Chapter One

A strong, putrid smell penetrated Xena's dreams, and she awoke with a start.

Beside her Gabrielle laid silently, her chest rising and falling, undisturbed by the thick layer of smoke that gathered in the sky. Xena rose to her elbows, scanning the early morning heavens with meticulous eyes. The foul stench originated from no mere bonfire, and it was too close for comfort to her camp. The warrior prodded the sleeping blonde awake and systematically began to don her armor.

Gabrielle's head lifted slowly, though her eyes remained shut. Her nose wrinkled almost instantly as the distinct stench brought her into reality. "What…?" She opened her eyes slightly and squinted at Xena. "Did you attempt to cook breakfast again?" Her voice was coated with a hint of disgust. Xena half-smiled and stood up, smoothing back her disheveled hair.

"You know I can cook a decent meal, Gabrielle," she remarked, the humor in her voice suddenly disappearing as she focused her gaze on the sky once more. "Something's been burned…or someone."

Gabrielle covered her nose and furrowed her brows. "I think you should make that plural."

"Come on." Xena rolled up her blanket and tied it behind Argo's saddle, then kicked dirt over their campfire. Gabrielle dressed more speedily than usual, eager to get away from the stinking land. As she handed Xena her rolled blanket to stash, she suddenly frowned.

"We're going toward that smell, aren't we?"

"Yep." Xena mounted Argo and held out her hand to Gabrielle, who tightened her grasp about her staff.

"I don't want to sound unsympathetic, but how can we help a bunch of rotting corpses?"

Xena helped pull Gabrielle up onto the horse and ignored the comment, whistling for Argo to take off through the forest, dodging trees and their gnarled, protruding roots. The smoke cover thickened as they rode, and the smell intensified. Gabrielle buried her face in Xena's hair, to which the warrior princess smiled.



Within minutes they reached the edge of the forest and spotted the source of the fire at the pit of the valley that ran below the mountains, merely a mile away from where they gazed. Gabrielle's eyes widened.

"But we passed through the valley just yesterday—"

"Yes," said Xena under her breath, "just yesterday."

She ran her eyes over the entire valley, purposely avoiding the dead faces that were frozen with pain and horror. It was already obvious they were not from a distant village; their skin was too pale to be native to the land. Xena's forehead wrinkled in thought.

Gabrielle interrupted the unpleasant silence. "Who would kill innocent people like this? Even a pack of warlords don't pile their killed in a valley—they always leave them as they were, only dead."

"You're right," agreed Xena, giving credit to Gabrielle's observation. "And these people aren't native to these lands—they are fair-skinned, unlike any distant village we've passed through."

Gabrielle shivered and looked up at the sky, feeling troubled. She could not name it, but something foreboding seemed to pass over them. Xena felt it too, for she followed Gabrielle's gaze up to the sky.

"Do you hear that?" Xena's eyes searched the sky warily "…like the fluttering of wings…"

Gabrielle strained to hear. "It's hard to tell, but there's definitely something there."

Xena nodded and shot a glance towards the mountains. "It's traveling that way. Hold your breath, Gabrielle, we're going through the valley."

As they made their way past the smoking pile of bodies, something sparkled in the wind and caught Xena's eye. She slowed Argo's pace and reached out her hand to snatch the article before it wafted away. Her lips parted in disbelief as she held the gleaming feather up before her eyes.

"This belongs to no songbird."

Gabrielle reached past Xena's shoulder to touch the golden feather wonderingly. "It's beautiful…almost godlike."

Xena's eyes flashed suspiciously. "No doubt a creature fashioned by the gods."



Gabrielle stiffened. "What sort of creature?"

Xena suddenly threw her arms about Gabrielle and tore her off the saddle, causing them both to roll several feet across the burned grass. Xena quickly jumped to her feet and unsheathed her sword, pointing it toward the magnificent creature that flew above them.

"Did you just save my life?" gasped Gabrielle, coming to her feet, the wind knocked from her chest.

Xena kept her gaze fixed on the creature that circled above them. "Both of our lives," she said breathlessly, her chest heaving as well. "That thing almost clawed us to death."

"Clawed?" Gabrielle looked up at the sky and cried out, grasping her stick with intensity. "By the Gods!" Her voice echoed both amazement and terror. "The griffons are supposed to be dead!"

Xena held out her other hand with caution. "Don't believe all the stories, Gabrielle." Her voice tensed. "It's coming back down to greet us again. If it comes to you fall back and roll away."

Gabrielle almost scoffed at Xena's instructions of self-defense, but took them to heart as the winged creature dove towards them with fierce speed. As she hit the ground and felt the grass touch her face as she rolled, the screaming flight of Xena's chakram cut the sound of the griffon's matching shriek. The sound of a large body thudding against the ground caused her to leap back to her feet, holding onto her staff with a firm grip. Sweat trickled down her forehead and stung her eyes.

"Did you kill it?" she said with a raspy voice, her chest heaving and her blood flowing with adrenaline.

Xena held the chakram against her thigh and stared at the griffon with an unreadable expression. She returned the weapon to her belt and drew her sword, pointing it at the griffon's feathery neck. It did not move, and blood flowed freely from its wound. A sardonic smile marked Xena's face.

"Our feathered friend has passed the other side." The glint in her eyes faded. "Too bad."

Gabrielle made a sound of disbelief. "You didn't want to kill it?"



Xena knelt beside the beast and touched its feathers. "It could have proved useful to us. Griffons are known to be good allies—or bargainers." She rested her hand on the griffon's beak with wonder. "But I knew this one was sent to kill us; it wouldn't have been up to negotiating."

Gabrielle leaned against her staff and sighed, squinting against the sun that was becoming increasingly oppressive. "Xena, shouldn't we be moving on?" She covered her nose, the stench from the human bonfire becoming real again as her adrenaline wore off. "That smell will attract more than some nosy warriors."

The warrior princess caught her drift and nodded, glancing at the griffon once more, then at the smoldering sky. Despite the horrid colors of black and red that stained the sky, the magnificence of the sun began to break through, bringing the brightness of morning at last. The two companions set out again, carefully retaining a respectful silence as they passed the unfortunate dead.