FADE IN Black screen. Xena's painful wails are heard. FADE TO
FLASH TO Night, under a full moon. Xena's ululating war cry is heard. CUT TO A sword slashes across the screen. Pull back to show Xena fighting in the dark interior of a temple, the moonlight shinning down over her from a window high above. She is fighting several warrior women all at once, dodging one strike from a warrior on one side only to turn and parry a blow from a warrior behind her. The chakram is in one hand, the sword in the other. The warriors are in silver, black and blue. Xena slices one of the warriors across her side with her sword and she falls, having little time to block the blow and dying almost instantly. Xena pulls her bloody sword from the fallen warrior and attacks the other warriors as they come at her from all sides, swinging left and right. Xena's fierce and violent, her rage and hatred building as her fighting becomes more precise and more deadly accurate. She has no intention of leaving anyone alive. She stabs one of the warriors in the chest with the sword in one hand, and then slices the chakram across the neck of another warrior. Both of them die. She attacks the final warrior who charges at her, screaming, and after a few swings--and Xena dodging the blow from the warrior woman's sword that passes just over Xena's head as she ducks--Xena stabs the warrior woman in the side. She cries out and goes down. Breathing hard, Xena looks up, the dead warriors around her. Ahead of her, Artemis sits on the throne of her temple, her eyes dark and menacing. Their eyes lock. Xena snarls and takes her chakram and screams, hurling it toward Artemis. Artemis sits still as the chakram flies toward her neck--but just before it reaches its target, Artemis disappears. In the same instant, Artemis appears behind Xena with a sword and swings it. Sensing someone behind her, Xena whirls around, meeting Artemis' sword with her own. They begin to spar. The buzz of the chakram is heard in the background as it ricochets around the temple. Artemis throws all her weight toward Xena and is able to push her back. Xena does not lose her footing but she's momentarily stunned. The sound of the chakram grows louder. Xena knocks Artemis back, somersaults over her head and kicks her in the back, knocking her down. Xena turns to Artemis as the chakram flies back toward her. The camera zooms in on her for a medium close-up as she catches the chakram. FLASH TO Xena jerks awake from her bedroll, breathing hard, sweat on her forehead. She sits up and closes her eyes to regain herself after the nightmare. She's in a campsite in the forest (the same one from the end of The Power and the Glory II), just after sunrise. Sighing, she lies back down staring up at the trees, and then rolls over. Ares is not beside her the way he had been the night before. His bedroll is gone. Frowning, she looks around and sees that Gabrielle is gone, too, as well as her bedroll. CUT TO Gabrielle is sitting on a log amongst some trees. She is writing in a scroll, pausing a few moments to think and then resuming. Footsteps are heard behind her. CUT TO The point of view of the person coming up, seeing Gabrielle from the back as she continues to write. CUT TO The shadow of the person falls across Gabrielle's shoulders. GABRIELLE (still looking down at the scroll): Pull back to show Xena standing behind her, still barefoot and only wearing her leather shift and no armor (but holding her chakram). XENA (smiles): GABRIELLE (turns back to look at Xena, also smiling a little): XENA: GABRIELLE (shrugs, looking down at her scroll): XENA (follows Gabrielle's gaze): GABRIELLE (looks down at the scroll in her lap): Xena frowns slightly, noticing Gabrielle's hesitation. She sits down beside Gabrielle and puts her hand over Gabrielle's in a comforting gesture. After a moment, Gabrielle squeezes Xena's fingers and they hold there, in silence. She hears the whinny of a horse and looks up. Ares walks up between some trees, leading his horse and stops. GABRIELLE (to Xena): Xena looks across Gabrielle toward Ares. He's lifted the front leg of his horse, inspecting the shoe. XENA (thoughtful): Gabrielle watches her thoughtfully in a moment of silence. Xena gives her another squeeze to the shoulder and stands, walking toward Ares. CUT TO Ares lets go of Quirinus' foot and pats the horse's neck. Xena comes up. XENA (smiles): Ares looks back at her. XENA (stepping up to him, teasing): Ares chuckles a little, then grows serious, stepping up to her. ARES: Xena glances over, seeing Klio and Argo already saddled and ready for travel, food packed for a meal on the road. She looks back at him. ARES (continues): Xena puts her fingers to his lips to silence him, the hand displaying the stone ring. XENA (determined but gentle): She removes her fingers from his lips and lowers her hand to his chest, resting it over his heart. XENA: He can't help smiling. She smiles, too. DISSOLVE TO A ship sailing over the water. DISSOLVE TO Shoreline. The ship pulls into a small port near a cliff. On the bow of the ship, Darion stands by the railing still looking out to sea and Gabrielle walks up behind him. Xena and Ares can be seen standing in the background. Darion looks up. The morning sky is a deep color of reds and oranges, the color faintly reflecting down into the water. DARION: GABRIELLE (touches his shoulder gently): She pauses for a moment, and then sees part of a golden temple glowing in the light of the sun on the top of the cliff in front of them. Xena and Ares walk up beside her and look in the same direction. Then several warrior women are seen running around the side of the cliff, chasing a few simple villagers. The warriors catch up to them and attack as the people try to get away. Xena's eyes widen. She glances at Gabrielle briefly who nods and then goes into action. Even as the ship is pulling into the port and the anchor is being released, Xena takes a few steps back and then takes a running leap off the bow of the ship, somersaulting several times in the air before landing in the wet sand. She draws her sword as she charges. From the ship, Gabrielle watches. It begins to rain. GABRIELLE (distant, holding Darion closer): FADE OUT END OF TEASER |