Title: Emerald Warmth
Author: Third Charm
Fandom: Babylon 5
Characters: Marcus, Neroon
Story Type: Drabble
Rating: K+
Disclaimer: Babylon 5 and all subsequent major characters, plots, and ideas are the property of J. Michael Straczynski, Babylonian Inc. and Warner Brothers.
Warnings: None really.
Spoilers: "Grey Seventeen is Missing"
Summary: The end of the den'shah (duel to the death) from Neroon's point of view.
Emerald Warmth
Neroon watched the emerald fires continue to burn in the dying Human's eyes. They spoke to him, questioned him even as the Anla'Shok's (Ranger's) final words convicted him. The blazing eyes reigned down their inquisition even as they blared the clarion call of the Human's impending death.
"What do you to warm yourself?" those emerald fires asked. "What do you do to warm yourself in the darkest watches of the Night, Warrior? What do you do to melt the ice that has settled in your one warm, once un-shadowed soul? What do you do to find peace, Warrior?"
"And when you have done this, killed another Human, and then killed one of your own, will you ever be warm again? Will you ever find peace again? Will you ever be WHOLE again, Warrior?"
When the Star Rider acknowledged those questions; that was when Neroon finally understood what the sensation of true cold was. It was the feeling he had wrapped himself in since the war with Earth. It was the sensation of his unseeing hate. It was the sensation of his disdain for the life of one of his own. It was the sensation of losing his soul to his hatred, of falling asleep in this Blizzard of Darkness and letting his spirit freeze almost unto death. And that was when he felt the searing, life saving agony of his true self being slowly warmed to life by those emerald flames.