Sword

By Waldo (mellin6695@aol.com)

This fictional story may be stored and/or redistributed by any site that is a
free site, such as Fictionmania, Nifty, Sapphire, TG_Fiction, etc. Any site
that charges a fee for access to their site cannot post or redistribute this
story. This story, just as all of my stories, is in the public domain for
free distribution.

While I've freely borrowed the descriptions/names of the main characters from
the Hercules television show just as they borrowed the legend of Hercules
from our fables, this story/plot/words are mine and I retain all rights to
this story without any claim to the television characters.  The story is an
adult story and if you're not the legal age, then don't read any further.

I normally break my stories into small chapters because of my ISP limitations
but this story doesn't separate into chapters easily so I'll leave it as one
story which is distributed in three parts.

Sword

By Waldo

"Father, I've done my chores.  Tell me a story"

The small cabin's sole illumination is coming from the flickering fireplace.
The fire provides not only the illumination but also heat to warm the inside
of the primitive cabin and to cook the night's simple meal of rabbit stew.
There aren't any luxury items within the cabin because the poor farmer barely
raises enough crops to feed his family much less to sell to fill the coffers
of Julius Caesar's military Governor of Greece with extra gold. The cabin's
main room is sparsely furnished, containing only a bed for the parents, a
table with four chairs, a crib, a rocking chair, a fireplace, and a door
leading to a small room where the children sleep.

The boy's still-somewhat youthful mother is adding some additional carrots to
the rabbit stew that she has been preparing all day.  The stew is simmering
in a large blacken pot hanging from a hook within their fireplace. Fire in
the fireplace not only cooks their meals, but it acts a catalyst, drawing
each of them to bathe in the flickering illumination as it warms their often
chilled bones.

While it's normal for women to age quickly because of the harsh rigors of
being a farmer's wife in ancient Greece, the woman's soft face is just
beginning to show the first wrinkles of a woman somewhere in her early
thirties. She is wearing her day-to-day dress which is worn, faded and
patched in many places but the serviceable dress reveals that her body is
just as slender, lithe and shapely as her body was on the wonderful day that
she married her husband almost eleven years earlier.  She is pleased that her
body's womanly firm curves are the envy of most of the other village wives
who wonder how she keeps her body looking so great after three children and
the harsh life of being a farmer's wife. She takes great pride in keeping her
healthy body in good shape and in constantly being as attractive as she can
be for her husband.  Although she has a youthful body that looks like a young
teenaged woman's body, her husband's special pride is her long golden hair so
she hasn't cut her hair since their marriage. Hair so long that it hangs down
her shoulders almost to the small of her back.  Because of her hair's long
length, she wears it in a braided pigtail during the day to keep it out of
the way and lets it cascade in a flowing golden river of curls down her
slender back at night within the privacy of their small cabin or at social
events.  Once a week on Sunday when they travel to the village as a family to
trade their excess crops and to socialize with the other villagers, she will
dress in her good dress and spend a little extra time making her golden
tresses curlier so she can show off her flowing hair.

Glancing over at her husband who is pulling his rocking chair close to the
fireplace, she gleefully supports her ten-year-old son's request. So she
brags on his work ethics, which offers a gentle suggestion to her husband to
honor the son's request. "Jason has been a good boy today.  While you were
with the other village men tracking that pig-killing wolf back to its lair,
Jason was being the man of this family.  He milked the cows, helped little
Alcmene gathered the eggs, fed the animals and put some more straw into the
stall for the calf."

Like his wife, the husband's weathered face is beginning to show signs of
crossing the thirty-year-old barrier but his face also shows the harsh
effects of day-to-day exposure to the outdoor elements as he farms to feed
his family. His clothes have so many patches that patches cover holes in
older patches.  His hands are large and callused from the rough farm life.
After patting his patiently waiting son on the head to reward him for helping
with the family chores, the father starts filling his pipe with tobacco as he
sits down in his chair.  "I'm proud of you, son. Someday you will have your
own farm and will need the skills that you're learning."

"But I don't want to be a farmer.  I want to be a hero, like Hercules when I
grow up.  I want to travel from village to village to fight evil."

Recognizing his wife's unspoken displeasure with her son's remarks by the way
that she puts both hands on her hips and stares at her husband with a "he's
too young to talk this way" type of frown creasing her forehead, the father
motions for the son to sit on the floor beside his chair.  As soon as the son
is siting on the hard-packed dirt floor, the father tries to change his son's
mind by explaining the difficulties in living the type of dangerous life that
the son is dreaming about.  "Hercules is half mortal and half god.  He
survives the witches and monsters only because of his fantastic strength that
comes from that mixed parentage.  You are a mortal and wouldn't stand much of
a chance against any of the evil that Hercules faces almost every day.  Your
mother and I want you to grow up to be a farmer someday, just like me."

The youngster points at the short sword that is hanging above the fireplace
mantle, in the place of honor.  "But you weren't always a farmer.  That sword
is the sword of a warrior. My friend Decartes told me that you once fought
beside Hercules and Iolaus when they battled an evil witch that used to live
in the mountains.  Decartes' father told him that you fought beside Hercules
and saved our village by killing the evil witch.  You used Iolaus's sword to
save Hercules from the evil witch's magical spell."

The father rises from his rocker and takes a couple of seconds catching a
broom straw afire. While using the fire on the tip of the broom straw to
light his pipe, the husband and wife exchange glances that only they
understand from their years of marriage.  While the husband's glance is a
"what shall I say" type of look, his wife's answering glance is a "maybe it
is the time that we must think that our son is soon going to be a man" type
of motherly advice. As soon as the tobacco in his pipe is burning, the father
answers his son's comments.  "Once a farmer, always a farmer; so I am a
farmer, not a warrior.  Yes, I did meet Hercules once when he and Iolaus
battled the old Witch of the Mountain.  For two days, I ignored everything
that my father had taught me as I followed Hercules to avenge my parent's
death. I had only my pitchfork, my youthful strength and my stupidity to
protect me from her evil and black magic.  For two to three hours within her
cave, I fought beside Hercules as we sought the evil Witch and then I used
that sword to take her life. I came away from that cave with the sword that
you see above our fireplace.  I keep it not so much to remind myself of that
battle but rather to remind myself that Iolaus gave his life to save me
because of my stupidity that day."

The youngster jumps to his feet with the agility that only children possess.
"I knew it.  Decartes told me that Iolaus died that day.  If the battle was
so fierce that the great Iolaus was killed and you survived, that means that
you are a better warrior than he was."

The father shakes his head as he tries to think of a way to correct his son's
logic without going into too much detail about that time. Before he can come
up with an answer, his wife touches him on the arm and speaks directly to her
husband.  "My dear Artemis, perhaps it is time to discuss that horrible
experience with him.  If we don't tell him the truth now then he will grow up
to believe the lies and fables that the villagers still continue to tell
about that horrible battle.  He is a good son and smart for his age.  I think
that we can tell him about how you fought beside Hercules and that will help
him understand why we want him to grow up to be a farmer, instead of a
wandering adventurer like Hercules…. and Iolaus."

Turning her head and looking toward the corner of the cabin where their
six-year-old daughter, a flaxen-haired smaller version of her mother, is
patiently trying to knit her first sweater, the mother's voice drops to a low
volume that only her husband hears. "We need to tell him and tonight might be
a good night to get it out of the way.  Little Alcmene is busy with her
knitting and isn't paying attention to us.  Little baby Artemis is sleeping
peacefully in his crib and I can help you make sure that our son knows most
of the facts about his heritage."

The son drops to his knees beside his father and begs silently with his
wide-open eyes while the father thinks about his wife's decision. Although he
is the "boss" of the family, seldom does he make a decision that he hasn't
discussed with her to get her opinion. She moves a chair from their table to
where she usually sits on the other side of the fireplace, silently telling
him to proceed. Sitting down in the chair, she adjusts her floor-length dress
so that the long dress doesn't pinch her in the wrong places. Pulling her
long mid-waist hair, which is styled in a business-like pigtail around to her
front, she begins her nightly routine of un-doing her pigtail. Her fingers
move rapidly through the end of her hair as she separates it while she begins
their discussion. "I suppose that you've heard all the normal stories from
your friends about the great Hercules and his best friend, Iolaus.  Well,
they're true. I won't go into those stories at this time because there are so
many of them that we can spend all year discussing a different story each
night.  I'll spend the time while we are waiting for our supper to finish
cooking tonight to tell you about the time that your father fought beside
Hercules and the late Iolaus."

The boy scoots across the floor on his butt, moving to be near his mother
because he knows that her soft voice is sometimes difficult to hear. Sitting
beside her, he looks up at her as the end of her long hair begins to separate
from the tightly braided pigtail that she wears to keep her long hair out of
the way while she worked.  "It was eleven years ago.  In fact, it was exactly
nine months before you were born, that Hercules and Iolaus came to our
village."

"Now Mother, you need to give him some understanding as to why they came
here.  It started a month earlier.  I had just reached the manly age of
nineteen and was pledged to wed someone else within the fortnight of my
birthday. My father had already given me my choice of his best farmland and
my friends were helping me to build this very cabin.  Everything was going
great and I thought that I was the luckiest man in the world.  Her name was
Morrigan and I had been pledged to marry her most of my life. Long dark hair,
pretty smile, a good cook, a healthy woman who could easily carry a bag of
floor on her strong back, a devout……"

For a moment, he pauses with the pipe sticking from the corner of his mouth.
There is just a glimmer of moisture in his eyes as he recalls those days.
Recognizing that her husband is having to deal with memories long hidden and
seldom recalled, the wife picks up on his story to distract the surprised son
from staring at his father's face.  "Aye, you were a lucky man, Artemis.  A
peaceful village, a good farm, a beautiful woman wanting to be your bride and
parents that loved you.  Then the evil witch came from nowhere to terrorize
the countryside.  Some say that she rode a broom as she flew here from the
Valley of the Dead.  Some say that she was imprisoned by a powerful magician
a thousand years ago and somehow broke free of the spell holding her deep
within the bowels of the Earth.  None really know her origin because she lied
to those people that she let live.  She just appeared here one morning and
caused havoc from the first day. Your father's best friend's mother was the
first to die from her evil magic. The Evil Witch went from farm to farm,
claiming whatever she wanted.  Anyone that resisted her died."

Taking his pipe out of his mouth and using the stem as a pointer, the father
chime's in. "The first two weeks that she was here, six people died
mysteriously. We all knew who was doing it but couldn't do anything about it
so we gave the old witch whatever she wanted.  A pig.  A mule.  Some
chickens.  I saw her come to my father's farm one day and I got my wooden
pitchfork ready to stab her if she tried to harm my parents.  But all she
wanted was a rooster, which my father willingly gave her to make her go away.
 I remember standing beside the barn foolishly holding my pitchfork ready to
defend myself if she tried anything against me and she laughed at me.  It was
an evil cackle that I'll never forget.  Anyhow, she left with our rooster.
The next morning, my mother awakened with a mysterious fever. All day long,
we watched her get sicker and sicker.  By sunup, I knew that she didn't have
much longer to live. I ran to the village and found old Man Mazz who knew
something about doctoring.  When we returned to my home, my mother was well.
Seems that the evil Witch had come at Sunset and demanded a horse in exchange
for my mother's life. My father gave it to her.  The witch cut an inch of
hair from my mother's head and declared that the fever would be gone by
morning. By the time that I returned home with Old Man Mazz, my mother was
sleeping peacefully and my father was sitting patiently beside her bed. I was
angry that Dad gave in to the old witch because everyone knows that witches
can use a person's hair against them.  But Dad reminded me that it was his
home and he was the boss.  So I waited with him and watched my mother recover
from her mysterious fever."

Artemis' voice breaks and he looks at his wife, giving her a signal to tell
the parts that are too painful for him to discuss. Using the tip of her shoe
gently pressing against Jason's body to attract her son's attention to her,
she suggestively arches her eyebrows the way that she arches them when she
told him bedtime stories. "So your Nana awakened in the morning, feeling
strong and rested.  She looked the best that she had looked in several
months.  Your grandfather was a happy man that day.  But the next morning, a
very scared neighboring farmer came to your grandfather's place.  During the
night, something like a giant bear had raided the neighbor's farm and killed
two members of the family. As soon as it was daybreak, the farmer followed
its tracks back to your grandfather's farm. They didn't find the wild beast
that day so that night your grandfather carefully locked all of the doors and
windows from the inside to protect them from the dangerous animal.  He
awakened during the night to find Nana missing and the front door of their
cabin opened.  He could hear some distant screams so he ran to the other
neighbor's cabin.  The giant bear was attacking them.  Using torches, they
drove the wild animal away but three people died from its attack. Your
grandfather ran back to his cabin and got to the top of the hill overlooking
his cabin, just in time to see the giant bear enter the cabin.  Rushing in
with his torch intending to battle the bear to death, he discovered your
grandmother sleeping peacefully in bed and there wasn't any bear in the
cabin.  Nana couldn't be awakened until sunrise and she was acting funny. So
that day, your grandfather sent your father away to supposedly protect a
friend's house, but it was really so that your grandfather wouldn't have to
worry about your father's safety that night.  Grandpapa tried to stay awake
that night but fell asleep only to awaken as something huge and furry went
out the front door."

The youth's eyes are wide open as he stares at his mother's face as if he
will miss something if he takes the time to blink his eyes. "Nana was gone
again.  Knowing that he couldn't fight the huge beast by himself, your
grandfather locked the door and waited.  Just before sunrise, something tried
to get in the door.  Something big.  Something so strong that it almost broke
the front door down. But it didn't get in because of the strength of the
cabin door.  Your grandfather braced himself against the door and listened to
the wild animal growl and tear at the door with its sharp claws.  About
sunrise, the noise quit and the animal seemed to go away. When your
grandfather finally opened the door to look outside, he was startled to
discover that your Nana was sleeping peacefully just outside the door. Her
hands were bleeding as if she had been trying to break into the cabin with
her bare hands."

"Ohhh, how did she escape the bear?"

The father leans forward in his chair and his gleaming eyes are a mixture of
anger and tears. Speaking to his son, he picks up telling the story in a
voice that has become slightly choked with emotion. "The bear was your Nana.
The evil witch had used the sample of Nana's gray hair to cast a spell on her
and to turn her into that horrible creature at night.  When I came home that
morning to discover all of the damage to our house, I tried to get Dad to
tell me what happened to the outside of our cabin.  He told me to watch my
mother while he went to see the priest.  Two hours later, the priest came to
the house to tell me that my father needed me in the village.  When I got
there, my father and the priest locked me in a root cellar so that I couldn't
escape. They returned to my home and built a huge bow with a six-foot long
arrow that they put in front of the cabin so that the deadly arrow was aimed
straight at the front door.  That night after my mother went to sleep, Dad…."




The man turns in his chair and faces the fire as his teeth tightly clinch the
old pipe that he's holding in his mouth.  Daphne's voice is very soft as she
again picks up the story from her choked-up husband.  "……your grandfather
went outside where the priest was waiting for him.  They didn't have to wait
long before a low growl came from within the cabin, then the cabin door
opened.  A big black bear came out of the cabin.  Your Grandfather called out
your grandmother's name and the huge bear rose to its feet as it growled a
menacing growl and prepared to charge your grandfather.  That's when the
priest fired the bow.  The arrow was twice the size of a normal arrow and it
pierced the huge bear's chest.  That arrow killed the dangerous bear.  Your
grandfather rushed into the cabin to try to find Nana but came out sobbing
because the cabin was empty as he suspected it would be.  When he came back
out, the priest was saying a prayer over the dead body of your Nana with the
huge arrow through her chest.  When the great bear was dead, it changed back
into her.  The next morning, they buried your Nana."

Artemis squirms in his chair and suddenly leans forward, staring into the
fire.  His voice is low because he's having a hard time talking as all of the
suppressed memories of his mother's death are recalled. "I was very angry at
my father for keeping me locked away so that I wouldn't get hurt nor
interfere with his plan to destroy the evil creature that used to be my
mother.  Maybe if I could have been there with him, I could have saved…….."

Daphne rises quickly and rushes to stand beside her husband, burying his head
against her breast to sooth his pain.  She strokes his head while whispering
to him. "Maybe this isn't a good idea to tell him now."

He grabs her hand, squeezing it as he puts a strong arm around her slender
waist.  Tears are openly streaming down his face as he turns to face his son.
 "It hurts to remember that day.  I was very angry at being imprisoned. Then
when they finally turned me loose, they told me that my mother was dead.
Then they told me how my mother was transformed into the wild animal by the
witch's evil magic and that they had to kill my mother to end the creatures'
nightly deadly rampages. I didn't understand how it could have happened.  I
only knew that my mother was dead and that my father and the priest had
killed her.  It wasn't until later that mid-morning when I was standing
beside her grave that I finally understood.  I looked up from the small grave
to see the evil witch standing on the hill overlooking the gravesite and I
could tell that she was laughing at my pain.  I ran to catch up with her to
kill her with my bare hands but when I got to where she had been standing on
the hill, she was gone.  Gone as if she had never been there.  I knew then
that my father had told the truth.  For three long days, I searched the
valley looking for that old witch, knowing that I was going to either kill
her with my only weapon, a pitchfork or die trying. All around me, other
people were mysteriously dying from attacks by strange animals during the
middle of the night.  My father organized the village people into teams to
protect each other. When I finally returned home, it was only because I was
so totally exhausted that I couldn't go another step. That's when my father
told me that Hercules was on the way to save us.  That someone had gone to
get him."

Daphne returns to her chair and resumes unbraiding her hair as they both
listen to Artemis' words. "I was eager to find and kill the witch.  My father
kept reminding me that I was a farmer and that I didn't have the skills to
fight her. He kept telling me that I must wait but I was hot-blooded and
wanted nothing more than the right to avenge my mother's death. That's when
my father said something that I would never forget.  He told me that I must
honor her memory by protecting the living.  That I must rush to my
betrothed's side and protect her until Hercules could rid us of the evil
witch. Until that moment I had forgotten that my betrothed was also in
danger, so great was my agony and pain over my mother's death. So I went to
Morrigan's father's place, only to discover that her parents were dead and
that she was missing.  For a week, I didn't sleep or eat or rest as I scoured
the countryside looking for her.  It was as if a hole opened up and swallowed
my beloved.  I returned home again only to discover that my father had been
murdered just that same night that I came back. His body was still warm when
I found him within his wrecked cabin. His body was slashed open by the claws
of a large tiger.  I burned the cabin to the ground, letting its wood create
a funeral pyre that I would never forget. I vowed to never rest until I
avenged my parent's death."

The father stares hard at his son, to see if his son understands his anger.
Seeing a tear ooze down the young man's cheek, the father knows that his son
understands and is man enough to hear the rest of the story. Leaning back in
his chair, he uses the toe of his boot to nudge a piece of wood a little
further into the fireplace, stirring a sparkly mass within the fireplace for
a couple of seconds.  Holding his pipe tightly clinched between his teeth, he
whispers, "That's when Hercules and Iolaus walked into town.  Two men who
were real heroes."

Daphne giggles a little, as she picks up the story.  Her voice is very up
tempo as if she's trying to make every smile on her pretty face wipe away the
hurt look from their faces and to turn the story from a tragedy into a
positive memory.  "This village had never seen anyone like those two men.
Hercules was everything that his legend leads you to believe.  Big, strong,
rugged, kind, handsome and fearless. And Iolaus…., well let me just say that
he was just as rugged, handsome and fearless. The small blonde-haired man
wasn't as tall or strong as the raven-haired Hercules but he was just as much
a total man as his taller good friend.  Iolaus was a small man in stature but
a giant in helping those who needed help. "

"Aye, just one look at Hercules and I knew that he was a man that I could
trust to lead me into battle.  I told him about my parents and about how I
couldn't find any trace of Morrigan.  There was a sense of strength and
goodness that constantly radiated from him.  Even though he was unarmed, I
knew from the look in his eyes that he wouldn't rest until our village was
safe."

"What did you think of Iolaus?"

Artemis looks at his wife's grinning face as he thinks about her question but
there isn't any hesitation in his answer.  "I could tell that Iolaus was
someone that I also wanted to have standing beside me as my best friend.
Where Hercules was half man, half god, Iolaus was the most perfect mortal
that ever walked this earth."

She laughs as she jumps up to stir the stew cooking in the large pot. "No,
silly, I want you to tell me if you thought that he was handsome."

Looking at his wife as if they are the only ones in the cabin, his mouth
forms a big grin as if they are sharing a private joke.  "He was the most
handsome man in the world."

She giggles as she sits back in her chair and resumes unbraiding her long
golden hair.  "So tell Jason about how you followed Hercules."

"Hercules didn't want me to come along.  He told me that I was too involved
and would probably make a stupid mistake at a crucial time. I followed him
out of the village and wouldn't turn back.  Finally Hercules gave in and let
me accompany him.  For a day, we followed various trails, with each trail
leading us closer and closer to the rumored cave where the evil witch was
supposed to be living.  That first night, we built a big fire and took turns
standing watch.  That's when I saw Morrigan for the first time since her
disappearance.  It was my time to stand guard while they slept and I looked
up to see her standing just beyond the firelight.  I could see enough of her
to know that it was her that I was seeing.  But when I called out her name,
she turned and ran into the darkness away from me.  I ran after her but as I
ran by where Iolaus was sleeping, he grabbed my leg and tripped me.  I fell
on my face and by the time that I looked up, Morrigan had disappeared into
the darkness again. I was angry at Iolaus for causing me to loose my beloved
again."

The mother laughs as if her husband's description is funny instead of deadly
serious. "Tell Jason what you said to Iolaus, only leave out the curse words."

"I promised him that if he ever touched me again, that he was a dead man. But
a second after making the promise to thrash Iolaus, I was about to run into
the darkness after Morrigan when Hercules' huge right hand grabbed my tunic.
The big man said that it was a trap and that none of us were going to venture
from the safety of the fire.  No matter what I said or tried to do, the super
strong man wouldn't let me go until I finally rationalized that he was
correct. I didn't know it then but he saved my life. The next morning, he
showed me her footsteps that changed into a tiger's footprint.  Three feet
from where I saw her fade into the darkness, she turned into a wild animal
that was probably waiting for one of us to come after her.  I didn't know it
but suspected that because I hadn't found her, that something had also
happened to her.  Just as it happened to my mother, so had my beloved become
one of the evil witch's disciples."

The smiles fade from both adult's faces and the mother leans back in her
chair, shutting her eyes as if she was recalling old memories.  Artemis
stares into the fire as he recalls that night.  "She was a monster by night
and herself in daylight. She was totally controlled by the witch. When we
finally found the cave, Hercules tried to get me to wait outside but I
wouldn't do it.  So he asked Iolaus to look after me."

Pausing to look at his wife whose eyes are tightly shut, Artemis rises slowly
to his feet.  Hearing the creak of his chair, Daphne opens her eyes and
watches her husband reach toward the sword mounted above the fireplace.  He
pulls the sword out of the scabbard and holds it reverently in his hands
while whispering.  "This is the sword that Iolaus was carrying that day. It's
a small sword but Iolaus was a small man. It was ideally suited for his size.
 In his hands, it was a flickering blade that could cut a normal man to
ribbons.  He pulled his sword out and told me to stay close to him.  I held
my pitchfork tightly in my hands and told him to not come between Morrigan
and me again.  Although I knew that Hercules was right about her possession
by the evil witch, I still had to see it for myself."

Jason rises slowly to his feet and holds out his hand while staring at the
sword that he's always been forbidden to touch.  "Can I hold it?"

Passing the sword gently to his son, Artemis' next words are standard
fatherly type caution advice.  "Be careful.  It's sharp.  Use both hands.
Don't point it at your mother."

Seeing the worried look on Daphne's face as her small son struggles to hold
the blade out from his body, Artemis takes the sword back and puts it back
into the place of honor above the fireplace.  Sitting back down in his chair,
he continues his story.  "In the cave, we found three or four wild animals
waiting for us.  Oh, they weren't real wild animals but were transformed
humans.  As Hercules used his bare hands and Iolaus used his sword to protect
us from their fierce attacks, I saw the dying animals transform back into
humans that I knew.  One minute it would be a wolf attacking us and as soon
as it received a fatal blow from Hercules hand or Iolaus' sword, it instantly
transformed back into a human.  Never had I seen such power as the witch
possessed.  She could transform not only the person's body but also their
soul so that they totally became the wild thing that they were transformed
into.  It wasn't my friends that were attacking us but wild creatures who
thought and acted like the dangerous animals whose shape they wore."

Daphne leans forward in her chair and stares in her son's eyes as if she
wants to make sure that the lad clearly understands what he's being told.
"Jason, your father is correct in his description.  The evil witch could cast
a spell to turn someone completely into something else.  Something that was
very physically and mentally different from their normal self. Whatever they
were transformed into by her magic, they would totally become that creature.
If they were converted into a…….. into a wolf for example, they would not
only act like a wolf but would think like a savage wolf thinks.  Just as Nana
was transformed into a great bear, so were other people changed into whatever
the witch wanted them to be to suit her evil purposes. Depending upon the
particular spell cast, some people were permanently transformed while others
would switch back and forth from their normal body into their transformed
body at sunset or within the darkness of a cave.  The permanently changed
people were the luckiest because their minds would never think about the old
memories again and the ……"

"Now mother, I'm sure that he understands."

Daphne blinks her long eyelashes and breaks eye contact with Jason as she
gently bites her lip as if she has something else that she has to say.
Leaning back in her chair, she takes a deep breath as if she hadn't been
breathing while she was talking.  After a moment, her smile to Artemis is a
signal for him to continue his story.  "Then we came to where Morrigan was
waiting for us.  Although Hercules stepped forward to do battle with her, I
stepped in front of him and claimed the right. I was determined that if
anyone were going to have to kill my betrothed, that it would be me. As I
stepped forward, I could see from the corner of my eye that the golden-haired
Iolaus had moved to stand by my side.  I told him to back off but he laughed
that Hercules had sworn him to protect me.  I turned to do battle with the
pucky small man to prove my right to face Morrigan and Iolaus surprised me.
He handed me his sword as he stepped back, giving me the right to encounter
my transformed beloved.  I didn't take the sword at first and was startled
when Iolaus said 'Take it.  Your wooden pitchfork won't protect you from real
danger.  You need a sharp sword.' So I took the sword from him and gave him
my pitchfork."

Holding his hand up in the air as if he's welding the sword, his eyes are
glaring as he recalls every second of that battle.  His voice is full of
anger and passion. "I turned to face Morrigan who was waiting back in the
shadows for me to come closer to her. As I approached her, she came out of
the shadows so that I could clearly see her.  Only it was a Morrigan that I
had never seen before.  She was totally naked.  Her tall body was glistening
with sweat as if she was straining every muscle of her body. Her eyes were
gleaming with a wild animal's passion. Her naked body was caked with dirt as
if she had been lying naked on a dusty floor. I'll never forget the way she
looked standing there with her long legs spread wide in a battle stance, the
dim torch light illuminating the curves of her body, her naked large breasts
gleaming like two large watermelo…"

"Now Artemis, Jason is only ten years old." Daphne's rushed words remind her
husband not to get too explicit with the details.

Frowning because of her motherly guidance, the father makes that simple
motion of cupping two imaginary large breasts on his own chest that all men
understand.  When the boy blushes because Jason clearly understands his
father's not-so-secret joke about the apparent size of the transformed
woman's breasts, Artemis boastfully continues his tale as if he's in the
midst of a tavern talking to his male friends. "So I stepped forward and
demanded that she surrender. She laughed at me only it wasn't a laugh.  It
was more of a growl.  Then she took a step toward me and as she moved closer
to me, she seemed to fall.  Only by the time her hands touched the ground,
her hands had turned into massive paws.  And her whole body had transformed
into a huge tiger. I was transfixed, unable to move or to use the sword to
protect me.  With my own eyes, I was seeing the unbelievable power of the
witch to transform someone into something totally different. A second later,
she attacked me."

Artemis points at his left shoulder and the boastful sound is gone, replaced
by a tone that adds pain to his soft words.  "You've seen the nasty scars on
my back and asked me several times about them. Now it's time for me to tell
you how I got those scars.  I was paralyzed and stood there holding the sword
out as my transformed betrothed attacked me. With one swipe of her large
claws, she knocked me to the ground, ripping that large wound on my shoulder.
 As she bent over my prone body to crush my helpless skull in her large tiger
mouth, Hercules leaped through the air and landed on her back. His speed and
daring saved me from having my skull crushed by her sharp tiger teeth. They
rolled away from me, giving me time to jump to my feet.  I was bleeding from
my many cuts from where her claws raked me but I still had the sword in my
right hand.  I ran toward where Hercules was on his back with his strong legs
and arms wrapped around the deadly beast, trying to subdue the dangerous
tiger with just his physical strength.  Before I realized what I was doing, I
rammed the tip of the sword into the tiger's chest. As the sword punctured
the tiger's chest, the tiger transformed back into Morrigan. In one second,
it went from being a deadly tiger trying to kill both of us to being my
beloved again. I could see in her wide-open eyes that she knew that she was
dying and for a moment I started to pull the sword out of her left boob…I
mean left breast.  But instead of calling out my name and begging for mercy
from me, she growled at me as if she was still really a tiger within her
mind. I couldn't let her live to kill others so I pushed the sword deeper
into her chest and watched her face as she died in Hercules strong arms. I
killed Morrigan because she had been transformed into something deadly,
something totally different from her normal self."




A teary-eyed Jason is intently staring at his father's face as if he can't
believe what he's hearing.  Daphne rises from her chair and in one smooth
move, pulls her son to his feet and into her lap as she sits back into her
chair.  The ten-year-old boy's feet are almost touching the floor as he sits
on his mother's lap and she tightly holds him although he is almost as big as
she is. Artemis uses the brief respite to re-light the pipe that had gone out
before he resumes his story.  When he resumes talking again, the passion is
gone from his voice and his voice is that of a tired old man.

"So I killed her, but she almost killed me first.  I was badly hurt and
should have got out of there, but I was too stunned and too stubborn to know
better.  I still had to kill the witch with my own hands to avenge my parents
and my beloved.  I tried to hand the sword back to Iolaus but he laughed that
I was doing all right so far and refused to take it from me as he practiced a
couple of jabs with my pitchfork.  So leaving Morrigan's body lying where she
died, we continued on back into the cave. Me with the sword.  Iolaus with my
pitchfork and the huge Hercules fearlessly walking slightly in front of us.
There were a couple more wild animals that attacked us, but Hercules easily
dispatched them also. Ah, it's something to watch the big man fight with only
his bare hands, strength and courage. Then we came to the big cave where the
old witch was waiting for us."

Jason pulls away from his mother's gentle grasp and eases back down onto the
dirt floor.  Kneeling beside his father, he stares up at his father's face.
"When we entered the cave, she cackled at us in an ancient voice that caused
chills to rack my body. She screamed that there was only supposed to be one
of us….Hercules.  She screamed that her she-tiger was supposed to kill the
rest of us while allowing Hercules to come into her cave.  I moved to stand
beside the big guy but Iolaus whispered in my ear to spread out so that we
weren't tightly bunched.  So Iolaus and I moved about twenty feet to the left
side of Hercules as he talked to the old witch, trying to talk her into
surrendering.  Then she pulled a small rock out of her pocket and held it as
if it was a dangerous weapon. I knew that she was going to throw it at
Hercules and I couldn't let her do it.  I didn't know what damage it could do
to him but I didn't care. I just knew that it was probably dangerous and I
didn't want to give her a chance to hurt anyone else. I raised my sword high,
screamed and charged her.  My stupid act surprised everyone.  Before Hercules
could move, I was half way across the room and between Hercules and the old
witch.  That's when she threw the rock at me."

Artemis rises slowly to his feet and pulls the sword from the scabbard again.
 Holding the sword tightly in both hands as if he's getting ready to do
battle again, his words become rushed as he continues his tale.  "I surprised
everyone but Iolaus who was watching me.  The second that I moved, he moved
with me and was running beside me as he tried to figure out how to stop me
without getting carved up by this wildly swinging sword in my mad rush. He
saw the witch throw the rock at me and he stepped forward, putting his body
between that damn rock and me. At the time, I didn't know what was going on
and was surprised to see him unexpectedly jump in front of me. I was even
more surprised when he fell when the rock struck him.  But I was too angry to
be distracted by his collapsing body.  She was reaching into her robe for
something else by the time that I got to her and with one swinging blow, I
severed her neck.  I raised the sword high to strike her again but before I
could hit her another blow, her head falls off.  Yep, my first blow cut her
head off.  As soon as her lifeless body collapsed, I passed out. I was weak
from my wounds and used all of my energy to kill the old witch."

Artemis is standing in the middle of his cabin floor, holding the sword as he
stares intently at the weapon. Daphne slowly rises to her feet and moves to
her husband's side.  Putting one arm around his waist and resting her other
small hand on his large hands tightly holding the sword's hilt, she whispers,
"Why don't you put the sword away.  The stew is ready to eat and Jason now
knows all that he needs to know at this time about that battle."

The once warrior, now farmer, meekly obeys his wife's command. Jason jumps to
his feet, his eyes gleaming as he asks, "What happened to Iolaus?"

As Artemis puts the sword back into the scabbard, Daphne calmly picks up a
large bowl and ladle from the table before answering the question asked of
her husband.  "Iolaus died that day.  The rock that hit him had a strong
magical spell that could destroy even someone as strong as Hercules. Iolaus
didn't have a chance against its magic. Did you wash your hands earlier like
I told you?"

"Yes, mother.  But how did he die?  How can a thrown rock kill someone?"

She begins dipping some of the stew from the blackened pot into the wooden
bowl before she answers her son's question.  "Just as David slew Goliath with
a thrown rock, so did the witch's thrown rock end the life of Iolaus.  The
witch knew that Hercules was a very powerful adversary so she chose a magical
spell that would totally transform the big strong man into something
absolutely harmless to her.  When the rock hit Iolaus, it…it…it…well all I'm
going to say is that Iolaus died that day. That's all you need to know. Story
time is over and it's time for our family to eat dinner. Please put my chair
where it belongs at the table. Alcmene, put away your knitting and come help
me serve the stew. It's time to eat."

A few moments later the four of them are sitting at the table where the
mother insists that the supper discussion be about subjects other than what
Jason wants to discuss.  Although the young man tries to frequently resume
the discussion about the sword and the battle, Daphne uses her motherly
skills to keep the dinner discussion more family oriented and uses the time
to primarily talk to her daughter about other things that she can learn to
knit also.

As soon as dinner is over, she rushes her children into their beds, which is
in a small room off of the main cabin. She stands behind Jason as he kneels
beside his bed saying his prayers.  "…and bless Mommy and Daddy and little
Alcmene and little Artemis.  And bless Hercules wherever he is. And thank you
for taking care of my daddy in that witch's cave. And I especially thank you
for sending Iolaus to take care of my father."

While she is tucking him into his bed, he whispers a question that he had to
know the answer to before he can go to sleep.  She smiles at her son but
doesn't answer his question.  Instead she kisses him on the forehead,
whispering, "Some things are better left unknown."

Blowing the candle out, she pulls the door shut and re-enters the main room
of the cabin. Her husband is banking the fire in the fireplace, preparing it
so that it will burn lightly all night, keeping the small cabin warm.  As he
works on his evening chore, she takes a small brush and lightly brushes her
long waist-length golden hair as she stands beside the crib looking at her
sleeping youngest child.  The baby is almost sixteen months old and still
sleeps in the crib in the main room where she can monitor her youngest child
from her nearby bed.  When little Artemis gets to be three to four years old,
she'll move him into the back bedroom with the other children to make room in
the crib for another future baby that they would like to have.

She casually moves across the room to the bed that is the only other piece of
furniture in their sparse cabin. Unbuttoning her dress, she slips out of her
clothes until she is totally naked, momentary reveling in a quick look at the
firm breasts on her slender body.   After glancing down at her lithe body and
smiling at what she sees, she slides under the bed's heavy covers and waits
patiently as her husband finishes doing his nightly chores and locks the
cabin door with a huge wooden bar. When he is also naked and eases into bed
beside her, she maneuvers into a position where she is resting on his
outstretched arm and her warm body is curled up next to his body.

For several long seconds, they are totally quiet as they enjoy the comfort of
being in each other's arms.  Then she lets her fingertips drift along his
naked body until she finds his manhood.  Holding the soft cock in her hand,
she whispers "Did it hurt you to talk about it tonight?"

He doesn't speak but barely shakes his head, acknowledging what she already
knew.

Cupping his warm cock in her fist, she adjusts her body so that her spread
leg is resting on his leg and her warm breath is tickling his neck as she
whispers again.  "Some day, he's going to find out that I became pregnant
with him within a couple of days of that battle."

There isn't any sound coming from Artemis as he silently enjoys his wife's
gentle hand on his cock that appears to be growing with each heartbeat.  Her
voice is still low but now has a husky sound that he enjoys hearing in her
voice. "Some day, he's going to want to know where we met each other.  After
all, you and your family have lived here all your life. Everyone in the
village knew you and Morrigan from the time that you were kids playing
together. And then I came out of nowhere with no past and no life. I was a
stranger, supposedly from a far-away land. Within two days of that battle in
the cave where you killed the witch and Morrigan, you were introducing me to
your friends and I was living with you as your wife."

There still isn't any response coming from him except his free hand is slowly
drifting up and down her naked body. Her lips find his ear lobe and she
nibbles on his ear as she whispers in that seductive method that only lovers
can describe. "He's a smart boy and the last thing that he asked me tonight,
was if I was sure that Iolaus really died in that cave."

Artemis rotates slightly so that his body is more parallel to his wife's
body. He pulls her top leg over his leg and eases a knee high between her
warm inner thighs before he answers the unspoken question in her statement.
Kissing her gently on the lips, he lets his lips drift down to her soft neck
where he nibbles gently while one hand is cupping her warm breast. His voice
is soft but has the same husky sound when he finally resumes their
discussion. "The witch knew that she couldn't control someone as strong as
Hercules with normal methods.  She knew that she had to find a way to strip
him of his strength and power.  What better way to bring down the mightiest
man on Earth but to concoct a magical potion that would transform him into a
beautiful woman that would instantly fall in love with the first man that the
new woman saw?  A soft woman who is more interested in being a good wife and
mother than in being a strong warrior.  A woman who is more comfortable with
a cooking pot than with welding a sword. Yes, the evil witch didn't hit the
person that the spell was designed to transform so the magical spell was cast
against the unsuspecting Iolaus instead of Hercules. Yes, to the world,
Iolaus did die that day but from his ashes came the most perfect woman in the
world….You, my dearest.  I'm the happiest man in the world because I was the
first man leaning over you when you opened your eyes that first second after
you were transformed into your new woman's body. When you opened your new
blue eyes and raised your perfect head to kiss me, I was the most stunned man
in the world. Just as your body had changed to be a young girl's shapely
body, so had your face changed to be a softer feminine version of what you
would have probably looked like if you had been born female instead of male.
Just as your physical appearance changed, so did your thinking. You have your
old memories but you think and act as if you had lived as a woman all of your
life. Later when we found out exactly what happened to you and realized that
there wasn't any way to reverse the permanent spell, I didn't know what to
do. Just as Morrigan thought and acted as a tiger, so were you thinking and
acting like a horny young woman in love with me. When you took care of my
wounds that night, then slipped in my bed beside me to tightly hold me
against your new breasts as I slept, I knew that fate had brought us
together. I knew that you had been transformed into the beautiful woman that
I would share the rest of my life with and would bear my children."

"Fate.  Nay, it was Hercules that suggested that we marry and made you
promise to take care of me after he confirmed that there wasn't any way to
break the spell and that I was no longer Iolaus.  I'm so glad that it was you
that I saw first because Hercules isn't ready to settle down yet and no woman
can keep up with his hectic pace as he tries to keep the world safe."

"I love you, Daphne."

She squeezes his cock as she giggling asks in a teasing voice tone that they
both know means that she wants some sex. "Little did we know back then when I
tripped you that night beside the fire, how right you were when you said that
I would be a dead man if I ever touched you again. My former self, Iolaus, is
a dead man and I enjoy touching you very much. Tell me again, how you are
going to kill me if I ever touch you again!"


The End

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