Heracles: The Return - Heracles, #1 - E-book - ePub

Heracles has not been seen in fifteen years. Now, the demigod is merely a whisper under the fading candlelight throughout the inns and taverns of the crumbling kingdom. Iolaus, the aging nephew of Heracles, scrapes by as a blacksmith in his once prosperous village - reluctantly forging weapons and tools for a corrupt king. As the blacksmith watches his beloved country crumble around him, he thinks back to the days of glory - the days of fighting for honor and questing on the open seas with heroes.
But those days are gone. Damn you, wherever you are, thinks Iolaus as the fire from the forge casts his shadow onto the wall. Famine and disorder sweep through already fractured kingdoms of Greece, and rumors of Hydra and Griffins keep terrorized farmers away from already barren fields. King Eurystheus of Argos forms an alliance with the newly risen cults of Hera in order to dominate tiny Greece, and a force of utter chaos offers its services to the king - for a heavy price.
Iolaus looks away from the anvil and peers at his short sword above the hearth. The sturdy, wrought iron blade is covered in dust and years. Outside his impoverished village, cultists, magic and monsters await. The blacksmith knows that only a hero can stand against this chaos. But first the hero must be found. Heracles: The Return is the first book in the Heracles series.