Another Dawn

The sun came up this morning, and I was still in a world of hurt. All I can think is that I hope now that Achilles is back with a vengeance, he harpoons the bloody Trojan who nailed me if Ajax hasn't done it already. This smarts. Worse, it's starting to itch. The healer says that means it's mending but I think it's a punishment...it's not as though the god of medicine is exactly our side's biggest fan right now. Never know when another plague is going to drop.

Anyway, Achilles came lumbering along the seashore rousing the men to conference, so over the healer's objections Diomedes and I propped ourselves up using spears as makeshift crutches and hobbled over to join the men in our accustomed places. Achilles and Agamemnon officially buried the hatchet, with much gift giving and shows of goodwill. Agamemnon even gave Briseis back, swearing up and down that he had not touched the girl. I think it helps though that now Achilles badly wants to kill Trojans and Agamemnon wants him to kill Trojans, so it made it all very simple. Achilles even has some wicked new armor, and he wanted to go test it out without even letting the men get breakfast. I managed to talk him into letting the soldiery eat, but the damn fool wouldn't touch a crumb himself. He's too full of his hate, I think, to force anything else down. Instead he sat all mournful, strolling down memory lane. He misses that Patroclus kid something fierce. Even his girl is upset. Anyway, once breakfast was finished he slams on that shiny new armor and goes out to kill things.

No one can say he didn't tear the battlefield up once he got out there. He didn't slow down till a Trojan named Aeneas offered him single combat, and then he only drew a breath to hurl insults at the man. He was not pleased when Aeneas was snatched away (the gods again! Why do we even bother?) and went on another rampage. Finally Hector himself came out and Achilles was apparently administering an epic beatdown when Hector got snatched away too. This is really getting old, this business of men disappearing off the battlefield. It's nothing short of foul play.

This is where things get crazy. I can only relate what happened secondhand, and what I could piece together from the wounded, but apparently Achilles killed so many people that he dammed the river with them, and the river god damn near killed him. But he managed to survive--divine intervention yet again. I seriously dislike being a chew toy for immortals. I don't know how Achilles stands it. But he did manage to kill a nice handful of Trojan princes and send the rest of their army scampering back into the city walls. I wonder what will happen next.