What was left of the Black Pegasus army came immediately to Therius' aid, and the battle roared up in a fury. The sounds of metal against metal echoed through the clearing in the slowly setting sun, occasionally accented by the cries of fallen warriors. Xena fought with the Royal Army hard, giving the fight everything she had. She thought about the king and queen every time her sword made contact with something. She thought about the princess and the fear that must have been coursing though her for every punch she delivered… And Gabrielle… Xena could see the blonde in the outer edge of her vision and was immediately sucked in. She was slumped on the ground, more than before, most of her weight supported in the rope around her neck. The arrow still ran through her like a kabob, and there was no sign of consciousness in her at all, despite the battle that raged on only a small distance away from her. In that moment, Xena took a heavy blow to the head, knocking her to the ground. Black dots clouded her vision and her surroundings spun around lazily. But even in this state, she could still see Gabrielle through the chaos. Her motionless body brought Xena a pain that she had never known, and in that pain she was unable to refuse the tears that flooded her eyes. The woman took in everything around her as her vision and hearing began to clear up, her senses overwhelmed. This wasn't the end, it couldn't be the end… She wouldn't let it be.
With a little instability but enough determination for 300 armies, Xena made it to her feet. She looked around, watching the battle, trying to read what was happening around her, before putting her body on autopilot and allowing it to act on its own. Without thinking she knocked out three men springing to attack her from behind, and used the hilt of her sword to defend against another coming in from her right side. In another moment she was in the air, allowing four men to run into each other's swords, and she caught an arrow just at her neck as she landed, throwing it to the ground and snapping it with her boot. Behind her she threw her chakram, disabling seven enemy crossbows poised to kill soldiers of the Royal Army, an just as soon as she caught it she flung the disk out again, knocking out several more men. Then she quickly relocated, engaging in combat with a single soldier a few paces from where she had previously been. He was a good fighter, she had to admit, but proved to be an even better shield when she spun him around and let him take three arrows meant for her. She let him fall to her feet. It was then that the warrior spotted Therius over in the distance, illuminated by light from a massive fire she could not recall being ignited. Xena gave instant chase, double flipping up and over the terrible man's head to land in front of him and cut him off.
"Going somewhere, Therius?" she asked darkly. The warlord shook his whole body down, preparing to fight.
"Oh, no," he said coolly. "But you are." He threw a punch that Xena was ready for and caught, twisting his arm around and throwing him over onto his back. He cried out in pain from a newly dislocated shoulder, and when he opened his eyes he found himself looking up the blade of a legendary sword.
"Still want to be bullheaded?" Xena asked. "Because I've given you more than enough chances already and if you don't take this last opportunity then you're as good as dead."
"You'll never win, Xena." Therius promised. "Even if you get what you want here, and maybe you might and a few more times down the road, some day you will have to take a loss." Xena pressed the tip of her sword against the slowly-healing wound she had made on Therius' neck earlier that day. He winced.
"You'd like that, wouldn't you?" she snarled. The brunette watched the man on the ground before her with disgust and hatred. He represented everything that she had worked so hard to get away from and yet… There was something in her that hesitated in taking his life. "Call off your men-"
"Never!"
"It's over, Therius!" Xena said, pressing harder with her sword. "Call off what's left of your men and I'll let you live." Therius struggled against Xena's sword, trying to create space between its tip and his neck. But the warrior princess was relentless, waiting for his answer.
"I will revel in the day that I see you in Tartarus, Xena," he finally said. And those words, Xena made sure, were his last.