The wind, twisting at grandma's feet she jumps back, dodging a blow from a sneaky wolf immediately, pulling her bow back swirls of green entering the temp of the arrow before letting loose the arrow impact the wolf sending it stumbling to the ground unmoving
Are you OK? " grandma asks where worry in her voice"
I'm fine " I stutter out with a cough"
Grandma continuing to dodge the attacks of the wolves while protecting me
Look you have to run back to the village warn them. This is just a scouting party. The alpha shouldn't be far behind them.
But grandma I can't just leave you here "drawing back my bow"
I can help
I hope do you think you can give me right now?
" I greet my teeth knowing" I can't just leave you
"Grandma dodges another blow only to dodge into another sustaining a cut on our right shoulder"
Your brave I know you are, but you don't need to prove it now go one in the village she says, panting, her pain evidence
Hesitantly, grinding my teeth I turn around and run as fast as I can weaving for the trees towards the village we weren't that far but far enough that it would still take me some time to get there
Two of the wolf split off the chase after me, one of them catching an arrow to the back and falling to the ground the other chases after me
Harder faster with everything I have
I have to get back to the village. I have to bring help back.
No matter how fast I run I cannot run this flaking wolf stumble looking back I see the wolf my eyes go wide fear overcoming me
I fall backwards, the Wolf on top of me using the momentum on my fall and the wolf's lunge I kick off, sending it into a tree
Before rolling in the dirt, I hear snap and let out a scream pain shooting from my side stand up and start to run again too scared to even look back.
I have to make it
I have to " I say desperately running with all I have"
I remember what grandma said the lesson she was trying to teach me to just let it flow
I feel it again a tingling feeling from my entire body jolting me forward once again arcs of light cover my body the world slows down
And I run faster than I've ever run before the pain in my side lessons The power is invigorating
But I don't pay attention to it just the words repeating in my head
" I cannot fail"
I look in the corner of my eye, and the wolf is still keeping up with me running alongside me. "No it was just toying with me before"
It lunges at me this time unable to dodge I per his Paw with my bow it shatters splinters flying everywhere but it was just enough to make a mess I'm still pushed back by the blow rolling Panting, I look up the wolf snarling at me I grabbed the knife from my side
OK you got my attention I stutter
He's faster than me stronger than me has more control over mana just perfect
But I know that I'm not going anywhere unless I kill I've never killed anything before
I barely dodging time just seeing a paw in front of my face clause slicing my ear
Immediately, I brandish my knife, stabbing it in the side, but my timing was off, and the wound was too shallow
Kicking me with its back foot I get sent hurtling I cough a little blood
I run straight at me Taking in a deep breath, I draw my mana Again the act unfamiliar, but the world slows just a little enough for me to act and I dodge paw planting a firm kick in it side using all my mana the wolf smashes into a tree
While it's done by lunch forward, shoving my knife into its throat I stab again
And again
And again
As if just to make sure it was dead, that was too close If I could feel it, my mana Was low my energy zapped but I had no choice. I got up and sprinted as fast as I could to the village.
I run for what feels like an eternity, my vision blurring at the edges. My legs scream in protest, every step sending sharp pain coursing through my body, but I can't stop.
I have to make it.
I have to get help for Grandma.
The thought pounds in my head, keeping me going even as my strength wanes.
"I have to get there. I have to… I have to…"
My mind drifts into a haze, the world around me turning into a formless blur. My body feels like it's on fire, but somehow, I push forward. Then, through the fog, I see it—the gates to the village.
Hope surges through me, and I find a last reserve of strength, sprinting toward the gates with everything I have.
Two guards standing near the entrance spot me. One shouts, "Sylvara?"
"Tlam…" I manage to squeak out, barely above a whisper.
They rush to me, their expressions shifting from confusion to alarm as they see my disheveled state.
"What happened? Are you okay? Where's the old lady?"
I clutch my side, my breathing ragged. "The south woods… You have to help her… Grandma… She's fighting them…"
I feel a sharp pain in my chest and cough, crimson blood staining my hand. One of the guards immediately takes off running toward the woods, his weapon drawn.
The other grabs me by the shoulders. "Sylvara, stay with me! What happened out there?"
But I can't answer. My legs give out, and the world tilts as I collapse. My vision grows dim, and the last thing I see is the blurred outline of the gate as darkness overtakes me.