Sheep in Wolfe's Clothing

"Let me guess," said Amanda with an amused smile. "There was something in her eye and you were helping her get it out."

Methos knew that no lie would be believed, at least not by Dawson. Amanda he knew would say nothing, regardless of what excuse he gave. Therefore he broke his embrace with Kiar and the two of them moved apart. Silently she put her gloves back on while Methos walked towards the group that was staring at them.

"Amanda," he began. "What are you doing here?"

"We were in town and I thought I would drop in and say hi," she said, still smiling. Methos knew that she was loving this. Wolfe, meanwhile was actually sizing up Kiar. Dawson just stood there, looking pissed.

"I'm going to take a wild stab at this," Dawson said. "Would this happen to be Kiar Veriah?"

"Yes," Methos said sheepishly.

"He is so wonderful about piecing clues together, isn't he?" said Amanda who subsequently put her arm around Dawson's shoulder, trying to diffuse the situation.

Kiar walked towards Wolfe until they were almost nose-to-nose.

"Nice tattoo," he said.

Kiar looked him in the eyes without blinking. Then she leaned closer and sniffed him. "This one," she said. "He's only recently immortal. He doesn't even have a head yet."

"You want to be my first?" Wolfe retorted.

"No!" said Amanda and Methos at the same time.

Kiar just narrowed her gaze. "I thought you weren't overly fond of policemen, Amanda."

"Nick's not a policeman," began Amanda.

"He used to be," returned Kiar. "I also thought that you didn't take pets, Amanda."

Amanda knew that Kiar was trying to provoke a fight from Nick, and from the look on his face, she was succeeding. "We are on holy ground, Nick," she said to remind him.

"She can't stay in here forever," he said in that macho tone of his.

Amanda just rolled her eyes, she knew Kiar had won round one.

Methos's shoulders slumped. I'm screwed, he thought. They will never let me live this one down.

"Tell me, newborn," Kiar said to Wolfe. "Would you like to try and take my head?"

"Don't, Nick," Amanda warned. "She's a lot better than you."

"And you as well, Amanda," Kiar said finally turning her gaze to the elder Immortal. "By the way, have you seen Jade lately?"

"No," said Amanda, a lump forming in her throat.

"And you won't be seeing her anytime soon either. I took her head back in the spring for trying to steal from my temple."

Amanda choked back her emotions. This was all that Nick could stand. He hauled off and cracked Kiar squarely in the jaw. She took a few steps back and brushed the back of her hand against her lip. She had a small cut and was bleeding.

"I don't want to hear any more out of you," he said pointing a finger at her.

"Nick, holy ground," Amanda warned again.

"I've got this, Amanda," Nick said almost shouting.

"You should keep your dog on a shorter leash, Amanda," Kiar said, digging at Nick again.

Amanda winced as Nick threw another punch. But to everyone's amazement, Kiar blocked this time and delivered a double open palm thrust to Nick's chest that sent him back and to the ground. Amanda realized that round two just ended and Kiar was again the winner. Methos put a hand on Kiar's arm and shook his head in disapproval.

She shrugged him off and walked towards Nick. He was coughing and holding his chest. Kiar just roughly hoisted him to his feet and pushed him towards the door. "Come on, Amanda," she taunted. "Watch me kill your pet now." Nick began to protest but was met with another palm in the ribs that silenced him very quickly.

Dawson pulled a pistol, but Methos stopped him. "No," he said. "A challenge has been made and agreed to. Nick is on his own." Dawson grudgingly holstered his pistol as he, Methos, and Amanda followed Kiar and the beat upon Nick until they were off holy ground.

Kiar unceremoniously dropped Nick to the ground and knelt down. "Do you know the rules, newborn?" she said taunting him. Nick said nothing. "Does he know the rules Amanda?"

When Amanda didn't respond right away Kiar palmed Nick in the ribs again. This time he could feel one of them break. "Answer me, Amanda!" Kiar demanded. "Does he know the rules?"

"Yes, he does," Amanda said, a worried look on her face. "Don't do this, you've made your point."

"To you perhaps, but newborns need to learn that I am not someone with whom they should fuck." She roughly pulled Nick to a standing position and let him go. Almost immediately, he fell down. Amanda began to move forward, but Methos held her back by the arm. Kiar pulled Nick up again. This time he kept his footing. "Draw your weapon, newborn."

Nick drew his sword. It was an old English long sword of Amanda's. She didn't use it anymore, and she had figured that it would serve Nick better than her. Kiar drew her own sword. It was an old Chinese long sword with an elaborate hilt. Everyone there knew that Nick was not up to facing Kiar, but they said nothing. Nick made the first swing. It was mid-range and a bit of a wild swing. Kiar stepped back from it unimpressed. She made a strike of her own that strangely enough Nick blocked rather easily.

"What's she doing?" Amanda whispered to Methos.

"Toying with him," replied Methos. "I would bet my head that he won't even score a genuine hit on her."

"Your head, huh?" returned Amanda.

"Yes, my head. I would kneel down for you and let you do the job with my own sword."

Nick made another swing, which Kiar blocked and then promptly kicked him square in the chest. He staggered back and before he could recover she sliced him across his chest. He fell back and clutched at his wound. Kiar just stood there and waited for him to get up. Once he did she again raised her sword and advanced on him. Nick made a strike aimed for her shoulder and she blocked it and kicked him squarely in the groin. He just collapsed, coughing and gasping, to the ground. Again, Kiar waited for Nick to get up again. Once he had she made two very quick strikes that caught him in his sword arm and in his thigh. Nick dropped his guard, but held his ground as Kiar began to circle him. She again let Nick recover enough to continue. He lunged at her with a swing. Kiar merely sidestepped, spun around and kicked him in the back of his head, sending him facedown on the ground. Kiar turned to face him and this time did not wait for him to stand. Unceremoniously she kicked him in the face to turn him onto his back. Then she stepped on his wrist and picked up his sword. Not satisfied, she picked him up to a kneeling position and kicked him in the face again. Amanda could see teeth and blood shoot from his mouth as he fell once more. It was over for Nick. Kiar just picked him up to a sitting position by his hair. She just looked at Amanda and smiled. With Nick's own blade, she ran him through and snapped the hilt clean off with a fist strike to the flat of the blade. She threw the hilt at Amanda's feet and shoved Nick facedown again. She then put her own blade to his neck.

"How do you want this to end, Amanda?" she asked. "Shall I take his head or should I let him live?"

With tears streaming down her cheeks, Amanda said, "Please, let him live. He wasn't ready for you."

"Teach him better," Kiar said as she moved her blade away from Nick. "The next time we fight, he loses his head." With that she wiped her blade off on Nick's shirt, sheathed it, and walked away. Methos, Amanda, and Dawson just watched her go, powerless to stop her.

Dawson just turned to Methos. "You have a lot of explaining to do."

I do indeed, Methos thought as he watched Kiar walk off.

To be continued…