by Eric Feka
holding the child, her tears flowed even harder, but she reached out and took him from the Goddess. 'His name is Alkides,' she said, and put the child on her breast. Perhaps it was because had fed him already, or perhaps it knew who was holding it, but for whatever reason, he did not suckle too greedily this time and his tender touch brought a smile his mother's face. 'It is his grandfather's name and suits him, don't you think?'
(v)
The day after she gave birth to Alkides, Alkmena gave birth to his half-brother Iphikles and for a year, the young family lived happily and peacefully. But on Mount Olympus, the Gods were watching and one Olympian in particular was not pleased to see Alkides thriving. Hera watched and her fury grew as Alkides and his brother Iphikles flourished under the care of Alkmena and Amphitryon.
'Every day that he lives, the insult from my husband burns deeper,' Hera said, spitting out each word as if it were an insult.
'He is but an infant, my Queen,' Iris said, 'small and dependent upon his parents to protect him from all the horrors of the world.'
An evil look crossed Hera's beautiful face. 'But not all the horrors of the world can be defended against,' she said, and two serpents appeared in the world below.
(vi)
Alkmena sat beside the cot and watched her two sons as they slowly drifted off to sleep. Iphikles was all but snoring, while little Alkides was fighting against the heaviness of his eyes, as was his way. Alkmena herself was beginning to nod off when a movement beside the cot caught her eye. Unsure of what she had seen, she drew back the cloth that was obscuring her view and what lay beneath froze her blood.
Two giant vipers with glowing red eyes had somehow stolen into the room and were slithering up the base of the cot. She screamed at the top of her lungs and looked for a weapon with which to strike the serpents, but there was nothing within reach.
The fanged monsters had crawled into the cot and Alkmena could see no other way to defend her sons that with her own body. She was about to throw herself between the vipers and the boys when Alkides bounced out from under his blankets. The infant jumped over his sleeping brother with remarkable agility for one so young and grasped a viper in each of his pudgy hands.
Alkmena watched in horror as her infant son smashed the heads of the snakes against the walls of the cot and then, while the beasts were stunned, he strangled the life out of them.
Amphitryon burst in with his sword in his hand. 'I heard you scream,' he said. 'What's the matter?'
Alkmena couldn't find her voice, so she pointed into the cot where the two vipers lay lifeless. Alkides, who had decided he'd had enough excitement for the day, had crawled back under his blanket and put his arms around his younger brother. As they watched, he yawned once and fell fast asleep.
Also by Eric Feka
Episodes 1 to 5 now available in one volume!
Herakles is the most celebrated hero of Greek mythology and famed as a warrior without equal. Born through Zeus's infidelity, and with phenomenal strength and agility, Herakles found himself constantly pitted against vicious monsters and vengeful Gods.
Volume One includes the first five episodes of the series and begins in Thebes, where a young man named Alkides commits a horrible crime and, as a penance, must change his name to Herakles and complete ten tasks. The story then follows his exploits through the first four of these tasks: The Lion of Nemea, The Hydra, The Golden Hind (during which he joined Jason on the Argo), and the Boar of Erymanthus.
Herakles is the most celebrated hero of Greek mythology and famed as a warrior without peer. Born through a God's infidelity, Herakles lived in a brutal and violent world, populated by belligerent deities and vicious monsters.
Named Alkides at birth, this is the story of how the most famous son of Zeus came to take the name Herakles, and the horrific crime that changed the course of his life.
Emmet Storch was an unemployed sponger who thought he had no calling in life. All that changed when he landed a job in the call centre at the monolithic Star Insurance where, from the very first day, he was magnificent. It was as if the very essence of insurance ran through his veins and he and his telephone were as one. Irate policyholders found comfort in his soothing words; recalcitrant contractors became polite and respectful.
It would have been perfect had it not been for his lecherous and treacherous hormones. A humorous look at love and lust in the iAge where consumerism runs rampant and integrity can get stuffed.
The Mad God Monos, who insisted that his worshipers eat meat only on Wednesdays and have, um, relations only during the full moon, had mustered an army and was poised to invade Helvenica. He was determined to drive the old Gods into the spiritual wilderness and establish himself as the One God.
The people of Helvenica needed a hero, a brave warrior to stand up to the usurper and defend their right to eat meat every day and relate whenever they pleased. What they got was Fotio, a reluctant hero with a bad attitude towards religion and a tendency to daydream.