THE KILLING OF SILAS
Meghan Black, c. 1997


Not mine. Rysher owns 'em. Have fun. Rated PG13.

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The journey from the stairs, where I'd left Kronos and MacLeod facing off, to the holding area where I was to deliver the fatal message to Silas was one of the longest I've ever made.

Even as I ran down the wide corridor toward the ramp leading upward to the room, I had yet to decide what I was going to say to him. Silas...brother...he was the gentlest of us, if that adjective could ever be applied to the Horseman. I could...and would. In that moment of indecision as I made my way to Cassandra's prison, my mind played back memories of the man I would either kill or be killed by very shortly.

Not long after I'd been recruited by Kronos and Caspian, Silas joined our ranks. We were now complete. An immortal to cover each direction, each element, each horizon. From the very beginning, Silas was not like the rest of us...same drummer, different beat. My only goal was survival. Always had been, pure and simple. Kronos was riding the wave of a power trip and Caspian's aim was to acquire all the wealth he could gather, along with a fair sized collection of skulls. Silas killed beside us, looted and raped, burned and pillaged, but he never killed a man unless he was facing him and he avoided the women and children as much as possible, leaving that heartless task to those of us who'd long ago lost any conscience we'd been born with.

And he always had a pet. Some wild animal he'd find in the wilderness, half-starved and scared. He had a way with them which never ceased to amaze me. This giant of a man, with the wits of a child sometimes, had the ability to calm and soothe the weak of the world. Too bad this gift didn't extend to man...he might have done some good work. But then if he had, we'd probably have killed him along with the rest. Silas was not weak, but he was...simple. His requirements extended to a full stomach, a woman in his bed and a good horse and ax.

I reached the doorway to Cassandra's holding area. Silas was leaning against the wall, ready for whatever his task may be. Cassandra was cowered in the corner, sure her life was over. I hesitated for a second before entering the room, taking in the scene before me. I certainly held no loyalty to the woman in the cage. I knew that if our circumstances had been reversed, she wouldn't blink an eye at separating my head from the rest of my body. A head I'd become quite attached to in 5000 years and one I didn't intend to lose now. Did I owe Silas anything? The answer was immediate. Yes, I owed him a quick and honorable death. The death of a warrior. My mind retreated briefly from the thought of fighting the powerful man standing a few feet away. This man could crush me with his bare hands if he took a mind to.

So where did my loyalties lie? I rejected Kronos out of hand. We'd made our decision and parted ways over 2000 years ago and, much as he may have deluded himself that we had returned to our former relationship, I had not changed the way I'd felt about him when last we'd met. MacLeod. Did I really owe him anything? The man who'd acted as judge and jury, condemning me as easily as I'd seen him fight for other's honor. Why did I care what happened to this man? Then I saw the deep, dark eyes searching my face as I stood at the base of the steps, looking for some sign that I was on his side. Maybe he hadn't given up on me totally. But was that one spark of trust and hope enough?

My resolve faltered and I lowered the sword that I'd been about to raise against Silas and walked into the darkened room, sloshing through the rank smelling water. Silas looked up and read my expression. It was all there. I chose not to hide anything.

He opened the cage and dragged Cassandra out, bowing her head in anticipation of the blow. I stood frozen as she looked up at me with hatred and something else that made my stomach lurch unexpectedly...something I could only read as spite. She would ask no mercy. The ax was raised and I absently noticed the bulging muscles of his arms as they steadied the mighty blade for a clean kill and made my decision.

The ax fell and nearly jarred my shoulder loose from my body. I had placed my blade in its path at the last second, but I still couldn't look at the large bear of a man who'd trusted me with his life over 100 lifetimes of riding together. Silas stared at me, stunned and confused. He misunderstood my act of mercy for one of selfishness. But, why would he think otherwise? I was his brother.

"You would fight me over the girl, Brother? She's yours." That simple. I could have stopped it all right then, spared Cassandra's life and not had to fight him. In the distance I could hear the blades of Kronos and MacLeod. Impossible to tell who was winning, but I had a good guess. The expression on Duncan's face had spoken volumes and I'd seen that look before when he'd fought Kalas.

I turned my head to face Silas and raised my sword to engage him, expressing in a way no words could say that it wasn't my intention to take Cassandra and live happily ever after with the two remaining Horsemen. He blinked and stepped back before realization dawned and he began fighting back. I needed that instant of hesitation because I wasn't all that sure I could beat him. The element of surprise would be the only advantage I had. That and my will to live.

We fought, or he attacked and I defended was more like it. My arms already ached at the battering they were taking from the heavy weapon he used. He was steadily pushing me back out of the room and I used my position as first to the door to turn and run toward the ramp leading down to the main corridor. I faced him just as he was raising the mighty ax to cleave my head in two. I don't think he expected me to face him again. Then I fell and the ax followed, the force of which drove my sword from paralyzed fingers. It clattered below me and all I could do was roll after it. Thank gods that I'd stayed in good shape. At least I wasn't winded like the large man coming after me seemed to be.

The clang of blades was much louder out here and I looked up only to freeze in the face of the two men who'd played such an important part in my life...each in a different way, in a different time. I saw renewed hope in the curious gaze of MacLeod. Disbelief was written all over the face of Kronos. Silas seemed confused, dazed by the fact that it was no longer me, him and Kronos against the world. We began our fight once more.

I don't remember exactly how long it lasted. I moved by sheer instinct, my body blocking, dodging and contorting out of harms way. Dimly I was aware of the other fight going on a few yards away and perhaps I even knew when it ended, for a surge of power seemed to appear out of no where and, as if I were looking at my body from above, I saw myself make the fatal blow to Silas...saw my body turn away, my arm swinging behind me with the force of 5000 years. Felt the smooth thunk of contact between blade and flesh. Then I was back in my body, clinching my eyes in disbelief. I had won. I had killed my brother, the gentlest one of us all.

The end


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