The moon was straight up as Xena and Gabrielle arrived in Cynthus, a tiny farming community built around the location of one of Apollo's forgotten temples. From the look of the land, it was hard to believe that the god of light and prophecy protected this town. The temple was partially hidden and obscured within the high-reaching foliage and weeds grown up over centuries. The local cemetery appeared derelict, abandoned and more akin to Hades. Old tombstones of forgotten ancestors were crooked and fallen over. Old dead trees dotted the land like demonic creatures reaching to the heavens, and at night, it was hard to tell where the horizon and the dark night began or ended. The town had once lived in prosperity, but now it was under the blight of a curse. Argo neighed nervously as they crossed in front of the open gates of the old cemetery. Across from the temple, Gabrielle sat upon a partially shattered wood bench and removed her boot for the annoying stone that she had picked up in it. Her long blonde locks swayed over her left shoulder as she turned her head up to look upon the neglected tombstones.
"Watch Argo." Xena slipped off her proud and noble steed and stared blankly toward her. "Don't let him wander." This was a mission of mercy to her.
"Right!" Gabrielle grinned exuberantly in the torch fire of the partially lit courtyard and glanced to the cemetery they had passed.
"And stay out of the cemetery."
"Why?"
"Because I said so." Xena took the package they had been carrying from Corinth and silently headed to the temple without a word, her chakram barely making a noise as it rattled on her belt. With a definitive rap, she knocked once and barely waited as the tall wooden doors of the pale gray temple cracked open a few inches and accepted the Warrior Princess. Watching with limited interest, Gabrielle smirked and turned her head back to look back to the cemetery as Argo bowed his head to graze on the high weeds. Feeling a bit hungry herself, Gabrielle remembered the dried beef they had picked up in Malis and started poking through the pouches on Argo's back. She hoped Xena hadn't got it already, but Argo objected to her poking into his pouch by shying away from her.
"Don't do that." The huge Arabian snorted toward her. "Don't do that either."
Gabrielle cocked her head to the cemetery as she thought she saw the shadows moving out the corner of her eyes. The distant trees and bushes swayed as she realized a good breeze had passed through the courtyard. Distant farmhouses along the black horizon were barely noticeable. Their lanterns were like the smallest fireflies against the starless night, and religious chimes made eerie noises in the darkness. Gabrielle felt this land was more a land of the dead than Hades itself and turned back to look for the last of the rations. A distant cry in the night sounded as the wind blew through a tree trunk. It also sounded a bit human as Gabrielle looked up innocently toward the dark cemetery. Its tombstones and markers appeared as short fat ghosts squatting in high weeds staring back at her. She reached for her staff.
"Hello?" She called out and looked back for Xena.
"Help me..." The barely audible cry drifted out of the wind to her ears. Gabrielle turned round to try to tell where it was coming from. The wind picked up as Argo nervously neighed and wandered closer to the temple doors. He did not know what was scaring him, but he did know he wanted away from it.
"That's okay." She patted him and started down the lane.
"Help me..." That voice came from the cemetery. Gabrielle's head turned with alarm to that plea and realized from where it had come. Xena had said stay out of the cemetery, but she did not know someone out there needed help!
"I'm coming!" Gabrielle left Argo and charged through a broken opening in the stone and brick wall surrounding the tombstone covered field of weeds and dead grass. Rushing between the black markers, she stepped on a fallen stone marker and ran faster and faster as the dark square shapes obscured behind dead bushes whirled past her feet. The wind picked up and tossed the loose weeds around her as she looked for the person calling her. "Where are you??!"
"Help me..." The voice sounded even distant as Gabrielle tore past more crumbling statues standing opposed in white against the darkness and shattered, broken markers lying next to their foundations. Her path took her over a dried stream filled with rocks and rustling leaves and into a gathering of dead oaks reaching up over her head. The tree limbs reached up over her and darkened the sky while dried pieces of dead trees were thrown up around her and obscured her vision. Through the fluttering images impairing her vision, the attractive blonde bard saw one dark shape behind a tombstone lurch up high above her and rush upon her, completely enveloping her in a frozen cold darkness!