Title: Dragons of Deception
Author: Smenzer
Rating: PG
Pairing: Ares/Gabrielle
Archive: Yes, please. Let me know if you take it, OK?
Teaser: This is Part 6 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.
Xena had been on her way to the Amazon Lands in the far north. She was heart-broken over Gabrielle. It had all happened so fast. One moment she had been ready to kill Hope, the next she was helplessly watching her best friend and soul mate falling to her death. She had first journeyed to the Underworld to see Hades. She had been prepared to fight the God to get Gabrielle back. Or make a deal with him. Anything. But Hades had told her Gabrielle was not in his domain. Her spirit had not crossed over into his keeping. At first this had puzzled Xena, until it clicked in her head. Gabrielle had been the Queen of the Amazons. Her soul must have gone wherever Amazon souls went. So Xena had begun her trip alone.
Xena hung her head and cried. "Oh, Gabrielle, why did you do it? It should have been me. I'm the one who should have died, not you. You didn't deserve to fall to that fiery grave. If you would have just trusted me, I could have killed Hope for you. It was my fault you got involved in this mess. I failed you. But I promise you, Gabrielle, I'll find you wherever you are and rescue you."
A familiar spark blossomed inside Xena's soul and she lifted her head. She concentrated on it, blocking out all her other senses. Only the spark existed. Xena turned her horse around and urged it into a gallop. She didn't know how, but through some miracle Gabrielle was alive! She could sense her through the bond they shared. At the moment Gabrielle wasn't in any danger, but she was worried about something.
And there was something else. Xena frowned as she sensed it. It was familiar to her and yet strange. Whatever it was, Xena didn't like it. "Hang on, Gabrielle! I'm coming to get you!"
Hercules and Iolaus were strolling through the woods. "Boy! I'm glad you didn't want to stay a full God. I missed you, buddy!" Iolaus said.
"I didn't like the company up there." Hercules explained. "Not a very friendly atmosphere."
They both stopped when Zeus appeared in front of them.
"Look, Zeus, I'm not going back to being a full God so just forget it. We tried it and it didn't work."
"That's not why I'm here, Son. I need your help." Zeus explained. "It's Ares."
Hercules sighed. "What is Ares doing this time? I thought he'd lay low for a while. I whipped him pretty good in that tavern brawl we had."
"I'm afraid this is serious." Zeus said. "Since his plot with Hera failed to steal my throne, he has gone out on his own. He has acquired a dragon from somewhere. Not any dragon, but a fire-breathing dragon. They already attacked Apollo. Luckily Apollo managed to escape before he was killed."
"I thought dragons were extinct." Hercules said as he stared at Zeus. "If Ares really has a dragon, we have to stop him. There's no telling what he might do. He'd be invincible."
"But Herc, how are we going to stop a dragon?" Iolaus asked him. "I mean, Ares is one thing, but a dragon!"
"We'll think of something." Hercules replied. "We always do."
"I also thought dragons were extinct." Zeus told them. "But Ares will stop at nothing. He will not be satisfied until he's ruling the world from my throne."
"Don't worry. We'll stop him somehow." Hercules told his father. "We killed off his other pets, we'll get this one, too."
Zeus popped back to Olympus. Iolaus blinked and saw Hercules was already several feet down the forest trail. He hurried to catch up. He glanced up at his best friend, worry written all over his face. "What are we going to do? A dragon! Those things spit fire! And they're BIG! How are we going to kill something like that? I mean, sure we killed his big snake and that ugly lizard dog, but a dragon!"
"Actually, Iolaus, it was Xena that killed Gragus." Hercules reminded him. "She's the one who tossed Darphus in front of the hungry beast. So in a way, she killed it."
"Oh, yeah. Right." Iolaus admitted as he raced to keep up with his friend. They came to the end of the forest and halted. Dark clouds of smoke billowed up into the air from a village. Fire leaped from rooftops and people scrambled around in all directions.
"Great! Ares and his dragon were busy already! Come on!" Hercules ran toward the village, Iolaus hot on his heels. After they had helped the villagers put out the remaining fires, they were both surprised to see Xena ride into town. The Warrior Princess quickly told them about Gabrielle and Hope. They told her about Ares and his new dragon.
"Gabrielle seems to be in the direction of Ares' temple, so I'll travel with you. I wouldn't be surprised if that worm is holding her prisoner." Xena jumped back on her horse and the three set off. The temple they were referring to was the one up in the mountains. "I don't like it that he has a dragon. I don't like dragons. What if he wants to feed her to the beast?"
Hercules frowned. Xena was right. Dragons did like to eat young maidens and Gabrielle probably qualified. "I don't like the sound of that. We better hurry before anything happens. Who knows what other sick ideas Ares might think up next? Look what he did to this poor village! They never even saw him. The coward!"
The three heroes made their way up the steep mountain pass. Soon they began to shiver from the cold. Several times Iolaus slipped on ice and would have tumbled headfirst down the mountain if Hercules had not grabbed him. At last they came to Ares' mountaintop retreat. The temple was an imposing structure of solid granite. It was surrounded on three sides by snowy mountain peaks.. Iolaus pointed and something and whistled. "Whoa! Look at that!"
Something had left deep slashes in the temple wall. It was like a giant had scraped his fingernails into the stone and left the marks. "That doesn't look good." Xena said. "Whatever made those marks is very big and very powerful. I'm afraid it might be our dragon. If it is, it's a lot bigger then we all feared."
"Herc, I don't like this." Iolaus said as he stared up at the marks. His entire body shivered, partly from cold but also partly from fear. "I got a feeling something bad is in there."
"Well, I'm going in." Xena marched toward the doors. "I know Gabrielle is inside. I can feel her. She seems to be OK for now. But we better rescue her before Ares' new pet wants a meal."
"I'm right behind you." Hercules said as he followed Xena. "Come on, Iolaus."
"I'm coming!" Iolaus said as he ran through the doors. Heat rushed over his frozen body and he happily closed the doors. "Boy, Ares sure has it hot in here!"
"Quiet!" Xena hissed at Iolaus. "Hear that?"
They could hear Ares talking and laughing with someone. Xena rushed into the next room and skidded to a halt. Her boots slid on the smooth floor and she fell on her bottom. She lay sprawled on the floor, her mouth hanging open. She kicked with her boot heels on the floor and crawled crab style backward until her back was against a wall. She began to hyperventilate and clung to her chest with one hand. She could not believe what she saw in front of her.
Ares was relaxing against the dragon. And it was HUGE! Its mouth alone was so big that it could easily swallow him in a single gulp. He wouldn't even rate as an appetizer to a creature this big. Little puffs of smoke lazily drifted upward from its nostrils, giving away the fact that it was a fire-breather. But then again, its bright red scales told you that. And those eyes: pools of liquid fire with curved black slits. Those eyes focused on Xena and she shivered with intense, uncontrollable fear. She forced her eyes away and glanced at its talons. She figured that one extended talon alone was as tall as Ares! It could slice through solid rock as easily as her sword through soft flesh. Now she knew what had made those marks outside.
Hercules and Iolaus ran into the room and stopped dead in their tracks. Iolaus collapsed to the floor and whimpered. Sweat ran down his face as he huddled into a small ball. Hercules fared little better. The big hero was forced to his knees as the dragon fear swept over him. "Oh boy." Hercules muttered to himself. "No one said it was this big. How the heck am I supposed to kill that?"
Clinging to the wall, Xena forced herself to her feet. "Ares! I know you have Gabrielle. I demand you release her to me at once!"
"Xena, my dear. You're in a position to demand nothing." Ares laughed as he relaxed against the dragon's warm side. "And Gabrielle belongs to me now. So why don't you just go away and take your two bumbling boy toys with you. I'm in the middle of an important meeting here."
"Why you snake!" Xena hissed and took two steady steps forward. Her lips turned white but she remained standing. "Gabrielle will never belong to you! I'll kill you before I let you feed her to your evil beast!"
Ares busted out laughing and tears ran down his face. "Is that what you think? Trust me, Xena; I could never feed Gabrielle to my dragon. In fact, I need Gabrielle alive and well. I would never dream of hurting her."
Xena's face grew darker and her eyes focused on him. "What have you done to her? If you hurt her in any way, I'll kill you!"
"Oh, please!" Ares said as he swung his hand at Xena. "Can't you think of anything more original than that? You already said that. And anyway, Gabrielle wants to be with me. We share something you, quite frankly, could never understand or have. Admit it, Xena, you just don't have what it takes."
Xena snarled and leaped forward. She was almost on top of Ares when the dragon's tail came out of nowhere. Her stomach collided with the hard tail and she fell to the ground. She had the wind knocked out of her. Xena curled into a tight ball and moaned.
Hercules sensed it was his turn so he forced himself to his feet. "Ares! Why did you and your dragon attack that village? What did those poop people do to you? You must be awfully twisted and sick!"
"What village?" Ares asked. "We saw Apollo flaming a village while we were flying here. Maybe that's what you're babbling about. Look, little brother, you are interrupting an important meeting. So why don't you just LEAVE?"
Ares formed a white energy ball and flung it at Hercules. The energy ball hit him on his chest and carried him out of the room. The big hero landed on the hallway floor and slid until he crashed into the outer wall. Hercules shook his head and got to his feet. Then he raced back into the room.
What was more important? Slaying the dragon or rescuing Gabrielle? Deciding on the latter, Hercules took a few steps closer to Ares. He wondered if the dragon was casting some sort of fear spell on them. He had faced many terrible monsters before and none had caused this him to feel so frightened. Perhaps a more direct approach would work on his brother. "Ares! I demand to see Gabrielle. How do I know you did not harm her? We want to know that you are not holding her against her will."
Ares grinned. "And what if she tells you she wants to be with me? Will you then leave, little brother? Do I have your word?"
"No! Hercules, don't!" Iolaus cried from his spot on the floor. "He's trying to trick you!"
"When and if I'm convinced it's truly what she wants." Hercules finally answered. "And that you're not controlling her in any way. No mind tricks, Ares."
"If only you knew, little bro." Ares shook his head and chuckled. "If anyone's playing mind tricks, I think it's her! As I'm sure Xena knows, Gabrielle gets what Gabrielle wants."
"What do you mean by that, you rat?" Xena lifted her head off the floor and moved. Her stomach had finally stopped cramping, allowing her to sit up. She was so close to the dragon, she could almost reach out and touch it. Unfortunately, it was the head that she was close to. The dragon had its mouth slightly open. Xena could see strings of saliva dripping out from between the teeth and pooling on the floor. Each white tooth was about the size of her sword. And at the very back of its throat was a yellow-orange glow. The Warrior Princess shivered as she imagined what it would be like to be trapped in those huge jaws. She hoped she would not find out. But she had to risk it if she was going to rescue Gabrielle. "Where is Gabrielle?"
Ares threw back his head and laughed. "Why Xena, don't you recognize her? Well, I guess she doesn't trust you if she never told you."
"Told me what?" Xena asked angrily. "What kind of sick game are you playing Ares? Just tell me where Gabrielle is!"
"OK! OK!" Ares said. His voice took on a more serious tone. "But before I tell you where Gabrielle is, tell me what you think of my dragon."
"Fine." Xena got to her feet. She reached behind her back and pulled out her sword. "I hate dragons. I always did. They're evil creatures. And I'm going to kill this one. So that I told you what you wanted to know, keep your end of the deal. Where's Gabrielle?"
Ares laughed and pointed at the dragon. "She's right here in front of you, Xena."
A white glow surrounded the dragon and it transformed into Gabrielle.
"Hello, Xena."
To be continued....
