Wings of Fire Ch. 12 - Teaser (Patreon)

“These are from mercenary groups,” Ernie muttered, spreading the patches across the desk. “I know some of them.”

His large fingers traced over the distinct emblems, some old and weathered, others more recent. The pair looked down at the stack of patches, wondering why they were in there to begin with. James knew it couldn’t be anything good as he watched Ernie closely, picking up on the tension in his voice.

“What do you think it means?” James asked. Ernie’s brow furrowed in thought, the weight of the possible connections beginning to gnaw at him.

“I don’t know,” he admitted, his voice low and gravelly. “Since this box belonged to a member of Chimera, this could be bigger than what the colonel led us to believe. A lot bigger.”

The big man continued to empty the box, and it was the last item in it that caught both men’s attention. A book, leather-bound and nondescript, with more ciphered text on its brittle pages. As James flipped through it, something small slipped out from between the pages and fell onto the desk—a scrap of paper. It was plain, except for a single word scrawled in the center:

“Bellerophon.”

“Bellerophon?” Ernie asked out loud. “What the hell is Bellerophon?”

“Not a what, a who. He was a Greek prince and a hero. He was the greatest monster killer of his time, well before Heracles came to be. His greatest triumph was slaying the beast…” James said out loud before realization dawned on his face and he snapped his fingers as he shouted in triumph.

“What is it, kid?” Ernie asked, staring at him with an odd look.

“Bellerophon is the codeword that can crack this cipher!” James said as he looked over at the coded documents and book in front of him.

Ernie shot him a skeptical look. “You think Bellerophon could crack the cipher?”

“I think so! Because in Greek myth, Bellerophon was the hero that slew the monster known as Chimera! If that word was sitting in this book, then it likely means that this is the codeword!” James exulted.

“You really think that Chimera would be that stupid? To make the codeword something that relates directly to what ended the Chimera of myth?” Ernie asked skeptically.

“No, but they would be that arrogant!” James stated, thinking he’d figured it out. Ernie crossed his arms, his imposing frame looming over the desk. He clearly thought James was reaching, but after a moment of silence, he gave a slight nod.

“Fine,” he said. “Give it a try. It’s better than nothing.”

James didn’t waste any time. He carefully laid out one of the letters and began testing the word Bellerophon as a potential cipher key. The minutes ticked by in silence, the air thick with tension as Ernie watched from the side, arms still crossed, brow furrowed. Suddenly, James straightened up, his eyes widening in surprise.

“It worked,” he yelped, almost in disbelief. “The word Bellerophon—it’s the code we’ve been looking for!”

“You’re serious?” Ernie blinked, momentarily caught off guard. James nodded, his voice steady but charged with excitement.

“I’m serious. It’s translating the cipher. We can finally read these letters! We will be able to translate and read everything we have about them!!”

“Well, I’ll be damned!” Ernie replied with a sly grin, looking up at his new friend.