Continued from "The Knights of Keiar #3"…

"It’s around that corner," whispered Keiar/Angus, as he stopped the gang from marching. "It’s guarded at all times, so if we do so much as make a sound—we will be completely surrounded in the blink of an eye."

They were standing in an underground passage, a trench with a ceiling really, carved out in the rock-hard earth in the shape of an arch. Following Keiar’s lead, Xena, Gabby, and Gilead had been walking for what seemed like a good hour or more, walking in this underground passage that snaked left and right, and sometimes went uphill, sometimes downhill. They could now see light coming from around the corner in this part of the passage, which curved to the left.

Xena:
"So, just around that curve is the grand entrance to your castle?" asked Xena.

Keiar:
"Yes. It is rather very inconspicuous; meaning, it’s nothing more than a camouflaged wooden door set in the rock, with my insignia imprinted on it. If you know where to look, you can’t miss it."

Gabby:
"Where did you send your people?"

Keiar:
"I sent them back to my hidden camp. Say…you three still did not answer my question back there."

Gilead:
"Oh, by the gods! You know darn well what we would say to that!"

Keiar:
"You all are people with honor; I want to hear it from your own lips."

Xena:
"Fine: we swear upon our honor to help you regain your freedom from Ares. How’s that???"

Keiar winked. "That’ll do."

Gabby nudged Xena. Taking her que, Xena was about to advance around the corner when Keiar grabbed her shoulder. "What are you thinking? Or are you thinking at all? If you waltz out there, in front of the half a dozen trolls guarding that door, you’ll find yourself in the middle of a very unfriendly welcome party!" Keiar spat out the words harshly.

"Humor me. What should we do then?" snapped Xena, pushing Keiar’s hand away.

Keiar:
"Sneak a peak around this corner, and memorize this place! You may need to come here later. I did not, mind you, did NOT bring you here so we could get captured!"

At that time, Keiar and Xena heard a thud. Looking around, they saw that Gilead was missing. "Oh no," sighed Gabby, looking around the corner. "Need I say more?" said Gabby, turning back to Xena.

Rounding the corner, Xena drew her sword and chakram, and jumped into the already heated battle between Gilead and seven trolls. Gabby joined them, followed by Keiar, who grumbled, "Humans!"

Standing around in the stone temple, Callisto looked on as Ares lined up his captives, four teenagers one of who were a girl, and the rest boys. As they knelt on the stone floor, Callisto looked over them and shook her head. "Was today your day off, Ares? Only four in a day’s work?" asked Callisto, to which Ares replied, "You know damn well, Callisto, that these sacrifices—"

Callisto cut him off. "—Need to be pure, mature, and of a certain age. Yeah, yeah. I did my homework, Ares. But don’t tell me you could only find four boys and/or girls in the whole world that matched her appetite. We don’t have much time."

Ares, frowning, half shouted. "We will need only six more after we are through with these! Six more to go! We started needing a hundred, and we now are down to six! Don’t call that progress, I don’t know what is. Callisto, why are you so afraid of Xena?"

Callisto grinned. "Afraid? Of Xena?" She moved closer to the girl sacrifice, who was wearing a muddy, tattered gown and in need of a bath, but otherwise very beautiful. The girl trembled in sheer terror, as Callisto’s glance seemed to pierce her skin. The girl drew her arms around her shoulders and shuddered. "Don’t you worry, sweetheart," Callisto said to her as if she was talking to a puppy. She squatted down in front of the girl, moved her chin around with her hand, and then punched her in the midsection. The girl doubled over and fell to the ground.

Turning around and facing Ares, Callisto spoke fast and loud. "I am not afraid of Xena, Ares. Xena is a mortal! Why on earth would I fear her?"

Ares folded his arms and stood back, not the least bit amused but wondering where this was leading.

Callisto:
"She torched my village, Ares. For no reason! She killed everyone—my family included—in the only world that I knew and grew up in. And what do you think I did? I swore vengeance. I made myself immortal, and killed her beloved son as payment for her generosity. I do not fear Xena. You, on the other hand, fear Gilead. You want to talk about fearing a mortal, Ares? Take a good look at yourself."

Ares unfolded his arms. He was getting aggravated really quickly, but Callisto pressed on.

"That kid who calls himself Gilead is a big joke. He’s nothing but a weak, sentimental mortal!"

Ares:

"IF you don’t me saying so, Cal, remember this: that fool, who thinks he is at the top of the world just because he’s Xena’s son, is under protection of the gods, especially my goody-two-shoes sister Athena. You are not a real god, Cal. You may be immortal just because you got your hands on Ambrosia once, but you do not belong on Mt. Olympus. I do. Zeus is my father, and according to him, if I step out of line one more time, I’ll be forever doomed to the prisons of Mt. Olympus. That is a fate worse than humiliation, being beaten by your own creations, or dying! Once you are in there, you will wish you were in hell! You will wish that you were dead! You’ll find yourself wanting to hold the Hine’s Blood Dagger in your hands, so you could end the suffering. I know, because I’ve been there."

Callisto chuckled. "Do you even know what hell is like, Ares?" She drew her sword, spun around, and mercilessly chopped down one of the three boys, who were standing frightened at the amount of explosive energy that filled the air, at the two gods arguing at the top of their lungs. Seeing the boy beheaded right in front of them, they hid their eyes from the dead, bloody body and threw up. The girl screamed, and Callisto killed another one of the boys instantly. The girl coughed, convulsed, and began to sob. Callisto grabbed her, pulled her up, and shoved her up against a wall. She put the blade of her sword against the girl’s throat. "Do you know what hell is like, sweetie?" And, looking back at Ares, Callisto said, "I’ve been there. Hell is where people like me go when they die—cursed immortals like me, who is neither a god nor a normal human being."

After leaving the girl standing, and wetting her hands in the blood of the two corpses, Callisto went over to the cocoon sitting at the top of the altar positioned against the back wall, and rubbed the blood on it. "And that makes eight more to go." She faced Ares. "After this world falls into hell, I want Xena for myself. Nothing could possibly be better than throwing Xena into a prison called eternity and torturing her forever. I am doomed to live forever, whilst all things around me pass away; even into hell. I will make her suffer the same fate."

Standing above the already stiffened, rigid corpses of the seven troll guards, Gilead kicked his sword up into the air, grabbed the handle, and sheathed it and looked around. Xena and Gabby went to a corner and plopped down on the dirt, exhausted. On the ground shone a limited amount of sunlight, and above them, a hole had been burned in the ceiling. Through the ceiling’s opening Gilead could see the limitless sky. This large open area that they stood in was a cave dug underground, connected with the underground labyrinth that they had traversed earlier.

Gilead looked in Keiar’s direction. "How about it? Now they must all know we are here, right?" he said to Keiar.

Keiar:
"No need for sarcasm. Let’s get back."

Gabby:
"Any particular reason?"

Keiar:
"Because, if we don’t, we will be hopelessly surrounded by the horde of trolls coming right now!"

Gilead spotted the camouflaged door a moment before it opened, revealing troll after troll, rushing out, waving swords, bows and arrows, and chain maces.

Xena grabbed Gabby’s arm and scrambled up. "Okay, we’ve overstayed our visit!"

Gilead jumped up. "Keiar, show mother and Gabby to your camp! I’ll catch up!"

Gabby:
"No! We can’t leave you here!"

Xena came to Gilead’s side. "I’ll stay, Solan. You can’t handle those animals by yourself."

Gilead shook his head adamantly. "Can we trust Gabby’s well being to Keiar? I think not! You have to go with Gabby, mother. NOW," whispered Gilead

As Xena ran after Keiar with Gabby, she once again found herself leaving her son behind while she fled. Her worst nightmare was losing her son again, and she felt that one of these days that just might come true. Solan had never asked to be a warrior, and Xena had intended him not to be one. That was why she had given him to the Centaurs. Seeing her son now, a completely different person, an adult, and a warrior like herself, Xena often wondered whether she would have been a good mother to an innocent little boy, leading the kind of life she did. First it was Centaur Caliapus, Solan’s foster father, then the gods and goddesses, especially Athena; they had raised Solan for her, and Xena could not be thankful enough for that.

As the trolls were still coming out, Gilead slowly backed into the passage from whence he came. He purposefully did not have his sword ready, and as the first troll rushed at him with a spear, Gilead kicked the creature in the gut. As the troll winced in pain, Gilead grabbed the spear, tossed it away, picked up the troll, and hurled him at his companions. Then, without looking back, Gilead took off. The trolls, standing so tightly packed together and in a general disorder, did not even see one of their own flying through the air. Thousands more came out of the open doorway, but when the troll who had been hurled by Gilead knocked down the first one in line, it created a domino effect in which every troll after that was knocked down. The numerous trolls completely filled the floor of the cave, and with the domino continuing, they could not control their diminutive bodies from getting rolled over, tossed, and turned. In the midst of the chaos, Ares stepped out from the castle’s front door. He looked at his pathetic trolls and sighed. He lifted a finger, and pointed it at the trolls. And suddenly, all the trolls on the ground vanished. All the noise, the commotion, had died away, and in the cave, sunlight shining in through the hole in the ceiling, it seemed as if nothing ever happened in here. Ares, looking tired, let his hand drop limply down his side, turned around, and went back inside.

Back out on ground level, Keiar and Gabby grasped Xena’s arms and pulled her out of a tiny square hole in the dirt ground. As slim as she was, Xena was wearing her armor, sword, and chakram and she barely fit through the opening. Gabby had difficulty in pulling Xena up, and Keiar budged in. "Allow me," he said as he yanked Xena’s arms out of the hole. Up came Xena, along with her arms.

Xena stared back into the hole she just came out of. "Where’s Solan?"

Keiar rubbed his chin. "Solan? Lady Xena, why do you call your son Solan?"

"Solan is his real name," explained Gabby. When Keiar looked more puzzled, Gabby said, "It’s a long story. Let’s not get too involved, okay? You people are not the only ones keeping secrets."

"Look, Keiar. We have a deal. We agreed to help you win your independence from Ares; that is the extent of our generosity. We will not become pen pals anytime soon. Why don’t you save it for another lifetime?" snapped Xena.

Keiar was not about to be silenced. "Oh really? If you hate doing this, why did you agree to help us in the first place?"

Xena whirled around and shoved Keiar against a tree. "You want to know why? Do you want to know why we are doing this? I’ll tell you why. Ares is evil. He is the wayward son of Zeus. If someone does not save you and your pathetic rebels from Ares, he will succeed this time. He knows what he is doing, and you will become his mindless zombies. No army on earth would be able to stop you then; if that happens, Ares would simply be able to sit back and let you and your people do all the dirty work, like he intended when he created you. And I’m not about to stand by and watch as Ares turns this world into a living hell! That is why I’m helping you, do you understand me? I’m not doing this for you; no way. Don’t think, even for a second, that I care about you and your people’s existence."

Keiar, shoved up against the tree, with Xena in his face, showed no emotion. "Are you done?" he asked, then pushed Xena away. Xena came back over to Gabby and sat down. "Xena," Gabby whispered calmly. "That was uncalled for."

Xena whispered back. "I…I’m sorry. I got agitated. I mean…who does he think he is? He thinks he’s a real king, deserving of praise and offerings and all of the good stuff."

Gabby glanced back at Keiar, who was looking around for any intruders. "But he is, Xena. To his people, he is."

Xena said nothing as she stared into the infinite blackness of the entrance to the underground labyrinth. She looked back at Keiar, and voiced her thought: "Do you realize, Keiar, that as long as your people live on, Ares will never stop trying?"

"We are aware of that," Keiar uttered painfully, leaning against the tree with his arms folded.

Gabby stopped Xena. "All things have a right to live, Xena. These people did not ask to be created, did they?" Gabby whispered, half-pleading.

"How’s everything?" a voice startled the three people standing around. It was Gilead, covered in dirt and leaves as he appeared from behind a tree.

"Solan! You made it!" Xena smiled for the first time in a long time. She ran up to her son and hugged him. Keiar turned away, disgusted. "Humans!"

As Gabby looked at mother and son, she was struck with a certain strange feeling. Gilead was not returning his mother’s affection; he simply stood with his hands loosely down his sides, standing rigid like a stone statue. The angle of Gabby’s view was such that Xena’s body completely blocked her sight of Gilead, and as her uneasiness grew, she presently saw Xena collapse onto the ground. When Xena hit the dirt, Gabby was horrified at what she saw: Gilead had a knife in his hand, positioned on his side. The blood on the blade was Xena’s, without a doubt; he had stabbed Xena as she came running up to him.

Alarmed, Gabby hoisted up her staff and pointed it at Gilead. "Who are you?"

Gilead, or what looked like him, ignored Gabby. He threw his bloody dagger at Keiar, who was stunned by the unfolding of events. He had evidently forgotten to move out of the way of the flying dagger, and he got hit, smack in the face.

Gabby took a step back and repeated her last words. "Who are you?"

As if answering her question, the man that stood in front of her suddenly began to emit light. Within seconds the man that stood in front of Gabby was not Gilead but Ares.

"W…where is Gilead, Ares?" Gabby managed to say. Her throat was dry. Her knees were shaking. Ares snapped his fingers, and pointed to the tree that he had been hiding behind. As Gabby’s attention was turned to the tree, Ares grabbed Gabby, whirled her around, and held her in a tight arm-lock.

Gabby:
"Let me go! Gilead is not going to be in that labyrinth forever, Ares. He’ll come for me!"

Ares:

"Ha! Look for yourself, my innocent little bard. Here is your beloved Gilead." Ares lifted Gabby off the ground, turned 180 degrees, and set her down. Gabby struggled to free herself in vain, but Ares tightened his grip. When an exhausted Gabby stopped struggling, she looked up in time to see Gilead come around the tree, being dragged on the ground by the arms, by two trolls. He was severely beaten and barely conscious. Gabby knew, for a fact, that these creatures, no matter how great in number, could not have overpowered Gilead. It had to have been Ares who intervened on the trolls’ behalf.

"You are to be my one hundredth sacrifice, Gabrielle. I have a plan," Ares was saying. "And I’m not about to let this son of Xena, or you, or the fish men ruin it for us!"

Gabby:
"Us? What do you mean by that?"

Ares:
"Oops; better keep my mouth shut. Well, no matter. You are coming with me, Gabrielle. You’ll see what I’m talking about."

Gilead looked up at Ares. His eyes were filled with rage and helplessness as he could only watch as one of the trolls pulled his sword out of his scabbard. The troll then handed the weapon to Ares. Receiving the sword, Ares grinned. "I’ll be treasuring this, my mortal friend. See you around."

As Ares and Gabby were beginning to disappear in a flash of light, Gabby’s voice could be heard. "Hope, Gilead! It’s Hope!"

"Gabby…" Gilead extended his hand out into space, reaching for Gabby who was no longer there. Around Gilead, all was silence, except for the afternoon winds, rustling dry leaves over his body. He did not even know where he was; all he knew was that he was on the ground, too weak to move. "Gabby…"

With all of his remaining strength, he managed to turn his head to his left. He could barely keep his eyelids open, as Hypnos, the god of sleep, beckoned him.* About twenty feet away lay Xena, with a slit cut in her leather armor and her side bloody. Had he any strength left, Gilead would have shrieked in terror. He noticed the world swirling around as his mind got more and more hazy by the second.

To be continued…

*See my new and improved list of divinities