Destiny
Disclaimer: I don't own Highlander, neither the concept nor any of the characters.
And as far as I know Richie belongs to the Clan Denial now anyway.
Characters: Richie Ryan, Jo'lon (OC), Azh'ra (OC); Duncan MacLeod and the (bwarf!!!!) demon Ahriman are talked about.
Rating: PG
Summary: Richie learns about his true destiny from the mother of the Dograi and finds out more about the Game and himself than he ever wanted to.
Big thanks to Jinjipore for her Archangel-transcript. I really needed that one to know when to kidnap Richie, so it wouldn't interfere with canon too much.
Well I'm not really sure whether it really counts but since I'm using Kaine this should be considered a Highlander/ Kindred the Embraced-crossover.
The story itself should make it clear, but just for those who don't understand: Kaine is the mythical Caine from the book of Nod. Or in other words, the oldest, most powerful and first vampire ever. He's supposed to be the origin of all vampires. The story says that he's a son of Adam and Eve who by killing his brother Abel became the first murderer. He was then supposedly punished(?) by God and turned into a vampire. This off course is just the myth. The truth, well that's a whole other thing.
Prologue Chapter One Chapter two Chapter tree
Chapter four Chapter five Chapter six Chapter seven
Chapter eight Chapter nine Chapter ten Chapter eleven
'Soon as the evening shades prevail
The moon takes up the wondrous tale,
And nightly to the listening earth
Repeats the story of her birth'
Ibid
Water dripped from the roof of the cave as a hunched down figure hurried to the lower chambers. He carefully held a clay pot in his hands with the remains of flames in it. The 'man', actually not really a man but a Dograi was careful not to let the wind or the water drops kill the flame. His face looked odd with the big pronounced nose coming up a bit in front of the face. His grey hairs were blackened with mud, and several arrows, stone and bones were tied in the knots. He wore no more than a big piece of bear fur bound around his waist and a necklace assembled from pieces of bone and flint. His bare feet were hardened by years of experience in walking the cave.
Azh'ra shaman of the beartribe, great holder of the sacred flame, healer extraordinaire and visionary of the spirits was on a mission. He held his hand closely on the wall and the imprint of the bear on it. He took his knife. A flint edge bound with straps of reindeer wool on a hilt of bone.
He held the sharp edge against his hand and pressed it till it bled. Then he allowed the red drops to fall on the bear while stating a prayer to the circle of spirits. Only after the ritual was over did he enter the room. The shaman fell on his knees and drew the symbol of the tribal spirit on the ground as an invitation to all friendly essences to join him with their strength. As he started chanting the echoes started sounding through the passageways. No-one would be bothered by the old Dograis attempts, the sacred cave was over a days journey away from the tribes living caves.
Azh'ra had come here with a purpose though. He felt he needed to beg the spirits for their aid. His dreams the past few days had been alarming. In his dreams he had seen the flat faced Koge in his peoples caves. He had watched then as they hunted all the animals and destroyed all the plants that fed the tribe. The only thing he could compare the image in his dreams to was to that of a swarm of roaches. Eating all what lived so there was nothing left for the Dograi to feed on. He had seen how they enslaved the friendly fire spirits to do their bidding and how they forced them to destroy the forest itself. This could not be allowed.
But what could he do?
He chanted the names of all the spirits as he had done at every high moon for the past few lunar cycles. They had never answered. Until now.
Surprise overwhelmed the old shaman as he saw a light appear in front of him. It was like a fire but yet it did not burn. As he watched the fire took form and changed into a child. A mere baby. A Dograi girl.
He thanked the spirits and took the child in his hands. He could feel that the chill in the cave was already beginning to work in on her so he took off his own bearskin and covered the child with it. His hairy body could take on more of the cold than a child would.
He wondered in what way the child would be the answer to his prayers.
'No man can escape his destiny'
Richie wasn't sure how much he could believe about this whole demon-bullshit. But this was Mac they were talking about. When he saw Joe with Horton he knew there had to be some truth in what MacLeod had told them. He quickly called his teacher and told him he was heading to the old abandoned racetrack. Totally unaware of the glowing eyes turned on him from out of the shadows.
When he got to the racetrack he easily found the car Horton had been driving, but no one was in it. Something just didn't seem to feel right. He took his sword out of his coat and went in. Wary, with his sword drawn.
"Joe?"
Cautiously the young immortal proceeded through the dark, empty, corridor, looking. It was harder than when you were dealing with an immortal. At least then you knew if they were near or not.
He kept his ears out, listening for a sound of the Watcher or his captor.
Suddenly he heared the sound of a swordfight, he sped up his steps and began calling out for Joe again.
As he walked in he saw a weird sight of the Highlander fighting three men.
James Horton, some scary looking guy in some kinky black Halloween outfit and ... a doppelganger of himself.
For a moment he stood frozen, he was just about ready to walk in and help his mentor when some kind of presence took over his mind. A soft seducing voice came up in his mind and stated: "Your presence here is unrequested." The boy slowly started losing consciousness. His last sight was another look at his own face as a boy looking exactly like him went up and headed in the Highlanders way. Then all went dark.
He was out cold before he could see the look of devastation on the face of the Highlander as he discovered that he'd just killed his student, his son. He was taken off into the darkness before he found out how much Joe cried over losing the boy he'd begun to see as family and how Methos refused to take the Schots head, stating nothing but: "Absolutely not."
Instead if Richie had still been awake, he would have seen that the man who carried him was strong, with a strangely elfin fac, complete with fangs, golden eyes, pointy ears and a fall of silver hair. Kaine held tight onto the boy and finally carefully put him on a bed with silken sheets. He undressed him, casually without any second intentions. And started putting him in a black pajamas.
Then he kindly placed the boy under the sheets and covered him up as a mother would her child.
******
When Richie finally woke up he didn't immediately notice anything odd. He'd been moving so often in the last few years that he just presumed this must be another new hotel room. As he looked around something did start feeling strange. The room was much more luxurious than most he'd gotten used to. Then he remembered, the racetrack, Mac. What in Gods name was he doing here? Mac needed his help. It was then that he noticed what he was wearing. What happened to me? He started looking for his clothes but couldn't find any of them. They weren't on any of the shelves.
He quickly decided that his only choice was to dress in some of the things that were lying there. They all seemed to be very expensive. He sighed in relief as he noticed a sword lying on one of the chairs.
At least he wasn't unarmed.
The boy wasn't sure what whomever had brought him here, had planned for him. He tried for the door and was surprised when it turned out to be unlocked. He held the sword at ready and cautiously left the room. Ready for an attack from any side. Suddenly he sensed something. It wasn't an immortal. That was all he was sure of. It certainly hurt him more than any immortal he'd ever sensed. It sent him to his knees. Then the creature appeared.
Long, about 6 ft tall. With short silver hair. Yet, he didn't look old, only about twenty. His eyes looked pleasant, but when Richie took a closer look he saw something else as well. The guy just didn't feel right. When he smiled it didn't look like a real smile. More like the cat who ate the canary. Without any of the guilt.
Before he knew it the man had him unarmed
The sword lying at his feet only a few feet away.
"Who are you?" he demanded "And how did I get here? Wherever this place is?"
"You're in the Du Montain-estate. I took you here."
Richie noticed that he didn't say where the estate was.
"Why?"
"For you own safety I assure you." Richie gave him a skeptical look.
"We couldn't have you killed by MacLeod, now could we?"
"Mac would never kill me." Richie yelled out.
"I wouldn't be so sure of that.
Do you remember what happened last night?"
For a second Richie was overcome with doubt. He'd seen how Mac had been battling that double of his.
Trying to change the topic he quickly asked: "Who are you?"
"Kaine." The man turned his back to the young immortal after motioning at him to follow.
Then before the boy could ask anything about the strange Buzz he'd gotten from him.
"For now all you need to know about me is that I'm your brother in every way that really counts.
Now come on Kéfu sù, breakfast is waiting."
"I can't. Look I'm greatful for the help and all that, but I've got to go. Mac needs my help."
"No he doesn't. Ahriman is the Highlanders business, not yours."
"Mac's my friend. Anything that troubles him is my business."
"And anything that endangers you is mine and that ain't happening."
The man stood totally resolute. It was clear he wouldn't just let Richie go.
"And what would you do to stop me."
At this Kaine dropped his human guise. His fangs appeared and his eyes got a golden look. His face became more elongated and his ears pointier.
"I can think of a few things." The creature said in a very low voice.
Then almost as if Richie had just imagined it the ancient vampires face was changed back to its more human appearance.
"Like I said, breakfast is ready."
Then Kaine led the young immortal through the house.
On their way to the dining room alone they passed ten bedrooms, three bathrooms, two gamerooms , and a library and they'd taken the shortest route.
In the diningroom Richie saw a huge table filled with just about any kind of Breakfast food in existence. There was only one plate on the table.
"The others have already eaten and I've tried to make sure that there was something you liked. I hope I didn't forget something."
"Uh no."
Richie was speachless. What did these people want from him anyway.
From what he'd seen the place was a palace. It had just about anything anyone could want.
A golden cage but a cage nonetheless. He hadn't missed how the thing next to him had constantly kept an eye on him, or the alarms and locks on every window and door they'd passed. The young immortal doubted for a second, but he finally decided that it was better to eat than to starve.
If they wanted to drug him they could do so no matter what he did. This way at least he could keep his strength up.
"So how long do you plan on keeping me here."
"Until our mother says otherwise."
"Our mother? I don't have a mother."
Kaine just smiled at that.
"You do now. She'll be here as soon as possible."
"So, who else is here." Richie asked in between two bites.
"Me. I'm Kaine by the way. The servants. That would be the butler mister Jurgen and his wife Mrs. Jurgen.
Three maids Elise, Darla and Maria. Two stewards Steven and Donald. A couple of guards.
And finally some of our younger brothers and sisters. Some are pre-immortals. When you notice this, don't let them know.
It isn't necessary and will only mess up whatever normal life they've got left. I'll introduce you to everyone later.
Look Richard. The servants are all told to obey your commands, but they won't help you get out of here.
Don't try and convince them otherwise. It'll only get then in trouble with mom and me. Do you understand."
Richie heard the silent threat in the words.
"All experience is an arc wherethrough
gleams that untravel'd world"
Tennyson, Ulysses
The big fire in front of the cave blurted out its heat. Several men and women were sitting around it. The women were busy skinning the prey the men had brought home. Some younger girls were taking care of the berries and nuts they'd assembled earlier that day. Some of the elders were discussing the movements of the prey. They would have to be careful not to hunt too much or there would be no more animals left and the tribe would have to move. None of them wanted that. The tribe had inhabited these caves for several generations now and it would be hard to leave then.
They all looked up as they heard someone approaching in a hurry.
Some sighed relieved when they saw the old shaman. Azh'ra had been out talking with the spirits again.
Some of the women coed surprised when they noticed the bundle in the old shamans arms.
A newborn baby. A Dograi-child.
Where could the old man have found it?
There weren't any other Dograi communities anywhere in the surroundings, were there?
They all listened in unbelief as the old shaman told them what had happened.
How his chants to the spirits had finally been answered.
How the child had appeared before him as an answer of the spirits.
Most of the members of the tribe saw his ramblings as the delusions of an old man but when he asked the tribes chief to take the baby as his daughter, the Dograi did not refuse. He'd always wanted a daughter anyway and his wife would be happy to have another child to dote over.
And thus the beartribe was given it newest member.
The girl wasn't given a name. Her parents would give her the pet name Tala which meant 'gift', but they both knew that she wouldn't get her real name untill her first bleeding. And if the old shaman was a bit to involved with the child, they talked that away with an old mans whims. Like a small compensation for the gift of a child he had given them.
'He can run but he can't hide'
In the next few days Richie was slowly introduced to the other inhabitants of the manor. Many of which were children.
Some pre-immortal like Kaine had said before, some immortal, which the thing had forgotten to mention , but most of then were just plain old mortals.
All of which seemed to treat him with a wary kind of respect.
Despite all the luxury Richie just couldn't relax, knowing he was a prisoner in this place.
He didn't know that Kaine was actually pleased when the young immortal started exercising at least three times a day. That when he went to the swiming pool, he did so when it was empty and he only used it to enhance his strength. The boy was surprised that he was given his sword and that he was allowed to use it to do his katas.
Richie couldn't help but notice though the sensation of Holy Ground that coursed through the entire place.
So when the other immortals proposed to spar with him, he didn't see any reason to say no. Once again he didn't know that the offer came on a idea from Kaine.
He did notice that the vampire kept him under constant surveillance. Not allowing any harm to come to him.
Then suddenly all changed.
The first thing that happened was the excitement that seemed to run through everyone. The servants enhanced their efforts to make everything glimmer. It wasn't on the surface. At first sight everything was the same as it had been before. But it was in that extra tremble of joy in peoples voices. The light that seemed to shine more brightly in their eyes.
Something was about to happen.
It was almost an anti-climax when it did.
Almost.
The woman arrived with an escort of five mortals and one immortal.
He could sense her Buzz clamor through the house.
It seemed familiar somehow like if he should recognise it. But he couldn't imagine from where.
It chanted through his head like a symphony.
Making it impossible for him to move.
But it didn't hurt.
It was like the ectasy of Quickening without any of the pain.
He looked at her wide-eyed as she entered the room.
A woman, more like a girl. Dressed in simple elegant fabrics. With long curly hair.
Her eyes were unusual as well. They were a kind of mixture between hazel and green.
She was so beautiful that under normal circumstances Richie's hormones would have immediately shot into overdrive.
But they didn't, not with her.
She was simply unlike any woman he had ever met.
Fine yet strong, young yet with a wisdom that could only come from one who had seen more times pass than was possible to imagine. This was an ancient, that was the one thing he was 100% sure of.
When she said something he didn't immediately understand the words. They were in English but the sound just seemed to be more important than the meaning of the words.
She came up to him and her touch sent a shiver through him like the caress of a Quickening. Only fully under control.
Then it started. Before either of them could utter another word pieces of Jo'lons Quickening started heading in the boys direction. They weren't like the kind of lightening bolts that usually played havoc on a place when an immortal lost his head, but like silken lines that touched and bound the two together.
When it ended they both looked in the others eyes, like a kind of recognition.
For a moment the woman opened her soul to the boy and without any words the boy could see who she really was.
Jo'lon, the Guardian spirit, protector of The Dograi people . The Liliaeth. The ancient one.
She who had seen the rise and fall of hundreds of civilisations.
Someone so ancient that even had she been human at the beginning of it all . She would not be so anymore.
Richie could see how she had been a goddess for dozens of religions.
Yet had never believed to be one herself.
He saw the hate and fear with which humanity had greeted her and her people over and over again.
A hate balsemed fully with forgiveness for those mortals who didn't know any better.
And at the same time she saw who he was.
The young boy whose heart had been broken over and over again.
The child who had covered himself with an air of harshness to survive the loneliness and had finally found a home with an artist and a warrior. She had dreaded the Highlander when she heard about him. How he had threatened the boys life on multiple occasions, but as she saw him through Richies eyes, she could not but love the man. The same way Richie did.
The boy had walked through darkness. He had fallen. Yet his core was still as innocent as that of a newborn child.
This was the pure one all right.
The Ai'kan'she.
And as she sensed this she kneeled in front of the boy taking his hand in her own.
She flashed her claws and before the boy could react she had cut both their hands and pushed then together.
"One blood
One heart
One soul
You are my son
I am your mother
We are one"
The entire procedure stunned the young immortal. He didn't know what to do. Consciously.
Almost like in an instinct he placed her hand over his heart and as the light of their Quickenings was joined they knew they were truly One.
'It is good to follow the path of duty, though in the midst of darkness and discouragement.'
David Brainerd journal
The girls were cheerful as they followed the older women to the spirit forrest. Some of the women carried young children on their back. Other children followed their lead playfully. Then the older women told the girls which bushes were ready for the pluck and which ones weren't. Which fruits were edible and which ones they should stay away from.
Some of the oldest women spent their time assembling herbs and mushrooms.
While Tala, her friends and the other women occupied themselves with the fruits.
Tala was curious. A bit too curious for her own good. When she noticed a small animal, a squirrel jump from tree to tree she followed it for a while, first with her eyes, but as it went further she ran after it as well.
The others didn't notice. They were too busy with their work.
Before she knew it the girl only known as Tala was all alone.
She was starting to notice this as she first heard the huge sound approaching her.
Still too occupied by the squirrel she didn't jump aside as she should have done and stood right in the path of the biggest boar she had ever seen in the thirteen springs that her life had seen up until now.
She could see nothing but the huge animal as it lifted her up and pushed her to the nearest tree.
The young girl was dead before her head hit the wood.
When the Dograi that had been chasing the animal saw her lying there they stood frozen in shock.
They made a carrier and dragged her body to the camp. Ignoring the boar they'd just killed.
It wasn't important anymore, a child had died over it.
Its body could bring then nothing but ill fortune.
Azh'ra almost cried as he saw the crumbled form of the hope of his tribe lying there.
He could barely keep his emotions in check as he together with the elder women and the girls mother prepared the body for burial. As was the custom of their people.
He prepared the paints as the woman next to him cleaned up the body.
Then ... He almost thought he'd imagined it.
But he knew he hadn't as he saw the women react the same way.
The girls heart started beating again. She took in a deep breath and suddenly the eyes opened.
The girl looked at them all in fear.
A huge smile filled the old shamans face as the weight of his years was lifted from him in one moment;
She was alive. The child truly was a gift from the spirits.
He hadn't imagined any of it.
He took his drum and started beating the chants of ascension.
As he smeared the girls face in the signs of crossing he said loudly:
"She has returned to guide us.
To protect us.
Her name shall be Jo'lon. The spirit. For like with the spirits death can not take her."
The women quickly followed his example and within moments all the tribe was in an uproar.
'Freedom is what you do with what's been done to you.'
Jean Paul Sartre
In his time since he'd first become MacLeods student Richie had always considered himself in good shape. The Highlander had seen to that. So when Jo'lon started his training-regime he'd considered himself ready for it. But soon he knew he wasn't.
The ancient kept him so busy that he didn't even had the time left to ask her about leaving. Or about Mac Leod.
The Highlander or the demon Ahriman seemed to be the only subjects that were off-limits for questioning.
All day they practiced. In the short time with her he learned more about fighting than he'd ever considered possible. And she hadn't even started his sword instruction.
But the training wasn't just physical.
She learned him Latin during his kata's, Akkadian during their runs, French, Japanese and German during their workouts.
As they did gymnastics she showed him mathematics and when he finally thought she was giving him a moment of peace she came up with logic as entertainment.
His games were puzzles and his lunch became an etiquette-lesson.
And as a red tread during all that she tought him ethics and religion.
After only two months Richie felt he could sit still like a statue while his mind was off solving some kind of puzzle, yet be ready to defend himself at a moments notice. He could feel himself changing. He knew his body had.
Before he'd been muscled but now ...
It wasn't like if he'd become one of those big bodybuilders or anything, his body was still as lean as that of a runner. But he had more reserves to draw from, more energy.
He found he could go on longer without exhausting himself.
Then one day as he stood in front of a mirror to shave himself, he noticed his eyes.
They'd changed as well.
Like if they were sharper somehow.
He knew he could see better.
That had been proven when he found out he could his a target right in the spot from a position he'd before wouldn't even have seen it just looking at it.
His reactions had improved as well.
He could pick a dagger thrown at his face right out of the air., long before it even came close of hitting its target.
That morning Jo'lon left him alone for the first time.
Allowing him to run on his own. Just as long as he stayed within the premisis of the mansion.
He'd been going for a while when he heard someone catching up to him.
He slowed down a bit and the girl started running next to him. They ran together silently for a few more laps when Richie decided to stop.
It was at that time that the girl chose to introduce herself.
She was still panting from her run. Though not as hard as a normal human would have.
"Hi, I'm Charise."
"Richie."
"Nice to meet you;
So what are you doing at the Liliaeths place."
"I don't know? What about you?"
"My parents decided I needed a stronger appreciation of my peoples culture and rituals.
They think that a few weeks in service of the Liliaeth will do me good."
Richie couldn't help but laugh at her statement. So typically a teenager.
"So what about you."
"Kaine brought me here."
The girl gasped.
"The Kaine. The Liliaeths oldest son."
"Yeah is something wrong with that?"
"No, not really. It's just, he's a vampire."
"I've noticed."
"Yes, but he's the oldest vampire like the first vampire or something like that.
If it weren't for him there wouldn't be any vampires to begin with."
"Really?" That was the first Richie had ever heard about that.
"You didn't know?"
"Uh no. He doesn't really talk to me."
"duhh. Didn't your parents tell you about him."
"I don't really have any parents."
"Oh sorry.
Were they killed?
A cousin of mine lost his parents to the hunters. Did they get yours too?"
"Hunters?"
"You really are oblivious aren't you?
Don't you know anything about what being Dograi means?"
"That's the first time I've ever even heard the word."
"Then what have they been telling you about?"
Richie didn't know why but he felt slightly insulted to be seen as an ignorant. Especially by a girl years younger than he was.
"Lots of things Majal has been teaching me about the world, what things were like in the past. How to fight and survive. She told me about Atlantis and about being Jinge."
Richie wasn't even aware that he was using Dagala throughout the entire conversation.
"YOU'RE A JINGE!" Now the girl was really stunned.
"Wow."
She took a closer look at the boy before her. Sure she'd been told about the mythical Jinge but to actually come face to face with one.
"You're being trained by the Liliaeth aren't you."
"Sort of."
"Are you one of her children?"
"Kaine keeps telling me I am."
"Once again wow."
If my mom found out I was actually hitting on a Jinge son of the Liliaeth.
Well she'll probably consider it an improvement over the Koge I was dating before.
She smiled a luscious smile at the boy. Offering him the invitation to ask her out.
Richie could immediately smell the pheromones she was letting out.
And for some reason he wasn't even surprised about what he could smell.
He would be though. For the change that was coming over him went further and further.
"Who is she that looketh forth as the morning, fair as the moon, clear as the sun and terrible as an army with banners.
Ibid, vi10
Jo'lon was sitting in front of the fire.
Azh'ra had told her to concentrate, but she just couldn't keep her mind on it.
The image of Dejen as he was bringing then some of his prey kept keeping her off-guard.
She finally just gave up and started dreaming about Dejen.
Maybe if Azh'ra let her go? Then she could go back to her fathers cave and Dejen could offer her father gifts. Then they could be together. Jo'lon had heard some of the older woman talk about what men and women did when they were together. Before that is. When she was still living with her parents.
Now people stopped talking as they saw her. They kept treating her weird. Even her father.
She wasn't allowed out of the campsite any more. And the only ones she was allowed to see were the women preparing her dinner, the men bringing them offerings, the guards and Azh'ra off course.
She almost hated him for it. He never let her have any fun.
Every time she tried to slip out on her own, the guards found her and returned her. When she asked to be allowed outside, they constantly followed her. Keeping an eye on her at all times. She hated it.
"Then why don't you leave?"
She looked up at the direction of the voice.
"Give up on them all and leave."
"I can't."
"Why not?"
"Mom and dad would be disappointed."
"So what? It's not like they love you anymore. They're the ones who gave you back to Azh'ra. You're nothing more than a freak to them."
"I'm not." She almost screamed the words.
The presence just laughed.
"What are you?"
But the presence kept silent.
She kept sitting there, looking at the fire.
"Is something wrong Jo'lon?"
"Uh no."
Jo'lon took the bowl with food that Azh'ra gave her.
"I miss my mom."
The old shaman wasn't sure what to answer to that.
Sure he'd seen her grow up but he'd never before been responsible for raising a child.
And the girl might have passed the transition but somehow she was still a child.
At least a part of her was.
The next few days, each time as Azh'ra left the voice kept up talking to the girl. Telling here about life outside of Azh'ra's circle. Feeding her ideas on how her life could be if she just abandoned her so-called duty. Even showing her images of how happy her life would be, were she just a regular girl. Jo'lon didn't really dare tell the voice to go away.
Somehow it felt like if the voice was her only friend. The only one not constantly telling her what to do, how she should live her life in duty to others. Something she'd been really losing patience with.
But still she felt she had a duty to fulfil for her tribe. They were her people and she felt she owed it to them to help then. It was just so hard to do so when they wouldn't even let her do anything. The voice got harder and harder. Egging her on to leave the tribe and her training. But then it made a mistake.
It started showing her images of what kind of life she would have if she stayed.
Living as a tool for her people.
He thought it would change her mind. That he could seduce her into a life of frivolities and make her abandon her sacred duties to her tribe. He'd been stupid. Thinking that the girls resentment came from a desire to be free of obligations.
He was wrong.
As soon as he showed her how she could be useful to her tribe it was like something inside her turned on. And the next look he got wasn't of the young girl Tala but of Jo'lon protector of the Dograi and the demon that would later be known as Ahriman screamed all the way down.
'The greatest thing in the world is to know how to be oneself'
Montaigne (1580)
The next day Richie was talking to Charise in the kitchen when Jo'lon came in.
He didn't really pay any attention other than the sensation he got when she was near.
But when Charise saw her, the girl immediately stood up ready to pay respect or whatever the Liliaeth wanted her to do.
Jo'lon just nodded for her to go on with her buisness.
"Hi mom." Richie finally said after finishing the last of his sandwich.
Jo'lon smiled and sat down next to him.
"Richard."
"Practice didn't start till in an hour, right."
"Don't worry Richard. I just came to see how you were doing." Jo'lon sat down and filled a glass with orange juice.
"She seems nice."
Richie couldn't help but blush. It was such a motherly thing to say.
But he soon got a grip on himself and repeated the question that had been on his mind since the first day.
"When can I go see MacLeod."
"When he's ready. When you're ready."
Richie tried to stare her down but lost.
"He's preparing to fight Ahriman. If you go now you might bring an unwanted distraction. And he could lose."
"Why for seeing a friend?"
"He thinks you're death. Worse, he thinks he killed you."
"Wich is exactly why if have to go help him."
"No. I can't risk losing you.
If you die, especially at the Highlanders hands then Ahriman wins.
There's more involved than just your teacher Richard.
A whole lot more."
"Like what?"
"Like the fate of the world."
'There is nothing either good or bad. But thinking makes it so.
Shakespeare (Hamlet)
*** Atlantis 21.000 BC ***
Jo'lon was twisting in her bed, her body controlled by the throngs of a nightmare.
Sweat was dripping of her face while she kept mumbling something unintelligibly.
She was standing on an edge.
Before her were two roads.
She didn't know why but somehow she felt herself following both paths at once.
The first path was hard. There was much fighting and it took long. So long that even she could not imagine the point in time in which it ended. But it did.
She was shocked to see the image.
It was herself sitting in front of a boy.
Kneeling before him.
His eyes crying as he lowered the sword as if outside his own will.
She looked in the boys eyes. His clear blue eyes stood red in pain for what she now knew that she had forced him to do. She knew she was dead. She'd figured it out centuries ago that a Jinge who was beheaded wouldn't come back from the death.
Not even one as old as herself.
She witnessed as her essence joined the boys, but it wasn't like the other Quickenings she'd seen. It was as if she joined not just him, but a part of her that was already inside him. So when he stood up to face her once again it wasn't just the boy who greeted her, but a part of herself as well.
And as the Dograi stood up to follow him the battle began.
Thruly began.
She stood powerless as she saw them fight. All the Jinge, whether they were good or evil.
And they fought and died until there were only two left.
The boy with the fire hair and one other whose face was covered in shadows.
She could almost see the power in the both of them.
And once again she stood at the cliff, before the two roads.
Wondering where they would lead her.
Then without being able to do a thing about any of it she was led to the second path and she saw ... It made her shiver. There was naught but destruction. Pain. Hate.
All the light was drowned out of life.
She saw humans and Dograi without the soul of life or love inside them.
There was nothing to aid them.
She saw a man lead an army of darkness feeding on the remains of life.
There was fire and floods. Death everywhere.
She mumbled the word, "forever," and knew that it was true.
"Why?" she begged.
And before her she saw the image of the boy and she saw him lose.
Over and over again. On a thousand battlefields she saw him lose.
For he wasn't ready. He wasn't prepared.
He wasn't there for the final fight.
She was about to start crying when she saw the image ruling over the lands. The demon laughing out his victory and she recognised him.
The voice who'd spoken to her so often during her life.
Trying to get her to give up on duty, on family, on life.
Now she knew why.
He ruled through whomever would win the eternal battle. It wasn't important who'd won.
She saw good men and women win and be seduced by the darkness.
They could not take it.
Then all of a sudden she found herself once again at the crossroads.
This time she followed the first path once again.
All around her was peace.
She saw humans and Dograi and other beings of all sorts join together.
Not because they had to but because they wanted to.
She could feel the love and innocence in the air all around her.
Her heart jumped up at the thought of it.
And once again she saw images of the boy.
She saw as he was born in a circle of life as all Jinge were.
How the essence, the soul, the bodies of people all around him were joined for one moment to bring together a child of purity.
She felt his pain as he suffered through loss and pain.
As she saw him being abandoned over and over again.
But never giving up.
She saw how he met love and lost it again as he died alongside a mortal woman.
She smiled almost longingly as she saw how the essence, the soul of the dying woman clinged herself to the immortal who had died beside her. Aiding him.
She saw him train and fight.
He went through darkness but was not swallowed by it.
And deep in her heart she felt his name.
Ai'kan'she.
The pure one.
And as she saw him win the final battle, she saw him stand up to the spirit. The demon whom she recognized as the purest of evil. And win.
Not by hate. Not by battle. But by love. Pure selfless love.
And on that moment when the demon was vanquished that pure love coursed over the world. There was no more darkness. No more pain. No more hunger.
"This is your son.
See him to the end Liliaeth and all darkness will be gone."
It was at that moment that she woke. A smile on her face.
"And his innocence will set us free."
Charise gazed at Richie unbelievingly. She took a closer look at him.
The Ai'kan'she.
She'd heard about him all her life. It's like ...
The thought of actually meeting him in this lifetime. She'd always thought that the Liliaeth was just an idea. That at best she was someone like that human pope. But the Ai'kan'she, he was ... she just couldn't find the word to describe it. He was the hope, the very symbol of goodness and she'd actually flirted with him.
I'm gonna rot like a worm in my next life she thought.I just know it. Or worse I'll return as a Koge.A human. she shivered at the very idea.
"So what's your plan?" Richie asked.
"It's simple enough. I'll train you as good as I can, protect you until you're ready and then when the Gathering starts in full force I'll give you my head and my Quickening.
After that you'll win the Game, handle the Prize and guide the fate of the world. Or something like that."
"You're crazy."
Jo'lon smiled and turned to leave the room.
"You're totally, helplessly insane." Richie yelled after her. She pretended not to listen.
'I have a dream'
Martin Luther King
*** 10.000 BC Atlantis ***
Jo'lon sat down at her desk. A servant kept a watchful eye on her. She'd been writing for hours. Before that she'd meditated for over two days.
The priests were starting to worry.
When the mother was like this there was usually something going on. Something big.
Tehan wasn't sure what to think. She hadn't eaten, she hadn't slept.
He wondered why.
It was probably 'the dream' again. She was always a bit out of it afterwards.
The Liliaeths dreams after all weren't like those of others. Her dreams more often than not came true.
He was shook up when he heard someone banging on the door. He started opening it, to send whomever it was away but before he could say a word the man pushed the door wide open and entered. Tehan immediately recognized him. Atlas, one of the Liliaeths sons.
Tehan didn't know much about the man. Just that he was immortal like the Liliaeth herself.
"Mother, we need to talk."
Jo'lon turned her chair around to face him. A gentle smile on her face.
"I've been having these dreams and I sort of hoped you could help me out."
"What kind of dreams." Jo'lon asked even though she already knew what he was gonna say.
About battles. Endless battles amongst immortals, Jinge. Battles in places and times that seemed odd. Unfamiliar. I saw our people fight and fight until only very few of us were left. Then they went to some place I didn't recognize. There the fights started again. In the end I saw a battle between the two that remained. I woke up before I could see who won."
He approached his mother.
"What does it mean?"
Jo'lon sighed. She knew she couldn't keep delaying it. She'd always told her children who'd had the dream that it was a prophecy, but she didn't allow then to tell anyone else. It could only start the bloodshed if to many people knew about it.
She remembered how some fool, a Jinge by the name of Adamas had come after her.
She'd fought him off before when they'd both been a lot younger and he obviously hadn't improved much.
Even after thousands of years. In a way she almost wished he'd been one of the few Jinge to die in one of the human wars. It was weird how little the lone barbarian could change after all this time. All he'd gotten out of it, was even more arrogance than before. So when he had the dream he immediately assumed he had to be the one to win the battle. The fool didn't even consider that the time of the battle hadn't come by far. It was way to soon for that.
In the end she was forced to kill him.
She couldn't let him go out and spread tales that would only lead to more bloodshed.
That had been over 7.000 years ago and she still felt the sensation of Adamas memories coursing through her. Probably due to both their respective ages.
In the beginning she'd been alone with the dream, but the more time passed, the more there were to receive the dream. Or at least a part of it.
"Don't let other people tell you what you want."
Pat Riley
As soon as Richie left the room he started running. He didn't stop until he reached the most outer parameter of the house. He wasn't sure what to do. He just stood there watching at the walls. They were high and thick. Suddenly pain shot through him. All of him. Images, dreams almost. He almost fell down in pain and had to lean against the wall just to keep standing.
Fires, drums, things that were stranger than anything he'd ever seen.
He saw places, faces, ...
It was too much.
And for a moment before he could stop himself to think of what he was doing he just let out. And the wall in front of him crumbled. He looked at it for a second and ran.