Slowly Gabrielle looked up at Xena running toward her.
Everything seemed to be in slow motion, and she couldn't quite
understand why Xena was carrying a small child. And why was blood
running down her legs and staining the sand with every step?

"Move Gabrielle!" Xena yelled at her. "Get the
bandages! What are you waiting for?"

Suddenly the fog lifted and Gabrielle realized what was
happening. By the time Xena reached her, Gabrielle had bandages and
the water skin ready.   Gently Xena laid Asa on a blanket
and began to examine the wound. She didn't like what she saw.
She looked up at Gabrielle, who also came to the same conclusion –
the boy was probably going to die. The stab wound was too deep and
he was bleeding too much. But despite that, Xena dressed the
wound, hoping for a miracle.

After the bandage was in place, Xena washed the blood off the
boy. Then she told Gabrielle to watch him while she went back to
site of the ambush to retrieve the bodies of Petras and Losam.

"You mean there was nothing there?" Gabrielle asked.

"Nothing but bloodstains. No bodies,  no bows, no
arrows, no swords. It's like nothing ever happened
there."

"Except for the bloodstains," Gabrielle added.

"Except for the bloodstains," Xena confirmed.

"Do you have any idea of who did it, or why?"

"Not really. At first I thought maybe they were slavers,
but they wouldn't have killed them."

"What about some religious cult? Maybe they were running
away from them."

"With all the evil Dahak unleashed, that's very
possible. But I doubt if we'll ever really know."

They were silent for a while, both watching Asa as he drew
ragged, painful breaths.

Finally Gabrielle said, "If I was still able to
Heal…."

"I know," Xena answered. And she watched as
Gabrielle's eyes began to fill with tears.  As
Gabrielle’s head began to bow, Xena realized that she had to
do something before she sunk back into the depression she had been
in for so long.

"I need you to tend to him for a while," Xena said as
she began to saddle Argo. "I'm going to find those
bastardly cowards. They're not going to get away with
this."

Before Gabrielle could protest Xena was riding off. 

Gabrielle watched Xena ride off until long after she was out of
sight. Then slowly she allowed herself to look at her patient, not
realizing she was searching for signs of fever, or thirst, or
pain. Asa awoke several times, and each time Gabrielle was
there with the water skin to give him a drink, if only a swallow or
two.