Chapter 72

"NO!"

It was a heart wrenching scream that left even Athena's troops shook up from the intensity of it. She did not even think, she acted on instinct and in a flash Xena was rushing through her troops and straight to the Goddess', desperately wanting to get to Lyceus. It was the only thing that was fueling her, and nothing was going to stop her from reaching him.

"Kill her." was Athena's simple response to seeing Xena rush across the field and she disappeared from the battle, satisfied that she had the last devastating blow.

The Goddess' men did as they were told and several of them made their way forward toward Xena, only taking mere seconds before they finally collided. But the Warrior Princess was in a fierce frenzy and Athena's loyal troops did not stand a chance against her rage. Her mind was focused on one thing and that was getting to her brother. She sliced her way through them with a ferocious determination, an anger like nothing she had ever felt before building within her as she continued to make ground.

Their onslaught did not deter her, despite that she was severely outnumbered, and she pushed through them. She only stopped for a moment because they had surrounded her then and Xena looked up at the hill at Lyceus and her eyes darkened, watching as he slowly gasped for breath as he coughed up more blood. She was only a small distance away now and she would be damned if they were going to stop her from getting to him. She turned her malicious gaze back to the men around her, they would all rue the day that they crossed paths with her and Xena let out a vicious battle cry and within a split second her own men had come clashing into the opposing troops.

Xena looked around at her men as they helped take out Athena's army, they had just caught up with her, she did not think they were going to follow and she captured the eyes of several of them who nodded at her in support, solidifying that these were her men now and they would follow her anywhere.

With her newly added support, Xena let out another piercing war cry and it was not long before they had the Goddess' men retreating. Together with their commander's intense prowess, they gained that much needed ground that the Warrior Princess so desperately wanted to erase in order to get to Lyceus. As they began to encircle him, several of her troops kept beating back Athena's army, making sure that they would not resurge upon them.

Xena took that moment to look around for any remaining threat before collapsing next to Lyceus on the ground.

"Lyceus?" she tentatively whispered out as she reached out to him, cutting his hands free and she turned him over to face her.

His eyes were closed though, and he did not respond to his sister's words. Xena franticly began to apply pressure to his wound, despite knowing deep down that there was going to be nothing that she could do to save him. His wound was lethal, and he was already starting to feel cold to the touch, and the Warrior Princess fought back the tears that were beginning to form within her eyes. She did not want to believe it and she started to shake her head a little at the thought that he was gone.

"No, no, no…" she murmured softly against his ear, gently taking her brother into her arms, "Lyceus?" she softly said his name again, thinking that just maybe if she could get him to answer her then there still stood a chance that this nightmare was not going to come to pass, and she could save him.

Standing idly a few feet away though, Gascar was taking in the sight before him. Women…. Always emotional and she had put more of his men in danger for what? This pathic boy who managed to get himself killed? Probably another liaison of hers when she was not occupying the War Gods bed and he rolled his eyes at that the thought of it. This is what the fierce God of Wars army had come to. Led by a sentimental whore crying over her lover's body.

At that moment he had let out a loud sigh of irritation, one that did not go unheard by the Warrior Princess and her eyes angrily shifted in the direction of the sound, not being too surprised by who it was either when she saw him.

"We really should be moving on." Gascar persistently mused out, not caring for one second about this woman's problems, "No telling where those men have gone. This isn't the place to stay."

His words were condemning him and the anger that was already embedded deep within Xena was only building from it. He failed to notice it though, since he did not care what it was that she was doing, the viciousness that was burning behind those sapphire eyes. Xena tried to block out his words and looked back down at her brother but the pain and fury was only growing more and more, and she closed her eyes to try and control herself.

"We don't have time for this." He cruelly reminded her.

It was too late though, there was not anything in this entire world that he or anyone else could have done, those words had sealed his fate and Xena's eyes snapped back open with a frightening rage. Several of her men had seen the change that had taken place within her in a matter of seconds and they all silently thanked the Gods that they were not going to be on the receiving end of that wrath. The Warrior Princess' gaze wickedly returned to Gascar, and she softly laid Lyceus down. The display of gentleness mixed with raw fury made her men begin to sweat, they did not know what to expect with the way she had flipped moods at a drop of a hat.

She crept closer to him, her rage only becoming more with each step she took nearer to him. Gascar only looked at her unimpressed and, completely clueless to the danger he had put himself in, he idiotically let out another annoyed breath. The Warrior Princess stopped just a foot away from him, not even sparing him a glance as she pretended to wipe what blood she had on her face off.

It had all happened so quickly though, some of her men not even sure what it was that had taken place until their commander had stepped back a few feet and carelessly dropped the dagger to the ground, completely stained with blood. All that time and Xena still did not bother to spare a look in Gascar's direction, she simply turned around and made her way back to Lyceus, once again gently picking up his head and placing it in her lap.

Gascar gripped at his midsection, shock taking him over at what she just did. He tried desperately to stop the bleeding and feeling woozy from the immediate blood loss, he dropped to his knees. He looked out to his comrades, expecting them to come to his aid for what that whore had did but what he saw stunned him even more. Every single one of them turned their backs to him, none of them sparing him a second glance as he slowly and painfully bled to death on the cold ground.

It had felt like an eternity for Xena as she sat there in the dirt with Lyceus, but it was only a few minutes that went by. Even though the pain she felt was consuming her and it made her not want to move from where she was, she knew she could not stay here forever. She lovingly looked down at Lyceus, letting her fingers gently glide through his hair, a gesture that brought her a small amount of comfort that she was perhaps soothing him to his journey to the Elysian Fields as one single tear made its way down her cheek before she quickly wiped it away.

"Find some wood for a pyre." she commanded, not bothering to look at her men and they quickly set out to do as she asked.

She was going to give him a proper burial, that Goddess was not going to deny her that and her eyes darkened at the thought of the Olympian. She was going to pay for this, even if that was the last thing Xena ever did. She did not care if that was Ares' sister, the two of them were not fond of each other anyway. She would see the light go out of Athena's eyes… even if it killed her.