"You were supposed to turn left." Lilith snapped.
"No, we already turned left." Hercules insisted. "Now we're supposed to head southeast until we reach a stream and then head north until we reach the cave."
Alexia sighed. The two had been arguing almost as soon as they began walking. She didn't interfere because she was terrible with directions, but hearing them go at each other constantly was beginning to grate on her nerves. She was trying her best to ignore them when she spotted something in the distance. The others weren't aware of her discovery, for they were too caught up in their quarrel.
"I'm telling you, we took a wrong turn at that tree stump back there," said Lilith.
"And I'm telling you that you're crazy," the demigod shot back.
"Hey, you guys..." Alexia tried to speak up, but her voice was not heard.
"Oh really? Well I'm not the one who got us lost yesterday!"
"I did NOT get us lost! I just misread the map once or twice."
"Yeah, try four or five times."
Alexia released an aggravated sigh. "Guys..."
"Oh, like you knew exactly where you were going?"
"At least I figured out what you did wrong. You just can't accept the fact that I happen to be a better tracker than you."
"Pft! In your dreams, Lilith."
"Oh yeah? Well I bet you five dinars that I could—"
"You guys, shut up!" Alexia yelled. Her companions stopped and faced her. "Look, the stream is over there," she pointed out.
Sure enough, about fifty paces away a stream lay in clear view. The cadets made their way over to the body of water, then followed it north. After cutting through a thick patch of underbrush, they finally reached the cave.
Hercules lit a torch and stepped into its dark mouth, with Lilith and Alexia following close behind. The three picked their way through the cobwebs and around the stalagmite on the rocky ground. They soon entered a wide chamber with three separate passageways branching off.
"Which way do we go now?" Alexia asked.
"Maybe we should split up and take different routes." Lilith suggested.
"No, no, no," Hercules stalled, "I don't think that's a good idea. We should stick together in case something happens."
"So which direction should we go?" Alexia queried.
The demigod paused for a while, scanning the three tunnels before them. "Let's try the last one," he decided. "I don't know why, but I have a hunch that this is the way we should go."
Without questioning his instincts, his friends followed him into the passageway. They walked through a seemingly endless series of twists and turns. A couple of instances, Alexia thought she heard a low rumble, but dismissed it as her overactive imagination. But after the third or fourth one, she began to worry.
"Is it just me or do you guys keep hearing a noise?"
What noise?" Lilith asked.
Another rumble occurred shortly afterwards, and Alexia knew that time it wasn't just in her head. "That noise."
"Well, it could be someone's stomach, although we already ate breakfast this morning and Iolaus isn't here." Hercules joked in a feeble attempt to lighten the mood, but failed miserably. The three cautiously continued through the cave. When they thought that the noises had completely stopped, a tremor started again, louder and longer than the previous ones.
"I did NOT like the sound of that." Lilith said nervously.
"Me neither." Hercules agreed. "Guys, we'd better pick up the pace and try to get out of here fast."
The cadets made their way through the remainder of the tunnel as quick as they could until they reached what appeared to be a dead end.
"Great, now we'll have to go back and try one of the other ways." Lilith grumbled.
"Guys, hold on." Alexia said. She took the torch from Hercules and held it up to a small opening at the bottom of the wall. "There's another room on the other side."
"But how are we going to get to it?" Lilith asked.
"I have an idea." Hercules announced. "Lilith, you and Alexia can try to crawl through the hole. I can't because I wouldn't be able to fit under there."
Lilith went first and had little trouble making her way through the opening. Alexia took a bit more time to squeeze through, seeing how she was bigger and almost got stuck. When they both reached the other side, Hercules knelt down and held the torch to light the room. "Do you see anything?"
The two searched throughout the alcove but saw no signs of the herb. Even with the room illuminated, it was still difficult for them to see. They were about to give up when Lilith spotted a nook in the far corner that contained an unidentified object. Curiously, the girls walked over and Lilith stuck her hand into it. When she reached her hand back out, she held a small cloth bag. She looked inside and exclaimed, "It's the herb! We found it!"
"All right," Hercules called, "Now crawl back through the hole and we can get out of here."
Lilith once again slithered through the opening on her belly with the bag of herbs. It seemed that the worst was over—until the rumbling started again, more powerful than it had been before. One by one, rocks started to shake loose and fall to the ground.
"Alexia, get out of there!" Hercules yelled. Knowing that trying to crawl her way through would take too long, Alexia rushed towards the opening and dove under to the other side.
The cadets ran at full speed out of the cave, covering their heads to protect them from the falling debris. Alexia felt numb, like the disaster wasn't really happening and instead was part of a terrifying dream. She moved on automatic, not watching where she was going, which was why she tripped. She struggled to get up as the rocks fell on top of her. "Hercules, Lilith!" she cried. Her breathing became heavier as the reality of the situation began to sink in. I'm going to die, she thought. By the gods, there is no way I can get out of this.
"Alexia!" she heard someone shout. It was Hercules. No, she wasn't going to die. Her friends were going to help—either that, or go down with her.
"Hercules, I can't get up!" she wailed as he ran towards her.
"Give me your hand," he instructed, "and try to pull yourself up." Although she doubted that getting up again was possible, Alexia knew that she had to try. She limply took hold of the demigod's hand, and with much effort, hoisted herself to her feet. From there, they hurried out of the cave as fast as Zeus's lightning bolts. Alexia felt dizzy and weak, but pushed herself onward when she saw that they were almost out of the cave. With a final leap, they tumbled onto the ground outside, backing away as the last of the rocks fell.
For the next few moments, nothing could be heard but gasps for air. When they finally had enough energy to speak, Lilith declared, "That's it. I'm never going into another cave."
"The important thing is that we all got out alive," said Hercules, "and we were able to get the herb." He looked over at Alexia, who was crouching on the ground and holding her stomach in pain.
"What's the matter?" he asked. Without answering, Alexia lifted up a part of her vest to reveal a large gash across her stomach that was trickling out blood. It was the result of diving through the opening and the sharp rocks beneath cutting her.
"Lilith, get the bandages from the supplies, quick!" he ordered as he knelt down beside Alexia. Lilith handed him the bandages and he tightly wrapped them around Alexia's stomach. "This will stop the bleeding until we get back to the academy and Cheiron can treat it."
"Maybe we should use the herb," suggested Lilith.
Hercules shook his head. "No, remember what Cheiron told us. It's dangerous if we use too much. Listen, are you hurt anywhere?"
"Yeah," she replied, indicating a cut on the side of her forehead. After wrapping Lilith's wound, Hercules put the bandages away with the rest of the supplies. Alexia thought it was odd that he didn't check to see if he was hurt, too. She was even more surprised when he suggested that he carry her back to the academy.
Alexia gave him a strange look and said slowly, "Herc, I'll be fine."
"Are you positive?" he asked skeptically.
"Yes," she said as she got up. They had only taken a few steps when she felt a severe pain shoot through her body, causing her to clutch her stomach and moan in agony.
Hercules turned around. "Alexia, let me carry you back. If you try to make it on your own, you'll only slow us down."
"He's right." Lilith added. "You're in too much pain to walk."
Nodding, Alexia reluctantly put her arms around Hercules's neck and allowed him pick her up. The cadets began their journey back to the academy with the knowledge that it'd be longer and more trying than the way there.