Hi All. I've dived into a second Atlantis fanfic. It loosely follows on from my previous story, A Meeting with the Queen, but if you don't want to read that one first, all you need to know is that Pasiphae made an offer to Jason that she would renounce all interest in Atlantis if he would become her second in command, and he refused. And Medea knows Jason is Pasiphae's son.

This story is set after Telemon. So forget everything that comes after! lol. Not easy, I know.

Chapter 1

Jason raised a silent hand to halt the progress of the small group behind. He scanned the trees to the right for a long moment, dismounted his horse, removed the sword from his saddle and walked over to where Gaius, one of Queen Ariadne's guards, was mounted.

"I'm going to have a look to the right."

Hercules and Pythagoras were mounted behind Gaius, heard what Jason said, and immediately looked to the right, trying to see what Jason might have seen.

There was no urgency in Jason's tone, it was the fourth time he'd dismounted this day to investigate a flash out of the corner of his eye. Twice he'd found nothing, a fleet-footed animal presumably, and the third time had been a group of harmless travellers making camp. But the wariness was justified. They were travelling only as a group of four, but they were carrying the future of Atlantis in their cargo, a fortune in gold to get the city back on its feet after the destruction caused by Pasiphae's army.

Gaius had been handpicked by Dion to accompany them on the journey, extolled as one his finest and most reliable men. Jason wasn't sure if the chaperone was for their security or to ensure that some of the gold didn't fall into their pockets, but he'd proved agreeable company, not too demanding of them over the four day journey, wise and efficient with their time and plans. He was patient with Jason making sorties away from the party, respectful of his skill and intuition. And with Atlantis less than a day's ride away, Gaius was as determined as Jason that their assignment not fail so close to completion.

"Make your path further to the left," Jason cautioned. "And move a little faster. I'll catch up with you."

"What do you think it might be?" Gaius asked.

"An animal?" Jason smiled apologetically. He was being overcautious. And he didn't like making their small group smaller. Riding through the forest was both a blessing and a curse, it meant they were hard to discover, but it also meant danger could be waiting around every corner, it was difficult to see past trees and undergrowth.

Gaius nodded tightly, walked his horse up beside Jason's and looped the reins of Jason's horse into his own so that the unmanned animal would match pace.

Hercules watched his friend jog into the woodlands with misgivings. Each time Jason went off alone it felt wrong, Hercules had the urge to accompany him. But they'd had that argument. Jason had insisted the gold must be protected. And he assured that he was only scouting, that if he saw anything threatening he would return with haste and they would tackle the danger together. Hercules wasn't sure he believed him. He didn't really trust that Jason could walk away from a threat. He wasn't sure Jason would want to. Since Ariadne's betrothal to Telemon he'd developed a recklessness, a disregard for his safety that was exasperating. And a little frightening. As skilled as Jason was in combat, a solitary man could easily be overcome.

"Come on," Pythagoras quietly urged, moving his horse forward, following Gaius to the left as Jason had directed.

Jason jogged noiselessly over the leaf litter in the direction where something had caught his eye. For about a mile he saw nothing, and he stopped, gathered his bearings, and was considering whether to return to the group when he smelled smoke. He noted the direction of the wind and made a rough calculation about where the fire might be and changed his path to follow. He hurried through the forest, and idly knew that he was venturing too far off their route, that it would take an age for him to catch up (and boy would Hercules have something to say about that), but he was urged on by the fear that a horde may be preparing to attack their small band. Though he was confident there could be no particular plan to steal their treasure, only a few trusted people in Atlantis knew about the mission, it didn't diminish the possibility of being set upon by a random band of thieves, who would unwittingly score the haul of their lives.

Movement ahead made Jason slow, and the sight of figures made him duck behind the safety of trees. As he edged closer, he recognized the attire of the men nearest and realized in dismay that he had stumbled upon the camp of the Colchean army. Dion had said nothing about their presence so close to Atlantis, in fact the general had assured them that the marauding army were widely dispersed, and Jason had to assume it meant the enemy had only been in the area a few days.

He pressed himself against a large trunk and watched for a moment, gauging how much of a threat they posed. There didn't seem to be a flurry of movement, there didn't appear to be any purpose to their actions, no call to arms, no threat of imminent attack, they were simply making camp in the forest and he suspected they knew nothing of the important Atlantean mission traveling dangerously close to their southern border. Jason felt greatly relieved. With their superior numbers the Colcheans could easily overpower the small retinue. In all the planning for the mission, it had never been anticipated that they might encounter an army, and it was by way of luck that their path had taken them far enough from the enemy base that they had managed to pass unnoticed.

A heavy blow to the back made Jason suck in a breath and drop to his knees. He twisted around and saw an archer about ten feet away, young and wide eyed. As the soldier reached for another arrow, Jason pushed himself to his feet and raced toward the man. The archer stiffened in panic. They were in a race to see who could land the next blow. The archer drew the arrow smoothly from the bag at his back, but faltered inserting it into the bow as Jason bore down on him. With a furious expression Jason swung at the man, knocking him to the ground, and finished him off with a strike to the chest that pierced the protective leather and closed his eyes forever.

Jason withdrew his sword from the body with a strong tug, wearily dismayed by the unexpected confrontation, at having killed a young man. He stumbled backward a few steps and collapsed to a sit. His breath was harsh, gasping, and he took a moment to settle it, tilted his face upward to aid the flow of air. As the adrenaline faded he was troubled by a deep ache in his spine. He reached a hand over his shoulder and felt the shaft of an arrow protruding from his back, between his shoulder blades. He tried to grasp the arrow and pull it out, but the angle was difficult, he couldn't quite get his hands in the right spot to pull it cleanly, and pulling at it from a direction other than the way it went in was excruciating. After a few minutes he had to stop the effort, tugging ineffectually was only causing pain, and probably more damage, it would have to stay embedded for now.

Using his sword as support, Jason gained his feet. He took some staggered steps, and the way it jarred his back, made his wound shriek, caused him to groan and drop his head. He reached out a hand to a nearby tree and leaned heavily against it, his jelly legs struggling to keep him upright.

He knew he couldn't stay. He couldn't show himself any mercy, he had to move before another soldier happened across him and finished him off. He needed to put some distance between himself and the Colchean camp, then he could rest and regroup, consider his options from there, figure out how to reach his friends who were now so very far away. If he made a start, and set a steady pace, he trusted his instincts to take control. Just get away from the Colcheans, he told himself, and everything would work itself out.

He wasn't a big believer in The Gods, but if ever they were going to protect him, he hoped now was the time.

He closed his eyes, took in a few bracing breaths and pushed off from the tree.

"Where is he?" Hercules paced like a restless tiger.

Pythagoras could only shrug.

"He should be here by now. We're sitting ducks with a fortune in gold waiting for a foolish boy to return from his Sunday stroll."

Pythagoras looked at his friend reproachfully. They both knew that whatever was keeping Jason it wasn't a lack of urgency.

None of them had been happy about the danger of the mission. Four men escorting a fortune in gold seemed a fraught venture, stupid, Hercules went so far as to call it. But Dion had insisted the men could make a much faster journey, and attract much less attention than a palace entourage. The gold was desperately needed. The city was running out of money, and without it repairs would halt and the economy would falter. And so it was, for the greater good, that the men had been persuaded to the make the journey to the neighboring kingdom and take delivery of the generous handout. Despite their misgivings. Despite the thousands of ways it could go wrong.

More tense minutes passed. "Something's happened," Hercules exploded.

"Maybe he just can't find us," Pythagoras reasoned, it was incredibly difficult to find bearings among the uniform trees, even if they had walked this forest innumerable times.

"No," Hercules shook his head. "Something's happened. I'm going to go look for him."

"You cannot," Gaius directed sternly. "You are on a royal mission. To abandon that mission would be treason. We must deliver the gold."

"Jason is probably hurt," Hercules insisted, and shifted his eyes from the soldier to Pythagoras, trying to get his majority, to rebel against the command.

"We are carrying a fortune in gold…" Pythagoras argued weakly. Logically, they should deliver the gold first. The consequences if their mission failed, if the gold was lost, would be catastrophic, Atlantis would never recover. But Jason is probably hurt gave him pause, because it was probably true. Hurt or captured could be the only reasons for Jason's delay, nothing else would have diverted him from such an important duty. And he felt a real urge to search for his friend, just as Hercules did, Jason couldn't be far. He was torn inside between what the mind guided and what the heart guided.

"We will deliver the gold, then return to find Jason," Gaius suggested, not unsympathetic to the predicament.

"He could be dying!" Hercules exclaimed. "He could be dead before we return."

"Hercules, please," Pythagoras beseeched, not wanting to contemplate their friend in such awful circumstance. "He was only scouting. He probably twisted his ankle or something."

Hercules wasn't convinced. "There are thousands of bandits in this forest," he exaggerated. "If he happened upon a group of them..." he ran his thumb along his throat. "Curtains."

"If he came upon a group of bandits that is all the more reason for us to make haste to Atlantis, they won't be far behind," Gaius reasoned.

Hercules blew out a breath in disgust and ran a hand over his head.

"Let me take an hour to look for him." It was Pythagoras who made the suggestion, and Gaius looked at him in surprise.

Hercules eyes shone in relief. "Yes, I'll come with you."

"No." Pythagoras fixed plaintive blue eyes upon his friend. "You must remain here with Gaius and protect the gold. This mission is too important to fail."

"Then I shall go," Hercules stated impatiently. "And you stay here."

"No." Pythagoras clicked his tongue at Hercules stubbornness. "You are the largest of us, and if bandits were to attack, you stand a much better chance of defeating them than me."

Hercules growled, not wanting to hear reason and paced away from his friend.

Pythagoras shifted his focus to the soldier. Gaius hadn't commented on the proposal for a limited search and judging by the look on his face, he wasn't pleased with the notion.

"Please Gaius, just an hour. I will backtrack along our path and if I don't find Jason I will return."

"You can't go alone," Hercules objected from several paces away.

"I must," Pythagoras retorted. Suddenly he remembered Telemon travelling solo and being set upon by bandits in the forest. As improved as his fighting skills were, he wasn't sure he could overcome a band of thieves on his own. In worrying about Jason he hadn't really considered the danger he was inviting upon himself. But the sun still shone and would do for many hours, and it would be unlucky to be attacked in daylight, especially while on horseback, he reassured himself.

"One hour," Gaius unwillingly conceded. He closed his eyes and shook his head like it was a concession he really didn't want to make. "Understand that if you are not back in one hour we must continue the journey without you, and you will be guilty of treason."

"Or dead," Pythagoras added soberly.

Hercules begrudgingly helped Pythagoras remove the cargo of gold that was slung over his mount. Each of their horses was carrying pouches of gold, it was more convenient than pulling a cart but it meant a lot of extra weight on the animals and slowed them considerably. In a low voice he said, "This is a bad idea."

"I know," Pythagoras returned.

"We shouldn't be splitting up."

"I know."

As Pythagoras climbed onto his horse, Hercules put a hand on his arm and said, "I will not leave two friends in the forest."

Pythagoras looked at Hercules, the big man's face pinched and tight, and understood what he meant, that if he didn't return in one hour, Hercules would come looking for him, treason or not.