The Legend of Perseus: The Labors

Ch. 13

Ch. 13

Their much needed rest did not last long for the two heroes.

At first light they were awakened by the sound of someone clearing their throat at the entrance to their hut.

Perseus groaned in annoyance, "Too early, come back later."

"Ahem," the visitor coughed loudly, his identity quickly becoming obvious to our weary heroes.

Perseus opened one eye and found Heracles' bow sitting between their two beds. He groggily reached out for it, thinking about putting and arrow in the speaker's backside but stopped when he heard Heracles sit up in his bed.

"What?" He snapped looking at the herald like he might just follow Perseus' lead and reach for the bow.

"The High King, Lord Eurystheus has decided on your fourth trial."

This woke the two demigods up quickly and they looked at the herald waiting to see what the next labor had in store for them.

"His Excellency has decided you shall capture the Erymanthian Boar. It has been ravaging the land surrounding the Erymanthus Mountain. Capture the beast and return it to the king to complete your fourth trial."

Heracles looked ready to strangle that arrogant smile right off the herald's face. His body twitched, giving the impression he was going to attack but when the herald took a nervous step back, he got the reaction he was looking for and he just settled to glare at the smaller man.

"The king wishes for this wild and dangerous creature to be brought back, alive? Does he wish for this creature to be added to his menagerie as well?"

The messenger recovered his nerve and sneered back at the son of Zeus, "Lord Eurystheus does not need to divulge his intentions to you. He requires the beast alive, that is all you need to know."

Heracles rolled his eyes. He laid back down on his bed and when the herald did not immediately leave, he smiled looking up at the ceiling of their hut.

"You can shoot him now, Perseus."

The herald narrowed his eyes but when Perseus grabbed the bow and then plucked an arrow from the quiver, he scrambled backwards, tripping and falling onto his butt at the entrance. He crawled away as quickly as he could to the humiliating sound of the two heroes laughter.

With the irritating little worm of a herald gone, the two heroes rose from their beds and got to work packing up their things. They always traveled light, so within minutes, they had everything they needed gathered and packed up for travel.

"So," Perseus said as he shouldered his belongings. "Where are we going?"

Heracles strapped a large hunting knife to his belt and set the Nemean Lion cloak over his body.

"North. The Erymanthus Mountain is far to the north, in the wild lands of Arcadia. Dress warmly, winter is rather harsh in the north. And be wary when we get there, it is a rough place if my memory serves me right. The people there are rather odd and old practices still linger."

"Old practices?" Perseus raised an eyebrow.

Heracles just grimaced a little, "It's not important, we're not going up there to visit the locals. I'll just say they would be quick to turn one of us into an offering to whatever gods they worship if they got the chance.."

"They don't worship the Olympians?" Perseus had never heard of people who didn't worship the gods.

Heracles walked to the entrance, "They do, but don't. It's complicated, I'll explain later. Let's get started, we're going to visit an old friend of mine. The land of the centaurs is on the way, let's go."