Just a short bit I wrote based on a writing prompt quote. Randall Oland contemplates the courage of Alice L. Malvin.

"Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear — not absence of fear." ~ Mark Twain

He admired her. No, admired was the wrong word. He revered her. When the enemies mounted up on all sides, she drew her sword and charged forward without a trace of fear.

No. That was wrong, too. The fear was there, but it was harnessed like a strong steed to a war chariot.

Not like him. He hesitated - doubted. His hands trembled even as he reached for the switch that turned him into the cold-blooded, destructive killer he had been trained to become. He feared the enemy. He feared himself. The lantern extinguished that fear momentarily – sent it away somewhere far away. But when he turned it off, the fear returned stronger than ever.

But he would embrace that fear if it meant he would be protecting her.