Part 11

Victoria gasped back to life to find herself lying in an alley.  She started in surprise to feel the presence of another Immortal but immediately relaxed when Methos’ shimmering gold aura flashed in front of her eyes.  Instead she let out a painful groan when Methos grasped her arms and pulled her into a sitting position.  She carefully opened her eyes and blinked tiredly at her former teacher.  “What the bloody hell happened?” she asked in the raspy voice that was usual for her upon reawakening.

“You happened,” Methos snapped at her.  “You just had to be theatrical, and now Caliburn has been stolen.”

Victoria’s eyes snapped open at that, and she hastily looked around.  “Where’s my sword?” she demanded.

“Oh, they took that one, too,” Methos replied with a dismissive wave of his hand.

She narrowed her eyes at him.  “Not funny, old man.”

He gazed impassively straight back.  “Not meant to be.”  He rose lithely to his feet and pulled Victoria up after him.  “What were you trying to do, convince them that your sword was Caliburn?  Brilliant, Tor, absolutely brilliant.”

“This was one of my favorite shirts, too,” Victoria said mournfully, studying the bloody bullet holes, having already tuned her former teacher out.  She had apparently gotten an entire clip emptied into her, while Methos had gotten away with a mere two shots.  “At least this was an old coat.”

“Well, come on.  It’s already three A.M.,” Methos said with a sigh.  “Let’s go back to the hotel and get some sleep.  We’ll figure out what to do about the swords in the morning.”  He wrapped an arm comfortingly around her waist and led her out of the alley.

Victoria laid her head on his shoulder and sighed.  “I’ll call Elizabet and leave a message on her voice mail.  She’ll have someone from the London RoseBlades get one of my backup swords from the townhouse and send it here.  You need to call your friend and find out as much about these so-called Hunters as possible.”

Methos nodded.  “She was wrong, these weren’t Hunters.  All they wanted were the swords – I don’t think they even knew we were Immortal.  You scared the hell out of them with your magic act, and that’s why they killed us.  If they were true Hunters, both of us would be headless, and Justin would be getting a very nasty package in the mail.”  At that, Victoria merely shuddered.

Two mornings later, Hawaii and Victoria were hanging out in the latter’s hotel room.  Illinois, Whitney, and Methos had gone out for breakfast and were going to try to find Rick Evanson afterwards.  He had disappeared once they came back with Caliburn.  All signs of the dig over the English Channel were gone, and their messages to the Celtic Preservation Society had gone unanswered.

“Yeah, so Adam and I stayed in the hotel bar until around one o’clock this morning just talking,” Hawaii was saying to Victoria.  “And don’t give that knowing look – he’s a nice guy and that’s all!”

“Sure, Eva.  Whatever!”  Laughter emerged from the bathroom.

There came a knock at the door, and Victoria called for to Hawaii to answer it, as she was busy trying to get her sleep-mussed hair into some semblance of order.  Standing in the hallway with an oblong package was a teenager in a black leather jacket.  “May I help you?” Hawaii asked curiously

He held out the package.  “I have something for Victoria Kest.”

The Immortal in question appeared from the bathroom and flashed the nervous teen a smile.  “Oh!  Thanks, I’ve been expecting this.”  She took the package and dug a note out of her pocket.  “Can you get this to Elizabet Aspen?”

The teen nodded silently and ghosted back down the hallway towards the elevator.  Hawaii glanced at her friend.  “Quiet sort, isn’t he?”

“Oh, he was from the RoseBlades, and I have a bit of a reputation amongst them.  Half of them are afraid of me, and the other half want me reinstated as a member.”  Victoria shrugged.  “I wouldn’t mind rejoining, since the ones who were around when I pissed them all off are dead now, but I’m staying neutral.  Don’t want to start a war.”  She led Hawaii back into the room and laid the package on the bed to unwrap it.  A rapier emerged, and Victoria gave it a few experimental swings.

“It’ll do for now, I guess,” she said.  “I just want my real sword back before some skitzo decides to challenge me.  I haven’t fought a real fight with this baby in ages.  I’ll have to get Adam to spar with me later today.”  Suddenly, Hawaii saw Victoria stiffen and automatically bring the sword up with both hands.  Just as quickly, she relaxed, but Hawaii was still startled by the hard look that flashed in the apparent girl’s eyes.  “Speak of the devil – here he is.”

Another knock sounded at the door, and Hawaii again answered it.  Methos entered the room, followed by Illinois and Whitney.  “What’s up?” Victoria asked as she abandoned the hair as a lost cause and merely let it hang, framing her face.  Hazards of not having bangs.  She joined the other four and gestured for all to take seats around the hotel room.  Hawaii reclaimed her chair, Illinois and Whitney perched on the edge of the second bed, and Methos sat down on the other.  Victoria leaned against the low dresser and started pulling on her jewelry and various other weapons.  Illinois watched her curiously.  He only carried his single gun, but this girl appeared to habitually pack an arsenal.

“I talked to my friend,” Methos began.  “She wouldn’t tell me where she’d gotten the information about the so-called Hunters, but she said to expect a visit from a colleague of hers sometime this morning.”

A nasty thought crossed Victoria’s mind as she strapped on her wrist sheath with stiletto.  “Did your friend set us up?” she suddenly asked suspiciously.  Methos shook his head no, and she nodded thankfully.  Cocking a smile, she said, “Wouldn’t want to have to go hurt someone.”

“So when’s this visitor supposed to arrive?” Whitney inquired.  “And where-“

That was all she got out before the air in the room began to stir.  Hawaii and Methos looked at Victoria, who put up her hands in denial.  While she could create wind using her telekinesis, she was definitely not causing this.

“Right here.  And right now!” a cheerful voice whispered out of thin air.  The air in the space between the two hotel beds shimmered, and a small form coalesced.  There stood a girl about Victoria’s apparent age with long silvery hair and brilliant violet eyes.  She was dressed in a silky material of blue and green hues, and small boots enveloped her feet.  Her eyes glinted with permanent amusement and mischief, and a small smile graced her lips.

The five already in the room stared at the figure.  Hawaii and Illinois sat unmoving.  The three older beings in the room took action, for all had had experience with the supernatural before.  Victoria drew her stiletto from it’s sheath on her wrist; Methos also had a dagger which had appeared out of seemingly nowhere.

Whitney, however, stood to confront the stranger.  At that, Illinois also got up, apparently to protect his girlfriend.  She merely stepped around him with a slightly disgusted look.  The girl laughed, a sound that seemed to wrap itself physically around the five.

Victoria shuddered and also stood, and Whitney drew the claws on her right hand.  Hawaii jumped to her feet, and she and her cousin’s guns appeared in hand.  Only Methos remained where he was.  “The only person I know who can laugh like that,” Victoria said slowly, “is a centuries old vampire.  You’re not a vampire.  What are you?”

“A spirit,” Methos replied suddenly.  “A minion of the Lady of the Lake.  Sent because Caliburn has been taken.”

“Yes,” the girl replied softly.  Her voice felt warm and alive, as if one had to merely reach out and touch it.  “I am Kestra, a spirit of the ocean.”  Her Welsh accent was now easily apparent.  “The Lady has sent me to help you.  You must get the sword back.  The Lady senses that the hands it has fallen into are of a dark force.  And it is one that must be stopped at all costs.”

Shuddering again, Victoria gritted her teeth and said, “Can you please curb the voice?  Then maybe we can talk.”

“Why-?” Kestra began.  She immediately stopped speaking when Victoria gasped and reached for the dresser for support.  Taking a deep breath, she continued, “Why does it hurt you so?”  Her voice still had the Welsh accent, but the power it emanated was gone.

Giving a sigh of relief, Victoria said, “Thank you.  I’m betting you’re not too popular around vampires, are you?”  Kestra nodded slowly.  “Yeah, well, I pick up the same stuff from your voice, and it ain’t fun.”

“You are more than you appear,” Kestra instantly recognized, much to Victoria’s relief, who didn’t quite feel up to the explanation.  “I understand.”  Her charming smile again appeared when she glanced at Whitney.  “You may put up your weapons, such as they are.  I am on your side.”

“Yes, the Lady,” Methos said dryly, and the dagger again disappeared.  “She knew Caliburn would be taken.  She did set us up.”

“Wait a sec,” Illinois broke in.  “Lady of the Lake?  She’s a myth!”

Hawaii gave her cousin a sideways glance and again hid away her gun.  “And Caliburn wasn’t?  Don’t look so surprised, Toria, I’ve known about the Lady for years.”

At that revelation, Victoria sank down to the floor.  Putting her face in her hands, she gave a small groan.  It was not only Kestra’s voice that affected her, but her mere presence, as well.  Inside her head was a psychic pulsing with no discernable rhythm.  Behind her eyes flashed images to fast for her mind to follow; she felt a migraine coming on.  And Immortals weren’t supposed to get headaches.  Now she knew how her friend Elizabet felt with her empathic senses while trapped in a mob.  Kestra was a spirit – a creature neither dead nor alive, and it physically grated against the vampirism part of Victoria.

“I’m so confused,” she muttered, and passed out cold.

Methos gave a short bark of laughter; he knew exactly why his former student had fainted.  With a wry look a Kestra, he said, “That certainly went well.”

Part 12

About an hour later, Victoria woke with a start.  She found herself lying on her hotel bed, head in Methos’ lap.  The ancient Immortal was protectively stroking her hair as he discussed plans with the others.  Victoria could hear Kestra’s voice, and involuntarily winced.  But when it did not affect her, she sat straight up in surprise.  Methos automatically reached for her shoulder as she swayed slightly in nausea.  “Ugh,” she said.

“Careful, Toria,” Methos said amiably.  “Kestra’s voice won’t affect you as much now, but don’t make any sudden movements until you get completely used to it.  I should have remembered; the same thing happened to me the first time I encountered a spirit of her sort.  And I’m not halfway dead.”  He raised an eyebrow in reference to her vampirism, while the other four in the room merely looked curious.

Victoria carefully stood up and walked to where Kestra was sitting on the dresser.  The Immortal held out her hand and said, “I’m sure the others have already introduced themselves, but let us start anew, shall we?  I’m Victoria DiThon Kestral.”

“Kestra,” she responded simply.  They clasped hands and smiled at each other.  Kestra realized at that moment that she had discovered a kindred “spirit,” but one that had been caught in a material body.

“Like my last name.”  Victoria quickly realized the connection between them.  “Cool.”  She gazed at the others assembled and perched on the dresser next to Kestra.  Absently rubbing her forehead, she said, “So, anyone care to fill me in?”

“Kestra can pinpoint the trail the sword has taken,” Hawaii immediately responded.  “In fact, she’s already traced it from where you two were attacked.  It headed across the English Channel.”

“So, back to Britain,” Whitney added.

Illinois grinned.  “I’ve done more traveling back and forth in the past few weeks than I have in my entire life.”  He glanced at Methos and Victoria.  “Is this how you people usually live?”

Methos shrugged.  “Depends.”

“Yeah, a few years of peace and slight boredom punctuated by a month of pure excitement,” the younger Immortal added dryly.  “Unfortunately, that excitement is usually accompanied by life-threatening danger.”

“Well, speaking as one of the mortals in this merry little band,” Wai said, “I sincerely hope that’s not the case this time.”

Three days later, the group was at another dead end.  It was discovered that Kestra could not track the sword while riding in a car, as steel and iron affected her ability.  So she, accompanied by one or two of the three of the group’s more experienced fighters had tracked it on foot through the more disreputable streets of London in three-hour shifts.  Fortunately, Whitney and Victoria had only gotten jumped once, and Methos had been mugged twice.  In all three instances, the three had had a very enjoyable time scaring the stuffing out of the would-be criminals in an excellent release of tension.

They tracked the sword all the way out of London.  That’s when they hit their biggest problem yet.  The sword headed northwest into the countryside.  How would they follow the path without a vehicle of some sort?

While the group took a break in a coffee shop, Whitney came up with the answer.  “We’ve been thinking about this in modern terms,” she pointed out after taking a sip of her mocha.  “We need to think back to the last time the sword was actually used in this world.  There were no cars.”

“Okay, so you’re thinking horses,” Illy said.  “But where are we going to get horses for a cross-country trek in this day and age?”

“Oh, that one’s easy,” Victoria replied, much to the surprise of her companions.  “I and my friend Justin own a horse ranch down in Australia.  There’s a man who lives about an hour away from here that we do business with occasionally.  Justin told me that when he was down there two months ago, MacPherson was drooling over one of the Arabians we just bought as breeders.  I can offer MacPherson one of them in return for borrowing six of his horses and tack for an unknown length of time.”

“Justin won’t mind?” Methos asked.

“Nah.  It’s his project, but we’ve got four more,” she said.  “I can give him…Elspeth.  Yeah.  She’s the only mixed color we have, and Jus’ is trying to breed pure colors in some weird genetics experiment, so he won’t mind.”

“Then it’s settled,” Whitney said.  “Victoria, Illy and I’ll go over with you right now, if you want.”

Hawaii nodded.  “The rest of us can get supplies.”

“We’ll bring some camping stuff just in case, but I’ll find a very detailed map.  We’ll try to stay in inns as much as possible,” Methos said.

“Oh, you do so like your creature comforts,” Victoria teased.

“Cute, Toria, very cute,” he replied archly.  “And when’s the last time you went camping, youngling?”

“I am not cute.  Only tall, dark, handsome men, and Justin Le Faye have permission to call me cute.”

“Justin may be tall, but he’s not dark,” Methos pointed out.  “He’s blond.”

“Justin is the most gorgeous man on earth,” Victoria instantly responded.  “You’re maybe…fourth on my list after him.”  He pretended to look offended.

“Now, now, children,” Whitney broke in with a smile.  She was constantly amused by the by-play that existed between the two Immortals.  “Let’s plan on starting out tomorrow morning.  We need to find the sword as soon as possible.”

Part 13

Two mornings later, the group set off from the bed-and-breakfast where they had spent the night after their first day of travel.  Kestra and Victoria took point, both talking animatedly about something or another.  Methos and Hawaii followed behind the girls, also conversing quietly.  As Illinois and Whitney took the rear, he noticed his girlfriend softly smiling at the two.

“Don’t they make a cute couple?” Illinois asked with a grin.

Whitney glanced at him and gave a small laugh.  “That’s what I told Victoria about a week ago.  She agrees, and she knows both better than I do.”

Her boyfriend nodded thoughtfully.  “Hawaii was in a very intense off and on relationship with another guy for almost ten years.  He disappeared a couple years ago though, and none of the boyfriends she’s had since then have been very serious.”  He pulled his horse back towards the path and continued, “By the way, you’ve been looking happier than I’ve seen you in quite awhile lately.  What’s going on?”

She shrugged.  “It feels good to be doing this – actually being on a mission that means something.  There’s been a lot of political crap going on in the X-Men lately.  As one of the leaders, I have to be involved in that and end up delegating most of the missions to others.”

“I was going to apologize, because this was supposed to be your vacation,” Illinois said, “but I guess there’s no need.”  Whitney smiled at him, and reached over to grasp his hand.  The two continued in silence for a few minutes, listening to Kestra and Victoria’s laughter that drifted back towards them.

“So,” Illinois suddenly said.  “How to get my cousin and Adam together…”

Note: The following scene is taken from Johanna’s Lyric Wheel story “King of Night II: Forests of Old.”  A few changes have been made to make the story flow better, but otherwise it’s the same.

“Hey,” Illinois said to Hawaii.  “I just thought of something.  Whatever happened to that guy you used to go out with?  The one who always looked like a pirate?  You were together off and on for…what was it, almost ten years?”

His cousin felt Methos stiffen, but she reached over and patted his leg gently.  “Don’t worry, Adam.  There’s no need to be jealous – he’s dead.  Well, I think he is.  He was an Immortal, too, actually.”  The two women across the fire fell silent.  Whitney looked curious, but Victoria merely gazed dispassionately at Methos, the firelight flickering eerily in her eyes.

“Really,” Methos stated quietly with a cautious glance at Victoria.  “So what was his name?  Maybe I’ve heard of him.”

She shifted uncomfortably, remembering that it had been Victoria who had introduced the two of them back when she had studied at Oxford.  “Well, you probably wouldn’t know him by his real name – he was pretty old.  And he used a bunch of aliases at any one time, though I called him Mal.”

“So describe him to me,” he asked amiably.  For some reason, Methos was extremely curious about any Immortal who was entranced enough by this woman to be with her for ten years.  Well, actually, he couldn’t really blame him.

“Hmm, he had really dark brown hair and brown eyes.  He was forever forgetting to shave, so he always looked kind of scruffy.”  Hawaii thought for a minute.  “He was a complete megalomaniac, but he pulled it off so that it didn’t come across as annoying.  It was actually rather cute.  Oh, yeah!  And he had this scar that went above and below his right eye.”

Methos drew a quick breath in surprise.  “Kronos?” he gasped out before he could stop himself.  He stared at her in shock.  “You dated Kronos!”

Hawaii’s eyebrows rose at that.  “You’ve heard of him?  Do you know what happened to him?”

“Yes,” Methos replied slowly.  “He got into a bit of trouble a few years ago in Bordeaux, France.  You’re right, though, he is dead.  I…I’m sorry, Hawaii.”

She gave a short nod.  “Thanks, Adam, but that’s okay.  I still miss him, but I’m over it about as much as I can be.  The way he lived, I really shouldn’t have been surprised that I would outlive him.”

Methos stared at the woman who had managed to steal a bit of his heart in such a very short time.  He could easily imagine Kronos with her; they complimented each other perfectly.  His raging temper countered with her dry wit and her compassionate heart tempered by his steel mind.  He could definitely see that.

The five thousand-year-old Immortal and former Horseman raised an imaginary drink to his departed “brother.”  You always did need someone to love you to control you, Kronos, he thought wryly.  Silas, Caspian, and I lasted for as long as we could, but you kept straining against your bonds until even I – your teacher - couldn’t stop you.  He sighed, and Hawaii leaned closer to him, placing her head on his shoulder.  Then something else occurred to him.

Kronos?  With a girlfriend?  And the way Hawaii talks he was truly in love with her!  How can anyone reach that kind of light…least of all Kronos!

But now Methos had her, and he was not about to let his beautiful Hawaii go without a fight.  Maybe after all this was over, he should go study at the University in Honolulu, too…

Part 14

When everyone woke up the next morning, they found Kestra sitting by the fire, an expansive breakfast spread out in front of her.  Having existed on camp food for the past three days, the five fell upon the meal with glee.

After filling a bowl with fresh fruit, some which was not even in season, Whitney looked a Kestra.  “So,” she said.  “What’s with the breakfast?  Not that I’m not grateful.”

“The Lady felt you deserved a reward for your service.  And do you want the good news first, or the bad news?” Kestra asked.  It was odd that after only five days with the group, her speech no longer had its formal lilt.  When no one replied, she continued, “Good news, then.  Caliburn is a mere three-hour’s ride from here.  The bad news is that there are five men, and they are camped by a stone circle-“

“They don’t look like they’re going to destroy it, do they?” Victoria broke in, visions of her mortal death dancing through her head.  She absently groped for Methos’ hand for support while awaiting the spirit’s answer.

Kestra shook her head, and the younger Immortal sighed in relief.  “No, but they do look like they’re preparing something big, magic wise.  The sword is within the pillars, and it looks like they’ve used the circle to create a containment spell.”

Victoria, probably the most familiar with magic than the rest of the five, paled.  “Oh, now that’s bleedin’ good.”

“Which means…?” Illinois asked.  “This magic stuff is new to me.”

“Summoning spell,” Victoria replied automatically.  At Illy’s blank look, she carefully explained.  “You want to summon something from, say, one of the nether realms, but you don’t have enough power within you to pull it off.  You can use a magical object as your source of power, but in the process it’ll be completely drained.”

“So let’s go!” Hawaii cried, ready to jump to her feet.  “There’s no time to loose!”

Methos stared at Kestra, his eyes narrowed in thought.  “With something as powerful as Caliburn…” He left the rest of his sentence hanging.

The spirit nodded slowly in agreement.  “Yes, Merlin.”

“There are enough sub-demons that walk the earth already that I doubt they’re trying to raise one of those,” Victoria thought aloud.  “So, true demon.  Which means I can get us more help against one of those if we need it.”  She gazed around the group and shrugged.  “I’ve got an in, if it comes to that.”

“Even Caliburn doesn’t contain enough power to subdue a god, but there is the slight chance that it will be a demigod,” Methos pointed out.  “If it is, then two Immortals, one mutant, one ocean spirit, and two mortals have virtually no chance.  Even with Victoria’s backup.”

“Yeah, and even with some other tricks up my sleeve you guys don’t know about,” Victoria agreed.  “So we’ll just hope that it isn’t anything we can’t handle.  Because if it is, we’re screwed.”

“At the moment, I’d say we’re screwed,” Victoria said quietly.  The six were standing on a small hill, shielded to invisibility by Kestra, gazing down upon the circle of standing stones.  They had figured out why Kestra’s trail was the only one they had been able to follow, even with Whitney’s incredible tracking ability.  A small plane was parked near the circle next to a well-established camp.  As the spirit had said, only five men were around.

But at least one of those five men was a mage, a witch, or a sorcerer.  Or an idiot with a magic spell he just had to try.  Hawaii shuddered at the thought.

Whitney was squinting at the area, but she finally dug a pair of binoculars out of one of her packs.  After studying the situation, she handed them off to Illinois.  He drew a sharp breath and uttered a paint-blistering oath.  “What?” Whitney asked in surprise.

Illinois passed the binoculars to his cousin, who uncannily zeroed in on what Illinois had noticed.  “Dr. Samuel Zhen.  And…bloody hell!  It’s Bren!”  Hawaii glanced at her confused companions.  “About four years ago, Zhen approached me with a short job offer.  I had to turn him down, because I already had plans for winter break, but somehow he roped one of my favorite students into helping him.  I never saw Bren again.”

“Okay, note to self, don’t kill Bren,” Victoria muttered.  “Don’t worry, Wai, we’ll try to turn him back to the light side,” she added for the others to hear.

“How close do you think they are to summoning…whatever it is they’re going to summon?” Methos asked Kestra.

“Not long,” she said worriedly.  “They have all the components set up within the circle.  I’m guessing the spell is set, too.  All they need is to activate it.”

“So, we attack now,” Whitney said.  “Anyone have any ideas?”

“Yeah, we keep the mortals safe,” Victoria instantly replied.  She shook her head when Illinois and Hawaii started to protest.  “I don’t mean you guys stay here.  I just don’t want you right in the fray with the rest of us long-lived freaks.”  Methos and Whitney nodded adamantly, which put a stop to any future protests the two cousins had.

“Well, we don’t want the bad guys running off on us.  Illinois, you know anything about planes?” Methos asked, studying the small plane by the camp.  Illinois shook his head in slight confusion when he glanced at him.  “Damn,” the Immortal said.  “Well, that means you get to randomly pull out wires in the cockpit.  Think you can handle that?”

“Of course,” Illinois replied with a grin.  “Concentrated destruction is one of my specialties.  What about Wai?”

“As one of the most psychically null people I know,” Victoria said, “Hawaii m’ dear, would you mind rescuing Caliburn for us?  The shield around the circle shouldn’t stop you at all.  Just grab the sword and run towards that stone outcropping over there.”  She pointed to a bulge of granite emerging from the hillside on the opposite side of the stone circle.  Her friend nodded an affirmative, pleased to have a vital role in this mission.

“I take it the rest of us are playing distraction?” Kestra asked, her trickster’s grin already appearing.  “Cool.”

Part 15

Half an hour later, Illinois and Hawaii crept in a wide circle around the camp and towards the plane with guns in hand.  Hawaii also had two of her knives stuck in her belt for easy access.  She’d lent her third to Whitney.  “Magic,” Illy said quietly.  “Wow.  I’ll bet Uncle Indy never had to deal with this stuff.”

“Hey, don’t you remember his story about going after the Holy Grail?” Hawaii replied softly.  She suddenly noticed one of the men leave camp and head in their direction, probably to take a leak.  “Uh, duck,” she said.  Both dropped immediately to the ground and hid among the tall grass.

The man didn’t appear to see them, but he was heading right for where the cousins were lying.  Hawaii willed herself invisible, but the man was only about five feet away from her.  He stopped suddenly, his eyes meeting hers.  He opened his mouth to yell a warning as he reached for the gun at his waist, but Illinois got to him first.  A shot rang out, and a blossom of red appeared on the man’s sweatshirt.

“Hey!” Victoria yelled in surprise as she heard the shot.  “That wasn’t the signal!”  The remaining men in the camp also heard the noise and appeared to rush for their own weapons.

“Come on!” Whitney called, and spurred her horse down the hill.  The three others immediately followed.

Kestra all but ran down her chosen target.  She pulled in her horse right before the frozen man would have been trampled.  This jolted him out of his shock, and he drew a gun.  He managed to get out one shot, but it merely passed right through the ocean spirit as she momentarily made herself transparent.  She in turn raised a hand glowing with power and sent a bolt of electricity into the man’s chest.  He dropped like a stone.

Meanwhile, Victoria and Methos headed for the two men chasing Hawaii and Illinois.  Victoria leapt off her horse and landed in a roll when her guy was separated from the other.  Her horse ran off in fright, not having been battle trained, and she stood facing the man armed with a submachine gun.  He laughed at the apparently defenseless girl.  But Victoria merely smiled, and the gun was ripped from his arms and sent flying off into the distance.  The man drew a pistol from the holster at his waist, but a throwing star appearing in his neck caused him to collapse to the ground before he could shoot.

Methos had merely run down his man and impaled him with his sword, shying away from thoughts of his Horseman days.  Hawaii saw that she was no longer being chased and veered off towards the stone circle.  Illinois also changed direction and headed for the plane.  Then Methos went for his second mission.  Hawaii’s former student Bren.

But Whitney got there first.  She also leapt off her horse to confront both Bren and Dr. Samuel Zhen.  Kestra appeared behind her as backup, still astride her horse.  While Bren had another machine gun, the doctor was seemingly unarmed.  Whitney decided to try to talk with him first.  “Dr. Zhen, we know what you are doing.  All we want is the sword.”

Sam smiled widely, and Bren pointed the gun squarely at Whitney’s chest.  But it suddenly flew from his hands as Methos rode up with Victoria perched behind him.

“Don’t think I don't know what you are trying to do,” Sam said.  “You are trying to distract me while the good Dr. Smith disables my plane.  And his sweet young cousin is playing right into my hands.”

He turned around, and the group’s eyes all went to Hawaii.  She had, as Victoria predicted, crossed the shimmering shield with no difficulties and was headed for the sword.  When she was within a few feet, Sam suddenly began to chant in an unknown language.

Before anyone could scream a warning, a brilliant light flashed inside the stone circle.  When it cleared, they could all see that Hawaii had been thrown back a few feet.  In the center of the circle stood a monster.  While slightly over man-sized, it had bulging muscles and rippling black skin.  The huge fangs coming out of it’s mouth dripping with an unknown substance, and it’s four glowing red eyes immediately centered on Hawaii.

“No!” shouted Methos as he spurred his horse forward.  Victoria was unprepared and fell off the back, but she immediately recovered and stood watching her teacher.  There was no way he would make it in time.

But Caliburn was still on the ground next to the monster.  Hawaii pulled a stunt Victoria had taught her long ago.  When the monster lunged for her, fangs gnashing, she fell into a forward roll and came up next to the sword.  She grabbed it and stood as the monster turned around in confusion, wondering where it’s meal had gone.  It roared in anger as Hawaii held up the sword defensively.

Hawaii did the only think she could think of.  One of the only ways to kill an Immortal was beheading.  The same went for vampires and any number of other “magical” creatures.  So Hawaii swung Caliburn with all her might, and the monster’s black head thudded to the ground.

“Oh no,” Kestra whispered, and disappeared.  Victoria and Whitney looked around wildly, then saw her reappear next to Hawaii in the circle.  Then the monster lying on the ground exploded.  Kestra grabbed Hawaii’s arm, and the two were hidden in another blinding flash of light that lit the stone circle.

Methos roared in rage from astride his horse next to the stone circle, helpless to do anything.  It was echoed by Illinois, who was frozen in fright from his spot next to the plane.  Whitney merely stood in shock.

But it was Victoria who screamed in pain as she fell to her knees clutching her stomach.  She had lived for over two hundred years and was very sensitive to the amount of power she had – from her telekinesis, her vampirism, and her status as Guardian to a demon of the first circle.  It suddenly felt as if she were being ripped in two.  She collapsed to the ground and mercifully blacked out.

Methos felt a sense of déjà vu as he sat next to the campfire with Victoria’s head resting on his lap.  Whitney and Illinois were huddled together close by.

The ancient Immortal heaved a sigh as he surveyed the recent battle sight.  It just wasn’t fair.

Victoria woke with a moan, and Methos gripped both her hands in his own.  He held her as she began to whimper in pain and curl up on top of her sleeping bag.  He made soothing noises to her as she slowly began to relax.

Blinking cautiously in the flickering firelight, she quietly stated, “I hurt, Arthur.”

Methos came very close to wincing at the pleading tone in her voice.  “I know, love,” he whispered.  “It’ll be okay, I promise.”  She raised herself up slightly and crawled into his lap to be held.  The last time she had allowed him to “protect” her like this had been almost two hundred years ago, which showed Methos the amount of pain she had to be in.

“Are you okay, Victoria?” Whitney asked softly.  She suspected what had happened to the apparent girl and knew that it had to be painful.  Power drainings were never fun.

Victoria shook her head slowly and opened her eyes once more.  “No, but I will be.  The pain’s already going away.  What happened?”  Then she looked more closely, and her breath caught in her throat.  “Where’s…where’s Eva?” she asked fearfully.

Illinois stared at her with a mournful expression, then buried his face back in Whitney’s shoulder.  She replied, “She’s gone, Victoria.  She and Kestra.  We can’t find any bodies.  And both Sam Zhen and Bren disappeared, too.”

“No,” Victoria whispered in shock.  “No.”

Part 16

Methos seemed to disappear off the face of the earth once the four made it back to London.  Whitney asked some of her sources to keep an eye out for him, but she didn’t have much hope of tracking the Immortal down.  She took a grieving Illinois to Hawaii to put his cousin’s belongings in order.  The official executor of Eva “Hawaii” Davids’ will was Illinois, but Whitney ended up doing most of the work with the help of Hawaii’s lawyer, an Immortal by the name of Erik von Strausse.  Victoria accompanied the two back to Dulles airport in Washington DC, but the last either Illinois or Whitney saw of the apparent girl was as she boarded a plane to Miami.  She left with the mysterious words “Going to see some friends who can drain my sorrows.  Literally.”

The Lady of the Lake stared down at the two bodies lying on the ground below her and shook her head sorrowfully.

She sighed.  “Kestra, my dearest daughter, you never know when you’re going to be in over your head.  But at least you accomplished something slightly worthwhile in the end this time."

Erista Windstorm glanced at the Lady.  "I'm just glad I found them on the Ghost roads.  Who knows what could have happened to them?  Well, the ocean spirit would have been okay, but I shudder to think what might have happened to the human woman."

"Thank you, Erista," the Lady replied.  The woman dressed all in white nodded regally in response, then gestured to her white horse and walked away.

“But let me get to work.  This will be a difficult job.”

~finis~

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