Morning brought a return of the sun. The empath woke and lay where she was, letting her mind become aware slowly. She felt dreadful. She desperately needed a drink but hated to make the effort to fulfill the need. With caution, for every movement caused pain, she sat up. She reached for the water with her right hand, and taking a long drink she sighed with pleasure. The water tasted so cool and refreshing. Her hair had escaped the braid the hunter had put it in yesterday and she pushed it impatiently from her face. She knew she must look a sight, with her hair in such disarray and with the bits of straw and hay that clung to it. She pulled it to the side and loosened the rest of the braid. With her fingers she combed it into a semblance of order then began to braid it again. It wasn't easy at the best of times. Her hair hung to below her knees, thick and heavy. But now she must go slow and try not to use her left hand and arm if she could avoid it. When she was satisfied she had done the best she could, she tore a strip of cloth from the dress Mary had loaned her, and wetting it she washed the right side of her face and neck. The dress was too stained with her blood and that of the demigod to be salvaged anyway. She took another drink, then wetting the cloth again she began to bathe and caress the demigod's chest. She deliberately let the tenderness toward him build. She knew the strength it could bring to the healing. She wet his lips and ran her thumb over them lightly. She ran her hands over his arms and down to his hands then across his abdomen. She hadn't been aware that the hunter had awakened and that he watched her now.

With a moan of pain he rose and stumbled from the barn. He grabbed his bow and quiver of arrows as he passed them and was gone. Sira called to him but he didn't respond. She sent her mind to him and found his closed to her. She reached out a hand to steady herself. Finding no response where there had always been one before left her feeling dizzy. He was deliberately closing his mind to her, and doing far too good a job of it.

"No!" her mind cried. "Iolaus, my soul, please do not shut me out." Her mind pleaded with him but she knew he couldn't feel her thoughts. "What have I done?" she whimpered.

The demigod took her hand. "Sira? What is it, my sister?" He could feel her anguish and it tore at his insides.

"He is gone."

"Who's gone?"

"Iolaus. He is gone."

"Gone where? What in Tartarus has happened?"

"He walked away and has closed his mind to me." She turned pain filled eyes to the man beside her. "I cannot live without him. He is my soul."

"What started this?" He had a good idea that it was just what he had feared might happen.

As Sira explained, his guilt grew. "He'll be back. He can't live without you either. Just give him some time."

She cried silently and he pulled her into his arms. "You know he won't stay away long. He's hurting right now because of what he saw, but he'll come to his senses." She cried even harder. "I'm so sorry, Sira. I was afraid this might happen. Humans feel so differently about such things. I know you don't understand, but I do. Don't worry. He'll return. And if it means my walking away then I will."

"You cannot blame yourself. You are right. He will return and we will work this out."

She insisted they do a healing but her heart wasn't in it. She doubted it really benefited either of them. And still the other half of her soul was lost to her.

He had taken a rabbit then he found a quiet little grove of trees in which to stop. There was a trickle of water from a nearby jumble of rocks. He bathed his face and quenched his thirst. He made his fire and put the rabbit to cook on a spit over the flames. When he first left the barn he had deliberately not allowed himself to think. He had not only closed his mind to the empath, but to himself as well. He looked around him. It was pleasant here. He liked the smell of the wood smoke in the trees and the sound of the water as it bubbled about the rocks. He felt the peace the outdoors so often brought him begin to ease his tight muscles and soothe his anxiety. He gave thanks to the earth. Her earth, the mother of her creation. And he felt a peace wash over him. Three hours ago, if he had been asked if he had accepted Sira and what she was and what she could do, he would have said yes. If someone had said he hadn't, he would have called them a liar. But now he realized he really had never come to grips with her earthly powers. He had continued to judge her by human standards. He now realized that was not possible where she was concerned. His heart opened to the call of the earth and he prayed for guidance from her god. "Lead me," he said out loud. "You brought us together. I guess I never really accepted that either."

He removed the meat from the fire and placed it on a rock to cool. He had always found comfort in the wilds, but it had been a superficial comfort, not a spiritual one. But now, somehow that had changed. The earth seemed to be soothing him and helping him to accept the woman he loved. After he thought he had lost her that time in Acubus he had asked Thysis to grant him entry into her clan, the clan of the wolf and the lion. The elder, Sira's chosen father, had readily agreed. But the hunter hadn't understood just what the granting of that request had really meant. How could I have been so blind? I say I love her, then I've hated all the things that make her what she is. I've always done the same thing to Hercules. I've loved him as a friend and brother, and yet I've hated the fact that he's a demigod. He threw back his head. What a selfish bastard I've been.

He went to his knees beside the fire, and placing both his hands on the soil he opened his heart to the earth. He felt the energy flow from the soil and into his hands. It engulfed and surrounded him. He felt the tranquillity the earth offered seep into his heart and soul, and he wept with the wonder of it.

Darkness fell, and still the hunter hadn't returned. Sira lay quietly beside the demigod. She had said nothing in hours. He was truly concerned for her. He could feel the depth of her despair and it ate away at him. He couldn't believe his friend could be so heartless to the woman he loved. A sob escaped the girl's lips and the demigod felt his anger rise.

The hunter extinguished his fire and headed back to the village of Yucaipia. As he walked, he felt a tug on his mind. Hoping it was Sira he opened his mind to the insistent pull.

"Iolaus, you bastard. Get yourself back here now. How dare you put Sira through such pain, you selfish ass. You know damn well she loves you." The hunter tried to interrupt the demigod's tirade with his own thoughts but his friend continued. "You're being a damn fool. I would give anything to have a woman care for me like Sira cares for you. Do you really believe either one of us would let something happen between us? What Sira and I feel is separate and apart from your feelings for her and what she feels for you. She's right in that it has also brought you and I closer. But it's simply not the same thing. You should see that. I don't know how to explain it. Maybe it can't be explained in human terms. The love Sira and I share is a wondrous and wonderful thing, but it doesn't take away from you. All right, I find her attractive. You'd have to be dead not to. It should flatter you that such a beautiful, loving, remarkable woman would love you so completely that she is laying here in pain and despair because she thinks she has done something to hurt you. I feel lucky to have her as a sister, and she doesn't care for me half as much as she does for you. I'm the one who should be jealous. I'm the demigod. The hero. I'm the one who's supposed to get the girl. And the one woman who could truly make me happy is in soul's link with my brother."

"Hercules," the hunter interrupted.

"Shut up, Iolaus. I'm not through with you yet. Sira is here crying her eyes out, convinced some huge magical beast has eaten you for dinner. I told her she was better off if it had, considering the Tartarus you've put her through. And you, you lout, don't even care."

The hunter came through the barn door, and kneeling beside the healer he took her into his arms. His mind opened to her and she sobbed with love and relief. The demigod's face was split with a wide grin and he turned away to try and give them some privacy.

"Do not ever leave me again!" The pain behind the words brought a moan from his lips.

"I didn't leave you. I just needed some time to think, and to understand my feelings, and yours."

"It felt as if my soul were being torn apart."

"Oh, Sira, I'm sorry. I wasn't deliberately trying to hurt you."

"I am so sorry that I hurt you. What you saw was not me trying to seduce your best friend. I was building tenderness because it can strengthen the healing."

"Sira, you've done nothing wrong. It wasn't like that really. I was jealous that you would want to give so much of yourself to another. That's been a lot of my problem. I hate to admit it, but there have been times I've been jealous of Hercules. It just all came to a boiling point when I realized I was going to have to get used to sharing you. Not only with Herc, but with others as well. I was treating you as a prize I had won in some manly contest and I didn't want to share my new trophy." He kissed her nose. "I went to the forest, your mother, and I prayed for peace. It isn't the first time the earth has guided me. That time on our farm, when you were wilting and dying, I prayed for guidance, and I was told to take you to the forest. The truth is, I never really understood you. I was judging you by human standards, just as I've always judged Hercules the same way. I see now, that's impossible."

She cried silently against his chest. "I love you, my soul. Nothing will change that. I am still your prize, and I always will be. But I think I am the one to have won the trophy. You cannot be judged by human standards either. Somehow you have become so much more. Your depth of feeling and the strength of your mind has given you a special gift, the gift of understanding and compassion." She smiled at him. "Children see it first. Look how Sarmen took to you. There have been others. Now it is Megan. Even Helen, as shy as she is has warmed up to you. It is a very special gift."

"I'll never be happy seeing you in pain or seeing that you must heal. But I understand it better now, and it can take its proper place in my thinking. I was taking it personally. I see now how foolish that is. The truth is, I don't give a damn if you and Hercules do... " He grinned. "Well, you know. It won't change what we have. Alcmene found that peace of mind with Jason. She simply didn't care what might have happened at that monastery in Fashidra. She hated what it had done to Jason, but beyond that she knew it wouldn't change the love they shared. She could see that if he could come to terms with it, it wouldn't change the important things in their lives. If you need to be intimate in a healing, then do so. If making love to Hercules is needed to heal him, then so be it. I know now that our forever is just that, and the earth has shown me how lucky I am that you've chosen me to share that forever."

The girl's breath caught on a sob. "For you only do I give that part of me. You are my soul."

"Forever," he whispered.

"Even unto death."

He laid down beside her and held her. He could feel her weariness. "Rest for a time. Then we can do another healing."

She closed her eyes and their minds blended. His thoughts caressed her and she could feel the truth of what he had told her. Their soul's touch was like a caress. She didn't sleep long. The need to heal outweighed the need to sleep and she woke to once again join the three of them in a trance of healing.

The demigod had heard the conversation between the lovers. His respect had grown for the friend of his childhood. He had always known that the hunter was given to strong emotions and fierce loyalties. He hadn't known however, just how special his friend was. Sira was right, he couldn't be judged by human standards either. The big man had felt some of the emotions behind what the hunter had confessed to the girl he loved. He could feel the turmoil his blond friend had felt at times because of their differences. He could well understand. He had always lived with being different, never quite fitting in the world of humans, and not a god either. He knew that Sira had always felt the same way. While she had the close tie of family and of her clan, she was still not the same as others in her village. Her mind was so much stronger than the minds of the others. Was it any wonder the three of them were so close? They had a lot in common.

The healing went well. The healer took a great deal on herself and would have taken more if the demigod hadn't stopped her. She laid down on the straw beside him and he curled himself around her. The hunter laid in front of her and took her in his arms. She felt comforted and warm with love and she fell asleep with a smile on her face. The demigod wasn't sleeping, however. He had tried several times to stop Sira before she got so tired and before she took too much on herself. But his mind hadn't been strong enough to do so. If I hadn't tried to deny the powers she calls the earth's power, I could have not only stopped her before she went this far but I would also be better able to help her in the healing. I've been a fool. I've worried so much about getting too attached to her that I've deliberately shut out her attempts to help me strengthen my mind. But it's too late for that now. We're already bonded. He shook his head. How differently the yosemin people feel about such things. Perhaps it's because of the fact that they can feel another person's emotions, he mused. They're so free of inhibitions and restrictions. Sira was right, humans put too much importance on the physical side of life and seldom see what's really before their eyes.

The big man felt the tremor in the ground beneath them and grabbed the healer. She jerked with pain. She didn't cry out this time, however. Instead, she lay limp beside him, whimpering. She clung to him, and the hands that held him so tightly shook. Her plaintiff whimper of pain and fear made her sound like a frightened child, and he moaned with compassion for her. He could sense her weakness and it frightened him. She had taken so much on herself that it had left her vulnerable and unprepared for what she must endure now.

He felt her mind slipping from him. "Iolaus! Quickly, we've got to help her. Open your mind to her."

The hunter turned anguished eyes to the demigod. "This is killing her. She's so weak."

"Help me now. We can give her some of our strength." The girl slumped in his arms and fear shot through him, but he could still feel her mind. It was vague and distant, but it was there. A wail of despair filled his ears and made him cringe. The pain of that cry shook him to the bone. The ground shook beneath him and joined the cry and he knew the earth was weeping, weeping for its child. "No! I won't let her go. Damn it, Iolaus! Help me!"

A harness hanging on a hook near the hunter fell to clatter on the floor. The sound shook the hunter from his despair. He sent his mind to the daughter of the earth. He felt her life force, no matter how slightly, and he knew hope. He sent a prayer to the earth. We can save her! his mind shouted and the demigod cringed once again, but this time at the intensity of his friend's blast of mind.

The earth settled and its cry lessened. Sira's mind began to respond to the strong minds around her, but she was still so weak. The big man kept his mind on hers. He knew they must maintain the link or the healing she had done so far might be lost, which could harm them both. As weak as she was, should that happen they would lose her. He began to call to her, repeating her name over and over. The call became a chant, and still he refused to lessen his hold on her mind. Slowly she began to respond. Slowly he felt her gain strength, taking it from the two men who offered it so willingly. She began to whimper and the hunter crooned to her like he might a child. She clung to the men and slowly her fear began to ease. Her shoulder bled. The hunter wrapped it in a cloth and held her against him to keep it in place then he laid down with her. The demigod rolled up to her back and curled himself around her, his arm across her waist.

"Thanks, Herc."

"I think she's going to be all right now, my friend. But just in case, I think we should stay close."

"I have no intention of going anywhere."

"You're okay with me close also?"

"Yes, my friend. I found my peace with you and with her. The earth showed me the way."

"Did you hear the cry? The earth was weeping for her. When we almost lost her, I heard the cry."

"The earth wept for her?"

"Yes."

They were silent for a time. "Herc?"

"Hum?"

"She really is special, isn't she?"

"Yes, my friend, she is. You're a very lucky man."

"We both are."

The demigod smiled into the night.

The night reluctantly gave way to the morning. The people of the village talked in quiet groups. No one was missing this time but fear rode the people. Some talked about leaving the valley. There were tears and arguments. Simtose was adamant that they should wait until Hercules was better and give him a chance to save the village. Others doubted even the demigod's ability to help them. Granny Bess left her house, something she seldom did. But she could sense the unease in the village she had been born into and she was disturbed by it more than the strange events that had set the people's nerves on edge.

Simtose had checked on the three people in the barn. He found them sleeping and quietly let the animals into the fenced area behind the barn so that they wouldn't disturb his new friends. He took Granny Bess' hand when she joined the group of villagers near the town well. He found her a place to sit and stayed by her in case she might need him. His own grandmother had died while he was still a baby and he had adopted Granny Bess even before he had started courting Mary. What he didn't know was that Granny had already decided that her Mary should have the quiet hard working farmer and that she had already set about making it happen. Mary was pretty so it wasn't really hard to get the boy to notice her. A word here and a word there, dropped quite innocently by Granny Bess had made him see what a wonderful girl Mary was.

Granny listened to the take around the well for a time. "You're all being foolish. Give our friends a chance to help us. Stay in at night. No one has turned up missing that wasn't out and about near the old place. No one has been stolen from their beds, and no one is going to be."

"What about Lizzy?" someone reminded her.

"The foolish girl was forever wandering the hills. She wasn't snatched from her bed."

"What about the contaminated area? It just keeps getting bigger. It will soon take over the whole valley."

"There's plenty of time to see if that's true. It moves very slowly. Besides, if the evil out there can be stopped, then the spread of the contamination will also stop. And in time the earth will cleanse itself."

"How can you know that for sure?"

"Because I was here the last time this happened. I'm the oldest citizen, but there are some who were children back then. Anves, you remember? Did the earth not become pure again?" The old man said nothing. "Surely you haven't forgotten that terrible night. I remember you used to have nightmares about it."

He nodded. "Granny Bess is right. This has happened before. Let's wait and see if Hercules can help us. Our lives are here. Are you so willing to give that up?"

Hercules moved closer to Sira. He wasn't awake, but the comfort he felt at her closeness had drawn him back against her when in his slumber he had rolled away. His arm went over her waist and rested on the arm of the hunter. The golden one tightened his grip on the girl he loved. He wasn't awake either. And the healer slept on.

"What in the name of the gods!? What perversion is this?" Always the hunter, Iolaus was awake instantly. He disengaged himself from the others and started for the farmer. Cadmus backed away. "The three of you, lying in perversion. I knew you were evil. I knew you were a part of this."

"Calm down. I can explain this."

"There's no explanation needed. It's plain to see. Well, I'm not going to sit by and let this continue. You stole my Lizzy from me, but you're not going to hurt anyone else."

Mary came to the barn to check on them and heard the angry voices. "Cadmus? What are you doing here? Where's Annie?" The distraught man started to back away from her as well. "Cadmus, where's Annie? You didn't leave her out there all alone, did you?" He turned to run. "Where are you going?"

"To the castle, to put a stop to this, once and for all."

"Wait, Cadmus! Where is Annie?"

The hunter took her arm. "Where's Simtose? Get him. We need to go after Cadmus."

Mary nodded and ran for town. The hunter knelt beside Sira. "Are you okay?" She nodded. "We need to find Annie and go after Cadmus. If I leave, will you be all right?"

"Yes. Bring him back. Go, hurry."

Simtose returned with two others and they made a start for the farm on the edge of the dead earth. They found Annie sitting alone and forlorn in the middle of her bed. The house was a mess, dirty dishes stacked everywhere and food left out to spoil. Annie was dirty and her clothing was stained with more than one day's filth. Twice since Lizzy had disappeared, Mary had gone to the farm to try and convince Cadmus to let her help with Annie, but he had demanded she leave the farm. Mary had convinced another friend to try and he had been just as nasty to her. Simtose's heart turned over with compassion for the little girl who looked so much like her mother. He picked her up and hugged her to him.

"How about if we go see Megan and Helen? You can get a bath and some food, and Mary will take good care of you."

"Where's my Daddy?"

Iolaus stayed only long enough to be sure Annie was all right then he headed for the castle. The other two men refused to accompany him. He left them feeding the animals of the farm, something that the distraught man had obviously neglected to do much of late. The hunter took his time searching the castle. He not only looked for the farmer, but for a passage that might lead to underground chambers. He was shocked by the amount of damage the earthquakes had inflicted on the castle and to the ground surrounding it. Great fissures had formed in the dead earth, leaving it scarred. Absentmindedly, he wondered what seeing the earth so torn would do to Sira.

He returned to Cadmus' farm when his search turned up nothing. He hoped he might find the farmer home now, but it wasn't to be. Simtose had already returned to the village with Annie. The other two men had waited at the farm for him. The three of them returned empty handed. There was still a chance the farmer would show up. Iolaus left a note on the kitchen table, telling him where he could find his daughter but none of them really believed he would turn up. The hunter had followed his tracks to the castle and then lost them on the stone steps. He considered himself a good tracker, but it was as if the footprints just stopped. There was a track in the dust of the step, then nothing. He knew magic was involved. He was a practical man, not given to foolishness and superstition, but he knew without doubt no one's tracks just stop.

He went to Sira. She sat up with difficulty at his approach. "Nothing?"

He shook his head.

"So, now they send someone to check for missing people." The old man stumbled and turned back to the beast. "You have your human flesh now. But the spell of levitation has drained me. I must now take the time to make the spell needed to leave this body and inhabit another." He sighed at the delay. His portal was almost open. His powers had almost doubled since he had returned here three years ago. It didn't seem possible that it had been so long. He had been working on his spells and incantations all this time, growing in strength and knowledge. But even before he had returned physically he had used his powers to work his magic even from Tartarus. Hades had been so full of himself and his empire, he hadn't even been aware. So much had changed in the time he had been confined in the underworld. Much of his magic had weakened and he had worked hard to restore it. He was fully aware that he poisoned the earth with his magic, but he didn't care. For nearly ten years now, the earth had been dying. The old master had no illusions about what was happening around the old castle. He knew of the deformities his poisons perpetrated on the people of the village, and he was glad. If they had only believed in me and joined me, this wouldn't have happened. My magic would have protected them. Foolish frightened people. So what if a few were eaten?

I must choose my victim, and when my spell is complete, I will lure him to me. I can't go far with this old body. That one who was here, he should do nicely. He's strong and smart. Yes. It will be him. And who's to say I can't use him to lure the girl here to feed my little pet? Her powers might even be exploited for my use.

"Did he hurt your feelings, my love?"

The empath shook her head. "No."

He could see that she was upset by the events of the morning. "You're sure?"

"I felt such pain from him. He blamed himself, and that blame twisted his mind. I should not have said what I did the other day."

"This isn't your doing, Sira. Besides, I wonder if Annie isn't better off this way. You should have seen the place." He shivered. "If I know Mary, she'll keep Annie right here and she will be loved and cared for. Lizzy would want it that way, I think."
She searched his face. "We must put a stop to this. Even if the people move away, what is to prevent the contamination from continuing? If we have to tear the old castle down brick by brick, we will. But I will not rest until this is stopped."

The demigod grinned. "Now she's talking my kind of talk. Let's get on with the healing. When we can we're going back out there and we're staying out there until we find the old master or whoever is behind this. Then we'll put a stop to this madness."

Salmoneus sat back with a satisfied sigh. He had just returned to Alcmene's farm and she had fed him a good meal. He had been visiting some of the nearby villages and had sold quite a bit of his cookware. The dinars made a nice jingle in his purse. He was a little surprised that Hercules and the others hadn't returned yet but he wasn't really worried. Hercus had assured him that, while first Sira had been hurt, and then Hercules, they were well on their way to recovery. The boy had avoided telling the demigod's mother of her son's injury. He had no wish to alarm her. He had however felt the need to discuss it with someone and had confided in the salesman. It wasn't that he was worried that his mother wouldn't be all right or that she would be unable to help his uncle of the soul, but he had felt the need of conversation and perhaps understanding. He had found them both in the bearded one. He and Salmoneus had become good friends. The man respected the boy, and the boy's sensitive mind had seen beyond the greedy facade the salesman used as a shield against his real feelings. The boy had liked what he found carefully hidden away and he had touched that part of the real man without him even being aware of it. The boy had felt his new friend's loneliness and had responded to it.

He had gone with the salesman on some of his trips and had used his big blue eyes and innocent face to convince people they couldn't live without the cookware. He hadn't used his mind to sway them, just his charm, and he had enjoyed the subtle persuasion that was needed to convince people to part with their hard earned dinars. He began to see why Salmoneus got so much pleasure from his work.

The salesman taught the boy how to play chips then wished he hadn't. At his tender age and without using his telepathy he won nearly half the time. He had an uncanny knack for remembering what had been played and using that memory to advantage. Salmoneus confessed to Jason that it was hard to lose a game of chips to a baby and the former king of Corinth laughed.

"Somehow, despite his size and the fact I know he is so young, I can't think of him that way."

"Yeah, I know what you mean."

Hercus spent a lot of time with Winnie. They had a close bond and the girl was so often lonely. She welcomed his visits. He also spent time communicating with Thysis. His grandfather of the soul spent time each day sending his mind out over the miles and helping the boy exercise and strengthen his mind. They both knew that soon the boy must return to his studies with the elder, but for now Sira's chosen father was content to let the boy remain with his mother.

Iolaus went to the house to get some food. Granny Bess was there. "You've been to the castle then," she stated rather than asked.

"I've been there."

"What did you find?"

"Nothing," he stated flatly.

"How are your wife and Hercules?"

"Better, I guess."

"You sound defeated."

"I'm just discouraged. We came here to help, and we've done nothing but eat up what little food there is and cause more trouble."

"You've given us hope. That in itself can mean a lot."

"It hasn't given all of you hope. What about Cadmus?"

"Cadmus was a fool. He always was if you ask me."

"Well, he didn't think much of us, that's for sure."

"He said your wife is a witch."

The hunter began to pace. "She's a healer, an empath. She is a different race, a yosemin, but she's no witch." He could feel his anger begin to rise.

"I've heard of a people of the forest who could do these things your wife is capable of."

"I suppose you also heard they can steal your mind and soul." He didn't wait for an answer. "It's a lie. She isn't evil, she's good. She does only good. She would never hurt anyone."

"Did you know that when a person loses one of their senses, the other senses become more keen?"

"I've heard that, yes."

"Well, believe it. I may be blind but I'm no fool. I felt something from your wife's touch. Something pure and natural. There was a healthy growing feeling about her, like I get from my plants. I could sense nothing dark or sinister about her. I hope your wife and Hercules are better soon. We need your help."

The hunter planted a kiss on her cheek. "Thanks, Granny Bess. You really are beautiful."

The old man was angry. His spell to separate himself from the body he now inhabited was going well but the portal to the underworld was not. It was as if the earth herself was fighting him. He made a little spell that could give his old body some energy, but he knew this would eventually speed the deterioration of the shell that housed him. The beast was a constant annoyance now. He had considered killing this one and creating another. But it would all take time and he was afraid his time was short. The mind of the woman was strongly felt. Not always against him but still felt. He was almost afraid of the power he felt from her. And behind the power was the force of good. He shuddered.

"I will enjoy seeing her go down your gullet, my friend," he told the beast. He leaned over the table where he had spread his scrolls and parchments. I wish I could remember what used to be written here before the edge was burned away, he thought. With what went on that night, it's a wonder I was able to save any of my things. It is good that these chambers were never discovered.

Sira swayed with the trance of healing. She was pleased with the progress they had made. It had been nearly a week now since the night she had come so close to death. The earth had stayed still and no disturbances had robbed the people of their sleep. The hunter had been successful in his hunting and Mary was most pleased with the meat she had preserved. They had fished almost daily and the other villagers were happy to trade extra food they might have for the fish.

The hunter sat on the straw near the healer and watched her. She was always beautiful, but never so much as when she was healing. He had helped her bathe and wash her hair. The golden strands were lit with a pale blue light that made them shine silver. She had changed into her dress, discarding the one from Mary since it was too stained to salvage. He knew what she would smell like if he were closer and could smell her fragrance. She sweetened the soap she made from plants with Jasmine petals. He had found it hard to keep his hands off of her while he bathed her. The demigod had turned his back but it wasn't enough privacy to put into action his desires as the scent of the soap filled his nostrils. She always smelled of the pungent flower and of the forest and growing things and he had found it an intoxicating aroma.

Megan crawled into the barn. She had started visiting every afternoon and he found he looked forward to the visits.

"Lady Megan." She grinned at him. "I'm glad you're here. I want you to try out what I've made you." He pulled the leg brace out from under the hay and showed it to her.

"What is it?"

"I hope it will help you walk." She looked at him with big eyes. He pulled a pair of leather hard-soled shoes out of the hay as well. "Sit, my lady, and we will see what we see." He put the shoes on her first.

"I've never had shoes before."

He smiled at her and began to fit her leg into the brace. It strapped onto her thigh with a leather strap and onto the shoe with a metal piece in front of the heel. He turned a screw on the side that tightened a spring and the brace was ready. He stood and pulled her to her feet. "It should support your foot and leg so you can walk. Now we just need to teach you how to walk."

He held her hands and she moved her good leg forward. The bad leg didn't want to follow. The muscles, so long unused didn't want to respond. She tried again and managed a tiny step. He had hoped for more, but she was split from ear to ear with a grin.

"I did it, Iolaus! I walked. Did you see it?"

"You're magnificent. Try one more time." She gladly did as he asked. "It won't take you long to get the hang of it."

"I can help her strengthen her muscles. That will help a lot."

He hadn't been aware that the healer had halted the healing and was watching them. He looked up to smile at her. "Not bad, eh?"

"It is wonderful." She gave him a big smile.

"I don't want to tell my parents yet, not until I can really walk. Can we keep it a secret for awhile? Then I can keep coming here to practice?"

"That's a good idea."

Sira showed her some exercises she could do on her own to help build up what muscle she had. She also helped her with some that took two people. The demigod watched her. When Megan left the barn at her mother's call the demigod laid back down, his head propped on his arms.

"Where'd you learn that?" He turned to the healer. "The exercises and things? Where did you learn how to do that?"

"I am a healer. Healing isn't just knowing how to use the mind. It is knowing what gifts from mother earth heal and what to use each gift for. It is learning about the body and how it works, Even some surgery. I spent my life learning these things and practicing them. I worked on strengthening my mind and helping it to find a focus. Pulling the earth's power and the blue light of healing to us doesn't come naturally. It must be learned."

He grinned at her. "I had no idea."

She grinned back "And you thought it was all so easy."

He laid back down. "No, my more that sister of the soul, I never meant to imply it was easy."

The healing was almost complete now. Hercules was more healed than she was, but that was to be expected. His strong mind and the strength of his body helped to speed the healing. He was tired of their confinement so they walked each day. It also helped to build their strength. His face was completely healed. No scar showed to tell of his burns. His chest was still red and purple with new skin and he still felt discomfort there but it was hidden from view. Sira's face was still red and sore but she knew it would heal. She had made a shirt for her more than brother since his had been so badly burned. No one in the village had his width of shoulder so she asked for material and made the shirt herself. It was a dark blue that made his eyes even darker and made his dark skin glow. She was proud of the way he looked in it. It was the same feeling of pride she felt when she dressed Hercus in something special she had made. She hoped the demigod would keep his new shirt cleaner than the boy ever could.

The night had slipped unnoticed into morning. It was raining and the healer was awake to hear the sound of the rain on the barn roof. She had healed the demigod for a time then rested, but now she was awake. She sat cross-legged beside him, her brown spotted feet resting against his side. She opened her mind to feel for the force behind the disturbances at the castle. She got a brief glimpse of something. Death and twisted evil flashed through her mind and she shuddered. She heard the cry and braced herself. The ground shook violently, and a plank fell from the rafters to land in the stall beside them. The demigod took her hand. She could hear the earth calling to her, beseeching her to stop its slow death. Iolaus took her other hand. Instead of closing her mind to the pain as she always had before, she embraced it. She pulled it to her and let her mind see and feel.

"The ground is cracking open!" she wailed. "The earth is splitting in two. Can you not feel it? It is being torn apart." Behind the pain of the earth, she felt something else, a dementia. She sensed death that wasn't death, witchcraft and evil. She sent a strong bolt of her mind power to the being she felt behind the pain and she felt his response.

"Go away! I must not be stopped. Go away, and you may still live. Stay, and I will come for you."

"No, dead one. It is I who will come for you. You must not be allowed to harm another, and the earth must be saved. Leave now, and you may enjoy your ancient death. Stay, and I will stop you with whatever it takes."

She was entranced now, her mind lost in her struggle to force her will on the mind she felt. Then suddenly, the barrier was up and she gasped with the sudden halt of the emotions she had felt. The demigod helped her build her own barrier, and after a moment she opened her eyes. The pain eased and subsided. She rocked back and forth, her arms wrapped around herself.

"I have spoken with mind to the being behind the disturbances. He is utterly mad."

The hunter and the demigod looked at each other and the big man shrugged. "And what did you say to our friend?"

"He challenged me and demanded we leave."

"And?"

"And I told him to stop what he was doing and return to his death or we would stop him with whatever it took."

Her brother of the soul grinned. "Did he listen?"

"Of course not. I told you, he is mad. I never really believed he would leave simply because I met his mental challenge."

The hunter took her hand. "Are we going to be able to stop this guy?"
"We must." She paused. "His mind is strong, but mine is stronger. When the healing is done and I can use my mind completely, then, I believe, we will be able to stop him."

"That's what I wanted to hear."
"Remember, we also must fight a beast or two. This will not to be easy."

"Herc and I can tackle the beasties. You zap the madman." He grinned. "No problems."

"I may also need your minds to help me."

He put his arms around her. "You know you don't have to ask for that. We'll be there."

She looked to her brother of the soul. "He's right, you don't need to ask. Is this the old master we're dealing with?"

"I believe so, yes."

"Now wait a minute," the hunter objected. "How could some guy, dead for sixty some odd years, return to haunt the village now?"

"I do not know, my mate of the soul. But I still believe that is who we are dealing with."

The demigod shrugged. "Stranger things have happened."

"The earth is splitting open."

The hunter nodded. "I saw great fissures in the earth when I was at the castle. The earthquakes have really done a lot of damage out there."

"No, I mean the earth is actually splitting open. And we must stop it. It is making a hole. A very deep hole."

"A hole to where?" the demigod wondered out loud.

"I do not know, but I sensed death."

"This whole thing stinks. We're awake anyway. Let's do another healing. The sooner the healing is done, the sooner we can get to the bottom of this."

The old man paced before the cage. Fear paced along with him. He had felt the girl's strength and he knew he could never match it. How are these things possible? he mused. I must outwit her then, if I can't overpower her mind. I must lure her here and destroy her. The blond one who was here the other day in search of the farmer, he is still my best bet. She has feelings for him. Now, while her mind is needed to heal the big man, now is the time, her mind will be weakened by her need to help him. I will use the blonde's body for me, and use it to bring her here.

The spell needed to leave the old body wasn't complete but he knew he must not delay longer. He let the last of the sheep into the cage but didn't stay to watch the beast devour them. He despised the creature now. He had hoped to care and nurture it but it was like the first one he had made, mean and vicious. No matter. Once Cerberus was gone, he had every intention of destroying his evil creation and making another.

Sira healed throughout the afternoon. They took a break to eat and to bathe. Iolaus helped the empath and offered to help the demigod. But the son of Zeus insisted he could manage by himself.

He let his breath out in exasperation. Sira grinned. "I can help you, my brother."

"That's not funny, Sira."

"I promise to behave myself. Well, maybe not entirely."

"Keep it up and I'll pour this water over you."

She clicked her tongue. "We certainly get surly when we are required to bathe. I have noticed children often do also."

"I'm warning you, my sister."

She giggled. "You really are magnificent, my brother."

"Damn it, Sira. This is hard enough."

"You have been given more than just your strength from the gods, I see."

"Sira. You promised you wouldn't peek." He sat down quickly.

She giggled. "I lied."

"Next time, I peek."

"You have seen me naked before."

"Sira."

"There is no shame in the body, my brother."

"Well, for my sake, just behave yourself, okay?"

"For your sake, I will try."

He tugged at her hair playfully.

When darkness fell they healed again. Sira felt an urgency to complete the healing and knew the demigod felt the same. There was no way to go after the old master and his little pets until the healing was complete. Every hour of delay meant someone else might be in danger.

Morning pulled itself up from the horizon on golden ropes of sunlight. The healer announced the time of transfer was complete. There must still be the time of physical contact, when they both would continue to heal but transfer was no longer needed. With anyone besides the son of Zeus, the empath would not have halted the healing so quickly. But she was confident his strength would allow him to heal completely. She knew she would not until she had slept the healing sleep. They were both healing much quicker than she had believed possible and she knew they would both be well soon.

The hunter took up his bow, and with a quick kiss to the healer's lips he left the barn. The forest was still held in deep shadow by the night, and he knew it was the best time to hunt. It wasn't so much that Mary needed the meat now as that he did it for pleasure. The farmer's wife had preserved a great deal of the meat he brought her, then she gave the rest to the other villagers. At Sira's suggestion she had ground some of the grain they had stored. It was a time consuming task and she soon turned it over to Helen, Megan, and Annie. They took it as a challenge and gave it their all. They scoured the hills for flat rocks and rounded ones to make their individual grinding stones and helped other villagers to do the same. They had never ground their own corn either but they found it wasn't so hard to do. There was the squash from the kitchen gardens and the tubers from the forest. The last earthquake had not heralded the disappearance of another one of their own, and the people began to hope.

The hunter broke through a screen of brush, and there sitting on a fallen log was a very old man. The hunter stopped in surprise. He studied the old one for a moment.

"Young man, I'm glad I found you." The voice was broken and brittle. "I seem to have lost my way."

"To be precise, I found you." There was something about the man on the log that raised the hair on the back of the golden hunter's neck.

He inclined his head. "So you did. I seek the village of Yucaipia. I believe I may be close."

"You are. If you go through that screen of brush, there's a track. Follow it to the left and you'll find the village."

"I'm old and I don't always remember things well. I was sure I wasn't too far off." The old one made no move to follow the directions given him.

Iolaus frowned. "Do you need help?"

"No, no. You've been most helpful. I'll just sit here and rest a bit then I'll be on my way."

"Well, good day then." The hunter was curious. Why would so old a man be here in the middle of nowhere, looking for a tiny farming village?

"Yes, good day, and thank you." There was a dismissal in the man's tone.

The hunter shrugged and turned away. It felt as if he had been stabbed in the neck with a sharp object. His hand flew to the pain and he turned to stare at the old man. But he sat quietly on the log, seemingly unperturbed. The pain grew worse. He turned away as a wave of dizziness swept over him. He was falling. He could sense that he was, and yet he was helpless to do anything about it.

Sira was sitting next to Hercules on the straw of the stall the three of them shared. She was sewing a new dress for herself from the same dark blue material from which she had made the demigod's shirt. The sewing fell to her lap and she gasped. "Hercules! It is Iolaus."

"What's happened? Sira, what is it?" he demanded.

She closed her eyes tightly and began to rock back and forth. "His mind is muddled. He is in danger." There was fear in her voice. The demigod started to rise. "Wait, you must not break the physical contact."

"What's happened to Iolaus?"

"I cannot tell. He is asleep, and yet it is not a natural sleep. I sense the old master's evil." She shook her head.

"Where is he?"

"I am not sure, but I believe I could follow his thoughts." She opened her eyes to search the half man, half god's eyes. "We must break physical contact first."

"Can we do it now, this soon?"

"It could be very dangerous, but your mind is very strong. If we were to keep our minds closely linked, perhaps it could be done."

"What are the risks?"

"At best, we will not heal as quickly."

"At worst?"

"All the healing we have done so far could be lost. In fact, we could be left even worse than before. But we must help him."

"We would continue to heal on our own after the break?"

"I think so, yes. At least you will."

He took her hand. "Who's in the most danger here?" The empath didn't answer. "Sira?" His voice was soft and tender.

"It does not matter. We must help him. To not will tear me apart anyway."

"What about the healing sleep?"

"I can sleep later." Anchor yourself, my brother. This is going to be painful. We have not prepared for this, and it can be a very wrenching experience at the best of times." The demigod hesitated. "Build the barrier on your mind. But remember, we must stay linked. That may be our only hope of success."

"Won't that limit your effectiveness against the old master?"

"Yes, very much so. But we do not have a choice. Hurry, my brother of the soul. I fear for him."

The hunter woke to a dull throbbing in his head and neck. Slowly the fog in his mind cleared. He was chained to a wall in what looked like a dungeon. A deafening roar shook the floor. Across a wide hall was a cage. In the cage was a huge beast. It resembled an enormous lion, and yet its fur was an iridescent green and blue. It roared again and threw itself against the bars that held it.

"It wants to eat you," the old man stated. "He gets bigger every time he eats a human."

Iolaus was reminded of Graegus, and he shivered. "So, I'm to be that thing's dinner?"

"No, no. I have something very different in mind for you. But you were too heavy for me to drag back here so I had to use my spell of levitation. It has drained my strength. I must rest."

"What's that?" The hunter pointed to a greenish light he could see glowing behind a curtain at the end of the corridor. The old man moved slowly forward and pulled the curtain aside. It revealed a crack in the earth that glowed with the greenish light. "What is it?"

"That, my curious young friend, is my portal to the underworld."

"What do you plan to do with it?"

"I will return to the underworld, courtesy of my portal, and I will use my powers to take over the kingdom of the dead."

"Why?"

The old man laughed. "Because I want to. I will rule the underworld and gather an army to take over the earth. Then, my young friend, I will take over Olympus."

"I would think the gods might have something to say about that."

"They will present me with no real trouble. I'm stronger than they are. And, most definitely, more clever."

"So what do you need me for?"

"For two things really. I need your body. This one will serve me no longer."

"Maybe I'm not ready to give up my body quite yet."

"As if you will have a say in the matter."

"What's the other reason you couldn't live without my company?"

"I need you to lure the girl here. She must be stopped."

The hunter chuckled, but there was no humor in the sound. "So you don't fear the gods, but you fear a four foot nothing slip of a girl."

"She is most powerful. Who is she?"

"She is the earth, and she possesses all its awesome power. You're dealing with the greatest power of all time. The earth god has brought her here to save itself, and to destroy you."

The old one laughed. "You talk foolishness." But there was no conviction in his statement. "Is she a god?"

"No, she is more powerful than a god."

"Don't mock me. I'm no fool."

"Maybe. But she was right, you are mad."

"Now, my brother, release my right hand. Remember, it will hurt."

He took a deep breath, and letting it out slowly he let go of her. He cried out with the pain and grabbed for her. "By the gods, Sira."

"I know, my brother. We are not ready for this, but we have no choice."

"I felt as if I were being torn apart."

"I know."

"Are you all right?"

"Yes. It wasn't as bad as I feared. I think we can do this without undue harm to either of us. Are you ready?"

"No. Wait, Sira." She released his hand and he grabbed at her. He moaned. "Are you sure we can do this?"

She swayed beside him. Tears rolled unchecked down her cheeks. "We must."

He nodded. "You're right. I'm ready."

She felt the mind of the hunter and opened her mind to him. Relief flooded over her. "We are coming," her mind told him.

"I'm underground. Under the castle. Hurry."

Then the healer felt the shield block the thoughts of her lover.

"You shouldn't have done that!" the old man shouted. "I'm not ready for her yet."

"Tough!"

"You will not be so glib once I possess your body."

"Hurry, Hercules. We must get to the castle."

He released her hand again and despite the pain he forced himself not to grab at her. She took his hand this time. It was nearly an hour of pain filled torture before they could stay apart. The empath's shoulder was bleeding again, but she said nothing.

"Let us go."

The demigod rose and pulled her to her feet. "Are you all right?"

"Yes, I will be." She headed out of the barn.

When they reached the dead earth the demigod picked her up without a word and started across. Her touch on him was like a caress, like a blanket on a cold morning. He dreaded the moment when he would have to put her down. He could sense her worry and concern for the man she loved.

"You're much lighter," he stated. He hadn't realized how much weight she had lost. In her own healing and in his, not to mention in the tension and worry about the earth and the people of Yucaipia, she had allowed herself to become painfully thin. He could sense her weakness, and behind it her worry. She was weakened and she knew it. She must also keep a part of her mind on his to maintain the bond of healing. She was concerned that she would not be up to the challenge that awaited her at the castle. He sent her strength. "I'm sorry, my sister," he whispered.

"Hurry, my brother."
They searched the castle but found no way into the underground chambers. Sira had gotten another brief sense of the man they sought to help, but it was as if it were not really him. She sensed the old master as well and fear gripped her. "You must help us find you. Fight him. Do not let him win." She went to her knees on the ground and placed both hands on the soil. "Where is he, my mother?" She stayed where she was a moment longer then rose and went to what had once been an inside wall of the castle. She squeezed behind a fallen stone pillar and began to run her hand over the rough stone of the wall.

"Here, my brother!" she called across the courtyard. He ran to her. "I believe it is here."

He braced his feet, and placing his hands on either side of the pillar's broken end he pulled it aside. It was large and made of solid stone, and it gave way reluctantly. He took a deep breath and tried again. He felt the new flesh of his shoulder tear. Still he pushed again and the pillar fell aside to roll down the steps and break apart as it hit the bottom step. He leaned into the wall he had just cleared and it gave way with little effort.

The empath gasped. She had been trying to get a feel for the hunter. "He is possessed! He is not himself!"

The demigod could hear the panic in her voice and he took her arm. "Calm down, my sister. We'll save him."

He dropped her arm, and taking up her hand he slipped through the panel and onto a narrow landing that led to stone steps that descended into the bowels of the old castle. The steps seemed to pitch to the left as the earth was shook by a mammoth force. The demigod threw himself to the right and grabbed wildly for a hold on something. There was nothing he could lay his hand to so he braced his feet against each wall to save himself and Sira from a headlong fall down who knew how many steps. It was a painful stretch, even for a man of his height. The earth shook again and he forced his feet even tighter again the stone walls. He wasn't sure how long he could keep them balanced on the narrow strip of stone that the step afforded them. The steps seemed to steady and he pulled the empath once more down the stairs. He stopped abruptly. The next several steps had collapsed into a pile of rubble. He swore.

"Stay here. I'll see if it's safe."

He let her hand go and felt ahead with his foot for a firm platform to stand on. He kicked some of the rubble away and found part of the step still intact. The narrow staircase was lit infrequently by thick heavy candles that gave off a foul smelling black smoke. But where the steps had fallen in on themselves, the light was poor. He found another foot hold on the step below and descended. The empath followed.

"I told you to wait."

"There is another earthquake coming. Brace yourself."

He did as she instructed just as the steps pitched once again. He realized she had made no comment on the pain the heaving earth brought her and he knew she was entranced. Still, he knew it could not be easy for her. The ground steadied and they made two more steps. Then the corridor split into two paths, one to the left and one to the right. Which way? The big man stood in indecision for a moment. Sira tugged on his hand and headed down the left chamber. They heard a deafening roar and the demigod pulled his sister of the soul behind him. The earth shook again and the girl on his heals moaned.

"He is mine!" she shouted. "Release him and you will come to no harm."

"No!" Her mind was flooded with the thought. "I possess him now. You have lost, powerful one."

The demigod put his hands to his head. His sister's blast of mind sent a shaft of pain through his mind that left him dizzy. She brought her mind to focus and the pain eased. The beast roared, and the roar was lost in a crashing sound.

The son of Zeus and the daughter of the earth ran ahead. Abruptly the corridor widened and they faced a larger hall. To their right, a huge greenish beast roared and threw itself at the bars of the cage that held it. The hunter stood near a hole in the earth, his form lit from behind by a greenish light.

"Iolaus!" the girl shouted.

"No! He is no longer here." The form of the hunter threw his head back and an evil laugh was heard. "Come, my pet. Break through and join me in the underworld."

He put both hands to his head. "No! I must not be stopped now."

"Fight him, my lover. Break free. I am here. Come to me," the girl's mind reached deep to touch that of the hunter.

"No, you witch. Where does this power come from?" He began to back toward the green light.

The creature threw itself at the bars once more and the old rusted metal gave way. Bars and braces flew across the room. The half man, half god snatched a bar from the air just before it hit him and headed toward the beast.

Sira strengthened her mind's blast on the mind of the old master. "Release him, or you will die yet again."

"No!" He shook his head to dispel her hold on him, but to no avail. Her relentless onslaught on his subconscious left him weak and dizzy.

The healer reached the hunter's mind buried beneath that of the old master and called to him. "Help me, my soul. Fight this."

The old one sent a blast of mind of his own in an attempt to stop the drain on his evil black powers but it seemed not to phase her.

I need more power, she thought. But I must maintain the link with my brother.

The demigod took a swipe at the beast and was knocked across the room by a powerful paw. He landed hard on the wooden table where the old man had spent so many hours studying the scrolls and parchments of the old wizard. The table collapsed under the big man's weight. He lunged to his feet and jumped aside as the monster came at him.

The empath let yet another barrier on her mind drop. Now she was dangerously close to losing the link she maintained between herself and her brother of the soul. To lose that hold on his mind would surely put him in danger. Already some of her injury had returned but she had no way of knowing the extent of the danger to either one of them. She must save her soul's other half, the man she loved beyond all others. But at what cost to Hercules? He too was a part of her soul. Did she have the right to risk one to save the other? And what of herself? Could she survive the tearing away of her soul needed to sever the carefully constructed bond of healing?

"Help me!" she shouted with her mind. "My mother, help me. Give me strength," she prayed to the earth to aid her.

She sensed a presence behind her, a power, and turned to seek its source. A black cloaked figure stood in the entrance to the chamber where she fought her silent battle. So far, the struggle between herself and the old one had been only a battle of the mind. She had sensed his desire to harm her physically and she had used her mind to repel him, manipulating his thoughts and preventing that from happening. Now the hunter fought the old man from inside, holding him back from advancing on the woman he loved.

Sira got a sense of great power from the black clad figure that stood motionless before her. "Help me!" her mind pleaded.

She took a quick breath as the energy flowed to her. She pulled it to her greedily and turned to once again confront the form of the hunter.

"No!" he screamed, but the voice was not the one she knew, the one that caressed her and could arouse her with a single whispered word. He took two steps toward her.

She closed her eyes and pooled the energy she felt from the earth and from the hooded one. Then throwing her head back she let her mind surge forward. The form before her screamed. The earth trembled and the form of the hunter put both hands to his head. "No! I must not be stopped. I must rule the underworld."

The beast seemed to lose some of its might. It roared and rushed at the menace that continued to plague it. It had knocked the metal bar wielding pest aside over and over again, and still it was there slashing and hitting with its weapon. The beast was furious. It smelled flesh. It craved the taste of its favorite meal. It knew that eating of this tasty morsel would lend it power and growth. It grew weak and was all the more determined to build back its strength with the devouring of the people in the room.

The form of the hunter began to back up toward the green glowing chasm in the fabric of the earth. Sira's mind shouted. "My soul, come to me! Feel me there, a part of you. Take hold of our soul's link and come to me."

"No! No, my powers are stronger. You can't stop me."

"You are finished. Already your portal is closing. I have healed the wound you have inflicted on the earth. She has joined her power to mine and now I control you as well. I am Sira, empath healer of the clan of the wolf and the lion, granddaughter of Questa, and I have been chosen by mother earth to defeat you. You are nothing before the might I can unleash from the earth. Feel my power," and at her words the earth trembled beneath the old one's feet.

"No! These things are not possible."

"I have cast my spell, old man, and I possess you. You are weak and foolish. Return to the death from whence you came." She pulled still more energy to her and directed it to the man she battled. Her words had been spoken as well as shouted with her mind, and the combination of the two seemed to lend her words a power of their own.

The hunter slumped to the floor. She rushed to him and pulled him to her. She had seen as well as felt when the old one released him.

Tears spilled from her eyes. "My soul, are you all right?"

He struggled to sit up, then pulled her into his arms. "I am now."

The beast's roar filled the room and drowned the hunter's words.

"Damn! He's loose. I've got to help Herc."

The empath stood and helped him to his feet. He shook his head to clear it. Then he pulled the girl into his arms and kissed her hard on the lips. "By the gods, you taste good." He kissed her again.

"I could use some help here!" the demigod shouted.

The hunter grinned at her, and with another quick kiss he released her. Grabbing a piece of wood from the broken table he ran forward to aid his friend.

Sira turned to seek the hooded figure just in time to see him heading back down the corridor. "Wait!" she called. She ran forward. "Please wait." The figure stopped and turned to face her. She could see nothing of the face shrouded in the black folds of the hood. "Thank you for helping me."

"I did nothing really. The true power was yours." The voice was deep and whispered. It sent a shiver up the girl's spine. She got a sense of great power and strong emotion. "I meant to lend you strength, but my presence only gave you the confidence to use what was already there. My powers were not needed."

"No, I felt your help."

He inclined his head. "Perhaps."

He started to turn away and she held out her hand to him. The cloak clung to him, and yet even through its folds she got a sense of great physical power to compliment the power of the mind. He took her hand in his. His skin was warm, his touch firm. He brought her hand to his lips and planted a kiss on the back of her knuckles. Where his lips touched she felt a tingle.

"Who are you?"

The beast roared and one of the men shouted. She turned to look down the corridor and the hooded figure released her hand. She turned back, but he was gone. She stood staring at the empty space he had stood in only seconds ago. Then at another shout from the fighters of the beast she ran back to the larger chamber.

A very old man stood in the chamber, seemingly controlling the beast. "Damn!" the healer swore and sent her mind to once again battle the old one.

"No, not this time," he laughed.

"Back up, old man," her mind told him. "You are finished. Back up, and fall into your pit of death and decay, and I will close it on you."

He shook his head. "I'm stronger than you." The words held no conviction.

"You are like a puny insect compared to me. Go now, and you may yet retain some of your senses. Continue to fight me, and risk all."

"I will not give in, granddaughter of Questa. If you wish to stop me, you will have to use all your power and risk your own life in the process."

She let her breath out. She had no wish to destroy him. She was a healer. To harm another was repugnant to her. She felt the nausea sweep over her. "Stop now. I do not wish to kill you."

He laughed. "I am already dead."

"But not in the death you are forcing me to bring to you."

"You can't stop me. Once I rule the underworld, I will send my poisons to contaminate the world. Babies will be born deformed. They will be little better than hideous twisted morons. And I will strip the earth of all living things. Plants, animals, humans, everything!"

Megan's beautiful face flashed before the healer's eyes. She saw little Annie's hand and arm. She remembered the fear and pain she had felt from Lizzy, and she smelled the stench of the dead earth. She felt the cry of her mother, and with a sob at what she must do she sent her mind out in an eruption of power to explode inside the old man's mind. He screamed and the beast screamed.

"No! My powers. I must have my powers. I can't return without my powers." He grabbed at the air as if trying to clutch the evilness from the atmosphere.

"Back up, old man. You are finished. You are but an empty shell."

"My powers!" he whined like a child. He began to back up slowly. "I need my powers. Give me back my powers." The earth seemed to give way beneath him and he fell into the pit his evilness had created. His scream echoed through the chamber.

The beast seemed to falter. The healer knelt at the crater, and placing both hands on the soil she sent her mind to her mother. The earth shook and the hole closed a little. She willed herself to relax and sent healing to the earth. A little more of the fissure closed.

"Back the creature this way. The earth can swallow it."

The two men she loved began to force the beast back toward the hole. It closed a little more. Sira swayed with the power of the earth, healing and soothing the soil. "A little more," she shouted with her mind. "Come beast. Follow your master. Just a little further." The beast slipped on the edge of the portal and fought for a hold. With a mighty roar that seemed to shake the chamber, he lost the fight and disappeared from sight into the green light of the portal of death.

"Help me seal it up," the girl called to the men. "Give me your strength."

The hunter moved to her side and placed his hands on the soil near hers. The demigod slumped to the soil across the pit from her, and placing his hands on the soil he closed his eyes and sent his mind out to embrace hers. With a mighty shake that knocked the healer down, more of the hole closed. She righted herself, and pulling more of the power of the earth to her she tried again. Then in a rush the hole seemed to disappear. Dust flew into the air as the earth closed with a mighty crash that shook the ground.

The healer crumpled to the ground with a sigh. Iolaus reached for her and jumped as a shock of energy shot through him. "It's over, my love. Let it go."

The demigod sat on the ground next to her and placed his hand on her shoulder. He was exhausted. It seemed he had fought the beast for hours, and yet he knew it hadn't been all that long. His mind felt muddled, his body sore.

The girl began to tremble.

The god of the underworld appeared in the chamber. One second the room was empty except for the three people who had fought so hard to rid the earth of the black forces of evil, and then he was simply there. The demigod rose to meet him.

"Thanks, Nephew," the god of death stated. "I've been looking for that one."

"So, he's one of yours?"

"Yes, most definitely."

"How did he get here?"

"You remember how it was when Cerberus got loose. Some souls escaped. But I've managed to get most of them back."

"Most of them?"

"Well, I am a busy god, you know. Wars and epidemics. Your brother keeps me busy."

"Are you going to keep him there this time?"

The god turned to look at Sira. "Yes. He'll stay this time. I dare say he won't be of any trouble now." He turned back to the demigod. "Well, thank you again."

"Don't thank me. Thank Sira."

"Who is she anyway?"

"My more than sister of the soul."

The god turned back to stare through narrowed eyes at the empath. He gave a shrug. "Thank you." Then he lifted the helmet he held to his head and disappeared.

Hercules sat back beside Sira and put his hand on hers. "Are you all right, my sister?"

She shook her head.

The big man sent a pleading look at the hunter who held the girl in his arms. The hunter nodded and the son of Zeus moved forward to hug them both. With a sob the girl released her mind to join that of the demigod and the link of transfer was formed again. She had never returned to a healing before. She hadn't even known it was possible. But she was glad. She needed that right now. She needed the oneness of soul she would gain from the healing.

The demigod let his breath out in a sigh. "Think you can carry her back to the village?"

"Yes."

"Good. I don't think I have the strength."

"You look dreadful, my friend."

"I feel worse."

"I'm the one who was possessed by that madman."

"Yeah, well, I'm the one who had to battle the beast while you were kissing the girl."

The hunter grinned at him and he grinned back. They patted each other on the back.

"I can walk at least part of the way," the healer stated. "And I am most ready to get out of here. Let us go."

The demigod helped her to her feet. "I hate the thought of those steps." He heaved another sigh.

The empath looked around her. "I wish this place would simply fall in on itself and bury these chambers."

The hunter gave her a quick hug. "When I have you and Hercules settled I'll come back and make sure anything resembling a source of wizardry is destroyed." He soothed her, and taking her hand he headed out of the chamber.

She made it to the top of the stairs and through the door into the outer world. The day was dark with clouds and as she stepped out of the door the area was filled with light. The sound that followed was deafening. She slumped to the stone floor of the old place and wept.

She wasn't even sure why she cried. She was tired. She felt sore and bruised. She had forced an old man to his return to death. Could it really be considered killing him? He was already dead after all. And yet guilt rode her. The hunter picked her up. Careful to maintain the physical contact, the demigod walked beside her holding her hand.

"Put me down for a moment."

"Not here. This is the contaminated earth. You'll be burned."

"Just for a moment, please."

With a shrug he set her carefully on the soil. He kept his hands on her, ready to quickly snatch her bare brown spotted feet from the ground.

She stood a moment then went to her knees. She placed her hands on the soil and her shoulders shook with her sobs. The demigod, still with a hand on her back sat next to her. "What is it?"

"The contamination is gone. Now the earth will heal."

He put a hand on the ground. Then he turned surprised eyes to the healer. A wide grin crossed his face. He picked up one of her hands, and where it had rested new grass shoots sprang to the surface.

"I healed the earth?" She cried harder.

"You did even before, when the soil was still poisoned. But we agreed not to tell you for fear you would insist on trying it and harming yourself further."

The hunter picked her up once again and started back to the village. Wind whipped around them and thunder rumbled down the valley. As they reached Simtose's barn the first few drops of rain fell. The farmer rushed forward to open the barn door for them.

"Are you all right?" There was genuine concern in his voice.

"We will be, my friend," the demigod assured him. "We just need rest. Tell the others that it's over. The old master is gone and the village is safe. But keep them away until we have recuperated a bit, will you?"

The farmer nodded. "Thank you. All of you."

The hunter smiled at him. "Ask Mary if she'll make up some of that good tea later. I think we're going to need it."

"We'll bring whatever you need. You just rest."

Iolaus put Sira down gently on the straw of the stall. The demigod laid down next to her. When the hunter would have risen the healer grabbed for him.

"Stay with me, please."

"I was going to go back out there and destroy the parchments and scrolls."

"Later. Later is soon enough. Stay with me."

With a nod he laid down beside her. With one foot held firmly against the demigod's leg to maintain the physical touch, she turned to the hunter and melted into his arms.

He kissed her forehead, her nose, and her mouth. The kiss was long and tender, and a moan of desire escaped her lips.

"I thought I had lost you."

"Shhh. I'm here. Just sleep for now. And when you wake I'll be right here. We'll get you a nice sponge bath. You know how much fun we have with that. Then you can help Hercules bathe and watch his face turn red from embarrassment. That will keep us entertained for a bit. Then we can work with Megan and her brace." He soothed the hair away from her face. His voice was even and soft, spoken in a rhythm to soothe and comfort her. He could feel her tension and hoped to ease it.

"Do you still love me after today?"

"What? Are you kidding? You saved me from that madman. You were wonderful. I love you more than ever."

"I killed that old man."

"No, he was dead already. You saved me. And you saved this village from the poisons he spewed forth with his evil witchery. You only have to take a look at the sweet innocent children of the village left deformed by his hatred and insanity to know he needed to be stopped. You've done nothing wrong. You saved the earth as well, my little woodland nymph. Now sleep. You'll feel better when you wake. Just rest, and your two favorite men will be here when you wake up."

She snuggled closer to him. He could hear the rain on the barn roof. "Hear the rain? Mother earth sent it to you because she knows how much you enjoy it."

She smiled. "When the healing is done, will you make love to me?"

"For hours. Maybe even days."

"Iolaus?"

"Hmmm?"

"I love you, forever."

"Even unto death."

The rain pelted the earth and washed away the last of the poison that had threatened the village of Yucaipia. It rained harder as the day wore on. The rain filled the fissures left from the evil spells of the old master, widening and deepening them. An outer wall of the castle fell in as the earth was washed away from its base. The rain filled the courtyard with water that found a way into the underground chambers of the old wizard's domain. It rushed through the corridors and ate away at the foundation. An inner wall fell. Thunder rumbled and shook the ground and the tower leaned dangerously to the left. It hung there at an impossible angle, seeming to hold on by sheer will power. Then as if simply giving up, it crumbled and fell. The inner walls of the castle crashed in as the underground chambers succumbed to the destructive force of the water that filled them. With a mighty roar a solid wall of brown churning water came rushing down the valley. Its surface was studded with dead trees and other debris it had collected as it rushed unchecked down the once contaminated area behind the castle. It hit the outer wall. The stones were churned beneath its frightening force. It rushed head long down the ravine in the lip of the valley and through the farm that Cadmus had tried so long to bring to profit. The animals were gone. Simtose had taken them to his farm that morning while the defenders of Yucaipia had fought their gallant battle against the forces of darkness.

Heedless of its destruction, the wall of water crashed into the farmhouse and the walls gave way to its might. The flood of water spilled into the valley and spread out to lap dangerously at the outlying farms. And still the rain fell. The land, so long dead, was washed clean. Great gullies and fissures were cut into the soil only to be flattened by the flood. New earth was deposited over old and the healing of the earth began.

The empath, lost in exhaustion knew nothing of the earth's fight to cleanse itself, not yet at any rate. She slept on, lulled by the sound of the rain on the barn roof. The child of the earth took comfort from the gift of life the water promised. And the earth sent love and comfort to its chosen one.

By morning of the next day the rain had settled into a mist that cooled the summer heat and dripped from the eaves of the houses and barns. The wind that had howled and buffeted the village during the night was only a teasing breeze now. Great black clouds shrouded the mountains where a tiny hidden cabin waited for its people to return. Lightning cut jagged crisscrosses across their face and thunder shook the air.

The daughter of the forest woke. She laid unmoving where she was. She sensed a difference in the air. She heard laughter from somewhere outside the barn. There was the sound of voices. She was alarmed for a moment but she sensed joy behind the sound and relaxed. She turned her head to watch the hunter still sleeping beside her. Tears filled her eyes. She had come so close to losing him. She sent a prayer of thanks to the earth, and to the hooded figure who had sent his powers to help her. Her hand tingled where he had placed the kiss. She brought her hand up to look at the back of it. She wondered who he might have been. No villager, that was certain. She hadn't been able to see his face, but the sense of power he seemed to exude into the air around him was not something she would soon forget. He had been bearded. She had felt the bristly hairs on her hand when he had kissed her. Whoever he was, she wouldn't forget that he had helped her save her golden hunter of the forest.

She reached out a hand and lightly touched his cheek. His eyes flew open to dazzle her with their blue depths. Her love of this human who owned a part of her soul swept over her and left her shaky. Tears filled her eyes and she sent her love to caress him. He drew in a quick breath as her emotions flooded around him. Her touch on his mind was like a salve to a wound.

"My soul," she whispered.

He captured her hand and brought it to his lips. He kissed the fingertips then took her pointer finger lightly between his teeth. His tongue caressed the finger tip and his eyes burned a deeper blue with desire.

Her breath quickened and her eyes looked down to his chest and the smooth brown skin that showed where his vest had pulled aside. Her eyes traveled lower still and she bit her lower lip. When she looked back at his face he grinned at her and she moaned with resignation. They were not alone, and they wouldn't be for a time. The healing must be completed first. She dreaded the necessity of the delay in fulfilling her desires, but she admitted she needed the healing also. Her shoulder was once again raw and open. The burn on her face had blistered again. But she realized it wasn't as bad as it might have been. She knew trying this stunt with anyone other than her brother of the soul would have been foolhardy in the extreme. But their bond that had only strengthened with the healing, and his strong mind had saved them both from who knew how disastrous a fate.

The demigod moaned. Sira turned to look at him. "What troubles you, my brother?"

"I need a bath. My mouth feels like a hundred Corinthian soldiers with muddy boots have marched through it. I'm hungry, sore, and bruised. My new shirt is torn and dirty." He moaned again. "Why did I have to wake up?"

She laughed at him. "We are in a foul mood today. Did you get up on the wrong side of the stall?"

"You're too damn chipper by far."

She laughed again.

"All right, you two. I'll get a quick bath then bring plenty of water for you both. I'll brow beat Mary into fixing something for us to eat and I'll bring lots of tea." He stood and stretched. "You two, try not to antagonize each other too much until I can get back to referee."

The demigod glared at his friend and the hunter laughed as he left the barn. The big man turned slowly and painfully sat up. He reached for the water flask and groaned at the movement. The healer sat up and took his arm. She unlaced his shirt, and going up on her knees she helped him pull it over his head. She gasped at the massive bruise that discolored his ribs and chest. There were four deep claw marks across his abdomen that had bled and dried only to ooze blood now as he moved.

The healer turned eyes filled with compassion to her brother. "I am so sorry. You should have said something. I could have healed you last night. I was so lost in myself that I did not realize that you were hurt so badly." She ran a finger over the cuts on his stomach and a tear rolled down her cheek.

He wiped it away. "I'll be fine, my sister. I said nothing because I knew you needed rest."

She ran her finger over his stomach again and some of the pain and stiffness eased. "I will heal you, as soon as we have bathed and eaten."

He grinned at her. "Bathing when I'm this helpless should prove interesting."

"I can help you."

"That's what I meant by interesting."

She grinned at him. "I can kiss your bruises and make them better."

"I don't think that would be a good idea."

"You are not afraid of me, are you?"

"If I recall, you asked me that once before. The truth is, I'm scared to death of you."

"Good. That is the way I like it."

"Sira, if you're not careful, you'll need to fear me as well." His voice was serious now.

She studied his face a moment. "Somehow I do not think so."

"Well, for both our sakes, let's not find out."

"Chicken."

He grinned. "You, my sister, are a flirt."

She grinned back. "You are right," she admitted, not in the least apologetic. "Now sit here beside me and let me take some of your pain away, so that when Iolaus comes with the water he can help you bathe without causing you too much discomfort."

"Yes, my empathic forest creature. Your wish is my command."

"Good. I have finally got you where I want you."

"Humm." He raised his eyebrows.

She laughed, and closing her eyes she sent him comfort and took some of his pain to herself.

The hunter was greeted with enthusiasm. There were congratulations and thanks. People patted him on the back and gave offers of help should he or the others need it. He was a little overwhelmed by the attention. He was also shocked to learn of the flood. He had hoped to make it to the castle today to make sure no one else would ever find the old wizard's legacy. So much damage had been done by the powers the builder of the castle had used, and the hunter knew first hand what it had done to the mind of the old man who had possessed him for that short while until the powers of the earth's child had chased it away. He wouldn't soon forget the insanity he had felt first hand. How horrible to go through life in such a way, he thought.

The healer and the demigod were also surprised when the hunter told them of the flood.

"I went out as far as I could, staying to high ground. It's nothing but a lake out there. I can't tell how deep it is, but I wasn't about to venture into the muddy mess to find out either. Some of the outlying farms are affected to a certain extent. No structural damage, but their fields are under water. Now there will be even less food for the village."

"The water may help to cleanse the area." Sira suggested. "This year will be lean, but next year may be one of their best."

"I hope so, for their sakes. They're good people. They deserve a break." He settled himself more comfortably against the wall of the stall. "Maybe when we're through here we should look up that caravan and see if we can convince them it's safe to return."

"I still want to make that grinding stone." Hercules stated. He moved with caution and sat up against the other wall of the stall. Their first healing had helped, but broken ribs would take more than one healing to knit. He hadn't enjoyed his bath, but he admitted he felt better afterward. The hunter had been very gentle and done his best to give his friend as little pain a possible. The food and strong tea helped the big man also and his disposition had improved considerably.

Sira suggested another healing and the day passed slowly. When the second healing was complete, the demigod slept. Iolaus was helping some of the farmers with the damage the earthquakes and the storm had caused. The healer sat cross-legged on the straw next to the demigod. Closing her eyes she sent her mind out to touch that of her son. She let him feel that they were well and that the danger to the village had passed. She sensed his loneliness for her and his father and it tore at her heart. She let his thoughts rattle on about Salmoneus, Alcmene, Jason, and Winnie. Jason had given him a horse to use while at the farm, and he spent as much time with the animal as he could. He spoke of winning chips against Salmoneus and teaching Winnie how to play the game of skill and how quickly she had caught on. He spoke with his mind of the lessons he had each day with Thysis and how he hoped to soon rejoin his grandfather of the soul to continue the training. His active mind was like a salve to her mother's soul and tears filled her eyes. He sent her comfort and assurance that he was well and doing fine. She hated being separated from him. She knew all too soon he must leave her side and learn to direct his strong mind. How he had been blessed with so much of the earth's powers when he was only part yosemin, the empath wasn't sure. But she knew it to be true even before Thysis had spoken of it. His mind speech was filled with the earth and her gifts, and Sira felt a healing come to her from her son of only three summers. Even she found it hard to think of him as so young. The years didn't lie, and yet he was no three year old. She had never been a baby either. To possess a strong mind meant to also mature much faster than the average yosemin, and much more quickly than the humans the earth's people shared their mother's surface with.

Sira also spoke with her mind to her chosen father. She had been fully aware his mind and his strength had been with her when she battled the old master in the underground chambers of the old wizard's castle. She sent love and a plea that he wait a little longer to call her son to his lessons. The elder of the clan he had taken as his own, the clan of the wolf and the lion, gave his consent to wait for a time. "He will know when the time is right. You must promise me and yourself you will let him go then." With resignation she agreed. Being in mind with the strong mind of the elder of her own people brought her comfort.

She reluctantly built the barriers needed to end their communication. When her mind was hers again, rather than leave her trance she deepened it. She sent her mind out to seek others. It took some time to locate the ones she wished to touch with her mind. She took time to plant a thought in the hopes it would take seed and grow. She must be careful not to frighten them.

The demigod woke and laid watching her. He knew she was entranced. He hoped she was healing herself. She had eaten little of the food Mary had brought to them. That she was worried about something, he could tell. She felt things so deeply. Her strong mind held and hid many things from those around her, even those she loved and trusted. He was concerned for her. She was so thin. Her cheeks were sunken and her ribs and hip bones stuck out through the thin material of the dress she had borrowed from one of the women in the village. Her skin had taken on a transparency that showed her veins and made her look frail. He wished he could take some of the worry away from her and soothe the creases from her brow, creases he had never seen there before.

Love and compassion swept over him for the girl who had become a part of his soul. He sent his mind out to touch her entranced mind and she turned her thoughts to him. She reached out her hand to take his arm, and her mind pulled his to her and into the transfer. He offered to take some of her pain and injury to himself, but she flatly refused to release it and instead took more of his discomfort to herself. She was lost in the trance of healing, deeper than she usually went. He began to coax her mind back from the deep hole she had fallen into. He touched a depth of despair deep within her and tried to pull it to him so that he might understand what was troubling her. But she shut it away from his thoughts with a finality that left him no choice but to accept her refusal to broach the subject.

When they ended the healing she laid down beside him and curled herself against his chest. He moved closer and took her into his arms.

"What troubles you, my sister?" She shook her head. "Why won't you let me help you?"

"I am too tired to think about it."

"So you admit there is something bothering you?"

"I admit only that I am tired." He let his breath out in a huff of exasperation. "Do not be angry with me."

"I'm not angry with you, I'm worried about you."

"I will be well. I just need rest."

"Then sleep, my sister." He smoothed his hand over her hair in a slow rhythmic motion.

He felt her relax, and in seconds she was asleep. He knew there was more to her anxiety than just being tired. He could only hope she would soon confide in Iolaus or himself.

The night seemed endless. The healing had gone well, then the healer had slept. But now she lay awake. She turned slightly so that she could see the hunter, but it was too dark in the barn to really see him other than as a darker shadow. She let her breath out in a sigh. She needed the oneness that making love to him would bring. She felt empty somehow. Or maybe lost was a better word for the feelings that plagued her. Could she ever forgive herself for what she had done to that old man? She had wanted to stop him, but she had gone beyond stopping him to something much worse. The earth still accepted her, she had felt this when the grasses had sprung to the surface of the contaminated area at her touch. She felt the earth in her healings as well. So perhaps her mother felt the old man's life was a small price to pay for its salvation. But try as she might, the healer couldn't see it that way. Twice now she had killed. Once to save the last of the yosemin people and the humans she was now forever linked with from the sorceress who had killed her people, and now, the old one in the castle. Death was never easy for her. She had seen death many times. As a healer, it was to be expected. But the natural death of illness or old age was far removed from the death caused by violence. She had felt a void of deep feelings at the death of some they had battled in Acubus and again at Fashidra, and this void had worried her. She was a healer. Her ability to heal was tempered by her ability to feel. Death of any kind should have affected her deeply. Was she losing her depth of compassion? Was she using her powers of the earth for evil? And if so, why would the earth mother condone it? Surely the earth's powers would cease to be a part of her if she no longer held the blessings of her mother. She had gone over it and over it in her mind and gotten nowhere, and so she turned in on herself the self reproach that nagged at her.

She knew it was almost morning, more by the feel of her surroundings than by anything, as the inside of the barn was still held in darkness. The hunter stirred and she reached out to touch him. He rolled over and hovered above her. She reached up, and putting her arms around his neck she pulled him to her and kissed him thoroughly. He kissed the hollowed triangle at the base of her throat and trailed his kisses lower. Then he rolled away with a moan.

"By the gods, if I don't get a chance to be alone with you soon, I swear I'll go mad."

She ran her hand under his vest and down toward his stomach. "I could give you pleasure."

He grabbed her hand. "What? No, I don't just want that. I want you." He grinned into the darkness. "Shall I give you pleasure?"

She giggled. "No, you are right. It is better that we wait."

"Then don't push me too far or I'll have my way with you whether we're alone or not."

"I wonder what Hercules would think of that?"

"Do we want to find out?" He hovered above her once again.

She giggled. "No. We will wait. At least for now."

He moaned again.

Granny Bess came to see them. Simtose pulled a bench out for her and made sure she was comfortable then left her with the others. Sira moved close so that she could touch the old woman's arm. The ancient one smiled and patted her hand.

"You three have done so much for us. There is no way to really thank you. You risked your own lives to save a village of people you hardly know. The three of you are surely blessed by the gods. You've shown us ways to help and feed ourselves, and you've joined us together in a common cause." She paused to take a deep breath. "I say again, thank you isn't enough."

"My grandmother, you do us a great honor by coming here to thank us. Your words of appreciation are more than adequate payment. We are all friends here, not strangers. What we did, we know our friends would do for us." The girl sitting at the old one's feet rested her cheek against her knee. "I hope the earth can forgive me for my part in this and will let me help it to heal."

The old woman frowned. "Surely you don't believe that you've done anything wrong." The empath said nothing. The grandmother reached out a hand to caress her cheek. "You still feel of growing things and of the earth. You remind me of my garden. I would say it's a safe bet that the earth is laying no blame at your feet. Perhaps you would be wise to listen to your god."

Tears filled the girl's eyes. "You feel the earth about me?"

"Yes, very much so. The earth will cleanse itself, and soon this whole thing will be but another legend. Our most immediate need is to reestablish trade with the caravan."

"We've spoken of that," the demigod nodded. "Perhaps when we leave here we can go in search of the nomads and try and convince them to return."

"That will not be necessary," Sira stated.

"How can you be sure?" the hunter asked.

The girl shrugged. "I say only that we should give them some time."

The hunter and the demigod looked at each other over the girl's head and the demigod shrugged.

Granny heaved a sigh. "Young man," she addressed the hunter, "may I impose on you to escort me back to my home? I grow weary. A little nap will ease the fatigue and help to speed the day."

"I would be honored." He jumped to his feet. "After I help you home, I think I'll try again to reach the castle. Hopefully the water has receded enough to make it possible. I won't sleep well until I know for sure the scrolls and parchments that held the wizard's spells are disposed of."

He looked to Sira to be sure his absence wouldn't bring her undue stress. She smiled at him and he grinned back. His eyes are so blue, she thought. She looks too thin, he thought.

The hunter stood on a ridge near what used to be Cadmus' farm. It was gone now, the house, the barn, everything. Two lone fence posts stood tipped at an odd angle in the direction that the water had taken when it crashed through the ravine. The water lay in muddy rows following the cultivated fields. He found a way to the castle and was again amazed by the destruction he found there. The castle stood on a slight knoll. He was able to enter what used to be the inner courtyard. He found the outside steps that used to lead to the stone floor and to the hidden panel that led to the lower chambers. But the steps ended in space. The floor had collapsed into the underground rooms. Mud and silt covered much of what remained of the old stone walls and floors. The torrent had disposed of the wizard's wares better than he could have hoped, and eliminated his need to do so. The earth had saved him the trouble while wreaking her vengeance on the source of her slow demise. He wandered about the courtyard. The old stone pillar that had broken when the demigod moved it, lay at an odd angle against the stone steps and an idea came to him. He returned to the village in good spirits.

He found the healer sewing on the dress she had started before the old man had taken the man she loved. The demigod helped Megan with her exercises. She had worked very hard and the improvement was very noticeable. The empath had done a healing on her to help her with the muscles of the deformed leg. While she couldn't heal or straighten the leg, she could help the child improve what was whole, and hopefully make a difference. The child stood and walked across the barn to greet the hunter. Her dress covered much of the brace. While she walked with a most definite limp, dragging the affected leg slightly, she was still walking. She seemed to have grown even more confidence and assurance since she had found that she could stand upright and meet the world head on. Helen knew of her sister's struggle and now joined her in the barn for what had quickly become an everyday routine. Helen had left her shyness behind with the demigod. She watched him with admiration and hung on his every word. He treated her with great dignity, and she blossomed under his attentions. Annie was also often found in the barn, but most of the time she could be found in Granny Bess' garden. She seemed to have a knack with growing things. She never asked about her mother or father, and Mary watched her closely for signs of depression. But she seemed perfectly happy as long as she could help the old one with her garden.

The hunter picked Megan up and twirled her around. "Lady Megan. You're doing wonderfully. I'm most proud of you."

She squealed. "Won't mother and father be surprised?"

"They most certainly will be."

"When the healing is done, and all of you can be there, I want to show my parents."

"I can't wait to see the look on their faces."

Their healing that night was long, and when it was complete the healer announced her intention of ending the time of transfer in the morning.

"We will hopefully be able to complete the time of physical touch this time. That is, if a certain golden haired hunter can keep out of trouble."

"That's not fair. It wasn't my fault," he whined.

The demigod and the empath walked in the morning. They needed to begin to build their strength and they had both found the barn stifling as the weather had turned hot again. They walked out to the old castle to see the stones that Iolaus suggested might be used for the promised grinding stone. Two pieces of the old pillar that had hidden the entrance to the underground chamber were perfect for the job and the demigod started making plans in his head about transporting them back to the village. He walked slower for the sake of the girl whose arm was linked through his. While she could easily out run him, her stride was shorter and he set an easy pace for her. In the silt that covered much of what remained of the old castle, new grass already grew. Sira placed her hands on the new pale green shoots and they bent to caress her finger.

"Is it not amazing to think that in a few years you will find it very hard to even find a trace of the old place? The earth has already begun to reclaim its proper place here."

"That's because you healed it."

"We healed it," she corrected him. She stopped to let the grass caress her bare feet. She hadn't bothered to wear her moccasins. Everyone knew of her anyway, so why confine her feet when she drew comfort from feeling the earth as she walked? Everyone treated her with friendship. Granny Bess dared them to do otherwise. She had pronounced Sira good and pure, and everybody had just better treat her that way or they would answer to her. The healer wondered if some of their willingness to accept her differences came from the fact that Hercules was there to protect her as well.

The evening was cooler and they returned to the barn. The demigod was still restless so he talked the healer into taking lessons in the art of playing chips. He went easy on her the first game and she won. Then she proceeded to win the next two games as well.

"Damn!" the big man exclaimed. "I don't believe this. How do you do that? Wait a minute. You're cheating."

"I do not mean to. I just seem to know what chips you are holding and what chip will be next on the pile."

"I don't believe this. Iolaus, your wife is cheating at chips."

"It doesn't surprise me really. Beneath that sweet exterior lurks a devious, evil mind."

The healer burst into tears and the hunter's mouth fell open. It was so unlike her to take his teasing seriously. He went to her and put his arms around her. "Sira, my love, I was only teasing. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings." She only cried harder. "What is it, my love?" He shot a bewildered look at the demigod. The big man's brow was furrowed deeply. It wasn't like his sister of the soul to take something like this to heart. He touched her mind only to find a barrier on what was really bothering her. He nudged the wall on her thoughts a little but she only strengthened the barrier. It was as effective as a verbal "stay out," would have been.

That night the demigod wasn't sleeping well. He was worried about the girl beside him. She had insisted she was only tired and that was why she had cried, but neither the hunter nor the demigod believed her.

He felt her wake with a start and raised up to check on her. "Are you all right, my sister?"

"Yes."

"You had a bad dream, didn't you?"

"Yes, but I am fine now."

"You never have bad dreams except when you're unsettled about something."

"Everyone has bad dreams."
"You forget, I've slept next to you many times. You don't have bad dreams." He grinned into the night. He had lost count of how many times he had slept next to her. No wonder Cadmus had believed something improper was happening between them. "Why won't you let us help you?"

"I am fine. I would like to go to sleep."

"You're more stubborn than I thought."

"Are you going to shut up and let me sleep, or not?"
He whispered something about mule headed yosemins, but said nothing more. He knew she wasn't sleeping, however.

The hunter brought each of them steaming bowls of mush sweetened with honey and thinned with fresh milk. There was Tassis tea to wash it down. The hunter brought his meal out to the barn also so that he might share the breaking of the fast with them. The demigod was quiet and reflective.

"What's on your mind, my friend?" the hunter asked.

"I was thinking about the old master."

"What about him?"

"I was wondering if he was really going to stay in the underworld this time."

"Hades seemed to think he would."

"Yeah, well."

"He will stay," the healer whispered.

"How can you be so sure?"

She only shrugged.

"Well," the half god stated, "I don't set much store in what my uncle says."
The hunter nodded. "There's precious little we can do about it."

"You're right, but I doubt I'll just forget about it either."

"You do not need to worry about him. He will stay this time."

"I say again, how can you be so sure?"

"He will stay because I killed him." Tears filled her green eyes.

"What do you mean you killed him? He was already dead."

"His mind and his spirit were still alive."

"Were?"

"I took his powers. I stripped them from him."

"I remember he kept screaming something about his powers."

"His powers were stolen from him, by me. I took his thoughts and feelings as well." She sobbed. "I did not

mean to."

The hunter took her into his arms. "It's all right, Sira. You did nothing wrong."
"But I did. I took that man's conscious thoughts. I stripped them from his mind. Our old legends say that

this could be done, but I never really believed it could."

"You didn't mean for it to happen. You can't blame yourself," Hercules soothed her.

"No. But it still happened." She took a breath. "I cannot even begin to imagine what that poor soul must be

suffering, lost for eternity in Tartarus with no conscious thoughts to guide it."

"But, Sira, when a person goes to Tartarus, they lose that anyway."

"No," she interrupted. "They forget names and faces, but the soul retains impressions. What makes the

soul is still there. My soul was forever changed when I found Iolaus, then again when I met you." Her foot rested against his leg to maintain the physical touch but now she laid her hand on his arm. "Hercus, Jason, your mother. Anyone we touch with our soul changes us. Sometimes the change is slight, and other times it is profound. The changes become what we are. To take that from a person is the vilest kind of evil. It has sentenced him to worse than death."

"Tell us what happened. You said you didn't mean it to happen."

"No, I did not. I was so frightened I would lose Iolaus or that I would be unable to stop the old one. I kept

thinking he might steal one of your minds or possess one of you again. I kept thinking about the earth's pain." Her shoulders shook with her sobs. "I kept thinking about Lizzy and Cadmus and all the others who had died to feed his evil beast. I thought about the maimed and deformed children his poisons had caused and all the little souls that never even had a chance at life." She paused. "All these things combined to lend my mind strength. I could not stop and I went too far."

"Sira?" the hunter soothed her. "Did you do it out of hate or anger?"

"No, I was not angry, just frightened. In fact I felt sorry for the old master because his mind had been so muddled and twisted by the dark forces he had meddled with. It really was not his fault, you know? He could not have known that learning about the wizard's spells and incantations would change him so completely."

"Then how could it have been evil? If you think about it, you've done him a service. If he had any of the old master's thoughts left, he couldn't have been happy with what he had become. You've eased his mind and taken the evil from him."

The demigod took her hand. "I've devoted my life to eliminating evil. I know it when I see it. In fact I'm related to it. You, my sister, are anything but evil. None of us likes to take a life. Unfortunately, it sometimes happens when you set out to stop evil and tyranny."

"What I did was worse than killing him," she whispered. "I am a healer. It is what the earth mother made me. The powers that I have come from my mother. I have used these powers in ways they were never intended to be used. I have manipulated people's thoughts and forced healings on people. I have used my mind to fight people."

"Well then," the demigod interrupted her, "if you've used your given powers for such evil things, why did the earth call to you for help? Who did the earth mother turn to in her time of need? You've healed the earth. Would this be possible if you were evil? I was there. The earth seemed to open up and swallow the old man. It responded to you and sealed the old one away. Then it sent a flood to eliminate the possibility of this ever happening again. And you, my dear sister, were simply the instrument of the earth's desires." She said nothing. "Don't question the earth, my sister. Believe in her and open your heart to her. She will heal you."

She smiled at him. "You sound like a very wise and learned elder."

He grinned back. "Thank you. It did sound good, didn't it?"

"And you are only related by marriage to evil."

"No, Ares is my half brother. And believe me, he's the epitome of evil."

The place where Sira's hooded ally had kissed her hand tingled. She felt emotionally drained. Still, she felt better about herself, and a gleam of hope lit her dark green eyes. The demigod sensed her weariness and helped her to lay down. He laid down beside her and took her into his arms. The hunter curled up to her and also sent her comfort. His friend looked to him to be sure it was all right to be so close to her. The hunter nodded at him and mouthed the words "Thank you."

"I love you, my more than sister."

She heaved a sleepy sigh. "I love you also, my more than brother."

She slept long and woke refreshed. She kept her eyes closed and sent her mind to the earth. She could feel the peace wash over her, and she felt the healing of her remorse and guilt begin. She knew now she would find a way to live with what she still felt shouldn't have happened. She had always known the earth's powers she possessed were powerful. They must be to enable her to be an empath. But she had never realized the potential for both good and evil her power must also be considered. The gifts she had received from the earth god she considered a blessing, but only now did she see that they could also become a curse. She must always guard herself now. It was the first time she had lost control of her power, and she hadn't found the episode to her liking. When she had used her powers to stop the sorceress she had never lost sight of what she was doing. She had dropped all but the last barrier on her mind in an attempt to stop the witch, but she had been in control of her thoughts and her mind. But in the underground chambers of the castle, her powers had controlled her, and a man's mind had been stolen.

She eased her position on the straw. She would forever be changed by what had happened here, and yet she knew that any encounter made changes in a person, whether slight or profound. To live meant to change, and she could now give her guilt its proper place in her thinking.

She needed a private place desperately. She sensed the demigod beside her but not the hunter. She hated to ask for her brother's help because it always embarrassed him. She grinned to herself. Then again he looked very cute and vulnerable when he blushed. She rolled over and sat up. The big man sat beside her, watching her.

"Wondered how long you were going to lay there grinning."

She asked him for his cooperation, and as she feared he did blush. He handed her the pot, and with a hand on her shoulder he turned away.

"Tonight we could begin the ritual of separation. We have not prepared as well as I had hoped but I sense your need to end the healing. We would not be harmed this time, I believe."

He was silent for a moment. "Let's wait a little longer. There's no real hurry. That is, unless you really want to."

"No, to wait would be my preference. I sought only to help ease your discomfort in the closeness."

"I like being close to you. We could take a walk and relieve some of the boredom our confinement brings. But let's wait a little longer before we separate. You've been through enough. Don't think I've forgotten the last time we did this."

"It will not be like that this time. We will go slower. We are healed more now. It will still not be easy because we are so close, but it will not be so painful the next time."

"Still, we'll wait a little longer."

She had finished and set the pot aside. "Shall we walk then?"

He rose and pulled her to her feet. He linked his arm through hers and they headed for the door to the

barn. "Besides, once we separate I won't have an excuse to be so close to you."

"You do not need an excuse."

The hunter was busy fixing the fence that the earthquakes had damaged, but when he saw the healer and the demigod he left his labor and joined them on their walk. He talked with the big man about bringing the stones needed for the grinding wheel to the village. They talked of how to build the things into something useful once they were at the village. Sira added a suggestion or two and the hunter grinned at her. "You're too damned smart by far. You don't give us poor men any chance to build our macho image. How in Tartarus do you know how to make a grinding wheel?"

"I do know, and I can help if your foolish pride would step aside. Why is it that males think they are the only ones who can build something? We had grinding stones in my village. We survived on what we grew and what we could glean from nature. We made our own flour. We did not trade with some traveling band of providers." He grinned at the demigod but said nothing. "What did you think? That we grubbed in the dirt for worms and insects to eat?"

"Did you eat bugs?" She stuck her tongue out at him and he laughed. He put an arm around her. "You, my little woodland doe, are remarkable."

She could feel his pride in her. He always took pride in her abilities and her accomplishments, and it fed her bruised and sore ego. She knew he had pulled her into their little debate to do just that and she sent love to him. His arm tightened around her. "I love you, forever," his mind spoke to her.

"Even unto death," she replied.

They returned to the farm and the men played chips. Sira sat next to her brother and quietly sewed on her dress.

Mary exclaimed over it. "You sew so beautifully." The healer smiled and made a quick decision in her mind.

The evening passed quietly. The healer slowly built the mind barriers needed to bring the time of separation closer. It was a slow process of pulling back the mind that usually went undetected by the one being healed. The healer however could find it uncomfortable. Still, it would pay off later when they made the break. She had sensed her more than brother of the soul's apprehension at the prospect of going through the separation once again. She hoped to ease the discomfort as much as possible. There were moans from the hunter and the farmer as the demigod won the game.

"Come join us, my sister," he invited.

She shook her head.

"Afraid we'll out smart you?"

"No, I just do not wish to show you up. It will only further bruise your egos."

"Ha! You're chicken. You know you'll lose against the three of us."

"I would knock your socks off."

"Prove it."

The child of the forest, granddaughter of Questa, of the clan of the wolf and the lion, yosemin empath, did just that. After three straight losses to her, the men admitted her superiority.

Simtose grinned at her. "I'm tempted to take you to the city. You could make us all rich."

"Wait until you play Salmoneus," Hercules chuckled. "He's damn good, but you're better. It will kill him to lose to a woman."

"Maybe I can win a set of cookware from him."

The hunter and the demigod laughed.

Two days had passed since the empath had shown the men how to play chips. The morning dawned hot and sticky. Summer was in full swing and the morning sun beat down on the village with a brassy light. The healer led the demigod to a shaded place among the trees to make the physical break. She felt his tension.

"It will not be so hard this time, my brother. I have brought us to this point slowly. It will, I believe, be no more than unpleasant."

He nodded. He wanted the break. Being in constant touch with another could become tiring. He liked the closeness to the girl, and he knew once the break was made he wouldn't feel free to reestablish it. But still, it would be good to move about at will. He hated the thought of what the next hour or so might bring. The separation of before had torn his sensitive mind and soul and left him lost in grief. He had felt bereaved and lonely.

She led him in the trance and helped him anchor himself to the earth. She took her time, and nearly an hour passed before she released his hand for the first time. He grabbed at her and she took his hand immediately. He let his breath out slowly. It had hurt, but nothing like he remembered from last time. He calmed himself for a moment then he released her hand. The break took another hour to be completed. But finally he was able to let go of the last tie of transfer. He stood and pulled her into his arms. He held her tightly for a moment. He would miss their oneness. She had felt his hidden pain and loss and she had touched it. In so doing, she had helped it to ease. Her mind was there to comfort him when the pain threatened to overwhelm him, and this in itself brought him peace. He loved her, and he knew without doubt that nothing was ever going to change that. Now he must find a way to live with this reality. She could never really be his, at least while the hunter was a part of her conscious soul, and yet somehow knowing that didn't make him jealous. He was glad for both of them. He knew he wasn't ready to give himself to another in that kind of commitment anyway. The wounds of his losses still ran too deep. Someday perhaps, there would come a time for them. And the son of Zeus was content to wait for that time. He wasn't sure why. He was, he admitted, an impatient man, and yet in this he was happy to wait and see what might someday come to him and his sister of the soul. He knew some of his acceptance came from his love for the golden hunter. His more than friend and more than brother. The tie was closer than that of blood. It was built on trust and forged in more battles than he cared to count. He never questioned whether his friend would be there to cover his back. It was a given that he would be. In many ways the hunter was more of a warrior than he was. His skills were tempered with the needed common sense and restraint that made him a warrior, not a killer. Hercules admitted he was too easily swayed by anger. Not that he killed if he could avoid it. He had never let his anger control him to the point of killing unnecessarily. But too many times he pushed for a fight when words might have worked. It was nice to know his friend was there for him when his anger got them into a messy situation.

At her request, he led Sira to the brook and returned for her pack so that she could bathe and change her clothing. He hoped to find the hunter to take it to her. He was a little apprehensive at the thought of returning to her if she had already entered the water. The hunter was across the valley helping some of the men in the fields. With a shrug the big man grabbed the things the healer had requested and headed back to the woods. He approached carefully. He gasped at the scene before him. She stood naked in the brook, her face turned to the sky. He swallowed, then swallowed again.

"By the gods, she's beautiful." He watched her a moment. It seemed so natural to see her like this. She was truly of the forest. The same peace he felt at seeing a doe in the woods came to him now. He wasn't so much aroused by seeing her like this as he was amazed that a human form could be such a part of nature. She belonged to the earth. She was a part of it as surely as the deer were. He shook his head, and lowering his eyes he took her pack to the water's edge.

"Thank you, my brother." He realized she felt no embarrassment at having him see her like this. "Will you bathe?" she asked.

She meant nothing by her question. She wasn't flirting. It was a simple straight forward question. "Later, my sister." He kept his eyes lowered, yet he wasn't embarrassed either, and it rather surprised him. "Do you need anything else?"

"No, I am fine. I can find my way back to the village. You do not need to wait for me."

He nodded and met her eyes. He smiled at her. "You are beautiful, my sister."

"Thank you, my brother."

With a tap to his forehead with two fingers he headed back to the village. She watched his retreating back. His broad shoulders strained against the material of the shirt he had borrowed. He was as hard on clothing as her son. She would have to make him another shirt. She liked the way he walked. His stride was long and easy. He truly was magnificent. There was a natural animalistic beauty in him that struck a cord in the nature child's mind. He may have been born half man and half god, but he was also part earth now. Whether it came from his association with her or from his new awareness of the earth, she wasn't sure, but his earthly powers had increased and his oneness with the earth had followed. She shook her head. She had never realized these things were possible.

The hunter joined her as she was leaving the brook. The demigod had gone to him and sent him to the girl he loved. The golden one grabbed her up in a tight embrace. She put her hands in his hair and pulled his lips down to hers. Her kiss was hungry and urgent. Her mind touched his and seemed to possess it as her hands possessed his body.

She unlaced his leather pants and he kissed the indented triangle at the base of her throat. She moaned and threw her head back. He trailed kisses lower and she moaned again.

"How did you know to come to me?"

"Yeah, well, you should have called to me."

"I meant to, but I sensed you were doing something you liked and that you were enjoying yourself. I did not wish to disturb you."

"I enjoy this also." His tongue against her flesh felt like molten lava as he licked across the cord of her neck and up to her ear.

"So how did you know to come to me?"

"Hercules came and got me."

"Remind me to thank him when I wake from the healing sleep."

He took her mouth to stop her talking. He had other pressing activities in mind at the moment. His hands drove her mad. She trembled at his touch as a wave of pleasure and release shook her. She whimpered and leaned against him for support.

He laid her gently on the grassy bank and kissed her stomach, her navel, and still lower. Her cry of pleasure startled a bird from its nest in the tree above them. Still he teased and caressed her. He raised up to hover above her and she held her arms out to him in invitation.

He carried the now sleeping child of the forest to the stall in the farmer's barn, and laying her gently on the straw he laid down beside her and took her in his arms. He had missed the oneness that making love to her brought, and he knew before her healing sleep was over he would be feeling the same way again. He hoped the sleep was a short one this time. It was well past the afternoon and the shadows had lengthened by the time she fell into the deep trance that would bring the final healing to her.

His stomach growled. He hadn't eaten since early that morning but he hated to leave her to go in search of food. He made himself more comfortable beside her and closed his eyes. It felt good to be near her. She smelled so good. He did the best he could to reach their son. He wanted him to know his mother now slept the healing sleep so that he wouldn't be concerned when he didn't hear from her for a few days. The boy's mind pulled the thoughts of his father to him. I should have known he would already know from his mother, the hunter thought. Still it was good to feel his son's thoughts on his.

"You have grown very strong, my son. I'm proud of you."

"Your mind has strengthened also, Father."

She woke to the sound of laughter and talking. She stayed where she was for a moment, listening to the muffled voices. She knew why there was so much noise. The caravan had arrived. She sensed the truth almost at once and a smile lit her face. She rolled over and stretched. She felt wonderful. For what she hoped was the last time she used the large clay pot. Someone had been thoughtful enough to leave a large wooden wash tub and two buckets of water for her use. There was a towel draped over the wall of the stall as well. She picked it up and held it to her cheek. She knew who had been so thoughtful. Her lover knew she liked to bathe when she woke and had left these things for her in case he should not be present when she did. There was a freshly laundered dress lying beside her belongings. She danced around the stall with joy at life in general. She pulled her dress over her head and made use of the hunter's thoughtfulness.

She was struggling to comb through her damp hair when the hunter came to her. He grabbed her offered hands and pulled her into his arms.

"Thank you for the water and the things to freshen up."

"I'm sorry the water was cold, but I had no way of knowing when you'd wake up. Every day I brought fresh water, but I couldn't keep it hot."

"I do not mind cold water. It was very thoughtful of you." She kissed him to further thank him.

"The caravan's here."

"I know."

"Did the noise wake you?" There was sympathy in his question.

"I was ready to wake anyway, or it would not have."

"Want to come join the fun?" She had planned to, but now that the time had come she was shy about venturing out to where so many humans would be. "We don't have to if you don't want to." He had sensed her fear and understood.

She sensed that he would like to be out with the others. She reached for her moccasins. He helped her put them on. She got several kisses on her ankles during the procedure, then he helped her finish combing her hair. It was still damp so she left it hanging loose down her back. The dress he had borrowed for her was a little tight across her front and it showed her narrow waist. She was still too thin but at least her skin shown with a healthy glow. She looked clean and shiny all over and the hunter was tempted to stay in the barn with her after all. Her face wore a look of apprehension that made her look more vulnerable than usual. He pulled her up against him.

"By the gods, you're beautiful."

When they left the barn they found the demigod a little apart from the others, his back against a tree as he watched the trading. At their approach he pushed away from the tree and in two long strides he grabbed the healer up and swung her around.

"You're well now?"

"Yes, thank you."

"Now we need to work on getting some meat back on those bones. Come on, there's a lady over here that makes the most fantastic biscuits."

"Better than mine?"

"Don't be silly, of course not."

Mary came up to Sira and gave her a big hug. "Isn't it wonderful? I can't believe they've returned."

The day was filled with laughter and merriment. Sira went to see Granny Bess and even coaxed her to join the others in the village square for a little while. By the end of the day the healer was tired. She knew it would take a couple of days to build her strength back, but it was a good tired. The people of Yucaipia were happy. The caravans would be coming back regularly.

They sat in the kitchen of the farmhouse. The dinner chores were done. Simtose stretched his legs out under the table. "I still can't believe the caravan came back. How could they possibly know it was safe to return now?"

The demigod happened to be looking at the healer as Simtose spoke. He saw the grin on her face. "Sira, you had something to do with this, didn't you?" he accused. She wore an innocent look. "You sent your mind out to let them know it was safe, didn't you?" She looked even more innocent. "Don't give me that look, you little minx. I should have known." He shook his head. "And right after I finished that damn grinding stone."

The farmer chuckled. "We'll use it. The grain already ground brings a higher trade value than the grain itself."

"Besides," Mary added, "we have no intention of becoming that dependent on the caravan again. You've taught us all that we can make it on our own, and believe me, that's a good feeling. We're most grateful for all that you've done."

Sira sent her mind to the hunter. He stood and picked up Megan. The three of them headed toward the door.

"Where are you three going?" Mary asked.

"Don't worry, we'll be right back." Iolaus assured her.

She looked at the demigod whose face wore an even more innocent look than the healer's had a moment ago.

Helen giggled and Annie poked her with her elbow.

The hunter and the healer helped the little girl put the brace in place then the hunter carried her to the door. He set her on the porch and knelt before her. He smoothed the hair from her face and straightened her dress then grinned at her.

"Ready, little one?"

She nodded.

"Don't be nervous. We're right here."

"They're going to like it, aren't they?"

"You bet they are." He stood, and pushing the door open he took the healer's hand.

Megan walked into the room. Her mother's mouth dropped open and her father jumped to his feet. The look on the mother's face was worth any number of words. Tears streamed down her face and she sobbed. The girl walked to her and put her arms around her waist.

"Don't cry, Mother."

The woman looked through tear filled eyes at her husband and he put his arms around them both.

"My baby is walking?" he whispered.

Sira wiped the tears from her own eyes. The demigod swallowed, then swallowed again. The hunter squeezed the girl's hand. Helen and Annie joined the others for hugs and questions and explanations. The demigod slipped out the door, and Sira and Iolaus followed him.

"That was a good thing you did, my friend."

The hunter grinned. "We did. We all worked with her. Did you see the look on Mary's face?"

The big man patted him on the back. "I saw it. That in itself made this whole damn thing worth it." He stretched. "If you two don't mind, I'm going for a walk."

"We don't mind. We're going for a walk ourselves."

The demigod chuckled. "I'll give even odds you don't want company."

"Not this time, my friend."

The demigod laughed. "See ya." He walked away shaking his head.

The morning was busy with last minute trading. The healer ate very little of the mush the hunter brought her to break her fast.

"Aren't you going to eat more?"

"Do not worry, my love. I will get my appetite back soon."

She convinced her lover and her more than brother to accompany her to the dead area of the valley. The water had receded, leaving a few puddles and some muddy areas but the ground was dry for the most part. Already grass was starting to take root in the silt the flood had left in its passing. The healer gathered some roots and seeds and planted them. She carefully dug up some seedlings, then replanted them in the once contaminated ground to root. She worked to heal the earth now in a purely physical way.

She insisted on tasting the water of the spring. The hunter was against it, but she touched it first and was sure it would be all right. It tasted clean and pure and she hauled buckets of water to some of the tiny plants and trees she had planted.

The demigod tried to convince her to stop as the sun hit its zenith and the day grew hot, but the girl refused. She worked on, striving to return to the earth at least some of what the old man's spells and evil had stolen from it. By late afternoon the girl was exhausted and the hunter refused to let her go on.

They headed back to the village. The demigod kept watching her. He could see that she had overdone it. Her feet dragged as she walked. She was going on sheer will power and he knew it.

She knew she had gone too far. Her legs felt like rubber, pain filled rubber. Her hands shook with fatigue. She stumbled, and without a word the big man picked her up. She rested her cheek against his broad chest and heaved a sigh.

"Damn it, Sira, why did you do this to yourself?"

"I am just tired, my brother. Do not be a mother hen."

He shot a look at the hunter who only shrugged. His face showed his own concern. When they returned to the village the hunter helped her bathe and the demigod brought her food. She ate with a better appetite. True, she had overdone it and was tired, but she felt she had accomplished a lot, and that gave her comfort. She knew she couldn't replant the entire area, but she could still do a lot to speed the healing of the earth.

The next day she worked again to bring growing things to the dead area. This time she was careful not to tire herself. Mary and the girls helped this time also, and before long other women and children could be seen planting and cultivating the area. Sira walked to a little knoll and looked around her. She began to cry.

Mary smiled at her. "Pretty wonderful, isn't it?"

"Why are they doing this?"

"For you. It's our way of thanking you. It was Granny Bess' idea. She said it would help pay you back for all that you've done."

A group of men came from the village, shovels and hoes in their hands. Sira turned to Mary and the farmer's wife hugged her. Iolaus joined them on the knoll, a wide grin on his face. He put an arm around the girl he loved.

"I never got a chance to thank you for what you did for Megan," Mary told him.

The hunter smiled at her. "The look on your face was thanks enough."

"I still can't believe it's possible. Look at her. She hasn't taken the brace off except to sleep since she walked into the kitchen that night. She's down there helping to plant." Tears filled the mother's eyes. "She told me everything the three of you have done to make this possible. I don't think Sira is the only healer among you."

For three days the village rallied around the healer and helped her work to heal the earth. They were taking back their land. Sira planted an oak tree sapling near what remained of the castle steps. They hauled away some of the stones and used them to help repair the damage to the village caused by the earthquakes. Granny Bess put some of the stones in her garden and planted vines and flowers around them.

The yosemin empath worked tirelessly to bring about the change she hoped for. She sent love and healing into the soil. She taught Annie the earth's prayer and helped her learn better ways to plant and care for the gifts of nature. The little girl was slightly simple minded, and yet when it came to learning about nature she seemed to leave the dullness aside and blossomed as sweetly as the flowers she planted.

Mary assured the healer that she and Simtose had agreed that Annie would stay right there with them. "She's my niece in a way. At one time Lizzy and I were closer than sisters. What you said about the soul's bond being stronger than that of blood is true. Annie is ours now, and we're happy to have it this way."

Again on their last day of planting the healer over did. She still hadn't gotten her strength back completely because she refused to rest. The hunter brought in a deer for them and the healer gathered some of the white tubers for their dinner. Then she left Mary to cook and went back to the once dead earth. The hunter scolded her but she stuck her tongue out at him and went back anyway. She was tired and dirty when he came to get her.

Once again the demigod picked her up to carry her back to the village.

"It is nice having the strongest man in the world for a brother."

"Yeah, well, as much as I enjoy carrying you, you're not to get this tired again. Do you understand me? You should have listened to Iolaus. He told you not to come back out here." The frown between his brows was deep.

She put a hand up to smooth the furrows away. "Next time I will ask Iolaus to carry me. He does not scold me as much as you do."

The big man smiled despite himself. "I'll do more than scold you if you keep driving yourself like this."

She put her cheek against his chest. "Like what?"

"Like swat your bottom."

"And you call me a flirt."

He laughed. "Damn it, Sira, I mean it. You have to take it easy. You haven't let your strength build at all."

The hunter took her hand. "He's right, Sira. No more over doing it."

The hunter helped her bathe and they joined the others in the kitchen for a meal. Sira carried the now completed blue dress with her. She handed the dress to Mary.

"What's this?"

"It is for you."

Mary's eyes got big. "It's the dress you made. I can't take this."

"Of course you can." At the look on her friend's face, Sira continued. "If you refuse, I will be offended."

Mary hugged her. She patted her bulging tummy. "When this little tyke is out of here, I'll wear it with joy. Thank you, Sira."

The healer and the hunter stayed in the woods that night. The healer just couldn't bring herself to stay indoors on such a beautiful night. The stars shown brightly above them, the night was pleasantly warm. They bathed in the brook then laid on a blanket on the grassy bank to dry. Sira touched the hunter's chest with her hand. He took it in his and brought it to his lips to plant a kiss on the fingertips. She raised up to kiss his lips.

"You taste so good," she whispered and he raised up to capture her lips again.

Her hand slid down past his waist and he took a quick breath. She caressed him with her hands and her mouth, kissing and touching him. He moaned. He trembled at her touch, and with a groan he rolled her over and hovered above her.

They laid in each other's arms. The hunter's desires were slaked for the moment and he simply enjoyed feeling her close to him.

"Iolaus?"

"Hmm?"

"When was the last time I told you that I love you?"

"Oh, about five minutes ago."

"That long ago? It has been far too long. I love you."

"Do you really?"

She rolled over and straddled his waist. She didn't answer his question with words, but her actions left little doubt in his mind.

The next morning the demigod asked his sister of the soul when she thought she might be ready to start their journey home.

"I am ready now. I could work here on the earth for years, but we have made a good start and I am content with what has been done."

"Tomorrow then?"

"Yes, I can be ready tomorrow. It will be good to get back to Hercus."

Mary was quiet when they announced their intention of leaving. She had secretly hoped the healer would stay until the baby was born. But that was still a few weeks away and she knew Sira needed to be rejoined with her family. Still, the farmer's wife lived in fear that the child she carried had already been contaminated by the poisons that the old master had unleashed on them. She said nothing, however. It wouldn't be fair to Sira to voice her doubts. The expectant mother wasn't sleeping well. The words that Lizzy had voiced in describing the baby that had lived for only two days kept running through her head.

The morning of their departure was hot and sticky. Sira looked forward to returning to the mountains. She never felt as well in the hot valleys during the heat of the summer.

Megan cried and clung to the hunter. He picked her up and hugged her. "Don't cry, Lady Megan. We'll come this way again. Sira will want to see how the earth is fairing."

"I'll miss you, Iolaus"

"I'll miss you too, little one." He set her down and turned away to wipe his eyes.

Mary hugged the empath and now she could feel the mother's worry. She held Mary at arm's length. "May I?" She motioned to the woman's bulging middle.

Mary nodded and Sira put a hand on her stomach. She closed her eyes, and within moments she was entranced. She swayed slightly on her feet. A smile split her face, and still she remained entranced beside the mother. When she opened her eyes she smiled at her friend.

"Your baby is just fine, Mary. You have no need to worry."

"The baby's not deformed?"

"No. The baby is just perfect."

Mary hugged her again. "You've done so much for us."

Simtose hugged her as well.

The three of them set off with a wave to their new friends. Good-byes were hard for the child of the forest. She linked her arms through those of her husband and her brother. She sang a haunting song of the forest as they walked. Neither the hunter nor the demigod could understand the words, and yet they both got a feel for the high country in the melody. Her voice was sweet and clear and the hunter loved to hear her sing. When she finished the song she started another. This one Iolaus had taught her. It was a tavern song sung loud and fast and the men joined her in this one.

They had made a late start that morning so they didn't stop at midday except to drink from a small stream and to fill their flasks. Iolaus found a pretty pebble for her and handed it to her with a grin. She squealed with delight when he gave it to her. It would go with her other treasures of the earth in the pretty pottery bowls she kept on the fireplace mantle for them.

"She's easy to please," the demigod teased. "Most women want gold or jewels."

Sira laughed. "What would I do with gold or jewels? Who in the forest would see them?"

"Besides that," the hunter added, "they would only pale before your beauty, my dear."

"Well spoken, my friend," the son of Zeus congratulated him. "I'm going to remember that line."

"Thanks, Herc."

"You two are impossible," the empath chuckled.

They stopped early mostly because they found a good place for a camp. It was by a small spring with wood for the fire and trees to shade them. When they had filled their flasks and the cooking pot, the water was almost gone.

But within a short time it was full again. The healer broke up dried meat and added it to the boiling water Hercules had started for her. When the meat was tender she added vegetables and herbs to make a thick soup. She found berries in a patch near the spring and took a pan to gather them. Yellow and white butterflies fluttered around her, landing on her hands and in her hair. The child of nature laughed and played with them, careful not to harm them. The hunter and the demigod watched her.

"So, my friend, will you and Sira return to your cabin after you retrieve Hercus?"

"Yes. We have a room to build."

There was silence. "You don't mean?"

The hunter chuckled. "No. Sira isn't expecting. The room's for you, Herc."

"For me?" The furrow between his brows deepened.

"It's Sira's idea. She says it'll make you feel more welcome, and you will hopefully spend more time with us."

"I would think you would both get tired of me hanging around."

"You know damn well that's not the case."

Again the demigod was silent. Then in a grave voice, "Thank you, my friend. But I think you've guessed why I sometimes stay away."

"Yes. I do understand. But the time for that is past. Things have changed. We've all changed."

"Yes, you're right. They have. But it's still hard for me sometimes. Please don't mind, Iolaus."

"I don't." The big man looked skeptical. "I mean it. I did for a time, but no longer. I've made my peace with the relationship between you and Sira. I don't give a peddler's damn that you love each other. It takes nothing from me. Don't be afraid of how you feel, my friend. She's a remarkable person, and loving her comes easy."

The demigod rose and the hunter followed suit. "Thanks, Iolaus." The big man looked embarrassed. "I think I'll take a walk."

The hunter was watching the healer as she played with the butterflies. "And as a good friend, I know you will take a good long walk."

The demigod shook his head. "This kind of thing doesn't make it any easier on me, you know."

"Well, get used to it, because we want you around a lot. Understood?"

The big man thrust his arm out to his friend and the hunter grasped it in a firm warrior's grasp. "Tell Sira to call me when you're… I mean…" Hercules stuttered.

"She'll call you."

The big man nodded and walked away.

The hunter came up behind the empath and wrapped his arms around her. She leaned back into him a moment. "Our friend knows about the room."

"How did he take it?"

"He was touched. So of course he was embarrassed."

The healer grinned then turned around to wrap her arms around him and rest her head against his chest. "I love you, my mate of the soul."

His whispered reply was a caress, and taking his hand she led him back to the fire. She stirred the soup, then setting the pot aside she took his hand again and led him into the forest.

The girl was heating the soup over the fire when the demigod returned. He'd felt her gentle mind's touch earlier but hadn't returned immediately. He wasn't sure why, but he felt melancholy. He had been taken completely by surprise with the announcement of his friends' intention of adding a room to their house for his use. He'd just about convinced himself that he would have to stay away from them now that the hunter had realized how close he and Sira had become. He'd been dreading it. Being with them had eased his loneliness and filled a void in his life. Still, he loved them both enough to stay away no matter how hard it would be for him. But now they had offered him a home.

He walked leisurely along the game trail that led through the forest. He looked around himself. The tall trees he walked under were foothill pines. Tomorrow they would reach the mountains and the real pine trees, the trees that his sister of the soul took such comfort from. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. She loved the forest at anytime, and the forest around her home the most. She had found the small clearing and liked it. She had talked to the trees and the plants and found them happy and content, and that same feeling had come to her. She had worked painstakingly to lay the stone floor, piecing the slabs of stone together with great skill. The trees that had been made into the logs for the walls had each been blessed before they were cut. She kept the place spotless and clean and kept her family well cared for. There was always clean clothing and linens, warm fresh smelling blankets and soft clean towels. And she did it all with seeming ease. But there was something else at the cabin that had been sorely missed in his life since his own family had been taken from him. There was love, a sense of belonging. He was always welcome at his mother's home. Still it was just that, his mother's home. He wasn't unwelcome and there was plenty of love there also, but it was different somehow.

He thought about it a moment and realized the hunter and the empath weren't just offering him a room. They were offering him a home, inviting him to become a part of their family. They were offering him love and the mind's touch to help sense that love.

That was it. That was the difference. It wasn't just love, it was a binding together of the three souls that went beyond friendship. It was their gentle touch on his mind and his soul that made the difference. He had felt it from Hercus as well, and he understood now that they needed and wanted his mind's touch as much as he needed theirs. He hadn't even known what it was, but now he understood that he had had this with the hunter almost from that first moment they had met. The trust and understanding they shared was there because without even knowing it, their minds had touched.

He stopped walking and leaned against a granite boulder. He also understood there would be no commitment demanded of him. He would be free to come and go whenever he pleased. It wouldn't be easy for people to find him to ask for help, but somehow that no longer seemed to matter. He knew he could always go in search of adventure when the urge took him. It would be nice to leave that behind at least for a time and enjoy some leisure.

He pushed himself up from the rock. What in Tartarus am I thinking? I've never been able to enjoy leisure time, especially since Deianeira and the children were killed. His mind seemed to stop for a second. His heart began to beat harder. Since they were killed. Since Serena was killed. That's what happened, I've never faced that. I've always thought of them as away, alive but separated from me. But that isn't the truth, and I have to accept that. How is it that now I can? What has changed to make this possible? But he knew the answer. Sira. She offered him comfort and understanding as well as love, and she brought the same feelings to him from the hunter and their son. He shook his head. This whole thing is beyond me. I guess the soul's involvement makes the difference. I can't figure out how this is possible, but it is. Maybe I should stop trying to analyze it and accept it. A smile crossed his face. The gloomy mood of earlier was gone. He headed back to their camp with a light step. The journey they were making now was taking them home. Taking him home. He chuckled as a feeling of joy swept over him. My home.

The healer looked up to smile at him. He touched her mind and found his thoughts welcome. But then he couldn't remember a time when they hadn't been.

"Let's get an early start tomorrow. The sooner we get home, the sooner we can start to build that room." The hunter grinned, the healer squealed, and going to the son of Zeus she hugged him. "Is that soup ready? I'm starving."

The empath started to turn away to finish the dinner preparations but the demigod pulled her back. He hugged her tightly. "Thank you, my more than sister," he whispered. She pulled him down and planted a kiss on his cheek.

When they left the camp in the morning they headed slightly east. The trail was better, and while it added a few miles to there journey, there was no real hurry to reach Alcmene's farm other than the yosemin's need to once again hold her son. It headed them in the direction of the old man that Sira claimed as father. She sent her mind ahead and received an immediate response.

The healer stopped the others. "You know, it would not be much out of our way to visit Thysis. He is at home."

The two men looked at each other and the hunter smiled. "Can you wait that much longer to see your son?"

"We would not have to stay long. Just a quick visit."

"It's all right with me."

She looked to the demigod. "I have no objection. You know I like being with him."

She grinned from ear to ear. "It will be good to see him again. Thank you, both." She bounded ahead to admire a pretty blue flower and the men grinned at each other.

"Sometimes she's like a child with her enthusiasm," the hunter chuckled.

"Yes, she is. But somehow it just seems right for her. I can never think of her as eighty, that's for sure."

"Yeah, I know what you mean. But there's a lot to be said for an older woman."

The demigod laughed.

They turned east now. The landscape was changing before them as they climbed higher and higher with each hour that passed. They stopped for only a brief rest at midday. There was no water near so they drank from their flasks. They could reach the old hermit's cave before nightfall if they kept up the pace. They stopped again a little later to fill their flasks and to drink from a small river they would now follow to the hidden cave of the elder of the empath's clan.

He met them at the bottom of the hill. His pleasure at their arrival was easy to see, and the empath was glad that they had come. Despite the old one's insistence that he liked his solitude, she suspected he missed company more than he would admit. He had food ready for them and a place for them to sleep ready and waiting.

Sira reveled in the freedom of mind she experienced with her father of the soul. She missed that most of all in her life among humans.

The travelers spoke of their recent adventure although the elder knew most of it from his chosen daughter's mind. It grew late. Even the bats were quiet now and the healer's yawns spoke of their long day. Thysis announced his intention of retiring. Not that he was tired or that he expected to sleep, but he wanted Sira to rest. He'd said nothing but he'd been shocked by how thin she was. He knew from her mind of her inner struggle to come to terms with what had happened to the old master's mind at her bidding. He sent comfort and understanding to her, but he knew from experience that some things could only be handled in a quiet self healing that could take time and much energy. She felt things so deeply. While it was necessary for her to, to be a true healer it also left her vulnerable to pain and suffering that others could never understand. His own strong mind had done more to ostracize him from his people than the elders of his clan ever could. So he understood her struggle, and understanding it he worried about her.

The demigod rose early, meaning to start the breakfast fire, but Thysis was already up and had tea ready when the big man returned from his visit to the woods. The old one handed him a mug of the dark brown fragrant brew.

"So, my friend," Thysis questioned, "have you given any thought to what we discussed about you and Sira?"

The big man laughed. "Yes, I've thought of it."

"And?"

"And, I think you're an old reprobate," the demigod laughed again.

"Sira's healing of you has brought you both even closer."

"Yes, it has. Still, you must understand there will never be a time for us while Sira is with Iolaus." The big man's voice was firm. "And I, for one, hope he will be with us for a very long time."

The elder nodded. "Yes, you are right. Iolaus is too good a man. We must not risk hurting him. And while I sense he has found peace with who and what Sira is, it would be grossly unfair to expect him to accept a physical relationship between you and his wife. But he is human, and he will not live forever." He scratched at his chin. "You are immortal, are you not?"

"I don't know that for sure, my friend, and I hope not to find out the hard way."

The old one sipped at his tea. "Sira will live longer than her golden hunter." He nodded to himself. "There is still time. I had hoped to see it. But no matter."

"Thysis, even if this were to happen, the child wouldn't be true yosemin."

"Yes, I have thought of that. But I think the time for that is long past. Look at Sira. She is different than other yosemin of today."

"Different? In what way?"

"Her powers are so much more. The things she can do." He shook his head. "To steal a man's mind, to heal the earth itself. These things are out of our legends and myths. Never in the remembered time has a yosemin possessed these powers." He shook his head at the half god beside him. "No, my friend. Do not take offense for your sister's sake. You take me wrong. These are not bad things I see in this child of the earth. On the contrary. The power she holds comes from the earth. It is given to her by our mother. Do you not see what this means? Look at the bigger picture, my friend. The earth has chosen her for greatness. There is more in her destiny than wandering the country, healing people. I do not know what. The earth has not seen fit to give that knowledge to me. But the son of her and the hunter plays a part in it as well, and also I believe, the child that you and she will someday have." He refilled the demigod's mug. "I fear for her also. It is good to know you will be around to help protect her."

"Fear for her? In what way?"

"Her powers are immense. We have, I feel, only glimpsed a portion of what she is capable of. That kind of power can be dangerous. It could be used for evil."

The big man jumped to his feet. "Sira is not evil! How dare you sit there and try to say she is!"

The old one was unperturbed by the outburst. "I did not say that she was evil, only that her power could be used for evil. She has much she holds dear that could be used against her to force her to use her power in ways it was never intended to be used. There are, I am sure you will agree, evil forces at work on the surface of this plane."

Hercules sat back down. "So what makes you think that since her powers are so strong, that the gods would allow a child between us?"

"How could they stop you from being with her?"

"You know what Serena and I both had to give up to wed. You talk of evil. Well, my family gave evil its name. Don't think that my father isn't aware of her. He helped her in the healing of Jason. Her powers surely must be felt by others. Hades got first hand knowledge of what she can do when she puts her mind to it. It seems to me that this is just another argument in favor of her and I not getting together to create a child."

"You, my son, are thinking like a human and not like the earth. There is a bigger picture to be considered. I voice my concerns for only one reason. I expect you to watch over her. She is stronger of mind than either of us, and I feel she is well suited to protect herself. And despite her hatred of anger and fighting, if she is cornered she will fight. Still, it is good to know that you are aware of how her power makes her vulnerable to outside influences."

The empath was awake but she didn't rise. She could hear her father and her brother of the soul talking although she couldn't hear their words. She kept her mind closed as well. She had no wish to eavesdrop on their conversation. Their voices sounded serious and she felt a tension in the air, but she shut this from her mind as well. If they wished her to know of what they spoke, it would be up to them to tell her. The hand where a shrouded figure had planted a kiss tingled. She set her mouth in lines of annoyance. "I do not know who you are!" her mind shouted, "but if you have something to say to me, show yourself!"

Her mind was filled with a rakish laugh, and the tingle was gone.

Sira and her chosen father took a walk together. They spoke earnestly about what had happened at the old castle at Yucaipia. He sent her understanding and compassion, but he was also firm that she mustn't continue to blame herself.

"The earth gave you the power and called you to her to use it to stop what was happening. You may have gone further than was needed, and yet there is no way to be sure that is the case. But what was done was not out of evil or hatred. You were defending your own as well as the village, and most importantly the earth." He took her hand. "I am, however, concerned that with the use of your powers, you call attention to yourself. There are those who might wish to exploit your earthly powers for evil." Her hand tingled again, she ignored the sensation this time. "Be careful and guard yourself, my daughter."

"I will, my father. Perhaps I should simply stay at my cabin and not go seeking for adventure. Then perhaps I would not get myself into this trouble."

He laughed. "Somehow I cannot see you being happy with that kind of life any longer. Besides, you were at the cabin when the earth called you."

"I should not have responded."

He chuckled again. "Do you really think you had a choice?"

She laughed also. "No, not really. I have never been able to turn my back on someone or something in need."

They returned to the others and the afternoon passed pleasantly. The healer and the elder played chips for a time. The old one taught her even more about the game and the demigod moaned.

"Now I'll never be able to win against her. You yosemin are far too clever with your minds to be taken seriously about games of strategy."

The elder challenged him and he took up the challenge. Then he wished he hadn't. After four straight losses he gave up.

They left the next day. The healer would have enjoyed being with her father for a longer period of time, but the need to be with her son burned inside her. The unborn child she had touched in Mary was a boy. Feeling him had made her loneliness for her son all the more intense.

They continued to follow the small stream that had led them to the yosemin elder. Here it ran swiftly over rocks on its flight to the sea. Their climb increased as they made their way into the mountain range they must cross to reach Alcmene and Jason's farm. They could have gone around some of the worst of the climb and saved themselves the labor of climbing, but in order to do so they would add at least a day and a half to the journey. They agreed not to delay. The healer had another reason for wanting to reach the high country besides the loneliness for her son. She knew she would find a quiet peace in the tall pines and meadows they would soon be walking through. They walked on past midday, slaking their hunger with dried meat, nuts, and berries. They found no good place for a night camp so they continued to walk the narrow game trail that headed in the direction they must travel. The sun had already slid from the sky to streak the horizon with golden rays of light when the hunter found a place for them to camp for the night. There was a dead fall to offer wood and the stream for water. The healer felt weary and tired, and yet it wasn't the fatigue she had felt so much of late. The talk with her father of the soul and the high mountains had already done a lot to help her regain her strength and confidence.

The morning dawned cold here in the thinner air of the mountains and the fire and hot tea were welcome. The hunter's snares had provided them breakfast. The healer bathed in the icy stream despite the chill in the air. The cold water seemed to wash even more of her uncertainty away. She let it go willingly and pictured it flowing away from her on the stream's downhill current.

They hadn't gone far that morning when they broke through a screen of brush and stepped into a large meadow. The grass shimmered with life, and its almost impossible green glow hurt the sensitive girl's eyes and her heart. The same stream they had traveled beside for two days ambled along the south side of the grassy plain. Tall straight pines surrounded the open meadow, their darker green foliage and red trunks a compliment to the harmony of nature. Tall snow capped mountains of blue and purple stood in majestic splendor looking tolerantly down on the meadow.

The sky had turned dark with clouds and the darkness added its own beauty to the scene before the girl's eyes. In the distance the stream could be seen as a cascade of water from a rocky cliff face. The girl burst into tears of joy. Stepping into the knee high grass she laid down on her stomach and spread her hands out to embrace her mother earth. The grass and small vines wrapped themselves around her to caress and comfort her. Her tears washed even more of her pain from her, and peace seeped in to take its place.

The hunter and the demigod looked at each other and the hunter showed no shame at the tears that shown in his own eyes. The demigod swallowed the lump in his throat but it refused to go down. They left the girl in solitude and waited for her by the stream.

"I think we should return to the cabin right away," the hunter whispered. "I had no idea this thing with the old man had unnerved her so much. I know she hasn't been eating. But I haven't been sensitive enough to see the depth of her pain."

"I think she'll be all right, my friend. And I think you're right to get her home. She draws a strength from the mountains. My thought was to come with you, but I think you and she need some time alone."

"I don't think Sira wants that. We can have our time together with you there. She needs you also, my friend."

"Give her a chance to be with her family. I'll follow later."

The hunter said no more. He wasn't quite sure what to say. He knew his friend was doing what he thought was best for the girl he called his more than sister. But the hunter wasn't convinced it was the best thing for her. She needed her loved ones near her at a time like this. She drew strength from them. Still, he didn't want to risk making the big man feel obligated. The surest way to drive him away would be to try and tie him down.

That afternoon found them approaching a small village. The demigod hoped to get a few supplies since they wouldn't reach his mother's until late the next day. There was a small market place of open booths in the middle of the village. Four routes across the mountains intersected here and the village people made a comfortable living from their trade with travelers. The big man had been to the place several times. He had found the people friendly and welcoming. The healer covered her feet with her leather moccasins, and feeling only slightly apprehensive about being among so many people she wandered the stalls with them.

The men stopped to play a game played with six pottery squares marked with numbers. The healer watched them for a time. Feeling eyes on her she looked up. Across the market place a black cloaked figure stood watching her. She could see nothing of his face behind the hood. She stared back at him and sent her mind to touch his. Her hand tingled where the same figure had kissed it in the chambers of the old castle.

"Show yourself!" her mind demanded. She felt his humor. "Are you afraid of me?" More humor. "I sense your goodness. You have no need to fear me." She felt anger take the place of humor. "So you wish to be thought of as evil. Then if you are so frightening, why hide behind a cloak?"

He ducked behind a stall and she ran after him. But when she reached the stall he was nowhere to be seen. She stomped her foot in frustration. And again her hand tingled.

"Coward," her mind accused. Turning her back she returned to the others.

The sun of the next day was just setting when they walked through the orchard at the farm of Alcmene and the Argonaut. Hercus came running to his mother and she took him into her arms. She cried open tears of joy at the physical contact she had so missed. He chattered about the horse Jason had given him and how it would always be here at the farm when he came to visit. He hugged his father tightly. The demigod was next. The boy gave his love impartially to the big man. He was his mother's more than brother, and therefore his uncle of the soul and he strongly felt that tie of the earth.

Alcmene hugged the healer. "It's good to have you home, my dear." She held her at arms length for a moment. "What have you two done to her? She's so thin."

The Argonaut hugged her also then winked at her.

The house was full that night. Salmoneus returned from his latest attempt at selling his wares and was glad to find the travelers home. He wasted no time reminding the demigod he had promised to buy a full set of his cookware. The demigod good naturedly complied.

"What will you do with it?" his mother asked.

"Do you want it?"

"No. Jason bought me a set also. I'll never use half of it."

The salesman looked annoyed but said nothing.

The big man turned to Sira, but she shook her head. "I guess I'll give it to Winnie then."

"You know, Sira?" the salesman started, "I have some baking pans you could make good use of."

"Oh, don't start already," the demigod groaned and the healer giggled.

She ate with a better appetite and the fact was noted by both her husband and her brother.

The next day dawned bright and fair with a promise of heat to finish itself off. Salmoneus was up early to make a start for greener pastures. "I can't sell anymore here, that is of course unless you'll change your mind?" he asked hopefully of the healer.

She shook her head again and gave him a big hug. "I love you, my friend. Please come to see us at the cabin whenever you can."

He was touched by her depth of feeling and it left him speechless. He cleared his throat and swallowed a couple of times. He started to turn away, then turned back and gave her a nod. "I'd like that."

"Well," Hercules stated. "I think you've hit on a way to shut him up, my sister. I thought sure we were going to have to listen to his sales pitch again. I'll have to try that next time."

"If you hug me and tell me you love me, I'll deck you," the salesman countered.

They laughed together, and with a wave the bearded one walked away, pulling his much depleted supply of cookware in a handcart behind him, and Little Sal riding his shoulder.

Sira went to the house to finish her own packing. Kitty, laying on the porch, rolled over at the healer's approach and demanded a belly rub. The girl knelt to oblige. She stopped and rested her hand on the cat's belly a moment.

"I see you and Little Sal made friends after all." Kitty rolled over to expose more of her underside for the coveted scratch. "Yes, you are quite pleased with yourself, are you not?"

Hercules walked a little way with them. They had said their good-byes to Alcmene and Jason at the house. The healer turned to the demigod. "I wish you would reconsider about coming with us now."

"I'll be along later."

"We will need your help with the room."

"I know. It'll be soon."

Tears filled her eyes. "It is hard to say good-bye this time."

"Then let's not say it." He pulled her into his arms. "Until we're together again."

She nodded, unable to talk past the lump in her throat.

The hunter thrust out his arm and it was gripped in a firm warrior's grasp. Hercus hugged the big man. The hunter took the hand of the girl he loved and they turned away. The empath sent her mind to her more than brother. "Until we are together again."

"Mother, just leave it," the son of Zeus spoke in exasperation. "I'll take care of it later. You don't have to do my laundry."

She studied his face a moment. "Why don't you go see them?" Her voice was tinged with sympathy and understanding.

"It's only been two weeks." He knew full well whom she referred to. "They deserve some time alone together."

"I don't think they see it that way."

The big man sighed in frustration. His mother laid her hand on his gauntlet clad arm where it rested on his knee. Her heart ached for her half god son. She felt his loneliness. She always had. She knew how close he was to Iolaus. They had been since childhood. She didn't fully understand his feelings for Sira. Still, she knew they ran deep.

"I think you should go. For some odd reason they seem to like having you around," she teased him.

He smiled at her and the furrow between his brows softened. "I think you're just trying to get rid of me," he teased back.

"Well, I am getting tired of all this extra laundry."

"Maybe you're right. Maybe I will head that way, or maybe I might just go looking for someone to rescue from a giant or something." His mother shook her head and picked up the laundry basket once again. Her son took it from her. "I can at least help you with this before I go." He sent his mind out tentatively to the healer. It was met with an immediate response. She grabbed onto his thoughts as if she had been starved for them.

"We miss you so. Please come," her mind pleaded.

His mind was made up. He would visit them first then go looking for the next adventure. Or maybe he would hang around the cabin for a little while. He smiled to himself. Just touching her mind had dispelled the loneliness. That was it. He felt the loneliness less when he was with them. The loneliness of a small child growing up without a father, of a child different than others and shunned because of these differences, the loneliness of a young man looking for that one special one and not finding her, then in adulthood to find her only to have her taken away. And who had been with him through it all? The hunter. The golden one. His friendship and companionship had made the difference between going mad with pain, and finding a way to set it aside to deal with at some unknown time in his future.

And now Sira, holding a part of his heart, helping him deal with the losses he still felt so deeply.

"We expect you as soon as possible," the healer's mind told him. "Our family is not complete without you." She touched his mind with love.

My family, he thought. The big man smiled. My family. He sent his mind to tell her he was on his way.

…………………..

Watch For More Exciting Adventures Of Hercules: The Legendary Journeys When We Experience More Of

The Empath Chronicles.

Coming Soon: "To Humble A God" The Fifth Adventure In The Empath Chronicles.

Comments and kind criticism are gladly accepted. E-Mail Me At [email protected]

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