Tunis

My name is Xena Baal. It’s my 15th birthday and I just buried my mother and father. I come from a long line of warriors but the line ended with me. Despite being a daughter, I was taught everything that a son needed to know. My mother supported this as she loved and supported my father in every decision.

That all changed last night when two war weary soldiers came to our home. While father and I were out hunting, they took turns raping my mother. We came upon them as they killed her. Our rage was fierce as we fought them. It was my first battle to the death and as I ran my sword through the body of one soldier, the other mortally wounded my father. I gutted the man without blinking an eye and then held my father as he bled out in my arms.

“Xena,” he gasped out. “All I own is now yours. Remember our faces.” That was the last time I cried like a child. I buried them both in one grave, as my mother would have wanted it that way.

I am now alone. I am Xena Baal and I am a Warrior of Ghanzi.