Closed Seeking The Truth (Tourmal)

[Kyra]

When the knights stood up and demanded that they take it outside, Kyra turned quickly in their direction. She hadn't realized that the Knights were inside, or she might have picked another place to warm up. Still, she couldn't help but smile, seeing the looks on the faces of the men as they were forced to leave the warmth of the tavern and head outside. It was a curious thing to see, men who acted so tough suddenly changing to cowards by the point of a sword.

"Leaving so soon?" she asked with a grin and glancing up towards Tourmal. She waited to see if the men would speak, or even try and attack her, though she didn't expect them to do anything beyond what the Knights had just order them too. What was a surprise was that they would also tell Tourmal to leave, but allowing her to stay inside. It was good for her however, meaning that the Knights didn't see her as trouble, where as for her companion..things were different.

Kyra watched in silence as the men left the tavern with the Knights walking behind them. It didn't look as if things were going to get any better, and she wondered if they were all being arrested once they were outside and out of the sight of the people inside the tavern. She glanced around the room again, seeing a few eyes looking upon her. Some looked as if they thought she was the cause of the whole thing, while others seemed sorry that her companion was gone. It didn't matter to Kyra, but their eyes bugged her enough so that she wanted to leave.

She opened the door and followed the men all the way to the outside of the city gates. Kyra didn't want to get involved with whatever the Knights had planned, but somehow she felt compelled to watch. The rain seemed to have picked up again, and by the time they reached their destination, she was soaked. Luckily the hood of her cloak kept her hair from getting wet and the cloak itself covered most of her body. Still, with so much rain her clothing had become damp and her boots soaked. The Knights would let them fight it out it seemed. Apparently they also wanted entertainment. Since the knights were enjoying the fight, she decided to step outside and leaned against the wall next to the door.

Kyra watched intently from a far, her golden eyes flickering, lips pressed together as she lightly bit down. Fighting was exciting, and even though she had somewhat of a vested interest on who won, it was still worth the watch. Though it wasn't much of a fight, just as she had expected, the big drunk was no match for Tourmal and made a fool of himself right away. Giggling Kyra looked to Tourmal in approval, but as she looked up, she noticed the two men closing in on him.

"Behind you!" She called out, quickly pulling the dagger from her hip and tossing it at them. The dagger didn't connect with either man, in fact it slipped between them. She had missed her shot, however it did cause the men to pause for a moment as they noticed that she throw something at them. Hopefully it was enough to give him time to turn around and defend himself.

[Tourmal Firemane]

Tourmal, Fall 55, 512 AV The woman's golden eyes glowed in the night flickering in the light of the torches placed strategically around the city. The woman yelled “Behind you!” And simultaneously launched a dagger that she had hidden at her side next to her behind him. Tourmal didn't see what happened to the dagger as it clanged in the dark somewhere down the paved road unlit by the torches. But as he tried to follow the movement of the weapon he spotted two of the original's friends approaching him semi dazed. Tourmal had not participated in many fights before and still was considered a novice amongst the so called trade. However knowing that they were coming would help him from being caught of guard. Even though he had no idea that it would. The man looked the two and decided to focus on the smaller of the two thus distracting him from the second of them. Looking at the man he had no doubt that he could take him however the other continued to circle around him and wrapped his arms behind his back and held him ready for the other to attack. The smaller of the two men seeing the opportunity for what it was advanced quickly. Closing the distance between the two opposing victims of the knights personal gratification. Where Tourma being much more clear of mind noticed the man stumbling on the cobblestone road that had been worn from the constant use of both horse and carriage. Seeing the opportunity Tourmal raised his right leg bent at about a 120 degree angle congruent to the mans face and layed his foot upon it with considerable force. Pretty much knocking the man out. At that time the knight saw what was to happen and decided to let the fourth man go to have at the drykas giving him a nod of approval. Evidently the three of the men so far had not provided enough entertainment for the knights. The first had nearly regained his breath the third knocked out for the night likely to drown on the rain that would fall into his open mouth. Currently only the second that had wrapped up the smith had done anything worth while. Tourmal had no idea that the first was about to recoup. And that the last was released from the chains as a dog would. The only thing on the mans mind was the man behind him and he struggled with all his might to free himself. However when he took his attention off of the man to kick his previous contender the man had firmly established his hold on the large green eyed scoundrel. The next man approached much slower than the previous and despite Tourmal's attempts he could not lay out him with a simple kick to the face. The man dodged his onslaught of kicks. Even though it wasnt really an onslaught more so a sporadic placing of kicks that were never properly placed. This man was carefull seeing the bronze man take out two of his companions before his very eyes. However Tourmal had not noticed him being so he was just desperate to escape the event allive. Four against one. Really How had he survived this long. The man struggled with all his might to release himself failing over and over attempting to use his arm strength to break free of his captor. The opposing man in front of him had punched him repeatedly in the gut taking breath after breath from him making it harder and harder for him to escape due to a lack of oxygen to his muscles. The man was winded and his core ached as intense as one of his forges he felt. The two men continued seeing their tactics as successful. What would the man do at their disposal. Then in a last ditch attempt to escape he picked up his right foot and slammed his boot down as hard as he could on the man's foot who was binding his arms. The man let out a yelp of agony releasing the smith who had fallen to the ground, face first into the water laden road. The man was not so proud as he was before and had not enough strength in him to look back to Alessa as he lay there nigh unconscious.

[Kyra]

Kyra wasn't pleased with the throw, she had never truly learned to throw daggers as Marcelo had, although he did attempt to teach her. It did serve a purpose, and Tourmal was able to see the men before they could jump him by surprise. A smile grew across her full lips as she realized that her attempt had worked, even though it didn't hit anyone. This also caused eyes to fall upon her, those of the Knights and the three men still on their feet. She stared back at them intensely, sadly she only had the one dagger, but she stayed ready in case they decided to come after her.

The Knights seemed amused at the least, but soon turned back around as the men started to focus once more on Tourmal. Kyra looked on, slowly walking a few steps closer. She wanted Tourmal to know that she was still there watching him. It had been his decision to step in and fight for her. Now she wanted to see if the man could handle the fight. The rain started to pick up again, light clear droplets of water fell from the sky and added to that already collected on the ground. The new rain fall, though light still covered the men over the passing ticks, and made the ground that much more slippery.

The fight had seemed to take a turn for the worse for her companion, as he was now being held from behind while the other man readied to attack him. It looked as if the fight was already over, even before it truly began. She was surprised, when Tourmal suddenly rose up and placed a violent kick to the side of the approaching man's face. It had been a brutal kick, knocking saliva from his mouth, and almost forcing his head to spin around completely before he fell to the ground. Kyra was impressed, having thought that he was already finished. She started to smile, though her smile quickly turned into a frown when the Knights allowed the last of the brutes to step in.

The young kelvic almost hissed under her breath. She didn't like the Knights, and she didn't like how they were using people as their amusement. In fact everything about them irritated her. The feud between Ravok and Syliras was well known, she didn't care about it really, but she was definitely tired of hearing about it. Now that she was in the city, she was starting to see why the people were hated so much by Ravok, or at least the Knights anyway.

Focusing on the fight in front of her, Kyra's gaze poured deep into them,watching their every move, and even to the drips of rain escaping their already drenched forms. The mud on the ground had become loose, and the muck began to cling to their boots as they tussled about. It seemed that the man had a firm grip on Tourmal, which was impressive given the fact that it was raining. Looking on at what had started as a fight, Kyra was starting to get bored with it.

It didn't seem like the bronze man would be able to defend himself after all. She thought to help him, but wondered if it was really worth it. She didn't know him, and while he seemed interesting, there was something she had to do. It was something important to her, and he couldn't be of any use to her half dead. A sudden cackle caught her attention and she adverted her eyes to the Knights who had started to walk off. It seemed even they saw the conclusion of the fight coming, and didn't want to be a part of it.

Kyra glanced towards the men as they left, heading back inside the city, then turned back to her-would-be Knight laying in the mud. She could easily return to the city at this point and forget any of it happened. The men knew not to follow being that the Knights would be watching them, which left her free to return to her room. It was a simple and easy choice to make. A choice that many might make...but not Kyra. Whether she remained behind because she wanted to teach the men a lesson, or to help the man that stood up for her, or even because she may have been bored.

None of that mattered, Kyra would stay and she was ready for a fight. The young kelvic suddenly dashed forward, leaping into the arms of the man who had been pounding on Tourmal, as she racked her nails across his eyes.He groaned in anger, and stumbled back and covered his face. The bigger man, the one who had been holding Tourmal grabbed her from behind, snatching her cloak off, and turning her into his arms. He laughed as he stared down at her, seeing her as nothing more than a play thing. It had been her, that they had watched in the tavern, and she was the one that they wanted for a night of rough play, and with her protector down, he saw his chance.

Leaning in, his hands squeezing her arms, as he tried to force a kiss upon her lips. A soft growl slipped from within her as she quickly leaned up and rammed her head into his mouth. He released her, uttering a low grunt as he reached for his busted lip. She could see the anger in his eyes, and in that mixed with the pain in the face of the man who was now seeing out of one eye. Kyra slowly moved back, golden eyes of embers moving from one man to the next.

[Tourmal Firemane]

Tourmal, Fall 55, 512 AV After having fallen down, the side of his face against the cold stone pavers that lined the streets, his vision was blurred. Partly due to the water mud concoction that was occasionally splashed across his face, but mostly due to the lack of oxygen being driven out of him from his attacker. As the man's consciousness slowly regained he heard a loud yell. Unsure what it was and not cognizant to even think of what could have happened to cause it, the sound mostly glossed over the beat down smithy. Around then the man felt the needed to get up, and started to feel as though he could. He began struggling to right himself stumbling to his hands and knees taking in a few deep breaths to revitalize himself. He looked up and the first man who had pushed him against the bar was doing the same. Shame he thought being that out of shape. What did he think, he could take a smith that slammed hammers against iron all day? The man got to his feet before he decided to kick him in the stomach. Before he could do so, he realized why he had gotten in the fight in the first place. Alessa! He looked around and saw her in the clutches of one of the first's cronies. And just then she slammed her forehead into his face, his lip now bleeding. The man stammered backward a few steps in a daze. The woman looked like a cornered animal, watching both her attackers looking for an escape. The one who's lip had just been busted, was closest to Tourmal and having just seen him with his hands on the girl, he ran to the man and dropped his shoulder tackling him from behind. The man holding his face had sense to tuck his chin in order to avoid any more damage to it. Once down, the drykas turned him over, sat on his stomach and repeatedly punched the man till his face was battered and he was unconscious. His face was a mess his nose and jaw likely broken not to mention there was considerable damage to his left eye. Tourmal had never gotten into a fight as serious as this, and would later realize that his hands were just as destructive as they could be constructive. Just like that the smith had taken out two men who were ashamedly in much worse shape than he, which would likely be left out in later recounts of the feat. The fight was now two vs two. Once the threat was abated, he got back to his feet. When suddenly he was swung around by his shoulder, just like had happened a few years back in a tavern in Endrykas and he instinctively ducked. However the larger man had learned his lesson from earlier and instead of punching Tourmal in the face he punched him in the gut. The drykas was already half bent over before the hit landed, which ensured he became doubled over. Coughing, hands at his stomach, failing at relieving the pain the merchant had brought unto him. But he was not done with the smith just yet. The fat man stood tall winding up a kick aimed for his opponents face. Crack!

[Kyra]

Kyra moved back further as the two men closed in on her. Her cloak, having been pulled clean of her tiny frame, left her unprotected from the pouring rain. She was soaked as they were now, long damp strains of blondish hair curled and matted themselves around her face. The cool rain falling upon her moist skin, causing her to shiver slightly. The heels of her tall boots dug in and pushed around the muck that had been splattered around earlier, as she clinched her fists together tightly.

The men cursed at her, one of them still holding his face while the other touched his lip. They were in raged now, and the lust that had once filled them, had been replaced with the need to see her bleed. Kyra continued to step back, making sure to keep them both in sight and out of arms reach. It seemed that she was alone now, and had to face them both with her companion down. The knife that she had thrown earlier would have offered her more comfort at this point, but it was lost in the grass.

Suddenly, just as the man removed his hand, showing Kyra the blood collected in his mouth from her head, and spat out the chipped teeth onto the ground. He stumbled forward and turned into the ground with a thud as Tourmal rose and tackled him hard. The quickness of his surprise attack caught both men off guard, and as the other turned to look, Kyra struck. She raced towards him and lifted herself up, ramming her knee into his crotch sharply.

He cried out as he turned back, quickly shoving her backwards with one hand as he reached to cup himself with the other. Peddling backwards, she regained her balance and raced towards him again gripping his shoulders as she rammed her knee into his crotch a second time. Another loud howl escaped his gaping mouth as he lost his footing, reaching out as he forced himself to fall forward onto the girl. They both collapsed onto the ground with a thud, the man pressed his weight down on her, trying to keep her still while he recovered from her attack.

Kyra growled again, twisting and withering around under him as she fought to free herself. Seeing her actions, and realizing that his plan was failing, the man reached for her throat in an attempt to choke her. She hissed, pulling his arm up and biting down into his wrist. He yelled loudly as he tried to pull his arm away, but Kyra wasn't done, and held tightly to his arm as she maneuvered her legs free and wrapped them around his upper arm. Another grown was ripped from him as he tried to pulled away while on his knees. Kyra hissed again, pulling tightly on his arm and slamming her boot into his jaw until she heard a pop.

A loud shrek shattered the silence as the man cried out harder than before. Using what strength he had left, he pulled his arm free and turned away, cursing the girl. Kyra scurried backwards and rose into a crouching position as she looked on at the man who was now trying to nurse his injured shoulder. Dashing towards him again, she lifted herself up, twisting her hip as she brought a hard kick into the side of his neck. The force of the kick wasn't deadly but hard enough to cause his head to spin around awkwardly before he collapsed onto the ground.

Kyra started to move towards him again, but paused, the sound of foot steps upon mud catching her attention and alerting her to the person rushing up from behind. She quickly spun around, throwing her body backwards just as the dagger ripped through the fabric at the front of her blouse. The fat man had returned, after laying out Tourmal, and had somehow found the dagger that she tossed before. It appeared now that it was one on one.

[Tourmal Firemane]

Tourmal, Fall 55, 512 AV After the large man connected the force caused the drykas' head to whip back and at the same time spun the man around half way and fell on his back lying unconscious. Everything had gone black and he was completely unaware of what was going on around him. The large fat man walking to where the dagger had been thrown looking around while his friend was being tortured by the much smaller blonde woman. He missed how she had succeeded in dislocating his shoulder and even earlier bit into his arm. The woman was a visceral fighter, one who's pedigree was more advanced than his own had he seen this he may have been scared away from her realizing that he would likely end in a sore spot. Despite her demeanor Tourmal had developed a hero complex whenever he see's a lady in trouble and could not turn a blind eye. This was likely from his upbringing in the sea of grass. Women were a respected treasure and any who treated them otherwise often found themselves with a face full of knuckles. This complex would likely get him into more situations as he was in currently. Lying on his back unconscious. Dead to the world. At that time the fat man had just torn through Alessa's blouse with her own dagger. She now stood soaked in water her shirt torn open with her brassiere exposed. The man at first was bent on killing her then after a look at the wares decided he could wait for that. For now he had something else in mind. The smith's mouth was open and slowly the rain started pooling in his mouth the man had started breathing through his nose unconsciously. Suddenly he came to and attempted to take a deep breath in gasping for air and getting a half mouthful of water instead. The man coughed and sputtered trying to figure out what happened and where he was. He turned over on his hands and knees until he stopped his fit of coughing. Then he looked around seeing it was dark and raining, then saw two dark silhouettes. One stood tall, very tall and the other looked small like a woman. The larger of the two had something in his hand and was facing the smaller. Then the larger one grabbed the smaller by the neck with his empty hand and picked the other off the ground. Just then it clicked what had happened. After the large man kicked him in the face he turned his attention to Alessa. The small silhouette was the girl from earlier and she needed his help. Tourmal stumbled to his feet. And approached the man as quietly as he could in attempts to not catch the man's attention. The man was strangling the girl till she passed out he held his grip on her neck firm. Then with his other hand he took the dagger and slid the flat of the blade against her face. The man was sick with lust, not only for her body but a lust for her fear. It was raining so he could not tell weather the drops on her face were entirely rain or if they were a mix of that and tears. Then he dropped the blade down towards her torso pressing the flat against the woman's stomach. Afterward he drew the blade up under the center of her brassiere, with a twist and a slight jerk the brassier hung loose torn like her blouse. Tourmal got closer and saw him bring what looked like a blade up to her face, but by the looks of it he was not going to kill her just yet. 'Just a little closer' the man thought to himself. He dropped his hand down to his side where his hammer sat in a leather loop attached to his belt. The man set his hand on the head of the light hammer and drew it from its makeshift holster. The man drew closer and closer. Tourmal's view had changed and could no longer see what the large man was up to, being directly behind him. She only had seconds till she ran out of air. He raised his hand wide to his right level with his head and parallel to the ground, one more step. Just as the man had torn the girl's brassiere, without thinking, the only thing on his mind the safety of the woman in front of him. He swung his hammer as hard as he could the head of the small sledge slammed into the side of the large mans skull. The sound was unmistakable, something Tourmal would never forget. Bone crunching under the pressure of the blow. The sledge now lay sunken in the side of the mans skull and at the sight and sound of the occasion he let go of the hammer instantly mortified at what he had just done. He had tried so hard to keep from killing anyone while he was in the caves despite the inhumane things that were being done there. Something was different today and it was something that the drykas would wonder for quite sometime. After the strike the man's body went limp collapsing onto the ground. Simultaneously his hand let go of the woman and she fell from where she was being held in the air. After a few seconds of disbelief the man realized the woman may still be in trouble. As he snapped out of it, with a step he dropped to his knees to see how the woman was doing.

[Kyra]

Kyra slipped back further, being sure to keep space between herself and the brute now wielding her dagger. There was a fine blade attached to the dagger, and one that could easily rip through the flesh. Kyra hissed at him, moving back a bit more to keep him out of reach. He had her dagger, and that angered her a lot, and to think he wanted to use it against her was inexcusable.

"Oh..you want this eh?" the man said with a chuckle.

"Not to worry puppet, you'll have it inside you in just a bit." He finished as he jabbed at her teasingly with her own blade.

Kyra hissed again moving back further and away from him. The young kelvic looked to find an advantage, some way that she could take back her dagger, and turn the fight in her favor. Quick thinking and a level head were key points in such situations, and Kyra had that to some extent.

"Are you worried about him?" the brute asked, his beady eyes staring at her, even drawing out her feminine shape. "Don't..he's in a better place now, but you..well, you're about to be in a better place too."

The man suddenly rushed her, attempting to over power her. Kyra moved in, quickly catching his wrist before he could stab her with the knife. She hissed again, bringing her knee into his stomach as hard as she could. He grunted, but didn't fall, possibly because of his girth and grabbed her by her throat. Kyra coughed and kicked at him more, but he would always jumped back and away from her leg.

"Let's have a bit of fun aye?"

She felt her clothing rip when he slipped the dagger through and cut the piece in half. The sound that suddenly echoed through her ears as Tourmal appeared and shattered the man's skull was loud and fierce. Kyra stumbled back after she was released and quickly removed her dagger from where the man had dropped it. She turned back, glancing at Tourmal, before walking off and picking up her cloak.

[Tourmal Firemane]

Tourmal, Fall 55, 512 AV After taking a knee to see how the woman was doing. He caught a few brief moments of her exposed chest. Still in a daze from the recent events he found himself ogling her goods. The woman took no notice of her predicament and directly stood and retrieved her cloak. The whole debacle had seemingly had little to no effect on the woman. After she stood “Are you Okay?” he asked standing up and walking to where she covered herself with her cloak. The scarlet cover once again hid her bare chest allowing. Tourmal to look directly at the beauty that stood in front of him. “What just happened?” He thought for a moment at his recent actions. “One tick we are in the tavern, the next... I... I... I don't know.” He looked down in a loss for words. Then the man looked up at his previous prospect. “And you...?” The man was bewildered with the beauty, he knew nothing about her and yet he just killed a man for her. “I... I just” He could not say it, the man just could not say what he had just done out loud, despite that it was true. He stood there silent for a few moments wondering where his life had gone and how it had culminated at this point, with him taking the life of another man. He looked at the calm woman straight in the eyes that he earlier found enticing wild and luminescent. Now instead he was looking in them instead for direction. She knew something he did not her reactions to this event were evident she had the answers he would need to get past what had just happened. He turned around and looked at the scene of the crime. The rain still falling three men unconscious, one dead, attempting to take it all in. Turning around back to his accomplice “What do we do now?” He thought to himself of the trouble that would come if the larger mans friends found his body dead. They would know it was him who killed the fat drunkard. And he would not be able to go back to the stallion without worry. After a few days his absence would not go unnoticed, and then what? “Shyke!” He said to himself. “Shyke.”

[Kyra]

Kyra enjoyed a good fight, and taking down more disgusting humans had become a past time favorite. However, this incident, even though it turned out in her favor, had been anything other than what she expected. The young kelvic had only meant to watch the fight, she had no personal attachments to any of the men, and her life wouldn't have changed at all one way or the other. But her would-be knight had gotten himself in too deep and would have surly died if she hadn't stepped in.

This in turn, caused the men to attack her, and as a result, she ended up being pushed around, and her clothing ripped up. Without her cloak, and even less clothing on her back she became soaked from head to toe. Her long, blondish hair, hung in waves, twisting and turning about her head and neck, the water slick strains matting and sticking to her face and shoulders. Her pale skin, covered in tiny beads of water, thin droplets of moister dripping away from her nose and lips, tiny streaks coursing through the goosebumps that formed on her flesh, traveling down and wetting her bare chest and continuing down the length of her slender frame.

It hadn't been the fight they she wanted, and without her bow or dagger to aid her, Kyra almost found herself in a worse situation, possibly even fatal. Some had said that she had a violent nature about her, and if this was true, it was something she learned from humans. She had only entered the tavern to escape the rain, and possibly question the people around about the note that she had received. She now found herself soaked, bruised and standing in the rain with a bunch of men, who wouldn't likely even remember her name, had she simply given in to their lustful desires.

The cloak she placed upon her shoulders, gave her little comfort. The cloth was almost as soaked and the remaining cool still chilled her flesh, causing her to shiver as she glanced out and around her. In the short distance, she could hear Tourmal speaking to her, but didn't answer him yet. The men at their feet weren't dead at least, not all of them and that had to be taken care of. Finally she acknowledged his presences, and turned to look at him again. The look on his face, the horror in his eyes, she could tell that he had never killed before. It was his first time, and he did so trying to save her from being violated or even worse.

Her pupils widen a bit, rising to cover more of the golden ring surrounding it, as her full lips curved upward into a smile. Unlike the blacksmith, Kyra had killed before and felt no remorse in doing it again. "Your name?..What is it, tell me?" Curious, in all the commotion, lustful intend, flirting, and questioning, the Drykas had forgotten to tell her his name. Kyra stared at him hard, it wasn't likely that he was the one she sought, or that he even knew who this person was. The Drykas was beside himself after killing a single man, it was differently hard to imagine him in league with a viscous murderer.

Kyta waited for him to answer her, gripping her blade tighter into her palm as she moved back towards the nearest man still breathing and slipped the sharp blade across his throat. The blood spilled forth, mixing in with the mug and rain growing in puddles underneath his body. Standing again, her intense gaze fell upon the blacksmith once more, her arm lifting dainty, dagger raised and pointed towards the hammer that he wielded. "It's too late to turn back now....finish it. Don't worry I'm here and I will help you."

[Tourmal Firemane]

Tourmal, Fall 55, 512 AV “My name?” He paused for a second. “Oh uh Tourmal” he said dismissively. He had forgotten to tell her his name in all the commotion. The fact that he had just killed a man telling her was more an after thought. Still taking the events of the night in, he continued to stare at the scene with unbelief. Then the phlegmatic woman walked up to the nearest unconscious man with her blade in hand. Tourmal had not expected what was to come next. Without thought the woman knelt low enough that she could comfortably slit his throat. The man sputtered blood oozing from his neck and as he coughed his face became spattered in what not too long ago kept him living. Shortly he either suffocated or bled to death. The smith was no doctor and had no real survival skills to know what would cause it. All he knew was that this woman just killed a man with no remorse. “Shyke! What are you doing?!” Stoic in manner the woman replied with implying that he should do likewise. His hammer had just become a tool that brought forth death. He could not imagine doing so again and especially to an unconscious man. “Are you crazy? Why did you do that?” He said flabbergasted at what just happened. “Finish it?” He said quietly so that only he could hear, looking to the living man nearest to him. The man contemplated on whether he should or not. He thought back to before how he had imagined the trouble that would come from being alive. And how they would likely come after him in ambush, ultimately leaving him laying like the two were now dead rotting somewhere off the road to be picked apart from the local fauna. He walked closer to the man who's face he had nearly destroyed. Then looked at his hands. Seeing what they had done. He had beaten men before, but never to this point. He looked inside himself and wondered what he had become. Was he always capable of this? In a single instant, a moment of rage the man had pummeled a mans face into a monstrous pile of meat and bone. The man's face had swelled to the point he could no longer distinguish where one feature started and another ended. He knelt down and raised his hammer reluctantly, knowing that she was right. He should finish it. Apprehension built up inside every second growing greater and greater. 'It is too late he thought' As the hammer fell with his hand on its handle, he knew what would come next. His hammer hit the stone next to him flat on its top. He supported himself his weight on its head to push himself up to his feet and he turned around. The man looked at the blonde woman and “I don't feel like I can do this” He looked her in the eyes when she looked back at him after his statement. “I... I know that I need to, I... I just don't know how.” And he looked down ashamed of his ineptitude of doing what is necessary. “How? How do you?” He said looking back at her hoping she could help him solve his debacle.