1A gentle breeze shifted her damp hair back from the sweat on her forehead. Panting, she looked across at her opponent - a tall man, remarkably unassuming in appearance except for the dirt and blood staining his skin and armour. He stood there staring back, equally as tired but just as relentless.
She had to defeat him. There was no other choice.
All around them the earth had been shattered and moved from the force of their battle. Armies, countless lives, dead and half buried under the rubble. In the distance, she could still hear the sounds of the survivors screaming as they continued their battle.
She couldn't remember why they were fighting anymore. It had been years since anyone had given her a specific reason. All she knew was that they couldn't afford to lose.
Her attention snapped into focus as he shifted his weight onto his left leg. They'd been fighting long enough today to pick up on each others small signals. The way their bodies moved to prepare for the next attack.
This time, he seemed to hesitate. She watched in disbelief as he took his focus away from her and began to survey his surroundings.
Now, she thought to herself. This is when I deliver the final blow and finally end this fight between us. The man turned back to her and even with the great distance between them, even though they'd never even truly met, she could feel it.
His despair sang to her as purely as hers did in her dreams every single night. Her breath hitched in her chest from the force of it.
"I..", His voice was deep and clear, almost melodic despite the exhaustion. "I..". He hesitated again, seeming to struggle with the words.
He looked down, almost a submissive gesture, before lifting his eyes to meet hers once more. "I don't want to fight you anymore."
Her whole body froze and she was sure she looked stunned stupid. There was no way she could trust what this man said, but his face seemed so determined.
"Look at this. Look all around us. This used to be a lake, this land used to be flat and surrounded by forest and hills. Look at what we've done. Us two!"
She didn't dare take her eyes off of him.
"If we keep fighting, there will be nothing left here to save. What is the point of this war if we destroy everything in our paths to reach our goal? Who will be left to sow what little land remains when it's done?"
He had a valid argument, but it wasn't her job to argue. It was her role to kill and today, specifically, to kill him - the strongest warrior from the West.
He sighed. "Aren't you tired? Of all of this?"
Yes. Of course she was tired. She'd been tired her whole life. Tired from the moment they realised she had control of the elements and could be used as a weapon. Tired of seeing death and destruction, blood and misery everywhere she went. Tired of being used like some great sword that could cleave mountains in half.
"We're very similar, you know? We haven't actually met, but I can tell". His voice was soft now, gentle. Speaking to her as if they sat comfortably around a table and not stood opposite from each other on the only remaining columns of land in the area.
The breeze blew again, so gently and so in contrast to the situation. She suspected it was his doing, judging from the lack of carrion smell.
She shifted her weight from one leg to the other, watching his wary face keep track of her movements. Good. She had thought he'd lost all sense trying to talk to her, but it seemed he still remembered she was an enemy.
Carefully, he held out his hand. "Please, I don't want to fight you anymore".
It had to be a trap. Years of training screamed at her that this was a trick, meant to lower her guard so that he could finally kill her. She took a deep breath, rallying her magic.
"Then don't." The first words she had spoken in days, practically guttural compared to his voice.
Her magic flowed through her veins as swiftly as the waterfalls their fighting had created streamed towards her, creating a torrent through the air as she called them to her aid. He tensed, watching, as she swirled the water upwards and around, lifting herself and riding it across the fresh ravine to him.
Forming an ice dagger in her hand, she launched herself at him.
He didn't move out of her way. He could have easily dodged her, so obvious was her attack but gods, he couldn't bare the fighting anymore. His only desire was for the end of the war, one way or the other. He'd spent years now considering it; what would happen if he were to take matters into his own hands.
He didn't blink, didn't flinch as she charged towards him like a vengeful water spirit - so full of hatred and thirsty for his blood. For a moment, when she had looked in his eyes he had truly believed they were the same - desperate for peace and better days.
Breathing deeply through his nose, he silently willed the breeze to clear the air for him. Let not his final breath be full of the death so thick around him.
He refused to close his eyes. He would watch as his executioner delivered her final blow and he would take every moment of his own defeat in.
Her knife pierced straight through his still outstretched hand. He hadn't moved.
Something in her chest exploded and the water spiralled up into a tornado around them. Landing on her feet, her knife of ice still inside his hand, she stood before him.
Staring into his eyes, she placed her hand on the blade of the knife, gently slicing it into her own palm so that the blood would fall into his.
"I don't want to fight you anymore" She echoed.