Disclaimer: I own no rights whatsoever to any characters from
Xena:Warrior Princess, I am only borrowing them for the length of this
story. This story is for the amusement and entertainment of my friends in
the Ares and Xena Shippers club. I promise to return the characters intact
when I am finished with them. I am making no money from this story.
Xena and Gabrielle had left Amphipolis shortly after all the excitement of the rogue warlord had been settled once and for all. They were going to visit Gabrielle's family. It was only fair after the visit to Amphipolis. They had been on the road now for several weeks, with no real excitement going on. They had, however, been hearing more and more about rogue warlords. Xena had a strong dislike of rogue warlords after the last few days. In fact they had heard one tale of a rogue warlord going so far as to attack and loot a temple of Ares up north somewhere. This was almost unbelievable. Who in their right mind would attack the God of War. Xena decided that she must get to the bottom of this.
Xena and Gabrielle stopped at an Inn in one of the larger cities they visited. and got rooms for the night. They settled down in the dining room, and ate a meal. Things in this city had been quiet for the last two years. It was large enough to have their own cadre of guards stationed about the streets, and guard posts every few blocks where guards rested between rounds. There was almost no crime in the city, and what little there was had been quickly dealt with. The citizens were justly proud of their reputation for swift justice. During the meal, Xena overheard even more discussion of the attacks up north. Ares had a temple in this city. A visit might be in order.
Xena had enjoyed the meal more than Gabrielle had. It was really spicy, and Gabrielle liked her food a little less hot. Sweat was breaking out on her forehead, and she was constantly wiping it off with a cloth. Water didn't help. It only seemed to increase the heat. She tried Mead, and that did seem to cool things down somewhat. Finally, she had some pudding for desert, and the creamy texture seemed leave a cooling trail down her throat. Xena just grinned and had seconds of the hot stuff.
After supper was done, they retired to their room. Gabrielle was really tired, and looking forward to a soft bed for a change. When she saw Xena getting out a dark hooded cloak, she groaned and asked. "Now what? Don't tell me that we're going out again." "No Gabrielle, you're not going out again, I am. I've got something to do, and I won't need any help doing it. I'll be back shortly. Go to sleep, I'll see you in the morning." It was still early, but Gabrielle really was exhausted. She finally agreed to wait in the room.
It was several blocks to Xena's destination, but she covered it in record time. She stretched out those long legs of hers into a manly stride, which disguised her feminine walk completely. Anyone seeing her walking along like that would automatically assume that the person in question was a man in a hurry. She reached the huge double doors to the temple, opened one, and entered the main hall. She strode quickly into the main sanctuary, which held the throne, and the altar. She sidled her way past a number of people until she could enter a passageway to the private quarters. As she strode quickly within, she ran into a large hard bodied figure in a hooded robe. There was no doubt that this was the one she was seeking. She opened her mouth to speak, but was shushed. Then he took her by the arm and led her back into the sanctuary. He took her along one wall, and into a shadowed alcove.
Again she tried to speak. He whispered "Hush, just watch." He then settled his back against the wall and observed the main room. She did the same. At first all she saw was a priest behind the altar receiving offerings. A slight pale featured man presented several gems. The priest received them, and blessed the supplicant. Next in line was a warlord. He got up there to the altar, took out a dagger and cut his hand slightly. As he dripped the blood on the altar, he made a formal blood sacrifice, announcing in a loud voice his dedication to his Lord Ares. "Pompous Ass.!" she heard Ares murmur. "He is an idiot. Couldn't fight his way out of a tight squeeze, a woman's squeeze." Xena chuckled softly. She knew the warlord in question, and had to agree with Ares' description. She knew that without the aid of his lieutenant the man would be long dead. Ares had seriously considered killing him personally a while ago, but had decided to wait until the lieutenant was older. The aide was a personal friend of hers, and had been instrumental in winning the battle near Amphipolis.
Still there was nothing she considered important going on, and she opened her mouth to speak again. "Hush, I say. Now watch a little longer." He said. Another supplicant approached as the warlord received his blessing. This man offered a matched set of daggers. They were incredibly beautiful. Xena looked questioningly at Ares, but he just shook his head and nodded again toward the altar. Following the man with the daggers was an older woman. She offered a basket of fresh rolls, and opened the napkin they were enclosed in to disclose the contents. The aroma flooded the temple. It was mouthwatering. Ares was grinning from ear to ear. The woman then began to sing the praises of Lord Ares.
There was a sudden commotion at the door. A bedraggled man pushed his way into the room. He was madly waving a sword in the air, and practically frothing at the mouth. He was screaming something unintelligible. As he got further into the room he found himself with no targets for his wrath but the woman kneeling at the altar and singing praises to Ares. "Lord Ares be damned." he screamed. "Our forces went into battle on his behalf. We lost several of my friends in the fight. Ares was supposed to protect us. Someone must pay. Damn your praises to Ares!" He leaped forward, swinging the sword as he went, but as the sword came down, it was met with an even larger sword. The stroke was blocked by Ares himself. "Your commander failed to follow orders, that's why you lost." Ares replied. He made a swift move that disarmed the madman, then gave him a swift kick to the head that dropped him in place. Priests swarmed into the sanctuary, moving to defend the place. Their help was a little late, but they did get to take away the assailant for questioning. The woman had not even hesitated during the whole episode. She continued to sing the praises of Ares. As she finished, he himself gave her the blessing.
After the excitement was over, Ares led her back to his own quarters. They sat down on the matching divans. He waved a hand at the table between them. Fruit, rolls, meat and cheese appeared along with a carafe of wine and two glasses. Xena then asked about the whole scene. "Alright, now tell me what was so important that I keep quiet and watch." He then went on to explain a few things. Several years ago a young man had come to the temple. He was the youngest son of the woman in question. Her two older sons were pillars in the community, but this last son was born long after the others. He had sworn allegiance to Ares, and had gone into training with other young men.
When his mother had heard, she had quickly come to the temple to beg for the release of her son from his oaths. The priest in charge that day had informed her that there was no way for that to happen. She had then insisted that she wanted to talk to Ares himself. As he was in the hallway just outside the room he heard the whole thing. He entered and took her aside to discuss the subject. He assured her that her son could not be released from his oaths. She had then asked if Ares could watch over her son. She had promised to bring an offering each week, and to sing his praises as long as her son remained safe. He had been amused but had gone along with her request. He was sure that she would soon tire of her vow. She hadn't. This had been going on for seven years now. Each Sunday she came to fulfill her vow with fresh rolls and a song of praise. Ares had also upheld his end of the bargain. She was the mother of Teris, the lieutenant that had assisted Xena not too long ago.
Xena was pleased as well as amused to think of Ares getting involved with a protective mother like that. She soon got down to business. She told Ares of the rumors she had heard about the looted temple, and asked if it could possibly be true. He assured her that it was. Every year there were a few raids from the northern barbarians and every few years there were major raids. They killed the men and ravished the women. More and more of the northern Greeks were being born with light hair and fair skin. This last year there had been more raids than usual. Groups of the barbarians were forming war parties and raiding deep into Greek territory. One of these groups had been responsible for the raid in question. They had no respect for the Gods of Greece, in fact Gregor had been one of those northerners. He had been blond, stocky and muscular.
Since Ares had been the one to help her not long ago, Xena felt she owed him one. She offered to help. He raised one eyebrow quizzically. She said "I mean it. I'm offering to help as long as there are no strings attached." He grinned suddenly and asked with a smirk. "No strings?" "You heard me, no strings!" she replied. He was still smirking, but he finally agreed. She had to take care of a few things first but agreed to meet him the next day.
Xena returned to their room at the Inn. Gabrielle was fast asleep. Xena took off the cloak, and put it away with her things. Then she stripped down to her shift and climbed into bed. She was also tired, and soon was sleeping deeply. Ares was watching her in his mirror and smiled as he saw her hug her pillow. She slept with her arms around the pillow and her head on one corner, almost as if she had her arms about someone and her head on his shoulder. He was tempted to enter her dreams and see if she was dreaming about him, he resisted, but only because he was afraid she'd remember in the morning.
Gabrielle was not happy, not happy at all. "You what? You volunteered to help Ares with his problem? Are you crazy? He's just trying to get you back again. You can't trust him, you know you can't, he's just up to something. I don't know what, but I just know that he's up to something." She continued to rant and rave for quite some time. Xena's calmness did nothing for her. Gabrielle was absolutely furious. Xena simply continued packing her bags. "You don't have to come, you know." she stated calmly. "It would be fine with me if you decided to go on and visit your folks for a few weeks. I can meet you there after this is all over and done with." "Not on your life! Leave you to go with Ares? You could just be tempted to rejoin him. You're better than that. I want to be there to make sure he's not up to his old tricks." Gabrielle exclaimed heatedly. She began to furiously pack her own bags."
They gathered their horses, loaded their packs, and walked to the back of the temple. Ares was there with his own horse. This was a coal black stallion a full two hands taller than Argo. The stallion promptly began to prance in place when Argo got close enough for him to smell her. He ignored Gabrielle's gelding entirely. They all mounted, Ares waved a hand and they were no longer at the temple. They were on a grassy slope overlooking a valley. In the valley was a large encampment circling a huge pavilion. This was their destination. As they drew near, they were greeted with shouts of jubilation. Ares....Ares....Ares, was repeated over and over. Xena grinned as some of them suddenly recognized her. Shouts of Xena....Xena....Xena...soon went up as well. As they drew up their horses at the pavilion, Xena noticed that the idiot warlord was standing to one side. Just behind him was her friend Teris. She grinned, passed the warlord by, clasped Teris by the forearm and then threw her other arm about his neck and hugged him. "Teris, I'm so glad to see you again. Ares stood to one side with a crease between his eyebrows.
The warlord was trying to get his Lord's attention. As soon as Xena let go of Teris and returned to his side, Ares actually recognized the man's presence. His name was Cletus and he was the same man who had made the blood sacrifice in the temple. Xena had absolutely no use for him. As Ares had said, he was an idiot. Only luck and good lieutenants had brought him to his present position of power. He had three aides, one of whom was Teris. All three were too young for a position of leadership, so they worked with Cletus. The troops would have preferred the younger men. Cletus was unpredictable. Harsh punishment for small infractions was a common thing, but if he was in a good mood, he might let a major foul-up slip by without any punishment whatsoever. You just never knew from day to day. Most of the time, however, the aides took care of the punishment details. They were just and the men much preferred it that way.
They all gathered inside the pavilion, which had several rooms. The main room had several divans and chairs at one end, and a huge table surrounded with chairs at the other. They took their seats at the table, with Ares at the head. Xena sat to his left, with Gabrielle beside her, Teris just beyond Gabrielle, and the warlord on the right side with his other two aides beyond him. A map appeared on the table with stones to hold the corners flat. Ares stood up, pointed at a spot on the map, and announced that here was the temple that had been raided. He then went on to point out other places that had been raided recently. All were within a small area of the map. "These were all done by a group of about thirty man. A small band, I agree, but they seem to be well trained. They waste no time, hit and run, taking their loot with them. As you can see there is an open area in the central portion of the raids. Some deep valleys comprise most of that area, and I believe that is their base of operations. I believe you, Teris, have had recent experience with a similar situation." He was answered with a grin and a nod.
The warlord tried to interrupt. He received a glare from Ares, and sat back down. "I'll get to you later ." Ares continued. He went on with supposition and rumor. "I will have to do some checking before we make any serious plans. I just wanted to make sure we were all aware of the possible problems at hand. I'll get back to you in the morning. Meet me here shortly after dawn and I'll have more information for you." The warlord and his men left the pavilion. Ares walked over to one of the divans, seated himself, and motioned the two women to a seat on the other. He then snapped his fingers. Plates of sliced meat and cheese, bowls of fruit and baskets of fresh rolls along with a carafe of red wine appeared. Xena looked at the rolls, and then at Ares. She lifted one eyebrow and looked again at the rolls before looking back to him. He grinned and nodded. there was a dish of cold fresh butter with some small knives stuck in it. Xena took some of the butter, and spread it on one of the rolls. It was absolutely delicious. "Now you know why my priests look forward to Sunday." He remarked. "They always order fresh butter on Saturday, because they know the rolls are coming on Sunday when she comes to make her offering.
In one corner of the room was a shrouded shape. It was large and flat. Xena had a pretty good idea what it was from her experiences as a warlord. Ares always kept a large mirror on hand for scrying. He walked over, took hold of the cloth covering it and pulled. The mirror was exposed as she had known it would be. He took a seat before the mirror. Waving one hand in a lazy manner he began observing the area in question. Xena had followed him over and stood at one side of his chair watching as well. Gabrielle was intrigued, she had never seen such a thing before. Without conscious thought she followed Xena and stood on the other side of Ares. They watched as a group of men on horses came out of a hidden valley. They had to move some large shrubs which had been cut and placed to hide the entrance. When they were all outside, the shrubs were replaced. "Clever!" Xena stated. As they continued to watch, a bush was dragged across their tracks to remove any trace of their passage. "Real clever." Xena continued. Ares waved his hand again, causing the view in the mirror to shift. From a point high overhead could be made out the rough location of the valley. Ares walked over to the map and drew in the area. He then returned to the mirror to see if there were other entrances to the valley, and to see just how organized the encampment was. Gabrielle continued to watch in awe as he scouted the whole area from his mirror. There was another entrance to the valley, disguised as the first one had been. The encampment was larger than they had thought. Apparently they only sent out a portion of the men at any one time. The major portion stayed in the valley. There had to be over a hundred of them. They were mostly blond, but some had light brown hair, and a few were darker.
They were obviously barbarians. The camp was a rough one. They had no tents, just some kind of brush huts with skins over them to keep out the rain. There was no proper sanitation. They had trenches right beside the huts. There was a small creek running through the valley, and a large area had been fenced off for horses. Ares then began to examine carefully the sides of the valley. He found a few places that would be easy to access with ropes. Xena grinned at him. He was obviously thinking of her own plans with regard to Gregor. He knew that he had men who could take on this job because they had already done so for her.
When he was finished with his scrying and map making, he escorted the women to another area of the pavilion. With a broad grin, he bowed to them and left. Inside were a pair of beds, a dressing table, a washstand with basin, pitcher and towels, and a wardrobe. Their bags were on the beds having been placed there while they were in conference. They unpacked their things quickly, got themselves ready for bed, and turned in. There were none of the sounds they would have expected in the middle of an army camp. The room was almost completely silent except for the faint sound of the wind blowing on the wall of the tent. They were soon asleep. Both slept deeply, without any dreams.
The next morning there was a faint scratching on the flap of their room. Xena was instantly awake. She shook Gabby awake, and spoke to whoever was at the door. "We're awake. We'll be out shortly." There was a soft voice that replied. It wasn't familiar at all. The girls dressed quickly and left the room. There they found a young priest waiting. He led them back to the table where they had been in conference. A large and hearty breakfast was waiting for them. All those from the evening before were gathered there as well. They discussed tactics as they ate. As soon as they were finished, the table was cleared. The map instantly appeared with all the new marks clearly inscribed. Teris had seen such things before he had joined Cletus. He had been aide to one of Ares' favorite warlords years ago. He had only left when the warlord died of some kind of fever. Several others among the troops had died of the same fever. Nobody knew what caused it. They were lucky that more didn't catch the disease. Out of three hundred and fifty troops, about ten percent had developed the fever, but less than a dozen had died.
It had been decided that Teris along with several dozen of the climbers who had worked with him before would climb down ropes and work from within the valley. They would take out sentries, and prepare the way for the main parties to move in. Half the troops would come in from the east, and the other half would come in from the west. They would get into position on the night before the battle, and by dawn would be ready to move in. Again Xena ordered them to use cloth to wrap any noisy equipment. They were to secure everything possible before they made their move. Xena was in charge of the eastern group, and Cletus would handle the western group. Ares made sure that they all had their orders before they set out.
Gabby was acting as Xena's lieutenant, much to the dismay of the troops. "Two women? Xena we know, but who in Tartarus is the little blond?" They soon found out that she knew what she was doing. No group of barbarians was going to even slow her down. Their group made it's quiet way to the eastern entrance to the valley. They saw a group of raiders wiping out their tracks and entering the valley. That was good, they didn't want to miss any. Another group appeared. This one was comprised of only half a dozen men. They carefully wiped out their tracks also, going a ways further, then doubling back to the entrance. All the better. She hoped they 'd get them all.
the attack commenced shortly after dawn the next morning. They saw a fire arrow arching over the hillsides, and began to move in. They were hoping for a clean strike like the last one, but it didn't happen that way. Not to be outmaneuvered by Xena, Cletus had decided to move in early. His troops were already inside the western end of the valley when the arrow flew. They had surprised a sentry that hadn't been taken out yet. He let out a bellow that woke the whole camp. Raiders came scrambling out of their huts with weapons in hand. Cletus took an arrow in one eye that penetrated to the brain. He dropped in his tracks. His aides looked down at him, shrugged their shoulders and took over the command of the troops. Shortly after this, Xena and her troops came on the scene. The raiders were well armed and trained. They were giving as good as they got. Their leader was a huge blond bulging with muscles. One of the aides took him on, but was soon wounded badly. Xena arrived just as he went down. She deflected a blow that would have beheaded him, then went on the offensive. Her war cry rose above the din of battle as she attacked ruthlessly. The powerful muscles of the blond managed to defend himself against her strongest blows. Her only real advantage against him was her speed and agility. He appeared to be muscle bound, unable to make some of the moves that she could do with ease. She ran up the front of him, kicked him in the head, flipped and landed out of his reach. He shook his head briefly, then attacked again. She flipped over him and came at him from behind. He was a little slow in turning, and she managed to get in a kick to the knee before his sword was within range of her. The kick didn't faze him. She dove to one side and rolled back to her feet. She was just in time. His long legs gave him the advantage in a small space. He had made two great steps and was upon her. She dove again, ending in a flip. Again she was just out of reach. They had been going at it for quite a while. Xena had never met someone who was quite this good before. No one other than Ares had been able to match her, but Ares was a god. This guy was a mortal and he was good.
The battle went on and on. Xena was getting tired. She was incredulous at the fact. This couldn't be happening. Her opponent seemed to be as fresh as ever. There was a sudden flash of blue light. Ares had arrived. He had been watching for quite a while now. He had realized that this time Xena was in over her head. He moved to intercept the sword blow that would have taken off her arm at the shoulder. The blade met his in an incredible ringing of steel. Sparks flew from his blade. The barbarian never hesitated, he simply changed targets. Another warrior tried to take Ares in the back, but was stopped by Xena's blade. She was terribly tired, but had rested just long enough to get her breath back. Attack, parry, jab, within a few minutes she had killed him. Another moved to take his place. She and Ares stood back to back against a number of foes. He made a sudden move that took out a sneak attack on her, and she later returned the favor. Suddenly there was another great ringing of steel, and the barbarian leader's sword broke in two. It hadn't been made to duel with a sword made by Hephaestus. Two swift moves later, Ares had taken off the leader's head. They continued to fight side by side and back to back until there were no more enemies to battle.
Cleanup didn't take too long. They dragged all the huts and hides into the center of the valley and burned them. The bodies and survivors were taken back to civilization for justice. They had found most of the loot taken from the temple in the leader's hut. It was several times as large as the others and absolutely stuffed with valuables. Some of the horses were later identified as belonging to various farmers and returned. The raiders themselves went to Corinth. There weren't many left. They had all fought like a bunch of madmen, shrieking and screaming as they fought. Wounds didn't seem to slow them down much, They just went on with the fighting until they couldn't stand on their feet any longer or could no longer hold a sword. Less than a dozen had survived, and all of them were wounded.
Gabrielle was as happy as she could be. She had been involved with some of the fighting, and had overseen a lot more of it. She had been nearby when Xena was failing in her battle. She had realized that the impossible was about to happen to Xena until Ares had arrived. She had breathed a great sigh of relief when he blocked the blow that would have severely incapacitated Xena. He had saved Xena's arm, and probably her life as well. She decided that he wasn't as bad as she had thought. He had done something right, and it was a very important something at that. She felt that she owed him one, or at least a thank you. When the battle was over she did just that.
Ares transported them back to his temple, where they were greeted with great joy. The priests had been aware of much that was happening during the fighting. One of the high priests had used the mirror to watch the battle. They had all seen the intensity of the fighting, had seen incredible feats of daring by the soldiers of Ares. They had been facing a smaller number of enemies but the foes had been berserkers. They didn't know when to quit. If they had any strength left they kept right on attacking. It didn't matter the odds. They had acted as though they couldn't possibly lose. It must have come as a shock when they realized that they had not only lost, but lost badly.
When Xena had first told Gabrielle to go back to the Inn by herself there had been some resistance. Xena just stood there and stared her down. She had finally left, but it was obviously with great reluctance. "I have matters that still need to be cleared up." Xena had told her. Gabrielle had finally acquiesced. Xena had gone with Ares back to the private quarters. They had sat on one of the divans for a while and discussed the battle. They had both been amazed at the strength and stamina of the leader. After having fought Xena to a stand still, he had gone on to give Ares a good battle. If his sword hadn't broken when it did, he might have lasted quite a while longer. His men had tried to defend him to the last, swarming any who battled him, trying to defeat all comers. They had died to a man. The few that survived were mostly taken before the battle.
An uncomfortable silence fell after a while. They each stared at the other. Finally they both started speaking at once. Then they both started laughing. Ares looked at Xena, she returned the gaze. Then she moved into his embrace. They just held each other for a while. Then she leaned her head back and parted her lips for a kiss. He quickly obliged. The kisses went on for quite a while. Hands began to roam. He raised an eyebrow and looked toward the bed. She nodded. They slowly got to their feet, arms about each other and walked the few feet between the divan and the bed. As they went, she began taking off her clothes. He admired the view as he opened the sheets, shed his leathers and climbed inside. She was right behind him. They lay there for a while in each other's arms and continued to discuss the battle. He kissed her hair and brow as she lay there with her head on his shoulder. She again lifted her head for a kiss, and things rapidly escalated from there.
The next morning they lay there kissing. Xena noticed something moving under the sheet and couldn't resist. She lifted the sheet and asked "What have we here?" Ares grinned and stated "That 's a warlord standing at attention." "Not Cletus. Pray tell me that's not Cletus." she asked anxiously. "Oh, no, I can guarantee that's not Cletus. He's dead." he replied. She laughed out loud. "That's good. I'm glad. May I make a suggestion?" He looked at her for a moment then shrugged. "Sure, why not? What would you like to suggest?" "I'd like to suggest that you order that warlord into position, then attack." He laughed uproariously for a moment, then replied. "I think that can be arranged." The battle raged for quite a while, until the warlord lost his proud demeanor and surrendered in defeat.......until the next time.
The End