(Eddie)

  The hours had passed quickly as he and Sred had discussed anything and
everything that came up.  And they always managed to rip to shreds each 
other, and what they were talking about.  It had been a long time since
Eddie had been able to just relax and be himself.  It seemed he was
always doing something to please someone else or doing his duty.  He was
still doing that, but for this brief amount of time, he could be himself
before he went off to be the man he had become.
  He felt some of then tension leave his shoulders, and he thought about
Rebecca.  It would be almost time for their child to be born.  He needed
to get back to her.  He had been on such a whirlwind journey since he
got his memory back.  It was time he went home.  To Mayene.  But that
was only if he survived this journey, and that wasn't likely.
  "Hey, Sred, I need to use your comp.  I suppose you have a cellular
modem?"  At the gholam's nod, he grinned.  "Why did I even bother to
ask?"  Pulling the laptop over to him, he started typing an e-mail to
his wife.  It might be the last time he talked to her, and he wanted to
try and make he understand why he was doing as he was, and why he wasn't
with her, at her side.  He didn't know if there were enough words to
convey that.  He hoped there were.  The gholam rode in silence next to
him, sensing he needed to be left alone.
  A half hour later, Eddie hit "Send" and leaned back with a sigh.
"Now, where were we?"  The question was barely out of his mouth when an
alarm in the car started screeching.  "Bloody klaxon!  What's wrong?"
  The gholam had disengaged the autopilot and was looking intently out
the windshield as he maneuvered.  "Seems we've got hostiles in the
vicinity, but I can't see them.  Where the hell-there!  Fuck!  We need
to jump.  Now!"  With that, he threw open the door and oozed his way
out.
  Having already seen what Sred had, Eddie was a half second behind him,
bouncing along the ground, his body screaming in protest as it was
thrown out of a car doing 150.  When he finally stopped rolling, he felt
like one big bruise.  He stood up, making sure he could still move, and
ran into the underbrush on the side of the road, his swords in his
hands.  He heard gunfire from the woods on the other side of the road,
where Sredny would be.
  *Well, so much for relaxing on the trip.*  He started through the
woods, his every sense tuned on finding the Trollocs that were sure to
be here in support of the draghkars.  Draghkars were too stupid to be
out on their own, so he knew there had to be other Shadowspawn around.
He was right.  Seconds before he entered a small clearing, his sense
screamed that there was something not kosher up ahead.  Freezing, he
listened.  There was whispering ahead, accompanied by bestial grunts,
surprisingly quiet for a Trolloc horde.
  Eddie looked around, found a suitable tree and shimmied his way up.
He leapt quietly from tree to tree until he could see into the
clearing.  There, standing in a ring of Shadowspawn, giving orders in a
quiet, commanding tone, was Taim.
  Readying himself to leap, he stopped.  *Taim!  What the hell is he
doing here?  That traitorous bastard!*  Anger slowly burning through
him, Eddie crouched, on the brink of leaping.  And then.  And then *she*
walked into the clearing.  Rebecca.  His wife.  She walked into the
clearing, dressed in a uniform with a Shadow insignia on it.  And she
wasn't pregnant anymore.
  His world rocked.  It rocked and he couldn't see.  His vision was
fading out and he couldn't breathe.  He couldn't think.  He just sat
dumbly in a tree and watched as his wife joined in the Shadowhunt.  He
couldn't believe it.  He just couldn't believe it.  *Not Rebecca!  Oh
Light, not her.  I loved her so much.  And she's a Darkfriend.  Oh,
Light.*  He was about to cry out to here, to demand an answer, when a
hand reached around and clamped over his mouth.
  "Don't give us away, Eddie.  I finished with the trouble on the other
side of the road and came to see what was taking you.  Now I see what it
was.  I knew Taim would be working for the highest bidder.  And I
assumed it would be an evil bidder.  I don't know the woman however.
But why are you so wiggy?  You couldn't have not seen the possibility
that Taim would be working for someone evil.  He doesn't exactly have
the best track record.  So what's wrong?"
  Not trusting himself to speak, Eddie lifted his hand, where his
wedding band gleamed.  Then he pointed silently at Rebecca.
  "That's your wife?"  The surprise was evident in Sred's voice.
"Shit.  Well, I'm sorry Eddie, but we have to kill her.  Or at least see
if we can get any information out of her.  Do you want me to take her?"
  Shaking his head, Eddie used his hands to tell Sred to take Taim and
some of the Shadowspawn while he took the rest and his wife.  Nodding,
Sred started off, silently moving down the tree.
  Taking a deep breath, Eddie readied himself once more to leap, his
heart breaking in his chest.  Shaking it off, he washed himself in the
Void, letting the pain and the betrayal go, pushing it away, blocking it
out.  It was so hard to block it out, but he did it.  Barely.  And he
jumped.
  The first Trolloc died before he ever landed, its brain pan smashed in
with a katana hilt.  Landing lightly, he spun, his foot hooking out and
knocking Rebecca unconscious to the ground.  Using his momentum, he
continued the spin and drove his foxhead katana through the chest of
another Trolloc, as the snake-head one blocked the attack of a
Myrddraal.  Focusing on the Myrddraal, he wove his swords into a complex
pattern, using the hatred and anger to his advantage, siphoning it
through the Void and using it to give him focus and power.  In a matter
of a few seconds, the eyeless creature lay on the ground twitching, his
sword arm still flailing around.
  Neatly sidestepping him, Eddie met the charge of a line of Trollocs.
And danced.  He blocked two attacks simultaneously, and spun, his cloak
flying behind him.  His swords dived back in, cutting slant-wise across
the chest of two Trollocs, cutting through their armor like it wasn't
there.  They died screaming, and he leapt over their bodies, between the
remaining Trollocs.  spinning to his left as he landed, he hamstrung one
of the slower Trollocs who hadn't time to turn around, then severed its
spine with his other sword.  Continuing the spin, he brought both the
katanas in high, slashing them across the faces of two more Trollocs,
leaving the bent over in agony.  They were easy prey for his swords.
  Without conscious thought, he ducked, narrowly escaping being
beheaded.  He spun as he crouched, his heel catching a Trolloc in the
knee, crippling it.  He severed it's throat as it fell and sprung back
up to meet the charge of the final two Trollocs.  They were as good as
dead.
  Looking around, Eddie tried to find more opponents.  But they were no
more.  Sred was on the other side of the clearing, his gun trained on
Taim and his characteristic grin on his face.  "Fun time, wasn't it
Eddie?  Taim here tried to gate out.  I showed him how unfun it is to
channel with a gholam touching you.  I don't think he'll be able to
channel for a long, long while.  At least not without a splitting
headache."  He turned back to Taim and kicked him in the stomach.
  Barely registering the words, Eddie walked over to a crumpled form.
It was just starting to move, groaning as it turned over.  He crouched
down next to her so when she opened her eyes, he would be the first
thing she saw.  And when she did, he saw nothing.  No regret, no pain at
being discovered.  Nothing except hatred.  She was truly not who he had
thought.  He asked only one question.  "Why?"
  She sneered, her once treasured face twisting into something he didn't
recognize.  "Why?  Because I was ordered to.  Ordered to share your bed,
your life, even bear your child.  I was lucky enough to be able to rid
myself of that obscenity."  She ran her hand down her now smooth
stomach.  "Do you have any idea how hard it is to get your figure back
after pregnancy?"  She stopped, unable to move with a sword blade to her
throat.
  Eddie's rage could not be contained any longer.  His voice was soft.
"What did you do with our child?"
  She grinned, always aware of where the blade was.  "What do you think
I did with him, you Light cursed fool?  You think I would keep that
thing one second longer than I had to?  Soon as you left with Taim, I
had it taken care of.  Filthy little thing.  They could tell it would be
a boy though. Just what I needed, another one that would grow up like
you.  Feh."
  Feeling the urge to cry but squashing it ruthlessly, Eddie stood up
slowly.  His voice was even softer.  "I see.  Seems I was played for the
fool, doesn't it?  Well, 'my dear', I'm afraid you've earned death.  Not
for what you did to me, but for what you did to our child.  You *do*
realize that it was your child as well, don't you?  It lived and grew
inside you, could have learned so much from you.  I know your
intelligence, your humor.  You could have been such a good mother.  But
it was all a lie, wasn't it?  Everything was a lie.  So much in my life
is a lie.  I never expected love to be a lie.  It should be the one
constant.  And yet it isn't.  So, once again, I have nothing.  It seems
everything it always taken away from me.  I should thank you for one
thing.  For reminding me that I am cursed.  For that, you have my
thanks.  But you can *never* have my forgiveness.  Farewell, Rebecca."
  She laughed at him.  Actually *laughed* at him.  "I know you too well,
Eddie.  You don't have the *balls* to kill me.  You're a big softie at
heart.  Even after what I've done, you cannot kill me.  Wimp."
  He stood looking down at her, his expression impossible to read.
"You're right, Rebecca.  I can't kill you.  But he can.  Sred, please
kill my wife.  And Taim."  Without another look, he turned and walked
back towards the road.  When the first shot rang out, the tears started
falling down his cheeks.  He stood in the middle of the road, waiting
for the gholam, the late evening sun pouring down onto his body,
cloaking him in ethereal light and shadow, and lost the last part of his
soul.
 

(Sredny)

	Sredny grinned as the miles flew by. The Blight was a fair distance 
away, but the car wove through roads without trouble, speeding through 
traffic. The computer scanned ahead for traffic problems and adjusted 
its course accordingly. And the talk continued, lighthearted shredding 
of every of a good many topics, both serious and otherwise. Not to 
mention each other. Eventually though, Eddie asked for his computer.
	The gholam shrugged and dug it out complete with the cellular modem. It 
was annoying to use as it was prone to signal interference, but it 
worked. As Eddie typed his letter, Sred watched the white lines on the 
road go by. His mind wandered. The girl, large eyed appeared in his 
mind. How the ghul did anyone get eyes that big? And there was the kid 
with the teddy bear, the one he had saved from the fire. He saw the 
first strapped down to a table as the one who talked to dark hounds 
approached her. The second appeared in his eyes as a bloody mess, the 
last way he had seen the kid. His smile quickly flipped vertically.
	That man. He was responsible. Not those he had killed, though they had 
quite certainly deserved to die. He had ordered then sat back and 
watched. His image flashed through Sredny's face. Dark, sharp, with 
those red-black-gold eyes. Those eyes. Mocking him. He would pay. Sredny 
began to idly consider the ways in which the man would pay. And there 
was what the man had said at the end, about knowing who had shoved him 
in the volcano. But that thought was secondary.
	Sredny was broken from his thoughts as the sky darkened. They had 
entered the Blight. The roads were actually well kept, if guarded. The 
shadow was utterly civilized, when the masses approached their trek 
would be easy. Eddie finished his letter and began to say something when 
an alarm went off.  Something caught the corner of his Sredny's eye. The 
black-and purple trees. They were moving closer. Not just to the road 
but to them. It was slow and gradual, but you could see in the distance 
as they edged closer to the road. His frown grew. 
	He flipped up a panel and sure enough the their were dots on the radar 
above them. A motion detector confirmed movements around them. Sredny 
looked out the window. And turned to Eddie. He shared his advice as to 
what they should do and leapt out of the car. Eddie followed. Sredny 
quickly formed back up, guns in hand. He moved quickly and efficiently. 
First were the eyes in the air. He calmly jumped into a tree and began 
to pick them off. A group of trollocs came towards the noise. He eyed 
them. These were not the new school of trollocs able to infiltrate human 
society, these were the good old fashioned beast men themselves. 
	Sredny stopped firing and leapt from branch to branch until he was in a 
tree over them. He descended into their midst, a black shadow blotting 
out what little sun there was. The quarters were to close for gun 
fighting o he killed as he had been born to do, with hands and feet. 
They of course attacked back. And even a gholam takes a few blows in a 
group of thirty blood crazed bestial warriors. Still, in a matter of 
minutes it was done. He crept quietly towards the source and went back 
into the trees. A shape ahead of him revealed itself to be Eddie.
	He approached slowly, trying to make a slight noise to get Eddie to 
turn and see him. Eddie however was lost in his own little world. Sredny 
followed his gaze and saw Taim and some woman in the middle of a group 
of shadowspawn, ordering them around. He turned back to see Eddie 
opening his mouth to say something. The gholam muttered and jumped 
forward, slapping a hand over Eddies mouth before he could say 
something. He lowered his head and whispered.
	"Don't give us away, Eddie.  I finished with the trouble on the other 
side of the road and came to see what was taking you.  Now I see what it 
was.  I knew Taim would be working for the highest bidder.  And I 
assumed it would be an evil bidder.  I don't know the woman however. But 
why are you so whiggy?  You couldn't have not seen the possibility that 
Taim would be working for someone evil.  He doesn't exactly have the 
best track record.  So what's wrong?"
	Eddie slowly lifted his hand and pointed with his ring finger. The 
finger with his wedding band. "Oh shit." was the thought that entered 
his mind. 
  	"That's your wife?"  The surprise was evident in his voice. "Shit.  
Well, I'm sorry Eddie, but we have to kill her.  Or at least see if we 
can get any information out of her.  Do you want me to take her?"
	It seemed the least he could do. But Eddie nodded, as Sredny had all 
but known he would. Eddie motioned for him to take out Taim. He nodded 
and they leapt from the tree.
	The guns appeared back in Sredny's hands. The two trollocs closest were 
dead before he or they had hit the ground. He then fired quickly, 
clearing the area of those coming at him. When the guns clicked empty, 
The gholam simply slid them into their holster and drew out two blades. 
A click of his heels sent a spike a blade out the ack of them. He 
whirled through the approaching masses.
	A trolloc came at him with a wickedly curved blade. He dodged it slit 
the creatures throat. Another appeared. Sredny did a back-flip and his 
feet carved two paths through its head. He continued. Like the Aiel he 
saw the whole thing as a dance. And dance he did. A whirling, flipping, 
occasionally oozing death went through the hordes. Still the gholam 
continued in one basic direction. He was a few feet from Taim when four 
fades appeared.
	"Four? four! This is ridiculous." Still the gholam met them. They were 
faster than the trollocs but nowhere near his own mind boggling speed. 
His daggers danced off their Thakan'darian black steel and blue sparks 
flew. He continued on, his hands and feet moving in perfect unison, a 
blur. Still Four fades, who had obviously been trained to work together 
were not an easy target. Twice Sredny had to ooze out of the way of a 
blade. Then. . .yes an opening there, and with a kick there were three 
fades and one writhing obstacle. The creatures fell into their dance 
meant for three. They had obviously trained to leave no opening, but a 
thought struck the gholam. He fended off the blades for a second, then 
attacked again. The Myrddraal responded as they had been trained and one 
back into its half-dead companion. The creature was hacking with its 
blade and took its partner down with it. A quick slash put that one 
completely down as well. 
	The two remaining shadowspawn changed styles again, blades covering 
each others openings. Still they were obviously shaken. This had never 
happened to them before and they were beginning to worry. The gholam 
flipped back then sent his daggers flying. The fades were good and 
quickly snapped them out of the air with black steel, which left them 
open as the gholam surged forward and with his bare hand ripped their 
stomachs open. They both fell to the ground where the gholam quickly 
snapped their necks. 
	Taim looked at him, smiled, and opened a gateway. Or tried to. Sredny 
felt as he touched the source and rolled forward once more, coming up in 
a lightning fast uppercut. It struck just as Taim tried to send out the 
final flow. The weave shattered and Taim fell to the ground screaming. 
the gholam quickly sheathed his blades and brought out the golden guns, 
and slammed in new clips. He kept one trained on Taim and the other took 
out those who tried to come close. Soon after that it was done.
	The other remaining form turned to him. Sredny grinned. "Fun time, 
wasn't it Eddie?  Taim here tried to gate out.  I showed him how unfun 
it is to channel with a gholam touching you.  I don't think he'll be 
able to channel for a long, long while.  At least not without a 
splitting headache."  He turned back to Taim and kicked him in the stomach. 
Eddie nodded.
	Sredny watched as Eddie walked over to a crumpled form. It was just 
starting to move, groaning as it turned over.  He crouched down next to 
her. He asked only one question.  "Why?"
  	The gholam watched the ensuing scene dispassionately. His guns 
remained trained on Taim and the woman Eddie called Rebecca. Sredny 
winced at what was happening. this was not good. Still, perhaps Eddie 
would be stronger with it. Or perhaps he would become a cold emotionless 
killing machine. Sredny didn't particularly want that, but would not 
blame him if it happened. 
	The woman laughed at Eddie.  "I know you too well, Eddie.  You don't 
have the *balls* to kill me.  You're a big softie at heart.  Even after 
what I've done, you cannot kill me.  Wimp."
	Eddie stood looking down at her, his expression impossible to read. 
"You're right, Rebecca.  I can't kill you.  But he can.  Sred, please 
kill my wife.  And Taim."  Without another look, Eddie turned and walked 
back towards the road.
	Sredny watched him go, then turned back to them. He found being a 
private executioner distasteful, he had done to much of that for the 
shadow. Then again, if anyone deserved it, it was these two. and Eddie 
would almost certainly go sociopath if he had to kill his wife. And that 
was not for Eddie. Better he become one again than Eddie. So Sredny 
turned, looked at her calmly for several seconds, and fired. The 
expression on her face never once changed from the surprise at Eddies 
announcement.
	He turned back to Taim. The man stared at him, mockingly. Sredny stared 
at him for several more seconds. "Two questions. One who shoved me into 
the volcano, and two what can you tell me about he who talks to dark 
hounds."
	Taim sneered at him. "Like I'm going to tell you."
	Sredny looked into his eyes and saw the fear there. "You don't know do 
you? You just sold your services to the highest bidder. Your really just 
a grunt, no better than those Trollocs I killed."
	Taim sneer grew even larger. "Wrong. I am what I have always been. What 
you will never be. Human." And those were the man who called himself 
Mazrim Taim's last words in this life.
	Sredny holstered the guns again. He brought out a cigarette, light it, 
then stared at the corpses. He thought hard for a second, then rolled 
them over and took their wallets, weapons, jewels, and anything else 
that looked valuable or useful. No sense in not making the best of the 
situation. 
	He walked away and found Eddie on his knees. His shadow flicked long in 
the setting sun. The gholam looked down, and sighed. He clicked his 
heels and the blades went back in. He went over to a tree. It tried to 
attack him. He dodged it, and snapped off the branch that had just swung 
at him. He looked at the top and saw acid sap was oozing towards his 
hand. He set about carving it into a descent walking stick. 
	After several hours passed Eddie stood up. Sredny wordlessly handed him 
a walking stick. 
	"Two choices. Stick to the road and get attacked every few miles by 
shadowspawn, or go through the woods and be attacked constantly by the 
land and a few lurking shadowspawn as well. Thoughts?"
	Eddie looked at him, then started walking along the road. Sredny 
shrugged and followed him. They were about a mile from their starting 
point when the road opened underneath them, leaving them in a giant 
steel pit. Sredny looked at the utterly smooth walls, completely 
unscalable. He sighed and sat down. Eddie remained where he had fallen, 
though he was now sitting up. Sredny turned to look at him. "Well this 
is another fine mess you've gotten me into too." He sighed and sat back. 
Eddie just sat where he was, as if waiting for something. A few hours 
later Eddie's voice did break the silence.
	"Sredny?"
	"Yes?"
	"Why does my walking staff have "Kick He Who Holds Me" carved into it?"
	"Ah. Those Blight trees, there tricky devils."
	"I see. And I suppose its just coincidence that yours has nothing 
carved into it?"
	"I am at a loss to explain it."

	Several dozen miles away three figures watched the screen. Three 
figures, not counting the darkhound who sat at one the one male figures 
side, acid dripping from its teeth to the floor below. It also happened 
that the man was the one human in the room, but some would have argued 
that depended on how far you stretched the definition of the word.
	"How long should we let them stay there?" asked one of the females. 
	"Oh, let them stay there a while longer. Besides, I'm still trying to 
figure out who to send to collect them that won't be killed."
	"Why don't we go?" suggested the other female.
	"Hmm. A wee bit eager to get your scales back are we?" chuckled the 
man.
	"Oh we might as well. Everyone else is an incompetent" said the first 
female, who slid lithely out of the mans arms. "Besides, it'll be fun. 
And I want to see my brother again." She grinned as she stretched, then 
went liquid and reformed. "We have years to catch up on."


(Eddie)

  Eddie couldn't see straight.  He reacted to the banter with Sred only
out of force of habit.  His heart wasn't in it.  His heart didn't seem
to be in anything anymore.  Not since the ultimate betrayal.  Since he
had seen the woman he loved, who was going to have their *child*, plot
to kill him.  His world had spun out of control in that instant.  And
now she was dead.  As was their unborn son.  A son.  He had never had a
preference as far as gender was concerned, but now that he knew it was a
son, it made it that much more real.  Made it hurt that much more.
   "We're getting the fuck out of here, Sred.  Back off, I don't want to
hit you with anything."  Embracing the source, letting it wash over him
and drown out the pain, he gathered weaves around him, focusing them on
his fists and he made a stairway.  His arms flew over and over, never
tiring, slamming into the steel again and again, his fury being
unleashed as he beat the metal out of his way.  He worked up towards the
summit, chipping a stair out.
  When he was finally done, he stood at the top, looking down just as
dispassionately as he had made the stair.  "You coming?  I'm tired of
standing around waiting to be saved.  I'm tired of a lot of things."
Without waiting to see if the gholam followed him, he turned and started
walking, the stick Sred had given him leading the way, bouncing off the
ground.
  They walked for about half an hour, Eddie holding saidin the entire
time.  It was the only thing which could stave off the overpowering
grief he felt.  The only buffer he had against despair.  It was only
because he was holding saidin that he heard the flap of wings in the
distance.  Holding his hand up to stop Sred, he motioned to the sky and
made for cover at the side of the road, the gholam behind him.  A few
minutes later, out of the sun came a huge shape.  He couldn't make it
out at first, but as it drew closer, his enhanced sight picked out the
movement of wings, flapping slightly in the breeze.
  "Shit.  Remember that dragon I had a tussle with in NM?  Well, it's
back.  And it's got a rider."
  He could hear the gholam cursing behind him.  "I suggest we make
ourselves scarce. I don't know about you, but a dragon is not on my list
of things I want to fight.  Not if I can help it."
  The anger he had been keeping at bay slammed against the Void,
demanding entrance.  His strength flagged and he let it in with a sigh.
"Fuck that.  No way is some overgrown lizard going to make me leave this
nice, comfy road.  Run if you want, Shadowspawn.  I'm taking the fucker
out."  Without so much as a glance, he raised his hands towards the now
much, much bigger shape and loosed twin bolts of fire.  They screamed
through the air, moving unerringly towards the target.  He was dimly
aware of Sred muttering something and then disappearing off the road.
He wished the gholam luck.  But he was not going to run from this
thing.  He was never going to run again.  Life had taken everything it
could possibly have taken from him.  There names ran through his head as
he waited for the dragon, who had taken the fireballs head on with
barely a shrug.  The names ran through his head.  All those he had
lost.   Li, Rebecca who had never been his, his unborn child, Joiya who
was as good as dead to him, Agelmar, Caralaine, Jelale, Niccolo.
Everyone who had ever made him who he was and who was now gone.  The
names screamed through his ears.  And matching their scream was the
scream of the dragon as it descended.  He saw the shape on its back ooze
off and fall to the ground.  But that would be secondary.  First was the
huge lizard flying at him with breakneck speed.  He would have to deal
with that first.
  Tensing, he blocked the names out, dulling them to a dull roar so he
could think.  He raised his fists again and screamed into the face of
the dragon, loosing ball after ball of fire, right into its face.  He
could hear the great intake of lungs as it prepared.  And he stood
there, unmoving, unwilling to give even an inch to this flying reptile
with wings.  He screamed until his voice was raw, saw the flames leaving
the dragon's mouth, and felt there searing heat, engulfing him, lancing
agony into his body as the fire consumed him.  He felt his hair burn off
in the first second and felt his skin begin to melt.  Even as it did, he
was still channeling, saidin a raging torrent in his head, the Void long
since shattered.  He could *smell* himself burning.  It made him sick.
  Just when he though his eyeballs would burn from under his closed
lids, the heat stopped.  He collapsed, his lungs, burnt, unable to draw
any breath.  He fell to the ground, twitching weakly, his skin cracking
and peeling off his body.  He was going to die.  As was fitting.
Everyone else around him died.  It was time that he did as well.  So he
gave up.  Let the death he had so long courted finally have him.  He
gave up.  Life was no longer the precious gift it had been.  Now it was
merely a burden. One which he was giving up.
   His shoulders felt oddly light.