The Gathering
It happened around the start of the year 2977 AD, or CY 7903 as everyone counted it by then. Everyone except those of us who predated Earth joining the Systems Commonwealth. There weren't many Ancients left by then, but Immortals still occurred with alarming regularity. For eighteen months I'd been travelling with another, teaching him what it meant to be Immortal. Danny was the youngest I'd ever encountered. Thirteen years including his mortal life, which ended two years prior to the Gathering. He never said how he'd died, and I never asked. He didn't really say anything about his past. I found out by accident that we shared the same birthday, and that made us both feel close to each other.
At that point in time, we were exploring the universe aboard a very special ship. One of the few privately owned AI starships. I'd had her commissioned years before, so that I would always have company in that endless night. Her name was – and is, for she still exists two thousand years on – Ûfíriel Elentári. Somewhat conceited really. It means 'Undying Queen of the Stars' in Tolkien's Elvish, from the novel 'The Lord of the Rings.' She likes to be called Ellen.
On what would have been the 21st December 2976, Danny and I began to feel the Calling. Something within us was drawing us to a far distant place. I think deep inside we both knew the Gathering was beginning, but neither of us liked to think about it. The Call was impossible to resist, both in itself, and for fear of who might win. The wrong person would come after us, and with the might of countless Immortals behind him, we would be helpless.
The journey was peaceful, though eventful. Our first Slipstream Jump took us out of known space into a vast glowing nebula. I can only describe it as one of the most beautiful sights in space. It simply took my breath away. Danny took the next Jump, taking us to a bizarre system. A hollow sphere of asteroids encircled a single planet, orbited by a dozen small suns. Fortunately, this was not our destination. I took the pilot seat again and Jumped to a bizarre, torus shaped world, slowly spinning along two axes. Then it was Danny's turn once more. He took us to the outer edge of a vast system. Asteroids and comet debris surrounded us, but we couldn't see any larger bodies or even a primary star. The reason soon became apparent. A massive sphere, over 185 million miles in diameter. And obviously artificial. Every other planet had been exploited and used to create a Dyson Sphere. The magnitude of such an undertaking was almost unimaginable. Only the Vedrans were able to restructure stellar systems on this scale, not that they'd ever want to.
The last Jump was something of an anticlimax. An ordinary, unremarkable system, with a single habitable planet. As we flew in, we saw ruins of great cities, long since deserted. We came in to land outside the largest, alongside the ships of those Immortals who had arrived before us. They made quite a welcoming committee.
Some of them I knew. Amanda Montrose, with her student Wolfe. Duncan MacLeod and his protégé Richie. Alongside Duncan stood his kinsman Connor, my own mentor. And behind them, ever in the shadows, the legendary Methos. The other side held enemies. Carlos del Torrio. William York. Macariel. I'd met them all in combat, but never bested them.
Then there were the unknowns. As I looked at each, I felt the Quickening within me stir, and then I knew them. Sarah McIntyre, barely a year older than Danny. Morgan le Fey, half-sister to King Arthur. Gilgamesh, King of Uruk. And the greatest surprise. Caine. An Immortal older even than Methos, remembered only as a tale from a now forsaken religious text. The first Immortal, still alive after 8000 years.
A wary truce held for the next ten days, as the Gathering continued. It was as though we were waiting for everyone to arrive before we started anything. I think we all used the time to catch up with old friends and enemies, and to size up the new arrivals.
The Ancients, including my first student Macariel and myself, tended to avoid the younger Immortals, and divided into two groups. The MacLeods with their students and friends comprised one group, while Caine led the Eldest from a tower overlooking the city's central plaza. Macariel sided with the Eldest but Methos split his time between the two groups, as if he were unsure of where he belonged.
The younger Immortals split into many smaller parties, allied by attitude more than age. Their opinion of the Ancients varied from godlike awe to contempt for the walking anachronisms. Danny initially joined one of these factions, until his connection with me made him uncomfortable with his new friends. He soon left them and started dividing his time between both groups of Ancients.
By the end of the year, two hundred and seventeen Immortals had Gathered in that ruined city and we all knew somehow that no more would arrive. New Year's Eve was filled with tension and speculation as we all wondered who would be the first to die. We knew that only one of us would leave this planet alive, and had spent a lot of time talking and considering who it was likely to be.
The new year dawned with a shock. Caine challenged young Danny, and lost! The eldest slain by the youngest. When Methos fell at noon to the blades of Sarah McIntyre, we all realized that age was no indication of success. The survivor could be anyone.
My own battle began the next day when, for reasons unclear to me at the time, I picked a fight with a twenty year Awakened woman. A child compared to me, but after Caine and Methos, a supremely confident one. The fight was swift and brutal. She drew first blood, cutting deep into my left leg, before my survival instinct took over. The rest of the fight was a blur of cuts, parrys and ripostes, culminating in a swift stroke, neatly decapitating the woman. I didn't even realise I'd won until I felt the burning pain of her Quickening as it entered my body. As always, the slain Immortal's personality fought mine, trying to take control of my body and live again. It failed, thanks to nearly a thousand years of training and combat.
I buried Karen Donahue in an overgrown park beside a river, as she'd always wanted. I started a trend that day, and the park soon became a graveyard. The dead Immortal was usually interred by their killer, with any friends and associates in attendance. Nobody thought about revenge. There was no need. After all, there could be only one.
The next month passed swiftly, with eight or even ten dying each day. Richie died on the fifth day, his killer falling to Wolfe two days later. Connor and Duncan died within two days of each other to young Sarah. Gilgamesh was killed on the seventeenth day by William York, who fell to my blade two days later. Macariel killed Amanda on the twentieth day. I faced del Torrio the next day, and survived more through luck than skill. Morgan le Fey survived to the twenty-fifth before Danny took her head.
The death toll slowed during the last week to only one or two per day. By the dawn of the thirtieth, there were only four of us left: Sarah, Danny, Macariel and myself. My penultimate battle began first, against Macariel. My first student, just twenty years younger than me, whose name had been one of my gifts to her. In Tolkien's Elvish, of which I was so fond, it meant 'Swordswoman'. Macariel faced me defiantly with the short sword I had made for her over nine hundred years earlier.
On one level I was proud that the blade has survived that long still in such good condition, and that Macariel still felt comfortable using it after centuries of enmity. On another level however, I felt that she was mocking me, intending me to die by my own craftsmanship.
Neither of us spoke as we circled warily, each waiting for the other to make the first move. As patient as I was, Macariel could easily outwait me, so I swung first. She parried easily, as I'd expected, but at least it broke the standoff. Macariel fought hard, with a ferocity that I'd never seen in her before. Unfortunately, as is often the case, her fighting style mirrored that of her tutor. Me. There were slight differences. Quirks and tricks we'd both picked up over the years, but nothing different enough to surprise either of us.
She realized this as soon as I did, and backed off momentarily. When she attacked again, it was with a completely different style. Although still primarily defensive, as was my own, this new style emphasized agility and misdirection over parrys and blocks. Unfortunately for her, I knew Amanda's fighting style. Somewhere among the lives within me was her student Wolfe, so I was able to defend myself. But that wouldn't help me win. To do that I needed to use techniques she didn't know. Something designed to counter her athleticism. With no time to think, I was forced to do the same thing she had. Something I'd never really needed to do before. I opened my mind to those within me.
I soon found what, or rather who, I needed. Gilgamesh had known a style as obsolete as the kopesh he had wielded while king of Uruk. It was certainly different, and Macariel was unlikely to know it. The only problem was my rapier, which was totally unsuited to the style. So I did something else which had never been necessary. Something unique to me, which I'd never let anybody discover.
Gathering my Quickening, I focused it into my sword and willed it to change. The thin blade expanded and spread, growing thicker along its length. Then it started to bend outward from the middle until it resembled a question mark. I made the change relatively slow so that Macariel could see it happening. I hoped it would make her pause while I grew accustomed to the new balance.
She did hesitate, and was unable to fully recover from the shock before being overwhelmed by my metamorphosed blade. Within minutes the duel was over, and Macariel lay lifeless on the ground. Her Quickening fought as hard as she had, threatening to overcome me. As I struggled to retain control of my mind, I could feel myself weakening. Macariel had been nearly as old as me and had taken as many heads as I had. And something else. I had never before realized how much she hated me, blaming me for her being Immortal. For turning her into a killer. That hatred gave her a strength I couldn't resist. As I realized this I felt a presence either side of me. Two men reaching out to grasp my shoulders. Pulling me back as they stepped forward to shield me from Macariel's malice.
As the pain subsided, and my senses returned to the real world, I felt Amanda's presence joining those of Wolfe and Richie, creating a wall inside my mind. I'd never felt or heard of anything like this before. Of course, I'd never had old friends within me before, and if I could have withstood Macariel alone, they probably wouldn't have united to protect me. As I buried Macariel that afternoon, I visited the graves of my guardians and spoke a few words of thanks.
Danny joined me at sunset, and buried Sarah McIntyre without a word. Now there were two of us left. As we talked quietly about the many lives that had ended here that month, I noticed something strange. Caine's birthday was exactly six months after ours. Methos was born 3000 years and one day later. I knew Macariel's birthday was February 2nd. Sarah's turned out to be January 31st. Throughout the whole month, the people who died were, at the time of their deaths, those whose birthday was furthest from the first day of February. Our birthday. Mine and Danny's. I mentioned this to Danny and he agreed with me, suggesting that we probably wouldn't be compelled to fight tomorrow. One of us would die on our birthday. A special day for someone other than ourselves, it seemed. But which was more special; the morning, when I was born, or the evening, when Danny was?
The next day we didn't fight, as Danny had predicted. Instead we wandered around the desolate city talking about old times, both ours and those of the souls within us. As night fell, we returned to our respective bases. I returned to the Elentári as I had every night since I had arrived on this planet while Danny stayed at the tower he had inherited from Caine. I stayed up late, talking to Ellen. She had long since resigned herself to the fact that one or both of us would die on this nameless planet. She took comfort in the fact that the sole survivor of the Gathering would be one of her crew. One of her friends. Not much comfort, though. Whoever won, nothing would be the same. I did briefly consider letting Danny win, but then realised it probably wouldn't be that easy. Whoever created Immortals - and I had begun to believe that that was the case, that our race had been artificially engineered - was working to a specific goal, and only the right Immortal would be allowed to survive. Around midnight, Ellen made me get some sleep. We both knew I'd need it.
Ellen didn't wish me happy birthday the next morning. Nor did she wish me luck. She simply told me that Danny was waiting in the central plaza. I went to meet him with a heavy heart. Neither of us spoke as we faced each other across the plaza. Just a nod and a salute, then battle was joined. I had the same problem with him as I had with Macariel. We knew each other's fighting styles. All of them. As he changed to gain an advantage, I mirrored him and countered that advantage. The battle ranged all over the plaza. Sometimes I was forced back. Sometimes Danny was. The sky darkened above us and the heavens opened with rain as lightning flashed down around us.
Danny took the fight away from the weather. With a gesture behind him, the door to his tower swung open, and he backed inside. I followed cautiously, wondering what other Talents he might surprise me with. The hall inside was open all the way to the top. A stone staircase spiralled up the inside wall. I noticed there was no railing to the stairs as Danny began climbing them, seeking the high ground. Despite being lower down, I continued to force him back up the stairs. As we neared the top, lightning struck the tower. The roof fell in and the walls shattered outward, leaving us on a flat landing high above the ground. Lightning continued flashing around us as Danny began to show off another Talent. He seemed to fade and blur, disappearing from in front of me. Only the heightened reflexes of my Quickening saved me from the blade which flashed from behind me. As I turned to face him, he Blinked out once more, attacking from behind again. This time his blade sliced into my arm. Not my sword arm thankfully, but still painful and debilitating. A few more Blinks slashed my legs and back.
I knew I couldn't take much more. I had to use my Talent now or never. The same Talent that had defeated Macariel, but this time I used it to the full. Not just my weapon. I changed myself. Quickly, in the blink of an eye, as Danny disappeared once more, I shrank to a fraction of my normal size and stabbed out where I thought he would reappear. Danny's sword passed over my head, at what would have been neck height. My own pierced his belly, severing his spine just above the pelvis. Danny fell to the landing, his sword falling from nerveless fingers to drop to the ground far below. His eyes showed his astonishment as I returned to my normal size. He pushed himself up to a sitting position and smiled sadly up at me.
"There can be only one." His voice was quiet, and almost drowned out by the thunder. Suddenly I was grateful for the rain hiding the tears in my eyes. I nodded slightly, lifting my sword above my head. Danny closed his eyes and bowed his head, baring his neck for the deathblow.
"There can be only one." My voice faltered as I swung down, severing Danny's head swiftly and cleanly. In that instant, a bolt of lightning flashed down and struck me full on. The pain filled my mind as the Quickening left Danny's body, and invaded mine. Light filled my vision briefly, only to be replaced by all the memories of which my friend had been the custodian. Every life within him was mine. The pain, and the pleasure. The happiness, and the despair. Life, and Death. Everything they had ever known. And more.
As the pain receded and my vision cleared, I saw that I was lying on the floor of the Tower of Ctheldas, the stairway now just rubble around me. Danny was lying beside me, his head seemingly still attached to his body. His hands were grasping his sword lying on his chest, covering the wound that had brought him to his knees. The skies had cleared, and I could see the sun shining down from directly overhead.
Midday. That was when it had happened all those years ago. An alien had come to Earth and granted Quickening to a pair of humans. The weaker of the two had killed the stronger on holy ground, releasing his Quickening into the earth and spreading it out all over the planet. The diffused Quickening gave birth to all the other Immortals throughout the world. Throughout history. And slipping quietly alongside it, Caine had never killed again, neither Man nor Immortal. Waiting for the Gathering, when perhaps he could atone for his sin.
I looked back at Danny's body. I couldn't leave him here in the open. Using my new Talent for telekinesis, I carried him carefully down into the forgotten depths of the tower. To the Tomb of Margolas, to lie for eternity alongside the greatest hero of the city of Nelthor. Danny's presence within me seemed to approve as I lay him down in the empty Casket of the Unknown Hero. As I returned to the landing field, I wondered if Margolas had known that two aliens would fight to the death high above his Tomb when he had designed it. That was one thing I would probably never know.
As I looked at the multitude of ships scattered out on the field, I decided they didn't belong here on Cormanock. I entered each of them and set their autopilots to launch them into the local sun. From each I took a token of the immortals who had arrived in them. One for each life lost that past month.
Ellen said nothing as I entered her bridge and began launch checks. We'd been together long enough for her to sense my moods. As we flew away from Cormanock toward the Slip Point, I considered what I had learned, and what I should do. I was still Immortal, but now I was alone. The last of my kind. As we entered Slipstream, a brief vision flashed across my eyes. A Highguard warship. Glorious Heritage class. Trapped for three hundred years near a black hole. A memory from the past. A vision of the future.
She would be there. The mother of all Immortals. The alien who had given some of her power to two brothers, and had caused so much pain and death for no other reason than she was bored one day.
Trance Gemini.