Caduceus: The Ruined Gods, #0

By Alex ROBINS

Some lies cut deeper than any sword

 

War has come to the fragile city-state of Carenos. A self-proclaimed 'King of the South' sows destruction among its outlying villages, cutting a bloody swathe towards the capital. As smoke from the burning wheat fields blackens the sky, Carenos sends a desperate plea for aid to its allies in the north.

 

Dexios, general of the Thenean phalanx, is one of those chosen to answer the call. After braving the tumultuous Sea of Scales, he arrives in Carenos at the head of three hundred hoplites, determined to put an end to the enemy incursion.

 

One threat, however, can often hide another. Something is stirring in the shadows of the sun-drenched lowlands, an age-old legend, abandoned and forgotten. Drawn from its den by the need to satiate its ravenous hunger.

 

And the enticing scent of blood.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Bradypus Publishing
• Release date: Jan 27, 2023
• ISBN: 9782958581114

Book preview

Title-Caduceus

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Copyright © 2022 by Alex Robins

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or used in any manner without written permission of the copyright owner except for the use of quotations in a book review.

Cover Illustration by Félix Ortiz

Cover Layout by stk-kreations

Maps and Interior Design by Alex Robins

ISBN 978-2-9585811-1-4 (ebook)

Published by Bradypus Publishing

49380 Bellevigne en Layon

Dépôt Légal : décembre 2022

www.warofthetwelve.com

E:\bw_final.png

GLOSSARY

Amphora (pl. Amphorae): a tall jar with two handles and a narrow neck.

Andron: a room in the household reserved for meetings and entertainment. Primarily used by men, although there is some evidence of it being used occasionally for mixed-gender events.

Arche: the tip of the spear, the first rank of the phalanx.

Ariston: the midmorning meal, the first of the two meals a Tyrrean would have during the day.

Aspis (pl. Aspides): a large wooden shield coated with bronze and carried by the hoplites.

Aulos: a reeded flute, played horizontally. Used both for martial music and in other social settings. It makes a high-pitched, penetrating sound, like bagpipes.

Basileus: a baron or lord. The leader of a city-state.

Chiton: a linen or wool tunic worn by men and women, fastened at the shoulder and belted at the waist.

Deipnon: the evening meal, and the larger of the day.

Drachma: a silver coin. Each city-state mints its own. One drachma is roughly the daily salary of a skilled worker and the equivalent of six obols.

Ephebe: a young man serving a two-year military apprenticeship. After the first year, he receives his own spear and shield. After completing his service, he assumes the full rights of a citizen.

Hoplite: a citizen soldier of the Tyrrean city-states, armed with a spear and shield.

Kopis (pl. Kopides): a forward-curving, one-handed blade with a single edge.

Kosmetes: a teacher supervising the athletic and military training of the ephebes.

Krater: a large jar or vase used to dilute wine with water.

Kybernetes: the helmsman of a trireme.

Kylix (pl. Kylikes): a broad, shallow, wine-drinking cup with two symmetrical handles.

Linothorax: a breastplate made from sheets of hardened linen.

Lochagos: a captain. Men who fought in the first rank of the phalanx, the foremost of a file.

Malaka: a curse word meaning idiot or fool.

Panoply: a complete suit of armour. For a hoplite, most likely a helm, a cuirass, and greaves.

Phalanx: a square or rectangular military formation using a combination of shield wall and spear hedge tactics.

Polis (pl. Poleis): a city-state i.e. a city that has governance over the contiguous territory. In Tyrris, the city-states are ruled by a basileus.

Strategos: a military general, commander of a city-state’s armed forces.

Strigil: a small curved blade used to scrape sweat and dirt from the skin.

Symposium (pl. Symposia): A primarily male social gathering where discussion and light debate are helped along by large amounts of wine and other forms of entertainment.

Telos: the file-closers, the last rank of the phalanx.

Thorakes: a bronze breastplate. The most common are the ‘bell’ and ‘muscle’ varieties.

Xiphos (pl. Xiphe): a double-edged short stabbing sword, traditionally made of iron.

1

PREMONITION

Superstition is not the fear of belief. On the contrary, it is the audacity to question false absolutes. The Oracle, for example, is said to never lie. Perhaps. But a partial truth can be just as deceptive. And have the same disastrous consequences.

Basileus Letho, ‘Ruminations’

Strategos Dexios placed his scarred hands on the marble balustrade and gazed out over the bustling port city of Krene. A jumble of whitewashed buildings filled his vision, stretching down the slope as far as the docks and the crystalline-blue waters of the Sea of Scales. Six massive triremes were moored there, the bronze-sheathed battering rams affixed to their prows glittering in the morning sunlight.

Crewmen swarmed over the boats like a colony of ants, checking the oaken hulls for damage, securing the oars to the tholepins, and loading the square sails of flax that would be unfurled once the triremes reached cruising speed. As soon as they had finished, Dexios and his hoplites would embark, leaving the relative safety of Krene for the open sea.

A pair of gulls squawked noisily as they soared past his balcony and swooped down towards the docks. They landed on the mast of one of the triremes, still bickering at each other like an old married couple. Dexios watched them with a slight smile on his face, thinking of his own wife, Melia, whom he had left behind at the vineyard.

She had not been happy to see him go. To be fair, she never was, and her barbed admonishments had become part of a ritual that he was subjected to each time he left on campaign. But this time it was different. This time, Dexios was abandoning not only his wife but also the new life growing in her womb. A future son or daughter to continue the family line.

Dexios sighed. Melia still didn’t understand the oath that bound him tighter than any chains. The oath he had taken nearly ten years ago now when the basileus of Thena had presented him with his spear and shield. He had sworn to fight for his city. To protect it. On that day, he had ceased to be an ephebe; he had become a hoplite, a soldier of the phalanx. Breaking that oath would not only incur the wrath of the Gods, it would mean discarding his very identity. Turning his back on the values that he had spent so long striving to uphold. He could never bring himself to do such a thing. Even for Melia. Even for his unborn child.

Strategos.

He turned to see his lochagos, Polydius, standing to attention a few paces away, his back ramrod stiff. Hard eyes stared out at Dexios through a mane of unkempt black hair. The captain was wearing his bronze muscled cuirass and greaves, his plumed officer’s helmet held in the crook of one arm.

Polydius. You don’t have to be so formal when it’s just the two of us, you know? There’s no one here to see your perfect parade-ground salute.

Respectfully, Strategos, refusal to acknowledge a superior officer is a punishable offence. Ten lashes of the whip, if I remember correctly.

Dexios shook his head. You are still angry at me, aren’t you?

I don’t know what you are talking about, Strategos.

The fact that the basileus named me strategos instead of you. It still irks you.

I’m sure his lordship chose the man best suited to fill the position.

No, you’re not. You’re doing that thing you used to do with Kosmetes Galleas.

What thing?

Staring at a fixed point behind my left shoulder. Refusing to look me in the eye. You are attempting to control your temper.

I—

"Look. If our positions were exchanged and you had been picked instead of me, I would probably be angry too. But we need to rise above petty jealousies. For the good of the phalanx. I need someone I can trust to hold the shield wall together. Someone who knows how I think. Someone the men respect. And for