She looked up, a feral rage far beyond anything she had ever felt, filled her body until there was nothing but hatred. She could feel her mouth stretch and curl into the snarl of a wild beast as her broken body coiled. The soldiers came up from their places on the floor, running toward her, intent on the kill. Her nostrils flared. Blood scented the air. Her grin widened.

Flipping off the bed, she landed on her undamaged arms, using her shattered legs to level two of the soldiers with thundering kicks to the head. She sprawled back on the bed, her legs incapable of holding her upright. Another soldier came, and with a vicious side kick, she sent him across the room and into the blazing fireplace. The smell of charred flesh perfumed the room as his face burst into flames.

And still they came, yelling like savages. She grabbed one, broke his knee, and drew a sword across his neck, a feeling of almost sexual ecstasy coursing through her body. She threw back her head, reveling in it, letting it wash through her soul. She impaled another soldier through the guts with the same sword.

Still another came. She headbutted him, then grabbed his falling body, pulling it between her screaming legs. She felt herself using the technique Tovah …’M’Lila, her mind supplied again …had taught her. The soldier gurgled at her feet, paralyzed

“You’ll be dead in thirty seconds,” she found herself saying. “But know this. You won’t be the last. Tell Hades to prepare himself. A new Xena is born tonight. With a new purpose in life. Death.”

Her dream was fractured as Kael felt someone shaking her. Her eyes popped open. “M’Lila?” she whispered hoarsely to the woman standing above her.

Tovah cocked her head. “It’s Tovah,” she replied. “We need to go now. We just got word. The Americans are getting ready to bomb the military targets right outside of the city. We need to be out of the area before the bombs fall.”

The doors opened again, admitting Adellich who sported tousled hair and a three day growth of beard. He flashed a smile at Tovah and Kael. “Ah good. You’re up. I’ll have the men bring in the stretcher and we’ll stow you aboard the truck.”

“Wait,” Kael ordered as he turned back to the door.

“Yes?”

“Get these casts off me.”

Adellich turned completely around, his eyes wide with shock. He shot a glance to an equally alarmed Tovah before switching back to the reclining woman. “Say that again, please?”

“You heard me. Get these casts off me now.” Though she didn’t remember more than scattered threads of her dream, Kael was filled with a strong sense of foreboding.

“Are you crazy?” the medic asked, coming to stand beside the bed. “Your wounds are just starting to heal. You could cripple yourself permanently if I take these casts off now.”

“I realize that. I also realize that we’re about to go out into a war zone. There’s no way I’m going to ride in the back of a truck unable to defend myself and you. I’m a soldier. Now get these damn casts off of me or I swear by any god you name I’ll smash them apart.” The very air around her snapped with command.

Adellich looked at Tovah, who was looking intently at Kael. After a long moment, the commander nodded. “Do as she says.”

“Are you crazy too?”

“Do it. She knows what the dangers are.”

Throwing up his hands in disgust, the medic went into one of the back rooms, returning with several boxes of splints and the cast cutter. “I want to go down on record that I’m only doing this under the strongest protest.”

“So noted,” Tovah replied. “Now get to work. Please. We don’t have much time.”

Grumbling under his breath, Adellich set to work. Within a very few moments, all the casts had been removed. The medic noted with some shock that Kael’s wounds had healed abnormally fast. The swelling was gone completely and only residual bruising could be seen. An untrained eye would take her limbs for sound. He knew better.

Kael looked down at her freed hands, breathing deeply and straining to close them into fists. The pain was sharp but the gratification sharper. Grinning in triumph, she relaxed her tight muscles, allowing the medic to put both arms in molded plastic splints.

After Adellich had splinted her legs, Kael eagerly swung them off of the bed, only to be stopped by a strong hand to her shoulder. “Not so fast,” the medic said sharply. “Making a fist is one thing. Trying to stand on those shattered legs is quite another. Leave me some dignity as your physician and let the men carry you down to the truck, alright?”

After a moment, Kael relaxed against his grip and nodded. Grunting in satisfaction, Adellich ushered in the two litter-bearers, then helped Kael onto the stretcher. Retrieving a large pack filled with medical supplies, he nodded, encircling Tovah with one arm. “Alright then. Let’s get out of here.”

A short time later, Kael was stowed aboard the truck, her stretcher secured to one of the long benches by thick leather straps. Tovah and Adellich sat opposite the American on the other bench, clothed again in their accursed Republican Guard uniforms. Two submachine guns were stowed safely beneath the benches, out of direct sight but easily retrieved if needed. One of the litter bearers sat in the driver’s seat while the other went with his compatriots in a second purloined Iraqi truck.

The truck coughed loudly as it was started up, and with a rattle, the group made their way across the bomb blasted desert to a far off safe zone, each trapped within the dark well of their own thoughts.

16 August 1990. ~50 miles west of the boarder between Iraq and Saudi Arabia

The flight to freedom had been excruciating for the soldiers, especially those sitting in the back of the truck. Avoiding main thoroughfares and constantly streaming patrols of soldiers, Iraqi and allied alike, caused a merciless pounding on tender bodies.

Kael had finally fallen into a troubled, sweat-stained sleep about seven hours into the journey. Noting this, Adellich reached under the bench and removed his medical bag. Peering inside, he brought out a pre-filled syringe of Morphine.

“What are you doing?” Tovah asked.

“This has gotta be agony on her,” Adellich replied in a whisper. “She’d never ask for help while awake, so I figure I’ll give it to her when she’s asleep.”

Tovah snickered. “You always were known for your bravery, Ben.”

Pulling a face, the medic stood, supporting himself against the bench as the truck hit yet another deep rut in the desert. Straightening, he made his way across the truck bed, then lifted the light coverlet he’d placed over Kael’s reclining body. A quick swipe with an alcohol pad to her hip and the injection was administered.

Kael’s eyes shot open, her left hand moving in a blur and knocking the now empty syringe from the medic’s hand. “What are you doing?” she growled.

Adellich looked slightly sheepish as he rubbed his now bruised wrist. “Just giving you something for the pain.”

A sable eyebrow rose. “Did I say I was in pain?”

“You didn’t have to.”

Opening her mouth to say more, the American yawned instead. “You son of a bitch,” she mumbled as her eyelids betrayed her body’s signals to keep awake and aware.

“Relax,” the medic said, laying a gentle hand on Kael’s broad shoulder. “We’re almost there.”

” …kill you … .” was all Kael could say before her body gave in to the seductive call of the drug.

Tovah laughed as Adellich, still rubbing his wrist, rejoined her on the bench. “Can’t wait to see how you’re gonna get yourself out of this one,” she teased, patting the medic’s shoulder in mock sympathy.

“Don’t tease an injured man,” he grumbled, holding up his arm and asking for sympathy with his eyes.

“It was your own fault. You … .” Tovah cut off her words, stiffening her posture and cocking her head.

“What is it? Tovah?”

Tovah threw up a hand for silence, her hearing strained against the loud rumbling of the truck. The distinctive sound of semi-automatic weapons fire sounded uncomfortably close. Straining still further, she could pick up muffled shouts. More fire, and the truck came to a lurching halt.

“Shit,” Tovah whispered, reaching down for her concealed weapon.

“What is it? What’s wrong? Why are we stopping?”

“I’m not sure. Either the Iraqis found us out, or the allies think we’re the enemy. Either way, we need to be ready.” She nodded to him, then cut her eyes to the floor beneath the bench.

Taking a deep breath, Adellich bent over and retrieved his weapon, checking all the clips to be sure it was loaded and in proper working condition. He returned her nod, hefting the weapon. “What now?”

“Stay quiet and let me do the talking. Just get ready to fight if we need to. Keep an eye on Kael.”

“I can do that.”

The back flap of the truck was lifted by the long nose of a weapon. A masked figure, dressed in desert camouflage ducked underneath the flap, pointing his weapon at the occupants. “Put down your weapons and raise your hands above your heads!” the figure commanded in Arabic, gesturing at them with his gun to make sure his statements were understood.

Laying her weapon on the floor, Tovah straightened and lifted her hands above her head. “We have an injured soldier,” she replied in Arabic.

“I can see that,” the soldier returned. “Now get up slowly and come towards me. No funny stuff or I’ll blow your head off. You understand me?”

Tovah did as she was commanded, rising slowly and peering closely at the man’s uniform. She took a chance. “We’re not Iraqi,” she said, slowly walking toward the heavily armed soldier. “We’re allies.”

A harsh chuckle sounded from behind the mask. “Yeah, and my mother’s dining with the Queen next Sunday. Now shut up and move!”