When the deluge stopped, Xena gripped her sword again, now slimy with oil, and decided she didn't care for these people. With a sigh, she began to hack away again.

"Stop it! Stop it!" a frantic voice cried from the other side. "We'll open it! We'll open it! Just stop chopping the gate!"

There was a grinding of chains from the guard tower and slowly the gate lifted. On the other side were twelve armed guards, swords and armor gleaming coldly in the moonlight.

Xena grinned at them, hot oil still dripping from her helmet, and held up the salamander head by one of its horns. "Howdy boys. Just bringing a present for your King."

Twelve faces exchanged disbelieving glances. A plumed helmet stepped forward. "I must ask you to disarm yourself."

"Oh, I don't think so," Xena said, still smiling, resting the sword on her shoulder comfortably. "Why don't you just take me to the King."

The plumed guard swallowed, and nobody moved.

Xena shook some of the oil off the salamander head. "Listen, guys, I'm really tired. You've been wanting someone to kill the salamander, right? So I've done it. Problem solved. Now, I just want to go home. But I have to deliver this head to your King first, see? So why don't you just take me to him? I was here earlier ... with Princess Vakaerii and what's his name, Sir Meks. All you have to do is tell them I've returned."

The plumed guard snapped to attention and turned to his men. "Watch her," he commanded, then trotted smartly up the steps into the castle proper.

While they waited for him to return, Xena tried unsuccessfully to wipe some of the oil off her coat and gear. It smelled vaguely like dead fish. "Cool night, huh?" she said conversationally despite her steaming coat. "You just have the two moons or you got any others? Must do weird things to the tides, huh?"

They stared at her in silence.

She sighed. "Nice armor," she continued, then gave up with a shrug.

After what seemed like decades, the plumed guard reappeared and Xena was escorted into the King's audience hall. The King was sitting on a throne at the other end with Princess Vakaerii, looking miserable and unhappy, standing on one side and a strapping young man standing on the other. The white robed wizards were flocked behind the throne. Xena squelched her way down the length of the hall leaving a trail of smelly yellow oil on the marble floor, thankful that her boots provided good traction. She stopped before the throne and held up the head. "Your majesty, I have killed the salamander."

~to be continued~