Chapter 21: The Epic Climax

Sorry to interrupt your cinematic visualizing experience of the adventure, but the fat lady kind of already ruined it. Sorry.

I had expected a monstrosity from the voice. I mean, the lady was no looker, but calling people monsters was a little mean. Assuming that this was a mortal, and not the monster I think it was.

"Echidna," I said. The lady smiled. The air was silent for a moment, and then loud yipping penetrated the air.

"Hush now, sonny," said Echidna. I looked at Lydia. Did she just call the dog her son? Echidna looked at us. "Heroes," she said, licking her lips in a way that definitely was not human. "I'm going to devour you anyway, but give me a reason as to why you are here."

"We're here to slay the Chimera," I said, surprised by how confident I sounded. We had fought countless monsters, and for a moment I had thought that I was getting used to this entire monster slaying business.

Then Echidna smiled, and the thought faded. "I see. You want to slay my son?" Cue the dog barking loudly. "Well, that is a lot harder than you think. My son here has killed hundreds of potential heroes."

"Bellerophon did it," said Lydia. Echidna snarled.

"He got lucky. He had a horse."

I looked at her. "And that made it better how?"

"It was flying." The dog was changing. It must have recognized some of the names. It had a lion's head and front paws. The body of its lower half and hind legs were that of a goat. There was a huge diamondback snake from his rear.

It was the Chimera. Fear caught onto me instantly. It was okay to sound brave and formulate strategies from afar, but this was the real thing. The Chimera was savage, a monster more powerful than anything that we had ever faced. I shook. Lydia grasped her bow tightly, her hands turning white.

The Echidna was looking beyond us, and what she saw turned her face into a contorted look of anger. "Argus," she spat. I remembered that Argus had killed Echidna before. Slightly reassuring.

Echidna transformed. Her body was like Lamia's: a snake trunk and an armored female body. What was different was the sheer size of Echidna. Argus pulled out a bronze police baton.

I looked at Lydia. "Do you have a knife?" She looked at the Chimera, stunned in terror. I shook her. "Lydia."

She looked at me, startled. "What? Oh…right. Here." She handed me a knife.

I tried to look brave. It didn't work. I tried for some inspiring words. "Last chance. Take your pick: the monster Chihuahua or the demonic anteater."

"I am not an anteater!" howled Echidna. Lydia smiled, and drew her bow.

The battle began. The Chimera lunged, but Lydia shot an arrow. It flew at the Chimera at mid-leap. Then the snake tail whipped out and snatched the arrow.

Argus and I charged Echidna. Her tail swept at us. I activated the Purple Ninja and jumped over the tail. Argus leapt to a side.

"Hmmm," mused Echidna. "You aren't afraid. The blessing of Dionysus? It will not save you." A spear appeared in her hands, and she jabbed.

I dodged the school flagpole sized weapon. "You don't scare me," I taunted, the adrenaline getting the better of me.

But Echidna only smiled again. "Foolish hero. You mistake the wine god's blessing for courage. Your father cannot save you." A net materialized in her other hand.

I climbed up her snake trunk, but she twisted and I hastily jumped off.

Argus snuck up from the side. Echidna jabbed at me repeatedly with the spear, in a fierce tempo. I swear she was thrusting the spear to the tune of Jingle bells. On the other hand, I could be delusional.

Argus struck, the baton lashing out at Echidna's elbow. There was a jarring sound of baton to funny bone, and a yelp. The spear dropped. I scrambled to a side.

I saw Lydia running back for more distance between her and the Chimera. The monster was catching up to her.

Argus grabbed me and tried to pull me away. Slam! The snake trunk sent both of us skidding. Echidna threw the net. I picked myself up and sprung away. I was too quick for the net.

But Argus staggered up far too slowly. In an instant, the net was on him. I stared, momentarily stunned. Echidna cackled. "Getting slower with age, aren't we Argus?"

Argus tried to remove the net, but barbs gouged him. His shirt tattered, and I saw his back. I recoiled.

His back was red, raw and angry. His eyes were sealed shut from scars. I was at a loss for words. "Argus-what-when-?"

But I remembered. It was during the Underworld, when the Furies had whipped him on the back. I had assumed he was healed, but evidently not. Lydia told me that Argus slept by closing half of his eyes to keep constant vigilance. No doubt the burns messed with his sleep cycles. And he had selflessly continued to look out for us.

I didn't have time for further contemplation. Echidna slithered forward, and I felt a wave of rage. I ran and jumped, slamming the knife hilt into her face. I fell down and slashed her side. Monster powder flowed out, but then the wound closed. Great.

The powder reformed into a Dracaena. Argus gave me a look that said she wasn't able to do that before. The snake woman slashed at me with a sword. Then it disintegrated, an arrow planted between her shoulders.

I glanced to see Lydia, who shot the arrow. She shot another arrow at the Chimera. The snake snapped forward, and a boom erupted from the sonic arrow. The snake recoiled, stunned.

I turned back to Echidna and chided myself for looking away. Her tail had curled around her spear, with a look that clearly said that she was going to throw it. Argus was still struggling with the net. I took a risk.

The air turned purple. I concentrated, and a horrible crack happened as I broke Echidna's mind. She screamed, and dropped the spear. I charged, but Echidna started flailing. Her snake trunk hit me. Hard.

I toppled on the ground. The Purple Ninja was fading. I tried to summon the Red Beast, but the energy wasn't happening. Echidna seemed to regain her sanity, but she looked angry. Extremely angry.

"YOU DARE DO THAT TO ME, HERO? SONNY!" she snarled. The Chimera, stood on its hind legs. Lydia shot an arrow, but he swiped away with a claw. Lydia was too close to him. She seemed to realize it, but the snake struck. Lydia screamed, and collapsed.

I watched in horror as the Chimera picked Lydia up with his mouth and lumbered over to Echidna's side. He dropped Lydia.

Echidna's tail wrapped around Lydia's arm and squeezed. There was a crunch of bones breaking. Another scream. Echidna's laughter. Somewhere in the back of my mind I feel that this isn't right. This isn't how it should end.

"So feeble," said Echidna. "Heroes these days are weak. Do you like it, Glen Faulkner? Your friends being broken right in front of you. Where is your courage now?"

And an anger floods into me. But it feels different. I don't just feel angry, I feel fierce. I feel the need to destroy the monsters for a reason. To protect my friends.

And the Red Beast appears, a fusion of berserk rage and this new anger that I feel. I charged at the Chimera.

Why? Because it felt right. I knew I had to kill it. The knife drops, and the thyrsus is in my hands. The snake strikes, fangs piercing. I feel it penetrate my shoulder. I swing the pine staff.

It hits the Chimera on the face square on. I don't stop. The thyrsus whips back and forth, smashing the Chimera's lion head.

The rest is bloody, and gory. The snake strikes, numerous of times. Past the number of fatal bites. My attacks don't slow. In the corner of my eye, I see Argus get up and charge the Echidna.

The Chimera is afraid. It's a bully, unaccustomed to a victim who can fight back for so long. I roar, and pound. The thyrsus breaks. The snake strikes, and I rip it off with my hands. I'm unstoppable.

And from the back of my mind I know I'm also very dead. The lion claws rake my body. My fists break, the knuckles and then the wrist. I don't stop.

I rip the Chimera apart. An explosion of powder hits me and I fall. Time slows down, as if the Fates don't want me to miss the final conclusion of the quest.

Argus grabs Echidna by the trunk, just as he did to Lamia. Lydia plunges the arrow in with her good hand. I may have smiled. A flare arrow. My vision lights up as if the room was filled by a miniature sun.

And then my vision darkens. I feel myself fade. As I slip out of consciousness and life, I realize that I miss my mother.