CHAPTER SIX THE BATTLE BEGINS! Hercules stood inside the tower surrounded by fallen stones. As the dust cloud cleared he stepped forward over the rubble. His long hair fell down to his shoulders, his face looked young again – the deep wrinkles had gone – and his golden eyes glowed like a lion’s. One hand held a sword and the other a shield. ‘You have released me!’ he exclaimed, his strong voice ringing out across the keep. He strode out of the tower over the stones, a delighted smile on his face. ‘You have restored all seven of my superpowers! You are true heroes!’ But as he strode across the keep towards them, a fork of lightning cut jaggedly down through the sky and there was a thunderclap so loud that the walls of the castle seemed to shake. Juno appeared. Her face was twisted with rage. In one hand she was holding a ball of white fire that blazed so brightly neither of the boys could look at it. ‘No!’ she shrieked. ‘You shall not escape from me, Hercules!’ She swept the burning ball up into the air.
