"Heart of Darkness"

Chapter Six

Over The River And Through The Woods...

The man slept.

As he slept, he dreamed.

He dreamed of his dead commander, Galvous. Dreamed of the time when they had been so close to getting rid of the warrior princess and her friends once and for all...

"Krius, it's time," whispered Galvous as he invaded the dreams of his former lieutenant. "You want Xena, don't you? And her two meddlesome friends? Remember what she and her friends did to us? To you? Here's all you need to do..."

When Krius awoke the next morning, he told his small band of warriors to pack up and break camp . They were going to Tyldus.

He had a score to settle with a warrior, a bard, and a flutist.

-------------------------

Chapter Seven

Dawn Of A New Day...

Gabrielle awoke slowly as was her habit.

The sun was shining brightly as she opened her eyes. By the gods, it was wonderful to sleep in a real bed! She stretched, sat up, and stretched again.

She looked around, but the house was empty. Gabrielle remembered what a morning person her friend was. Mariah had left some tea for her. The bard rolled out of bed and helped herself. She was finishing when Mariah walked in carrying a load of parcels, her hair still slightly damp from her early morning swim. She'd had a quiet night for a change.

"Hey, you're up," Mariah said with a smile as she put the parcels down on the table. Gabrielle noticed her friend's eyes looked better than they had yesterday. "Are you ready for some breakfast? I've got something special I want you to try."

Gabrielle perked up. "Sure. What can I do to help?"

Mariah laughed remembering her friend's hearty appetite. "First, we have to get the fire stirred up. Then we need to cut up the cheese and vegetables." Mariah put some of the items away, and pulled out the knives, mixing bowls, frying pans, plates, and eating utensils. She cracked some eggs in the bowl, beating them as she added some fresh cream. Gabrielle put some bacon in one of the frying pans, and put it over the fire. As the bacon cooked, Mariah and Gabrielle unpacked the parcels, made some more tea, set the table, and sliced up the cheese and vegetables.

"What are we making?" Gabrielle asked, curious.

Mariah smiled. "Something from my time. This is a dish I *love* to eat! It's called an omelette." Gabrielle watched as her friend put the egg mixture in another frying pan on the fire. As the eggs cooked and hardened, Mariah added the cheese and vegetables, and folded one half of the eggs over the other. Soon, breakfast was ready.

The girls sat down to the bacon, omelette, tea, and fresh bread. Gabrielle took a tentative taste of the omelette. She almost purred when it melted in her mouth.

"By the gods, this is *good*!" the bard exclaimed as she dug in.

"Yeah, but if you ever plan on making it, only make it when you're with Xena or me. I don't think it's even been invented yet!"

Gabrielle laughed at her friend. "So what's planned for today?" she asked as she ate.

"Not a thing," replied Mariah. "This is a day for us to shop, rest, and catch up. Unless maybe you're up for a little staff practice later," she said with a gleam in her eye.

The bard smiled as she looked at her friend. "You're on. I want to see how soft you've gotten living the good life!"

"Me? Soft? Not a chance after traveling with you and Xena for as long as I did!"

After breakfast they cleaned up and decided to go to the marketplace. Mariah knew how much Gabrielle loved to haggle and shop.

The two women strolled over to the marketplace, Mariah introducing the bard to her friends as they went. They then spent some time enjoying the sites and sounds of the market, stopping at various stalls, including Myklos's as well. Gabrielle bought some new scrolls from him, and he surprised her by giving her a small carrying case. "What's this for?" she asked him.

"For being such a good friend to Mariah," he said with a warm smile. "For taking her out of Athens and bringing her here to me. If she hadn't met you and Xena, I never would have met her either. I owe you both for that. More than you'll ever know." Gabrielle looked in his honest brown eyes and could see why Mariah liked him; he was a kind man, a good and gentle soul. They'll be happy together, the bard thought to herself, once they get over Mariah's twentieth century hurdles.

After they shopped, they decided to have a light lunch and rest awhile before working out with their staffs. It was late afternoon when they finally got around to the sparring.

They went to an open area behind Mariah's house. First they warmed up; then, Gabrielle went on the defensive and attacked Mariah. The flute player held her own against the bard. Gabrielle was sure that Mariah would've lost some of her edge, but her friend surprised her. They switched roles, with Mariah going on the defensive. Gabrielle had her hands full just keeping up with her.

"You've been practicing," the bard said as she deftly fended off a low blow from Mariah.

"Well, after what happened when we met Galvous, I didn't want to go through *that* again. I may not be the most physical person, but I vowed that I would never be a victim," Mariah said as she once again went on the attack.

They worked out for about an hour, switching roles as they went. After, they went for a cooling swim in the river.

They decided to eat at the inn that night, Myklos meeting them there for dinner. Again the two women provided the entertainment, and they were warmly welcomed one again by Clytos's customers. They each earned more dinars for their efforts. Gabrielle entertained Myklos and Mariah with some of the more humorous stories of her travels with Xena to prevent him from asking questions about Mariah's past. It was late when they left the inn and Myklos escorted them back to Mariah's home.

It was Mariah's night to get the bed. She argued with the bard, but Gabrielle insisted.

Mariah thought she would have a pleasant night after having such a pleasant day.

She thought wrong.

-------------------------

Chapter Eight

Stranger In The Night...


Mariah slept.

As she slept, she dreamed.

She was back in Galvous's camp, she and Gabrielle tied to posts, watching Xena fight a duel to the death against the warlord. This time, Galvous won, and Mariah watched in shock and horror as her warrior friend fell to the earth, dead, Galvous's sword sticking out of her chest. She cried in rage and frustration at her friend's death, Galvous standing there laughing over the dead body.

The dream changed. She dreamed of hospitals, drugs, pain. Dreamed of nausea, scanning machines, wheelchairs, I.V. hookups. She was poked and prodded by people in white jackets, jabbed with needles...god, would it ever end? Stop, she pleaded. Stop it, I can't take anymore...

Suddenly, the dream changed again. She looked around. She was in a brightly lit room, an operating room, strapped down tightly to the operating table, able to move only her head. She saw a tall man in a white jacket and a white mask approach her, a scalpel in his hand. He pulled down the mask, and she saw a familiar scar on the left side of his face. Galvous! He smiled evilly as he watched her struggle unsuccessfully against her bonds, loving the fear and frustration he saw growing in her blue eyes.

"So we meet again, my dear," he said, grabbing her hair to hold her head steady as he brought the scalpel to her face. "Ready to add another scar to that oh-so-interesting collection of them you already have?" He put the edge of the scalpel on her left cheekbone. She cried out.

"Mariah? Mariah! Mariah!! Come on, wake up!" Gabrielle said urgently as she gently but firmly shook her friend.

Mariah's eyes shot open, the scream dying on her lips Her breaths came in shallow, panicked gasps. She was almost hyperventilating from her fear of the dream.

"Come on, Mariah, you're OK. It was just a dream," said Gabrielle, taking her friend into her arms to calm her down. "You're awake, now. You're all right."

Mariah still trembled violently, breaths gasping, chest heaving, at the vivid memory of the dreams. This had been the worst. Over the months, she had dreamed of her twentieth century life, and she had dreamed of Galvous, but never had the two overlapped. Never.

Damn, damn, damn, damn, damn. What's the matter with me, she thought to herself angrily.

Gabrielle held her friend close, rubbing her back to calm her down. The teacher buried her head on Gabrielle's shoulder. Mariah's thrashings and cries had awakened her, and the bard had a hard time waking up her friend. She had never seen Mariah this upset, not even the morning after they found her, not even after they had their run-in with Galvous. Oh, Mariah had bad dreams and sleepless nights after that encounter. They *all* did, and all three women had helped each other work through it by talking about it.

Mariah's breathing slowly returned to normal as did her heartbeat, and she finally began to relax a little in her friend's arms. "Oh, Gabrielle, that was a bad one," Mariah said finally, her voice and body still a little shaky. "That's been the worst one so far."

"How long have you been having these dreams?"

Mariah was quiet. "A few months now," she finally admitted. "But they weren't bad at first! I'd either dream about my old life or my new life. Lately, though, they've been getting worse. They've been more intense, more graphic."

"How bad?" Gabrielle prompted.

"Bad enough that I started to write about them."

Understanding dawned on Gabrielle. "You mean that big stack of scrolls on the shelf are the details of your dreams and nightmares? They've been that bad for that long?"

Mariah nodded slightly as she rested her head on her friend's shoulder. "I feel like I'm being tormented, punished," she said wearily. "And who could I talk to? Oh, I could talk to people about the dreams I've had about Galvous and my life here, and I have. I've talked to Myklos, Clytos, and some of my other friends about those dreams, but who can I talk to about my twentieth century dreams?"

"What happened in this dream?" Gabrielle asked softly.

Mariah closed her eyes, shuddering at the memory, as she told the dream to her friend. "I've never had that happen before, Gabrielle. Galvous was in my cancer dreams. That's *never* happened!! And seeing Xena murdered! Gods!"

"Shh," the bard said gently, holding her close. "There's got to be some reason for this, Mariah, and we'll find out what it is. I promise. Everything will be OK. You'll see. Tomorrow, you and I are going to sit down with your scrolls and go over your dreams. There may be a clue there."

The bard, as usual, was right. As rain.

-------------------------

Chapter Nine

Scrolling Right Along...


The rest of the night passed uneventfully. Mariah finally fell into an exhausted sleep, as did Gabrielle. Gabrielle for a change was the first one up in the morning. She looked at her still-sleeping friend.

She leaned over her and lightly brushed a stray brown curl off of her friend's face. Gods, she thought to herself angrily, hadn't Mariah been through enough? Having a killer disease not once but twice? Forced to learn how to walk again after being paralyzed? Taken from her world, her friends, her family, forced to make a new life in a new world? Kidnapped by a crazed warlord? She thought back to how Mariah acted when they had been taken by Galvous earlier that year. Mariah was scared, but didn't show it. The teacher had been calm, much more self-possessed than Gabrielle expected her to be. The bard was *extremely* impressed with her friend's grace under pressure. Gabrielle thought it over. Maybe going through all those terrible things had made her friend strong enough to deal with the realities and problems life threw at her.

She walked over to her scroll bag and pulled out a gold necklace holding a ring. When Mariah had landed in ancient Greece those many months ago, she had brought two rings with her from the twentieth century. When she struck out on her own, she gave the rings to the bard and the warrior for all that they had done for her. Gabrielle had her grandfather's gold ring; Xena had her silver high school class ring. Mariah had cherished those rings, and she had absolutely no regrets about giving them to her dearest friends. Gabrielle and Xena treasured those rings as all three girls treasured each other's friendship. Clasping the gold ring in her hand, Gabrielle looked at the sleeping teacher. She hoped and prayed her friend possessed the strength to get through this.

The bard put the ring back in her scroll bag, stirred up the fire, and put on some tea. Deciding to let her sleep, Gabrielle fixed breakfast for the both of them, working quietly so as to not yet awaken her.

Mariah awoke slowly to the smell of bacon and eggs. She looked over, and saw Gabrielle setting the table. Gabrielle, seeing her friend was awake, walked over to her and sat on the bed next to her. "Hey, how are you doing?" the bard asked her softly, patting her shoulder, noticing the dark shadows around her blue eyes.

"Better," Mariah said sleepily. She had no repeat of the dreams that plagued her earlier that night. She sniffed. "You made breakfast? Thanks." She threw off the covers, slowly got to her feet, and stretched. "I'm going to get cleaned up. I'll be right back."

"Don't take too long," Gabrielle called after her as she left the house. Mariah didn't. She was back just as Gabrielle put the food on the table.

As they sat down eating, Mariah noticed Gabrielle hadn't lost her touch when it came to fixing good food. "I'm glad to see you still know how to cook," the teacher teased, as she ate the bacon, eggs, and bread, her appetite off slightly because of the dreams.

"Well, when you travel with Xena, you *better* know how to cook!" Gabrielle said with a smile. "And remember, I taught *you*, too! I think you were my best student." The two friends shared a laugh as they both reminisced briefly about their travels.

After they ate and cleaned up the table and dishes, Mariah brought over her dream scrolls. The girls sat at the table. "Where do you want to start?" Mariah asked.

Gabrielle thought for a moment. "Let's start with your first scroll, and read them in order." The bard got up and pulled out one of her new scrolls. "I'm going to take some notes as we go through this. It might help."

Mariah agreed, dug through the pile, and pulled one out. "This one," she said. "This was the first dream I wrote about." She leaned back in her chair and read.

Gabrielle closed her eyes as she focused on her friend's recitation. It was a dream detailing the events of their capture in their camp by Galvous's men. It was incredibly detailed, and Gabrielle could see the scene in her own head as Mariah related it, even though the bard herself had been unconscious through most of it, thanks to a dart in the leg.

After Mariah finished, she waited for Gabrielle to jot down some notes before she began again.

Mariah began a little hesitantly. "Ah, this one may not make much sense to you. This is one of my twentieth century dreams. It deals with a bad day in my classroom. A *very* bad day." The former high school English instructor launched into a dream that was every teacher's nightmare: an unruly classroom full of teenagers, an unscheduled visit by the principal, a fight breaking out, a fire drill, a bomb scare...anything that could've gone wrong went wrong in the classroom in Mariah's dream. Gabrielle ducked her head and grinned a bit at the story. What a wild tale! It was so full of details that the bard could picture herself with Mariah witnessing the events as they happened. When Mariah finished, Gabrielle made some more notes.

"Here's one about our travels together," Mariah said, pulling out another scroll. It was a dream of their encounter with the five bandits outside of Risa, when Mariah had been forced to defend herself against the man with the knife. He gave her a black eye, a souvenir of her first fight, before she finally defeated him. The dream focused on the details relating to her fear and anger at this encounter. Gabrielle added this information to her notes.

This went on for several hours; Mariah reciting her litany of dreams and nightmares, Gabrielle listening carefully and taking notes. Often, Mariah had to explain twentieth century concepts and details and information to her young friend. At the end, the young bard had two scrolls of notes about her friend's dreams.

"Now what?" asked Mariah.

"First we take a break. We need to get up and move around. Let's practice with the staffs for awhile, come back and eat lunch, and then get back to it." Mariah agreed, and the two women picked up their weapons as they left the house. The workout did much to help clear Mariah's head. She felt more alert, more sure of herself, after they sparred for awhile. Gabrielle too felt better, and both were ready to tackle the task again after lunch.

They sat together at the table and poured over Gabrielle's notes. The bard soon noticed a pattern.

"Look, Mariah," Gabrielle said. "First you dreamt about being captured by Galvous, then you dreamt about your old life, then you dreamt about your life here in Greece. The dreams seem to follow that pattern: Galvous, your old life, your new life."

Mariah was thoughtful, almost pensive, as she looked at her friend. "But that seems so deliberate, Gabrielle. I always thought dreams were more random, less focused. This almost seems to have some logic and control and purpose behind it. But why? And why dream so much about Galvous? I mean, I know that was a traumatic time for me, but I've gone through worse." Mariah struggled to put her thoughts into words. "You know, I almost feel like someone's pumping me for information. Like someone's in my mind, directing my dreams, in an effort to know who I am, what I am, what I know. Does that sound crazy to you?"

"Who's to say?" Gabrielle said with a sigh. "But I will say this: I learned more about your twentieth century world in just a few hours than I did all those months we traveled together. Oh, don't get me wrong," she said quickly when she saw a surprised look appear on Mariah's face. "You couldn't tell us much about your world, Mariah. Xena and I understood that. That's why we never pressed you about it. There's an old saying: A little knowledge can be a dangerous thing. And girl, do you have the knowledge! Xena was right. She said that knowledge was power, and if people here took your knowledge of the future and used it for their own purposes that it could change our whole way of life. Is there anything else you can remember, Mariah, any detail you've not yet mentioned?"

Mariah closed her eyes and thought hard. "You know, there *is* something else, Gabrielle...I just can't quite tell what it is. I can *almost* see it, but something's blocking it." She opened her eyes. "I'm sorry. That's the best I can do."

"Don't worry," said Gabrielle, placating her. "We've done enough for today. Why don't we head over to the inn for dinner? I don't think either one of us feels like cooking tonight."

Mariah agreed, and they spent the evening at the cozy inn. When they walked in, Clytos took one look at Mariah's tired, drawn face, and told her she wouldn't need to play that night. He fussed over her, made sure she and Gabrielle ate a good supper, and made Mariah drink a cup of tea he prepared. "It'll help you rest easier tonight," he told her. "You look like you could use a good night's sleep." Mariah was grateful for the innkeeper's concern. Gabrielle volunteered to entertain the customers, and told several stories, much to the crowd's delight, earning her a few more dinars. Myklos couldn't make it that night; he sent word that he was tied up with some business. The girls decided to make it an early evening, and soon returned to Mariah's home.

Gabrielle insisted her friend take the bed that night, hoping Mariah would get a good night's sleep. Mariah was grateful for her friend's concern, and soon snuggled under the covers, Clytos's tea relaxing her weary body. Gabrielle watched as her friend soon nodded off.

The bard had an idea, though she didn't dare tell Mariah. When she traveled with Xena, the warrior was frequently plagued by nightmares, too, especially early in their travels together. Gabrielle would often sit with the warrior, and gently talk her through the dreams and nightmares while she slept. It worked for Xena; she hoped it would work for Mariah.

It didn't take her long to find out.

Continue Or Back To The Library