"The rider, where is he?" Xena asked Marta.

"I have Lysa looking after his wounds at the shrine, Iason is rounding up everyone else, I told him to bring them here," Marta answered.

"Good, can the rider be moved?"

"Not without risk of death," Marta shook her head.

"Did he say how much time we had? Xena asked.

"Half an hour, maybe," Karina responded nervously clenching her hands.

Xena turned to Ares, "I need you to go get the rider and bring him here."

"But what about Gabrielle?" Ares questioned.

"If Sarkon is headed here, then she's out of harm's war for the time being. If I can stop him here then she won't be in any danger. You can move the injured rider quicker than the rest of us . . ."

Xena was interrupted by Lysa barging into the room, "He's dead, he didn't make it," she rasped.

Xena placed a hand on Ares arm to stop him from leaving "No need for that now," she took a deep breath to still herself. How was she going to defend these people from that beast? She had been placed in a similar predicament years ago when Cortese invaded Amphipolis. She had let it turn her into a monster then. She had turned innocent villagers into killers and got most of them slaughtered in the process. She wouldn't make the same mistake this time around.

"Lysa, Marta, Karina, go to the kitchen, grab as many food rations as you can and meet me in the throne room," Xena ordered.

The women anxiously set out to do as Xena instructed.

"You sure you don't want me to get Blondie, so you'll have some help here. Xena, he travels with over thirty men. These children and old women aren't going to be much help against a barbarian of his calibre."

"No, she's safer there, I'll be able to focus better this way. I'll deal with Sarkon, you might want to let Zandar know about the Slayer's little detour here. Though, if his scouts are any good then he already knows it and he may be headed this way himself."

"No, he's patient, he won't engage Sarkon inside a town, he's waiting to draw him into a field battle where his superior numbers and phalanx formation will have the advantage."

Xena shook her head, "Amateur, it'll never work."

"The job is yours for the taking, always has been."

Xena smirked at Ares, "No time for that now, I have to get everyone downstairs and fast."

"You're going to hide?" Ares had never known Xena to back down from a challenge.

"No, I am going to hide them. I am going after that son-of-a-bitch."

Although the thought of watching his warrior slay the Slayer excited him, the old fear of losing her reared it's ugly head, "Xena, it's suicide, I can't let you do it."

"You have such little faith in me, Ares?"

"It's not that, I just don't want to lose you again, Please, we can leave this place, I can transport everyone away from here."

"This place, these people, this is what I am fighting for Ares. We've worked hard to create a home here. And, I have built something I am proud of here, a family, with these children. And who knows, maybe someday, I'll add to that family," she gave him a half-smile, a smile filled with unspoken dreams and promises.

She gently snaked her hand around the back of his neck and pulled his face to within inches of hers. She took in his chestnut eyes. She saw the fear there. She knew he loved her. And, she knew that no matter how much she wanted to deny it, she loved him.

"But just in case I don't make it off the battlefield today, I want to kiss you goodbye this time," she gently pressed her lips to his. He kissed her back tenderly at first but he quickly deepened the kiss, wrapping his arms around her and holding her in a full embrace. He was tempted to just kidnap her. Take her away from here, from the danger. But he knew that she'd only hate him in the end if he did.

Xena broke the kiss but still looked into his loving eyes, "It's what I do," she explained sincerely.

He swallowed hard, "I know. Now let's get these people to safety then we can go kick some ass!"

"We?" Xena left the comfort of his arms and grabbed her sword and daggers.

"We," Ares grinned, "If I recall correctly, the last time we fought for Amphipolis, we won the day. Hopefully today will be a repeat performance."

"I thought it was taboo for the god of war to intervene in the affairs of mortals. Isn't that why your armies do your fighting for you?"

"It's only taboo if I use my powers, which I won't. It'll be a fair fight. And besides, Xena, you're hardly mortal."

"See, that's your problem, you refuse to see that I am."

"Not really, not as long as I can do anything about it. I won't let you go."

"You stubborn ass!"

"I love you too," he winked at her.

"Never give up, do you?" She sighed as she headed toward the throne room with the god of war right behind her. She could feel the energy of battle anticipation rolling off of him in waves. She didn't know how she was supposed to fight side by side with him and resist the urge to pull from that power.

When they reached the throne room everyone was there. Xena was pleased to see that the women had quickly gathered the provisions that she had requested. Xena gave them a briefing of exactly who Sarkon was and what was going on. She told them that there was no time for questions and that she just needed them to listen to her orders so that no one would get hurt. Lavinia looked absolutely panic stricken and Xena could tell that she was wishing she could rewind her life by about three hours to a time before she had agreed to take the nursemaid position.

Xena walked to the throne and triggered the door lever. The ornate chair slid forward revealing the hidden staircase. Xena ushered everyone downstairs. The room was cramped with all the people but it was the safest place in town. Xena grabbed an hourglass and gave it to Mikal.

"I want you to turn this twenty-four times, do you hear me?"

He nodded.

"I mean it Mikal, no one is to come out of this room, until the sand has run it's course twenty-four times. By then, either I'll be dead or they will be."

Daria cried out. Xena went down on her haunches to face the child, "I'll be okay."

"Promise?"

"Promise,"Xena answered.

Ares hoisted the little girl up into his arms, "I'm not gonna let anything happen to Xena, you can count on that," he told the child.

Daria kissed him sweetly on the cheek and hugged his neck tightly. She giggled when his beard tickled her.

"Okay listen," Xena started, "I need everyone to stay as quiet as possible. It's going to be difficult enough to keep Amyntas from crying but I need everyone else to stay mum. If his men come in here, they should not find this room but if they hear voices they may start looking for it. If you hear footsteps assume they are not ours. Ares or I will call out if it is one of us, understand."

Everyone nodded. Ares placed Daria down on the edge of the bed next to Kallias and Cyrena. He patted both girls reassuringly on the head. Iason trembled with nervous energy. Ares couldn't tell if it was fear or a desire to avenge his family.

Ares pulled the boy aside. He didn't really know what to say. He'd had sired plenty of children but had fathered none. He settled on, "You okay?"

"Yeah, Yeah," Iason lied.

"It's okay to be scared, it's natural. That man is an animal but Xena and I together are pretty unstoppable," Ares reassured.

"It's my place to kill him, I should avenge my family," Iason declared.

"Iason, that feeling, that's natural too but trust me Xena is going to hold him accountable for his crimes. You trust her don't you?"

Iason nodded silently.

"Good," Ares produced a small dagger, "If it'll make you feel better, I'll leave this with you. This way if he gets past me and Xena then you can do what has to be done."

Iason slowly reached for the dagger. Xena grabbed it from Ares before the boy could take it. She shot Ares a disapproving look

"What?" he asked clearly unaware that arming a frightened eight year old boy was a terrible idea.

"Iason," Xena turned to the boy, "you'll be safe down here. Mikal knows what to do, you just follow his lead, okay?"

"Okay," he responded.

Xena showed the hideaways the rear exit through the caves and warned, "Do not use this unless it is an absolute emergency. I don't need any of you stumbling into the middle of the battle and getting yourselves killed.," she looked directly at Iason.

"However," she continued, "if the Slayer or his men open the door above, use this exit and run as fast and far as you can. Be careful, though because it is easy to get lost in the caves. This is a last ditch effort, are we clear?"

When Xena was satisfied that everyone was on board, she and Ares grabbed the cache of weapons they had stored there years ago and ascended the staircase, closing the door behind them. She and Ares left the temple side by side, prepared to do battle.

Xena knew Amphipolis like the back of her hand. The numbers were in Sarkon's favor but Xena had the advantage of familiarity with the field of battle. How many times had she defended this village?

Ares interrupted Xena's thoughts, "about the boy, the dagger."

"Will talk about it later, but this isn't Sparta and he's too young. I know you were trying to help."

Ares nodded in agreement. "So what's your plan?"

"They'll come in from that ridge over there, which means they'll be bringing this road in. If your estimation is right and he is riding with at least thirty men, then we need to do something that will take out as many as possible with one direct hit."

"I like your thinking," Ares smiled. He could see her wheels turning. She was magnificent. How did he ever lose her?

"When he comes into town, he's going to notice the X's on the buildings. He will approach cautiously. He'll wonder if there is even anything worth his time here. He might even think the town is abandoned. Still, they are riders and he won't pass up a blacksmith's shop in case there are any useful supplies lying around. Plus, he'll definitely check the grainery. We want to use the element of surprise to our advantage. Still we want to hit them before they spread out too much. I think the most likely spot is where the road coming into town veers off toward the grainery. We should hide some oil casks and hit them with flaming arrows as they make the turn. . ." a gleam of silver light from the treeline at the edge of town grabbed Xena's attention. "We're being watched. A reflection of light. . ."

"It's a signal from Zandar," Ares interrupted her. "He must know that Sarkon's coming this way."

"Go see how many men he has with him, I'll lay the casks of oil as quickly as possible. Bring them down and I"ll set up their positions."

"Xena he's not going to want to take orders from you."

"No, but he will from you," she answered.

"I'll be right back," Ares disappeared.

Xena ran to the tavern and began filling as many oil bags as she could find. She found herself wishing for some black powder from Chin.

Zandar had been surprised to see his god emerge from the temple with the warrior woman. He was even more startled by the fact that it appeared that the two of them were about to take on Sarkon's raiders by themselves. The woman was pointing at a strategic location and it looked as if she were the one telling the God of War what to do instead of the other way around. In that moment, Zandar realized that the woman could be none other than Xena, the Warrior Princess. Like many of her successors, Zandar had heard various legends about Xena and her supposed hold on the war god. Until he saw them together, he had thought that it had been mostly rumor. Now he wondered just what kind of sway this woman held over his god. If she could compel him to engage in a senseless battle over an insignificant little town then she must really hold his balls in her hands the ways some warriors had joked.

Zandar flashed his sword to signal his presence to the god. He watched as the woman and Ares spoke then saw Ares vanish then reappear in front of him.

"My lord," Zandar bowed.

Ares noticed that he only had his advance party of twelve men with him. This would even their odds greatly.

"Zandar, where are the rest of your troops?"

"Awaiting my orders on the road to Potidea."

"Change of plans,' Ares announced, "we're going to engage the Slayer here. We're going to trap him in town, Hit them hard with one blow and then pick of the survivors one by one."

Ares said it in a tone that brokered no argument.

"You want me to take my men in there. There won't be room to maneuver," he pointed out.

"We won't be fighting him in a phalanx. Xena's right. That'll never work. Sarkon doesn't fight that way. He's never going to engage with you in a field battle. If we are going to stop him, it'll have to be on his terms."

"But we run a greater risk of losing men with one on one combat."

"It they're not willing to die for you, or more importantly their god, then their not worthy of being in your army in the first place," Ares raised his voice.

"Forgive me my lord, we are all willing to lay our lives down for you, but you are asking us to risk our lives protecting that woman, isn't that right?"

"Are you questioning my orders, Zandar?"

The tall commander straightened his back making him appear even taller. He had at least two inches on Ares. "No sir, my sword is at your service."

"Good, now get your men down there. Xena will set their positions."

Zandar swallowed hard at the news. He didn't like taking orders from his predecessor much less from a woman but he did as Ares commanded.

When Xena saw Ares returning with a dozen soldiers she was both relieved and dismayed. She knew with these numbers that she'd have no trouble defeating Sarkon but things were starting to feel all too familiar. She had sworn never to lead his army again and yet here she was in an impossible situation.

She could tell that the young general resented her. She couldn't blame him. Hadn't she once worked hard to get to where this young man was?

"You must be Zandar," Xena held out her arm in salutation.

"Pleasure, Xena," Zandar accepted her arm but she could tell that it was anything but a pleasant experience for him.

"I think we should use an opening surprise attack. Even if we are only able to take out a half dozen with it, they will be disoriented and that will give us time to move in and engage them face to face."

Zandar nodded, "it'll probably work but I don't like using sneak attacks it's ungentlemanly."

"Have you seen what this monster does? He's not a gentleman. Zandar, with all due respect, and I do respect what you've achieved by such a young age he's not an easy god to impress," Xena looked to Ares and smiled before continuing, "but if you wait for Sarkon to meet you on the battlefield army to army you'll be waiting until you're as old as me."

His gut told him she was right, so he decided he would go along with her plan.

Ares watched with sheer joy as Xena had Zandar right where she wanted him. He couldn't believe how this day had turned out. His queen was about to lead his army.

"Okay," Zandar answered, "we'll do it your way." He bowed in obedience to Xena and motioned for his men to do likewise.

"That won't be necessary, Zandar, I want you to run lead on this, this is your army."

"But . . ."

"But nothing, I have no plans of taking my old job back. We'll attack when you say and you know each man's strengths. I'll show you the positions but you'll know better who to place where."

"Joint command, then," Ares couldn't let her damper his spirit. She could call it what she liked but by the gods she was leading his army!

Xena glared at Ares.

"Put him on the front line," she told Zandar.

"He's fighting?" the commander was in shock, Ares never took part in battle.

"In a limited capacity and actually if you don't mind, he'll be with me. We work well together."

Zandar nodded and the assigned his men their positions.

As soon as they got set, Xena could hear the thunder of horses hooves.