The day was hot and dry, as were most days in the summer. The sun beat down on the two men as they neared the end of their journey. They had been returning from the Northern border where they had been sent on a sort of scouting mission. They had been travelling for days with very little rest, and both men and the horses they rode on were exhausted from the push. Though Maleos enjoyed what he did, he could not wait to get home and rest in an actual bed and wash himself off as well. They were covered in dirt and dust, not having the time or water to spare to clean themselves during their journey. Not that there would have been a point, had they cleaned off in the middle of their scouting, they would have been back in the same state the next day.
Their trip had been quiet, neither man really having much to talk about with each other. Maleos wasn't great at being social, and it didn't seem much like Timaeus wanted to say a lot to him anyways. Maleos was fine with the silence, he rather preferred it to those men that would talk on and on, despite the clear lack of interest from himself. Timaeus seemed to be fine with the relative silence as well, so he actually made for a pretty great travel companion.
As exhaustion weighed heavy on his mind and body, Maleos found himself not paying much attention to his horses’ steps. Though he had only just been given the animal shortly before he and Timaeus had left Colchis to heed their orders, he trusted that it was well trained and would keep it’s footing along the narrow cliff path back to their home in Eubocris. He had not had any problems with the beast thus far, and so he had no reason to think he would have any problems on the way home.
If Maleos had not been so tired from lack of sleep and physical exertion over the past few days, he would have realized his horse was tired, and perhaps spurring it on over the narrow cliff path was not a good idea. Had he been fully awake he would have suggested they made camp for the night and rested themselves and their horses before continuing on. They were ahead of plan anyways, so staying another night before making it home would not have been an issue.
But he was in no state to think of such things, instead he pushed on with Timaeus following behind him. He was sure that the other man also wanted to make it home that night, certain he would have his own reasons for pushing on instead of making camp as one of them should have suggested.
And as his luck would have it, the Gods seemed to think he needed to learn an important lesson that day.
It was sudden, and it took Maleos longer than he would like to admit before he realized what was happening. His horse suddenly went down from underneath him, the beast losing its footing, it threatened to take its rider down along with it. Maleos managed to come to his senses in time to slip his feet from the stirrups of the saddle, and as his horse went crashing down the side of the cliff, he found a hand hold nearly a quarter of the way down the cliff side. He hung there, in shock over what happened and tried to take in the series of events. It was with horror he realized that Timaeus was there on the cliff side with him, hanging the same as he was but slightly further up. He figured his horse must have caught Timaeus’ off guard and sent both of them tumbling down.
He did not know what to do, adrenaline pumped through his body and it seemed as if his brain had just shut itself off, already prepared for the inevitable death that would follow this incident.
It felt as if he had just hung there for all of eternity, trying to push his mind into gear to think about how to get both of them out of the situation. In reality it was seconds, but the longer he hung there the more tired his arm became, and he started desperately looking for anything to hold on to or pull himself up with. It was then that he wondered if Timaeus would leave him to hang there. Surely the other male could see the hand hold above him that could be used to pull himself up, and from there Maleos was certain that there would be more. Timaeus could get himself to the top and leave Maleos to his fate.
And he would not blame the other male, this was his fault and he should face the consequences of his own irresponsible actions.
Their trip had been quiet, neither man really having much to talk about with each other. Maleos wasn't great at being social, and it didn't seem much like Timaeus wanted to say a lot to him anyways. Maleos was fine with the silence, he rather preferred it to those men that would talk on and on, despite the clear lack of interest from himself. Timaeus seemed to be fine with the relative silence as well, so he actually made for a pretty great travel companion.
As exhaustion weighed heavy on his mind and body, Maleos found himself not paying much attention to his horses’ steps. Though he had only just been given the animal shortly before he and Timaeus had left Colchis to heed their orders, he trusted that it was well trained and would keep it’s footing along the narrow cliff path back to their home in Eubocris. He had not had any problems with the beast thus far, and so he had no reason to think he would have any problems on the way home.
If Maleos had not been so tired from lack of sleep and physical exertion over the past few days, he would have realized his horse was tired, and perhaps spurring it on over the narrow cliff path was not a good idea. Had he been fully awake he would have suggested they made camp for the night and rested themselves and their horses before continuing on. They were ahead of plan anyways, so staying another night before making it home would not have been an issue.
But he was in no state to think of such things, instead he pushed on with Timaeus following behind him. He was sure that the other man also wanted to make it home that night, certain he would have his own reasons for pushing on instead of making camp as one of them should have suggested.
And as his luck would have it, the Gods seemed to think he needed to learn an important lesson that day.
It was sudden, and it took Maleos longer than he would like to admit before he realized what was happening. His horse suddenly went down from underneath him, the beast losing its footing, it threatened to take its rider down along with it. Maleos managed to come to his senses in time to slip his feet from the stirrups of the saddle, and as his horse went crashing down the side of the cliff, he found a hand hold nearly a quarter of the way down the cliff side. He hung there, in shock over what happened and tried to take in the series of events. It was with horror he realized that Timaeus was there on the cliff side with him, hanging the same as he was but slightly further up. He figured his horse must have caught Timaeus’ off guard and sent both of them tumbling down.
He did not know what to do, adrenaline pumped through his body and it seemed as if his brain had just shut itself off, already prepared for the inevitable death that would follow this incident.
It felt as if he had just hung there for all of eternity, trying to push his mind into gear to think about how to get both of them out of the situation. In reality it was seconds, but the longer he hung there the more tired his arm became, and he started desperately looking for anything to hold on to or pull himself up with. It was then that he wondered if Timaeus would leave him to hang there. Surely the other male could see the hand hold above him that could be used to pull himself up, and from there Maleos was certain that there would be more. Timaeus could get himself to the top and leave Maleos to his fate.
And he would not blame the other male, this was his fault and he should face the consequences of his own irresponsible actions.