Of A Dark Heart

Chapter Three: Looking For The End...

The Surgeon nodded slowly, a look of deep thought across his face.

A slight shrug and upturned hand lessened the demeanour of having his arms crossed. The woman speaking to him was another of the hospital's staff. She was upset by the sudden loss of one of her patients. Apparently there had been internal bleeding she had somehow missed.

The Surgeon didn't care. Offering a small comment of comfort, he placed a hand on her shoulder. She was really shaken by the event. Her hand kept stroking the small crucifix on her necklace. He said he had no idea how it had happened. At the time he had been sleeping, waiting until his next shift with his good friend the sleeping pill. He doesn't even know who was on the skeleton staff for the three am shift.

A slight smile came to his lips before he quickly changed it back to concern. She missed it, wiping away a tear. Her face was swollen from crying and her throat kept closing on her while she tried to speak. He thought she was rather plain, but they tend to be the most fun. Clearly serious and caring, he wondered about previous experiences she may have had. She was only new to the hospital and already she had lost a patient, poor girl.

The Surgeon gave her a small hug, trying to hide his smile. His suggestion that they have dinner that night to help calm her nerves and share some of his mistakes caught her by surprise, yet she accepted. He knew she would. He had a real devilish charm after all.

* * *

The Ark knew exactly where Excalem was.

It was one of her gifts. Seeing his present was but a part of the trinity, his past and his many strains of the future also hers to view. Her position allowed such knowledge. It allowed her to understand her targets, to find them and bring them to justice. Excalem understood deep down that she was Fact in a shell of flesh.

Yet like so many others he believed if he added new facts, created a long enough recording of actions contrary to those lines that had been writ prior, then the old records would be changed or forgotten. His mind said that the past was like electronic data, getting to choose what is saved and what is overwritten. But Fact cannot be changed or overwritten. Her account of his life was final and unchangeable. Any further actions were simply added, line after line, to the ultimate word in his script. Fin.

She did not feel fear as others did. Death was not something that worried her. What caused her fear was the prospect of failure. Even with her powers, her divination and martial training, there was a possibility she could fail. She looked down the winding strings of the future attached to the Swordsworn and feared deeply. He may think of her as The Demon but in reality she felt no animosity to him. It was simply her place to bring his soul forward for judgement, a matter handled by a higher power. And if she didn't, there were other players in this game. Excalem didn't know the rules but if he wasn't caught soon, he would become a star player.

The Ark was grateful for her gifts. She just wished teleportation was one of them.

* * *

As sunset approached the sky distorted.

A pulse of purple and red streaked across the atmosphere. The sun, flat disc of excessive heat, broke. It split in three and hovered just below the horizon. A sense of stillness descended and the air became sterile.

Before the Swordsworn stood an impossible gate that stretched as high as the eye could follow. In front of it was a booth occupied by a man in a white robe. He may have been the man who took Excalem's horse, but at this distance it was impossible to tell. The man was dealing with the long line of people waiting to enter. Scanning the crowd Excalem hoped to see The Truth, to be able to ask and find the answers he was looking for. He was so close! If she was here then he wouldn't need to deal with God or Death or men in white robes. It was just a matter of reaching out, touching her once again. Being able to ask and receive. Every face in the line belonged to someone else. Despicably they all seemed happy.