The Aarrah

By: Dawn Peterson

3/23/11

1st hour

After my escape from Scylla and Charybdis I was stranded out at sea for two days. I could see an island ,but Poseidon kept the waves pushing me back. Then the messenger god appeared next to me.

"Odysseus" he said "That island there is Mount Olympus. Here" He handed me some food and a drink. "Build up your strength Odysseus. I will distract Poseidon while you row to the mountain" With that and a smile he faded away.

A short time after I finished my meal the waves stopped. With all my strength I paddled my humble raft to the shore line. I stepped off my raft to go explore. My feet were barely off it when the waves returned and swept it away. I looked away from the sea and saw the massive mountain. It was grander than anything I had ever seen. I couldn't see the top though; there was a shroud of clouds concealing it.

I started to build a camp for the night when Hermes appeared again. He told me "Go Odysseus, up the mountain. Zeus wants to speak with you" and left. I started up the mountain, wasting no more time for camp. There was still some light. While going up the mountain I realized there was almost no vegetation meaning I had to grip on the loose, dry soil and occasional rock to climb it. A while after it got dark I stumbled upon a dark cave. I tried to sleep there for the night. While slipping into slumber something pounced on me.

I wrestled with the mysterious being for a good 5 minutes until we appeared in the dim moon light. He gasped when he saw my face.

"Odysseus" he said in delight and awe "It's me, Pire! Your old sheep herd" I think he could tell I didn't recognize him. He went on anyway. "You're wondering why I'm here, aren't you? Well about a year ago your son was searching around the Mediterranean, seeking word of you. He had appointed me on the crew. At one point on our long journey he came here to ask the gods what became of you. We started up the mountain and slept in that very cave. As we continued up the mountain we saw a monster… To make a long story short very few of us made it out alive" He must have seen the worry in my eyes. "Don't worry though, I know Telemachus made it out, so did a few others. We survivors all got scattered and I didn't make it on the boat before they set sail. You're the first person I've seen in about a year" He wouldn't tell me anything about the monster.

The next morning I convinced him to show me the monster. "Pire" I said to him "I have to get to the top of the mountain and if what you say is true then I don't think we can just go around it. Again, I have got to get to the top. Zeus has a message for me. What do you call the monster? What does it do? Why is it so terrible? What are its weaknesses?"

Pire answered all my questions "I call the monster the Aarrah. And no you're right. Whatever path you take it will follow you. This monster will freeze you, and then destroy you. This monster will trick you into a sense of security, with its fiendish cuteness, then attack! I know of no way to stop it. You will just have to use your wit. All right, I will show you it"

With a great silence Pire led me up to the beast. After just a few short minutes Pire got a strange look on his face and stopped. He knelt down on his knees and prayed.

"Daughter of Zeus, goddess Athena please give Odysseus the strength and wisdom he needs to defeat the Aarrah"

He rose and walked me uphill for another 5 minutes or so. Then we heard a rustling in the bushes. "There it is Odysseus, do you hear it? The Aarrah!" I peered into the bushes trying to see what he saw. Then a small mountain cat slithered out of the bushes and looked at me with bright blue eyes. I was about to say "See Pire? It's only a cat. Don't be so jumpy" but the cat started to morph. Its small teeth grew longer and thicker. Its soft fur flattened into scales. Another head poked out from its neck. Its paws curved into lizard claws. The gentle blue eyes started to slit into deep red snake eyes. It hissed at me. I couldn't think. Now that I looked into its eyes I couldn't look away. It spit its purple venom at me. I tried to move out of the way but, I couldn't. Then Pire jumped in front of me, taking the blow. "Run Odysseus!" he commanded.

I did just that and ran to the nearest yet smallest cave I could find. I cowered into the back, trying to devise a plan when my hand touched something soft. I pulled on it and it came out of the ground with ease. After I smelt it I realized it could only be one thing. Catnip. I thanked the gods whom bestowed the gift upon me.

When night fell I slithered out of my cavern, catnip in hand. In the darkness I walked up to the snoring beast and dropped the catnip inches away from its face. The creature was still in its serpent form. After watching it breath the cat drugs in through its nose it woke up. I expected it to attack me, but it started to purr. I picked up a sharpened rock and walked up closer to the monster. I was going for the kill when I heard a roar behind me.

I turned around to face the thing that was roaring. It was blue, it had fur and horns yet stood on two legs. I was looking at a Minotaur. He jumped from a cliff, with as much grace as a dancer, and chopped the heads off of the Aaraah. He faced me.

He said: "I am Argus the Minotaur. I have been banished here from the city of Herkalion. I've been trying to figure out how to kill that monster for some time now. Every time I got into killing distance though, it would catch my scent and attack, even when it's sleeping it wakes up"

The Minotaur's scent was overwhelming. It smelled like rotting fish mixed with swamp mud and rancid meat laid out for a few days with Helios burning brightly down on it. I tried to ignore it.

"Thank you sir Minotaur" I said "I am Odysseus, son of Laertes, and I need your help. Please take me to the top of this mountain. I need to talk to Lord Zeus. He has a message for me"

Argus nodded silently and led me up the monstrous mountain for two days. We hardly drank or ate anything. We almost never talked. I once tried to ask why he had been banished but he didn't reply. Finally, I saw the golden gates of fate. I said goodbye to my Minotaur friend and went inside. I was hardly two steps in when I was stopped by the god of the sea himself.

"It seems you have fallen into my trap Odysseus. I have a plan. Since you have gloatingly assaulted my son, Polyphemus, I have no choice but to torture you. I have decided to keep you here for all eternity. Well not here exactly, but in the ocean sitting there for days on end. Not seeing a human being and having barely enough food and water. So, come with me. Oh and as you probably already assumed there is no message from Zeus. I convinced Hermes to tell you that. I also convinced him to distract Zeus and Athena so we could have this conversation"

"Why must you do this to me!?" I replied

"Because, it's funny" He laughed

"Why didn't you just keep me at sea instead of send me to this island?" I stalled.

"I was hoping for you to get killed by the cat monster, but it seems that didn't work. Now off we go" He started dragging me away.

Just then there was a loud crack and a puff of smoke appeared. It faded away quickly and Athena, Hermes, and Zeus were standing there.

Zeus commanded: "Poseidon, stop this foolishness and let the Ithacan go. Forgive and forget about him brother. He is just a human and his life is a blink of an eye to you. Polyphemus will be okay too"

Poseidon sighed "All right. The Ithacan can go. Forgive I will, but never forget. Heed that warning Odysseus" He poofed away.

I said to them "Thank you Zeus, thank you especially Athena for the wit and catnip you sent me"

She responded "I didn't know you were here Odysseus. I didn't send you anything. Whatever happened to you happened without any meddling from me"