Chapter 5:
By the time Hercules and Iolaus had reached her, the beast had already recovered and began bringing it's foot down again. But this time, it's foot hit the cold hard floor. Iolaus had rolled underneath and taken Fern with him. When they had rolled out of danger, he quickly dragged her to the side and she woke up.
"Surprised him didn't I?" she said with a weak grin.
"Actually, from the view I got..." Iolaus began.
"Please! To much detail!" she stopped him. He grinned down at her. She grinned back, but it slowly began to fade and her eyes began to close.
"Fern, no! You have to stay awake!" he yelled, trying his hardest not to cry. He had only known her for a few days, but she had saved his life and risked and maybe even have sacrificed hers for him.
"Your brother and tribe need you!" he reasoned.
"How do you manage to talk so much?" she asked.
"Is it keeping you awake?"
"Yes it is! Can't you just let me die in peace?" she begged and her answer was a loud roar from the beast Hercules was fighting.
"KEEP IT DOWN! SOME PEOPLE ARE TRYING TO DIE HERE!" she yelled. Iolaus saw that Hecules was struggling, but he didn't want to leave Fern as it would allow her to slip away.
'Aaargh! What am I meant to do?' he thought.
"Herc! Start running!" he yelled and picked Fern up and ran over to him.
"Could you take her?" he asked. Hercules nodded and took her. They continued running for ages. Iolaus kept turning back to see how far ahead they were. He was relieved to see that the army were tiring faster than he and Herc were.
"We can't keep this up for ever." Hercules stated.
"I know." Iolaus replied and looked at his friend in despair. Suddenly, 3 horses ran up to them, one with a rider. Ferlan. He levelled with them and took his sister from Hercules. He made the other 2 horses stop and Hercules and Iolaus mounted them. They began riding again and in a few minutes, they had already riden out of the view of the mini army.
After about an hour of the fastest riding they had ever done, they could all say that they were safely out of reach of the army.
"Hercules, Iolaus. There is a small village about a day ahead. I must go ahead. I travel faster alone, and I don't know how much longer Fern can hang on." Ferlan informed, looking sadly down at his sister. Hercules and Iolaus nodded in agreement.
"Just keep going straight. Travel safely." Ferlan said, and without another word he shot down the road.
Luckily, on the journey, neither Ferlan and Fern nor Hercules and Iolaus had encountered any threats. So a day later Iolaus and Hercules arrived at the small village. Ferlan was waiting, half asleep, for them at the entrance.
"You made it!" Ferlan exclaimed.
"Yap. How's Fern?" Iolaus asked.
"The healer said she should live." Ferlan informed.
"Can we see her?" Iolaus asked.
"If you want." Ferlan replied and led them to the small building where Fern was resting. They entered to see her lying completely still.
"She passed out about 5 minutes after I left you. Hasn't woken up since." Ferlan told them.
"Excuse me. Who are you?" a man said coming into through another door in the house.
"I'm her brother and these are friends." Ferlan replied.
"I'm sorry, but no visitors." the man said.
"And who are you?" Iolaus snapped.
"I'm the healer." he replied calmly.
"Oh." Iolaus said.
"Now please leave." the healer commanded.
"Why?" a weak voice said from behind him. They all turned round to see Fern propped up on her elbows staring at them with a small grin.
"FERN!" Ferlan exclaimed and ran to his sister. He was about to give her a big hug but she stopped him.
"Sorry. bro. No touchy. Unless you want to stain your lovely shirt." she said.
"Oh yeah. Sorry." he replied.
". That's okay. Oh,hello. I see you didn't have another encounter with our little friends then?" she said turning to Iolaus and Hercules.
"Nope. You?" Iolaus asked.
"I wouldn't know." she replied.
"Oh yeah. Are you feeling better?" Iolaus questioned.
"Yeah. I should be better..." she began, but was cut off.
"By next week." the healer finished.
"NEXT WEEK! ARE YOU CRAZY! I CAN'T STAY IN HERE FOR A WEEK!" she yelled. "I'LL DIE OF BOREDOME!"
"Sorry, but you have to." the healer said matter-of-factly and left. She collapsed at the thought of being kept in that small room for another week.
"Stupid...stuck up little...thinks he knows everything...deserves to have a trumpet shoved up his...i'll prove him wrong..." she grumbled into her pillow.
"You'll survive." Iolaus said and patted her on the head.
