The Xena Scrolls

By:  Gabrielle Bard of Potedia

Scroll#4:  Cradle of Hope

September, 49 B.C.

      Do the things we encounter in life happen because of fate or is it simply by chance.  My adventure with Xena began one morning upon awakening over a large nasty rock.  It had been a rough night finding a good patch of soft ground to sleep upon, but I had been quite unsuccessful finding that I had a large knot in my back.  When Xena asked me how I had slept I was quite candid about my experience of the night before.  I was still getting used to this roughing it lifestyle, but I wasn’t really complaining.

     Suddenly there was this large cry which sounded like a cat or maybe it was the sound of a griffin.  I wasn’t certain, but Xena pulled out her sword ready to kill it.  Xena was much more experienced at this outdoor living than I so I suspected that it was a large cat that we were dealing with.  Xena slowly approached the brush near the river as she prepared to strike whatever it was.  She used her sword to pull back the cattails and view what was beyond them.  I followed closely behind yet not too closely for I didn’t know if this thing would jump out and attack.  Xena’s mood quickly lightened as she declared that it was not at all a cat or a griffin, but something else much less harmful. 

     My curiosity prevailed and I approached pulling back some of the cattails myself to investigate the mystery before us.  When I looked down I saw the cutest little thing.  Of course I wasn’t expecting to find a baby in a stream, but there it was.  It had been sent down the river in nothing, but cloth and a basket.  This was quite odd and I could not believe that a mother would be heartless enough to send her child out into the world alone.  However, Xena naturally defended the mother stating that maybe she had a good reason for releasing her child into the river alone.  Of course I couldn’t think of any  good reason to send my child in a basket down the river.  I picked up the child and held it in my arms for it seemed to me that I would feel lonely if I had been in a basket. 

     Xena suggested that we try to find who the mother was and that we return her child.  I wasn’t so certain that the mother would want her child back and I was happy to care for him myself.  I even thought of a little name for him.  I called him Gabriel although Xena objected to my name for the child.  But I didn’t care.  I still called him that.  The best thing about this was that for the first time Xena and I had a mission that didn’t seem so dangerous.  All we had to do was find a child’s mother and then our good deed would be done for the day.  There were no warlords, or dream gods, or armies to fight and that was a relief to me. 

     We knew we had to find a home for this innocent child, but returning the baby to its home wasn’t going to be that easy.  As I was riding upon Xena’s horse with the baby in my arms I had spoken too soon for we encountered a cowardly mob on our way to the village at the top of the river.  There was this large group of what looked like peasant villagers gathered around a woman hanging from a tree.  As we approached the leader of the group proclaimed that they would send the poor soul to Hades.  Then he had released the rope and tried to kill her, but Xena intervened quickly whipping out her mighty chakram charging through the rope.  After Xena had freed  the victim from her certain death Xena took her whip and lashed it out capturing a new victim.  It was the leader of the mob and she strung him up to the tree to punish him for his crimes against the innocent.  Then the peasant group immediately dispersed in fear of the dark woman dressed in leather.  Xena delivered a threat of death to her new captive and then with mercy set him free.  He followed the rest of his clan running from the warrior princess in terror.

       When Xena and I approached the woman I asked her if she was okay.  The woman replied that she was fine though she was still coughing struggling to breath.  I couldn’t believe how calm she had been through her ordeal, but she assured me that everything was fine except for the fact that she was being condemned for being born into the wrong family.  I thought to myself what an awful fate to have been born condemned.  Then I noticed that she was searching for something frantically.  Relief spread across her face for she found it lying next to her on the ground.  What it was I did not know, but I was going to find out.  I offered to help her with her large brown leather bag, but she was quite uncomfortable with my handling it.   

      Then there was a crash of thunder signaling a storm in the near future.  Xena took us to shelter in a nearby cave.  Inside the cave the woman explained to us who she was and why she had been condemned.  Her name was Pandora and she was the keeper of the box.  For a moment I was fearful for I had heard of the stories of the box and how its power was destructive.  Pandora assured me that the only time the box had any power was when it was opened.  She also explained that she was not the original Pandora who had opened the box.  It had been her grandmother whose name was also Pandora.  Pandora’s grandmother had mistakenly opened the powerful box allowing all of humanities desires to escape from it except for one.  The one desire of mankind that was still safely kept within the box was hope.

     Then I tried to set down the bag which contained the heavy box, but accidentally it dropped out.  Pandora lunged for it obviously very upset at my mishandling of this most mysterious object.  I found myself intensely curious about the box and its legend.  There were so many more questions that I had to ask of Pandora like what were the other desires that had escaped the box.  Yet Xena was not at all fascinated by this story.  Instead she asked me to hand over the baby to Pandora.  Pandora was nervous to be asked to handle a newborn child for it was the box that she had cared about most.  It had been more important to her than anything else in life.  Yet Xena had other plans for Pandora.  I could see the plan formulating within the depths of her blue eyes which were just as fascinating as the box itself. 

      After handing over my newfound pride and joy Xena asked me to go and get her saddlebag.  I found myself slightly annoyed that there was not some other job for me to do with a little more excitement and importance.  It was still quite obvious that the warrior princess had little faith in my abilities to be useful to her.  I yearned to do so much more than fetching saddlebags.  Then I thought of opening the box myself for I could not resist my curiosity, but Xena caught me before I could even put my hand upon its lid.  It was like she had eyes in the back of her head.

     When the storm was over we continued on our journey back toward the village.  Once we arrived we entered a tavern to fetch some salt port and milk for the baby.  I couldn’t help, but dote over Gabriel for he was so cute and his nose looked just like mine.  Even Pandora was beginning to find herself taken by his natural charm for she had almost forgotten about her box for a few moments.  Upon entering the tavern the tavern keeper asked Xena to check her weapons at the door.  It was obvious that the warrior princess was not comfortable and probably felt naked without them.  Yet the tavern keeper was firm as he refused service if she did not leave her weapons at the door.  Xena had no other choice and so she hung her sword and chakram along the wall while Pandora and I found a table. 

     As we sat down she asked me to hold the child so that she could reset the box.  Then Xena joined us with the milk for the baby so that Gabriel could finally rest easy with a full stomach.  Pandora had done a wonderful job of getting him to settle down and forget about the pain of his hunger.  Suddenly, the guards of the kingdom came busting through the doors.  They were headed by King Gregor’s adviser Nemos who placed the child under arrest.  This was outrageous for what crime could a newborn child have committed?  Xena rose from the her seat calmly to face Nemos.  Then she looked to Pandora and asked her to do as Nemos had asked.  Xena was calm as she took a drink from her goblet on the table and reached out to take the child.  But instead of taking the child she took the burning torch which hung from the wall and swung around to face Nemos and his guard. 

     She then shot out an explosive flame setting the front of the squadron on fire.  Men screamed as Xena then jumped upon the table and kicked another guard.  She flipped backward off of the table and then swung from the beams of the tavern ceiling toward her weapons.  Xena landed and then grabbed her weapons to fight.  She took out her sword and went into combat against Nemos.  Nemos robbed the warrior princess of her weapon, but she still did not give up.  Instead Xena quickly grabbed a burning candle stick blocking his advances.  Then she delivered a furious punch and the battle was over.  Nemos and his men went running out of the tavern unsuccessfully.  Then Xena approached the tavern keeper.  She was obviously angry.  The warrior princess grabbed him by the collar and slammed him down onto the bar.  Then she told him that she had noticed that he had sent a boy after the guard to deliver news of the baby’s arrival.  Xena then took her two fingers and jabbed them into the tavern keeper’s neck.  She declared that he only had 30 seconds to live for his blood was thinning in his brain.  Xena wanted information.  She wanted to know who was after this child.  And then suddenly there was yet another twist to this journey.  Pandora’s box had been stolen by the guard.

      As the tavern keeper began to struggle to speak Xena let off the pressure.  He told of a prophecy given to King Gregor by an oracle who said that this child would be the one who would succeed his throne.  There had also been a ransom for this baby to anyone who could locate him and deliver him to the king.  Xena was still not satisfied, but it was obvious what had to be done.  So she and Pandora went into hiding with the baby while Xena sent me with an important message to be delivered to the king.  I was so excited for this was my first important job.  Yet I was curious about the letter so I read it.  The letter had requested that King Gregor meet with Xena regarding the baby and Pandora’s box.  How exciting this mission was turning out to be.  As I snuck into the castle I met this servant named Ophelia.  She knew everything about King Gregor’s castle and about the baby.

     Ophelia spoke of how she had heard the oracle’s reading to the King and his adviser Nemos.  Apparently, the king had lost his wife in the birth of his son.  Sadly his baby boy had also died at birth leaving the king distraught and deeply wounded.  When the oracle had spoken of a child that had been born on the equinox King Gregor had thought that she was reading his past, but indeed it was the present that she had seen.  She spoke of how this child’s mother had also died in child-birth and that he would one day sit on Gregor’s throne.  When Nemos heard of this he convinced Gregor that the baby was a threat to him and wanted to cause great pain to his kingdom.  But that was not true and so the servants had to send the baby down the river in order save him from being killed by Nemos.

     After receiving Xena’s letter Nemos convinced him that Xena was intending to take his kingdom by force for she had once carried Pandora’s box.  He boasted to Gregor of how he had barely escaped Xena’s wrath back at the tavern and warned the king of her many powerful conquests against kingdoms using lesser weapons that the box.  The king agreed with Nemos that Xena was indeed powerful.  Nemos suggested that they exchange the box for the child so that the child could be prevented from his destiny told by the oracle.  The king agreed to that, but then Nemos suggested that once they had the child they would have to kill him.  Gregor was not certain that the child should be killed until he actually became a threat to the kingdom.  Nemos backed down, but his plans were becoming clear.  He wanted the kingdom for himself and was very threatened by a possible successor to Gregor.

     Upon my return to the hideout I gave Xena news of a reward of 1000 dinars for our capture.  It was definitely tempting, but temptation wasn’t everything.  I also told Xena of how I was able to get into the castle walls with the help of my new friend Ophelia.  Xena was impressed for a moment, and then I reminded her that though she had the gift of the warrior, I had the gift of words.  Then I noticed that Pandora seemed very upset and  had barely spoken a word to anyone yet she still held the child tightly within her arms.  Xena spoke of how Pandora had been upset since we had left the tavern.  And then Pandora spoke.  She said that if she was not able to reset the box by midnight then all of the world’s hope would be lost.  Xena realized that she had to act quickly and so she prepared to meet with the king and his adviser.  I wanted to go with her, but Xena refused me.  There was little to argue about for someone had to stay with Pandora.  Yet I was still proud knowing that I had impressed Xena with my accomplishments.

     When Xena returned from her meeting she delivered news that the king himself was not an evil man, but his adviser Nemos was the one to watch.  She said that it was obvious that the king’s heart went out to his people and that he would die for them no matter the stakes.  Xena knew that if she was going to save the child and Gregor’s kingdom from Nemos she would have to get to his cunning adviser.  Ophelia had joined us just before Xena had returned with news of where to find Pandora’s box.  She said that it was kept near Nemos at all times.  Xena then asked if Ophelia could take her to the box, but Ophelia refused for she had to be at the half-moon festival later that evening. 

      Knowing that time was running out for Pandora and her box Xena took Ophelia’s place at the festival as one of the dancers performing at the feast.  She disguised herself well behind a thin veil and turned on all of her seductive charm.  Nemos found himself enticed by the dark dancer and soon forgot about the box he had left in the open.  Yet King Gregor entered into the hall showing doubt in his adviser’s true intentions.  Gregor seized the box and took it back with him to his own chambers for safe keeping.  This made it easier for the warrior princess for she had seduced Nemos into a passionate night back at his chambers; however, the passion only lasted long enough for Xena to find out where the king slept and to deliver pain in return to the unsuspecting Nemos.

     Xena wasted no time sneaking into the king’s chambers where she saw him grieving for his lost wife and child.  It was at that moment that Xena realized what the true prophecy held for the child and King Gregor.  All she had to do was defeat the common enemy.  Yet she was caught by Nemos with the box in hand as she stole away into the night through the king’s window.  Then Xena ran through the kingdom searching for Pandora and I for we  had been hiding nearby with the child waiting for the box.  As we waited I too saw the prophecy and how it was to be full filled as I watched Pandora sing lovingly to the fussing child.  Soon Gabriel quieted his cries and was comforted by his new mother who was to replace the mother he had tragically lost upon his entrance into the world.

     And then I heard Xena calling out for me.  I called out to her grabbing  her attention as she ran toward Pandora with the box about to open as the golden hand on its lid began to turn.  Pandora met Xena reaching her hand out to the lock and securing it safely where hope could be kept for all to experience.  Then Xena shared with me her end of the prophecy and how she discovered that it was Gregor who should raise the child.  It all began to come together.  Each of the pieces of the oracle’s prophecy had been revealed and early the next morning Xena took the child and placed him into Gregor’s care.  Gregor found himself awakening to the sounds of a child crying.  He was confused for he then saw the dark warrior princess standing before him in his bedchambers. 

     At first he suspected her to be a threat, but then she assured him that her reason for being there was not to take his kingdom, but to fill the prophecy that he had been given.  She revealed to the king that it was indeed to be for he was a father who needed a child to love and this child had needed a loving father in return.  The king soon realized with his wise heart that the warrior princess had been right, and he was grateful for what she had done.  Yet the battle was still not over for Nemos burst into the chambers with those loyal to him proclaiming that only he could know what the true prophecy of the kingdom should be. 

     Suddenly, Xena took the child and drew Nemos into battle out in the courtyard.  She started a brawl between peasants and guards and then threw the child for me to catch.  It was a sudden decision and I was shocked when I had caught him safely in my arms.  Despite all of this the child was quite courageous in the face of danger.  But soon the guards noticed that I held the child and they came running toward me with their swords ready to take his innocent life.  I shouted to Xena and then I threw him back into the heat of the battle.  Xena was barely able to catch him as she fought off her attackers.  Her battle was now without weapons as she double kicked two approaching guards and then threw the baby high up into the air once again. 

      The baby floated above the action as if the gods were cradling him in their arms protecting him from the hands of death.  And then as Xena had finally knocked out every guard the baby came crashing down toward the ground safely into the warrior princess’s arms.  Then Nemos approached Xena from behind and she threw him back to me.  The warrior drew her sword and began to fight another master swordsman.  He was strong and powerful, but unable to take down the brilliant warrior as she robbed him of his sword.  Nemos retaliated by kicking her sword to the ground, but Xena then delivered a powerful punch and took his life with his own sword as he drew a knife to kill.  For a moment the warrior princess seemed dazed at her own action, but then she threw down the bloody sword and returned  to the child with a smile of satisfaction upon her face.  In the end goodness did indeed prevail and the child landed in safe hands.

      Xena had been able to full fill a beautiful prophecy and find loving parents for a child who needed great love.  As Xena and I prepared to leave the kingdom Gregor and Pandora thanked her for her bravery and courage.  Gregor wanted to pay Xena for her good deed, but she would not take a dinar for it was not riches that she had fought for, but the will and the hopes of the innocent.  That was reward enough, but then as she left she asked the king if he would name the child Gabriel for it was also for the hard work of a bard that made this union possible, and the  power of hope within us all.