The images flashed in his mind. It was unbearably hot, and the air was full of the smell of sulfur and burning flesh. His naked body was painfully stretched out over a pit of Greek fire, his arms and legs chained to boulders. Little specks of Greek fire popped up burned his skin. He could hear a whip cracking in the distance. It grew closer and closer until finally he felt the whip as it pierced his stomach. The whip cracked again and pierced his chest. He couldn’t see the whip or the person doing the damage, but the damage was real and very painful. The whip did not stop until his whole upper half was covered with lashings.

He could feel the gentle vibrations as they shook his chains. Some sort of mass was moving over the boulder near his feet. He tilted his head up and saw the same mass approaching over the boulder near his hands. But it was not a mass, but an army, an army of tiny red fire ants. They crawled across his legs and arms, each insect biting his body. Soon the swarm had covered his whole body, eating its way through. And he could feel every one of the bites as it burned into his body and soul. Herodotus piercing scream filled the air as he fell to the ground.

"Sober yet Herodotus?" She leaned down towards him. "That is what awaits you. Now it is up to you how you get there." She stepped back, raised up one of her daggers and threw it into the ground near Herodotus.

"Option one: You could do the honorable thing and kill yourself. Option Two: You could attack me with that dagger and run. Of course you won’t get very far, and that will just make me mad. Option three: You could kill me with the dagger, but then you will have to deal with the Amazons and Xena. There will be no safe place for you to hide. And trust me, those Amazons would love to get their hands on you and torture you in such a way that you will be looking forward to Tartarus." She stepped back three paces.

"But before you decide, I really need to know why. Why did you hurt her so? What did she ever do that was so bad? She’s your daughter. Why?"