TEASER

FADE IN

Long shot of a small rocky island in the middle of the ocean. The camera zooms in closer, and we see three hideous she-monsters. They have bodies like dragons with large wings and long tails, deep greenish scales covering their bodies. Their eyes are red and they have slithering snakes for hair. One of the monsters opens her jaws and makes a sound midway between a roar and a screech.

From the sky, a man dressed in leather armor, a black cape draping over his shoulders, a bronze cap on his head swoops down toward them on winged sandals. In one hand he holds a sword and in the other he holds a polished bronze shield.

When he gets closer, he moves over the monsters, but never looks at them, only at their reflection in the shield. He flies directly in front of one, but there is no reaction--the cap he wears conceals him from their eyes.

The monster in the middle screeches again, and the man aims his sword down at her head. With a single swipe, he cuts through its neck. The head falls to the rocks and rolls; the other two monsters shriek in rage and grief, unable to see the attacker. Avoiding their blindly swiping tails and talons, the man flies down low enough to seize the head.

The monsters howl while the man flies off, the head in his hand. Then, the headless body of the slain monster begins to shake. A white light shines from the blood that trickles out of its neck. In a burst of light and sparks, a white winged horse springs out of the monster's neck and flies high up into the air.

Its movements are graceful, almost floating on the wind. Its body is the purest white, its wings made of white feathers and its body is glowing with a white aura. The winged horse rears up in the air, whinnying loudly, and then flies off.

CUT TO

A forest clearing, a blue mist blowing over the land by a calm breeze. The magic steed appears from above the trees and gently lands on the ground.

Directly under the spot where it lands, a spring, as clear and blue as the sky, appears and begins to flow, filling the area of ground around the animal. The horse flaps its wings briefly and paws the ground before beginning to drink from the spring.

CUT TO

Xena is riding Argo and Gabrielle is riding a white and gray speckled horse through a thin birch forest. Somewhere, a chorus of frogs starts up.

GABRIELLE:
     Xena, I think we took a wrong turn back there.

XENA:
     Oh, really? (a tint of humor in her voice) Why would you say that?

At that moment, Argo's front legs sink almost to the knees in a hidden bog--Gabrielle wheels her horse aside while Xena vaults backwards off Argo's back and grabs her reins.

GABRIELLE:
     Well, for one thing, we're in a swamp.

Xena manages to persuade Argo back onto solid ground and gets back in the saddle.

GABRIELLE:
     And I don't think horses are going to be of much use here...

XENA:
     Not unless they could fly. (pause) And you did say you wanted a change of scenery.

GABRIELLE:
     Well, I've been to Lycia before--traveled there every few years with my family when I was young--and I don't ever remember traveling through a swamp to get there. So this must be the scenic route.

XENA (looks around):
     I assumed that this would be a shortcut. Guess I was wrong. I'm not perfect, you know.

GABRIELLE (grins):
     Really?

Xena gives her a mock glare.

GABRIELLE:
     Well, I hope we don't get stuck here for too long. King Iobatas is expecting us. Must be something important.

Xena kicks Argo a little harder and she starts off in a brisk trot, hooves splashing in the puddles. Gabrielle follows. Then a large white object flies above them at amazing speed and they stop their horses instantly to get a look at what it is. It flies above them so fast that they hardly have time to distinguish what it is, but it creates a massive shadow on them as it goes over.

GABRIELLE:
     Was that a bird? (thinks for a second) No. It couldn't be. It was too huge. (grins at Xena) Hey, maybe it's your flying horse!

XENA:
     Oh, great. Wave it down and maybe it can get us out of here.

GABRIELLE:
     Ha, ha.

XENA:
     C'mon. You said yourself you wanted to get to Lycia as soon as possible. Maybe that thing that just flew over us, whatever it was, has something to do with why Iobatas called us here.

GABRIELLE:
     Maybe.

Xena clicks her tongue and is off again. Gabrielle takes one more quick look at the sky before following Xena.

CUT TO

Xena and Gabrielle enter the city gates of Lycia. As they ride to the streets, the people around them seem to be going about their daily lives, yet there is some tension in the air. As they pass through a marketplace, they notice that many vendors' carts are nearly empty. Others display various goods--food, clothing, weapons, jewelry--but few people seem to be buying anything; they merely come up, shake their heads and move on.

Gabrielle and Xena exchange a worried look, then speed up.

CUT TO

The royal castle. A guard ushers Xena and Gabrielle into the throne room, where King Iobatas is seated upon his throne. He is a well-groomed, slightly smarmy man in his late fifties or early sixties.

XENA:
     King Iobatas.

Iobatas stands up and smiles, proceeding to take her hand and raise it to his lips. Xena looks unimpressed.

IOBATAS (still holding Xena's hand):
     Xena. I'm so glad you came. I was worried that you hadn't received my message. (he finally releases Xena's hand). Few of my couriers are willing to brave the roads out of the city these days.

XENA:
     Why's that?

IOBATAS:
     Lycia is in terrible danger. We would have called Hercules for help but we haven't been able to reach him. You, as many people have said, would be the next best thing.

XENA:
     Stop, you're embarrassing me.

IOBATAS (completely missing the sarcasm):
     Ah, you are as modest as Hercules himself.

GABRIELLE (to Xena, quietly):
     Hercules is still in this business? Isn't he a little old for that now?

Xena shrugs.

GABRIELLE:
     What kind of danger?

IOBATAS:
     A monster, a hideous monster terrorizes the people of the city and will destroy Lycia if it is not dealt with soon. Most of the roads to the city are now too dangerous for traders without an armed escort, and things are only getting worse. If Lycia isn't destroyed outright, the monster will surely starve us out of hearth and home.

GABRIELLE (frowns):
     This monster--can it...fly?

Iobatas looks down at her for a moment, as if he finds the question ridiculous.

IOBATAS:
     If the monster could fly, it would hardly have stopped at besieging our city.

GABRIELLE (under her breath):
     I'll take that as a 'no'.

XENA:
     So what does this hideous, non-flying monster look like?

Iobatas swallows in visible fear, his eyes darting from Xena to Gabrielle and back.

IOBATAS:
     We call it the Chimaera.

Gabrielle and Xena glance at each other and then back at the king as we:

FADE OUT

END OF TEASER