Chapter 72

Ste. Genevieve

As he pulled onto the deserted looking grounds of the convent, Duncan could feel the nearness of an immortal. He braked and nodded at both Amanda and Phillip as they readied themselves. All three alit from their stolen car with their swords in hand and quickly formed a wedge by which they could protect one another.

"We have to be willing to bend the rules," Phillip had told them on this last stage of their journey. "Nestor will break them all if he can... So we must bend like the wheat in the storm or we will be broken like the mighty oak."

Duncan had nodded at the use of the old proverb. He'd heard that one before. "And we who can be broken one at a time, cannot be if we stand together," he'd added, thinking of another old proverb.

Phillip had smiled with another nod.

"That's Nick's SUV," Amanda murmured as they closed in on it. The doors were shut but the keys were still in the ignition.

"There were more here last time," Duncan said as his narrowed eyes and piercing gaze attempted to see before him all that the land would tell. He could vaguely sense an immortal presence... but lighter... less pronounced than before.

"They're either gone or dead... most of them," murmured Phillip.

Duncan pointed at the scuffled earth in the courtyard and the trail of a body being dragged off. "Someone was cut down, there."

Amanda started forward only to discover Duncan's restraining hand on her arm. "Stay!" he whispered.

As a group, continually circling and watching the shadows, the three moved along the trail. At the door to the small schoolhouse Duncan finally paused. In here was the source of the presence they still felt. He took a deep breath then kicked open the door and raised his katana in preparation.

As his eyes adjusted to the semi-darkness, Duncan MacLeod of the Clan MacLeod saw he was too late. His urgency and speed at getting here and the resulting accident had sealed the fate of those who had arrived first.

Slowly he and the others approached the small frame of Valeraine, sitting quietly on the floor with Nick Wolfe's tortured head in her lap. Nearby, Duncan could make out the nude and headless form of Marie-France.

"Nestor's gone," the tiny girl's voice offered quietly. "He left about ten minutes ago."

Nick's body gave a convulsive leap as he drew in a breath.

Amanda knelt beside him. "He's still alive." Then she saw him clearly. She gasped!

Both eyes had been gouged out so that only empty eye-holes stared up at her. Nick opened and shut his mouth... only a mumbling issued from it. His tongue had been removed as had most of his teeth, He raised one hand... fingerless... to reach out blindly toward her. Amanda grasped the stub of his hand and held it against her cheek. Anger was rising in her as she realized what was left of this man she had once issued into immortality against his will.

One leg had been removed and the resulting stump batted the floor. The other leg was still there... but there was no foot. Nick's remaining arm had been severed at the elbow.

Phillip lowered his sword and leaned back against the wall... ashamed at what the others must now understand about his own past... about what he had witnessed and done nothing about for too long... about the horror of and the perversity that filled the once noble warrior called Nestor.

"If he's only minutes away... we can still catch him." The dark tone of Duncan's voice shocked even Phillip.

"Highlander.... no! Do you not yet understand? If you kill him... you become him."

"We can't let him continue to prey on the world! He has to be stopped!"

"I know that!" Phillip's voice rose in anger. "I have always known it. But neither of us can kill him. We are too powerful! The body Nestor now uses was the weakest of us... chosen to hold his darkness for all time. That's how we thought to contain him. The youngest of us... the most inept... willing to try. We'd hoped if Barak held him, his youth and innocence might be enough... but it wasn't. Barak became Nestor... and at that we had no further choice. We had to bury his evil and walk away. Even Darius knew if any of us killed him... Nestor would have all our skills at his disposal."

"Who was Barak?" Duncan glared at Phillip.

Amanda rose and stood beside Duncan, she rubbed one hand over Duncan's back and tearfully explained, "He was your lover, wasn't he?"

Phillip nodded. "I never took another immortal lover after that. Never! He was so very special to me. Barak was young... filled with a zest for life and an appreciation of and understanding of music that filled my soul. He offered himself as the vessel and all of us hoped his innocence would protect him... but it didn't. Barak was lost that day... only Nestor remained. But his sacrifice made it possible for us to stop Nestor for a time. Now the monster is free once more... and this time... we have no way to stop him."

Behind them Nick gurgled.

"No!" exclaimed Valeraine. "I will not kill you! Even half a life is better than none at all. Please Nick... you'll heal... we can fix you up... You can stay here with us... You'll be safe."

Nick waved his fingerless hand and tried once more to plead with them for an end.

Amanda returned to kneel by his side and gazed at him thoughtfully. "It's not his head he wants us to take..." She stared at Duncan and Phillip as realization dawned on all three of them. "He wants to kill Nestor... if we can arrange it."

"No!" screamed Valeraine and buried her face in the young immortal's chest. "No!"

Nick wrapped his one arm about the child and sobbed with her. Amanda's eyes filled with tears. "It's the only way... the only way he can find peace."

Nick managed to gesture toward Marie-France's body. In that moment, Duncan realized that her quickening had not gone to Nestor... it had gone to Nick. Even tortured, Nick had Marie-France's gentleness and peace within him. Perhaps with Marie-France's quickening to buoy him... Nick might be able to do what the others did not dare.

"Valeraine, where would the others have gone to hide?" Duncan asked quietly.

Valeraine, still sobbing raised her head. "To the mountains. There are some caves there... Ursa would protect them."

"Nestor may have made a mistake. He thought Nick would know what he wanted... but it was Marie-France who likely knew. She managed to keep it from him somehow despite whatever he did. Show me the caves. If Ursa meets Nestor in battle... we may have a bigger battle on our hands than we can imagine."

"Ursa?" Phillip straightened suddenly and fearfully. "Gods... that would be a nightmare! Lass... we need you to find them... Can you do that?"

Valeraine looked at Nick and continued to caress his maimed face. "I can't leave him alone."

Amanda reached out to her, "I will stay... I promise. I won't run away... not this time." She gave the girl a small squeeze on the arm.

Valeraine leaned down and kissed Nick's lips then laid his head on the floor as she rose and bowed slightly to Phillip. "I am yours to command Swordmaster."

"We can't lead him there... and Amanda can't face him should he return." Duncan's mind was a jumble as he tried to think through all eventualities.

"Now you see why there were a dozen of us to start last time. Even if Methos had joined us and we had met Nestor as one... we'd still have been only eight... nine with Ursa... perhaps ten." He winked at MacLeod as he thought of Eleanor."

"Methos..." murmured Duncan. "Maybe he got here first."

"Methos?" asked Valeraine. "The myth? The eldest of us all?"

Phillip glanced down at her with a sober nod. "Aye... he would have come. He would have sent the others away and taken the girl before Nestor arrived. It would be the girl Nestor wanted... the immortal child who could make him invincible." Visions of the bloody bed in that Paris hotel room came to Phillip's mind. Perhaps that is what they were doing... but Eleanor was not the foretold child! Because of that, did it mean the girl was safe with Methos? That Methos who knew what fate had in store for the girl had successfully removed himself from vying for her by joining with Eleanor somehow? There were elements of this Phillip still did not quite grasp.

"Valeraine... slip through the darkness and find the others. Bring them back here. Amanda... stay with Nick. When we contact you... bring him."

"I have no phone..." she started then realized that Valeraine was holding up a phone.

"It was Nick's... Nestor left it behind. I think it still works."

Duncan grasped it and tried Methos' cell number. There was still no answer. "Damn him! Where is he?"

"Likely taking the girl to safety... but where?" Phillip tried to think. Would Methos dare to lead Nestor into any proximity of Eleanor or Derrick? He didn't think so... but his friend had not been thinking too clearly in recent days where Eleanor was concerned... not since Seacouver.

"He has a place near here... perhaps there. At least it's a place to start looking."

"And Nestor?" Duncan snarled.

Phillip shook his head. "We may have missed our chance here. But he won't stay hidden for long. We'll find him. Amanda... we need to go... will you be all right here alone. I don't think Nestor will be back... but I could be wrong."

Amanda rose to give Duncan an embrace. He tipped her head up for a long kiss. "Be careful... I don't want to lose you, too."

"Go!" she whispered and gave him a smile.

Valeraine vanished into the darkness. Phillip watched her go and then he and Duncan piled into their stolen car. "We might need to exchange this one soon."

"We could take Nick's," suggested Duncan.

"No... Amanda will need it later. I wouldn't want there to be any delay because of authorities once we are ready. And... we need to get a new cell phone."

Duncan nodded and started the ignition. Inside he felt twisted into knots. He feared for the girl... he feared for Amanda... he feared for Ellie and Derrick. If Nestor reached any of them... it was his fault for rushing too quickly. Perhaps there was something to be said for a careful consideration of all options before acting. He'd thought so once... but when those he cared for were in danger... he wanted to rush to their side. Unlike Methos who seemed to be able to sit back and judge the best course of action, Duncan could not bear his charges being put in danger.

Carefully, and a bit reluctantly, Duncan MacLeod pulled away from the convent of Ste. Genevieve and drove off into the west once more.