IN THE PAINFUL DYING LIGHT BEFORE THE DAWN

Xena hit the floor on her knees opposite Gabrielle feeling the horror over take over her, gods this just wasn't happening! It couldn't be happening it was like some Tartarus of a nightmare. She'd assumed that despite her terrible wounds that Gabrielle was okay until she'd stood up on her hind legs and seen the horrible spear like weapon sticking out of her chest. Clearly Adrienne had meant those last words before she'd put Gabrielle through that glass window, she truly wanted the light to die in her eyes clearly in her option in she couldn't have her or control her no one would ever have her. This horrible weapon what ever in Tartarus it was had been made to kill someone and a painful and brutal manner. She watched as Gabrielle tried to raise her clawed hand only for it to drop again as the blood started to run out her out of the corners of her mouth, which showed just how serious this wound was. She turned eyeing Tiara who looked utterly shocked. "Don't just stand there, get Phantasos now!" She watched as the older woman snapped out of her haze she didn't hesitate as she ran out of the room as fast as possible. She moved putting both hands on the sides of Gabrielle's face she could feel her shaking she looked up as Iona and Demetrius ran in through the already open doors.

She stood up eyeing them. "I need some material now!" Demetrius moved forward ripping off his thick red cloak which was on his back as he walked towards her holding it up. "What in Tartarus happened?" Xena didn't think as she grabbed his cloak she pulled hard ripping it down the centre, she'd have a new one brought in for him at a later time. She kneeled down again wrapping the thick material around Gabrielle's wound trying to stop the blood which was spilling out around the spear. "Adrienne pushed Gabrielle out of the window!" Iona blinked. "Wait did you say out of the window?" Xena looked up sharply ignoring the blood as it started to soak her fingers. "Yes out of the window!" Xena turned as Thaleia and Fedora came running in to the room they were followed by three men who were dragging in Adrienne by her clawed feet the unconscious woman had a deep head wound which was bleeding all over the floor. She felt her whole body tense as they let go of her feet, gods she just wanted to let her bleed to death what this woman had done to Gabrielle was the ultimate act of spite stabbing her instead of taking defeat like a real warrior should.

She knew though that to let her die wouldn't be right, Adrienne had to be judged for her crimes by the werewolf race and this was Gabrielle's territory and if she wanted to kill her in the future then that was her choice not hers. She turned throwing the other piece of torn material at Iona who caught it. "Wrap this around Adrienne's head wound." Iona eyed Gabrielle who was clearly in terrible pain she could see it in her eyes as she desperately tried to stay conscious, she felt the rage boil up deep with in her stomach. "Why don't you just let me kill her instead? I'll slit her throat it'll be quick and clean it would be justice for what she's done to Gabrielle." Xena turned eyeing her. "I said wrap up her wound, now do it!" Iona breathed in sharply she didn't dare argue she could see the ice cold look in the Empress's eyes. She nodded stepping back. "Yes Empress." Xena turned back to Gabrielle feeling her anger instantly melt away. "Just hold on Phantasos is going to be here soon." Gabrielle breathed in only to feel the stringing pain in her lungs it was so difficult to breathe. Every breath she took felt like an agonizing effort she spoke only able to whisper. "I…I…should…have…killed her." Xena shook her head pushing down harder on the wound ignoring the blood which was now soaking her hands.

She turned meeting her green eyes which were filled with intense pain. "No sweetheart you did everything just right you were being noble." She'd let that pet name slip again but she just didn't care she eyed the spear she wanted so much to take this weapon out but she knew she couldn't and it was hurting her heart not doing so but it was embedded far to deeply and she couldn't risk it. Phantasos was the only healer she knew with the skill to take out this kind of weapon but it was more than that. He was also the one in the palace who had any understanding of werewolf anatomy as he'd spent time with Gabrielle in werewolf form and as much she hated to think about it, he had taken the insides out of Damokles's body before it had been mounted all those years ago and he'd made many notes. She looked up seeing Iona tie up Adrienne's head trying to stop the blood flow the floor was a mess now it was a mass of blood stains. She breathed in painfully gods she'd never had this much blood spilled on her palace floors it was a real shock to her. She turned back keeping her eyes locked with Gabrielle's as she carried on pushing down on the wound. "Phantasos will be here soon I promise he'll get this out of you." Gabrielle coughed feeling the blood come up in her throat. "It…hurts."

Phantasos ran through the doors carrying his equipment watching as the Empress looked up he could see the panic and desperation in her eyes. He turned eyeing Gabrielle seeing her problem instantly which was a deeply embedded spear in the chest. His gaze wandered to the other werewolf who was bleeding seriously from the head Iona was trying to stop the blood flow. He turned to his apprentice who looked shocked. "Go over and stitch up that werewolves head." The young man blinked eyeing him the uncertainty in his words as he spoke. "But that's a werewolf." Phantasos quickly passed him the tools he needed. "You've done this before on a person remember the warrior last year who fell from a height, same principle just cut the mane back like you cut hair and stitch it up but use a much thicker thread." The apprentice took her tools. "What about the claw marks?" Phantasos breathed in. "Same thing cut the fur back and stitch them." He moved closer to Gabrielle dropping his surgical tools next to the Empress looked harder at the weapon sticking out of her chest. "This is going to be hard." Xena turned eyeing the apprentice who got to work right away she turned to him. "You can do this, can't you?" Phantasos eyed the wound. "Yes I can but I need another pair of hands." He turned his gaze instantly falling on Thaleia. "Thaleia I need you over here now."

Thaleia breathed in eyeing the blood feeling suddenly unsure of her self. "I'm not sure, I'm up to it." Phantasos looked up sharply meeting her worried gaze. "This is not a matter of being up to it, I need you here now or your best friend might die." He watched as she swallowed moving forward sitting on the opposite side he took her hands pushing them on the cloth allowing Xena to remove hers. "Keep putting pressure there don't let go and don't worry about the blood." He eyed the others as he opened this pack eyeing the cutting knifes he eyed Demetrius. "I need a fire torch and for anyone whose not part of this to step away I need plenty of light." Demetrius quickly grabbed the torch watching as the other stepped back he handed to Phantasos who took it then eased up a curved knife slowly heating the blade with it. He kneeled down next to Thaleia putting a hand on her back rubbing gently hoping that it would settle her nerves. Xena felt her eyes dart. "Can you get it out of her?" Phantasos passed the fire torch back to Demetrius who kept hold of it giving him intense light he needed. "Yes but its not going to be pretty or pleasant it's very deep and it may have damaged her in sides." Xena narrowed her gaze watching as he pushed the cloth away getting ready to cut. "Do you know what your doing?" Phantasos breathed in sharply seeing the concern in her eyes. "Yes I do and she will survive but only if I do this quickly."

He turned back to her. "I need you to keep talking to her, talk about anything just keep her mind off what I'm doing." Xena moved so she was closer to Gabrielle's head watching as the blood shot green eyes met her own. She moved her hands stroking her mane close to her ears. "Gabrielle can you hear me?" Gabrielle looked directly in to her light blue eyes she nodded painfully trying to ignore the freezing cold feeling which was running through her body it felt as though her blood was turning to ice. "I'm…so…cold." Phantasos moved the knife cutting deeply he may have said he knew what he was doing but that was a half truth. He had seen inside Damokles's dead body when it had been in werewolf form but he had no idea if Gabrielle's was the same she was different gender for starters he could only hope everything was in a similar place. The only good thing was that she wasn't moving she very still but he knew that wasn't for a good reason. She'd lost a lot of blood and the fact that she had just said that she was cold wasn't a good sigh ether, he took in a deep breath as the thick skin pealed back revealing the heavy thick muscle. He pushed the dagger in deeper cutting deeply. He eyed Thaleia who suddenly looked very unwell as he pulled the thick muscle back which revealed part of the ribs. "I need you to put both hands on the opening." She did as he asked although he could see that she was becoming truly uncomfortable now.

Xena kept her hands in place ignoring what was now going on behind her. "Tell me about your family." Gabrielle breathed in sharply. "My…family?" Xena gently stroked her face close to the snout with one hand. "Yes tell me more about your sister Lila." Gabrielle coughed painfully it felt as though it was getting harder to breath and every word hurt as she spoke. "We grew up together…we used to play together in the golden wheat fields in Potidaea." Xena carried on stroking her mane with the other hand. "Do you miss her?" Gabrielle tensed painfully. "Yes…I do." She paused before speaking again trying to ignore the pain she was now in. "But…I like to think that she's happy and she's…married a nice man and that her and my father got on better…they never saw eye to eye." Xena looked at her for a long moment. "Why didn't they see eye to eye?" Gabrielle tensed again trying not to shiver. "I was my fathers favourite she was always in my shadow I think she wanted so much to have my father's approval…but I never let her have it…I liked being the better carpenter. It's my biggest regret that I never gave her that chance." Xena felt a sad smile form. "Maybe one day you'll get your chance." Phantasos easing his hand down deep inside Gabrielle's body feeling down the spear he could feel two blades sticking out on ether side. He moved his fingers he had no idea how to close the blades were to ribs but he'd have to gently ease it out blades and all.

He took hold of spears upper grip pulling slowly hearing the scuffing sound as it came free from the centre of the ribs in the process. Thank the gods it hadn't gone through them but it had no doubt broken one of her ribs which was what causing all her pain her lungs had obviously been damaged hence why she was coughing up so much blood. He began to ease it upwards very slowly tensed as the horrible looking weapon came in to the light he could see the horrible blades which were sticking out of ether side. He moved putting it down opposite the Empress as he looked inside the now open chest which had a thick muscle and a thin lair of protective fat. He could see deep cracks in two of the huge ribs as well as part of the massive lung which was drawing in air. He had no choice now but to sow her up and hope for the best. She had an amazing healing ability and it would heal her, all he could do was help it along by sowing up all her wounds. He grabbed the thicker thread getting ready to sow up the open chest he turned eyeing his apprentice who had now finished sowing up the last of the other werewolf's wounds.

He eyed Thaleia. "Force the skin and muscles together." Thaleia blinked she turned to Demetrius feeling really unsure of herself. Demetrius eyed her he leaned over talking gently as he stroked her back with his hand once more. "You can do this don't think of it as skin, think of it like stitching a meat it'll make doing this easier to handle." Thaleia swallowed pushing the thick fur skin together along with the muscle watching as Phantasos began to stitch she swallowed eyeing her hands which were now completely covered in blood. She watched as he removed the blood soaked cloth completely then carried on stitching. Xena watched as Gabrielle tensed she could see that Phantasos was now stitching up her chest, she could see the weapon Adrienne had used lying next to her it was covered in blood. She turned back noticing the slightly glazed look in Gabrielle's eyes she was clearly struggling now to stay conscious. "You know when your feeling better we can have lunch together in the royal garden I know you liked it last time we did it." Gabrielle winced despite that the weapon had been taken out her chest it still hurt to breath. She raised her bloody clawed hand unable to stop herself as she put it against the dark haired woman's face she felt a wide smile form despite the pain. The words just came out before she could stop them. "You have such beautiful eyes…their like blue sapphire…being hit by the morning sunlight."

Xena watched as Thaleia looked up surprise along with Demetrius she breathed in painfully Gabrielle couldn't be talking about her she was clearly becoming delirious and she was mistaking her for Damokles, as much as she wanted this comment to be about her it clearly wasn't. Gabrielle coughed again keeping her clawed hand in place finding her voice once more. "You are such a beautiful woman…I think…the gods you worship would kneel in the face of such radiant beauty. I know I would kneel to you…if you asked it off me." Xena felt herself freeze gods she was talking about her she felt the clawed hand suddenly slide of as it hit the floor lifelessly as the green eyes rolled back revealing the whites as the huge head hit the floor as Gabrielle lost consciousness she moved her hand to her throat feeling a pulse under the thick fur although it was shallow, she let out the breath she'd been holding. Phantasos eyed the Empress. "Can you feel a pulse?" Xena moved her hand away. "Yes but its shallow." Phantasos eyed the other claw wounds which had all stopped bleeding he moved to the first about to stitch it up only to stop as he watched her clawed hand start to shake. Gods this was not what he wanted he looked up catching sight of the first ray of dawns light realizing what was about to happen, she was going to change back.

He moved back watching as the others did the same as the shaking became more violent spreading through her whole body causing limbs to twitch and shudder it was almost like a fit but not nearly as violent. He breathed in seeing that the same thing was happening to the other werewolf as well all he could hope was that the stitches didn't break on ether of their bodies. He turned sharply as the cracking sounds hit the air as Gabrielle's bones started to shift and the thick fur started to disappear. He could see the concern in the Empress's face she was taking all this harder than anyone else in this room. He put a hand on his beard watching as pale skin appeared, the deep bite and claw wounds started to heal as her transformation finished, and her fit ended. He eyed the young woman's naked body the stitches had held at the top of her chest but the wound hadn't healed at all. The claw and bite marks had only half healed leaving ugly scars clearly her healing had not completed the way it normally did. "Bring her and the other woman to the healing room I'll clean them both up and put them to bed."

Fedora eased up the blanket which she'd taken from the children's room she walked forward handing it to the Empress who gently laid it over Gabrielle's naked body. Xena slowly wrapped the blanket fully around the younger woman as she gently picked her up. "No Gabrielle is staying with me in my room I'll clean her up and look after her." Phantasos stood up watching as his apprentice covered the other unconscious woman with another blanket he eyed the taller woman. "Empress you don't have to take this on, I can take care of Gabrielle." Xena turned sharply keeping hold of Gabrielle. "It's not up for negotiation! She's coming back to my room." Phantasos stepped back he wasn't going to argue with her he could see the ice cold look in her eyes which meant she was deadly serious. Iona breathed in deeply as she turned to the healer. "I'll go to your room with you there we can pick up the things the Empress needs and we'll take the other woman with us." She turned to the Empress who still had a very cold look in her eye. "Would that help Empress?" Xena nodded as she turned walking towards the open doors with Gabrielle. "Do it." Iona nodded watching as she disappeared from sight she put a hand on her face what a Tartarus of a night this was turning in to.

She moved over eyeing the other unconscious woman eyeing the apprentice. "Help me lift this bitch up and take her to the healer's room, before I change my mind and kill her just for the fun of it." The apprentice nodded helping her lift the other woman up they both moved towards the door as Phantasos followed them shaking his head. Demetrius moved picking up the bronze spear like weapon turning it eyeing the horrible looking side daggers what a sick twisted weapon. He lowered it watching as the double doors were closed as Iona left with the others. He looked around him seeing the bloody floor which was now in a terrible state drag mark's, pools of blood as well as bloody paw prints and vomit. The worst part was that the children's room was opposite. He turned to Fedora feeling the sadness wash over him. "You won't be able to teach today…not with the floor like this I'll get Chara to send out a message that lessons will have to be cancelled until Tiara is able to clean this up and the dinning room on the upper floor."

Fedora looked up sharply. "That room is ruined as well?" Demetrius looked down at the bloody floor. "In part yes but it's mostly blood stains and wrecked furniture, Gabrielle had defeated Adrienne she had her at her mercy and was about to break her neck. I was watching the whole thing through the gap in the door. None of us knew…we didn't think she'd put Gabrielle through the window." He lowered his gaze to the floor. "For her it no surrender and she wanted to take Gabrielle with her." He looked at the weapon again shaking his head unable to hide the sadness. "Vile bitch I wish I'd seen this coming I should have ignored the Empress's orders and had my men shoot her when I had the chance!" Fedora put a hand on her arm watching as her daughter sat down on the floor close by staring at the blood on her hands. "This was not your fault Demetrius you did everything you could no one could have planned for this." Demetrius breathed in painfully. "It's my job to protect this palace and its people yet I can't protect Gabrielle, I had no idea her people thought like this, even the Greek royals and Romans aren't this insane when it comes to killing their own."

He turned the bloody weapon between his fingers. "They even make vile weapons like this just to ensure the job gets done." He turned it slowly. "This is not for combat it's not for fighting it has one purpose to kill nothing more, I didn't know people could make weapons which show so much dishonour the Imperial Council, are all scum they deserve to rot in Tartarus and so does Adrienne. I swear that I will be there when she wakes up because I'll have a lot to say, both about this vile weapon and about her treatment of Gabrielle!" His next words were cut off as he heard the sound of tears falling he turned watching as Thaleia came in to view. He felt the guilt him hard. He slowly kneeled down in front of her watching as her mother sat down next to her putting her arm around her. "I'm sorry I didn't mean to sound insensitive, Gabrielle is going to be fine I'm sure of it, she's very strong." Thaleia looked at her hands trying to stop her tears. "Its not that…I've never seen so much blood and I've never seen inside someone before, it was awful." She looked at her hands. "I can't deal with this, I don't like looking at open bodies and blood it turns my stomach."

Demetrius shook his head as he put the weapon down taking hold of her hands. "No you dealt with this just fine because of you, your best friend has been stitched up and she's going to survive." Fedora held her daughter tighter. "You did everything just right little one." She kissed her head gently. Thaleia felt her mothers grip around her shoulders tighten. "I didn't know warriors could be so cruel…she told me that I wasn't to meet Adrienne and I thought she was just being over protective." Demetrius looked up slightly. "There are warriors and warlords and Adrienne is a warlord, no warrior would do what she did they would take their defeat and walk away." He paused looking at her hands. "Let me get me some water okay I'll clean your hands." He watched as she nodded painfully. Fedora watched as he stood up he was such a nice man who always meant well and he clearly cared about her daughter through out this whole ordeal. He'd helped her and she would find some way to repay him for this, as it had been very traumatic for her, not just her seeing her friend covered in blood but her having to help stitch her up.

She felt her daughters shoulder shudder again as she burst in to tears she breathed in deeply pulling her even closer. She loved her daughter more than anything in this world and it tour her heart to see her this way, sadly though she knew that this was the price for having a high standing position. You were forced to do things which could be very unpleasant. She knew this was inevitable and that it would happen but she had not expected it to happen so soon. Other parents in this situation may take the view that maybe she shouldn't be Gabrielle's friend as her life came with danger therefore she was dangerous to be around but she would not take her daughter away from her position. Gabrielle was the first real friend she'd ever had and Gabrielle trusted her just as much as she trusted the Empress. Her daughter was the only person in this whole palace who could ask anything of Gabrielle and Gabrielle would tell her and the Empress needed that, it was the reason that she'd given her daughter this position. There was more to it though she considered Gabrielle to be a part of family and Thaleia was like a sister to her and she would never take that away from her daughter. All she could hope now was that the Thaleia could get through the pain she was going through tonight and wake up stronger tomorrow.

End of part 67

Silvermoonlight

Early chapter release as I'll be very busy next week, thank you everyone for your kind reviews as well as favs and follows I really appreciate them.