Highlander: The New Gathering #wattys2018

Episode 7: Lover's Quarrel

8:00pm strikes, as Ashlyn walks the streets of New York alone. Thinking about what she has just found out from Regina Bane in the cemetary.

"She killed my mother... one of the few living souls I cared for. I need to find out why, why did she kill my mother along with me? Why did she make me an Immortal?" Ashlyn continues to walk back to her loft, feeling the breeze of the wind blow in the atmosphere.

Somewhere inside an abandoned church in The Bronx, Ying is seen by Regina, training with her sword, made out of a mysterious gold titanium alloy. Gracefully swinging her sword in a circular motion, she lets her energy flow through her like a neverending stream.

"You improve more and more every day. After I found you, bloodied and battered on the streets of Berlin, I saw a fire in you. Abandonment, it is a very painful knife, that cuts deeper than any sword ever could." Regina says, getting the attention of Ying.

"What do you know about being abandoned?" Ying questions Regina, as sweat drips from her body.

"Child, I know more than you think, I know what it is like to be violated, cast aside like worthless trash, the only difference between us, is that you had it easy," Regina gets closer to Ying, getting behind her back.

"I was punished by rod and lash, beaten with no remorse, clubbed constantly. All of those things were done by men, men who think that they are superior to us..." Regina snarls with a soft but seductive intensity.

"Men, they took everything away from me, now I take my vengeance out on them. They will know what it is like to suffer, to be victimized." As Regina looks at the moon, Ying begins to feel an uneasy feeling crawl down her spine.

Ying goes off to another section of the church to find the headless body of Baron Shen, nailed to a cross. Looking on in horror, she runs out to come to terms with what she saw.

"It's like I said, men are made to be sacrificed to the power of women. Especially men, that bear our immortal blood." Regina says to Ying, appearing behind her.

"Why did you do that to him? He was your loyal servant!" Ying exclaims.

"He fulfilled his purpose, if it's any consolation, he put up quite the fight. However, he was weak, unlike you... you're strong, passionate. Which is why I need you to do something for me... kill, Duncan Macleod." Ying appears confused, but she nods her head in obedience.

Meanwhile, back in downtown New York, Sonya puts bottles of wine back on the shelves of her bar. As she puts the last two bottles up top, Ashlyn comes in through the front door.

"Sorry, we're closed." Sonya says.

"I thought you always loved my company, guess I assumed wrong." Ashlyn says, taking a seat near the bartenders table.

"Ash? Are you okay?" a concerned Sonya asks Ashlyn.

"Regina killed my mother, and she was the one responsible for my immortality." Ashlyn says to Sonya.

"Need a drink? As you already know, I am a good listener." Sonya warmfully comments. As Ashlyn takes a sip of tequila, she sighs before speaking.

"I'm worried about Duncan, he lost the love of his life to this monster. Plus, he had to keep this secret from me at the behest of Connor." Ashlyn says.

"Why would they keep something like that from you?" Sonya wonders.

"Because I would have foolishly tried to go after her and I would lose my head for sure. But now I don't know... I saw her earlier today, and I felt a power that made my heart sink." Ashlyn said, dreading the fact that Regina is more powerful.

"So, what are you going to do now? If you take on Regina now, she'll rip you to shreads." Reminding Ashlyn about her power, Sonya shows concern for Ashlyn's plan to confront Regina.

"Well, I can't just sit around and do nothing! Regina is out there, I have to stop her before anyone else that I care about gets hurt!" Ashyln says.

"I know that you want to stop her, but you need to sleep. Do me a favor, go home and rest. You have had a long day." Sonya says with comfort in her voice.

"I don't know how I'll sleep, knowing that Duncan is still out there, full of loss and guilt." Ashlyn laments as she walks out of Sonya's bar. While riding her Harley back to her loft, Ashlyn thinks back to her childhood, where Duncan and Connor took her fishing for the first time.

She thinks of the words that Duncan said to her that day. "No matter how far we are apart, no matter in death, we will always be stronger as one... family." Arriving at her loft, Ashlyn goes inside to attempt sleep.

12:00 am. As Ashlyn is sleeping, Ying stands over her, with her sword in hand. As she attempts to take Ashlyn's head, she is stopped by a sudden kick to the gut.

"You used to be more silent back then... you here to kill me?" Ashlyn asks a disgruntled Ying.

"I am here to pay you back for what you did to me! You left me to die!" Ying exclaims. Charging at Ashlyn with her sword, she attempts a slash at her chest, but Ashlyn dodges and pushes her into a wall.

"I don't want to hurt you Ying, but I will if I have to..." Ashlyn warns the angry immortal.

"You already have hurt me!" Ying begins to swing her sword at Ashlyn, who blocks every attack with her Black Dragon katana. Knocking Ying's sword away, Ashlyn places her sword on the floor, prompting Ying to attack her using hand to hand.

Blocking all of Ying's attacks, Ashlyn performs a Judo throw on Ying, slamming her to the ground. Pinning her down by her arms, Ashlyn tries to get Ying to surrender. Ying concedes, allowing Ashlyn to let Ying get to her feet.

"Ying, why are you here? Why are you trying to kill me?" Ashlyn asks her.

"I was sent by Regina to kill Duncan, but I didn't care about him, I wanted to face you. I wanted to pay you back for taking away my mortality!" Ying says as tears fills her eyes.

Hey there guys! I am back with this lastest chapter! So what did you think of this chapter? Comment and let me know!

Also, I have entered this story into the Wattys! Let's see how far it goes into the competition!

Thank you for reading and I will see you soon!

Peace and Love