| Chapter 3: A Crazy Story |
| Several hours passed, and Tessa found herself nearing the beach, Duncan riding only a few lengths ahead. So far, she'd spent the whole ride trying to come up with some sort of logical explanation for what was happening to her. That, and briefly entertaining fantasies about Duncan as the protagonist in the novels that would have undoubtedly earned her a long lecture from Marta if the older woman had ever found them. All fantasies aside, Duncan was a rather attractive man. Yet, Tessa couldn't help but question his sanity. Even the very little information he'd given her back at the graveyard had struck her as bizarre. In fact, if it weren't for what she'd heard Vera say; Tessa would still have a hard time believing that she had actually been dead. One question that kept coming to mind was how Duncan had found her in the first place, for she had never seen him before waking up in that grave. A loud thunderclap overhead and the sudden reaction from her mount shook her from her thoughts. She looked up to the sky and saw the lightening flash in the distance. Her horse became skittish and started to buck. It took her several moments to get the frightened horse back under control. As she struggled with it, Tessa noticed MacLeod, who seemingly had a much easier time controlling his horse, had turned around and was making his way over to her. |
| "Well..." he said, glancing skyward "...it looks like we won't be getting much further tonight. Know someplace we can stay 'til the storm passes?" |
| Shifting in the saddle, Tessa glanced around the all-too familiar area to confirm what she already knew would be there. "There's a cave in the cliffs back that way." she said, indicating the direction with a sweep of her arm. "It's right on the beach, and out of the way of patrols. I've used it plenty of times before..." Tessa trailed off, choking back a sob at the memory of what she'd lost. After taking a moment to compose herself, she turned the horse around and headed to the cave, not wanting to get caught in the rain. A quick look behind her told her that Duncan was following her lead. By some miracle, both of them managed to make it to the cave and get inside only seconds before the skies opened up. They took the horses to the back of the cave to get them settled in for the night. As soon as she'd gotten hers taken care of, Tessa grabbed some wood from the pile she kept there and set to work getting a fire started. |
| Duncan picked up some dry firewood. "Why don't you let me do that?" |
| Tessa stopped what she was doing for the moment and turned her head to see Duncan standing next to her with the wood. |
| "This may come as a shock to you, Seņor, but I am perfectly capable of building a fire on my own." Without waiting for his response, Tessa resumed her efforts to get the fire started. MacLeod crouched down on the other side of the fire pit, right in her line of vision. |
| "I didn't mean it like that, Seņorita. You've had a rough couple of days. I just thought I'd give you a chance to relax." |
| "You can just call me Tessa, and I appreciate the thought, but frankly, I'd find it much easier to relax if I knew what the hell was going on here." As she spoke, the kindling finally caught and soon they had a nice sized fire. Pocketing the flint, Tessa sat down against the cave wall, arms folded, and waited for Duncan to start explaining things. "Well?" |
| Duncan walked over to where he?d laid his saddlebag and started rummaging through it. |
| "Do you want something to eat? All I have right now is bread and cheese, but..." |
| Tessa shook her head. "I'm not hungry." |
| "Are you sure?" |
| Tessa scowled at him. "I just want some answers." |
| Temporarily abandoning the food, Duncan returned to where he'd previously been sitting. For a few moments afterward, he remained silent, as if trying to figure out where to begin. |
| "Tessa...what if I told you that there are some people out there in the world that can never truly die...that will, quite literally, live forever." |
| She chuckled. "I'd say you've had one too many encounters with Chumash peyote. That stuff can really mess with your head." |
| "I'm serious." |
| "So am I. I tried it once and thought my horse was talking to me." |
| Duncan stood up and moved in closer to her. "This isn't a joke, Tessa. What I told you...it was the truth. Immortals really do exist." |
| "Right...next you'll be telling me that you've been around since the dark ages and that I'm now like you." What exactly did MacLeod take her for? There was no such thing as immortals. She thought he might have been crazy before. Now she was almost certain of it. Warily, she watched MacLeod as he crouched down next to her. |
| "Well...you'd have to ask Amanda about the dark ages. I'm only 228 myself. But you've pretty much gotten the idea." |
| Tessa got up and started backing towards the horses, her eyes never leaving Duncan. Riding around in a storm seems preferable to staying in a cave with a man who is not in his right mind. "Thanks for the save and everything, Seņor MacLeod. It's been...interesting. Really, but I think it's about time I left..." |
| "And where would you go, exactly?" |
| "I don't know yet. But I'll figure it out...eventually." Tessa reached the horse she'd ridden and turned around to start making preparations to leave. Moments later, Duncan's strong hand grabbed her right wrist and turned her around so that they were once again face to face. What was worse, in his other hand he was gripping a rather nasty looking knife. Dios Mio...is this lunatic actually going to try and kill me to prove his crazy story? Her first instinct was to fight him, but logic told her that if Duncan was truly as crazy as she thought he was, then doing so would probably just get her killed faster. So she remained still, watching and waiting to see what he'd do next. She didn't have to wait long. Duncan's grip on her arm shifted so that he was holding her hand opened, palm up. |
| "I was hoping I wouldn't have to do this." As he spoke, Duncan started moving the knife in closer to the hand he was holding. Before Tessa could react, she felt a searing pain as it sliced into her palm, laying it open to the bone. She cried out and tried unsuccessfully to pull away from him. "Let go of me you...you lunatic!" Tessa kept trying to wrest her hand from his, but he held fast. Duncan slowly put the knife away and gently cupped her face in his hand, turning it so she was looking into his eyes. |
| "Tessa...please, calm down. I had to show you. Just...look." |
| Warily, Tessa looked at her still bleeding hand, which Duncan continued to hold onto. At first, it seemed like nothing had changed, but after a moment, she saw what looked like miniature lighting bolts dance their way across the wound and, in less than a minute, the cut had disappeared completely. |
| MacLeod pulled out a handkerchief and wiped away the dried blood. There wasn't even the slightest trace of a scar. Duncan finally released her hand and she flexed it experimentally. A little sore, but even that was quickly fading to nothing. She stared at her hand for a moment before turning back to Duncan. "But...how?" |
| "It's as I said, Tessa. You are immortal...as am I." He pulled out the knife again and cut his own palm, which he held up so she could see it. Within seconds, the wound had healed, just as hers had. |
| Dumbfounded, Tessa looked back and forth between her hand and Duncan's, still not quite sure what to make of it. Immortality. Such a thing is...impossible. It goes against everything I believe in. And yet, here is the proof, staring me in the face.' Almost automatically, Tessa returned to her seat by the fire, lost in her own thoughts. |
| Duncan grinned. "So, do you believe me now?" She looked in the direction of the voice to find that Duncan had seated himself next to her. Unable to find the words for what she was feeling at the moment, she simply nodded. |
| Silence fell as neither wanted to make the first move. Several long, awkward moments later, it was Tessa who finally broke the silence. |
| She looked into Duncan's eyes for the first time since he'd taken the knife to her hand. "Immortal...what does that mean exactly, aside from the obvious, of course." |
| "Well, basically, what it means is that from this point on, you won't age, and disease can't touch you. Minor wounds, as you've already observed, will heal themselves almost instantaneously. Major ones take just a little longer than that. If the wound is fatal, you'll 'die', but will usually revive within a few hours." |
| "Usually?" Tessa shook her head. Thoughts flashed through her mind. 'Usually' means that there is a possibility of my not coming back from something. Figures. Marta always said that if something sounds too good to be true, it probably is. She looked back at Duncan. "So, what's the catch?" |
| "The catch...well, there is one way that you can die permanently." |
| "And that way is..." |
| "Beheading." |
| "Oh..." she involuntarily rubbed her throat. "Exactly how often is that going to be a problem?" |
| "That's the other catch. You see, the moment you became immortal, you also became part of what we call 'the game'. Sooner or later Tessa, you will be challenged by another immortal. This means that you will have to face that immortal in a duel to the death...as in the sort of death you don't come back from. And 'the game' has only two rules. The first and most important one is that you cannot fight on holy ground...no matter who it belongs to. It is the only place you'll be truly safe. The other rule says that once a challenge has begun, no one can interfere. Not everyone follows that one, but most do." |
| "So, what you're basically saying is that I now have to spend eternity chopping the heads off other immortals? Why? What's the point?" |
| "Tessa, I never said you had to go around looking for fights. Most of us live fairly normal lives. But even if you don't go looking for one, eventually a fight will find you. And when that happens, you really don't have much of a choice but to see it through to the end...unless of course you want to end up a foot shorter." |
| "Come on, Duncan...there's got to be more to it than that. I mean, why would any immortal play this 'game' in the first place? What's in it for them?" |
| "The Quickening, for one thing." |
| "What's that?" |
| "Essentially, the quickening is what makes you who you are...what makes you immortal. It holds your memories, heals you when you're injured, and brings you back when you die. The quickening is also how we know when another of our kind is near. You've probably felt it already." |
| "The headaches?" |
| "Precisely. Once you're used to the feeling it won't be nearly as painful. That's your early warning...gives you time to prepare in case the other guy's looking for a fight. Now, to other immortals, the quickening is power. The more you take, the stronger you become. When one immortal takes another's head, the quickening is released and absorbed by the victor. To observers, it generally looks like a freak lightening storm. As for how it feels to take one...well, that's just something you'll have to experience for yourself." |
| "And what if I don't want to? Sorry Duncan, but I have enough blood on my hands as it is. Last thing I need is this ridiculous 'game' of yours." |
| "Haven't you been listening? You have no choice! Unless you want to join a convent, sooner or later you will have to fight. And when that happens, you're going to have to take the other guy's head...otherwise, he'll just keep on coming 'til he takes yours." |
| Another awkward silence. |
| "There's really no way out of this, is there?" |
| "I'm afraid not, Tessa." He glanced toward the front of the cave. "Look, it's getting late, and I want to get out of here as early as possible in the morning. Why don't we both get some sleep, and we can talk more about this tomorrow." |
| Tessa sat for a few minutes staring out of the cave into the darkness. Great. I have two choices. Spend eternity chopping off other people's heads or become a nun.' She laughed to herself. 'Me, a nun? Tia Damona would've had a field day with that one. Nah, I think I'll pass. I wouldn't last five minutes in one of those places anyway. Might as well stick around, see what Duncan has to show me. |
| Slowly she got up and found the dried grass mat that Duncan had made for a bed. She glanced over at him as she sat down. I wonder how many ladies have fallen for him? Oh well, I could do a lot worse. She lay back and closed her eyes before drifting off to sleep. |