Standing amongst a number of bodies, Gabrielle watched as Xena sheathed her sword and approached the group of people she and the blonde had just got through saving from a battalion of Roman soldiers.
XENA
What does Caesar want with you?
?
He knows I'm recruiting mercenaries to fight against him. We're supposed to meet up in Britannia. But I'm afraid our guide we hired wasn't very reliable in keeping his word to escort me safely to Northern Gaul.
GABRIELLE
(Sarcasm) If I were you, I'd see about getting a refund.
The man smiled.
?
Well, I guess I'm fortunate that the two of you showed up. You have my thanks…
GABRIELLE
Gabrielle.
The man shook the bard's hand in a formal greeting as he introduced himself.
?
Khrafstar, first priest of the one god.
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GABRIELLE
This god of yours, what's his name?
KARAFSTAR
Yes, but we aren't permitted to speak it.
Fascinated by the idea of only having one god, Gabrielle found herself wanting to learn more as the priest explained his beliefs. And after hearing his story of how much he struggled and nearly died without any of the gods he used to follow coming to his aid no matter how he plead, only to have his life completely changed by this new god that he had learned of through his travels. A god that he believed would bring about unity to all. An idea that brought a smile to the bard's face.
KARAFSTAR
Sorry, I'm sure the thought of believing in only one god probably seems strange.
GABRIELLE
No, I think it sounds wonderful.
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A small cry broke through the otherwise stillness of the night as Gabrielle tossed and turned in her bedroll, her eye's closing tighter as a series of scenes continued to rampage through her unconscious mind.
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As her thoughts flashed to inside a temple, Gabrielle stood watching Khrafstar and the rest of his group as one of the women who stood before the others as she spoke.
PRIESTESS
From the beginning of time, the one has been waiting. Waiting to rejoin this world that is his. And at last, the days of old are gone, and a new dawn is before us.
The woman raised her head and hands skyward as she continued.
PRIESTESS
Tremble at his arrival!
The woman lowered her arms as her focus returned to the small crowd before him.
PRIESTESS
But first, the door must be opened. Sanctified with blood. Pure, innocent blood.
Gabrielle watched helplessly as Khrafstar was suddenly grabbed by two others in the group and dragged struggling to an altar, where he was swiftly tied down.
While the man was being restrained, the woman took a large dagger from the priest before making her way up to the platform as the priest continued his speech.
PRIEST
This world will end today! The hand of Dahak will sweep the earth, bringing a thousand years of winter, and killing anyone who would dare to stand in his way of claiming his place as rightful ruler of this world!
KARAFSTAR
No!
Karafstar struggled unsuccessfully to get free as the woman with the dagger moved to stand over him. His eyes full of fear and desperation, he looked toward Gabrielle, who was looking on in shock and horror of what she was seeing.
KARAFSTAR
Gabrielle, this isn't right. This isn't our god!
Suddenly, the bard found herself standing over a woman's corpse, her hands covered in blood, as she looked up to see Khrafstar now free and standing amongst the others with an evil smile on his face.
KARAFSTAR
(Sinister tone) Thank you, Gabrielle. You see, in order to summon Dahak, a sacrifice was needed. But what was required was so much more than one mere flesh or blood. No, he wanted your purity. Your innocence of evil, and you just gave it to him. Now, thanks to you, the new kingdom of Dahak has begun, and you, Gabrielle, are now the catalyst that will bring him into this world.
Her hands shaking at the reveal of the truly evil plan that had been set in motion, the blonde dropped the dagger and fell to her knees, and screamed in horror of what she had just done as a circle of demonic fire appeared surrounding her, before closing in and engulfing her completely.
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GABRIELLE
Xena, what's going on?
XENA
I think you're pregnant.
The bard looked down to suddenly see her stomach had become severely enlarged as her eye's filled with terror, before she quickly threw her head back as she screamed in pain.
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XENA
Keep breathing, Gabrielle. Come on.
Now finding herself laying in a dark barn, lightning flashed as the bard yelled at the pain that surged through her.
XENA
Push.
GABRIELLE
But what if…
Her thought was suddenly interrupted as another wave of pain hit, and she cried out in agony.
GABRIELLE
It's coming!
XENA
Push!
Doing as instructed, the blonde screamed, as just a moment later the sound of a baby's cry could be heard.
XENA
It's a girl.
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Gabrielle smiled as she looked down at the infant in her arms.
GABRIELLE
Isn't she beautiful, Xena?
She raised her eyes to look at the warrior who stood looking over the new mother.
GABRIELLE
You know, you were right.
XENA
'Bout what?
GABRIELLE
After what happened at that temple, you said that one day I would have hope again.
Her gaze returned to the child as she smiled.
GABRIELLE
Now here it is. And that's what I'm gonna call her. Hope.
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XENA
Gabrielle, she is the daughter of Dahak.
The bard sat watching the now toddler that Hope had become just mere hours after being born.
GABRIELLE
I've been thinking about that. And maybe she is. But even if that is true, I can help her fight against her dark side.
The blonde looked at the once villainous warrior woman as she continued.
GABRIELLE
Just like I helped you fight against yours.
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With another drastic shift, the young woman was racing up a rocky incline with a swaddled baby in her arm as she tried desperately to escape Xena who was close behind.
XENA
Gabrielle, that thing you're holding isn't a child, it's a monster! It has to be
destroyed! I understand how you must be feeling, but you're looking at it as
If it were a real baby!
Gabrielle looked back at the warrior for only a moment as she saw the
woman catching up and moved faster as she cradles the infant she was
trying so desperately to protect.
XENA
Gabrielle, stop!
Xena hurdled over a boulder as she moved to catch up to the other woman.
XENA
You have to think about this logically. You were in the temple of Dahak, the
evil one. You were put on the altar, and he planted that thing inside of you.
Your pregnancy wasn't normal, it was accelerated so quickly that you gave
birth in barely a matter of days. Then It killed just within hours of being
born.
The warrior ran a bit further before hearing Gabrielle yell, and quickly ran
the rest of the way up the hill to find the blonde kneeling and looking over
the edge of a cliff. Hearing Xena behind her, Gabrielle turned to look at the
dark-haired woman with a saddened expression.
GABRIELLE
(Sad tone) She's gone. You were right about everything.
XENA
What happened?
GABRIELLE
(Sad tone) Her beautiful face just turned into this hateful sneer, it was like
looking into the face of evil itself, before she went completely feral and tried
to strangle me. I didn't know what to do, so in a panic I threw her down
there.
The bard motioned to the cliffside as Xena moved to look over the ledge for
any signs of the child, but saw none. And once convinced that the evil
spawn was gone, returned to hug the bard.
XENA
(Soft tone) I'm sorry, Gabrielle, but it had to be done.
GABRIELLE
(Sad tone) I know.
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Yet another flash and Gabrielle found herself standing in a hut with Xena.
XENA
Callisto's free and she knows about Solan.
GABRIELLE
But, how's that even possible?
XENA
Whoever somehow freed her from that lava pit must've somehow found out about him and told her. But who?
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Suddenly, Gabrielle was hugging a little blonde girl as she tried to comfort the crying child.
YOUNG GIRL
I have the power to move things. I don't know why, but she says I'm evil.
GABRIELLE
Who? Callisto? That's a lie.
The bard released the little girl to look her in the eye.
GABRIELLE
(Stern tone) You are NOT evil, you hear me? No matter what anyone says. Never believe that.
YOUNG GIRL
(Sad tone) My mother thought so. She wanted me dead, so she tried to drown me in a basket.
GABRIELLE
(Soft tone) That's not true. Your mother loved you. She sent you away not because she didn't want you, but because she wanted to protect you.
The little girl scowled at the bard as she angrily pulled away.
YOUNG GIRL
(Angry tone) How would you know? You weren't there.
GABRIELLE
But I do know.
She pulled the child back into a loving, comforting hug.
GABRIELLE
I know all too well that your mother wanted only to keep you safe, and that she loved more than anything.
Suddenly, the girl pulled away from the bard's arms as a worried expression formed on her face.
YOUNG GIRL
We have to go. I'm sorry, it was me. I helped Callisto get out, I didn't mean to, but now she's coming for the kids. And I'm scared if she finds out I told, she'll kill me.
GABRIELLE
Don't worry, I'll take you to the safest place I know so she can't hurt you.
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XENA
We don't know the first thing about where that girl came from. What makes you think we can trust this child?
Hearing Xena's voice, Gabrielle turned around to find herself once again in a different spot as she stood across from the warrior.
GABRIELLE
What makes you think we can't? Xena, she gave us Callisto's plan.
XENA
Exactly. For all we know, that's just what Callisto wanted her to do. That girl's probably a pawn, or worse.
Gabrielle scowled.
GABRIELLE
(Angry tone) That's not true. You were always so quick to judge her. But I'm telling you for the last time, she is not the evil monster you insist on claiming she is!
Xena's eyes widened at the realization of just who they were talking about.
XENA
Hope? The child is hope?
GABRIELLE
I'm sorry Xena. I never wanted to lie, but I couldn't kill her. She's my child. You're a mother. As someone who had to make a difficult choice of doing what you knew was best for your child, I thought of all people you would understand.
A mission now on her mind, Xena quickly began moving toward the door to leave.
XENA
Maybe it's not too late to stop her. She's still young. If her powers haven't fully developed yet, the right poison should be enough to kill her.
GABRIELLE
Poison?! Xena, she is my child!
A scowl on her face, the raven-haired warrior turned to face the other woman once again.
XENA
(Angry tone) She is not a child! She is a body, a vessel, an instrument for evil! That is all!
GABRIELLE
(Angry tone) You are wrong! Hope is innocent. That's why, to protect her from Callisto, I sent her to Kalepus' hut.
The bard then watched as a look of pure fear fell over the warrior's face.
XENA
…No.
Without another word, Xena turned and ran out of the hut, leaving Gabrielle to follow. But as the bard stepped foot out of the building, her dreamscape placed her right into another where she saw the warrior holding her son's limp body in her arms before letting out a mournful, anguished scream.
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The scream seemed to jolt Gabrielle further along the memory as she found herself kneeling beside Hope's body, staring at the mostly empty bottle of poison in her hands. The weight of what she had inadvertently caused was nearly too much to bear as she closed her eyes and cried for a moment before hearing Xena's angry voice.
XENA
(Angry tone) Where's Gabrielle?!
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The bard's eyes shot open as she felt her legs being ripped out from under her, and she was violently dragged by her ankles behind a vengeful Xena on Argo as the mare ran at full speed over grass, rocks, and other rough terrain for a good distance, before finally coming to a stop near a cliff that overlooked a rocky drop into ocean. There, Gabrielle laid, unable to do anything as the warrior untied the battered woman and lifted her up above her head to finish what she had started as she let out a fierce yell only to be kicked in the face by a flailing Gabrielle, who was abruptly dropped to the ground along with the warrior.
After a moment, despite the multiple injuries now covering her body caused by being dragged, Gabrielle was able to make it to her feet to see Xena stand up as well. Both women stared at each other as all the love they had once felt for one another now seemed nothing more than a distant memory from another life, as all of it had now been replaced with nothing but disdain. A feeling that Gabrielle wanted to make certain the warrior knew as she yelled at the woman.
GABRIELLE
I hate you!
Then unable to stop herself, with every ounce of strength she had, the bard charged forward and threw herself at Xena, colliding with the woman and knocking her off balance. However, not thinking ahead, Gabrielle quickly found herself plummeting off the edge of the cliff right along with Xena as both women screamed as they fell down toward the rough waters below.
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A loud gasp abruptly cut through the otherwise quiet of the night as Gabrielle's eyes shot open, and she frantically sat up to find herself looking out at an open field. Looking around in the darkness, she breathed heavily as her heart pounded in her chest.
Finally, after a few moments, her eyes began to adjust to the lack of light, and she noticed the remains of a campfire, Then hearing the snort of a horse, turned her head to see Argo walking around not far from where she now sat.
XENA
Everything alright?
The warrior's voice startling her, Gabrielle jumped slightly before tuning to see the woman laying beside her, propping herself up on one arm already reaching for her sword on instinct before realizing that the noise that had woken her was just the bard.
GABRIELLE
Just a bad dream. Sorry for waking you.
XENA
You wanna talk about it?
The blonde sighed as she began to calm down.
GABRIELLE
No, I'm okay. You can go back to sleep.
XENA
You sure? 'Cause you look pretty shaken.
Gabrielle smiled softly at the woman, seeing just how much she clearly cared for her.
GABRIELLE
Yeah.
XENA
Alright.
The warrior turned over to get comfortable, facing away from the bard.
XENA
Well, try to go back to sleep. We've gotta head out early if we hope to pick up your friend's trail.
An unseen shudder ran down Gabrielle's spine at the word hope as the memories of her all too real nightmare flashed through her mind.
Pushing the painful thoughts away, the blonde laid back down and looked up at the star filled sky hanging over them, relieved that even if it wasn't for a while, everything between her and Xena was okay now.
Fortunately, after the two had survived falling over the cliff and into the ocean only to find that they had somehow ended up in the strange land of Illusia where they were met odd singing beings that who among them were doppelgangers of various people they knew, such as Callisto, Joxer, Ares and a number of others from the two women's lives. It was a surreal experience for both Xena and Gabrielle as the magical land walked them through the unbelievable pain that they had just suffered due to the circumstances of everything that had happened between them since their encounter with the cult of Dayak and the soon after birth of Hope. And in the end, even though facing those harsh realities hurt, Gabrielle and Xena were able to find forgiveness, not only toward one another, but for themselves for the way they had each so badly hurt the person that despite everything, they still loved so deeply. Which, despite the heartbreaking ordeal they had suffered, gave them the strength to move forward together. And forging an even stronger bond between them. They had moved on and all had been well between them since. So the question that now lingered in Gabrielle's mind was why after all these months did the bard suddenly have that nightmare. And as any sort of answer alluded her, and she surrendered to a much more peaceful slumber, the bard had no way of knowing that what she decided was nothing more than a bad dream, could have been viewed as an omen for the harrowing events that both she and Xena would very soon face. Of which this time threatened to tear them apart for good.
TO BE CONTINUED…