The child of the forest felt lost in the transfer. She could no longer distinguish the difference between herself and the man she struggled to heal. She'd asked her Anmchara to tie her hands to the demigod. She must not lose the physical touch, and in his delirium he thrashed and fought her. She struggled as his body refused to fight the infection that ravaged it. The only way to keep him from dying of the toxins his body could no longer dispose of was to keep his body alive with her own.

Night had come, and still she struggled. Lost in his illness and pain the big man moaned and tossed as fever claimed still more of his strength. He ranted about Deianeira and the children, speaking to them as if they were here in the mountain valley with him. He talked of his father and the pain of never knowing him, of feeling his sire didn't love him. He spoke of a girl he'd known all too briefly while still at the academy.

Sira fought a battle against his own inability to heal himself, taking more and more of the illness and poisons to herself as she struggled to keep his body from shutting down completely. Her hands tied to the more than brother of her soul, she was buffeted and thrashed about. Finally in fear for her Iolaus laid across the big man's side to help hold him down.

The delirious demigod spoke of Liasaya and Sarmen. "He was almost my son. I wanted a son to live on, to continue my legacy. Hercus, he's my son, too. Hercus, son of Hercules, grandson of the mighty Zeus, son of Sira the empath."

Rastist watched the boy's face as his uncle spoke of him in this way. Besides a deepening of the frown between the boy's brows he gave no sign of having heard the demigod's declaration.

Night slipped into the darkness before the dawn. The stars were gone, the moon lost on the other side of the earth, and yet the sun still waited its chance to shine down on them.

Sira whimpered with fatigue and illness. Her mind, no longer her own, couldn't seem to let go long enough to let her body rest. Fear rode her as the man she loved with her mind, soul, and heart slipped further and further away from her. As the first golden rays of sun graced the far mountain peeks the son of Zeus slipped into a coma.

"No!" Sira shook him. "No. Stay with me. Do not leave me. Hercules!" The fear that gripped her shot out in a burst of energy that stung the others painfully. "Fight this, damn it. Use your godly half to fight this."

The dark god jerked upright on his throne. He'd known that Sira was in a healing and had even sensed whom she healed. He'd kept his mind open to her while not really touching in mind with her. Her fear touched him painfully. Almost blinded with the force of her emotions he was gone from his temple in a bright flash of light.

The half god's mind closed to the empath, she clung desperately to his life force. She knew that should she lose that hold on what remained of him his chances of winning this battle were almost impossible. If only she weren't so tired herself. If only she were stronger. She pulled the minds of the others to her, using them as a weapon against her own weakness. She must not let go of his soul, his heart. In these things was the hope of life. In his tortured body there was still breath, and as long as there was she refused to give up. Steadying herself she sent her mind deeper into his. Never before had she dug so deeply into the private depths of another's mind. There beneath the illness, beneath the poison that robbed him of thought was still a glimmer. And in this her hope was rekindled. But she was so tired. How long could she keep this up? Could she keep him with her by sheer will of mind?

Again fear shot through her. Fear not only for the half man, half god she loved, but fear for herself. Should he die, her body would take on all that ripped and tore at him. Should he slip away, her mind would be lost. But even more than this her soul would be shredded and ruptured. It was no longer her soul alone. It hadn't been that in a very long time. Could the hunter, her soul mate, her Anmchara hold her soul together? It wasn't just one soul torn here; it was three. Right or wrong, their souls were linked, the three of them as one soul, incomplete without the other, never really alone in mind, body, or soul.

She deepened her mind's touch on the hunter in self defense then dropped yet another barrier that held her mind from that of the demigod.

The hunter was filled with fear. He'd sensed the lost of his friend's mind as it slipped further and further away. What would this do to the woman he loved? His own grief shot through him to mingle with his fear, and settling himself more comfortable beside Sira he sent his mind deep into the earth with a plea for her chosen one.

With a deep breath the healer paused in her struggle to reach the depth of the demigod's mind. Relief flooded over her at the strength that flowed to her and now she renewed her efforts to touch that part of the big man's mind and soul that hid beneath the dysfunction of his body. With a firmer hold on the demigod's thoughts Sira took even more of his illness to herself, and now she sent some of it out to her son, the Dea, the hunter, and to the source of her renewed strength.

The sun crested the serrated edges of the mountains to bathe the earth in light. With the rising of the sun Sira's energy seemed to grow even more. The night could be repressive as it hid away the hope of the day and the sense of renewal the day could bring. Through her own illness the empath could still sense the life around her. Birds sang in the trees as a light breeze fanned her face with the scent of growing things. In the earth was the promise of renewal and of hope.

The half god's body, lost in unconsciousness, had no control over its needs. The Dea left the healing long enough to help the man she loved. Sira sensed no recrimination in the minds of those who helped her, but she knew the son of Zeus better than any of them, better perhaps than he knew himself. His shame in what was happening to him would run deep. There, in the grass, her mind linked to the others, the empath vowed the demigod would not know all that happened in his illness and in the healing. The one she feared might use these things as a lever against the half god was the first to add his own determination to keep this from his brother.

His help had come when most needed, and not only to help the empath, although Sira doubted he'd ever be persuaded to admit this. He hid behind his godly guise, sending his own strength to help her. He hadn't forgotten how she would fear his godly powers of healing, and rather than risk harming her further he lent his mind to her earthly powers instead.

Rastist gathered the bounty left in his snares then cooked it. No one left the healing to partake of the meal, but it would last for a few days and could be eaten cold when they were ready. He gathered more wood, then too restless to sit around he began to build a wooden framework over those who healed. Shelter from the sun might help them relax, and should it rain the shelter would keep them dry.

Midday found the frame of the shelter done and the old one rested for a time before going on. He was alarmed by the look, not only of the demigod, but also of the empath. He washed out soiled blankets then draped them over bushes in the sun to dry before washing out the half god's things as well. These were simple tasks that needed doing, and in doing them he felt he was contributing in some way.

It was Iolaus who left the healing first. He simply rolled aside to fall into an exhausted sleep. Moments later the half yosemin boy did the same. Was this a good sign? The Dea laid down beside her promised one. He was much calmer now even though he was still flushed with fever. The old trader covered the Dea and she took his hand to squeeze it for a moment.

"He is better?"

"Yes, a little, I think. We must rest for a time then try again."

"And Sira?"

"She refuses to let go yet. Let me sleep for a little while. Then I will help her again."

"Can she do this alone?"

"She is not alone."

Rastist started to protest, then stopped. With a rush he knew of whom she spoke. He patted the girl's cheek, then taking up a damp cloth he moved to the demigod's head to bathe his face in cool water.

Heat radiated from the big man in waves as his body fought to rid itself of the poisons left there by the bit of dragon claw. He let Dasay sleep for two hours then woke her. She made a quick trip to the forest. When she returned she ate some of the roasted rabbit, which she washed down with tea. Then in fear for the man she loved and the woman she called sister she returned to her place beside the demigod.

Hercus woke next. He was linked in the healing and his mind hadn't rested well. Still, the sleep had helped. Like the Dea, he visited the forest then returned to eat something before joining the others in the healing. Before he was settled his father rose also. Iolaus ate, then taking up his old place at the demigod's head he sent his mind to the empath. She was lost in the transfer, still fighting to keep Hercules from slipping any further away from her. He could sense Ares still there, his strength adding much.

With his mind the hunter sent a plea to the woman he loved. "You should rest now, my soul."

"No, I cannot."

"But you will only deplete your own strength."

"When I know he will not die, then I will rest."

"What can I do?" There was fear and desperation in the question.

"Just what you do now. Keep your mind on his. Hold his thoughts from slipping away. I can keep his body alive for a time and I can help to heal him while I do. If you take some of the illness to yourself as the others have, you, too, can help fight the infection. But we must not lose touch with his mind. There must be a part of his mind left to help us. No matter how strong the powers of the earth, they cannot bring him back once his mind is lost." She felt the thought from Ares. "No. I do not believe he would want that from you or from Zeus. Still, if it comes to that…"

Now the empath wondered if she had the right to deny the powers of the mountain dwelling gods. Could Zeus and Ares bring Hercules back to life should that become necessary? If they could, would it be the right thing to do? Somehow she was sure the half god she fought so hard to help now wouldn't appreciate their kind of help, and she feared she might lose her earthly connection should she become a part of such an endeavor. Could she sit by and let him die if there was a way, besides her own, to save him? With a rush she knew the answer. He must live. Whatever the cost she knew she would fight for him with whatever weapons she could muster and the consequences be damned.

The demigod's fever mounted as the day wore on, and once again Sira insisted her hands be tied to him. She knew hope when he left the coma to toss and turn in his delirium. While perhaps more frightening in its physical demands, it showed a returning of his mind to her and she renewed her efforts to heal rather than just holding onto his life while he could not.

As the birds came to the trees around them to roost their cry seemed to herald the turning point in the healing. The demigod fell into a deep sleep, but his mind stayed with the empath. His fever was still high, but now his mind was stronger and she slumped down beside him, too exhausted to do more.

She grabbed her son's hand, then the Dea's. "You must keep his mind open with your own. Should it begin to slip, then you must wake me quickly. Even the slightest slip and I must know."

With her mind she touched that of the god of war. "My, brother, please stay with him. Keep your mind on his. For my sake, I beg you."

"I came here to help you. Do you really believe I could leave now and take a chance on harming you?"

"I love you, my brother. I could not have kept him with me this long if not for you."

"Rest now, little warrior. The battle will wait for you to rest."

"You knew I needed you and you came. You are my soul."

"Someday, you and I will be as one."

Her mind slipped into sleep. "Someday."

She slept for only a short time. The need to heal rode her and robbed her of the need to sleep. Still exhausted, she once again sent her mind to the man who held a part of her soul. His body, still ravaged with illness frightened her. And yet she was sure his mind was a little clearer. Iolaus had repeatedly bathed his face and upper torso with cool water in an effort to lower the fever. Sira couldn't be sure, but it did seem a little better.

Now she took more of the illness to herself while sending more to the others. Her son turned away to be ill in the grass. His mind, stronger than the others save the empath was most affected by his part in the healing. In love, Sira took back some she had given him. But he protested his own need to help. He was lost in the healing, drawn into the transfer by his love for the man he called uncle and by his strong mind and soul's tie.

Through the night the demigod faded into a deep restless sleep and a ranting delirium where hydras spit fire and dragons flew away with him. He called to Dasay over and over, swearing his love for her. Sira, he cried over as if she were lost to him.

"Sira, my soul, I love you. Don't leave me. No one has ever touched my heart the way you have. I'm sorry Iolaus. I tried not to love her. Damned or not, I can't help myself. It's as if she is me, a part of my mind and body I would die without. Gods forgive me for loving my brother's wife, but I do." His mind kept coming back to the things that touched him the deepest. He spoke of his children, crying openly that they were gone.

Dasay bathed him once more as his mind too lost in delirium failed to control his body. Sira knew hope at this, it meant his body hadn't shut down completely.

The moon made a silver glow around the shelter the old sailor had built around those who healed. It was tight and secure with three sides open by the empath's request. She needed to see as well as sense the earth around her. The trees stood as dark sentinels around them, defying the moonlight to brighten them as it had the grass at their feet. The far mountain peaks capped with snow shown brightly in the deceptive light of the night god. Clouds drifted across the moon, hiding it away one moment then slipping past to make the phosphorescent orb's luminescence seem all the more compelling. The stars faded beside their larger brother, leaving a deep black around the ball of quick silver then seeming to pool along the horizon as if chased there by the moon itself. There was a sense of magic in the air that spoke of necromancy and witch's spells, and the beauty of the night gave strength to the child born of the forest and suckled in the bosom of the night.

She'd eaten nothing since the healing began, and yet she wasn't hungry. She'd been sick after taking some water. The others slept now at her insistence leaving the dark warrior god to side her in the battle she fought against the poison that still threatened the half god son of Zeus.

The big man turned aside to be ill. The greenish bile's smell made the earth's chosen one gag with her own sickness. She'd cleaned the demigod once earlier, her hands gentle with him. His sunken abdomen and the dry papery feel of his skin frightened her. If she were to save him, it must be soon. His body now put out toxins as it shut down still more despite her efforts to hold its destruction in check.

Taking a firm hold on the earth and her power the girl sent her mind deeper, willing the infection to surrender to her will. Over and over again she beseeched his mind to come to her, to help her fight the ravages of the poison. Over and over he seemed to rouse, only to be lost again in a coma. Her own defenses were threatened by the illness she so willingly took to herself and by her exhaustion. Still, she had to fight the battle. To stop meant to lose him. To lose him meant to lose herself.

"Help me, my mother. It is not yet his time to join you. There is more he must do here on your surface. He is your child as surely as I am. Help him." Over and over she prayed for his life, offering her own in its place.

The first rays of the sun crested the far white peaks, and as they did the half god slipped into a more natural sleep. Sira held her breath with fear that what she sensed might prove to be only her own desire rather than reality. With her mind she moved slowly over his body and his mind. The fever seemed less, his mind less tortured. Did she dare to hope?

The others slept on, save the trader. He fixed a meal and gathered wood. He rinsed out another blanket and put a fresh one over the healer and the demigod.

With a sigh the big man seemed to settle himself more comfortable on the blanket beneath him. Sira's sob made her dark skinned protector turn sharply around with fear. Tears stained the girl's cheeks as she shook with emotion.

In fear for her and the half god the old one shook the hunter awake. "Something's happened."

The golden one was up instantly. He knelt beside the woman he loved to put his arms around her. She leaned into him, too tired to hold herself upright.

"Sira?" Fear shot through him, fear and grief. Pain like a hot knife sliced through his middle. "Sira."

"No, my love, he has not gone to the earth. He is better. His fever is lower. Feel his forehead."

With a hand that shook Iolaus did as she said. Could it be true? He could feel the difference before his palm touched flesh. Where before the heat of the big man's fever seemed to leap out at him, he had to touch his friend's forehead now to feel any heat. The golden one's arms tightened around the forest creature and together they cried with relief.

"You've done it! You've saved him."

"He is still in danger, but he now has a fighting chance. I am so tired. I must rest for a time."

Dasay took her hand. "Rest, my sister. I will hold the healing in tact. Rest. I will wake you if there is a change for the worst."

"Do not let his mind slip."

"I know. Hercus will help. You have done much. Rest, empath, and let the earth heal one of her own."

Too stiff to straighten out her legs, the hunter helped her lie down beside the demigod. With a moan of illness and fatigue the girl turned to wrap herself around the sick man. She kissed his bare shoulder, then with a sigh she slept.

Visions of little men unclean and grimy marched across her mind. Men of the earth's blood, but not of the earth. A boy with light brown hair stood beside a burning hut beseeching her to save him, and a man who was once a god held his hand. A baby cried in a gray stoned, high ceilinged room where other babies slept, and a healthy baby laughed and wriggled against the warm wool blanket that covered him and the empath slept on.

It was almost dawn before she woke. Instantly she sent her mind to the one she slept beside. Relief took her breath away. His fever was lower yet, and his sleep, while sound, was a natural one.

She sat up and the hunter sat up beside her. He'd slept with his arms around her where she hugged the demigod.

"All right, my love?"

"Yes."

"You didn't sleep long enough."

"The need to heal is stronger than the need to sleep."

He leaned forward to kiss her lips; left dry and cracked from her own illness. "Want to freshen up a little?"

"Yes, please. Then I must heal again."

He rose in one fluid moment while the girl watched each move he made. His agility and muscled grace had always had the power to stir her. He wasn't a large man, and yet he seemed to command power and strength. He turned back to smile at her and she knew he'd sensed her thoughts.

Feeling refreshed now the empath took a little tea, and when it seemed to settle her stomach she ate some roasted rabbit. When she finished she turned back to her more than brother and within moments was lost in the healing.

The hunter dressed his friend in a pair of woven moss trousers held at the waist by a drawstring. If Hercules woke he'd be embarrassed to find himself unclothed. After a moment Sira opened her eyes to smile her thanks to the man she loved above all others.

"Now that he is better I think he could take some water. If you take some water on a rag and let it drip between his lips he will not wake, but he will get the life giving power of the liquid earth."

The golden one started to rise, but before he could Rastist handed him the things he'd need to do as Sira suggested. Over and over the hunter wet the cloth, and bringing it to his friend's lips he let the water drip slowly past lips cracked and bloody from fever.

Hercus sent his mind to his mother, then rising he left the healing. He returned shortly with several leaves from a low growing bush among others near the stream. He instructed Rastist on how to prepare a tea from the leaves and told him to bring it to the hunter as soon as it was ready.

"It will give Hercules strength. If he can hold down water he can hold down the tea."

While Sira healed with her mind, the boy cleaned the wound on the demigod's back, changing the bit of string that kept the wound from sealing over. When he was finished he also cleaned the wound on his mother's back. These tasks complete he joined in the healing once more. The half god slept on, his mind stronger now.

His fever rose as night approached, but the empath knew this was not unusual and only strengthened her mind's touch on his to overcome it.

He woke to pain in his head and in his back. His mouth felt dry, his tongue swollen. Not ready to face the stiffness and pain in his body he closed his eyes tighter. After a moment he opened them. He couldn't seem to remember where he was. It was dark and a little cold wherever he was. He could smell wood smoke but couldn't see the fire. He got a sense of something soft and silken on his chest, and after a moment of concentration he realized it was long hair. Afraid to move too much he turned his head slightly. The empath lay cradled against his left side, her cheek against his chest, her hair fanned out across his chest and arm. Now he could smell the flower scent of her and he relaxed slightly. Why was she here so close to him? He tried to think but his mind seemed foggy and unclear. With his right hand he took up a bit of her hair to bring it to his nose. The scent seemed to dull his mind even more. Again he took up her hair, letting it sift through his fingers with a seductive tingle. Then as emotion flooded over him he bent to kiss the top of her head.

She raised up instantly to search his face lit now with the silver shine of the moon. She couldn't see the color of his eyes in the pale light but she could sense their depth. They seemed to burn into her with intensity and he rose up further to take her lips with his.

He moaned as his tongue sought hers and she gave it willingly to him. He was lost in his need of her, intoxicated by her, moved by their mind's tie of transfer. His hand slipped down her arm to cup her breast and she took a shuddering breath.

"By the earth, I love you Sira." He moved to untie her top held in place by a drawstring and her hand moved to below his waist to tug at the drawstring she found there. His kiss became demanding and she responded in kind. She needed him as much as he needed her. The need to love him, to become one with him left her shaky and she cried with frustration at the woven moss cloth that kept her from touching his flesh.

He kissed the swell of her breasts and his breath on her sensitive skin caused goose flesh. Her hand began to slip beneath the waist of his pants when she stopped. His breath caught and he pulled away from her.

"Oh, gods, Sira, forgive me." His words were husky with emotion. "What have I done?"

She raised up to kiss his lips. "It is well, my soul. You have done nothing wrong. For a moment we were lost, that is all."

"I almost… That is, I…"

"Nothing happened. You must not blame yourself. We are in transfer, and that brings us closer than ever."

"I would have taken you just now. I want you, Sira."

"I know. I would have given myself to you. But the time is not now and we were both strong enough to see that. Your fears can now be put to rest, my more than brother. We have been in healing together and we have not given into our physical needs."

"Don't hate me for loving you so completely."

"You know that is not possible. We have grown even closer, and yet we did not fall into a physical quenching of that closeness."

"We damn near did."

She smiled at him. "But we did not."

"I tried to limit my feelings for you, tried to shield my need of you. How foolish I was. It must have been hard for you."

"It was."

"I'm so stupid. How could I think that lying to myself about how I feel about you could be the right thing to do?"

"You were trying to find a way to deal with your feelings and your emotions. You were uncomfortable with your love for myself and for Dasay."

"I do love her. Not like I love you, and yet love is the only word to describe the depth of my feelings for her."

"I know, my soul."

"The earth brought this to us, didn't it?"

"Yes."

"It really can't be explained in human terms, can it?"

"No. But that does not make it wrong, Hercules. The tie of the soul makes the difference, and we are surely tied in soul as mates. What I feel for Iolaus is apart from what I feel for you, and yet it is not. What I give to him I can never again give to another, and yet what I can give to you is just as strong. To be with you in love, to be joined physically with you would make me complete. And yet to go there would spoil something between Iolaus and I. It would not change our feelings for each other or make us love you less. It would not mean you must stay away from us, but still it would change things. And while the need to be with you is almost impossible to deny, that part of me is still for Iolaus."

"It's that, more than anything that has confused me. You're right, that part of you is for him. There will be a time for us, this I know, but now is not that time. I've mistaken that truth for something it never was. I blamed the fact that we might hurt Iolaus and I've blamed you for not wanting me enough. I see now that isn't the case. When we come together in love, when I am free to lie with you in that love I want it to be unguarded and natural. I want it to be because we're free to explore each other, not because we couldn't keep our hands off of each other."

"I feel the same. That will not prevent me from wanting you, however. Knowing what I do, I could so easily give into my desire to straddle you now and take what you deny me."

He shivered as he took a ragged breath. "By the gods, both yours and mine, I almost wish you would." He took her mouth once more as tears slipped from the corners of her eyes.

"I thought I had lost you."

"Was I that sick?"

"Yes." Her voice broke and the tears came in earnest now.

"I was so scared that I'd lose you if I grew any closer to you."

"I would have gone to the earth with you."

"I wouldn't want that."

"But it would not be something I could control."

"You fought that loss of soul before. Ares would have helped you."

"He did. He helped me and you."

"I don't sense him here."

"He is there, just beyond our thoughts. He shut his mind to us when… When we…"

"When we almost lost it a minute ago."

"Yes."

"He must have loved that, or was he angry?"

"He was not angry. He understood what drove us and respected that. He would not have condemned us for our weakness any more than the others would have."

He nodded as he kissed her once more. "I'm sorry I put you through this. You must be ill, too."

"Yes, but you will not die now and that makes it worth the struggle."

"I can't remember anything. The last thing I do remember is you crying and falling into a trance because I wouldn't let you help me."

"I did not force myself on you. You agreed to the healing because you love me."

"Yes, I remember that now." He adjusted his hips on the blanket. "Damn, I hurt all over."

"I sense your need, my brother. I can help you. The others sleep still and they need that sleep. But if you will let me I can help you." She couldn't see the color that came into his face but she could sense it.

"You know this is hard for me."

"I will be gentle, my soul."

"That only makes it worse."

She kissed his chest then sat up beside him. He needed her help to sit up, then taking the pot from her he kept one arm around her to steady himself then made her turn away. She could sense his embarrassment as she took the pot from him and set it aside.

He shook with weakness from the activity and the empath curled herself around him once more, lending him strength as she began a healing. Their minds linked, he drifted to sleep as she sent healing to him. Her mind sent a prayer of thanks to the earth. He'd found a way to accept his feelings for her. She'd sensed his acceptance of their love and this knowledge gave her added strength.

She sensed Ares' mind on hers. "Will he be all right now, little one?"

"Yes, my brother, he will be."

"Then I'll be going. You have only to call if you need me again."

She held her hand out and he materialized beside her. "Thank you, my love." He knelt beside her to caress her cheek. "Will you kiss me?" Her words were whispered.

He leaned forward and she took his lips with hers.

"I love you, Sira." His voice was husky and deep.

"And I love you. Thank you for helping him. If he had died…" Her words faded as he took her lips once more.

"I know. I couldn't let that happen."

"Go to Nemesis."

"Not yet. She still doesn't trust me."

"She will if you show her the way."

"Can you even begin to understand how her lack of trust hurts me?"

"I am sorry, my brother."

"I would never share this with anyone but you. The truth is, I'm afraid to go to her. If she rejected me I don't know what I'd do. At least this way I can see Evander once in awhile. If she forbade me to see him, I would have to obey her wishes, and that would tear me apart."

Sira nodded. "She is well. Give her time, my brother."

He kissed her again and there was passion in the kiss. "Call if you need me." He rose, and in a flash of light was gone.

"Go with the earth, my soul."

The healing was long before the empath rested. Her mind became muddled with her need to rest, and it was her son's mind on hers that helped her leave the healing aside for a time while she healed herself in sleep.

The demigod was seldom awake, but his mind stayed with that of the empath and the healing made progress. Hercules did wake long enough to be embarrassed by his bodily needs which the hunter helped him with while the empath slept and Dasay bathed at the river. He took a few sips of soup made by Rastist, then was sick and lost it all.

"Sorry, old friend, it wasn't your cooking."

The trader nodded. "What you need is broth. If you will allow me, Iolaus, I will take your bow and go for something besides rabbit. A good venison broth will be better for our friend's queasy stomach."

The hunter nodded. "Of course. Take whatever you need."

Too weak to sit up longer, Hercules laid back down beside the empath. And taking her into his arms gently kissed her forehead. "I'm sorry, Iolaus, I can't seem to help myself."

"Don't be silly. When are you going to believe me when I say I don't mind?"

"I don't know." He yawned. "Just keep telling me and maybe someday it will sink into my thick skull."

"She's pretty easy to kiss, I understand that."

"Yeah, she's too easy to kiss."

"Well, personally I never found that to be a real problem."

"Well, she's your wife." The half god's words were slurred with sleep.

"Yeah, well, it was my turn to get the girl."

"I guess it was. Next time it's my turn again."

"You used your turn with Dasay."

"Speaking of which, where is my promised one?"

"Bathing at the river."

"If I weren't so damn weak I'd go help her."

"I could do it for you?"

"You're too generous by far, my friend."

"I trust you with my wife. Can't you trust me with yours?"

The demigod's eyes shot open. "My wife?" He thought about it for a minute. "I guess that's what she is, in a way."

Iolaus frowned at him. "What's bothering you?"

"She's not mine either, not really. She belongs to the soul mate I hope she finds someday, and she belongs to her commitment as the Dea of her village."

"You fear the day when you'll be separated from her, don't you?"

"Yes. Why must my life always be loss?"

"It isn't always. You have Sira."

"Not all of her."

"No, not all of her. But she is still a part of you, and even if she were to die she still would be."

"Do you think she really would have died if I had?"

"I don't know, Herc. I'm glad we didn't have to find out."

"I was so cruel to her. I've hurt her badly. I can sense her restraint with me now."

"It'll pass, if you keep your mind and your soul open to her. She's just a little sword shy right now. Not so much because she doesn't trust you as because she almost lost you and can't quite forget that fear. It will ease with time."

"I was so stupid, Iolaus. I put us both through Tartarus for no good reason, and look what this has done to Dasay. She still blames herself for not healing me completely. I really messed things up this time."

"Stop being so hard on yourself. You're just tired, and right now everything seems depressing. If you want to try and put things right, rest and get well then love both girl's out of their fear."

"That could be interesting."

The hunter chuckled. "You're delirious again, old friend. You'd better sleep."

"If this is delirium, I hope I never wake up."

The night was clear and warm with a strong wind blowing up from the south to circle out over the ocean and hit them from the north to warm even the mountain valley. Sira healed most of the night, taking more and more of the demigod's weakness to herself. His body needed a chance to renew itself, and that would come much faster if she helped him. She'd taken the illness back from the others, but rather than passing it back to the man she called brother she kept it for herself.

She was feverish and nauseated as she finally called an end to the healing and fell into an exhausted sleep beside the demigod. He pulled her close to him as Dasay put a blanket over them both. He took the healer's hand to keep her from leaving him to take to her own bed.

"Stay with me awhile."

"You should sleep."

"I will. It's just that I've missed you. You seem almost to be avoiding me." She took a seat back beside him with reluctance. "Dasay?"

Now the tears she'd been holding back for days slipped from the corners of her dark eyes. "Can you ever forgive me for doing this to you?"

"What? Don't be silly. I did this to myself."

"I should not have tried to heal you. I almost…"

"What?"

"I almost lost you."

With a moan he pulled her to him to put an arm around her. "You can't blame yourself for that. I was the fool, not you."

"I am not ready to let you go. I have had you such a short time."

"Shhh. You're tired from the healing, that's all." He tightened his hold on her. "Go get your blankets and stay beside me for a little bit."

"I will not hurt you?"

"Don't be silly. I like having you close."

She did as he asked, hurrying to be near him again. She'd felt lost and lonely now that he was a little better. He'd given most of his attention to Sira and the healing, not that she was upset about that. But she'd missed him even more than she'd thought possible. Her guilt and fear of losing him had left her feeling vulnerable.

She settled herself comfortably beside him, resting her cheek against his chest. He caressed her arm and she turned her face to kiss the place where her cheek rested. He wanted to do more. He wanted to help her with her fear. But his tired, illness weakened body betrayed him and he fell asleep almost at once.

The healer didn't mind; it was enough to be here beside him knowing he still loved and needed her. It was almost dawn before she returned to her own ground sheet. The demigod had become restless and she thought perhaps he needed room to move about in his sleep.

He did take a firm hold on Sira's hand to help maintain the physical touch then turned to his side. He still felt stiff and sore and his back was hurting from laying on it so long. Not fully awake he fell back into a more restful sleep and Dasay knew she'd done the right thing by leaving his bed.

The child of the earth woke reluctantly. She felt tired still and hoped she could return to sleep. She sensed light and opened her eyes to make sure she had indeed sensed sunshine. Her mind told her the morning was still new, and the silence of the camp only confirmed this. She closed her eyes again, but now they seemed to open against her will to let light filter through her thick, dark lashes. She closed her eyes tighter, but it was no use. With a sigh she opened them to watch the man who held her in his arms.

His sandy brown hair fell across his face and she had to restrain her urge to caress his cheek as she pushed the soft shiny strands aside. Iolaus had helped him bathe yesterday, doing most of the work since the half god was still so weak. He'd even washed Hercules' hair, and it shown more blond than brown now. He needed a shave. After his bath he'd been too tired to stay awake long enough for that. His long lashes dusted his cheeks and his mouth was drawn into a pout with sleep, giving him a little boy look that sent a tingle of compassion through the empath. In sleep the almost habitual frown between his brows was gone, showing lighter ribbons through the tan.

He wore only loose fitting trousers and his undershirt opened down the front. Its pale blue, woven moss material turned his skin bronze in contrast. The dark curly hair on his chest seemed to catch the light as it called the girl's attention. She put a hand over the hair, letting it spring up between her fingers. Her skin seemed almost translucent beside the color the sun had given him. Despite his illness his skin looked healthy. Her eyes lowered to his waist. His woven moss trousers had slipped down over his hips to below his navel, and the dark V of his chest hair as it graced his abdomen caught her eye. Almost without thought her hand lowered to cover the hair there. He'd lost weight since being ill, but his stomach was still firm, the skin warm while not hot.

Her eyes moved still lower and she swallowed, then swallowed again. The desire that had begun as she watched him sleep seemed to congeal within her as she looked below his waist. The thin woven moss cloth that covered him hid little and she wasn't too shy to admit to herself she was glad.

With an effort she pulled her eyes away, bringing them to rest on his hand. It was strong and clean, the cords moving back from the knuckles to his wrist. His hands always stirred her. She refused to acknowledge just how many times she'd wondered what it would be like to feel those hands caress her as they made love. His forearm was firm and muscled. It was lighter than the rest of him since his gauntlet covered it most of the time. The hair looked even darker here against the lighter skin. She felt a tingle of excitement as she moved her eyes up his arm. The power of his muscles here always moved her. The tight firm skin was stretched over them to reveal the contour of the muscles and veins. She knew what it felt like to have that arm around her. His hugs were firm while not hard, but what touched her about his embraces was the power behind them, that he held back almost as if he feared his strength might bring harm. She looked back to his face to study his lips. They were full and inviting even now while dry from the fever. She shivered as she remembered how they felt against her own. She watched the pulse in his neck, giving evidence of the return of his strength.

Without conscious thought her eyes lowered again to his chest. The powerful maleness of his body left a tingle in the pit of her stomach and her eyes moved lower still. Her breath was ragged now. She'd done nothing to stem the rising of her desire for him. There was pleasure in these feelings alone, and now while he slept she could indulge herself without fearing his embarrassment.

Involuntarily she moved closer to him and the arm she rested on tightened around her. Dark forest green eyes shot up to be met by deep blue ones and she took a quick breath. What was it she read there in their depths? Wonder? Awe? Love? Desire? Yes, his eyes told a tale of their own, and now she realized he'd been awake longer than she'd thought. He'd watched her watching him, closing his eyes again as she'd looked back at his face, then opening them once more as he sensed them lowering. He'd been mesmerized by her open admiration and desire. He'd sensed both from her in strong waves as she'd indulged herself with watching him.

She raised up to take his lips with hers. He could sense her desire, which only fired his own and his lips parted on hers. With a sigh she laid back down beside him, her hands on his chest, her cheek on the biceps of the arm he hugged her with.

"Have a nice look?"

"Yes, very nice. I have always appreciated the beauty of the things around me."

"I watched you watching me."

"And kept my mind from sensing that."

"No, you were just too absorbed to realize."

"I refuse to apologize for that. If you do not want women to admire you, you should not be so damn magnificent."

He chuckled. "I didn't say I didn't want you to look. It was pretty flattering."

"It was not flattery; it was truth."

"You were having a hard time breathing there for a moment."

"Yes, well, I could not help but remember how you look without the protective covering of clothing." She sensed his blush rather than seeing it. "The gods have been generous with you indeed."

"Sira."

"It is true, and as I said I have always been able to appreciate beauty."

"You little minx. You're doing your best to embarrass me, aren't you?"

"Yes. Is it working?"

"You know damn well it is."

"You look more aroused than embarrassed to me."

"Stop it, you little tease. One of these days you're going to push me too far."

"You talk so tough." Her hand moved down his chest but he grabbed it before it got to his navel.

"I thought we agreed to wait."

"That was your idea. I just went along to make you happy."

He laughed. "You are impossible. I have a good mind to turn you over and spank your bottom."

"Now who is being a tease? Come on, big guy, spank me."

"Sira."

"I can show you the spot I like it the most."

He laughed again. "Stop it." He kissed the top of her head. "I guess you're feeling better. You're getting frisky."

Now she turned serious. "You are also feeling better?"

"Yes, I am."

Tears filled her eyes. "Do not ever scare me like that again, do you hear?"

He tightened his hold on her. "I'm sorry, my soul." His words were whispery and sensual. "I didn't mean to hurt you so badly."

"It seems like so much has happened in the last year. Sometimes I do not seem to cope well with it all."

"I know. I'm sorry."

"I thought I had lost you."

"I guess this proves I'm not immortal."

"Maybe. Still, you did not go to the earth when anyone else would have. You were very ill, my soul. Perhaps you would not have died from it, but I could not take that chance."

"Yeah, let's hope we never answer that question."

She gave her own silent prayer for the same. "I need to take care of a few things. Would you help me?"

She knew he was embarrassed again. "Yes."

She leaned forward to kiss his chest. "I like being this close to you while you are scantly dressed. I think I will ask Rastist to burn most of your clothing."

"Then I'll tell him to do the same with yours."

"Hmmm, this might be the best healing I have had in a long time."

He laughed as she sat up. "There you go again."

"I am still waiting for my promised spanking."

He pulled her back down to kiss her. "Behave, or you won't get it after all."

"And you call me a tease."

He helped her with her personal needs. The hunter had left a bucket of water beside them as well as the empath's pack. Not concerned that the water was cold she pulled her top over her head to bathe herself. She'd turned her back to the half god, not because she was embarrassed, but because she knew he would be.

He reached out to lightly touch the wound on her back. "I'm sorry, Sira."

"It will heal, and in time there will be nothing to show it had ever been there." She handed the soapy cloth to him and he washed her back with gentle hands.

"I hate myself for what I've done to you."

"Do not. Perhaps it was a good thing. It has given you a way to come to grips with your feelings for me and it has eased the tension of our love for each other."

"You're sure you won't be scarred?"

"Not with scars that will show." He was silent. "I will never be able to completely forget my fear for you, my soul."

"I'm sorry."

"I am not. It is part of loving another. To love is to fear loss. The two must go hand in hand, but that only makes the love more intense, more desirable."

"After I lost Deianeira and the children, I didn't feel that way. I thought I'd never love anyone again. Then with Serena I thought I'd gotten past all that. But when she was taken from me I realized I hadn't gotten over the pain, only hidden it away."

"But you love now, my more than brother."

"Yes, you brought that back to me. You lifted the shield that hid that inner pain and soothed it away. You opened my heart and made it possible for me to love you and to love Dasay. Without your love I don't think I ever would have found that again."

"It would have come, my soul. It might have taken longer, but it would have come. Time heals much."

He handed the cloth back to her. "Maybe." He dried her back with a cloth from her pack then helped her pull a clean top over her head. She moved to untie the drawstring on her pants and he turned his back to her. "Will we heal again when you're done with your bath?"

"Yes. The need to do so drives me."

"Is it a painful thing, this need to heal?"

"Yes, at times very painful."

"Iolaus is right, you shouldn't have to go through life feeling others' pain."

Finished with her absolution she'd pulled a skirt up over her hips then started to tie the drawstring. At his declaration she turned sharply around to face him, keeping one foot against him to maintain the physical touch.

"But then I would not be a healer, an empath."

He reached out to cup her cheek with his hand. "I know, but seeing you suffer isn't easy."

"It is not like that, Hercules. To turn my back on a healing is even more painful."

"Don't you ever wish you didn't have to always be giving to others, always sensing their pain?"

She sighed. "Yes, I sometimes feel that way. There are times I wish I did not have to heal. But without that part of me I would not be whole. To lose the earth would rip my soul from me."

He reached out to tie the string that would hold her skirt in place. She wore nothing beneath the skirt and it had slipped from her hips. The eyes he turned back to her were deep with desire, the pupils dilated with his emotion.

"I knew if we were to be in a healing together the feelings I have for you would only intensify."

"Is that such a bad thing?"

"Not bad. Painful, perhaps."

"But the pain is no longer one of fear or recrimination. That I can sense."

"No. Even if it damns me for eternity, I can't help how I feel about you. I can't lie about it anymore. Iolaus seems to understand it far better than I do. I really believe he understands how you stir me and that he can handle that understanding."

"He is of the earth."

"Being here so close to you won't be easy. The war raging within me now isn't an easy one."

"I know. It is the same for me. Do not condemn yourself for the struggle. You are very male; it is only natural. You and I are tied in mind and soul, and now we are tied in transfer. We will have to fight this until the healing is over, then it will ease a bit."

"What if I can't fight it?"

"Then we will accept the will of the earth and go on. I said before it would not change how Iolaus or I feel about you. It would not be a one sided thing, you know. I, too, struggle with my feelings for you."

"If we were alone now…" His words trailed off.

"Yes, I feel the same." She smiled at him. "There is indeed safety in numbers."

With a moan he pulled her into his arms. "We'd better get this healing underway before I forget we aren't alone."

"Is there really a chance?"

"Stop, Sira. This is all too difficult to play around with."

"Who is playing around?"

He took her lips, and in the kiss the healing began. He sensed her mind touch his, and afraid to let his desire build further he snatched at her thoughts to pull her deeper into the healing. Still holding her he laid back down, taking her with him. He could sense her drawing the illness from him to help combat it with her mind and body. He sent his mind to her and got a strong sense of the earth. With a rush he opened his mind to the earth and the healing of his strong emotions for her began. He loved her in soul and nothing he could do would change that. Right or wrong, he was a part of her, and she a part of him. Whether he loved a hundred other women singularly or all at once his soul was hers. No matter how many loves he might have, she would be his last and most intense. No matter how many she may love, she was still his mate in mind and soul and hopefully in body someday.

If the others, Iolaus and Dasay, could find peace with this then he must do the same. Should he find recrimination in the human world for this, then he would live in the yosemin world. It was far too late to stop it now, and with a rush he realized it had been too late since that first touch of her mind on his, as he'd sat at the table in his mother's kitchen arguing with Salmoneus.

In wonder he opened his mind to the woman he loved, and together they used the power of the earth to pull the white light of healing to them. It was at that moment that the real healing began for him. It was now that his body took over and began to really fight the infection that had ravaged it, and through the transfer the empath as well.

The child of the wild, born to the forest healed her more than brother of the soul for four days. The days were clear and windy with a strong warm northerly breeze tossing the trees and thrashing and gutting the fire. The grass around them turned brown almost overnight as the strong breeze robbed it of moisture. Sira prayed for rain, but her prayers went unheeded.

The healing had progressed to the time of physical touch much sooner than the empath thought possible given her brother's illness. But then, she hadn't reckoned on his incredible strength. They walked each day now, building that strength, their hands held together to maintain the physical touch. Dasay usually walked with them, as did the hunter or the empath's son. Sira knew Hercules was restless and tired of the restraints this time in the healing put on them both. But while he was ready for the break between them both physically and mentally, she was not. She had not yet healed as much as he had, nor was she emotionally ready to sever the tie of healing. She hadn't been any more ready to make the break of transfer, but knew to delay was nonproductive and could even be detrimental to him more than her.

Two more days the girl held off making the break of physical touch. She'd slept well cradled in the half god's arms on one side, her Anmchara's arms on the other side. She was physically ready now to make the break. Her emotional state was a different matter. She knew that once the break was made she would not be free to be so close to the demigod. The vulnerability his illness had left her with nagged at her still.

The night was almost gone when she woke from sleep to the sound of the wind blowing strongly through the trees. She hated this part of early summer. The wind that blew up from the south to circle around and buffet them from the north was so drying to the forest, leaving it susceptible to fire as the strong wind blew hot across the mountains. Some years the days of wind only lasted one or two days, giving the earth a chance to rest from the wind's endless buffeting. While the winds blew there was no chance of rain, which only added to the drying damage to the forest.

Her father had been lost to a forest fire when she was a child. A fire started by heat lightning, and the strong wind that had blown for almost three weeks straight. She'd been only a baby when her father left their village with most of the male population to try and make a fire break around the village in the hope of stemming the destructive tide of flames. Still, she remembered some of that time. She remembered the shock of pain she'd sensed even before her father's charred remains had been found by her grandfather. There was no empath at their village then, and no chance for a healer to help him if there had been. He'd been caught in a back draft of flames as the fire crowned above him then jumped across the firebreak to trap him. He'd worked his way ahead of the others. There was no one to witness his demise, save the earth and the senses of his infant daughter.

The demigod stirred beside her and she raised up to check on him. He'd been dreaming of her, and when he opened his eyes to see her there he pulled her into his arms to take her lips.

"Is this still my dream, or are you real?"

"You are well?"

"I guess this is real. Damn, that means I'll have to let you go."

She settled herself beside him once more. "Did I wake you?"

"Yes, but not in the way you mean. I was dreaming of you and my desire woke me."

"I am sorry."

"There's no need to be. Still…" He hesitated, not wishing to hurt her feelings.

"I know. The time has come to make the physical break."

"Please try and understand. Being here so close to you isn't easy. Not now when I feel so wonderful. I guess the claw in my back had been bothering me all along and I just wasn't aware of it. But now I feel alive and restless and…" He stopped.

"Loving?"

"That's one way of putting it, yes."

She laughed. "Then tomorrow we will make the break. For tonight, just hold me and love me."

"I can do that." She only sighed. "You won't lose me, little healer."

"I know."

"I have no intention of ever trying to limit my feelings for you or try to close my mind from yours."

"Good, because I do not think I could do it again."

He wished he'd seen her need. He'd been so selfish that the pain the barriers between them put her through had gone unnoticed by him. "I love you, my soul."

She turned a tear stained cheek so she could kiss his chest. "Forever, even unto death."

He took a quick breath. The words were those voiced by a couple as they took the vow of mate. "Even unto death." His own words were whispered, his voice breathy and low with the depth of his emotions.

The empath shook with silent sobs and he tightened his hold on her. They'd made a commitment to each other before he'd gone to the underworld to search for the hunter. He'd taken that commitment seriously and knew the empath had as well. But now. Now the commitment between them was much more. Now they had sealed the tie of soul between them in words; words spoken and emotions felt deeply. He knew a moment of panic, but as quickly as it came it was gone in a strong sense of the earth. What they had done here among the mountains with their simple words had been given the earth's blessing.

The hunter lay beside the others, his eyes open to the stars above him. He'd heard the vow between his soul mate and his more than brother of the soul. He admitted he'd been shocked by it. He knew their tie was one of the soul, but he'd not really understood just how deep it ran. Now the three of them were bound in an even tighter circle. He felt a little uncomfortable and he wasn't sure why. Am I jealous? he asked himself. It didn't feel like jealousy. So what makes me uncomfortable? Is it that I don't want to share her in that way? Yes, I think that's a part of it. Then he smiled. Whether they'd taken the vow in words or not didn't change the fact that they'd felt it in their souls for a long time. Peace swept over him as the earth touched him with love and acceptance. With a deeper smile he rolled over to wrap himself around the woman he loved so completely.

The demigod had returned to slumber, but she had not. She turned in the hunter's arms to face him and he tightened his hold on her. "Do not be angry, my soul."

He kissed her forehead. "I'm not angry."

"It changes nothing between us."

"Yes, it does. It brings us closer." She took his lips with hers and he tasted salt from her tears. "Don't cry, my soul."

"I feared you would be hurt."

"I think I was for about two minutes, until the earth helped me with it."

Her hands slipped below his waist. "Tomorrow, the physical touch will be severed. Will you come to the woods with me?"

"Try and stop me."

"I need you now."

He took her hands in his to kiss the palm of each. "Oh, yeah."

She chuckled. She'd felt his need. "If we are very quiet I could love you now."

"No. I want to do this right. Tomorrow, by the stream it'll be just you and me and the earth. That's the way I like to make love to you the best."

She snuggled down close to him, keeping one foot on the demigod's leg to maintain the physical touch. "It will be a long night."

He laughed silently as he caressed her arm. "It sure in Tartarus will."

They walked hand in hand along the stream, the hunter and his fare haired child of the forest. It was late evening now and the break of physical touch had just been completed. Sira had taken her time in making the break. She could sense the demigod's emotions and knew he needed time to adjust to what must come next in the healing. He hadn't forgotten the wrenching pain of making the physical break from the last time she'd healed him, but more than this he wasn't quite yet ready to give up the physical bond between them. In the night it had been Sira who wasn't ready, today it was Hercules. Any break of the physical touch must deal with emotions as well as the physical. Some breaks were more one sided toward the mental and emotional than others. When the final break was made Hercules stood then pulled the empath into his arms.

"This was harder than the last break. It didn't hurt so much physically, but it was harder."

"I know, my soul. It will take a few days to ease, but it will grow easier to be separated. Remember, our tie of soul has not been broken and it never will, not even should one of us go to the earth before the other."

He tightened his hold on her for a moment, then held her at arm's length to watch her green eyes through blue ones lost behind unshed tears. He nodded, then nodded again before he could turn her loose. He had to fight the desire to pull her back into his arms.

Dasay stood nearby watching and listening to them, as did the hunter. Sensing the healer's disquiet the hunter took her hand. She turned a teary face to him. She'd been shocked by Sira's declaration of their unbreakable tie of soul. What she'd said to Hercules was something one soul's mate would say to another. She'd been further shocked by the energy that filled the air around Sira and Hercules. She'd known that the two of them were tied in soul. She'd thought she understood what that meant, now she realized she'd had no idea.

In the hunter's eyes she read understanding and acceptance, and felt ashamed that she felt such jealousy. She had no right to feel as she did. She'd insisted that she understood the half god's feelings for the empath. She'd sworn it made no difference, and at the time she'd done so she'd believed it to be true. Now she knew it did hurt that she would never have this same kind of oneness with her promised one that he had with Sira.

Now she understood Ares much better. He loved Nemesis, but his soul belonged to another. She loved Hercules, but her soul waited for her true mate, the one who could make her truly complete. And should she never find that? She didn't know how to answer that question. Now seeing and feeling the love between Hercules and Sira, having seen the even stronger tie between Iolaus and Sira, she wanted to find that one special person more than ever.

Holding Sira's hand, the demigod turned to the others to place the empath's hand in the hunter's. He held his hand out to Dasay and she stepped forward to take it. With a sigh the demigod pulled the Dea into his arms.

Sira bathed in the stream and the hunter joined her there. The wind still tossed the trees, and despite the warmth of the wind it chilled his wet skin. They left the water together to return to the shore and he took up a blanket to wrap around them both.

"I've brought food. I knew you'd be hungry."

"I am more hungry for something that food will not help."

He took her mouth with his, lingering over the taste of her lips, savoring the sweetness of her scent. He released her reluctantly so that she might eat something. She would sleep for a few days as her body rid itself of the last of the demigod's illness. It was the final stage of the healing for her and perhaps the most important part.

She needed to eat first. Her appetite during healing was low and she'd taken little nourishment during the preceding days since going into the transfer. She ate quickly. The need to sleep would soon overtake her, and she wanted a chance to be with the hunter before it was too late.

She put away the remains of her meal then turned to her mate of the soul where he sat beside her on a blanket spread over the dry grass. She gave him a playful shove and he laid down, feigning injury. She straddled him, bending forward to take his lips with passion. She hadn't dressed after her bath and he'd only pulled a pair of woven moss trousers over his hips. Her forwardness stirred him, and a tingle started in the pit of his stomach.

He held her at arm's length, then moved to cup her breasts. Her eyes burned deeply into his, and in their dark, forest green depths he saw desire. She moved her hips invitingly and he turned so that he could hover above her. Her hands trembled as she untied the drawstring at his waist. He helped her pull the confining cloth out of her way, but when he moved to hover above her again she pushed him gently to the blanket and took control of their lovemaking once more.

Her kisses set him on fire as she trailed them from his lips to his chin, his neck, his chest, and still lower. He raised up to watch her and she smiled at him. In the smile was love and commitment. With his mind held firmly by hers, his last remaining doubts about her having taken such a strong vow with Hercules burst and disappeared like a vapor on the hot dry wind.

He threw his head back as he drew a quick breath. He was lost in his love for his Anmchara, lost in his need of her, both physically and mentally. With a moan he rolled her over to stop her before she went too far. Her arms around his neck, she raised up to take his lips. He gave them with a hungry demand.

He wanted to take his time to make this last, but he knew she was fighting the need of the healing sleep. When he moved to take her she arched her hips, as anxious to be as one with him as he was to please her. Her cry of release joined his to be carried away by the force of the wind.

He held her closely as she drifted to sleep, her check on his chest. She reached up to caress his lips with a finger. "I love you, my soul. One soul, one mind, one body throughout eternity, even unto death."

"Forever."

His whispered reply touched her deeply and she relaxed even more. Tears in her eyes she drifted to sleep.

Not quite ready to break the spell their lovemaking had cast, the hunter settled himself more comfortably with the girl he loved in his arms, and followed her to dreamland.

The tall, sandy haired hero and the dark haired Dea of Zirrith left the camp to walk along the river, following it downstream while the hunter and the empath had followed it toward the mountains. It was late now, the waning moon slipping past its zenith to get the first glimpse of the morning, waiting its turn to warm the earth. They walked in silence beside each other. The demigod was nervous and restrained, the girl, sensing it, was lonely.

She'd wanted to leave the camp the moment the tie of physical touch ended, but Hercules had hesitated. He was afraid to admit to himself how nervous he was with the healer, let alone telling her.

It wasn't until he'd caught her watching him from across the fire, a lost lonely look in her eyes that he'd made any real effort to communicate with her in mind. Realizing he was hurting her by his unrest he stood to take her hand and lead her from the camp. He led her to a secluded screen of brush then found them a place to sit on the grass. Once there, he wasn't sure what to say to her.

After a moment she reached for his hand and he took it to bring it to his lips. Unable to stand the tension between them she turned to try and see his eyes. The fading moon was no help here and she sighed with frustration. She sent her mind to him and found confusion there.

"Have I done something wrong?" Her voice held a note of fear that tore at his heart.

"No."

"Are you angry with me for not healing you?"

"No. I told you you're not to blame for that. It's nothing you've done, or not done. It's me." He started to say more then stopped, unsure what to say to her to explain his nervousness.

"Please do not shut me out."

He pulled her into his arms and she began to sob. "You heard the words between Sira and I this afternoon when we made the physical break." She only nodded. "Just as I feared, she and I have grown closer."

Now the Dea cried harder. "Does this mean you do not love me now, or you do not want me anymore?"

"No, Dasay. How could you think that? Nothing will change the way I feel about you. I love you more now than ever."

"Then why shut me out?"

"I'm sorry." He took her lips with his, the kiss tender and expressive. "I thought perhaps you wouldn't want me now that Sira and I have made such a bold declaration of our tie of soul."

"I admit I was shocked, and maybe even a little frightened, but that only lasted for a moment. I love you, and I simply do not care that you are mated with Sira now. I want you no matter what. Without you I am nothing; I am lost."

He tightened his grip on her. "Then it's all right for me to still love you even now?"

She rose up to take his mouth with hunger. "It is more than all right; I demand that you continue to love me. It is vital that you do. It is essential." Her hands slipped beneath his shirt to touch his chest. "Make love to me, my lover, wild uncontrolled love like that time in the river while Sira healed Ares. She pulled her top over her head to expose herself to him. "Take me now, for I cannot wait."

He pulled her tightly against him. Her words had fired his blood and stirred his senses. Her hands were intimate, which only stirred him all the more.

"By the gods, I love you."

His whispered words sent a chill through her, and tears filled her eyes once again. She'd feared he would turn away from her. How naive she was about the workings of the heart. She'd read about it and even spoken to others about it, but she hadn't realized how complex it could be. She kissed his chest then helped him pull his shirt off so she could run her hands over muscles firm and strong. The hair on his chest sprang up as her hands moved past it and a tight tingle knotted her stomach.

He removed his boots and she rose to her knees beside him to unfasten his leather pants. He stood to let her pull them slowly from his hips then closed his eyes with desire as her breath caught. She kissed his abdomen then trailed kisses lower. He caressed her cheek with a hand that trembled slightly.

He stopped her then went to the grass beside her to pull her back into his arms. He buried his face in her hair, drinking in the scent of her, intoxicated by the warmth of her flesh on his. His hands caressed her back, then lower to loosen her skirt where it tied in the back. She stood to let it drop at her feet and he pulled her close to kiss her abdomen. She slipped down him to the grass and he shivered.

Her hands in his hair, she pulled his lips to hers, her tongue seeking his with fire. He laid her on the grass to hover above her, kissing the triangle indentation at the base of her throat then the swell of her breasts.

She arched her back as his kisses went lower, then still lower. She cried out with her need of him and he moved to take her. She cried openly as he did, the tension and fear of the last few hours fading away as he loved her. He did still want her and she wanted him. What he felt for the empath hadn't changed his love or his ardor for her, and in this realization she found a returning of the confidence she'd lost as she'd admitted her inability to heal the man she loved without the help of others.

Spent and content they laid in each other's arms, the stars a sparkling canopy above them. He felt alive and energized. She'd feared he might deplete the strength he'd gained in the healing, but she hadn't reckoned on the strength he'd gotten through the union of his mother with the King of the gods.

He soon gave her reason to remember it however, and it was almost light before they returned to camp. The hunter had carried the empath back to the fire shortly after Hercules and Dasay left it, and seeing their empty bedrolls he smiled to himself. Rastist sat at the fire still, and at the smile on the hunter's face he made some comment about hot blooded adventurers.

When the empath was settled the hunter joined the trader at the fire to be handed a mug of tea. "Don't you ever sleep?"

The old one laughed. "Don't you?"

"I slept."

"Yeah, sure you did."

The hunter laughed at him. "I have an excuse, what's yours?"

"Old people don't need as much sleep as the young. As our bodies slow down it stores up what sleep we do get and keeps us awake at night."

"You? Old? I don't see any evidence of it."

"I still have a few good years left. Being with this bunch should help to keep me young."

"Well, when we get to the cabin it should be pretty quiet."

"Are we planning to winter there?"

"No. I wanted to for Sira's sake, but it's too late in the year to make ready for the cold weather. The cabin's high up. That first winter there we damn near starved."

"Then where to?"

"We'll go on to the cabin for a bit, then who knows where?"

"Well, I sure don't have any place to go. So if it's all right with you and the rest I think I'll stick around."

"You know it's all right. Besides, you still have your debt to Sira to pay."

"The old one chuckled. "I think maybe she could protect me more than I can her. I'll never forget how she tackled that dragon. Damn, that was a sight to see."

"Maybe she doesn't need you to protect her, but she does need you. She takes strength from those she loves. Having you with us adds much to all of us."

The old sailor cleared his throat, then cleared it again. "Your wife saved more than just my daughter and granddaughter. It gets mighty lonely out on the trader trail with only your own company to make the time pass. Old boy was a good horse, and he carried me many a mile. But he wasn't long on conversation."

Iolaus saluted with his mug of tea and the old sailor nodded. A pact had been made between the golden one and the old sailor turned trader, now guardian of the empath. He was no longer an outsider, but a part of the group, accepted and welcomed. With a deep sigh of contentment Rastist tossed the dregs of his tea into the flames then stood.

"I think I could sleep now. I'll keep the fire going."

"You sure?"

"Go to your lady. I bet she even needs you in sleep."

"I know I need her." The empath's hunter of the forest rose to stretch. "See you in the morning, my friend."

"In the morning, then."

The hunter knelt among the tall reeds near a backwater of the stream. The morning was clear as the wind still blew about him with almost gale force. He'd found sleep impossible, and while the morning was still just a promise he'd taken his bow and arrows to the stream to find some meat. He was in his element now, doing what he did best. He'd felt lonely and tense with the empath lost in the healing sleep and knowing it would last for days. Now the tension was gone. It was times like these that brought him closer to the earth; now, when he got the true feelings of the earth mother. The beauty of the white capped mountains, the clear air, the trees, stirred something deep inside of him. He felt the thrill of primitive survival rush through him and he smiled as he settled himself more comfortably on the sand. The strong wind tossed his hair as it blew leaves across the meadow. He watched them pool along a thick line of brush before more came to join them. He wasn't in a hurry; the others were watching Sira and he knew she was safe. Maybe it was selfish to be here instead of being in camp with her, but he could do little while she slept the healing sleep, and he'd felt the need of distraction. Besides, they could use the meat. It would be a few days before they could leave to head toward the cabin, and a couple more days to reach the cabin. Even when they did, there would be no supplies waiting for them. He knew that while Sira might not be consciously aware of his presence, she did sense him through their tie of soul. He hoped she'd understand. He'd needed this chance to be one with the beauty around him.

Waiting for her to leave the healing sleep was always hard for him. He missed her so much at times like these. He also realized part of his unrest came not from boredom, but from the sense of vulnerability any healing she did left him with.

He shut that from his mind now. The chance that he might lose her was just too painful to think about now, now with the morning so beautiful, now with the thrill of the hunt upon him. Those thoughts were best left to the cold, dark hours of the night when he could pull the earth's child close and push the thoughts aside by making love to her.

The morning progressed and he left his place of concealment to search for tracks. He'd followed deer tracks to this bit of meadow, but with the coming of the day his chances to find larger game grew short. Deer usually hid away during the day, returning to feed at night, then again in the morning. He followed another trail deeper into the meadow, the sun at his back now.

Loxias adjusted his position on the grass. His legs were beginning to cramp. He'd watched the dark haired girl and the boy leave the camp to head toward the river, and sent a man to watch them. Taking his time, he studied the camp. There were only two still there, the man he was sure was Hercules, and an old black man. Within the shelter were their supplies, and a couple of times he thought he'd seen movement there but couldn't be sure. After a bit he'd convinced himself what he'd seen was movement caused by the wind. The strong drying breeze had annoyed him for days, and yet right now he was glad for it. It masked sounds from those he watched, but by the same token it masked sounds from him. He looked around him at this realization. There was one person missing from the group he watched. He couldn't believe the old man was the empath's mate. He seemed to remember something about a friend being with them.

Movement again in the shelter. He relaxed slightly. That must be the empath's mate sleeping there. Leaving his vigil he followed the other man to the river. The empath and the boy were washing out a few things.

Loxias came up behind his friend to hide behind a screen of brush. "What'd ya find out at the camp?"

The little half yosemin put a finger to his lips for silence. "Nothing really."

"You sure that's the empath?"

"It has to be; she's the only female."

Dasay hung the clean clothing on bushes to dry, then taking up the basket of food they'd brought she handed it to Hercus.

"Let us go to the meadow to eat our meal."

"The wind is pretty strong, but I guess we can stay under the trees along the meadow's edge."

"I hope these clothes stay on the brush and do not blow into the dirt."

The boy smiled at her. "They should be all right."

They walked toward the meadow now and away from the camp. The boy stopped to look over his shoulder and a moment later he did it again.

"Is there something wrong, Hercus?"

"I guess not. It must be the wind."

"Did you hear something?"

"No, not really. It was more like I felt it."

"Felt what?"

"Nothing. The sensation is gone now."

Loxias narrowed his eyes. "That boy sensed our presence."

"Huh?"

"Never mind. Come on, they're headed right toward Carneus and the others. Maybe we can get this over with now and get the Tartarus out of here."

The men slipped passed the camp once more, then hidden in the forest they moved quickly to reach Carneus before the empath and her son did.

Carneus jerked around at their approach. "I thought you were watching the camp."

"They're coming to you."

"Who?"

"The empath and her son. Who else?"

"You're sure?"

"Yeah, now's your chance. But you'd better not try to sneak up on them. If the empath doesn't sense you, the boy will."

Carneus grinned as he took a small pack from around his waist. He took a long slender hollow tube from it, then six tiny darts made from thorns with a bit of feather at the one end. Next he took a small clay jar from the pack then pried the wooden cork from the top.

"They'll never know what hit them."

"You'll have to get pretty close to use that thing."

"Not as close as you might think." He dipped each thorn tip into the jar of strong smelling liquid then set them up in the sand ready to use.

He stiffened when the woman and boy entered the meadow. A shiver of anticipation went through him. This was turning out to be much easier than he could have thought. Like lambs to the slaughter, he thought.

"Just a little closer," he whispered under his breath.

Dasay and Hercus stopped just at the edge of the meadow in a slight clearing. The wind wasn't too bad here. The boy took the blanket from the healer to spread it on the ground.

"Damn," the leader of the tiny group of misfits swore. Carefully taking up the darts one at a time and holding them in his teeth by the feathers he motioned for the others to say where they were, but to be ready.

With care the leader inched forward. Finding a place among the bushes at the edge of the small clearing he placed one of the darts in the end of the tube.

Hercus jumped to his feet. He turned his head from side to side as if listening for some sound, but it was his mind that listened, not his ears. He reached for the Dea's hand then slapped at a stinging in his neck, then again in his thigh.

"Run, Dasay. Get away."

The girl jumped to her feet to grab for the boy as he began to fall. She jerked as something bit at her arm.

The hunter jerked around as something touched his mind. What was it? He tried to determine the source of his sudden sense of… Of what? He started to head back toward camp, but his mind sensed no danger now and he hadn't finished butchering the buck he'd taken. He sent his mind to Hercules but sensed no danger from there, either. He listened into the wind, then his mind more occupied with what might have disturbed him he returned to his task. Where before he'd taken his time, he rushed now.

Sira stirred in her sleep, jerking from side to side and the demigod went to her. She whimpered and he laid down beside her to take her into his arms. He feared she might be having the nightmare that had plagued her so much of late and he hoped to help ease her back to sleep. He knew how much she needed the healing sleep. She whimpered again, but once she felt his arms around her she seemed to relax once again and fell into a deeper sleep.

Once he was sure she was resting well he sat up while keeping a hand on her arm. He searched the area away from the camp, starting at his furthest line of vision and working his eyes back toward the camp perimeter. He hesitated at each bit of brush or rock where someone might find concealment, taking his time to thoroughly search the area. He wasn't sure what had made him feel uneasy.

The hunter approached the camp from the river dragging the choicest cuts of venison behind him in the hide. Leaving it in the care of Rastist he went to the shelter to find Hercules and Sira.

"Everything all right, Herc?"

"Yeah. Sira was just restless, is all."

Iolaus looked out past the camp. "Where are Dasay and Hercus?"

"They went to the river."

"I just came from there and didn't see them. There's laundry drying, but I didn't see them."

Now Hercules looked around once more. "They took a lunch. They might have gone to the meadow." He stood. "I'll check there, you check the river."

The hunter nodded. Between them no words passed to convey their mutual disquiet. No words were needed. They knew each other far too well. This was an emotion they would have sensed between each other even before they'd learned of the powers of the earth.

The golden one turned to Rastist. "Get your sword and watch over Sira."

"What is it, my friend?" The old one took up his sword even as he asked the question.

"Nothing I hope, but…" He shrugged. "Just watch her."

It only took the hunter a few minutes to find their tracks headed down the sand toward the meadow. Just as he was about to head that way he found a set of different tracks and cold fear shot through him. With the speed of his expertise he followed the other tracks as they led him around the camp and through the forest to the meadow. He found the place where two men had waited in the brush to watch the camp. He found a stick with the end chewed and the marks of small bare feet that he followed to where several others had waited for word from the two who watched the camp.

He found the sandy place where someone had knelt for a time. He found a mark that looked like a jar had been placed in the sand with six small holes beside it. Fear gripped at his middle to tighten it into knots as he stood to make his way forward, following the tracks of the man who'd knelt in the sand.

He moved forward to the slight clearing. He found the blanket and basket of food still on the grass but not those who'd brought them here. His mind shot out and the demigod responded. Iolaus held up a hand to stop the big man from coming too close. He wanted a chance to study the tracks. They told a tale of their own. When he found the thorn made into a dart he knew all too well what had happened.

"What is it, Iolaus?" The hunter didn't answer, so intent was he on his search of the tracks. "Damn, it Iolaus."

"They've been taken."

"You're sure?"

The hunter held out the dart for the demigod to take. He sniffed at the end of the dart then touched it lightly to his tongue. "Amazons?"

"No, but one of their weapons and their poisons."

"You don't think?"

"No! No, I'd say they've been taken. Why kill them then take the bodies? Hercus struggled a little. I'd say they were drugged but not killed."

"Can you follow their trail?"

"That won't be a problem. Let's pack up the camp. Can you carry Sira?"

"Yes. We've got to get them back, Iolaus."

"We will."

"What could they want with them?"

"I say we hurry and find out."

While Rastist and Hercules packed their things the hunter returned to the river to fill their flasks and water skins. He took up the now dry clothing then returned to camp. The old one packed the raw venison in the skin once again then tied it to one of the poles from the shelter. He also tied some of their belongings to the pole. Between himself and the hunter they could carry all their things on their backs or on the pole leaving Hercules free to carry Sira. They moved as quickly as they could, and yet the hunter raged silently at the delay in taking up the trail to follow those they loved. He'd kept his mind open, trying to reach his son. He was sure the boy was unconscious, but he had to try.

They left the camp, headed toward the meadow. The hunter took a moment to pick up the trail, then resting one end of the pole holding their things over his shoulder and steadying it there with one hand, he started forward. Rastist matched his pace, the other end of the pole on his shoulder.

"How much of a lead do they have on us?" The demigod's voice was thick with concern.

"At least an hour, maybe a little more. I should have come back sooner. I sensed something, but I wasn't sure what it was."

"Don't blame yourself. I sensed it too, but didn't understand what I'd felt. I think Sira knew something was wrong also, that's why she was so restless."

As if in response to his words the girl squirmed in the big man's arms.

The son of the empath and the hunter woke to a dull painful awareness. He was carried, and the one who carried him smelled unclean. The boy's stomach turned with nausea. "You better put me down, before I am sick." His warning went unheeded. "I mean it."

He was dropped quickly to the ground, and as he hit painfully on his side he jumped to his feet. He meant to run, but too dizzy to keep his feet he fell once more at the feet of his captors.

He rolled away as one of them tried to kick him, then came to rest against the Dea. She'd been hastily dropped so the one carrying her could use his hands to help restrain the boy. Dasay moaned when Hercus hit her side and he stopped his struggle at once.

"That's right, boy, we've got your mother, so you better just cooperate."

The boy tried to force words past a throat dry from the drugs that had been forced upon him through the darts. He remembered that part now and rubbed at the painful lump on his neck to find dried blood there. "What do you want with us?"

"We want the empath, more than you, but if we have you she might just be a little more cooperative. You're expendable, and don't forget it."

The boy studied the feet of the man who'd carried him then tried to kick him. Beneath the encrusted filth there were pale brown markings and the boy looked up. Turquoise green eyes gave him an angry look. The boy was shocked. These men were yosemin, at least this one was. He looked about him at the feet of the others. Three others were barefooted and one of these also showed signs of yosemin blood.

Rough hands jerked him to his feet. "Tie him up, Loxias. We need him, for the moment, anyway."

"Please, may I have some water?" The half yosemin outlaw jerked his hands behind him, ignoring his plea for water. "Please."

In exasperation Loxias handed him his water flask. The boy drank, then drank again. Going to his knees beside the healer he raised her head with one hand, pouring a little of the water over her lips. She licked them then opened her mouth for more. She drank only a little before she gagged, but despite the pain in her head and the churning of her stomach she kept the water down. After a moment she opened her mouth for more. She still hadn't opened her eyes. She could sense light beyond them and knew to open them would mean pain.

"It is all right, Dea. We seem to be safe for the moment."

The girl moaned but gave no answer. Once again the boy was jerked to his feet and his hands tied cruelly behind his back.

"Let's go. We've wasted enough time."

Carneus motioned to one of them to pick up the girl. Loxias shoved Hercus, who went to his knees only to be jerked to his feet and pushed forward.

The boy sent his mind to the healer. He found her mind muddled and unclear. "I am here, Dasay. Try not to be too frightened. Hercules and the others will be behind us."

The turquoise eyed, half yosemin jerked the boy around. "What are you up to?" Hercus said nothing. "You was using your mind, wasn't you?" Still Hercus said nothing. "Who you talking to?" When the boy didn't answer Loxias slapped him. "I'll know when you use your mind, and I'll hit you every time you do. Just remember that." Hercus lay on the ground, a nasty look marring his young features as blood from a split lip dripped slowly to the grass. "You want more now?"

Carneus swore under his breath. "Loxias, stop messing with that boy and come on. I want to put as much distance between us and them as possible."

"He was communicating with mind to somebody."

"I don't give a damn. Let's go."

"He may have been calling to Hercules or something."

"Then let's go. We can lose them in those rocks up ahead."

"Get up, boy." Hercus struggled to do as he was told and Loxias jerked him to his feet and shoved him after the others.

Hercus closed his eyes for a moment. His cheek and lip stung where he'd been slapped but he hardly noticed. Should I try and get away, or should I stay with Dasay? She would be frightened if I left her, but I could lead the others to her. He shot a look at the healer slung over a man's shoulder. Her hair had come loose from its braid to fall around her face. More carefully now he touched her mind once more. He sensed fear, and his decision was made.

The outlaws ventured into a jumble of rock, using them as stepping stones in an attempt to hide their trail. Seemingly by accident Hercus put his foot down in the sand between the rocks. No one noticed and he tried again a moment later.

"Stay on the rocks or I'll hurt your mother this time."

The boy frowned. They must think that Dasay is my mother. What was it they said? We want the empath more than you. Did they think Dasay was the empath? If that were the case maybe it would be best to let them think that for now. If they needed his mother for something and thought that Dasay was his mother, maybe they had a better chance of staying alive. He sent his mind to warn the Dea and this time he felt her response.

"I'm warning you, boy. Don't make me hurt you further."

Loxias was watching Hercus' back and stumbled slightly. Hercus took the opportunity to scrape his moccasin across a rock leaving bits of suede along the rough surface. He knew his father too well to believe he'd miss the sign.

Once they were passed the rocks and back in the dry grass he began to drag one foot, not each step, but as often as he thought he could get away with it. The dry hot wind blew across him leaving his body soaked with perspiration. His head ached, his eyes grated in their sockets and his mouth hurt with the need of water. Stealing himself for what would come he sent his mind out in a sharp clear blast.

The hunter stopped dead in his tracks then whipped around to stare at the demigod. "Did you feel that?"

"It was Hercus. He's alive, Iolaus. He's alive." They grinned at each other like boys hiding a secret.

"We're coming Hercus. We're coming." The hunter's mind sent a strong message to his son.

"I hope Dasay is with him." The fear in the half god's voice touched the hunter and the old trader.

"She is. I know it."

Sira moaned restlessly in her sleep and the demigod's hold tightened on her. He wasn't ready for her to wake up. He hated to think of what it would do to her to know her son had been taken.

But taken by whom?

"What do we know about the men who took them, Iolaus?"

The hunter didn't answer at once. He bent to check a track then straightened to change his direction slightly. "There are six of them. Four waited at the meadow while two of them watched the camp. When Dasay and Hercus left camp one of them followed them, one stayed at the camp to follow later. This one likes to chew on the end of a twig. He's small in size and barefooted. There's a deep scar on the heel of his left foot that shows in his tracks. I saw that in a bit of mud near the river. When Dasay and Hercus headed toward the meadow the men cut back through the forest to reach the men waiting near the meadow. They used darts, probably dipped in some kind of sleeping potion to stun Hercus and Dasay before they carried them off. Every damn one of the six men is small. I think there are at least two others without shoes, maybe three. One of them wears a pair of boots with rundown heels, at least one is in moccasins.

"They're all small?"

"All the tracks I've been able to decipher individually are from smaller men. Two of them were carrying heavy loads, most likely Dasay and Hercus, since I don't see their tracks."

"You don't suppose they're yosemin?"

"I don't know, Herc. Not everyone who's small is yosemin."

"Still, it would do to think about."

"What are you thinking?"

"Maybe I can touch the mind of some of them and find out some information."

Iolaus stopped to stare at his big friend. He nodded, then nodded again. "Maybe that could work. I've been trying to communicate with Hercus, or Dasay with little luck."

"Yeah, me, too. I think that for some reason they're keeping their minds closed."

The hunter nodded again. "That might figure if the ones who have them are yosemin. Maybe they can't use their minds without their captors knowing about it."

"And maybe that puts them in danger."

"Then your trying to touch the kidnappers minds might do the same."

Hercules sighed. "Yeah, you're right."

"Still, it might help us find them."

The demigod nodded. "So, what do we do?"

The golden one thought for a moment. "Try it."

The demigod closed his eyes then settled the empath more comfortably in his arms. With a deep breath he willed his mind to relax.

Loxias stopped walking abruptly, then grabbing Hercus he swung him around to slap him soundly. "You better learn I mean business. You keep your mind to yourself."

Hercus fought him for a moment. He'd felt the mind of the demigod on his, and apparently so had Loxias. The outlaw slapped him again and Hercus kicked at him, landing a sound blow to an unprotected shin.

When the little man would have hit him once more Carneus grabbed his hand to stop him. "That's enough. Leave the boy alone. You're just slowing us down."

"The boy's is trying to communicate with someone."

"So what?"

"So they'll find us by his mind faster than they will by our tracks if we don't stop him."

"Don't be a fool. We've got the empath. What in Tartarus does Hercules know about using his mind?"

"I felt something."

"Like Hades you did. You're just trying to impress someone with how yosemin you are. Now quit stalling and let's go."

"Nereus, hand me that bit of rope at your waist."

"What for?"

"Just do it."

When it was handed to him Loxias jerked it from the other man's hands, then passing it through the ropes that held Hercus' hands he tied it fast by one end, keeping the other end wrapped around his own wrist. When he finished he chuckled. "Just like a dog on a leash."

The chances of his getting away were even less now and the boy resigned himself to following after the one who seemed to be in charge of the group.

They'd only gone a little further when Dasay was ill. The man holding her dropped her quickly, but not before his back was soiled with her illness. He swore in anger, kicking the girl in the side. Hercus rushed forward to put himself between the man and the girl on the ground. Loxias pulled back on the rope that held him and the boy went to his knees. When the man would have kicked Dasay again Hercus rolled against the man's legs, knocking him off balance. He fell heavily across Hercus and the boy grunted with pain. The man, stunned, stayed where he was for a moment until the boy began to squirm beneath him.

"Do not hurt her again." The boy's threat was spit out between clinched teeth.

Carneus jerked the man aside. "Leave her alone, you fool. We need her."

"She just puked all over me."

"So? It can't smell any worse than you do already."

"Damn it, Carneus." The man pulled his shirt over his head, then in disgust he tossed it aside. "I need a shirt."

"Then use that one."

"It's puked on."

Another man dug in his pack and tossed a shirt to the angry thug. Still glaring at Carneus he nodded his thanks to his partner then pulled the shirt on.

Hercus crawled to the Dea. "Dasay, are you all right?"

"Hercus?"

"It is all right. I will try and protect you."

"I am ill."

"It is from the dart they shot us with. Try and breathe through your nose slowly; that might help a little." The girl moaned with her misery.

Loxias jerked Hercus away from her and the boy cried out with pain. His side was bruised and sore where the outlaw had fallen on him.

"Got a few broken ribs for your trouble, didn't you?"

"What do you want with us?"

"You'll see soon enough."

"Please give her some water."

"So she can be sick again? Forget it. The potion will wear off soon enough and she'll feel better."

"Let her go. You can keep me."

Carneus laughed. "It's the empath we want, not you. You're just a bit of insurance."

"Where are you taking us?"

The leader didn't answer. Untying Dasay's feet he pulled her up to drag her with him as he started on. She stumbled along beside him, too lost in her illness to really be aware of what was happening. Her mind muddled, she couldn't think, and yet through her dizziness and illness a tall sandy haired man walked beside her and she felt comforted.

"Anything, Herc?"

The demigod shook his head. He'd sensed Hercus' pain for a brief moment and knew the boy had been hit. If touching in mind the men who held Hercus and Dasay meant harm to them, he couldn't afford to try it again. Should he tell Iolaus that he thought the boy had been hurt? No, why worry him further? His mind open, he searched for the thoughts of his promised one. There was something there, something vague and distant. He sighed. Please mother earth, protect them both.

They followed the trail to where Hercus had first been made to walk. The hunter studied the tracks and knew there had been a scuffle between his son and the man with the scarred heel.

"If they've hurt him, Herc, I'll kill them."

"Take it easy, buddy. We'll find them. Hercus is smart, he'll be careful."

With a nod the golden one moved forward, and now he lost the trail. It led to the rocks then stopped. With caution he moved forward, studying each rock and each bit of ground. He moved forward, then back.

Hercules lowered the empath to the brittle grass at his feet then sat down beside her. The wind buffeted them as it picked up strength with the lateness of the afternoon. Sira rolled to her side then back again. Even in sleep she sensed something, something that disturbed her and interrupted the deep sleep she needed to heal.

The hunter took his time finding the trail. He mustn't lose it now. His mind screamed with the delay as each minute those he loved were taken further and further away. He found where Hercus had left a track in the soil between the rocks, then further on where the boy had left the mark of his moccasin. Now the golden one smiled to himself. Hercus was doing his best to leave a trail for them. After a moment he found another track.

Then just beyond the rocks he found what he'd been looking for. Hercus had dragged his foot just enough to make it plain which way they were headed. The outlaws had changed their direction while in the rocks, but the boy's mark was plainly visible. Iolaus had been expecting something like the change of direction. It was something he would have done to hide his trail.

"I've got it!" he shouted to the others.

Jumping to his feet the demigod took up his more than sister of the soul once more, and carefully working his way through the rocks he followed the hunter. Rastist took up the pole that held their things. It was awkward trying to carry it by himself, but he managed. He could have left some of the meat or maybe some of their other things on the trail, making it easier on himself, but he feared they might well need the food if they were on the trail for long. He was sure no one would want to stop long enough to hunt.

The afternoon gave way to evening, and still they followed the dim trail that would lead them to their loved ones.

It was dark before they stopped. It was Hercules who called a halt. "We should stop, Iolaus. If you lose the trail in the dark we may never find them."

"Damn. They're gaining ground, Herc."

"I know, but it's too dangerous to go on. There's wood for the fire here, even if there isn't any water. We'll pick up the trail at first light."

"All right. It is getting too dark to see what I'm doing."

The demigod could see the worry on his friend's face as well as hear it in his voice. With a sigh he lowered the earth's chosen one to the grass. His shoulders ached from carrying her so long. He straightened up slowly, letting his lower back adjust, then rubbed at his right shoulder.

"You okay, buddy?" The hunter came to stand behind his friend to rub at the shoulder, still a little tender from the recent infection.

"I guess I haven't gotten all my strength back yet, but I'll be fine."

"I'm sorry, I guess I pushed us pretty hard."

"No. You're right, they're getting further and further ahead of us all the time. Have you noticed they seem to be headed almost due north? They must be headed to their camp or something."

"Yeah. I'd say they know where they're going, all right."

"We'll find them, my friend."

The hunter nodded. "But will it be in time?"

The demigod didn't answer. What could he say to his friend? He could assure him they'd reach his son before any serious harm came to him, but the friend of his childhood and more than friend of his adulthood was no fool. He'd know how empty such assurances might be.

The chance to know what might happen in a given situation was never predictable once violence was involved. There were far too many variables, too many factors that might change or alter any given situation. Did the kidnappers know someone followed them? Their attempts to hide their trail might indicate that they did. Still, that could be nothing more than a precaution. The very fact that they'd carried Hercus and Dasay for so long spoke of a reason they were being kept alive. They'd found where the girl had been sick and then where she stumbled on beside one of the men. She dragged her feet often, indicating she was being pulled along. Why bother if they planned to kill her? Could those they followed know who trailed behind them? In this might lay danger. If they knew that the son of Zeus followed would they abandon their original plan and kill their hostages to save themselves? He shook his head. Maybe I'm giving myself too much credit. It wouldn't be the first time someone thought they could best me. Would the kidnappers ask for a ransom? He shook his head again. This was getting him nowhere.

He stayed with Sira while Rastist and Iolaus gathered wood to make a fire. Once the fire was burning well the sailor put as much of the venison on a spit as he could, roasting it to help preserve it.

Hercules made a bed for the forest creature he'd carried throughout the day. Her sleep was restless, but she didn't wake.

The night was almost morning when the hunter woke to find the demigod brooding by the fire.

"Have you slept at all?"

The big man sighed. "A little."

"We'll find them."

"But will it be in time?" He echoed the hunter's own words of last night.

"You're worried about Dasay's virtue, aren't you? I wondered how long it might take you to think of that."

"About two seconds after you said they'd been taken. She's so young, so innocent. I never should have let her come with us. She should be home in the healer's hall sleeping in the safety and comfort of her own bed."

The hunter didn't know what to say. He poured them each a mug of tea and took a seat beside the man he called friend, but thought of as a brother.

Hercus lay beside the Dea, his hands tied behind him, a rope around his neck and waist tying him to a tree. The girl was awake now and he could sense her fear.

"They are coming for us, Dasay." His words were whispered. "Try not to be frightened. I will protect you if I can."

"What do they want with us?" she whispered back.

"I do not know. I have asked but they just ignore me."

"Did I sense your thoughts correctly? They think I am your mother?"

"Yes. They think you are the empath. They seem to want my mother for something, and that something may be the only thing keeping us alive. Just go along with it for now. If you get a chance to run, take it."

"I could not leave you."

"I mean it, Dasay. If you can get away, do so. Head back the way we have come and use your mind to lead the others to you."

"I will not leave you here alone, Hercus. If they want me and not you, they will simply kill you if I get away. We stick together for now. You are right, Hercules and the others will find us."

"You are very stubborn, Dea."

"And you are not? Maybe you should try to get away. If they need me, your running should not get me killed."

"Should not? I am not ready to take that chance."

"Then as I have said, we stick together."

With a sigh the boy nodded. "Are you hungry?"

"I am more thirsty than hungry, but my stomach has at last settled."

"Hey, you with the blue green eyes?" Loxias turned at the boy's call. "If you plan to keep us alive we need water and food."

"Go to Tartarus."

Carneus gave Loxias a narrow eyed look. The little man had been acting strangely since they'd taken the woman and boy. With a shrug he turned to another of their group. "Take care of them, Phinees."

The thug shot Carneus a nasty look. "Why me?"

"Because I said so!"

Phinees jumped to his feet in anger, but at the look in the leader's eyes he chose to swallow the anger. Taking up a water flask and the pot containing the remainder of the beans the outlaws had dined on he went to the prisoners.

"Only untie one of the boy's hands," the leader advised. "He can feed his mother."

Phinees did as he was told. He left the food and water at the boy's feet then returned to the fire.

"Get back over there and watch them, you fool."

"I aint no wet nurse."

"You are now. Since you find the task so distasteful it will be your personal duty to see to their care from now on."

"Like Tartarus!"

Carneus came off the ground in one fluid leap to take one step toward the outlaw. "You'll do as you're told, Phinees, and like it."

Phinees narrowed his eyes at the man before him. He'd always considered himself a fair hand when it came to a fistfight. He had a few pounds on Carneus as well. Still, if he fought and lost he'd have to leave. While he had no real loyalty to anyone, let alone Carneus and his little band of misfits, he wasn't ready to strike out on his own. There was the promise of gold in this latest scheme and he wanted his share before he turned his back on the little pale eyed bastard who challenged him now. Without a word he turned away and returned to Dasay and Hercus.

Hercus turned blue eyes to the man. "We need to leave camp for a moment."

"What for?"

"Personal needs."

"Hold it."

"We cannot."

With a sigh of exasperation the man untied the rope that kept the boy tied to the tree. "Let's go."

"Not without my mother."

"She's next."

"I do not trust you with her. We will go together to do this."

"You aint got no say in it, Boy."

"Still, it will be that way." The boy sent his mind to the man before him. Loxias whipped around to stare at the boy, but didn't leave his place at by the fire. "We will go together," the boy repeated.

The man stared at the boy for a moment, then with a shrug he untied the Dea as well. With the rope around their neck and waist tied to a tether that he kept firmly gripped in his hand he started to lead them to the woods. Loxias followed them, his sword ready.

Hercus could feel the girl's embarrassment, but was powerless to do anything about it. "Turn your backs and give her some privacy."

Loxias rubbed at his chin. "Like Tartarus. This could be a bit of fun after all, eh, pretty little empath?" The girl shivered at the implication.

"Leave her alone," the boy's words were a threat.

"What are you going to do about it, whelp?"

Phinees took the little man's arm. "Come on Loxias. Let's get this over with and get back to the fire. It's cold out here."

The half yosemin outlaw jerked his arm away with anger. He started to protest then shrugged. "All right, this can wait till a better time." With a threat to harm the boy should she try anything the men turned their backs on her.

Shame burned deep within the healer. What she must do was not something to be shared with others. Her humiliation tore at her, and tears stung her eyes.

Hercules jerked upright. Something touched his mind with pain and he closed his eyes in the hope of getting a stronger feel for the healer.

"We're coming, Dasay." He sent compassion and love to the girl in strong waves and her mind strengthened on his.

"I am so frightened."

"If you want your boy to make it back to camp without his throat cut from ear to ear, you'll stop that damn mind thing you're doing."

"It is the way we communicate."

"Find another."

"It was my son I was talking to," she lied.

She didn't want them knowing that the others were coming after them. What if they decided to set a trap of some kind to stop them?

"I don't care. Keep your mind to yourself." His back still to the girl he turned to Hercus. "That goes for you too, Boy. You may be able to manipulate Phinees' simple mind, but not mine. So help me, I'll cut your throat if you try your tricks again."

"What is it Herc?" The hunter watched his friend's face.

"I got a sense of Dasay. We've got to get them back, Iolaus. She's frightened out there."

"I know. Hercus will take care of her until we can catch up with them."

"This is my fault. If I hadn't taken her away from her home she wouldn't be out there now."

"You can't blame yourself. Besides, she wanted to come with us."

"What can these fools hope to gain by taking her and Hercus?"

"I don't know, old friend. Don't worry, we'll have our day with them. For now, you better save your energy for when we do. We could save time if they could touch our minds strongly. We could follow them by mind rather than tracks and maybe even follow them in the dark if the trail was smooth."

"Someone among them knows when they use their mind and stops them."

The hunter nodded. "Small men, telepathy. Maybe we are after a band of yosemin."

Rastist turned the roasting meat. "Are you seriously thinking some band of renegade yosemin have kidnapped Dasay and Hercus for some diabolical plan?"

"You got a better idea?"

"What could they want with them?"

"Maybe they're using them as bait?" the demigod offered.

"Bait for what?"

The big man turned to where the empath lay sleeping. "What if they want Sira? What better way to manipulate her than by taking her loved ones?"

"So what do they want with Sira?"

"Her mind could be a powerful weapon, Rastist."

Now the old one turned to watch the sleeping girl. "Anybody who knew anything about her would know she wouldn't cooperate to save herself; but to save Hercus…" His words trailed off.

The hunter began to pace. "They'd better think again if they believe they can best her. She'll fry their brains first."

"Not if doing so puts Hercus and Dasay in danger."

The golden one turned to the half god. "You think they're leading us somewhere?"

"Maybe."

"They're doing a pretty good job of hiding their tracks."

"Could they need to delay us so they can set this thing up?"

"Damn it, this whole thing stinks. If they harm either one of them I'll personally hunt each and everyone of them down and dispense a little justice with my bare hands."

Hercus rolled closer to the Dea. "Dasay." The girl didn't respond. "Dasay, I am very proud of you."

She turned her head sharply to pin him with a hard stare. The rope around her neck cut into her flesh but she hardly noticed. "Proud of me? How can you say that?"

"Because it is true."

"I am shamed; humiliated."

"For doing what you must to survive? It is these men who should feel shame, not you."

"What do they want with us, Hercus?"

"I think perhaps they hope to use your mind for personal gain or as a weapon."

"You mean the empath's mind."

"Yes, but for now you are the empath. Should they find out otherwise, not only will our lives be in danger, but my mother's life as well."

"They might go back for her."

"Exactly. For now, the one to watch is the one they call Loxias. He has at least some telepathic ability."

"He cannot read minds."

"No, but he can sense when we use our minds. For now, the best we can do is keep ourselves alive until the others reach us."

The girl sighed. "I hope they hurry."

Carneus stirred up the fire then laid another log across the coals. He was feeling triumphant. Kidnapping the empath and her son had been child's play. So far the girl hadn't proven to be dangerous, as Loxias had feared. He shot a quick look at his partner in his little plan. He'd needed him to find the empath, but now… "What's bothering you, Loxias?"

The half yosemin looked around him as if he feared what he might see beyond the reddish circle of light from the fire. "We're being followed."

"So? We'll lose them."

"That's Hercules out there."

"So, the Tartarus, what?"

"Are you prepared to fight him?"

"If I have to." Loxias gave him a disgusted look. "Look, it won't come to that. We've got the empath and her son. They're our insurance. If Hercules makes a move, we start hurting them." He jerked his head to indicate their captives.

"Well, I don't like it. I don't like it one damned bit."

"You don't have to like it. Your part in this is done, now let me do mine."

Dawn found the hunter on the trail, the others following closely behind him. The wind only made following the trail harder as it blew across the sandy soil wiping out tracks or hiding them beneath leaves and bits of debris. Hercus was doing his best to leave a trail for his father, but to be too obvious would surely put him in danger.

The searchers stopped beside a small stream long enough to fill their flasks and water skins. The hunter took both skins to try and lighten the load Rastist carried and they moved on, headed north toward the distant mountains.

Hercus walked before Loxias. The little man trusted the boy not at all. He'd never imagined the boy would be a source of trouble for them. He'd been led to believe the boy was but ten years of age, and yet he seemed more like fourteen or fifteen.

Hercus pretended to stumble and the outlaw narrowed his eyes at the boy's back. It wasn't the first time he'd stumbled. Loxias looked to the ground the boy had just trod. He gave a quick jerk to the tether rope that held the boy and Hercus flew back to land hard on his back.

"You little bastard. You've been leaving a trail for them, haven't you?" Hercus said nothing. "By the gods, I'll kill you, you little son of a…" He raised his foot to kick him, but Hercus rolled aside to jump to his feet. A quick jerk of the rope around his neck and he sprawled at the outlaw's feet. Loxias pulled harder and the boy choked. "You've been leaving a trail."

Carneus tried to grab the rope from the other man. "Leave that boy be, damn it. We need him to make his mother cooperate."

"He's been leaving a trail for the others to follow."

"Like Tartarus he has, he aint that smart. He's just a damn yosemin boy, with no more sense than a bloody pig. Let him go before you kill him, Loxias."

With another jerk of the rope the outlaw pulled the boy closer to him. The kick took him on the chin and Hercus grunted. The blow was a hard one, but the boy's quick thinking and faster reflexes saved him any real damage as he turned away and only the side of the outlaw's foot made contact.

Sira, still carried by her more than brother of the soul jerked, then jerked again. She cried out as her eyes shot open. Only the big man's strength kept her from falling.

"Hercus!"

Fear shot out to stab the demigod's mind.

"It's all right, Sira."

"Where is he? He has been hurt."

Iolaus came to put a hand on her back where Hercules still held her. "We'll find him, my soul."

"Dasay?"

"They're together. Hercus is taking care of her."

The empath shivered. "They have hurt him, Iolaus." The anguish in her voice tore through him. Her mind had already told her more than the men could have with words and she went weak with fear.

"He's all right, Sira."

"He has been hurt." He started to object but she rushed on. "Do not try to tell me differently. I know what I sense."

She used her mind on the demigod's to request he put her down. He set her on her feet but kept a hand on her shoulder to give her strength and comfort. "Do you not understand? This is my dream. I have foreseen this. I have known for a long time that this would come to pass."

"You can't be sure this is the reality of your dreams."

"Yes, I can. We must follow, my destiny lies ahead." She shivered with fear. "The trick now will be to change that destiny." She closed her eyes to send her mind across the miles that separated her from her son.

Hercules took her arm. "Wait, my sister. Touching in mind with them gets them hurt. At least one among them is telepathic."

"He will not know that I am touching in mind with my son. I am far better at this than he is."

"You've sensed him already, then?"

"Yes. He is at least, in part, of yosemin blood, but his mind is not strong in the ways of the earth." She closed her eyes, and taking a deep breath she sent her mind to touch that of her son.

Hercus looked up quickly, bracing himself for the outlaw's outburst. Loxias walked on without comment. With a deep breath the boy brought his mind to focus slowly. His chin throbbed with a numbing pain. His ribs ached with each step. His throat was on fire for need of water, but he put these things aside. Slowly he let the strength of his mind build.

"We are coming, my son. I am very proud of you. You have done well."

"I should have known of the presence of these men and saved both Dasay and myself from this."

"It is not always easy to know. You have been in the presence of humans and their unguarded emotions too long and you have built barriers as a defense against their unsettling emotions. You must not blame yourself, my son. The important thing now is to keep a part of your mind for me, so that we can find you."

Loxias tugged on the tether rope that held the boy. "I know damn well you're up to something, Boy. If you hope to live long enough to reach puberty, it better stop now." Hercus sent a warning to his mother then backed his mind away slightly. "One of these days you and I are gonna be left alone, and when we are I'll teach you a firm lesson. A mighty firm lesson."

Too lost in his pain to respond Hercus walked on, his mind open to his mother. The trick now was to stay alive long enough for his family to find them. He'd sensed his mother's anxiety. He hated what this must be doing to her. He knew she'd left the healing sleep far too soon. Behind her fear and concern was fatigue.

Loxias handed the boy's rope to Phinees then moved up to walk beside Carneus. "We're being followed."

"Not anymore, we're not. We lost them back there in those rocks."

"No. I can sense them back there. I think the boy's been communicating with the others."

"I thought you said that was Hercules back there."

"One of them is. Then there's the boy's father."

"Is he yosemin too?"

"I don't think so. I think he's Hercules' brother. Then there's someone else traveling with them."

"Any of them yosemin?"

"I don't think so. I can't tell for sure."

"So what do they know about using their minds to talk with the boy? You're just being paranoid."

"I tell ya, there's something going on."

"You're starting to annoy me, Loxias. Forget about it."

"I tell you, Hercules is back there and he's following us."

"All right, tell you what. We'll keep doing what we can to hide the trail. We're bound to lose them sooner or later."

"I could find this trail with my eyes closed, Carneus, especially with that boy dragging his feet. We need something to delay them, or better yet to hide the trail completely."

"Let it go for now, will ya?"

"You're gonna get us all killed, Carneus. If I sense Hercules close, I'm out of here."

"To Tartarus with you. I don't need you anymore, anyway. Why don't you get out now, since you're too damn chicken to see this thing through?"

"You'd fold like so much laundry if I took off. You haven't enough sense to come in outta the rain. You'd be nowhere if it weren't for me. If you'd listen to me now I could still save your pasty hide."

"Back off, Loxias. Back off now before it's too late."

The sharp retort the turquoise eyed half yosemin wished to make was lost as he jerked around to pin Hercus with a narrow-eyed stare. The empath's son had used the argument between Carneus and Loxias as cover to send his mind to his mother once more. Loxias continued to watch Hercus as he addressed Carneus.

"You're such a fool."

With that he walked back to Phinees to take the boy's rope once more. Why am I staying around? he asked himself. This thing is doomed to failure. Carneus just isn't smart enough to pull something like this off. He watched Dasay as she trudged wearily on. He realized he felt disappointed. He'd expected more from her. The stories he'd heard just didn't fit the frightened little animal they'd taken from the meadow. It was the boy who showed spunk, not his mother. With irritation he realized he'd begun to admire Hercus. He's a fighter, I have to give him that. Now his mother's a different story. His mother? What if she isn't his mother at all? What if she's not the empath? Fear shot through him to take his breath away. He thought back to their camp. He'd watched it a long time and there'd been no other female. He'd gotten a look at all of them, all that is, except the one sleeping in the shelter.

He shot a look at Hercus. The old black man couldn't be his father; his father must have been fair. The one sleeping in the shelter must have been the empath's Anmchara, and the boy's father, there was no one else it could be. His fear eased a little. Maybe all the stories about the empath were lies. Maybe she wasn't anything at all. Now the disappointment swept back to chase away his fears of a moment ago. Damn, what difference does it make to me? I hate anything and everything yosemin. Get a grip, Loxias, he chided himself.

The searchers now followed a trail of the mind, not of sign. They hadn't stopped again and the hour grew late. The empath used her mind not only to follow her son and the Dea, but also to search out the easiest trail through the rocky terrain. She kept to the easier trail as long as it added little time to their journey. When taking the easy way added time or miles she struck out through the rocks, climbing over them, never missing a step even though her mind was far ahead. Fear rode her with each step she took. Could she change the destiny that lay before her? To give into the anger she'd sensed in her dreams would surely mean harm to those she loved. To use her earthly powers in such a way might mean the end of so much that was dear to her. Would she lose the earth? Please, my mother, guide me in what is to come.

The light was almost gone before they found a place to stop. A cascade of water darkened the face of a granite cliff to drop into a small brook. Nearby were trees to offer wood. Sira was reluctant to stop, but the area they now trod was far too rocky to take a chance on trying to go on in the dark. A miss step could spell disaster, and an injury would call her attention to healing when she needed to be free to search for her son and her sister of the soul.

Among the rocks at the base of the waterfall the empath got a sense of her son. Those who held her loved ones had stopped here for a time then moved on to put distance between them and those who followed.

Sira left the others to the task of setting up camp. Within moments she'd stripped her clothing off to bathe in the icy water. Hunger bit at her stomach. She'd eaten only a little cold venison as they'd walked, not wanting to stop long enough to fix a meal. With the healing, then her healing sleep she'd eaten little over the last couple of weeks. Now she must eat to gain strength. Before her lay danger, not only for her, but also for those she loved. Her healing sleep had been far too short. She sensed the fog her early awakening had left her mind in, and in this fog she knew fear. Fear that she was not herself, now when she needed her wits about her most of all.

Her bath complete, the empath returned to camp to take the offered mug of tea from the hunter. He searched her eyes, then taking the tea from her and setting it aside he took her into his arms.

"The earth will protect them, little one. Trust in her."

"Why has this happened? What could they want with him or Dasay?"

He wasn't about to offer the suggestion that perhaps these men had been after her or that perhaps they hoped to use her son as a means of manipulating her. He didn't have to. She'd thought of these things hours ago. Through his touch on her mind he knew she had.

"It's not your fault, Sira."

"It will do no good to lay blame, anyway. Perhaps if I had kept a lower profile, this would not have happened, and yet we cannot know that for sure. These men are at least in part yosemin. I cannot spend my life hiding from my people, and I think I have proven it is impossible for me to be the quiet demure little healer the elders of my village always wanted me to be." She shrugged. "The power that I have is formidable; it could be so easily used as a weapon. Ares saw that even before I did, or at least before I would admit it. What the god of war saw, others could see."

The meat roasting over the fire made her stomach growl loudly, and taking the knife from her waist pack she cut a large portion for herself. It had been cooked almost completely the night before and only needed to warm through. She simply couldn't wait. She gave a quick prayer of thanks to her mother the earth then tore a good sized piece off with even white teeth to chew it with reverence. She imagined she could feel her strength building with each swallow of the earth's abundance. When she had completed her first portion, then another, she washed her hands at the tiny brook then stood beside it, her mind far beyond their camp.

Where was her son tonight? Was he warm? Had he eaten? Tears stung in her eyes as they pooled in the corners before coursing down her cheeks to drop from her chin. She couldn't bear to think of him frightened and hurt out there beyond her reach, beyond her loving embrace, beyond her protection.

The demigod came to stand behind her and put his arms around her. She leaned back into him, resting her head against his broad chest.

"Don't torture yourself, my more than sister."

"I cannot bear not knowing how he is."

"He's closed his mind to you?"

"Almost completely. He fears not only for himself, but for Dasay."

"Have you been able to touch her mind, Sira?" The pain and fear in his voice only made her cry all the harder.

"She, too, shields her mind, but I sense her all the same. Beyond being frightened, she seems all right. I sense no injury."

"If those men…" He couldn't complete his thought. Putting it into words might make it a reality.

"So far they have not harmed her."

"I sensed humiliation and shame."

"But not for the reason you fear. She is a very shy and private person. There are needs that must be taken care of."

"So you think it was as simple as that?"

"I know it was."

"Like you, I can't stand to think of what they may be going through."

"Before me lies something that I fear greatly. If I should lose my way to the earth you must promise to let me go, my love. I would not want to go on without that part of me."

"What are you saying? Don't be silly. Nothing like that is going to happen, and even if it did you'd find your way back in time. You couldn't just give up, I wouldn't let you."

"But you must. You cannot know what it would be like to try and survive in such a shattered state. The grief would be so devastating, so complete. My soul would be left in shreds, too torn to ever heal. I would not be the same person that I am now. My body would be but an empty shell, devoid of mind or soul. Those less of the earth, those not of empathic powers might survive such a ripping away of the earth. I never could."

"But the earth wouldn't be so willing to let you go, Sira. She would fight for you. She always has."

"Not if I used my powers to harm others. Not if I let anger and hate guide me. Not if in losing control of my emotions I were to harm you or Hercus or the others. Then even the earth would turn away from me."

"That won't happen."

"It happens in my dream. Over and over again it has happened in my dreams."

"That was a dream, not reality. We've cheated the prophecy of your nightmares before."

"With the grace of the earth we will again." She tuned in his arms to bury her face against his shirt. She shook with sobs of fear and fatigue. He swept her into his arms to carry her back to camp.

The hunter jumped to his feet at their approach. "What's happened? Is she all right? Sira?"

"She's just exhausted. She needs sleep."

The demigod laid her on her blankets then wiped the tears from her cheeks. No more ready to leave her than she was for him to go, he held the blanket aside in invitation to the hunter. Then when he was comfortable beside the woman he loved the half god laid down on the other side of her to wrap himself around her back while Iolaus held her in his arms.

Rastist put a blanket over Hercules, then putting more wood on the fire he made himself comfortable on his own bedroll. He let his breath out in a deep sigh. He'd said little of his own emotions, preferring to go about things in an efficient silence. His own anxiety ran deep. He thought a lot of both Hercus and Dasay. He'd been impressed by the boy from the moment he'd first laid eyes on him. He'd sensed the warrior in the muscular lad, and sensing a kindred spirit he'd sensed friendship at once. He'd often felt Hercus' mind on his, and what he'd felt he liked. He was glad that Hercus was there with Dasay. He could only imagine how frightened she must be. He couldn't help but think of how his own daughter might feel in a similar situation. It must be even more frightening for the Dea since she knew so little of the world around her. He knew that Dasay and Hercus had a special bond and knew without knowing how he knew that the boy would give his life to save the quiet little healer who loved his uncle of the soul.

Loxias found sleep impossible. His mind refused to relax, as if something nagged at his subconscious. He tried relaxing and opening his mind to what irritated him. But he had no real skill in this and the more he tried to capture the elusive something, the further it slipped away.

In exasperation he left his bed to add wood to the fire. At his insistence Carneus had at last agreed to post a guard for the night. With the intention of taking him a mug of tea the half yosemin pushed the pot closer to the coals to heat. He looked over to where Nereus sat on a rock just out of the circle of light from the fire. He started to look away then jerked his eyes back. He jumped to his feet and in four long strides he kicked savagely at the guard's booted foot.

"Wake up, you stupid bastard!"

"Hey, you son of Cerberus! What'd ya kick me for? Damn it, Loxias, that hurt."

"You're supposed to be keeping watch, not sleeping."

"There aint nothing out there to watch. I got tired. If you're so damned skittish why don't you sit out here playing the fool instead of me?"

"You're as lazy and useless as Spherule. Get the Tartarus out of my sight."

"You taking over?"

"Now, you pig, before I finish what I started."

With a self satisfied smirk the guard rose. A nice warm blanket awaited him by the fire. Not in the least perturbed by Loxias' outburst he rose to stretch, then making a trip to the woods first he left the little half yosemin to fume.

Loxias made himself comfortable on the rock the guard had just vacated. He still felt uneasy. What was it that dug at him? It had to be from those who followed them. They'll have to be stopped. Now the trick is to convince Carneus.

Sira stirred up the fire then pushed the pot of tea closer to the coals. She'd slept for a time nestled between the two men she loved. Her sleep had been sound for a couple of hours then dreams began to intrude first, then her worry and anxiety. Making herself comfortable near the fire, a mug of tea beside her, she closed her eyes. With a deep breath, slowly released, she willed herself to relax. Over and over again she let her breath out slowly, lulling her mind into a trance. She shut her mind to the noises the wind made around her to send it out past their camp, past the sound the waterfall made, past the usual sounds of the night, over the miles to her son. She knew that he slept, and sensing this eased her mind at least a little. Next she searched for the Dea. The healer also slept. Now she searched for another. There, dim and chaotic, were the thoughts of one once of the earth and yet no longer. She sensed hatred and anger foremost in the man's thoughts. Anger and frustration, a sense of inadequacy, and a willingness to allow these emotions to motivate his actions. Behind this she got a sense of intelligence.

The half yosemin outlaw sat up straighter. He could sense something there teasing his mind. Something? Or someone? Was there someone out there with enough strength of mind to probe his? He looked back to camp and their captives sleeping soundly. Or were they sleeping? He rose to slowly go to them. He wanted to catch them using their mind to annoy him. He watched the boy first. His breathing was even and slow. The girl came under his scrutiny next. She also slept. He knelt beside them, listening to their breathing for any indication that they were pretending. In one fluid movement he rose to search the night. What dug at his thoughts was not coming from the boy or his mother; it was coming from some other source.

Fear started as a slow tingle in the pit of his stomach then spread up and out to leave him feeling lightheaded. Who was back there that could command such powers of the earth? He looked to the east to see a slight glow of lighter sky. Going to the fire he stirred up the coals then added wood. He made tea then set the pot of beans prepared the night before over the coals to heat. When these tasks were complete he woke Carneus.

"What in Tartarus do you want, Loxias?"

"We need to talk."

"Not this damnable thing about being followed again." The outlaw leader sat up to rub at his eyes with grubby knuckles. "It's too damned early. Go away and let me be." He laid back down to pull the covers over his head.

"I know there's someone back there. I got a real sense of them last night. I think I've hit on a way to eliminate this little problem once and for all."

Carneus sat back up. "You really believe Hercules can use his mind in some yosemin thing?"

"Maybe not Hercules, but he's not the only one we're dealing with. He may be the strongest in physical strength, but who knows about the others? Those damn yosemin in that village weren't very informative." A strong gust of wind gutted the fire and the outlaw added another log.

"So what's this wonderful plan?" Loxias didn't take long explaining. He was in a hurry now to set things in motion. Carneus listened without interruption until he was done. "So we keep those two," he jerked a thumb toward Hercus and Dasay, "drugged until you return?"

"Yes. Once I've solved our little problem you should have little trouble keeping them in line."

"Okay, Loxias. There can't be any harm in taking precautions. What do you need?"

The turquoise eyed thug felt a sense of triumph. Finally Carneus had listened to him. "I only need one other man. Give me Phinees and keep our little friends out of it for a day or so. Once we're free of Hercules, it's gold for all of us."

A wide smile crossed the outlaw leader's face. If Loxias' plan didn't work, then he'd be rid of the annoying little bastard for good. He'd find a way to deal with Hercules by threatening the woman and boy. Still, if the plan did work then all the better. "I can almost smell that gold now." He chuckled as he reached for his pack. He removed the clay jar of poison he'd used to contaminate the darts that stopped Hercus and Dasay and made capturing them so easy. "A little of this in their tea and it's sleep time for sure."

The wind blew in a steady wave. Its hot dry breath had taken its toll on the forest it swept through, leaving dry and dead grass and foliage in its wake. Loxias looked around him with satisfaction. He walked on in silence, Phinees beside him. That was one of the reasons he'd asked to have Phinees accompany him. He could keep his mouth shut. Loxias tried once more to use his mind to his advantage, but after a moment he gave up. He wasn't fully yosemin. He had to remember that. He'd spent most of his life trying to forget that any of the earth people's blood coursed through his veins. Now he almost wished he had more of it. Maybe I could have used this mind thing to advantage, he thought to himself. Well, it was too late for that now. He slowed his pace, not wishing to come upon Hercules and the others, only wishing to get a little closer before he put his plan into action. It was midmorning now, and with the rising of the sun the force of the wind had increased. It blew from behind him, and toward Hercules and his little band. Loxias felt a thrill of anticipation. He would be the one to kill Hercules. Him, a half human outcast, shunned by his mother's people and hated by his father's. He couldn't hide the smile that crossed his face. Yes, this should be a good place to stop. He looked around him then nodded in satisfaction. Yes, this would do nicely.

The empath walked slightly ahead of the others, using her mind to search ahead of her. She'd said nothing about her concern at the lack of sensation she perceived from her son or Dasay. It was almost as if they still slept, and yet there was something more than sleep that kept their minds from reaching hers. She moved on, more by her sense of direction than by the sense of those she loved. The kidnappers had been going in a pretty straight line due north, and from the north she got what little she could to tell of her son and the Dea. The wind pushing against her had dried the skin of her face and left it red. Tiny tendrils of hair had escaped the braid down her back to tickle her skin at times then to be blown back from her face again. She used her mind to search around her. The wind could be a dangerous thing here in this dense virgin forest. So far, she sensed no heat lightning that might herald danger, but the fear that it might come was with her.

She took her water flask from her shoulder, pulling the strap aside to uncork the skin pouch with her teeth. She took only a small drink. They'd left the tiny brook they camped by far behind and so far she'd sensed no water. Sending her mind out now in search of it she got a sense of water to their right. Strengthening her mind in that direction she was sure there was a sizeable body of water there to the east, but to find it would take them from the trail and she said nothing as she continued on, leaning into the wind to keep her balance against its force.

They didn't stop at midday, preferring to travel on, slaking their hunger with the last of the roasted venison as they walked.

A fox broke through the trees to run past them, a few seconds later a deer followed.

The hunter watched it pass. "That's strange."

Sira looked up, fear in her eyes. The demigod stopped in his tracks to sniff the air as a second deer ran toward them, only to veer off at the last moment.

"Fire," the empath whispered. "The forest is on fire." Her voice was husky with emotion and fear. "The wind is driving it right for us. We have to get to the river." She turned east and began to run.

"Sira!" There was fear in the hunter's voice.

"Hurry! I believe there is a river to our east. It is our only chance."

The others followed the empath's lead. Now all of them could smell the smoke. Animals crossed their path in their wild flight of fear, running before the destruction that threatened not only their lives, but also their homes.

Fear rode the child of the forest as she ran ahead, cutting across the path of the fire, knowing all too well how futile it would be to try and outrun it as the animals were doing.

A pack was dropped and left behind. Ash trickled across their view like tiny flakes of snow. Now the wind seemed to turn and head back toward the inferno to the north, pulled back by the force of the fire itself. Unable to help herself, Sira looked to the north, and there she saw a red glow. She sent a prayer to the earth, for them all, and ran faster.

On and on she ran, the others beside her. She could have out distanced them easily and she knew it, but she couldn't leave them. Better to go to the earth with them than to run ahead and live without them.

Rastist dropped his pack. He could run faster without it, and a pack wouldn't do a dead man any good anyway. The air was now filled with acrid smoke and he choked as he pulled the heat laden vapor into lungs tortured from running.

Hercules looked up to see flames shooting into the air, and now the fire was behind them. Sira shouted as she turned southeast now to avoid the fire that cut across their path. For a time a wolf ran with them and Sira sent her mind to him. "Run ahead to the river, protector of the forest. Save yourself." As if hearing her, the wolf ran ahead to disappear in the smoke.

They were forced to turn further south as flames cut across their path and the fire surrounded them on three sides.

Rastist tripped and fell. Hercules helped him up and they ran on. The heat and smoke made breathing painful, and Sira wondered if they would be stopped by it even before the fire reached them.

A tree burst into flames before them, exploding in a burst of sound as its pitch began to boil.

"Keep going!" Sira shouted. "We are almost there."

The way ahead opened up before them just as the fire leaped over them and they ran on now through a tunnel of flames.

The empath could feel the skin of her face blister from the heat. Embers fell around them to singe their flesh and clothing. The hunter pulled his shirt over his head, and running forward tossed it over the empath's hair, and on they went.

"There!" the earth's chosen one shouted as she pointed ahead.

She turned even further south as she neared the river, working her way through burned and smoldering ground to try and find a way to the water and its promise of safety.

"Wade through the water, Sira!" The half god grabbed her arm to lead her over rocks to the water's edge.

They waded into the icy water then continued on south. She could hear her mate of the soul behind her leading the old sailor with a hand on his arm. Their breath was laden and the old one coughed badly. At least the air wasn't as thick here and Sira drew it in over lungs that hurt with each breath.

Before them was a larger and deeper pool, and the healer knew hope as she plunged into the green water reflecting red in the flames that chased them forward. She slipped on a moss covered rock and fell only to be pulled up by the demigod.

"Deeper. It's still too hot here."

With a whimper the girl moved on. The charred body of an opossum that had taken to the water too late slipped past her, carried on by the current. She could smell burned hair and flesh and she gagged. With a firm hold on her arm the son of Zeus led her to even deeper water and she lost her footing once more. She clung to her more than brother of the soul, letting him wade on, and now the hunter also helped her. She looked around to search his face. Black streaks stained his face and his hair was almost white with ash.

"We'll be all right now, my love."

"The forest." Tears slipped from eyes left painful and dry from the smoke.

"It'll grow back."

They watched as a fox leaped into the stream, his tail singed and marred by fire. A large raccoon paced back and forth before the river, too frightened to take to it. Flames carried by the strong wind leaped over them to catch in the dry brush and trees on the other side of the river. The raccoon jumped into the water, treading it for a moment before the current pulled him away.

Sira could feel her face blistering from the heat as Hercules pulled at her arm.

"Go under!" he shouted to be heard above the roar of the flames.

He pulled her down and she took a quick breath just before she went under. She couldn't stand here in this depth of water. The only thing that kept her from following the raccoon down the river was the demigod's hands on her.

She held her breath until she thought her lungs would explode. She struggled and the demigod let her up. The air she fought to pull into her lungs seemed to singe her throat. With a quick gulp of acrid, smoke filled air she plunged back beneath the water. It glowed red from the flames like a sea of blood.

Something bumped hard into the girl and she looked around to see an animal's body float by, too burned to be recognizable. She rose back up for another breath then back under before the intense heat could sear her flesh.

She waited as long as she dared before she came up again. Hercules rose with her and she searched his eyes.

"It's going to pass right over us. Stay down as long as you can."

She nodded as he pushed her beneath the water once more. The cold liquid felt good on her burned face and she welcomed it. She willed her mind to relax, entrancing herself with the power of the earth. With little effort she slowed her breathing, and this time she stayed under as long as Hercules.

When she did come up for air the heat bit at her. Her feet and legs felt numb with cold, her upper torso singed and hot. Back under the current she went.

She lost count of how many times she repeated the torture. She surfaced to stay in the heat and smoke as long as she could then back under the water for as long as her breath would hold. She shook with cold and fatigue and she wondered how much longer she could hold on. From the others she sensed the same numbing weariness and knew she must keep trying.

Slowly she began to realize that she was staying above the water longer and longer. She plunged beneath the surface of the icy flow once more and saw that its redness was gone now. When she surfaced this time she looked around her. The flames had passed over them to run before the wind. Trees still smoldered on both riverbanks but the underbrush was nothing more than white smoking ash. The hunter put his arms around her from behind and she leaned into him.

"Let's get to shallower water. You'll feel better when you can stand on your own two feet."

He helped her along until she could walk on her own. She knew her feet had been scorched and burned as she'd crossed the burned area to reach the river, and she had no desire to make them worse by venturing from the river while the ground was still so hot.

She looked back over her shoulder at the old sailor. His face was drawn up with weariness. "Are you all right, my friend?"

"Now I know what Tartarus must be like."

"I can send you some strength."

He reached out to touch a fingertip to her blistered cheek. "I'll be all right. Save it for yourself."

She sent her mind to her brother of her soul, and tapping his godly half she used it to help the trader who smiled at her. "Thank you, little healer. I was about done in."

Sira looked around her once more then gave a deep sigh. "What kind of animal could deliberately cause such destruction?"

The hunter sighed too. "Maybe it just started on its own; the wind and all."

"No. I sensed something there behind the fire. Someone just beyond it."

Hercules moved closer to her. "You think someone deliberately set the fire to stop us?"

"Yes. To stop us permanently."

"It almost worked," was the hunter's caustic response.

The demigod looked thoughtful. "What if it did work?"

"I was only kidding about the Tartarus bit," Rastist offered.

"What I mean is, what if we let them think they've stopped us. They won't bother to set up a defense if they think they've succeeded in killing us."

The old one stood straighter with interest. "Yeah, this just might work to our advantage."

The hunter nodded. "We'd have to keep our minds from Hercus and Dasay since their captors know when we communicate with them."

"Then how will we ever find them?" Rastist asked. "All signs of their trail will surely be gone now."

The golden one turned to Sira. "You could still track them with your mind even if you weren't in communication with them, couldn't you?"

She hesitated. "Yes. It might take longer, but I should be able to get a direction."

"You sound hesitant. What is it?"

"I cannot get a clear sense of either Hercus or Dasay. I have not been able to all day."

The hunter looked concerned. "What's that mean?"

"It is almost as if they are asleep, and yet it seems their minds are even further shielded by something."

"Could they be drugged?" the half god offered.

"I have wondered that myself."

"Are you saying you might lose them?"

"No, I think I can find them even now. We have a general direction, and I do still sense them. Still, I would hate to close my mind to them now. When Hercus wakes to find my mind shielded from his he will be frightened."

"He's smart and his mind is strong. He'll sense us and figure out we're keeping our minds shielded for a reason."

The child of the forest began to pace through the water as her tension built. "You are right. This may be the best way. If these men are willing to go to such drastic measures to stop us we must proceed with caution."

The golden hunter of the forest put his arms around her. "We'll find them, Sira. Someone wants them for something; they'll keep them alive until they get that something. The very fact that they've drugged them means they still need them. They probably gave them something so they couldn't use their minds to warn us of the fire."

The empath nodded as she leaned heavily into him. She knew what he said made sense, but it still did little to relieve her anxiety. "You remember the little hidden valley that we could not reach and I was glad because for us to be there would spoil its untamed beauty?" He nodded as he tightened his hold on her. "It is gone now."

"I'm sorry, Sira."

She began to cry silently against his shoulder. The light was fading from the sky and he knew they couldn't stay here in the water forever. They were all cold and exhausted, and both of these things would only get worse when the sun went down. He took her into his arms to wade to shore.

Near the water the sandy soil had lost its heat and he set her on her feet there. "Wait here while I find us a place to rest."

She only nodded as she sank to the sand. With a whimper she spread her hands in the damp sand to send her mind to the earth.

Rastist joined her and Hercules followed the hunter along the riverbank. He was soon back and now he picked her up to carry her. She rested her cheek on his shoulder, too tired to care that the roughness of his suede shirt hurt her blistered skin.

He took her to higher ground and set her down on the deep dry sand. The hunter had pulled a burning log near and now he left to search for more wood. With an effort Rastist joined him in the search. They found a backwater of driftwood, charred on the surface but not below the top layer and returned with their arms full.

Now the hunter went to the river, and wading into it once more he grabbed the hind legs of a charred deer that had floated on the current before coming to rest against logs and debris left trapped among some rocks.

Hercules waded out to help him and together they brought the deer's body to shore. Not bothering to skin the thing completely the hunter simply removed a large hunk of meat that he put over the coals to roast.

When it was cooking on a stout branch held over the fire by forked sticks on either side he returned to the carcass to finish the job he'd started. They'd lost everything to the fire, their blankets, their clothes, and their supplies. They'd need the strength the meat would give them if they hoped to find Hercus and Dasay and release them from their captors.

Hercus woke reluctantly to a dull ache behind his eyes and certain realization that he'd been drugged. He took a moment to think about his last few thoughts before he knew the tea they'd been given hadn't been for their comfort but to render them unconscious. He remembered being surprised that Loxias and Phinees didn't seem to be in camp. But by the time this realization began to sink in he was struggling too hard to keep his wits about him to analyze the possible implications of the men's absence.

With hesitation for the consequences he sent his mind out to search for his family. Nothing. He tried again. This time he got a vague sense of his mother but nothing more. He knew a moment of fear as he strengthened his mind even more. He sensed no great amount of anxiety or grief in the glimpse his mind got from his mother. What was it he did sense? Then he knew. His mother was trying in a subtle way to assure him. Why was she so hesitant to open her mind to him? Could she be holding back for a reason? If that were the case he must trust her in this. With a sigh of frustration he used his mind to search for the Dea. Here he got a strong sense of fear and knew they were not together. He sent comfort to her as her strong mind tore at his own with fear.

"Are you hurt?" His mind requested.

"No. But they are keeping us apart."

"It will be well."

"I cannot sense Hercules."

"I can. I believe he and the others are keeping their minds closed for a reason. We must trust them to do what is right."

He looked around him slowly since any quick movement of his head brought an intensity of the pain in his temple. He was tied by a short tether around his neck to a pole embedded into the soil behind him. He put his one free hand to the rope to give it a hard tug. Nothing. The pole must be deeply buried in the sand to give it such stability. Next he worked his finger under the rope around his neck to try and reach the knot. A loop of the rope was around his neck then brought down his back to another loop around his waist that also anchored his right hand to his side. Unless he could untie the tight elaborate series of knots with one hand he was tightly secured. With a sigh he turned slightly only to find his feet were also bound to the same set of ropes. With an effort he inched his way back toward the pole that tied him like a dog to a tree. The rope had been slipped through a ring on the pole then secured to the same jumble of knots at his back. With a deep sense of failure he knew it would take days, maybe even weeks to loosen his bonds. He was certain his captors would keep a very close eye on their handy work, and if they found where he'd been working to loosen himself they could simply secure his free hand and make escape even more impossible. He tightened his mind to keep his growing depression from the mind of the Dea. Why worry her further?

Strung through the same ring as the rope that secured him was a heavy chain. He followed this with his eyes to the wolf pup sitting on its haunches at the far end of the chain watching him with suspicious eyes. The son of the forest smiled at the protector of the forest's people. He'd been sensing something tapping at his mind for some time, but he'd been too concerned with his need to find his way free from bondage to analyze what it was he sensed. Now he knew. The pup was more adolescent than baby now, still in the gangly stage, not yet adult but no longer suckled. Hercus frowned at the strange blue of the wolf's eyes. Wolves didn't have blue eyes. Was this a sign from the earth? There was a breed of wild dog that kept to the high snow capped mountains north of Rome reputed to have thick white fur and blue eyes. He looked closer at the forest people's protector. His fur was indeed thick, very thick, and a striking silver-gray, much different than the wolves he was used to seeing in the forest around the hidden cabin or the yosemin village. Surely the wolf's appearance spoke of the hand of the earth. He strengthened his mind's touch on the pup who only raised his ears at the boy as his look turned even more suspicious.

"Do not be afraid, little one. You and I are from the same mold, born of the earth and shaped by her hand. Come and greet your own." The wolf took a tentative step forward then stopped. "Come, a mighty protector of the forest must not fear those he is sworn to protect." Still the pup kept his distance. Once again Hercus strengthened his mind's touch on the pup who turned his head from side to side in a comical look of curiosity. Hercus chuckled at him. "Your mind is strong, little wolf. Since we are tied here together, what say we become friends?" He held his hand out to the pup who only backed away. "You have been hurt by these men also, have you not? All the more reason why we should be friends and work together to free ourselves. I believe the earth has brought us together, little friend."

Still not ready to trust the boy the pup went to his belly to rest his muzzle along legs still too long for the rest of his young body. In the long legs and large paws was the promise of the strength and power the pup might someday possess, if he were freed to do so.

"You would be a powerful ally if we could learn to trust each other."

The pup gave no indication of giving an inch as far as this went and the boy gave a deep sigh. His head pounding with his effort he stretched and maneuvered until he could lie down on the sand. He wasn't really comfortable, but for now he was too tired to really notice, and closing his eyes he let his mind drift. He got a strong sense of the wolf and opened his mind to him. With a sense of comfort in the shared earth the boy slept.

With their things gone there were no blankets to help warm them and keeping the fire going was a constant necessity. With the passing of the destructive inferno the wind had also passed, and where before the hot dry breeze kept the nights warm the colder northerly breeze brought a stillness that now gripped the blackened forest and sent the hunter and the demigod searching for wood throughout the night.

Sira had fallen into a deep sleep, a sleep much deeper than usual, almost as if she were in the healing sleep. The golden one was concerned, then with a rush of insight he knew came from the earth herself he realized she did sleep the healing sleep. A sleep of healing for the forest, the trees, brush, and grasses lost in the fire set deliberately by the hand of one who was once at least in part of the earth himself. The hunter sensed a loneliness and sadness now that touched him deeply and he sent his own prayer of healing to the earth mother who had brought him the empath and opened his mind to the true meaning of love and the meaning of being of the earth. He wasn't sure if the sadness he felt was for the dead earth or for the son the earth mother had lost. Perhaps a little for both.

While the old sailor and the forest child slept, the half god son of Zeus and his more than friend kept the fire going and kept meat cooking. It would help to preserve it to cook it at least in part. Sira had found a small leather sack of salt in her waist pack to add a bit of flavor to the roasting meat. It was little enough to show for themselves. They'd sacrificed their packs and the water skins in the pursuit of speed as they'd raced before the fire in search of the sanctuary the river offered. They had their water flasks and the hunter and trader had managed to hold onto their weapons, a sure sign of the warrior's blood that coursed through their veins. Hercules still carried his own knife and the slender one that Sira always carried at her waist was still there.

Hercules put more wood on the fire and turned the roasting meat once more. After a moment's contemplation he removed his knife from the leather scabbard at his side and sliced off a generous portion of the cooking meat. Switching it from hand to hand as he blew on it he managed not to burn his fingers. With strong white teeth he tore off a sizeable portion of the roasted deer meat, charred a bit on the outside while tender and done just right at the center. It was just the way he liked it and he smacked his lips with satisfaction. He looked around him at the others as they slept. He and Iolaus had taken turns gathering wood and keeping the fire and cooking meat going. It was time to wake his friend again, but he wasn't really tired now. He knew he should be, but as was so often with him when he needed or should need sleep that was when it eluded him the most.

He moved closer to the fire. He longed for a warm blanket or his cloak to put over his shoulders. He could face the fire and become almost too warm in front while his back and shoulders were still chilled. He could turn his back to the fire but that only reversed the annoyance. He sighed as he turned to face the night. They had no supplies, no warm clothing, not even shoes for Sira, and yet he couldn't seem to feel too glum over the situation. Depression and despondency were there burning inside of him as the fire had so recently burned the land, and this was from where his melancholy came. He'd always hated the devastation fire could bring to the deep green land he called home. There was also his concern for Sira and what the destruction would do to her. As for their plight, he was philosophical about it. Sira could find food and water from a granite boulder. Iolaus was perhaps the greatest hunter of all time, and if there was game left in the burned forest he'd find it. Fire could help to drive away the cold while maybe not leaving them the most evenly warmed on both sides. He turned back to the fire now and with a shrug he cut off another piece of meat. Soon he must remove this bit and replace it with another portion of meat not yet cooked. That is of course if he left anything to remove. He smiled at himself as he chewed methodically. At this rate Iolaus would have to hunt sooner than he thought.

The Dea woke to the insistent call of a bird on an outcropping of rock near the entrance to the cave before her. She lay on her side in a sandy indentation she'd scooted out with her constant turning during the never ending night just past. Her feet were tied together then tied to the stump of a tree. Her left hand was free while her right hand was held fast by an intricate series of knots and ropes around her body and neck then tied to the same tree stump. This form of restraint was very yosemin in design and virtually impossible to win one's freedom from. She'd seen a man tied in just this way not all that long ago when he was found to have the sickness of the foaming mouth, only then both of the man's hands were tied tightly to his sides. The man had been bitten by a squirrel he'd insisted on teasing because the little animal's aggressiveness had amused him.

The foaming sickness was not something a healer could help. The disease was rare, and yet not so rare that it hadn't been spoken of in many of the ancient writings. To try and heal one with the disease would mean certain death to the healer; an agonizing, maddening death of several days. While Melay had tried to shield her healers from the horrors of the man's death, not one in the village hadn't heard the man's screams for help, screams to be put out of his misery. Dasay had wondered over and over again why someone didn't do as he requested. Why make him suffer for days in pain and madness? Then in the night someone had finally helped the man. No one knew who had done so, or if they knew no one was talking. There was no recrimination for whoever had helped him. It was the only humane, thing to do, and who was to say the earth hadn't led the one who gave relief to the dying man?

She struggled to sit up then wished she hadn't. She was sick in the sand beside her. The drugs they had used on her seemed to affect her much more adversely than they did Hercus. Now her head began to ache. The little man who had been so mean to Hercus on the trail shoveled away the muck her protesting stomach had left then tossed clean sand over the dampness left.

"So we're awake at last, are we? A bit worse for wear, however." She said nothing as she sent her mind lightly to Hercus. She got an instant response and relaxed a little. "Your boy is just fine, empath. Don't worry yourself about him. He's safe on the other side of that ridge, and he'll stay that way so long as you cooperate."

"Why have you brought us here?"

Loxias laughed. "My friend over there," he moved his head to indicate Carneus, "finally came up with a real plan to make us some money. It's a beaut, too. You see that cave over there? Well, it's not really a cave at all, but a mine, a gold mine. It's said to be played out, but I've found some color in there myself just by following my mind. Now if I can find gold with my mind being no more yosemin than it is, just how much more could you find being as you're said to possess the strongest yosemin mind since before the remembered time?"

The girl looked stunned. "You cannot be serious."

"We're more than just serious, we're deadly serious. You find us the gold, your boy lives. You refuse, and you both die."

"I cannot find gold or any other mineral of the earth with my mind. It is not possible."

"Oh, it's possible, all right. I've been told of it being done, and as I've said I can find some myself."

"The others will be coming for us." She felt a strong touch of the half yosemin boy's mind on hers warning her to go cautiously.

The outlaw laughed once more. "But that's the best part. There aren't any others, not anymore." He shook his head in mock sadness at the shocked look on the healer's face. "Dry weather, lots of wind, a bit of fire. It's a shame, really. I wanted to see the look on Hercules' face when he breathed his last."

The Dea folded up to lie on her side, her face buried in the crock of her left arm. "Not even you could be so cruel!"

"The deed's done, and just keep it in mind should you think you can play with us on this. The boy'll meet the same fate as the others, and that one I'll do with great pleasure."

From somewhere deep in the forest the deep eerie call of a wolf echoed among the rocks to fade away just as a second mournful lament rose to chase the sound down the canyon and along the ridge.

The half yosemin hoodlum turned sharply around at the sound that raised the hair on the back of his neck and sent a shiver along nerves suddenly on edge.

The wolf pup was on his feet at once. His body shivered with excitement at the call of his kind. Hercus sat up and slowly inched his way closer to him. No warning growl came, and yet the boy sensed the warning in his mind and stopped. He'd been proud of Dasay. She'd used some quick thinking to further the illusion of the death of the others. He'd sent a warning to her, but it hadn't been necessary. She'd known what she was doing from the start.

"You best not be messing with that dog. He's mighty mean." The pudgy, simply minded man who kept the camp stood beside the boy, a plate of food in his hands. "He's done bit me a couple of times and he's been ready to bite some of the others, too."

"What is his name?"

"Dog."

"But he is not a dog. He is a wolf, and a unique one at that."

"He's my dog and you got nothing to say about it."

Realizing it would be futile to argue with the man Hercus accepted his plate of food. "Thank you."

"How come they got you tied up?"

Now Hercus sighed. "I wish I knew. Why not untie me and we can go ask them together."

Spherule stood watching the boy for a moment. "I don't think I can do that. If Carneus done tied you up it was for a good reason. I'm not stupid, you know. I know what's what."

"I am sorry. That was unfair of me. What is your name?"

"Why?" There was deep suspicion in the question.

"So that I will know what to call you."

"Spherule. My name's Spherule, least that's what they call me here. I used to have a different name when my mother was alive. I been here at the mine since before she was beat to death by one of the miners. She used to cook for them."

"I am sorry your mother was killed. That must have been so hard for you."

"I miss my mother. She was a good woman and never did no harm to no one. It was my fault. I heard the man come insisting my mother be friendly with him, but I was too scared to do anything about it."

"Were you still a child then?" Hercus was a little confused now.

"I aint no child. I aint simple like everyone says."

"I am sorry, I did not mean to imply that. How long has your mother been gone?"

"Almost six years now. The mine was almost played out, then. Only mean and angry men still worked here then. Mother was getting ready to move on and find some other place to cook for someone but that man killed her first."

"I am sorry."

"He's dead now. I killed him and I'm not sorry I did it. I was too scared to help my mother that night, but I found that man and I broke his neck. I'm really strong. The other miners wanted to chain me up 'cause they said I was mad, like a mad dog, but I got away and hid in the forest. I'd sneak in at night and steal food. I'm good at sneaking."

"I bet you are good at a lot of things."

In the simple mind of the big man might lay the boy's chance at escape. If I can make friends with him maybe I can get him to turn me loose. Hercus felt a pang of guilt at the prospect of using this simple son of the earth but quickly pushed it aside. As Uncle Ares is so found of saying: Desperate times call for desperate remedies.

"I'm good at a lot of things. I caught this dog all by myself. I can cook as good as Mother. People are mean to me sometimes and call me simple, but it's not true."

"What was the name your mother called you?"

"She called me her sweet baby. It was one of the miners that started calling me Spherule. He said my mind was like a spherule. I guess that means something good. I liked being called something good."

Hercus felt compassion for the simple man who stood before him. He knew it would make using the man even harder. Still, he vowed to make friends with him and with a quick rush of understanding knew his desire to be the man's friend wasn't simply based on his need to take advantage of the friendship. He really wanted to get to know the man better.

"I've gotta get some food to the others then take some to the men over the ridge where the mine is."

"Thank you, Spherule. I am sure the food is good and I have enjoyed talking with you." Without a word the big man turned away, humming a tuneless melody as he left.

Hercus settled himself more comfortably on the sand. He wished now he'd asked Spherule for water. His throat was dry from lack of it and from the drugs. As if reading the boy's thought, the big man reappeared with a water skin that he handed Hercus with little expression.

"Thank you, Spherule. I was wishing for water."

"I know. I can read minds, you know." Hercus sent his mind lightly to touch that of his benefactor. It was met with sluggish confusion and little of the gifts of the earth that would make reading others minds possible, but Hercus did sense a quiet peace there that seemed to come from the earth. Could there be any of the earth people's blood in the man? Somehow Hercus doubted it, but still that wouldn't keep the earth from bestowing her grace on one so childlike in his thinking. "I know you don't believe me, but it's true." The big man was defensive now. "No one believes me, but it's true. I can read people's minds when I want to."

"Well, then, thank you for wanting to in my case. I needed the water badly."

"You don't believe me, but that doesn't matter. I know it's true." With an angry turn he left the boy staring at his stooped and rounded shoulders.

Now where had the anger come from? Maybe getting to know this man is not going to be as easy as I thought. With a mental shaking of his head the boy uncorked the water flask and took a long drink. The wolf pup took a few steps toward him, licking his lips as he did. Hercus looked around him and back into the cave where the pup spent most of his time laying in a sandy indentation in the softer soil of the cave. Nowhere did he see a water dish.

Hercus poured a little water into his hand then held it out to the pup. The wolf moved a little closer again licking his lips, but he stopped before really getting close.

"Come, my friend. I will not harm you."

The pup sat back watching every move the boy made, but he refused to take the offered water. He watched very closely as the boy ate and Hercus realized the little wolf was not only thirsty, but hungry also. He held out a bit of bread. Spherule had been very generous with the portion of beans and bread he'd brought the boy.

The wolf moved slightly, but came no closer. He licked around his mouth as drool dripped to the sand. Still, he wasn't yet ready to trust the boy. Hercus tossed the bit of bread to the pup and it was gone from the air in an instant. With a smile the empath's son tossed another bit of bread, and like the first the little wolf snatched it from the air to swallow it in one gulp.

Hercus took a couple of bits of the bread then ate about half the beans. Leaving the rest of both on the plate he slid it toward the pup. The little wolf jumped to his feet to pace before the offered food. He wanted it badly, but the plate was still close to the boy. Hercus sent his mind to the animal. He'd always had a way with the creatures of the earth. He'd found communication with them came easy. It wasn't that he could speak with them in mind, and yet he seemed to be able to understand them and they seemed to understand him. He'd once talked a wild pig out of attacking him and his father while they hunted along the coastal range overlooking Acubus on one of their visits there. He'd sent his mind to the pig to find intelligence there, and using that intelligence he'd convinced the animal that he and his father meant no harm. They were looking for bigger game, and if the pig was willing they would go their separate ways. Iolaus was ready to defend himself and his son from a beast he knew from experience could be a ferocious and dangerous adversary. The hunter had been amazed by his son's calmness, and even more amazed when the pig seemed willing to listen to the boy's silent mind's communication.

With a shake of his head the golden one decided he shouldn't be surprised. He'd seen the endless string of pets and animals the boy had kept or taken to his mother to heal in their early years in the hidden cabin in the forest. Later, he'd seen his son heal animals without his mother's help. Hercus' mother may have the gift of empathy from the earth, but her son had the gift of being able to communicate with the beasts the earth provided for her peoples' use.

Still the little wolf hesitated, then unable to resist the food longer and sensing something of comfort from the boy he came forward to lick the plate clean in moments. When the food was gone Hercus inched forward, the water flask in hand. The pup backed away. Hercus strengthened his mind's touch on the wolf as he filled the plate with water from the flask. When the plate was filled the boy moved back to let the wolf drink. This time there was no hesitation on the pup's part and he licked the plate empty once more.

"You really were thirsty, my little friend." Hercus moved forward once more. The wolf moved back, but not far this time and the hunter's son felt a sense of triumph. "They say the way to a man's heart is through his stomach. Maybe that is true of little wolves also."

Hercus made no effort to back away from the plate this time and the pup hesitated. His mind on the pup, the boy sent understanding and comfort, and after a moment the pup came hesitantly forward to drink the water. Hercus didn't try to touch him. The pup needed the water and he didn't want to scare him from it. But even more than this, to push the budding friendship that far would be to take advantage of the pup's unfortunate treatment and it would be unworthy of a true friend. Instead he let his mind touch the pup and now he sensed a response to his mind's probe. The intelligence he sensed from the pup was strong and focused, and he found himself hoping with all his heart that the two of them could become friends.

He thought about the possibilities for a moment. I must never try to own him or force him to my will. We must be friends, not pet and owner. Such a proud and intelligent member of the noble wolf family must be free to roam the earth. He must be free to choose where his loyalties will lie.

The smell of fire, of burned and charred earth, of the death of a forest woke the empath from a sleep that had been too deep at first only to turn into a restless struggle to shut out the pain and misery she sensed in the burned world around her. No birdsong welcomed her from her slumber, no welcoming scent of flower or plant. With a moan of reality she rolled over to sit up.

The hunter was beside her at once. He smelled of smoke so strongly that she almost choked, and when she realized she must smell the same she gagged. Tears filled her eyes. She rose with the intention of bathing in the river, but here where they had camped debris had caught between rocks to dam the water, and in the backed up debris were the bodies of animals not quick enough to escape the holocaust that had driven their humanoid counterparts to the same watery sanctuary. The earth's daughter looked around her with a sense of sickness and sank back to the sand.

"We'll find the forest again, my love." As always the center of her soul, the man who held such a part of her, her Anmchara knew her thoughts.

The half god son of Zeus came to kneel before her. "Remember how you've always said that fire meant rebirth? In a few months there will be grass and small animals here again. The burned out trees will give the woodpeckers a place to make their homes."

"But it was all so senseless. This fire was not of the earth's making. Man set this fire to stop us. To kill us." Her voice had risen with her words. "A man," she hesitated, "no, monster would describe him better, a monster who is at least in part yosemin blood did this. How could any child of the forest fall so far from the earth to do such a thing?"

The demigod sighed. "Perhaps he never was of the earth. Being yosemin doesn't necessarily make you of the earth any more than being human excludes you."

Sira looked away for a moment. "You are right. Besides, thinking like this does no good." She rose. "We must find our family first, then worry about those who have desecrated the earth mother."

Iolaus and Hercules exchanged looks. It was unlike Sira to speak of revenge. The hunter took her hand and led her to the fire. "Eat first, then we'll continue the search."

Sira took the offered hunk of meat, stuck on a forked stick, from the trader. "The earth has provided well."

She smiled at his comment. "Yes, perhaps she has, at that."

She closed her eyes, and with caution searched for a sense of her son. Assured that she hadn't lost him during the night she took a healthy bite of the meat and chewed it thoughtfully.

"You have him?" Again the hunter had known what she was about.

"Yes. The worst part is, the fastest way to him would be to cut west from here and follow through the burned forest."

Rastist stirred the coals of the fire. "We'll need to stay near water, won't we?"

"We can fill our flasks here. I will find us water even in the burned forest."

The old one only shrugged.

Iolaus took their water flasks to the river, moving along its banks to where the water flowed faster and cleaner. When he returned he helped Hercules wrap the cooked meat in the hide of the deer, and shouldering the burden himself they set out. The empath had nothing on her feet to protect her from the hot spots still left from yesterday's firestorm. Her brothers of the soul took the lead, checking for the easiest and coolest way, and yet still the girl suffered over and over again as her feet found embers and smoldering wood buried beneath the thick white ash. More than once the half god carried her, but the going was slow and tiring. Finding a small oasis of green left when the fire swept so quickly by the wind jumped over a small gully the empath sighed with relief. Going to her knees in the grassy area no wider than the demigod's furthest reach she sent her mind and soul to the earth. A lone pine tree, its top hopelessly singed and scarred still stood in the middle of the gully. With her knife and a prayer to the earth for desecrating one of her remaining living trees the empath cut away two flat bits of bark. Very carefully she lifted them from the tree. She stopped to study the tree for a moment and with an apology to it she cut two more strips of wood.

The hunter watched her with raised eyebrows, but he'd known her too long to question what she did. If she did something it was for a good reason, and he was content to await the outcome of her latest endeavor.

Next she cut long strips of hide from the deerskin and carefully scraped most of the flesh still left on it away. Hercules had done his best to strip away much of the flesh before soaking the hide in the river. To leave skin and flesh would only make it rot and quite possibly spoil their only food.

Trimming the bark to fit her foot with only a little bit over for protection the empath tied her wooden shoes to her feet with the strips of hide. With a satisfied nod she stood to survey her work. "Now we will make much better time. The sap of the trees will help to heal my burns and cushion my feet as I walk."

The demigod laughed. "Come, little nymph of the forest, we've a long way to go."

She took his offered hand and moved out smartly. She said nothing when bits of hot ash still found her bare toes or landed on the top of her feet. Tonight, when they stopped she'd tie even more of the hide over her toes to protect them. For now she focused her mind on her son and the girl she called sister, stretching her mind far ahead, sending comfort and assurance to those she loved without revealing to the outlaws her existence or the existence of the others who sought to save their own.

Dasay stumbled over a bit of rubble in the abandoned mine. Her mind was entranced with her effort to somehow get a sense of the rich gold and minerals her captors swore were there. She had found a small bit of ore encased in white crumbling rock along the right wall. She'd found it more by accident than design, but when Carneus showed enthusiasm she breathed a little easier. It was almost as if she could sense the thick band of bright yellow metal twisted through the crack in the white quartz. She took a moment to touch and sense the gold she'd found. She had no real desire to make these men wealthy, but if Hercus' and her own life depended on her finding gold, then she would do her best.

She searched ahead with her mind, sending it into the deep fissures and cracks in the walls and along the floor. Nothing. It was late and she was exhausted before she again found a trace of the precious metal. It had been in a deep crack above her head all along. Loxias wasn't pleased with the labor of digging the gold from the harder rock it was buried within.

"I thought getting rich was supposed to be easy," he grumbled to Carneus.

The leader laughed. "It is. "I haven't worked up a sweat yet." The half yosemin outlaw shot him a nasty look, which Carneus chose to ignore. "I'll get some of the others to give it a go if we find more of the stuff." The leader scratched at his chin in thought. "Better yet, why not use that boy to do the digging?"

"I want him as far from his mother as possible. I don't like their scheming when they're together."

"You're paranoid. I don't believe you can sense them using their minds at all. You're just showing off."

"Think what you like and get yourself killed. Have you given any thought to just how powerful this empath could be? I, for one, like my mind just like it is. It doesn't need any rearranging by some necromancing wizard tossed into this world from some world beyond and before the remembered time. Keeping her and the boy apart is the best safety factor we have against her using her mind to fry our brains."

Carneus shrugged off the ranting of his superstitious companion. "This looks like a good vein of gold. It'll take a while to crack it out of there. How deep does it go?"

"How in the name of the gods would I know? Ask little Miss Empath over there."

The Dea had taken a seat on a rock near the entrance to the mine. The day had been cool as clouds obscured the sun at one moment only to pass by in the next. The hot wind was gone now and already the promise of autumn seemed to be in the feel and smells around her. It was proving to be a short cool summer. Still, despite the coolness of the day she was drenched with perspiration. There was little or no air circulation in the mine. She still felt sick at her stomach from the drugs that had been forced on her. She'd been offered a plate of beans but she'd only managed a few bites before her stomach protested. The beans had been given her in the morning and there'd been no other offer of food since. It was getting late in the afternoon now, the shadows lengthening, the slight breeze smelling of the dampness the night would bring.

The mercenary leader still held the end of the rope that held her right hand to her side and threatened to choke her should she move too far from the end of the tether.

"May I have some water, please?"

"You look done in, little healer. I thought you were invincible."

"I am not used to harsh drugs poisoning my system and clogging my mind. Please, may I have water?"

With an annoyed grunt the leader handed her his water flask. She wiped the opening with her skirt, and putting the thought of whose mouth had been there last out of her mind, she took a long drink. The water was warm and stale, but she drank it anyway. It was time she began to try and heal herself. If she didn't gain some strength she would be of little help to the others when they reached the outlaws.

"You can keep searching while our friend digs." He gave a quick tug on the rope and Dasay gagged as she was pulled from the rock.

"My mind is not clear. Tomorrow will be soon enough."

"I said now!" He pulled on the rope once more and she grabbed it with her free hand to keep herself from choking.

"You would not want me to miss a deep pocket of the gold you seek because my mind is unclear, would you?"

Loxias jumped down from the rock he'd been standing on to dig out the gold laced quartz. "She's right, Carneus. It's getting too late to work in the mine now, anyway. Tomorrow we'll rig up some torches and we can work later." He brushed the dust and dirt from his hair and shirt. "I'm going for a bath. Who's watching her tonight?"

"I am."

Loxias narrowed his eyes at his partner. He hadn't liked something in the sound of his voice. "Give me a few minutes to bathe, then I'll join you. We can work some of the gold from the larger bits of rock while we eat."

"Nereus is supposed to be bring us some beans soon. He can stay on this side tonight as well. He's got keen night vision. The empath's the dangerous one, and we should watch her close."

"Don't sell that boy short, Carneus. He's a savvy little bastard. I'll bathe in the spring on the other side and warn them to keep an eye on the boy. If he gets away, we lose our lever over the girl."

"Hurry Nereus up, then. I'm hungry." With a quick jerk of the rope around Dasay's neck he pulled her to the tree stump and began to secure her once more.

"I need to make a trip to the forest. Could I please also wash up in the spring?"

"I ain't turning you loose."

"Then come with me." She didn't like the gleam in the leader's eyes, but she had no choice. She must visit the woods soon.

"All right."

"I know what you are thinking. Touch me and you will have no gold. I will fry your rotting brain so fast no one will be the wiser. How long do you think it would take me to free my son, then?"

"I don't put no store in all that mind bending crap, no way."

With a quick blast of mind on his she sent him pain. She'd never used her mind in this way. She was a healer, born of the earth, and by her grace given the ability to heal. To use the mind to harm another went against all she'd been taught, all that she held sacred. But for now her safety might lay in doing what she must, and she let Carneus feel the pain for a moment before she backed her mind away. "That was only a small sample of what I am capable of doing should I choose."

The outlaw rubbed at his temple for a moment. "Some day you and I will be together. I'll tame that temper of yours quick enough and then you'll be begging me for a bit of attention."

"I will die first."

"If that's what it takes, then so be it. But mark my words, empath, I'll have a piece of you before this here little game is played out."

She moved forward, headed toward the spring. He followed behind her, the rope around her neck held tightly in his hand. He'd been shocked by her mind's blast on his. He'd never felt anything like that before and he admitted he hoped he wouldn't again. He'd put little store in the tales he'd heard or the warnings from Loxias. Could there really be more to this mind thing than he'd believed? He was convinced she'd used her mind to find the gold so far. He was beginning to believe she could communicate with her son without words, but to be able to really harm another with her mind? Surely this was only a legend. He narrowed his eyes as he tried to remember the things he'd heard of the yosemin people. He'd hated them all so much that he'd paid scant attention to the stories he'd heard. Even the stories of the empath hadn't really touched him beyond the scheme of using her mind to make him wealthy. He'd seen Loxias use his mind to find bits of gold still hidden in the mine, but already Dasay had found much more, and this was only the first day.

They reached the spring and the healer asked him to turn his back. For once he made no objection. With her mind on his to be sure he kept his back turned she slipped behind a bush to conceal herself. When she was done she went to the spring. Going to her knees before it she gave a prayer to the water mother then began to splash the water over her heated face. Loosening her bodice she cleaned herself with a bit of cloth ripped from the hem of her skirt. The cool water felt wonderful on her flesh. She longed to strip and wade into the spring, but knew the danger this would bring her. For the moment Carneus seemed preoccupied with something, but how long might that last?

The outlaw leader was looking ahead to the days yet to come. How much gold might still be left in the old mine? Besides, if she could find gold in one abandoned mine she could find it in others. Visions of rich foods and fine robes tickled his senses. Servants to cater to his every whim. Women just begging for a piece of the wealth and a piece of him.

Why, this little empath might just be a gold mine in herself. He chuckled at his own wit. Once he tamed her she would do his bidding willingly, and the boy could meet with an unfortunate accident.

Nowhere in his musing was there a place for Loxias or the others. Let the little half yosemin bastard take over the gang and find his own gold.

Hercus held out a bit of bread to the wolf pup. He sniffed at it from a distance. Spherule had fed the pup, but not enough to fill his belly with satisfaction.

"Come, my friend, I will not harm you."

The boy's mind sent reassurance and friendship to the pup. He took a few steps closer to Hercus, close enough now that the boy could have reached out to touch him, but he didn't, not yet. He was afraid if he pushed it he would only frighten the pup.

Still the wolf refused to take the offered bread from the boy's hand. Setting the bread on the sand closer yet to himself he slowly took up his fork to eat some of the beans and meat the simple minded keeper of the camp had provided. Whatever else Spherule was, he was a good cook, and the boy's stomach growled with hunger.

The pup stepped forward to take the bread, then staying where he was he sniffed at the plate the boy ate from. "Do not worry, friend, you will have your share." Biting off a bit of meat he set it on the sand even closer to him and without hesitation the pup took it. Even though Hercus was hungry himself he left half the beans on his plate and shoved it toward the wolf.

The pup took to it at once, and with a slow, even movement and a strengthening of his mind Hercus reached out to caress the pup's ear. The wolf pup pulled away from the touch but he didn't leave the plate or give warning of not liking the touch from the boy. Hercus tried once more and this time the pup didn't move as the boy rubbed behind one straight standing silver ear.

When the plate was empty the boy filled it with water and the pup drank greedily. As he did Hercus continued to touch him. His fur was softer than Hercus would have thought. He'd found dead wolves before and felt their fur. It was usually rough and course. Was it just the youngness of his new friend, or was there perhaps the blood of another canine coursing through the pup's veins? "Are you a half breed like me, little one?"

The water gone, the pup moved back just out of the boy's reach but he showed no hostility toward Hercus.

Spherule came to take the boy's plate. "Might there not be a bone left from your cooking that the wolf pup could have?"

The cook looked surprised. "Why?"

"He is still hungry, and besides, food is a good way to get him to like you."

"You saw how he was when I fed him. He just stood back and growled at me. Maybe I should starve him like Loxias says, and then he'd like me."

"If someone starved you would you like them?"

The cook hesitated. "No."

"Bring me a bone and let me show you what a little food could do."

"He's my dog, no matter how much you talk to him, and I've been watching you with him. He's still my dog, not yours."

"I know that. I was only trying to make it easier for you two to become friends. The pup and I are tied to the same post and it gives me something to do with my time."

"Just you remember he's my dog. I caught him all by myself and he's mine."

"Is there a bone he could have?"

"Maybe."

"You know it might be better for you to put out a water dish for him and to keep it full. Growing little pups need lots of water."

"How do you know?"

"I do not, for sure, but I know that babies need lots of water so it would only stand to reason, would it not?"

The simpleton thought about that for a moment, then without a word he moved away. Hercus wasn't sure if he'd gotten through to the man or not. Moments later, he returned with a deep wooden bowl filled with water and a large bone left from the deer that had provided the meat for their meal.

"I usually use the bones to make soup, but I guess one can't hurt. Here, dog." He held the bone out to the wolf who only growled low in his throat at him. "See? It's no use. I'm gonna catch me another dog then kill this one. He's just too mean."

"Wait. Let me try." Spherule hesitated for a moment, then with a shrug he handed the bone to the boy. "Step back a bit so he will not feel threatened and let us see what happens."

The simple minded cook did as he was told and Hercus held the bone out to the wolf. He hesitated for a moment then came forward slowly, sniffing the air as he did. "Come, little wolf. You know you want the meat. Come closer. It is yours for the taking."

The pup took the bone from the boy's hand quickly and Hercus let him have it without hesitation. With a growl of ownership the wolf returned to his favorite place just at the entrance to the cave, and holding it between his front paws he used his teeth to gnaw away at the meat still clinging to the bone.

"How'd you do that?"

"I have gone slow with him and fed him some of my food. He only needs a chance to become friends."

"He's my dog."

"I know. Why not leave the water? I will keep an eye on it and let you know when he needs more. That way you can keep up your duties here at the camp and still have some time to get to know the little wolf."

"He's a dog. I saw a longhaired dog in the forest with a tail that curled up over his back. That weren't no wolf, and neither is that pup. He's too funny colored to be a wolf, and his fur is different, too."

"Maybe you are right. He may well be only part wolf, but there is wolf in there. Look at his build and his ears. He is at least part wolf and therefore a wild animal. It will not be easy to tame him, Spherule. He deserves to be running free with his pack, baying at the moon as he hunts for his dinner. Only the strongest male leads the pack and only the strongest male and his mate are allowed to have offspring. This little guy comes from proud heritage and he should be set free to take his place beside the others of his pack."

As if hearing the boy's words a wolf called from the forest behind the cave, his cry a lonely one. It was answered by another call from somewhere in front of them. The pup threw back his head and sent his own answer to the call and Spherule jumped.

"You see, my friend? He is a wolf."

"No! No, he's my dog and I'm keeping him until he gets tame or I have to kill him. You just keep doing what you're doing and making him like me."

The boy sighed. He hated seeing the noble protector of the forest people tied here among those no longer of the earth. He deserved much better. He watched the pup return to his bone, his ears still pricked as if hoping to hear once again the sound of his own kind.

"So there is good chance you are only part wolf. It would seem you and I have more in common than I thought. Both made of two parts. The same, and yet so different."

Hercus had been led to the woods just before eating and yet he needed to go again. With a sigh he laid down in the sandy soil before the cave. It was always so much trouble to get them to take him to the woods and for now he just wasn't up to the struggle. Maybe it will go away, he told himself without conviction.

The travelers had stopped briefly near midday to rest. They'd found a burned over clearing and stopped to take advantage of the scattering of rocks to ease their backs. They slaked their thirst with water from their flasks and appeased their hunger with half cooked deer meat. It was Sira's suggestion they eat the least cooked meat first before it spoiled. A cool breeze fanned their faces but they were all hot and tired from their morning's efforts to cross the barren, burned out desert that had only yesterday been a forest.

The empath felt dirty and grimy and knew that she was just that. Each step they took kicked up white powdery ash to choke them and tickle their thirst. They'd done their best to conserve what water they had, but the forest child knew that before nightfall they would need to find water.

She let a bone weary sigh escape her lips as she cut more strips from the deer hide to try and cover her feet better.

The hunter came to sit beside her. "Sira, your feet!" He was shocked by how burned they were. It pained him to seem them so red and blistered. "We can't go on like this. Your feet won't hold up."

"I will be fine, my love. They heal even as we speak."

He could see the deep lines of pain etched across her features. "Hercules, she can't go on."

The demigod felt the same sense of pain that his friend did, but he knew his sister well. He'd suggested they stop sooner or that she at least let him carry her. She'd only given him a disgusted look and walked on.

With a hand left gray with ash she stroked a knuckle over the golden stubble on her lover's face. "I will be fine, my husband."

"I can't stand to see you like this. In pain, your feet marred by the fire."

"Better I feel pain than my son. We will continue on. There is no good place to stop here, anyway. I must search for water, and when I find it we will stop."

"At least let Hercules carry you."

"That would only slows us down, his shoulder is not so healed that carrying me comes easy to him."

"Please, Sira, I can't stand to see you like this. Your shoulder isn't healed any better than his is. You left the healing sleep too soon. Do you think I can't see that you're in pain? Do you think that I can't sense it?"

The empath jumped to her feet. "Do you not understand? They have my son. This is my fault. I have to make it right. Dasay is so frightened. We brought her away from the only home she has ever known to be put into such danger. I cannot rest until they are back with us."

"This isn't your fault. You can't blame yourself for this."

"But I can. I have sensed why this has happened. They were not after Dasay; they were after me. They came to our camp for me. They took Hercus to use against me, but it was me they wanted."

"But why? What could they want with you?"

"Ares has said it before. I would make a powerful weapon. But I get more a sense of them wanting to use me for profit. Gold is involved in some way. Dasay's mind is focused on gold."

Hercules looked up at her statement. "As in trying to find this gold?"

"Yes, maybe."

"Remember how excited Autolycus got, to think you could sense the precious metals of the earth? If they could force you to look for gold…" His thought trailed off.

Rastist handed the deerskin to the half god in preparation for leaving their midday camp. "Then why take the Dea?"

Sira answered before Hercules could. "Because they thought that she was I. I was sleeping the healing sleep. The only woman they saw was Dasay. She was with Hercus."

"Let me guess. They haven't found out yet that they made a mistake."

"I believe that Hercus and Dasay realized the error soon enough that they are keeping the truth from their captors. Should they find out the truth…" The empath couldn't finish her thought, but she didn't need to, the implication was clear.

The half god came to stand before her. "This still isn't your fault, my more than sister. You can't help who and what you are, and it was my idea to bring Dasay with us."

"No," the hunter broke in. "It was her own idea, but does it really matter whose fault it is? Is anyone really at fault except the swine that took them? We'll find them, and we'll take back what belongs to us. It's as simple as that."

Rastist handed the hunter his sword. "Spoken like a true warrior. Come on, you three, we're losing good travel time."

Sira took the lead now, her mind on those held captive, only lightly so that she didn't lose her direction. Now the important thing was to find water. She sent her mind out into the earth around her. Burnt or not, it was still her mother and she sensed the earth's response to her mind's search.

On and on they walked into the white ash covered world of dead and smoldering trees, blackened brush and heat. The trees left standing stripped of their bark and bristles looked like ship's masts in some macabre graveyard of ships left on the sand when the ocean was whisked away by the hand of some mad sorcerer.

It was growing late before the empath got her first real sense of water. She'd sensed the river, but to return to it would add a day to their travel and she swore to go without water before she'd take a chance on leaving those she loved in the hands of those men any longer than she must. She turned due west now, using her mind to sense out the water, and as they drew closer she knew the water she sensed would be enough to serve their purpose for the night. She brought them to a rocky outcropping, and following along its side she found the water. It seemed to issue from a crack in the rock above her head to fall for a few feet into a jumble of rocks and disappear. Once, brush and ferns might have hidden the water from those who used their eyes to see and not their minds, but now the miniature waterfall was plainly visible.

With a moan of gratitude and a prayer on her lips the child of the forest rushed forward to step onto the rocks and under the cascade of water. She let it flow over her, clothing and all, and in its icy fingers she got a sense of healing. Above her a bird flew by, calling as it did and the girl knew hope. She knew she must look a sight standing in the water in her clothing, tears joining the flow to wash the ash and soot from her face. She splashed water over the rocks to rid them of ash, then stripping her clothing she washed them as best she could without soap. Next she washed herself, letting the flow of the water take away the filth from her hair. Some of her hair had been singed in their flight from the fire, but it would grow back soon enough. The hunter's quick thinking in putting his shirt over her hair might well have saved her. The intense heat and hot ash could so easily have caught the long flowing strands of silver-gold and set them ablaze.

The others left her to her veneration, knowing that in the earth would come healing for her burned and scarred soul.

They found wood still useable for a night fire, and using a smoldering tree stump they made their fire for the night. Hercules swept the ash away as best he could then carried large boulders close to give them a place to sit by the fire. When Sira left the water, her clothing drying on rocks she'd splashed clean, the hunter followed her example and cleaned himself and his clothing. He returned to camp in his wet leather pants leaving his shirt on the rocks to dry. There wasn't much left of the shirt now. What the fire hadn't damaged, their travel of the day had.

Hercules dug a wooden comb from his waist pack and handed it to his sister of the soul. She took it from him with enthusiasm as if it were truly a treasure he'd given her rather than a bit of wood made into a comb.

While the half god bathed the hunter combed her hair out for her then braided it down her back in one long thick plait and tied it with a bit of cloth torn from the sleeve of his shirt. She felt much better now and joyfully set about roasting the last of the deer meat.

Hercules returned wearing only his own wet pants, his yellow leather jerkin left to dry. He gave the old trader a raised eyebrow look and the old one rose reluctantly with a grumble about being found, the four of them scantily clothed, and wondering how that would be explained away.

The demigod only laughed at him. When Rastist returned he brought Sira her underthings, dried now by the waning summer sun.

The girl had shown no embarrassment at being unclothed before the men she cared about, but the old trader had found it rather disturbing. The healer thanked him warmly and dawned her underthings. She knew the old one hadn't been embarrassed because he found her desirable, but more because he'd been raised in a modest way and the ways of old are hard to overlook. When she was covered she gave the stubble on his cheek a quick kiss to let him know she understood.

"You are family, and among families there can be understanding and still modesty."

"Thank you, my father."

He was more touched by her yosemin tribute to the place of honor his age gave him than he cared to admit. He'd only been in the yosemin village a short time, but what he'd seen and learned there had touched him.

They sat before the burning tree stump adding wood as needed. Sira knew the fire could eat away at the roots underground, feeding on the rich sap still hidden there to make a pocket hot enough to melt metal. They had avoided such dangers on their walk that day, but this old tree was tougher than some others, and it hadn't given up so easily yet. The night was cold, with a cold breeze fanning the fire. The raging inferno set by Loxias had finally burned itself out on a rocky ledge as the hot summer winds blown up from the south in a circular motion out over the ocean then back to hit them from the north had died to be replaced by the colder north wind blown down over the mountains straight at them. Its cooler breath had done its duty to help stop the fire, as had the rocks giving little fuel to the flames no longer pushed on by the hot wind.

The demigod, the hunter, and the empath found themselves a place to lie down on the sand near the fire using their shared body heat to stave away the cold dampness of the night. A dense fog had rolled in with the lulling of the wind to cut through their damp clothing and chill them. Sira asked Rastist to join them but he opted to stay by the fire to keep it burning.

"Someone's got to feed the fire and keep a watch."

"You do not think those who have Hercus and Dasay would try to come back to harm us?"

"No, most likely they figure the fire did their dirty work for them, but humans aren't the only things that hunt in the night."

"You speak of wolves. In all the records kept by my people there has never been anything said about wolves attacking humanoids. Besides, they are the protectors of the forest people. You have no need to fear them, my friend."

"Well, wolves are smart enough to know there may well be half burned and vulnerable creatures left here in the burned area. Wolves have a large hunting area. Why take chances?"

Sira smiled at him. "Very well, if you would feel better guarding us, then so be it. At least try to keep yourself warm."

"I'll be just fine. It's Hercules' back that's gonna get cold tonight. He has you on one side to keep him warm, but the other side is exposed to the fog just like my own backside."

The half god chuckled. "Thanks for your concern, old friend. I'll turn over every now and then to keep myself warm."

The old sailor settled himself more comfortably near the fire, a rock at his back. He turned the meat slowly over the coals. This was the last of their meat and it wouldn't last past midday tomorrow. If they didn't pass through the burned area soon they would be hurting for food and every one of them knew it.

He felt tired in mind and in body. Digging his pipe from his waist pack he put it between strong white teeth. His tobacco was gone but there was still comfort in the old habit of chewing on the pipe stem. He dozed for a bit until the cold on his back took its toll then he rose to stretch legs gone stiff with immobility. A wolf called from off to his right and he turned that way but could see nothing in the dim light from the fire. Another wolf called from his left, then one from in front of him. He added more wood to the fire, knowing that should the wolves decide to make a dinner of them the fire would frighten them away quicker than anything else.

He got a glimpse of yellow eyes just outside the circle of light the fire shed and took up his sword. While the eyes didn't move, he took a moment to look to the other side of camp. Sure enough, there he found eyes shining in the night.

It was much later when the demigod came to join him by the fire, turning his back to the flames to warm his back and legs. "You were right, my back is cold."

"Yeah, a good woman will keep ya warm for a time, then the night creeps in to disturb you."

Hercules turned around to check the perimeter of the camp. "How long have they been out there?"

"Almost since the first. They haven't made a move to come any closer, only sit and watch. If I didn't know better I'd say they were protecting us rather than threatening us."

"Maybe Sira was right."

"She mostly is."

Hercules laughed. "Yes, she mostly is."

Hercus woke to the warmth of a furry little body pressed up against his back. His mind told him at once which furry little forest creature had sneaked close during the night to share his blanket and his body warmth. He turned carefully so he wouldn't frighten the pup then laid watching him in puppy sleep.

Bright blue canine eyes opened to the deeper blue of the half yosemin boy. With caution the boy reached out to pet the soft silver fur and the pup licked at his hand. "So, we are going to be friends." The pup seemed to move closer as if hungry for the attention, as if he couldn't get enough. "You have been frightened too, have you not?" He let the pup lick his face. "We will get out of this together, then you will be free once more, little Washau the wolf."

Spherule looked up from his cooking to see the two of them together, and with anger he walked toward them. The pup went growling back to his corner near the entrance to the cave.

"He's my dog."

"It is well, Spherule. He will come around with you also."

"What's that you call him?"

"Washau? It is yosemin for protector. My people believe that wolves are our protectors sent by the earth mother to watch over us and the forests of the world."

"His name is Dog, not that word. Call him Dog."

"What are you making for breakfast, my friend? It smells wonderful."

"It's soup made from the bones of the deer. I put in some beans and some roots I find here in the forest. It's cold this morning and hot soup will warm us all. My mother always said that."

"A smart woman, your mother."

The issue of ownership of the pup was forgotten now and the simple minded man returned to his cooking pot, humming a tuneless melody. It wasn't going to be easy to set Washau free as long as Spherule was around. He was set on having a dog. Perhaps he was just lonely. He really didn't fit in here with these men. They treated him with little respect, and no friendship. The boy had to wonder why he stayed where he wasn't liked. But then perhaps he had no other place to go.

The Dea woke to the cold of the foggy morning feeling hungry. She knew she was better. With caution she sent her mind to Hercus. His response was instant and warm. Loxias still slept and the yosemin girl took advantage of the chance to open her mind to the boy. She longed with all her heart to reach out to the demigod but feared she might give their existence away.

"You are well, my brother of the soul?"

"Yes, my sister, and you?"

"I am so frightened. What will happen to us, Hercus?"

"It will not be long now, Dasay. They are close, I can sense them. Hercules and my father will know what to do with men like these."

"If only we were together perhaps we could find a way to get away from these men."

The boy could sense her fear. She knew nothing of violence or war. She feared what those she loved might be forced to do to save her and Hercus. She also feared for her loved ones.

"It will be well, Dasay. It is a sad fact of life that violence often begets the same. But those we hold dear are not barbarians and they will not kill wantonly. If it takes violence to release us you can be sure they will do what must be done, but they will not kill unless forced to do so. Put it in the hands of the earth, Dea, and trust her to guide them."

Dasay could sense Hercus' frustration in his own inability to help them. Warrior's blood burned hot within him, and to be left so helpless in the face of the danger they were in filled him with futile anger, but more than this it filled him with a sense of shame.

"You have done much, my brother. You cannot blame yourself because you are not able to do more. Perhaps we have been brought here for a higher purpose than we can know. You must take your own advice and trust the earth."

She looked up to see Loxias standing over her, a nasty look on his face. "I've told you not to be talking with that boy."

"I must know if he is all right."

"I'll keep you informed of his condition."

"And you think I will believe you? If you want the gold then I must at least be able to see my son or use my mind to check on him."

"You don't make the rules."

"If I do not know that he is well I will not look for your gold."

"Then I will hurt you."

"Then hurt me, but if you do who will look for the gold then? You?" Her voice was thick with sarcasm.

He pulled his arm back to strike her, but the blow never landed. Carneus held his hand. "No bruising my little gold finder."

"She deserves it."

"Most likely she does, but for now she's cooperating, and as long as she does she remains unharmed." Loxias gave him a nasty look. "Got it?"

The half breed pulled his arm away from the outlaw leader. "You're going to get us all killed, Carneus."

"Not today, partner, not today, and everyday she's on the job, the more gold she finds."

Hercus watched as all but two of the outlaws moved over the ridge. Spherule and one other were all that were left to guard him. He sent his mind to the little wolf pup who pricked up his ears at the boy but didn't come to him.

"So it takes food or cold for you to be friendly?"

The boy's hope was to use his mind to persuade the wolf to chew through his ropes. His main regret in such a move was that he would be forced to leave the wolf behind. He'd have no time to try and find a way to break through the chain that held the pup. There was also his concern for Dasay. If he left, would they harm her? He'd gathered from her mind what it was they wanted from her. If she agreed to cooperate with them until he could lead the others to rescue her then she should be safe.

The little wolf moved slowly forward on his haunches, as if expecting to be harmed at any moment. When he was close enough the boy rubbed behind his ears and the pup licked his hand.

Now to try and get his point across to Washau.

Sira woke early to find Hercules watching the fire while Rastist slept near it. She rose to give her more than brother of the soul a warm smile. "So your back did get cold?"

He laughed at her. "You were restless last night."

"I dreamed again the dream that has plagued me for so long. It is a sign of what will come."

"It doesn't have to be."

"I pray with all my heart that it will not be. I am so angry in the dream."

He took her hand before she could go on. "Fear can breed anger. You'll control it as you always have."

"I have not always controlled my anger, my love."

He smiled at her. "But it's never taken you over as you say happens in your dream."

She nodded with a deep sigh. "It is just that I feel so unlike myself anymore."

He brought her hand to his lips to place a kiss on her fingertips. "You won't be alone, my more than sister."

"No, thank the earth for that."

Loxias watched as Dasay moved slowly through the mine, her mind entranced. He was tired, dusty, and in a sour mood. The girl had found little gold today.

The healer was frightened. She'd worked so hard to try and search out the precious metals of the earth, but today she seemed unable to keep her focus. Not for the first time she prayed to the earth to guide her as she moved ahead deeper into the man made cave cut deep into the side of the cliff.

Loxias watched her for a moment more. "Tartarus, I could do as well as she is." A cold draft of doubt swept over him and turning he left the mine to take to the ridge.

He went to Spherule for a bowl of soup and a mug of tea then came to kneel beside Hercus. Washau had stayed close to the boy most of the day but still hadn't been made to understand what the boy wanted of him. In fact, after a time Hercus had given up on trying to get the pup to chew through the ropes that held him captive and just enjoyed having the pup's companionship.

Washau backed away as Loxias approached Hercus, but he stayed close enough to the boy to protect him should his protection be needed.

The outlaw took a healthy bite of soup then with his mouth full he asked a question. "Is your mother as powerful as they say?"

"More so."

In the simple words the bandit sensed seniority. "She ever kill anybody with her mind?"

"Yes."

"Ain't that against the yosemin teachings, especially for a healer?"

"Yes, and yet there are times when death is the only way. Still, it was an accident."

"Those that followed us, are they really gone?"

"You set the fire yourself."

A wolf called from a rocky outcropping behind the camp and Loxias shivered.

"I wonder why that bastard's been hanging around so much lately. Maybe it's that pup."

"Maybe it is a warning to you."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"The earth has a way of taking vengeance on those who go against her and harm her." The outlaw looked blank. "You set the fire."

Now Loxias laughed. "You can't expect me to believe I'm in danger now because of that." The boy only shrugged. "If your mother is so powerful how come she hasn't found more gold today?"

"While you have been here she has found a rich deposit of gold."

"How in the name of Zeus would you know?" Hercus only shrugged.

With a deep frown he left Hercus to return to the mine. He hadn't felt the boy and his mother communicating with their minds, and yet somehow he believed Hercus had told him the truth.

He found Carneus almost jumping with happiness when he got back to the mine. "She's done it again, my friend. Look at this stuff, it's some of the richest ore we've found yet. Do I know how to plan, or what?"

Loxias only narrowed his eyes at the outlaw leader then sent a nasty look toward Dasay. How had the boy known unless they were in contact even when he wasn't aware of it? The thought made him uncomfortable.

The earth's chosen one let out a squeal of pleasure as she dropped to her knees in the deep rich grass just beyond the burned area. Tears rolled down her face to make streaks in the ash and soot there. They had made it, and they were close to their destination. The others watched as she lay flat on her stomach, her arms spread wide to embrace the earth. As she did the grass bent to caress her, tiny vines moved to curl themselves around her fingers. She laughed at their touch as a mother might at the soft loving touch of her baby.

The hunter looked away to clear his throat. He was deeply touched by her response to the earth and its response to her. No one made a move as she sent a prayer to the earth then carefully disengaged herself from her mother's embrace to stand once more beside the others. The hunter took her hand, then pulling her close he wiped the tears from her face.

"We are close, my Anmchara. Tonight, or maybe tomorrow, we will find them."

"Why do I sense fear in these words?"

"I cannot forget my dreams. Before me lies a test, and I am not sure I am ready to face it."

He looked down at her feet where the grass still bent to touch her. "The earth thinks you're ready."

"Will it when this is over?"

"You are the chosen one."

The demigod took her other hand. "As I said before, you won't be alone in this."

With a nod the girl pulled at their hands. It was time to go. Soon she would meet her destiny, and while that thought frightened her, saving her son and Dasay dug at her with an urgent need.

They stopped near a spring for the midday meal of rabbits cooked over the fire. Sira had found some roots to bake in the coals. It was a welcome treat from half cooked deer meat. Rastist grumbled about the lack of tea to warm his middle, but it was done good naturedly.

They didn't stay long at the spring. The need to hurry nagged at each of them. They traveled on into the afternoon then the evening. It was late when they stopped. The empath limped badly now from the blisters on her feet that had broken then bled as she walked. She'd removed her bark shoes and left them behind as soon as they'd cleared the burned area, but now she was sorry she had. They had helped, at least in part, to protect the blisters.

Putting the pain of her injured feet aside Sira had wanted to go on. She could see the advantage in stopping here since there was a small brook to offer them water and there were more rabbits to cook for their evening meal. Still, the need to bring this to an end tore at her. After a moment to rest and fill their water flasks she stood to move on.

It was Hercules who stopped her. "It's late and we're all tired. We'll rest here."

"We could reach them tonight. My mind will find them even in the dark."

Hercules sighed. He felt the same way, but they had to be practical. "There's no way to tell what we're up against in the dark. In the morning, we'll be able to see what kind of defense they've set up, if any. If we blunder in there we could get them both killed."

The empath knew he was right, but she hated the delay of one more night. She could sense both the Dea and her son and she could almost smell their fear. "They are so frightened. They have been kept apart since reaching the outlaw camp. I cannot stand the thought of them being so frightened."

The hunter took her into his arms to soothe her, but she turned away to walk past the camp out toward where her loved ones waited for them to come. "We are coming. Tomorrow we will be there. Be brave until then."

The demigod came to stand beside her. "They're still safe, aren't they?"

"As safe as anyone can be in their situation. I mean they are not being tortured or starved."

"Then the few hours more it will take to help ensure their safety as well as ours is well spent."

"I know. That does not mean I have to like it."

He put an arm around her shoulder. "No, it doesn't mean any of us have to like it."

"Promise me something, my brother."

"Yes?"

"If what I have seen in my dreams comes to pass, you must stop me. No matter the cost, I will have to be stopped."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You must not let me use my mind in anger and hate to the destruction of another's life."

"That isn't going to happen."

She went on as if he hadn't spoken. "To do so would mean to lose the earth. I cannot live without that, my soul. To lose the earth would be too painful."

He pulled her into his arms. "That's not going to happen."

"Promise me."

"I can't promise to harm you, if that's what you're asking. I'll use my mind to try and help you, but you can't expect me to harm you."

"And if that is the only way?"

"Stop this, Sira. You've had dreams before, and we've always been able to find a way to stop their nightmarish outcome. Why are you so sure this will be any different?"

She only buried her face against his broad chest. The strong steady beat of his heart helped to soothe her. After a moment he realized she was beginning to lean heavily against him as she relaxed and the tensions and fears of the last few days began to catch up with her. He picked her up to carry her back to camp.

She ate her share of the roasted rabbit in a haze of fatigue, and as soon as she'd finished she took to her bed. Rastist had pulled grass to make a comfortable place for her then cut pine bows to use as a makeshift blanket. The fog had already started to roll in with a thick white vapor that tore apart in the trees like so much cheesecloth. It left a damp smell in the air and made the promise of descending lower to cover them with its ghostly fingers that dug at their meager defenses against its chill.

Hercus lay on his side, the wolf pup curled up before him. The boy had been given only one blanket and he was nowhere near the fire. The pup's added warmth was a comfort. He moved a little closer to Washau then pulled the blanket over them both. He watched the fire from a distance entranced by its glow on the lowering fog. He'd felt his mother's promise of tomorrow and had been comforted by it. Now, however, it left him with a sick feeling in his stomach. What might happen tomorrow? He'd comforted Dasay about accepting the possibility of violence but he found little comfort in his words now. If only he'd been able to win free from his bondage. He felt shame that he'd been so easily retained. He'd worked for hours trying to use his mind to convince Washau to chew through the ropes, but the pup couldn't seem to catch on to the idea. He'd rubbed the rope repeatedly along the pole it was tied to in the hopes of cutting through it, but the pole was too smooth to make even a dent in the thick rope.

He'd trained with Clanis, his Uncles Ares, and Hercules and his father. He'd trained with Xena, and with Gabrielle in the use of the staff, but now when the things he'd learned and the things he considered important were needed from him he was helplessly tied up like a baby. He'd been useless in helping Dasay. He'd never even landed a decisive blow against their enemies. Maybe the council had been right in denying him the amulet of senior apprentice.

As if reading the boy's thoughts Washau moved closer as Hercus tried in vain to stem the sting of hot tears. "Some warrior you have chosen as a friend, little Washau."

Across the ridge Dasay also found sleep impossible. She'd sensed Sira's message as well, and like Hercus she was afraid of what the morning might bring. Also, like the boy she called brother she felt ineffectual. She'd never even tried to free herself. She'd let fear rule her every movement. Carneus had been nice to her of late, taking her to the spring and turning his back without question. He brought her fresh water to quench her thirst when she worked in the mine. Her hands had become blistered and torn from digging with them through the sand and rocks to find the hidden quartz and gold and he'd rubbed butter on them to soothe them for her.

She wasn't a fool. She knew what he was building up to. He was being nice for a reason, and despite her naiveté she wasn't fooled about what he wanted from her. Despite her fear of what tomorrow might bring for her the rescue couldn't come soon enough. She feared Carneus much more than the morning.

It wasn't quite light yet when Loxias woke to the howl of a wolf. He shivered in his blankets. I should find that bastard and kill him, he thought. He rose to put wood on the fire and to push the pot of tea closer. The fog still lay in dense folds along the ground and he shivered again. What was it he sensed? Fear shot through him and he wasn't sure why.

Sira sat beside the fire, her mind entranced in a prayer to the earth. Today would see the prophecy of her dream and she was frightened. She got a quick sense of the mind she'd sensed behind the setting of the fire and closed her mind to him at once. They must not be warned of the impending rescue.

The half breed outlaw shot a quick look to where Dasay slept. What was it he'd felt? A strong focused mind for sure. But from where? He jumped to his feet as a deep brooding suspicion crept slowly over him and he went to stand over the healer. She knew he was there but feigned sleep, and after a moment he walked away,

Hercules was the first to join Sira at the fire. She had the rabbits from the hunter's snares already cooking.

"Did you sleep?"

"For a time." He gave her a smile of understanding and companionship, and as he did the hunter joined them at the fire.

The fog had lifted only slightly as the sun rose over the ridge that separated the cave hollowed from the cliff by nature and the mine cut into the same cliff by the greed of man. Carneus was well pleased with the pile of ore building at the entrance to the mine. He gladly took the mug of tea offered him by Nereus. With it cradled in his hands he went to Dasay.

"Care for some tea?" She almost choked at his pretense at friendship, but she took the tea all the same. "You ready to look for a bit more gold?" She only nodded wearily. "I know I've been working you hard the last couple of days. Tell you what, you find me a nice big bunch of gold today and I'll let you rest tomorrow."

Loxias came to stand beside them, his legs spread in an arrogant stance. "We have a problem, Carneus."

With annoyance the outlaw leader stood to face him. "And what might that be?"

"I don't think this woman is the empath."

Carneus laughed. "What? What foolishness is this?"

"I don't believe she's the empath."

"I don't give a damn what you think, or if she's Zeus himself. She's finding the gold and that's all that counts."

"I think the empath is still out there."

"You're obsession with this thing is getting on my nerves. Who gives a damn if she is?"

"How long do you think it will be before she comes for her son?"

"You killed them all with the fire. You said so yourself."

"Well, now I wonder." He turned to pin Dasay with a hard stare. "Are you the empath?

"I am finding the gold for you, am I not?"

"That doesn't answer my question. Are you the empath?"

"You have killed my family in a fire and I have nothing left. I am helping you, what more do you want?"

"I want an answer. That damned empath could kill us all. I think she's out there and I think she's coming after me. Now answer my question!"

Carneus had been affected by Loxias' fear. He drew a knife and put it to the Dea's throat.

Sira, Hercules, Iolaus, and Rastist looked down into the little valley at the scene before them. The dark opening to the mine stood gaping at them as a man held a knife to Dasay's throat.

The demigod started over the ridge but the hunter stopped him. "Hold on a minute, they haven't hurt her yet."

"Are you the empath?!" Loxias shouted at her in anger.

Her days of fear had taken their toll. Her pain and illness had added to it, as had her fatigue. "No. No, I am not the empath. But you are right; she is out there. They are all out there and they are coming for you. Especially you, Loxias. You set the fire. The earth will wreak her vengeance on you."

Carneus took a moment to absorb what she had told them. His hopes and plans seemed to get in the way of thinking clearly. She wasn't the empath? Then who in Tartarus was she? He shook his head to clear it.

"They are coming for you."

The outlaw leader slapped her hard, sending her sprawling out before him.

With a mighty roar the demigod bolted over the ridge. The others followed a split second later. Loxias felt the cold binding cramp of fear. He had eyes for no one but the small woman running with the men. Her long blonde hair streamed out behind her as she ran forward. Hadn't he heard somewhere that the empath had blonde hair? With a quick gasp he turned and ran for the ridge that would take him to the cave.

The boy. He had to get to the boy.

Carneus grabbed up Dasay to use her as a shield. He had no illusions about the man that bore down on him. He was just too big to be anyone but Hercules. Just as the demigod reached him Dasay leaned to the side to expose the outlaw's protruding chin. The punch took him full on, and with a grunt of pain he fell aside, losing his grip on the Dea.

A man came up behind Hercules to hit him across the shoulders with the handle of a shovel. It was the wrong thing to do. It would have laid any ordinary man out flat. It only served to anger the half god even more. He turned to yank the shovel from the man's hands to break the handle over his head.

Carneus got to his knees. He had to get out of here. But his gold was here. They could have the woman and the boy, but he wanted his gold. The boy. He ran at a crouch past the hunter as he fought with his sword to stop one of the outlaws. They won't harm me if I have the boy. Carneus ran full out to reach the ridge.

Sira knelt beside Dasay. "Are you all right, my sister?"

"Yes, but you have to help Hercus. He is on the other side of that ridge. There, where Carneus just went. Go, my sister." Sira ran after the outlaw leader.

Loxias lunged at Hercus, and as he did the wolf pup lunged at him. The half breed outlaw threw the pup aside with such force that the wolf was left stunned.

"No!" the boy shouted at him.

Loxias cut through the rope holding the boy to the post then turned in a panic when he heard a man approaching.

Carneus stopped before his partner and Hercus. "Give me the boy!"

"Go to Tartarus! That bitch is after me. The boy's my only chance."

"Give me the boy. I can save my gold if I have him."

"Your gold be damned."

Loxias heard the wolf pup growl low in his throat. His arm bled badly from the wolf's first attack. He turned sharply to make sure the pup wasn't ready to pounce on him again, and as he did Carneus punched him hard in the face, then the middle, grabbing the boy from him, and with an arm around the boy's neck he held a knife at his throat.

The empath stood on the ridge looking down into the little valley. She had been here many times in her dreams. Before her lay the cave and the sandstone cliff. Her son was being held at knifepoint. She felt her skin tighten with cold fear. Her limbs began to tremble.

"Release him and you will not be harmed!" Her words drifted down to the men. The sky above them had been brightening as the fog burned away, but now it seemed to darken. "Release my son before it is too late." She could feel the anger build within her. She began to shake harder. It was as if the anger and hate she felt toward these men had a life of its own.

The ground beneath the girl's feet shook, and a strong wind gusted through the valley where the air had been calm only moments ago.

Loxias moaned. "No." He could feel the tingle of energy on his skin. "No!"

"Let him go," the empath pleaded. "I cannot stop this."

The ground shook again as the sky darkened even more. Thunder resounded against the canyon walls with a deafening roar. The wind swirled around the earth's chosen one to billow her hair out around her like liquid silver-gold. The earth shook harder. She could feel the anger, but what's more, she could feel a willingness to use that anger. The black clouds overhead began to swirl in a whirlwind and thunder sounded closer yet.

"Let him go," she pleaded. "I cannot control this. I cannot stop it. I beg of you, before it is too late, let him come to me."

Loxias began to crawl away, then took to his feet to try and run. The ground beneath his feet shook and he fell. Another man tried to run away and a deep fissure opened up beneath his feet to swallow him up in its gaping mouth. Loxias made it to his feet again and ran. The man who fell into the fissure screamed, and at his scream Carneus turned, nicking Hercus' neck.

"No!" Sira shouted. She could see the blood even from where she stood. A jagged streak of lightning hit the ground near Carneus.

"No!" Loxias ran on. How was such power possible? How could anyone control the elements?

The dream that had plagued the empath for so long was becoming reality. She knew the energy she threw out was hurting her son as well as the other men, but she was helpless to stop herself. A tree near the cave exploded to shower the clearing with splinters.

Hercus stomped down hard on Carneus' foot with his heal, then with an elbow to his ribs he won his way free from the outlaw leader.

Carneus' hopes of wealth seemed to melt away before him as he felt the ground shake beneath his feet. In rage and hate Carneus threw his knife at the boy's back.

Sira screamed as she saw the knife hit her son. Lightning zigzagged out from the dark swirl of clouds to strike the outlaw leader. He screamed out and flew back.

Sira shook with the power that possessed her. She knew she was hurting Hercus, and yet she couldn't seem to stop herself. "Help me, my mother!" The earth only shook harder, the clouds darkened. "I cannot stop it. I cannot control it." Yet another tree burst into splinters. The girl screamed with the pain of the energy that surged around her.

She heard them coming up behind her. She knew who it was. She moaned with her effort to control the power that possessed her more than she possessed it.

The hunter struggled to reach her through the pain that shook him. The ground was so unsteady beneath his feet that he crawled toward her.

Hercules was the first to reach her. "Stop it, Sira! You're hurting all of us!" He reached to touch her.

"No!" she screamed too late. Energy shot out to hit him in the chest and throw him back to land hard against an outcropping of rock. She could see his shirt smoldering where the energy had hit him. "No!"

She turned and ran, running from the scene before her, running from the hate and anger that surged through her. She ran from those she loved, and from her injured son.

Loxias whimpered in his haste to leave the power of the empath behind. He stumbled then rose to rush on. He heard the wolf off to his left, lifting a mournful cry to the heavens. In fear he stopped to look up. Above him on a ridge of rock stood a magnificent black wolf. As he watched, the wolf howled again. And now there was an answering howl off to his right. He ran on, lost in fear. A gray flank caught his eye, slinking in front of him, and behind him he heard the sound of brush moving. He ran faster, and beside him ran a gray wolf. Then he spotted another one before him. The black wolf threw back his head to call to the earth, and as he did Loxias screamed in a long drawn out plea for help.

Sira ran to the forest, ran from what she had done. She was entranced with fear and lost to reality. She came to a stop near a jumble of rocks, and crouching there she cried openly. The hate and anger of earlier was gone now. The earth no longer shook, the clouds were gone, but she felt lost and alone. Too numb to move she hid in fear of her own powers.

A bright light flashed before her and she jumped. The dark god of war stood watching her, a deep frown of pleasure on his handsome features.

"My little warrior. You were magnificent." He came to stand before her. "Rise, my child, and embrace me." She only cried harder. He pulled her to her feet. "What you did back there was nothing short of perfection. Come with me now, Sira. Together we will rule this world."

The girl trembled within the circle of his arms. "Take it back, my brother. I cannot control it. You must take it back."

"I never meant for you to be left with this from my healing."

"I know that."

"I would never willingly harm you."

"Please, my soul, you must help me."

He went on as if she hadn't spoken. "But now that you have it you must see the possibilities. Your power is greater than my own. Together we will be unstoppable.

"You must help me. I have lost the earth. The things I have done."

He pulled her tightly against him, savoring her smell, the feel of her breasts pressed against him. Lifting her chin he kissed her lips softly. She seemed to melt into him, falling into his caresses and she kissed him back.

Her hands slid under his vest to feel the tight muscles there and she was on fire. She took his tongue with hers, demanding he let her enter, pressing him with passion. He untied the drawstring at her neck to pull her top aside. The white soft swell of her breasts took his breath away and he pulled her closer yet as she pulled his leather vest from its belt, then down over his arms. She squeezed his biceps as a moan escaped her lips. He undid the tie of her camisole as his hands moved to caress her. Her lips on his neck, she nibbled at his ear lobe as her hands moved to below his waist.

"I want you, Sira, like no woman I've ever wanted before."

She kissed his chest then trailed kisses lower to his waist. He kissed her hair, her neck, then lower.

She threw her head back to give him room, and as she did a wolf called to the earth. With a quick jerk she pulled away from him.

"No. No, I cannot do this. This is not me. I have lost the earth. I have lost everything. Without the earth I cannot go on."

He took her into his arms, not in passion, but in comfort. "You've done nothing wrong."

"I used my powers to harm others and I did not care."

"You felt the exhilaration of the godly powers you still possess from my healing."

The healer slumped to the ground. "I cannot live without the earth. If you care for me at all take this from me, my brother."

"I like the thought of having a part of me in you."

She laid flat on the grass, her arms out wide. "Then I am truly lost." Her words were faint and breathless and he knelt beside her.

"Sira."

"If I cannot heal, what is left to me? I killed those men."

"You didn't kill anyone. They may be a little broken and a little fried, but you didn't kill them. What you did was a mother's instinct."

"And Hercules?"

"I have to say I did enjoy seeing that, but he's not really hurt."

"My son?"

"The wound is minor. It will heal."

"I harmed the earth. I let anger and hatred rule me and I could not control it."

"Don't be foolish. You could have laid waste to every man back there. You could have flattened the earth with the power you possessed. But that didn't happen. Even in hate you controlled it."

"But I have lost the earth."

He pulled her into his arms once more. "No, my love, it's still there, I feel it within you. Open your mind to it."

"I cannot."

"You couldn't really die from this, could you?"

"What use is it to go on if I am no longer myself?"

"I never meant you harm."

"I know."

"I love you, Sira."

"Please help me."

He nodded as he kissed her hair. "I guess I never really wanted you like this anyway. When you come to me it will be because you want to, not because you have no choice."

He touched his mind to hers but found only confusion. "Open your mind to me, Sira. I will take it back."

She sobbed harder. I cannot. I have lost my power of the earth."

"No. Relax. Let your mind open slowly; sense my mind on yours. I'll lead you." He used the tricks she'd taught him to help her become entranced. With a rush that took his breath away the powers she'd taken from him during the healing left her. He gasped at the intensity of that power and for a moment he was dazed.

"Ares." There was fear in her voice. He tightened his hold on her as he trembled slightly. Once again she tried to slump to the grass but he held her and she shook her head at him. He helped her to the ground, and with a cry of joy she embraced the earth.

He stood over her, watching as the grass bent to surround her with its promise of her favor with the earth. He watched her closely as if he couldn't get enough of the sight of her.

By the gods of her world and mine, I love her. How could I have believed she could live with the powers of hate I left her with? Unintentional or not, I should have come to her sooner. He knelt beside her to run a hand over her tussled hair, letting his mind touch hers and this time she responded.

"The others are looking for you. Shall I call to them?"

She sat up carefully so she wouldn't hurt the grasses around her. "Not yet." She reached out a hand to caress his cheek. "Thank you."

"I'm sorry you were hurt by this."

"Your love has made it well, my brother."

Ares gasped as he saw the empath's feet. "Your feet."

The girl looked down to see the blood pooling on the grass from the broken and cracked blisters left from her struggle through the burned forest. Beside them a bowl and cloth appeared. With hands that trembled slightly the god of war dipped the cloth in the bowl of warm water and oil so that he might anoint her feet. Using his godly powers further the blisters and burns disappeared before the girl's eyes and as they did he bent forward to lightly kiss each foot.

She shivered more from reaction than cold. Beside her a fire appeared. He put his hands on her shoulders to cover them with a blanket. It had come from godly powers but she was grateful for it anyway. "I have a favor to ask of you."

"Anything, my soul."

Tears filled her eyes at his endearment. "Go to Nemesis."

"She is well, isn't she?"

"Yes. She carries your child."

His face went blank with shock. "What?"

"Your son is in her womb."

"Another little demigod?" he whispered.

"No. Your mortal son." At the look on his face she smiled at him. "Conceived while you were mortal. She carries the mortal son of Ares."

"The mortal son of Ares."

"She fears you will be angry when you learn the child has no godly powers."

His face twisted in anger. "Damn it, doesn't she know me at all?"

"Do not be angry. Go to her. She needs you now, my brother."

"Are you sure you'll be all right now?"

"Yes, the others will find me by my mind." He rose to leave and she reached out to take his hand. "Are you sure my son is all right?"

"I would never lie to you about something like that." She gave him a smile of love, and stepping back he was gone.

She lay beside the fire. She felt spent. She knew the others looked for her and feared for her, but it would be so nice to stay here with the earth renewing her energies, renewing her faith in herself.

With a sigh she sent her mind to the hunter and he responded at once. She sensed his fear for her and felt remorse that she had caused him to worry.

They found her by the fire, and both Hercules and Iolaus went to their knees beside her.

"Sira." The anguish in the hunter's voice tore at her.

"I am well, my beloved."

"I was so frightened for you."

"I am sorry I worried you. How is Hercus?"

"He'll be fine. The knife grazed his right shoulder blade, but it's not serious. Dasay is with him now."

She turned to Hercules. "Are you all right, my brother?"

He rubbed at his chest. "You pack quite a punch, my sister."

She put her hand on his chest to soothe the slight burn the energy she'd thrown at him had left. "I am sorry, my love," she whispered to him.

"It's all right. You're safe, that's all that matters." He looked around him at the fire and the blanket. "Ares?"

"Yes. If Hercus is truly going to be all right, I need to sleep the healing sleep, then we will talk."

He nodded at her.

The hunter helped her to her feet, then seeing how weak she was he took her into his arms to carry her back to the cave. "The men that held Hercus and Dasay, what of them?"

"There are only four left. One with a busted head thanks to Herc. One with a dislocated shoulder from falling into a fissure near the cave, and one burned. Hercus said you burned him with lightning."

"It was anger left from my healing with Ares. The power was mine, but the willingness to use it in such a destructive way was from him. The fourth man?"

"He's a little simple, and Hercus says harmless. The rest of the men got away or were killed in the fight to save Dasay."

"So Ares was right, I did not kill anyone."

"No, you didn't."

"But I hurt two of them."

"I'm sorry, Sira. I know that must hurt you."

She buried her face against his chest and let her love for him touch his mind. The response from him did much to ease her guilt. When they reached the camp Sira could see none of the outlaws, and reading her mind Iolaus assured her they were well tied within the cave.

"Take me to our son."

Hercus lay on a blanket near the fire and Iolaus laid the empath beside him. Sira reached out to take the hand of the Dea first and got a reassuring smile and nod. Then with hands that trembled slightly she put a hand to her son's back.

"It is well, my mother. The wound is not severe."

"You are brave, my son. I sensed your thoughts during your captivity, you are truly a warrior."

"But I did nothing."

"But your mind did much, especially to help your sister. Being a warrior is not always about wielding a sword. I am proud of you both."

Her words were beginning to slur slightly. Now that she knew for herself that Hercus would be all right, the need to sleep the healing sleep and renew her energy was strong.

"Sleep, my mother, and in sleep find peace."

"You will wake me should I be needed?"

The hunter assured her he would wake her as he led her to her own bed and made her comfortable. Sitting beside her, his hand in hers, he used his mind to help lull her to sleep, and when she could fight it no longer he joined her on the blanket to take her into his arms. He needed to be near her and didn't give a damn who knew it.

Hercules helped Dasay in the healing of Hercus until the boy fell into a deep sleep. When the girl released her hold on Hercus the demigod pulled her into his arms.

"Thank the earth you weren't hurt,"

The girl melted into his arms. "I have missed you, my soul."

"When we found you'd been taken…" His words trailed off as his voice grew husky with emotion.

"That was one of the worst parts of being here, knowing what you must have been going through."

His hand in hers they left the camp to head toward the spring. Rastist, sitting near the entrance to the cave and the men held there gave the lovers a smiling nod of assurance that he would watch over things.

Spherule brought a mug of tea to the old trader. "I'll have dinner ready in a little bit."

"Thank you."

"Those other guys aren't going to be around now, are they?"

"No. In a little bit would you like to help me dig a couple of graves?"

"Yes. I only wish Loxias was going into one of them. He was always real mean to me and my dog."

"Yeah, it's a shame he got away and we'll only be digging two graves."

"Some of them were nice to me."

"You realize they did some bad things, right?"

"I never paid much attention to what they did. I just like to cook and to stay here near where my mother is buried. I sometimes take food to her grave to leave it for her. It's always gone the next day."

"Sounds like you're a good son. Why don't you take a bit of food to your dog and make sure he has water?"

"Okay. The dog really likes that boy more than me. Maybe I'll get me a new dog and give that one to the boy."

"You may be right. I think that one is a bit wild, at that. Why don't you get a dog that already likes people? But if you do, you'll have to feed it every day and make sure it has water all the time."

"I would. I used to have a dog before my mother was killed. I took real good care of it. It's just that with that dog not liking me it was hard."

"I understand. Now that no one's going to be here where will you go?"

"I guess I'll just stay here. You aren't going to stay and work the mine?" The old one only shook his head. "Well, there's some gold left, and there's a settlement about three days from here. My mother and I used to go there to get supplies sometimes. I just want to stay here. I don't know no other place and people don't really like me much."

"Maybe you can find a nice dog at the settlement. A man alone needs a good dog to keep him company."

The simple minded man nodded then walked away to stir his pot of stew. His mind was lost in the possibility of finding a dog at the settlement that would love him.

"That's all I really ever wanted, was a dog to love me," he whispered to himself as he worked to feed the new people who were at the cave now.

Cooking and feeding people was something he was good at and he wanted to please these new people. Maybe they'd stay here with him at the cave after all, but even if they didn't he wanted to stay. This was the only home he'd known. He wouldn't have to go to the settlement often. He was a good hunter and knew the roots and berries he could eat from the forest. As he thought about it he began to like the idea of being here alone to do what he wanted to do and maybe not to have to worry about other people. Most people didn't like him anyway. He began to hum a tuneless melody as he worked.

Rastist watched him for a time. "Poor simple minded thing," he whispered.

One of the men in the cave whimpered in his pain, but the old sailor had a hard time working up any sympathy for him. Carneus was burned badly and hovered between pain filled sleep and a semiconscious state. Phinees wasn't even conscious. The shovel handle the demigod broke over his head hadn't done him a world of good. The other man was hurt the least with a dislocated shoulder that Hercules and Rastist put back in place for him. His name was Macaire, a dirty little man not given to personal hygiene or manners. He denied any claim to yosemin heritage, grumbling that he hung around with Carneus and the others because he'd been kicked out of more villages than he could name. Given his rude behavior the old sailor wasn't surprised.

Morning found the demigod and the Dea healing Hercus once more. When the healing was complete the boy asked to speak to Spherule.

"I would like to free your dog," the boy stated without preamble.

"He'll run away."

"Yes, he will return to the wolf pack, but he will be happy. If you love him as you say you do, you should want his happiness."

"I'm gonna get a dog in the settlement, so you can unchain the dog if you want."

The big man handed the keys to the chain over with a pudgy hand. Despite his simple mind he kept himself clean. Hercus had watched him wash his hands before cooking. Whatever else his mother might have been, she must have been a good woman. The boy found himself wishing he could have known her.

Hercules gave the boy a hand up, and with his right arm in a sling to limit its movement the boy went to the wolf pup. Washau had whined and pulled at his chain trying to reach the boy ever since he'd been put near the fire for the healing. When the boy approached the pup he jumped and barked with joy, acting more like his heritage of dog now than that of his wolf father.

"It is well, little one. You will soon be free. I have missed you also." The boy's heart was filled with sadness that he would never see the pup again, but they were friends and he'd made a promise to his friend to free him.

The lock on the chain clanked open with a sound of finality and the boy took the pup into his arms for a quick hug before stepping back. Washau followed the boy toward the fire then stopped, not quite believing he was now free to do so.

"It is all right now, little one. You are free." Hercus touched the wolf with his mind and the pup followed him toward the fire. He stopped for a time beside the empath. He didn't disturb her; it was more as if he was paying her homage before he moved cautiously closer to Hercus. The boy petted him, playing with him for a time. "It is all right now, Washau. You are free to go."

Rastist held out a hand to the pup and got a quick licking for his trouble. "Seems to me that if you mean what you say and the pup is free to do what he wants that he might have already made his decision."

"You mean he might want to stay?"

"Could be. You say you're friends, not owner and pet. Friends should be able to decide for themselves what they want."

Hercus hugged the pup and got his face washed with a wet tongue. A wolf called from the cliff behind the cave. Hercus stiffened, as did the pup. Here it is, the boy thought. Now he will go.

Hercus could sense the tension in the little wolf. Washau moved away, and after a moment he lifted his head back to answer the call. Then with a waging tail he returned to Hercus.

Hercules chuckled. "Welcome to the family, Washau."

Dasay spent the day washing the blankets, cloaks, and clothing left by the retreating outlaws. They had nothing left from the fire, and she had every intention of confiscating what they needed from the men who had taken everything from them. The demigod helped her, his face lifted in an indulgent smile. If she'd asked for the world right now he would have tried to find a way to bring it to her. He picked out a jagged bit of gold that looked very much like a leaf no bigger than his thumbnail, and taking his time he tied a bit of leather cord to it so she could wear it around her neck.

She was hesitant to take the gift. "It is not that I do not appreciate what you have done for me, but the gold meant so much pain and fear for all of us."

The big man nodded. "You don't want to be reminded."

"I am sorry, Hercules."

"No. Don't be sorry. You're right." With a wide smile he removed the leather cord and tossed the gold back on the pile with the rest.

Dasay looked down at her hand. "I have the ring you gave me. That is more precious than gold, anyway." She'd taken to wearing the ring on her finger now that hiding its existence was no longer necessary.

He took her hand to finger the ring he'd carried for so many years as a reminder of his son. "Our ring of promise." He pulled her into his arms to take her lips. "While the blankets are drying would you care to take a walk?"

She didn't answer in words but her lips and hands made her answer and he led her from the clearing near the spring. He found a grassy area among a mass of brush and cleared a path through it so that they could find privacy.

With hunger the girl pulled his shirttails from his pants, then sliding her hands beneath the shirt she slipped it off his shoulders.

"I never tire of looking at you."

Her words were whispered as her hands caressed his broad muscular chest. His waist pack followed his shirt to the grass. She took a seat at his feet and began to unlace his boots. He sat beside her to pull them off then pulled her into his arms.

"You smell so sweet."

He kissed her hair, unbraiding it as he did. He liked the feel of the dark silken strands on his chest as he loved her. He kissed the cord of her throat, trailing kisses lower to the white swell of her breasts just visible above her top. In moments he had the top over her head and his hands caressed the soft folds of her camisole. She pulled her skirt off then began to unlace his trousers. He drew a quick breath as her hands slipped below his unlaced pants. His kisses became demanding as he fought to remove her camisole.

He hovered over her as she lay naked on the grass. He couldn't get enough of the sight of her, the smell of her. His lips set her on fire and she raised her hips with a quick moan of invitation. But he wasn't so ready to have their lovemaking end. He teased and caressed her until she thought she must surely go mad.

He allowed her to turn him over so that she could take command of their play and then threw his head back with a quick drawn breath. She'd learned much about lovemaking since that first night she'd come to him at the river beside the yosemin village. Before she went too far she threw her leg over him and he took her face in his to bring her lips back to him. The feel of her hair falling around him made him shiver with delight. She set an slow, even rhythm to their lovemaking and he let her, not pushing her, but letting her give herself pleasure as she pleased him. For him the end came far too soon. No matter, the day was young yet, and the blankets would take a long time to dry. He pulled her into his arms to hold her against him.

"Should we go?"

"In a little while."

"Will the others not worry?"

"No."

She settled herself more comfortably beside him, her head cradled on his biceps. "I do not know if I like the thought of everyone knowing what we are doing out here in the woods."

"Then you shouldn't have agreed to come."

"It does not bother you?"

"No. I don't give a damn if they know what we're doing. Do you really think Iolaus and Sira wouldn't be right here if she were awake?"

The girl laughed. "I guess you have a point."

"Feel better, then?"

She rolled over to hover above him, her hands sliding down his chest to below his waist. "Much better."

Rastist and Iolaus put up a tarp when the weather turned colder and rain was a threat. With the wisdom of his love for the healer the hunter knew she would be more comfortable outdoors than in the cave, and it saved moving the prisoners.

Carneus was much better now. He'd been tied to a pillar just inside the cave entrance. It was a natural part of the cliff face left when the softer sandstone around it had been worn away by the elements. The outlaw used his fingers to dig around the base of the pillar. He'd given it a pull to see if he could pull it loose and been rewarded by a slight grating sound at the base. Despite the pain it gave his burns to move, he worked steadily at the soft sand and rock at the base of the pillar. Phinees was beside him tied to the same pillar, but he was in a coma and knew nothing of what Carneus was trying to do.

Macaire was chained to the same pole that Hercus and the pup had been and left with enough room to take shelter in the cave. Hercules and Rastist had brought the packs and things over from the mine so that Dasay could wash them and make up packs for them.

Sira had slept for five days when Dasay suggested they wake her. The empath visited the woods, bathed, and ate. But she did it all in a haze, and when she was done eating she returned to her bed beneath the shelter. Dasay assured Iolaus that this wasn't unusual when so much of Sira's energy had been expended.

"She's never slept this long before."

"I know, and I know how hard it is to be separated from her, but she will be fine. She needs the sleep more than anything. She has not been herself since the healing of Ares. She has a lot of lost energy to make up for."

"You think that's all it is?"

"I know it, my brother." The healer gave the hunter a hug. "She will be fine."

It rained for two days and the healer slept through it. On the seventh day of her sleep she woke in the predawn to find the hunter beside her. She took a moment to look within herself and was pleased with what she found. She felt well, and what's more she felt herself. She sent her mind out to the god of war and got an instant response. He was at the yosemin village with Nemesis and Evander. He sent his love, and his remorse for not coming to Sira sooner when he realized she'd been left with a part of him in the healing.

She sent her love and forgiveness. She made a quick trip to the woods, then despite the rain and cold she bathed in the spring. When she returned to camp she found some leftover rabbit to appease her hunger. Feeling light and joyful she returned to her bed and the hunter. As soon as she laid down beside him he woke.

"Sira."

"I am well, my soul."

He pulled her into his arms. "By the gods, I've missed you." His lips were tender on hers.

"Hercus?"

"He's fine. Dasay healed him for two days but he didn't really need it. He's been exploring with the wolf pup."

"The pup stayed?"

"Yeah. He and Hercus are inseparable."

"I am glad for both of them." She took his lips.

"You've bathed?"

"Yes, and eaten, while you slept."

"It's almost stopped raining. Feel like a walk?"

"Of course."

Dasay, sleeping in the same shelter wrapped in the demigod's arms rose up to watch the lovers disappear into the woods. Hercules was right. She smiled to herself as she snuggled closer to the big man and he took her into his arms.

Sira found an outcropping of rock that would afford them some cover, and spreading a blanket on the ground she sat with her knees pulled up beneath her chin staring out at the light mist that dampened the muddy ground.

The hunter joined her. "A dinar for your thoughts."

"I was wondering what is to be done with the outlaws left back at the camp."

"Hercules and Rastist have agreed to take them to Corinth while the rest of us go to the cabin. They'll meet us there as soon as they can."

"It will not be summer there long and we will be forced to leave the cabin."

"Yeah, but if we had to leave before Herc was back you could let him know where we were."

"I would like to go to Alcmene's and Jason's if they are back at the farm by then. If not, could we visit Acubus again?"

"I don't see why not."

"Good, I need a new wool blanket."

The hunter pulled her into his arms. "I've missed you."

"So you have said. Now I wish to be shown."

He laid her gently back on the blanket to take her lips with his. His lovemaking was slow and tender. He was gentle with her as if he feared he might break her like a porcelain doll.

"Iolaus."

"Yes?"

"I really am better."

"I know."

She rolled him over to take control of their lovemaking and he graciously gave her control. "You really are better."

It began to rain harder as they made love under the overhang, and for the empath this only added to her fever. She kissed his chest where only a few light blond hairs curled, then lowered her kisses to below his waist where bristles of blond curls tickled her nose. She loved the scent of him, the feel of his flesh beneath her hands.

His hands in her hair, he pulled her to him to take her lips, then to trail kisses lower to the swell of her breasts. He couldn't seem to get enough of her and his kisses became urgent as her own urgency rose.

She'd lost weight over the last few days and it pained him to see her hipbones showing so prominently. Reading his mind she assured him all she needed was a few days of good food to put her right.

They stayed beneath the overhang until past midday, then returned hand in hand during a break in the rain.

The hunter took to the fire for warmth but the healer went to her son. The wolf pup pushed his head beneath her arm and she allowed him to come close.

"Thank you for helping my son, Washau, protector of the earth and her people. Your friendship adds much to us all."

The pup licked her face.

She took her son's hand then sent her mind to him to be sure for herself that he was well.
"I missed you, my son."

"And I you. I am sorry about the forest fire."

"I am more sorry that the man who set the fire escaped. I know it is wrong to want vengeance, and yet he should have paid for his crime against the earth."

"He will. The earth will see to that."

She checked on the prisoners. She couldn't bring it upon herself to offer them healing and they asked for none. She didn't think that Phinees had much of a chance anyway. The back of his skull was crushed. If he lived he would never be right again. As day passed into night the man died silently in his sleep.

In the morning when it was found that he had died Sira knew she should feel remorse at the loss of a life, but she didn't. When he was buried she said a prayer over his grave then left to walk in the forest. She found a quiet place to stop, and sitting on a rock she sent her mind to the earth. She found a welcome there that helped ease her guilt about the events of late. The wet grass at her feet moved to caress her and she knew the earth still accepted her even though she'd used her earthly powers in anger and hate against the outlaws.

"I am sorry, my mother, that the one responsible for harming you was not stopped. I feel remorse that I could not stop him and hopefully keep him from harming you again." With a sigh she left her place on the rock to return to camp.

A wolf off to her left called to her and she stopped to watch him from his place on a rocky outcropping. His black fur shown in the light and the girl watched him with fascination.

"You really are a beauty, are you not? I am glad that I have met the father of my son's new friend. He is a good son and he will be well loved by us all." The wolf sat back on his haunches, a benign look on his face, and after a moment the girl nodded. Her mind on the wolf had brought her comfort. "Thank you, father of the forest."

The wolf moved away and the girl turned to return to the camp. Both Iolaus and Hercules came to meet her.

"We were concerned when you stayed out so long."

"I am sorry. I needed a chance to be alone with the earth. I have been troubled that the man that set the fire had paid no price for his deed."

"I could track him for you," the hunter offered.

"That will not be necessary. I know now that he has paid the price for his crimes against the earth."

"How do you know that?"

"A wolf told me." The men exchanged looks over her head but made no comment.

Carneus worked harder and harder to loosen the pillar he was tied to. Each day his strength grew, and each day he spent hours working away at the base of the pillar to pull it loose. He was getting closer, he could tell. He hoped no one noticed how the pillar leaned in now. He sighed with satisfaction as he was rewarded with a strong grating sound from the base of he pillar. It must be soon, before they decide to take me to Corinth. He'd faked his level of pain to put them off for a time, but he wasn't sure how much longer he could fool them.

Hercules stirred the coals of the fire, his back to the cave. Dasay sat sewing a new strap to a pack. Sira, Hercus, and Iolaus played chips, protected from the misty day by the shelter.

A grating sound came to the demigod, then a loud roar. He jerked around in time to see the front part of the cave's overhang come crashing down on the men still tied there.

"What in Tartarus?" He jumped to his feet, but he couldn't get to the cave through the thick cloud of dust that blinded him.

The men waded in as soon as the dust cleared, trying desperately to dig the two men out from under the rubble.

Sira sat beneath the shelter, her knees drawn up tightly against her chin, her hands clenching and unclenching her knees.

The Dea looked from her to the men, then back again. "What is it, Sira?" The empath didn't answer. Dasay took her hand in hers. "Your hands are so cold. What is it?"

"I did this. I caused the cave to collapse."

"What are you saying? You had nothing to do with it."

"But I did. The earthquakes. They loosened the stone overhang. It fell because of me."

"That is not known. It could have happened at anytime."

Macaire was the first one found, but it was too late for him. He'd been killed in that first crash of rock when the pillar had finally given way. Only the front portion of the cave had collapsed but it was right over where the men were tied.

Hercus helped when the men needed a rest, as did Spherule. It was much later before they found Carneus. Hercules lifted a large rock from over him. The man was still alive.

"We'll have you out in no time."

"It doesn't matter. I worked for days trying to loosen that pillar. I thought I could get loose and get away. Days, I worked on it. It loosened a little each day."

"Don't try to talk. We'll get you out."

"I pulled the whole damn cave down on top of us."

"You're almost out."

"I killed myself surer than that empath did." His words were whispered and faint. In a moment Hercules looked up to shake his head at Iolaus.

The hunter sat back for a moment. Then with a sigh he continued digging. "We still have to clear out Spherule's home and bury these men."

With a nod the demigod put his back into it and helped the hunter clear the cave.

The men were buried, then the half god made sure the rest of the cave was safe for Spherule to use as a home. Night fell before he was finished tossing the last boulder aside to clear the cave floor.

With a sigh of weariness he joined the others beneath the tarp. They ate the beans Spherule served them in silence. Hercules kept watching Sira. After a moment he reached to take her hand. "What's bothering you?"

The girl didn't answer.

Dasay answered for her. "She thinks she caused the cave to collapse with the earthquakes of before."

"That isn't true, Sira. Carneus did it himself. He loosened the pillar he was tied to and it pulled the overhang down on top of them both."

"How do you know that?"

"He told me himself."

"Still, maybe if I had not caused the earth to shake it would not have happened."

"You're just wallowing in self pity, and it's not worthy of you. But since you seem to be enjoying the 'what if' game so much let's indulge you." He made himself more comfortable and continued. "What if Carneus hadn't tried to get away, or if he hadn't kidnapped Hercus and Dasay in the first place? What if you'd never healed Ares or never even met him?"

Sira nodded. "You are right, my brother."

He went right on as if she hadn't spoken. "What if you'd never met Iolaus and never healed him? Or if the sorceress hadn't killed your people, or maybe if you'd never been born?"

The empath took his hand. "All right, my soul, you have made your point. It can do no good to speculate on what might have been. I sense the earth still within me, and I must take hope from that."

"Good, now that's more like the Sira I know. So can we be ready to leave day after tomorrow? That cabin is sounding better and better."

They left the cave to head southwest. The shortest way to the cabin from the cave would take them across a corner of the burned area. The child of the forest made no objection to this and they made good time.

When they reached the burned area Sira was quiet and thoughtful. It looked much different now that the rain had washed it clean of ash and soot. A bird called to them from somewhere and the earth's chosen one smiled to herself. Already, life was returning. They walked on for a few steps then Sira stopped to kneel on the ground. Tiny green shoots of new grass could be seen through its black covering. The empath laughed as she put a finger to the tiny shoots and they moved to caress her.

She looked up at the others with a wide smile. With a hand up by the hunter they traveled on toward the hidden cabin in the forest. Where Sira had knelt, more grass sprang up to cover the ground, but no one saw it. They were looking ahead to the southwest and the cabin that awaited them there.

Maybe I can finish the blanket for Thysis, the empath thought. Her heart was light. Seeing the renewal of the earth had done much to start her heart healing. She watched her son as he ran ahead, the wolf pup on his heels. The boy walked more miles than any of them as he explored the world around him.

Rastist dropped back to walk beside her. "It is good to see the grass growing once again, isn't it?"

"Yes, my father, it is."

"I sure hope Spherule will be okay all alone at the cave. Isn't it funny that after all that Carneus did to find gold, he finally did it by pulling the cave down on top of him? Spherule will never have to worry about money, that's for sure."

"He did not seem too impressed by the possibilities."

The old sailor laughed. "No, he didn't, did he?"

Sira linked her arm through his. "I have a favor to ask." She still watched her son.

"Yes?"

"If you still feel you owe me a debt, I would like that debt to be paid by you watching over my son."

"It would be fitting. You helped mine, now I help yours."

"I worry that my powers might put him in danger once more. There are those who might wish to use me to their advantage. To save my son I would do their bidding."

"I see your point. I would be most honored to become your son's guardian, my daughter. To try and protect him is a mother's instinct, and a proud one to possess."

"Thank you, my father." She gave him a warm smile. "I will make a yosemin out of you yet."

"That would be my greatest honor."

She squeezed his arm. "You are of the earth, my father."

Coming soon: Rite Of Passage The Tenth Adventure In The Empath Chronicles.

Comments and kind criticisms are always welcome. E-mail me at [email protected]