[ IP ] The Knight with no name

His gauntlets hit the sand with enough force to displace a good amount of sand around them. He removed his sword from it's sheath and placed it gently on the ground. Drinking was a moment of total weakness, he would not be caught off guard. 
 
 He sunk his hands deep in the cool natural well of the Oasis. It had been two days since last he saw water, and though thirst tore at his throat, his first though was to wash away the blood on his hands. 
 
 His eyes gazed deeply into the pool of water before him. His gaze piercing beyond the water, beyond the sand, yet he was looking at nothing. His mind was lost in a maze of memory. 
 
 An reflection appeared behind him, a women in a red blouse, and a gaping wound in her neck that was as crimson as her shirt. She reached out to the man, tears streaming down her face as blood poured from her throat as a river runs through a valley. 
 
 The man suddenly became aware of the presence behind him. 
 
 `` Maria!'' He shouted as he spun around, attempting to catch the woman as she fell behind him. Yet when he turned there was nothing behind him but the bones of creatures long dead. No trace of the woman, no trace of her blood. 
 
 His hands were clean, though there remained no blood in the pool behind him. He took a moment to gather himself, before facing the well once more. He cupped some water with his hands and drank. This action was repeated several times. 
 
 The man rose from the ground, and dusted the sand off his pants. His gaze shifted downward at his hands, once again they were drenched in blood. This blood that could not, would not wash away. He let out a disheartened sigh. He reattached his gauntlets, as the final strap was fitted in place he heard the sound of horses in the distance. The Federales had returned, and would not let the death of their brethren be for naught. 
 
 Slowly he walked towards the sound of the approaching horses. Hoping for death, maybe his suffering would end. 
 
 `` No.'' He said to himself, sword in hand. `` I can not die until my beloved's soul is at rest.'' 
 
 They would pay for taking his wife, his children, his life. The Federales had betrayed him for the last time. 
 
 A solitary bird soared above him and let out a deafening screech, altering the rest of it's flock far behind him of imminent danger. 
 
 Once, he had been a man who welcomed danger with both arms, a beast that had been slain with love, and awoken with vengeance.
