the Scotsman. "I'll go, father," she moaned. "I'm tired. It hurts too much. I can't make it stop hurting any more. I'll go but please don't go with me! You've done good. You've worked for Them, you've done a lot of nice things. Stay! Please? I won't make you hurt me any more. But I made my own hell. I knew better, I knew right from wrong! Please, father?"
The Scotsman looked to The Ancient One who snapped to his helper "Open a portal!"
She quickly did so. "Go on, Mary!" the Scotsman pleaded.
The girl looked towards the portal then pulled away from her father and with a loud cry dashed through it. She'd barely reached the other side when there was a flash of light and she was gone. The Scotsman sighed, then looked at The Ancient One. "Thank you, master!" he continued. "It has been a joy serving you. Please draw off some of the energy you have given me so it will be quick?"
The Ancient One looked to his helper who became wide eyed and backed off. Queen Esther stepped up, put her hand on the Scotsman's shoulder, and visible energy could be seen flowing into her arm. She pulled her arm away and backed off.
The Scotsman bowed, then dashed into the portal. He got a little bit further before he broke up and dispersed.
'Well," The Ancient One sighed, "that's a situation that took far too long to resolve. Now, these two!"
The two young women suddenly dashed forward and in unison began to speak. "I give unto you," they quickly finished the incantation.
The Ancient One shook his head. "I am not obligated," he remarked, "under the conditions of battle to accept such a request."
His helper came over and touched him. "Please?" she asked.
The Ancient One sighed. "I cannot take your physical forms under my protection at this time," he answered. "But I will grant you this. If they are presented to me I will care for them and cherish them. And if you will obey me I will do all in my power to give you eternal life. But right now we have to make sure that you cannot be a danger to Us. If you will permit her to disrupt your souls so you will be unable to oppose Us for two or three years I gaurantee you that when the bodies you now possess expire I will take possession of your souls and give you eternal life. That's the best I can do under these circumstances. And it will hurt, there's nothing that can be done about that. But it's all I can give you."
Both girls snapped "I accept!" and moved over in front of The Ancient One's helper. "It's all right, sister!" both of them remarked. "Please do what you have to do. We accept. He will keep his word."
The Ancient One's helper sighed. "What do I do?" she asked.
"Pull out their souls," The Ancient One answered. "Rip them apart but don't disconnect the pieces. Ten times should be sufficient. They will be stunned and incapable of functioning. It will be virtually the same as destroying them but I'll be able to retrieve them later and repair the damage."
The Ancient One's helper quickly performed the task. Then The Ancient One put the girls back in their beds. "Well!" he remarked, "That was a good night's work! I'll get the rest of them myself, on schedule tomorrow. Let's go home, everybody!"
"What do I do with this excess energy?" Esther asked.
"Give it to your husband!" The Ancient One answered, "You know how! He'll make good use of it."
Everybody laughed and The Ancient One took his helper home.
"I don't understand a couple of things," his helper asked. "Why did the Scotsman keep me from hitting the demon during the battle?"
"He had surrendered," The Ancient One answered. "He was asking permission to retrieve his severed limb and to depart the battle. It will take him years to heal it. He won't be any trouble for a long time. It's the rules of combat. As much as We want to We don't strike the helpless. Sometimes in one on one situations we bang them up a bit, but when they're helpless and they can't fight back there are rules."
"I see!" the helper moaned. "Why didn't you help the Scotsman? Why didn't you give him eternal life?"
"Because he didn't want it," The Ancient One answered. "Our agreement was that I would sustain him until he could undo what he had done, until he could give his children peace and end their suffering. He didn't want any more than that. He provided very good service and I had to fulfill his wishes according to our contract, rules."
"Sometimes," his helper moaned "rules are a bitch, aren't they? You wanted to help him very much, didn't you?"
"We could've used him," The Ancient One answered. "But remember that most important rule I told you? We can't interfere with their free will. We have to get them to do what is right by their own accord. We can't force them. Otherwise than that, it's meaningless. Even when they bind themselves to us it has to be of their free will because they want to survive. Otherwise than that it won't work. Well, I've got to get going, other things to do, never enough of me!"
"Just make sure you keep your word to those girls!" his helper remarked. "When you can get them in a better place."
"I will do my best!" The Ancient One answered. He quickly headed home, wishing he could stop to do a couple of other little errands but he didn't dare. He would do too much harm. He didn't dare!