They traveled hard and fast that next day, putting many miles behind them. An unknown force seemed to be urging them on, whispering “Just a little further...” on the cusp of each breeze.

As the sun began to set, Xena and Gabrielle found themselves on an unfamiliar path, leading to a shadowy slash in the earth ahead of them. The trail looked to go right up to the precipice, then fell away into nothing.

“What now?” Gabrielle asked, as she looked at the canyon.

“I suppose we should go back and look for another way.” Xena replied.

“But something tells me we’re on the right track.”

“There has to be something...”

“MOTHER!”

Xena and Gabrielle both whipped around to face the canyon again and found Eve standing at the edge, haloed by the suns fading light. Her hand was outstretched pleadingly, and Xena was unable to resist.

She ran towards her daughter, ready to take her in her arms. But she was gone before Xena could reach her. She simply vanished, without leaving a trace of her presence behind.

Gabrielle caught up with her distraught friend, looking around for the now missing Eve. What she found instead was a narrow path descending the face of the cliff, steep but still navigable. Gabrielle leaned a little further over the edge, calling back, “Hey Xena! Come take a look at this.”

When she received no reply, she turned around and saw Xena backing up awkwardly towards her. Her body jerked around and took off at full force, calling out, “RUN!”

The clicking reached them first. Millions of wings beating together made a horrendous noise that dominated all. A black cloud of insects was racing towards Xena and Gabrielle with one objective....

Xena grabbed Gabrielle’s arm as she ran past. Together, they took a flying leap off the canyon lip, free falling gracefully for a millisecond before the path came up to meet them. Gabrielle landed hard but safely along the canyon wall, but Xena saw too close to the edge.

She tumbled roughly, and the ground beneath her body gave way with abruptness. Xena’s eyes widened when she felt the shift, and began to frantically scramble for a hold. She managed to latch onto a small rock along the raw edge. The only thing between her and the ground was a thousand feet of nothing.

Gabrielle scampered on her hands and knees to the edge, and leaned over as far as she dared, grasping Xena under her arms and pulling with all her might. The swarm of insects was just spilling over the lip above them, speeding up with more gravity.

Xena pulled with all her strength, tugging her upper body back onto the path only with Gabrielle’s assistance. As soon as she was fully back on hard soil, they took off down the path, only seconds away from being engulfed by the swarm.

The vanguard of the cloud caught up with the two women, and beetles with terrifying pinchers landed on their backs and in their hair. Gabrielle screeched and tried to knock them off, but even in her short hair they became hopelessly tangled. Xena ignored the bugs on her arms and looked for a new alternative. It was obvious they weren’t going to outrun the swarm, moving as fast as it did.

She spotted a narrow fissure in the rock, just large enough to squeeze into sideways, and Xena pushed Gabrielle towards it. “Quick, in here!” Gabrielle shimmied through first and Xena followed, just barely missing the roiling mass as it swept past their hiding spot.

“That was close.” Gabrielle said between gasps for air.

Xena leaned her head back against the rock and shut her eyes. It had been more than close. Bugs just don’t do that. Xena remembered hearing a low chant fill the air as she watched them approach, and it made her wonder.

“Do you think it’s safe to go out now?”

“No. We’ll wait a few minutes.”

Gabrielle concurred, shuffling her feet in the narrow confines allowed them. Her booted heel struck a protruding rock sharply, and she cried, “Ouch!”

But the sound was drowned out as a larger noise took it’s place. Stone grinding over stone made an awful racket that forced Xena and Gabrielle to grab their ears. The tried backing out, but the opening behind them had disappeared.

Instead, the back of the narrow niche now spread wide, offering a faint trace of light compared to the utter darkness they now stood in. With an unspoken agreement, Xena and Gabrielle both stepped forward into the unknown.

“Where ARE THEY?”

The man snarled as he used his powers to try locating the two women. It was like they had simply disappeared. Rage washed over him. The couldn’t vanish when he was so close to his goal. He swept his arm over a table in frustration, feeling only marginally better as his goblets struck the floor.

Spinning around, he raised his clenched fists and bellowed in a tremendous roar, “FIND THEM!”

His lips snarled and his eyes turned demonic as the power rushed out of his body in a wave, seeking out the females who eluded his grasp.