[ WP ] `` I do n't owe you a fair fight ''

The canyon stretched alongside us, a gaping wound in the dry, cracked earth. The harsh desert wind cut through my cloak and attacked my eyes with grit and heat, the constant noise of it all too familiar to my ears. Our shadows reached out to the canyon, leaning over the edge and into the cool darkness. The river far below could n't be heard over the sound of that wind, but I thirsted for its fresh water anyway. I dragged my voice over the gravel of my throat and forced myself to say the words to his back. 
 
 “ It ’ s over, Samuel. ” 
 
 He stopped, and his shoulders stiffened. A gust of wind blew his cloak aside for a moment, and I could see his hand resting tentatively on the hilt of his saber. I felt a nagging itch in my own hand, but I didn ’ t move. I couldn ’ t provoke him until I knew the truth. Still, my palm tingled with anticipation. I could almost feel the warm familiarity of the grooves worn into the hilt – grooves that, after years of use, matched the contours of my own hand. 
 
 Samuel relaxed his shoulders almost imperceptibly when he realized I was n't going to rush him, and he turned to face me. That self-assured smirk never left his face. “ You ’ re getting slow, Alaric. It was over three days ago, and thirty-two miles north of here. ” 
 
 “ You always were trying to convince me I was slower than I was. Slower than you. It took me fifteen years to realize the truth – you were scared of me. ” 
 
 The smirk turned into a grin. “ I was as scared of you as I was of a little boy. Which is exactly what you were back then. And exactly what you ’ re acting like right now. ” 
 
 “ If I was as slow as you said, you ’ d have killed me by now. ” He didn ’ t have a response to that. I pressed on. “ Before we do this, I ’ d like to know why. ” 
 
 The grin vanished completely. “ You know exactly why. ” 
 
 “ I know why you killed Joshua. And I know why you used the Ways back in Blue Falls. ” 
 
 His eyes sparkled. “ Those people had never *seen* such magic, ” he said. “ Never seen anyone who knew the Ways as well as we do. ” 
 
 “ I ’ m pretty sure I know the rest, but I ’ d like to hear it from you. ” 
 
 “ You think you deserve to know the reasons? ” 
 
 “ I think you owe them to me. ” 
 
 He chuckled mirthlessly. “ Owe you? Don ’ t tell me you've been keeping score all these years? ” 
 
 I shook my head wearily. “ No score. But after Blue Falls, I think I've earned it. ” 
 
 “ Maybe so. ” He took a moment to assess me. I could see his eyes scan over my hunched shoulder, my bloody knee, the way my eyes sunk into my skull like they were trying to hide from the merciless sun. Still, the wind rushed by, unabated by the presence of two insignificant creatures like us. Like pebbles in a stream, the current wearing us down by moments, each stinging grain of sand sapping a little more strength from us. 
 
 He was much more well-versed in the Ways of magic than I was. He had taught me everything I know about them, and he knew considerably more than that. If we traded blows on equal footing, I would likely lose. Given the dark spots encroaching on the periphery of my vision and the weakness leaching into my bones, I knew I was already at a disadvantage. 
 
 “ Maybe so, ” he continued, “ maybe you deserve to know about Miranda. Maybe I should tell you that your suspicions were right, and that I did it for her. ” He grasped the hilt of his sword deliberately, gravely. “ But you won ’ t live to be able to do anything with the knowledge. I ’ m sorry, but I ’ m going to bury you in this canyon, Alaric. ” I fought the urge to grab my own saber, almost as reflexive as holding my breath underwater. “ I ’ m afraid I don ’ t owe you any mercy. ” 
 
 The gunshot ’ s echo returned from the canyon almost before the last word was out of his mouth. Samuel fell to his knees. As blood and bile spilled from his gut onto the thirsty sand, the wind carried away the smoke from my revolver ’ s barrel. There were no familiar grooves on this handle; the weight of this weapon was slightly alien to me. But its range was more than a match for the sword. 
 
 My boots crunched on the gravel as I stalked my fallen mentor. The truth, now known by only me and the uncaring wind, was his death sentence. “ And I ’ m sorry Samuel. But I don ’ t owe you a fair fight. ”
