κδ′

Hector got his horse back.

Today was rainy. I guess that was a bad omen for Patroclus, and a good one for Hector.

The setup for today’s fight was very similar to the one between Hector and Ajax. About fifty of our commanders and aides met with a similar number of Trojans, roughly halfway between our camp and the city.

As it was raining, we set up a few open air tents to cover Agamemnon and the top generals. The Trojans had to stand in the rain.

Paris wasn’t with the Trojans this time. However, a loud mouth guy named Glaukos was. I heard that Glaukos had a personal beef with Patroclus. Patroclus had killed Glaukos’ commander Sarpedon in some previous skirmishing. -So much drama with these commanders…

I guess that Glaukos came, hoping to see Patroclus get beat down.

Aside from Glaukos, Hector’s brother Deiphobus and his sister Cassandra were there. Polites thought that Cassandra was something else. -I didn’t see it.

Anyway, Patroclus made a pretty dramatic entrance. Accompanied by Diomedes, he rode up on Hector’s horse, carrying a golden shield and a Myrmidonian flag. However, what really blew everyone away was that Patroclus was wearing Achilles' armor. It was obvious that it was Achilles' armor because it had a big cheesy ‘Alpha’ on the breastplate.

A loud whisper spread throughout the audience.

Everyone knew that Patroclus and Achilles were close, but not that close. Furthermore, as Patroclus was wearing Achilles' armor, it was clear that Patroclus likely knew where Achilles had gone. -Agamemnon was visibly agitated.

Patroclus would have made quite a sight if half of his head hadn’t been wrapped in bandages.

Glaukos yelled: “Nice armor, Patroclus! Too bad it doesn’t cover your face!”

Patroclus ignored him. Jumping off his horse, he walked up to meet Hector without hesitation. The two men shook hands, and agreed to fight with spears. They didn’t use shields.

When I saw Patroclus retrieve his spear, I immediately thought that he had made a mistake. Hector is great with a sword, but his skill with the spear is almost legendary. I don’t know what made Patroclus so cocky.

Unlike the battle between Hector and Ajax, this one began with very little shit-talking. After grabbing their spears, Hector and Patroclus turned towards each other, bowed and got right to it.

Unlike the battle between Hector and Ajax, this one didn’t last very long.

Patroclus rushed first, and as Hector stepped aside, Patroclus did a fancy move, smacking Hector in the head with the shaft of his spear. This brought a loud cheer from our men.

Hector shook his head, and Patroclus spun around to face him again.

Once again, Patroclus charged.

I am not sure what Patroclus meant to do, but Hector easily stuck him right in the gut. It almost looked like Patroclus was offering his stomach.

Anyway, it was pretty sick. I don’t really want to commit the details to writing, but suffice to say, a gut wound wasn’t enough to finish Patroclus off. He was hurt really bad though, and he made a lot of noise.

Hector kind of finished him off like a skewered pig.

Although it was an audience of soldiers, Patroclus’ grisly death visibly affected everyone. -No one said a word.

After Hector was finished, or rather, after Patroclus was finished, Hector coolly removed Patroclus’ breastplate, walked over to his horse and climbed into the saddle. He gave a polite nod to Agamemnon and rode off.

The rest of the Trojans followed Hector’s lead, except for Glaukos. Glaukos actually ran up to Patroclus’ body and gave it a kick. Seeing that, all of our men, including Agamemnon, drew weapons and stepped forward.

Glaukos looked up, turned tail and ran.

The rest of the day was pretty sober. It is still raining now.

I suppose there will be a funeral tomorrow.