She had to close her eyes, holding back the tears again.

The blunt, metal pommel slammed into her gut. The teen cried as she choked a sound out. Holding herself, the girl fell to the floor. Tears dripped down her red cheeks. She opened her eyes to see Ayleth towering over her, holding her sword.

“Felicity,” She spit venom, “You are wrong.”

Felicity held her head, vision groggy as she pushed herself up to her knees. Her legs rubbed against rough, stone floor. The cold air of Coronian autumn was crisp and bitter. The nature surrounding them was dying, just like their relationship.

“No,” Felicity coughed, “You’re wrong! Think of all the people you killed! All the lives you stole and-“

She gasped in fear. The weapon she held was raised in a wrath guard. All the wrath in the world was pounded into her as the force caused her to fall onto her hands and faced. Blunt pain burst into her head as her thoughts rattled. This conversation had only turned into an argument. And this argument had turned… into a beating.

Just another brutal lesson.

“Felicity,” Her voice seemed patient, yet everything else inside her obviously was not. It was nagging, tugging, “They got what they deserved.”

“M-maybe- they did deserve that, but-“ She wheezed, holding her chest, which was tightened by anxiety attacks. “-When you delivered the blow, wh-where you worse off than them?-“

“-Shut up!” Ayleth kicked her side, causing enough pain to shoot through her like lightning. As the teen huddled into the fetal position, the woman scolded her. “I did what I had to do! Nobody was taking care of these murderers, slavers, robbers! The Rangers weren’t! The Bladesingers weren’t! Somebody had to do something! So I did. And I will extract justice onto every criminal in the world until there is only the goos guys-“

“-If-“ Felicity managed a single shout before crying in whispers, “-If you killed killers to bring peace… there’s still one killer left.”

The wind was bitter, nipping them in the freezing air. Dead, brown leaves fell from the almost bare trees. Icebreaker bent down to her. Crouching to her level, she lifted her finger and shook it in her face, “Don’t you dare judge me.” Her quiet voice was so cold, one could feel the chill, “I tried using mercy and compassion. Those don’t work. Desperate times call for desperate measures, and I will take every measure necessary to save the world.”