Hercules reached the palace at daybreak, just as Jason was preparing to
take petitioners. He charged through the reception hallway, ignoring the protests of the guards as well as Jason's personal aide. Without waiting for an answer he threw open the door into the grand hall and sprinted to where his friend was conversing with a guard, organizing for the day.
"Jason!"
A guard ran up behind him and grabbed the young demi-god,
attempting to pull him bodily out of the room. Jason looked up, his eyes
expressing his surprise at seeing Hercules.
"Hercules? What?"
"I'm sorry your majesty, he didn't listen to us." The aide babbled as he
helped try to push Hercules out. "It won't happen again."
"Jason! Wait, it's Iolaus!" Hercules called desperately, straining against
the hold of both guards and the aide.
Jason held up a hand, and the guards immediately stopped pulling at
Hercules. "Leave us." The aide hesitated and Jason smiled, "It's alright.
Postpone my petitioners until after lunch, I will see them then."
"But my lord..."
"I said, leave us." Jason repeated with a stern glance. The aide blanched
and nodded, hurriedly following the guards out of the room. Jason turned to the
demi-god. "What's wrong?"
"It's Iolaus." Hercules repeated, his eyes slightly unfocused.
"Yeah, I got that. Where is he? What's going on?"
"He's gone. He was hunting and now he's gone."
Jason frowned and looked at his friend more closely, Hercules was
trembling slightly, his hair matted to his forehead with sweat and he didn't
look well at all. "Okay. Sit down, relax and tell me what happened. Did you
run all the way here from Cheiron's?"
Hercules shook his head and moved on unsteady feet to the chair Jason
offered. "We were camping out by Mother's. Iolaus went off to find us food. He
didn't come back. I went looking for him and found this..." He held out Iolaus'
vest miserably. Jason took it slowly, examining it closely. Hercules swallowed
and continued. "Artemis showed up, and told me Iolaus was in danger. Some
warlord's got him..."
"Okay, so we go after him. No big. Look, Iolaus can handle himself,
this warlord obviously doesn't know who he's dealing with..."
Hercules shook his head miserably, "He serves Hera. Jase, he serves
Hera and he's got Iolaus. Even if he doesn't realize who he is, Hera'll recognize him. You know she will, and she'll get this guy to...to..." His face crumpled and he let the tears flow. His shoulders shaking from exertion and worry. "He's in trouble again and it's all my fault."
"Whoa! Back up there! How is this your fault?" Jason knelt beside his
friend and placed a supporting hand on his shoulder. "Iolaus went hunting, for
some reason this warlord decided to take him. There's nothing you could have
done."
"I could have gone with him."
"Why? You never do. Why should this time be any different? Do you
know why this warlord took him? Maybe it was random."
"I don't think so. Artemis said something about a follower of hers
being in trouble too. Maybe he tried to help them..."
"Alright. So where is this warlord's camp. I'll send in my soldiers,
we'll get Iolaus and you'll be back beating him with a staff by tomorrow night."
"It's to the east of the river. With Artemis helping us, we should be
able to find it easily."
"Great. I'll cancel my meetings today and we'll get cracking."
Hercules rose to join him but his knees buckled, finally letting the
tremendous strain Hercules had put on them catch up. Jason caught him easily
and lowered him back down. "No you don't. Let me do the planning. You get
some rest."
"But..."
"That's enough. You're exhausted. You ran in here from beyond your
Mother's place. You need rest, Herc. You'll be no help to Iolaus if your nerves
are shot and you get your head smashed in. So get some sleep. I can plan this.
I'll wake you up and we'll go over the final plan. Deal?"
"Deal." Hercules muttered, somewhat reluctantly.
"Good." Jason called for his guards and the entered. "Take Hercules to
the guest room. Make him stay there if you have to." Then he turned to
Hercules. "You're gonna go with them, okay? No fusses, I want you to sleep or
you won't come with us to take out this warlord. Is that understood?" Hercules
nodded sullenly. "Okay, now go. And I want my military adviser in the war
room in ten minutes!"
The guards left with Hercules in tow and Jason set to work, barking
orders at various aides. He had an assault to plan, and one very angry son
of Zeus to deal with. He heaved a sigh. This was going to be a long day.
Iolaus blinked and the room swam into focus. He was lying on hard
stone, a heavy weight around his ankles spoke of the manacles that he knew he
would find. Sunlight trickled in through a grate set high in the wall and a
large metal door seemed the only way out of the room. So it was morning already.
Iolaus couldn't remember having fallen asleep, though he must have. _Or
someone 'helped' me get to sleep._ The last thing he remembered clearly was
the look of stark fear and determination in Shiri's eyes as Narius had forced
himself upon her.
Shiri. Iolaus slammed a fist against the wall. He'd failed her. He'd sat
there watching, helpless as she'd been subjected to...to that. There were no
words he knew strong enough to describe Narius and his camp. No punishment
would ever be great enough to erase their evil. And he could do nothing to stop
it.
With a growl of frustration he got to his feet, ignoring the throbbing
ache in his head, which all but proved his theory that he had had help getting to
sleep. With nothing better to do, Iolaus prowled around his cell, feeling the
walls and tapping, listening for hollowness. All the while he was coming up with
creative ways to make Narius pay for what he had done.
He had found nothing by the time a bowl of moldy water and stale
bread was slid beneath the heavy door. Looking distastefully at the meager meal
before him, Iolaus nudged the tray with his foot experimentally. Nothing moved
within the water and Iolaus hesitantly dipped a finger into the slop, tasting it
slowly. He almost gagged at the taste, but forced himself to swallow. It didn't
appear to be poisoned. Somehow he figured Narius wasn't really the type to use
poison anyway. Against his better judgment Iolaus finally gave in a scarfed
down the food, if you could call it that. It did little to quell the hunger
pains in his always over active stomach.
He resumed his search of the small room, finding nothing. Not like
he'd really expected anything, but it had been a nice possibility. With nothing
left to preoccupy him, his mind inevitably turned to Shiri and what she must be
going through. A noise outside the cell door interrupted his darkening thoughts
and his head shot up to take in the door. A key turned noisily in the lock and
the heavy door swung open. Two guards immediately rushing and brandished spears
at the young hunter, while behind them Narius strolled in.
When he saw the warlord Iolaus nearly lost it. Only the presence of two
very sharp spears pointed at his chest kept him from ripping the larger man limb
from limb. So he contented himself with cursing at the man using the strongest
and most vulgar words he could think of. All he got for his efforts was a
chuckle.
"Iolaus, isn't it?" He asked amiably, pacing in front of his prisoner.
"You have cost me a great deal of trouble, young man. I do not like to be
challenged. By anyone." A dangerous glare replaced the fake smile. "So, I am
now faced with the question of how to deal with you. An interesting dilemma
I'm sure you'll agree."
"All this trouble for me?" Iolaus asked cheekily, "Why I'm flattered..."
Narius fixed the hunter with a glare, "And suddenly I'm struck with an
idea. Bring him." He whirled and left the cell. The two guards grabbed Iolaus'
arms and after releasing him from the shackles, proceeded to drag him from the
cell. _Now why do I get the feeling this isn't a good thing?_
He was thrown to the ground in heap. Turning he saw the guards
beating a hasty retreat towards the nearest door. Looking around he noticed that
he was in the middle of an...arena?? _Uh oh._ The stone walls curved away
from him, a good eight feet tall. _Where in Tartarus did he find an arena??_
A harsh laugh broke through his thoughts and he whirled to find Narius
standing atop the stone wall, a look of amusement on his scarred face. He made
a motion and a door ground slowly open on the far side of the arena. Iolaus
glanced warily at the warlord before turning to face whatever emerged from the
door.
Almost timidly his opponent emerged into the light. He stood barely
half a head taller than Iolaus and looked nothing like the fearsome fighter Iolaus
had been expecting. His armor was too big for him, the sword in his hands evidently
too long. A slave, Iolaus realized. Narius probably has his wife held hostage to make
him fight. Suddenly Iolaus' hatred for the other man grew again. The man took one
look at Iolaus and blanched.
"M-my lord! He is but a child!"
"You question my resolve, slave? You will fight or your daughter shall
bed with me tonight!"
If possible the man paled even more, "NO! Spare her, I will fight." He
then looked at Iolaus, apology written all over his face. "I have no choice."
Iolaus found himself nodding. "Just hang in there. Help is on the way."
The other man regarded him like he'd just told him the world was round.
"You don't get it do you? There is no help. No one knows we're
here..."
Iolaus merely grinned. "Don't bet on that."
A loud gong rang and without warning the man attacked, swinging his
sword up high. Iolaus dove left, under the swing and rolled to his feet. He
glanced around him frantically for a weapon. A pile of bones was the only
possibility. He made a dash for them, diving into a roll as he felt the sword
whistle through the air behind him. He came up with a long white leg bone
clutched in one hand and backed away from the desperate slave before him.
"I won't fight!" He declared, shooting a look of defiance at the warlord
who seemed to be enjoying the show.
He simply shrugged. "Then you will die."
"Hey, death's better than having to look at your ugly face!" Iolaus
retorted as he dodged another swing.
"Why do you taunt him?" The older man whispered, still advancing on
the young cadet. "He will destroy you."
"Why does everyone keep saying that?" Iolaus complained. "He's
nothing but a bully."
"A bully with the queen of the gods backing him."
"I've had this conversation before. That horse-faced bitch is all
talk...and she knows it too."
He blocked a swing aimed at his head, and shoved hard. The man flew
backwards and landed in the dirt, his sword flying. Iolaus retrieved the sword
and stood above his opponent. He saw the man cowering before him, "Relax, I
meant what I said. I won't hurt you. And I'll find a way to save your daughter."
He spun and launched the sword at where Narius stood on the wall. It missed by
a long shot, lodging itself in the stone. But the message was clear, nonetheless.
"You're gonna have to kill me yourself, coward!"
"You will fight in earnest."
"Or what? You'll kill me? We discussed this already..."
"You will fight..." Narius repeated as a struggling female figure
appeared beside him. Iolaus recognized her immediately.
"Shiri! If you hurt her..."
"She is unharmed...relatively."
"Uh huh. And if I fight you'll do what?"
"I will leave her be."
Iolaus regarded the warlord with suspicion, "Yeah, right. For one
night? Why should I believe you?"
"It is not only Shiri's life I bargain with. For every time you refuse to
fight, one slave shall be punished, perhaps even killed. The choice is yours if
you wish to have all those deaths on your conscience..."
Iolaus visibly slumped, "Why?"
"A test. You will fight, maggot, or you will die and so will they."
Guards re-entered the arena and took the older man away. Soon Iolaus
was left standing in the center of the ring alone. He went to the wall and
tried to pry the sword loose. After several hard tugs it came away in his hands.
Then the door creaked open again and five warriors stepped out. Unlike the last man,
all five of these men were powerfully built. Their muscles could be seen rippling
beneath the cloth they wore. Slaves again. Gladiators. Narius was evidently into
the blood sport scene. So much so that he trained his slaves to fight.
Backing away slowly Iolaus frantically tried to think of a way out of
this that wouldn't involve death. Either his own or those of the five men before
him. He came up blank, all the tricks Cheiron had taught him suddenly very dim
in his memory. _Gods, I wish Herc was here._ Then he realized what he was
thinking and stopped. _Or not, since Hera would have him fried on the spot..._
With a savage growl the men attacked, three flying high, two low.
Iolaus held his ground as long as possible before he dove to the side. He was
rewarded with a loud crack as one unlucky gladiator crashed head-first into the
wall behind him. The other four, however, managed to avoid such a fate. They
began closing in on the young cadet.
"Really, guys. This is some introduction. My name's Iolaus...and you
are?" He got only a growl in return. "Oh...tough crowd." They attacked again
and Iolaus flipped over the charge landing behind three of them. The other,
unfortunately, was a little late on the charge and was still behind him. Before
Iolaus could let loose with another quip he felt strong arms encircle his chest
and lift him bodily off the ground...crushing him.
He sputtered and kicked out desperately, feeling his foot connect. The
giant that held him barely seemed fazed. _Come on, Iolaus. Think!_ He threw
back his head, connecting solidly with the man's nose. And suddenly he was
lying in a heap, gasping for breath, the other man writhing in pain. _Hey, what
do you know! It worked!_ He rolled to avoid a foot that crashed down near his
head and sprang up, sword in hand.
"You boys really need to work on your social skills, you know that?"
Then he charged, holding the sword horizontally across his body, striking the
surprised warriors with the flat edge and bowling them over. "I mean, not only
does your approach need work, but your dancing is just graceless. I've seen a
sack of potatoes with better moves than all of you put together..."
One got to his feet and charged, only to be met by Iolaus' foot as it
lashed out and connected with his neck. He fell hard and didn't move. They
other two moved in concert, their arms outstretched they ran at Iolaus, catching
him at the collarbone and flinging him against the wall. And arm at his throat
prevented him from sliding down. He looked up into murderous black eyes as he
felt the pressure on his windpipe slowly increase. He kicked out and connected
with a kneecap. A scream of pain as it shattered and one assailant was out for
the count. He still had the gorilla at his throat to deal with, however, and
his air supply was getting dangerously low.
He gurgled and trashed in the iron grip. Kicking, flailing,
biting...nothing seemed to have any effect. _Herc..._ More air left his starved
lungs and the big man grinned in triumph. Iolaus' fingers brushed desperately
against the stone wall, finding a loose stone. They worked frantically to free it.
When it came loose he almost dropped it, but managed to catch it just in
time. Fighting back the blackness that threatened to close in over his vision,
knowing it was all over if this didn't work he swung the rock down as hard as
he could on the back of the giant's neck. He heard a crack, saw the life fade
slowly from those black eyes as the other man slowly crumpled to the ground,
bringing Iolaus down with him.
Weakly, Iolaus pushed the hand away from his throat and hauled
himself up using the wall. He greedily sucked in the sweet air while he looked
around for the source of the next threat. He blinked once in shock when he
realized that all five warriors were either unconscious or severely injured.
Slowly a grin worked its way onto his face.
"Impressive." A voice called from above and Iolaus fixed Narius with a
withering stare.
"Glad you approve." His voice was hoarse and his throat felt like it was
on fire from the very effort of speaking. A loud crack of thunder split the
silence, stopping Iolaus' next reply. Lightning streaked from the sky and when
it faded two peacock eyes could be seen in the clouds. Iolaus stopped breathing.
_Oh shit...._
"Apparently, I'm not the only one who noticed...Great Hera! Do you
approve?"
An ethereal voice answered his question, the mere sound enough to send
shivers down into Iolaus' very soul. "It is he. Iolaus of Thebes. Friend to my
bastard step-son."
"And which one would that be?" Iolaus asked before he could stop
himself. The peacock eyes stared at him and he swallowed hard. _Stupid move,
Iolaus..._
"Tomorrow night. His blood will flow at my altar tomorrow night
during the full moon and Hercules shall be made to suffer."
"So you have wished, so it will be done." Narius told the eyes, his head
bowed.
Another flash of lightning, this one landing not three feet from Iolaus'
face, split the sky and the peacock eyes were gone. Leaving only the
disembodied laughter and the haunting words: "You will be mine, hunter."
take petitioners. He charged through the reception hallway, ignoring the protests of the guards as well as Jason's personal aide. Without waiting for an answer he threw open the door into the grand hall and sprinted to where his friend was conversing with a guard, organizing for the day.
"Jason!"
A guard ran up behind him and grabbed the young demi-god,
attempting to pull him bodily out of the room. Jason looked up, his eyes
expressing his surprise at seeing Hercules.
"Hercules? What?"
"I'm sorry your majesty, he didn't listen to us." The aide babbled as he
helped try to push Hercules out. "It won't happen again."
"Jason! Wait, it's Iolaus!" Hercules called desperately, straining against
the hold of both guards and the aide.
Jason held up a hand, and the guards immediately stopped pulling at
Hercules. "Leave us." The aide hesitated and Jason smiled, "It's alright.
Postpone my petitioners until after lunch, I will see them then."
"But my lord..."
"I said, leave us." Jason repeated with a stern glance. The aide blanched
and nodded, hurriedly following the guards out of the room. Jason turned to the
demi-god. "What's wrong?"
"It's Iolaus." Hercules repeated, his eyes slightly unfocused.
"Yeah, I got that. Where is he? What's going on?"
"He's gone. He was hunting and now he's gone."
Jason frowned and looked at his friend more closely, Hercules was
trembling slightly, his hair matted to his forehead with sweat and he didn't
look well at all. "Okay. Sit down, relax and tell me what happened. Did you
run all the way here from Cheiron's?"
Hercules shook his head and moved on unsteady feet to the chair Jason
offered. "We were camping out by Mother's. Iolaus went off to find us food. He
didn't come back. I went looking for him and found this..." He held out Iolaus'
vest miserably. Jason took it slowly, examining it closely. Hercules swallowed
and continued. "Artemis showed up, and told me Iolaus was in danger. Some
warlord's got him..."
"Okay, so we go after him. No big. Look, Iolaus can handle himself,
this warlord obviously doesn't know who he's dealing with..."
Hercules shook his head miserably, "He serves Hera. Jase, he serves
Hera and he's got Iolaus. Even if he doesn't realize who he is, Hera'll recognize him. You know she will, and she'll get this guy to...to..." His face crumpled and he let the tears flow. His shoulders shaking from exertion and worry. "He's in trouble again and it's all my fault."
"Whoa! Back up there! How is this your fault?" Jason knelt beside his
friend and placed a supporting hand on his shoulder. "Iolaus went hunting, for
some reason this warlord decided to take him. There's nothing you could have
done."
"I could have gone with him."
"Why? You never do. Why should this time be any different? Do you
know why this warlord took him? Maybe it was random."
"I don't think so. Artemis said something about a follower of hers
being in trouble too. Maybe he tried to help them..."
"Alright. So where is this warlord's camp. I'll send in my soldiers,
we'll get Iolaus and you'll be back beating him with a staff by tomorrow night."
"It's to the east of the river. With Artemis helping us, we should be
able to find it easily."
"Great. I'll cancel my meetings today and we'll get cracking."
Hercules rose to join him but his knees buckled, finally letting the
tremendous strain Hercules had put on them catch up. Jason caught him easily
and lowered him back down. "No you don't. Let me do the planning. You get
some rest."
"But..."
"That's enough. You're exhausted. You ran in here from beyond your
Mother's place. You need rest, Herc. You'll be no help to Iolaus if your nerves
are shot and you get your head smashed in. So get some sleep. I can plan this.
I'll wake you up and we'll go over the final plan. Deal?"
"Deal." Hercules muttered, somewhat reluctantly.
"Good." Jason called for his guards and the entered. "Take Hercules to
the guest room. Make him stay there if you have to." Then he turned to
Hercules. "You're gonna go with them, okay? No fusses, I want you to sleep or
you won't come with us to take out this warlord. Is that understood?" Hercules
nodded sullenly. "Okay, now go. And I want my military adviser in the war
room in ten minutes!"
The guards left with Hercules in tow and Jason set to work, barking
orders at various aides. He had an assault to plan, and one very angry son
of Zeus to deal with. He heaved a sigh. This was going to be a long day.
Iolaus blinked and the room swam into focus. He was lying on hard
stone, a heavy weight around his ankles spoke of the manacles that he knew he
would find. Sunlight trickled in through a grate set high in the wall and a
large metal door seemed the only way out of the room. So it was morning already.
Iolaus couldn't remember having fallen asleep, though he must have. _Or
someone 'helped' me get to sleep._ The last thing he remembered clearly was
the look of stark fear and determination in Shiri's eyes as Narius had forced
himself upon her.
Shiri. Iolaus slammed a fist against the wall. He'd failed her. He'd sat
there watching, helpless as she'd been subjected to...to that. There were no
words he knew strong enough to describe Narius and his camp. No punishment
would ever be great enough to erase their evil. And he could do nothing to stop
it.
With a growl of frustration he got to his feet, ignoring the throbbing
ache in his head, which all but proved his theory that he had had help getting to
sleep. With nothing better to do, Iolaus prowled around his cell, feeling the
walls and tapping, listening for hollowness. All the while he was coming up with
creative ways to make Narius pay for what he had done.
He had found nothing by the time a bowl of moldy water and stale
bread was slid beneath the heavy door. Looking distastefully at the meager meal
before him, Iolaus nudged the tray with his foot experimentally. Nothing moved
within the water and Iolaus hesitantly dipped a finger into the slop, tasting it
slowly. He almost gagged at the taste, but forced himself to swallow. It didn't
appear to be poisoned. Somehow he figured Narius wasn't really the type to use
poison anyway. Against his better judgment Iolaus finally gave in a scarfed
down the food, if you could call it that. It did little to quell the hunger
pains in his always over active stomach.
He resumed his search of the small room, finding nothing. Not like
he'd really expected anything, but it had been a nice possibility. With nothing
left to preoccupy him, his mind inevitably turned to Shiri and what she must be
going through. A noise outside the cell door interrupted his darkening thoughts
and his head shot up to take in the door. A key turned noisily in the lock and
the heavy door swung open. Two guards immediately rushing and brandished spears
at the young hunter, while behind them Narius strolled in.
When he saw the warlord Iolaus nearly lost it. Only the presence of two
very sharp spears pointed at his chest kept him from ripping the larger man limb
from limb. So he contented himself with cursing at the man using the strongest
and most vulgar words he could think of. All he got for his efforts was a
chuckle.
"Iolaus, isn't it?" He asked amiably, pacing in front of his prisoner.
"You have cost me a great deal of trouble, young man. I do not like to be
challenged. By anyone." A dangerous glare replaced the fake smile. "So, I am
now faced with the question of how to deal with you. An interesting dilemma
I'm sure you'll agree."
"All this trouble for me?" Iolaus asked cheekily, "Why I'm flattered..."
Narius fixed the hunter with a glare, "And suddenly I'm struck with an
idea. Bring him." He whirled and left the cell. The two guards grabbed Iolaus'
arms and after releasing him from the shackles, proceeded to drag him from the
cell. _Now why do I get the feeling this isn't a good thing?_
He was thrown to the ground in heap. Turning he saw the guards
beating a hasty retreat towards the nearest door. Looking around he noticed that
he was in the middle of an...arena?? _Uh oh._ The stone walls curved away
from him, a good eight feet tall. _Where in Tartarus did he find an arena??_
A harsh laugh broke through his thoughts and he whirled to find Narius
standing atop the stone wall, a look of amusement on his scarred face. He made
a motion and a door ground slowly open on the far side of the arena. Iolaus
glanced warily at the warlord before turning to face whatever emerged from the
door.
Almost timidly his opponent emerged into the light. He stood barely
half a head taller than Iolaus and looked nothing like the fearsome fighter Iolaus
had been expecting. His armor was too big for him, the sword in his hands evidently
too long. A slave, Iolaus realized. Narius probably has his wife held hostage to make
him fight. Suddenly Iolaus' hatred for the other man grew again. The man took one
look at Iolaus and blanched.
"M-my lord! He is but a child!"
"You question my resolve, slave? You will fight or your daughter shall
bed with me tonight!"
If possible the man paled even more, "NO! Spare her, I will fight." He
then looked at Iolaus, apology written all over his face. "I have no choice."
Iolaus found himself nodding. "Just hang in there. Help is on the way."
The other man regarded him like he'd just told him the world was round.
"You don't get it do you? There is no help. No one knows we're
here..."
Iolaus merely grinned. "Don't bet on that."
A loud gong rang and without warning the man attacked, swinging his
sword up high. Iolaus dove left, under the swing and rolled to his feet. He
glanced around him frantically for a weapon. A pile of bones was the only
possibility. He made a dash for them, diving into a roll as he felt the sword
whistle through the air behind him. He came up with a long white leg bone
clutched in one hand and backed away from the desperate slave before him.
"I won't fight!" He declared, shooting a look of defiance at the warlord
who seemed to be enjoying the show.
He simply shrugged. "Then you will die."
"Hey, death's better than having to look at your ugly face!" Iolaus
retorted as he dodged another swing.
"Why do you taunt him?" The older man whispered, still advancing on
the young cadet. "He will destroy you."
"Why does everyone keep saying that?" Iolaus complained. "He's
nothing but a bully."
"A bully with the queen of the gods backing him."
"I've had this conversation before. That horse-faced bitch is all
talk...and she knows it too."
He blocked a swing aimed at his head, and shoved hard. The man flew
backwards and landed in the dirt, his sword flying. Iolaus retrieved the sword
and stood above his opponent. He saw the man cowering before him, "Relax, I
meant what I said. I won't hurt you. And I'll find a way to save your daughter."
He spun and launched the sword at where Narius stood on the wall. It missed by
a long shot, lodging itself in the stone. But the message was clear, nonetheless.
"You're gonna have to kill me yourself, coward!"
"You will fight in earnest."
"Or what? You'll kill me? We discussed this already..."
"You will fight..." Narius repeated as a struggling female figure
appeared beside him. Iolaus recognized her immediately.
"Shiri! If you hurt her..."
"She is unharmed...relatively."
"Uh huh. And if I fight you'll do what?"
"I will leave her be."
Iolaus regarded the warlord with suspicion, "Yeah, right. For one
night? Why should I believe you?"
"It is not only Shiri's life I bargain with. For every time you refuse to
fight, one slave shall be punished, perhaps even killed. The choice is yours if
you wish to have all those deaths on your conscience..."
Iolaus visibly slumped, "Why?"
"A test. You will fight, maggot, or you will die and so will they."
Guards re-entered the arena and took the older man away. Soon Iolaus
was left standing in the center of the ring alone. He went to the wall and
tried to pry the sword loose. After several hard tugs it came away in his hands.
Then the door creaked open again and five warriors stepped out. Unlike the last man,
all five of these men were powerfully built. Their muscles could be seen rippling
beneath the cloth they wore. Slaves again. Gladiators. Narius was evidently into
the blood sport scene. So much so that he trained his slaves to fight.
Backing away slowly Iolaus frantically tried to think of a way out of
this that wouldn't involve death. Either his own or those of the five men before
him. He came up blank, all the tricks Cheiron had taught him suddenly very dim
in his memory. _Gods, I wish Herc was here._ Then he realized what he was
thinking and stopped. _Or not, since Hera would have him fried on the spot..._
With a savage growl the men attacked, three flying high, two low.
Iolaus held his ground as long as possible before he dove to the side. He was
rewarded with a loud crack as one unlucky gladiator crashed head-first into the
wall behind him. The other four, however, managed to avoid such a fate. They
began closing in on the young cadet.
"Really, guys. This is some introduction. My name's Iolaus...and you
are?" He got only a growl in return. "Oh...tough crowd." They attacked again
and Iolaus flipped over the charge landing behind three of them. The other,
unfortunately, was a little late on the charge and was still behind him. Before
Iolaus could let loose with another quip he felt strong arms encircle his chest
and lift him bodily off the ground...crushing him.
He sputtered and kicked out desperately, feeling his foot connect. The
giant that held him barely seemed fazed. _Come on, Iolaus. Think!_ He threw
back his head, connecting solidly with the man's nose. And suddenly he was
lying in a heap, gasping for breath, the other man writhing in pain. _Hey, what
do you know! It worked!_ He rolled to avoid a foot that crashed down near his
head and sprang up, sword in hand.
"You boys really need to work on your social skills, you know that?"
Then he charged, holding the sword horizontally across his body, striking the
surprised warriors with the flat edge and bowling them over. "I mean, not only
does your approach need work, but your dancing is just graceless. I've seen a
sack of potatoes with better moves than all of you put together..."
One got to his feet and charged, only to be met by Iolaus' foot as it
lashed out and connected with his neck. He fell hard and didn't move. They
other two moved in concert, their arms outstretched they ran at Iolaus, catching
him at the collarbone and flinging him against the wall. And arm at his throat
prevented him from sliding down. He looked up into murderous black eyes as he
felt the pressure on his windpipe slowly increase. He kicked out and connected
with a kneecap. A scream of pain as it shattered and one assailant was out for
the count. He still had the gorilla at his throat to deal with, however, and
his air supply was getting dangerously low.
He gurgled and trashed in the iron grip. Kicking, flailing,
biting...nothing seemed to have any effect. _Herc..._ More air left his starved
lungs and the big man grinned in triumph. Iolaus' fingers brushed desperately
against the stone wall, finding a loose stone. They worked frantically to free it.
When it came loose he almost dropped it, but managed to catch it just in
time. Fighting back the blackness that threatened to close in over his vision,
knowing it was all over if this didn't work he swung the rock down as hard as
he could on the back of the giant's neck. He heard a crack, saw the life fade
slowly from those black eyes as the other man slowly crumpled to the ground,
bringing Iolaus down with him.
Weakly, Iolaus pushed the hand away from his throat and hauled
himself up using the wall. He greedily sucked in the sweet air while he looked
around for the source of the next threat. He blinked once in shock when he
realized that all five warriors were either unconscious or severely injured.
Slowly a grin worked its way onto his face.
"Impressive." A voice called from above and Iolaus fixed Narius with a
withering stare.
"Glad you approve." His voice was hoarse and his throat felt like it was
on fire from the very effort of speaking. A loud crack of thunder split the
silence, stopping Iolaus' next reply. Lightning streaked from the sky and when
it faded two peacock eyes could be seen in the clouds. Iolaus stopped breathing.
_Oh shit...._
"Apparently, I'm not the only one who noticed...Great Hera! Do you
approve?"
An ethereal voice answered his question, the mere sound enough to send
shivers down into Iolaus' very soul. "It is he. Iolaus of Thebes. Friend to my
bastard step-son."
"And which one would that be?" Iolaus asked before he could stop
himself. The peacock eyes stared at him and he swallowed hard. _Stupid move,
Iolaus..._
"Tomorrow night. His blood will flow at my altar tomorrow night
during the full moon and Hercules shall be made to suffer."
"So you have wished, so it will be done." Narius told the eyes, his head
bowed.
Another flash of lightning, this one landing not three feet from Iolaus'
face, split the sky and the peacock eyes were gone. Leaving only the
disembodied laughter and the haunting words: "You will be mine, hunter."
