Love at First Fight

At that moment he entered the battlefield he knew which side would win. Bare, yellowed grass lay before them, untouched except by the summer sun. Thousands rose before him and thousands fell behind. Victory would come to the strongest today. Normally in any other condition, he could have predicted he'd win with his powerful tactics and skillful soldiers. Yet. He saw her. Artemis. The beast of a woman, her hair tied behind her head and eyes narrowed with determination. She was the only one who could rival his skills in strategy, but she also had the advantage of strength. She towered over her companions by over a foot and her glistening muscles reflected the noon sun. She would be the downfall of this kingdom.

The battle began with a single blow of a horn and a surge of bodies rushing to meet their demise. He lunged forward, not letting his doubt diminish his hope of an ounce of victory. Maybe I can do this, maybe I can outsmart her, maybe I can catch her in a weak moment and just maybe, possibly win.

The sky turned red as the sun fell to the horizon and the grass mimicked its hue. The few strongest fought it out, desperate to outlast the other. Simon plunged to his knees when he took the life of another soldier and raggedly taking breaths he had been holding in too long. This is the last stand. Whoever had the most bodies would win.

His eyes glanced to a shallow ditch as he sat in the dirt, staring at a monster's back. There she was. Artemis. Her wounds dripped with blue blood as she swayed, feet unmoving. Her breath was labored and her hands clenched glistening weapons with white-knuckled fingers and her mismatched eyes stared at nothingness. This. This is my chance. He thought, struggling to come to a wobbly stance. He pulled dual swords with weak arms from his sheaths and slowly limped his way over.

She was in worse shape than he had realized, back endlessly hacked at and arms covered in cuts that must have been the result of trying to defend herself. Overconfident, he concluded as he staggered to the edge of the ditch. She overestimated the battle and now she pays for it. I need to end it now. He jumped, mustering all his strength he had left into one final blow. But then he saw it.

She turned with fearful, horrified eyes, flinching as she saw him fly at her. Who knew such a beast could be afraid. He hesitated, pulling back so he would not pierce her skin with his blades. They stuck in the dirt as he pinned her onto her back, her yelp crying in his ears.

Here he had the fiercest warrior in existence cowering like a pup under an alpha wolf's gaze. A crying baby that had lost its toy or a toddler that had scrapped its knee. She was in a moment of weakness like no other. She had seen death in a higher number than she had seen before. She saw comrades fade and fall like leaves from a tree. She felt pain. This was the moment. This was the sliver of hope he had doubted. But he couldn't. He saw her pain. She was not fighting to kill soldiers and win a war. She was fighting to slay the top and fix their mistakes. She had killed innocent who had no idea what the war was for and she felt it. And he did too. His cause was not a worthy one and disappeared as he realized hers.

Maybe it was her he fell in love with that day. Or maybe it was her cause. Either way, he released her to fulfill her goal to save his kingdom. She had to.