General Disclaimer: This is a fan fiction based on the television series Xena: Warrior Princess. All characters, locations, quotes, etc borrowed from the show belong strictly to the original creators and whomsoever holds the ultimate copyrights. There is no intention of copyright infringement or profit wherein this fan fiction is concerned. The remaining ideas, storyline, characters, etc are but a figment of my fevered mind and I will bear full responsibility for them.
Other Disclaimers:
Violence is inevitable and may even be overly graphic since a certain Warrior Princess is involved hence anyone who may be uncomfortable with such depictions is advised to avoid reading the story herein.
The story depicts a loving relationship between two consenting adult women and as such contain descriptions of a sexual nature, graphic and otherwise. In the event you are under the legal age wherever you may reside to be exposed to such contents or it is illegal in your country, please do not read any further. If a loving sexual relationship between two adults of the same gender makes you uncomfortable in any way, you might want to give this story a miss.
Please note that I will not be responsible for any trauma resulting from a failure to heed any of my warnings above.
Author's note: This story actually started out as a short meant to explore some of the consequences of Xena’s actions in Death Bonds. Unfortunately, the characters did not get the memo and it turned into a 50,000 word monster. There are more references and direct quotes from episodes of the original show than my usual so spoiler alert. - CM
By Credos De Muse
It had been a little over two weeks since they’d returned from Bimini. Xena had recovered from her injuries and been sparring with the dragon warriors for nearly a full week now. Given the warrior’s chronic wanderlust, Gabrielle would have expected them to be back on the roads by now, but that had not been the case. Instead, Xena’d reminded her that they had unfinished business with the oriental dragons.
Truth told, Gabrielle had completely forgotten there were two parts to the prophecy that'd brought them to the Southern Forest clan in the first place. They had fulfilled the first part by killing the tyrant. That left the second part, returning the oriental dragons to their glory days.
From what Ci Nu had told them, the oriental dragons had lost more than half of their numbers after the great clan wars and the fight against the tyrant. Since then, their population had been in a steady decline, due to their low birth rates and the sacrifice of their female dragons to the tyrant every year. Left unchecked, there was every chance that the oriental dragons could die out altogether.
Granted, the dragons were an immortal race, or as close as it was possible to be immortal and still succumb to death. The normal lifespan of a dragon was at least a few thousand years; but they would not survive another war, much less return to their glory days without help.
In many ways, the dragons reminded Xena of the Amazons. Once, the Amazons had been a mighty nation too. But the passage of time and attrition due to infighting and wars had left their numbers greatly reduced. After their last encounter, both Xena and Gabrielle were painfully aware that the Amazons were in a precarious situation. As an Amazon Queen, Gabrielle had a duty and a responsibility to ensure their survival; and Xena had promised Ephiny that she would never let the Amazons just die away. It was a promise the warrior fully intended to keep.
Xena doubted it was a coincidence the prophecy had named Gabrielle as the deliverer of the oriental dragons; the same Gabrielle who was a queen of the Amazons. She strongly believed the Amazons were the answer to fulfilling the second part of the prophecy. By bringing the Amazons and the dragons together, it was her hope that the two peoples would be able to develop a symbiotic relationship, that would allow them to not only survive, but to thrive.
It would have been easy enough to pitch the idea directly to the Southern Forest clan chief. But there were too many variables at play, and the dragons might not be willing to open their territory to the Amazons. It would be a different scenario altogether if the dragons were the ones to make the proposal. In that case, the outcome would be all but assured; once Gabrielle convinced the Amazons it would be in their best interest to relocate to Chin. To that end, the soulmates had concocted a plan.
Just the day before, they'd been formally adopted into the Southern Forest clan. As part of the ceremony, their names and contribution to the clan had been added to the ancestral records, forever memorialising them in oriental dragon lore. The clan chief had also presented each of them with a pure white jade token. The token depicted a dragon crouched on three legs, its right foreleg held up next to its mouth, encircling a transparent crystal ball within its claws. The token identified them as members of the clan and allowed them free access to and from the clan territory.
At the huge celebration that had followed, they’d put their plan into action. Using the memorialising of their adventures with the clan as a prelude, Xena had casually mentioned their adventures with the Amazons. The word spread quickly, and with the clan already familiar with Gabrielle’s bardic talents, they quickly started chanting, “Story! Story!” And so the bard had told them about the Amazons and how she’d unwittingly become an Amazon Princess in her first encounter with the warrior women. The purpose of the story was to introduce the clan to the Amazons, and also to set the stage for her next story, both of which were an integral part of their plan.
***
It was nearly mid-morning when Xena headed for the duelling arena where she often sparred with the dragon warriors. Instead of following her, Gabrielle made a detour to their bedroom and grabbed her scroll case and writing materials. She also grabbed a couple of wineskins. After all, it was a hot summer day. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky, nor was there a hint of a summer breeze. The day was gearing up to be a brutal one and she needed to make sure her soulmate remembered to stay hydrated.
Since their return from Bimini, Gabrielle had been hovering over her soulmate like an overprotective mother hen, but she couldn’t help it. With everything that had happened in the past month, she felt entitled to a little worry. What’s more, she'd had that nightmare last night. This was the first time she’d dreamt of Jappa or Xena’s decapitated body since the warrior had been brought back to life. And it unsettled her. The bard couldn’t help but wonder, not for the first time, if it was a premonition of some sort.
Trouble usually followed them wherever they went, and that was despite them not staying in the same place for long. But they’d been at the clan village for more than two weeks now and there hadn't been any problems. Even Xena's recovery had gone off without a hitch.
Despite having been nearly eviscerated, the warrior had surprised everyone with the speed of her recovery. The clan healer had initially estimated it would take Xena at least two weeks for her wounds to be completely healed. It had taken her soulmate just two days. When the healer removed the stitches, the only thing that remained of her grievous wounds was a mess of pale pink scars. By the third day, the warrior was up and about. Two days after that, she was practising with a sword. Before the week was up, she was sparring in earnest at the arena. The warrior had always healed quickly but even Gabrielle had been surprised at how fast her soulmate had recovered.
I’m going to jinx it. Gabrielle thought, shaking her head irritably. It was a beautiful day and all was right with the world. There was no reason to believe anything bad was going to happen. It was sheer coincidence that she’d dreamt of Jappa last night. It had to be...
***
There was a huge tree across the duelling arena with a clear line of sight to where Xena was sparring. It was one of Gabrielle's favourite spots. The tree shielded her from the sun and allowed her to work on her scrolls while keeping an eye on her soulmate. She found a comfortable spot to set up her writing materials and took out the scroll she'd been working on the day before. Dipping her quill into the ink pot, she looked at the last line of the scroll to see where she'd stopped previously.
‘Higuchi is saved.’
The words transported the bard back to Higuchi. That was where Xena had revealed that she'd taught Akemi the pinch after just a few weeks. When Gabrielle heard that, she'd been filled with an overwhelming sense of jealousy. She'd known Xena for six long years and her soulmate had never once taught her the pinch.
What a ridiculous thing to be jealous over. Gabrielle thought, replaying in her mind the moment when Xena had finally shown her how to do the pinch.
Gabrielle: “Why are you doing this?”
Xena: “Gabrielle—if I only had 30 seconds to live—this is how I’d want to live them—looking into your eyes.”
Gabrielle: “Stop this. Stop it.”
Xena: “Always remember, I love you.”
Gabrielle: “Why would you teach me this right now? I don’t understand!”
Xena: “There’s nothing to understand. I just wanted you to know everything I know. Let’s go. We got a battle to win.”
After that, Xena had walked out onto the battlefield to die alone, having arranged beforehand for Gabrielle to lead a contingent to the east plain where she would be safely out of harm's way.
Tears sprung up in Gabrielle's eyes and she blinked furiously, trying to avoid getting the parchment wet. She did not like thinking about Jappa or the events that had transpired there. The memories were almost always painful. Chronicling their adventures in Jappa hadn't been any easier. This was already her fourth attempt and she still hadn't gotten beyond Higuchi.
Dashing the tears angrily from her eyes, Gabrielle took a drink from a wineskin before focusing her attention once again on the scroll. While she concentrated on stringing words together in her head, her finger moved of its own accord, tapping absentmindedly against her calf in no discernible rhythm.
The ghost killer confronted Xena. He told her the vengeful spirit of Akemi’s father had enslaved 40,000 souls, the souls of those who’d perished in the fire Xena had set years ago… It works. Gabrielle thought, dipping her quill into the inkpot and jotting the words down.
Midway through, a disturbance in the air made Gabrielle look up. Unsure of what had caught her attention, her first instinct was to look for her soulmate.
Xena was in the arena, dressed in her trademark armour—not the original, which was still buried in Jappa, but a new set that the dragons had gifted her, together with a custom-made sword that was beautifully balanced and a perfect fit for Xena and her fighting style. Across from her, a dragon warrior wielded a glaive-like weapon that was called a ‘guandao’. At first glance, the weapon appeared unwieldy and was often used by amateurs like a staff or sabre. Only someone who truly appreciated the 'guandao' could wield it the way it was designed to be used—as a graceful and deadly weapon that was also highly versatile.
Xena’s opponent was obviously well-versed in the use of the ‘guandao’ and he held it angled above him, gripping it near the base of the shaft with his dominant hand and supporting it near the blade with his other hand. The dragon warrior adopted the stance of a crane, one foot firmly on the ground with the other tucked up against his opposite calf. As Gabrielle watched, he jabbed the ‘guandao’ downward at Xena, the action resembling a crane stabbing down with its beak.
Most people would have dodged the blow by moving away from the threat, but not Xena. The warrior princess dove forward into a front roll, barely clearing the tip of the ‘guandao’. She popped up inside the guard of the dragon warrior just as he shifted the ‘guandao’ into a horizontal pursuing movement. In most circumstances, it would have been the correct move. But because Xena hadn't retreated, the dragon warrior quickly found himself flat on his back, Xena’s sword mere inches from his face.
Xena lowered her sword then extended a hand to pull her opponent up. He bowed to her, acknowledging her victory before leaving the arena. Another dragon immediately took his place. This one was easily seven feet tall and hefted a huge halberd over one shoulder. He towered over the six-foot-tall Xena, a sight that was so uncommon that it took Gabrielle a while to notice the line of blood on her soulmate's bicep.
Is she hurt? Gabrielle thought, getting to her feet. Take a break, she said via their soul-link. When Xena made no move to leave the arena, Gabrielle glared at her soulmate, hands on her hips and added forcefully, NOW!
Having heard her soulmate's silent admonishment, Xena was tempted to roll her eyes at Gabrielle's overreaction, but the bard was too far away to notice her response. The warrior held a hand up in apology to her opponent and gestured towards Gabrielle. He took one look at the irate bard and graciously excused her. After some discussion amongst the spectators, a petite warrior with a fighting staff took Xena’s place.
Xena sheathed her sword and headed in the direction of her soulmate. Her long powerful legs ate up the ground quickly and she had almost reached Gabrielle’s side when a huge wave of exhaustion suddenly hit her. She stumbled; and would have fallen if Gabrielle had not rushed over and caught her.
Gabrielle helped her soulmate to the tree where the warrior slumped down, like a puppet with its strings cut. Concerned, she handed over a wineskin and said, “Xena, you need to take it easy.”
The warrior took the wineskin, draining it in a continuous swallow before tossing the empty container to the ground. Feeling slightly rejuvenated, Xena looked up at her soulmate with a tight smile and said, “Gabrielle, I’m fine.”
“Xena, you would have fallen if I hadn’t caught you. I wouldn’t call that ‘fine’.”
“I’m just—a little dehydrated.”
Gabrielle picked up the other wineskin and shook it. It was full. “This is the last one. I can bring you more from our room...” She trailed off, a strong sense of unease coming over her as waves of excruciating pain flowed through their soul-link. There was something wrong with Xena.
Dropping to her knees beside her soulmate, Gabrielle saw that the warrior was unnaturally pale and her lips had a bluish tint to them. Her skin was cold and clammy to the touch—unusual for such a hot summer day. But most alarming of all, Xena was clearly gasping for air despite efforts to hide it from her.
“Xena, where do you hurt? You’re—cold. What’s wrong?” She ran her hands over the warrior, checking for injuries but finding nothing more than the shallow cut on the right bicep.
“Just—help me back to our room, won’t ya?” Xena murmured. Her vision was turning black and she was struggling to keep her tenuous hold on her consciousness.
“You know, this wouldn't have happened if you'd just rest and recuperate like everyone not named Xena, warrior princess." Gabrielle chided. "What if you’d reopened your wounds? There could be internal bleeding. And you could die. Then what am I supposed to do without you!”
“Gabrielle, yell at me later…” Xena managed to whisper before darkness rose up and claimed her.
The warrior had uttered those same words at the end of Gabrielle's first year with Xena. While responding to Salmoneus’ request for help, Xena had been hit by a poisoned dart. The warrior had kept quiet about the incident. It wasn’t until Xena had succumbed to the poison that she finally learned about it. By then, it had been too late. Gabrielle remembered how helpless she'd felt then, watching the warrior grow weaker and weaker as time went by—until she’d returned to find the cold lifeless body of her best friend under a sack cloth.
Gabrielle shook her head, expelling the memory forcibly from her mind. Her hand, reached out to touch the warrior, as she'd done back then. Her soulmate's skin was still cold and clammy, possibly even colder than it had been a moment ago. Xena's eyes were closed and she wasn’t moving.
“Xena?” Gabrielle gave her soulmate a gentle shake, willing the warrior to open her eyes and say something—anything. “Xena?” But there was no response.
***
Gabrielle had to ask Ci Nu for help in carrying the unconscious Xena back to their room. As strong as she had grown over the years, there was no way she could carry a six foot tall woman all by herself. It had nothing to do with her height. It was about leverage--or the lack thereof.
She’d stripped the armour off her soulmate in an effort to make the warrior more comfortable. Xena lay on their bed dressed only in her linen shift. Even unencumbered by her breastplate, the warrior's breathing was so shallow that her chest barely rose or fell. Ci Nu had left to summon the clan healer and Gabrielle was left alone with her fears. She cradled Xena's hand tenderly against her cheek, staring tearfully at her soulmate.
The Fates controlled the destiny of mankind and Gabrielle wanted to blame them for what had happened to Xena. But they were in Chin, far from the influence of the Greek gods. Furthermore, she had personally set fire to their loom, forever taking away their ability to meddle in the affairs of man. No, the Fates were not to be blamed here.
Gabrielle still did not understand what had happened. Was it her fault? Had she really jinxed it by thinking how well things were going? Or hadn’t she been careful enough?
The bard had been fully involved in every step of her soulmate’s recovery and recuperation process. Granted, she could have persevered on Xena to convalesce in bed longer, but the stubborn warrior had refused, once she’d recovered enough to walk around. And Gabrielle had not pushed the issue. Given the warrior's restless nature, being confined in bed for a protracted period would have been counterproductive and done more harm than good.
Even after Xena had been given the all clear to commence sparring, Gabrielle had kept an eye on her soulmate’s wellbeing. She’d made sure the warrior ate her meals on time, drank plenty of fluids, took regular breaks throughout the day, and kept her bedtime… Even at the expense of certain extracurricular activities, though they really hadn’t gone without. They had a healthy sex life; a very healthy—and vigorous sex life.
Gabrielle’s brow furrowed as a thought suddenly struck her. She’d been so careful to ensure Xena did everything in moderation. Except for one aspect… Could it be that—all their vigorous lovemaking had overtaxed the warrior somehow? Gabrielle frowned. She’d never really thought of it as a form of exertion. And it really wasn’t that many. There was earlier this morning, then last night after dinner, and of course that little quickie before lunch. And the morning in bed… and… Good gods above! Have we really been going at it like bunnies?
The sound of booted footsteps outside the hallway interrupted her thoughts and Gabrielle quickly dismissed the idea. It was ludicrous to think that their passionate lovemaking could be the cause of Xena’s abrupt collapse. After all, the warrior had been full of energy and raring to go this morning. She turned as three pairs of boots stopped outside the door. Ci Nu and the clan chief stood respectfully outside, concern etched on their faces as the clan healer entered the bedroom alone.
Still holding onto Xena’s hand, Gabrielle stood and gave a small bow of thanks to the dragons before making space for the healer at the side of the bed.
“What happened?” The healer asked Gabrielle as he began his physical examination.
“I’m not sure.” Gabrielle said. “One moment she was fine. The next moment, she was not. She sustained a small cut in her last fight. But it barely drew blood. I—I don’t understand. You’ve gotta help her.” The bard said with a pleading look in her eyes.
The healer pulled out a palm-sized white crystal from his sleeve and passed it slowly over the unconscious warrior, his eyes closed in concentration. All oriental dragons had an innate ability to see the aura of every living being. Their healers used this ability to identify and diagnose medical conditions that would have baffled ordinary healers. Dragon healers often used a crystal to focus and amplify the aura of their patients.
The crystal travelled down Xena’s body then back again, before stopping above the warrior’s chest. Glancing up at the healer, Gabrielle noted the furrows creasing his forehead. This worried her further. “Is something wrong?” She asked.
Opening his eyes, the healer secreted the crystal back into the hidden pocket sewn into the sleeve of his robe. He looked down at Xena, clearly puzzled, and said, “It’s the poison.”
“Poison? How…” Gabrielle paused as the full impact of the healer’s statement hit her. “Wait a minute. You said THE poison. Not poison—but THE poison. That means this isn’t something new. Why wasn’t I aware of this? Xena never said anything. Neither did you. Weren’t you the one who told me she was fully recovered? I told her not to keep anything from me. Why didn’t she listen? Oh… I should—“
The healer raised his hands, patting the air in a mollifying gesture as he tried to cut off Gabrielle’s rant before it gained too much steam. He succeeded, in that the movement distracted the bard enough that her brain finally caught up with her mouth. She stopped in mid rant, closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “Well?” Gabrielle demanded, “You can heal her, can’t you?”
The healer slowly shook his head.
“I’m not taking no for an answer!” Gabrielle said vehemently. She looked down at the face of her beloved soulmate, imagining that it looked more drawn than it had a moment ago. “No!” Gabrielle growled. “There must be something we can do! Poisons can be neutralised. You’re a healer, you must know how.”
“I know you are upset, golden one. But we cannot neutralize the poison if we do not know what it is or where it came from.” The healer told her.
That gave Gabrielle pause. She could not deny the healer’s logic. It was sound, if not exactly what she wanted to hear at the moment. “Ok. What do we know?”
Hands clasped behind his back, the healer paced up and down the length of the bed as he gathered his thoughts. “I know you don’t remember much of what happened during the fight with the tyrant. But when his claws struck you, I saw poison take root in your soul, corrupting your aura. It was death, as sure as the sun is the giver of all life.”
“It’s strange,” he admitted. “The tyrant's claws are not inherently poisonous. Enough of our clan have died at his hands that we would have noticed if they were.” At this, he paused and looked to the clan chief for confirmation. At the chief’s nod, he continued, “After your souls merged, I could no longer see the poison. It was as if her soul had burned it out of you.”
“When you brought your soulmate back to life, I checked both of you for signs of the poison. There wasn’t any. But I had seen how insidious the poison was and I wanted to be prepared just in case it resurfaced. So I scoured our records for any clues to what the poison could be. Unfortunately, I was unable to find anything.”
“The speed of your soulmate’s recovery surprised me. I had never witnessed anything like it before. With the injuries she’d suffered, a dragon would have been incapacitated for at least a ten-day. But she—a mortal—was already walking around on the third day! When I verified that she was fully recovered from her injuries, I asked her about the poison.” The healer said.
He recalled his conversation with Xena. They were alone in the treatment room, Gabrielle having stepped out momentarily.
Healer: “You look good.”
Xena: “I feel good. Better than brand new.”
Healer: “And the poison?”
Xena: “That ain’t poison. It’s evil. Pure unadulterated evil. Been there, done that. And Gabrielle has the scrolls to prove it too.”
Healer: “Evil is poison to the soul. You know that better than I do.”
Xena: “For someone with a pure soul like Gabrielle, it is. But for someone like me? I know evil. I was evil. As much as Gabrielle woulda people believe otherwise, evil’s a part of me. I’m used to keeping it on a tight leash. I think it helped me recover faster than I woulda on my own.”
“She sounded so sure of herself.” The healer told Gabrielle. “But I have seen the rot of evil take root and poison the soul of many a man. I know what it looks like. I know how it acts. It’s not the same. Looking at her aura now, it would seem that I was right about it being some kind of poison; a particularly virulent form of poison that corrupts both the aura and the physical body.”
As the healer was speaking, Gabrielle was deep in thought. Something he said had sparked a faint memory lodged within the deep dark recesses of her mind. She bit down on her lower lip, worrying it between her teeth as she tried to tease the memory into the light.
“You know,” she said to no one in particular, “I think—Xena was right. It had felt like rage—unbridled rage. And—hatred.” Gabrielle gave an involuntary shudder as the memory clarified itself.
Gabrielle stood over Callisto, who was soundly asleep. She raised Perdicus’ sword with both hands, pointing it at her archenemy’s chest. The sword was heavy and her hands shook from the effort of holding it there. As she steeled herself to shove the sword into Callisto’s heart with all her might, she saw Xena’s face. Gabrielle was reminded of how she’d accidentally stumbled across her best friend kneeling in the middle of the forest, a look of indescribable anguish on her face as she pleaded with the gods.
Xena: “If anyone’s listening—you know, I’m not much for praying. But I don’t know what else to do. I was ready to give up once, and—and Gabrielle came into my life. Please—don’t let that light that shines out of her face go out. I couldn’t stand the darkness that would follow.”
Gabrielle had never heard Xena beg for anything in all the time she’d known her. But on that night, there had been so much desperation in her best friend's voice. At the time, Gabrielle had been too consumed by hatred to appreciate the significance of the moment. But now, the sheer depth of the warrior's love for her finally broke through the spell that had held her captive since Perdicus’ death. No longer consumed with revenge, Gabrielle lowered the sword. It was time for her pain and anguish to end.
The memory of Xena’s plea threatened to bring Gabrielle to tears again. She swallowed her tears past the lump in her throat and took a deep breath. That had been the one and only time the bard had almost succumbed to the darkness. To the healer, she said, “Xena’s right. It’s evil.”
“How can you be sure?” The healer asked.
“Trust me.” Gabrielle told him, “I’ve felt it before.”
“If it is evil and not poison, something must have happened to turn it against her. Did anything out of the ordinary happen today?” The healer asked.
Gabrielle thought through the events of the morning. “It was just an ordinary day.”
“Did you feel or sense anything odd?” The healer pressed.
“There was—something…” Gabrielle said, remembering the fleeting feeling she’d had. “I dunno what it was. But it made me look at Xena. That was when I saw the cut on her arm. After that, everything happened quickly.”
The healer looked equally perplexed and intrigued. “Did she say anything?”
“She said she was dehydrated.”
“That does not give us anything to work with.” The healer said, frustrated.
“I’ve been thinking—about what Xena said. If she’s right, and she usually is; evil would be poisonous for me, not her. But we’re soulmates. We share a bond.” Gabrielle said. Aware that the dragons were staring at her, she held up a hand and said, “Bear with me. I’m thinking aloud here.”
“We’re soulmates. We share a bond. I know it’s there. But there was a time when it wasn’t.”
“When your souls merged.” The healer said with a thoughtful look on his face as he made the same connection Gabrielle was making.
“What if,” Gabrielle continued as if she hadn’t been interrupted, “that incident affected the bond between us? The bond allows us to draw strength from each other and communicate through our thoughts. And Xena was able to send her spirit through it. What if, the bond was damaged? And my vulnerability has negated Xena’s immunity to evil?”
The healer opened his mouth and said, “That’s—“
“Ridiculous?” Gabrielle finished for him.
“I was going to say, possible.” The healer corrected her gently. “It does not explain everything but I can see the logic. I had forgotten your soul-link had been broken. I will look through all our records on soulmates. I am sure we will find something useful. Too bad we do not know the source of the poison. If we did, there is a chance we can counter it.”
“The stone...” Gabrielle said as another memory unlocked for her. “Xena saw a stone—embedded in the tyrant’s armour. She said it was magic. If it’s magic, couldn’t it turn evil into poison?”
“I have heard of such things. It is definitely possible. If the poison is magic, we will need magic to counter it.” The healer said.
“What about your seers?” Gabrielle asked.
“Magic is forbidden to us.” The healer said. “No dragon can wield the forbidden arts. Not even our seers.”
“What about the magic that hides your territory from the outside world? Or the magic that allows you to take human form?”
“Our territory is given to us by the dragon kings. It is their power that keeps it hidden. Taking human form is an innate ability, the same as our ability to see auras and our ability to fly. It is not magic.” The healer explained.
“Looks like our only hope is to find out why the evil turned on Xena and stop it.” Gabrielle said, sitting down on the bed. She reached over to gently brush an errant strand of hair off her soulmate’s face. “Xena’s the strongest person I know. If anyone can walk through the fires of evil and come out unscathed on the other side, it’s gotta be Xena.”
Gabrielle looked up at the healer and said, “I want to stay here with her. Will you bring the records over? I would like to help you look through them.”
The healer half bowed in silent acquiescence.
“I’ll have lunch brought to you.” Ci Nu said from outside the door. “You need to keep your energy up—for yourself and for her.”
Nodding her thanks, Gabrielle said, “Xena’ll need food too. Is there chicken broth? I’ll feed her.”
Ci Nu gave a bow of acknowledgement and the dragons took their leave.
Alone with her soulmate, Gabrielle climbed up onto the bed. She considered laying her head on the warrior’s chest but was afraid that it would interfere with Xena’s ability to breathe. Lying down beside her soulmate, the bard pillowed her head on Xena’s shoulder and listened to the slow thumpa thumpa of the warrior’s beating heart.
Xena, I know you’ll come back to me. I need you, Xena. I will not lose you—again.
***
Xena woke up alone in a cage that was as long as it was wide, surrounded on all sides by gleaming bars of light that stretched into the darkness high above her. She was stark naked and the cage was completely empty. Unperturbed by her nudity, the warrior casually walked up to the bars of the cage. The beams of light, for that was what they appeared to be, made it impossible to see anything on the outside.
Let’s hope these bars ain’t made of lightning, Xena thought, steeling herself as she reached out and grabbed one of the bars. Her fears turned out to be unwarranted. The bar was smooth, unyielding, and surprisingly cool to the touch, almost like some kind of metal. She paced around the cage, walking over every inch and running her fingers along every bar, only stopping once she’d verified that there was no way out.
How did I get here? Xena wondered. And where is Gabrielle?
The thought of her soulmate unblocked her memories and the events of the morning flooded into her mind. The day had started out just like every other day before it. Xena had woken before the crack of dawn, Gabrielle sound asleep beside her. She’d had a dream, a strange dream.
In the dream, she was on her knees, staring up at a naked body strung up on a tree. Arrows stuck out of the body in numerous places and it was clear that the person had been on the losing end of a terrible fight. What had struck Xena most vividly was the emotions that crashed through her when she realised the body was missing its head.
The dream had to be Gabrielle’s—likely the same one that had haunted her soulmate since Jappa. Xena never would have allowed the bard to retrieve her body if she’d known someone had cut off her head. Finding Xena’s headless body had obviously traumatised the bard. And now that she’d experienced the dream for herself, the warrior finally understood the torment her soulmate had gone through as a result of her actions.
When the bard woke that morning, they had made love, with a passion born out of a desperate need on both sides—Xena, to erase any remnants of the dream from Gabrielle’s mind; and Gabrielle, to reassure herself that they’d left the worst behind them in Jappa. It was the first time Xena had felt her soulmate’s arousal and orgasms as if they were her own; though she had enough self-awareness to differentiate between the two. The experience had been intense enough that she’d climaxed when Gabrielle did.
They then enjoyed a late but hearty breakfast and Xena had gone to the duelling arena where she often pitted herself against the skilled warriors of the Southern Forest clan. She was in the middle of her third bout when she was assaulted by random flashes of thoughts, sights, and sounds. The intrusions had been fleeting, but vivid; and one such episode—the phantom tap-tapping of a finger against a calf—had distracted Xena enough that she’d made her pivot a heartbeat too slow, allowing her opponent to draw first blood.
The injury had been minor. But then there had been the sudden wave of exhaustion that came over her seconds before Gabrielle caught her; and the squeezing pain in her chest that had her gasping for breath. It had taken nearly all her willpower and strength to keep up a strong façade in front of Gabrielle. In the end, despite her best efforts, Xena had lost her hold on consciousness. And here she was, stuck in a—cage.
There has to be a link somewhere. Xena thought. The dream… Gabrielle’s dream… The flashes of thoughts and sensations. Could they also be Gabrielle’s? If that’s the case, they must have leaked through somehow… Our soul-link!
Xena called up her bond with Gabrielle. The glowing cord of purplish-gold energy came slowly into view, looking much the same as it had the last time the warrior had seen it. Does it seem… brighter? Xena wondered.
Suddenly, a ball of golden energy broke off from Gabrielle’s side and raced towards her. Before it could reach her, she was back in the cage. The bars around her were glowing, getting brighter and brighter in their intensity. Xena closed her eyes, throwing up a hand to further shield them when her surroundings turned a blinding white.
***
It was night, the second since Xena had fallen into a coma. Bamboo books laid scattered haphazardly on a huge desk and on the floor of the bedroom. Flickering lamps situated at the corners of the room and on the desk cast dancing shadows over the two figures seated across from each other, their heads bent over their respective piles.
“Here! I found a record of two soulmates who successfully sent their spirits through their bond.” Gabrielle said excitedly, her finger tracing the words on the bamboo slips as she read. “It says they were able to experience everything their soulmate did.” She quickly scanned through the rest of the record. “This is very detailed… But nothing we can use… Oh wait, there’s a note right at the end. The ink’s darker; it musta been added much later.”
“It’s written by someone named Bian Que. He believed the experiment destabilised the soul-link, corrupting both their minds and souls and driving them crazy.” Gabrielle looked up at the healer in shock, saying, “They killed each other.”
“I knew Bian Que. He was a well-known healer with the Sky Mountain Clan.” The clan healer paused, thinking. “I believe I have copies of his medical journals in my study. Maybe he recorded something in them.”
After the healer left, Gabrielle rolled up the bamboo book and placed it on the floor before getting up and walking over to the bed. She sat down beside her soulmate, running her fingers poignantly over the warrior’s face. “Oh Xena, I miss you.” Her eyes followed her fingers down sharp cheek bones before alighting on her soulmate’s lips, which were dry and slightly cracked.
“You must be thirsty.” Gabrielle said, silently berating herself for having neglected her soulmate. It had been at least an hour or more since she’d last checked on the warrior, having been so caught up in the records the healer had brought her. She snagged a wineskin from the bedside table, took a small sip of water and leaned over the warrior. Using the pressure of her own lips, Gabrielle pushed Xena’s lips slightly apart, enough so that water trickled slowly into her mouth.
Once her soulmate had swallowed the water, Gabrielle would take another sip, repeating the process until she was satisfied. Patting Xena’s arm tenderly, she said, “That should be enough. Xena, hang in there, ok? We’ll get through this—we always do.”
***
The healer soon returned with Bian Que’s medical journals. There were 8 in total. One of the healer’s assistants refreshed the oil in the lamps and they settled in for a long night.
Gabrielle was looking through her second journal when the words started to blur before her eyes. She hadn’t found anything pertinent so far. The journals were full of medical knowledge and marvels, but nothing vaguely related to soulmates or the soul-link. She rubbed her eyes tiredly and pushed on.
“Hmmm…”
Thinking that the healer must have found something, Gabrielle looked up expectantly. “Did you find something?”
“Maybe. According to Bian Que, the soul-link is broken when one or both of the soulmates die.”
“That didn’t happen to us.” Gabrielle said.
“The two of you are the exception, not the rule.” The healer told her. “Bian Que made this observation after reviving a patient who had a soulmate.”
“And?” Gabrielle prompted impatiently. She could feel a Tartarus of a headache beginning to build behind her eyes.
“Their soul-link re-formed after the patient was brought back to life.”
“Reappeared?”
The healer shook his head. “It says the bond was made anew. That means a new bond was formed.”
“That’s… interesting…” Gabrielle said, filing the information away for later. “Let’s see if there’s anything else in these journals.” She returned her attention to her journal.
The headache hit Gabrielle a short while later with the force of a battering ram. She winced, rubbing her forehead in a futile attempt to ease the pain. Her throat was strangely dry. Water—I need water.
She pushed herself blindly away from the table, the headache having robbed her temporarily of her sight, and stumbled over a book. Catching herself Gabrielle took another step before a spike of excruciating pain sent her crumpling senselessly to the floor.
The healer leapt up from his seat and rushed over to her. He immediately noticed the dark tendrils of poison that had appeared in Gabrielle’s aura. That weren’t there just now. Why was there no warning? I should have been more vigilant. He thought bitterly as he lifted the bard and laid her down beside her soulmate.
Looking down at the two unconscious women, he felt like a failure. He was a healer, yet he could not do anything for them. And with Gabrielle in a coma, he had no way of fixing whatever was wrong with their soul-link. Unless he was able to find a cure or bring either of them out of their coma, the chance of them pulling through in the next few days was slim to none.
I’m not giving up! The healer turned and gathered Bian Que’s journals from the table. He would continue his search in his study. As he turned to leave, he remembered the throwaway comment he’d made earlier that night. They are the exception, and not the rule. If anyone can survive this, it will be them.
He returned to the soulmates, picked up Gabrielle’s hand and placed it over Xena’s. Touch amplifies the soul bond. Even if the bond is damaged in some way, they have a better chance of combating the poison together than alone.
Calling one of his assistants over, he instructed her to look after the two women. “Call me if anything happens.” The healer said before leaving with Bian Que’s medical journals tucked under his arm.
***
The blinding light cut out suddenly, leaving Xena in momentary darkness before a faint glow drew her attention upwards. A portal hovered in the air above her, light whirling in its depths.
Could that be my way out? Xena thought. As she contemplated making a leap for it, the portal cleared, revealing a scene from her past. She immediately recognised her younger self, the murderous rage that had arisen in her as M’Lila fell into her lap, dying from an arrow that had been meant for her. That had been a defining moment for the young Xena.
M’Lila’s sacrifice had shocked her and Xena hardened her heart, vowing to visit death upon her enemies and anyone who would stand in her way. That was the start of her all-too-familiar refrain—‘kill them all!’ And it had begun with the Roman soldiers whom Caesar had sent to kill her. In the face of her burning anger and deadly resolve, they hadn’t stood a chance.
In the past, the guilt arising from this memory would have weighed heavily on her and sapped her of her will to live. But those days were behind her. She had come to understand and accept that her past was not only an indelible part of her, it had also played a critical part in making her into the person she was today. Without everything that had happened in her dark past, she would never have met Gabrielle. And meeting Gabrielle was the best thing that had ever happened to her.
The portal continued unveiling scene after scene from her past, scenes filled with unnecessary violence, death and destruction. But Xena did not flinch. She forced herself to watch each scene unfold, accepting her role in them, and claiming them as part of who she was and what she had been. They had aptly named her the Destroyer of Nations, for that was what she had done—destroyed everyone and everything wherever she went.
With each scene, wisps of darkness flowed through the bars of the cage, surrounding Xena. There was a sense of familiarity and completeness where the darkness touched her. It was like greeting an old friend. Xena welcomed it. She’d been afraid of her dark side once. But her travels had taught her that there was nothing to fear. Her darkness was an integral part of her.
Wisps of darkness covered her whole body, leaving only her head and neck free. When the last scene had played out, one in which she’d kidnapped and tortured a young Ming T’ien before ruthlessly executing his father before his young eyes, Xena was enveloped in a sphere of darkness.
From this darkness, the warrior emerged, now dressed in the black leather armour from her warlord days, armed with sword and chakram. The darkness fell to the ground, seeping into the cage floor. Cracks appeared beneath Xena’s feet, spiderwebbing across the floor and up the bars. With a loud thunderclap, the light cage shattered, dropping Xena into the pitch black darkness below.
***
Gabrielle was in a forest. From the rays of sunlight peeking through the leafy canopy above her, it appeared to be close to noon. Wasn’t it night? Did I fall asleep? She rubbed absently at a phantom pain in her head, voicing aloud her next thought. “Am I dreaming?”
“If this is a dream…” she trailed off, recognising her surroundings. It was in this forest that she’d found Xena’s blood-covered chakram; the same forest where Xena had taken on 3 armies and lost her head in the process. This forest had never appeared in her dreams. Her dreams of Jappa had always revolved around one event and one event only—the night she’d stumbled across her soulmate’s naked body hanging from the trees.
A heavy and ominous darkness descended over the forest and she shivered at the sudden chill in the air. In the distance, a war horn sounded. Gabrielle froze, straining her ears to listen behind the sounds, the way Xena had taught her. Soldiers… An army was gathering. Another war horn sounded, closer this time. She automatically reached down for her sais but they were not strapped to her boots where she usually kept them. It was only then that she realised there was a katana belted at her waist.
Why does this feel like déjà vu?
Hand resting on the hilt of the katana, Gabrielle walked cautiously through the forest, ready to draw her weapon at the first sign of danger. At the sound of a war horn nearby, she dropped into a crouch, her senses on high alert.
Moments later, a soldier came into view, dressed head to toe in black ridged armour with a mask covering his face. He was alone. Spotting Gabrielle, the soldier raised his broadsword and charged at her, yelling, “Kill, kill, kill!”
Shifting her weight onto her front foot, Gabrielle drew her katana in one fluid motion, raising it across her body to parry the first blow. The soldier held his sword with both hands, chopping down repeatedly in an attempt to overpower his smaller opponent.
Gabrielle was content to defend, deflecting his blows with her katana and patiently biding her time. The two of them quickly developed a rhythm—swing, parry, swing, parry. On their last exchange, she allowed the soldier’s sword to come dangerously close. Convinced that she was tiring, the soldier raised his sword high above his head before bringing it down with all his strength.
Now! Gabrielle dropped her weight over her back foot, tucked her head against her chest and fell into a back roll. Thanks to his momentum, the soldier was thrown off balance by her move. She came to her feet as he stumbled past her. Taking advantage of the opening, she hit him in the back of the head with the hilt of her katana.
The commotion had attracted the attention of the soldiers in the vicinity. Two soldiers charged out of the forest on her left. She spun away from their charge, snapping a kick at the nearest soldier, hitting him in the stomach and knocking him onto his back. More soldiers rapidly closed in on her position and Gabrielle decided it was time to run.
There were too many of them for her to fight. She ran from tree to tree, changing directions abruptly to throw off any archers that might be lurking nearby. She turned sharply behind a tree and was tackled to the ground.
Rolling over desperately, Gabrielle reached for the katana she’d dropped and found herself staring into the familiar face of—“Perdicus?”
Perdicus smiled down at her, as if it was the most natural thing in the world. “Let’s get you out of here.”
He grabbed Gabrielle’s hand and began leading her back the way she’d come.
“Perdicus, wait. Where are we going?”
“Home,” was his answer.
Gabrielle yanked her hand out of his grip. “Look, I don’t know what you’re doing here. But we’re a long way from home. Perdicus, you need to go. It’s not safe here.”
“But I love you.” Perdicus said.
“I love you too.” Gabrielle told him. “But, you’ve gotta go.”
“Kill, kill, kill!” The forest roared around them.
Soldiers had closed in on them while they had been distracted. Gabrielle quickly brought her katana up into position just as Perdicus jumped out in front of her. She watched in horror as the tip of her razor-sharp katana pierced his stomach.
Perdicus stared at her katana in disbelief. He opened his mouth but did not get a chance to say anything before a sword exploded out of his chest, killing him instantly.
Acting solely on instinct, Gabrielle slid her katana free and spun behind the soldier who’d killed the man she loved. The soldier had one foot braced against Perdicus’ back, trying to pull his sword free, but it was wedged inside Perdicus’ ribcage. The soldier was completely at Gabrielle’s mercy as she cut and slashed at him.
When she was sure the soldier was dead, Gabrielle dropped to her knees beside Perdicus. She closed her eyes, her head bowed in grief. Her grief threw open the doors to another place and another time where the grief had turned into a simmering rage and a burning need for revenge. Gabrielle threw her head back and screamed a challenge at the sky.
A group of black-clad soldiers answered her call, screaming a challenge of their own, “Kill, kill, kill!” Spurred on by her anger, Gabrielle sprang to her feet and rushed headlong at the soldiers. She danced circles around them, cutting them down easily where they stood. With each kill, her bloodlust grew.
She slammed her katana into the throat of a soldier, nearly decapitating him. Revelling in the thrill of the kill, she let out a guttural roar. More soldiers appeared around her and Gabrielle proceeded to kill them all. Blood ran down her sword, onto her hands and her arms. Her armour was liberally coated with blood and she resembled a half-crazed animal as she shouted at the top of her voice, “Kill! Kill! Kill!”
***
The cavern Xena landed in had a myriad of tunnels leading in and out of it, all of which were nondescript and unremarkable in any way. One of the tunnels had to be the way out but it was impossible to tell which and it would take too long to check each tunnel out. Luckily for Xena, there was another way. Her keen sense of hearing had picked up the faint sounds of an infantry on the move. The sound was distorted from bouncing off the walls of the caves and tunnels but the ex-warlord would have recognised the sounds of an army even in her sleep.
Wherever she was and whatever she was doing here, Xena was sure of one thing—an army meant trouble. And if there was trouble, the warrior fully intended to be there. She closed her eyes and slowly turned in a circle, processing the sounds and echoes she heard from each direction, until she had narrowed down the location from which it was coming from.
West! There were only two tunnels in that direction and the warrior stood in front of each before taking the rightmost tunnel. She followed the sound through every twist and turn, stopping once or twice to get her bearings when the tunnel forked or branched out in similar directions. As she navigated the tunnels, the sounds became louder. There were the sounds of men talking and coughing, booted feet shuffling, weapons clanking against armour, and the unmistakeable sounds of war horns sounding the advance.
At the sound of the war horns, Xena broke into a run, and then a sprint as a light appeared in front of her. Her sword ready in hand, she put on a final burst of speed and dove headfirst out of the tunnel. She dropped into a front roll and emerged in the middle of the army. The soldiers, outfitted in black ridged armour with full-faced helmets covering their head and face, ignored her as they marched on.
Before her, a city gate stood ajar, obviously having been breached some time back. The soldiers were converging on the gate, slipping through in twos and threes. When Xena reached the gate, she observed a golden glow emanating from within but could see nothing more than the silhouette of the soldiers who had passed through before her.
She placed her hands on the gate, thinking to pull it close but it was stuck fast and refused to budge. Reacting to her touch, the golden glow intensified, spilling out of the open gate to surround her. The moment the light touched her, Xena’s weapons and armour disintegrated, only to re-form seconds later into her familiar trademark armour, the sword that had been a gift from the dragons, and her yin-yang chakram.
That was when Xena realised that the gate was her soul-link to Gabrielle. Whoever or whatever the army was, her soulmate was in grave danger. Her first instinct was to rush through the gate to her Gabrielle’s aid. But Xena had learned a long time ago that giving in to one’s base instincts wasn’t always the best idea. Besides, she had a bigger problem.
The soldiers had apparently tire of waiting. Or they really didn’t like her new outfit. Behind her, the war horns blared, sounding the attack. Xena turned as a roar erupted from the soldiers followed by the shi-shi-shick of a thousand swords sliding out of their scabbards.
There were tens of thousands of soldiers, probably even a hundred thousand. It was hard to tell when the surrounding tunnels and caves hid the army’s true numbers. To get to Gabrielle, the soldiers needed to make it through the gate. And while some of them had already done so, they could only pass through in single file. That meant the bulk of the army lay before her. If she wanted to protect Gabrielle, she needed to stop any more soldiers from passing through the gate.
The easiest and most logical way to do so would be to hold the gate from the other side. If she walked through the gate, she would be able to deal with the soldiers one by one as they crossed over. But, the gate wasn’t truly a gate. It was her connection to Gabrielle. Once the soldiers were inside the gate, they would have free access to her soulmate. There was only one way to stop the soldiers, and that was to hold them right here, before they even reach the gate.
Xena yelled her battle cry and charged at the nearest soldiers, lowering her shoulder at the last minute to knock them back into their comrades. Using her sword and chakram, she laid into the soldiers around her, hacking and slashing at anyone who came near her. For every soldier she killed, two more took his place and Xena quickly found herself surrounded. By some unspoken agreement, the soldiers charged, knocking her off her feet.
“Gabrielle!” Xena screamed, as she disappeared under.
***
In the forest, Gabrielle was similarly surrounded. She had sustained numerous cuts on her arms and legs and her armour was shredded in a few places. She spun furiously in place, her katana a blur as she fought. A sword slipped through her defences, nicking her in the knee but Gabrielle was beyond pain. Rage drove her—insatiable rage.
All around her, the soldiers chanted, “Kill, kill, kill!” Gabrielle gritted her teeth, forcing herself to move faster. There was no way she was going down to these scumbags. No, she intended to kill them all. Maniacal laughter bubbled out of her as she drew blood, her katana slicing through a soldier’s armour like a hot knife through butter.
“Gabrielle!” The scream silenced the constant chant around her and cut through her rage-induced haze. An image flashed before her, of her best friend down on one knee, pleading for the gods—anyone—to please, please, not let the light in Gabrielle’s soul go out.
Blinking, as if having been awoken from a spell, the bard muttered, “Xena?”
The distraction cost her. A sword raked across her ribs before she managed to spin away, the pain rekindling the rage that was simmering within her and she launched into a counterattack. She cut another soldier down before Xena’s voice was in her head again.
Xena: “Do you remember that poem, ‘Elysian Fields’, you used to like so much? Every time you feel angry, I want you to recite it.”
Gabrielle parried a blow aimed at her head then ducked another as she recited out loud, “Elysian fields, calm and green...“ She turned, ran up the trunk of a tree and vaulted over the heads of the soldiers that had her surrounded. Landing on the balls of her feet, Gabrielle immediately took off running, still reciting out loud, “Love birds singing, so serene...”
The soldiers chased after her but Gabrielle no longer had any desire to engage them. She sheathed her katana, picked up her pace and headed in the direction where her soulmate’s voice had come from.
“Wait for me, Xena. I’m coming.”
***
A logjam had appeared at the gate and the advancing army slowed to a near stop as the soldiers in the vanguard considered the human pile blocking their way. One of the soldiers started to climb over the pile and the rest quickly followed but they didn’t get far before the pile of bodies exploded upwards and outwards, sending the vanguard flying back into the rest of the army and forming a new logjam.
Xena was back on her feet, looking worse for the wear. Her left arm hung awkwardly at her side, dislocated when the mob of soldiers had jumped her and knocked her into the side of the gate. Bruises marred the left side of her face and her leather armour had been gashed wide open on that side. Her eyes resembled flints of blue-grey granite that promised death and destruction in equal measure to anyone who dared to stand before her.
“You’ll have to do better than that.” Xena snarled, spitting blood out of her mouth from where one of her teeth had cut her.
She nonchalantly threw herself against the side of the gate, angling her left shoulder in such a way that the impact popped the joint back into place. She shook her left arm to get it working right again and rolled her shoulders before raising her sword, holding it with both hands. “C’mon then,” Xena said, pointing her sword at the vanguard in invitation. When they duly obliged, she let out a bloodcurdling yell.
Midway through fighting off the first wave of soldiers, it dawned on her that there were no bodies on the ground. Curious, the warrior cut another soldier down, watching intently as the dead soldier turned into smoke. Moments later, the smoke solidified, leaving two soldiers standing where the dead soldier had been.
Son of a Bacchae! Xena swore. It hadn’t been a figment of her imagination the first time—the army was definitely multiplying. In a way, it was like fighting the hydra—cut off one head and two more would grow to replace it. The only way to kill a hyrdra was with fire. But she had no access to fire and it wasn’t likely the army would respond to fire the same way the hydra did.
Stopping an army was not the same as killing a hydra. As long as she did not kill anymore soldiers, the army would cease to increase its numbers. And that would be her first priority. Changing tactics, Xena dropped her sword and grabbed the arm of one of the soldiers. She pulled him towards her then swung him around, using him like a human club to knock the nearby soldiers off their feet. Once a space cleared in front of her, Xena waded in and proceeded to beat the vanguard into submission with her hands and feet.
The new tactic worked beautifully. Soldiers who had been knocked out remained on the floor and the fighting became increasingly manageable as the growing pile of bodies around Xena limited the number of soldiers able to engage her at any one time. While the tide had turned momentarily in her favour, she was mindful that the soldiers she’d knocked out earlier would rejoin the fight before the day was over. And it would take her more than a full day of fighting to subdue this army. Unless they surrendered or fled, neither of which appeared likely.
Sooner or later, something was going to give. And Xena suspected that something was her. The adrenaline that had sustained her thus far had long since run out and she was beginning to tire. It was only a matter of time before she failed—but not yet. There was one thing that kept her going, one thing that she held onto, a recurring chant in her mind: Gabrielle… Gabrielle…
***
Gabrielle ran through the forest, muttering the poem ‘Elysian Fields’ under her breath and utilising every skill Xena had taught her to elude her pursuers. She melted into the shadows just before the enemy came into view, timing her movements to slip through gaps in the enemy lines whenever she could, and standing still to avoid detection when she couldn’t.
On and on she ran, her katana still sheathed at her side. The bard had no idea where she was or where she was going. She only knew that she needed to find Xena. Cresting a small hill, she caught sight of a city wall below her. From her vantage point, she was unable to see beyond the wall but the gates were standing wide open and there was no sign of the army that had been hunting her in the forest.
The open gates promised sanctuary but it could just as easily be a trap. Gabrielle crouched behind a tree, undecided. The way she saw it, she had two choices: she could either stay in the forest and play hide and seek with the army or approach the gates and head into a possible trap. For all she knew, the walls could be hiding an army larger than the one she would be leaving behind in the forest.
One thing she was certain of: Xena wasn’t in the forest. If she had been, Gabrielle knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that her soulmate would have found her. That left the city. So she started down the hill and towards whatever awaited her behind the city gates.
Stepping out of the forest and out onto the empty plains, Gabrielle felt vulnerable. It was dark and visibility was limited but she would still be out in the open without any cover. She jogged towards the gates, her senses on high alert. When she drew closer, she heard the sounds of a fierce battle raging on the other side. Her footsteps slowed and she drew her katana, holding it down by her side. Soon, she was close enough to peer through the gates but she could see nothing more than a pulsing light.
Confused, Gabrielle stopped and listened. Sounds of fighting could now be clearly heard coming from the open gates. Her heart skipped a beat when she heard a familiar ‘Yah! Yah!” from within, followed by an ululating battle cry.
“Xena!”
Gabrielle ran.
***
A full day and night had passed since Gabrielle had succumbed to her soulmate’s affliction. In that time, the clan healer had managed to go through both the clan’s records and Bian Que’s medical journals with a fine tooth comb. He’d found records of soulmates falling sick within days of each other—much the same way Gabrielle and Xena had. Most of those had involved diseases that could be contracted through close contact or through some form of contaminant in their shared environment.
So while it had been postulated that the healthy soulmate could have contracted the disease through the soul-link, the healer was understandably sceptical until he came across the case of a patient who’d hit his head on a stone after falling off his horse. After the incident, the patient had complained of headaches but had not sought medical assistance. It wasn’t until he fell into a coma a few days later that Bian Que had been informed. On further examination, Bian Que determined that the patient had developed a brain bleed as a result of the fall. The excess blood in his head was putting too much pressure on the brain, causing further damage which resulted in the patient falling into a coma. Bian Que had drilled a hole into the patient’s skull to relieve the pressure and drain the excess blood. The patient made a full recovery shortly after.
This patient had a soulmate who’d been visiting with another clan at the time of his accident. The day after the patient fell into a coma, the soulmate was similarly stricken. According to the medical records provided by the other clan, the soulmate was in excellent health and there was no medical reason for her sudden collapse. The soulmate subsequently woke up, coincidentally on the same day the patient had.
All the soulmates who had fallen ill within days of each other had a common denominator—they reportedly had a very close relationship; closer than most soulmates. It was generally believed that the strength of the bond between soulmates was correlated with the strength of their relationship—the stronger the relationship, the stronger the bond.
In the case of the soulmates who had experimented with their soul-link, the healer suspected that they had inadvertently strengthened their bond to a point where it could no longer be controlled. That was likely what had happened to Xena and Gabrielle.
For their souls to have merged, the healer imagined that it would have made their soul-link re-form stronger and likely without the boundaries that were necessary to keep their souls distinct and separate from each other.
With everything he’d learned, the clan healer knew enough to reverse the effects of the poison in Xena—and in Gabrielle. Unfortunately, he needed Gabrielle’s help to do so. He could always use acupuncture to rouse the bard from her coma. But doing so in her current condition would be irresponsible, if not downright dangerous. Besides, even if he did wake Gabrielle, he would still need to teach her to put up shields between her soulmate and her; time they wouldn’t have.
What they really needed now was a cure, a cure that he could not provide. The Chin had a saying: Ailments of the heart can only be treated with heart medicine. Basically, it meant that physical ailments must be treated with physical medicine while heart ailments must be treated with medicine for the heart. Using that analogy, it meant that the soulmates could only be cured with magic medicine.
And that was something he had no access to. As he’d explained to Gabrielle, magic was forbidden to his people. It was a restriction placed upon them by the dragon kings to prevent them from becoming too powerful and possibly challenging the gods themselves. In the more than 5000 years he’d lived, the healer had never regretted their inability to practice the forbidden arts until now. If only there was another way!
But of course, there was. He could wake Xena. Everyone in Chin knew that the legendary warrior had inherited the power of Lao Ma and used it to singlehandedly defeat Khan’s ten-thousand strong army. It would be an easy matter to use that same power to purge the poison from their bodies and souls.
If she wasn’t afflicted with a virulent poison. The healer thought. Can she even call on Lao Ma’s powers in her current condition?
He was interrupted by a knock at the door. One of his assistants stood at the entrance of his study. “What is it?” He asked.
“Teacher,” The assistant greeted her mentor with a bow. “The golden one’s soulmate is deteriorating rapidly. I fear her time is at hand. Will you please come?”
The healer grabbed his medical kit off the table and was already heading out the door before his assistant had finished speaking.
***
“Alalala-lalalalai-sheeyah!” Xena yelled, somersaulting through the air. The pile of bodies in front of her was almost waist deep and interfering with her ability to move. She landed on top of the bodies, balancing precariously as the bodies shifted under her weight. Searching for a stable foothold, she stepped on the chest of a soldier and noticed something that had managed to escape her attention until now. Embedded in the breastplate of the soldier was a black stone.
Her eyes quickly scanned the soldiers around her, picking out the shape of the black stones where they were embedded into the breastplates. She’d seen something similar not too long ago—on the tyrant when he’d come to the Southern Forest clan to demand his annual tribute. The tyrant’s stone had pulsed with a dark light and emanated such a strong sense of wrongness that she’d immediately warned Gabrielle about it.
Her train of thought was interrupted by a soldier swinging a sword at her legs. Without hesitation, she jumped; tucking her legs under her and turning into a back flip to land behind the pile she’d been standing on. Thinking back on the fight with the tyrant, Xena recalled the web of darkness that had spread down Gabrielle’s arm like tendrils of poison—a darkness that had struck her with the same sense of wrongness as the stone.
Army. Soul-link. Black stone. Poison. The pieces of the puzzle were beginning to fall into place for Xena.
Something had destabilised their soul-link, allowing bits and pieces of her soulmate to leak through. The poison, which Xena had absorbed into herself, had been drawn out by the bits and pieces of Gabrielle within her. It was uncertain whether the link had been breached by the poison, manifesting as this huge army; or by whatever had destabilised it in the first place. Regardless of how it had been breached, the poison was definitely using it to gain access to her soulmate.
Gabrielle was susceptible to the poison, Xena had witnessed it first-hand. Through sheer luck, or whatever this was, she had made it to their soul-link in time to stop most of the poison from reaching her soulmate. But this reprieve was short-lived. The moment was coming, sooner rather than later, when she would no longer be able to hold the gate. When that happened, Gabrielle would be completely at the mercy of the poison.
Knowing what she knew now, there was only one way to stop the poison and save Gabrielle. Love had stopped an army once. But Xena hadn’t felt the power of Lao Ma since she’d parted ways with K’ao Hsin. Even if, by some miracle, the power answered her call, she couldn’t control it—she never had. But it was the only option she had left. She needed to trust that the power of Lao Ma would protect the people she loved—just as it had done previously.
In the meantime, the vanguard had clambered up onto the human pile. When Xena realised this, she growled in exasperation, “I don’t have time for this!” To have any chance of success, she needed to focus—and she couldn’t do that with an entire army up in her face.
Xena flipped into a handstand, kicking out with her legs to clear the soldiers off the top of the pile. Once it was clear, she threw herself back up and over the makeshift field fortification. She needed to buy some breathing room and hopefully give herself enough time to reach the power of Lao Ma. “Alright boys, time to dance!”
“Is this a private party, or can anyone join?” Gabrielle asked, vaulting over the pile of bodies to reach her soulmate’s side.
“Gabrielle, what are you doing here?” Xena asked, giving the bard a one-arm hug while keeping an eye on the soldiers in front of them.
“I followed the sound of your voice.” Gabrielle said.
Xena rolled her eyes at the bard’s sardonic reply. “Lose the sword,” she said, as the soldiers charged at them.
While they fought, Xena opened her mind to Gabrielle, sharing everything she’d learned and her plan to call on Lao Ma’s power. The whole process took less than a heartbeat, much quicker than it would have taken if Xena had tried to explain everything with words, either telepathically or verbally.
Aloud, Xena asked, “Think you can hold them off?”
Gabrielle punched a soldier in the face, shaking her hand at the pain. It had been a while since she’d punched anyone with her bare fists. That was the reason she loved her sais, they gave her the flexibility of fighting hand-to-hand, but with an extra oomph and without the ouch. To Xena, she said, “I’ll do what I can.”
Xena nodded. She barrelled into the mob of soldiers and started laying into them with her head, fists, elbows, knees, and boots—whichever was most convenient. As each soldier fell, she picked them up and threw them in the approximate vicinity of Gabrielle, creating a reinforced position from which the bard would be able to fight freely without having to worry about facing more than one opponent or perhaps two at a time.
When she was done, Xena clapped a hand on Gabrielle’s shoulder and said, “Give me as much time as you can. But don’t push it. If you can’t hold them, call for me.”
At Gabrielle’s nod, Xena took a position between her soulmate and the gate, closed her eyes and took a deep breath to centre herself. Slowly but surely, she blocked out the sounds around her and focused her mind on everything Lao Ma had taught her.
“The entire world is driven by a will—blind and ruthless. In order to transcend the limitations of the physical world—one must cease desiring—and become what we desire.”
The world faded away and Xena felt the power of Lao Ma gathering all around her, surrounding her. “To conquer others is to have power. To conquer yourself—is to know the way.”
She reached out for the power. It was so close. But when she tried to grab hold of it, the power slid and slithered out of her grasp, time and again, like an elusive eel coated in slime. Frustration ate away at Xena. As she lost focus, Lao Ma’s power started to unravel and drift away.
Not ready to give up, she took another deep breath and centred herself, letting all her frustration and impatience drain out of her as she breathed out. Emptying herself of all her desires, Xena focused on Lao Ma’s power, calling it to her. It answered, just like before, the power building up around her once again.
“To achieve a perfect stillness, one must cease to will—and submit to the greater whole. If something can be imagined, it can also be realised.”
This was the final stage. But it was easier said than done. And yet, Xena had not come so far only to fail. Her time as a ghost had taught her much about ceasing to will and submitting to the greater whole. And she put those lessons to good use now. Between one breath and the next, she achieved perfect stillness.
That was when her plan started to unravel. A pained gasp from Gabrielle brought Xena abruptly back into the present. Her soulmate was skewered on the end of a sword, pushed back forcibly towards her. In an instant, her perfect stillness shattered into nothingness. Time had run out. She had failed.
But she wasn’t thinking about failure. She was thinking about her soulmate. Gabrielle needed her. When she did things she could not do. It was because of Gabrielle. The love they shared. It was stronger than either one of them. It transcended this world and this life. It endured through heaven and hell. Nothing could stop their love. Not an army. And certainly not death.
The power of Lao Ma crowded around her, buffeting her on all sides. She opened her arms wide, surrendering herself to it. “Love conquers all,” she intoned. The floodgates burst wide open and Lao Ma’s power rushed into her.
“Love conquers everything.” She reiterated. The four elemental powers of Lao Ma came at her call: wind, carrying her high into the air; fire, licking hungrily at her skin; water, rushing noisily below her feet; wood, sprouting into a gigantic tree.
“To love—is to live.” Xena declared as the power took complete control of her and the four elements were absorbed into her body. Fire raged within her veins, searing a path through her body and burning her from the inside out. Water filled her every pore, saturating her like a sponge and threatening to split her asunder. Wood scattered its seeds within her, their roots using her as sustenance and devouring her alive. Wind scoured her skin, turning her into tiny specks of dust and scattering her to the four winds.
As the four elemental powers coalesced into a ball of searing white light, it was as if someone had stuffed Xena full of black powder. She was the fuse, and Lao Ma’s power was the spark that would set her alight. ‘Gabrielle!” She screamed and the world exploded.
***
Entering the soulmates’ bedroom, the clan healer saw his chief assistant bent over Xena, an acupuncture needle in one hand. When his assistant moved to lift the unconscious warrior’s right arm, the healer yelled, “Stop! What do you think you are doing?”
Startled by the censure in the healer’s voice, Bi Dan, the chief assistant, dropped Xena’s limp arm and turned to give his mentor a deep bow. “Master, I was about to use acupuncture on the golden one’s soulmate.”
“By activating the heart meridian? You would have killed her!” The healer said, pushing Bi Dan roughly to the side. He leaned over to peer at the crystals he’d set up to monitor the soulmates’ condition.
“Master, she’s dying!” Bi Dan said, “Activating the heart meridian is the only chance of saving her!”
“Nonsense.” The healer waved Bi Dan over and pointed at the crystal showing Xena’s aura. “Tell me what you see.”
“The poison has reached her heart.” Bi Dan replied. “Death is imminent.”
“Did you look before you answered?” The healer asked, irritated at his chief assistant’s lack of understanding. He tapped the crystal and the image changed to show an overhead view of Xena’s body. Dark tendrils of the poison permeated all throughout the warrior’s body, concentrated mostly around her vital organs, including her heart and lungs. At first glance, it appeared that Bi Dan had been right in his assessment. But there was a reason he was still an assistant and not a full-fledged healer.
“You look but you do not see.” The healer chastised Bi Dan. “Focus on the patient, not the poison. Look at her aura. Can you see how strong and vital it is? This is not the aura of a person on their death bed.”
With the healer’s guidance, Bi Dan quickly realised the mistake he’d made. It was a novice mistake, one that he should not have made, given his seniority. He fell down at the feet of his mentor and prostrated himself. “Forgive me, Master.”
The healer looked down at his prized student, shaking his head in disappointment. He said, “Bi Dan, I had such high hopes for you. You will be stripped of your title as Chief Assistant. Return to your room and do some serious self-reflection.”
“I hear and obey, Master.” Bi Dan said. He kowtowed to his mentor three times, picked up his acupuncture kit and left the room.