Chapter 1

On a cliff edge stands a man with long grey hair and a beard, a wrinkled face, and a spear stabbed into the ground next to him. He is wearing a bronze cuirass, bracers, greaves, a red cape, and holding a bronze helmet with a red crest, looking out into the dark water that is crashing into the cliff face in the night.

A man wearing the same outfit but with no cape wielding a spear in his lefthand walks toward him and says, "We are ready, my king."

The man on the edge briefly chuckles and responds, "Tell me, Dienekes, have you ever gone fishing with your son?"

Dienekes looks at his king and then looks down, saying, "No, never. A soldier's life is all I've had the honor to know."

"I would have liked to have gone fishing with my son. But now…" The man said while at the end, he started putting on his helmet and grabbing his spear in his right hand. "Let us meet our fate, shall we?"

The man then looked to the other side, where a fleet of trireme unloading soldiers on the shore before walking away.

He started walking through the ranks of his soldiers to the front, now wielding his spear in his left and a round shield in his right hand, saying, "Spartans! Every breath that you have taken has led you to this moment. Every drop of blood, sweat, and tears, all of it, has led to where you stand right now. The Persians come to make slaves of us all. I have a better idea. I say we drench the gods with their blood. What say you, Spartans?"

The Spartans raise their spears and 'whoa' out in response.

"For our sons!" The King yells out.

Again, the Spartans raise their spears and 'whoa' out in response.

"For our daughters!"

Again, the Spartans raise their spears and 'whoa' out in response.

"For Sparta!"

This time the Spartans raise their spears and 'whoa' out loud three times in a row in response.

The King turns around, seeing the Persian army charging at them, and the whole Spartan army gets into a Hoplite Phalanx for the expected collision. Then the Spartans stabbed out their spears when the Persian army got within range.

Mr. Drakos… Mr. Drakos… MR. DRAKOS!

A young man snaps awake from the shout. Looking around, he saw a mid-age woman glaring at him and several other young people laughing around him.

"Is my class too boring for you, Mr. Drakos?" The woman said to him.

"No, Ms. Anderson, and I am sorry. I will not do it again." The young man said while rubbing the back of his head.

After giving him one last glare, she returned to teaching the class. "Now, like I was saying, we are going to talk about the last stand at the Battle of Thermopylae since Ephialtes, son of Eurydemos, betrayed the Greeks."

"Hey, Leander, why are you falling asleep?" the young man beside Leander whispered.

Leander looked at his friend Leo and whispered, "I stayed up too late doing an essay for English class."

Ms. Anderson continued teaching. "The Spartan king, on the third day of the battle, rallied his small force - the survivors from the original Spartan 300, 700 Thespians, and 400 Thebans - and made a rearguard stand to defend the pass to the last man in the hope of delaying the Persians progress, to allow the rest of the Greek force to retreat or also possibly to await relief from a larger Greek force."

"Dude, I had a weird dream about this just a moment ago," Leander whispered to his friend Leo.

Leo gave him a weird face whispering back, "That is weird, dude. It must be because you are learning about it now, and your mind was making a visual for you."

"Maybe," Leander whispered back but with a thoughtful look.

"Early in the morning, the hoplites once more met the enemy, but this time Xerxes could attack from both front and rear and planned to do so, but, in the event, the Immortals behind the Greeks were late on arrival.

Leonidas moved his troops to the widest part of the pass to utilize all of his men at once, and in the ensuing clash, the Spartan king was killed.

His comrades then fought fiercely to recover the body of the fallen king. Meanwhile, the Immortals entered the fray behind the Greeks, who retreated to a high mound behind the Phokian wall.

At this point, the Theban contingent may have surrendered (although this is disputed amongst scholars). The remaining hoplites, now trapped and without their inspirational king, were subjected to a barrage of Persian arrows until no man was left standing.

After the battle, Xerxes ordered Leonidas' head to be put on a stake and displayed on the battlefield. Herodotus claims in his account of the battle in Book VII of The Histories that the Oracle at Delphi had been proved right when she proclaimed that either Sparta or one of her kings must fall." Ms. Anderson said, finishing her lecture when the bell rang.

"Remember you must write a 5-page essay about the Battle of Thermopylae. If you need any guidance, look at your syllabus for the class." She said while everyone was collecting their stuff.

Leander was heading for the exit when he heard Ms. Anderson called out, " Mr. Drakos will stay after, please. I wish to speak with you."

"I'll catch up with you later," Leo said before exiting the class with the rest of the students.

He walked to her desk and asked, "What did you need to talk with me about, Ms. Anderson?"

She looked at him worriedly, "How are you, Mr. Drakos? Are you handling the foreign exchange okay?"

"Yes, I am doing just fine, thank you for asking. I just stayed up too late doing an essay for English last night." Leander answered back with an appreciative smile.

She smiled and said, "That is good to hear, and do not make it a habit to stay up to late, okay? You can go now, Mr. Drakos."

Leander then walked out of the class, not noticing that Ms. Anderson's smile had disappeared and not hearing her whisper, "I guess the time has come. Do be safe, Leander Drakos."