Date: Mon, 5 Dec 1994 01:08:49 -0600 Reply-To: Joshua A Reyer Sender: Highlander TV show stories From: Joshua A Reyer Subject: Beginnings and Endings, Part Three Beginnings and Endings Part Three By Joshua A. Reyer Part three. Movie universe rules. No tv or movie characters. Enjoy. ************************************************************************ Grimacing despite the pain, Daniel drew his rapier. He wasn't going to die alone this night. McHenry swung hard, a diagonal slash to Daniel's neck. Daniel weaved out of the way and lunged. The rapier was true, it found its mark and buried itself into McHenry's heart. Outside, the storm grew worse. The lightning flared, and the thunder roared as if it was right above the house. "Damn you," McHenry growled in pain. Daniel withdrew the rapier and steadied himself by the table. McHenry fell to one knee, his hand covering his wound. Then, to Daniel's utter amazement, McHenry stood again, a dangerous glint was in his eye, and swung sword the menacingly. Daniel lunged again, but McHenry's broadsword encountered it first. The rapier snapped from the force of the blow. At the same moment, lightning struck the house, setting the roof ablaze. Daniel retreated a few steps. McHenry raised his arm for the final blow. Then lighning struck Daniel. Daniel hardly reacted. There wasn't anytime for him to feel pain, he didn't even expect the explosive charge in the first place. The first lightning strike drove him to his knees. Then the second hit. Daniel screamed in pain. McHenry was unsure of what to do. Now would be a good time to take his head, before this boy became a threat. He swung the broadsword, then stopped it mid-swing. He couldn't do it. This boy was just a novice. Apparently, McHenry was the first Immortal he had met since he'd died. Instead, he knelt by the boy, trying to comfort him. "What's happening to me?" Daniel hissed, his teeth clenched against the pain. "It's called the Quickening. You will live throu--" McHenry was cutoff as lightning hit Daniel for the third time, knocking the Irishman back. The fire on the roof spread, now quickly catching on the wood beams supporting the house. McHenry looked up throught the rapidly spreading hole in the roof. It was still flashing lightning, but it didn't look like it was going to hit the boy again. He knelt by Daniel again, bringing him up to his feet. "Come on, let's get out of here," he murmured into Daniel's ear. Coughing from the smoke, they stumbled out of the house. McHenry took Daniel to the Irishman's house on the other side of town. Daniel was reviving fairly quickly, but that was hardly surprising. McHenry's house was not the manor Daniel's old house was, but it was homely. In the 80 years McHenry had been alive, he'd accumulated a small amount of wealth. The house was a vertible musuem of antiques. 100 year-old swords, foreign pieces of art, and other items cluttered the living room walls and shelves. "My God, where...how did you get all these antiques?" Daniel asked. McHenry deposited him roughly in a large cushiony chair. "Don't call them antiques. I bought them myself." He walked over to a large cabinet and took out a bottle of whiskey. He poured some and drank it. He filled another glass and gave it to Daniel. "Drink it down. What I'm going to tell you isn't going to be easy for you to hear." Daniel downed the whiskey in one gulp. A mistake. It was incredibly strong. About two seconds after it ran down his throat, his mouth exploded. Daniel went into an intense coughing fit. McHenry slapped his back hard four or five times. Soon, the fit subsided. Daniel actually felt better. The whiskey had cleaned out the sooty smoke feeling in his mouth and lungs. Then McHenry told him everything. The Quickening. The Gathering. The Faraway Land. The Immortals. Daniel's head spun faster with each knew revelation. "I don't believe it," he said when McHenry finished. "I didn't think you would." McHenry walked over to a wall and took down a dagger. He toyed with it was he walked back over to Daniel. "We all needed convincing twice." With that, he plunged the dagger into Daniel's heart. Daniel yelled in pain. With an effort, he shoved McHenry away and pulled the dagger from his chest. He slid off the chair, and onto the floor. In shock and wonderment, he watched his own blood, his lifeblood, trail off the dagger and onto his hand. "Now do you understand?" McHenry asked him, pulling him to his feet, again. The dagger clattered to the floor. ************************************************************************ Please e-mail comments. =========================================================================