A/N: I'm having some writer's block with some of my other stories. So right now i'm working on what's coming to me, and hopefully, the others will start going good again.
The Children of Time were founded in a time of the Great Wars on Earth. Somehow humans had managed to coexist for many centuries before it finally fell to the last two great leaders. Simon Maxwell and Jacob Strung fought hard and long for total dominance. Maxwell felt that the people of the world should remain free, while Strung would settle for nothing less than genocide for all who didn't fit with his ideal of what the world would be.
It was Strung who first began using the time traveling device invented by Boris Markov in the year 2048. He destroyed countless historical sites. His aim was to destroy the history of the world. It was Balthazar Vrond who devised the plan to correct all of the things Strung was changing. Special agents were trained to handle all situations. These elite fighters and highly skilled individuals had no past, and their only future was serving Simon Maxwell's regime under Balthazar. The Children of Time were born.
The wars struggled on for many years with casualties for both sides numbering in the hundreds of thousands. A world once overpopulated was suddenly on the verge of becoming extinct…
The women strode down the marbled corridor their boots making no noise. They wore the common uniform befitting their positions as High Agents; leather tank tops with flexible bullet proof inserts, pants, boots, and duster coats. The outfits were total black, all leather, and were well worn. The supple leather allowed them silence and easy body movements, and also contained inner pockets holding the rest of their equipment. The doors ahead of them slid open to reveal a purely white room. The only color in the room was a man who stood with his back to them. He wore a white suit and had long gray hair. His hair was pulled back into a ponytail with a leather tie. He turned to face him and they saw the familiar gray goatee and blue symbols tattooed upon his forehead and cheeks. The six women dropped to one knee before him.
They could hear the bombs and sound of gunfire out in the lower halls of the large stone construct. It seemed that the war that had been destroying the world they were fighting so hard to save had finally come to call. He stared at them for several moments. These were his best agents. The most skilled, the highest intelligence, and the most deadly. Each was beautiful, and each served with unwavering loyalty. If any could save them it was this group. "War has come to our halls Daughters. We are sending you back two weeks past. You must stop Strung from seizing control of the Albatross facility." The women stood quickly showing no emotion. They could hear the gunfire coming closer.
They moved to the stone transporting platform and waited for the elder man to send them back. He moved to a small podium which was electronic in nature. As he began pressing buttons, the glass walls rose to protect the room from the brilliant light which would emanate from the platform. The women saw the doors leading into the room burst open, and the man pushed faster. One of Strung's men shot the man in the back. Balthazar slumped forward onto the podium before sliding to the floor dead his eyes wide and unseeing. The women flashed out of that existence.
Lilith and the others looked around at the trees and forest floor. "I get the feeling this is NOT two weeks ago." she murmured. The area around her was untamed and green. A cold breeze blew her hair around her face. It had been too long since there had been untouched wildlife on Earth.
"Lil where the hell are we?" Aradia had drawn her kitana and stood in a fighting stance. Hecate and Kali followed her lead.
"Not quite sure yet Aradia" Lilith was moving slowly in a circle. They were in a lightly wooded area, perhaps a clearing or something similar. Dawn was just breaking through the tree line, and there was no civilization to be seen.
Vesna sighed and dropped lower to the ground scanning the underbrush. "When Balthazar fell he must have hit something on the panel." she said logically.
Arthur watched the women silently. They were the strangest looking females he'd ever seen. Beautiful, yet quite armed, and their clothing was just as strange. Each wore an outfit that held three pieces. The top was almost like a leather corset, yet seemed to be all one piece with no visible seam. The breeches were also leather and rode lower on their hips with a strange thick belt. Black leather boots encased their feet; in fact the entire outfit was black. The clothing would reveal the flesh of the arms, top of the chest, and the area from rib cage to hip. Each woman also wore what appeared to be black leather robes split open at the front with a collar. Strange metal weapons rode on both sides of each woman's hips, and they also carried other weapons he was not quite familiar with.
The woman with short, dark red hair stood slowly and glanced at her leader out of the corner of her eye. "We're being watched." she spoke softly, but Arthur could hear her.
The dark haired leader frowned and addressed her women. "Backs together ladies, we have company." They moved together forming a circle, backs to one another. "Show yourselves!" she spoke with authority.
Arthur motioned once and his knights moved forward. Not once did the women show surprise when they stepped out of their cover. The seven men and six women stared at each other impassively for several moments.
Lilith stared at the man who was obviously the leader of the seven men. He strode forward and stood only slightly in front of a man in black armor, and a man with braids hiding his eyes. "You are in a dangerous place." He spoke softly.
"They do not look like Woads." A large bald man spoke.
"I do not think they are Woads." Arthur answered the man. "I am Arthur Castus, Commander of the Roman Army for this area. He saw this elicited a reaction from the blonde woman who tilted her head to the side in study of he and his men.
She spoke, but he knew she addressed her leader. "Arthur Castus, approximately 450 A.D. Order of the Round Table. At this point to our knowledge there were six knights left. Bors, Tristan, Gawain, Galahad, Dagonet, and Lancelot. Sarmatians forced into servitude for fifteen years each. From the looks of their ages, they should be coming up on the end of that."
"Jesus Rhiannon, you sound like a textbook." the red head said.
"I am Lilith, these are my sisters in arms; Vesna, Rhiannon, Hecate, Kali, and Aradia." Lilith told him grudgingly.
"How have you come to be in these lands?" he asked.
She gave a bark of laughter. "Beats the hell out of me."
"Arthur, we must meet the caravan." the handsome man in dark armor spoke.
"We cannot leave you here." Arthur said softly looking into Lilith's dark blue eyes. "You must come with us to The Wall. We will figure everything else out from there."
After a moment of consideration Lilith nodded once and motioned the others with some sort of hand signal. The other women put their weapons away and moved forward to walk past, and in front of Arthur and his men. The red head, Vesna, and the dark ebony haired woman, Kali, seemed to keep an eye on them, and turned to make sure their backs were covered.
"You will have to ride double with my men for now." Arthur spoke as he mounted his horse. The men extended their hands to the women. The women mounted silently in front of the men and they rode to the crest of the hill. Once there they saw the caravan riding into view. As they watched barbarian men streamed out of the woods and began to attack the caravan. "Leave the women here!" he shouted.
"No, we fight!" Lilith yelled back. With one nod from Arthur, all of his knights rode down the hill at a furious pace. The women slid from the horses with little effort. Lilith tumbled and pulled her sai. Rhiannon had her whip out and had removed a sword from one of the blue men's hands with it. Her kitana whirling gracefully Aradia was battling two of the men. Vesna stood near Bors, and they were both using their punching daggers with precise ease. Kali was moving and weaving her scimitars and it was almost as if she was dancing. Hecate had a throwing axe in one hand, and her double bladed axe in the other.
Two of the men advanced on Lilith and she brought her boot up in a side kick connecting directly with one man's windpipe. He dropped choking on his own blood, and she rammed both sai into the other man's gut. Rhiannon had her whip in one hand and her long sword in the other. She lashed out catching a man by the wrist and dragging him into her where she slashed upward with her sword. Vesna rolled and punched up with a haymaker to a screaming man's groin, once embedded she twisted the dagger with a feral grin.
Aradia had three of the men surrounding her and she stood silent and steady. One of the men charged and she swung. Before her swing was complete a second man had charged and when she finished opening the gut of the first man her kitana connected with the second. The third man watched her, and they circled each other. Aradia crooked her finger at him. "Come on, don't be shy." she grinned. He charged with a yell, and at the last moment she turned, and brought her kitana up behind her impaling the man.
Hecate had let loose the throwing axe and it embedded in the forehead of one of the Woads behind Arthur. Her other axe was already swinging around to plant in the belly of another. Kali was moving so quickly it seemed to the Woad that she had more than two blades. Her dark eyes glittered and it seemed as if a fire burned within. One of the Woad screamed upon meeting her gaze and took off running.
The battle was over quickly and the women wiped their weapons off on the clothing of the dead blue people. Arthur had let one of the men go, and now was speaking to another man. The man looked at the women as if they were demons, and there was something calculating in his eyes that made them distrust him immediately. They were once more pulled up onto horseback with the men, and sat in silence as the men joked back and forth.
Once inside they were led to sleeping chambers by a woman who first slapped, and then kissed Bors soundly. She showed them how to get to the tavern later, and then left them alone. They were only quiet for a moment.
"Balthazar…" Vesna began.
"Is dead." Lilith completed. "You saw him get shot. If he'd managed to send us only the two weeks we could have fixed it, but that isn't the case. I don't know how we can fix this."
"Merlin lives in this time." Rhiannon stated. "Perhaps he'll be able to send us back."
"I thought the magic part was fiction in that tale." Hecate frowned.
"Well, there is quite a bit of fiction, but not all. There are tons of records where Merlin was said to be an extremely powerful wizard."
"Our archives are filled with tales of Merlin; those we could save from Strung at least." Kali agreed.
"So we need to meet this Merlin." Lilith sat on the edge of one of the beds in the room.
"The only problem with that, is that I'm pretty sure we just killed his people." Rhiannon sat on a chair across from Lilith. "However, history shows that Arthur and his knights banded together with Merlin and his people to defeat the Saxons."
"Saxons? Weren't they really bloodthirsty?" Vesna asked.
"Extremely." Rhiannon confirmed.
"So," Lilith was formulating a plan. "We stick with Arthur and his knights and eventually we're led to Merlin?"
"Seems to be a rational conclusion." the blonde shrugged.
"Well until then, let's go drink." Vesna said with a sigh.
Leaving their equipment and coats in the room they'd be sleeping in, the women headed to the tavern only armed minimally. The men had gotten there before them and now were involved in different activities. One of the men, the one with braids covering his face had just sent a dagger into the hilt of another man's dagger. Vesna, not able to contain herself had pulled and let loose with one of her throwing daggers. It stuck in the hilt of the braided man's dagger. All of the men looked at them in surprise. None of the women said a word, just filed past them. Vesna grabbed her dagger back as they passed, and the women found a small table to sit at.
Several of the men had ladies in their laps, and the dark knight was playing a game with Roman soldiers. He seemed to winning from the looks of it. Vanora, Bors lady friend, brought them large pottery mugs of sweet mead.
The big blonde knight, who currently had a chesty brunette on his lap, called out to them. "So tell us ladies, where do you hail from?"
Lilith smiled slightly, "I doubt you've heard of it."
"Enlighten us." the dark knight, Lancelot said, finally looking at them. Though he spoke lightly they could see the suspicion in his eyes.
"New York." she answered him with a raised brow. She didn't have to answer any more questions because Bors had pulled Vanora up and had everyone yelling at her to sing. She finally did and it was lovely.
Lilith saw Arthur standing at the back with a lost look in his eyes. Obviously the Bishop hadn't given him good news. When his man Jols called him back he approached and was obviously not making his knights happy. Several stormed away and from the various bits of conversation the women caught the knights would be leaving in the morning. The Bishop and Rome had broken their word and the Sarmatians weren't free as they should be. Lancelot followed Arthur shortly after he left, and shortly after that Lilith went to find them. Lancelot had just stormed off, brushing past her angrily when Lilith found Arthur in the stables.
"Someone seems to have a hot head." she spoke softly so as not to startle him.
"They are disappointed."
"That's understandable."
"What do you need?" he asked with a snap to his voice.
"We wish to accompany you on your mission." She said sitting back against the railing in the stables.
Arthur turned to face her more fully. "Why?"
Lilith thought before answering. "We know no one in this Keep besides you and your knights, and we're not inclined to trust others. Yet, you and your knights have proven to us that you're worthy of our trust…to an extent." Arthur sensed something else behind her words but didn't interrupt. "We don't wish to stay here. We wish to find our way home. Perhaps your path will help us accomplish this." She stood straight. "Besides would it really hurt to have six more warriors on your side?"
"Six more lives I must worry for?" he answered her.
Her jaw clenched. "No. The women are my concern. You worry about yourself and your knights. I'll worry about us."
"Fine." he said. "I'll arrange for horses for you and your companions. You do ride?"
"Yes Arthur, we do." A look of satisfaction crossed her face.
The eleven riders left the next morning and rode hard. In the forest the Woads had surrounded them, but for some reason they let them go unharmed. This struck the curiosity of the women, but they didn't ask about it for it seemed that the men didn't know the answer. They pulled into the land before the Roman's home and waited while Arthur went about his business.
Lilith noticed Aradia veering away from the group. Arthur was currently cutting down a man who'd been flogged for asking for more grain. "What is it Aradia?" Lilith asked quietly seeing the faraway look in her comrades eyes.
"The stench of death. Can't you smell it? It smells like corpses." she said with disgust. At her words Arthur's men began looking around. It didn't take long for them to find two monks constructing a wall to cover an entrance. "They're blocking whatever is in there." Aradia dropped to the ground, her head tilted to one side. It seemed as if her deep brown eyes swirled with sparks. Her quiet manner had drawn Arthur's attention. Aradia looked at the man who would be king one day. "There are many dead in there." She told him; emotion ripe in her tone.
Accompanied by the shouts of the monks, and the screams of Marius Dagonet busted down the wall within minutes. The monks continued to scream, and several of the men had entered what seemed to be a small dungeon. The women did nothing as cries came from below and soon Arthur and Dagonet were bringing limp bodies out and calling for water.
"They're Woad." Tristan told Arthur.
"They're people." Aradia told the man staring him in the eye. Tristan stared at the dark skinned woman blankly. It was rare for someone, especially a woman, to contradict him.
"I don't like that look in his eyes." Galahad murmured to Lancelot.
Lancelot was still staring at Arthur who held his sword to the Roman's neck. "He's going to try to save everyone."
"How noble." Rhiannon mumbled.
"More like stupid." Lancelot said looking at the blonde.
"Suicidal." Lilith added with a shake of her head.
"Or even heroic… if it works." Aradia had the final word, and moved away from the others.
Following Arthur's lead they made their way East. Arthur spent his time riding beside Lancelot, or checking on the female Woad they'd saved. "Why did you come with us?" Lancelot asked Lilith from her right. The snow was falling and lay in her ebony hair like stars. She held the cloak around her tightly seeing as her clothing wasn't exactly made for this type of weather even with her trench coat.
"Would you have wanted to be left with the bishop at the Keep?" she asked keeping her gaze in front of her.
"That's not the full answer."
Lilith acknowledged this with a nod. "We're trying to find a way home. To do that we need to stay near Arthur."
He obviously misunderstood her because he smirked. "I think the pretty Woad has all of his attention."
Lilith smirked back. "And she can keep it. I meant in his general vicinity, not in his bed." She finally looked at him, and he gave her a nod.
"So where are you from really?"
"I wasn't lying when I said New York. We've lived there the past five years. However, when we ended up here we'd been in London, but not London as you would have heard of it. Where we're from it is a great city. Large and well populated."
"You're all so different. How long have you fought together?"
"Ten years, for myself and Aradia." Lancelot found himself staring at the woman Lilith had known the longest. Aradia was truly a beautiful woman. Her skin was a creamy caramel color. Deep brown eyes fringed in thick, long eyelashes, and wildly curly brown hair with reddish gold highlights. "Vesna and Rhiannon joined us nine years ago." Currently Vesna, the smaller redhead was laughing at something Aradia was saying. Even as the shortest of the bunch Vesna was still a fair sized woman. Her brilliant red hair was cut short and vivid green eyes twinkled with mirth. Freckles danced along her pale skin liberally.
Rhiannon, the woman he remembered as speaking about Arthur rode near the wagon and watched the snow from her steel gray eyes. Her blonde hair was long and thick, and she'd pulled it back with a band of some sort. Her skin was kissed by the sun as if she spent much time in it. Kali was similar in coloring to Aradia but not as dark. Her eyes were so dark they seemed black, and her hair was wavy and as black as her eyes. Hecate was speaking with Rhiannon, who listened quietly. Hecate's red-gold hair hung in one straight fall down her back. Her eyes were a cross of light blue and light green, and he'd never seen any like them before. "Hecate and Kali joined us six years ago."
This brought Lancelot's attention back to Lilith. The leader of the female warriors was as lovely as her fellow warriors. Ebony hair, silky straight framed lovely white skin unmarked by blemishes; her eyelashes were as startling as Aradia's, and they framed deep azure blue eyes. Her lips were full, and a deep pink, and her cheekbones were high and stunning.
"And where is this New York?" he asked coming back to himself.
"Across the sea in a place called America." she said with a smile.
"I have never heard of this place." he said with a frown.
"That's because Europeans haven't discovered it yet."
"Are you trying to say you're from the future? All of you?" he asked with disbelief.
She smiled. "I'm not trying to say anything. I was answering your questions."
Up ahead the caravan was stopping. "It appears we're making camp for the evening." He said with a frown.
Camp was set up quickly and a tent was set up for the six women to share. Lilith wasn't going to argue. She'd rather sleep on canvas floor, than dirt mingled with grass and snow.
Vesna looked at her. "That female Woad is leaving camp. Arthur is following." She looked to Lilith for instructions.
Lilith nodded slightly, and the girl rolled under the edge of the tent silently. "Aradia, keep check." Aradia, too, followed her orders and left the tent. "Rhiannon I'd like you to keep an eye on Marius and his hired guns. Hecate, Kali, let's keep an eye on Arthur's knights."
Several hours later the women made their way back to their tent. Vesna had just rolled back into the tent with an excited breath. "He met with Merlin!" she could barely keep her voice low. "Merlin seemed confused, but I couldn't hear everything. Arthur was pretty pissed at the Woad woman, Guinevere."
Aradia and Rhiannon entered the tent shortly after. "I don't like the things I'm hearing from the hired guns." Rhiannon murmured. "I think they plan to kill Dagonet, or the boy he saved."
Aradia crouched low. "All of Arthur's men are spread out. Dagonet sleeps alone near the boy."
The women left the tent and neared the spot where Dagonet had been sleeping. There was some type of commotion occurring. Currently Marius held the boy to him, a dagger to his throat, and several of his hired men had their weapons towards a weaponless Dagonet. They had almost reached the group when an arrow shot forward impaling Marius, who dropped to the ground. Arthur called for the men to lay down their weapons, but they were hesitating. Rhiannon walked forward slowly towards one of the men she'd been listening to earlier in the night.
"You want to kill this man?" she asked very calmly. "Do you think that's a good choice or bad choice?"
"Pagan scum." the man spit on the ground and his hand tightened on his sword. Arthur called for the men to drop their weapons again, but the man started to raise his as if to attack Rhiannon.
"Bad choice." she answered. Before the man could blink she'd pulled one of her handguns and shot him between the eyes. The other men dropped their weapons and fell to their knees in fear, never having seen or heard anything like the gunfire. The dead man dropped first to his knees, then to the ground. The camp stared at Rhiannon in silence. Meanwhile Rhiannon had already holstered her firearm. She turned and headed back to Lilith. "I shouldn't have done that." she sighed. Lilith quirked an eyebrow at the blonde. "Waste of ammo."
"What was that?" Arthur whispered. Bors had come riding into camp furiously and just stared at everyone not knowing what had happened.
"It's called Justice." Aradia murmured from beside Lilith.
The women walked away before he could ask any more questions. The group broke camp and began their long trek once more. It seemed that Tristan had taken out four Saxons. He dropped the large crossbow on the ground at Arthur's feet and announced it was armor piercing. They were crossing the ice lake slowly, and could hear every crack in the ice.
Arthur decided to make his stand on the lake of ice. He, his knights, Guinevere and Lilith and her crew were staying.
Lancelot looked over to Guinevere with a smirk. "You look frightened. There's a large number of lonely men out there."
She smirked back at him. "Don't worry, I won't let them rape you."
Lilith watched the byplay with interest. It seemed as if the young Woad woman liked to play her options out. Turning away Lilith watched as the Saxons advanced. She knew that Arthur hoped that once the Saxons approached en masse they'd break through the ice. It sounded good for a little while, but as the Saxons fell to the bows of Arthur and his men, he realized it wouldn't work. Before he finished speaking Dagonet had run out and was chopping at the ice with his axe. "Cover him!" he yelled in fear.
"Son of a bitch!" Lilith muttered. "Hey Hotstuff!" she yelled to Lancelot. When he looked at her strangely she grinned. "That a real shield, or just a pretty decoration?"
"One of the best."
"Hand it over." Without arguing he did so quickly. Lilith grabbed the shield and ran forward, sliding on her knees for the last few feet. She ended at Dagonet's feet, spinning to face him and handed him the shield. "Look D, I have something here that'll be a lot more effective than that axe, as fabulous as it is. What say you hold this shield to cover us, and I take care of the ice?"
He held it without questioning her and saw her take something out of a pocket. It looked like a small metal spike with a pommel on the top. She slammed it into the ice and it stuck there. "Done." she said with a satisfied expression on her lovely face, and she looked back to him. "Okay, let's blow this Popsicle stand. You stand behind me with the shield since you're bigger."
Dagonet hesitated for a moment not seeing how she'd resolved the issue. She started walking back though without waiting and his chivalry kicked in. He followed her holding the shield behind. Arrows were hitting the shield with great force. Lilith pulled out a small metal object and continued walking.
"Fire in the hole!" Vesna yelled. All of the women seemed to brace themselves as they stood watching wide grins crossing their faces.
The Saxons had begun moving forward again when Lilith pressed on the device and a huge explosion rocked the ice. Dagonet fell to his knees stunned, yet Lilith continued walking. She was quite a sight walking in her strange outfit, her coat billowing around her with screams of men and flames licking the sky behind her. To Arthur she looked the part of Avenging Angel, to Lancelot she appeared as the Goddess of War of his people.
She and Dagonet made it back to the others and turned to watch some of the Saxons retreating as the majority plunged into the icy waters to their death. Lilith looked at Dagonet. "You're a brave man Dagonet. None could argue that." she told him with respect obvious in her voice.
"Nay Lady, it is you who saved the day. My death would have been certain if not for your device of fire."
No one else spoke, but the men kept throwing the women furtive glances. More and more it seemed the women harnessed power they couldn't imagine. The group rode on and made it into the Wall as the caravan finished pulling in. Lucan, the boy he'd saved, ran over to Dagonet as soon as they saw him. The bishop was there and he had lots of pretty words for the men after Alecto snubbed him. The men looked at the bishop with naked hate in their eyes as they were given their papers, and Tristan confiscated the box which had held them. "Where are the papers I requested for the women?" Arthur questioned the man.
"As for the women…" The bishop addressed Arthur.
Lilith moved forward slowly; a cold smile played across her face. "I really don't know why you're speaking with him. I lead these women."
This seemed to make the man both nervous and angry. "Yes, well, as a mere woman…" At her raised eyebrow he cleared his throat. "Well, we must determine where you belong and how long you'll serve Rome."
"That was not our agreement Bishop Germanius." Arthur was furious.
Lilith laughed and the sound was rich and inviting, and the other women joined in. "We don't serve Rome." Her stance was relaxed as if she hadn't a care in the world. "As for where we belong…well, that's not something you shall ever have to worry about." She made to turn and walk away when he spoke again.
"You will not travel through any part of Rome without letters of safe conduct. They will catch, and kill you." he sneered. "I'll take great pleasure in making sure you serve on your back."
The knights barely saw Lilith move, but within seconds she had the bishop against the wall with one of her sai at his throat. Her women had also pulled weapons and stood in a protective circle around the pair as some Roman guards advanced. "Do you know the story of the first Lilith Germanius?" she whispered. The courtyard was silent and even though her voice was soft, it carried to all ears. "She was the first wife of Adam. She felt she was equal to him and would not stand behind him, but only beside him. She knew that woman was not inferior to man. So God cast her out of his Garden of Eden and she became a powerful demon. A consummate killer." The man whimpered slightly. "I can slit your throat before your men took a step towards you." she hissed. His eyes flickered to Arthur. "Do you think he will save you? Perhaps Arthur will try… do you think his Knights will? The men who have been freed this day owe you nothing now, and seeing how we bear no ill will towards Arthur, I really don't see them stepping forward." She pressed her sai more firmly into his bobbing adam's apple and a thin line of blood welled. Her lips were close to his ear. "I am not some tavern wench to be used for a man's pleasure. And no man will touch me without my express permission. I have killed many men for less, and probably will again, so you might not want to give me reason to have to visit you in the night. We have no need for your safe conduct." A sneer held Lilith's face and her teeth bared. She pulled away from him slightly. "I do not follow behind. I am equal."
Germanius' soldiers stared in horror, their swords pulled but not knowing what to do. The women in front of them held weapons, and they'd seen the women in battle. "Put….put your weapons away." Germanius choked out. He looked at Arthur again, and saw that Arthur hadn't moved forward although his hand was on his sword. The knights just watched with some amusement. "The letters for the women are in the box now held by the Sarmatian." he wheezed out.
Lilith eased up slightly, her lip curling in disgust as she looked at the man. "Let's make a deal you and I. Let's stay out of each other's way, eh?" one ebony eyebrow raised in contempt. "I don't think it would be healthy for you otherwise."
Arthur stared at the scene in front of him transfixed and torn. He knew his duty would be to protect Germanius, but something inside of him told him the woman was in her right. Watching her he felt a stirring in his blood he'd never felt before. She was as fierce a warrior as any of his men, and led her women with the same concern he gave his men. Her words were powerful and moved within him. When Germanius nodded to her last words she let him go slowly and watched as he and his troops moved away. None of the women relaxed until the Romans were out of sight. Lilith spun the sai in her hand and sheathed it. They watched the man hurry away. "How can you stomach that man?" Lilith asked Arthur as he moved closer to her.
"I did what I had to." he answered. "I did my duty to Rome."
She looked at him with her intelligent eyes. "Duty to Rome? Rome was a great empire." She graced him with a wry grin. "Keep one thing in mind Arthur, great empires don't last forever; especially those clouded in corruption."