Chapter 4

Egypt

Gabrielle, the Bard, was sitting over a line of papers, reading, comparing them to some other text and to her own knowledge regarding the legends and myths of this land.

She and her new `companion´ were still residing inside the now empty temple complex. During those last days they had buried the killed priests and were now looking for the possible location of the hiding place of the mysterious scrolls Assur had been talking about.

"To the left of the line of life," she was reading loud, "in the view of the sons of Ra and south to the city of the Fallen King," Gabrielle recited.

"What does this mean?" she asked herself aloud.

"That is what I wanted to know from you," the foreign God named Assur told her.

He was the one who had provided her with these writings, that had proved to be mostly copies of stories and legends and the history of that country.

But there was one text, written in tiny letters on one of the scrolls that had really managed to catch her interest. It was not from this country, that much was clear to her at first sight. In fact she didn't have the slightest idea about what its possible heritage might have been, and that, despite that she was usually an expert in that matter.

Besides the clues referring to the location of the secret temple, some fragments of the text also described a number of bizarre rituals and magical formulas and there were mentions of a great power. It had also references to names and places she had never heard before.

Suddenly Gabrielle realized what this had to be. Three ancient scrolls had been hidden at different locations in different lands over the world, according to the God Assur. Together they could summon a power that clearly surpassed the one of any Gods. So what was he doing with this text?

The train of her thoughts was suddenly interrupted.

"The `line of life´ that is mentioned here is obviously the river Nile," Assur told her. "But I am not really sure about the rest of its meaning " he uncomfortably admitted to her.

"I...I am not quite sure myself," Gabrielle answered uneasy. "Ra was of course the highest in rank of the Egyptian Gods. But this `sons´? It could mean some of the other Gods. But I am not sure how could this be a hint for the temple's location.

And I still can't find anything about this `Fallen King´. I think I have to continue my research."

"Then do that," he replied harshly. "But be quick about it though. Remember, we haven't got much time."

In but a matter of seconds, his entire demeanor had suddenly changed. Gone was the patient and relatively modest God she came to know during those days and instead there stood a demanding and angry one.

It only lasted for a couple of moments though.

"I am sorry Gabrielle, but you know important this is," he said in a lower tone.

"Of course," she replied nearly automatically. The bad feeling that she had developed during the last days had accentuated even more.

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At the same time, Xena was quickly approaching their location.

Before her resurrection, Dahak had given her the exact places of the temples in Greece, Egypt and Assyria, and now she was riding in the greatest possible speed towards them.

Gabrielle, she thought, didn´t even know how close she was to death.

xxxxxxx

Ireland

The strange group that was consisting by now of the half gods Hercules and Morrigan, the Archangel Michael, Ares and Iolaus was now preparing to leave the island and begin its journey back to Greece.

One week had passed since Ares had arrived and asked them for help. Despite the fact that he had started a new life here, Hercules finally agreed to return with him.

One truly remarkable event was that Michael had restored Iolaus' youth. Hercules' friend and partner was now looking in his mid 30's.

Iolaus' reaction as he was first offered this option was of understandably more doubt than enthusiasm.

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"I am just a mortal man you know," he had pointed out. "I don´t know if eternal youth is something I could live with.."

"Technically, you died thirty years ago," Michael replied. "You had been sent back to support Hercules and watch over him and so you did. Without you he would not have succeeded in his last challenges.

You reminded him of his true nature when the demon `Sin´ tried to corrupt him. Without you, he would have lost his purpose in life. You stood by his side even when the Titans were released. All I ask of you is to do the same thing again. And in this state you would be a far greater help. I would just restore you to the same age you had been when you were returned to life."

Iolaus nodded imperceptibly.

"I understand," he said. "Michael," he asked, "does this mean that my time on this world is coming to an end?"

"I don´t know Iolaus," the Angel admitted, "maybe it is. Or maybe The Light will give you another 30 years at Hercules side. I can not tell."

"Okay, do it," he replied.

xxx

Only a few things were left to do before their departure.

In the moment, Hercules and Morrigan were involved into a trainings-fight.

A short distance away from them, stood Ares. He was watching the two half Gods open mouthed; they were moving at incredible speed. It was humanly impossible to follow them.

Even being a War God, he had to admit he was impressed. He didn´t even know if he himself could take on Hercules in this state.

The fight was just coming to an end. Morrigan ran an attack on him that he countered and threw her down.

Then he offered his hand to her, helped her up with a smile and put his arms around her.

"I see you've made progress," he told her.

"I'm not the only one" she replied smiling.

"Oh please," Ares said as he saw the display.

"Ares, why don´t you go bothering somebody else?" Hercules commented.

"I would love to. But in case you have forgotten, we are in a hurry to get back home. People are dying while we are here. That is something you should actually care about."

"Believe me, I do," the half-god answered.

"I think we are ready to go," Morrigan pointed out.

"You don´t have to come with me," Hercules said. "This is something that I and Ares have to do. But you… your home is here. And you do have enough responsibilities as it is."

"Of course I'm coming with you. Do you really think I would let you go alone, against Dahak? And don´t forget, I also have some unsolved business with him."

Years before, Morrigan had been very different from how she was after she met Hercules.. She had been evil and corrupt, a cold blooded killer working for the God Kernunnos who used her to hunt down the droids of Ireland who had at that time grew to be possible rivals of the Celtic Gods because many of the mortals were following their way.

Morrigan at that time got to the point of murdering many of their followers and killed everyone who was reckless enough to stand in her way. To ensure his own power, Kernunnos wanted to wipe the cult out. Hercules and the druids together were finally able to reach out to Morrigan and convince her to turn away from her master. The druids had offered her an alternative and she became one of them. A short time later, her relationship with the son of Zeus began. Everything changed.

Later however they were all killed by Dahak, all except Morrigan herself. She had then become one of the appointed group to defeat him, but as it looked, he was back.

"What about Bridget?" Hercules asked her.

Bridget was her daughter, hers and Kernunnos' and she was also the real reason why Morrigan had been following him for so long. For years he had been holding their own daughter as a bargaining chip to ensure her service. It was not until Hercules and Morrigan destroyed Kernunnos that she had finally regained her freedom.

"Bridget has long grown up," she reminded him.

The little girl from back then was now a woman in her thirties and became a member of the druids herself.

"She is still your daughter. We can not guarantee that we will all return or that any of us will. You might never see her again. This is about Greece, not about Ireland."

"If Dahak is involved it is about the entire world," she replied. "You know that as good as I do. I am not really needed here any longer Hercules. Bridget is more than ready to become my successor. I will come with you," she said, determination reverberating from her voice. "and if I don't return, I will at least have done my part to protect her and everyone else."

"I see you are all prepared," someone said to them. They saw Michael and Iolaus approaching.

"Yes Michael," Hercules replied. "We will leave today."

"Good," the Angel said. "I will go now as well."

"I thought you will come with us to Greece," the half-god responded.

"I was given a different mission. I have a good idea where he might be just now and I can not miss this chance to stop him. I will meet with you again later. But before I leave I have to inform you about something else."

"And what is it?" Ares asked impatiently. If he had had his way, they would have already been on sea now.

"Xena had been recently restored to life."

Everybody escaped a gasp of surprise at what Michael had just said.

Utter shock was written mostly on Ares' face though.

"How...how do you know this...and for how long ?" he asked.

"The Light has informed me, about two weeks ago."

"And why have you not told me about this earlier?" Ares shouted at him now.

"Because I was well aware that if I did, you would just rush off to find her before we were ready," he answered.

"Damn right, I would have done just that! "

"I will leave now," Michael informed them. "Oh and I will bring Xena and Gabrielle as well when I return."

With that he vanished from sight.

"I hate this guy," Ares murmured.

xxxxxxx

Greece

Hope was walking angrily through the corridors of the castle. A year had passed since she had returned to this world.

Her physical form had long been completely restored. She was once again the mirror image of her mother. At the moment, she was on her way to the throne-room to have a talk with Caine, the leader of her father's group of elite warriors.

Her clothes were very similar to the one she had been wearing before her death, a skirt that went to her knees, a top and boots, but, fitting to her new environment the fabric was pitch dark. This made her look even more like a broken image of Gabrielle.

She had to admit that the previous year had been exactly the opposite of what she had imagined. Since the day of her last rebirth, her role consisted mostly of encouraging of the followers and keeping up the moral with her mere presence. She remembered the day she had to hold a speech in front of hundreds of fighters several months before.

Besides that there were only the regular trainings-lessons she had with Caine in both, fighting and the use of her powers. She had to admit, this part was actually worth it.

But what actually bothered her was the fact that she was being kept out of every important decision. Her father had ordered her to simply stay there, keep a low profile outside of showing herself to the followers and wait, for what? she frequently asked herself.

To make matters worse, he had also told her not to depart from the ground of the castle. In short words, she had to stay in a five mile radius from the building. She nearly felt like a little girl that her father had sent to her chambers.

It was nearly as if he had lost his trust in her. But then, maybe he did. She had to admit, she did make her share of mistakes. But she would prove herself. She knew her chance would come very soon.

Hope was about to enter the throne-room. On her way there she came across the head of the former owner, that Caine had stuck on a pike outside at the corridor.

She opened the heavy door.

"Caine," she called out as she had entered the throne-room.

Two guards drew their weapons reflexively, but by an invisible force that were Hope´s powers they were thrown against the next wall.

The leader of the Aka Maha turned around. He had now the appearance of an old man.

She had seen this before. From time to time he had to regenerate his powers. Whenever this happened, his body became weaker and old and frail looking, but only for a short period of time.

In front of her eyes he started to grow younger outwardly until he returned to the appearance of the dark haired young man she knew.

She was reminded that this being was one of the Prime Chosen of her father and had maintained his position for ages. He had existed for thousands, maybe even ten-thousands of years. Even she didn´t knew exactly how old he was.

Fathered by the Great Dahak or not, next to him, Hope with her less than three years of actual life, was looking like a mere child. He was in rank equal to herself and given his actual authority at the moment, he even seemed superior.

"Ah, Hope," he greeted her, "what can I do for you?"

"You know exactly why I am here," she retorted furiously. "Varna had been digging out the body of my son and is using it for her alchemistic experiments."

"Oh yes, she had mentioned something about it.," he pointed out. "It seemed like a promising idea."

"I had never agreed to this," she stated. And certainly wouldn´t have, she thought.

"It was in the interest of our cause and your father seemed to have no objections," he told her. "I see you have not killed my guards," he mentioned casually, looking at the two men.

"There is no need to kill useful soldiers," she replied.

"If you say so."

He was smiling at her.

xxxxxxx

Egypt

"And, have you found out something?" Assur asked her.

Gabrielle froze as she heard his voice.

"Yes, I have indeed found out something," she answered, "but I fear it is not exactly that what you wanted to know."

"And what is it?" he asked.

"One of the texts you gave me is copied from an ancient scroll, like the one these people here were protecting, the same that according to you had been stolen. So how do you know these texts?

"You have one of the scrolls. This means that you are the one searching for them. You are the one who has killed everyone here," she accused him.

"You know a lot," Assur commented, "for a mortal."

Gabrielle knew these words might cost her her life, but she had no choice. There was no way she would help him knowing what she knew.

"Yes? I also know something else. You were right, I have red many tales from many countries and I have now remembered one of them, the story of the Assyrians.

They were a race of brutal conquerors who used to attack their neighbours and terrorized them with unbelievable cruelty. Entire countries were subjugated, towns were being razed to the ground, thousands were tortured and murdered. This continued until the neighboring states finally teamed up and overthrew them a few generations ago.

And the irony is that the Assyrians did all that in the name of their gods. They claimed that it was their right to conquer and enslave all the others lands. The leader of this pantheon was a megalomaniac War God, a tyrant, you. You were trying to trick me into helping you and I won´t let anybody do this to me." Not again, she thought.

"You are very smart little mortal," he told her, "too smart." He formed a ball of energy in his hand. "You must have realized of course that you were going to die the moment you stopped being useful. That comes now a bit earlier than expected.

In one case you were right. Once we thought ourselves allmighty, the rulers of this world and we used our worshippers to widen the borders of our realm. Until Dahak came. Then we had to learn under great pain that we were nothing. He crushed us, hunted us down. We were powerless before him. He destroyed us, all except me.

But I refuse to stay `nothing´. I will grow, ascend. I will become like Dahak, a the universe spanning force. Or I might even surpass him. You however, will be dead by then. You might have faced Gods in the past, but that was only because you had higher powers backing you up."

"Sorry, but this `higher powers´ are still behind us," another voice spoke up.

Assur turned around. Gabrielle saw now who was standing behind them.

"Xena," she called out, "how?" She saw, but couldn't quite believe it.

"The infamous Xena," the God said, "I see your reputation about cheating death is not completely unfounded. But you have no chance, you should know this."

"Gabrielle," she called, "the Chakram."

A moment later, a she had halfway managed to overcome her shock, she threw the weapon that she was still carrying at her side to Xena.

"You really think that will help you?" Assur asked mockingly.

"We will see," she replied and threw the Chakram with full force.

The God barely made any effort to avoid the strike.

To his shock, he felt a sharp pain in his arm and saw that he had a deep cut-wound.

"The power to kill gods," Gabrielle murmured confused, "You have it back. How...how can you be alive again. How...don´t tell me, you have not."

She finally realized what her friend must have done.

"Xena, tell me you have not accepted Dahak´s offer," she whispered.


Authors notes:

This chapter has a few references about episodes of Hercules. The first episode of season 6, "Be deviled", where a demon is trying to corrupt Hercules and the two about Morrigan´s story, season 5 number 3 and 5.

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The reputation of the Assyrians as `brutal conquerors´ is based on real life. They conquered a large empire and were especially infamous for their sadistic punishments of enemies and prisoners. Beside other things they are credited to be the inventors of the impalement.

As justification of their actions they claimed that their kings are chosen by their gods to rule everything in existence and therefore every action they took was automatically justified and resistence a sin.