Chapter Six

Hercules Versus Ares

Hercules thought for a few seconds.

"Okay, this one is pretty good. I was on my way to China, traveling through the steppes of what now would be the southern parts of Russia and northern Mongolia. I was riding a horse and leading one with my supplies, when I ran across a nomadic tribe of Mongols. Not knowing any better, I suppose, they attacked, and killed the horse I was riding. And of course I let them take me prisoner rather than maim or kill any of them. But when they discovered I spoke their language and realized I was no threat to them, they decided not to kill me."

"How generous of them," Xena said with her characteristic, and tiresome sarcasm.

"Yes it was," Hercules replied, not taking the bait. "I was with them for a couple of months when their scouts reported that an even larger, rival tribe was sending a raiding party through one of the mountain passes to attack them. The tribes did that all the time: attacking, taking the horses and supplies and the women, and killing all the men and male children. Anyway I went back with the scouts to where they would be coming through the pass. Looking things over, I told the scouts to report back and I would wait there. After they I thought they had gone, I started throwing boulders down, hoping that the raiding party would think it was unsafe and would retreat back through the mountains. But when they started clearing the pass, I just kept throwing more and more of the boulders down around them, even breaking up part of the mountain to get more."

"Sounds like hard work," Harry interjected.

"It wasn't easy, it took all afternoon and most of the night. The next morning I saw that they were sending armed men on foot to cross over – they were really determined, let me tell you. So once again I started in with the boulders. And then suddenly blue energy balls started blasting apart the rocks. So I threw more, and more of them down."

"I'm guessing it was Ares." Gabrielle said. "So far from Greece?"

"It was. What with the Romans controlling everything, I just figured he was looking for greener pastures. It turns out he was grooming this tribe for BIG things, and they needed the supplies and horses from the tribe I had been staying with. So after a while, when it was obvious we were at a stalemate, Ares showed up on the very wide ledge where I was, as mad as I've ever seen him, and he said he didn't care why I was doing it, but said to stop it or else! And when I tried to explain why, he threw one of his energy balls at me, this one crackling with electricity. It wasn't hard to duck away from it, and when that didn't work, he jumped the 20 or 30 yards separating us, and we started going at it fist to fist. And so we fought back and forth for I don't know how long, all morning I would guess. We would punch or kick the other one back a dozen yards or so. And sometimes we would be just stand there trading punches to the face or the body."

"So who is really stronger, you or him?" Mattie asked.

"Well, I am. But if he really wanted to kill me, he could do it."

"How?"

"He could come up behind me and keep up a non-ending barrage of his energy balls. Or he could teleport behind me, grab me around the chest, then teleport us 10 or 15 miles up in the air, and just drop me."

"So why do you think he never did that?"

"I think it is an ego thing. Ares is incredibly strong, and I think it just galls him that I am stronger than he is, and he wants to prove to himself that he can beat me mano a mano."

"Or maybe," Mattie said, "next to Aphrodite, you are the only family he has left, and he just can't bring himself to kill you. You know, Lila and I got along most of the time, but when we argued, it was sometimes serious – yelling, pushing, pulling hair, swinging at each other, and even wrestling around on the ground like boys."

"That we did," Gabrielle agreed. "And Mother and Father made sure we were appropriately punished for it, too."

"Could you kill him? If you really wanted to?" Annie asked.

"No. Not even if I wanted to. There are only two things that I know of that will kill a god – the Hind's blood dagger, and a weapon made from a bone from Kronos, like the dagger I made from his rib that I used to kill Zeus with."

"So what finally happened?" Xena asked, the boredom coming back.

"His men retreated back through the pass to the other side of the mountains. I'm guessing they witnessed some of the battle, since we were concentrating on each other so much and not what they were seeing. And no doubt they wanted no part of the two 'mountain gods' that were fighting each other, and destroying the mountains at the same time. Which we were well on the way to doing."

"No, I mean between you and Ares."

"Well, when he finally realized no one was there to attack my friends, he got even madder, said something about having better things to do, and just disappeared."

"So what about your friends? What did they say?"

"Not much. They were just as superstitious, and as fearful, as their enemies, so when the scouts reported back to them about the fight they had witnessed, they were more than happy to give me another horse, more than enough supplies, and to send me on my way."

"They didn't even say thanks?" Mattie was incredulous.

"Not really. They just wanted me gone. And so I left, still heading east."

"That kind of sucked," Xena said, trying to stifle a yawn.

"Well, I was ready to go anyway."

"Okay," Gabrielle said, "I think it's time for someone to get some sleep."

She took Xena by the hand to pull her to her feet.

"You might be right," Xena agreed. "Been a long day."

"And I think I need to bandage that cut; we wouldn't want to wake up with blood all over the pillow cases."

"Okay, whatever you say."

"Are you spending the night?" Xena asked Hercules.

"No, I've got a motel room."

"Okay. G'night."

"Good night. Pleasant dreams."

"Right!" she shot back, as sarcastic as ever.

As Gabrielle guided Xena toward the bathroom, the three of them started collecting the snack plates, glasses, cups and used napkins to take to the kitchen. Harry was in his bedroom talking to Maggie on the phone; had been for most of an hour.

Once they were in the kitchen, they waited until they heard Gabrielle's final 'good night.'