The Legend of Perseus: The Gigantomachy

Ch. 6

Ch. 6

A small circle of gods and goddesses had gathered in a loose semicircle around the battle. Perseus stepped up beside Dionysus, who looked bruised and battered but overall okay.

"We should help," he began only for Dionysus to shake his head.

"Father Zeus has commanded us to stay out of the battle. He intends to finish Porphyrion off with only Heracles by his side."

Perseus looked mystified, confused why they didn't all just jump in and end the battle right then and there. But he knew better than to defy the word of a god, let alone Zeus.

Suddenly the sound of clanging metal reverberated through the whole plain. Porphyrion had landed a blow on Zeus' chariot, sending the king of the gods crashing to the ground, his four wind steeds sprinting off in four opposite directions. His charioteer, Nike, fell to the ground with the chariot, rolling a few times before coming to a stop in front of the giant. Porphyrion grinned as he looked down at the victory goddess, his spear already raised as he prepared to impale her.

"Ah, yes," the giant king muttered, "perhaps we lost the war, but at least I'll get to enjoy the sight of at least one dead goddess."

He raised his massive spear and thrust it down at the prone goddess' body. He expected to hear a cry of pain from the victory goddess but instead only heard the sound of a few surprised gasps from the small crowd of Olympians that had gathered to watch the battle. Porphyrion looked down and couldn't believe what he saw.

Holding his spear at bay, mere inches above the goddess' body, Heracles gripped the giant's weapon with both hands, right above the point of his spear. The son of Zeus' body strained, his large muscles bulging out, thick veins could be seen in his arms and neck as he used every ounce of his strength to hold the fatal strike back.

"How is this possible?" Porphyrion growled, staring down at the mortal hero below him. He tried to push past the demigod's grip but somehow Heracles managed to hold firm, not giving an inch to his enemy.

With his attention focused on Heracles, Porphyrion was oblivious to the other mortal hero who charged in from his right. Perseus held a long celestial bronze spear in his hand as he ran straight towards the giant. Ten feet away, he jumped onto the overturned chariot and launched himself in the air. He hurled his spear with everything he had, aiming for the side of the giant's neck.

His spear flew true and Porphyrion staggered backward, bellowing in pain and outrage from the celestial bronze weapon protruding from him neck, just below his ear.

Another thing the giant king failed to see while he tried to overpower Heracles was that Zeus had risen from his fall, his body growing even larger, over thirty feet tall now. In his hand, he held a fifteen foot arc of pulsing electricity.

"No throne for you, Porphyrion." Zeus declared, "Not now. Not ever!"

The king of the gods hurled his bolt straight into the back of the giant, blasting him forward where his crashed to the earth twenty feet from the spot he'd tried to kill Nike.

The king of the giants twitched and spasmed from the massive amount of electricity that coursed through his body. He slowly managed to calm his body's involuntary movements and opened his eyes.

Standing above him, he saw Zeus glaring down, another bolt of lightning gripped in his hand.

"Alright boys," he said, nodding his approval.

Too late did Porphyrion see the two demigods standing on each side of his head. Heracles and Perseus both raised their swords and drove them into neck of the giant. Before he could even let out a cry of pain, Zeus drove his bolt like a dagger into the chest of Porphyrion. The earth broke apart and swallowed the massive giant as he bellowed in rage, his body already starting to dissolve as he fell into the depths of Tartarus.