“Morning sunshine.” Hercules cracked open a bleary eye to see Iolaus grinning at him. Just that small effort started his head pounding, so he buried his face into his pillow and told his friend in very strong language to go away. The hunter listened about as well as he ever did, and after several minutes of trying to tune out his chatter, Hercules gave up and pulled himself to a sitting position with a loud groan.
“How was your barrel of ale last night?” Iolaus asked, pulling up a chair to the table in their room with a deliberate scraping noise. The demigod glared daggers at his friend, and dropped his aching head into his hands.
“Why did you let me drink so much?” he moaned.
“I had problems of my own,” Iolaus sighed dreamily, thinking of the lovely young lady that had occupied most of his evening.
Hercules felt his stomach lurch as the hunter shoved a mug into his hands, but when Iolaus assured him it was only water, he took a small sip and tried to remember the events of the previous evening. The villagers had summoned them after Hera had declared war on their town. They had been loyal to her for years, making regular offerings and worshiping her faithfully, but then for reasons that she did not even make known to them, she sent her mercenaries to punish them. Not knowing what else to do, they had begged Hercules and Iolaus for help. Once the mercenaries had been defeated, the village renounced Hera as their patron and had a celebration in the heroes’ honor. The demigod had been so satisfied to stick it to his stepmother once again, that he had perhaps celebrated a little too enthusiastically.
“I can’t remember much of anything that happened last night,” Hercules admitted. “I didn’t do anything stupid, did I?”
“Well, that depends on what you’d call stupid,” Iolaus began with a giant grin, enjoying himself immensely. “I can’t account for your actions all evening, but when I finally caught up with you, you were in the building that had so recently been serving as a shrine to Hera.”
“I don’t think I want to know,” the demigod lamented.
“When I walked in,” Iolaus continued happily, “you had about ten of the villagers cheering you on as you told Hera’s statue exactly what she could kiss.”
“Is that all?” Hercules asked, slumping back down on the bed.
“Almost,” the hunter told him with a wicked gleam in his eye.
“Well?”
“Right after that, you... How can I put this delicately? Relieved yourself on her altar.”
“I am never drinking again,” Hercules swore, covering his face with the pillow.
“Well, the abstinence vows are going to have to wait until later,” Iolaus announced, prodding his friend’s leg. “Come on and get up. We have work to do.”
“What work?” the demigod questioned. “I didn’t wreck anything last night, did I?”
“No,” the hunter reassured him. “But a farmer from Sicyon showed up here a little bit ago. A warlord raided his village and took his daughter, along with a few of the other young girls. He’s pretty frantic, and I told him we’d go back there with him to help.”
“Ok,” Hercules agreed with a sigh. “Just give me some time to clear my head first.”
After a bath and a no-fail hangover remedy that seemingly had failed, Hercules was ready to accompany his friend and the distraught farmer back to the village of Sicyon. But just as they were preparing to leave, a messenger approached them with a parchment for the demigod.
“It’s from a man named Iapetus,” Hercules related, scanning the message quickly. “There’s a monster attacking Elis and he’s asking for our help.”
“But you promised you’d help me,” the farmer exclaimed. The demigod winced painfully at the man’s outburst.
“Elis could be gone by the time we...” The farmer interrupted Hercules before he could even finish his sentence, demanding that the demigod rescue his daughter as he had promised.
“We’re going to have to split up,” Iolaus reasoned. “You go with him, and I’ll go to Elis.”
“I’m not sure if that’s a good idea,” Hercules began, but Iolaus cut him off.
“After last night, I don’t think you’ve cornered the market on good ideas,” the hunter teased. “Look, it’s the only way. I promise I’ll be careful.”
“Just promise that you’ll wait for me if don’t think you can handle it.” Iolaus promised, but Hercules didn’t believe him. The hunter never thought he couldn’t handle something, and usually ended up in over his head. But the demigod had to admit that there was no other alternative. “Be safe,” Hercules told him, clasping his wrist in a warrior’s shake.
"Herc,” the hunter said, hesitating. “Are you sure you’re ok? I mean, last night.... That’s not like you.”
“Last night was an error in judgment,” the demigod told him. “Really, I’m fine. Or at least I will be, when my head quits pounding.” Iolaus grinned and turned to begin his journey to Elis. Hercules hated to see him go off alone, and called out after him. “I’ll catch up with you when I’m done in Sicyon.” Then hunter waved without looking back, and reluctantly, Hercules turned to go the opposite direction.
As much as Iolaus loved traveling with his partner, he had to admit that it was nice to get some time to himself every now and then. It took him two days of walking to reach his destination, and he spent the hours enjoying the countryside and relishing in the peace and quiet of the forests that he loved. He walked purposefully though, knowing that every minute counted to the villagers, and he made it to Elis as quickly as he could.
When he reached the outskirts of the small town, the hunter’s suspicions were immediately aroused. People were milling innocently about the main street, talking to neighbors or shopping at the merchants’ stands, hardly the typical behavior of those under a monster‘s attacks. Nothing that Iolaus could see appeared damaged, and the village had a calm, ordinary feel about it. There was no devastation, and no air of fear hung over the town. Something was very off.
“Excuse me,” Iolaus stopped a woman that was passing by him. He pulled out the parchment that the messenger had given to Hercules and consulted it. “I’m looking for Iapetus. Do you know where I can find him?” The woman directed the hunter to one of the houses in the village, and he thanked her before going to the door she had indicated and knocking.
“Iapetus?” the hunter asked of the man who answered.
“Yes. What can I do for you?” Iolaus introduced himself and showed the man the parchment that he carried.
“Did you send this?”
“Yes, I did,” Iapetus answered a little uncomfortably.
“Look, I don’t mean to be skeptical, but it doesn’t look like you’re under attack here.”
“The monster hasn’t gotten here yet, but it will.”
"You’ve seen it?”
“No, I haven’t personally.” Iapetus now seemed decidedly uncomfortable. “You need to talk to Calyce.”
“She’s seen the monster?”
“Yes, sort of. You’ll find her in the last house at the end of this road.” Iapetus quickly shut the door, leaving the hunter standing there in confusion. He shook his head and started down the road, until he came to the house that Iapetus had sent him to. It was a very old house, rather decrepit looking, and Iolaus knocked on the weathered door very gingerly. After a long pause, the door opened a crack and a young girl peaked out at the hunter.
“Go back to where you came from,” she said simply before retreating and closing the door. Iolaus stood dumbfounded. It was the second time in five minutes that a door had been slammed into his face. Feeling the anger rising up in him, he lifted his leg and kicked the door open, striding purposefully into the house.
“Listen,” he demanded, taking the girl by the arm. “I just walked for two days to get here. I came to help you take care of some monster, and now that I’m here, all you people seem interested in is giving me the run-around and shutting doors on me. Now I’m not leaving here until you tell me what is going on.”
“Fine,” the girl said resignedly. “Just let go of me and sit down, Iolaus, and I’ll explain.”
“How do you know my name?” he asked suspiciously, releasing her but choosing to stand.
“That’s a long story,” she said sadly.
“I have time.” The hunter gentled the tone of his voice considerably as he took a good look at the girl before him. She was even younger than he had originally thought, and seemed terrified of her own shadow. As he studied her, she was also studying him intently, finally making up her mind about something.
“Then come with me,” she invited, opening the door of her house. “Walk with me, and I’ll tell you everything.” Iolaus followed her outside, and she led him in silence about a mile out of town.
“My name is Calyce,” she said finally, stopping beside the markers of two graves. “And you’re here basically because I had a vision. I see things.”
“What do you mean, things?” The hunter wrinkled his brow. “Things in the future?”
“Yes,” she whispered, bowing her head shamefully. Iolaus moved beside her and laid a comforting hand on her shoulder.
“That happened to me once.”
“Really?” Her eyes shot up to search his face.
“Yeah. That’s also kind of a long story, but the short version is that I got hit by lightening and for awhile after, I had visions of the future.” Calyce couldn’t hold back a smile as she read the truth in his eyes, but then her smile faded.
“I’ve been cursed with this ever since I was born,” she told him. “An old healer that passed through Elis once called it the ‘naked eye’.”
“Why do you call it a curse?” the hunter prodded. He couldn’t remember it being that bad.
“The images that come to me,” Calyce explained. “Some of them are so violent and sick. I don’t want them, but I can’t stop them. And I don’t just see the future. I see everything. I can tell things about people just by looking at them. And I can see the spirits that walk the earth, and the demons, too. My parents never understood. How could they, when I don’t even understand myself? When I was younger, I used to see horrible things that would make me curl up screaming. My parents never knew what to do, so they used to keep me shut up in the house, afraid that the villagers would think I was insane and send me away. Most of them think that anyway. You should have seen them when I tried to warn them about my vision. Iapetus must have believed me, if he sent for you, but the rest of them just looked at me like I was completely crazy.”
“I don’t think you’re crazy,” Iolaus said softly.
“Really?” The girl looked up at him, desperate to believe him.
“No. Just alone and afraid.” She looked away again with a bitter smile, and the hunter took her hand. “Calyce, I want you to tell me about the monster you saw. I want to help, if I can.” To his surprise, she pulled away from him and turned her back to him.
“Iolaus, there’s nothing you can do. Just forget about Elis, and go back home.”
“If you really can see the future, you should know that’s not going to happen.” Calyce turned back to him, eyes full of tears.
“Please listen to me, Iolaus,” she begged. “You need to leave here.”
“Why?” he demanded. “Just tell me whatever it is you’re trying to hide from me.”
“I saw you coming here,” she explained. “I saw you fighting to help us. And I saw your death. If you stay here, you’ll be killed. Please just turn around and go. Get out of here while you can.”
“I’m not that easy to kill,” the hunter said confidently. “Or at least, I’m not that easy to keep dead.”
“Iolaus, look around you.” Calyce rested a hand on each of the graves that they had been standing near. “This is where my parents are buried. I saw their deaths, too, and I still couldn’t save them. I brought you up here, because I knew you wouldn’t listen to me. I was hoping that maybe seeing their graves would convince you.”
“When I was able to see into the future, I thought I saw the death of a friend of mine,” Iolaus told her. “That turned out not to be true. I believe that we make our own destiny, and I’m not going to run away from this because there’s a chance I could die. I risk that everyday, and if it’s something worth fighting for, it’s worth taking that chance. So why don’t you tell me what you saw in your vision, so I can be prepared when the monster shows up?”
“It wasn’t a monster,” Calyce began as she finally realized the hunter wasn’t going to take her advice. “It was a woman. Two women, in fact, with super strength. They are very beautiful, but soulless, with flat, dead eyes. One has the power of the earth, and the other has the power of the air.”
“Actually, I think ‘monster’ is a very good description for them,” Iolaus said uncomfortably. What the girl had been describing sounded disturbingly similar to Hera’s enforcers. The hunter suddenly didn’t feel as confident as he previously had sounded. He hadn’t had the best luck with the enforcers in the past, and had actually come out rather worse for wear. And now there were allegedly two of them at once. The situation was not looking hopeful. “When are they supposed to attack?”
“I don’t know,” she admitted. “The time frame on my visions is often hard to work out. It could be in five minutes, or five days. It’s too hard to tell.” Iolaus was hoping that it would be more on the side of five days, increasing the chances that Hercules would have shown up. The hunter wasn’t sure if he could handle this one on his own. “Are you sure you don’t want to change your mind?”
“No,” Iolaus said firmly. “This is my chance to even the score.”
“Well, you’ll need a place to stay,” Calyce said with a sigh. “Why don’t you come back with me, and I’ll fix you something to eat.” The hunter grinned as he accepted her invitation. Suddenly, his future was looking up.
Iolaus spent the next few days uneventfully in Elis in the company of Calyce, but his time with her was far from unpleasant. Despite her young age, she was unusually competent and well spoken. She kept her house clean and orderly, and the hunter busied himself in making whatever repairs he could to the run down building, including fixing her leaking roof. None of the villagers would come and help her, as Iolaus soon noticed. Whenever she went out to the marketplace, she was followed by stares and whispers. Nobody spoke directly to her, and everyone made sure to give her a wide berth, treating her for all the world like a leper.
With each day that passed, the hunter’s heart ached more and more for the poor girl. He couldn’t imagine what it must be like for her, to be all alone and completely ostracized at such a young age. Iolaus did his best to counteract the hostility of the village, regaling her with tales of his adventures and discovering comic talents he didn’t even know he had as tried everything he could to get her to laugh. And as he won her confidence, she began telling him things. Things that she had never been able to tell another living soul. Calyce confessed to him the horrendous visions that came to her of the centuries to come. Wars, pestilence, disasters, and suffering. The images she saw were so intense, they were crippling. Just the act of describing them was enough to almost paralyze her with fear. But then she met the calm blue eyes of the hunter.
“What about the good things?” he asked gently.
“Good things?”
“Sure. The future can’t be all bad. What are some good things?”
“There are good things,” Calyce began slowly. Iolaus’ point had hit home. She closed her eyes and began describing the events and successes and technology to come, and some of the fear began to ebb away from her.
Iolaus watched her carefully as she talked. He was convinced that she was not crazy, and that she was not making these things up. But he found it so hard to believe something that he couldn’t witness for himself. Some of her claims for the future sounded so outrageous, but then again, Hercules had once accused him of babbling when he described his vision of the flying thing with metal wings, full of people. Calyce had described an identical apparatus. The hunter also caught her frequently startling and staring in fear at something in the corner that only she could see. He wondered often what she was looking at, but then she would subconsciously move a little closer to him, as if for protection, and he decided he probably didn’t want to know. And although it was difficult for him to believe something was there that he couldn’t see, the look on her face was enough to convince him that she indeed saw something. Overall, despite the rational objections in his head, his heart knew she was telling the truth.
“Do you think you could have been wrong about the attack?” Iolaus asked her one night, after he had been in Elis for a week.
“No,” Calyce answered, very emphatically.
“Well, I still want to help, but I can’t stay here forever,” the hunter said gently.
“You shouldn’t be here at all,” the girl reminded him.
“Still think I’m going to die?”
“I’ve seen it, plain as day, Iolaus,” she told him. After a moment’s hesitation, she reached across the table and took his hand in hers. “I don’t want to see that happen to you. You’re special.”
“That’s what all the girls say,” he said with a sly grin.
“No, that’s not what I meant,” she continued. “I don’t really know how to explain this. To my eyes, every person gives off an aura of light, both dark and white. Evil men give off mainly dark light, and good men give off mainly white. Almost everyone has some combination of the two. But you hardly have any dark light to you at all, Iolaus. The white light that comes from you is brilliant. It draws in the good spirits that walk the earth and makes them flock to you. And its brightness hurts the demons to look at it, so they keep away from you. Normal people can’t see it the way that I can, but subconsciously they know it’s there. It inspires people, and helps them when they need it. It makes men want to befriend you, and women fall in love with you. Of course, it also brings you worlds of trouble from the evil men and women, but those good souls that are drawn to you help to protect you. The world needs you, Iolaus, more so than you know, and I don’t want to be the one responsible for taking you away.”
“You won’t be,” the hunter said slowly, trying to take in what the girl had just told him. He wasn’t sure what to make of it all. “I don’t plan on checking out any time soon, and with your help, I’ll be ready and able to avoid it.” Iolaus squeezed Calyce’s hand and got up to add some wood to the fire. The girl sat, drawing in a deep breath. Nothing had changed. Her nightmarish vision of the death of the brave man before her still haunted her, but she had no idea how to convince him to flee to safety. In desperation, she focused on the two shimmering spirits that were hovering closely by the hunter’s side.
“Please take care of him,” she whispered sadly.
Iolaus offered to help Calyce in cleaning up after their evening meal, but she refused. Sighing, he made himself comfortable next to the fire and tried to work out in his head a way to tell her that he was leaving. The hunter had spent almost two weeks in Elis, and the restlessness he felt was driving him crazy. It was time for him to go and meet up with Hercules, but he really wished he could do something to help Calyce. The noise of a clay bowl shattering onto the floor distracted him from his thoughts, and Iolaus turned to see the girl staring into space with a look of utter horror on her face.
“Calyce, what is it?” he cried, coming to her side. The girl didn’t respond to him, but kept staring ahead with glazed eyes. Without warning, she reeled back and screamed. Iolaus grabbed her by her arms and shook her slightly, calling out her name. Finally, he got through to her and she managed to focus her frightened eyes on him.
“Iolaus,” she whispered, reaching out to touch his cheek. “But how...?” Suddenly, her expression changed and she pulled out of his arms. “We have to go,” she shouted over her shoulder as she ran for the door. “Come on! Hurry!” In utter confusion, the hunter followed her out of the house. They raced through the main street of the village, running faster than Iolaus thought a small girl like her could possibly go. As they burst into a small clearing in the outskirts of Elis, they arrived just in time to see a well muscled brunette woman raise her sword high above the prone body of Hercules.
Without thinking, which was often the way he charged into battle, Iolaus ran in and tackled the woman before she had a chance to drive the sword home into his partner. The hunter was up on his feet and had his own sword drawn before the enforcer knew what had hit her. He plunged it straight through her body, pinning her to the earth, then turned to his fallen friend.
“Herc,” he called desperately, shaking his battered partner. The demigod groaned once and opened his eyes, whispering the hunter’s name. “Come on,” Iolaus told him, pulling him up as Hercules leaned heavily on him. “We have to get out of here, now!” Calyce moved in to support the demigod on the other side, and together they half dragged him out of the clearing and into Elis as the skewered enforcer flailed wildly, howling her rage.
Somehow, they managed to get Hercules through town and back to Calyce’s house without further incident. Iolaus made his friend comfortable, and quickly assessed his injuries, beginning with a gash on the back of his head. His left knee was badly wrenched, and he had a few bruised ribs, along with some minor cuts and bruises. None of the injuries were life threatening, and the hunter gratefully knew his friend would recover quickly.
Calyce knocked softly on the door of their room, and Iolaus motioned for her to enter when she peaked her head in. She came in and sat beside the hunter, handing him a bowl of herbal water that she had prepared.
“He’ll be fine,” she reassured him.
“I know,” Iolaus answered tiredly. He wrung in cloth in the water and gently began cleaning his friend’s minor wounds. Hercules had been a bit disoriented from the blow to his head, but he was now peacefully sleeping, which Iolaus decided was best for him.
“You really love him, don’t you?”
“Did you see that in a vision?” the hunter asked with a small smile.
“You don’t need to have the naked eye to be able to see that,” Calyce answered with a smile of her own. “It’s written all over your face.” They sat in silence for a few minutes as she studied the demigod’s still form. “At least now I understand my vision.”
“What do you mean?”
“I thought I had been seeing your death all along. And when the enforcers attacked Hercules, I saw it, but I saw them attacking you. I couldn’t understand it, because you were in the house with me.”
“I don‘t get it.”
“In my visions, I don’t really see faces. It’s more that I see souls.”
“I’m still not following you,” Iolaus said distractedly.
“You and Hercules,” Calyce explained. “You have such a strong bond that your souls are intertwined. So much so, that I saw you as the same person.”
“We’ve been through so much together,” Iolaus admitted. “He’s like a brother to me.”
“You’ve been together a long, long time.” It was a statement, not a question.
“Since we were kids,” the hunter confirmed.
“Longer that that,” the girl smiled. “You’ve been together for many lifetimes, and you will be for many more to come. Somehow, you always manage to find each other.” She took the bowl of water from him and slipped out of the room. Iolaus ran a hand over his face wearily. He didn’t know what to make of everything Calyce had been telling him. It all seemed too hokey, but she had been right about her visions, so how could he not believe her? Suddenly, the hunter bolted up and ran out of the room after the girl as something she had said to him finally sunk in. He almost ran into her, finding her standing a few feet from the door, staring nervously out into the kitchen.
“What is it?” he whispered.
“Nothing,” she said hastily, but she couldn’t take her eyes away from the spot that had captured her attention.
“Something spooked you,” Iolaus alleged. “Tell me, what are you looking at?”
“There’s a demon in there,” she whispered, almost inaudibly. The hunter followed her gaze and saw nothing, but her words still made his skin crawl. “It won’t hurt us,” she added as she felt him tense up. “It can’t really do anything physical to anyone.”
“What can they do?” Iolaus whispered back.
“Really the worst they can do is plant ideas in your head. You know those negative thoughts that creep into your mind, where you question yourself and doubt yourself or those you love? That’s a demon whispering in your ear.”
“Funny, I thought it was my father,” Iolaus joked weakly. “But Calyce, if they can’t really hurt you, then why do they scare you so badly?”
“You’d know that if you could see them,” the girl answered with a small shudder. “They’re like your worst nightmare, and then some. But it’s going away now. I told you, they just don’t like you.”
“At least I’m good for something,” he grinned, following her into the kitchen. “Calyce, I have to ask you about something. When you were just talking about the enforcers attacking Hercules, you did say enforcers? As in two of them?”
“Yes. There were two,” she confirmed.
“Where was the second one?”
“I don’t know. I couldn’t see her, but she was definitely there. She attacked Hercules from behind while the other one distracted him. That’s how they got him down.”
“But why didn’t she attack us when we were escaping?”
“I don’t know,” Calyce answered. “She was holding back for some reason. But next time, I can promise you she won’t.”
“How long do we have?”
“I don’t know for sure, but I don’t think very long. And when they come again, they’ll tear up the village until they find Hercules.”
“Then we’ll just have to be ready for them,” Iolaus said determinedly.
“And you might want to warn Hercules to be a little more careful with his bodily functions in the future. Hera’s really pissed off, no pun intended.” The hunter laughed at her words, glad to see that for the moment the haunted look in her eyes had been replaced by a sly gleam.
When Hercules awoke a few hours later, he was much more clear headed and ready for round two. Iolaus had scrounged up a piece of wood that would suffice as a crutch, because he knew that his partner would not let his injuries stop him from fighting.
“And he calls ME stubborn,” the hunter muttered, watched his friend hobbling across the room, getting used to the crutch and favoring his injured leg. “Are you sure you want to do this?” he asked the girl, turning his attentions on her.
“Yes,” she replied, looking up at him with more courage than he’d seen in her before. “You’re right, Iolaus. Some things are worth the risk.” The hunter narrowed his eyes at her words. There was an underlying tone in her voice that he didn’t like, but Hercules was ready to go and getting increasingly impatient.
“Be careful,” he commanded. “Don’t do anything stupid.” Calyce extended her small hand, and with a smile of amusement, Iolaus clasped it in a warrior’s shake.
“I could say the same for you,” she said, returning his grin. “Good luck.” Iolaus followed Hercules out the door, looking back once and seeing the girl wave to them. If she had seen any more visions relating to the outcome of their battle, she had chosen to keep them to herself. The hunter wasn’t sure if that was a good or bad sign.
For the three who knew it was coming, the arrival of the enforcers seemed to take an eternity. But in reality, it was only a short time later that Hera’s two new homicidal freaks began ransacking the village. At the first sign of commotion, Calyce left the house and approached the rampaging enforcers.
“Hey,” she called out to them. “You want Hercules? I know where he is. Follow me.” The girl began to back down the main road of the village, and to her relief, the monsters started to follow her. “This way,” she shouted back to them. “This way to Hercules.” She kept coaxing them as she led them down the road to the outskirts of town where Hercules and Iolaus were waiting. “Just let them keep coming,” she whispered under her breath, praying that they would follow her away from the village and the innocent people there.
Finally, Calyce made it to the designated area. Normally, it was a peaceful spot right outside of town. A small mountain shone dark and formidable in the moonlight, which was reflected in the lake adjoining it. Soft breezes rustled the leaves in the trees that dotted the landscape, and crickets and frogs were calling loudly, unaware that a battle was about to be fought.
“There,” Calyce told the enforcers, pointing to the form sitting calmly under a tree by the lake. “There’s Hercules.” The demigod waved companionably at the menacing figures, seemingly undisturbed by their presence. Both enforcers approached him with their lurching stride.
“Hera says ‘kill Hercules’,” their intoned in unison.
“What else is new?” he asked, rolling his eyes disgustedly. As the enforcers both raised swords, a loud whoop sounded from above as Iolaus swung down from the tree on a rope. The full impact of his swing hit the brunette enforcer squarely in the abdomen, sending her splashing into the lake as Iolaus jumped down from the rope. She had been carrying the hunter’s sword, which he had impaled her with when they rescued Hercules, but she had dropped it and her own when Iolaus had collided with her. He snatched his sword up, holding it triumphantly for a moment, before picking up the enforcer’s sword and tossing it to Hercules. Both men then surrounded the remaining enforcer. She tossed back her long, blond hair, laughing maniacally as she disappeared into thin air.
“Not good,” Hercules muttered, right before Iolaus found himself airborne. A sudden wind picked him up, spinning him madly through the air, before depositing him in a heap behind the demigod.
“Are you all right?” Hercules asked, trying to help him up.
“I’m fine,” Iolaus groaned. “I’ve got her. Go get the other one.” Hercules discovered that the hunter’s plan was non-debatable, as the air enforcer next seized him, tossing him around several feet above the ground before launching him into the lake. As the demigod surfaced, sputtering and trying to get a hold on the dizziness that gripped him, he saw Iolaus squaring off with the blond enforcer, who had materialized before him. Over the clash of their swords, Hercules noticed the other enforcer trying to struggle out of the lake, and he went after her.
As they had predicted, the water had soaked into the earth enforcer, slowing her down a great deal. While Hercules was pulling her from the lake’s edge, she struck out at him, but her movements were so heavy and encumbered by the water, he was able to duck the blows easily. He watched with amusement as she ungainly struggled to her feet and advanced on him again. With almost no effort, the demigod plunged the crutch that he had somehow held onto during his flight into the lake right through the middle of the enforcer. Lunging forward on his good leg, Hercules sent her sailing over his head and crashing down into the trap that they had cleverly concealed. As the enforcer landed, she triggered the snare and soon found herself suspended above the ground in a bundle of burlap.
Iolaus was not faring so well in his battle with the air enforcer. He had actually gotten in a few swipes with his sword, but to his dismay, the blade had passed right through the blond with no damage at all. The hunter had given up his attack, and was now preoccupied with parrying the rapid array of thrusts that were coming at him as he desperately tried to think. She was manipulating him back to where he would be trapped up against a cluster of trees. Iolaus knew what she was doing, but he could not prevent it. Each time she attacked, he had to counter her moves, and he wound up further back. If he allowed her to trap him against the tree line with no means of escape, he knew he would give her the advantage she needed.
Suddenly, getting cornered was no longer the hunter’s immediate worry. In his concentration to avoid her sword, Iolaus had lost his footing and tripped over a protruding root. He sprawled backwards on the ground, losing his own sword in the process. Before he could move, the enforcer advanced, pressing the tip of her blade against his throat.
“I guess the third time wasn’t the charm after all,” he muttered, cursing himself for losing to yet another enforcer. She tensed, readying herself to kill him, but was thrown off balance as Calyce leapt onto her back. The girl hung on tightly, kicking the enforcer hard in the ribs, but she was no match for the strength of Hera’s creation. In one smooth motion, the air enforcer reached behind her and grabbed the girl, flipping her off to the side with a stunning force.
This small distraction was all that Iolaus needed. Grabbing his sword, he was up and running by the time the enforcer turned back to him. Undaunted, she followed him as he raced toward the rocky slope of the mountain. As strong as the enforcers were, they were not built for speed, and she lagged behind the quick hunter. But, she had been close enough to see him dart into a small cave in the side of the mountain, and so she went after him. True, her mission was to kill Hercules, but that could wait until she disposed of this other annoying creature that was causing her so much trouble.
If the enforcer had been mortal, she would have been suspicious upon entering the cave. But, she was given strength and the singular thought that she had to kill Hercules, and common sense was not one of her attributes. So, she entered the cave, striding through the pool of lamp oil that covered the rock beneath her feet without a thought.
“Hey, Airhead!” The enforcer turned around as the cave behind her was suddenly illuminated. Iolaus stepped out from the small crevice near the entrance where he’d hidden himself. “Better luck next time,” he yelled, dropping his recently lit torch to the ground and diving out of the cave. As a wall of fire erupted inside the cave, the hunter helped Hercules roll a giant bolder in front of its opening.
“Are you sure this is going to work?” Iolaus panted when they had finally sealed off the mouth of the cave.
“Sure,” Hercules replied. “It’s pretty much the same way I defeated Pyro. He burnt himself out, which is the same thing this fire is going to do.”
“Taking all the air in the cave with it,” Iolaus said smugly. “How’s she doing?” He kicked at the burlap sack next to the demigod’s feet. The earth enforcer wriggled weakly, but she was trapped.
“Fine, for now, but I’d better get her back to the village before she dries out enough to get her strength back.”
“Yep, she’s got a hot date with a barrel of lye,” the hunter said as he helped Hercules hoist the bag over his shoulder. Iolaus suddenly stopped short as a thought occurred to him. “Hercules, where’s Calyce?” The demigod looked around them, as if expecting the girl to pop out from the shadows. Iolaus swore loudly and began racing back down toward the lake where he had last seen her, calling her name over and over.
When Hercules, slowed by his injury and his heavy parcel, finally caught up to the hunter, he found him crouched beside the still form of the girl.
“Her neck’s broken,” Iolaus whispered. “She must have hit this tree when the enforcer threw her off.” Hercules dropped his wriggling bundle and crouched beside his friend. “By the gods, Herc,” the hunter exclaimed, meeting his partner’s gaze with wild eyes. “She knew this was going to happen. She knew that if she helped us, she’d be killed.”
“You can’t be sure of that, Iolaus,” Hercules said calmingly.
“Yes, I can,” the hunter murmured sadly. “She knew. She almost told me so before we left. I should have picked up on it.” They sat in silence for several minutes, before Hercules stood and picked up the earth enforcer once more.
“I have to go take care her,” he told his friend, shifting the bag against his back. “And I’ll ask the villagers what they want us to do with Calyce. Meet you back at her house?” Iolaus nodded, and Hercules began hobbling back to the town. The hunter remained where he was for a long time before he carefully gathered the young girl’s lifeless body in his arms and carried her back home. Hercules arrived back at the house soon after.
“The enforcer’s destroyed,” he announced. “But no one wanted to have anything to do with Calyce. They didn’t even want to talk to me about her. I think some of them are blaming the enforcers coming here on her.”
“It doesn’t matter,” Iolaus said tiredly, not at all surprised by the villager’s shunning. “I know where her parents are buried. We can take her there.”
It was almost dawn, and after a few hours of restless sleep, Hercules and Iolaus took Calyce to the site where she had first taken the hunter, and they buried her with the rest of her family.
“I’m sorry I didn’t get to know her very well,” Hercules said sincerely. “She had a lot of courage.”
“Yes, she did,” Iolaus echoed. “She gave her life for us.”
“Are you ready to go?” the demigod asked, after a moment.
“Just give me a minute, ok?” Hercules nodded, resting a hand on his friend’s shoulder before starting back down toward the road. Iolaus sighed, and pulled out the parchment that he’d found on the table when he’d returned to the house after the battle.
Dear Iolaus,
Please don’t blame yourself. This is the way it has to be. If I hadn’t chosen to fight, you would be dead, and I couldn’t let that happen. The world needs you too much. Hercules needs you. Like you, his aura is filled with the white light. But unlike you, he also has darkness to him. And many dark forces around him, waiting for their chance, a period of vulnerability, to corrupt him. You and you alone are the light that keeps the darkness from touching him. Without you, the darkness has the chance to break him. He is going to be remembered as one of the greatest heroes of all time. Even though you may not always be remembered, never doubt your importance to him and all that he is, or your role by his side. Together, you will do great things and save the lives of many. That is worth the small price of my life. So do not grieve for me, or feel that you should have done something to save me. This was my destiny, and I wouldn’t change it if I could do it over again. Just remember me fondly from time to time, and know that I will always be with you, protecting you however I can.
Love,
Calyce
Iolaus folded the parchment as he finished rereading the note, and tucked it into the pouch at his belt. Placing a handful of small blue flowers over the freshly turned earth, he rose and went to rejoin his friend.
“Are you ok?”
“Yeah,” the hunter said. And it was the truth. “Calyce was haunted by her visions, Herc. This gift was a curse for her, and I don’t know if she ever could have been truly happy. But, I have a feeling she’s at peace now.” The two warriors began their journey, each lost in their own thoughts, until Iolaus glanced slyly at his partner.
“What?” Hercules asked, catching the look.
“Calyce had a vision about you.”
“Do I really want to know?”
“Well, it wasn‘t very clear, and she couldn‘t explain it that much. But you probably should make it a point to stay away from Artemis’ bow.”
Disclaimer: Calyce, in her wisdom, did warn Iolaus against going to Sumeria. But, as is typical of the golden hunter that we all know and love, he didn’t listen.
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