Twelve Labors
They were brought into a throne room unlike any they had seen before. Heads of various beasts and monsters had been stuffed and placed on the wall, staring out blankly over the room. On the floor, other animals had been skinned and tanned for fur rugs. Even the throne was topped with a deer skull with an impressive spread of antlers remaining on it. Oddly enough, there was a red jar large enough to hide a man right next to the throne. It was decorated with scenes of a hunt.
The muscular man who brought them in said, "My lord, we have captured these two foreigners. They claim to be princes, Alexander of Daventry and Edgar of Tamir."
Looking down at them, the king snorted. He wore a large amount of gold jewelry and all of his clothes were trimmed in gold; it was quite a difference from the citizens they had seen in the market. "Rather scrawny to be princes; they don't seem capable at all. Hmph. Well then, I am King Eurystheus, ruler of the city-states Mycenae and Tiryns, and you are now my slaves."
"What?" Alexander asked, shocked at the statement. He was always the one to talk in these situations because Edgar was too used to being silent in front of strangers. "Pardon me, but we have done nothing to merit such treatment."
"Well what have you done here?" Eurystheus asked in a demanding tone.
It was an all too familiar tone to him; it took all of Alexander's courage to not slip back into the submissive ways of a slave. "We entered your market in search of a particular merchant couple, buying things from them and others there. As I bought a wand, we spent a few days at the inn so I could form a proper pact with it. We were going to leave when this fellow here accosted us for no reason."
"Right, you were captured," Eurystheus said. "Which means that you're now slaves."
"That is not right," Alexander said.
Shaking his head, the king said, "It is right. It is the law here in the land of Hellenia, that foreigners who are captured are to be enslaved. After all, this is the land of strong heroes and monsters. If you cannot obtain victory, than you have no right to argue. We are a fair people, though. There is a list of heroic deeds I keep posted around my city. Should anyone complete such a list of any king of Hellenia, they're recognized as the greatest of heroes and can do whatever they like. As for you slaves, merely completing one deed gives you the right to contest your rank as slaves to earn your freedom. That is also the law of the land."
"I see," Alexander said. He didn't think that was fair at all. But then, these people thought it was perfectly fine to enslave those who were simply travelers. That alone told him that they would be too stubborn to consider what he thought was sensible.
The king them smiled in a creepy way. "Now, you might be scrawny, but you both are quite pretty. I'll set you both as courtesans, but I have first rights to bed both of you."
"What?!" Alexander asked. By him, Edgar paled.
"You'd better make sure you're both looking nice," the king said, waving them away. "Go take a bath; I expect you both in my bedroom tonight, I'll decide which of you first then. Take them to the bathhouse."
The guard then escorted them out of the throne room. They were given metal bands around their necks that marked them as slave courtesans. Here, it meant that the king of Mycenae, and his court to some extent, were free to give them out as favors or take them for themselves whenever they wanted. The guard then took them to another building, which turned out to be a public bathhouse. There was no sense of personal privacy. About the only thing that helped was the king's rights keeping other men in there from getting uncomfortably close. It didn't stop them from leering or making lewd jokes.
Following the local customs, they had to strip completely, scrub themselves down in a shared shower room, then soak in the main bath as some kind of social exchange. Most of those in there now were brawny muscular men like the guard; the others who seemed more normal to them were also marked as slaves. But if they did hard work, they showed no obvious signs like callouses. Some of them did have bruises, though.
Once they had a corner of the public bath more or less to themselves, Alexander said quietly to Edgar, "I'm sorry for getting us into this, my friend."
"Don't blame yourself," Edgar replied. "Nobody mentioned that the laws of this place were ridiculous."
"But I am the reason we ended up here," he said, pulling himself down so his head was near the surface of the water.
It was a long story, but Alexander had been a slave for most of his life already, up until about two years ago. His escape led him to discover that he was actually a prince, as well as having to kill a three-headed dragon that was going to eat the sister he'd never seen before. But his father King Graham had fallen ill. While Alexander had been overwhelmed with trying to adapt to a prince's life rather than a slave's, his sister Rosella had gone off to fetch a magical fruit to cure their father.
On her quest, she had met with Edgar, the son of a wicked fairy queen. But he was not wicked himself even though his body had been warped by his mother's evil magic. He'd fallen in love with Rosella and helped her defeat the wicked queen, as well as find the fruit she was searching for. When Edgar got transformed into a more fitting (and handsome) form by the good fairy queen, he immediately proposed to her, full of hopes and dreams.
Rosella turned him down in favor of returning to Daventry as soon as she could. Edgar had been devastated, but he persisted and found his way to Daventry himself. However, Rosella was a free-spirited girl and turned him down again. She and Valanice had argued about that. But, Alexander felt bad for Edgar. His journey had taken him many months and it seemed like it would be in vain. So he asked if Edgar wanted to travel with him while he searched for a more fitting wand. The one he had been using had been owned by the evil wizard who'd enslaved Alexander, thus it retained evil properties that made it ill fit for someone who wanted to use magic for good purposes. In the past few months, he'd been fighting with the old wand to keep using it.
And they finally had a new wand for Alexander, from the merchants they'd followed into Mycenae. "Never thought I'd say this, but I'd rather still be a slave under Manannon then a slave like this."
"Don't say that," Edgar said, putting a hand on his shoulder. Although, he soon blushed and took his hand away. They were friends from traveling together for several months, but it felt like a different motion in this public bath. "Um, I mean, they have the king's list of deeds posted just over there. It's early afternoon now, and I think we can get one of those done before evening."
"Really?" Alexander asked, hoping for some leeway.
Edgar nodded. "From the looks of that list, this isn't a land that's used to magic. Just look at it."
Over on the wall, there was a large poster of the list of Eurystheus' deeds. It claimed that deeds that had been performed would be marked for up to a year. But in spite of some of them not looking difficult, there were no marks at all on the list.
'DEEDS OF A TRUE HERO (Mycenae)'
All proofs are to be brought to the king of Mycenae for confirmation.
1. Bring the skin of a lion of Nemea.
2. Kill the hydra in the Lernean swamp.
3. Bring alive a golden hind of Ceryneia
4. Bring alive a war boar of Erymanthus.
5. Clean the stables of the king in one day.
6. Drive away the Stymphalian birds.
7. Bring alive a wild white bull of Crete.
8. Bring alive a man-eating horse of Diomedes.
9. Bring back the belt of Ares held by the Amazon Queen.
10. Bring alive at least three of Geryon's cattle.
Reading over the list, Alexander had to keep himself from laughing. "You're right. With your fairy magic, my new wand, and the Book of Ancient Secrets, most of that would be simple for us. The speaking to animals enchantment is permanent in me now and half that list is bringing back various animals. They may require some negotiations, but I can get the animals to cooperate easily."
Edgar nodded. "And I know how to clean stables with magic, no matter how bad they are. Mother's slaves were magical constructs that weren't the greatest at cleaning her stables of magical animals. About once a week, she'd have me go use the spell since she felt it was beneath her. It's a form you can use too, so it'll go even faster between us."
"The one that could be trouble is that one about getting the belt," Alexander said. "But hopefully doing most of those deeds will give us enough agency to move around freely. Maybe even escape the land if we have to."
"Well I don't want to see you end up as a slave again," he said. "We'll figure out what to do about the rest once we get one done and can contest our status. I hope he'll keep his word."
After the guard let them leave the bath, they changed back to their traveling clothes and were brought to their new quarters. They had been left outfits to change into for the king's tastes, but they left as soon as they could to go find the stables. Alexander had only taken care of chickens himself, although he'd seen the royal stables at Daventry. While they did seem like a big task to keep clean, the servants there were treated well and made sure things didn't get bad.
It was not so here. The stables were massive and there were so many of them. Did King Eurystheus have hundreds of animals already? And the working slaves were dirty and slow, not caring to try much. It was disgusting, the stench of it suffocating.
Edgar crossed his arms over his chest. "Well, err, this is a bigger job than I ever had to deal with. But I'm certain we can still accomplish this. We have to."
"What's the spell?" Alexander asked, calling out his new wand. This wasn't what he imagined breaking it in with. But he was right, they had to do this. He didn't want to see Edgar as a slave for long either, especially not to this king.
Closing his eyes, Edgar listened to something. While it wasn't obvious in this form, he was a fairy and could sense things beyond what humans could. "These people don't take good care of their lands either. Not much magic here. This should start correcting that, at least to make it easier on us." He then opened his eyes and turned to him to teach him the spell. While the Book of Ancient Secrets had spells for many things, it didn't have something for really mundane tasks like cleaning stables.
It was easier to transform one thing into another than it was to completely eliminate something when it came to magic. And the spell Edgar knew was a transformation one. What it did was take all the wastes and dirt left by the animals and transform it into a nutrient-rich fertilizer for plants, then implant that enhanced fertilizer into the ground. The magic even gave an immediate boost to the plants growing there. While he said it usually wasn't noticeable with one casting, the sheer amount of stables to clean meant that the fields around the castle for several miles saw flowers instantly blooming and weak vegetables transformed into strong healthy ones.
It was tiring, but they went back before the king with their guard and some of the stable slaves. This time, there were two women and a man with him. Thankfully, whatever meeting they were having was put on hold as the guard said, "My lord, these new slaves of yours have completed one of your deeds of a true hero, of cleaning your stables in a single day."
"What?!" the king asked, incredulous.
"It's true, my lord," one of the stable slaves said. "The stables were as usual, and we only had a quarter of those in building three cleared out. Then they came out to the stable yard and cleared out every single stable in a little less than an hour."
"My lord, I don't believe they've been this clean since they were first built," another slave said.
"Since we have completed one task, we can object to our enslavement legally, by your own laws," Alexander said.
"That is not right!" the king said, pounding a fist on his throne.
"No, Eurystheus, they are right," one of the women there said. "By the customs of Hellenia, slaves who find one success in such a list have the right to earn their freedom fully. And while they are doing so, they are not to leave Hellenia but they cannot be forced to work against their will."
The king grumbled, while Alexander and Edgar felt a deep relief to hear that. "Fine," Eurystheus said. "But, the laws of Mycenae say that such a challenge is done by the slaves completing the full list of deeds within a year. Otherwise, they are to submit for the rest of their lives."
"Fine," Alexander said. Since most of the tasks looked simple with the aide of magic, a year should be plenty of time. It did make the king frown.
"Where did you pick up these slaves?" the woman then asked. "They do not seem to be of these lands."
"They were arrested and brought before me," Eurystheus said.
"Were they tried?"
When the king didn't answer, the guard with them spoke up. "No, my lady. They were adventuring princes passing through when Eurystheus saw them and desired them immediately. I was sent out to capture them..."
"Silence, you!" the king demanded.
Whoever these guests were, a nod from the woman was enough to get the guard to continue, "And he said by any means possible. Since they had done nothing unlawful, I was forced to use the tradition of coercion to get them captured. They were used to other customs and came peacefully to protest their unjust treatment. However, my lord considered that submissive enough to declare them willing slaves even though they were not willing at all."
The woman frowned at the king. "Eurystheus, you know that we're trying to pull away from such barbarism. Much of the world looks down upon Hellenia for such actions, and here you've enslaved two foreign princes! The high king will be furious with you, especially if this leads to war."
"You're all such cowards!" the king declared, standing in a fury and grabbing an axe that had been left by the throne. "These are our traditions and we should be proud of them! The high king is making us all weaker; he and the other Hellenistic kingdoms deserve to be overthrown in war for being so dishonorable! I will not back down! And they have slave collars, so you can't do anything about them! They're mine!"
"But you must allow them the freedom to complete your challenges if you mean to be so backwards with honor," the woman said. "Which means you may not order them as they have completed one task."
The king scowled. For a moment, it seemed he might strike the woman down. But he relented, putting the axe back. "Fine. Still, the challenge is as stated: they must complete all ten of the tasks of a true hero within a year."
"Very well," she said. "We will leave one of our own to keep an eye on things and make certain this is done properly. And you will be boarding them as heroes in the making, as custom."
"Right," he said, then arranged them to be moved out of the slave quarters.
The woman who defend them followed them out to speak with them. "I'm very sorry this happened to you, but our hands are tied," she said. "I am Princess Kyria, heir of the high king of Hellenia. My father and I want to change the laws of the land, but tradition has a very strong hold here. As Eurystheus is the most powerful of the traditionalist kings, we cannot change things while he is in power or else we'll have a violent civil war as a result."
Alexander nodded. "It seems you've done what you could; we're grateful you were there to argue for us. I'm Alexander of Daventry, and this is Edgar. My homeland is rather far from here." And while Daventry held some status with legends, it was a tiny kingdom that couldn't go to war with a land like Hellenia.
"We'll try to explain things to your family," Kyria said. "And what about you Edgar?"
"My situation is complicated, as I'm a prince with nothing to inherit," Edgar said. "There's no one you need inform, although if you can make contact with Genesta, the fairy queen of Tamir, she'd appreciate the news."
She nodded. "We'll do what we can. Also, there is something I should inform you of. Every king of Hellenia is allowed to put up a trial list for heroes, but as you've started the one for Eurystheus, you must complete his. Mycenae's list is often reputed to be impossible."
"Really?" Alexander asked, although he was skeptical.
Kyria chuckled. "But you have already completed the task that most made it impossible. I have a good feeling about you two. If it ever seems like you're stuck, remember this: Eurystheus may be a powerful king, but he is very unpopular throughout Hellenia. When word gets around that a pair of slaves is working on his trial list, you may find assistance from those who only wish to humiliate him."
"Normally I wouldn't like that, but Eurystheus is a special case," Alexander said. Edgar nodded to that.
People in Mycenae were happy to inform them about the details of the various trials. In the distant past, an ancestor of Eurystheus had given similar trials to one of Hellenia's greatest heroes. But that man was said to be half god, a peerless match even with the land's tradition of heroes and strong people. These things had never been accomplished with magic before, so they had no idea that the difficulty of said trials was much different for a fairy and wizard (even if he was merely a journeyman not accepted by any magic circles yet).
While Alexander had been able to plan out how to accomplish most of the tasks within a week, getting the materials for the various spells would take more searching. He still had access to Manannon's lab and supplies through an amber teleporting stone. However, he'd been frustrated to discover that the evil wizard had kept mostly things for curses and evil magic. It shouldn't be surprising; some stuff he even had to dispose of since it could not be used for anything good.
They decided on doing the tenth task second, bringing back the cattle of Geryon. That and the Cretan bull were most distant from Mycenae, but Crete was an island. Traveling to the no-mans-land just outside of Hellenia let them check markets and search the countryside. Once they were out of Eurystheus' territory, the land was much healthier and abundant. Alexander found a number of useful items along the way, include some plants and minerals that weren't immediately useful but were handy to have a good stock of.
A month after they'd left, they came back with five of the requested cattle. They were magnificent beasts, with ocher red skin and glossy horns. They also brought Geryon himself with them as it had been part of the deal to take the cattle away. As a monster king, Geryon had no interest in being part of the Hellenistic union. He had three heads that gave him a full field of vision and six legs that let him outrun even the fastest of horses.
"Wh-what do you want?" Eurystheus asked, pressing himself back into his throne when faced with the monster king.
"I don't mind heroes who are polite, so I followed after them to make sure they could take care of my cattle well," Geryon said. "They needed some instruction, but they did so admirably. Now that they've fulfilled the task in bringing them to you, I will be taking the cattle back home. I'd rather not leave Orthus and Eurytion alone to the rest."
"But they're my slaves, so what they claim..." the king hesitated on looking at Geryon.
"They're slaves you can't order about, so that means nothing," Geryon said. One of the cows mooed nervously; Geryon patted her to reassure her. "And if you wished to buy some of my stock, it would have been easier to be up front about it. I'd take Tiryns for these six; what do you say to that?"
"That's half my lands, a robbery," Eurystheus said, clenching his fist like he might hit the arm of his throne.
The steady gaze of Geryon was enough to intimidate him. "So is making one of your trials the taking of my cattle, even if you did not demand the entire herd. Acknowledge that these two have completed your task or I will send some monsters on hero trials into your city-states."
"Fine, they did as asked, they completed a second trial," he said, reluctantly arranging it to be acknowledged.
One of the tasks was to bring back a war boar from a mountain in a neighboring Hellenistic kingdom. Under Erymanthus' former king, wild boars were brought in, given armor, and used as guard beasts. Most of the trainers of these war boars ended up killed by their charges, but keeping war boars was also tradition. Erymanthus' current king was not a traditionalist and had ended that practice. One boar had escaped them and ruined a mountain village all on its own.
To get to Erymanthus, Alexander and Edgar had to travel through the territory of the Stymphalian birds. The road had once been vital to trade between the Hellenistic kingdoms, but then these birds took over. They attacked people with sharp beaks and metal feathers, then feasted on their bodies. While the task only said to drive them away, these birds would be dangerous anywhere.
Thus, Alexander brought out his storm brew and made sure it was still viable before shaking it up. The flock was currently gathered in a dark mass on the ground, watching them with beady red eyes as he recited the incantation. There was no time for them to flee when lightning ripped through the suddenly darkened sky. Most of them were fried instantly, vulnerable due to their metal feathers that kept them from flying off quickly. Of what ones remained, Edgar was able to call on a magic bow and make sure they didn't want to come back.
"Would these be any good for arrows?" Alexander asked, plucking a black tail feather off one of the dead birds.
When he took hold of it, Edgar shook his head. "Too heavy. But some kind of weapon could be made from them; they have a promising magical power, for defensive or offensive magic."
"Innately evil?" he asked, not wanting to take chances like that.
"No, just a natural leaning towards predation," he said.
"Good, that can be worked around," he said, then retrieved a group of the feathers that seemed whole. They should be good to experiment with.
Edgar helped him out, but there was something on his mind. "Hey, Alex? Does it bother you that so many of the men of Mycenae have been hitting on us?"
"The ones like Eurystheus who are blunt about wanting to sleep with us do," he said. "It was quite a shock at first. But now, some of the others aren't so bad, even flattering."
"I see," he said. "I mean, I agree with you. Those who follow traditional ways here really seem to think that they can take whatever they want just by being strong physically."
"I wonder if it has anything to do with the lack of women in the city," Alexander said. "It's the same way in Tiryns whenever we go there. You hardly see any women around. Still, that's no excuse to force your ways on another."
While Edgar nodded to that, he was quiet as they kept collecting metal feathers. When he offered another group, he nervously said, "Um, being there, I've been thinking…" then he got quiet again, maybe mumbled something.
"Thinking about what?" he asked, waiting on him.
That made him even more nervous, but he made himself say, "You, uh, you do deserve that kind of attention. I mean, not the awful ones like the king, but, you are handsome and clever, and kind. I think that's worth a lot more than simply being strong."
He felt that way? Alexander wasn't sure what to say to that. "Weren't you in love with my sister?"
"Well yes, but," he closed his eyes trying to figure out how to say it. "That never went anywhere and she seems happier without a relationship. On the other hand, you've helped me so much and never hesitated to cheer me up."
That had been because they were friends. But hearing this made him look at Edgar in a new light. "If you gained some more confidence in yourself, I think you could be the most charming prince in the world."
Edgar blushed and opened his eyes again. It was like Alexander had never really looked at him before; his green eyes were like gorgeous jewels. "I think the same could be said of you; you'd probably be better than me."
"No, I'm hardly fitting for a prince," he said, smiling at him. "I have no clue how to act like one, and I couldn't fit in at all in Daventry Castle. That's mostly why I left. However, I am grateful that I could make this journey with you."
"I am too," Edgar said, then hugged him. It was a moment of happiness that seemed more precious than anything else in the world.
When they brought the last war boar back to Mycenae, they also brought news from the king of Erymanthus that they were happy to let Eurystheus keep the violent boar. Not even Edgar and Alexander's magics combined could tame the beast. The best they could do was keep it asleep and transport it back to Mycenae by a horse-drawn cart. Eurystheus nearly jumped out of his throne when the boar snorted in its sleep; he had it slaughtered so that the castle kitchen could use it for a feast.
While on their way to fetch a Cretan white bull, they heard several wild tales of the beasts. White bulls were seen as special in these lands. One of their chief gods often took the form of a white bull and it was considered a great act of devotion to sacrifice a white bull to him (provided one was sure it wasn't actually the god). Although, one reason he would take that form was to romance women without alerting his wife too much. He sometimes used the form of a swan for the same purpose. Some of those tales were quite detailed.
There was also the tale of the original white bull of Crete, which the king meant to sacrifice. But then the queen fell in love with the bull and had a child with it that was half-human and half-bull. For some reason, they saw fit to keep honoring white bulls and let them roam the island freely. It was pretty clear that Eurystheus meant to sacrifice whatever bull they brought back, which could make it difficult to get one off the island.
"Never mind the enslavement issue, these tales would shock many of the other nations," Edgar said when they were talking privately. "Or how they can recognize us being together but still try to..." he hesitated in embarrassment, "get involved, um, you know what I mean."
"Right," Alexander said. "Although, I am glad their lax attitude about it all led us to open up to the chance. I would have never recognized such feelings for another man."
He nodded. "I'm glad to be with you, but I wouldn't have said anything like I did before coming here."
They ended up turning one of the white bulls into a white cat to smuggle it off the island. Eurystheus was pleased with them when he was presented with the bull. However, one of the castle guards warned them that the king worried about them actually succeeding and might try to interfere with them completing the rest.
When it came to killing the hydra, Alexander felt oddly excited about it. He wasn't much for killing normally. Even monsters had their own lives to live. But while he could agree to killing dangerous monsters, like the Stymphalian birds that killed travelers or the three-headed dragon that had nearly ruined Daventry, it wasn't something to look forward to. The hydra was different.
He talked with Edgar about it as they searched around the swamp. "Actually, a lot of poisons are useful for magic because they can be remade into medicines. The stronger the poison, the stronger the resulting curative, and a hydra is said to be extremely strong with poison. Just look at that swamp; it's all deadly poisonous and supposedly there's only one hydra here. It's one of those monsters where every part of it is valuable to the type of magic a wizard performs."
"But they can't come up on the market much," Edgar said. "They're dangerous monsters."
Alexander nodded. "Right, the few times I've seen hydra materials for sale, they were far more expensive than I could convince myself into buying. So if we can get rid of this hydra without doing much harm to it, we might need to bring the body back as proof, but then I can use it for all kinds of things."
"We were talking about suffocating the lion, which should work with the hydra as well," he said. "Though I'm still not sure how we'll go about skinning a lion."
"I can handle dissecting the hydra because there's books on that in my study, but I don't recall anything about that," he agreed.
"Well, these people are avid hunters and heroes," he said, thinking out loud. "They should be able to help us out there." Then he smiled and nudged him. "You're so eager about this, or anything to do with magic."
Alexander laughed at himself. "Yes, but magic is how I earned my freedom initially. I feel far more comfortable in a wizard's lab than anywhere else. I just need to make sure I don't get overcome with the power magic provides and end up as just another evil wizard."
Although they were hunting down a dangerous monster in this swamp, Edgar still took a moment to hug him. "Don't worry about that, I'll keep you in line. I feel more comfortable being out here adventuring than being in a castle. Maybe we're technically slaves for now, but I feel so much freer, and I get to be with you."
"Being with you is the best part of this," he agreed.
Fortunately, Eurystheus didn't recognize that the body of a twenty-three foot long hydra with seven heads was worth more than a small kingdom and allowed them to keep it.
Everyone had told them that it was reckless to approach one of the man-eating horses of Diomedes. They were apparently kin to the savage centaurs that also roamed the Hellenistic lands (which meant that there had to be tales around of people getting intimate with horses and centaurs as well). In the kingdom they tormented, slaying the predatory horses was enough to be named a great warrior. There were a couple dozen names on the list of heroic trials of Diomedes for the task of killing them. Even other kings would list it as a heroic task, but only Eurystheus wanted one brought back alive.
But it turned out that the horses were oddly polite. "What, you expect us to eat someone who converses with us?" the black horse they'd found said. He had a blood red mane and eyes, and enough brambles over his body to make him appear thorny. "Hardly, but most don't even try."
"You do intimidate most people," Alexander said. He wasn't lowering his guard yet; there was demonic power to this horse, enough that he didn't need Edgar to tell him so. As such, the horse could be lying.
"R-right," Edgar said, trying to be brave. But the way he was looking at the horse, it seemed he wanted to say something more.
"What is it?" Alexander asked him, trying to encourage him. If he could speak up in front of a demonic horse, he could learn to speak up more often to normal people.
After glancing at him, Edgar got up the nerve to ask, "I was just wondering, why are you horses eating people?"
"A great many monsters in these lands eat people," the horse pointed out.
"I have noticed that," Edgar said.
The horse shook its head and seemed to laugh. "It's the natural result of this land giving rise to so many heroes. They kill off monsters, stronger ones rise up to reclaim their hold over you humans, and then more heroes step up to kill more monsters… it never ends, which is great because otherwise things would get boring."
"That kind of vicious cycle is awful for ordinary people," Edgar said.
"Well then they need to become something not ordinary or they deserve their fates," the horse said.
"That is the traditional way of thinking here in Hellenia," Alexander said, although he agreed that it was an awful way to live.
"Exactly," the horse said. "As for us horses in particular, we've been around for a long time. The original of our stock was cursed by the gods because of something some idiot king did at the time. Any of his children also inherited the curse, and he sired a great many of us. And then some crazies throughout the centuries have decided to breed us." It laughed again, an unnerving sound. "We see that as a great thing. Once our numbers are good and high, we then kill off the breeder and eat them. Works out great for us!"
"I suppose," Alexander said, thinking to himself that it'd be fine to kill off this horse too despite it being polite about not eating them. "We were asked to bring you back to the city-state of Mycenae. Do you mind traveling with us there?"
"Maybe, you'd probably raise a fuss about me grabbing somebody to eat along the way," the horse said. "But then, I've heard this Eurystheus is a wicked king. Is he?"
They both nodded. Edgar explained, "He enslaved us both merely for being travelers he was attracted to, without trying to ask normally first."
"Wonderful, I love the taste of evil," the horse said greedily, the glint in its eyes unnerving.
Eurystheus had planned on keeping the horse, but seeing those hungry eyes himself made him dive into the giant pot by his throne and demand that the guards kill the horse before it ate him.
While things had gone well so far with their plan for freedom, the situation changed while they had been out getting the man-eating horse. Part of the castle had been closed off after a lightning bolt struck it and nearly burned it down. According to the guards, Eurystheus had sacrificed the white bull to Zeus. Shortly before that, he had changed the list of heroic trials in an attempt to thwart their freedom. He didn't want to let them go. That angered Zeus; the ruling god had declared that he could not change the list further while two potential heroes were working on it.
"It's good to know he won't change it further, but aggravating that he'd pull that on us," Edgar said.
"Right, and these new trials could be more difficult," Alexander said.
'Clean the stables of the king in one day' had been changed to 'Bring back a golden apple of the Hesperides', because he now recognized that the original trial being so easily completed with magic made it a poor one.
'Bring alive at least three of Geryon's cattle' had been changed to 'Bring alive Cerberus, the hound of the underworld' as Eurystheus had not gotten to keep the cattle.
"There are multiple ways into the underworld," Edgar said. "I hear that there's even a proper entrance within these lands."
Alexander nodded. "I've heard that too." Then he pointed to the other. "I know of this item. The Hesperides are the daughters of the titan Atlas; supposedly he's the one that holds the entire sky upon his shoulders. The apples grow in a land of the gods not normally accessible by mortals, much like the underworld. However, the garden for the golden apples is extremely well hidden and guarded by many monsters sacred to the titans and their descendants."
"We can hold off on that one and see if we can argue for our release based on the ten original trials," Edgar suggested. "And, I have a good lead on how we can get the belt of Ares from the Amazon queen."
As it turned out, he had asked some questions on his own about why there were so few women around Mycenae. That led them to a meeting with Eurystheus' daughter Lydia and some other young women of the city-state. Lydia explained that in traditional Hellenistic ways, women were basically slaves too unless they could work for the gods.
"Otherwise, you're expected to be a dutiful daughter, then a dutiful wife, to stay at home and ensure that the man of the house has to do no work when he gets back. They usually don't beat us because beauty is far too important to maintain, but there are worse things than beatings." The other women nodded to Lydia's statement.
"I know what you mean," Alexander said, although he doubted his punishments under an evil wizard were like what they experienced.
"There is a way we can get out of it," Lydia said. "You see, we women of Hellenia have always admired the Amazons as independent women who can be heroes as well. The men of Hellenia admire the Amazons too, but they still try to keep us in the house and away from them. But the past few Amazon queens, including the current one Hippolyte, will allow any women of this land to train to become one of them. We just have to reach them."
"Of course, kings like Eurystheus make it really difficult for us," another woman said.
Lydia nodded. "Right, which is where you two come in. As long as you're with us, we can leave the city, supposedly on an afternoon outing since the weather is nice today. Iris has heard of where an Amazon camp is not far from the city, so we can take you there. The women at the camp should be able to direct you to their queen."
"That sounds like a good plan," Edgar said.
"Right, we'll be glad to help you out," Alexander said.
It wasn't much trouble escorting the young women outside Mycenae. Taking them over to the Amazon camp was a little rough because there were freely-roaming monsters in Hellenia once one got off the roads. As the horse had said, the many heroes had led to many monsters. The women had been doing some secret training to join the Amazons, but it was mostly up to Edgar and Alexander's magic to get rid of those that assaulted them.
After a couple of hours, they arrived at the Amazon's camp. It reminded Alexander of gypsy camps. They had huts on the backs of wagons, along with a number of horses and goats that traveled with the group. In one area, there were rods where skins they were tanning were hanging. A wagon devoted to wood gave them enough fuel to keep their fires going.
The leader of this group was willing to meet with them. On being asked where the queen would be, she shrugged. "Could be anywhere with her group; it's the season of hunts after all."
"Would it be easier to wait until the season is over and find her in a permanent city?" Alexander asked. With magic, they had gotten through most of the tasks in three months. As long as the queen would be in a city within the next nine months, they should be okay.
"That'll be about five moons from now, when we go to help with harvests," she said, going over to a trunk at the side of her hut. She pulled out two leather wrist straps and offered them. "Here, these will mark you as allies of our people; it's in thanks for helping the women of Mycenae here. It will allow you into our city and let those in camps like this know to treat you fairly."
"Thank you," Alexander said as they accepted the wrist straps. "Also, another of the tasks we need to complete is bringing back the skin of an invulnerable lion around Nemea. We're fairly sure we can hunt the lion ourselves, but we wouldn't know how to skin it. Would one of your hunting camps be able to help us with that?"
She smiled as if amused by the question. "If you can take down one of those lions, I'm sure they will. They'll charge you for the service, though. Actually, those lions are targets that bring great renown among our people as well. There's a good chance that one of our groups will be in that area."
When they made it to the Nemean area a couple weeks later, they were able to find one of the Amazon hunter camps quickly. The women there were skeptical of their ability to defeat one of the infamous lions. They were powerful monsters, transformed from mere beasts into creatures that ordinary weapons couldn't slay. However, Edgar knew several fairy spells of protection that kept the lion from harming them either. It could then be taken down just like the hydra: captured in a trap spell, then suffocated to death.
Skinning an invulnerable lion took special gear, of course. But the Amazon hunters had come prepared. As it turned out, their queen was young and using this hunt to prove herself to Diana, the goddess of the hunt. Hippolyte had already gotten a lion and lioness killed this year. "We usually resort to forcing them to eat poisoned meat or wrestling them down to be choked," she said. "Which takes a great deal of speed or strength. You men don't look like the sort capable of that."
Hippolyte was clearly capable of wrestling a lion, though. Alexander called out his wand. "Perhaps, but we both use magic, based on the might of mind and soul. I was able to draw the air out of its lung and keep it that way."
She looked thoughtful at that. "That would be a great way to get undamaged furs and skins. How do you do it?"
"It's a moderately difficult spell not suitable for a novice," he said. "You need to have an aptitude for magic, a wand for giving form to raw magical energy that's in practically everything, and knowledge of the words and runes to shape it all. Although, we can see if you have natural talent with just a wand. Want to try?"
"Sure!" Hippolyte said eagerly. "What do I do?"
They went outside of the camp, just to be sure no one got hurt. He also asked his wand to cooperate with her before handing it over; that reduced the possibility of backfiring. Using some archery targets they had, he had her attempt casting a small spark of magic at the targets. It took her some time to focus her mind in the right way to make the wand do anything, then her sparks went wildly astray. Watching her, Alexander felt like he'd gotten extremely lucky to use Manannon's dark wand as soon as he figured out how to get it. The wizard had always told him that he was an idiot and incapable of magic. But with how much trouble Hippolyte was having with a cooperative wand, he must have had a good talent to start with.
After a while, she shrugged and handed the wand back. "I've got my skills as a huntress, so I shouldn't need this magic. But I can tell what you meant by strength of soul. That was tiring and my mind is foggy now."
"A nap will clear that up," he said, then flicked the wand at the target. A needle of a magic bolt raced across the field and left a tiny scorch on the wooden target.
"Also, it's going to take a few weeks to get the skin fully prepared." She turned to them and put a hand on the belt she wore across her chest. It was holding a couple of daggers, a quiver, and her bow. "This is not the actual belt of Ares; that's a priceless artifact that we keep securely back home. But this is one of several precise replicas. The Mycenaean king should recognize one of them as what's required for your task. If he doesn't, I mean to go speak with him anyhow."
From the way she said it, Hippolyte didn't like Eurystheus either and was in no way going to give him a friendly talking to. "What do we need to do to earn one of those belts?" Alexander asked.
"Good on you to ask that instead of assuming you should have it like other men do," Hippolyte said. "I give them to those I recognize as heroes. You're both unusual, but you seem to have the right attitude. While you're waiting on the lion skin, I'm going to give you to a few tests. Nothing major like the king's trials, but enough to see what kind of warriors you are with that magic. If you do well, I'll let you keep one of the belts."
"Very well, we'll prove ourselves to you," Edgar said.
"Yes, we will," Alexander said, giving him a brief smile for speaking up for them instead of staying quiet as usual.
When they got back to Mycenae to report two more tasks completed, Hippolyte and her guard came with them. The Amazon queen sharply lectured Eurystheus for over an hour, about not adhering to the agreement the Amazons had with the Hellenistic kingdoms, about the trouble his heroic trials could cause, and about taking foreigners who'd not done anything wrong as slaves. The king was in a foul mood at the end of it all, but he allowed them to keep their trophies in the belt of Ares and the cloak made from the invulnerable lion skin.
The weapon belt and lion cloak were both more suited for the kind of heroes that Hellenia normally produced. However, Edgar found a way to enhance them with his fairy magic. The cloak made him tougher and the belt made him stronger, so wearing both turned him into a potentially good swordsman. Alexander then used the metal feathers from the Symphalian birds and a basic short sword bought from a Mycenaean blacksmith to give him an enchanted sword to learn with.
While that gave them more options to fight with, Alexander felt like they were valuable for making Edgar feel bolder. He'd been coming out of his meek and quiet shell this whole time in Hellenia. But wearing this gear today, Edgar had bartered confidently with the merchants about getting traveling supplies while Alexander had been busy examining the properties of spell ingredients on display. He'd even brushed off someone who flirted with him instead of trying to get away in embarrassment.
That was putting some tantalizing thoughts in Alexander's mind. Usually he kept those kind of feelings hidden and private. They were powerful in their drive today. Maybe it was because of this land's open attitude with it, or maybe it was how enchanting Edgar looked today. "I thought a cloak made of a lion's pelt would be much too savage, but it somehow suits you very well," Alexander said, trying to keep a leash on things. But that only made his feelings more insistent.
"It does make me feel great, like I could take on anything," Edgar said, smiling like never before. "I was freed from Mother's stifling control, but it lingered in my mind so long. It's only now that I feel truly free."
"This land has been troublesome to us, but I've been feeling the same way lately," he said. He tugged at the slave collar. "And we're so close to getting these off. I want to keep going on our journey together and see even more of the world, until we find a place we're truly comfortable with."
He nodded. "Right, that'd be wonderful. I'd go anywhere and do anything as long as it was with you." Then he suddenly got quiet again and looked at him.
Alexander wondered if it was just him or that look meant Edgar was feeling some of this too. They were out on a little used path, on the way to find the hind of Ceryneia in its secluded forest. Out here, there wasn't anyone else around. Not even monsters, just animals living ordinary lives. And they wouldn't think anything of… he should hold back and keep things proper.
But his eyes drifted over to meet with Edgar's and something slipped out. "I feel the same. Actually, I was wondering," this could be bad, but it could also be really wonderful, "what you might look like wearing just the lion pelt."
Fortunately, he was interested.
It took a few days of searching the forest to find the particular animal, which was quicker than they had planned on. She was the most beautiful of the beasts that they'd been tasked with finding, with sparkling golden horns and spotted fur of an earthy red. When they greeted her, she was surprised. "Oh? You wish to speak with me? I've never met mortals able to understand animals."
"It's normal for fairies and he uses enchantments," Edgar explained.
"Then you must be from other lands," she said, coming closer. "I've been curious about them, but my lady is a goddess prayed to by many mortals in Hellenia. She and I must stay here. Could you tell me about the lands you've seen?"
"Sure, we'd be glad to," Alexander said. "We're actually on heroic tasks to earn our freedom, which include bringing you back to the king we're forced into following. But the tasks never said anything about giving you to him, just bringing you before him. We'll bring you right back here if you come with us."
"Are they still wanting me like that?" the hind asked, bowing her head. "My lady will not be pleased. But given the collars you wear, you would not be blamed. Besides, they usually chase me around and try to wear me out. One ancient hero stalked me for an entire year; it was awful. But then you simply ask and you'll tell me stories of where you come from. All right, I'll come with you to visit this foolish king."
"Thank you, we're grateful for that," Alexander said. But they spent the rest of that day and the following night simply telling the hind stories of the lands they had seen.
When they got back to Mycenae with the hind, Eurystheus ordered his guards to put a bridle on her to make her his. The hind swiftly kicked the guard unconscious and fled with magic, leaving only a few leaves behind. "You two have caused me so much trouble," the king said in frustration.
"Then you wouldn't mind letting us go now that we've completed ten of your tasks within a year, as you asked for?" Alexander asked.
"I do mind and I won't be letting you go," Eurystheus said.
"That's breaking your honor as a Hellenistic king," Edgar said, surprising the others in the throne room by speaking up finally. "You already broke that honor by trying to replace two tasks we had completed; your gods rebuked you for that. As we have completed our end of the agreement to end this unjust enslavement, you must uphold your end."
"That is true," one of the king's advisers said. "And you don't want to anger the high king any further."
"Forget him," Eurystheus said, an unsettling smile on his face. "You two have broken one of my decrees. I said that I would be the first to bed you both, but you went and slept with each other. That means you either make it up to me personally or you complete the other two tasks still within the year's deadline."
"That's absurd, you have no proof of that," Alexander said.
He just laughed at that. "But you two have been very close to each other; many here have seen that. Last time you were here for breakfast, I had a potent aphrodisiac added to your meals so that I could have you that day. However, you then left town that morning and that drug does not wear off until it is satisfied. The only explanation of how you two didn't go mad from it was because you must have satisfied it with each other."
"That's still absurd and now cruel," he said, trying to hide his embarrassment that they hadn't noticed their meals being drugged.
The adviser rubbed his head. "Eurystheus, you… you moron! The only kind of drug that could have that kind of effect is now illegal by orders of the high king. Are you trying to get kicked out of power? Because that will be the only kind of result from making this situation even worse."
"Oh please, the solution to this is extremely simple," Eurystheus said smugly. "I will let them go if they just do as I ask. And it's a choice of either sleeping with a king or going to the underworld, which any sane person will find an easy choice."
"Right, we'll be going to the underworld and bringing back Cerberus then," Edgar said. The king snarled at them, but they simply left.
One of the guards caught them before they left, but only to let them know that this world be reported to the high king and likely to get Eurystheus dethroned, which would free them by default.
It would have been simplest to stay out of Mycenae until the high king brought Eurystheus to justice. But the hind of Ceryneia was waiting on them outside of the city. As they had given their word, they escorted her back to her home forest. She even shared one of her own stories with them along the way.
Back at the forest, she had news for them. "I learned of what tasks are remaining for you. Do not worry about the golden apple. I can assure you, that will solve itself. If you wish to bring Cerberus out of the underworld, then find the ghost of Orpheus in this forest. Do you know of his tale?"
"Yes, he tried to bring the ghost of his lover back to life, but turned back at the last minute and lost that chance," Alexander said.
The hind bowed her head. "His ghost wanders these lands, but I know he's here now. Sometimes he tries again despite being dead himself. If you can help him complete his failed mission, the lord of the underworld should agree to lending you his hound."
"Thank you, we'll do what we can for him," Alexander said.
After parting with the hind, they began searching the forest. It took a few days, but they heard his harp as they awoke one morning. He played such a sad and lonely song that it was difficult to keep tears from falling. "Even the trees and rocks are moved by this," Edgar said quietly as they followed the music. "No wonder the hind was certain he was here; she must have felt the mood of the forest."
"It has to be Orpheus then," he said.
At the edge of the forest, they found a man playing the harp while sitting on a tree stump. Normal people might have mistook him for living. But the feeling of cold and strength of spirit magic made it clear to Alexander and Edgar that this was a ghost. Animals and birds had gathered near him to listen even though the sadness of it made them slow to react to the two of them approaching.
They waited respectfully until the music slowed (though the soul of it made it hard to find words too). "Excuse me, are you Orpheus?" Alexander asked. It was a bit of courtly politeness that he had managed to learn.
"Yes," the ghost said, still playing slowly. "I'm sorry, but I'd rather be left alone."
"Actually, we were wondering if we could help you," he said. "We need to locate the entrance to the underworld. If you show us where it is, we'll be glad to help you with any business there."
That got him to stop playing. "You'd help me? I have a difficult task there. It may well be impossible, as..." his mind drifted off trying to remember.
"We'll do the best we can for you," Edgar said. "No one deserves to bear this weight of sadness."
"I must locate my love Eurydice in the underworld," he said, getting up from the stump. The birds and animals started to go back to their normal lives. "But I cannot look at her until we are both fully out. The voices whisper and lie, but the doubts…" he paused, then turned to them. "Do you have something to plug your ears with? One of the main obstacles is getting by the guardian Cerberus; I can put him to sleep, but the song would put to sleep any who hear it other than myself."
"Yes, that's no problem," Alexander said. There were a few enchantments where plugging one's ears was the best way to keep from going deaf or even insane.
It was quite some distance between the Ceryneian forest and the entrance to the underworld. Fortunately, Orpheus was able to maintain himself as a ghost even in daylight as he was back on his mission to reunite with Eurydice. He brought them to a mountain range where a cave hidden from ordinary sight was the passage from the world of the living to the world of the dead. Through a long winding cave, they passed by other spirits drifting on their way to a final rest.
Cerberus waited at a gateway of bones and skulls. The three-headed dog, as large as the lion they had hunted, growled at the two of them that were alive. His serpentine tail swished and seemed ready to attack. But Orpheus soon had him asleep. The ghost waited until they were past the gate before moving on, still playing his lullaby.
Not far from the gate, they came to the river crossing. Charon gazed at them unnervingly as they approached. Once Orpheus explained they were helping him, the cloaked ferryman nodded and waved them onto his boat. On the other side, Charon got hold of Alexander's sleeve as he was the closer of them. "You only get one shot at this," the ferryman said softly, in a voice that would have been dreadful if used normally.
"All right," he replied, then whispered it to Edgar as they headed on after Orpheus.
But they had a plan they'd discussed while searching the forest. Once the harp's music drew Eurydice to them, Edgar said to Orpheus, "You can do this."
"I hope so," he said, starting to lead the way back.
Edgar went on to say, "The two of us have only been in love a few months now, but I can see how this would be hard. She wants to be back with you too, I'm sure of it. Trust in her."
"She'll be fine, we'll make it," Alexander added.
"Right," Orpheus said. "It's been so long without her… no, I'll keep faith this time. Then I can be with her. I don't even care if we live again or not, I just don't want to be without her."
"Keep strong," Alexander said. They continued talking with him all the way over: over the river crossing, past the still slumbering Cerberus, up the winding tunnel to the surface.
Once they were within sight of the exit, Orpheus slowed down. "Is she truly with us still? I want her to be."
"She is," Alexander said quickly, trying to nudge him ahead before he turned around. "It's not much further."
"But the gods toy with us mortals, they might try to trick me," Orpheus said.
"If anyone's trying to trick you, it's into looking back," Edgar said. "Keep moving forward."
"Keep faith in Eurydice," Alexander told him.
"Right, she wouldn't trick me," Orpheus said, going towards the exit. He left the cave, even waited out there a moment looking out to the countryside.
"Orpheus!" Eurydice said in a faint voice, appearing right as she embraced him from behind.
"Eurydice?" he asked in disbelief, clasping her hand and turning around.
"I followed your music for so long, trying to find..." her voice grew faint as did their forms. Once their eyes met, they faded entirely into wispy lights like other souls.
Without warning, a nine-foot-tall man in a long cloak appeared. Hades had long black hair and a surprisingly gentle look to his face. He held his hand out to the two souls. "On their behalf, I thank you for finally putting these two to rest. They are long overdue; I will bring them to their proper place myself."
"We're glad to help them," Alexander said; Edgar nodded beside him. "But we did have something to ask of you." He then explained about the trial they were on.
Hades listened patiently, although his lips tightened at hearing of the request. "I thought I made it clear to the kings here that I did not want Cerberus involved in their heroic trials. Even when he is put to sleep, we must be on extra guard to make sure no unworthy souls escape the underworld. Such ghosts cause an enormous amount of trouble."
"Sorry about that," Alexander said.
He shook his head. "I don't blame you for this. As long as you remind them of that and allow him to return immediately, I'll let you take him to fulfill this trial. Take this with you." He offered a golden pendant with a runic mandala carved into it. "Many monsters are ruthless and evil, but there are those like Cerberus who are good in spite of their nature as a monster. This pendant will let good monsters know you are a worthy ally and they will not attack you. Evil ones won't recognize it at all, and from that you know which are best gotten rid of."
"Thank you, that will be of great help," he said, accepting the pendant.
"I'll send Cerberus up shortly once he's awake and I'm sure the gate is secure," Hades said, then headed back to the underworld with the souls of Orpheus and Eurydice.
With the guardian beast of the underworld at their side, they made their way back to Mycenae. They found that Kyria had returned, along with her father in the high king of Hellenia. Their voices came through the open door to the throne room clearly. "Times are changing, Eurystheus. We need to think more about everyone in our lands, not just a select few."
"It won't work!" Eurystheus said defiantly. "Every city-state has risen to glory based on the strongest among us leading the rest. That's how society works. If you suddenly start telling everyone that they will be treated fairly, then society will grind to a halt! And you know why? It's because everyone will want to be heroes and no one will want to do the day to day mundane tasks that we should have slaves for!"
"That's only been so in your city-states," Kyria said. "You treat the people poorly. That is why they keep leaving, and why Tiryns has bid for independence from Mycenae."
"Should we interrupt?" Edgar asked.
Between them, Cerberus twitched some of his ears. "Forget whatever counts as politeness in this society, I must return to my duty quickly." The monster dog then headed right into the throne room; the guards weren't about to try stopping him.
There were gasps and sounds of weapons being drawn as he did, as well as a fearful scream. When they got in, Eurystheus had jumped onto his throne. "Wh-what is the meaning of this?" he demanded.
The high king and princess had respectfully moved aside for Cerberus. "You told us to complete your heroic trials and we've done two more," Alexander said calmly. "This is Cerberus, guardian of the underworld, as you requested."
"We also have the golden apple of the Hesperides," Edgar said, bringing that out. It had been a gift of gratitude from the hind's mistress as they had treated her favorite pet well and returned her safely. "But the goddess Diana is angry with you for using her golden horned hind as a trial. She says you are not to have the hind nor the apple."
Alexander nodded. "Hades is also angry with you as he has previously requested that Cerberus no longer be involved with heroic trials. He wants to be clear that his request still stands and any who ignore it, such as yourself, will be punished."
"How on earth did you actually finish those two trials?" Eurystheus asked in disbelief, although he still fearfully watched Cerberus. "And twelve of them within a year? It took over ten years for the greatest hero Heracles to perform them."
"You'd be amazed at what treating people with respect can accomplish," Edgar said.
"May I go now?" Cerberus asked, snorting in a way that made flames flicker out of one of his mouths. It made Eursytheus whimper; Cerberus growled at the cowardice and the king jumped right into the giant pot by his throne to hide.
"Are our trials recognized so that we may let Cerberus get back to his duty?" Alexander asked.
"Yes, get rid of him," the king said from within his pot.
"You recognize that they have completed twelve of your trials within one year and thus are worthy of being free men and heroes?" Kyria asked firmly. Meanwhile, one of the guards had picked up the lid to the giant pot.
After a pause (and another growl from Cerberus), Eurystheus said, "Yes, they are now heroes, and free men."
The high king nodded, leading the guard to put the lid on the pot. "Good, I'm glad we could get that settled. And now you have been captured. By your own logic, because you have been captured, you are no longer worthy as a king and will be tried for your crimes as an ordinary man."
The pot shook, but the guard was keeping the lid held down. "That's not fair! I'm of royal blood; I do not deserve this treatment!"
"You're a dishonorable coward and will get what's coming to you," the high king said.
"Now and after death," Cerberus said, then left to head back home.
The people of Hellenia asked that they stay for a celebration of becoming true heroes, which Alexander and Edgar agreed to. But when they asked that they take over Mycenae and Tiryns from Eurystheus, they refused. These lands were better off under the rule of those who understood their particular customs.
There were personal reasons for leaving too. "Being in Hellenia did bring us together, but I'd rather not stay in any place I was enslaved," Alexander said, glad to finally have that slave collar off them both. "It's why I'd like to move to my own lab somewhere outside of Llewdor, as nice as that area is."
"I agree with you there," Edgar said, nudging his hand. Alexander took it and he smiled. "So, where to now? You have your own wand and we're officially heroes."
Alexander smiled warmly at him. "Wherever the roads may take us, until we find someplace we can call home."
"That sounds wonderful to me."