Vampire Greek: The Burning King

Roman emerged from the cave like opening, now thankful for cold, chilling air. The bearded Janus was kneeling down with his hands in the pond, while the younger was also staring at him as he came out of the tunnel. Janus made his flesh crawl.

“You succeeded again, I presume?” The younger one asked him.

“Yeah. Speaking of, what happens if I fail to convince someone?”

“We'll find another. They may not face an eternal punishment hand given by Zeus but as you said before, monsters, demons and Titans reside here. They may also be harder to convince though.”

Roman nodded in agreement. “Also, Sisyphus escaped death twice. Twice. He's left the underworld multiple times. Not to be rude but why specifically do I need you, if another mortal could leave like that?”

“Do you think you are as intelligent and crafty as Sisyphus?”

Roman actually paused a second to think.

“Well-”

“Save your breath. The answer is no, not even close. Also, it's been multiple millenia since then. Earth has changed. The underworld has changed. The gods have changed, albeit slightly. To think that old tricks would work is as foolish as consorting with the gods in the first place.”

“But am I not consorting with you? Am I not seeking your aid in my endeavor?”

“True. But I am not a Greek god.”

“That doesn't make you anymore trustworthy.”

Janus laughed, both heads of him. Roman stepped back in disgust and fear as the cave collapsed on itself, reforming the cliff wall.

“You are about to meet another king.” said the younger face of Janus. “His name is Ixion.”

“Okay.” Roman said quietly, not knowing anything about him either. If he did actually make it out of here, he was going to pick up a book on Greek mythology.

“Is his eternal punishment similar to Sisyphus’ or Salmoneus’?”

“In terms of brutality, it's more like Salmoneus, but you could do something about it this time.” Janus flicked his wrist and a small, bone white lyre appeared in his hand. Janus rubbed his hand against the strings before holding it out to Roman.

“What is this, a baby harp? What would I need this for?” Roman asked as he grabbed it.

“It is a lyre, not a harp.” Janus replied bluntly/ “And you’ll need it to stop the wheel.”

“Huh?”

The old face of Janus looked at the wall and another pathway opened, revealing a fiery orange light from within. This tunnel appeared much smaller than the others, and they could already hear screams of agony from the inside. These screams were louder than the rain and rocks from Salmoneus’ punishment. Roman suddenly got serious.

“What’s happening to him in there?”

“Zeus bound Ixion to a fiery wheel that spins forever. It used to soar across the skies, but now it resides here, in Tartarus. It has only stopped once, when a man played his lyre.”

“You aren’t going to tell me who that was?

“Would you recognize the name if I did?” asked the young face of Janus.

Roman didn’t reply. He had a good point.

“Go there, stop the wheel, and speak to him.”

“I don’t know how to play this, I could barely play the flute in school!”

“You better learn fast. We don’t have much time.”

Roman looked at the lyre in his hands and plucked the strings as he entered the tunnel. It quickly expanded into massive cave filled spiderwebs and dust particles in the air. It smelled like mildew and burning flesh, and the source of light came from one area: the wheel. At the farthest side of the cave was a giant burning wheel spinning continuously with a man pinned to the top. The wheel had dirty white wings that laid limp at its sides, moving ever so slightly as the man roared in pain. He screams were painstakingly agonizing as Roman looked on in shock and fear. The wheel was being held up by a copper stand that stuck right through one of the wings into the center of the wheel. Roman nervously stepped closer and tried to call out to him.

“Ixion…. King Ixion?” He either couldn't hear him or was in too much pain to care. Roman lifted the lyre and plucked the strings rhythmically, trying to play a tune and nothing happened.

Screw this. I'm not going to become a virtuoso in thirty seconds. Janus should've given me a damn triangle or a dog whistle. How the hell am I supposed to stop this?

The wings fluttered a little while Roman watched, deep in thought. In a split second decision, he through the lyre at the wing, hitting the scapulars. The wings flapped twice, sending up more dirt and dust in a big cloud. Roman accidentally breathed it in and coughed, but it gave him an idea.

It used to soar across the skies...maybe it'll fly again.

Roman ran up to one of the wings and tried to lift it. He didn't know what he expected, because it was way heavier than it looked. The wing moved out of his reach but didn't do much else. Roman tried to think of other options. If it could carry the wheel and Ixion, it just be really strong. What would happen if he stood on it? Nobody likes to get stepped on. Roman gingerly stepped on the wing, applying pressure as slowly as he could. It did nothing, as if the weight of a full grown man didn't phase it in the slightest. Roman knew he weighed at least two hundred pounds, so it might be harder to aggravate this thing than he thought. Until he had one more idea. One more stupid, ignorant idea that could work. He had to try. He knelt down, grabbed a couple of individual feathers and pulled. In retrospect, he would've gotten off the wing first. The wing angrily flapped and sent him flying into a wall, causing thousands of lights to dance across his eyelids as he struggled to maintain consciousness. He forced himself to sit up and watch as the flying wheel went ballistic, the fire got bigger and brighter as it hovered in the air, slamming into cave walls repeatedly. The copper stand fell off, leaving a bloody red wound in its place. Suddenly, the wheel started careening towards him and he dodged at the last second.

How do you calm down a flying wheel?!!

Roman almost starting cooing to it like a pidgeon when it started to fly a little too high.

“Stop! Come down!” Roman pleaded with it and motioned towards the ground but it was no use. The wheel slammed into the stalactites on the ceiling and Ixion’s screams stopped.

No.

Not even that could stop the wheel’s rampage. It continued to ran into the walls until finally the wheel became dented and stopped spinning. It dropped in its side and Ixion, who had been held in place by a giant snake, fell off the wheel. Roman tried to run to his side but was still too dizzy, so he fell and crawled the rest of the way. The smell of Ixion's burning skin tortured Roman’s nose, but he reached out to him anyway and pulled jagged rock out of his chest, ignoring his nudity.

“Orpheus?” He asked in shallow breaths.

Orpheus must have played the lyre. Roman thought to himself.

“No, my name is Roman. Are you alright?”

“Yes!” He whispered breathlessly. “I've never been more thankful for death.”

“What? No, you can't die again.”

“Watch me.” Ixion coughed up blood and the snake that restrained slid up his leg, also showing burns across its body. Roman noticed tiny tendrils of smoke coming off the snake, and small shards of rock in its long body as well. It rested its head against Ixion's as Roman pulled out the rock.

“What did you do to deserve this?” He asked him. Ixion closed his eyes and petted the snakes head, who in turn stuck out its forked tongue and licked his nose.

“I killed my father in law, the first to do so in the existence of mankind itself. I was shunned by everyone and lost my kingdom until Zeus pitied me. He invited me to dine with the gods. In my ignorant temptations I lusted after Hera, which prompted Zeus to test me with a cloud spirit. After gazing at my treachery he struck me down with a thunderbolt sent me here. The wheel used to change. But it only stopped once. And now….” Ixion opened his eyes one more time to gaze at the wreckage. One wing moved, albeit feebly, but the one pinned down never moved again. Roman waited for Ixion to continue, but he didn't. Both he and the snake were gone. Roman took a deep breath and started to panic.

I was supposed to convince him to support me, not kill him! Does this still count? Where is he even going go, now that he's died twice?

Roman didn't have too long to think, because the fire from the wheel was slowly going out, and that was his only source of light. He steadily got to his feet with a throbbing pain in his head, walked over to pick up Janus’ lyre and left the cave with guilt weighing him down.