Fortunately for turnips everywhere, it wasn�t to be.
Instead of the meager campfire he�d left - and the women he�d left with it - Joxer found a pair of braziers burning in front of a smallish but dark temple that didn�t seem to belong. Who has a temple out in the middle of nowhere? He mentally ticked off a list of gods who might inhabit a dark forest and found his stomach trying to creep out through his spine, followed quickly by his balls. Each one was worse than the last. And what if it wasn�t a Greek god? Joxer�s heart started to trip-hammer just a little. What if some other pantheon had set up shop here to spy on Olympus or something? Or a rogue god just waiting to pounce? A solid lump formed in his throat. What if it was Dahak!
Panic turned the woods around Joxer into a living, snarling thing for the longest few seconds of his life, until the common sense Xena and Gabrielle would swear to Chin and back he didn�t possess crept back in. He�d been in that toss-up with Dahak and doubted he would ever forget it. The foulness that the evil entity spewed into the air made every part of his body cringe and tingle. Right now, aside from a little nervous nausea and fatigue, he felt nothing. So he could scratch that off the list of possibilities. The Greek symbols and letters engraved on the steps ruled out another pantheon (unless they were trying to fool people, which seemed kind of dumb out in the middle of nowhere). And spying on Olympus would probably be a lot easier a little closer to Olympus. Which left Joxer right back where he started. Strangle little temple in a forest that wasn�t going to be any easier to navigate in the pitch-black night without a torch as a cloud passed over the moon. But the sky hadn�t been cloudy, had it? The moonlight dimmed another notch and he took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. "Guess I don�t really have much of a choice, do I?"
Screwing up his courage and strapping it down tightly, he made his way up the small, black stone steps. He kept his steps light and careful, since the stonework looked in need of repair. Funny enough, though, they supported his weight without crumbling. Didn�t even shift under his feet. Maybe it was the firelight throwing shadows., but they looked on their last prayer. The outer walls didn�t seem to be in much better shape, strange sorts of moss clinging to the stone and looking ready to choke the whole thing closed. Joxer wasn�t entirely sure moss couldn�t do that, either. If it was hanging around some god�s temple, maybe it was magic� charmed� enchanted� god-chanted? He could never figure out what to call it when a god stuck his or her juju all over something and made it behave for them. Thinking back on his own experience with that be-fuckered little bell, he was sure �cursed� was close enough.
Somewhere in the shrouded forest, a lone, hungry howl rose up, prompting the lone traveler to forget about curses and moss and book tail through the crumbling door arch. Whoever this god was, Joxer hoped that letting wolves eat him wasn�t going to be allowed inside their temple.
Inside wasn�t much different from outside, as it turned out. Great stalks of wild plants were pushing up through the cobbled floor stones. Cobwebs hung thick from the ceiling, clinging like frightened children to the pillars that supported the roof. General disarray seemed to be the theme. An altar, crumbling with age and neglect, lay at one end, no offerings present and old grime clotting the top surface. If he didn�t know better, he�d say the place was deserted. No prints marked the clutter and dust on the floor. No echoes of footfalls - Joxer actually stopped to listen and came up with nothing. Had it not been for the braziers outside, he�d doubt anyone had been there in years.
"Hello?" Only the echo of his voice answered him. Really weird. "I� didn�t mean to barge in, but it�s getting kinda cold outside and if it�s OK by you, I�d like to catch a little rest?" He made it a question just in case whoever was around wanted to give him the bum�s rush. "Hello? Hell-oOo�" Only his steps accompanied his voice as he slowly wandered through the smallish room.
Part 1 - In From The Cold
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