"Cathbad, what is it?" Rohan asked his old teacher, helping the druid to a seat between himself and Deirdre as the knights gathered around the Samhain bonfire. The old man shook his head wearily.
"I have had another vision of the mysterious girl you saw in your dreams, Rohan," he said. "I have sent her a message; I hope she wil receive it in time to come here and help us defeat Numaine. I feel Numaine's powers growing stronger every instant; and I fear that without the help of this girl, Draganta may lose the battle against such a powerful sorceress."
"Well, I don't know about Rohan," Angus said, "but I could handle having another woman around here."
Deirdre elbowed the thief in the ribs.
"Do you know who she is, Cathbad? Or from whence she comes?"
"Her name is Xena; she is a princess of some sort...though I saw very little of her true nature. It is as though she deliberately clouds her thoughts from others...but I do not know how she could possess such powers."
"Royalty...and a warrior as well," Ivar stated, glancing at Garrett. "But I have never heard such a name before."
"It is not common, even in her own land. I know that she is very young; but also fearless in the face of danger. She will be of great importance to Kells and Temra in the battle against our enemy."
The friends looked at one another and the druid. Someone from an unknown place with a hidden past? What an adventure!
Xena knocked the sword from the grip of her young opponent, catching it in her own hand and aiming both of the weapons at his chest. The young man lifted his hands in surrender, and the warrior princess laughed, tossing the sword back to him.
"Good job, Hercules. But you still have to learn to loosen your wrists more if you ever want to be as good as me."
Hercules sheathed his weapon, grinning sheepishly. He shrugged, running a hand through his unruly blond hair.
"Yeah, well, I haven't been raised by Amazons my whole life, either."
"Bet you wish you had," said Iolaus, smacking the flat of his sword against Herc's shoulderblade. "I know I do. Hi, Xena."
Xena wiggled her fingers at the shaggy haired youth. "Hey, Iolie. Lilith and I are going to Kora's for lunch; you guys wanna join us?"
"I'm in," Iolaus said. "Jason's...busy. Doing...king stuff. You coming, Herc?"
Hercules looked a little distracted. "Yeah; umm, what's that?" He asked, pointing at a pinkish fog that was floating toward them in a small mass of sorts.
It stopped in front of Xena, pausing as though it were a dog sniffing her out. Then, in one swift movement, the fog attached itself to her head. Xena's eyes closed, and soon Cathbad's vision was inside her head.
When she opened her eyes again, Xena stared off at the distant hills.
Hercules put his hand on her shoulder.
"Hey...you okay?"
Xena shook her head a little as though to clear her thoughts.
"Yeah, I'm fine. I just...I have to go somewhere this weekend. And I may not be back by the time break's over. Will you guys tell Cheiron I had to go away for a while; but that I'll return as soon as I can."
"Sure. Is something wrong back home?" Iolaus asked.
"Nooo...it's someplace else. They need my help. I have to go; I'm sorry!"
Xena raced away, holding her sword still as it thumped against her back. Hercules and Iolaus looked a little worried.
"Wonder what that was all about?" Iolaus said, wishing he could go with Xena. Herc nodded.
"I don't know; but I'm gonna find out. Come on; we'll get Lilith and Theseus, and then go to the Amazon village to see Cyane. Maybe Xena told her something none of us know."
Xena rubbed a hand across her eyes as she settled against a kind tree. She wondered why she would have a vision of Eire after so many years of absence. She'd been taken away from her family before her third birthday; now sixteen, she wondered if she had the courage to go back to the land of her birth, the courage to face the demons she would undoubtedly find there.
*I've got to get to Thebes,* she thought, trudging through the green grass, finding her way to the dirt road. *From there I can hire a boat and begin the journey to Ireland.*
She had a long journey ahead of her.
"So when do you think this warrior princess of Cathbad's will arrive?" Ivar asked his fellow knights as they returned from a hike in the cliffs by the sea. It had been a week since they had sat around the Samhain bonfire, listening to the druid's description of their new ally from across the sea. Angus shrugged widely, pulling his mace higher up on his shoulder.
"Who knows?" He said. "Maybe she won't come at all."
"Now that's possible," Rohan agreed, pausing to sheathe his sword. "This Xena might not have received Cathbad's message; or if she did she might not have understood it."
"Lot's of good that'll do us," Aideen said, flying back to tir na nOg. Garrett smiled; he thought she was probably just jealous that it was a female warrior coming to help them...as he turned to look out on the sea, he spotted a ship, its configuration unlike any he'd ever seen before.
"Look! It's a ship!" He cried.
"Maybe it's Princess Xena," Deirdre said, climbing slowly and carefully down the rockface. "We should meet her on the shore."
The knights made their way down to the rocky beach, watching the small boat rowing toward them with a young woman inside. Rohan noticed with some concern that her clothes were few, and what there was looked like black leather. She wore a dark green cloak over her body and head, obscuring her face from view. She wore also a sword on her back which closely resembled his own, although hers seemed much larger attached to the strap around her stomach and back when compared to her small form.
The young lady stepped nimbly out of the boat and tossed a coin to the oarsman.
"There's a denier for your trouble," she told him, and he grumbled as he rowed back to the ship. The woman turned as she removed her hood, and Rohan's mouth dropped open. It was her! The girl from his dream! The girl raised an eyebrow and pursed her lips as she studied them. Her green cat's eyes bore into Rohan's own cornflower blue ones.
*He must be the leader,* she thought, and extended her arm to embrace his in the customary gesture of friendship.
"My name is Xena," she said. "I received a vision a little more than a week ago which told me I was needed here."
Rohan nodded. "It was my teacher, the druid Cathbad, who sent the message, my lady. You are welcome to Kells. I'm Rohan."
"No," Xena stated factually. "No, you are Draganta. I'd know that sword anywhere; sure isn't it the same as my own?" She asked drawing her sword and handing it, handle first, to Rohan. "I had thought never to set foot in Ireland again. It appears I was mistaken...brother."
"So...how do you know? I mean, can you be sure that you are my sister?" Rohan asked as they journeyed back to Kells castle. Xena nodded.
"I was born here, sixteen years ago. I was stolen from an orphanage when I was barely three. My brother was gone with his friends at the time I was taken...but I remember him perfectly. He was only five...but you look so like him. Then there are the swords...there can be no mistake. You are my brother."
Rohan nodded slowly, uncertainly, and Deirdre put her arm about his waist, looking at Xena.
"Have you travelled far, my lady?" She asked, and Xena glanced back at her.
"All the way from Greece, princess. And don't bother with that 'my lady' stuff. Just call me Xena."
"But you are a princess..."
"I'm princess of a tribe of woman warriors known as Amazons. We are the Telequire nation; but I am not a leader there nor do I wish to be. Cyane rules that pack of female wolves, and she's welcomed to them."
"You said Greece?" Angus said, scurrying up to catch up to Xena. "Is that anywhere near Rome?"
"Rome is one of our enemies," Xena said, drawing up short as she looked at Angus. "What is your name, knight?"
"Angus," he said softly, his brown eyes pleading. "My name's Angus."
"Angus," Xena said, then nodded. "Yes; Hercules gave me a message to give to you should I ever come this way. He said that he went to the Elysian Fields to try and rescue Eurydice. There he saw Bridie, I take that to be a friend of yours? Anyway, Hades told Herc that Bridie must remain in the Elysian Fields until her one true love came for her. He must have meant you."
"So she's alive?"
"Not exactly. The Elysian Fields, well...it's a paradise. A place where great heroes and gods go after they have died. If she's there, it can only mean that she has been granted an extended life from Hades. A chance to live again."
Garrett steped up, placing a hand on Angus' shoulder.
"I don't mean to intrude, but...do your friends know where you've gone?"
Xena's smile disappeared. "No, I didn't tell them. I left in a hurry because I didn't know how to tell them I'd had another vision."
"Another? Do you have visions often, then?" Rohan asked, taking her arm and gently forcing her to pause for a moment. Xena looked down at the ground.
"Yes," she said softly. "For a while there I didn't know what they were. But when I turned twelve a priestess was in Sparta, where I lived at the time with the tribe...Cyane took me to see her. The woman showed me how to understand my visions, how to control them. She told me my destiny..." Xena stopped suddenly, afraid to go on. "But that doesn't matter now, anyway. Let's hurry and find this Cathbad, why don't we."
Rohan shrugged as Xena removed herself from his grip, and Angus patted him on the shoulder as he passed by. Angus could see that Rohan wanted to corner Xena, find out if what she said was true or an elaborate lie...but the warrior was almost afraid...both of himself and of Xena.
Angus had it all figured out. Rohan was twenty; the same age Xena's brother would be now. They both had the same sword...and hadn't it been said that Maeve and Fin Varra's four children carried the swords of Eire? That Xena carried the final sword could only mean one thing.
She was Rohan's sister.
"Are you sure Angus?" Rohan asked as he lay down on his bed that night. Xena had been introduced to Cathbad and Conchobar and would spend the night in the castle next to Deirdre's room.
Angus nodded. "Positive. I've given it a lot of thought, and I seem to remember her from when we were kids, before we met Cathbad. When she disappeared, you cried for days and wouldn't leave the orphanage, waiting for her to come home. I guess we both just forgot her eventually."
"But we look nothing alike. Look at her skin, her hair...if it weren't for her eyes being so green I'd say she was your sister, Angus," Rohan said, pulling off his shirt and tossing it in a corner. "How can anyone so beautiful be related to me?"
"Rohan, don't sell yourself short," Angus said. "You're the best looking man in the lot of us; except maybe for Garrett..."
"Nah," Rohan said softly, turning over on his side. "Goodnight Angus."
"Rohan?"
"Yeah?"
Angus sighed. "I want to go on a quest; see if I can find Bridie."
"Yeah? And...?"
"You wouldn't...mind, would you? If I went?"
"No, Angus. Go find her. I know how much you must love her. Maybe even more than..."
"You love Deirdre?"
"Yeah, exactly."
Angus nodded.
"Goodnight, Rohan..."
