Xena, what does this herb look like?
A mushroom... Just a plain old mushroom.
I think this is it.
You're telling me that this is going to help you with morning nausea...
That's what they say. Come on. Gimme. Gimme.
All right.
Well...
Bottom's up.
Some warrior, huh?
You look beautiful.
- You do! - I feel like a slug.
A pregnant slug.
You're happy, Xena.
- Oh, yeah? - Yeah. You know how I know?
No.
'Cause it's the only time you make fun of yourself.
Well, maybe I'm happy 'cause I know I don't have to go through this alone.
I'm not eating mushrooms.
- Gabrielle... - You ok?
Yeah...
Yeah, I think it was just a cra...
Do I take you to a healer?
Come on! Bring her in quickly!
Gabrielle!
- Gabrielle! - Right here.
Something's gone wrong.
Something's wrong.
How far along is she?
About a season.
Get me something!
Give her something!
Get it off me!
I've never seen anything like this!
Get it off me!
Get it off! Get this off me!
Gabrielle...
- Gabrielle. - Hey, you're just dreaming.
- It's ok. - When your friend brought you in...
you were in considerable pain.
I gave you a sedative.
My baby...
I can't find anything physically wrong with you or your child.
The best thing for both of you now... is bedrest.
A trader told me he saw you come in here. Are you ok?
Yeah, she just needs more sleep.
What are you doing?
Yakut...
She'll know what to do.
Who's Yakut?
Shamaness.
Leader of the Northern Amazons.
The Northern Amazons?
Is that a long journey for a pregnant woman to take?
That was no dream I had.
It was a premonition.
Something's trying to kill my baby.
In a time of ancient gods...
...warlords...
...and kings...
A land in turmoil cried out for a hero...
She was Xena...
a mighty princess, forged in the heat of battle...
...The power...
...The passion...
...The danger...
Her courage will change the world...
Them Bones, Them Bones
Welcome, Xena. We've been expecting you.
Let me guess... She saw it in some kind of vision.
In fact I did.
It's good to see you again, Yakut.
Come.
We have much work to do.
Your child is being drained of its life-force in the spiritual realm.
Tell me what you saw.
The entity that stalks your child, Xena,...
bears the mark of the shamaness.
You know who it is, don't you?
Alti.
I wanna tap into the heart of darkness...
The sheer, naked will behind all craving,...
hatred and violence.
I'll become the face of death itself...
Capable of destroying not only...
a person's body, but their soul.
But Xena killed Alti.
That's why she can only attack through the spiritual realm.
Wait a minute.
I'm still a little confused on this whole spiritual realm thing.
Nature is composed of several plains of reality, Amarice,...
and they're all united by one thing...
- The mind. - Oh, yeah, that explains it.
Think of it this way...
In the day, when you're awake...
is one reality.
At night, when you dream, is another.
And what all these realities have in common...
is your awareness of them.
Then how do we kill someone that we can't see?
Xena is preparing to do battle with Alti in her realm...
but I'm afraid in her condition...
she won't win.
Then I guess I have to convince her to let me go.
No.
I have seen Alti rip the hearts out of people that I love.
I'm not going to take that chance with you.
Xena...
We don't have a choice.
I was there in India. I know who we're dealing with.
I might not have the strength to stop Alti, Gabrielle,
but I can stop you.
Xena...
I love your baby like it were my own.
I will do anything I have to to fight for its life
and I deserve that chance as much as you do.
Let me.
Looks like you're going to learn the ways
of the shamaness sooner than I thought.
The ritual of crossing over...
To do battle with Alti on the spiritual plane
you must be unified with one who's recently passed over.
Choose a creature of the forest.
This being, killed with a ceremonial dagger of a shamaness,...
will be your bridge to the realm of souls.
Just as daughter becomes mother...
the student becomes the teacher.
Their strength will be their unity.
Their courage will be their guide.
Give me your hand.
The stag's blood mingled with your own
will carry you across to the other side.
My blood mixed with yours...
will be your link to the physical world.
When you drink, you will begin to cross over.
Carry the dagger with you.
On no account should you let go of it.
It's our only chance to kill Alti in the spiritual realm.
If we can destroy her there, we destroy her soul.
I understand.
Remember, don't let go of the dagger.
I won't.
Xena, don't let go of me.
Never.
Xena's little bitch...
Welcome to the doghouse.
You see, things aren't exactly the way they are in your realm.
Use your dagger, Gabrielle.
Here, the strongest mind wins.
Keep goin', Gabrielle.
Your war is with Xena, not her child!
You've got me all wrong.
I don't wanna hurt the baby any more than you do.
I need it to be born.
Fortunately, I don't need you.
You have the dagger. Use it.
Alti...
All right, Gabrielle, that's enough. Come back, now.
All right, that's enough!
I'm gonna count to ten.
And during this, you will feel your body shutting down.
Your heart will stop. You will cease to breathe.
And at the count of ten...
you will die.
I want you back here! Gabrielle, you can do no more good!
One.
Can you hear me?
Two.
Three.
Four.
Sharp pains in your arms as your blood pressure lowers.
Six.
Your brain is screaming. Seven.
Gabrielle.
Eight.
Alti's not gonna defeat us this time. Come on, Gabrielle.
Nine.
One more count and you will be dead.
Gabrielle, this is not your destiny. Come on.
Ten.
Come on, Gabrielle!
No.
Come on.
No. Come on.
I gotcha... I gotcha.
I gotcha now.
Don't you ever do that again.
You never do that again.
I failed.
You made it a back in one piece, didn't you?
Believe it or not, I feel a whole lot now.
You managed to buy us some time.
There's something else.
Alti doesn't want to hurt your baby.
She wants it to be born.
What does that mean?
Alti wants to steal my baby's soul.
She wants to replace it with her own.
I'll try again.
No, you barely made it back the last time.
Yakut...
You remember the burial ritual for souls?
That ritual never worked, Xena.
Well, unless you got a better idea, we've got no choice.
The tree of amber grows in the temple of Chi'ah.
If we can get our hands on some of it, we can use it to cover Alti's remains.
How will that stop her?
When the amber hardens, it will trap Alti's soul.
Sounds easy enough.
All right, we'll split up. Yakut, you come with me.
We're going to go and dig up Alti's grave.
Gabrielle, I want you and Amarice to go to the temple.
Bring back some of the amber.
A word of warning...
The tree is guarded by an Amazon mystic named Chi'ah.
She has the power to see the truth in your heart.
You may lie to yourself, but you can't lie to Chi'ah.
I'm ready.
Then what are we waiting for?
We're close.
She knows we're coming.
Something wrong?
No.
It's you I'm worried about, Xena.
There aren't many women in the world who can carry both child...
and weapon with equal grace.
And yet, I sense that your heart is not yet fully committed to motherhood.
Part of me wants this child so bad,
that I'm counting the days till I have it.
Another part of me wonders if bringing a child
into this world is the right thing to do.
It's not even born yet and already it's suffering.
- And you blame yourself? - Of course.
It's my child. It's my responsibility.
You're right.
Do you remember the story of the world tree?
Of course.
Shaman elders believe that at the golden navel of the Earth
there is a tree that has more branches
than even the gods can count.
And on these branches, perch the souls of unborn children.
The part I didn't tell you...
is that when a mother finally accepts what she is about to become...
the child will send her a message in the form of a dove.
And what does it say?
"Thank you."
You've come a long way since I first met you.
I wish that were true.
The skull's missing.
We've come all this way to rob a...
grave.
This is all my fault.
I wanted to harvest Alti's power to use it for good.
I needed her skull for my ritual...
but all I did was unleash her soul.
And now you and your baby are paying the price.
I'm so ashamed... I didn't wanna disappoint you.
Disappoint...
You don't want to disappoint me...
Yakut, my friend almost died yesterday.
I know.
That's why I wanna finish what you two started.
Let me face Alti myself.
No! We stick to the plan!
Yakut...
Yakut, what do you think you're doing?
- I thought you were hurt! - I'm ok.
I wanted to defeat Alti myself.
I needed your forgiveness.
I've always wanted to be inside of you, Xena.
Xena?
It's such a pleasure to see you again, Xena.
Or should I call you... Mommy?
There aren't many guarantees in life, Alti...
but I promise you this.
If you harm my child...
I will hound you.
I will hound you throughout all time in between worlds.
I will be your eternal damnation.
Well, at least we'll be together again.
I've so missed these intimate little moments...
I'd kill myself before I let your soul replace my child's.
Tempting...
but no.
I like having you around too much.
I have a way that we can both win, Xena.
I'll give you your soul of your child...
but you must bring me back to the physical world.
I can't do that.
Not by yourself.
But if you convince the Amazons to put their minds to it...
then anything is possible.
I'm sorry.
Let's get back to camp.
Sure this is the right cave?
Yeah... I think so.
All right, well... Let's get the amber and get outta here.
What about Chi'ah?
What, the mystic that can see right through you?
Ooh, scary...
No need for me to appear frightening, my child.
Facing oneself can be crippling...
even for the most hardened warrior.
- We've come for the... - Amber.
Will you help us?
As the Amazon protector of the sacred amber...
I can only release it to a fellow Amazon.
And one of you is not an Amazon.
I can see the truth, Amarice.
And you dare to come here hiding behind an identity you have not earned.
Is it true?
You, on the other hand...
may pass.
I've got it.
You and Xena were right.
What you see isn't always what you get.
I thought if I denied that enough times, I'd make it true.
I had no identity, so I created one.
The thing I always wanted to be...
an Amazon.
You know, I just wanted to feel like part of something.
Amarice...
Look, for many years, I walked in Xena's shadow.
I wanted to be her.
She taught me something.
It's warmer standing in the sun.
Yeah.
Well, you better get going. She's waiting for you.
She's waiting for us.
Come on.
We have the amber.
- What happened to you? - I'm ok.
Alti's got the baby's soul.
What do we do?
We can't use the amber until we know the baby's soul is safe.
Otherwise, we'll risk trapping them both forever.
The strongest mind wins.
We're gonna have to beat Alti at her own game.
What are you thinking?
She wants us to bring her back.
Why don't we do that?
Our focus is our unity.
Our minds, the creator of worlds.
What's it gonna be, Xena?
All right, you win.
You give me my child's soul and I will take you back to my world.
First you take me back, then you get your child.
The ritual's already begun.
All you have to do is take my hand.
I knew you'd see things my way.
Now the real fun starts.
All right, Alti...
Give me back my child's soul.
Motherhood has made you weak.
The Xena I knew would have never given into this so easily.
You're right, I'm a big softie. Now, a deal's a deal.
Is it?
Even in this world, I'm even more powerful than you ever dreamed.
You'd be surprised what I can summon up in my dreams.
Do you think we fooled her?
What have you done?
When you thought you were stepping into the real world,
you let your guard down.
I took you from one dream world into another.
Welcome!
Like you said...
once you put your mind to it, anything's possible.
Imagine what several can do.
Come on, Xena.
Give me a signal!
She's killing her. We should get her out.
Give her more time!
This has gotta hurt.
You have something that belongs to me.
- Did you feel that? - She's got her baby.
That's the sign.
Xena!
Stay out of my nightmares.
Xena...
Come on.
Gabrielle...
You did it.
We did it.
Xena must think I'm a joke.
I didn't tell her what Chi'ah said.
Why not?
Because I don't think it's true anymore.
I have this Amazon necklace and...
it's from my tribe.
There's a stone on here for all my sisters.
I just added another one...
for you.
Thank you.
Better hurry. Xena and I are ready.
Actually, Gabrielle...
I'm gonna stay here...
learn a few things.
Ok.
See you.
I don't know what to say.
What would you say to any friend who was leaving for a time?
You're not like any other friend.
I'll miss you, Xena.
Take care of yourself, Yakut.
Be careful.
It doesn't take a vision to know the child of Xena...
is gonna be someone to behold.
You'll be a target again, and so will your baby.
I know.
That's why I'm headed east.
I figure I could learn a few new tricks.
Your baby's lucky to have you.
I'm the lucky one.