[Holbrook]

"You cannot end me.” The words are said again. A flat statement. A fact. Anna can't, not alone, but she is not alone, not this time. Four hearts, four souls are knitted together intent on one purpose.

Anna is carried by the others. Her hands tighten on the hilt of the blade. Her grip strengthened by Tuli's conviction this must be done now.


This moment in the sum of all Tuli's service. "Strike now." Her spirit calls to Anna, "let me guide the blade."

Anna strikes a slashing blow, drawing the blade from left to right.

Lucas' face splits in a soft smile. His arm comes up to ward off the blow. A glow of power shimmers round his body. The sword rings out as if it has hit armour. Sparks fly and the blade skitters down the length of Lucas' arm. No harm is done to the flesh, save for as the keen edge of the blade reaches Lucas' hand, it slices deep.

Lucas hisses with pain looking in confusion at his bleeding hand. His is confused, this should not be.

His officers now break forward, pounding up the small tor weapons drawn. George breaks through the milling lines and charges to join his brother, now hard pressed to protect Anna.

The Koldred dash between legs, leaping like hounds at the throats of those that would stop this ending.

Anna staggers as an officer's weapon slices her back. Lucas grins; a death head as the spirit blade comes up again. This time she lunges, aiming for Lucas heart. Again the power of what Lucas is resists then slowly the blade enters his flesh.

It is not the only blade moving. The slender, small length of metal that is Tari and Harsh slips down into Lucas heart. The steel is driven by Harsh's youth and conviction that all is possible. Guided by Tari's soldier's skill. His life was given to the protection of his people. For him this is the pinnacle of his service.

Tuli feels Anna’s reluctance, knows the woman’s love for the man in Lucas binding her ability to push the blow home.

“I can’t do it; he is too much a part of me.” Anna cries, tears streaming down her face.

“Let me.” Tuli says softly, her spirit holding Anna’s gently. “You want to rest to let the burden slip from your shoulders allowing another to pick it up.”

“Yes….but who….” Anna whispers as she feels her hands tighten on the hilt.

“That is not our business, ending this now is.” Tuli answered and guided the steel in which she lay towards Lucas’ heart to join the other.

Again Anna is struck and she falls forward. The weight of her body driving the blade completely home.

Lucas screams and his arms enfold her. The body he is in is dying, robbed of its life by Anna’s blade. But his spirit chuckles, it believes it is just returning to the beginning again. It denies the small part of itself that wants this ended. Tries to dismiss, that he, deep down inside, like Anna, wants an end. An end to the war. An end to the standing apart. Part of him, like Anna hopes that this might mean they have a chance of standing side by side. If they lay the burden down. Do not go back on the circle.

But the end comes as his spirit tries to grab hold of Anna’s and drag it back with him to a new beginning. lucas wants Anna with him always. This is the only way he knows it can be done. The only way she can be his lover. He can't, won't give her up. End this. They will go round again.

He cannot reach her; another stands in front of her Tuli.

“Stand aside.” Lucas’ spirit demands.

“No…” Tuli replies.

“No it is over.” Harsh declares as the small blade in which she lives cuts at Lucas’ spirit.

“For you forever, no more war….no more loss…” Tari says softly as he guides the blade to cut Lucas completely from the circle. Lucas recoils, strives to return to the circle to Anna still standing in the circle, then the part he has denied comes to the fore. He accepts it is over for him. Time to move on. Alone. Lucas hopes not.


“Anna….” The name is called as Tuli’s spirit steps aside and allows Anna’s soul to fly free of the circle. Tuli steps after, followed by Harsh and Tari.

Five are fast leaving this existence far behind.

[Hereford Eye]

The skies did not clear; the sun did not come out. The clouds backed away from the earth a little but the shadows on the ground seemed much as they were. The rain, the mud, the blood, the bodies remained the horrible sight they had been before the events on the hill top. Gnarled Folk looked at one another and at the enemy they had been fighting. Big folk did the same as did the Koldred and the all the various enemy forces.
Someone asked the Earl if he had seen what they had seen and that one growled “of course, I did; I’m not blind.” Someone else asked him what he saw and the Earl ignored the question. He concentrated instead on the captain of infantry before him who stood as confused and befuddled as any of the Gnarled Folk.
George arrived at the hill to find Wally staring down at the only dry patch of ground in the valley. “What happened, Wally?” to which Wally returned a blank stare. George grabbed his brother’s shoulders and asked again: “What happened?”
“I loved her!” Wally replied as if that answered George’s question.
“Loved who?”
“Her name was Anna. She came from the sword when the beast brought her body and she lived in my head and I thought I was going to have to be her and I loved her.”
“You’re not making any sense, Wally.”
Wally looked at George with a new found tolerance, a new appreciation for all the things his brother was….and wasn’t. “Well, little brother, that isn’t news, is it?”
“Come on, Wally. What happened? Is it over?”
George could never decide exactly what the look that Wally gave him meant but he understood the words. At least he thought he did.
“Malliss is gone, George. This time, he’s gone for good. So is Anna and Tari and Harsh and Tuli. Talk to the Earl; he’ll tell who you they were.”
“So, we won?”
Wally looked around the valley and then back at his brother. “Won? What does that mean? Malliss is gone. Evil is gone. But so is Good. They must be built again. The next time it won’t be Lucas and Anna; it will be others. It may be you or I. Is that a win?”
Wally shrugged off his own words, dropped his weapons, and began to trudge off the hill.
“Where are you going now?” his brother demanded.
“To see a Student about a beast.”
George’s frustration burst from his throat with a snarled: “What does that mean?”
Wally looked back a last time at his brother, now the King of all the world: “That’s what I want to find out.”
From behind the new-made king, voices demanded his attention. “Who’s in charge?” they screamed. George turned to face them: “Who wants to know?”
A huge goblin worked its way through the muck. “Is it true that Malliss is dead?” the monster demanded.
“Yes, that appears to be true,” Wally answered, his gaze drawn to the drying green spot on the hill.
“So, what happens next?”
This question achieved the goblins’s purpose; it drew all George’s attention to the soldier.
“What do you mean?”
“Well, there’s these two armies standing around looking at each other. Pretty soon they are going to remember what they are supposed to be doing and the battle is going to rage once again. What I’m wondering is that without Malliss to kick ass and take names, what’s the point?"
“Is that why you are fighting? Because Malliss kicked ass and took names?”
“Don’t go getting high and mighty on me, man. Malliss was very good at that sort of thing. Tended to put a short string on a long life, if you know what I mean.”
George was astonished, though: “That’s why you were fighting?”
“Well, some of us have developed a taste for man-flesh; that’s true. Got to be our steady diet, you know? If we don’t win this battle, we’ll probably starve to death. So, we might as well win this battle, eh?….Or do you have a better offer?”
“Well, I’m certainly not going to be offering up virgins and young children to replenish you diets.”
The Goblin snorted a short laugh: “Good one, that! Nice to know you have a sense of humor. Young children are mighty tasty, I agree, but virgins past a certain age are awful tough to digest, you know?”
The sound of blade smacking shield carried across the battle field to the discussion on the hill.
“Looks like it may be starting again. You don’t have much time to come up with something we can live with.”
George felt the panic rising in him. All these months he pursued Malliss, knowing he had to defeat the evil he represented, and not once had he thought about what happened next. As the terrible realization flooded his mind, he suddenly felt very incompetent for the role he had chosen.
“We need to talk. We need to find out what we can do. We need…..”
The Goblin cut him short: “Talking is the last thing these folk want to do.”
“But we must. Otherwise, we just slaughter each other until someone wins.”
“Is that a bad thing? Would eliminate this impasse here on this hill.”
“If we fight to extermination, how are we different from Malliss?
”Didn’t say we were different, did I? All I asked was if there is any alternative.”
“There must be a way,” George said.
“Best spit it out soon, then,” the Goblin answered.
More blades slammed into more shields, voices joined the chorus, voices screaming in agony, voices screaming in victory.
George watched the violence spread wanting desperately to stop it but having no idea how to begin. The Goblin watched it as well, sighed, then raised his mace. “Let’s do it, then,” he said and charged.
Another cycle was underway.

[Holbrook]

Wally went in search of the student. As he walked over the battle field George, the earl and the Goblin leader struggled to put an end to the fighting. they talked, knocked heads together and waved swords under noses...

Slowly the fighting faded as the battlefield itself faded from Wally's view. He found the student/beast sitting watching a small bubbling stream. The creature did not turn as Wally approached but spoke softly.

"Doing good are they?"

Yes." Wally answered as he came along side.

"George will make a good King, The Earl a fine prime minister and the goblin leader a strong general." The student sighed and shook its shaggy body from head to toe.

"Yes"

"And you will help them?"

"Yes..."

"And those that come after...?" The student's words were softly now as it shape began to shimmer.

Wally took a deep breath. "Yes I will and what will you do?"

"What I have too." The student laughed as its shimmering shape shot off into the coming night of the first day of the new cycle...

Wally sighed and knew he would know the student when next they met no matter what form.


HE, last word *g*