"Forgiveness" Pt 5

"You're going to an awful lot of trouble to save someone only to turn around and try to kill her."
said D'Lara

Arianna snapped her head around and stared with anger into D'Lara's eyes. "You of all people
should know and understand that I have to be the one to put Xena down, and I have to do it
fairly. This is for my family, for Callisto, for myself. I have to defeat Xena in fair combat.
Otherwise I'm disgracing the memories of those that were lost."

D'Lara looked at Arianna. She wanted to explain to her that this wasn't the same Xena. Gabrielle
had affected her profoundly. She wanted to tell her that her vengence wouldn't be alleviated by
killing someone who'd reformed and was actively trying to atone for her past. But that could wait.
She just needed to support her friend for now and help retrieve the antidote. Maybe, when Xena
was well, she could get Gabrielle to talk to Arianna and explain it to her. It was a silent promise
that she made to herself. 'Yes, Gabrielle needs to tell her. She'll make her understand.'

Arianna and D'Lara had tethered their horses to some trees far away from the bushes that
camouflaged them now. Silently they crept forward until the camp was in full view. Arianna
motioned with her hands, pointing to the right, to the left and to the center at each guard station.
D'Lara nodded in acknowledgment. They crawled forward a little more then stopped as Arianna
made a more pronounced gesture towards the grandest tent in the encampment. D'Lara knew that
this was Talinares quarters. She and Arianna had been through this sort of silent communication
before and they could read each other like a scroll.

The pair cautiously made their way into the encampment, pleased, but not surprised at the ease
with which they passed all of Talinares' sentries. They made their way to Talinares' tent, then
Arianna made a bold move and headed inside, straight through the front of the tent.

Talinares was sitting at a table, littered with battle plans and crunched up scraps of parchment. He
was obviously trying to figure out a new way to complete his prior plan.

"Talinares! You didn't really think that I was going to let this twisted little plan of yours succeed did
you?" Arianna said smugly.

"Well, if it isn't my little wayward warrior." Talinares said snidely. "Tell me, are you sure you
haven't changed your mind and decided to come home? I'll bet you miss the taste of the old life
don't you?"

"The only thing I'm gonna miss, is the thrill of chasing you down, 'cause I'm gonna end this right
here, right now" Arianna said.

With that, she withdrew a small vile from her belt and charged Talinares. He was stunned at her
sudden attack and she was quickly on top of him. Arianna had Talinares pinned to the table. She
forced his mouth open, then dispensed the liquid it contained down his throat. Talinares choked
and coughed from swallowing the solution. Arianna let him up and took a couple of steps
backwards. She just smiled at him for a moment. Then she suddenly wiped the smile off of her
face and took on a completely different, more serious demeanor.

"How does it feel to swallow the same poison you infected Xena with you worthless coward?" she
said

"You think you've won don't you?" Talinares replied. "Well, it just so happens...." Talinares
reached into a box on the shelf behind him "......that I have the antidote right here. So you see little
girl. You've won nothing. GUARDS!!!"

At that moment, three sentries rushed into the tent. Arianna seized the moment of distraction to
grab the bottle containing the antidote from Talinares.

"D'Lara catch" she yelled as she threw the bottle over the guards into D'Lara's eager hands.
"Run!"

D'Lara didn't hesitate. She turned and ran out of the tent.

"GO AFTER HER!" Talinares shouted.

One of the guards ran outside and gathered a troop of men to pursue D'Lara. Soon, a swarm of
others was inside Talinares tent doing battle with Arianna. Arianna fought hard and furiously, trying
to buy a little more time for D'Lara to escape. But soon, she was overcome by the shear numbers
of the men against her. Within a few moments, both her wrists were bound in chains and she was
on her knees before Talinares.

Talinares just looked at Arianna in disgust. Arianna stared back, half smiling. Never blinking.

"Get her out of here. Chain her to the center kiosk. She'll die tomorrow at midday." He
commanded. Then he leaned in towards Arianna and whispered in her ear, "You know, Arianna,
the price for your dead body will bring in a lot of dinars for my army. Not as much as Xena would
have, but for now it'll do. Besides, I'm sure your friend will be captured momentarily. I'll have the
antidote back, and I can resume my conquest of Xena."

"You don't need the antidote." Arianna said smiling "You didn't ingest enough poison to affect you.
I just needed the antidote, and what better way to have you produce it than to make you think
you'd swallowed the poison yourself."

Talinares pursed his lips in an angry demeanor. He just nodded his head, indicating to the guards
that they were to remove her from his tent.

A long chain was attached to Arianna's wrist bindings. Arianna glared at Talinares until she felt the
chain being pulled altogether too harshly. She recognized the scrawny man pulling the chain as the
same man she saw in the bar earlier in the day.

"Take it easy!" she yelled at him

He ignored her and yanked harshly on the chain once again. Arianna was not in the mood. She
yanked back on the chain even harder. The scrawny man was pulled reflexively towards her,
staggering and almost falling. Just as he reached her, she introduced her wrist bindings to his nose.
She took a great pleasure in the sound of his cartilage snapping. His nose started to bleed and he
was thrown back onto the floor.

"I said...take...it...easy!" Arianna emphasized.

Instantly, the group of soldiers had their weapons drawn. Talinares looked at the fallen man in
disgust. Arianna just stood still. Hoping her compliance would soothe the men into a more gentle
demeanor. It worked. They cautiously dropped their weapons. Another man approached,
grabbed the chain and led Arianna outside to the kiosk. He locked the end of the chain to the
kiosk, still leaving Arianna plenty of length so that she could at least walk a short distance.

Not long thereafter, another soldier approached Arianna. "Hey there pretty lady. Whaddya say
we make your last night a memorable one" he said laughingly.

As he tried to clutch Arianna, she delivered a swift kick to the groin. "Thanks for the memories
stud," she said as she watched him crumble to the ground. A group of other guards nearby heard
the commotion and came to see what was going on. When they spied their comrade on the
ground, they didn't wait for an explanation, they just attacked. Even in chains, Arianna was a
formidable presence. She kicked the first approaching guard in the stomach, doubling him over.
The second and third guards came at her in a full charge. Arianna just side stepped them as they
ran by. She kicked the feet out from under the second guard. The third turned back around and
raised a club to her. He yelled as he charged her again. He swung the club at her, but she ducked
and delivered a thrust to the gut with both of her bound fists. In a moment, more guards were
upon her. She held her own as long as she could, but bound as she was, she didn't have the agility
and freedom to compete with them. They soon had the advantage. Arianna was given a hard kick
to the gut, then slammed in the jaw by an unseen elbow. She absorbed blow after blow until she
was lying still, and out of breath on the ground. The group of soldiers just laughed and patted each
other on the back as they walked away.

In the shadows, the scrawny man watched the melee with great delight. He silently and cautiously
slipped over to where Arianna was lying. "How does it feel huh?" he whispered.

Arianna raised her head slowly, then tried to get to her knees with all her strength. This caused the
scrawny man to cower backwards, wide eyed and amazed. When he was reasonably sure that
Arianna was in no condition to fight back, he approached her again. Arianna was on her knees
and elbows, and her breathing was still labored. The scrawny man grabbed the hair on the back of
her head and snapped her neck back. This revealed a large gash on Arianna's forehead. The
sweat on her forehead caused the blood to come running down her temple, to her jaw and down
her neck. It was a bad wound and the scrawny man delighted in her pain.

"Doesn't feel so good does it" he whispered.

His breath was almost enough to make Arianna pass out. This man was so unclean. His hair was
oily, he was unbathed, his teeth were rotting and he was so thin, he almost looked skeletal.
Arianna didn't like him one bit.

"Thought you were so tough didn't you?" he said sarcastically. "Well, how does it feel to be on the
receiving end of those blows!" Then he laughed. And he kept laughing.

He let go of Arianna and she dropped her head. He backed up, still laughing. Arianna was
seething. With every last bit of strength she had, she clasped her hands together and swung her
arms around until she connected with the scrawny man's head, putting an instant end to his laughter
and sending him sprawling into the dirt, unconscious. That momentous victory couldn't be savored
however. Sweating and bleeding, Arianna sat back on her heels. She looked skyward as her
unspoken plea to the Gods went unheralded. Finally, with her strength exhausted, she fell forward
and passed out.

Off in the distance, protected by her conservatory refuge, D'Lara watched the events of the night
unfold. She was almost extracted from her hiding place when she witnessed the beating being
administered to Arianna by Talinares' men, but she stayed her ground, and with Arianna's
sweeping exclamation on the scrawny man's head, D'Lara just willed her strength to Arianna, then
retreated back to the inn. There was nothing she could do on her own to help Arianna. She was
skilled with her bow and arrow, but she didn't have enough arrows to take on Talinares' entire
army. If she freed Arianna now, they'd be hunted and most probably captured by Talinares' men.
Xena would never receive the antidote and Talinares' would be free to pursue his plan to fruition.