comments about making friends with Stymphalian birds.”

His former crewmate smiled. “Well, we have seen the Scylla, the griffin, and we heard about the hydra. We have to come to expect these things from you.”

Kairos wasn’t sure if it was a good thing or not. He liked that people would come around his unorthodox way of thinking, but it could lead to bad press...

Nessus took the opportunity to take Kairos aside, speaking in such a low enough tone that the others wouldn’t hear. “Captain, if the bird didn’t lie, then the phoenix can cross the barrier. Do you think this applies to any part of him?”

Kairos’ eyes widened, as he realized the horned hunter had a point. If the phoenix could cross the magical barrier, then someone wielding its feather might be allowed to pass as well. Perhaps it was the whole reason the creature granted it to the [Hero] in the first place. “We’ll have to check.”

“Master, master!” The duo turned at Firecracker, as the cerberus called Orion over. He had found something in the grass, near the pegasi’s grave. “Over here!”

As it turned out, the hound had found footsteps.

And huge ones at that. They reminded Kairos of a lion’s pack, but whose members dwarfed normal animals in size. Though he was no expert in tracking and trusted the specialists’ judgment, the [Hero] managed to identify two different trails. One beast was far larger than the other.

After examining the marks closely, Nessus eventually pointed out the obvious. “Well, I think the big ones belong to our Nemean Lion.”

“That’s impossible,” Sicinnus protested. Nemean Lions were only slightly bigger than normal lions, and the monster that left these marks dwarfed even Andromache in size. “They don’t grow that big.”

“This one did,” Nessus insisted, pointing at the grass around the footsteps. “I’ve checked the claw marks, and the beast left nothing behind except the footstep itself. Which means the claws cut through anything without encountering resistance, and the fur doesn’t fall off. Telltales of a Nemean Lion.”

“How large do you think it is?” Orion asked, extremely worried.

Nessus considered his next words carefully. “At least ten meters in length, perhaps twelve. Four times the average size.”

The men exchanged worried whispers, and even Kairos had to admit the news shook him to the core. This monster could easily power through the colony’s fortifications. “What about the smaller creature?”

“A sphinx, I believe. Probably the mate. That would fit our bird’s description, and explain how they slew the pegasi. She probably fell on them from above like a hawk on doves.”

“Nemean Lions can breed with sphinxes?” Orion asked, surprised. “I thought the species lived on different islands?”

“They do, which is why these pairings don’t happen naturally. Neither do they grow so big in the wild, nor can they cross magical barriers.” Nessus shook his head. “I told you the eastern ruins smelled of a cleanup.”

Kairos squinted at his ally. “You have a theory behind these events?”

“I do.” Nessus looked north. “I think this island has a dungeon.”

Sicinnus’ eyes flaring with greed, as did those of the men. “Like the Garden of the Hesperides?”

“What’s a dungeon, sir?” Orion asked Kairos.

“Dungeons are temples, ruins, and fortresses that go back to before the Anthropomachia,” the pirate lord explained. “The old gods often kept precious artifacts within, such as the Golden Fleece or Pandora’s Box. And like any hoard, these treasures are well-guarded.”

“The old gods were fond of giant serpents and the occasional cerberus,” Nessus said with a laugh. “Of course these creatures often wandered away, and the Olympians sent champions to clean up their own messes. That’s probably what happened with the Nemean Lion.”

But how did that explain the lack of corpses in the western ruins? Unless… “You suspect an intelligent force controls the dungeon,” Kairos guessed Nessus’ innermost thoughts. “That the lion and the sphinx have a master careful enough to remove evidence.”

“That seems likely, oh my captain, but obviously I can’t prove it.” Nessus shrugged. “In any case, they went north. Do we follow them?”

“No,” Kairos decided. Far too dangerous without proper planning. “The beasts are probably long gone, and we came for the patrols. We’ll continue west.”

“Yeah,” Orion gulped. “I’m all for it.”

---------------------------------------------------

It took them another day and a half to reach the Garden of Stone. As Horace warned, one look was enough to understand the nickname.

Were it not for one detail, the place would have looked like a normal swamp; tall, ominous trees rose from mud, while the river crossing it accumulated in a lake farther inland. Kairos assumed the Stymphalian flock made their lair there. If anything, such marsh reminded him of his homeland, and the hydra’s lair.

And then, there were the statues.

A ring of stone statues surrounding the marsh, like a twisted wall of bodies. Men, women, children, minotaurs, satyrs, automatons… it seemed all species of the world had gathered in a great carnival, their faces frozen in surprise, fear, and madness. They looked outward of the marsh, as if to greet visitors with a vision of doom.

Kairos recognized some of the lost patrolmen among them, even before Firecracker identified them by scent. Rook landed on one’s head, the griffin now fidgeting in anxiety.

“By Persephone…” Sicinnus whispered in dread, as he examined a woman’s statue. “Are they…”

“[Petrified],” Kairos said, a chill moving down his spine. He knew about this rare ailment. “They’re… they’re sleeping. They can’t hear us.”

Thankfully, those who had recovered from that nefarious status condition said they had lost all sense of time. Some had woken up centuries after their initial petrification, and believed only seconds had passed. Kairos couldn’t imagine the horror if the victims had been conscious all the way through.

Orion’s face paled further and further, as he examined the statues. Most were covered in dust and vines, like pieces of rock long abandoned. “I think… I think some have been like this for decades.”

“Centuries,” another archer said grimly. Some of the statues had lost their features, rain and time having ruined them into human-shaped stone blocks. “Centuries.”

Sicinnus crossed his arms, his face thoughtful. “Outside of powerful spells, I only know one creature capable of petrifying people. A catoblepas.”

“A catoblepas wouldn’t be powerful enough to massacre three scouting parties, nor claim so many victims,” Kairos pointed out the obvious. “Besides, they have been arranged in a deliberate, gruesome display. A mighty mage perhaps?”

“Kairos.”

It took the [Rogue] a moment to recognize the speaker, since Nessus had never used such a tone before… nor did he usually call his captain by name.

“You can’t ignore the obvious,” the satyr said with a grim voice, his face devoid of any warmth. “We both know there is a kind of creature that could do that, though there are only two of them left. Stheno and Euryale.”

The gorgons. “Medusa’s sisters.”

Nessus nodded gravely. “We should turn tail and leave.”

The proposal shocked Sicinnus. “You can’t be serious. They trapped our people, we can’t let them be!”

“I didn’t mean we should leave the marsh.”

Kairos looked at Nessus as if he had lost his mind. “You must be joking.”

“No, I’m not,” the satyr argued, more serious than the Travian [Hero] had ever seen him before. “We should strongly consider evacuating the island. This place is far more dangerous than we expected, and I fear we may have walked into something far beyond us.”

Kairos ground his teeth. “True, this island houses powerful monsters. But dungeons hold great rewards too, and the place overflows with resources. We can’t turn tail at the first difficulty!”

“There are mountains too tall to climb, Kairos.” The satyr hunter shook his head. “I will be blunt. If we summoned all the people in Histria and armed them, you would all perish trying to storm that marsh. The [Demigod] Perseus, someone far more powerful than you and blessed by the old gods, fled Medusa’s sisters with his tail between his legs. You are smart, Kairos, and I am strong. But that won’t be enough. Even Andromache won’t make a difference.”

His defeatism had started to infect the raiders. Orion’s gaze moved between Kairos and his officer, unsure how it would unfold, with others glanced at the statues with dread. “You said you would follow me into the underworld,” the pirate captain reminded the satyr.

“I would,” Nessus glanced at the statues, “but not in this marsh. I’m sorry, Captain.”

“Your oath—”

“I would rather face the Furies. At least the hags will only kill me. The gorgons will do worse.”

Kairos frowned in suspicion. “You sound like you speak from experience.”

“I do,” Nessus said ominously. “Which is why I guarantee that if we fight them, we will face a gruesome fate. Besides their stone gaze, Stheno and Euryale are immortal, powerful, and deadly. Do you want to become part of this garden, until the sun stops rising?”

Kairos bristled at his bluntness, and one look at his troops told him the damage was done. Though he could tell they would follow him into the marsh if he ordered it, doubt and fear had taken root in their heart.

“Even so, we can’t leave them like this,” the captain said, looking at his lost patrolmen, condemned to scare visitors for all eternity. They had only done their duty, and tried to fulfill his wishes. He couldn’t abandon them.

Nessus took a long, deep breath of disbelief. “You still want to fight, even after what I told you?”

“No.” The pirate lord had gotten the memo, and it would be foolish to enter this marsh without preparation. They needed something to cure [Petrification], intel, and a plan. “There may be another option, besides fighting and running. We can’t know yet.”

“Which one, asking nicely?” Nessus deadpanned, though there was no playfulness in his voice.

“Perhaps,” Kairos replied, “but this island is ours. We won’t relinquish it.”

“Ours, or yours?” Nessus asked, before shaking his head. “Take it from someone who knows. Hubris is a poor advisor.”

“And so is cowardice.”

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A/N: chapter made possibly by your, dear patrons.