A Scripta

Grim got hit over the head with the wooden sword again.

Kalius waited for Grim to get back into position. Grim shook his head to clear it. “There must be a spell to learn sword fighting.”

"There would be no fun in that." Kalius grinned.

“You like to kick my ass, and you know it."

Kalius merely chuckled and turned from him to toss a water bottle to him. Grim was able to catch it easily. He set down the sickle, which changed into its usual silver dagger. “How can anybody fight with this thing?”

“It’s not meant for fighting, Grim. It’s meant for harvesting.”

“Well, I should learn how to use it as a weapon.”

“Speaking of weapons…” came a voice from the door.

Grim and Kalius turned in unison to regard the blond man at the door. Dressed in a simple white tunica, Grim knew exactly who he was. He took one step, and was inside the ring with them. He smiled at Kalius, “Greetings, Ares’ Bulldog.”

Kalius glowered, and his armor appeared, along with the sword, which he held at the ready.

“Easy, Rover,” the blond man said. “All you Ares types, temper, temper.”

Grim reached out instinctively to guide Hermes away and put a hand on his arm. The feeling Grim suddenly got was beyond anything he’d ever dreamed – he knew how to pick locks. He felt he could run like a gazelle. He knew the ways to Olympus and Hades, how to unlock the gates, the paths through the dreamscape, and the utterances of command. He felt suddenly lucky and with a sense of wanderlust and thought he could change shapes – all at once.

Hermes slowly disengaged Grim, and almost everything he had felt slipped his mind, except the paths to Olympus and Hades, through dreams and travel. Grim stared up at Hermes, not realizing he had fallen flat on the floor and Kalius was kneeling over him. Grim looked at Kalius, blinking, and said, “It was a message.”

“What was a message?”

"Ares cares for his warriors.”

“What?” Kalius sat back.

Hermes folded his arms over his chest. “I would have let him figure it out.”

Grim blinked, and everything he was going to say fled from his mind. "Nothing, nothing." He shook his head at Kalius.

Kalius looked up at Hermes. “And what do you want?”

“To collect my payment.”

Grim stood up slowly. “You said a couple of months. I'm not done."

“Give me what you have.”

Grim climbed over the fence. "I'll be right back," he said to Kalius.

"I'm going with you." Kalius followed Hermes, keeping a close eye on him. They went into the magic room, and Grim pulled out some items from the endless magical chest put there.

Hermes watched as a quiver of arrows, a spear, a helm, and a shield - all made of bronze. Hermes smiled. "This is good enough," he said, and picked up one of the spears. "Excellent work."

"Yeah, thanks." Grim had tried to keep his signature off of them, knowing that whatever Hermes had planned, it couldn't be good. He hoped that the gods wouldn't know who made these things and wouldn't go hunting him.

Hermes waved his hands and the items disappeared. "Your enemy is in the deepest pits of Hades, as you asked."

"Thank you," Grim said.

Hermes motioned to the dagger at Grim's belt. "You plan on using that as a weapon?"

"I might as well, since I carry it."

"Lord Hades would find that amusing. You have noted my gift?"

He nodded once. Kalius stared at him. "What gift?"

"I know the way to Olympus and Hades," Grim said quietly.

"Heaven and hell, and everywhere between. You are the Mapquest of the universe."

Grim actually started to laugh at the look on Hermes' face, as he had delivered the line in a total deadpan. Hermes smiled, took another step, and disappeared.

Kalius looked at the area the weapons had been. "Something tells me this isn't going to end well."