[ TT ] Write a Wild West adaption of a Greek myth . ( Inspired by the original cowboy , the minotaur . )

The Lord of the Dead sat on the back of his horse, a stallion as black as the void, and whose eyes burned with the fires of hell. `` It must've taken a lot for you to get past my boys, little man.'' He spat, and his spit let out a ghastly moan as it landed on the dirt. `` Now tell me, what brings you out to my land? Usually you got ta be dead before you make it this far.'' 
 
 `` You know what I want, Hades. I want my wife back.'' Orpheus replied, with one hand on his guitar. 
 
 `` Y'hear that, boys? The guitar player wants his wife back!'' The Lord of the Dead laughed, a laugh that was joined by a chorus of voices that seemed to come from beneath the graves surrounding them. Orpheus felt a shiver go down his spine. 
 
 `` I'll tell ya what, boy,'' Hades lit a cigarillo and brought it to his mouth. `` That song ya played there was a mighty fine one. Why, I'd never in all my years heard a tune that made me feel like that. So I'll tell ya what.'' Hades grew in size, and stretched over the graveyard like a massive shadow. 
 
 `` You can just head on back to town, and I can swear on my honor that your lovely Eurydice's gon na be right behind you for the entire ride. But you ca n't look back to see her, or else she's coming right back here.'' 
 
 `` And those are the rules?'' Orpheus responded. 
 
 `` Them's the rules.'' 
 
 `` How will I know she's behind me?'' 
 
 The Lord of the Dead dropped Orpheus the end of a rope. Orpheus followed the rope to the other end, and there was Eurydice, her pale hands tied up with the rope. Over her head was a cloth sack, with the Lord of the Underworld's shadowy hand clenched tight. 
 
 `` Do n't look.'' He smirked as he yanked the cloth back to reveal her face. Orpheus quickly shielded his eyes and turned about. `` If you get walking right now, you should be in town by sunrise, and then she's all yours.'' 
 
 Orpheus turned to thank the Lord of the Dead, but he was gone. There was only the sound of crickets chirping in the trees. And Orpheus began to walk. 
 
 The road felt longer going back than it did coming. Fording the river was especially difficult without looking back to make sure Eurydice made it too. Eurydice was n't speaking, and Orpheus could n't know why. He hoped that Hades had n't played him, and that this was n't some sort of trick. 
 
 The hours passed. Had it not been for the light of the moon, Orpheus would have been lost. But soon, the moon began to set, and the sun started to crest on the horizon, just behind the town. `` You see that, Eurydice?'' Orpheus smiled. `` We're almost home free.'' He felt the slack in the rope suddenly pull tight, and there was a thud. And before he could stop himself, Orpheus turned. 
 
 Eurydice had stumbled on a stone in the road. Her black hair fell loose around her shoulders. Her silk nightgown, covered in dust, sat just so to compliment her figure. And her face, her gorgeous brown eyes, reflected sheer terror as the two both realized what this meant. Before a word could be spoken, the rope was pulled out of Orpheus's hands as Eurydice was snatched away by the last shadows of the night.
