A Xena Tale: Part 3


By Briar

Disclaimer: I own no part of the characters from Xena: Warrior Princess, I am only borrowing them for the length of this story. I promise to return them intact when I am finished. This story is for the enjoyment and entertainment of the members of the Ares and Xena Shippers Club. I am making no money thereon.

The night before had been one of the most enjoyable Ares could ever remember. He had decided to make a visit to his warrior princess. After all, she was his chosen. When he had arrived, she had chosen to ignore him. He knew she was awake, because her breathing had changed as soon as he arrived. He watched for a moment, then leaned over and whispered "Xena..." in her ear. That had done the trick. She resignedly sat up and talked to him. Then she had started to chuckle. The chuckle had almost reached the stage of hysterics. He wasn't used to people laughing at him, not even Xena, and he wanted to get to the bottom of this. Once she had told him the mental picture she had of a flock of hens checking him out, he had to admit it was funny. Gabrielle had awakened, and immediately challenged his presence. When he told her they were laughing about chickens, she was horrified. She thought Xena had told him about her earlier episode with a loud mouthed rooster, with the teasing it had engendered, and had been decidedly unhappy. Then Xena had explained that this was another chicken story altogether. They had soon gotten the mixup straightened out. After both tales had been thoroughly dissected, they had gone on to other ridiculous ideas. They had spent until dawn chuckling and he had finally , reluctantly, left to perform his official duties.

He sat there on his throne, with one leg casually flung over the arm. He habitually sat this way when he was pondering something. Every once in a while he would chuckle. It was hard to get his mind back on business after wholeheartedly enjoying himself like that. He hadn't had that much fun since he was a child, and it had been a terribly long time since he was a child. He and his sister Aphrodite had been incorrigible. They had gotten into all kinds of mischief. 'Dite had always been his favorite sibling. Some of his other brothers and sisters were so upright and perfect that it made him sick. And furthermore, they hadn't improved any with age. They were still a bunch of self righteous hypocrites. "Oh, Ares, you're so bad." Of course he was bad, he was the god of war. If he had been a lily livered pansy he couldn't have done the job properly. And he did take pride in his work. His warlords had conquered much of the known world at one time or another. If Xena were still with him, he could have finished the job. What would they think then?

His imagination took him through an alternate reality. Xena, conqueror of the world. She would be his warrior queen, a goddess, sitting at his side forever. Then reality set back in. She wanted nothing to do with that scenario. Thanks to that moralistic half brother of his she had chosen to leave him, to change her life, to do good. The thought still irritated him. Of course there was always a chance that she would change her mind and return to his side. It was, admittedly, a small chance. At least a small chance was better than no chance at all. What was that saying about women? Oh, yes, now he recalled. It is a woman's prerogative to change her mind. Maybe he could change it back.

The abrupt arrival of Discord roused him from his musings. She casually came up, sat down on the unoccupied arm of his throne, and grinned. "Have I got news for you!" she chortled. He tried to ignore her. "Aren't you even going to ask what it is?" "No." was his reply. "But it's really something!" she insisted. "Discord, if it was really important, I would probably already know about it." he stated. "But..but.. it really is important, at least to Xena. I know how you like to keep up to date with these things." "Xena? What about Xena?" "A new warlord is setting up business in the vicinity of Amphipolis." "A new warlord? One of mine? I never authorized that!" "Well, she'll probably blame you for it, even if he isn't one of yours." "Who is this idiot? What's his name? Where did he come from?" he asked anxiously. "He's got a strange name, Gregor, I think. It's not Gregorius, I'm sure. As for where he's from, nobody seems to know. He just showed up one day, killed the current warlord of the small band, and took over. He sliced off his head in fact, then placed it on a pole as an example. He's since done the same with two more small bands. That gives him a sizeable group."

Ares decided that this was definitely something to check out. He hadn't even been aware of the takeover. He must be slipping or something. He transported himself to his chambers, seated himselt in a chair facing a large mirror, and began scanning the area. There he was, and no, he wasn't anyone Ares was familiar with. He was stocky and muscular. Blond hair, blue eyes, and a superior expression rounded out his description. Ares bristled in response. Some of the lieutenants were men Ares recognized. Three of the men had been under some of his minor warlords. They had been their lieutenants in fact. What was this, mutiny? Actually he couldn't blame the men if their commanders were unable to keep their heads. It was a case of survival of the fittest. If they wanted to survive they had to acknowledge the new commander as the fittest, as top dog in fact. Raiders were like a wolf pack. The Alpha male leads.

The group was located in the hills near Amphipolis. It wouldn't be long before they started demanding tribute. If it wasn't forthcoming immediately, they would probably raze the town. This must not be allowed to happen. Xena's mother and older brother lived there. If anything happened to either of them Xena would blame him. He pondered the matter for some time. He had no one in the area that was qualified to handle the situation. Maybe he had better at least notify Xena of the matter. Let her know that Gregor was not one of his, and that he had no control over the man. Gregor had his own gods, and would probably ignore anything he had to say. Maybe he could turn this to his own advantage.

His arrival was no surprise, it never was, she always knew the exact moment he appeared in her vicinity. It didn't matter that he was still technically inside the aether. She could still feel him. The link was remarkable. Even though she refused to acknowlege fealty, she was still his chosen. That designation was for life, and the mutual bond would always exist. He always knew if she needed him, he even knew when she was thinking about him. That fact still made her furious. "What?" she asked. "Just a piece of information you might like to have." he replied. "What makes you think I want any information from you?" was her curt query. "The fact that your mother and brother might be in danger was a little something I thought you might like to know." "You bastard! What have you done now?" was her furious demand. "I haven't done anything, in fact I have nothing to do with it whatsoever. It was simply brought to my attention that a new man has taken control of three small bands and moved into the area of Amphipolis. He doesn't recognize any gods but his own, which don't include me, I might add. I'd help, but I have no one in the area who can command troops. Men I have in abundant supply, weapons are no problem, I just don't have any capable commanders in the area." She looked at him for a long moment. The intense scrutiny began to bother him. "So what do you want me to do? You know I'm not coming back to you." "I didn't ask you to come back. I am simply offering what help I can provide." was his quiet reply. He continued to just stand there. She bagan to feel self conscious under his level gaze, and began to pace. She muttered unintelligibly to herself for a few minutes, and finally said, "What do you get out of this?". "Nothing, no strings attached, I'm only offering to help. After all, you're my chosen even though you deny it."

She had considered the matter from all angles. She couldn't find a single fine thread of inuendo or threat in his offer. She finally decided that she would be a fool if she refused his offer, and she was no one's fool. "How fast can you get men and weapons into position? I want them in the clearing to the north of the village as soon as possible. The raiders are camped in the walled valley to the north of town aren't they? It's the only place a large group could make a camp that wouldn't be terribly obvious. They could hide out there for weeks before anyone found them. They will need supplies. That means they will probably start raiding the farms in the area. I've got to put a stop to this nonsense!" She had rapidly covered the entire subject from every angle. Ares looked on with amusement. She was still his Xena. She was a marvelous strategist. He had not even told her where the encampment was. She knew the area well enough to place the camp exactly. This was going to be interesting. Xena was going to be leading a small army of his men, even though it was in her own interest, and she would not be acknowledging him as supreme commander. It was going to be marvelous. Another wonderful thing was that the bard had never once interrupted. she had stood there, with mouth gaping, in complete silence. Will wonders never cease? He'd never thought to see that day.

Xena had quickly gathered the dumbstruck Gabrielle and headed for Amphipolis. She left Gabby with her mother, and went out to reconnoiter. She had found a place of concealment where she could overlook the camp. They were situated in a valley with a brook running through it, fairly tall cliffs on both sides, and only open at the two ends. An easy place to guard, under normal circumstances, but not so easy when the enemy commander was as intimately acquainted with the area as she was. She knew of at least five places where a skilled climber could navigate the walls. Going down was easy. Secure the upper end, drop a rope, and clamber down. If she could get enough ropes, she could send a large group of warriors down from both sides at once. they could take out any sentries, and her army could simply march in and take the camp. If she was lucky, there would be little bloodshed. Of course she would probably have to take out the commander personally. He must be reasonably good to have taken over three bands of raiders as he had. Warlords, even minor ones, had to be capable fighters. They had to win the respect of their men. Braggadocio just didn't cut it.

She quickly returned to town, and commandeered every rope that was available. Then she went to the field where her men were to position themselves. They were there, exactly where she wanted them, and she promptly found out who was in charge. She actually knew the man, his name was Teris. He was tall, rangy, had sandy hair and freckles. He had been under her command when she was a warlord under Ares, but he still appeared terribly young. He had been, at that time, just a gangly kid. The fact that he was now second in command said a lot for his abilities and resolve. He was still a little youthful for his position. Give him a few years, though, and he would be a power to be reckoned with. She was happy to see that he had done so well. He knew all the soldiers under his command, knew all their strengths and weaknesses. At Xena's request, he gathered a large number of men who had climbing experience. She drew out a map of the enemy territory. "We can go down here, here, and here easily. These other two areas require real expertise." The men sorted themselves out into five groups, with the most experienced climbers in two of them. "Now, report here just before dusk. I want to get you in position before it's completely dark. Get some rest today. Get something to eat tonight, and gather some supplies to take with you for tomorrow morning. There will be no fires for you tonight, no hot food, no comfortable tent. We can't take the chance that you will be spotted before our attack. They hastened to do her bidding.

Teris stayed with Xena. "What supplies do we have?" she asked. "We have plenty of food and weapons, tents, everything we could possibly need." Teris replied. "Good, do we have any ropes? I've already gathered every rope in town, but we don't really have enough. I'd like to send twenty men at a time down the cliff. I only have thirteen ropes." "That's no problem. We were provided with a whole stack of coiled ropes. I wondered what we were supposed to do with them. Now I know." Xena thought a brief thanks to Ares. Count on him to be one step ahead in the planning dept. There were brief times when she missed their old camaraderie. They had always worked well together. She had always been able to count on his support and encouragement This would be almost like old times.

The rest of the men were divided into two groups. The two group leaders were given their orders. They were shown the map, and told that once they were in position, they were to keep complete silence, they were to sleep in shifts. When the first faint hint of false dawn appeared on the horizon they were to be in position. With the appearance of a fire arrow arching in the air over the enemy camp they were to quickly and quietly enter the valley and surround the camp. If possible, they were to take them completely by surprise. There was to be no excess killing, because they wanted to make an example of the surviving raiders.

The plan went off perfectly. Xena had positioned the two large groups just out of sight of the entrances. She and Teris had taken opposite sides of the valley, and gone down the ropes with their men. The climbers had each been given a bow and fire arrows. They each carried a small earthen pot with a lid, in the pot were coals. At their waists was a pouch of tinder. Each man had been given specific orders. Some were to take out the sentries, others were to hide in the brush just outside the camp site and raise Tartarus if the enemy spotted the reinforcements entering the valley. They could quickly add the tinder to the coals, blow on them until they flared up, and then just dip each arrow into the flames before letting them fly. Teris had the duty of sending the signal arrow into the sky. At Xena's sign, he prepared an arrow and sent it soaring into the air. Before the sentries knew it, they were disarmed and bound. The reinforcements then entered the valley. They made almost no sound at all. Metal accouterments had been bound with strips of cloth to muffle any sound. They gathered silently around the camp, and began to enter tents as quietly as possible. There was almost no resistance. Each raider was bound and gagged to keep down any alarm. They had almost completed the exercise when someone came out of one of the tents they hadn't yet reached. When he became aware of the strangers in the camp, he gave out a mighty yell..."We're under attack!" he screamed. Within seconds, the remaining raiders swarmed out of their tents, weapons at the ready. As they realized their circumstances ( they were desperately outnumbered), they slowly began to lower their weapons. There were a few exceptions who decided to fight. Of course the commander was one of the exceptions. He managed to kill one of the soldiers that opposed him, but Xena was right behind that soldier. She gave her signature war cry, and brought her sword into play. It took a while, he was surprisingly good, but she did manage to defeat him. She had evaded his stroke, and successfully stabbed him in the thigh. He crumpled. Laying there on the ground, he still refused to give up. He drew a dagger and threw it at her. She had already turned to engage another man, and didn't see the dangerous move. Suddenly the dagger stopped in midair. Ares had appeared. The dagger reversed itself, flew through the intervening distance, and plunged into Gregor's chest. "That's one less problem." Ares stated. " He refused to even acknowledge me. Thought his gods could protect him. Not so! Not in my territory at least!"

Gabrielle had unwillingly stayed in the village. Xena had asked her to keep an eye on her mother, "She has no fighting skills, and I don't want her hurt in case something goes wrong. Please, Gabrielle, keep her safe?" Gabrielle had finally agreed. Now she was disgusted. Cyrene had never been in any real danger. Xena's army had appeared and taken control of the situation. The bard wasn't even on hand to record the battle. She had missed out on everything. Of course when Xena got back and informed her that there had been almost no fighting, she didn't believe her. " Our side had only three casualties. Eight of the raiders died, including their leader. We took them completely by surprise. It was all over before most of them even knew it had started." As the soldiers slowly gathered outside of the village, Gabrielle interviewed each of them to find out just what had happened. She found that Xena had told her the truth, then she simply recorded everything she could get. Gabby never did get the whole story out of Xena. Xena decided to keep the knife incident to herself. Gabby would not have appreciated the need for Ares' intervention. It could have been a serious situation if he hadn't appeared. She hated to admit it, but she owed him one.

The raiders had been bundled up in several wagons and transported to Corinth for justice. There the magistrates ordered them placed in the stocks for public ridicule for a week. Then they would be sent to prison. There weren't enough stocks for them all, and more had to be built. It was incredible that so many of them had been taken alive. Only incredible planning had allowed it to happen.

Ares was back on his throne, leg dangling again, with a pleased look on his face. This was more like it. Not quite like old times, but an amazingly sweet substitute. He had watched every move and counter move. Each maneuver had been planned to perfection. There had been no real battle, little bloodshed, but that was all because of intelligent planning. That took real finesse, and he admired that quality. What he wouldn't give for more. Oh well, he could hope.