They lifted Dolon's spoils and set them in a tamarisk, marking the place with reeds and branches so they could find it again in the dark.
Then they moved through weapons and blood until they reached the Thracians, who were sleeping at the edge of the army. Their beautiful arms lay on the ground in rows, and the horses stood beside the chariot of Rhesos.
Odysseus saw them first and pointed them out. Diomedes, fierce in courage, began killing.
As a lion comes on an unguarded flock of sheep or goats and leaps with evil intent, so the son of Tydeus fell on the Thracian men while they slept. He killed twelve, and Odysseus dragged each body aside by the foot so the horses would have a clear path and not shy at corpses.
Diomedes came to Rhesos and killed him as the thirteenth.
The Thracian king was breathing hard in sleep, for a bad dream stood above his head that night by Athena's working. Odysseus meanwhile loosed the horses, bound them with the reins, and drove them from the crowd, striking them with his bow because he had forgotten the shining whip.
Diomedes wondered whether to drag away the chariot or kill more Thracians. Athena came near and warned him to think of returning, lest another god stir the Trojans.
Apollo, seeing Athena's work, woke Hippokoon, a kinsman of Rhesos. He saw the empty place where the horses had stood and the men gasping in blood, and cried out in grief.
The Trojans rushed together in confusion, staring at the terrible work done while they slept. Diomedes and Odysseus had already reached the place where they killed Dolon. Odysseus took up the bloody spoils, and Diomedes mounted the horses; Odysseus struck them with his bow, and they flew toward the ships.
Nestor heard the hoofbeats first and wondered whether the men were coming back with captured horses or being driven by Trojans. He had hardly spoken when they arrived.
Their friends greeted them with handclasps and soft words. Nestor asked Odysseus where the horses came from, whether from the Trojan camp or from a god. They looked like rays of the sun.
Odysseus told the story briefly: the horses were Thracian, their lord Rhesos lay dead with twelve companions, and Dolon was the thirteenth. They drove the team within the trench, laid Dolon's spoils on Odysseus's ship, and tied the horses where they could eat sweet grain beside Diomedes' own team.
Then they went into the sea and washed the thick sweat from legs, neck, and thighs. When the waves had cleansed them, they stepped into polished tubs, bathed, rubbed themselves with oil, and sat down to food. They drew wine from a full mixing bowl and poured to Athena, who had carried them safely through the night.