**Click on Back to return to the previous page.

title: To Save the Centaurs
author: Owlharp and others
author's email: Owlharp@juno.com

This story requires a bit of explanation!
"...This is a story of a time long ago ..." Well, around 2 years ago, to
be accurate. A group of Hercules fans who were all enthusiastic participants in 
the weekly Wednesday night chat on AOL, decided to write sort of a round-robin 
story! Some of the participants - Beth Dunigan, Katie Bueller and yours truly - 
are members of the IML, and some - Sue Weisberg and Marie Carlin - are not. 
Anyway, we put a good deal of time and effort into this little piece, but then 
it kind of languished in cyberspace. I thought that it was a shame that it 
should not be read, and so - with the kind permission of all the authors - I am 
presenting it here for your pleasure! Each section has its proper attribution 
and it's in seven chapters.
Enjoy!
Owlharp

******

Chapter 1 (part 1)
written jointly by Beth Dunigan (BethD) and Kathleen Sobansky (Owlharp)
 
It was early evening in the temple of Asclepius, and the god was lecturing to 
his students and acolytes. He sat on a low stool, wearing a chiton of white 
linen, his long brown hair tied back with a fillet of gold. The staff that he 
was never without lay on the ground at his side. 

His students sat on the floor around him, some of them writing assiduously on 
tablets of wax, others simply gazing up at their teacher, drinking in every 
word. 

"The child that was brought in today with the fever - what questions should you 
ask his mother about his illness?" 

One student raised a hand. "When did the fever come on?" 

"Good. And? -" Asclepius smiled and stroked his beard. 

"Were there other symptoms? Was the child constantly touching his ear?" 

"Which would indicate that the child had an inflamation there - good. And? - " 

"Were there marks on the child's body?" 

"Which would indicate?" 

"The pox that children often get -" 

This last statement was interrupted by the boom of the great wooden doors of the 
temple being shoved open so hard that they rebounded off the walls with a great 
crash. 

Even the god of healing jumped in astonishment. Through the open doors, the red 
sky of sunset at their backs, came a troop of centaurs, their hooves clattering 
loudly on the marble floor of the temple. In their hands they brandished swords 
and spears. Without a word they galloped up the length of the temple. 

The acolytes leaped to their feet. 

"What do you want?" shouted one of them. A centaur smashed him to the ground 
with the pommel of his sword. A brief, uneven struggle broke out, which ended 
with several of the students being held with weapons at their throats. 

"Stop!" Asclepius spoke in a voice of thunder. "What do you mean by bursting in 
here and mistreating my students?!" 

Several of the centaurs bristled and raised their weapons, but an older one - 
clearly their leader - motioned them back. 

The grey-headed centaur met Asclepius's eyes. "You must come with us - now!" 

"And why must I do that?" The god's voice was stern. 

"You are the only one who can help us! We need you! We are desperate!" 

Asclepius looked at the faces surrounding him. They showed varying degrees of 
fierce resolve, but underneath it, he could sense a fear that was dangerously 
close to hysteria. 

"Release my students. Now." He kept his voice low and calm. "Remember that I am 
a god and can strike you down if I choose to. So far, I have restrained myself." 

The centaur leader recognized the threat and nodded to his troops, who released 
the acolytes. The acolytes, on the edge of panic themselves, started to rush 
towards their teacher, who stopped them with a wave of his hand. 

"You must leave now. Return to your homes. These centaurs and I must talk!" 

One student found the courage to speak up. ""But Master, we don't want to leave 
you!" 

"Go!" The word echoed from the temple walls. But then Asclepius's face softened 
just a bit. "What, are you afraid for me, Nyvlas?" 

The youth nodded. A glimmer of a smile appeared on Asclepius's face and he 
replied gently, "Don't be afraid. Remember - I AM a god! Just go now". 

With many backward glances the young men shuffled reluctantly out the door. Once 
outside, Nyvlas beckoned to the others. "Come on!" He gestured towards the 
bushes. "Hide in there. We've got to see what happens. We can't just leave him 
there, no matter what he said!" 

They had barely scrambled in among the laurel bushes that ringed the temple when 
the centaurs came clattering down the steps. 

"Look!" whispered Nyvlas in horror. 

Asclepius was seated on the back of the centaur leader, who gripped the god's 
wrists tightly around in front of him. Another centaur bore the healer's staff, 
and a third, the leather bag that contained the healing herbs. The whole 
cavalcade thundered by and disappeared into the gathering darkness. 

"They've kidnapped him!" 

"We've got to get help!" 

Like deer frightened by the scent of a wolf, they fled in the direction of the 
nearby village. 

Hercules and Iolaus were enjoying some well deserved rest and relaxation. They 
had been in the small village for the past week helping the villagers repel a 
band of marauding thieves. Now that their work was completed and the thieves 
defeated, the villagers were celebrating. 

In the background local musicians were playing light hearted melodies, and 
several couples were dancing to the happy music. Other villagers were drinking 
ale, eating, laughing, and relaxing. 

Iolaus was sitting at a table. He had a mug of ale in one hand and was enjoying 
the company of a very lovely young woman. Hercules was similarly supplied with a 
massive tankard, and was fending off the attentions of a group of buxom wenches 
who were vying to keep it filled. 

"Hey Herc!" yelled Iolaus. 

"What?" his friend replied. 

"Aren't you glad I talked you into coming up here?" 

"I thought I had to talk you into it," laughed Hercules. 

"Well, it doesn't matter. We're here and this is a great party. Those guys will 
think long and hard before they pick on any more villages." 

"I'll bet you are right," Hercules said. He reached for his mug of ale and took 
a sip. 

Suddenly the joy of the celebration was interrupted by a young man who came 
running into town. 

"Has anyone seen Hercules?" the runner asked. He had run a great distance and 
was obviously tired and out of breath. His linen tunic was covered in dirt and 
drenched in sweat. 

Hercules stood up and walked over to the young man. "I'm Hercules. Catch your 
breath and tell me what's wrong." 

"Your cousin, Asclepius, has been kidnapped," the young man said. "A group of 
centaurs burst into his temple while he was teaching his students and carried 
him away." 

"But why?" asked Hercules. 

"We don't know. He left a note behind, but no one can read it. All it says is 
something about 'help'. They left plenty of tracks but the villagers aren't able 
to take on a group of Centaurs by themselves. Will you help?" 

"Yes, I will," Hercules replied. 

"Me too," said Iolaus. 

"What's your name?" asked Hercules of the youth. 

"Oh - sorry! I'm Nyvlas. I'm one of his students. We wanted to fight the 
centaurs, but Asclepius forbade us to!" He seemed on the edge of tears. 

"That sounds exactly like my cousin! He wouldn't want any of you to get hurt or 
killed for his sake. Don't worry though - Iolaus and I will get him back!" 

The three men set out for the temple of Asclepius. On the journey to the temple 
Iolaus asked "Asclepius is your favorite cousin isn't he?" 

"Yes. He and I grew up together and spent much of our youth with Cirridion our 
teacher. Asclepius had a real gift for medicine. He's the only one of the gods 
who actually tries to help people." 

When Hercules and Iolaus arrived they entered the temple and Nyvlas showed them 
the note that the healer had left. Hercules studied it for a moment, then passed 
it to Iolaus. "Can you make anything out of that?" he asked. 

Iolaus squinted at it, wrinkled up his face in concentration, and finally shook 
his head. "It's Asclepius' handwriting all right! Not a single readable word!" 

They went outside and started looking for tracks. After a few minutes Iolaus 
found them. 

"Over here," Iolaus yelled. "Here's their trail. 

Hercules hurried over to Iolaus and bent down to examine the hoof prints on the 
ground. "Good," he said. "Let's go." 

Iolaus and Hercules followed the trail all day. It led them up the mountains, 
past the river, and far from the village. 

"This is funny," Iolaus commented. "It's like they're not even trying to hide 
their tracks." 

"Yea, I noticed," agreed Hercules. "I've been wondering about that too. Maybe 
you're not the only one full of old hunter's tricks," he laughed. 

Both men laughed and continued their journey. The tracks took them up to a 
beautiful high meadow and a centaur community. 

Hercules and Iolaus hid in the bushes and observed the village from a safe 
distance. 

"What do you want to do now Hercules?" Iolaus asked. 

"I'm thinking," he replied. 

"Don't bother. You're coming with us!" a voice behind them said. 

Hercules and Iolaus turned around and were facing three armed centaur scouts. 
Their weapons were drawn and they were prepared for battle. 

"We've been waiting for you Hercules," one of the centaur scouts said. 

"Come with us." 
 
end Chapter 1 (part 1)
************************************
Chapter 1 (part 2)
written jointly by Beth Dunigan (BethD) and Kathleen Sobansky (Owlharp)
 
To Hercules' and Iolaus's surprise, the three scouts led them, not to the 
village that they had been spying on, but to an open field well beyond it. A 
large tent stood in the middle of the field, surrounded by a crude stockade of 
logs, which had clearly been hastily constructed. Their guides headed for an 
opening in the fence, but stopped well short of it. 

Another centaur appeared in the gateway. He moved slowly and with difficulty. 
One of the scouts shouted to him. 

"We've brought Hercules. We found him and his friend in the woods, just as you 
said we would!" 

"Well done," said the centaur in the gateway, and the three scouts galloped 
hastily away. Then turning to face Hercules and Iolaus he said, "My name is 
Cleo. We've been waiting for you. Asclepius warned us you might try to rescue 
him. He is waiting and wants to talk to you," 

Cleo said as he pointed to the nearby tent. He started to lead the way, but 
suddenly staggered and nearly fell. 

"Are you alright?" asked Hercules. He reached for Cleo to help him steady 
himself. The centaur drew a deep breath and slowly straightened up. 

"No. I'm not all right. None of us in here is all right." He took another shaky 
breath. "Asclepius will explain. I'll... get him." 

Cleo opened the flap to the great tent and stepped inside. 

"Something is very wrong here Iolaus," Hercules said. 

"I know," replied Iolaus. "Where is everyone?" 

The tent flap opened again, and Asclepius stepped out into the sunlight. He 
smiled when he saw Hercules and Iolaus standing there. 

"It's good to see you again, cousin," Asclepius said as the two men shook hands. 
"And you too, Iolaus. It's been a long time!" 

"I don't understand," Hercules began, "we were told the centaurs kidnapped you." 

“They did," Asclepius said. "They are desperate, Hercules. Take a look around 
here." He led the way into the tent. 

Hercules and Iolaus took a few steps into the tent and stopped in horror. It was 
full of centaurs, at least twenty of them. Most were seated on the ground, 
blankets tucked around their human bodies, but a few lay on their sides. The 
sound of labored breathing was loud in the tent, and one younger man was 
muttering in delirium. 

Asclepius bent over this last and laid a wet cloth over the centaur's forehead. 
"Cleo, if you can, stay with Equios and keep rubbing him down with this. I must 
talk with my friends for a moment". Cleo moved to the young centaur's side. 

Asclepius led the way back outside. The moment the tent flap fell back, Hercules 
demanded, "What's wrong with them?" 

"It is plague", replied Asclepius sadly. He saw their involuntary recoil and 
smiled briefly. "Oh, you two are safe, and so am I. It is the horse half of the 
centaur which catches the disease, although later on their human half is 
affected as well". He shook his head. "It is viciously contagious. By the time 
they brought me here, half the community had been stricken. Five of them have 
already died. I had to act fast. We moved the sick ones out here, and then 
burned their houses and belongings." 

"That's awful!" commented Iolaus. 

"Yes. But we had to burn things, in order to save lives. Since that was done, 
we've had no new cases. I think we've stopped it, but we still have all these 
people who are sick. They'll die if something isn't done!" 

"And you can do something?" asked Hercules softly. 

Asclepius nodded. "There is a medicine I can brew that will help them. But it 
needs the leaves from a certain tree, a golden apple tree, that grows in a 
garden in the mountains nearby." 

"We'll get them!" declared Iolaus confidently. 

"There's a problem. The garden is sacred to Hera!" 

At the mention of his stepmother's name, Hercules' face grew distant and grim. 

Iolaus muttered, "Uh-oh...". 

Asclepius continued. "Yesterday I went to one of Hera's shrines not far from 
here". He gave a weary sigh. "I went down on my knees before her altar and 
begged her to let me have some of the leaves. I told her that people were dying, 
and this alone might save them!" 

Hercules' face was thunderous. "Let...me ... guess..." he growled. 

Iolaus was honestly shocked. "She said 'No'?! To you?! When you help everyone, 
including her own worshippers?" 

Asclepius shook his head sadly. "The temple echoed with her laughter". 

"That is the most disgusting - " Hercules broke off and said with a quiet 
intensity that was more intimidating than a shout, "We'll get you those leaves!" 

"I cannot go myself, " said Asclepius. "There are too many centaurs here who 
need my help just to stay alive. I am asking you to go for me". 

"We will!" 

"It won't be easy! The garden is guarded by a chimera." 

"Oh, great!" chimed in Iolaus. "Half lion, half snake, and breathing fire! That 
ought to make things interesting!" 

"We'll get the leaves", said Hercules flatly. He turned to Iolaus. "Are you with 
me?" 

"Just try and leave me behind!" 

Hercules looked out to where the mountains loomed purple against the clear blue 
of the sky. "That's a pretty big range out there. How do we find this garden of 
Hera's?" 

"The centaurs will give you a guide to show you the quickest route to the garden 
from here. Time is of the utmost importance, Hercules,"  Asclepius said. "You 
must get those leaves here as quickly as possible." 

"I understand," Hercules replied. 

Asclepius sent a message by one of the scouts to bring the centaur guide to him. 

"Hera's garden?" Iolaus said to Hercules under his breath. "Great, what's next, 
locusts?" 

Iolaus and Hercules laughed for a moment. The scout returned accompanied by 
their centaur guide. Hercules and Iolaus looked at the guide and stopped 
laughing. 

"It's -" said Hercules. 

"It's a -" echoed Iolaus. 

The guide stood there looking at them and smiling slightly, as if guessing their 
thoughts. 

Their guide was a female centaur. 

In all their travels, Hercules and Iolaus had never encountered a female 
centaur, and in fact, both were inclined to believe the legends that no such 
creature existed. But now one stood before them. 

She would have been worth a second look, even if she had only been a human 
female. Her long reddish-brown hair matched the coat on her horse-half exactly. 
She had a round, pleasant face and a sprinkling of freckles across her snub 
nose. Large green eyes regarded the men with faint amusement. 

Both men eventually got over their shock and smiled awkwardly at her. 

"This is Cassandra," Asclepius said as he pointed to the female centaur. "She 
knows this territory better than anyone. She will make an excellent guide for 
you." 

"How do you know the way to Hera's garden?" asked Hercules, after a moment of 
uncomfortable silence. 

Cassandra answered calmly. "My husband Equios and I tend sheep in the foothills 
of the Lydian Mountains. Last year we were tracking a lost lamb in the hills, 
and when we crossed over a certain high pass, we could see the garden from afar. 
We didn't dare go too close, because of the monster that guards it, but I can 
take you to the pass at least". 

"Where's Equios?" asked Iolaus curiously. "Is he coming with us too?" 

Her whole expression changed. She nodded toward the stockade. 

“He's in there," she answered. 

Embarrassed, Iolaus dropped his gaze. "Oh! I'm sorry!" 

"He came into town a few days ago. I was to join him later. But by the time I 
got here, he was already stricken". Her mouth quivered for a second, but then 
her chin came up and she took a deep breath. "So you see why I'm the logical 
choice to guide you!" 

"Don't worry! We'll get those leaves!" Iolaus smiled at her. 

Cassandra nodded silently , then turned beseeching eyes on Asclepius. 

"Can't I at least say goodbye to Equios?" 

The healer shook his head. "Cassandra, it would be too dangerous." He took her 
hand, comfortingly. "But I will give him a message from you". 

"All right ... Please tell him where I'm going, and that I'll be back very soon. 
Tell him not to worry. And... and tell him that I love him" - her chin came up 
again - "and tell him that the black ewe is pregnant again and we'll need to 
build a new lambing pen as soon as we get home!"  These last words came out in a 
rush and her eyes glistened with tears. 

Asclepius squeezed her hand. "I'll tell him all those things", he murmured 
gently. 

"Then I am ready to leave, Asclepius," Cassandra said in a quiet voice. On her 
back she carried a small sack of provisions, a bow, and quiver of arrows. 

"May the Gods be with you," Asclepius said as he wished them farewell. "Good 
luck, my friends!" 
 
END of Chapter 1. To be continued!
 
**************************************
Chapter 2 (part 1)
written by Katie Buller (Ms Moo)
 
 The three seekers embarked on the path to the Lydian Mountains, intent on 
acquiring the medicine that would save the ill centaurs' lives. Cassandra walked 
slowly, slightly ahead, setting the pace but not so far that she couldn't see 
the wondering looks on her companions' faces as they tried to keep from staring 
at her. Finally she laughed gently at them. "The question is all over your 
faces. Why not ask it?" 

Embarrassed, the two heroes Hercules and Iolaus glanced at each other, then 
Hercules shook his head. "It's really none of our business." 

"I'll tell you anyway. Yes, female centaurs do exist, but we keep to ourselves, 
mostly in the hills where it is easy to avoid contact with mortals," Cassandra 
said as she moved along the path. 

"Why?" Iolaus blurted out then quickly tried to stifle himself but it was too 
late. 

"For the reason you see here--staring, wondering, perhaps some jealousy on the 
part of our mates and protective-ness from our fathers. Many other reasons. But 
mostly because of the work to be done, since it is the females who must tend to 
it--raising sheep as Equios and I do, or perhaps even farming. Most of the 
younger males prefer the battle arts to such domestic chores, but I was lucky-- 
Equios preferred to be with me over his crossbow, so he joined me on the 
mountain with the sheep and there we have lived very happily...until now." 

"Raising sheep and...farming?" Hercules echoed curiously. 

"Yes, farming. Those who farm raise oats, barley and common apples mostly," 
Cassandra answered as she glanced forward on their path. "And we raise the sheep 
for wool and to sell to mortals who want them for both wool and meat. It's not 
much of a living but it's honest." 

"Farming seems logical with all those piles of--" Iolaus started to whisper to 
Hercules, but stifled himself again as Cassandra glanced back at them once more. 

"Iolaus!" Hercules seemed genuinely surprised at his implication. 

Cassandra seemed not to hear him. "Equios and I had to come down from the 
mountain when he became ill, and it was after that the disease began to spread 
through the community," she said, her face grim. "I can only surmise that it was 
Equios and I who introduced it, and part of the reason I volunteered to take you 
there was guilt over such a thoughtless deed." 

"You had no way of knowing, Cassandra," Hercules said. "And if you hadn't come 
down, Equios would have died. This way he has a chance!" 

"But did those who have already died have a chance!?" she snapped back, 
involuntarily stamping a hoof on the hard ground. "We brought their death to 
them, delivered it personally! The centaurs should not have admitted us to the 
meadow and just let the disease take us both." 

"That's in the past, Cassandra," Hercules answered. "But if both of you had 
died, there would be no one to take us to the garden, and no one would know 
about this disease. If Equios hadn't contracted this plague, someone else would 
have and the result would have been the same--but now we have a chance to save 
them because you know where to find the leaves." 

"If we're not too late," she answered sadly. 

It was not long before the path began to incline upward, indicating that they 
were entering the foothills of the mountains and soon the path disappeared 
altogether, fading into a jagged trail of uneven flat stones ascending toward 
the highest peak. Cassandra's hooves stepped carefully but with confidence, 
easily climbing up the steepening slope. Behind her, Hercules also climbed 
easily but Iolaus, without benefit of four legs or Zeus for a father, found the 
going a little rougher than he anticipated. Despite his superb physical 
conditioning, he began falling behind the relentless ascension, until finally, 
at around the halfway point to the highest peak, he found a rock and simply sat 
down. 

"Iolaus?" Hercules glanced back at him as he routinely did, and saw what Iolaus 
had done. "Are you all right?" 

"I'm fine!" Iolaus asserted. "Just a little winded. I'm not a mountain goat you 
know!" 

"Well, maybe it's time we rested. Cassandra!" Hercules called up to their guide. 
"Let's stop for awhile." 

Cassandra looked down at them from further up the slope, and slowly nodded. "Not 
for too long," she called back. "Every moment counts!" 

"I understand," Hercules answered, then went down to Iolaus to join him on his 
rock for a moment. "Sure you're ok?" 

"It's the thinning air," Iolaus said, confirming this by taking a long deep 
breath. "Do you see how high we are?" 

Hercules looked downward and noted that their position on the mountain was at 
least as high if not higher than any other peak the two of them had ever 
climbed. "It's a big one all right. Maybe you should have stayed below." 

"I'll be fine!" Iolaus asserted. "Just give me a minute to catch my breath and 
I'll be right along. Isn't there an easier path we could have taken?" 

"Not to Hera's garden there wouldn't be. She apparently doesn't want many 
visitors bothering her chimera guard," Hercules joked weakly. "Besides, this is 
the route that Cassandra and Equios originally took. The garden itself is 
actually on other side." 

"The other side! Great!" Iolaus echoed in disgust. "By then my lungs will have 
turned themselves inside out. Don't centaurs have to breathe?" 

"Apparently, she's used to it," Hercules smiled uncertainly. 

"And you?" 

Hercules shrugged. "Blame my father." 

Iolaus was about to say something else when a scream from above got their 
attention. Hercules immediately leapt up and began to run up toward the spot 
where Cassandra had been standing, but was now nowhere to be seen. "Cassandra!" 
he bellowed, wishing he hadn't taken his eyes off her for so long. "Where are 
you!" He found the spot where she had been, marked by the scuffs of her hooves 
on the stones, then looked around. 

"Down here!" she answered. 

He looked around but saw nothing. "Down where?! I can't see you!" 

"In the bushes ahead--there's a gully! I fell down into it and I can't get out!" 

Hercules saw that the rough stone trail led into a huge clump of thick bushes 
and he followed her trail into it. To his surprise, as soon as he stepped 
through the thickest of them, the ground disappeared from under his feet and 
only his strong reflexes saved him, causing him to grab the branches to keep 
from following her down into the depth of a large gully hidden in the 
mountainside. Once he regained his feet, he parted the branches and saw 
Cassandra standing down below, her legs and arms scratched and a bad cut on the 
joint of one foreleg. "Are you all right?" he called down to her. "You're 
bleeding!" 

"My knee is the worst," she confirmed. "I can hardly walk and I can't get out of 
this awful place! Hercules, this is entirely new to me--it wasn't here before 
when we came through last year. I swear it!" 

"Probably just a little welcoming present from Hera," Hercules half-growled in 
response. "I'll get you out. Stay there and try to keep that knee from bleeding 
any more." 

"Where would I go?" Cassandra responded as he disappeared from her view, then 
she glanced around the gully. It wasn't like most depressions on the mountain, 
full of sand, rocks and scraggly bushes, but remarkably clean and its solid 
stone floor nearly flat, as though carved out by hand. Sighing, she lifted her 
foreleg up and tried to tend to it but suddenly the ground shook and she was 
forced to all four hooves again, making her whimper in pain, then her eyes 
widened as she saw what had just alit so heavily at the other end of the gully. 

The chimera guard had appeared seemingly out of nowhere and was bearing down 
upon her. 

Above, Hercules was fashioning some rope out of the thick vines covering the 
mountain when he heard her scream again, this time obviously in fear rather than 
surprise. 

"Iolaus!" he called down to his friend, who was already on his way up. "Get up 
here! Something's wrong!" 

He ran back over to the gully and ripped the shrubs aside to see if Cassandra 
was all right. "Cassandra!" he yelled again as he saw the empty spot where she 
had been standing, the rock still spotted with her blood. There was sign of a 
struggle, then he could see where she had been dragged away, either unconscious 
or dead. Then the trail just disappeared into solid rock. "Down there!" he 
leaped down into the gully, landing effortlessly on both feet while Iolaus 
carefully climbed down the steep embankment. Hercules ran to the wall and tested 
it with several prodigious blows but it resisted even his god-endowed strength, 
granting him only a few layers of pulverized rock dust settling at his feet. 

"What happened?" Iolaus asked as he came running up behind, his breathing ragged 
and short. 

"She fell into this gully and was hurt! I was trying to make some rope to hoist 
her out when she screamed!" Hercules snarled, expressing his frustration and 
anger with himself. "Something took her away!" 

Iolaus looked down at the stony floor. "Well whatever took her away didn't do it 
without getting some damage itself. Look at this..." 

He squatted down and touched a viscous pool of what looked to be some kind of 
fresh dark green liquid. "It's not centaur blood...but remember the hydra?" 

"It bled green blood," Hercules agreed as he looked more closely at the filmy 
stuff. "But not that much!" 

"Maybe Echidna's kids don't have much blood, but if I were to guess, I'd say 
that it was the chimera that took her off," Iolaus said confidently and dusted 
himself off as he rose again, the thin air forgotten for now. "And if it was 
bleeding that much, then she must have gotten in a few kicks before it 
overpowered her." 

"Then if it's injured and bleeding we could follow the trail," Hercules 
confirmed, suddenly getting the idea. "Another..old....hunter's trick?" 

"You better believe it. But the question is, how did it get through that wall?" 
Iolaus answered. "You said the garden was on the other side. Think there may be 
a short cut to it in this gully somewhere?" 

Hercules glanced around. "Cassandra said this was new--it wasn't here last year. 
Hera might have carved it out to provide a lookout spot to this side of the 
mountain after Ilarion and Cassandra spotted her garden last year." 

"Which means?" Iolaus smiled at his 'student'. 

"That there might be more than one chimera," Hercules answered. "And that there 
is a secret way to the garden somewhere in this gully." 

"All we have to do is find the key to opening the passage," Iolaus said. "Then 
we follow the trail of blood no matter where it goes." 

"Find the key...." Hercules kept looking around the gully. "I was only gone a 
moment but that was enough for the door to this passage to open and for the 
chimera to attack and take her away." He found a spot on the rocky floor that 
looked scratched and beaten from enduring many clawed landings. "Could it have 
leapt down from somewhere? I didn't see it fly in." 

Iolaus looked up too and noticed a rocky outcropping just a few feet above their 
heads, nearly hidden from their view by the thickening bushes. "If I were to 
guess, I'd say it's on that somewhere. Another old hunter's trick." 

"You'll have to introduce me to this old hunter sometime," Hercules suddenly 
smiled as he clambered up to the ledge and found it surprisingly deep, leading 
into a hidden niche in the wall that was large enough for a man to stand in -- 
or a winged monster to emerge. "Iolaus! Come on up!" 

Sighing, Iolaus laboriously made his way up onto the ledge and saw what his 
friend had found. "I told you so," he confirmed, gasping slightly. 

Hercules tore the secretive bushes out by the roots and gradually uncovered a 
narrow slot in the wall, one wide enough to admit any number of creatures. He 
looked down and saw another spot of green blood. "It did take her through here!" 
he said, and he ducked his head slightly to go through the slot into what seemed 
to be a tunnel of some kind. It looked no more natural than did the flat clean 
floors of the gully outside. 

Iolaus followed and was relieved to find that the air in the cave was denser 
than that outside. "There must be some air source coming up from below," he said 
as he breathed deeply, then began to cough as a foul odor invaded his nostrils. 
"Monster stink!" he finally said as the cough subsided. "I think I'm allergic." 

Hercules moved forward and looked down into the depths of the descending floor 
of the cave and noted that it was not totally dark, with pitched torches 
flickering dimly every few dozen feet. Blood was occasionally spattered on the 
stone. "It's not just the chimera that's in here," he whispered to Iolaus. 
"Torches mean men, not monsters." 

"Echidna had torches," Iolaus whispered back. 

"Echidna was not a chimera!" Hercules responded, his tone implying that he 
wasn't in a mood to discuss it. 

Just then, another scream rang out through the cave that was recognizable as 
Cassandra's voice, nearly causing Hercules to forget himself and leap up to the 
rescue, but Iolaus' hand on his shoulder reminded him that caution was still in 
order. "At least we know she's alive now," Iolaus said to him. 
 
end part 1 of Chapter 2 .
*******************************
                                                             Chapter 2 (part 2) 
written by Katie Buller (Ms Moo)
  
Her voice screamed again, this time clearly enunciating  "HERCULES!" 

"Don't go yet!" Iolaus again firmly reminded him. "It could be a trap!" 

"And they could be killing her right now!" Hercules answered as he began to go 
forward. "I can't wait even if it is a trap! I have to find her! Watch my back 
as best as you can." He disappeared down the passage before Iolaus could say 
another word. 

"HERCULE-E-E-E-E-S!" Cassandra screamed again a few moments later, adding a loud 
neigh-like sound at the end. She was obviously much closer now.. 

Hercules came around a bend in the passage and saw that it narrowed into a ledge 
along the top of a wide, natural pit. At its bottom he could see Cassandra 
sitting on her haunches in a steaming mud pit, her hair bedraggled, her body 
even more scratched and it was obvious that the cut on her knee was still 
bleeding profusely, since her leg had been stained deep red. Water was dripping 
from the cave walls all around her, contributing to the mess. "Where's the 
chimera!" he called back to her, unmindful of any who might hear. 

"It's gone! I think it heard you coming and threw me down here to get rid of my 
weight!" Cassandra complained. "I'm getting tired of falling into pits today! 
Can you get me out!? This is a mess down here!" 

"Hercules, it's probably not far!" Iolaus called from behind Hercules. "It may 
have taken a position to attack!" 

"Watch for it, Iolaus!" Hercules shot back at him. "I'm going to get her out of 
there!" 

Iolaus just drew his sword and nodded, muttering to himself. 

"Watch for it, Iolaus! I can't wait, Iolaus! Echidna wasn't a chimera, 
Iolaus...!" 

Down below, Cassandra was having difficulty moving around. "Hercules, I'm 
stuck!" she called up to him again. "I can't move my legs in this goo!" 

"It could be bottomless!" Hercules answered as he looked around for anything 
that could help her get out. "Don't move too much--you could sink further into 
it!" 

"Wonderful," Cassandra said, noting that she was indeed sinking into it. Her 
rump was now halfway into it, her hind legs completely covered and it was slowly 
deepening around her hooves and nearly covering her fetlocks now. "Can you 
hurry? This is getting hot and ruining my hoof trim!" 

"Just stay still," he admonished her. He found some ancient well-branched logs, 
leftovers from some long-gone trees that had been victims of the tunnel-
building, and broke some of the branches off. "I'm going to slide one of these 
under your forelegs to give you some support. It's long enough to rest on the 
edges of the pit so it should keep you from sliding any further into until I can 
get you completely out." He gently pushed the longest branch across the pit and 
under her. "Just be sure to stay on it!" 

"I'll do the best I can," Cassandra answered, using both her arms and forelegs 
to attach herself to it. As she did so, her hindquarters sank even further in. 
"But hurry!" 

"I'm hurrying," Hercules said as he began to look for another branch as long as 
the first to use as a fulcrum in getting her hindquarters out. As he looked 
down, a shout from Iolaus above got his attention just in time to see the 
chimera launch itself from some hidden outcropping down toward him. It flew past 
Iolaus, well out of his reach and headed directly down toward Hercules. It's 
snakelike eyes were glowing as it dove toward its prey, screaming its rage and 
spouting fire but nearly as quickly, Hercules snatched up one of the splintered 
logs and let it impale itself on one end. The scream faded, the fire died and 
the eyes closed as the monster died very quickly. Hercules dropped the log and 
monster into the morass, positioning both so that he could then use a branch as 
a fulcrum to push her onto the beast's body and let her scramble the rest of the 
way out. Moments later, he had done just that and soon was helping Cassandra to 
her feet. 

"That was wonderful!" Cassandra gushed despite her handicap. "It should be easy 
to get the leaves now! You've killed the monster!" 

"I've killed ONE of the monsters," Hercules said to her gently. 

"One of them? There are more?" 

"Probably," Iolaus answered as he made his way down to them. "And that was 
probably just a young one. I've heard stories about chimera--the adults are a 
bigger, faster and a LOT stronger. An adult chimera would probably not have had 
to throw you down there--it could have carried you to the other side before we 
could catch up." 

"Yes," Hercules agreed. "And there are probably more than chimera here--a lot 
more." 

"Mortals?" Cassandra asked. 

"Chimera don't need torches and the whole passage is lit," Hercules said. "We 
could also be facing hordes of Hera's lackeys. I think that you could probably 
go back out the way we came in and be fairly safe there for awhile, tending your 
wounds in that gully. Iolaus and I could go on and find the apple tree, get the 
leaves and get back to you as soon as possible." 

"Oh no," Cassandra shook her head in a very equine manner. "I went this far, and 
since it's my fault for introducing the disease to the centaurs, it's only right 
that I take the risks too! I'm not going to go sit on my rump licking my one 
little cut while you two go face whatever is in that garden! I'm not that badly 
hurt--I'm coming along!" 

Hercules knew from her tone that she would not change her mind. "Then if you're 
coming, you have to let me tend to that cut and bind it!  Agreed?" 

"Agreed, but where will you find water to tend it with?" Cassandra said. 

"Right here!" Hercules smashed his fist into the drippy stone wall above the pit 
and produced a steamy spray of water. "This mountain is volcanic--that's why the 
mud was so hot. This water will do very nicely for cleaning your wounds." 

"Not bad for filling water bags either," Iolaus added. "If it's not too hot." 

A few moments later, Hercules had enveloped the cut in a clean hot mud pack and 
bound it with a few strips of fabric torn from Iolaus' shirt and scrubbed in hot 
water for the purpose. "There. How does that feel?" he asked, stepping away from 
his 'patient'. 

Cassandra experimentally put weight on her foreleg, then slowly smiled. 
"Asclepius would be proud of you, Hercules. It's a little sore, but I can walk 
on it." 

"With any luck, the garden shouldn't be that far and downhill from here," 
Hercules said. "Then we'll see what other beasts, mortal or otherwise, are 
waiting for us there." 
 
End Chapter 2. To be continued!
********************************
Chapter 3
                                                      written by Beth Dunigan 
(BethD) 
 
Cassandra, Hercules and Iolaus walked silently down the corridor. They 
continually looked for signs of trouble, their eyes constantly roving from side 
to side of the cavern. Finally they saw the mouth of the tunnel. 

"Hey Herc, we made it!" Iolaus said, and they exited the cavern. 

"Hera's garden is just beyond that ridge", said Cassandra, pointing to a small 
hill. We will be there in a little while." 

"Great!" said Hercules. 

Cassandra led the way to Hera's garden, followed by Hercules and Iolaus. When 
they reached the top of the ridge, Cassandra stopped and pointed to the garden. 
"There it is!" Cassandra said. "Hera's garden". 

"How do we get the leaves from the golden apple tree?" Iolaus asked. "Are we 
just going to walk up to it?" 

"Something like that," Hercules replied. 

Their conversation was suddenly interrupted by terrified screams. The three 
exchanged quick glances and then began running towards the scream. When they 
approached, they saw a young man of about twenty years of age battling another 
chimera. The young man was being held securely by the tail of the chimera, which 
was wrapped around his chest tightly, and the man was suspended in the air near 
the head of the chimera. The man squirmed and tried to resist, but it was 
useless. As the tail slowly brought him to the head of the chimera, it appeared 
that the man was about to die. 

Hercules, Iolaus and Cassandra stopped running and gaped in horror at the sight 
before them. Hercules saw a large boulder on the ground, picked it up and hurled 
it at the chimera, hitting it squarely on the body. The chimera roared in pain 
from the impact of the boulder. The monster was distracted for a few seconds and 
the tail loosened its grip enough that the young man was released and fell to 
the ground. 

Iolaus and Cassandra hurried over to the young man lying on the ground and 
helped him stagger away from the chimera to safety. The chimera didn't even 
notice Iolaus and Cassandra. Its attention was now directed to Hercules. 

Hercules looked around for something else he could use to defend himself. As the 
chimera approached, it roared and sent a fireball of flames from its mouth. The 
chimera flexed its tail and prepared to attack. 

Hercules grabbed a tree trunk that was lying on the ground and swung it at the 
chimera. It hit the beast and staggered it, but the chimera continued to 
advance. Hercules was running out of options and the monster was rapidly 
approaching. He looked around for another idea, then ran to the edge of the 
ridge and jumped. He dropped into a small river, held his breath and stayed 
under the water as long as he could. The chimera went to the edge of the ridge 
and looked for its intended victim, but Hercules was gone. 

The chimera roared and bellowed in frustration, sent forth another fireball, 
pawed at the ground, turned and left. 

Iolaus, Cassandra and the young man were quietly watching the battle from a safe 
distance away, hidden by a group of rocks. When the chimera finally walked away, 
Iolaus and Cassandra came out to search for Hercules. Hercules surfaced from the 
river and swam to shore. Iolaus and Cassandra saw him surface and were waiting 
for him on the riverbank. 

"Are you all right?" asked Cassandra. 

"I'm fine."answered Hercules. 

"That was close," said Iolaus. 

"Too close, " replied Hercules. "I hope we don't run into any more of those 
creatures", 

Cassandra commented. "How do you fight a fire-breathing monster?" 

"How is our young friend doing?" asked Hercules as he pointed to the young man. 
The young man had regained consciousness and was trying to stand up. 

"Thanks for saving my life," the young man said. "My name is Illaron. My village 
is two days walk from here". 

"What brought you here, friend?" asked Iolaus. 

"Love", he replied. "You see, I want to marry the fair Penelope, and she wants 
to marry me. But my family is poor and her father won't give her permission to 
marry. He sent me on this journey to prove myself. He said that if I succeeded 
he would give Penelope permission to marry me upon my return". 

"What are you supposed to do on this journey?" asked Cassandra. 

"I am to bring back the fur of the chimera", he replied. 

"But to do that, you'd have to kill it!" said Hercules. 

"Yes,I know", said Illaron."But that is his price for marrying Penelope". 

"Has anyone ever succeeded in killing a chimera?" asked Cassandra. 

"No," said Illaron."But no man ever loved a woman as much as I love Penelope. 
I'm sure I will succeed, the next time I meet the beast." 

Iolaus, Cassandra and Hercules exchanged glances. They doubted this young lad 
would last more than a few minutes against the chimera. 

"Why don't you come with us?" Hercules said. "We could use your help, and we'll 
see what we can do to make Penelope's father happy". 

"We don't have time for any delays, Hercules!" Cassandra protested. "You know 
how important it is that we get those leaves back to Asclepius right away!" 

"We can't leave Illaron out here", Hercules replied to Cassandra."How long do 
you think he would last against the chimera?" 

"How long do you think the centaurs will last without Asclepius' potion?" 
Cassandra asked. 

Hercules understood Cassandra's point. "Come on, Illaron", he said. "Let's go!" 
  
END Chapter 3.
*********************************
Chapter 4
written by Susan P. Weisberg
 
Cassandra led the way followed by Hercules . Iolaus and Illaron were slightly 
behind the others. Iolaus could be heard telling Illaron of his many adventures. 
"........Well of course Hercules was there too." 

Cassandra 's impatience was showing more than before. "Does your friend always 
talk so much?" 

Hercules glanced back at his friend and his captive audience, "Well he does like 
to tell that story. Come on you two we do have a purpose for this little 
stroll?" 

"Oh ,right Herc. Come on Illaron, I'll finish telling you about the Hydra as 
soon as we get these leaves." 

Iolaus suddenly stopped and began to look around. 

Hercules was becoming annoyed with his companion, "Iolaus ! Come on! We haven't 
got all day." 

"Hey Herc? Do you notice anything strange" 

"Strange, Iolaus?" 

"Listen, Herc. What do you hear?" 

They all stood very still listening for sounds around them. 

"Now that you mention it, without the sound of your voice it is suddenly very 
quiet." 

The four travelers standing in the meadow were now acutely aware that there was 
no sound. There were no birds singing , no sound of the breeze rustling through 
the trees, no small woodland creatures running about. There was only the sound 
of their breathing. 

"Iolaus, I don't like this." 

Suddenly the earth began to shake and a rumbling sound became increasingly 
louder until it was upon them. The four were now standing in a small circle 
facing out. In an instant they were surrounded by the hideous monsters that 
instantly sprang from the ground. 

"Satyrs! Why does it have to be Satyrs?" 

"Uh ,Herc , You know these guys?" 

"Oh we've met before , once or twice" 

Illaron looked about apprehensively as the fighting was about to begin. "I take 
it these are not friends of yours?" 

Iolaus drew his sword and took up his fighting stance. "These guys aren't 
anybody's friend." 

The Satyrs began to close in . Cassandra used her bow more as a fighting stick. 
Herc picked up a limb from a fallen tree and began eliminating as many of the 
attackers as he could. Illaron, recovered from his momentary shock, had drawn 
his sword and joined in the battle. 

"Iolaus ! You take Cassandra and get the leaves. Illaron and I will take care of 
these guys!" 

Iolaus was stunned. "But Herc I can't leave you with..." he glanced at Illaron 
".. and all these ..these..these SATYRS!" 

"We'll be fine ,Iolaus ." 

"But Herc..." 

"Iolaus, Just DO IT!" 

"Right. Come on, Cassandra we've got to go trim one of Hera's trees!" 

****** 

Hercules and Illaron continued to battle the Satyrs as Cassandra and Iolaus made 
their way towards Here's garden. Occasionally Cassandra turned to shoot an arrow 
at a pursuing Satyr. 

"Hey, Cassandra you're pretty good with that bow." 

"Pretty good for a girl, you mean." 

Iolaus was a little embarrassed. "Well, it's just that you said you were a 
farmer / sheep herder and all and... well you are a girl and... I never even met 
a girl centaur before. I always wondered, but I never actually saw one so I just 
kind of figured there were none. I didn't even see any with Asclepius. Are there 
a lot of ..you know.. gir..uh females in your village?" 

"Yes ,actually there are quite a few." You only saw the sick villagers. None of 
those affected are female." 

"None? None at all? That's strange, don't you think?" 

The Satyrs seemed to be multiplying as fast as Illaron and Hercules destroyed 
them . 

"So you really ARE Hercules? I mean THE Hercules?" 

Hercules looked a little annoyed at his companion . "Why does everyone always 
ask that?" 

"Well it's just that I thought that ... " 

"I know .Don't tell me . It's just that you thought I'd be bigger!" 

"No actually I heard you were in Corinth" 

"Oh. Right. " 

Then just as suddenly as they appeared the Satyrs disappeared. Hercules 
,confused by their sudden disappearance, looked all around trying to figure out 
where they went. "This isn't good." 

Illaron was actually relieved the fighting was over. "But Hercules, maybe they 
realized they are no match for The Son of Zeus and gave up." 

"Satyrs work for Hera. She and her lackeys NEVER GIVE UP!... This can only mean 
one thing. Cassandra & Iolaus are in big trouble!" 

Hercules took off in the direction of Cassandra and Iolaus. 

Cassandra and Iolaus were making their way along a rocky path. In the distance 
was the entrance to Hera's garden. 

"See Iolaus, I told you we're almost there. It's not much further from here. 
Cassandra stopped short and took in a deep breath ,wincing with pain. 

"What is it Cassandra ? Is it your knee? Maybe you should stay here and rest.I 
can get the leaves. You wait for Hercules and Illaron." 

"No Iolaus .I'm O.K. . My knee is fine. I just had to catch my breath, that's 
all." 

Again the centaur was momentarily gripped with pain. Again it passed. 

"Are you sure you're all right?" 

"I told you I'm fine. Come on let's get those leaves" 

Illaron and Herc were making their way down the path. Cassandra and Iolaus could 
be seen in the distance. 

"So Illaron, tell me about Penelope. She must be a special girl for you to take 
such a risk." 

" Oh Hercules she is , she is! Her smile is like the first ray of the morning 
sun .Her laugh is like the music from Pan's fute. Her eyes like the brightest 
stars in the summer sky. Her skin soft as ....." 

"OK, OK I get the picture. She is a really special girl . " 

"She's more than just a girl . She' s the only one for me . It's like without 
her I'm only half a person. She's my soul mate .You know what I mean ?" 

"I understand my friend. I understand. As soon as we get these leaves to 
Asclepius we'll see what we can do about convincing Penelope's father that you 
two belong together." 

"Oh that's easy . All I have to do is bring back the fur from a chimaera." 

"Easy... Right! . Come on let's catch up with Cassandra & Iolaus." 

Cassandra and Iolaus were at the gate to Hera's forbidden garden. They were 
looking for the guards that they knew must be somewhere. 

"Iolaus, Cassandra! Any sign of trouble?" 

"Herc. Where've you been? I knew you'd be lost without my help." Iolaus tried to 
pull his friend off to the side. "Hey Herc can I talk to you a minute ...over 
here. It's kind of important." 

"Can this wait Iolaus? I think we're kind of busy now." 

"This IS kind of important!" 

"I know Iolaus , but this is kind of important too" 

Iolaus followed the direction of Hercules' eyes. "I see what you mean." 

Looming over the horizon was the shadow of the chimaera. 

"I wondered when she'd be back. Take cover over there behind those rocks." 

Iolaus moved with Cassandra and Illaron in the direction Hercules indicated. 

"Well Illaron it looks like you'll get that chance to impress Penelope's father 
sooner then we expected." 

"Not hiding behind these rocks like a frightened child, I won't!" 

Just as Illaron was about to charge towards Herc and the beast Iolaus grabbed 
him by the neck of his shirt. 

"Don't be a fool Illaron. Wait till Herc draws it off ,then we can attack from 
behind . Catch it off guard." 

The Chimaera dove towards Herc. He dashed between some trees forcing the 
chimaera to pull up to avoid crashing into them. He searched around for 
something to use as a weapon. Iolaus moved to throw his sword to his friend. 

"Hey Herc, I told you: you really should carry a sword!" 

As Hercules removed a branch from one of the trees came his reply. "I told you 
Iolaus ,I don't need a weapon." 

He started thrusting the branch at the chimaera,now hovering around Herc. Slowly 
the creature retreated. Herc and the Chimaera were now moving back to the open 
field. 

Iolaus and Illaron were now waiting for the opportunity to attack. Herc and the 
chimaera were now battling back and forth. Sometimes the chimaera appeared to be 
gaining ground. Herc was constantly leaping out of the way, tumbling over rocks, 
darting through trees to avoid the relentless attack. Finally they were where 
Iolaus and Illaron were waiting to join in the attack. 

Suddenly an arrow came whirling through the air, striking the beast in the back 
of the neck. As the chimaera whirled around, Iolaus lunged forward, piercing the 
underbelly of the creature . Hercules grabbed a fairly large size rock, threw it 
up into the air and whacked it with the branch, sending it hurling towards the 
chimaera.The rock hit the creature's head dead center, stunning it. 

As it fell to the ground, Illaron jumped on its back, jabbing his sword into the 
back of the beast. Hercules hit the struggling beast in the face with his fist 
,knocking it unconscious. 

As Illaron climbed down off the beast he asked, "Is it dead?" 

"It would take a lot more than that to kill a chimaera this size. Iolaus, see if 
there are any vines around we can use to tie this thing up." 

"Will this do? I may be only a farmer, but I know enough to bring some simple 
provisions on a journey like this." 

"Thanks Cassandra . That rope will do just fine. Nice shot, by the way." 

"Thank you . Even goat herders can shoot an arrow. How do you think we keep the 
wolves away?" 

"Right. Why don't you three get those leaves, while I finish tying up our friend 
here.I'd like to be long gone before she wakes up!" 

"Hey Herc how can you tell it's a 'she'?" 

Herc shot a disaproving glance at his friend. 

"I was just asking.You two go ahead. I'll just give Herc a hand." 

"Iolaus, you wanted to tell me something ?" 

Illaron and Cassandra went on ahead and entered the garden. As they passed 
through the stone pilars marking the entrance, they heard Hercules... 

"She's WHAT?!!!!!!!!!" 

Illaron and Cassandra were walking down the path towards the center of the 
garden where the Tree with the Golden apples grew. Hercules and Iolaus caught up 
to them. 

"Cassandra, is there something you forgot to tell us before we left?" 

"I'm not sure I know what you mean Hercules." 

"Oh, just some unimportant little detail, like you're pregnant!" 

"Oh,that. It's no big deal. I'm not due for some time yet. And besides how did 
you know?" 

Iolaus looked sheepish. "I grew up on a farm ... We had horses...It doesn't take 
Athena to figure it out!" 

Hercules did not conceal his unhappiness with the current situation. 

Suddenly Illaron broke into the conversation."Guys, we have a problem here." 

"We have a problem here, too, Illaron!" Hercules turned to face Illaron. 

"Isn't this the tree we are supposed to get the leaves from?" 

They all looked past Illaron to the tree in the center of the garden .The looks 
on their faces did not begin to describe the way they were feeling . 

The tree in the center of the garden was completely bare. There was not a leaf 
or a piece of fruit any where on the tree or the surrounding ground. 
END Chapter 4.
 
***************************
Chapter 5
                                                          written by Marie 
Carlin 

They stood dumbfounded looking at the bare tree; finally Hercules spoke. "Hera" 
he said angrily. He took a step forward and putting his hands on his hips, and 
looking up at the sky yelled, "HERA!" 

"It can't be" Cassandra mumbled, "It just can't be.." 

"Hera again" said Iolaus. Doesn't she have anything better to do with her time!" 
He threw his sword on the ground. 

Cassandra began to cry. 

Hercules went over to her and said, "We will get what we came for Cassandra, I 
promise you that." 

Iolaus whispered in Hercules ear, "And how do you plan to do that, Hercules?" 

"I don't know, but we will figure something out." 

"We will, yes, we will", Iolaus said loud enough for Cassandra to hear. 

Cassandra trotted closer to the bare tree, " How could Hera take the leaves from 
this tree?? How could she? All the Centaurs will die, all of them...." 

Illaron finally spoke, "Well, we can't be sure it was Hera, can we? I mean it 
could have been some other god, couldn't it?" 

Hercules and Ioluas both turned at the same time and glared at Illaron. 

"Okay, Okay, so it probably was Hera. I guess we better go now, it was a good 
try and we don't want to make her angry and well, she is the Queen of the gods 
and all....". 

Cassandra turned to Illaron and said, "We are not going anywhere without the 
leaves of this tree! So be quiet Illaron." 

"The question is, where did the leaves go?" Hercules said to himself. 

"What do you mean, where did the leaves go?" Iolaus responded. "Hera burned them 
up." 

"How do you know?" Hercules answered. "We don't know that for sure. But I do 
know we need to find some shelter, the weather is changing". 

And looking into the distance both Hercules and Iolaus saw dark clouds moving 
in. 

"I am worried about Cassandra too" Hercules said. 

"So am I" said Iolaus, "So am I." 

Hercules informed the travelers that he and Iolaus were going to look for a cave 
and after a short search they spotted one at the far end of the garden. 

"Come on! Hercules called, turning back to Cassandra and Illaron, "Come this 
way." 

Cassandra didn't want to come at all, she wanted to stare at the bare tree 
wishing the leaves would reappear, "How could Hera do this, how could she?" 
Cassandra kept muttering. 

Illaron said, looking around fearfully,  "Let's go Cassandra, it is starting to 
get dark and I for one don't want to be here in the dark..." 

"You don't want to be here at all, do you Illaron?" Cassandra asked 
sarcastically. 

"Well, Illaron said, shrugging his shoulders, "Not really, but..." 

"Come on!" Hercules called, waving them to move forward. They approached the 
cave and went inside. 

The inside of the cave was roomy, but cold and damp. So, Hercules and Iolaus 
started a small fire near the entrance, "Cassandra shouldn't be cold.. that's 
for sure" Iolaus said to Hercules, "I mean, considering her condition and 
all..." 

"And all?" Hercules said. "We will be lucky if she doesn't have the baby centaur 
before we get back." " 

"Get back? answered Iolaus, "Get back with what? In case you haven't noticed 
there aren't any leaves on the tree, Hercules, and just where do you think we 
are going to get them I might ask?" 

Hercules brushed the dirt off his hands, and sitting back against a rock said, 
"I have an idea." 

"Oh no, no," Iolaus said," Everytime you come up with ideas and Hera is involved 
we get knocked down, practically eaten, buried alive.....you know all those fun 
things Hera likes to do to us.!" 

"Calm down Iolaus", Hercules said, "Since when do you run from a fight with 
Hera?" 

"When I'm with a pregnant female - usually!" 

Hercules rolled his eyes and Iolaus laughed. "You know I'll help you Herc, you 
know that, but this is very dangerous." 

"I know that Iolaus", and Hercules stood up and went outside the cave. 

Cassandra was so tired she laid down and her eyes started to close. Illaron was 
mindlessly digging in the dirt with a small stick he had picked up. Illaron 
looked at Cassandra and decided that he too would get some rest so he put his 
head down on the nearest rock and before long both were sleeping soundly. 

Hercules started to walk toward the tree and Iolaus followed. 

The sky overhead had begun to darken and Hercules strode forward with a 
determined look on his face. 

"Hercules, I've seen that look before..." 

Hercules went over to the tree and touched the bark and the edges of the 
branches. "This tree wasn't burned at all, Iolaus, look at the branches." 

Iolaus came closer and examined the branch Hercules had in his hand. 

"In fact this tree is very healthy and these leaves were only removed 
recently.." 

Iolaus looked at Hercules perplexed. "What are you saying, exactly, Herc? That 
Hera didn't do this?" 

"No, I am NOT saying that", Hercules answered. "I'm saying that perhaps she did 
not destroy the leaves, that's all. Perhaps she is playing a game with us...". 

"And the leaves are the prize?" Iolaus answered. 

"Maybe, just maybe that's it", Hercules said. 

"Well, I hope you're right, Hercules, because I don't want to see those centaurs 
die..". 

"Neither do I, Iolaus, neither do I. Let's take a look over in that direction." 
Hercules pointed to the far side of the garden. 

Lightning lit up the sky as Hercules and Iolaus walked toward the denser part of 
the garden. The foliage was thick and the trees were full of leaves... as they 
rounded a bend near some large rocks, Hercules saw the Chimera first, "IOLAUS!" 
he yelled, "Look out!" 

The Chimera swooped down on them both and knocked them down. They were both back 
on their feet in an instant. Hercules turned around and realized they were just 
steps away from a deep ravine. 

Before he could warn Iolaus, the Chimera returned and Hercules picked up a large 
stick, attempting to hit the Chimera with it... the Chimera knocked Hercules 
down and he hit his head on a rock. With the cut bleeding, he yelled for Iolaus 
to look out, but it was too late. The Chimera had knocked Iolaus into the 
ravine. 

"IOLAUS!" Hercules yelled, running to the edge of the ravine..."IOLAUS!" 

The Chimera flew off and Hercules in a rage angrily threw the stick at it. 

Iolaus was down toward the bottom of the ravine but the Chimera had knocked him 
quite a distance from where Hercules had been standing. He was covered with 
scratches and his arm was bleeding, but he was okay. 

"Great! Just great!" he said as he tried to stand up, but found himself slightly 
dizzy. A light rain began to fall and Iolaus pulled himself up to a crouched 
position. Looking around he saw something in the distance that caught his eye. 
"What on earth is that?" He strained to see better but between feeling woozy and 
the rain falling he could barely make out what looked like a small tree with 
some apples underneath it. 

"Now, I'm seeing things, that's for sure..I have to get out of here..." But his 
gaze returned to what he thought he saw and he couldn't take his eyes off of 
it... "I think I can get over there".... he said out loud.. And Iolaus began to 
hang on to the foliage as he balanced himself precariously and started in the 
direction of the apples on the ground. 

In the meantime, Hercules yelled for Iolaus up and down the ravine. The thick 
foliage made it difficult to see... Hercules stood there in the light rain and 
looked into every corner that he could see. "He must be unconscious or he would 
have answered me".. Hercules said. Hercules started down the edge of the ravine. 

Iolaus had made it over to the small tree he had spotted. "Well what do you 
know!" he said laughing. The tree that he had thought had leaves on it was bare 
when he got there but in his hand he had a small apple and attached to were the 
very leaves they were looking for. As Iolaus tried to adjust his eyes to the 
coming darkness he noticed that this part of the ravine had many leaves on the 
ground and they looked like exactly what Cassandra wanted. 

"Wait till I tell Hercules, Iolaus chuckled, "It was a game after all.. " Iolaus 
put his hand to his head, feeling dizzy, "but what price will we have to pay, he 
thought, "What price?" and with that, Iolaus passed out. 
END Chapter 5. To be continued ...
************************************
Chapter 6 (part 1 of 2)
written by Kathleen Sobansky (Owlharp)
 
The rain was making the rocks slippery. Hercules slowed his pace and made sure 
of his footing on each step as he climbed slowly down into the ravine. Thunder 
rumbled over his head. 

A flash of lightning lit the ravine like noonday. For the fraction of a hearbeat 
Hercules was able to see along the bottom of the narrow canyon. A flash of gold 
caught his eye, several hundred feet away. Then all went black again. He waited 
for his eyes to adjust back to the darkness, and continued his careful descent. 

The thunder sounded more faintly within the cavern, where the fire burned low. 
It was answered only by the sound of quiet breathing. Cassandra was lying on her 
side, her four hooves tucked neatly beneath her, her head pillowed on her arm, 
sleeping the sleep of pure exhaustion. Illaron lay curled up on the other side 
of the fire, the light playing over his face. 

Neither of them saw the rock wall at the back of the cave slide noiselessly 
aside. Nor were they aware of a group of squat, hairy figures creeping out of 
the blackness, ropes in their hands. 

It was only when the noose tightened around her neck that Cassandra leapt into 
wakefulness with a scream. 

"Help!" she shrieked, lurching to her feet in a clatter of hooves. "Illaron, 
help!" Another noose settled itself around her foreleg. She kicked out and sent 
one of the creatures flying across the cave, but another jumped upon her back. 
"Illaron!" 

Illaron opened his eyes. "What?" he managed to get out before one of the 
creatures hurled itself upon him. 

"It's Satyrs!" screamed Cassandra, bucking and rearing as she tried to shake off 
the unwelcome rider. 

Desperately, Illaron grappled with the Satyr, kneeing it in the belly. As it 
doubled up with a grunt of agony, he smashed a fist into the side of its hairy 
face, and the Satyr crashed to the ground. 

Illaron launched himself at the Satyr who held the noose around Cassandra's 
neck. He knocked the creature off its feet and grabbed the rope from the 
creature's hands. 

"Cassandra! Here!" he shouted, tossing her the end of the rope. 

"Look out!" she shrieked in reply, but it was too late. 

Another Satyr leapt upon Illaron, knocking him to the floor. Both barely missed 
the fire. The Satyr scrambled to its feet and leapt heavily on Illaron's 
midsection. Illaron gave a strangled scream and went limp, sprawling raggedly 
across the ground. 

"Illaron!" screamed Cassandra, before the noose was pulled tight once again. By 
now Cassandra's captors were clinging to her legs and back, weighing her down so 
that she could not move. The noose around her neck was pulled so that she could 
scarcely breathe. Blackness began to swim before her eyes and her legs suddenly 
went weak. The Satyrs pulled her along with them into the opening in the back of 
the cave. Two of them snatched up Illaron's limp body and dragged it with them. 

The rock wall slid shut, leaving behind only the dying fire at the front of the 
cavern. 

"Iolaus!" 

Only the sound of the rain answered, damping the echoes of Hercules' own voice. 
He made his way along the bottom of the ravine in the direction that the 
lightning flash had shown him. 

"Iolaus!" 

Lightning cracked again, striking one of the trees in front of him. It burst 
into flame. The side-flash knocked him to his knees, and for a moment he 
crouched there, blinded by the sudden light. 

"Missed again, Hera!" he muttered. 

When he was able to see once more, he got to his feet. The light from the 
burning tree showed a dark huddled shape on the ground a short distance away. 
Yellow, tangled hair gleamed in the flickering light. 

"Iolaus!" 

Hercules ran to his friend's side, knelt and carefully turned him over. Iolaus 
was white, with a large swollen lump on the back of his head. But what caught 
Hercules' attention was something else. Clutched in viselike grip between 
Iolaus's fingers was an apple - a golden apple, on a small branch with several 
green leaves. 

For a moment Iolaus lay very still, the rain washing dirt and blood from his 
face. Then, as Hercules gently probed the lump on his head, he groaned and 
opened his eyes. It took him a moment to focus on Hercules. 

"You look awful," rasped Iolaus finally. 

Hercules became aware of the cut on his own forehead, which had been quietly 
bleeding down the side of his face. 

"You look worse", he said to Iolaus. "Can you get up?" 

"Oh yeah. I'm fine - Ow!" Hercules pulled him to his feet."By the way", Iolaus 
continued, "Look what I found!" He held out the apple. "I think this is what 
we're looking for!" 

Hercules grinned. "You got it!" 

"Then it was worth falling down the ravine!" Iolaus staggered a bit. "Even if I 
did land on my head!" 

Hercules caught him and steadied him. "Hold on a minute, til you get steadier on 
your feet. Tell me, where did you find this?" 

"On the floor of the ravine, along with a lot of leaves - just before I passed 
out". 

Hercules darted over to the tree, which was still burning steadily and twisted 
one of the branches off. Holding the torch close to the ground, he saw that 
there was a ragged line of leaves - just like the ones that Iolaus was holding - 
along the rocky floor. 

"They're scattered all over - it almost looks like a trail". 

"Well then - let's follow it. We'll pick them up as we go". 

The rain began to slacken as the two men picked their way along the floor of the 
ravine, carefully gathering every one of the precious leaves. 

"You know what it looks like? It looks like they fell out of a harvester's 
basket!" commented Hercules. 

"Which leads to the question - who did the harvesting?" 

Hercules peered throught the gathering darkness. "I think we're about to find 
out!" He pointed. 

In the side of the ravine yawned the open mouth of another cave - a darker patch 
in the general blackness. The trail of leaves led into this and then 
disappeared. 

"You feel up to paying a call?" Hercules inquired of Iolaus. 

His comrade's grin flashed in the flickering torchlight. "Try me!" 

They listened at the cave mouth for a moment. Nothing was heard but the dripping 
of the rain off the trees. Silently the two men slipped into the cave. 

The trail of leaves continued on into a narrow tunnel. Hercules went first, 
carrying the torch, Iolaus followed close behind, his sword loosened in its 
scabbard. After a short way, Hercules put out his hand to stop Iolaus. 

The light from the torch showed the tunnel had widened out into a large cavern, 
whose back wall was lost in shadows. It showed something else as well - a large 
woven basket sitting on the floor of the cave. Piled high in the basket were 
shiny green leaves like the ones that Hercules and Iolaus had been picking up 
outside. Golden apples gleamed here and there among the green. 

Hercules murmured, "Nice of Hera to do our work for us!" 

"Let's grab that and get out!", said Iolaus, looking nervously around at the 
shadows that lurked on every side. 

"No argument here!" agreed Hercules. He headed for the basket but stopped 
suddenly. "Listen!" 

Both men held their breaths. 

From the darkness at the back of the cavern came a faint sound that grew in 
intensity. It was the sound of many feet walking on stone. 

Like lightning Hercules moved back toward the tunnel and stomped out his torch. 
Not a moment too soon, for a great grinding noise - the sound of rock moving 
across rock - filled the cavern. From the shadows, light suddenly spilled into 
the cavern. It came from a section of the wall that had been rolled back to 
reveal a ragged opening in the rock. Through the opening, bearing torches of 
their own, came a group of hairy creatures. 

"We've met those guys before!" breathed Iolaus. Hercules nodded, then clutched 
Iolaus's arm. 

"Look!" he whispered. 

Iolaus stared in horror as Cassandra was dragged through the opening by several 
Satyrs hauling on the ropes that wrapped her neck and waist. Tears stained her 
face, and blood ran down from where the noose had cut into the flesh of her 
neck. 

They scarcely had time to take this in when two more Satyrs came through the 
opening, dragging the limp body of Illaron. The Satyrs dumped him roughly on the 
ground. He did not stir. 

"Come on!" 

Before the words - spoken aloud - had time to echo back, Hercules and Iolaus 
were out of the tunnel and engaging the enemy. The Satyrs were taken completely 
by surprise. It was as though a whirlwind had suddenly burst into the cavern, 
and the ensuing battle was brutal and brief. In a very short time the only thing 
left of the Satyrs was the sound of their pounding footsteps as they fled in 
panic through the opening in the back of the cave. Hercules chased them for a 
short distance, but soon stopped, when it became clear they were not going to 
stop running. For good measure, when he returned to the cavern, he rolled the 
great door back across the opening and jammed it. 

"That won't open for a century or two", he commented in satisfaction. 

There was no reply. Cassandra and Iolaus were bent over Illaron and their faces 
were worried. Illaron was unconscious, his face gray. He coughed, and a trickle 
of blood came out the side of his mouth. 

Hercules knelt and ran a hand over the young man's side. "Some of his ribs are 
broken", he said softly. "He may be bleeding inside. I can't tell for sure. I 
wish Asclepius were here". 

"He was injured trying to rescue me," said Cassandra mournfully. 

"He's a brave fellow. He deserves to marry his lady-love!" 

"He'll survive to do just that", Hercules reassured her. "But we've got to get 
him - and the leaves - back to Asclepius!" 

"Leaves? What leaves?!" Cassandra demanded.  She whirled around with a clatter 
of hooves. 

Iolaus, smiling broadly, held the basket up. "With Hera's compliments! She must 
have sent the Satyrs to harvest them!" 

Cassandra shrieked. "The cure! You found it! You two are wonderful!" She threw 
her arms around Hercules and then Iolaus. 

"This is a nice ending," commented Iolaus to his comrade. 

Hercules grinned. "Yeah, but we've still got to get them back to the centaur 
village". 

Cassandra sobered immediately, thinking of Equios. "Let's go! Now!" 

Hercules shook his head. "Stop and think a moment, Cassandra. It's dark, and the 
trail back is not one that any of us want to take blindly. And we have to think 
about Illaron here". He went silent for a minute, then looked at Iolaus 
appraisingly. "How's your head?" 

"Fine!" declared Iolaus. "A good fight always clears out the cobwebs!" 

Hercules nodded. "OK, then. Here's what we're going to do. At first light, you 
and Cassandra are going to head out with the leaves, going just as fast as you 
can possibly travel. I'll follow you, carrying Illaron. I'll have to go more 
slowly so as not to hurt him further. But you two have got to get those leaves 
back to Asclepius quickly!" 

Iolaus shot a concerned look at Cassandra and found that she was looking back at 
him in the same fashion. Their eyes met and both hastily looked back at 
Hercules. 

"All right", said Cassandra reluctantly. "At first light then. But Iolaus, 
you'll have to work hard to keep up with me! Are you up to it?" 

"You just follow my tracks!" answered Iolaus and smiled. 

The first greyish light of dawn was filtering down into the ravine when Iolaus 
and Cassandra - the precious leaves and fruit tied in a bundle on her back - 
scrambled out of the ravine. Hercules followed, a semi-conscious Illaron on his 
back. 

"Go. Fast! And good luck!" Hercules told them. 

Cassandra suddenly kissed him. "Thank you," she whispered. "You are truly a 
hero!" 

She turned without another word and set off at a fast trot down the steep slope 
from Hera's garden. Iolaus gave a casual wave at his friend and set off after 
her. 

The two of them kept a blistering pace. Now and then Iolaus would turn and look 
back, partly in search of any chimeras and partly to check on Hercules' 
progress. The first several times he could see his comrade moving slowly but 
steadily along the ridge from Hera's garden. But as their own pace did not 
slacken, Hercules was soon swallowed up by the distance between them. 

Cassandra trotted along in silence, her head down, her hooves keeping up a 
steady beat. The light grew stronger as the day waxed. When they were able to 
see their way better, their speed increased. The journey back was going smoothly 
indeed. 

The attack came as they reached the foot of the mountain. Far, far up on the 
side, they could just barely see the tunnel entrance among the tumbled boulders 
that dotted the steep slope. Iolaus had just been going to remark that so far 
they were making good time, when a flicker of shadow on the hillside above him 
caused him to look upward. 

"Cassandra - get down!" 

The words echoed off the rocks as the chimera swooped down upon them. A fireball 
burst from its mouth, just missing them. Cassandra screamed. The great talons 
raked through the air and fastened onto the precious bundle of leaves that was 
bound upon her back. The creature's wings beat furiously, struggling to rip it 
free. 
Chapter 6 (part 2 of 2)
written by Kathleen Sobansky (Owlharp)
 
There was no time to think. With a cry Iolaus drew his sword and hurled himself 
at the chimera, grabbing on to one of the talons. His momentum ripped it away 
from the pack. Cassandra reared and kicked out with her hind hooves, but the 
creature hung on with one claw and flapped all the harder. A foul wind rose from 
its flailing wings and lashing tail. Suddenly with a loud rip, the pack strap 
parted. The chimera lurched upward, carrying the pack in one talon and Iolaus 
clinging to the other. 

As the ground slipped away beneath him, Iolaus gave a desperate but well-aimed 
stroke at the talon clutching the pack. His luck was with him. The stroke 
landed, and with a spray of greenish ooze, the talon plummeted to the earth, 
still gripping the bundle. 

His ears were nearly split by the chimera's bellow of pain. The creature 
convulsed in agony, and Iolaus was shaken off. The ground rushed up at him and 
everything went black for a moment. 

When the stars cleared from his vision, he saw Cassandra kneeling over him, her 
face drawn and anxious. He wanted to say something to reassure her, but "Ow!" 
was all that came out. 

"Iolaus!" 

He smiled up at her, while wondering if his head would fall off when he moved 
it. "This is not my day," he mumbled. "Where's the chimera?" 

"It flew off. Iolaus, that was the bravest thing I've ever seen!" 

That made his head feel better, at least for the moment. "Not really. It was 
pretty stupid - but it worked!" 

She helped him to sit up. For a moment the world rocked before his eyes, but 
then it steadied and he was able to scramble to his feet. 

Cassandra ran gentle fingers through his hair. "You've got quite a bump back 
there". 

"Actually I've got two - I'm starting a collection!" Gingerly he touched the new 
lump on the back of his head. 

"It's not funny! Can you walk?" 

He forced an air of bravado. "Of course! Stop worrying! Let's get out of here 
before that thing comes back!" 

When she turned to pick up the bundle, he closed his eyes and swallowed hard 
against the sickness that rose up in his throat. 

It was the work of a moment to secure the pack once again on Cassandra's back, 
and the two started up the steep mountainside, now and then glancing nervously 
over their shoulders. But the sky remained clear of all but clouds, and slowly 
they worked their way toward the mouth of the tunnel. 

Iolaus trudged along stoically. He recognized the signs, having taken a good 
thump on the head more than once in his lifetime. He would just have to tough it 
out, that was all. There was no time to do anything else. His head was throbbing 
to start with, and as they rose higher and higher, the air once again began to 
thin. He hung back a little behind Cassandra, so that she would not notice as he 
stumbled more and more frequently. He was determined to keep up with her - it 
would take more than a couple of minor bumps to slow him down! 

"Iolaus?" 

He saw that he was looking up at her, and realized suddenly that he had fallen 
to his knees and not even been aware of it. 

Cassandra caught him by the arms and pulled him to his feet. 

"You know," she told him, "I've been trying to think what it is about you that 
reminds me of my husband. Now I know: you are both pig-headed idiots!" She 
jerked her head. "Get on my back!" 

"No way!" 

"Do it!" 

"You can't carry me! Not in your condition!" 

"I've carried sacks of grain that weigh twice what you do!" 

"No!" 

The thin air burned his lungs and the ground began to move beneath his feet. He 
leaned heavily against her. She put one arm around him and held him firmly, 
while she put her face down to his. 

"Now!" was all she said. 

Without knowing quite how he got there, Iolaus found himself seated on 
Cassandra's broad back, his arms around her slender waist. She grasped his hands 
with her own. Once again she started up the slope, her hooves ringing against 
the rocks. Judging by the pace she kept up, Iolaus had to admit to himself that 
she could indeed carry him with no particular effort. He settled for being her 
eyes behind, twisting around to scan the sky for the returning chimera. 

The trip up the mountainside seemed endless, but finally the tunnel-mouth yawned 
blackly before them. 

"Let me off!" Iolaus demanded, and slid from Cassandra's back before she could 
protest. "I'm all right now. Thanks for the ride!" 

"Are you sure?" 

"Yes!" To forestall any more argument, Iolaus strode briskly into the tunnel, 
sword drawn. After a moment, Cassandra followed. 

On level ground Iolaus found he did indeed feel better. The thin air was not as 
troublesome as when he was going steeply uphill, and the searing pain in his 
head had subsided to a dull ache. 

The tunnel wound wearily through the guts of the mountain. The air was not as 
thin in here, but it stank of the smoke from the torch Iolaus had snatched up, 
and under it all was the foul acrid smell of the chimeras. 

Caution was at war with speed. Iolaus tried to look in all directions as they 
hurried along. They had met no one - except the chimera - on the first trip, but 
he was not about to count on their luck holding. He was concerned about the 
noise they were making - centaur hooves on hard stone - but said nothing to 
Cassandra. After all, there was really nothing she could do about it. He merely 
strained his ears to listen for anything besides the ring of her hooves and his 
own softer footsteps. 

So hard was he concentrating on detecting the approach of possible enemies that 
it took him a while to realize that Cassandra was moving more and more slowly. 
He looked over his shoulder to see that she was some twenty paces behind him, 
her head drooping. 

"Cassandra! What's wrong?!" He ran back. 

Her head snapped up and she picked up her pace. "Nothing at all!" she said 
firmly. 

"You're exhausted! I knew I shouldn't have let you carry me!" 

"I am not exhausted. I am fine! Let's get going!" She trotted past him. For a 
moment he just looked after her, then shrugged and followed. 

For a long while they went along in silence. It was finally broken when 
Cassandra stumbled. A moan broke from her lips. 

"All right, Cassandra!" Iolaus had had enough. "Something's wrong! Tell me!" 

In the dim light of the torch her face was ashen. Something caused Iolaus to 
look down at the swell of her belly, and he saw the little ripple of motion 
under the skin. He met her eyes. 

"It's your baby, isn't it?" he asked softly. 

"No! Yes! ... I don't know!" she answered. "I keep getting these pains". 

"How long has this been going on?" 

Her answer was inaudible. 

"What?" 

"I said - since Illaron and I fought the Satyrs..." 

Iolaus lost his temper. "And you didn't tell us! And you insisted that I ride 
you! Does the phrase 'pig-headed idiot' sound familiar?!" 

Cassandra screamed back at him "We have to get those leaves to the village!" 
Then she did the one thing that he never expected - she burst into tears. 

That doused his anger like cold water on a fire. 

"Cassandra - I'm sorry! Shhhh! Don't cry!" He put his arms around her as best he 
could. "I shouldn't have yelled at you. You're worried about your husband - I 
understand". For a moment she simply rested her head on his shoulder and wept, 
while he patted her back and prayed that nothing had heard their outburst. 

"It's all right," she said finally, raising her head and rubbing her swollen 
eyes. "We've got to keep going". She started to walk, more slowly this time, 
Iolaus beside her with his arm around her waist. He was thinking hard, 
remembering. 

"If you started feeling pains yesterday, that means the foal - the baby - could 
come any time". 

"How do you know?" 

"Look, Cassandra - I was a farmer once, and I had mares that foaled. It can't be 
that different with you!" 

"I don't know! I've never been through this before". She sounded on the edge of 
tears again. 

"Well I have!" Iolaus reassured her. "With the horses on my farm, and then when 
my wife - " 

"You're married?" 

Iolaus sighed. He really did not want to talk about this, but it seemed to be 
keeping Cassandra calm. "I was. My wife, Anya, died many years ago". 

"I'm sorry." For a long time she trudged along in silence, then spoke up again. 
"You must have loved her very much". 

"Yes." 

"And if there had been something you could've done to prevent her death, you'd 
have done it, right? Even if it meant you might pay a heavy price?" 

After a moment Iolaus whispered, "Yes". 

"Well, that's how I feel about Equios. That's why I didn't tell you about - " 
she broke off with a gasp. 

Iolaus looked at her anxiously. "How do you feel?" 

"I think things are ... are going to happen....pretty soon..." 

"All right. Let's just keep going for as long as we can." 

Hercules was worried. He had been trudging along, Illaron's dead weight on his 
back, the boy's ragged breathing loud in his ears. Illaron had seemed slightly 
better in the morning, but still kept fading in and out of consciousness. 
Nevertheless, Hercules was making good time, even walking as carefully as he had 
to to keep from aggravating Illaron's injuries any further. 

What had Hercules worried was the chimera. A short time ago, he had seen it rise 
up into the calm blue morning sky. His instinctive reaction had been to freeze. 
For a long time the chimera had circled above him, searching the ground below. 
Hercules had kept completely motionless. Finally the creature glided off. 
Hercules had breathed a short sigh of relief - until he realized that the 
chimera was headed in the direction that Iolaus and Cassandra had taken. Well, 
there was nothing he could do about that now, except to worry. 

Head down, he had kept on plodding, trying to jostle Illaron as little as 
possible. 

A shrill scream split the air and a shadow passed over the sun. Hercules' head 
snapped up. 

The chimera was back. 

To his surprise, he saw that one of its talons was missing. Thick greenish 
droplets spattered to the ground, like an obscene rainshower."I wonder how that 
happened", he said aloud - and the chimera swooped down upon him. A small 
fireball burst from its mouth. 

Hercules dodged, and the flames went roaring past him. Hercules hastily laid 
Illaron down, as gently as he could, and snatched up a nearby fallen branch. 
Snapping it in half, he held up the two sharp, newly broken ends, to intercept 
the chimera's flight. There was an earthshaking shock as it ran itself onto the 
sharp points. Hercules staggered backward from the force of the impact. 

The creature let out an earsplitting scream. One of the branches had impaled 
itself deeply in its chest. Straight up into the air it flew, shrieking. Higher 
and higher it went - and then suddenly stopped, like arrow reaching the top of 
its flight. It seemed to hang in the sky for a second. Then it plummeted down, 
heading directly toward Hercules. 

Hercules scampered swiftly out of the way. Like one of Zeus's thunderbolts, the 
chimera crashed into the ground. The earth shook with the shock of its fall, and 
Hercules was knocked off his feet. 

When he got back up, he walked over to the fallen monster. It was most 
unarguably dead - its head was hanging limply from a broken neck. Greenish blood 
oozed from the branch embedded in its breast. Hercules looked at its crippled 
leg and noted that the missing talon had been cleanly severed. 

"Looks like a sword stroke to me," he commented. "I think you ran into Iolaus, 
my friend! A very bad move on your part!" 

"Hercules?" came the soft, tentative call from behind him. 

Hercules turned and saw that Illaron was awake and staring at the chimera. 

"There's your monster!" Hercules told him and grinned. "Let me borrow your 
dagger, and we'll just cut you a section of its hide to take back to your future 
father-in-law!" 

Illaron shook his head weakly. "But I didn't kill it - you did!" 

"Doesn't matter!" Hercules said. "You toss a piece of that creature's hide at 
Penelope's feet, and I guarantee she'll marry you - with or without her father's 
permission!" 

"If I live long enough..." 

"You will!" 

As if in contradiction, Illaron began to cough, and a gush of blood rolled out 
of his mouth. 

Hercules was instantly serious again. "All right. Let's get going! I'm going to 
get you back to Asclepius". 

He moved to pick Illaron up again, but the boy protested. "The chimera hide!" 

Hercules sighed. "You're right!" He snatched the dagger from Illaron's belt. It 
was but a moments work to strip a section of the furry hide from the dead 
chimera's back and roll it into a small bundle which Hercules tucked under his 
belt. 

Then it was back on the long, weary trail home. 
  

"Cassandra?" 

For the dozenth time Iolaus looked anxiously at his companion. She was walking 
slowly and heavily, her head down and her eyes tight shut, letting him lead her 
along. She was clearly holding back sounds of pain, but every now and then a 
soft moan would burst past her lips. 

To Iolaus's vast relief, they had reached the cavern with the mud pit at the 
bottom. Not that it in itself was a particularly nice place, but at least it 
showed that they were not too terribly far from their destination. However, it 
looked now like they were going to have to make a stop. 

He led her to a section of the cavern where the trail widened out into a broad 
shelf. At one end a stream of hot water still gushed out of the wall through the 
hole that Hercules' fist had made on the earlier journey. 

"Iolaus?" 

"Yes, Cassandra?" 

"Listen. I can take care of myself. I want you to take the leaves and go, as 
fast as you can, back to Asclepius!" 

Iolaus took a deep breath. "No," he said firmly. 

"But the cure can't wait!" Her voice trembled. 

"It's going to have to. I'm not leaving you!" 

She gave a sharp intake of breath. "Please!" 

"No way! ... Besides - Cassandra", he could see that she was very close to 
hysteria - "listen to me! We have to think of you now!" 

"But Equios - and the others ..." 

"They have Asclepius to take care of them. You only have me - and I'm not going 
anywhere without you and your baby! Equios would kill me - and rightly so! - if 
I left you now!" 

"But - " the word was bitten off in a spasm of pain. 

“Cassandra - shut up!" But he said it gently and put his hand on her broad 
belly. "Anyway - it won't be long now!" 

She began to breathe in long whistling breaths that sounded like screams. He 
could see the muscles of her belly rippling beneath the glossy hide, pushing, 
pushing. He quickly loosened the pack strap and pulled the bundle from her back. 
They were going no further for the moment - that was clear. 

The process - once so familiar in those long-ago days when he was a farmer - 
came back to him like it was yesterday, and he fell into the soothing words and 
actions that he had known so well. 

"Come on, sweetheart ... it's going to be all right..." With gentle hands he 
stroked the reddish hair of her back and belly. He soon lost track of time, just 
stroking her and murmuring encouragement. 

Cassandra's eyes began to glaze. She stood, shuddering, her back feet splayed 
and her tail lifted high. Sweat stood out on her face and trickled down her 
breasts. 

"You're doing fine, love". 

She gave another shudder. The opening beneath her tail began to stretch. 

"Cassandra, I can see the hooves!" 

Tiny hooves protruded, followed by long, spindly forelegs, wrapped in the filmy 
veil of the birth-bag. Iolaus caught them and guided them out. 

A strangled cry came from Cassandra. 

"It's going to be all right ... come on, dear girl ... you can do it .." He 
could see the top of the infant's head showing whitely against the opening. 
"Just keep going, love. This is the hard part and then it's all done ... come on 
..." He could see the muscles ripple as she pushed. "Harder, Cassandra!" 

She began to gasp. More and more of the head began to show. With infinite 
caution he pulled on the forelegs. 

"Come on, love! Push again!" A little more came forth. "Harder!" 

"I can't!" 

"Yes, you can ... See you're doing it!" 

Cassandra screamed piercingly 

It was all over in a second. One moment the infant's head was seemingly caught 
in the canal, and the next, Iolaus found himself with an armful of infant 
centaur, sliding effortlessly forth into the world. 

"You did it!" 

Cassandra's legs suddenly collapsed under her and she sank heavily to the 
ground. 

Hands trembling, Iolaus swiftly ripped the birth-bag away from the infant's 
face. 

A thin, shaky wail filled the cavern. 

He picked the infant up in his arms and carried it to where Cassandra could see 
it. One glance confirmed his first impression. 

"Cassandra,sweetheart - you have a little filly!" 

Cassandra cradled the infant, her slender legs dangling. "She's beautiful!" 

"Just like her mother!" 

The infant continued to wail as Iolaus brought water from the hot stream and 
cleaned her off as best he could. "Shh, little lady", he soothed her. "You're 
going to be fine". 

"She's hungry", said Cassandra. "Bring her here". She unbuckled the harness over 
her breast and lifted her daughter up to nurse. 

The infant latched on and began sucking noisily, her spindly legs kicking the 
air. 

Iolaus grinned. "You're going to be a great mother!" 

Cassandra looked up at him solemnly. "Iolaus - thank you ... for everything!" 

"Just glad I could help". He was a little abashed, and to change the subject, he 
asked, "Do you have a name picked out for her?" 

Cassandra smiled. "Equios and I had a whole list - but they were all boy's 
names! But I've just thought of the proper name for her - and I know that Equios 
will agree!" 

"And that is - ?" 

She stroked the reddish fuzz on her daughter's head. "I'm going to name her 
'Anya'." 

All the breath suddenly went out of Iolaus. "Thank - you!" he finally managed to 
gasp out, and turned away so that she could not see the tears that sprang to his 
eyes. 
  
End Chapter 6 .... To be continued
***************************************
CHAPTER 7 (conclusion)
written by Kathleen Sobansky
 
An unknown time later, Iolaus jerked awake. Almost immediately after the birth, 
Cassandra had wanted to press on, but was still too shaky on her legs. He had 
persuaded her to rest for an hour or so, and she had lain down, her hooves 
tucked beneath her, with her arms around her sleeping baby. Iolaus had promised 
to waken her. He had seated himself with his back to the cave wall, his sword 
laid across his knees. 

How long ago had that been? He had no idea. His own weariness had betrayed him, 
and he had slipped into a doze. Foolish and dangerous, he chided himself. 

Horrified at the realization that he had fallen asleep, he scrambled to his 
feet, and only then recognized what it was that had awakened him. 

It was the sound of footfalls. 

They were coming from the tunnel that he and Cassandra had come through earlier. 
Echoes distorted them, so there was no way of telling how many were coming. 

"Cassandra!" Iolaus whispered. 

She raised her head and looked him questioningly. Then she, too, heard the sound 
and terror came into her eyes. 

"Take Anya and get to the back of that niche," he ordered, pointing to a large 
crack in the rock wall. She obeyed swiftly, cradling her sleeping infant in her 
arms and squeezing herself into the small, shadowed space. Iolaus put himself in 
front of her, his sword drawn. 

"All right, " he said, his voice soft and urgent. "As soon as I engage them, you 
are going to take Anya and the leaves and run for the other tunnel. Just keep 
going! I'll follow you when I'm finished". 

"Iolaus -" 

"No arguments! Just do it!" 

Their eyes met and acknowledged what was clear to both of them - Iolaus, in all 
probability, would not live to follow her. 

The sounds got louder and louder. Iolaus threw a brave smile back at the Centaur 
and then set himself, ready to strike. There was nothing else that he could see 
to do. 

He focused on the black, forbidding mouth of the tunnel, straining to catch some 
glimpse of the approaching threat. 

A misshapen figure appeared there. 

Iolaus raised his sword. 

Then he did a strange thing. 

He dropped his guard and began to laugh - a thin, high giggle of heartfelt 
relief. 

The misshapen figure stopped abruptly. 

Iolaus called out, "Hercules?!" 

"Iolaus?" 

The son of Zeus walked slowly forward into the light, and now Iolaus could see 
that he was carrying the unconscious Illaron on his back. 

Hercules demanded "What happened? What are you doing here?" 

"Um - it's a long story. I better just show you." He stepped out of the niche, 
and Cassandra came forward, carrying Anya. 

Hercules looked dumbstruck. "Your baby!" 

Her smile was full of pride. "Yes!" 

"But - are you all right!" 

"I'm fine. Iolaus took wonderful care of me!" 

"Yeah, he would!" Hercules flashed a grin at his comrade. "Old farmer's tricks, 
huh? Nice work - both of you!" 

Iolaus nodded, rather smugly, but then grew serious. "Cassandra, do you feel 
strong enough to move out now?" 

Cassandra nodded stoutly. "I'm ready for anything!" 

"Then let's get moving, before something nasty really does catch up with us!" 
  

Asclepius paced slowly through the tent, carefully surveying each of his 
patients as he went. His face was grim. Even for one with god-like patience, the 
waiting was growing more and more intolerable. 

In one respect, his efforts had been crowned with success. Since the departure 
of Cassandra with Hercules and Iolaus, there had been no new cases of the 
plague. The burning of the victims's houses and possessions - truly a major 
sacrifice to Hera, he thought sourly - had been instrumental in stopping the 
spread of the disease. 

But that still left those Centaurs who had already been stricken. 

He stopped by Cleo, who lay on his side. Each gasping breath that the Centaur 
took required such effort that his ribs - both human and equine - showed. Sweat 
poured down Cleo's face and matted his long black hair. Asclepius knelt beside 
him and cradled Cleo's head in his lap as he held a cup to the Centaur's lips. 
"Drink, my friend. It will help your pain". 

Slowly and hesitantly Cleo swallowed the bitter brew. 

"I am going to die, aren't I?" he asked Asclepius. 

The god shook his head. "No. The son of Zeus and his companions will return 
soon, and then all will be well." 

"Will they get here in time?" 

"Of course, " Asclepius gave a solemn smile. "You have the word of a god on 
that!" 

But god or not, his eyes strayed impatiently to the opening in the tent and the 
view of the pitiless horizon, where nothing moved. 

The only good thing about the rest of the journey, thought Hercules rather 
grumpily, is that it was all downhill. He stood in the tunnel mouth, surveying 
the landscape below. 

"See anything?" inquired Iolaus. 

"No. Nothing. That's what worries me". 

Iolaus nodded. "It's not like Hera to give up without a fight". 

"Well, we'll just have to keep our eyes peeled. Let's go!" 

He bent down and to lift Illaron up onto his back once more. 

"Hercules ... I can walk.." Illaron declared in a weak but clear voice. 

Hercules looked at him carefully and shook his head. The boy had regained 
consciousness, but his face was grey and his breathing labored. The sooner they 
got him back to Asclepius, the better. 

"I'm sure you can, " he said soothingly, "but we'll get there faster if you just 
let me carry you, all right?" 

Illaron nodded reluctantly and let himself be hoisted back onto Hercules' back. 

Cassandra had insisted that she could carry the pack with the precious leaves in 
it, tied to her back. She'd wanted to carry her baby too, but both Iolaus and 
Hercules pointed out that they would make better time if the loads were shared. 
So she reluctantly handed Anya over to Iolaus, but she was never more than a 
foot away. 

Iolaus had the infant centaur cradled snugly in his arms, the little creature's 
long, skinny legs dangling limply. Fist in mouth, she slept peacefully with her 
head on his shoulder. 

Swiftly but cautiously they made their way down the steep mountainside. They 
approached each obstacle with trepidation, wondering which of the gulleys and 
thickets hid Hera's minions. But nothing leaped out at them, either from the 
shadows or from the sky. 

As they descended lower and lower, the air became thicker and easier to breathe. 
Hercules felt himself relaxing, in spite of all his concerns. He told himself to 
stay alert, but it was hard to ignore the growing hope that they were home free. 

These hopes got a substantial boost when Cassandra cried out excitedly, "Look! 
You can see the village!" 

All looked in the direction she was pointing and saw, at the far end of a 
narrow, steeply sloping valley, the distant roofs of the Centaur village and 
even the faint green gleam of the field where Asclepius was encamped. 

"Come on!" she cried, and would have broken into a gallop then and there, if 
Iolaus had not pointed out that he and Anya couldn't keep up with her. She 
dropped her eyes, a little shame-faced. "I just want to get back to Equios! Now 
that I've got Anya - I'm so afraid he'll die before seeing her!" 

Hercules walked beside her and said comfortingly, "That won't happen, Cassandra. 
My cousin wouldn't let that happen. We'll be there soon!" 

The whole party quickened their pace, and soon they were picking their way 
through the last ravine at the base of the mountains. It was there that the 
Satyrs finally reappeared. 

Cassandra saw them first and let out a shrill scream. It was matched by the 
blood-curdling yell from the dozen or so hairy, armor-clad warriors who began 
scrambling down the far wall of the ravine. The noise jolted the infant Anya 
awake and she began to howl in outraged protest. 

Hercules had time to mutter one heartfelt curse and let Illaron slide as gently 
as possible to the ground, before snatching up a heavy branch and flinging 
himself into the attacking mob. 

"Cassandra, stay here and guard them!" bellowed Iolaus as he hastily deposited 
the wailing baby centaur in her arms. He did not wait for an answer, but drew 
his sword and launched himself in a flying leap at the nearest two Satyrs. Both 
went down under his fury and he thumped one with a sword hilt while taking the 
other out with a booted foot to the side of a helmeted head. 

"Ow!" he had time to shout, while rolling back on to his feet and blocking a 
swing which would have taken his head off, had it connected. 

The situation rapidly descended into chaos. For Iolaus, reality became a whirl 
of kicks, punches and flying leaps that smashed his attackers to the ground. He 
was vaguely aware of Hercules off to his left, dealing out destruction with a 
tree branch and his mighty fists. Satyrs reeled off to the side to collapse in 
blood-stained exhaustion, but still the two heroes fought on. 

Then something heavy caught Iolaus on the side of the head and drove him down to 
his knees. Dazed and sickened, he tried to scramble back up, expecting at every 
second the final blow which would finish him off. Through a haze of pain he saw 
Cassandra leap forward and rear, her front hooves lashing out at the Satyr who 
stood over him, sword raised, face leering. The heavy hooves connected. The 
Satyr, his face a red ruin, reeled back and crumpled against the wall of the 
ravine. 

Iolaus felt a hand under his arm, dragging him to his feet. Instinctively he 
tried to pull away, but a shrieking voice pierced his ears. 

"It's me, you idiot!" 

He wiped the blood from his eyes to see Cassandra bending over him. Even as he 
watched, she kicked out with her rear hooves, to send another approaching Satyr 
flying. 

There were only three of the hairy creatures left standing by now. The rest lay 
motionless, scattered on the ground, or had fled. Hercules was bearing down on 
these last three, like a tidal wave of destruction. 

Iolaus staggered upright. "Thanks!" he gasped. "I'll be OK now. Get back to - " 

He was interrupted by another piercing shriek from Cassandra. He whirled to see 
what she was looking at, and discovered that another Satyr, unnoticed, had 
outflanked them and come up from behind, to where Illaron and the infant Centaur 
were huddled between a clump of bushes and the ravine wall . Even as Iolaus took 
this in, the Satyr snatched Anya up, brutally kicking aside Illaron who had made 
a vain attempt to hold onto her. Illaron slumped weakly to the ground and lay 
still. The Satyr turned away from him, contemptuously. 

"Halt or the brat dies!" The Satyr's voice echoed from the walls of the ravine. 

All the combatants froze. 

"Give us the bundle on the horse-woman's back - and you get the filly! Otherwise 
..." He raised Anya up over his head. Her long skinny legs kicked wildly, 
beating the air, as she wailed in protest. 

"Put her down!" Hercules bellowed. "Now!" 

The Satyr shook his helmeted head. "Not til we get the leaves!" He gave an evil, 
gap-toothed grin. "Think I'm joking? Let's see how well this kid bounces!" 

Cassandra cried out in horror. 

The Satyr raised the infant Centaur even higher over his head. Suddenly he 
stumbled forward, with a shriek of his own. 

All three companions lunged forward, but it was Hercules who snatched up Anya 
before she could hit the ground. The Satyr crashed to earth, blood fountaining 
from a hole in his back. Revealed kneeling behind him, clutching a long and very 
reddened dagger, was Illaron, who then collapsed in his own turn. 

"Illaron!" cried Cassandra. But Illaron did not reply. 

Hercules handed Anya back to Cassandra and knelt down beside the motionless 
youth. His fingers felt for a pulse in Illaron's neck. 

"Is he dead?" asked Iolaus somberly. 

Hercules shook his head. "Not yet. But we've got to get him to Asclepius - now! 
I don't want to have to tell his fiance how he died a hero!" 
  

"It's working!" said Asclepius to Hercules and Iolaus. The god of healing had a 
genuine grin of relief on his face. "I brewed a potion of the leaves and fruit 
and gave it to the Centaurs. It's amazing how fast they recovered! Even young 
Equios, who was the sickest of them all, is much improved." 

"Has he seen his daughter yet?" 

Asclepius beamed. "Yes! Now that he's no longer contagious, I could let 
Cassandra go to him." He suddenly looked a little embarassed. "By the way ... 
please believe me when I tell you, I had no idea that Cassandra was expecting 
... she didn't say anything, and I was - " 

"You were a little busy at the time!" Iolaus chimed in. 

"Still, I'm sorry you were put into that situation. But you did a wonderful job, 
she tells me". 

Iolaus blushed. "Old farmers' tricks, " he said. "Nothing to it. She did all the 
work!" 

"And Illaron?" asked Hercules. 

Asclepius' face grew a bit more solemn. "From what you've told me, he's a very 
brave young man - and at the moment, a very badly injured one. I've managed to 
stop the bleeding inside, but he's going to need to stay put for a while. The 
Centaurs have promised to tan that strip of chimera's hide for him, and I told 
him that by the time the hide is cured, he will be too. Then he can take his 
trophy back to his village, and wed his lady." 

"That's good to know!" answered Hercules. 

Asclepius led the way towards the gates of the stockade. "Come. The Centaurs 
from the village also sent a message, asking to speak with the three of us." 

Hercules and Iolaus exchanged inquiring looks as the three walked through the 
now opened gates. 

Out in the green field stood a mob of Centaurs of all ages and colorations. It 
seemed that the whole population of the village was crowding the area before the 
stockade. A cheer went up as the three 
- the god, the half-god and the mortal - came into view. 

And then a thing happened which Hercules and Iolaus had never seen before. 

In one wave of solemn motion, each Centaur reared high in the air and came down, 
kneeling with their front legs, their hands crossed on their chests and their 
heads bowed. 

"It is the Centaurs' highest gesture of respect," whispered Asclepius, "they are 
doing you homage". 

Cleo, the eldest of the Centaurs, who had been among the stricken, now stepped 
forth from the crowd. He was still pale, but walked now with assurance, and his 
voice was loud and firm. 

"There is nothing that the Centaurs could do which could begin to repay the debt 
that we owe you for saving us from the Great Sickness! But if there is anything 
you wish, you have but to name it!" 

All three smiled - Hercules and Iolaus, a little uncomfortably, Asclepius, who 
was more used to devotion, with benevolent warmth. 

Hercules opened his mouth to say that they wanted nothing in the way of thanks, 
but Iolaus, lightning quick as always, interrupted him. 

"There is one thing you can do. Not for us, but for two others! 

Let Cassandra and Equios live among you in peace! Don't harass her for being 
what she is, nor him for being wed to her! Let them be part of your community - 
for she played a great role in saving it! Honor her as you have honored us - for 
she was more heroic than any of us!" 

"It shall be done!" declared Cleo in a loud and ringing voice, and he reared and 
bowed again, the whole crowd following his example. Then he confided in a softer 
voice to the three before him, "Besides, she's had one daughter already. Who 
knows - maybe she'll have others!" A hopeful smile lit his face. 

A look of distant power suddenly crossed Asclepius' face - the look of a god who 
can sometimes see through time. 

"Yes," he said, with a smile that was both grave and yet immensely joyful. "Who 
knows, indeed?" 

The End.


*If you enjoyed this story, remember to send feedback, it's the only payment our author's get. you can find 
the author's email address at the beginning of this story. 

*Some images, characters and other things used in these works are the property of others, including but not 
limited to Renaissance Pictures and Universal Studios. Everything else remains the property of the artist or 
author. No money will be made on anything appearing on this webpage and no copyright infringement is 
intended. This site was created by fans for the enjoyment of other fans.

*For information on reprinting text and/or artwork (including privately owned photos, photo manipulations, 
and other images) from this website, please contact the author or Ceryndip (ceryndip@juno.com), who will 
assist you in contacting the original creator of the piece. Do NOT reprint, republish, or in any way link to 
items on these pages without obtaining permission from either the original creator of the piece or the 
webpage owner. A written one-time use statement may be issued to you at the discretion of the artist or the 
author. Please respect the legal and artistic rights of our contributors.