Heroes: Volume II of Mythos

C HIMERICAL R EACTION Iobates waved Bellerophon goodbye, his left arm around the weeping Philonoë. ‘Try to put him out of your mind, my dear,’ he said. ‘There’ll be other men in your life, just you wait and see.’ ‘But none as wonderful as my Bellerophon,’ sobbed Philonoë. Bellerophon himself set out cheerfully enough. He would slay this Chimera, bring its heads and pelt to Iobates, stay a few more weeks in Lycia and finally return to Corinth to resume his life there as prince and heir. Now that he was cleansed of his accidental fratricide he would be able to marry Aethra. Life was good. But first he needed to find a competent smith. He had had an idea about how best to tackle the Chimera. A short time later, Bellerophon marched into the meadow where he had left Pegasus, a fine new lance forged to his special instructions canted over one shoulder. The horse came trotting forward to greet him. ‘What happened to your tether?’ Bellerophon asked in surprise. Pegasus shook his mane and stamped a hoof. The rope lay mangled under his hoofs, chewed in pieces. ‘You’re a cunning one,’ said Bellerophon, cupping the soft muzzle. ‘Now, before we fly off, we need to be sure of ourselves. A two-headed fire-breathing monster with a venomous snake for a tail. Think you’re up to it?’ Pegasus tossed his head. ‘I’ll take that as a “yes”.’ Bellerophon set the lance in its sheath. ‘Come on then. Up, up and away.’ Looking down at the landscape around Methian, Bellerophon could see that much of the land was badly scorched. Deserted villages, fields empty of livestock and the burnt-out shells of barns and farmhouses all bore witness to catastrophe. Of his monstrous quarry herself he could see no sign. ‘Up, up!’ He had never ridden Pegasus so high. It was a cloudless day, but he shivered in the rush of cold air. The land below now took on an intricate, ordered pattern that reminded Bellerophon of barbarian carpets from the east. The jagged coastline came into view and the green lands of Caria, Phrygia and Lydia lay beneath him, picked out by a network of glinting threads meandering down from the mountains towards the sea.fn10 He searched the landscape for anything that might betray the presence of the Chimera. He saw a mountain from which rose a thin wisp of smoke. He tried to recall his lessons in geography. Mount Taurus? He leaned forward and urged Pegasus down. The fire could be anything, of course, but he was low enough now to see that what had looked like a thin wisp was really a thick cloud. The forest in the foothills was ablaze. A wave of warm air came up as they descended. Men, goats and deer were running from the flames down to a lake. Wildfires were not uncommon. Bellerophon did not see what he could do to help and was just about to drive Pegasus back up to resume their high search when a great stag burst out from the trees below. It was being chased by a lion and … a lion and a … It was just as Iobates had said. A lion’s body with a goat’s head sprouting out of the middle of its back. ‘Down, Pegasus, down!’ Pegasus dived down until Bellerophon could see every detail. The Chimera leapt onto the stag and a flailing ball of antlers, goat horns, lion and serpent rolled down the hill. The savage horns on the goat’s head tore at the stag’s flanks. The snake tail darted and jabbed at the underside. The lion’s jaws opened and roared fire into the face of the stag which screamed and fell back, instantly blinded. The claws of the lion ripped the belly open and its heads dived gorging into the mess of guts that came tumbling out. Pegasus circled lower and the shadow of horse and rider fell over the scene. The Chimera raised a head to look at them. The stag shuddered and jerked as it tried to rise and – the lion’s blood-mottled head still staring up into the sun and sky – the snake tail extended her fangs and stabbed down into its hindquarters to finish it. A jet of flame shot up towards them. Bellerophon yelled at the intense heat and kicked Pegasus upwards. Again the Chimera bellowed fire at them, but this time it fell short. ‘Are you all right?’ Bellerophon smelled burnt hair. His own or Pegasus’s, he could not tell. As they circled higher, he took his bow and notched an arrow. ‘Steady now, steady …’ He looked down, took aim and fired. His arrow struck the neck of the goat, just where it grew out from the lion’s back. The yellow goat eyes widened and she let out a shriek of pain. The goat head shook herself and the arrow dropped free. Bellerophon shot again, and kept shooting. Some arrows glanced off and some pierced the lion flanks of the Chimera, who had now worked herself into a bellowing fury. ‘I’m sorry, but I have to get closer,’ shouted Bellerophon, pulling out the lance from its sheath. Pegasus circled and swooped till the sun was behind him and then hurtled down. If the smith had been surprised by Bellerophon’s commission, he had not shown it. ‘A “lance”, you say, sir?’ ‘That’s right. Half as long as I am high.’ ‘But the tip made of lead?’ ‘Lead.’ ‘Very soft, is lead. You won’t be piercing no armour nor no hide with a spearpoint of lead.’ ‘Nonetheless, that is what I require.’ ‘Your money,’ said the smith. ‘Makes no difference to me if it’s tin or tissue.’ The Chimera saw Pegasus diving out of the sun and reared up, claws thrashing. Bellerophon leaned out as far as he could. The jaws of the monster opened wide to blast one last great ball of fire and Bellerophon hurled the lance deep into the open mouth and down the tunnel of its throat. A tidal wave of heat burst over them as Pegasus pulled out of the dive at the last minute. He rocketed upwards, almost crashing into the tops of the trees, before steadying himself. Bellerophon looked down and saw the monster screaming and bucking – the leaden tip of the lance had instantly melted in the fierce fury of the fire, and molten lead was pouring into her interior. Fatally wounded, she floundered and fell. The goat’s head exploded in steam, flame and blood, the lion’s fur was ablaze and with one last ear-splitting shriek and twitch, the Chimera died. Bellerophon landed and dismounted. A foul stench arose from the smoking carcass. Bellerophon cut off the snake tail and the lion’s head, mangled and charred as they were. Grisly mementos, but proof of his victory. When he went to mount Pegasus, he saw that the underside of the horse’s neck was burned and the mane singed. ‘You poor fellow,’ said Bellerophon. ‘We’ll find you a healer. Think you can make it to Mount Pelion?’fn11