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Archive name: (Xena8.txt
Authors name: Zeus
X E N A T H E W A R R I O R P R I N C E S S
PART 8 OF 9
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
This series contains sexual intercourse, rape, lesbian
sex, murder, and mayhem. If you feel this might offend
you or you are not a consenting adult, read no further.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Kristen's collection ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Xena found the slave pens and saw, to her relief,
that the women were not drugged. With no time to find
the keys, she smashed the locks off the doors and
helped the women out. A dozen guards appeared at the
entrance of the cell block, baring their weapons. Xena
flew at them with her sword poised and a curse yelled
at the top of her lungs, not caring that she was prac-
tically naked against the wall of thugs and ranks of
archers who were leveling crossbows at her. Athena,
Blessed Goddess, she prayed, protect me as a strike my
enemies. At least let me fight them long enough for the
innocents to escape.
To her surprise, the archers pulled up their
weapons, and the guards faltered in their advance.
There was a deafening cry as the women of Dunwich
rushed to their rescuer's aid. The guards, still
stupidly thinking of the profits they would loose by
killing the captives, held their fire and set in a
position in front of the doorway. But the women,
fighting for their freedom and filled with the fierce
mettle of their city-state, joined the Warrior Princess
in the fray. They fought with tooth, nail, broken fur-
niture and bricks that had been loosened in the
bombardment, screeching and striking until no marauder
was left standing.
When it was done, seven of their sisters lay
dead, and several others with serious wounds, but all
the guards had been slain, pulled out of their armor
and torn to pieces by the enraged women.
Xena organized them to carry the wounded out and
sent them on their way, then stalked back into the main
hall in search of Makhi. She did not have to search
very hard.
"Come, Xena," he said as he drew his sword.
"Show me what the mainlanders feared in you so much."
Unlike Arrani, who lived soft in his palace,
Makhi was still one of the deadliest swordsmen on the
Blood Sea. He met Xena's attack with ringing steel,
sweeping her blade wide and pressing in for a quick
kill. She brought a knee into his midsection, foiling
his attack, but it left her flank open to the reverse
of his swing. She barely dodged the lethal cut, feeling
the bite of steel as the tip of the blade grazed her.
The two opponents disengaged and circled, now conceding
greater respect for each other.
The two battled without anything but near misses
and glancing blows telling, but the aging pirate could
not hold out for long against Xena's acrobatic defenses
and the hammering of her twin swords. He faltered,
overextending when he tried one last ferocious attack.
She waded in behind a wild swing and thrust with one
weapon, jabbing him in the shoulder, then the other
knocked his blade out of his hands. She gripped the
hair of his head, the tip of her sword leveled against
his spine for the fatal thrust.
"If you have a god to pray to, corsair, pray
that he's listening. In the name of all whose lives you
destroyed and the scars that will never heal, die!"
Athena forgive her, she felt glorious.
#
Milan was relieved when Xena appeared at the
dock. He had loaded the last of the women aboard a
naval vessel and had sent them on their way back to the
mainland.
"Where's our princess?"
"She's not with you?"
"She never left the guild house."
They backtracked and found her on the edge of
the dock's watch post. Milan was struck with horror as
the princess stepped out on the ledge. Her intentions
were made clear by the anguish on her face.
"Let me die, Milan," she wailed desperately.
"No, my princess. I will not let the vile
slavers claim final victory over us with your death."
"I am broken. They've taken my virtue, my dig-
nity. They've taken Justin! Everything that mattered
is gone."
"Everything but hope, and Justin's love for you.
It takes more courage to live than to die, Esmerelda.
Justin loved you, he would want you to go on, to live
for him. He knew that if he should fall, his love would
live on long after him, that it would comfort you when
you were lost, would sustain you when you suffered."
Esmerelda's grief receded, the grotesque horror
of the citadel faded with her memory of Justin's kind
face. Wise, cheerful, smiling and saying that it was a
good day for a ride out in the countryside. Her grief
was no longer for her fallen champion, but for herself,
for having to continue without him by her side. She
stepped away from the ledge and fell to her knees as
she let the sobs finally come. Milan took her in his
arms and carried her back to the ships.
Xena remained a respectful distance away to
leave their grief private. So he has held and comforted
me like that, not long ago. The princess has done no
wrong, but how many women have suffered at the hands of
my men while I laughed about it? Hercules, my friend,
my love, when you held me in you arms, I felt so
secure, so supported, that I had a dream of stripping
off my armor and weapons and burying them as symbols of
the part of me that hated, that lusted for dominion and
the blood of those who stood in my way. But then I
realized that I must bear my arms still, this time to
defend. I will defend those who cannot defend them-
selves. I will defend those who would suffer at the
hands of people who are like what I once was.
"Milan, we must go," she called.
"Where, mistress?"
"We must finish this place. Listen, this beast
we ride, it does not normally roam about the waters
like this. Someone is keeping it active. It takes
strong magic to do so. We must stop them and release
this beast from its enchantment, or the citadel will be
occupied again. Follow me!"
They paused to do battle with small knots of
brigands along the way. Dunwich ships had docked and
marines were routing the pirates stranded on the float-
ing citadel. The ships cast off and chased down the
frigates that were escaping. Milan ordered the marines
to fall back as Xena led him towards the massive head
of the zaraten. They were stalled by archers who were
holed up in the heavy bunker until marine grenadiers
threw flasks of burning oil through the arrow slits.
The two warriors led the charge into the complex.
"Kill the one with magi's robes," Xena said as
she cut down a brigand who had survived the flames.
"I see him," Milan said as he picked a harpoon
from a rack on the wall. The magician was too busy try-
ing to steady the wounded zaraten to cast another
spell. The ranger heaved the missile and it smashed
through the body of a man in black and gold robes, al-
most passing completely through him. With the enchant-
ment dispelled, the zaraten acted in its own defense
and started to dive.
The heroes headed for the edge of the shell
where a Dunwich ship had came alongside. Princess
Esmerelda waved for her soldiers to hurry as the living
island sank. A wave of panicked slavers swarmed to
board the ship, but were repelled and cast back into
the foaming sea.
"Looks like we've won," said Milan, "We've des-
troyed the black heart of the beast, now its tentacles
will die off."
"I'm afraid not," Xena said grimly, "The limbs
will grow new beasts. The factions within the guild
will now vie for power, and when they reform, they'll
be back for vengeance.
"It will be their last mistake," Esmerelda said
as they watched the burning ships slip beneath the
waves. The water was thick with the flotsam of the
ruined fortress and the bodies of the marauders. "When
we get back, the first thing I will ask of my father is
the curettage of the port cities. The guild and the
slavers will be no more."
"Bandar's government is rife with corruption,"
the captain of the naval ship interjected. "The city
will go to war to protect the guild."
"Then let there BE war! These wretches kill our
neighbors and sell our children. They will not be able
to hide behind the throne of a spineless noble anymore.
It won't matter if we keep our mining colony across the
Blood Sea when our own city is not safe."
#
Princess Esmerelda went to Willow River as
emissary, with Milan and Xena as her escorts. They
completed the task, and the objective of Dunwich's
military shifted from holding the mithril mines to pa-
trolling the borders and sea lanes. Xena was right
about the slavers. Though the might of the guild had
suffered from the defeat at Calimport, and even more so
in the weeks that followed as the bid for power was on,
the markets had already appeared in other cities. As
long as Esmerelda and Milan lived, though, they vowed
that the women of Dunwich would not be among the unfor-
tunate females sold there.
Xena accepted the princess's offer to stay in
the keep. She was happy to be close to Milan, who had
elected for garrison duty. But as the days passed into
the cool winds of fall, she had begun to think more of
the hills of her homeland, of the songs of the women
during the harvest season. The pleasant citizens of
Dunwich, all of a sudden, seemed indifferent. Their
easy charm seemed to pale as her need to return home
deepened. Milan sensed the change in her and tried to
get her to talk about it, but she could never bring
herself to say what was going on inside of her. She
didn't know how to tell him why she must leave or, more
importantly, how to convince him that she needed to go
on alone. Esmerelda had noticed Xena's plight. She
asked her about it one night.
"You have been a very gracious host, Princess,"
Xena reassured her, "and I've felt very welcome here.
Everyone has been kind, but I must leave you now. I
must return to my homeland."
"I wish you well, Xena. You'll be welcome in
our city if you ever come this way again." Esmerelda
worried her lip and shook her head, saying softly, "I
wish we had more warriors like you. And it looks like
I loose my personal guard once again."
"What do you mean? With Justin gone, Milan is
even more committed to ensuring your safety."
"Not likely," she said. "I've seen the way he
looks at you, how his heart opens every time he hears
your voice."
"He can't come with me. I've too far to go to
reach my home." She shut her eyes, remembering her last
words with her mother, remembering the words of defi-
ance and bloody ambition. "It may not be my home any-
more."
CONTINUED IN PART 9...