Eternal Spirit

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Eternal Spirit

Part 2

Xena, followed by a few Amazons, immediately mounted their horses and headed over the rise to where Draden had stood. To Xena’s disbelief Draden and his men were nowhere in sight. "Impossible" she muttered beneath her breath. She slid off Argo and knelt down cautiously. After studying the hoof prints in the dirt closely she shook her head in disappointment. "There are too many. I cannot track him."

A young Amazon walked over to Xena and placed her hand on her shoulder. "We will find the Queen, Xena, we will." She smiled calmly. Her face still gleamed with childlike grace.

Xena rose and feigned a smile to the young girl. "I know we will. Let's head back to the village." She mounted Argo effortlessly. “Ya girl!”

Ephiny saw the approaching warrior on horseback. She quickly rose to her feet. "Xena..." She whispered as she ran towards her with concern. "What happened? Did you find Gabrielle? Xena…what is going on?”

"Eph we need to talk."

Ephiny nodded in understanding and gestured towards her hut. "We can speak privately there, come on."

The two warriors made their way to the Regent's hut and settled comfortably within arms length of one another just outside it. Xena turned towards Ephiny, locking her gaze upon her friend, began to speak softly. "Eph I know who took Gabrielle and I know why the village was under attack." She raised her hand in the air and shook her head at Ephiny just as she was about to interrupt with an array of questions. "Let me finish Eph." She lowered her hand resting it on the hilt of her sword. "His name is Draden. He is a part of my past best forgotten," her voice dropping to a low whisper. Xena paused a moment and collected her breath.

Ephiny smiled reassuringly never lifting her eyes from the warrior's. "Go on Xena."

"Draden was one of the most sadistic warlords I knew as a warrior. We met back in the days when I followed Ares.”

“That was a very long time ago Xena.”

Xena nodded, “Yes it was. Feels like a lifetime ago.” She sighed heavily. “There was a time when I found Draden’s lack of humanity and lust for power appealing. We eventually became allies and combined our armies. Together we destroyed every village along the eastern border that refused to surrender to us. Several hundred innocent villagers lost their lives to our command." Xena exhaled deeply and shook her head in frustration.

"Innocent villagers Eph. They didn't have a chance. They couldn't defend themselves. They were farmers, not warriors. In those days Draden and I shared the same lucid desire to conquer and control. My heart was so consumed with power it blinded me to reason." Her voice broke off. She turned her gaze away from the Regent and closed her eyes tightly. Ephiny placed her hand upon Xena’s comfortingly. Xena, her eyes now focused on the ground beneath her, cleared her throat and continued with her story. "The day came, as it eventually would, that Draden would do something that even I couldn't accept. That was the day…” She made eye contact with Ephiny. “That was the day that I betrayed him." She closed her eyes in reflection of that day.

"We had traveled together for three summers. In each village we destroyed homes were burnt to the ground. Nothing remained except the spared lives of the women and children of the villages." She paused briefly.

"In violence it is easy to forget who we are." Ephiny brushed loose strands of Xena's raven hair behind her ear. "I know that doesn't help ease your guilt."

Xena smiled sincerely. "Sometimes someone says something really small, and it just fits right into this empty place in your heart." She cleared her throat and continued with her story. "During the last battle we fought together I was injured. We were at a small village, Liria, just on the outskirts of town. I caught one of Draden’s soldiers attempting to assault one of the young girls. I killed him after beating him nearly to death for disobeying my direct orders. Even then I would not accept that kind of violence." Xena shifted her weight uncomfortably. Bending both knees upwards as support, she leaned her arms over them. "That was enough to catch me off guard and I was hit in the chest with an arrow." She paused taking a deep breath.

"Are you all right Xena?"

"Yes I'm fine. I will forever hear the cries and carry the innocent blood of those people on my hands Ephiny. I will never be free from my past." Her eyes glistened with moisture but she refused to cry the tears she had been holding back for so long.

"You are not the same person you once were Xena. Think of all the lives you have saved. Nothing can erase the past my friend, but we are what we do and we can recreate ourselves each second of our lives." She smiled sincerely. "Please continue Xena."

Xena nodded, her friend’s last words lingering in her mind. "While I was recovering from the arrow wound, Draden decided he would lead his army into the neighboring village alone. A few days had passed and I grew restless. I led my army north in search for Draden. Draden and his army had indeed destroyed the targeted village. I found myself standing in the middle of the ruins they left behind. The homes and lands of the village were gravely scorched by fire. Villagers were piled all around me, ruthlessly butchered. Old as well as very young women of the village were raped, beaten, and brutally tortured until life escaped them. Every man, woman, and …" her voice quivering with anger, "child were savagely murdered. Their innocent blood covered the abandoned battleground." Xena reached for her chakram and released it into a tree close by. Anger rushed fiercely through her.

Ephiny shook her head sadly. "Now I understand what led you to betray him."

After a few moments elapsed, Xena continued. "I wanted nothing more than to kill him. My army and I joined forces with a warlord named Sierra. Draden had murdered Sierra's family during a village raid. For several summers she had been building an army of her own. She accepted my offer of joining forces and together we sketched a plan. Not longer after I met back up with Draden. Of course I could have easily killed him myself, but what I had planned for him was much better than any death I could bestow. I led him to believe that we were entering a village I had set to conquer. Draden and his men followed me into the trap Sierra and I had planted. Draden watched as his army was viciously slaughtered. Not one soldier remained alive. Sierra did indeed take her revenge. She took everything from Draden: his army, his honor, and me. Sierra and I had beaten and whipped him close to death but spared his life. We knew for him to live with the dishonor and betrayal would be far worse than his death. I left the battleground and never looked back. It was in that moment Ephiny that I felt truly free of the power that had controlled my life for so many years." Xena fell silent for a brief moment. "As I rode off the last thing I remember hearing was Draden screaming: 'Xena I swear to you with Ares, God of War, as my witness, I will seek my revenge. That light of goodness you have hallucinated yourself to believe you have will die along with anything you cherish or hold dear. You will never be free of me Warrior Princess….NEVER!'

As Xena looked up into the eyes of her friend a single tear treaded down her cheek. Ephiny wiped the tear with her index finger and caressed her cheek delicately. "If there was something I could do Xena, I would."

"After all these years Ephiny…after all these years… He has found a way to defeat me. He has taken what I cherish more than life itself. If he lays one hand…" she felt a surge of rage run through her. ” We have to find her Ephiny. We have to begin searching...now."

Ephiny gathered herself together and mounted Argo behind Xena. She took one last look at the tattered Amazon Village as they rode off…

Continued In Part 3