Forged in Fire

By Costas Komborozos

The warriors moved in unison as the flames roared all around them. They belonged to a regiment that fearlessly tread upon the unknown. The leader of the regiment let his eyes sweep the flaming horizon. He was Herakles. The demigod moved with the other armored men and saw the inferno blazing like never before. The men of the regiment felt that the inferno had a life of its known, and that it was ready to swallow them whole. The demigod peered into the depths of the inferno, feeling that the men had no reason to fear it. He moved swiftly toward the massive body of fire while the men fell into a shocked silence. The men saw how the young demigod entered the inferno. They waited for him to emerge from it again. After a few moments, they feared that the inferno had devoured him instantly, like some beast of the underworld waiting to silence the sentience of all souls. The men waited and waited. Herakles remained absent from their expectant gazes, gazes already half-lost in their desperate yearning for survival. The men feared that their leader was dead. Then, with the sudden spark of a flame, the demigod emerged from the inferno unscathed. The demigod looked at the men, and how the inferno spread towards them. The men shouted as the flames consumed them. But then they saw that the flames were nearly benign to the touch. The men saw the flames consume them, but they remained unharmed. The men gazed upon the near-soothing touch of the flames with utter amazement. The demigod saw how all the men absorbed the flames of the inferno and made the fire their own. Then Herakles felt himself ascending to the top of the blazing inferno. The men shouted a name, but it was not his own. "You are our leader, the leader of the Herakles regiment. Return and lead us to victory " The demigod realized that the leader they spoke of was another man, and that he somehow became this man for only a few short moments. "Leader, we will devote your memory to the founder of Sparta. The greatest hero of Greece, the mighty Herakles " The demigod imagines himself saying "I am Herakles. I am the one your regiment is named after. My name will lead you to victory." The fire is ready to consume the world entire. But the world restrains it for now, unable to let its glory shine all at once. The world releases it slowly, letting history unleash it flame by precious flame. One day, the fire will have spread across the world. The fire is freedom. "Your legacy, demigod, will involve warriors who fight in regiments, which will oppose the darkness so that Greece will become immortal," a voice said.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1530607477
• ISBN13: 9781530607471
• Release Date: March 2016
• Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
• Length: 72 Pages
• Weight: 0.24 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.1" x 6.0" x 9.0"