Year: Around 352 BCE

Location: Thessaly, Greece

Leather gloves tightened around the reins in Vatra's hands. The animal beneath her sensed her apprehension, and braced against the tension of the bit. Teeth chomped loudly on the metal, and hooves dug restlessly into the dirt.

Vatra steadied the stallion with a soothing pat against his neck. "Easy, boy. Easy." She sighed and sat up straight, surveying the sight in front of her.

The vantage point overlooked a raging battle below. Clashing armies in a bloodbath. Their ranks spread across a field at the edge of the sea. Vatra scanned the flurry of men and cavalry, and eyed the ships bobbing out in the ocean. Athenian vessels.

What a mess, Vatra scowled to herself.

Men ripped off their armor and dove into the ocean. It appeared to be an attempt to swim out to the ships too far off for any of them to possibly get to. White caps swallowed them whole, dragging them by their flailing arms and war-tired bodies.

Hollow hooves on dirt drew her attention from the battle. Vatra looked over her shoulder and saw a rider guiding a large, bay horse up the hidden path to the vantage point.

"See anything interesting, Spyro?" Vatra asked, turning back to the fight. She admired the tenacity of some of the fighters, giving their all until they were inevitably cut down.

"It has not drawn their attention yet," Spyro replied. "Are you sure they will be here?"

"Of course they will," Vatra retorted.

A breeze from the ocean carried over the hill. Salty air stung her skin and brought a shiver up her spine. She pulled her dark red cloak closer around her. The smell of heavy metal and sea-spray concocted into an assault on her senses that made her cover her nose with the back of her glove for a moment.

"I just hope they can't resist the fight much longer," Vatra added with a cough.

Spyro moved his horse closer to Vatra's, lining the two side-by-side. "What will you do when they get here?"

"I'm going to kill him," Vatra said matter-of-factly. 

Her eyes held a ferocity that hadn't disappeared ever since the idea came to fruition. She was going to claim her revenge.

"I will help you." Spyro nodded his head.

Vatra looked to him with widened eyes. "You don't even know these guys, Spy."

"No, but I do have an obligation to help you kill him. In your creation as a phoenix, so was I bound to you. Your ability to reincarnate has connected me with you. I feel your emotions just as you do. This anger, and revenge... I want it too."

"I'm really stuck with you, then, aren't I?" Vatra asked, chuckling.

"We have had this discussion before, have we not?" Spyro's eyebrows raised, and he glanced around the battlefield in front of them. "Just point me to these... what did you call them?"

"Incestuous bastards."

"Incestuous bastards," Spyro repeated. His serious tone made Vatra laugh, though he didn't appear to find his words as humorous. A tight line held his lips firmly in place.

"We need to teach you a bit of humor one of these days," Vatra said. Her observation was interrupted when the hairs on her arms prickled.

"They're here," Vatra stated.

Carefully they traced the narrow path off the cliffside. War cries hummed to background noise behind them. They left the plateau with little afterthought. It wasn't the battle they were after; they had been waiting for the spectators.

Dirt turned to soft sand. The firm steps of Vatra's horse were more uneasily placed once she guided him on to the patch of land between the hill and ocean. She gave him a few moments to gain his footing before spurring him on.

They took off at a steady pace, an even beat of hoof falls timing to the laps of the waves. Vatra would have enjoyed the peaceful canter if it wasn't for the bloody war behind her, or the three riders approaching them from the front.

Her hands fisted into the grey mane, and if they hadn't been concealed by her gloves, she probably would have seen that her knuckles matched her steed's coat. The pounding of her heart in her chest thrummed as loud as the crashing ocean.

Spyro and Vatra neared the three riders within moments. Never one to go timidly toward confrontation, Vatra waited until the last moment to pull her horse to a stop. The stallion reared in defiance.

Angry hooves pounded the sand beneath her. Vatra's horse was as full of rage as she was. Blood-boiling, her eyes drew across the riders.

"You have been a thorn in our side as of late," a melodic voice, like an arm draping down during an elegant dance, rang from the only woman of the three. Enyo.

"I'm surprised it's only the three of you. Didn't feel like bringing your entourage, Ares?" Vatra cut her eyes to the rider in the middle. It wasn't the cruel god she cast her anger at, but she did quite like seeing him writhe from a good banter.

As if on cue, a flare of anger flashed behind the sparkling brown eyes of the god. Ares visibly tightened his jaw. He was handsome, like most gods expectedly were, but there was a weasel-like distrust on his face that made any superficial blessing immediately worthless in Vatra's point of view. She mused over how he twisted up his round nose until it looked like it was going to split in two.

Finally, Ares let out a loud sigh that relaxed the frown lines on his face. "Why do you waste your time bothering us so? My son gave you the gift of immortality and you are ever so insistent on killing him. Really, how many times do we have to dispatch you before we get rid of you for good?"

Vatra scoffed and glanced over her shoulder to Spyro before cutting her gaze back to Ares. "Enyalius didn't give me immortality, he killed me. The first time."

Enyo fiddled with the intricate jewelry adorning her forehead and tucked a loose strand of her long, dark hair behind her ear. She gave a long sigh of boredom and looked over to Enyalius. "Is this true, Son? You killed her?"

"We've had this talk a dozen times," Vatra muttered. Though, she was glad the silent rider that had moved between the two gods finally made his first noise. Albeit, the groan of someone who couldn't care less of what was going on around him. Vatra's skin prickled.

Enyalius leaned forward in his saddle, his soft and hairless chin brushing against the thick furs of the neck of his cloak.

He looks like a prepubescent child, Vatra mocked in her head. She scowled, the darkness in her thoughts without a doubt showing equally on her features.

"You look like you want to rip my head off," Enyalius mused. He smiled wickedly, white teeth like stars against the black furs around him.

"I can think of where I'd like to put it, too," Vatra retorted. She controlled the urge to grab her sword and cut him down where he sat. With Ares and Enyo so close, it was unlikely she'd make it two steps closer to them before they killed her.

The three of them shared equally rich laughs. 

---

A/N: Props to any historian buffs that knows which battle the beginning of this chapter is referring to! I thought these flashbacks would be an interesting way to see into Vatra's past, and I already have more planned ahead for future chapters. 

What does everyone think so far of this twist on mythology? Do you like it? I hope I can do it justice. I try my best to do as much research as possible while being as respectful as I can to the source material, which is why sometimes I may be a little vague on things. I know certain deities/myths can have strong cultural ties, and the last thing I want to do is be disrespectful in any way. 

If at any point someone notices I may be incorrect, or may be inadvertently disrespectful of something culturally significant PLEASE point it out to me so I may correct this ASAP. 

(I'm also going to be moving this announcement to the forefront of my book as I realize I'm diving further into mythology and I want everyone to enjoy this book)