Contents
Chapter 11: The Dragon
Overview
Achilles, muzzled and unable to use his powers, chooses to save the mortally injured Patro over protecting Alexis during a Titan attack. He teleports Patro to an Asclepius facility, abandoning Alexis to flee. The decision exposes Achilles’s consuming devotion to Patro and fractures the fragile trust with Alexis.
Summary
As winged Titans close in on a ruined Roman street, Achilles kneels over Patro’s broken body, his muzzle preventing him from unleashing his powers. Seeing Alexis’s resigned acceptance, Achilles confronts the truth of his priorities: his absolute devotion to Patro outweighs his duty to protect Alexis.
Time seems to slow as Achilles weighs Patro’s chances against Alexis’s peril. He recognizes that Patro’s obsession with claiming Alexis, and Achilles’s own surging possessiveness, have both escalated their instability. Remembering Augustus’s once-unhidden wrath and his own inability to contain his, Achilles rejects self-deception.
When motion snaps back, Achilles fires uselessly at the Titans, then discards the weapons and lifts Patro, choosing him over Alexis. Alexis runs, expression blank with acceptance, as Achilles teleports away, abandoning her despite the danger.
Arriving at a Spartan healing facility marked by the Rod of Asclepius, Achilles lays Patro on a gurney as Olympian doctors swarm to treat him. He prays to Kronos for Patro’s life—and for the woman he left behind—accepting the damnation that comes with his honest choice.
Who Appears
- AchillesPOV; muzzled Spartan torn between protecting Alexis and saving Patro; chooses Patro and teleports him to Asclepius care.
- PatroGravely injured with a broken neck after Titan attack; unconscious; rushed by Achilles to medical treatment.
- AlexisTargeted by winged Titans; abandoned as Achilles prioritizes Patro; runs with resigned acceptance.
- Winged TitansAntagonists stalking the street, triggering Achilles’s triage choice and pursuit of Alexis.
- Olympian doctorsMedical team at the Asclepius facility who immediately begin treating Patro.