He awoke to the sound of a twig snapping.

“Curse my hearing!” He thought as he got up from his bed. He walked across the wooden floor of his room. He went to the door of Willow’s room and looked in glad to see she was sleeping. Aunt Bettie was asleep in her room too. Another twig snapped and he ran to the door. He grabbed the battle axe by the door and stepped outside. His bare feet crunching on the leaves as he looked around. Silver flashed in the distance then an arrow came flying toward him. He easily blocked it when another came. Suddenly humans rushed out from the forest swinging swords at him. He sent the first one to the ground and brought his axe crashing down so hard it left a dent. He blocked the sword strikes and swung towards the second’s belly. The axe cleanly passed through to block the thirds attack.

“Aaaah!” Aunt Bettie screamed. He finished off the third and ignored the others to go help her. He crashed into the house and followed the sound of the screaming. One of the humans held a sword to Aunt Bettie who had Willow hidden behind her. He jumped and landed his axe in the man’s face. Willow ran to him and grabbed hold of his leg. He bent down and rubbed her hair.

“You got to go now okay? Run to the cave with Bettie and stay there till I come to get you alright?”

Willow nodded her head in reply and let go of him. She held Bettie’s hand as Bettie tried to calm down enough to run. They left through the back door out into the woods. He made sure to go first in case he had to clear the way. He looked around relieved to find the way empty. Willow and Bettie ran into the trees to the caves.

“Eversor!” He turned around to the man who had said his name. Standing several yards away was a man dressed in a robe. He had finally found him. “You’ve changed your appearance, but you haven’t aged a bit. It’s been five years hasn’t it?” Eversor remembered well the last time he had seen him. Willow lost her parents that day. He wasn’t gonna let her lose her family again. He charged at the man raising his axe high above his head. He swung at the man who blocked the hit with his metal staff. The metal vibrated under the force of the blow. Eversor smiled. He used his foot to kick the man where it hurts and the man fell back in pain. Then suddenly Eversor turned away from the man and ran into the trees.

Willow and Bettie ran as fast as they could. They knew Eversor would be fine. He had fought battles a thousand times harder. Suddenly a man came from the shadows and pushed Bettie away from Willow. He unsheathed an unusually long sword and sent it flying towards Willow. She screamed and covered her face with her arms. She felt the blade hit her chest, but it didn’t hurt nearly as bad as she thought it would.

“I’m sorry. I’m so…sorry. I should have…have gotten here sooner. Are….are you okay?” She recognized Eversor’s comforting voice. She loved it when he would tell her stories. She liked it better when they were just stories. She moved her arms a little to look down at her chest. She saw the tip of the sword embedded in her. The entire blade was covered in blood, but does blood drip uphill? “I know…it hurts, but I want you to…to walk backwards and I’ll….pull the sword back at the same…time alright? On three. One, two, three!” She walked backwards a couple steps and the half of an inch of sword in her came out. “Good job! Now I…need you to turn around. Don’t open your eyes!! And I want to check on…Bettie and make sure she’s okay.” She always tried not to disobey him, but she didn’t turn around. She opened her eyes and tears streamed down her face. Blood doesn’t flow uphill. Eversor was kneeled down in front of her. The sword ran through his chest and he had grabbed it in his hands. It looked like a big red flower had bloomed on his chest. Blood poured from his mouth and his hands were covered. “Are you okay? Willow?”