Darkfall: Part 11

[son?]

Ares continued to fall through the darkness for what seemed like an eternity, even to a god. He felt the blackness all around him and as he fell, it seemed as though it began to close in, breaking his fall and slowing his descent. He had had, at the moment that his journey began, a sense of malevolence, but as he let himself become calm and leaned into the experience, that sense disappeared and was replaced by an awareness of great power, stronger than he had ever felt around any being. As he allowed himself to relax, he realized that he was slowing and soon he had come to a stillness. He thought that he was standing up, but was unsure.

[son? It is you ... the son of the sons of Kronos. ]

Tears welled up in the War God's eyes. He had an overwhelming sensation that at first he could not give words to. Then, as he felt enfolded in the warmth of another's devoted concern, he realized that this was what was meant by unconditional love. He was at once so drawn into the feeling and yet needing to hide from it. He felt shame, unworthiness. For an instant, he understood why mortals would be so overcome with this sense of worthlessness, that they would take their own lives in an attempt to extinguish existence. This loving presence could not possibly know him, his dark past, his black thoughts, his disgraceful deeds, or he would surely be cast away. He waited, not moving, not breathing.

[I have been waiting to meet you. My sister has told me about you. She is so proud.]

Ares let out his breath slowly. "Who are you?"

"I am Aset," said a voice now. It was a woman's voice, deep, clear, but gentle. "I have many names. I am known to some as Isis."

"I've heard that name," Ares said, trying to recall the mythology of his own immortal tribe about their ancestors. "You are the wife of Osiris, who brought him back to life. You are the greatest magician of all time and space."

There was the sound of a soft laugh that made the tall man smile. "So they say."

"Have you brought me here?" the War God asked.

"I think you brought yourself here," she answered.

"Did I come to meet the One?" Ares continued feeling excitement and anxiety all at once.

Laughter again. "You silly boy, you have met Him many times. He sent His spirit the day you were born and the day your son was born. He put his hand out to you in the darkness of your boyhood prison, when you thought you had no joy left in you and the darkness had extinguished the smallest light. He walked with you when you lost your sword and your godhood. And when you gained it back, then lost it and ..."

"Yes, I get the picture. That thing's getting hard to hold onto."

There was a pause. "You don't need it anymore, you know."

Ares paused himself. "Yes, I know. I keep it now for old time's sake. And to remind me of a path I better not take again."

"And without the sword, you would take this path?"

"I might."

"And with the sword, you will not?"

"Well, …..." He thought for a moment. "I don't think so."

"So the sword holds the power over good and evil for you?"

"No, of course not."

"Then why do you need it?"

"I didn't say I needed it. I said it keep it to remind me..." He stopped, becoming discouraged. "Are you telling me to get rid of it. I will if you tell me to."

He felt that sudden feeling of being embraced. The feeling was so deeply pleasurable that he felt himself shiver. "Silly boy," said Isis. " I'm not telling you to get rid of it. Keep it if it pleases you or serves you. But do not keep it as a source of shame. Keep it because it as a source of strength." There was a pause.

In the darkness was ever so slowly turning into light. It happened so subtly that Ares was unaware until he saw the shadow of a woman standing on dais before him. He looked up at the figure, curious as he was expecting a larger woman, more like Bastet.

Isis was quite petite. It was hard for Ares to picture her gathering the dismembered pieces of her slain husband and bringing them back to life. The legend told that she had had the help of a twin sister who was the wife of Set. The whole story had been confusing to the god when he was young and he realized that he hadn't paid very much attention to the details except for the fight scenes.

Isis smiled, knowing his thoughts. He smiled back in return, a little embarrassed but yet feeling able now to be open with her. The feeling was unusual.

The small ancient one walked down the stairs of the dais. She was dressed as an ordinary Egyptian woman, in a shift of linen that clung to her. She had the figure of a mother, wide in the hips and heavy breasted. Ares was not use to seeing the ancient ones look so ordinary. As she approached him, he was amused. He towered over her. Her black hair was cut squarely to her shoulders and across her brow. It was so black, it shined with a blue hint.

"Bastet has chosen well," Isis said.

Ares smiled. "I have endeavored to make her proud of me," he said quietly. "It wasn't easy. I can be ..."

"Stubborn?" she replied.

"Contrary," he corrected. "Tell me how to defeat Set," he added. "That is why I'm here, correct?"

The sudden change in the subject made the ancient one raise her eyebrows in amusement. "Right to the point," she answered, "so I will tell you that you will not be a part of that struggle. You have another journey to take."

The God of War took a deep breath and thought for a moment. "My lady, right now somewhere on the earth plane I come from, my half brother and his mortal comrade are battling Set. I hope they have allies but I can't be sure. I know that Bastet will help and I hope that will be enough. I know Set. He is not as foolish as he was when his brothers were alive. I'm sure that he has learned from their defeat. I really need to make sure that Hercules and Iolaus have all the help they need."

Isis put her arm through the crook of his and began to lead him as she walked in the amorphous place. It was a little gesture but it made Ares feel as if his mother was strolling with him, about to impart some motherly advice. The act was so simple but kind, an odd feeling washed over him. He thought briefly of his own son and hoped he would experience this with Kendaa.

"Your mother," Isis began. Ares groaned inwardly. Now the feeling was gone as he recalled his stormy and tortured relationship with his own mother. Isis smiled and squeezed his arm with her hand. "Yes, your mother has not been doing her job. I have a deed for you that will restore the balance and right an old wrong, one I think you will understand will serve the ones you are concerned for." The small ancient one leaned up toward his ear and whispered something to the War God.

Ares gasped. He looked down at her and grinned. "This is possible?" he asked breathlessly.

Isis smiled. "It is more than possible. It is necessary but not easy. I ask you to take up this quest."

Ares bowed his head briefly toward the small woman. "Done," he answered.

The ancient one smiled. "I am pleased. You do not hesitate."

"This task will help me to redeem a act that I have regretted for a long time. I am eager to see this done. Thank you."

Isis smiled again. "And you should know that you will not be alone in this," she added. As she spoke, she waved in the direction that they walked. Ares looked toward where she had indicated. Forms began to coalesce from the shadows and Ares' heart began to race as he saw the figures of women in armor walk into the light of the place. First Kendaa, then Lessa, then Aeronwy and then others. All of the women his protégés. He strode to Kendaa, embracing her then reached out for the others as they approached him.

"Here is your army," Isis said finally, and disappeared. As quickly as she had gone, the small group had been transported to another place. A huge cavern surrounded them. The warrior and his sister soldiers looked around and then at their leader.

Ares reached out and squeezed his Chosen's hand then called his troopers to him. "We have a job to do, Amazons," he said quietly. "One I think you will agree to in an instant."

The women closed around him for their orders.

Darkfall: Part 12

Set looked down again at the field of coming battle. The sun had come over the horizon now and the long shadows in the valley were shortening as the rays of the sun filtered in. The sands seemed to move with an unholy light as the sun's light hit the ground. Set smiled.

"Awaken, my children," he said deeply. The sands began to stir and pulse. Soon figures emerged from the ground, taking form. Mace watched in quiet horror as an army of demon warriors assembled in the valley, surrounding the small square temple.

"You plan to march on that temple?" Mace asked.

"I plan to hold it against your errant half-god friend," Set replied. "That feline bitch of an immortal has given him the key to unlock my prison. I intend to secure the temple with my forces, take the key and destroy it, raze the place and set up my new order upon this piss of plane."

"A grand scheme," Mace answered. "But Hercules defeated you once, he'll do it again."

Set looked over at the man who glanced at him and then down at the army forming below. The ancient one giggled, it was a disturbing sound. "Ever the hero. How could I have been so wrong about you?"

"I am greatly pleased to disappoint you," Mace answered vehemently. Set waved his hand briefly, as if to swat away a bug and the tall warrior cried out in agony, doubling up and falling from his mount. He rolled onto his hands and knees, growling in anger and swallowing hard to keep from vomiting. Soon the pain subsided and Mace stood up. He looked over at the warriors, mounted, and staring vacantly ahead.

Whisper could see the whole interplay from where she sat on her horse. She watched the scene with impotent rage and calmed herself. There was no point in fighting. She realized that she had to resign herself to this fate for now and wait.

Hercules and Iolaus were busy pulling up their makeshift campsite. Swathed in their robes, they blended with the color of the sand and the rock. They tied their camels to near by rocks and turned to go into the valley.

Iolaus grabbed Hercules by the arm as the taller man stood up to start their journey.

"Herc," Iolaus said anxiously. "Look."

Hercules looked out over the valley and gasped quietly to see the sands eddy and swirl and take form. Thousands of figures emerged from the sand. Armored, armed and grotesque in their features. Their faces were leathery and relatively featureless. Tiny black eyes and a gaped, toothy mouth with discolored fangs were about all that one could make out. The figures were not particularly tall or well built but the two Greeks' mouths gaped open to see so many of them. The floor of the valley was now covered with warriors, almost shoulder to shoulder, facing to the north and looking up silently at something on the distant cliff top.

Hercules began to speak but Iolaus finished his thought. "Yah," he said.

"There's.."

"I know."

"What.."

"Are we going to do?" Iolaus finished.

Hercules looked down at him. He prepared to speak but the sound of a man's scream stopped them both.

"That sounded," Iolaus started.

"Like Mace," Hercules finished. He paused for a moment and Iolaus frowned to see his friend's face so distorted with anger. "I am so F***ING TIRED OF THIS!" he screamed. "LET'S GET THIS OVER WITH!!"

The tall warrior threw off his cape and drew the sword that he had had been given by Bastet. He charged into the valley with Iolaus at his side. Neither man expected to survive.

Set looked out onto the field of battle to see Hercules and Iolaus running headlong into his forces. He grinned to see a force of two wading into an army of ten thousand. "This is really too much," he said to himself. "I think the One has gone to sleep. I never expected to be so," he paused, "blessed!" He bellowed out his laughter. The sound echoed into the valley, distracting the combatants momentarily as thousands closed in around the two men.

"Not so blessed," said a deep woman's voice. Set turned in his saddle to see the petite little black cat sitting on the saddle of Whisper. Whisper gasped as a power ran up her arms and shot down the length of her form. She was free. She stroked the cat with one hand and tore the helmet from her head with the other. Brown hair cascaded down her shoulders.

"We're back," she said quietly. She felt the movement of men and horses around her. The Elite of Ares were stirring from their imprisonment.

"I will only capture them again, bitch," Set said dismounting his horse. "The One has turned his face from this sinkhole of a plane," he added.

Bastet jumped down from Whisper's horse. "Fool," she said quietly. The cat looked up at the Amazon. "Stay with us, guard me as I guard him," she said. As she spoke, her form began to change as did the form of her reptilian brother. The cat's form changed into the sleek black muscular form of the she panther as Set transformed into a large serpent. The horses neighed and bucked gently at being so close to the deadly pair. The ancient ones faced each other as the warriors looked on.

Mace went over to the edge of the cliff, looking down at Hercules and Iolaus still holding off the onslaught of warriors with swords that seemed to sing with power. Mace looked over at the cat and then back down at the battle scene.

"At least let some of us go down there," he pleaded. His voice had an edge of desperation as he watched.

The cat said nothing but continued to pace around the giant cobra that now reared up with hood unfolded. The cobra was as tall as a man in this stance. Its green eyes sparkled with hatred for the feline. The large cat kept her eyes on the snake, growling quietly as she circled.

A horn sounded in the valley and then another. Mace looked down as from the huge doors of the temples on the north below them and on the south, opposite them, swung wide and the forces of Atlantis marched out in formation. From the sides, mounted auxiliaries began their assault. In phalanxes, troopers on foot carrying shields that protected them from neck to knees, pushed the forces of the darkness back. The soldiers of Atlantis were practiced ranks, taller and stronger than the devils that had been called forth from the sands. Mounted officers led by Corum waded through the enemy and joined up with Hercules and Iolaus to push the enemy away from the small temple. Corum and his men carved a path for the two as they neared the doors of the structure.

"You have the key?" Iolaus asked hurriedly as they came to the doors of the ancient place.

Hercules looked over at him frowning. "I thought you had it," he said.

Iolaus' eyes were wide with horror. He began to speak but then stopped as he saw his friend grin and wink.

"Have it," Hercules answered putting his shoulder to the door and pressing it open. He disappeared into the darkness.

"Son of a b.." Iolaus said following his friend in.

The still darkness was unnerving after the heat of the day and the frenzy of the battle. The two men looked at each other from the light of the door.

"Torch?" Hercules asked.

Iolaus held his hands out. "Torchless," he answered.

"Hey," said another voice.

Both men jumped. Iolaus felt something brush his leg. He jumped back and cut downward with his sword.

"Hey, watch it!" said the small brown tabby that now had tail and back fur extended in fright.

"Furball!" Iolaus said as both men laughed. He swept her up into his arms. "Well, what brings you here?"

"The same thing that brings you. You two took long enough!" said the tiny Sorceress whose habit was to take the form of a cat. "I've been waiting for you to bring the key."

Hercules looked at Iolaus and grinned again. "I've got it. We can't see much."

"Follow me," the cat said jumping out of Iolaus' arms. She padded off down a long hall. As she trotted away, her body glowed with enough light for the two to see.

She walked down a hall with the two men at her heels. They entered a large round room.

"Now you have to look for a teeny hole to put the stone in," the cat said sniffing around in the room. It was a huge cavern. The floor was pockmarked with thousands of impressions and the light from the cat was so dim with her close to the ground. Hercules went over to the tabby and scooped her up by the middle and with one hand held her high as he searched the floor for a indentation that was empty. Both men squinted as the cat snorted at the indignity of being held aloft like a bag of goods.

"Any time now," the cat said as the men searched.

"Shut up, Furball," Iolaus answered. He got down on the floor and began to search by feeling the holes with his hands. Perhaps the hole that would take the key would have air coming from it.

The men's breaths and their movement was all that could be heard for a while as they hunted for the opening.

Finally Iolaus stood up and stretched for a moment. He looked up at the entrance as Corum came in, his sword still dripping with the green slime of the life blood of the enemy forces.

"What are you looking for?" he said as men gathered behind him.

Hercules was still searching diligently. He put the cat on his shoulder and she licked her side indignantly as he looked up a Corum. "A small hole. Bring us torches. We need more light."

Corum called back into the ranks and two men came running but as they did, the cat on Hercules' shoulder stood up and stretched, looking down.

"Whoa," the cat said and leapt off his shoulder. She went over to a place on the floor and sniffed it. "Here," she said. Hercules as by her and on his knees in a heartbeat.

He put his finger to the small hole and felt a coldness coming from it.

"So now what?" Hercules asked.

"Put it in, turn tail and run," the cat answered.

Hercules, Iolaus and the troopers looked at her frowning.

The cat looked up at the tall man. "Just do it."

The half god fished around in his shirt and drew out a small pouch. From the pouch, he pulled the small round stone. He put the stone into the hole and got up. The cat had already made a dash for the door, running between the legs of soldiers as she vacated.

Then the victors realized why. The ground began to shake and roll. Hercules and Iolaus ran for the door as Corum called to his men to retreat quickly. The room began to collapse as did the entire building. The two Greeks joined the Atlanteans in the daylight to see the army of Set laid waste in the sands of the valley. Not a demon was left alive. Hercules was heartened to see that few men had fallen in the battle. The wounded were being taken off the field and back into the temple of Osiris.

Hercules watched as the small temple in the middle of the collapsed as a hole opened up in the earth. Corum looked over the side of the gaping maw to see red hot lava swirling and churning below. He stepped back.

"Mother earth is not happy," he said to Drusas who had joined him at the head of the forces.

From the cliffs above the panther still paced around the anxious, vicious snake. It turned to meet her eyes as she paced around it. Then when the hole opened, the snake's gaze moved momentarily to the scene below and Bastet saw her opening. She lunged at the snake and grabbed it by the neck, growling victoriously. Without hesitation, she leapt off the cliff and down onto the sand below landing agilely with the snake whipping and twisting in her jaws and wrapping its body around her in vain. The large cat strode up to where the earth opened. She looked up at Hercules. He could hear her thoughts.

"Tell Ares that I love him and that I am proud of him," she said. She leapt into the pit and disappeared into the molten heat as men gasped and cried out.

Drusas went to the edge, calling to her then turning away with tears in his eyes. The earth was already beginning to close the gaping doors of Set's prison. A sorrowful peace followed.

Darkfall: Part 13

Ares looked down the expanse of the cavern and drew his sword. The sound of the steel leaving the scabbard echoed on the walls. "Your job, Amazons," he said as he began to walk toward the darkness at the end of the cavern, "is to secure the woman and the children. Leave the enemy to me."

"Who is the enemy?" Kendaa said, unsheathing her own sword and joining him on his right.

"My mother," he replied curtly. "She has taken the form of a dragon."

"Hmm, too bad," said Fayee behind him, "I like dragons."

"You won't like this one," he answered sourly.

The God of War held out his hand and a torch blazed as he conjured it. He led the way into the darkness of the next cavern. At first, it was hard to see the form that lay in the middle of the vast room. It began to unfold the twists of its body. The smell of sulfur made the Amazons around him cough as they saw two gleaming eyes emerge from the twisted form as the head took shape. It had the body of a dragon, winged, scaly and long but its form was lumpy and wet with a slimy covering that dripped from it. The head was horned and long like that of the ancient army of the air but it had tiny eyes like a snake and a snout that was twisted and fanged grotesquely.

"Even the beauty of the dragon is betrayed by you, mother," Ares said as he looked up at the beast.

"She sent you," hissed the beast. "That cow! She sent you to take my final prize." It screamed out, shaking the walls of the cavern.

"Yes, she sent me. And yes, she is like a cow, ordinary, loving, providing. She provides for her calves, giving milk. While you, so niggardly in your affection, provide nothing. You are no mother. I have known the love of the mother and now I have no feelings for you at all. I told you once that I would kill you. I will and not shed a tear, not hesitate a moment. You are ..." He swallowed his feelings of anger. "a disappointment to me, old woman."

As he spoke the Amazons had fanned out with weapons drawn but they were searching for something in the shadows as they had been ordered. The seasoned warriors kept an eye on their enemy as they looked. Finally, Lessa called out and the squad of sister soldiers closed in on figures in the corner, wrapped in funeral cloth and as still as the dead. They went to the figures, sweeping them up in their arms as some of them formed a protective group around those who held the bundles. Kendaa swept a woman's body up into her arms and looked down at the face, froze in the world between life and death. She felt the earth beneath her respond as she called out to it. The Dryad began to glow with the deep life force that surrounded all things and the woman's face began to come to life. The other smaller bundles stirred.

"GIVE ME MY PRIZES!" screamed Hera as she lunged at the Amazons around the figures. Ares leapt at her, plunging the sword of War deep into the heart of the dark goddess.

As he stepped away, he felt tears sting his eyes. He forced them back. "There," he whispered. "You can have it back. It never did me any good anyway."

Kendaa and the others joined him as he back away from the large beast writhing in its death throws. His chosen smiled as she handed him the woman coming to consciousness.

Ares took her in his arms. "Can you stand?" he asked quietly.

Deianaira looked around. "Where am I?" she asked, frowning. She brushed her hair away from her face. "The last I remember…"

Ares guided the woman gently onto her feet. She looked at him and then around at the tall women. "You're Amazons?" she said. "He has spoken of you."

"And we have heard many stories about you and these little brats," Lessa said looking down at the small girl who was gazing up at her as if being cradled by an Amazon in a dark cavern was as ordinary as playing in the yard.

"You must be Ilaya," Fayee said, stroking the little girl's cheek.

"My daddy is Hercules," Ilaya said yawning.

"So we've heard," said C'Jai looking down at Clonus. He was beginning to wake now.

Deianaira looked at the tall man in black.

"I am Ares," the War God said. She shrank back. "Yah, I know. I get that a lot," he added. "But a lot has changed since you were gone."

"We were gone?" Deinaira asked.

"Long story," Kendaa answered, putting a reassuring arm around the woman. "And a painful one for your husband. Why don't we take you to him."

Deinaira smiled and nodded, still looking confused.

The army of Atlantis had made its way out of the valley and by moonrise, was camped in the desert. There were no trees to erect even the scantest of fortifications and the legionnaires were nervous bedding down around campfires without any protection from attack except the swords and shields of their brothers on guard duty.

"I don't know what they think they're guarding against," the sorceress turned cat said as she turned around once by the fire and sat down. She lifted her leg into the air and began to wash her thigh.

"Excuse me," Iolaus said. "There are gentlemen present."

The cat looked up. "Where?" she asked and went back to her grooming.

Iolaus snorted. "Do you suppose we could eat her?" he asked his friend.

Hercules smiled and wrinkled his nose. "Too old and tough," he said. Then he sighed and looked back into the fire's light. "Well, I suppose that is that. Another chapter closes in the struggle against Hera's rapacious plans. Until the next time."

The cat looked up and around and growled. She stood up, letting out a whine that sounded like a cat wailing for her kittens.

Hercules was on his feet in an instant. "Not so soon!" he cried. "Damn, I hate that woman." He drew his sword as he heard soldiers calling out in the distance.

"Who goes there?" said a centurion, brandishing the vine staff that he carried. Soldiers were armed and approaching figures that seemed to have materialized from the desert sand itself.

Then the centurion put down his staff and called his men back. "My Lord," he said seeing Ares' figure emerge into the light of the fires.

Ares nodded to him and strode past. "Where's Hercules?" he called out but the half god was already approaching the small group with Iolaus at his heels.

"What?" Hercules said. "What now? Where's Hera?" He looked suspiciously at the swathed female figure by Kendaa.

The woman drew the winding cloth away from her face and red hair glistened in the light. "Hercules?" his wife said hesitantly. "I don't understand how I got here."

The tall man stood frozen. He could not believe his eyes. Iolaus let out a screech and had already gone over to her and embraced her laughing and crying. Iolaus swept up all three children out of the arms of the Amazons, smothering them with kisses as they giggled and clung to him.

Hercules felt tears well up in his eyes. He looked over at Ares. "You have done some cruel things to me, you son of a bitch, but this one is the worst," he whispered angrily. Everyone around him froze in fear as he spoke. "I know these four people are dead. They are dead, gone, departed. I visited them in the afterlife and they are gone. I have ..." His voice broke with grief and the culmination of the stress of the last months. "I have gone on with my life and now you do this!" His face contorted in rage. "Just kill me and get it over with!" he screamed. "I am tired. I don't want this job anymore!"

Ares let out the breath he had been holding when the Hercules' rage began. He licked his lips. "Bastet sent me on this mission to 'right an old wrong' as she put it," he explained quietly approaching his half brother. Iolaus had put the children down and was coming over to his friend also.

"Bastet is DEAD!" Hercules screamed. "She told me to tell you that she loved you and that she was ..." The tall man stopped as if he was suddenly confused. "She said she was proud of you," he whispered. He dropped to his knees. "I don't want to do this anymore," he cried. "I can't do this anymore."

The tiny figure of his daughter toddled over to him. She was unsure at first who this wailing figure was, with a dark rageful voice but it looked like her father. "Daddy?" she asked. She put her chubby hands to his wet cheeks. "Are you mad, Daddy?"

Hercules let out a wail of anguish and swept up his daughter in his arms. He began sobbing as his sons ran over to him and clung to him.

Deianaira looked up at Kendaa. Both women had tears in their eyes. "I don't understand any of this," Deianaira said. "I saw him just last night."

Darkfall: Epilogue

The air in the deserted fortress was very cold and thin now. With Hera's magic gone, the mountaintop was becoming what it once had been, covered in ice and snow. The plants and buildings were white now. Wind whipped through the gates and around the structures so strong that buildings had begun to fall and the gates were torn half off their hinges. This was not a place for the living and little life was left here. In the courtyard, curled up under a drift of snow, Tosh slept frozen now, slowly succumbing to the ravages of the invading climate. He waited, chuffing very softly every so often so that a puff of snow would leap out from where he exhaled. He knew his mistress would come for him.

But the Amazons were returning now to their Nation. Many of the Forum and others had been wounded or were sick from the places where they had been scattered by the dark forces. As the members of the Forum had gone to one of the worst, it had only been the strength of Lady Pegasus' healing that had kept any of them from dying. Calico had led the group in the harsh world where they had been and now was still caring for her sisters upon their return to their home. Though she worried constantly for the safety of her feline friend, her duty was to her sisters before the tiger.

The skies over the fortress were clear but in the distance, figures began to appear from the West. The green glistening scales of the dragons in flight were a stark contrast to the blue of the air. They neared the fortress and began to circle. Three dragons with riders made their descent, landing one on the building and one in the courtyard. It was clear there was not enough room for all three of the huge beasts to land.

"I'll go to the peak over there," Iolaus said, motioning the dragon toward a mountaintop that was miles away but would take the mythic creature only minutes to get to.

Hercules jumped off his mount and looked around. He looked up at Mace who was still on his dragon on the roof. The dragon was unsure the building would hold him so he perched on the edge, ready to take flight if the structure began to collapse.

"Do you see anything?" Hercules asked looking up at his friend.

Mace looked around. "The drifts all look the same. Wait, I saw something move over there." He motioned to the a large lump of white near the center.

Hercules wadded over and began to clear away the snow. He saw the orange and black stripes and let out a hoot of celebration. Quickly he cleared the rest of the snow away and checked for a pulse.

"He's still alive," he called out to Mace. The man on the dragon raised a thumb in a sign of success.

"Let's get out of here before we all freeze," Mace added.

Hercules lifted the large animal onto his shoulders, talking quietly to his friend. He mounted his dragon and put down the tiger, wrapping it in a blanket that the sorceress had given him. "As soon as it touches the tiger's fur," the cat had said, "it will heat gently to help him." Calico had touched the blanket for good luck before seeing to her sisters still coming in from other planes.

Hercules felt the blanket begin to warm and heard the low growl of the tiger as he called his mount to take flight. Soon the three men were on their way back to Greece to deliver the last victim of Hera's treachery.

Hercules felt the sun on his face and the wind around him as he flew, transversing miles so quickly. He had a renewed sense of hope as he saw the world becoming green again under him. He smiled, feeling tears sting his eyes as he realized that he would be going home himself soon, back to the arms of his wife and children.

FINIS