----------------------------------------

Not only was Gabrielle caught in a web of confusion, but numerous spiders were battling to spin their silk around her, wrapping her Egyptian-style in their threads.

As far as she could gather, Rel's brother had apparently been killed by Xena in one of her past's dark attacks on defenceless villages. Somehow Rel herself had survived, and ended up becoming an Amazon - as which she had seemingly lived out the past years - but had recognised the Warrior as being the assassin.

'But how did Niakari manage to drink the poison instead of Xena?' she asked.

This was a question which Rel had scrutinised herself with over the preceding time, but no one else appeared to share her bafflement - they weren't concerned how it had happened, only what would be done now.

'Death by the sword of the murdered is Amazon law,' the Queen drawled, an exclamation of surprise from the young fugitive rending the silence, 'however, I decree that your intentions were, indeed, honourable. This punishment is therefore ruled unjust.'

Relief celebrated victory within Rel - she was judged innocent!

'Yet this does not excuse your act.' Melosa continued, the blonde felt as though she had just been stabbed in the chest.

'...but..?'

'You killed another Amazon, Rel,' the Queen defined, 'I cannot simply let you go free.'

'...but..?' Rel repeated dismayed.

Xena felt sick. Every thread of her being had been strained and torn, her soul disintegrating within her.

'Your sentence,' Melosa was trying to do what she knew had to be done, 'is.....exile.'

Black silence, red silence, white silence, blue silence.

'Your oath will be broken and you will no longer be considered and Amazon, choose the one you will pass on your Rite of Caste to, and they will hence own all your possessions.'

The whole tribe had hushed. Some, like Toak, rejoiced inwardly - Rel could see their smirks - while others, Gabrielle....Miaska, looked as stunned as herself. She felt her best friend's anger and sorrow at her for lashing out, and guilt - no, remorse - repented itself at the betrayal sin she had committed to the older woman.

'Miaska,' she whispered. It wasn't the start of a sentence, but the end of her heart. The two stood facing each other, all others melted away into blurs of slurred colour. This was too much, it was asking too much. How could she - how could she say...

Rel's lip quivered and she swallowed hard.

'Miaska,' her voice was barely audible, she could barely mouth the words, 'I...I want you to take my Rite of Caste.'

There was a pause.

'All that was mine, is yours.'

Her friend, cheek still vanquished with blood, looked tearfully into the green eyes, '...I can't, I won't...'

'Then don't,' Rel wanted to cry, 'don't and we'll stay together, we'll ride off, escape them all. Don't.'

Friendships are very rare things. True friendships, that is. When two people know each other so well they can predict every thought, every movement of the other. Every member of the tribe felt it at that moment, the dependence they all held with each other, the closeness they bore and relied upon, but never spoke of. It personified itself in Rel and Miaska at that one cross-road of time, and ironically, it had taken the condemning of their happiness to unveil the magnitude of their desire to remain together.

Xena found herself unconsciously inching closer to Gabrielle.

'Everything that was mine, is yours,' Rel repeated, 'please, I'm asking you, take it.'

Miaska didn't want it, what good were possessions without people to share them with? But she could not reject her friend's plea, 'This isn't the end.'

Rel hoped, with all her heart, she was right. Self-disgust shamed her, she couldn't believe it had been only a cloud-passing since she had assaulted her other half.

'I...' she didn't know how to say it.

'I forgive you.' the Amazon answered, knowing what troubled her mirrored soul, 'I forgive you.'

She pulled the young outlaw to her heart, they hugged. Rel's tears were unleashed, how could this be happening? How could a law break a friendship? Words, laws were just empty, hollow words...they had no right to govern love, they had no right. Words were doing now what Xena's sword had done before, wrenching her from people she cared about...THEY HAD NO RIGHT!!

But her anger subdued itself. This was not the time.

'Then go,' Melosa said, 'the Rite has been accepted.'

Miaska released her, the blonde trembled with sobs, but drew her sword for the last time. Her fingers clenched around its hilt, the cold metal stinging her skin, as she stared at her reflection in its blade. Then, raising it high above her head, she gave a cry of torment and plunged it deep into the ground.

Silence. Stillness.

All eyes focused on it as Miaska stepped slowly forward. She exchanged a blurred gaze of departing pain with Rel, before taking a deep breath and reaching down for the sword. With one tug she freed it, twirling it high above her head, catching the early morning sun before sheathing it at her hip.

Rel gave a weak smile, a last smile, and turned towards the stables.

'The gates are that way, Rel.' Melosa called.

'But Seass, I - '

'You just gave him to Miaska. The gates are that way.'

Rel could have collapsed. It took all her strength to keep her knees from buckling - how could they do this? "Death by the sword of the murdered" would have been a much more welcome fate, but to strip her of friends, belonging, and now her horse?

She glanced across to the stables, where Seass was probably already worried about her not appearing to feed him, 'Don't I even get to see him?'

'Don't put off the inevitable, Rel.' Melosa moved over. She owned no cruel heart, taking the girl's hard-earned heritage was something which pained her, but Rel was young - she could still re-build her life.

Her voice softened, 'Just leave. Walk and don't stop, find a new life...and live it.'

Rel took her eyes from the one she had pledged to serve, and cast her gaze around the tribe. Xena and Gabrielle stood, side-by-side, at the outer rim of the crowd; they were the last people she saw before turning to step away from the existence she had treasured. Clouds eclipsed the sun as she went, and the melancholy cry of a wolf was all that she left behind.

***

Rel stood in the shrine and stared down at her once-home. She hardly acknowledged the rain which soaked her, hardly noticed it drowning her spirit, death was her only release now. It should have come a long time ago, in her other home, with Jason. Xena should have ended it then. She had had a second chance in the river that day, if only the "Warrior Princess" hadn't been so weak she could've been with her brother now. Did he still remember her? Did he hate her for leaving him? It was Xena's fault, everything was Xena's fault. If she had just died from the poison instead of Niakari as planned, if the warrior were dead now instead of watching her be cast from the tribe...

She had tried to shift lives before, it didn't work. Once she had been an innocent peasant, with a family and a place of belonging. She had tried to adjust into Amazon ways, and on the outside she had, she learned to fight, learned all there was to know of nature and history, but Melosa was wrong - she wasn't 'as much an Amazon as any.' She was Rel. Rel was a peasant. Rel was a daughter, a sister.

Rel was the girl of seven years and two months which had died with Jason.

Rel was dead.

'Then why am I still here?' she whispered to the drops of salty water, 'I don't belong here...'

All the people she had killed in the past few years, all of the lives she had ruined with her sword, they were a part of Amazon life, not hers. She thought of the children who would grow up just like her - alone - all the people who would try to merge themselves into new lives. Her soul was grated to shreds by their futures, she had become Xena. In battle she had killed so many, yet never thought of them - they were simply the enemy, that was all that was important.

'Wars aren't fought to decide who's right,' she recalled her own words, 'only who's left.'

Fog descended into the valley below, preventing her from seeing the village.

'But the people left don't have anything to live for,' she continued, 'so no one can ever truly win.'

She hadn't come here to pray to Artemis again, just to say good-bye to a place which had been a diary of her thoughts, her worries and joys. Passing through the Pegasi for the last time the words of some distant melody fazed through her mind...

'Tides of life and

Tides of death

Angels doth bestow us

Into lands of fears

With faceless leers

Their innocence doth throw us

Paths of dark and

Paths of light

We're free to choose

The way to fight

But never near their silver wings

Where innocence doth sin us

Clouds of freedom and

Clouds of peace

They swirl and curl above us

With thunder pales

And wide-terror tales

But no innocence to veil us

Streams of guilt and

Streams of lies

Burn glares of hate

In calm blue eyes

But never near their silver wings

Where innocence doth sin us...'

'You didn't do it.'

The voice startled Rel from her song and she twisted, grabbing for her sword, but clasping nothing but air.

'You didn't do it, and they disowned you. They took everything you possessed, everyone you cared for and everything you loved. They even took your sword I see - how heartless.'

'Leave me alone.'

Rel tried to pass Knol, he blocked, 'It's such a shame, how could you fail your brother like that? You let him down...you let me down.'

His words patronised her, but her emotions were exhausted beyond the point of feeling. Every shred of her soul had been exploited and sapped of all possible passions. Hate, Love, Anger, Calm, Fear, Bravery, Denial, Acceptance, Sorrow, Humour - they had torn her apart like a pack of hunting dogs...or wolves, and left her with nothing. She lived, but wasn't alive. Her spirit had been stripped of all that made it so, just as her exile had to her being.

'Your wrong.' she stated simply.

'How so?'

'You used me. You used me, and your plan failed, not me.'

'Your confused, my dear,' Knol mocked sorrow, 'I know how you must feel - to lose those you love, all you've worked for. But there is still hope.' he stepped closer.

Hope? Was that all she clung to now? There was nothing left to hope for, but perhaps that one day she would, again, feel the touch of Miaska. She closed her eyes, visioning them as they had often been - sitting in the shrine at dusk, sharing in each other's dreams, prayers...hopes. She thought of Xena and Gabrielle, and the realisation suddenly hit her that by killing Xena, she would have ripped them apart as she had now done to herself and her best friend. She had to believe, keep faith, that somehow this would turn and everything would work itself out for the best.

'There is always hope.' she said quietly.

'Yes. And there will be no more plans, no more creeping around - this is your last chance to aid in revenge against Xena.'

Rel glared at him sharply, 'You don't get it, do you? Because of you I was exiled, because of you I lost all I loved and all I worked for. It was you, not Xena.'

Knol resisted pulling his sword, 'No, you got yourself into this one. And however you try to put the blame on me, it was you who tried to kill Xena, and Xena who killed your brother.'

'How do you know all this? How could you possibly know all this? That I'd been thrown out of the tribe, that I failed, that Xena - '

' - I'm observant. Unlike others, I am loyal to my duties and like to make sure I know everything, and I do mean everything, that happens.'

Rel wasn't convinced. Had he watched her deliver the poison into the Warrior's mug? Had he been watching all this time?

'We have nothing more to discuss.' she concluded.

Knol grabbed her arm, 'Oh but we do. You agreed to the plan - to kill the Warrior Princess - and I'll hold you to that.'

'Do as you like, but I'm not interested.' she jerked her arm from his grasp and brushed past him.

'Then you won't be at the attack on the Amazon village, I suppose.'

Rel stopped dead and span round, 'Attack?'

He laughed, 'I thought that might get your attention. Yes, an attack. It takes place when the sun is directly above your shrine - oops, slip of the tongue, you're not an Amazon anymore, are you? Still, Artemis will be close to hand when every Harlot in that tribe passes on to the next world, along with Xena, of course.'

A sneer curled his lips, Rel was stunned.

'Are you people suicidal?! The Amazons will crush you!' she scoffed.

The sparkle in Knol's eye said otherwise, 'Hmmm, ''crush'' you say? All the Raiders and Drays ''crushed,'' now there's a thought...'

'Drays?' Rel had never fought a Dray warrior - when they had been at war with the Amazons two summers previous, she hadn't even been allowed out of the village - let alone near any battles. How they were in combat she could only guess from the sever culling her - for she still felt it her - tribe had suffered at their hand, 'What do the Drays have to do with this?'

The Raider luxuriated in her anxious concern, 'Oh not to fear, Rel; be it only a small number of them who - how shall I say - owe us a debt.'

The blonde didn't want to know what sort of a ''debt'' he referred to, people did many desperate things in war, what alarmed her more was the thought of Drays and Raiders slashing through her home. She saw the flames and blood, the Amazons fighting with courageous-terror against the invading shadows...and she saw Xena fighting with them. The dark warrior would be standing as she should have been - with Miaska and Ephiny, the Amazon Princess and Queen.

She had to warn them.

'Just think of it,' Knol continued, waving a hand across an imaginary scene, 'you'll be able to fight the Warrior Princess face to face, kill her with the sword which you were exiled from; this battle will be glorious!'

'For Aries maybe.' Rel couldn't help quipping.

Knol's expression faltered from excitement to something she couldn't interpret, but was quickly masked, 'Not all Angels are white.'

'And not all devils are red, what's your point?'

'My point is that goodness comes in many forms, of which revenge can be one.'

'Revenge is only good for those who can't see beyond it. After all, Cupid's arrows are never coated in blood.'

Knol leered, 'Well maybe Cupid should try shooting a Harlot - or a Warrior Princess...'

***

Xena sat on the rough bed in their Amazon hut and thought. She seldom let her mind wander through her past voluntarily, but there were times when it decided to stroll into the present without consent - over which she had no control.

'Xena?'

Gabrielle's voice was so soft, yet so close, it carried her from the land of Memories back to the real world. She turned her gaze to see the bard offering some food, and took it without feeling hungry - the comfort of her best friend being all that held her together.

The red-head sank down in silence; she didn't question the blacked-out windows or sulleness of her friend, she merely sat. They listened to each other's thoughts and tried to find some way of voice them out loud, but Gabrielle didn't like to pressure and Xena didn't like to confront.

A beetle crawled across the floor. They both watched as it scuttled a few inches flat out, and then froze, only to continue and repeat the action until it found security behind a large water jug. It was universally known, within the confines of that room, why the creature had not simply raced the entire distance in one - for having done so it could have risked detection by some reclusive predator. Survival was thus its main priority.

'Rel's a survivor,' Xena found herself murmuring.

Gabrielle didn't reply, instead she looked sidelong at her soul mate's distant form. The dark mane which famed Xena's mysteriousness now hung loosely as her figure hunched itself over the edge of the bed. The warrior herself hugged her arms tightly across her cold leather, and the bard noticed that every few seconds the older woman would shiver delusivly.

Before the Tormented could object, she felt the warmth of a blanket being wrapped around her shoulders. She drew it closer, her fists clenching at its comfort - but it didn't stop the shuddering of her soul.

'I killed Niakari.' she whispered, 'I killed Jason, I killed Rel.'

The bard ignored her confusion, 'Xena, you can't blame yourself for this, whatever's chasing you - it's not your fault.'

'Not my fault?' the trance had been broken, 'How can you say that? You don't understand, you can't under-'

'- No, I don't, but I can...so tell me, please.' Gabrielle knew the warrior wasn't good at expressing her feelings sometimes, but she had to know what was going on...

Xena turned and sighed the way the wind does between dusk and nightfall.

'It...it was just like Orphido,' she began, 'a small, isolated town.'

The bard nodded, acknowledging that her friend was talking of a time which she had now turned from, but never escaped; a time when attacking peasants was Xena's routine.

'My army was small then, but its power was well-established, well-feared. We rode in, and looting was easy as all the villagers were cowering in the temple, hoping for the protection of the gods, no doubt. It never came. We stormed the building, paid no mercy, and the ''battle'' moved outside while they tried to flee.'

Gabrielle didn't need her gift of imagination to see the image Xena was conjuring.

'Most of the town's inhabitants died within minutes, but I spotted two of my men jeering at a couple of terrified children,' she locked her eyes with her companion and continued with a slight shrug and weak smile: 'and compassion was never one of my fortes back then...'

The younger woman rolled her eyes - humour cloaking their true feelings.

Xena returned her stare to the beetle's hiding place, '...and before I knew it the boy - Jason - I'd...'

All the blankets and fleeces in Greece wouldn't have helped any with the warrior's mental demons. Gabrielle leaned closer, she couldn't hold back against the desperation. All the pain Xena had pounded down inside herself, all the years of blood and loss, all was released as she hugged her bard; tears stinging her cheeks as she buried them in the golden hair.

'How, how could I have done this? Why is it that no matter what I do, no matter how hard I try, I always hurt someone? Why do I wreck so many lives in so...in so...'

'Shhh, shhh.'

Gabrielle fought against the currents which threatened to drown them both. She had never seen Xena cry, the warrior was always the stronger of them, 'Xena, please...' she didn't know what she was asking, didn't know why, of all the things to say, the only comfort she could offer, she couldn't put into words.

She tried again, 'I'm here, I'll never let you go through anything alone...you know that, you know I'll always be here.'

The love for her friend was trying to see itself heard amidst the confusion, but Gabrielle couldn't say anymore. She needed to know about Rel, Rel and Jason.

Xena drew back a little and smiled faintly through her tears, realising that she had to be stronger now than she had been in any battle.

Perhaps it had been her sword that had forged the carelessness and disregard for life with which the young Amazon - ex-Amazon - now fought. The one stroke on Jason had slashed the only rope Rel trusted enough to hold her, the only strand within her grasp which anchored her to the real world.

'She wanted to die,' the warrior resigned, 'to stay with her brother no matter what the cost. In my time as a warlord I had grown so used to...to taking, stealing, lives, that when was offered to me I just.....refused.'

Gabrielle was, at last, beginning to understand. The reverse psychology seemed absurd given the situation and circumstance, yet there was something incoherently logical about it which camouflaged itself nocturnally into the fabric of the plight.

'So, over the years,' the bard mused, 'she learned to live with the pain. She wove herself into Amazon life, but she had lived in hate and anger for so long that she knew no other way. And when you showed up, there was a vent for the torment. Her act was in vengeance, as she claimed, because she somehow thought it would cure her grief.'

Time allowed a few heart-beats to pass.

'Another Callisto.' Gabrielle finished.

Much to her surprise Xena pulled away sharply, 'No, there's a difference. Callisto tried to destroy everything I love, all that I own and care about, in retaliation for what I did.'

'And Rel?'

'Rel's...Rel never wanted anything more than to belong, and her true heritage...it died with her brother.'

'But what about all this time that she's tried to fit in with others, I mean she seems to have done well with the Amazons - why give that up?'

Frustration was setting in on Xena, she let the blanket drop from her shoulders and leapt from the bed. The unexpected aggravation was met with silent curses from Gabrielle: screams at herself for faulting a volley in the conversation, and screams at Xena to simply relax and talk to her.

The Warrior Princess rubbed her forehead and tried to contain her anger. It wasn't directed at her best friend, but at the events of the passing days. She gathered as much patience as could be raked from her shattered soul, and tried to approach the topic from another angle:

'You remember in the village, the first time we met Rel?'

'How could I forget? It proves my point, she fought with a fire lit by vengeance - it gave her strength and courage. The Amazons presented her with a society in which fighting to survive is routine, and surely the bonds she formed with other members - Miaska, Ephiny - surely they gave her security, the sense of belonging she wished for?'

Xena drew nearer, 'But that's just it! Rel had strength, yes, but that came from pervious experience. Her life was tough - and just like anger, it's all she's known. And courage? That came merely from lack of fear. Every man - no matter what they say contradictory - is afraid of death, but Rel longs for it. That is all she's ever asked of the world since I raided her life.'

'Then why doesn't she just kill herself? Why persist in harming others?'

To this, the dark warrior held no answer, but shouts from outside prevented her from speculating further.

Free from the curbs of the hut, Gabrielle split from her friend as she spotted a dazed Miaska in the distance. Xena, meanwhile made for Ephiny.

'What's going on?' she questioned, falling in step with the other woman heading for a group of standing horses.

'Rel's back,' came the reply, 'and apparently she has something important to say.'

Xena untied Argo's reins and swung her leg across his back as the Amazon did the same with her mount, 'You sound doubtful.'

Ephiny spurred her horse in response, her answer plain as others of her kind dodged hastily from its raging gallop.

Melosa's words from two days earlier - when the cogs of the plot had but begun to turn - spiralled through her mind:

Xena was dubious of any celebrations that night, 'But there is always hope,' her optimism told her as Argo's hooves spurned the dust, 'there's always hope...'

-------------------------

trey@pumkin.globalnet.co.uk

See Part I for full disclaimers.

--------------------------------------

The figures of Rel and Toak, framed with anger and hate, illustrated themselves with fervent gestures and spiteful words beside Ephiny, as Xena neared the edges of Amazon territory. She dropped from the saddle in time to catch the former's words:

'So you're just gonna let them attack?! You're just gonna sit and - and wait for them to attack?!!'

Ephiny seemed as convinced as Toak of any assault on the Amazons, 'Rel, listen -'

'No, you listen: the Raiders and Drays are already coming, we have to form a defence now!'

The mention of the legendary Drays only seemed to hinder her efforts, Rel found her

words met with cold stares as more Amazons fronted the invader.

'Ephiny, you believe me...you have to believe me.....'

She stared pleadingly into her friend's eyes - was she still her friend? Surely her exile hadn't lost all their years of laughter, it couldn't erase the fact that she was Miaska's best friend...they were all Amazon sisters, Ephiny had to believe...

'You're not an Amazon anymore,' came the avoiding reply, 'and you're trespassing on our land. We are not your people, this is not your tribe - you have no obligation to us and we have none to you. Therefore, leave now or we will have no choice but force.'

The supporting Harlots drew their swords, but Rel made no move. The tone of Ephiny's voice cut deeper than their blades ever could: not her tribe? Not her tribe? They thought this was some kind of plot, that she wouldn't accept her exile; what was she suppose to do - just leave? Just ride - walk - off and never look back? They were about to be slaughtered, and all they could think of was their anger at her?

'Look, there's an army headed towards this valley even as we speak. The moment the sun lines with the shrine, they attack. What part of this aren't you understanding? What do I gain from making this up?'

Toak stepped forwards, 'Attention, of course.'

'Toak...' Ephiny warned.

'No,' came the hateful drawl, 'this time we fight. You're on our land, Rel, our land. You weren't happy with merely killing my sister, you're trying to act the innocent - just as you always have - well, this time you're not getting away with it.'

Toak's sword glinted in Rel's wide eyes as the older woman circled her.

'You remember when we found you?' she continued, 'Alone and afraid in the world; no one to turn to, no shoulder to cry on - do you remember?'

Rel was beginning to feel ever-closer to that past life, and it wasn't so much remembering as re-living.

'Yes, I see you do. Back then you had nothing, were nothing. Your home had been destroyed, your dear brother killed, but we pitied you. Your charlatan-innocence and rueful youth made you so angelic, so believable. And it has always been so since, has it not? You lived in the power of knowledge, the knowledge that you could get whatever you wanted with a click of your fingers, but this time that's not going to happen.'

Ephiny was getting edgy, 'Rel, leave now - we have no fight with you unless you choose to make one.'

'Oh no, Rel isn't going anywhere.'

'Toak, put down your sword and return to the tribe. We still -'

'I said she stays!' Toak challenged.

The group fell silent, Xena watched with them - what was happening? Was Toak really willing to disobey Ephiny to fight Rel?

The blonde herself kept shifting from foot to foot, as if inpatient about something, 'If you want to fight, fine. If you want to stand around swinging swords at me, go ahead. Go on - I can see you all crave my blood, so take it, but Niakari's death was an accident.'

She began to pace in front of the group of Amazons, holding each with a brief stare as she spoke and presenting her case almost as to a jury.

'You're right, when you found me I was nothing, but you gave me life, a new purpose. I accepted everything you taught me without question, learned to fight as good as any of you so I would fit in - I even grew so trusting that I started to think you actually cared about me. Real dumb, huh? And when I found out who it was who had destroyed my first life - I was torn by what I knew was right and what you'd inspirited me to be believe.'

'What are you talking about now?' Toak drawled with both sarcasm and boredom creeping into her words.

'I'm talking about your laws. The Scrolls state that, and I quote, ''all blood and oath- bound members are entitled to the Act of Vengeance.'' '

'Neither of which describes your brother. Both, however, apply to Niakari.'

'But I am - ' she glanced at Ephiny, 'was - bound by that oath, and Jason to me by blood, therefore - '

'Therefore nothing. Accept it Rel, this time you lose. This time we - '

'Wait,' a soft tone turned all vision to one of the jury, 'maybe...maybe she's right.'

Toak was taken aback, 'Right? Right about what?'

'Amazon law was set up to protect not only the members of the tribe, but also our families. In finding the person guilty of her brother's murder, Rel was granted Right to the Act.'

'She's doing it again! Why doesn't anyone else see it?'

'The sentence, by order of Queen Melosa, has already been passed.' only now did Ephiny herself draw her sword, 'Exile, Rel, is exile. If there's one last thing you do for the tribe, take heed of Melosa's words, ''walk and don't stop. Find another life, and live it.'' If there's one last thing you do for me, I ask it be that you find happiness.'

Rel gazed around the group. She saw Xena, but didn't look at her, instead she inhaled a breath and re-focused on Ephiny, '...okay.'

The Amazon jury sighed with silent relief as the girl backed away a few steps.

'But if there's one thing you'll do for me, it's that you grab every bow and sword you can, and prepare to defend yourselves for one of the bloodiest battles the Gods have ever witnessed.'

A few of the onlookers faltered slightly at the eveness of her voice, but held Toak back as the young girl faded into the forest. Despite the crime against her, they couldn't help but grip their weapons tighter and wish to return to the village at haste; though now a murderer, no one could accuse her of ever being dishonest. The disease of doubt infected them all, but each hid it from one another and simply urged their horses homewards. All were well aware of the sun advancing higher into the sky, being pulled ever-nearer to its daily destiny above Artemis' holy shrine...

***

Xena stood alone at the spot where all had departed. Leaves swirled around her like gold-tipped angels in a fantasy dream, if only this were all but part of her imagination. If only she had let two survive and not one...

'Oh don't think like that - you put us to shame!'

The warrior didn't have to turn, she felt the cool touch and smooth words of Aries, God of War, and knew them too well not to recognise them now.

'What are you doing here?' she growled.

He pulled back and pretended to be offended, 'My dear, why do you persist in neglecting my heart? Is hope and love not your new policy?'

Her eyes glared into him, and he rejoiced in their darkness, for it was a sight he only held memories of, 'I won't repeat my question.' she forewarned.

'And I wouldn't have you do so - which has us in agreement.'

'But doesn't give an answer.'

He chuckled, his Princess had never been one for chat, though that seemed to be changing as she grew closer the little bard. He didn't understand their friendship, didn't see how two from such paradox lives could now have merged into a single existence.

'The God of War always arrives just before the show.'

Xena's thoughts span wildly, 'Show? What show? What's about to happen?'

A grin lit his face at her myth, 'You see me as a profiteer now? I'm flattered, though I suppose a little gratitude is due - under the circumstances.'

The warrior wasn't in the mood for his games; she held no God in any higher esteem simply because of his powers. Aries sensed her loosing interest, and temperament.

'This Vengeance Act the Amazons hold so dear, as a general rule I'm all for it - others could learn from the Harlot openness - but there are always exceptions to any rule.'

'Such as...?'

'Such as where my dark Warrior is in danger.'

He lavished her expression, knowing that he needn't read her the last chapter of the scroll.

There was a pause, a moment where the angels held their breaths - waiting in forethought for Xena to draft ideas together.

'Niakari,' came the whisper, 'you killed Niakari.'

Aries seemed slighted, 'No, no - Rel's hand delivered the poison, and that's the truth. I merely - how shall I say - re-directed her efforts.'

'You killed her,' Xena's eyes blazed, 'you split the tribe, had Rel exiled, and now Toak's bent on her Vengeance...'

'A job well done, I feel, but as for Toak,' he shrugged, 'right now I'd say "Vengeance" is the last thing on her mind.'

And with sinless mockery and the hell of the Elysian Fields shimmering in his eyes, he vanished. Xena was, once again, left isolated with her desolate thoughts - the angels murmuring his last words nervously to each other. She listened to their worried whispers, distant from their concern - too wrapped in her own theories - and imagined their halos spinning like chakrams. They didn't appreciate her lack of concentration, began to circle her, their voices chorusing in unparalleled unison, weaving webs of words which trapped her - forcing her to focus.

'The Drays...Rel wasn't lying,' she finally realised, 'the only possible explanation for Aries being here is that she wasn't lying.'

The spirits rejoiced, casting off their nets and setting her free - singing sweet hymns which drove her vision skywards towards the heavens. But praising the Gods was not her motive, the sun - in its steady pace - struck noon. It clicked like the lock on Pandora's box, and Hope was released. The attack had begun.

Xena leapt on Argo as the mount began to head for the village, smoke was already rising from the valley and she could feel Aries' presence pressing her on.

Rel whirled round as hoof-beats shook the ground. The chestnut horse skidded to a halt and an arm extended out to her, she glanced back at the wisps of battle, and then up into Xena's expectant eyes. 'They are my tribe,' she thought, grabbing the hand and pulling herself up behind the dark woman, 'no matter what they say, they are my tribe.'

***

The earth was alight. They fled along the ravine, trees animated with flames and angel screams ringing out as the Elysian Forest burned around them. Flashes of orange and black were all Rel could distinguish of the rising Tartarius they now twisted through.

A huge redwood crashed into their path, its mutated evil causing Argo to buck unavoidably. Rel was thrown, her cry of pain sending a bolt of desperation through Xena. The smoke swelled as she jerked her mount round, she couldn't see anything, Rel, where was Rel?

Waves of heat and torture rose higher, nearer, their retreat cut off by fire and love. Forwards was the only choice, Gabrielle was fighting on the other side of that smoke, the Amazon village wasn't far now, where was Rel?

For the second time that day, the blonde couldn't breathe. The smoke left her blind, choking and terrified. Never since that one Day had she known fear, but now it burned through her skin, through her heart and spirit, through every thought and hope she had ever held. It wasn't the selfish horror of death which scared her, it was the acknowledgement that if she died now, she would be remembered as nothing but a traitor. Had Xena saved herself? Where was she?

Rel tried to stand, the flames licked her arms, but she didn't care. Glowing shapes and leaping shadows met her dazed vision; she was dying inside. Her legs gave way as all faith was abandoned, and she knew that as soon as she hit the ground, she would never again see the dawn hit Artemis' shrine.

She fell.

Angels cried out in sorrow and fear as they too plummeted down from the heavens, illuminated not by innocence or purity, but by lustrous ashes.

Rel couldn't fight it anymore; she had never been a strong believer in Fate - she had always thought that things happened only because you made them - but...but now things were far beyond her control. Something, some force, was bent on her death, and now she just didn't have the will nor strength to resist it.

Joy to Sorrow. Love to Hate. Peace to War. Life.....to Death.

Wherever innocence doth throw us.

Innocence? This war her friends were now dying in, it was her fault, how could she ever claim innocence?

Darkness beckoned, but to her anguish an arm grabbed her only inches from death, jerking her sharply upwards. She hung loosely to Xena's waist and tried to make sense of something - anything - through the haze of her mind.

'Hang in there, Rel.' the warrior called, spurring Argo to what the referred assumed was an escape.

They began to gallop, the blonde opened her eyes and blinked, shock guillotining her breath as she realised the real meaning of Xena's words: they were heading straight for the burning redwood.

'Wha - '

Argo jumped.

Dark eyes of fire glared up as they passed over. Hands outstretched, slashing and clawing at Rel's boots as she clung to her saviour.

Streams of guilt and

Streams of lies

Burn glares of hate

In calm blue eyes

But never near their silver wings

Where innocence doth sin us

There were no notes to her tune; the melody became a focus, the words were her way of escapism simply because there were so many things she wanted, needed, to escape.

They landed heavily. Rel slammed into Xena's back as Argo crashed to the ground, but far from stopping, the mare grunted and dragged them onwards. The smoke billowed as flames roared on all sides, and Xena's white knuckles gripped the reins as she tried to direct Argo's terror-stricken gallop.

If Rel had had time to pray, she would have, but all her energy went on trying to move with the horse and grip Xena. Besides, she had nothing to say to the gods. They hadn't helped any so far, and a plea of mercy was hardly likely to sway her fate, whatever that was.

As if in scorn for this thought, the village gates abruptly loomed through the smoke, or, at least, what remained of them. The sounds of war rang death knells beyond as the Warrior Princess reached across her back and drew her sword. Rel suddenly realised she had nothing to defend herself with...but did she truly have anything to defend?

'The village,' she steeled, 'the tribe, Miaska, Ephiny, Melosa, Gabrielle.....Xena: I have everything to defend.'

She caught her first glimpse of the battlefield over Xena's shoulder, the shady figures indistinguishable through the clouds of ash, and something inside her shifted. It was her fighting instinct, only now it had an unwavering intensity about it, a purpose.

She lifted her head to Xena's ear, 'May the gods be with you.' she whispered, and dived from the saddle.

Thinking played no part in battle, there was merely reflex and inherent actions. Rel kicked her leg high and powered it between the shoulder-blades of a Raider, he fell into the sword of the Amazon he had been duelling. Her arms crossed in an X above her head as she blocked the handle of an axe which swung behind her, then drove both elbows hard into the attacker's chest: the dance had began anew.

There was a change of form though. All her previous performances had been free-style, she had always gone with the single rule of beating the opponent. You had to be able to anticipate their next move even before they made it, think two steps ahead all the time, had to see their mistakes before they happened, and be ready to judge the exact moment to strike. This part she had learned through Amazon life and teachings, but what separated her from them, what made her such a formidable fighter, was the fact that she cared not whether it was her that lived, or her opponent.

Until now.

She knew now how much she had to live for, and though she'd been exiled from it all, it still existed. And what was still part of the world, she could still love. With that to lose, her motions became accurate and consistent, they lost the wild recklessness previously her trait.

A Dray, discernible by his dark blue cloth as opposed to the Raiders' maroon, reeled backwards at her punch, and she caught his sword on its counter-flight.

A cry of pain, Amazon pain, made her whirl round in time to see Toak fall. Three Drays closed in like vultures calling death, and a protective growl erupted from Rel's throat. She swung her new blade across their necks in one stroke, never granting them the luxury of seeing the enraged soul of their killer before all went black.

Two more advanced. Rel edged back while eyeing each and keeping her sword held tightly in both hands before her. The Drays exchanged a glance, the vital clue to predicting their plan. A hesitation lingered mockingly into a nerving pause, and they attacked. Both at once raised their weapons and brought them down with malicious force, Rel twisted her sword upwards in line with the ground, blocking the twin blades only a hair's-breadth from her head before jolting them away. Her wild fighting style had not completely deserted her: she continued her movement, launching herself into a back-flip and kicking both men callously in the jaw. One's head snapped back unnaturally from the impact, the other squinted as his companions mangled body landed with a dull thud.

His eyes gleamed black. He swung, she vaulted, she thrust, he dodged. Suddenly her sword, her defence, flew from her hand in his strike. She lurched her arm up, evening the odds as his weapon followed hers. She sneered, a while ago she had been questioning her compassion and being swallowed by guilt for their loved ones, now she longed to see the look of horror in each one as he died at her hand. War used to be fun, now it was a matter of personal vendetta.

The Dray stooped for his sword, she threw her weight forwards, crushing him into his dead friend. He rolled over her, turning the tides, and grabbed her throat. She tried to resist, tried to claw his grasp away, but it only tightened. Her mouth gasped for air but his snaking fingers denied it access, her vision began to fuzz over, blood pounding in her head and sending her body into fitful seizures. In a feral movement, her right hand knocked against something cold, something hard: the dead Dray's dagger. With a last effort, she pulled it from his belt and stabbed it upwards, she couldn't see where, but it sank into flesh, and the pressure on her neck was instantly released. He collapsed on top of her, she felt blood wet her face. Disgusted, she pushed him off and hauled herself a foot or so away.

She blinked, trying to get her sight back, while rasping breaths sucked in smoke and dust. A distant moan called weakly to her, she strained to see Toak lying nearby. She crawled over, ignoring her own pain, and reached out to lift the Amazon's hand from her chest. It revealed a sword-wound irreversibly deep and unhealingly bloody. The other woman saw the look of helplessness pass over the blonde and strived to bring a smile to her lips.

'You...you saved...'

'No,' Rel leaned closer, 'don't try to talk, just - '

'You tried to saved me.' came the whisper.

A Raider sprawled in the mud near the Drays, and Melosa looked over at them. She knew war could bring people together, a crisis was known to strip humans down to their purest nature at times, but never in all of Hades did she expect to see Rel and Toak hand in hand.

'Take...Rel, take my Rite of - of Caste.'

Rel was stunned, 'You don't mean that, I can find another Amazon, I can find - '

'No. You...' she was fading fast.

'If you're sur -' Toak nodded in reply, '...well...o-okay, but don't, but just don't...'

The wounded woman's eyes glazed over, her hand went limp in Rel's.

Melosa nodded to the girl, acknowledging the act, before turning to face another Raider. She left Rel, fire smouldering lower now, but still alight, and war raging around her, kneeling over her ex-enemy.

'Thank you,' she murmured, 'I hope you find peace with Niakari, I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me.'

A white glow descended around them. It wasn't the light of angels, no hymns or halos, it was simply the glimmer of freedom; the glimmer of joy that comes out of sorrow, love out of hate, peace out of war, life...out of death; for light always shines brightest in darkness. But Rel...Rel had always used that dark as cover, hiding herself in its boundless wrath and cowering from the truths which tumbled through the purity of awed radiance under which she now knelt.

A shadow invaded the light, intruding the solitary spirits that found refuge within its asylum of dreams. The white evaporated, leaving Rel's vision to re-focus on the slight smile which still held on Toak's pacific face.

She lifted her head slowly, straining to identify the figure against the blinding flames; was it friend or foe?

'Well doesn't this scene just touch your heart?'

She steeled at the words, grabbing Toak's fallen sword and jilting the light to face her opponent.

He chuckled, 'And you expect me to believe you'll fight? You: the beggar of forgiveness, the revived Amazon; fight? You had not the courage nor strength to face a true enemy, possessed not the heart to avenge the loss of your own life, and you'll stand there with a sword and prepare to fight me?'

The intermission of the performance had ended. Competitors took to the stage once more as a curtain of smoke lifted abruptly with a gust of wind. But this dance would be different; it would separate the supreme champions from the mere novice talent, the judges being not people, but blades.

Rel took her stance, and began.

--------------------------

trey@pumkin.globalnet.co.uk

See Part I for full disclaimers.

--------------------------------------

Swords of justice and

Swords of truth

Angels doth salute us

As we ride pure white

With Pegasi sight

Into Fates of love before us

All angels were white. Underneath, they were all purest white.

Knol was no angel. What he did, he did in the interests of hate, of power, of wealth, and Rel saw now how the poison-butterfly had had wings, but was still a black-blood demon.

His eyes leapt with rising lust as his ebony chariot of raven fear thundered through her heart. He sprang, slashing his evil forwards, hell-wards, giving her no time to use attack as defence nor defend his attack. The wound was minor, an upper-arm gash on her unguarded side, but her will purveyed as she twisted round to retaliate. Halos and horns clashed as metal struck metal and sparks of divine horror flashed with virtuous Satanity.

Rel vanquished her partner's slight revocation at her counter-steps, and pressured him to repeal further, but her confidence only aided to rectify his; straining each muscle to work that bit harder, with that much more force. They parried as shadow-spirits danced around them in the haze, growing ever-more desperate to win, yet managing only to equal the other.

But the Amazon's concentration splintered as the mirage of Miaska battled valiantly over her opponent's shoulder; valiant in her effort, but not exultant in her skill. And as Rel fought with her body against Knol, her heart vaulted to her throat as she saw her friend faced against three Dray warriors.

'If there's one last thing you do for me, I ask it be that you find happiness.'

Were they not Ephiny's words? Her happiness in this world relied - no, depended - on Miaska alone...

Knol's heel came from nowhere. She gagged as it powered into her abdomen, knocking the wind from her in one blow. She staggered back, tried to regain her poise, but he struck again, and again. Each kick constituted a cry of anguish from her doubled form, and fresh gleams of delight which fuelled the next. There was no help from the Winged Ones on their clouds; they offered but shrieks of alarm and huddled worry, no holy marvel or saintly saviour.

Rel fell. This time, Xena's arm did not catch her, and she crashed not into the warrior's back, but the unmerciful stone of earth. Every bone jarred trying to cushion her breaking heart, every fibre caring not for the raw pain as she rammed into the ground, focusing all verve on thoughts of Miaska fighting somewhere above her. She couldn't give up, Xena hadn't through the smoke, and she wouldn't now.

Knol was standing a little way off, pitiful sarcasm raising his eyebrows. The blonde set her jaw and gritted her teeth, swallowing back the pain and damming its energy. Then, with slow, resolute determination, she stood. Her eyes were fixed on him as her fingers clenched round the hilt of Toak's sword.

He launched the attack again, but this time she was ready; she dodged left away from his assault, thrusting her blade hard into his rib-cage. He choked, dropping his weapon and falling to his knees as she wrenched it back. There was no joy in the act, it was simply a matter of overcoming a hurdle, a challenge to her happiness, her life. She had to find Miaska.

***

Rift turned from the young warrior he had been tending the wounds of, hearing the yells of his men.

'Knol's dead!'

'Knol's fallen!'

They were drawing back, daunted by the death of their commanding officer, and Rift watched. He saw Amazons strengthen at his loss, saw them rise up with new courage. His wisdom noted the bodies surrounding his Second, so nearly his successor, acknowledged that their defeat be best known by the mouths of those who fought, than by travellers in some tavern.

He mounted his horse, jerking the reins and rearing it high on its haunches, 'Retreat!'

The single call was echoed by nearby Raiders and Drays alike:

'Retreat! Knol's dead! RETREAT!'

The rest were quick to obey, the time for heroism had passed.

***

Miaska sheathed her sword as the two remaining Drays fled in the wake of their leader. She smiled vaguely as Amazons span past her, calling ecstatically to each other through the dwindling smoke. Her vision searched the ruins of her heart; where was -

'Miaska?'

The emotion which tinged her name made the older Amazon's heart leap. Never before had she heard it spoken with such gentle desire, such affection...such love. It was half whispered, half sung, and softly chorused through her soul. The devotion she held for her friend drove her beyond any inner boundaries of conduct or prejudice, their love was not to be lawfully overruled nor judged by anyone.

Rel stood to her left, skin and hair toned black and red, but eyes gleaming with incessant green warmth.

The young Amazon didn't need innocence to veil her now, truth deceived no one. Her past deeds were declared to the world, while she had repented and been granted clemency. She and Rel were together again, their mirrored understanding, their friendship, revived.

Suddenly the blonde's body jolted forward, Miaska moved to catch her, 'Wha...?'

Rel staggered into her arms, blood trickling from her mouth and eyes seizing with pain. Miaska stared with horror at the arrow protruding from her companion's back as Amazons started running to help.

Ephiny was among them. She neared her sister, fighting the urge to gasp at the sight of her friend's injury.

'Find Xena, someone find Xena!' she ordered, turning; trying to locate where the arrow had come from.

Knol grinned as tribe members towered over his half-sitting, half-lying form; the wound in his mid-section draining his life into the soil. Ephiny pushed through her friends, grimacing at the cross-bow still held in his boned fingers. Her lip curled and she drew her sword, relishing the fear as his breathing hastened uneasily.

Xena skidded down beside Rel. The girl was shaking as winter froze her soul, numbing her senses and thoughts.

Miaska glanced up. Her tears speaking more than any language, any speech, ever could; the dark warrior knew the requisition. She knew what Rel meant to the other Amazon, knew because it to be what Gabrielle meant to her.

Her fingers examined the damage, she had seen worse, but still her mind prayed silently that she be guided in this task.

Her bard appeared from the crowd, only Xena seeing the hidden shock which passed through her eyes as she grabbed some rags from a sister Amazon and prepared to aid in any way she could.

'We'll have to break the shaft.'

Gabrielle nodded.

Rel felt her hand being squeezed tighter in Miaska's. The blood-loss was blocking her hearing, and all became a regression of empty silence and deafening sound. She couldn't hear Xena, didn't prepare for the violent thrust of pain as the arrow head ripped through the front of her stomach; her scream threw thunder-bolts through the angel-heavens and ice fractures of tears.

Her breath became rasped, the agony too much for her mortal body to withstand.

'Get the rags ready!' Xena commanded.

Amazons clustered round the undenied blonde, constructing a living wall of concern, of shelter.

The Warrior Princess snapped the arrow-head and braced herself. She gripped the shaft with one hand and Rel's shoulder with the other...then pulled.

Arms and faces flashed across the young Amazon's vision as she felt herself jolting into wild seizures. Darkness shattered light, shards of sin cleaving her soul and slashing at her bloodied fingers-tips which still grasped frantically at life.

Ephiny and Gabrielle both assisted Xena in her despairing attempts to stop the bleeding, but the wound was far beyond even her healing powers.

Rel's shudders slowed, but were enlivened in the hearts of every other in her company.

'C-Cadii, t-t-take Toak's....Toak's Rite...'

Cadii, one of Toak's closest friends in life, was somewhat stunned by the request, but accepted quickly - acknowledging that Time was not looking upon them favourably.

'No, Rel...you're going to be - we're going to be...' Miaska trailed, her silver tears reflecting those of the cloudless angels.

Xena had never felt as helpless as that moment. There were two lives here, two - not one - didn't anyone understand that? She felt herself looking into the eyes of the seven-year-old child. There had been two lives then too, why hadn't she seen it? If the tides were reversed, if it were Gabrielle lying there now...

How could she have been so blind?

Of all the lives to wreck, of all the people in the world, why was Rel lying there and she, alone, the killer? It wasn't just nations she destroyed, but families, friendships, and even now - even now, as she tried so hard to fight her past - still it continued the bloodshed.

'We'll always be together,' Rel whispered to Miaska, 'a-always.'

'Rel, no...don't leave...please...don't leave me...I - I...' angels wailed around them, 'I need you.'

Gabrielle rested her arm on Xena's as Miaska sank closer to her soul mate.

'How am I suppose to go on without you? I won't, I can't...please - please Rel, stay. Stay with me, don't leave, now - ever.....please...'

Rel smiled at the beckoning angels, '...always...'

*****

Xena stared down at the mirrored moon below her. In the distance, somewhere behind, drums beat, Amazons danced, and fires buzzed in the shrine as the tribe was forced to retreat to its sanctity; their village all but ashes.

The Vindasha had gone ahead, and despite the decreased numbers, the ones remaining seemed to want a way of escape from the loss of life.

Xena wasn't among them. There had been nowhere to bury the 28 dead Amazons, so a pyre had been built for each, made from the charred wood of their home, and pushed out across Xerisus lake. They drifted now, flames of hope burning high into the blackness as the dark warrior watched.

She could pick out Rel's, the fire leaping highest, strongest, but then that was always Rel.

The soft rustle of moving grass ushered Gabrielle's sombre shadow from the night. She sat next to her friend on the moss-cushioned log, and one might have assumed the scene to be much the same as that in the Amazon hut, but no. There was no discomfort, no avoidance; just pure understanding.

'It's beautiful.' the bard noted, watching the flames dance on the water. They were appended by dozens, hundreds, of tiny wax angels, candles taken from the shrine and released by each member of the tribe.

Xena merely nodded.

'Rel's with her brother now, Jason, he'll look after her.' came Gabrielle's assurance.

The warrior's silence broke as she smiled, 'Oh, I don't think Rel needs looking after by anyone.'

Her friend seemed not convinced, 'We all need someone.'

Xena's smile faded. She couldn't see Miaska, but she knew she was down on the lake shore, alone.

'Will I ever be free, Gabrielle?'

The question didn't throw the bard, for her thoughts ran so closely to Xena's that she could almost hear them before they were spoken. The warrior was thinking of all her victims, all the Rels of the world she still had yet to face.

She didn't reply immediately. The gentle night breeze wrapped itself around the pair, its coolness making their skin tingle as their thoughts swirled through the fire, water and velvet-clear sky.

'Rel forgave you.' she finally answered, 'If you are worthy of forgiveness, you're worthy of freedom.'

Xena mused over her friend's words, listening to the mournful wolf cry glide across the lake.

'But you know,' the bard continued, 'that you have to forgive yourself, to free yourself.'

Xena sighed as Gabrielle's head rested on her shoulder, could she forgive herself? Maybe. Maybe one day. But whenever that day came, whenever that era dawned, she and Gabrielle would be waiting, together...always.

Life of death and
Death of life
We live in love
We die in strife
Until we touch their silver wings
And innocence becomes us

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the end

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