When Xena arrived on Kos, at the port of Mantis, the village was overflowing with people. She wondered what event had brought the crowd to the small village. She maneuvered her way through the masses to the town’s only tavern. It was also overflowing with people. Every table was occupied. There was loud laughter and chatter as barmaids busily moved about with trays and taking orders. Xena had made her way through the crowded tavern and now stood at the bar.

"I’m looking for a woman named Gwenyth, do you know where I might be able to find her?" she asked after finally getting the attention of the busy barkeep.

"Gwenyth?" the barkeep repeated as he quickly poured mead into some waiting mugs and put them on the tray of the barmaid standing next to Xena. "She lives on a farm with her sister and brother-in-law on the other side of town, near the forest."

Xena thanked the barkeep and turned to leave when she spotted Joxer sitting at a table in the only quiet corner of the tavern. When she reached his table, Joxer was completely surprised to see her, which showed when he said in a loud voice, "By the gods, Xe..."

Xena quickly put a hand over his mouth to stop him from saying another word. "I don’t want anyone to know I’m here. I will explain in a moment." She removed her hand from Joxer’s mouth.

Joxer stared at Xena who now sat opposite him at the table. She was completely covered in a hooded cloak. "What are you doing here?"

"Mom told me where you went and I came to lend a hand."

"Uh Xena, do you really think you are up to it?" he asked hesitantly. "When I left, you seemed to be in no state to help anyone."

"I’m fine Joxer," she assured. But Joxer had a look of skepticism on his face so she told him what happened after he left. "Mom and I had that much needed talk about Gabrielle’s death and it did me a world of good to finally share with someone what I was feeling. I realized I had to go on living so Gabrielle’s death wouldn’t be in vain. And if I continue the good I started with her, she will live on forever."

"This is certainly great to hear. I never doubted the Xena I met two years ago would eventually fight her way back." A huge smile was painted on his face. Joxer was truly relieved Cyrene had finally talked with Xena. He looked at Xena and had to admit she certainly appeared different from the person he knew the past three months. The fire and unwavering focus were definitely on an upswing and they couldn’t have picked a better time to resurface as far as Joxer was concerned. He was into his fourth day on the island and Gwenyth was beginning to question him again as to when Xena would arrive. Now Joxer wouldn’t have to lie anymore because Xena was on Kos.

Joxer eyed Xena curiously. "What’s with the cloak?"

"I thought about who we might be dealing with here and figured it was best if I kept a low profile. Ares paid me a visit and he brought some disturbing news. Dahak is free."

Joxer’s mind registered Xena’s words and a look of fear was now etched in the features of his face and in his voice when he spoke. "Hope is dead and his cult is gone. How can that be?"

"I wondered the same thing but Ares says he can feel Dahak’s presence which has grown stronger over the last week. And in Ares’ mind, that can only mean he’s free. I am wearing this cloak because I am well known among Dahak’s followers after all the trouble I’ve been for their god. If this cult is indeed connected to Dahak, I don’t want to arouse any suspicions that I’m on to their game."

Joxer’s eyes widened and a chill went down his spine. He thought he was coming to Mantis to handle an insignificant fly-by-night cult. Learning the cult may be tied to Dahak and he almost took it on by himself was unnerving.

"Don’t say anything to Gwenyth about my suspicions regarding Dahak. I don’t want to alarm her unnecessarily until we have positive proof there is a connection." Xena rested her arms on the table and gazed intently at Joxer’s face. "So tell me, what have you seen since arriving in Mantis?"

According to Joxer, Mantis seemed to be a great place to live. There was no sickness or hunger. Everyone had a roof over his or her head. The village's recent prosperity seemed to be the work of the Disciples and their mysterious god Natas. Joxer went to a few of their gatherings and the Disciples seemed sincere to him. Natas seemed nothing like the gods Joxer had encountered during his travels with Xena. He seemed to genuinely care for the welfare of mortals. Xena had a natural distrust of the gods and was not so quick to believe the sincerity of this Natas. She wanted to observe for herself. Joxer had stopped at the tavern for a quick drink and was going to meet Gwenyth at the town's amphitheater. Xena could attend the gathering with them and observe the Disciples first hand.

Xena and Joxer left the crowded tavern and headed for the amphitheater where the Disciples of Natas were holding a gathering, just outside of the village. They had to maneuver their way through the large crowd, which swarmed around the outside of the amphitheater. Joxer spotted Gwenyth standing at the amphitheater's entrance.

"Thank goodness you are finally here Xena!" Gwenyth’s face beamed with childlike excitement when Xena and Joxer were finally standing before her.

"Sorry I didn't get here sooner. There were some other matters which had to be dealt with first and now your problem will get my undivided attention."

"There's no need to apologize. I'm just glad you are here and can finally get to the bottom of what the Disciples are really up to." Gwenyth eyed the hooded cloak Xena wore. She had an impressed smile on her face. "Don't want anyone to recognize Xena the hero? I understand."

Gwenyth led Xena and Joxer into the amphitheater. It was filling up fast with attendees for the gathering but they found some seats near the back. Most of the people at this gathering had come from the surrounding villages and the smaller islands around Kos. The amphitheater was buzzing with the chatter of the assembled multitude but this quickly ceased when the gathering commenced. Men in blue and white robes took their places in front of the crowd. These men were part of the original Disciples who came to Mantis one month ago. One of the men was wearing an all white robe. This was Damon, the head priest of the Disciples. Damon stepped in front of the others to address the attendees of the gathering.

"Welcome my friends!" A joyous smile was painted across the priest’s face. "Today you will learn about a god like none you have known before. You will learn about love, truth, purity and the peace they can bring to your lives." Some chatter is heard among the crowd.

"Everyone here is familiar with the gods of Olympus. Their pettiness and cruelty are legendary. They have destroyed whole villages with disease, fire and famine for no reason other than their warped amusement. Mortals are nothing but playthings they easily discard." Mumbles in agreement with Damon's words are heard around the amphitheater.

"You worship them with sacrifices and maintain their temples. But when you call on them for help, your prayers go unanswered. You continue to suffer while those who curse the gods prosper." More mumbles in agreement with Damon's words are heard.

"Natas is nothing like the gods of Olympus. He is the essence of love and that's what he has shown the people of Mantis. A deadly disease threatened this village. The Olympian gods ignored the prayers but Natas heard them and sent us to help. Now the disease is gone and Mantis is thriving better than ever. It took horrific tragedy to bring the truth to Mantis and now its residents know Natas is the only god who truly cares about them and is worthy of their worship. And all Natas asks of you in return is that you love him and spread the truth of his love to others." More mumbles are heard around the amphitheater.

After Damon finished speaking, the other Disciples in robes gave their testimonies. Each spoke of how empty and full of despair their lives had been. They talked about their disillusionment with the Olympian gods and how they found Natas who changed their lives for the better. Before the gathering came to a close, Damon addressed the crowd one last time. "I know some among you have diseases, sicknesses, and have prayed to the gods of Olympus getting no responses or cures. Well Natas has heard your cries, felt your pain and will now relieve you of your suffering."

The other priests motioned for those with afflictions to come to the center of the amphitheater to be cured. When all who needed to be healed were in the amphitheater's center, Damon closed his eyes and raised his head towards the heavens. "Natas, the essence of truth and pure thought, free these people from the evil that has attacked their bodies."

Suddenly there was a bright light, which encompassed the entire amphitheater, causing all in attendance to shield their eyes from the brightness. As quickly as the light appeared, it vanished. All who had some type of affliction were healed. The blind could see, the crippled could walk and those with ailments of the body were completely cured. The former afflicted had tears of joy in their eyes. The others in attendance were also amazed by the power of Natas. After the healings, Damon called the gathering to a close and would personally speak with anyone who wanted to become a Disciple of Natas. The priest was immediately engulfed in a sea of people eager to join.

Gwenyth, Xena and Joxer maneuvered through the crowd and headed toward Gwenyth's farm.

"The Disciples have a good game going," Gwenyth said as all three walked along the road, which would take them to her farm. "They say all the right things but I'm certain if you dig below the surface, you will find something sinister."

"I have no love for the Olympian gods and have to agree with most of what was said about them at the gathering. But there is something not right about the Disciples of Natas. It looks too good to be true," Xena said.

Before reaching Gwenyth's family farm, she made a stop at a neighboring farm. Joxer and Xena waited for her outside. "What do you know about Gwenyth?" she asked as they stood waiting for Gwenyth.

"She's a big fan of yours. The Disciples of Natas and your adventures are the only things she has talked about since I got here." There was a slight air of disappointment in his voice.

"I did notice the hero-worship. I caught her staring at me in the amphitheater with an awe-filled expression on her face. I don't think I will ever get use to people fawning over what I do now. But that's not what I meant Joxer. I want to know her personal history."

"Well, she's lived in Mantis her whole life. Her parents died when she was young so she was raised by her older sister Danae who lives on the family farm along with her husband Actaeon. Gwenyth is a cadet at an academy in Axion. She came home from school two months ago to find a mysterious illness in Mantis, the arrival of the Disciples and then her sister and brother-in-law joined this cult and now both act like total strangers. That's why she's so worried about the cult's true motives." Joxer eyed Xena curiously. "Did you have doubts about Gwenyth's story?"

"Not really, but one can't be too careful. After what I saw and heard at the amphitheater today, plus the possibility of Dahak being connected to this cult, Gwenyth has every right to be suspicious of the Disciples."

Gwenyth came out of the farmhouse carrying a covered basket. "It's my favorite...nut bread," she said with a giddy smile. "Thalia always makes a huge batch for me when I come home from the academy. We can all have some when we get to the farm." Talk of the nutbread made Xena think about Gabrielle who also liked the bread. For once the memory didn't make her sad. She had to smile.

The trio didn't have much farther to go down the road before they reached Gwenyth's family farm, which she shared with her sister and brother-in-law. "You don't have to worry about running into Danae and Actaeon," Gwenyth said once they were inside her home. "In a short time, they have moved up high in the ranks of the Disciples so they were sent to one of the neighboring islands to spread the word about Natas." The contempt was clear in Gwenyth's last statement. "But enough about the cult. You must be hungry Xena after your journey, so I will get us all something to eat." Gwenyth went into the kitchen.

Xena removed the cloak she wore and sat at the large table in the room. Joxer joined her. "At the gatherings you attended, did Natas ever make an appearance?" she asked.

"He was never actually there, not a body anyway. He only came in that bright light during the healings."

Gwenyth came into the room carrying a large tray. "My cooking would kill you both," she jested while setting the tray on the table and taking a seat to join them. "Luckily, my neighbor took pity on me in the absence of my sister who has the culinary skills in the family. So we can feast on this leftover duck she brought me and Joxer yesterday plus the nut bread I promised."

All three helped themselves to the duck and the sliced nut bread.

"Gwenyth, can you tell me about the initiation ceremony into the Disciples of Natas?" Xena asked while they ate.

"Well, I don't know what the ceremony involves because it is barred from view by outsiders. But I do know it is held in the mountains, near the volcanoes. An initiation ceremony has taken place every week for the past month. The one for this week is tonight, at midnight to be exact."

"Joxer and I will go to the mountains and observe the initiation ceremony and witness first hand what one has to do to officially join the Disciples."

Joxer had an eager look on his face. He might actually get the chance to use his newfound skills.

"I'm coming too," Gwenyth insisted. "I have lived on this island my whole life and know those mountains like the back of my hand. And if trouble arises, I know how to fight and can take care of myself."

Xena looked at Gwenyth and saw the fire and determination in her eyes. Her one and only sister had gotten caught up in this cult so uncovering their true motives was definitely of the utmost importance to her. If trouble did arise, she just might be an asset instead of a liability.

It was decided then that all three would observe the secret ceremony and find out what the Disciples and Natas were really all about.

Some time before midnight, Xena, Joxer and Gwenyth went to the mountains on Kos to witness the secret initiation ceremony into the Disciples of Natas. The ceremony was held in a small valley encircled by volcanic mountains, which reminded the inhabitants of their great power with minor rumblings from one of the volcanoes throughout the night. There was a dense patch of trees in the valley where the trio watched the ceremony unnoticed by its participants.

When the ceremony began at midnight, the head priest from the amphitheater gathering named Damon walked into the valley below followed by seven Disciples carrying torches and objects needed for the service and twenty initiates for the cult. The torches provided enough light to see what would take place. All the participants wore plain white robes. There were some large stones with flat tops on which the disciples placed the objects they carried. Damon began the ceremony by addressing the initiates before him.

"You have made a wise choice. After this ceremony, your lives will belong to Natas, and you will share his love, goodness and truth with the rest of the world."

One of the Disciples brought a bowl to Damon, which contained some gray, ashy substance. Damon stood in front of the first of the initiates. He marked the initiate's forehead, cheeks, and chin with the substance, then proceeded to take hold of the initiate's head and with his eyes closed, mumbled some foreign words neither Xena, Joxer, or Gwenyth could understand. Damon proceeded down the line of initiates, marking them all as he had done the first and mumbling over them. The disciples passed out cups to the initiates. When each had a cup, Damon spoke again.

"This wine has been sanctified. Drink it and let it cleanse away your old self and bring about your rebirth in Natas."

After Damon spoke, the initiates drank the wine in their cups. After the disciples collected all the cups, all present joined hands and chanted in monotone voices, "Glory to the goodness of Natas and our rebirth in the Truth."

During the chant, the rumblings of a nearby volcano seemed to intensify. A strong wind blew through the valley encircling the participants of the ceremony. As the wind picked up in gusts, their chants grew louder and the ground shook. When the wind finally ceased, the ground stood still again, the chanting ended, the volcanic rumblings decreased to previous levels, and the ceremony came to a close. The seven Disciples left the valley followed by the twenty new members of the cult. The new members seemed unharmed but appeared to have a strange red glow in their eyes. Damon remained in the valley and appeared to be in deep meditation.

Now that the ceremony was over, Joxer couldn't hold back his thoughts on what they had just witnessed. "That was some ceremony...the chanting, the wind, the volcano rumblings and the ground shaking," he said with excitement. "And did you see the red glow in the new members eyes? Was that spooky or what?"

"Yeah, I found it creepy too," Xena said. "There is definitely something sinister going on here, maybe even mind control and I plan on getting to the bottom of it."

"What are we going to do?" Joxer asked.

"I say we apply some pressure to that priest down there until he tells us the truth." Gwenyh cracked her knuckles. She moved from her hiding place in the trees, headed towards the open valley and the priest.

Xena grabbed an arm to halt her movement. "That is not the way we will handle this Gwenyth," she said in a firm tone. "We will continue to watch the priest and see where he goes from here, understood."

"Yeah," Gwenyth grudgingly conceded.

All three watched Damon who still appeared to be in deep meditation. After some time passed, he ceased his meditation and proceeded up one of the peaks surrounding the valley. Xena, Joxer and Gwenyth followed him close behind, hiding in the shadows. Some of the journey up the peak required some climbing over rocks. As he continued to climb, Damon reached a precipice, which led to the entrance of a cave. Damon climbed onto the precipice and proceeded into the cave. When Xena knew all was clear, she and the others climbed onto the precipice and followed Damon into the cave.

"Joxer, Gwenyth, are you okay?" she asked.

"Yeah, we are both okay." Joxer coughed from the dust churned up on his side of the cave. Gwenyth was slowly getting up from where she had fallen in the cave.

"I'm going to continue down the cave to see if there's a way out," Xena said through the wall of rocks. "You two go back the way we came."

"Okay." Joxer glanced at Gwenyth who was now walking around the cave with an apparent limp. "Are you all right?"

"I must have twisted my ankle jumping out of the way of those falling rocks but I will be fine."

"Here, take my staff. You can use it to take some of the weight off that ankle."

"I don't need it," Gwenyth said with an edge to her tone. "If I walk it off, I will be just fine."

Gwenyth started walking back the way they came with Joxer next to her. With each step she took on her twisted ankle, she grimaced which Joxer noticed.

"Would you stop being so proud and just take the staff." Joxer held it out in front of her.

"Thanks," she said softly. With Gwenyth now using Joxer's staff for support, both slowly made their way back to the cave's entrance. Muffled rumbles of a nearby volcano could be heard.

"I sure hope Xena finds a way out at the other end of the cave," Joxer said.

"As a child, I use to roam these caves all the time and always found my way out so I'm sure Xena will too," Gwenyth said.

They finally reached the beginning of the narrow passageway and were entering the wider part of the cave, which would take them back to the entrance when four large men in white robes met them. Gwenyth and Joxer stared at the four men who stared back at them.

"I know these men. They are from Mantis," Gwenyth said. "That's Mistopheles, Nestor, Dathan and Byzanteus," she said pointing at each.

"By the looks on their faces, I would say they don't recognize you," Joxer nervously stated.

All four men had blank expressions on their faces and a fiery red glow to their eyes. Joxer and Gwenyth made a move to go around them but were halted when the men continued to block their path.

"We were out on a midnight stroll and got lost in the caves", Joxer said with a nervous chuckle to the four men in front of them. "We didn't mean to crash your little party and will gladly leave."

"You have seen too much so we can't let you leave," the man called Dathan said. Slowly, all four men started to creep towards Joxer and Gwenyth, their eyes still fiery red and staring, their faces expressionless. Joxer and Gwenyth quickly separated, each followed by two men.

Gwenyth looked at Joxer from where he stood some distance from her in the cave with two zombie-like men steadily approaching him.

"Here Joxer…take this." Gwenyth quickly threw Joxer his staff, which he deftly caught.

Joxer held the staff tightly in his hands poised to attack the two zombie-like men who approached him. Joxer was finally getting the adventure he craved for a month. He wished it not so dramatic but nothing could be done about that now. A few moments ago, Gwenyth had spoken the men's names. Joxer decided to see if talking to them might halt their steady approach. "Hey Nestor and Byzanteus, stop now and I won't hurt you," he said in a firm tone with an intimidating edge.

Both men ignored his threat and were closing in on him; their staring eyes a fiery red glow.

When they were in striking distance, he swung the staff hard, which connected with an arm of one of the men, knocking him into his partner then the cave's stone wall. But the men were only dazed and immediately attacked him again. Joxer quickly swung the staff low, which made hard contact with the shinbones of both men's legs causing them to cry out in pain. It was the first time either showed any human emotion since Joxer and Gwenyth stumbled upon them in the cave. Joxer quickly spun bringing himself behind the two men at which time he swung the staff low connecting hard to the backs of their knees bringing both down. Joxer leaped into the air. He landed in a standing position with a foot on the chests of both fallen men. He pummeled them both about the head with the butt of his staff until both were unconscious.

While Joxer had been busy with Nestor and Byzanteus, Gwenyth took on the other two zombie like men. Since she had known these men her whole life she called out to them. "Mistopheles, Dathan...it's Gwenyth. Don't you recognize me?" she yelled nervously while quickly moving around the cave trying to increase the distance between herself and the men. Both men stared at her with the fiery red eyes of strangers as they steadily approached her.

Gwenyth reached for her sword in the scabbard on her back then decided against it. Despite their present zombie-like state, she couldn't kill these men whom she had known since childhood. She crouched into a defensive position. "Come and get me!" she yelled while waving her attackers forward.

Mistopheles responded to her yell and charged at her leaving Dathan behind. When he was almost upon her, Gwenyth quickly stepped out of his way, and using his own momentum, shoved him headfirst into the stone wall behind her knocking him unconscious. Seeing his partner down, Dathan let out a loud roar and charged Gwenyth. When Dathan was almost upon her, Gwenyth leaped over him, quickly turned and delivered a kick to his back sending him in the direction of the wall. But Dathan stretched out his arms stopping his contact with the stone wall. He quickly turned and charged Gwenyth again. She struck at his face with a swift quick, which he blocked with one of his arms while the other delivered a hard punch to her chest severely knocking the wind out of her. While she gasped for air, Dathan managed to get one of his meaty hands around her neck, lifting her off the ground.

Gwenyth squirmed as Dathan increased the grip on her throat. She saw her life pass before her eyes but refused to give into panic. As her legs dangled off the ground, Gwenyth delivered a hard kick to Dathan's groin. He immediately released her, doubling over in pain. Gwenyth slumped to the cave's dirt floor gasping for breath. She immediately stood and delivered a swift kick to Dathan's head as he still stood doubled over which knocked him onto all fours. Gwenyth stood over him and delivered several ax handle blows to his back, driving the big man down to the dirt floor into unconsciousness.

With all four of their attackers down, Joxer and Gwenyth stood in the middle of the cave.

"That was intense but kinda fun." Gwenyth gasped for breath, as a slight smile formed on her face. "Now I understand why Xena does this kind of work."

"Yeah, it was kinda fun," Joxer admitted with a pleased smile while leaning on his staff.

The large cave, in which they stood, started to violently shake. Dirt and large rocks started to fall from the ceiling. Joxer grabbed a torch then pulled Gwenyth into one of the two passageways off the larger cave before boulders burying the four unconscious men filled it.

The torch Joxer held provided the only light in the dense darkness of the passageway.

"This is not the same passageway we were in earlier. There are no lit torches along the walls," Gwenyth said. "We are heading deeper into the mountain instead of towards the entrance way."

"At this point I don't care," Joxer replied. "I just hope it leads us to wherever Xena is. There are probably more of those zombie-like men roaming these caves and she may need our help." They had not gone that far in the cave when Joxer glanced at Gwenyth and noticed her limping had gotten worse. "Here, you better take my staff again for support."

"You don't have to say it twice this time." Gwenyth gladly took the staff from him. "The ankle has swollen and I am definitely feeling it now."

"Those zombie-like men were wearing robes identical to the ones at the Disciples' initiation ceremony which means you were right about mind control. You must be relieved," he said.

"I did notice the likeness of the robes but I am not relieved to know I was right. My sister and her husband could end up zombies like those men who got buried in that cave back there and the possibility scares me."

Joxer was in the lead as he and Gwenyth continued their journey through the passageway. Due to her swollen ankle, Gwenyth lagged behind him. Their journey had been quiet for some time when Joxer decided to break the silence.

"You handled yourself pretty well in that fight back there," Joxer said. "I know how much you admire Xena, and we hit it off pretty well, so I was thinking, after we take care of this cult, why don't you travel with us instead of going back to the academy. You could learn so much more from Xena." Joxer expected to hear Gwyneth's excited reply but got only silence. He quickly turned around and saw Gwyneth was no longer behind him.

"Gwenyth where are you?" he yelled with dire concern. His voice echoed through the dark passageway. Joxer retraced his steps, quickly moving the torch around, checking for movement along the cave's floor. Maybe Gwenyth had been hurt in her fight against the zombie pair and collapsed from injuries he thought. Joxer still had no sight of Gwenyth, when a strong wind moved swiftly through the passageway, blowing out the torch, his only means of light, leaving him in the dark.

"Oh, this is just great," Joxer groaned, trying to keep fear from creeping upon him. "I hate the dark too." Joxer was wondering what to do when he felt a hard object make contact with the back of his head. He fell to the dirt floor with a resounding thud. In the darkness, fiery red eyes hovered appearing bodiless. The sound of a torch being lit echoed throughout the passageway. Light from the torch now rested on Joxer's unconscious form. He lay on his stomach with his head turned to one side. His staff, which he had given to Gwenyth, now lay beside him.

"I'm sorry I had to hit you Joxer." Gwenyth crouched over Joxer's fallen form holding the torch in one hand as she ran the slender fingers of the other through his hair. "But you were going to spoil the private party my lord has all set up for Xena and I couldn't let you do that." A determined look was on her face as the glow from the torch added to the fiery redness of her eyes. Gwenyth grabbed one of Joxer's limp arms with her free hand, stood, and dragged his body down the passageway.

Xena continued her journey through the cave, which would hopefully lead to a way out. Once again, she heard the echo of voices in front of her. She also heard what sounded like running water. The part of the cave where she heard voices opened into a large cavern with several large boulders around its entrance. When she reached the entrance to the cavern, she crouched behind the large boulders to watch the scene in front of her. Lit torches along the walls brightened the cavern. There was also a glow from a pool of red-orange lava, which originated from a lava stream, which fell from an opening in the cavern's stone wall producing a sound similar to running water. The lava bubbled; occasionally a lava stream would shoot up into the air quite a distance before falling back into the pool again. The large cavern was deep in the mountain almost eliminating the rumblings of the nearby volcano. The high priest from the initiation ceremony was speaking to a tall man wearing a black cloak with a large hood, which completely obscured his face. Xena may not have been able to see the tall man's face but she could hear his voice and it was deep in tone and went straight through her. She moved along the boulders to hear their conversation better.

"All is going smoothly my lord," the high priest stated. "We added twenty new members to our ranks tonight and by next week's ceremony, all of level one should be free."

"Excellent," the cloaked figure said in a pleased deep voice. "When all of level one is free, we can move on to the next phase to free the others. Then I will announce my return to the world and watch its inhabitants tremble."

"It shall be as you wish Dark One." The priest bowed to the cloaked figure then left the cavern.

After the high priest left the cavern, the tall cloaked figure stood by the lava pool. Another stream of lava shot into the air then fell back into the pool. "Soon, all of you will be free again and the world as all know it will be no more." As he stood by the lava pool with his back to her, Xena moved from her hiding place behind the boulders and approached him with her sword drawn. She had only taken a few steps when the figure spoke.

"I've been expecting you Xena," the cloaked figure said in a penetrating deep voice.

"Well, I'm glad I didn't disappoint you. So, we finally get to meet. Should I call you Natas or would you prefer Dahak?"

"So, you figured out who I am? I knew you would." The cloaked figure turned around and removed the hood allowing her to see his face.

Xena was surprised by what she saw. She figured since Dahak was the one great evil, he would be a monster, literally. But what she saw in front of her was an attractive being. He had wavy black hair with flecks of gray throughout that came to his shoulders. The skin of his face was a golden light brown color. He had a thin, straight nose, and a rose colored full mouth. She stared into his eyes, which bored into her soul and appeared to mirror her own with their crystal blue color. As Xena's mind registered the sight before her, Dahak spoke again.

"I see you have your sword drawn for a fight. I haven't used a sword in quite a while and probably won't be much of a challenge for you." Dahak pulled out a sword from inside his cloak as he started to walk towards her.

"Oh, I'll be the judge of that." Xena steadily approached Dahak ready to attack.

Xena yelled a loud war cry as she viciously swung her sword at Dahak. He quickly brought his sword up to block the powerful blow causing sparks to fly through the air when the two swords connected. The sound of their swiftly slashing swords reverberated throughout the cavern mixed with the occasional war cry, distant volcanic rumblings and bubbling lava.

As Xena repeatedly slashed her sword, she stared at the being, the focus of her vicious onslaught. She thought there would never be anyone other than Caesar who could garnish all her hatred but Dahak had changed that. Caesar had only tried to kill her. But Dahak and his evil daughter Hope had destroyed what she valued more than her own life, the people she had loved most, Gabrielle and Solan. And their deaths were only the beginning. Now that this evil was in the world, countless more would suffer and die. Hope was dead and now Xena was determined to make sure Dahak joined his evil offspring.

Xena summoned all her strength within to power her attack against Dahak. As her sword slashed at him, Dahak was able to quickly block the blows but he was driven back and headed towards the bubbling lava pool. When her attack had backed him mere inches from the lava pool, he jumped onto the rocky rim surrounding it to avoid her slashing sword. Xena continued her merciless attack, which he now dodged by gracefully jumping around the rocky rim, careful not to lose his balance and fall into the bubbling lava pool.

Dahak decided to use the bubbling lava as a weapon. On his last jump to avoid Xena's sword, he used the rim of the cloak to scoop up some of the lava and threw it at her. She ducked to avoid the lava. Dahak took this opportunity to somersault over her head and land in the middle of the cavern floor. The cloak was now starting to burn so he tossed it aside, revealing a slender muscular form dressed in black leather. With a sinister grin and an extended index finger, he beckoned Xena to join him in the center of the cavern floor, which she did with a devilish grin on her own face. They now stood in the center of the cavern circling each other, waiting to see who would make the next move. As they circled one another, Dahak decided to break the silence.

"I've been an admirer of yours for quite some time Xena."

"Gee, I'm flattered." Xena didn’t take her eyes off Dahak as they continued to circle one another.

"You had exceptional talent as a warlord, the fire, the bloodlust. You left a trail of scorched earth and a landscape littered with body parts."

"I have a new talent now, and it's stopping evil like you." Xena swung her sword with fierce intensity at Dahak's head.

"That really is a shame and a waste." Dahak deftly blocked her sword blow. "When you were the Destroyer of Nations you really were the best and you want to know why?"

"Okay, I'll play along, why?" Xena continued to circle Dahak.

"Because you had a natural born rage, which guided you, made you strong and it was something I appreciated," he passionately replied. "That's why I knew your rage against Caesar would drive you to Britannia and make your blood innocent blonde friend mine."

When Dahak made a reference to Gabrielle, Xena suddenly saw a vision of her curled up on the floor in Dahak's temple in Britannia saying how much it hurt inside. Xena's anger started to rise and she shook her head to clear her thoughts and concentrate on her opponent she was circling. She swung her sword with added force at Dahak again.

"Ooh, I think I hit a nerve," he declared in a mocking tone while blocking her sword. "I have a confession to make. I really wanted Callisto to kill Solan but Hope begged me to let her kill the boy. She wanted payback for the attempt you made on her life in Britannia and I felt as a parent, a child should be indulged."

Again Xena saw a vision but this time it was Solan. His lifeless body was lying on the floor of Kaleipus' hut. Her son had told her he wanted to be with her. She was finally going to be a mother to him when he was taken away forever. Xena's anger was very close to erupting when she again shook her head to clear her thoughts. Dahak's words and the visions they brought stirred the darkness within but she had vowed she would not use its all-consuming power to fight him. This time, she did not attack Dahak but continued to circle him.

"Xena, it's really not good to keep all that anger bottled up inside. You have a right to your dark feelings towards me after everything that I have done. You really should release them," he taunted. Dahak sensed her struggle within and forged ahead with a remark he was sure would send her over the edge. "Now that I am here in the flesh, maybe Gabrielle and I could pick up where we left off in my temple in Britannia." His lips were twisted in a wicked grin. "Oops, I forgot, your little friend is dead. She couldn't live with the part she played in bringing about my return and sacrificed herself to save you and the world. How touching," he said with mock sympathy. Once again Xena saw another vision. Gabrielle had embraced Hope and was about to plunge into the lava pit, when she looked at Xena one last time before she was gone forever.

When the last vision came, Xena let the anger she had been holding back flow freely through her. She let out a loud war cry and went at Dahak with all the energy her anger unleashed. With superhuman strength, she viciously slashed her sword at Dahak driving him back with each powerful blow. Dahak did not appear worried by the merciless assault but seemed to revel in it and continued to speak.

"Ahhh, that's it, give into your anger. Let it flow throw you and strengthen you," he crooned in that deep, penetrating voice.

Xena had backed Dahak again into the lava pool and had raised her threatening blade to swiftly bring it slashing down on him, when he quickly stopped its deadly decent with his own sword, causing a multitude of sparks to fly and the sound of clashing steel to reverberate loudly throughout the cavern.

"Now I will show you the ultimate power that rage and darkness can give you," he said in a menacing tone, which echoed through her head.

With godly strength, he ferociously shoved Xena and her sword away from him. She almost lost her balance but remained upright as Dahak was immediately upon her. She quickly blocked his deadly blade before it made contact with her midsection. She glanced at Dahak's eyes as he continued his assault against her. Their crystal blue color had been replaced by a blackness that could rival the abyss of Tartarus. Each of Dahak's sword slashes carried such power that when they made contact with Xena's sword, their intensity sent tremors through her whole body. It was like an unstoppable force, like hitting a battering ram, driving her back.

Dahak now swung his sword with lightening quick speed causing the blade to appear like a blur to Xena. It now became difficult for her to ward off the attacks of his menacing sword. One slash made vicious contact with her breastplate almost knocking the wind out of her. Several more slashes nicked at her armor. Another slash cut into her left arm. The next slash came so quick she didn't see it but only felt it as it cut deeply into her right arm, its intensity causing her to drop her sword and fall to the cavern floor. Dahak, his eyes black and cold as he stared down at her, now stood over her with the tip of his sword touching the skin of her throat.

Xena was battered and the deep large cut in her right arm was agonizingly painful but she had no fear of death. Breathing deeply, she defiantly stared into his face. "What are you waiting for?"

"I don't want to kill you. I want you to join me Xena," he simply stated in that deep voice as his eyes returned to their crystal blue color.

Xena rolled her eyes and sighed. This was just what she needed, another god who wanted her in service to him and after everything he had done to her too. He really had nerve she thought. "Why would I ever join you?"

"Because I'm your father," he simply stated.

Dahak's confession echoed through Xena's head. The confession was not expected and a true shock. But she was not about to reveal this to him. "You are lying." Her face was a mask of stone.

"I am speaking the truth." His voice was calm as he placed his sword back in its scabbard and stepped away from Xena.

When Dahak stepped away from her, Xena slowly inched herself backward, towards a large boulder a few feet away directly behind her to increase the distance between herself and the evil god. She used the boulder to prop herself into a sitting position. Her left hand rested on the large cut on her right arm as blood trickled between her fingers.

"You remind me so much of Cyrene." Dahak saw the startled look on Xena's face at the mention of her mother's name. "She was strong-willed too and that is what attracted me to her." His eyes took on a reminiscent look. "We only had one night together but the memory is still so fresh in my mind. Cyrene is a very passionate woman and such fire..."

"Just shut up about my mother!" Xena yelled.

"I'm sorry. I must be making you very uncomfortable. I forgot children don't like to know about their parents engaging in carnal pleasures."

"You are not one of my parents," she spat.

"Oh, but I am Xena." A confident smile was planted on his handsome face. "Look inside of you, at the darkness within. Why do you think it has been so hard for you to control? I am known as the Dark One, and as my daughter, you have my blood which makes darkness your true nature."

As Xena listened to Dahak's words, she dismissed them as lies. Controlling her darkside had been a problem, but she had kept it in check with Gabrielle's help. After Gabrielle's death, her darkside threaten to take control again but she had been able to contain it and hopefully for good. No, Dahak was wrong and he was not her father.

Dahak stared at Xena's arm, which he had severely cut with his sword. "Why don't you let me heal that for you?" He started to approach her.

"Stay away from me!" she hissed. There was a threatening look in her eyes. Her left hand, covered in blood, was now holding her chakram and was ready to strike if he took another step.

Dahak halted his approach towards her. "That wound could be life-threatening," he said with genuine concern. By the look on her face, he could tell that prospect didn't bother her in the least. "Look Xena, I could have had you killed after your incessant interference in my attempts to return. Instead, I removed the distractions, which were leading you astray and bringing you into conflict with me. Now you can be your true self."

As Xena listened to Dahak's words, she thought back to what he said during their sword fight, how he had hurt Gabrielle and had Solan killed. Now she understood why he had done those things. He wanted to destroy all the good in her life until there was nothing left but darkness and she would be forced to embrace it. He wasn't her father. He just wanted dark Xena to be a key player in achieving his evil plans. Well, she wasn't going to embrace the darkness. She would fight him to the very end. With a steely gaze and a firm voice she said, "You are not my father and, I will never give into the darkness and join you."

Dahak sighed. "You will accept the truth in time. Keeping the darkness under control will be a continuous struggle because it is your true self and the goodness you have adopted is alien. You will embrace the darkness and take your place by my side as my daughter." The dark finality was clearly audible in his words.

From Dahak's remarks, Xena knew he wasn't going to let her leave the cavern until she swore allegiance to him. Somehow she knew he would know if she pretended to embrace the darkness so she quickly tried to come up with a plan for escape. At that moment, the cavern shook violently as a nearby volcano displayed its awesome power in a fierce eruption causing large rocks to fall from the cavern ceiling. Dahak looked up at the cavern ceiling high above as rocks fell. With his attention diverted, Xena made a move to escape. She normally threw her chakram with her right hand but her right arm was too badly injured to give her the strength needed for a throw. She was still holding her chakram in her left hand and now threw it with all the strength she could muster directly at Dahak who stood a few feet away. The chakram embedded itself deeply into his chest, the impact surprising him and knocking him off balance. As the cavern continued to shake, Xena took what little strength she had left and hurled herself through an opening in the cavern nearby before it was blocked by falling rocks.

Xena landed through the opening in a roll. Ignoring the pain, she quickly got up and ran through the stone passageway but stopped dead in her tracks when she saw Joxer unconscious. His hands were tied above his head to a metal hook protruding from the wall. She quickly went to his side and began to revive him.

"Joxer wake up." Xena lightly slapped his face a few times.

Slowly, Joxer began to regain consciousness. "Where am I?" he groaned, momentarily disoriented.

"You are in a cave on Kos. Who did this to you and what happened to Gwenyth?" She retrieved a dagger from one of her boots and cut his hands loose.

Joxer took in his surroundings as memories of what happened came back to him. "Gwenyth and I ran into some of those disciple guys who acted like zombies. We fought them off then ran into another cave. Gwenyth disappeared, then the torch blew out leaving me in the dark. The last thing I remember is feeling a hard object hit me from behind." Joxer slumped to the cave floor now that his hands were free.

"Gwenyth disappeared, then you were hit from behind huh?" Xena crouched by Joxer’s slumped form. "I hate to tell you this Joxer, but Gwenyth was in the Disciples all along and lured me here to walk into Dahak's trap."

"What…you mean this cult really is Dahak's?" he groggily asked with genuine surprise and a touch of fear as he rubbed the bump that had formed on the back of his head.

"I will explain later. Right now we have to get out of here."

She helped Joxer to his feet and they proceeded down the passageway. By the time they reached the other side of the mountain and a way out of the cave, Joxer had regained enough of his bearings to walk on his own. Xena was also starting to feel the effects of her arm injury and would need his help to climb down the mountain to the valley below. It took some time, but they made it down the mountain to the valley below and proceed through the nearby forest.

After trekking some distance through the forest, Xena suddenly collapsed. Joxer had a look of fear on his face as he helped her up. She was having a hard time standing so he draped her left arm over his shoulders for support and put his right arm around her waist. Blood from the deep cut in her right arm ran down to touch his bare arm around her waist and that's when he realized how badly hurt she was. Her voice sounded so far away when she spoke to him.

"I can't go any further Joxer," she said weakly.

"Yes you can, just hold onto me." Joxer tried desperately to keep the panic out of his voice. He tightened the grip around Xena's waist, and forged them onward through the forest. Every now and then, Xena's feet would drag along the leaf covered ground and her head started to lean against his right shoulder. "Come on Xena, you have to stay with me." He lightly shook her arm around his neck to bring her back to consciousness. When a low groan escaped her lips he was relieved to know she was still alive.

As they walked, Joxer had been scanning the dark denseness of the forest, looking for a place where they could settle down for the rest of the night when he spotted an abandoned cottage and proceeded to it. By the looks of the cottage, no one had lived there in quite some time. Leaves and branches were scattered about the floor. There was a rickety wooden table in the middle of the floor on which sat some dried rotten fruit. Around the table were two chairs in not much better condition. Joxer laid Xena on an old bed with worn sheets and blankets. He gathered the wood debris scattered about the floor, threw it into the cottage's hearth and quickly got a fire going for warmth and light. He then went about seeing to Xena's injuries. There was a cut on her left arm that didn't look too serious. What had Joxer worried was the cut on her right arm. The deep cut ran diagonally across her upper right arm and the blood, which poured from the cut now, had her whole arm covered in blood.

Joxer let the panic he felt before flow freely through him now. He got up from the bed and began pacing the floor. For a month he had craved some action, now he had it and was scared. He had never been in a situation like this before. He had never seen Xena like this. He had to do something or she would die. Just then he heard her moan from where she laid on the old bed. He went and knelt by her side at the bed. Her face was very pale from blood loss. When she sensed his presence, she opened her eyes.

"Where are we?" she asked in a hoarse whisper.

"We're in an old cottage I stumbled upon in the woods."

Xena looked into his eyes and saw the fear. "What's wrong Joxer?"

"It's your right arm." His voice started to quiver. Joxer couldn't hide his fear from her and now let it pour out of him as he quickly spoke, "The cut is pretty deep...and…and there's so much blood...I-I don't know what to do...I-I don't want you to die."

Xena was weak from loss of blood but knew she had to calm Joxer down because he was the only one who could tend to her arm. She mustered what little strength she had left before she addressed him. "Joxer, relax and take a deep breath," she whispered in a soothing tone. Joxer did as she commanded. Xena looked into his eyes. "You can do this Joxer," she said firmly. "I believed in you when I sent you to get the Hind's blood dagger and I believe you can tend to my arm. Now you have to believe in yourself."

Joxer was very moved by the fact that Xena had put such trust in him to find the Hind's blood dagger. And now she had faith in him to save her life, which greatly boosted his confidence to tackle the task, which lay ahead of him. "I can do this."

"Yes you can Joxer. Just keep repeating that to yourself." She stared deeply into Joxer’s brown eyes.

Xena was very weak and tired but was still able to tell Joxer what he would need to tend to her arm. There was an old well in back of the cottage where Joxer retrieved water to put in a cast-iron pot over the fire and some to clean away the blood. As Joxer searched the small cottage looking for items to help with his task, he kept repeating in his head that he could do this, which energized him. There was an old chest at the foot of the bed, which he searched. It contained some old clothes, which Joxer tore for bandages. He also found some twine he could use to stitch the wound and a sharp thin object just the right size to be used as a needle. When Joxer had all the items he needed to tend to the wound, he returned to Xena's side with the remaining water to clean away the blood.

"Hey, it looks like the bleeding has stopped," he said with relief when the arm was clean of the blood.

"That's because there's none left in my body."

"What?" A look of horror was etched on Joxer’s face.

"I'm kidding Joxer."

"Oh...right." Joxer let a soft chuckle escape his lips. It was reassuring to know despite her precarious physical condition, Xena could still make jokes.

Xena softly spoke to Joxer, reassuring him, as he stitched the large cut on her arm. Half way through stitching the cut, Joxer could no longer ignore the fatigue in Xena's voice.

"You should get some sleep Xena. I can finish this by myself."

"Well, if you're sure, I guess I will rest my eyes for a bit. I knew you could do it Joxer." Xena had a faint smile on her face as she stared into his eyes. Then she closed her own.

By the time Joxer had the wound completely stitched closed, Xena was in a deep sleep. Joxer looked at his handiwork and was very pleased with his accomplishment. It was really no different than mending torn clothes he thought. He wrapped the arm in the sterilized bandages he prepared earlier, then took care of the lesser cuts which were a piece of cake compared to his earlier task. He figured Xena would be more comfortable without the armor, so he gently removed it, careful not to wake her. When Joxer was sure all of Xena's needs were tended to, he sat himself in the sturdier of the two chairs in the cottage and rested his head on the old table to get a little sleep.

Joxer was awakened by the loud screech of a bird. His eyes adjusted to the sun's rays pouring through the windows of the cottage. He was somewhat stiff from sleeping in a chair so he stretched to remove some of the kinks in his back and shoulders. The sun was high in the sky, which surprised Joxer. He had slept to midday, no wonder he was starving. He checked on Xena who was in a peaceful sleep. A little color was starting to return to her face. He left the cottage to get them something to eat. He managed to catch a rabbit and collected some edible berries from some bushes in the forest. When Joxer returned to the cottage Xena had awakened.

"How is the arm?"

"It's a little sore and somewhat difficult to move but I will live, thanks to your skill with a needle," she replied with a faint smile.

"I really didn't do anything. I was falling apart and didn't know what to do until you took charge." He bowed his head in a bashful way.

"You are selling yourself short Joxer. All I did was boost belief in yourself. You did all the rest and that's why I'm still here so accept my thanks."

"Well, since you put it that way, you're welcome." Joxer lips transformed into a proud smile.

Joxer roasted the rabbit he caught. Xena didn't have much of an appetite but he did get her to eat a little. He spent the rest of the day watching over her as she drifted in an out of sleep. Over the next two days, Xena's condition slowly improved as did her appetite. She filled Joxer in on her fight with Dahak. Knowing for sure that Dahak had indeed arrived had Joxer scared. He was also having trouble accepting Gwenyth's deception.

"Gwenyth was the only one on Kos, other than you, who knew I was here," Xena said. "Before we went to the caves, the only time she was out of my sight was when we waited for her during our stop at the neighbor's farm. Everyone on this island appears to be in the Disciples, the neighbor included. Gwenyth used the neighbor to inform the others I was here so they would have a trap ready and waiting for me."

"I was such a fool to trust Gwenyth," Joxer said. "If it wasn't for me, you wouldn't have walked into Dahak's trap".

"Don't blame yourself Joxer. I believed Gwenyth too. Dahak and his followers are masters of deception so we must have our guard up at all times now."

Joxer still watched over Xena when she slept and noticed it was no longer peaceful as when they first arrived at the cottage. Something greatly disturbed her which had her tossing most of the time. She mumbled in her sleep too. Joxer was only able to understand one phrase she mumbled, "No, it can't be true...it just can't." Joxer had no clue to its meaning and wondered if it had to do with Gabrielle's death, her fight with Dahak or something else. He also knew better than to pry, so he never mentioned Xena's ramblings when she was awake. She would reveal what was bothering her in her own time.

At daybreak on their third day in the cottage, Xena was awakened by dark thoughts that had begun plaguing her sleep the day after her fight with Dahak. Since her initial meeting with the Dark One, she could now feel a coldness, a darkness, a pure evil like Ares described and it had her unnerved. And most disturbing of all was Dahak's confession about being her father was constantly in her thoughts, disrupting her sleep and slowing her recovery as well. Xena told herself Dahak had spoken lies but her confidence in that belief was crumbling. She kept thinking about what her mother had said about the night she was conceived; her husband was away at war and suddenly one night he was there with her. Could the visitor have been a god disguised in Atrius' form and could he have been Dahak? If Dahak had indeed spoken the truth, there would be too many damning ramifications. Only one person could put this matter to rest for her once and for all, and that was Cyrene.

Slowly, Xena moved into a sitting position and brought her legs to the side of the old bed. She felt lightheaded and sat a few minutes more before standing. She slowly walked to where Joxer had made a makeshift bed from some old blankets he found in the chest, which were wrapped around him as he laid on the floor, softly snoring.

"Wake up Joxer." Xena was kneeling over his sleeping form and tapping a shoulder.

"Wh…what?" he mumbled after turning over and slowly opening his eyes. When he had a clear vision of Xena kneeling over him he quickly sat up. "Is something the matter? Are you in pain?"

"I'm as fine as I can be at the moment. I woke you because I want to leave Kos today."

"I think we should stay a while longer, at least until you are in better shape." Joxer was rubbing his eyes and trying to shake the cobwebs from his mind. He was not use to getting up so early.

"I am not going to get any better in this place. If anything, it's hampering my recovery. Since we now know this whole island is under Dahak's control, we are in danger the longer we stay here."

"They will probably be looking for us if we go to the harbor in Mantis," Joxer said. "So how will we leave the island?"

"Mantis has been crowded with people eager to join the Disciples. We should be able to blend in with the crowd, get to the harbor and board a ship headed for Amphipolis," Xena replied.

Joxer now stood at the foot of the old bed and ruffled through the old chest. "We could use these to hide our identities." He was holding up two gray old cloaks.

Xena had been right about Mantis when they reached the village later that morning. It was overrun with people coming to learn about the Natas, which made it easy for them to move through the crowded streets, undetected by Dahak's followers. When they reached the harbor, Joxer found a ship that was making a stop in Amphipolis, paid for their passage and got Xena safely aboard.

The volcano on Kos had ceased it rumblings and now stood silent as the day's sunlight glistened over the valley. Inside a cavern in one of the mountains, Dahak stood gazing at the bubbling lava pool, as lava streams continued to shoot into the air and fall back into the pool. In his right hand, he held Xena's chakram which he held up to let the glow of the lava reflect off the metal. Damon and Gwenyth entered the cavern and stood behind him.

"Well, did Xena leave Kos?" he casually asked them.

"Yes she did Dark One," Damon replied.

"She and Joxer boarded a ship headed for Amphipolis," Gwenyth replied. "We could have stopped her Dark One."

"That was not necessary." Dahak turned to face Damon and Gwenyth. "I allowed Xena to walk away from our first meeting but she can not run away from the truth. Once again she will embrace her true nature and fulfill her destiny." There was a confident smile on his face.

Cyrene was pleasantly surprised to see Xena and Joxer walk into the tavern but sadly shocked when she saw the physical condition of her daughter. She had dark circles under her eyes, her complexion was deathly pale, and her upper right arm was wrapped in bandages indicating a severe injury. Despite Xena's insistence they needed to talk, Cyrene made her go straight to bed after the local healer examined her arm, she had something to eat and a nice warm bath. Joxer told Cyrene about Gwenyth's deception, Natas really being Dahak, how Xena fought him barely escaping alive, how all of Kos was under Dahak's control and how they had to sneak off the island. Joxer had no clue as to why Xena was so insistent about speaking with Cyrene but guessed it might have something to do with whatever was preventing a restful sleep the past few days. To ensure Xena did get a restful sleep, Cyrene put a sedative in the food she was able to get her to eat. Xena slept for one full day.

At midday on her second day back in Amphipolis, once again, Xena was awakened by nagging thoughts but this time, they were positive. Ever since Dahak's startling revelation, there was something buried in her memory she couldn't remember until now. It was when she and Gabrielle were still in Britannia, after Hope's unexpected birth. It was something about Dahak that Cadbury, a knight of the Pierced Heart, had revealed to her. According to Cadbury, Dahak was an evil being whose existence went back before today's gods or their forefathers. He had existed in the early days of the earth, tried to corrupt humanity but was imprisoned by forces of the light and was trying to free himself once again.

Xena was one of the few mortals who knew about the creation of the earth and the true origin of the gods. Dahak must have been one of these Watchers she was told about who rebelled against the Creator and was subsequently imprisoned. Since Dahak had been imprisoned for centuries, there was no way he could be her father. Xena recalled again what her mother had revealed about the night she was conceived. Cyrene was with a man of flesh and blood, her husband not some flame of fire as was forced upon Gabrielle in Britannia. Dahak admitted to being quite interested in her life so it made sense he would know a lot about her which included her son and her mother but it didn't mean he was her father. His confession of paternity had been nothing more than a sick lie to confuse and rattle her. There really was no need to discuss this subject with her mother now. Xena was feeling truly relieved when Cyrene entered her room carrying a tray of food.

"Well, it's good to see you are up and I won't have to wake you after all." Cyrene had a pleased smile on her face when she set the tray on Xena's lap as she sat propped against the pillows on the bed.

"It was the first time I felt like getting up since I got back." Xena inspected the tray her mother put on her lap. It was loaded with several fruits, vegetables, some bread, roasted chicken and a mug of wine. "Do you really expect me to eat all of this?"

"No," Cyrene replied with a chuckle as she sat on the side of Xena's bed. "I didn't know what you would want so I decided to give you a little bit of everything. I have to get some food in you so your body can start to replace all the blood you lost. You are still quite pale." One of her hands gently caressed her daughter's face. "But you do appear rested, so I guess what had you so disturbed has been resolved?"

"Yes, it has been resolved." Xena put a grape in her mouth. "I kept reliving my fight with Dahak and the vicious things he said which I allowed to get to me. But I now know they were just lies and have put them out of my mind."

"That's good to hear," Cyrene said with a relieved smile. She took hold of Xena's left hand and held it between hers as she stared into her eyes. "If you need to talk, always remember I'm here for you."

"I know you are mom." Xena returned her mother's gaze.

"I hope I'm not interrupting." Joxer came bounding through the door. A huge smile was on his face.

"No, we were just concluding a mother-daughter talk." Cyrene rose from the bedside.

"I just came up to see if you were feeling any better Xena and if you were, maybe sit with you awhile," Joxer said.

"I am feeling better and wouldn't mind the company."

"Great!" Joxer plopped down on the side of the bed and helped himself to some of the vegetables on the tray in Xena's lap. "I can tell you all about the new drink I created. The regulars just love it. I'm calling it the chakram. It leaves you with a whoosh feeling inside."

"I tried it myself, it is rather good," Cyrene said.

"The chakram, huh?" Xena had an eyebrow raised in amusement. "I'll have to try that sometime."

"I know you're gonna love it!" Joxer leaned close to her and spoke in a whisper. "I got this great joke from one of the guys in the tavern but it's kinda raunchy."

On that note, Cyrene left the bedroom. As she closed the door behind her, she heard Xena laughing which was music to her ears. She had a smile on her face as she went down to the tavern.

That night, Xena experienced her first restful sleep since her confrontation with Dahak without the aid of sedatives.

At midday on her third day back, Xena was lounging in her bed. She had awakened that morning from a truly restful sleep. She had even eaten most of the food her mother had brought to her that morning. She was finally starting to recover from the arm injury and was feeling restless staying cooped up in bed. She was not up for arguing with her mother about being out of bed, so she was going to keep herself busy in her room. Xena decided this was the perfect time to read some of Gabrielle's scrolls which she hadn't glanced at since her death. Cyrene had been reading them, so Xena went to her mother's room to retrieve the scrolls. She brought the saddlebag back to her room and dumped its contents onto her bed. While rummaging through the scrolls, trying to decide which one to read, she noticed two folded sheets of parchment. She unfolded one sheet for inspection. It was worn from age and the handwriting was clearly not Gabrielle's. Xena noticed it was a letter addressed to her mother. Cyrene had obviously put the two letters in the saddlebag by mistake. Xena was about to take the letters back to her mother's room when she glanced at the first sentence, was intrigued and read more...

After reading the letter, Xena was surprised to discover her mother had been involved in a cult. What intrigued her most, was her mother's apparent involvement with a god. She wondered what her mother had wanted Uncle Zephyrus to find out about this god. Xena quickly opened the other folded parchment sheet and began to read its contents...

What little color that had returned to Xena's face in the last few days was quickly drained as she finished reading the words contained in the old letter. She was in deep thought as she sat back against the pillows on the bed. In her many travels, Xena had ventured to Persia and knew some of the facts behind the brutal war between their gods. She had even met Ahura Mazda, King of the Persian gods, during some heart-wrenching circumstances in her life for which he was partly to blame but still found him to be wise and caring which was rare considering her experience with the gods of Olympus. Xena knew little of this Ahriman, only he was the cause of the brutal war, which almost destroyed Persia, and its pantheon of gods. Now she knew Ahriman and Dahak were one and the same and most disturbing was her mother had been involved with him.

The peace she felt was quickly being replaced by anxiety. Dahak was not imprisoned for many centuries as she was led to believe. He had only been imprisoned since the end of his war with Ahura Mazda and the Persian pantheon. Twenty-nine years ago, around the time of her own conception, Dahak still walked the earth with a flesh and blood body. Dahak had told the truth when he claimed to know her mother. Could he have also been telling the truth when he claimed to be her father? Xena's mind was once again spinning with dark, nagging thoughts. But she would not be tormented with them, as she had been the past few days. Xena was determined to settle this disturbing matter once and for all.

As she busied herself in the kitchen of the tavern, Cyrene thought back to her conversation with Xena the previous day. She was relieved to know Xena was no longer plagued by disturbing memories of her confrontation with Dahak. Xena had not been the only one unnerved by her initial meeting with the One Great Evil.

Cyrene had used every ounce of strength within her to hold back the anxiety she felt when Joxer had informed her of how Xena was injured on Kos. A fear she had buried long ago had resurfaced. And that fear only increased when Joxer revealed Xena had been greatly shaken after the confrontation with Dahak and insisted upon returning to Amphipolis right away, risking her health, just to talk with her mother. Cyrene was afraid that demon had told Xena things she never wanted her to know, things about herself she hoped to take to her grave. When Xena told her she was dismissing Dahak's words as lies, Cyrene had breathed a huge sigh of relief.

Cyrene now had to find a way to keep Xena away from Dahak so her secret would remain buried. She knew how head strong Xena was and once she fully recovered, she would want to be in the forefront of the fight against him. Maybe she could send word to Hercules. He was the son of Zeus and had connections with the gods, beings far more capable of fighting Dahak, and then Xena could be left out of this mess.

Cyrene thought about the letters her Uncle Zephyrus had written long ago, which she had reread in the last few days, ever since she found out Dahak was back and Xena had fought him. She had held on to those letters long enough and it was time to destroy them.

Cyrene left the kitchen and headed for her bedroom. Once there, she frantically searched her room looking for the two old letters but couldn't find them. Cyrene then remembered she had been reading them when she also had been inspecting Gabrielle's scrolls. She must have accidentally put the letters in with the scrolls. Cyrene searched for the saddlebag containing the scrolls but could not find it. She could swear she saw it earlier that morning. Panic hit her when she realized Xena, probably feeling restless, took the scrolls back to her own bedroom for reading. She nervously started pacing the floor of her room. What if Xena read those letters? Cyrene knew worrying was not going to remedy the situation. She calmed down and thought positive. Maybe Xena hadn't even noticed the letters. Cyrene left her room and headed for Xena's. She slowly opened the door. She glanced over at the bed and saw Xena sleeping peacefully under the blankets. She quietly entered the room and walked over to the saddlebag she saw sitting atop a table. Cyrene quietly removed the contents of the saddlebag as she searched for the letters.

"What are you looking for mom?" Xena was now sitting up in the bed.

"Gods, you scared me Xena!" Cyrene placed a hand over her rapidly beating heart as she quickly turned to face her daughter. She had to calm herself down before she spoke again. "Something of mine got mixed in with the scrolls and I was trying to find it without disturbing you."

"Would it happen to be these?" Xena was holding two folded slips of parchment in her right hand.

"Yes, that's it…did you read them?" Cyrene already knew by the look on Xena's face she had read their contents but asked the question anyway.

"Yes," Xena flatly replied. She moved from the pillows and now sat on the side of the bed facing her mother. "After reading these letters, I must share with you what Dahak told me on Kos."

"What exactly did he tell you?" Cyrene did her best to remain calm.

"First of all, he claimed to know you...quite well in fact." Xena stared hard into her mother's eyes. "Then he claimed to be my father."

"And you believed him?" The shock in Cyrene's voice matched the look on her face.

"I didn't want to but after reading these letters, I can't shake the feeling he may have spoken the truth."

Cyrene came over to where Xena sat on the side of the bed and held her daughter's face in her hands. "Dahak is the master of lies. You said it yourself, he was trying to upset you and it appears he has succeeded." She ran a hand through Xena's hair. "Since you read the letters, I will admit it, I knew a Persian god named Ahriman but at the time I didn't know he used the name Dahak. I got caught up in his cult but when I discovered his true intentions, I left. Like most gods, he was quite attractive and caught the eye of many young women in the cult, myself included. I did flirt with him but nothing ever happened between us."

"Why didn't you tell me you were a member of Dahak's cult?"

"Because I was ashamed to have been taken in by his false words of love and peace," Cyrene softly replied.

"But I wouldn't have held it against you, not after the choices I've made in my own life."

"It was a volatile time from my past Xena and something I wanted to forget."

"Then why did you keep the letters Uncle Zephyrus sent about Ahriman? And why did you write to him dredging up a part of your life you claim you wanted to forget?"

"It was a mistake to keep the letters and I should have destroyed them long ago." Cyrene moved away from Xena and stood against the wall behind her. "When I wrote to Zephyrus about Ahriman, I wasn't thinking clearly, Atrius was gone and I now had three children to raise all by myself."

"According to Uncle Zephyrus' letter, you were afraid Ahriman would re-enter your life, years after you had left his cult. Why was that?"

"I told you, Ahriman, as I knew him then, had a thing for me. But the feeling was clearly not mutual on my part. My only wanting to flirt probably bruised his ego and he wanted to get even. You know how petty the gods can be."

"But what made you think he would come for you after several years had passed? You were a married woman with three children."

"In one of the letters, Uncle Zephyrus made mention of Atrius being gone. You wrote to Uncle Zephyrus after you killed Atrius."

"What are you getting at Xena?"

"I was remembering what you said about the night you killed Atrius to protect me. You said Atrius came home after leaving the Temple of Ares, angry, drunk and determined to kill me. But what memories I have of my father are of me riding atop his horse with him and his singing to me. He clearly adored me. So why would he come home one night and decide out of the blue to kill me?"

"He was drunk and wanted to sacrifice you to Ares," Cyrene replied.

"I know Ares, and child sacrifices are not his style," Xena firmly stated. "Atrius could have been driven to murder me if he believed you had betrayed him and I was the child of another."

"That's ridiculous," Cyrene snapped.

"No it isn't," Xena firmly replied. "Ares made a comment to me regarding Atrius' murder about a jealous man trying to punish his wife by hurting the child."

"And you are going to believe what Ares says?"

"For once, I believe Ares was speaking the truth," Xena replied. "Let's take the little scenario I laid out for The Furies regarding my father's identity and put in the name Dahak."

"I wish you would just drop this Xena." Cyrene began to nervously pace the floor. "On the night you were conceived, Atrius came home from war, my husband, NOT Dahak."

"I led warriors mom, and they just don't up and leave the battlefield to be with their wives."

"I know my own husband and it was him with me that night, not some god and certainly NOT Dahak." Cyrene nervously twisted the skirt of her dress in her hands.

"Dahak would have come to you as an exact likeness of Atrius. You were probably so relieved your husband had returned alive from battle, that the oddity of him suddenly being home didn't enter your mind, not until later anyway."

"No, that's not how it was at all," Cyrene said firmly.

"It all makes sense to me now." Xena got up from the bed and now stood in front of her mother. "Ahriman...Dahak...whatever you want to call him, was riding high because he had killed several members of the Persian pantheon and was winning the war. He decided some downtime was in order and decided to spend it with the fairer sex. You must have made some impression on him mother for him to come to Greece and visit you in the form of your husband."

"That is ridiculous!" Cyrene said.

"You ended up pregnant with me and you innocently thought by your husband until that night, years later, when he came home drunk from the Temple of Ares."

"I want you to stop this right now," Cyrene demanded.

Xena ignored her mother's demand and continued with her theory. "Atrius somehow discovered what happened while he was still away at war. My guess is that Ares found out and told him. Atrius came home that night determined to make you pay for your betrayal by killing me which you prevented when you killed him." Xena grabbed her mother's arms and stared into her eyes. "You were haunted by Atrius' word's that night. You knew whoever visited you in his likeness had to be a god and the first one that came to your mind was Ahriman. You were afraid if he knew about me, he would re-enter your life so you wrote Uncle Zephyrus for information about his whereabouts. When he told you Ahriman was imprisoned for eternity, you were relieved, your secret would be buried forever, so you thought."

"Why are you doing this to yourself and me?" Cyrene removed her arms from Xena's tight grasp. "Dahak's words are LIES!"

"No mother, Dahak's words are the TRUTH. You are the one who is lying!"

Cyrene raised a hand to slap her daughter's face for such blatant disrespect but was halted when Xena caught her hand before it reached her face. When Xena released her hand, Cyrene moved away from her and now stood facing the room's only window. Her body was starting to tremble.

"That's why you were rereading Uncle Zephyrus' old letters." Xena stared at her mother's back. "You were terrified when you found out I had met Dahak. You were afraid he had revealed what you have been hiding from me all these years...that he is my real father. Admit it."

"All right, it's true!" Cyrene sobbed as she turned to face Xena. Tears were streaming down her cheeks. "Dahak is your father!" Sobbing profusely, she leaned against the wall by the window and slowly sank to the floor where she buried her face in her hands.

Xena immediately went to her mother's side. Cyrene held Xena's legs tightly as she stood over her. Her body shook as tears poured from her eyes, some in sadness and some in relief that the secret she had held for so long was finally out in the open. "I was only trying to protect you Xena. I really believed it was best you never know that demon was your father." Cyrene looked up at Xena from where she sat on the floor. Her eyes were watery and starting to redden from crying. "Once again, you had to suffer because of my past actions. Can you ever forgive me?"

Xena removed her legs from her mother's grasp, sat down beside her and held her tightly. "There is nothing to forgive. You were only trying to protect me and I understand why you didn't tell me," Xena said softly. "What happened was not your fault mother. You were another victim on Dahak's long list just like Gabrielle." Xena sat there and held her mother as the older woman continued to softly cry. They had been sitting on the floor for some time, when Cyrene ceased her crying and decided to reveal to Xena a part of her life she thought would remain buried forever.

Cyrene admitted to being on the wild side in her youth. She was stubborn and didn't want her parents controlling her life. They wanted her to find a young man in Amphipolis and get married but Cyrene wanted some excitement. When Cyrene was 16, she convinced her parents to let her live with her Uncle Zephyrus, a spice merchant, who lived in Sardis, located in Lydia. Sardis was a cosmopolitan city. Because it was located along the trade route, the city boasted a very diverse population. There were Greeks, Persians, Syrians, Romans, Hebrews, Arabs and Egyptians, all living together, blending their different customs. Cyrene really thought this was the place for her. She sampled all of the diverse cultures located in Sardis, even the different religious sects, but one in particular captured her interest.

The sect had its origins in Persia but was establishing a religious base in Sardis. Its members worshipped a god quite different from those of Greece. The Olympians struck fear in their worshippers with their infamous pettiness and cruelty. Ahriman was the name of the god worshipped by the sect. He appeared to genuinely care for mortals. He provided comfort to the mourning, food for the hungry and cures for the sick. In return he only asked that you love him and share the love shown you with others.

Cyrene became an active member in the sect, assuming a lot of responsibility, which gave her the opportunity to finally, meet the god Ahriman. She had never met anyone so intelligent, sensitive and handsome in her young life. The other young women in the sect were fawning over Ahriman, competing for his affections. Cyrene refused to behave that way and was very surprised to find out a sophisticated, all-powerful god, who could have anyone he wanted, was attracted to her, a naive Greek girl from Amphipolis. Cyrene spent many hours with Ahriman, talking of her hopes, her dreams and was truly surprised by his genuine interest in her life. Her time in Sardis and with Ahriman had opened up a world Cyrene had never known existed.

Cyrene had been in Sardis one year when she made the decision to stay permanently and spread the teachings of Ahriman. She knew her parents would not be happy when they heard but it was her life and she would live it as she saw fit. Cyrene wanted to share her decision with Ahriman and went to his temple in Sardis. The temple was empty except for Ahriman and a priest. They were embroiled in an intense discussion so Cyrene decided to leave until she heard the dark tone of their conversation. They talked about war, overthrowing the Persian pantheon of gods and using the sect's faithful to usher in an age of darkness.

Cyrene was horrified by what she heard and confronted Ahriman. He thought she was too young to fully understand. Ahriman had never allowed himself to feel for anyone until he met her and wanted her with him when he ruled the world. Cyrene now saw how evil he truly was and was going back to Amphipolis. Ahriman would not permit it. Cyrene would do as she pleased and was about to leave the temple when he roughly grabbed her. That's when she saw him change and it scared her. His crystal blue eyes became yellow and his golden light brown skin turned greenish brown in color and scaly in texture. When Ahriman looked at his hands holding her arms and saw the change, he released her, turned his back to her and told her to leave. Cyrene did as he asked. A few days after that incident, she started her journey back to Amphipolis. She decided to do as her parents wished, find a husband and have children.

"I married Atrius a year after I returned to Amphipolis," Cyrene said softly. "I put my time with Ahriman in Sardis behind me and devoted my life to caring for my husband and my children. I truly believed Ahriman was out of my life for good until that night which ended with me killing Atrius."

Xena braced herself as she prepared to hear her mother give full disclosure of the night she partly knew already.

Xena and her brothers were asleep when Atrius came home from the Temple of Ares, reeking of mead, in a foul mood and rambling Xena had to die by Ares' orders. Cyrene was not going to let him sacrifice their daughter to the God of War. Xena was not being killed as a sacrifice to Ares but to pay for Cyrene's deception revealed Atrius. Ares informed him of Cyrene's past with an evil god before their marriage. Atrius knew about this god visiting Cyrene when he was away at war which meant he was Xena's real father. The girl had to die to erase her mother's crime of adultery and to prevent her real father's evil from engulfing the world. Cyrene thought he was talking nonsense and wouldn't let him kill Xena. Atrius was willing to kill her too then. When Atrius went to sharpen his sword, Cyrene tried to stop him with an ax, which she ended up using to take his life to protect Xena.

"I tried to dismiss Atrius' words as drunken ramblings but knew in my heart he had spoken the truth," Cyrene said. "I looked at your eyes and finally allowed myself to see just how much they favored Ahriman's. When I accepted it was indeed Ahriman who had visited me on the night you were conceived, I was terrified that he would discover your existence so I wrote Uncle Zephyrus requesting he do some checking into Ahriman for me. I was relieved when he wrote Ahriman was imprisoned forever. I truly thought it best that the identity of your real father remain buried forever."

As Xena listened to her mother unburden her soul, the ramifications of her father's true identity weighed heavily on her thoughts. Her father had raped her best friend and had his own grandson killed. Her son's killer was her half-sister, a thought that caused her head to ache. Dahak was known as the One Great Evil. Xena always believed Hope was a vessel for evil. She now shared the same father with Hope. Did this mean she was evil too? Dahak said as his daughter, darkness was her true nature and she was fighting a losing battle trying to suppress it. Was he right?

"After you were certain Ahriman was my father and I went on to commit such heinous acts, did you ever regret not letting Atrius kill me?"

"By the gods, no Xena. I had just about given up hope you would abandon your warlord life but I never wished you were dead. I hated the acts you committed but I still loved you. When you came back home three years ago, and I realized you were sincere about wanting to change your life I was so relieved. My Xena had finally come back." Cyrene gazed at Xena's face and saw the confusion and distress etched in her features. She held Xena's face in her hands and said in a comforting voice, "Always remember Xena, you are still my daughter and I love you." She brushed Xena's hair back from her face. "We will get through this together." She kissed Xena's forehead.

Cyrene actually felt some relief in having revealed a secret she had held for so long. But she knew the pain, which laid ahead for Xena, now that she knew the truth. "I think we both have had enough excitement for one day," Cyrene declared as she stood. Xena now stood beside her. "I don't want this news about Dahak to upset you so that it hampers your recovery. You should go back to bed." Cyrene took hold of Xena's left hand and led her back to the bed. Xena got in the bed without uttering a word; there was a blank stare on her face.

Xena's present state worried Cyrene. She went to the kitchen, poured some milk into a mug, added a sleeping powder then quickly returned to her daughter's bedroom. The blank look remained on Xena's face as she took the mug from her mother, put it to her lips and slowly began to drink it. Her eyelids were heavy after only drinking half of the milk. When she emptied the mug, Xena was well on her way to sleep as she laid her head on the pillow. The rays of the afternoon sun poured through the window but they didn't hamper the deep sleep Xena entered.

Xena awoke with a start. She stretched her right arm over the blankets and felt silkiness underneath. She looked at the blanket covering her body and immediately bolted upright in the bed. Xena was not covered with a blanket, but a black silk sheet. The pillow behind her was covered with black silk as well. She looked at her right arm and ran her left hand over it. The large stitched cut was gone. She looked around the bed which was surrounded by a shear black curtain. Xena got out of the bed and pulled open the curtain. She was in a large room, which appeared to be in a temple. The floor and the walls were marble. There were large marble columns for support throughout the room. There was a pool at one end of the room filled with lava. Xena went over to the pool and gazed into its orange-red depths. There appeared to be many pairs of gleaming red eyes moving through the lava staring at her. She could swear she heard low moans of agony. Startled, she backed away. She heard the sound of torches being ignited behind her and then a deep voice.

"I see you have finally awakened."

She quickly turned around and looked up at a set of large marble steps that led to a throne. On each side of the throne, were two large torches. On the throne sat Dahak. He was wearing black leather, which molded to his slender muscular form.

"Father?" With hesitation, Xena approached the large marble steps.

"Ah Ah Ah," Dahak said, causing Xena to halt her approach. "First you must be made presentable." He clapped his hands together twice and four women in white togas appeared before Xena. They took hold of her arms and she was going to shake them off when Dahak spoke. "Go with them Xena, they will dress you more appropriately." Xena grudgingly did as he commanded and let the women take her behind a dressing curtain in the room. As the women dressed her, Dahak continued to speak.

"You called me father. I knew after our meeting, you would return to Amphipolis to talk with your mother who confirmed I indeed spoke the truth." There was an air of extreme confidence in his tone. "Ah Cyrene, she was the only woman who ever sparked something inside me. That's why I took time out from war to visit her in the form of her husband." His voice carried a reminiscent tone. "I was not aware our night together had produced a child for more than fifteen years."

Xena was intrigued by this news as Dahak proceeded to reveal how he found out about her. He lost a sword fight with Ahura Mazda, King of the Persian gods, and was trapped in lava not long after she was conceived. With his absence, his cult was dispersed throughout the land. The only person he ever told about his time with her mother was a high priest named Minos who settled in Amphipolis as a jewelry merchant a few years after the cult's dispersion. One day, Cyrene came into his shop with Xena who was about five at the time. When Minos saw her eyes, he knew she was the child of his imprisoned lord. Minos spent the next several years watching over Xena as she grew to adulthood. During the early years of his entrapment, Minos could not communicate with him. Minos studied the black arts for years and finally mastered the ability to communicate with his imprisoned lord. Dahak first learned of her existence right before the attack on her village by Cortese's army.

Xena remembered the jewelry merchant named Minos. He had always been so nice to her and now she knew why. Finding out he was Dahak's priest was a surprise but she remembered Dahak and his followers were masters of deception. If Minos had never settled in Amphipolis, Dahak would have never known about her and Gabrielle and Solan would still be alive. The thought made her grimace.

After the women dressed Xena, she came from behind the curtain. Her hair was in a thick braid down her back. Her entire body was covered in black leather, which molded sensuously to her womanly curves. She wore shiny black boots. On each thigh was a golden holster that contained deadly daggers. Around her waist was a gold belt with a scabbard, which at the moment was empty.

"I have a special sword for that scabbard I will give to you later." Dahak gazed at her new attire. "Ah, you are a vision, beautiful but deadly." He proceeded down the marble steps with a long black cape flowing behind him. He clapped his hands together twice and the four women who dressed Xena disappeared. When he reached Xena, he held out his right hand and her chakram appeared in it. "That was pretty ingenious of you to use this to incapacitate me."

Xena took the chakram and hooked it on the belt around her waist. "Where am I?" There was a hard look in her eyes.

"Somewhere remote and free of interference from those who wish to disrupt my plans," Dahak casually replied. "I figured now that you have accepted the truth, we could have a father - daughter talk." There was a smile on his face revealing perfect white teeth.

"I have accepted the fact you are my sire. But you are not my father in the true sense."

"You are right," he conceded. "I was imprisoned during your childhood and not there to give the guidance only a father can. But I am here for you now."

"I don't need or want you," she hissed.

"I see you are still quite hostile about this subject. I thought you might have some questions for me but if you want to leave, I won't try to stop you."

Now that she knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that Dahak was her father, many thoughts raced through her mind. Xena had to admit she did have many questions for which only he could provide the answers. "I will stay...for the moment."

"Splendid! I think we would both be more comfortable outside."

Dahak took Xena's right hand and in a flame of fire, they disappeared to reappear in a forest. They were in a grassy clearing surrounded by trees. Xena walked around, taking in her surroundings and keeping her distance from Dahak. The sun shined brightly. A mild wind blew through the grassy clearing. Fluffy white clouds moved slowly across the blue sky. The sounds of life could be heard from the dense trees surrounding the grassy clearing.

"It took me some time to recover from my loss at the hands of Ahura Mazda. My body was no more and my conscience roamed the heated rock beneath the earth." Dahak’s gaze followed Xena as she walked around the clearing. "As the years passed, my rage grew and it strengthen me. I remained trapped and bodiless but I still had power. Finding out about you rekindled the goal I had held for all my years of entrapment, freedom. One of the Olympian gods found out about you as well, Ares." The contempt for the war god was clearly audible when he spoke his name.

"He discovered you were my daughter several years earlier and tried to end your life. After the attempt failed, he decided to make use of you in his own plans for world domination," he continued. "When he found out about my imminent return, I figured he might try to disrupt my plans with another attempt on your life. He could not afford a father and daughter alliance which could end his quest for worldwide power so I found a way to make sure he never tried to kill you again." There was a gleeful gleam in his eyes with this last statement.

"But Ares had more guts than I thought. He killed Minos, my only contact with the outside world at the time, which delayed my arrival and prevented you from knowing I was your father. I had other devoted followers whom eventually made contact with me but by then, I had been weakened by confrontations with others that, like Ares, wanted to prevent my return. By the time I regained my strength, you had turned your back on your true heritage and were fighting for what was good and just. I made the decision to create another child but I couldn't give up on you. That's why I chose your friend to be the vessel to bring the child into the world. It was the first step in getting you to return to your true self. You fought what you knew to be true in your heart for a long time. But the fighting must now stop and acceptance take hold."

Xena had been silent as she listened to Dahak's words. Hearing how he and Ares had been in a tug-of-war for her services in their dark plans increased her contempt for all gods. But Dahak's last statement prompted her to voice the one question, which had weighed on her mind since she had accepted the fact he was indeed her father.

"What makes you think I would ever join you after what you did to Gabrielle and Solan, your own grandson?"

"Xena, there are two types of people in this world, the strong and the weak," Dahak stated. "The strong are those who don't limit themselves to established guidelines of right and wrong. They are driven by their wills, their desires that give them unbeatable power over others. Society has chosen to label these people bad because they aren't afraid to do what needs to be done to get what they want. Now we come to the weak. They are labeled good and held up as models of inspiration for all. They choose to burden themselves with do's and don'ts…rights and wrongs. These people believe the world will be a paradise if there is love and peace. I was around when the earth was the blissful paradise these fools crave and it was sickening. There was no passion, fire, or desire in humanity. All were weak and obviously bored with their loving, peaceful existence or they would have never been attracted to my teachings. I appealed to humanity's baser instincts. I never judged mankind. I taught them to act on their desires, which were labeled wrong. They would finally reach their true potential that love and peace would never allow."

"For someone who is sickened by the goodness of peace and love, you certainly don't mind using such attributes to lure people into your web," Xena said.

"I use what is familiar to people, what is drilled into their heads since childhood as what they should strive to be," he said. "But then I tear down the familiar, like their belief in the gods. I reveal the hypocrisy of these beings that have the nerve to judge the actions of humanity when they don't limit themselves to rights and wrongs. The gods are powerful because they aren't stifled by rules. I reveal to mortals, they can have power too, if they abandon society's restrictive teachings. Those who follow me will have the shackles of long held conformities removed and gain strength when they make their desires reality. You know, that was the problem with your friend Gabrielle. She chose to cling to what had been drilled into her head since childhood, peace, love, and all that goodness stuff. In the end, her beliefs in love and peace failed her. They were weak and didn't provide her with the strength to fight her enemy and that's why she chose death."

"Gabrielle was the strongest person I ever knew and so were her beliefs!" Xena snapped. "You tried to corrupt her with your evil when you chose her to bear your child. You fear people like her because they have the power to destroy you." Xena stared into his eyes, which mirrored her own. "Gabrielle's belief in love and peace gave me the strength to fight evil when I could find none within me."

"Her beliefs in love and peace were turning you into a sentimental fool!" he angrily stated. "And now that she's dead, you can forget about this ridiculous path of atonement and go back to your true glory…conquest and ultimate power."

"That would fit right in with your dark plans. Is that why Solan had to die? Was he also an obstacle in the way of me achieving my ‘true potential'?"

Dahak let out a weary sigh. "Solan's death was most unfortunate but necessary. He did not carry enough of my blood to make him useful to me. He had too much goodness embedded in his being and it could never be fully removed, it made him who he was. That inherent goodness was one of the reasons you fought to make this world a better place for him. You wanted his light to outshine the darkness of your past. That is why his light had to be extinguished. With his death, you were on the road to embracing your true nature in darkness again and would have if not for the momentary interference from those of the light. But that will never happen again, because I have grown too strong for even them to stop."

Xena looked at the being in front of her and wondered how she could have ever come from someone so cold, dark…pure evil. He spoke of Gabrielle and Solan as weak, insignificant casualties in the war between good and evil. Her disgust and contempt were so strong, she could no longer look at this heartless, soulless god, her own father and turned her back to him.

"Look Xena, I know you find my words upsetting but you have to hear them. You will never be able to achieve the goodness of your son or friend because it isn't really you and you shouldn't want what they had anyway," he stated flatly. "You are like me Xena, driven by your dark will to do what you want, forsaking all others. Since their deaths, you have tried to deny what you truly are but you can no longer do that. You must accept it, embrace it."

Dahak now stood directly behind Xena and gently placed his hands on her shoulders. She wanted to shake his hands away but for some reason couldn't move her body. Dahak began to speak to her again in a deep hypnotic tone.

"It is the darkness within that makes you strong and you get that from me." His deep voice flowed through her body and the darkness within responded to his call and began to stir in her. She closed her eyes at the sensation it caused. "Yes, that's it. Don't fight it. Let the darkness within caress your soul," he said in soothing voice. "It was this darkness, the fire, the anger and the murderous rage which made you the Destroyer of Nations and made people tremble at the sound of your name. It made you strong and invincible and it can again if you let it." Xena felt a dark force surging through her entire body. She opened her eyes, which now had a fiery redness at the center of their crystal blue color. "Now use the power darkness gives you," Dahak commanded.

Xena threw out both hands, unleashing a large fireball, which hit a tree in the distance setting it to flames. She moved around the clearing, repeating this action several times until burning trees surrounded them. Xena looked at her hands; the burning trees surrounding them and a sinister smile crossed her face. She felt the darkness surging through her body, warming her, strengthening her and she reveled in it.

Dahak now stood by her side with a pleased smile on his face. "You have only scratched the surface of the power darkness can give you. There's so much more you can have."

Dahak waved a hand in the air and the burning trees vanished leaving them standing in a treeless grassy field. He now faced Xena and held out his right hand, a sword instantly materialized in it. He held out his left hand and a large necklace appeared it. The necklace was round with a design similar to the one on her chakram and in the center was a red substance, which appeared to be blood. Dahak poured the red substance on the sword he held in his right hand. "This is the blood of a Golden Hind, the only substance that can kill a god."

"This must be the pendant Callisto lost. I'm not surprised you managed to get your hands on it."

"It is that very pendant," Dahak admitted. The sword's blade seemed to absorb the blood and now had a red tint. Dahak gave Xena the sword. "I know what you desire most is my death, and I am giving you the opportunity to make that a reality."

Slowly he backed some distance away from her. He removed the cape he wore, tossed it in the air and it disappeared into nothingness. He unsheathed his own sword from its scabbard. When he held up his sword, the blade had a red tint like the sword Xena held.

"My sword is covered in Hind's blood as well and being half-god, it will kill you too." Dahak began to twirl his sword around. "I figured I'd up the stakes. Since you would rather die than join me, you will, if I win our sword fight."

Dahak let out a deafening yell and charged Xena with his sword poised for attack. She met him halfway with a war cry of her own, and her sword mightily slashing. The rays of the afternoon sun poured down on the grassy field, the blue sky was clear of the earlier puffy white clouds and the wind had picked up speed as it blew around the combatants, father and daughter in their fight to the death. The sound of clashing steel echoed throughout the grassy field.

"I was only toying with you, testing you in the caves on Kos but this time it's for real," Dahak said in a deadly serious tone and a fierceness in his crystal blue eyes as he viciously swung his sword at Xena with all his godly strength. Her sword met his in a hail of sparks, backed by the power of darkness surging through her body.

In the past, Xena had always been able to use the darkness as an edge over an opponent but this time that may not be possible. The darkness within her came from the opponent she was facing, her own father and she stood a good chance of losing. Dahak unleashed all the power of his darkness with each deadly slash of his sword. Xena managed to block his sword with her own but was still driven back. He let out a loud yell and with godly strength guiding his sword, knocked her sword from her hands, sending it some distance from the pair.

"Come on Xena, you are going to have to tap the darkness better than that if you expect to defeat me," he warned while continuing to swing his sword at her.

She managed to dodge the blade of his sword but one vicious swing did manage to cut through the leather across her chest barely missing her flesh.

"Now that was a close one," he said. "If the Hind's blood just penetrates your skin, you are finished."

Xena focused on his sword which movements had picked up speed. She continued to dodge him, looking for an opening in his defenses and when one presented itself, attacked with a back hand to his face and a couple of swift kicks to his chest. But they only slowed him down for a fraction of a second when he delivered a hard punch to her face with his free hand drawing blood from her mouth and impeding her defenses. With her still dazed from the blow to her face, he used the flat of his sword to quickly hook her legs knocking her flat on her back.

"I guess what I did to Gabrielle and Solan wasn't enough to power your darkness to victory," he said with a touch of disappointment in his voice as he brought his sword down upon her for the deathblow.

Dahak's mentioning of Gabrielle and Solan was enough to raise Xena's rage again and allow the darkness within to give her the power she needed. His sword was mere inches from her chest when she caught it between her hands halting its descent. Dahak tried to push his sword forward through her chest to no avail. Xena let out a yell and with all her strength, tossed Dahak and his sword some distance from her. She removed four daggers from their holsters around her thighs and threw them into Dahak's chest. She quickly stood and used the dark power surging through her to beckon her sword to return to her hand.

"I see you managed to channel the darkness to obey your commands but it still remains to be seen if you can beat me." Dahak’s eyes began to glow a fiery red as the four daggers embedded in his chest flew out of him and headed directly for Xena. She easily swatted the daggers away with her sword before charging Dahak.

The darkness within had completely taken over and now guided her movements. She felt its power surging through every vein in her body and reveled in it. The darkness from her past have never felt like this, all-encompassing. Her sword slashed with Dahak's in a dark driven fury, which started to overpower him. He slagged in his defenses which gave her the opportunity to deliver a devastating kick to his face then midsection which knocked the wind out of him and drove him back. He was quite dazed, and slashed his sword at her on sheer instinct which she easily blocked. His defenses were still wide open which allowed her to deliver a hard backhand to his face then a swift punch to his right arm but he maintained a grip on the sword in his right hand. Dahak executed a hard kick, which made contact with her midsection and knocked her away from him but she immediately was back with her vicious assault against him. Dahak managed to ward off the deadly attack of Xena's sword covered in Hind's blood but she still penetrated his defenses and got off several punches to his face which left his vision spinning, severely impeding his reaction time. This allowed Xena to fiercely slash her sword through his right wrist.

Dahak screamed in agony as his hand and sword fell to the grass below. On hearing his painful outcry, a sinister smile crossed Xena's face as the darkness surging through her went up a notch. Xena pummeled Dahak's face with her left fist, before delivering several kicks to his midsection and legs almost taking the evil god off his feet. She succeeded in knocking him down when she used her sword to quickly hook his legs. Xena stood over the being she despised most of all on the earth with a look of pure hatred as she drove her sword with strength fueled by darkness through his chest into the earth beneath him. Xena expected Dahak to die but he didn't. He lay on the grass with her sword through his chest and let out a deep evil laugh. Truly stunned, Xena backed away from him as the laugh got louder, echoing through the grassy field.

"You made it to the finish line, my dear," Dahak said when he stopped laughing.

With his left hand, he pulled her sword from his chest and proceeded to stand. The hole in his chest disappeared like it never existed. He held out his right arm and looked at the bloody stump where his right hand use to be. Slowly, a hand formed to take the place of the one he just lost. "That feels a lot better," he said after the hand was fully formed and he wiggled his fingers around.

"I saw you cover my sword in Hind's blood, you should be dead," she said softly. "It was just more deception."

"Quite true my dear," he said casually. "Unfortunately, I couldn't get my hands on real Hind's blood but I figured if I got you to believe I had, you would not be able to resist the urge to kill me. It was the crucial step to get you to let the darkness within emerge, after that, you willingly let it guide you."

Xena gazed at Dahak with pure hatred and contempt in her eyes.

"Be honest Xena, you enjoyed the feeling the emergence in total darkness created. I felt it surging through you, caressing your soul. When it rules, you don't think about anyone or anything, only its power." He had moved and now stood directly in front of her. "You certainly weren't thinking about avenging the people you lost but how good the darkness felt and you wanted more." He stared directly into her eyes, which mirrored his own. "The exercise I constructed here was only done to get you to see what you are missing when you resist what you truly are. You don't need to atone for your past. When you do that, you are saying you will live by the rules set up by others and that's not you. You are like me and will answer to no one." He held her face in his hands. "I ruled this earth before today's gods or the Titans. I am only reclaiming what was wrongfully taken from me. You must take your place by my side and reclaim what rightfully belongs to you as well."

As Xena gazed up into Dahak's eyes, she thought about what had just happened. She had to admit the darkness within had a familiarness, a comfortableness the goodness she had to struggle to keep didn't have and probably never would. The darkness was still surging through her body right now. It felt good and she reveled in it, embraced it.

Dahak released her face and stepped away from her. He held out his right hand and a dagger materialized in it. He pulled back the leather sleeve on his left arm and cut his flesh with the dagger. The dagger disappeared to be replaced by a goblet, which he used to catch the blood, which dripped from the cut. When the goblet was filled, the cut sealed like it never existed.

"Take this goblet," he commanded. Xena obeyed his command. "When you drink my blood, you will kill any trace of humanity in you and become immortal in total darkness."

Xena stared at the goblet in her hands and its crimson contents. Is this really what she wanted to do? She had sworn she would never let herself be ruled by darkness again. But she had never felt anything like this before, so powerful and all encompassing. Now that she had experienced pure darkness, she couldn't let the feeling end. Xena brought the goblet to her lips and began to drink Dahak's blood.

"Yes, that's it, drink," Dahak said reassuringly. "When you empty the goblet you will claim your birthright and become the Goddess of Destruction."

Xena had drank half of Dahak's blood in the goblet when a loud voice could be heard throughout the grassy field calling to her.

"XENA HEAR ME! YOU HAVE TO WAKE UP!"

Xena started to feel a pounding in her head; the voice repeated the phrase louder than the last time.

"XENA HEAR ME! YOU HAVE TO WAKE UP!"

Her hands started to shake and she dropped the goblet spilling what was left of Dahak's blood. The sunny blue sky and the grassy field in which they stood started to fade from existence. As their surroundings faded, Dahak's face was overcome by a look of dark fury.

"NOOOOOO!" he bellowed in a deafening tone.

Xena put her hands over her ears to shield them from the eardrum rupturing decibels. She stared at Dahak, who now appeared serpent-like in form, one last time, before all went black as she slipped into unconsciousness.

As she began to regain consciousness, Xena could hear the voice from before, only softer now repeating that same phrase.

"Xena hear me! You have to wake up!"

She opened her eyes to see Ares, with a concerned look on his face, sitting on the side of her bed grasping her shoulders. Suddenly, she sat up and took in her surroundings. She was back in her room above her mother's tavern and moonlight flowed through the window indicating it was night. As her head cleared, she focused on Ares. "What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to share a discovery with you." He brushed her hair off her face. "When I arrived, I could see someone was trying to reach you through your dreams and it didn't look good. Was it Dahak?"

"Yes," she replied while staring at her right arm which was still bandaged. "That's how I got this. He had a trap all laid out for me and I walked right into it."

"I knew I was right about his return." Ares rose from the bedside and offered her his right hand. "We need to talk."

"Just let me get dressed and we can go." Xena made a move to get out of the bed.

"That's not necessary." He grabbed her left hand as they disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"I would say your little run-in with Dahak cleared up any doubts you had about joining me in my fight against him," Ares said confidently.

"You can count me in all right," she firmly stated. "Nothing could keep me out of the fight against him now." Ares saw the look of fierce determination in her eyes and had to smile.

"Healing isn't my area of expertise but I'm willing to give it a shot with your arm,"

"And what will I owe you for this healing?"

"It's a freebie," Ares replied with a smile. "You are now my ally against Dahak and you have to be at one hundred percent so we can defeat him."

Xena conceded Ares this point and let him check out her arm. He gently removed the bandages. When the arm was bare, he rubbed his hands over the entire arm. Xena could feel an intense heat from his hands warming her arm. As she looked at her arm, she saw the large cut Dahak's sword had inflicted vanish, leaving her arm whole again. When the wound was gone, Ares asked, "How does the arm feel now?"

Xena moved her arm around, bending it some. "Great," she replied. She stared at Ares with a steely gaze. "I know Dahak is my real father. I also found out you have known for quite some time."

"Told you did he? Well, I guess that was to be expected. I was going to tell you, eventually."

"After you figured out how you could benefit from my knowing. How did you find out anyway?"

"It was by accident."

"Share it with me," she said. "But first, can I have a wrap or something? It's kinda chilly in here."

Ares had a lust-filled look on his face as he gazed at the shift, the only strip of clothing on Xena's body. He produced a red cloak which he wrapped around her then began his tale.

Thirty years ago, Ares was in Persia as an observer of the war between Ahriman a.k.a. Dahak and Ahura Mazda. The gods of Olympus were worried this war might spill over into their territories of influence and kept a watchful eye on developments. After Dahak was defeated, his followers scattered and hid. Some years had passed when it was brought to Ares' attention that Dahak's high priest named Minos had settled in Amphipolis as a jewelry merchant. Ares went to Amphipolis to pay him a visit. He observed Minos in his shop from the aether undetectable to mortals. Cyrene came into the shop with Xena who was seven at the time. Ares noticed how overly taken Minos was with Xena and he even gave her a trinket she had been admiring for free. When Cyrene and Xena left, Ares made his presence known to Minos and let him know Dahak's cult would not be tolerated in Greece. Ares knew Xena was the daughter of his devoted warrior Atrius and asked what his interest in the child was. Minos denied any such interest but Ares could sense he was hiding something. After some brutal persuading, he got out of him what he was hiding. Minos was in Amphipolis to watch over Xena because she was really Dahak's daughter. Ares knew how evil Dahak was and a child of his could not be allowed to live. Ares informed Atrius of his wife's liaison with the evil god, and him being Xena's real father. He convinced Atrius to kill Xena as retribution for her mother's betrayal of her marriage vows and to protect the world from her true father's evil. Xena already knew the rest, how her mother killed Atrius protecting her.

"I witnessed the scene between Cyrene and Atrius and she really showed spunk standing up to a drunk with murderous intentions. I was pretty impressed with how she took him out with that ax. I wasn't even disappointed the attempt failed." Ares stared into her eyes when he spoke his next words. "If the attempt had succeeded, it would have been a tragic loss indeed. I would have never gotten to know you."

"I don't hold any grudge against you for the attempt. Considering who my father is, if I had been in your position, I would have wanted me dead too." Xena was not surprised to find out Minos had been the culprit who had also informed Ares of her father's true identity. "Dahak said you killed Minos after he found out about me but that was years after you had already discovered me. Knowing you like I do, I'm curious as to why you let Minos live so long?"

"I let him live because I didn't believe he would be much of a threat since his god was trapped in the earth's fiery core for what we all believed would be eternity. After the failed attempt on your life, I decided to make use of you in my own plans since ‘daddy dearest' was out of the picture for good. Minos was already devoted to you so I had him watch you for me. Besides, he was the only competent individual I knew at the time who could handle this particular job. Years later, when Minos revealed to me his communications with Dahak, I knew he was now too dangerous to continue living. He disappeared and I lost track of his whereabouts. He didn't resurface until your near death encounter with Caesar. Since death was now your purpose in life, he thought you were ready to learn your father's true identity and with this knowledge help free him. When I discovered his intentions, I killed him before he could get to you."

Considering Minos was the one who ushered in her involvement with two dark gods, Xena was glad he was dead.

Xena summarized her dream for Ares, emphasizing how she would have become a full goddess if she had drunk all of Dahak's blood.

"What you experienced was more than just a dream," Ares said after she had finished retelling events from the dream. "Dahak's little ‘production' was similar to what I did with your dreams when I pulled off the body switch between you and Callisto. If you had drank all his blood, you would have awakened to full godhood in pure darkness." On hearing Ares' words, Xena couldn't help but shiver at the thought.

Xena re-counted for Ares everything that happened on Kos, the events at the amphitheater, Dahak masquerading as Natas and his followers called the Disciples. "Kos is a small island which doesn't get much traffic so it is the perfect place for Dahak to look for followers without attracting the attention of the Olympian gods," she said. "He only came out of hiding to get me to join him and now will remain safely hidden until he has enough followers to oust the Olympians from power. But that's not going to be easy when all the gods team up against him. You did take my advice and tell the other gods about Dahak?"

"Oh, I told them all right but they believe I have blown the Dahak threat out of proportion since he was so easily defeated by a mortal. They were more concerned this was just another scheme of mine to gain power than an actual threat from Dahak."

"We are going to need their help if we want to defeat Dahak," Xena said. "Maybe I could talk to them, convince them with what I witnessed on Kos."

"They are not going to listen to you Xena. They know about the precarious state of your mind these past few months. They think I am influencing you and you are in on my latest scheme to grab power from them." There was a sly smile on his face.

"Oh, and you were more than willing to let them think that!"

"They weren't exactly taking anything I said as the truth at the time," he said. "Besides, I found out today the other gods already knew about Kos and sent someone to investigate."

"What did they find out?" Xena anxiously asked.

"You said it yourself, Dahak is keeping a low profile, so they found nothing out of the ordinary. Their little scouting mission happened after your visit. Dahak obviously anticipated his actions on Kos would attract the attention of Olympus, so he cleaned up pretty quick and the Disciples of Natas looked no different than any other fly by night cult out to capitalize on the discontentment of mortals with the gods. Olympus feels when mortals discover they have been duped by another phony cult, they will come crawling back to them."

"There must be some way for us to make them see this is not your run of the mill cult and they are in grave danger," Xena said.

"The gods of Olympus have ruled for almost five thousand years without any serious threats to their power and that has lulled them into complacency. I have washed my hands of the matter and they are now on their own. Dahak can kill the whole lot of them. Then when we defeat him, I will be the only god."

"We are not letting Dahak kill the other gods," Xena firmly stated as she stared into Ares' eyes. "I don't have much use for the gods but I do understand the unbalance their absence would cause in the mortal world and I am not willing to let that happen." Ares rolled his eyes at her statement. "But it does appear we will have to tackle Dahak by ourselves. You said earlier you had something to show me. My guess is, it's something to help in our fight against Dahak, so out with it."

Xena watched as Ares got up from the table, retrieved several scrolls from a shelf along the wall then pulled up a chair next to hers. "Six months ago, I found these scrolls in the cellar of the Great Library on Olympus. I finished reading them during my three month self-imposed exile."

Ares unrolled some of the scrolls as Xena moved closer to get a better look at them. "These scrolls were written by the Titans. Here, read this one." He placed an unrolled scroll in front of Xena who began to read it.

"Hey, I already know all this stuff." Xena stated after reading several paragraphs on the scroll. "It's writings about the formation of the earth by the Creator, the rebellion of the Watchers and their punishment."

"No, read here." Ares pointed to a paragraph farther down the scroll.

Xena started reading at the paragraph to which he pointed. The writings spoke of a Chief Guardian named Metatron, who was the most wise, most powerful and most beautiful of his kind. The Creator put Metatron in charge of the Earth after he went out into the universe to fill other worlds with life. As the centuries passed, Metatron wanted to take the place of the Creator in the eyes of the earth's life forms. He declared himself god, sanctioned unions between a sect within the Guardians known as the Watchers and human females, and lowered the world into total darkness. When the Creator returned to the earth, the fallen Watchers were imprisoned in the earth's heated core and Metatron had his powers and authority over the earth taken away.

"Let me guess, you believe Dahak is this Metatron?" Xena asked after reading the writings on the scroll.

"I do, but I need someone, who has actually seen him face to face and talked with him to verify my suspicions." Ares stared intently at her face.

"Well, Dahak did speak of being on the earth in the early years when it was a peaceful paradise which he found sickening. He even said he once ruled the earth and now was only trying to reclaim what was taken from him. And he does have stunning looks which could rival any god on Olympus including you." Ares had a smirk on his face after hearing her last comment, which rather amused her. "So I would have to say your suspicions about him being Metatron are correct."

"Excellent!" Ares now had a pleased smile. "I have known for some time now that Dahak was one of these Watchers but it wasn't until I read these scrolls did I begin to suspect he was Metatron. Now you have provided me with positive proof."

"When I was on Kos, Dahak spoke of freeing the others. He was probably referring to the fallen Watchers mentioned in the scroll, the ones the Creator trapped in the earth's heated core centuries ago."

"If he is successful in freeing them, we all will be in serious trouble," Ares said. "They number in the thousands and all were just as dark and evil as Dahak."

"He's already started freeing them. I heard part of a conversation Dahak had with a priest on Kos. The priest said something about all of level one being free soon." Xena's eyes widen with realization. "It's the converts who joined the Disciples. He must be using their bodies as vessels to house the spirits of the fallen Watchers."

"You probably are correct but there's no need to panic," Ares said. "Dahak is not going to make any kind of major move until he has freed all of his buddies. For him to do that, he will have to convert quite a bit of the population of Greece, which Olympus will most definitely notice. Right now, he's formulating a plan to free them and will lie low until it is completed."

"We can't let him free the others. Dahak must die," Xena firmly stated.

Ares had to smile upon hearing Xena's words, which were filled with such determination. Seeing her so focused on destroying a common enemy sent a charge through his body. "Now that I am certain Dahak is Metatron, I know of only one way we can be sure to kill him." Ares went to the shelves again and brought back more scrolls.

"These scrolls are called the Watchers' Chronicles," Ares said when he was seated next to Xena at the table again. "These scrolls were written by Watchers who did not participate in the rebellion against the Creator. They were written in the language spoken by the Watchers called Celestic." Xena looked at the strange writings on one of the scrolls and could make no sense of it.

"This is what we will need to stop Dahak once and for all." Ares unrolled another scroll. "This is a drawing of Metatron's sword which was called the Holy Saber." What caught Xena's attention as she stared at the drawing was the four pointed star carved in the tip of the sword's blade. She knew she had seen the star before but at the moment couldn't remember where.

"The Titans scrolls spoke of the Creator giving Metatron the Holy Saber as a symbol of his authority over the entire earth. When Metatron rebelled against the Creator, the sword was taken from him, and broken into pieces that were scattered around the earth," he said. "According to the Titan scrolls, the Holy Saber is a symbol of pure light. If the broken pieces are rejoined, the sword's purity can destroy Metatron." Ares unrolled more scrolls from the Watchers' Chronicles. "These maps will lead us to the resting places of the sword pieces." The maps were of various locations around the world. "The writings in Celestic tell us exactly where the sword pieces can be found. Now we just need someone familiar with Celestic to translate the scrolls."

After Ares finished detailing the contents of the scrolls, Xena sat atop the table gazing at the drawing of the Holy Saber on the scroll in her hands. "I know someone who can translate the scrolls for us."

"Would this person happen to be your old friend Cyrus?" Ares lazily caressed the thigh of her right leg, which was exposed when the cloak fell open as she sat on the table.

"He's the one." Xena removed Ares’ hand from her thigh. "I haven't seen him in years." A reminiscent look was in her eyes.

Cyrus was a friend she had acquired early on in her warlord days. He was the one who told her about the creation of the earth and the true origin of the gods. Cyrus was one of the Watchers who did not take part in the rebellion. He relinquished his powers as a Watcher, choosing only to keep his immortality. For centuries now, he had been living among mortals and for the last several decades resided in Persia. Cyrus would certainly know how to translate Celestic. It would be good to see him again. They both agreed it would be too risky to have the scrolls traveling about so Xena would leave for Persia tomorrow and bring Cyrus back to Greece for the translation.

With their plan of action against Dahak starting to take shape, Xena got up from the table as her mind drifted back to the events of the past week. She had her back to Ares but he could tell something was bothering her.

"What's wrong?"

"I was just thinking about how I almost willingly joined Dahak," she replied with shame in her voice.

"But you didn't."

"Thanks to you," she said sincerely. "Dahak said the power of the darkness was so strong and so seductive, I would no longer care about the people I have lost to him and only crave more power and he was right. When I felt that surge of dark power flowing through me, I thought of no one, only the exhilarating feelings it created and I wanted more."

On hearing her words, Ares had to suppress a smile. He came and stood behind her, resting his hands on her shoulders. "I know better than anyone how protective you are of the people you care about. Dahak is wrong. You could never forget what he has done and you will be driven until you make him pay." He began to massage her shoulders, which started to loosen the tension she held within. "I know you don't want to use darkness to fight Dahak but you cannot deny the power it gives you. The anger, the fire and the thirst for revenge, Dahak aroused those emotions to stir the darkness within to get you to join him. Now take that darkness he has awakened and use it to destroy him." Xena closed her eyes and let Ares' words caress her soul.

"It will be so good fighting on the same side with you again." Ares embraced her with an affectionate squeeze and nuzzled her neck. "We were an unbeatable team." He nibbled an earlobe. "Dahak doesn't stand a chance," he whispered before kissing a cheek. His hands had stealthily made their way inside the cloak loosely wrapped around her and had traveled up her body to stop at her breasts which they cupped, squeezed and caressed. Xena was leaning into him as he lavished her neck and shoulders with kisses while his hands continued to caress her breasts.

"We really should be focusing on our plan to stop Dahak and not carnal desires," Xena said. But there really wasn't much conviction in her tone.

"We have done...all that we can...in regard to Dahak," Ares said in between bathing her neck with kisses. "Nothing more...will happen...until you bring Cryus here...to translate the scrolls. So I figured we could indulge in an activity we both enjoy." With Ares continuing to caress her breasts, Xena's nipples hardened and pressed against her shift. Since they now stood out, Ares concentrated his fingers on keeping them stimulated. She let a soft moan escape her lips.

Xena enjoyed their recent night together and was enjoying the attention Ares was giving her now but a repeat performance could be a mistake. She knew recent events in her life were hampering her judgment. Xena did all she could to muster what self-control she had left to stop this before it went too far.

"T-Take me back to my mother's tavern, n-now," she gasped.

"Are you sure about that Xena?" Ares ran the tips of his fingers across her hardening nipples.

"Yes," Xena gasped. "I don't want this to become a habit." With the little resistance she had left, she removed Ares' hands from her breasts then stood up straight again.

"Now Xena, that's your mind talking." Ares now stood in front of her and tossed aside the red cloak wrapped around her body. "Your body is clearly not talking the same language." She didn't resist when he took hold of her right hand, brought it to his lips and kissed the back. She still showed no resistance when he took her hand and slowly ran it down the front of his body. Despite the leather, she could still feel the hardness of the muscles in his chest and stomach. Ares stared at Xena's face as he guided her hand down his hard body, watching the desire build in her features as her gaze followed the path of her hand.

"I would say my body is speaking the same language as yours." Ares ran her hand over the impressive bulge growing in his crotch and let it linger there. Xena reveled in the feel of his hardening member against her hand despite its leather confinement. A wetness started to build in her nether region. She thought of his hard member penetrating her, filling her, his intense thrusting, the pounding, taking her to monumental heights of pleasure only he as a god could get her to reach.

Her carnal thoughts were interrupted when Ares removed her hand from his crotch, pulled her roughly to him and hungrily claimed her mouth. Xena knew she should push him away but her body had other ideas. Ares broke the kiss to tease an ear. She knew she had to stop this but her body would only respond to his touch, it felt so good and her body craved more. She couldn't hold back the moan, which escaped her lips.

"Stay and let our bodies communicate for us," Ares huskily whispered while teasing an earlobe. Xena closed her eyes as she gave into the pleasurable feelings Ares had aroused.

Xena had meant it when she said she did not want this to become a habit but her earlier resolve was rapidly crumbling. She had to admit she was under considerable stress from recent discoveries and that would most likely increase with the colossal task, which lay ahead of them. This would probably be the only time when the task didn't constantly occupy all of her thoughts. Ares was right. There was nothing more to do until she left tomorrow morning for Persia. And right now the task was rapidly fading from her mind as the only thought she focused on was having Ares' huge stiff member inside of her. It would do her some good to let this dark subject leave her mind for a few hours and use the time to engage in an activity she enjoyed with a partner who could definitely satisfy her.

"On second thought, I think I will stay a while longer," she breathed as her hands roamed Ares' back.

Ares stopped teasing her ear and reclaimed her mouth. Xena's passion now equaled his as she returned his kisses and wrapped her arms around his neck. Ares' tongue had pushed its way through her lips and now explored the inner walls of her mouth. Xena removed her arms from around Ares' neck and let her hands travel down his hard body until they rested on the growing bulge in his crotch, which they massaged. Ares began to moan deeply in his throat as the demand of his kisses grew. One of his strong hands had traveled under the bottom of Xena's shift and forcefully tore her undergarment from her body. His urgent need took Xena's desire up a notch. Quickly, she unfastened his pants to free his member from its leather confinement. Ares knew he was hard and ready as he waited for her to free him while he continued to hungrily claim her mouth. When the fastener was undone, Xena's hands pulled apart the front of his leather pants and his member sprang out with its surging hardness.

Their hungry kisses continued as Ares hoisted Xena up onto his hard member. A muffled moan escaped Xena’s lips as he entered her. Snug and secure she wrapped her legs around him. When they broke their last kiss, Xena stared into Ares' deep brown eyes filled with a desire she was sure mirrored her own eyes.

"I think we should continue this in my bedchamber," Ares said in a husky tone.

"Uh huh," was all Xena could say as she continued to stare into his eyes, having lost her voice, reveling in the feel of him inside her.

Their lips met again in hungry kisses as they immediately vanished in a puff of white smoke. They reappeared in Ares' bedchamber on his bed. Their lips were still joined, as were their bodies. Xena's arms and legs were wrapped around Ares as he lay atop her, having already removed their clothes with a thought. The demand of their kisses grew as Ares began to thrust in and out building to a rhythm. As he set the pace, Xena joined in his rhythmic thrusting. Their bodies moved sensuously as one as they steadily approached mutual release. They gazed into each other’s eyes and both knew this was only the beginning to a night of passion, which lay ahead of them.

Hope stood on the beach and gazed at the mountain range in front of her. A volcano in the mountains was violently rumbling and letting off steam from its large peak, the steam's whiteness a stark contrast to the clear black sky. Her journey had been long but she had finally reached her father's base of operations on the deserted isle of Thera. A man in a red robe holding a large torch was walking towards her. There was a huge smile etched on his face.

"I am Cratos, one of your father's trusted priests," the man said when he finally stood before her. "It is an honor to finally meet you Hope. Your father knew you would come."

"Well then, let's not keep him waiting any longer."

Hope followed Cratos as he led her over a mountain trail towards an old temple Dahak used for a base. Soon, she would be face to face with her father. Hope had been able to communicate with Dahak but she never knew what he actually looked like and was somewhat nervous about finally seeing him. She had also changed a lot since their last communication and was worried he might sense the differences. In a few moments, Hope would have to give the performance of her life to fool a father she was finally meeting in the flesh for the first time.

The rumbles from the volcano on Thera could not compare to the anger that was boiling inside the isle's dark resident. Dahak's serpent form had returned so he was once again covered in a hooded cloak. He was pacing the main hall of the temple he used as a base. Minos stood nearby as he listened to his dark lord vent about the disruption of his attempt to claim Xena.

"Xena would be with me right now if Ares hadn't awakened her from the dream," he said through gritted teeth. "Damn him!" he hissed. "He has interfered for the last time!"

Minos saw a chance to calm Dahak and spoke. "Dark One, you must not let yourself get so worked up or the transformation back to your true form will take much longer." Minos could see his dark lord was taking his words to heart as he slowed his pacing. "It's only a matter of time before Xena is by your side where she belongs."

"You are right Minos." Dahak stopped his pacing and looked at his closest confidant. "I should be putting the finishing touches on my plan which will eliminate Ares and the other Olympian gods."

Minos nodded in agreement. Just then, Cratos entered the temple's main hall. "Lord Dahak, your daughter Hope has arrived."

"I knew she would come," Dahak said with a pleased smile. "Send her in."

Cratos bowed and left the main hall. A moment later, Hope walked into the hall.

"Father?" she asked hesitantly.

"Yes Hope, it's me," the hooded figure said. Hope walked over and momentarily just stood there gazing up at her father whose face was obscured by the hood before she hugged him. Minos stood nearby and watched the reunion between father and daughter. After their brief hug, Dahak introduced Hope and Minos to each other. Minos then left to give father and daughter a chance to talk.

"I don't understand father," Hope said when they were alone. "After so many years without a body, why do you choose to hide behind a hooded cloak when you have one again?"

"I hide behind this cloak because despite having my freedom and a body again, I am still afflicted with a curse put on me centuries ago." Dahak slowly removed the large hood and allowed her to see his face.

Hope was shocked by his appearance but tried not to show it as she gazed at him. His head was completely bald and greenish-brown in color. His skin appeared to be scaly in texture. He had no visible ears. His eyes were a glowing yellow with red slits. Hope touched his face with her right hand. It felt cold and scaly.

"We finally get to see each other face to face," she said with a faint smile while gazing up into his glowing yellow eyes.

Dahak knew she was disgusted by what she saw. He moved away from her hand touching his face. "I know my appearance is a surprise but I don't always look like this."

"You said it was a curse, who would do such a thing to you father?"

"The so-called epitome of love, The Creator," he replied with venomous contempt. "He didn't approve of the changes I made to his precious earth, so not only did he reduce my powers but he cursed the beauty he gave me with this serpent form." He saw a look of pity in her eyes and that was something he wouldn't tolerate from anyone. "But I have not let this wretched curse on my being stop me from reclaiming what was taken from me. I will have my power back and I will be whole again." Dahak had been momentarily distracted by Hope's curiosity regarding his appearance and now voiced the question, which had been in the back of his mind since her arrival. "What happened to the destroyer you were carrying?"

"I miscarried the child when mother pushed me into the lava pit," she bitterly replied. "I'm sorry father."

"This is most unfortunate. But we can be thankful the child's killer is dead. Gabrielle served her purpose when she gave me you. After that, she just became a nuisance." A scaly hand cupped Hope's chin and brought her face up to meet his gaze. "I still have you and there will be other destroyers."

"As you wish father."

"I do have some news that will surprise you." Dahak released her face. Hope looked up expectantly. Dahak looked directly into her eyes and spoke slowly. "I have another child Hope...you have a sister". Dahak paused for a moment. Hope had a genuine look of shock on her face. "It's Xena...Xena is my daughter.’

"Xena is your daughter," she repeated making sure she heard him right. "How is this possible?"

"Her mother Cyrene was a member of my cult in her youth. Unfortunately, she discovered my true intentions, left the cult and settled into a peaceful village existence with a husband and a child. But she always stayed in my thoughts and I vowed I would see her again," Dahak said. "My powers are not limited to a single pantheon like the other gods, so I took the form of her husband and visited her one night. I didn't find out our night together produced a child until years later. My attempts to claim Xena were disrupted by my enemies. By the time I regained enough power to make my presence known in this world, Xena had already turned her back on her dark heritage. But now that I'm back, that will change."

Hope finally understood her father's fascination with the warrior woman, which had always puzzled her. This discovery refueled the animosity she had for Xena. Hope had always believed Xena took all of Gabrielle's love, which meant her mother had no love left for her. But Hope had never doubted she was the center of her father's world. News of Xena being Dahak's daughter too shook Hope's confidence in her importance to her father. Their relationship would now change. She would now have to share the one person who had been only hers with someone who despised her. The thought stirred anger in Hope. But she knew better than to voice her resentment regarding this development to her father. He would not tolerate any disruptions in his plans by personal gripes, so she chose her words carefully before she spoke.

"Why was I not told about Xena sooner?"

"At our last meeting, I sensed your hostility towards her, and didn't think it was something you needed to know at that moment," he replied. "But now that I'm here and will soon establish my kingdom, the time was right for you both to know."

"You have already seen Xena and told her you’re her father? That could not have gone well."

"At first, Xena vehemently denied my claim but a talk with her mother verified I spoke the truth. This news has intensified her hatred towards me. Now she knows her own father was behind the deaths of the two people she loved most. But her anger did allow the darkness within to take control and she would have been mine if not for Ares' interference, but that won't happen again. He will die along with the other Olympian gods."

Hope was not surprised to find out Ares was disrupting her father's plans regarding Xena. She knew quite well of the war god’s obsession with the warrior woman. Hope had obeyed her father's wishes and joined with Ares to create the destroyer but she never really liked him. She had also figured out he wanted her dead that fateful day in her father’s temple when he half-heartedly defended her against Xena and the Hind’s blood dagger. Hope no longer had a taste for taking mortal lives but whatever her father had planned for Ares and the other gods was just fine with her.

Hope's mind was still registering the news of Xena being her sister when a sickening ramification came into view. "Xena's hatred for me must have increased as well. She now knows her half-sister killed her only son."

"For now, Xena does hate us both. But that hatred can be used to fuel the darkness within and once it permanently takes hold she will no longer care about what was done to Gabrielle or Solan." There was an air of unwavering confidence in his voice. He stared directly into Hope's green eyes. "I am more concerned about your hostility towards her. Soon all three of us will be together and I don't want petty rivalries getting in the way of our all too important goal."

Hope was a little miffed her father was concerned about her hatred of Xena when she was the one whose hatred of them could ruin all they had both worked for but knew better than to show any anger regarding her father's statement. "I know all too well how hard you have worked and how long you have waited for this moment father. I would never let my personal feelings towards Xena stand in the way of establishing your kingdom."

Hope was doing her best trying to act unfazed by the news about Xena but Dahak could see she was somewhat shaken. He gently laid his hands on her shoulders. "Xena being my daughter too does not change your part in my plans," he reassured. "We have always shared the same thoughts but Xena is different from you and me. She has lived as a mortal all of her life and has had their silly notions about right and wrong drilled into her head. She strayed from those beliefs once before and this time she will abandon them permanently. Because of the connection to her friend and son, letting go of these beliefs may be difficult for her." He gently cupped Hope's chin with a scaly hand as he stared into her eyes. "I am counting on you to help her with the transition. Can you do that?"

"Yes father."

"Good," he said with a smile. "Now go join Cratos and he will fill you in on what we have accomplished during your absence".

Hope did as her father commanded. When she was outside the temple's main hall, she let out a sigh of relief. She had successfully met with her father without him noticing any changes in her. It had been a lot easier than she thought. During their meeting, Hope really didn't have to pretend to have dark feelings. They were actually genuine. She assumed the meeting with her father would be filled with talk of his plans for the world, overthrowing the gods and the countless deaths of innocent mortals, a thought that now sickened her. But their conversation had centered around Xena instead.

Over the past three months, Hope had tried to make changes in her life and one of those was conquering the hostility she felt towards Xena. But finding out Xena was her half-sister had brought back all those dark feelings she had for the warrior woman. But at least they masked the changes she didn't want her father to discover. Hope was not only overcome with dark feelings on hearing the news about Xena. A sadness had crept into her heart. Now that she was ruled by a conscience, Hope had tremendous guilt over what she did to Solan to hurt Xena. And now that she knew the boy had been her nephew, she wondered if she would ever be able to forgive herself. Despite all her hostilities regarding Xena, Hope just wanted to speak with her privately. She had a secret she knew would give Xena tremendous joy and maybe in some small way makeup for some of the terrible things her newfound conscience brought to the forefront.

Hope's thoughts were interrupted when she saw Minos walking towards her heading back into the main hall she had just left. Hope did not like the way he was looking at her. She pulled the collar of the frock she wore tighter around her neck. Minos' gaze seemed to rake over her body, penetrating through her clothes. Hope knew what was running through his mind. She returned his gaze with a harshness to dissuade any intentions he might have towards her. But by the look on his face, her gaze seemed to amuse more than dissuade. Hope decided to let the moment pass and went to find Cratos.

When Minos entered the hall, Dahak was sitting on his throne.

"How did your talk with Hope go?"

"It went better than expected. I don't think Hope's resentment regarding Xena is going to be a problem. But there was something different about her, something I can't quite put my finger on right now."

"You don't think she could be the mother? I was told she and Hope look exactly alike."

"No, No, I am certain she is Hope," Dahak firmly replied. "But somehow she's changed and I want her watched."

"I would be happy to watch her for you Dark One."

"The job is yours then," Dahak said. "How did everything go on Kos? Did we pass inspection?"

"The Olympian gods sent someone to investigate the Disciples just like you anticipated so we were prepared. They saw nothing that would threaten their power and left thinking we are just another phony cult out to dupe silly mortals."

"Excellent!" Dahak had a pleased smile. "Since all of level one is now free, we can shut down the Disciples operation which should keep the Olympians off our backs for good. Now that the lava plants have reached maturity, we can use them to free levels two and three. The plants can be dispersed throughout the major cities-states right under the noses of our enemies. They won't know what's happening until it's too late." Dahak had a sinister smile on his serpent face.

"It will be as you wish Dark One." Minos had a smile of his own. He bowed to Dahak, then turned to leave to carry out his evil lord's dark plans when he stopped abruptly and faced Dahak once again. "Dark One, how did you know the Olympians would be sending someone to investigate our operations on Kos?"

"A little black bird with sharp red claws informed me of the visit."

Minos had a puzzled look on his face in response to Dahak's answer.

"You will fully understand when you meet her," Dahak assured.

The puzzled look on Minos' face was replaced by a devilish grin. Dahak obviously had a spy within the Olympian pantheon and she was someone Minos couldn't wait to meet. He left his lord to his solitude.

After Minos' departure, Dahak sat on his throne in deep meditation over his plan. Despite the small setback regarding Xena, everything was going smoothly. Soon, all of his comrades would be free, he would have both his children with him, and he would establish his kingdom by ushering in an age of darkness, which would be eternal.

After a few hours of hot and wild sex, both participants were sated and laid in each other’s arms. Xena had her head resting on one of Ares' shoulders. Both were in a talkative mood and still feeling quite amorous.

"I must say, you are taking the news about Dahak being your father rather well. I was never really sure how you would react, that's why I never told you."

"No one gets to choose their parents and brooding over who my father is won't solve anything," Xena said. "Right now, I don't want to think about him being my father and only want to focus on killing him."

"That's all well and good Xena, but you can't leave out what being his daughter means. Your father was not only a Watcher but also Chief Guardian. And that makes you half-god. You have always had amazing abilities but you have only scratched the surface. There is so much more and you could use those powers to make the world a better place. That is what you've always wanted."

"I can still make the world a better place without using the godly powers I have inherited from my father," she said. "It may have only been a dream, but I experienced that power and didn't like the way it made me feel. Such power would be too much for me to handle in the real world."

"You are selling yourself short. With the right teacher, I'm sure you would adapt to your new found powers."

"Well, it is a mute point now, because I have made up my mind and don't ever want to tap such dark powers again," she stated firmly.

Xena knew exactly who he thought would be the right teacher, himself. She could almost hear the wheels turning in his head, planning a scheme to get her back, as she lay next to him. Xena knew Ares all too well. With their alliance and her finding out Dahak is her father, she knew by his very nature he would use these recent events to make an attempt to win her back. In the last few hours, she had willingly given herself to him but she was still in control and would disrupt any scheme he had in the works on making their temporary alliance permanent.

Xena lazily ran a hand over Ares' hairy chest. "I didn't mention it earlier but Dahak did have some rather interesting things to say about you."

"Oh really? What did he say?"

"He talked about your attempt to end my life when I was a child and how he came up with the perfect way to make sure you never tried again." Xena now lay directly on top of Ares and stared into his deep brown eyes. "He did seem rather pleased with himself. I never got the chance to ask him exactly what he did so I'm asking you."

"It was just talk on his part," Ares said while playing with her hair. "He really couldn't do anything to me. He was bodiless and trapped in heated earth after all."

"I believe it was more than just talk. Dahak was not happy with your attempt to kill me and there was clearly a gleam in his eyes when he talked of stopping your attempts permanently. He may have been trapped but he could have gotten a devoted follower to do his bidding...Is that what happened? He had Minos do something to you?"

"That's ridiculous. Minos was mortal. What could he possibly do to a god?"

"I don't know you tell me," she replied.

"There is nothing to tell." The irritation was clear in his voice and etched on his face.

"I believe there is but I will drop it…for now." Xena looked at him curiously. "For someone who insists there is nothing to tell, you certainly did get ruffled. I guess I will have to calm you down."

Xena teased Ares' right ear with her tongue then proceeded to leave a trail of soft kisses on his neck down to his chest. With her tongue, she leisurely traced a circle around a nipple before she glided her tongue over it. She repeated these actions with the other nipple.

"Ohhh, that feels soooo good," Ares said in a husky tone.

"Well, there's more to come," she said in a sultry tone. Xena continued to lavish Ares' body with feathery kisses and leisurely licks. One of her hands had traveled down his body and momentarily held his member, the thumb gliding down its impressive length then across the head, just letting him know what he could expect. Ares eagerly awaited her tongue caressing his member, preparing him for sweet release, which would come in her luscious mouth.

Xena's kisses and licks had reached his stomach, when she abruptly stopped all loving ministrations to his body. "I can't do this," she declared.

"What do you mean you can't?" he asked through labored breathing. A fire was smoldering in his groin and he did not want it put out before it was set ablaze.

"My mind keeps going back to Dahak, Minos and what they must have done. You say there is nothing to tell but I can't shake the feeling there is more and now I can't concentrate on pleasuring you. Since that is the case, I really should leave." Xena rolled off Ares' body and stood by the side of the bed. "Produce my clothes and send me back now," she demanded. Her hands were placed firmly on her hips, as she stood completely nude before him.

Ares let out a disappointed sigh as he stared at her well-toned nude form. And by the firm look etched on Xena’s beautiful face, he knew she was serious. The fire building in his groin had been squelched. He suppressed a smile. Xena was playing the tease. She knew he wanted to continue their indulgence in carnal pleasures but that would not happen until he told her what he was hiding. What she wanted to know was not one of his finer moments and he wished it were something he could forget but knew he never would. It would always be with him and would always be with her for that matter so she did have a right to know. Besides, what he revealed would not put Dahak in a better light in her eyes and only add to her hatred for him from which he could benefit.

"You are not going to be any fun until I confirm your belief Dahak did something to me...well he did...and now I guess I have to tell you exactly what he did." Ares grabbed her wrists and pulled her back on the bed. "But first, you must promise what I tell you will go no further than this bed."

"You have my word."

"And after I tell all, you should be able to concentrate on pleasuring me right?" he asked with a sly grin.

Xena raised an eyebrow. "I would say it's a guarantee," she said in a sensuous tone.

Ares used the plush pillows to prop himself into a sitting position. Xena lounged on him with her head resting against his chest as he began his tale...

"Minos knew his actions would mark him with death in my eyes but his fanatical devotion to Dahak made him fearless of dying," Ares said. "He did go into hiding though and I didn't carry out my threat of death until he tried to make contact with you after your encounter with Caesar. I made sure he met his end slowly and painfully. Strife had been watching you since Minos and I parted ways. I never told him about the bond between your life and mine but he was instructed to keep you alive at all cost. When you ventured out of my area of jurisdiction, I called in favors owed from other pantheons and they kept an eye on you. There were close calls, Julius Caesar and Ming Tsu are two that come to mind, but you stayed alive."

Xena knew Ares' tale would be interesting despite his earlier protests there was no tale to tell but what she heard truly stunned her. Would her life ever be what it was after so many shocking discoveries? She wondered how many more were still out there waiting for her to uncover them. She now knew why she could feel his presence whenever he was around. Xena thought of the dark ceremony for which she had no memory. She glanced at the palm of her right hand. She thought of the mark that mirrored the one put on Ares' palm, which had disappeared as quickly as his, had but it was obviously still effecting her life to this day.

"I know you saw the mark on your palm left over from the dark ceremony but how did you really know your life would end if I died?" she asked now facing Ares and straddling his legs.

"I didn't really know but I wasn't about to take any chances," Ares replied while caressing her thighs. "In the beginning, I kept close tabs on your life. But as the years went by, I began to doubt the bond's power but that changed when you did die."

Xena remembered the incident quite well. She had been protecting a young Celtic girl when she sustained injuries that ended her life. She would have stayed dead if Gabrielle and Autolycus hadn't helped her find ambrosia, which returned her spirit to her body.

"What happened to you when I died?"

"I lost my powers, which was not fun considering my last experience when that happened," he replied. "At first, I didn't know what was happening to me, then I remembered Mino's dark spell and the bond I shared with you. I knew you must have died but there was nothing I could do because soon after, I felt my own life force slowly dying. I secluded myself in this fortress and awaited the end. I guess because of the bond, I could feel your spirit and knew you hadn't crossed to the other side yet. At that moment, I hoped you would remember what I once told you about ambrosia being able to return the souls of the recent dead to their bodies and use that resourceful mind of yours to figure out a way back. When you did just that, you saved both our lives."

Xena gazed at Ares with a new understanding. She now knew why he was reluctant to reveal this tale to her. Ares prided himself on being the master of manipulation and in complete control. This was probably the only time in his immortal existence when someone else clearly had all the control. He had been forced to participate in a dark ritual, for which he had no memory as well, which now kept his immortality in constant peril. He also had come very close to dying, something he thought he would never have to experience.

"Discovering me seems to be the worst thing to ever happen in your immortal existence," she said. "Instead of finding the ultimate warrior to conquer the world in your name, you received a mark of death for which there appears to be no escape."

"I could never see discovering you as a bad thing." Ares brought her hands to his lips and kissed their backs. "Living forever can get somewhat monotonous and you brought a fire to my life which I hadn't felt for centuries. As for the bond, I haven't ruled out the possibility it can be broken but if it can't, I will just have to persuade you to become immortal." He pulled Xena to him and kissed her passionately. When he leisurely broke the kiss, he stared into her eyes. "Dahak formed this bond to ensure I wouldn't try to stop his plans. He also thought you would willingly join him when he returned. Instead we have joined forces and together we will kill him."

With Ares' last words, Xena claimed his mouth with hers. Their tongues parried for a while until she broke away to caress his body with feathery light kisses which left him breathless and rekindled the earlier fire in his groin. When she reached his stiffened member, she let her tongue take over, which had him moaning with pleasure, leading him down the road to sweet release which would come in her mouth.

Xena did manage to get some sleep. Before Ares sent her home, she got a sword to replace the one she lost in her fight with Dahak in the caves on Kos. Xena got a welcomed surprise when she returned to her room above her mother's tavern. There was a shiny object sticking out of the blankets on the bed. When she pulled back the blankets, she saw her chakram, which she had to leave behind when she made her escape in the mountains on Kos. Then she remembered in her "dream" Dahak returned it to her. Ares had been right when he said what she experienced was more than a dream.

In these early morning hours, Xena decided to relax with a hot bath. As she lounged in the tub, she thought about what was happening between her and Ares. With Gabrielle gone, he was the only one who truly knew her. The alliance they had formed to destroy Dahak had brought them closer together than they had been in years. She had enjoyed the rekindled intimacy but knew she was walking on dangerous ground reliving a tumultuous time from her past. Gabrielle's death and discovering Dahak was her father clearly had effects on the recent choices she had made in her life.

The rekindled passion with Ares had invigorated and strengthened her during a time when she needed it most. But if she continued to act on that passion, the consequences for her could be just as heartbreaking as before. For both their sakes, she would not go to his bed again. They would both have to pool their energies and focus on destroying Dahak. After they defeated Dahak, she was sure their relationship would go back to what it was, her foiling his schemes to rule the world and get her back.

Cyrene and Joxer were both in the kitchen at sunrise. Neither had got much sleep and decided to rise early. Both had heavy thoughts on their minds. Joxer's mind was consumed with what happened to Xena during her first confrontation with Dahak. He wondered what action she would now take to stop the one great evil that had unfortunately entered the world. Cyrene was more concerned with her daughter's emotional state. Xena was just coming to terms with Gabrielle's death when Cyrene confessed her real father was Dahak, the evil god responsible for the loss of her best friend. Cyrene knew Xena was strong but also knew she had her limits and feared they had finally been reached.

"I sure hope that injury to Xena's sword arm doesn't leave any permanent damage." Joxer sat atop a table, swinging his legs as he tore apart a round loaf of bread. "It would really lessen her fighting ability and be just awful now that Dahak is here." He shoved a piece of the torn loaf into his mouth.

"The town physician said you did a good job stitching the arm and it was healing nicely, so she should regain full use once it completely heals." Cyrene was cutting up several chickens that would be fed to tavern patrons later that day. "But I think she should leave this Dahak matter to someone else."

"And who do you think should handle Dahak in my place mother?" Xena stood in the kitchen doorway and now walked over to the table on which Joxer sat. She was dressed in her leathers and armor. Over a shoulder was draped a saddlebag, which she deposited on the table.

Cyrene and Joxer were both surprised to see Xena up and in perfect condition.

"Wow! You look great!" Joxer declared. "Hey, what happened to the large cut I stitched on your arm?"

"I will tell you in a minute but first I want to hear who mother thinks should handle Dahak in my place." Xena folded her arms across her chest as she stared at her mother waiting for a response.

Cyrene had stopped cutting the chicken when Xena made her presence known and had stood in silence staring at her daughter. "I think you should send a message to Hercules and let him handle Dahak. You were almost killed." She wanted to say more but left it at that since Joxer was in the room.

"I will admit, Dahak caught me off-guard by using painful memories which were still fresh to distract me but he won't be so lucky the next time." Xena had a hard edge to her voice that matched the look in her eyes. "But you do make a good point about Hercules being brought into this mother. I do plan on asking for his help which means I will probably have to be the buffer between him and his brother."

"His brother? Ares...you joined him to fight Dahak? Xena, do you really think that was wise?" Cyrene’s last encounter with the God of War was still fresh in her mind. He had convinced The Furies to punish Xena with madness until she avenged her ‘father's death' by killing his murderer, her own mother. Cyrene knew when Xena was a warlord, her army fought for the glory of Ares. Now that Xena fought for good, the war god was willing to do whatever it took to get her back and this frightened Cyrene.

"Yes mother, I have allied myself with Ares to stop a common foe. And to answer your earlier question Joxer, Ares is the one who healed my arm so I would be at my best when we take on Dahak."

Joxer had silently sat on the table, eating the rest of the loaf in his hands while mother and daughter exchanged words. He understood Cyrene's worry over Xena teaming up with Ares. The God of War scared him most of the time. But Joxer knew Ares was the one who had informed Xena of Dahak's arrival. He had seen her disrupt Ares' schemes on many occasions and was confident she knew what she was doing regarding their alliance.

"Your dislike of Ares is understandable mother. He wanted me to kill you after all. But I have known him long enough to know how to handle him. Besides, he has in his possession the key to destroying Dahak and there is no way I'm going to be left out now." Xena grabbed a cloth sack and began to fill it with food to take on the journey ahead of her. "I am leaving for Persia this very morning to bring back an old friend who can help us stop Dahak permanently."

"Persia!" Joxer said with childlike excitement. "I have never been there before. I'm coming too. I'll get the horses ready." He hopped off the table and left the kitchen headed for the stables.

"I really think you should reconsider what you are doing." Cyrene wiped her hands off on a damp cloth then came over to the table where Xena stood. "You are too close to this situation and should let someone with no ties handle it."

Xena stopped filling the sack and stared at her mother. "You think finding out Dahak is my father has clouded my judgment, don't you?" Cyrene stood silent. "Well, you are wrong mother. Finding out Dahak is my father has completely cleared the haze that clouded my mind for three months. Thanks to Dahak, my focus is stronger than ever and with it, I will kill him." There was a hard look in Xena's eyes which somewhat frightened Cyrene.

"Fighting your father may unleash the monster within you so want to suppress. And now you have allied yourself with another evil god who craves for you to be that monster again."

"I made a promise that monster wouldn't return and I intend to keep it. And Ares is not evil. It may be hard for you to believe, but he does have limits on how far he will go to get what he wants unlike my father." Xena put a hand over her mother’s that rested on the table. "I wish you would stop worrying. I have allied myself with Ares but I don't fully trust him. Like I said before, I can handle him and any underlying schemes he undoubtedly has planned."

"Can you really handle Ares?" Cyrene stared hard into her daughter’s eyes. "You broke ties with him three years ago yet he continuously tries to get you back, using whatever means necessary and you shrug off his appalling actions. It's like he has some sort of power over you."

"Really mother, that's not..."

"I saw him in your room last night," Cyrene interrupted. "I was coming to check on you, when I heard voices. I cracked the door and saw you talking with Ares then you both vanished. I know you were with him until the early morning hours because I checked your room before sunrise and you weren't back yet."

Xena had never told Gabrielle the full extent of her relationship with Ares and she was not about to reveal all to her mother. "Ares and I had a lot of planning to do which lasted until early this morning."

Cyrene took hold of Xena's chin and turned her face from side to side, then stared into her crystal blue eyes. "It's been some years, but I can still recognize the glow of passion when I see it Xena."

"Mother!" Xena quickly removed her chin from her mother's grasp. A blush was forming in her cheeks. She felt like a child again and her mother had just caught her doing something she shouldn't.

"The glowing face, the sparkling eyes, you had that very same look the morning you came back after storming out of the tavern. I thought finding the will to live again was the cause but there was obviously more to it. I never did ask where you spent that night. Were you with Ares?"

Xena knew denying it was pointless. "Yes," she grudgingly admitted.

Cyrene let out a disapproving sigh. "You are a grown woman Xena and can live your life the way you see fit, but getting involved with Ares again is the worst thing you can do."

"My involvement with Ares is not what you think mother."

"Well, I think you slept with him. Are you denying it?" Cyrene stared directly into her daughter's eyes.

"You said it yourself, I am a grown woman and can live my life the way I see fit."

"I am not trying to pry into your personal life Xena," Cyrene assured. "It's just that you have been riding an emotional tidal wave...Gabrielle's death...discovering Dahak is your father. You won't admit it, but these events have effected your judgment...they would anyone's. Under normal circumstances, you probably would be able to handle Ares, but you are clearly vulnerable and he has used the situation to seduce you, and with this alliance, you will be in constant contact with him and..."

"I know you are only voicing motherly concerns and I love you for that but there really is no need to worry," Xena interrupted. "Ever since I left Ares, his objective has been to get me back but that will never happen."

Xena let out a weary sigh. "I know I was dancing with danger when I sought comfort in the arms of the god who should be my enemy but at the time it felt right. I regained the confidence, focus and strength I need to go on with my life and much to Ares' disappointment, continue the good I started with Gabrielle. Because of that, Ares has my debt of thanks." Xena's voice took on a somber tone when she spoke her next words. "When I was getting dressed this morning, I realized continuing to turn to Ares for comfort would lead to no good for either of us and only result in more heartache and I won't go through that again."

As she listened to her daughter's last words, Cyrene noticed the misty look in Xena's eyes. There was so much about her daughter's life she didn't know. Maybe someday, Xena would open up to her about those lost years.

The somber look left Xena's face and was replace with a slight smile. "Besides mother, you know I am determined to continue the good I started with Gabrielle so that means Ares and I will remain on opposite sides, fighting each other, eliminating any chance of us ever getting together again, so you have nothing to fear."

Cyrene had clearly expressed her objections to this alliance with Ares and knew there was nothing more she could say. But another option had been voiced earlier and she decided to give it a try.

"Uh Xena, you mentioned something about asking for help from Hercules."

"Yes mother, I do plan on asking for help from Hercules when I return from Persia."

"I know Hercules will be more than willing to join this fight against Dahak, so couldn't you just bow out? I mean he and Ares should be able to handle this. They are half-god and god after all."

Xena had to laugh at her mother's suggestion. "That would never work mother. Ares and Hercules would kill each other instead of Dahak. I have a way with both and would be the best buffer between the two."

Xena saw the disappointed look on her mother's face. She took her mother's hands in hers. "There is probably nothing I can say that will erase your fears."

"As a mother, it's part of the job description," Cyrene said with a faint smile.

"Even if I wanted no part in the fight against Dahak, he has already put me in it. He is determined to have me by his side when he establishes his kingdom." Xena saw the look of fear in her mother's eyes. "But that will never happen," she assured her mother. "Dahak has done far too many things for me to ever join him, not just to you and Gabrielle but to someone else I loved."

"Dahak hurt someone else? Who was it Xena?"

"I can't go into that right now but when this is all over, we will sit down and have a long talk about that person, I promise." Xena squeezed her mother's hands in hers, then brought one to her lips and kissed the back. "I have to go now," she said softly. She released her mother's hands, picked up the saddlebag, the food sack then headed for the kitchen door.

"Be careful," Cyrene said softly with tears in her eyes to Xena's retreating form.

When Xena reached the stables, Joxer had both Argo and Otis ready for the journey ahead of them. Ares showed up when they were on the road leading out of Amphipolis. He had agreed to transport them to the border between the Olympian pantheon and the Persian pantheon taking several days off their journey. They would now reach Persepolis, Persia's capital and the home of her old friend Cyrus, in less than a week.

She was falling. The heat of the stifling air roasted her lungs when she inhaled. The smell of sulfur filled her nostrils. She gazed downward, her destination, the fiery orange liquid that violently bubbled below. Continuous eruptions sounded around her. The fiery liquid came closer and closer. Now it touched her, started to consume her flesh, whose burnt smell began to fill her nostrils. The agonizing pain was too much and a blood-curdling scream poured from her lips...

Phaedra was sitting in her bed screaming. Suddenly, the vision of the lava lifted from her eyes and she saw Castor sitting on the side of her bed grasping her arms trying to get her to snap out of it. She finally looked into his eyes and started to cry. Castor embraced her as she shook from a bone chilling sweat that covered her body. As he held Phaedra, her crying started to cease.

"Are you all right?" he asked with deep concern in his voice.

"I will be fine in a minute," Phaedra gasped through sniffles. She cleared her throat and broke from his embrace. "Don't worry about me Castor, you can go ahead with your chores."

Castor knew it was pointless to ask her about the nightmare. Sometimes she could be just as guarded as her mother with private thoughts. "Well...okay, if you're sure you are fine," he said with some of the earlier worry he felt leaving him. "I left you something for breakfast, so you can help yourself when you're ready." Castor got up from the side of the bed and left the cottage to do his chores.

After Castor's departure, Phaedra ate what he left her for breakfast. The nightmare had been intense but it hadn't effected her appetite. She got dressed and went about her own chores. Throughout the day, her mind kept going back to her nightmare. Even in her waking hours, it stayed with her. Since Hope's departure, Phaedra had gone through another age metamorphosis, which put her at sixteen. With the metamorphous had come the disturbing nightmare. Castor had tried to get her to talk about it but she wouldn't.

Phaedra thought she was being silly letting a dream scare her but it seemed so real. She could actually feel pain in her body when the scorching lava began to burn it. But how could this be? She was born in Castor's cottage and had never been near a volcano so how could the dream be real? There was also the reoccurring image of a woman dressed like a warrior wearing brown leather with armor. She had long black hair and crystal blue eyes. Phaedra had no clue to the woman's identity and doubted she truly existed.

With this latest occurrence of the lava nightmare came the image of the dark haired woman again. But this time in her nightmare, Phaedra yelled out the woman's name, which was Xena. She no longer believed the woman to be just a figure in her nightmare but a real person. Phaedra couldn't explain it but somehow, she felt a connection to this warrior woman named Xena.

Later that day, when Castor returned to the cottage, Phaedra decided to share with him the nightmare, which was disturbing her sleep.

"I can understand why this nightmare has you so upset Phaedra," Castor said after she retold the details of the dream to him. He sat across from her at the table as they ate their dinner. "What you described would certainly be a horrible way to die. But it's probably just your imagination working overtime in your dreams."

"In the beginning, I thought that way too but every night, I keep having the same nightmare and the burning pain seems so real," Phaedra said. "Then there's the vision of the warrior woman and I am sure she's not a figment of my imagination." Castor had a look of genuine interest on his face as Phaedra gave him a description of the warrior woman with raven hair and crystal blue eyes.

"Does this warrior woman you see in your nightmare happen to have a name?" Castor anxiously asked while staring into Phaedra's green eyes.

"Yes, her name is Xena," she replied slowly, somewhat disturbed by the expression on his face.

"Xena," he repeated more for himself than for her benefit. He bowed his head then stared at her again. "Did Hope reveal to you what we talked about because I knew such a woman, as you described, long ago?"

"No, she never told me what you talked about. You mean this warrior woman in my dreams is actually real and you know her?"

"I did know her but I haven't seen her in years. We were both different people then. I was a warrior in her army. From what I have heard, she has also given up the warrior life as well. Xena now fights the people she use to be like. Protecting those who use to be her victims. I always did like her and I'm glad she finally left that life."

Phaedra was surprised to discover Castor had once been a warrior. He had the size for it but she just couldn't picture him with a sword in his hand. The man sitting before her seemed so gentle. She couldn't imagine him killing anyone. But Phaedra was relieved to know her feelings about the woman from her nightmare being a real person were correct.

"I can't explain it but I feel a connection to this warrior woman," Phaedra said. "I never accepted my mother's reason for leaving us and I know you didn't either. I think this Xena could help with the problem my mother wouldn't share with us. That's why I must seek her out."

Castor stared at her, absorbing her words. "The godly blood running through your veins has probably given you insight into a woman you have never met before." Castor remembered Hope admitting her reason for leaving was due to her father who was a very powerful god. Castor knew Xena not only fought warlords but also had even gone head to head with gods. "From what I have heard about Xena's acts of heroism, she just may be the person to help us find your mother and deal with her problem. And I think I know where we might be able to get some information on Xena's whereabouts." There was a big smile on Castor's face, which mirrored the one on Phaedra's as she sat across from him at the table.

Before going to bed that night, both packed a few things they would need for the journey ahead of them. At daybreak, Castor and Phaedra left the small cottage in the forest and headed for Amphipolis.

Ares was at his temple in Thebes inspecting the scrolls from the twelfth and final gold chest his digging team had uncovered outside of Abdera, when Discord popped in to pay him a visit.

"Hey, what's up?" There was a rare cheeriness in her voice.

Ares hadn't seen her since their argument in his residence on Olympus. Her mood seemed to have improved since that time. "I'm working on solving the Dahak problem.’

Discord came over to the table where Ares was standing, thoroughly engrossed in an unrolled scroll. "The other gods aren't going to like this," she reminded him.

"The other gods have nothing to complain about," he said while continuing to gaze at the scroll. "What I'm doing will not break the six months no-war condition I made with them."

"Did Xena ever agree to that alliance you suggested?"

"Yes she did. Do you have a problem with that?" He stared at Discord and prepared himself for another jealous tirade.

"No, not really."

Ares eyed her curiously. "What's this, no tantrum about my so-called obsession with Xena and to move past her?"

"My earlier behavior was childish," she grudgingly admitted. "I finally realized I have no claim on you as you have none on me. You can see whoever you want and vice versa."

"Well, this change in attitude is quite sudden and too good to be true." His eyes had a look of suspicion as they studied her face. "You better not be formulating some devious plan to kill Xena or so help me...."

"Relax Ares, I have no such plan in the works," Discord assured. "Your personal affairs are strictly your business and I will stay out of them. But I do have one concern about this alliance. Everyone on Olympus knows of Xena's wondrous fetes but she is still only mortal."

"For your information, Xena is only half mortal."

"Really!" Discord’s interest was now piqued. "I know she foiled your madness scheme with the Furies by claiming you were her father but you denied it. Since it's not you, then who is it? Now don't tell me, let me guess." The petite goddess started to pace the floor in deep thought.

Ares really did not have time for this and decided to just blurt it out. "It's Dahak."

"Dahak! The one great evil! Wow!" she said with genuine surprise. "Well, I always thought she had an evil streak too intense to be only mortal. So Xena has joined up with you to kill her own father?"

"That's it in a nutshell," Ares said with a sly smile. "Father or not, he made a huge mistake directly attacking her son and best friend. Now she hates him and wants him dead."

"I guess that is a good reason to want him dead." Discord came back over to the table where Ares was standing, still thoroughly engrossed in the unrolled scroll. "So tell me about your plan to defeat Dahak."

Ares let out a weary sigh. "If I tell you, will you leave so I can get back to work?"

"Yesssss," she replied.

"This scroll is just one of many that will lead to Dahak's destruction."

Discord gazed at the scroll lying on the table before them. It was a map of some faraway land she had never heard of before. "And just how will this scroll do that?"

Ares shared with Discord his belief about Dahak really being a Watcher and the Chief Guardian named Metatron who lead the rebellion against the Creator. The scroll before them and others like it revealed the resting places of the pieces to Metatron's former sword, the Holy Saber, and once rejoined, had the power to destroy him.

"Dahak always seemed scary to me but him being this Chief Guardian Metatron sounds intriguing." Discord had a dreamy look in her eyes after Ares had finished summarizing his plan for her. "Since the Watchers are a taboo subject on Olympus I don't know much about them but I always did want to meet one."

"Xena has met her father. He has mesmerizing looks and charm, something you wouldn't expect for someone called the One Great Evil. But I have seen the pure evil side of him. Trust me, he is someone you do not want to meet."

"Well, I guess you would know since you are the only one on Olympus who has had dealings with him. And you really believe this sword, the Holy Saber, is the only thing that can destroy Dahak?"

"Yes I do," he stated with firm confidence. "The scrolls say the Holy Saber is a symbol of goodness made from pure light. Dahak is the epitome of evil known as the Dark One, so it stands to reason that pure light would have the power to destroy him."

"I know killing Dahak is very important to you but what will you truly gain from his death?"

Ares feigned a look of ignorance in response to Discord's question.

"Now Ares, I know you all too well. You wouldn't have this elaborate plan to take out Dahak permanently and not have included a major gain for yourself."

"If I did, why would I tell you?"

"Because, I am the only person you can tell who won't try to stop you. Besides, you know you are just dying to share the brilliance of that diabolical mind of yours."

Discord was right, he did have a plan that would give him power, but more than the power one had as King of the Olympian gods. Since Strife was history, Discord was the only one around with whom he could discuss such a plan, so he decided to share it with her.

Discord watched as Ares removed a small metal box from its resting-place beneath his throne. He sat the metal box on a table and proceeded to unlock its lid with a key he wore around his neck. Discord now stood next to him waiting in anticipation. When the lid finally opened, Ares picked up the contents, a scroll, which appeared to be very old.

"Oh great, another scroll." The disappointment was clear in Dicord’s voice.

"This is not just another scroll," Ares said while holding it up. "This scroll tells me how I can acquire power that goes beyond the boundaries of a single pantheon region to encompass the entire world."

Discord's interests was returning as Ares went on to explain the scroll's contents. According to the writings of the scroll, when the Creator crushed Metatron's rebellion, he transferred all of the power that came with being Chief Guardian of the earth into the Holy Saber. If the broken sword pieces are rejoined and the holder recites the words etched in the hilt, all of Metatron's power as Chief Guardian would belong to the holder. Ares would find the sword, claim Dahak's former powers locked inside it making himself the most powerful god on earth then he would use the Holy Saber to kill its former owner.

"I knew you had a plan to grab power in the works and I must say, this sounds like one of the better ones," she said with a sly smile. "I really like how you grab everything in one fell swoop. You claim the powers stored in the Holy Saber then you kill Dahak with his old sword."

"I like it too."

"When you get all of this power, please try to remember those who helped you in past schemes."

"Oh, I'll remember," he said. With his last words, Discord vanished in a puff of smoke.

After Discord's departure, Ares retrieved a sheet of parchment from inside the small box, which he hadn't bothered to do in her presence. He stared at its contents, which were the same words etched on the hilt of the Holy Saber, which were written in Celestic, but this was a Greek translation. Ares had seen the words a dozen times and could recite them by heart. During his self-imposed exile, he finished reading the Titan scrolls and discovered among them, one written entirely in Celestic with a drawing of the Holy Saber. Ares desperately wanted to get the scroll translated. A Titan would certainly know the ancient language spoken by its forefathers. Not all were trapped in the abyss of Tartarus. Some of the lesser ones were imprisoned beneath volcanoes around the Olympian territory. Ares visited a Titan named Rhoetus imprisoned under Mount Vesuvius on the Italian peninsula. Ares offered to free Rhoetus from his volcanic prison if he translated the scroll. Rhoetus knew Ares had no real intention of freeing him but he agreed to translate the Holy Saber scroll anyway. He would get pleasure knowing the Olympians who imprisoned him were ousted from power. Rhoetus only asked for one thing, which Ares was more than happy to do. When he claimed the power in the Holy Saber and ousted the other gods, Rhoetus wanted them imprisoned with him under Mt. Vesuvius.

Ares now had a translation of words on the hilt of the Holy Saber in a language he spoke. When his warriors in Abdera began uncovering the chests containing the scrolls written in Celestic, revealing the whereabouts of the sword, he wanted the Titan to translate these scrolls as well but he refused. Rhoetus had done all he could and was firm about not doing more. A few other Titans imprisoned under Volcanoes around the Olympian territory greeted him with the same response. Ares knew of only one other person who spoke the extinct language and he was Xena's friend Cyrus. That's why it was so important for Xena to ally herself with him so she could go to Persia to ask the former Watcher for assistance. Ares didn't have it in him to ask ‘Mr. Goody-two-shoes' for help. He also knew Cyrus didn't like him but the former Watcher would gladly put aside his personal gripes to save all the pathetic mortals on the earth.

And because of Cyrus' devotion to helping people, he would translate the scrolls, they would find the saber and Ares would claim the power trapped within it. When he had that power no one would be able to stop him, not Zeus, the other gods, his meddling mongrel half-brother Hercules or Xena. Ares let his mind linger on Xena. Dahak's arrival couldn't have come at a better time for him. She had already suffered a severe blow due to the loss of the little irritant and Dahak revealing he was her father just added salt to the wound. Not only had he been able to forge an alliance with Xena to fight her evil father but he had also been able to get her back in his bed on two separate occasions.

When Ares sensed Dahak's arrival, he knew the evil bastard would make a move to claim Xena but he wasn't worried. He knew Dahak had done too much when he killed Solan and drove Gabrielle to her death for Xena to ever join him. Xena may be his daughter, but Ares knew her far better than he did.

Ares biggest threat to reclaiming Xena had always been Gabrielle, and thanks to Dahak he found a way to solve that problem. Ares always knew he could not kill Gabrielle outright because Xena would never forgive him and he would lose the chance to reclaim her forever. He tried to get others to do it but was unsuccessful. When Gabrielle's evil daughter killed Solan, Ares talked Xena into killing her best friend but even that attempt to eliminate the little bard was thwarted. But he was not short on ideas.

Ares observed some of the events in the Centaur village the day of Solan's death using the large mirror in his Macedonian fortress. He was not a witness to Solan's murder at Hope's hands but he did witness Gabrielle poisoning her own daughter. After she killed the girl, Gabrielle put the goatskin containing the poison to her lips, ready to die with her evil offspring but at the last minute changed her mind. Ares now knew the extent of the bard's guilt regarding her evil daughter. He made a mental note of this, it might be useful at a later date and it was.

When Dahak's followers prepared for Hope's rebirth, which would lead, to his arrival, Ares played the part of turncoat and joined Dahak. He then put to use the knowledge he uncovered that fateful day in the centaur village. Ares called in the favor Gabrielle owed him. It was a good thing she thought so low of him and actually believed he would let the Fates cut Xena's life-thread if she killed Hope. Ares took a big risk, considering the life bond he shared with Xena but he knew the bard loved Xena too much to ever let her die. With his confidence secure that Gabrielle would be the one to kill Hope, he set about playing on her guilt so this time, she would join her daughter in death. Ares couldn't have planned it better himself when Gabrielle eavesdropped on his conversation with Xena the night before that fateful day. He got to throw in a dig about her being responsible for the beginning of the end. To increase her guilt, he got some help from Morpheus who had his own ax to grind with the little bard. The God of Dreams plagued her sleep with dark thoughts, the part she played in Dahak's evil and the responsibility she had to accept being Hope's mother.

When the moment came on that fateful day, when Xena had the Hind's blood dagger poised to take Hope's life, Ares reminded Gabrielle of Xena's fate, which instantly sprang the bard into action. He watched with bated breath as Gabrielle used her staff to catapult herself to where Hope and Xena stood. She called out to Hope, taking her attention away from Xena and the dagger, at which time Gabrielle embraced her evil daughter and plunged them both to their deaths in the lava below. All eyes, Xena's, Callisto's and Joxer's, were focused on the pit so no one saw the triumphant smile on Ares' face. He had prevented Dahak's arrival and removed the obstacle, which was preventing him from reclaiming Xena.

Ares thought about what he told Xena that night on the cliff when she accused him of being responsible for Gabrielle's death. He really could not be blamed. Dahak created Gabrielle's guilt when he chose to use her in his dark plans. All Ares did was capitalized on the guilt Dahak's evil created. In the end, Gabrielle dying was her choice and he could not have been happier.

With Gabrielle out of the picture, Ares now concentrated on eliminating Dahak, which he would do when he made the power, stored in the Holy Saber his. By that time, Xena wouldn't want to stop him from gaining ultimate power, something else for which he could also thank Dahak. His arrival had stirred the darkness within she desperately wanted to suppress. As they fought Dahak, Ares would nurture and caress that darkness until it consumed her again, making her his and this time forever. Ares smiled at the thought.

Discord was on the verge of a shuddering climax as she writhed beneath her partner. As he continued his wild thrusting deeper into her core, she wrapped her legs tighter around him. Her long blood red fingernails ran up and down his back adding to the scratch marks already covering it. Moans of sheer pleasure repeatedly escaped her lips. Then she cried out as she arched her back and felt her orgasm hit. She heard a moan escape the lips of her partner then felt his seed spurting inside of her. They lay joined and spent a few moments more before her partner rolled off her at which time, she immediately laid on top of him.

"You were named wrong." Discord’s face was aglow from passion. "You should be called the one great lover instead of the one great evil."

"I'm glad to know all my years of imprisonment did not hamper my ability to satisfy a woman," Dahak said in a deep voice.

Discord had met with Dahak several times since their initial meeting in Hera's gardens in Argos when she only knew him as the handsome stranger. After that first meeting, discovering the identity of the stranger from the gardens consumed her thoughts. The stranger was clearly a god, who she had never seen before and he vanished in a puff of flame. Discord was one of the very few on Olympus who trusted Ares' feelings concerning Dahak's arrival. When the stranger appeared to her a second time in Hera's gardens in Argos, she was quite sure he was the One Great Evil, Dahak.

The discovery had her somewhat frightened at first, but intrigue set in soon after. The One Great Evil turned out to be not at all what she expected. His physical appearance was mesmerizing, his voice hypnotic and he had a sexual prowess like none she had ever experienced before. But Dahak wanted more than sex from her. He wanted Discord to be his ally in his inevitable fight against the gods of Olympus.

The thought of allying herself with Dahak against gods with whom she shared blood had been a bit unnerving to Discord. But her argument with Ares had still been fresh in her mind and had made her more receptive to a possible alliance. Dahak had reminded her how she had always been there for Ares, ready to lend a hand in his countless schemes and look how shabbily he treated her. Xena had turned her back on Ares and now fought against him, yet she still consumed all of his thoughts. Ares was never going to give up on trying to get Xena back. She was an obsession. And if Ares ever made his plans for the world reality, he would want the warrior woman with him not her. Discord couldn't deny the truth in Dahak's words.

It was time for Discord to get the attention, respect and power she truly deserved and with Dahak, she would get just that. He was much older than Ares, the other Olympians or the Titans for that matter, which gave him a vaster knowledge of this world and the universe in general. He was wiser, more cunning, and more ruthless. A being far greater than Ares had once tried to destroy him but failed. Dahak wanted someone like Discord by his side when his dark kingdom encompassed the whole world. He would make her his queen. When Discord had heard that, she eagerly allied herself with him.

She now kept him informed of all the happenings on Olympus. Dahak knew all about Ares being the only god certain of his arrival and the other gods of Olympus doubting his threat to their power. It had been Discord who warned him about the suspicions of the gods concerning the activities on Kos, which allowed him to take his operations, underground and dissuade their curiosity. At this meeting, Discord informed Dahak on what she uncovered during her visit to Ares' temple in Thebes. Dahak now knew about Ares' suspicions regarding him being Metatron, the power within the Holy Saber, and the sword being his only means of destruction.

He was very pleased with the information Discord brought him from Ares' temple.

"So, Ares actually believes the Holy Saber can kill me?" Dahak ran his hands through Discord's black hair as she lay atop him resting her head on his bare chest.

"Yep…he is convinced you are this Metatron, the Chief Guardian who led some rebellion eons ago." She glided a long red fingernail down his chest. "So is he right? Are you this Metatron?" There was momentary silence, which seemed an eternity as Discord waited for his answer. "Well?"

"It's been many centuries since I've heard that name but I was once known as Metatron," he finally replied.

"This is so exciting!" Discord moved into a straddling position atop him and held his strong hands with her fingers between his. "I was just telling Ares earlier how fun it would be to meet a Watcher and here I am with the head honcho." The enthused look on her porcelain face was immediately replaced with a look of worry. She released his hands from her grasp. "Since you are Metatron, is Ares right about this saber? Can it kill you?"

"There is no need to worry," Dahak assured as he caressed her right cheek with the fingers of a hand. "Despite all his numerous faults, the Creator did make me to live forever. Nothing can kill me, so Ares is in for a big surprise."

After hearing his words, Discord had a relieved smile on her face.

"But it is true about my powers as Chief Guardian being stored in the Holy Saber."

"So, are you going to find it before Ares does?" Discord asked.

"No, I am going to let Ares find the sword."

His response left a puzzled look on Discord's face.

"The words etched in the sword's hilt which release the power within it are in Celestic, a language I know Ares can't speak. By the time he finds all the sword pieces, the part of the world under the jurisdiction of Olympus will be under my control. His powers will be greatly diminished by then and I will just take the sword from him and get back the power which rightfully belongs to me."

"Ooh, you are so bad," she cooed with a wicked grin.

"That's why you like me so much," he replied with a devilish smile as he grasped Discord's arms, pulled her to him, and hungrily claimed her mouth.

When Discord initially informed Dahak of what she uncovered during her visit to Ares' temple, she left out the part about discovering Xena was his daughter or the alliance between Ares and Xena to fight against him. When they broke their kiss, she decided to bridge that subject.

"Ares does have one ally in his fight against you," she stated.

"And who might that be?"

"Xena." Discord stared at him, studying his face as he absorbed this news.

"That doesn't surprise me," Dahak stated casually. "They share a long history and a hatred of me so it is perfectly logical they would team up against me."

Dahak's response to this news had Discord puzzled. "This doesn't bother you in the least little bit?" She gazed intently at the carefree expression on his face in response to her question. She could no longer hold back what she knew about his connection to Xena and just blurted out. "I know Xena is your daughter. I want to know why you didn't tell me when I decided to join you?"

Dahak let out a sigh. "I knew how you felt about Xena and planned on telling you when you no longer viewed her as a threat." He took hold of her hands. "As my daughter, Xena has a secure position in my kingdom but you must also remember your position is secure too, sharing my bed and ruling beside me as queen." Dahak brought one of Discord's hands to his lips and gently kissed the back. His answer satisfied her and she now had a smile on her face.

"Right now, Xena is battling the darkness within and her insistence on fighting against me will only bring about her inevitable surrender to it," Dahak said with a confident smile. "And she has allied herself with someone who will steer her towards that darkness. Ares just may do me a service before he joins the other gods in death. That reminds me, I have a special project tailor made for you."

"I will do whatever you want as long as you keep me satisfied," she said in a soft sensual tone and a lust-filled look in her eyes.

"That can be arranged." Dahak pulled Discord to him and hungrily claimed her mouth. As they continued to kiss, he rolled them over until she was beneath him as he prepared to take her again.

They were finally on the main road, which would take them to Persepolis, the capital of Persia. Xena and Joxer were on foot. Both held the reins of their horses that followed behind them. Persepolis, being Persia's capital, was always busy with activity so Xena and Joxer were joined on the road by several travelers headed towards the bustling city as well.

"In just a few more hours, we will actually be in Persepolis," Joxer said with wide-eyed excitement as they walked along the dirt road. "I've only heard about the city...magic lamps, genies, flying carpets, evil wizards."

"You've got your cities mixed up," Xena said with a chuckle as she walked beside him. "You are thinking of Baghdad but Persepolis does have some interesting spots although not like the stuff you've just mentioned."

"Oh." Joxer wanted to clear up that snafu and quickly moved to another subject. "So, tell me about this friend of yours...Cyrus, how did you two meet?"

"In a lot of ways, Cyrus is much like Gabrielle." Xena had a reminiscent look in her eyes. "We became friends when I needed one the most. And our paths would have never crossed if not for a young girl named Vashti."

Xena was pregnant with Solan at the time. Borias bought Vashti from a slave trader in a village they were camped nearby. The girl was about ten, caramel complexion, big brown almond shaped eyes and shiny black hair which hung to her waist. She would grow up to be a true beauty from the Far East. Borias did not like the way prospective buyers were ogling the young girl and bought the child to save her from a fate of violation. Xena was very angry at first and wondered what they would do with a young girl in a camp full of warriors. Borias figured she could help Medea, the woman who cooked for the army. When Borias and Xena had a major disagreement and he moved his army to a separate camp, Vashti stayed behind with Xena. She had slowly warmed up to the girl and they ended up spending a lot of time together since she turned over several of her duties commanding the army to her lieutenant, Dagnine, with the birth of her baby approaching.

Vashti had lived with her mother in a village called Ninevah. When slave traders raided Ninevah her mother was killed, she was captured and sold as a slave. The only relative her mother ever mentioned was an uncle named Cyrus who lived in Persia's capital, Persepolis.

With the end to the brutal war with the Centaurs, Borias' untimely death, and the decision to give up her newborn son, Xena had no direction for her life. She still had Vashti with her and the child desperately wanted to meet the uncle her mother told her lived in Persepolis so Xena decided to take her there. When Xena and Vashti reached Persepolis, she was surprised to discover the girl's uncle was a very wealthy and influential member of the community. He was a man of many talents, ranging from the arts, science and medicine to archery and swords. He was known as a great humanitarian, providing for the sick and poor. He had no true family so he took in orphans and became their uncle. Vashti's mother had been one of the orphans Cyrus had welcomed into his home. His kindness and wisdom were known throughout the land. It was rumored that even Ahura Mazda, King of the Persian gods, sought his counsel and the gods so favored him that long ago, he was given the gift of immortality.

Xena was taken with him the moment they met. He was like a father to her. Cyrus tried to give her proper direction in her life but at that time, she was still young and too headstrong to listen to him. But Cyrus knew Xena was destined for great things and despite her protests would one day change her life for the better. To express gratitude for safely bringing his niece to him, Cyrus gave Xena the chakram. He had this particular chakram designed especially for her. It even had an eastern design etched into the metal, which she admired and had described to him during one of their many talks. Cyrus had seen the weapon used during his stay in India. The weapon was rumored to have mystical powers, which intrigued Xena. She cherished his gift and made the chakram her signature weapon.

By the time Xena finished her tale of how she met Cyrus, they were at the gates of Persepolis. Since the city was the capital of Persia, massive halls of government dotted the city's skyline. The buildings were made of white stone, which glistened in the sun. The city was also a gateway to the Far East and important for traders. Most of the exotic items of the East made there way to western lands through Persepolis. Cyrus had acquired a lot of his wealth through trade and lived in a palatial estate just outside of the city. It was midday when they reached the gates of the estate. There wasn't a soul in sight so they made their way to the stables where they found a man grooming a horse.

"My name is Xena, and this is Joxer," she said to the man who had stopped grooming the horse when they entered the stables. "Cyrus is an old friend of mine. We have come a long way to see him, is he home?"

The man eyed them curiously. The woman before him was dressed like a warrior and looked intimidating. Her male traveling companion carried only a staff and looked ordinary. The woman had said she was an old friend of Cyrus' and he knew his lord was famous for helping all types, so he figured she was okay.

"My name is Braxton," he said with a smile. "Lord Cyrus had business in the city and won't be back until later. But you are more than welcome to wait for him up at the palace. I can take you there."

Xena remembered Cyrus always seemed to hire the friendliest people. Argo and Otis were left in the stables, Braxton would tend to the horses for them.

Cyrus' palace sat on a hill in the middle of the estate. It was white stone just like the buildings in Persepolis and glistened in the sunlight. When they were finally inside the palace, its interior was just as impressive. The floors were covered with oriental rugs. Some of the walls were decorated with colorful murals. The tables and chairs were of the finest wood. All types of plants were dispersed throughout the many rooms. On some of the tables sat priceless artifacts from around the world, which Cyrus had acquired during his immortal existence.

"This is really some place." Joxer’s eyes roamed the rooms taking in the entire splendor before him.

"Yes, it is very nice," Braxton said while leading them through the palace. "But Lord Cyrus resides mostly in India now and has converted part of this estate into an orphanage."

"Wow, this is the fanciest orphanage I have ever seen," Joxer stated.

Xena and Joxer followed Braxton up large marble steps, which took them to the second floor of the palace. Each was taken to a bedchamber where they could freshen up from their long journey while they awaited Cyrus' return. After Xena was shown to her room, another servant entered carrying a tray with various fruits, some cheese and a jug of wine, which she helped herself to while waiting. Xena stood gazing out of the room's large window munching on an apple. Being back in Persepolis, at Cyrus' palace, brought back so many memories, most were happy ones but a few were sad. Xena's thoughts were interrupted by a knock at the door. She gave the knocker permission to enter.

"I see your room is just as fancy as mine." Joxer entered the room and let his eyes wander over its contents. A large Oriental rug covered the stone floor. There were beautifully carved wooden tables and chairs. The smell of fresh cut flowers in vases scented the air. The bed was covered in gold silk sheets with plush pillows to match.

"Braxton has some errands to run in Persepolis so I'm going with him," Joxer said. "I just came by to see if you want to come with us."

"Thanks but I’ll have to pass on that. I want to be here when Cyrus returns. But you can go with Braxton and check out some of the life in Persepolis which I know you are dying to do."

"Well then, I guess I'll see you later." Joxer helped himself to a few grapes in a bowl on the table, then left to join Braxton.

After Joxer left, Xena decided a bath was in order after the long dusty trip over dirt roads and went to the estate's large bathhouse. It was still just like she remembered, a beautifully designed white marble structure, the inner walls decorated with mosaics. All kinds of treatments to pamper the body were available, water baths, mud baths, massages, hot oil treatments, aromatherapy and steam room. Xena just wanted a plain ol' bath and headed for the house's sunken stone tubs. When she reached the stone tubs, a woman with red hair piled high on her head, wearing a flowered dress, which accented her tan skin, approached Xena with a warm smile on her face.

"Hello, I'm Solome," the woman said. "You must be Xena. I was told lord Cyrus had recent houseguests and to provide you with whatever you need. Most enjoy some pampering after their long journeys."

"I had almost forgotten the efficiency of Cyrus' staff," Xena said. "I'm not into the pampering routine though and only came for a relaxing bath."

"Well then, I'll let you get to it," Solome said with a smile. "If you need anything, I'm always in the bath house." Solome left Xena to her bath.

She removed her clothes and sunk into the warm water of one of the stone tubs. A small woman with dark hair pulled back in a long pony tail wearing a blue wrap came over carrying a tray loaded with soaps, oils and loofa sponges which she set down next to the stone tub then left. Xena helped herself to the tray's contents. She lathered her body and hair with the soap.

"I can scrub your back for you," the small woman said when she returned to the tub.

Xena came over to the side of the stone tub where the woman kneeled and turned her back to the woman. The woman took an extra loofa sponge from the tray she brought earlier, wet it in the warm water, covered it with soap then applied it to Xena's back.

"I feel a lot of tension," the woman stated as she moved the soapy sponge over Xena's back. "You really should visit the masseuse once your bath is over."

"I only came for a bath. Besides, in my line of work, you learn to live with the tension."

"The masseuse is new to the palace and really has gifted hands. I know she could relieve this tension in your back," the woman insisted. "Once you've had your massage, your clothes should be back from laundry by then."

Xena quickly looked around the tub and realized her clothes were gone. She shook her head and chuckled. Cyrus always did have the best staff around.

"The servants from laundry took your undergarments to wash and your leather to polish," the woman said.

"Since I have to wait for my clothes, I guess I will try out this masseuse."

When her bath was done, the woman handed her a robe and led her to the masseuse. The masseuse was a tall woman with fair skin and platinum blonde hair. Her name was Inga. Her parents had been good friends of Cyrus' whom he had met during his travels through Scandinavia. She was still a child when they died so Cyrus welcomed her into his home. The diversity of the people Cyrus had working for him had always fascinated Xena. Because of his immortality and wide travels, he probably had every race of people on the earth in his employment at one time or another. And they all got along like one happy family. Maybe, someday the world could copy what Cyrus had done on his estate in Persia.

The woman from the baths had certainly been right about the masseuse. The woman's strong yet gentle hands had removed all the kinks and knots from her long journey to Persia. The woman had also rubbed scented oils over her body to protect it from Persia's hot dry climate. Xena was dressed in her leathers again and headed back to the palace when she heard a woman's excited voice call out to her.

"Xena! Is it really you?"

Xena stopped and turned to see who was calling her. A middle-aged woman of average height with snowy white hair, smooth light brown skin and a huge smile on her face was steadily approaching her.

"For a minute there, I thought I had spent too much time in this hot sun and was seeing things," the woman said as she embraced Xena in a big hug.

"You are the first familiar face I have seen since I got here." Xena hugged the woman back. "It feels so good to see you again Bithia." The last time Xena had seen Bithia was six years ago. The woman was in charge of the entire staff at Cyrus' palace.

"So, what brings you back to Persia?" Bithia asked as they started to walk towards the palace.

"I need some help only Cyrus can provide."

"Well, helping people is what Cyrus loves to do most so you came to the right place," Bithia said.

They had reached a doorway leading into the palace when a nervous little man with a huge mustache approached them in a hurry. "Thank the gods I found you Bithia," he said trying to catch his breath. "There is a disagreement in the kitchen between the cook and the baker which I tried to settle with no success. You must speak to both at once."

"I can see you are still greatly needed around this place," Xena said with a sly smile.

You got that right," Bithia sighed. "Go tell the cook and the baker to hold their horses, I'll be there in a minute," she said to the nervous man before her. The little man quickly hurried back to the kitchen. "Will you be staying long?" she asked Xena when they were alone again.

"I will only be staying a couple days at the most."

"If I don't get the chance to see you again before you leave, this really was a welcomed surprise." Bithia embraced Xena in a tight hug again.

When the older woman broke the hug she stared into Xena's eyes. "I know Cyrus and Vashti will be so happy to see you again. He spends most of his time at his residence in India now. You are fortunate your visit coincided with his return to Persia." Bithia put a hand on one of Xena's cheeks. "I would say the Fates had a hand in this reunion taking place and its long overdue." Bithia stared into Xena's eyes a moment more before heading inside the palace to handle the disturbance in the kitchen.

Xena wondered about Bithia's last statement before she went inside the palace herself. She decided to see what changes Cyrus had made to the estate since her last visit. She had checked out several of the main rooms on the ground floor and was in a large hall admiring an impressive collection of swords when Cyrus entered the room. He was of average height, slender build and had a ruddy complexion. Being immortal, he didn't age and always looked to be in his early forties. He had long curly blonde hair, which hung down his back. He had sparkling hazel eyes, a short nose with a neatly trimmed blonde mustache beneath, and a rosy bow shaped mouth. He wore a white tunic, black pants and a long purple paisley robe. When he saw Xena standing in the room his eyes sparkled all the more and a big smile was on his face.

"By the gods, Xena it's so good to see you after all these years!" he said while embracing her in a big hug.

"It's good to see you again too Cyrus," Xena said with a huge smile as she returned his hug.

"I hope you haven't been waiting for me long," Cyrus said after they broke the hug. "Your journey to Persia was perfectly timed. Since your last visit, I have permanently moved into my residence in India and only returned to Persia to settle some business regarding the orphanage."

"I arrived around midday with a friend who ventured into Persepolis with a servant so I'll have to introduce you two later," Xena said. "Your ever efficient staff took care of me at the bath house. Then I ran into Bithia who also mentioned the perfect timing of my visit. It really was good to see her again. She hasn't changed a bit."

"Bithia is a gem. I don't know how this place would survive without her." Cyrus took hold of Xena's hands and stared into her eyes. "I have been following your life since the last time we saw each other. I know you are no longer a warlord and now champion just causes. I am so proud of you Xena!" A pleased smile was plastered across his face.

"That's good to hear," she said. "You always did believe I would eventually change my life when I didn't think it was ever possible. You have helped me in the past and now that we are fighting on the same side, I could use your help again."

Cyrus could see by the look on her face that the reason for her journey was serious so he suggested they talk in his study. The study was a large room with comfortable chairs, marble tables covered with ancient artifacts and shelves littered with scrolls. A large window overlooking a garden provided the rays of the sun which brighten the room. As they sat in chairs facing each other Xena told Cyrus the reason for her return to Persia.

"Dahak has returned," she stated.

Cyrus' face became pale as the ruddy color drained from it. "This is not good," he said softly. Cyrus was living in Persia during the time of the great war between Dahak and Ahura Mazda, so he was quite familiar with Dahak's evil and destruction.

"He is gathering followers under a false identity with false promises of a better life. These people have no idea of the destruction he will bring to them. I know first hand what he's capable of doing." Xena informed Cyrus of her history with Dahak and his cult, how he used Gabrielle to bring Hope into the world, how the evil child went on to kill Solan and how Gabrielle gave her life to stop Dahak.

"I am so sorry," Cyrus said softly after he heard the tragic results of her confrontations with Dahak. "A lesser person would have surely crumbled under such losses."

"I almost did. And sometimes, I'm not sure I still won't crumble," she confessed. "Dahak didn't just want the people I love out of the way to weaken my resolve to stop him. He wanted the good influences in my life gone so I would be forced to embrace my dark life again. He wants me to join him because he's...my father."

"Your father!" Cyrus was truly stunned. "I always suspected there might be some godly blood in your family's history," he admitted. "I just never assumed one of your parents was a god and I would have never guessed Dahak." Cyrus could see Xena was not yet comfortable with her father's true identity and decided to switch the topic back to Dahak's threat to the world.

"Since Dahak's cult is beginning to flourish, why aren't the Olympian gods trying to stop him?"

"The Olympians doubt Dahak could ever be powerful enough to free himself so they don't believe he has returned," she replied. "They know of the activities of this new cult and even investigated it. But Dahak is keeping a low profile behind this false identity so the Olympians think it's just another phony cult and don't see it as a threat."

"Those fools!" Cyrus shook his head. "Their complacency will be their doom."

"The only Olympian god who is taking Dahak's threat seriously is Ares. He's the one who told me about Dahak's return and now I'm working with him to stop Dahak."

Cyrus had a look of apprehension on his face after hearing whom Xena had allied herself with in the fight against Dahak. He was quite familiar with her tumultuous past with the God of War.

"I know what you are thinking Cyrus and there is no need to worry. I have no intention of going down the road I once traveled with Ares again. This alliance will dissolve once Dahak is dead. The only reason I even agreed to the alliance is because Ares has in his possession scrolls, which can tell us how to stop Dahak once and for all. That's why I came to see you."

Since Cyrus was a former Watcher, he had lived through the events recorded in the Titan Scrolls and knew its contents quite well. But he had never had the opportunity to meet Metatron so he had no knowledge of what had become of him. Xena revealed to Cyrus the belief she now shared with Ares regarding Dahak being Metatron and how he had already freed some of the fallen Watchers by using the converts of his false cult as hosts and his plans to free the rest.

"We must stop Dahak before he has a chance to free any more fallen Watchers," Cyrus firmly stated. "You can't begin to imagine the chaos that will befall the earth if those demons are free again."

"That's why my journey to Persia was so important. You play a crucial part in is us stopping Dahak permanently."

Xena informed Cyrus of Ares uncovering the Watchers' Chronicles, which told the resting-places of the Holy Saber pieces and its power to destroy Dahak.

"The locations for the sword pieces are written in Celestic and we need you to translate the writings so we can find the resting places."

"For all the centuries I have lived on the earth, I have tried to restore some modicum of peace and tranquillity, which was destroyed by the evil of my kind." Cyrus had a faraway look in his hazel eyes. "And now that this great evil threatens the world again, nothing could keep me out of the fight."

"I knew I could count on you," Xena said with a big smile. "Dahak would have been history by now if I hadn't been so hasty in having the Hind's blood dagger destroyed." The earlier smile was replaced by a look of regret.

"You are mistaken if you think Hind's blood can kill Dahak. Hind's blood can't kill any Watcher. It can only kill gods, the descendants of the fallen Watchers."

By the look on her face, Cyrus could tell Xena was surprised and quite intrigued by this news so he revealed to her the origin of the Golden Hind.

According to Cyrus, when the Creator turned his attention to the earth again and learned of the Watchers producing with human females, he was greatly disturbed. He knew the super-beings such unions would create and the corruption they would bring to all the earth's inhabitants. The Creator wanted the offspring of these unsanctioned unions to reproduce with their full human brothers. But the descendants of the Fallen wanted to maintain the power the Watcher blood carried so inbreeding began. This enraged the Creator who wanted all traces of Watcher blood removed from his creation. He released his anger in the creation of the Golden Hind. The blood of these creatures would be deadly poison to all on the earth with godly blood, generations of inbreeding running through their veins. The Hind's blood would also become poison to any mortal who became a god.

"Let me guess, it was Ares who told you Hind's blood could kill Dahak?" Cyrus asked after finishing the tale of the Golden Hind's origin.

"Yes," Xena softly replied. "But Dahak led me to believe it could kill him also and me too for that matter."

"Hind's blood won't kill Dahak since he was a Watcher and doesn't have generations of inbred blood running through his veins," Cyrus said. "Since you are his daughter, it would have no effect on you either. The only sure way to kill Dahak is using the Holy Saber."

"Dahak's motive for the lie about the Hind's blood was to deceive me so I would join him. Ares may have truly believed Hind's blood would kill Dahak or he may have only wanted the dagger to use against the other gods."

"Since we are going to be working with Ares, we must be prepared for any tricks he might pull," Cyrus said.

"I already have my guard up and pretty much expect to have to squelch his latest scheme for world domination while fighting Dahak," she said.

"Well, you won't have to handle both tasks by yourself. I will be there to help."

"Ares will love that, I'm sure," Xena said with a chuckle. "He was actually the one to bring up your name as a translator for the scrolls. Asking for help from you could not have been easy for him considering how much he dislikes you."

"And now we will be fighting on the same side which must be a very scary thought for him," Cyrus jested. "You know, I just may have in my possession some scrolls which could help our side. My scroll collection has piled up over the centuries so I will get some of the servants to remove them from the cellar." Cyrus got up from his chair and headed for the study's door.

"Uh Cyrus, how are Lycus and Lysia?" Xena asked with hesitation before he exited the study.

"I was wondering when you would ask about them." Cyrus stood in the doorway and proceeded to walk over to the study's large window. "Come see for yourself." There was a large smile painted on his face.

Xena had a puzzled look on her face when she joined Cyrus standing by the window. Beyond the garden was a grassy field surrounding a large pond. Several of the children who lived in the estate's orphanage were playing on the field while some were swimming in the pond. A few adults stood watch over them. The chatter of their play was somewhat muffled by the distance.

Cyrus retrieved an old telescope from a nearby table, then used it to scan the many children until he found the ones for which he was looking. "Here, use this, it will give you a better view." Cyrus handed the old telescope to Xena. "Focus on the children standing near the edge of the pond, the two by the large dog."

Xena did as Cyrus suggested and used the telescope to get a clear view of the children by the pond's edge. They were young in age, probably five or six. Both had dark hair and olive complexions. Xena adjusted the telescope to get a better view. The children were obviously enjoying themselves because they were laughing while the large dog with them friskily jumped about. One child was a boy with short curly black hair. The features of his face were familiar, particularly the dimples in his cheeks when he laughed. His eyes were crystal blue in color. The other child was a girl with long curly black hair. Her face reminded Xena a lot of her own at that age. Her eyes were a familiar deep brown.

"Now I know what Bithia meant when she said fate arranged a reunion. This is truly a surprise. I never in my wildest dreams expected to see them on this visit." Xena had a smile etched on her face as she watched the children at play through the telescope. But that smile was quickly replaced with a serious look. She lowered the telescope and stared at Cyrus. "It was mistake to bring the children back to Persia."

"It's all right Xena. I am well respected in Persia by the gods and mortals. Not even Ahura Mazda would question my word. Everyone knows I take in orphans so no one suspects a thing." Cyrus took hold of her arms and stared into her eyes. "I promised the children they could come on my next business trip. My next trip was Persia, so they came with me. And since you are here, Bithia is right, a reunion of sorts is in order."

Cyrus gave Xena a quick hug, then left to find his scrolls in the cellar. Xena remained at the window and used the telescope to watch the children at play, as her mind drifted back to the actions she took to protect them.

In the last six years, the children had always stayed in Xena's thoughts. She wondered how big they were getting. Who did they look like more, her or Ares? What were their talents? What were their likes and dislikes? Were they happy? On their birthdays she thought about them most of all, the plans she had made for them, sharing in their lives and how that would never be.

Xena thought about the talk she had with her mother before leaving for Persia. She so desperately wanted to tell her mother about the twins. But she knew the risk involved if too many people knew about their existence so she did not tell her mother about the grandchildren she had given her. Xena had more in common with her mother than she ever thought. Both had been involved with dark gods and bore their children. And both had taken the necessary steps to protect their children from their fathers.

Xena put the old telescope back on the table from where Cyrus had retrieved it. She gazed at some of the artifacts in the study, which he had acquired during all the centuries of his immortal existence. Cyrus had traveled the world, knew many people and was respected by gods. Xena thought Gabrielle would have really liked him. The bard would have loved his vast array of stories spanning several centuries and lands. Xena's thoughts about Gabrielle were interrupted when Cyrus returned to the study followed by five large men, each carrying a large wooden chest which each deposited on the study's floor then left.

"I didn't realize the number of scrolls I had in my possession. What you see here is a small fraction of what's in the cellar but I believe we should only have to look through these five chests for scrolls which should be of use to us." Xena helped Cyrus set one of the wooden chests on a nearby table then they emptied it of its scroll contents.

"This is going to take awhile, so I'm getting more comfortable." Xena removed her armor and set it across one of the extra chairs at the table, then took a seat opposite Cyrus to help in ciphering through the scrolls. "While we search through the scrolls you can tell me all about Lycus and Lysia."

"Well, there's so much, but I guess I can summarize for you," Cyrus said with a huge smile on his face. "As I told you earlier, the twins are only here for a visit and still live at the residence I keep in India. They have plenty of friends among the children of the servants there. I'm usually there too if business doesn't take me away. Vashti is now their primary caregiver. She is also overseeing their education. Both are exceptionally bright."

"They are my children, of course they're exceptional," Xena jested.

Cyrus threw a piece of parchment in jest at her before he continued. "They share the typical bond between twins. Each can sense the feelings of the other."

"It's good to know they are so close. I was very close to my younger brother Lyceus. He meant everything to me when we were growing up."

"The difference in their personalities is starting to come to the forefront now. Lycus is all boy. He is very mischievous which gets him into trouble a lot. He clearly has his father's temper, which he openly displays when he can't have his own way. Some retired soldiers stayed for awhile at the residence in India so right now, Lycus is fascinated with warriors and warfare in general."

"This news would certainly make his father happy," Xena said in a not too pleased tone.

"Xena, he is a young child whose interests change from day to day. I am sure this is just a phase he will eventually outgrow."

"Well, I pray you are right," she said. "Now tell me about Lysia."

"Lysia is the complete opposite of Lycus in temperament. She has never shown the levels of anger as her brother. She has a deep curiosity for the world and loves helping me with my science experiments. She also likes to accompany me when I visit the local hospice in India and is becoming quite the little healer."

"Now that should be encouraged," Xena said. "It would be nice to have a physician in the family."

"Lysia does have to learn to stand up to Lycus and not let him involve her in his mischievous exploits."

"Maybe I can give her a few tips. Toris use to love bossing Lyceus and me around and I know just how to handle that type of sibling." Now that Xena knew she was half-god, she wondered about its effect on the twins. "What kind of godly abilities have the children shown?"

"They were only a few months old when they started displaying extraordinary abilities. So far, they have shown the ability to move objects and form fireballs. They have also displayed amazing strength and agility. The full extent of their abilities is uncertain. Their powers could be very close to the level of full gods considering they not only have godly blood from Ares but you as well," Cyrus said. "As a scientist, that really has been one of the most fascinating aspects of having them live with me. One of my duties as a Watcher was to record the evolution of the life-forms on the earth. Human and Watcher unions added a new twist to my studies. As you know, the gods derive most of their power from their perspective pantheons. When they leave the territory over which they have authority, their powers are greatly reduced which is what happened to Ares when he came here looking for you. It's probably some quirk the Creator threw in along with the Golden Hind." There was a sly smile on Cyrus' face with his last statement. "Dahak is a former Watcher so his powers aren't tied to a pantheon. Because his blood is running through their veins, this would explain why the twins don't appear to have their powers tied to a pantheon region either."

"If the children could be as powerful as full gods, I know I made the right choice keeping their existence from Ares. There's no telling what he would have used them for if he knew the extent of their powers. All things considered, it sounds like the children are happy, secure and living the normal lives I wanted for them."

"Their lives are as normal as they can be but the children do realize they are quite different from their playmates," Cyrus said. "I have tried to stress to both children to use their powers responsibly and not view them as a toy. They are only allowed to use their powers in my presence or Vashti's."

"Have they asked any questions about their parents?"

"They are just starting to ask questions regarding that subject. I did as you instructed and told them their parents were killed shortly after their birth then they came to live with me."

"It's for the best," Xena said softly.

Cyrus and Xena had been rummaging through the collection of old scrolls for sometime now. The sun had gone down and the study was now aglow with the many candles placed about the large room. A male servant entered the study carrying a large tray containing an assortment of meats, breads, cheeses, assorted roast vegetables on sticks and a jug of the best wine from Cyrus' cellar and set it on a table in the study.

"I didn't realize how late it was." Cyrus now stood by the tray and helped himself to a stick of roasted vegetables. "I don't need this stuff for nourishment but I do enjoy the taste. I know you must be starving Xena, get over here and get some of this." Xena came over to the large tray and helped herself to the assortment of food.

"Is there something else Jasper?" Cyrus asked the male servant who still stood in the study.

"Well...Selene, who is filling in for Vashti, wanted me to speak to you about Lycus," Jasper said.

"What's wrong now?" Cyrus wearily asked.

"It is time for him to go to bed but he doesn't want Selene to blow out the candles in his room. She agreed to leave one lit but he wants them all. He insists Vashti would let him have this."

Cyrus had a concerned look on his face. "Tell Selene to let him have the lit candles like he wants." Jasper bowed, then left the study. "Thank goodness Vashti will be returning tomorrow," Cyrus said when they were alone again.

"What was that all about?" Xena asked.

"Recently, Lycus prefers to sleep in a brightly lit room," Cyrus replied in a concerned tone.

"Why do I get the feeling this is more than a child fearing the dark?" Xena asked.

"When the room is dark, Lycus is tormented by a horrible nightmare," Cyrus said. "It started a few weeks ago, he would wake up screaming that a monster was coming for him. I tried to get him to see it was only a dream and not real but he insists it is and believes the monster will stay away when the room is bright. I did manage to get a description of the monster from him. He says it looks like a man but really isn't. It's tall, no hair, with scaly brownish green skin, and..."

"Yellow glowing eyes," Xena finished.

"That's right," Cyrus said with surprise. "How did you know?"

"I had somewhat of a dream and saw the same creature. The dream was induced by Dahak and he appeared in that form right before I awoke."

"Dahak!" The tone of concern deepened in Cyrus’ voice. "You think he is behind Lycus' nightmares? But we have been so careful. How could he have found out about Lycus? What could he possibly want with the child?"

"Dahak knew about Solan so I am not surprised he has discovered the twins," Xena replied. "He may want to use Lycus to get to me or he might have some other devious plan."

"If Dahak is trying to reach Lycus, we will have to keep a watchful eye on him from now on," Cyrus said. "The brightly lit candles have kept the nightmare from disturbing his sleep as of late but we will have to come up with a permanent solution to the threat."

"I say we get back to your scroll collection and see what it can provide for reaching that permanent solution," Xena said.

The candles in the study were melted down to half their size. Half of the assortment of food on the tray Jasper had earlier brought was eaten and the jug of wine was almost empty. Xena and Cyrus were seated at the large table again, ciphering through the scrolls of the last chest. They had an impressive pile of scrolls on the table from the other four chests, which would be useful in the search for the Holy Saber. Xena had unrolled a scroll from the fifth chest and was gazing at its contents. On the scroll, was a drawing of the Holy Saber similar to the one in Ares' possession only larger and with more detail. She stared at the four-pointed star in the sword's blade as she tried to recall where she had seen it.

"Hey Cyrus, look at this," she said when she finally remembered where she had seen the four pointed star. Xena handed the scroll to Cyrus who sat across from her at the table. "Look at the four pointed star etched in the sword's blade. It first caught my eye when Ares showed me the drawing of the sword he had in his possession. I knew I had seen it before but couldn't remember where until I saw your larger drawing of the saber."

Cyrus stared intently at the four pointed star etched in the sword's blade for a few minutes. "I see what you mean. It looks just like the birthmark on Lysia's right arm."

"That's my thought exactly."

The memory was so clear to her now. It was some hours after the twins were born, when Xena got to spend some quality time with the babies. Cyrus had a wet nurse for the babies but Xena wanted to nurse them herself just this one time. She would worry about binding her breasts to dry up the milk later. While Lysia was suckling at one of her breasts, she noticed a mark in the shape of a four-pointed star on the baby's upper right arm. She had seen it before and thought it was a temporary skin discoloration but after careful inspection of its perfect shape had concluded it was a birthmark. She now wondered if the mark had some deeper meaning. Xena and Cyrus were both in deep thought as they gazed at the drawing of the Holy Saber on the table between them.

"Lysia will have to come with us to Greece," Cyrus stated.

"That's out of the question," Xena firmly stated.

"Lysia is Dahak's granddaughter and the star on her arm matches the one on his former sword," Cyrus said. "You know as well as I do we are dealing with more than just a coincidence. Somehow she is connected to this sword and may help us locate the pieces."

"The scrolls in Ares' possession and the ones we found in your collection contain all we need to find the sword so we don't need Lysia," Xena firmly said.

"You don't know that for sure Xena. And are you willing to take the risk considering what awaits the world if we miss the opportunity to find that sword?"

Xena let out a weary sigh. She closed her eyes and bowed her head slightly as she massaged her temples while her arms rested on the table.

"I know you are not going to want to hear this, but after what you told me about your dream concerning Dahak and his resemblance to the creature in Lycus' dreams, I think for his protection, he should accompany us to Greece as well."

"You're right, I don't want to hear this." Xena continued to massage her temples. She opened her eyes, removed her fingers from her temples and stared into Cyrus' face. "But I have to admit, the thought did cross my mind too. Dahak already took the life of my eldest son and I will be damned if I'll let him take Lycus."

Cyrus could see the thought of the children accompanying them to Greece had Xena greatly disturbed. Considering the sacrifice she made to keep them safe, he understood her apprehension. Cyrus got up from his chair and stood behind Xena who remained seated.

"I know what is bothering you." He gently placed his hands on her shoulders. "You are afraid if the children come with us to Greece, Ares will discover them." Cyrus sat in the chair next to Xena, and stared into her eyes as she now faced him. "I can't say your fears are groundless. But the risk is minimum at best." He took hold of her right hand that lay on the table and gently squeezed it in his. "Ahura Mazda was told the children died at birth, and I persuaded him not to reveal anything about them. Ares never knew you were pregnant, so he should have no reason to suspect the children are his."

"I know what you are saying is true Cyrus, but I can't shake this feeling of uneasiness. When I watched the children playing this afternoon, I couldn't help but notice how much Lycus looks like Ares. If he gets a glimpse of him, he will know right away Lycus is his son."

"Xena, you are forgetting, you know Ares is Lycus' father so you are looking for a resemblance. Ares doesn't know Lycus is his son, so if he were to see him the likeness won't be so blatant."

"You do make a good point," Xena admitted. "And Ares will be too consumed with finding the Holy Saber to take notice of two children from a faraway land. But I don't want to tempt fate. Lycus and Lysia will accompany us to Greece but we will leave them in Amphipolis while we contact Ares at his closest temple."

Cyrus nodded in agreement. They would begin their journey to Greece in two days.

It was a clear night. A soft wind blew, slightly swaying the palm trees in the hills above Persepolis. Ares stood by his winged stallion Serpico, waiting for his contact to arrive. Serpico snorted and stamped a front hoof. Ares rubbed the stallion's ebony face. Serpico was one of the two offspring of Pegasus, the famous winged stallion, that Ares had in his private stables in Macedon. Pegasus belonged to Zeus, but had taken a liking to a mare, which belonged to Ares, so he owned the products of their union.

Ares was starting to get annoyed because his contact in Persepolis was late. He had no authority in Persia, so his godly powers were severely reduced. That is why he had to use the winged stallion to quickly journey to Persia. Also, the Olympian gods and the gods of Persia had an ongoing territory dispute and it would not be good for him to be caught in their pantheon's region.

"Damn Darius!" Ares whispered under his breath as he stood on the hilltop hidden by the dense palm trees. Darius was the name of Ares' secret contact in Persia. One of his parents was a member of the Persian Pantheon so he was half-god like Hercules. Some time back, Ares did Darius a huge favor so he became his eyes and ears in the Persian region as payback.

Ares did not like the fact he had to ask for help from Cyrus but it was his only chance of finding the Holy Saber. Ares disliked Cyrus the moment he met him six years ago, when he came to Persia looking for Xena. After their disagreement regarding Caesar, Ares had let Xena go off to sulk for a while. He got so consumed with his counsel to Caesar that several months had passed before he decided to bring his prized warrior princess back into the fold. It was the first time he had ever lost track of her, but he did trace her whereabouts to Persia and Cyrus' palace located just outside of Persepolis.

Cyrus had the nerve to refuse Ares' request to see Xena and reminded him with glee, he had no power in Persia. When Xena did finally return to Greece, Ares feared her long stay in Persia had lessened her drive for conquest. But that thought quickly vanished when Xena returned to the battlefield. Her bloodlust was stronger than ever. But her attitude towards him had changed. Cyrus had told Xena about the true origin of the gods, and that didn't please Ares but she had always disrespected godly authority so he could deal with that. But there was more he couldn't comprehend.

Ares' patience was truly running thin when Darius trotted up the hill on the back of a horse.

"You are late," he said with annoyance.

Darius dismounted from his horse and stood facing Ares. "Sorry, but there were other matters I had to take care of first."

"These other matters better not mean you neglected your duties to me," Ares said in a threatening tone.

"You can relax Ares," Darius assured. "I did just like you asked. I used the pool of insight so they didn't even know I was observing them." A proud smile was etched in his features due to his accomplishment.

"What did you hear?"

"They talked about some real heavy stuff," Darius said in a serious tone. "I was in shock when Xena said Dahak is back. His war with my family was a little before my time, but I heard my father speak of it. He killed some of my aunts, uncles and would have killed everyone if Ahura Mazda hadn't defeated him. They said he was the epitome of evil."

"That's what he is all right and now he has set his sights on toppling the Olympian pantheon. But that's only the beginning. If he has his way, other pantheons will fall as well, including Persia." Ares saw the look of fear in Darius' eyes with his last statement. "But he won't get that far because I know how to stop him for good this time." Ares could see his words somewhat softened the look of fear on Darius' face. "Now, what else did you hear?"

"Xena said Dahak is her father!"

"Yeah, I've known that for some time now, just move on to what else you heard," Ares said in a rushed tone.

"Boy, that must be a bummer, knowing such evil is your father."

"Will you move on to something else!" Ares demanded harshly.

Darius jumped a little at the tone in Ares' voice. "Well, they talked about Cyrus being needed to examine some scrolls to locate a sword which can kill Dahak. Cyrus agreed to come back to Greece with Xena to translate the scrolls."

"Excellent!" Ares now had a smile on his face.

"They did talk about one more thing which I found quite interesting and I'm sure you will too," Darius said with a sly smile.

"So tell me already."

"First, I want to make clear, it took an extra effort on my part to fill in the gaps to what I heard so I could report clear and insightful information to you."

"Darius, just spill what you heard now!" The annoyance Ares felt earlier had clearly returned.

"It appears Xena and Cyrus have been keeping two little secrets from you for some time now."

"And just what are these two little secrets?" Ares wearily asked.

"Do you remember Xena's stay in Persia six years ago?" Darius saw the clear look of annoyance on Ares' face. "Of course you do," he said quickly. "Xena stayed in Persia so long because she was pregnant---with your children." Darius saw the expression on Ares' face change from annoyance to shock. "That's right Ares, Xena gave birth to twins. You have a son and a daughter."

Ares was truly stunned by what Darius had uncovered at Cyrus' palace. "Are you sure you heard correctly? Because if this is false information, you won't live long enough to regret it."

"I wouldn't be so stupid as to bring you information I hadn't verified. I saw the children myself and I must say, you two made some very cute kids. The boy is the spitting image of you, except for his eyes, which favor Xena's. His name is Lycus. The girl looks a lot like Xena but she clearly has your eyes. Her name is Lysia."

"What else did you hear?"

"Somehow, Ahura Mazda found out about the twins and since our laws say children belong to the father, he had a duty to turn them over to you. Cyrus told Ahura Mazda the children died shortly after birth and somehow got him to agree to keep their ‘alleged short existence' from you. Since their birth, the children have been living in India and came to Persia for a visit. It appears both children are connected to this Dahak mess." Darius could see his last statement intrigued Ares. "For a few weeks now, the boy has been disturbed by a nightmare of a monster coming for him. According to Xena, the description of the monster fits Dahak's appearance in a dream she had. She and Cyrus both fear Dahak maybe trying to reach the boy through his dreams." Darius saw the look of concern on Ares' face after his last statement. "The girl's connection isn't so scary," assured Darius. "She has a birthmark which is identical to the star on that sword you guys need Cyrus to find. Cyrus believes the girl may help in finding the sword and wants her to come with them to Greece along with the boy to protect him from Dahak. Xena was against this at first but Cyrus convinced her the children had to come. But she wants to make sure you don't find out about them, so the children will be left in Amphipolis."

Darius studied Ares' face as his mind absorbed the information he brought him. "I would sure hate to be in either Xena's or Cyrus' boots when you make it known to them you know about the children," Darius said with mock sympathy for the pair. "What will you do to them Ares?" he asked with excitement.

"What I do to them is my business," Ares curtly replied. "You did your job well and can go now."

Ares watched as Darius mounted his horse that then started a slow trot down the hill. He was still absorbing the news Darius brought him after the half-god had made his departure. He thought Darius would report Xena and Cyrus had become lovers during her long stay. But to discover Xena had been pregnant with his children and gave birth to them in Persia had his mind spinning. He mounted Serpico, who flew into the air, headed back towards Macedon and his fortress in the mountains. Once in his hideaway, Ares would contemplate how he would handle this startling discovery.

As Ares sat on his throne in his mountain fortress in Macedon, so many emotions surged through his body as his mind weighed this shocking discovery. He truly believed there wasn't any aspect regarding Xena's life he didn't know. He knew about Solan, her lovers, her victims, her enemies, her friends and her family. He even possessed knowledge about Xena's life that she didn't discover until recently, like Dahak being her father and the life bond she shared with him. It was a blow to his ego that she had managed to keep a secret of this magnitude from him for this long.

In all the years he had known Xena, she had never done anything to make him as angry as he was now. And even if he didn't share a life bond with Xena, Ares could never take her life but she would have to be punished for keeping the children from him.

Despite all the anger he felt towards Xena at the moment, it couldn't compare to the boiling rage he had for Cyrus. Ares knew Xena keeping the existence of the children from him had to be Cyrus' doing. The former Watcher had crossed the line interfering in his personal affairs. Ares would thoroughly enjoy teaching Cyrus a lesson. There would be no end to the torture he planned to inflict upon him. But any plans to harm Cyrus would have to be put on hold until Dahak was no longer a threat. Cyrus was crucial to him finding the Holy Saber and claiming the power it held within. But once Ares had that power, Cyrus would pay the price for his meddling.

Ares thought about his children whose existence he had just discovered. He had fathered thousands of children over his immortal existence but he had never taken much interest in the lives of his offspring. Their mothers had been nothing more than lustful distractions and any feelings for them faded when the moment passed. But Xena stood out from all his other lovers. She ignited within him something he had never felt before and sometimes that scared him. And now he knew Xena had given him a son and a daughter. Ares couldn't deny he had thought about having a child with Xena and was hoping one would come from their recent time together. But that wasn't as much a concern now that he knew they already shared two children.

And what powerful children they must be he thought. They not only inherited godly blood from him but the blood of a Watcher, Dahak's blood, which they inherited from Xena. Their powers could reach that of full gods and with two of them, they would truly be a force to reckon with, but most importantly they were his.

Ares remembered what Darius said about how much the children resembled their parents. He wondered what other characteristics of his and Xena's they had inherited as well. Ares had missed the first six years of the children's lives and felt some bonding was long overdue. Xena and Cyrus didn't know it, but there would be a change in their plans to leave the children in Amphipolis.