The Cattle of Geryon

“Shush, Mother, please. I want to hear what Iolaus says when he sees the surprise,” Hercules whispered as he and Alcmene stole glances out the kitchen window that faced the barn.

Alcmene had never remembered seeing horses so tall and broad, nor a chariot of such rich regal design. As she cooked breakfast and readied their travel packs with food and medical supplies, she kept reminding her son to carry the ownership papers on his person at all times. Dressed in travel clothes neither he nor Iolaus looked as if they should be in possession of such a rich mode of transportation.

They could both hear the cheerful, although slightly off-key, singing as the young blond warrior approached the house from the main road…then silence. Nothing…not a word…not a peep…not even a sharp intake of breath.

Hercules couldn’t stand the suspense. He rushed out of the back door to see his best friend’s reaction to the rig. Alcmene following on his heels, just as anxious to see the look on that much beloved face.

Iolaus just stood there, outside the barn with his mouth hanging open as the darker of the two horses nudged him on his shoulder in a friendly manner, which was quite unusual equine behavior.

“He likes you, buddy. Tell him you like him too. Go on, Iolaus. He’ll be your traveling companion for the next year or two,” Hercules said only half-jokingly as he pushed his friend forward.

Iolaus reached out his hands and stroked the horse’s neck then moved over to the lighter colored horse to see if he was as friendly as his teammate.

“So, what do you think? Eurytheus kept his promise to supply us with a chariot. He had them delivered here last night with a scroll that contains the instructions for my next labor. Horses and chariot straight from the royal stables, Iolaus. They’re fit for a king.”

“Royal horses? No Herc, I don’t think so. Not even Jason has anything this magnificent and he’s got the best stables in Greece,” Iolaus stated emphatically. “These horses are from the gods, fit for a god.”

“You might be right, Iolaus. Eurytheus has all the right connections. You want to give them a test?”

“You mean you didn’t test them yet?!?” Iolaus exclaimed.

“Nah, I’ve been waiting for you. I haven’t even read the scroll yet. We’ll both be learning about our next adventure at the same time,” the demigod replied.

“Aw, thanks Herc. Hey Alcmene, have I ever told you that you’ve raised a gem of a son,” Iolaus joked.

“You don’t have to tell me, Iolaus. He’s more precious than diamonds and I’ve known that since before he was born.”

Iolaus chuckled softly but nodded his head in agreement as he looked up at his best friend.

“And you Iolaus are sapphires and gold,” the demigod’s mother added with a loving smile for the son of her heart. The young man and the demigod’s mother had grown so much closer over the past six months, ever since the time he nursed her back to health after she’d eaten poisoned mushrooms. Alcmene was certain that, if it weren’t for Iolaus’ tender, around-the-clock attention, she would have died. That was the second time he’d saved her life. He didn’t realize about the first time, and wouldn’t, at least not for many years yet.

“How many days will it take for you to close up the forge, Iolaus?” Hercules asked his friend.

“I’ve been preparing for this assignment for a couple of weeks already. I locked up the forge for good last night, Herc,” Iolaus said. “I figured that your six-months of home leave was almost up and I knew I had to be ready so I took care of everything early.”

“You’re ready to go then? No sweethearts to kiss goodbye? No ‘Dear Daphne’ letters to write?” the demigod joked.

“If he took the time to kiss all his sweethearts goodbye, you’d still be here for at least a couple of more weeks,” Alcmene said with a laugh, causing the young blond to blush.

“Funny Alcmene. You too, Herc. Yeah, I’m ready right now as a matter of fact -- that is if I can stop by the house and pick up my sword and a couple of travel items. So, where exactly will we be going?”

“Come in for breakfast and we’ll see,” Hercules said as he put his arm around his friend’s shoulder and led him into the house. “Then we’ll take the horses out and see what they can do.”

Alcmene placed a large platter laden with bread, cheese, fruit and olives on the table and turned to leave, wanting to give the two young men some privacy.

“Mother, please stay to hear what the scroll says. You’re as much a part of these labors as we are. Sometimes I think you have the hardest part, staying home, waiting, not knowing if everything is going well.”

“I had a taste of the waiting part myself last year Herc and I can tell you it really is the hardest part,” Iolaus said.

“You’re right Hercules. But this time you’ll have Iolaus with you and that’s a comfort to me. I’ll still worry, but only half as much as when you’re on your own,” she said as she took one of their hands in each of hers and smiled at them both.

Hercules squeezed his mother’s hand gently before releasing it and smiling back at her, then he picked up a knife from the platter and used it to break the seal on the scroll. As Iolaus and Alcmene waited with bated breath, he read Eurytheus’ words.

Hercules, you and Iolaus of Thebes, your chosen companion and charioteer for the next several labors, are hereby commanded to travel to the ends of the earth. You will rescue the herd of cattle that is being held ransom by one named Geryon and bring them back to me so that they may be returned to their rightful owner. Eurytheus

Hercules closed his eyes and whispered “Geryon…”trying to recall where he’d heard that name before.

“Geryon? As in ‘what has three bodies, stinks like cow sh…manure, and flies?’ Geryon? That Geryon?” Iolaus asked anxiously.

His friend’s mention of the old joke jogged the demigod’s memory. “Do you know any other Geryons who live at the ends of the earth?” Hercules asked his best friend with a small tight smile playing around his lips.

Iolaus shook his head but didn’t say a word. Alcmene, however, could feel the sudden tension that particular name evoked in the young man as she was still holding his hand in hers.

“Let me take out my scrolls and we’ll see exactly who this Geryon is,” Hercules said as he started to rise from his chair.

“Wait Herc. You don’t have to get up. I know enough about Geryon to get us by for now,” Iolaus advised his friend.

Hercules regarded Iolaus with raised eyebrows and doubt written all over his face, but he gave his buddy the chance to get his joke in before retrieving his own trusty scrolls. “Okay, Iolaus. Let’s hear what you know.”

Iolaus swallowed back the nervous laugh that was tingling just under the surface. He decided it would be better to save it until he’d dazzled the demigod with his in-depth knowledge of this particular villain.

“Geryon is a medium-sized monster with three heads, three sets of legs but only one, oversized and very strong body. The three heads and sets of legs all usually wanted to go in three separate directions at once and it slowed the monster down incredibly. But over the years as the monster matured and grew to it’s full size, it developed wings to get it around faster. The wings are fiery red in color and they’re as sharp as razors.”

“This Geryon is the grandchild of Medusa -- the same Medusa with all the snakes on her head who turned people to stone if they were unlucky enough to catch sight of her ugly face. She was killed by some idiot son of Zeus who didn’t think of the consequences of his actions. Too bad they’re not all like you, huh Herc? His name was…um, his name was…why can’t I remember now. Starts with the letter “P” I think. Can’t be anyone too important if I don’t remember. Anyway, to get the family’s revenge, Geryon stole Zeus’ prized cattle and took them to the ends of the earth where he guards them. He captures and kills everyone who tries to ransom or rescue the animals for Zeus. Anyway, after Geryon’s killed his captives, he grinds their bones into dust and mixes it with the cattle’s feed. This turns the cows’ hide and their milk as red as blood and the milk has magical powers. Now, in order to get to the ends of the earth, you have to travel all the way across the north of Africa, past Libya and you have to keep on going until you can’t go any further without falling off. There’s a mountain there that marks the end of the earth and if you go around that mountain…right before the very edge of the world…there’s a tiny island called Erythia. That’s where Geryon hides and protects the herd with the help of a two-headed monster dog.”

“Wow. Iolaus, I’m impressed. You’re right, and now I remember. He protects the herd with the help of Cerberus’ brother, a two-headed monster dog called Orthus and a giant named Eurytion. I didn’t think you paid attention that closely to our lessons at the Academy,” Hercules told his friend.

“Well, that part you mentioned about the giant Eurytion I’m not so sure about Herc, but I can tell you that I always paid attention in class when we were discussing three very important topics. One…how to find food in the wilderness. Two…anything and everything that has to do with Amazons, and Three… monsters, beasts and Cyclopes because traveling with you I know I’ll probably wind up meeting all of them at least once.”

After a hearty laugh, they finished their breakfast, then took the horses out for a test run. They were ready to leave Thebes before midday.

They made good time that first day, all the way to Corinth in fact. Jason welcomed them and gave them a room in the palace where they could spend their last night in Greece. He also helped them book passage on the first ship leaving for Egypt. It made no sense to the two heroes to take the long overland route on their way to the ends of the earth. They would have a long, arduous trek back with the herd of cattle, so they figured they might as well take it easy getting there.

Jason cleared his calendar so he could have a quiet dinner alone with his friends, since they were sure they wouldn’t have a chance to meet like this again for quite some time.

Filled to the brim with good food and excellent wine, Hercules fell into a deep sleep almost as soon as his head hit the pillow. As Iolaus settled himself on the bed next to the demigod, he tried to find a comfortable spot on the hard new mattress. He hunkered down under the light blankets to escape the chill Fall air and turned on his side so he could watch his best friend drift into a peaceful slumber.

Iolaus tried but could find no peace for himself. His hand went to his collarbone where he unconsciously traced his fingers over the light scar there. Then he let his mind wander back to a time, less than four years before, when they had both made their first trip to the ends of the earth. A journey that had left scars on his heart as well as his body. A journey his best friend had no memory of…

It was near the end of summer break, right before they were to begin their last year at the Academy. They’d helped with repairs to the house and barn as much as they could and the wheat harvest was still a couple of weeks away, right before they had to head back to school. The days began to blend, one into the other, until even Iolaus had to admit that there was a limit to the amount of rest and sleep and fishing one body could take before it went stir crazy. Rather than take the chance of getting on Alcmene’s nerves, they decided it would be better if they went to Corinth to bother Jason. Maybe he had some royal assignments he could give two antsy heroes. Perhaps there were some bandits that needed capturing or some neighboring princesses that might be in need of rescuing.

Jason didn’t fail them. He did, in fact, have a royal assignment for them -- the cleaning out and rebuilding of the royal wine cellar. The original ceiling beams in the small cool room in the basement of the castle had almost rotted through. The wine stored in that room had to be temporarily moved to another room, ceiling beams replaced, and wine moved back. Jason wanted it done right so that it would last at least another hundred years and his two friends were the perfect ones to accomplish that job. He trusted their abilities and their thoroughness.

It took Hercules and Iolaus a week of grueling work but the end results were magnificent. Jason and his chamberlain came down to inspect the finished room and they made jokes about how the wine cellar would be standing long after the rest of the castle fell to ruin.

Jason joined the two heroes in moving the wine back into the room so that he could familiarize himself with the contents of his cellar. Wines that he, his father and his grandfather before him had received as diplomatic gifts were moved first as they were kept in the section of the room that was furthest from the door. When they'd completed their work, Jason offered the heroes their pick of the cellar as part of their reward for the masterful job of reconstruction. Then he grabbed one of the older jugs off the shelf to share with his friends in celebration of the job well done. Try as he might, Jason couldn't open the jug. He passed it to Hercules who also had problems getting the seal opened. Jason was impatient because the chamberlain was rushing him - pushing him not to be late for another diplomatic meeting before dinner. So he took the jug from Hercules, set it down on the nearest shelf and picked up another bottle that was easier to open.

Before they closed up the room, Jason reminded the heroes to take their jugs of wine to pack with their provisions for the trip home. Iolaus picked one of the larger, more ornate jugs with fancy Syrian writing on the label. Hercules picked the jug that he'd had trouble opening. When Jason questioned his pick, Hercules mentioned something about loving a challenge and that the wine would be sweeter because of the effort he would have to expend to get at it.

The two young heroes took their time on the way home from Corinth, turning a one-day trip into almost four.

Hercules wanted to surprise his mother with some fish for dinner the following day so the two young men stopped at their favorite lake, which was less than an hour’s walk from Alcmene’s home. They’d sleep out under the stars one more night, do some early morning fishing then head back home before the late summer sun made the day too uncomfortable.

Only the quiet droning of hummingbird wings could be heard floating across the field at the edge of the aspen grove. The tiny birds took their fill of nectar from bell-shaped flowers that grew on vines, which entwined themselves amongst the tree trunks. An idyllic place, the field was situated neatly between the grove and a fish-laden lake, where sunlight painted silver patterns on the peaceful, fluid surface.

Iolaus climbed up onto the flat rocks that jutted out into the deeper part of the lake. He stripped off his vest and folded it over neatly a couple of times to give himself some padding to sit on. He fished while Hercules kicked off his boots and relaxed on the cool ground, lying on his side in the shade that the lightly swaying trees shed over the sweet grass at the edge of the field.

From his vantage point on the rocks, Iolaus could just see Hercules’ head, his friend’s honey blond hair shining almost as golden as his own from the sun. He could also see that the demigod must have successfully opened the jug he'd taken from Jason's cellar, because his head tipped back at regular intervals as he took sips of the wine.

“Hey, save some for me,” Iolaus remembered calling out.

“You’ve got your own,” was Hercules’ reply and he held up the jug as if in toast, right before he put it back to his lips for another swig.

Something must have spooked the fish that day because it had taken longer than usual for him to catch their dinner. Every once in a while, Iolaus would turn to check on his friend, wondering if the demigod would fall asleep before he returned with the catch. He'd been right to wonder too, because by the time he'd made it back to his friend's side, Hercules was sprawled on his back in the grass, arms and legs akimbo, snoring much louder than he normally would.

Iolaus remembered being upset at that moment, thinking he'd have to clean the fish, set up a campfire and cook dinner all by himself that night. In hindsight, he fervently wished that that had been the only annoyance he’d experienced that day.

He recalled standing over his friend, looking down at him then shaking the string of fish over the sleeping demigod, sprinkling him with cold droplets of water. The demigod groaned, then shaded his eyes against the glare from the setting sun and he growled menacingly at his friend.

Hercules got up and headed across the field towards the lake. "Iolaus," he said as he passed him, "why are there fish falling out of the sky?"

“Funny, Herc. You’ve just hit a new low on the laziness scale. I can’t believe you’re acting crazy to get out of helping me clean and cook the fish. Come on pal, I’m hungry and thirsty. I hope you saved me some of that wine. It looked like you were guzzling our whole supply while I was off trying to get us something to eat,” Iolaus complained.

“Why, IOLAUS…why? why are there fish falling out of the sky and WHY ARE THEY LOOKING AT ME LIKE THAT!” Hercules shouted over his shoulder as he raced to the lake and sloshed in, leathers and all. By the time Iolaus caught up with him, the demigod was standing knee-deep in the lake, a large fish flapping in his hands and his teeth buried deeply in the fish’s flesh. Iolaus could hear the almost desperate sucking sounds his friend’s lips made on the writhing flesh beneath them.

Iolaus called his name over and over but Hercules wouldn’t respond. The look in his friend’s eye was feral. Hercules had never been this drunk ever before and Iolaus never remembered being so unnerved in his entire life.

The demigod was becoming frustrated with the fish and Iolaus’ voice finally caught his attention. He dropped the fish, which no longer moved, back into the lake. Then, raising his eyes to meet his friend’s, Hercules slowly and deliberately walked out of the lake.

He never took his eyes from Iolaus’ which gave the young cadet the distinct feeling that he was being stalked as prey instead of being approached as a friend. He began to back away as the demigod approached. He was doing okay until he hit a log and almost tripped backward. He quickly caught himself from falling but not fast enough to get away from the demigod’s long-reaching grip.

At that moment a lone wolf ventured out from the cover of the trees and approached the lake to take a drink. The movement caught the demigod’s eye and distracted him just long enough for Iolaus to wrench himself out of Hercules’ hands and to back away from him.

Hercules chuckled menacingly, alerting the wolf to the nearby danger. The wolf took off into the woods with the demigod hot on it’s tail. Iolaus loped along closely behind them, following the easy trail the demigod was leaving as he crashed his way further into the forest.

Hercules needed help and as Iolaus followed, he was frantically trying to remember if there was anything in the Field Medicine course they’d taken at the Academy that would cover this. He thought of the healer in Thebes and he thought of Alcmene but ruled them both out quickly. He couldn’t take the chance to have his buddy anywhere near people who might be endangered while Herc was in this peculiar condition.

Iolaus tracked Hercules to a large cave where the wolf had run for shelter. Yelping and growling issued forth from the mouth of the cave and Iolaus cautiously poked his head in for a look. When his eyes became acclimated to the dark he could see the demigod holding the snarling wolf in his arms as he tried to take a bite out of the frightened animal’s back.

Hercules’ teeth sunk into the wolf’s coat. He savagely pulled his head back and tore off a patch of skin and hair that gagged him. Spitting out the offending piece of skin took only a second but it was just enough time needed by the wounded animal to turn the fight in its favor. The wolf lashed out with it’s own teeth and caught Hercules on the back of his hand, drawing blood. It was the demigod’s turn to howl at the sharp pain. He threw the wolf against the wall of the cave and brought his hand to his mouth to nurse the wound.

Instead of going after the wolf, which was lying unconscious on the floor of the cave, Hercules became enthralled by the taste of his own blood.

Iolaus watched in terror as the demigod bit into his own hand to enlarge the wound and to lap at the blood that welled up from the deep teeth marks. Hercules had to be stopped before he did permanent damage to himself.

Iolaus moved into position, guarding the door of the cave, screaming at the top of his lungs for his friend to stop. Iolaus’ voice finally got through to Hercules and he found himself again being stalked.

Hercules would lunge and Iolaus would quickly dart out of reach in a dance of skillful agility. Iolaus didn’t know how long they’d been playing this game but realized it couldn’t go on much longer as his legs were beginning to tire. Herc rarely tired. It was part of his godly heritage. And in this drunken state, Hercules seemed to have lost his inhibitions on using his full strength. Finally, he could no longer evade the demigod’s grasping hands. Iolaus went down to the cave floor with a heavy thud. A sharp stone cutting a jagged path across his smooth cheek. Maniacal laughter erupted from the demigod’s mouth right before it clamped down hard on the blond’s shoulder -- teeth sinking into and scraping on the bone.

It was Iolaus’ turn to howl.

Hurt and pinned under the formidable weight of the demigod, Iolaus tried to focus his thoughts on stopping the demigod even as Hercules continued drinking and lapping at the blood that welled from the deep bite to his shoulder. Iolaus frantically ran down the list of gods in his head then finally called out and prayed to Aescelpus.

Over and over he called out the name of the god of healing, his voice becoming more frantic with every prayer.

Hercules, thinking that Iolaus was calling out to someone else in the cave, began to shoot paranoid glances over his shoulders. It was just enough of a distraction for Iolaus to flip the demigod over on his side and for Iolaus to escape his hold.

Hercules was becoming frustrated in his attempts to get the blood he craved so he headed towards the mouth of the cave trying to get away from the small blond annoyance.

Iolaus couldn’t let the demigod escape so, with a loud groan, he hefted himself up and once again blocked Herc’s way. It was a valiant try, but the injured cadet was no match for the uncontrolled strength of his friend. In quick order Iolaus found himself flat on his back with severely injured ribs, his knee snapped, and his shoulder dislocated and bitten into deeply again.

Hercules no longer fought with Iolaus to get out of the cave. He was content to lick at the blood that was flowing freely from the blond’s cheek. With the feel of his best friend’s hot breath blowing across his face, and with one last whispered prayer to Aescelpus, Iolaus lost the fight to remain conscious.

He woke some time later to the feeling of Hercules lapping alternatively at his shoulder then at his cheek. Licking the blood that continued to flow, whispering in a sing-songy tone that Iolaus’ blood was more tasty and potent than wine.

Iolaus was disoriented from loss of blood, and the swift return of pain that consciousness brought with it. He began to panic as he realized that he was too weak to contain Hercules for much longer.

‘I can’t let him get out of here. Not like this. He’ll hurt people…gods! Alcmene’ll try to stop him and he’ll hurt her too… No!!! Zeus help me, please help…’ Iolaus thoughts raced frantically.

Zeus appeared immediately. He assessed the situation in less than the blink of an eye, put his hand on top of Hercules' head and imparted some energy into his son that caused the demigod to fall into a deep sleep. Iolaus pushed his friend off of his chest, rolled over onto his side and settled Hercules into a comfortable position before attempting to sit up. The movement caused lightning-sharp pains to course through his body and he slumped back to the ground moaning in agony.

Zeus moved to Iolaus’ side and, dropping to one knee he ran his glowing hands along the young man’s torso, healing the cuts and broken bones with a thought.

"It was the wine," Zeus said to him, even as the thought to ask the question popped into Iolaus' mind.

"Many years ago, before the birth of your friend Jason, Ares and Hera combined forces and hatched a plot to take the patronage of Corinth away from Poseidon and Hestia. Corinth is a very wealthy city with lots of rich offerings. It would have been a spectacular jewel in their crown to steal that city away. They needed to do it slowly, to make it look like Aeson had turned evil so Poseidon and Hestia would remove their patronage from the kingdom willingly as a punishment for it’s evil king."

"Hera concocted the poison and Ares planted it in that jug of wine Hercules drank from earlier today."

"There is a rule that the gods have to abide by. This rule says that no god can interfere in another god's actions. It prevented me from destroying the wine or changing it to something harmless, but I could make it so that Aeson wouldn't have easy access to it. I sealed the lid, making it almost impossible for any mortal to ever open that particular jug. Ares and Hera knew that I was on to them so they didn't try to pursue that line of sabotage again. In their greed they didn’t realize that their plot would have prompted a war among all the gods of Olympus -- my wife and my son on one side, my brother on the other and me in the middle having to choose between them. I guess Hera didn’t want to find out whose side I’d choose so she let the matter drop.”

"What would have happened if Aeson drank the poisoned wine?" Iolaus asked as he sat up, patting himself a little all over in astonishment that all but one of his injuries had just disappeared. There was still a minor bite mark on his collar bone that pulsed and throbbed but it was a very minor annoyance and would heal up fast on it’s own. He scooted over to the demigod’s side to check him for injuries, then lifted his friend’s head into his lap and settled himself with his back to the cave wall so he could listen to Zeus’ response.

"Aeson would have slowly gone mad over the period of several months. The madness would have been tinged with a severe paranoia. It would have made him believe that all of the neighboring kingdoms were conspiring to oust him and divide his kingdom among themselves. He would have been infused with bloodlust, starting wars with all his neighbors...vicious, savage wars, with tens of thousands of deaths. He would have done things that were evil enough for Poseidon and Hestia to remove their patronage. Aeson would have eventually gone completely insane - insane enough to kill himself,” Zeus replied. Then he knelt next to his son, took Hercules’ mangled hand in his own and waited. He watched Iolaus intently, almost willing the boy to understand what was needed here.

“Are you going to heal his hand, Zeus?” Iolaus asked.

Zeus did not reply. He just kept looking at him as if patiently waiting for Iolaus to catch on to something.

“You’re not healing his hand. Okay. The thing that’s happened to Herc…it’s the doing of another god. And…and you can’t interfere directly in what another god’s done, right?” Iolaus asked hopefully and got a big smile from Zeus as his answer.

“Well, okay then. You can help me though, right?” Iolaus asked and Zeus’ smile widened yet again.

Pleased with the reaction he was getting from Zeus, Iolaus thought for a second then he gently took his best friend’s damaged hand from Zeus and he held it to his chest. The blood that welled from the tear in the demigod’s hand dripped onto his shirt, causing a crimson stain to spread across the front.

He looked up at the king of the gods and said, “Please Zeus help me. Make him stop ruining my good shirt with all this blood.”

With a thought from Zeus, the blood stopped dripping and Iolaus could see a scab beginning to form on the back of his buddy’s hand.

“Thank you…” Iolaus began.

“Your quite welcome, son. Now you had something else you wanted to ask?” Zeus prompted.

"Oh, yeah…I wanted to say that Herc only drank the wine this afternoon. If it’s supposed to be a slow-acting poison, why is he reacting like this? I don't understand," Iolaus said.

"The poison was meant to be taken by a mortal. Hercules has my blood running in his veins. The poison’s effects were speeded up ten fold. The insanity, the paranoia and...um... the bloodlust that in mortals leads to death and destruction, well, in gods, or someone with godly blood, it unleashes a true thirst for blood. He must taste it to live and the more he drinks, the more he'll need and the stronger the thirst for it will get."

"Well you can’t keep him sleeping for all eternity. You just cant. The world needs Hercules,” he loudly begged the king of the gods then added the whispered, “I need Hercules. Please…please Zeus, isn't there some way to cure him?" Iolaus asked, frightened to the core that Zeus would tell him that his friend was forever lost to him.

"I'm afraid there is nothing I can do to help Hercules except make him as comfortable as possible and let him sleep here until a cure is found," Zeus replied. He appeared crushed to the depths of his soul over Hera and Ares' seeming triumph.

"But Alcmene... how can I explain this to Alcmene, how will she ever stand it. How could she live, knowing this is her son's fate? She'll try to get her revenge on Hera...you don't know how she can be..." Iolaus said as he became frantic at the thought that he would lose not only his best friend, but his surrogate mother too.

"Alcmene... Yes...you're quite right young man. You prayed to me tonight to help you and I’ve come in answer to your prayer for help. You see,” Zeus said, pointing to the small wound on Iolaus’ collarbone. “When Hercules bit you there, some of the blood that lingered on his lips from his own wound managed to find it’s way under your skin and into your blood stream. You’ve been poisoned by that bite. Fortunately for you, you’re mortal and the poison will take a much longer time to affect your sanity, just like it would have done for Aeson. The way I understand it, you wish to be cured of this affliction that’s been brought upon you accidentally by this other boy. That is correct.”

Iolaus nodded his head in agreement.

“Fine, then I will call Aescelpus and get him working on a cure right away and if you happen to get a generous supply of the cure, perhaps you could use it another time, whenever it’s needed. Other than that, I'm afraid there's nothing more I can do for you," Zeus gently replied.

"Good luck! I've spent the better part of the evening calling Aescelpus, before I called you. He never responded to my prayers," Iolaus complained to Zeus.

"He couldn't respond to you, Iolaus, because he couldn't hear your prayers. Aescelpus is no longer a god. But he will respond to my call."

Zeus stood in the center of the cave, extended his arm and in a rain of sparkles, Aescelpus appeared. Zeus pulled the healer over to the demigod's side.

Aescelpus examined Hercules, shaking his head and muttering under his breath the whole time.

Then the healer stood up and confronted the king of the gods with what he thought was bad news. “Zeus, although there’s a lot of history between the two of us, I still hate to be the one to break this to you. The only universal cure for this type of poison is the red milk from the Cattle of Geryon and you know we can't get at it.”

Instead, his proclamation was greeted by Zeus and Iolaus as the best news they'd ever heard with whooping and cheers of joy. Zeus put his arm around Iolaus’ shoulders and gave him a comforting squeeze of assurance. . There was a cure. It didn't matter how impossible it was, or how rare. They knew they'd do everything possible to procure some of it for the demigod.

Aescelpus seemed to take pleasure pointing out to Zeus that he couldn’t interfere - Ares and Hera had gotten this, the demise of Hercules, their mutual enemy as a bonus. It was much better than what they had originally planned for King Aeson. If Zeus did anything...he would be breaking all the rules of godship and opening Olympus up for a war of the gods.

“Oh, but I didn’t call you here to cure Hercules. No…no…no. It’s my friend here, Iolaus, who needs to be cured of the poison’s effects,” Zeus advised the healer.

"You don’t have to get the cure for me. I’ll go to this Geryon and get it for myself," Iolaus piped up. “Just show me the way.”

Aescelpus snorted in disdain, as he looked Iolaus over from head to toe but bit off a verbal scoffing of the young man when Zeus shot him a warning look.

"I know what game you’re playing Zeus. But I must warn you. It’s a long trip to the ends of the earth and I don’t know if your son can survive it. This poison is of the gods," Aescelpus whispered forcefully.

"Well then, you’ll have to help him survive, Aescelpus. You’ve made a career of pissing off all the gods. Why change that now. Transport them to the island, taking care that Geryon doesn't sense you there and…”

“I can’t do that. Zeus. I’m not a god any more, remember. You took my godhood away the last time I interfered with Fate," Aescelpus replied with a smirk.

“By your trickery you interfered. You took that mortal soul right out of Celesta’s hands before she could carry him off,” Zeus gruffly remarked.

“It wasn’t trickery. It was good medicine," Aescelpus shouted.

“Trickery…and for that, and for teaching mortals how to breath life into a dead body you were suitably punished," Zeus yelled back.

"Well, now...I’m punished and your son’s chances are nil. He’ll be dead before they’ve passed the borders of Libya," was Aescelpus' smug retort.

“Arghhh!” screamed Zeus.

“Well then, make me a god again and I can transport them anywhere you want. I’d like another shot at pissing Hera off," Aescelpus offered, knowing exactly how much Zeus was suffering over his beloved son's predicament

“Okay, okay, but be warned. Do not get close enough to the island for Geryon to sense you. If he knows there’s a god around, he’ll be impossible to pass," Zeus said before he grabbed Aescelpus by the shoulders and imparted the god's power back into his mortal frame.

"Before you wake your son up for the journey you'll have to think of a way we can keep him contained,” Aescelpus reminded Zeus.

“Quite right,” Zeus replied and once more stepped to the middle of the cave to summon someone else.

“Wait,” Iolaus said. “Can’t you just let him sleep here until I get back?”

“No, you’ve got to get the cure into him immediately, every precious minute takes him further and further from sanity. And when you get to the island he must be awake or Geryon will be able to sense our godly influence keeping him sedated.”

Chains, requested from Hephestus, appeared in Zeus hands and he and Iolaus used them to firmly secure the demigod’s arms to his sides. Then they lashed it around Herc’s neck to restrict the movement of the demigod’s head. Iolaus needed to stay away from those dangerous teeth if he were going to make a success of this dangerous mission. The sight of Hercules in chains broke Iolaus’ heart. He vowed to do everything he possibly could to get the cure for the brother of his heart.

“Let’s go. Time’s wasting,” Aescelpus said as he put his hand on Iolaus’ shoulder.

“Wait!” Iolaus said a bit more urgently than necessary.

“Again with the wait! Don’t you understand? We must hurry!” Aescelpus urged the young hero.

“Of course I understand,” Iolaus replied a bit contritely. “But I’ve just got to ask…Zeus, about the chains…if this Geryon can sense your godly influence on Herc, won’t he be able to sense Hephy’s godly influence on the chains?”

Zeus put his hand on Iolaus other shoulder saying, “That’s a good question, son. Probably not. You see, when the cattle were stolen from me, they had been tethered with Hephestian chains. I can’t imagine that Geryon would have attempted to remove them. He has three heads but not one complete brain among them. You try not to worry about that…”

Iolaus repeated the words ‘probably not…try not to worry,’ then just shook his head. Hero’s don’t get guarantees or sure things. He’d deal with it if he had to. He took the end of the chain that bound his best friend and again vowed to himself to do his best.

"Zeus, if I’m killed on that island, before getting the milk, then Herc will be stuck in these chains and he’ll be at the mercy of Geryon," Iolaus said, voicing his concern to the king of the gods.

"That won’t happen, son," Zeus replied with conviction.

"How can you be so sure…is that one of those god things…foresight or something," Iolaus asked.

"No, it’s just because I know you...and you won’t let that happen," Zeus stated emphatically while looking deeply into the young cadet's eyes.

Iolaus held the gaze steadily for a long time before uttering, "You’re right. I won’t."

In the blink of an eye, and with a dizzying rush, Iolaus found himself standing waist-deep in the rolling surf off of a sand-covered beach. He did a 360-degree turn, checking out his surroundings. Aescelpus stood next to him, cradling the still-sleeping demigod over his shoulder. Directly behind them, not too far off in the distance, stood a craggy, majestic mountain. Aescelpus noted that that mountain marked the ends of the earth and this…this island that stood before them, right beyond the ends of the earth was Erythia. It was the place where Geryon dwelt with the cattle of Zeus.

Iolaus took several paces towards the island when he had to look up sharply at the yapping and growling noises that came from the trees just beyond the sandy strip of beach. In the time it took the young hero to make one more step towards the beach, a great giant of a dog with two ugly heads and snarling, snapping jaws leapt out of the cover of the trees.

Iolaus weaved one way and the dog followed, barking loudly. He went back the other way and the dog barked louder. He wasn’t even on the island yet and he had to figure out how to deal with the first monster. Iolaus could sense that this venture wasn’t going to be easy at all.

Aescelpus called the young hero back to his side.

“Look young man! The beast paces the beach but it cannot enter the water. That’s for the same reason that I cannot step foot out of it. As long as I remain in the water, I’m in Poisedon’s realm. Geryon cannot sense me and become alerted to our presence. If the beast Orthus comes into the water, Hades will be able to sense him and reclaim him before it can return its paws to the sandy beach.”

Iolaus searched the beach for something to help when he heard a noise drifting to him over the quiet lapping of the surf, causing him to smile. He enlisted Aescelpus’ help in throwing rocks and seashells at the bushes that marked the end of the beach and the beginning of a veritable forest of date trees.

A few of the well-aimed rocks caused flocks of long-necked geese to fly out of the bushes. Iolaus was poised, ready with his bow. Arrows flew in rapid-fire succession through the air, bringing down several of the big birds. Orthus took immediate notice and he bound down the length of the beach to enjoy the kill.

Aescelpus handed the end of Hercules’ chains to Iolaus with an admonition to hurry. The god of healing placed his hand on the demigods’ head and woke him from his forced slumber.

Iolaus was grateful that Hercules grogginess wore off slowly. By the time his friend began to snarl and snap at him again, they were well enough away from Orthus’ deadly jaws.

With his hunter’s eyes he spotted a path that seemed to skirt the large hill. So, pushing Hercules on before him, he attempted to find their way to the cattle and the life-saving antidote.

Hercules kept trying to get at Iolaus and it took every evasive technique the young cadet knew to stay away from the biting mouth of his partner. That is, until the demigod faked a fall. Iolaus instinctively put out his hand to steady his best friend and Hercules let loose a spinning kick that knocked Iolaus about ten feet ahead of where they had both been standing right into the middle of the path.

Iolaus was winded and it took a second for his head to stop spinning. He began to rise and that’s when he heard the deep booming voice right behind him.

“Thieves…thieves who have come to steal the property of my master!” came the roaring accusation from an enormous giant…a giant who was holding the end of Hephestus’ chain with his best friend dangling at the other end. A large, meaty hand reached down and grabbed Iolaus up and the giant took off at a quick pace until he reached the mouth of a large cave, hewn into the side of the hill.

The giant deposited them in a small cage, clanging the door shut behind them and locking it. All the while telling them what he had planned for them.

“I’m going to cook you nice and slow until you are tender, then I’m going to grind your bones into dust, mix it into the feed and give it to my master’s cattle. You little men are going to make a fine feast for all of us on this island.” Then he threw back his head and laughed at the look of horror that came over the face of the small blond captive.

For good measure before he walked off to build up the fire, the giant poked at the bars of the cage addressing Iolaus, “You may not give me much to chew on, but I think you’ll be sweet.”

Iolaus knew he didn’t have much time. It appeared that he was going to have to make a life and death decision when it comes to escaping and fighting the giant. So he pulled on Hercules’ chain, dragging the demigod’s ear close to his mouth and he kept whispering over and over, “Look at the giant, Herc…look at the giant…all that blood…all that tasty blood,” When he thought that he had his best friend mesmerized enough by that thought, he released the demigod from the chains. He hoped for the best, knowing that he’d never get the chains back on.

Hercules went wild with the bloodlust. He ripped through the bars as if they were made of tissue paper. Then, picking the chains up from the floor of the cave, he rushed the giant and knocked him off his feet.

The giant scrambled to his knees but the demigod was quicker and he mounted the giant’s back and held onto it’s hair.

The giant stood and tried to shake the small annoyance from his back, but Hercules hold was unbreakable. He climbed up onto the giant’s shoulder, using it’s hair as if it were ropes. The giant attempted to swat the demigod off of it’s back but missed with every swipe of it’s great hands.

Losing patience, the giant bent to get a piece of wood thinking to use it to scrape the demigod off of it’s back. Hercules, seeing a chance to bring his prize down, looped the chain around Eurytion’s neck and gave three mighty tugs severing the giant’s windpipe.

Eurytion swayed back and forth, dead on his feet. Hercules was too lost in the bloodlust to pay attention to anything but getting at the giant’s throat. With one last sway, the mountainous ton of flesh gave way and tumbled to the ground. The blood trickling from the bite on the giant’s neck made the flesh slippery and Hercules lost his grip. He slid down the giant’s falling body, finally catching himself on the leather belt about the monster’s waist.

Iolaus screamed in warning but it was to late, the full weight of the giant landed on top of his partner, pinning Hercules to the ground. Iolaus ran to his side but the demigod had been knocked out by the impact and was having trouble breathing.

The young hero frantically searched the cave until his eyes fell upon a bucket that he uses to wedge under the dead weight of the giant’s back, giving his friend enough room to breath, but not enough room to escape easily from under the mountain of flesh.

Maybe it was all for the best. It would be too difficult to take Hercules on this last leg of the journey. Besides, Iolaus reasoned, he could make it faster alone and hopefully be back before the demigod awoke. He removed his shirt and placed it under Hercules head and he sent up a small prayer to Zeus that he wouldn’t let him or his son down.

The sun was beginning to set in the western sky and it had the young cadet scrambling. He didn’t have much time for scouting left. Iolaus followed the well-worn path from the cave, knowing now that it would lead him directly to the cattle.

When he came to the edge of a small lake, he stopped and took stock of his position. He couldn’t really see anything but red patches in the distance so he backed up a bit and climbed the nearest tree or a better look.

From this perspective he could tell that those red patches were the cattle - about 30 head. They were well spread out on the grassy plain beyond the lake. Flying over them, trying to round them up for the evening was a large bat-like monster that he realized was Geryon.

Iolaus decided he would wait until darkness fell then he would do his best to sneak past the monster and make his way to the precious antidote.

As the last rays of the sun disappeared, Iolaus stripped off his pants and boots and left them laying at the edge of the lake. He swam quietly across so that he wouldn’t be spotted by Geryon who had an aerial advantage. Within minutes he reached the other side of the lake but he stayed low observing the goings on of the flying monster.

Geryon, it appeared, had rounded up all the cattle to an area that was situated behind an ancient, gnarled tree. As the cattle grazed under it’s watchful eye, the monster appeared to be preparing it’s own sleeping spot too.

‘Good!’ Iolaus thought. ‘I might just catch a break today.’ And he was happy to see the wings fold neatly behind the great body and that great body sink down into a sitting position, back to the tree, heads falling forward in repose.

Iolaus stayed down, low to the ground and crawled on all fours in the direction of the tree. He could hear two distinct snores coming from the direction of the tree and believed that the monster had fallen asleep. He rose to make a run for it to the other side of the tree when one of Geryon’s heads began to speak.

“Hey…wake up you two! Do you smell that? Do you?” asked the most awake head to the others.

“Wha…what’s wrong?” said one of the others.

“I smell human offal. The scent is strong!” the first head said.

“That’s not human offal. And even if it is, the cattle probably just stepped in some from the last batch of thieves who made the mistake of coming to our island,” the third head assured the other two.

“Yeah…brother…they all shit their pants when they see us.” the first head laughed.

“Either then or when we kill them,” replied the third head with a nasty cackling laugh.

“Get back to sleep you two. I was dreaming of mutton…lovely mutton. It’s been so long since I’ve tasted that,” the third head urged.

Then Geryon settled itself back against the tree and, one-by-one the heads nodded off.

Iolaus took offense at the monster’s blind accusation that he smelled of human offal but he checked his boots and sniffed under his arms anyway to make certain. And for good measure, since he couldn’t be sure exactly what it was that the monster had smelled to wake it up, he found a pile of cow manure and covered himself with it from head to toe to make himself blend in with his surroundings..

It seemed to work. Geryon never stirred and he slowly crept past the monster, then followed a wandering calf to it’s mother.

The bite mark on his collarbone that Zeus had left unhealed had begun to throb back in the cave. Iolaus realized that this was the poison starting to go to work in his system. He couldn’t allow himself to get distracted by his own slowly encroaching madness so the minute he made it to the mother cow, he grabbed hold of one of her udders and aimed the milk straight into his mouth. He didn’t know how much was needed to cure him so he drank about one cup’s worth before he directed the hot stream into his empty waterskin.

Iolaus attempted to sneak back the way he came but the monster seemed to be sleeping fitfully. It tossed and turned from side to side as the brave cadet inched his way past. Just when he thought he was clear, there was a gentle lowing near the hero’s head. He turned to see the young calf trailing behind him, attracted by the smell of it’s mother’s milk on him.

Geryon sat up and unfurled it’s wings. The razor sharp tip missing Iolaus’ neck by an inch. The young hero caught his breath realizing how close he had just come to losing his head.

All three of the monster’s heads shook as Geryon tried to bring himself to total awareness.

“Look, it’s only that pesky calf again, and you dragged us awake for that!” the middle head shouted at the other two. “Go back to sleep before we have to sit up again all night because of your stupidity!”

The great body of Geryon once again settled down beneath the branches of the gnarled tree and Iolaus waited until he could hear its three distinct snores before he attempted to move again.

The whole journey from the cave, past Geryon and back to the lake took only about one hour, but to Iolaus it seemed an eternity, not knowing how his best friend was doing. He scrubbed himself quickly in the lake and rapidly donned his pants and boots so he could get back to the demigod’s side.

Iolaus skidded back into the cave and ran to the demigod’s side. He was pleased to see his friend exactly where he’d left him. He was worried that Hercules may have escaped and that he would have to chase him all over the island to administer the cure.

He dripped some of the warm red milk into Hercules’ mouth and then he put his shirt back on as waited for some kind of a reaction from his partner. When there was no reaction, he dripped a bit more so as not to let him choke.

Hercules awakened, slowly becoming aware of the heavy weight pressing him down into the floor of the cave. Iolaus attempted to drip a bit more of the milk into the demigod’s mouth but Hercules clamped his mouth shut and refused to take any more. With a loud grunt, he roughly heaved the giant’s body off of himself. Rolling over, he drew himself up onto all fours and he began to sniff the air.

When he spotted Iolaus he growled and bared his teeth like a wild animal then he pounced. Iolaus evaded his friend’s clawing hands, running out of the cave and onto the path that lead back to the beach.

Iolaus ran, but not fast enough. Hercules tackled him from behind, dragging him to the ground where they wrestled in the dirt. Hercules wasn’t holding back on his strength either so Iolaus had to frantically search for some way to slip out of the demigod’s grip. They squirmed about on the ground for a few seconds, just long enough for Iolaus to find a sizeable rock that he used to knock his friend on the side of the head with.

Hercules yelped and jumped back giving Iolaus the chance he needed to slide out of the demigod’s grip. He didn’t come away from the encounter uninjured himself. There were two very deep bite marks, one on his shoulder, the other on his collarbone. As he ran to the beach he looked down and could see his blood spreading in a large crimson stain across the front of his shirt. He could hear the beating of the demigod’s feet in the sand. His friend was closing the gap quickly and Iolaus was desperate to make it to the water’s edge before the beast Orthus became alert to their presence once again. If the two headed dog caught scent of his blood, he knew he wouldn’t have a chance.

At the very second that thought crossed his mind, he was hit from behind by the charging form of his best friend. The force of the blow knocked him face first into the wet sand. He flipped over just in time for Hercules to land on top of him and for the demigod to sink his teeth again into the deep bite that already marked his collarbone.

Iolaus moaned loudly in pain as Hercules began lapping at the blood that gushed out of the wound. Over the lapping noises and the soft slapping of the surf, he could hear the barking and yelping of Orthus who had apparently picked up on the scent of fresh blood and was coming at full speed to investigate.

The young hero screamed at his friend to get his attention, hoping to get him to drink some more of the milky antidote from the skin he still clutched tightly in his fist. Hercules looked up briefly, refused the drink and went back to licking the open wound.

Iolaus had to think fast or they’d both be dead soon, torn apart by the viscous monster dog. That’s when the thought occurred to him. He uncorked the skin and poured the warm milk onto his chest to mix with the blood that continued to seep from his wound. Hercules took no notice so he continued to drip the milk onto his chest and Hercules continued lapping it up .

The barking was getting closer and Hercules still hadn’t reacted to the antidote. Iolaus tried to squirm them both closer to the water, desperate to get into the waves where Orthus wouldn’t be able to follow. But Hercules’ weight was formidable and Iolaus just couldn’t reach.

The young hero flung his arms out in frustrated resignation, waiting for the monster dog’s approach when he felt soft fingertips touching his own. He looked to the water and saw Aescelpus with his feet still in the water at the very edge of the surf bent over and stretching to touch him. With a look of deep gratitude in his eyes, Iolaus hugged Hercules to him tightly and he felt himself dissolve into a sparkling whirl of nothingness. Only to re-form moments later in the dark cave near Alcmene’s home.

They had no sooner re-appeared in the cave with when Zeus joined them with a blazing flash of light.

“Will they by okay now?” Zeus anxiously asked the healer.

“Of course they’ll be okay. I’m never wrong about things like this,” Aescelpus grouchily replied.

“Then why is my son still going after his friend’s blood?” Zeus demanded.

“That’s not blood. That’s the milk. He won’t take it from the water skin so we had to trick him into drinking the antidote. He’ll still hunger for the blood until the poison is completely out of his system,” Aescelpus advised.

“How much of this do I give him,” Iolaus asked, still concerned that his friend wasn’t responding to the milk he was dripping into the hollow of his chest, which served as a bowl for the antidote.

“A little more should do it, then you’ll just have to wait,” the healer replied.

Iolaus poured a little more on his chest then Aescelpus grabbed the jug from his hand.

“That’ll be enough,” he said. Then he shook the skin and was happy to find a bit more left in the bottom.

Iolaus couldn’t move, so he just looked up at the gods and said, “How can we ever thank you for saving our lives?”

“Don’t worry, I’ll think of a way,” Aescelpus said then, with a shake of the head while still looking down at the two heroes, he disappeared.

“Don’t pay any attention to that old curmudgeon,” Zeus told the young hero. “And remember, I didn’t save Hercules. You did that. You prayed for me to help save you, and that’s what I did.”

Iolaus nodded in understanding and felt a great weight lift off his mind and his heart. Herc would be okay…he wouldn’t die.

“You’re a very good friend, Iolaus,” Zeus told the young hero.

“Herc’s the best friend I could ever have. I can only hope I’ll be the same for him,” he replied.

“He’s going to be upset when he snaps out of it, isn’t he?” Zeus observed with a broad grin as he watched his son, bent over Iolaus prone form, licking the bright red cows milk from his best friend’s chest.

“I’d say,” Iolaus replied with a matching grin for the king of the gods. “I don’t know how I’m going to explain my way out of this one.”

“I’m confident that you’ll manage,” Zeus replied with a warm chuckle as he prepared to make his departure.

“Wait! Please. I…I …Zeus, please visit him. He needs you,” Iolaus implored.

Zeus smiled down at this amazing young man who asked no reward for himself. “Soon, Iolaus, when the time is right. I promise you.” Then, with a final wave of his hands, Zeus disappeared.

Hercules came to as he licked the last red drops of the milk off of Iolaus’ chest. Taking quick stock of his surroundings, he jumped back, dizzy and disoriented. “What…what???”

“Are you okay, Herc?” came the quivering voice of his best friend.

“I…I don’t know…what…”

“Just calm down Herc. Think. Are you feeling okay?”

“Uh…yeah, I think so. Except I’m really thirsty and I think I’m going to have a headache,” the demigod replied uncertainly.

“Good, good…now, if you’re finished with my chest I’d like to get up,” Iolaus grumbled good-naturedly as he swung himself into a sitting position. His hands shot out as quick as a flash and latched onto the front of the demigod’s shirt. He pulled Hercules close to him, until they were nose-to-nose and he growled, “If you ever drink that much on an empty stomach again, buddy, I am going to dump you in the Corinthian Bay and pray to Poseidon to wash your brains out with sea water!”

“Oh gods, Iolaus! What did I do?” Hercules asked, almost afraid to hear his best friend’s response.

“Nothing you’ll have to regret in the morning. You came to before I had to break my hand on your jaw. Now can we both go back to sleep. I’m exhausted putting up with you,” Iolaus grumbled as he turned on his side away from the demigod’s eyes. He didn’t want his best friend to catch the deep bite mark that was still on his collarbone until he had a chance to cover it up. Herc was going to feel badly enough about waking up in the position he had. He didn’t need the added angst of having caused Iolaus injury to add to those feelings.

The ‘drinking’ incident was never spoken about between the two friends. Iolaus was able to hide the healing bites on his shoulder and collar bone from his best friend thanks, in part, to the fact that they were working separate fields during the harvest and then to the fact that they were both so bone- weary when they returned to the house each night that they only ate quickly and went straight to bed.

Things went back to normal when they returned to the Academy. That is, with the exception of Hercules’ incessant questions about the subconscious mind which he directed to all the philosophy teachers in Cheiron’s employ. But even that phase only lasted for a couple of weeks. All was forgotten in the pressure of their final year at the Academy.

Early the next morning, Iolaus stepped onto the gangplank of the sturdy vessel that would take them to Egypt determined to put all thoughts of his first trip to the ends of the earth out of his mind. It wouldn’t do to make Hercules suspicious if he let his memories of Geryon get to him during their long sea voyage. He’d missed traveling with the big guy for over a year while Herc was away on his lone labors. He wanted this to be a great reunion for the two of them and it was…all the way to the ends of the earth.

There were very few incidents to slow them down along the way as they skirted the Mediterranean - one or two bandit raids and one small, seaside village saved from a nasty warlord. And, of course they had to stay for a few days in that small, seaside village because the grateful elders were renaming it after their hero. They promised the young demigod that the people of Herculaneum would have a festival in his honor every night.

As they neared their goal, they took on a small group of nomadic Berber guides to help them find their way across the great sand dunes of the Maroc. They were baked by the mid-day sun, chilled to the bone by the cold desert nights and dazzled each evening by the majestic and colorful sunsets in the western sky.

With less than two days travel to go, Hercules and Iolaus sat around the campfire long after their guides had bedded down for the night.

“The horses have been skittish for the past two days, ever since we spotted that mountain on the horizon,” Hercules observed as he took a long swig from his water skin.

“Yeah, I’m feeling a little skittish myself. There’s something in the air. It just doesn’t feel right,” Iolaus added.

“Let’s get a good night’s sleep. We’ll leave the horses here with our guides. We won’t need them to help us get around that mountain. We’ll head off alone in the morning.” Hercules said. What he didn’t say was that he’d been feeling nervous himself and couldn’t come up with a good reason for the unease.

“The guides say we won’t be able to go around it. They say it’s been centuries since anyone’s been able to successfully pass the mountain,” Iolaus said as he looked up at his best friend, momentarily taking his attention away from the arrowheads he was sharpening in preparation for the last leg of their journey.

“We’ll find a way, Iolaus. In fact, if anyone can find his way around that thing, it’s you. Let’s get some rest. We’re going to need it.” Hercules replied as he rose to make his way to his bedroll.

The two heroes made it to the base of the mountain easily enough. However, they were getting frustrated in their attempts to get up and around the mountain. It seemed that every path or trail they took came to a dead end. Rock slides and debris blocked their way at every turn.

Daylight was running out and Iolaus was going to try one more time to go around a pass that had been cut off by falling rocks. Hercules tightened the knots in the rope that connected them to each other. Iolaus set off on the steep path, jumping with great agility from one jutting boulder to another, Upward, ever upward until a low rumbling noise caused him to stop in his tracks. He turned back to take stock of how far he’d progressed and caught sight of the demigod frantically waiving to him. Then he heard the shouted words “Heads Up!”

Iolaus swung his head up and just barely had time to spot the rocks that were tumbling their way down the mountain right at him. There was nothing for him to do but flatten himself to the side of the mountain and hope it would be enough. The last thing he remembered before falling was Hercules screaming his name as the large boulder caught him on his shoulder.

Hercules saw his partner fall. He was too far away to break the fall and could do nothing but scream his friend’s name. The loudest, and saddest sound that had ever come from a devastated soul. He turned his face away from the spot where Iolaus had last been and he beat the mountain with his bare fists, bloodying them both until there was a louder rumble than before. The mountain began to shake, the ground beneath the demigod’s feet became unstable and started to split open and move apart from the stress. The earth quaked and moved, rattled and tore itself asunder.

Great boulders poured down the sides of the mountains and in a flash of opportunity, Iolaus found himself free of the giant rock that had him pinned between the shaking ground and the mountain wall.

In a flash Iolaus, scraped and bruised, ran to his best friend’s side. Hercules caught him up into a strong hug as they both watched the mountain fall down around them. Unable to do anything, unable to move. Water from the sea poured out to the ocean through the hollow left by where the mountain used to stand. And there, on the other side of the hollow, at the mouth of the ocean, they could both see one very green, very small island.

Iolaus looked from the mountain to Hercules’ bloodied fists and then up to his friend’s face.

“What???” Hercules asked in response to the unspoken question on his buddy’s face.

“You…you…” Iolaus stuttered as he looked again from his best friend’s hands then back to the mountain.

“Nah unh…wasn’t me. I didn’t do it. Don’t look at me like that. It’s not my fault,” Hercules protested. “It must have been an earthquake…that’s it. That’s why the horses were being so skittish.”

“Yeah, whatever you say Herc,” Iolaus said with a shake of his head. “Look! Down there! There are piles of dead wood and uprooted trees on the other side of this hunk of rock. How about we drag some of that down near the water. We can make ourselves a campfire and use the wood to build a raft. What do you say, buddy?”

“What do I say? I say that I knew you’d find a way to the other side of the mountain…and I was right,” Hercules said. Placing his hand on Iolaus’ shoulder he squeezed it and said “Let’s go build a raft!”

Early the next morning the two young heroes lashed their meager supplies to the raft with the remaining pieces of rope that had bound them both together the day before. Iolaus weighted the items down with rocks that he’d found near their campsite although Hercules protested that it wouldn’t be necessary for such a short trip. There were only two water skins, Iolaus’ sword and a small carry sack with a couple of light blankets and a day’s ration of food.

“You never know what can happen Herc, they won’t hurt anything on the raft,” Iolaus advised his pal and they took off for the island.

In less than a half hour they had arrived at the island. Hercules bound off the raft and quickly pulled it out of the rolling surf. Iolaus cautioned him to be quiet, remembering how he’d been greeted the last time he was in this exact spot. And he wasn’t wrong to be cautious. A loud growl coming from the tree line got their immediate attention. They could hear the large animal crashing through the woods and heading in their direction at top speed.

Iolaus swiftly untied the rocks from the raft and handed them to the demigod.

“Here, as soon as you see that thing appear through the trees, throw these directly into the bushes at the far end of the beach, okay,” Hercules took the rocks from his best friend, after he’d quickly assessed that there was no way they could run fast enough to get away from whatever beast was coming. He thought the rocks might be just enough of a distraction to give them time to get on the raft and back out to sea so they could find another way onto the island.

Standing behind the demigod, Iolaus readied his bow. In an instant, a wild, giant two-headed dog appeared from between two trees at the wood’s edge. At Iolaus command, Hercules threw the rocks, unerringly, into the bushes, which caused several large game birds to fly up into the sky.

Zing…zing…zing! With tremendous speed, Iolaus unleashed his arrows striking four birds in as many seconds. The vicious dog halted in its tracks. It turned and followed the scent of fresh blood to the fallen birds.

“Come on, Herc! Let’s get out of here fast!” Iolaus shouted to his partner. He grabbed up his sword from the deck of the raft and ran down the beach as fast as his legs would carry him, the demigod following hard on his heels.

“Um…Iolaus…Iolaus…you can slow down. Orthus isn’t following us. He’s too busy eating that breakfast you provided for him. Why are we headed in this direction? Do you see something I don’t?” Hercules panted out as he grabbed the back of his partner’s shirt to slow him down.

“Uh…good…we’re not being followed. Yeah, Herc. I think I saw a small path down this way when we were on the raft coming towards the beach. It should be right over there, right where the woods meets the base of that hill,” Iolaus replied.

“Shush…Iolaus, keep your voice down. Remember there’s a giant around here…with giant ears,” Hercules admonished his friend.

“Oh, right Herc. I’ll be more careful,” Iolaus replied. Although he knew that the giant was dead, it still paid to be cautious. Who knew where Geryon might be. He might have had to patrol the island himself since Eurytion’s death.

They found the small path and followed it around the hill until they came to a clearing before a very large cave.

“That must be where Eurytion lives,” Hercules whispered.

Iolaus looked about and was concerned when he saw the fresh remains of a cooking fire right outside the mouth of the cave. He tapped his friend on the shoulder and motioned for the demigod to follow him. He suspected that Geryon was around and didn’t want to run into him without a solid plan.

As they eased their way back towards the small path, Iolaus broached the subject. Hercules prepared to reply but let out a small groan instead. Iolaus looked up at his best friend and followed his gaze straight to the giant who was standing stock still in the middle of the path waiting for them to approach.

Iolaus’ breath caught in his throat. He was really surprised to see that there was another giant guarding the road by the cave. Standing there, with his arms folded across his broad chest, as if he’d been waiting for them.

“There you are!” he yelled at the heroes. “I knew you’d be back. You’re the dirty scum that killed my brother and now I’m gonna kill you!”

He bound toward them, tearing up the ground under his feet. Before Hercules and Iolaus could turn to run, he had them both dangling off the ground, held aloft in his meaty hands.

“I’m going to roast you both alive! I’ll eat your flesh and then grind your bones to feed to the cattle,” the giant screamed in their faces. Then he turned on the path and carried them back to the cave. Iolaus tried to unsheath his sword but the giant’s thumb was in the way. He tried to twist out of the giant’s grip but had no success with that either.

Hercules was also trying to escape, protesting all the way that he’d never been to the island before...that he’d never killed anyone…that it was all a big mistake. His protests fell on dead ears. He couldn’t release himself from the firm grip the giant had on him. The way the giant had him dangling prevented the demigod from reaching any part of the giant where he could land a good punch or kick.

Once inside the cave, they could see the skeletal remains of another giant lying in the shadows near the back wall.

The giant deposited them in a cage that was barely big enough to hold the two of them without being cramped. Then he walked back to the mouth of the cave where he busied himself with building a cooking fire.

They searched frantically for something to help themselves with. It would be easy enough for Hercules to break them out of the cage. The bars weren’t strong enough to keep the demigod imprisoned. However, when they got out, they’d have to get past the giant and that was going to be almost impossible with only Iolaus’ sword between them to use as a weapon.

Iolaus’ eyes wandered to Eurytion’s skeleton. The flash of metal caught his eye and he alerted Hercules to his find. The chains of Hephestus were still wrapped around its neck bone.

“Look Herc. Chains…! The giant was killed with Hephestian chains. If we can get them, you can stop this giant with them too,” Iolaus said excitedly.

“How can you be so sure they were made by Hephestus?” Hercules asked.

“Trust me Herc. You’ve got to trust me on this,” Iolaus replied, praying that his partner would accept his word on this and that he wouldn’t have to go into a long detailed explanation. This definitely wasn’t the time for true confessions.

Hercules snapped the bars on the cage as quietly as he could. The giant was too preoccupied with building the fire to take much notice of them at the moment. It wouldn’t do to call his attention to them until they were ready to act. Iolaus snuck towards the front of the cave, positioning himself to act as a distraction for the demigod.

Hercules crept to the rear of the cave and extracted the chains from around the skeleton’s neck bones. Then he joined his partner at the mouth of the cave. He motioned Iolaus to set up the distraction, while he waited on the other side of the cave behind some rocks so he could come at the giant from behind.

Hercules was in position so Iolaus pulled out his sword, shook it about menacingly and yelled at the giant to get his attention.

When the great oaf moved towards his partner, Hercules leapt out from behind the rocks and pounced on the giant’s back.

The giant became disoriented with Iolaus poking him in the feet and legs with his sword and the demigod clinging to his hair, beating him over the head with the wickedly heavy chains, then wrapping them around his thick neck. Unused to such strenuous activity, the giant soon succumbed. And with a few tugs for good measure, Hercules defeated the giant. Iolaus could see the great body above him sway back and forth, as if the lifeless form was deciding which direction it was best to fall in, to get the best permanent resting place.

Iolaus experienced a great sense of déjà vu while witnessing that very moment. He could picture his partner squished and gasping for breath, pinned under the great bulk of dead giant.

“Jump up! Jump right!” He screamed at the demigod, who reacted immediately to the frantic commands of his partner.

The giant swayed one more time and toppled to the ground, face first. The demigod tumbled behind, landing with an ‘oof’ on the giant’s wide back. He slid off and into the happy embrace of his very relieved partner.

“Thanks buddy. If it weren’t for your warnings I could have been squished,” Hercules said as he clapped his best friend on the back.

“No problem, Herc. I’d never let that happen to you,” replied one very relieved young hero.

“And you were right about those chains. The mark of Hephestus…how did you see it?” the demigod asked in frank admiration.

“It was easy Herc. When you’ve trained in the arts of the forge as long as I have…” Iolaus answered.

“Well, then I’m grateful for your eagle eye. Maybe we should take the chains with us. They could come in handy,” Hercules said.

They unwrapped the chains from around the giant’s throat and Hercules easily slung them over his shoulder. Then they headed out of the cave in search of Geryon and Zeus’ cattle.

As they emerged into the daylight, Iolaus noted that the sun hadn’t even made it half way to its highest point. They were making really good time and had less than a mile to go before they reached the razor-winged monster. When he remembered how close he’d come to losing his head the last time he was here, Iolaus grabbed his throat and gulped out loud.

“You okay Iolaus?” Hercules asked concernedly.

“Yeah, just having a flashback. I’ll be all right,” Iolaus assured his friend.

“Try not to think about it. Defeating that giant wasn’t so horrible,” Hercules said.

“You’re right. I won’t think about the giant,” Iolaus told his friend. ‘I’ll just worry myself to pieces over the three headed goon with the deadly wings that’s sitting between us and Zeus’ cattle,’ he added to himself.

After a ten-minute walk, the two heroes could hear the lowing of the cattle not too far off to the west. They climbed a nearby tree to get a better look at the terrain and to see if they could pinpoint Geryon’s position.

Situated between their position and a large rolling pasture dotted with blood-red cows and bulls sat a small lake that appeared to be the cattle’s watering hole.

About fifty yards from the far edge of the lake was a huge, gnarled, ancient tree with large leafy branches providing plenty of shade. And in that shade sat the monster Geryon. It appeared to be ten to twelve feet tall, and there were three heads and three sets of legs on one very over-sized, lumpy body. Its wings were large and bat-like, and they were the same blood-red color of the cattle.

The heroes worried over a plan.

“If we skirt around the lake, we take a big chance of being spotted. We’ll lose the element of surprise,” Hercules whispered to his partner.

“We could wait until after dark and try to sneak up on it,” Iolaus observed.

“Yes, but then we’re forced to fight that monster in the dark, on his turf. We’ll lose,” Hercules countered.

“Okay then, we’ll just have to use a couple of old hunters tricks to sneak up on old Geryon then we can use the same kind of strategy we did with the giant. I’ll distract it while you lasso it and disable it’s wings. If it can’t fly, we should be able to take it out easy,” Iolaus said.

“Sounds reasonable. What old hunter’s tricks?” the demigod asked.

“First we leave our clothes on this side of the lake then swim over, keeping underwater as much as possible. Then…um…do you see those big piles of manure on the other side…where the cows have come to drink?” Iolaus asked.

“Yeah…” Hercules warily replied.

“Come on, I’ll explain the rest on our way across.

Naked and smeared head to toe with cow manure, the two heroes crept through the tall grass pulling Hephestus’ chain noiselessly behind them.

The two heroes split up, Iolaus to get into position to distract the monster and Hercules to climb the tree, getting himself into a good position to lasso it.

One of the monster’s heads complained loudly about the smell of cow manure wafting into their space and how it ruined his appetite. The middle head growled, telling the first head to complain to the giant who obviously wasn’t cleaning up the pasture after the cows quickly enough. The third head just growled and told the other two to shut up and eat. That’s when Iolaus began pelting small stones at the monster’s legs.

Geryon believed that its legs were getting bitten by flies and the monster bent over to brush at the stings, growlingly complaining all the more loudly about the manure attracting flies

Hercules took that opportunity to climb the tree and get himself into position above the snarling monster. He motioned to Iolaus who jumped up from his hiding place, shouting and dancing around well out of Geryon’s reach.

Stunned, all three heads popped up to look at the shit-caked, crazy, dancing mortal. The middle head growled menacingly and the blood-red, razor-sharp wings began to unfold.

At that moment, Hercules loosed the chains, looping them over Geryon’s wings. With one swift, strong pull, the demigod snared the monster, pulled it off of it’s feet and locked the chains into place around the sturdy, thick upper trunk of the tree.

He scrambled back down to join Iolaus who was whooping with joy as he realized that he wouldn’t have to be confronted with the razor sharp wings on journey. He was one happy hero.

“Come on Iolaus, let’s get round the cattle up and get out of here,” Hercules urged his best friend.

“Will the chains hold?” Iolaus asked.

“He’ll have to rip his own wings off or uproot the tree to get away from those chains. I don’t think he’ll give us any problems. But I still want to get out of here fast,” Hercules assured his partner.

The gathered the cattle for the trip - 40 head in all - then they made their way back to the other side of the lake where they washed the manure from their bodies, and reclaimed their clothes.

“I can’t get over how easy this has all been, Iolaus. Almost too easy, in fact. Keep your eye out for anything unusual. There’s something that’s not right here. None of my labors are ever this easy,” Hercules worried.

“No problem, Herc. It was a long trip here, maybe we’re just catching a break…and who knows what lies ahead. We've still got a long trip home. Maybe something disastrous will happen on the way home just to make you happy. Okay Herc? Are you sure Geryon can’t get loose and follow us?” Iolaus asked.

“If Geryon gets free of the tree it’ll be without its wings which means he’ll have to walk and I don’t think the three of them are coordinated enough to move any too swiftly. Let’s go,” Hercules said, putting his arm around Iolaus’ shoulder, giving him a quick squeeze. They herded up the cattle again and began the short walk back to the beach.

When they reached the tree line right before the beach, deep in discussions on how best to ferry the cattle over to the main land on their raft, they lifted their eyes to the water and were greeted by the most magnificent sight ever. A boat of pure gold with sails brighter than the sun was standing at anchor in the harbor.

The captain greeted them heartily, informing them that Apollo’s boat had been sent to help them off the island and take them as far as Italy where they could make their way overland back to Greece.

“Apollo doesn’t like me very much, I wonder why he’d send his boat to help us?” Hercules whispered to his partner.

“Probably just doing Eurytheus a favor. The gods all seem to like him well enough although I can’t imagine why,” Iolaus whispered back, anxious for any assist that would speed their journey back home.

“Where’s your crew? Can you ask them to help us get these animals on board?” Hercules asked the captain.

“Do you see anyone else here? It’s you, the blond guy and me and guess who’s not going to be cleaning out the bottom of the boat,” the captain laughed at the heroes when he saw just how many cows and bulls would be making the trip with them. Iolaus groaned but Hercules smilingly agreed to the condition.

“Come on, it’ll be a piece of cake! Much easier than the Augean stables any day,” Herc said, slapping Iolaus on the shoulder as the young hero began to lead the cattle up the gangplank.

With one quick stop to retrieve the horses and chariot, they were off to Italy, taking as much advantage as they could of Apollo’s hospitality during the long sea voyage.

Four months after their landing in the port of Ostia on the Italian peninsula, Hercules and Iolaus were finally close to the end of their labor. They sent a messenger ahead advising Eurytheus of their arrival.

The king, and his honor guard, rode out to meet the demigod and his companion on the flat plain that spread out before the city gates.

Eurytheus dismounted and approached the demigod with his hand extended in greeting. “It took you long enough, Hercules. Have any difficulties along the way?”

“Nah, it was a pretty uneventful trip back except for that one time the big bull got loose in Italy,” Hercules replied with a laugh, remembering how difficult it was to re-capture the bull in question when it had become enamored of a skinny, white milk cow in the Tuscan fields.

“Or when that calf got loose and ran straight through the marketplace in Thebes. I thought the magistrate was going to choke on his breakfast!” Iolaus added with a bright laugh of his own -- the Theban magistrate not being one of the young man’s favorite people.

“Well, they’re your problem now, Eurytheus, until you can turn them over…” Hercules began.

“Aescelpus!” Eurytheus raised his eyes and shouted into the air.

A flash of red sparkles heralded the arrival of the god of healing.

“Your cattle,” Eurytheus said with a slight bow of the head towards the god.

“Wait…w…w…wait!” Hercules stuttered. “I thought these belonged to Zeus.”

“They did,” Aescelpus replied with a smile for his cousin, “but he owed me one, and so did your friend here.” Then turning to Iolaus he said, “I told you I’d think of a way for you to repay me.” Then in a flash Aescelpus was gone, along with all the cattle.

With eyebrows raised, Hercules turned to his best friend. “Iolaus???”

“It’s a long story,” he said as he slung his hand over the demigod’s shoulder, urging him to walk with him away from the city. “You see, Herc…it all started with these fish falling out of the sky…”

“Iolaus, is this one of your fish-that-got-away stories?”

“Nah, but maybe I’d better catch some now for dinner. We can eat and I’ll tell you the whole story. It’s gonna take a while,” Iolaus replied with a nervous smile.

Over their evening meal, Hercules was told the whole story about his previous trip with Iolaus to the ends of the earth. The demigod was quiet for the longest time, digesting the information his best friend was imparting. Iolaus could see almost every emotion running across the demigod’s expressive face.

At one point, Hercules extended his hand towards Iolaus and gently touched him on his shoulder and his collarbone.

“I did those,” he said. Not so much a question but more as a confirmation of the physical evidence of that forgotten episode.

Iolaus waited, and when he couldn’t stand the silence any longer, he asked, “so, are you ever gonna speak to me again?”

“You spent a whole night with Zeus almost four years ago and you never told me about it? I’ve been waiting my whole life to spend time with my father…talk with him You knew that and you never said a single word?” Hercules asked with so much hurt in his voice that Iolaus almost wept for him.

The young hero knew that Hercules wasn’t angry with him about the first trip to Geryon’s island. Although he’d kept it a secret from the demigod, it had been a necessary trip to save his best friend’s life. But withholding information on Zeus, a topic that Hercules considered vital to his existence, well, that was another story. He began to wonder if the demigod could forgive him his silence on it.

“Well you see, Herc. You reacted so badly when you came to that time…and then you never asked about the missed day. On top of that, we were kept apart most of the next several weeks ‘cause we had to help with the harvest and then rush back to the Academy. But I remember it like it was yesterday. And Zeus promised me he’d spend time with you as soon as he could.”

“For now I can tell you that Zeus is really smart, and a great kind of guy in a godly sort of way and he’s handsome for an old guy too, very distinguished. He’s got that same twinkle in his eye that you’ve got when something really amuses you and you’ve both got some of the same mannerisms, like when you’re both nervous or anxious about something…that thing you do with your hands like you’re brushing something away from in front of you. Just like you’re both doing right now…” Iolaus trailed off as he caught a glimpse of the king of the gods over his friend’s right shoulder.

“What do you mean like we’re both doing right now?” Hercules asked in confusion.

“Just like he said, son. I guess we’re going to have to discover on our own just how much more alike we are. That is, if you’d like to spend some time with me.”

“Father? Zeus?” Hercules asked anxiously as he turned to follow Iolaus’ gaze.

“Hello, son,” Zeus replied, holding out his hand to his son.

“I’d better go and give you two some time alone,” Iolaus said softly as he turned away to give the two privacy. “I’ll pass by and tell your mom you’ll be home soon?”

“Thank you for everything, Iolaus. You’re a good man,” Zeus said with a smile. “Yes, stop by and tell Alcmene I’ll have our boy home before sunrise tomorrow.”

Iolaus strode away from the campsite with a big smile on his face. He was happy for his friend. Truly happy that he would finally have the opportunity to get to know his dad.

Alcmene insisted Iolaus stay with her to await the demigod’s return. She was anxious to hear tales of their adventure to the ends of the earth. Iolaus, in return, was delighted to have one of Alcmene’s home cooked meals all to himself and an eager, receptive audience to rehearse and fine-tune this story with.

Hercules showed up the next morning, before sunrise just as Zeus had promised.

After receiving a bear hug from her son, Alcmene pointed him in the direction of the closest chair.

“This came for you last night,” she said as she set a sealed scroll on the table in front of him.

Hercules groaned, recognizing Eurytheus’ seal. Iolaus handed him his boot knife and Hercules used it to lever the seal open. He read:

Hercules,
You and Iolaus of Thebes, your chosen companion for these next several labors… are commanded to travel to Lernea to confront and defeat a creature that has been terrorizing the people of that township for the past year. The monster is called Hydra and you will bring its tail back to me as proof of your kill.
Eurytheus

Iolaus took in the crestfallen look on the demigod’s face. They had just gotten home and now they would have to be right back on the road again. So he took a cheerful tack with his friend.

“Okay, so we travel together some more. It’s not the end of the world. Heh, heh, heh - get it! Not the end of the world.”

Hercules still looked upset so Iolaus continued, “Right…so we go to Lernea, kill a monster and come home. What’s so bad about that?” he asked the demigod.

“Nothing buddy, nothing at all,” Hercules replied with a smile for his best friend.

‘Good,’ Iolaus thought. I’ve got him smiling. Let’s keep the good mood going.

“What’s Hydra, Herc? I don’t remember them teaching us about that that one at the Academy.” Iolaus asked as he shoved a good-sized portion of warm bread and goat cheese into his mouth.

“It’s a brand new one of Hera’s monsters,” the demigod replied.

“Oh well,” Iolaus said around the mouthful of food. “Just so long as it doesn’t have three heads, or three sets of legs, or razor-sharp wings.”

“Nope Iolaus,” Hercules answered with a broad smile for his best friend. “You’ll be glad to hear that it doesn’t have three heads.”

“Great!” the blond hero exclaimed.

“It has nine,” the demigod added and laughed heartily as he heard the small choking sounds coming from across the table.

The end of one journey…beginning of another…

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