The Maze The Lost Labyrinth - By Jason Brannon Page 0,32
The head on the left went for the axe handle while the one on the right wanted the flute. It was like watching a tug-of-war: each head strained against the other, and the one in the middle was clueless as to what was going on.
The heads immediately began snapping and biting at each other. Midnight turned to look at me, puzzled by this development, and I couldn’t help noticing the circular bite marks that marred his left flank and back. The bites were deep and bled copiously. Midnight hardly seemed to notice. He was too busy watching Cerberus rip itself apart as the three heads fought with each other.
Cerberus is also a figurehead of sorts. A representation of your life.
I thought about what Asterion had said as the hellhound became its own worst enemy.
A man cannot serve two masters…or in this case three.
Was I like Cerberus? Was that what Asterion had been trying to tell me? I thought about my life and the things that ruled me. I tried to live a good life, but there were times that I stumbled. In fact, I made mistakes all the time. My life was nothing more than one big war between me, myself, and I, where conflicting desires and needs clashed on a daily basis. Like the part of me that wanted to explore the possibilities with Karen and the part of me that wanted to fight for my family. I was at odds with myself.
“I understand now!” I shouted to the minotaur, keeping a safe distance from Cerberus so that I wouldn’t get caught up in the bloodshed.
I looked up at the throne of bones where Asterion sat and waited for some further instruction. He gave me a thumbs down sign. I knew what that meant: I had to kill Cerberus before the test was finished. I had already made it a lot further than I ever would have expected, and that fact alone made me hopeful. But I wasn’t out of danger yet. Far from it, in fact.
The three heads were bloodied and mangled, but they were all still very angry. One of the heads had lost an eye. Another had the end of its snout ripped off, and the third looked like it had been fed into a meat grinder. None of the heads were focused on me anymore, and I took advantage of that fact. The axe blade was still where it had fallen. I grabbed the blade and summoned my courage as I faced Cerberus from behind.
The beast’s heads moved back and forth, snapping and snarling and gnashing their teeth, but the body of Cerberus basically stayed in one place. I knew I should act before I could think about everything that could go wrong, and I did. I leapt onto the back of the creature, holding tightly to the axe blade. My intentions were to use the blade to cut the beast’s throat, but Cerberus anticipated me and bucked me off like a cowboy from the back of an untamed bronco. The axe blade fell from my hand as I crashed into the ground. The bones in my shoulder ground against each other, sending shock waves of pain throughout my entire left side.
I groaned and managed to sit up, only to find myself looking up into the hate-filled eyes of three ferocious, gore-encrusted heads. The next thing I saw were three gaping maws with vicious teeth lunging toward me. Everything after that was a blur.
The pain seemed to come from everywhere at once. My arms, legs, chest, and face ached, and I felt the life leaking out of me in what felt like a hundred different places. Midnight jumped back into the fray and tried to hold Cerberus off so that I could get to my feet again. I cried out and attempted to stand, but my legs malfunctioned, and I fell back into the dust. I saw the axe handle nearby and crawled over to it, hoping to use it for a crutch.
Once the head closest to me caught a glimpse of the handle again, the three fought again, as one wanted to go where the other two did not. I pushed myself up, using the axe handle as a support and felt something wet on my hand. Midnight licked me, goading me on. I took some strength from the gesture and lifted the axe handle.
Only one of the heads saw me as I stood in front of the dog. The other two were busy