Tyre landed on his stomach, skidding a few inches and skinning his jaw. All the breath wheezed out of him and he gasped for air in the cloud of dust around him. When his vision cleared, he recognized a few of his men standing around him, gaping. Summoning his gods given strength, Tyre pushed himself upright once more. Glancing at the hunters beside him, he shouted, "Well, what are you waiting for? Get him!" Standing, Eiro's eyes widened as three healthy men and one injured and vengeful husband rushed at him. It took him a split second to evaluate his odds. Turning around, his sprinted back towards Aegina, mounting the pony in one leap. He held out a hand to her, the seriousness of the offer etched in his every feature. "Come with me, or stay here, but you must decide now!" The fastest of the hunters had made it to the pony, tugging on Eiro's tunic, trying to pull him down. Eiro turned and smashed the heel of his palm into the man's face. The man stumbled away crying, blood pouring from a broken nose. Eiro offered Aegina his hand one last time. Glancing at the man clutching his face, Aegina hesitated, and Eiro's mouth tightened. "Goodbye then." Eiro turned the pony's head and raised his heel to kick it into motion. "No!" She cried, throwing herself at him, finally willing to admit to herself that she couldn't live under Tyre's orders. "I'm coming! Help me up." With no time to waste, Eiro pulled the petite woman onto the pony behind him and kicked. The pony broke into an unpracticed gallop, running faster out of Berora than it had since it was a foal. *~*~* A mile outside of Berora, the pony slowed to a trot, and a half mile after that, it slowed to a walk, breathing heavy. Aegina had been clutching Eiro for dear life as they galloped away from her husband, eyes closed, dealthly afraid of falling. She began to relax when they could no longer see the village, and even began to fidget. They reached the edge of a dense forest, and Aegina voiced her unease at staying in such a place, especially after sundown, but the road they were on was the only one of any size, unless they wished to go back through the town, and they both agreed that was too risky. So, Eiro let the pony walk until they reached the first stream, where he stopped and had them both dismount. "Search for a little clearing not too far from the road. I want to camp here tonight." Aegina's brown eyes grew huge at the thought of camping, in the woods no less, but did as he asked anyway. Just in time for sunset, they got a fire going in a little glen no more than fifty feet from the road. Aegina gazed around anxiously as night settled in on the forest, insects buzzing and night birds beginning to rouse. Eiro lay on his back, staring at the slowly appearing stars, while Aegina sat, knees to chest, chewing on her lip. "Are you sure there are no satyrs in these woods?" Eiro's gold eyes blinked at her in surprise. "We're quite safe here. I have very good hearing. Besides, I've never heard of satyrs in these woods." "Yes, but that doesn't mean there aren't any. They could just be very well hidden satyrs." "Satyrs aren't really the hiding type. If what you need to hear is me saying 'there are no satyrs in these woods' then, no, there are no satyrs in these woods." "But you're not positive." "I'm positive." A crisp feminine voice broke into their conversation. Eiro sat bolt upright, shocked at being snuck up on, while Aegina's head snapped around, looking for the speaker. A handsome woman with sharp features watched the couple, amused by their expressions. Her auburn hair was immaculately curled, and her grey eyes were complemented by the green, purple, and gold embroidery that ran along the edges of her robes. Aegina noted, with mild distress about the state of her own dress, that the woman's was still sparkling white. In fact everything about the woman seemed to sparkle vaguely, but only when she looked with the corner of her eye. The woman broke the stunned silence. "No satyrs, no driads, no undines, no sylphs, no nymphs of any kind, in fact, no fauns either. This forest," she paused to pluck a leaf from a tree, rubbing it between her fingers, "is dead." She let the leaf fall and advanced on the two mortals. Eiro scrambled to his feet, but the woman simply ignored him, gesturing to the trees around them. "Not many forests can support satyrs any more. The ones which can are much closer to Mount Olympus." Aegina's jaw dropped. "You...you're...you're a goddess!" The goddess lifted an eyebrow. "And you're smarter than you look." Aegina's mouth snapped shut, taken aback. "I am the purveyor of wisdom and defender of just causes, the goddess Athena." It was Eiro's first time meeting a goddess, and Athena's introduction seemed a bit anticlimatic. Aegina was a little disappointed as well, but she was more familiar with Athena's straightforward style of godhood, having grown up on tales of Mount Olympus. So when Eiro started to question the goddess' claim, she hurriedly clapped her hand over his mouth. Athena half smiled watching them. "The smarter of the two of you, anyway. You should learn from her, Eiro. Never question a god. Even as strong as you are, I don't believe you could survive even a river god's wrath." Eiro glowered as Aegina lowered her hand, convinced he wasn't going to be turned into a pig, or a goat, or a spider. "Have a seat, won't you?" Two stools appeared by the fire, and Aegina sat down quickly, glad not to have to dirty her dress further. Eiro sat down reluctantly, when Aegina gave a sharp tug on his tunic. He hated having to bend to the will of anyone, even if they were a god. "Good." Athena began to pace in front of the fire, collecting her thoughts. After a long pause, she began to speak. "This is a matter of some anxiety for me, so you will have to understand if I become slightly emotional." Aegina blinked, wondering privately what could make a goddess nervous. She continued, "Most mortals are not aware, though some powerful seers have divined it, that we are reaching the end of an era. What no one other than myself, the fates, and soon you two know, is what era that is. Both of the mortals held their breath as Athena worked up her nerve. "It is the end of the time of the gods and the advent of man." Athena looked carefully at the two faces staring blankly at her. "Oh for Zeus's sake! I can't make it much simpler, but I'll try." "Please do," Eiro intoned, finally fed up with Athena's arrogance. The goddess glared at him, but went on. "The gods are dying. Just like this forest here. Withering up and disappearing." "It's not possible!" Aegina gasped, incredulous. "You're immortal!" "I assure you, it is possible. I hold the evidence right here in my hand. Or rather, the evidence is my hand." Athena lifted her hand up to the fire, and despite the weak light cast upon it, Aegina could clearly see it had become wrinkled and bony. Athena's grey eyes hardened as she looked at her own hand, once immaculate and manicured, covered in freckles, with the knuckles raised, like malignant tumors. The sight made her stomach turn weak and she quickly withdrew her hand into the darkness. Silence surrounded the three of them, each contemplating the impact this had on their lives. "Why did you tell this to us?" Eiro's gold eyed gaze was piercing enough to match the coldness in Athena's. "Why not tell the other gods?" This was logic, and at the moment Athena felt equipped only to deal with logic. She kept her hand clasped behind her back as she answered. "First, the other gods would never believe me. Most of them are so caught up in their own little spheres of influence that they don't bother to pay attention to the outside world." Athena's distaste for her immortal companions was obvious in her acidic tone. "Even Zeus prefers to dally with princesses than to rule his family. Hera's not much better, attempting petty revenge for every slight trespass upon her dignity. No, they'd never believe me." Aegina nodded thoughtfully, but Eiro just sat, arms crossed, watching Athena and waiting for the other shoe to drop. "Second, and more important, is that you two are somehow going to save the gods from disappearing." One gasp and one dry laugh came from the seated woman and man, respectively. Aegina glared at Eiro, hoping his disrespect didn't get them fed to boars. "Why on earth would I want to help save the gods? The gods do nothing but torment the mortals for their own pleasure!" Eiro hopped off of his stool and stared down the goddess in front of him. It was apparent that Athena had hit on a sensitive subject with the lithe man. Across the fire, Athena returned the man's angry stare with her own. Cautioning herself that she really couldn't punish him, she reined in her temper. "The fates are the ones who picked you out, not me. And the fates are never wrong." "Well, they're wrong this time! I'll never help.." "What," Aegina cut him off, hoping that the argument would die, "do we do now?"