Another Trial

by Eyes of Brown

this was an English paper I had to do. i had to add a monster for Odysseus to defeat. please read and reveiw

This is something i had to do for honors english. we had to create a new monster for Odysseus to defeat. so here's mine. it takes place before he reaches Ithica and after Thrinacia.

Disclaimer: i only own Aiel and everything that has to do with her.

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The rocks were now behind, Charybdis, too,

And Scylla dropped astern.

Upon nearing Thrinacia, the island of the sun god, Helios,

I insisted of my remaining men

To bypass the island.

But driven mad by their hunger and fatigue,

They did not listen.

They ignored my fearful warning

Not to eat the cattle grazing there.

And as we departed,

Zeus, the chief of all gods and goddesses

Struck our ship with a mighty lightning bolt

Soon thereafter, I felt myself sinking

Into the deep, dark, swirling oblivion

That was the ocean.

But just as my lungs began to scream for air

I could breathe.

I sucked in life and opened my eyes

To find that I was on my back

On a sandy beach.

Hardly able to believe that I was still alive,

I lifted myself to my feet and inflicted pain upon myself

Hoping that I might awake to find myself

Departing to Ithica from Troy with all of my men.

But I remained where I was.

I had nothing;

No food to nourish

Nor weapon to fight

And I was stranded on a desolate beach

Scarcely alive.

And that was when I saw her.

'Odysseus,'

Called she to me as she seemed to float over.

Her hair swirled around her shoulders

As she neared my resting place.

'My ears have been blessed to hear

the trials of your recent voyage,' said she.

'But never could I imagine that I would actually meet you.

You who battled at Troy and were victorious,

Who defeated a Cyclops,

Outwitted my sister, Circe,

Survived Scylla, and Charybdis

As well as Sirens and the mighty Zeus's anger.

And now here you are

To grace me with your presence.'

And I said to her,

'I am flattered that my reputation precedes me.

But to what do I owe

This honor of meeting you miss…?'

'Aiel,' replied she.

'Younger sister to Circe

and demigoddess of chaos.'

She then told me of her life

In the shadow of her elder sister

And how, in order to prove herself,

She was going to do what her sister couldn't.

She was to defeat me, son of Laertes.

And to her, I said,

'Give me your word

that you will not use your magic against me.'

At this, she grew outraged and

Before my eyes, she took the form

Of a snarling dragon.

Her eyes blazed, blacker than midnight

And just as foreboding.

She lashed out

With a strength of surprising measures

And I again found myself

Sprawled on the shingle.

'You battled at Troy, defeated a Cyclops,

Outwitted Circe, survived Scylla,

Charybdis, the sirens, as well as

Zeus, chief of all gods and goddesses.

You have faced terrors no mortal will ever face.

But I am the one bump in your path

That you cannot defeat.'

Weak from hunger and fatigue was I,

But I began to devise a way out of

My particular predicament.

I was borne aloft in spasms,

Grappling for air

For, back in her original state,

She began to throttle me.

I was thrown to the ground,

Bloody and bruised.

'You, Odysseus, son of Laertes

and the gods of old,

master mariner, great contender,

you may think yourself a hero

but I have seen your true self.

You have watched the entirety of your crew

Fall, fail and suffer a painful death

And it was all your fault.

You left your wife for thirteen years

Heartbroken, unsure if you are alive

Or at the bottom of the sea.

And you have not remained pure,

True to your wife, Penelope.

And here you are,

Alone. I pity you, Odysseus, son of Laertes.

And for that reason,

I will deny myself the pleasure

Of watching you die.'

And with that, she left me

With one last suggestion.

'I suggest,' said she,

'that you take a deep breath.'

She then sent me on my way,

Adrift on a stray piece of wood

From my own sunken ship.

She chortled with laughter

As she sent me off,

Broken, bloody, and bruised,

Starving and near death

With a last realization

That Aiel, younger sister to Circe

And demigoddess of chaos

Truly was the only peril on my journey

That I could not conquer.

I eventually drifted

To Ogygia, home of Calypso.

She then kept me on her island

For seven long years

As I realized how far I had strayed from my original goal;

Of reaching beautiful Ithica,

And Penelope, my wife;

Fairer that the Dawn with fingertips of rose;

Fairer still that Circe, loveliest of all goddesses.

I realized then, that all I ever wanted

Was to go home to Ithica.