Title: Dragons of Oblivion

Title: Dragons of Oblivion

Author: Smenzer

Rating: PG

Pairing: Ares/Gabrielle

Archive: Yes, please. Let me know if you take it, OK?

Teaser: This is Part 3 of Dragons of Despair

Disclaimer: The characters are not mine. They belong to Studios USA or whoever owns the Rights to Xena: Warrior Princess. This is just for fun.

Gabrielle woke with a start and screamed, throwing her arms in front of her face. Then she realized she was lying on a rough stone floor. She could feel the sharp bits of stone biting into her stomach and legs. Lifting her head, she saw she was in a huge cave. The only light came from a nearby bubbling lake of magma. She watched fascinated as large red bubbles formed and popped. Then the recent events rushed back into her head and she scrambled away from the lake.

Once her back was safely pressed against the warm but solid wall of the cave, she cried. The stress of the past few days had been too much. First finding out Hope was still alive and running some crazy cult. Then overhearing Ares had gone with Hope to create some soulless Destroyer. Next Ares had called in his dept, putting Xena's life in her hands. She couldn't let Xena die. She owed Xena so much. If it wasn't for Xena, she'd still be living a simple but boring life in Poteidia. So she had done the only thing she could: Threw herself and Hope down the lava pit. She had brought Hope's evil into the world, so it was only right that she was the one to remove it. She had been willing to pay with her life. But it seemed she was still alive.

She stopped crying and wiped her eyes. Slowly she examined herself. She didn't feel any pain nor was there a scorch mark anywhere on her body. Not even her hair was singed. Her clothes seemed OK, too. Taking a deep breath, she forced herself to remember what had happened.

She remembered falling. She had felt the heat from the magma right away, even when she was quite a distance from it. Then the fumes had started to choke her. She couldn't breath. And the stink! Hope had been a bit below her. She remembered watching Hope hit the magma and disappear. By then she was very close. She could easily see individual bubbles on its surface, hear it sizzle like fat frying in a pan. She had closed her eyes tightly against the brilliant red glare. Then she had covered her face with her arms in a futile attemp at protection. She had screamed. Then .....

Her mind was a blank.

Gabrielle climbed to her feet and walked over to the lake of magma. Was this the same magma she had fallen in? But it couldn't be. What she had fallen in had been a rushing river of the molten rock. This was a bubbling lake. She rubbed her forhead with a hand. "How did I get here?"

There was a flash of light and an icy wind made her shiver. She turned around and saw Ares lying in a heap on the floor. He was covered in dust, both in his hair and on his clothes. It looked as if he had appeared in midair, not standing on the floor like he usually did.

"Ares".

She watched as he raised his head to look at her as he rubbed his left upper arm. He climbed to his feet and slowly approached her. Gently taking her chin in his hand, he pushed her head upward. He stared deep into her eyes. "Gabrielle, it is you. How did you survive?"

Gabrielle yanked her head away from him and stood with her hands on her hips. "How am I supposed to know, Ares? You're the god. Why don't you tell me? I woke up lying here. That's all I know."

"Well, Hope didn't survive it." Ares stared at the lake, his eyes loosing their focus. A coughing fit gripped him and he doubled over.

Gabrielle rushed to his side and put an arm around his shaking shoulders. "Are you all right?"

"How can you stand so close to that?" Ares pointed at the bubbling magma with a trembling arm. He covered his nose with one hand and gripped Gabrielle's wrist with the other. He started to drag her into the black recesses of the cave.

"Ares. Stop. Where are we going?" Gabrielle tried to pull out of his grasp, but his fingers were locked around her wrist. She wasn't entirely comfortable going into a totally dark cave with Ares. Well, technically she was in a dark cave with him. But the magma had given light so she could see him, and anything else that might be in the cave. But away from the lake was absolute blackness. Never before in her life had she seen such total darkness. She felt as if she were blind. "Look, Ares. I can't see anything!"

A few moments later Ares stopped and made a fire. It was a magical fire and required no fuel to burn. It ran one hundred percent on his powers. Seeing the look on his face, Gabrielle wished she had the blackness back. He glared at her and pointed a finger back the way they had come. "I thought I lost you! You should have been killed! Some miracle had saved you and you risk your life by standing next to that...that lake!"

Gabrielle blinked. Why was Ares so angry? "Well, I wasn't going to fall in. I wasn't that close! I was just trying to figure out how I got here!"

"I meant the fumes!"

"Look, Ares. I didn't smell anything." Gabrielle ran a hand through her hair and started to pace up and back. She didn't know what she was doing here, how she had gotten here. "Maybe I had lain there too long and my nose had gotten used to the smell or something. I don't know!"

"Well, those fumes are poisonous." Ares watched her pace. "Look. I'm going to take you to Xena, OK? I'm sure her and Joxer will be very happy to see you. And so am I."

Gabrielle stopped and stared at Ares. "Since when are you happy to see me, Ares? I thought I was always the "annoying bard" that came between you and Xena. And the last time you saw me was because you wanted something. So what do you want this time? Will I owe you another favor for getting me out of here?"

"Look, I was worried! I'm not a monster, Gabrielle." Ares walked around the fire and stopped in front of the blonde bard. He held out his hand. "I never meant for you to get hurt. I honestly don't know how you survived, but I'm very glad that you did. Now take my hand and I'll get us out of here. No strings attached."

Something inside her stirred. She had to admit he looked very good with the flickering

firelight dancing over his skin. It reflected off his silver earring and made his eyes shine. Gabrielle reached out and took his hand. His skin felt hot against hers. She could also see how much larger his hand was then hers. Besides, what choice did she truely have? Gabrielle saw the white sparks dance over his body and she closed her eyes, waiting for the odd feeling to grip her. Last time Ares had popped her, it had caused an odd sensation in her stomach. It wasn't unpleasant, just...odd. After awhile, Gabrielle opened her eyes and stared at Ares. They were still in the cave. "Well, what are you waiting for?"

She saw his body stiffen. His hand tightened around hers and she cried out in pain. The sparks of light flew across his body several times, each time vanishing from sight. His eyes grew dark and his face twisted into any angry mask. He let go of her hand and shook his fists at the ceiling. "I don't believe this! He won't let me leave! I'm trapped!"

Gabrielle rubbed her aching hand as she watched Ares have a fit. He looked so angry she wouldn't be surprised if smoke came out of his ears! A few moments later he visibly cooled as he got his temper under control. "So? Your master won't let you leave?"

"He's NOT my master!" Ares moved close to Gabrielle until his face was just a few inches away from hers. She could feel his warm breath on her face. She had never been this close to Ares before. She felt her heart rate increase as a slight thrill raced through her body. Ares leaned even closer and whispered in her ear in a low voice. "Look. I didn't have any choice, OK? I can't fight him alone and none of the other gods would listen to me. I had gone to all the Pantheons on this stinking planet. They had laughed at me. I told Xena to destroy that temple, but she was more interested in revenge against Ceasar. So my only choice was to work with him. I had hoped this way I could learn something to destroy him."

"Xena used that tactic before." Gabrielle admitted. She had to concentrate on keeping her voice steady. He hadn't moved an inch. "Do you think he's listening to us?"

"Maybe. Does it really matter?" Ares backed away and sunk to the stone floor before the fire. He waved his hand and plates of food appeared. "Look, we might be here for awhile, so we might as well eat something. Then maybe we can figure a way out of this mess."

Gabrielle realized she was starving. She couldn't remember the last time she had eaten something. Sitting down next to Ares, she hungrily tore into a hunk of bread. Food had never tasted so good! And Ares had even remembered to supply water to drink. Hmmm...no cooking. She could really get used to this! And the food was delicious! "You know, maybe there's another way out of here. I mean, this cave has to go somewhere. But I don't understand. How can he stop you from leaving?"

"He's blocking me somehow. I can still use my powers, but I can't teleport." Ares frowned as he reached for the bread. "He wants me to do something I don't want to do, so he's keeping me a prisoner here with you. And I would think there is no other way out of here. I mean, would you put your prisoner someplace where they could just walk out of? Of course not."

"What does he want you to do?" Gabrielle was almost afraid to ask. But whatever it was, she was grateful that Ares had refused to do it. And since Ares had done many awful things in the past, it must be something truely dreadful. Her heart beat wildly as she waited for his reply.

"Look, it's not important what he wants me to do. But he's very angry that Hope's dead and he wants revenge." Ares gazed into the flickering fire.

Gabrielle noted that he had refused to look at her when he had answered her question. "I suppose he wants me dead."

"He didn't trap me here to guard a dead body, so no."

Gabrielle threw her arms up in the air. She was beginning to get frustrated. Ares was being tight lipped like usual. "Well why doesn't he do whatever it is himself? Hmmm? Is he scared of me? The big bad Dahok scared of a bard? So he sends you to do his dirty work?"

Ares focused his eyes on Gabrielle. He eyes bored into her with such intensity that she began to grow nervous. "You have a very good question. Unfortunately, I don't have an answer."

"You know, Ares. That's our problem. There's too many 'I don't knows'. Isn't there something we can do? Anything at all?" Gabrielle finished her meal and waited for a reply.

He leaned back against a large boulder and stretched his legs out in front of himself. "I did run across something in my research on Olympus," he admitted. "But it seems to be a dead end."

"Well, Ares, at this point we need some ideas. Anything." Gabrielle leaned forward to hear what his idea was.

"It seems that during the Age of the Titans, dragons flew the sky. They were powerful creatures but also very dangerous. I think if I could find one and convince it to help me, we might have a chance to defeat Dahok. The bad part is Zeus said they were extinct."

Gabrielle thought of dragons. She glanced around the dark cave and could easily imagine a huge red dragon lying there. Somehow she just knew that it would be red. It's huge head would be over there, near that pile of boulders. Tendrils of smoke would be lazily drifting upward from its nostrils. Its eyes would be a fiery yellow-orange, the pupils just curved black slits. Huge curved horns would stick out of its head and when it locked its gaze on you your heart would freeze with fear. You could see the cunning intelligence behind those glowing eyes. Its long body would stretch far back into the cave and its wings would be folded against its sides. The scales would be defense against all. Only the finest, enchanted weapons stood a chance and then even that was very slim. Would-be dragon slayers were often noble, but very foolish and stupid! Most times it didn't even have to use its breath weapon. A flick of its long tail or a stab of a huge claw worked just fine! And if the enemy was powerful, it had its magic powers.

This cave was big, but too dark. It was too far underground. Something up in the mountains would be much better. A lonesome cave high up on a mountain peak. From up there, she could survey her entire domain. She would dig her huge claws into the rock and spread her wings, letting the sun warm her scales. It would be glorious!

Gabrielle's eyes grew wide when she realized what she was thinking and her mouth formed an "O". A smile spread across her lips as she grinned at Ares.

"Ares. I think I know where you can find a dragon."

To be continued....