The trees in his peripheral vision were a blur of green and brown � tangles of color flashing past too quickly for them to be separated in his mind. He blinked to clear his vision of wind-swept tears. A rocky bluff passed�a vague impression of gray hues, and then the vegetation took its place again ... green walls forever rushing. A rivulet of water whipped by and he knew it only by the whiff of moisture rather than any clear sight. He couldn�t look away from his focal point, fifteen feet in front of him.

It was like this by horseback, he thought, but with less strain, less speed, and definitely less endurance. Sometimes I didn't care and ran the horse to death.

The greenery to his right gave way, dropping out of sight, and the molded white curve of guardrails took its place. He couldn�t spare a glance to look, but he knew the mountain fell away beside him � a dizzying distance of thousands of feet, dotted with outcroppings of rocks and ending with a river far below. One false move, one moment of carelessness with his hands, one rock turning beneath a wheel, and that pitiful guardrail wouldn�t stop his plummet into the depths.

It had been desert sand I raced through, then. It stifled the senses and choked those who fell behind. An auto whipped past going the opposite direction and it was just a blur of blue with two notes of stereo as it passed. This is clean. Fast. Nearly tireless on the downhill. The next curve was banked incorrectly�he had to lean hard and use both brakes. Definitely *deadly* if I don�t pay close attention, he thought.

At the five thousand foot elevation sign, he stopped for a drink and realized his forearms were aching. He was gripping the bars too hard despite his gloves. He spent a moment meditating, hands open and fingers curved to the sky until the ache dissipated. A gentle kick started the descent again and the world sped up beside him. Almost immediately, he fell back into the sensation of being motionless while everything else moved around him. A mountain that divided the berserker storm. A rock in the gushing stream. An immortal, amidst mortality.

I've felt this way before. After a brief desert rain, my stallion could gallop with little effort and we would run for miles at a time. Then, as now, he had been a single thought of flesh while the surroundings streamed past. He remembered the tug of air on his long hair, the jounce of the necklace he wore beating a tempo on his chest. When they finally stopped riding for the day, he staggered after dismounting�the world abruptly and oddly still.

Four-and-a-half thousand, three thousand, two-and-a-half thousand � the descent was rapid and full of curves. Methos cursed at some, smiled at others, and was grim and mute during the worst of them. By the time he was halfway down highway 212's treacherous downhill, his back and neck ached. He knew his face and torso were sunburned. Sunburn atop windburn atop sunburn again.

There was a turnout ahead indicated a signpost that he barely had time to read as it whipped past. Something for people to see alongside this dangerous highway? Maybe to take their grip off the wheel for a few moments. His tongue was dry and felt fat as a lizard. He slowed, turned right, and braked to a stop�ignoring the hum of immortal presence coming from one of the vehicles parked at the viewpoint. Fat chance that they�d catch me, let alone pick a fight along a cliff face. He swished the last swallow from his water bottle around in his mouth before focusing on whomever else was idling in the turnout. Part of him was surprised, and part of him unsurprised, to see Connor MacLeod sitting in his car near the edge of the small parking area.

�I thought it would be a horse, you know,� said Methos, coasting closer. He bought one for MacLeod on his birthday and I told him I wanted one for mine. He leaned across the handlebars and looked into the car. �A horse like Duncan�s, a thoroughbred full of fire and spirit,� he said pointedly. Instead, I'm a rider of flesh upon a steed of titanium and carbon. No life to this thing at all, no guts, no heart ... no courage.