Worlds Apart

by Kirk Baldridge

Copyright © 2004

KirkBwriter@juno.com

Rating: R
Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters. If I did, I'd treat them better than...some people.
Distribution: The Mystic Muse: http://mysticmuse.net
You want it? Take it. Just let me know where it is.
Feedback: Yes please.
Spoilers: Come on. Both shows are over. Is anyone really going to be spoiled by anything I say in here?.
Author's Notes: I am playing with the history of both shows here. I decided to take elements I liked from each and ignore others. So you may see and hear characters from Xena and Buffy talking, acting, dressing etc. like they do in one season, while interacting with things from others. This is intentional so please don't write me any nasty e-mails. I hope nothing is too confusing, but if it is just let me know.
Pairing: Willow/Tara

The tavern was a nice, quiet place, most of the time.

People from the city knew when to get rowdy and when to stay quiet. They knew how far to push the owner, and when it would be better to beg her forgiveness even for things they hadn't done.

Not that she was a tyrant or anything. Generally she was a kind, generous women, who always helped those who were in need, and had a kind word for friend and foe alike. Violence was not permitted, and anyone who knew her knew she had a crossbow under the bar to enforce this.

Occasionally though, soldiers passing through town or wayward travelers who'd had a hard time would come to the tavern in a bad mood. When a fight did break the townspeople scattered.

"Hey! Barmaid!" A particularly nasty, one-eyed Thracian soldier, who'd had two or three two many ales, threw a meaty arm around the waist of the passing redhead. "More ale!"

"I think you've had more than enough, sir." She tried to extricate herself, but he just laughed and jerked her into his lap. "Hey! Cyrene, help me!"

The tavern owner, an older woman with slightly graying brown hair, stepped out from behind the bar. On top lay the crossbow, though she wasn't brandishing it at the moment because she didn't want to actually start the kind of fight she was hoping to avoid. "Leave her alone."

"What?" The Thracian grunted and shoved the redhead away. He stood up, as did his three equally nasty-looking, drunk compatriots. "What did you say to me, wench?"

Cyrene crossed her arms. "Melis. You and Aria go in the back." The redhead and a worried young blonde moved behind the bar and hurried into the back room. "I think you should leave."

"Is that a fact?"

"Yes." If she was intimidated at all by the men and their weapons, Cyrene didn't show it. "This is my tavern, and I reserve the right to refuse service to anyone. As of now, that means you."

The Thracian pulled up his belt and stuck out his scarred chin. "Lady, do you know who I am?"

"Not only don't I know, I don't care." Cyrene could tell the men were not going to back down, so she reluctantly reached for the crossbow. "Now, we can do this one of two ways."

Each warrior drew a sword from his belt, except the leader. He had an axe.

"Have it your way." Of course, Cyrene didn't have a chance against all four of them. She was well aware that she could only fire the crossbow once at best. Even if she stopped one of them the others would finish her, and more than likely tear her place apart afterward. Someone came in the door behind the men. Cyrene visibly relaxed. She even smiled, a little.

"Is this a private party?" a woman's voice asked. "Or can anyone join?"

The Thracians turned to see a tall, raven-haired woman in bronze and leather armor. She had a sword in a sheath on her back, and a discus-like weapon on her hip.

"Another one? I'm Nomius," said the leader. "Of Thrace. Who in Tartarus are you?"

"Xena."

The men reacted as one. Their weapons lowered, as did their jaws.

"Xena?"

"The warrior princess?"

"I don't know what you boys were planning to do with my mother, but it stops now. Understand?"

"M-Mother?" Nomius put his axe away. His men did the same with their weapons. "We had no idea."

"I'll bet." The warrior princess crossed her arms. "I think you owe her an apology."

Nomius frowned. Showing deference to a superior warrior was one thing, but Xena was trying to humiliate him in front of his men and he couldn't have that. "Hey!"

"Look, pal. It's been a long trip. I'm tired, hungry, and I have a thirst that makes the Sahara look like the Nile. So let's do us both a favor, okay? Apologize to my mom and take off."

"Or?"

"I tear you apart, force an apology out of you, and throw your sorry carcasses out into the street so everyone in Amphipolis can laugh at you. The choice is yours."

Nomius glanced at his men. They looked nervous, which made him angry. Sure Xena had a reputation, but there was only one of her and four of them. "Boys? Show this bitch a lesson!"

Xena sighed as the three men, after glancing at one another, charged her. "Mom? I did try." She spun around and kicked one of them in the stomach, knocking him through a table.

"I know, dear." Cyrene leaned back against the bar, mentally calculating each bit of damage as Xena blocked the punch of one man while kicking a pitcher of ale off a table and into the face of another. She drove the man's hand into his own face, then ducked down and swept the legs of the ale-soaked man out from under him. As he fell she kicked him in the face, then headbutted the last man, knocking him out.

Xena ran her fingers through her hair. "What's the damage, mom?"

"I'd say...sixty four...no, sixty eight dinars should cover it."

Nodding, Xena turned to the wide-eyed Thracian leader. "You heard her. If you pay sixty eight dinars in damage you and your buddies can walk out of here right now. Otherwise..."

"Okay, okay." He took off his money pouch and tossed it to Cyrene. "Keep it."

Cyrene looked into the pouch and nodded. "Thank you."

"That's settled," said Xena. "Now get the Tartarus out of here, before I decide I'm more mad than tired."

The Thracian gathered up his bruised and battered men and exited the tavern.

Cyrene smiled as she embraced her daughter. "Thank the gods you happened by, Xena."

"Haven't seen you in a couple of months," the warrior replied. "And we heard there was some trouble in the area so we decided to stop in and say hi."

The tavern owner looked around. "Speaking of us, where's your better half?"

"Settling Argo in the stable. She said it was her turn."

"You mentioned being thirsty," said Cyrene. "Let me get you some ale."

"Just water, mom."

"Okay. I'll also get Amphytria to work on your meal. Do you want your usual?"

Xena nodded. She took the cup of water Cyrene offered her and downed it in a single gulp. Then she returned it to her mother for a refill. "Mom?"

"Hmm?"

"Other than those idiots, have you seen anything unusual recently?"

"Like what, dear?"

"Soldiers. Dressed in black. Maybe with a bunch of women and children?"

Cyrene's brow furrowed. "No. I don't think so. Why?"

"We got word that a village was raided a few days south of here. By men in black hoods. They seemed intent on gathering up the women and children. But these weren't your typical slavers."

"I haven't heard anything. But if I do, I'll let you know." Cyrene lifted her head. "Well, this is a different look for you, dear. But I must say, it suits you."

Gabrielle, with her recently cropped hair and clothing from India, had walked into the tavern. She sat down on a stool next to Xena and smiled. "Thanks. At least somebody noticed."

Xena rolled her eyes. "I told you already, I love your hair. Would you give it a rest?"

The duo spent the rest of the day and on into the evening telling Cyrene of their most recent adventures in India and Rome. She was intrigued to hear how Gabrielle had given up fighting and thrown her staff into a river, only to reconsider after her mentor was killed by Romans during their escape.

"So, are you going to get another staff?"

Gabrielle shook her head. "It was a gift from a friend of mind. I could never replace it, and I don't think I should try. But I do need something." She glanced at her partner. "Xena..."

"No, you can not have my chakram." Though the warrior sounded annoyed, Gabrielle and Cyrene knew from the expression on her face that she was, in fact, trying not to smile.

"I'm afraid there aren't any weaponsmiths in Amphoplis," said Cyrene. "Not since..." She stopped, Xena lowered her head, and she cleared her throat. "You might try Pylos though. It's about half a day west of here. I've been to a bazarre there a few times, and weapons are one of their stocks in trade."

Gabrielle turned to Xena again, who shrugged her shoulders. "Okay. Thank you."

The warrior yawned. "I really need to get some sleep." She stood up and stretched. "Coming?"

"I think I'm going to stay up and talk to Cyrene for a while," said Gabrielle. "You go ahead though. I'll see you in the morning."

"Good night dear," said Cyrene.

Once in their usual room Xena stripped down to her leathers and put her sword in easy reach, then climbed into bed. She had been up for three days straight, and was asleep almost as soon as her head touched the pillow. It was not long before she began to dream, but this night was different.

Instead of the vivid, all-too familiar memories of bloodshed and carnage she used to experienced nightly or the smiling, happy images of Gabrielle which had come to replace them in recent years, Xena found herself standing on a rocky outcropping in the middle of a sea of flame.

"What is this?"

"Xena."

The warrior spun around, one hand automatically snapping to her hip. But the chakram wasn't there. Neither was her sword. In fact, she wasn't even wearing her armor.

A young, blonde-haired boy was standing behind her, smiling.

"Solan?" Xena frowned. "Am I dreaming?"

"No," the boy replied. "And yes. I'm not actually Solan. That is only how you perceive me."

"If I'm dreaming, does that mean you're Morepheus?"

Solan shook his head. "No, though he did give me leave to step into your dreams. I came to see you because it's imperative you avoid the Pylos area. You must stay away."

"Why?"

"There is great danger brewing, Xena. If you go there, you will die."

Xena frowned. "What are you talking about? Who are you?"

"I can't stay. I can't tell you anything else. I'm sorry." Solan looked around. "I have to go. Xena, please, stay away from Pylos. For your own sake." His body faded into nothingness.

"Someone's playing with my mind." Xena felt a jolt, followed by another, and opened her eyes to find Gabrielle leaning over her. "What's wrong?"

"That was going to be my question. You were thrashing around in your sleep."

Xena sat up. "How long have I been asleep?"

"About an hour I'd say."

The warrior shook her head. "That was some dream."

"You want to talk about it?"

Xena told Gabrielle what she had seen and experienced in her dream. She was still feeling the effects. Her skin tingled, and her breathing had only begun to return to normal.

"Do you think it was Morpheous?" Gabrielle asked. "Or Ares, maybe?"

"I doubt it. Why would either of them bother?" Xena frowned. "Unless there is something in Pylos Ares doesn't want me to see."

"Could he be behind these attacks?"

Xena shook her head. "It's not Ares style. His sacrifices come through battle. And he doesn't generally want to kill women and children since the boys grow up to be warriors for him, and the women give him more of them in the first place." She lay back down as Gabrielle climbed into bed with her.

"You're not going to call him, are you? I don't think I can deal with Ares right now."

"I wouldn't think of it." Xena rolled onto her side and Gabrielle spooned up behind her. "Good night."

Gabrielle kissed the warrior's cheek. "Good night."

They were up at dawn the next morning, had breakfast with Xena's mother, and then went to the stables to ready Argo for the trip to Pylos. It was an easy enough journey, not quite half a day's ride, only at the end of it Argo did not seem to want to be placed in the new stables.

"What's the matter with her?" Gabrielle asked. The horse was fidgety, and snorted, her hooves pawing in the dirt as she staunchly refused to go any further.

Xena shook her head. "Maybe she caught a scent she doesn't like." She touched the horse's mane and whispered in her ear. "Okay girl, have it your way. But stay close."

Argo whinnied and galloped off. They watched her until she was out the Pylos gates.

"Is that a good idea?" Gabrielle asked. "Maybe she's sick or something."

"I don't think so. She might just not feel like being in another city right now." Xena looked around. "Speaking of which, it looks like the bazaar is that way. Come on." They made their way through the throngs, and soon began to hear people talking loudly, laughing, and all kinds of scents mized together.

Gabrielle smiled. "Xena look. That man is selling Egyptian papyrus. It's perfect for my scrolls."

"I'll meet you by the weapons," the warrior replied. Xena walked around the corner to another row of stands, all of which housed a wider variety of swords, axes, daggers and bows – among many other things – than she had seen anywhere else except the bigger cities like Sparta and Athens. She found a man selling sharpening stones and was negotiating for one when Gabrielle caught up to her.

"By the gods. Look at all this." The bard shook her head. "How do I choose?"

"Pick something you can feel comfortable with," Xena replied. "If you don't want to use a staff, consider maybe a whip. Or a halberd. I'm assuming you don't want a sword?"

"No." The last time Gabrielle had picked up a sword was in Rome, when she tried to defend Eli against a soldier who ended up killing him after she refused to kill him first. "What are those?"

Xena saw her eyeing a pair of what must have looked to her like strange, three-pronged daggers. "They're called sais. I saw warriors using some in Chin and Japa years ago. The pointed ends are perfect for going through armor if they're made sharp enough. But the best part is they can also be turned out and used defensively, or to increase the force of your punches. I could show you how to use them if you like."

Gabrielle's face had lit up at the sight of the weapons. "I think I do. I don't know why, but they're calling to me. I think..." She smiled at the shopkeep. "...I'll take them."

"Excellent choice, miss."

"You're going to need some new clothes," said Xena. "There's no place on that outfit for a belt."

"I was just thinking the same thing." Gabrielle paid the shopkeep what he asked – after Xena reassured her it was a fair price – and took the sais. "Thank you." She turned to her partner. "Xena I know how much you hate shopping, so why don't you go get something to eat? I'll come and find you when I'm done."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive. Go on. I'll be fine."

Xena's stomach rumbled. "Okay then." She found a restaurant serving fresh roast quail, one of her favorites, and had just finished eating when she heard a big, bearded man in the corner, offering free cleaning and sharpening of weapons to anyone who could beat him at arm wrestling.

The warrior decided to have a closer look. At the moment a brawny Thracian soldier was trying his best, but the bearded man wasn't even straining. He was also huge, with thickly muscled arms and large, calloused hands. Xena guessed he was a blacksmith, which meant he probably had exceptional strength. The soldier didn't have a chance, he was sweating and trembling, while the big man just smiled slightly.

Xena shook her head. She could tell he was tired of playing. The next moment the man slammed his opponent's arm down, leaving a dent in the surface of the table. His opponent groaned and clutched at his shoulder, while the soldier's upset companions handed money, apparently wagers, to a man standing behind the smithy. She made her way through the crowd as the big man stood up and shook hands.

"Anybody else?" The smithy flexed his arms. "Come on. I'm just getting warmed up."

Xena cleared her throat, and the big man turned. "I'll give it a shot."

"You?" The smithy looked her up and down. "Okay. You look like you can handle yourself."

Xena listened to the people around them as she took a seat. They were placing new bets, and with the exception of someone near the back she could see they were all against her. Not that she cared.

The smithy held up his arm, and Xena clasped her hand in his. "You ready?"

"Whenever you are," said the warrior. She rolled her shoulder and waited for him to start.

"On three then. One...two...three!"

He didn't cheat. He didn't start until he'd counted to three, and yet Xena was still taken by surprise. He was even stronger than he looked, if that was possible. Her eyes narrowed.

"Zeus' beard!" The big man was straining now. "You are strong."

Xena nodded. "You too."

"I work out." He rolled his shoulder and put all his strength into the effort. Xena's arm actually slipped a bit, but she managed to catch herself at the last moment.

The warrior took a deep breath and focused. Putting aside the dull, throbbing pain she put her mind and strength into pushing back, and forced his arm down to the table. He tried to stop it, almost succeeded in fact, but she was able to exert just enough extra strength accomplish the task.

He rubbed his arm. "I've never lost before." He held out his other hand. "My congratulations. I would know your name, my lady. I am Maxius."

She clasped his hand. "Xena."

"Well met, Xena. I'm the smithy in these parts. Come to my shop two doors south of here, and I shall fulfill my obligation to you." He bowed slightly and left the tavern.

Someone touched the warrior's shoulder.

"I knew you could do it."

Xena gazed up into Gabrielle's sparkling eyes. She stood. "You bet on me?"

"Of course." The bard posed. "How do I look?"

Xena couldn't help but stare. Gabrielle's outfit was only slightly less revealing than the one she had worn as the Queen of the Amazons. Offering little in the way of protection, from either attacks or the elements, the tight red leather did at least give her a place to store her new sais; in sheaths on the boots.

"Hey." Gabrielle snapped her fingers in Xena's face. "Are you okay?"

The warrior blinked. "What?"

"You're just standing there. You..." Gabrielle's face fell. "You don't like it, do you?"

Xena shook her head. "It's not that. I'm a little surprised is all. I wasn't expecting anything like this. It's kind of a radical change, don't you think?"

"That's the point, Xena. But you still haven't answered my question. Do you like it or not?"

"I do." Xena clasped her friend's shoulder. "You look great, Gabrielle."

The blonde blushed. "Thanks." She crossed her arms. "So, do you want to go collect?"

"Hmm?"

"What that guy owes you? You know, the blacksmith?"

"Oh. Right." Xena's mind was still busy mulling over Gabrielle's new outfit, and the way it made her feel.

Maxius had stripped off his shirt and was pounding away at a sword on an anvil when Xena and Gabrielle walked into the shop. He saw them, and got a big smile on his face.

"Ah, friend Xena. Give me just a moment to finish this." He struck the sword a few more times, studied the line of the blade, and then tapped it one more time. "That should do it."

He put the sword out to cool and then held his hand up for Xena to clasp. "You are the first of worthy strength I have met for some time. You must be quite a warrior."

"Thank you."

"And who would this pretty lady be?"

The blonde blushed. "I'm Gabrielle, and thank you."

"Nice to meet you, Gabrielle."

"You too."

Maxius hitched up his belt. "Well then. What can I do for you?"

Xena drew her sword and handed it to him, hilt first. "I've been meaning to get this sharpened, but..."

"...she's kind of particular about whetstones," said Gabrielle.

Maxius nodded. "As well she should be. This is a fine blade indeed. Excellent balance. It would be a pleasure to take care of this for you." He looked down at Gabrielle's boots. "And those. If you like."

"Oh, they're new," said the blonde. "Still, I suppose it wouldn't hurt to get them looked at by a professional." She took the sais out and handed them to him as well.

"I'll just take this over to my work table. Feel free to look around my shop."

Gabrielle went to check out a quarterstaff, while Xena crossed her arms. "Maxius?"

"Hmm?" He had his back to her.

"Could I ask you a question?"

"Certainly." While Xena was talking Maxius put the sword and sais down on the table and started slowly running his hands over them, a faint smile on his face.

"Have you seen anything...strange, happening around here recently?"

Maxius' palms glowed. So did the sword and the sais. "Strange? In what way?"

"Disappearances. Maybe unknown warriors. Men in black hoods. Anything like that?"

"As a matter of fact..." Maxius' hands stopped glowing. "...about a week ago, one of our convoys was late. A man sent out to find it came back wounded. He spoke of raiders in black hoods."

Gabrielle rejoined Xena. "Where is this man? Can we speak to him?"

"I'm afraid not." Maxius picked up the sword and a whetstone. "He died of his injuries. But before succumbing I understand he said the men came from a pass to the north. It's a dark, treacherous place, and we have no warrriors of consequence who can investigate. Our leaders are still waiting to hear from the Athenian militia." He began to sharpen the sword. "Why do you ask?"

"We're going to investigate," said Xena. "That's why we're here."

Gabrielle nodded. "We'll get to the bottom of this."

"I hope so. The people of Pylos have been on edge since poor Argus died."

When they left Maxius' shop, a short time later, Gabrielle noticed Xena was twirling her sword in a particularly repetitive, almost anxious matter. "Is something wrong?"

"No. It just...feels different, somehow."

"Do you think he unbalanced it?"

Xena shook her head. "Just the opposite, in fact. It feels even better than before."

"Huh. I guess he is good. So what now? Do you want to go check out this pass he was talking about?"

"Yes."

"Okay then. Let's go."

Xena stopped. "I don't know how else to say this. Gabrielle, I think I should go alone."

"What? Why?"

"I can move faster on my own. I want to get in and get out."

"No, Xena. We're a team. Where you go, I go."

"I might need to go around their defenses and, frankly, I'm not sure you can keep up with me."

Gabrielle frowned. "Okay. Fair enough. But it feels like you're excluding me. Like you used to do. I thought we were past this."

"We are. It's not about that. I know you can take care of yourself Gabrielle. And believe me, there's no one else I'd rather have watching my back. But I can do this faster on my own."

"I know. I've seen you do it. You're amazing."

"I'll be back as soon as I can," said Xena. "And whatever happens next, we do it together."

Gabrielle nodded. "Okay." She took a deep breath as Xena squeezed her arm, they both smiled, then the warrior turned and headed toward the stables. "So now what do I do?"

She wandered the bazaar for a while, then went to get something to eat. Xena hadn't returned yet so she decided to go check on Argo, who was fine. On the way back she couldn't help but overhear part of a rather loud argument going on in one of the nearby food stands.

"...the price you promised."

"Get over it. You're lucky I'm paying you at all."

"But..."

"No buts, little man. Two cartloads of provisions. Now!" His voice grew quieter. "Or else."

"Okay. Okay. Just put the sword away."

Gabrielle sighed. Surprisingly she found trouble even without Xena around. Of course most people would have just kept walking. She drew her sais and stepped around the corner, then stopped in her tracks as she saw the man facing off with the shopkeeper.

He was big, bald, and wearing black robes with a crimson dragon on the chest. A black hood was tucked into his belt. There were three similarly dressed, equally intimidating looking men standing behind him, and all four were holding scimitar-like swords that were stained red.

"By the gods." A dieing man in Midos told them about the hooded raiders in black, that was how they had gotten on their trail in the first place. What were the odds of them running into them here she wondered? While she was trying to decide what to do the black-clad raiders put their swords away and started to leave. "No! I have to..." She got about two steps closer and a hand came down on her shoulder.

"Where do you think you're going?"

"Xena!" Gabrielle embraced the warrior. "Thanks the gods. I was worried. Where have you been?"

"These guys are good, Gabrielle. I had to backtrack to get them off my trail."

"They caught you?"

"Almost." Xena frowned toward the others. "Were you really going after them by yourself?"

Gabrielle nodded. "I thought I should try to stop at least one of them."

"Good idea. Want a little help?"

"Well, since you're already here..." Gabrielle smiled. "...sure."

Xena drew her sword and gestured. "After you."

"Thank you."

The four men turned as warrior and bard came charging out of the parting crowd toward them. The three in back had time to draw their swords, but the leader barely got a hand on his before the hilt of Gabrielle's sai caught him in the temple. He was bowled over and landed on his face with a groan, while she kept right on going and blocked the falling blade of one of the other men with that same sai. Then she drove the handle of the other into the waist of the man attacking her, doubling him over, and kneed him in the face.

Xena, meanwhile, gave a trademark battle cry and vaulted into the air, kicking a third man hard enough to knock send him flying back into another. They landed in a crumpled heap. Still in mid-air she spun and swung her sword at the last man, slicing through both the dragon symbol and the leather underneath. A little harder and she knew it would have gouged his chest as well, but she'd stopped just short of that. He fell to his knees out of breath, while she put her sword away and sighed.

Gabrielle came up behind her, a little out of breath. "Are you okay?"

"Fine. You?"

"Never been better."

"You handled those things pretty well."

"Thanks."

The man groaned.

"Who asked you?" Xena crouched and drove two fingers into the man's neck. "I've just cut off the flow of blood to your brain, such as it is. You have thirty seconds to tell me what I want to know."

He sneered. "Go to Tartarus!"

"I've been there," the warrior replied. "It's not as nice as you might have heard. You better start talking."

Gabrielle was counting in her head. "Ten seconds, Xena."

"Xena?" The man's nostrils flared. "You're...Xena? The warrior princess?"

"I am. What's it to you?"

He shuddered. Spittle flew out of his mouth. "The master...warned us...about you..."

"Master?" Gabrielle asked. "What master? Who are you talking about?"

"It's not...your time yet. That will come...soon enough." His eyes rolled back in his head.

Seeing this Xena went to take the pinch off him, but at the last second he managed to pull away. "You fool!" His time was almost up. "If you don't let me help you, you're going to die!"

"In his name, I serve! For the glory of..." With a last gasp the man died, and with him whatever answers he might have been able to give them.

Gabrielle looked around. Her eyes widened. "By the gods!" The other men were gone. "What now?"

"I know where they're headed," said Xena. "Only this time, we go together."

"So, it's a bottleneck?"

Xena nodded. "These mountains are riddled with caves. I lost a man in one years ago. This particular valley ends in one big cave, so unless they've dug a tunnel themselves there's no way out."

"Good." Gabrielle was in the saddle behind Xena with her arms around the warrior's waist. "They've caused a lot of pain for a lot of people. How many do you think we're up against?"

"I can't be sure. I never got close enough to see the camp itself. But I did notice half a dozen well-armed guards in the vicinity. Armed like those at the bazaar."

Gabrielle sighed. "So, assuming our luck holds, we're probably dealing with twice that many, at least. And that's not even counting whatever defenses they may have. This should be fun."

"I'd feel better if we knew what we were walking into. Something doesn't feel right about this."

Argo whinnied softly. Xena pulled back on the reins, stopping the horse, and nodded.

Gabrielle climbed out of the saddle and drew her sais. "What is it?"

"Quiet." Xena's eyes narrowed.

Gabrielle nodded and looked around. Now she heard something too and turned. Instinct made her bring her sais up, just in time to deflect an incoming arrow. "Xena!"

The warrior drew her sword and slid out of the saddle. "Nice catch." She swatted Argo on the rump. "Find a safe spot, girl." Argo snorted and ran off. "You ready?"

"I have a choice?" Gabrielle twirled her sais, and braced herself as a wave of black-clad men came stomping out of the trees. "I'll go left, you go right?"

Xena smirked. "Fine by me." She ducked under one sword swing and kicked a man in the stomach, then tumbled across his back as he was doubled over and kicked another man back into a tree. The warrior parried an axe with a flourish, then spun around and sliced open another man's chest.

Gabrielle deflected the blade of a sword with her sais and kicked one of the men between the legs. He shrieked and went down, while she drove the hilts of the two weapons into the stomach of another of her attackers. With a sneer the largest of the men tossed away his weapon and threw his arms around the blonde's chest from behind to pin her arms to her sides. "Xena!"

The warrior pulled her sword out of the gut of another man and drew her chakram. She threw it, even as she was parrying the sword of yet another attacker. The chakram bounced off a tree and came right back at Xena, who fell to the ground and kicked the legs out from under the man in front of her. The chakram ricocheted off the back of his head as he was going down, and the sudden change of direction sent it flying at the man who was holding onto Gabrielle's struggling form. His eyes widened and he released her.

The blonde dropped to the ground just under the blade of the approaching chakram, which struck the man in the chest and knocked him off his feet. "Thanks."

Xena, who at that moment had an arm wrapped around the throat of one of the last men, nodded. "Don't mention it." She reached out and caught the chakram with the other hand as it came zipping back to her. "Now, where were we? Oh, right." She punched him in the face and then put the pinch on him. "You've got thirty seconds. How many more men are there in your camp?"

"Go to..."

"Been there. Done that." Xena punched him again and released the pinch. "It's no use. Whoever these guys work for, they're more scared of him than anything else. Even death."

Gabrielle shook her head. "This is crazy. We still don't know what we're getting into."

"You want to go back?"

"No. I just think it's crazy is all. So what now?"

Xena glanced toward the break in the trees where the men had emerged. "Hopefully they didn't have a chance to raise any kind of an alarm. So the others shouldn't know we're coming."

"And if they do?"

Xena shrugged her shoulders. She smiled. "I'm impressed. You were great with those."

"Thanks." Gabrielle looked at the sais. "It was weird though. They felt so natural in my hands, but I've never used anything like this before. Except maybe the chobos."

"I guess you're just a natural." Xena touched her cheek. "Come on. We better keep moving, before whoever else is in there comes looking for these jokers."

What first appeared to be a full, intact treeline was, in fact, merely a facade. The grass and trees had been razed for the sake of a very large, imposing encampment. There were a number of fire-pits, wood and thatch huts, and a pen of goats and boar. As they walked into the camp they were overwhelmed by the scent of death and they could see numerous red stains in the dirt that they assumed were blood.

"Gods." Gabrielle shook her head. "Who are we dealing with?"

Xena gnashed her teeth. "I hear something. It sounds like...crying." She turned. "Come on!" They made their way across the killing grounds toward a jagged opening in the side of the mountain in front of them. On either side of the cave was a large wooden cage, each loaded with women and children.

"We have to help them." Gabrielle took a step forward, but Xena grabbed her shoulder. "What?"

"Something's wrong. This is a very elaborate set-up. Where is everybody?" She jerked her head around. "They're up to something. I think we should get out of here."

"Xena, no! These people..."

Then someone in one of the cages saw Xena and Gabrielle. She screamed for help, so did someone else, and in a few moments dozens of pleading voices were ringing out.

"We have to help them!" Gabrielle rushed toward the nearest cage.

Xena followed, reluctantly. Something was about to happen, she was sure of it.

Women and children clawed at Gabrielle through the bars as she examined the lock. "Xena!"

"Stand back!" Xena drew her chakram and the bard stepped out of the way. Just then she heard a muted thumping and her eyes widened. She recognized that sound. "Ambush!"

All around them the ground literally erupted as a dozen men in black robes and armor popped up out of pits that had been concealed by thatch mats, covered in dirt. Then another man, probably the leader, who was backed up by half a dozen others, strode out of the cave. He was the only one without a weapon.

"Welcome, Xena." He smirked. "We've been expecting you."

Xena was visibly unimpressed. Instead, she just cocked her head. "That voice. I know you?"

"As a matter of fact..." The lead man whipped off his hood, to reveal matted black hair and an ugly, scarred face, with one milky white eye. "...you do."

"Tanos?" Xena frowned. "What in Tartarus are you doing here?"

"You know this creep?" Gabrielle asked.

The warrior nodded. "He was a priest who rode with my army years ago."

"Whose?"

"Ares," Xena explained. "I thought it was be a smart idea to have someone on the battlefield with a direct link to the god of war. I didn't know how wrong I was."

"What happened?"

Tanos sneered. "This bitch was too scared to let me do my job!"

"Hardly. You were a blood-thirsty monster. He got off on the sacrifices, Gabrielle. Not just animals either. His favorite was cutting out the hearts of soldiers while their families watched."

"A man's gotta have a hobby."

"Even Darphus was sickened by your so-called hobby, Tanos." Xena looked around. "So, I'm guessing you being here means Ares is involved in this after all?"

"On the contrary. I no longer serve the god of war. Let's just say...I converted."

"Enough babbling, Tanos." Xena tightened her grip on her sword. "Who do you work for?"

"I assure you, all shall be revealed, warrior princess. But first the two of you have much to answer for. It is high time you paid the penalty for the multitude of sins against our lord and master."

Gabrielle stepped up beside Xena and twirled her sai. "We're not afraid of you. And certainly not your boss. He must be some coward to send his followers after women and children instead of warriors."

"Watch your tongue, little one. Though you were once blessed to be a part of his grand plan he no longers feels anything but enmity and contempt for you and your associate. And Xena you, and others like you, have interfered in his plans one too many times. Once he has dealt with you we will seek out the so-called heroes of your realm, and punish them for their blasphemy as well."

"So, are we going to stand around and talk all day?" Xena asked. "Or are we going to fight?"

"Are you truly so anxious to die? Have it your way." Tanos gestured. "The man who brings me her heart can have her friend for his own." The men surged forward enmasse.

Xena kicked a man as he approached her, then rebounded off him and spin-kicked three other men away. As she landed she parried a sword with her own and ducked under an axe that threatened to take her head off. She smiled and kicked the offending man right between the legs.

Gabrielle countered two different sword strikes at once with her sais. Then she ducked under a third and kicked the legs out from under a man trying to decapitate her.

Tanos watched the duo as they took his men down one by one. Even so badly outnumbered the warrior princess and her companion would not give up. It was a problem, though not entirely unexpected. "Oh no, Xena. You aren't going to be so lucky this time." He raised his hands above his head. "I've picked up a few new tricks, since last we time we met." He started chanting, over and over again.

Soon, power was flowing out of him, and into the lifeless bodies of his fallen warriors. Within minutes each of them has risen and begun fighting again. They were still dead, of course, and before long their bodies would burn up from the very necromantic energy empowering them, but until that time they would never stop, get tired or be capable of experiencing fear or pain. The perfect warriors.

Xena frowned as she deflected an oncoming sword. She had been keeping count, and there seemed to be just as many men fighting them now as when they started, but she was sure she had killed at least a half dozen of them. It was some kind of magic, it had to be. She glared at Tanos, who was obviously up to something. Then someone hit her in the back and she momentarily lost her footing.

Gabrielle took several hard blows from men she had disarmed, but she fought through the pain. A couple of the men had sword and sai wounds that she knew were fatal, yet they were still on their feet. Only her weapons so far had kept her from being any more seriously hurt. Not only were they holding up, her sais had actually shattered a number of the blades used against them, which didn't make sense.

Tanos rolled his eyes. He'd reanimated nearly every one of his warriors by now, and yet somehow they still did not appear to be up to the task. Xena was even better than he remembered. If the two of them managed to free the hostages before the ritual was completed, all was lost. He fell to his knees and clasped his hands. "My lord. What do I do?" Torches on either side of the cave opening flared. "I understand."

He placed his hands flat on the ground and started another chant. The blood of his fallen warriors as well as any spilled from Xena and Gabrielle and those hostages they had already sacrificed, was soaked up by the ground. He could feel it flowing underneath him, into the cave. He smiled.

Now Xena was angry. She had been cut several times, by too many sword strokes for even her to deflect. And it was becoming obvious that most of her opponents had suffered fatal wounds, and yet they were still fighting. She suspected Tanos was using some sort of magic, but she couldn't get away from the throng of undying of attackers long enough to do anything about it. 'Gabrielle?' she asked herself. 'Where's Gabrielle?'

Blocked by bodies and out of sight of the warrior princess, the bard was being forced back by two men, both of whom she was sure must have already been dead. She had stabbed one of them herself, and had seen the other get an axe in the chest when she ducked it. Something was keeping them alive, or at least moving, and if they couldn't put a stop to it soon she was going to be in trouble. She was already exhausted.

Tanos could tell Xena and Gabrielle were, finally, slowing. Even Xena showed signs of weariness. "I swore that I would have revenge on you one day, warrior princess. This, at last, is that day."

Xena caught a glimpse of Gabrielle at one point, and was relieved to see the blonde still on her feet. She wasn't fighting as well as she had been at first, and neither was Xena herself. Her own arms were feeling more and more like lead weights with each swing of her sword, and knew if she didn't come up with something out soon both of them would fall at the feet of Tanos and his mysterious master.

Gabrielle winced as the blade of a sword sliced down almost the entire length of her arm. It wasn't deep enough to make her drop her sai, but the pain still brought tears to her eyes. As a result she was unable to stop a big, bald man from kicking her in the back. She fell to her knees.

Xena saw this. "Gabrielle?" A dead-eyed, sallow-skinned man was raising a sword behind her partner. "NO!" She drew her chakram and threw it without really taking time to aim. With a shrill whistling it struck the man's sword, shattering it, then rebounded into and off his face, knocking him off his feet. It struck another man and another in rapid succession, knocking several of them off their feet.

Gabrielle ducked as it sliced off a few of her stray hairs. She locked eyes with Xena, who nodded, then brought her sais up in a cross pattern. The chakram struck them and bounced off in a shower of sparks then angled toward a wide-eyed Tanos. He saw it coming and dove out of the way. Unfortunately, for him, it then bounced off one of the cages and the side of the cave, before coming back at Tanos again as he was standing up. It hit him in the back and tore right through his body, exploding out of his chest.

When he fell so did the reanimated warriors, collapsing like wet burlap sacks. Xena reached out and caught her gore-covered chakram as it shot past her. She lowered her sword with a sigh.

"Thank the gods." Gabrielle approached her partner. "It's over."

A deep, monstrous roar echoed from the imposing darkness of the cave.

Xena's eyes narrowed. "Or not."

Gabrielle took a step back, wide-eyed. "What in Tartarus was that?"

"I'm sure we'll know soon enough," Xena replied. "For now, let's just free these people." She broke the locks on the cages with her chakram and threw the doors open. Many of the women and children stopped briefly to hug or thank her and Gabrielle before running away.

One freckle-faced, blonde-haired girl clung particularly to the bard, who rubbed her head. "It's okay sweety. It's over now. Go on with your mommy."

The girl shook her head. "N-No, you have to run too, or the monster will get you." Crying, she ran into the arms of her mother, who whisked her away.

"Monster?" Gabrielle asked. "Xena, what have we gotten ourselves into?"

Both women turned, as something huge and hideous stomped out of the cave.

It was a hulking mass of chorded muscles, tree trunk-like limbs, and bony protusions bursting through its rough gray skin to act like weapons and armor at the same time. Twice as tall as Argo at least, it had oversized arms and razor sharp talons, as well as a maw full of dagger-like teeth. It slowly angled its triangular, bone-encrusted skull in their direction, slitted red eyes flaring, and let out a low, rumbling growl.

"That's, umm, by the gods. Xena." Gabrielle frowned. "What do we do?" She could barely feel her arms. She was pretty sure she couldn't handle a monster right now.

"We have two choices, Gabrielle. Fight it, or retreat."

"Well..."

"Of course, if we do run, there's no telling how many it could hurt chasing after us."

Gabrielle sighed. Of course, she was right. "Okay."

They attacked the creature from two different directions at once. It didn't attempt to move or fight back as they struck it again and again with sword, sai and chakram. It just growled as the blades bounced off bony ridges. It did not seem to feel threatened, and in fact appeared to be almost...amused, by their efforts.

"Xena? This isn't working!"

The warrior frowned. "I noticed." She ducked down and spun around, swinging her sword at the creature's ankles in an attempt to take its feet out from under it. Bone plates easily deflected her strongest blows.

"That retreating idea of yours is starting to sound better."

"Tell me about it." Xena took her chakram in hand, hoping it might work better than her sword. All she managed to do was create a shower of sparks when it glanced off the thing's armor.

The creature, possibly tired of being used as target practice, languidly moved its right hand. It moved just a few inches, casually swiping at Xena with the side of its hand, and yet the warrior was sent flying. She crashed into an outcropping above the cave and landed hard, weaponless and out of breath.

Gabrielle was understandably shocked. "Xena!" She had never seen her partner take that kind of a blow even in a fight with Ares. It was, however, unfortunately reminiscent of an encounter with a tree-trap years ago, though she didn't want to think about how that had turned out. "No!"

At the sound of her voice the creature lowered its head and glared at her. It growled.

"Uh oh." Gabrielle took a step back. "Good...uhh, boy? You don't want to hurt me, do you?" It growled again, and took a step toward her. "I'll take that as a, probably." She raised her sais. "Look I think we both know how this will turn out. So, um, why don't we just spare me the pain, and you the trouble, okay?" If it even understood her it gave no sign, and only growled. "Guess not." It lifted one huge hand and she closed her eyes.

"Gabrielle! Get down!"

Without waiting to see who was calling her, or why, the bard made a decision and did as she was told. She heard arrows, lots of them, whistling inches above her head. They shattered harmlessly upon the creature's broad chest, but at least distracted it enough for her to evade its reach. It growled as she rolled back to her feet and looked up, and around, to find who had come to her rescue.

They were standing on a ridge above and to her right. A dozen muscular, animal-masked women wearing leather armor. Amazons. One pulled her mask up, and Gabrielle smiled. "Ephiny?"

"Are you okay, Gabrielle?"

"More or less." The bard tried to get to Xena, but the monster was blocking her way. "Umm, Eph?"

"Solari." Ephiny, who ruled the Amazons in Gabrielle's place, pointed. "Eponin. Let's help our queen. Megara. If it moves, you and the others feel free to fire at will." The remaining Amazons nodded, while she and her two best warriors made their way down to Gabrielle, who warmly embraced all three of her friends. "Xena?"

The worried bard shook her head. "I-I don't know. She hasn't moved since..."

"I know. We saw. I'm sorry we didn't get here soon enough to help."

"Not that I want to sound ungrateful or anything, but how is it you are here? This place, I mean, and now?"

Ephiny clenched her sword more tightly. "Artemis. Our goddess appeared to me. She said our queen was facing a great evil and asked us to provide you whatever assistance we could." She sneered at the creature, which had not moved or done anything except to growl. It barely seemed to notice them at all.

"Artemis?" Gabrielle frowned. "I wonder why she...Ephiny look out!" She grabbed her friend and twisted her out of the way of the creature, which had abruptly swung one huge arm in her direction. A moment later it was struck across the face and chest by a volley of arrows. "Are you okay?"

"Fine. Thanks to you." Ephiny frowned. "What in Zeus' name is this thing?"

"We're still not sure." Gabrielle bit her lip. "By the gods, I need to check on Xena."

"I have an idea." Ephiny twirled her sword. "Solari. Eponin. Let's distract this beast, and give our queen a chance to help Xena." They nodded, and all three attacked the monster. They ran circles around it, swinging their swords and whooping loudly, while Megara and the others fired off an occasional arrow.

Gabrielle rushed to Xena's side and checked for a pulse; to her relief she found it steady and strong. "Thank the gods." She gently slapped the warrior's face. "Xena? Xena, wake up!"

The warrior woke with a start. "Gabrielle?"

"Are you okay?"

"Depends." Xena sat up, groaning. "Did I get run over by a freight wagon?"

"Something like that."

"Then I guess I'm all right."

"Good." Gabrielle glanced over her shoulder. The Amazons swords had all broken on the creature's bony plates, and they did not look happy about it. Megara and those with her had also run out of arrows, and they were coming down the hill to join the others. "I think Ephiny's going to need help."

Xena frowned. "Ephiny?"

"She's here. With Solari and Eponin and some of the others. Artemis sent them to help us."

"I guess even the gods can do things right occasionally." Xena grabbed her sword and chakram, and stood rather unsteadily. "Let's just finish this. I have one hades of a headache."

To their credit, Ephiny and the other Amazons tried their best against the monster. Even those without weapons any longer got right in its face, throwing vicious punches and kicks, and several pulled out daggers which quickly broke upon the thing's bony plates. Yet they kept trying.

The only thing they had going for them was the fact that the creature didn't appear to be particularly intersted in them or what they were doing. It ignored even their strongest blows, and either pawed casually at the ground with one huge foot or else grunted, sometimes making a sigh-like sound.

Then Xena and Gabrielle joined their friends. The thing lifted its head as the warrior princess swung her sword, but it just glanced off its arm amid a shower of sparks. "Damn it!"

"Xena!" Ephiny gritted her teeth. "This isn't working! We have to get out of here! Regroup!"

"We can't! There's no telling what this thing will do in the meantime!"

Gabrielle saw an opening, and with a glance at Xena and the others took it. She lunged and drove a sai as hard as she could between two plates on the thing's shoulder. It penetrated deep into the creature's flesh, drawing a surge of blood and a howl of pain. "Xena! It's not invulnerable after all!"

Xena quickly took stock of what her partner had done, frowning as she realized it didn't help them much. While Gabrielle's weapons were particularly well-suited for slipping through cracks hers were not, and only the archers among the Amazons would have had any chance now. "Ephiny!"

Enraged by the sai in its arm and the pain it must have caused, the creature swung its other arm. Gabrielle saw it coming and rolled out of the way, but Megara was not so lucky. Something in her torso was crushed loudly as the blow knocked her back into several of the other Amazons. None of them moved again.

"Meg! Monster!" Ephiny jumped up and kicked at the sai, driving it in deeper. The creature bellowed in pain and swung at her, but she easily flipped away from its clutching hands. "Megara!"

Xena grabbed her friend's shoulder. "Stop. You can't help her by getting yourself killed!" The creature brought a foot up in an effort to stomp on them, but they both jumped out of the way.

"Eph, she's right," said Gabrielle. "We need a new plan."

The Amazon shoved them both out of the way and charged at the creature again. She was in tears.

Xena swore and threw her chakram. It struck the heel of Ephiny's boot as the thing was swinging at her, tripping her, so its claws passed harmlessly through the air where her head had been moments before. She rolled between its widespread legs and rolled back to her feet behind it, still angry.

"We need help," said Xena.

Something whistled through the air and struck the creature between the eyes. An arrow. There was enough bone there to keep it from penetrating, but it definitely got the thing's attention.

As did the short but muscular, dirty-blonde haired man in the purple vest who had fired it. It was his companion who drew a sigh of relief from Xena, Gabrielle and Ephiny, however.

"Nice shot, Iolaus." Hercules cracked his knuckles. "But now it's my turn."

The other Amazons clearly had no idea who he was. They stood firm as the son of Zeus approached but stepped out of the way when Gabrielle and Ephiny motioned for them to do so. He paused, to clasp the hands of Xena and Gabrielle, then Ephiny, before moving on toward the monster. It appeared startled or confused by the new arrival and growled as Hercules approached, his eyes locked with its own.

Iolaus came to embrace Gabrielle and shake hands with Xena. "Sorry we took long."

"Good timing," said the warrior princess. "Did Artemis tell you there was trouble here too?"

Iolaus shook his head. "No, it was Athena actually. We were visiting Jason and Alcemeyne and she just...popped in." He saw Hercules get in the creature's face and licked his lips. "You guys have no idea what's going on here do you? Who this big ugly works for?"

Gabrielle shook her head. "Do you?"

"Look!" Iolaus directed everyone's attention to the ensuing battle, as Hercules threw a punch.

Xena and Iolaus had the most experience watching Hercules fight. Such a punch would have gone through stone or knocked over a large tree, and he wasn't really even trying all that hard. The creature had no chance to avoid or block the blow and as a result it landed in the center of its chest. The thing was staggered, it growled, but it didn't go down or show any undo signs of injury.

Iolaus blinked. "Whoa."

"Who is this guy?" Solari asked. They had barely gotten a sound out of the monster.

"I've told you about him," Ephiny replied. "That's Hercules."

Solari and Eponin both stared as the son of Zeus staggered the monster with another thunderous punch. Though they had a reputation, much of it deserved and cultivated by the Amazons themselves, for being man-haters, many of the tribes had a great deal of respect for Hercules. Of course much of that had to do with his being the brother of their matron goddess, Artemis, but he had helped the nation more than once.

"I'm glad he's here," said Xena. "But I think even Hercules may be in a little over his head this time."

The son of Zeus caught the creature's wrists as it was trying to bring both huge fists down on his skull. It was an effort even for him but he managed to halt the downward motion, though to the creature's credit he wasn't able to push its arms any further back up, even though he was obviously trying to do so.

Iolaus frowned. "That's not good."

"I think we should help him," said Xena. "Just to be on the safe side." Ephiny, Gabrielle and Iolaus nodded. "Eph, you better stay here with the others. Back us up. If we fall..."

"Xena." Ephiny shook her head. "If you and Hercules can't stop it, what chance would we have?"

"All right. Come on." Everyone who still had a weapon drew it and charged. The Amazons grabbed anything they could find and followed, though they stayed close to Ephiny.

Hercules glanced over his shoulder. "Looks like some other dancers want to cut in. Do you mind?" He let go of the creature's wrists suddenly, throwing it off balance, then before it could recover lunged forward and rammed a shoulder into it's midsection. As it was doubled over he grabbed as much of the creature as he could, and actually managed to lift it first off the ground and then nearly all the way over his head. It struggled, kicking wildly, but he was still able to hold it for several seconds before slamming it down as hard as he could. The creature was either startled or stunned by the manuever and lay there with glassy eyes and a slack jaw.

"Do it!" Xena cried. She and Iolaus had swords, attacking the joints around its shoulders and arms, while Eponin and Solari, who had daggers, targeted its legs. Gabrielle went for its eyes. Each time the creature started to move again Hercules punched it in the face. "That was impressive."

The demigod shrugged. "Thanks." He punched again. "I do what I can."

The creature kicked out one huge foot, the side of which grazed Solari and knocked her for a loop. As she went down Eponin turned to help her, and was rewarded by another swipe of that same foot, which sent her flying right past her friend. It swiped a hand at Ephiny but missed.

"This isn’t working," said Xena. "We’re not doing enough damage!" She tossed her sword to Ephiny, and took her chakram instead. "Gabrielle!" The bard stopped trying to poke the creature’s eyes out – it kept defending itself with its hand anyway – and turned to face her partner. "Help me!" They went for it’s throat.

The creature roared and began wilding flailing its limbs in every direction at once. Iolaus and Ephiny got struck by glancing blows and were flung away. Hercules tried to grab one of its arms and was actually lifted off his feet and thrown like a rag doll. He hit the side of the cave and slid to the ground, but was almost immediately back up and running as the creature lurched to its feet once again.

"Goddess," said Gabrielle. "This thing is…whoa!" She ducked a sweep of its hand. "Xena, what now?"

For once the warrior was at a loss. The creature, though bleeding from numerous wounds, barely seemed to be slowing down. It was just as strong as ever. She gritted her teeth and looked around, searching for something in their surroundings to help. She had a feeling she was missing something.

Hercules, meanwhile, tackled the monster from behind. It stumbled forward, as the son of Zeus bent over and his shoulders flexed as he tried to lift the creature again. This time it was ready for him, and twisting its legs it was just able to kick him away. It landed in a near crouch and growled.

"You learn quickly," said Hercules. "Okay. Iolaus?" The blonde man, though obviously hurting, returned to his friend’s side. "Do you still have the pouch?" Nodding, Iolaus took it from his belt. "Good. As soon as I have its attention, throw it!" Iolaus nodded, and Hercules charged the monster.

Gabrielle went to Xena, while Ephiny was checking on her friends. "What’s up?"

"Look." The warrior princess pointed to a rocky outcropping above the cave entrance. "I think we can bring that down on it. Like we did with Callisto and Velasca?"

"Okay. But we have to get it in the right place first, don’t we?"

Xena looked over her shoulder. "I don’t think that’ll be a problem. Hercules!"

The demigod heard his name being called, and spared the warrior a glance. He saw what she was pointing at, in a moment took stock of it, and nodded. "Iolaus!" As he rushed the creature Hercules gestured, and his friend saw it and nodded as he realized what Hercules and Xena were planning to do.

Hercules threw himself at the creature. It rained vicious blows down upon him, once even bringing him to his knees, but the son of Zeus persisted. He threw a punch of his own, doubling the creature over, then dropped down and kicked its legs out from under it. As it fell he grabbed the creature’s left arm and shoulder, and using as much momentum as strength he swung the creature toward the cave.

Xena smiled and threw her chakram. It bounced again and again off the rocks above the cave until several large pieces broke free. With that a virtual avalanche of stone, some of the pieces weighing hundreds of pounds, came crashing down upon the unsuspecting monster. It roared as it was buried.

Gabrielle leaned against Xena and groaned, while Iolaus clasped Hercules’ hand. "Is that it? Do you think it’s finally dead?"

"If not…" Xena caught the chakram as it returned. "…we’ll deal."

Iolaus held up a pouch. "Guess I didn’t need this after all."

"What is it?" Gabrielle asked.

"Illium," Hercules replied. "It's the strongest poison known. It could even incapacitate one of the gods, though it obviously wouldn't kill one of them or last very long."

Xena sheathed her sword. "Where did you get it?"

"Hepheastus. He said he helped you, so we wanted to help us too."

"He helped us?" Gabrielle asked. "When? We haven’t seen any of the gods lately."

Xena held up her hand. "Wait. Hephaestus. Athena. Artemis. All of them were involved with this thing? What exactly where we dealing with here?"

Everyone turned as Ephiny howled in pain. Not physical, she was barely scratched. But she was down on her knees, crying. Gabrielle ran to her first. "Eph? What’s wrong?"

"Solari and Megara, they’re…" Ephiny shook her head. "By the gods, this shouldn’t have happened. Why were we here? What was Artemis thinking, sending us here?"

"You’re Amazon warriors," said Hercules. "And Gabrielle is your Queen. She thought you could help. And you did. You helped Xena and Gabrielle fight the Destroyer."

"Is that what you call that thing?" the bard asked.

Hercules nodded. "According to Athena."

"Who sent it?" Xena asked. "It wasn’t Ares, I presume?"

Hercules shook his head. "No, even my brother wanted no part of this. The Destroyer is the bringer of chaos, the champion of…are you guys sure you’re up for this?"

"I want to know who is responsible for getting my friends killed," said Ephiny. "Tell me!"

Hercules turned to Iolaus, who nodded, then sighed. "Dahak."

All the color drained from Gabrielle’s face and she took a step back, her hands trembling, while Xena clenched hers into white knuckled fists. "Dahak?"

"He was making a bid for entry into the world," said Hercules. "Athena and Artemis heard it from Zeus and the Fates. Dahak was using sacrifices like the ones you rescued here today, to feed the Destroyer and make it strong enough to fight the gods. We’re just lucky you got here when you did. By killing Dahak’s dark priests, you made sure he won’t be able to start the ritual up again somewhere else."

"Nono, not Dahak. Not again." Gabrielle was shaking. "Xena, you said he was…I can’t. Not again. I can’t do this again. Xena!" The warrior went to her friend and embraced her.

"Shh. Take it easy. It’s okay, Gabrielle. He’s done. We stopped him. It’s over."

Iolaus, who was standing closest to the cave, heard stone scraping against stone and turned his head. He saw the rock pile shifting. A strip of bloody gray flesh was exposed. The Destroyer. It was still alive, and it was working its way free. His eyes widened. "Guys? We’ve got a problem!" He pointed.

Everyone was stunned as the monster shrugged off the impromptu stone tomb and got to its feet. It moved with less certainty than before, and had clearly been wounded, but was very much alive and angry. It picked up a small boulder in each hand and threw them at the heroes.

Xena grabbed Gabrielle and pulled them both out of the way while Iolaus did the same for Ephiny. One boulder missed everyone completely but Hercules managed to catch the other one, even if the impact did force him back a ways. He hoisted it above his head. "Now you‘re really pissing me off!" He was joined by Iolaus, Gabrielle and Xena, all of them with their weapons up and ready. The son of Zeus threw the boulder back at the Destroyer, who batted it away like it was nothing. "Xena. Iolaus. I have an idea." They listened as he outlined his plan to them. It was just crazy enough to work, or at least just plain crazy.

Iolaus handed the pouch of Illium powder to Gabrielle, then twirled his sword. He and Xena went one way and Gabrielle went the other, while Hercules walked right up to the Destroyer.

"Okay. Round three."

The Destroyer actually nodded.

It looked almost anxious to continue what they had started, and lunged at the son of Zeus, who ducked under its fist and punched it in the stomach. But this time his fist happened to strike bone instead of flesh, so all it did was bloody his knuckles and move the Destroyer back a step or two.

Then it swung its hand again, catching Hercules in the face and chest. He was knocked head over heels for quite a distance before slamming into a tree. It broke in half, but as the tree was falling Hercules caught it, using it like a battering ram as he came running back at the Destroyer. The creature grabbed the end of the tree at the very last moment though, saving itself from harm and stopping the demigod in his tracks.

"Now!" Hercules sneered. "Do it!"

Xena came running up behind him, flipped over him and landed on the tree, then ran down its length and jumped at the Destroyer. Both feet struck it in the broad, bone-covered chest, doing it little actual damage, but giving the warrior princess a springbroad off which to flip backwards and throw her chakram. It hit the creature between the eyes, causing a shower of sparks and momentarily blinding it.

"Go!"

Hercules took a step back and swung the tree like a club. It was shattered upon the Destroyer's monstrous body and knocked the creature to one side, actually bringing it to its knees. The son of Zeus tossed aside what was left of the tree and began punching the Destroyer in the face. "Iolaus!"

Iolaus came around him and swiped Xena's sword across the monster's exposed throat again and again. Its flesh tore, its blood was spilled, and the beast howled in pain. "Gabrielle!"

The bard opened the pouch of Illium and threw it in the Destroyer's face. It coughed and snorted, then a strange expression crossed its face. It grunted, then its eyes rolled back in its head and slumped into Hercules arms. "We better make certain its dead this time. Xena, use your chakram. Iolaus, her sword. Gabrielle...here." He pulled the sai out of the Destroyer's shoulder and tossed it to the bard, the dropped the creature.

"What's so special about our weapons?" Gabrielle asked.

"It's kind of a long story," Hercules replied. "We should take care of this first."

Ephiny stepped up. "Then let us do it. We owe this...monster."

"Fine by me." Hercules turned. "Xena?"

The warrior princess fingered her chakram for a moment, then handed it and her sword to Ephiny. Gabrielle did the same with her sais. "Be careful with that."

Ephiny nodded. "Of course." She gave the sword and sais to two of the other Amazons. "Come on, ladies. I don't want to see any pieces bigger than my head when we're done."

As they got to work, Hercules motioned for the others to follow him a short distance away.

"What's going on?" Xena asked, once they had all taken seats on a ring of stones. "How did Dahak manage to get this far without anything noticing?"

Hercules sighed. "They did. About six months ago, the Fates came to Zeus with a warning about the rise of dark forces among the mortals."

"Dahak," said Gabrielle. Just his name made her tremble.

Hercules nodded. "They only figured that much out within the last couple of months though. Apparently, Dahak has been going to great lengths to keep his activities secret."

"Then a few weeks ago, these monster sightings started," Iolaus continued. "We heard about it in Corinth. But it wasn't until Aphrodite showed up, telling Herc one of her love-fests had been attacked, that we came to realize it was not just killing people. It was softening up defenses, so it would be easier for Dahak's priests to come in and take the people they needed as sacrifices."

Gabrielle shook her head. "They used the monster to get people so they could make the monster stronger? That is so insane it's almost brilliant, in a sick and twisted sort of way."

"Once they knew out it was Dahak behind all this the gods started scrambling," said Hercules. "To come up with a way to stop him, without getting directly involved, or letting him know they knew."

"They were afraid." Xena sneered. "The mighty Olympians, afraid of some tired old, has-been god?"

"Dahak is more than just another god," Hercules corrected. "He's a force of chaos and evil. Older than the gods, or even the Titans. They have every reason to be worried."

"So how have the Olympians helped us?" Gabrielle asked. "We haven't seen any of them."

"Actually you have," Hercules replied. "You just didn't know it. That old man who put you two on this trail in the first place? That was Zeus. And the blacksmith you met in Pylos?"

Xena frowned. "Let me guess. Hepheastus?"

"That's right. He knew you were going to be facing something tough out here so he enhanced your weapons. He made your sword, and your sais Gabrielle, as strong as his special metal."

"Which explains why my sword felt so different."

"What's Ares role in all this?" Gabrielle asked. "It's not like him to miss out on a fight."

"Zeus has been keeping him on a short leash," said Hercules. "Apparently, the Fates also warned Zeus that Ares' allegiance would be questionable. No big surprise there."

Something occured to Gabrielle then, and she gasped. "Hercules? What about...Hope?"

"I don't think you and Xena have to worry about your daughter coming back to haunt you anymore, Gabrielle. I'd imagine Dahak was done with her after she failed him again. He was relying mostly on the Destroyer and his dark priests." Hercules gently squeezed the bard's shoulder. "If she shows, we'll take care of her."

Gabrielle nodded, then put her arms around Xena and sighed.

"I guess that's that," said Iolaus. "Anybody wanna go for an ale? My treat."

"Xena! Hercules!" Ephiny's cry alerted them to the fact she and the other Amazons were backing away from the Destroyer's body. "You'd better come see this."

The creature's flesh was bubbling. Smoke rose from its sunken eyes and nostrils. Its teeth and claws had started flaking away. It appeared to be melting, into a smoldering, stinking pile of goo.

Gabrielle put a hand over her nose. "By the gods, that stench. What are we going to do with this stuff?"

"Nothing," said Xena. "I don't want anything else to do with Dahak." She shook her head. "Let's help Ephiny, then we're leaving."

A bubble burst in the middle of the pool of goo, and with it came a deep, echoing laugh. "Xena. Xena. Xena. Do you really think it's going to be that easy? We're not nearly done yet."

The warrior princess drew her sword and looked around. "Where are you, you bastard?"

"Closer than I have ever been before. In fact, as we speak I am preparing to make my entry into your lowly little mortal plane."

Hercules clenched his fists. "Dahak? That's impossible. We defeated your monster."

"Yes, and I'd like to thank you all for that. The death of the Destroyer was always the final step in my ascension, and I could never have done it without you heroes."

"He set us up," said Iolaus. "We opened the door, and now he's walking right through. Damn it!"

Dahak laughed uproariously as the mass of ooze which was all that remained of the Destroyer started to bubble and churn, and dark shapes could be seen moving within it. "At last!"

A single hand thrust out, followed by another. The flesh was gray, desiccated, the talons long and gnarled. Soon the rest of the creature rose slowly, almost dramatically. It wore leathers, not armor so much as drapery, and had on a heavy pair of metal-toed boots. Its hideous, bald head was stamped with a wrinkled forehead and it had sharp fangs in its wide slit of a mouth. Its cheeks were sunken, and its eyes were filled with demonic, unbridled power, unlike anything any of them had ever seen before.

The creature noticed the wide eyes and shocked expressions on some of them and chuckled. "Like it?" It spread its arms. "I've admired this form for some time. That's why I chose it."

"Are we supposed to be impressed?" Xena asked.

"I'm not," said Iolaus. "I've scraped scarier things off the bottom of my boot."

Gabrielle paled as she realized the creature was staring right at her. "Xena, I-I don't like this."

"You're right to be scared, little one. I am Dahak. Master of chaos and lord of darkness. The harbinger of doom, and bringer of death to the Olympians, and the whole human race."

Hercules took a step forward and crossed his arms. "Sounds to me like you're just another loud mouth god with a superiority complex. I'm a little tired of it, actually."

Dahak's face changed dramatically. His already beady eyes narrowed to burning slits, his lips went tight, and his fangs glistened as he sneered. "Your reach exceeds your grasp, half-god. You are standing in the presence of one whose power exceeds even that of your kin. I existed, no in fact I dominated, before your sire was even a mote in Chronos' eye. You would do will to bow down before me. All of you."

Xena gripped her sword so tightly her knuckles turned white. "That's it! I've had enough of your..."

Dahak held up his hand. "Quiet!." The warrior princess froze where she stood. "And that goes for the rest of you as well." Though they were all obviously trying, no one was able to move. "I've been awaiting this day for too long to let the likes of you take it away from me now."

"His...power," Iolaus hissed. "How is...he doing this?"

Hercules' arms and legs were straining, but even he couldn't move any further.

Dahak stalked toward Gabrielle, who was only able to shudder as he caressed her cheek. "First, I must repay my debt to you. You betrayed our daughter, but in so doing you sowed the seeds that led me to this. In gratitude, I am willing to make you an offer. Join me. Rule by my side, as Hope was intended to do, and in exchange I will see to it you have all the power, all the glory your heart has ever desired."

Gabrielle spit in his face. "Go to Tartarus!"

"So be it." Without warning Dahak backhanded her, and the blow knocked Gabrielle head over heels. She landed faced down in the dirt, groaning. "I don't give second chances."

"Gabrielle!" Iolaus and Ephiny screamed.

Hercules lowered his head and put his full weight and strength against the invisible force holding him. Even for him it was an effort, and all he managed to do was take a couple of steps.

Xena's face flushed as she watched Gabrielle fall, and then her entire body began to tremble.

Dahak saw this. "What's the matter, warrior princess? You don't like me touching your little friend? Oh, I see. It is perfectly clear to me now." He smirked. "You're jealous. Don't forget, I had her first!" He grabbed Gabrielle by the hair, and she screamed as she was jerked into the air. "We had a child together. It is such a pity the two of you will never be able to say the same." He laughed.

Through a pounding headache, a throbbing pain in her face and tears that obscured her vision, Gabrielle became aware of two things. She could barely see out of her left eye, and she could move again. Dahak no longer seemed to be focusing his power on her. So she reached down and grabbed one of her sais, then twisted around and thrust it as hard as she could into Dahak's eye. The creature howled in pain and clutched at his face, black blood seeping through his fingers, and he reflexively letting go of Gabrielle. She hit the ground and rolled back to her feet, with the other sai now held ready in her hand.

"Traitorous bitch!" Dahak ripped the sai out of his bloody, now empty eye socket, and tossed it aside. "You hurt me! My powers may prove to be more limited than I expected in this form. No matter." He snarled. "You'll suffer dearly for your insolence, Gabrielle! I cannot be defied!"

"Oh no?" Xena and Hercules joined Gabrielle. "Would you like to test that theory?"

Dahak's good eye narrowed. "No! It can't be!"

"I guess you lost your concentration," said Hercules. "What a shame. And you were doing so well."

"I may have underestimated your abilities after all," said Dahak. "And overestimated my own. I didn't expect this ascension ritual to take place so soon. My preperations were not yet complete. There are obviously things even I was not aware of, and until I know for certain what this new body can and can't do, it would behoove me to stay as far away from you and yours as possible, son of Zeus."

Xena shook her head. "You're not going anywhere, Dahak! We're finishing this. Now!"

"I think not." Dahak held up his hand and an intensely bright light exploded from his outstretched palm, blinding everyone in front of him. When they could finally see again the creature was some distance away, making bizarre gestures that were causing the very air to ripple and churn like water.

"Dahak!" Xena raced toward him, chakram in hand.

The creature ignored her. It finished whatever it was doing, and a portal similar to the one that had led Hercules and Iolaus to discover an alternate world opened in front of Dahak, albeit on a much smaller scale. He stared into the shimmering blue mass of energy for a moment, then glance over his shoulder.

"We will meet again, my enemies! This, I assure you!"

Xena threw her chakram. It struck Dahak in the back just as he was starting to step into the portal. He roared, in both pain and surprise and stumbled headfirst into his own portal, which fractured into hundreds of tiny pinpoints of white light. The chakram disappeared along with him. "No!"

Gabrielle and the others caught up to Xena. "Where did he go?" Ephiny asked.

"It's hard to say," Hercules replied. "That looked like a portal, but I have no idea to where."

Gabrielle touched Xena's arm. "Are you okay?"

The warrior turned. She looked creastfallen. "That monster's spawn murdered my son. He hurt you." She put her hand near, but didn't quite touch, the blonde's swelling, bruised face. "Now he's gotten away. So now, I'm not okay Gabrielle. I won't be, until Dahak is destroyed once and for all."

"Herc?" said Iolaus. "Shouldn't we tell the gods? They'll want to know about Dahak and one of them may be able to help us figure out where he went."

"Bitchin' idea, blondie." A shimmer of golden lights appeared nearby, and formed into the lace-clad, voluptuous form of Aphrodite; goddess of love. "But we're way ahead of you."

Hercules didn't look too surprised. "Aphrodite."

"Hey, bro." The goddess of love embraced her brother. "You did good. Way to go."

"It wasn't just me, 'dite."

"I know. You all rock." Aphrodite turned, and motioned to Gabrielle. "Especially you, sweetcheeks. Speaking of which..." She held her hand near the bard's face, and in a flash of light she was healed.

Gabrielle smiled. "Thanks."

"Wish I could make it that easy for you," Aphrodite then said to Ephiny. "But if it makes you feel any better, Art told me she thinks it's all her fault your girlfriend's were killed."

Hercules' eyebrows arched. "Really?"

"Oh please!" Another figure materialized beside Aphrodite. She was tall and thin, but muscular, with bright gray eyes and long auburn hair. She was wearing oddly metallic-looking, golden leather armor. "Can't you get anything clear in that bubble-brain of yours?"

Aphrodite huffed. "Bite me."

"Ladies, please." Hercules stepped between them. "Do you really think this is the time?"

"You're right." Artemis sighed and approached Ephiny, who had her head bowed. "Come on. Like I told you back in the temple, you don't have to be afraid to look at me. It's all right."

Ephiny raised her head. There were tears in her eyes. "I-Is there anything you can do for them?"

The matron goddess of the Amazons smiled sadly. "I can't bring them back if that's what you're asking. I'm sorry about that. I can take you down to see Hades once they're settled, if you like, so you can be certain they are being treated well." She gestured, and all of the Amazons except for Ephiny herself disappeared. "They're with the tribe now. I can send you along too, when you're ready."

"Thank you," said Ephiny. "But I think I should be with my sisters right now."

Artemis nodded. The Amazon smiled at her friends and vanished.

"She didn't even say good-bye," said Iolaus.

"I think she has more important things on her mind right now," said Hercules.

"Besides, I know what you're thinking," said Aphrodite. "And you're wasting your time. You're not her type. You don't have nearly enough legs." She giggled, and Artemis shook her head.

Iolaus blinked. "Huh?"

"Forget it Iolaus," Hercules suggested. "So, 'dite, you said you were way ahead of us. Do you really know where Dahak is going? Or are the gods just blowing smoke, as usual?"

Aphrodite frowned. "That hurts bro. I didn't have to come down here you know. I'm supposed to be out on a date with Hephy right now, but Dad asked me to check in. See if you needed anything."

"I'm fine."

Xena stepped forward. "I'm not. While we're standing around here Dahak is...who knows where, maybe planning to assault more women or murder more innocent children. So if there isn't anything useful you or the other gods can do, I suggest you go running back up to Olympus and hide. It's what you do best."

Artemis got between the warrior and her sister, who was almost in tears. Hercules clasped her shoulder "Watch it, warrior princess! There's no reason for you to take your anger out on 'dite."

"Who then? You?"

"What have you got against me?"

Xena gritted her teeth. "Are you kidding? First, you're nowhere to be found when Velasca tries to wipe out your precious Amazons. Callisto, Hope, my son, I ought to..."

"Xena." Gabrielle took the warrior's arm. "Don't, please. You know you're just wasting your time. You can't hurt her, and I've seen too much bloodshed for one day anyway."

The warrior princess sighed. "Fine." She glared at the goddess. "You're lucky she's here."

"As are you," said Artemis. She nodded to Hercules, then vanished in a flare of lights.

Aphrodite cleared her throat. "Xena? Go ahead and lay into me if it makes you feel better. I don't mind. Just, do me a favor, would you? Listen to those who love you, and lighten up. Later." She vanished.

"Xena, you're tired," said Gabrielle. "You need to rest."

The warrior pushed her partner's arm away. "No, what I need is answers. Obviously from somebody who doesn't run off just because I raise my voice." She looked up. "Ares! I know you can hear me! Get down here! Ares, come on! I'm not in the mood! Get down here and help us!"

With a clap of thunder and a flash of lightning the god of war materialized in their midst. He smirked briefly at his half-brother before going right to Xena. "You called?"

"You saw what happened didn’t you? With Dahak?" He nodded. "We have to find him, stop him, before he hurts anyone else. Is there anything you can do?"

"Maybe." Ares stroked his beard. "But you’ll owe me."

"Fine! Just do it!"

Gabrielle touched her partner’s shoulder. "Xena, are you sure about this?"

"Dahak’s flesh now Gabrielle. He’s in our world. That makes him a hundred times more dangerous than before, and you remember all the damage he did then."

"I know it’s bad. And we’ll find him. We’ll stop him like we always do. But are you sure that making a deal with Ares is this best way to go about it?"

"Ouch." Ares melodramatically clutched at his chest. "That hurts, Gabrielle."

"Better the god you know," said Hercules. "Gabrielle, Xena’s right. You both know how to deal with Ares. You can handle his deal, whatever it is, and move on. But Dahak needs to be stopped precisely because we don’t know what he’s up to."

Ares rubbed his hands together. "Now then. Let’s see what we’ve got." He looked around. "This is about where he disappeared, isn’t it? Hmm…there’s been a dimensional breach. A big one. And temporal damage too. Dahak went further than you think."

"What are you talking about?" Hercules asked.

"Time travel, little brother. Dahak didn’t just leave Greece, or our world. He tore open a hole in the very fabric of time itself and fell through, taking Xena’s chakram with him. A mad god and a mystical artifact on the loose in the place between space and time? This is bad news."

"Then forget about trying to find him," said Iolaus. "Send us after him instead."

"I can’t!"

"Don’t lie, Ares. I know from personal experience that you…"

"Weren’t you listening? What I did for you, with Callisto, that was a unique situation. This is different. Dahak destabilized the continuum when he left. I send a whole bunch more people, especially one who’s a half-god, out into the void after him, and everything could fall apart. It’d be messy."

Hercules frowned. "He’s right. It’s too big a risk for me to go. When Autolycus and I traveled through time we did damage that is still being felt on Olympus."

"Then just send me," said Xena. "Surely one person more won’t make that much of a different."

Gabrielle grabbed her hand. "Two people. You’re not going anywhere without me."

"Of course." Xena touched her face. "I’m sorry."

"Xena? Are you sure?" Hercules asked.

The warrior nodded. "You and Iolaus should stay anyway. While we’re gone, someone else may try to attack Athens or Greece. Or Dahak himself might come back. We’ll be fine."

"All right." Iolaus reluctantly nodded along with his friend.

"Fine," said Ares. "You can…both go. Wherever, or whenever, Dahak does. And you should have the power to get back here afterwards."

"Should?" Gabrielle asked.

"The two of you will be using twice as much energy as blondie did by himself. Theoretically, there is a chance you could suck the well dry and end up stranded wherever you land."

The bard crossed her arms. "That’s comforting."

"Best I can do." Ares raised his head. "You might want to close your eyes." Xena and Gabrielle did just that. "I know you may not believe this Xena, but I do wish you luck." Energy flared from his palm, enveloping the duo in a surging blue-white light, which swallowed them like the mouth of some ferocious beast.

"Good luck," Hercules whispered.

Rupert Giles glanced up from the demonic text he was studying, as he heard the bell above the door of the Magic Box chime. It was midnight or thereabouts, and the shop was closed, so he knew it couldn't be a customer.

Buffy Summers and Spike came strolling in. She looked upset about something, and he seemed bored. The Watcher stood up. "I take it the two of you had no better luck than I?"

"Bust," said the Slayer. "No vamps, present company excluded of course. No demons either. What's up Giles? It's been dead like this for nearly a week now. My slaying skills are getting rusty."

"We've seen lulls before." Giles sighed. "Though, admittedly, not to this extreme. And I must say, I find the whole thing rather disconcerting. It would seem to portend to something rather momentous on the horizon."

Buffy turned to Spike. "Huh?"

"The Watcher means to see evil's up to something," Spike replied. "Bad guys equals bad deeds. Am I right, Rupert?"

"Indeed."

Buffy shrugged her shoulders. "So, sooner or later, badness shows up, we deal, and then we'll have mochas. What's the big?"

"I truly hope it is indeed that innocuous, Buffy." Giles picked up the book he'd been reading. "Fortunately, I have been scouring the texts and I thusfar have found no indication of any vampiric or demonic activities slated for this particular period."

Buffy blinked. "Huh?"

Giles looked to Spike, who shrugged his shoulders, then sighed. "No bad beeds are scheduled. Officially, at least."

"Ah. Well, since slaying's a no-go, I'm gonna head home and watch the late show. There's a Freddy Prinze Jr. movie coming on I've been dieing to see." She turned and headed for the door.

"I'll continue the research," said Giles. "And let you know if I find anything."

"Do that."

Spike followed Buffy. "Freddy Prinze Jr, Slayer? You actually like that nancy-boy?"

When she got home the first thing Buffy noticed was how quiet it was. Especially since it was Friday night, which meant there wouldn't be any school for two whole days. Then she remembered Dawn was spending the weekend at Janice's.

The Slayer peeled off her leather jacket and headed to her room to change clothes. As she got to the top of the stairs she began to hear moans, a thumping noise, and occasional shrill cries coming from her mom's room. Of course her mother had been gone over a year now, so she knew the sounds were actually coming from the rooms newer occupants; Willow and Tara.

Buffy shook her head, a jealous smile on her face, and slipped into her room.

The next morning, Tara was making breakfast when Willow came into the kitchen. "Good morning, sweety."

"Morning." Willow leaned in for a kiss. "Mm...delicious." She looked at the frying pan. "Remember. You don't have to make the funny shapes this time."

"I thought you liked my cooking?"

"I do. I just meant, since Dawn isn't here, you don't have to go to any extra trouble."

Tara shook her head. "I'm not. I like doing this."

"Well, in that case..." Willow sat down at the counter. "I'll have one stack of funny-shaped pancakes, please."

Tara smiled. "Coming right up." She was just turning back to the stove when Buffy came into the kitchen, yawning. "Morning."

"Hey guys." The Slayer went right to the coffee pot and poured herself a cup.

"How'd the slaying go last night?" Willow asked.

"Nothing. Spike and I tried three different cemetaries. It's like the monsters are on holiday or something."

"What does Mr. Giles think?" Tara asked. "He usually has a theory by now."

Buffy shrugged. "He's just as lost as the rest of us. Nobody seems to know what's going on."

"I'm sure you'll figure it out." Tara picked up the batter. "You want some pancakes?"

"Can't. I've got to check in with Giles and then I'm going to see Xander at the construction site. He mentioned a freelance job I can do for the company to make a few extra bucks." Buffy finished her coffee in one gulp, then as an afterthought grabbed a couple of pancakes off Willow's plate and headed out the door.

Willow blinked. "Hey!"

"Let it go, sweety. There's plenty more where that came from."

Following breakfast Willow and Tara headed to the UC Sunnydale campus. The two of them had all but dropped out after Joyce Summers' death, and they were kept just as busy during their subsequent move into Buffy's house to help her and Dawn. Now they were just trying to catch up on what they missed, though as hard as they tried the couple only managed to schedule about half of their classes together.

"See you at lunch, baby." Tara kissed her lover good-bye, then went to the library. Normally she had an art class first, but on the way in she leaned it had been cancelled so she decided to work on a paper instead. She stayed for about an hour, then went on to her next class. It was Psych 104, and Willow would either be there waiting for her or else would show up just before the instructor started talking.

At least, that was what she expected. But before she got to the class someone grabbed her arm, and dragged her into an empty room. It was Buffy. The Slayer seemed anxious. "Is something wrong?"

"Where's Willow?"

"She should be here soon. What's going on?"

"Giles found something. He wants us to meet at the Magic Box right now."

"Okay. But why didn't you just call our cell-phones?"

Buffy blinked. "Uh, I forget the number."

"No big deal. I'll call her myself." Tara dug into her purse, looking for the matching phones she and Willow had, while Buffy looked around and then smirked.

While the witch was distracted the Slayer began to change. Her skin darkened and thickened as she grew a good two feet. Already muscular arms swelled to near tree trunk proportions, the bare fingers and toes ending in sharp black talons, and beneath her furrowed brow burned two slitted golden eyes.

Tara looked up as it growled. "Goddess!"

"We have studied you and your companions witch. You are the most trusting and the least powerful, besides the boy, thus you will be the first to fall!" The demon raised one huge fist.

Tara had just a moment to think, and react. "Dissolvo!" At her gesture a bolt of light struck the surprised demon in the chest, knocking it back without doing any real damage, while she turned and ran as fast as she could. Out in the corridor she dodged an oncoming crowd of people and did her best to blend in.

In time she slipped away and stopped, leaning against the wall to catch her breath. By then she was able to relax somewhat, knowing it was unlikely the demon would come out in the open like this to find her. Then she rounded a corner and literally ran into Willow, who caught her and smiled.

"Hey, baby. We've got to stop meeting like this."

Tara was trembling. "D-Demon." She pointed toward the room. "It attacked me."

"Oh Goddess." Willow paled. "Are you all right?"

"Fine. I-I don't understand why it's not following me though."

"Take it easy." Willow gently stroked her lover’s hair. "You’re safe now."

Tara took a deep breath. "I-I think we should go see Mr. Giles. He’ll want to know about this."

Giles cleaned his glasses as he listened to Tara’s close encounter. "A metamorphic entity, you say? We haven’t encountered many of them."

"What do you think it means?" Tara asked. "No demons for a week, and now this? And why did it come after me anyway? I’m no threat to anyone."

"That may be precisely the point. Why risk life and limb battling the Slayer when you can target one of her, and pardon me for saying this Tara, more vulnerable friends?"

"I guess." Tara sat down and sighed, then glanced over at Willow. The redhead had been unusually quiet since they got to the Magic Box. "Sweety? You look tense? What’s the matter?"

Before Willow could say anything, the bell over the door chimed. All eyes turned toward the front of the shop as a familiar voice rang out. "Giles, have you seen Tara? We were supposed to go see a…" Willow stopped in her tracks as she saw the other Willow sitting by Tara. "Goddess."

The blonde leaped to her feet, wide blue eyes going from Willow to Willow.

"It’s the metamorphic entity," said Giles.

Anya, standing by the cash register as she counted the money, made a strange face he couldn’t see because his back was turned. "That much is obvious."

Willow, the one who had just walked in, looked from Tara to her duplicate and back again. "Tara? Baby?"

"It must have followed us," said the other Willow, who stood up. "Demons are sneaky. Baby, don’t let her fool you. That witch doesn’t know anything about me."

Willow, by the door, frowned. "Hey!"

Giles shook his head. "Perhaps we should do a spell of some sort, to determine the true identity of the demon in question. One of them must be the real Willow."

"You want to cast a spell?" Anya asked. "Let the Willow…Willow‘s it. I’ve known a few shape-shifters in my time, and most of them can’t use any magic at all."

The Willow standing by the door nodded. "Fine by me."

"Don’t bother." The Willow standing near Tara transformed into the same demon who had attacked her earlier and growled. "Your friend’s smarter than she looks. For a change I think I’ll avoid all the clichés, like asking me questions only the real Willow would know, and just get with the killing. Starting with you!" Moving faster than it’s bulk would suggest it grabbed Tara and lifted her into the air.

Willow paled. "Tara!" Energy crackled around her hands. "Let go of her!" As she was preparing to unleash her power the demon turned Tara so she was between them. "No!" She dropped her hands and her concentration, and the magic fizzled away, realizing how close she had come to hurting her lover.

The demon snorted. "Weakling!" It threw Tara, sending her hurtling at Willow who tried desperately to catch her. They landed in a crumpled heap and did not rise again.

Giles came charging at the demon, brandishing a sword he had taken off the wall, while Anya crouched behind the counter and came up with a crossbow.

"More fools." The demon swatted away Gile’s weapon and then knocked the Watcher himself for a loop. Anya did manage to fire her crossbow, though the bolt sinking into the leathery flesh between the demon’s thick, bony shoulder blades only seemed to annoy it. "You stink of humanity, little girl." It’s surprisingly long, flexible arms allowed it to reach the bolt and pull it out. "Yet I also sense some latent demon hood. You must be the vengeance demon, or ex-vengeance demon I should say, who associates with the Slayer."

"So what if I am?"

"I am a Chimeran, Anyanka. Mortal weapons have no affect on me."

Anya blinked. "Chimeran?"

"That’s it. Remember the name well. You shall be the one to tell it to the Slayer, when you deliver the lifeless bodies of her friends to her."

"You got a message for me, butt-ugly?" Buffy was standing just inside the front door, hands on her hips. "Why don’t you give it to me yourself?"

The demon snarled. "Slayer! I was so hoping for this!"

"Me too. You guys have been laying low, recently. I don’t suppose I could convince you to let me in on your evil plot to destroy the world before I have to kick your ass?"

"Sorry. No can do."

Buffy shrugged her shoulders. "It was worth a shot."

"You're said to be a formidable warrior. I will take great pride in delivering your severed head to my employer, as proof that the assignment has been carried out."

"So, someone hired you?" Buffy asked. "What, are you some sort of demon bounty hunter? ‘cause let me tell you, Lorenzo Lamas was way hotter. Do you even have a motorcycle?"

"Enough with the inane chatter!" The demon charged.

Buffy stood there; watching, waiting, until the last possible second, then she spun around and kicked the demon in the small of the back. As it stumbled she leaped up and wrapped her arms around its thick neck, in an effort to either choke it down or possibly break its neck. "Say good night, big boy!"

The demon's long reach allowed it to grab the Slayer's collar, then it pulled her off it and tossed her across the room. She slammed into the far wall and slid to the ground, stunned. "Good night!" It chuckled. Then it picked up a table. "You disappoint me, Slayer. I expected more of you and your allies." Try as it might, the demon suddenly found itself unable to throw the table as it had intended. "What is this?"

"Me." Willow was, rather unsteadily, on her feet again, and she had one of her hands pointed at the demon. "You do remember me don't you? One of the Slayer's disappointing allies?" Tara, though conscious, was still laying on the ground. Her hands and lips were moving, though no sound came out of her mouth.

The demon snarled. "Insolent witch! You dare you use your power on me?" It turned, its sheer strength breaking the tentative hold Willow had on its arm. Her own arm fell limply to her side, dizzy and in pain. "I had considered letting you and the others live, witch. My contract is just against the Slayer."

"Liar!" Willow hissed. "You were going to kill Tara!"

"Your mate? Yes, that is true. But she was merely to be my calling card. Not an actual target."

The redhead began to tremble, her hands clenching into white-knuckled fists. "Shut up!"

"What's wrong? Getting angry? That's not good for your magic, witch. You must know that when you allow your anger to get the better of you it ruins your concentration."

"You're right," Willow said through clenched teeth. "But who said I was trying?"

The demon's eyes widened, and it looked down at Tara just as she raised her hands. Shimmering bolts of energy flung it across the room. It crashed into the counter. The impact also knocked the cash register off, which nearly crushing Anya in the process. She screamed.

"The money!"

Unfortunately, the demon didn't stay down for long. It scrambled back to its feet and growled. Tara and Willow both looked shocked. "I must admit, that was an impressive manuever. I thought you the weaker of the two, witch. Perhaps I underestimated you after all."

"I get that alot," said Tara. Willow helped her back to her feet.

Now Buffy reappeared on the scene. The Slayer didn't even look shaken. "Okay, that hurt."

"You too?" The demon glared from Buffy, to Willow and Tara, then back again. "I was not prepared for a face to face confrontation today. Especially not with three of you."

"Deal with it," said the Slayer. "Cause you're not getting out of here."

"Oh?" The demon's body seemed to collapse in on itself as it transformed into a bat in the blink of an eye. With a shrill squeak it took off toward the open front door.

Willow frowned. "No way!" She pointed. "Incindere!" A wall of flame filled the doorway, blocking the bat's exit and forcing it to turn in mid-air, and land right in the Slayer's clutches.

Buffy smirked. "Hey, wanna see me do an Ozzy?"

The bat transformed back into its demon form and punched Buffy – or tried to. But the Slayer caught its wrist in a reverse and brought its arm up behind its back, where something cracked. It roared. "See, here's the deal. I don't mind you trying to kill me. It comes with the job. But I draw the line on you freaks messing with my friends. So I am only going to ask you this one more time. Who hired you?"

"Go to hell!"

"Been there," said Buffy. "Done that." It pulled away from her and attempted to lunge at Willow and Tara, so she drove the heel of her boot into the small of its back. As it stumbled she grabbed it by the head and broke its neck, then tossed its still twitching body away from her friends. "You guys okay?"

Willow nodded. "A little...okay, a lot, stiff. Some general achiness. But other than that, peachy."

Tara shrugged her shoulders and winced. "Nothing a nice long, hot bath won't cure."

"If that's what my baby wants, that's what my maybe gets," said the redhead. "You were incredible. That spell you did, such control." She kissed Tara. "I love you so much."

"I love you too. You should keep doing that. My lips are the only things that don't hurt."

As the witches embraced Buffy went to check on Giles, who had just woken up. "Anya?" She glanced toward the counter. "You still with us?"

The ex-demon rose. She was trembling. "He broke...the cash register! I...can't get...to the money!"

"Simmer down," said Giles. "We can get a new one. Would you mind?" Buffy helped him to his feet. "Yes, thank you. In the meantime, I think we should attempt to discern the identity of this creature's employer."

"How?" Willow asked. "It's dead."

"We must began an examination at once," Giles replied.

Buffy sighed. "I feel a research party coming on. Anya, call Xander. I'm going for snacks."

When Buffy and Xander got back to the Magic Box, with popcorn, pizza and sodas, they found Giles pacing and Tara rubbing Willow’s shoulders. Anya, with her coat on and her purse slung over her shoulder, was standing by the door and grabbed his arm as they came in.

"Xander. We’re leaving."

"An? What? Where are we going?"

"Away. I don’t care. LA. Jamaica. The moon, if possible."

"Why?"

"We have to get out of Sunnydale," Anya replied. "Right now."

Buffy frowned. "Giles? What is going on?"

"The demon. We haven’t been able to determine who sent it, but we do know who it works for."

"Okay. That’s a start. Who?"

Giles looked her right in the eye. "The Order of Taraka."

The Slayer paled. "Oh."

"I know the Tarakan assassins," said Anya. "I worked with a few of them about six hundred years ago, and I will never forget how ruthless and bloodthirsty they can be. They even impressed D’Hoffryn with their never say die, rip apart everybody in their way until they win attitudes."

"Why would anyone send these losers after Buffy again?" Xander asked. "We kicked their collectives asses the last time. Cordy and I personally took out bug man."

Giles nodded. "Yes, we were all very fortunate. The Order of Taraka does not normally quit. I’ve never been to understand why they stopped hunting Buffy in the first place."

"So maybe nobody really sent them this time," the Slayer suggested. "Maybe they’re still out to finish the job they started a couple of years ago."

"I considered that actually. But the Chimeran specifically mentioned his employer, and I didn’t get the feeling he was referring to the Order. I’m fairly certain someone hired them. Which would seem to imply that further, and likely more fearsome, attacks are inevitable."

Buffy sighed. "Great. Just great. Like I really needed this in my life right now."

"What about Dawnie?" Willow asked. "Maybe we should gather everybody together at the house, so they can’t send any more of the shapeshifters after us."

"I would imagine Dawn is safer at Janice’s than she would be with us." said Giles. "The Order would more than likely be focused on Buffy, you and Tara, and perhaps Xander and I. Spike too I’d wager. If they’re even aware of Dawn I doubt they are aware of her current location."

"Still, we should call her and warn her," said Tara. "Just in case."

Giles nodded. "Indeed. As for shapeshifters, I don’t anticipate seeing any more of them. The Order doesn’t like to waste time. They would never send more than any one particular type of assassin, even if multiple agents are on the same assignment. After all, if one Chimeran was uncovered and destroyed the likelihood of another being any more successful is too slim a margin to make it worthwhile."

"I should call Dawn." Buffy headed toward the phone and warned her sister to keep a low profile; to stay in the house and not invite in any strangers. Then she returned to her friends. "Now, here’s the plan. Xander, I need you and Giles to go see Spike. Fill him in on what’s going on and have him check in with his contacts. One of them is bound to know something about something."

Giles nodded. "Very well."

"What are you going to be doing while we’re crypt-diving?" Xander asked.

"I have some contacts of my own," Buffy replied. "And I could use a little back-up. Just in case."

When the Slayer entered Willy's a short time later, with Willow and Tara right behind her, she was surprised to discover the bar was almost empty. Besides Willy himself, who was behind the counter cleaning a glass, the only customers seemed to be a handful of less than reputable-looking humans, and one leathery-skinned demon with a missing eye, who was nursing a bubbling, frothy drink of some kind.

Willy walked to the end of the counter. "Hey, Slayer. Long time no see." He smiled at Willow and Tara. "I'll say this much. You got better looking back up than usual."

"Don't be rude, Willy. I'm in a punching mood."

"Sah-ree, Slayer."

Buffy turned to face the bar. "So what's up? Is there a convention in town I don't know about? I've never seen the place this dead before."

"Tell me about it. There's something big brewing, and it's really bad for business."

"Does this have anything to do with Order of Taraka?"

Willy shook his head. "Doubt it. Though they are in town I..." He blinked. "Oh. I get it. That's why they're here in Sunny-D, and why you're in my place. Somebody sicced the Order on you?"

"That's right. And I'm betting it's this big brewing evil. Any idea who or where it is?"

"Nothing but rumors and innuendo."

Buffy shrugged her shoulders. "I'll take what I can get."

Normally, Willy would have kept his voice down, and insist the Slayer punch him so he could stay in good with his nonhuman customers. But since there was only one right now, and he was both half blind and totally deaf, that really wasn't an issue. "Okay. Word on the street is someone or something has taken over that old castle. The one your buddy Dracula used while he was here? 'fraid that's all I know."

"What about the Order of Taraka?" Buffy asked. "Are they hiding out there too?"

"Could be. They're real secretive types who like to keep to themselves. Far as I know, they never associate with anyone outside the Order. But maybe this time is different."

Buffy nodded. "Okay. Thanks. Hey, do you still want me to..."

"No!" Willy smiled nervously. "It's all good, Slayer."

"Suit yourself." Buffy nodded to Willow and Tara and they left the bar.

Willy watched them go, then glanced over his shoulder. "See? I told you they'd show, sooner or later."

"Indeed." A figure behind him stepped back into the shadows and was gone.

Not long after they left Willy's, Buffy got a funny look on her face and stopped in her tracks.

"What is it?" Willow asked. Whenever the Slayer was nervous, so was she.

"Maybe it's nothing. I thought I heard...look out!" Buffy spun around and reached toward Tara, catching an arrow scant inches from the other blonde's face. "Guess I wasn't imagining things."

Tara paled. "Goddess."

"Quicky, get behind me," said Willow. Once Tara had done so the redhead held her hands up, fingers interlaced, and gritted her teeth. "Thicken!" A shimmering wall of energy rose to protect them.

Satisfied they were safe, for the moment at least, Buffy started a search for the attacker. Another arrow flew at her, but she caught it as well. That allowed her to follow it back to its source however, and she could see a figure crouched in the shadows of a nearby alley. "I see you!"

The dark-haired man in black leather stepped out into the open. He had a shortbow in his hands and a quiver full of arrows on his back. "You're faster than I thought, Slayer."

"And you're dumber than I expected," said Buffy. "Bow and arrows? You attack me with a bow and arrows? Man, the Tarakans must be getting pretty desperate."

"He's one of the assassins?" Tara asked. "But he's..."

"Human?" said Willow. "Yeah, not all of the Tarakans are demons."

"They're not just ordinary arrows," the assassin replied. "I came specially prepared for a freak like you."

Buffy looked at the arrows. "Oh, I get it. Poison huh? That's cute." She twirled one in each hand. "Hey, you want these back? They're probably pretty expensive." She threw one of the arrows, which shot through the air nearly as fast as it had coming from the bow in the first place.

But the assassin leaped out of the way and rolled back to his feet. "You'll have to do better than that Slayer." He took something from his belt – a small device with a button on it. "I did." He pushed the button.

Buffy's eyes widened as a light near the base of the oversized arrow-head started to blink. She threw it one way and moved in the other, just as it exploded. The impact lifted the Slayer off her feet and sent her face-first into a wall, where she slid to the ground and moaned, barely conscious.

Flames washed over Willow's barrier spell as well. She wasn't sure she would be able to maintain it, until Tara's hands wrapped around her own, and she felt their magic merge. The power was more than enough to protect them until the fire died down, at which point the redhead stood up.

"Leave her alone!" She dropped her hands and the barrier dissolved. "What kind of a man are you?"

"One who gets paid to win," the assassin replied. "I'm not here for you, witch! Stay out of my way and there's no reason for me to hurt either one of you."

Tara shook her head. "That's not going to happen. We won't let you hurt our friend."

"Do you honestly think you can stop me?" He drew another arrow and drew back the bow. "I can kill you both in the blink of an eye. What good is your magic now?"

"I'll show you." Willow raised her hand. "Incendere!"

The oddly-shaped head of the arrow he was holding instantly became white hot. His eyes widened. "No!" It blew up just like the last one, only this time the man was consumed. He screamed.

Tara was horrified. "Willow! He was a human being!"

"Give me a little credit, baby. I haven't completely lost it." Willow smiled as the flames died down. "Look." The assassin was still there, alive and unharmed. A shimmering aura of energy protected him from the flames. "I don't kill people, Tara. As much as some of them might deserve it."

The blonde nodded. "I-I'm sorry, sweety."

"It's okay. I imagine that must have looked pretty bad. Guess I should've warned you."

The assassin opened his eyes and gasped, as if just realizing he was still alive. "You're not going to get anything out of me, witch! Tarakans do not get caught. Ever!" He broke one of his own fingers, almost casually, and an odd look of contentment crossed his suddenly paling face. Then his eyes rolled back in his head and he collapsed, no longer moving or breathing either.

Tara gasped. "Goddess."

"That's one serious no-capture policy," said Willow. She looked around, and saw the Slayer starting to stir. "We have to check on Buffy. Come on!"

The Slayer was, not surprisingly, all right, although a bit shaken up. By the time they got back to the Magic Box she wasn't even dizzy anymore. Her hair and clothes were a mess, however.

"Good Lord, Buffy." Giles put his glasses back on. "Are you all right?"

"Had a run-in with another one of the Tarakan's," the Slayer replied. "He's not talking though."

Xander, who was standing behind the counter with Anya, nodded. "I know the feeling. Spike said all his contacts have dried up. He doesn't have any more clue what's going on than we do."

"Where is he?" Buffy asked. "We may need his help."

"On his way, via the sewers," Giles replied. "You found something?"

"Willy said Dracula's castle has some new tenants. I'm betting it's the Tarakan's."

Anya shook her head. "I doubt it."

"Why?"

"The Order of Taraka is too smart for that. Even if there were more than a single assassin in town, they wouldn't run the risk of having all their operatives caught together in one place."

"I'm afraid she's right," said Giles. "Still, if there is someone in that castle, we should investigate. Clearly, there is more going on here than just the Order of Taraka."

Buffy crossed her arms. "I know that face. You have Watcher-Know-It-All face. What'd you find?"

"There was a marked decline in demonic activity prior to our awareness of the presence of the Order of Taraka. As there is no apparent correlation between these two subjects, it seems reasonable to conclude they are, in fact, mutually exclusive. Something else must thus be responsible for the former."

Buffy stared blankly in the general direction of his mouth. They could practically hear her mental gears whir as they tried repeatedly to decipher what he had just said, and failed. Finally she gave an exasperated sigh and turned to Willow, her eyebrows arching expectantly.

The redhead shrugged her shoulders. "Something other than the Tarakans has made the demons in town stop the usual mayhem, and he thinks we should figure out what."

"Exactly," said Giles. He had grown accustomed to such translations, and had come to rely on Willow and Tara, and sometimes even Anya, to explain it to Xander and Buffy.

"Okay. Cool." Buffy rubbed her hands together. "We check out the castle. Weapons all around."

"I'm not certain a full-on assault it warranted, Buffy. Perhaps a more stealthy approach is in order."

"You want stealth? I can do stealth. Xander, break out my ninja gear."

Xander blinked. "Ninja gear? As in, skin-tight black leather and...oww!" He grabbed his arm where Anya slapped him. "What was that for? I was just kidding!"

"No you weren't. You were totally just imagining the Slayer in black leather. I can see it in your eyes."

Willow's cheeks reddened. Then her whole face blushed when she realized Tara was staring at her. "What? Hey, don't give me that look. I was not either."

"Uh huh." Tara and Anya locked eyes and nodded.

Giles took off his glasses and massaged his temples. "Do you think it's within the realm of possibility for us to have at least one conversation that does not dissolve into childish sexual innuendoes?"

"God, I hope not." Spike came in from the back room, his coat sweeping out cape-like behind him. "It's the only thing that keeps you lot even remotely interesting."

"Spike, good." Buffy looked around. "Here's the plan. Giles. You stay here and keep researching. If this is going to turn out to be another apocalypse or something I'd like to know about it beforehand." He nodded. "Xander, you and Anya stake out Janice's. I don't want to freak Dawn out or ruin her weekend, but if there's even a chance some of those Taraka goons might come after her I want to make sure she's safe."

Xander nodded. "Will do."

Anya sighed. "Fine."

"Spike and I will scout the castle. We'll figure out who's there, and how hard they'll be to take down."

"Buffy, what about us?" Willow asked.

"I need you and Tara to do a spell for me. There's got to be somebody in this town who has a better idea of what the hell is going on than we do right now. We need answers, like pronto." Buffy reached for her jacket. "I've got a bad feeling this is all going to come crashing down on our heads any minute now."

In an abandoned warehouse on the Sunnydale docks a jagged tear appeared in the very fabric of space, heralding the opening of a crackling blue portal of energy.

Out of it a pair of time-lost figures emerged, dazed and confused.

Xena looked around. "Where in Tartarus are we?"

"Not just where," said Gabrielle. "Don't forget, Ares sent us out of time. The question is also when are we?" She raised her head they heard a plane pass overhead. "By the gods. What was that?"

"Maybe a dragon of some kind?" Xena's eyes narrowed. "The air smells strange. Dirty."

"I don't like this, Xena. Weren't we supposed to end up wherever Dahak was? So where is he?"

The warrior princess shook her head. "Ares said it was all random. We might well be in the same time, and even on the same world, but for all we know Dahak is on the other side of the continent."

"So what now?" Gabrielle asked.

"We do what we came here to do," Xena replied. "Find him, and kill him."

"Can we? Dahak's pretty much a god now. There's no Hind's Blood dagger waiting around for us to find, and you don't even have your chakram anymore. How are we supposed to stop Dahak and kill him, even presuming we can get to him in the first place?"

Xena shook her head. "I don't know. But don't worry. We'll come up with something."

Back at the Summers' house, Willow poured the last component of the spell they were casting into small metal bowl while Tara lit the candles. It was something like a locator spell, only they did not know exactly who or what they searching for. Both witches had been stumped until Tara came up with an idea.

"Let's scry for a powerful entity. Maybe someone like Glory is leading the demons. That could explain why the daily attacks we usually see have but dried up."

Willow nodded. "It's worth a shot."

Just to be on the safe side they had expanded the parameters of their spell to include a search for strong magic, in case another witch or someone like Ethan Rayne was involved.

"Ready?" Tara asked. She held her hands out and Willow took them. They both closed their eyes.

Under the metal bowl, which was sitting atop a brass tripod, was a map of Sunnydale. When the spell caused its contents to bubble over the drops were supposed to land on anything that fit their criteria. They expected a lot of liquid would probably land in and around the general area where the old high school had been, since it was sitting on top of the Hellmouth. They were more interested in the rest.

A big spot of colored liquid did indeed point out the Hellmouth, so they ignored it. Another landed on what the witches realized was the Magic Box; no surprise since some of the artifacts they had gathered from evil over the years had powers of their own. A spot landing in the area of the castle, second in size only to the Hellmouth, told them Buffy and Spike were on to something after all. But neither of them knew quite what to make of the rapidly fading stain which had landed in the vicinity of the docks.

"I think someone just cast a big-time spell," said Willow. "We should check it out."

"Do we call Buffy?" Tara asked.

Willow shook her head. "She and Spike are busy. We'll have to take care of this one on our own."

Giles had, reluctantly, lent them his car, since Xander had his own and the Watcher wasn't planning to leave the Magic Box for a while. Willow tried promising she would be extra-careful but still had to show him her spotless driving record in the DMV files before he would agree . They drove to the docks, Tara bringing along the map so they could pinpoint the exact location of the magic their spell had detected.

"An abandoned warehouse?" Willow asked. "That's so cliche."

Both witches jumped, tense and ready for danger, as something struck the warehouse door from the inside. The door was solid metal, but it was also old and rusted, and they could see the lock straining. Another couple of hits like that and it would give. Something hit it again.

"Sounds big," said Tara. "And strong. Maybe we should go find Buffy."

Willow frowned. "Too late."

Another blow and the lock broke, the heavy door creaking open. Two figures walked out. Though the light from the setting sun was dim, Willow and Tara could clearly see two women.

One of them was tall, muscular but not overly so, wth silky black hair. She carried herself with strength and confidence, and her eyes darted from side to side in search of potential danger. She was wearing brown leather armor and had a sword strapped to her back.

The other woman was shorter but no less muscular, with short-cropped blonde hair. Her bearing was different, cautious yet oddly relaxed, as if she was ready for an attack and yet not actually expecting one. She wore a suit of red leather armor, and was brandishing sais.

Both of the women were quite attractive in their own right, but Willow found herself particularly drawn to the smaller of the two. She was quite possibly the second most beautiful woman the redhead had ever seen; second of course only to the woman standing next to her.

"Are they d-demons?" Tara asked.

Willow shook her head. "I don’t think so. But that might be Tarakans. We should…" She gasped as the darker haired woman turned and saw them. "Uh oh."

Nodding to her companion, the warrior woman drew her sword and advanced. The blonde stared for a moment, then drew her sais and followed closed behind.

"Maybe we should, umm…" Willow took Tara’s arm and maneuvered them back toward the car.

The dark-haired woman pointed her sword and said something neither witch could understand. It was obviously a language though, and they could tell by the expression on her face that she was annoyed when she had to repeat herself, only to get the same blank looks in return. She said something to her companion, who stepped forward and tried to say what sounded like the same sort of words.

"At least they’re trying to communicate," said Tara. " I just wish I knew what they were saying."

"I know a spell," Willow offered. "It’s called Miriam’s Translation. We should be able to understand them, if you think it’d be worth trying?"

The warrior woman’s eyes narrowed, and she gestured more emphatically with her sword. It was quite obvious she was becoming agitated by the lack of communication.

Tara nodded. "Do it. I don’t think her friend’s going to be able to hold her off much longer."

Willow closed her eyes and quickly recited the spell under her breath while making the requisite gestures in the air. Shimmering pinpoints of light flowed from her fingertips and washed over the two women, which caused the taller to react by raising her weapon and shouting incomprehensibly. The blonde grabbed at her companion’s arm and began to make frantic sounds.

"…down! They obviously don’t understand us!"

Tara cleared her throat. "Actually, we do. Umm, now. Can you understand us?"

After a few tense moments the other blonde lowered her weapons, but her body language indicated she was still on-guard. "Yes. Forgive my rudeness, but what did your friend just do?"

"Magic," said Willow. "I cast a spell so we’d all be able to understand one another."

"So you’re a sorceress?"

"More or less. We both are."

Tara frowned. "I think introduct