Notice: This story contains explicit sex scenes between two women, and a heterosexual couple.
Xena was caught up in a nightmare. She was standing before the judges of the underworld, waiting for the trial of her life. They were parading every man she had ever killed before her, stopping occasionally to go into detail about a particular death. The line was seemingly unending. Bodies without faces, nameless specters all pointed an accusing finger at Xena. Then finally, the line was gone, leaving Xena alone with her judges. A deep, echoing voice spoke, pulsing through Xena's ears.
"Present the evidence of her good."
Xena looked around, but no one appeared. Nothing flashed through the tunnel of her mind. Emptiness. Nothing.
With a cold, cruel laugh, the voice passed it's sentence.
"The choice is made."
Within a heartbeat, Xena was trapped in a room of sick & dying. Men, women & children all each out to her for help, but when Xena tried to help one, another would die.
She frantically called for help, but no one answered. The dead were replaced with more sick, but with every blink, one died. Hysteria rising up inside her, Xena spun away to hide, but their voices haunted her mind and their blood covered her.
Xena ran away but the cries followed until they were everywhere. Screaming in terror, Xena fell, only to wake up instantly.
She was laying beside the camp fire, still burning in it's stone hearth. Gabrielle was not anywhere in sight.
Momentarily frightened for her friends whereabouts, Xena surged up off the ground in a mighty leap. But as soon as her feet were under her, she remembered that Gabrielle had gone to Perdicus' grave. It was their one year anniversary, and Gabrielle had wanted to make the journey alone, in order to grieve. Xena had reluctantly agreed to meet Gabrielle several days later in Ortygia.
With a weary sigh, Xena sat down and leaned back against her saddle. She had been alone several days now, and she just couldn't get used to Gabrielle not being around.
The ache in Xena's forehead wrinkled her smooth brow. Not having a good nights sleep sure does affect a person, Xena thought sourly, as she rubbed her aching head. Why the nightmares had started, she did not know. But every night they were the same. Another sigh escaped her parted lips as she slouched back and stared into the fire.
It's vivid, red-gold flames leapt and danced, reaching blue kissed points up into the night. That way lies madness, she reminded herself. Closing her eyes, Xena silently pleaded for a brief respite from her nightmares. And as if some benevolent god had answered, she drifted off into a deep, dreamless sleep.
***
"I do love you, Perdicus. I will always love you."
Gabrielle knealt reverently beside the grave of her husband. Shaded by the trees of the forest, the spot was tranquil, with leaves gently rustling in time with the wind.
Having blamed herself for so long for her young husband's death, Gabrielle felt a remarkable peace decend upon her. It was as if Perticus was trying to forgive me, she thought.
Lightly kissing her fingertips & pressing them to his grave marker, Gabrielle arose, feeling as if she were Atlas & had just had the weight of the world lifted from her shoulders.
"Goodbye, beloved. I shall not return here again. You've set me free."
The peaceful smile on Gabrielle's face was beautiful to behold. As she walked away, the look remained, and a nearby watcher was enchanted.
Footsteps, soft as a feather, flew over the ground, trying to remain hidden, yet close enough to gaze on the beautiful girl. Her strawberry blonde locks danced on the wind, swishing gracefully with her walk. In her hand, she held a simple staff, stout & rough, but looking like a pillar of gold in her delicate hand.
This creature was too good to be true, the hidden figure thought, as Gabrielle went about her journey in ignorance of her audience. Shall approach her, ask her to join me in my woods? Run & hunt with me for eternity? No, the silent figure decided. Now is not right. But soon. Very soon.
Gabrielle had made good time in her journey. In a few short days, she would reach the city where Xena was waiting for her. A driving thought entered her mind. I must reach Xena. I must reach Xena. Gabrielle's footsteps quickened.
No! The silent figure cried out mentally. Don't go!
Gabrielle stopped & looked around, certain she had heard a voice call out to her. No one was in sight. She started walking again, only to come upon a tranquil stream, gently ebbing & flowing around a large stone barely visible in the middle of the stream. The urge to bathe was too strong to withstand, so Gabrielle laid aside her pack & staff, and began stripping off her clothes.
Xena will not need me in the short time I'll have stopped, Gabrielle justified to herself.
"Yes," the figure hidden in the trees whispered.
Without a care of her surroundings, Gabrielle shed her clothes, revealing to the watcher first her smooth shoulders & supple back. The skin was slightly pale, but it flowed like satin cream, smoothly over subtle muscle. Then Gabrielle pushed her short skirt off. The watchers breath caught at the full buttocks that flashed tiny dimples, & the long, slim legs. Gabrielle turned and stretched, revealing a body of total perfection.
Gabrielle's watcher silently cried out in appreciation of her magnificence, fully revealed in the dappled sunlight. A slim neck, graceful in it's movements, gave way to creamy lushness with her breasts. Not large, her mounds were high & firm, perfect circles topped with cherry-like nipples, drawn tight from the air. They swayed a little with Gabrielle's movement, and in profile, showed the watcher how her long tips thrust proudly forward.
Dragging lustful eyes away from the enchanting vision, the watcher followed Gabrielle's smooth, concave stomach to the apex of her thighs, where a glory of red-gold curls guarded her womans mound. The watcher stared in intensively, watching the silken folds part slightly with her movements into the stream. Then the vision disappeared, swallowed beneath the lapping water.
I must have her! I must! Gabrielle's head reappeared seconds later, bobbing gently in the water, as she swam for the rock. Now the figure thought. Now is the time to join my love.
Silently stepping from the trees, the watcher strode toward the swimming girl, stopping at the shore and carefully laying it's weapons by Gabrielle's. A golden clasp held the corner of a white linen robe, cut off at the knee. Silently, the figure released the clasp and the drape fell, revealing a shockingly beautiful, feminine body.
Gabrielle, hearing the whisper of movement, turned quickly to see who was there, but became mesmerized by the perfection before her.
"Allow me to join you in your bath. I am Artemis, and I love you."
Chapter 2
With an innate gracefulness, the goddess slowly stepped into the water and moved toward Gabrielle.
Gabrielle was completely stunned! Gripping the rock next to her, she tried to get her dazzled mind to work once again. The virgin goddess of the hunt has just said she loves me! What madness is this?
Suddenly, the water currents shifted around her floating body, causing Gabrielle to loose her grip on the rock and crash into it roughly with her head. Within a second, Gabrielle was unconcious and sinking.
Artemis gave a startled cry and swam quickly to her new beloved. Feeling an arm, she grabbed it and brought her back to the surface. Towing her to shore, Artemis picked up the limp body and deposited it on a soft bed of clover.
Gabrielle looked peaceful. Her eyelashes were spiked from droplets of water & her chest rose & fell with the rhythm of sleep. Artemis sat beside her for a long time, watching & becoming acquainted with her body. The urge to touch was overwhelming, but Artemis restrained herself, barely.
Finally, hours later, Gabrielle's eyes fluttered open & she moaned with a long sigh. Her vision was filled with a beautiful, black haired woman, completely naked & bending over her.
"My love, are you all right?"
Gabrielle wasn't sure. Her head ached & her eyes felt sensitive.
"Where am I & who are you?"
"Don't you remember?"
Gabrielle tried, but her mind remained blank.
"No." She replied.
She can't remember! Now is my chance!
"Gabrielle, don't you recall anything, not even our love?"
Completely perplexed, Gabrielle realized they were both naked & inqired, "Are we lovers?"
Smiling radiantly, Artemis stroked Gabrielle's head gently.
"Oh, yes beloved. We are. We are lovers."
***
Xena awoke late the next morning. Days without sleep had finally caught up with her, causing the normally early Xena to arise almost at midday.
Laughing at her own laziness, which she had chastized Gabrielle for before, Xena quickly picked up her supplies & prepared to leave. Within a short time, Xena was traveling down the road, mounted high on Argo, feeling for the first time in days free of her worries.
The late spring day was impossible to ignore. Flowers bloomed in wild profusion everywhere, casting flashes of color beneath trees & along the sun bright road. Butterflies danced in abandoned curtains, flitting like leaves between the trees. Animals of all kinds; deer, squirells & rabbits, darted quickly through the shadows & light.
What a beautiful day, Xena thought. Gabrielle would love this. The thought of her friend urged Xena into a quicker pace.
Carefree, but ever on the alert, Xena rounded a courner & came upon a small child.
Sitting in the soft grass to the side, the child was naked & crying silent tears. Xena immediately stopped. Dismounting from Argo, Xena slowly approached the hauntingly familiar three year old girl, now watching her approach through vivid blue eyes.
"What's wrong, child? Where is your family?"
Xena slowly approached & knealt beside the huddled girl.
Wide eyes blinked rapidly, as she hugged her arms around herself. A tiny word, barely above a whisper, escaped the child's parted lips.
"No."
Xena was startled, but tried another tactic.
"How did you come to be so far from a village?"
Xena asked, but no answer was forthcoming. Poor mite, Xena thought. I can't leave her out here alone & unclothed. She would die for sure.
Reaching out a gentle hand, Xena softly asked, "Will you come with me? I won't hurt you."
The little girl slowly reached out & grasped Xena's hand. Xena smiled, her face radiating peaceful intentions.
And suddenly, after seeing that smile, the little girl launched herself full force into Xena's arms. She snuggled tight, pressing her head to Xena's chest & waist & back. Xena jumped from the unexpected contact, but quickly wrapped her arms around the clinging child, warming and protecting all at once.
A feeling of intense peace engulfed Xena. Only once before had she felt anything like it, and that was when she had held her son.
Rising with the child in her arms, Xena approached Argo & dug a cape out of her pack.
Wrapping the girl child in it's warm folds, Xena softly crooned, "It's all right, little one. Your safe. No one will hurt you ever again."
Xena rode for several hours, the little girl clinging tenaciously to her. Not one word did the girl speak, which perplexed Xena, but didn't bother her, none the less.
"What is your name?" Xena softly crooned near the child's ear.
She only shivered & huddled closer in response.
"You must have a name. I simply cannot call "child" or "girl" when I want you."
Riding on for several minutes in silence, Xena smiled fondly & came to a decision.
"I think I'll call you Mellina. That was the name of a freind I once had. You remind me of her. She was a little thing. Timid as a mouse. I was always protecting her."
Hugging the child a little closer, Xena asked, "Does that sound agreeable to you, Mellina?"
The child raised her head & looked Xena directly in the eyes. A tiny smile lifted the sadness from the girls face as she nodded.
Content with the response, Xena continued on toward the small village not to far in the distance. The mite needs food & clothing. Maybe we can stop for a while. It would give both of us a chance to rest.
Calm & watchful, Xena rode into the village. A small community, the people were unused to visitors. They came out of the fields & their homes to follow Xena in her progress.
The hairs on the back of Xena's neck rose as she heard the muffled voices of the gathering villagers & the child-like whimpers of the girl Mellina. Something is not right here. Alert eyes scanned the area before them, but found no threat.
Except a gray haired man who stepped neatly into Xena's path. Quiet decended on the group, settling like a shroud in it's wake. A voice, vagely remembered from a dream, cut the silence smoothly.
"What do you want, woman?"
The sound wrapped around Xena's concious like the jury from her dreams. Xena wrapped a secure arm around the child.
"I need food & clothing for the child."
"As her mother, don't you have any?"
A surpising thrill coursed throught Xena's veins at the idea. Looking down, she could see a remarkable resemblence, but honestly replied, "I'm not the girl's mother. I found her alone in the forest."
A collective hiss of air sounded from the gathered villagers. They looked frozen, but one entrepid fool stepped forward & swiftly yanked the dangling cloak away from the child.
Xena tried to grab it, but another gasp followed by mutterings of the crowd stopped her. The women were pointing while the men picked up any handy weapon.
Xena followed their vision to see a smaller crimson mark on the girls shoulder. A triangle with a dot at each tip. Xena had never seen the mark before, but whatever it meant, it angered the villagers.
Xena could hear Mellina's baby-like whimpers in her arms & every instinct Xena had was calling for her to protect the girl. Preparing to simply turn & leave, Xena was startled by the old mans next words.
"Give us the demon & you may go in peace."
***
Gabrielle was enchanted. This goddess claimed to love her with every breath. Why can't I remember anything, she silently asked herself.
For hours after she had awaken, Gabrielle had sat & listened to Artemis tell of their great romance, the places they had gone, the adventures they had had.
Why does nothing sound familiar? Yet the figure before her did seem vagely like a shadowed memory, clear one instant & gone the next. Black hair, drawn away from her face by a gold circlet, caressed a tall, slender body, muscled by her activity in the woods. Eyes as green as the clover they sat upon gazed back at her in loving devotion.
But that didn't seem right. Weren't the eyes supposed to be blue? But the thought danced away with the featherlike touch of her fingers on Gabrielle's arm.
"Dearest, I was so worried about you. My terror for you still makes me quake. Come here & let me hold you, so I may know you are truly all right."
Hesitantly, Gabrielle leaned forward. Artemis encircled her slim torso with her arms, pressing them tight together so their nipples thrust against each other.
Gabrielle was dazed. A shot of lightning had coursed through her body at the touch, familiar & strange at the same time. Liquid heat was pooling deep between her legs as Artemis rubbed & tickled her body.
"Oh, my love. I cannot restrain myself. It's too much."
Artemis breathlessly whispered in her ear before she deeply kissed Gabrielle. Using her tongue, she stroked the inside of her lovers mouth, flicking & licking her lips & tongue. Gabrielle closed her eyes as bliss made her gasp & open wider. It all seems so familiar, she thought to herself. We must have been intimate before, but the nagging thought that there was a difference briefly intruded in her thoughts.
But the idea drifted away as Artemis took control, pushing Gabrielle back against the bed of clover. It's natural scent wafed around their bodies as they crushed the plant with straining eagerness. Artemis broke contact with her lovers mouth & wetly trailed her tongue down her neck to her thrusting nipples.
Fully erect, they stood in pinkish brown glory, quivering with every breath. Artemis flicked lightly at the tips, and watched as her lover bucked mindlessly in response. With a sensual smile, she lowered her head & drew Gabrielle's tit deeply into her mouth, suckling on one & rubbing the other between her fingers. Gabrielle's fingernails dug deeply into Artemis' shoulders with a spazm of pleasure.
Releasing her grip, her hands followed the beautiful back down to the firm cheeks below. She rubbbed them in soothing strokes.
"Oh darling! Don't stop! More! Give me more!"
Throwing her head back in pleasure, Artemis turned herself around until she faced Gabrielle's nest of strawberry blonde curls.
"My love, now we will fulfill our vow."
Gabrielle didn't know what she meant, but was too overcome with passion to care. She gently ran her hands over the slim hips hovering over her, then watched as they slowly lowered towards her face.
Not knowing quite what to do, Gabrielle instinctively moved her hands until they were spreading open the hairless juncture of Artemis' thighs.
A work of art was the delicate pink & red folds within, glistening wet from the strength of her passion. Artemis arched with ecstacy, but soon returned to her original goal. Pushing Gabrielle's legs wide apart, she parted the lips of her vulva & lapped up the juice that flowed from within. Gabrielle opened her mouth in a scream, but found Artemis' muff pressed over her instead.
Copying instinctively what she felt, Gabrielle nipped & licked the nub of flesh before her, feeling the pulses that shot thru her lover at the same time as her own.
Remembering the feel of something hard & thick thrusting into her in pleasure from before, Gabrielle thought it a memory of her & her now lover, and eased a slim finger into the silken depths of Artemis' vagina. But instead of pleasure, Artemis' reaction was enraged.
"NO! Never touch me there again! I will stop if you do, and abandon you to the forests."
Gabrielle was confused, but at the point where not to continue was torture.
"I'm sorry. I won't ever do it again. Artemis, please...."
Gabrielle couldn't continue. Instead, she thrust the hips above her back into position & madly lapped at the heated flesh. Artemis moaned loudly & resumed her task.
The two women felt the pressure building up within them, electrifying their bodies & tingling with the contact of flesh on flesh. Both were straining now to complete their journey, lips & tongues rubbing & sucking harder on delicately sensitive flesh. Simultaniously, the two women reached to rub the others breasts. Within a flash, they started convulsing, lifting thier hips as they brought each other to orgasm.
Little screams escaped each female until the pleasure started to fade. Turning around & laying her head on Gabrielle's pillowy breasts, Artemis comforted herself with the knowledge of her continuing virginity & the pleasure of her lover.
Ah, yes, the best of both worlds. In all the thousands of years of her life, Artemis had taken many anonomous lovers, always to remain as virginal as her creation. The thought comforted her.
Gabrielle lay in a lusty stupor. Love, the tenderest of emotions, found an outlet after being confined for so long a time. She didn't realize she was confusing lust with love, as together, they floated off to sleep on a cloud of desire.
