Author: Smenzer
Rating: PG
Pairing: Ares/Gabrielle
Archive: Yes, please. Let me know if you take it, OK?
Teaser: This is Part 5 of Dragons of Despair
Disclaimer: The characters are not mine. They belong to Studios USA or
whoever owns the Rights to Xena: Warrior Princess. This is just for fun.
Ares backed up as Gabrielle began to change. He had never seen anything like
this before and it was a bit unsettling. He had only half believed her story,
although he had wished it were true. But now, he was unsure if he had done
the right thing in giving her his sword. He was being forced back further and
further as her expanding body demanded more room. If he did not move fast
enough, he would be crushed under heavy dragon flesh.
At first Ares hadn't noticed anything really significant. She had taken his
sword and he had felt the power drain as she shared his link to Olympus. But
he had expected that, so he was ready for it. Then the drain had increased as
she had begun to physically change.
First her skin had changed to a brilliant red and took on a scaly appearence.
Her fingers grew longer and curved black claws sprouted from the tips. Then
her face started to push out into a long snout. A snout Ares noticed was
filled with dozens of razor sharp teeth! Huge bat-like wings began to grow
from her back. They grew larger and larger until they seemed to fill the
cavern. Long curved horns extended from the top of her head and there was a
smaller horn on her nose. When the glowing red light from the bubbling magma
lake fell on her back, Ares noticed several pointed ridges. The ridges ran
down the center of her back all the way to the end of her tail. And by now
her tail was very long!
Ares pressed his back flat against the cave wall. The dragon lowered its huge
head. The tip of its snout was right in front of his chest. Hot puffs of gray
smoke rose from its nostrils and blew into his face. He coughed from the
sickening scent of sulfur and his eyes watered. Through the veil of smoke, he
could see two huge balls of fire: the dragon's eyes. They stared at him and
he shivered with fear. He felt too frightened to do anything. Gabrielle had
warned him it would be dangerous, but he had been so convinced that there was
nothing to be scared of. But he had never seen a creature like this! It's
head alone was between twenty-five to thirty feet long! And its body was at
least another hundred feet of hard-muscled flesh. Add another hundred or so
for the tail and you had a beast that even the mighty Zues would have
nightmares of!
The dragon snuffled at him and he felt an odd sensation inside his head. He
didn't quite know what to make of it. The next second he heard Gabrielle's
voice and the fear vanished. It was like a great weight was lifted off his
chest and he could breath again. The dragon still looked the same, but it
wasn't as bad anymore.
"Ares?" Gabrielle said inside his head. "Are you OK?"
"Yeah. Of course." he replied. He didn't want to tell her that his knees felt
weak and the wall was the only thing holding him upright. That would be bad
for his image. And he wanted to impress her. He rested a few more moments and
then stood up straight. His legs felt more solid now. "I'm just a bit
surprised how large you are. I didn't realize dragons were that big."
He could hear Gabrielle's laughter in his head. "So, I guess we're bonded
now?" he asked.
"Of course!" She answered. "You don't feel the dragon fear anymore, do you?
Of course not! Well, let's see if we can get out of here."
Ares watched Gabrielle as she used her powers. He wasn't sure what she was
going to do, but it didn't really matter. Just as long as they got out of
this stinking cave. He sniffed the air and frowned. He still smelled sulfur.
It took him awhile before he realized it was coming off his leather vest.
"Great. Just great."
Soon a portal appeared in the air. This portal was different than the other
one he was familar with. For one thing, it was not swirling around like a
fierce storm. Nor was it sucking him inside with the force of a tornado. No,
this portal appeared to be more stable. It looked like a golden doorway that
floated a few feet above the cavern floor. He was very impressed by
Gabrielle's skill. Not even Zues could create such a stable portal. Perhaps
they really did have a chance to defeat Dahok.
He stepped through the portal and the dragon followed him. How she got that
huge body through that little door he didn't know. But when he looked behind
himself Gabrielle was there and the portal was gone. Maybe it stretched?
"So, where are we? I don't recognize this place." Ares asked as he looked at
his new surrondings. It didn't look like the place between worlds where he
had met the Soverign. This place was....drab. The dry dust under his boots
was gray. The flat wasteland stretched in all directions as far as the eye
could see. Off in the far distance gray mountain ranges reached toward the
gray sky. Everything was the same flat color. He could see no trace of the
sun anywhere.
"This is one of the other planes." Gabrielle explained. "We'll cross this
plane far enough until we can enter our own world again. Think of it like
climbing a ladder to the second floor. You cross part of the second floor and
descend a different ladder back to the first floor. But you skipped over that
part on the first floor."
"Yeah, but this is the most weirdest place I ever saw. I'll be glad when
we're out of here." Ares began to walk and the dry gray dust was kicked up
into the air. It soon coated the bottom half of his black leather pants and
his boots. Ares was glad he didn't have to breath any of the stuff. Even the
air felt dry in his throat and he soon was thirsty. "How much longer until we
can leave this freaky place?"
He had just asked the question when a black blob appeared on the far horizon
in front of them. It zoomed toward them rapidly, its shape becoming more
distinct the closer it came. Ares saw it was some bizarre creature and it
didn't look friendly. It's body was a dark grayish-black cone. The bottom
part of the cone had circles and circles of teeth. He could see at least
three rows. It's mouth was wide open and the teeth seemed to move up and back
slightly, as if its lips were moving. A bunch of long tentacles waved around
the mouth while it floated it the air. It didn't have any wings that Ares
could see, it just hung there as if by magic. Nor did he see any eyes on the
creature.
"What the heck is that?" Ares asked as he drew his sword. Gabrielle had given
it back to him once they were bonded.
"It's a Plane Denizen." Gabrielle explained to Ares telepathically. "I had
hoped we wouldn't meet any. They seek out unlucky travelers for sources of
liquid."
"Great. The thing's a darn vampire." Ares took a warrior's stance and watched
the thing to see what it would do. He had no idea what abilities it had.
Maybe he wasn't a mortal, but his powers were a bit weaker than normal. He
had to share them with Gabrielle. He was following it carefully with his eyes
when the dragon used its breath weapon. The blast of it knocked Ares off his
feet. He landed flat on his back in the dust. His mouth drooped open in shock
at what he saw: a column of fire one-hundred feet long and twenty feet wide.
It made his fireballs look like the tiny flame on a candle. Even from here he
could feel the intense blast of heat. And the roaring! He feared going deaf
from the sound of it.
Ares climbed to his feet after Gabrielle stopped breathing fire. He dusted at
his black leathers, but it was useless. The gray dust clung to him. It was
everywhere, even in his hair. He walked over to the remains of the burnt
creature and poked it with his boot. "Nice job."
"They're weak against fire because it's so dry here." Gabrielle explained.
"We better leave before more show up. They can smell us from miles away."
Once again Gabrielle formed the golden doorway and they stepped through. Ares
was glad to be back home in Greece. They needed to make plans on how to
defeat Dahok. After that fire he saw her breath, he had no doubt that she
could win over the demon. If anyone could do it, it was his Gabrielle! "We
need to make plans." he told her.
"Yes, I know." Gabrielle replied. She used her powers and a huge saddle
appeared on the ground before Ares' feet. "Put it on my back."
Ares easily picked the saddle up and carried it to Gabrielle. But getting it
on her was a lot harder than he thought. First of all, she was so big and
long he wasn't sure where it was supposed to go! Luckily, she could twist her
head around to watch what he was doing. After numerous attempts, he finally
had the saddle strapped on the correct way. He had had to use his Godly
strength to get it tight enough. Gabrielle had insisted on it. She didn't
want him to fall off!
The saddle wasn't an ordinary one like you put on a horse. It had sides and
straps to go around the rider. Ares settled in the saddle and strapped
himself in. He didn't need a bridle because he could communicate with his
mount telepathically. Besides, a dragon was far better than a war horse! It
was even better than Pegasus!
Gabrielle leaped into the air and flapped her huge wings. Soon they were
airborne, flying over fields, rivers and forests. She saw a village below.
People were busy going here and there. She felt the urge to sweep down and
breath fire, but fought it. She had to remind herself that those days were in
the past. That this was not her old world. She could not demand that these
people give her their treasure. Most likely they didn't have any. Nor could
she demand their maidens. At the thought, her stomach rumbled loudly. If she
was going to stay in dragon form for long periods of time, she needed to eat.
Her mouth began to fill with saliva as she imagined a nice juicy cow. Several
cows.
Gabrielle was busy searching for a field of cows when something appeared in
the sky before her. At first she thought it was a large bird flying toward
her, but soon saw what it was.
"It's my show-off bro, Apollo." Ares said from Gabrielle's back. He was
truely enjoying riding his dragon. The cool wind whipped past and blew
through his wavy black hair. He had dreamed of riding a dragon for so long!
"Oh! This is going to be so good! Scare him good!"
Apollo was flying right at her on his golden board. He was looking behind
himself for some reason. She could see he was laughing. Gabrielle glanced
down and saw a village was on fire. No doubt Apollo had done it from the
safety of his flying board. Now he was making his escape. Hercules had told
her similar tales of the Sun God.
It mad her mad!
The Golden One must have sensed something, for he turned to look forward. His
eyes grew huge and his mouth opened to scream. The huge face of the red
dragon was just a few feet away. A loud shriek came out and Apollo tumbled
off his golden board sideways. His arms waved helplessly like a bird as he
plummeted through the sky toward an empty field far below. His board tumbled
end over end and followed him. He popped out the last second before he would
have hit the ground. His board, though, was not as lucky. It smashed into a
rock and exploded in a white cloud of Godly energy.
"Yes! Oh, that was so good!" Ares cried from Gabrielle's back in excitement.
"He is such a big JERK! He deserved that and a lot more."
Gabrielle wished they had not met Apollo. She had let the heat of the moment
get the better of her. Perhaps she should have flown above him. But she had
been angry and couldn't think straight. She would have to be more careful
with Dahok.
On Olympus, Zues listened to a frantic Apollo. He did not like what he had
heard. As far as he could tell from Apollo's gibberish, Ares has gotten
himself a dragon. He knew of his son's desire for his throne. Ares wanted to
be the King of the Gods. And all dragons dream of power. Zues' face twisted
in hatred and rage toward his son. How dare he plot against his own father!
He held up his hand and formed a round ball of lightning. Snarling, he flung
it against the nearest wall. The wall exploded in a cloud of rock and dust.