Chapter One

The room shook as the congregation chanted. Ropes tied Dean Winchester to an old wooden beam. Flames danced around a carved out altar. His brother stood beside him, bound to his own wooden beam. The words were in a language Dean could not understand, but he knew it was old and forgotten. The entire ceremony looked ancient. Men and women gathered around the altar in white robes.

A deep gash adorned Sam's head. One of the followers had whacked him with a metal spear. They carried swords and spears instead of modern weapons. Their hair was braided and long—even on the men. Sam probably knew what language they were chanting in, but he had a pained look on his face as he tried to undo the thick knots around his wrists. The lead of the congregation, Krsai, raised an old necklace above the altar.

The necklace was simple and rather plain. It had a brown string and a black woven symbol dangling from it. Dean knew it belonged to a vessel. Krsai planned to conquer Heaven with the aid of ancient demon. An evil so old it lived during the times of ancient Greece. A demon that nearly destroyed the world. His name was Dahak.

In order to bring the demon back to life, Krsai had a small problem. He had to bring back the demon's first vessel. A vessel that had a warrior's heart. Dean was meant to be a spectator—and a potential sacrifice if Krsai could not summon the first vessel at first. The followers had ambushed Sam and Dean on the road. They surrounded them with big muscle cars and drove them off the road. The brothers fought back, but they were out numbered and taken to an abandoned mansion somewhere in the Midwest.

He had died before and encountered angels in the past, but the thought of hosting this ancient evil got under his skin. It scared him. He would never admit it to anyone breathing, not even to Sam. The thought of running around as some red eyed demon bent on destroying Earth bothered him. He hoped they managed to revive the first vessel so he could escape and put an end to this madness. Krsai needed a warrior's heart. The congregation considered hunters to be warriors of their own merit—and the Winchester's had a great hunting legacy.

Krsai waved the necklace over the flames, prayed a final chant, and dropped it into the fire. The fire exploded. Lightning bolted around the room. The earth shook. When the bright streak of brilliant white light faded, Dean could see a man lying upon the altar. He was not very tall and he had long, curly blond hair. He sported black leather pants and a purple vest that looked as if it had survived many sewings. His eyes snapped open as Krsai moved toward him. He raised a long, curved knife and pointed it at the man's heart. Dean swore and tugged at the ropes, wanting to stop the death of this stranger.

Much to Dean's surprise, the vessel began to move, and he moved with lighting speed. He leapt off the altar and snatched the knife away from Krsai. The leader swore and began to shout orders. The followers obeyed and attacked the man. He's a goner Dean thought sourly. In a whirl of activity, the vessel began to dispatch the congregation. His graceful movement caught them by surprise. As they moved towards him with their swords drawn, he disarmed the first man to reach him and spun his way through the rest of the crowd.

The vessel kicked and punched his way to Krsai, but the leader abandoned his efforts and headed for the door. The congregation lay defeated and injured on the ground. Every one of them was alive. The man finally noticed Sam and Dean standing under the wooden beams. He moved towards them, Krsai's knife in his hands. Dean tilted his head and watched as he expertly sliced through the thick ropes.

"We need to get out of here," Dean said as he looked over at Sam, "they'll come after you again."

The man said something in his own language and finished freeing Dean. Then he turned to free Sam.

"You okay?" Dean asked.

"I think so," Sam said as right wrist was freed from the rope, "maybe we can find a ride. I hope they left the Impala intact."

"Yeah," Dean said as he gestured at the blond, "you should come with us."

The man seemed to understand. He nodded and motioned at the arched doorway.

"This way," Sam said as he stepped away from the wooden beam, "this guy's got some serious moves. Krsai said he needed a warrior's heart."

"He must be a warrior of some kind," Dean agreed, "maybe we have a chance against this Dahak character with his help."

Sam lead the way out of the old mansion. They walked past dusty picture frames that were empty. A layer of grime covered the marble floor. The house was cold and dark without the light of the congregation. The blond followed them, though he seemed fascinated by the world around him. Dean wondered just how old he was—and figured he must have lived long ago if Dahak considered him his first vessel. At least they had a new ally.

A black car waited for them in the driveway. The Impala was still intact. Dean smiled and opened the driver's side door.

"Guess we finally had some luck," he said and motioned for the man to get in, "let's roll."

"Where are we going?" Sam asked. "They found us before—-they can find us again."

"I think we need some help," Dean decided, "let's go to Bobby's place."

"Come on, Blondie," Dean insisted, "get in."

The man seemed enamored by the Impala. He walked around the car with a slow purpose, as if he had never seen a car before. He moved to the front of the door and stared into the windshield.

"He's probably never seen a car," Sam said as if he could read his thoughts, "maybe we should tell him our names?"

Leave it to his brother for proper etiquette. Dean felt impatient, eager to get some road between themselves and the creepy old mansion. He slapped his chest and got Blondie's attention.

"Dean," he said, "my name is Dean."

Sam mimicked his motions. "Sam. I am Sam."

Blondie seemed to understand. He pointed at Dean. "Dean." He said with a thick accent. "Sam." Then he slapped his own chest. "I-olaus."

"Boy," Dean said, "that's a mouthful. What's his name?"

"I think he said Iolaus," Sam said, "we should go to Bobby's place."

"Maybe I can find a language spell," he said, "so we can fight Krsai and understand our new friend."

"Sounds like a plan," Dean said, "we've got a find a way to stop Krsai from reviving this demon."

The Impala pealed out of the driveway and raced north.

Two

Iolaus sat in the back of the black car and listened to his new allies chatter amongst themselves. He needed to fix the communication discrepancy quick. There were mounting challenges ahead. He needed to do one thing; find Hercules. They needed to go west. Before the priest had resurrected him, he had been in Heaven, waring with rogue Angels. He did not know what Hercules had been up to, only that he had gone into monster hunting and succeeded. At least, those were the rumors the Angels in heaven had told him.

He was contemplating expressing the fact that he needed to go east when a figure dressed in black leather appeared before him. Ares grinned at him.

"I'd say it's almost good to see a familiar face," the God of War said, "but we have a problem."

"They're trying to bring back Dahak," Iolaus replied, "and I'm a target."

"You always were quick on the upkeep," Ares said, "I'm the only Greek God left aside from my half brother."

"I heard that," Iolaus returned, "I heard what happened all those years ago—-how even the Elysian Fields were destroyed."

There had been a war between Greek Gods and Angels. The Gods put up a good fight, but they were no match for the newly created heavens. Iolaus had been there for the birth of Christ and witnessed many monsters meet their end at the hands of Hercules in Ancient Greece. They fought side by side, and Iolaus longed for that fight once more. Looking up front, he saw that his new friends—Sam and Dean—were staring at him as if he had gone mad.

Then he realized that it appeared as though he were talking to himself. They could not see the God of War. He motioned at Sam and Dean.

"Can you help with the language barrier?" Iolaus asked. "It might help us find Hercules."

"I don't know where my half brother is," Ares confessed, "but I do know that he's a like them."

The God of War pointed at Sam and Dean. "He's a hunter. A demigod hunter. The things that go bump in the night fear him. He's the most successful hunter that ever lived. In fact, there are rumors that he started the whole trend."

"I heard," Iolaus muttered, "it'd be nice to understand them."

Ares waved his fingers and Iolaus felt a slight jolt of energy. "There you go. I'll be in touch. Find Hercules. Stop Dahak."

With a flash of light, Ares disappeared into thin air. Iolaus was used to such coming and goings. He had witnessed many gods come and go during his life on Earth. He had experienced the supernatural most of his life. In his days living in Ancient Greece, he had been a warrior. Dahak had once possessed him and attempted to steal his soul, but Hercules had recused him and he'd ascended into heaven. Afterwards, he had returned to earth to help fight some vampires and stop the Apocalypse.

"Who were you talking to?" Sam asked as he fiddled with the bandage on his head.

Dean sighed. "He can't understand you."

Iolaus grinned. "Sure I can."

They both jumped a little, clearly surprised by his sudden ability to speak English.

"What kind of juju are you using?" Dean accused, "'cause you couldn't speak a word of English before!"

"Ares," Iolaus explained, "he helped me understand you. He just stopped by. That's who I was talking to."

"I didn't see anyone," Sam narrowed his eyes, "how come you're the only one who can see him?"

"It's a god thing," Iolaus said, "they rarely appear to mortals."

"We've seen other gods," Dean insisted, "and they appeared to us."

"Greek Gods are different," Iolaus continued, "they were petty and cruel when I was alive in Ancient Greece. I fought against them with Hercules."

Sam did a double take. "Hercules? As in the Hercules—-son of Zeus?"

"That's the one," Iolaus answered, "we need to find him so he can stop the priests from resurrecting Dahak. Trust me, we don't need that problem again. The world may not survive it. I was once possessed by Dahak after I died in a foreign land. It cost us everything to stop the demon."

"You died before?" Dean asked, perplexed.

"Sure," Iolaus dismissed his concern with a wave of his hand, "a couple of times, but Herc always brought me back. We're best friends. Warriors. We grew up together."

"Our best chance of finding him is seeing Bobby," Sam reasoned, "he might be able to help."

"We could ask Castiel," Dean thought aloud, "he might be able to tell us where Hercules is."

"Just as long as we find him," Iolaus decided, "could you step on it?"

The Impala sped up, flying down the road at dangerous speeds as Dean ran stop signs and gunned it towards Bobby's place.