The Lost Labour of Heracles

Eurystheus was terrified. How could Heracles, the despicable half-brother of his, have come back from the Underworld, the dreaded, white-hot flaming underworld? Where Hades ruled as king? Where Heracles could not, and should never have fulfilled the conditions to cross the river Styx? How could he? A thousand thoughts seemed to race through Eurystheus’s mind as his messenger told him what Heracles had told him. Then, a flashback. He had sent Heracles on twelve labours, namely the killing of the Neamian lion, the nine-headed hydra and so on and so on. Soon, he heard the heavy, laden footsteps of his half-brother, he quickly dismissed his messenger and hid in a nearby storage pot.  There, he kicked his mind into high gear. He had to think of a challenge to kill Heracles.

          Heracles had returned to Eurystheus with the strangled Cerberus, hanging limp in his arms. “Here,” he said wearily, “Here is the dangerous guard dog of the underworld, with three heads of different animals, Cerberus. Now may I have my freedom from your slavery?”

          Unfortunately for Heracles, Hera, Queen of Mount Olympus, had helped Eurystheus to think of a challenge and bestowed it on him. “Yes, though it is true that you have fulfilled the conditions, I have another task for you. And it is the goddess Hera, oh, the almighty Hera, that bestowed the wisdom on me to tell you that you can only become an immortal if you complete this. Bring back the head, heart and tongue of a Taxxon and I will let you go. Go now, because you only have ten days and ten nights to bring me those body parts.” Eurystheus ordered from within his little shelter.

          So Heracles was sent out on yet another adventure. This time, he went towards the sacred Mount Olympus, where the Taxxons gather every night. He headed there quickly as he was eager to go back to his beloved Olympian father, Zeus, forever.

          It is said that Taxxon cries can be heard from a mile away. “Ssssreeennwwwyarrrrrr!!!!” A cry floated up from Mount Olympus. Heracles shuddered. He knew that cry. I guess you know what a Taxxon is, but in case you do not know, I’ll tell you. They are monstrous things to look at, even on holograms. They are ten-foot long tube like worms and are extremely fat. They have three foot long tongues. They have little technology and only have swords to protect themselves. They also use psychic powers to overpower their prey’s mind.

He knew that that cry was of a Taxxon, careless enough to get hurt, being eaten by the others. He knew that the Taxxons had no natural weapons, and could only eat by slamming their upper bodies down on the wounded Taxxon and gouge around with their mouths. The cries rang throughout the night and kept Heracles from sleeping. He was, for the first time, afraid of death. When he woke up, the sun was still sleeping. He knew that he must get on immediately, to make it there on time.

          When he reached the foot of Mount Olympus and started to climb, he sprained his ankle, but continued his way up. Finally, after three days of tireless travelling, Heracles finally reached the place where the Taxxons gathered. Now all there was to do was wait. Heracles waited, growing ever so impatient. Then they appeared. One by one, dragging their worm-like bodies, the Taxxons motored their dozens of cone legs and crawled labourously up the steep hill of Mount Olympus. The process sounded like a wet cloth being dragged over rock and stones. One of them smelt the nervous beating of Heracles’s heart and the blood spilling from his ankle. It looked at him through its red, jelly globule compound eyes. Fortunately, it was light and the Taxxon could not see him. If not, it would have let out a cry, sounding like, “Ssssssssrrrreeeeenennnwewrrreayyyaarrrr!!” that would attract Taxxons within ten kilometers. When the last of the Taxxons had gone up Mount Olympus, he stalked them as quietly as a mouse.

          One of the Taxxons wandered off from the group. As darkness fell, Heracles drew out his sword slowly and lunged at the Taxxon. What follows is a battle of wits. Heracles kept the Taxxon at bay both physically and mentally. After a few days, both of them began to tire. The Taxxon, tiring because of lack of food; Heracles, tiring because of lack of rest. Finally, the Taxxon flagged and gave up. It looked Heracles in the eye, held its breath, and did not take another. It simply fell to the ground, face turning a metallic-blue, organs shutting down, squishing, slippery sounds. Heracles sawed through the plastic-like covering of the Taxxon, cutting off its head, cutting out its three hearts, and sawed off its three-foot long tongue.

          On his way back, he saw the Andalite again. This time, it galloped up to Heracles. It said, “My name is Elfangor-Sharintal-Shamtul. The gods have sent me here to help you in your quest to return to that despicable Eurystheus. Here, take my feathered slippers, and they shall carry you in one leap, back to him. Farewell for now, my friend.” With that, he disappeared with the sound of angelic music.

          Eurystheus awaited Heracles’s downfall since he left. “Obviously he will never find the Taxxons. They are things of myth. How silly of him to go find it!” Eurystheus twined his fingers and smiled. “Of course, if he ever finds them, he will die anyway. Either he had eaten, or had fallen down and died.”

          “Sire, sire!” his messenger’s frantic voice snapped him out of his reverie. “Heracles has returned. He has brought back what you asked him for! The whole city is celebrating!”

          Eurystheus was afraid again. Waiting for his brother’s footsteps, Eurystheus hid in the storage pot again.

          Heracles had returned to Eurystheus with the Taxxon body parts, hanging limp in his arms. “Here,” he said wearily, “Here are the body parts of the dangerous Taxxon, the head, hearts and tongue. Now may I have my freedom from your slavery?”

Reviews

[Rain]

A nice job of creating your own myth, though I'm only a bit familiar with Greek myths and stuff, so I'm not sure on what to say about that...
It was interesting enough to keep me reading, though maybe a bit more details/description? Great use of onamatapia...(is that how you spell it?)

hahaha, good job on the story