An Evening at Joe's

by Gillian Horvath

  He continued to attack, but with considerably less energy than when they began. I could hear Abraham speaking quite clearly; he was asking Joshua if he felt this strange force but received no reply, so Abraham began to edge away from him to exit the boundary that they had crossed. At that moment he stumbled, losing his grip upon his sword, and was caught without protection. Joshua struck him with a mighty death blow.

  At the exact instant of contact between blade and neck, Joshua's sword stopped as though he had struck solid stone and he disappeared, his weapon landing on the hard ground where he had stood only a moment before. It was as though he had never been there. A profound silence occupied the space that had just been full of the sounds of battle, and I moved quickly to remove my friend from it. My mind was racing for an explanation for what we had just witnessed; I had never heard of anything like this happening before, even as I knew the answer: no sacred site could be desecrated by the combat of Immortals. The insensitivity of that act was somehow not permitted by whatever forces ruled our existence. What that energy might be and what else may be forbidden was not something that I was prepared to consider at that moment. I knew only that we had been warned, perhaps by magic or one of the gods that they worshipped in the city. Whatever it was, neither of us was prepared to define it at that moment. We left those grounds as fast as we could, not even stopping to erect Joshua's sword as a warning, and returned to the safety of the city and its comforting sounds of life.

  XII

  After considerable discussion, we decided to stay in Ur for a while longer so that we could try to figure out what it might mean. Joshua's disappearance caused Abraham to seriously consider that he had been a sorcerer and the whole event was a warning to us that we could not do as we pleased without facing retribution for our actions. I found that hard to believe: If Joshua was magical, why didn't Abraham vanish? It made little sense to me that the punishment would be administered to the enforcer of unspoken laws, especially since we had both felt the dread and Abraham had actually warned Joshua that they should move elsewhere to continue. Abraham hadn't tried to stop their fight, he only wanted to finish it in a place that was safe. I was unable to assist him in resolving his fears about this apparent sorcery that he would carry to his death, nearly eight hundred years later. He was a good friend and his absence from the world still causes me great sorrow.

  XIII

  After Abraham's death, I decided to make my way to the City of Jerusalem to join the world again. I had always avoided big cities before, because I desired anonymity from Mortals. However, I reasoned that there was no better place in which to be faceless than where there were too many people living to keep track of each other. There was plenty of construction going on there at the time and I, having become a very good stone cutter, had no difficulty in obtaining employment as a master cutter.

  There were many other Immortals being drawn to the cities at the same time as we had: some for similar reasons to mine, others because there were so many heads to be collected in these places. I began to enjoy my life, and shared in the bounty of camaraderie prevalent among the various groups of Immortals. Allegiances were being forged and organisations formed between like-minded persons, some based on status or trade, but many were dependent only upon shared ideals or aspirations of the moment.

  This was also the place where the Watchers first became known to me as a serious association. They had existed previously as small groups of men and women who were obsessed with sourcing out the tales of people who greatly outlived their normal lifespan, which was about 75 years at that point in history. One night, I overheard a group at a nearby table discussing certain Immortal names that I recognised, while I was enjoying the company of some co-workers at a drinking house. My interest was piqued, so I allowed myself to be observed displaying interest in their conversation. Eventually, acquaintances were struck and I was invited to a meeting the following evening.

  My intention was to find out who they were and why they were so interested in Immortals, but since I needed to be cautious so as not to tip my hand, I decided to appear interested in their Organisation for primarily social purposes. In this way, I would not be taken too seriously at first, and I could make use of their rather unorganised ways to find out exactly what they knew.

  I soon met Ruth, a tall, lovely woman who I would have been pleased to make the acquaintance of whether she was a Watcher or not. She possessed a long mane of unruly hair with a personality to match. She was outspoken about her beliefs on every topic, with an education to back it up. She had taught herself to read and write so that she could study various subjects as they interested her. Certain men found her enthusiasm towards education to be off-putting; she was often the most well read person present at their meetings, and not many men appreciated her for it. I was definitely not one of those. Ruth had an exhilarating zest for everything that she did, and in any other time she would have led the group. Later on, she did, but only after changes had occurred with regard to respecting women's rights in their social structure.

  In order to avoid recognition as an Immortal, I chose the name Alexander to be used as long as I lived among them. Certainly they had heard of Methos, I reasoned, and such effrontery would easily tip my hand. I was disappointed to discover that I was virtually unknown to their records, having been mentioned only in passing. Apparently my rather low profile had paid dividends of anonymity. I eventually became a member and gained access to a treasure of information. There was a good deal to be learned from them; their records confirmed a lot of what I already knew and added much more to my knowledge of who we were and where we all were located. Still, I was uncertain about what purpose this association with them might serve, other than my own curiosity.

  XIV

  Ruth and I, however, found a great number of shared interests outside of the work we performed for the Watchers, and we became man and wife in 904 B.C., soon after I shared my secret with her. She told me that she had seen something in my eyes that had betrayed me to her, so she was not hard to convince. I was disappointed to find out that fathering a child with her was something that I was unable to do, now that I was with someone who inspired me to become more firmly rooted in a proper life. Upon further consideration, I realised I had never heard of an Immortal man or woman having children. Towards Ruth I felt more deeply and with greater respect than I had ever known or thought possible to exist between men and women. My entire outlook was inexorably altered and I became a better man for the experience she gave to me.

  The Watchers, meanwhile, continued to grow in membership and reach, even as it began to diverge in direction. Various smaller groups were beginning to form within the Organisation, with most of them supporting the official policies, but a few held more extreme beliefs regarding the presence of Immortals. The official hypothesis was that Immortals should be watched in order to protect humanity from an outcome similar to the abuses committed by the Horsemen. They were much more knowledgeable about the Immortal condition than I was because they had the benefit of an immense store of information, gathered over many hundreds of years. I was only aware of those I had personally met or heard of from the few Immortal friends with whom I shared such confidences. The renegade groups, however, were of the opinion that Immortals were an abomination of creation and therefore not worthy of any life. Tempers flared at the meetings and I listened to speeches by some really spiteful individuals who were, in my opin- ion, embittered by the limitations of their own Mortality.

  XV

  There was a lot for me to learn at these meetings. They inducted me into their ranks with a ceremony and a complete (as much as they knew at the time) explanation of the who and why of Immortal existence. Some of this information was welcome because it confirmed and explained a great many questions and feelings that I had had over the last 2,050 years. For example, I was very interested to learn that the exchange of power from a beheaded Immortal was referred to as a Quickening and could increase a warrior's power greatly.


  They also confirmed for me that Immortals were not able to have children but there was no finite number of Immortals yet; more were being born all the time. Apparently, we were the participants in a struggle that they referred to as The Game, with a Prize being granted to the last surviving member who was going to rule the Earth with great powers. This was the central tenet of separation for the Watchers' rank and file; the majority of members were content simply to observe and record our Immortal conquests, but the extremists were concerned that an evil one would win and the earth would be doomed to eternal subjugation. Since the Immortal victor was to be granted an Immortality that would be free of other competitors, he or she would then be unable to be killed by human means and it would be too late for them to affect the outcome.

  The extremists proposed killing us all now, before a winner was declared and it was too late, regardless of the individual Immortal's inclination towards method of ruling. At least they agreed that Immortals were the same as Mortals; either good or bad by individual choice. I appeared to be the only one who felt that the odds were at least even that the champion would be one who walked a more discerning path, so I kept my opinions to myself for the time being.

  All of these discussions proved extremely informative to me, in that I could now tell if trouble was in store for any of my friends and make an effort to assist them.

  Ruth and I were in complete agreement with respect to trying to positively influence the outcome of The Game, although she recognised that we were treading on dangerous ground. How were we any more entitled to make those choices than someone that we considered to be holding divergent views? If we sought entitlement, she cautioned that we couldn't deny it to those who would use the same information to hunt Immortals. After considerable discussion, we agreed that it was an improper use of the Watchers' database to forward such a personal agenda. My previously malleable moral structure that had permitted me to ride with the Horsemen was beginning to develop into a more cohesive substance.

  XVI

  Not long after, I had to leave my building job and devote my full attention to the Watchers because they needed the help. There were not enough agents to cover the individual Immortal assignments; each Watcher was trying to cover two or three often very disparate people. This started to involve frequent travel in order to keep tabs on them, and Ruth and I turned down several assignments because we didn't want to move anywhere else quite yet. We reasoned that there were enough Immortals who were passing through Jerusalem that we could observe them and concern ourselves more with the organisational structure that was emerging.

  Because of my status as an Immortal, we knew that we would have to leave sometime, in about 15 to 20 years, because I would not be showing any advancement of age by then. Hopefully, we would be able to take an assignment following an Immortal who had settled somewhere far enough away for me to maintain my cover when the time came.

  I was becoming concerned that I would eventually end up running across an Immortal that I knew or one who wanted my Quickening. In this town I would be found out pretty fast if I picked up my sword against someone who was being covered by a Watcher. If I was exposed, my main worry was what would happen to Ruth, both within the Organisation and regarding her personal safety from the radical elements who could use the opportunity to justify their anxiety towards Immortals. The events that would follow my exposure would also serve to drive the Watchers deeper underground, making it harder for me or any other Immortal to ever infiltrate them again. If I had to choose between concealing my identity and revealing Ruth's involvement, I knew that I would give myself up to them, hoping that eventually Ruth and I could escape and start over somewhere else.

  XVII

  Just as I was preparing myself for the potential of a confrontation, my most dreaded fear came true; Kronos found me as he was passing through the city. I had always figured that my unfinished business with him would reappear and require closure, so I wasn't completely unprepared for his arrival. However, I was unprepared for his response to finding me. He wanted to pick up where we had left off, having changed his ways and attitude towards Mortals not a bit. He was quite amused at my having married a Mortal and agreed to a trade for my freedom: If I would tell him all I knew about the Watchers and supply the information that they had on him, he agreed to let me continue my charade. I discussed the matter with Ruth right away, and she agreed to provide me with the necessary materials to pull it off. We knew that he was not to be trusted, so we also planned to take an assignment immediately and disappear from Jerusalem. It pained me greatly to see her sacrifice so much for me, but we both knew that it had always been inevitable.

  When the day came for the exchange, I made arrangements to meet him at a location where I could conceal my sword beforehand and guarantee my own safety, or at least a fighting chance. As I had suspected, Kronos attempted to turn the tables and forced me to fight him. Short-sighted man that he was, after all this time he still desired power more than information. I fought well considering that I had not trained in a long time, and I found myself with an opportunity to take his head. I knew that the course of my life with Ruth would change if I should change by assimilating his wicked temperament into myself in a Quickening, but I was still considering it when the sudden appearance of Ruth changed everything.

  XVIII

  She came into view with a group of Watchers that I knew, who apparently also knew Kronos by reputation, since they had brought restraints for his upper body and a cart with which to transport him away. They swarmed us, filling me with apprehension because I had no idea of their intent. They made themselves clear only when they completed binding Kronos firmly and bundled him into the cart.

  They were prepared to take him to an underground chamber that had been an ancient prison, where he would remain trapped for eternity unable to escape or get assistance, due to the remote location. In return for their cooperation, Ruth and I were to leave immediately on assignment. They would not divulge our secret. Ruth was moved by their actions, and tried to tell them how deeply she appreciated their concern for us, but before she could say any more, they bade her to say no more. Although clearly disappointed with her for betraying them by knowingly marrying an Immortal, they felt that little would be gained by turning me in and upsetting the entire Organisation.

  To them, this trade was more valuable, in that it allowed Kronos to be interrupted from his campaign of terror against Mortals, than the internal upset of revealing my secret to the other Watchers. Besides, they did not think I was in danger of being an evil ruler should I win The Prize.

  We stood together for the last time, with our friends and my enemy Kronos, and I thought about the lessons that I had learned from these people. The fact that they trusted us enough to do this touched me deeply and restored my wavering faith in Mortals. We waved goodbye and went our separate paths forever; I knew that Ruth would never see these friends again, yet she relinquished it all to be with me. I made up my mind to make it known to her that she should never underestimate her importance to me, and how much I would treasure her for the rest of her life.

  XIX

  After the happiest 52 years of my life, Ruth died. Those glorious years that I had spent married to such an incredible woman had forever altered my existence, so in tribute to her memory I decided to seek some of the larger answers, or at least, I sought to find some of the questions. I decided to travel to Asia to learn more about the spiritual side of existence. I had heard about the religious orders of the East from other traveling Immortals and decided that I was finally ready to study among them.

  I made my way to Tibet, a mountainous region that was sufficiently secluded from the world to ensure that I would not be distracted, and began to seek out a master to assist me in my quest. I met many men there who had dedicated their lives to the search for greater meaning in this life, as a means of preparing for the next one. Far from the prying eyes of outsiders, I began as a helper in an old monastery, where I cut and hauled wood and wate
r in service of the monks who lived there. When I was given an opportunity to study the written language of their people, so that I could read from their magnificent collection of created works, I virtually leaped at the chance. These quiet, humble men asked no questions about my past, but had many piercing inquiries about my future intentions. What did I desire from my life? Who did I wish to be? I answered them as truthfully as I could.

  I chose to live the life of a warrior who understood the value of each breath, and I wanted to become a man who faced life's uncertainties with the strength of one who knew why he was here on earth. My answers surprised them, for they had met very few outsiders who had seriously considered such issues. Most travelers that they had been exposed to were primarily concerned with finding an immediate cosmic key to happiness or instant peace within their tortured souls. I assured them that I was here to stay and study, not to grab at the first solution and return to the world to build a fortune as a holy man. When they had satisfied themselves that my intentions were true to their purposes, my training began, but not in the way I had imagined.