Chapter 1
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August 2000
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It wasn't unusual for Duncan. Another immortal comes for him, determined to take his head. Sometimes the other immortal wanted revenge on him, sometimes they just wanted his head. But lately, it seemed a lot more immortals were coming for him. Could it be the gathering was upon them? Was it time that Duncan had to fight them all? Some were his friends, lovers, his kin. Duncan was going to see Joe Dawson, maybe the watchers had some idea why more immortals seemed to want to fight these days. Before Duncan could get to Joe, another immortal attacked him. This guy wasn't nearly as strong as he seemed to think he was, Duncan took his head fairly quickly. But then Duncan say the tattoo on the man's arm. It seemed to be some weird mixture of various occult symbols. He didn't recognize all of these little symbols, but the swastika stood out. In his long life Duncan had seen this symbol only once before, in Germany, 1945. This did not seem like a coincidence. Duncan took a picture and brought it to Joe Dawson.
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Duncan: This tattoo was on the arm of an immortal I just killed. I've only seen it once before.
Joe: Let me guess, nazi Germany?
Duncan: Close. It was 1945, just after Donitz and the rest of the Flenschburg government were arrested. This other immortal, who believed in the nazi ideology, he knew that I'd fought for the allies. He wanted revenge so he fought me, and I took his head. What does this symbol mean?
Joe: It's the symbol of a cult. They believe in a great war between good and evil, and they choose to worship evil.
Duncan: Which explains the attraction to the third reich.
Joe: By any chance have you had a lot of duels lately?
Duncan: Yes. You think it could be the gathering?
Joe: I think this cult might be trying to turn the gathering into a self-fulfilling prophecy. They have a theory about what created immortals. They believe that the darkside created immortals to be warriors for them in the final battle. Think about it, living for centuries, but always afraid of other immortals coming for your head. Eventually having to kill all others, even if they've been your friend, your lover. Even if they're a helpless child, or mentally challenged. Sounds like the perfect recipe to create a master race of sociopathic super soldiers. In many ways you're the exception.
Duncan: If that's true, why aren't we allowed to kill on holy ground?
Joe: Good question. We don't know if the cult has an explanation for that.
Duncan: I realize that Evil might believe in survival of the fittest, but this would mean that Evil only has one warrior for the final battle, maybe none if a non cult member is the last one standing.
Joe: They believe that Evil will ressurect them for the final battle. And ofcourse each one wants to win the gathering to prove their own worthiness. If they're right, the gathering is fast approaching. I can't say if their theory about the great war is true, but it is becoming more likely that one of these cult members, who worship evil itself, will be the last one standing. There are other watchers who really don't want that to happen.
Duncan: So they're willing to officially break their rules of non-intervention?
Joe: Officially they're still debating it, but we both know I've long since abandoned that rule. There's a church near here, we're trying to keep as many immortals there as possible. It's the best we can do for now.
Duncan: Thank you Joe.
Joe: What are friends for.
