| |
Stretching the Truth
by Margui
STRETCHING THE TRUTH
"Assuming we do get out of here, what are we going to do?" Iolaus asked Hercules, as he lay on the bed next to him.
Hercules pulled on the chains that bound him one more time. He strained under the Hephaestian restraints but they would not budge.
"I don't know, Iolaus," Hercules grunted. "Even if I get out of these chains, I would imagine this cage is also made by Hephaestus.
Iolaus sighed, "I guess this means King Damastus is still mad at us for nabbing his son, Polypemon."
"Gee, you think?" Hercules questioned in a rare but irritated moment.
Polypemon, once the crown prince of Eleusis was also a vicious highwayman, who for no other reason than sport robbed passing travelers on their way to other kingdoms. A few months earlier, Hercules and Iolaus caught up with the bandit and finally brought him to justice. Now, it appeared King Damastus was getting even.
Hercules wasn't quite sure what King Damastus had in mind, but he knew it was not good. The demigod was shoved and chained into a short bed more fit for Iolaus, while his blonde partner was strapped into a larger bed more suited for one of Hercules' stature. He looked over to his friend, splayed on the flat pallet and tied with rawhide binds. A rack and pinion at the foot of the bed complemented the simple, wooden frame.
The two men were lured into the Attican province of Eleusis by an old friend of Iolaus'. They had met him in a quiet corner of a dark and seedy tavern. The man was only a few years older than the demigod and his partner, but his short, cropped, sandy colored hair was flecked with silver and his scraggily beard was a declaration of his dismal state.
"I'm out of the business now, but King Damastus won't let my daughter go until I complete a job for him. Zeus knows what these barbarians will do to her in the meantime. He`s threatened to use a new torture device on her if I don`t comply."
Iolaus turned to Hercules, "I'm glad you found us. You can't take King Damastus' threats idly, Morson. He has been known to have one of the finest and most used torture chambers in the kingdom."
It was only later when Iolaus and Hercules realized they had been set up. There was no daughter, and the job that Iolaus' friend was sent to do was to lure the two heroes to the dungeon of King Damastus.
"Mace them," Hercules and Iolaus heard as they were quickly taken by surprise when they stepped into the dungeon. Hercules was hit on his right temple with a spike-covered club and Iolaus was quickly subdued by a noxious spray to his face.
Now they were trapped in a torture chamber, waiting for the inevitable.
"When did King Damastus say he was going to come back?" Iolaus asked uneasily.
"Any minute now," Hercules answered.
"Great." Iolaus said as he looked around the small and dimly lit chamber. After a moment of silence, Iolaus began, "You know," he said in an effort to keep his mind occupied, "this room would be rather quaint if it wasn't used for torture."
"Iolaus," Hercules admonished, but his partner continued his nervous conversation.
They had been trapped in the dungeon for several hours, giving Iolaus ample time to survey his surroundings once the painful tearing of his eyes subsided.
The light from a torch on the wall lit the vast array of whips and lashes. They were fastidiously hung on the wall in an organized and aesthetically pleasing pattern, Iolaus thought.
Then his eyes moved toward the iron maiden shoved neatly in the corner. On the outside, the contraption had an exquisitely carved face that oddly reminded Iolaus of Aphrodite. He shuddered wondering if Hephaestus, in addition to forging the chains, had also forged the iron maiden. He dismissed the notion, as it seemed uncharacteristically cruel for the gentle God of Metalworking.
The torture device was partially open to reveal the large spikes that were designed to slowly impale its victim. Several other torture devices, which Iolaus could not begin to identify, dangled tidily from the spikes.
"No really," Iolaus said in an effort to convince Hercules, "if this wasn`t a torture chamber, I could see someone using the iron maiden as a wardrobe closet. The spikes would make great hooks for your clothes."
Iolaus' eyes swung to the pillory just a few feet away. "Or if you're really tired after a long day of catching monsters, you could just drape them over the stocks, over there."
"A clothes rack?" Hercules questioned, "You're looking at an instrument of torture and thinking where you can hang your clothes? What you should be thinking about is that rack at the foot of your bed."
Hercules knew a turn of the crank on the left hand side of the rack would slowly begin stretching the muscles and ligature of his best friend and partner. Enough turns would systematically dislocate every joint in his body.
"Sorry, Herc. But I've got to think of something other than what's going to happen next, and I'd rather not think of what these devices are really used for. But speaking of racks, I'm hungry." Iolaus' stomach growled in response, "A rack of boars ribs would be good right about now."
Smiling weakly at Iolaus` inexhaustible hunger, Hercules tried once more to free himself from the chains. His body was heavily padded in the restraints and only his head had any real freedom of movement.
"Aaarrrggg!" Hercules suddenly screamed in pain. A grimace crossed his face.
"Herc, what?" Iolaus asked as he quickly fell out of his reverie and turned toward his partner in panic. "What is it?"
"Cramp in my leg," Hercules winced.
"Is that all?" Iolaus answered breathing a sigh of relief.
Hercules tried to flex his already sore muscles when the two heroes heard someone enter the outer chamber. The stranger was walking toward them and humming a jaunty tune.
Alerted to the possibility that the stranger walking in the dungeon's hall was King Damastus, the demigod tensed up, throwing his already abused muscle into another spasm.
"Uh oh," Iolaus breathed quietly, also fearing the king had come back. A happy torturing King was an effective torturing King, he thought to himself.
And the intruder in the dungeon was happy. In a matter of minutes, Autolycus had practically wiped out King Damastus' vault of all its precious possessions. He didn't want to appear too greedy however, so Autolycus, the King of Thieves, left a few semiprecious jewels behind. He had his treasure trove safely secured in a sack, which he had slung behind his back.
The master thief had done his homework. Careful canvassing of the castle before the heist revealed a significant shortcut to the fortress' outer perimeter by going through the dungeon.
The thief didn't particularly like going into the dank recesses of the castle where both guards and rats had been known to frequent. But Autolycus had decided to take a chance after he found out from a reliable source - okay, a drunken guard at a tavern - that the dungeon was currently empty of occupants. Besides, by traversing through the recesses of the dungeon, Autolycus saved going through 7 rooms, 4 locked doors, 3 corridors and saved 16 steps, giving him an advantage of a good 3 minutes.
As the King of Thieves entered the dungeon, he thought he was home free. Well, at least, as home free as a thief that did not have a home could be.
Iolaus craned his neck to his right to see who was approaching. Hercules used what little freedom he had to force his head up and over the supine hunter.
There was something familiar about the humming Iolaus thought, and he tried to identify what it was. The tune was loud, irritating and off-key and reminded Iolaus of..."Autolycus!" he called as the thief moved in front of the dungeon cell.
The thief stopped just as he passed the door and dropped his purloined loot.
Autolycus immediately recognized the dissonant voice. It still astounded him that Iolaus always seemed to find a way to get into his business.
"I swear I was," he thought for a moment, "just sending the gold and silver out to," he had to think quickly, "get polished." Then in defense he added, "You know how tarnished silver can get."
"Will you be quiet and get over here," Iolaus protested loudly.
By this time Autolycus had ascertained that the voice had not come from behind him as he had originally thought, but from the room to his right. The thief took a large step back and looked into the dim cell.
"Hohoho," Autolycus laughed. "I never thought I'd see the day were I was out here and you were in there," he answered. "Did they finally get you on impersonating a hero?"
Then he quickly noticed the odd contraption to which Iolaus was strapped. The compact hunter seemed to be stretched onto the wooden pallet almost to the breaking point. Dread struck at the heart of Autolycus but he tried to hide it by delivering another barb, "Hey, I've heard of lying down on the job, Iolaus, but that is ridiculous."
"Autolycus!" Hercules voiced boomed behind his blonde partner. He raised his head up as high as he could.
"Ewww," Autolycus answered as he cringed in response to both men subdued, "Talk about your torture, and in bed with Hercules, too."
"Autolycus, we don't have time for this. King Damastus will be back any minute," Iolaus pleaded, still annoyed with the taunts.
Straining against the chains, Hercules dropped back down in the bed. From behind his partner he asked in quiet resignation, "Will you just get us out?"
"Whoa," the thief protested wanting to bolt and leave the two insufferable heroes to their own devices, "Have you forgotten. I'm a thief. I'm used to breaking out of dungeons, not breaking into them."
Iolaus soon realized he was going to have to cajole Autolycus into helping them. "Well then, think of it as a change of pace," he suggested.
"Hey!" Autolycus answered disconcertedly. "Enough with the reverse psychology, will you?" Then he began to whine, "Why do you need me, anyway? Why doesn't your Herculean buddy over there get you out?"
Hercules answered, "Because the chains are made by Hephaestus. I can't break them."
"Okay..." Autolycus slowly responded as he took in the information. "So...use that hard head of yours and break the bed apart, then you can shimmy out of the chains."
Hercules had not thought of that. The chains were made by Hephaestus, and could not be broken by the demigod, but the bed frame was simply made of wood.
Frustrated with the thief`s reticence to help and irritated that it was a concept he should have thought of himself, Hercules pulled his head up as far as he could and then forced it down heavily onto the wooden pallet.
The ringing in his head was soon replaced by the crackling sound of the wood breaking. The weight of the large man and the heavy chains on top of him soon turned the bed frame into kindling. He crashed to the floor with a loud thud, and the quickly pulled the Hephaestian chains off of him.
Hercules set to work on the binds that held Iolaus in his Procrustean bed. He easily broke the leather binds. Iolaus relieved to be free of the straps, quickly got up and began rubbing his wrists. Both men walked up to the cell's gate that was the last obstacle to their freedom.
Hercules pulled on the metal gate. Straining with all his might, it would not budge. Hercules confirmed that the door was made by Hephaestus.
"Well?" Iolaus asked shrugging his shoulders in a defiant plea. He looked at the thief on the other side of the door.
"Alright. Alright." Autolycus protested. After reassessing the situation, especially the fact that both Iolaus and Hercules were freed from their respective torture devices, Autolycus felt a growing desire to help.
He reached in his tunic and pulled out a set of pelican bones that he had designed to expedite his lock picking skills. The hollow bones of the bird were rudimentary carved into several different shapes, made to fit precisely in the keyholes of locks.
Autolycus searched through the ring of bones to find just the right one to pick the Hephaestian lock.
Autolycus tried two of them in the lock, realized they were the wrong shape and then continued his search.
Impatient but curious, Iolaus asked as he watched Autolycus surveying them closely, "What are those?"
He held them up to the two men. "I call them Pelican Keys," Autolycus said, but was misheard.
"Skeleton Keys?" Iolaus questioned.
Autolycus pulled the keys toward him and looked at them carefully. Their white color and jagged design did look like little skeletons, and that certainly sounded more intriguing than the name he had chosen for his master keys. He decided he would keep it.
"Yeah, skeleton keys," Autolycus mumbled.
"Autolycus, Will you hurry up?" Iolaus asked in desperation. Hercules, in the meantime, began searching the cell for some other way to get out.
"I'm hurrying. I'm hurrying," Autolycus protested, realizing that his skeleton keys still needed some work before they would become effective.
The three men suddenly heard several footsteps advancing toward the dungeon. Iolaus and Hercules looked at each other knowing that King Damastus had finally made good on his threat to return and torture the two men.
"Autolycus, hide." Iolaus commanded to the thief outside the cell.
The thief was quick to take his advice. Looking around for an appropriate hiding place, Autolycus could find no cubbyholes or dark corners in the narrow hallway. Panicking quickly, his eyes darted in all directions and finally looked up. The timber ceiling was supported by heavy beams.
Summoning his grappling hook from the holdout device in his sleeve, Autolycus threw the steel tines up and over the joist. He quickly hoisted himself up as King Damastus and two of his guards entered the dim light of the corridor.
"What the..." King Damastus responded upon seeing that his two prisoners had escaped from his reputedly inescapable torture devices.
He moved up toward the cell, beckoning one guard for the keys that kept Iolaus and Hercules in their prison.
Seeing an opportunity to get the keys, Autolycus swooped down from the rafters on his grappling hook. Using his feet as a battering ram, the thief aimed for the posterior of King Damastus, kicking the torturing king in his hindquarters and sending him careening into the bars of the cell door.
King Damastus hit the vertical rails with his skull and sank unconscious to the floor.
Iolaus and Hercules quickly went to work on the other two guards.
Hercules pushed his arms through the upper rails and grabbed one guard by the neck, pulling the guard toward him banging his head repeatedly against the bars. The sound of skull on steel resonated in the dungeon.
Iolaus, having to work lower through the cell door quickly grabbed the Hephaestian chain and looped it around the upper legs of the second guard. The guard fought against the tight chains holding his legs, and Iolaus fought to keep his grip. He put his feet against the bottom railing to gain more leverage. In his current position, he couldn't fight against the guard; he could only hold him until Hercules could provide him the backup he needed.
Autolycus realized he was currently in more danger than the two heroes behind the bars. He was outside with the two guards and could easily be captured if Iolaus and Hercules did not succeed in subjugating the two men.
The thief could see that Iolaus was quickly loosing the fight with his guard. The wiry sentry was fighting valiantly against the Hephaestian chains, and the blonde hunter's strength and stamina had been compromised after hours on King Damastus' torture bed.
Autolycus ran and reached into his bag of stolen artifacts, searching for something he could use to beam the guard on the head. Finally rifling through his loot, Autolycus came up with a slim, golden statue. He checked the weight of it against the palm of his other hand to ensure it would be heavy enough to inflict damage.
Running to Iolaus' aid, Autolycus brought up the golden statue and hit the guard on the back of his head. He collapsed in a puddle next to King Damastus.
Autolycus looked at the statue he had pulled from his pack and realized it was a full figured visage of Aphrodite. He showed it to Iolaus as he smiled down at the guard with satisfaction and said, "Can't you just feel the love."
In quick order, Hercules had dispatched his opponent and the second guard also fell to the floor in a heap.
Autolycus began moving through the unconscious bodies looking for the ring of keys that could open the cell. The thief fingered blindly underneath King Damastus until he felt the cool metal beneath his fingertips. He quickly brought the keys out from underneath the king and opened the door to the cell.
"Now what do we do?" Iolaus asked as he stepped over the heap of men, glad to be free from the cell.
"Duh? Iolaus? Get out of here?" was the thief's natural reply. He had his sack of contraband slung over his back, ready to make a run for it.
Iolaus looked over to the torture device that had kept him prisoner. He could barely believe he was almost a victim of the bloodthirsty and inhuman sport of torture, "We can't just leave him here," Iolaus said. "Autolycus, he lured us here. If we don't do something to stop him, he'll just do this to someone else."
Iolaus took a deep cleansing breath as he fought for control over his emotions, "He may even go after the thief that stole from his vault."
Autolycus blanched and set down the bag as Iolaus continued, "Besides, I'd like to see him get a taste of his own medicine, at least for a little while."
"You don't suggest..." Hercules began.
"Yes...no...of course not!" Iolaus answered offended. "That would be barbaric, but maybe being strapped to his own torture device would teach him a lesson."
"Iolaus, I don`t think men like King Damastus can be taught a lesson," Hercules preached.
"Come on Hercules," Autolycus answered suddenly incensed. He understood Iolaus` need for revenge, but he was more concerned with allowing the torture chamber to be used again, especially if there was a chance in Hades that it could be used on him. One bed had been destroyed, but the long bed with the rack attached was still in one piece. "I don't care what you do to King Procrustes over there."
"King Damastus," Iolaus corrected him.
"Whatever," Autolycus dismissed, "but we can't leave here without destroying these whatchamacallits, can we? I agree with Iolaus."
"See what I mean," Iolaus answered.
Both Autolycus and Iolaus had good points, and there wasn't time to argue with each of the headstrong men. He thought of a way to appease both.
"Okay, Fine. Let`s just get this done and get out of here." Hercules said as he grabbed the hefty King by the arms and drug him into the torture chamber. He hoisted the king onto his shoulder and then dropped him on the bed.
"We'll keep him here until the Authorities come." Hercules answered. "I'm sure Theseus would love the chance to bring him to justice. Help me with the chains, Iolaus."
Iolaus helped Hercules chain King Damastus to the bed.
In the meantime, Autolycus busied himself with securing the guards outside the chamber with grappling line.
Hercules pulled the last of the chain toward the rack and pinion at the end of the footboard. He secured the chain to the bed beside the rack but not onto the rack itself.
Hercules worked quickly, sabotaging the Procrustean bed so that once the guards tried to free their King, the torture device would effectively be crushed under the weights of King Damastus and the Hephaestian chains. He was almost done when the King was beginning to stir from his unconsciousness.
"We've got to get out of here," Hercules announced as he stepped away from the bed.
About the same time, Iolaus could here several more of the King's sentries begin their trek toward the torture chamber. Iolaus and Hercules stepped up their pace, but the only way they knew out of the dungeon was the same way they came in, toward the mass of guards.
Iolaus and Hercules ran out of the cell. Iolaus closed the door quickly after Hercules stepped out. Autolycus took the ring of keys, locked the cell door and then threw the ring of keys into the middle of the cell. If it were the king's only set, it would take the dim-witted guards some time to figure out how to retrieve them.
"This way," Autolycus answered as he headed in the opposite direction of the oncoming guards.
"Are you sure?" Iolaus asked.
"Does a thief have lock picks?" Autolycus answered. He casually picked up his pilfered treasures as he talked, hoping the demigod and his partner wouldn`t have noticed.
"Loose the loot," Hercules warned the thief.
"Awe, come on Hercules," Autolycus whined. "I worked hard for these. Not to mention getting you out of jail."
"I don't want to warn you again, Autolycus. Drop it." The din from the sentries was getting closer and the moans from the king were getting louder.
Autolycus dropped the bag reluctantly and then took the lead out of the dungeon. Several minutes later, the three men left the dark corridor of the dungeon and entered the twilight sky beginning to herald the next day.
"Well, here you go," Autolycus said as he took a deep breath, exchanging the stagnant air of the dungeon for the fresh morning air.
"Thanks, Autolycus," Iolaus said.
"Yeah, well, don't expect I'll make it a habit," the thief uttered. He pointed in the opposite direction from where the two heroes were headed. "Well, I've got to go," he finished.
Iolaus nodded. There was a moment of awkward silence and Iolaus tried to fill it, "See you around?" he asked.
"Yes, Iolaus. I'm sure you'll see me around - unfortunately," Autolycus said as he headed into the dim light of morning.
Iolaus watched him go and then turned to Hercules. "You know, Herc? For a thief, Autolycus is not that bad."
Hercules laughed, "You know what, Iolaus?" He patted his best friend and partner on the shoulder as they left the castle behind, "I once said the same thing about you. Now, let`s go find Theseus."
THE END
Please post a comment on this story.
|
|
|
