"What was that?", Hercules spit out the taste of the mornings meal.

"I'm not sure. Yuck," Lilith answered, also spitting out the flavour.

"I think I'll pass on acadamy cooking from now on," Leandra said picking an oat from her teeth. "Well, what do we do now?"

"The same thing we did this morning. Drills," Jason answered.

"Okay then. I'm gonna take a wild guess and assume you guys aren't really big archers," Leandra began and drew and arrow from her quiver. "So if you want to split, that's okay with me." She positioned it on the bow and shot straight. Her arrow flew through the apple in another cadet's hand and stuck into a tree. Her friends eyes grew wide. She smiled and went to retrieve the arrow.

The four friends stood silent and watched Leandra go after the arrow. Iolaus was the first, as usual, to speak.

"Wow," was all he could think of to say.

As Leandra removed the arrow Pyre swooped down upon her. Hercules cried out and dove for the bird. "Leandra! Watch out!!"

Leandra stuck out her arm, not looking away from the arrow and Pyre landed safely on her arm. She fished a piece of meat from her pouch and gave it to the bird before offering Hercules a hand to get up. He looked up at her and accepted her offering of help.

"What did you do that for," she asked as she pulled him up.

"That bird was about to attack you," he answered pointing to Pyre.

"Who, Pyre," she asked looking at the hawk. "Nonono, he was going to perch on my neck, but I hate when he does that so I reached out and caught him. Pyre only attacks animals."

"Only attacks animals? What do you call Angus," Jason asked walking up to his two friends. Then seeing Leandra's disgusted face he thought better of it. "Actually, don't answer that."

Leandra smiled. Iolaus and Lilith followed Jason. Iolaus looked questioningly at Leandra. "Can I pet him," he asked.

"Sure, you can hold him if you like," she answered and motioned for Pyre to jump onto Iolaus's wrist gaurd.

The bird took flight and screeched in protest. "Pyre...," Leandra said in a warning tone. "Come back down here or I'll send you home."

The bird dove down and landed softly on Iolaus. Iolaus's eyes grew wide as the bird stared at him.

"Don't worry about it Iolaus. He always flies away from strangers, he won't hurt you." Leandra rested her hand reassuringly on the blue-eyed cadet's shoulder. "I dunno....he's looking at me like Cheiron looks at oats....here, have him back for now." He tried to hand Leandra back the hawk but held his arm out to wide and the bird took flight.

They watched the bird fly and sit in a tree. "Uh, sorry," Iolaus appologized.

"Ah, think nothing of it. He's grumpy today anyhow." Leandra replied and slung her bow over her shoulder again. "So, what else do you cadets do for fun?"

"Well...we could do one of Cheiron's foot drills," Lilith offered.

"A foot drill," Leandra inquired.

"Yeah, we kick a pig's bladder and try to get it in between two posts," Hercules explained the drill for her.

"Oh! Soccer!" Leandra's face lit up. "I love that game! Let's go!"

"Soc-cer?" Jason sounded the word out.

"Yeah....soccer. What do you guys call it?" Leandra raised her eyebrows.

"A foot drill...," Lilith answered.

"Look, it's obviously an amazon thing. Right Leandra?" Iolaus looked over to the new cadet. She nodded yes. "Well, then. Let's play!"

Leandra agreed heartily and trotted off after Iolaus. The others followed. The next few weeks were spent basically the same. Each day they did drills and each day they discovered something new about each other until they became the closest of friends. Eventually Pyre accepted the idea of the boys being around Leandra, though he didn't much like it. He spent most of his time with her perched on her arm, protecting her. If one of the boys raised a sword or anything against his mistress, even in play, he would attack them. He liked Lilith. She was a kind girl who saved him scraps of meat from Kora's. The group had become tight and they happily accepted each other's differences. Leandra trusted all four of her new friends with her life, but still she didn't tell them of her being a princess. She felt it would change the relationship she had with each of them, something she didn't want to mess up. All was fine and well until a messenger entered the acadamy gates early one morning......

"Please, sir. I must speak with King Jason immediately. It is of the utmost importance," the messanger pleaded with the gaurd at the gate.

"What buisness have you with him," the guard asked mistrustingly. Many young girls tried to get into the acadamy to see Jason. A woman impersonating a messenger would not be a first.

"I fear that I cannot tell you, guard. But I give you my word as a Corinthian citizen and loyal subject of King Jason that it is a matter of life and death and I must speak with the him!" The girl fell to her knees and begged.

The guard sighed heavily. "Don't let me find that this was a trick, girl," he muttered and opened the gates.

"Thank you, sir," the messanger called as she ran into the courtyard and straight for the barracks.

"Your welcome," he mumbled and closed the gates again.

The messenger shook Jason lightly, then a little harder. Finally she shook the young king violently and he groaned unhappily.

"Go back to bed Hercules, I'm not going fishing this early," he muttered and rolled over.

"Uh...Your Highness...I am not this Hercules you speak of," the girl said and poked him on the shoulder. Jason sat up quickly.

"Who are you?! How'd you get in here? Guards," Jason called seeing the girl. *They let another one in?!* he thought hysterically.

"No! Your Highness! I'm a mess-" the girl tried to explain.

Jason's loud cries awoke Leandra. She groaned and sat up in her bunk above Jason. "Oh for the love of Artemis! They let another one in?! Don't the guards scan these people before they let them march into our barracks," she growled angrily.

"Miss, I assure you, I'm here for a good reason! If you'd just-" The messenger tried again.

Now it was Hercules who woke up. "What the? Jason, maybe we need to get you your own barracks! This is ridiculous! The third one this week," he yelled.

"What's going-Hey! What's she doing here," Lilith demanded as she rose from her bed.

"Miss, Sir, I'm just-" the messenger tried desprately to explain herself.

"Trying to get yourself a rich husband? We know, honey." Leandra rolled her eyes.

"No! I'm here to tell his Majesty-" she began.

"That you're perfect for him? Listen sister, we've heard it," Hercules interjected, unimpressed.

"What makes you Corinthian girls think that we want you crawling around our barracks? It's not even dawn," Lilith exclaimed.

"What's going on," Iolaus asked drowsily, finally rising.

"She came looking for Prince Charming over here," Leandra explained.

"Another one? Jas, we gotta talk. I mean all these girls-" Iolaus began.

"I'M A MESSENGER," The girl finally yelled in frustration.

Silence fell upon the room. Leandra was the first to speak. "I'm sorry, miss," she appologized, offering her arm. "We thought you were one of Jason's admirers. You wouldn't believe some of these girls."

"Yeah sorry," Hercules mumbled.

"Sorry," Iolaus muttered and went back to sleep.

"Uh huh," Lilith said sleepily.

"Appology accepted," the girl answered shaking Leandra's arm. "Now may I please deliver this message so that I can be on my way?"

"Please do," Jason said, sitting cross-legged on his bed.

"Would your highness wish to hear the news alone," the messanger asked, eyeing Leandra, who was now fully awake and had slipped down beside Jason.

"What? Her? She's like family! My lil sis," he said, smiling fondly at his friend. She punched him playfully in the side. He hit her back. They were about to get into a wrestling match when the messanger cleared her throat rather loudly.

"Ahem. May we get on with it then," she asked rolling her eyes slightly. *This is not what I expected the king to be like.* she thought observing the playful, somewhat immature boy in front of her.

Jason tried to put on a serious face and sat up, Leandra did the same. "Yes, what is the message," Jason asked, trying to sound mature and proffessional. Leandra just about died laughing. He knudged her in the side and she managed to contain her laughter, but not without bringing a smile to the young king's face.

The messanger chose to ignore the outburst and read the scroll in her hand.

"It says: Greetings, nephew. It is with great sadness that I inform you of a danger to Corinth." The messanger cleared her throat and continued, "A three headed dragon has declared that it will destroy all of Corinth if it's demands are not met."

"What are it's demands," Jason asked frantically.

"It doesn't say, your majesty. It only tells that you must return to your kingdom immediately."

Leandra and Jason exchanged worried glances. "Well, then....I suppouse I should start packing." Jason sighed.

"What do you mean 'I'? I'm not letting you fight a dragon alone, Jas," Leandra insisted and rose from her spot beside Jason.

The young king smiled gratefully. "I was hoping you'd say that."

"I am sorry to have brought such woeful news, my king," the messanger appologized and left the barracks.

A deep sigh escaped Jason as he reached into his cabinet for his things. Leandra put her arm around his shoulders. "Hey, don't go getting all depressed on me. We'll get through this," she reassured her friend before going back to packing.

"I hope you're right," he mumbled and threw a couple of dinars in his pack.

"I am," Leandra answered simply and shook Iolaus gently. "Come on, Iolaus. Wake up," she whispered softly and brushed a strand of hair from his shoulder.

Iolaus groaned and swatted at her. She caught his arms firmly and grinned. He opened his eyes and drew his hands back slowly. "Leandra? What do you want," he groaned, drowsily.

"Here," she smiled, throwing his pack at him. "I'll explain on the way."

"Okay, so let me try to get this straight," Hercules said as he, and his four friends trudged up the path to Corinth. "We are going to Corinth."

"Bravo." Leandra clapped and rolled her eyes. "I never would have guessed that one."

"Thank you, but I wasn't finished," Hercules continued, a slight tinge of annoyance in his voice. "We're going to Corinth to fight a three headed dragon."

"If we can't meet his demands. I don't want to risk any casualties," Jason interjected.

"Jas, dragons are never reasonable," Iolaus insisted. "We're gonna have to fight him."

"Iolaus is right Jason. When I was a little girl a dragon threatened to burn my village if we didn't meet his demands. He wanted a human sacrifice every month," Lilith recollected.

"So what did you do," Leandra asked.

"Well, for a little while we obeyed the dragon and gave him the sacrifices but after a while the dragon got unruly. It started insisting on a sacrifice once a week, then every day. We refused," Lilith explained.

"So then what happened," Hercules asked curiously.

"He burned down my village," Lilith answered curtly. "Duh."

"So...what was the point of this little story, Lilith," Iolaus inquired.

"I think what Lilith is trying to say is, even if we meet the dragon's demands, he'll still be a problem," Leandra explained and then turned to her friend. "We're gonna have to kill him, Jason."

Jason nodded in understanding. "I know the dragon will have to be fought. But by Corinthian soldiers. Not you guys," he decided.

"What," his four friends exclaimed at once.

"Jas, that isn't fair," Iolaus insisted.

"Yeah, Jason! You can't force us to stay in the palace while you go out and fight," Hercules agreed.

"Jason, I told you this morning before we left. I'm not letting you fight that dragon alone," Leandra said. "And that's final."

"But guys," Jason began.

"You heard her. If you fight, so do we," Lilith said forcefully. "Now come on, we have to pick up speed if we want to make Corinth by nightfall."

Leandra nodded in agreement and the two girls took off through the forest, the boys followed, grudgingly. They were marching through a stream when Hercules noticed the absence of Leandra's hawk. "Hey, Leandra. Where's Pyre?"

"I left him at the acadamy. I didn't want him to get injured on the journey," Leandra explained nonchalently before wading ahead in the water.

*Just like her to be thinking of that bird before herself.* Hercules shook his head in silent admiration of the girl's unnoticed selflessness.

It was a long day of traveling. Full of little mishaps and unhappy travelers. By the time they reached Corinth it was night time and most everyone was asleep. The group enetered the palace and bid each other goodnight before heading off to bed.

The sun dawned and a new day began in the city of Corinth. The inn keepers woke their guests, the mothers fed their children, and the storekeepers opened shop. Hercules woke early and decided to wake his friend. He shook Iolaus gently and waited for him to open his eyes. He did.

"What's up," Iolaus asked sleepily.

"The sun. We find out what the dragon wants today," Hercules answered, somewhat nervously.

"Oh...," Iolaus muttered softly. "Well, then," he began and rose from his bed, "I suppouse we wake Jason?"

"No. We should let him sleep. He's gonna need all his strength for today," Hercules explained and then added, "I was thinking more along the lines of breakfast."

"Works for me," Iolaus stated and exited the room, motioning for his friend to follow.

"Leandra....Leandra, Wake up! Leandra!" Lilith shook the amazon as hard as she could. "Leandra! It's morning! GET UP!" She succeded in shoving her friend a little to hard, and Leandra looked up at her from the floor.

"Lilith, we have got to work on your people skills," she muttered and rose from the ground.

"Oh! I'm sorry! Oh gods, I didn't mean to shake you that hard! Sorry Leandra," Lilith appologized, rushing to her friends aid.

"Ah, that's okay." Leandra smiled and glanced out the window. "Looks like breakfast time."

"Uh....a little past. You overslept! Hades, you're hard to wake up," Lilith whined.

"Yeah, well......it's-" Leandra tried to explain.

"An amazon thing," Lilith finished her friend's sentence and laughed. "I know."

Leandra shrugged and smiled. "Are the guys up yet," she inquired as she pulled on her armour.

"Iolaus and Hercules are. I'm not sure about Jason," Lilith answered, also pulling on her armour.

"Well, shall we," Leandra asked as she waltzed sleepily towards the door.

"Let's go," Lilith answered and followed her friend out the door.

"Ooh, pomegranates," Leandra exclaimed happily as the palace chef served up breakfast.

"Pome-what," Iolaus asked as he stared uncertaintly down at the fruit placed before him.

"Pomegranates. They're a rare fruit found only in the depths of tropical jungles," Hercules explained.

"Well, whatever they are, they must be good." Lilith grinned, amused at Leandra who was mowwing hers back.

"What," Leandra asked her laughing friends. "What? It's good, okay?! Gods!"

"Well, if she likes it that much, I'm sure I'll like it too." Iolaus grinned at the young amazon and took a bite of his. He immediately understood Leandra's behavior. This stuff was great! He tuned out his friends and focused on his meal.

"So where's prince charming this morning," Leandra asked sarcastically once she had finished her breakfast.

"Still in bed I guess," Hercules answered.

"Still," Lilith asked, somewhat shocked. "Geez, being king's made him lazy. I'm gonna go wake him up." She rose from the table and walked up the stairs.

"So what do you think this dragon's gonna want," Hercules asked no one in particular.

"I dunno. Maybe we can just pay him off," Iolaus answered.

"Yeah, but I doubt it. One way or another, we're gonna have to deal with him," Leandra answered grimly. The weight of the day already burdening her shoulders.

"Hey, don't get dark on me yet!" Hercules laughed. "We don't know what the dragon wants yet, maybe we can pay him off."

"Whatever." Leandra shrugged and rose from the table.

"Where are you going," Iolaus asked the green-eyed amazon.

"To do drills," Leandra answered, tossing her hair behind her shoulders. "In case your dragon can't be paid off."

Jason paced nervously across the throne room. He had just finished speaking with the dragon and his mind was racing. *What am I going to do?!* he wondered frantically. *I can't possibly give him that! Can I?*

Hercules and his friends entered the room. Herc walked straight to Jason and placed a hand on his shoulder. "What did he want, Jase," he asked.

"He wanted....," Jason paused and looked nervously at Hercules and Iolaus.

Leandra stepped forward. "Well, out with it!"

"He...well...it...," Jason muttered.

"Stop golbricking, tell us," Lilith demanded, taking hold of Jason's arm.

"It wants...." He looked, almost ashamed, at the young amazon, "Leandra."

"WHAT," Leandra yelled, her eyes wide. "Why in Taurtarus would he want me?!"

"The dragon is lonesome, he wants a bride......it's been watching you," Jason explained, exhasperated.

"Watching me," Leandra choked on her own words. "So it wants me to..."

"Become it's bride. Jase, you can't let that happen," Iolaus exclaimed, looking fondly at Leandra. There was no way he was going to let this happen to the beautiful amazon.

"I wouldn't....but....," Jason stared in shame at the floor.

"But? What do you mean but? Jason, listen to me. Leandra's our friend, we can't let her become some scaly dragon's bride!" Hercules shook his friend slightly.

"You guys didn't see that thing! It has three heads! And teeth the size of Athens! I swear it's tail was longer than the Nile river...," Jason tried to explain himself to his furious friends.

"How could you even think that Jase?! We are not giving up Leandra," Iolaus insisted, gazing into the amazon's clover-green eyes.

"Yeah, Jase! Leandra means a lot to all of us! You can't just throw her out for some dragon," Lilith shouted fiercely.

Leandra, who had stood silently throughout the whole argument, now walked up to Jason and placed her hand on his shoulder. "He's the king here, Lilith. He can do whatever he sees fit. Jason, if you honestly think that we can't fight this dragon, than I suppouse we've no choice. We must meet it's demands," she paused and gulped, swallowing the fear that clogged her throat. "I will become the creature's bride."

"Leandra no," Iolaus protested and reached for his friend. "You can't go and be with that evil thing! There's just no way!"

"Iolaus, if Jason thinks that there's no other way...well, I trust his judgement. I'd sacrifice anything to make sure that you guys don't get hurt.....even this," Leandra explained with a somber look on her face.

"No...Leandra, I can't let you do that," Iolaus rubbed her shoulders affectionately. *I can't believe she'd do this for us* he thought in admiration and concern for the girl he had come to call his friend.

"And neither can I. I'm sorry I even considered that Leandra...I-I don't know what I was thinking," Jason interrupted and stepped between them. "Can you ever forgive me," he turned to face her and asked.

Leandra sighed in relief. "Of course."

"You still my little sis'," he asked uncertaintly.

"Always." Leandra smiled softly and punched the young king in the arm. "If I wasn't, who'd keep you in line and out of trouble?"

"Good point." Jason returned her smile and laughed, uncertaintly.

"Ahem. I hate to interrupt this touching family reunion but, we still have a dragon to deal with," Lilith insisted, pulling Jason to face her.

"Yeah, that's gonna be difficult," Leandra admitted.

"Ya think," Hercules mocked and then said, "We've already established that. What we need to know is how to deal with it."

The five friends thought it over.

"Giant catapult," Jason offered.

"No, too time consuming. This thing can fly, we need something agile and easy to operate," Hercules explained.

"Ooo! Flaming arrows," Leandra exclaimed.

"Well, that would work. If the dragon weren't about a million times bigger than an arrow," Hercules said.

"Oo, ooh! I know! We find some girl in the city who has a thing for dragons and give her to our scaly friend," Iolaus yelled out.

The other four stared at him.

"Iolaus," Leandra muttered in disbelief and shoved the cadet softly.

"Or we could..not do that," he said slowly.

"What about a really big sword? I bet Haphaestus could make us one big enough," Lilith offered.

"See? That is a great idea," Hercules decided. He paused and then realized, "Or it would be a great plan. If we knew someone big enough to use the sword."

"Hmm....," Leandra mulled over the situation. "A really big spear?"

"No No No!! No big weapons," Hercules exclaimed.

"Well you got any better ideas god-boy," Leandra retorted.

Hercules sat in silence for a moment before softly saying, "Well...no..."

"Are you ready," Jason asked his friends and rose from his throne.

"No. But we haven't much choice have we," Lilith stated and drew her sword, examining the blade.

"Hey, I'm not exactly tickled pink about fighting a dragon either. But if you want to keep Leandra we have to," Jason said and motioning to the amazon who sat in the corner, sharpening her sword.

"Well, we definately want to keep her. She's not living with a dragon. We wouldn't let that happen, unlike someone," Iolaus muttered the latter of his sentence.

"Look, I never said we were going to do that, I was merely examining our options, Iolaus," Jason stated and poked the young cadet.

"Oh sure Jase! We all know you were ready to throw her to that thing if it meant you wouldn't get your royal hands dirty! Admit it," Iolaus fumed and shoved the king away from him.

"That's garbage and you know it, Iolaus! I wasn't gonna do that," Jason yelled and pushed Iolaus back.

"Garbage? Liar! You'd do anything to make sure the people of Corinth were happy with you! You don't care about your friends," Iolaus shouted angrily.

"That's a LIE! I DO care about my friends! Especially Leandra! She's like a sister to me," Jason hollered.

"You don't care about her half as much as the rest of us do! If you did, you wouldn't ever consider feeding her to a dragon," Iolaus screamed.

"I wasn't going to feed her to it! Or anything else like that! I LIKE Leandra A LOT," Jason boomed.

"YA? WELL NEXT TIME THINK TWICE ABOUT GIVING HER TO A DRAGON, 'CAUSE I LOVE HER!" Iolaus' voice filled the room and brought silence to everyones lips. Leandra rose her head slightly, as if only hearing the fight at that moment. Iolaus stuttered slightly, "Uh-as a friend-not as-I lo-like her-but alot-as a-oh gods."

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