"A Finale, Of Sorts" or "A Fanfic of Highlander: The Series" by Shaule Sachs This is a work of fiction. This work is not meant to infringe on the Highlander copyrights and other things. It is written solely for the therapeutic release of the author and enjoyment of others. Any similarities between this and real life is pure coincidence. ----------------------------------------------------------------- --- Part 4 --- Saturday, Morning Location: Unknown The darkness that surrounding him felt very comfortable. He did not have to know who he was or any other problems like that. He could feel from the pain throughout his body that he was live and some part of him told him that he was on Holy Ground as well. As the a light grew within him images of the past began to form in his mind. Some of the image were pleasant while others were painful to watch. Some images were fuzzy like an old photograph while some were clear. Yet these images seemed to come from other sources than himself. These other sources disturbed him for some reason. Soon the images grew to encompass him. His mind became a whirlwind that seemed as if it was trying to drown him in his own mind. At least he hoped he was in his own mind. When he tried to think up his own name out of the maelstrom several names arose out of it. /But which one is *mine*,/ came the thought out of the darkness. AS the maelstrom continue to grow more images came into his mind's eye to see. They seemed to belong to other person and another time. Finally, one image arose to dominate the others. He could see out of both person's eyes giving it the unrealness of other two strangers. He saw the larger man attacking the smaller man back. He did not which man he was. He saw through the smaller man's eyes the madness in the larger man's eyes. He felt the madness of the larger man as if its him own while at the same time feeling the desperation in the smaller man. He saw as the larger man moved the smaller back in a corner. He saw the smaller man strike out with the strength born on desperation hit the sword of the larger man near the base of the blade and saw the larger man's sword break. He felt the wonder as the larger man saw his sword break and the wide look in the smaller man's eyes. The shock of his sword breaking had paralyzed him long enough for the smaller man to pull his sword back and kill the larger man. He was more felt the lightning that had come from the larger man's decapitated body and the chaos as it entered his body. In the confusion he thought he saw a monk cleaning up the mess of the battle. HE now knew that his name was Richard Ryan and that he won his battle with Kalas because he was lucky. Lucky that Kalas's sword broke as it did. Richie knew that it was Kalas's hatred of Duncan that now fogged his mind. The idea of killing Duncan seemed to fluxuation in his mind but he knew that Duncan was his friend not his enemy. The idea that he saw a monk while he was fighting Kalas intrigued him especial since he was now on Holy Ground. How he knew he was on Holy Ground Richie did not know nor did the memories of the others now in him could tell how. They all had asked the question at some point but they never founded an answer. Very carefully Richie sat up after discovering that he was lying down on some kind of cot. As he sat up he noticed that he was not wearing any clothes which he remembered were both strained with blood and tore from the fight. While examining the room he was in he noticed it was a small room like the type you see in the Movies were Monks live. He saw that there was a bottle of some liquid, a bowl of water and some cheese on a table by the cot. Next to the table was a chair with his clothes on it. The clothes looked cleaned and mended. Feeling conscious of the fact that he was nude on Holy Ground Richie got out of the cot and dressed as fast as his aching body could. After finishing, he poured himself some of the liquid from the bottle, which turned out to be a sweet tasting water, and ate some of the cheese. As he ate, he realized that he had not hallucinated about the Monk and apparently the Monk had brought him to Holy Ground. After eating a good portion of the cheese and drinking the water Richie sat down on the floor and let the Peace of the Holy Ground relax him. Every time he thought of Duncan, he felt hatred for him instead of the friendship he had known. He knew from taking Mako's Quickening that he was being influenced by Kalas's Quickening. It was simply the desire to remain himself that had prevented Kalas's Quickening from taking over. He knew that he would have to stay on Holy Ground until he could put Kalas's Quickening into its proper place within himself before he could leave. Richie was so lost in his thoughts that he did not hear the Monk the first time he had cough to get Richie's attention. On the third attempt Richie heard him and looked at the Monk. The Monk had a look of Peace about him, /like Darius did/ thought Richie and he looked slightly familiar to him. "I'm Brother Tunha. Since you handled your opponent's Quickening so poorly I'd assume that you are not much older than what you appear to be, am I correct?" asked the Monk. Brother Tunha's german accent had it hard for Richie to understand him at first but some part of Richie figured it out. "Richie... Richard Ryan. And yes, I'm only twenty-one," Richie said. "Why did you bring me here?" asked Richie. "As I said, you took your opponent's Quickening rather poorly so you need rest," replied Brother Tunha. "Besides after taking the Quickening of someone as bad as Kalas you will need the Peace of Holy Ground for awhile, I think," Tunha continued. "How do you know Kalas?" asked Richie with some curiosity. "Everyone in the Order has heard what Kalas has done," answered Tunha with a sadness in his voice. As he was about to ask what Order was, a memory from Kalas came to him. The memory told him that a bunch of Immortals had decided that they were here to dedicate their immortal lives to the serve of G*d. These immortals make priest of the religions that existed in their time and they had banded together to help each other and to help any who needed sanctuary be they Immortal or Mortal. Paul, the Immortal monk that Kalas had killed before he tried for Duncan, and Darius were members of this Order. The Order began over three thousand years ago when a Mortal Priest ordained the first Immortal Priest, To, who Darius had killed and took his place afterwards. Richie just said, "Right." The sarcasm in his voice did not bother Brother Tunha, in fact he just smiled as Richie laid back down. === End of Part 4 === === End of "A Finale, Of Sorts" ===