"Herk, are you done yet?"
Iolaus was standing in the sun in front of Alcmene's house, waiting for his best friend Hercules to come out. On the bench at his side lay a rolled-up blanket with some things wrapped into it.
He and Hercules were just about to take off on their much looked for vacation. One whole week of hiking in the woods, only the two of them, nobody else who would come up with something that needed their immediate attention or their help. Just having the time to be themselves.
It wasn't that Iolaus didn't like helping people - especially if the people in question were some good looking young women. Only sometimes it was just too much and he wished that Herk would know the meaning of the word 'no'. He didn't think they had had a day off for the last six months - if not longer. So he had proposed this vacation and Herk had immediately accepted -- in Iolaus' eyes a clear sign that his friend needed this time off as much as he did.
They used to do something like they planned to do now, once in a while when the two of them had been younger. But then both of them had married, got children and lost their loved ones again. For a long time neither of them had really been in the mood to go hiking. When the scars finally had begun to heal, somehow they never had seemed to be able to find the time for it. One emergency or another always had shown up.
But now, finally, there seemed to be a lull in the hero business (or it was just the case that the bad guys didn't like the weather, which had been pretty cold the last few weeks) and Iolaus couldn't wait to be off.
At this moment Hercules stepped out of the door, his pack slung over his well-muscled shoulder. As usual he wore his leather pants and his open vest, though as a concession to the current cold he wore a woolen shirt beneath the vest. Like Iolaus he had some additional clothing in his pack, beside some things that would make their time in the wilderness a little bit more comfortable. After all, they weren't so young any longer.
Alcmene accompanied her son outside. She also wore a pack, but as she came outside into the sun that lit the cold morning, she handed the pack over to her son. If the smell issuing from the smaller pack was any indication it was something that would help them over the first day, in case they had no luck with their hunting. Though Iolaus didn't think that it was really necessary - Herk was no bad hunter, and then there was himself after all - he knew Alcmene's cooking too well to even utter a protest. This woman could cook. If she hadn't been a beauty to begin with, Zeus would have fallen for her casserole alone.
Hercules bent down to give his mother a kiss on the cheek then he accepted the lunch package she handed him and stowed it away in his pack. He gave his blond friend a once over and grinned.
"What are you grinning at?"
Hercules harrumphed but didn't stop grinning. "Nothing!"
"If there would be nothing, you wouldn't grin. So, what is it?" Iolaus asked again, almost bouncing with in his eagerness to finally be on their way. He was sure if they would wait only one moment longer something or somebody would show up and would prevent their trip at the last possible moment.
"It's only, you know, you look like a colt that has been in the stables for too long and can't wait till the doors of the stable open so it can get out for a run." His smile was audible in his voice. The twinkle in his eyes took the insult out of his words.
A horse!?! Pulease... . But then Iolaus had to grin, too. After all he was eager to be off. So, instead of saying something he grabbed Hercules' arm and pulled him away from the house. "Bye, Alcmene, and thanks for lunch. We'll be back in a week or so. And say 'hello' to Jason."
Good-humored, Hercules let himself be pulled and as they started on their way he only turned once and waved his mother good-bye.
However they didn't get very far. They couldn't have been on their way for more than half an hour, and Iolaus finally began to relax, when the sound of running feet from behind alerted them that somebody was following them.
Inwardly Iolaus groaned. He had known it. The fact that they had started off with so little delay should have alarmed him that they would run into trouble sooner or later. He only had hoped that it would happen later instead of sooner. Like in five or six days.
Normally Iolaus would have been the first one to offer his help when somebody needed it. But this time he really, really wanted this vacation. It had been too long since he and Hercules had had some time to relax and be just themselves.
So he turned and stared at the young man who had come to a stop only a couple of steps away from them in annoyance.
"Who are you? And what do you want from us?" His tone of voice wasn't friendly.
Confused the man looked from him to Hercules. The taller hero cast a confused glance at his companion. "How can we help you?" he then addressed the stranger in a much friendlier tone, ignoring Iolaus' attitude.
"Are you Hercules?"
Hercules nodded. "You have found me. What is your problem?"
The young man still wasn't sure what he should make out of the mixed greeting. "Who is he?" he asked, pointing at Iolaus.
"I'm Iolaus. Any problems with that?"
The man almost took a step back by the aggressiveness in Iolaus' voice.
Hercules' confused glance changed to one of annoyance. Usually Iolaus didn't act like that. But he didn't have the time to be concerned about that right now. This young man had a problem and he had to take care of that problem. Hey, he was a hero, it stood in the job description.
Obviously the young man decided that he should ignore Iolaus for the moment. "My name is Herbion and I'm from the village of Sabinno. We are not a very rich village and maybe that's the reason we never had any problems with bandits or somebody like that. But yesterday a pair of gryphons showed up and they started to attack our houses and the people when they went outside. I managed to slip away in the night and have been looking for help ever since."
"Gryphons," Iolaus snorted. "Sure. Didn't they teach you in school that gryphons are extinct? There haven't been gryphons around here for the last hundred years or so." He stood with his arms crossed over his chest, glowering at Herbion.
"Iolaus!" Hercules had enough of his friend's behavior. He decided to ignore him - a fact that didn't help to improve Iolaus' mood. "I will come with you to your village and see what I can do," he said. "You," he turned to Iolaus, "can go ahead and I'll join you in a few days." Obviously Hercules had decided that in the mood Iolaus was in he wouldn't be that much of a help.
"Herk," came the protesting voice from Iolaus. "What about our vacation?" Iolaus was sure that something was fishy about the whole thing, though he couldn't put his finger on it. Gryphons ... you got to be real.
"Those people need my help." Clearly Hercules couldn't see why Iolaus reacted the way he did.
"Okay, but then you won't go on your own. I'll come with you." If they couldn't have their vacation at least they could have some fun together. And if - no, when - Herk run into trouble he was at least there to pull him out.
Still, he'd rather have had the vacation now.
"And what about our vacation?" Hercules repeated Iolaus' earlier question. "I think I can handle this on my own. After all, there are only two gryphons. Should be no problem. I'll join you in a few days. I don't think it'll take that long."
Ah, now he didn't need his help any longer. Though Iolaus would never admit it to Hercules - or even to himself -- more often than not he felt a little intimidated by Hercules' superior strength. Who wouldn't? After all, Hercules was the son of a god and stronger than ten men. Sometimes the sheer fact that the son of Zeus had chosen him as his best friend, amazed him to no end. What did, what could, a man like Hercules see in him? Sure he was brave and cunning and he knew some tricks even Herk would never think of, but all in all he was just so ... normal. There would never be ballads about him and the best he could hope for was a complimentary mentioning when the stories came to the companions of the son of Zeus. Salmoneus would most likely get more lines than him.
Okay, if Hercules wanted to be off on his own, so be it. The great Greek hero could take care of himself and if he didn't think he needed his help, well, there was nothing he could do. He wouldn't let the fun be spoiled by the fact that Hercules wasn't there with him. He would enjoy himself.
"Take your time," he said and turned on his heels. It was a wonderful day and if he wanted to cover some distance he better started now.
He didn't see how Hercules looked after him with confused eyes. The son of Zeus almost followed his friend, but the man on his side and the promise he had given him held him back.
Iolaus decided that the pained 'Iolaus' the wind carried to him couldn't be from Hercules. It had to be the rustling of the trees.
At the morning of the next day he decided that this hadn't been one of his better ideas. To be totally honest with himself, this probably could even be counted among the most stupid ideas he'd ever had.
While Iolaus wrapped his arms around himself in an attempt to conserve as much body heat as possible he thought about Hercules and asked himself how his friend fared. Probably he sat at a warm fire in one of the houses in Sabinno and waited till the storm that had broken out late last afternoon blew itself off.
It had taken him less than ten minutes after he and Hercules had parted company till the anger at the young man who had called for their help had cooled down. How could Herbion have known that he had been looking forward for that vacation so much that he had wanted nothing to come in between? A couple of more days delay wouldn't have hurt and it would have been even more fun knowing that they had helped somebody. But his pride - his dumb, stupid pride, which had brought him into more bad situations than he could count - prevented him from turning back and going after Hercules and Herbion.
So instead he decided he would find the most perfect place to hang out and fish and hunt. When Hercules joined him and Iolaus had apologized to him they would have fun after all.
Only, when he finally found a spot he liked, it was already almost dark. It was cold, but he had a good woolen blanket with him and this and the fire he built was enough to keep him warm. It started to rain then, but he really didn't mind as the spot he had found was beneath an overhang, almost a cave. He didn't even have to step out into the rain to get water, as the overhang also covered a part of the river.
He was awakened by a loud, roaring sound. For a moment he looked around in confusion, not really sure what this sound was and where it came from. Then the water washed over him, sweeping him away, almost drowning him. From one moment to another the small stream he almost could have crossed in three large steps, had changed into a wild, soaring river. A river whose bed all of the sudden was where Iolaus had set up camp.
For a while all he could do was to fight to stay above the water. Each breath was a battle won in the war for his life. In the end he survived but only by a hair's breadth. He was surprised that it still was dark, when he crawled along an uprooted tree to the shore to a place where the water streamed a little slower than further up. He could have sworn that he had swum for days.
Quickly he crawled up away from the water, then fell down and for a while he just was relieved that he had survived. His body hurt in the most impossible places and he was sure he was covered with more bruises than he could count. At least nothing seemed to be broken.
Only the fact that he started to make out things, that he was able to tell trees from boulders, alerted him to the dawning of the day. It was still raining and the dark deep hanging clouds let only very little light through.
Taking stock of the situation he was in, he wasn't happy. All he had with him was a knife and the clothing he wore on his body. His remaining equipment was most likely already miles down the river, never to be retrieved.
Sighing, but knowing there was not much he could do about his situation, he got up and went back to the river. He knew he had to trace back his steps and with a little bit of luck he would be back at Alcmene's place in a couple of hours.
But only a short time later even that hope for a way out was crushed. He had followed the river up and now stood at the entrance of a deep and narrow canyon. The river gushed out of the canyon with a vengeance as if the steep walls were too small to contain it. Some flotsam littering the river's edge below the canyon showed that Iolaus hadn't been the only thing that had been caught in the current and washed through the transformed river.
There was no way he could make it back through that canyon. Not while the river was swollen as it was now.
Okay, he decided, if he couldn't get up, then he would go down. Sooner or later the river would have to lead to civilization. He started to walk.
That had been hours ago, and by now Iolaus felt pretty miserable. He was cold, he was wet and he was hungry. There was no sign that the rain would stop anytime soon. A mile or so further up the river had entered another impenetrable looking gorge and Iolaus decided that it wasn't a really good idea to repeat his earlier trip. Some of the boulders in the river looked downright vicious and trying to swim there would be suicide.
So he decided to follow a barely visible trail that led along the left side of the river into the hills and further into the mountains. The way was slippery and he tended to trip over exposed roots or stones.
By now he wasn't so sure that taking the way he had chosen had been a very good idea. Well, at least it could keep the other bright ideas that he'd had recently company.
The way he was following now offered only marginal protection from the elements and Iolaus wondered if it would be a better idea to try and wait out the storm in the shelter of some cave or overhang. If only he could find one.
During the storm there had been several lightning strikes, but they had been in the distance and Iolaus, on a general basis, had ignored them. But now, suddenly, there was a lightning bolt hitting the earth not too far away. The thunder clash that followed the blinding light almost deafened him, but not enough that he couldn't hear a loud, high pitched scream close by which fell silent after mere seconds.
Iolaus' heart almost stopped. That scream - it was like something out of a horror story, as if everybody in Tartarus had encountered all that tortured them for the last eternity in one brief moment. Someone had died over there, Iolaus was sure of that.
Ignoring the rain and the cold and the obstacles that still covered the ground before him he run over to the place he had heard the scream come from. Maybe it would have been much wiser to ignore the scream, or even to put as much distance as he could between himself and the place it had come from. But then, though he had done his share of stupid things in the last two days, something told him that this time he did the right thing.
A burning tree whose flames already were about to be doused by the rain led him to the place where the lightning bolt had hit. Even through the rain Iolaus could smell the stench of burned flesh. He had smelled that particular scent before and he didn't care very much to repeat that experience.
Nevertheless he got closer. On the other side of the tree a large form lay on the ground. Iolaus could see feathers and fur and for a moment he couldn't believe his eyes. These villagers had been right after all! There had been gryphons attacking Sabinno!
And now one of these mighty creatures of legends lay before him. There was no doubt that it was dead. The feathers of its mighty wings and the fur of the lion's body were burned and the open eyes in the eagle's head stared broken into the distance.
Though he could not be sure if this was one of the pair who had attacked the village he'd better not spend too much time here. The other half of the pair might show up, and without any weapons other then the puny knife he carried he had no chance in a fight.
Even dead the gryphon looked very impressive. Iolaus estimated that standing the animal would be taller than he was, the shoulders of its lion's body at the same height as his own shoulders. The eagle's head sported a very impressive beak and the talons on each paw had claws that seemed to be longer than the blade of his knife. Its weight might be three to four times his own.
When Iolaus turned away he suddenly realized that the rain had stopped and the clouds had begun to part. Patches of blue sky showed between the quickly disappearing clouds. The air smelled fresh and clean, as it only could after a thunderstorm. Iolaus' mood improved immediately. He began to whistle as he turned to get back on his path.
The improvement of his mood lasted for all of ten seconds. Then he heard a new sound, one that didn't belong into the forest.
Iolaus was drawn to the place where the high keening sound came from.
Twenty steps from the place where the body of the gryphon lay there was a bush beside a large boulder. It was from beneath this bush that the sound emitted. With a stick he had picked up, Iolaus moved the branches of the bush aside.
Beneath it, a small creature huddled, looking at him with wide, fearful eyes. For the second time in as many minutes Iolaus saw something which only one day ago he had claimed not to exist, a creature of legends. Only this time the creature was not bigger than him; it was smaller, much smaller.
The little gryphon opened its beak and again the sad, keening sound got out. His little behind tried to squeeze deeper into the boulder in his back, but to no avail.
It looked so funny Iolaus just had to laugh. "Hello, little one. I won't hurt you." Iolaus went down to one knee, not minding the fact that the ground was wet and muddy. It didn't really matter - he was wet enough as it was.
At the sound of Iolaus' voice the expression - if you could call it that way - of the little gryphon's face changed. The sheer misery that had dominated the gryphon's face vanished and made way to something like curiosity. The little creature tilted its head and regarded Iolaus with its large eyes. A questioning trill came out.
For a moment Iolaus forgot that he was still wet and cold and he smiled. The little gryphon touched a soft spot in him that usually only children managed to reach.
He was sure that the dead gryphon that lay close by had been the little one's mother. When he thought about it, he remembered clearly that he had seen signs that the gryphon had been of the female gender. Most likely the baby had been the reason she had been flying in that weather. Even a creature as large as she had been would surely be affected by the storm, and would have stayed at the ground if she could have helped it.
For a moment Iolaus looked over to the place the mother of the small gryphon lay. When he looked back at the little one he saw that it had come a little bit closer, but still remained in what it probably regarded as a safe place beneath the bush. Its eyes studied him closely, almost as if it tried to read something in him, but was not really sure what to make of the much bigger human being.
As Iolaus could see it clearer now he realized that it was no bigger than an average sized dog. The back part of his body was covered in light brown, baby fur. Towards the front the fur changed into white, fluffy down. The eagle head was all beak and eyes. Left and right from the beak two sets of red feathers trailed to the sides.
Again the little one opened its beak and again a trilling sound got out, this time however Iolaus was reminded of the purring of a large cat. Or, rather the growling of his own stomach. He had been hungry before, but all of the sudden he was downright starving. The pleading look in the baby gryphon's eyes could only be interpreted as 'Feed me, please'.
Iolaus knew now and then that he couldn't leave the little gryphon behind. He knew it was not really reasonable - what in the world would he do with a gryphon? - and maybe not even smart - what if the father of the little one would show up and attack him for kidnapping his baby? - but if he left the baby behind it would die, as surely as if he would slit its throat at the spot.
He had to find something to feed the small gryphon.
"Sorry, little one, I don't have anything to eat with me. But if you give me some time, I can surely hunt something for you. And for myself," he added in an afterthought.
As if the baby had understood his words - but maybe it was just the shooing gesture he made with his hand --, it slowly wriggled back into his hiding place, though its large eyes were always fixed on Iolaus, as if it was extracting the promise that he would come back, no matter what.
It didn't take Iolaus long to catch a rabbit, when it stuck its little nose out of its underground lair to sniff the air after the rain. He brought his bounty back to the place where the little gryphon was hiding. When the gryphon heard his approach it came out from underneath the bush and carefully walked towards the hunter. Then however it seemed to get the scent of the freshly killed rabbit hanging over Iolaus' shoulder and rushed out to get to it.
Quickly Iolaus got the rabbit out of reach, which however didn't disturb the small gryphon at all. It got on its hindlegs, putting its front paws against the hunter's leg. Or rather it tried to do so. Because it promptly lost its balance and fell to the ground. The cry that followed was astonishingly similar to the sound a human baby would have made in the same situation.
Iolaus dropped the rabbit and went down to help the little gryphon up on its legs again. For a moment the crying continued but, with the attention span typical for a baby - that is, almost non-existent - it stopped and turned its attention again to the food Iolaus had brought. At the last moment Iolaus snatched it out of the little creature's reach. After all he wanted to have his share, too, and he doubted he wanted to have something to eat a gryphon already dug its beak in.
Iolaus recalled vaguely that most birds of prey first swallowed the food that was for their young ones, digested it halfway and gorged it up again later. He didn't really know why they did it this way, but he knew he didn't want to do it the same way. So, instead, he skinned the rabbit on a nearby flat stone - his first attempt to do it on the ground as he was used to was quickly thwarted by the interfering head of the little gryphon - and cut the meat into thin long strips he offered the gryphon. The first moment the little one didn't know what to do with it, but soon it realized that the red bits his new mother offered him were food, and soon it swallowed them as quickly as Iolaus could cut them up.
After almost half the rabbit was gone, the little gryphon's hunger seemed to be sated and, after a long, grateful look at Iolaus, it curled up and promptly fell asleep at the hunter's feet.
Quickly Iolaus made short business of the remaining rabbit. He'd have liked to make a fire to cook the meat, but his fire starting equipment had been in his pack and, anyway, there were no dry branches to be found in the closer vicinity. So he swallowed the meat raw, not his favorite recipe for rabbit, but then, food was food.
The moment he had finished the rabbit and cleaned up the place, the little gryphon woke up. For a long while the human and the mystical creature regarded each other.
"What are we going to do now, little one?" Iolaus asked his new friend, though he naturally didn't expect an answer. "I'm still wet, it is still cold and I still have to get back to other people." He didn't want to think what would happen to the little gryphon when he got back to civilization.
The little one looked at him with admiration in its eyes, as if it would trust him to do just the right thing.
"I hope you're up to a little walk," Iolaus sighed. Then he started off into southern direction, the little gryphon trailing after him.
When darkness fell the unlike couple had found a small cave to spend the night in.
While he had walked Iolaus had half of his mind on watching out for the little gryphon - whom he by now had dubbed Kyros, for no other reason then that he somehow thought the name fit him. In the beginning Kyros had followed him like a dog, very careful never to let the distance between them grow to more than five feet. But soon his attention was taken up by the surrounding landscape. A plant, a rock or an animal would suddenly fully occupy his attention, disregarding what else was going on. Once Iolaus even had to fish him out of a small pond, which had been formed by the previous rain, when the rock Kyros stepped on to get a closer look at a hanging plant, toppled and took him and the plant into the water.
But beside watching out for the little gryphon his mind was on the future.
The walk and the sunshine that dominated the sky now had dried his clothing and he finally felt warm again. He knew he and Kyros wouldn't starve, as he was a good enough hunter to feed the two of them, even if he only had his knife and no other weapon. He was sure that in the morning they would get back to the river again, and following it, he should find people soon enough. So, for the time being everything was fine.
But what was later? What should he do when he met other people? It was out of the question that he could keep Kyros. The hero business he was in usually didn't allow for pets and leaving Kyros in the care of somebody else might not be such a good idea. Soon the little gryphon wouldn't be that little anymore, and though currently he was as playful as a pup there was no guarantee how his character would turn out in the future.
The best would be if he would find new parents for Kyros - gryphon parents. But there was a whole bunch of other problems to think about. The most likely candidate to adopt the little one was his father. The villager who had asked for Hercules' and his help mentioned there had been a pair of gryphons attacking his village. Though he couldn't be sure that they had been Kyros's parents, they were still the most likely candidates. But would a father alone take care of a gryphon's pup? Iolaus thought he remembered that in the case of eagles this was possible - and somehow he thought gryphons were in a way related to eagles. He had no idea how lions - the other half of the obvious ancestry - would handle a case like this.
The next question was, would the presumingly existing father accept a pup that had been ... 'tainted' by a human's presence? Iolaus couldn't tell. So far all he had heard about gryphons had been that they had been around a couple of hundred years ago but that they were extinct since then. Not really a very informative source, especially as it had been proven wrong. It had been said that gryphons had been rather intelligent, but then he also had heard that this was not true, so he didn't know what to make out of this information.
Shortly before they had found the cave - actually it had been Kyros who stumbled into it while he was chasing a bug - Iolaus had killed another rabbit, and now they were sharing the food, Kyros snapping up every scrap with eagerness.
Again, after having something to eat, the little gryphon curled up in a catlike manner and was asleep before Iolaus could even finish his half of the meal. Having nothing better to do Iolaus also laid down and soon he slept, too, not caring that the ground was harder than he usually liked it to be.
He woke at dawn, not really sure what the warm, heavy ball of fur and feathers at his side was. During the night Kyros had sneaked up at to his side and now cuddled up on his chest.
He was not really willing to leave the little gryphon's side and probably wake him up, but the call of nature was stronger. With a sigh he got up and out of the cave, to relieve himself.
Only half awake he fumbled with the flap of his pants when he suddenly heard a loud whooshing sound coming directly from overhead. Instinctively he threw himself to the ground, avoiding thus at a hair's breath being sliced open by a set of sharp claws aimed at him.
Immediately he rolled aside before a second attack could come. Out of the corners of his eyes he saw a large shadow moving past him at an incredible speed. The flapping sound of large wings told him that whatever had attacked him was gaining height again, presumably to get ready for a second attack. The few bushes and crippled trees that stood close to the cave wouldn't offer him enough cover, so he got back onto his feet and started to run.
He got halfway to the cave when the next attack came. Again he threw himself to the ground but this time his attacker had been prepared for that move and leveled his attack lower to the ground. Hot pain shot out from his back to his whole body when sharp claws cut deep through his vest, his shirt and into the flesh just beneath his shoulder blades. Iolaus nearly blacked out from the pain, but he knew that this would mean certain death and this gave him the strength he needed to roll out of the way once more, get to his feet and cover the distance to the cave's entrance in a couple of desperate leaps.
Just before he reached his goal his left foot got caught in a root protruding from the ground and he fell. A new pain joined the one that radiated from his back and he was sure that he heard his ankle snap. This time he almost didn't make it back to his feet. Half crawling, half hobbling on one leg he made the last few yards.
In the cave he broke down onto his knees. Blood was running down his back and he already felt a bit dizzy from the loss of it. The wound in his back burned like Hades and the sand and the stones that had gotten into it when he had rolled over it, didn't help at all. His left ankle was a center of agony. It didn't seem to be broken as he was able to put weight on it, however he doubted that he would be able to walk more than a couple of steps on it in the near future. And whether he had something like a far future was very much open to debate right now.
Kyros was at his side in a flash. Disturbed sounds emitted from his beak and he tried to crawl onto Iolaus' lap. Maybe he was reminded of the recent death of his own mother and he didn't want to lose the one person that he had adopted as his new mother. Iolaus wanted to comfort the little creature, but then there was other, more pressing business. Like surviving the next couple of minutes.
For a second he wondered if there was a chance for him to communicate with the gryphon - because it was nothing else which had attacked him outside. After all he had no intention to hurt the little gryphon, which must be the reason the larger one had attacked him. An angry roar coming from near the cave's entrance persuaded him that this might not be the right time. It didn't sound as if the gryphon was susceptible to any arguments.
Gently Iolaus pushed Kyros off his lap and shooed him deeper into the cave where he would be out of the way when it came to a fight. Then he reached for his knife that he had left on the ground of the cave when he had gone outside. Though he had no idea how the knife would be in any way useful against a furious, fully grown gryphon, it was still the only weapon he had.
He gritted his teeth and got back up into a standing position. When he carefully put some weight on the left foot he almost cried out. Taking a deep breath he tried to banish the pain into a distant corner of his mind - a technique he had learned in the East. Only this time it didn't work very well.
The sound of clicking claws on stone was an indication that the creature was coming inside.
"I should have gone with Herk," Iolaus said through tightly clenched teeth, his eyes darting through the poorly lit cave in search for an alternative exit. There was none.
A large eagle's head followed by a lion's body with closely folded wings on its back turned around the boulder that blocked the view to the entrance of the cave. Cold, glistening eyes studied the lonely human who stood in the cave, his back against the stonewall - whether for protection or for the support it lent was hard to say --, his knife ready in his hand to defend himself. A low rumbling sound came from the gryphon's throat.
Iolaus took a deep breath. This was it. He had no chance whatsoever against the creature standing before him. The beast was a good two feet taller than he was, its head almost brushing the ceiling of the cave. Its beak looked as it would be able to bite him in two without an effort. If he would have a decent weapon, or if the cave would have something he could use to defend himself, or if Hercules would be here ... . If wishes had wings, everybody could fly.
There was no way he could make a run for it, as the large gryphon easily would be able to stop him before he got outside. Even if he got out, with this ankle of his he wouldn't be able to move more than a couple of steps.
Iolaus prepared to die.
Iolaus pushed himself away from the wall he had been leaning on and grabbed his knife tighter. If he had to go down, he would go down fighting. In accepting the inevitable a deep calm settled over him and for a moment the pain was only a distant memory.
At this moment Kyros, who had been out of the line of sight from the larger gryphon, decided it was time for him to join the action. With a high pitched barking sound he barreled out of his hiding place and ran straight for the large gryphon.
For one precious moment the mighty creature was distracted by the little fur-and-feather projectile aimed at him. Iolaus knew that was his chance, probably the only chance he might get. Holding his knife tightly in his right hand he made a dash for the cave entrance.
The gryphon needed only a moment to recover from his surprise, not long enough for Iolaus' taste. Ignoring Kyros who, puzzled by Iolaus' action, had made a full stop and now sat on his haunches, the large gryphon lifted one of its front legs and, before Iolaus could get past him, side-swiped him with its paw.
Iolaus flew through the air and collided with one of the cave's walls. His back, which had been bad enough before, didn't take well to this and the pain that shot out from it, made the pain he felt before pale in comparison. His head hit the wall as well.
As his consciousness fled, his last thought was for Hercules and the regret that he hadn't had a chance to apologize for his behavior from two days ago. Then he closed his eyes, embraced the darkness, knowing that soon he would meet his wife Ania and his son again.
When he came to Iolaus found himself lying on his stomach. Beneath him some branches with leaves formed an almost soft bed.
Iolaus blinked confused. Why was he still alive? What had happened? He had been sure that the gryphon would kill him the moment he slid off the wall, maybe ripping out his throat or doing other unpleasant things that usually weren't good for someone's health.
Had somebody come to his help while he was out and killed the gryphon or chased it away? As there was no trace of blood on the cave's sandy floor, except for the few drops he had lost, the second possibility was more likely. But where was his potential rescuer? And who was he? Had it been Hercules - a highly likely candidate, as he had this way with handling monsters - why wasn't he at his side, where Iolaus would expect him? Hercules was always a little bit overprotective in Iolaus' eyes, and never would have left him as long as he was hurt. Maybe he was outside, getting water or something.
Carefully he rolled on his side, then leveled himself with a groan into a sitting position. Some leaves that had lain on his back fell off and when Iolaus took one to inspect it he smelled that these were from some plants that were used to fight infections.
Checking himself for injuries he realized that the pain from the cuts in his back had subsided to a soft throbbing that could easily be ignored, as long as he didn't move too much. His shirt however, which he found lying beside his make shift bed, was beyond help, three long slashes splitting the back open and he had his doubts that he would ever be able to wash the blood out. His vest had fared a little bit better as it was made of patches to begin with and thus easier repaired.
Probing the back of his head he found an egg-sized lump that didn't take too well to his careful probing. Well, that would explain the headache he had.
His foot however seemed to have sustained the worst damage. Though Iolaus was still wearing his boots, he could tell that his left ankle was badly swollen. When he tried to move the foot he almost cried out from the pain that shot out from it. For a moment he couldn't see a thing because of the tears that shot into his eyes.
It took a few seconds to get himself back under control. He was alive - that was more than he had had any right to hope for. None of his wounds were really life threatening, he only had to take care not to fight any monsters in the near future.
Speaking of monsters ... he had to find out what had happened to the gryphon. And where was Kyros?
He looked around. He was still in the cave he had fought - well, tried to fight - the gryphon, and beside the addition of the branches he had waken upon nothing had changed. There was no sign of Kyros or the large gryphon.
Leaning on the wall for support he got to his feet. The muscles in his back protested his every move and he had to be very careful not to put weight on his left foot. Slowly he hobbled to the cave's entrance, his back and his ankle complaining every step of the way.
A bright sunny morning greeted him. The sky was of a deep, clear blue and in the distance Iolaus could hear some birds singing. In front of the cave the large gryphon lay, its position so that it could watch the entrance of the cave while at the same time could look out for Kyros who was playing in the sun. When the gryphon saw Iolaus coming out of the cave it rose in one fluid motion.
Iolaus froze. This must be a dream, he decided. Or rather a nightmare. There was no other explanation. Did gryphons like their food aware and still struggling?
He soon found out that it wasn't a dream when a little fur-and-feather ball suddenly leaped into his arms. Kyros crowed little happy sounds while he tried to snuggle up closer to Iolaus. A burst of happiness enfolded the golden hunter like a cloak. The sudden weight was a little more than Iolaus' foot and back could handle at the moment. With a thump he sat down on a nearby boulder, never leaving his eyes from the larger gryphon while he petted the smaller version. Iolaus could have sworn the mystical creature grinned at him.
What in the name of Tartarus was going on? Not only was the gryphon still here and obviously quite healthy, it also didn't display any of his previous aggressiveness towards him. Not that he minded, he took a gryphon who didn't want to kill him over one who did any day.
Was it possible that the gryphon had broken off its attack on its own accord? Right now, this was the only explanation that made any sense. Though, actually, it didn't.
Iolaus took a deep breath. Maybe he should approach the situation anew, presume that the gryphon was no monster that was out for his hide. Because if it still was out on killing him, there was very little he could do about it.
Slowly he lowered Kyros to the ground, fighting down the pain when his back expressed its displeasure about that particular move. The little one, having demonstrated his joy of having Iolaus back to his satisfaction, strolled away, though he didn't go very far.
"I think there has been a misunderstanding." He stood up and opened his arms in what he hoped was a peaceful gesture to the gryphon.
The big creature regarded him with large, intelligent eyes. Then it laid down again, leaving its head on the same level as Iolaus'. Secretly Iolaus sighed in relief.
"Are you Kyros's father?" Iolaus pointed at the playing gryphon baby.
The gryphon didn't make a sound but something like confirmation washed through the hunter while the gryphon's eyes bored in his. Iolaus blinked in confusion. Had this been his imagination or was he really communicating with a gryphon? But how did this work? Could it be that he gryphon could read his thoughts?
Iolaus didn't know if he liked the idea of somebody, anybody, be it gryphon or human, to be able to read his every thought. But his need to communicate with the mythical creature was bigger than his prejudice.
He furrowed his brow and concentrated on the question if this was the right way to communicate with it.
At first it seemed as if the gryphon waited for something, but when Iolaus didn't say a word it tilted its head and a confused expression showed in its eyes. Iolaus also felt confusion wash through him.
So, it didn't seem to be thought sensing. Maybe it was that the gryphon understood the language of the human, but couldn't speak it itself. But the emotions he felt, the confusion, the confirmation from before ... this hadn't been his own feelings. Was the gryphon somehow able to put its emotions into his mind?
"Do you understand me?"
The gryphon bobbed its head and the feeling of confirmation was back. And also a tingle of relief mixed in, relief that Iolaus accepted this way of communication.
"But you can't speak yourself?"
Again confirmation. The gryphon opened its beak and gave a trilling sound. Iolaus realized that the gryphon was not able to form words with its hard beak that a human could understand.
"So you ... send your feelings into my mind?"
The gryphon tilted its head and again Iolaus had the certain feeling that he had guessed correctly. He also could feel that the gryphon was sorry for this, as it - no, 'he', as Iolaus began to think of the large creature as a male person - usually didn't like to impose himself on other's minds. The gryphon thought this to be rather impolite.
This was weird! But a very interesting way to communicate. It took some more attempts but soon Iolaus and the gryphon had something like a real conversation going. Iolaus made himself comfortable, sitting down on the ground, his back carefully leaning against a large boulder.
Through trial and error the hunter found out that the gryphon and his mate indeed had been the pair who had been attacking the village of Sabinno.
Gryphons were actually rather intelligent. Certainly much more intelligent anybody had given them credit for. Among themselves they communicated with a combination of trilling and chirping sounds and the sending of feelings. Some few gryphons were actually able to read feelings and even thoughts, but they were the exception and the gryphon Iolaus spoke to was not among them.
Usually gryphons lived very secluded, away from the humans in the mountains. A hundred years ago there had been a war between some gryphons and a group of humans and many gryphons had died. The remaining gryphons had retreated into the mountains and sworn never to have contact with the world of the humans again.
The life in their retreat had suited the gryphons and soon they had prospered. Now the population was too large for the land to sustain that many of them and some of the more adventures minded pairs had left their home in the search for new hunting grounds.
When Kyros's parents came to the forest they knew had had found their new home. The forest was far away from any human settlement, so that they could hope never to be bothered by them and they though it no problem to hide from the occasional wanderer or hunter. And if they couldn't hide, they would kill.
Only, one day when they were hunting down the river - one of the main sources of food for the gryphons was fish, though they were able to eat basically everything - they suddenly found their son missing. Frantically they began to search for him. They followed the trail to a village further down the river, but there they lost it.
For two days they attacked the village, hoping that sooner or later the villagers would give up and return their son, who, as they were sure, was held captive there. Then a stranger came into the village. First they thought the villagers had hired a champion to fight for them and they made themselves ready.
But instead of issuing a challenge the stranger tried to communicate with them first, something none of the villagers had tried before. And it didn't take him long to find out what had happen. One of the girls from the village had found Kyros while she had been playing in the woods. Thinking him abandoned she had taken him back to her home and had hidden him in the stable. When the gryphons had begun to attack the village she had been too scared to tell anybody about her foundling.
Iolaus had a pretty good guess who that stranger could have been. Though Herk never ran away from a fight - and if he fought he usually won them - he tended not to look for trouble. And before he got involved into something he looked behind the reasons.
Soon Kyros was returned to his parents. As the gryphons didn't want to have anything to do with the humans any longer they took their son and flew off.
Only on the way back to their lair a thunderstorm had broken out and they got separated. After the storm was over the male gryphon began to search for his mate and his son.
"You found her?"
The sadness that washed over him was all the confirmation Iolaus needed.
For a moment he said nothing. His mind turned to his own wife, his beautiful, beloved Ania. Though her loss had been many years ago, he had never really gotten over it. Sometimes he woke up in the middle of the night, the memory of her body in his arms so fresh he began to suspect that the years in between had been just a nightmare and not the reality. That she still was alive. But always the morning came and with it the knowledge that she was gone and he would not see her again until he would join her in the Elysian Fields.
"I'm sorry." And he really was. If he had something to say nobody should have to suffer the loss of a loved one. Not human, nor gryphon.
The gryphon lifted his head and regarded the human who sat before him. A questioning nudge in his mind told Iolaus that the gryphon somehow had read that he had had a similar loss.
"My wife died seven years ago," he volunteered. "And then I lost my son three years later. I never really stopped missing them."
For a moment they sat together in companionable silence, both their minds on the one they had loved and lost.
But before they could get in too serious a mood, Kyros barreled out of the underbrush and leaped at Iolaus to play. The little bundle of energy kept both their minds off the past and onto the future.
"So, when you couldn't find your son," Iolaus returned to the original story when Kyros finally had settled down, "you started looking for him. And when you finally found a trail you discovered a human was with him. Me."
The large gryphon regarded Kyros who had curled up between his feet and Iolaus could feel the love he had for him. And the fear of losing him, too.
"Then why didn't you kill me? Not that I complain, mind you, I really like to live. But you must have thought I wanted something from the little one."
This time the gryphon sent a combination of anger, joy, surprise and regret. Iolaus tried to sort through the tangle of emotions to get to the story behind it.
"You were angry at the human who had kidnapped your little one. When you followed me into the cave you wanted to kill me."
For a moment it seemed as if Iolaus would relive the fight from the point of view of the gryphon.
The furious, all-consuming anger that filled him, directed at the human who held his son captive. The general hatred at humans who - though indirectly - were responsible for the death of his mate.
But then: joy. And relief.
"Then Kyros suddenly showed up. He was alive."
His legacy. All what remained of his beloved mate. The little one looked okay, not hurt and actually as if he had enjoyed himself. The feelings he sent were of play and love and joy. Not as if he had been mistreated in any way or had been held there against his will. And for one so small the little one had certainly a will of his own.
Had he misjudged the human? As he had first misjudged the human in that village who instead of fighting had tried to communicate and had helped them to find their son?
At that moment the human moved.
To hit him with his paw had been done purely on instinct. Fragile as humans were he flew against the wall and crumbled down on the ground. For one second his blood lust was stronger than the rational part of him, which told him not to kill the human.
But then Kyros intervened by leaping between the human and the larger gryphon.
"So I have to thank Kyros for my life." Affectionately Iolaus ruffled the feathers just behind the head of the little gryphon.
The regret emitting from the gryphon made it clearer than a hundred words that he felt very sorry for hurting Iolaus.
"It's okay ... Sure, I'm not thrilled getting my back ripped open. But I guess, if I had been in your ... paws ... I might have reacted the same way. I'm glad that you and Kyros are back together. I sure could not have raised him."
With the aid of the wall behind him Iolaus got back to his feet. "And now, I guess, I better be on my way. My friend will be worried if he doesn't find me." Knowing Hercules as he did, Iolaus was sure that Hercules would be have started looking for him as soon as the storm had passed. The little disagreement they had had would only lead to Hercules worrying more than he usually would have. That was just the way Herk was - and Iolaus certainly didn't want to change him.
The gryphon rose as well. Concern and guilt filled his eyes and projected to the human in front of him. He obviously had his doubts that Iolaus had the strength to walk more than a couple of steps.
"I'll be fine ..." Iolaus said and pushed himself away from the wall. And almost had to get down on his knees! By the gods, his ankle hurt! Colorful spots danced before his eyes and he couldn't suppress a moan. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all.
Then there was a strong shoulder at his side lending him support. Support he desperately needed. That this shoulder was furry and belonged to a creature he had thought to be legend just two days ago -- and who had tried to kill him this very morning -- didn't change his gratitude.
"Or maybe not ..." Slowly he got back on the boulder he had sat on before.
After he got his breathing back under control and the pain in his ankle had subsided to a dull throbbing, he was finally able to face the gryphon again. Kyros was at Iolaus' feet, huddling as close as possible to his friend. There was no way that in his condition Iolaus would be able to walk any length of way. But staying here wasn't really an option either.
Suddenly the larger gryphon went to the ground just at Iolaus' side. His folded wings brushed Iolaus' leg and he presented his back to Iolaus. Something like an invitation touched Iolaus' mind.
Did the gryphon really offer him what Iolaus thought he did? Exhilaration filled the hunter. But nevertheless he had to ask.
"You think I should ride with you? Really?"
What he felt next could only be a yes. He didn't need a second invitation.
On his journeys with and without Hercules Iolaus had had the opportunity to ride in or on a wide variety of modes of transportation. Though mostly on foot he was no stranger to riding on a horse, a camel, an ox and even on an elephant. He had traveled on board of a ship, on a chariot and in a wagon filled with straw. So far the most exhilarating ride however had been on a flying carpet, an adventure he surely would never forget.
But all this paled in comparison to a ride on a gryphon's back. With awe Iolaus looked at the landscape that glided by beneath him, almost forgetting that his back was still hurting with every beat of the gryphon's mighty wings.
He was sitting just behind the neck of the gryphon, his legs almost vanishing beneath the red-brown feathers. With one hand he held tightly onto a bunch of feathers (the gryphon had assured him more than once that it wouldn't hurt him) while the other kept Kyros close to himself. To his right and left the large wings beat seemingly effortlessly through the air, being almost three men wide from one feathered tip to the other. The wind brushed strongly against his exposed skin, but Iolaus didn't notice.
Though they traveled only a couple of men-lengths above the treetops the world surely looked different from up there. The river, which had grabbed him less than two days ago, was now only a silver band glistening in the sun to their left. A distance which under normal circumstances would have taken him hours to travel, was covered in minutes now.
He surely could get used to travel on gryphon-back.
A part of Iolaus wished that this ride would last forever. From up here all the problems of the world, the sorrows and the troubles of day to day life seemed to be insignificant. Borders drawn by human hand couldn't be seen and had no meaning from up here. And the borders drawn by nature, the rivers and the mountains were of equal unimportance.
Suddenly Iolaus' sharp eyes made out a person below traveling with purposeful strides into the direction they had come from. Iolaus didn't need to see the light brown hair and yellow vest to recognize Hercules.
"Hey, there is my friend. Could you land over there?" Iolaus had to shout to make himself understood over the wind.
The gryphon turned his head to where Iolaus pointed and immediately started to descent, flying a wide circle to get back to where Hercules was.
Maybe it was the rustling of the gryphon's wings, or maybe Hercules had heard Iolaus' shout, but the demigod now stood still and tried to make out what was coming at him from out of the sun. He didn't prepare himself for battle - yet - but Iolaus knew that this could change in an instance.
"Hercules!" Iolaus called out.
The astonishment that showed in Hercules' eyes when he recognized the voice calling out to him and where it came from, was almost comical. But Iolaus also felt astonishment and it took him a moment to realize that this astonishment wasn't his own but projected from the gryphon. Then he understood.
"Hercules was the one who helped you get Kyros back?" Iolaus had already figured this had been the case. It was something the demigod was prone to do.
The sending of the gryphon to confirm Iolaus' statement coincided with the landing.
"Hi, Herk," greeted Iolaus his friend. "Could you hold this for a second? I have to get off."
He handed Kyros down to the dumbfounded warrior who stood there as if he had been hit by one of his father's lighting bolts. Interested Kyros looked up to the new human who held him a little awkwardly, while Iolaus slid off the gryphon's back.
"What ...? How ...?" For once Hercules had no idea what he should say. Realizing this, he wisely decided to shut his mouth till he had found out what was going on. Instead he concentrated on holding Kyros secure, as the little gryphon had gotten a little restless and wanted to get down on the ground.
But then he almost dropped his load when Iolaus got down and it became visible that he had been hurt. "Iolaus, you are hurt," he stated the obvious.
"Yep, I've noticed." Iolaus grinned to show that he wasn't on the brink of death. But then he had to suck in his breath in sharply nevertheless, when he had to put some weight on his injured leg. "I think you should let the little one down before he rips open your shirt. He has pretty sharp claws, believe me," he said while he steadied himself against the gryphon's shoulder.
Hercules carefully set the little gryphon on the ground and turned to Iolaus. Though Iolaus' cheeks were still flushed from the excitement of the flight and the wind, Hercules had no difficulties to see an underlying paleness that was due to exhaustion and bloodloss. He took his friend by the arm and led him to a nearby bolder, were he forced him to sit.
"What happened? How did you and him," he pointed his head towards the gryphon who stood patiently in the background, "get together? And how did you get hurt?"
"Believe me, it's a long story." Iolaus looked up the gryphon. "I'll tell you everything later. Right now, I think, somebody would like to leave."
The gryphon stepped towards Iolaus and bowed his head. For one last time Iolaus felt the feather light touch of the gryphon's emotions. There was relief there, relief that Iolaus was in safe hands now, and gratefulness that he had taken care of Kyros. And a respect for the two humans, a respect the gryphon never had thought he would ever have for any human being.
Then he called for his son. Obediently Kyros trotted toward his father, but stopped when he got past Iolaus. It seemed as if the little one knew there would be a good-bye now. Questioningly he opened his beak.
Iolaus shook his head. "No, little one, I can't come with you now." He bent down and ruffled one last time the white, fluffy feathers just behind Kyros's neck. Then he put his hand under Kyros's backside and shoved him toward his father. "And off you go. Try not to cause too many problems to your father."
Kyros hesitated but then he went as he had been told. The larger gryphon grabbed him gently with his beak by the neck and lifted him up. He stepped back a little to get enough room for his wings, then he turned his head, facing the wind. He stretched his wings wide. Two, three mighty beats and he was airborne and away.
The moment the mystical creature was out of sight the two friends simultaneously sighed.
Then Hercules turned to Iolaus. "So, and now you have to tell me what had been going on. Can't I leave you out of my sight, not even for one or two days?"
Iolaus grinned. "I guess not."
"Herk?"
It was night and the two friends had made camp close to a tiny spring. With Iolaus' injury they hadn't been able to cover a lot of ground and they had decided to start their vacation where they were until Iolaus was in a better shape to travel. Iolaus had told Hercules how he had encountered the gryphons and also had managed to drag out Hercules' side of the story how he had saved the village of Sabinno.
"Yeah?" Hercules turned around on his bed role until he faced Iolaus on the other side of the small fire.
"I'm sorry."
"For what?"
"For being an idiot."
"When have you been an idiot?"
"Should I make you a list?" Iolaus remarked only half joking. "No, I mean when I snapped at that guy from Sabinno and didn't come along to help you."
"It's okay. I know you wanted to be on that trip and it was understandable that you were angry for it being interrupted."
"Still, I should have come along. It was not this guy's fault that he needed our help and that he showed up when he did."
"Iolaus."
"Yeah, Herk?"
"It's really okay. And now, how about some sleep?"
"Okay." Iolaus rolled aside. "Good night, Herk."
"Good night."
For a while nothing but the winds in the leaves could be heard.
Then: "Herk?"
"Yeah?"
"Thanks."
A sigh could be heard from Hercules' side of the fire. "Night, Iolaus."
"Night."
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