Continued from KOK (Knights Of Keiar) #5…

Xena doubted her ears. "Solan, did you say "hope"? What do you mean, Ares is trying to revive hope?" Xena had a pretty good idea what her son was saying, but she prayed to Zeus that it wasn’t the case.

Gilead would have sighed and shook his head if Xena weren’t his mother. "Hope, mom. Hope! As in Gabby’s ill-begotten daughter, the demon-child of Dehak?"

Xena was speechless; she looked straight in front of her, eyes entranced. "And Ares is going to sacrifice Gabrielle to bring Hope back? Kill the mother to give life to the child?" Xena looked back at Gilead. "Why is he doing this? And why now?"

Gilead could not answer. Not knowing anything about how Hope came to be in the first place, he could not do anything to comfort his mother.

Meanwhile, in the stone temple where Hope’s cocoon was resting, Gabby, her hands tied behind her around a pillar, struggled to free herself. Blindfolded and not knowing where she was, she could only cry out for help, hoping that some passerby would hear her. Great, she thought. Just what did I do this time to get myself into this?

She heard footsteps. "Ares, if that is you, tell me where I am!" Gabby shouted. The footsteps came closer, and her blindfold was lifted to reveal Callisto, standing tall and looking down at her.

Gabby:
"You !"

Callisto:
"Yes, me."

Gabby:
"How do you fit into Ares’ little war game? No, wait; don’t tell me, you want Xena."

Callisto smiled without answering. She turned around and took a few steps, and started talking.

"My dear Gabrielle. Do you know what I did when I first saw Xena, when she was a warlord and I was a child? I hid. I rushed into my house and hid. All the while, there was the sound of screams and horse hooves thundering from the outside. I clutched my mother’s hands in sheer fear and terror. I still remember her trying to comfort me, when she herself was frightened to death; ‘don’t worry,’ she would say. ‘They won’t find us in here.’ Ha! Imagine that: ‘they won’t find us in here.’ My mother actually said that!"

Gabby:
"Callisto—"

Callisto:
"And she believed it, too. Too bad I believed it with her. If I had known any better, if I had just known, I would have grabbed my mother and made a getaway, rather than sit there and face guaranteed death."

Gabby:
"Callisto!"

Callisto:
"—and it happened. Soldiers—you know, those big, hairy guys with brains smaller than a pigeon—busted our door open. They saw my mother and me, and immediately grabbed us and hauled us outside. Then they ransacked our house, taking everything in it; they took care as to not leave even the last single spoon behind."

Gabby:
"Why are you telling me this?"

Callisto rushed over and struck Gabby in the face. The powerful blow cut Gabby’s lip, blood rolling down her chin.

Callisto:
"Shut up and listen! How dare you interrupt a goddess when she’s on a roll!"

Gabby fought to keep her anger contained. "You are not a "goddess," Callisto. You are just a mortal who got lucky." Gabby spat her words out harshly.

Callisto frowned at Gabby. Within seconds, however, the frown turned into her usual malicious smile. Mockingly, she put on a pitying look, and wiping Gabby’s blood away, saying, "Ohhhhhhh, did I do that, you poor thing? Hmm?"

Gabby looked away. She felt she would explode if she kept on looking at Callisto’s face, the face of the one who had made her and Xena’s life so miserable; on top of that, Callisto was the one who had killed Gabby’s husband, Perdicas, in cold blood. Only after his death did Gabby learn how much of a coward Perdicas really was, but that did not, in any way, justify Callisto’s murdering an innocent bystander.

Callisto:
"As you may have guessed, sweetie, we are bringing your beloved daughter back. Just imagine what a wonderful reunion that would be!"

Inside the hospital building in the wretched village, Gilead, Xena, the four knights, and their ragtag army were having a conference. However, there was no peace in this meeting. Kore, upon learning that Keiar had been killed, blamed Gilead, and attacked him. His brothers, who themselves were awe-struck, held Kore back. Gilead and Kore were standing on the dirt floor, facing each other. Gilead was nursing the cut on his arm that Kore had dealt him, while an out-of-control Kore thrashed in his brothers’ grip. An overturned table lay between Kore and Gilead. The crowd had formed a circle around them, full of excited, pent-up energy; Xena was sitting atop a nearby table, somehow not very surprised at Keiar’s death.

Rexlar:
"My brother! Though it is unfortunate, we cannot blame sir Gilead here! After all, who can challenge a god?"

Kore tried to shove Rexlar to the side. "This imbecile does not deserve to be called "sir"! He got our king killed. Now how will our army keep order?"

Homan:
"Brother! We all know the risks. We could live one moment, and lie dead on the ground the next! King Keiar knew that and so do we!"

Kore kicked Homan in the groin and swatted Rexlar’s head, smack in the temple. They held on for dear life, however. As Kore was kept back by his brothers, Gilead was not about to just sit and take in the accusations.

"Why do you blame me? Did you, sir Kore, forget that you are in a war? One simply does not let their guard down during wartime, because something like this just might happen!"

Kore spat at Gilead’s feet as Rexlar and Homan pulled him further back. "Curses! Curses to you and your companions! May you be plagued with a thousand illnesses, and let bad luck find you wherever you go!"

Gilead felt as if he had been hit in the head with a mallet. Gilead felt like stabbing the blue knight. For a split second, the thought actually crossed his mind; never before in his life had he been cursed. Not insulted, but cursed. However, Gilead knew that if he were to stab Kore, these people would not let him or Xena out of here alive.

Kore was still screaming, while the crowd stood and watched, transfixed. "Leave, now. You and your mother, leave our village. From now on, you’ll be our sworn enemies; the next time we see either of you, I’ll kill you myself."

Gilead frowned at Kore. He felt like saying the words, "I’d like to see you try." Xena, sitting behind Gilead and sensing the general mood, slowly took her hand to her chakram. Although she was still hurt and quite immobile, she had put her gear back on, insisting to Gilead that she should be ready.

A shrieking voice broke the ice: "Please, stop this!!!!" a girl shouted as she came out of the crowd. It was Laida, Kore’s daughter.

Kore gave an effort and shook his arms free. He took a step over and took Laida in his arms.

Laida:
"Father, why are you doing this?"

Kore:
"…"

Laida:
"It’s not sir Gilead’s fault…and you know it. It’s not anyone’s fault."

Laida seemed to wait for Kore to speak, to apologize to Gilead and address the issue at hand: to plan their immediate action. Kore, however, was silent.

Laida:
"Father…?"

Kore:
"I…I’m sorry, my dear. I’m sorry…"

Kore broke down. Tears welled up in his eyes, and he fell to the ground, on his knees. "Our king…our king is dead…now who’ll lead us to freedom?"

Aside from Kore’s wailing, the crowd was silent; Gilead, however, could tell they all shared Kore’s thoughts. Now they were without a leader. These people were already exhausted and at their will’s end, just about ready to give up. Keiar was their one ray of light, their source of hope that kept them going. But now that he was gone, they saw no reason to fight on.

Gilead felt pity, and remorse. He honestly felt sorry and apologetic for these people, who never asked to be born, and never asked to be in this situation. Goddess Athena, where are you when I need you? I need your help. Now. Please…

Back at the stone temple, Ares was standing on the roof of the great structure, looking out toward the night sky. Suddenly a scream came from below. Knowing what it was, Ares let an evil smirk appear on his face. He looked down at his feet, the direction in which Gabby’s piercing scream came from. Callisto was having some sadistic fun by torturing Gabby. Ares muttered to himself, "Just hold on, my dear Gabrielle. Your suffering will end when the time is right…"

Ares ran off the ceiling of the building, landed in front of the door, and went through the open doorway. Inside, Gabby, still bound to the pillar, was bruised all over, with cuts and gashes all over her body. Breathing hard, she slumped down onto the floor, her bound wrists allowing only the tiniest of movement. Callisto, seeing Ares come inside, appeared around a corner.

"Why didn’t you just kill this girl?" Callisto asked defiantly. "We have only one more to go, and she (pointing to Gabby) is perfect!"

"And ruin the family reunion?" Ares shook his head. "I don’t think so. Nay, methinks I should use this mortal—not human, but no one’s complaining, and he’s near death anyway. Here he is…"

Ares turned around and clapped his hands once. The double doors of the temple opened, and two trolls, lugging a very large sack, came inside.

Callisto flashed a grin. "So, we finally have it."

Ares clapped. "Bravo, Callisto." Then, sarcastic: "Never could get anything past you."

Callisto ignored Ares’ antics. She rushed over and greedily seized the bag. Not bothering to search for the mouth of the bag, she drew her sword and cut the brown sack open, not caring whether she accidentally hurt the sacrifice.

Ares:
"Callisto, I would be a bit more careful."

Callisto:
"Shut up, Ares! Do you think I care about this one’s well being? We’re too close now."

Gabby, observing from a distance, could see everything with clarity. When the bag was torn in two, out came a man with the face of a fish. He was one of them, one of Keiar’s people. His face was bruised and bloodied and his hands and feet were tied. Then Gabby was gripped with a sick feeling in his stomach as she realized who the sacrifice was—it was Keiar himself! She had to turn away at the sight of the man; the knife Ares had thrown at him was still lodged into the left side of his face.

Ares:
"Well Keiar, my pathetic little fish man, you have served your purpose."

Gabby gasped. Only now did she realize that most of the other sacrifices must have been Keiar’s people, too. Ares, instead of killing his creations and letting their bodies decay, was instead putting them to "good use."

Ares advanced menacingly on Gabby.

Keiar, not being able to see, shouted out, "Ares, the God of War? Where am I? What are you going to do to me…?"

"Shut up!" Callisto kicked Keiar in the face, and Ares put a hand over Gabby’s mouth, to prevent Keiar from knowing who was with him.

When both mortals were quiet, Ares called out: "Callisto, would you like to do the honors?"

"Certainly."

Callisto drew her sword, stood before Keiar, and flashed her smile, full of malice.

"This is where you get off, sweetie. You’ve been a real good boy…"

Callisto raised her sword above Keiar’s head.

Back in the roadside village, Gilead, Xena, the four knights, and their people were gathered in a type of amphitheater, with Gilead and the four knights standing up, and the crowd sitting on benches. They were dressed in layers, some with blankets draped over themselves, as the night air was chilly. A bonfire had been lit in the middle of the gathering, with everyone huddled around it except for Gilead and the four knights. Talking over the crackle of the orange flames was Gilead. Xena, having a good view of her son, noticed that his scabbard was empty; Ares had probably stolen his sword. She assumed the worst and decided not to ask.

"Right…We all know, sorry to say, that your King Keiar has fallen in his line of duty," Gilead was saying. Before continuing, Gilead stole a glance at Kore, standing to his left, holding his daughter in his arms. Kore looked down onto the ground at the mentioning of his king. Gilead cleared his throat, and continued.

"King Keiar was a soldier, and he died a soldier. He died trying to save us—Gabby and myself—from Ares." Gilead was lying, of course. But often the truth hurts more than a slightly improvised and exaggerated "lie," and Gilead thought this was one such case. Had these people actually found out that Keiar died a coward, they would have stopped nothing short of a complete nervous breakdown.

A few citizens swiped tears when Keiar was mentioned, but kept their attention on the speaker on the floor.

"Anyway, the main reason why I called this meeting was to tell you what Ares is up to now." Gilead paused, looked around, and said, "Ares is no longer bent on wiping you folks out."

The mood of the crowd seemed to lift higher than Gilead ever remembered seeing. Rexlar, the brown knight, grabbed Gilead’s shoulder. "You mean he’s given up?" His voice was full of hope; so were the murmurs and whispers traded among the citizens. Xena herself was caught a bit off guard, finding it hard to believe that Ares would give up on trying to annihilate these people, after all this time and effort.

What a pun, thought Gilead. ‘Hope’…we must never lose hope. I wish I could give you a simple "yes" for an answer, Rexlar. I really do.

"Not quite. Ares has an ulterior motive," Gilead said. "At this stage, you people are nothing more than mere inconveniences to him. He won’t go out of his way to destroy you, because he thinks what he’s doing next will take care of that." More whispers and murmurs followed.

Back in the temple…

Callisto wet her right hand in Keiar’s blood, and stood up. Before she could start walking toward the cocoon, Gabby tossed out a question. "Why did you go through all the trouble to create those beings, then turn your attention to try to revive her (Hope)?"

Ares smiled. "I’ll tell you why: I want this pathetic world to pass on. I must confess, I feel that I’ve had enough. There just aren’t any interesting wars anymore. Mortals these days just don’t know how to wage war."

Gabby was dumbfounded. What? So you’re saying that you’re doing this just because you’re bored?

Ares:
"Ahh…but who could forget the Battle of Troy? The Trojans hiding in their wooden horses, surprising their enemies…there was some originality, right there. But nowadays, well…just isn’t the same."

Gabby:
"you probably could take over this world, if you really wanted to. But you’ve been given a warning from Zeus, so you can’t do it yourself."

Ares clapped. "Bingo! God, Gabrielle! You are so sharp! It really is a big shame that a bright mind like yours will have to be wasted."

Gabby sneered. "You cannot control Hope, Ares. If anything, she’ll end up controlling you! She has one goal in mind: to allow her father back into this world. She does no favors, does bargains with no one, and certainly does not trust anyone!"

Ares slapped her face, hard. The cut on Gabby’s lip started to bleed again. Anger gripped her like a vice, and Gabby breathed hard to control herself.

"Don’t talk to me as if you were Zeus," Ares warned. "I can control the freak you call your daughter. If she refuses, I can simply kill her."

"Oh? And let your one hundred sacrifices go to waste? You don’t have the guts, Ares! You won’t be able to kill her! You’ll soon be kissing her feet!"

Lightning flashed in Ares’ face for a second, but he regained self-control. He put a hand on top of Gabby’s head, then let go. He turned around and walked away. "We’ll just see who has the last laugh."

All this time Gabby was oblivious of Callisto enriching Hope’s cocoon with Keiar’s blood. Callisto suddenly screamed; then Ares and Gabby watched in wonder as Callisto’s body flew back, through the air, and slammed against the closed doors of the temple.

Ares:
"What was that?"

Callisto, rubbing her head:
"It’s Hope. The food we gave her is not adequate!"

Ares:
"Enough with the jokes! Does that mean it won’t work???"

Callisto:
"It will, but it will take a lot longer for her to reach her full strength."

Ares spat on the ground in disgust. "Well, no matter. If and when Xena and her hotshot son arrive here, we’ll just hold them back until Hope is ready to get to work." Ares went over to a ceremonial wash basin, now empty, reached behind it, and produced Gilead’s sword. "Without this little baby, Solan is nothing."

Callisto:
"Now, you do realize, Ares, that we cannot control Hope once she’s loose."

Ares sneaked a look back at Gabby. "Of course. We—rather, I—just sit back and let her do all the work. She’ll eventually do what has to be done in order to bring her daddy back, and then…" Ares trailed off. "…Then we’ll have some real fun." Then, looking at Gabby: "And you will have the best seat in the house to witness your friend Xena and your lover Gilead fall into the eternal flames of hell, before you join them."

Gilead:
"So, there you have it. I’ve told you everything I know."

A man from the crowd:
"So, you are saying that the demon child will ruin the world unless we kill her?"

Xena spoke up. "Not just "ruin." She’ll drive this world straight into hell, with help from her father."

Same man:
"But Gabrielle is also the mother of this demon child."

Gilead and Xena cracked, like an egg under pressure. They both got up at the same time, but Gilead was faster. He screamed out at the man. "Not by choice!!!!! Dehak used her; used her body to give life to his evil incarnation! Believe me, if Gabby could re-live that day over again, she would do everything in her power to change the outcome!!!!! If you are thinking of eliminating Gabrielle—" Gilead looked out at the citizens and announced, "I assure you, if anyone here hurts Gabrielle, they will be joining Hope in hell."

Rexlar saw the need to act quickly to break up the tension in the air. "Now, everyone! Let’s not lose focus here! We have serious work to do; the fate of this whole world is in our hands! We cannot turn our backs on Gilead and Xena here; after what they’ve done for us, it’s the least we can do."

There were petty arguments and disagreements, but it was eventually decided that Keiar’s army would bear arms for the last time. If they failed in this attempt, whether in winning freedom from Ares or stopping the world from destruction, they would agree to leave this world in mass suicide.

To be continued…