Date: Sun, 25 Feb 1996 09:06:34 -0700 Reply-To: Hank Wyckoff Sender: Highlander TV show stories From: Hank Wyckoff Subject: (27B/30) Reading the Endtrails --- HL Posting his chapter has been split for posting reasons. The Cycle of Axer Carrick, Part 4 Reading the Endtrails (27B/30) A continuation of: When the Veil is Lifted The Duplicity Frostmelt Anyone who has the idea that vampires are immune to anything other than the dreaded three surefire ways to kill a vampire... is sadly mistaken. Vampires can be immobilized if their muscles are sliced away, which is a good way of making sure that they won't resist when that stake of wood is slammed through their heart. LaCroix understood this, which was why he wasn't taking the superhero's approach. He did a Roman Surprise and headbutted the Provencian, knocking him back against the wall, stunned for a moment. The Provencian recovered and stayed a few steps away, a slow smile creeping on his face, "I know you now." He spoke in a soldier's Lingua Latina, and LaCroix began to realize that this man might be a true Provencianus. The floor a little more even now, they faced one another. LaCroix broke the stillness by charging in with his enhanced speed, only to find out that he was countered with the Provencian's enhanced skill. His movements weren't nearly as fast as LaCroix' -- in fact, they were much slower. It was more a matter of footwork and being in the right place. It was a truly even match: both fought with the same style, and no matter how fast LaCroix moved, he never seemed to land a blow. He was also tagged with slight cuts and stabs -- only enough to annoy and pester him... or to prove a point. The Provencian smiled, "You're very good, General, but you've been out of the game for too long." "I've never been in it," said LaCroix, instinctively straight-throwing the sword at the Provencian. It slammed through his chest, and he fell to his knees. Such a simple move for such a fight, but sometimes fights are won by simple moves and tricks. LaCroix pulled out the sword, taking the other one as well. He used his foot to pin him to the table, and rested the sword on his neck, ^^I'll give you once chance to enlighten me.^^ "There can be only one," was all the man said. Apparently he had a strong will. His mind didn't bend a bit. LaCroix nodded and took off his head. It was more reflexive than anything else -- and in retrospect seemed to be the best choice. This wasn't a man who would bend to torture or drugs -- just as little as he bent to the suggesion. He would be much worse alive than dead. He was totally shocked to find the body to glow blue, and even more shocked for the lightning to strike him. "But I'm not immortal!" he screamed in shocked fear. But as he rode the lightning, he realized something in an odd corner of his mind. Long before his death as a vampire, he *had* died as a man. In the pain, all of his lies were stripped away. Even over the spaces of weeks, lies can cloud the memory -- these lies clouded the memory for centuries. He did die as a mortal, he realized. Being cut from shoulder to wrist so deeply that the bone was exposed, and lying in unconsciousness for hours on end while the blood flowed could only be fatal. It wasn't so much a memory as an acknowledgement of what conclusions the known facts must present. Even if he had somehow survived as a mortal, the infection would have taken him. He remembered the fact that he had no infections. And when he had returned home, the wound *had* gone. And how else could he retain full use of his arm and hands? Such a severe lengthwise cut should have left *some* noticeable damage. ...And then he'd accepted the damning bite of his damned daughter. Then came the hard facts: he had been staked through the heart several times and lived to tell about it. Pure and simple -- he should be dead by now by any measure -- except an immortal's. But something was missing -- why was it that the hints didn't surface until Axer came along? Why did he not sense immortals before? And how could he be a vampire if he was an immortal? The answer hit him then: perhaps he didn't know any immortals until recently. He had lived his life in the shadows and dark corners, whereas most immortals -- except for those like Axer -- lived in the sun and the open places. Perhaps it took an exposure to immortals to bring out that aspect to himself? But something was still wrong... while he could sense Axer and Coleen, and vice versa -- the other three could not sense him, and he could not sense them. Even with that unanswered question, LaCroix believed that he had just answered Axer's rhetorical question to Coleen so long ago quite admirably: what happens when an immortal is made a vampire? ********************************************************** Halscombe looked at LaCroix with utter horror and confusion. After what Axer had told him -- albeit a very little -- he knew that what he saw was a total impossibility: only immortals can take the quickening of another immortal -- and this was a vampire. LaCroix was shaken and trembling, his eyes closed, but he was not on his knees. He was, however, breathing heavily and leaning on the table for support. He had dropped the sword he used like it was unclean, and looked around. When he opened up his eyes, he looked around in a daze that soon left him. LaCroix then turned his eyes to Halscombe, "I could kill you right now and solve a great deal of trouble for everyone." If Halscombe could only talk... The gag was still firmly bound to his face. LaCroix ripped it off quite easily, nearly yanking Halscombe's head off with the powerful yank. Halscombe jolted in shock and pain, twisting his head around a little to remove the painful kinks. "What are you?" whispered Halscombe. He had always been a confident and poker-faced man, but his uncertainty and fear were certainly showing now. "It's impossible." "That, coming from you?" smiled LaCroix. His face was a good, blank poker face, so no emotion could be read. "But I suppose you really want to know. Why? So you can launch some black-box men in my direction? But wait -- don't tell me -- you were just a middle-level manager!" Some of Halscombe's classic character came back, and it showed on his face as well, "The question is, what are you going to do with me?" LaCroix was honestly at a loss, but he tried not to show it. Instead, he lazily paced back and forth, "You know, I think I'll keep you here for now. I'll let the others, ah... question you. I'm sure Axer knows how to handle people like you. "It's quite fitting, in fact. You, a professional puppet master; Axer, a professional string slicer. You two make quite a team, you know? I wonder if you two are twins... or soul brothers sharing two sides of the same coin." --------------------------------------------------------- Henry Wyckoff -- wyckoff@ag.arizona.edu Q: Want to know how to conserve bandwitdth? A: We all stay off the web and watch the servers shut down. =========================================================================