Hermes walked down the mountain, the grass went in between his toes and a light breeze lifted his hair, he smelt the grass and felt the heat, he smiled and ran down to the lake, he could run very fast, so fast everything was a blur has he ran, he came to the lake and looked at himself. His curly black hair fell into his eyes which were the same colour as the water, he put his hand in the lake and took a drink, the water was wet in his mouth.
An animal walked up to him and stopped by the water; it lowered its mouth to the lake and drank. Hermes grabbed it; it was green and had a shell. A tortoise!
An idea came to Hermes; he looked around and found a jagged stone. He killed the tortoise and emptied it's shell, than washed it out, he stood up and laid the shell on the floor and ran. He came back half an hour later with reeds, a hide from an ox and some sheep guts and started work, he put them all together and looked at what he had done. It was a seven stringed lyre, he played a few notes and laughed, the noise was beautiful.
The dead tortoise didn't taste too good and after one bite he had to wash his mouth in the lake just to get rid of the taste. Hermes got up; he was hungry and wanted to find food. He looked up at the sky, some power was up here.
"Father" Hermes whispered and walked on. Just after noon he came to a field and stopped, the field was full of cows. Hermes' stomach ached with hunger as he watched them. He walked down to them slowly, looking around for the owner. He stopped next to a tree and made himself shoes, but these shoes where the wrong way around. Hermes placed the shoes on his feet and walked up to the cows.
Hermes looked at all the cows, they was about two hundred. Hermes looked around, they weren't anyone around and these looked tasty. Hermes bent down and lifted a cows foot and turned the hoof the wrong way, he did this to the other three feet. He made the cow walk to him, but the hoofs prints faced the other way. Hermes went around the full herd and done the same.
He waved the cows over to him, they stood in a line facing him.
Apollo's cowherd watched Hermes' actions, he raced down the field to the young god
Hermes held out both his hands and the cows started to walk, all the hoof prints faced the other way. Hermes turned and came face to face with an old man
"You must be very foolish, child" the cowherd said "Do you not know whom theses cattle belong to?"
Hermes grinned, his blue eyes sparkled and he seemed to grow in size
"You must be the foolish one for stopping me, mortal"
The old man took a step back, an eagle flew down from the heavens, the cowherd watched it fly by "You are a son of Zeus" he said, looking at Hermes
"I'm a god" Hermes raised his eyebrows "I'll be on my way now, oh and not a word to anyone about these" Hermes waved his hand behind him to the cattle
"But those are the cattle of Apollo, the sun god, it is madness to take his cattle" The man called after Hermes, who looked back with a sly grin
"And will this Apollo really believe a infant stole them" Hermes laughed and walked on with the cows.
Hermes walked the cattle far away until he found a cave; he lined the cattle up and walked up and down. He picked out thirteen fattest cows and hid the other cows in the cave. Hermes turned and started a fire and made himself a knife out of a sharp log. Hermes killed and skinned the smallest cow and ate it, he cleaned up the mess and cleaned his mouth. Then he turned to the remaining cows and they walked to him, he killed them and burned their bodies in the fire he had just made. A burnt offering for each of the Olympians. As he came to the last god he smiled and smelt the most beautiful smell ever. He stamped on the fire until it went out and made sure the cows were safe inside the cave. As he looked up into the sky and saw that the sun was setting, an orange glow coved the sky. He set off for his cave before his mother woke and noticed he was missing.
The sun had set as Hermes walked back into the cave; he took his shoes off and chucked them away down the mountain. He straightened his clothes and climbed back into his bed and coved himself in the blanket he closed his eyes as Maia woke from her sleep, she got up and took a look at her son, he was growing fast, his cheeks were fatter and so was his stomach as though he had eaten. She stroked his hair again and looked out at the dark sky.
The cowherd was still standing in the field; he had been praying to all the gods he knew that Apollo's anger won't be too bad. He felt warmth on his face and a bright light, the old man closed his eyes and when he opened them a young boy was climbing out of a chariot, his handsome face had a smile on which quickly faded when he saw his cattle missing
"What's happened, where are they?"
the old man could hear the anger in his voice
"My lord, I'm so sorry, I was watching them but this boy came and he stolen them, he wasn't just any old boy though, your father sent a sign, his boy is a god, a son of your father"
Apollo took in his worlds and balled his fists
"Did you get his name?" Apollo asked him, the old man shook his head
"Terribly sorry lord Apollo, forgive me please"
"Forgive you? You know what them cows are" Apollo's eyes flashed and the man fell to the floor, dead.
Apollo turned away from him, they was footprints on the floor, cow and foot prints
"I'm going to find who took my cattle and when I do they will be sorry, god or mortal" He shouted the last words and ran down the path after the footprint.