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The Immortal Heart	By : amandalee Category: 1 through F > Clash of the Titans (2010) > Clash of the Titans (2010) Views: 7819 -:- Recommendations : 2 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: We do not own Clash of the Titans or the characters portrayed in this story, and we make no money from writing this.

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Chapter 50

Poseidon had never seen a Hecatonchire before, and Zeus, who had first heard of its race briefly from Rhea in his boyhood, barely got a good look at them when he freed the giants from Tartarus.

Nonetheless, knowing full well that the Hecatonchires possessed one hundred hands and fifty heads each did not quite leave him prepared to meet a member of such a race. Only three remained after Cronos had finished having his malicious fun with them, and said trio was more than happy to become a part of the army which now stood at the ready in a battlefield where Titan blood would be spilt.

“They will prove to be worthy comrades in battle,” Zeus complimented as he addressed the Cyclopes.

“Was there not a third of you who would join us?” one Cyclops asked.

“He was badly wounded by our enemies,” the youngest Olympian answered. He did not dare mention that Hades was not meant to be back on the mainland, for both the sake of the reputation of the Olympians and for poor Hades himself. “Had we not treated his wounds when we did, I fear we would have lost him.”

“Our hearts break for the pain caused upon you,” another Cyclops replied. “But many Titans will suffer far worse than your unfortunate brother has.”

Zeus nodded, and turned so that he might address the army as one being. “When Cronos is defeated, the world will no longer live in fear of the titans. We will no longer rely on their mercy or cruelty. This will be a world ruled by gods.”

Though defeating his father was still Zeus’ main concern, it was another titan that occupied most of the Olympian leader’s thoughts: Atlas. Making the violator of Hades pay for his crimes was almost as important to Zeus as claiming his father’s throne, though he spoke nothing of it to his allies. He was confident that even Poseidon or Chiron did not know the extent of Zeus’ desire for revenge, and he intended to keep it that way. Usurping Cronos was something that lay in everyone’s interest, while Zeus’ business with Atlas was strictly personal. The army could not afford any additional distractions at this point, and thus it was best if the details on Hades’ violation and Zeus’ emotions regarding it were not openly discussed.

Oh, but you wait, Atlas, Zeus thought as he led his ranks to battle. I am coming for you, and you will wish for death before I am done with you!

*

Hades was surprised – and, of course, relieved – to have survived his first night alone with Cerberus, but he could not fight the feelings of abandonment for long. Here he was, more helpless than ever, while his strong, brave brothers were out in battle, perhaps risking their lives in this very moment.

This time there was no winged horse that could take him to his brothers, and Hades was powerless to do anything except wait… Sooner or later, the news would reach him, be they good or bad.

At least the winged horse had been more pleasant company, but had it not been slain by the Titans, it may have ended up a meal for this three headed monstrosity.

Stop acting like a child, Hades reprimanded himself. My brothers will return. All I need do is wait.

Watching the light grow brighter as the sun rose over the horizon, the glow did nothing to keep the god warmer, and he curled up tighter in his clothes and covers.

If only someone were here to keep me warm...

A rustling in the bushes meant that Ceberus, who had wandered off to find food for himself, was returning to the cave. Though the beast frightened Hades, at least it came with the promise to ward off any attackers. When the animal left to hunt, though it remained close by and could sense danger from great distances, its absence frightened the god even more so. Thankfully Cerberus was never gone for long. The only downside to its return, however, was what it might bring back with it.

One head remained looking ahead as two other sets of jaws held onto the carcass of a deer, dragging it along the path and toward the mouth of the cave. Hades watched warily, wondering how long the actual killing of the animal had taken. Cerberus only stopped dragging when it came within several paces of the god, dropping the lifeless thing in front of Hades and taking a seat, staring at him.

Hades stared back, wondering what the beast wanted from him. After a while the silence and Cerberus’ unwillingness to move became unnerving, and the god turned his eyes away, shaking his head in frustration.

“What do you want me to do?” he asked, despite knowing full well that no response could be expected. “I’m sorry, but I don’t understand you. What do you want from me?”

Cerberus, unable to form words to make up an answer, cocked his middle head to the side, as if silently questioning Hades’ wit. Then he bent down, nudged knowingly at the carcass and quickly returned to staring at the god. Was the silly biped ever going to get it?

Hades’ jaw fell toward his chest when the truth finally dawned on him. His protector had brought the deer for him and now wanted him to fill his stomach first.

“Ummm…” he said, backing away. “I don’t… eat my meat raw. It must first be roasted. Besides, I am content for now just eating greens.” He quickly snatched an apple from the stash his brothers had arranged for him and demonstrably bit into it to convince Cerberus that it need not wait for him to start eating.

Hades had never been the one to deal with animals slaughtered for meat; it had always been Zeus’ and Poseidon’s job to disembowel the animal and remove its vital organs before the meat could be hacked up and preserved. The preserving itself was usually left to the goddesses. Hades, with literally no experience from hunting, did not even know where to start.

Cerberus either did not seem to understand or would not take no for an answer. All three of its heads leaned forward for a brief moment, as though to gesture Hades to go ahead and take all he wanted.

Such a gesture was not lost on the god. He remembered the day Zeus had given him the gift of a first taste from a hunted stag. Sweetbreads the younger god had called it. That tender piece of flesh…

“Thank you,” Hades said after he swallowed. “But I cannot. Do not feel the need to feed me first. Go on.”

As though to punctuate his command, Hades took another bite of his apple. Cerberus stared for a short while longer and, perhaps deciding that he could not tempt the god, grabbed the carcass in one set of jaws and dragged his kill away, likely to commence in eating in solitude.

Hades’ brothers had left behind some meat within reach of their injured brother, but for now he only ate one apple. Though he would have preferred the presence of Zeus over food, his stomach ached for some kind of sustenance. Looking out of the cave, he saw one of Cerberus’ heads holding the deer carcass in place whilst another head wrenched a leg clean from its socket. A twinge of pain of the memory of Hades’ own dislocated shoulder surfaced, but only for a second. Sighing, the god thought back on Zeus’ gift.

“Sweetbreads,” he murmured before finishing his apple.

Hades dared not approach the beast while it was eating, thinking that perhaps Cerberus would prove aggressive if interrupted in its meal. He could not help but wonder, however, if there would be anything left for him to roast once his three-headed guardian was through.

Three mouths to feed… Did it also have three stomachs contained in its body? The beast’s voracious appetite certainly suggested it.

More than an hour passed before Cerberus’ hunger had finally been stilled and the hulking creature lumbered back inside the cave, fresh blood and strings of meat still clinging to the fur on its snouts. The carnage made the fearsome beast seem even more horrific, and Hades failed to hold back a shudder.

Hoping that perhaps feasting on such edible, tender meat had made Cerberus drowsy as well, Hades finally gave up on waiting for the animal to fall asleep. Cerberus remained wakeful, at least two of its eyes keeping constant vigilance over the god.

“I hope you won’t mind if I take my share now…” Hades muttered, warily approaching the dismembered, half-eaten carcass with a knife in his hand. Walking was still difficult for him, and the shoulder wrenched out of its socket by the titans ached if he made certain movements, but at least he could move.

Hades would have liked to start by making an incision along the animal’s belly, but such turned out to be impossible, since the soft abdomen had already been torn open – and mostly emptied – by Cerberus’ tearing jaws.

Most of the organs within the deer’s stomach had been devoured or torn to pieces. Hades knew he would have to keep that in mind the next time Cerberus wanted to lick at him again. If he thought the creature had smelled foul before, he shuddered to think of the stench after the remnants of meat and entrails would go sour.

Glancing at the remaining blood seeping from the gashes in the cadaver, Hades decided to remove his cloak. He would have preferred to remain clothed as he worked, but he hated the idea of staining his only clothing with blood and filth. Were he able to wash them afterwards, they would still take hours to dry. Instead, he removed his cloak, folded it, and placed it on a stone. Wincing as he knelt back down, he began to cut.

Hades remembered some of watching his brothers separating meat from their kills, but such memories were not perfect. The god knew he would have to improvise and use common sense where he was unable to remember, but otherwise he did not panic or give up.

Less than a minute later the god was thankful he had disrobed. He cursed as his knife punctured the deer’s urinary bladder, which was still full. Hearing Hades’ frustration, Cerberus wandered out of the cave and sat a few feet away from his charge, observing with visible curiosity.

It was almost as if the huge canine could not quite fathom what his silly bipedal charge was doing, hacking up the prey like that. Hades looked at the dog over his shoulder, almost expecting Cerberus to approach him any second and shove him away from the half-eaten deer.

I need a thorough bath after this, Hades thought, finding himself covered in urine and half-congealed blood virtually from forehead to knees. The stink might not bother Cerberus, but it bothered him.

However, the god prided himself in having managed to separate several sizable chunks of meat from the deer’s hindquarters and back. Now if only he could find some way to keep them from going bad, he had secured enough food for at least a week.

Hades glanced at the pail containing water and immediately judged the amount to be insufficient for his needs. He would have to leave the cave and clean himself in the spring.

Cerberus’s three heads perked at once when he saw the god preparing to exit. Where-ever Hades went, Cerberus was honor-bound to follow, even though the scrawny, hairless biped seemed to prefer being left alone.

By the time Hades was finished with the deer, it was long past sunset, and the moon and stars had come out. He knew how dangerous the forests were, especially after nightfall, but he simply had no choice. He could not go to sleep smelling like rotting carrion.

Fortunately the spring which had been created by Poseidon remained, though it was not quite as deep as it had been before. Also, Poseidon was not around to warm the water, but at present time, Hades’ state of cleanliness was a more important issue to address.

Shivering as he entered the water, he tried to ignore Cerberus, who was once again sitting on its haunches and watching with curiosity. The god focused on bathing, having to rely on the soft light of the moon to deem himself clean or dirty. Submerging to wash his hair, he resurfaced to see Cerberus hovering over him at the edge of the spring. The sudden shock of coming face to face with the beast caused Hades to yelp in surprise, and immediately both bodies backed away from one another, Hades retreating from the edge and Cerberus from the water. A line of droplets caught the moonlight as the monstrous animal’s chins left the surface of the water, and Hades realized what had happened.

“Thirsty, are you?” he muttered, scrubbing carefully at his wounds. “If so, then perhaps you should wait until I am done.” The god stared back at Cerberus, wondering if the creature had expected the cry of fear to be followed by another spark or flame. Cerberus only stared back and finally lay down at the edge of the small pool, seemingly waiting its turn.

“For goodness sake, Cerberus,” Hades said, resuming his bath. “Perhaps you should be bathed as well. Otherwise you’ll not be allowed anywhere near me, that much is certain…”

Hades had not realized he forgot to bring anything to dry himself until he was out of the spring, and he sighed, annoyed at his forgetfulness. Allowing Cerberus some time to drink, the god walked back to the cave.

The space around the deer carcass was still a mess, but he was not willing to deal with that now, not after he had managed to get himself somewhat clean. Besides, what Hades craved now was sleep. Perhaps he could get Cerberus to help him suspend the carcass from a tree branch, as Chiron had done with the former occupant of this cave, but not now. Still soaked, Hades curled up into the skin-made-blanked also supplied by the cave’s former resident and closed his eyes. He was asleep within minutes.

*

He was awakened only a short time later by what sounded like the growl of a massive beast. A terrifying thought passed through Hades’ head before he opened his eyes, expecting to find Cerberus looming over him, teeth bared and ready to add the god to his doubtlessly long list of kills.

Once fully conscious, Hades quickly realized that Cerberus was nowhere near him. The growls – and now also howls of pain – sounded from somewhere outside the cave, and judging from the nature of the sounds, there were more than one beast involved.

Relieved but also still anxious, Hades sat up and peered toward the entrance of the cave, even though the darkness did not allow him to see anything but blurry shadows. The moon was still in the sky, as evidenced to how the god’s eyes adjusted to what light was present. By the time Hades had tentatively crept to the cave mouth, he could make out everything occurring outside, and he could plainly see that Cerberus was not alone.

Hades’ eyes widened and he pressed himself against the cave wall instinctively when he realized the intruders were a pack of wolves. One had already been injured, possibly to the point of fatal, and the others appeared to be deciding whether or not they would attack. As Cerberus had three heads, advancement by surprise would prove to be extremely difficult, if not impossible.

Knowing the animals had a stronger sense of smell than vision, Hades was initially surprised that none of the pack had not moved to attack him, but then he remembered the deer. Clearly the scent of Cerberus’ kill had attracted and tempted the wolves into thinking they had an easy meal in wait for them. Had the god not been appointed a protector, he surely would have been taken away to be devoured as well.

Finally one of the wolves decided to make its move. A bold effort, but an effort in vain nonetheless. The animal aimed for Cerberus’ underside, but it was quickly stopped, and an unearthly cry of pain later, the wolf was limping away, its front leg beyond any hope of healing. If the wolf was lucky, its leg might not become infected, but Hades doubted it.

Two members of the pack had learned their lesson, and the rest knew any further attempts would end in the same fashion. Standing its ground, Cerberus watched as its foes retreated into the woods, hopefully never to return.

Only once all traces of the wolves were gone did the massive beast return to the cave. Hades, despite his weariness, had not gone back to sleep, refusing to even try before his guardian had returned.

“Perhaps I was wrong to doubt your resolve,” he said quietly when the shaggy creature appeared, its rightmost mouth dripping with blood that most likely did not originate from the deer. “You could have let those wolves have me, but you didn’t.”

Cerberus gave his charge a light nudge with one head as if to make sure that Hades was unharmed. Though the contact disgusted him, the god made no attempts to shove his reeking guardian away. Clearly the beast deserved some affection, nauseating or not.

It was then that Hades noticed it. Despite having chased the wolves away with seemingly little effort, Cerberus had not left the scuffle completely unscathed. Its left front paw held a set of gaping puncture wounds, likely caused by the teeth of a wolf.

“Poor big brute…” Hades muttered, actually feeling sympathetic toward the animal for the first time. “Does it hurt much?”

Cerberus, of course, gave no answer and merely licked all three sets of lips.

“Would you allow me to clean that for you?” he asked, reaching for the pail with his drinking water. “We don’t want it to become infected, do we?”

Hades lifted the huge paw – larger than his two hands combined – and applied gentle pressure with a wet cloth. Predictably, Cerberus yelped but did not withdraw the limb, as if it understood the god’s attempts to help.

Continuing to clean the wound, the god briefly glanced over the rest of his guardian and saw barely a scratch. For a creature of Cerberus’ size, he looked to be able to take most damage that would greatly wound smaller or more vulnerable creatures.

Such as gods, Hades thought. He wondered if Cerberus could really be stopped by fire if the beast was determined enough to attack.

“Hopefully this will be all you need,” Hades said. “Considering your strength, I would not be surprised if you healed in little time at all.”

Why do I even bother talking to it, he considered, almost chuckling at the thought. Though Cerberus was clearly an intelligent animal, it was still an animal, albeit a very unusual looking and rare one. Testing its paw, the creature bounded off again, grabbing the remains of the deer and digging at the dirt. Hades did not wonder what his protector was doing for very long, and called out.

“Wait!” he winced as he rose. “Do not bury it.” The god grabbed a line of rope, remembering how Poseidon and Chiron had stowed away the bear meat. Surely with Cerberus’ strength Hades could do the same without causing his weakened body further harm.

Hades tied the rope securely around the stag’s back legs and proceeded to throw the other end over a branch located several feet above his head. Cerberus rewarded him with a questioning gaze when he tied the rope around the beast’s massive chest, but it raised no objection.

“Pull, Cerberus,” Hades urged, nudging at his furred guardian’s backside to make him move. “You can do it.”

Slowly, almost tentatively, the animal did as instructed. At first the carcass did not even budge, and Hades began to fear it was too heavy for Cerberus to lift, but another slapped incentive, this time slightly harder, made the beast double his efforts, and to Hades’ relief, the body of the stag was soon hanging suspended in the air.

“Well done, Cerberus,” Hades said, rewarding the canine with a pat on each of its three heads. “Now the meat should be safe from other predators.”

Sunrise had arrived as a bright sliver of light in the east, and Hades limped back inside the cave, allowing his sore, aching body to sink down and finally relax after a series of taxing events.
Cerberus, having noticed the god’s discomfort, soon followed, seating itself by Hades’ bedding to keep six watchful eyes on its charge. Though Hades still found the smell nauseating, he no longer felt abject fear. In fact, the presence of Cerberus was even calming on some levels.

“Just… do not… lick me…” the exhausted Olympian murmured, gradually drifting into sleep as dawn arrived.

TBC...
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The Immortal Heart