Chapter 25: The Nemean Lion(1)

Have you ever had that moment when you realize all your preparation means nothing? You would read a subject the whole night before the exam covering everything, but when you arrive at the examination hall, nothing comes to mind….?

Standing there, facing the Nemean Lion, I had exactly that feeling. 

Just at a scale where my life was on the line rather than just marks!

All my careful notes about feline behavior patterns and battle strategies might as well have been shopping lists for all the good they did me now.

The lion was magnificent in a terrifying way. Its coat gleamed like actual gold in the morning sun, each hair seeming to catch and reflect the light. The mane wasn't just yellow – it rippled with colors that shouldn't exist in nature, like living metal. Even its eyes glowed with an unnatural intelligence that no normal lion could possess.

"Don't move," I whispered to Iolaus, though my own legs seemed to have forgotten how to work anyway.