Moving Argo off the track and into the trees on the other side, Xena thought for a moment about taking Gabrielle's staff with her. A quick glance told her the undergrowth was too thick and it would be a hindrance long before she or Gabrielle found it useful. She quickly walked back to the side of the path where she had found the thread and pushed the thorny branches aside with her sword before carefully stepping through. The forest wasn't much more open on the other side, and Xena knew it would take her candlemarks if she tried to proceed through it on foot. Looking over her head, she spotted a horizontal branch she could jump onto without too much trouble. Flexing her knees, she bounded up and was soon standing securely on the branch. Scanning the ground below her, she could just make out the faint track someone had made as they forced their way through the brambles and thorny bushes. Whoever it was, they had been very careful to try to cover their passing, but they obviously hadn't counted on a certain Warrior Princess following behind.
Xena followed the trace relentlessly, league after league, moving as quickly as she could through the trees. On several occasions, she had to climb down from the branches to pick up the trail again as it crossed a rocky area or simply disappeared for a time. It was well into the late afternoon, the surrounding forest already in deep gloom, when her sharp ears picked up the sound of voices ahead. Echoing faintly under the voices was the burble of water running over rocks and boulders. Stopping for a moment to orient herself, Xena realised she was just a candlemark's fast walk from the western edge of the Amazon hunting grounds. Something told her this was not an Amazon border patrol, nor would it be a hunting party.
Moving silently through the last of the covering branches, Xena crept up on whoever was camped in the clearing. Peering through the last of the branches, she could see no sign of the captured Amazons or of Gabrielle. It made sense in a way. The women were probably being held somewhere else. Xena would simply have to ask where, after she had pinched off the blood flow to some poor soul's brain.
She carefully counted the number of people in the clearing. She could see about a dozen men, but from the number of bedrolls and lean-tos scattered about, there were bound to be more somewhere, probably close by. Xena decided to wait until nightfall before making her entrance into the camp below. It would be much more frightening that way, she thought.
By the time true night had arrived, Xena's anger was barely held in check. She had been listening to the men talk, and most of what they had been saying would have been enough to anger anyone. One conversation in particular had set her off. Two men had stood less than twenty paces from her hiding place and discussed the possibility of taking one of the very young girls from the Amazon village. The acts they were describing in such graphic terms would have been enough to turn her stomach if she hadn't been so filled with rage at the very idea of abusing a youngster in such a way. Even when she had been a warlord herself, she had never condoned that kind of behaviour from her men. They may have done other things far more monstrous, but when she could, Xena had tried to stop them from harming women and children.
As Xena had watched and listened to the men in the encampment below, the anger and rage she had fought with for so long pushed against the weakening barrier of her self-control. Part of her wanted nothing more than to let it go so she could simply kill and kill and kill, feeling nothing more than the satisfaction of causing so much pain and death. But the other side, that part of her Hercules had made her see was still there, that part Gabrielle nurtured so lovingly, struggled to maintain the control she felt she needed so desperately if she was to make up for her years of evil. Crouched in the branches, Xena fought with herself. Her hands had fisted together until her short nails had pierced her strong palms, the blood dripping along her forearms and over her gauntlets. Every muscle in her body was locked tight in the silent battle with her anger and hate. In the deepest, most hidden part of her soul, she really didn't want to win this battle. Two summers of fighting for good had not stilled the silent desire in her heart to wipe out everyone and everything in her path. All the blind anger and unthinking rage needed now was a final trigger.
A man suddenly came scrambling up from the river side of the camp, his face glowing with the excitement of his news. "Hey!! We've got Xena's whore!" he yelled happily around the clearing for all the hear.
Xena's mind snapped closed at his words, and any hope she may have had of controlling the anger within her evaporated. The only thing left was the rage pouring through her heart and soul, the desire to kill as many as she could for as long as she was able. Snatching her sword from the sheath on her back, she shot through the last of the branches like an angry arrow shot from a bow. Most of the men never knew what killed them.
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"Are you all right, Princess?" a gentle voice asked through the incredibly loud ringing in Gabrielle's ears.
Opening her eyes, the bard saw the face of an Amazon warrior leaning over her worriedly. "Yea. Ouch. I think so. Just a few scrapes from the rock is all," she replied as she patted her hands over her body feeling for anything more serious.
In the dim light, Gabrielle looked around the place she had landed. It resembled a rough stone bubble with a nearly flat floor, several cracks along one side allowing some light to filter in. Overhead was the opening she had been thrown down. She had taken a several-body-length fall through a rock tunnel before dropping out the other end and into the little cavern. Even from where she lay, Gabrielle could see the overhead entrance had been blocked off with the same large, flat stone her abductor had removed just before tossing her into the hole beneath. A quick head count gave her seven other women with her, some looking decidedly worse for wear. A few bedrolls were scattered along one side, and there were several baskets stacked near them. Aside from the light coming through the cracks in the walls, there were no torches and no fire. This was going to be one cold place come nightfall, she thought to herself.
"I'm assuming you all got here the same way I just did," Gabrielle said as she slowly climbed to her feet, waving away the assistance of one of the warriors.
Every woman nodded at her, confirming they had been captured and then thrown down the rock tunnel.
Limping around the cavern, working out some of the pain in her legs from the fall, Gabrielle asked, "Did anyone get a look at the behemoth that grabbed us?" The bard wasn't surprised when no one had.
"Can you tell us what happened to you?" one of the other warriors questioned.
"Xena and I were up on the mountain lookout. She had gone over the side of the ravine to look at something, and I was just standing there, trying to work up the courage to peek over the edge. A huge gloved hand suddenly appeared in front of my face and clamped itself over my mouth, and I felt an even larger body behind me. Then it was like the mountain fell on me. That's the last thing I remember until just before I saw that big black hole under me," Gabrielle explained. Looking at the other women gathered around her, the bard decided she had better get everyone else's story as well. "So, who was the first to do that pleasant little drop?"
It didn't take long to find out what had happened to each woman. All but one told an almost identical tale of a black gloved hand appearing out of nowhere, being 'helped' into unconsciousness and then the drop into the cavern. Only the last woman told a different story.
Deonisia had been the guard taken from the mountain pass lookout. She had seen something flashing across the ravine from the other side, and when she went to investigate, a large glowing shape had risen from the edge of the ravine at her feet. She had barely had a chance to move when a glowing fist had connected with the side of her head and the next thing she knew she was here with the others.
"There was something else different about Deonisia's arrival, though," Hariklea said. "When she was dumped down here it was still quite late at night, and where she had been hit, as well as some of her clothing, was glowing in the darkness. You'll probably see it for yourself tonight after the sun sets, Princess Gabrielle."
"Please, just call me Gabrielle. We're all in this one together, you know," the bard said. When are the Amazons ever going to relax around me? she thought a little irritably. "Can I see your clothing, Deonisia?" the blonde-haired woman asked.
The Amazon turned until the area of her clothing that glowed at night was in plain view. Gabrielle gently rubbed her fingers over the leather, feeling a light dust come away under them. Cupping her other hand over her fingertips and peering into a small crack she made between her cupped fingers, she could see a faint glow from the dust. "Nothing too special about this," she said as she wiped the dust residue from her hand. "It's a cave fungus that makes its own cold light. Xena showed it to me one time. Looks pretty spooky at night, I guess, if you don't know what it is. Some people collect it, dry it out and then sell for it special festivals and such. Xena told me it costs a small fortune in dinars, though, because it is so hard to get. Nice to have that part of the mystery solved, anyway. I just wish I could tell Xena about it."
Gabrielle had begun to walk around the small cavern looking for any possible way out. If there had been one, the other women probably would have found it by now themselves, but she needed something to take her mind off being trapped. She knew Xena would move mountains, literally if necessary, to find her again, but the bard hated feeling this helpless. Carefully examining the cracks in the stone wall, she saw that they were a body length or so long but not one of them was wide enough for her to crawl along.
Giggling emotionally a little, she thought a fat snake would have trouble getting through most of the openings. Finally settling again with the women, she decided she needed something that would take everyone's mind of the situation. "How about I tell you a story or two," she asked quietly. The women nodded in agreement, grateful for something to do other than worry. Thinking for a moment, Gabrielle began, "I sing a song of Xena, Warrior Princess, protector of nations…"
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Ephiny stood in the darkness near the entrance of her palace. A couple of her personal guards were standing further back in the darkness behind her. They were always behind her. She was really starting to understand why Gabrielle hated having an escort around when she came to visit. What few moments of complete privacy she managed to find in a day were truly precious to her now. Maybe the Princess had the right idea. No one could possibly get to her in the village proper, but as far as the other Amazons were concerned, it just wasn't right for a Queen not to have some kind of an escort or guard with her at all times. Ephiny sighed deeply. It was really putting a cramp in her social life. She missed the long nights by the fire, talking and drinking and telling unbelievable tales of battles past. Smiling sadly, she realised she missed some of the things that happened away from the light of the fire more.
Spotting Eponin striding a little angrily across the compound, Ephiny pursed her lips and gave a soft, three note whistle. The warrior's head snapped around at the sound. It was a private code they had worked out between them summers before, and Eponin knew the Queen was the only one who would use it. She couldn't see Ephiny standing in the darkness, but the whistle had come from there. Changing direction, Eponin quickly closed the distance between herself and the Queen. As she drew near, the warrior could just make out Ephiny standing in the gloom waiting for her.
"Hi, Eponin," The Amazon Queen said quietly.
"Evening, Your Majesty," Eponin replied formally, bowing slightly from the waist.
"Oh, please, I've been just about Majesty-ed to death lately. Call me Ephiny, will you," the woman chuckled, a little sadly.
"Okay, Ephiny. What can I do for you?" the warrior asked, moving further into the darkness with the other woman.
"From the way your feet were throwing up the dust, you looked annoyed about something. Lose someone?" the Queen asked. "Want me to toss them into the cells, perhaps?" Ephiny laughed.
Both eyebrows climbed up Eponin's forehead in surprise. "How did you know?" the warrior took another breath. "How you knew doesn't really matter, I suppose, but Xena and Gabrielle arranged to meet with me for evemeal tonight and they didn't turn up," the woman explained. "And we both know how the Princess loves my cooking."
"Gabrielle loves everyone's cooking," Eponin said, knowing from her own experience how much the bard loved to eat.
"Except Xena's," they both said together and leaned against each other for a moment, laughing.
Sobering, Ephiny thought for a minute. "Well, it's not like Xena to miss an appointment, especially one involving food and her bard. The least she would have done is send a message letting you know she wasn't coming. Do you know where they were headed today?" she asked seriously.
"Up to the mountain pass lookout. Xena wanted to have a look around up there," Eponin said without hesitation.
"And Gabrielle was going with her?" Ephiny questioned further.
"As far as I know. I think they were planning a little stop along the way, if you know what I mean," Eponin replied. Eponin couldn't keep the wicked grin out of her voice. Four seasons coupled and that pair were still as passionate as the day they had first gotten together.
"Hmmm, not like Xena to miss an appointment, regardless of what other, um, distractions are about, so my guess is there may have been trouble somewhere between here and the lookout," Ephiny said, fingering the handle of a short knife on her waist. "Do we have a runner available tonight?" the Queen asked, already thinking of what she might need to do.
"I know just the warrior for the job," Eponin said quickly. "Meet you back here in a heartbeat," she said as she ran off across the compound.
The Amazon Queen stood for several impatient minutes waiting for Eponin to return with a runner. She forced herself not to think about what may have happened at the lookout, but with so many warriors disappearing over the past moon, she was concerned the same may have occurred to Xena and Gabrielle. However, Xena would have put up a good fight if something had tried to grab either of them. Just as she was starting to lose what little patience she had left, the sound of running footsteps filled her ears through the darkness.
"Sorry to take so long, Ephiny, but she was up in the hayloft," Eponin gasped, trying to drag air into her labouring chest.
Ephiny took a good, long look at the warrior Eponin had dragged out of the hayloft. The Queen didn't even want to think about what she had been doing up there. There had been too little of that happening in her own life to make her happy. For some reason, she couldn't remember ever meeting this warrior, and she thought she knew everyone at least by face. She was positively tiny, smaller than any other Amazon Ephiny had ever seen in her life, and so thin. It was like there was nothing more to her than a few bones covered with deeply tanned skin. She carried no bow or sword at all; Ephiny doubted she could have pulled or lifted either. Her only weapons seemed to be a knife dwarfing her waist and a long coil of rope she wore over one thin shoulder. Ephiny also noticed the way she seemed to be favouring one ankle as she stood waiting for her orders.
"Are you sure?" the Queen started to ask, hesitating to insult someone who was obviously an Amazon, though a very tiny one.
"You'll find no one faster on two feet than Jadaxious. She can be at the mountain pass lookout and back in two candlemarks," Eponin said quickly, seeing the hesitation in the Queen.
"Excuse me, Your Majesty, Eponin. I can make that run in about one and a half. I've done it before," the compact little warrior stated surely. She had made the run in that time in the past, but she had just gotten the splints taken off her ankle that morning, the bone barely healed after its break. She would really have to push herself if she wanted to do it in the same time tonight.
The Amazon Queen nodded. "You're looking for any sign of Xena or Princess Gabrielle. They probably took the lower forest road to the top. Get back here as fast as you can. Please. It's important," Ephiny said, almost pleading the last few words.
"I'll do my best, My Queen." Briefly laying one hand over her heart before turning away, Jadaxious took off faster than a banshee in the night, headed for the pass.
"Why don't we wait in your quarters, Ephiny?" Eponin asked quietly. This was going to be a long night for all of them.
Shaking her head as though in a daze, the Amazon Queen nodded. Eponin saw the expression on Ephiny's face and couldn't help smiling to herself. Seems our Queen has finally realised Jadaxious is alive, she thought wickedly to herself. The next move would be entirely up to Ephiny.
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Jadax jogged quickly along the lower forest path headed for the pass, the thin moonlight shining through the treetops overhead. She didn't really need to see her way; her feet had travelled this path before and they remembered. Letting her legs simply carry her along, the tiny warrior swept her eyes from left to right looking for any sign of Xena and Gabrielle having passed this way. It wasn't until she was well out of the area usually travelled by the other Amazons that she picked up the lone prints of a single horse with someone walking closely beside it. None of the mountain guards would have ridden up here. They usually walked, so she assumed it had to be Xena and Gabrielle. The damp side of overturned leaves showed darkly against the leaf litter and were easy to follow, even in the moonlight.
She was still in the forest but already feeling the upward climb towards the mountain pass in her calf and thigh muscles when she spotted the trail of scuffed up ground leaving the path and heading deeper into the woods. Still following, Jadaxious came across the little clearing where Xena and Gabrielle had stopped to make love. All the signs of what had gone on there were clear to the forest scout. "Passionate pair," she whispered to herself before picking up the trail again and continuing up the track. The prints she was following had changed from a horse and a walker to just the horse alone. Jadax assumed Gabrielle had mounted behind Xena after making love together. Not surprising, if the signs in the clearing where anything to go by, she thought.
Reaching the top, barely out of breath from the run, Jadaxious looked around the windy guard post. There was no sign of either Xena or Gabrielle anywhere. In fact, there was no one there at all. Being so short of guards, this particular post was being left empty for the moment. There were other guard posts further along on both sides, though Jadax knew the one on her right was also empty for the same reasons. Carefully stepping closer to the edge, she peered through the darkness below, just in case they had fallen or been pushed into the ravine. Not seeing anything there, Jadaxious went to step back. Just as she did, her eye caught something on the rock at her feet. Kneeling down to see better, she noticed a new looking scrape right on the edge. "Like someone's armour had been dragged across it," she muttered to herself. From the angle of the scrape, she could see the someone had been on their way up, and not on their way down. It had to be Xena, she thought, remembering the beautiful swirling breast armour the woman wore.
Thinking that maybe the pair had decided to check the next empty guard post along, Jadaxious began to weave her way through the rock outcroppings heading down to it. She didn't bother with the usual path simply because the way she was going would be quicker and she had promised Queen Ephiny to get up here and back to the village as fast as she could. She spent most of the time walking a bare pace from the lip of the ravine. Like most of the paths she followed, she knew them well, and she certainly wasn't afraid of a little height. She was a forest scout, after all.
Jadaxious had gotten about halfway to the next empty guard post when her sensitive ears picked up a sound that shouldn't have been there. Shaking her head, she listened closely. Hearing nothing, she thought it must have been the wind which blew constantly up the ravine wall. Lifting her foot to take the next step, she heard it again. She was sure this time. It was a voice; more importantly, it was Princess Gabrielle's voice. Glancing around, she couldn't see any sign of a cave or an overhang where the woman might be, so that left the rock face itself.
Quickly tying off her rope to one of the outcroppings, Jadax carefully lowered herself down the face of the ravine, searching for any openings large enough to hold a person. As she moved down the rock, Gabrielle's voice was getting louder and clearer until the forest scout thought she must be standing right on top of the Amazon Princess, but she still couldn't see any sign of her. Deciding to risk it, Jadaxious whispered loudly. "Gabrielle? Gabrielle? Can you hear me?"
The bard's voice stopped and Jadax could hear the sound of someone calling to her from just below. "Hello? Who’s out there? Can you help us?" the voice asked, an echo partially disguising who was talking.
The scout dropped a little further down her rope and came across several vertical splits in the rock face. Now that she was level with the voice, it sounded clearly in her ears. It was Deonisia, the guard who had been taken from the lookout post. "Who’s in there with you, Deonisia?" Jadax asked quickly.
"Everyone who was taken, including the Princess," the guard replied.
"Is Xena in there too?" the scout questioned. She would like to have found both women, knowing it would make the Queen happy.
"No. The last I know she was still on the rock face looking at something. I haven't got any idea where she is now, though," Gabrielle's voice floated out of the nearest split.
Jadaxious was carefully examining the splits to see if one was wide enough for her small body to slip through. Finding one she thought would do, she started to wriggle herself into it. It was a tight squeeze, even for her, but it was only a matter of several heartbeats before she felt the strong hands of her sister warriors helping her to her feet. "Cosy place you have here," she joked with everyone. In the small amount of moonlight that managed to get through the cracks, Jadaxious could just make out several people standing near her. "Is everyone all right?" she asked.
"We're all fine, though it's a little cold in here at night," a voice said quietly.
"The Queen was worried when Xena and the Princess didn't return to the village, and she sent me up to have a look around," Jadax explained.
"Hurray for Queen Mother Hen," Gabrielle's voice sounded happily to Jadax's left.
Thinking quickly, the little scout said to the trapped women, "I think I know where the entrance to this place is, and I am assuming it is blocked in some way, right?"
Several murmurs of agreement came from around the small cavern.
"And I am certainly not big enough to move it alone. So, I'll get back to the village as fast as I can to organise a rescue party for you," she continued.
"Sounds like just the plan to me," Deonisia said. "Here. Let me give you a hand back up again."
The guard soon had Jadaxious on her way out of the crack and back up the rock face.
Coiling the rope again and looping it over her shoulder, the scout thought about the fastest way back to the village. Terrain didn't matter now to the woman or her healing ankle. She needed to get back to the Queen and get a party of warriors up here as soon as she could. There was really only one option open to her -- the fast path straight down the mountainside. Jogging back up to the top, Jadaxious hoped she could make it okay. It was a steep path, and more than one person had slipped over the seasons and broken a bone or two. That was the last thing she needed right now.
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Jadaxious was barely a third of the way down the steep path when she knew she was in trouble. The persistent niggling ache in her ankle she had been feeling since she had first started out had ballooned into a clamouring pain, throbbing its way up her leg with every step. She figured the bones, hardly healed from the original break, had probably broken again. It hurt almost as much as when she had broken it battling with the raiders. Gritting her teeth against the pain, she continued her headlong dash down the path.
Chanting under her breath in cadence with her steps, she repeated over and over again, "There is no pain, there is no pain." After a while she noticed there really wasn't any pain, just a slow burning she found a lot easier to deal with. Picking up her pace a little, she ran flat out towards the village.
Just as she hit the bottom of the path, she spotted a familiar shape standing in the bushes to one side. Xena's horse. Forcing herself to stop for just a moment, she quickly looked over the animal, seeing it appeared all right for the time being. There was no sign of Xena anyway, but she really didn't have time to stop and do a proper search. If she could, she might be able to come back later and have another look around. Digging her toes into the soft ground, she took off once again for the village, no longer feeling her rapidly swelling ankle.
As she ran between the first huts on the edge of the village, Jadax realised she must have set some kind of a record getting back down the mountain. It was the fastest trip she could ever remember making in the few seasons she had been there. She headed straight for the palace, waving at the guard at the cave's opening as she passed, hardly slowing her pace as she went. The guard on the door of the Queen's chambers must have been warned of Jadaxious's mission and flung the door open as soon as the running woman came into view. The scout managed to slide to a halt a bare three steps inside the room. "I found them," she gasped. "All the missing warriors, I found them."
Eponin grabbed the tiny warrior before she fell and guided her into a chair. Ephiny herself poured water into a mug and handed it to her. "Get your breath before telling us what happened."
Jadaxious nodded, gulping at the water to cool her parched throat. Her breathing had barely begun to settle when she explained her trip to the mountain top and finding the women, including Gabrielle but not Xena, in a cavern further down. "I can show you the way, if you like. I know where the entrance is."
Eponin was crouched down next to Jadax, carefully looking over the tiny warrior for any signs of distress after her mammoth effort getting back to the palace so quickly. "You're not going anywhere tonight, Jadax. That ankle is so swollen, I'm surprised your boot hasn't exploded," she said.
"She's right, Jadaxious," Ephiny added. "Eponin, get a rescue party organised and wake one of the healers. Tell them to get themselves over here. Someone needs to look at that ankle, now." She put one hand on Jadax's shoulder to stop her from trying to raise herself from the chair. "Jadax, did you take a fall up there or something?" the Queen asked softly as Eponin left the room to see to Ephiny's orders.
The concern and worry was so loud in her voice that Jadax was glad to be able to tell the truth. "No, My Queen. I broke it a moon and a half ago fighting raiders on the Western border. The splints were taken off this morning," the scout explained, shyly. She couldn't stop the heat burning across her face or the tingling feeling in her shoulder, which was rapidly finding its way to other places, where the other woman's hand rested.
"This morning!" Ephiny gasped. "And you willingly took a two candlemark run to the mountain pass and back. That's it! You're not taking one more step anywhere tonight." Ephiny was more angry with herself for not knowing what this particular warrior had been up to lately. She was also feeling a little embarrassed that she could have somehow overlooked such a beautiful woman in her own village.
"I'm all right, really, My Queen," Jadaxious replied quickly, trying to jump to her feet at the same time. The run down the mountain and back to the village finally caught up with her, and as her body weight settled on the swollen ankle, it gave out, forcing a pain-filled cry from her lips. She staggered forward a little and would have fallen if Ephiny's arms had not caught her.
Swinging the tiny body into her strong arms, Ephiny carried the scout through the room and into her own bed chambers. "You're sleeping here tonight, and I won't take 'no' for an answer." Even though the Amazon Queen was giving orders and being concerned about one of her warriors, she couldn't help the speeding of her heart rate or the flush that spread across her face from just holding the tiny, gutsy woman.
Jadax, in the meantime, had been struck completely speechless from being carried by this marvellous woman and the thought of actually sleeping in her bed, regardless of the fact Ephiny wasn't actually in it.
The warrior carefully lay Jadax on top of the bed covers, turning at the sound of someone entering. "Oh, good. Sorry to wake you so late at night, Healer, but I really want you to see to Jadaxious's ankle before she has a chance to do any more damage to it tonight," she said to the sleepy-eyed woman near the door. Ephiny smiled down at the small woman and stepped aside to let the healer work, though she never left the room and kept the scout in her line of sight the entire time.
The tired woman lay back and let the healer get on with it, knowing just getting that boot off alone was going to really hurt this time. It did, far worse than when she had first broken it. Eventually, it was over, and Jadaxious was smiling happily because she hadn't broken the bones again. She had just pushed the ankle further than she should have so soon after having the splints taken off. She barely heard the admonitions from the healer about resting the ankle, aware only of Ephiny's continuing presence in the room. Every time she looked up from the healer, the Queen would be watching. For some reason Jadax couldn't explain, Ephiny had the strangest smile on her face, and the injured woman felt it was meant all for her.
Eponin returned to get directions to where the cavern entrance was exactly and was surprised to find Jadaxious now lying on Ephiny's bed, with the Queen herself carefully stripping the scout's sweaty and dusty clothing from her. Judging from the completely stunned expression of the small woman's face, Eponin was even more amazed when she was capable of giving very clear instructions to the entrance and the fact she had come across Xena's horse at the bottom of the fast path down from the mountain. Shaking her head as she left, Eponin wondered what the gods were doing. Jadax spends moons in the village and Ephiny doesn't even see her, and within the course of a few candlemarks, Ephiny's heart has been captured by a tiny, little forest scout who can run like the very wind.
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Jadaxious woke for the second time that morning to bright sunshine streaming in through the open shutters. She had woken earlier in the day, just before dawn, feeling as though she had spent the entire night training with the biggest warriors in the village. Every muscle seemed to ache, and she could feel several places where she had stressed them a little too far. Nothing that an hour in the hot springs won't cure, she thought to herself. It was only then that she noticed there was someone else in the bed with her. Without moving her head, she looked over to see Ephiny lying next to her, the Queen's own hand wrapped protectively around Jadax's wrist. Once over the surprise and shock, the small woman couldn't help feeling equally protective of the tired looking woman next to her. Sometime during the early morning hours, someone, probably Eponin, must have convinced Ephiny to get some rest. Jadax had let herself doze off again watching Ephiny's face contentedly.
Now that she was awake a second time, she saw immediately that Ephiny was no longer in the bed with her. Through the partially open door, Jadax could hear the sound of several voices talking quietly. She recognised Ephiny's straight away, quickly followed by Gabrielle's. The rescue party must have found a way to unblock the entrance to the small cavern and get everyone out. The woman felt something relax inside herself. She hadn't realised how tense she had become hoping that everyone would be safe.
Though she assumed she wouldn't be allowed to do a great deal, Jadax still wanted to get up and move around, if only to take some of the kinks out of her body. She was just sitting up as Gabrielle's head poked around the corner of the door.
"Sorry, didn't mean to disturb you," the bard apologised quickly.
"You didn't disturb me. I was already awake," Jadaxious replied. "Do you think they'll let me up now?" she asked in a very quiet voice. She hated the idea of spending any more time in a bed, even if it was the bed of the Amazon Queen. She'd had quite enough of being stuck flat on her back when she had first broken her ankle.
Gabrielle glanced back over her shoulder and then disappeared from the doorway. Ephiny stepped around the door, closing it behind her. "Hi, sleepy one. How you feeling after last night's little jog around the mountain?" she asked, seeing that Jadax was not only awake but surprisingly alert as well for someone who had pushed their body so far the night before.
Blushing a little, she answered, "Fine, My Queen. Just a bit stiff."
Ephiny sat down on the side of the bed and gently took Jadax's hand in her own. Looking deeply into the other woman's eyes, she said, "I think there are some things we need to talk about, but there just isn't time right now. I will say this to you, though. From now on, you are never to call me Queen or Majesty or anything else like that. You call me, Ephiny. Plain and simple, Ephiny."
Jadax didn't know whether to laugh, cry or tremble with fear. The confusion of emotions cascading across her face and through her eyes must have communicated something to Ephiny, who hadn't taken her eyes off the other woman.
"And in case I haven't made myself perfectly clear to you," Ephiny said. She slowly leaned forward and kissed the stunned woman sitting in her bed. It took a moment for Jadax to catch up with the sudden change in proceedings but within heartbeats she was returning the kiss. It deepened and grew more passionate as each sought out the tongue of the other, wanting to taste and feel every texture of the other woman's mouth. Things might have gone a great deal further if someone hadn't chosen that exact moment to knock on the closed door.
Pulling away reluctantly, Ephiny snarled at the still sealed door. "What? Can't a woman have a little privacy?" Turning to Jadax she whispered, "Now I know precisely what Gabrielle and Xena meant about royalty never getting a minute to themselves." She started to smile. "Get yourself up and dressed, Jadax. Breakfast was a little late being served this morning, and if you want to beat Gabrielle to any of it, I think now might be a good time to move."
The scout was just swinging her legs over the edge of the bed when Ephiny handed her something. Jadax was still looking at it as the Queen opened the door to the sound of Gabrielle's giggles. The something she had been handed was an ankle brace made of thin, stiff rawhide, and it could be worn tucked into her boot. The tiny woman smiled to herself. Looks like the Queen is out to take care of me already, she couldn't help thinking. Oh well, two can play at that.
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The small party of women stood at the turn-off of the fast path down the mountain, looking for any obvious signs of where Xena may have gone after leaving her mare. Argo had been brought in by one of the warriors the night before and was now comfortably stabled in her usual stall. Above the protests of Eponin, Ephiny had insisted on going this time, getting her way by citing Queen’s privilege. Deonisia and Evdokia made up the two guards for the Queen as well as both being very competent forest warriors. Eponin decided that if the Queen was going to be galloping through the undergrowth then she had better be there as well to protect her, and Gabrielle simply would not be left behind under any circumstances. The bard may not be as fast or as sure-footed through the treetops as the other warriors, but with everyone else there she would have more than enough help if it was needed.
"How did Jadaxious take being left at the village, Ephiny?" Gabrielle asked as they watched the other three warriors fan out along the edge of the path looking for any prints or signs.
"Complained rather loudly, as I had expected, but I think she was secretly happy to be able to just sit around in the hot springs for a while and ease those aches of hers," Ephiny replied, completely unable to keep the blush from her face. Jadax might be the tiniest warrior Ephiny had seen in her life, but she was also the most beautiful woman she had ever laid her eyes on. The sight of the scout's naked body as it slid under the water of the hot spring had caused Ephiny to wish she had been sliding in there too. First they had to find Xena, though, and that was more important.
Evdokia trotted over to the two chatting women. "I think we found where Xena crossed over into the forest," she said quickly. "But the undergrowth is something else. Looks like we might have to take to the trees to make any headway."
Gabrielle paled a little at the thought of travelling via the branches, but she was with four other Amazon warriors, and Xena had taken some time to teach her how to do it safely. She just didn't like having to look down.
Carefully forcing their way through the thorny bush, the women saw there would be no way to travel except through the branches above them. In less than a minute they were all safely standing on various branches and seeing for themselves the same faint track through the brambles that Xena had seen as well. Deonisia and Evdokia decided to trade off on the point and Eponin would bring up the rear. That left Ephiny and Gabrielle in the middle, the best place for them to be in case of an attack. Moving off slowly, taking the bard's unsureness into account, the party began to follow the trace through the undergrowth.
It was a candlemark or so after nooning when a faint scent on the breeze told Evdokia, on point, that things ahead might be a bit unpleasant. She didn't realise how unpleasant they were going to be. The five women stood in the branches right on the edge of the clearing when the men had been camped. From where they were standing, all they could see were bodies strewn over the ground but very little else. All five jumped from the trees and Evdokia and Deonisia began to walk through the camp examining bodies as they went. They had looked at just a few when Deonisia turned back towards Gabrielle and the others.
Putting her hands on the bard's shoulders and turning her away from the campsite, she said quietly, "Don't look, Gabrielle. It's…it's…"
Gabrielle suddenly panicked, thinking they had found Xena's lifeless body among the others. Wrenching herself away for the warrior next to her, she ran back into the camp and saw for herself why Deonisia had tried to spare her.
The men had not been killed quickly and cleanly, the way Gabrielle had grown used to seeing with Xena. She was even hardened a little towards those kinds of deaths, having seen it so often. Those kind of deaths still saddened her, though they no longer sickened. No, these men had been butchered, mutilated as though some steel-fanged monster had rampaged through the camp annihilating every living thing in its path, continuing to slash and destroy long after the victim was dead. These were not deaths of self-defence or protection. Instead they were the deaths of pure wanton destruction, done for pleasure and the pain it would cause others. They were the deaths of uncontrolled anger, rage and hate.
Gabrielle turned in a slow circle, holding the contents of her stomach in place by sheer force of will. This wasn't Xena's way, the bard kept telling herself. Xena always killed cleanly and with honour, not with such brutal disregard for human life, never savaging the corpse after death. Then she spotted something that brought her to her knees, unable to stop herself from being sick. Ephiny had knelt beside the weeping bard, trying to comfort her, thinking that Xena would never be able to do the things she was seeing around her, when she also spotted the same thing Gabrielle had seen. The last few fingerlengths of Xena's chakram were sticking out of the chest of one brutalised corpse, its arms and legs ferociously hacked off, its head missing.
Ephiny crouched slack-jawed in shock next to the still vomiting bard. All this groundless, unjustifiable, insane devastation really was Xena's doing.