"I think the Sandersonni plants are eating the dwarves

"I think the Sandersonni plants are eating the dwarves." Hercules told his two friends. "I remember when I was a kid my mother used to tell me stories of meat eating plants."

"Ah, but that can't be right!" Jason argued. He stuck a finger into his mouth and gently poked at his ruined molar. He frowned at what he felt and winched as sharp pain coursed through his jaw. "I was standing right next to those plants, remember? They didn't bother me at all! And what about that dwarf that works in the plant rooms? How come they didn't eat him? Huh?"

"Yeah!" Iolaus said as he glanced up the steep tunnel toward where the rust monster had vanished. "We were right there in the room with the plants! We're still here. Those plants didn't even move or anything. I think it's some big bug thing, like that thing we just saw. Maybe it wasn't *that" monster, but there must be lots of things crawling around down here! And speaking of monsters, I think we better get moving before something finds us. Besides, man-eating plants are just a myth!"

"We thought basilisks were only a myth, too, until one hatched in front of our eyes." Hercules reminded them. The Demi-God rose to his feet and stretched. His headache pounded behind his blue eyes and he wished it would go away. He realized he was tired of being stuck underground. Everything was so dark and cold down here. Not a physical cold but a cold that chilled his soul. There were no colors. He really wanted to go up to the surface and feel the sun on his face, the green grass underneath him, the gentle caress of a breeze. He wanted to lie on his back in the field near the Academy and stare up at the white clouds in the bright blue sky, daydreaming of the day he would finally meet Zeus. Or run wild with the guys in a game of melonball. Heck, even taking one of Fiddle Face's tests sounded good right now! He rubbed at his tired eyes. "Look, I know it must have something to do with those berry plants. This ring and this button are from missing dwarves. They must be. We just need to figure out how the berry plants are eating them."

"But that still can't be right." Iolaus argued. "Because the plants are up there and the dwarves are missing from down here."

"But the roots are down here!" Hercules shouted. "That must be it! Plants eat with their roots, right? Some roots can get really long."

"That's just crazy, Hercules!" Jason moaned.

"Come on, we have a job to do." Hercules headed back up the steep tunnel until he reached the area where the tunnels branched. He waited until Jason and Iolaus joined him. He stared at the two tunnels and decided to take the middle passageway. He carefully inched into in and started down it. He held the torch aloft so he could see the area directly before him. He paid extra close attention to the ceiling.

"So what are we looking for?" asked Iolaus.

"Something like that." Hercules pointed. Thin white threads hung down from the ceiling to the floor. They were so skinny they were almost invisible against the dark tunnel. Hercules had a funny suspicion that with infravision they would be invisible. The dwarves would walk right into them and get caught. They reminded Hercules of the silk spiders used to make their webs.

"So? What's the big deal about a few lone pieces of spider silk?" asked Iolaus as he pushed Hercules out of the way. He moved closer and stared at the white threads that dangled from the ceiling. "It's not even an entire web! And we can see there are no spiders around here. Heck, there probably cobwebs! I got thicker cobwebs than those in my room back at the Academy! And what's so dangerous about these? I can break them with my hand!"

Iolaus reached out to swat the white strings with his hand.

"Iolaus, don't!" Hercules cried.

As Iolaus' hand touched the silky threads, a round hole opened in the ceiling and a powerful wind started to suck at Iolaus. Iolaus screamed as his feet left the rock floor and he started to fly up towards the black opening.

Hercules took a running start and leaped at Iolaus. He collided into his friend and wrapped his arms around Iolaus' legs. The Demi-Gods' momentum carried them to the other side of the tunnel where they both crashed to the hard stone floor. Hercules shook his hair out of his eyes and sat up. He winched at the sudden pain on his elbow. He twisted his arm and saw the skin was scraped off his elbow. He slapped Iolaus on his chest. "Why did you have to do that for? You could have been killed!"

"How the heck was I supposed to know it would do that?" Iolaus said as he slowly stood and brushed imaginary dust off his clothes.

"I told you! Those things must be trigger hairs." Hercules also climbed to his feet. He stared at the thin curtain of trigger hairs that hung from the ceiling. He and Iolaus were on one side, Jason on the other. So was the torch. "We have to figure a way out of this mess. If we try to go back the way we came, it'll get us."

"I'm sorry, Herc. Really." Iolaus said. "Thanks for saving me."

"That's OK. Just don't do it again." Hercules closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead again. The centaurs were still holding races behind his eyes. "When we get out of this place, I never want to see another cave again."

"Hey! What if we use the torch to burn the trigger hairs?" Iolaus asked. "Do you think that might work?"

"It's worth a try." Hercules replied. He glanced past the curtain of trigger hairs to see the torch lying on the stone floor. The fire flickered weakly. The torch needed to be upright so it could burn properly. If it went out, they'd be stuck underground in total darkness. He shifted his blue eyes from the torch to Jason. The Prince of Corinth was about an arm's length away from the torch. He sat with his back against the tunnel wall, the berry bag on his outstretched legs. He was eating berries with both hands at once. Hercules noticed that Jason squeezed each berry before he popped it into his mouth. The pink juice dripped down his hands and forearms, leaving pink trails of juice. The Prince had his eyes closed and noisily sucked the juice off his fingers.

"Jason!" Hercules called loudly.

Jason acted like he didn't hear Hercules and kept eating the Sandersonni.

"I don't think he hears you. He's too addicted to those things." Iolaus stated.

"I know that!" Hercules yelled at Iolaus. The Demi-God turned around and examined the floor. The torchlight was rapidly growing weaker and it was getting harder to see anything. Hercules knelt down and started to feel around for a rock. Finding one, he tossed it at Jason. The rock bounced off Jason's arm and landed with a loud clatter. Jason opened his eyes and blinked at the rock in confusion.

"Jason! Pick up the torch!" Hercules urged.

Jason glanced at Hercules, his eyes glazed. He reached for more berries.

"NO! The torch! Pick up the torch. I know you can do it." Hercules pulled on his hair in frustration. He wanted to bang his head against the stone wall, but his hurted too much. He wanted to scream, to grab Jason by his fancy leather tunic and shake him until he snapped out of his berry addiction. "Oh, this is my fault! I should have thrown that stupid bag away a long time ago! But I didn't and looked how far he deteriated."

"It's not your fault, Herc." Iolaus said. "He was already addicted to those things when we arrived in Corinth."

"Yes it *is* my fault! I should have dropped that bag down a crevice." Hercules turned back towards Jason. He knew he had to keep trying. "Jason, pick up the torch. Look, it's right there. Just reach out and grab it."

Jason reached out towards the torch and folded his fingers around the handle. Slowly he lifted it upward. The fire flickered and grew a bit brighter.

"That's great. Now stand up. I know you can do that." Hercules urged his friend. He hated to see Jason reduced to this.

Jason rolled over onto his knees. The berry bag tumbled onto the floor and a few berries spilled out. Hercules was alarmed to realize how empty the bag was. Leaning against the wall, Jason slowly climbed to his feet. He swayed slightly up and back and his legs trembled. Jason fell back against the wall and leaned on it, the torch in one hand.

"Ok, now lift the torch. Burn these white threads." Hercules told him. He turned to Iolaus and they exchanged a worried look. Jason was in worse shape than either had thought.

Jason inched closer towards the white threads, his back still resting against the wall. He slowly lifted the torch. The higher he lifted his arm, the more it shook. When it was about a foot away from the curtain of threads, Jason dropped his arm back against his side. He slumped to a sitting position and rested his head against his knees. When he lifted his head, his face was wet. "I can't Herc, I can't! It's too hard!"

"Of course you can, Jason! Think of all the things you accomplished!" Hercules told Jason from the other side of the white trigger hairs. "You're a Prince! You're going to rule Corinth one of these days, you're one of Chiron's best students. In fact, you're so good that he lets you lead drills! And nobody can beat you at bagball! And now you're saying you can't lift a torch after all of things we did together? You *have* to do this! If you don't, we'll be stuck here forever."

"Yeah! Think of all of the times you whipped Strife and Discord in fights!" Iolaus reminded his friend. "They'll never let you live it down if you can't lift a simple torch. You don't want those two to win, do you? Come on, just try again!"

"OK, I'll try again." Jason forced himself to his feet. He breathed in deeply and pushed himself away from the wall. He was determined he was going to do it this time, on his own. He swayed slightly up and back on unsteady legs. He inched his legs wider apart to improve his balance. After he stopped swaying, he lifted the torch. His hand started to shake, but Jason gritted his teeth and forced himself to lift it higher. The first few threads were so close to the flickering flames; he just needed a few more inches! "I can do this. I know I can! I *have* to!"

Jason frowned. The torch was shaking too much, he feared he might drop it. So he lifted his other hand and wrapped it around his wrist to steady the torch. The torched closed the last few inches and fire licked at the trigger hairs. He watched as the flames leaped up the dry threads and formed three long strings of fire. Jason didn't wait to see what would hapen next but moved over to the next group. After he had set all of the trigger hairs afire, he slumped to the ground exhausted. The torch fell out of his numb fingers and rolled across the floor.

Hercules watched the trigger hair burn until nothing was left of them. After the flames had gone out, Hercules dashed through the dangerous area as quick as he could. He didn't want to take any chances. He walked over to the torch and picked it up. Hercules looked down at Jason with concern. "I knew you could do it."

"How could I have sunk so low?" Jason asked Hercules. "Lifting a torch is so easy and I could barely do it. I had to use every ounce of strength and willpower in my body. It's frightening and very shocking. I'll have to force myself not to eat those berries. They're dangerous. But even now, after I know what they've done to me, I still want them. I can't stop thinking about them, Herc. What am I going to do?"

"We're going to destroy those plants so they can't never hurt anyone else again." Hercules replied as he pulled Jason to his feet. He pulled one of Jason's arms around his shoulder as he helped support his friend. Iolaus did the same on the other side. They slowly started to walk back the way they came. "And we're going to find that big door and get out of this place! And when we do, we're going to tell everyone the dangers of Sandersonni."