Date: Mon, 1 May 1995 19:38:21 -0400 Reply-To: Dana Gunn Sender: Highlander TV show stories From: Dana Gunn Subject: Diaries of Methos This is my first attempt at a post like many others. To set this story, it is a continuation of Excerpts from the Diaries of Methos which was started my Noah Johnson sometime back. Comments and other such niceties will be appreciated. Well, on with the story. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- by Dana Gunn Critiques and advice from Noah Johnson Excerpts from the Diaries of Methos Part 2 December 17, 1224 AD Spain I met a most interesting immortal today. I had just left my ship at Almeria and was traveling north to meet someone in central Spain. I had hoped to enjoy a long reprieve from my constant burden. I stopped at a little town called Heulmada to rest my mount and to eat. I felt him as I entered the gates of the town. I saw him shortly after. A world of information passed between us without ever speaking a word. We met and spent the remainder of the day talking at his house. He says he is Egyptian even though he has taken a Spanish name. He is beginning to make a name for himself as an accomplished metalurgist. Juan has told me he also has someone in central Spain that he would like to see again. So he is going to accompany me on the remainder of my journey. December 20, 1224 AD Spain I am writing while I travel today. I am cold and still wet. I am shivering as I write this by the firelight. Early this morning Juan decided he would visit his friend. After picking a rose from the courtyard gardens we made our way to the roof of the keep. I should have known his friend was a woman. Later, as we mounted our horses in the red morning light, Juan promised to tell me what had happened after he disappeared over the edge of the roof. Unfortunately, he never got the chance. A contingent of knights met us at a river crossing on the road to our lodgings. I was surprised at how well Juan uses a Japanese blade against Spanish broadswords. My own Excalibur was more than a match for the armored mercenaries. We were holding our own against them when we were both taken aback by the sudden prescence of another immortal. Stunned by the raw strength of this power, we lost our advantage and footing. Our blood mixed with the river when we fell to our "deaths." Through the mist of the river water I saw the source of our distraction. He sat astride a great black stallion; horse and rider were both armored and his jet black hair streamed in the wind from under his helm. I could hear a great cry of denial as Juan and I were swept away by the raging river. I told Juan what I had seen when we finally escaped the angry water. Of course he knew who this strange knight was. Somehow, this did not surprise me. "He is a Kurgan. He has disrupted my life more than once, just as I have his. You know the Rules of the Game. But sometimes the rules go a bit further. Many of us are hunters while others of us are content to live our lives, immortal though they may be. "The Kurgan has hunted me ever since our first meeting in Egypt. He fought with the Persians under Artaxerxes III. During battle I felt the Kurgan. He was much the same as you saw him today: astride a black and armored. Even though we felt and even saw one another, we could not reach each other to battle properly. "After the Persians took my homeland, I fled with my king to Nubia and the Kurgan followed. Everywhere the damn monster followed. So after a couple of centuries of running from the Kurgan, I decided to turn the tables. I began hunting him. As you can see, we have never finished a battle. There has always been something, soldiers in a battle, mortals present. Someday, I will find what I need to beat him." So Juan ended his recount of his encounters with the Kurgan. This new threat does not make me feel safe here. If the Kurgan is all that Juan has made him out to be in addition to joining these Spanish knights, I do not feel that I will be safe for quite some time. December 30, 1224 AD Mediterranean Sea Southeast of Spain We have just boarded a ship to leave Spain. The Kurgan is close behind us. He caught up with us just South of Ciudad Real and once again as we were crossing a river. We felt him coming even before we saw that speck on the horizon that has been the subject of my nightmares for a few nights now. We rode hard until we reached a forest where we lost him amongst the trees. Once we reached Malaga we found a ship that was going into the Mediterranean. With all of the ports there, I think the bastard will have a hard time following us. =========================================================================