The Chronicles of Cerberus | Part One

Road from Hell.

By Ashley BOOLELLPublished 3 years ago • Updated 3 years ago • 8 min read

Cerberus looked ahead and took a step back.

The hound of Hades felt fear.

How could this be? The guardian of the gates of hell was trembling. This had never happened before. It was not even supposed to be possible. His countless battles and exceptional bravery had sealed his reputation as one of the most powerful mythical beasts. What had happened during the eight days that followed his departure from the underworld for cracks to suddenly appear in his indomitable spirit?

“Now, this is embarrassing. Hercules would laugh if he saw me in this state. He would certainly want to teach me a lesson by hitting me as hard as he could. Maybe this is what I need right now: a good fight with a demi-god to sort myself out.”

Cerberus shook his three heads in unison.

“But enough with the introspection. I cannot afford to waste time by feeling sorry for myself. I have a job to do and Hades will not be happy if I fail. He has his own problems to deal with. Backing down is not an option.”

The hound growled as he remembered the events which took place right before he left the underworld. Poseidon had urgently requested to meet Hades. It was very unusual for the god of the seas to travel to hell. Hades himself was surprised to see Poseidon. Even though they were brothers the two gods never met. The only exceptions were when they were both summoned by Zeus and when all the gods went to war.

“Welcome to the underworld brother.”

“Thank you. I thought long and hard before coming here but you are the only one who can help me Hades.”

“The only one you say? This is as weird as it is flattering. As far as I remember, the only gods that have ever been of any interest to you are Zeus and Athena. Zeus helps you protect your kingdom and Athena helps you win your wars. Have you suddenly discovered that I can be useful to you?”

Poseidon noted the sarcasm in the voice of Hades.

“Please. This is far more serious than you think.”

“Really? Tell me about it.”

The god of the seas lowered his head.

“I have inadvertently released the beasts of Enyo.”

“What did you just say?”

Enyo was a goddess of war in Greek mythology. As the daughter of Ares, the god of war, she was a feared deity that caused bloodshed and destruction wherever she went. When she was not fighting, Enyo often came across as a discreet and unassuming goddess. The contrast was quite remarkable considering the immense rage that inhabited her. Despite her legendary feats on battlefields, not much was known about Enyo. Even the other gods struggled to figure her out. Some, such as Hades, chose not to pay any attention to her. As far as the god of death was concerned, Ares was the only god of war that was worth talking to. The others were irrelevant to him.

“Enyo has beasts? I did not even know that.”

“Well, I did not even know about them myself,” replied Poseidon. “There are actually three: Maro, the serpent of fire, Sharu, the lion of ice, and Arken, the eagle of lightning. I discovered that Hera instructed Enyo to create them as weapons to be used if ever one of the major gods went rogue.”

Hades was stunned.

“Are you saying that these beasts are supposed to harm us?”

“Not just harm us Hades. They have the power to rob us of our strength. From what I understand, only Zeus and Hera are immune to them. I suspect that this is one of Hera’s plans to keep Olympus under control if ever a god decides to challenge her power.”

“Who would be stupid enough to do something like that?”

Poseidon scratched his head.

“Well...er...there was this one time when Ares tried to take over Olympus and then there was this other time when Demeter had this big argument with Zeus and declared war on him and then...”

“Alright! Alright! I get it. No need to take out all the records. So, how did these beasts suddenly appear? Was it because of you?”

Poseidon explained that Enyo had secretly built a temple where she locked the spirits of the beasts on a small island in the Mediterranean Sea. She had cleverly designed the temple to make it look like it was one meant to honour Poseidon. The story would have ended here except that the god of the seas became intrigued by the temple and decided to visit it. To his great surprise, as soon as he set foot on the island, he was confronted by an energy shield that prevented him from reaching the temple. He immediately understood that this was the work of a god. No mortal had the power to do something like that. However, Poseidon had no trouble tearing the shield apart. He was, after all, one of the most powerful gods of Olympus.

When he finally entered the temple, he saw a huge black chest with the following Greek words inscribed on it: Θάνατος των Θεών.

This meant “Death of Gods”.

“I guess that I should have taken this as a warning but I was too proud to even consider the possibility that a god such as myself could run into trouble by opening that chest.”

“And what happened next?”

“I directed my trident towards the chest and produced an energy wave that forced it to open. Nothing happened at first. I thought about leaving but then fire appeared followed by ice and then finally bolts of lightning. The three beasts appeared before me. I have to admit that I was impressed. They were unlike anything I had seen before. They exuded a power that was superior to the beasts that I usually deal with. I could tell that the energy that was used to create them is extremely pure. Only Zeus has the power to match this.”

Poseidon’s expression became grim.

“I asked them who they were. Instead of replying, they attacked. It made me laugh. How dare they challenge the god of the seas? Initially, it was easy to push them away but then I started feeling pain. The next thing I knew, I was bleeding and trying my best not to drop to my knees. Sharu froze my trident while Arken threw millions of lightning bolts at me. As for Maro, the fire that came out of her mouth almost made me go blind.”

“How did you escape?”

“I summoned all my strength to create a monstrous wave that swept over the island. This temporarily disoriented the beasts and I was able to flee. As I distanced myself from the battlefield, my powers and strength gradually returned. It was then that I understood what I had dealt with. I hurried to Olympus and asked Hermes, the messenger of the gods, to gather information on these beasts. This quickly led to Enyo. I confronted her and asked for explanations.”

According to Poseidon, Enyo merely shrugged and told him that she had simply done what she was told to do. She had no intention of stopping the beasts since her power to lock them away was a one-off feature. The divine black chest would not work a second time. It would be up to the gods to do something about the beasts.

“I was furious. I accused her of causing an unnecessary war that could potentially destroy the gods. She replied that the war in question would only take place if the gods confronted the beasts. Enyo was quite relaxed about this. She told me that left to their own devices, Maro, Sharu and Arken would seek to create their respective realms where they would rule.”

Hades stroke his beard.

“Well Poseidon, what if we left it to that?”

“Are you crazy? This would mean sharing our power with beings that can pose a serious threat to us. Gods don’t do that. They are supposed to be the supreme rulers of their realms. Think about it for a second. What would happen if one of these beasts decided to conquer hell? It could happen.”

The god of death looked to his right. New souls were arriving at the gates of the underworld. It was a carefully orchestrated ballet that had taken place for as long as Olympus had existed. If this process was suddenly interrupted, the resulting chaos could be irreversible.

“So, what do you want me to do Poseidon? Join you along with other gods to destroy these beasts?”

“We cannot do that. We will not win.”

“Ha! Well, that’s a problem. Shall we just sit here and wait for the end then?”

Poseidon remained silent for a few seconds.

“You will not like this.”

“Can it get any worse?”

“It will take another beast to defeat Maro, Sharu and Arken.”

Hades knew what Poseidon meant.

“You want me to send Cerberus to kill them?”

“Yes. Just as you are the god of death, he is the beast of death. Cerberus is highly regarded on Olympus. I have no doubt that he is the best choice for this mission.”

“You are very optimistic Poseidon, but I will send Cerberus out on one condition: that you guard the gates of hell while he is away.”

“I suppose that I have no choice.”

“You don’t. I have one more thing to say.”

“What?”

Hades looked at Poseidon with his characteristic eyes of doom.

“If anything happens to my dog, I will find a way to kill you. I will not care that you are the god of the seas. Cerberus is more valuable to me than anything the universe has to offer.”