DISCLAIMER AND AUTHOR'S NOTE: All Xena stuff is the legal property of MCA/Universal and Renaissance Pictures. No copyright infringement was intended in the writing of this fiction. All other characters that appear belong to me. This story cannot be sold or used for profit in any way. Copies may be made for private use only and must include this copyright notice and disclaimer. Warning, there is some gore here!

Death
By Kristjan Brezovnik

Xena and Gabrielle were tied to posts and all they could do was helplessly watch as the kneeling young woman cried, scared.

"Please, stop," was all she kept repeating between sobs.

"Leave her alone!" Gabrielle demanded, but the bandits only laughed.

"I want her, Thaliard," one of the men said.

Thaliard looked at him thoughtfully.

"Okay, I guess you deserve her," he said. "Take her."

The man's eyes glittered with lust and he came closer to take the young woman. He grabbed her arm and lifted her, but the woman pushed him away. The man got angry. He took his dagger and he wanted to threaten the woman with it, but the woman grabbed his wrist, snapped it and killed him with his own dagger.

Everybody stared at her for a few moments, surprised, and then Thaliard issued an order.

"Tie her up!"

The woman looked at him and when Xena saw her eyes, she shuddered. There was something about those eyes that extremely unnerved her.

"You want me?" the woman said and in a dead voice. "You'll get me."

Thaliard's men came close and wanted to grab her, but she grabbed the first by his face, her fingers immersed themselves into his eyeholes and his mouth, and she yanked, tearing half of his head off. Before the man collapsed. He gabbed then next by his throat and tore out his windpipe.

Everybody froze for a moment, shocked, but the woman didn't. She went to Thaliard and hit him in the chest with such force that her hand penetrated the rib cage. She pulled the hand out and there was something in it. When Gabrielle realized what it was, she vomited.

The woman dropped the still beating heart to the ground and turned to the next. The man froze as she approached him. Just when he realized that it would be best if he moved away from her, she grabbed his head and pulled it with such strength that she nearly tore it off.

"Get the bitch!" someone called and Xena looked at the fool. "Archers!"

The woman ignored him and attacked him. She hit him in the stomach so hard that her hand came out on the other side. She pulled it back and when Gabrielle saw what else she pulled with her, she was so sick she wanted to throw out her stomach. The woman yanked and tore off a part of the man's spinal colon. She threw it at the rest of the men, who were staring at her, petrified. When she turned to get the next, the men started to retreat. She went after them, but then the archers finally remembered that they had long-range weapons.

"Step aside!" one of them called as they aimed their bows.

The soldiers made a clear path for the archers, but the woman didn't seem worried. As soon as the men were out of the way, the archers fired. Then the woman moved. She moved with such speed that it astonished even Xena. She avoided some of the arrows and caught the others. When the barrage was over, she crushed the arrows with her hands and let them drop to the ground. The men were now rally scared.

"Let's get out of here!" one of them called and nobody objected.

The soldiers mounted their horses, those that had them, and rode or ran away, but the woman didn't follow them. Instead, she turned around and looked at the carnage. Xena was shocked to see her eyes. She saw evil in it, evil so ancient and so gruesome that in comparison with it she, Callisto and all other warlords combined were only little children. She had to admit to herself that she was shocked. And scared.

Then something suddenly changed in the woman's eyes, Xena noticed. The woman looked around and Xena saw shock, disgust, pain and fear in them and it somehow surprised her. The woman looked at her bloody arms and her clothes and then at the slaughtered soldiers and Xena saw that she felt sick.

The woman quickly ran to the bushes and started to vomit. She vomited for so long and so hard that she nearly threw out her intestines. Then she curled up like a fetus and cried.

Xena stared at her for a few moments, confused, and then continued to free herself. It took her a while, but she finally freed her left arm. She quickly freed herself and then Gabrielle, who was observing the young woman, also confused. Gabrielle briefly glanced at Xena and then looked back at the young woman. She stared at her for a while and then went toward her.

"Gabrielle!" Xena called after her, but Gabrielle ignored her and continued to the young woman.

She slowed down when she got closer to her and then stopped. She stared at her, confused. She saw her beg for mercy and then she saw her brutally kill those soldiers and now here she was, crying like a child. Suddenly she understood, the woman was begging because she knew what would happen if they didn't stop. It happened and now she was crushed.

She kneeled beside the woman and caressed her. The woman looked at her, surprised, and Gabrielle saw pain and fear and shame in her eyes. Gabrielle caressed her again and leaned closer to her, smiling sympathetically. The woman suddenly hugged her and Xena flinched, afraid that the woman would hurt Gabrielle, but it was only a hug and the woman started to cry even harder. Gabriele quickly recovered from surprise and she hugged the woman back and caressed her, trying to soothe her.

Xena retrieved their stuff and then dragged the bodies somewhere off the road. Then she waited for Gabrielle, trying not to make any sounds.

It seemed like eternity to Gabrielle, but it was in fact only about five minutes and then the woman finally stopped crying and let go of Gabrielle. She avoided looking into her eyes when she wiped her tears, but Gabrielle could still see her eyes from the side and for the first time she realized just how incredibly old they were and how tired.

The young woman slowly got up. She looked at herself again and shuddered. Then she started walking.

"Wait!" Gabrielle called after her, but the woman ignored her.

Gabrielle wanted to go after her, but Xena stopped and shook her head.

"You cleaned up already?" a deep male voice suddenly spoke and they both turned, startled.

"Ares," Xena said, disgusted.

"Hello, Xena. Don't you just love the way she does it? You know, people have gotten soft over the millennia, but she still knows the old ways and I just love to watch her at work."

"Who is she?" Gabrielle asked.

Ares gave her a derisive look.

"Death," he said.

"Death?" Gabrielle asked, confused.

"That's what people called her in her time."

"Okay, but who is she?"

Ares gave her an annoyed look before replying.

"You probably know that before we became the rulers, the Titans ruled this realm."

Xena nodded.

"Yes," Gabrielle said.

"Well, when we started the war to take over, we tried to protect the mortals, but the Titans were stronger. They kidnapped the heiress apparent to the throne of Atlantis, Death..."

"Atlantis?" Gabrielle interrupted. "But I thought Hercules..."

Ares snorted.

"That pathetic little island was all that was left of the real Atlantis."

"Oh. So, what happened to Death?"

"I'll tell you," Ares said, annoyed, "if you'll stop interrupting me."

"Sorry."

"Well, they kidnapped her and twisted her soul. We still have no idea of what they did to her, but she became their general and she led their demon army. She was responsible for the fall of the ancient civilizations. She herself killed thousands and her army millions. She personally killed her own family and most of the palace staff, she ripped them apart with her bare hands and then displayed their remains on the poles in front of the palace before she annihilated the whole city."

"Didn't you protect them?" Xena asked.

"We tried, but she killed several minor gods..."

"She killed gods?" Gabrielle asked in awe and Ares gave her an annoyed look again.

"The Titans gave her godly powers, she was stronger than Zeus."

"Oh."

"And what is she still doing around?" Xena asked.

"Well, we won the war and we banished the Titans and their demons to Tartarus. We wanted to banish her too, but Zeus said no, he wanted to try and restore her soul. We were only partially successful. Zeus then sentenced her to wander around the world and help people. He gave her the power of healing, but the problem is that when she gets angry or when she's endangered, she starts to kill people."

"That's cruel," Gabrielle said. "She was also a victim."

Ares looked at her again, annoyed.

"As I said, we couldn't completely restore her soul, that's why Zeus couldn't just make her a mortal and then send her to Tartarus. At least this way she has some chance of repairing the damage that the Titans did to her. She's the only one who can help herself."

"Oh. Poor woman."

"And what are you doing here?" Xena asked.

"I came to watch her at work, but unfortunately, I was delayed." He paused and ran his finger across his moustache. "You know, Xena, in comparison to her you are an innocent baby. Even I pale in comparison to her."

"I'm sure," Xena said.

"Well, if you ever change your mind..."

"I won't. Good bye, Ares."

Ares grinned and vanished.

Xena wanted to give Gabrielle her staff and her bag, but she noticed that Gabrielle was thinking. She waited.

"I wish we could help her," Gabrielle finally spoke.

"So do I, but I don't see how. Here, your stuff."

"Mmm? Oh."

Gabrielle took her bag and her staff and then suddenly her eyes lit up.

"I know! She could come with us! That way we could protect her and she wouldn't have to fight. Not to mention that she could heal our wounds."

Xena gave it a thought. On one hand, she could use someone to quickly heal her wounds, but on the other, she had seen what the woman was capable of and it scared her. She would require serious protection or she would go into killer mode each time they were attacked. But then again, she was helping people nowadays, trying to make up for her sins, and so was the woman. She decided to give it a try.

"Okay."

Gabrielle smiled.

"Yes. Come on, she's not far away yet."

Xena whistled and soon Argo came running. Xena caressed the mare and then they went after the woman.

They walked quickly and after a few minutes, they spotted her in the distance. They continued the pace and soon caught up with her.

"Hey, wait up!" Gabrielle called when they were close enough, but the woman didn't stop.

Gabrielle ran to her.

"Wait, please, I want to talk to you," she said when she reached her, but the woman ignored her. "Look, Ares told us all about you and we want to help you."

The woman stopped and looked at her, surprised. Gabrielle smiled encouragingly.

"I know you start to kill when you're in danger, but we can protect you. At least most of the time. And you can then help the wounded."

The woman stared at Gabrielle, surprised. Then she finally spoke, her voice rugged.

"You... You would do that? For me?" she asked and Gabrielle saw in her eyes that it meant a lot to her. "In spite of..."

Gabrielle nodded, smiling.

"By the way, my name is Gabrielle and this is my friend, Xena," Gabrielle introduced herself and then pointed at Xena.

The woman looked at Xena.

"Warrior Princess?" she asked.

"Reformed," Gabrielle said. "And what's your name?"

The woman looked at her, confused, and thought.

"Amalthea," she then said.

Gabrielle smiled.

"Well, Amalthea, Xena and I will try to make sure you won't have to fight again, at least not for as long as we're alive. Of course we may not always be successful, but we'll do our best."

Amalthea took a good look at Gabrielle.

"You don't look like a warrior."

Gabrielle smiled.

"I'm not, I'm a bard. But I'm trying to learn how to defend myself. Besides, you don't look like a warrior either." She turned to Xena, who finally got to them. "Xena, this is Amalthea."

Xena nodded.

"So, you wanna come with us?" Gabrielle repeated her offer.

Amalthea hesitated and glanced at Xena, who tried to make a nice face. She nodded.

"Okay."

Gabrielle smiled.

"Good. Now, let's get you a bit cleaner. Xena, give me a gourd."

Xena complied and gave Gabrielle one of the gourds.

"Okay, Amalthea, wash your hands."

Amalthea was a bit surprised, but she washed her hands, and Xena could see that she was relieved that she could get the blood off her hands.

"That looks better," Gabrielle declared after Amalthea's hands were clean and gave Xena the gourd. "Xena, give me one of my shirts," she told her friend and turned back to Amalthea. "Get your shirt off."

Amalthea stared at her, surprised, and then looked at Xena, who was trying to hide a grin as she retrieved one of Gabrielle's shirts. Amalthea took off her shirt and Gabrielle took it from her. Xena gave her Gabrielle's shirt and Amalthea put it on while Xena put away the bloody shirt.

Then Gabrielle took Amalthea by the arm and started to chat. Xena smiled and followed them. Things were fine for now, but she would definitely have to talk to Amalthea and give her some instructions on how to behave when she's in danger or people would be dying in nasty ways. She shuddered at the memory of the carnage she had seen. She really didn't envy her.

The End