As the sun slowly set, Xena and Gabrielle sat talking, each trying out their own theories of  what it could have been.

"Xena, do you hear that? That high-pitched squeal? THAT’S what was in Alylla’s mind. We’ve got to see what it is!"  And grabbing Xena’s hand, Gabrielle transported them both to the field they had come to the night before.

"Look, Xena! Over there – the light!" 

As the two women watched, a light was moving erratically over the ground, as if it were searching for something. Xena glanced up at the sky. "Gabrielle, look up there. That’s where thelight is coming from!"

Gabrielle looked up where Xena was pointing, and she could barely make out some kind of gray, shimmering ball. Throwing her hands skyward, four fiery orbs sailed toward the ball, the orbs glowing yellow, then white. By the time they had gotten to the height of the large ball, the entire area, again, was lit as if it were midday. But the ball was still blurry and indistinct. Suddenly a blue ray of light flashed from the ball to one of Gabrielle’s orbs. There was a slight discoloration of the orb as it absorbed the blue ray, then went back to its former white color. Many more times the blue rays of light hit the orbs, with no effect. Then the ball dropped lower, away from the globes of light, and its spotlight centered on Gabrielle and Xena. As the gray ball dropped even closer to them, the high pitch scream got louder and more intense. Xena and Gabrielle could felt pain inside their heads, as if a vise was closing in, squeezing their brains.

Instinctively, Xena threw her Chakram at the shimmering ball, but it was still too high, and it just circled back to her, but she couldn’t catch it, she was becoming increasingly disoriented by the pain and screeching sound. Gabrielle threw both hands upward and the black swirling clouds that left her fingers blotted out the light and dampened the sound. As they watched, the clouds merged into one and slammed into the gray ball, forcing it higher and higher.

Gabrielle continued to produce the cloud, but now it was like a solid black column of water pushing the ball away from the earth.  Then the ball seemed to take on a life of its own, and accelerated upward away from the pillar of pure, black energy. Sensing it was gone, Gabrielle let the column swirl its way into nothingness. As she did, she fell to her knees, and Xena was there to catch her.

"Are you all right?" She asked.

"Xena, there were people in there, like the ones in Alylla’s mind. I could feel them, hear them thinking!"

"Did they say, or think, why they were here or what they were doing?"

"No. They were scared. They kept saying to each other something about, about…."

"What?"

"I’m not sure. Something about an unexpected – something. A word I’ve never heard before. I think it was an unexpected tek — tek-nol-lo-gee."

"Maybe that’s their word for magic." Xena suggested.

"No, I don’t think so. I got the impression they were talking about a machine, or – or an elaborate tool or weapon we built. But whatever it was, it scared them enough that they won’t be back anytime soon, if ever."

"Come on, let’s get you back to the house. You need rest."

The next morning Gabrielle slept late, it was almost two hours past daybreak when she awoke.

"Why did you let me sleep so long? We’ve got to get to the tavern. Those people will be there with their children, waiting for me to Heal them."

"Are you sure you’ll be up to it? It took you almost all day to recover from the first time."

"That’s because I didn’t know what I looking for. Healing Alylla’s body wasn’t that bad, it was what was in her mind that was so draining. But now that I know what to expect, what to look for, it shouldn’t be a problem at all."

<….>

"…and in addition to Healing them," Gabrielle was saying as they left the village, "I also  added a little something to lessen the terrible memories. They’ll remember what happened, but it will only be like a bad dream."

"Like the one I have about you playing the panpipes?" Xena asked, supressing a smile.

"Yeah, something like that."