Tapestry's Punishment

Author's Note: This is majorly based upon the celtic pantheons. Due to problems of consistency in their myths, what I've done is taken and merged the gods of many different celtic races. Although Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Britannia and parts of Norway, Sweden and Denmark share a commonality in their myths, because of the different races and languages, each tribe had a different name for the same god. Over time, each tribe would add stories which were inconsistent to another tribe's stories. So, because it is extremely hard to keep track of the mythology, what I've done is adapted Irelands, Scotland's and Wale's tales into my own. I'm not going to explain the gods and goddesses beforehand. I believe it would ruin the story. Instead, I think I've given you enough information so you all can understand. The dates are actually fairly accurate as well.

"Nuada, as you've no doubt heard, thanks to my son's actions, my followers are now even more uncertain of my leadership and reign. I'd hoped that one of them would prove worthy to be my successor, especially...but I digress from the point. It doesn't look as if that will be the case. I've decided that I can no longer accept the actions of my blood children. They shall, as punishment due to the fact that Lian has already been killed and only by the grace of Miach does he still have his life and the others barely escaping with their lives, be exiled until all should prove worthy of my throne, not just one. If all three can gain control of their natures and find what they need to complete them, can one or all three come home."

Realizing and knowing what his liege wanted for they had talked about this before, Nuada, waving his hands, quickly caused a swirling circle of matter to appear within the throne room. Shimmers of gold, silver, blue, red, yellow, all the colors of the rainbow and many more were fluid within the ring of power. Another wave and the three soon found themselves with a necklace surrounding each of their necks. Old power could be felt within the room, both from the portal and the necklaces which were now permanent fixtures around the young men.

"Yes. No longer can I allow my sons to get away with their actions. This bull and queen matter was the last straw. I'd considered just exiling Lian, but since it seems as if his main trouble is constantly following the advice of his brothers without considering the consequences, I don't think that would do the other any good. They must finally learn that their actions effect all of us. They may be just fifteen, but all of them were gifted with accelerated growth. They're supposed to be adults."

The frustration burst out of the kings voice. He was at the end of his rope and terrified for his sons' life. "As it stands now, Nuada, none of them won't live for much longer. Because they all are to blame, all three had to leave as well. I never wanted to do this. Especially, since...you know, Nuada. I no longer care who has the throne after me. Since it looks like my bloodline will not continue as the ruling house, it no longer matters. As I've always wondered what they'd have been like if they hadn't been born in the gods forsaken family, this will give them all a chance to find their destiny without having to worry about the rest of us."

The god king stood up, walking over to the balcony that overlooked the great courtyard. Two beautiful crows perched upon the rails to the balcony. Petting his bonded seekers, he stood looking out upon the world of Albion, two moons gleaming brightly in the night sky, and two large stars nearly as bright as the moon. The legendary land of the lost tribes. Tall, with rich, pure, luxurious, short-cropped blond white hair, a green cloak clasped with a broach of white, silvered bronze flowing from his shoulders covering the dark velvets enveloping his person, he gazed upon his world, feeling the sorrow of knowing that his time was nearing an end. If he didn't have a blood heir when he died, then his kingdom would destroy itself. Unfortunately for him, he was almost sure he wasn't going to have a blood heir. He had the feeling

After minutes of seeking for the answers within himself, Lugh of the Long-Hand, king of the Tuatha de Danann (Tribes of the Goddess Danann), turned to his uncle, Nuada Argetlamh or Nuada of the Silver-Hand, former king of the Tuatha, hero of the Battle of Magh Tuireadh against the Firbolgs of the Fomorian race, and his chief advisor. He watched as Nuada tugged the glove which covered his right hand off. His hand was revealed, gleaming brightly from the silver metal making up his hand, filling the air with his strength and power. The shimmer of his vitality graced the ebony night, bringing confidence to the golden War God King.

Lugh turned back away from his uncle. Leaning his arms against the railing, the soft cooing of the nightingales songs filling the soft sweet air, he tried to relax. Evidently, anxiety was not going to go away anytime soon. Finally, as he'd gathered his wits together, he continued to speak, "For any other, I would have betrothed him as a child. But, I couldn't do that, especially since I'd never been able to find out for sure or not, if the curse was inherited. As the elder, if he had received it, then I never wanted him to experience what I have."

Moments filled the air, as Lugh clenched and unclenched his hands in frustration. Curses upon my mother and my wife! I should never have listened to grandfather Math and father Gwydion. With those firm thought silent in his mind, he went on to say, "Nuada, you know, the only good thing about my marriage is the children and that they were born before she killed me. Although I hate father for tricking me in the first place, I'm grateful that father was able to spirit the triplets away. After returning and killing my accursed wife and her lover, the children and you were the only things that helped my sanity. After helping you kill grandfather Belor and with you stepping down to let me become king, I found the strength within myself to lead and try to live a full life. But none of that doesn't take away the fact that I can never take a wife whose race lives upon the earth. I can never have anymore children that I can acknowledge openly without destroying both them and myself. I've already died once, I don't wish to do so again. Lian, Fianbar, and Aalann will be the only children I'll ever have that I can acknowledge without fear and not one of them is capable of ruling after me."

He paused for few moments, reconsidering what he'd just said. "I take that back. Lian might be able to lead, but not as long as his brothers are around. And as for exiling his brothers, they weren't the ones who seduced Maeve. They weren't the ones who insulted her so greatly that she declared war on our people, using the Brown Bull of Cooley as an excuse. Hopefully, this will work. But, if it doesn't, than at least I'll know I gave my sons the best chance they'll ever have to live. I don't know what my sons as individuals need, but if they find it, then they'll have the strength within themselves to lead. Right now, the only thing I can do is make sure that they have the chance to grow up. Because they are too young for leadership, and due to fact that I don't have much longer to live, as king of Albion, I no longer have a choice to let them grow up in their own time. My time is coming soon and that I don't have much longer."

Knowing his lordship was right, hating the fact that he was soon to lose him, Nuada went to join his king upon the balcony. Looking within the beautiful dark blue eyes of his lord, he told him, "I doubt you'll have to wait very long then. Lian is strong and if he returns, will most likely be your heir if he finds a mate. The other two will learn to control their own natures. You're right in the fact that they've never been able to learn here, with blood and family. As your sons, they've plenty of intelligence to see them through. As you no doubt believe, I too don't doubt they'll find what they seek. To give them the best chance they have, I've done what you asked and sent them into as distant a future as I believe is healthy for them. It's a great distance in both time and space. As soon as all three have found their true desires and needs, the portal will open and only if they're willing, can one or all three return."

A crash sounded through the forest, followed by some very vocal cussing. Moments later, three young men stood and tried to take in where they were. They saw the single moon in the night sky and the stars and constellations though familiar, were shifted. It told all three of them that though they're still on earth they were far away from the kingship gathering in Erin. They most assuredly were nowhere near Albion, not with constellations of the stars in the sky. As they adjusted to their new reality, all three uttered a single word at the same time. It was a common occurence between the triplets.

"Oh, no! We won't get in trouble. The warriors won't be able to call for the king now that their service is over. They follow Queen Maeve, not their clan king. Maeve can't have The Brown Bull of County Cooley. We'll fight with the chieftain of Louth to last man defending a blasted cow. Why don't you, Lian go and seduce her! After all, she's just a woman. They're all the same between the legs. The Goddess Don won't respond to their prayers because we're her great grandsons, and the Goddess Maigwen won't respond because it's her sacred time of peace in Albion." The pounding continued, tears pouring down the face of the one doing the hitting. The other brother, too, had tears. But, since he wasn't one to turn the other cheek, he responded to the violence and started pounding back. Neither was able to come out on top, basically equal in skill.

The last brother was standing there quietly, trying to gain control of himself. Different from his brothers, he'd always followed them. Because of that, as a result, he always got into as much trouble as they did. But, his heart had never been in it. Empty inside, he'd always done what his brothers, father, family, and clan had wanted, never speaking for his own self. The only thing which had always been his and had at least partially filled him, was his bonded servant. He knew it was because his father hadn't known he'd taken a bonded servant, that he'd been exiled this way. Keeping the identity and fact of his bonded from his brothers had been hard. It was also the only thing that he'd ever kept from his brothers. Now, since his father hadn't known, because he was so far away from his bond animal, the loss of Leeare was hurting his soul more than he could explain.

The sudden command had the two men brawling, halting in a sudden shock. They turned to look at their brother and finally saw within his eyes, the light of authority shining out of them. They'd always known he was the one destined to be their father's heir, but now they truly understood the reasons for that. Never having experienced or seen it, they were shocked at the anger overcoming Lian. As a berserker, there was power and as a god, control. Although, right at the moment he was losing it. Nodding, they both scrambled to pull themselves up from the ground, not wanting to irritate him further. They definately weren't Lian's equal. As they stood before their brother, they fidgeted in unknown anticipation. Despite the fact their brother had always followed their suggestions and always got into to trouble because he'd been protecting them from their stupidity, he was also the one who most likely had the best answer to their problem.

"Now, listen! I'm tired, groggy, and worried as hell. I don't know where we are and haven't a clue how to get home, if we even can. We've got to keep our wits about." Lian stopped his ranting. Conveniently forgetting his own role in this and filled with arrogance at his own importance, he continued, "Thanks to you two, I'm stuck in the position of having to bale your asses out of the sling once again. I'm tired of it. I've already lost my life once and nearly lost two of my brothers. I sure don't want to lose anything else. First thing we need to do, is establish where we are. Then, we do the best we can and try to find a way to survive. You'll have to help me because right now, I'm feeling a lot more pain than I know what to do with. Don't count on me to defend you. The reason I need your help is that dad all unknowingly, separated me from my bonded."

A gasp exploded between his two brothers at end of his explanation. They knew what a bonded was, what it was doing to their brother to be so far away. It was only by the grace of god that he hadn't already lost his sanity. Only a matter of time before he'd start to lose, first, his memories, then, his strength and knowledge. Both brothers couldn't understand why he'd never told them about having bonded. As triplets, they told each other everything. They were that close. As for bonding, it was rare for it to happen on it's own. The current king was the only one allowed to bond, and only after he'd been crowned. The heir was never allowed to bond because many heirs would die before becoming king and leave an insane bond animal behind, who had to be killed. Their father was bonded to his seekers who were two crows, his eyes and ears."Come on, we need to leave now and see if we can find a settlement. Since we've no idea where we are, I suggest we head west. Sooner or later, we're sure to find humans. Remember though, we aren't likely to know the language. Be careful." They had no idea of the spell placed upon the necklaces which would allow them to absorb any language.

As he followed behind Xena, Warrior Princess of Amphipolous, and Gabrielle, Queen of the Grecian Amazons, Joxer was disgusted. In one of his more lucid moments, he'd had just about all he could take of the torture he was receiving from the blasted Gabby. Cursing under his breath, he began praying to his great-grandmother for patience as he continued to follow the two heroes. After about the fifth time in an hour he'd stumbled and fallen, and from just as many nose pullings from Blondie, Joxer couldn't take anymore. He decided to get in a little torture of his own. He burst out singing Joxer the Mighty. The two blasted heroes had no idea of just how embarassing this was. It was one thing to sing it when he wasn't lucid. At least then, he could blame it on insanity. But, to sing it when he was completely in his right mind, was an entirely different story.

After the eighth chorus of Joxer The Mighty, even Xena, who usually had more patience than Gabrielle, had enough of it and threatened to kill him if he so much as sang one more line. With his head down, Joxer smiled to himself in amusement. His amusement quickly turned to a scowl as he felt the hardness of his necklace shift under his armor, reminding him of why he was here in the first place. Even knowing that the necklace was invisible to anyone not of his family and blood, he still went to great lengths to hide it. Since this was painful thinking about, his mind began to brood over what he couldn't do anything about.

Since he was without his bonded animal, his mind often went into a trance to search for him. While his mind was unconsciously searching for his bonded, the rest of his awareness was run by a sort of backup personality. This seeking didn't hurt him in anyway, but while his mind searched, it took more time to think and process. As a result, walking, fighting, and conversation with others were out of the question. It was only because of that, that he'd adopted this hated and dreaded outfit, making him appear crazy. He knew that at least as a fool, most would forgive him if he did something stupid while in his trance state. It was human nature to feel sorrow for those not in their right mind. Also, people never wanted to be around an insane person.

For nearly ten years, he'd taken his gradually deteriorating mind and body for granted, assuming that there was nothing he could do to stop it. The only three things he'd truly had to grateful for was that, one, his brothers weren't around to cause trouble, two, he'd been able to find a protector who was good enough to keep him alive in the condition he was in, and three, it was due to his unerring seeking that he'd come to worship his god, Ares. All things considered, he was doing a whole lot better than he'd thought. It was while he was considering these things, that it happened. Suddenly, the War God Ares flashed in before the three of them. The dark god was smirking as he looked upon his daughter, terrible amusement showing on his face.

"Well, Xena. I wanted to thank you personally for stopping that little skirmish in Sparta. It seems my nephew decided to try his own hand at starting a war and did a little experimenting. By stopping the conflict, not only did you save me the time needed to stop it, but by staying conveniently out of the way, I now have everything in motion for a greater, necessary war." With the amused expression in both his grin and sparkling, dark eyes, Ares started to turn and leave. As he'd forgot something, Ares went on to comment, "Just wanted to make sure you knew you had my ::personal:: gratitude. And this time, I didn't even have to lead you around by your noses." That last statement caused Xena's face to turn bright red with fury and Gabrielle paled as she realized she'd actually helped the God of War. As Ares was beginning to disappear to the frustration of his daughter and her bard, a great blast suddenly lit up the area in bright light. A blast of power burst forth out of nowhere and and hit the war god directly on the chest. The shock and surprise of the blast caused Ares to tumble down from the boulders he'd been standing on. Xena, Gabrielle and Joxer all landed flat on the ground and Argo had bolted into the forest when the blast came. As they all tried to figure out where the blast had come from, Xena and Gabrielle searched for the enemy's source, hoping they could knock whoever it was out. Joxer, seeing the war god unconscious, took the initiative and decided to see what he could do to help him.

Moments later, after crawling along the ground to reach Ares, he turned the god over and found a huge scorch mark burned upon his chest. Joxer also noticed blood seeping out of what looked like a deep head wound. Then, seconds later, he felt Xena and Gabrielle next to him. They'd also had the idea of seeing how Ares was. While they didn't particularly like the war god, they didn't want to see him dead, either. They'd crawled over to Ares and him and as he was tearing strips of his shirt sleeves apart, to bind Ares' wounds, Xena was doing her best to protect them. That was when another blast burst out of the surrounding forest. It blew the boulders a few feet away into smithereens.

With Gabrielle not able to say anything more, which was surely a first, Joxer was binding a strip of his shirt around Ares' chest. Minutes later, he'd efficiently bound up Ares' head wound as well. Grateful for the fact he was in one of his rare rational times, Joxer's mind analyzed what would be the best course of action. Xena was probably right. The other god couldn't be sure that Ares' wasn't playing dead to lull him into a sense of security. Evidently, the other god was afraid that Ares' kill him as he was trying to take the rest of them out.

All day, his mind had constantly felt like it had found what it was searching for, that whatever he sought was getting closer to him. Because it was the one thing he'd been praying for, for nearly ten years, he'd thought he'd been imagining it. Now, there was no doubt in his mind. He knew exactly what the presence was. It was no wonder his thinking was clearer than it had been in years. With no warning, what appeared to be two horses plunged out of the forest. Argo was there, bright and golden. Running before her though was a creature. A horse just wasn't the word for it. Huge and colored a rich, royal dark red, the horselike creature had what appeared to be ram's horns upon his head. With no neighing, no sound except for their thundering hooves, Argo and the creature ran straight toward the enemy. Paralyzed, the god didn't even have time to flash away. Before he knew it, the great animal had reached him and with one sharp, efficient butt to his midsection, the creature rammed his horns into him. The god flew away from the creature, landing against a tree many feet away, unconscious, although most likely dead. No one had a chance to check because Argo, not wanting the creature to have the last say over this, ran over and raised her body up, slamming her hooves down in blow after blow after blow. It didn't take long, before the god was nothing but a bloody pulp.

In shock, Joxer just stared. It was Leeare, his bonded, the Fomorian war steed he'd found penned up in his father's forbidden stable. The forbidden stable was where only the most violent of the Fomorian and Albionian steeds were stabled. All of them were ones which had killed anyone who tried to ride or break them. Mostly it was because they'd already been mastered and their master had died. Because of their fierce stubbornness and the ability of never forgetting, both breeds, once a steed was mastered, could never be mastered again. The only reason they were kept at all and not killed was because they were useful for breeding. The foals were not claimed and were sold or given away by the king.

He'd never forgotten the day his brother's had gotten him drunk and dared him to ride one of the forbidden. In his arrogance, he'd believed he could master even a forbidden steed. When he'd entered the stables he'd noticed that all the horses were beautiful. Of course, that didn't really surprise him. But, after exploring down the isles, he came to a stable and stared. In it was a great Fomorian war steed. Colored a beautiful dark red, with eyes the color of molten gold, the creature stared at him calmly. Ram's horns of brightly gleaming gold, curved around behind his ears, the wicked sharp points ending precisely beside his chin, ready to kill at a moments notice. On his foreknees, golden, twisted spikes curved up from them, ready to slash and kill. On all four legs, at the back of the fetlocks, four, small spikes curved downward. Finally, his tail was long, narrow and prehensile in nature. Instead of ending in a soft, tuft of hair, as some cattle and goats did, it ended with a sharp, narrow, hornlike spike.

Dangerous to the extreme, it didn't prevent his beauty and intelligence that could be seen in his eyes from drawing Lian. Calmly opening the first stable door, which was the first barrier against the horse escaping, he closed it, locking it firmly behind him. Moments later, he opened the second one. Standing there before the creature, Lian watched as the stallion started to fill with hatred, ready to kill. Advancing on this human that dared to capture him, Leeare was determined to kill this intruder. But, before he could do so, the creature found himself immobilized. Leeare was astounded, for it hadn't met anyone who had that type of magic. Now, for those not aware, Fomorian steeds were human like in their intelligence. While Albionan steeds were not dumb and far more intelligent than mortal steeds, Fomorian steeds were actually a race of humans that had offended their god. If return for sparing their life, the people were punished and cursed with a new lifeform. Created to be the eternal steeds of their royalty, many rebelled, and surprisingly, were not punished for it. For some reason, maybe since they were created and blessed by the Goddess for their unique nature, no harm could come to them at the hands of a God. The only thing able to kill them, were humans and mortals and they usually didn't have the strength or ability to do so.

That vulnerability was the only one they had. They recovered from all other wounds. Even the removal of the head was not permanent. Leeare watched as this slender young man, about nine or ten in age, stepped forward, his large shoulders denying the fact that he was as young as his senses were telling him. A heartbeat later, Lian placed his hands upon the immobilized beast and swiftly entered the creature's mind. After a timeless period, Leeare and Lian woke from their trance. A strange union had awakened, binding Leeare and Lian, causing them to be forever changed.

Lian was horrified. He may have been drunk, but there was still some common sense left. Somehow, he'd done the impossible and bonded with a forbidden. It hadn't taken him but moments to know that he couldn't reveal what had happened. But for all the horror of what he'd done, there was a completeness he'd felt in his mind. The overall nature of the Fomorian had somehow complimented his nature. But, he knew the punishment for what he had done. As a king's son, he knew that it was forbidden to bond until one became king. Then, and only then, one or more animals were chosen who were graced with an intelligent awareness that complimented the new king. The reasons for the bond was so the king could feel as if there was someone who was entirely theirs. Even consorts, wives, and children had other duties or wasn't entirely theirs. A bond animal helped a king's sanity by providing a neutral advocate. One who didn't judge and could be used as a sounding board as needed. It was punishable by death to gain a bonded without crown of royalty. As Lian knew this, with their minds now joined, so too did Leeare know it. He knew that his his master wanted him to stay silent on this. Realizing what would happen if he didn't and knowing his first and only priority was now his master, Leeare agreed to keep quiet. They'd keep the knowledge to themselves. Not even his triplet brother's could know, since he'd be killed if it got out that he'd bonded.

Chuckling in his mind, Leeare answered. "After I'd found out what your father and uncle did, I used a couple of hawks that owed me a favor to steal one of Nuada's portal stones. I found out, at least in general, where you were and was able to set the stone for a one way trip into the future, although it couldn't bring take me anywhere outside of Erin. Then, I used magic to disguise myself as a common horse and allowed myself to get caught by some traders. After a long time of manipulating human's minds, when we came to this land, I knew that I'd find you here."

Smiling gently, Joxer answered some of her questions. He wasn't ready to reveal all of it to them. "First of all, I want you to call me Lian." He pronounced it in a liltic, foreign accent. "It's not my full name, but it's the one that friends and family call me. As for the creature behind me...I want you both to meet Leeare, my bonded Fomorian war steed servant and advocate. He's a Fomorian war stallion and as intelligent as any human. If you want to know more, just ask him. He's perfectly capable of talking to you himself, telepathically. As for right now, I need you two to be quiet. I've got to heal Ares."

As soon as he'd said that, Lian positioned his hands on both sides of Ares' face. Grasping the god's head between his hands, he closed his eyes and let the power flow from his body. Hands turning a rich gold, Xena and Gabrielle gasped as they watched the clumsy fellow they'd allowed to travel with them because they'd felt sorry for him, begin to heal the Greek God. Once the damage to the head was healed, Lian started to move his hands slowly down Ares' body. He smoothly let his powers expand until the entire body of the god was enveloped in a gentle, soft golden glow. By the time he'd reached the god's chest, where most of the damage was, sweat was pouring out of his skin. The light increased in strength, quickly building up until in a sudden poof, it became a majestic gold outburst of power. A second later the power died but now, Ares' chest was completely healed. There wasn't even a bruise upon his body.

Lian, finished, tried to stand up. Feeling exhaustion overwhelm him, he collapsed to his knees, tired beyond imagining. This was the first time he'd ever had cause to use the healing skills that only a few, such as Miach, his teacher, and his father, brothers, and uncle knew about. Because the warrior side of his nature was stronger, he'd never blessed anyone with his healing gift. In his overwhelming superciliousness he'd felt that if it were up to him to provide healing, than fate didn't want them healed. It had been the height of the ridiculous superiority which had always been the cause for most of the trouble he'd gotten into. After nearly ten years of slowly losing everything that had made him Cuchuliann, eldest son of Lugh the Long hand, that attitude had disapeared down the drain. In his tiredness, Lian began to pray for strength from his grandmother, the Goddess Don. Not only was she his great great grandmother, but she was also the eldest of the sky and harvest goddesses. As wife to Beli, God of Winds, they ruled as king and queen of Aurinoc, hostland of the dead.

Feeling amusement at their confusion, Leeare took a moment and accessed the minds of his master's companions. That necessary distraction turned to fury as he witnessed and reviewed the events that had occured to his master while in these two women's company. Trying to gain restraint over himself, Leeare's anger and hatred little by little started to come under control. But if these two did anything, anything at all, to hurt his master, they wouldn't live but a instant longer. No one harmed his master like that. No One!

"Battle Mount! As if! What does Joxer need with a battle mount?" Gabrielle's stuck up voice made the comment before she could realize the implications of the way it sounded. Xena's eyes went wide as she heard what Gabrielle said. It didn't take much to see the absolute fury burning within the Fomorian's eyes. She expected to be killed along with Gabrielle any minute. But, as she watched it, the creature took a few moments to master itself again. After the Fomorian had his temper sufficiently under restraint, the sarcasm they next heard took on a whole new meaning.

"What did you expect? You, Blondie, evidently never took the time to get to know the real person you know as Joxer. If you had, this wouldn't have come as a surprise. As far as my master needing a battle mount, there isn't anyone who needs one more. As the God King Lugh's heir, and leader and hero of the Red Branch Fiannas at the age of seven, who better should have need of a battle mount. But, in truth, although I'm officially his battle mount, I was kept secret because if his people had found out he'd bonded, he'd have been killed."

The Fomorian war steed went on to say, "Even though he is the king's heir, noone is allowed to take bonded animal unless they're king. The reason for that is to protect the animals that would be bonded. If my master were to die today, I wouldn't survive for much longer. As heir, he could die anytime, and a new heir would replace him. Only leadership has true need for a bonded, which is why only kings are allowed to have them. Unfortunately, our bonding was an accident and by the time we had realized it, we had to keep it secret." Within the Fomorian's soft explanation, there were overtones of regret and concern that they felt within his mind voice.

It was minute later before the creature was able to gather himself and continue. "It was only my master's arrogant attitude toward humans that lead to his downfall and exhile. During his last Erin battle, Queen Maeve of Connaught killed him. When brought back to life, his father Lugh decided that he could no longer accept his sons' actions. Because my master was always influenced by his brothers, always getting into trouble because he really didn't care for humans, none of them were ready for kingship. Understanding that the only way to protect them and keep them alive was to give them a chance to live away from the influence of their family. Their father Lugh's chief advisor and lover, the former king of the Danann and Lugh's uncle, Nuada of the Silver Hand and keeper of the portals, sent the triplets into the safest place he could foresee. Centuries in the future in a distant land where there would be no easy return to the de Danann, was where he sent them. Only, the king didn't know that we had bonded. Even his brothers hadn't known about me. Because his father didn't know, when he separated us by sending my master into the future, it started the process of integrating the master's mind. The longer we were separated, the more he became insane. But, now that we're together, that's no longer a problem anymore."

The steed paused and looked up into the sky and the same constellations only in different positions. Leeare could still feel the hurt of no longer having his bonded near him. It hadn't been long before the pain had become too much. After finding out the truth, he'd found a way to steal a portal stone from Nuada. With the magic inherent in his blood, he was able to travel to the same basic time as his lord was in, although he could not travel the distance. Knowing his master was somewhere oversees and over much land, He set off to find him. Disguising himself as a plain horse, he'd used mind manipulation to influence different humans so that he could be brought here. As soon as he'd come to this land, he'd known his master was somewhere in this land. As soon as his mind had been close enough to home in, it hadn't taken long to find him.

Leeare, almost as tired as his master Lian, sent a sharp command directly into the human's minds. Instantly, they fell on the ground in a deep sleep. After the overwhelming emotions he'd experienced from finding his master and his anger at his treatment at the hands of these two, he was ready for sleep as well. Relieved from finally having found his rider, Leeare vowed never to be separated again from his master. It was but seconds after he'd made the vow, Leeare fell into a deep slumber as well.

The next day, after they'd all woken up, the disorientation from awakening after having had a hectic and emotion filled day before made everyone somewhat sheepish. A beautiful morning, Lian couldn't help but be influenced by the happiness he felt at near completion. Since Ares was still unconscious, Joxer decided to wait and not to let them push for any more explanations, especially since he'd only have to repeat himself soon to the god. Might as well just wait and do all the explaining at once. His glance kept returning toward the slumbering war god. His concern for Ares was nearly enough to cause him to have a panic attack. He was fearful that he'd been too late to save his god's life. From the moment he'd landed in Greece, once he'd found out about the delicate nature of the local pantheon, it had been second nature to begin worshiping the local war god, Ares. As a war god himself, even though his sanity had been gone most of the time, his true nature made him continue to follow his most dominant aspect.

Among his people, the duties of the various gods were shared. One goddess might be both a sky and harvest goddess. A king god may be war god, harvest god, fertility god, and sky god, all rolled into one. Even the goddesses known for one singular nature shared duties, such as Epona, both horse goddess and fertility/nature goddess, and the Morrigu, animal war goddess and goddess of water. As a result, the violence that came was mostly because of the different races. Unlike the Greeks, in Erin and the associated worlds connected to it, there were different races which controlled different realms. Nearly all the realms contained immortal or godlike races. Because of the great differences in race, war was constant, never abating. One god would gain control over a land, and before another king of the blood could be crowned, another race would take their place. After this continuous warfare, it was necessary for everyone to become a warrior. This included the females. War made men and women equal on the battlefield. The would be conquerers weren't concerned with a woman's child bearing capability. As long as they were an adult, that's all that most races cared about battling. But, maybe because of the everyday violence, even children were warlike in nature. If one wasn't a warrior or one who had little skill, than it wouldn't take long before another killed you.

After the long, drawn-out instants of silence, Lian got tired of the suspicious quiet between Xena and Gabrielle. He went to check up on Ares, hoping he was close to awakening. Just as he was removing the cloth around his head, Ares groaned. Overjoyed, Lian watched as Ares slowly opened his eyes. Squinting into the bright sun pouring into his eyes, Ares moaned in pain. When Lian noticed the god's pain, he positioned himself so that his shadow fell on Ares, blocking the sunlight. Seconds later, Ares began to pull himself up, groaning as he used the little strength he had left to sit. Providing support with his arms, Lian silently waited until Ares had scooted back, and had made himself comfortable as he could propped against the boulder.

Inwardly, Joxer was fuming. He didn't know how he was going to get out of this. Ares had always been the one constant he'd had since he'd been stranded in this place. Worshiping the war god, gave him a since of familiarity, a way to remember his warrior god family. As soon as they'd absorbed the language when they'd come to the nearest village, Lian had realized it'd be better to separate. It was partly because he constantly followed his brothers that had caused the mistakes which had got him into this mess in the first place. Having been together all their lives, his brothers had been against his suggestion to separate. But, he'd needed it and known that he'd never be able to survive on his own and find a way to rid himself of his arrogant superiority if he always had his brothers to depend on. The only concern he'd had about the whole blasted thing had been his insanity.

Shaking his head in affirmative, Joxer went on to reveal, "First of all, I want you to call me Lian. As for who I am, my birth name is Setanta, and my granted name, the one by which I am known by is Cuchuliann, the hound of Cullain. I am the son of the Sun and War God King, known by the names Lugh, Loucetios, or Lleu Llaw Gyffes of the Long(Skillful) Hand, nephew to Nuada or Nudd of the Silver Hand, War and Thunder God, who is the former king and current lover and chief adviser to my father. I headed the Red Branch of the Fiannans at the age of seven, becoming protector of the realm of Erin after I defeated one of the immortal hounds of Cullain in combat. Eldest brother, I am triplet to the younger Fianbar, god of the Spirits of light and darkness and lord of the battle march and Aalann, god of fertility and the harvest. Our grandmother, Arianrhod, placed three taboos on our father. He was not to have a name until she gave him one. He was not to bear arms until she gave them to him. He was never to marry a woman of human or godly blood. Grandfather Gwydion and Great Grandfather Math were able to trick grandmother into providing the first two. But the last, grandfather and great grandfather created our mother out of flowers. Known by the names of Blodeuwedd, Nemetona, and Dectera, she fulfilled the prophecy and curse when she killed my father for her lover. But, grandfather Gwydion restored him from the shape of the eagle from which he'd fallen into at his death. He returned, killing both my mother and her lover. Unfortunately, that didn't

After he'd finished that long recitation, Lian paused and tried to gather himself. There had never been a time when he'd ever felt complete and truly happy. Because of that blasted curse, he'd never been able to find true happiness with a woman. He'd never been able to officially claim any children he fathered. It was mainly because of that, that he'd become a great lover of women, snorting at that thought. If those same women could see me now. It was his attitude toward both mortals and women that had gotten him into all that trouble with Queen Maeve. After using and discarding her, it was no wonder she'd been insulted at the way he'd treated her. He'd have wanted revenge as well, although she decided to pay back had to come from the lives of his people. She got her revenge, both with the war and after she killed me. I still can't believe father was able to reach me in time to save me.

Lifting his head again, he regarded Ares. It was obvious that the god was stunned. The Celtic pantheon had been around for as long as the Greek pantheon had, although because of the various races which inhabited the land of Erin, gods carried different names among the different people. For all the violence of the Greek states, it was nothing compared to violence in the land of Erin. Due to the fact that the races were constantly at war, no one tribe of the Danann ever achieved mastery over all, as Zeus, Hades, and Poseidon had with the Olympians.

"Yes, after the curse fulfilled itself with our mother, Father swore never to marry again. He took countless female lovers, fathering many illegitimate children. After a while because of the pain of never being able to acknowledge any children as his, he vowed to never take another female as lover. If he'd ever officially acknowledged a woman's child than according to our laws, they'd have become married. It wouldn't have mattered if he was already married, because among us, polygamy was accepted. Instead, he took my great uncle, Nuada as his lover. After my great uncle officially conceded the throne to father, over time, father and Nuada came to love one another. The vow he'd made became much easier to bear once he'd accepted his love. Nuada and father had much in common which made them even closer. Nuada knew first hand how it feels not being able to control one's destiny. After losing his right arm in battle, he was forced to vacate the throne, even after the healing god, Miach was able to create for him an new arm made of silver. Among our people, one cannot hold the throne if the person has any physical flaw. The only exception is scars earned in battle, as long as they are not debilitating. When he died in battle, trying to defend hi throne, he was brought back to life by a water goddess because of his dedication to duty. Having been brought back to life, Miach was able to find his real arm and restore it to him. Now that he was whole once more, he fought for the throne again, challenging the Fomorian Firbolg Belor, his father, who had claimed it. With the help of my father, who was young at the time, they defeated him. Even though he was now whole again, he instead abdicated the throne to father. Asking Miach to restore his silver arm, he made sure that father could never doubt that he wanted the throne. Because of that dedication, Nuada became chief advisor to dad. Later, after some time, when the loneliness became too much, they became lovers, each knowing what the other had been through."

"The same applies to me. Luckily, our mother named us and had our arms ready for us at our birth. Like father, the only part of the curse which concerned me was marrying without dying. I never had any hope because there isn't a woman who doesn't have some human or earthly blood in her veins. Even the goddesses are creatures of Erin. I know now that because I never had to worry about marrying, I became overbearing, following my brothers into dissolution, where drink, women and war became my staple. It's due to that awful pride that I'm here now. I fucked over the Queen of Connaught, Maeve of the flame red hair, refused her rights to the Brown Bull of Cooley, and basically was an all out bastard to her. She set my death up and killed me herself. Father was able to bring me back, but it frightened him enough that he no longer had a choice. He exiled my brothers and I here in the future. He left us with the awareness that if we should ever find a way to completeness, we can return. It's only myself who is left. I must either find a way to destroy the curse or escape it in someway. As soon as I find my lifemate, I'll fulfill my part of the exhile, since my brothers have already fulfilled theirs. Fianbar, or he who you know of as Jett, fulfilled his part when he accepted his godly nature, which before he'd always denied. Having always hated death, it had been hard for him being a god of death. Now that he's in a land where there is few if any of the Erin blood, he doesn't feel as guilty taking lives. By becoming an assassin, he fulfilled his nature. Aalann, as a god of fertility and harvest, was still a virgin, never able to seek out the pleasure which was inherently part of his nature. Now that he is working for Aphrodite and accepted what to many are perverse desires, he, too, is fulfilling his nature. Now me, I've already lost my disdain for humans. I'm the only reason my brothers and I are still here. I've yet to find my lifemate. Unfortunately, the curse is still in existence."

Taking deep breaths, Lian finally looked deep into his god's eyes, seeking to implore to him the truth, "You know, Ares? I've always envied you Greek Gods. At least you're able to bear children as males. If my people had that capability, I wouldn't have to worry about the curse. I could have just taken a man as consort and either born his children or he bore mine. I don't even have the pleasure of knowing I'm immortal here, although I still have my godly powers. Due to the fact that it's been a year since I've partaken of the sacred pigs which are to us as the apples and ambrosia are to you, I'm not even a god anymore. The only thing I'm grateful for is that now I've got Leeare back, I've got my sanity back as well. I've hated having to depend upon Xena, when at one time, I was a far greater warrior than she is or ever will be. I think you, of all people, know what it's like to have my strength, my skills and my memory returned to me after not having them."

embarrassed at the way she'd treated Joxer. She should have known that his occasional lapses in memory and clumsiness were an illness. There'd been times when Joxer had been the one to come up with the most brilliant observations and suggestions. She'd just rolled her eyes and passed it off to pure luck. Gabrielle was shamed also, although she was frightened for her life as well. After the way she'd insulted and treated Joxer, it's a wonder she wasn't dead yet. It was obvious to her that the Fomorian wanted her death. She was surprised Joxer wasn't letting him have it.

As for Joxer, he waited as he watched Ares process it all. At that moment, he didn't care about Xena or Gabrielle. While he was thankful for their watching over him while he was a fool and keeping him alive, because of the way they'd both treated him, he wasn't concerned one way or the other about their feelings for him. He'd prevent Leeare and himself from killing them due to their prior actions, but the future was in their hands. He wouldn't stop himself or Leeare if they even thought about doing it again.

Ares, taking in the details that had been revealed to him, could tell that Lian wasn't a god. He could also knew that he wasn't lying. There was also no escaping the underlying desire in his voice when he'd spoken of the males of his people able to bear children. He'd never cared much about it, determined to never be on the receiving end of any relationship with another male. There was no way he'd ever be willing to bare children. But, after hearing the pain, hurt and loss within Joxer's voice, he didn't doubt that what to him had always been a curse to his people, would be a blessing for him. It did make him consider the fact that maybe he'd taken for granted all the wonderful aspects of his pantheon and people. Compared to the god tribes of Erin, there truthfully wasn't any comparison.

of who'd healed me, were you? I may be weak, but I can tell it wasn't anyone from my family who healed me." Lian nodded and his lips turned up with hope that he wasn't going to lose his lifesaver. Ares turned to his daughter. Xena met his eyes, the rueful expression in them telling him she was more than aware of her treatment to Joxer and that her punishment would probably be soon in coming. Gabrielle was pale and had a terrified expression on her face as her head constantly darted between Leeare, Ares and Joxer. She'd sidled around, until she was almost directly behind Xena. It was obvious she wanted Xena to be the first in the path to any punishment she might face. Evidently, she hoped that Xena would once again be able to save her.

Chuckling, Lian agreed and went on to explain, "Yeh, although in truth, because of my chaotic nature and multiple aspects, I'm also what could be considered a god of mischief, mayhem, discord, conflict, confusion and illusions. Kind of a mixture of Strife, Discord, Phobus, and Psyche as well as both yours and Athena's job as well. My pantheon doesn't separate the duties. We all do what's needed to be done. If my father can not perform his duties as the primary light giver and Danann War King, then I could perform those functions. I'm also a major healing god, although when young, I'd vowed never to use them. I'd felt that it wasn't my duty to save anyone. I still can't believe the arrogance I had when I was young. And as for humans, I'd felt they were beneath me, that there wasn't any reason to even save them, except when they called upon my war aspect, and as far as I was concerned that just meant that I could kill more humans when I went into the berserker rage."

Lian burst out into explosive laughter. He knew just what Ares meant. He'd always thought it a shame that Ares, Hercules, and Xena had never accepted their blessings for what they had. At least their gods weren't constantly at war with themselves. It was some time later, after Lian had gained control of himself, and after eating a hearty meal of baked fish, they all retired falling into a deep sleep. Ares was too exhausted to flash out and even if he'd been able to, for some strange reason didn't want to contact any of his family to help him. Ares watched as his foreign god follower fell into a deep sleep, still recovering from yesterdays and today's events. 'There was just something about him' was Ares' last thought as fell into Morpheus' realm along with them.

Within a sacred grove temple perched high upon some cliffs overlooking a vast sea in one direction and a vast plain in the other with a forest surrounding the temple cliffs, was a beautiful woman with flowing gold hair sitting at a desk. No wall and no roof surrounded her as the wind blew constantly into the place. As fierce as the wind was blowing, all it did was caress her skin, and the parchment and quills upon her desk didn't move an inch. Ornate mirrors surrounded her, each showing individual lands that her subjects lived in. But the one mirror that she was watching at that moment, didn't show her scenes of Erin.

Known as the Goddess Don or Danu, wife of Beli, God of Thunder, Lightning and the Harvest, known by many as the first Horned Lord, she had a dilemma on her hands. Cuchuliann had always been one of her favorite great great great grandchildren. There had never been any doubt in her mind that with a father like Lugh, two grandfathers like Gwydion and Belor, and a great grandfather like Math, that as the eldest of triplets, he'd be the greatest of the three as his father was before him. Because it was her grandchild who placed the curse upon Lugh, there'd been nothing she could do to prevent it. Before Lugh's birth, she hadn't been able to prevent her son Belor from stealing the Sacred Cow and impregnating her, fathering Arianrhod. After Gywdion took Belor's daughter during a battle, impregnating her with triplets, it's no wonder that Belor had his grandchildren kidnaped. With the prophecy stating he'd be killed by a grandchild, he wanted no grandchild living. Only by the ancient graces did Lugh fall into the sea and was the only child living of the three. As an adult, he fulfilled the prophecy, killing Belor as he fought alongside his uncle Nuada. And as for that blasted woman, She didn't know why Gwydion had lied to Lugh, telling his son that his wife had been created from flowers not of Erin. She was as much a creature of earth as any human was and there wasn't any wonder she'd fulfilled the curse.

She'd been considering the tapestry of fate, that which the wind weaves, the earth measures, and the lightning cuts. She knew that Lugh would be the last of his bloodline to rule on earth. If the triplets returned, the tapestry of life could not allow them to live any longer. She also knew that to do what she planned, she would need assistance. It was her only option. Calling her sacred Owl to her, she sent forth a message, calling to her, her equal and contemporary. After the Owl had disappeared, it was but moments before a shimmer appeared within the Room of the Four Winds. Two women stood before her. The first, the elder, was a beautiful woman with hair a mixture of browns, greens, oranges, reds, blacks, blues and golds, which flowed down her back until it seemed to merge with the floor. The other was a young woman with dark red hair and rich blue eyes that revealed the knowledge of the ages.

brought Cuchuliann back to life and therefore started the degradation of the patterns of fate. In the normal course of fate, Lugh, while he was supposed to marry and be brought back to life by his father, was never supposed to have children with that wife. There was an ancient curse placed on Lugh by his mother where he could not marry a woman who carried the blood of earth. Now, as you know there isn't any woman who doesn't come from the earth. By working against the tapestry, Math and his father Gwydion tricked him, not with his wife, but by assuring that she was fertile. This therefore fulfilled the curse, but because it took a year for his wife to prepare for his death, she gave birth to triplets in that year. There were never supposed to be children born, she was supposed to be unfertile and killed before that could happen. Trying to adjust itself, the tapestry had to reweave the patterns and fit these children in. But, it was not perfect. Due to the various problems, none of the children would be allowed to live beyond their fifteenth year. Cuchuliann died at the hands of Maeve and had he not been brought back to life by his father, would not have been able to save his brothers. This was the way that fate had rewoven their lives. But now that all three were still alive, something had to be done. A plan was created to s end the triplets outside the realm of Erin, beyond the influence of Erin's tapestry of Life. So, they were sent into Greece's future. It was hoped that the three could fulfill their true natures that way. The patterns of fate always leave spaces for the unexpected that is not of Greek origin. The three have done well and have fit into your patterns. But now, it won't be long before the pattern is fulfilled. Because Lugh is destined to be the last of his bloodline to rule in Erin, those children cannot be allowed to return. If they do, then I don't know how long Erin will survive."

"I see. I take it that the two of you want me and my children to weave the three into a permanent pattern within my Tapestry." The two elder goddesses nodded, knowing that as fate, Moira did not have to be told further what needed to be done. "If I do that, then I must have assistance. The triplets must be completely woven out of Erin's tapestry. The only way to do that would be to kill Lugh immediately, therefore causing a new king to be crowned, one who is not the blood. The children would have no need to return, especially if they find completeness withing Greece."

Gaea, feeling the sorrow in her sister answered for her, "Moira, the only way that it can be done is to weave the triplets into the Greek pantheon, either as god's themselves, immortals or as a consort to a god. Once that's done, they can never return to Erin, Albion or any of the lands of the ancient. The moment they try to step onto lands claimed by Erin, than they'll die. It will be up to you to decide how you want to integrate them, but may I make a suggestion."

The battlefield was filled with the wounded and the dead. Blood flowed until there seemed to a be river of blood sweeping through the land. It was a dark day. At mid-day or noon, it was as dark as night. Not even a moon or stars in the sky. The weeping of the clans permeated the night with their sorrow. The Morrigu, goddess of war, water and death worked alongside Arawn, first king of Aurinoc and now only the god of death, travel and the winds. As a soul was ready to be taken a sacred crow or a death hound would be sent for to carry the soul of the dead into the Deathlands. Although only those dying could see them, their presence was certainly felt.

But, he returned, and helped Lugh win against the Fomorians, then, because of his love for Lugh, abdicated his very throne. Even now, others had thought him insane when he'd given up the throne to Lugh and essentially become just a military and political advisor. None of them understood. It wasn't just because he loved Lugh. Lugh was a brilliant military leader, able to bring together even the most diverse races. His brightness brought joy to those who fought for him. He was also destined for the crown, as he'd foreseen when dead. Also, there was the fact that had he become king, it would have become his duty to kill Lugh, so that his subjects could not think him week. The bloody traditions of their tribe were horror to the extreme.

Looking down upon the body of his love, he let the tears fall, graced the ground with the sacred rain of sorrow. From the moment of his death, he'd known the truth. The tapestry of life had shown him as well as showing what he needed to do. He'd done it, even though events could not be changed nor altered in any way. He made sure Lugh's sons lived, especially Cuchuliann who was his favorite. He taught Lugh that love did not need to be found strictly in the arms of a woman, also providing an example to his sons so that especially Cuchuliann could know that his life didn't need to be barren either.

As the tears fell and the anguish of the clan anointed the air with it's pain, Nuada never noticed, wouldn't have concerned himself if he had, the cheers of some of his people. He never saw them carry a man up to the sacred alter, sacrifice him in the name of the mother. He never witnessed Eochaid Ollathair the Dagda becoming king upon Aonach Taillte, the burial mound dedicated to Lugh's foster mother, Taillte, daughter of the king of Spain, wife of Eochaid mac Erc, the last king of the Fomorian Fir Bolg. He never saw, never wanted to see, didn't hear or feel the cries of the clan, crowning their new king.

Aphrodite flashed into her temple looking for her dratted son. There had been something wrong. Many of the matches that she'd thought for sure would last, were disappearing into thin air. It was as if someone was accelerating all the dark emotions of the people in her matches. Jealousy, discord, hatred, dislike, lust outside of love were all transforming her matches into a lot of broken couples. She hoped to find Cupid so that they could find out what was going on.

"Because evidently, this is an inter-pantheon matter. It doesn't just concern the Greek gods. As the primary Greek love god, it's your duty to oversee Greece and it's people. But, when foreigners are involved, it becomes a matter of delicacy and it therefore becomes necessary for the rulers to involve themselves directly. On the orders of the fates, with a personal command from Grandmother Gaea, I've been given some things to do. If I don't help get the chaos straightened out, then the effects that are beginning to be felt all over, where everyone's powers are becoming corrupted in some way, will continue until there is no more control whatsoever. When I found out most of the tasks needed someone who was proficient in the love duties, I no longer had any choice to come here. I hate asking for your help. I've never liked you and you've never liked me. But, you've loved two of my sons, given me a grandson, who, while he drives me up the wall with his love mischief, also is one of the most powerful gods of the pantheon, even as young as he is. But, since I have to bite the bullet and ask, Will you help me in my tasks, Aphrodite?"

Cautiously, Leeare listened as the Queen of the Greek Gods told him what he had to do. The camp remained silent, except for the words spoken out loud by Hera. When she was done, Leeare couldn't help himself. The next thing he knew, he was neighing and breying, laughing his head off, horse style. It was a good thing that Hera had made sure the camp members were all asleep and weren't going to wake up because the sounds he made were enough to wake the dead. Seeing that her job was done her, Hera flashed out, leaving Leeare still laughing himself sick.

"I wouldn't ask if I were you, Fomorian." Fomorian sounded like it was a disgusting word coming out of her mind. "You just realize that if you hurt any of them, any of them at all, you won't live to regret it. I don't care how much a bitch Gabrielle's been to your master, Xena loves her and I don't let anyone hurt her, even though personally, I don't care much for her myself." Argo turned her back on Leeare, calling over her shoulder, "Just remember, I may not be human after all, but I am mortal. I can kill you. Don't piss me off!"

Argo huffed away to the other side of the camp and started grazing. Leeare was amazed at the courage this beautiful mortal horse had. Not many would even attempt to go against his kind, and she hadn't even hesitated. He didn't realize it, but if he'd been able to hear himself, he'd have heard overtones of desire and whether he wanted it or not, love. He fell asleep again, this time dreaming of a gorgeous, dominant mare who sure to drive him up the wall before he was through.

"I regret the pain the two of you will have in the future and are having now, but we no longer can let your relationship continue. Cupid, there will come a time when you will have a great effect upon the world, not just Greece. Even though the stories of the gods is interpreted by humans, they record what they are destined to record. Millennia in the future, humans will have need of the gods again. It won't just be Greece and Grecians in other countries who will worship us. Unfortunately, time, that which is recorded and destined in even the other pantheons, has made sure that there is no mention, no indication, even in the anels of time, of a relationship between the two of you. Indeed, it is a future relationship that you will have, Cupid which will give hope and faith to those in need of some belief that love is real. Your name especially, Cupid, will go down in history, becoming the most beloved of gods, one who's worship far outlasts even the rest of us. Strife, according to the lines that have been woven, you were never supposed to be born." She turned to Eris, giving her a strange look, almost as if she wanted to blast her into oblivion. That wasn't something you see on any of the fates faces. They were far too even tempered for that.

"As I'm sure that you've figured out, Strife, you're not fully of Grecian blood. Since your mother has never told you who your father is, it is not up to us to do so. But we can tell you that, while your father was a god, he did not belong to the Grecian pantheon. Your birth was woven into fate, but not into this pantheon. Instead, you were originally destined for birth into the Celtic Pantheon, born into the Tribes of Danann. Your mother was supposed to hand you over to your father at your birth, but she didn't, therefore setting into motion events which if we hadn't taken steps, would have been catastrophic."

Moira continued her explanation. "We the fates, had to compromise. We were able to save the woven lines, but there was a cost. Strife must remain unmarried and uncommitted. There can never be any children of his born to another. We were unconcerned about that, many gods never marry, commit or have children, but the problem was that the two of you are soulmates. It was never more unfortunate that it happened in this way, but, it did, and it is too late to do anything about it. So, we have called you together so that Zeus and Hera can place a binding upon to two of you which can never be broken. It will forbid either of you to be together, on punishment of Strife's death."

Seven years ago, Strife was nearly at the point of committing suicide. If there was one god who truly deserved children, it was he. It was no wonder. As the god of Mischief, children were his primary worhipers and yet, he could never have any children of his own. It was when Cupid realized that he would lose his beloved that he came up with a plan to help him. The geas stated that he could have no child born to another. It said nothing about a child born to him, having no father. Knowing it had been done before, by Hera and Apollo, he convinced Strife to give birth to a child.

That was when it happened. Talia died. Maybe because she was never supposed to have been born in the first place, Strife found her dead in her sleep. He tried to take his life. There wasn't anything to help keep him alive. Leaving his pregnant wife, Cupid did everything possible to stop Strife from killing himself. When nothing he did worked, knowing that he wouldn't be able to stop it, no longer had any reason to fight the geas. For a day, they were lovers again, and their hearts filled with as much completeness as they would be allowed.

Salmoneus had always enjoyed traveling and Corinth always was one of his favorite cities. With Iphicles as king and Hercules, the king's brother, things tended to be exciting a lot. Now, he was somewhat obsessive to doing a good business. He never could pass getting one over his customers and as far as he was concerned, money was money. When business started to slow for the day, he pulled out the scroll he'd found that morning laying on his pillow. It told him that an old debt was being called in.

When everything was ready, he went to stand before the window, which was wide open letting the breeze blow through the room, cooling the night air. He stood there, closed his eyes. When he opened them, they glowed for but a minute and his appearance started changing. He became slenderer, his hair lengthened till it was to his mid-back and styled in braids beaded in specific patterns and colors. The hair darkened until it was a rich, dark blue black. His eyes were still the same hazel they were before, although there was a deepness that hadn't been visible before.

As Dite quickly disappeared, a strong, violent, charismatic personality began to show through his eyes. Finn mac Cumhaill or Fintan was more than ready for this. He'd been waiting here in this blasted country for instructions of his goddess who'd granted him another life. As a Gaelic prophet, poet, and warrior, Finn had been the personal cook to his father's brother, king of his fealch, when he was but a young man. As he was preparing the red salmon that his uncle had thrown him to cook for him, with instructions never to let any part of the fish touch him, he'd accidently burnt himself on the salmon he was cooking. When he'd brought his hands up to suck, trying to alleviate the burn, the wisdom of the ages poured into him.

But, that was not to be. Sent to this foreign land at the command of his ancestor goddess, Don, he was instructed to wait. Already a powerful magician, he changed his appearance and made it seem inoffensive, well, except to those who weren't buying. It took over fifteen years, but he began to fit into this foreign land. It hadn't taken long to realize that he'd actually traveled back a couple of centuries in time. This time was before his birth, not that it truly troubled him, because he'd had a full and long life before his death.

The goddess Don sent here to make sure the God Lugh's sons were okay, especially Cuchuliann, and watch them until they were ready to come home. That's exactly what he'd done. It was strange how his name actually means to find in Old Irish and his family name Vindos which means from wisdom. Having partaken from the sacred Salmon of Knowledge, he was considered to be without equal in wisdom and knowledge. Having survived four sacred wars, his clan considered him to be without equal.

He'd been exiled for stating the truth, although he proved his statement, therefore winning the respect of his people. Then, after his death and coming to this country, he'd learned the Greek language and learned to read and write. Now, as a bard of his country, songs and tales were passed down through the oral tradition. There wasn't much need for written words. It was a surprise to find something that he enjoyed learning while he waited. Taking the name Salmoneus was also amusing. It's irony meant something to him, especially since the name was composed of a syllables which sounded like salmon, the sacred fish of the see and the ones that granted knowledge to those who would eat him.

Suddenly, Gaea and Don caught on at the same time. They knew then what Moira was planning. When Moira saw their comprehension, she grinned and told them, "Actually, your weave and ours have already been working on it. We...um..decided to just go ahead and do it. Figured since we were the experts, might as well just give ourselves permission." Then, Moira gave Don a sly look, telling the ancient goddess, "Actually, Pappy and I got along great. It invited me over for tea next week. Think I'll go." She then just exploded into happiness, began to dance around the move, never standing stillin one place.

He was confused. He didn't know what was going on. If he didn't know better, he'd swear someone put a limitation spell on him. But, that's supposed to be impossible. His parents and Gaea were the only two who had the power to do that. His eyes narrowed as he considered his options. They were headed toward Corinth. When they got to Corinth, he had a special teleport station at his local temple that could be used by a mortal if they knew how. He'd use that to return to his hall of war and find out what in blasted hell is going on.

"Wait a minute, now! If you're trying to break them up, I won't let you. Damn it, you were the ones who said Cupid and I couldn't marry, you were the ones who told me I couldn't have a child, you were the ones who placed the geas on us, and now, when you totally screw up our lives, you expect me to let you hurt the one person who's been able to bring Cupid some happiness! Lady, I don't know what you're doing, but you have another thing coming if you try to hurt them, after all you've done to us!"

Strife was silent as he considered his options, he wanted to be with Cupid so much, loved him and his son with his entire soul, but he wouldn't be able to live with himself if he hurt the beautiful woman who not only gave Cupid a beautiful son, but loved him when he wasn't allowed to. Psyche knew the truth and her heart was big enough to accept what couldn't be changed. She never got jealous, knowing firsthand what it was like to go through hell for your love. She deserved more than Cupid could give her. He'd always known that and continually felt sorry for her.

She'd once told him that her father had planned for her to marry this old warlord. She'd have had no say and would have had to do what her father told her to do. It had changed her life around when Aphrodite became jealous of her and forced her to marry her son, under the condition that she was never to see his face. She'd been a fool for listening to her sisters when they became jealous. She should have trusted what her heart told her, that Cupid would never hurt her, even if she didn't know what he looked like. But she had, and then had passed the challenges to win her husband back, therefore learning to have confidence in herself and her strength. She'd told him that it didn't matter if she didn't have Cupid's whole heart. What she did have was far more than she'd ever expected in life and she was grateful for it.

"Strife, as you know the whole point of the reason that you and Cupid could never be together was because of the actions taken by your mother in keeping you against the patterns woven in the Celtic pantheon's Tapestry of Life. Psyche, if Cupid and Strife hasn't told you, than you need to be aware that while Strife's birth was foretold, his mother was supposed to give him to the foreign pantheon, as one of their gods. When Eris kept Strife, what happened was that I and my daughters were pushed to weave and figure out a way to keep Strife alive within the Grecian Tapestry of Fate. It was basically a rush job. That was why the conditions were placed upon Cupid and Strife. Cupid was always supposed to marry you, and it's your marriage and love that will last thousands of years in the hearts of mortals. They need to believe in your relationship with all their beings."

already have been married. You would have been forced into marriage by your father and died soon after. Bliss would never have been born and your heart wouldn't have healed the relationships that you have since you've resided upon Olympus. Within you is an instinctive ability to heal the mind. It is the destined outpouring of your godly gift and why you were destined to be the goddess of the mind and mind healing. You have the ability to make people see the truth, to understand truth, where it plays out in life. You also understand the need for lies or untruth. Mortal or God, noone is ready for pure truth. Noone could survive. You understand that and you will go down in history as a goddess who is able to heal what is broken, see the underlying cause of what makes people destroy themselves."

"Oh, I forgot, you don't know about that! Well, just so you know, we aren't the only ones who have gods going against the weavings. The foreign Warrior God of the Sun, King of Albion went against fate by fathering triplets, three legitimate children. He was never supposed to have children by his only wife. There's a longer story than that, but suffice it to say, because these children had to be woven into the pattern, suddenly, like we had to do with you, it did just as patchwork job as we did. As a result, the three boys were scheduled to die at age fifteen. But, again, their father brought his son back to life after he died his scheduled death. This also saved the life of his brothers because the eldest triplet then saved his brothers life. When this totally screwed up the tapestry again, it had to do something. It therefore sent the boys into the future, to here in Greece. It's been ten years since they've been here and all three grew up in both nature, skill and personality. The youngest, Jace as a god of desire and fertility, he learned to control and harness the needs he has inside. The middle son, the one you know of as Jett, is a god of death, of spirits. His duty has always been to help those who die pass over calmly into their Otherworld or Aurinoc. But he'd always been afraid, of both taking lives and being a god of death. Here in Greece, he's learned to control his abilities and to overcome his fear of what was unknown to him before. That's why he's a great assassin."

Moira paused, taking a few moments to catch her breath before she went on to the difficult part of that story. When she had her breath back, she went on, "As for the last, well he caused so much trouble within his people that it's a wonder their tapestry isn't worse off then it is. The eldest, Cuchuliann or he who you know of as Joxer was a warrior hero, strong, powerful and arrogant. He gained too much at too young an age. Due to the fact that a curse passed to him by his father kept him from marrying a woman, he became a womanizer which eventually lead to his death. That's why their father sent his sons here, to learn to control their natures and for Cuchuliann to find a way to either break the curse or find a way around it."

"Unfortunately, the Celtic Gods are different in some ways than the Grecian Gods are. One of the major differences is that there males cannot progenate themselves. All Grecian Gods are able to both sire and bear children. It is that way to insure that there will always be children born. The Celtic's are not like that. If Cuchuliann had been able to marry a man and have children it would have been a moot point. But, the boy wanted children and it affected him growing up, making him a womanizer, arrogant, and unconsidering of mortals."

"I was getting to that. Now, because we're in the process of reweaving, both the Celtic's tapestry and ours, together we've been able to find a way to balance out the fates. The first thing is that none of the triplets can ever return to Erin. They must remain here in Greece. But, because they're gods, we'll have to weave them in as gods. Now, what this is doing is basically making their tapestry even more unbalanced, losing so many potential gods. So, we have found a way to even it out. That's where the two of you come in. Psyche, because the Celtic pantheon needs replacements for their gods, what we propose is to have you transferred to their pantheon. I know you love Cupid, but as you know, you aren't his soulmate. Strife is. By sending you to Erin, you'll basically have a fresh start. You'll still retain your godly nature and they could use someone with your ability. In fact, they truthfully need it more than we do. You'll have your pick of husbands if you want one."

supposed to be, at least as far as mortals are concerned. Strife, there will be a sacrifice required from you as well. When Psyche leaves, that will leave a gap in the pantheon that won't be filled that easily. Mortals must continue to believe in Cupid and Psyche as a couple. What we suggest is by duplicating Psyche's godhood within you. You'll perform your duties as Strife half of the time and Psyche's the other half. Now, I know that doesn't seem like a sacrifice to you, and that's because it isn't. What we need is for you not only to take on the godhood but her appearance and personality. The time you are performing her duties, you'll basically be Psyche. In every way that matters. Even her memories will be transferred to you, so that your representation will be complete. But, Strife, you don't have to worry about your soul. It'll still be you and it will still be your soul that is the other half of Cupid. We think this will be the perfect way for us to finish off the patterns."

Moira leaned back in her chair, grinning now that she had their agreement, "Before this can be done, though, I need the two of your help. Strife, I want you to visit Salmoneus soon, as in..." She went on to explain the plan. Before she was through explaining what both Psyche and Strife had to do, they were rolling down on the ground laughing. It seemed as if hysterical laughter was an contagious thing, if the number of people who laughed at the Plan were anything to go by.

He knew he should be satisfied that Jett was at least not ugly, as far as a man goes. It could have been worse. The biggest problem he had was that he didn't care for men. Never had. He'd had plenty of woman, his wife and servants, plus anyone who caught his fancy. Being a famous poet and warrior, his rep let him have just about any woman he wanted. Now, he was on the returning end of it. Not only had his marriage become annulled, but he wasn't allowed to let the anchor which held his illusion of a somewhat homely man, slip or be revealed for any reason.

As he sat eating his food, he went over the scroll Aphrodite had given him. He'd known ever since he'd seen Jett, that he was who his goddess wanted him to marry. He went to rub his rear as he remembered the slap that had startled him as he'd been watching Jett assassinate one of the council members. He truthfully just hadn't cared to stop Jett, didn't really care for Grecian people at all. What was one more death to him? Unfortunately, his goddess hadn't seen it that way.

Joxer was cussing loud and making sure that everyone knew he was pissed. After all this time, after finally getting his bonded back, in a way that wouldn't kill him and he couldn't ride him. Xena wanted to walk and what Xena wanted, she got. And Ares was too tired to flash out, so they'd have to take it slow heading toward Corinth. He still wanted to know why Leeare wouldn't let him ride him. The only thing he got out of his annoying so-called steed was that he needed to be patient. They needed to walk to Corinth, so that's what they'd do.

They were about ready to travel on their way, when Lian noticed a flash of white in the trees. He ran over to the trees and looked around. He stopped when he came to the clearing off the main road. He stared. It was two horses. Beautiful war mares, one an exquisite white-grey in color and the other, somewhat larger, was even more beautiful. At first glance she was nearly black in color. But, as he looked closer, he noticed that she was a dark blood bay. He'd never seen a color like that on a horse. Both were definitely expensive and how the thieves got their hands on horses as fine as these, he had no idea.

Shocked, Jace's mouth opened and no words came out. Stunned and terrified, Jace was petrified that she would have to go home. She didn't want to. She'd found her place here. She didn't need to go back home to all that backstabbing, hatred and clan fighting. Then, as her emotions came under control, she looked hard at the man before her. While not ugly by any means, he was certainly homely. Although, as she looked into his eyes, she noticed the fierce intelligence in them. She decided she'd better be cautious. She definitely knew that she didn't want to get on the wrong side of this man.

Suddenly, Jace fell on the floor, laughing her head off. She couldn't help it. It was hilarious. Her brother, the most famous assassin in Greece having to marry a man as homely as this! She could just see it. If her brother didn't kill him, than he'd probably find a way to tame her brother, especially if the goddess told him so. She wondered. She knew the gods used toys to bind their servants to them. She wondered if this man had something like that for her brother. As she thought over all the possibilities, especially... She broke out laughing again.

"Okay, whoever you are, whatever you want to be called, I've agreed to help you. But there is no way in hell that I'm getting near Hercules, let alone, MARRY him! So, you want to look like a woman. That'll be sorta hard, especially with your build, but we'll just add on some love handles. If you're wanting to free Jett, then I'd advise you to say you're from Siriuth. Jett had a lover from that village. It was well known she was screwed by him. It isn't so well known that they broke up. And since it was one of the temple priestesses of Hades, they kept it under wraps. Although people knew they were fucking, they made sure that few if any knew who it was. So, there shouldn't be any guards who know Cynthia by face. I'd recommend you be Cynthia for the purposes I'm guessing you need the disguise for."

Argo, if she'd have been able to turn red with anger, she would have. About ready to pound these two poachers into little pieces of dust, Xena, somehow sensing what was going to happen, got her hands around Argo's reigns, getting a control bit in her, attached to her bridle. Xena rarely used it, mainly for the reason that you have to be an excellent horseman to make sure that the bit wasn't abused. But, in this case, Xena thought a little pain would be what saved her.

Ares, was surprised. He'd noticed Joxer ever since he'd followed Xena. He admitted he'd never been drawn to Joxer before but this was one time where someone who didn't seem to be a true warrior was ever in a place and time with the correct people to catch his attention. He'd always been amazed that Joxer had survived as long as he had. Now, he knew why. Evidently, Joxer's survival skills were always in play. He wouldn't doubt that a lot of his stumbling was deliberate, whether unconscious or not.

But, ever since he'd found himself stuck there with them, he was now opening his eyes and seeing inside of Joxer and liking him. In truth, he was probably in love with him, but he couldn't be sure. It wasn't like he had much experience with the emotion. The only thing he did know for sure was that Joxer was his. He wasn't giving up such a wonderful find and would fight to get him to return his feelings. He just hoped it wasn't just sex. Even if he wasn't sure of his love, he knew he wanted more than that.

Deciding that they'd better get a move on if they wanted to be back before dark, Jace reached down and pulled Salmoneus up. When she did, she pulled a little too hard and yanked the blasted man up too quickly. He ended up pressed against her for a few minutes. Jace and Salmoneus were shocked and stunned into immobilization. For a few brief minutes until they were able to gain control, the intense heat that had flared up like lightning, dissipated, leaving them both breathless and not knowing what had just happened.

Among her people, soul bonding was rare and it usually took a love god or goddess outside of a couple to marry their souls. But, a few couple's souls were powerful enough to join on their own. It also didn't help that she was a love and fertility god/goddess. The bearer of both sexes, she wasn't limited to one sex for reproduction. Her fertility demanded completion when it found a man or woman who was strong enough to join with her. The gift was instinctive and natural to her. It just hadn't happened to her before.

This man, Salmoneus was an arrogant asshole, who obviously thought he was god's gift to women and men, although why he'd think that looking as homely as he did, was another story. But, from the moment she'd seen him, she couldn't help but recognize the power of his soul and mind. It took a strong man to be able to leave Erin and perform a duty strictly because their goddess demanded it. She also knew that this kind of duty was never a punishment according to Don. It was considered a blessing.

It wasn't common knowledge but silver merged with the blood of the binder could capture and keep one of the Danaan. Although they were gods, they weren't like the Greek gods. They were virtually immortal in the fact that they didn't age, but they were much more susceptible to death. His people were also much better at transforming into other beings. It was second nature to assume different forms, whether bird, canine, wolf, cat, horse, or bear, it didn't matter. It was a fact that his people tended to be attracted to one animal and it was that form that becomes second nature to them. Such as the Morrigu as the Raven and his father Lugh as a canine. His people also interbred with mortals so as to strengthen the pantheons. Unlike the Greek, there were various pantheons for the same land claimed. Different levels of existence that had been created for each people.

Salmonous tried not to seem hurried but he wanted to get away from Jace. Ever since that moment....it was if he'd completed something, finished what had been undone. He wasn't exactly sure what it was that had happened, but he had the idea that it was his heart that had been claimed. Even his ex-spouse, it had been arranged and been more to please his community than himself. He'd always felt that he couldn't give his heart to anyone. At that moment, he was afraid that it was too late.

The boys ran from the chasing figure holding a wooden rolling pin running after them. The gang of them were swift and nimble and went to quickly split up. One of the leaders cried out "Split!" and in a heartbeat, they all disappeared in different directions. One of them was a slender, small boy that had a wiry physique about him. He found his escape root, slowed down, and suddenly went into his stealth mode, the one which allowed him to get away with pickpocking.

During their break, Joxer and Ares were really getting to know each other. That included a lot of tongue swapping and continuous lip locks. Leeara enjoyed watching as his master kissed Ares. Joxer had been trying to get to know the War God, especially since he'd always been a womanizer in the past. He loved his master but he also knew that he had weaknesses. Unfortunately, women had been a major weakness. After all, it'd been the cause of his death. But, he'd noticed a change in his master since he'd returned to him and it looked as if because of that noticable maturity, he'd soon have another master. He wasn't above doing his best to throw those two together, but he had enough to worry about himself.

Argo looked at him as if she were considering what he'd asked, whether or not to answer. She finally sighed and hung her head down between her legs. It was obvious that she was not only physically tired from her jealous exertions but emotionally tired as well. *Sorry, Leeara. It's just that I've been attracted to you since I first saw you and that's never happened to me before. I'm a specially bred war steed. Ares made sure that we had human like thinking and reasoning capabilities so that we can better protect our masters or mistresses. Unfortunately, he'd had to make some compromises about our physical reproduction. Basically, that means we can only breed with another war steed. I wasn't expecting to find you attractive.*

*That's one thing I've always disagreed on with my mistress. I don't think she's ever fully understood why the world need's war. As a creation of Ares, all of his war steeds are born with that knowledge. I love her, but Ares is my god. She should be grateful she still has me. Ares could have taken me away at any time and I would have been bound to leave. I was given to her for use because of her service to war. Now that she no longer serves war, I'm surprised that I haven't been ordered to leave.*

*I know I've been a queen bitch lately but it doesn't help to be confronted with two other mares attracted to you as well. I not only have face the fact that you're not my kind, but you also have the option of two others if I don't have a chance. It's frustrating and I don't deal with well.* She looked up at the large, horned stallion, seeking the sympathing look he was giving her. Seeing it, she realized something. *What do you mean, win you? Did he win a bet or something?*

Startled, Leeare couldn't answer at first. He wasn't used to others asking about his kind. In his homeland, his race had been well known by reputation if not by sight. Just about everyone knew what it to took to win a Fomorian steed. He worked to make his answer understandable, although there were some aspects that she wouldn't be able to grasp. That was mainly because she wasn't a Fomorian. Haltingly, he started talking. *Although Fomorians were said to have been created by the Fomorian tribal race, that isn't true. We were actually created by the Goddess Don when the earth was first given light. We weren't horselike at first. We had a much more fearsome appearance and we were smaller in size. We were bred to be the guardians of the 12 light bringers, or what are known as the Tribes of Danaan. When Don created the tribes, she was worried about the conflicts that would occur. As a goddess, she knew that conflict is the only way humanity can grow. Without it, they can't learn the difference between good and evil and neither can they form the necessary way to think to hold free will. But, there are places that she created that were sacred and cannot be touched without fear of awesome repercussions. Fomorians were created to guard each Tribe's sacred place, making sure that nothing could be desecrated.*

Chuckling, Leeare shook his head, soft laughter sounding in her head. *No, we were actually closer to what you think of as dogs, at least in looks. We were actually related somewhere between the dog and hynena families. What happened to cause us to look the way we are is that after a while, as the Fomorians bred robustly, since only a few were used to guard each sacred temple, the others decided to choose humans as their master. As we were intelligent and only wanted the best to serve as our masters, we created a competition between ourselves and the tribes. If the human won, we served them. If we won, we could either kill the human or enslave the human as our servant. This worked for years until the Fomorian Tribe found that some of their people had very advanced mage gifts. Realizing that we would make perfect war companion, the only drawback is that we were too large for easy hunting in human lands and we didn't get along with other animals that well. We were a loner race and only partnered if it was to our advantage. So, the mages decided that we needed to be larger in size, able to carry a human. We also needed to be somewhat more flexible in our maneuvering, therefore making a perfect war steed. They also needed us to be more sociable and able to handle being around other humans in their tribal society. The mages finally agreed on the horse to crossbreed us with. Using their magic, they combined our two races and gradually bred the Fomorian war steed. We still retained the clawed paws that have a much harder bottom because of the weight we carry. That why our feet look somewhat between a claw and a hoof. The body is mainly equus in design except that we retained a lot of the extra muscle groups that our original form had, therefore making us able to flex our body in ways horses can't. I'm actually flexible enough that if I truly had to, I could do a back flip and land without any problem. My back is that flexible. We still have fangs because we're more omniverous in nature, able to eat meat if necessary. The fangs are retractable where the teeth in between the fangs are blunt and able to harvest grass and other plants to eat. Our horns are one of the carryovers that the mages didn't care one way or the other about. Horns are useful in battle and the new Fomorian race kept it in our design.*

Leeare stopped and looked over at the cuddled pair of his master and Ares. He really wanted that type of companionship about now. He was really feeling his loneliness. He went on with the explanation to the war mare hanging on to all of his words. *Another aspect that remained is the challenges between human and Fomorian. A human still had to win their steed's heart. We test our potential riders in startling ways to see if the human is worthy of us. When our first war steeds were won, it was noticed that once a human bonded with their steed, it was for life. For some reason, it was as if to survive living around humans we needed to be bonded to humans. These bonds were magical in nature and when the mages found out about them, they tried everything they could to break these new bonds because the bond went both ways. If the steed dies, so too, does the human. We were now a liability, or a threat to our rider's life. Other side affects were noticed over time. One of the main ones is that our masters cannot be separated from us for long because of their dependency on the bond to keep them sane. If they can't be around their bonded, they become insane. That's what happened to my master. Neither of us were dead in the time frame reference of our lives so, I was barely able to function because of extreme loneliness and Lian (Joxer) wasn't able to function in his mind. To cope, he shut down everything that reminded him of our bond, therefore losing everything he'd need to master a war steed. It's wonderful to finally feel complete again. I do have an ability not dependent on our gods and that is that I can create a glamour which makes me appear to average mortals as a regular stallion. Anyone with immortal blood or godly blood will see me as I am. If we're headed to Corinth, then I'll have to use the glamour to disguise myself if I don't want to make the humans panic.*

Argo thought about what he'd said and nodded, understanding what he'd said, although there were still some things she wanted to know. But, she had a feeling that she'd never know. She finally got up the courage to ask a question that had been puzzling her and made her worried. *Leeare, I know this might sound paranoid, but don't you think it strange that two other war steed mares of my breed show up with no warning. I'm really worried that Ares doesn't recognize them. If he doesn't know them, then he didn't give them to anyone like he did with me and Xena. I know they're Ares' war steeds because they smell like it. So why doesn't he know about it? I'm becoming concerned that they're here to hurt someone.*

*Agreed!* Then Argo got an impish look in her eyes and she reach over and gently nipped between Leeare's shoulder blades. Leeare moaned with feeling that caressing touch. He was about to reply to her sudden advances with those of his own when suddenly there was a loud eruption in the hill pass little ways ahead of them. Before they knew it, they and the other mares were being mounted and raced to the pass to try to help. When they all stopped, the group as whole were wordless at the sight in front of them. Even Ares, who because he was war incarnate, had nerves of steel, was so nausous that he was ready to upheave like Xena, Gabrielle and Joxer were suddenly doing. If the steeds had been capable of it, they'd have been throwing up as well. It was all they could do to keep their bodies from bolting and getting the hell out of dodge.