The brief battle was over

Xena remained crouched on the tree limb, studying the scene before her. In places the bodies of the Amazon leaders, suspended where they'd been impaled, were horrid evidence of the violence that had just occurred. Only one of them, Cyane, was still alive, and she barely so.

Even now, as she focused on Xena, her mouth moved as if to ask "Why?"

"Alti offered me a better deal," Xena said, though whether to answer Cyane or herself, she wasn't sure.

"Al-ti? Fool you to tr-" Cyane's body slumped.

Xena jumped to the ground, cupping her hands to her mouth "Alti!" she called, "you can come now. I've done your dirty work."

"I'm here." Alti answered immediately, her voice coming from behind the very tree Xena had been standing in. "You did well, Xena. I knew I made the right choice with you."

"Never mind the flattery!" Xena told her "I want the power you promised me...now!"

"In a moment. First..." Alti moved to the nearest body. A pallid green glow spread, flowing from the corpse to her. She moved to the next of the slain, and the next after that, repeating the process until she came to Cyane.

"You were the one who drove me from the Amazon ranks. Your soul will be particularly delicious to feed upon."

She turned to face Xena. "Here's your promised reward." She said simply, and Xena felt intense heat for several seconds. When it ended, she experienced a surge of energy so great that it made her stagger back.

"This is your first step to becoming the Destroyer of Nations. The Amazon nation is now leaderless, and an easy kill. Before long, all nations, even that of Rome, will be rubble under your feet. Caesar himself will be forced to put his head beneath your boot."

Xena's smile was slight and brief. 'With the power Alti already has, why does she need me? In this at least, Cyane was right. I'm a fool to trust her. But as long as she can give me what I most want...'

"We're done here, Xena. If you'll come along with me, there's two other stops to make before the day is over."

Xena was scooped up before she could reply, to be carried along by a rush of foul, charnel-smelling wind. She watched silently while slaloming through the forest, and felt relieved that the trip was a short one, ending within sight of a single log hut.

Alti landed beside her. "I brought you here to show what you'll soon be able to accomplish on your own. The family here defied me by moving to this site."

She quickly sketched a pentagram around herself and Xena, then brought her hands together above her head, forefingers extended but not touching. Xena saw a vague image appear at the pentagram's base, one that sped toward the cabin, rose to the rooftop and then sank through the roof into the structure.

She heard a man scream first, a single, piercing shriek that died out with a horrid gurgle. Then a woman burst from the cabin door with what looked to be wisps of fog trailing after her.

She stopped quickly to start tearing at her body. Red-streaked chunks of flesh flew amid a spray, coming ever faster until the woman was almost an animated skeleton. When it stopped, the pile of bones collapsed, and Alti faced Xena, smiling coldly.

"That's the simplest of things you'll be able to do. There'll be better achievements than this, believe me."

The gaunt woman beckoned "Now come once more. There's someone I want you to meet."

===

Xena turned to starer at Alti. "Someone...? Just who would that be? You know I don't like surprises."

"Two people actually. Allies who will be especially important against the Amazons."

"We don't NEED allies!"

"Oh. You think the two of us can take on the whole world? Xena, I don't have that kind of power - at least not yet. Soon we'll both have the power, then we can get rid of these two, but until then..."

Xena sighed. "All right. When the time comes, I get that pleasure of killing these two. Remember that!"

"Of course. I wouldn't deprive you of all the fun. One of the pair is from your homeland, or at least very near it. She's Hals - is that name familiar?"

"Vaguely."

"She's very good with potions, mixtures that can possibly wipe out a large city in two days, yet completely disappear within a third day. Her mistress, the demigoddess Circe, taught her secrets even I have yet to learn."

"And the other?"

"Agora. She's head of a band of warriors who might be able to outfight you."

"Oh. come on! Oufight me?"

Alti's reply was abrupt. "Yes."

"No way! She'd have to be almost a goddess for that."

"No goddess, but I still say she could take you on and win. Now there's something I have to tell you..."

"There's a LOT you have to tell me, especially about this Agora!"

"First, Hals has difficulty with names. For example, she calls me Itla, and Agora she calls Argo. Hard to believe: she knows potions better than anyone one else except Circe, yet common names defy her. And Agora - Xena, have you ever met a female centaur?"

"There's no such thing."

"Ah, but there is. Agora and her kind fled to these lands years ago. As warriors they put the Amazons to shame. Agora's biggest fault is that she never comes at the time she says she will - believes in being, what's the term - fashionably late."

"I can beat that fault out of her."

"We'll see."

They descended toward a handful of half-completed stone buildings, one of which stood about chest-high to Xena, but showed no sign of a doorway.

"Can't say much for the ability of the builders." Xena grumbled upon seeing the structure. "How did they think they were going to get inside once this was complete?"

"Who cares? At least it's a good windbreak. We can start a fire more easily, and spend the night more comfortably."

A somewhat stocky figure greeted them when they approacged. "It's about time. I was freezing my bones off waiting for you. More and more, I wonder why I ever left Hellas and that beautiful warmth."

Xena glanced at Alti. 'Bet I know why.' she thought, 'Alti's little mind-influencing trick.'

"I hoped Agora would be on time for once," Alti growled, "For a centaur, she sure doesn't move very fast."

"Yeah. Tell me about it." Hals added, "Now about a fire...?" She shivered, despite all the furs she was bundled in.

One nice thing," Xena glanced around the barren landscape. "These walls are high enough that any fire won't be seen from a distance."

Before long the fire was burning quite nicely; the three people had begun to settle in, with Hals nearest the blaze, when Xena stiffened at a new noise. A moment later, a long form easily leapt over the stone wall and skidded to a halt.

It was a platinum-blonde palimino centauress, carrying a sheathed sword on her human back, a pair of spears down either side of her equine body, and a heavy ax slung from a waist-belt.

"Xena," Alti introduced "this is Agora. Agora, this is Xena."

===

Neither of the two spoke. They looked intently at one another, studying each other carefully. At virtually the same time, both reached with deliberate slowness for their sword, never once taking their gaze from their counterpart.

"What are you doing?" Hals almost screamed "We need to work together, not fight among ourselves!" She moved even closer to the fire, but this failed to lessen her sudden shivering.

"Don't worry," Alti told her, "They're only testing one another. No one's going to be hurt or killed..." She quieted abruptly, her eyes cold, yet large with anticipation. Her unspoken last word, "yet," only worsened Hals' terror.

"Why did I ever come here?" she moaned. "I'm no warrior. I was perfectly happy on Aeaea with Circe."

Xena moved almost casually forward, like a stalking panther. Agora, watching, smiled thinly and waited.

As before, both combatants moved almost as one, each bringing her blade into play in the same eyeblink. Their swords clashed together repeatedly, varying in perfect unison no matter where the strikes came. No matter if the swing was high or low, the other was always there to parry it. More often than not, the clash of steel against steel resulted in bursts of sparks.

While - if - Xena was more skilled, and struck more fiercely, Agora had the advantages of greater strength and reach. Neither opponent could gain on the other, until Xena, finally thrusting the centauress' blade up and away for a heartbeat, broke past her guard, only to be met with a sharp upswing ot Agora's knee into her midsection which forced the air from her lungs.

She gasped and retreated. Agora stopped her swing and waited until Xena recovered her breath. She nodded at the warrior's approach, as though able to anticipate Xena's next strategy. "You're lucky I didn't arm myself with leg knives; otherwise you'd be gutted right now." she taunted.

Xena sneered, dropping into a crouch, then sprang and flipped forward in the same movement. But Agora simply backed a few steps, reversing her sword so that the blade was out of the way. When Xena descended with the aim of landing on the centauress' back, she was met instead by a pair of upraised fists, one of which caught her squarely on the nose, the other ramming into her belly to once again leave her gasping for air.

Xena rose slowly this time, wiping a flow of blood from her nose. Wheezing, on all fours, she looked up at Agora, her eyes still defiant. She coughed once, then darted forward, hoping to come up right beside the centauress. Agora, however, shifted her hindquarters on one side and thrust out her left foreleg to neatly trip Xena, who fell headlong.

"I think we've proved ourselves," she said quietly, extending a hand to help Xena get to her feet.

Xena nodded after a moment before making her way back to the fire where she sullenly seated herself.

If she was disappointed at the lack of blood, Alti hid it well. "Now can we get to planning our attack? Agora, how soon can you have your warriors prepared? With the Amazons leaderless, we should strike soon as we can"

"I'll have them armed and set to march at first light day after tomorrow."

"Too slow," Xena objected "We should be attacking by then. Why the delay?"

"You mean attack at night? That's not honorable. We have never disgraced ourselves in such a method."

"At daybreak." Xena insisted. "The Amazons will be only half awake then. An easier target than otherwise - at least for some of us." She glanced at Hals, who was still shaking most noticeably.

"Its agreed then. Agora and her warriors can lead the assault while we distract the Amazons with...other tactics. Only one thing: Agora, this depends on your being on time for once. None of this arriving late! DO YOU UNDERSTAND?" Alti rasped.

"Oh, she'll be there when we need her." Xena said flatly. She looked up from the fire, which she had been poking at with a small stick. She abruiptly hurled the burning wood at the centauress, who ducked and batted it aside. In that moment, Xena rose, charged, and leapt to bring herself securely, if somewhat uncomfortably, on Agora's back. Xena brought her right arm around the centauress' neck in a chokehold. "I guarantee it."

"Oh? And how will you do that?" Alti sneered.

"Simple. I'm going with her for the attack. She won't defy me, will you, Agora?"

Agora shook her head briefly.

"Good. Then we're all set. Oh, and one other thing, Alti."

"Yes?"

"Leave Hals alone. She's afraid enough without you're making it worse."

===

Xena shifted her position on Agora's back for perhaps the tenth time, glaring at the spear shafts which dug into her thighs.

"Quit squirming!" The centauress demanded.

"Surrre - soon as you provide me with a decent seat. A saddle would be so much more comfortable."

"Don't even think about it!"

It was the first time either had spoken since the morning journey began. Xena maneuvered herself around once more, then studying the landscape ahead of her. "You know, I've seen quite a few centaurs back in Hellas - all males. Why aren't you female centaurs there with them?"

Agora stretched her gait at the question, making the ride unsteadier and rougher. Her hands gripped so tight that her knuckles whitened. When she finally answered, her voice was low and dragging. "About...three generations ago, apparently, one of the gods - Hera, I think - got mad at something we did..."

"Hera getting mad? Like that's a surprise."

"She changed us somehow," Agora continued, ignoring the interruption, "so that the next time any of us mated, our offspring were all true horses, not centaurs. We soon realized that we'd soon be extinct as a race unless we outbred with humans.

"Of course this meant we had to separate: no more mating between males and females. The only way to make sure of that was for one sex to move far away."

"But why not the males? Why were they allowed to remain while the females had to leave?"

"It was the toss of a coin." Agora answered sharply, though a tremor of her muscles belied the reply. "We traveled here and began to depend on the men around here to..." She shuddered before continuing. "Thsat was bad enough, but then the Amazons came..."

"and drove all the men away." Xena finished the statement. "So you had to go to war against them."

"Our survival depended on it. Unless we can breed - soon! - we'll be too old to bear offspring."

Agora slowed to a plodding gait, changing the subject abruptly. "I saw how you defied Alti last night. That took a lot of courage to defend Hals."

"She doesn't belong here." Xena said flatly

"No. She's not a killer like us. What I can't understand is why she stays here."

"Alti's controlling her somehow, making her an unwilling fourth in our gang."

"I thought as much." Agora lapsed into silence after that, picking up her pace again until she was almost trotting.

Xena, looking around, noted that their route was now an upward trail, with a steep slope on one side and a sheer drop on the other, into depths she couldn't begin to guess.

"I take it you live around here because its a good defendable position."

"True. Anywhere else makes us too open to attack." Agora shivered a bit as the wind became colder. "Hmmm. There's a BIG storm brewing; it'll hit in about four days. Hopefully we'll be done with our war and we can settle in before then."

"By then you should be able to move into other quarters - say the Amazon village? - by then."

"I won't deny I was thinking about that. But anyway, this is our home for now."

Xena glimpsed the small village, a close circle of stone-and-wood huts. She saw female centaurs scattered around the area; when they noticed her, they quickly grouped together and came forward at a canter.

"Look!" a raven-colored centauress called, "It's Agora! And she's got a...rider!"

"Impossible! It can't be her! She's on time for once!"

===

"Attention everyone!" Agora shouted, her voice carrying to all in the encampment. "Gather your weapons and get ready to attack! The Amazons are leaderless now, thanks to Xena here, and now is the time to strike at them. We have to be ready at first light tomorrow."

"Agora! Be quiet!" The black centauress warned.

"Melanippe? Why?"

Melanippe pointed toward a hut far to the left of Agora. "THAT'S why!"

The palomino centauress turned her head to see a contingent of Amazons emerge from the hut.

"Loudmouth!" Xena whispered.

"They came here while you were gone, under a banner of truce, looking for information about the killer of the Amazon queens."

"Well?" Xena asked. "What are you gonna do? You can't let them go back home now, after having blabbed everything to them."

"No. But I can't have them killed either. They are under a truce, and -"

"Leave them to me then. I have no truce with them." Xena replied.

"No. There's no honor in that. If nothing else, centaurs are honorable."

"And foolish it seems. They're our enemies. If you let them go, they'll tell the others about our plan. They have to die! Here! Now!"

"NO! Be quiet, Xena!" Agora ordered, then called to the small group. "Amazons! I can ask this of you only once. Will you put down your swords and let us hold you as prisoners until the battle is over?"

All eight Amazons drew their blades "We won't attack you, but we WILL defend ourselves. " One answered.

Xena started to dismount, "Let me see just how well they can defend themselves against me."

Agora seized her arm. "Xena! One more word, and we'll see you good you are against all of us!"

Melanippe closed to Agora until she was barely a step away. "There might be a way to settle things for the moment. With your permission...?"

Agora nodded "Anything to solve this."

"I already told you the answer." Xena insisted.

Melanippe faced the Amazons "You know we can't let you go now. Yet we can't just kill you. So the only other choice is to keep you with us until it no longer matters. Is that all right with you?"

"We make no promises other than to go with you peacefully - for the time."

"That will have to do." Agora said after a moment.

"Good enough. If you don't mind, we'll move to the clearing on the other side of your village. It's open enough that you can see us at all times, yet far enough away to keep out of your paths."

"Good enough. Melanippe, I want you and some others to guard them...especially from her!" She pointed back to Xena, "The rest of you gather your weapons. We have to leave quickly as possible."

The Amazons marched to their new location, the centaurs scattered to get themselves set. Soon, all the village was busy, with everyone hurrying around.

During the preparations, no one, not even Xena, noticed when a pair of Amazons who had remained hidden in the hut sneaked out and carefully made their way as only they could, using every bit of cover, until they reached the downward trail, then set off at a hard run once they were out of sight.

===

Xena, once again straddling Agora's back, noted that the centauress turned her head yet again to look back at the collection of buildings serving as the centaur's homes.

"you're not planning on coming back here, are you?"

"No..." Agora answered slowly. "There's no reason to, after tomorrow. We've brought everything of value along," she indicated the four low wagons drawn by volunteer centaurs, "all thats left back there are items we don't need."

Three of the buckboards were piled to heaping with materials. The fourth held the sullen Amazons, who talked quietly among themselves.

The wagons were pulled by an ever-changing teams of centaurs. Each would take their turn hauling the vehicles along until they became tired from the labor and were replaced by someone else. The hardest part wasn't keping the wagons moving; on the downhill slope, it was keeping the vehicles from going too fast and going over the cliffs on the left.

Xena turned her attention to an odd item that Agora carried from her belt, a steel ring about the size of a discus, with a sharp outer edge. "What's that?" she asked

Agora didn't answer. Melanippe finally replied for her "It's called a chakram. We...found it on a Persian warrior, who claimed he'd stolen it from a temple of Ares. It's a magnificent weapon, almost fast as an arrow, but far more deadly. Thrown by skilled hands, it can strike one target, ricochet, strike another, and yet another, and then return to the thrower."

She kept her voice low so the words didn't carry to the Amazons.

By the time the centaurs reached level ground, Xena was all too glad to dismount and walk alongside. The double guard surrounding the Amazons shifted to an overlapping squad, with half moving back half a length to better protect one another.

"What about them?" Xena asked Agora

"I've decided to leave them here with guards, while the rest of us continue to the forest. Eight guards for eight Amazons."

"Good. If they were still with us when we reached the forest, they'd easily slip away, especially in the darkness."

"After the attack, it won't matter." Agora told her. "Believe me, things are going to be completely different after this!"

===

Agora frowned at the forest around her. "It's getting dark already and we've still got some distance to travel."

"You should've left earlier. That's your whole problem," Xena answered, "Can you still find your way in this darkness?"

"Easily. We DO have other senses, you know. Lemnis! We need your talent right now."

In a moment, the centauress Lemnis came forward. It was too dark for Xena to see her clearly, but from her way of moving and from her voice, she guessed this to be the youngest one present.

Lemnis strolled by without hesitation. She halted well ahead of the others, and sniffed the air for a moment. "There," she said finally "The smell of wood smoke is strongest from that direction." She started off and everyone followed her without question.

Before long, the entire group could easily smell the campfire smoke. "This should be a good place to stop, rest, and ready yourselves for tomorrow morning." Xena recommended. She noticed that Lemnis was gazing all around quite confusedly.

"Something wrong?"

"I...I'm not sure. There's a lot of strange scents close by, much like yours somehow. I -"

Lemnis' words changed to an agonized shriek when an arrow pierced the side of her face, tearing through both cheeks. A heartbeat later, another arrow struck her, this time in her temple, and she toppled lifeless.

"Archers!" Agora ordered, "Return fire! Shoot to the forward right and forward left, human height!"

'She's a better leader than I thought,' Xena noted. 'She took charge immediately, and gave exactly the right order.' "I'll work my way to the Amazon linews and take out as many as I can. Once I come to the main force, I'll signal you."

She crouched, one hand nearly on the ground, and moved noiselessly, eyes wide in anticipation of the coming battle.

It wasn't long before she heard a faint rustle from a bush ahead of her. She stopped only long enough to determine precisely where the sound originated, then closed in on her prey.

A single nerve jab was enough to knock the Amazon to the ground, where she lay gasping, almost immobile. Xena watched, a thin, mirthless smile on her face, until her victim died. 'Works every time. Spoccus, you'll never know how glad I am you taught me that.'

"Bertrille? Sister, are you all right?"

The low call came from an Amazon just a few steps away. Her quavering tone indicated she was very young, perhaps in her early teens.

Xena answered in a husky, hoarse tone. "Yeah. Some woman just attacked, tried to strangle me. Your words scared her off." As she spoke, she crept toward the girl.

"It must have been that traitorous bitch we were warned about, the one siding with the centaurs. Gods, I wish she was here in front of me right now."

"Your wish has been granted." Xena replied, lashing out with a dagger as the startled teen swung to face her. The girl died silently, her throat slit.

Without pausing, Xena moved on, pushing aside thoughts of Lemnis. She'd been probably the youngest centaur, and the first to die. The Amazon that Xena had just killed could have been their youngest. Was that an omen? A warning? Xena shuddered down the ideas as she moved to her next kill.

And the next.

And the next.

And the next.

===

'Wait a minute', she realized, 'This is gonna take all night the way I'm doing it. I've got to get the Amazons together in one place.'

She wrenched an extra sword from its user, then searched briefly for a fairly defensible site. Once she found one, she brought her cupped hands up and shrilled her war-cry loud as she could.

'There. Agora should recognize that as my signal, and have her archers start firing this direction.'

From all around Xena, there came cries of "What was that? Who made all that racket? I think it came from over there!" and then "It must be that renegade. Come on! The one who kills her can have her head for a trophy!"

The very first Amazon to reach the area almost raced right by Xena in her haste. Xena stuck her sword out at knee level and let the woman practically cut off her own legs.

Xena would have added a second, fatal blow, but had no time. Amazons crowded all around, thrusting either sword or spear while trying to evade her attacks. Though many fell, however, none backed away.

A few arrows struck among them to cause minor injuries. But only a few. 'Even with the trees blocking a lot of the shots, there should be more than that,' Xena thought. 'What happened to all of Agora's archers?'

She attacked almost like a dervish, whirling rapidly to slice through anything in range, all the while again shrilling "Ai-yi-yi-yi-yi-yi-yi-yi!"

Not all the cutting was done by her, however. The Amazons pressed in from all sides, and she felt blood running from several wounds.

The battle shifted a bit away from her. She was unaware of it at first, until something large knocked her off-balance. In her near-berserker frenzy, she continued fighting when she was seized from behind in a powerful grip, writhing and thrashing around, unheeding of anything, even the sharp voice hissing into her ear.

"Stop fighting me, Xena! We have to get away from here. The battle's over. I said STOP FIGHTING ME!!"

It was Agora's voice, but Xena remained unaware of it, of anything but the Amazon warriors. Then Agora hit her in the head with her sword hilt, and she was unaware of anything at all.

===

She regained awareness to see perhaps two dozen centaurs scattered around a large clearing. As Xena got to her feet, she noticed that Agora was missing.

"Where is she?"

"Agora left to return home. She ordered us not to follow her - and she left something to give to you."

The centauress held out the chakram. Xena took it wordlessly, looking slowly at each person standing about.

"This is all that's left of us." A centaur answered her unspoken question. "We have no choice now but to flee before the Amazons finish their victory celebration and hunt us down. Whether they find us or not, this is the end for us as a nation, maybe as a race altogether,"

Xena grimaced, nodding. Alti's words, "the destroyer of nations" came back, haunting her.

"Why did Agora save me?" she finally asked.

"We have a code of honor." was the only reply.

She swallowed, "Well, I'm going after her. She didn't command me not to follow."

"As you wish."

===

Xena kept up her loping gait all night, and was struggling along the uphill slope by the time there was enough daylight for her to see clearly. A powdering of snow showed Agora's hoofprints; the tracks were indicative more of a plodding gait rather than the lively trot of earlier.

Xena continued following. When the rising, curving trail came to a place where there was the steep drop-off of better than a thousand feet, she came around another curve, then stopped, staring.

Agora's tracks, which had previously kept to the center of the wide path, veered toward the sheer cliff.

And there ended abruptly.

===

"I'm disappointed in you, Xena." Alti rasped. "By now, ALL the Amazons should be dead, and their souls available for me to feed upon. Instead, all I find are centaur souls, which are useless to me."

"Good for them," Hals muttered.

"What was that?" Alti turned toward the cowering woman.

"Leave her alone. This is as much or maybe more your fault as it is mine or Agora's. YOU were supposed to distract and weaken the Amazons before - "

"Before that battle that was supposed to happen in the morning? No, the blame is totally yours and Agora's. One of you slipped, let the Amazons know you were coming."

"Does it matter?" Hals interrupted. "Argo's dead, and we should leave before the Amazons come after us in revenge."

Alti sneered "No Amazons dare come near my stronghold. I doubt any even suspect my part in all this."

"That's convenient for you. For Hals' sake, though, I'm gonna take her with me, return her to Hellas."

"Compassion from you, Xena? That's most unlike you."

"Maybe. But an innocent had no place being here. She's too clean to be around us."

"If you take her, our alliance is over. That means you get no more power from me. Don't you still hunger for that?"

Xena had a vision of a heavily-laden apple tree with the apples tantalizingly within reach. Each apple, though, was filled with maggots. To take even the merest nibble meant swallowing some of the offensive vermin.

"No." She forced the single word out.

"That's hard to believe. I think a little trial is needed. There's a corral behind the house. Wait five minutes, then go there."

===

When she arrived, she saw Hals tied to a stake in the center of the corral, while dozens of half-wild horses roamed around her. Her head was covered by a sack-like hood, and she stood motionless, almost sagging against the binding ropes.

"Your task is simple, Xena" alti told her "All you have to do is bring Hals out of there under a five-minute time limit. If you do, she's free to go with you. If not, she's mine to do whatever I want with her."

Xena studied the scene. 'There's gotta be something I'm missing - but what? It can't be as easy as she says.'

"Go on, go on. I haven't set any hidden snares, if thats what you're worried about. No trip wires, no traps at all. Its a simple job of fetch and bring back that any dog could do."

Xena moved to the short gate, a v-shaped opening in the corral wall that was too sharp an angle for a horse to come through. She eyed the horses while she made her way toward Hals. Most of them didn't even notice her in the least.

One, a palomino filly, stopped directly in front of Xena, When the warrior began sidling around her to the front, the animal moved ahead. When Xena started around behind her, the filly quickly backed up.

'Ah, here's the catch! Put a horse to block me until the time is passed. Well...'

Xena again stepped to circle in front of the horse. She saw the whites of the animal's eyes, and saw it quiver fearfully. When it moved forward to stop her, she sharply changed direction and slipped past it.

A quick dagger-thrust cut Hals' rope. The woman leaned ahead until Xena had to hold her up. She lurched ahead, even with Xena supporting her. Xena guessed she might be heavily drugged.

The filly pushed Xena to the side. Xena had to release Hals in order to fend off the animal. When she could turn her attention back to the woman, she saw Hals on all fours.

On all fours - and walking in horselike fashion.

'What in the world? Wait a minute! Alti only said Hals was in here, never said -'

'Thats it! She somehow switched Hals mind - spirit - soul - whatever, into the palomino's body.'

She rubbed the animal's neck. "I know that happened. Come on. It's time to leave."

Xena swung the main corral gate open just enough to let the filly out, then shrugged, and pushed it all the way open, allowing all the horses to escape.

No sound came from Alti, but Xena felt sure she'd hear many such if she stayed.

"I'd change you back to human if I knew how," she told Hals. "looks like you're stuck with being a horse. " She thought for several moments, then continued "I think I'll rename you in memory of the most honorable of all the centaurs."

"Yes, I'll call you Argo."