Chapter 19

It had been a few hours since their little road trip had started and this was just the beginning. The landscape outside the truck had changed from the woodlands to rocky plains as they went further away from the city, and now they had finally entered into the sandy desert. The temperature had turned into a scorching heat with the hot desert sun above them. All around them, outside, all Maximus could see was sand. The dunes covered everything in the line of sight and he felt like he was stuck in the middle of a sea of dust. Only their solitary transport truck moved along the sands and the ride was definitely not comfy. Maximus was riding shotgun, and beside him Achilles was at the wheel. He said that it would probably take a couple of days before they reached the city. The others were at the back of the truck where Daedalus was being held. There was a window behind Max's seat which could be opened. It was large enough for a person to fit through, though probably not Rex. Through it, he saw that both Hedger and Rex were fast asleep. Rex had even begun to snore. Only Daedalus was still awake back there, still talking to himself. Maximus was pretty bored too, and Achilles wasn't in a very talkative mood. So instead he just sat there staring out at the sands, and soon he was lost in his own thoughts.

Well, he thought his life was definitely taking some drastic turns. They were heading to Athens, the capital of a country with which Mars was at war. And being an ex-soldier of Mars he was still doubtful of going to Athens. Maximus had heard that Empress Athena was a fair woman who was renowned for her wisdom. But this did not reassure him enough to ride straight into an enemy capital.

Both Mars and Minerva were on the same great continent along with the kingdoms of three other Olympian gods, including Vulcan. There were a few other smaller kingdoms as well, but most of the continent was covered by the five kingdoms ruled by the gods. Ares dreamed of having the entire continent under his control. Since Jupiter, the empire ruled by Lord Zeus, was on a different continent, this dream of his did not risk angering the Olympian king. But what did stand in the war gods' way was Athena. Her empire was the only one on the continent that stood on equal grounds with Mars in term of size and military strength. Even though Ares had more soldiers, a larger army and a stronger magical unit, Athena's military was able to keep up with them because of their unimaginable and advanced technology and weaponry. They also had a very strong air-force which acted as an advantage over Ares's forces, which were primarily land based. Maximus wondered whether any of the other kingdoms on the continent would be able to stand up to Ares if Minerva was defeated. It didn't seem a likely possibility and most would probably ally with Ares to avoid war. But all this was if Mars won. The war had been going on for nearly five years now without either side faltering. Maximus was still in deep thought about world politics, or whatever he knew about it, when Achilles woke him from his daydreams.

"Are you listening to me Max?" Achilles said.

"Sorry, sort of drifted off for a second there, what did you say?" Maximus asked.

"I said that we are stopping for a while, I can see an oasis up ahead and it might be the only one for miles. We can collect some water there and according to my calculations it's about time Daedalus woke up as well." Maximus looked out the window and saw the oasis which Achilles was talking about, it was just a small group of trees with some water in the middle. It looked like an island in the middle of the sea made of sand.

"Good idea. Besides the tank's almost empty, we'll refuel it there as well. And I can drive for a while if you like."

Achilles nodded in agreement. Even though there were five of them, only Maximus and Achilles could actually drive. Rex couldn't drive because it really was a two handed job. And Hedger's feet wouldn't reach the pedals. Even if they let Daedalus drive it would only be for short bursts of fifteen minutes. So the job was stuck with the two of them.

Once they had stopped at the oasis, Maximus went to the back to wake the others. Hedger got up and asked "Are we there yet." Rex got up too, and he was rubbing the sleep out of his eyes "Man I haven't slept so much in a long time. It's so boring. We should have brought a pack of cards or something," he said.

"Oh I'm sorry, I wasn't aware we were planning to get kicked out of our homes and take a long road trip to an enemy country. But Rex if you already knew all this then a set of cards would have been great. Or maybe a travel chessboard," Hedger said with a grin, and Rex just scowled at him and grumbled something under his breath. Maximus laughed at this and then he realized things could have been much worse. At least he had his two best friends with him on this insane road trip.

"Come on guys, there's fresh water here and it might be our last chance to fill up on some for a while," Maximus said, and they got out of the truck along with Daedalus and went to the side of the waterhole where Achilles was already sitting with his bionic foot stretched on the sands.

Hedger cannon-balled straight into the water with a splash. He hadn't even bothered to take his clothes off, but Maximus knew that in this heat they would dry off quickly. Rex went up to the water and started washing his face and taking a drink. They had just begun to cool off when Achilles looked at them and said, "It seems we have a bit of company." He pointed at the dry bushes at the side. At first Maximus saw nothing, and then he realized that there was some movement within the bushes. "What is that?" Rex asked. And as if to answer his question a tiny man jumped out of it.

It wasn't actually a man at all. It was a goblin. And soon the one that jumped out was joined by seven or eight of his friends. They were yet another race present in this world. They were just about the size of a child, roughly Hedger's size. They stood on two legs and had two hands like humans but that was where the similarities ended. Their skin was a brown colour and it was leathery like that of a reptile. They had almost no hair whatsoever on their heads. Just a few strands popped up here and there. Also they had really pointy features. They had pointy ears, a long and pointy nose, and even pointy teeth. Maximus had seen goblins before in the trenches but not ones like these. For one thing the ones in the trenches were fully clothed. These, on the other hand, barely covered their private parts with some leaves and twigs. They were also carrying weapons in their hands that were made from wood and animal bones.

"Those are some real ugly babies," Hedger said, getting out of the water.

"They are called sand goblins. And like most goblins prefer hot climates so they're really common in the desert" Achilles said.

The goblins were eyeing them with their weapons raised now. "Yeah, so what do they want with us?" Maximus asked.

"Well, it seems that this oasis is part of their territory and they seem to think that we are trying to take it from them. So they will probably attack us now." "Can't we explain to them that we're just taking a break?" Maximus said. Achilles shook his head, "No, I'm afraid not. These goblins don't seem to have ever been touched by modern civilization. I don't think they can even understand what we are saying."

Rex stepped forward and said "So we gotta fight these little munchkins. That's fine by me". He took out his hammer ready to fight.

"It won't be much trouble really. I have fought them before, they're not very strong," Achilles said.

Just as Rex was about to charge at them, Maximus stepped in and said "Guys, would it be ok if I take this one. It's just that I'm not that familiar with my new sword yet, and I think that it would be good practice." This was true of course, but he was also hoping to bring back the red glow from before. When he had practiced in the cave the glow hadn't come no matter what he tried. Rex wasn't too happy with this since he was really bored, but he grunted okay. Maximus moved forward and drew his sword while the others sat back and watched.

Just as Maximus took a few steps forward the goblins attacked. They were quite fast but their attacks weren't exactly powerful. As long As Maximus kept away from the sharp edges he was fine. He was easily able to avoid his attackers and soon he started striking back. The sword felt fluid in his arms and its balance was perfect. But the red glow did not come and he could feel the difference in power. It just didn't have the same strength as before. The goblins kept attacking but it was very random with no real planning, and because of this they kept getting in each other's way. Maximus didn't really have to try very hard. The goblin attacks were very predictable. One of the goblins tried to attack Max's arm but he dodged it and took him down with a single strike. Then he slashed another before it could even raise its wood and bone club. Soon enough, almost all of them were on the ground. Maximus faced them, expecting them to get up and fight again, and it seemed for a moment they were about to. But then, suddenly, all of them decided to run away instead. Wow, Maximus thought to himself. He had never scared anyone so much that they ran away from the fight. He was pretty pleased with himself when he suddenly felt that one was still left, and that he was standing right behind him. He swung his sword to the back but to his surprise it got blocked. It was not blocked by a Goblin but by a man. He had not just blocked it either, he had actually caught the sharp edge of the blade with his hand without even a paper cut. Maximus understood now why the Goblins had run. He guessed that it would be most people's first instinct when they were faced with a god.