As the meeting broke up Gander walked over to where Xena and Gabrielle were standing and talking between themselves.

     "I don't like interrupting," Gander said, "but ..."

     "That's all right." Xena replied. "What's on your mind?"

     "If you would excuse us for a few minutes, Xena, there are a few things I'd like to discuss with Gabrielle."

     The two women looked questioningly at one another for a moment.

     "All right," Xena said, curiosity written all over her face.

     Gander turned to Gabrielle.

     "Shall we take a bit of a walk?" he asked.

     "OK" Gabrielle said and the two of them headed in the direction of the forest. Once they were out of ear-shot Gander began speaking; hesitantly at first.

     "Gabrielle ... I may have certain powers and skills but I'm not sure I am going to be able to say what I believe I need to say as gracefully as I might like. So let me start off by saying that as a friend you have become very dear to me. This being the case I would never wantonly say or do anything to hurt you in any way. I hope you believe me."

     "Yes. ... Of course I do," Gabrielle said with a combination of concern and confusion plain on her face.

     "Good," said Gander. "The first thing I need is to ask you just how closely you were listening when I told everyone of the nature of the enemy we are going to have to face?"

     "Very closely," Gabrielle replied.

     "You know, Gabrielle, one of the most wonderful things about you, which makes yours a truly beautiful spirit, is the fact you have never taken a human life. Granted you have been in an almost unbelievable number of scrapes; usually watching Xena's back. And doubtless there are a great many who have ended up hearing bells and walking bow- legged for a month after tangling with you and your staff. But the most wonderful story I ever heard about you, personally, was that even after you were most horribly provoked, you made the conscious decision not to kill.

     "I refer, of course, to your confrontation with the beautiful but terribly deranged Callisto who coldly butchered you husband."

     He could see what he'd just said had a potent effect. Tears began running freely from her eyes and down her cheeks. Her lips and chin were trembling. He loathed what this line of conversation was doing to her but he had to go on with it for her own sake.      

     "The hate and the blood-lust you experienced then must have been indescribable. You, quite understandably, vowed to kill her. But when the time came, when the opportunity presented itself, when you had the deadly blade at Callisto's throat, and at terrible risk to your own life, you spared her.

     "And this decision of yours was not couched in personal fear. It was not cowardice which stayed your hand Gabrielle. I think we both know why you refrained from making the lethal strike: ... It was love.

     "The love of life which resides at the deepest, innermost, level of your spirit. You were then, as you are now; the complete opposite of that sick, miserable, creature who's life you spared.

     "It is this which I find most admirable in you. This is why I value you and your friendship as highly as I do. But given the present circumstances this otherwise wonderful trait of yours is also the one thing which is causing me to be greatly concerned for your personal safety."

     "Why?!" she demanded, tears streaming down her face.

     "Do you recall what Xena said about giving no quarter only a little while ago? Did you see the look in her eyes, ... the expression on her face, ... as she spoke those two, terrible, words?"

     "Yes. Yes I did." Gabrielle said, speaking in a choked whisper.

     "Then," said Gander, in an equally quiet voice, "you will understand why I must ask you this one question. ... When we launch our attack or, if we must, give battle to a large force of Kuhlamann's men, ... is there anything I might say to persuade you to remain here and take charge of the defense of the settlement?"

     Turning her now tear streaked face up to his she looked into his eyes.

     "I know you mean well Gander and I appreciate your concern for me. But Xena is my best friend. Where she goes I go. What happens to her happens to me. This is how it has always been and how it must continue to be. If anything happened to her and I wasn't with her ..."

     Gabrielle couldn't finish what she was about to say and Gander could see she was still struggling to retain control of herself.

     "Very well Gabrielle. I will never put such a question to you again. However I am going to extract a promise from you."

     "Just what sort of a promise," she asked.

     "I will nag you from now to the end of eternity, if needs be, but you are going to promise me solemnly to take advantage of every bit of protection I can provide for you!"      

     She hesitated for several long moments but seeing both dreadful concern and iron- clad determination in the Wizard's face she finally nodded her head.

     "Yes. I will. I promise," she said.

     "Good," said Gander with a good natured grin, though he was no less worried than before. "Now go wash those tears from your face. They don't really belong there anyway. Besides. The last thing Xena needs now is something more to worry about. Agreed?"      

     "Yes." she said with a weak smile.

     "All right then," he said. "Off with you and let this poor, tired, old Wizard get back to work."

     Gander was certain of one thing. If anything were to happen to Gabrielle it would truly break his heart and it would, most assuredly, do far worse to Xena. Since Gabrielle would not be separated from Xena, even in what she had to know would be an extremely deadly situation, Gander was determined to provide her with every means of protection he could possibly contrive.

     Once back in his work area, just inside the forest, he rolled up his sleeves and went to work with a will. Those light sleepers unfortunate enough to be bedded down nearby were to be awakened more than once during the night by the sounds and brilliant flashes of light caused by his near desperate manufacturing efforts.

     Gander was not the only one working through the night though. A number of the village men were also occupied in fabricating the carts Maadrik would need to transport the weapons they were providing for his people. It had been decided, if it was at all possible, to get him on his way by the˙ next afternoon. They all knew the Wizard was correct; time could be running out for them. They would have to launch their strike against Kuhlamann soon. If they failed to do so there could be a terrible price to pay.

     By early afternoon of the next day the exhausted workmen had completed what had, at first, seemed an impossible task. Three sturdy carts stood ready, piled high, with the tools of death and destruction the Wizard and Akress had promised to Maadrik. Swords, shields, spears, bows, and quivers of arrows; glittering in the bright afternoon sunlight.

     Akress, Xena, Gabrielle, and the others were gathered around Maadrik to bid him farewell when Gander approached lugging a huge sack much longer and wider than usual.            "Good," he said. "Your all here and I can't think of a better time to make this presentation."

     None of those assembled could figure out what he was talking about but they remained silent and watched expectantly as Gander carefully laid the sack on the ground and reached inside of it.

     "Gabrielle." he said. "Come here."

     For the life of her she couldn't figure out what the Wizard was up to but she gamely stepped forward to stand in front of him.

     "You do remember your promise of yesterday?" Gander said. It was not a question but a statement.

     "Yes," Gabrielle said, nodding her head.

     The first thing Gander drew from the over-sized sack was a set of perfectly shaped, steel, greaves with jointed covers for her feet attached at their bottoms. Where they would come in contact with her skin they were well padded.

     Saying not a word Gander bent over, with some difficulty, and strapped them in place. Reaching from just below her knee down to the top of her feet, they had appeared cumbersome. But with them in place Gabrielle found them to be unbelievably light. Walking about and assuming a kneeling position she discovered they didn't interfere in the least with her movements.

     The next item Gander withdrew from the sack was a skirt not unlike the one Xena wore but it was made to fit Gabrielle perfectly. It was comprised of a number of long, rectangular, panels of thick, dark brown, leather. Riveted to each of these panels were light, narrow, strips of brass; each of them highly polished. This was intended to give her thighs at least some protection. Once this was in place Gander invited Gabrielle to move about to make sure of the fit and to be certain it didn't bind her or limit her movements in any way. It didn't.

     The next thing he pulled from the sack was body armor. Very much the same as that of the Romans, it was made in two pieces, hinged with leather straps on either side of the neck opening. Its front was appropriately contoured to accommodate the feminine form but the most stunning part of the breast plate was a full length likeness of the goddess of the Amazons. Every detail had been painstakingly carved from solid brass.

     The whole thing had looked heavy and uncomfortable. But strapped in place it fit her perfectly and was far lighter than she'd expected. So far every piece of the steel armor had been carefully polished to a mirror brilliance and the next piece was no different.      

     This was a helmet which was configured to protect her cheek bones, ears, and the back of her neck but this was not what took her breath away. What stunned Gabrielle and caused Xena's jaw to drop was the mask.

     Attached in such a way as to permit it to be raised and lowered at will, was an exact duplicate of the mask of the Queen of the Amazons. Somehow Gander had molded it perfectly in steel; then set off each detail with thin molded strips of brass.

     "You don't speak of it," said the Wizard, "and you don't use the title. But in the coming battles you will wear this armor, and symbols of rank, which are rightfully yours as Queen of the Amazons."

     Always one to enjoy the theatrical Gander proceeded to ask Gabrielle to hold her staff, by one end, straight out in front of her. So far things had been happening very fast and she didn't know what to expect next. But she did as Gander had asked.

     As she extended her staff in front of her Gander, with a speed which surprised even Xena, pulled one of the Sorcerer's black swords from under his cloak. First striking upward, then downward, using both of the weapons edges, in a matter of a few seconds he had reduced Gabrielle's staff to no more than a stump. The pieces, each cut through cleanly, lay on the ground like so much chopped up sausage.

     Gabrielle stood frozen, her eyes wide, her mouth open, in shocked surprise.

     "This sword," said Gander, "made by the Sorcerer, is inferior to the ones now carried by our people. Their swords, in turn, are inferior to the one Xena carries. Your staff, now laying at your feet in small pieces, would have done you no good at all in a fight with the Sorcerer's troops. But this is the last time you will have to find a replacement."      

     Saying this he reached down and removed from the sack a staff; closely resembling his own two staffs. It was as long as Gabrielle's had been but a little heavier.

     Like Gander's staffs this one had solid brass caps at either end. The wood itself had been stained every bit as dark as the Wizard's staffs and polished to just as beautiful a shine. But, unlike his, her staff had three gripping areas formed by fine checkering carved into the wood. One grip was precisely centered while the other two had been carved, at just the right points on the staff, on either side of the central grip.

     Then Gabrielle saw another difference between the Wizard's staffs and the one he'd just given her. Jutting up from the top of one of the brass caps was a sort of knob. It too was obviously solid brass and appeared to be less than an inch thick and about three inches long. At first glance it seemed a solid, decorative, part of the rest of the cap. But on closer examination she made out the faintest hint of perfectly circular line around the base of the knob.

     "What's this?" she asked suspiciously.

     Gander had to laugh out loud.

     "I wondered how long it would take you to spot that," he said.

     "What is it?" Xena asked as she came closer to examine the cap.

     "That," said Gander, "is a little something to dissuade anyone from attacking Gabrielle from behind.

     "Come out and meet your mistress," he said quietly, gently touching the brass knob.

     With this the knob jumped up and out of the cap. Floating in air before Gabrielle, was a tiny replica of Sting's' three edged blade. But where Sting sported a blade three quarters of a cubit in length this blade was really quite short.

     "Gabrielle," said Gander, "may I present 'Spike?"

     At this the little weapon did exactly as the much larger version had done upon their first meeting. It bowed to her.

     "Spike," the Wizard continued, "this is Gabrielle, rightful Queen of the Amazons and your new and permanent mistress. I charge you," he intoned, "to serve, obey, and above all, protect her, now and forever."

     For several moments Gabrielle gazed at it, fascinated by the small, magical, blade.

     Then, tentatively, she said, "You can go back now."

     Instantly the little weapon slipped silently back in place.

     "Will he ... er ... it ... fall out," she asked.

     "No Gabrielle. While you may pull him out in the ordinary way, if you wish, he won't budge for anything or anyone else ... unless you tell him to."

     Then another question came to her mind.

     "Will he, ... it, ... 'Spike', ... kill?"

     "As a general rule," Gander said, "no. As you have seen the blade is very short. There are only a few vital areas, on a man's body, his point could reach. But he is certainly plenty long enough to keep anyone quite interested in his doings until you can turn to meet and deal with the threat yourself.

     "However there is an exception to the rule. If you are ever wounded, or rendered unconscious, or are otherwise unable to defend yourself: In such a case there are a few lethal points, on the human anatomy, he can reach. Spike knows exactly where they are and he will find them if necessary.

     "If you are ever down and helpless, Gabrielle, anyone making the slightest aggressive move in your direction will be done to death by Spike and you won't have any say in it. Your attacker's death will be solely my responsibility and if there is any reason for guilt ... that too will be mine to bear.

     "So, just to be on the safe side, I suggest you have Spike pop out again and introduce him to everyone else; starting with Xena. In the heat of battle it will be too late. Anyone not known by Spike to be a friend, who comes near you while you're down, will be in serious danger: I jest with thee not!"

     On the one hand Gabrielle felt a bit self-conscious addressing the tiny weapon as though it were a person. But when the magical little blade popped up from the top of her staff no one was laughing. There was no doubt of the seriousness of the Wizard's warning and all present regarded the diminutive, but extremely dangerous, weapon with respect and not a little awe.