A thin haze of smoke drifted across the field. The earth was soaked in blood. Bodies lay strewn across the damp grass, impaled on standing pikes, or sprawled across wreckage. Smoldering ashes of other bodies lay in small piles, blowing away in the stagnant breeze. The slaughterhouse stench of war covered everything.

In the pale light of the setting moon, two small groups of survivors stared across the carnage at one another.

On one side, surrounded by a cluster of no more than two dozen followers, was a woman, tall, lean and fierce, dressed in dark leather, a blood soaked sword still grasped in her weary hand.

Her companions were no less exhausted, many of them sporting wounds crudely bandaged.

She looked out across the field, all that remained of her mighty army, nearly four thousand men, reduced to a mere twenty.

“Xena,” one of the men said wearily. “We cannot win this fight!”

Xena looked up at the failing night and then scanned the carnage across the field. In the distance, she could see the remains of her opponents’ forces.

Nearly a hundred figures stood watching them with feral intensity.

They began stalking across the field, various edged weapons in their claw like hands. Their eyes shone an inhuman red.

Bacchi, the blood drinkers that haunted the nightmares of any sane living being.

“I know,” Xena said. “Get out of here. Go to Medoa and raise the reserves!” She held one hand up signaling for the rest of her men to disperse. Then she began walking through the carnage towards the enemy.

The leader of the Bacchi saw this and held his arms out, halting the remainder of his forces. Then he stalked forward to meet her.

Xena stared at her opposition. His eyes glowed a beastly crimson. He was a tall man with long flowing dark hair and short moustache and beard. His features were angular and would have been quite attractive if it were not for the deathly pale tone of his flesh or the bloody glow of his eyes. His mouth curled into an animalistic snarl and she saw the fangs.

“You have fought well, Xena,” he said in a growl. His voice was rich and smoothly accented. “It seems a pity to destroy you.”

Xena matched the Bacchi’s fiery stare with an icy one of her own.

“My men are retreating as we speak,” she said huskily. “You can kill me, if you like, but the rest of my men will be safe. They’ll be able to recruit more troops and return here to finish you in a matter of a few weeks.” She looked up at the paling sky.

“I don’t think even you could track them all down and be in your holes by daybreak.”

The Bacchi General looked up at the sky, and for the first time, Xena actually perceived anxiety from the creature. It looked back at her and gave her a smile that was more hunger than appreciation.

“Very good,” he growled. “You know us well.”

“I make it a point to know my enemies,” Xena countered.

“As do I,” the creature growled. “My master knew that you would fight to the last man, and that you would carry the battle long into our night. I expected no less of Ares personal protege”

He looked back at his followers. They leered at her hungrily, thirsting for more blood to drink.

He waived his hand in a dismissive gesture, and they departed, vanishing silently into the haze.

Then the Bacchi turned back to Xena.

“You have been a worthy opponent,” He said. “To kill you now, here, would almost be an insult to my honor. If only we had met upon the field?”

“I don’t have a problem with a fight,” Xena said, her sword arm twitching with a combination of anxious energy and weariness.

“I would hardly consider this fair,” The Bacchi replied “And I do not butcher the defenseless.”

Xena smiled coldly, almost daring him to attack. Still, in the back of her mind, she found his code of honor surprising.

The Bacchi’s fangs receded and his eyes dulled down to a startling pale green hue. Now, without the fangs and eyes, he looked almost human, and much more attractive. He smiled a smile that would freeze the air and stepped two paces back from her. Then he raised his sword in salute and turned to go.

“Do I get the pleasure of a name,” Xena said with a cold smile. “So I know what to put on your grave stone?”

The Bacchi turned back and smiled again. There was something strongly seductive in the chill of that smile.

“Nickoli Vampyra,” he said. “Till we meet again, Warrior Princess.” Then he vanished into the smoke with a swirl of dark fabric. His sinister laugh seemed to float on the air all about her.

Xena sat up in her sleeping roll, her breath coming in gasps. She was covered in a fine layer of perspiration. The cool evening air chilled the sweat on her flesh, and the woods filled the air with their moist, heavy musk. Her eyes scanned the woods around their camp, seeing no threat, yet her instincts told her that they were not alone.

She glanced over at Gabrielle. The young bard lay wrapped in her blanket, deep in sleep. She had a soft, almost childlike expression of total peace on her face. A soft, contented sound came from her as she rolled over and shifted to a more comfortable position, and then, with a sigh, she sank back down into her own deep and obviously more pleasant dreams.

Slowly, Xena’s heart quieted, and her breathing slowed back to something more normal. She suppressed another shiver as the night breeze drifted over her damp flesh.

Everything was silence, mist, and shadow. In her mind, she thought it was much like that fateful day, all those years ago, when she was a young warlord, just getting started in her misguided career.

Shortly after her nearly failed defense of her home village of Amphipolis, Xena had been forced to leave her home and strike out on her own. She had managed, through sheer force of will and ambition to assemble an army and cut a bloody swath across the country, usurping control over various lands, and levying tribute to feed her never ending move towards total domination.

It was during one such expedition that she had unknowingly crossed into the lands of Bacchus and his followers. After a few small victories, the lesser god had unleashed his most powerful force, and army of ravenous blood drinkers, and the Bacchi War had begun.

Many of her men had been killed – slaughtered really – in the initial stages of that war. More horrible was that even more of her men had been infected and turned against her, reduced to the equivalent of cannon fodder for the Bacchi forces. She had battled unendingly, sometimes being forced to kill dozens of her own men when they would turn in the heat of battle and attack their comrades. The memories of that time were so vivid that she could almost smell the charnal stench of blood mingled with the earth. She blinked this renewed flair of anxiety away and forced the old memories back into that small place in her mind, reserved for such terrors.

She put another couple of branches on their little fire and let the heat drive away the chill. Her mind tried to understand the dream. Her battle against Nickoli Vampyra had been almost fifteen years prior. That this memory should suddenly surface after all that time made no sense.

Her instincts still screamed that she was being observed. Slowly, she drew out her sword and stepped out into the shadows of the trees, alert for any sign of attack.

As she moved deeper into the shadows, her anxious mind began creating potential targets in the gnarled silhouettes of the trees.

They seemed to reach out over her, like angry old men with thick branches and long sharp fingers. The rising fear within her was something she was not accustomed to.

“Something’s feeding this,” her mind rationalized with clinical detachment.

A deeper shadow darted between two trees on the periphery of her vision. Her eyes locked on the place and she moved forward quickly, the adrenaline blocking the unnatural terror that was welling up within her.

She found herself in a small circular clearing amidst a cluster of massive oaks. The trunks stretched up like pillars, while the branches seemed to be hands, reaching up towards the heavens.

Faces within the shapes of the trees glared at her with bulging eyes.

Another hint of motion and she spun, weapon out.

“Who’s there?” she challenged.

She turned slowly scanning the shadows, her eyes wide The feeling of terror was growing uncontrollably within her.

Then, as if they simply materialized from the clawing mists, she saw shadowy shapes standing motionless between several trees.

Inhuman eyes glowed red in the darkness, locking on her with demonic intensity.

There were six of them surrounding her, standing still as statues. As the moon emerged from the clouds, the pale light illuminated the colorless flesh on their faces. They stood, staring hungrily at her, their fangs barely hidden behind their lips.

“You remember us?” A voice whispered. It seemed to rise up from the earth all around her.

As if they were each of the same mind, they all began stepping forward towards her. Their movements were slow, deliberate and only added to the unnatural terror now threatening to overwhelm her.

They stopped several paces from her, their limbs still concealed within the folds of their long cloaks, their eyes blazing, skin shining pale in the moonlight.

Suddenly, the one in front of her bared his fangs. With a chorus of hisses, like a kettle boiling over, they all charged.

Xena leapt, flipping over and landing off to the side of the melee.

“Gabrielle!” She shouted as the first of the attackers turned to lunge at her.

Gabrielle awoke groggily at the sound of her name. She gave a soft groan. She hated waking up in the morning.

Suddenly a pair of cold hands grasped her in a viselike grip. Her instincts screamed to full wakefulness and she struggled against her attacker. Sinister breath hissed in her ear and she felt as well as heard the protective blanket she had been wrapped in, shredding under the onslaught of inhuman claws. She jabbed her elbow back and connected with something. There was a grunt and the hands on her shoulders loosened slightly. She spun out of those icy fingers and scooped up her staff. Turning to face her opponent, she froze in horror.

The man would have been young at one time, and quite attractive, if it were not for the demonic red glow of his eyes or the fangs protruding from his upper gums. He snarled and lunged at her again.

Gabrielle sidestepped the attack, her staff whistling down on the outstretched back of the attacker. She felt the bone shattering impact in her fingers.

The creature slammed into the ground and then bounced back up to its feet.

Crouching low, it stared at her hungrily.

A single word screamed in Gabrielle’s mind. “Bacchi.”

“Well done, my pretty one,” the Bacchi snarled. In a move too fast for Gabrielle to see, the thing lunged again, ripping the staff from her fingers. She barely had time to see her weapon tumble away when a second blow sent her skidding across the clearing. The wind blasted from her lungs in a choked scream.

Before she could do anything like catch her breath or scramble back to her feet, the thing was upon her. Its body pressed on top of hers, icy hands pinning her wrists to the ground. They lay like grotesque lovers next to the fire. His eyes closed as if enraptured, and the creature inhaled deeply, as if relishing the fear Gabrielle felt. Then they opened again and fixed on hers.

“Now you are mine,” the Bacchi grinned. His mouth opened and the fangs began to descend.

Another shape slammed into her attacker from the side. She rolled over and looked into the nearby foliage. The bushes waved and there was the crashing of smaller branches mixed with the thrashing and snarling of two beasts locked in combat. Then there was silence.

From behind her, Gabrielle could hear the sounds of Xena also locked in mortal combat. Her best friend was also shouting her name.

Gabrielle was about to shout back when her staff fell to the ground at her side.

She looked up into the green eyes of a man in a dark cloak with long dark hair and pale skin.

“Um, hi,” Gabrielle said helplessly.

The man bent closer to her and grasped her by the neck and shoulder. His fingers were cold and unyielding, like soft stone. She could not even struggle as the man looked at her neck. He turned her head roughly to the right and then to the left.

“Did he bite you?” he asked urgently in a smooth crisp, accented baritone.

Gabrielle was too stunned to answer. The look of the man, the feel of his cold skin against hers, and his inhuman strength said that he was also a Bacchi.

“Did he bite you?” he asked again in a ferocious growl.

“No!” Gabrielle stammered.

The man let her go and moved towards the sound of Xena’s battle. He stopped and his eyes turned back to Gabrielle, still kneeling on the ground.

The eyes went from a clear green to an inhuman glowing crimson, and the fangs extended as he smiled at her.

“Run,” he said in a deep growl. “Get far away from here, if you value your soul!”

The growing terror in Gabrielle suddenly blossomed into full blown, unnatural panic. With a scream, she bolted into the trees, trying to put as much distance between her and the carnage as she could before she collapsed.

Xena heard Gabrielle’s scream, filled with unbridled terror. The sound renewed her fury and she slashed and hacked at her opponents, screaming in rage.

The six creatures lashed out at her with lightning speed. She was bleeding from several cuts, but none of the beasts had managed to latch onto her and begin to feed. In the back of her mind, she knew that it would only be a matter of time before she would be tired out enough for them to come at her en mass and finish her off.

She spun on instinct and managed to slice the head off a nearby creature as it came in for the kill. The head sailed off into the shadows and the body collapsed in a fountain of black blood. The remaining Bacchi seemed suddenly to realize their danger and began to attack more carefully, treating the warrior princess and her sword with renewed respect.

“Not completely immortal are you?” she hissed defiantly. “Come on! Who’s next?”

They had all clustered together, prepared to rush in as one. Xena saw this and instantly knew that she would not survive. She readied herself for the inevitable as the five remaining Bacchi charged, their eyes filled with red fire, their fangs bared and leering.

Gabrielle smashed through the dense underbrush as she fled the scene. Her heart was hammering in her chest. Her instincts were completely subsumed by an unnatural, blind fear that she could never remember experiencing before in her life. The curious, rational side of her mind was completely overwhelmed by the totality of the terror roiling within her. After a few minutes of blindly running away from the battle, something like calm realization slowly returned and she stopped. Her chest heaved as she caught her breath. She looked back the way she had come, and gasped in shock. In her flight of blind terror, she had forgotten something.

“Xena,” she said, and she turned and ran back towards the battle. The spell of fear now completely broken by the fear and concern she had for her best friend.

A second shadow hit the group of attacking Bacchi from one side and sent them all tumbling.

The instigator of the group tackle finished his roll and came up with two objects in his hands. He spun with deadly speed and impaled two of the Bacchi through the back. The objects entered the skin, puncturing the heart from behind and the two points emerged bathed in oily black. The two Bacchi staggered a couple of paces and fell to their knees.

Xena’s strange benefactor dropped low and spun, his clawed fingers slicing the two heads off in one swift, lethal move. The bodies fell limp to either side, blood pumping from the massive wounds.

Quickly the figure reached into its cloak and procured two more items. Xena saw that they were simple wooden stakes. He tossed one to her.

“Use this! Stab them through the heart!” he shouted in an inhuman roar and then he leapt into the grasp of the next Bacchi.

The two bodies fell with a thud as the stranger rolled to one side revealing the third Bacchi, lying motionless, the wooden stake protruding from its chest.

One of the remaining creatures fastened on the stranger from behind, its fangs extending as it prepared to bite. At the same moment, Xena saw the eyes of the stranger kindled like fire. With a serpentine hiss, it twisted violently and more quickly than any human could and threw his attacker against a nearby tree. The force of the blow snapped the spine of the Bacchi, and it fell to the ground in a heap.

Xena spun quickly back to her opponent, a young male, nearly Gabrielle’s age, with short blonde hair and lithe build. It charged at her, ducking under the sweep of her sword.

She followed the movement around, staying centered on her target. Her sword whistled in again, and the Bacchi stepped to the side. Xena stabbed up with the wooden stake, felt it enter the Bacchi’s flesh.

The creature froze in shock, its glowing eyes wide in surprise. Then it looked down at the weapon in its chest.

An expression both sad and pitiful crossed its features just as Xena’s sword separated the head from the body. It fell over with a splat as the liquid contents of the corpse drained into the earth.

Xena looked up to see her mysterious savior stepping over to the body of the last Bacchi, lying helplessly in the earth with its back broken. It struggled to rise, willing the damage to regenerate more quickly but there was nothing it could do. The beastly red eyes faded and it looked up at this new threat with a desperate pleading gaze.

The stranger, eyes ablaze with fire, knelt down at the fallen creatures side. Then in a move violently sudden, the stranger scooped up the wounded Bacchi and sank its teeth into the stricken creature’s throat.

Xena watched in horrified amazement as the one Bacchi fed off the other. A growl escaped the attacker’s throat, and the red glow of the victims eyes began to dim.

The glowing eyes of the conqueror locked on Xena as he fed. Only a soft sucking noise was heard.

The color of the flesh on the dying Bacchi began to fade, as if a shadow were coming to the surface of the flesh. It turned nearly black in the moonlight and began to crumble like ash.

Finally, the victor withdrew, and the remains of the vanquished fell away to dust.

Xena’s eyes were wide as she watched this other creature stand, staring at her with those penetrating ember eyes.

As she watched, the color in those eyes faded and was replaced with a more human hue, now a clear and pale green. The fangs receded and the face that stared at her was one from her nightmare of earlier.

The stranger cocked his head slightly to one side, as if appraising her and a smile crept across its face, framed by the thin whiskers of his goatee.

“Hello, Xena,” he said in a smooth accented voice. “It’s been a long time.”

Xena almost couldn’t believe what she was seeing.

“Nickoli Vampyra,” she gasped. Then she raised her weapon again, preparing for another battle.

Nickoli looked at her sword and then his smile broadened. He stepped forward a few paces, his hands out in a gesture of surrender.

“I am not here to resume our little confrontation of fifteen years ago,” he said easily. “Otherwise, I would have just attacked you when I was finished with that pour unfortunate.” He gestured to the remains of his last victim. “Or let my former colleagues, here, do the deed for me.”

He removed a handkerchief from his sleeve and wiped at the corners of his mouth, checking to be certain none of his enemy’s blood still lingered on is face. Then he replaced the handkerchief and clasped his hand behind his back.

Beneath his cloak, Xena now saw that Nickoli was richly dressed, with dark pants and shiny black boots. His tunic was a pale color, though it did not gleam as if it was actually white, and he wore a dark leather vest.

His long dark hair hung in waves over his shoulders, framing his handsome features, and the tone of his skin was much more healthy. He almost appeared to be a normal man.

Beneath his arms hung several more of the wooden stakes that he had used against the Bacchi now lying dead at their feet. About his neck hung a silver amulet in the shape of the crescent moon. It gleamed like a mirror in the pale light.

Xena kept her sword even with Nickoli’s chest.

“Why did you just help me?” she asked. Her eyes narrowed as she stared at him. “Since when do Bacchi kill other Bacchi?”

“Still as ravishing as ever,” Nickoli said, ignoring her question. “The years have been kind.” He gave a curt bow.

He seemed about to continue when a noise off to the side drew their attention.

Xena spun in anticipation of an attack only to see Gabrielle emerge, bruised and scratched in a myriad of places, but otherwise unharmed.

“Xena,” she gasped. “Are you alright? I got here as fast as I could," she stopped when she saw Nickoli staring at her with a mixture of wonder and amusement.

“You!” Gabrielle gasped.

Nickoli only bowed to her and smiled. “I would have expected you to be half way to Corinth by now,” he said, smiling. “My aura can be quite,” he paused and smiled coldly. “Intimidating at best.”

Instantly, the two of them felt that unnatural terror grow in their minds. Then just as quickly, it was gone.

Nickoli smiled, this time in appreciation.

“Strong willed as well,” he commented. Then he fixed his gaze again on Gabrielle. “Both of you, it would seem?”

Gabrielle fingered her staff uneasily as she stared at the man before her.

“You haven’t answered my question,” Xena said in a growl.

“It was two questions, actually,” Nickoli corrected her. “I shall answer your second question first, and that may also answer the first.”

He looked about them at the mutilated corpses littering the dark earth.

“These are not Bacchi, though once they were.” He explained. “And neither am I. These are some of the remnants of my army from fifteen years ago.” He knelt down before one decapitated body.

“This one was Adaris,” he said regretfully. “A good fighter as subordinates go, but not the brightest lamp in the home.” He smiled and rose. “These seven unfortunates, and the others, have spent the last fifteen years forming alliances and killing one another, as well as regular humans. They, as am I, are free from any constraints that Bacchus once had upon us.”

He began to pace slowly stepping over the bodies and checking them each carefully to make certain they were now completely dead.

“Perhaps it was the centuries of enslavement that finally broke some of them, but when we realized that we could no longer hear our master’s summons, many of us went quite mad. We scattered throughout the land. I have spent the last decade or so, seeking them out.”

“Trying to rebuild your army?” Xena asked knowingly.

Nickoli stopped and faced them, matching Xena’s icy stare.

“Trying to eliminate most of them, actually,” he replied. “While many of my former followers tend to be more civilized, some of them have truly become monsters in their own right. They are consumed with blood lust and kill anything they can sink their teeth into.”

He stepped over to another body, the third one he had brought down, and stared at it critically for a moment. Then he drew out a long knife, and with one sweep, he severed the head from the corpse.

Gabrielle jumped at the sight of the mutilation. She took a step back in horror, one hand reflexively covered her mouth, and she felt her stomach tighten in revulsion.

Nickoli wiped the blade clean with the corner of the corpses coat and slid the weapon back into place.

“Unpleasant, I know,” Nickoli said in sympathy. “But also necessary. In the morning, the sunlight will burn them to ash, and they will be forever gone.”

“So,” Xena said. “You’ve taken it upon yourself to destroy any others like you. Why?”

“Because they are not like me, Xena” Nickoli replied. “The ones I pursue, no longer have any respect for life. They kill for the sake of killing, or for the sport, only to gorge themselves on the blood of their victims. They are animals. Add to this, the fact that they have begun poaching humans on my lands, and you can now begin to understand why I have done what I have done.”

“Oh yes,” Xena gave him a mocking smile. “One thing I remember about you was your abundant respect for life. Since when did you have a change of heart?”

“If I had not had it, then you would be dead now!” Nickoli short back angrily. “I would have slaughtered you on that battlefield, simply because I could!”

He stepped up close enough for the point of her sword to touch his chest.

“My respect for life and my respect for you are the reasons why you stand before me now!” he hissed. “And my master was not pleased that I had been as chivalrous as I had.” His stern expression grew cold. “I was locked in a pit for a decade, living off the blood of rodents and worms just to survive, all because I showed you mercy!” He spat.

Xena’s eyes stayed locked on Nickoli’s, and for a moment, his green eyes began to glow a dull red.

“Um, excuse me, Xena?” Gabrielle said quietly from the side. “Whatever happened between you two in the past, he did save my life tonight?”

Nickoli’s eyes faded back to their normal green, a smile touched his lips and a single eyebrow rose in expectation.

“Yeah,” Xena said quietly. “And he saved mine as well.”

Nickoli took a step back, and clasped his hands behind his back again.

“Life for a life?” he asked. “Favor for a favor?”

“Xena,” Gabrielle offered. “If he wanted to, he could have killed us both.”

Xena looked deeply into Nickoli’s eyes and finally lowered her weapon.

“You still haven’t answered the part about helping us?” she asked.

Nickoli smiled. “Because, Xena. I need your help in return, and you cannot assist me if you are dead, can you?”

“My help?” Xena looked down at Gabrielle. “With what?”

“It’s quite simple, really.” Nickoli answered. “I need you to help me die.”

Proposals and Propositions

Gabrielle stared at Nickoli in surprise. She and Xena exchanged identical looks and then looked back at the man.

“Let me get this straight,” Gabrielle finally said. “You want Xena to kill you?”

Nickoli smiled genuinely. “Precisely.”

“I can do that,” Xena hissed, and she stabbed Nickoli through the chest in one lightning move.

Nickoli gave a grunt in surprise and looked down at the sword protruding from his chest. He looked back up at Xena, his eyes completely devoid of any pain.

Xena stared back, hoping to watch the unnatural light begin to fade in those eyes. Instead, Nickoli only smiled coldly.

One hand wrapped around Xena’s fingers and he pushed her inexorably back until the point of the weapon was removed from his chest.

“Would you care to try decapitation next?” he asked pleasantly. “Or may we move past these petty displays?”

Xena looked down at the rip in Nickoli’s clothing, the only visible damage.

“You cannot kill me, Xena,” Nickoli continued. “At least, not yet.”

Xena took a step back, then her sword flashed around again as she attempted to decapitate the Bacchi.

“Xena!” Gabrielle cried out in protest.

There was a sharp metallic clang as Xena’s sword crashed against Nickoli’s palm. The blade refused to bite through the flesh.

“Really, Xena,” Nickoli said in the same tone. “You are beginning to bore me.”

Gabrielle noted an iciness beneath the voice. Nickoli was attempting to keep his calm, but his patience was quickly fading.

“Xena,” she cried. “Stop this!”

“Sure,” Xena replied, but the savage grin and wild look in her eyes said otherwise. Nickoli stepped back calmly, his eyes beginning to glow with the blood red of anger.

Xena charged in and swung, sending the tip of the blade across Nickoli’s belly. The move would have disemboweled a normal man, but in this case, it was as if the action began and then reversed itself. The body opened and the guts within began to spill out, then they simply went back into their proper place and the wound closed.

That was enough for Nickoli. With a bellow of rage he darted in, simply swatting her sword away and taking Xena by the throat in a move so brutally fast, that Gabrielle thought Xena’s neck had been broken.

The two flew through the air until Xena felt the crushing impact of a tree trunk in her spine. The wind blasted from her lungs and her eyes bulged in surprise.

The two of them hovered high above the ground. Xena glanced down between her toes and saw Gabrielle standing at the base of the tree, her eyes wide in horror.

“If you’ve quite finished!” Nickoli roared. “I do not have time for your childishness! If you have learned nothing of discipline in the last fifteen years, then you are useless to me!”

He released her throat and let her fall.

Xena caught the tree trunk with one foot and tried to change the fall into a controlled landing. It didn’t work.

She saw the ground rush up to meet her and knew the impact would snap her neck. She was dead.

She jerked to a stop, mere inches from the ground.

Looking back up, she saw Nickoli, holding her by one ankle, his eyes ablaze.

“I don’t require both of you,” he growled. “You are both alive as a courtesy!”

He flung Xena away. She landed with a thud, next to her fallen weapon. Nickoli moved and stood before Gabrielle. Then he turned back to face her. He spread his hands out in a gesture of consideration and waited.

“Have I made my point?” he asked.

“Yeah,” Xena replied. “You’ve made your point.”

“Very well,” Nickoli said, his eyes reverting once again to their brilliant, seductive, inhuman green. “Would you be so kind as to follow me?”

Gabrielle went over and helped Xena to her feet.

“What was that all about,” she whispered softly. Xena opened her mouth to reply.

“She wished to see how powerful I had actually become,” Nickoli answered from the other side of the clearing.

Xena looked at Gabrielle and shrugged. The two of them hurried to catch up with their unnatural ally.

“Why couldn’t Xena hurt you?” Gabrielle asked the Bacchi as they walked.

Nickoli was inspecting the damage to his garments.

“Several reasons,” Nickoli replied absently. “Partly, because elder Bacchi, like me, gain strength as we continue. Also, because her weapons have not been properly prepared.”

“My sword worked well enough on the one’s back there?” Xena retorted.

“Those were mere fledglings.” Nickoli said. “They were young enough to be vulnerable.”

“I don’t understand?” Gabrielle asked.

“It’s rather long and complicated,” Nickoli said. He looked up at the sky and saw the first paling of morning. “I do not have time to explain it all to you now.”

He stopped along side a small clearing within the trees and sighed.

“This looks good,” he said. Then he turned and let out a long shrill whistle.

After a few minutes, the sound of quick, light padding feet rustled through the dead leaves, approaching them.

“Uh, Xena?” Gabrielle stuttered. Xena turned and looked in the direction the young bard was indicating.

Loping through the trees was a massive dog shape. It slowed to a trot as it entered the clearing and circled around the two women to stand at Nickoli’s side.

It was an enormous beast, with thick brown hair and soft, gentle golden brown eyes. It sat in front of Nickoli, tongue lolling out as it panted.

“Hello, my friend,” Nickoli said gently, his hand caressing the furry side of the muzzle.

“This is Tinga. For many years now, my friend and companion.” He stroked the long fur at the shoulder

Tinga was easily over two hundred pounds of proud wolfish beauty. She sat statuesque, her eyes fixed on Xena and Gabrielle with uncomfortable intensity.

Gabrielle stared at her with wonder, a smile forming on her lips in spite of her awe, or perhaps, because of it.

Nickoli leaned down to the wolf’s ear and whispered.

Tinga’s eyes lost some of their intensity, and her tongue lolled back out as she panted contentedly under Nickoli’s attention.

Gabrielle took a few steps forward, tentatively reaching out her hand.

Tinga’s tongue withdrew, and her ears twitched back slightly. Gabrielle froze with her hand still out, palm down.

Tinga stared at her for a moment, then rose and stepped closer, giving Gabrielle’s hand a tentative sniff. Then she lowered her head and Gabrielle felt the soft fur under her fingers. She stroked the top of the head and neck, her smile growing.

Nickoli also smiled. “I think she likes you,” he said.

Gabrielle knelt down, level with Tinga’s face.

“She will listen to you, in my absence,” Nickoli continued. “And she will guard the two of you today, while you rest. While she also guards me.”

“Guards you?” Xena asked.

“Yes,” Nickoli replied. He went off to one side of the clearing and surveyed the ground.

“When I wake, I’ll tell you anything you wish to know.”

With that, he stretched out on the soft leaves and gave a sigh.

“Nickoli?” Gabrielle offered, her eyes drifting towards the sky. “What about the,” she stopped in amazement when she saw Nickoli’s body seem to melt into the earth and vanish.

Tinga looked on and then trotted over and lay down next to the earth where Nickoli had just submerged himself. She looked at Gabrielle and her head settled down onto the ground with a quiet whimper.

Gabrielle stepped up slowly and let herself settle on the ground next to the massive animal.

Tinga looked at her and then gave a sigh.

Gabrielle stroked the soft fur with wonder. She looked up at Xena and smiled.

“She’s beautiful.” She said.

Xena smiled in spite of her reservations, and took a few steps forward.

Tinga was on her feet instantly, her teeth bared and she snapped at Xena, snarling ravenously.

Gabrielle fell back in surprise and jumped to her feet.

Xena froze, her eyes wide. She lifted both hands slowly and stepped back.

Tinga’s eyes were locked on the warrior princess with a ferocious hunger that had not been there moments before. She calmed again as Xena backed away. Then Tinga looked up at Gabrielle with a curious light in her golden brown eyes. It was as if she were afraid that she had offended Gabrielle.

Gabrielle held her hand out again and Tinga let out another whimper. Then she settled back down on top of Nickoli’s resting place.

“Well,” Xena said coldly. “I guess I know where I stand.”

“Yeah,” Gabrielle smiled. “As far from her as possible.” She rose and followed Xena to the opposite side of the clearing.

“Gabrielle,” Xena said, as she unrolled her blanket. “If things get too dangerous I want you to get out of this mess.”

“What?” Gabrielle fixed Xena with a stern look. “Xena, why are you always trying to protect me? It’s not like I can’t take care of myself now.”

“I don’t doubt that,” Xena said, smiling. “I’ve just noticed that you have this tendency to, well, get into trouble.” She looked back up at Gabrielle questioningly.

Gabrielle matched her stare for only a few seconds before she grinned. “Yeah,” she admitted. “You’re right. But that’s only when you aren’t around. If you send me away, I might end up in worse shape than now.”

Xena rolled her eyes and stretched out on the blanket, looking up at the early morning sky.

“All right,” She finally said. “We’ll see how things go for a while, but if it gets too hairy-“

“I’ll run as fast as I can, and I won’t stop until I reach Corinth,” Gabrielle finished. “Agreed?”

“Agreed,” Xena replied. Then she looked over at Tinga, lying near Nickoli’s makeshift grave. Tinga’s golden eyes were closed and her breathing soft and slow.

Xena watched the animal for a few minutes, and then rolled onto her side, facing the beast.

At that small, quiet movement, Tinga’s eyes snapped open and locked on hers.

Xena held that gaze, fighting to overcome the wolf’s sense of dominance.

Tinga simply held her icy gaze, unflinching, unblinking, and with equal intensity.

“You and I are going to have to come to an understanding,” Xena growled. “I’m the head bitch in this little party.”

Tinga only growled softly in response.

It was a rare thing for Xena to be unable to stare down something. She had frightened trained attack dogs with her presence, but Tinga was something else entirely. The Warrior Princess could sense an almost human intelligence in those golden eyes.

After a small eternity where neither of them blinked, Xena closed her eyes and drifted into an uneasy sleep. She couldn’t remember the last time she hadn’t been able to assert her dominance over something, and the sensation of that left her feeling vulnerable. Her eyes opened a slit, only to see the massive wolf, once more with eyes closed, snoring quietly.

“I’m the head bitch,” Xena repeated and she looked down at Gabrielle, who lay peacefully in her blankets.

She hadn’t planned on sleeping the entire day away, but when she opened her eyes after what seemed to have been only a few minutes, the first thing she noticed was Tinga, lying curled up next to Gabrielle, sheltering her from the cooling evening. If animal’s faces could reveal emotions, Tinga had a contented, motherly expression on her face as she dozed.

A smoky smell emanated from behind her and she felt the heat of a fire on her back. Rolling over, she saw Nickoli squatting next to a little blaze, his green eyes fixed on her with Tinga’s same canine intensity. Gabrielle’s small cooking kettle hung over the fire and a smell of herbs permeated the air as the contents steamed.

Instantly, Xena was out of her blanket and on her feet, sword in hand. Her eyes were wide.

Nickoli only grinned icily and extended a wooden cup.

“I brewed you some tea,” he said pleasantly. “I thought it would help you wake up, but you seem not to need it.”

“I’ll settle with water, thank you,” Xena replied warily.

“Ah, well,” Nickoli gestured to the empty water skins. “I used that to make the tea. If you want water, though, there is a small stream just through there.” He pointed down a gentle slope into a thicket of trees.

Xena smiled coldly. “If you think I’m going to leave you alone with Gabrielle, you can forget it.”

“Then it’s the tea,” Nickoli said, nonplussed. He refilled the small cup and held it back out to her.

Xena sheathed her weapon and stepped forward to receive the cup. She stopped when she heard Tinga growl.

“Tsk, tsk, tsk,” Nickoli chided the animal gently. “That’s enough out of you, young lady.”

Tinga looked at her master and then settled her head back down next to Gabrielle.

Gabrielle sighed softly in her sleep and nestled closer to Tinga’s soft side.

Nickoli smiled in an uncharacteristically warm manner.

“Tinga is still a mother at heart,” he sighed. “And I think she considers your friend to be one of her children.” He looked back over at Xena.

Xena took the cup from his cold fingers. It was strong and fragrant, and Xena felt the underlying weariness wash from her mind and body as she sipped it.

“This is good,” she admitted after a few more cautious sips.

“What did you think?” Nickoli asked. “That I would try and poison you?”

Xena merely shrugged. “Where did you get it?”

Nickoli pursed his lips and nodded. “A group of brigands, not far from here. They waylaid a small caravan earlier today. This was among the things they stole.”

“And where are these “brigands” now?” Xena continued.

“Dead,” Nickoli replied simply.

Xena stopped in mid sip, fixing Nickoli with an angry stare.

“Dead?”

Nickoli nodded. “Dead. This particular group has been robbing small merchants for some time. Occasionally they’ll let the merchant live. Mostly, they kill them and simply take their possessions to the market to sell, keeping the profit for themselves. Today was their last day in business.”

“They’re dead?” Xena asked again.

Nickoli nodded. “All of them.”

Xena was horrified. “Why?”

Nickoli’s ferocious green eyes fixed on Xena again with an intensity that momentarily took her breath away.

“In spite of what you see before you,” Nickoli explained. “I am still a blood drinker. In order for me to live, someone must die every night I arise. Better the guilty fall than the innocent. I could go a day or so without feeding, but the end result is quite terrifying. Instead, I choose to commit evil on those who have, themselves, committed evil.” He chuckled quietly. “Besides, I think the irony of it is simply delicious. Killers being dealt justice by another killer. That killer to receive future justice at the hands of a reformed killer. Amusing, don’t you think?”

Xena’s face was set in an expression of disapproval.

“I suppose not,” Nickoli finished. He gazed up at the cloudy sky. “Looks like we might be in for some rain?”

“Why do you want to die, Nickoli?” Xena asked suddenly.

“Why do you want to live?” Nickoli countered.

Xena was momentarily taken aback by the question. Nickoli watched as her eyes drifted to the sleeping form of Gabrielle.

“Ah,” Nickoli nodded, watching her intently. “And what is she to you? A survivor from one of your previous exploits?”

Xena blinked, suddenly fearful that she might have given something away.

“No,” Xena said tersely.

Nickoli nodded. “I see.”

His eyes seemed to delve into hers,seeking something deep within her soul, as if he were reaching in to pluck out whatever information he could glean in that moment.

Xena was about to begin confessing all under those piercing eyes. Then she caught the spell and her eyes narrowed in suspicion. It was as if his presence was gently coaxing the desired information from her.

“What are you trying to do, Nickoli?” she asked suddenly.

Nickoli merely smiled and studied the flames.

“I long ago lost that part of me that was human,” he said. “I miss it.”

“You were still human fifteen years ago,” Xena said. “More or less. Bacchi aren’t immortal.” She suddenly looked up at Nickoli. “Are they?”

Nickoli merely stared into the flames, watching them dance and crackle.

“I was born, two hundred years before your beauty graced this world.” He said quietly. “It is true that many Bacchi – most Bacchi – do not long survive. However, there are an exceptional few that do endure.”

Xena opened her mouth, but no words came out.

Nickoli studied her face for a moment and smiled.

“I see so many questions bursting to get out,” he commented. “I shall try and answer them without you having to speak, since you seem unable to do so.”

He sat still for a moment, as if collecting his own thoughts and searching for the best place to begin. Then he sighed.

“Last night, you asked me why I destroyed my own kind,” he began. “If, in that question you were referring to Bacchi, then you are mistaken. I am no longer a Bacchi. I am something else entirely. So were the others you encountered.”

“You’re blood drinkers,” Xena said.

“Quite so, quite so,” Nickoli agreed. “But we are not Bacchi.”

Nickoli held his hands up, as if trying to express the thoughts as much in gesture as in words.

“All Bacchi begin as human beings, just as we did. That is the only similarity between us. A Bacchi is created when a human being is bitten by another Bacchi. The change is then made permanent through the ritual of Drinking the Blood of Bacchus. Correct?”

“Yes,” Xena nodded.

“And any who drink the Blood of Bacchus are forever enslaved by his power, you see?” Nickoli continued.

“I don’t know,” Xena admitted. “Gabrielle and I never got that far.”

Nickoli’s eyebrows rose in surprise. “Never got that far?”

“Gabrielle was bitten about two years ago,” Xena said. “She almost drank the blood, but I was able to stop her. She bit me instead, and then I killed Bacchus.”

“Weakened him considerably, I’ll grant you,” Nickoli corrected her. “But you did not destroy him. You may have freed those enslaved by him, but Bacchus himself still endures.”

He rested his chin on his fist and stared thoughtfully at Xena. The look sent a shiver up the Warrior’s spine.

“Incredible,” he said. Then he sat back up and continued. “Tell me, what did it feel like when the power of the Bacchi was flowing through your veins?”

Xena shuddered at the memory.

Nickoli nodded in understanding.

“You were stronger, quicker, all your reflexes were heightened. Your awareness of the world around you was sharper. You felt powerful, and consumed with desire, though you knew not what you desired. You were more animal than human, weren’t you?” he asked.

Xena only nodded.

“The fact that you regained enough control over your faculties to attack Bacchus is a marvel.” Nickoli nodded in appreciation. “You are certainly stronger of mind and body than I ever gave you credit for.”

Nickoli held up his hand, forestalling Xena from commenting.

“For most Bacchi, newly born, they are mostly animal.” Nickoli explained. “That is to say, they function more on instinct than reason. When your Gabrielle finally succumbed to the infection, did she recognize you?”

Xena shook her head.

“Yet, she was the one that converted you?” Nickoli asked. “She sought you out, and made you like her.”

“Yes,” Xena replied.

“As Bacchi, the transformed become overwhelmed with the beastly aspects of their nature. Your friend there could be a Hestian Virgin,” Nickoli smiled. “But even Virgins have desires, albeit suppressed desires. The transformation from human to Bacchi releases those feelings and desires, making the person become more reliant on instinct, like an animal, instead of intellect. Control and reason are temporarily lost. Only a small portion of humanity remains. Gabrielle converted you because at some base level, she recognized you, and wanted you to go with her on this journey. She was like a child, reaching out to a mother figure in fear and trauma. Your connection kept her from forming a similar link with Bacchus.

Once a Bacchi is in the presence of Bacchus and partakes of his blood, they become more like themselves, though aware of their newly found addiction. The blood of Bacchus provides a temporary cure for the blood lust that all Bacchi suffer. In this way, the Bacchi enslave themselves to Bacchus, through the addiction to his blood. If they do not get it, they fall into a frenzy, and that is when most of them are destroyed. They have lost the capacity for reason, and so have lost the capacity for self preservation. They become rabid animals that humanity puts down whenever they are found. Any imbecile can outwit a ravenous beast.”

“So what makes you so much different?” Xena asked.

“Think about it, Xena,” Nickoli said. “I have been with you now, going into a second night, and I have not begun to lose control over my faculties, have I? I have not shared in the blood of Bacchus and I sit before you completely coherent.”

The realization of that simple fact settled on Xena with leaden certainty.

“That is the difference between us,” Nickoli said. “The Bacchi are completely dependent on Bacchus’s blood. I, and others like me, are completely free of the need of it.”

Xena’s eyes widened slightly. “How?”

Nickoli’s eyes glinted with suppressed hunger. “Because we have learned the truth about what we really are. The Bacchi are merely the first step in our evolution as blood drinkers. I and the others like me have taken the next logical step.”

“What is so different?” Xena asked.

“Bacchus can only control living beings.” Nickoli said. “Unlike the rest of the Bacchi in the world, I am not alive.”

Xena frowned in confusion. “You seem pretty alive to me,” she said.

“Ah,” Nickoli raised a finger. “And therein lies the rub. We are not dead, but we are also not alive by any conventional sense. Once passed beyond a certain point, Bacchus has no hold over us, and Celestra seems to have forgotten us. We cannot be called alive; neither can we be called truly dead. Think of it as more,” he thought for a moment. “Undead. Yes, that’s an adequate word for it. We are each undead.”

“Undead?”

“Yes.”

“How?”

Nickoli smiled. “Now that would be a tale to tell, would it not? In summary, I can tell you that a Bacchi on the threshold of death fed on a dying man and so saved his own existence. You’ll note that I said ‘existence’ , not life. He then passed that power onto me. Thus, here I sit before you, alive and animate without warmth or pulse or life. A tantalizing little conundrum, don’t you think? I am a walking paradox.”

“That explains why I couldn’t kill you,” Xena said.

“Partly, yes,” Nickoli nodded. “But not wholly. You were able to dispatch Adaris’s followers.”

“So, how do I kill you, then,” Xena asked. Nickoli saw the glint in her eye and a smile crept across his handsome features.

“Soon, Xena,” he said with a nod. “Once you help me in my little task, I will grant you that knowledge.”

He glanced up at the clouds again and smiled wanly. Then he looked at Tinga, still sleeping next to Gabrielle.

“We must be going,” he said. “We have a great distance to cover, and not much time.”

He looked over at Tinga again. Without spoken word or gesture, the wolf raised her head and got to her feet. She looked down at Gabrielle and then trotted over to stand by Nickoli’s side.

Xena sighed and stepped over to Gabrielle. “Come on Gabrielle, time to go.”

Gabrielle rolled over groggily. When her eyes fell on Nickoli, standing next to the massive shape of Tinga, she also sprang to her feet in fright.

Nickoli sighed dramatically. “I shouldn’t have bothered about the tea.”

“Tea?” Gabrielle stammered. “What?”

“Never mind,” Xena said.

The shadows lengthened in purple shades as the moon peeked from behind the billowing clouds. Branches intertwined above them forming a natural, endless tunnel as they walked. Their boots rustled on the dead leaves and branches littering the ground. The wind whispered and whistled between the trunks. In the distance, they heard the roll of thunder. Faint flashes of lightning could be seen through the gaps in the leaves above. The air smelled of rain.

“So,” Gabrielle asked as she and Xena followed their pale guide. “Where are we going?”

Nickoli didn’t turn. His eyes were fixed on the path ahead.

“To the Temple of Nos.” he said.

“Nos?” Xena repeated. “What god is that?”

Nickoli stopped and turned to look at them, a bemused expression on his face. His eyes burned through them.

“No God, my friends.” He said. “It means ‘Night’.”

“We’re going to the Temple of Night?” Gabrielle asked.

“Yes,” Nickoli replied. “I must rest in hallowed earth tonight.”

“The ground last night seemed to work for you,” Xena growled.

Nickoli stopped and faced Xena.

“You really must get over this little insecurity about me,” he said in a tone of agreeability that sent a chill up her spine. “How many times must I reiterate that your death would serve me no purpose, and killing your friend would not bend you towards helping me either? I mean the two of you no harm.”

Xena smiled icily. “I don’t trust anyone who doesn’t have a pulse.”

Nickoli’s smile faded for just a moment and then his expression softened once again into something understanding. He simply nodded and resumed walking. He stopped short when he saw Gabrielle standing with Tinga at her side.

The young woman’s hand was absently stroking the fur on the massive head as she watched the two former adversaries.

Nickoli looked down at Tinga and then back up at Gabrielle. His eyes bored into hers like green fire, and Gabrielle suddenly blushed turning her gaze aside.

“May I speak with you?” Nickoli asked as he strode past. “Privately?”

Tinga loped off next to her master.

Xena stepped over to Gabrielle. “What was that all about?”

“I don’t know,” Gabrielle replied, her cheeks still flushed. “Whenever he looks at me, it’s like, I don’t know. It’s as if I suddenly don’t have anything on, and I,” She shrugged.

“It makes you uncomfortable,” Xena nodded understandingly.

“No,” Gabrielle said. “That doesn’t make me nervous. I don’t mind it at all. I actually like it, and that’s what scares me.”

Xena frowned.

“Xena,” Gabrielle explained. “I haven’t felt anything like that since I was with Perdicus. He was so passionate, and it woke up a passion in me. I loved him so much and, after our wedding night, well, you know.”

“I think I get the picture,” Xena nodded. “I’ll have a little chat with him.”

She began stalking towards Nickoli, but Tinga spun and bared her teeth, growling savagely.

Nickoli stopped and turned back, a questioning gaze in his brilliant green eyes.

“Chat about what?” he asked innocently.

Xena took a few more steps forward, but Tinga snapped at her, keeping the warrior at bay.

“A couple of things,” Xena said. “First about what you’re trying to do to my friend, and second about your bitch, here.”

Instantly, both Xena and Gabrielle felt that indefinable attraction.

“Well,” Nickoli said. “Firstly, I am not trying to ‘do anything’ to the young lady. Secondly, my bitch, as you call her, does not trust you because you will not trust me. Once you get over that little issue, then she might also relax.” His eyes locked on Gabrielle’s. “May I have a private word with you, please?”

Xena looked at Gabrielle, seemingly entranced under Nickoli’s gaze.

“Now just a minute,” Xena growled. Her hand strayed towards her chakram. The hair on Tinga’s back was bristling, her ears flat against her head, and her eyes blazing ferociously.

Nickoli realized that the situation was boiling over quickly.

“Tinga!” he commanded.

The wolf stopped, still growling, but her eyes never left Xena.

“Tinga, no!” Nickoli ordered.

Tinga slowly backed away, still snarling.

"Xena!” Nickoli then looked up at her. “Do not kill her!”

Nickoli stepped to the wolf’s side.

“Xena,” Nickoli almost pleaded. “I am asking you to restrain yourself! For her sake as well as yours!”

That cryptic statement seemed to snap Xena’s focus on the wolf. She looked up at Nickoli. “What do you mean?”

Nickoli said nothing. He simply stared at Xena. It was a battle of wills for a moment, and then Nickoli blinked. He let out a sigh.

“May I please have a private word with your friend?” he asked.

Gabrielle stepped forward and put her hand on Xena’s arm.

“It’s okay,” she said. She looked in Xena’s eyes, and Xena nodded. Then she looked at Nickoli.

“Lay a finger on her, and I any deal we might have is over, understand?”

“Completely,” Nickoli smiled. He placed his hands behind his back. “If my hands stray from this place, you may consider the deal nullified.” He nodded to Gabrielle. “If I may?”

Gabrielle stepped up as Nickoli turned and resumed walking.

Tinga looked at Xena intently for a few more seconds, and then she loped off into the woods.

Gabrielle walked next to Nickoli for a few minutes, waiting for him to begin. She looked up at him expectantly and studied the line of his jaw, the details of his cheek bones and the intense, unwavering gaze of his eyes as he walked. He was a handsome man, or had been when he was alive. His thick dark hair flowed like waves down past his shoulders, and she felt herself gravitating to him, even without his piercing gaze. She forced herself to resume breathing, not even realizing that she had stopped.

“What did you want to ask me?” she finally asked when she could stand the silence no longer.

“Wrong question, my dear.” Nickoli replied in a soft baritone. “The correct question is: What do you wish to ask me?” His eyes turned to her and she immediately felt that irresistible pull. She tore her gaze away from the statuesque way he walked, with his hands clasped comfortably at the small of his back, like a nobleman strolling the halls of his castle, not a wandering rogue in the wilderness.

Nickoli smiled and fixed his eyes back on the path ahead.

“You have an inquisitive air about you, Gabrielle,” he said.

Gabrielle tried to ignore the shiver that shot up her spine when he said her name in that smooth voice.

“Call it curiosity, naiveté, or simply a thirst for knowledge,” Nickoli shrugged. “It all comes to the same thing. You wish to know and by knowing, to understand.”

“Understand what?” Gabrielle asked, wrestling with the desire to look in his direction again.

“Everything,” Nickoli nodded. “What makes the sun rise in the morning and set at night, why the sky is blue, what the stars are, how birds fly? How some thing like me can be both alive and dead?” he raised an eyebrow and looked sidelong at her.

“Okay,” Gabrielle nodded. “Then explain it. How can you be both alive and dead?”

“I don’t know,” Nickoli responded easily. He smiled.

Gabrielle looked up at him with an angry expression. It faded to something closer to longing as soon as she looked at him.

“Okay,” she stammered, once again ripping her gaze from him. “Then tell me why, when I look at you, I feel,” her hands rolled in front of her as she searched for the right word.

“Desire?” Nickoli offered. “Lust? Perhaps a bit randy?” His smile became more mischievous.

“Yes,” Gabrielle finally admitted. “Except for that first time I saw you.”

“Death itself has a certain allure,” Nickoli said. “Anything that is unknown will tempt. If it is known, then a lack of fear of it will also make it tempting, because you realize in fact, not faith, that there is the potential for something more. It would follow that something representing that would also be alluring in its own way, even desirable.” He smiled as he looked at her again

Gabrielle said nothing. She simply stared into those inhumanly green eyes and forced herself to breathe, trying to calm the rising rate of her heart.

“That first time you saw me,” Nickoli continued with a sly smile. “I wanted you terrified. So you were terrified. I needed to get you out of the situation because, even with my abilities, I could not fight a battle on two fronts. The fear you felt was the fuel you needed to escape the situation as quickly as possible. Now?” he shrugged. “I don’t want anything from you in particular, except that Xena honor our arrangement.”

“Xena has changed a lot,” Gabrielle said evenly. “She won’t simply take a life in cold blood. Not anymore.”

“Perhaps,” Nickoli agreed. “And perhaps not. We shall see?”

“I’ve died before,” Gabrielle said suddenly. “More than once. I don’t have any desire to do it again.”

“Then,” Nickoli pursed his lips. “In your case, I think the questions might be a bit more basic. Am I here, now because I was so enamored of life that I did not wish it to end? Or was I so terrified of dying, that I sought this life in desperation?”

They locked eyes suddenly, and Gabrielle felt the beating of her heart hammering against the inside of her chest. She was suddenly lost in his gaze. Those fierce green eyes held hers and bored into her soul. She felt a wave of heat and desire wash over her so suddenly that she actually sighed. Then a sudden realization hit her, shaking her from that gaze.

He wanted her! His own gaze was filled with lust and desire. The slight twitch of his lip, the way his chest heaved suddenly. And she wanted him in a way so purely carnal that she had never felt the like of it before. Then his composure reasserted itself and he smiled so seductively that she had to struggle to keep herself in check.

“Stop that!” she hissed at him, struggling to keep her voice down. She looked back at Xena, who watched them both intently, ready for the slightest hint of treachery.

Xena’s eyebrow went up slightly in question, but Gabrielle held out her hand, staying her.

“It’s alright,” she said. “He just said something that hit close to home.”

Nickoli also looked at the warrior and shrugged.

“I have a tendency to be rather blunt,” he confessed. “It’s a character flaw that I have worked centuries to remedy.”

“I’ll bet,” Xena muttered.

The trio resumed walking.

“I understand you, Gabrielle,” Again she suppressed a shudder of anticipation. “You desire only a few things in your life. You wish wisdom, loyalty, and love, just as you wish to impart those things to others, thereby empowering them to also do good.”

He smiled and looked at her. She kept her gaze fixed on the path ahead, not daring to meet his gaze again. Her will to keep her desires in check was fading quickly, but she felt she could still glean something valuable from him.

“So?” She asked, trying to sound offended.

“Oh I meant no offense,” Nickoli said. “They are admirable qualities to be sure. But you realize that you cannot hope to achieve all that you desire in one lifetime. Besides, on a baser level, you’re simply curious.”

“Curious about what?” Gabrielle asked, though she felt a flutter of anticipation in her heart.

“About what it could be like,” Nickoli said knowingly. “To be like me. You cannot be seduced by that which you do not desire. You must want it for it to affect you.”

Gabrielle stopped short, her heart pounding with the realization that he was absolutely correct in his assessment.

Nickoli kept walking. He turned his head to the side, glancing back in her direction. “I can assume our little conversation is at an end?”

Gabrielle said nothing. She turned and walked quickly back to Xena.

Xena saw the flush in Gabrielle’s cheeks and the slight rasp of her breath. She noted the tell tale signs of someone who has been tempted with pleasure and fought to refuse it.

“Gabrielle?” she asked. “What did he do?”

“Nothing,” Gabrielle answered. She composed herself as best she could. “Nothing.”

She looked ahead at the silhouette of Nickoli strolling casually down the path ahead.

“He won’t hurt either of us, Xena,” she said finally. “That much I do know. At least, not until he gets what he wants.”

“You don’t think he wants to die?” Xena asked.

“That’s just it,” Gabrielle said. “I think he does want to die. I don’t know. There’s something else going on, but I can’t figure out what it is?”

Gabrielle fell silent as she mulled the thoughts over in her mind. Several hours later the three of them crested a small rise in the path and came out of the forest into a shallow, well tilled valley. In the distance they could see the unmistakable lights of a tiny farming village and beyond that the ominous bastions of an ancient temple.

“I know this place,” Xena said.

“As you should.” Nickoli replied. “This is the field where we first met.” He surveyed the land critically and sighed. “The scenery has changed somewhat. Wheat and corn instead of human and Bacchi bodies. Definitely an improvement.”

“I wonder if they know.” Xena asked.

“They do,” Nickoli replied. “The village is called Solatu, or sunlight in your tongue.” He began strolling down the gentle hill towards the waiting lights.

Xena and Gabrielle exchanged a confused glance and then followed after Nickoli.

The trio bypassed the village completely and made straight for the temple. The moon had set behind the nearby foot hills when they approached the main gate.

The walls were tall, and made from blocks of smooth gray stone, fitted so tightly that not even a squirrel could find a hold to climb up to the parapet above. The gate was oak, bound with thick iron bands and covered in a thin coat of rust that looked like dried blood. Above the gate, at the top of the arch was a simple crest. A graven shield with the image of a human skull in its center.

“Wait a moment,” Xena realized. “This is one of Bacchus’s old temples.”

“Yes,” Nickoli replied. “Yet another delicious bit of irony that I could not refuse. Besides, the accommodations were exactly what I required for my purposes.”

He banged his pale hand on the gate. There was the sound of huge bolts being drawn and the gate swung open with a squealing creak that sent shots of cold up both Xena’s and Gabrielle’s spine.

“Gods, I hate that noise,” Gabrielle squirmed.

“Please,” Nickoli gestured to them. “Do come in.”

Beyond the shadows of the arched gateway, they followed a disused path that led through a long neglected garden. Weeds and wild undergrowth sprouted from pots and ivy clawed its way up the short skeletal remains of old fruit trees only to fall back down like damp tendrils in the path. The shadows crept throughout the place. Occasionally they would hear the rustle of some small animal scurrying for concealment among the thicker overgrowth. The rest of the time, an unholy silence hovered about them like a cold frost.

The temple itself bore more resemblance to a mausoleum than a place of worship. Dark and foreboding with thick iron doors, covered in old growths of ivy and other malignant plants. The remains of the vegetation clung to several places along the outer walls of the keep, obscuring the narrow windows dotting the sides. The whole place had a stuffy, musty smell of old death.

“Xena?” Gabrielle edged closer to her friend.

“I know,” Xena replied. “Just stay by me.”

“I’m not going anywhere,” Gabrielle said, hugging herself and fighting off a chill that was not in the air.

They passed through the massive creaking iron doors into the temple. In the main hall, torches burned in sconces along the walls, or protruding from the pillars that supported the massive stone roof.

All about the room, shadowy figures moved with quick and quiet steps.

At the opposite end of the hall, seated on a black stone throne was a woman of startling beauty. She wore a diaphanous black gown that barely fulfilled the prerequisites for modesty. Her pale skin seemed to glow with a sickly yellow hue in the torchlight. Her hair was thick and curly, falling in a mass of ringlets past her shoulders.

Her fingers stroked the arm of the chair thoughtfully as she watched the newcomers approach.

Nickoli stopped twenty paces from the throne and clasped his hands in front of him expectantly.

The woman rose with feline grace and glided across the floor wrapping her arms around Nickoli’s neck. She kissed him softly on the lips.

“Welcome back,” she greeted. “Father.”

She fixed her pale blue eyes on Xena and Gabrielle. “And who are these?” she asked in a silky voice. She released her embrace of Nickoli and stood before Xena, cocking her head as if inspecting her. Her fangs extended and her eyes began to glow red.

“A snack for us?” she asked.

“No, no.” Nickoli said quickly. “They are not to be touched.” He stepped next to the woman and looked at Xena and Gabrielle.

“My friends,” he said. “Allow me to introduce you to Imani,” he smiled. “My daughter.”

Then he looked at Imani, “My dear,” he said. “I present Xena, the Warrior Princess of Amphipolis and her companion, Gabrielle, an Amazon Queen.”

Imani looked Gabrielle up and down appraisingly as if she were considering buying a horse.

“Amazon Queen?” she scoffed. “She is little more than a child?”

“Hey,” Gabrielle said, suddenly hostile.

Xena put her arm across Gabrielle’s path, restraining her.

“Obviously, you didn’t teach your child manners.” Xena hissed.

“Ladies, ladies,” Nickoli stepped between them. “This bickering will solve nothing. Please.” He looked at the two of them intently.

Imani gave a soft sigh and the crimson blaze of her eyes faded. “As you wish,” she said. “For now.” She moved back to the throne, but instead of seating herself, she stood next to it. Nickoli followed and took the seat.

“Come forward, my friends,” he beckoned to Xena. “Nothing will harm you here.”

“Yeah,” Xena said under her breath. “For now.”

The Conclave

As Xena and Gabrielle followed their hosts down the long wide hall, they noticed other shadows moving in the dim light. Some with slow, unconcerned deliberation, while others darted furtively between the massive stone columns as if they feared to be seen.

Occasionally, the torches would reflect the deep red glow of eyes, peering hungrily at them from the dark.

Gabrielle instinctively moved closer to Xena.

“There sure are a lot of them,” Gabrielle whispered nervously. “Maybe I should have taken your advice and left.”

“A little late for that, now,” Xena muttered. “Just stay close.”

“Oh, no problem,” Gabrielle’s hand found Xena’s arm and clung to it tightly.

Nickoli seated himself with flourish as Imani stepped next to the throne, her pale arm resting on the back.

Gabrielle struggled to stay focused as Nickoli looked down at them.

Several shadows seemed to melt into the light, their eyes fixed, unblinking on the two mortal women.

“Understand me now,” Nickoli said in a commanding tone. “These are my guests and shall not be harmed in any way. I will take the life of any that so much as touch them. Am I understood?”

A murmur of acquiescence drifted through the stuffy temple like disembodied spirits.

“Very well,” Nickoli nodded.

As Xena and Gabrielle stopped before Nickoli, six other figures emerged from the shadows. Three men and two women. Each had the same feline grace and presence as Nickoli and Imani. Each of them stared at the two women with clear intense eyes.

“Permit me to introduce you to the conclave of House Vampyra.” He gestured to the three men standing at his right.

The first man was massive in girth as well as height, clad in old tarnished armor. His hair was dark, strung in and out with a mix of gray. His eyes were a deep piercing blue. His face was shadowed by the thin layer of dark whiskers that covered it from the tops of his cheeks to the base of his neck, giving him an almost wolfish appearance. He raised his right hand to his chest in salute and gave a curt bow. Xena noted the powerful muscle beneath the armor.

“I present Lord Damalicus of Macedonia,” Nickoli said.

“Honored,” Damalicus said in a deep rumbling voice. Xena nodded in return.

Next to Damalicus was a smaller man, obviously of eastern descent. His fine robes shimmered in the torchlight, and the green jewel in the center of his turban seemed alive with some internal fire.

“Lord Arijani,” Nickoli continued.

Xena’s eyes widened in surprise.

“Arijani, the alchemist?” she asked in wonder.

Arijani bowed his head and smiled behind his long thick beard. “The same.” His voice was soft, high pitched and smooth, with a heavy accent.

“I heard you were dead,” Xena replied.

Arijani’s hands vanished in the opposite sleeves of his robes and he smiled. “That is a matter of opinion.” He replied easily. He bowed his head again and Nickoli indicated the last man.

“Lastly, Lord Talcus,” Nickoli finished. “He is a man, little known in the waking world, yet I have found him to be a man of great insight and wisdom.”

Talcus was a man of medium build with thick gray hair and deep eyes the color of storm clouds. He wore a simple tunic and breaches, and carried several scrolls in one hand. He smiled showing fanged teeth and nodded.

Xena felt Gabrielle’s fingers tighten on her arm.

“And here,” Nickoli gestured to the two women on his left. “Is Vasha.”

Vasha was a tall, beautiful woman with raven black hair and deep dark eyes. She wore a dark colored dress that may have been green in color, though the light of the torches seemed to alter the color slightly. She raised a hand and curtsied slightly with a subtle smile on her lips as she looked at Xena. Anyone would almost say that she was attracted to the tall woman. Xena nodded in reply, but kept her gaze detached.

“And I believe the two of you already know Tinga,” Nickoli said with a smug smile.

Gabrielle and Xena looked at each other and then back at the final woman, standing before them in simple tan skins. Her hair was a deep brown and her eyes were soft and golden in color. Her skin was dark and tan.

Gabrielle stared at her in surprise and took several tentative steps towards her. Tinga was only slightly taller than Gabrielle, with a sturdy, athletic build. The clothing and accoutrements showed that she was unlike the others in the gathering. Her very manner, posture and carriage said one thing: Amazon.

“Tinga?” Gabrielle asked.

The woman smiled showing pointed teeth and gave a subtle nod of her head. Then she raised her right fist over her heart.

“Gabrielle,” she said in a voice, low and husky.

Xena stared in wonder and took a step towards Tinga. Instantly, Tinga’s eyes flashed intensely. In that fierce gaze, Xena no longer doubted who she was facing.

“I think we have a few things to discuss,” Xena said quietly.

Tinga smiled fiercely. “About whom the head bitch is?” She replied. Then she looked at Gabrielle. “I see in your eyes that you are Amazon,” she continued. “Which is why I have chosen to befriend you.” She looked back at Xena. “You, on the other hand, have Amazon blood on your hands.” She sniffed and looked at Xena with contempt. “It may be old blood, but it is blood none the less. Hence, I do not trust you.”

Xena opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out. The memory of her betrayal, all those years ago, still hung on her conscience. She glanced down at the floor.

“Tinga,” Gabrielle said, looking back and forth between the two of them. “Xena is my best friend. I trust her with my life.”

“That is your choice,” Tinga replied. “I will not, for the present.”

Xena looked back up into Tinga’s eyes, and they both vied for dominance, but only for a few seconds. Then they both realized, at nearly the same moment, that they were both interested in the same thing, the safety of Gabrielle. One saw it as a matter of honor, the other as a matter of friendship.

Tinga smiled again. “Perhaps we should wait and see.”

Xena watched her eyes for a moment and she also forced a smile. “Perhaps.”

“Ladies,” Nickoli said from his seat. “As much as this entertains us, it is nearly dawn. We must retire for the day.” He looked off to the side, and a single figure emerged, stepping before the throne. One thing that was immediately apparent to the two women was the fact that this man was mortal, just like them.

“Have the guards set their normal watches,” Nickoli instructed. “And make certain that they know of my guests. They are not to be disturbed for any reason, and they have my permission to move about the temple as they wish. Am I understood?”

“Of course, my lord,” the man bowed his head. He quickly bowed and withdrew.

“You have regular mortal people here as well?” Xena asked.

Nickoli seemed mildly amused by the question, as were the other members of his company. All throughout the chamber, she heard the echoes of soft chuckles.

“Why wouldn’t we?” Nickoli asked. “These people live in this land as well as we. We protect them and guard them from attack. We train them to protect themselves and give them peace of mind at night when they sleep. Why should we not enjoy the symbiosis of this relationship? Mutual benefit is, after all, the foundation of all alliances. Surely you understand that?”

Xena nodded. “I understand that alliances are only beneficial until one side believes it no longer needs the other.”

“Indeed,” Nickoli agreed, smiling. “But that circumstance has yet to trouble us.” He rose and gave a nod of his head. “We shall leave you now, to rest. We must be below ground before first light. I bid you a good day.”

With that, the shadowy company withdrew, down to the last wraithlike shape, all with the silence of the grave. In the growing light of the chamber, Xena and Gabrielle realized suddenly that they were almost alone in the temple.

Tinga still stood opposite Gabrielle, leaning casually against a nearby pillar.

“You don’t need to be below ground?” Xena asked.

Tinga simply smiled at the sarcastic tone in Xena’s voice and shook her head.

“I may be different,” she said. “But I am not like them. My function is to protect them, as they protected me.” She stepped next to them, her eyes never moving from Xena. “As Nickoli said, you have the run of the temple complex,” she said. “However, I must ask that you stay out of the lower chambers.”

“And if we don’t?” Xena asked.

Tinga’s eyes lit up with sudden hunger, and she let a smile touch the corners of her mouth. “Then I shall be forced to rip your throat out.”

“I think that’s enough!” Gabrielle said with sudden vehemence. “If you two are going to fight it out, then get it over with.” She turned to Tinga. “Xena is my friend, and as an Amazon Queen, I say, this ends right now!”

Tinga looked mildly surprised to hear Gabrielle sound so harsh. It took a moment for her to realize that the young woman was not exaggerating her status or her intent. She looked back and forth between Gabrielle and Xena. When she saw the fierce, protective light in Gabrielle’s eyes, she understood.

“You trust her that much?” she asked.

“You know Amazon law,” Gabrielle said evenly. “If I stand with her and she does something, then I am responsible for her actions. I share her fate.”

Tinga studied Gabrielle for a long moment and then she nodded.

Gabrielle nodded in return and turned to walk towards the front door. She stopped and looked back at the two of them. Then she puffed out her chest proudly and stared at the two of them with as much courage as she could muster.

“And just so you know!” She added with a sudden cockiness that amused them both. “I’m the head bitch in this little party, got it?”

She stared at the two adversaries for a long moment, then nodded her head and turned and walked quickly out the door. As she disappeared, Tinga heard her speaking quietly to herself. “Yeah, I’m the head bitch.”

Both Xena and Tinga stared at the empty space where Gabrielle ad been, both with bemused expressions on their faces.

Both women then looked sidelong at one another.

Xena’s eyebrow rose inquisitively, and she folded her arms.

Tinga simply matched her stare, her own eyebrow rising in amusement. Then the smile began to pull irresistibly at her lips and she broke into a grin. Xena soon followed suit, unable to keep the humor of the situation from rising to the surface.

“Well,” Tinga commented. “She told us.”

Xena smiled. “I’ll say.”

Tinga actually laughed out loud and walked off into the shadows.

Standing just beyond the corner of the entrance, Gabrielle leaned her head against the wall and smiled, sighing with relief. Then she stole away quietly towards the courtyard.

Xena found her there a short while later, sitting in an overgrown garden. The wild tangles of grasses and trees that had appeared so sinister the night before, seemed alive with color in the early morning sun, and the fragrance of many flowers mingled in the air.

Gabrielle was seated in front of a murky pool that was once a fountain, staring at the statue in the center, lost in her own thoughts.

“So,” she said, startling the young bard out of her reverie. “When did you get to be so tough?”

Gabrielle smiled and looked back at the still water as Xena sat down beside her.

“I just think it was getting a little ridiculous,” she said. “Both of you looking for an excuse to beat the stuffing out of each other and for what, me?” She sighed.

Xena looked at Gabrielle for a moment, and then a rueful smile played across her features. “I guess it did sound a little ridiculous.” She finally admitted. Then she looked Gabrielle in the eye. “But I don’t trust Nickoli, and I sure don’t trust Tinga. There’s something more going on here than just Nickoli’s favor. Even if he does want to die, there has to be more to it than just that. Not knowing everything is what’s making me nervous.”

“Well,” Gabrielle suggested. “He didn’t force us to some here.”

“No,” Xena agreed. “No, he didn’t. But he knew that my sense of honor would make me want to come, if only to pay back a debt. Besides, if I rid the world of something like him, it would be a benefit. I think he’s counting on me believing that.”

“Well,” Gabrielle said. “Whatever Nickoli has planned, we’ll deal with it.” Xena smiled at the sound of that statement, so calmly said and filled with confidence. “As far as Tinga goes,” Gabrielle continued. “Whatever she is now, she is still Amazon at heart. That much I do know. Even if she was ordered to kill us, I don’t think she’d do it in cold blood. It doesn’t seem to be her way and it definitely isn’t the Amazon way. Besides, we could learn a lot more from her if the two of you aren’t constantly at each other’s throats.”

Xena thought about that for a moment and had to concede that Gabrielle was correct.

They were interrupted by the sound of a quiet footfall upon the grass behind them. The two of them turned to see a small, thin man in a simple gray robe, standing a respectful distance, his hands lost in the opposing sleeves.

“Ah,” he said theatrically. “Lord Nickoli left instructions for you to be made comfortable. To that effect, I have made certain that your quarters are prepared. They are the best we can provide.”

The man’s nature was so self absorbed and bombastic, that Xena and Gabrielle had to suppress the sudden urge to laugh at the buffoon.

“And you are?” Xena asked.

“Oh, forgive me,” the man said, bowing low. “I am Neris, head of house for the Great Lord Nickoli.” He said the name as if he were relishing a fine wine.

The laughter was threatening to burst from Gabrielle as she watched the performance.

“Well, Neris,” Xena said, rising to her feet and towering over the man. “I don’t need the finest quarters. Just a bath and a bed will do.”

Neris looked her up and down appraisingly, barely hiding his disapproval in her wardrobe.

“Ah, well, yes. Of course.” He then gave Gabrielle a quick appraising look and turned, head held high. “If you would follow me.” He said without looking back.

Gabrielle covered her mouth, stifling the laughter. After two nights of little sleep and constant travel, she was beginning to feel a little slap happy.

Xena looked back at her. “You alright?” she asked, smiling.

“Yeah,” Gabrielle nodded. Then she did her best to imitate Neris’s performance. “Shall we go and see what the Great Lord Nickoli has prepared for us?” Then the laughter burst from her.

Xena smiled, shaking her head. “Come on.” She said. “You need sleep.”

Damalicus paced about the inner sanctum, his hands clenching into fists and releasing with nervous energy.

All around the large, dark vault, the other members of the Conclave watched him.

Nickoli seated himself on a large stone seat, similar to the one up in the main audience chamber and watched the big warrior pace for a time.

“What is it, Damalicus?” Imani asked with an air of impatience.

The big warrior turned and stared at the delicate looking woman, his eyes smouldering.

“I can hear their heartbeats,” he growled with desire. “I can smell the blood in their veins!”

“We all can,” Vasha agreed gently.

“I do not know how long I am expected to deny my hunger!” Damalicus blurted angrily. “The young one, in particular. She is so…” His voice trailed off in a long moan of desire.

“Patience, my friend,” Nickoli said calmly.

“Damn patience!” Damalicus shot back. “I cannot continue this farce!” His face twisted in an expression of disgust. “Feeding on the blood of cattle!”

His finger shot out, pointing back up the stairway. “Humans are our cattle! Our food! Why should we deny ourselves that?”

“Damalicus,” Nickoli sighed. “I will not have this argument with you again. WE all know what is involved if our plan is to succeed.”

“I must feed!” Damalicus roared.

“The do so!” Nickoli shot back with equal venom. “But do it far from here, and out of our sight! And if you do not return in time for our plans, you may end up like the Marshal, or worse. You may end up weak!”

Damalicus opened his mouth to reply, but thought better of it.

“This is the way it must be, My Lord,” Talcus said calmly from his corner.

“Enough of you!” Damalicus exploded again. “I am tired of your incessant raving s and philosophical banter! How you ever warranted becoming one of us, I will never know!”

“Look about us, Lord Damalicus,” Vasha cooed, lounging atop the ancient sarcophagus that served as her resting place. “Even a one dimentional mind, such as yours should be able to see why we are all here.”

“Silence, witch!” Damalicus turned on the woman.

“Enough of this!” Nickoli thundered over the tirade. “This is old country, and we have explored it too often, of late! I know that our individual beliefs will drive us apart! It was intended from the beginning! I did not expect us to degenerate into squabbling brats just before the supreme moment!”

He stepped down and moved in a circle taking them all in with his fiery gaze.

“Look at you all,” he growled. “Chattering about like children over a broken toy! It’s repellent! In this room are the greatest minds that I could find. And here we sit!”

He fixed his eyes on Vasha. “We have magic,” Then he turned to Arijani. “Alchemy” then to Talcus, “Philosophy”. His gaze fell on Damalicus and Imani. “War and Politics” and then his gaze fell on the shadows beyond, in the remotest corner of the room. A single, shrouded and silent figure stirred. “And we have Death.”

He resumed his pacing. “Each of you is different from the other, as was required, to ensure our survival! I will not have this bickering tear us apart so close to the final moment!”

“Forgive me, Sahib,” Arijani said. “But we do not know if this plan will truly free us?”

“Yes,” Nickloi replied. “It is a gamble, I agree. But we must be free to grow as a people in order to survive. If that is to happen we must also ensure that no one single individual can be the instrument of our demise!”

He stepped in front of the big warrior and locked his gaze on Damalicus. “We have come to far to become weak now! Bide your time, or depart!”

Damalicus matched Nickoli’s gaze for a moment and then his eyes droped to the floor and the boiling energy seemed to recede.

“As you wish, My Lord,” he finally said.

“I still feel we should not proceed with the plan as it stands, My Lord,” Talcus added, stepping calmly forward into the torchlight. “You have mentioned the need for balance, and I concur. However, I still say that this balance must extend beyond us.”

“And I have told you before, my friend,” Nickoli replied. “That I agree with you, but not yet. We need to establish our line first.”

“I have reservations about having Xena in this plan,” Imani stated simply. “You told me of her prowess in battle. How do you know we can trust her?”

“We can trust Xena to be Xena,” Nickoli said knowingly. He seated himself again and smiled. “And that is all the guarantee I require.”

When Gabrielle awoke, it was late afternoon, and the light outside was filled with orange fire. Some of the night insects were just beginning to make their music out in the ruined garden, and the long thin draperies at the window fluttered soundlessly in the early evening breeze.

For a brief moment she didn’t remember how she had gotten to this room. She sat up, throwing the covers off and looked around. It had obviously at one time been quarters for a priest. They were small and comfortable, despite a lack of décor and amenities. A simple writing desk and stool, two small seats, and a simple bed.

Her bag lay next to the desk with some of her scrolls poking out the top. She frowned in confusion. She usually packed her finished scrolls in the bottom of her bag, in order to keep them safe while she traveled. A nagging suspicion began to tug at her gut and she went quickly over to the bag, setting it back on the bed and inventorying the contents.

Almost all of her belongings were present and accounted for. One scroll was missing – stolen! Her heart burned with anger at the violation. She checked each of the scrolls, realizing that they had been opened and, presumably, read through.

“Tinga,” she thought out loud and she grabbed her staff from its resting place next to the door. She went out and headed down the long narrow hall into the main chamber.

“Tinga!” she shouted as she entered the grand chamber. Her voice echoed between the pillars. “Tinga! Where are you!”

The only response was the scuttling of small animals into hiding and her voice bouncing between the massive columns.

Her eyes fell on the deeper shadows opposite the throne at the front of the chamber and she moved in that direction. All the while, calling for the errant Amazon.

She moved all the way across the chamber and past a series of columns. Ahead, in the deeper shadows, she could make out a stairway, descending into darkness.

She paused, considering the dark opening before her. Looking around, she could see no sign of any watch on the entrance, even though this was undoubtedly the place Tinga had warned Xena about.

Gripping her staff tightly, she swallowed her heart back into the proper place and stepped down into the inky blackness.

The air became cooler and dank as she continued her descent into nothing. She could feel the damp stone walls on either side of her. The ends of her staff clacked and echoed on the wall or step before her. She used the weapon like a blind persons’ cane, tapping the floor ahead across her path. In the dark, she heard the sounds of small scurrying feet as she approached, and the occasional hollow clack of something else being gently disturbed. The air held a faint bitter sweet odor that clawed at the back of her nostrils. She stopped when she realized what it could be.

“Oh, boy,” she sighed quietly. She fought to calm her racing heart and continued stepping gingerly further into the abyss. A soft glow began so gradually that she didn’t at first realize she could see. Then the deeper open shadows on either side of the stairs drew her attention. Boosted by the fact that she could see, she continued down. Then she saw the faint outlines under the ancient cloth at either side of her and she froze.

The skeletal remains of others lay in niches on the wall. Row by row, line by line, in an ever descending spiral down. She saw one of the pale skulls shift slightly as a dark, rodent shape scuttled past, and heard the hollow clack echo back up the passage.

Her breathing increased as cold horror formed in her belly and her eyes darted from side to side. She stood in the center of the stairs, forcing her feet to continue downwards, her mind creating imagined horrors that would reach from the openings near her, grasping with cold bony claws and dragging her into the darkness with her. The pale tops of skulls lying near the edge of the niches shone in the deeper gloom.

The illumination from below increased in brilliance as she continued, faster now. Her every instinct screamed at her to turn around, go back up, but she ignored it, following the promise of light like a moth towards a candle.

Finally, the spiral ended at a thick arch that opened into a much larger cavern. She could see torches blazing in sconces, hung into the damp stone. Nothing moved in the vastness beyond.

Tentatively, she stepped into the place and gazed about in wonder and fear. She stepped into the chamber and gazed about, dazzled by the brilliance of the torches after so long in the blackness before. As her eyes adjusted to the light, she began to see row upon row of sarcophagus, some ancient and ornate, or coffins made of wood in various stages of decay, lying neatly on thick pale slabs of stone.

“You should not be here,” a voice seemed to whisper in her mind. She took a step back towards the door, spun and would have fled blindly up the steps.

A single figure stood directly in front of her, clad in ruined garments, soiled in mud and who knew what else. Its skin was pale, drawn, covered in tiny blue veins that seemed to twitch just beneath the surface. Pale yellow eyes stared, bloodshot down at her from a ghoulish face. The scalp was completely bald, and the ears were large and pointed.

In a flash, her staff clattered against the far wall and fell into the darkness.

A second clawed hand grasped her arm, and the oversized mouth opened showing row upon row of needle teeth in a macabre grin.

Gabrielle let out a full throated scream that rent the air of the closed chamber and echoed like a ghostly wail all the way back up into the main hall of the temple, now so far away.

Xena bolted for the temple entrance at a run, sword in hand. She pushed past the guards at the entrance and made straight for the stairs. Suddenly a massive dog shape leapt down from concealment, snapping and ravaging like a thing possessed.

Xena stopped short, staring into the gaping maw of Tinga’s wolfish mouth.

“Get out of my way,” Xena hissed, swinging the sword.

“Xena!” Gabrielle’s voice drifted back up to her ears.

With a cry, Xena charged the wolf, but Tinga simply jumped up and back, to the opposite side of the entrance and stared at her, now suddenly not so intent on her duty. Her eyes glanced down at the opening before her, and then at Xena before she leapt into the opening and vanished.

Without considering the potential risk, Xena ran after and bounded down the steps into the darkness.

She was feeling her way along the wall, when a hand grasped her wrist.

Xena swung the sword reflexively and it sparked against the wall, revealing Tinga, now in human form, in that brief flash.

“You’re starting to be a real pain in the tail,” Tinga said angrily. “Just follow me, and watch where you swing that thing, okay?”

Hand in hand, Tinga led Xena quickly down into the depths.

Gabrielle wrenched her arm free of the monster and stepped back against the cold wall, trying to get some distance between her and this thing.

As she looked around, several other ghoulish shapes emerged from the deeper shadows, all leering hungrily at her. Each one was deformed in some way or other, either in appearance, or movement. All of them clothed in rags and pieces cobbled together from whatever could be had in the place.

Many of them simply wore moldering burial shawls over their bodies. Their clawed hands and feet scraped against the stone.

“Look,” Gabrielle said, holding her hands up. “Obviously I took a wrong turn somewhere. It’s okay. I’ll just go back the way I came and make sure I don’t come this way again, right?” She forced a smile. “Besides, there’s so many of you and only one of me. Not enough for all of you, right, I mean, you’d probably end up fighting over whatever was left, and I really don’t want that on my conscience.”

There were at least a dozen of them now, all moving inexorably towards her. Saliva dripped from their fangs and they all leered at her with blood shot, hungry eyes.

“Come on, now,” Gabrielle was close to begging. “Can’t we work something out, here?”

“You should not be here,” the voice echoed again, though none of their mouths seemed to articulate the words.

“I sort of figured that out already,” Gabrielle said in a quavering voice. In desperation she grabbed a torch from the wall and waved it in front of her. “I’ll just leave, okay?”

“You cannot leave.” That voice echoed again.

Suddenly a large wall of fur interposed itself between Gabrielle and the approaching monsters.

Tinga bared her teeth and snapped at the nearest creature. It recoiled, staying a respectful distance from the wolf.

“Gabrielle,” Xena called from the entrance. “Come on!”

Torch in hand, Gabrielle scooted along the wall towards her friend while Tinga kept the other creatures at bay with her snarling and snapping. They backed to the entrance.

“Go on,” Xena nodded, never taking her eyes off the creatures, now leering hungrily at her. “I’m right behind you.”

They fled up the tunnel, with the sounds of Tinga’s paws following. About mid way back to the surface, there came a subtle squishing and stretching noise behind them and the sound of Tinga’s footfalls changed from one of four feet to one of two.

They emerged from the opening and Gabrielle continued to run until she was beyond the doors of the temple and out in the light of the setting sun. She dropped the torch and stood there, shaking in terror.

Xena was at her side instantly; her arms wrapped around the young bards shoulders.

“What in Tartarus were those things?” Gabrielle asked shakily. She tried to speak more, but the words wouldn’t form.

“Easy,” Xena said soothingly in her ear. “You’re okay. It’s all over.”

“What were you doing down there?” Tinga demanded, standing at the top of the dais before the main doors. “I told both of you not to go down there!”

“And where were you?” Xena countered.

“You two were supposed to be asleep in your rooms!” Tinga shot back. “I saw you running for the temple and figured you were up to no good! So I got there ahead of you! I didn’t even know she was down there till I heard her voice!”

Xena stared at Tinga hard. There was fury in that gaze. Her soul mate, her best friend had nearly been killed. Tinga actually stopped short of her next comment and took a step back.

“Leave us alone,” Xena hissed, still cradling Gabrielle in her arms. She led the quaking Gabrielle back towards their rooms.

It was late into the night before Gabrielle had composed herself enough to handle venturing back into the temple.

She and Xena both entered in the middle of a full blown debate. The argument seemed to center around several issues concerning Marshall Titus and his approach. They all fell silent when they saw Xena and Gabrielle standing at the entry arch.

“Ah,” Nickoli said with feigned pleasantry. “Ladies, I was wondering if you were going to join us tonight.”

“Had to take care of something first,” Xena replied. “I think you know something about it?”

“Ah, yes.” Nickoli nodded, and he picked up Gabrielle’s staff which was lying at his feet. He stepped down and moved towards them. Gabrielle stiffened as he approached, but did her best, in her rattled condition, to maintain some sense of composure.

“I believe you dropped this,” he said, presenting the weapon to her. “You have my abject apologies for your experience. Unfortunately, the Nosforata do not always hear my orders. They seldom come out of the sanctum, except on the darkest of moonless nights. It was an oversight that I shall not repeat. You have my word.”

Gabrielle took her weapon and tried to stare hard at Nickoli, but that underlying desire began rising within her as soon as he moved towards them, and she had to look away after only a few seconds. Nickoli smiled.

“You are just in time,” he said. “We were just discussing how best to deal with Titus when he arrives. It seems that he wishes to reassert his dominance over us in the name of Bacchus.”

“It is a proposition that we cannot accept,” Arijani said from his place near the throne. “To allow ourselves to be subjugated by Bacchus again, now that we understand so much of what we truly are, would be to step back into ignorance.”

“Nickoli seems to understand how you can be destroyed.” Xena said.

“Yes. And it is time that you were also instructed.” Talcus said evenly. He stepped up in a swirl of robes and nodded kindly to Gabrielle. Then he turned to Xena. “You are the most experienced of us, with the exception of Nickoli, and perhaps, Lord Damalicus, in the ways of combat. May we speak privately, please?” He motioned for Arijani to join him. “There are certain things you should be made aware of, including the purpose for which we summoned you.”

Xena looked at Gabrielle. “Will you be alright?” she asked.

Gabrielle took a deep breath, still fighting to overcome the shock of earlier and then she nodded.

“Just don’t be gone for too long.”

Talcus smiled sympathetically at Gabrielle and then gestured to a corner of the room.

“Please?” he asked as he moved past Xena.

Xena followed Talcus and Arijani to the privacy of the corner.

“Gabrielle,” Nickoli asked suddenly. “Would you join us, please?”

Confessions and Conflict

Xena, Arijani, and Talcus retreated to the far corner of the temple. Neither of the men spoke as they walked, as if they feared the shadows would overhear what they said.

Finally, Talcus turned and face the warrior princess. His expression was one of absolute calm and detachment.

“First,” Talcus began. “You must understand that, though you were summoned at the behest of Lord Nickoli, there were several in the Conclave who objected to his proposal. Imani, Tinga Vasha, and Damalicus all felt that, by undertaking this challenge, we might all be destroyed. They were perfectly content to allow Lord Nickoli to continue in his place as head of the Conclave, once Titus has been eliminated.”

Arijani nodded. “The rest of us understood that the steps we are about to propose to you, and the information we are to impart are necessary, even if they are undesirable.”

“I don’t understand,” Xena replied. “I thought Nickoli brought me here to kill him? Who is this Titus?”

“I shall explain,” Talcus said calmly, and he gave Arijani a nod. The smaller man scuttled deeper into the shadows.

“When Marshall Titus discovered what he was, it formed an unbreakable link between him and all like us. Should the progenitor be destroyed, it was suggested that it could bring down the rest of us. Everything that we have gained in the past decade would be lost.” Talcus shrugged. “It is a hazard of our existence that we are not about to accept.”

Talcus paced a few steps away, gathering his thoughts. “At the onset of our Conclave, certain rules of conduct had to be established, for the good of us all, or we would descend into a level of brutality and anarchy that would have been unprecedented. Unfortunately, one of our first laws was that we should not kill our own kind, except in self defense. It is a philosophy that sets us above mortal man. What we have become is too precious.”

“I’ll bet,” Xena muttered.

“I understand that our very existence disturbs you,” Talcus said in a sympathetic tone. “We are a paradox. Our very existence goes against the natural order of the world. This is why we have undertaken the plan to eliminate Titus; however he and his personal guard are too strong for us assail him directly. Any one of us who would attempt such an act would forfeit their lives before they even had a chance. Since Titus will undoubtedly be accompanied by a bodyguard, and since you are not one of us?”

“We’re expendable,?” Xena said coldly.

Talcus merely shrugged.

“Intrigues of this nature are woven into the very fabric of any nation.” He responded coolly. “Our laws never took into account that any of us would want to willingly end his or her own life. Now, unfortunately, Lord Nickoli is determined to achieve this, somehow. But his destruction would bring about the deaths of us all.”

“Yet another situation that we cannot allow,” Arijani added. “In order for the Lord Nickoli to achieve what he desires, he must find a way to remove himself from the line of succession, without severing it completely.”

A smile of understanding formed on Xena’s lips and she nodded.

Arijani reappeared carrying a large bag in his arms.

“I have the implements you require,” he said. He set the bag down and began rummaging through it.

He produced several long wooden spikes, which he handed to Xena for inspection. “As you are, no doubt, aware, these should be stabbed through the heart of your enemy. If you miss, you will only slow him down, you understand?”

Xena nodded, remembering the encounter with Nickoli in the forest.

“In one as powerful as Titus, it may not be as effective, so do not engage him unless you absolutely must. You’re primary task is to assist in eliminating his bodyguard.” he dove into the bag again and produced two small vials, one filled with a dark amber liquid, the second with clear water. “Sacred anointing oil from the temple of Aphrodite, and water, similarly blessed.” He gestured to Xena. “Your weapons, if I may?”

Reluctantly, Xena handed him her sword. Arijani poured the oil over the blade and then returned it to her along with the larger vial of water.

“Through experimentation, I have discovered that the blessings of any good aligned deity will imbue the weapon to work with remarkable efficacy against one of our kind.”

“Experimentation?” Xena asked, dreading the answer. Arijani merely shrugged his shoulders and smiled behind his thick beard. Then he looked at Talcus questioningly.

“Give them to her,” Talcus nodded. “She must have everything.”

Arijani opened up the bag again and produced several scrolls of black parchment.

“This is something that the Lord Nickoli has no knowledge of.” Arijani said grimly. “These are all the ways that we may be destroyed. Weapons, herbs, and others that we have discovered. They also contain all the ways that we know of, for our kind to be created.”

What’s to stop me from taking out Titus myself, and killing all of you outright?” Xena asked.

Arijani smiled. “It is a risk, yet Lord Nickoli believes you honorable, and trusts that you will not kill those who have done no harm to you.”

“And we have done no harm to any human being since our entry into this house,” Talcus continued.

Xena raised an eyebrow. “And before?”

“You murdered the innocent before you found your true path,” Talcus replied. “Did you not?”

Xena paused, looking in the old philosopher’s eyes.

“We all have our pasts,” Talcus continued. “Otrocities that we have committed and must atone for. It is part of the balance between our darker and lighter aspects.”

“Would you condemn a man for his past, without first looking at his present?” Arijani added. “You are like us in many ways, first reveling in your power, then trying to understand it, and finally, utilizing it for the benefit of others, as should be done. We ask that you allow us to walk this path, as you have.”

“Both Arijani and I share a similar understanding,” Talcus added. “There are always good and evil mingled together in any community. We cannot guarantee that all of our future children will see this journey clearly. They may seek to abuse their gifts, believing that they cannot be stopped by humanity, hence these scrolls. For mortals to gain this knowledge would take decades, and by then we could have covered the entire world with our kind.”

“With the knowledge here, the balance between light and darkness can be maintained.” Talcus finished. “I would ask that you take these to the library in Athens. They should be copied and sent to all the centers of learning in the known world.” He glanced quickly over at the others near Nickoli’s throne, and then up into the darkness of the roof above, in case someone or something would overhear them.

“Above all,” Talcus whispered. “It is imperative that either you or your friend survive this, if only to deliver what is here to the rest of humanity. The others would slay us in an instant if they knew we were doing this. You understand?”

Xena stared into the man’s eyes for a long moment, trying to determine if he was lying, or not. His expression was so earnest, so desperate, that she realized to her surprise, that Talcus was being truthful. She nodded grimly.

“I understand.” She said, and she actually placed her hand on the man’s shoulder.

“Thank you, Xena,” Talcus bowed his head.

Nickoli looked down at Gabrielle. He smiled, and Gabrielle fought that intangible pull with all her might.

“I understand that you were led to seek us out when you discovered that someone had gone through your possessions.” He confessed.

“Yes,” Gabrielle replied, and she shot a glance in Tinga’s direction, only to see a genuinely surprised look on the Amazon woman’s face.

“Tinga is not to blame,” Nickoli continued. “I’m afraid it was me. I asked Neris to bring your scrolls to me while I waited below ground today.” He shrugged. “I was curious to see just how much Xena had changed since our first encounter, so long ago.” He handed the missing scroll back to her. “I kept this one for a bit longer, because something in it fascinated me.”

Gabrielle was astonished. She took the scroll from his hand and opened it.

“This is the one from our time at the Temple of Isclipius,” she said after a moment. “Why did you want this one?”

“Because this one, above all the others, showed how far Xena has truly come,” Nickoli confessed. “The one called Hippocrates described to you in particular detail how Xena reacted when you supposedly died. That above all else has shown me what I needed to know.”

“All you had to do was ask me,” Gabrielle scowled. “I would have given them to you.”

“I understand that now, you see,” Nickoli said. “I did not have such faith before, even though you are more honest than most. Accept my apology, please, and my sympathies.”

“Sympathies?” Gabrielle asked.

“Over the loss of your husband,” Nickoli said. “As I said, I read through all of them.”

Gabrielle felt a sudden pang of sadness at the mention of Perdicus.

“Yeah, well, it was some time ago,” she said, trying to appear strong, though the loss tore her heart out. “I’m past that now.”

“No,” Nickoli said with amazing gentleness. “No you’re not. No one could be, not in a year, not in ten lifetimes.”

Gabrielle fell silent under his gaze, and for the first time, Nickoli himself seemed unsure of what to say next.

“The other thing I found remarkable,” Nickoli finally said. “Was your deeply seated respect for life, in all aspects. You would not take a life, not even the one called Callisto, even after she killed your Perdicus. Your convictions are quite admirable.”

Gabrielle was at a loss for words, her mouth hung open in surprise.

Nickoli was about to say something else when a guard ran in form outside.

“My Lord,” He announced. “Marshall Titus and his men are approaching.”

“How many accompany the Marshall?” Nickoli asked, sitting up straighter.

“Only six,” The guard replied.

“His personal guards,” Nickoli waived the man away. “Very well. Thank you; withdraw all of the mortal servants from the temple. Return to your homes, and do not return here for three days, do you understand?”

“But, My Lord, you said that-“

“Do you understand?” Nickoli said more loudly. “All the guards, the inner retinue, housekeepers, acolytes, everyone!”

“Yes, My Lord,” The guard replied smartly. He gave a quick salute and wheeled on his feet, making for the door.

“Xena!” Nickoli called. “Would you rejoin us, please?”

Xena strode forward and stood next to Gabrielle.

“You should conceal yourselves for the time being,” Nickoli suggested to Gabrielle. “I fear that Titus and his bodyguard may present a bitter challenge. One beyond your skills.”

“What?” Gabrielle asked. “But I-“

Nickoli looked at Xena. “The first part of our bargain,” he said urgently. “His personal bodyguard must be kept at bay! Slow them down or kill them if you can! But you can not touch Titus himself. Leave the Marshal for us!”

“All right,” Xena nodded.

“Xena!” Gabrielle protested.

“Get out of sight,” Xena said quickly. “You can’t help me on this one!”

She took up a position next to Nickoli’s throne and looked at Gabrielle intently. Then her eyes drifted down and Gabrielle saw the bag that Xena had quietly set behind the throne.

Nickoli’s eyes gazed at the other members of the conclave and then he sat back down in his seat. “The rest of you, as we previously discussed.” He motioned to the others and they vanished into the shadows.

“Wait for my signal, Xena,” Nickoli said. “Then do not stop until we have eliminated his entire bodyguard.”

Xena nodded, drawing her sword while Gabrielle reluctantly faded into the shadows.

Nickoli sat still as stone, his green eyes fixed on the entrance to the temple. They heard the footfalls of the approaching creatures, and everyone stiffened in anticipation.

A figure moved next to Gabrielle. Tinga leaned closer to her.

“Gabrielle,” Tinga said quickly. “You were right. I was wrong. I’m sorry.”

Gabrielle smiled to hear that.

“We can talk about all that later,” she replied quickly, but she looked in Tinga’s eyes and nodded.

Tinga pressed several sharpened wooden stakes into Gabrielle’s hands

“If they find you, use the stakes to impale their heart, and then go for the decapitation stroke. A simple thrust won’t finish these boys off.” Tinga offered. “I’ll keep close to you, and help to slow them down where I can.”

“Don’t have much choice, do I?” Gabrielle said nervously.

Tinga smiled. “No.” Then she seemed to bend double as her body changed into its wolfish counterpart and she edged closer to the light in the hall.

Marshall Titus came into the temple, surrounded by his bodyguard. They strode into the main hall and marched towards Nickoli, still sitting motionless With Xena standing at his side.

“Well, General,” Titus said in a deep, thickly accented voice. “You seem to have done quite well for yourself.”

“Greetings, My Lord,” Nickoli said in a subdued voice. “To what do I own this unexpected honor?”

“I am here to return you to the fold, Nickoli,” Titus said. “Our master waits.”

“Your master, perhaps,” Nickoli countered. “He, long ago, ceased to be mine.”

Nickoli rose and strode forward purposefully. “Do not let him drag you back into the chains of servitude, Titus. You know as well as I do that this is all a lie. He is a lie.”

“He is our god,” Titus said. “Our creator and we owe him our allegiance.”

“We owe no one,” Nickoli said. “We are free now. Join me and we can live our lives as we choose, by our rules.”

“And those rules involve the destruction of your own kind?” Titus growled. “This obvious trap?” He looked past him at Xena, stepping slowly from the dais and moving towards them. “Many things have changed, Nickoli, and you do not begin to fathom it all. I am here to either bring you back to Lord Bacchus or to exact justice for the murder of our own people. Your little hired assassin will not avail you.”

Titus turned his pale eyes to Xena.

Xena stared back at Titus. He was a large man, and powerfully built, dressed in the ragged remains of splendid armor that, despite its neglect, was still magnificent to behold in its decay. His long mane of hair was pure white, like his skin, and his eyes were pale red in color. In life, he must have been an albino.

Setting her face in resignation, she stepped a few paces closer, her eyes scanning the bodyguard with total detachment. Each of them was like Titus, powerfully built and well armored. Each guard carried a short stabbing sword and shield, and each one wore an iron collar about his neck and a thick iron breastplate covering their chest. Her military mind concluded that the killing stroke would now have to slice just above the jawbone, essentially removing the top three fourths of her opponent’s skull instead of a clean slice through the soft tissue at the neck. The heart stab would have to be from the side, under the left arm, the shield arm, another difficult target. Inwardly she cursed.

“You will make an excellent addition to our new army,” Titus smiled at her. He nodded as if she had spoken her assessment aloud. “If my Lord allows you to exist.”

Xena’s eyes flicked towards Nickoli. He gave a subtle nod.

“We’ll see,” Xena replied, and she leapt in to attack the first three guards.

The swords clashed in a storm of sudden noise as Xena moved in to try for a kill on the first of Titus’s men.

Nickoli also rushed in to attack, realizing that Xena would be hard pressed to accomplish her side of the bargain on her own. He flew through the air and slammed into two of the guards attacking Xena, sending them all flying back towards the door. A sword appeared in his hand and he quickly topped two of the guards with a lightning fast slice.

“Now!” Nickoli shouted at the top of his lungs.

The dozen Nosforata, hanging from the ceiling above, descended upon Titus’s men like pale wraiths, fastening their needle teeth into the flesh of the bodyguard. Hissing and spitting like animals. Many of them were destroyed before they could latch on, but the distraction was enough.

In a swift move, Xena ducked under the shield of her nearest opponent and drove the wooden stake up into the soft flesh just below the guards left armpit. She felt it penetrate the tissue right to where the heart should have been. The guard’s eyes went wide in shock and he began to stumble forward as Xena came up behind and slashed down through the base of the skull out between the two jaws. The headless body collapsed in a fountain of blood as Xena spun to face the next opponent.

Titus watched in amazement as the Nosforata, ghoulish and starved, quickly dispatched three of his guards, while Xena and the traitor, Nickoli finished off his last remaining one.

Nickoli slammed the stake through the breast plate of his opponent and spun him directly in the charging Warrior Princess’s path.

“Xena!” he shouted.

She brought her sword around and topped the next guard, then spun low and came up, releasing the chakram. It ricocheted against the stone wall and nearly sliced the top of Titus’s skull from his body. Then she and Nickoli were sent sailing back into the temple.

Titus stood alone in the center of the carnage, his boots squelching on the gory remains scattered about the stone floor. He was laughing.

“Well done!” he praised. “Very well done!”

Then Titus raised his arms and a loud chittering and squeaking could be heard from outside, rising in volume as it approached. A cloud of bats burst through the entrance of the temple and swarmed the Nosforata, heading like a cloud of angry locusts for Nickoli and Xena.

“You didn’t tell me he could do that!” Xena said angrily.

“I didn’t know he could do that!” Nickoli retorted.

“Gabrielle!” Xena called. “Get out of here! Now!”

Gabrielle came into view near the front of the temple, her eyes wide in horror.

Xena threw the bag of black scrolls to her. “Get that stuff out of here!”
“The Black Scrolls! Where did you get those?” Nickoli bellowed in rage. He saw the ends of the scrolls in the bag when Gabrielle caught them. “No!”

Gabrielle looked up at Nickoli, his eyes ablaze, and mouth frothing with rage and betrayal.

“Run!” Xena shouted, breaking Gabrielle out of her stupor. She turned and darted for the side entrance.

Nickoli leapt after her, stopping several paces away, his eyes bouncing between the onslaught of Titus and the escaping bard. He let out another bellow.

“Imani!” He shouted. “Do it!”

The entire conclave of House Vampyra rushed in to grasp Titus.

Tinga saw Talcus get within arms length of the ancient blood drinker before Titus swept off his head with a vicious slash of his clawed hands. She howled and charged in, leaving Gabrielle to make her escape. Titus saw the large wolf coming and thrust his sword out to meet the attack, only to feel the fangs of the remaining conclave sink into his pale flesh.

The cloud of bats, once focused on their attack, became disorganized as the hold of Titus was broken, and they fled chittering into the shadows, or out the nearest opening, fading like darker clouds in the night sky.

Nickoli looked again from the cluster of beings feeding on Titus and the open doorway that Gabrielle had just fled through. With an inhuman roar, he flew through the open door in pursuit of Gabrielle.

Xena cried out in rage and followed as fast as her feet would carry her, leaving the rest of the conclave to finish their grisly feast.

Gabrielle ran as fast as her feet would carry her. She burst from the main gates of the temple and ran towards the twinkling lights of the town nearby. From behind her, she could sense as well as hear the bellowing roar of Nickoli as he pursued.

She had just reached the worn path when a weight slammed down upon her from behind and sent her skidding to the earth. The bags in her hand went bouncing off into the darkness. Cold hands clutched at her shoulders and she felt herself lifted from the earth and turned to face Nickoli’s fiery gaze. His fangs protruded from his mouth and he opened his jaws in a hiss.

Gabrielle kicked up into the creatures belly with all her strength and felt the grip loosen slightly.

She wiggled free and turned to resume her dash for safety when Nickoli’s arm encircled her, pulling her back. Then his other hand came up against her face, stifling her. She felt something warm and wet against her mouth and nose. It flowed into her mouth as she fought for breath. It was sweet and salty at the same time. In panic she tried to spit the fluid back out but there was no place for it to go, then her throat convulsed and she felt it drop into her belly.

Suddenly, the sensation wasn’t unpleasant, wasn’t grotesque. She felt a wave of pleasure blast through her every nerve with such force that she went weak in the knees. It was the scent of every flower in the spring, all at once. The blindness of sunlight and dark in concert. Every beautiful sound she had ever heard thundered in her ears in perfect, entrancing harmony. She was drinking mead, or sweet wine, and the pleasure was fire drenched by honey. It was the release of her wedding night with Perdicus increased a hundred fold. She wanted as much as she could take, and then more. Instead of struggling to get free, she held the hand fast against her mouth and drank, intoxicated by the orgasmic sensations ricocheting through her body and soul.

Somewhere in the distance she heard a familiar voice echoing in the distance as she felt her self falling into a bottomless, passionate dream.

“Gabrielle!” Xena cried in horror.

She lay motionless on the grass, her neck covered in a crimson stain. Nickoli stood up over her, holding Arijani’s bag in one clawed hand. His chest heaved in rage.

“Treachery!” he shouted at Xena.

Gabrielle stirred slowly on the ground. Her head was moving weakly from side to side.

“You betrayed my trust!” Nickoli bellowed. “So now I betray yours!”

Then he vanished, sailing back towards the temple in a rage.

Xena ran to Gabrielle’s side and scooped her up in her arms.

“Gabrielle?” She pleaded.

Gabrielle’s eyes opened, but they were not her eyes. They were deep red and bloodshot, as if something in her body was attempting to burst from her. A red stain, like a tear flowed down her cheek.

“Hey, Gabrielle?” Xena coaxed.

“I want more,” Gabrielle whispered huskily. Xena saw the sharp protuberances above her eye teeth indicating premature fangs.

“Oh no,” Xena rocked Gabrielle back and forth, fighting back her own tears. A long mournful scream burst from her, splitting the night all the way up to the stars.

Nickoli stood at the entrance to the temple, staring out at Xena, seeing her as clearly as if she were right before him, reading every line of pain etched into her face. A satisfied smile appeared on his lips when her wail split the silence of the night and he turned and strode calmly back into the temple.

“Only a matter of time now,” he said confidently.

He stepped through the mucky remains of the battle and moved towards his seat. Titus was a thinning pile of blackened ash, scattering across the dry spots of stone on the floor, the rest of his entourage was destroyed, and his children looked ravishing in the light of their newly fed forms. They seemed to glow.

Imani smiled and nodded. “It is done, my love,” she said. Blood covered the lower portion of her delicate face and stained the front of her dark dress.

“Not quite,” Nickoli replied. “But soon.” He looked at all of them and smiled. He saw the remains of Talcus lying in the corner, his pale robes soaked in his own blood and the blood of many others. Then he turned and looked at his “family” from one to the other.

Beautiful Imani, mysterious Vasha, the powerful Damalicus, and the wise Arijani. A fifth figure seemed to melt into view, still covered in the moldering burial shawl. Its inhuman bloodshot eyes fixed unblinking on Nickoli. In its misshapen arms it carried the lifeless body of Tinga.

“Ah, Ghoul,” Nickoli nodded. “You have survived also. Excellent.”

The Nosforata laid the limp body of Tinga before the throne and gave a simple nod of its head.

“Now,” Nickoli said with grim resignation. “You all know what must follow. Take your followers and go, quickly. If you stay, there is a chance that you will be destroyed when she returns. What must follow is for me and me alone.”

One by one they all withdrew, not just from the chamber, but from the temple itself, scattering into the darkness.

Imani was the last to leave. She paused at the entrance and turned back to face Nickoli. A tear of blood rolled down her cheek.

“Thank you,” she said longingly to him. “Father.” And then she was gone.

Nickoli knelt next to the body of Tinga, and moved a few stray hairs from her face, studying it for a long moment, as if trying to understand the meaning of being truly lifeless. He smiled tenderly and placed a gentle kiss on her pale forehead. Then he seated himself on the throne and waited.

Gabrielle’s eyes were deepening to a brilliant crimson color, and her flesh began to pale and cool. She smiled wistfully in the drunken blood stupor.

“It was so wonderful,” she said huskily.

“Lay quiet, now,” Xena said staring down at her face and feeling the panic freeze like a heavy block in the pit of her belly.

Gabrielle smiled as she looked up at Xena with a sudden intense clarity. “You should try it, Xena. By the gods, I want more. I need more.” Her hand reached weakly up and caressed Xena’s cheek. “I want to go to him.”

Xena’s despair solidified into icy rage as she looked back up the gentle incline to the main gate of the temple.

“So do I,” she said menacingly. She lifted Gabrielle in her arms and marched off towards the temple.

Half way up the hill, Gabrielle’s eyes snapped open wide and alert.

“Put me down,” she said suddenly.

Xena looked down at her, staring back at her with unearthly eyes.

“It’s alright,” Gabrielle continued. “I think I can walk.”

Xena gently let Gabrielle’s feet back down on the ground while still keeping her other arm under the bards shoulder.

Gabrielle slumped against Xena, struggling to master her own legs.

“Easy now,” Xena soothed.

“Just a little dizzy,” Gabrielle countered. She breathed in deeply and looked about her. Her eyes went wide in wonder. “I can see.” She breathed. The night world shone in her gaze with crystal clarity, as if she were staring out into the noon day sun with freshly opened eyes. She caught the scuttling of small creatures, scampering to and fro along the outer wall. In the distance, she spied a lone stag standing at the crest of a gentle rise. It stared in their direction for a few moments and then vanished from sight.

“Just get to the temple with me, okay?” Xena asked. She helped the giddy Gabrielle continue towards the gates. Suddenly Gabrielle doubled over as if in pain and dropped to one knee.

“Wow,” she gasped. Looking back up at Xena, her eyes were deeper now, almost seductive. “It feels like lightning flying through my body. It’s so good! So alive!”

Xena placed a finger against Gabrielle’s throat, feeling for a pulse. It was there, deep and slow, far too slow for a normal person, and it was slowing even further.

“Xena?” Gabrielle looked back up at her in sudden fear. “What did he do to me?”

Xena helped Gabrielle through the gates and let her slide down to the ground against the cool stone wall.

“I don’t know, Gabrielle,” Xena answered nervously. “I think he’s turned you into one of them.”

Gabrielle looked back up at Xena with pleading eyes.

“I don’t want to be like him, Xena,” she pleaded. “I don’t want to live like he does. I can’t take a life, even if it means I die. Don’t let me become a monster like him!”

“You won’t,” Xena said. “You stay here. I’m going to have a word with our friend.” Her voice dropped to a menacing growl.

The inner doors slammed open with an echoing crash as Xena burst into the torch lit chamber. She saw Nickoli seated on the throne, staring at her intently.

“Time for me to fulfill my end of our little bargain, Nickoli,” Xena hissed as she stalked towards him.

“It was all supposed to be so simple, wasn’t it?” Nickoli sighed dramatically. Then he rose to his feet and reached behind the throne, drawing out a long, narrow sword. He tapped the silver blade against the bag of scrolls hanging on the back of the throne and shook his head.

“Unfortunately,” he sighed. “I must rescind that part of my request because of these. You cannot be allowed to give this information to the world, so I have given you a choice instead? Destroy me, and make Gabrielle a target for any hunter in the world or walk away and live, knowing that Gabrielle will remain safe as my pupil and companion.”

“Safe?” Xena countered. “Safe until she has a whole village tracking her like an animal?”

“Mankind will learn to combat my kind eventually, yes” Nickoli replied. “But the information contained in those scrolls will give them an overwhelming advantage before my kind has established themselves. That, I will not permit.”

“I’ll make a bargain with you, Nickoli,” Xena said. “Undo what you’ve done to Gabrielle and I’ll walk away.”

“I very much doubt it,” Nickoli countered. “Gabrielle’s scrolls were most enlightening. I was able to learn much of what you have tried to hide from me these past days. Always fighting for the greater good. Never taking life if you didn’t need to. Yes, my dear, beautiful Xena, you have changed.”

Nickoli swung his sword in slow deliberate arcs, as if he were loosening up his wrist. “The Black Scrolls of Arijani represent the greater good for mankind,” He said with an icy smile. “So I do not believe, for one moment, that you will simply walk away. Your precious Gabrielle would be a terrible price to pay if you gave that knowledge to man, but in your heart, I know you will still do it. You have become weak, Xena. You have become soft in your compassion for the less fortunate. You have become the one thing that dooms any warlord in a trial by combat.” His eyes burned through her soul as they changed to their glowing crimson. He smiled with a hiss, baring his fangs. “You have become predictable!”

Nickoli stopped ten feet from Xena, standing at attention, his sword behind him. He raised it in salute and stood poised, motionless, waiting for her to attack. His eyes watched Xena with feral intensity, deep and compelling.

“Gabrielle is mine, forever,” Nickoli said simply, and he smiled that cold calculating smile again. “Accept it.”

With a cry of rage, Xena swept in for an attack. Nickoli stepped and blocked the sword strokes easily. The blades clanged three times in rapid succession before they parted, Nickoli standing, once again, straight and poised, his weapon out behind him, waiting.

Xena crouched low, her weapon out in front of her, gauging Nickoli carefully. His posture and position, everything about his stance said that he was vulnerable. She waded in again. Nickoli stepped nimbly back, his own weapon coming out and deflecting her blows easily, then she was pressed back by a series of quick thrusts and sweeps until she gained a safe distance through retreat. Again Nickoli stood tall, poised and weapon behind him. He began walking around Xena, his eyes never leaving hers.

“You cannot defeat me, Xena,” Nickoli said simply. “I will spare your life, in payment for the services you have already provided if you leave now. I shall not make that offer a second time.”

“Listen to him, Xena,” came a familiar voice behind her.

Xena turned and saw Gabrielle standing at the entrance. She walked forward, her eyes also a brilliant crimson, aglow with lust and hunger.

Her every movement was smooth and catlike, almost seductive in the way she seemed to flow towards the two of them.

“Gabrielle?” Xena asked desperately, her eyes bouncing back and forth between Nickoli, standing poised and waiting and the thing that had been her best friend, slinking towards her.

“It isn’t so bad, when you think about it,” Gabrielle said coyly. She stepped next to Xena, her pale fingers tracing the arc of Xena’s shoulder. “I’ll be able to live forever, and experience all the things I want to in this life.” She ran her finger up the length of Xena’s blade, smiling at Xena with unadulterated lust. “You could come with me?” she finished. “You said we were destined to be together forever, why not make it a reality?”

“Not like this,” Xena said. “I don’t want it to be like this, Gabrielle. You told me a moment ago, that you didn’t want it like this either!”

“Well?” Gabrielle shrugged as she moved next to Nickoli and let her arms encircle his neck, leaning against him like a hungry lover. “It looks like it’s this, or nothing?” Her eyes fixed on Xena with a desire that sent a shudder of horror up Xena’s spine. There was something so raw in Gabrielle that it seemed to be eating away at the girl she was, turning her into some deadly form of irresistible siren. One that would deal death in spades to whomever she encountered.

“You’ll love the way it feels,” Gabrielle cooed. “It’s like every lover you’ve ever had, all wrapped up into one intense moment.”

She sighed. “I’ve only had the one lover in my life. And the experience of it was made so much more intense by him. Imagine how you would feel. You’ve had more than a few lovers in your time.”

“Stop that,” Xena said, her rage beginning to boil.

“Imagine every night with Marcus repeated a hundred times in one instant,” Gabrielle cooed. “Or Borias, or both at the same time, all at once?” She smiled.

Xena stepped forward, her weapon out, but Gabrielle interposed herself between Nickoli and her friend.

“Xena,” she continued, almost pleading. “You have to join me. I don’t want this alone. I want to share it with you.” She reached out and touched Xena’s cheek. Her skin was cool and moist. Xena shuddered with realization. Her eyes filled with tears and she reached out to touch Gabrielle’s cheek in return.

“I’m sorry,” Xena said in a quavering voice. Then her gaze went from one of warmth and longing to bestial ice and she struck Gabrielle as hard as she could, knocking her clear of the fray. With a cry of fury, she attacked Nickoli.

Nickoli stepped and danced as his own weapon deflected and countered Xena’s endless attacks. He seemed to move without effort, as if he could sense Xena’s strikes before she attempted them. His posture never changed, always straight and proud. With nothing more than an apparent flick of the wrist, his blade sliced up against Xena’s left arm.

Xena recoiled only for a moment, and then struck again. Nickoli continued to dance about, dodging this way and that, his weapon glinting red in the torch light. His face was unreadable, his eyes never leaving Xena. Another quick flick of the wrist and his blade sliced a small gash on Xena’s right cheek. Then another and Xena’s left leg was bleeding.

Xena stepped back, staring in shock at Nickoli as he stood again, statuesque and inhuman in the light, his eyes intent on her, yet calm and passive, almost dead.

Nickoli shook his head almost imperceptibly and before Xena could do anything, a weight fell on her from behind.

Gabrielle hissed and spat like a rabid feline, all the while trying to lock her lips on one of Xena’s bleeding wounds.

Xena reacted out of blind instinct to the attack and flipped Gabrielle over her shoulder, slamming her to the stone with bone crushing force. Any normal person would have felt his or her spine shatter at the impact, but Gabrielle simply bounced back to her feet again and charged in, eyes blazing, mouth wide. Xena deflected her charge and sent her best friend skidding across the flag stones into the shadows. She turned and barely deflected a blow by Nickoli who had waited patiently for the opportunity to strike.

Xena stepped back and saw Gabrielle rising to her feet again; her eyes alight with hunger and madness. Then Xena went berserk and charged Nickoli without any care for her own fate. She swung her weapon, ducking and dodging countless return strikes, her weapon clanging in the vast chamber. Nickoli backed away, suddenly confused and concerned. His confidence of a moment before wavered under this suicidal onslaught. He saw his opponents sword come crashing down, saw his blade deflect it, his return stroke opened another gash on Xena’s shoulder. There was a dull flash of something else in her left hand. Xena juked to one side, spinning and coming up in a savage thrust.

Gabrielle was charging again, her eyes wide. The entire world seemed to slow to a horrifying crawl.

The sound was a sickening crunch followed by a squelching noise as Xena stabbed upwards with the wooden stake. It entered just below the ribs and stabbed up through the heart.

Nickoli stood up stiff as white pain flashed hot behind his eyes. His breath burst out in a loud gasp and his face turned skyward.

Gabrielle careened off to the side, clutching her own chest as she shared in the pain of her creator and she collapsed in a heap on the floor.

Nickoli’s sword dropped from his numb fingers with a clatter, and he looked back down into the glacial gaze of Xena. She had a savage grin on her face, filled with dark triumph.

Nickoli’s gaze continued down to Xena’s outstretched left arm all the way to the hand, soaked in his blood. He looked back up into her eyes just in time to see the ferocity rekindled and she jammed the stake even further and released it.

Another gasp and his knees gave out. He sank down, arms useless at his sides.

Gabrielle also convulsed with Xena’s second thrust.

Nickoli looked over at the fallen bard. Weakly, Gabrielle’s face turned up, and her green eyes stared in wonder and horror at him. The deep red light of blood lust was gone. She breathed in ragged gasps and her mouth opened in shock.

“You understand, now?” Nickoli asked her.

Gabrielle only nodded weakly and her head sank back onto the flags.

Nickoli blinked and sighed. He looked back up at Xena and a calm smile appeared on his lips. “Well played, my dear. Well played.”

Nickoli toppled forward and lay still. His blood seeped from the fatal wound, spreading in a dark pool along the stones.

Xena stared down at Nickoli for a long moment before her eyes were drawn back to Gabrielle. When she saw the bards arm move, she dropped her sword and ran to her side.

Gently, she turned Gabrielle over and held her close.

“Gabrielle?” Xena asked

Gabrielle’s eyes opened slowly. They were no longer the deep red of a blood drinker. They were the old clear green.

“You have to finish it,” Gabrielle whispered. “You have to finish it.”

Xena looked over at Nickoli’s body, tears streaming down her cheeks. She lay Gabrielle gently down. Taking up her sword, she stood over the dead blood drinker’s corpse.

Xena looked back at Gabrielle who only nodded weakly. The sword sliced down severing Nickoli’s head from his body. The head rolled off into the darkness. At the same moment, Gabrielle convulsed once, twice, and the blood she had been forced to drink burst from her mouth, covered her face in a mass of sticky red. She rolled over and vomited the rest of the poison out onto the floor while she sobbed in pain.

Xena ran back to Gabrielle’s side again and supported her as the last of the blood voided from her system. She rocked Gabrielle gently, like a baby awakening from a nightmare, whispering comforting noises in her ear.

“He never bit me,” Gabrielle finally managed to splutter. She gagged a couple more times and sighed. “He forced me to drink his blood, but he never bit me.”

Xena paused in surprise. “He must have known that this would happen,” she thought out loud. She stared at the headless corpse in mild confusion and then she looked back down at Gabrielle, her hands and face were a mask of bloody gore.

“Let’s get you out of here and get you cleaned up,” she said softly.

She rose, practically carrying Gabrielle in her arms.

“The scrolls,” Gabrielle coughed.

Xena looked back at the bag, hanging from the back of the chair. She helped Gabrielle along and hobbled over to the throne, taking the bag of black scrolls and slinging them over her shoulder. They moved out into the ruined garden and Xena let Gabrielle settle down with her back against the cool stone side of the fountain.

Xena found a cloth in the bag and dipped it in the water, wiping the gore from Gabrielle’s fingers and face. As the cool cloth moved across her cheek, her eyes opened and studied Xena’s face. She saw Xena’s injuries, the tear streaks on her face.

“That’s it,” Xena said gently. “Just relax.”

“You look terrible,” Gabrielle whispered wearily, but her lips turned up in a soft smile.

Xena smiled back. “You don’t look so good yourself.”

Gabrielle’s smile grew and she began to laugh weakly. Xena found the laugh, though pained, contagious and she began to laugh as well.

She looked up towards the east and saw the first pale light of morning beginning to drift across the sky.

“It’ll be morning soon,” Xena said. “We should make the most of today and get as far from here as we can.”

“Where are we going?” Gabrielle asked.

Xena continued wiping the blood from Gabrielle’s face.

“We’re going to Athens, to drop those scrolls off,” she said. “Then we’re going to relax for a while.”

“Then let’s get going,” Gabrielle sighed.

Xena smiled. It was obvious that Gabrielle wasn’t going anywhere for a few hours at least.

“We have some time,” Xena said. “We’ll wait till it’s fully light. Rest for a while, okay?”

Gabrielle closed her eyes and at once fell into a deep slumber.

Xena lay down next to her and opened the bag containing the black scrolls. She pulled one out and began to read it. Then she, too, closed her eyes and slept.

The fire was burning and crackling merrily as the two women set up their camp for the night. The moon shone silver and wavy in the gentle current of the nearby river.

Gabrielle neatly cleaned the three small fish that she and Xena had caught for their supper, her mind wandering back across the past adventures. In nearly two weeks, she hadn’t even bothered to pick up her scrolls and quill. It was as if her muse was pausing in contemplation.

“Are we going to eat any time tonight?” Xena asked lightly.

Gabrielle started from her reverie and felt the sharp pain of her knife as it sliced into her finger. She dropped the fish on the ground and waved her hand, wincing.

Xena looked down at the ruined meal and sighed. “Guess not.”

“Very funny,” Gabrielle shot back, more than a little annoyed. She looked down to inspect her self inflicted wound and paused, seeing the blood oozing from between the two pieces of skin. She seemed transfixed by it.

Ordinarily, a small wound like this would not have drawn that much attention. Stick your finger in your mouth and suck on it for a moment, then rinse it off.

This idea, however was suddenly repellant to Gabrielle after her recent experience. She grasped the first piece of cloth she could find and wiped at the small cut with manic intensity.

Xena watched for a moment before placing a hand over hers.

“It’s okay,” Xena said quietly. “It’s over. It’s been over for a month now?”

Gabrielle looked at the cloth covering her finger and shivered.

“It doesn’t feel like it,” she replied in a subdued voice. “Xena. Why did he do that to me?”

A voice drifted from the trees, smooth and feminine.

“It was the only way to get what he desired.”

Instantly, Xena had her sword in hand, and Gabrielle grabbed two of the freshly sharpened stakes, both of them scanning the trees around them.

Xena’s eyes narrowed as an unnatural chill passed over the two of them.

“Imani,” Xena hissed.

From the edge of the trees, near the river, the figure of Imani, pale in her diaphanous gown, glided from the pale light of the moon, into the warm glow of their tiny camp fire.

“Very good,” she said with a nod. “I do not remember saying more than a few words to you, and yet you recognize me by my voice.” She stepped fully into view and cast a disdainful glance at Gabrielle.

“Put those away, child,” she said with a voice that only bordered on civility. “You and I both know that you will never use them, even to kill one of my kind.”

“My feelings may have changed slightly,” Gabrielle said in a menacing voice.

Imani’s eyebrows rose in amusement. “Perhaps, child. But not that much.” She turned to look at Xena, her hands clasping in front of her in a demure manner.

“I am here to speak with you,” she said. “I invoke the Right of Truce.”

“Cocky one aren’t you,” Xena snarled. The Right of Truce was a rule, designed to allow two warring parties to meet without fear of retribution or treachery. It was a sacred law, and one that even the most duplicitous warlord would think twice about breaking.

Imani settled on a fallen log, reaching her fingers toward the fire. She looked up at Xena expectantly.

“If you are going to strike me down, then do so,” she suggested. “Otherwise, put away your weapons so we may speak.”

Gabrielle circled the fire and stood next to Xena. She lowered the wooden stakes, though she did not set them aside.

Xena, after a few moments of consideration, slid her sword into its sheath and crossed her arms across her chest.

“Well?”

Imani sat back, lounging casually on the seat while she studied them.

“Several things, my sweet,” she said in an icy voice so like Nickoli in type, though different in cadence.

“Firstly, to tell you that any security you have enjoyed from us has now expired.” She sat up straight again and looked at them hard. “The truce between you and the Conclave ended with the death of Lord Nickoli. This is the last interaction that we will share. If any of our people meet you again, one side will not survive.”

“I can live with that,” Xena quipped, smirking. “Can you?”

Imani fixed her with an icy stare.

“The other thing I wish to do, is thank you.” She continued. A smile began to tug at her lips, as if she wrestled with some internal joke.

“Thank me?” Xena asked. She and Gabrielle exchanged a confused look.

“Yes,” Imani seemed to enjoy herself as she realized that she had piqued the two women’s curiosity.

“You see, Xena,” Imani began. “Lord Nickoli watched you these last few years, ever since the child began to travel with you.”

“The name is Gabrielle,” Gabrielle interjected.

Imani ignored her. “You have been behind the scenes regarding many events, always in the shadows, never recognized, though always responsible. You seem to take pride in that?”

“Are you getting any closer to a point?” Xena asked. There was a knot forming in her belly that she did not like.

Imani shrugged. “I thought you would be proud to know that you have saved our entire race. You actually assisted in the final stages of birthing it.”

“What are you talking about?” Gabrielle asked, getting more defensive.

“Nickoli knew that his blood, the blood of a progenitor would link the rest of us to him for eternity. Just as the blood of Titus linked him and us for eternity. “ She smiled. “To that end, he entrusted you to help us dispose of Titus’s body guard so we might feed, as one body, on the blood of the first one. His blood mingled with the blood of five others. A cluster in the blood line, always surviving, should one of us die. That left only Nickoli as the weak link, but our laws prevented us from murdering one of our own, especially our own creator.”

Xena felt her heart beginning to thump in her chest, and Gabrielle looked up at Xena in astonishment.

“To that end, we employed you to assist in distracting Marshall Titus so that we might feed, in one group, upon him, spreading his strength between us. This allowed Nickoli to get you close to him and distract him, even if it was in a small degree.”

She chuckled evilly. “Sacrificing Adaris and his fledglings was a simple stroke of genius. Since only Adaris knew that Nickoli had given the order to attack you, once he fell, his children fought on as he had instructed, presenting Nickoli with the perfect opportunity to be your savior.” She fixed her pale eyes on Gabrielle.

“That attack in the woods was staged,” Xena moaned.

“Yes,” Imani said with that same icy smile. “As were Nickoli’s instructions to Tinga. To protect you,” she looked at Gabrielle. “A sister Amazon, and to suspect you,” Her gaze turned to Xena. “An Amazon killer and bloodthirsty warlord. The fact that Tinga already knew of your prior exploits only helped Nickoli persuade her. Only when she began to suspect she had been deceived did she intervene directly, to her unfortunate demise.”

Gabrielle’s eyes had gone dark, and Xena was beginning to seethe with rage.

“The final stroke was the destruction of Nickoli himself,” Imani rose to her feet and moved to the edge of the camp, sensing that her final revelation would end in an attack upon her person.

“In that small detail, Nickoli did not deceive you.” She said smugly. “Nickoli truly did want to die. He needed to die to complete his plan. However, after perusing your writings, child,” she looked again and Gabrielle. “He was convinced that Xena would not kill him without being,” she paused and stared back at Xena. “Properly motivated. He forced Gabrielle to drink his blood, without draining hers, in effect creating a temporary vassal to serve him and be influenced by him. Though you believed she was being transformed, he knew the effects would last only until the rising of the sun,” she crossed her arms and her smile grew. “Or his destruction.”

Imani was clearly enjoying the expressions of hopelessness and frustration playing on the two companions’ faces. “Faced with the loss of your friend, you became sufficiently enraged to attempt his destruction, and when you realized the only way to supposedly save your friend was to finish the job, you did exactly what we all wished.”

“You used me,” Xena growled. “You used me to kill your own creator.”

“We all used you, Xena,” Imani laughed. “With the blood of Titus intermingled between the five surviving members of the Conclave, and Nickoli’s final destruction, the blood line was freed to grow without the concern of being brought down by the fall of any one of us.”

She stared at both of them. She had an expression that could only be called cold pride.

“Congratulations, Xena, Gabrielle,” she cooed. “You were instrumental in the birth of an entirely new nation. We have chosen to be called Vampire, after our immortal father. I just thought the two of you should know.” She rose and fixed the two of them with an icy stare. “Good bye, Xena. I do hope that we never must cross paths again.” She turned as if to depart.

“I’ve already made sure your nation does not survive for long, Imani,” Xena said.

Imani stopped and turned back. “Oh, I assume you refer to the Black Scrolls of Arijanii, yes?” Again she smiled. “Yes, Talcus played his part well, always being the romantic one of us.” She smiled as she mocked his tone. “There must be balance.”

She stepped closer to the two women and sneered.

“Was there information in them that could hurt us?” she said knowingly. “Yes to some very small degree. The majority of those scrolls are nothing more than fictitious fantasies and half truths designed to send man on the wrong path. Those devices that do work, will only work on the most recently converted, and some who can be saved will die in the attempts to stave off the change. The information contained within them is enough to keep mankind on the wrong path for centuries. I don’t doubt that the scribes of Athens have already sent copies of the scrolls to Heliopolis, Alexandria, and a dozen other centers of study in the world. The scholars will learn them and many will die putting them into practice.” She turned to depart again.

“Remember, Xena,” she chided. “You should always wrap a lie inside a truth. It makes it more convincing. Farewell.”

Xena exploded in frustration. Her sword rang out and she leapt over the fire at Imani, but the female Vampire simply leapt across the water, landing like a cat on the other side.

“This isn’t over!” Xena shouted in helpless fury.

Imani only smiled and waved in farewell before turning and vanishing into the shadows between the trees.

Gabrielle stood next to Xena, looking across the silver line of the river.

“I think I’m going to be sick,” she said. “Xena, what have we done?”

Xena stood at the bank of the river, staring across at the shadows and stewing in aggravation. She felt used. She felt as if something deep inside had been violated in a way that was worse than any torture she had ever endured. Her entire being trembled with anger. Tears stung her eyes as she turned back to look at Gabrielle, staring mutely into the distance.

“Gabrielle?” Xena asked in a hoarse voice.

Gabrielle didn’t match Xena’s gaze, her face bore a haunted expression.

“By the gods, Xena. What have we done?”

END

And that is how the Bacchi became known as Vampires. ;-)

Copyright © May 2006 by Onyx. All Rights Reserved.