Warrior-Woman

by Mary Ann Steele

  "I expect you're right, Signe," Eric admitted, his voice as full of pain as his lined face. "But…damn."

  Conor interjected softly, "Signe…all of us live daily with the knowledge that we could die at any time. Likely none of us will survive to see a peace forged--one that Gaea could accept with honor. We'll die fighting. Dying I consider easier than living with the pain of losing those who go before us. The longer we last, the greater the number of those wounds we'll all carry. Sean knew what he risked. So did Yuri. They'd not want you to feel guilt, at letting them undertake a mission for which they volunteered. Be certain of that."

  Exquisitely aware of the magnitude of the wound Conor carried under his valiant heart, Signe dwelled on his words. Sorrow flooded her mind, displacing that savage wrath. He's right , she conceded bitterly. We'll all fall in some skirmish--die blown, or run through the vitals in a bloody lock. One of our own, perhaps. The last of Gaea's defenders, dying conscious that we failed her in her greatest need. Pull yourself together, woman. Your worst battles may lie ahead of you!

  Having reviewed the past, Conor projected himself into the nebulous future irrevocably altered by the tragedy. Signe and Arlen will one day meet , he divined with sudden, clairvoyant certainty. I doubt that he's dead. Neither world leader will rest content to endure a costly, interminable stalemate, but when they finally stand face to face … Damn! Is there such a thing as justice?

  Forcing the tension out of her splendid fighter's body, Signe sat erect, still, her chin outthrust, her eyes icy. Staring unseeing at the board, she rededicated herself to the continuing, seemingly endless struggle.

  Available in Jan 2007 from Double Dragon Publishing Inc. - Master Of Intrigue - the adventure continues.

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