Hercules final deed.

Hercules awoke to the sound of chirping birds above, the sun rose in pastel colors through the trees sending a soft orange glow to the path in front of him.  Disoriented and unaware to his surroundings he sat up fear rising in his chest as he remembered the great and noble deed Eurystheus had given him the night before, he had to cross the great and mighty river Tiber and  kill the giant sea serpent dreaded by most and feared by all. 

He wet his face in a nearby stream sending shivers down his spine, and goose bumps to rise on his arms.  Leafs crunched underneath him as he started his journey and made his way closer to the giver Tiber. 

The sound of the water echoed in his ear, so loud he couldn’t hear himself think.  Speaking would have been pointless.  The sound grew  louder with every step he took, mist from the river’s ragging tides hit his face, and the wind blew swiftly.  He made his way towards the rivers bank seeing just what he was up against.  The waters waves were nothing he could swim crossed.  The river stretched thirty feet a crossed and was moving with great sped.    With egger determination Hercules throw a heavy log into the raging waters and hopped on it.  Gripping the log with all his strength.  Hercules face was pushed underwater.  Filling his lungs with the ice cold liquid.  He scanned the bottom of the river, finding a rock to  which he could put his feet on and kick off of.  He pushed himself to the bottom of the river, the tide fighting against him and pushed off with all of his might.    He  soon emerged from the water coughing, and desperately gasping for air,  Now wet and tired he continued is search for the feared beast.  He walked for what seemed like hours Intel he found the country he had been waiting for.

There were many rugged cliffs on both sides of the narrow pathway.  Trees were spontaneously spread threw out the mountain side giving Hercules shade from the hot august sun.   Hercules paced his long steps.  His legs had grown tired.  A bead of sweat ran down his forehead as he saw the great beast he had waited for.    He noticed the serpent first by its stench.  It had a ranched smell of garlic, fish and decaying flesh.  Golden scales as sharp as razor blades covered the surface of his body.  Bones jutted out from the flesh of his body along with the swords of noble soldiers who had attempted to murder the beast.

Hercules took hold of the serpent pushing his fingers deep into the back of his neck.  The serpent’s scales cut deep into the palm of his hand.  Warm blood ran down his arm as he threw the furious beast onto the hard rugged mountain side .  His grip cutting off the serpent’s air flow, but the serpent still fought his grip.  The serpent planted his scaly arm on the back of Hercules thigh, his heart beat fast as the monster pushed him down the air escaping from his lungs.    Now with both on the ground they rolled over the lush grass, each fighting to win.  Hercules planted his arm under thick pines roots and grabbed a nearby rock. Bashing the  monster in the head with the heavy stone.  Knocking the serpent unconscious.  Sending his soul into the fate of the underworld.   

Kefri Sadness and Despair.

A lonely woman named Kefri was sad from the death of her father.  She spent many days and many nights under the moon praying to the star gods.  She knew there had too have been a way up to the gods and to have them  bring her father back to life.  After weeks or prayer and no sigh of anything she become angry and  went deep into a dark depression
 She went for a walk through the nearby woods.   Trying to get her mind off of her sorrow.  She stopped by a small stream to take a drink and found an odd nest in a wild rose bush.  The eggs looked like any other nest she had seen but the eggs were larger and the speckles darker.  They seemed to be without a mother just like she was without a father. She waited hours in the heat of the day for the birds mother to return, and with no sign their mother Kefri took the eggs with her.
She spent weeks nursing the eggs waiting for them to hatch.  She had grown attached to them when she heard the crack she had been waiting for.  
All but one of the eggs hatched into wonderful birds with the most gorgeous feathers.  The other hatched  into a large seed with the same print as the feathers.  She came to love the birds and the seed.  She carried the seed everywhere  in her pockets as she raised the birds. Feeding them and taking care of them just as the mother would have she taught the birds to fly and away they flew leaving her just as her father had. 
Filling her with despair and sadness, the same feelings she had had for weeks before. She cried rivers of salty tears making the oceans.  She remembered the seed she had still her pocket, and threw it. Covering it in the dirt and the moisture  from her tears.  She cried herself to sleep near where she had thrown her seed.
She was awoken later in the night by an underground shake in the earth.  She woke up  afraid her world had come to an end.  Only too find a beam of vegetation leading far up into the sky .  It seemed to go past the mountains and into the sky.  Giving her the passage to the star gods she had been waiting for. She named this plant Bamboo From the bam she had heard that night and the fright it had given her.