Cerberus

The paw crushed Valentine underneath it. My eyes followed the large paw up to the owner. There, looming over us, was a gigantic three headed black dog. All three pairs of eyes glared down at me. The monster then released a loud round of howls.

Hera disappeared into the shadows.

And now I knew why I had been helped into the tournament. Valentine was supposed to kill me, but she refused and now Hera had unleashed what I assume is Cerberus.

The monster roared as Glaze, Tank and Chiron helped me out of the arena. The monster lunged at us.

Suddenly, something dashed forward and stopped the creature, grabbing onto its mouth and holding it wide open.

When I looked to see who had saved me, a saw a young woman, not much older than twenty years of age. She was dressed in a lion pelt cloak. She was obviously a trained fighter, as practically her whole body was toned. She looked at me while she held the creature's jaw open, her long dark hair spilling into her face.

Chiron looked over at the woman, his face washing over with relief, "Herakles!"

The greek warrior glanced over her shoulders at the centaur briefly, "Chiron!" she yelled commandingly, "Get them out of here!"

The centaur nodded before he hurried toward me and the others as quickly as he could. We dashed out the arena as fast as we could.

"Whew, that was close!" Chiron exclaimed as soon as we were safely out of the arena.

"Was that thing Cerberus?" I asked, turning to Chiron.

"Yes, that was Cerberus, the guardian of the underworld," Chiron explained, "Herakles should be able to handle him."

I slowly turned back to the arena. So that warrior was Herakles that Chiron had talked about before. It was too bad that she had only seen me at a low point in battle. If only she had seen me battle when I was doing well. Quite a first impression that I had made on the best hero that Chiron had ever trained.

Chiron's face suddenly took on a grave expression as a thought struck him, "But then again, maybe not. Hades doesn't like it when you harm his dog. That's probably the real reason Hera sent him. Herakles can't use her full power or she might kill Cerberus and incur Hades' wrath."

Glaze and Tank looked at Chiron in alarm, "What?"

The trainer stroked his goatee for a moment, "This doesn't look good. I hope Herakles' okay. Wish I could go in!"

That's when I decided. I moved forward, ready to step through and reenter the battle area, where Herakles was fighting the giant dog. I took a few more steps forward, gathering courage.

"I'll do it," I said.

"Felix!" Glaze shouted, "We've got to get out of here! You can't fight that!"

"She's right," Chiron said, "This ain't just some match. This is for the guardian of the underworld! If you harm him, there will be no place you can run to."

"I'm not afraid," I said.

Chiron conceded and nodded.

"Be careful!"

And with that, I entered the long dark hallway, determined to help Heracles fight Cerberus. My companions immediately rushed to my side.

"You guys, what're you..."

"You're not gonna go anywhere without us," Tank told me.

"That's right," Glaze continued, "So if you think we're gonna let you barrel in there on your own, you're dead wrong!"

Tank nodded, "It's all for one and one for all!"

"Thanks, guys!"

"I got two words of advice for you," Chiron looked straight in my face and smiled. He then pointed towards the arena, "Attack!"

"That's one word!" Tank said.

We then bolted forward, exploded into the arena and broke straight for Cerberus, who had driven Herakles against the opposite wall. As soon as we entered, all the guard dog's heads turned around to look at us.

"Herakles!" I yelled, "Get Valentine out of here! We got this!"

Herakles looked over at us in surprise. She made a break for where Valentine lay ****. She lifted Valentine to her feet, glanced up at the monster, and then, putting Valentine's body over one shoulder, hurried to the exit as fast as she could.

As the hero passed me, our eyes met for a moment. Taking another deep breath, I set my sights on the monstrous dog that stood towering before us. We charged.

Glaze was quickly knocked out. The best Tank could do was block Cerberus' attacks with her shield.

Cerberus caught my jacket between its teeth and raised me high into the air. He then suddenly tossed me into the air.

"FELIX!" Tank shouted.

I began to descend back down toward the arena. More specifically, towards one of Cerberus' open mouths. Then, coming up with an idea, I pointed the Chainsaword toward Cerberus.

I swung my Chainsaword, opening a portal that allowed me to land safely on Cerberus' black fur. I then began slowly climbing up Cerberus' back toward its heads. But I fell off and landed on the ground.

I opened a portal to a tree just outside the building. Going through, I landed on a branch and cut part of it off with my Chainsaword. Returning to the arena with it, I raised the tree branch, ready to use it against Cerberus.

We both ran at each other.

"Fetch!" I said, throwing the branch over Cerberus' heads.

Cerberus ran over to the branch and returned it back to me. I kept playing fetch with the giant three headed dog.

Herakles returned to the arena, "That is pretty impressive," she affirmed, smiling as she stepped forward.