Title: The Monster of Ambracia

Rating: M

Author: Ellixer

Pairing: X/G

Disclaimer: Characters and show are owned by Universal and others. The story is mine. I make nothing.

Note: Somewhere in season 5 or 6. Trying an attempt at a horror story, I used to write them all the time. We shall see how it goes.

The day is beautiful, sun shining brightly with a few clouds racing across its landscape. The town we've just entered however is quite the opposite. While being a good size, very few people seem to be walking about. Only a few stalls in the market are open, and it's eerily quiet.

'Why are we here again?' I feel I have to whisper as anything else would be too loud.

'People are being kidnapped and killed. I don't know I've only heard the rumors.' Xena's eyes are scanning our surroundings. She hands me the reigns to the horse. 'Stable the horses; I'm going to see if I can find someone in charge.' She walks off leaving me standing there. Sometimes being the 'sidekick' is no fun. I go to the stable and find a man shoeing a black mare.

'5 dinars a night.' He says without looking up, and without bothering to wait for me to ask.

'4.' I always bargain. The man stops and looks up at me.

'It's probably best if you move on. It's not safe around here.'

'I'm with Xena; we've come here to try and help.' He takes a second to regard me, giving me a look of disbelief.

'Suite yourself. 4 dinars it is.' He shakes his head at me, obviously thinking I don't know what I'm doing. A stable hand comes forward from the darkness somewhere and takes the reins. I take a second to grab our bags, then leave to find Xena. I meet her just outside the stable doors. The face she is making is gives me pause for concern.

'This might be more complicated than I thought.' Xena is running her hands through her hair. 'Everyone who has gone out searching for people have never come back, so they stopped.'

'What kind of warlord works that way?' She shakes her head at me.

'It's no warlord, it's something else entirely.'

'A God?'

'I don't think so.' She sighs. 'This is something else.' I rub her arm affectionately.

'What are you thinking?'

'We need to find out more.'

We head towards the local tavern, this is usually the best place to get information from a cross section of people.

'What's the news?' Xena asks the barman.

'A small contingent of soldiers is expected to arrive today or tomorrow. They've been sent to aid in a search of Mirabelle, the daughter of the Lord of our district.'

'So they haven't been called until now?' I'm a little shocked but not really surprised. Nobility is always more important.

'No ma'am.' He shakes his head, handing us both a tankard of ale.

'No one knows who's responsible?' The man shakes his head at Xena.

'The people call it the monster of Ambracia. But no one has seen it.' Xena considers this as she swigs down her ale. The barman goes about his business, wiping down his counter. I look about the room; it's busy but very quiet. There is an air of fear and tension from the people.

'Come on, I got us a room.' She gives me a nudge and I follow. We make our way up the rambling stairs to our room, which is small but cozy.

'What should we do?' I begin to help Xena unstrap her breastplate and gauntlets.

'We'll wait for the soldiers to come. The Lord should be more than happy to have us help.' Her eyebrow cocks up as she thinks.

'Well shouldn't the soldiers be enough?'

'We don't know what's out there Gabrielle.' She purses her lips at me.

'Exactly.' Xena gives me an annoyed look as she drapes her armor over a chair.

'I'm tired. Let's get some sleep; we don't know what tomorrow will bring.' She throws herself on her bed. I shrug at her, pulling my boots off and getting into my own bed.

'Xena?'

'Hmmm?'

'Do you think we'll figure out what is terrorizing these people?'

'That's what we're here for. Now go to sleep.' She rolls over so her back is to me. Xena always refuses to talk before sleep. She says it ruins the peace of her thoughts. I'm not sure she has peaceful thoughts, but I'm not one to argue. Well not about this anyway. I'll talk even if she is asleep and snoring. I'm sure something has to leak into her ears against her will. But I close my eyes and hope she wont wake me early.

A shrill scream wakes me out of a sound sleep. I bolt up to see Xena standing in the middle of the room, sword drawn.

'Xena what..' She puts a finger up to her lips, telling me to be quiet. Her head cocks to one side and she concentrates. Another shrill scream pierces the air.

'Stay here.' Xena commands as she leaves the room in a run. Like I'm going to listen. Jumping up I grab my sais and run after her. I nearly run over her at the bottom of the stairs, as she stands looking out the window. She glares at me but says nothing.

I'm trying to see what she sees, but I don't know if she's actually looking at anything. The night has gone completely still. Not even the crickets and frogs are singing. The moon is large illuminating the town, but it also makes the shadows dance with unseen creatures. The screams seem to have stopped, and there are no sounds of a struggle or violent fight. I keep glancing at Xena, trying to read her face.

'Stop that.' She says in her low throaty whisper.

'Stop what?'

'Looking at me.' I avert my eyes back to the street. She can be a little grumpy sometimes.

'I don't see anything Xena.' Her eyes are darting around, searching every crook and crevice.

'No. It came from the edge of town. I'm sure whatever it was, is long gone by now.' Xena stays rooted to the spot.

'Soooo, we just wait?' Maybe I should have stayed in bed, it's much warmer there.

'Yup.'