Continued from KOK (Knights Of Keiar) #4…

Before he knew what it was or what was going on, he realized that he felt completely weightless. He opened his eyes, and he was surprised to find himself standing up, in the same forest he had passed out in. He looked around; not a soul was in sight. Only the rustling winds and the blowing leaves seemed to keep this desolate forest company. He was alone; no trolls, no Ares, no Gabby, and no Xena. Xena was not here. She could not have suddenly awakened and walked away; unless someone had taken her.

A sense of panic enveloped him as he remembered that Ares had also taken his sword away. "Great. Now what can I do?" He wanted to do something, but he did not even know where he was anymore. "By the gods!" he muttered to himself.

He had never felt this vulnerable in his life, except for the time when Hope strangled him to death. He could remember it ever so clearly: Standing in front of the altar where Caliapus had left him, he heard a voice behind him. "Solan?" the voice of a girl asked. "Are you Solan?"

"Yes."

The little girl approached him, and told him that Xena had sent her, to make sure he was all right. He told her he was fine, that nothing could get to him with both Xena and Caliapus in town. But something was amiss. This girl was a complete stranger; Solan knew practically everyone in the Centaur village, and she was a new face. Furthermore, this little girl’s peculiar manner of dress only heightened his anxiety and suspicion. She had a tunic covering her, just a piece of ragged fabric really, with a hole cut in the middle for the head to fit through, and draped over her like a raincoat missing its hood. The people of this village never dressed that way.

"Who are you?" Solan asked. Then, without a word, she reached out with both hands and took a hold of Solan’s neck. As he was being choked, Solan frantically shook, kicked, and punched his attacker, but the girl wouldn’t budge. As if made of solid rock, her unrelenting hands quickly drained the life out of him. The girl’s malicious smile was the last thing he saw before the world went black.

A few moments later, as Xena held his lifeless body, Solan remembered calling out to her. He was outside of his body, and felt himself flying around through the air. Though he could see Xena, and her world, she could not see into this side, the side of the dead. Immediately after Xena cried out in utter grief and despair, Solan, now a spirit, saw the world black out again. When it once again became bright, he saw that he was in a completely different place; namely, the middle of an ocean. From here the spirit of Solan would roam the world for a year, refusing to go into the land of the dead.

Back in reality, Gilead opened his eyes. He was still alone in the forest, sitting on a rock and reminiscing. Digging his hands in the ground and letting the dirt slip through his fingers, he lamented: Is this all I am good for? Am I nothing but a big failure…? …Gabby has been captured by Ares, Keiar’s dead, and mother, who is injured, has somehow disappeared! Where could she be?

Punching the ground and lost in self-loathing, Gilead did not notice Athena, his mentor and goddess of war and wisdom, walking up from behind him. Feeling a hand on his shoulder, Gilead jumped up and instinctively launched a fist at whoever was standing there. His flying fist, however, was stopped by Athena’s hand.

"Goddess Athena!"

Gilead fell down to the ground and knelt at Athena’s feet. Looking somewhat depressed, Athena once again put a hand on Gilead’s shoulder and said, "Rise." Gilead obeyed. Athena looked the same as ever; and why should she change? Athena, in her human form, stood about 5’ 9" tall, had short auburn hair, a quite bony face, and blue eyes. She wore a heavy, white gown that came down to her ankles. On her feet was a pair of brown sandals. "Sit," she ordered, pointing to a tree trunk, lying on its side on the ground.

For a long time the mortal and the goddess exchanged glances but no words. Athena seemed angry, definitely with Gilead but something else as well. Gilead wished Athena would say something, and say it soon. His patience was running thin, but Gilead knew better than to pressure a god or goddess.

A long sigh preceded Athena’s first words. "Gods have feelings, as well."

Gilead:
"???"

Athena, seeing a perplexed Gilead:
"Why do you think I came here, into your mind? I could not idly sit by and watch Ares committing crimes—crimes against his father."

Gilead:

"My goddess; did you just say that we’re inside my mind?"

"Yes, but don’t interrupt again." Gilead covered his mouth. Athena continued: "Ares was always the…difficult one. He wanted to do whatever it was that pleased him. Now, he wants to destroy the world—which may not be so bad for Lord Zeus; all things must pass away eventually. However, I am not Ares. I may be his sister, but I’m nothing like him. I do not want this world to end."

Gilead looked more puzzled than before. "Gods, too, have emotions and feelings, Gilead," Athena repeated.

Gilead let his mind wander. He was always amazed at how visible Athena made herself to him. It was as if she was not a god but a friend, or mother. It was the rule of thumb that mortals, living in this world, never, ever got a chance to actually see the god or goddess they worshipped. If someone did, they would have something to boast to others for the rest of their lives, although few, if any, would believe them. The concept of seeing a god face-to-face was regarded as ludicrous and impossible. It simply did not make sense for gods to take the time to show themselves to a mortal, let alone have a one-on-one talk with one (Ares and Aphrodite, of course, were the two exceptions. They freely traveled the world, associating with mortals).

Even when he was living on Mt. Olympus for a year, Gilead rarely got to see any of the other gods, but he saw Athena almost every day. And here she was again, Athena, the goddess of crafts, war, and wisdom, descending from Mt. Olympus to have a private conversation with him. This type of thing always made Gilead feel special. He wondered if deities had their favorites and if he was Athena’s favorite, like teachers having their favorite students.

But feeling special was at the bottom of Gilead’s list now. He wanted some answers, to get Gabby back, and save his mother. As Gilead kept fidgeting and shifting on the log, Athena, who was sitting on the other end of the log, bobbed up and down as Gilead shook the tree trunk. "Are you feeling helpless, just because you are without your sword?" asked Athena. Looking back at Athena, Gilead replied sheepishly, "You already know the answer to that."

A sigh preceded her next words. "What you do not realize, Solan, is that your sword does not make you the warrior; it is inside you. I trained you, Solan, in a way that no mortal can be trained. Just because Ares has created those creatures does not mean that you lose your abilities. …Do you remember what Gabrielle said to you?"

"Yes, goddess. She said ‘hope.’"

"And what would that mean?"

"I have no clue."

"Do you? Or are you just refusing to recognize what your mind has figured out already? Ares said Gabrielle would be the hundredth sacrifice. Now, think. What would Ares need a sacrifice for?"

Gilead jumped up. "The word ‘sacrifice’ reminds me of…Dehak? I remember mother telling me once about the master of devils…how he can swallow this entire world, along with everything in it. He can then send it into hell. …When Gabby drew her first blood after Perdicas was killed, Dehak fed upon Gabby’s hatred and anger, and revived himself. That’s how Hope was born!" Gilead flung himself down at Athena’s feet. "My goddess! Is Ares trying to revive Hope? And after that, Hope can use her powers to bring back her father, Dehak the Devil? Is that it???"

Athena did not look amused in the least bit. She stood up, and pulled Gilead up with him. "Now do you understand? I do not want to see this world go down in flames, Gilead. Xena and Gabrielle are the chosen ones, and you are Xena’s son. Do you think it was coincidence that you were murdered at a young age, then brought back to life? As the son of the chosen one, it is your duty to fight alongside your mother. You must preserve this world for as long as you live."

"But, my goddess, why are you so…dare I say, ‘sentimental’? With all due respect, my goddess, Olympians should not really care for this world. If this world goes away, a new one will be formed. New mortals will come to fill the void, and they—"

Athena held up a hand. Gilead closed his mouth. "I know what is to come, my student. As impossible as this sounds, one day, all gods will be forgotten. In the minds of humans, it will be as if we never existed," Athena said grimly.

If it were a mortal saying this, Gilead would have laughed out loud and called them a lunatic. Instead, he doubted his ears. "You stand now at the gate of the greatest trial of your life. On your shoulders rests the fate of this world. Stop the destruction of this world, or hell will consume it and Olympus will be threatened," prophesized Athena.

Right after he finished this thought, Gilead realized that Athena was gone. He looked in every direction, but Athena, a goddess who was fond of Gilead as much as Gilead was of her, had finished her lecture, and had gone back to Mt. Olympus. Gilead chewed on Athena’s last words some more. Olympus…threatened?

Then Gilead became aware of how sore his muscles were, all over his body. His legs had zero strength, and he collapsed down onto the dirt. When he tried to get back up, his head started to ache, and the world started spinning again. At the same time, he heard voices calling him. They echoed, as if Gilead was in some cave. When the voices called out again, he recognized them as Kore and Taggard, two of Keiar’s knights. As the two voices bade him to wake up, the world became completely black; meanwhile the pain continued.

He felt the cool sensation of a wet towel on his forehead. He wanted to see, but he could not open his eyes. "Don’t try to move," said a young, female voice. Then the same voice called for Kore and Taggard. Rapid footsteps could be heard, and the voice of Taggard: "Sir Gilead, can you hear us? …Can you talk, sir Gilead?"

Gilead managed to squeeze out a "yes" from his dry, swollen throat. He could almost feel Kore and Taggard’s sigh of relief.

Kore:

"Your eyes are quite swollen, sir Gilead. You probably cannot see right now, am I correct?"

Gilead gave a nod, barely noticeable.

Kore said, "No problem. We can make short work of predicaments like these. I don’t know if the trolls did this to you, but you are quite the wounded soldier."

‘Quite the wounded soldier’? Now what the hell kind of a lame expression was that???

Taggard:

"Brother Kore is now going to treat your eyes with this gel. It will sting and burn severely, but the swelling will go down in about five minutes."

Bring it on, thought Gilead. Pain did not scare him. Just as long as I can see…

After his eyes were opened, and the world came into perspective, Gilead saw that he was lying down with a blanket covering him, staring up at the thatched ceiling of a cheap, hastily constructed building. To his left sat a teenage girl, perhaps sixteen; she was giving Gilead’s face a cold-wet-towel massage. Judging from her manner of dress, she was definitely one of Keiar’s forces. "Thank you," uttered Gilead hoarsely, barely audible; that was the best he could do. The girl smiled. "I’m Laida. Kore is my father," she told him.

Gilead was suddenly interested. This girl was the daughter of Kore? Not really knowing why, Gilead found himself to be quite surprised. "Really? Then where is your mother?"

Laida suddenly became dark and moody. She drew her towel away, and water wrung out of the towel and dripped on to her skirt. It did not take mind reading to figure out that Laida was still hung up over her mother’s death (however far back that was).

Instantly Gilead knew he had stuck his big, fat boot in his mouth. An "I’m sorry" was all his throat could manage.

Laida had straight long black hair with streaks of brown mixed in. She had a round, innocent looking face. Gilead knew that her face was only a mask, but seeing her deep, thoughtful brown eyes, along with the scar running down from her left chin to the right collarbone, he could see that this girl had been through much, and was forced to grow up quickly. But then, all of her people had been through a lot; they were created, forced to do deeds against their will, and sought out freedom from oppression. Now, a people winning their freedom from an oppressor was something that always had strings attached; the cost of freedom was always so huge, that some people thought that staying oppressed would almost be better off, rather then risking everything for freedom. Almost.

Xena had called this race a mistake—but Gilead disagreed. They were a new race, another sentient species that recently came to coexist with all the other beings of the world: humans, Giants, Centaurs, to name a few. Gilead believed in his heart that there were still many races yet to be discovered, people that could bring with them to the world their own insights, philosophies, and technology.

Laida was looking down at Gilead’s bandaged left arm. Gilead looked at her, wanting to say something, but Laida refused to make eye contact. Giving up, Gilead struggled to sit up, grunting in pain, when Kore stepped through the open doorway. Kore saw his daughter, and then looked at Gilead quizzically.

"My apologies," said Gilead’s hoarse voice. "I, not knowing, asked Laida, here, about her mother…I’m deeply sorry. I know how it feels to lose a loved one."

Kore stood behind Laida and laid a hand on her shoulder. Laida stood up, and received a comforting hug from her father. "Look, Laida," Kore said gently, "your uncles are having some difficulty with the ox cart outside—why don’t you run over and give them a hand?"

Laida nodded, and after swiping a tear, trotted outside. Even a brainless starfish could figure out that there was no ox cart, and certainly no trouble; Kore wanted to talk privately with Gilead.

Gilead felt terrible. Kore began: "It was when our King Keiar had first built his kingdom. My Laida was thirteen at the time—well, anyway it goes like this: I was, along with my three brothers, serving as the captain of the guards. We each led a team of guards and patrolled the night air around the castle perimeters. One of Rexlar’s soldiers saw a shadow move in the darkness, and taking no chances, aimed his bow and arrow and shot the intruder. But that "intruder" turned out to be Laida’s mother, my wife. He didn’t know how to explain this to us, so…he killed himself. He wrote a note explaining everything, stuck the note to his forehead, and drove a dagger through his heart."

Gilead:
"I’m sorry to hear that."

Kore thudded his head with his palm. "No. Pity is the last thing Laida needs; she is quite strong, you know. Did you see her scar?"

Gilead shrugged. "How could I miss it?"

"…"

"Sir Kore; where is my mother? I assume you brought her back here with me."

Kore scratched his nose with his left hand, and held out his right. "Can you walk, sir?"

Gilead groaned in pain as his sore muscles refused to cooperate. Kore helped him up to his feet. As they were leaving the building, Kore tossed Gilead a question. "Who was it, sir Gilead? I know for a fact that those trolls could never do this to you; I’ve seen you in combat. Was…was it Ares?"

"Yes."

Limping, Gilead followed Kore to the open doorway. They took a step outside, into the dusk. The orange-red sky dimly lit the shabby village. The buildings were pitifully cheap, all pathetically constructed with thin boards of wood, some even with sticks and hardened blocks of mud/straw mixtures. To their left was the lone permanent building in the entire village, a log cabin with the sign, "store" above the doorway. Peeking inside the door would allow one to see daggers, ropes, knapsacks, etc. hanging on the back wall.

The village was comprised of several dozen buildings, and they were lined up on either side of a fairly large road that cut right through the town.

Kore:
"So, Ares is here."

Gilead:
"He is. But this may surprise you: He no longer places your people at the top of his priorities. He’s got an ulterior motive; that is why he abducted Gabby."

Kore’s eyes lit up. "He abducted your lady?" He stopped walking and turned toward Gilead. "Pardon me. Does that mean we are free?"

"That’s not quite what I meant," said Gilead. "In fact, I don’t know. Listen; why don’t you gather all of your people tonight. I’ll tell all, everything I know and that I heard."

"Agreed."

They crossed the road, cutting through the middle of the town, without saying any more. Gilead could see that this village has been standing for a long time, evidenced by the age of the buildings. At first glance, the people—working, living, some sleeping—looked like ordinary citizens in an otherwise poor town, oblivious to the rest of the world. But they all knew what was coming; and they had better be ready to fight to the death.

"It’s there," Kore said as he pointed to a house in front of them. This building was no different than the others, except for the fact that it was huge. "Our hospital," explained Kore, sensing Gilead’s curiosity. "This place has been overworked lately, with the injuries from constant troll attacks. The Warrior Princess was taken immediately to this place when we brought her in."

Inside the building were hundreds of the wounded, lying on blankets spread on the dirt floor. The "nurses," nothing more than girls and boys fetching water and towels for the wounded, were busy running from patient to patient. One bumped into Kore. As the nurse boy and Kore exchanged a few words, Gilead spotted his mother. She was lying on a blanket in the corner, her midsection wrapped in bandages. Her armor and weapons lay by her feet, and her undershirt had been torn open to bandage her knife wound.

"Mother!"

Gilead approached Xena. As soon as she saw his son, Xena tried to sit up. A jolt of pain shot through her body and Xena fell back down, clutching her bandaged side.

Gilead reached her. Xena clutched her son’s hand tightly. "Solan, it was Ares. It had to be him. He disguised himself as you, got close to me, and stabbed me. Good thing these people found me before I…died. But where were you all this time?"

"Ares. He nearly beat me to death…"

"So it was Ares…"

Gilead kissed his mother on her forehead. Xena smiled weakly, reaching up and feeling her son’s face. Then, as if awakened with a start, she blurted out: "Solan! Where’s Gabrielle?"

"…"

Xena read Gilead’s face. "What…happened to her?"

"…Ares has her, mom."

"Ares?!" Xena tried to get up again, but the pain beat her to it. Xena gave a yelp, and clunked back down onto the blanket. "This is not good…not good at all."

Gilead pried his hand loose from his mother’s. "There’s more. Ares plans to kill—make that sacrifice—Gabby. He’s planning to bring Hope back!"

To be continued…