What If?
Chapter Two:
As Xena looked at the villagers before her completing their training, she was pleased to see a noticeable improvement in their skills. It had been almost a week since the meeting in Cyrene's Tavern and Xena, with the help of Lyceus, had been working hard; training the men and a few women in the fighting staff, physical combat, bow and arrow, sword fighting and battle tactics. Though few of the villagers had learned both the fighting staff and sword fighting, every villager in the training regime had learned physical combat and battle tactics. Both Xena and her brother felt that these two skills were more important than any other. Initially, a few of the men had complained about learning from two teenagers, however, when Xena and Lyceus had each beaten three opponents easily, the complaints had ceased.
Seeing the sun high in the sky, Xena and Lyceus shared a look and Xena let out a trill to catch the attention of the training villagers. "Okay," she said, once she was certain they had all stopped sparring, "We'll take a break for lunch. When we come back, I want each of your units prepared with ideas on how to protect this village. We have to sort out our defences, roles and battle techniques."
The men exchanged glances, keen to show their leaders how much they had learned. Though many of the villagers were quite a few years older, they looked at both Xena and Lyceus as their leaders. What they lacked in years, they both made up for in skill, intelligence and perseverance. Sharing another look with her younger brother, Xena gave a nod; and sensing their dismissal, the would-be warriors cleared the field.
"Xena," Lyceus said, "Mother wants to talk to us."
Nodding to her brother, Xena motioned for him to head inside. Giving his sister a questioning look, Lyceus stayed put.
"Go on, Lyceus," Xena told her brother, "I'll be in, in a bit."
Still confused, Lyceus nodded to his sister, before he headed in the direction of the Tavern. When Xena was certain her brother was far enough away, she bent down on one knee and looked toward the heavens.
"I don't know if anyone's listening, but please keep this village safe. These people are kind and generous; they've never harmed anyone. I'll do whatever I can to protect them," Xena sighed, and looked down for a moment, hesitating, she raised her face to the heavens once more, "If you can't help our village, please protect my brother. He deserves the chance to live his life and know who he is."
A lone tear made its way down Xena's cheek. Brushing the tear aside, Xena raised herself from the ground and headed in the direction of the Tavern. However, before she could reach the Tavern, Torres voice stopped her.
"Xena," he called, "What are you doing? You can't lead the villagers into battle; you'll all die. You have to stop this. It's ridiculous."
"It's not ridiculous, Torres," Xena argued, "We have to fight for our village and protect what we have. We can't just let murdering animals like Cortese walk all over us."
"Yes we can," Torres replied, his voice rising in volume, "We should do whatever we can to protect ourselves."
"I agree. That's why we're training the villagers. This way is our best chance to protect ourselves."
"No! Our best chance is to flee. If we stay here, we'll all be killed, Xena."
"If we flee, we'll all be killed anyway. Cortese isn't going to let us go, Torres, he'll hunt us down like animals for the slaughter," Xena approached her brother gently, "I know you're scared Torres," she began but Torres interrupted her.
"I'm not scared Xena," Torres asserted angrily, "I'm trying to protect you. If you fight this battle, you'll die."
"I'm not afraid to die, Torres. I'd rather die defending this village and these people than flee and leave them to the mercy of someone like Cortese."
"And what about Lyceus? Are you prepared for him to die as well?"
"I'd give my life to protect Lyceus," Xena answered Torres accusatory question angrily, "But he and I both believe that we have the best chance if we fight Cortese."
"So you're prepared to let our brother die, so you can prove you're not afraid?" Torres stated incredulously.
"No. I'm prepared to risk my life to save my family and my friends. What makes you think I have any right to deny Lyceus the same?"
"Fine," Torres remarked furiously, "Do what you want. I'm not going to stick around to see you get yourself or Lyceus killed."
As Torres marched away angrily, Xena's shoulders sagged. Though she truly believed in what she was doing, Torres had voiced her greatest fear; Lyceus' death. Xena had spun her mind in every direction, attempting to find a way for Lyceus to be safe during the battle, but she'd come up empty. Short of tying up her brother and hitching him to the tree in the field, Lyceus was certain to fight in this battle.
Shaking her head and drawing in a deep breath, Xena made her way inside her mother's Tavern, only to be confronted by an unhappy and irritated Cyrene.
"Xena," Cyrene began, "You can't honestly be thinking of staying here during the battle."
"Mother," Xena sighed, "I've just had this argument with Torres."
"Well, then you should know that you can't stay here. It's too dangerous."
"Mother, I can't leave. I'm the one whose idea it was to fight and I'm the one in charge of the army. If I leave, how can I expect anyone else to stay and fight?"
"That's beside the point, Xena. You and Lyceus are too young to die in a futile battle."
"It's not futile. It's the only chance we have at keeping what is ours, of fighting for what we have."
"What about your lives? If you don't care about yourself, at least care about your brother."
"Mother," Xena snapped; she'd had enough of this. First, she'd had to defend herself to her brother and now she was defending herself against her Mother. She was already under the strain of leading the army, worrying about leading the villagers; her friends, into battle and lastly she was terrified of losing her brother in this battle, "If there was any way to keep Lyceus safe I'd do it, but short of tying him up, he's going to fight in this battle. There's nothing you or I can do about that."
"He wouldn't fight if you wouldn't."
A voice, coming from behind the women, broke into the conversation. "It's my choice Mother," Lyceus said, entering the room, "Not yours, not Xena's and not Torres's. Mine. I have the right to choose how I live my life."
"But Lyceus, you wouldn't be living it, you'd be sacrificing it. These are trained men; they're not going to be impressed by your sparring sessions. You might as well walk into this battle unarmed."
"I'm good at this Mother. I have confidence in my abilities and so does Xena. We've trained for this, maybe we're not professional fighters but I'd put us against the best Cortese has."
Cyrene turned on Xena, "You told him he could fight in this battle?" she asked incredulously.
"Like I told Torres; I'm prepared to risk my life to save my family and my friends. What makes you think I have any right to deny Lyceus the same?"
With that, Xena strode past both her brother, who had a look of shock and awe on his face, and her mother, who looked furious, as she headed up the stairs. As she continued, she could hear both her mother and brother begin to argue in earnest. Entering her bedroom and closing the door behind her, Xena collapsed on the bed. She was exhausted; between the training she and Lyceus were conducting, worrying about the villagers and most especially her brother and lastly, arguing with her family about her and Lyceus right to fight for what they believed in, she was emotionally drained.
Taking a deep breath, Xena slowly opened her eyes and was startled to see Lyceus standing above her. Though his face was taught with tension, his eyes displayed a trust and faith that contradicted his facial expression.
"Thank you for standing up for me to Torres and Mother," Lyceus started, "I know you must be afraid too."
Xena smiled at her brother and motioned for him to join her on the bed. "I'm terrified, Lyceus. I'm so scared that you're going to get hurt that I can barely think straight. I know I should have more faith in you, but I can't seem to shake this feeling of dread."
"Xena, I'll be fine," Lyceus started.
"You don't know that Lyceus," Xena interrupted.
"Maybe not," Lyceus shrugged, "but I'm willing to fight to the death for what we believe in. Besides, we've got you. You may not be a professional warrior, but I'm sure you could probably outsmart and outfight Cortese entire army."
Xena looked at her brother, his strong conviction and faith in her had boosted her spirits somewhat. While she smiled gently at her brother before wrapping him in a hug, Xena still couldn't shake the feeling of dread that had settled in the pit of her stomach. She knew something bad was coming, she just didn't know what.
Finishing their lunch in silence and tolerating the glares from both Torres and their mother, Xena and Lyceus headed back out to the practice field, glad to be free from the stifling air that blanketed the Tavern. Walking across the field, Xena couldn't help but notice the beauty and tranquillity of the field despite the upcoming battle. It was a shame that all of this beautiful, clean and fertile soil would soon be marred by the heat, gore and hideousness of battle.
"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Lyceus remarked from beside his sister. He had noticed her saddened expression and known exactly what she was thinking. After all, he was thinking the same thing.
"Yeah, it is," Xena agreed, "I can't help but think that this battle is going to change this place and us forever."
"It might," Lyceus concurred, nodding his head. He looked out at the expansive field before them, "but it'll be worth it."
"Yes, it will," Xena replied before murmuring under her breath, "it has to be."
They continued their journey in silence, simply enjoying each other's comfort and company. Passing by the racks stacked in the field, Xena glanced toward the river, catching sight of the oak tree where she, Lyceus, Flora and a few of the other children used to play. Stopping abruptly, Xena stared wistfully at the tree and was overtaken by a memory of a more innocent time.
"Come here Lyceus," Xena called to her little brother excitedly, "I want to climb the tree again."
Lyceus hurried over to his sister, eager to show her that he could now also climb the large tree.
"Wait for me," came a little voice. A small black haired child wearing a neat frock tried to race over to them on bare feet. Seeing that they weren't slowing down, she called again.
"Oh, Flora," Xena said, slowing her pace and smiling as the little girl caught up to them, "You know I'd never leave you behind."
"I know." Flora smiled widely, proudly displaying the gap from losing her first tooth.
Reaching the tree, Xena scrambled up and edged out on the branch before hooking her legs on the branch as she swung herself to hang upside down from the tree branch. Her hair floated gently in the breeze, the very tips tickling Flora's nose making the little girl giggle as she looked at her idol hanging from the branch.
Seeing Lyceus also ensconced in the tree, Flora looked up longingly at the branches and Xena and Lyceus silently begging them to help her. If only she could also climb the tree, but her limbs were far too short to allow her such a delight.
As Xena reached a hand down to Flora, she said "You gotta have faith, you got to." Slowly Flora reached a hand up to grasp Xena's hand. She was careful, this wasn't the first time Xena had pulled a stunt like this; reaching out to help Flora before snatching her hand away, leaving Flora filled with bitter disappointment.
As Flora's hand was almost able grasp Xena's, Xena abruptly pulled her hand away, and Flora was yet again filled with disappointment. Her eyes filling with tears, she looked at her 'big sister'. Why was she so mean?
Seeing Flora's expression, Xena felt sorry for the little girl, but knew that this was one lesson that had to be taught. Flora couldn't expect to have everything handed to her on a platter; she had to work and earn what she had.
"Xena," Lyceus called, noting that his sister had stopped. Getting no response, Lyceus called again. Xena shook her head, clearing away the innocent memory and she and Lyceus continued across the field.
Reaching the practice area, Xena could see all the warriors that she and her brother had trained, already assembled and awaiting their leaders to arrive. Making her way to the front of the group to begin listening to the ideas from the villagers, Xena noted the majority of her soldiers had come prepared with ideas on how to protect their village. Xena and Lyceus had already discussed battle strategies before this meeting. They felt that if nothing of use came from this gathering, at least they would have a somewhat reasonable plan and therefore a better chance of survival.
"We're going to start by taking ideas for Cortese possible attack plans. We know that there are three entrances into the main area of the village." The soldiers nodded at these words, closely following what their leader was saying, "And we have to assume that Cortese knows about the tunnels beneath the village also."
"Why?" One of the men shouted from the back. At this distance, Xena couldn't be sure who it was, but in raising the question, a lot of other soldiers had begun to think about the answer as well.
"Because," Xena began but was cut off by another soldier, Darius, who had proven to be an eager and able warrior.
"It's better to assume he knows more than he does, rather than not enough. That way if he does know about it we're prepared and if he doesn't then we've got something extra up our sleeves."
Xena nodded in agreement with Darius. Darius had mastered physical combat and sword fighting exceptionally quickly. Now it seemed he was also becoming a proficient strategist. Seeing that the question had been suitably addressed, Xena continued.
"If you were planning to attack the village, what would you do?" Xena addressed a young warrior in the first section of the warriors.
"I..I," the young man named Lykus stuttered, feeling very nervous now all the attention was focused on him, "I think I'd come through the main entrance and then..."
"Why?" Lyceus interrupted.
"Because it's the most direct route," Lykus replied, looking even more nervous now he'd been questioned.
"Then it would presumably be the most heavily defended, wouldn't it?"
"Yes," Lykus answered slowly, still uncertain and extremely nervous.
"So why would you march all your soldiers into the most heavily defended area? Why wouldn't you use some of the less direct routes which would then be less defended?" Xena addressed the questions to the group at large, seeing that Lykus had become even more anxious and would most likely not have anything more to contribute to this aspect of the battle plan.
"You wouldn't," Darius responded. He sounded confident in his answer and looked certain of what he was about to say, "You would split your army into sections to march from different directions, some coming through the pass, some through the mountains on the northern border and some from the south where the river is. You'd want to cut the village off so they couldn't retreat."
Xena had listened carefully to what Darius had said. He, and the rest of his unit, had clearly given this a lot of thought and had thoroughly prepared for this discussion. Still, Xena was surprised and very impressed, and judging from Lyceus expression, he was also.
"Yes," Xena said, while Lyceus nodded his head, "If we prepare for an assault from multiple angles, we can be sure to have an advantage that we can use. Also, we can use the tunnels beneath the city to help with an assault; we can further press our advantage."
"We could also lay traps and install other tricks in the tunnels to delay or even stop any of Cortese army from using the tunnels to attack us without us knowing about it," Lyceus added.
The soldiers nodded in understanding as Xena and Lyceus elaborated on Darius's points. Both Xena and Lyceus looked at the soldiers to identify any who were having trouble understanding the reasons behind such an approach. Seeing none, Xena confirmed Lyceus tactic and began to move the discussion forward once more.
"Now that we understand the most likely points of assault, we first need to organise a watch so we have a clearer understanding of exactly when Cortese is going to attack. At the moment, all we know is that it should be in three days. Next we need to decide what traps we're going to use and where we're going to use them. We also need to decide which units will be in charge of the defence for all the possible attacks."
As Xena, Lyceus and the other soldiers hammered out their battle plans; they seemed ignorant concerning the invisible presence of the God of War.
Authors Note: As you can see, I don't know anything about battle plans, techniques, preparation, etc. so I haven't gone into much detail but hopefully what I have put in is realistic. Please let me know what you think! I really appreciate all of your feedback. The next chapter will be up as soon as I finish it, I promise. Thanks!