After that, that he might never again escape they
locked him away in caverns far beneath Tartarus' depths."
He gazed at Beowulf, back at the tarn.
"It is said he once more walks the earth, and he is not a
stranger even to the streets of Olympus. Nameless among us,
perhaps Wyrd is the name he bears."
Beowulf took from its sheath his sword. Light reflected from
its surface in strange patterns, and the sword's edge seemed
alive and moving in the sun's rays.
"I grow old. Yet, it seems, there is one more toil, one battle
more. Well, so be it. Every man dies. But it is given to some to
live and die for a cause. For a cause that makes their having
lived worthwhile. Boy, I will stand beside thee. Against this
one none has ever prevailed. How will fare a boy, and an old
man?"
He laughed. "Well, well, until I came none had prevailed
against Grendl. Nor against Grendl's mother. Be of good cheer.
We shall do what flesh and blood can do. And if that be not
enough, then surely we shall die as men, sword in hand!"
The day passed swiftly, and shadows were lengthening. Demo
built a fire, warmed the food his mother had hastily packed.
Beowulf ate of dried meat he carried.
"Your friend, I think, will return once more this night. Sleep
by your fire. I shall rest against the trunk of that oak, and
when he comes I will greet him. If your Zeus be powerful, pray
unto him, for this night one walks the earth as evil incarnate.
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