Road to Corinth
Morning couldn't come quick enough for Hercules and Iolaus. Their unwelcome dreams had turned into full-fledged nightmares during the night. They both woke up feeling disheartened and uneasy, but couldn't figure out why. Neither said more than three words to the other as they gathered up the leftover rabbit and Hercules scrounged up some berries as they ate quietly and then broke camp.
The day was clear and cool, making it a good one for traveling. Iolaus and Hercules finally fell back into some resemblance of gentle bantering back and forth. To pass the time, both stuck to joking about safe topics like Iolaus' girlfriends and festivals, while avoiding others like Hercules' relatives and how many times Iolaus had visited Hades' realm. Joking helped to lighten their moods somewhat and it at least temporarily allowed them to forget the necessity of their journey.
The duo continued their journey toward Corinth. Iolaus started wondering why he needed to accompany Herc. After all, Hercules could handle whatever the situation was in Corinth and with its King. Just the mere thought of Iphicles made Iolaus seethe, even if he didn't know why.
As for Hercules, a sense of foreboding gave him an almost desperate need to get to his brother and get there fast. He lengthened his strides up the narrow dirt path.
"Hey Herc, you're really picking up the pace a little bit there, Big Guy." Iolaus commented. He had to nearly run to keep up with Hercules. "Hey what's the rush, Hercules? We made really good time yesterday and should reach Corinth in a few hours."
"I know we did, Iolaus, it's just I really have this need to see my brother, that's all."
Those choices of words suddenly infuriated Iolaus as his anger grew at this latest mention of the King. What was bothering him so much about Iphicles?
For some time, as they walked, Iolaus noticed suspicious noises in the woods around them. He continued talking to Hercules without breaking stride, but leaned over and spoke in a low voice.
"I think we are being followed."
Hercules let out a small, contrived laugh. "I know, I noticed it about 15 minutes ago, so let's just keep pretending like we don't know they're following us."
"You got it Herc," then Iolaus began whistling to further lure their unwelcome visitors into making a mistake.
"Remember, Iolaus," Hercules whispered to him, "stay at my back, we cover each other. Remember our pact."
"I remember, Hercules, together to the end," Iolaus replied, frowning as he wondered why Hercules felt it necessary to say those words.
Hercules and Iolaus were still on full alert, for they knew there was someone out there waiting for them. After the six goons quickly made their way past Hercules and Iolaus by keeping to the woods, they now lay in wait at the crossroads, dressed in Mycenaean warrior armor.
The duo would not suspect the truth, that they were Ares' goons out to deceive and harass Hercules and Iolaus. They patiently watched as the heroes approached their hiding place. Gronus, the leader, briefed his soldiers for the attack. The plan was set that as soon as Hercules and Iolaus reached the crossroads, they would make their move. He knew these two men were going to be a problem for them and feared Ares' reaction if they did not do the job right. Gronus reminded his group of the price of failure.
"Now, we must make this look good. We do this right or you know what Ares will do to all of us if we fail."
Each of the men imagined what kind of retribution there would be from Ares should they fail, for each one knew that Ares would destroy them on the spot. Gronus could see the fear in their eyes. 'Fear is good,' he thought. The goons nervously awaited the signal from Gronus.
A Temporary Deterrent
When the two heroes were just approaching the crossroads, Gronus yelled, "Attack!"
Ares' goons surrounded Hercules and Iolaus, each one relishing their turn at trying to hurt the demigod and his mortal friend.
Hercules swung around and called out to his partner, "Iolaus back to back, let's take them!"
"I'm with ya, Herc, so let's get these guys!" Iolaus said while ducking a punch.
As one goon came after Hercules, the demigod took his right arm and caught him across the face and neck, knocking him to the ground. At the same time, Iolaus did a leg flip onto the shoulders of the goon he was now battling. While sitting there, he began punching away at the goon's face until the man then fell to the ground, where Iolaus tumbled away from him and onto his feet, awaiting the next goon to challenge him.
Herc's forearm slammed forcefully into the face of another goon, sending him into a back flip to the ground. Now he laid unconscious at Hercules' feet with an impression of Herc's gauntlet across his face for his troubles.
"Iolaus, remember Batheon?" Herc shouted.
"Oh yeah, right Herc, I'm ready," Iolaus hollered back.
As the two men place themselves back to back, grabbing hold of each other's arms and locking them into position, Iolaus yelled, "Now Herc!"
Up and over, Iolaus went flying across Hercules' back but not before taking out another goon, as he kicked him in the face going through the process. While in the midst of this flying maneuver, Iolaus took out yet another Mycenaean soldier upon landing. No sooner had he landed, Iolaus shot out a backward kick right into a soldier's stomach. The man cringed from the pain, sinking down to the ground gasping for breath. They repeated their tried and true tactic again (since they knew goons never seem to learn too quickly), placing Iolaus and Hercules back to their original positions. With a push of Hercules right leg into the stomach of the man Iolaus just pummeled, the soldier went sliding across the road until he hit a tree and lay unmoving.
Hercules and Iolaus now looked around to observe the damage they'd done and saw all the Mycenaean soldiers on the ground, either unconscious or moaning in pain. All but one, only Gronus was left standing. He sounded almost petrified with fear as he yelled out just one word to his men, "Retreat!"
By the time most of the beaten and battered men got up and started to move away, Gronus had long since run off into the woods.
Hercules looked puzzled for a moment and said, "Why would Mycenaean soldiers be attacking us?"
"I don't know, but something isn't right here," Iolaus observed. "I can feel it!"
"Well then, we must get to Iphicles quickly and find out if he knows what is going on," Hercules said with a new sense of urgency in his voice.
With the mention of Iphicles, some of the painful memories that Iolaus remembered from his dream resurfaced. Iolaus stood and hesitated, as Hercules started to walk in the direction of Corinth. About a minute later, Hercules turned around to see his friend still standing in the same spot back at the crossroads.
"Well are you coming or not, Iolaus?" Hercules asked.
Snapping out of the uneasy thoughts he was remembering from his dream, Iolaus hastily replied, "Yeah, I'm coming," and trotted to catch up to where Hercules was now standing and waiting.
They began moving at a rapid pace, both wanting to know why Mycenaean soldiers would attack them.
Distraught Mycenaean Villager
In the distance, Hercules and Iolaus saw a man coming toward them who looked as if he had been beaten up. He walked as if he were exhausted and barely able to continue much further. They rushed out to meet him. The villager was hardly able to speak, his throat was parched from the hot sun beating down on him as he looked for help. He finally was able to speak after Hercules gave him some water and he had time to catch his breath.
"What is it, my friend? What's happened?" Hercules asked him.
"My name is Brennus. My village needs help, it's being attacked. I must find someone to help us!" Brennus looked at them, begging for assistance.
"Well this is Hercules and I'm Iolaus. We'll be happy to help you. Just lead the way to your village." Iolaus said without hesitation.
"Well, my village is Mycenae. It's not to far from here, and I'll take you to it. Thank the gods that I ran into Hercules, and of course, you, Iolaus my friend," Brennus said with relief. He was sure with these two heroes of Greece, everything would now work out.
"What did you say? Your village is Mycenae? Well your villagers just attacked me and my friend back there a few moments ago." Hercules said, in a suspicious tone of voice.
"That's impossible," Brennus sputtered. "Because all of our men are staying at the village to help keep the woman and children safe. I was the only one allowed to leave so I could go and get some help!" Brennus said in disbelief.
"Something's not right, Hercules, and I think we should go with Brennus and find out what's going on and help his people too." Iolaus decided quickly.
"No, no, I must get to my brother and make sure he's alright!" Hercules insisted, with a strange look on his face.
Iolaus was totally taken aback by Hercules' reaction to this situation. The two of them always helped people in immediate need. Iphicles was a king with troops to protect him. He could take care of himself, so why wouldn't they go help the village of Mycenae?