Ch. 15
Perseus didn't understand.
Why didn't gods help all the time? It was obviously within their power.
His father had sent these two fine stallions to help carry the Erymanthian Boar back to Tiryns for them and he was sure it took little more than a snap of his fingers to make it happen.
It took them weeks to get from Tiryns, to the land of the centaurs, and then to Mount Erymanthus. It took them less than a week to get back to Tiryns.
These had to be some kind of divine super horses too. They barely rested and traveled at speeds that were impossible for normal equine.
If they had them from the start, they could have finished this quest in a third as much time. But then again, that seemed to be the way gods worked. Showing up to help when you least expected it and leaving you hanging when you thought it'd be a good time for them to make an appearance.
The minute they reached the outskirts of King Eurystheus' lands, the two horses stopped in their tracks. The harnesses vanished and the two bolted into the abyss of the wilderness without so much as a second glance back at the two heroes.
Heracles watched the two steeds speed away and shook his head.
"Well, I guess we're walking the rest the way."
Perseus rolled his eyes, "Are you really complaining?"
Heracles grabbed the chain and pulled it over his right shoulder, making sure it was taut, then just grinned.
"Of course not, this makes the feat look much more impressive. Let's go, I'm anxious to see the look of that fool's face when we drop this beast on the steps of his palace."
Perseus didn't have time to respond, Heracles took off, pulling the boar behind him and moving at almost a sprint towards the city. Perseus ran alongside for a few minutes before a much better idea came to mind. He slowed his pace, then sprinted as fast as he could, catching up the the dragging boar before he leaped to his right and landed on its side. He reached up, grabbed one of the tusks and held on, enjoying a free, albeit bumpy ride to the city.
When Heracles reached the city gates, he stopped gasping for breath. Perseus jumped off his unwilling steed and landed to the son of Zeus' right with a huge grin on his face.
"Whew, that was tough."
Heracles looked at him, and then at the boar before he gave a look to indignation.
"Did you really just..."
"What?" Perseus asked innocently. "You didn't even notice the extra weight. Besides, I'm still injured." He clutched his shoulder which was actually feeling much better and feigned pain.
Heracles was about to say something but the commotion of the kings vanguard approaching captured his attention. They approached quickly and parted as soon as they reached the duo.
"Well, why have you return..." King Eurystheus froze mid-sentence when he laid eyes on the boar, which had long since given up its struggling.
"The Erymanthian Boar," Heracles gave a deep mocking bow, "as you have ordered, my lord."
The king just stared in disbelief at the monstrous creature. He had been so sure this would be the quest to stump the two heroes that he hadn't even thought about what to do if they returned successful. He hoped it would claim their lives but would have also settled for their returning in failure. But now, as he stared at the immense creature, words escaped the usually silver tongued king.
Heracles turned to the boar and grabbed the chain tying its front legs together.
"You ordered the beast brought back alive, shall I free it so you can tame it, my lord?"
Eurystheus opened his mouth but words still failed to form. Heracles took his silence as a yes and ripped the chains free of its front legs. The previously docile monster went ballistic. It tried to scramble forward and managed to get a few feet before the king spoke.
"NO! Please!" The king stumbled backwards and pushed a number of his guards in front of him.
Heracles grabbed the chain still tied around the boar's snout and yanked hard. The boar's struggling ceased and it went tame under the firm hand of its captor.
"I'm sorry, my lord. I thought this was your wish? You don't want it alive?"
"NO!" Eurystheus whimpered, peaking his head around his men. "Take it away! To complete your trial, you must take it away! I don't care what you do with it, just get rid of it!"
Heracles let a satisfied smile creep onto his face for a moment before he turned serious.
"Are you quite sure, my lord? Your herald was very clear. Perhaps he was mistaken, perhaps it might be better if you explain to him why capturing such a beast alive is not a good idea."
Heracles glared at the king, trying to get the message across that this was not going to happen again. He may be bound to complete the tasks that Eurystheus commanded of him, but he had no plans to bring another monster back from a foreign land, alive.
The king straightened up as he recognized the veiled threat. He was about to retort when Heracles kicked the boar in the backside, sending it scrambling forward again, its front legs clawing at the earth to get away from him.
"Fine!" The High King screeched as he ducked behind his guard again. "Just take it away. I will have your next task for you on the morrow."
Heracles smirked triumphantly and held the boar in place by the chain until it began to calm again. The king's honor guard whisked him back to the palace, leaving the two demigods to deal with an enormous monster that needed to be disposed of.
Once the king was gone, Perseus' bow appeared in his hand. He notched two arrows and stepped up the monster.
"No," Heracles said. "Wait, I have a better idea."
Perseus raised an eyebrow as the bow vanished from his hand. Heracles grabbed the chain and began dragging the beast back towards the city gates. Perseus followed along, unsure of where they were going.
"We'll take it to the cliffs, drop it into the sea as an offering to Poseidon." Heracles said once Perseus began walking by his side.
"Really?" He was surprised by the idea but obviously intrigued by the idea of making a big sacrifice to his father.
"He did send the horses that dragged the beast back here." Heracles answered simply, "And," he added his tone getting more serious, "I have owed Poseidon a sacrifice for a long time, it's high time I repay him."
"Uh," Perseus wasn't sure what he meant. "You do?"
They were coming up to the cliffs that dropped off into the sea. Heracles stopped a few feet away and turned to Perseus.
"Yes, my friend. Without his help, I would never have completed a single task. I wouldn't be this close to my redemption and I would have likely lost my will to continue this journey."
Perseus just stared, still not quite understanding. Heracles got behind the boar and pushed it up the edge, ignoring its desperate struggles to stop its momentum.
"For Lord Poseidon," Heracles said giving one last shove and sending the monster over the edge. "For sending his son to join me on this perilous journey. I am forever indebted to you my lord," he turned to Perseus, "and to you as well, my friend."
A whooshing sound rose from the sea and both demigods looked over the edge. A massive wave had risen from the sea just as the boar reached the water. It looked like a hand reaching out to grab it. A second wave crashed down over it and sent the monster into the depths.
Perseus watched the sea, hoping he'd catch a glimpse of his father but only saw the waves crashing into the cliffs. Heracles put a hand on his shoulder.
"Come, Perseus. I think we've both earned a hearty meal and good night's rest beside a nice warm fire."
Perseus broke his gaze from the sea. He was touched by Heracles' words but wasn't sure how to respond so he just nodded.
"Yeah," he cleared the lump out of his throat. "A good warm meal sounds a bit like Elysium right now."
Line Break
Well this was a new one.
No new monster to tame. No god or goddess to defy. Perseus wasn't even sure what he thought about their current predicament.
The fifth task assigned to Heracles was about the last thing he expected.
Go to King Augeas and clean his stables.
Pretty simple, right?
Apparently not. Not from the look Heracles got when they were given the task, though it was funny seeing the herald hand them a scroll and take off without a word like the little weasel he was. Apparently he'd lost the authority to explain tasks to the two heroes. Something both found equally amusing and satisfying.
But when Heracles read the scroll off, his look wasn't fearful, but their was trepidation in it.
When he explained what King Augeas had in his stables, his look made a little more sense. Apparently the king was one of the richest men in all of Greece, and he liked to flaunt that wealth through his extraordinarily large cattle herds.
Large as in like thousands of cows, bulls, goats, sheep and horses.
That many cattle must have created a ridiculous amount of poop, Perseus thought half amused, half terrified.
And their task was to clean the entire stables... In one day.
That was not going to be a simple task. They would need a plan and probably a miracle but it was what needed to be done, so they put their faith in the gods showing them the way.
When they reached Elis, they were immediately met by the king's son Phyleus who showed them to the stables.
"My father was given specific instructions by High King Eurystheus," Phyleus explained. "You have one day to complete the cleaning of the stables. You may start when you wish but once the sun sets on that day, the stables must be clean."
As his finished his sentence, they reached the stables and Perseus felt like the weight of the world had landed on his shoulders. They were enormous. It would take a league of men weeks to clean these stables. They stretched on farther than he could see and the ground was littered in feces. The smell made him want to vomit. And it wasn't the kind of smell you could get used to either... It was more like the kind of smell that would kill you if you stuck around for too long.
"King Eurystheus demanded you stay in the stables," Phyleus smiled when he saw Perseus' look of horror. "But, my father says that would be cruel and unjust." He pointed to the small hill to the west of the stables. "There is a hut some of our shepherds sleep in. Father has moved them closer to the city so the hut is yours if you want it."
Heracles was still taking in the sight of enormous stables but an elbow from Perseus shook him from his daze.
"Yes," Heracles said quickly. "That is fine. Please thank your father for his kindness. We will need a couple of days to prepare but we will let you know when we are ready to begin the task."
Phyleus looked over at the stables and couldn't help but grimace.
"Yes," he agreed. "Please do. I would like to witness such a task."
"Yeah," Perseus grumbled. "Who doesn't wanna watch two guys shoveling poop around in the blazing sun all day. That's a must see kind of show."
The prince chuckled at his sarcasm and waved back towards the city.
"I have other duties to attend to but should you need anything, I am easy to find." He held his hand out to Heracles who shook it with a grateful smile.
"Thank you, young prince. We should be fine."
Phyleus nodded to Perseus and started walking back towards the palace.
"Well," Heracles sighed. "Let's get settled in. I think we're going to need our rest if we're going to have any hope of doing this."
Perseus glanced at the stables one last time at nodded, following Heracles to the path that led up the hill and to their new temporary abode.
-X-
At sunrise the next morning, the two demigods decided it would be best to get a look at just how big these stables were. So starting at the point where Phyleus left them, they began to walk the perimeter of the stables.
"This is the worst trial yet," Perseus mumbled through the clothe he'd tied around his face to shield his nose and mouth from the acrid odor. "I mean, how is this supposed to earn your redemption?"
Heracles tied a clothe around his own face as they walked.
"Humility. Obviously tests of strength and bravery have failed to stop me. Now they are testing whether or not I am willing to get my hands dirty and do the work of a common man."
Perseus' eyes narrowed a little, "Oh, they're just testing you? That's good to hear, I'll wait in the city and you can get me when you're finished."
Heracles grimaced when he thought about his own words. They did sound bad. Perseus had been with him every step of the way, to not include him was insulting.
"I misspoke, my friend. They are testing us. It is my punishment and you've probably done more to complete the first four tasks than I. I'm sorry, it wasn't my intention to sound like that."
Perseus nodded but still felt slightly miffed about the way Heracles worded it.
They walked in silence for a good twenty minutes before Perseus felt a familiar tug in his gut. It wasn't very strong but it was enough to let him know.
Water was close. Freshwater he could tell, but water nonetheless.
He ran ahead and found the bend of a river less than twenty feet from the edge of the stables. He jogged the water and dove in head first. The nauseous feeling he'd had instantly vanished as the cool water hit his skin. He broke the surface of the water and saw Heracles looking oddly at him.
"What?"
Heracles didn't answer right away. He looked back towards the stables for a moment and then back to him. He had the kind of look he got when he was thinking hard about something. Perseus just waited, wondering how much this was going to hurt, as a lot of his plans ending up in one or both of them getting hurt.
"How well can you control river water?" His expression was earnest and Perseus could almost see gears turning in his head.
In response, he sent a jet of water from the river straight into Heracles' face.
The son of Zeus stumbled back spluttering and coughing as some of the water ending going up his nose.
When he finally looked back at him with a grin, Perseus could immediately tell he wasn't going to like what he had to say next.
A.N: It's short but its just setting up the next chapter. I'm going to try and get things moving. This whole story is just a set up to the next book. I have SOOOO many ideas for that. There will be two short stories leading into the next book too. They will also set up the sequel. I'm excited and impatient to get to the next book but I want to make this story good too. Let me know what you thought.