THE HORSEMEN RIDE AGAIN
Disclaimers: Buffy the Vampire Slayer belongs to Joss Whedon, Kuzui Enterprises, Sandollar Television, Mutant Enemy, Fox, and Warner Brothers Studios. Star Trek belongs to Paramount. The Tomorrow People: The New Series belongs to Thames/Tetra Television, Nickelodeon, and Roger Price. Highlander: The Series and Highlander: End Game belong to Davis/Panzer Productions, Gaumont Television, and Rysher Entertainment. No copyright infringement was intended. This story was written for entertainment and no money was exchanged.
Spoilers: Takes place before "The Yoko Factor." I know it's a big time leap. Basically, Oz left and Alex went to classes. Just because he didn't take part in everything doesn't mean he isn't told what happens and that he isn't a friend.
This is the sequel to "The Hunters" in the "Unimaginable Forces" series.
Two military personnel led Ethan Rayne, handcuffed, down the white hall. They passed prison cells holding demons and other monsters that were terrifying to look at. When the prisoners saw them, they ran forward and started banging on the doors, ignoring the volts of electricity they got for their efforts.
Soon, though, they passed through the demon cells and went by the magician cells. Ethan's cell was here. It was on the second level.
But they didn't go up the stairs. Which left on one possibility, and Ethan dreaded it. They were taking him to the labs.
He was in a secret detention facility in the Nevada Desert. That was what he'd overheard the Inniative agent tell the Slayer before he was taken away, anyway. Even if he wasn't in Nevada, he knew it wasn't the Inniative. From what he'd heard about it, the Inniative specialized in demons, while this facility only had a handful. This place had more wizards, ghosts, and clones than anything else. But like the Inniative, there were experiments here.
Ethan let out a breath of relief when they'd passed the closed doors to the laboratories. They didn’t want to perform tests on him, which left him with his curiosity.
Finally, they stopped at a door and Ethan was led inside.
The room was an office. It had a lush red carpet. Bookshelves covered all the walls except the far wall, which had two windows.
Behind a desk was a woman in a business suit. She smiled at him. Ethan was compelled to smile back.
The guards led him to the chair and made him sit down. Then, to his surprise, they took the cuffs off and left, leaving him alone with the mysterious woman.
"Greetings, Ethan Raine," she said. "My name is Elizabeth Hartley. I would like to make a deal with you."
"If the deal is a good one, I'll say yes." Ethan glanced at the shelves. "You're a lawyer."
"Yes," Hartley replied. "I work at a law firm called Wolfram and Hart."
"I've heard of you," Ethan said, smiling. "The word's out that you provide "legal" documents so your clients can live normal lives without interruption by the human population."
"That's right," Hartley said. "We're willing to do the same for you. I'll get you out of here, in exchange for one little favor."
Ethan smiled. "And that is?"
"You know of Angel, the vampire?"
"Yes. He and the current Slayer used to be lovers. Do you have something against him?"
"Oh yes," Hartley answered. "We do. But it's not him we wish to target exactly. We'd rather go for something that'll hurt him badly."
"You wish to kill Buffy."
"Exactly."
"How do you propose I do so?"
Hartley smiled. "I knew you would agree to this, Mr. Raine. And I have a feeling you'll like the plan very much."
Buffy walked among the gravestones on alert. Her Slayer's bag was at her side, and a stake was in her hand.
She looked left and right at the darkness. The graveyard was covered with trees and old family crypts. There was no telling who, or what, was hiding in there.
From the right, she heard metal scrape against concrete. It was coming from the nearest crypt.
She walked toward the gate in front of the concrete door.
Something moved in the bushes near the door. Buffy turned to them, getting in a defensive position.
A man appeared behind the tall bush, although Buffy wasn't sure if it was a man. The figure wore a white cape, hood, and leggings. He had a chest-plate made of Bronze and dark boots, and he had black leather wrist guards.
Over his face, he wore the mask of a human skull. The mask was slightly decayed and had dried blood in places.
Do you know what you're dealing with?
The question had drifting to her on the breeze, but she knew the figure had spoken it.
To her right came a scream, followed by more screams.
Buffy turned, still in her defensive position.
Men and women ran by. They wore dirty, torn rags on their bodies, and their hair was long and tangled.
They glanced behind them as they ran by. Abject terror was in their expressions.
Buffy heard hooves.
Four men on horseback appeared chasing after the men and women. Three held swords covered in blood, while the one closest to her carried an axe. Each rider wore unfamiliar armor and face paint.
One of the riders was the same figure that stood behind the bush.
She watched as the horsemen ran the villagers down, slaughtering them mercilessly.
Buffy turned back to the first figure she'd seen. He was still there, a duplication of one of the riders.
The figure had stepped around the bush and now stood only a few feet from her.
He reached up a human hand to his mask and lifted it, lowering the hood as well.
The face she saw was human. He wore blue face paint covering the right side of his face, from the top of his forehead to below his chin.
The human smiled cruelly. He stepped closer to Buffy and grabbed her arms.
Buffy had changed. She now wore the clothes the villagers had worn. She didn't have her Slayer's bag anymore.
She didn't try to resist when the man grabbed her roughly. He turned her so her back faced him and leaned her body against his.
He started licking her neck playfully. Buffy tried to struggle, but he was too strong.
"I am Methos," he whispered in her ear. "You live to serve me. Never forget that."
Buffy jerked awake. Her sheets were drenched with sweat and tangled up around her legs.
She was unaware that she was screaming for several moments. Her heart pounded in her ears, and she found it hard to breathe.
"Buffy?" Willow asked from her bed across the room.
Willow's voice helped her calm down. Buffy took several deep breaths.
"Buffy?" her friend asked, this time from much closer.
Buffy looked up at her friend. "I'm okay," she said.
"Bad dream?" Willow sat down on the bed.
"I don't know," Buffy said. "I hope so. It was just so vivid."
"What was it about?"
"I was on patrol," she answered. "And I ran into this…guy. He dressed really weird. And there were these guys on horseback, and they…" Her face got whiter. "They were chasing after these people. Then they killed them."
"You should tell Giles. He may be able to help," Willow suggested.
"Yeah," Buffy glanced at the nightstand. "It's almost dawn. That's good, cause I don't think I'll go back to sleep."
Later that day, Giles and Buffy sat in his living room. Buffy was telling Giles about her dream. Giles kept taking off his glasses and cleaning them, a clear sign he was troubled.
"'I am Methos?'" he asked. His Brittish accent was obvious. "You're sure that's what he said?"
"You know him?" Buffy asked hopefully.
"I believe so, yes," Giles stood up and took a book from his shelves. He returned to his seat and flipped through the pages. "Ah, yes. Hear it is. It says there is a race of Immortal beings that had lived since the dawn of time. The only way for them to die is if they are beheaded. The oldest one, who is around five thousand years old, is named Methos."
"So if he shows up, I need something really sharp," Buffy said. "Does the head have to come off completely?"
"I'm afraid so."
Buffy looked disgusted. "Eww."
Anya come through the door and sat down next to Buffy. "Hey, guys."
"Hello, Anya," Giles greeted her. "Do you know where Xander is?"
"He said he was going to the island for Tomorrow People training," Anya said. "I'm supposed to meet him here."
As if on cue, they heard weird, video arcade-like noises. There was a bright light, followed by Xander.
"Hi guys," he said and took a seat next to Anya. "What's going on?"
"Buffy was just telling me about a dream she had," Giles said.
"Would that be a prophetic-like dream?" Xander asked.
"I hope not," Buffy replied.
Giles took off his glasses and cleaned them again. "Could you describe Methos for me?"
Buffy remembered him perfectly.
Xander said, "Woah. I'd love to see what Cordelia would do to that guy."
Everyone looked at him. Xander shrugged. "I wasn't scanning her mind," he said. "It's just that sometimes I get images or thoughts that I can't help but hear. They're so strong they get through my barriers." He looked at Buffy. "Those prophetic dreams of yours could get pretty vivid, huh?"
"You could say that," Buffy said.
"Interesting," Giles said, "But we must stay on topic. Perhaps you could explain his features to those of us without telepathic powers."
"He had this blue face paint covering the right side of his face," Buffy explained. "His hair looked like a black floor mop, it was so dirty and tangled. His eyes were brown, and he had high cheekbones."
While she described him, Giles had made a crude drawing of Methos.
Anya thought she recognized the drawing. "Let me see that," she said, snatching the picture from Giles' hand.
She was right. She smiled and laughed.
"Anya?" Xander asked, "You know this guy?"
"It's Benjamin Adams," she replied.
"Who?" Buffy asked.
"Benjamin Adams," Anya repeated. "I met him back in eighteen forty-two. There was a woman, another Immortal, I think, that wanted Adams to be weak so he would be an easy kill. She said they were lovers once, so I consented. I certainly had fun with him."
"If he's still alive, he's well over five millenia," Giles said. "Buffy, when you see Willow, tell her about this, will you? Perhaps she could locate a Methos or Adams somewhere on the globe."
"Sure thing," Buffy said, getting up.
"Where is Will, anyway?" Xander asked.
"She said she was going to practice some spells with Tara. I'm supposed to meet Willow at the dorm soon, so I'd better go."
Anya and Xander had no reason to stay, so the three headed for the door.
As they left, Giles told them, "We don't know if Methos is hear in Sunnydale or not, so I'd advise you all to stay on alert."
"We will," Xander promised.
Somewhere in France
Ethan Raine lowered himself into the whole by the rope. When his feet touched the rock bottom of the cave, he unhooked himself and his supplies.
Around him, the rock walls of a cave rose for about ten feet before meeting a rocky ceiling. The whole in the woods he'd come through was the only entrance into the cave. It was large with several tunnels, and it had a few rises. But the object of his desire was not the cave itself, but the spring located in the cave.
Noticing light reflecting off water and rebounding off the rock walls, he turned and saw it. It was rectangular, and was filled with dirty water that went up to knee-height.
Ethan walked over to it and placed his supplies next to pool. He had a long sword case with him. He opened the case and took out the sword inside.
It was the Clan MacLeod sword. He'd taken it from the MacLeods in Scotland. He'd used magic to create a duplicate, and hoped he wouldn't be discovered for long. Even if he did, it wouldn't matter. He'd bring it back eventually.
Ethan gripped the pommel in his right hand and lowered the tip into the water. The blade glowed with an eerie magical light.
Ethan smiled. This was exactly what he'd hoped for.
It had taken him awhile, but he'd learned of the location of the holy spring, supposedly lost for nine hundred years. That is, until two Immortals used it only four years ago.
Wolfram and Hart had good sources. They told him what happened four years ago. He knew everything, from Methos' involvement to how Duncan MacLeod was overcome by a dark quickening to how he overpowered it.
The pool had drawn so much evil out of MacLeod, it was still tapped into the Highlander's quickening, although the Immortal had no knowledge of it. And he wouldn't know about it, if this went down right.
Ethan smiled. There was another Immortal it would hurt, because he didn't step into a spring like MacLeod had. That Immortal was Methos himself. Because he didn't have an indirect source he could use to draw some of the old man's Quickening's power from, he would have to put Methos to sleep right after he won another fight. The power given off by the Quickening following an Immortal's combat gave off enough energy for him to trap Methos. For that, he would have to go to London. But for now, he still needed part of MacLeod's Quickening.
He held the blade in the water and began to chant words in Latin. Ethan sprinkled the spring of water with salt. The contact caused the water to glow briefly.
After he said the words in Latin, still holding the blade in the water, Ethan chanted the words again in English.
"Holy spring of water, I wish for entrance into Duncan MacLeod's soul. Bring into light two souls burried within. Two souls that knew only raiding and killing. Entrap them in this blade and make them safe to carry within the metal over great distances."
"They went by the names of Caspian and Kronos," he said. "They were the Horsemen."
Methos left the busy London airport and walked down its streets. He'd just gone to Scotland for Connor's MacLeod Catholic funeral service. He hadn't known the elder MacLeod, but Methos knew his kinsman, Duncan MacLeod, and he went to support the latter.
Joe Dawson, Duncan's Watcher, also attended the small service. Then, like Methos, he had left, heading across the Atlantic to his bar in Seacouver.
Methos had traveled back to London, his current residence. His house was only a few blocks from the airport, so he'd decided to walk. To avoid most life was almost a subconscious thing to do, so he took the alleys.
He was at least a block from his house when he felt it. Another Immortal was nearby.
Methos barely had time to take his sword out of his coat before he heard the whisper of metal to his left.
He turned and brought his sword up, blocking the blow the other Immortal made.
The Immortal stepped out of the shadows. Methos didn't recognize him, but there were many he didn't recognize.
"Hello, Peirson," the Immortal said.
The mysterious man went on the offensive, leaving no time for conversation or even an exchange of names.
Methos fought back, and switched to the offensive pretty quickly. The Immortal looked surprised. Apparently he expected an easy kill.
After Methos had struck him in the abdomen, the Immortal backed off a few paces so his wound could heal.
"They said you would be an easy kill," the Immortal said.
"Who are 'they?'" Methos asked.
The Immortal didn't answer him. Instead, he charged Methos. Methos stepped to the side and let the Immortal's neck be run through by his blade.
Before the body hit the cement, the Quickening struck.
Ethan Raine, hidden in the shadows, watched as a white mist floated from the dead Immortal's body to Methos' body. Then he started his incantation, holding the MacLeod sword pointed toward Methos' chest.
"I wish for entrance into Methos's soul. Bring into the light two souls burried within. One soul knew only raiding, killing, and an obsession for animals. The other rules over all other souls in this five thousand-year-old flask. Bring into the light the part Methos wishes to keep hidden from the surface, the part that knew only of death and was merciless to every soul he met. Entrap them in this blade and make them safe to carry within the metal over great distances."
"The first went by the name of Silas," he said. "While the second was simply Death. They were the Horsemen. Bring them together with the other two souls locked in this blade, and make them one. They were, and shall forever be, the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse."
When Methos reached his building, he was tired and worn out. Wearily, he entered the apartment and went straight for his bed without bothering to remove his clothes.
He fell asleep immediately.
He dreamed of being a Horseman, only he rode on horseback through a modern world town.
Little did he know that would really happen.
more coming soon!
