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The Fires of Anger

Gabrielle watched Callisto's army charge away. She could feel the tug of guilt upon her heart. It had never quite hit her until now just how bad her betrayal was. Ares plan, she cursed, Ares stupid plan had put her here. Soon Xena would hear about this and who knows what the dark haired warrior might do.

She was doing what she believed was the right thing, learning from the inside the secret about Hercules and Aphrodite, but she wondered if she should have listened to the God of War. He was always out for his own best interests, why did she trust him now?

The dagger kept in her boot pressed against her calf. A reminder of all she had gone through, including the man Brutus, whom she had got off of in the battle that left the roman dead. Fighting tears she said, "Ares… this had better work."

8

Callisto was furious upon her return to camp. Gabrielle had betrayed them; she couldn't believe that the bard would do so. Taking a moment to think about it, she had only one conclusion.

"Ares!" she shouted.

Callisto stormed around the camp shouting his name, but no one knew where he was.

Turning around a corner, Callisto shouted again, "Ares, show your damn face!"

Ares calmed leaned against a tree as Callisto suddenly emerged from behind a tent, "What the hell did you do?"

Ares shot her a questioning look, "What are you talking about?"

Callisto shoved him, "You know damn well what I'm talking about!"

"Whoa, whoa… no one shoves the God of War!"

Callisto wasn't hearing it, "I don't care about your damn pride, what the hell did you do to Gabrielle?"

Ares stood his ground in the face of the Warrior Queen, "Its Aphrodite you should be asking. She's been calling on the little blonde for a while now, and because you and Xena have been busy with your precious combat, you two didn't notice."

Callisto paused, aiming a look of suspicion, "Aphrodite, I thought she was missing…"

"Nope, still here and she's making my life a living Tartarus right now. This little war, oh the one that got me tossed out of Olympus, it was her doing. I was…"

"You were tricked." Stated a smiling Callisto.

Ares gritted his teeth, "Point is that she's behind all of this."

Callisto shook her head, "You sure you didn't have anything to do with any of this?"

"A God need never lie."

"Yea, accept all those times you did. You see Ares; I'm really having a hard time believing you right now. I don't know, maybe it's your history of deception, you're natural inclination to fulfill your own self-serving needs."

Ares shook his head, "I'm telling you the truth."

Callisto walked up inches from his face, "You know something… I don't believe you. I don't know where exactly your lie is, but I know it's there somewhere, out with God of War. You did something and you know it!"

Ares' eyes flared, but then he cooled himself down, "Perhaps in some small way…"

"Oh? How small?"

"Ok, so it crossed my mind that maybe Aphrodite isn't running the show."

Callisto stood with arms crossed, "And?"

"Well, we need to know what's going inside Hercules' camp, and have her alongside Aphrodite…"

Callisto groaned, "You didn't… You sent Gabrielle to spy on them! Gods Ares, what are you thinking?"

Ares shot back clinching a fist, "Hey, I came to you, and I came to Xena, you both refused to have anything to do with me! Can you blame me if I went to Gabrielle?"

"Yes I can."

Ares rolled his eyes, "There is something not right, I don't think a damaged Aphrodite can manage what we've seen. She's dark yes, but she's not herself. There is something more here… Call it a god thing, but I feel it."

Callisto demanded, "Does that excuse what you did?"

"Not like you two really seem to care anyway. Keep her in the back, where she can't get hurt. Leave her out of the decisions. The both of you treated her like some child to be protected; you know she's more than that."

Callisto's head fell a few inches, Ares words had hit hard.

Ares added, "Look at it this way, Gabrielle was about to go running off on her own. I saved her from making a terrible mistake."

Ares regretted those words instantly as Callisto shot him a look of furious anger.

"You saved her?" She shouted. "Why you arrogant son of a bitch!"

"Hey! I'm trying to help here!"

Callisto wished she was able to hurt him with her blade, she hated gods. Controlling her anger she gave the war god a cold look. "Why don't you go help someone else? You know what; I've had enough of you. Get out of my army and don't come back. You are not welcome here!"

Ares got toe to toe with Callisto, "You can't make me leave!"

"Have you forgotten who's chosen I am. I told you to go, and if you don't, I'm sure Athena, who has her full powers, will show up and gladly remove you, and I got a feeling that she would likely enjoy it. You… semi powerful God of War won't be able to resist her, I'm sure."

Ares snarled once at Callisto, "Fine… you'll regret this!"

Callisto wasn't hearing it, and she watched as Ares reluctantly began to walk away from the camp, hanging his head low dejected. Ares had never before been cast out of a camp by a mortal. This was a sad day for him; the whole week had been a bad week for him. He couldn't imagine how it could get any worse, but somehow deep down; he wouldn't be surprised if it did.

8

Xena and Borias finally arrived in the Centaur village, for being late in the evening, Xena was surprised to see such a flurry of activity. Centaur soldiers and other people were running around getting everything together. Borias mused, "They must already know…"

"That's good for us, I don't think we could have made ready if it wasn't so."

"You There!" Shouted a centaur.

Xena replied, "I'm here to help!"

The Centaur replied, "How do I know you're not one of the enemies?"

Borias shot back, "Would Borias ever take up arms against a Centaur?"

The Centaur lowered his blade, "No… of course not. I'm Arethian, and the villages are my charge. Hercules is coming so we're making ready to leave."

Xena stated, "We're here to help. We may still not have enough time. I need a small group of Centaurs to form with me. We're going to do what we can to give your people enough time to leave."

Arethian extended his hand to Xena, "You are most welcome, and I thank you. You shall have your Centaurs."