It was little more than twenty minutes before Jason's army marched
through the woods surrounding the camp. Hercules and Shiri from their
positions high in the treetops saw them coming from a great distance and
were waiting impatiently for the group of men just outside the perimeter of
sentries.
When Jason rounded the bend he saw his long-time friend pacing worriedly
in the middle of the trail. Hercules looked up at the sound of the horses with
obvious relief.
"Where in Hades have you been?" He demanded, dashing over to the young
king. He looked up at the ever-darkening sky and bit his lip. At dusk the
warlord was planning to sacrifice his best friend to please his wicked
tepmother. _Why do these things always happen to me? It sounds like a really
bad bard's tale..._
"We got here as fast as we could, one hundred men are not that easy to
move you know." Jason caught the glower Hercules gave him and realized that
now was not a time for jokes. He looked past the young demi-god and finally
noticed the slave girl standing uncertainly behind Hercules. "Who's you're
friend?"
Hercules' head whipped around, he spotted Shiri and rushed to her side.
Taking her hand to reassure her he lead her gently to the procession whispering
soothing words in her ear. Her eyes were still wide as saucers as she took in the
company of men and she approached cautiously, determination clear in her hazel eyes.
"This is Shiri, she escaped from Narius, the local warlord. Iolaus was trying
to help her when they were taken. She's offered her help in getting him out. Shiri,
I'd like you to meet a good friend of both myself and Iolaus, this is Jason, King of
Corinth."
Shiri's eyes widened even more and she threw herself to her knees before Jason.
Above her form Jason shot Hercules an irritated look and knelt next to the girl.
"Shiri, you don't have to kneel. I'm not like other kings you've heard about."
She didn't move. Jason gently cupped her chin in his hand and raised her head until
she looked him in the eye. "Look at me." Slowly she did. "Good, now that I can see
your face, we can be properly introduced. I'm Jason. I'd like you to call me by that,
okay?" She nodded, still a little bewildered by the sudden meeting.
Gathering her courage she looked up at the young king, "You know Iolaus?"
He nodded and offered a hand to help her up. "He's one of my best-friends.
Back at the academy we spent hours trying to get Herc to go on a date." He motioned
to the other boy, who instantly blushed bright red.
"Iolaus spoke of your coronation. I guess I figured he exaggerated a bit."
"Nope, it really happened." He lost his smile, until now very prominent on his
face. "I hate to ask this of you, but we need to know as much as we can about this
Narius. You've spent the most time in his camp, if it's not too hard for you..."
"You'd like me to share all my knowledge with you? I'll do whatever I can,
we're going to have to hurry; it's going to be cut pretty close."
As she recounted her tale Jason and Hercules both found themselves staring in
grim fascination at this girl who had seen such horrors. Jason could feel his anger
welling up as Shiri explained what Narius had used her and the other slave girls for.
He hated slavery to begin with, having dealt before with the after-effects it had on
the former slaves. Yet in all his years he had never encountered a victim of sexual
slavery. Until now, and the thought of what the proud girl before him had to have
been through was enough to make the young king see red.
Shiri finished her explanation by directing the army to Hera's alter, where she
thought the night's sacrifice would be taking place. "He usually picks a slave or a
hunter he picks up in the woods. He makes us all gather to watch, sometimes he'll even
force a family member to sacrifice their loved ones to save another, forcing them into
an impossible decision. It's all amusement to him. It accomplishes two things at once,
it pleases Hera and frightens the slaves into submission."
"I'll kill him." Jason muttered. He raised his voice to address his commanding
staff. "We'll hit the procession as they move to the alter. Take out as many guards as
you can before they can organize a counter attack. From what we've been told, the guards
have used the slaves as human shields in the past. We'll do what we can to prevent this.
Usual protocols apply, but if anyone 'accidentally' runs into Narius with the pointy end
of a sword I'll understand. I leave you to make preparations with your divisions. Good
luck." They dispersed and Jason turned back to Hercules and Shiri.
"Shiri, do you think its possible to get word to the slave pits about the attack?"
Shiri thought for a moment, "I think so. It's been about three months since I've
spent any amount of time in the pits but I doubt it's changed much. Some of the slaves
managed to escape about nine months back through a hole behind the pens. It's been
closed over, but there's a small window above that location that's only about a
hundred yards from the tree line. If you're quick you could pass a message through
the window when the guards change."
"Good. I want you and Hercules to do that. Tell the slaves to be ready for
anything on the way to the altar. Then get back here so we can regroup."
Hercules cut in. "Jase, we don't know how long this'll take. Shiri knows where
this path is. If she shows you now, we can meet you there after we've delivered the message."
The king pondered this, looking up into the sky, the sun was continuing it's
relentless descent. With a sigh he agreed to Hercules' plan and hurried after the girl.

The camp was a hive of activity, like an anthill that had been stepped on,
people swarmed about under the supervision of the guards, doing mundane tasks in
preparation for the sacrifice. Some were busy preparing for the possibility of attack,
while still others were organizing search parties for a missing slave.
Hercules and Shiri crouched on the outskirts of the mayhem, half hidden by the
dense foliage. "Over there, that little hut? That's the main slave pen. Right beside it
is the guard's tent. Convenient huh?" Shiri pointed out the various landmarks for Hercules'
benefit. "We're aiming for the little attachment onto the hut. Can you see it? There's a
barred window about head height so the slaves won't suffocate. We should be able to get
there when the guards switch."
"How long do you think we'll have once we get there?"
"Dunno. Depends on the squad. Anywhere from thirty seconds to a minute and a half if
they're really sloppy."
Hercules ran a hand nervously through his hair out of habit. He saw no sign of Iolaus
anywhere, though Shiri had assured him that he would be kept in reasonable condition until
the sacrifice, something about Hera not liking damaged goods. That comment had not gone
over well with the worried demi-god, who had only sunk into a deeper state of anger and fear.
Shiri grabbed his arm, and held a finger to her lips. The two of them froze in
position as a pair of guards walked past, eyes intent on the woods. Shiri watched them pass
with her heart in her throat. She felt certain they could hear her heartbeat pounding away,
and waited for them to discover her and bring her back to Narius.
But they didn't notice the two teenagers crouched in the brush and continued on their
rounds until they reached the guard's tent. When they were finally out of sight Shiri let
out her breath slowly and tried to slow her pulse.
She nodded at the demi-god beside her and the two flew into action, creeping quickly
but silently across the open space until they crouched beneath the small window of the slave
pens. Shiri leaned across and whispered in the boy's ear, "Keep watch." He nodded to accept
the responsibility.
Shiri stood and tapped out a rhythm on the rotting wood by the window frame. She was
answered a moment later, to which she tapped again. A face appeared in the window, dirty and
grimy, but full of joy.
"Shiri?" The girl at the window whispered. "What are you doing, girl? The whole camp's
abuzz about your escape, Narius will kill you for sure this time, get out of here."
"Shh...Amera, listen. I came back to warn you about an attack on the camp. A group of
soldiers from Corinth are preparing to take Narius during the procession to the altar of Hera.
They want any slave willing to hide a weapon or something for the procession, if you can. They
know the guards use you as shields so they want you guys to be ready to fight."
The girl behind the bars gasped, "Shiri, do you know what you're asking? Most of us, we
don't have any idea how to use weapons."
"Amera, this is your only chance, even if it's just a branch or something, you need to be
ready. I don't have time to explain. Just trust me, please."
"Okay, I'll spread the word. Get out of here before they catch you again."
Shiri grinned, "They won't catch me. Third time's a charm." She cast a look at Hercules
crouched below her and a thought struck her. "How's Iolaus?"
Amera's eyes darkened. "Not so good. He's managed to really piss off Narius, again. I
yhink he took your escape out on him." Shiri winced and Amera continued quickly, "They took
him to mother to get treated and cleaned up afterwards. He was conscious, asking what all the
fuss was about. We told him you got away and he just went all quiet with this goofy little grin,
said something about Narius not knowing what was about to hit him."
"That sounds like Iolaus, at least."
"Oh yeah, he's still Iolaus, even after being beaten half to death he's still trying to lift
everyone's spirits in the pits. Told some crazy story about the king of Corinth coming to rescue us.
Then they came and took him to be prepped. That's all I know."
"Thanks, Amera. Be ready, okay? And tell everyone else, okay? I've got to run. Take care." The
dirty slave girl nodded and turned away from the window, inside Shiri could hear her speaking in
low whispers to those around her and knew that within half an hour the entire slave population
would know of the pending attack. She turned to Hercules and motioned for him to lead the way back
to the trees.
Without a word he nodded and crept quickly to their former hiding place. The two melted back
into the scenery only seconds before the guards returned on their rounds.
They remained silent while they traveled through the woods until they were a safe distance
from the camp. Then Hercules turned expectant blue eyes to Shiri, asking questions without uttering
a word.
Shiri looked around quickly and apparently decided it was safe. "He's okay. The girl I spoke to
said he was trying raise spirits and joke with the little ones after they brought him up from the
'discipline' area."
Hearing this, Hercules breathed a small sigh of relief, though his worry wasn't completely blunted.
Iolaus had a nasty habit of ignoring his own pain if someone else was in need of help. That trait had
already landed his friend close to death in Cheiron's care several times. _At least he's alive._
"Okay. Let's go hook up with Jase. We've done all we can for now..."