Behind him rode two companions. At sight of them the Spartan's brow cleared.
"Chares! Clearchus!" he cried.
Their coming turned the tide of the conflict. The Persians, ignorant of how many more might be following them, turned and fled down the pass before the new arrivals could strike a blow.
Leonidas embraced his friends. Of the Greeks who had fallen, only one, a young man of Caria, who had been stunned by a blow from a mace, was still alive. Clearchus caught his horse, and they lifted him upon its back.
"What brings you here?" Chares asked of Leonidas. "Where is Alexander?"
"That I will tell you later," the Spartan replied. "Look yonder!"
He pointed over the tree-tops on the lower slopes at the innumerable host that was creeping toward the mountain side.
"The Persians are about to cross the pass," he said. "Alexander and the army are in danger of being cut off, and we alone can save them."
"If Darius crosses the pass, it will be in our footsteps," Chares said. "Let us be off."
Of the men who had followed Leonidas down the mountain at daybreak, only four remained.