Deep in the heart of their new home, Megara and Hercules were too lost in one another to hear the first few times Phil called for them. He called again, though, and this time, broke through their trance. "There was a rock slide in the gorge!" Phil shouted. "Thebes needs its hero!"
"Gorge?" Hercules repeated dizzily, pulling back from their kiss.
"Didn't we just fly over that?" Megara panted.
"Must've. Did you see anything suspicious out there?"
"If I did, the screaming chick distracted me."
"Oh, yeah. Me, too. I guess we ought to see what all this fuss is about." He gave her one good squeeze, set her on her feet with her skirt properly covering her, and ran off before she could regain coherent thought.
When she rejoined Hercules in the courtyard, it was to find Phil and Megarion waiting.
The satyr danced about excitedly with his tale of misfortune. "This is exactly what you need to prove your new hero chops! We'll get everyone out there to watch you! They thought you were great before, but now? Oh, boy! You got the body of marketing gold!"
Hercules set his fists on his hips, angling out his beefy wingspan for Megara to admire on her way down the stairs.
"I didn't hear any rockslide," she said, catching her breath. "How could this happen? It's gotta be the quietest rockslide in the history of stones falling in a gorge. Wouldn't that echo? Shake the earth? Something anyone within a broad radius would've heard?"
"Yer thinkin' small, sister, we gotta think big time!" Phil countered.
"I'm only saying it was fishy enough that clingy pity sponge was out in the woods chatting up a centaur; why now are we getting a ridiculous and unbelievable report of a natural disaster that nobody noticed?"
"Well, we gotta check it out, Meg. I can't let it go unanswered, or they'll think I'm a useless hero," Hercules said. "Why don't you stay home? I'm sure you've got some interesting scrolls to read." His eyes gleamed with his playful recommendation, which made Megara blush.
"Don't ruin this for the kid. Yer missin' the best part!" Phil said. "There's a whole family trapped under the rocks!"
"That was not how I expected him to tell that story," Megarion said. We have to hurry. Rumor has it that all of them are able to breathe for now, but it's only a matter of time. Haemon is already out there surveying the area and trying to keep spectators back."
"You're right." Hercules stuck two fingers in his mouth and whistled for Pegasus. "Meg, you should stay here where it's safe. I won't let anything fall on you."
"I should be there if you are. We'll be married soon. People need to associate my face with yours before they get any ideas."
Hercules chewed his lip while Pegasus flew down to them. "I get that, but if anything happened to you..."
"Don't worry. I can handle this. I'm a big, tough girl, aren't I?"
"You're also my girl, and I don't play games with your safety. But you're also persuasive, so come on. Just promise me you'll stay out of the way if anything dangerous starts happening." He lifted her onto Pegasus.
Megules fly to the gorge and watch a crowd amassing near it.
People are selling shade and refreshments.
"It's like some twisted holiday."
"I told 'em they'd see the Mighty Hercules in action!" Phil bragged.
"Phil, people are closer to the danger now!"
"Don't you want 'em to see how great you are? They'll be fine!"
Megara and Megarion exchanged irritable glances, but Hercules was already trotting Pegasus in a takeoff circle.
"Hey, me too!" Phil barked and climbed up Pegasus's tail until he reached a perch on the horse's back.
"I'll just wait here then, shall I?" Megarion asked.
"You wanna miss this?" Hercules asked.
Megarion glanced around and shrugged. "Yeah, actually, sounds like a nice break. Go… kick some rocks."
"Thanks!" Hercules lifted off with Megara firmly ensconced in his arms, and soon they'd reached the gorge in question.
"You don't think it's a little odd that this happens right as you get back into town?" Megara asked when they'd had a minute in the air.
"I dunno; crazy stuff happens around me all the time."
"So you don't think there might be some reason behind it? Someone who's orchestrating everything weird going on?"
"You some kinda conspiracy theorist?" Phil asked from the back.
"No, I'm a Hades theorist. I can't help thinking it's related."
"Hades doesn't usually make it his business to shove rocks around. That's more my department," Hercules said.
"Just be careful and keep your wits about you, okay? If it's not obvious yet, Hades has free reign to do whatever nonsense he can think of. Why not change up his game?"
"I'll be careful," Hercules promised.
The closer they got to the gorge, the more people they saw forming a crowd overlooking it. There were ancient steps leading down into the gorge, carved by Cadmus and his people, along with the cliffside city they intended to live in. Back then, it had seemed a wise plan to take advantage of the natural defensive structure afforded to them by the geographical advantages of the gorge.
That was before the dragon appeared.
Nobody wanted to live there after they'd watched friends and loved ones gobbled up by that monstrosity. Worse, it was immortal, and so it could only be stopped when it was locked away.
Megara contemplated all this history as Pegasus glided to an easy landing.
There were people standing on the stairs that had once led to Cadmus's original vision of Thebes—so many people, in fact, that multiple street vendors were there to sell refreshments and parasols. Come to think of it, Megara should have one of her own. It could be purple, with a labyrinthine block pattern and maybe some swirls.
"It's like some twisted holiday," she remarked.
"I told 'em they'd see the Mighty Hercules in action!" Phil bragged. "Maybe we should wait a minute until the audience is even bigger!"
"Phil, people are closer to the danger now!" Hercules scolded.
"Don't you want 'em to see how great you are? They'll be fine!"
"Help!" A voice called right on cue.
"Hurry!" added another. Both voices so long belonged to children, but then came a man's.
"We can't breathe!"
A woman yelped in pain. "We can't last much longer! Please…" her voice was the weakest.
Hercules lifted Megara off of Pegasus and jogged off toward the massive stone leaning on the wall of the canyon.
Megara saw no evidence of a rock slide. In fact, all she saw was that one gullible hero had run toward what her ancestors had named Dragon's Rock.
"Pegasus!" Megara grabbed the stallion by the mane. "Get me down there!"
"Where are you goin'?" Phil demanded, grabbing the hem of Megara's dress. "You'll steal the kid's big moment!"
"I care more about all the moments after this one!" Megara kicked Pegasus in the flanks, and they dove toward Hercules.
Hercules's body shook under the weight of the stone, and he groaned with effort.
Megara and Pegasus touched down near him.
"Meg!" Hercules ground out between his teeth. "Get back! I could drop this thing on you!"
"Don't move it too far!" Megara reached him and placed both hands on his shoulder. "This is the lair of the dragon of–" Megara released a scream instead of her words as something bashed her foot.
"Meg!" Hercules faltered, this time leaning the rock against the gorge wall to better see her. "What happened? Are you hurt?"
Megara stumbled back from the stone.
A set of wicked eyes looked at her from under the rock. These were not innocent yet unfortunate picnickers. They knew precisely what they were doing. This was not a rescue mission. It was a trap.
"Herc–" she started, but Hercules had lifted the boulder off the whole group.
The supposed family hopped out of the recess they'd all been crouching in. They charged past Megara as if to knock her over, but Megara caught the woman by the arm.
The woman screamed and covered her face with her free arm. Like Megara, she was brunette and wore a dark plum chiton. Similarly to Galatea, this girl might pass for a sister or cousin.
"Why were you down there?" Megara asked.
"I–"
Out of the tail of her eye, Megara saw Hercules still holding the titanic boulder and chatting with the kids.
"Before you do anything, put that stone down right where you found it," Megara instructed. She kept her grip on the woman despite a half-hearted attempt to wrench herself free. "And what possessed you to get you out here?"
"I… h-had to– don't look at me!" The woman covered her face again. "Let me go, please? I can't be seen with you."
"Why not? Are you embarrassed by Thebes's hero and the hero's fiancee?"
A deep, hungry hiss chilled Megara's blood. It originated from beyond the stone that Hercules had put back down. It wasn't exact; there was a gap between the stone and the wall.
"Uh…" Hercules put his arms out to block Megara from whatever lay within the cave and took several steps back so she'd be forced to do the same. "Is that a snake?"
"Maybe it's a gorgon," the man in the group spat derisively.
Megara glared in his direction, and that was when she discovered a familiar face. "Theron?"
Hercules whirled around to block Megara from this new threat. "You! What are you doing alive, you backstabbing jerk?"
"I have a right to breathe, even though I've been forced to live in the Underworld," Theron said. "You think you're so great, running around in the sun. But I've given up my dreams, and you shouldn't have forgotten that. I could've been the greatest actor in all of Greece!"
"Well, you're acting like a pain," Megara said. "If you're here, that means Hades isn't far off. And that means you don't pass the sniff test." She was still holding onto the now-sobbing woman, but she wished she didn't have to.
She was a flight risk, and she had the information they needed. Or did she?
The girl made a softer hissing sound, almost as if she were hiding several snakes in her hair.
"What's your name?" Megara asked.
"Me-Medusa…" the girl sobbed.
"Are you serious? Medusa?" Hercules's voice had pitched higher. "Why are you with him?"
"I… I can't talk about it… contract–"
"Don't say anything, or so help me–" Theron started, but Hercules batted him away before he could attack the girl.
One quick glance at the steps told Megara these were not good optics. People from afar could only see the two of them bullying the recently distressed parties whom Hercules had come to rescue.
This would not play well in the Greekly World News.
"Who do you have a contract with?" Megara asked Medusa.
"Someone who really wants you to move that rock," Medusa whispered back. "There's a monster in there… and Hades wants you to fight it, Herc. I didn't want any part of this, but…"
"A monster?" Hercules looked over his shoulder at his audience. "They came here for a show… Meg, take Medusa back to safety on Pegasus. I'm pretty sure everything else has been a trick, but I trust her. You'll be safe with her." He whistled for Pegasus, who was nearby to see all the excitement.
"What are you doing?" Megara gasped. "You're not seriously thinking of opening that, are you? This cave houses the Dragon of Cadmus! It's said that it's immortal! That's why it's lived for so long without food! And now it's waiting to eat you!"
"Don't worry, Meg. This is no problem for me," Hercules said. He picked the stone up again, but this time, he rolled it away.
The deep, furious hissing intensified.
"Go on, let me do this," Hercules said.
"I don't want to leave you," Megara said and grabbed his arm.
"Trust me, I'm a big, tough guy!" Hercules said with a wink. "I can handle a monster."
"I wish you wouldn't use my own lines against me…"
The outline of a massive serpent's head appeared in the shadows of the cave, accompanied by a pair of seething yellow eyes.
"Whoa… That's… that's a big one…" Hercules said.
"Come on!" Medusa tugged on Megara's arm. "We have to go!"
"We won't go far," Megara said. "Herc–"
"Go!" Hercules had never addressed her with such authority.
She lodged no further argument. With Medusa in tow, she flew back atop the ridge just as a monstrosity that her ancestors had spoken of in hushed whispers emerged from the cave.
It dwarfed Hercules, and shot Megara full of panic.
This would not be the easy fight Hercules was expecting.