Several people have pointed out to me that the reunion at the end of my story does not match what was shown at the end of the episode Band of Brothers. And since I had not seen the Eurominutes when I wrote this, I also didn't know that Duncan did not tell Tessa about the barge until after he had killed Grayson and joined her and Richie in Paris. Nor did I know that Grayson was an adult when he died his First Death under the hooves of the Goth cavalry in Dacia. Well, OK, I took some writer's license here. If that bothers you, please feel free to imagine it any way you choose.

Some notes about dates, "real" history vs "Highlander: the Series" history, and miscellaneous things referred to in the story:

I have tried to remain true to the story of Darius as it has been told in the episodes themselves, although this has presented some difficulties in regard to real history. Some fudging was necessary. We are told in the series that Darius led an army of barbarians from the Urals across Europe to the gates of Paris on an empire-building mission, and he is portrayed as a great general and conqueror. However, the barbarian invasion of the Roman empire was in reality accomplished more by settlement, treaties, and assimilation than by a major military campaign on the part of a single leader. Although the barbarian tribes fought the Roman army and carried out raids on parts of the Empire, they also served in the Roman army as federates and embraced Roman culture. The barbarian invaders who cut a real swath across Europe were Attila's Huns, but it is clear from the choice of a German actor for the part, and Darius' knowledge of runes that the series writers meant for him to be identified with the Germanic barbarians rather than with the Huns, although the Huns were the ones who swept into Europe from the steppes. Also, in Pharoah's Daughter, the Roman Immortal Marcus Constantine spoke of once hating Darius because he led the Goths to Rome. The actual Goths who took Rome were the Visigoths, or Western Goths, and the event occurred in 410, so in my story I have made Darius the leader of the Visigoths (although he is not actually a Goth himself in my story). The real leader of the Goths was Alaric I, who was a great general, so it is somewhat appropriate. I placed the encounter between Darius and the Holy Man after the taking of Rome, but still sometime in the early 5th century, because it is during this time that the Visigoths actually moved into what is now the South of France. This works with the series timeline, because Duncan says it happened 1500 years ago, which would place it in the 5th century. However, the real Visigoths never marched on Paris, but went west into Spain, so instead of treating the Paris incident as a large Visigothic military operation, I have made it more of a personal encounter, and the combat between Darius and the Holy Man is a battle of the spirit, ending in a sort of spiritual rebirth for Darius. The description of Paris at this particular point in history is fairly accurate, and the facts about the Rue Galande and Rue St. Jacques are true. According to Gregory of Tours a hostel and oratory did stand on the site of the present day St. Julien le Pauvre (Darius' church) at least as early as the 6th century, and most likely prior to that. Some believe that the holy man St. Julien the Hospitaller himself lived there and ferried passengers across the Seine. Another holy man, St. Severinus, is said to have lived just across the road, where the church that is named for him still stands. The old tree I mentioned (actually a false acacia) stands on the north side of the church in a park, and is considered the oldest tree in Paris, just as St. Julien is considered the oldest church.

My account of Darius' early history is based on the statement Tessa made in For Tomorrow We Die about Darius having been a Buddhist and a Hindu. I felt that the most likely place where he could have been both is in Northern India, where Hinduism and Buddhism both got their start, and which was invaded more than once by groups of Indo-Europeans, including the Persians under Darius I (who brought Zoroastrianism to this part of India). Hinduism is a very ancient religion, which originated in India so very long ago that no one really knows how old it is. Buddhism developed in the 5th-6th centuries BCE from the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama, and the religions coexisted in Northern India 2000 years ago, when Darius was "born". Buddhism mostly spread to the East, into Tibet, China, Japan, etc., but there is archaeological evidence that it also spread westward into parts of Eastern Europe and the Middle East, and ruins of Buddhist monasteries have been found there (and sculptures like those giant Buddhas in Afghanistan). Since Darius started on his journey of conquest near the Ural Mountains, I chose to have him become part of a nomadic tribe on the Russian steppes after his First Death. The Amu Darya is a real river which flows through mountains and desert into the Aral Sea, and the word "darya" means river (although I do not know what language it is from, or if the term was in use in the first century CE). Darayavahush is a Persian form of Darius, and it means "to possess good" or "He Who Upholds the Good." Daray is also a form of this name. The Vajra (Sanskrit, "Diamond Thunderbolt", known in Tibetan Buddhism as the Dorja) is a Hindu/Buddhist symbol of Enlightenment, which destroys world-illusion by truth, and like a diamond, is indestructable and pure. Arianism, or Arian Christianity has nothing to do with Aryans, but is a form of Christian doctrine begun by Arius of Alexandria in the early 4th century. It affirms that Christ is not divine, but is a finite, created being. Although this doctrine was declared to be heresy, and was later refuted and squelched, many of the barbarian tribes in Gaul (including the Visigoths) were Arians, not pagans, and only converted to Roman Christianity after the 6th century.

Darius' sword: No mention is ever made in the series or the Watcher Chronicles CD as to the type of sword Darius used when he was a barbarian warlord. For the purposes of this story, I gave him a Roman weapon taken as a spoil of war at the battle of Adrianople. "Gladius" is the Latin word for sword, and was used to describe more than one type of weapon. The best known Roman sword was the "gladius hispaniensis" or "Spanish sword", a short, broad-bladed weapon carried by the Roman foot soldier. But by the 4th century, the Roman army and cavalry had switched over to a longer version of this sword, and this is the type of weapon Darius uses to behead the Holy Man in Crossroads. It is also referred to as a "spatha", and the Germanic tribes used it as well, so I thought it doubly appropriate for the Germanic warrior Darius.

Symbolism of the cross and crossroads: The cross symbol is very ancient and has many meanings that predate its use as the Christian symbol of redemption. In many cultures it symbolized the sun. It can also stand for a balanced interaction of two opposing forces, such as active/passive, spirit/matter, heaven/earth, masculine/feminine. Another common meaning of the symbol is the crossroads. Crossroads are considered to be places of choices, transitions, and change, or places where powers such as gods, spirits, or one's own destiny may be encountered. Crossroads are laden with power and potential, and frequently altars, churches, and shrines are built near them. In Europe, crossroads were associated with evil, gathering places for witches and demons. Witches were sometimes burnt at the crossroads, and buried there to prevent them from walking, as were suicides and vampires, and felons. So crossroads carry both good and evil connotations. The center point might be considered neutral, ground zero, a place that is not north, south, east or west, but a potential beginning place for any of these directions. It is not sanctuary or safe haven, but an exposed place of great peril, where a step in any direction is a commitment which can lead to good fortune or disaster. To stand there is to invoke the power of choice and all its consequences, terrible or wonderful.