Disclaimer: I saved Methos from the nasty Immortals. Just ignore the muffled screaming.

Ch. 3:

Sekhmet stood on the boundaries of her home as her friends stood behind her.

"Where do you think they are?" Aurore asked.

"I don't know, but we've been standing out her for an hour." Methos replied crossly. "You'd think they'd be more anxious to get this over with."

"Maybe they're intimidated by the number of Immortals here." Amanda suggested.

"They weren't intimidated when they were gunning you down." Duncan pointed out. "If we're going with the assumption that they're a young Immortal, they risked pissing off a lot of older Immortals with that stunt and it didn't seem to faze them."

"Good point." She admitted.

"Were you able to find anything out from the Watchers?" Methos asked Joe.

The old Watcher shook his head.

"No one knows of any Immortals nearby except for you five, and they don't even realize you're an Immortal, so they really only know that Duncan, Amanda, Aurore, and Sekhmet, who they think is Eve, are here." he told them.

"You people fill me with confidence." Sekhmet said dryly.

"I'm so sorry that we can't make your life easier." Joe replied, just as dryly. "You know, because that's our goal in life."

Sekhmet laughed, but the Immortals suddenly stiffened as another Immortal approached.

A young woman, obviously of Middle Eastern descent, walked up from the shore towards them.

"You the one who shot my friends and, even more importantly, broke my window?" Sekhmet called.

"Good to know where we rank, huh?" Aurore muttered to Amanda, who nodded.

"Are you the heir of Sekhmet?" the woman asked in heavily accented English.

"There's no such thing." Sekhmet told her.

"I beg to differ." The woman said. "My research says that you are the latest in a line of women stretching back 5,000 years to the goddess herself."

"Sekhmet was no goddess." Sekhmet ground out. "She was a murderer."

"And yet you live in her temple." The woman pointed out. "Strange for a woman who says she has no connection to the goddess."

"Where I live is no concern of yours." Sekhmet told her. "Please, I'm giving you a chance. Turn around and walk away, and we'll forget this ever happened."

"I came for your head." The woman told her. "And when I take it, the power of the goddess will be mine."

"You're delusional." Sekhmet said. "There is no power!"

"Then why did you take the woman who came before you's head?" the woman asked.

"It was a matter of survival." Sekhmet replied. "And I've tried my best to stay out of the game, so please just leave us in peace."

"I am Zahra Maloof." The woman said, raising her sword. "Will you fight, Eve Myles, or will you hide in the sanctuary of Holy Ground for the rest of time?"

Sekhmet was silent, studying the woman and Methos stepped up behind her, resting his hand on her shoulder.

"How old are you?" Sekhmet called.

"I have seen 65 years." Zahra replied.

Sekhmet sighed sadly.

"Such a waste." She said softly.

Methos squeezed her shoulder and she nodded. She drew her sword and stepped over the boundary.

The moment she was unprotected, Zahra attacked. Sekhmet quickly blocked the blow and spun out of the way, leading the other woman away from the house. Zahra lunged again, and Sekhmet blocked again. And again. And again.

"Attack, damn you!" Zahra yelled at her.

"I told you." Sekhmet replied, avoiding another blow. "I have no desire to take your head. All I want to do is live in peace."

"Only cowards and weaklings avoid the game." Zahra sneered at her. "You aren't worthy of being the goddess's heir. She was a great warrior. You are a disgrace."

Sekhmet clenched her teeth and suddenly went on the attack. She started off slow and quickly sped up until it looked like she was dancing. Each swing controlled and precise. Zahra struggled to continue to block, until, finally, Sekhmet moved to fast and she landed a blow on each of the woman's arms and legs. Finally, she jumped in the air, spinning to kick Zahra to the ground.

As Zahra lay on the ground, panting and bleeding, Sekhmet walked up and laid her sword on the woman's neck.

"I don't fight unless I have to." She told the young woman sadly. "That doesn't mean I can't."

She pulled her sword away and stepped back.

"Leave this place in peace." Sekhmet ordered.

She turned to walk back to her friends and her love.

"No." she heard Zahra growl.

She turned and saw Zahra's blade flying at her throat and quickly blocked it. Without thinking, she swung and hit Zahra's neck, decapitating her in one blow.

As the woman's body fell to the ground, the air grew heavy. Sekhmet looked down at her hands and saw the electricity gathering there. When the bolts began to hit, she cried.

Methos and the others watched as bolt after bolt hit Sekhmet and the area around her. The strikes formed a ring around her, turning the sand to glass. There was a sound, like a lion's roar and Aurore shivered.

Finally it was over and Sekhmet looked down at the woman's body again.

"Such a waste." She repeated.

She walked down to the river and kneeled on its bank, washing her sword in the water. Methos came over and as he kneeled next to her, her hands stilled. He just sat there quietly until she finally sighed.

"So much blood." She said softly. "Our lives, our hands, our souls. They're soaked in blood. How can this be right? How can taking the life of a young, misguided woman be the right thing to do?"

"It may not be right." Methos agreed. "But it's what there is. It's kill or be killed. There is nothing else."

"Well, it sucks." She said, angrily standing and shoving her sword back in its scabbard.

Methos sighed and stood up as well.

"Yes it does." He agreed. "Come on, our friends are waiting.

Sekhmet nodded and let him lead her back to the house. When they made it back, Methos let her go so Amanda and Aurore could embrace her and lead her into house.

"We need to take care of the body." Methos said as the women left. "This place is remote, but I don't want to leave the body just sitting out. Not this close to the house."

"I'll help you." Duncan said.

"Thanks." Methos said.

He watched as he fiancée entered the house and sighed.

"Time may not touch us." He said. "But it sure as hell can still destroy us."

Duncan reached over and clasped him on the shoulder before leading him back to where Zahra's body lay. Joe watched them go in silence.

"Time can be a bitch." He agreed silently.

A/N: Let me know what you thought.

Abbey