Highlander: Osiris
Into the Game
Chapter 2
That night, as I slept, I sensed the presence of another immortal. Not as powerful as the demons I had been dreaming about recently, but another immortal nonetheless. I could sense her... almost inside my head.
Her? Yes. A woman. She could have been standing over my bed, or she could have been on the other side of the world. I couldn't sense her in the same way I sense most immortals. All I knew was that there was an immortal out there... and we touched.
I'd never felt that before. I'd never heard of that before.
Then I could see her. She was a shadow. I could feel her calling out to me. Her voice was... almost a gently whisper of tears. She was afraid. She drew closer, and right as the light was about to come on her face, my eyes snapped open. All I saw now was the ceiling above my bed. I could tell by my own internal clock that the horizon should be lightening with the coming daylight, but with all the lights of the city, that doesn't happen very often.
Knowing that I could not fall asleep after that, I sat up in bed and got dressed. It was a bit cold in my apartment, but I could handle it. After the heat of the egyptian day, and the cold of the desert night, a little New York cold was no problem.
For some reason I couldn't stay put. I knew I should wait and see if the immortal from the previous day would come back, but I just needed to get out. So I went. Foregoing my light blue jacket that I usually wear, I had a tan trenchcoat. Much better in the cold, and it had much more room for weapons. I didn't take all that many, though. Just a scimitar on my back, three sheaves on my left wrist, and a knife on my right.
Just because I'm getting back into the game doesn't mean I'm willing to forget all of the caution I've learned over the last two thousand years.
As I walked, I let my mind wander. Thousands of years have given me a kind of loose focus... I can let my mind wander, and yet still be in complete control of what is around me.
I could sense the people around me. Swarming masses of mortals. Out there must be immortals as well, but none were near enough to sense.
Until eventually I came back to my apartment building again. I saw the same man standing there, looking around.
Trying to match a face with his immortal sense.
Realizing that he didn't know which direction I was in, only that I was near, I started to circle around. Eventually, I joined the flow of pedestrian traffic and started to come up from behind him. He sensed where I was now, but refused to turn to look. After I passed him, he started to walk with the crowd, trying to find me.
This part of New York may have changed a bit, but not that much. I knew where we could find privacy. I simply turned down an alley, then walked through a doorframe that had once held a sturdy locked door. Inside, it was fairly quiet. The building was not large. But it was abandoned.
I simply stood in the middle of the building and waited. I could sense him outside. He was debating whether it was safe to follow me or not.
He was simply a headhunter. Not nearly as old or skilled as I, but hoping to defeat enough immortals to become more powerful, like me.
Well, if he decided to face me, he would not get his wish.
Soon enough he finally decided to follow me. Had there not been people in every direction, he could have tried something cute... like skulking around until he found another entrance, or coming in through a window and trying to surprise me.
He walked through the door I came in.
I stood in the center of the room and watched as he came in. He was about as non-descript as you can get. The kind of immortal who will blend in with any crowd. White, but dark enough to pass as a hispanic or perhaps even a dark-skinned italian. Dark hair, not black, but not brown. I wasn't close enough to see his eye color, but I assumed they were a simple blue or brown. He spoke, "I don't know who you are, but I just wanted to see for myself."
"You've seen.", I replied. "Now what?"
He was young. Perhaps he'd only just recently found that he was immortal, and had gotten lucky and taken a head or two already. He didn't know much about the game.
He pulled out a sword. Surprisingly, it was a thick rapier, not the kind of sword most immortals choose to carry. As he moved, I saw inside his jacket a bulge that was most likely a short sword or long knife. Probably a machete or something like it, to take the heads that his rapier couldn't take.
I nodded. "Interesting...", then pulled out my own blade.
Something inside me felt odd as we faced off... something I hadn't felt in a long time. Long-lost warrior instincts flared up, and as he charged, I whipped out my scimitar and slapped his blade aside with a smooth motion. I could have slashed him in the back, but something inside me held back.
A part of me simply wanted to toy with him.
Taking stock of my larger weapon, he reached inside his coat with his left hand and pulled out his large knife. It was an unfamiliar make to me, but it was somewhere between a machete and a butcher knife. He lunged at me with his rapier, and as I blocked it, he swung his knife at me, which I managed to block as well on my scimitar.
Surprised, he pulled back, then tried another attack combination.
I blocked everything he threw at me, without flinching. He ran in circles around me testing my defenses, and just to toy with him I didn't move. My feet and waist stayed steady. Only my upper body moved. Finally I couldn't stand waiting any longer, and as I blocked his rapier, I kicked out, knocking it from his hand. My left hand grabbed his, and with a twist I broke his wrist. His knife clattered to the ground.
Perhaps in the old days I would have let someone that much weaker than me live. But I hadn't been taken by this kind of blood-lust. I'd never taken the head of an insane god before.
"There can be only one." I said, "And apparently you are not it."
My scimitar came down with one quick motion.
His quickening had been weak, and unfullfilling. I wanted more.
But there was no more to be found. I went back to my apartment, and curled back up in bed. I could use a few more hours of sleep.
Into the Game
Chapter 2
That night, as I slept, I sensed the presence of another immortal. Not as powerful as the demons I had been dreaming about recently, but another immortal nonetheless. I could sense her... almost inside my head.
Her? Yes. A woman. She could have been standing over my bed, or she could have been on the other side of the world. I couldn't sense her in the same way I sense most immortals. All I knew was that there was an immortal out there... and we touched.
I'd never felt that before. I'd never heard of that before.
Then I could see her. She was a shadow. I could feel her calling out to me. Her voice was... almost a gently whisper of tears. She was afraid. She drew closer, and right as the light was about to come on her face, my eyes snapped open. All I saw now was the ceiling above my bed. I could tell by my own internal clock that the horizon should be lightening with the coming daylight, but with all the lights of the city, that doesn't happen very often.
Knowing that I could not fall asleep after that, I sat up in bed and got dressed. It was a bit cold in my apartment, but I could handle it. After the heat of the egyptian day, and the cold of the desert night, a little New York cold was no problem.
For some reason I couldn't stay put. I knew I should wait and see if the immortal from the previous day would come back, but I just needed to get out. So I went. Foregoing my light blue jacket that I usually wear, I had a tan trenchcoat. Much better in the cold, and it had much more room for weapons. I didn't take all that many, though. Just a scimitar on my back, three sheaves on my left wrist, and a knife on my right.
Just because I'm getting back into the game doesn't mean I'm willing to forget all of the caution I've learned over the last two thousand years.
As I walked, I let my mind wander. Thousands of years have given me a kind of loose focus... I can let my mind wander, and yet still be in complete control of what is around me.
I could sense the people around me. Swarming masses of mortals. Out there must be immortals as well, but none were near enough to sense.
Until eventually I came back to my apartment building again. I saw the same man standing there, looking around.
Trying to match a face with his immortal sense.
Realizing that he didn't know which direction I was in, only that I was near, I started to circle around. Eventually, I joined the flow of pedestrian traffic and started to come up from behind him. He sensed where I was now, but refused to turn to look. After I passed him, he started to walk with the crowd, trying to find me.
This part of New York may have changed a bit, but not that much. I knew where we could find privacy. I simply turned down an alley, then walked through a doorframe that had once held a sturdy locked door. Inside, it was fairly quiet. The building was not large. But it was abandoned.
I simply stood in the middle of the building and waited. I could sense him outside. He was debating whether it was safe to follow me or not.
He was simply a headhunter. Not nearly as old or skilled as I, but hoping to defeat enough immortals to become more powerful, like me.
Well, if he decided to face me, he would not get his wish.
Soon enough he finally decided to follow me. Had there not been people in every direction, he could have tried something cute... like skulking around until he found another entrance, or coming in through a window and trying to surprise me.
He walked through the door I came in.
I stood in the center of the room and watched as he came in. He was about as non-descript as you can get. The kind of immortal who will blend in with any crowd. White, but dark enough to pass as a hispanic or perhaps even a dark-skinned italian. Dark hair, not black, but not brown. I wasn't close enough to see his eye color, but I assumed they were a simple blue or brown. He spoke, "I don't know who you are, but I just wanted to see for myself."
"You've seen.", I replied. "Now what?"
He was young. Perhaps he'd only just recently found that he was immortal, and had gotten lucky and taken a head or two already. He didn't know much about the game.
He pulled out a sword. Surprisingly, it was a thick rapier, not the kind of sword most immortals choose to carry. As he moved, I saw inside his jacket a bulge that was most likely a short sword or long knife. Probably a machete or something like it, to take the heads that his rapier couldn't take.
I nodded. "Interesting...", then pulled out my own blade.
Something inside me felt odd as we faced off... something I hadn't felt in a long time. Long-lost warrior instincts flared up, and as he charged, I whipped out my scimitar and slapped his blade aside with a smooth motion. I could have slashed him in the back, but something inside me held back.
A part of me simply wanted to toy with him.
Taking stock of my larger weapon, he reached inside his coat with his left hand and pulled out his large knife. It was an unfamiliar make to me, but it was somewhere between a machete and a butcher knife. He lunged at me with his rapier, and as I blocked it, he swung his knife at me, which I managed to block as well on my scimitar.
Surprised, he pulled back, then tried another attack combination.
I blocked everything he threw at me, without flinching. He ran in circles around me testing my defenses, and just to toy with him I didn't move. My feet and waist stayed steady. Only my upper body moved. Finally I couldn't stand waiting any longer, and as I blocked his rapier, I kicked out, knocking it from his hand. My left hand grabbed his, and with a twist I broke his wrist. His knife clattered to the ground.
Perhaps in the old days I would have let someone that much weaker than me live. But I hadn't been taken by this kind of blood-lust. I'd never taken the head of an insane god before.
"There can be only one." I said, "And apparently you are not it."
My scimitar came down with one quick motion.
His quickening had been weak, and unfullfilling. I wanted more.
But there was no more to be found. I went back to my apartment, and curled back up in bed. I could use a few more hours of sleep.