The Xena Scrolls

Scroll  # 2:  Chariots of War

 By:  Gabrielle Bard of Potedia

August, 49 B.C.

     And so we were off on our first official journey together.  Xena the warrior princess and her trusty traveling companion Gabrielle Bard of Potedia.  It wasn’t long after leaving Xena’s home in the village of Amphipolis that we ran into a little bit of trouble.  But Xena was secretive as to how much trouble there actually was.  She was very quick to access the situation at hand.  Her mind had been made up that she would fight for the cause of good and that was satisfying for me.  It meant that I had won my own first battle, but for Xena the word battle meant something more than winning.  It was as if she were trained to be hungry for it.

     So after hearing word of trouble soon after the start of our friendship Xena was on the move.  She left me just outside the next town after leaving the local tavern.  Xena promised that she would be back for me.  It was only a small matter according to Xena that needed her attention.  Actually I was reluctant to wait behind because even with all of my persistence it was something we both had in common.  I was afraid that Xena was just being persistent in trying to dump me off someplace.  I stayed behind anyway and found myself in a strange village knowing nobody yet there was something really exciting about this situation.

     There were so many men of different backgrounds to observe and to write about.  I found myself returning to the shady tavern as I scoped out the place to see who looked the most interesting.  Who was most eligible to be my next victim?  As I searched the tavern there were many people of interest, but none of them seemed to have the same mystery as Xena.  I chatted with many and I spent an entire day at that tavern.  As the sun was going down over the valley I began to get a bit concerned.  Xena had said that she was only going to be gone for a short while, but night was falling upon us fast and there had been no sign.  There had been no word of the whereabouts or activities of my new friend the Warrior Princess.

     Something told me that she meant what she said when she had left.  She did say that she would be back for me.  So the thought that she had left me behind for good dissolved into more of a worry.  Was Xena alright?  Why did she go to fight a simple battle without me?  Or was there more to it than she was telling?  I had to find out.  But as I was about to go looking for my friend the bartender suggested that I stay in for the night. First he offered me a drink and I accepted it; however, when it came to asking for money I decided that water was just as good as any drink.  He assured me that my friend was okay, and I could sense his irritation with my worry.  He spoke in his raspy deep voice…”Stay here for the night.  You can go look for your friend in the morning when it is light out.  It’s not good to travel alone at night.  Especially for a young thing like you.”  So I stayed, but I didn’t sleep a wink.  I worried all night with my mind concocting all kinds of crazy wild scenarios.

      I recalled our final conversation just before she departed from me.  We had discussed finding our tree in the forest so to speak.  I had told Xena the story of how the god Zeus had found his own tree to intertwine with, but she did not seem all that interested at the time.  In fact, Xena’s heart was very much hardened by her life’s experiences, and she didn’t believe in letting anyone in.  I tried to convince her otherwise of course, but as always to no avail.  It had been about a month now since we had begun our travels together and I seemed to know less about her than I did when I met her back in Podedia.

     The next morning I returned to the bar for breakfast because I had made up my mind that I would just go ahead and try to find Xena on my own.  It had been an entire sun since I had seen her and I was very worried about her.  Yet as I was standing at the bar one of the rough crowd approached me.  He was a nasty critter with ugly hair, and he smelled like he hadn’t had a bath in over a week.  This pirate looking man had a patch over his eye and he was extremely drunk.  His breath told the entire story of his night of ale.  And of course it wouldn’t surprise anyone that he offered to buy me an ale as well.  Of course I declined his offer and tried to talk my way out of his advances by telling him that we were about to start the gossip pool of the village, but he didn’t much care about that consequence. 

     So then I threw out Xena’s name hoping that would discourage him, but it only made him more interested in my company.  I decided to tell this man who not only was I looking for my best friend Xena, but I was also looking for my tall, dark, rugged, tough, mean, nasty, boyfriend who owned a lethal sword collection.  Of course this thug did not believe a word that I said, but then I suddenly saw my way out of this situation.  Across the tavern sat a man of the very same description that I had given to my new-found pirate friend, He was alone and seemed to be in deep thought.  I didn’t care.  I just ran over to him, sat upon his lap and gave him a great big passionate kiss.  Surely this would discourage the pirate that wanted to add me to his collection of conquests. 

      The only problem was that he was a complete stranger and was very shocked at my sudden advances so I realized that I must explain myself.  I told him to play along and to pretend that he knew me.  He saw me looking over in the direction of the pirate and realized instantly what was going on so he jumped into character.  As soon as my bar friend gave up on his conquest of me the man asked me candidly about how long we had been going out.  I told him the story of our passionate love for one another.  Of course it was he who had fallen madly in love with me.  I then felt it appropriate to introduce myself to him.  He told me that his name was Sphirus. 

      This gentleman was rather charming though he looked a little too rugged for me.  What he was wearing certainly did not fit the personality, but who was I to judge.  We continued onto a wonderful conversation which lead us to his problem.  He mentioned to me that he worked for his father and that he felt a lot of pressure to do things that were out of character for him.  I sympathized with him expressing that I could understand parental pressures completely.  I gave the example of how my mother was a wonderful mother to me, but she had always dreamed that I would grow up to get married, and have lots of kids.  I told Sphirus that there had come a point in my life in which I had to make a choice.  The choice was either to go with tradition and what my parents wanted me to do or to go against all odds and seek the life that I had always dreamed of.  I chose the latter obviously and I had met a wonderful best friend whom I was having difficulty finding.  So then I asked Sphirus if he had ever met or seen my friend.  I described Xena as about six feet tall, dark, and lots of leather. 

     Sphirus looked at me and hesitated for a moment as if trying to recall if he had seen anyone fitting that description.  Then he said that he hadn’t and suddenly he had to leave.  It was a strange abrupt ending and I could only hope that I would run into him again someday.  He seemed like the kind of guy that I could really get to know.

     Not long after he left the tavern I decided to go back to my original plan and began searching for Xena.  I walked for almost three-quarters of a sun before I finally found her.  She rode over the valley upon her horse as if she had just left me moments earlier.  I was not happy about this.  I was angry that she didn’t even think to send me a message saying that she was okay or something.  When we finally met I didn’t let her get away without scolding her.  But as always she was in a hurry again.  In fact, Xena’s next instruction to me was to travel to the next village and find a nice family that would take care of me until I returned.  This of course was not what I was hoping to hear and I was not about to let her go on another mission without me.  I objected and was determined not to leave Xena’s side.  It was obvious that she didn’t have time to argue with me so she allowed me to come.

     This was the moment I had been waiting for.  After a month of traveling with Xena we were finally going to go on an adventure together.  As we walked through the open valley I began to tell Xena of my new-found tree in the forest.  I told her of Sphirus and how wonderful he was to me.  The only problem with this conversation was that it was completely one-sided.  As I was pouring out my heart of my new-found love Xena was paying no attention.  It was as if she were focused on something in another place and in another time.  It was like I wasn’t even there walking down the path with her and her white steed she called Argo. 

     This was unacceptable.  I was really beginning to get irritated and tired of being ignored constantly.  I may not have been a seasoned warrior like Xena, but I surely could learn if I were given a chance.  Just as I was about to argue with Xena she halted.  She told me to be quiet, but of course I didn’t want to be quiet.  I wanted to be heard.  Yet as I was challenging the warrior princess I too heard the sounds of hooves splashing through the water and toward our general direction.  I didn’t see anything at first and I was beginning to get excited for I realized that this was what Xena had been paying attention to all along.  She had known the enemy was coming and she was ready; however, I was not at all ready.

     Suddenly Xena told me to get onto the horse.  Just as I was about to feel the adrenaline rush of adventure boiling inside me she was going to push me aside again.  Naturally I couldn’t allow her to do that again so I told her that I refused to get up on the horse because I wanted to help.  Xena shoved me upon her trusty white steed and instructed me firmly that I could help by getting up on her horse.  The question was…what was I supposed to do next?  Xena barked out another command as if I were a soldier in some kind of army and told me to ride the horse in front of the approaching Chariots.  Just as I was about to ask which way Argo began to run at full gallop taking me out in front of all the action. 

     It was exciting yet frightening at the same time because I had no idea how to ride a horse.  I had ridden a few ponies back in Podedia as a child, but never a beautiful steed like Argo.  She was so swift upon her hooves as the wind rushed through my long strawberry blonde hair.  I held on tightly as if my life depended on it because I could barely stay upon the horse.  As she galloped I kept trying to see what was going on behind me.  I had no idea if the chariots that were chasing me were warlords or some other kind of nasty evil. 

     I shouted for Xena who was close behind me as she lept into one of the approaching chariots and took out the men who had once occupied it.  Now the real war was on.  I came to a fork in the stream and I didn’t know which way to turn.  I shouted back to the warrior princess for some further instruction, but Argo chose the direction sharply turning to the right.  Argo’s turn was a bit too sharp and unexpected for me and I almost fell off right then.  She was running hard and the water was splashing up off of the ground into my face and my boots were getting soaked.  I shouted out to Xena to hurry up because I was about to lose control of the horse.

     Xena shouted back for me to hold on longer which was easier said than done.  Behind me she approached on her chariot and cut off the head chariot carrying the enemy.  Then she pulled up next to me and shouted out to me to jump off of the horse into her chariot.  Her long black hair flew back with intensity and her blue eyes pierced through me boldly.  I couldn’t believe she was asking me to jump off of a horse at full gallop.  At first I refused, but she urged me to just do it.  My doubts about making the jump were suddenly dissolved because I could feel that Xena believed that I could make the jump no problem.  So I trusted in the warrior princess.  If nothing else she’d be able to catch me. 

     I eased my way off of the horse and into the chariot with the warrior princess although it was quite a sloppy leap.  The warrior princess scolded me for not being more graceful, but what did she expect from a village girl from Podedia?  The argument didn’t last long for the enemy came charging forward and locked wheels with us.  Xena reached for her mighty chakram, but realized that it wasn’t resting upon her right hip.  She had lost it and this was the worst time to find out about it.  Then I looked into the face of the enemy, yet it wasn’t an enemy at all.  The one who was in pursuit of us was none other than my tree in the forest Sphirus and his overbearing father.  I shouted out to Sphirus in shock and with great disappointment.  As soon as I commented he shot back at me telling me that I needed to get out of his way. 

     He looked enraged, but I didn’t understand it.  When he had said that he worked for his father back in the tavern I never dreamed that he was the son of a warlord.  As I was contemplating this surprise Xena was fighting Sphirus’s father.  They clashed swords, but the warlord was no match for the warrior princess.  She sliced off the top of his weapon and then she cut us loose from their chariot.  This sent them crashing into the side of the valley.  We were triumphant in defeating them, but our celebration was short-lived as the smile which spread across the warrior princess’s face was interrupted by a sudden crash of our own chariot. 

     We had hit a large rock and we had hit it very hard.  The collision sent us flying out of the chariot through the air violently.  It was the worst fall I’d ever experienced.  We rolled several times after landing roughly onto the ground before we stopped our motion.  As I was making my way back to my feet with a new-found head ache Xena scolded me for my taste in men.  Before I had a chance to defend myself there before us stood the enemy.  The father of my tree stood before Xena growling ready to take the life of the great warrior woman.  And Sphirus charged forward toward me as I tried to run out of sight.  I didn’t know how to fight.  I didn’t even have a weapon.  I did the only thing that I knew how to do.  I talked.

      Sphirus’s father wasn’t a great help.  He was shouting at Sphirus telling him to raise his weapon and to take my life.  I could see it in Sphirus’s eyes that he really wasn’t evil at heart, and it was then that I understood what he had meant back at the tavern when he said that his father made him do things that he regretted doing.  Though he was told by his father that Xena had been the one who had killed his brother Stentor I could see that Sphirus would not take revenge.  I then told Sphirus that it was his moment of truth.  This was his chance to take his life into his own hands.  His choices were simple.  He could listen to what evil was telling him to do or he could listen to his heart, and I had faith that he would choose his heart.

     Sphirus’s heart did win out.  He shot back at his father and told him that the killing would end here.  But his father would not allow it.  As Sphirus threw down his sword his father rose his own sword ready to kill his surviving son.  Just as father and son were about to battle it out a gallant farmer came riding over the valley with Xena’s lost chakram.  He quickly gave it to the warrior princess who used it to save the life of the innocent young warrior.  This only angered the evil warlord more for Xena had interfered with his act to kill his only son.

     She fought him passionately and as she fought him she told the truth of the story of Stentor.  Stentor had not been killed by Xena in a cowardly manner as had been told by Sphirus’s father.  Stentor had been trying to make peace with Xena and her army when his own army turned against him and slaughtered him in cold blood.  The evil warlord did not believe this story.  He was too tainted to see past his own evil heart and darkness.  He knocked Xena to the ground, but she recovered quickly as she flipped backward to regain position.  Sirus lunged forward for the warrior princess in rage, but she slashed him quickly through the stomach and pushed him to the ground.  He died at the end of her sword.  He died empty and alone. 

     After our great battle on the chariots we returned with the gallant peacemaker whom had brought Xena’s chackram to her.  He had been the one whom she had stayed with overnight I came to find out.  There was a great celebration in his village as Sphirus was now the leader of his father’s army and he declared there would be peace in the valley.  The bloodshed had ended for him and the people of this small unknown village.

     And I also found out that the reason Xena had not returned to me the night before.  The day before when she had left me at the tavern she was trying to find safe passage for us, and she had ridden in upon this small village to find that it was under attack.  She bravely fought the attackers of this small village only to be wounded by an arrow marked for death.  And this most gracious widowed farmer had been kind enough to take Xena into his home to care for her and to heal her wounds until she was strong enough to move on.

     This farmer had faced much adversity within his village for everyone knew of Xena and her dark deeds of the past.  When they had wanted her gone from their village this farmer stood by her and protected her from their suspicions and anger.  Although Xena tried to live peacefully through their village conflict she was unable to resist saving them from the wrath of Sphirus and his father Stentor.  And that was when I realized that I had been a small part of helping Xena save this small village for it was I who had talked Sphirus out of the darkness and into the light. 

      As Xena and I left our first adventure together behind she told me of how during her time on the farm she had contemplated going back to the life of a  simple villager.  She had said that she wanted to give up her warrior image, but realized that though there were many who were of evil nature there was only one that she knew who could fight on the side of good.  She told me that Hercules was very good at fighting against evil, but felt that one more fighting on the side of good couldn’t hurt.  And so I learned something very valuable from all of this.  Number one never date the tall, dark, and handsome, and number two never drive a chariot without a horse.