"Alright,but what should I say?" "Tell him you heard about his accquisition and new powers and want to be the first to worship him. I'll think of an offering for you to bring. Mention that you know of a few other kings who oppose his new powers and want to see him destroyed. Then offer him your army to use as he wishes. After you say that Joxer and Salmoneus will start throwing the gourds." "I guess we'll have to come up with some kind of hand signal."Iolaus said to Joxer."When Ascelious leaves,and he will,you go find Gabrielle." "Sounds good to me." replied Iolaus. "Salmoneus, you and Joxer hide as soon as you finish with the gourds. (she turned back to the others) Ok Iolaus,Autolycus,come with me. We'll have to find suitable costumes. We will ALL meet back here in one hour."~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Almost two hours later Xena,Autolycus,and Iolaus had gotten into costume and were on their way to Ascelious' temple. Xena was wearing a simple cloak over her armor and a blonde wig. Autolycus sported a pair of black leather boots,a straw hat and a farmers coat. Xena wanted them to pose as innocent worshipping farmers if they were caught. Iolaus wore a fake bejeweled crown. His robes were red and purple and lined with spun gold.The disguse was completed by the wig,beard and mustache he wore and the coach he was to travel in. They had hired it in town.They all looked very realistic,and Salmoneus wondered if possibly their attire had been some of his merchandise at one time.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Iolaus got into the castle safely and told Ascelious everything he was supposed to. He then walked to the window, and started to say more when bursts of fire struck the castle."Oh no!(Iolaus said),they've started attacking sooner than I thought!"
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Xena and Autolycus easily climbed the rough stone wall. There were plenty of footholds. The hard part came upon reaching the second story window. Autolycus had to lean on the ledge so he could cut through enough of the bars for it to serve as an entrance. He was done in no time, and dropped the metal bars to the ground outside before crawling through the window. As he helped Xena inside, he heard a noise behind them. It sounded like the guards were coming. Startled, Xena and Autolycus looked at each other. They were standing in a corridor so there were no rooms they could quickly duck into.
The window they had just come from formed a little alcove with the wall around it, so it bought them some time. After Xena and Autolycus hid behind a grotesque looking potted plant they were invisible.The men who passed by didn't notice the intruders and quickly moved on down the hall. Xena caught a whisp of their conversation just as they turned the corner. "They were talking about a star on the third floor.Come on!" She started walking down the hall and up the stairs at the end. Xena stopped at the fourth door on the right to wait for Autolycus to catch up. "This is where Ares kept a lot of his acquisitions. With luck , Ascelious does too and the stone will be behind here." "Boy you really know this place well ,don't you?" Autolycus said while trying to pry open the heavily padded locks. "Yeah well,I was one of Ares' best warriors once."she attempted a half hearted smile. "Right." Autolycus said as he flung open the double doors for them.
CHAPTER THREE
As the doors opened they noticed the room was bathed in a mysterious light, consisting of all the colors ever imagined. They were so mesmerized that they didn't even see the large green scaley shape that slithered around the room. Coming to her senses, Xena grabbed a sword that was lying on the ground at her feet and attempted to distract the strange beast. Unfortunately the creature knocked over a huge gong . It's sound echoed to the very room Iolaus and Ascelious were standing in. Ascelious was just about to go investigate the fire bombs, but stopped. "Sounds like we have another visitor( Ascelious said pointedly), you wouldn't know anything about that would you king epheruculous?" "Me?No great Ascelious. Why should I defy You?" "Alright. I'm going to investigate. If your telling the truth we'll talk. If not-." Ascelious' evil eye made Iolaus' fate clear. "Sheew!" Iolaus said after the god had disappeared. "Now all I have to do is find Gabrielle."
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