Glimpse further in the story

         “Why are you here?  What do you want?”  She said trying to hide the tears in her eyes.

         He stopped, the expression on his face showing uncertainty. He looked at the ground, balling his fists at his side.  Awaiting a blow, he turned around and planted his feet, staring at Gabrielle.

         “I came back for you, for this obsession that has overcome my every decision.  I came back to fight for as long as I have to.  Do you not understand what you have done to me?  I never asked for this.”

         The color in her face, fed off the anger in her eyes.  She couldn’t hide the tears anymore as the moonlight glistened off the trails that flowed down her cheeks.  This is not how it was supposed to go. 

         “Fight, you’ll fight, is that your answer, it that all you can come up with.”

         “What else do you want me to do?  Yes, I’ll fight, I’ll kill whoever, whatever I need to.”

         “That’s the problem Nickoli.  Don’t you get it?  For you it’s all about fighting and killing.  Isn’t there enough death in this damn world?  Everything around us is dark and so depressing, there is nothing out there anymore that holds the joy it used to.”

         His hands seemed to reach towards the stars as his frustration took over.

         “What else would you have of me?  Shall I walk into the circle of my enemies and embrace them with open arms as they move in with swords laughing.  You are naïve still.”

         “Naïve, you think me naïve.  I am wiser than you could ever dream of being,” Wiping the tears from her eyes, she reached for his sword lying on the ground, “this piece of metal is your answer.  This will solve everyone’s problems as long as it resides in your hand.  You ask what else I would have, dammit Nickoli, I would have life.  A life worth living, where I don’t have to hide because I fear the next person that might hunt me down.  Life where I am free to love the way I want to and be loved that way in return and if your life is that of death, than mine is not with you.”

         Nickoli watched as the tear streams on her face grew with each word.  She was more than ten feet away, holding his sword, but he felt as though she was face to face with him and pressed the tip to his flesh.  In his mind, she had wounded him more than the sharpest sword could have done.  He dropped to his knees and reached for her.

         “By the Gods, Gabrielle…”

         Taking two hard steps towards him, she stopped him before his plea could be heard.

         “Don’t you dare call your Gods to me, Nickoli, for your Gods have done nothing but make my life what it is.  I will have nothing to do with the ones who find humor through pain and justice at the tip of a sword.”

         Throwing the sword to the ground only inches in front of him, she turned and ran for the cover of the woods and left Nickoli there, more alone than he had ever felt in his life.