The Legend of Perseus: The Labors

Ch. 7

Ch. 7

Perseus lurched backwards narrowly avoiding being bitten in half by the monstrous maw of the Nemean Lion. It's rancid breath nearly made him gag but he had little time to think about his disgust as his flight trajectory took a sudden upward ascent. His arms and legs flailed wildly until he felt his back smash into a thick branch and he was sent end over end backwards into more branches before managing to grab hold of one and stop his less then gentle landing.

He looked down just in time to watch Heracles launch himself into a tree when the beast closed in for the kill. Just before crashing face first into it, his leg came out and he used the trunk as a launch pad to make a ninety degree turn mid air and shoot off to the right, the lion unable to stop itself and crashing headlong into the tree.

Rather than breaking its neck against the tree like Perseus had hoped, he could only stare stunned as the tree was the first to give way, snapping low on the trunk and crashing into the forest. The Nemean Lion skidded along its falling bulk before catching itself and spinning around. It roared menacingly in the direction Heracles had gone.

In the darkness of the night, Perseus couldn't see where Heracles was. The Nemean Lion roared angrily in the direction he was last seen. Then out of nowhere, three bronze arrows flew from the darkness and straight into its mouth before it could really put enormous lungs behind the thunderous roar.

Its stumbled backwards, whimpering loudly and shaking its huge head from side to side. The lion heaved and hissed, desperately trying to rid its mouth of the foreign objects.

Three more arrows flew at its mouth from the direction of Heracles but the beast had learned its lesson, and kept its jaws clamped shut, the arrows bouncing off harmlessly. Perseus felt a pang of terror as the lion's whimpering turned into a growl but rather than attack, it surprisingly turned and bounded off in the opposite direction, wheezing and hissing as it disappeared into the abyss of the night.

Perseus stayed in his little perch, unsure of whether it was safe to retreat to the ground again. After a few minutes, Heracles appeared underneath him and nodded that the monster was truly gone.

He navigated his way down to a few of the lower branches before dropping down the last ten feet. Heracles caught him before he could hit the ground and set him down gently. Perseus wasn't expecting the harsh look he got once he was back on the ground again.

"What in the name of Hades was that boy?" Heracles wasn't angry, more a mixture of worry and agitation, neither of which the young boy understood.

"What?" He asked tentatively, unsure what he had done.

Heracles just shook his head, "You slept through ten minutes of pursuit! You nearly got yourself killed!"

Perseus just stared back, trying to understand himself what had happened. His hand went to his chest where the small trident rested on its silver chain. Heracles noticed and the agitation melted out of his expression. He stared at the medallion resting on the boy's neck.

"Where did that come from?"

Perseus was caught a little off guard. He was still trying to comprehend everything himself. Meeting one's father for the first time was a lot for anyone to take in. And when that father happens to be the god of the seas and an Olympian God, well, that's just a lot to process.

"I... I... uh..." He was having trouble finding the words. "I saw my father."

Heracles was knocked onto his butt, metaphorically speaking.

He hadn't ever spoken to his father before. He, a man of twenty years and son to the king of Olympus, hadn't gotten so much as an acknowledgment from his father. But this ragamuffin child, one who he'd found one the very verge of death had met his father, the great god Poseidon. Furthermore, he'd apparently been given a gift before they parted company, whenever the Hades that was.