Chapter 45
As she reached the top, she glanced around and all she could see were tree tops that seemed to be stretching for miles. She couldn't believe it, not a single area in any of the ways she looked showed any openings to the ground below. There was no sign of life in any direction or any possible shelter that she could seek refuge in until she could come up with a plan to get herself out of this. She looked up to the sun to see if she could get her bearings. She now knew which way was West as she could see the sun start to make its decent in that direction. Xena saw that to the North there was a billow of smoke that was starting to rise up in the distance. She knew that was the direction she had just came from and figured it was probably their camp. She took note that heavy storm clouds were also making their way across the sky. She groaned out as she realized that she was going to be in for a long and cold night. Not having the option to build a fire with those men after her did not appeal to her and if she didn't find someplace to hold up soon, then she was going to get caught in that rain. If the men didn't get her, the cold from the night and the rain surely would.
She carefully started her decent down the tree and stopped a few branches short from the ground. Some of the men had caught on to her trail and were now walking around right under her. She stayed where she was, unmoved, hidden in the branches of the tree and listened to the two men below.
"I could of sworn I saw her go in this direction." one of the men said.
"Are you sure? I mean you don't think she just disappeared, do you?" the one with the dark hair questioned.
Xena just shook her head at their lack of brains. She could see why they were living the life they were now. She cast a quick glance around the surrounding area, not really sure how many were just lingering off out of sight.
"I'm positive!" the blonde haired one responded, "But did you see the way she caught that dagger? It was like she had the speed of a God with how she just plucked it out of the air without a second thought. I've never seen anyone do that before. You don't think she has some sort of super powers do you?" he looked around the forest with a grim look.
"Oh please, she's just a lame bitch running for her life. She got lucky, that's all." he snapped his buddy out of that kind of thinking. He didn't like the thoughts that type of talk was bringing up in his own mind, "Say, if we do find her first, what do you say we have a little fun with her before we take her back to camp?" he gave his friend a knowing smirk, "I'd sure like to get a piece of that before she is too mangled by the others to know what is going on."
"That sounds like a great idea! " the blonde one said as they both began to think of what was to come, "Let's set up camp here. I would like to get a fire going before this rain starts and soaks all the wood."
Xena cursed her luck that these two idiots thought it necessary to set up camp right there, below her. There went her plans of finding shelter for herself before the rain started. Now she was stuck in this damn tree until these two bone heads decided it was time for them to leave, the others couldn't have been that far away and she wanted to see what information she could get from them. She watched them as they moved around on the ground below her. The position she was in was not comfortable at all and after her earlier activities during the day, she was spent. She looked on as they finally managed to get a fire started under their handmade shelter just as she felt the first few drops of rain begin to fall.
Great ! she thought. It was only a matter of time after that that the rain really began to fall from the sky and now she was completely soaked. She shifted uncomfortably in the tree trying to find a decent spot to rest in. Xena was cramped in that spot and she tried to stretch a little without drawing too much attention to herself. She figured if she just changed her position a little bit then she would be good. She reached out her hand to steady herself on a branch but as soon as she leaned her weight on it to get into a different position, the not so sturdy branch that she thought it was, gave way under her weight. Caught off guard by the sudden loss of its support, she didn't have time to grab another one and she fell out of the tree to the hard ground below. She groaned in pain as she now laid there and she was certain that she had twisted her ankle when she fell on it. But it was only a matter of seconds before she realized that now her cover had been blown. Shaking off the pain caused by that rough fall, she got to her feet and grimaced as she applied pressure to her right foot. She had indeed sprained it and she shifted her weight to her left one to give herself some relief. Perfect, this was just what she needed. The two men were already up and facing her.
"Well, look what we have here! " the dark haired one taunted. They began to take a few steps towards her.
Xena pulled her sword out of its sheath and held her ground. "Don't take another step unless you want it to be your last." she hissed at them.
Seeing that it got the desired effect, she took some small steps back away from them, being careful not to apply too much weight on her injured foot. She had expected them to start advancing again but they didn't, they just looked at her with those silly smiles plastered on their faces instead. She wasn't sure what they were smiling about but then she heard the small sound of a sword being pulled out of its sheath from somewhere behind her. She quickly turned around and steel met steel. She hissed as the pain shot through her from the sudden movement on her foot. Having her attacker being caught off guard by her sudden defense she brought her left leg up and kicked him in his midsection sending him stumbling back. He tripped over a log and went crashing to the ground. Sensing the approach of another from behind once again, she twirled her sword around and thrust it backwards into the gut of her attacker before he could strike her.
She quickly spun around and kicked him off of her blade while the blonde haired one began to charge her and she blocked his blows with ease. He may have had some sort of basic training but he was no match for her and she quickly disarmed him. Just as she was about to sink her sword into his chest, she noticed that the third man had made it back to his feet and was now advancing towards her. She drew her left hand up and backhanded the one in front of her hard and redirected her focus on the new threat. This one was taller than the other two and he had a brute force behind his blows. But what Xena lacked in strength, she made up for in agility. She easily moved around him, blocking and parrying his sword. He managed to knick her on the arm and backhanded her viciously across the face and that only made her angrier. She stared at him with fire in her eyes and she saw him draw back slightly from her malicious glare. Wasting no time, Xena advanced on him, paying no attention to the throbbing pain that was now racking her body because of her injured foot. She made a few quick jabs at him then brought her leg up and kicked his sword out of his hand. With one final twist of her sword, she buried it up to its hilt into his gut.
Once he sagged to the ground she kicked him off swiftly and spun around to look for the last remaining threat and saw that the small clearing was now clear. She let her blue eyes swiftly scan the area carefully to make sure he was not just lying and waiting to catch her off guard. After a few more moments, she was satisfied when she came up with nothing as it seemed that he had indeed fled the scene. Xena finally let her guard down a little and she sunk to the muddy ground to catch her breath. She took deep breaths in and slowly exhaled them while she moaned out in pain as her ankle was now throbbing excruciatingly and exhaustion was starting to set in, the chill that now ran through her body from the rain was not helping her current situation. At about the same time, she noticed that the small battle had also seemed to knock over what little shelter the two men had manage to build and with it the fire was now gone and with the rain continuing to fall there was no way she was going to get another one started, not with all this wet wood.
She untied the laces of her boot so she could take a look at her ankle and could already see the swollen area as she pulled the material away. This was not good and she softly put her boot back on and hissed out as she tied it back up, walking around barefoot was not an option. Xena got to her feet unsteadily as she tried not to put too much pressure on her hurt ankle and started to leave the small clearing. After the one had run off she knew it wasn't safe to remain there, she knew without a doubt that no place in these woods was probably safe for her. She originally guessed about twenty men during their first encounter but after seeing that smoke from the North where their camp was, she could tell that their number was probably a lot higher and that the guy that had just fled would probably warn the rest about what had just happened. She looked to the small gash on her arm to make sure it wasn't anything serious. The rain mixed with the small amount of blood that fell from it made it look worse then it really was. She figured she would head east and see what remnants of a shelter she could find.
She had walked for what felt like hours; the sun had set a long time ago but the rain never stopped, making this already dreary day even more miserable. The chill that had started to set into her bones was causing her to shiver and her body ached as she limped her way slowly through the forest. Every little noise that she heard kept her on guard, the snap of a twig, the hoot of an owl, keeping her body tense and she never got a chance to fully relax , she couldn't afford to take the chance. The fatigue was really setting in now as she continued through the woods, but she refused to give up, fighting off the exhaustion and the need to just sleep with everything she had, aware that if she did then she was not going to wake up from her slumber, she would freeze to death in this accursed forest. She finally stopped dead in her tracks when she heard something in the distance. She listened carefully for what it might be, hoping that it wasn't what she thought it was. Hearing the faint sound of chatter she groaned as her thoughts were confirmed. They had somehow caught up to her. She made her way silently through the thick brush and stopped. Right in front of her, about ten men were looking off into the opposite direction.
Slowly Xena began to back up from the small group, she was in no condition to try and take them on and she knew it. Hearing more voices coming from behind her she changed her direction and began to go south but somehow they had managed to surround her from all sides as another group of men started coming from that direction, how was that even possible? The Fates must have been playing a cruel joke on her to see how much she could take before they finally broke her. She knew going north was not an option but now she was boxed in. Xena was trying to come up with a plan of escape when one of the men came stumbling out of the woods to her left and slipped on the wet ground right in front of her.
He fell to his knees and cursed and thought that it was strange that now he was staring at a pair of boots. He ran his hand up the boot until he came into contact with the leg that was attached to it and he looked up to see that he had found the woman that they had been looking for. Before he had a chance to give away her position, though, Xena brought her sword down and sunk it into his back and twisted her blade brutally within him as she pushed it all the way through. He gave a low grunt and then slumped to the cold wet ground.
"Hey Cylon, did you get..." one of the men shouted, but he instantly stopped his chatter as he saw the scene before him. He saw her look up at his sudden approach as she stood over the dead body of his friend, "Over here!" he screamed out into the night, "I found her!"
"Damn it!" Xena groaned as she turned to try and make a quick haste away before they started to close in. She soon found out that they were closer then she had originally thought they were. She was now surrounded on all sides as she looked all around. She stared hopelessly in the direction of the clearing and came to stop on the same man from earlier when she first came into this situation. She figured he was indeed the one in charge.
"It seems you gave us a good game there of hide and seek." he grinned at her as he thought of all the ways that he was going to make her hurt. She was going to have a slow agonizing death for making them walk around in this rain all night.
"As you can see, the cat has finally caught the mouse. Have at her boys!" he commanded.
Xena looked around herself in all directions with her sword held firmly up in front of her to see which way the first threat was going to come from. But of course, like all scum they decided to attack while her back was turned. She turned around and easily dispatched the first thug. Another one immediately replaced him and then another. Xena was in the battle for her life and she viciously slashed at all her opponents, each one meeting their death at the end of her sword. She knew she was fighting a losing battle but she was going to take as many of those bastards with her as she possibly could. She could feel her strength leaving her and the new exertion she was now putting on her injured ankle was slowing down her reaction time as the pain flowed up her right leg. The lack of rest was making each block she made harder. Her arm felt like it was numb and the sword in her hand was like lead, making it harder to block each attack the very instant it came.
It didn't help either that a few lucky ones had got a couple of blows past her. She now had several cuts on her arms and legs and some had even landed a few vicious blows with their fists to her ribs and face. The body count was getting higher as this endless flow of warriors just seemed to keep coming, was it ever going to end? As she sunk her sword into yet another one she turned around and her sword clashed with another. It was their leader, it seemed that he finally wanted to get in on the action.
"You've toyed with us long enough, it's time we ended this. It's such a shame that you had to play your game for so long, we could have had some real fun." he reached out to touch her face but the Warrior Princess jerked her head back and slapped his hand away before he could make contact.
Xena fought with all that she had left as she met the constant blows from his sword. He had the advantage over her with not having just fought about forty men on his own. The rain didn't help matters either, every time she felt like she was going to get the upper hand, her injured foot would slip in the mud causing her to have to take a different tactic then the one she wanted. With one blow she managed to kick him in his midsection, putting some much needed space between them so she could catch her breath and fight back the pain that was now racking through her body.
She wasn't sure how it happened but somehow he had managed to eliminate the space between them within a blink of an eye and knocked her sword from her hand with one hard blow from his blade and backhanded her hard across the face with his left hand. He landed a few punches to her midsection and with one final blow across the face, Xena felt the pain rippling through her and the next thing she knew, she was falling to her knees from that powerful blow and the fatigue that now plagued her tired body. This was it and she knew it, she gave it everything she had and even though this had been a hopeless situation from the beginning, she was going to go out like a warrior.
He stood a few feet away from her, his sword stretched out towards her throat.
"Do you have any last words you would like to say?" he asked, after everything that had just happened he thought she deserved that much. He knew talent when he saw it and it was a shame to waste it like he was about to do. He also would have liked to have taken more liberty with her but this little chase she had them on throughout half the night had ruined those plans.
Xena just seemed to stare off into nothing at his words as if she didn't even hear him. She thought about her life and what had now brought her here to this forest. Athena, for some reason, thought that she needed to eliminate her and the Goddess was too much of a coward to do it herself. Her mind reeled with all that had happened to her that had set her on this path. Her family and her dearest brother Lyceus, would they ever know what really happened to her? Leaving Amphipolis and joining Athena, the years she spent training to become this great warrior. And now here she sat alone in this dreaded forest being ready to be killed by a worthless scumbag. Alone… she thought, that was how she always felt. Yes, Lyceus was always on her side when she would get into trouble but no one understood her, not really. Nothing and no one seemed to have ever filled that emptiness that she felt inside of herself that only the rush of a battle seemed to sate.
'Yes, HE did.'a rogue thought shot through her mind. HIM... she smiled to herself as she thought of him and of all of their encounters. Ares... He always seemedto be there when she needed him. Another thought came to her mind just then, one that had been long forgotten from their meeting in the woods so long ago.
'Call my name Xena and I will be there.'
She just stared at the mud puddle in front of her and watched as the rain fell into it, she wondered if he had actually meant it. Would he truly come if she called out to him? She didn't have the strength to put up any more of a fight and she was exhausted. She didn't want to die and she was as good as dead now and figuring that she had nothing more to lose at that moment she went for it. Praying with all that she had left that he would indeed answer her call like he said he would. But before she could even string his name together, she was rudely interrupted.
"I asked you a question…" the leader of the group insisted, grabbing a handful of her hair and roughly jerked her head upwards, "… now be a good little girl and answer it." he let go of her hair and slapped her across the face.
Xena just started laughing a little unnervingly and the others just looked at her as if she had gone insane, she must have finally lost it. She slowly lifted her tired eyes up to the grimy bastard that had just struck her and gave him a devilish grin, the thought of something much more sinister entering her mind of what was now awaiting their fate made her eyes sparkle disturbingly. They had no idea what was coming for them and she only hoped that she could keep herself awake long enough to watch them all suffer. She didn't realize it before, but sometime during their little battle he had busted her lip open and she could taste the blood in her mouth and she reached up and touched against her mouth and pulled her hand back and saw the crimson liquid there. Oh, he was going to pay for that…
"Ares!" she breathed out with the last shred of hope that she had that the War God would come to her.