"Of course you did."
"If this doesn't work out… get word to my dad, that I did my best."
"You'll tell him yourself. Lennox family don't die this easily."
"Lewis!" yelled Jesamine, from the open hatch of the Hereward. "Port security will be here any minute! We have to go!"
"I have to go," said Lewis, not moving.
"Of course you do," said Stuart. "Dad sends his best. Now get out of here before I have to arrest you. And… give them hell, Deathstalker."
Lewis got up and walked away from him, and it was the hardest thing he'd had to do all day. Alarm sirens were sounding all over the landing pads now. Saturday and Jesamine were waiting for him by the Hereward's hatch. Lewis looked dispassionately at the blood still dripping from the reptiloid's claws.
"You should have let me finish him," said Saturday.
"It wasn't necessary," said Lewis. "What are you doing here, Saturday? And what's the deal with this ship?"
"I'm here to join up with you," the reptiloid said happily. "I want to see some real action, test myself against some real challenges. That is why I left Shard, after all. And I don't like it here on Logres anymore. They've all gone crazy. There's no honor in fighting crazy people. So I'm coming with you, to fight at your side against overwhelming odds. That is the Deathstalker tradition, yes? Then on! On to death or glory!"
Lewis was honestly lost for anything to say. He was still trying to come up with an answer that didn't include shouting or foul language or laughing hysterically, when a new face appeared, peering hesitantly and just a little twitchily out of the Hereward's open hatch. He bobbed his head respectfully to Lewis, and then to Jesamine, and tried to smile, though it wasn't especially successful.
"Hi there! I'm Brett Random. Your ancestor knew my ancestor, sir Deathstalker. Seems we're fated to work together too. If I knew where to go, I'd complain. You would too, if you knew me. I think you probably know my companion."
"Oh Jesus," said Jesamine, as a cold female figure in scarlet leathers appeared beside Brett. "Everyone knows the Wild Rose of the Arena. I think I felt safer with the reptiloid. Do I take it you both want to join up as well?"
"Oh yes," said Brett, trying hard to sound enthusiastic. "We believe in you… and we have enemies in common. Most definitely including Finn bloody Durandal, may his balls drop off in the night, roll down the bed, and catch fire. I acquired the access codes to this rather nifty little ship from someone who doesn't know they're missing yet, but I don't know how long that will last, so, I really think we should get moving. Really. The ship's all powered up and ready to go. Assuming you've got some sort of destination in mind."
"Brett Random," said Lewis. "I'm almost sure I know that name… from somewhere…"
"I really think we should get moving," Brett said quickly. "The city's wild with the news about you breaking Jesamine out of the Bloody Tower. Parliament's organized everyone breathing and armed to stop you getting offworld, and you can bet every damned one of them is on his way here right now."
The world exploded around them as a disrupter beam came searing down from above, ricocheting from Lewis's force shield to blow a crater out of the landing pad right next to them. Rose grabbed Brett and pulled him back inside the ship. Lewis and Jesamine and Saturday scattered to make separate targets as Finn Durandal roared by overhead on his gravity sled. He opened up with the sled's guns, raking the pad around the Hereward with energy beams. He'd been too eager, too anticipatory of the kill. He'd fired on Lewis without checking his sensors to see whether the Deathstalker's force shield was still on, and now his prey were moving too quickly and too randomly for his ship's guns to track. Perhaps deep down, he hadn't wanted to kill Lewis from a distance. Perhaps he needed to go one-on-one with the Deathstalker, face-to-face and blade-to-blade, to prove that he was the better man after all, in the only way that mattered.
Lewis, as always, was more practical. He turned to follow Finn's sled as it passed by overhead, and fired a single dispassionate energy bolt into the sled's unprotected engine at the rear. It blew apart in a satisfyingly large explosion, throwing the sled from the sky. Unfortunately the sled was already sufficiently low enough that Finn was able to leap free, even as the deck of his gravity sled disintegrated under him in smoke and flames. He dropped down through the billowing fireball, wrapped in his cloak, hit the landing pad in a graceful tuck and roll, and was back on his feet even as the remains of his sled slammed into the pads and exploded twenty feet away. Finn advanced on the waiting Lewis with sword and gun already in his hand, a wide grin on his face and a wild light in his eyes. Lewis gestured sharply for Saturday and Jesamine to keep their distance.
Finn stopped a few feet short of Lewis, and the two men studied each other for a while.
"This is all down to you, isn't it?" said Lewis. "Right from the beginning, everything that's happened, everything that's gone wrong; all your fault."
"Oh yes," said Finn. "I destroyed you, just like I'll destroy Douglas when I'm ready, and eventually the Empire. And why? Because I want to. Because I can."
"I thought you were my friend, Finn."
"You always were naive, Lewis."
"So why are you here, now? Why have you stepped out of the shadows at last?"
"This had to happen," Finn said happily. "The hero meets the villain, in a final confrontation. Except, of course, in everyone else's eyes I'm the hero, and you're the villain. I'm even wearing the hero's armor, and may I say it looks a lot better on me than it ever did on you."
"That's because you have no sense of irony," said Lewis. "But you're right, there is a certain inevitability about this. I couldn't leave Logres without taking care of unfinished business, without taking care of you. One last duty, on my part, to save Douglas and the Empire from the viper at their bosom."
"Typical of a Deathstalker," said Finn. "You have to overdramatize this. Make it significant. It's just you and me, Lewis; fighting it out at last to prove which of us is the better man. Just as I planned."
"Typical of you," said Lewis. "You couldn't risk a fair fight; you had to cheat. Didn't dare show yourself, until after I'd exhausted myself fighting the army of assassins you sent here…"
"Well, quite," said Finn. "I'm not stupid. Unlike some people, I always think ahead. Now come on; enough talk. Let's fight. Let's dance the dance of blood and death. You must have wondered, down the years, what would happen if the two greatest Paragons on Logres ever went head-to-head. You must have wondered which of us was really the best?"
"No," said Lewis. "I never did. That's the difference between us, Finn. I never gave the matter a moment's thought. All I ever cared about was doing my job, to the best of my abilities. Not to show how good I was, but to help the people who needed help. To protect the innocent, and punish the guilty. And that is what's brought us here, Finn. No great battle between hero and villain, no legendary, mythic clash of titans. I just have to be a Paragon one last time; protect the innocent by killing the man who threatens their safety. One last duty before I can leave; I have to take out the trash."
Finn's face flushed angrily and he lunged forward, his sword reaching for Lewis's heart. But Lewis had been expecting that, and his force shield was already there to block the blow. Their swords slammed together so hard sparks flew on the air, and then it was stamp and lunge, parry and thrust, all at dazzling speed; two men circling each other with a lifetime's experience and deadly skill. Soon they were breathing hard, and grunting aloud with the effort they put into their blows. Two men who had once been partners, if not actually friends, and were now so opposed that this was all they had left in common; the need to kill each other. They threw themselves against each other again and again, eager as lovers, hating each other with a cold focused flame that could only be soothed by the other's blood. And surprisingly soon they dueled themselves to a standstill, neither willing or able to advance or retreat a step… until Lewis beat aside Finn's blade, lunged forward, and the tip of his sword dug a deep rent
through the Champion's black leather armor, neatly bisecting the stylized bas-relief crown over his heart. Finn cried out, in shock as much as anything else, and backed away. Lewis grinned at him like a wolf, his ugly face alive with anticipation.
"In the end, Finn, it doesn't matter a damn who's fastest, or strongest, or more experienced. Or who could afford to spend the most on personal trainers… What matters is passion, commitment, and a faith in what you're fighting for. You never had any of those things, Finn. All you ever had… was you. And that's not enough when you're facing a Deathstalker."
Finn looked into Lewis's eyes, and had to look away, unable to face what he saw there. Lewis stepped forward, and Finn turned and ran. Lewis watched him run for a moment, and then raised his gun. He'd never shot a man in the back before, but for Finn Durandal, for all the things that man had done, he would make an exception. But already there were shouts and alarms from all over the landing pads, and everywhere armed men were running towards him. Uniformed peacekeepers and security men, this time. Some of them opened fire, and energy beams shot past him, some only missing by inches.
"Lewis, come on!" Jesamine called from the waiting Hereward. "It's over! We're leaving!"
Lewis nodded slowly, and lowered his gun. There would be other times. He turned away and boarded the yacht. It was every bit as luxurious as he'd expected, though the tiny bridge was more than a little cramped with four people and an eight-foot reptiloid crammed into it. Lewis took the pilot's seat and called up the ship's AI.
"Greetings!" said the AI, in a bright and cheerful voice that Lewis just knew was going to get on his nerves really quickly. "I am your ship's AI, Ozymandius by name, and I just want to say how delighted I am to be working with a Deathstalker again! Of course, I'm not exactly the same AI your ancestor Owen knew. Shub created my personality around what was left of the original AI, and downloaded me into this ship, so I could help you with this escape. They're really very keen that you should escape. Shub believes in Deathstalkers. They can get really sloppy and sentimental these days, when no one's looking. So; where are we going first?"
"Unseeli," said Lewis. "The Ashrai don't like the Empire, so they should be willing to keep our presence there a secret. Assuming they don't kill us all out of hand, of course. And since not many people know about Carrion's involvement with my ancestor Owen, it won't be the first place Finn will think to look for us. I want to talk to Carrion, to speak to someone who was actually there. Someone who knew the real Owen, and who might know what actually happened to him."
"Excuse me," said Brett, raising his hand like a child in a classroom. "I didn't understand one word of what you just said there."
"Don't worry," said Lewis. "It will all become horribly clear as we go along. Now strap yourself into the crash webbing, all of you. Saturday; improvise. Oz; plot a course."
"You do know Unseeli is Quarantined?" the AI said diffidently.
"We'll burn that bridge when we come to it. I think Carrion and the Ashrai will listen to me. I have Owen's ring."
"You do?" said Brett, leaning eagerly forward to stare at the black gold ring on Lewis's finger. "Damn; you do! You know, when this is all over, I know people who would pay you a really nice price for that ring…"
"You'll have to excuse Brett," Rose said calmly. "It's either that, or kill him."
"Everybody grab hold of something!" Ozymandius yelled suddenly. "My sensors are picking up all kinds of ships and armed forces heading right for us! We don't leave right now, Lewis, we're not going anywhere!"
"Then go," said Lewis. "Blast us out of here, don't stop for anything, and drop into hyperspace the moment it's practical."
"Sounds like a plan to me!" said Ozymandius. The Hereward's engines roared, and the ship threw itself up into the sky. Energy beams from approaching ships flared all around the yacht, lighting up the darkness, as it howled through the last of the planet's atmosphere. "Wow!" yelled Ozymandius. "Deja vu all over again!"
It was a very fast ship, and they were gone and disappeared into hyperspace long before anyone could stop them. Lewis Deathstalker, Jesamine Flowers, Brett Random, Rose Constantine, a reptiloid called Saturday, and an AI called Ozymandius.
Perhaps the only heroes left, in a darkening Empire.
EPILOGUE
LAST NIGHT I DREAMED OF OWEN DEATHSTALKER.
He was standing beside his descendant, Lewis, as they finally discovered the true nature of the Terror. What it really was.
And I woke up screaming.
Simon R. Green, Deathstalker Legacy
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