Continued from KOK (Knights Of Keiar) #6…

The cocoon started to twitch and move. It began to shift in place, and it began to make gobbling noises. An appendage, obviously an arm, thrust out from inside the leather-like cocoon and made a bulge. Ares and Callisto stood back, flabbergasted.

The inside of the cocoon lit up, as if a torch was set ablaze from within the brown sac. A human form could be seen inside, tightly huddled into a spherical form.

"HOPE!" Callisto shouted. "It’s you, isn’t it?"

Ares held Gilead’s sword in his hand. He looked on as Hope slowly began to rip open her cocoon. "This is where the fun begins, my dear Gabrielle. Don’t you go anywhere." Ares talked mostly to himself, but he was fully aware that Gabby could hear him.

Gabby, still bound to the column, muttered under her breath. "Don’t you worry about that, Ares." She turned her head toward the double doors of the temple, hoping that at any moment Xena and Gilead would burst through. Come on, Gilead. Where are you? The unthinkable had now happened: Hope was alive again, and that meant she would stop at nothing in order to bring her father back and enslave the world.

Through the unrelenting pitch blackness of the night air, the entire village, two hundred men, women and children, armed with swords, spears and even clubs, led by Gilead, Xena, and the four Knights of Keiar, held up torches and marched up a mountainside. Gilead, using his mind powers, looked back in time to see where Gabby had been taken. It was an old, crumbling stone temple, formerly used by a cult that worshipped the Bacchae. As soon as he knew where the place was, Gilead had rushed over here, with the army to two hundred struggling to keep up. Although he did not tell anyone but Xena, Gilead had seen a vision that told him that Gabby was still alive, and Keiar, of all people, had been the 100^th sacrifice. Xena had cried in relief when she heard that Gabby was still alive.

As the army, panting and out of breath, neared the small but ominous building, Gilead stopped them.

"They’re waiting for us; you know that, right?"

Homan, the red knight, was more than just slightly irritated. "Of course. No sentient being is that dumb."

Rexlar:
"Forgive me for not asking this ahead of time; but how can we fight against two gods?"

Xena cut in. "You don’t. You slow them down as much as possible, without getting killed. Solan and I will do the rest; now get your people ready!"

Homan, the red knight, signaled behind him. The two hundred soldiers dissipated into the darkness in the blink of an eye, taking cover behind bushes, burrowing themselves under the dirt, etc, and took aim with their bows & arrows, darts, and spears.

Xena leaned in close to her son. "Solan." Xena tugged at Gilead’s arm. "How do you plan to do this thing?"

"Mother, what do you mean?"

"How do you plan to overcome Ares with your bare hands?"

"Quite truthfully, I don’t know. I’m improvising here. We have to kill Hope and get Gabby out of that place; that’s all I’m concerned with, and that’s all I’m prepared for."

""Prepared for?" Son, don’t talk that way. We may be going up against both Callisto and Ares, but we have an army behind us. And they are not afraid to die."

"Let’s not kid ourselves, mother. They are as good as nonexistent; they’ll be of little help. It’s not that they are not afraid to die, mother; rather, these people are sick of living. They just want this to be over with; in fact, they want to die. They want to end their miserable existence. The only thing giving them second thoughts is the amount of pain that will be inflicted on them if Ares captures them."

"…"

"All things must pass on eventually, mother. Tonight may be our last, maybe not. You just have to be ready to accept your destiny when it finds you."

"Solan…"

Xena gave her son a hug and squeezed him. So, Solan/Gilead was prepared to die. If he was scared, his stone cold face did not show it. Only now did Xena realize that she’d been approaching life with the wrong attitude. She always thought, and expected, Gabby and herself to somehow live through the trials and tribulations that they encountered; and they did, until now. The Fates could take life just as easily as moving a finger, and Xena was by no means above death. Xena looked back at her life; all these years she had fought armies, vandals, assassins, and gods, without realizing how much danger she was putting herself—and Gabby—through. Xena shivered in fear as she realized how easily her life could be taken from her; alive one moment, dead the next. She had to be ready for Hades, as her son was.

Gilead signaled to Rexlar, the brown knight. "Take a handful of men and bring them here."

Rexlar nodded and rounded up ten men.

Hope broke free from her shell and looked outward. She looked just like her mother, the only differences being her evil grin and icy stare.

"Ah," she raised her hands and stretched. "How good it is to live again." Then she saw Callisto and Ares. She semi-ignored Callisto, but walked right up to her "husband," Ares, and kissed him (remember the two cliffhanger episodes for season 3?).

"Glad to have you back, my little bundle of joy." Ares embraced Hope. "I have prepared something for you."

Ares let go of Hope, reached into a corner and pulled out a robe. "You look cold." He draped the robe, a blood-red color with black trim, over Hope’s naked body. As Hope stood still, waiting for her "husband" Ares to pull the hood over onto her head, she stared at her mother, Gabby, still held helpless at the stone column.

"Oh, mother. Stop it. You look like you’ve just seen a ghost." Her words were friendly, but there was nothing friendly about her tone; it was a blood-curdling, ice-cold, shiver-inducing voice filled with hate and malice. Her piercing glare did little to help that. Gabby avoided Hope’s glance as best as possible. Looking at Hope caused her hair to stand on its end.

"Mother," Gilead was saying, "take these ten men and wait by the back door of the temple. Be sure to stay unseen. When I lure out the gods through the front entrance, sneak inside and come back out with Gabby."

Xena nodded, and looked back at her team of soldiers. One of them flashed his sword. "We’re at your command."

Gilead sent Xena and her team on their way. As soon as they disappeared around the corner of the back wall, Gilead motioned for Kore and Taggard.

Kore:
"What is it?"

Gilead:
"…Are you prepared to sacrifice countless lives—no, are your people ready to go down fighting?"

Taggard said in a grave, but determined voice. "You know we are."

Gilead:
"Fine. Now, if my knowledge of these two gods serves me right, they probably have the front doors unlocked, daring us to come on in. We won’t disappoint them; I’ll go in and try to lure them out. If I don’t come out in a hundred seconds—"

Kore:
"You can’t be serious; this is a sure way to get yourself killed! A head-on collision with the god of war is most unhealthy. Why are you sacrificing yourself so foolishly?"

Gilead was angered at Kore’s narrow thinking. "Has it occurred to you that there is no way in hell for us to stop those two renegade gods? I’m not counting on seeing daylight again; in fact, I’m expecting to be torn apart limb by limb."

Kore and Taggard:
"…"

Gilead:
"Don’t you get it? We can’t win!"

Taggard challenged. "Then why do you do this at all???"

Gilead grabbed Taggard and shoved him up against a tree. "Do you want to know why? I’ll tell you why. I have to save this world from doom; that’s why!!!! My time on this world has come, as has yours. But we have to think of the future, and other beings who will occupy this world for centuries to come. How will they live without a world? We are helping them, mind you; not ourselves."

Gilead let go of Taggard. He turned back to the double doors of the temple. "…If I don’t come out by the time you count to one hundred, take all your forces and charge in. Know that no one here can actually win, nor should we expect victory. All we are concerned with is killing Hope, the demon child."

With that, Gilead vanished into the darkness surrounding the temple. As he ran, he thought about what Athena had told him. She had said that some day, humans would forget that the gods ever existed. Gilead did not understand what that would mean for the gods, but something else that Athena had said hooked Gilead’s attention: if earth falls, Olympus will be threatened; Olympus, the holy mountain of the gods. While living on Mt. Olympus, Gilead learned a bit of deity history: the Olympians came to power by defeating the Titans, the first rulers of the world. He wondered if the time for the Olympians was up, and it was now time for some other form of deity to take over. But who would it be? Would it be Dehak? That was too frightening to even think about.

Ares and Hope held each other and kissed, making Gabby and Callisto sick. Callisto raised a finger and fired a bolt of energy at Hope, giving her a jolt and making her jump. To the surprised and angry Hope, Callisto offered some advice. "You do realize, Hope, what is going on around you. Unlike us, you are a mortal, and that means you can be killed by the army advancing upon us right now. So I suppose you save the romance for later and do your thing!"

Hope stared at Callisto as if she was going to start something, but her scowl soon relaxed, turning back into an evil grin. "Not yet. I just got out; I want to have some fun." She looked over at her mother with a venomous look. Gabby avoided Hope’s glance again.

Hope approached Gabby, still tied to the pillar, and used her mind powers to untie the ropes. Gabby, with no strength in her legs, slumped to the floor. Hope waited until Gabby looked up.

"Mother, you don’t know how glad I am to see you again."

Gabby:
"Save it, Hope! Do it! If you’re going to kill me, do it now!"

Hope was toying with Gabby. "The first thing I noticed when I came out of that shell was you, mother. I wanted to show you that nothing you do can keep me away. You can poison me, do anything you want; drown me, burn me, I’ll keep coming back. It is my duty to fulfill my father’s wish. I offer you a choice, yet again: if you join me, I’ll persuade father not to kill you."

"Go to hell, Hope!"

Hope’s features withered, and she turned away. Her mind was made up. She would give the honor of killing Gabby to Dehak.

Gilead had just reached the grand double doorway of the temple, and was trying the handle when he heard a piercing scream. Knowing that to be Gabby, Gilead wasted no time in giving the door a hefty kick and breaking it down. He instinctively reached down for his sword as he rushed inside, but cursed as his hand fingered empty air in his scabbard. He could see Callisto turn her head and see him.

Xena and the ten men had made their way in the back door; they’ve had to break down the old, rusted metal lock, but they got in without being detected and had been watching the events unfold.

"Is that woman in the red robe the demon child?" one of the men asked.

Xena:
"Yes. And the one tied to the column is Gabrielle. She’s the one you have to save."

Another soldier:
"But they look exactly alike! Are you sure they are not twin sisters?"

Xena felt like clubbing the man on his head. Was he plain stupid, or was he drunk? Instead of beating him, Xena managed to say, "One of Hope’s powers is shape shifting. She can make herself look like any one of us here, so keep your eyes peeled! Once we get out there, we’ll all be on our own. Don’t lose sight of Gabrielle, and any one of you can grab her and run like hell!"

Xena and her handful army had been taking cover behind some old urns and toppled crates when they saw Gilead appear in the doorway. Callisto saw him first, and advanced toward him. Ares and Hope were focusing their attention on Gabby for a moment too long, as Gilead beat them to the move.

Gilead punched Callisto with all his might, and sent her flying into Ares and Hope. The three—two gods and one demon child—fell down like bowling pins, knocking against the far wall. As Hope fell, she caught a perfect glimpse of Xena, hiding behind the crates.

Seeing Hope see her, Xena was instantly on her feet. "Get Gabrielle out of here, now!" She yelled back at the soldiers, but they did not move. It was too late, as Hope already had them in a hypnotic trance.

Callisto and Ares got up and rushed toward Gabby. So did Xena and Gilead. Gabby was lying unconscious on the floor, with four people rushing toward her. Just as Xena was about to reach Gabby first, Ares gave a howl and struck Gilead and Xena with a bolt from his hands. Xena was instantly knocked out, but Gilead stayed on his feet.

Ares:
"Well, my friend. Glad to see that you didn’t miss the festivities."

Callisto:
"Nice to make your acquaintance, Gilead. But you will pay for hitting me."

Gilead did not like his current scenario one bit. Not only was Gabby unconscious and unable to help herself, Xena had just been knocked out cold; and in the back, Hope had all ten soldiers in a hypnotic grip, rendering them useless to him. He was alone, against three godly opponents.

He was desperate. All Gilead could hope for now was to get a shot at Hope, and kill her with one blow. He saw no way he could do so, however. Callisto and Ares were blocking his way, daring him to make a move.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Hope. She looked just like Gabby, only there was a cold wave of evil, like a chilly north wind, forming around Hope’s very presence. She had finished playing with the ten soldiers; he could see their limp, dead bodies further into the corner. Hope stood up, and looked directly at him.

Before he knew it, Gilead found himself flying through the air, and he barely had time to catch a small movement from Xena before he slammed against the wall and had the wind knocked out of him. Xena was waking up.

"Oof!"

Gilead shook some sense into himself and could see that Hope had a hand outstretched, floating him in the air. At the current moment all three seemed to have forgotten about Xena and Gabby, as they were lost in their sadistic moment of fun.

Ares:
"I almost hate to see this end, it’s so entertaining. Seeing you float helplessly in the air like a big, blubbering idiot is almost better than the Battle of Troy! But, Solan, my friend, you have crossed the god of war for the last time."

Gilead:
"…"

Ares:
"…It’s time that you…died."

Ares shot a bolt of lightning at Gilead. As he braced himself for impact, he could see Xena getting up from behind Ares, unnoticed.

The lighting bolt hit. Gilead’s breath was taken away at the amount of pain his body felt, and he could feel his limbs going numb. His fingers curled up against his will, and Gilead could no longer feel his feet.

Xena cleared her head. She heard a loud noise, almost like someone screaming. That must have woken her up. She was lying on the floor, and right in front of her were three sets of feet. Peering up, she could see Ares, Callisto and Hope, looking at the far wall—more accurately, at Gilead—stuck to the wall. As Ares continued to zap Gilead, his screams continued, sparks flying from his body and smoke coming up from his singed skin. Xena was about to rush up and chop Ares with her sword, but realized that getting Gabby to safety was the top priority, and began edging over to Gabby ever so slowly.

Xena looked away from her son, unable to bear seeing him suffer. She remembered what he had told her: victory was impossible. Gods could not be killed; even with the Hine’s Blood Dagger, a god could not be completely "erased" from the world. The spirits of fallen gods went into a void, neither earth nor hell, and sooner or later they came back, revived and fully functional. The balance of the world—good and evil, cold and hot, light and darkness, etc.—would be affected without a god or goddess, and that would be disastrous. Xena wondered if it could be any worse than Dehak sending the world into hell.

As he showered Gilead with streams of lightning, Ares seemed intent on finally killing Gilead. Callisto, to Ares’ side, merely seemed to be enjoying watching Gilead’s pain. Hope, on the other hand, apparently paid no attention to Gilead. She seemed to be in meditation, with her eyes closed and hands clasped in front of her face. Xena began to crawl toward Gabby, but not before doing a double-take on her son. As a mother, Xena could feel her own heart being ripped apart every time she heard Gilead’s scream. Is it over, my son? Did we lose? Did we live on this world just so we can fade away into the crowd, to be a number, just a face…?

Xena could bear looking at her son no longer. He was nearing death; she was sure of it. She tearfully bade her son good bye, then hurriedly grabbed the unconscious body of Gabrielle and took off toward the back door.

To be continued…