The lesser Olympian Gods Strife and Eris arrived. "Uncle Aries?" innocently asked Eris. "What troubles you?"

"Everything I have ever built is being destroyed by that witch Xena!!!!" angrily cursed Aries. "Now that Hephaestus learned about my stealing his precious gemfire, he has stripped of all my weapons and armor!!! My spear, my sword...gone!!!!"

"There, there, dear uncle...." comforted Strife.

"Save it." angrily replied Aries. "My butt was for sitting, not kissing, Strife."

"What is this obsession with Xena?!" angrily asked Eris. "She's just a pathetic mortal. Strike her down like the worm she is...."

"I cannot...." angrily yelled Aries. "I have invested too much of my time and energy into her to quit now!!! Besides, with my plan involving the Furies running loose I can't even come close to her without their harassment and informing Zeus of my activities...."

"What do you mean?" asked Strife.

"There, there, Uncle Aries...." evilly smiled Eris. "Ol' Strife and I will destroy that nasty old Xena and bring her to you on a platter."

"Could you do that for me? CAN YOU????!!!!" roared Aries as he sat back in his throne, frustrated and dejected from remembering his recent defeats. Eris and Strife teleport away, beginning their plan against Xena.

* * *

Gabrielle and Xena went their separate ways for a couple weeks to allow Gabrielle to again return home to Potadeia to assist her ailing mother, who just recently became ill with a slight fever. Alone, Xena made her way eastward toward the lands beyond Greece.

Meanwhile, Strife and Eris sat in their stronghold near Mount Olympus seeking knowledge through their great oracle crystal.

Mere minutes later Strife and Eris made a remarkable discovery.

"The problem is, dear Strife." explained Eris. "Is that Aries was too direct in his methods.... We need to bring Xena to us. But Xena is much to clever for that..."

"How do we even find her?" asked Strife.

"That's easy...." smiled Eris. "But how do we kill her? We can't simply jump in and smite her.... the Furies would cast us into the sun itself in their wrath! We must use agents to do our bidding!"

"Ah!" smirked Strife. "Perhaps this river clay from the Styx I stole from the titan Prometheus will do...I can shape it into and create any monster we choose."

"Very nice...very nice..." smiled Eris. "Let's get to work...."

* * *

Xena was traveling eastward heading toward the city of Eternius, which was a couple days ride away. There she could have her horse Argo refitted with metal shoes and repairs made on her saddle and sword, damaged from the battle against Fatima and her metallic minions.

"Excuse me, there, stranger..." politely asked a voice.

Xena turned and observed a young woman in a gray cloak riding a palfrey riding horse making her way closer. "Excuse me, can you please tell me which road leads to Eternius?"

"Down this main road here will lead you there in a couple days. I'm heading there myself. Why don't you join me?" offered Xena.

"Oh, no...I couldn't impose on you like that..." replied the woman.

Xena confidently smiled, "It's no problem at all...I could use the company anyway. There's not much civilization in this region other than bandits and the free city of Eternius..."

"Well, in that case I accept your offer. My name is Sari Kitalis." warmly greeted the woman.

"I am Xena." she cordially replied.

The two continued their way down the road, which seemed to wind through the thick wooded hills. While very beautiful, it was also very boring for the common traveler.

"Where are you from, anyway, Sari?" asked Xena.

"I am originally from Kislev in the northern provinces far from here. My father is a merchant so we traveled fairly often. I finished studying in Alexandria and am heading home." answered Sari.

"Interesting..." replied Xena as she observed her newfound traveling companion. Sari Kitalis was a fairly petite woman with a light frame, roughly 5 foot 4 inches tall and was a little bit smaller and thinner than Gabrielle. Having brown hair and hazel eyes, she definitely appeared to be from the northern provinces of Kislev and its outlying areas. But there was something about her presence that somehow made Xena feel uneasy.

Argo suddenly stopped and gave a nervous jerk. Xena regained control and began patting and stroking the back of Argo's head. "Whoa...easy Argo...what's the matter....you sense danger?" calmly asked Xena.

"What was that???" shrieked Sari.

"I think we're about to find out...." sternly replied Xena as she drew her sword.

Two massive beasts crashed through the woods seething with bloodlust. The first was a hideous creature a massive 12 feet tall covered in golden fur with the head of a lion, wings, and human-like muscular arms and claws standing on its hind legs. The other was a serpentine like beast, with the head of a venomous cobra on a green, scaly body with arms and lizard-like legs.

"TAKE COVER, SARI!!!!" yelled out Xena as she rode forward charging the beasts with sword in hand. "SHEEEEEYAAAA!" cried out Xena as she slashed the lion beast in the chest with a quick strike. The lion beast attacked with a slash with its claws, missing its target. Sari Kitalis momentarily pulled off to the side and tied off the horse to a tree, and cautiously made her way toward Xena.

The serpent beast attacked Xena with a slash with one of its claws, deflected by a parry with her sword. Desperate Xena cast her chakram at the two beasts, wounding the lion beast with a deep gash in its chest and inflicting only a minor injury to the serpent beast. The lion beast lunged forward, again missing Xena.

"SHEEEEEEEEEYYAAAAAA!!!" yelled out Xena as she backflipped off Argo and impaled the lion beast with her sword from behind, killing it instantly. Removing the sword Xena attacked the serpent beast, slashing one of its legs. A green venomous blood spewed forth, striking Xena in the eyes.

"AAAAAGHHH!" yelled out Xena as she staggered back blinded. The serpent beast smiled lustily and it prepared to swallow Xena whole.

"NO!!!!" cried out Sari Kitalis as she charged forth, suddenly casting out blades of fire from her hands striking the serpent beast in its legs and upper shoulder. Heavily wounded and stunned from the sudden attack, the serpent beast reared its head and tried to attack Sari, only to receive a massive blast of flame that scorched it into a smoldering husk of burned serpentine flesh.

"Xena???!!!" exclaimed Sari and as she began pouring water over Xena's eyes to wash out the poison. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine....I'm fine..." answered Xena as she regained her vision, only to find the burnt husk that was once the serpent beast. "Who....or what....are you....?"

Sari Kitalis reluctantly shrugged at what transpired. "Sari Kitalis....Keeper of the Flame....nice to meet you for the second time..."

* * *

Meanwhile, back in the recesses of Mount Olympus, Strife and Eris made their own comments to the events occurring.

"WHERE IN HADES DID SHE COME FROM?????!!!!" exclaimed Strife. "AND HOW DID SHE DO THAT????!!!"

"Shut up, Strife..." ordered Eris as she peered into the crystal oracle. "It was your own fault wasting that clay making such slow and stupid beasts. The Keeper of the Flame is only a setback...give me some of that river clay....I got some sweet lovin' for her..."

* * *

Nightfall had come and Xena and Sari stopped at a small town for the night to give their horses some rest and fresh grains to eat. Having a light meal at a local tavern, Xena and Sari spent some quality conversation time together.

"A Keeper of the Flame....Gabrielle told me about this a while back when we went to Weyliff but I thought they didn't really exist...." commented Xena.

"There aren't many...." replied Sari. "There's me and maybe three of four others somewhere...I never met them but my old tutors told me about them."

"So you have the power over fire...amazing..." said Xena.

"Fire, heat, and even light to an extent...." added Sari. "I somewhat have a hard time controlling it though, and I don't really like using this gift; kind of dehumanizes me."

"Interesting. But how did this all come about?" asked Xena.

"It happened in Alexandria, during my studies. Late one night I saw what I thought was a shooting star, only it was a blazing red and gold bird and literally crashed into my room...the next thing I know I was bathed in this flaming aura and my academic mentor Siddig arrives and practically dropped to his knees practically worshipping me. He was a big help in helping me understand this wonderful yet very strange gift." explained Sari. "I think Siddig referred to my gift as the 'phoenix's blessing."

"What else does this blessing do to you?" questioned Xena.

"How's this?" replied Sari as she picked up the cutting knife and stabbed herself with it, only to have the blade break on contact with her skin.

"A magical aura of somekind giving you invulnerability?" asked Xena in surprise.

"Hmmm, kind of." shrugged Sari. "To an extent....small stuff like knives and arrows won't hurt me, but I don't think I can survive being impaled by a sword or something. The hard part is trying to remember that stuff like that can't hurt me, something I forget when I encounters rats."

"You don't like rats or mice?" asked Xena.

"Mice are okay...they're kind of cute....rats are a different story....I hate them and they disgust me...." replied Sari.

"Both of them look the same to me." replied Xena. "What's the difference?"

"Believe me, you'll realize that someday...." replied Sari.

* * *

Later that night Xena and Sari both retired to their respective rooms at the inn. Xena immediately went to sleep while Sari was preparing a bath that night.

Xena left her battle armor mounted on a chair and slept in a light blue tunic in the bed. Quietly, Eris teleported into the room and began conjuring her spells stealthily. Instantly magical ropes sprang forth from the bed, binding Xena's wrists and ankles in a spread eagle formation.

Xena suddenly awoke. "WHAT THE......YOU!!!!!" cursed Xena at Eris. "What are you doing here??! Untie me this instant, Eris!"

"Naughty....naughty....you've crossed Uncle Aries one too many times and Cousin Eris needs to punish.....hee-hee...." giggled Eris as she teleported away. Just then four giant rats teleported in, hungering for Xena's blood.

"Xena....what's going on here? I heard screaming....what....AAAAAHHHH!!!" shrieked Sari as she walked in observing the massive rats moving toward the bound Xena. Cold sweat dripped down Sari's brow. "Rats.....why did it have to be rats....." she muttered to herself.

"Don't just stand there....DO SOMETHING!!!!" yelled out Xena. "SARI, SNAP OUT OF IT!!!"

Sari instantly regained her senses and threw four small spears of fire, striking and scorching the rats. Four dead husks fell to the floor of the room. The victory was momentary, as a massive man-rat hybrid creature grabbed Sari from behind, squeezing the life out of her.

Xena managed to work one of her hands free. Stretching out and grabbing her chakram, Xena threw it at the man-rat. "SARI...DUCK!!!" yelled out Xena.

Sari quickly ducked as the chakram struck home, slicing the man-rat's head off.

Sari kicked the dead body away from her in complete disgust and incinerated it with a short burst of flame. Finally untying Xena, Sari joked, "Now do you see the difference between mice and rats?"

* * *

The next day proved to be fairly uneventful for Xena and Sari. It was midday and the two stopped by a small river to rest their horses and refill their waterskins for the long road of traveling ahead.

"I've always wondered...once you received the 'phoenix's blessing' why didn't you stay with Siddig in Alexandria?" asked Xena.

"Siddig was elderly....tutoring me on basic academics was hard enough for him and mentoring me on harnessing all of this raw magic within me was hard for both of us....and he knew it...I guess that's why I left..." answered Sari as she finished filling her waterskin. "I'll have to wait and see, but at a minimum I'm staying back home in Kislev for a while."

The peace of solitude of the grove abruptly ended with the whistling sound of a black arrow that struck Sari Kitalis in the upper left shoulder.

"AAAAGH!" screamed Sari in pain as she slumped to the ground.

"SARI!!!!" exclaimed Xena as she ran to aid Sari. The arrow had pierced through her body, with the other end sticking out. Xena broke of the tip and held Sari fast as she pulled out the rest of the shaft.

"AAAAAAAAGHHH!!!" cried out Sari in pain.

"You'll be all right..." assured Xena as she hastily bandaged the wound with a small strip of cloth. "The arrow didn't strike anything vital and I can get you better attention at a town that isn't far from here.....but how did it pierce your skin.....?"

"HOW INDEED????" laughed Strife as he teleported in with Eris as his side with her hands on her hips oozing with overconfidence. "The magical aura that protects Sari doesn't work against weapons forged by the Gods of Olympus....especially when it's poisoned with the hydra's blood."

"This is the end, Xena, one way or the other...." gloated Eris.

Xena bitterly stood up and drew her sword to protect Sari. "I don't know what sick game this is, but this has nothing to do with her....."

"Oh, it has everything to do with her...." teased Strife. "Without her we can now unleash THEM!!!!"

Out from the woods emerged four massive beasts each a staggering fifteen feet tall. The first was a minotaur like beast with the massive head of a bull on a giant's body, except having a large scorpion's tail as well. The second was a giant two-headed cobra that hissed with bloodlust. The third was a massive sanity-shattering brute that bore four heads and six arms, each bearing a spiked or flailed whip as a weapon. The last was a goat beast, with the head of a goat on a human's body bearing a massive scythe as a weapon.

"Dinner time, kiddies. Kill Xena!!!!" laughed Eris as the beasts charged forward.

"SHEEEEEYAAAAAA!!!!" yelled out Xena as she attacked with a berserker fury with sword and chakram, slicing apart the two headed cobra with a quick series of strikes with her chakram and split the beast in two. Dodging the blows of the six armed giant Xena soared through the air and landed on the minotaur beast, impaling it from behind with her sword before. Still the creature lived. Desperate, Xena removed her sword and slit off the barbed scorpion tail and, grabbing it and impaling the creature with it.

The beast collapsed dead as Xena stood triumphant over two defeated and dead creatures. "Gonna have to do better than that....ULULULULULU!!!!" as she threw her chakram again which slit the goat beast in the legs as she began another assault.

Sari grew weaker and weaker from the poisoned arrow and broke into a cold sweat. Eris started to saunter toward the dying Sari Kitalis with a pout on her face to gloat the fallen Keeper of the Flame.

Strife smiled as he raised to fire another poisoned arrow at the wounded Sari. "Goodbye, Keeper of the Flame." Strife released the arrow, which again screamed through the air.

"AAAAAHHHH!!!" yelled out Xena as she threw her chakram in the air which intercepted the arrow in mid-flight, splitting it in half and slicing Strife's bow in two before returning to her hand. Xena quickly dodged a series of attacks from the six armed giant, rolling on her side away from it.

"Curses!" yelled Strife.

"Relax....she's mine...." evilly giggled Eris as she made her way toward Sari.

"Ohhhh, poor baby...did Strife's poisoned arrow pierce that protective aura of yours?" gloated Eris. "Killing Xena is a great joy and we shall stand triumphant over her remains...but devouring you and all that raw power you contain...you shall be a feast for us!!!!"

"Why....why....are....you...." weakly replied Sari.

"Why are we doing this? WHY NOT???" callously answered Eris. "We laugh at danger and at you pitiful mortals...Any last words before you die and head to Tartarus?"

Sari wiped the sweat from her brow and gave a long, bitter stare at Eris as she replied, "Burn....."

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!" shrieked Eris in agony as her body became suddenly engulfed with flame. Sari's eyes began to glow with a fiery red aura as a blazing red shaft of fire impaled Eris's already burning body as she screamed and writhed in agony.

"Eris???" weakly asked Strife only to see a massive cone of flame shot forth from Sari Kitalis, blasting him away and engulfing him in an inferno of crimson fires.

The smell of burnt flesh hit Xena's nostrils and made her wretch as she delivered the deathblow to the goat beast, slicing it apart with her sword. Eris, panicked stricken, ran forth in blind agony from the perpetually burning flame engulfing her body, smashing into the six armed giant incinerating it instantly. Only dust and embers remained.

"GYYYAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!" shrieked Eris as her screams echoed throughout the forest. Weakly Strife summoned a spell that teleported the two away.

"SARI!!!" cried out Xena as she ran toward her as Sari slumped back to the ground unconscious.

"It's so cold...." softly spoke Sari.

"Don't talk like that, Sari....do you hear me???!!! Hang on.....Sari...stay awake.....SARI!!!" pleaded Xena as she desperately began treating the wound.

* * *

Sari weakly awoke and saw Xena sitting on a chair.

Sari observed Xena rise up and smile. "Good morning....."

"Where...where am I?" asked Sari as she sat up in the bed.

"The town of Pashia." answered Xena. "I almost lost you there on that battlefield against those monsters. You lost a lot of blood and that poison didn't help matters much, either....you were asleep for about three days...."

"Still feel tired...." groaned Sari as she checked the bandage, revealing no mark of an injury. "I'm healed?"

Xena's eyes lit up in mild surprise. "Not a single scar, either. You heal quickly....must be another gift from the 'phoenix's blessing'....what now?"

"Stay here and get my strength back before heading to Eternius for a while...my cousin lives there and it will nice to see him before returning to Kislev." replied Sari.

"Sounds like a plan...." smiled Xena.

"I owe you my life. Thank you." quietly spoke Sari in gratitude.

"Just returning the favor." nodded a smiling Xena in respect. "Not everyone can scorch petty Olympian Gods and send them scurrying away like rats...."

"Rats....." winced Sari as she felt a chill down her spine. "Why did you have to mention rats....blech....."

* * *

Back in the recesses of Mount Olympus Aries teleported in on the heavily wounded Strife and Eris, both of which heavily burned and scorched from the battle. Half of Strife's body was black and withered, while Eris winced in pain as the fire still smoldered on her body.

"Well, well, well...." sternly spoke Aries with a sarcastic tone of voice. "Look at what the phoenix fired in...."

"Please....." weakly pleaded Eris. "Restore us.....the pain....."

"Oh very well, fools!!!" angrily answered Aries as he magically restored the two to their former state. "The one thing I cannot stand is to hear your incessant whining. But the next time I will not be so generous in rewarding incompetence!!!! Xena still lives and you used up the clay stolen from Prometheus...."

Eris pouted while Strife shrugged. "Defeating Xena isn't as easy as we originally thought, Uncle Aries...."

"Tell me something I don't know...." angrily replied Aries as he teleported away.

THE END