ACT ONE

FADE IN:

EXT. CAMPSITE - NIGHT

The fire is small, and the furs are laid out.  Xena is sitting on a log, tossing sticks into the fire while Gabrielle puts the finishing touches on two cups of tea.  Rising, she approaches Xena and hands her one of the mugs, then sits down beside her.

GABRIELLE

You ok?

Xena takes a sip of the tea.

XENA

Fine.

She sips again.

XENA

(cont’d)

Honey?

GABRIELLE

(smirking)

Yes, dear?

Xena rolls her eyes.

XENA

Honey.  In the tea.

GABRIELLE

My mother always said it

was good for what ails you.

XENA

Something ailing you?

Gabrielle gives Xena a pointed look.

XENA

(cont’d, with more emphasis)

I'm fine.

GABRIELLE

Mm.

XENA

I am.

Gabrielle bumps Xena with her shoulder.

XENA

(cont’d, sotto voce)

Mostly.

Carefully hiding her triumphant expression, Gabrielle looks closely at Xena.

GABRIELLE

I don't think that farmer was

laughing at your answer, Xena.

He was just... surprised, I guess.

Xena gives Gabrielle a 'don't you think I know that?' look, and Gabrielle shrugs.  Xena sighs.

XENA

It's just been a long time since

I thought about how I got this.

She lifts her chakram and turns it side to side. Its gleaming metal catches the light of the fire, throwing miniature sparks.  It's truly a beautiful weapon, but all Xena can see is horror.

XENA

(cont’d)

It wasn't a very

pleasant time for me.

Gabrielle places a hand atop Xena’s and squeezes it gently.  Xena gives her a half-smile and stretches. Gabrielle snuggles in.

GABRIELLE

Another story to share? It

might make you feel better...

to get it out, I mean.

XENA

Maybe.

She stares into the fire.

CUT TO:

EXT. PLAINS OF THE STEPPES - DAY - PAST

Xena, in her "coin hat" costume and furs, and riding a brown and white spotted horse, gallops down the grassy plains, followed by fifty or so men.

XENA

(present - voice over)

It was some time after I'd returned

from Chin.  Borias and I had raised

another army. It was easy enough, but

we'd had another difference of opinion.

CUT TO:

INT. YURT - EVENING - PAST

Xena and Borias are arguing.  Borias raises a hand to slap Xena, and Xena grabs it and twists it behind his back, pulling him against her and whispering something into his ear.    His face reddens with anger, and he struggles but cannot break Xena's hold.

XENA

(cont’d, present - voice over)

He was tired of traveling and wanted to stick

close to home, raiding the same villages we'd

raided a dozen times before.  I'd heard that

there were several villages further to the north

just ripe for the plucking.  He wouldn't budge

on it, so I split the army, took half with me and

left the other half with him.  He could plunder

dirt if he wanted.  I was after bigger game.

CUT TO:

EXT. PLAINS OF THE STEPPES - EVENING - PAST

Xena and her men continue to ride through the plains.  The land has become hillier, and here and there small groups of trees huddle together against the ever-present wind.

Suddenly, over the hills, a huge, mounted army appears, easily four times the size of Xena's.  The men wear identical leather armor and steel caps, and ride large, fast horses.  Each is armed with a light sword and heavy bow, and several carry long, cruelly tipped lances bearing silken war-banners which flap in the breeze. 

Xena's men, upon seeing the army, begin to panic and their horses buck and wheel.

SOLDIER

It's Khan!

SOLDIER #2

Run!  Run!!

SOLDIER #3

Let's get out of here!

It's Khan!

SOLDIER #4

The Great Khan!

Zeus preserve us!!!

Xena draws her sword and stands up in her stirrups.

XENA

(shouting)

Hold your ground!  Any man

who flees dies by my hand!

This threat convinces about three quarters of the army to stay with Xena.  The others, terror-stricken, try to flee and are quickly cut down by the oncoming army.

CUT TO:

EXT. CAMPSITE - NIGHT - PRESENT DAY

Gabrielle looks questioningly at Xena.

GABRIELLE

Khan?

XENA

(grimly)

Genghis Khan of the Mongols.  The

greatest warrior the world has ever

seen.  His men fought for the chance

to serve him, and the amount of land

that he'd conquered made Greece

look like a pond compared to the sea.

GABRIELLE

Wow.

XENA

Yeah.  He wasn't there that day, of course.

It was just a tiny portion of his army, but

they were more than a match for us.  They

came down out of those hills like a

crashing wave, killing half my men before

we even had a chance to defend ourselves.

CUT TO:

EXT. STEPPES - EVENING - PAST

The large army surrounds the remains of Xena's army in a ring of horses, riding dizzying circles around them while shooting their arrows into the middle and killing man after man after man.

Xena fights as best she can, using her sword to first disarm, then kill the enemy soldiers. But for all her ferocity, she is one woman and barely makes a dent in the circling horde.   The circle of horses draws tighter as more and more of Xena's men fall.

She sees a lance coming toward her and grabs it, unhorsing its owner and using the blunt end to sweep several more off of their horses.  This creates enough of a break in the circle for her to urge her own horse forward, and she does so.

XENA

Follow me!  YAH!!!

Only ten men, all that remains of her army, do so.  Dozens of arrows halves that number before they can make it more than three strides outside the rapidly decomposing circle.

She turns and uses the lance to bat away the hail of arrows headed for her, then flips it and throws with all her strength, spitting an oncoming soldier and the buddy who'd hopped up behind him.

Another set of arrows comes, too low for her to even try to catch, and her horse screams as it crumples beneath her, mortally wounded.  She hops off before she is crushed and begins to run as fast as she's able, expecting at any moment to feel arrows piercing her spine.

CUT TO:

EXT. CAMP - NIGHT - PRESENT DAY

Gabrielle continues to look at Xena with wide eyes.

GABRIELLE

By the gods.... 

How?  What?

Xena smiles wanly and holds up her empty mug. 

XENA

All this talking's hard

on the throat.

Gabrielle smirks, then rolls her eyes heavenward.

GABRIELLE

Now she believes me.

She begins to rise when Xena pulls her back.

XENA

I'll get it.

Smiling, Gabrielle snatches the mug and stands.

GABRIELLE

Uh-uh.  You tell the story; I'll keep

your throat soothed.  It's a fair trade.

XENA

If you say so.

GABRIELLE

I say so.

The tea is quickly prepared with a generous dollop of fresh honey added, and Gabrielle returns to Xena, who in the meantime has gotten up from her spot on the log and now sits on the furs, her back up against a broad-trunked tree.  She spreads her cocked legs, inviting Gabrielle wordlessly to sit between them.  Gabrielle does and, after taking a sip of tea and setting the mug aside, Xena gathers her in, wrapping her arms around Gabrielle’s waist and resting her chin atop her soft hair.

XENA

Every step I took I figured to be my last.

I was angry... so angry.  Borias had

tried to warn me, but did I listen?

She chuckles bitterly.

XENA

(cont’d)

No.  I wanted wealth and power. 

He wanted safety.

Disgusted with herself, she shakes her head then resumes peering into the fire.

CUT TO:

EXT. STEPPES - EVENING - PAST

Xena runs for her life, zigging and zagging in a fruitless effort to outdistance her pursuers.  She spots a tiny copse of trees in the near distance and cuts toward them, hoping to lose the enemy in their shadowed mystery.

No more than three strides away, her feet are suddenly taken out from under her as a tow-rope with a stone on the end wraps itself around her legs, and she finds herself being dragged along behind a horse ridden by a huge, grinning Mongol.

She struggles to free herself as the rider pulls her up the hills and over rocks and thick prairie grass, but her efforts are useless.

With loud war-cries, the rest of the band surges past, leading the way home. 

XENA

(cont’d, present - voice over)

I'd lost my sword in the fight, but I still had

a few daggers. I tried sitting up enough

to cut the rope, but every time I tried, we'd

hit a rock or a hillock and I'd go down again.

Then I smelled water, and before I could prepare for it, I was being dragged through a river.  It was deep and rocky and I could feel myself bouncing from boulder to boulder.  I felt my shoulder dislocate. Then my arm snapped, but I managed to grab onto a large rock and hold on with all my strength. 

Somehow, maybe he was overconfident or thought me already dead, but the man lost hold of the rope, and suddenly, I was free.

Lifting her head, Xena takes in a deep breath of air, then releases the boulder and allows the river's strong current to take her downstream.  Arrows pierce the water around her, and one manages to lodge itself in her right leg, but she stays underwater for as long as she is able, counting on the coming night to help shield her position to the enemy.

XENA

(cont’d, present - voice over)

Some instinct told me to head for the bank

I'd just crossed, and I did.  A tree limb was

overhanging the water, and I grabbed it and

pulled myself to shore.  Arrows were flying

all around me, but I managed to get behind

the trunk of a tree and gather my strength.

Pulling the arrow from her leg free, Xena grits her teeth and uses the trunk to pull herself to her feet.  She stumbles, weakened from blood loss and pain and looks around, then limps deeper into the small forest.

XENA

(cont’d, present - voice over)

I was leaving a trail a blind man

could follow, but I thought of

nothing except trying to escape.

She reaches the edge of the wood and pauses behind another tree, looking cautiously around.  The night is silent and still, and she cocks her head, sniffing the air and listening.  Marshalling her rapidly draining strength, she steps out into the open.  At that moment, she is spied by a soldier and breaks into a shambling run, headed toward something she can just catch at the edge of her vision.

CUT TO:

EXT. TEMPLE - NIGHT - PAST

A small, blood-red temple stands in the middle of a tiny clearing.  Xena looks at it in surprise, permanent structures being rare in this area.  She drags herself toward the building and falls into the temple, then scrabbles about quickly, trying to find some way to defend herself against her pursuers.  There is nothing but barren floors, and she props herself against a column and stares out into the dark night, waiting.

Twenty or more mounted men burst into the clearing, then stop abruptly.  Their horses protest, bucking and neighing, but they come no further.  Xena thinks she can see fear in the men's eyes, but dismisses that as a trick of her overworked imagination. 

Then to her complete astonishment, the men wheel as one and gallop away from the temple as if the hounds of Tartarus were at their heels.

Xena leans against the stone column, unable to believe her good fortune.

Her injuries then catch up with her, and she sags to the ground, unconscious.

FADE OUT.

END OF ACT ONE

ACT TWO