Chapter 27 #2
She sprinted across the clearing, her body thrumming with the realization of what she’d just done. If her power could manipulate earth and air, what other elements might she be able to master?
When she arrived at the Hunters Hall, the last of the Argonauts and hunters were piling in for dinner. She glanced over her shoulder, but it seemed Polyxo had not pursued her. Dolos would be inside by now. Slowing to a walk, she blended with the crowd and slipped into the hall.
She spotted the healer near the entrance, already tucking into his meal. She tried to catch his attention, but he just smiled lazily at her, then returned to his food.
Clenching her jaw, she skirted around the edge of the hall and crouched behind him.
“Polyxo needs you.” She had to get him away from the hunters before she could tell him about Heracles.
“Coming,” Dolos mumbled. He shoved another handful of mangos tossed with lotus petals into his mouth before rising to his feet.
Danae’s eyes bulged.
She looked along the table. Jason was draped across Hypsipyle’s lap while the queen fed him slices of the orange fruit, making sure he ate the lotus petals soaked in its juice.
She consumed none herself. As Danae watched, she realized none of the islanders were eating anything that contained lotus petals, only the Argonauts.
The omelets Sofia gave her for breakfast every day were stuffed with the purple flowers.
Now she thought about it, there wasn’t a meal she’d eaten on Lemnos that didn’t contain lotus.
“Come on, it’s urgent.”
She grabbed Dolos’s arm and steered him outside before anyone could question where they were going. As soon as they were clear of the hall, she broke into a run, dragging him into the jungle.
“We’re going the wrong wa—”
“Sorry about this.” She punched him in the stomach.
The healer doubled over, splattering half-digested mango across the tree roots.
Despite dispelling the lotus petals, he still looked dazed, so she pulled an amber vial from her bag.
Dolos backed away from her. “What are you doing?”
Popping the cork with her teeth, she grabbed the healer by the tunic and held the reviving liquid under his nose.
She had no idea if this would work. She’d only seen the liquid revive those who’d been put to sleep by the darts. But she had to try something. She released Dolos and watched him closely as he leaned against a nearby tree, his face scrunched in discomfort.
The moments stretched on, and when she could wait no longer, she said, “Dolos?”
The healer looked up at her. Relief swelled in her chest as she saw his pupils shrinking back to their normal size.
“Do you know where you are?”
“Yes,” he said slowly. “An island... Lemnos?”
“Do you remember how we got here?”
The healer frowned. “A shipwreck...we were ambushed...what have they done to me?”
“They’ve been drugging us. I think it’s the lotus flowers. I’ll explain everything but right now we have to go. Heracles is hurt.”
Dolos’s face tightened with worry. “I’ll need my healer’s kit.”
Once they had Dolos’s bag, Danae led him through the jungle and told him everything that had happened since she fell into the river. Everything except the panther’s sacrifice.
“Are you sure you’re all right?” The healer looked at her with concern once they reached the waterfall.
“I’m fine, just a bit bruised,” she lied.
“You’re incredibly lucky.” Dolos peered over the edge. “A fall like that could kill, or at least break some bones.”
“This way. Be careful, it’s slippery.”
She began the descent toward the mouth of the waterfall. The sun had abandoned the sky, and the climb was twice as treacherous in the dark, but they couldn’t delay. Each moment they wasted might be Heracles’s last.
Danae landed on the bank and waited for Dolos to catch up before leading him through the waterfall. With no torch to guide them, they took each other’s hands, stretching out their free fingers to brush against the passage wall.
“So, you think the women of Lemnos killed their menfolk and brought them here?” asked Dolos.
“Not just their men by the look of the clothing. And some of the bodies are more recent kills. Maybe sailors who came to the island by chance, like us. I don’t know what the Lemnians are planning, but I think we’re all going to end up rotting in this cave if we don’t do something.”
“I wish I knew exactly how long we’ve been on this damned island.” Dolos’s voice was strained. “How long he’s been down here.”
“I think it’s been months. If he wasn’t a demigod, he’d surely be dead by now.”
Dolos was silent.
Eventually, the ghostly light appeared ahead of them. The healer dropped Danae’s hand and ran through the darkness toward it. She followed him, their breath chasing the sound of their footsteps as they emerged onto the edge of the pool.
It was a clear night, and the silver moon illuminated the grotesque scene below. Dolos barely slowed at the sight of the tree, crashing through the water, not stopping until he was by Heracles’s side.
The healer unfurled his pack. His usually steady hands trembled as he wafted a pouch of herbs under Heracles’s nose.
The hero’s eyelids fluttered open, then closed again.
“Can I help?” Danae couldn’t bear how useless she felt.
“His head,” Dolos said, retrieving a vial of blue liquid from his pack. “Prop it up.”
She shuffled round and eased the hero’s head onto her lap.
“Heracles, it’s me.” Dolos gently prized open the hero’s lips. “You need to drink this.”
He poured the potion into Heracles’s mouth. The hero gagged.
“He’s choking!” Danae tried to turn him on his side, but Dolos pushed her back.
“He’s got to drink it, it’s the only thing that will help.” He tilted Heracles’s head back, forcing the liquid down his throat. “Swallow! Gods damn you, swallow!”
Danae’s heart was in her mouth. Heracles sounded like he was drowning. Then he gulped. Relief seeped through her as the hero sucked in a lungful of air. She grinned, hastily blinking the moisture from her eyes.
Dolos wiped his forehead, and the pair of them helped Heracles prop himself up onto his elbows. He looked blearily from the healer to Danae, then took in his surroundings.
“Have another,” urged Dolos, handing him a second vial. Heracles downed the contents in one and smashed the bottle on the ground. He pushed himself to his feet, grabbing onto the tree for balance.
“You need to be careful,” said the healer, leaping up to steady him. “We don’t know how long you’ve been without your tonic...”
Heracles pushed him away. “Just tell me how to get out of this gods-forsaken place and who I need to kill for putting me here.”