Hercules was nearly panic-stricken. Realizing during this moonless night that he would have to wait until daybreak to follow Iolaus' trail, this was exactly what he could not stand: the waiting. He paced nervously in their room at the inn, constantly stopping to look outside, as though willing the sun to appear on the distant horizon. He could barely think, but knew he had to keep his wits about him if he was going to rescue his best friend.
Staring out the window, as he had been doing for hours, he thought back on the evening, and tried to recall how what had been a normal, routine day had suddenly turned so tragic. He asked himself why Iolaus continued to travel with him, constantly putting himself in harm's way. He could hear the hunter now, "I do it because I want to, Herc. Besides, who else is going to keep an eye on you and make sure you don't get hurt?" One corner of Hercules' mouth turned up a little, but smiling was the last thing he wanted to do right now.
He stared outside into nothingness, his mind a million miles away, wondering what was happening to Iolaus. He thought back to only a few hours ago when they arrived in this village and were eating a delicious hot meal. A villager who remembered a good deed Hercules and Iolaus had done for him nearly two years ago greeted them in the street and welcomed them. The villager then forced his way in between them, grabbed the closest arm of each man, and pulled them along with him to the inn. He shouted inside to his innkeeper friend to, "Take care of them, Barlos, anything they want!" He thanked the pair again for their previous kindness, and disappeared.
Hercules and Iolaus smiled at each other and proceeded on into the inn. Hercules recalled how impressed Iolaus was that the man remembered his name. "I can't believe he actually remembered my name," Iolaus had said proudly, and smiled up at his taller friend. So many people claimed to not know Iolaus, and Hercules knew that although his friend usually just brushed it off, it had to hurt Iolaus that people sometimes didn’t remember him. Barlos offered them a room for the night, as well as anything they wanted for dinner in the adjoining tavern. He motioned for them to sit at any table of their choosing, and he waited for their dinner order.
The friends had been through a few weeks of grueling adventures that included a trip to the castle of their old friend Vlad, where both Iolaus and Hercules had become victims of Vlad's evil, and another trip in which Hercules had been given dangerous, evil powers in order to destroy an old enemy. He continued to stand at the window, arms folded across his chest, remembering Iolaus telling him he didn't do possession well. He refused to believe that he would never see Iolaus again, but waiting for daylight was unbearable. A brief memory of the whole Dahak incident flashed through his mind, but he refused to think about that as well. He simply refused to lose his best friend again.
Both were exhausted and in need of soft beds, a week's worth of sleep, some variety to their diet from the usual fish and rabbit, and just a place where they could relax for a while. Hercules had casually mentioned retiring from their adventurous lives at one point, but both he and Iolaus knew that was entirely out of the question. All they needed was some rest and they would be fine.
"Stew and ale?" Iolaus asked in Hercules' direction.
Hercules glanced at his friend and decided to do something he didn't usually do when someone was so generous with their hospitality. "Not this time, Iolaus." He rather guiltily looked up at the innkeeper and asked, "Do you have any lamb tonight, and a good wine?"
Iolaus smiled and looked down at his hands clasped on the table.
The innkeeper said, "Sure, only the best for you, Hercules," and he strode to the kitchen to have the cook prepare their plates.
"Thanks, Herc," Iolaus smiled.
"Well, you deserve it, Iolaus. Actually, we both do." He laughed a little.
"Yeah, it's been a rough few weeks, hasn't it?"
"Tell me about it. Somehow, we keep getting ourselves into such a mess. Devils, witches, vampires. . .what next?"
Iolaus put his palms up toward his friend, "I don't even want to think about it," he mused. "By the way, there's something I've been meaning to ask you," he continued, suddenly more serious.
Hercules noticed Iolaus' change in demeanor and said, "Ask away."
"Why did you send me into the mountains to look for ice?"
Hercules took in a breath and held it. "Oh that," he finally said.
Iolaus nodded, staring at his friend. "Yeah, that. I could've fallen and broken my neck. I wasn't exactly thinking clearly, you know." He was not really mad at Hercules for the incident that had him riding a donkey into freezing, snow-covered mountains, but he thought it would be fun to torment Hercules with his concerns for a while.
The innkeeper returned with plates heaped full of lamb, covered with gravy, a bowl of fruit and cheese, a huge loaf of bread and a bottle of his best wine. "Please, enjoy," he offered with a smile, and left the pair to the feast.
"Thank you," Hercules smiled, grateful for the diversion from where the conversation was heading.
"Yeah, thanks. Great!" Iolaus exclaimed. "I'm starving."
Hercules laughed. "Iolaus, you're always starving. Don't you ever get filled up?"
"Hmmm?" the blond asked, so absorbed in breaking off a chunk of bread and taking a huge bite that for the moment he was not listening to his friend.
"Iolaus," Hercules sighed to himself. He cut a piece of lamb on his plate and lifted it to his mouth, wondering what he had ever done to deserve a friend like the man sitting across the table from him. He found himself staring at Iolaus while chewing his food, silently thanking Michael for the millionth time for returning this brother of his heart to him.
Sensing that Hercules was staring at him again, Iolaus said, "What?" as he looked up from his plate.
Hercules realized he was staring, shook his head, and nervously reached for the bowl of fruit. "Oh. . .nothing. I was, uh. . ."
Iolaus simply smiled. He had gotten used to Hercules acting like this almost from the time he returned from the Light. At first it made him nervous that Hercules watched his every move, but after having long talks with his friend, he came to realize that Hercules was so afraid of losing him again, that he couldn't help the way he was acting. Realizing that nothing was going to convince Hercules that he had no plans of doing anything foolhardy again, Iolaus gave up and just accepted that it would take more time for Hercules to work through this.
After all, Iolaus didn't blame his friend for having all of these feelings, or for it taking so long for him to get over his death almost a year earlier and accept that he was now back to stay. Iolaus nodded, "It's okay, Herc. This is great, thanks."
Hercules smiled, reached across the table and put an apple next to Iolaus' plate, as though that was what he intended to do all along. Then he took one for himself, set it next to his own plate and continued eating. In reality, he just took the apples as an afterthought so Iolaus wouldn't think he was staring at him again. He knew he stared at his friend a lot, especially since Iolaus had pointed it out to him so many times, and he worried about Iolaus far more than necessary, but he couldn't help it. His very soul had been ripped to shreds when Iolaus had met his untimely and senseless demise months before, and would take time to mend completely, but with Iolaus' help, it would. He opened the bottle of wine, poured some for Iolaus, then himself. He raised his mug and held it out toward his friend.
Iolaus put his fork down and raised his mug to meet the one Hercules held in front of him. When his friend said nothing, Iolaus asked through a mouthful of food, "Don't you want to make a toast or something?"
No matter how many times Hercules had told Iolaus not to talk with his mouth full, it seemed something that Iolaus would never change. Hercules didn't care, however. He was so glad to have Iolaus back with him to travel with, eat with and talk with, that it was not important. He felt that Iolaus could get away with anything and it would be okay. "Well, I don't really know what to say," he answered.
"Well," Iolaus had too much food in his mouth and swallowed a little of it, "how about. . .to us?" He smiled and met Hercules' mug with his own.
"To us, it is, Buddy."
They continued taking their time talking and eating as evening arrived, and remarked how good it felt to sit down and rest from the previous week of walking through the countryside. "I don't think we've eaten this good since Cairo," Iolaus said.
Hercules nodded his agreement. "Well, certainly not this MUCH."
Iolaus laughed.
"And this food isn't so rich that it's going to make you sick," Hercules teased.
"Yeah, well. . ." Iolaus fought for a comeback, "I'd never been to Egypt. I wanted to experience everything."
"And you did."
Iolaus laughed. "Yeah, we even fought stone statues." He rolled his eyes and grimaced, "That was a first."
The evening wore on as the two friends finally pushed themselves back from the table to let their meal settle. They would save the remaining wine in the bottle for another time, and slowly drank what was still in their mugs. "Hercules, you look tired. Why don't you go on up to bed. I think I'll walk around town for a while."
"You must be tired too."
"Aw, not really," Iolaus shrugged. "I want to walk off some of this food. I ate too much."
"You admit that?"
Iolaus laughed and stretched a nice, long, slow stretch as he slid down and forward in his chair, barely balancing on its front edge. It wasn't quite dark yet and he didn't want to turn in too early. He thumped his fingers on his stomach, "I'm just going to have a look around, since we're here and all. You go on up & I'll be there soon."
Hercules nodded his agreement and yawned mightily. "Okay, I'll see you later." Taking the wine and uneaten apples for later, he climbed the stairs to their room and that was the last he saw of his friend this night. He was disgusted with himself for having fallen asleep so quickly, but he had been more tired than he realized.
He woke up about three hours later, realized Iolaus was not back yet and it was pitch dark. His first thought was that Iolaus had found the company of a woman or a group of guys in a tavern who were willing to listen to Iolaus' tall tales of adventure. He tortured himself with thoughts that if he had just stayed awake, he might have seen where Iolaus went. 'Or if I had just gone with him,' he thought. He tried not to feel too guilty about not going with Iolaus and falling asleep instead. After all, Iolaus could probably use some time away from him. They had been together almost constantly for months, and each of them needed a little space to himself now and then.
As he became more fully awake, he thought that as far as he knew, the inn he was at had the town's only tavern, and it was very quiet downstairs. Iolaus certainly was not down there telling stories. Hercules dressed quickly, left the room and went outside into the warm night air. He looked up and down the street, neither seeing nor hearing anything. He was afraid that his worst fears had been realized, that Iolaus had fallen victim to some horrendous crime. Then he pushed that thought aside as he tried to remain calm, suspecting that Iolaus was simply delayed somewhere.
But where, and why? 'Surely Iolaus would not just go off somewhere without letting me know,' he reasoned. Hercules scratched the back of his head, trying to think if Iolaus had left any clue as to what he might want to do in this town. Nothing. He had simply said that he was going to look around. Hercules fought back the urge to get mad at his friend. He knew that Iolaus was aware that he was still having trouble coming to terms with his loss in Sumeria, and wouldn't purposely do anything to hurt his friend by playing a practical joke like vanishing without letting him know where he was.
No, something was definitely wrong here, and Hercules was at a loss to know what. Nothing in the town seemed unusual or out of place. It was quiet, a few street lamps burned, their candlelight barely illuminating the main street. Hercules rubbed his hands over his face. "Iolaus," he said just above a whisper, "where are you?"
"Pssst," Hercules heard from somewhere off to his right. He turned and saw no one.
"Who's there?" he asked, and walked a few steps where a side alley caught his attention.
"Dinar for a drink, pal?" an unseen voice said from the darkness.
"I don't think. . ." Hercules was cut off by the voice interrupting him.
"I know where your friend is."
This got the tall man's attention real fast. He took a couple steps into the alley and looked around. A figure moved on the ground, huddled behind a large barrel. "What do you know?" Hercules barked, more aggressively than he intended.
The figure drew up into himself, afraid of this large man.
"It's okay, I won't hurt you. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to snap at you. I'm just concerned for my friend is all. Please, if you know something. . ."
"Dinar for a drink?"
Hercules sighed heavily. He squatted down beside the barrel, thinking this might make his presence less frightening to the man. "I got dressed quickly and I don't have any money with me, but if you can give me information about my friend, I'll not only give you a dinar for a drink, I'll buy you an entire meal. Now please, what do you know?"
"They dragged 'im off."
"Who?"
"Men."
Hercules was getting impatient. "What men? Do you know them?"
"You ain't from aroun' here, are ya?"
"No," Hercules answered, "my friend and I just stopped here to rest a while."
"Ever'body aroun' here knows Septus and his men."
"Well I don't. What can you tell me about them? Where did they take my friend?"
"They're mean, meanest men you'll ever come across. Ya don' wanna tangle with 'em, mister, no ya don'."
"Can you tell me where they are, which way they went? Please, I have to find my friend!"
"You would really buy me a meal?"
"Yes!" Hercules snapped. "Please, where did they take my friend?"
The figure lifted an arm and pointed out of the alley to his left. "Prob'ly to the prison."
"Prison!" Hercules exclaimed.
"Septus' guards kidnap people all the time and takes 'em there. Those that live are sold into slavery."
Hercules breathed deeply. "How do I find this prison. . .I'm sorry, I don't know your name."
"My name's. . .not important. Go out of town until. . .you'll see it there. Bad place. Your friend. . .might be dead already. Tied up. . .beaten. . ."
The man spoke haltingly, and Hercules did not like what he was hearing. He was grateful for the information, however. "You sound like you've been there before."
"My..my. . .brother. . ." the man stammered, and drew himself further into a ball, as if remembering a nightmare.
"Thank you very much," Hercules offered. "I promise I'll come back and buy that meal for you, anything you want."
The figure nodded, as Hercules stood and returned to his room. It was far too dark a night to try and follow the trail out of town. He could easily walk right past the prison and not even know it. He knew he would have to wait a few hours, and only hoped Iolaus could last that long. As he stood now, looking out of the window, he whispered, "Hold on, Buddy."
He walked over and sat on the bed. Then he laid down. Then he sat up again. He was so nervous and afraid for what might be happening to Iolaus that he could not relax. He walked back to the window. Surely this night would never end! Again, he walked over to the bed and laid down. He kept up this routine for the rest of the night, going from laying down to staring out of the window into the darkness to pacing around the small room. He watched for any sign of daylight, any. His thoughts were running away with him, but he knew that Iolaus would do anything to survive.
The first sign of daylight arrived at last! Hercules dressed quickly, putting on just one of his shirts and carrying a few items rolled up in his undershirt. The very first glimpse of light had him dashing out of the room. He knew that it would only get lighter as he traveled, and he couldn't start off after Iolaus too soon. The innkeeper and cook were already up preparing for breakfast. Hercules quickly told the innkeeper what happened, apologized for having to leave in such a hurry, and thanked him again for his hospitality. The innkeeper wished him good luck, and Hercules was out of the inn and out of the town.
A short time later, something on the trail caught Hercules' eye. He bent down to pick it up -- one of the two little silver earrings that Iolaus had been wearing in his left ear lately. Iolaus had indeed gone this way. He quickly looked for the other one, but did not want to waste time trying to find it. Hercules continued on, ever wary of anything else he might see that belonged to Iolaus. It did not take long until he saw another object just off the trail to his left -- Iolaus' medallion.
Hercules reached down to pick it up, and held it lovingly in his hand. The leather strap was not broken. Iolaus was obviously leaving a trail for his friend to follow. Since it was getting dark when he was taken, the barbarians who had him apparently did not even notice what he was doing. "Old hunters' tricks," Hercules smiled. Then he gathered himself and quickly continued along the trail.
By now he had walked as fast as his legs would carry him for an hour. He did not want to run, for fear of missing a clue Iolaus had left, or of passing the prison altogether. The man in town had said he would see it, so he didn't think it would be too hidden or impossible to see from the road.
Just when he thought he may have gone too far, he saw one of Iolaus' belts, again just off the left side of the trail. Half expecting to find everything Iolaus was wearing scattered along the road, Hercules said aloud, "Keep your clothes on, Iolaus, I'll find you." He wished he knew just how far out of town this prison was, but with Iolaus' trail, he could not possibly overshoot his target.
He continued walking very fast, another half hour. Another of Iolaus' possessions on the left, this time one of Iolaus' gauntlets. Hercules picked it up, stood, and looked straight ahead down the road. "How far have they taken you, Buddy?" 'At least you're still alive,' he thought. That alone kept him going and gave him hope.
Another twenty minutes or so, and this time Hercules saw what looked like a piece of cloth on top of some weeds. Upon closer inspection, he recognized the loose patch that had been hanging from Iolaus vest for several days. He was saddened as he recalled how he kept pestering Iolaus to let him sew it back on after he had caught his vest on some thorn bushes, but Iolaus didn't mind it being half torn off. Now, Hercules surmised that it was a wise decision on Iolaus' part. If Hercules had sewn it back on, Iolaus would not have been able to tear it off.
Hercules was hopeful that whoever these guys were, they wanted Iolaus alive, and at least he had been conscious when he was forced out of town. He pressed on, constantly watching for a surprise attack from the guards or anything else that Iolaus may have left along the trail. The sun reflected just for an instant off an object that Hercules was about to step on -- Iolaus' other earring. Picking it up, he continued on, still looking left and right through the trees for any sign of a prison. After what seemed like an eternity, he saw a stark, gray structure a fair distance off the trail to his right. A narrow, but well-worn path led off the road and straight to it. Hercules proceeded cautiously, not knowing how many guards might be nearby. He quietly followed the trail, expecting a group of attacking guards at any moment.
Then, right in front of him, off the main road and a few yards onto the side path, Iolaus' other gauntlet. "I'm coming, Buddy. Hold on," he barely whispered.
Iolaus was living his own nightmare! Having been hit over the back of his head by some unknown assailant in that town, he had not quite been rendered unconscious, but was rendered unable to fight back. He was now chained to a cold, wet, stone wall in this prison, where water leaked in from some unknown source, where there wasn't even a window to let in some light, and berating himself for his stupidity at letting these guys overtake him. He had been so happy, having just had the most wonderful meal with his best friend, and was enjoying the pleasant summer evening as he walked around the small village to walk off what he had eaten. He had also been trying to make himself tired so he would sleep well.
He had been looking at a street vendor's wares, when suddenly and from nowhere he felt himself surrounded by several very large men who did not look like they were going to invite him for a friendly game of cards. They took his arms, told him to cooperate, and tried to lead him to an alley off the main street. Iolaus resisted immediately, and was immediately hit from behind with something he was sure was an anvil, and he had the headache to prove it.
He remembered falling to his knees and his hands being tied in front of him. He regained his senses and tried to stand to fight. He was held down and hit again. This time he fell forward to the ground and laid there, unmoving. The men grabbed his arms, dragged him to his feet and screamed at him to walk. He tried to force his legs to cooperate, but they just would not move like he wanted them to. The men dragged him several yards until Iolaus finally got his legs under him and somehow managed to do what they asked.
Most of the men mounted horses, but a couple of them walked near Iolaus. Just outside of town, Iolaus realized that none of them thought he was a threat, so they were not paying any attention to him. He started removing things that he hoped Hercules would find, smiling through his pain at his captors' ignorance to what he was doing. He felt bad that Hercules would have no idea what happened to him, knowing that it was highly unlikely any of the townspeople would tell him.
Since a couple of people had witnessed what was happening to him on the street, but didn't offer their help, Iolaus knew these barbarians ran the town. He wondered why he and Hercules could never manage to find just a nice, quiet, normal town to stay in. He knew that now they would have to do something to eradicate the creeps who ran this prison and the town, and he was not pleased with this new assignment. Of course, he reasoned, this would depend on him surviving long enough for Hercules to rescue him.
Arriving at this place, and having been pushed head-over-heels down the stairs, Iolaus was now alone in this dank, dark underground pit of horror, hoping daylight had arrived and Hercules would be on the trail coming after him. It had been such a dark night that he knew his friend would know better than to leave town to look for him until he could see well enough. The darkness had been an advantage, however, as Iolaus was able to leave many items along the road. He hoped Hercules would find them, and not some travelers who would erase the clues he left.
Just to be sure, Iolaus had also broken several branches that overhung the trail as he walked. At one point, he even managed to pull a loose patch off his vest and lay it on a branch. No one but Hercules would know what it was, or care. The kidnappers were completely oblivious to what he was doing. He wanted to say, "Amateurs," out loud to them, but for once decided to keep quiet. There were too many of them for him to fight alone while tied up, and he decided he had better stay alive until Hercules found him. He could not bear to once again put his best friend through a repeat performance of what he had been through this past year.
He wondered how long it would take Hercules to realize that he was no longer in the town, and if he would take the right direction out of town to come looking for him. He just knew he had to hold on and hope for the best. He pulled firmly on the chains that held his wrists securely, and looked up to see if there was any way of breaking free. "I can't even see my hands in front of my face!" he whispered to himself, then rolled his eyes at the irony of his statement, since his hands were nowhere near his face. It was too dark to see how the chains were secured into the wall, but they were not going to come loose anytime soon. He relaxed and thought about what else he could do to escape. He closed his eyes, his head still pounding from the beating he suffered when he was kidnapped.
Being pushed down the prison steps had not done anything for him either. His right leg and shoulder had taken the worst of that, and hurt worse as time wore on. He moaned out loud, unsure if anything was broken. He had taken many falls in his lifetime, and knew how to fall without getting hurt, but those falls had not been down a steep staircase in total darkness. He had become disoriented almost as soon as he no longer felt the foot that had kicked him in the back, causing him to lurch forward and take the full force of the initial impact on his right side. He longed for the gentle massage of the Amazon women he and Hercules had recently encountered, and focused on that pleasant memory as a diversion to what was happening to him.
A fist to the side of his face brought him out of his thoughts. "Hey!" Iolaus responded immediately. This brought a fist to his stomach. Two guards were standing in front of him, one holding a torch against the darkness. The light from the torch was blinding to Iolaus as he squeezed his eyes shut and turned away from it. He had been in total darkness for so long that any light was torture to his eyes.
One of the guards grabbed Iolaus' chin and spun his head around to face him. He was right in front of Iolaus' face as the other guard held the torch near enough to light all of their faces. "You, will NOT talk back, do you understand?"
Iolaus said nothing and was punched in the stomach again. The guard kicked Iolaus' knees out from under him, causing great pain to his arms and shoulders as his weight shifted too suddenly. He suppressed a scream from the pain to his right leg as well, and slowly pulled his legs back under himself to relieve the pressure on his arms.
"Do you understand?"
Iolaus spit in the guard's face, and that was the last thing he remembered before another beating to his face and stomach caused darkness to claim him.
Hercules was still approaching the prison. It was an eerie place that he had a bad feeling about. He knew the feelings came from his best friend being held captive somewhere inside, but he knew that even if Iolaus wasn't in there, he would want no part of this place. It rose up from the ground like some evil thing waiting to grab its victims and devour them.
He approached the building cautiously, using everything he could for cover. There did not appear to be any guards around the place, which surprised him, but he knew the scenario. These guys had all the locals so terrified of them that no one would dare approach the place voluntarily, much less try to run them out of it. He wondered how many men he was dealing with, but knew he could easily defeat any number of them by using his wits.
There was a moat with a drawbridge that was down. Hercules saw no one around it, but again surmised that these guys had no reason to guard the place. They didn't know Iolaus, so for all they knew, Iolaus was just a lone traveler in the wrong place at the wrong time. He assumed they only kidnapped people no one would come looking for. "Boy, are you guys wrong," he mumbled to himself.
He studied the building and its walls, deciding that the direct approach was going to be the best approach. The walls were too smooth to get footholds to climb, so he was going to have to go across the drawbridge and into the prison, facing whatever was in there. He had a plan. He would tell them he was a salesman, his wagon had been commandeered by bandits, he was looking for temporary food and shelter -- no, that would never work. They would know in an instant that he was lying. He looked too strong to let bandits steal his wagon.
'Okay', he thought, 'a king has sent me here to find a missing relative. King Orestes of Attica.' Yeah, that would do nicely. 'If the king finds out that you're holding his cousin, he will send his entire army to destroy this place and wipe you out. Might work.' Iolaus would be rescued and no one would get hurt. He only hoped the guards didn't know that King Orestes had been killed a few years ago, or that the entire army might consist of no more than Hector and Linus.
Hercules took a deep breath, continued to look in all directions, desperately missed Iolaus protecting his back, and proceeded toward the drawbridge. He crept quietly across it and into the prison without seeing a soul. 'Where in the world is everyone?' he wondered. He listened for voices, noises, anything, but it was deathly quiet. As creepy as Vlad's castle was, he thought this place was even worse. He continued to walk down a narrow corridor, on guard for any danger.
Someone was grabbing and pulling his hair, jerking his head around, and he didn't like it one bit! Iolaus was coming out of the state the guard had put him in a short time ago. In this place, there was no way to tell how much time was passing, but he only hoped Hercules was on his way and would find him very soon.
"You think you're so smart," a guard screamed directly in front of Iolaus' face.
"No," Iolaus answered, barely able to speak.
"Well, we like smart guys around here, don't we?" he asked in the direction of the guard who was with him, still holding that blinding torch.
Iolaus saw the other guard grin wickedly, then he closed his eyes and wondered what torture they had devised for him. 'Why can't people just find an honest way to make a living?' he wondered. "What do you want with me?" he asked.
"No one's ever going to find you here, you know. Nobody ever comes to this place and gets out again, except as a slave or a dead man." With that, he slammed his fist into Iolaus' stomach again.
Iolaus had held back as long as he could, and this time he screamed involuntarily. He did not want to show these guys any signs of weakness, but this last punch felt like it broke a rib, or worse.
Just passing a very narrow staircase, Hercules heard a scream. There was no mistaking who it was. "Iolaus!" he said quietly, and turned his head in the direction it came from: down the stairs he was just passing. At that moment, two guards came walking past the stranger standing at the top of the stairs. They stopped talking in mid-sentence. "FORGET THE PLAN!" Hercules screamed, knocked their heads together and they fell unconscious.
Adrenelin kicked in with full force as Hercules flew down the steps, three at a time, not knowing or caring how many guards awaited him below. Iolaus' scream was enough to send him flying, and beware anyone who got in his way! He momentarily thought about the last time he heard Iolaus scream, when he found the possessed woman at Vlad's castle sucking on his friend's neck, trying to turn him into a vampire. Now all he could wonder was what sort of hideous torture Iolaus was dealing with this time. All he saw in the darkness was a flaming torch held by someone at the far side of the room. Hercules took giant strides toward the flame and punched the guy holding it. The guard went flying, along with the torch, staying lit as it rolled to a stop on the wet floor. A second guard had been standing next to the guard who held the torch -- not anymore! Shoved hard into the wall by a furious demigod, he was immediately unconscious.
"Iolaus!" Hercules exclaimed as he felt for his friend's face in the darkness. He hurried over to get the torch and brought it back to light Iolaus' face.
"Hi Herc," Iolaus barely mumbled, and slumped into unconsciousness.
Hercules raised the torch to see what was holding Iolaus' hands. He set the torch down, broke the chains easily, and Iolaus' arms fell heavily onto Hercules' shoulders. He picked up the torch, then carefully lifted his friend and carried him across the room and up the stairs. Once up the stairs he could see well enough to lose the torch, so he tossed it across the floor. He wished he could burn the place down, but first he had to get Iolaus out of here.
Surprised at how easily he had rescued Iolaus, Hercules set out quickly, putting as much distance between the prison and themselves as he could. He assumed that no one had ever attempted a rescue at this place. He stopped along the narrow path that led directly from the prison and picked up the bundle he had hidden under some brush earlier, then kept going. When the path met up with the main road, he momentarily thought about returning to the town they had been in, but he did not want to bring trouble there should the guards return looking for Iolaus. He would see to Iolaus elsewhere and deal with this prison problem later. He turned to his right in a direction that would take them away from the town and well away from the prison.
Hercules continued walking very fast along the trail in hopes of not being discovered by any prison guards who might be in the area. It was turning out to be a very hot day, and he was sweating profusely, something he seldom did. Deciding it would be best not to take Iolaus to any nearby town and risk being found, possibly bringing danger to innocent townspeople, he headed off the road and walked back into the dense forest where they would never be found. He was careful not to leave any sign of where he left the road, looking behind him to ensure there were no footprints, broken branches, bits of cloth torn on a branch, anything.
Satisfied that they would not be followed from this point, Hercules proceeded through the forest to a river where he found a perfect clearing to make camp. He laid Iolaus on the ground under a huge shade tree a few yards from the river and quickly checked him over for injuries. He had been in such a hurry to get him to safety, that he hadn't had a chance to see where he was hurt, and hoped that jarring him along the route had not hurt him further.
His ribs. At least one was broken, his stomach was bruised, suggesting possible internal injuries, his face had taken a beating, and a swollen lump on the back of his friend's neck was not good. "Oh Iolaus, why does this stuff keep happening to you?" he sighed. He removed Iolaus' vest, noticing the spot where the torn patch had been, and laid it aside. He then removed his own shirt and tore two long strips that he tied together. Carefully rolling Iolaus onto his right side, Hercules wrapped the makeshift bandage around Iolaus' slim chest twice and tied it tightly. He emptied the items that were rolled up in his undershirt, then folded his shirt to put under Iolaus' head as a cushion against the ground.
He then took this shirt, doused it in the river, and used it to cool Iolaus and keep his face and the bump on his neck from swelling anymore than it was already. The left side of his face was badly bruised and swollen, but Hercules hoped to prevent further complications by keeping the cool cloth applied to it.
Suddenly Iolaus stirred. "Where. . .?"
Hercules talked to him to keep him calm. "Iolaus, you're safe now. I got you out of that place & no one will find you here."
"Hercules?" his voice cracked.
"Yeah, it's me."
"I'm sorry. . ." he whispered, and drifted off to sleep.
"Get some rest, Buddy." Hercules was relieved that Iolaus was just asleep and not unconscious or in a coma. This made it more likely that he would recover.
For the first time all day, Hercules sat back and breathed. He thought of the events that had taken place since last night, and what he was going to do about it. The guards at the prison had to be put out of business; all the better if the prison itself was put out of business, but Hercules would leave that up to the nearby villagers to decide. They were the ones who had put up with this for who knows how long, so they could decide the fate of the guards and the building. Sending people to a life of slavery was something both Hercules and Iolaus abhorred, so there would soon be a few less slave dealers in Greece.
Hercules left Iolaus' side for a few minutes, gathered wood for a fire and quickly got that going. As hot as it was getting, he would still need to keep Iolaus warm and comfortable.
Again, Hercules sat next to Iolaus, soothed his injured face and neck with the cool cloth, and was glad he had been able to find him so quickly, and even rescue him without having to battle an entire army of guards. He studied his friend's face, and was reminded of those days in Sumeria, when he was standing guard over his friend's body. How he wished he could erase that whole tragic incident from his mind. "At least this time you're still alive, Buddy," he said aloud, and continued applying the cool cloth to Iolaus' face. Thankfully, the area where the knife had penetrated Iolaus' chest was no longer a visible reminder of that time, but Hercules still fought to come to grips with that insane day that his best friend had been so brutally and senselessly killed.
As evening approached, his thoughts were running away with him. He needed something to do to keep busy and keep from thinking too much, so he looked around the immediate area for nuts, berries, fruit, anything they could eat later on before it got too dark to find anything.
Sometime late in the afternoon, Iolaus awoke once again. This time he was more alert and wanted to sit up. Hercules had to plead with him to remain still until his ribs had a chance to heal. "But Herc, that could take days," Iolaus begged.
"Iolaus, I am NOT going to let you get up and hurt yourself further, do you understand?" His blue eyes penetrated the eyes of his friend, almost daring Iolaus to challenge him. He was relieved when Iolaus did not pursue the matter.
Iolaus nodded, ever glad that he had Hercules to care about him. Who else would risk his own life to come after him time and time again? He smiled at his friend and said, "Okay." He realized that at the moment he probably couldn't get up even if he tried. He raised his left arm and rested his bent elbow across his eyes. The sunlight was painful after the time he spent in total darkness. Finally he said, "Herc? Would you check my right leg? It feels like it's broken. They kicked me down some stairs and my right side took a pretty good pounding." He paused a moment, then said, "Be careful, okay? It hurts like crazy."
Hercules' expression suddenly went somber. A broken leg out here would not be good. He knew that in his haste to get Iolaus out of that prison, he had handled him more roughly than he would have if he had suspected a broken leg. Once he discovered Iolaus' broken ribs, he was so intent on getting them bandaged that he didn't check for further breaks. He was glad Iolaus had his eyes covered so he could not see his concern. He felt Iolaus' leg and, thankfully, detected no broken bones. He anticipated Iolaus jumping a foot off the ground if he hit a painful spot, but fortunately his leg was intact. Hercules saw that Iolaus was wincing, but he was being as careful as he could. He breathed a sigh of relief. "Your leg is probably bruised, but nothing's broken. See if you can bend your knee."
Iolaus nodded his relief and bent his knee up slightly.
"Now try to wiggle your foot."
Iolaus rotated his foot as much as he could with his boots on.
"Good," Hercules sighed, greatly relieved. "Now, are you hungry? Thirsty?"
"Oh great, don't tell me, nuts and berries," he feigned sarcastically.
"Well, would you rather go hungry? How about an apple instead?"
"An apple?"
"Yeah, there's one here for me too."
Iolaus looked around for a few seconds and didn't see any apple trees. "Where did you find apples around here?" He put his arm back across his eyes.
"I didn't," Hercules smiled. "These are from last night."
Iolaus gave him a puzzled look from under his arm.. "You're kidding."
Hercules shrugged.
"You came all the way here to rescue me, and you brought apples?"
"Yeah, I don't know why," Hercules mumbled, "but they were left over from dinner and I just grabbed everything from the room when I left. I thought you might also be your usual starving self when I finally caught up to you." He reached behind himself and said, "I brought this too," as he held up the bottle of remaining wine from the previous night.
Iolaus tried to laugh, but his injuries prevented that. He grabbed his injured side as pain shot through him.
"In fact, my friend, I have something else for you." He hoped to get Iolaus' mind off his injuries and cheer him up a bit.
"Yeah? What?" Iolaus winced. "You know I love surprises, Herc." Iolaus felt like he had been pulled out from under huge rocks in a cave-in, but he tried hard not to let Hercules know how bad he felt. He did not know how long he could keep up the charade, however, because he truly felt miserable.
"I know." Hercules smiled slightly, still saddened at how close he had come to losing his friend again. He reached over and retrieved the items that had been rolled up in his shirt, but kept them hidden behind himself from Iolaus' view.
"What's that?" Iolaus asked, anticipation written all over his face. Even in the shade the sunlight was blinding and his head was throbbing. He lowered his arm from his eyes to see what Hercules had.
"Well, let's see," Hercules took his time looking. "Here's a belt that I found." He stretched it to its full length. "Look, it's just your size!"
"Gee, thanks, Herc," Iolaus grinned, and took the belt that was handed to him.
"And a gauntlet. . .well, what do you know, a PAIR of gauntlets." He grinned at his friend and handed them to him.
Iolaus took them from Hercules and set them aside with his belt. I'll put them back on later," he whispered.
"Oh, look, a medallion."
Iolaus' expression suddenly became serious, but he managed to whisper, "Thanks, Herc. I wasn't sure if I'd ever see this again." He reached up for his medallion, but Hercules pulled it back toward himself.
"You're welcome, Buddy. Allow me," he said, and placed it around Iolaus' neck where it belonged. How he loved to see the smile that this simple action brought to Iolaus' face. "And what's this?" he asked, as he pulled a small bit of cloth from the pile and studied it as though he had never seen it before. "A patch of some sort."
Iolaus smiled even bigger now. "See? It's a good thing you didn't sew it back on. I figured if travelers picked up all of my stuff before you found it, you'd still see the patch and know what it was. No one else would bother with it."
"That was smart thinking." He reached behind himself for the last items. "And last, but certainly not least," he announced with great fanfare, as his eyes grew wide with childlike excitement, as he held one of the two items between the thumb and index finger of each hand, "two earrings!"
It seemed impossible that Iolaus could smile any bigger, but he did. His face simply lit up, at least, as much as it could in its present condition. "Allow me once again," Hercules said, and bent over to put Iolaus' earrings in his ear.
"Ow!" Iolaus jumped as Hercules' touched his injured face.
"Sorry, I'm trying to be careful. My fingers are too big for these. There," he said when the task was completed, "now you look like you again." He knew that Iolaus didn't really look like himself yet, all beaten up like he was, but with all of his things back, he would in time.
"It's okay, Herc, thanks. I've got all my stuff back. I didn't think I'd ever see any of it again. I thought travelers would pick everything up and it would end up spread all over Gree. . ." His eyes misted over and he suddenly choked on his words.
Hercules saw that his friend was getting emotional. How could he not, after all he had been through? It seemed like it had been a lot longer than just the previous night since Iolaus had disappeared. The guards had done a lot of damage to him in that short amount of time. He put a hand on Iolaus' left arm and squeezed it gently. "Well, the main thing is that I found you, and I'm just glad you left everything where you did, because I kept thinking I had passed the prison. I wouldn't have wanted to waste time backtracking needlessly. Every time I thought I had gone too far, I'd find something else you dropped. There are also about a million broken weeds and branches on the road between here and that town too. For a minute I even thought I was going to find your vest, pants and boots along the road.
Iolaus grabbed his side again as he almost laughed at that. "Ow!" He sniffed and tried not to let his emotions get away from him. "Yeah, they were such amateurs. They didn't even see what I was doing. It was just lucky they didn't tie my hands behind my back, though, or I wouldn't have been able to reach half the stuff to leave it, or break the branches. I guess if I'd left all of my clothes behind, they might have caught on." He thought a second, then added with a slight smile, "But then again, maybe not."
Hercules nodded and looked down at his friend. "Iolaus, do you ever get the feeling that we're just not meant to have any peace in our lives?"
Iolaus looked up at his friend. "Yeah, you're right, bad guys, everywhere we go. Just once it would be nice to spend a week relaxing in a town where nothing happens. It would be kinda boring, but at least we wouldn't get hurt. I feel awful." He fingered his medallion for a moment, then asked, "Is there some water?"
"Sure," Hercules answered, and got the two small cups he had brought with him. He took them to the river and filled each one. Returning a few seconds later, he said, "I know you feel awful, Buddy. Maybe we should've retired when we had the chance."
Iolaus shot a 'not on your life' glare toward his friend. "No way, Herc. I don't ever want to retire." He took the cup of water that his friend handed to him, held it up and toward Hercules the best he could and smiled from his pain-filled body, "To us."
Hercules smiled, and touched his cup to Iolaus' cup. "To us." He set his water down and lifted Iolaus' head slightly to help him get a drink. Then he drank his own water, realizing he was incredibly thirsty. He returned to the river to fill his cup again. As he walked the few steps he said, "I owe a dinner to a man back in the town, but for now, we'll just stay right here until you're well enough to travel. No one's going to find us here, so there's no worry about having to do anything for a while."
"That sounds nice, Hercules. Herc? Thanks for rescuing me." He reached for his medallion and caressed it in his hand. "And thanks for finding all my stuff."
"You're welcome, Iolaus. Now, get some rest. I don't imagine you slept last night."
"Sure, Herc, and you know what? I KNOW you didn't sleep last night either." He smiled as he closed his eyes, one arm covering his eyes, his other hand holding his medallion, and was asleep immediately.
"Night, Iolaus." Hercules put his shirt back in the river to get it cool again, then held it against Iolaus' battered face. Not caring that he had not slept except for a brief time the previous night, he kept a constant vigil over his friend throughout the night.
The End
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