A huge Thank you to my reviewers!
I will be an ocean away from my pc for the next two weeks. I will update next on 9-30
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Chapter 5: Descent into Darkness
I looked up from the Musee de Pompadour's website into Mac and Amanda's eyes "How? How did he do it?"
"He does have mortal descendants, could Michael Montrose be one of them?" Amanda suggested.
Mac shook his head "It's more than a resemblance. It's his voice, his manner, the way he walks. But it isn't possible. How could he be killing Gonzalas in the Park and be all the way across town at the Pompadour?"
Before I could respond both Immortals stiffened. The barge door boomed dully as Methos wrenched it open. The relief in Mac's face was palatable as Methos strolled in leaving the door swinging on its hinges behind him.
Methos cringed violently as Mac reached out to him "Don't touch me!" He shuddered as he swept past and made a beeline for the liquor cabinet with Mac hovering like a mother hen. He swept up the first bottle available and chugged cognac like water as he drained of at least half the decanter. He let Mac's keys jangle onto the kitchen island and snarled at Mac "What'er'you'lookin'at?" He half shoved Mac out of his path on the way to the door. Mac doggedly stepped back into Methos' way. Methos finished off the decanter in one long drink as he glared daggers at Mac. He set the decanter gently back on the island before calmly selecting another bottle. He ripped the cork out with a practiced twist and spat the cork at Mac. The cork rebounded off of Mac's chest and came to rest unheeded on the floor. Methos closed his eyes and drained another half bottle. The three of us sat watching his Adam's apple bob as we waited for the explosion. Methos lowered the bottle as the tension continued to build. When he finally spoke it was with a surprising calmness "Amanda, my keys, please."
Amanda tossed them but Mac snatched them out of the air "You can't possibly drive."
"Fine" Methos replied with a deceptive mildness "I will walk."
"Do you have any idea how many of us there are in Paris right now? You are in no condition to face another Immortal."
Methos' only response was to take another long drink.
"Do you want to die?"
"Yes" Methos hissed. That single word was charged with such longing and self-loathing that is struck us dumb. Methos took advantage of our surprise to flank Mac. He was nearly to the door when Mac tackled him. Mac braced himself for a fight but Methos went bonelessly limp beneath him.
"Let me go" Methos pled despairingly.
Mac rolled him over without ever letting go of him. His shirt clung to him where the wine had soaked it. He was smeared here and there with blood from glass cuts but it was the dark despair in his normally sparkling eyes that was disturbing.
"Please" he whispered "Duncan, please."
Mac looked like he'd been kicked by a horse. He wrapped his hand in Methos' shirt and pulled him upright. He hauled him across the room and dumped him onto the cushions at the far end of the barge
"No, absolutely not."
Methos just sank further back into the cushions.
"Talk to me, Methos."
Methos cast a longing glance in the direction of the liquor cabinet.
"I think you've had enough."
"No, I have not" he replied without a trace of a slur "Not nearly enough."
Amanda licked her lips in a nervous gesture before fetching a bottle from the cabinet herself. Mac glared at her while Methos shot her a look of heartfelt gratitude. She curled up like a cat in front of him and asked "Are you sure you don't want to talk?"
"No" Methos replied resignedly "I do not want to talk." He turned those frighteningly empty eyes on Mac
"But I don't suppose you'll give me a choice." He played with the bottle without drinking "It wouldn't matter if I left. I've been driving round the city for hours without encountering a single Immortal. Ari's involved and my head won't fall unless and until he wants it to. Not unless you take it." He finally took a drink "Have you ever betrayed someone, MacLeod? Not made a mistake that got someone killed, or been tricked, or made a choice for the greater good but delivered the one person you should have loved most into the hands of the enemy. No. No, the great Duncan MacLeod would never. You're a Peter, not a Judas." He took another drink "Speaking of the Great Duncan MacLeod, would you mind telling me what inspired you Challenge Ari in the first place?"
Mac dropped heavily onto the cushions beside Amanda "How do you know I Challenged him?"
"Because Ari-El does not issue Challenges."
"I Challenged him for the murder of Carlos Gonzalas." Mac replied more to the floor than to Methos.
"What!?" Methos just stared at Mac incredulously "You Challenged Blade, the Old Man under the Mountain, the Ta'am of Elam, the Bright Star, the Lord of the Summer Sky over a man you would have killed yourself. You didn't know" he said. He rose and prowled around the barge "No Net access, no television, not so much as a newspaper. The biggest scandal of the decade and you didn't have a clue."
He began to chuckle and then to laugh hysterically and finally to sob uncontrollably. He pushed away from Amanda when she reached out to him but he gradually mastered himself. He rose and walked to one of the portholes "Tell me, MacLeod, what is it that you have against geniuses? Is it jealousy? Resentment? Misunderstanding? Hidebound prejudice?"
"I don't have anything against genius."
Methos whipped around to glare at Mac "And what great thing was Carlos Gonzalas going to give the world? A recipe book that Caspian would be proud of? Now there's something worth killing the architect of civilization for. Have you ever changed the world, MacLeod? Have you ever wondered who domesticated the first horse, bred the first cow, wove the first woolen garment, grew the first head of grain, wrote the first word, plowed the first furrow, blew the first glass, created the first trade route? You tried to kill him today. Have you ever stopped a war MacLeod? Not fought in one because you thought it was just but stopped one? They called him the God of War because he never lost a battle but for every war he fought in he nipped three in the bud. Ever end a plague, MacLeod? Do you know what it's like to walk into city where people are dying and see them well an hour later. Ever end a drought? He was flying when the rest of the world had barely mastered the wheel. He was a master of photography, astronomy, genetics, physics, geology, botany, chemistry, and a dozen fields I don't have names for even now. Every breathing human being on the planet owes Ari-El their life at least three times over. How about you, Mac, how many times have you saved the whole bloody world?" Methos sudden burst of temper died abruptly and he slid down the barge wall into dark crumpled heap.
"That doesn't explain why you think you deserve to die." Amanda said gently from her new perch.
"No, it doesn't" Methos' tone was dull and dead. "He hates me" he whispered "I am a branch cut off from the vine to wither."
"I thought you said 'History makes men, men don't make history'" Mac challenged.
"Not just a man, not ever a man" Methos roused enough to snap back.
"You can't really believe he's a god" Mac scoffed.
Methos' only reply was a steady stare.
Mac blinked in surprise "You do."
"Methos" I said. He didn't respond so I tried again more forcefully "Methos" His eyes flickered in my direction and then returned to a distant point in space.
"How do you know he hates you?"
"Ad-Am, Ad-Am, Ad-Am, Ad-Am…" he hugged himself and began to rock while chanting the name at little more than a whisper. Amanda forced his head up but his eyes never focused on her. She leaned close and whispered "Bren'hamin, Au'Brey does not hate you."
"Who told you that name" he said in an icy tone. "Rivkah" he growled "She had no right to tell you that name!"
"What name? Au- hmm…"
"Don't say it" he commanded with his hand over her mouth. She nodded her agreement and he lowered his hand.
"Why?"
"The near name is not for common or
vulgar use but only in the most private and intimate of moments, and even then
only when you have been given leave to speak it. It is the Ashira
way." He paused to drink deeply "When he
called me brother he named me in the manner of his mother's people. An outer name for use when among outsiders,
Ad-Am, and a casual name for use with family and close friends, Methos." He closed
his eyes and swallowed "All of you know me as Methos,
by calling me Ad-Am he rejected me far more thoroughly than mere words can
convey. I should have accepted the miz-sharat."
"The miz-what?" I asked.
His eyes met mine "I didn't lie to you, Joe, I didn't."
"Didn't lie when, Methos?" I asked gently.
"When he was on CNN. I kept telling myself it couldn't possibly be him. That even Ari couldn't have survived after our escape, after all how long could a blind and handless Immortal last when half the world is hunting him?" He took another drink before continuing "And he's older."
"Immortals don't age."
Methos continued as if Mac had never spoken "I told myself it was a fluke, that he was some descendent of Eveshka's but I didn't really believe it. I started doing a little research. The name of the company alone was enough without the hundred other little clues. And then it came, the miz-sharat, an invitation to parley. I didn't accept." His hand trembled as he took a drink "I couldn't bear to face him. Damn you, MacLeod" he swore but there was no fire behind it "Damn your bloody Highland honor." He sighed and buried his face in his hands "How could I have been such an utter fool." He shook his head and chuckled morosely "All I could think of when I saw you under his sword was that I had to get his attention. So I did the one thing that was guaranteed to work, I threatened his life. He won't forgive me that, not on top of all the rest." He rose and ambled to the wine cabinet and then back to cushions. We were silent for a long interval before Mac folded himself onto a cushion across from him.
"Methos, if he's really a god, how could your betrayal destroy him?" he asked with a surprising gentleness.
"It was not I alone. Mine was only the final and cruelest cut. Where to begin, when to begin? Ah, yes, where else but Aratta, that is where it began. Ari-El held a Gathering in Aratta every fifty years from the vernal to the autumnal equinox every student of Blade's returned bringing their students and their students students so that every Immortal living was brought together. It was 2161 or so BC and tensions had been growing between Ur and Elam and with them between those of us who remained loyal to Blade and those who had been trained by Enmerkar. It was Ari's habit when in Aratta to slip down from the Astira in by the pre-dawn light to spend a few hours of quiet among the lower gardens. On Midsummer's Day Enmerkar and six of his students ambushed Ari while he was unarmed and alone." Methos' smile was almost smug "Ari was not amused…
Mid-Summer's Day 2161 BC in the Great Plaza of Aratta
The crowd stood in grim silence as they gazed down at the tableau before them. The twelve Blades stood as an honor guard. The light wind ruffled their sand colored tunics as they waited in their matched battle array. They watched in a horseshoe around the four men and two women who stood in stoic silence, but all eyes were on the two men before the sapphire throne. The mild breeze played and danced in the folds of the slighter man's gold and indigo cloak. It cavorted in his long hair tumbling the golden locks against each other. It caressed his perfect visage as he remained utterly still and expressionless before the Gathering. The man standing before him could not be more different. His expression was a roil of rage, hatred, and envy. It twisted his once hansom features into a misshapen mask. The two stood less than a foot apart in utter silence. The delicate golden youth with his smooth face and calm composure versus a swarthy bull of a man with his gleaming oiled beard and perfumed curls. The dark haired man began to fidget nervously as his anxiety overcame him. Just as he opened his mouth to speak his youthful adversary tsked disdainfully
"Enmerkar, Enmerkar what am I to do with you?" Enmerkar crossed his arms over his chest and locked his jaw furiously. Ari-El chuckled with amusement as he draped himself languidly across his throne. Enmerkar's face mottled with fury. Ari-El cocked his head to one side "Nothing to say for yourself?"
"I will have your head" Enmerkar swore viciously "I will have your knowledge. I will have your Power when I take your Quickening. I then I will make all that you have wrought less than nothing. I will build a kingdom such as the world has never known and all the world shall worship me."
The corners of Ari-El's mismatched eyes crinkled slightly in suppressed amusement "I, I, I, I, I, is there anyone else in your plans? Besides the legions of slaves, of course." Ari-El inquired mildly.
"Kill me, but don't
mock me. Don't ever mock me."
"Oh, I have no intention of killing you,
old friend." Ari-El replied gently.
"Your pride will be your undoing" Enmerkar spat.
Ari-El cocked an eyebrow "Really?"
"Know this Mountain King no matter what else happens, in the end there can be only one."
Ari-El stiffened ever so slightly at the words and his fingers clenched the arms of the throne for a mere split second. His eyes were still amused and his smiles still held a lazy confidence but to those who knew him well both were false. Methos, Imhotep, Kronos, and Moshe all shifted slightly into a greater alertness and Moshe's hand hovered near his sword.
"Take care, King of Ur, you know not what you do" Ari-El's tone had turned more serious.
"On the contrary coward, I know exactly what I'm doing. Let's dance right here, right now."
Ari-El came out of the throne in one fluid leap. Enmerkar barely had time to react before Ari-El had him pinned with a long dagger against his throat.
"Think well, King of Ur, what you do. For what is done here today may send generations yet unborn to their doom. For 2,000 years we have lived in peace. Is your own advancement worth breaking that fellowship?"
"Yes" the man beneath him hissed as he pressed against the wickedly tapered blade hard enough to draw blood. Enmerkar chuckled thickly "For shame, Ari-El, your hospitality is not what it once was. To shed a guest's blood" he continued in mock horror.
Ari-El's eyes flickered to Enmerkar's six students "And do you share your Master's ambition?" Four pairs of eyes met his in stony silence while two dropped in shame. "Do you really think this will end if your Master takes my head?" He smiled thinly "After all 'There can be only one.' How long do you think it will take before he turns on you? How long until all of us are at each other's throats? How long until every smiling face hides a sword? Is that the kind of life you want? Do you want to live alone among the mortals? Do you want to watch everything you love wither and die without even the sole comfort of the companionship of another of your own kind!?"
A murmur of consternation swept the gathered crowd.
As Ari-El's eyes entreated the crowd Enmerkar attempted to take advantage of his apparent distraction and found himself back on the mosaic floor gasping for breath.
"So you want to play, Games" Ari-El snapped disgustedly. "Then hear me" silence swept the amphitheater as all eyes focused on Ari-El "Let Holy Ground be a sanctuary for all and LET NO ONE BREAK THIS LAW." The entire assemblage trembled as a chill wind swept through them all. "Let each one look to their own head and let there be no interference once a battle is joined. Let every battle be one to one. Our battle is not for mortals, not for their intrusion nor for their eyes. Let every battle be fought in private." He wheeled suddenly as Enmerkar rose. Enmerkar's eyes widened and he clutched futilely at his throat.
"For breaking the laws of hospitality, for misusing the Gift I taught you, and for precipitating this tragedy – your Voice is forfeit." Enmerkar sank to his knees as his life's blood flowed freely between his fingers. He dropped lifeless mere inches from Ari-El's feet. Ari-El flung the dagger down forcefully enough to crack the colored tile and sink it to the hilts.
"Remove this" he snarled at Enmerkar's students "and be out of my city by nightfall." He spat into the congealing blood at his feet and directed his attention on the crowed "This Gathering is at an end. Let each look to his own safety on the road home." The amphitheater echoed with a pandemonium of voices as the Blades broke formation and rushed into the Astira after their Master. They found him at the garden entrance with the afternoon sun glowing in his hair. It was Imhotep who approached him first
"Master, what do you require of us?"
Ari-El plucked a single bloom from the vine that twined about the archway. He breathed deeply of its fragrance before turning to face them "Require? I require nothing of you my dear friends." He smiled but it was strained "But I do invite you to feast with me this night before the dawn sends us on our separate paths."
"Separate paths?" Imhotep inquired.
Ari closed the space between them and ran his hand through Imhotep's dark curls "Sixteen hundred years ago, my dearest friend, to save humanity you swore to live and if necessary die in my service. How many times did my orders place you in an awkward position? How many times when you would have preferred to stay did my needs call you away?" He raised his eyes to encompass all of them "Your own lives have been too long in abeyance. You are no longer my servants but my friends. You are free." He chuckled and for the first time his voice held true mirth "Why so many long faces? Come, let us make merry together…"
Methos paused to take a long drink before continuing "It wasn't the most uncomfortable feast I have ever attended but the events of the day had left their mark. Ari extended the invitation to include many of his favorite students. The talk of course centered on Enmerkar. The other Blades were making plans. Kronos and Althea were debating which city to settle in together. Imhotep was making plans to return to Egypt were he'd recently left behind a mortal love. Ashe was headed for Anitolia. Only Rivkah and I were silent, Rivkah because she had seen too little of the world yet and I, I because it never occurred that I would not be accompanying him." He took another drink "Amarantha had taken an instant dislike to Rivkah and had been baiting her all evening. When Rivkah finally fled Ari waited a few moments and then followed her and I followed him…
The full moon hung low and pregnant on the edge of the mountain peaks back lighting the woman huddled on the stone balcony. The moonlight caught in Ari's hair as he approached her turning the gold to silver. He slipped behind her and began to knead her stiff shoulders.
"Amarantha" Rivkah began.
"Is an arrogant fool" he finished.
"Yet you gave her a rihara."
Ari made one final pass over her shoulders before circling to face her "As is proper for, like you, she is my blood kin."
"But we are foundlings, how can you know?" she protested.
He lovingly took her hand and turned it palm up. He tenderly traced the line of her veins tenderly with his lips "By your blood I know you. You are descended through many daughters from my sister, Sari and I have something for you." He spread the glittering net in his hands
"Adda Ashira usaria hashim naheera
Nerist-ra-ha shalim sheakera
Rostrel sukara rihara"
He arranged the net in her hair and brought forth a necklace
"Adda Ashira usaria hashim naheera
Ustira ma hauven
Ma trell hataran"
He continued the chant as he placed each armband, bracelet, and anklet. She gasped as he slipped the spectacular blue diamond ring on her middle finger.
"Amarantha's rihara has no ring."
"Neither does Ianna's or Nina's or Mari's, only yours. Only you are my heir."
"I, I can't be your heir. I'm only a woman."
Ari-El eyes sharpened "Only a woman can be my heir. I was born of a matrilineal people. A man chose an heir not from his own wife's children but from among his sister's children. You, dear heart, are my choice."
"I don't know what to say."
"Then let no words be spoken."
"Tomorrow" she began but he silenced her with a gentle brush of lips against her forehead "I will be going with you." He smiled at her with an impish glint in his eyes "Come, let us show Amarantha."
"I followed them back to the hall and waited for Ari to leave. I didn't have long he only stayed long enough to make it clear that Rivkah had his favor before leaving…
"Eavesdropping again brother?" Ari inquired. Methos smirked in reply "I learned from the best."
"Touché" Ari returned as he strode past. He turned when he reached the stairs "Are you coming, or were you waiting for a written invitation?"
They walked down the stairs in companionable silence and through a gate. Methos halted on the threshold in surprise as Ari leaned against one of the vessel's sleek flanks. He ran a loving hand over the ship as Methos stepped into the hanger.
"So you finally did it; she's ready to fly."
Ari smiled like a doting papa and raised a bottle and glasses. He poured and offered one to Methos
"To the Hal'ik"
Methos drank and closed his eyes in appreciation as the liquid slid down his throat. Ari poured them both another and leaned back against the luminous blue walls without ever taking his eyes of the ship.
"When do we leave?"
Ari finished his drink and poured another before replying "Not for a few more years." His sigh was heavy with longing "I have too many responsibilities to leave immediately."
They drank another round in amiable silence before Methos spoke "You should have killed Enmerkar and put an end to this strife."
Ari finished his drink and poured another "Would that I could, brother, would that I could."
Ari swallowed his drink in a single gulp as Methos watched him with faint confusion.
"I know that 'killing to remove an obstacle is the sign of a limited intellect' and 'never act until you have determined what you can not do once you have done it' but 'there are times when expediency must rule.'."
"I need some air" Ari commented as he swept up the bottle and ambled through one of the walls. Methos followed with growing bafflement. He stepped through the wall and onto a high narrow ledge overlooking an unfamiliar mountain valley. Methos drew in a deep breath of crisp alpine air and made a sudden grab for Ari as he swayed dangerously close to the edge.
"You're drunk!" Methos exclaimed in shock.
"A little" Ari admitted as he attempted to free himself from Methos' grasp. Methos laughed as he was forced to catch Ari from another near fall.
"I can't recall ever seeing you drunk, before."
Ari gingerly made his way closer to the wall.
"That would be because I've never been drunk before. And I can't really say that I'm terribly fond of the sensation."
"Not once in over five thousand years? Moshe would be appalled."
Ari giggled and started to take another drink but Methos snatched the bottle away.
"I think you've had enough."
Ari recovered the bottle but lost his balance in the process and landed heavily on the ledge.
"Careful" Methos warned "Or drunkenness might not be the only new sensation you experience tonight." He made a show of glancing over the edge "Long way down. I bet it'll hurt."
"As I recall" Ari glared by the light of the full moon "that wouldn't be a new sensation."
Methos dropped down next to Ari on the ledge "You're never going to forgive me for wrecking the Bel-ik are you?"
"'I promise I'll be careful'" Ari mocked in a surprisingly good imitation of Methos' much deeper voice "'I'll do exactly what you tell me to.'"
Methos shrugged "I made a mistake, that was a hundred years ago."
"Perhaps if we'd spent half a day trying to find your right leg you might have a slightly different perspective on the matter." They sat on the ledge with their legs swinging out over the chasm passing the bottle between them for several minutes before Ari broke the silence "I wonder if they are worth the price we may have paid for them."
"What?" Methos asked, baffled.
Ari gestured grandly to the flickering fires in the narrow mountain valley below them.
"Who are they?" Methos asked
Ari finished the bottle before replying "The Romhari, a herding people, but I wasn't referring to them in particular but to the human race as a whole."
"I suppose that would depend on the price." Methos returned uneasily.
Ari pulled another bottle out of his cloak before replying. Methos arched his brows is surprise "Moshe would be very proud" he quipped trying to lighten the mood.
Ari raised his eyes from the valley to the moon "In the end there can be only One."
"Am I being particularly dense this evening or are you being exceedingly obscure?" He laid a hand on Ari's shoulder "Why are you shutting me out? Let me understand what you're saying."
"Not tonight, Bren'hamin, one of us needs to keep a clear head and I haven't the heart for it."
Methos sighed heavily "Then talk to me, tell me what's going through that head of yours."
"Choices and consequences, cause and effect."
Methos made an exasperated sound "Stop speaking in riddles."
Ari turned toward Methos. He ran his forefinger down his jaw and placed an amorous kiss on his forehead. He whispered in Methos' ear as he knelt before him "Never doubt, never doubt, no matter what the future brings, that I love you, Brother."
"And what will the future bring, Au'Brey" Methos asked Ari's back as he rose and moved past him on the ledge.
"I never told you what a surprise you were to me. Thirty-six hundred years of wandering. Always two steps behind that last mindless one, because it only took one to start the cycle again. Three thousand six hundred years, alone." Ari turned and smiled at him as leaned against the granite bluff "I was ready to give up. Ready to build myself a ship and leave this forsaken piece of rock and let the human race become a memory to puzzle Vulcan scientists in a few millennia."
"But you didn't. You stayed and you destroyed the mindless. You're a hero."
Ari laughed bitterly "All a hero is, brother, is a man trapped between competence and conscience, nothing more. And I made more than one hard choice during those years but until today I haven't had a single regret. We are all of us the scattered fragments of what was once a single being. From the moment there was more than one of us the Game became a possibility." He stared into the night sky "And then I met Enmerkar, and I knew, I knew that Enmerkar would be the one to start the Game."
"You should have killed him, then, before he had a following."
"I would have if I could but you see Brother, I am unique among us. I bind us together and if I take a Quickening the Game will stop being a possibility and it will become the reality the rules us all. In the end as in the beginning there will be only One."
"And is the Game still only a 'possibility'?"
"There is still a slim chance. Without my presence here there is no point without my Quickening there can be no Prize. Enmerkar is by no means the best swordsman I have ever trained" he shrugged and made a tossing gesture "And he will die for his greed by then the rest of the fools may have come to their senses."
Methos rose to stand beside Ari, "Send me and I will kill him."
"Do not tempt me."
Methos turned to go but Ari caught his arm "Do not hunt him, Brother. If he gives you no choice by all means destroy him but do not hunt. Every head that falls brings us closer to disaster."
"You're afraid" Methos breathed.
"Deathly" Ari snapped back and shivered though the night had grown utterly still. He raised his eyes once more to the stars "There is a reason why I, alone, am not a foundling, why I possess knowledge and Power that none of you share. Our" Ari paused as if seeking words "progenitor was executed. My creation was its last covert act of defiance before it was exterminated." He turned back to Methos with his arms clasped across his chest "Even I am not what our progenitor intended. If the Game continues I pity the winner for he will not have a single moment to savor his victory before his destruction."
"What were you meant to be?"
"A physical vessel for an alien entity. I was meant to be a disguise, nothing more. A disguise that had to be absolutely perfect, flawless, our progenitor's enemies must never for the slightest millisecond suspect that the tiniest fraction of its conscience had survived. Our progenitor was a being of energy, not matter and it did not know how imitate mortal flesh well enough so I was born and for the first fifteen years of my life I was almost human. I was born understanding the Way of the Universe, born knowing that I was Immortal" he picked a pebble up off the ledge and rolled it between his thumb and forefinger "But it left a few vital pieces of information out." He flung the stone out into the darkness "I was programmed to open my veins on the twenty-fifth anniversary of my birth. All that was human in me was to die" the wind whipped up suddenly ruffling their hair and whining through the rocks. "I suppose I should thank the mindless, they gave me my one chance to survive." Ari took another long drink from the finely etched bottle before passing it to Methos. "But the child that I was, and I was still very much a child, did die and I became what I am." He reclaimed the bottle and took a quick swallow before continuing "The descendents of my remaining siblings are scattered among many peoples. I have no true loyalties to any race or tribe, not even to the Elamites who have long served me. What true ties I have are to my own kind, to the Quickened." He lifted his eyes to the stars "Three more Quickened were born tonight, like glittering stars fallen to earth, and what legacy have I left them?" He fastened a rapt and fierce eye "A world divided by strife, by saving the humans I may very well have ruined us all." He rose and moved to the edge of the ledge "Not all of my decisions are truly my own, our progenitor's legacy still has influence over me. I was created to survive, against any odds and at any cost. At ANY cost, brother. My viciousness if cornered will know no bounds" He paused shoulders slumped "So I have chosen flight over confrontation." He whirled and his eyes radiated determination "I will not be the one to start the slaughter."
Methos accepted Ari's
pronouncement passively "So when do we leave?"
"Rivkah and I will be leaving in the morning. The Hal'ik will not
fly for anther twenty to thirty years."
He paused "And when it does I will be the only one aboard."
Methos' head snapped around "You're leaving me?"
"Only for a little while" Ari returned softly "Not forever, brother."
"Why?" Methos asked frantically.
"Because I need to remove the impetus for Enmerkar's folly and I am utterly weary with mortal affairs."
"But why?"
"Five thousand, three hundred and forty-five years of manipulating petty, short-sighted, self-serving, superstitious little ingrates, really, brother, even my patience has its limits."
"Why aren't you taking me?"
Ari drew Methos into a fierce embrace "Would that I could, brother, would that I could. I will miss you." He released him abruptly "But I can not. For both our sakes I must not."
"But you'll take her." Methos snapped back.
"Only for a season, a brief season, nor am I leaving forever" Ari smiled but it didn't reach his eyes "All thing change, it is the Way of the Universe. The Romhari have Kelbra. Live long and prosper.." Ari said gravely as he vanished back into the rock face. Methos frowned and attempted to follow only to impact painfully against unyielding stone. He ran an uncomprehending hand across the glittering mica schist.
"Au'Brey?" he quarried, his voice trembling. The rock did not yield.
"AU'BREY!!" he screamed as he spread himself across the rock and pushed.
"Au'Brey" he pled as he dropped to his knees on the ledge but the stone remained unmoved. He beat his fists against the rock face and then began to dig frantically at the stone. His fingernails rapidly pared away under the assault as did the flesh of his fingers but he continued his relentless attack in spite of the rivulets of blood he left on the stone. The full moon slipped behind the mountains and he shivered in the night air but his attack never wavered….
Methos drank a swallow of beer "I dug at that wall for three days before I finally climbed down and claimed my horse and gear from the Romhari." He tried to smile but it twisted into something unrecognizable "Ari was my whole world then. Every scrap of memory I have from before Ari was of darkness and pain. He gave me my life and he was my life. I didn't know how to be anything but an extension of him. The only thought in my mind when I finally left that ledge was that I had to find some way to keep Ari from leaving. Some crisis that he had to stay to deal with. Something, anything." Methos uttered a sick parody of a laugh "And I found it in the city of Sodom and in the person of Cain."
He paused as if waiting for a reaction. Amanda finally broke the silence "And?"
He blinked back at us "Rivkah told you his hidden name and not his family
name." His chuckle held a strained maniacal
edge "Ari-El, the Blade of God, Au'Brey-El, the
Hidden God, Ab-El, the Breath of God" He closed his eyes
and buried his face in his hands "I delivered Abel like a lamb to the slaughter
into the waiting hands of Cain and his Kindred." He began to keen as he rocked back and
forth. Mac was at his side almost
instantly.
"Methos" he gave his shoulders a shake and Methos finally focused on Mac "I spent fifteen years wandering from city-state to city-state in a futile search for something, anything, to delay Ari's liftoff. Then he Touched us to call a miz-sharat in Ugrit and I knew my time was running out in my despiration I realized that we had never ventured out onto the Plains. If I could take back one thing in my life, I would never, never have ridden into Sodom…"
The city guards never looked up from their game of hounds and jackals as a lone traveler on a dust covered gray trotted through the city gates. He drew the horse up once they were inside. The benches beside the gates were tumbled, rotted, and overgrown with weeds. He cast an appraising eye up at the sun and was heartened by its height above the horizon. He approached the well in the middle of the plaza but none of the young women there even glanced in his direction. He touched the shoulder of one of the passing women but she hurried on without acknowledging him. He finally sighed heavily and took a battered water-skin off his saddle and poured a little into a water-tight basket for his thirsty mount.
He patted his horse on the shoulder. "Sorry boy, but I guess we're not welcome here; it's back out onto the Plains." He swung up into the saddle "And I was looking forward to eating somebody else's cooking."
As he turned the horse back toward the gate several men moved to block the way.
"Leaving so soon foreigner?" the best dressed inquired with mock innocence.
"No one has offered me hospitality" he replied reasonably while gesturing toward the ill kept benches "Thus I am departing as the Law requires."
There were dark chuckles within the group "No one leaves without paying the tax."
Methos took in the twelve men between him and the gate with amusement as the crowd withdrew and the guards continued with their game.
"And what is the tax?"
The leader's smile
widened "Everything, all that you have stranger."
Without a moment's pause Methos drove Kelbra towards the gate. His silver sword sliced through their bronze
ones like a scythe through wheat. He
decapitated the arrogant spokesman with a single stroke in passing while
impaling the man behind him. Kelbra
surged desperately ahead as the gate keepers threw off their apparent
nonchalance and quickly began closing the heavy wooden doors. Two thugs fell under his surging hooves in
his last frantic stride came a mere instant too late. Both horse and rider slammed into the wood
with punishing force. Methos' left arm
snapped and dangled useless at his side.
The wood creaked and groaned but held firm. Kelbra turned unsteadily back toward their
attackers. He limped
a step forward as Methos' looked for any breach in the high walls of Sodom. The
stallion neighed challenge as Methos roared a war cry and they charged back
through their assailants. They sliced
easily through the remaining men leaving several more dead in their wake. Once clear of them the pursuers Methos slowed
Kelbra to a trot as they sought a way out of the city. He drew up before a poorly maintained section
of wall and leaned over to look down the length of Kelbra's
foreleg. The horse stamped the blood
encrusted limb and tossed his head.
Methos chuckled in spite of their predicament.
"Alright, old friend, let's get out of this hell hole" he whispered to the animal. Kelbra backed up as he prepared to jump. The first arrow came out of nowhere. Methos reeled in the saddle as the arrow pierced his chest. A second and third found their target while another whistled past. Kelbra quickened his pace as he tried to clear the wall before Methos succumbed to his wounds but a pair of snatching hands dislodged him from the saddle. The stud screamed with frustration and fury as he felt his master's fall. He wheeled into a perfect levade and lashed the air with his forelegs. Methos' last site was of the loyal animal poised on his haunches above him with his ears back, teeth bared, and dark hooves prepared to strike.
His back arched as he returned, painfully, to the world of the living. He rolled onto his side as his attackers picked through his saddle bags. He lurched in sudden panic and tackled the man who was approaching Kelbra with a bronze sword. Nine sets of eyes looked on in surprise. A man in swirling multi-colored robes leveled Methos' own sword at his throat "Well, well, well, what do we have here? A Quickened." He gestured and his men left their pillaging to from a bristling ring of hard bodies sharpened bronze around Methos. The leader remained attentive to Methos even as he turned his gaze to Kelbra. The once proud stallion lay in a pool of his own blood. Each breath was a sucking labored wheeze as air whistled around to wooden spear shaft in his side. He raised his beautiful head and flicked his black tipped ears toward his. He tried to nicker but all that emerged from his nostrils was bloody froth. The man turned back to Methos "The beast is done for, godling, why interfere?" his dark eyes narrowed "Avrum, Javok, hobble the horse, then remove the spear." The men obeyed without question as they stepped over their two trampled comrades. When the stallion was both hobbled and muzzled he nodded to his men and Avrum wrapped a hand around the blood slick shaft and heaved mightily. Kelbra threw back his fine-boned head and screamed in agony. Methos twisted against his own bonds but they held fast. Kelbra's head dropped forward limply on his forelegs as he continued to breath shallowly. After a short time he raised his head and surged awkwardly to his feet. While the majority gawked in shock the brightly dressed man whispered "A rasha" he turned and appraised Methos " Return all you have taken to his saddle bags." When one of his men would have protested he struck him to the ground " Don't worry about your booty. The Underlord has set a huge reward for the live delivery of one of the Elamite's inner circle."
"The who?" Methos inquired bemusedly from their feet.
The man smiled darkly "Don't assume I'm a fool. A Quickened who doesn't know the Elamite? Not likely."
"Not if I served Enmerkar."
"No servant of the Urite would ride a rasha. No you are one of the Elamite's men and I will deliver you to the Underlord as soon as the sun sets."
"I am a stranger within the gates" Methos protested "the Law clearly states…"
The men laughed uproariously "You're not in Khemet, or Sumer, or Ur, or Elam you're on the Plains, godling. The Law of Elam and the Law of Ur don't apply here. Here the Underlord rules." He leered to his men "Shall we show him a little hospitality, Sodom style?" He gestured to an old door frame "String him up boys and then let's have some fun." Kelbra screamed in impotent rage…
Methos rose from his perch to pace back and forth the length of the barge before continuing "They finished and cut me down before sunset. I was washed and clothed by my captor's slaves and then escorted into the bowels of the city…
Methos shuddered as they passed underground. The smoking torches did little to scatter the darkness. His fear grew as they followed a twisted warren of tunnels deep under the city. He flinched as something brushed against him in the narrow confines of the tunnel. He saw only a flash of white before the other disappeared into the darkness. The entire troop came to an abrupt halt before a heavy, dark door. The men dropped as one, extinguished their torches, and waited in the inky darkness. The only sign that the door had opened was the whisper of air that flowed around them. They moved forward blindly into the blackness. They advanced twenty paces before stopping and postrating themselves again. Methos alone remained erect as the hair on his neck stood at attention. A single oil lamp's glow suddenly appeared in a niche high above them but it shed little light and illuminated less. Methos steeled his jaw to hide his growing panic and strained his eyes to make something out of the darkness. His eyes darted as one of the indistinct forms shifted. He swallowed audibly as he abruptly realized that what he had taken for cave formations were in fact misshapen beings.
"So Salson" came a voice out of the darkness out of the darkness directly before them "You believe you have brought Us a Blade."
"Yes Underlord" the Salson answered diffidently as he rose to his knees.
"And your evidence
is?"
"A rasha is in my stable Above
and he wields a migalay sword."
"Show Us this sword."
Salson raised the sheathed blade above his head in his cupped palms. Something took the weapon from his hands. The only sound in the chamber was the whispering hiss of the blade sliding free. The silver metal glittered as it captured every scrap of light and reflected it back ten-fold. There were several gasps of dismay as the beings that had been pressing around them shrank back but Methos' eyes were fixed on the monster that held his sword. Yellow and red slit pupilled eyes gleamed like a cat's by the blade's light and its flesh was a pasty, unhealthy white. Every feature was twisted grotesquely out proportion. Equally lumpen and misshapen hands grasped the hilt and scabbard of his sword. Each over long finger ended in elongated talons. The sword's light vanished abruptly as the Underlord sheathed the blade.
"What is your name?" the monster asked with a faint lisp.
Methos remained silent.
"What is your name?" it repeated in an oddly reverberating tone.
Methos started to reply and then frowned at his own near slip. There was no warning, no whisper of sound, no hint of breath, no rustle of clothe and yet suddenly the monster was at his side "WHAT IS YOUR NAME?"
It was easier to resist now that he was on guard against The Voice. The monster's chuckle held a triumphant note "A Blade indeed. Botok, Yuash, escort him to my chambers. Salson your reward awaits you Above."
Death cold hands encircled his arms, warm blood trickled from the multiple wounds that his captors taloned claws left. His escorts moved easily in the utter blackness of the tunnels. They wove through enough twistings and turnings that he became hopelessly lost before one of them propelled him forward with such force that bones snapped as he struck the opposite wall. As he whirled while cradling his second broken arm a heavy door scraped shut behind him. The sound and the darkness sent a wave of blinding panic down his back. He took several deep, calming breaths as the bones in his forearm knit. He began running his hands across the stone walls seeking the doorway but with each moment that ticked by in the utterly soundless darkness his earlier unreasoning panic crept back. He strove to master the frantic beat of his heart as he turned toward the faint flow of air.
"Would you like me to light a lamp?" the monster inquired politely. Methos concentrated on slowly his breathing while remaining alert.
"Still not speaking to me?" a trace of amusement had crept into the creature's voice. There was the sound of a striker. After the utter blackness the sparks seemed unnaturally bright. The warm glow of the lamp chased the darkness from the room and unmercifully illuminated every one of his captor's deformities.
"You day dwellers" the creature chided around a mouthful of sharp, jagged teeth "so limited, so dependent on sight, never giving the other senses their due" he paused for emphasis "And so tragically fixated on appearances."
Methos glared in reply as the creature gestured to a stool "Please, be seated."
He settled himself into his own ornate chair before speaking again "To most I am known as Fer'a-Tue and my people are the Nos Fer'a-Tue but you may call me Cain."
Methos remained silent and standing. The creature reached out and poured a cup of pale wine. Methos focused on the knurled, misshapen hands as he offered him the cup. At Methos' stony refusal the creature shrugged slightly and placed the cup on the smooth stone table. He folded his hands before him and regarded Methos with his slit pupiled red and gold eyes.
"I seek a boon from your Master, if I set you free will you carry my words to him?" when Methos refused to reply he pointedly inquired "Would you prefer to stay?"
"Return my sword and my horse and if I know the Elamite I might plead your case with him."
The creature fixed him with a compelling look "You will bring the Elamite here."
Methos shook his head slightly as if fighting the influence "No" he whispered.
"Please, sit" the creature invited while continuing to apply pressure. Methos lowered himself slowly and with apparent reluctance onto the stool.
"I have heard many wonderful things about your Master. By all accounts he is quite a miracle worker" he gestured to himself "And I and my people are in need of a miracle." He rose "Come with me and I will show you so that you can tell the Elamite." He fastened him with a baneful stare that made Methos' temples throb "I mean the Elamite no harm."…
"It was a lie of course" Methos observed quietly "I knew it was a lie the moment he said it, but I was desperate so I played along. When Cain was certain that he had captured my mind he released me but he kept Kel'bra and my sword as insurance and to make me appear more desperate." Methos liberated another bottle from Mac's much depleted supply. He smile ruefully "My original thought was that Ari was ignorant of the Nos'Fer-a-Tue and that once he was made aware of their existence he would stay to deal with the situation. What a young fool I was. Ari knew all about the Plains but he still followed me into the trap trusting that when the chips were down I wouldn't really betray him…
Ari gave both bay geldings a pat as he joined Methos by the fire. Methos silently slid a steaming bird off the spit and deftly split it between them. Ari stretched as he finished his repast
"I'll take the first watch" he offered.
Methos rose without replying and walked to the top of the tell. Ari joined him and they gazed over the city below.
"Kel'bra is down there."
"I know" Ari replied.
"Then let's not leave him down there an instant longer than necessary. We could have him and be away before dawn."
"A night operation" Ari rebutted skeptically "without reconnaissance on an unfamiliar city" he paused "A night attack on Sodom?"
"But it isn't an unfamiliar city" Methos protested eagerly "Kel'bra has been there for almost a moon. He's been through most of the city. I can get us in and out. The south wall is in poor repair, we won't even have to climb and Kel can jump it easily."
Ari's smile was little more than a grim baring of teeth "Somehow I doubt that thieves in the night have very long careers in Sodom. You are sure you have told me everything?"
Methos merely looked hurt.
"Alright then" he replied as he swung astride one of the matched bays "Douse the fire and lead on."
By the half-moon's light they picked their way to the wall. Ari gave the broken wall a searching look before dismounting. They slipped easily through the breach. Methos had begun to move down the narrow adjoining alley when he realized Ari was no longer with him. Ari had left the shadows to stand exposed in a pool of moonlight. Methos froze in place at Ari's hand signal. Ari watched the shadows, patiently, motionlessly. Cain's emergence from the darkness was both sudden and silent.
"Were the theatrics really necessary, Cain?"
"Theatrics?"
"The capture and torture of one my students. The kidnapping of a rasha. The theft of a mingalai sword. If you wished to parley a miz-sharat would have served you better." Ari sighed "Nor have you set me in a particularly co-operative frame of mind."
Methos blinked, stunned
"You knew about them."
Ari replied without ever taking his attention off of Cain "Of course. Now that I am here what do you want, Cain?"
"What I have always
wanted, a solution."
"There is none" Ari snapped back, impatiently.
"Oh, but there is" Cain retorted his tone a mix of velvet and steel "And you know it. You have always known it. And I intend to have your… help with or without your co-operation."
Ari's sword and dagger appeared like magic as did a sea of Nos'Fer-a-Tue. With a flick of his wrist Ari commanded Methos through the breech behind him.
"Are you with me?" Ari whispered as Methos approached.
"Yours, in life and death." Methos replied
Ari gave him a madcap grin "One more time then, for old time's sake?"
They turned as one to face the onslaught. They held their own easily despite of their assailants greater strength, speed and numbers until the Nos'Fer-a-Tue fell back to regroup leaving eight headless corpses at Ari's feet.
"Cain, this is a fool's quest. How many more lives will you waste? Return the rasha and let us pass."
"Lives?" Cain spat back as he stepped forward into the moonlight "Look at me, look at us! We have no lives. We slink in the darkness, hideous, misshapen monsters that we are. Draining the lives of others just to survive to another night. And we will spend ourselves to the last for the chance you withhold from us."
Ari raised his gore streaked blade "I will slay you all, if you force me to." But as he braced himself for the next assault his sword tumbled from his spasming hand to clatter in a shower of sparks against the tumbled stones of the wall. His back arched as blood seeped from his lips and ran down his chin. He tried to step forward off the blade that had skewered him but Methos continued his vicious swing. He pitched forward on his face as Methos' sword severed his spine. The air whistled out of his lungs as he dropped violently to the ground. He made a futile reach for his sword but his legs could not respond as he lay in a growing pool of his own blood a mere foot from his sword. One of the Nos'Fre-a-Tue casually lifted the blade just as his straining fingers brushed the pommel. He planted his hands in his own dark blood, the movement allowed several coils of intestines to slip through the rent Methos had made, and stared undefeated defiance at his attackers. Pink froth spilled forth with every ragged, pain-laced gasp but his eyes held only fierce determination. Methos' own sword clattered to the ground as he fought a losing battle to keep Ari from bringing his considerable mental talents into play. He staggered as a third party shifted the balance of the battle. Ari's head snapped around to where Cain stood with a dozen of his Kindred.
"Bind them" he commanded as stepped forward to stand over Ari "Alone, I was no match for you but even you can not prevail against all of us."
Cain watched dispassionately as the muscles in Ari's legs twitched as his spine healed.
"Impale him" he ordered the Nos'Fer-a-Tue that held Ari's sword. The creature beamed with delight as he raised the sword above his head before driving it into Ari's back up to the hilts. A Nos'Fer-a-Tue grasped each wrist and wrenched his arms forward. Cain gestured and two of his men hustled Methos to his side. Another emerged from one of the ruined buildings carrying a red-hot scythe. Ari locked eyes with Methos and said with a look 'We can still get out of this, if you help me. Are you with me? Please be with me."
Methos looked down and away from Ari's pleading eyes.
"Ashuratha, no" Ari whispered his voice shaking.
"Dade'lus neyta sharisa hoe'te.
Dade'lus neyta, mertia.
Dade'lus mertia, mertia" he plead to no avail. Ari strangled back a scream as both hands were simultaneously severed and cauterized.. Methos swallowed bile as another Nos'Fer-a-Tue approached with a gleaming poker. Ari writhed on the sword that pinned him to the earth but the Nos'Fer-a-Tue maintained a firm grasp on his mutilated arms while another locked his head in a vise-like grip. The Nos'Fer-a-Tue was a little over zealous, there was a distinct crack as the poker passed through the bone and into the brain. Ari collapsed like a puppet with severed strings, mercifully, if temporarily dead…
Methos voice was hollow as he continued speaking "After they burned out his eyes they clamped a circlet of bronze around his head. They capped his stumps with bronze cuffs. They ran rings through the center of the cuffs, between the ulna and radius, just under the carpals, and they hung him with chains from them so that his feet were just off the ground. Then they linked chains on his wrists and feet to finer choker chains around his throat. The least movement was enough to choke. To ease the pressure on his shoulders was enough to crush the trachea. They were so afraid of him, so very afraid. Even maimed and bound there were never less than a dozen on guard around him, not even toward the end when he started to fail." Methos fell silent, merely staring into space.
Amanda finally broke the silence "How did you get away?"
Methos remained silent for so long I was beginning to think he hadn't heard her when he began to speak.
"Ari wasn't like the rest of us. It wasn't just his knowledge. His Quickening was brighter, cleaner, stronger. His Buzz was instantly recognizable." He focused on us for a moment and said quietly "I came within a hand's breath of cutting him in half and he didn't even loose consciousness. It took that damned Nos'Fer-aTue driving a red-hot poker three inches into his brain to finally kill him. It frightened me more than anything else that night. In all the years we'd ridden together I'd never seen him wounded badly enough to die." The corner of his mouth twitched "My relief when he revived was short lived." His gaze slid away again. "I never meant." He buried his face in his hands "Gods, things went so wrong, so utterly wrong. I had to get him out, so I gathered all the Blades I could and planned my first raid. What a complete disaster. We were taken almost immediately. It wasn't too bad for us early on, the Nos'fer-aTue were too busy with Ari to pay us much attention. They were so terrified of Ari but they were almost contemptuous of us we were bound to the walls and nearly forgotten for decades. We starved to death regularly because they neglected to feed us. The younger Nos'Fer-aTue fed off us from time to time when their elders denied them access to Ari. The Clan Ventrue was created the same night they took Ari when he was still addled by his injuries. The Nos'Fer-aTue were jubilant, convinced that they had found the answer to their woes but as Ari continued to stymie their attempts to create more new bloodlines they turned on us in their frustration. Bran and Drev succumbed almost immediately. Excited by their success they took Nahor and Caspian next. Something went wrong with Caspian. He'd never been terribly stable to begin with but when he returned the Nos-Fer-aTue would not go near him, not even to feed. When they came for Kronos and I, I" Methos' brow furrowed and frowned. "I?" he repeated sounding uncertain "I" he reached a hand forward as if he could grasp a thought out of the air. His hand clenched hard enough that his nails drew blood and then hung there, frozen in space. He remained that way as still as the grave with his unblinking eyes fixed on some distant point over Amanda's shoulder. I glanced at Amanda who bit her lip and glanced at Mac. Fifteen hundred years of accumulated 'wisdom' I thought cynically and we're still at a loss. I glanced back at Methos who remained locked in place. If he was breathing I couldn't see the rise and fall of his chest. Mac finally grasped Methos' outstretched hand and folded it back down beside him.
Mac finally shook Methos slightly and he seemed to snap out of it "Sorry, Mac." He glanced at the bottle in his hands "I guess I have had a little more than I should have." He smiled "Well, I'm sure you and Amanda have plans. Oh, did Joe give you the disk yet?"
"Disk?" Mac echoed questioningly.
Methos gave him a concerned look "Are you sure you're O.K., Mac, that was an awfully big Quickening."
"I'm fine" Mac replied while Amanda shot me a panicked look as we both realized that he was talking about Kalas.
"Hey buddy let's…" he paused as he looked at me and noticed the damage over fifteen years can wreck on a mere mortal's physic "Joe?" He seemed to perceive the changes in the barge for the first time. He shook his head and his bright cheerfulness vanished "Oh, yes, I was baring my soul, now where was I?"
"The Nos'Fer-aTue had taken you and Kronos." Amanda supplied cautiously.
"He changed then. I changed. The whole bloody world changed." His voice hardened and grew deeper and colder and his eyes grew distant and savage at the same time. "And suddenly I didn't care anymore. No, that's a lie, I wanted to kill, and rend, and tear, and posses."
I could taste the longing in his voice. The transformation from the Methos we knew into this depraved stranger took us all aback. I could see both Mac and Amanda surreptitiously checking their swords.
"But we couldn't because they kept us chained. I wanted them dead. At first they gave us the flesh of those they'd drained and we feasted. It wasn't as good as making the kill ourselves but it was better than nothing. Eventually they forgot us in our dark corner and we ate what rats came within reach and drank the dank moisture that collected on the walls and we waited and we watched. "
"But how did you escape?" Amanda asked again.
"Ari had resisted them from the moment of his capture without ceasing but as the years gave way to decades and the decades to centuries even his resilient constitution began to fail and in a single decade the Toreador, Assamite, and Gangrel Bloodlines were born. After that Ari fought like a wild thing, knowing that he was nearing the end of his strength. And then it happened, his Quickening broke just like the others before their Final Deaths...
1860 BC – Cities of the Plains
Caspian muttered to himself while Methos and Kronos strained their bonds to the utmost, staring intently through greasy, vermin ridden hair that trailed across the filth encrusted floor before them. The flickering lamps provided little illumination but they had long since become accustomed to it. Several Nos'fer-aTue cheered as a wild laugh emerged from the center of the group. The newly transformed Nos'fer-aTue capered madly about the subterranean chamber and then shot up the well-worn steps with most of the others in pursuit. Within moments the chamber's occupants were reduced to the three deranged immortals, the twelve Nos'fer-aTue guards, and the pathetic form they all watched. The guards straightened suddenly.
"Underlord" one acknowledged deferentially but the Underlord's attention was fixed on the broken thing entangled in the bronze chains. Two of the guards moved aside so that he could mount the dais unhindered. The body hung limply in its fetters, like a marionette with its strings hopelessly snarled. Always thin Ari's flesh had shriveled away under the constant privation until his skin stretched taunt and brittle over wasted bone. Tendons and ligaments jutted like broken rigging while insubstantial wisps of hair clung in patches to his scalp. The Underlord tipped the sagging head up and started in surprise as the cyanic blue lips moved. His misshapen visage twisted further into a frown and he leaned closer in an attempt to hear Ari's nearly soundless words. He remained that way for a small eternity before tilting Ari's head aside gently and sinking his fangs into his emaciated throat. He drew back almost immediately, letting the corpse dangle. He commanded his men without turning "Tjhuf, you will remain here guarding the other prisoners. The rest of you may join the celebration. There is nothing left here to guard."
Bronze whined and snapped as the Underlord began breaking the webwork of chains that had been Ari's prison for so long. When the last chain fell away the Underlord cradled the body and laid it out on the worn flagstones. He turned the lone remaining guard "I'll send someone down for the body later." His next words were a command "Face the other way. Sit here." As the Underlord swept up the stairs the three mad Immortals shifted impatiently in their fetters sensing an impending opportunity. The racket from their chains was sufficient to disguise Ari's faint gasp. He rolled onto his knees but lacked the strength to stand. He crawled forward on his knees and elbows. "Be still and make on sound" he Commanded Tjhuf as he wrapped himself around the young Kindred. "Rise, release their chains, and lead us by the secret ways to the glade beyond the Needle's Eye." The Nos'fer-aTue complied without protest as he snapped the badly corroded and ill-kept chains that bound them.
"His knife" Kronos hissed excitedly "Make him give us his knife."
Ari was silent for several rattling breaths before giving Tjhuf the order. Kronos immediately began hacking indiscriminately at the hair that entangled them like a snarled net. As soon as they were free Ari Commanded Tjhuf forward while he clung to his shoulders. They wove quietly through the tunnels under the city to finally emerge just outside the gates. Methos, Kronos, and Caspian all squinted at the brightness of the moonlight after their many decades of captivity but Ari sent Tjhuf immediately to one of the saddled horses that were hobbled under the trees. Using Tjhuf as a footstool he awkwardly struggled into the high cantled, stirrupless saddled. As Tjhuf removed the hobbles Ari slumped in the saddle, nearly lying across the horse's neck. His teeth chattered weakly in the cool night air. He whispered a command and Tjhuf who removed a tunic from the saddlebags and began to slide it over Ari's head but Caspian fell upon him from behind. Ari's horse sidled away as the other three set upon the young Kindred with the weapons they had found in the saddlebags. As they hacked Tjhuf apart Ari urged his steed away through the trees heading slowly northeast. The sound of galloping hooves heralded their return. Out of habit they fell in abreast behind him. As they reached the line of lone hills Ari nearly tumbled from the saddle as what little strength he had failed. He panted trembling from exertion as he his bronze capped forearms around the cantle and urged the bay to a canter. As they crested the first ridge he wheeled the horse back toward Sodom. He painfully straightened. He was forced to lean his stubs against his horse's withers in order to remain erect. The horses screamed and Caspian howled with joy as they city exploded in a brilliant white lash of power. The ground beneath them trembled as a great cloud mushroomed over the pit where the twin cities no longer stood. Ari sprawled forward, bonelessly, as Methos watched him avariciously. Ari's horse squealed in protest as Methos snatched up his reins, jerking his head forward and bruising his jaw.
"Let me in." he hissed in Ari's face.
"No" Ari's reply was no louder than a whisper but it carried enough authority that both Kronos and Caspian withdrew and Methos rocked back.
"Oh, YES!" he snarled back as he seized Ari's jaw, forcing his head back up. Ari's wasted bones snapped like dry twigs under the pressure of Methos' grasp…
Methos' hard, cold eyes filled with a greedy awe "For a few seconds I knew everything. I saw the cosmos born, and grow, and die. I felt the stars kindle and life quicken but that wasn't what I wanted. I am not concerned with creating but with death and destruction. I wanted POWER. I reached out and took it. It was in my grasp and he took it back. That pathetic, bundle of bones that was too weak even to stand took it all back and hid it." Methos' face twisted with hate and I shivered as I looked into the eyes of a Horseman "I raped him in mind and body and when I was done I gave him to Caspian. But even as I ransacked his mind and tortured his flesh he still managed to keep the knowledge veiled in mazes and riddles." He raised the bottle and then hurled it at Amanda. She ducked just in time and the bottle shattered against the barge wall sending a rain of shards over Mac's Spartan décor.
"Fetch me another, tart" he slurred. Amanda gingerly set another bottle within reach and retreated to a safer distance. He took several deep gulps before continuing "When we ran out of supplies a few days later we decided to go raiding. We bound it to a rock with the chains Caspian carried out of Sodom and we left it there to braze in the desert sun. He was gone when we came back a week later but he left he right forearm behind getting loose." Methos took another long drink and started to stand. He swayed on his feet and then slid bonelessly down the wall. Amanda wetted her lips and then approached him cautiously. She felt for a pulse. "Dead" she announced as she wiped her fingers on her short leather skirt "alcohol poisoning."
I eyed the inert Immortal and then reached for my gun "Mac" I said to break him out of his reverie. He started to shake his head but I wasn't about to let him win this one.
"Take it." I insisted "Amanda frisk him." I turned back to Mac "Look, you don't know who you're going to wake up with tomorrow. It might be Methos. God, I hope it is but it might be Death and you, my friend, you killed his brothers. Now, you take this gun and you tie him up and you both be careful 'cause I don't want to loose either of you."
I hit the stop button on my recorder and rose wearily to my feet "I'm going to give this to Amy Zoll. Get some researchers on it, see if I can fill in some gaps."
"Get some rest, Joe" Mac ordered.
"I will" I replied "I will. Call me when Sleeping Beauty wakes up."
I pulled my phone out and quickly dialed a taxi and then Amy.
"Um-humph- uh?" was the muffled reply after a half-dozen rings.
"Amy, Amy get up. This is important Amy."
"Joe?" she was almost understandable "Joe are you ok?"
"Yeh, I'm fine."
"Joe it's 4:15 in the morning."
"Trust me this is worth it. I'm on my way to your place with a researcher's dream. Get your whiz kids up. Humor me."
"This had better be good Joe" she growled.
There was a honk outside from my taxi.
"Joe" I turned back toward Amanda "After Ari let the world think Aganethes was dead he became Ailell of Kells, if that helps any."
Mac frowned "But Ailell of Kells is a woman." He looked up at me "A tall dark-haired woman."
There was a more insistent honk. I popped my hand out of the porthole and held up a finger.
"Are you telling me he was a transvestite for fifteen hundred years?"
"Not exactly" Amanda replied.
"Not exactly?" Mac echoed.
"According to Rebecca Ari is a true hermaphrodite in the fullest sense of the word." She shrugged "Can you call it cross-dressing under those circumstances?"
The taxi driver leaned on the horn "Be careful, my friends."