Chapter 25 –Plague One: Sea of Tears
One Month Later
Octavius rode with some of his best men to parts of Greece. Due to Xena's lack of outposts he was able to get into the territories quite easily. He was most displeased by the little gift that she sent him. He wanted her dead and Xena knew that. He'd been trying to get rid of her for thirty years and still she was a sore in his eye. She needed to go, he thought. The first real war they had he felt so defeated but karma was on his side years later when Xena lost and she ran away like a sad puppy instead of the beast she claimed to be.
Xena had claimed to be a changed woman and he didn't really have too many encounters with her when he was a teenager, but she was a new empress at that time and his adopted father despised her he knew that much. Caesar wanted Xena dead when she tried to invade Rome so long ago, but not only did she lose, she lost her entire army in the process. Octavius often wondered how Xena was able to pick herself up so quickly after such a loss and create an entire empire in her name. She gained power in such a short amount of time and that was what made Xena the great empress she soon became to be known as. Although, Xena was a destroyer, a conqueror, a tyrant but now she was different. She said that she had changed and changed many things in her empire to accommodate her people and the countries that she controlled. People loved her now, but Octavius knew that Xena was always the same woman she always was. She could never change inside, he thought. Nobody changes overnight from a tyrannical leader into a saint. Xena was no saint –far from it.
There was thing he truly admired about Xena and that was her skills and strategies. She was always so good at strategic warfare. She could count on her hand how many times she had lost battles and wars over the course of thirty years. She had been in power longer than him in the formal sense. She had more experience than him which made her very dangerous and she had help too. He couldn't believe that anyone would want to help a snake like Xena. She was difficult to negotiate with and always wanted things to go her own way and when her enemy disagreed she destroyed them vehemently.
No trace would be left of her enemies. She was known to line heads on pikes guarding her enemies' camps, villages and territories. It was a warning to intruders not to mess with her. Octavius knew in the past that Xena had many assassination attempts when she was younger, but he didn't know if that tradition continued. She had won the people over with her peaceful treaties and warm motherly attitude towards the citizens of Athens and all of Greece's territories. Everyone loved her, but not him. The Roman Emperor did not wish to die and see Xena still sitting on her throne. He suspected that she'd die on that throne with sword in hand and the empire would live on without her and Gabrielle especially since she has two heirs to her throne.
He never paid much attention to Xena's daughter, because she hid her well for many years. He was not even aware that Xena had a daughter until she was a teenager in their last hoorah together, his last victory against the Grecian Empress. Octavius was most disappointed to see Solan turn from his adopted Roman roots to the Greek ways. Xena was not even Greek, which made Octavius sick. She was a Thracian. He wondered why the Greek people would allow a foreigner to rule over them. How did she win their hearts? He would probably never know the answer. And there was another thing as well, Xena had a slew of hidden allies –the Persians being one of them. Samuel became the king after his father, Phraates, died and he was a terribly young king. Octavius wouldn't dare think that Xena would befriend a boy only a few years older than her own daughter. She was old enough to be his mother. Samuel was an inexperienced king and Xena allied with him anyway, which that struck very odd in the emperor's mind.
There was also the young Arab king, Allat, who was a very good ally and friend with Xena. Allat was a bit older than Solan, but not by much and Octavius smiled thinking of Allat's dear late mother, Zenobia. His men slaughtered her because she was a threat. She wanted her Assyrian empire to grow further outside into Anatolia and Xena would have been in full support of that. He feared that Zenobia and Xena would join forces together and create a duo-empire to overthrow him. He wouldn't allow that to happen just like he wasn't going to allow Xena to overthrow him. She was older now, though her appearance looked as if time stood still which was most odd to him as well. He wondered what sorcery Xena had committed to somehow retain her good looks. He was beginning to think that she'd never die and live forever –forever haunting him even in his death.
The emperor pulled on the reins of his horse and halted his men. They came to the Spartan camp of the late General Laconicus. He looked inside and it looked pretty barren minus a few men working inside of the camp and the large villa on the hill within the gates. He saw the spear in the ground and the spearhead was rusted and darkened from old blood. He figured that's where Xena planted the General's head after she decapitated him. She was using her old tactics to scare off people including him, but that wasn't going to work.
He trotted in and the Spartans bowed their heads at him. He saw Gorgo watering a few plants outside of the villa and she turned to face him. A large frown appeared on her lips and he dismounted the steed. He approached her and curtly bowed his head. "Lady Gorgo," he smiled. "I am truly sorry about your husband. Laconicus was a great warrior and ally."
She set the watering pot down and placed her hands on her hips glaring at the emperor. "He was decapitated by the Empress. We were your allies and yet received no help from you or your men! This could have been avoided and he would still...be alive," she looked at the spear outside the gates. She refused to remove it so it may remind her what an awful person Xena was. She was not in control of where her husband's body was taken since Xena and her men left in haste.
Octavius nodded, "I understand your pain. We share the same feelings. I promise you the Empress will get what she deserves."
Gorgo frowned, "she has been Greece's ruler for so long, I don't believe even the Roman Emperor can get rid of her. She's a gorgon." She spat on the ground and the emperor blinked.
"Xena and I have been having a war with each other for more than two decades. She managed to win the first time, but I guarantee you that she will lose once and for all," he smiled deviously.
Gorgo had her doubts about that. Xena was a great warrior and now that she is allies with the Persians, her army is twice the size as the Roman army. "With all due respect, emperor," she began and saw the man's eyes widen, quite intrigued, "Xena has accumulated almost one hundred thousand men for her army. It will be difficult to defeat her even with your skilled men."
Octavius' eyes widened. He didn't think that Xena's army plus Samuel's army was quite that large. That was a lot more men than he had. He barely had forty thousand and she has almost one hundred? That didn't seem right. He narrowed his eyes taking a step closer to the woman. Whispering he asked, "where did you get this information from?"
She looked into his light eyes and frowned deeply, "I have friends in Athens. It is hardly news that the Greek Empire is at war with the Roman Empire. Everyone knows about it, though they trust their empress will save them and have no fear or worries about the war. They go on about their business just like any other day." She folded her arms.
Octavius lifted his chin, not liking the sound of this at all. "I see." He rubbed his chin then snapped his fingers at his men. "We ride to the source of the problem."
His men placed their hands over their hearts, bowing to their emperor. "Yes my lord." One of the men looked up in the sky, "Sir, a storm is expected to drown Greece for the next week."
The emperor smiled, "that will not delay our journey, my friend. We must leave at once then," He then turned to Gorgo and kissed her hand, "thank you for this information. I promise you will be rewarded greatly." He hastily made his way to his horse and mounted, riding off through the gated Spartan community. Next stop would be Athens and Xena would have no idea that he was coming. He grinned mischievously.
Gabrielle sat with Xena in bed as they looked over a large map of Greece and the Roman Empire's claimed areas. Xena was circling some areas and drew a lot of X's over certain spots in the Aegean Sea and the surrounding areas of Italia. "Do you think Octavius will use the same tactics he always does?" she asked.
Xena pursed her lips, "he has gotten older and hopefully wiser so I am hoping he uses the same tactics. It would surprise me if he attacked a different way. He always swarms people from the outskirts, but he can't do that if the naval fleet is guarding Greece's borders at all times."
Gabrielle nodded, "right but just one problem," she took the quill out of Xena's hand and circled the entire Mediterranean Sea and put a big X in the middle. "Rome doesn't have a good navy like Athens does. He would never attack by ship. You should remember this from twenty two years ago when I asked you to make your navy back down." She saw the realization in Xena's eyes. "It would be useless to use a third of the army for naval purposes. We should station them on land in various areas of Greece. Octavius likes to attack on land and Samuel's men are good archers."
The empress grinned, "so we use the Persian army on land and our army close to us." She nodded liking this idea far better. "This is why I have you here Gabrielle. You always have such good ideas," she grabbed the quill from her and began writing a note on the map to herself.
Gabrielle blinked, "wait can you say that again?"
Xena continued writing, "say what?" she looked up at Gabrielle's shocked face. "What?"
"Did you just say I have good ideas?" the blonde smugly grinned. "Come on, say it again. I don't hear it too often."
The brunette shook her head smirking. "Okay, you have good ideas." She placed the quill down on the parchment. "Happy now?"
"Yes in fact I am!" Gabrielle grinned. "You're in a good mood lately you know in the midst of this chaos."
Xena sighed leaning on the pillows behind her, "you can't let war get you down, Gabrielle. I am able to separate war from my personal life." She winked. The blonde came closer to her and leaned against her shoulder. "Gabrielle," she uttered quietly and the blonde peered up at her, staring into her eyes. "Thank you for always being there for me."
Gabrielle smiled and kissed Xena's cheek, "I said I would always be here for you, Xena. Many things change but that never will." She grabbed Xena's hand, toying with the empress's long slim fingers. "I am here to make your life easier," she jested.
"Let's not get carried away now," Xena said and Gabrielle gasped. "That was a joke."
She frowned, creasing her brows. "That is one thing I'll never get used to. Your jokes are not funny Xena," she sighed. "They're scary sometimes you know. I still never know when you're joking or not."
Xena exhaled dramatically, "well I guess that's one thing you'll never figure out about me." There was a gust of wind that entered the bedroom and the trees swayed violently in the wind. She frowned looking outside at the darkening sky. "A storm is coming here." The clouds were dark and looming over the sea. The water could be heard crashing against the palace walls.
"Maybe the gods can sense your dark mood," Gabrielle joked and looked to Xena's unapologetic face. "What? You can make jokes and I can't?" she scoffed.
"You're jokes aren't that funny either, Gabrielle." She said with a serious face.
Gabrielle stared at Xena for a silent moment then started laughing. "That was another one of your jokes, right?" she stared into Xena's blue eyes. They were blank and her face was stone. Her laughter died down as soon as she realized Xena was not joking about that. She felt somewhat offended.
Xena's lips then broke out into a cheeky grin and the irritated blonde frowned and punched her friend in the arm. Xena gasped and rubbed her arm. Man, she could really throw a punch. By the gods. "Gabrielle!"
"Looks like your immortal self is not susceptible to pain," she giggled and the empress grimaced still rubbing her sore arm. Suddenly she jumped off the bed and Xena raised an eyebrow looking to see where she was going. Gabrielle disappeared into Eve's vacant room next door and Xena waited patiently on the bed. Returning she had a box in her hands and she shut the door quietly. Hopping back on the bed Xena eyed her partner curiously.
"What is this you have here?" Xena reached for the box and Gabrielle slapped her hand. Xena frowned and rubbed her hand, retracting her hand.
Gabrielle grinned, hugging the medium sized box close to her chest, "no touching," she teasingly said and that only made the empress more curious. "I got something for Eve," she thought for a moment, "well it's not for her, but her babies." She grinned.
Xena's miffed face soon broke out into a large grin. She watched Gabrielle as she slowly opened the box and pulled out two small outfits. Xena instantly reached for them, grabbing them from Gabrielle's hands and laid them out on the bed in front of her. "I always said that you spoiled Eve...and I was right, you still do." She looked at the outfits and they looked brand new, just made by the seamstress in the palace. White fabric with gold trim, a matching set.
"You think that she will like it?" Gabrielle anxiously asked.
Xena eyed her with a knowing look, "if it's from you then she will definitely love it." she brushed the wrinkles out in the fabric and then a loud clap of thunder roared in the skies. Both of them slightly jumped and grinned at one another.
Gabrielle folded the outfits and placed them back into the box. "I think being a mother will be good for Eve," she said and Xena cocked her head to the side, confused at that. She chuckled, "Eve is a wild child and likes to do things her own way. She will learn to calm down. It will be good for her."
Xena couldn't agree more. "She will have her hands full and we won't have to worry about her running off or disobeying us both," she smiled slyly and Gabrielle exhaled, thinking that was going to be a relief. She began to think about a time when Eve went behind her back only to go to Gabrielle for help. "Gabrielle, do you remember when Eve was ten and she tricked you into taking her to a party in the Boys Academy in Athens?"
Gabrielle frowned folding her arms, not wishing to rehash that memory. "She didn't say it was a party. She said that she was going to be studying with a few friends."
Xena laughed, "I can't believe you believed her!" she saw the annoyed look on Gabrielle's face. "As if Eve ever studied. She asked me if she could go and I said no because there were older boys there."
"That was one time! Geez..." Gabrielle sighed, not liking this story at all. "Never trust a ten year old," she grumbled.
Xena's laughter died down and saw her consort was a bit irritated. "That's alright Gabrielle. I allowed her to go to Persia and she came back pregnant and with a king." Gabrielle broke out in a weak smile. "I think I win," she teased.
"Never trust a twenty two year old either," Gabrielle teased back. "Lesson learned." She nodded and Xena rolled her eyes. Both looked outside and saw rain pouring down violently. Gabrielle got up and looked outside to see the dark gloomy sky. The sea was definitely not calm either, waves crashing against the side of the palace. She peered down and saw more than seven feet of water rising. Stepping away she saw Xena relaxing on her bed. "I haven't seen a storm like this in a long time."
Xena sighed, "looks like we are trapped here for a few days then," she grinned. She rolled up the map and scooted over patting the empty spot next to her. "Gives us more time together and less time discussing Octavius," she invited Gabrielle to sit with her.
Gabrielle smiled and hopped onto the bed and a gust of wind blew out the candles in the room. Her eyes widened and looked to Xena, a bit fearful. "Are you afraid of storms, Gabrielle?" she teased with mischief in her eyes.
The blonde grumbled, sinking lower in the bed, "no, it's just rain," she mumbled and leaned in closer to Xena and lightening lit up the dark sky and thunder roared. She gripped onto Xena's leg and the empress' eyes grew.
"Not afraid huh," Xena teased grabbing Gabrielle's hand.
"I'm not afraid," Gabrielle defended herself, although she clung tightly to Xena. She looked up at the empress' smug face. "I'm not," she reiterated.
"Whatever you say Gabrielle."
Down in the large meeting area inside the palace Eve, Solan and Samuel gathered together, playing a friendly game of jenga in the middle of the unexpected storm. All three remained silent as Eve was pulling out a piece out the center of the four foot tower of wooden blocks. She carefully pulled out the block and smiled then placed the piece on top of the tower.
"Beat that boys," she grinned sneakily. Samuel and Solan stared at one another, thinking how Eve was able to pull that piece out. It was like she defied all laws of physics. The tower should have fallen by now but it was still standing. They had been playing the game for four hours now.
Samuel downed the rest of his wine and stood up from the sofa, examining the jenga tower. Eve sat down watching him testing the tower's ability to stand. "I don't know how you did it Eve..." he rubbed his chin pensively. He reached for a piece towards left center and Solan grabbed his wrist.
"Don't get that piece! It's going to fall!" he exclaimed. The Persian groaned and pushed his hand away.
"Relax, it's not going to fall," he bit his bottom lip and leaned forward looking at the tower. He peered through an empty slot and saw Eve's smug face. He grinned and started pulling out the piece and Solan's eyes widened. Samuel saw the tower begin to lean and he cringed, slowly pulling the piece out swiftly and the tower leaned to the right but then centered itself. He chuckled lowly and placed the wooden block on top of Eve's block she took out.
Solan and Samuel gave each other a high-five and Samuel looked at Eve's smiling face. "And that's how you do it, princess."
"Is that so?" Eve said and pointed at the tower. It was beginning to lean to the right now and both men gasped and slowly the tower crashed onto the floor. She jumped up and clamped her hands together. "I win!"
Samuel sighed and Solan folded his arms. "Told you so," he mumbled to the Persian. He looked over at his sister beaming and he grinned. "Congratulations Eve, you win...again." he sighed.
"Don't be such a spoiled sport, Solan. I'm sure you'll win next time," Eve falsely pouted and pat his back teasingly.
Solan brushed it off, "we would have won if somebody," he glared at Samuel, "didn't pull out the wrong block."
Samuel gasped, "I was sure it wasn't going to fall!" he folded his arms frowning.
Eve smiled watching the two throw a minor tantrum over a silly game. "Boys, you both lost. Just face it, you both suck at jenga." She shrugged and the two men looked at her blinking. "We can play chess next."
Solan shook his head and downed the wine, "no way! I am not going to play chess with you!" he began walking off with the wine bottle in his hand. "You have magical powers when it comes to playing chess."
Samuel grinned, "thanks to me."
Eve frowned, "I beat you many times in chess."
He chuckled, "yeah but I'm the one who taught you."
Her mouth gaped, "no you didn't, Solan taught me!"
"Well he obviously taught you how to lose," he teased and Eve nudged him in his ribs. He winced rubbing his side and Solan sighed, walking off leaving the two to argue among themselves.
In the middle of the night Octavius and his men arrived in Athens. They were a few miles from Xena's grand palace. He had his cloak on hiding under a large tree from the storm. The rain swayed in the wind, blocking some of his view. He saw the large Grecian palace on the hillside, secluded from everything. It was dark there but there were many rooms lit still this late in the evening and it would be morning in about four hours.
One of his men came running towards him in soaked clothing. He wiped his mouth and breathed heavily. "Sir, we found the dam. It's just right up the hill, about a mile from the Empress's palace."
He grinned, "good," he stared at the large palace completely out of harm's way. "Break the dam." He said and his men nodded, heading off on their horses in the dark of the night. "Xena shall drown in her own sea's tears," he folded his arms and saw a light go out in the palace's open windows. Smirking he trotted through the storm to follow his men towards the dam.
Early the next morning, there was no sun in the sky and Eve opened her eyes to see it was still raining violently. She saw Samuel still sleeping and smiled at him. She yawned, thinking it probably wasn't the best idea to stay up late playing games with Samuel and her brother. She swung her legs over the edge of the bed and stood up and realized she was standing in a foot of water. Her eyes widened and jumped back onto the bed.
She panicked and shook Samuel's body. "Samuel!" she yelled and he woke up to her violently shaking his body. He grumpily opened his eyes and saw concern on her face.
"What is it?" he sat up and touched her face. She pointed to the room and his eyes grew in fear. "Oh..." he saw there was a foot of water in the room and quickly got out of bed and saw his shoes were soaked and floating elsewhere. His clothes were also soaked. He was only wearing his pants and had no shirt. Groaning he grabbed Eve's hand as they waded through the water slowly. He tried to open the door and clenched his teeth he pushed the door open with his shoulder and saw the entire hallway was filled with water. "What in God's name..." he mumbled.
"This has never happened before even in the worst storms..." Eve clung to his arm and saw the staircase leading to her mother's room was halfway underwater. "My mother is in her room with Gabrielle."
He sighed, "find someplace dry and I will go up there," he said and waded through the cold water, drenching his pants. The water was continuing to rise and as he came closer to the grand staircase he was now waist deep in the water.
Finally making it up the stairs he groaned and saw two guards posted outside Xena's bedroom. He walked closer and they stared at him. "I need to speak with the empress." The two guards wouldn't allow him in and he folded his arms. "It's urgent." Still not letting him through they blocked his path crossing their javelins. "I don't have time for this," he threw them aside and opened the doors to see Xena asleep and Gabrielle beside her.
He raised an eyebrow and Xena woke up seeing a shirtless Samuel in front of her bed. She frowned and nudged Gabrielle awake. "What are you doing in here?" she asked.
"Your palace is going to become the next Atlantis," he said cryptically. Xena looked at Gabrielle, unsure what he meant. She grabbed her robe wrapping it around her black slit gown. She left her room and saw the guards on the floor. Gabrielle followed and Samuel lead the way.
He saw the look in her eyes and he grinned sheepishly, "you'll forgive me later," he ran down the hall and both women followed him. He stood at the top of the stairs as the water had risen quite a lot in a short amount of time. Xena joined him and her eyes widened seeing her entire palace turning into the sea itself.
Gabrielle caught up and gasped, covering her mouth, "by the gods," she mumbled.
Xena frowned, "the dams have been broken," she looked to see the rain was speeding up the process and the water continued to rise inside. She then looked to Samuel, "where is Eve?"
"I told her to get somewhere dry. I don't know where she went," he knew that didn't sound too good but it was the truth. She groaned and stepped down on the stairs.
"Go find Solan," she demanded and continued to wade in the water, now up to her breasts. Gabrielle sighed and followed Xena, grabbing onto her shoulder for guidance through the water.
Gabrielle clung onto Xena, "this hasn't happened before, right?" she said feeling a bit fearful of this entire experience.
"No, someone manually broke the dam," she frowned, looking around. "We need to get everyone out of here," thinking of all the children in the other wing of the palace. They probably had no idea what was going on, but luckily that wing was on higher ground than hers and hopefully the water was not as high as it was over in this wing.
Gabrielle nodded, "on it," she let go of Xena and realized she was too short to touch the ground. This was going to be a difficult task to get to the other side of the palace. She cursed Xena for having such a large home. "What about Eve?" she called out now a good few feet away.
Xena nodded, "I will find her, just get everyone out," she looked around at what a disaster this was. She suspected Octavius was at play here. Actually, she had no doubt it was him and that only infuriated her more. Wading through the water she pushed tables out of her way and vases floating the water. The palace only gave an eerie vibe because all the candles were blown out and the dark skies were not helping with the storm still alive and well. "Eve?" she called out and went through the large doors in the grand hallway pushing items out of her way she groaned, quite annoyed at this entire situation. She hoped that Gabrielle would be able to get everyone out in a peaceful manner, but if the palace was under water, that only meant the entire city was underwater as well.
She called out to Eve once more and heard Eve's voice from up above. She looked up and saw Eve on the third floor of the palace. Xena smiled, thankful to see Eve was well and in one piece. "We need to leave right now!" she waded over to the stairs and climbed up, her heavy soaked robe pulling her down.
Eve ran to her mother and hugged her tightly. "Where is Gabrielle?"
"She's helping the children get out of the palace," she wrapped her arm around Eve and saw the rain begin to seep through the ceiling. Frowning she clung to her tightly, "we need to go," both stepped off the stairs and back into the cold water. Summer had long gone over a month ago and autumn was here for a short time. Winter would arrive in two months and the water was freezing. Xena squeezed Eve's hand as tight as she could. "Don't let go of me." Eve nodded.
Together the two waded through the water, now the water rising to their shoulders, Eve clung tightly to her mother, afraid to let go. Xena groaned and grabbed a sword off the wall since she didn't really have time to grab any other weapon from her bedroom. She saw Samuel and Solan not far ahead of them.
Solan was thankful to see his sister with his mother. "Eve!" he grinned and Eve smiled at him.
Xena pushed Eve forward, "Solan take Eve and get out of here. Samuel and I will help Gabrielle."
Solan grabbed onto Eve's arm and she wrapped her hands around his arm. She looked back at Samuel and he winked at her, trying to ease her concern. "You'll be fine with Solan," he said and she nodded. Xena pulled Samuel along in the opposite direction to find Gabrielle and the children.
Gabrielle was now ankle deep in water in the student wing escorting children out of their rooms. A small girl came up to Gabrielle tugging on her knee length skirt, "are we having a pool party?"
Gabrielle sighed smiling at the innocent child, "no we're not. Just keep following the other children, okay?" she pushed her along and kept the children in one line getting them out as fast as she could by herself.
Xena showed up with Samuel, completely drenched. Gabrielle gasped audibly and kept gently guiding the children to the exit. "Thank the gods you're here Xena. Did you find Eve?"
"She's with Solan," Xena saw the children walking out of the palace looking very confused. It was very lucky that none of them drowned and this wing was on higher ground than the other half of the palace, but the water was rising and she couldn't control it. she could control a lot of things, but this was one thing she couldn't.
"Your men are outside helping the children get out of the palace and onto higher ground." Gabrielle said, "I think we're almost done here." She smiled at the confused faces of all the children.
Xena checked all of the other rooms but they were empty. Gabrielle did pretty well for doing this all by herself although she shouldn't be surprised. "Gabrielle," she said aloud, trying not to alarm the children, "I think this is Octavius' doing. The dam has never broken even in the most violent storms. This has his name written all over it."
Gabrielle's eyes grew in fear, "do you really think he would do something like this?"
Xena raised an eyebrow nodding her head, "yes! He's trying to kill me!" she said and the smallest child out of the bunch looked up at her. Xena nervously smiled down at the young boy and he blinked. Gabrielle quickly ushered him out of the palace to follow the rest of the students.
"We need to create a new dam," Samuel said immediately thinking of a new plan. He noticed the water was now up to his and Xena's knees and Gabrielle's waist. "But we should get out of here first," he said and waded through the water following the children.
Solan and Eve made it to the highest hill outside of the palace grounds. Solan wrapped his arms around her and looked to see everyone get out safely. He then saw Xena and Gabrielle with Samuel exit the palace as well. "They made it out," he said and Eve looked over and smiled at them all.
Xena blinked, squinting her eyes as the rain blurred her vision. She saw Octavius on his horse with a few of his Roman soldiers. She saw a smile on his face and she frowned at him. He waved at her and that only irritated her more.
Gabrielle came to stand next to Xena and saw who she was looking at. "That bastard," Xena grumbled as she saw him ride off with his men. She was lost now, her home was gone and everyone was scattered around the area. Her army was still available but there were still not enough. Octavius had destroyed her city and home in a matter of a few short hours. She had underestimated his tactics. This was not a war, this was a game. A game that he is going to lose, she told herself.
"He is playing a dirty game," Xena uttered and Gabrielle grabbed her arm firmly. "He will lose."