The Xena Scrolls

By:  Gabrielle Bard of Potedia

Scroll#5:  The Path Not Taken

October, 49 B.C.

     There was once this feud between two families that had gone on for many centuries.  The families had been at war with one another for so long that one day they finally decided to stop fighting because no one really knew what it was that they had been fighting for.  And then one day there was this young handsome prince whose name was Agranon.  He was walking through the field toward the lake when he saw something so beautiful and vibrant that he found himself falling madly in love.  It was the reflection of the lovely princess Jana that he had seen.  She was just upon the other side of the lake and she looked up to see the most wonderful young man.  He had been the man that she had dreamed of since her childhood, but there was just one sadness within this story.

      Agranon was from her rival house the family of Colonous while the princess was from the family if Biochia.  The two could see how senseless it really was to be at odds despite the fact that both families had stopped the fighting so many years before yet to unite was still greatly forbidden.  Despite the ancient feud between to two families Agranon and Jana decided that they would be the first to prove that indeed the two families could once again become friends and to unite in the blessing of love.  As Agranon sat beneath the tree by the lake where the two had first met he declared that he and Jana would indeed have a wonderful story to share with their future grandchildren.  Jana spoke of how they could tell their grandchildren of how peace had finally been created under their special tree by the lake.  Agranon then continued by expressing that they could also tell the grandchildren of how one of their parents had been made in the very same place.

     Despite the joy shared between two lovers there was still darkness and war lurking around the corner.  If not by the two families themselves by a well-known arms dealer named Mezentious.  Mezentious had sent his men out to kidnap the princess of the family of Biochia for he knew that if he could restart the family feud there was certain to be a war.  And if there was to be a war then Mezentious would be back in business selling his arms at whatever price he chose to make money off of the hatred between two rival families.  Agranon was devastated by the loss of his beloved Jana and so he decided to seek out help in his quest to find his Jana. 

     After the success of saving a baby’s life and helping to restore  the kingdom of Gregor Xena and I found ourselves needing a bit of rest and relaxation.  We entered into a very dangerous city which Xena had said was the city of Trachis.  It had been well-known for the many inhabiting warlords and mercenaries there.  As we walked through the streets to find a good tavern to dine in men were fighting amongst themselves.  There was definitely not a sense of peace within the city walls.  It was like no other city I’d ever visited before.  There was evil and darkness lurking around every corner, but I still felt safe for I was alongside the warrior princess, and there was not one thug in Trachis that could take her down.

     When we entered the tavern there was an atmosphere like no other.  The food smelled great, but there were so many filthy old men.  Mostly they were drunk and many of them had been beaten up pretty badly.  It was probably because of their lifestyle, but it was their choice alone to walk the paths in which they had chosen in life.  I was just glad that Xena had finally chosen to walk the path of the innocent rather than to stay on the path of the evil.  Upon finding the only seats left in the tavern Xena and I were suddenly confronted by a young man with a large bag of gold.  He threw it down onto the table trying to make himself larger than he actually was.  I could tell that Xena was slightly amused by his greeting, but was not at all impressed.

     This young man with the bag of gold said his name was Agranon.  He spoke of how there was a war about to begin between the houses of Colonous, and Biochia.  Agranon wanted to pay Xena to help him obtain the ultimate prize within this war.  Of course Xena made it clear that she was not interested.  She told this young man how obvious and unseasoned he was at portraying the lifestyle of a mercenary.  Xena also told him that he was most likely in for a short life with a messy death.  Agranon did not care for his real reason for coming to Xena was that he needed someone to help him find and rescue his beloved Jana.

     Now Xena’s attention was held for this was not an army that she would be working for, but for the restoration of peace.  Xena had spent so many days in the past fighting for armies and creating armies that she wanted to fight for peace now.  This was a worthy cause that deserved her utmost attention.  However, Xena would not accept the bag of 500 gold dinars that Agranon had dropped down onto the table before us.  Instead she told him to give all of the gold to the many poor around the tavern and within the city.  For Xena that was payment enough.  She did not need money to prove her concern.  All she needed was a good reason.

     As Agranon went to complete his instruction by Xena she spoke to me and told me that I must stay within the tavern and wait for her to return.  She asked me to keep Agranon company which I could do quiet easily.  There were so many stories that I could tell him, and so much he could share with me about he and his love Jana.  Yet I was reluctant to let Xena go alone for she was going to have to pretend to be bad again.  I wasn’t so certain that she would be able to pull off this mission, but Xena assured me that many of the local mercenaries of Greece still knew her well.  They also still remembered how much of a tyrant she had once been and she would use that to her advantage.

     So Xena was off on her journey without me as I tried to stay patient and wait for her to return, but after many hours of entertaining the handsome prince I found myself feeling like I had to get involved.  There had to be some way that I could help Xena win this fight and to save the princess.  Then it occurred to me that Agranon and I could surrender ourselves to Jana’s father the King of Biochia.  If we surrendered ourselves willingly and without a fight then just maybe we could convince him of the truth of the entire situation and of Agranon’s undying love for his daughter. 

      It was very simple and easy to get captured by the Biochian guard, but once we got into the castle we were instructed that we would be meeting the executioner upon the sunrise the next day.  Now that was definitely not how I had envisioned my plan, but despite the failure of my plan Xena’s plan worked like a well-oiled wagon wheel.

     Upon arriving at the fortress of Mezentious she sent her trusty steed Argo off to wait for her beyond the walls of the fortress walls.  Upon entering Mezentious’s city she entered the nearest tavern certain to find the old crowd there.  As soon as she entered she found herself greeted with challengers who either hated her, loved her, or wanted to learn from her genius mind.  A small brawl ensued, but was quickly broken up by the warrior princess with many skills.  Once she had won back the trust of the crowd by telling them of her true intentions back in Lerna she was welcomed back into the loop with open arms.  As she told of how she ransomed the baby back to King Gregor a dark shadow from her past entered the tavern interrupting the show.

      This man was the warrior known as Marcus.  He had traveled with Xena in her early warrior days before she had been betrayed.  They had once had a strong passionate love affair, but it had been many years since their last encounter.  The last time Xena had seen him must have been at least 10 winters maybe more.  Marcus burst into the room with distrust of the warrior princess’s motive, but soon he was eased for the warrior princess charmed him into believing in her darkness.  The two sat down to a few drinks together and reminisced of old times.  Yet their joyful reunion was cut short for the great arms dealer Mezentious entered the tavern in a terrible mood.  Some of his men he had discovered were stealing weapons from him.  Mezentious was relentless in his pursuit of the traitors for he knew that there were two of them.  The first traitor was revealed and punished publicly in front of all of the men.  Mezentious then heeded a warning to the remaining traitor. 

     Once Mezentious left the tavern began to return to its normal activity as Xena and Marcus began to discuss profit.  Xena suspected that it had been Mezentious who had kidnapped the missing princess in order to start the war for his own profit gains.  Marcus at first tried to cover up for his boss, but he realized that Xena was just too good to leave in the dark.  He could see the potential of having Xena as an ally with Mezentious so he decided to introduce the two.

      Mezentious of course was quite uninterested in Xena’s presence at first.  In fact, he had been on his way to take the innocence of the young princess before  being interrupted by Marcus’s introduction of Xena.  Mezentious found himself irritated and gave the command to his surrounding guard to prepare to kill this most uninvited guest.  He did not want the competition to take away from his war.  But then Xena spoke up and told Mezentious that she was here for a profit, and that she could make sure that his profits alongside her were at least doubled.  Mezentious stopped and was interested for a short moment listening to the warrior princess.

     Xena continued on by telling Mezentious that the princess would be worth even less if she were damaged upon her return.  Mezentious laughed and then explained that he was just going to kill her anyway.  Xena then asked Mezentious to wait and to not let his passions get the best of him.  Mezentious agreed that it was good advice as Marcus explained that he felt that Xena’s words were worth every dinar.  His boss was confused for a moment, but realized that Marcus’s own judgement was clouded by his passion for Xena.  Yet Mezentious agreed to a meeting with Xena before going on with any more of his current plans to see if indeed the warrior princess was as great as Marcus had said.

      Marcus then took his old flame to the hot spring within the fortress walls.  He had taken her there in the hopes of reminding Xena of the passion they once had together.  It was obvious to Xena that Marcus had not gotten over her yet and never forgotten Xena.  She too still had a special place within her heart for this man though he was still on the wrong path.  For a moment she almost found herself lost in the memory of their passion as she was caught between the past and the present.  But then Xena’s senses were awakened once again by the screams of the girl.

     Next came the great meeting between Xena and Mezentious in which Xena would prove to him how valuable she could be.  She told Mezentious her reasons for keeping the girl alive.  Xena explained that by keeping the girl alive Xena herself could keep the war going on indefinitely meaning the profits would be much higher.  She explained that the Biochian army would hammer the army of Colonus within less than a month, but if her army fought for one side and then the other she could keep the war going making the stakes higher.

       Both Mezentious and Marcus were greatly impressed with this cool calculated idea,  Xena demanded in return for the efforts of her army half of the profits and weapons for the war effort.  Mezentious was intrigued for this well-known warrior woman was only asking for half of the profits.  His sources had always spoken of her as a greedy adversary.  This made Mezentious question her true intentions yet again.  Xena then called his suspicion with her own bluff by telling him that she would ask for more if he felt that she should be asking for more.  Then Mezentious dropped the subject for he felt that it was he who was getting the better end of this bargain.  But if that were the case then it was her loss and all the more for him to gain.

     Upon returning to the courtyard Jana was about to slit her own throat and jump off of the ledge of her cell up above.  She was quite passionate and fiery going against everything that Mezentious wanted from her.  Mezentious found himself becoming frustrated and impatient with this young girl.  He decided that he was going to handle this situation with a cross-bow, but before he could pull the trigger Xena reminded him of her worth alive.  She volunteered to handle this most annoying situation.  Mezentious again was intrigued yet thought this warrior woman’s actions to be a bit strange and unusual.  He then warned Marcus that he would kill the warrior princess if he had to, but only if she got in the way of his war.

     Soon Xena had reached the distraught princess.  Jana threatened to jump again, but Xena knew that this young girl did not really intend to kill herself.  The princess had made her first mistake by being overly dramatic with a knife and the threat of jumping combined.  Jana was disappointed that Xena nor anyone below had taken her seriously, but Xena calmed her by telling her that she had been sent by Agranon.  The young girl did not believe Xena and threatened to jump yet again until Xena pulled out the necklace that she had taken from Agranon back at the tavern before she had left.  Upon seeing the relic of her betrothed Jana’s trust had been obtained and Xena then instructed Jana to meet her in the hot springs when the moon was in the western sky.

     Later that night Xena broke into the weapons storage to look for a way to smuggle Jana out of the fortress.  She found a large wooden crate that would be the perfect size to carry the body of a beautiful princess.  The box was filled with arrows and as Xena began to remove them she was surprised by Marcus who had been watching her.  He was angry at first for she was betraying him by stealing weapons without his consent.  Xena’s only response was that she was checking the inventory to see what her army would be up against.  As Marcus was about to respond the nearby guards came busting in with Mezentious.  He had finally caught Marcus in the act and warned him one last time of where his loyalties lied.  Marcus’s excuse was to show Xena the inventory that her army would face, but Mezentious said that it was no concern to him.  Xena then spoke up reminding him that her only true concern was that she receive equal pay though her investment was not equal for it would be her men that would die.

     As Mezentious left Xena realized that it had been Marcus who had been stealing the weapons.  She then asked him to show her how he was able to get them out of the city.  Marcus took her to a deep well within the middle of the city’s fortress.  He then dropped a rock down into it proving that it was more than just a well, but a door to the outside world.  Xena was impressed with Marcus and he was delighted to show her his secret for he trusted Xena like he trusted no one else.  He began to share with her a beautiful story of how he had once tried to leave the darkness.  Marcus told of how he had always admired Xena for never killing the innocent women and children despite all of her other deeds.  Then he spoke of how after she had gone away from him that he saw another warlord kill a crippled child upon the request by the child’s grandfather to spare him.

      It was that experience that had gotten Marcus to think of the path not taken.  For a short time Marcus had tried to follow that path, but found himself unable to stay onto it.  This deep personal confession made Xena’s heart reach out to Marcus and love him even more for she understood his pain and uncertainty.  He then sat down beside her and told her that there was indeed something different about her for the old Xena would have killed him for sharing a story like that.  Marcus couldn’t figure out what it was that had made Xena seem as though she were so very different from before.

      A large part of the warrior princess wanted to share the truth with Marcus, but she was uncertain of his reaction.  She did not trust that he would understand and she did not feel that she could turn him back toward the path of the light.  He fell asleep leaning against her shoulder upon the well and he seemed so peaceful to her.  Xena realized that the time was getting late so she went to the hot spring to meet with Jana in order to rescue the princess and to walk down the path of the righteous.  When she arrived at the hot spring Jana was there waiting, but suddenly there was a vicious knock on the door outside.  It was the rascious voice of an angry Mezentious wanting to know who was inside.

      Xena acted quickly hiding Jana under the spring and dressing herself with a robe to cover her leather uniform.  When she opened the door Mezentious was caught off guard for a moment for her beauty was difficult to ignore.  She then told him that it had been Marcus who had invited her to the spring.  Mezentious complained that the timing had been inconvenient, but then realized that maybe his own timing had been better.  He decided that he was going to have the warrior princess, but Xena would not submit easily.  Mezentious encouraged Xena to continue on with her bath as he would watch with pleasure, but Xena made him feel pain for he could not have what his passionate desires demanded of him most.  She explained to him that the last time she had allowed herself to be caught up before in passion before a great battle it had almost cost her an entire war.  These words were powerful enough for Mezentious and he left the warrior princess to her bath alone.

       It had seemed unfortunate to run into Mezentious yet before leaving he had spoken of news about Agranon and his traveling companion.   Xena was told of how the war between the two families was about to start sooner than anticipated for Agranon was to be executed by the Biochian king by morning.  Of course, it was no secret who Agranon’s companion had been so Xena had to act quickly.  She took the princess to the wooden cart which had once held a cargo to kill.  Xena placed the squeamish princess into the empty cart to send her off with news to stop the war.  

     Yet as Xena prepared to send the princess off she was again caught by Marcus unsuspectingly.  This time he had realized what it was that Xena had been doing.  She had been lying to him for she had indeed turned to the opposite path.  When Xena tried to convince Marcus of how much she truly loved him and how sorry she was for not believing in him he threatened to shoot an arrow through the wooden cart.  Xena tried desperately to open his heart to doing just one good thing that would allow him to free himself from the darkness, but Marcus could no longer hear.  Xena could not allow him to kill the princess so she kicked Marcus to the ground taking the princess to the weapons stock room to hide.  There she prepared for battle as Mezentious’s men broke the doors down to battle the traitor.

     As Xena fought against them Marcus entered with his bow prepared to kill the young girl, but then Xena reminded him that Jana was no different from that little crippled boy whose death had once touched his heart.  And then Marcus realized what Xena had been saying and what she had been doing.  He approached the young girl and just as he reached her Mezentious entered into the battle shooting an arrow to ensure that his war would go on.  But Marcus acted with bravery and courage for he  jumped in front of the princess without a second thought.  Xena’s brave love took the arrow to the chest and fell down to the floor.  This broke the heart of the warrior princess and she angrily drew her chackram striking Mezentious in the throat killing him instantly.

     And so it had ended and the enemy had been killed, but something was still not right for why did  a good man have to die?  Xena ran to her lover’s side hoping to comfort him and share one last moment together.  She took his hand as he struggled to hold onto life.  He then asked her if that was the one action that she had been talking about which would send him down the path that he had always wanted to travel.  One of Xena’s oldest friends and the last of their kind was about to die in her arms.  It had taken him his entire life to be opened up to the light, but now the world was at a loss for he would never do all of the good that he had the potential to do.  Xena assured her old friend that indeed he had made the right choice though she could have saved the princess without his sacrifice.  Marcus didn’t care to lose his life for he was satisfied in knowing that he would leave this world doing good rather than doing the deeds of the darkness.  And then he died right there with a gentle soft smile across his face.  He was finally at peace and Xena longed to be there with him in the peace that death seemed to always bring.

      On the next evening at twilight the two kingdom’s of Biochia and Collonus mourned Xena’s loss and gave proper service to the brave soul that had saved their families from a needless war.  Xena was still stunned by her loss for it was the first time in a long time that she had felt her heart tremble with pain.  I was sorry that I had not met Marcus for he sounded like a noble man.  Life is an adventure meant to be lived for what other point is there?