The Aleian Plain

The Aleian Plain A Retelling of Bellerophon* Twenty-five years after the death that gave him his name, Bellerophon lives in exile on the Aleian Plain, far from the kingdoms, victories, and legends that once defined him. Speaking to the dead man whose life became forever bound to his own, he begins to tell the story behind the hero the world thinks it knows. Born in Ephyra and raised among horses, Bellerophon is drawn from childhood toward a mysterious grey horse that seems to belong to no ordinary world. But his life changes when a single act of violence leaves blood on his hands and sends him into exile. Seeking purification, he turns to the gods, an ancient altar, and a mysterious bridle whose arrival seems to reveal that his fate has already been chosen. With the impossible horse beneath him, Bellerophon rises from exile into a world of kings, warriors, gods, and monsters. His courage earns him admiration, while his growing fame begins to separate him from the man he once was. Yet every gift carries a price, and the higher he rises, the greater the distance between Bellerophon and the ground beneath his feet. The Aleian Plain is a literary retelling of the Bellerophon myth, exploring guilt, identity, destiny, ambition, love, and the dangerous transformation of a man into a legend. Told in Bellerophon's own voice, it asks what remains of a hero when the songs are stripped away and only the man is left to tell the truth.