The Mother of Monsters
Happy Mother's Day!
Mother’s Day is filled with so many complex emotions—many great, some bad, and others sad. All important. I hope you are having more good ones than bad. For me, I am very grateful that my own mother is healthy, and my kids are being thoughtful.
To be a bit macabre for mother’s day, I want to share a microstory, A Monster’s Glance. This short fiction adds to the Argus mythology. It features the mother of monsters, Echidna. I wanted to explore an alternate reason Argus had so many eyes. A version of it was originally shared with one of my first Monster of the Weeks, the one that featured Argus. All of you were not reading back then so I thought I’d revisit it. I attempted to write in the style of other stories told of Argus which are not enough in my opinion. Returning to it makes me want to explore the mother of monsters even more. Maybe she’ll get another new story out of me very soon!
A Monster’s Glance
Hera, queen of the gods, tasked Argus with killing Echidna, the mother of monsters. Echidna was the fierce half-woman, half snake who murdered men and ate their flesh. Argus accepted the quest and was confident in his abilities to succeed at his quest, honored that Hera trusted him with it. His ego was always his greatest enemy…
Argus approached Echidna’s cave as the sun set on his treacherous weeks-long journey to its entrance. He knew that the night would bring predators from the forest and the sky so he did not hesitate to enter. He fashioned and lit a torch, pulled his sword from its sheath, and crept inside. The flame’s light danced across the wet walls of the cave. The sweet smell of chamomile mixing with the rank of rotting flesh filled his nostrils.
After another hour traveling deeper and deeper into the cave, torch dimming, he spotted something that froze him in his tracks and stole his breath away. The most beautiful woman in the world lay on the rocky floor, asleep. He placed his sword on a nearby rock and moved toward this fair-cheeked maiden, mesmerized. Her beauty made him forget all the dangers that lurked in this cave.
He lowered himself to the ground next to her, reaching out to touch those cheeks, completely forgetting himself and his valor at the sight of such a creature. As his fingers touched her cheek, he spotted scales and a snake’s body that started just below her navel. Her eyes flitted open. Unmoving and unafraid, she stared at him. Her eyes were a deep and dark bluish green, like the ocean after a storm. He could feel the power of a sea god in those eyes. The snake part of her body struck fear in Argus’s heart! But those eyes made it impossible for him to move or reach for his sword. He felt his heart swell with an emotion he could not believe or deny. He loved this monster, the mother of all monsters, Echidna—the one he had been sent to slay. He swore to himself he would spend the rest of his days protecting her if she would have him.
Surprisingly, Echidna did not lash out at him and crush him immediately. She touched his hand and then rose, pulling him up with her. “You have come to kill me. What stops you, Argus, the giant?”
Argus decided to be bold. He leaned closer to her and did not break eye contact. “It is true. I was to kill you, but once I saw your face, that was impossible. One cannot kill what one loves.”
Echidna’s lips curled up into an almost smile. “You do not fear Typhon’s wrath? I am his, and he is mine. He would kill you a hundred times just for your hand on my cheek.”
Argus did not remove his hand but tried to pull her closer.
She resisted. “What about me? You do not fear me? After all the stories? After I wage wars on the gods, and they send you to murder me in my sleep? The gods fear me. Why not you?”
“I do fear you, but I also love you.” Argus gathered all his courage and leaned in to kiss Echidna. To his pleasure and surprise, she kissed him back. She tasted salty with a hint of clover. The kiss was the most amazing moment of his life until it began to sting and burn so much that he was forced to pull away. Still, he did not want to.
Echidna wiped her lips and gazed at him softly, with a small amount of regret. “There is a monstrous price to kiss a creature like me which you will pay, dear stupid giant.”
At this moment Typhon entered the cavern, furious. He picked up Argus and flung him into the opposite wall, cracking it and causing the entire cave to shake. He turned to Echidna, hurt by the kiss and full of rage. The two behemoths began to battle.
Argus pulled himself off the ground. The burning from his lips was spreading through his body. He could feel his cells transforming below the surface of his skin. Many bulges growing and moving. He stumbled from the cavern as the two monsters continued their battle, knocking pieces of stone off the wall. His torch extinguished, leaving him in complete darkness as the two bellowed and brawled.
When Argus finally clawed his way out of the cave, his body was dripping in blood. His arms and chest and face were covered in new bulging and blinking growths. He had been given an unwanted gift in return for that kiss. Echidna’s venom had mutated his cells, and he had grown 100 new eyes all over his body, even one ghastly one on his tongue.
Argus did not kill Echidna as the stories tell, but he never saw her again after that day. No one did. He never once regretted that moment he shared with her, despite the horror he became and the murderous fate he endured because of those 100 eyes.
Today is the last day to order the second book of Mary Shelley’s School for Monsters so that you get it before it is officially published!
So awesome
She tamed the savage beast in her own way. Great post, Jessica.