Eternal Spirit

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Eternal Spirit

Part 5

Xena helped Gabrielle sit at the edge of the bed. Her eyes never left her lover's as she smiled reassuringly. "I need to take the tunic off Gabrielle." She waited for the bard to nod and then began to unfasten the laces of her tunic. Xena crept behind the bard the bowl of salve and warm water right beside her. Once she was behind the bard she pulled the tunic down off her shoulders. "It's alright," she comforted gently. "This is going to sting a little but it will help you heal faster with minimal scarring." Gabrielle's back was covered with deep whiplashes. "Be strong Xena!". She continued tending to the other wounds on the bard's body and then checked the bard for any broken ribs as gently as possible. Her body from her waist to her chest was a sheet of black and blue. Whiplashes trailed across her stomach. The warrior's heart was breaking. "Be strong, Xena. You have to be strong for her. Get yourself together. You're a warrior for Ares sake," she chastised herself.

"Oooow," Gabrielle cried out, tears flooding her flushed face.

"I'm sorry I know this hurts. Nothing is broken, that is a good sign." She helped her sit back against the pillows and tended to the wounds laced on her face and neck.

"Gabrielle, I need to ask you something." Their eyes met in understanding. "Did anyone force..." She was struggling to shut the anger from her voice. The thought of anyone hurting her made her want to...

"Yes," Gabrielle answered meekly, lowering her head. She was too ashamed to even look at her partner.

Trying to stay as calm as possible the warrior snuggled tenderly beside her lover. "It's alright Gabrielle, it's alright. I know this is the last thing you want to talk about right now but the extent of your injuries could be..." She couldn't complete her sentence. She lifted her Gabrielle's chin and looked into her green eyes warmly. "You have nothing to be ashamed of. I love you and nothing could ever change that. You don't deserve to suffer for my past mistakes, Gabrielle. I am so very sorry."

"It's not your fault Xe, please, it's not your fault." She whispered.

A rage like none Xena had felt before began to consume the warrior. A deep hatred enveloped her body. "When I get my hands on that bastard I am going to torture him in a way that would make a lifetime in Tartarus feel like the Elysian Fields."

Gabrielle's troubled emerald eyes released a string of tears coated with a deepening fear that broke the warrior from her thoughts. Her face softened and caressed the bard's cheek lovingly wiping away the falling tears.

"Xena please..."

Xena interrupted anger apparent in her tone. "I can't help but feel guilty for this, I'm sorry. You were hurt because someone wanted to hurt me. No matter how hard I try I can't keep you safe. I have many enemies Gabrielle, and I can't accept that you paid the price for my past mistakes. You don't deserve this."

The bard spoke softly her eyes never leaving the warriors. "Xena please listen to me. This was NOT your fault. I love you with all that I am and I CHOOSE to be with you. That is my choice and nothing will change that. You may have made grave errors in your past, yes I agree, but no matter what pain or torment you caused to anyone it doesn't give them the right to inflict pain or torment on others. They are the ones who choose to follow their darkness. No one can be responsible for their misdeeds but them. There is always a choice Xena and just as you have chosen the side of goodness so could they. I love you Xena.... I need you."

The warrior sighed in defeat. "I know you're right. I feel so helpless knowing that I could do nothing to protect you." She pulled Gabrielle into her arms. "I am right here for you Gabrielle. Anything you need I am right here."

After a few moments Xena broke the uncomfortable silence and asked, with gentleness in her voice, "Gabrielle can you tell me what happened?"

Gabrielle blinked away the last of her tears. She leaned back slowly against the warrior snuggling deeper into her warm embrace. She began to speak in a low emotionless tone reciting what she could remember of the past couple weeks.

"I remember Ephiny rushing into the hut. She said an army of raiders was headed our way and we had to quickly prepare for the attack. I was trying to find you but when I realized Argo was also missing I assumed you either had gone for a ride or scouted ahead. Within half a candle mark I found myself in the middle of battle. I heard Ephiny screaming so I ran towards her. Two soldiers were holding her down as another was beating her." She closed her eyes trying to block the visions.

"Stubborn aren't you, Amazon?" he laughed coldly as another fierce kick landed in her stomach. He uncoiled a short thick whip. "Now the fun starts Amazon," he stated with a sadistic smile across his lips.

"I approached behind him and knocked him unconscious with my staff. The other two soldiers dropped Ephiny and came at me with their swords. I tried to disarm them with my staff but..." She sighed heavily. "One of them anticipated my next move and knocked the staff from my hands. Without thinking I picked up the sword from the ground beside the unconscious soldier...Next thing I knew..." She held back her tears. "I didn't want to kill them just disarm them."

"You did what you had to do Gabrielle."

The bard took comfort in the warrior's words.

"I tossed the blade aside focusing my attention on Ephiny. I was helping her to her feet when several soldiers attacked us both. I felt hands grabbing and dragging me. I tried to get away and fight them but there were three or four pulling me. I saw Ephiny struggling with several other soldiers. I heard her scream out for me but before I could react I was hit in the back of the head with something hard. That is the last I remember of the Amazon Village." She lowered her head sobbing quietly.

The warrior rocked her gently. "I'm so sorry for not being there Gabrielle. I'm so sorry." Xena closed her eyes for a moment. "I'm never there when it matters most."

"Xe you have nothing to be sorry for." Her gaze met the warrior's.

"What is the next thing you remember Gabrielle?" She asked softly. "I have so much to be sorry for Gabrielle." She felt the bard stiffen in her arms. Hot tears began to fall from her emerald eyes once again. Rage and anguish combined to form the glow the bard's eyes possessed.

"When I...awoke I....was alone." She began her tale again. "My arms and legs were restrained with heavy iron shackles. I was so terrified." Once again the visions invaded her innocence.

The cell was fairly small in size. The darkness that engulfed its walls was slightly dimmed by the light seeping beneath the drafty door. The smell of musk invaded the air with a stale stench. Voices could be heard drawing closer to the prisoner who stood shackled in iron. With bright torches in hand four soldiers entered the cell followed by their leader.

"It was hours before anyone came to my cell and several more hours before I finally learned who they were and why I was there." Her voice sank to a soft whisper.

Helplessness overcame Xena. She comforted her bard with soothing words. She once again found herself victim to a deep rage. "What did he tell you Gabrielle?"

"His name was Draden. All he wanted to talk about was the past. The days when you had traveled by his side...He told me about the villages your armies destroyed, the people that were murdered, and...." Her voice was trembling. "and...the events that led to the day you betrayed him. I didn't want to listen to him Xena. I tried to shut him out. I didn't want to hear." She brought her hands over her ears.

"Now Amazon how many times must I tell you to listen without interruption?" The voice was harsh and aggressive. Draden roughly pulled Gabrielle's hands away from her ears, twisting them forcefully. The Amazon cried out in pain. He released her hands and backhanded her across the face splitting her lip open. "When I" he snaps the whip across her bare stomach, "tell you to listen" the whip slashes with deepening speed across her thighs, "I mean LISTEN!" The whip marks the bare skin on her back three more times.

Gabrielle closed her eyes to the visions. "He talked for hours and if I tried not to listen or spoke out he would strike me. I had no choice but to surrender to his twisted story." She sighed heavily in defeat. Tears began to spring from her eyes once again. He told me about the village he and his army destroyed while you were recovering from a wound from a previous battle." Hurt and anger began to slowly ease their way into her frame. She felt a surge rise through her as she spoke to her warrior. "He...he...was PROUD of slaughtering children. CHILDREN, XENA, little innocent children. He told me about each and every little one and their loss of innocence and life vividly expressing each heartless detail. He was smiling taking pride in how his gloating was killing me. How could...how could anyone hurt INNOCENT CHILDREN!" she began shouting no longer able to control the rush of anger and sorrow that drowned her soul. She was wailing uncontrollably.

Xena held her tightly rocking her. “He will pay for this. Every minute..." she stated to herself anger still fueling her blood.

Xena could envision all the innocents of the village. She still remembers the look of fear on their still faces and the scent of death that masked the stale air that encircled the land. The tattered bodies of the young children violently murdered. The warrior closed her eyes fighting back tears of guilt and sorrow. The thought of Gabrielle having to listen to the heartless acts of extreme violence powerless enraged her. She turned to her lover a deep sorrow nestled in her eyes. "I'm so sorry Gabrielle." She comforted.

"I screamed, I begged, I pleaded for him to stop. I couldn't bear it anymore." She whispered between sobs as visions violated her mind.

"I told you to SHUT UP!" The command came from the tall warrior dressed in black metallic armor. He unleashed an angry snap of the whip on the young bard's back, then again, and again, and again until she cried out in defeat. "I'm sorry Draden, please..."

The warrior held the bard closer comforting her as best she could.

"The more I interrupted the more he would strike me. I thought I was going to die...I kept thinking of you Xena. Each time I felt myself slip away I would imagine you and your strength. That was what kept me going." She looked tenderly into her lover's eyes.

Xena was overwhelmed with emotions. Hatred for what Draden put Gabrielle through, anger for not being able to stop it, guilt for not keeping Gabrielle safe, and blessed for the unbreakable bond they both shared. "I love you Gabrielle," she whispered and kissed her partner's tears one by one as they fell from her tainted eyes of emerald. She brushed her fingers along the bard's cheek softly. "Do you want to stop?"

"No, I'm okay."

The bard took a deep breath, wiped the wetness from her eyes, and let her words carry the truth of what she was envisioning.

"Want to hear about all the lives your precious Warrior Princess took Amazon? All the innocents that died at HER command. The terrified cries of the villagers as they watched their homes burned to the ground. Will you still be able to look at your precious princess in the same way then Amazon?" A cold smile played upon his lips.

"I won't listen to you I know Xena. Nothing you say will change how I feel about her...nothing." Pain spread like a burning fire through her body in spastic surges from the fresh whiplashes on her back and stomach.

"Then we have a very long night ahead of us Amazon, a very long night indeed." He laughed coldly as he released the whip upon the Amazon's back, force deepening with each lash. The torture continued for 10 more lashes. Grabbing a handful of her blonde hair he jerked her head up until his eyes met hers. "Now Amazon let me tell you about the REAL Warrior princess..."

"I lost track of time. What seemed like an eternity could have been hours and what seemed like hours could have been days. Draden wasn't satisfied until he told me of your travels, the villages you conquered, and the lives that were lost to you and your army. He said he wanted me to know the real Warrior Princess." Gabrielle's voice trailed into a faint whisper. She felt the warrior tremble slightly. She lifted her head up meeting the teary ocean blue eyes of her lover. "Xena nothing he could say or do would ever break my faith or love for you. I know you like my own heart. You were hurting with no source of love or comfort. That is what turned you to your shield of hatred and anger. I love you, all of you, the past, the present, and the unknown. Nothing Draden told me or did to me changes or will change my everlasting love for you Xena."

The warrior pulled the bard into a closer embrace and cried silently. "You don't know how much that means to me Gabrielle. I love you." "He couldn't break her spirit even using my dark past against her. Gods I don't deserve her."

The warrior traced her finger along a whiplash mark on the bard’s shoulder. “That would explain all these marks and bruises. I swear in Ares name that man is going to pay for this.”

Gabrielle exhaled deeply. "I don't know how long it went on. I remember after he grew tired of trying to break my faith in you he would leave my cell. He allowed me no food only water. Every time I would begin to fall asleep the guards would throw cold water on my face. If that didn't have the desired affect they would strike me." She paused for a few moments. The warrior stroked her hair lovingly but did not interrupt. "Draden came back to my cell several times. Each time was much the same." As she spoke the visions seeped back into her memory.

"I don't care what Xena did with you in her past Draden. I know what you are trying to do and I will NOT give in to your games. I love her and nothing will change that...especially you!" The Amazon shouted with a consuming rage at her torturer.

Draden laughed coldly. "Your bravery will get you nowhere Amazon. You're a fool. Your princess cares nothing for you. You are just a tool to her. A tool to help her atone for her guilt. Nothing more than useless tool."

"SHUT UP! You don't know anything about Xena. I won't listen to you anymore. I don't care what you do to me!" She shouted, tears stinging her face.

A swarm of fury rushed over him with sleek intensity. His eyes narrowed cruelly and his face lost all proud expression as he stared impassively into her green eyes. Before another word was spoken he began to unmercifully whip the prisoner until her head fell forward unconscious."

"After a long while and many days I presume had passed he finally gave up. He realized nothing he had said or done had changed anything. He ordered the guards to remove my chains and follow behind him carrying me. My body ached so badly. It hurt to move. I had no idea where we were going. I truly believed I was going to die, Xe." She sobbed quietly.

"Is that when you ended up by the lake Gabrielle?" She wrapped her arms tighter around her lover.

"Yes," she said quietly.

The warrior was trying to make sense of his motives. "If he wanted her dead he would have killed her."

"He was so angry with me Xe. His men leaned me against a tree by the lake and then left. Draden wanted to be alone with me." She continued telling Xena what she was remembering in her vision.

"Well, well, well Amazon you are not so tough now are you?" His laughter sent chills down the Amazon's back. "Tell me now when your princess looks into those green eyes will you still see your Xena or the monster she truly is?" There was no response. He brought his knee to the ground before her and backhanded her across the face abrasively. Blood trickled from the corners of her mouth and nose. "What about your princess's hands Amazon? When you take them in yours are you going to see the same gentle hands or will the innocent blood of all those villagers savagely murdered at her hands stain them richly?" He smiled maliciously.

The Amazon spoke weakly. "She will be the same gentle soul I loved and will love even in death. The only monster with blood staining his soul is YOU!" She spat in his face.

Draden sharply grabbed the Amazon by her blonde hair and brought her face within inches of his. "You dare defy me girl! I am impressed that you have been able to withstand all this torture and still your faith and love for that pathetic warrior remains." His lips broke into a twisted smile. He licked his lips, his eyes glowing with a sickening desire. "Well Amazon if I can't break your spirit and destroy your desire for her..." his smile deepening wickedly, "then I will make sure she will never again desire you!" His laughter sparked fear in the Amazon's eyes.

She closed her eyes pushing back the tears. "Always know I love you Xena," she silently whispered into the wind.

Draden threw the Amazon down onto the ground pinning her down. "When I am through with you dear Gabrielle, Xena will never desire you. When you feel her touch it will be mine you will remember. One way or another, I WILL destroy the Warrior Princess!" He shouted crossly.

Once Gabrielle was done speaking, Xena pulled her upwards into a sitting position slowly. With her hand beneath her dampened chin she turned the bard's face around to meet hers. Gabrielle's face once again bore no emotion. Tears flowed from her emerald eyes but not one sound was made. Xena tenderly kissed the silent tears one by one from her face. "Don't hold back what you are feeling Gabrielle. It's okay. Let it all flow. Don't hold back." Her eyes grew softer. "I love you more than anything and nothing will ever change that. You are more beautiful to me than ever. You hold half of my heart and soul, and nothing could ever break the spirit we share." Her eyes never left her lover's. Gabrielle wrapped her arms tightly around Xena's neck and began to weep desperately into her shoulder. After several long hours elapsed, Morpheus finally crept upon both of them, pulling them into an undisturbed sleep. That night, while neither the warrior nor her bard was aware, the spirit that joins their souls intensified in a strength so fierce that was even unbreakable to the gods themselves.

Continued In Part 6