Gorgos

"I don't think you should go." She tugged at his lapels, trying to pull him back. Tears were running down her face as she considered what could happen, and the life she would live alone.

"The monster has taken far too many of our people," he whispered, cradling her face. "I am to do my duty."

"Why you?!" she shrieked. "Why?! You have a child!"

He grabbed her harshly. "Yes, and that is why I go, and you stay. He will know his father did what he had to do!"

She slumped, the fight gone out of her. "If you do not return... if the gods permit you to live..."

He put his lips to hers, and silenced her with a kiss. He held it as long as he dared, and both pulled back at the same time. With a look of longing, she let him go. He did not look back.

The shield was heavy on his arm, and the sword dragged low on his belt. He could feel the summer heat rolling off his armor, blinding him with the sweat from his brow. The road was long, and as he walked it, he could almost feel the spirits of the fallen before him, cheering him on, encouraging him, hoping he would succeed where they failed.

The hours dragged on like days. The haze threw temptations before his eyes; his wife drifted by, begging him to return, his child at his feet, his home in the distance. They vanished with a shake of the head, but their effect was nearly crippling.

Finally, by nightfall, he reached the hidden valley. There were no trees, or plants, but merely stones and black water, and one dark cave. Carefully, he trod down, until a rock slipped under his foot with an echoing crack!

He froze, and the cave seemed to shift before him. After what seemed like hours, he found his courage again, and inched forward. The cave loomed like a mouth now, stalactites like the teeth of a horrible beast. Helmets and shields and swords lay scattered all over the floor, memoirs and gravestones for fallen heroes. But there were no bones, and he shuddered to think the monster ate them whole.

Even though the night breeze was cool, sweat still ran down his bare chest. His helmet was cold now, almost freezing, but it kept him awake and aware. Each step seemed a physical burden, inexorably bringing him closer to death...

The sound of hissing brought him to a halt. Then there was a sharp rattling from the depths of the cave. He readied his sword and shield.

The monster emerged. Its body was the first thing he saw, and inexplicably, he was intensely attracted to its female figure, nude in the moonlight. As it stepped out of the shadows, however, his eyes moved to its face and he screamed in horror.

A grotesque, twisted mockery of the female face, with oversized lips and a skeletal nose. Cheekbones protruded wildly underneath sunken red eyes, and a broad, wrinkled forehead was decorated with countless writhing serpents. It made a keening noise at him, and he felt his blood slowly freeze in his veins.

His quest forgotten, he tried to run, only to find his feet frozen to the spot. Literally. He glanced down, and to his horror, his feet seemed to be made of roughly hewn stone. And as the monster cried again, he felt his arms drop heavy to his sides, then his chest seemed to heave and stop.

Slowly, piece by piece, he was turned to stone. His mind was still aware though, and as his eyesight vanished, he almost thought he saw his wife and child before his eyes. Then he was gone, joining the countless heroes who had paved the way before him.

And the monster cried to the night, rubbing furiously against the rocks, trying to satiate itself, but failing, with only the snakes and stones for company.