“I won’t forget,” he said, and smiled up at the still portrait. “I love you, too. And I’m going to make you proud, you’ll see.”
Telius bowed to the portrait and then walked away, nodding to himself. A strange but pleasant dream, and that was all—but once the ritual was past, he’d have to keep his eyes open for a warrior and a girl, just in case.
After a full week of travel, they were all exhausted. Xena knew that she was pushing them, perhaps a bit hard, but the days were passing quickly and there wasn’t much time.
Neither Gabrielle nor Alesandra had complained about the rapid pace, but she could see in the tightness of their faces; the toll it was taking—heading out before dawn, not stopping until well after dark. The journey had been uneventful except for when it rained one night; they had passed no more towns and hadn’t seen anyone since Osetus, for which Xena was thankful. They simply didn’t have the time to linger over a conversation or rest in the comfort of a warm village inn.
Gabrielle, Gods bless her, had worked hard to keep all of their spirits up—telling stories, joking with Alesandra, and carefully avoiding any talk of the dangers that might wait for them at Avernus. Xena was glad to have her along, and was reminded once again of how valuable Gabrielle was to her—the young woman couldn’t fight worth a hoot and often got herself into trouble, but she had a consistent sweetness and lightness of spirit that made traveling with her a pleasure.
Alesandra had proved to be a fine traveler herself, keeping a brave and smiling face turned to the road ahead. She had surprised both Xena and Gabrielle with a delightful singing voice, a high, lilting birdlike sound that rang clear and strong when she sang harmony with Gabrielle. Gabrielle had already taught her every song she knew, and even Xena had joined in once or twice, her rich, deep vocals adding to the pleasant sound.
On the eighth day of their hurried travel; they had stopped for lunch, a quick meal of dried meat and the last of the nuts they had traded for from the woodfolk. Xena only hunted for dinner, because then they had time to cook over a fire, and they usually ate the leftovers for their morning meal. Which made lunch the least favorite break of the day—tough jerky and water, for the most part, supplemented by whatever Gabrielle scrounged up while walking or what bits of dried food they discovered in their packs.
Xena didn’t mind eating in the saddle, but she knew that Gabrielle and Alesandra needed the short break; they could spare a few minutes, at least. They had made good time in the last week, and Xena expected to reach Avernus in another five days—arriving the day before the full moon, gods willing . . .
Gabrielle and Alesandra sat on a large stone by the rutted trail, chewing at dried jerky and surveying the woods around them. In the last few days, the forests they’d passed through had thinned, grown sparse and dry. Xena had even said that the hunting was poor, and although she always managed to find dinner, Gabrielle wondered how much longer that would last. It was as if they were traveling toward a place that wouldn’t sustain life, and with each day, the surroundings gave them proof—the trees she looked at now weren’t just dried out, they seemed sick and stunted. The air was dry, parched, and almost odorless, carrying no scent of earth or wood. There weren’t any flowers or berries, and the plants all looked weird, like they were from some other world . . .
Alesandra leaned against her and then smiled. “You’re right, everything does seem strange.”
Gabrielle stopped chewing and swallowed, hard. She stared at Alesandra. “You can read minds, too!”
Alesandra grinned. “Not in this case. You’re looking at everything around us like it’s from a different planet or something—although I did get a feeling from you this morning, right after breakfast, when you brushed out my hair. Sometimes I can tell things by touching.”
Gabrielle’s eyes widened. “Really? You felt something about me?”
Alesandra nodded. “I remind you of your little sister, Lila. You worry about her sometimes—but I could tell she was okay, that she’s been doing all right and she’s not hurt or anything.”
Gabrielle smiled, and felt a weight lift off her chest that she hadn’t even known was there. “Thank you so much! But how—where was—did you see her?”
Alesandra shook her head. “It’s not like that. I think . . . I think that when people care about someone, they carry a little piece of that person in their heart. And sometimes they can feel that person, kind of get an idea of how they are—do you know what I mean?”
Gabrielle nodded slowly. “Yes, I think so.”
“So sometimes I can get that feeling through someone. If there had been something wrong with Lila, I would have known. Because you would have known, in your heart.”
Gabrielle nodded again. “That makes sense. Can you do it whenever you want?”
“No, I can’t control it . . .” Alesandra frowned for a moment, then looked over at Xena, who was standing a few paces away, drinking water. “Something you said in Osetus, Xena—I’ve been thinking about it.”
Xena walked over to join them. “What was that?”
“After that fight—you told Saji that maybe their god, Ling, was the one who had told me about that lady’s child. Do you believe in Ling?”
Xena shrugged. “Actually, I was just trying to make a point that they would understand.”
Alesandra looked at her, searching Xena’s gaze with her own. “So which god is the most powerful? Which one do you believe in?”
Xena crouched down beside her, uncertain of how to answer. “I don’t know, Alesandra. I have heard of many gods and goddesses, and everyone who worships believes that their god is the greatest. All I know is that I have seen some amazing things in my life, and that there are forces far more powerful than man at work in the world—putting a name to such forces wouldn’t change them, so I don’t choose to seek a name. It is what it is; I believe that.”
Alesandra frowned again. “That’s not really an answer.”
Xena stood up, smiling. “For some things, there are no answers. Sometimes when people believe too much in something, they stop looking for any more truth—like the people of Osetus, for instance. Accepting that there may not be an answer to something frees your mind; it allows you to see farther than others, to continue seeking the truth that makes the most sense to you.”
Alesandra smiled back at her. “Okay. I can understand that.”
“Good. And that’s enough philosophy for the day, I think. We have to get moving if we want to cover some ground before it gets too dark.”
Gabrielle and Alesandra both groaned good-naturedly and stood up, stretching and gathering their things. Xena passed around the leather water pouch and then secured it to Argo’s saddle, feeling the ache of the long ride in her lower back. When this was over, she was going to find an inn somewhere with good ale and food and settle into a nice, hot bath—
A noise in the woods.
“Someone’s coming,” Xena said calmly, not wanting to alarm Alesandra. She drew her sword but held it down low. “Get behind me.”
Gabrielle grabbed Alesandra’s hand and pulled her behind Xena, who faced the direction of the crashing sound, to the right and in front of them—the noise of one man or woman approaching, not bothering to hide his or her arrival.
Xena didn’t know what to expect, but it wasn’t the wizened old man who stepped out from behind a close group of trees a second later, dressed in patched leathers and grinning broadly at them. And when he spoke, she was even more surprised.
“Goin’ to the Great Dark, are ye?” he rasped, and then grinned wider, baring a mouth full of worn and yellowed teeth. “Avernus it is! Fine, fine! ’Tis a fine place to visit, mebbe, but don’t go to live!”
He cackled loudly, and with that laugh, Xena realized two things: The old man wasn’t a physical threat—he was too small and ancient to attack them—
—and he was also stark raving mad.
Chapter 13
The strange old fellow hopped to the road in front of them, and Xena saw that he carried no weapon. She sheathed her sword and smiled at him, raising her hands to show that they meant no harm.
“Hello,” she said, and then motioned Gabrielle and Alesandra to step forward with her. “My name is Xena, and these are my friends, Gabrielle and Alesandra—”
The old man’s lined and dirty face melted into an expression of gleeful surprise. “Xena! The warrior woman, I heard of ye! Ye’re a story I heard! Men be travelin’ through, years ago, said Xena was a mighty slayer!”
The odd little man danced around in a circle, delighted with himself, dust rising from his tattered clothes. “I met the great Xena! Truth, is truth! Ol’ Binjer met great Xena—no one can said it ain’t so!”
Xena relaxed a little more. He was insane, all right—but not in a dangerous way, it seemed. He wasn’t threatening in the slightest, dancing and cackling to himself with the open smile of a child.
“So you’re . . . Binjer?”
He stopped, out of breath, and nodded eagerly, his rheumy eyes twinkling. “’Tis truth! I be Binjer, hunter of rabbit and squirrel, fisher of frogs and baker of bread! That’s me! Lived here most my life, not a week out from the Great Dark!”
Xena nodded. “Is that what you call Hades?”
Binjer’s childish grin faded a bit. “Aye. That an’ Avernus. They be the Great Dark, the black places. Been there once. Wouldn’t go again, not me . . . You neither, aye? Don’t be goin’ to the Dark, ain’t no good there.”
He grinned again, and stepped closer. “Stay here an’ I’ll make bread, yes I will! You an’ yer girls is welcome with Binjer!”
As he moved closer to them, Xena could see that he was very old, more ancient than anyone she had met personally. The average life of a man wasn’t much more than sixty, and Binjer had that beat by at least twenty years. He was sprightly, though, and seemed to be in good health.
Perhaps being a few arrows short of a quiver has its benefits, she thought mildly, and then shook her head in apology.
“I’m sorry, Binjer, but we have urgent business farther along. Maybe on the way back—”
He frowned, the crinkles of his face almost swallowing his bright eyes. “Ain’t no one come back from the Great Dark! Stay now—bread, I say—and I got fresh frog meat!”
Xena shook her head again, wincing inwardly at Binjer’s idea of a taste treat. “Thank you—but as I say, we have to go.”
He grinned again and shrugged. “I can go a few miles along, aye? Just a walk for me, good for the heart! Aye? ’Tis all right?”
Xena glanced at Gabrielle and then Alesandra. They both nodded, smiling, obviously agreeable to the idea. A break from routine for them . . . and she was curious—how did he know they were going to Hades? And what had he seen on his single visit to Avernus? Xena turned back to a hopeful-looking Binjer and nodded.
“All right. We would be glad to have your company—for a few miles.”
Binjer laughed and clapped his hands, then danced around in another small circle, almost singing the words: “Binjer goes with Xena, Xena and her friends!”
Xena grinned, suddenly glad that they had happened upon the old man. Alesandra and Gabrielle both clapped their hands when he finally stopped his dancing, and the four of them started walking, the mad Binjer smiling happily at his newfound friends.
“So how did you know we were going to Avernus?” Gabrielle asked.
Binjer grinned his broken smile. “Only place this road leads, ain’t it? There’s other roads, yes, but this be the one that takes ye straight there.” He glanced at Xena and Alesandra, then back to Gabrielle and added, “Besides, ye all got that look.”
“Look?”
Binjer nodded, then set his face in a grim, determined expression, staring straight ahead. He squared his shoulders and raised his chin, puffing his scrawny chest out.
Gabrielle smirked. “I get it. We look like we’re on a mission, right?”
Binjer grinned again, a more natural look for him. The sham of seriousness hadn’t suited him. “Truth, ’tis truth! A mission, and one ye don’t look forward to, neither! Ol’ Binjer sees ’em all, all those men and women that pass me by. I can tell. And I don’t see many of ’em come back through, neither. Thems that does, that don’t have that look no more, aye . . .”
Xena was riding Argo again, the others walking alongside. It had been almost an hour since they’d met, and the afternoon sun was heavy in the west, the air hot and still. Binjer had already proven himself useful; besides telling some truly awful jokes and merrily singing along with Alesandra and Gabrielle, he’d pointed out a kind of berry that grew in this region, one that no none of the others had seen before. The fruits were mottled green, blending into the leaves of the bushes, and they were sweet and plentiful. Gabrielle had already picked a bag full, and Binjer had sworn up and down that they made the best wine he’d ever tasted.
“I may be dim, but I ain’t a liar,” he said happily, prompting Xena to take a closer look at him. When he wasn’t grinning or frowning, the lines of his face seemed to melt away, making him look like an untroubled man. The wrinkles of his skin were from age, not worry or heavy thinking; he’d been born a little slow, she figured, and had apparently lived most of his life alone; no wonder he was a few coins short. He’d had to learn how to keep himself amused.
“Binjer,” Xena said gently. “You said you’d been to Avernus once, and to Hades—what was it like?”
Binjer looked up at her and frowned, his lips pursing. “Bad, bad, bad. That lake ain’t got no fish. No hunting in the woods there, neither, just ugly black birds, caw! Caw! Like that.”
“Crows,” said Gabrielle. Binjer nodded, still frowning as he continued.
“That be Avernus. And then in the castle, that’s where Hades be. I seen the wall, ’tis truth! Wouldn’t step inside, no—”
Xena felt her pulse speed up. “Castle?”
“Aye, where Bain was. Martus Bain, nice, good man. He and his wife and son—the lady died, though, sad to say, long time ago.”
“Martus Bain, the scholar?” At Binjer’s confused look, Xena rephrased the question. “The man who studies books?”
Binjer grinned. “That’s the one! He’d be old now, mebbe. Older than me, mebbe, and that’s old!”
Xena was suddenly delighted that Binjer had joined them; she knew of Martus Bain—he was from a village near where she had grown up, and she still remembered stories from her childhood about the man who was a counsel to kings. Bain had written books on everything from warfare to penmanship, and had been widely renowned for his intelligence and scholarship.
He had disappeared when she was still a young woman, and stories had it that he had married and become a recluse, hiding away somewhere to devote himself to his studies . . .
Hiding in a castle near Avernus, perhaps? Xena nodded to herself, and could almost hear the pieces falling into place. Although she had never met the man, he was said to be a fighter for good; could it be that he had chosen a place so close to Hades in order to study the place, perhaps to try and unravel the mysteries of its darker side?
“When was the last time you were at this castle, Binjer?”
The old man cocked his head to one side. “Oh, not so long. Well—a few years, I guess. Mebbe ten? Martus was old, yes, but his son was yer age, I think.” He nodded at Alesandra.
Gabrielle and Alesandra exchanged looks with Xena and each other. Xena could see that they were coming to the same conclusions.
“A young man with no evil in his heart—” said Gabrielle.
“—who has a book—a book of spells?” said Xena.
“Who will not heed his father’s words,” said Alesandra softly, and she finished for them. “This young man makes a mistake with this book, and he undoes a beast that allows evil
into the world.”
“Cerebrus,” said Xena, “the guard at the gate.” All three of them stared at one another.
Binjer gazed at them, smiling, and then laughed. “Hey, that’s a good one! I got a story about a king that loses his pants and the whole kingdom goes around without their pants, just to be fashion-like! Can you picture such a thing?”
Xena turned to him. “Binjer, can you show us where this castle is? It’s very important that we find it.”
A look of unease flashed across his pleasant old face. “No, I not be goin’ to Avernus no more . . . but say, I could draw ye a map, I guess! That would be good, aye?”
Xena smiled at Binjer, and his expression went back to one of simple happiness.
“That would be fine, just fine,” she said. “Maybe you can join us for dinner, and you could show us then.”
Binjer grinned and broke into another dance. “Eat with Xena, and her friends! Show them where the castle stands!”
Xena smiled for him, but felt an overwhelming urgency to get to Avernus. The moon would be full soon, and in this instance, figuring out the puzzle didn’t mean that it was solved.
Martus Bain’s son was going to open the gates to Hades, and unless they could stop him in time, his actions would bring about the doom of their world.
They camped early, so that Binjer would have time to find his way home before it got too dark. Using a stick in the dirt, he drew a simple map to the castle, apparently only a few hours from Avernus. In spite of the childish drawing, the directions were clear and Xena thought they could find it easily.
Binjer exclaimed over Gabrielle’s roasting of the two rabbits that Xena had caught for dinner. “This be better’n frog, ’tis truth! I can say to anyone, Xena found rabbit an’ Gabrielle cooked ’em good! Dinner for Binjer, ain’t that nice?”
When they had finished eating, they all stood to wish their strange companion a safe trip home. Alesandra even hugged him, and smiled up at him with a light in her eyes.
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