Noctem Aeternus By L. Crystal Michallet-Romero Copyright  © October 24, 2001 L. Crystal Michallet-Romero           All Rights Reserved All Feedback Welcomed at: lcmichallet@Charani.org
Disclaimer: Xena Warrior Princess, its characters, and all related materials are the property of MCA/Universal and Renaissance Pictures.  The other characters are mine.  Like the show, I?m playing around with time lines, as well as items which could not have possibly existed in Greece during Xena and Gabrielle?s time. Rated: NC-17 WARNING: This story is not intended as a children?s ghost story. Contents may be too frightening for young readers. Violence: Yes. Sexual Violence: None Subtext: Yes Xena?s eyes snapped open the moment she heard the strange sound.  Like the wailing of pain, it floated over the tree tops, then disappeared in the wind.  For a moment, silence covered the campsite until it was broken by the single crooning of a crow. Unlike the past few nights, this time it was not a dream.  The first night she had dreamt of Solan?s smiling face as he ran over a lush green meadow covered with wild flowers.  He looked so young, so innocent?.so alive, and then the dream was gone and the blue eyed warrior was awake, the tears of longing for her dead son moistening her bedroll until she was able to fall back to sleep. It was not until the second night that the warrior remembered the dream when it reoccurred again.  Except the second dream took on a sinister quality.  Rather than Solan in the meadow, she found herself alone in the middle of an open field.  The howling of the wind brushed past her form as she glanced around the darkness.  A shiver of fear crossed her spine as she heard the beating of her heart deep within her.  All around the warrior, the wind swayed past the branches of the tall trees.  Their limbs flew in the air like graceful dancers of the night.  Like an arbitrator casting forth its decree, the wind grew still and the huge trees all peered down at Xena, each one sending forth their judgment.  In her dream, the warrior gulping down her fear as her mind continually reminded her that this was a dream, and not real.  Just then fingers of wind brushed over her face and through her hair.  The surreal images of the forest, the grass, and the nearby animals swirled within her vision.  Then, she heard a thunderous pounding on the earth.  Instinctively, Xena reached up to cup her ears, hoping that her hands could muffle the earsplitting sounds. In the dream, Xena glanced all around her, searching for the cause of the noise.  She fought down the urge to flee.  Just when she thought she would turn away, she saw it . A dark, forbidding figure, riding the largest black stallion she had ever seen in all of her years as a warrior.  Xena realized that the horse?s hooves upon the earth were what sent the thundering sound through the meadow.  Unable to stand the deafening clamor of hooves, the Greek warrior kept her ears cupped with her hands as she watched the figure approaching.  The rider wore a cape that covered his dark armor and a black iron mask protected his head.   Like a demon phantom, the facemask was cast in a sinister smile.  Behind the mask, glowing red eyes like empty holes glared down at her. Although she knew it was a dream, Xena?s instinct was to turn and flee from the scene, but she was frozen in place.  Like a thick mud that oozed from the center of the earth, it held her captive until all she could do was scream as she watched the masked man remove his helmet.  Hidden under it was the hideous white shape of a picked clean skull.  It?s eye sockets appearing empty and devoid of life one moment, the next they glowed bright red-orange shades of color as it seemed to peer right into her soul.    As she stood rooted in horror, the figure released a roaring laugh as the skeleton hands reached up and removed its own skull before throwing it directly at the warrior princess. The nightmare had been so intense that all Xena could do was sit bolt upright in her bedroll.  She released a muffled scream, gasping for air as she fought to release herself from the fragments of that dream.  At her movement, Gabrielle had awakened and pulled her close.  Just as she used to do the first year they began to travel, the smaller woman hugged her, her tender hands brushing through Xena?s dark tresses as she cooed words of comfort until the warrior was able to fall back into a fitful sleep. But now the dream had seemed to return to Xena without warning.  At the distant sound, the tall warrior rose quietly from the bedroll.  Once her mind had discerned that this was indeed reality, and not a dream, she listened for every minute sound around her.  With sword in hand, Xena glanced around the campsite.  Instantly alert for any trouble, she moved slowly from under the covers as she strained to hear the familiar sound that had shaken her from slumber.  The only thing that greeted her senses was the silence of the night broken by an occasional snore from the bard.  At the loss of her bed warmer, Gabrielle grumbled in her sleep before rolling over and curling deeper into the blankets.  Careful not to waken her lover, the warrior princess crouched as her eyes scanned the darkness around the camp.  Just as she felt her pulse rate increase the sound of crickets was loud and fireflies blinked nearby.  High within a tree, an owl called down to her from above.  As her mind tried to remember the noise that had awakened her, she grabbed her leathers and armor and quickly dressed. For a brief moment, Xena thought of waking her companion, but when she gazed down at the sleeping form, she changed her mind.  ?If it?s nothing, I don?t want to wake Gabrielle,? she thought with a grin as she moved to the outer perimeter of the camp.  ?She needs about as much sleep as she can get.?  Then she lost her grin as she concentrated on her task.  With sword in hand, the tall Greek warrior woman moved silently through the forest.  She ducked the low branches that threatened to slap her face.   As her imagination conjured frightening images, her mind tried to find a rational explanation to what had wakened her.  ?Perhaps it was a night owl,? her thoughts tried to convince her already fearful mind.  By the light of the full moon, she made her way past the nearby outcropping of rocks.  As she pushed aside a low branch, she stepped into an open clearing.  The shadows of the trees cast an eerie blanket of dark gloom over the green grass.  As Xena?s eyes focused on the shadows, she heard the familiar sound that had awakened her. Childish giggles echoed in the darkness.  A slight movement pulled her attention to the center of the field.  With unbridled glee, the small figure of a child giggled as he ran through the deep grass.  Xena felt her lips turn upward into a smile as she returned her sword to its scabbard.  The warrior walked slowly toward the boy as she mentally calculated the distance to the nearest village.  ?This one will be in trouble for being out so late,? the warrior chuckled to herself, wondering if Solan was prone to these same escapades, as she walked to the child.