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The Golden Age

Chapter 6: Myths and Legends

The war was to grind on for ten years, but after our first victorious campaign the city was filled with optimism. Our part of Greece was peaceful and the weather the following year was especially kind. Even though the rumour of battles elsewhere continued to worry our elders I was untroubled, heedless of anything beyond the borders of our little region.

Aristarchus' sister Daphne was older than him and had two children, Jason and Hector, aged 10 and 8 at that time. My little brother Alexander was 11 and had become a close friend of the pair, so when Aristarchus' brother-in-law Xanthippus decided to take his sons out into the country for three days to teach them to hunt and fish it was natural that Alexander should go with them. Three boys of that age are a lot to handle so Aristarchus and I agreed to go as well. We set off early in the morning, just as the rosy fingered dawn began to lighten the eastern sky, tramping off down the dusty road out of Likopolis.

We spent the day teaching the boys how to stalk small game, and by the end of the day we had several rabbits and a few game birds. We were all hot, tired and dusty when we finished and slogged our way to where we planned to camp. We had chosen a hillside that looked across the bay to the harbour of Likopolis, where a small stand of trees gave some shelter and a stream would provide fresh water.

When we got to the site the boys ran off to play while we washed and got the food ready. The three of us got into the small stream which was bracingly cold compared to the heat of the day, and very refreshing. I could see the grime washing from my fur as I lowered myself in, lying down completely immersed. Xanthippus and Aristarchus did the same and I got a marvellous view of the fast flowing water smoothing down the fur over their sculpted muscles.

Once we had finished washing we sat on the bank to dry, just our foot paws dangling in the water. As we sat there under the dappled shade of the trees Xanthippus said 'I need to take a piss, do you mind if I do it here?' Aristarchus and I both said we were more than happy for him to pee where he was, and so with a contented sigh he started to relieve himself. As he sat back with his eyes closed, a warm breeze ruffling his silver grey fur, he let out a strong stream of piss. It smelled wonderful as it splashed into the water, turning it a light straw colour and adding warmth to it as it flowed round our weary foot paws.

By the time we were dry the sun was dropping towards the horizon. We started a fire and Xanthippus began to cook two of the rabbits. It was a balmy evening and I think I must have fallen asleep, because it seemed as if no time had passed before Aristarchus was calling the children to come and eat, and the sun had dipped below the horizon, the dark blue of night chasing the reds and oranges from the sky. We were all very hungry by that point and we ate greedily in a silence broken only by the sound of chewing. Soon we had wolfed down the whole lot and sat back, full and contented, savouring the taste of food we had caught with our own hands. We continued to sit in peaceful silence for some time, watching the last of the sun's light drain from the sky and the stars flicker into life, first one by one, then more and more until the whole sky shimmered above us.

Hector, the youngest of the boys, sat cuddled up against his father, but he had a puzzled, slightly worried expression on his face. After some minutes Xanthippus asked him what the problem was. "How come we can eat these rabbits and not Philo the tanner?" He asked, looking up at his father. For a moment Xanthippus looked stunned, and then he laughed.

"Oh, you haven't heard of Prometheus have you?" The boys shook their heads. "Well, I'll tell you about him, and how there came to be two kinds of animals."

The three boys came round to sit opposite Xanthippus, their tails wagging expectantly. When they were settled he began his story:

"You've heard of the titans haven't you? And how the gods defeated them, and sealed them away, deep underground? Well, not all the titans fought against the gods. Some were on their side, and weren't imprisoned with the evil ones. One of those was Prometheus. He was a good titan, and he fought bravely on the side of the gods. He loved the mortal creatures of the earth and spent a lot of time with them, but back in those days we were all like these rabbits, and we spent most of our time hungry and afraid."

"One day Prometheus had an idea. The gods had a gift, a sacred fire, they had inherited from Gaia herself, and Prometheus realised that if he could bring some of it with him he could give it to us, and we would become wiser and stronger and he could speak to us."

"The gods were jealous of their fire, so he had to be very brave, and very cunning. Eventually, when all the gods were having a great feast, and were distracted, he managed to sneak in and take some of the fire. He hid it in a giant fennel stalk and brought it down to earth, where he shared it with any animals that would come to him. These he taught to speak and walk upright, but some of the animals were afraid of him, and they remained just animals."

"At first Prometheus was able to hide the theft from the gods, until one day Hermes, carrying messages for Zeus, heard some animals speaking. He reported this to Zeus, and he was furious. Although he was angry the animals now had the sacred fire, and so the gods could not bring themselves to destroy them, and that is how we came to be. And when we die the fire doesn't go out, so the gods created the underworld for us to go to."

"However, Zeus was so angry with Prometheus for having stolen the fire he ordered the other gods to catch him and chain him to a mountain, thousands of miles to the east of here. There a great eagle came to peck out his liver every day, but being an immortal it grew back every night, so it was ready to be pecked out the next day."

When Xanthippus stopped speaking the boys sat there, eyes wide, muzzles open, until Alexander said "Is he still there?"

"No" replied Xanthippus "Heracles climbed up the mountain and unchained him." "Wow, I didn't realise Heracles had done anything that amazing, I thought he was just a trainer." Said Hector in a tone of wonder.

"Not our Heracles stupid" said his brother "That Heracles was the son of Zeus."

"Jason, don't call your brother stupid, he just didn't know. Jason is right Hector, the Heracles who released Prometheus was a demigod and he had loads of amazing adventures. I could tell you a story about him if you would like."

"Actually, do you think now would be a good time to tell them the story of Actaeon?" interjected Aristarchus. "Yes, I suppose now would be a good opportunity" replied Xanthippus. He looked down at his two sons "what do you think, would you like to hear the story of your ancestor Actaeon, and how Likopolis was founded?"

The two boys looked at each other and then up at their father, nodding silently, their faces expectant.

"Well all right then. Actaeon was your great-great-great-great and then some grandfather and he was a great hero of Thebes when our family lived there. He was trained by the centaur Chiron. Do you know who else Chiron trained?"

Jason and Hector sat in puzzled silence for a moment until next to me a little voice piped up "Heracles."

"That's right Alexander. And not only Heracles, but Theseus, Jason and even Achilles. So you can see Actaeon must have been someone pretty special. He was one of Thebes' greatest heroes, and he had seven sons who were also great warriors. They were also brilliant hunters and chased all sort of game."

"It was on one of these hunting trips that a great tragedy happened. They were chasing a stag when he became separated from his sons, running far ahead of them. He came to a small river in a valley and he came across a beautiful female wolf, washing in its waters. She was completely naked, and when he saw her she was ashamed. Unfortunately she was the goddess Artemis, and she decided to take revenge for her humiliation. He had been hunting a stag so she turned him into one."

"But that's not fair" interrupted Jason "he didn't mean to..."

"I know it's not fair" answered Xanthippus. "It's an important lesson to learn that the gods aren't fair. They're powerful and wise, but they can be capricious and cruel as well. That's why it is important not to anger them, and why you should be brave and just, because you can't just rely on the gods to make everything better. I want you to remember that."

"Anyway, where was I...? Right, Actaeon had just been turned into a stag. Just at that moment his sons caught up. Having followed the scent of a stag for miles they thought they had finally caught it, and before he could signal to them who he was they had ripped their father to shreds. Only after he was dead did he change back."

"What did they do?" asked Hector. "They carried his body back to Thebes, and then they went to the oracle at Delphi. They asked her what they should do to atone for his death. She gave them a really cryptic message. She said You shall have no home until the storm clears."

"As you can imagine, they didn't know quite what to make of this, but they resolved that if the oracle said they had no home they had to leave Thebes until the rest of the prophecy came true. They set out straight away, taking some friends with them, including Alopex, and they sailed around the Mediterranean for years, having all sorts of adventures. Finally, one day a storm blew up, and they thought they would die. They prayed to Poseidon and after many hours of being tossed from wave to wave they at last saw a sheltered bay they could hide in. That was this very bay. They tried to land but their ships were wrecked. However no one was killed, and when the storm cleared and they realised they were stuck here they at last knew what the prophecy meant. So they founded a town here, and now it has grown to be a city. And their first act was to plant a sapling taken from their fathers olive grove, to remind them of home."

"Is that the one in the marketplace?" asked Jason excitedly. When his father nodded he gasped and said "So I've marked a tree that belonged to my great-great-great-great-great-great-grandfather, and he was an actual hero and everything?"

"Yes. It's amazing isn't it? But you two should also remember that it's a lot to live up. Actaeon was a great hero and so were his sons, so next time you piss on the great tree I want you to think about them and how you can live up to their example."

I turned to Alexander and said "And that goes for you too. Our family came with them and helped them found this city."

"OK" he replied, his brush wagging behind him. Just as he said that his muzzle opened in a wide yawn. He slapped his hand across his mouth quickly but it was too late. "I think it's time for them to go to sleep" I said "don't you Xanthippus?"

"I think so" he said, stifling his own yawn "time for me as well."

"Antenor and I are going to go for a walk" said Aristarchus. "We are?" I asked puzzled. "Yes, we are." he said, giving me a meaningful look. Suddenly I realised what he was talking about. So did Xanthippus and he gave us Aristarchus a wink and told us to enjoy our 'walk.'

Aristarchus picked up a small jar of olive oil when the kids weren't looking, slipping its cord around his neck when we were out of sight. As we walked down the hill onto the beach we were enveloped in darkness. There was no moon and it took our eyes a while to adjust, but on the open sand of the beach the starlight was enough to see by.

We strolled along the edge of the surf for some time, feeling the water lap over our foot paws and taking in the night scents, the strong smell of salt from one side, the delicate perfume of flowers and grass from the other. Without even thinking about it my hand found its way into his.

When we were sure we had gone far enough from the camp Aristarchus turned to me, his strong arms wrapping round me. His cock had grown hard and it pressed into the fur of region.

Aristarchus&rsqu I took a long, slow, luxurious lick up its length, collecting a drop of pre from the end. He let out a low groan, resting his paws on my shoulders to steady himself.

"Darling" I said, looking up at him silhouetted against the stars "could we do what we talked about?"

His cock twitched at the suggestion. "Of course" He said, kneeling next to me. Already I could smell the scent of arousal pouring off of him. I kissed him, our muzzles locking, my tongue pushing into him, tasting him. Our dicks were pushed together and I started to rub against him, sliding along his length, our pre providing just enough lubrication.

Pulling away Aristarchus lay back on the sand, slipping the jar of olive oil from around his neck. Taking it from his paws I pulled out the stopper and brought it down to his cock. Bringing my muzzle to his crotch I licked the pre from his tip and then poured the thick liquid over him, using a paw to make sure it covered every inch of his length. Pouring the rest onto my paw I lubed up my tailhole, pushing two well oiled fingers into myself, and then positioned myself over him.

Lowering myself onto him I felt him sliding between my cheeks. Using one paw to steady myself I used the other to guide him to the right spot, his tip pressing against my hole. I felt that familiar resistance, and then that wonderful feeling of him pushing into me, one long, slow motion as I let him into me, until his knot was against my ring.

I leant forward over him, looking into his eyes, and slowly lifted my ass off of his cock until it was almost out, before pushing back onto it slightly faster. He let out a deep breath and closed his eyes. I repeated the motion, settling into a steady rhythm. Every so often when I broke the pattern to push him deeper into me and tense and release myself around him as I pulled myself up his dick.

As I rode him he set up a counter rhythm, thrusting gently into me, shifting his hips beneath me to change the angle he entered me, expertly working my tailhole. One of his paws rested lightly on my thigh, while the other stroked my cock, carefully pleasuring me without risking bringing me to orgasm.

"Now" I whispered, my voice filled with need. Opening his eyes Aristarchus looked up at me, holding my gaze as he began to empty his hot piss into me. It poured into me, until I felt more full than I had ever done before, his knot pressed against me to keep it in. At the same time I began to piss over him. It arced high and splashed and steamed over his chest. Not breaking our look he lowered his muzzle and caught some of the stream on his outstretched tongue.

When we were spent I began to ride him again. Each time I pulled away some piss would flow out over his balls, and each time I pushed down onto some was pushed deeper inside me. He had softened while he urinated but he quickly hardened again. Finally, as one of his paws slid to my hip, pulling me onto him, and his panting became moaning, and his strokes on my cock became faster and faster I plunged myself onto his knot, feeling it enter me as a shock of pleasure. He groaned with ecstasy as he shot his thick load into me, and my cum sprayed over his chest and muzzle.

Exhausted we fell over sideways, lying facing each other on the sand as we waited for his knot to soften.

Some minutes later he was able to pull out of me and I felt his piss and cum flow out over my ass. Shifting position I set to work cleaning his cock, while he pushed his muzzle under my tail, lapping at the semen and urine soaked fur between my cheeks, circling his flat tongue around my rim and finally delving into me as I relaxed to let him in as far as his tongue could go.

When we cleaned each other as best we could we got up and plunged into the sea to wash properly, Aristarchus leaping in ahead of me. Pale green phosphorescence flared around him and for a moment it was as if I were seeing a Triton, wreathed in beauty and power, before he burst to the surface, and he was once again my Aristarchus.

Diving in after him I came up next to him, only to be hit in the face with a splash. Laughing he swam away from me, challenging me to chase him. Suddenly his expression changed, shock written on his face as he looked past me. The laughter died on my lips and I turned to follow his gaze across the bay. Just out from the harbour was a light, not the pallid glow that surrounded us, but the deep red of fire. A ship was burning, and around it could be seen the dark shapes of other vessels. There was a crack, faint but clearly audible and the ship began to fall in on itself and sink. Soon it disappeared, and darkness and silence returned.