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The wind lifted Hercules’ hair and tossed it wildly in his face. He pushed it back in annoyance and glanced up at the darkening sky. Winter was fast approaching, and that meant overcast days, cooler temperatures, and lots of rain. Luckily, he was just entering Acheron and was confident that he would make it home before any moisture began to fall. The demigod smiled slightly to himself as he realized what he had called the great stone house belonging to his friends. It was really the only home he knew now. Jason still inhabited the house where Hercules had grown up, but ever since Alcmene died it had ceased to feel like home. A home included family, and that’s what Iolaus and Elissa were to him. The demigod had been gone for the last few months, and he was looking forward to returning to his friends. Maybe, if the winter turned out to be on the harsher side, he would even consider staying for awhile.
“Jason? What are you doing here?” Hercules had knocked on the door, which Iolaus told him was not necessary but he felt more comfortable doing. With the hunter and his wife, it was just safer to knock rather than to barge in and catch them in the act of something he’d rather not see. But he hadn’t been expecting the Argonaut to answer.
“Hercules,” Jason greeted, standing aside and letting his friend enter. “It’s good to see you.” The demigod narrowed his eyes slightly as he studied the Argonaut’s face. Jason looked tired, and there was worry in his eyes.
“What is it?” Hercules demanded, taking in the silence of the house. It wasn’t a natural quiet, but instead the sort of hushed quiet that indicates something is wrong.
“You should talk to Iolaus,” the Argonaut said softly. “He’s out back.”
Hercules stared at his friend for several moments, then turned and went out the door. Rounding the side of the house, he caught sight of the hunter and a sick feeling welled up in him as he suddenly realized what must be wrong. Iolaus had a large wooden cradle sitting up on his chopping block, and as Hercules watched, he raised his axe high and split the frame in half. He was preparing for another swing when he looked up and saw the demigod.
“Iolaus,” Hercules whispered, coming forward.
“Welcome home, Herc,” the hunter said, tossing down his axe and sitting dejectedly on a block of wood.
“What happened?” the demigod asked, sitting beside his friend.
“Elissa had the baby,” Iolaus explained, looking at his partner with empty eyes. “Four days ago. It all happened so fast. She hadn’t been feeling well and was lying down in the bedroom. Jason and I were at the table, arguing about something stupid, and Elissa came out and told us the baby was coming. Jason went into Acheron to bring the midwife here, but there wasn’t enough time. The baby was born before they could get back. Elissa had been hysterical, crying that it was way too early. But the baby was coming, and I was the only one there, so I did the best I could. It was a little girl.”
“She was born dead?” Hercules prompted gently.
“No,” the hunter whispered as tears stung his eyes. “She lived for a few hours. I’ve never seen anything like it, Herc. She was a perfect little baby, but she was so tiny. She fit right in the palm of my hand. Elissa named her Faith, because she said it would take all of our faith to keep her alive. But she was just too small...”
Iolaus ran a hand across his eyes and stood up. Grasping his axe, he heaved it in the air and landed another blow to the cradle that he had so recently taken such pains to build.
“You could have saved that,” Hercules told him softly. “I’m sure you’re going to need one someday.”
“Maybe,” Iolaus replied, delivering another blow. “But Elissa hasn’t been taking this very well, so I thought it might be best to get rid of all the reminders for now.”
“I know how hard it is, for both of you,” the demigod said, putting a consoling hand on his friend’s shoulder. “And I’m so sorry, Iolaus.”
“I’m glad you’re back,” the hunter told him with small smile. “Why don’t you go in and see Elissa? Maybe you‘re just the thing to cheer her up..” Hercules nodded and left his friend to his work, going back around the house and letting himself inside.
“How’s she doing?” he asked Jason, who was busy stirring something in a pot hanging over the fire.
“I’m starting to get worried about her,” the Argonaut answered. “She’s in her room. Why don’t you go and try to talk some sense into her?”
Hercules knocked softly on the door to the room that the healer and Iolaus shared. Silence greeted him, so he carefully pushed the door open and peeked into the darkened room.
“Elissa?” he called softly. She was curled in a ball on the bed and didn’t answer. The demigod thought she was sleeping and turned to go, but Jason had appeared behind him.
“She awake,” the Argonaut promised, holding out a steaming mug. “See if you can get her to drink any of this.” Hercules took the tea from his friend and entered the room, pulling up a chair beside the girl. Her eyes were indeed open, but she was staring unseeingly ahead.
“Elissa,” the demigod called again. He took her hand in his and squeezed, and she seemed to focus on him.
“Hercules,” the healer whispered. “You’re back.”
“I’m back,” he confirmed. “I wish I’d been here sooner. How are you feeling?”
“Did Iolaus tell you?” she asked woodenly.
“Yes, and I’m so sorry, Elissa. I know it doesn’t seem like it now, but I promise you that everything’s going to be all right.” She just shook her head, almost imperceptibly, and drew her hand away from his.
Hercules was at a loss. One of Elissa’ s defining characteristics had always been her strength, and now it was unnerving him to see her so broken. He sat with her for awhile, trying to talk, but she remained unresponsive. Sighing, he finally gave up and went back out into the kitchen. Iolaus had come in, and both he and Jason looked at the demigod expectantly as he joined them at the table.
“I couldn’t get her to drink any of the tea,” he admitted. “I left it there in case she wants it later.”
“She won’t want it later,” the hunter said frustratedly. “She hasn’t eaten since it happened. I just about have to force water down her throat. She hasn’t even left that room since yesterday morning. I don’t know what to do with her.” Iolaus rose and disappeared into the room that Hercules had just vacated.
“Elissa probably just needs some time,” Hercules reasoned. “She’s just lost a baby. Naturally she’s going to be upset.”
“It runs a little deeper than that,” Jason told him. “Apparently, this isn’t her first. She lost two others very early on that no one even knew about. She just told Iolaus about it now. I guess she thought that she’d made it far enough this time that everything would turn out ok.”
“But she’s blaming herself now,” the demigod said slowly.
“She thinks it’s her fault, and she thinks she’s a failure to her husband. Nothing Iolaus says will convince her otherwise. He’s about beside himself.”
“They’ll get through this,” Hercules said, not sure if he was trying to reassure Jason or himself. “Elissa will snap out of it.”
“I hope you’re right,” the Argonaut murmured.
“Elissa, please, you have to eat something,” Iolaus begged.
“How can I?” she whispered, turning tormented eyes to the hunter.
“I know how much you’re hurting,” Iolaus began patiently. “But starving yourself isn’t going to help anything.”
“How can I sit here and eat when my baby is in the ground?” the healer demanded of her husband as the tears began to fall. Iolaus took her in his arms, but she sat stiffly, refusing to let herself be comforted.
“What do I have to do to convince you that this isn’t your fault?” the hunter asked. “Sometimes these things just happen, and nobody can explain why.”
“I know why,” Elissa replied dully. “Because I’m cursed.”
“Why would you even think something like that?”
“Don’t you remember?” she asked, pulling away from him. “Sinis cursed me. Right before he died, he pointed at me and cursed me and all that I do.”
“Honey...” Iolaus was momentarily at a loss for words. “Sinis is dead and gone. He doesn’t have any power over you. He never did. Him cursing you was just his last ditch attempt at some mind games. How could you take what he said seriously?”
“Because my babies all died,” Elissa cried. “If that isn’t a curse, then what is?”
“You are not cursed,” the hunter declared vehemently. “And you can’t let this destroy you. All the time that Sinis was alive, you never let him get to you. Now that he’s dead, you can’t give him the satisfaction of breaking you You have to fight him, and you have to let yourself go on with your life. I know how much you wanted this baby, and what happened isn‘t fair and it isn‘t right. But sometimes terrible things happen to the best of people. I‘ve seen it too many times. But it doesn‘t have anything to do with a curse, or some sort of divine punishment. It‘s just the way the world goes. And it‘s up to you whether you want to lie down and give up or struggle on and hope that things are better tomorrow.”
Iolaus could see his words were not helping. Elissa wasn’t even listening, but was lost in depression. As she sobbed, the hunter held her tightly and sighed, praying that he would find the answer to how to help her.
Hercules stopped for a moment to admire the barn before he entered it. Iolaus and the villagers had rebuilt it after Calais had torched the first one, and it now stood solidly once more.
“Jason?” he called out as he came in.
“Up here,” came the reply from above. Hercules looked up and saw the Argonaut in the small hay loft, pitching down straw to the horses. In addition to the two that Iolaus and Elissa had decided to keep, they had also left room to accommodate Jason’s stallion. The demigod waited until his friend had finished his task and swung down from the loft.
“Anything today?” Jason asked, dusting himself off.
“No, she wouldn’t even look at me,” Hercules replied. “I don’t know what else to do. I’ve tried sympathy and patience. Today I even tried chastising her. I told her she was being selfish and that she was hurting Iolaus, but it was like she didn’t even hear me.”
“She can’t go on like this much longer,” the Argonaut said wearily. “And neither can Iolaus. But if she doesn‘t come to grips with this soon, I’m afraid we‘re going to lose her.”
“I’m not going to let that happen,” the demigod vowed. “There has to be something else we can try. I‘m going to go find Iolaus. Maybe if we all sit down together, we‘ll be able to think of something.”
“I’ll finish up here, and then I’ll be in,” Jason told him. He watched Hercules leave the barn, and then turned back to his chores. As he reached for the shovel that was leaning against the wall, the Argonaut paused. A dull pain had began shooting down his right arm. Jason flexed his fingers experimentally for a moment and then decided to ignore it, figuring that he must have pulled a muscle in his shoulder. He gave his horse an easy pat on the neck as he moved behind it to clean the stall.
“Elissa.” The healer didn’t respond as Iolaus came into the room. With fumbling fingers, he lit the oil lamp that sat on the table beside the bed and turned the flame up as high as it would go. Elissa sat up, blinking against the sudden light, and glared at her husband as he sat before her.
“What is it?”
“We need you,” Iolaus told her quietly. “Something’s wrong with Jason. Hercules found him in the barn, and I think it’s his heart. I don’t know what to do.”
“Jason?” she asked hesitantly.
“Yes,” the hunter confirmed. “Please, will you come out and take a look at him?”
“I can’t,” Elissa said finally, lying back down on the bed. “I just can’t.”
“You are a healer,” Iolaus began, but he was interrupted.
“Some healer I am,” she cried out. “I couldn’t even keep my own baby alive.”
“That was not your fault. There was nothing you could do to save her,” Iolaus shouted, losing his patience. He took Elissa by the arms and pulled her up to face him. “But you can do something now. Jason, your friend, is lying out there. Now are you going to sit in here and cry over something that was beyond your control while your friend dies, or are you going to go and help him?”
Elissa stared at him with wide eyes. He had never been so forceful with her before, but the hunter could see it was the shock she needed to break through her despondence.
“He’s dying, Elissa,” Iolaus said gently. “He needs your help.”
“Ok,” she agreed after a long moment. “I’ll try.” With a sigh of relief, Iolaus led her out of the room. Hercules had carried the Argonaut in from the barn, and they had placed him on the bed in the spare room. Jason was panting and tossing restlessly back and forth, and as the healer approached she could plainly see the fear in his eyes. If any malaise had remained with her, seeing him like that was the final jolt Elissa needed to cast it aside.
“Did you give him something?” she asked, noticing the empty mug on the table as she sat down on the bed next to her patient.
“Tea made with squill,” Iolaus replied. “But it didn’t seem to help any.”
“How are you doing, Jason?” Elissa murmured calmly, resting a soft hand against his forehead. His skin was cold and clammy beneath her fingers.
“It feels like Hercules is sitting on top of me,” the Argonaut tried to joke.
“Where is the pain?” Jason waved a hand vaguely over his chest and abdominal area. Elissa caught his hand in hers and felt his racing pulse.
“I’m having trouble breathing,” he confessed, growing serious. He tried not to let on how scared he was, but he had watched his beloved Alcmene die of these symptoms, and the Argonaut now feared the same was happening to him.
“Do you want more of this?” the hunter questioned, bringing the healer the small jar the contained the syrup of the squill. “Maybe I didn’t give him enough.”
“No,” she replied. “Sea onion isn’t going to help him. It’s not his heart that’s the problem. Help me get this off of him.” She tugged at the Argonaut’s tunic, and Hercules and Iolaus quickly helped her slip it off.
“If it’s not his heart,” Hercules asked in confusion. “Then what is it?”
“Here,” Elissa answered, pointing to Jason’s right shoulder. On close inspection, two tiny pinpricks were just barely visible.
“What is that?” Iolaus whispered.
“Spider,” the healer told them. “I imagine from the barn. He probably didn’t even feel the bite when it happened.” She turned her attentions to the Argonaut. “Jason, listen to me. I can give you something to help with the pain, but I’m afraid that you’re just going to have to ride this one out. It’s not going to be easy, but when it’s over I promise you that you’re going to be fine. So you just hang on, try to relax, and stay with me, all right? We‘re all here with you.”
Jason nodded, some of the fear leaving him. He trusted the healer, and if she said he was going to be all right, then he believed her.
“Hercules,” Elissa began, doling out the instructions. “Can you run into the village and bring back some goat’s milk? Iolaus, I need a bowl of water in here.” Both men ran off to do her bidding, and the hunter returned momentarily with her order.
“What else can I do?” Iolaus asked, hovering behind her.
“Just stay with him for a few minutes,” the healer replied. She dipped a cloth in the cool water and wiped the sweat from the Argonaut’s face. “Jason, I’ll be right back,” she told him before rising and moving to Iolaus. “I just want to clean up a little,” she whispered to him. The hunter nodded and went to sit with Jason as she slipped out of the room.
Elissa snatched up a clean dress from her room and ran outside to the stream that flowed adjacent to the house, jumping into the cold water and bathing quickly. The water refreshed her and helped to clear her mind and rejuvenate her soul. As she was tying up her wet hair, Elissa stopped suddenly, staring up the path that led into the woods. Iolaus had buried their daughter up there, along with her parents and her brother, Cimon. A wave of sadness flooded the healer, but she beat it back. The hunter had been right. It was time to focus her attentions on the living. Jason needed her now, and she couldn’t let him down.
“How’s he doing?” Hercules asked.
“He’s been asleep for a few minutes,” Iolaus whispered as his friend entered the room. “He’s been in a lot of pain, but I think that stuff Elissa gave him is helping.”
“I still don’t understand what the goat’s milk was for.”
“Elissa said something in it would help with muscle spasms. She put a bunch of other herbs in it though, so I don’t really understand either.”
Hercules looked down at his stricken friend. Jason was tossing fitfully in his sleep, and his expression was one of suffering. The demigod found it hard to believe that something as small as a spider could do so much damage. He had never been too fond of arachnids, especially after their adventure with the spider woman, Arachne. Now he had even more reason to look distastefully on the tiny creatures.
“Speaking of Elissa,” Hercules began. “Where is she?”
“She wasn’t out front?” the hunter asked. He swore softly and stood up when the demigod shook his head. “Stay here with him,” Iolaus told his friend, knowing that those instructions were not necessary. As Hercules took his seat by Jason’s bedside, the hunter slipped quietly out of the room. He was afraid that his wife had reverted back to her semi-catatonic state and had once again shut herself away in the bedroom. That was precisely where he found her, but she was sitting at the window and turned to him as he entered.
“Is Jason all right?” she asked quickly.
“He’s sleeping,” Iolaus told her. “What are you doing in here?”
“I shouldn’t have left him, but I needed a minute to think,” Elissa replied. “Iolaus, I want to go to Hestia’s temple.”
“Right now?”
“Soon,” the healer said. “I want to make sure that Jason is going to be all right, but then I want to go.”
“Elissa,” the hunter began. “Are you sure you’re up for this? It’s three days journey from here, and you can’t even be sure that Hestia will....”
“Please, Iolaus,” she interrupted. “I need this. This is something that I have to do.”
“All right,” he relented. “When you’re ready, I’ll go with you.”
“Hey.” Both of them jumped as Hercules stuck his head in the door. “I don’t mean to interrupt, but I think you should come and look at Jason.”
“What’s wrong?” Elissa demanded as she followed the demigod with Iolaus close behind.
“It seems like he’s breathing a little easier, but his pulse slowed way down.”
The healer checked the Argonaut over carefully, pulling a blanket over him when she had finished.
“I know it doesn’t seem right, but that’s normal,” she informed them. “I think the effects of the venom are beginning to wear off, and he should be fine in a few hours.” Even so, Elissa kept a vigil with Jason, sitting with him through the rest of the night and into the morning, even after the pain released him and he was able to sleep peacefully. When he finally awoke, the Argonaut was weak and sore, but he felt decidedly better and was extremely grateful to the young healer for all of her care. As much as she wanted to see him through to complete recovery, Elissa was also anxious to begin her journey. Leaving Hercules with the task of getting Jason back on his feet, the healer and her husband left the following morning for Hestia’s temple.
“What exactly do you think you’re going to accomplish by doing this?” Iolaus asked.
“Maybe nothing,” Elissa answered, running a hand wearily over her face. “But Hestia is the goddess of the hearth and I just feel like I need to talk to her. Remember after you killed Sinis, she promised to help us if we ever needed it.”
“Keeping promises to mortals isn’t exactly high on the gods’ list of priorities,” the hunter reminded her.
“I know, but Hestia is different. At least, I hope she is.”
“I guess we’ll see,” Iolaus said softly. He didn’t pretend to understand why Elissa felt the need to make this pilgrimage, but it was the first thing she’d shown interest in since the baby had died so he couldn’t bring himself to discourage her. Besides, he loved her and he would always stand by her, no matter what.
Their journey passed largely without incident, although the weather was overcast and rainy. Iolaus complained good naturedly, but he didn’t really care about the conditions. They had been at the stone house for a long time, and his adventurous spirit had been getting restless. The hunter wasn’t too concerned with the destination or the weather; he was just happy to be going somewhere.
“That’s funny,” he remarked quietly.
“What?” Elissa asked, squinting in the direction he was staring.
“I don’t remember that mountain being there before.”
“It’s not much of a mountain,” the healer said, studying the structure. “More like a big hill.”
“It’s way too big to be a hill,” Iolaus argued. “It might be on the small side, but it’s definitely a mountain.”
“Fine, oh-master-of-geology,” she conceded with a grin. “Do you suppose that your mountain might afford us some kind of shelter? Two nights out in the rain were enough for me.”
“Only one way to find out,” the hunter told her. “Come on.” He steered his horse off the road towards the landmark, and Elissa followed. Iolaus had to admit that he hadn’t been much in favor of keeping the two horses that his wife and Hebe had “borrowed” from Calais. He thought that it would be too much work to care for them. But Elissa had fallen in love with the spirited black stallion, so the hunter quickly decided to make the sacrifice. He always felt that he could never do much to provide for his wife. They lived in her family home, and most of the dinars that came their way were in payment for her healing work. It seemed the least he could do to build a barn and take on the extra work, if it would give her some happiness. And in truth, it turned out not to be much work at all. Elissa did most of it, finding that she loved spending time caring for the animals. Iolaus also had to admit that they did make traveling easier. He reached down and patted his horse gently on the neck. After Hebe had left, her horse had become his. Hebe had named it Chestnut, because of his color, and he was a very sturdy, placid animal. Elissa named her horse Boreas, because she said he could run like the wind. Actually, the feisty Boreas was more to Iolaus’ liking, but he always took Chestnut whenever they rode.
“That’s one heck of a cave,” Elissa commented, pointing to a gaping hole in the mountainside. “It looks like it could fit us and the horses.”
“Stay here a minute,” Iolaus cautioned her. “Let me check it out first.” He dismounted and handed his reigns to his wife. The hunter disappeared into the mouth of the cave, and after a few minutes he popped back out. “It seems to go back in long ways, but it looks safe enough.”
Elissa dismounted from Boreas and followed her husband to the cave. She tried to enter behind him, but the horses shied away from the cave and she could not coax them inside.
“I don’t know what’s wrong with them,” she said exasperatedly.
“They’re afraid for some reason,” Iolaus observed.
“Well, that’s stating the obvious,” the healer commented wryly. “But afraid of what?”
“I don’t know. You’d think living in the barn would have gotten them used to going into enclosed areas.”
“Well,” Elissa declared. “They’re just going to have to stay out here in the rain.” She led the animals a few yards away from the cave and looped their reigns around a nearby tree. Pausing as she entered the cave, she turned back to her husband who was staring thoughtfully at the mountain. “Are you coming?”
“It’s just bothering me,” he muttered, following her inside. “Why don’t I remember this being here before?”
“Why would you?” Elissa shrugged. “There’s not much memorable about a big hill.”
“I guess you’re right,” Iolaus said slowly. “I suppose I just never noticed this MOUNTAIN before.”
“Why don’t you go find some wood before it gets too dark?” the healer grinned. “This cave will be a lot cheerier once we get a fire going.”
The hunter hesitated for a moment. Something was bothering him, but he couldn’t figure out what. He couldn’t see or hear anyone around them, yet his instincts were alerting him to danger. Finally he decided to leave the cave to find firewood, figuring that it would give him a chance to scout the perimeter for any signs of potential trouble. He quickly covered a large radius surrounding the mouth of the cave, but found nothing. Instead of being relieved, the hunter became more alarmed. He saw no signs of life at all in the forest, which was not a good sign. No game, no birds, no calling insects. True, the drizzling rain could have been the cause of the lack of activity, but he definitely had a distinct feeling that something dangerous was hovering over the area.
Iolaus forgot all about the firewood as he raced back to the cave. Skidding through the opening, he cursed loudly as he discovered Elissa missing. The fading light outside made it difficult to see in the shadows of the cave, but he searched anyway and found no signs of anything. Not knowing what else to do, the hunter called his wife’s name loudly. When the echo of his voice faded away, Iolaus listened carefully, straining his ears for any sounds. After a moment, he heard Elissa’s voice. It was very faint and seemed to be coming from the back of the cave. She was telling him to run, to save himself.
Her warning came too late, but the hunter had no intentions of running anyway. He had begun moving cautiously towards the blackness in the back of the cave when suddenly the floor started to move beneath his feet. Iolaus lost his balance and fell on his back as the entire cave floor began to tilt. With a loud grating noise, the entrance to the cave was blocked out as floor rose up until it was almost completely vertical. The hunter struggled to hold on, but he couldn’t get a grip on the smooth rock and he quickly felt himself falling.
He fell into nothingness for a few heartbeats before smacking into solid rock. Iolaus tumbled down the rocky slope, scrambling frantically to get a hold on something. Finally, he drew his knife from his belt and managed to jam it into a crevice, stopping his descent. Panting heavily, the hunter held still for several moments, trying to rid himself of the vertigo that had overcome him during his fall into the blackness. He couldn’t see a thing in the pitch dark, so he decided to rest for a minute and get his bearings as he tried to figure out what had happened.
“Iolaus?” Elissa’s voice was close by and it made him sigh in relief.
“Right here,” he answered weakly.
“Are you all right?”
“Yes,” the hunter replied after giving the question some careful thought. His body was stinging with cuts and bruises from sliding down the rocky terrain, but overall he was unhurt. “Are you all right?”
“I’m fine, but I don’t know how much longer I can hold on.”
“Don’t worry,” Iolaus tried to reassure her. “I’ll get us out of here.” Truthfully, he wasn’t sure how he was going to manage that, as he didn’t even know where “here” was. Cautiously, the hunter felt the slope around him until he found hand and footholds, taking the strain of his weight off his knife. “We’re going to have to climb back out of here,” he said finally. “But that’s going to be nearly impossible in the dark.”
“I don’t know if I can,” Elissa whimpered.
“Yes, you can,” the hunter told her. “I’ll help you. First I’m going to come over where you are, ok? Just hang on until I get over there.” Iolaus sighed heavily and reached out with his right hand. He had free climbed mountain slopes a few times before, and he knew it was an extreme endurance test that required great physical strength. He wasn’t at all sure that Elissa would be able to make it, but they had little choice but to try. And as if it wasn’t going to be hard enough, not being able to see the crevices to grab onto was going to make it especially challenging.
It seemed to take an eternity, but eventually the hunter made it over to where Elissa was dangling, using her voice as a guide. The strap from her satchel had caught on a rock when she had fallen, saving her from whatever fate lay below them. She had been clinging to her bag for dear life, but once Iolaus reached her he pulled her into the rock slope and made her find cracks to hold onto.
“What in Tartarus is that?” the hunter asked as a noise began to sound from the darkness below them. It was a loud crashing and scraping, like an avalanche.
“It sounds like a bunch of rocks rolling around down there,” Elissa answered. “You know, I do believe your mountain is trying to eat us.”
“That’s ridiculous,” Iolaus scoffed, but all the same he decided that they needed to get out of there as soon as possible. “Come on, we have a long climb up. Reach your hand up and find another hold.”
“I can’t,” the healer said after a long pause.
“Sure you can. Just reach up and feel around...”
“Iolaus, I can’t do it,” she cried. “I feel like I’m going to fall.”
“Hey,” the hunter reassured her. “I’m right here beside you. I’ve got you, and I’m not going to let you fall. Don’t you trust me?”
“Of course I do, but...”
“Elissa, this is our only way out. We have to do this. I promise you that you’re going to be all right. I’m right here with you. Now just reach up and find something to hold onto.”
“I’m scared,” she whispered.
“I know,” Iolaus replied gently. “I am too. But I’m not going to let you fall. Now just reach up...”
“I’ve got it,” Elissa told him after a minute.
“Good girl,” the hunter encouraged. “Now find one with your other foot. Go slowly. Take all the time you need. That’s it. Now just pull yourself up. I’ve got you.”
With agonizing slowness, the pair made their way up the slope. Gradually, it began to taper off a bit, becoming less vertical. That was fortunate, because Iolaus was starting to get fatigued, so he knew Elissa must be nearing exhaustion. Any little thing to make the climb less arduous was well appreciated. Suddenly, the healer’s grip slipped and she began sliding back down with a scream. Iolaus reached out and managed to catch her hand. Gathering his strength, he pulled her back up to him, keeping an arm tightly around her as she found holds in the rock.
“I can’t go anymore,” Elissa gasped.
“Yes you can,” the hunter insisted. “It’s not much further now. Here, you can feel the fresh air blowing down. That means we’re almost at the top.”
“I don’t have anything left,” the healer protested.
“Then we’ll just stay here for a minute and rest,” Iolaus told her. “I’m not leaving you, Elissa. Don’t quit now. It’s just a little bit further.” She leaned in to rest her head against his shoulder and he felt her slight nod. The hunter moved his hand from around her waist to reach up and stroke her tangled hair. “We’re almost there,” he promised.
“Let’s go,” Elissa sighed, straightening herself and reaching up once more.
They continued climbing, and the slope continued to level off until they could almost crawl along the rock. Iolaus kept pushing his wife to continue on, urging her to move faster as the climb became easier. Finally, they made it back to the cave where it had all began. The floor had descended back to it’s normal position, and they could clearly see the early morning rays outside as the sun began to dawn.
“Come on,” Iolaus commanded, taking Elissa’s hand and pulling her toward the mouth of the cave. He wasn’t sure if the floor would rise up again or not, but he was taking no chances. The cave remained stationary though, as they burst through the mouth back out into the coming morning.
The healer collapsed on the ground, sobbing with relief. Iolaus felt drained himself, now that their ordeal was over. He slumped to the ground beside his wife, taking her in his arms and soothing her. Once she had calmed down, it was clear that she was completely exhausted. The hunter scraped together some pine needles under a nearby tree and made a little nest with a blanket. Elissa fell deeply asleep immediately, but her husband didn’t join her. His own tiredness gave way to a more pressing curiosity, and he left the healer sleeping while he went to get a closer look at the “mountain”.
“It has to be a toy of the gods,” Iolaus mused. “It just reeks of Hera.”
“You really think that it was alive?” Elissa asked, reigning in her eager horse beside Chestnut. After a period of rest, they had resumed their journey once more.
“I don’t have any proof to confirm that,” the hunter told her. “It was just a feeling I got. It just had a presence to it.”
“I wish we had some way of destroying it.”
“I told the neighboring village and they promised to post warnings so that no other travelers fall into that trap,” Iolaus explained. “I guess that’s the best we can do for now. Maybe Hercules will have some idea of how to dispose of it.”
“I just wonder how many lives it claimed before we stumbled across it?” the healer asked softly.
“Well, it didn’t get either of us,” Iolaus declared proudly.
“Thanks to you,” Elissa said. “I was never so scared in all my life. I’d never have made it out of there without you.”
“You did fine,” the hunter praised her. “I knew you would.”
Elissa smiled gently at her husband and reached out a hand to him. He took it and squeezed it, blue eyes shining with love for the beautiful healer that shared his soul.
Iolaus watched as the temple doors opened and his wife emerged. Gracefully, she ran lightly down the steps toward him, her auburn hair flying out behind her. The light of goodness and purity still shone brightly from her, and the hunter’s throat constricted at the sight. After their baby had died, he had been so afraid that she was going to lose that light that he loved so well. But even after everything, the illumination still radiated from her.
“Was it worth all this trouble?” he teased as she approached.
“Believe it or not, it was,” Elissa assured him. “Hestia did come to me.”
“What did she say?” Iolaus didn’t know why his wife had wanted him to wait outside while she went in, but he had respected her wishes.
“A lot of things,” the healer said vaguely. “But she put her hands on my stomach and told me everything was fine. She promised me that I would bear a child when the time was right.”
“Does that make you feel better?”
“Strangely, yes,” Elissa admitted. “At least it makes me feel like less of a failure.”
“I never considered you a failure,” Iolaus insisted. “I love you, and nothing could ever change that, especially this. Even if we never had a child, it wouldn’t change the way I feel about you.”
“I know that now,” she said softly. “And I’m sorry that I acted the way I did.”
“You were upset. I understand.”
“It wasn’t fair to you,” the healer continued. “You lost a baby, the same as I did. You were grieving just as much as I was, and then you had to worry about me on top of it all. I’m sorry I put you through that.”
“Let’s go home,” Iolaus suggested abruptly. “I know you want to check up on Jason, and maybe if you feel up to it, we could start trying for another baby.”
“Why wait?” Elissa asked with a wicked grin. “After all, trying is half the fun.”
“I never thought I’d be so glad to be home,” the healer sighed as they rounded the bend in the road and the great stone house came into view.
“Do you see that?”
“What?” Elissa asked, directing her gaze to where her husband was pointing.
“There’s something by the door,” Iolaus informed her, eyes narrowing as he tried to make it out. “I think it’s a person.”
The healer gently kicked Boreas and urged him into a trot. Chestnut followed, with a bit more urging from the hunter, and as they neared the shape huddled outside of the house clearly took human form. Elissa swung down easily from the stallion and approached the figure. Iolaus had been busy with securing the horses, but he looked up as he heard her startled gasp.
“Argeon,” she whispered, taking in the ragged state of her brother. “What happened to you?”
“I’m in trouble, Elissa,” the sailor said helplessly. “I’m afraid that by coming here I’ve put you in danger, but I didn’t know where else to go. I know that after what I did to you I have no right to ask for your help....”
“Stop it, Argeon,” the healer told him. “You’re still my brother. Of course we’ll help you.”
“Come on,” Iolaus offered, helping the sailor to his feet and supporting him. “Let’s go inside and Elissa can check you over while you tell us what happened.”
Argeon shot him a grateful glance. He wouldn’t have blamed the hunter at all if he had thrown him out. The sailor knew he deserved it for trying to break up their wedding and almost getting Elissa killed in the process. As they helped him inside, Argeon could only hope that he had not brought that threat to them once more. He sent out a silent prayer to spare his family from the evil that was chasing him, knowing that he was probably too late.
Disclaimer: No man-eating mountains/hills were harmed during the writing of this story
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