Chapter 29
The sound of metal clashing against metal rang clear throughout the air. The screams of the dying echoing off of the cliffs drifted up to the ears of the leather clad God that was standing on a nearby crevasse watching the battle closely. His eyes were fixed firmly on the fight but it was on a certain raven haired warrior that he was following the movements of directly. The fire breathing from her mouth as she commanded her warriors against the opposing force, luring the enemy straight into her trap, resonated within him making his whole body shiver in exhilaration. His lips turned up into a satisfied smirk at the way she slashed her way through those men, each one meeting their death at the end of her blade as she viciously cut them down like flies, limbs scattered everywhere throughout the battleground as she dominated the field.
Once she had everyone in the desired position, the War God watched as she gave the signal and higher up on the ridge a small group of archers appeared. Each one lit their arrows and released them towards the valley down below. Having already presoaked the ground with oil, the arrows hit their intended targets and a fire began to spread out over the field. The enemy soldier defenses were cut down to smaller groups as the fire quickly spread out in between them. Struggling to build a line of defense at the sudden confusion, Xena's warriors quickly acted on their disorder and attacked. The two forces clashed together and the cries from below reverberated inside of him but it was the voice of one that rang clear above all others.
He looked on as Xena sunk her sword deep into the gut of the enemy and how a new glint started to form in her eyes. How she watched the man slowly slump to the ground as he gasped out in pain, seeming transfix by her kill for a moment as she watched his life leave him, only to quickly kick him off of her blade and turn around to the three men that were sneaking up behind her. Ares watched as the three men circled her, gradually closing in the distance that separated them from his raven haired warrior. Xena turned in a slow circle as she glanced around at the three men closing in on her. A cunning grin lightened up her features as she twirled her sword once and she mouthed the words 'come and get me' and she beckoned them to her, she was going to enjoy this. One of them immediately charged her from behind but she expertly delivered a swift kick to his midsection and sent him stumbling to the ground. She turned to meet the sword of another and after a few blocked blows she had him on the defense.
He was parrying with great effort to try and block her blows in time and his comrade came to his aid as he rushed the raven haired warrior from behind. Xena, sensing his approach, slashed out with her sword to the one in front of her and disarmed him of his blade quickly then swiftly backhanded him across the face and in his delirium she turned to her new foe. She warded off his attacks against her and after growing bored with him, he wasn't giving her much of a fight, she struck out with a few more skillfully placed jabs with her sword and then she ran him through as a pleased smile formed on her face. The man held his gut from where her blade entered him and she twisted it inside of him and his face curled up more in pain, before she finally pulled it out. Elation coursed through her from her kill and a malicious gleam formed behind those dazzling sapphire eyes. The man pulled his shaking hand back to look at his wound that his blood was now rushing out of and in a final attempt, tried to lash out at the venomous beauty. Xena saw the pitiful blow coming and with one strong clash with her sword, she knocked his from his grasp. He stumbled to the ground from the hit and she moved quickly and brought her sword down straight through his chest.
She pulled her sword out and turned around to find the other two pathetic warriors coming towards her. The first one she fended off seemed to have found his bearings again and started his attack against her for a second time.
The War God watched the skirmish with rapt attention, the ecstasy coursing through his veins at the sight of her was filling him with an immeasurable pleasure with the way she brutally tore through her enemies. Then his whole body tensed the moment she moved to block a blow from behind her just a little slower then he would have liked her to. She fought her two assailants aggressively, blocking one blow just to turn around and fend off another before he had the chance to strike her. Ares was growing more and more edgy as he watched her leave her flank wide open to an attack a few times and had the two imbeciles that she was fighting been smart enough to react to it then they could have ended her life. Had she learned nothing from their fight?
'Focus damn it! Stop leaving your flank open!' he screamed inside of his head and he saw how she slightly stiffened for a moment and then she quickly adjusted her position. She pushed the two men back and never again left an opening to a fatal assault as she fought against them. Ares was a bit taken aback by the sudden change in her stance and how she now kept her side guarded from an attack. Did she somehow hear him? He chuckled softly to himself, he shouldn't be too surprised by the possibility that she probably did hear him, she wasn't just any mere mortal. They were connected after all and this only showed him how much deeper their bond was now forming. He was so caught up on watching her every move, examining her small faults and thinking of ways of how they were going to work on them, that he didn't even realize that he was no longer standing alone.
The God stood their majestically as he waited for his son to acknowledge his presence. He could see every muscle in the War God's body tensing and watching as they started to slowly relax again several times as he gazed attentively upon the fight. He looked from Ares down to battle field below to see the two forces raging against each other. He recognized the markings on one of the warriors as Athena's and could see that his children were once again fighting each other.
"Ares!" he bellowed, growing impatient at his son's lack of respect to concede that he was there.
At the enraged voice, Ares turned his head away from the battle to see the mighty Zeus himself standing there, not looking at all pleased with him. Great, just what he needed at the moment, to go a round with dear ole dad. Since the old man seemed to already be upset with him about something, and knowing that it would only infuriate him more, he turned his head back to the battle and chose not to answer him instead. His eyes locked in on Xena again, drinking in the sight of her and the way she moved, he patiently waited to see what this visit from Zeus meant, silently hoping that it would be a short one… He definitely had more pressing matters to attend to.
The King of the God's eyes grew furious at his son's deliberate disrespect. If he didn't need him at that exact moment then he would have tossed him into the Abyss of Tartarus to teach him a lesson. Repressing his anger for his disobedient son, he moved to continue for the reason of his visit.
"Have you forgotten what you are supposed to be doing today?"
"Not really." came the War God's laid-back response.
"This alliance with the Norse Gods is a serious matter Ares. You were supposed to be in my throne room hours ago and yet instead I find you here, gazing at a worthless battle." he could see that his son was fixated on it immensely.
"Well, what can I say... it's a very exciting battle." he cast a sly grin towards the Olympian and returned his focus back to the fight, finding the object of his enthrallment, "Besides, they are the ones that need us so I think they can afford to wait for a little while."
"This is not one of your pathetic schemes! This is a vital coalition between us and the Norse lands and I will not have you messing it up because you'd rather watch this squabble." the King of the Gods roared out as he gestured to the warriors below. "If I didn't need you for this then I would have already punished you for your noncompliance. Though I suppose I could still teach you a lesson in respect and just lay waste to those insignificant mortals you seem to be so fond of and watching at this very moment."
Ares flinched faintly at his words and he snapped his head up and he cast the God a hateful glare. There wasn't a doubt in his mind that Zeus would do exactly what he said and kill everyone on that battle field only to try and get a rise out of him. Honestly he couldn't care less if he killed them all…. Half of those warriors belonged to his precious Athena anyway. The other half was no warlord of his and he couldn't care less what happened to any of them and he was somewhat tempted to see if Zeus would actually go that far just to prove a point. But there was only one thing stopping the War God from foiling the King of the Gods threat and only one person down on that field who he was not willing to gamble their life on by calling his bluff.
"That won't be necessary." he said through clenched teeth, "I just need some time to square away a few things and then we can go."
"You have until sundown and not a moment more."
The King of the Gods vanished without another word and Ares threw a fireball at the spot where he had just been standing. The damn bastard! Trying to reign in his anger he took in a few deep breaths and then cast a glance down on the field below. The battle had finished and he quickly scanned the valley, searching for those raven tresses and blue eyes. He couldn't find what he was looking for right away and he raked his eyes over the bloody field, becoming a bit agitated when he still came up empty in his search. He cursed Zeus' name for having distracted him when he should have been paying attention to her. Where could she have gone? His mind started to toy with the notion that maybe just maybe... Then, all of a sudden, he spotted her sitting near a small stream, a bit secluded from the rest of the warriors and he relaxed. He watched her as she cleaned her sword off in the water and saw how she was looking around the clearing as if searching for some unseen enemy that was waiting to jump out at any moment to catch her off guard.
It came to him that she could feel his eyes on her, even from this distance but she couldn't locate him, and he transported himself a few feet away from her. A small grin, that didn't quite reach her eyes, formed on her face once he approached her. He stayed in the ether as he looked at her, how she was covered in blood from the way she tore through her enemy. The sight of her like that was invigorating and even though she was covered in filth the War God had never seen anything more stunning. He kneeled down next to her and immediately noticed how she shifted awkwardly for a moment and then scooted away from him slightly. His brow creased at her unusual reaction and he reached his hand up and softly ran the backs of his fingers over her cheek. She leaned into his invisible touch for a few seconds but then just as quickly as the contact was made, she pulled away from him and turned her head to the side, leaving him to stare at the back of her head. Ares was a bit confused by her response to him, the way she was now resisting his touch as if he were Apollo stung the proud War God. Where was this coming from?
She felt grimy and all the blood and gore she was covered in made her want it to be gone as soon as possible. The stench of the starting to rot bodies that were baking in the afternoon sun were churning her stomach and with the need to have the blood gone from her body, she submerged her hands in the stream. She tried vainly to wash the blood from her hands and arms and not wanting the War God to see her so dirty. She knew he had probably seen a lot worse than this but for some reason she felt the need to be clean. She rubbed her hands together frantically, sloshing the water against her arms and moving her hands up to her chest where she tried to get the dried blood off of herself. It seemed to her that no matter what she did it was just not coming off and she rubbed against her skin more brutally in the attempt to accomplish her goal. Xena only stopped when Ares reached down and stilled her hands and she looked up at him since he was no longer hidden in the ether. She cast a quick glance around the clearing to see if anyone else had noticed the Olympian that was now sitting beside her and saw that they were all carrying on as if he was not even there.
"They can't see me my dear, only you can." he said softly to her as he studied her frantic actions.
She refocused on the War God at his words but did not meet his eyes. He endeavored to touch her again but she pulled out of his reach as if his touch would burn her and he retracted his hand. A hint of hurt playing on the recess of his auburn eyes at her rejection – one that she would have certainly noticed had she taken the time to actually glance up the few inches to meet his eyes- Then just as quickly she shifted her eyes away from him as she looked down at the flowing stream. She didn't understand why she was acting this way, she always felt the same after a battle. Just plain dirty for the actions she had taken against her enemies, she didn't have to go as far as she sometimes did but she just couldn't help herself. She had enjoyed herself greatly and never showed any remorse for what she had done, even now she didn't. She liked the way the blood had felt against her skin, how the warm crimson liquid running down her arms felt as she impaled her blade into someone. It excited her like nothing else to be in the heat of battle and to be able to so easily take a life without a second thought. But she also knew that none of the others shared those same feelings and sometimes she felt like a monster for what would come out of her when she was in a fight and the glares she would get once it was over.
That reason alone had kept her from being able to become close with anyone because once they saw that side of her they generally looked at her with immeasurable disgust and hastily walked the other way….It was always the same….No one ever spared a second glance as they cast her out as if she were some kind of leper for what she had done and only her brother Lyceus had ever truly accepted all of her faults, the good and the bad.
She was ruthless throughout the whole battle and she knew the War God had been watching her the whole time. She could feel his eyes on her as she sliced her way through that field and it only seemed to heighten her bloodlust and she grew more violent in her attacks. She feared seeing that same repulsion in his eyes, that he would see her as nothing more than the monster that she believed herself to be and he would cast her aside like everyone else and move on because of the darkness that she knew was inside of herself. A darkness that was even too dark for the God of War to want to be a part of.
At times it even scared her with what she was capable of doing to another. The others have never fully come to deal with that side of her after all these years and they just stayed away from her once a battle was over. She could see the way they would look at her, as if they were just waiting to see if she would just snap and finally kill them all. Xena had gotten used to their judgmental stares over the years and she had built herself a wall to keep them out. She was pulled from her thoughts by a warm touch as she felt the lightest stroke of Ares' fingers against her cheek again and she jerked away from it, she didn't want to get rejected again and especially not by him and she was stealing herself for the inevitable. She felt him move his hand to her chin and he tried to turn her face towards his own. She resisted at first, pulling her head away from his grasp.
"Xena, look at me." he softly commanded, trying to be patient with her stubbornness and he attempted to seek out her eyes again.
The raven haired warrior sighed deeply and figured she should just get it over with, she should have gotten used to it by now but it never lessened the pain. The quicker she got it over with, the sooner she could go back to doing what she had been doing and rebuilding that wall to keep the enemies out this time. The War God's hand once again took possession of her chin and she allowed him to turn her head towards him. She kept her gaze down cast, not quite ready to see that look just yet, and she closed her eyes once he titled her face up to his own.
"Look at me." he said again and began to caress her cheek with his other hand.
Slowly Xena opened her eyes, her features hardening as she prepared herself for what she knew was coming. Stoic blue met a warm brown and a soft gasp left her mouth at what she saw in them. They were not filled with loathing and disgust like so many others but instead they held an understanding and compassion. She didn't realize that a tear had slide down her cheek until the War God brushed it away with his thumb. He cupped her face and leaned in closer to her and placed a kiss against her forehead. He then started to place feather like kisses down the side of her face, her cheeks, her eyes, her nose, her mouth. As his lips touched against her skin, Xena felt like each kiss seemed to heal a part of her soul and making her feel a little less dirty as she was finally accepted by someone who knew what it meant to be viewed as a monster.
Ares pulled back from her and waited for Xena to open her eyes again. A few tender caresses against her cheek and one affectionate kiss to the tip of her nose later and he was rewarded with the sight of those deep crystal blue eyes. He didn't know where that side of him had just come from and normally he wouldn't have bothered to even stay if he would have seen one of his warlords acting this way and he more than likely would have reduced them to a pile of ash for having dared show such weakness. But hearing her thoughts and how she thought of herself did not sit well with him. He didn't mean to pry into her mind but they were basically screaming at him and he wasn't going to let her continue to think along those lines. She wasn't a monster, she just needed a little guidance to control her rage and focus it into something that would make her into an even better warrior. He leaned in close to her and gently started to stroke her hair and whispered something softly against her ear. He placed a kiss against the side of her head and pulled back and wiped a few stray tears away and gave her a warm smile.
He made a cloth appear and plunged it into the small river and rung out the excess water. The God of War then gently picked up her hand and proceeded to wash the blood from her skin, wanting to take care of his Chosen warrior. The War God ran the cloth up both her arms and she watched intently as the blood seemed to just magically fade away as he cleaned her and it seemed to her that he was removing more than just the blood from her skin. He dipped the fabric back into the stream and moved to wipe the blood and grime away from her chest, taking his time to make sure that he removed every last bit of dirt from her body. He lifted her face a little more towards his and started to brush the cloth over her cheeks, removing the grunge from her face and occasionally looking her in the eyes. She kept her eyes on him closely, silently wondering if this was actually happening. That the God of War was actually tending to her needs as if she were a small child. But she didn't feel like he was doing it out of pity, every time she met his eyes they were filled with nothing but pride and admiration for her. Normally she would have been fully against anyone seeing her with any type of disadvantage but at that moment she felt the need to let him care for her. He wiped away the last bit of grime away from her face and when he had finished his ministrations he tenderly ran the backs of his fingers down her cheek. She offered him a small smile and he leaned forward and placed a sweet innocent kiss against the tip of her nose again.
"My dear, I need to go." he said as he pulled back from her and began to run his fingers through her hair, "There's this minor God business that I need to attend to and if I don't, then it will just fall apart without my cunning assistance to keep it afloat. And we wouldn't want that to happen now, would we?"
He was rewarded with a soft laugh and a smirk from her as she nodded her head in understanding.
"No, I guess we wouldn't want that to happen." a mischievous grin formed on her face, "But, I've seen what your plans can do and I don't know how much help you will actually be. They might be better off avoiding your plans completely if they know what's good for them."
The War God feigned hurt at her insinuation of his inability to come up with a decent plan. He folded his arms across his chest and scoffed at her, turning his head to the side and proceeding to ignore her for her comment and moved away from her a little.
"Now don't be a baby." she teased as he continued to pay no attention to her, "We all have our short comings and let's face it, proper battle planning is not yours. That's got to be a major problem, being a War God and all."
She leaned over to try and touch his arm to turn him back towards her but he waved off her attempt to do that as he held out his hand towards her, signaling for her to stop and he shifted away from her some more. Xena sat back on her bum at Ares' reaction and thought that maybe she had pushed the War God a little too far with doubting his power. She studied him for a moment and then saw him shift his eyes to her for a second, it was brief but it was enough to tell her that he wasn't really put off by her words. She moved forward again and placed her hand on his bicep and lightly ran her thumb back and forth. This time he glared down at the obscene gesture but did not shrug it off.
"If you behave I might consider helping you with your problem. Gods know you could use the help." she continued to ridicule, a smile teasing the corner of her mouth at the War Gods actions of being insulted.
"And if I don't.." a playful grin now lighting up the War Gods features as he turned back to look at her, "...are you going to punish me?"
"Someone has to show the almighty War God that he isn't as untouchable as he would like to think."
"Promise?" he smiled wickedly at the thought of her punishing him, "I might be feeling a little rebellious at the moment and uh... I might need to be reprimanded right now." he gave her a naughty look and then grabbed her by the waist and pulled her onto his lap, making her straddle him, so she could carry on to 'discipline' him.
He got a chuckle out of her for his comment and she just shook her head at him as she placed her hands on his chest and pushed him back slightly, just as he attempted to place a kiss against her neck. She tried to wiggle out of his embrace but he kept her firmly secured to him, his arm around her waist and his hand on her thigh only tightening there hold as she squirmed to get free. She realized that her actions were only enchanting the War God when she heard his low groan from her movements against his crotch. He tried to lean in again but she held him at bay and she huffed out a breath in defeat and gave up trying to get herself free and settled herself in his lap. Making sure to deliberately move agonizingly slow her crotch against his, to torture him for making her be encased to him, as she tried to find a comfortable position. A primitive growl escaped from the War Gods throat and he moved his hands to her hips. Allowing himself to continue to rock her against his enflamed member that was now pushing painfully against his pants from her teasing movements before he gripped her hips tight and jerked her closer, stilling her movements for a split second only to grind her against himself the next with more vigor. Oh yeah, she was definitely punishing him alright. As much as he was enjoying her discipline and as much as he wanted to throw her down on the ground and make animalistic love to her until her own guttural cries of pleasure with the way he plunged his throbbing shaft into her again and again tumbled out of that delicious mouth of hers, he was running out of time and it took all of his strength to cease her movements against him. He knew without a doubt that facing Zeus' wrath for once again being late would be worth it just to be able to feel her sweet depths slide down over slowly and sheath his engorged shaft.
Xena looked down at him and saw the deprived look he was giving her as he wrestled with something inside his head, like a dog who wanted desperately to be stroked by their owner but was being denied their reward, and she couldn't help the huge grin that appeared on her face at the sight of the War God like that.
There it was, there was the smile that he had come to love to see on her face and a similar one emerged on his own at his ability to bring it out of her. Ares was hesitant to leave her and he wanted to take her with him, if for no other reason than to have some decent company for what he knew was going to be a long and boring night. He didn't want to abandon her to those pack of jealous banshees who were too resentful to see her as the magnificent warrior that she was. They could only dream to have half of the skill set that his Chosen possessed. But Zeus had made himself clear and he didn't want to find out just how far he was willing to go to prove to him that he meant what he said, this was one mortal life he was not willing to lose. The War God placed one last chaste goodbye kiss against her mouth and grabbed her by the waist and shifted her off of himself to sit beside him.
He tucked a strand of her silky tresses behind her ear and then ran his palm over her cheek. "I'll be back." he said miserably for having to leave then disappeared from the clearing.
Xena's smile still lingered from her encounter with the War God and she brought her hand up and touched against her lips, it was a simple kiss but it still seemed to have the same effect as some of his more passionate ones. She looked around the field and saw everyone still going about their duties while they collected their dead as if nothing had happened. She looked down at herself and the blood stained armor that she wore, only now she didn't feel quite as soiled as she did a few moments before. The War God seemed to know just the right thing to say to make her see that maybe her soul wasn't as dark as she thought it was. She reached for her sword and placed it back in its scabbard and picked herself up off of the ground. She headed towards the rest of the warriors and saw that they were now ready to leave. Walking over to her own horse she quickly mounted and gave the command to head back to Athens.
The whole way back the War God's words were repeating over and over again in her mind. 'You're not a monster, Xena. I know what darkness, what pure evil looks like and that is not you. You are the most beautiful creature that I have ever laid eyes on. My Chosen, and together we will show them all who you truly are.'