Chapter 17

Xena rode Argo along the trail, moving swiftly beneath the light of the moon. She had been riding since early afternoon and knew, despite her initial anger, that the rest had done both her and Argo a world of good. She had to get to Gabrielle though. Her blue eyes narrowed as she wondered if Ankh were on her way to the village. Undoubtedly, Callisto had reappeared and did not leave with dawn's light. The image of Callisto so hungry for Ankh unnerved her slightly. Xena found it hard to believe that a soul that had died, been reborn as immortal and then become a God could know that kind of passion. Genuine passion. Not the games that the other Olympians were so fond of. Indulging in their whims as an aside. Xena's mind flickered briefly to the thought of feeling Ankh surrender beneath her like she had for Callisto. Xena grit her teeth as she chased the thought out with images of Gabrielle. This curse, spell, whatever, was problematic, to say the least.

She saw a shadow moving on the side of the road stop and turn around. She slowed Argo, her hand grasping the Chakram at her waist. When she was nearer, she recognized the slender form. She pulled Argo to a halt.

"Ankh." She said calmly, her hand still resting at her waist.

Ankh looked up at Xena and nodded.

"Xena...They have not yet headed for the village. They are still in their camp and I know where it is."

"What were you going to do? Attack them alone?" Xena didn't dismount but sat gazing down at the shadowed silver eyes of the woman below.

"I would not attack them. I was going to release Gabrielle, once she is safe, I would plan from there."

"How were you going to release her? Just walk in and set her free?"

"I am very familiar with the way they have their guards posted and where their weaknesses would lay. Someone, I think Dhomb, wants to help release her." Ankh said as she turned away from the aloof warrior and began to walk along the trail again.

"The same man that attacked you?" Xena called after her, her instincts telling her that this could be a trap, but she couldn't place her finger on it.

"Yes." Ankh turned back for a moment, then continued on her way. Xena nudged Argo into a trot and fell in beside Ankh.

"Why would he help you now?"

"I don't know, but if anyone could cast their location so briefly, it would be he. I suspect he was brief in order to avoid detection. I can meet you in the village still, or send Gabrielle ahead to meet you." There was something in Ankh's voice, a resignation.

"No, if you go, I go. I need to make sure that Gabrielle is safe."

They continued on in silence, Xena was trying to figure out a way to tell Ankh what Widgie had told her. Finally she said, "Where is Callisto?"

"Gone. I don't know where. Warrior..."Ankh stopped and turned to look up at Xena.

Xena reined Argo to a stop and waited, her expression blank.

"What do you make of Callisto and I? I cannot tell what is my heart's voice and what is the enthrallment."

"What are you asking me?" Xena asked, her voice dangerously low.

"I...I don't know. How could I be attracted to one as cold as she? One whose moniker is alternately Goddess of Rage, Obsession, Vengeance...Yet... When we are together, she is none of those things. She is not cold, not hard, not angry. She speaks to me of her need when we are apart, her peace when we are together." Ankh sighed, running her fingers through her hair, her gaze falling to the ground.

"Are you saying that Callisto is falling in love with you? And you her?" Xena couldn't believe her ears. Callisto, the woman who had killed countless innocents, laying the blame at Xena's feet so that she could continue to kill guilt free. Callisto who had cut down Perdicus in cold blood. Double crossed her more times than she could count, helped Hope kill her son. She tried not to think about what Widgie had said, Callisto was the heartless embodiment of vengeance. And she pushed the lyrical voice that had been the voice of almost reason in Illusia out of her mind.

"That is what I am asking you." Ankh answered softly.

Xena leapt off of Argo and stood before Ankh. "I do not know if it could be love. The Callisto I know has no love in her heart, she is a woman consumed by rage. She is drawn to you because darkness is drawn to you like moth to a flame. Your scar is more than a scar, it is a...Geas." Xena stumbled slightly over the last word.

Ankh looked up at Xena, her gaze no longer confused but piercingly intent. "A geas? What kind of geas?"

"To be drawn to darkness and darkness drawn to you." Even as Xena said it, something shifted inside her and she knew that Widgie had spoken the truth. The darkness she struggled with daily was trying to crawl again towards the fierce light in those liquid metal eyes. Images of Callisto pressing Ankh against the tree, the slight struggle and then melting surrender caused her to become hyper aware of her proximity to the smaller warrior. She turned and stepped away from Ankh.

Ankh saw the flash in the warrior's eyes and knew, as she must have always known, that Aillia had indeed placed a geas upon her that day long ago. The once forgotten words roared in her ears and her scar burned as if struck anew.

"*L'ankha'chien, savior then of shadows. Offer yourself as sacrifice. Lay your will down before them as they lay theirs down to own you. Darkness you seek to lighten, then darkness shall be drawn to you. Your desire shall be your undoing and lead you into a starless night. Shi carlin'biar. Nech r'niur call'viem.*"

"She did-I...I am bound to darkness and powerless." Ankh whispered, falling to her knees. The words had meant nothing to her at the time, but the final sentences made the words more than words. They wove them into her very being, just as the silver melted against and through her flesh, so then were the words written against her heart.

"We will go and rescue Gabrielle, and I will return to Aillia." Ankh finally said, looking down at her clenched fists.

"No. You do not have to return to Aillia, it will not save your friends. You know she will sacrifice them anywise just to see the look on your face when she does. If she does that, then your spirit will die and you will be hers absolutely." Xena watched the woman struggle with this news, concentrating on the image of Gabrielle's face to quell the rising darkness and the desire that rode its back.

"You cannot break a geas." Ankh said flatly.

"There is one way. You must kill your blood bound lover. She must die beneath your blade." Xena began to relax as the darkness ebbed at the thought of her lover.

"I carry no blade." Ankh replied. Her eyes closed slowly and it came back to her, as if it were yesterday. She was hot, tired and wounded. Fighting to keep back Aillia's army from taking the village. She had been separated from the others, slashing her way to drive back those foolish enough to attack her. Blinded by the blood and sweat in her eyes, someone had screamed out to her, a warning. In a manner borne of countless battle, it had been reflex, dropping to one knee and thrusting her sword behind her. She had turned, wiping her eyes, and seen the still form. She had collapsed beside the figure, desperately scanning for any glimmer of life. Her stomach cramped and she felt physically ill. A woman fell upon her screaming, "Didn't you hear me? I told you he was behind you, I screamed it and you just ran him through. A child, you ran him through." She punched and kicked at Ankh screaming over and over, "You killed him."

"Tell me anything that I need to know to aid you. Whatever you are holding inside because of shame will not do me or the others any good. You are too skilled a warrior to be bested face to face, so Aillia has made you question yourself, your intentions, your beliefs. She is winning so far L'ankha'chien." Xena spoke harshly, there was little she could do for this woman and her doubt could compromise Gabrielle's safety.

Ankh looked up, startled at the tone of the warrior's voice. "She is not winning."

"Yes she is. Look at you. Do you doubt your cause? Do you doubt the reason why you picked up a sword? I know about those doubts, I know about wanting to unshed the blood that has already been shed. If you had not been there to stop Aillia, what kind of world would you be living in now?" Xena thought back to her own wish granted by the Fates up to the recent turn of events. Oh believe me when I say I say I know about wishing to undo what has been done.

Ankh glared at the warrior, her silver eyes darkening. "Maybe it would have been a better world. Someone else would have bested her and I would not be here, now, struggling with every...single...choice I ever made." The sentence dropped off to a whisper at the end. Ankh sat there - the barrage of images and the implication of everything. What had she had with Sharia? What did she have with Callisto? She thought of Dhomb and the others. Her friends. No matter what enthrallment or geas Aillia had placed on her, she had risked her neck for them and they for her on countless occasions. Her mind wandered back to Callisto. That look - when the Goddess had left her earlier. Was that forced or genuine?

Xena waited, not saying a word. She stepped back slightly when she heard Ankh break out into laughter.

"By the Gods, yours or mine - doesn't rightly matter - useless vain things that they are - the lot of them. I have been a brooding melancholy one haven't I? Well then Warrior, first we will rescue your beloved. Then, then I will decide what to do." Ankh smiled at Xena. She was no less troubled, but she knew that the warrior was right, the more indecisive she became and faltered, the easier it was for Aillia to manipulate the situation.

"Ready?" She called back, moving off down the trail again. Xena shook her head and followed. What could Widgie have meant to watch her lessons closely? She was not sure this manic Ankh would be any better of an ally in battle.