The forest was still shaking.
Alan ran.
Not because he thought he could escape-he already knew he couldn't.
Every step he took rattled through his bones, echoing the aftershock of the vision that was still clawing at his skull. His breath heaved in uneven bursts, his lungs tight and burning. Branches whipped across his arms, lashing against the skin like the forest itself wanted to push him back.
But the air had shifted.
He felt it before he heard it-an old pressure, thick and suffocating, weighing down the entire forest.
Then came the growl.
A sound too deep for anything human.
A tremor that ran through the soil.
A rumble that made the trees lean away as if they had learned fear.
Alan skidded to a stop.
His eyes widened because the forest ahead of him, the place he thought he could run toward, suddenly wasn't empty anymore.
Something dropped from the branches above, cracking the ground so hard that dirt flew upward in a burst.
Alan staggered back, hand tightening around the sword so hard his palm throbbed.
The creature rose.
Not a beast.
Not a dragon.
Not anything a normal world would allow to exist.
Alan's breath halted.
His wound pulsed-no, throbbed violently, as if something inside his arm was responding to the creature's presence.
He hissed through his teeth, clutching his left arm.
"Ghh-no… not now-!"
The glowing under his skin flared like a warning. The ache was sharp, almost electric, shooting through the bone and spreading toward his chest. He stumbled, dropping to one knee as the pain threatened to fold him in half.
The creature's head lowered.
Smoke curled from between its jagged teeth.
It took a single step.
The earth shook.
"Move, Alan. Move!"
He pushed himself up, wobbling. His breath was ragged, his thoughts fogged by pain-but he lifted his sword anyway.
Even though he knew he couldn't outrun it.
Even though he knew he couldn't overpower it.
He still raised the blade.
The creature lunged.
Alan barely rolled aside. Its claw tore through the space where he had stood a second earlier, slicing straight through the trunk of a tree behind him.
CRACK.
The tree collapsed into two clean halves.
Alan stumbled to his feet, swinging desperately. His blade grazed the creature's side-but it was like hitting stone. Sparks flew. His arm burned as the force rattled through his bones.
The creature whipped around fast.
Too fast.
Alan ducked. The creature's tail passed inches above his head, carving a trench into the soil and throwing dirt into the air.
He coughed, eyes stinging. He wasn't winning.
He wasn't even surviving-he was delaying death.
His wound pulsed again-harder.
"Aaagh-!"
The pain shot up his arm, burning like molten metal twisting inside him. His vision blurred. His knees buckled.
The creature roared, an angry, metallic sound that echoed through the entire Black Forest.
Alan forced his eyes open.
But the world spun.
His grip loosened.
"No… stay awake…"
The creature lunged again. Its claws gleamed, raised for a direct killing blow.
Alan froze.
Not because he wanted to.
Because his body simply… locked. The pain, the fear, the leftover shock of the vision, everything crashed onto him at once.
"This is it. This is really it.
It's over-"
A scream cut through the forest.
"ALAAAAAAN!!!"
A force slammed into him from the side-hard.
Too hard. Both bodies rolled across the dirt until they collided with a thick root, gasping.
Alan blinked-it took him a moment to understand.
Edward was on top of him, arms braced around him, panting violently.
Edward.
He pushed Alan down again just as the creature's claws ripped through the space where Alan's head had been.
SHHHHK-
Four trees were sliced clean in a single swipe.
The earth behind them split open, deep cracks extending like lightning across the soil.
Dust filled the air.
Edward coughed harshly, eyes watering, but his voice cut through the haze:
"ALAN! HEY! LOOK AT ME!"
He slapped Alan across the cheek.
Alan gasped, eyes snapping back into focus. The shock of the hit broke through the paralysis inside his chest. Air rushed back into his lungs.
"Edward why?- how did you-"
"No time!" Edward snapped. "Get up! We're not dying here!"
The creature roared again, furious that its attack missed.
Edward grabbed Alan's arm, pulling him to his feet.
"Alan! Alan listen!"
Edward's grip shook, but his voice didn't.
His eyes were sharp, fearful, yes but alive, blazing with determination.
"We have to fight this thing. We can't run. Not from that." He pointed at the monster with shaking hands. "If we run, it'll kill us anyway."
Alan stared at him.
"How could Edward face this thing with only a sword?
How could he stand when he was shaking?
How could he still speak when he clearly saw death right in front of them?"
Edward's voice softened, just a little.
"We can defeat this thing, Alan. You and me."
Alan looked back at the creature.
Its jaws are dripping with black tar.
Its claws are long enough to slice stone.
Its wings are trembling with rage.
And Alan's chest tightened.
"We?, Really?"
He wanted to believe.
He needed to believe.
But reality pressed down on his shoulders like crushing iron.
"This… this thing…" Alan whispered, voice cracking, "Edward… I don't know if we can-"
"Hey."
Edward forced a grin-wide, reckless, stupid, brave.
"When have we ever had the luxury of fighting things we can beat?"
Alan stared.
A breath escaped him-half laugh, half despair.
Edward turned toward the beast, lifting his sword.
"Stay close! Don't think-just move!"
The creature lunged.
Its claws are slashing through the air.
Alan dodged left. Edward rolled right. The two barely avoided being skewered, a near miss that sliced a chunk of Alan's cloak clean off.
Alan shouted, "Edward-!"
Edward shouted, "I KNOW, I KNOW-MOVE!"
The creature swung again.
Alan rolled.
Edward jumped back.
But even dodging hurt-every movement sent a jolt through Alan's wounded arm.
He gritted his teeth, panting.
Edward attacked first, swinging at the creature's legs. The blow barely scratched its cracked scales.
But it was enough to draw its attention.
The creature's head snapped toward Edward.
"OH NO NO NO NO, ALAN HELP-!"
Alan didn't think.
He charged.
But the creature was too fast-its tail slammed into Alan before he even raised his blade.
"GUHH-!"
He was thrown across the forest, rolling violently before crashing into a fallen log. Pain exploded across his back.
Edward screamed, "ALAN!!!"
Alan coughed blood into the soil.
His vision trembled. His wound pulsed so violently, he thought his arm was going to explode.
He forced himself up. Slowly, stumbling.
Edward was barely dodging the creature's attacks. He dodged a swipe that sliced through a boulder behind him.
"We can't beat it head-on. We're too weak. Too slow. But something in this forest…"
Alan's mind flashed.
A muddy patch.
Soft ground.
He saw it when he first ran in. His heart pounded.
"Edward!!!"
Edward, dodging claws and swipes, yelled back, "WHAT?!"
"We CAN'T beat this thing directly!"
Edward "YEAH I NOTICED, HELP ME!!"
Alan shouted, "WE NEED TO TRAP IT!"
Edward froze.
A claw nearly pierced his face as he ducked instinctively.
"A trap?! ALAN-NOT THE TIME FOR-"
Alan shouted, "JUST TRUST ME!"
Edward hesitated.
Just a second. But that second was enough.
He nodded.
"Fine! Tell me!"
Alan pointed past Edward.
"THE MUD! GET IT TO THE PIT!"
Edward looked and understood instantly.
He sprinted.
The creature lunged after him.
Alan ran toward the cliff, adrenaline surging through him like fire. The world narrowed. His pain faded into background noise.
He climbed the small rise, heart hammering.
"EDWARD JUMP!!!"
Edward didn't question. Edward trusted him blindly. He leapt at the perfect moment, soaring over the muddy patch.
The creature tried the same. But its huge weight betrayed it.
SPLASH-
Its front legs plunged deep into the mud, trapped instantly. Its body slammed forward, collapsing onto the ground with a thunderous fall.
The ground swallowed its legs. The creature roared, sinking.
Alan leapt from the cliff. Sword raised. He aimed for the head.
He slammed down with everything he had-
THUD.
The blow wasn't enough.
The creature shrieked and swung its massive horn upward.
It struck Alan mid-air.
CRACK.
He flew violently.
He hit a tree.
The impact stole the air from his lungs.
He collapsed to the dirt, coughing, unable to move.
The creature dragged itself closer, pulling its body through the mud. It couldn't free its legs, but it could still kill.
Edward stood alone.
"Come on… come on you useless legs…" Alan whispered, gripping the mud beneath him.
The creature raised its head, preparing to strike Edward down.
Alan did the only thing he could.
He grabbed a handful of mud and hurled it.
"HEY - OVER HERE!"
The mud hit perfectly, straight into its burning eyes.
The creature screeched so loudly the trees shook.
"Edward - NOW!!!" Alan roared.
Something burst inside Edward.
Fear.
Adrenaline.
Will.
All mixing into one explosive drive.
He swung.
Hard. Harder than he ever had.
"AAAAAAH!!!"
His blade cut through the creature's lower body.
A crippling blow.
It roared in agony, its mobility gone.
"EDWARD-!"
Edward threw his sword.
Alan caught it.
He pushed himself up-every tendon screaming, every breath burning.
His shadow pulsed behind him.
Deep.
Alive.
Calling.
He ran.
He leapt.
"HAAAAAH!!!"
The blade sliced.
SHHHH...THUMP.
The creature's head rolled.
Silence.
A heavy, stunned, impossible silence. Edward panted, collapsing backwards.
Alan staggered, dropping to his knees as exhaustion crushed him.
Then Edward laughed.
It slipped out-shaky, disbelieving.
Alan stared at him.
Then laughed too.
Both boys leaned against each other-bloody, bruised, trembling, but alive.
Alan whispered, voice raw
"Edward… if you weren't here… I'd be dead."
Edward elbowed him gently, smiling weakly.
"No. Without your crazy panic-plans, we'd both be dead."
Alan lowered his head.
"No, Edward… we did this."
Edward nodded, eyes soft.
"Yeah. Together."
The two sat in the dirt, unable to move, breathing in the victory they weren't supposed to achieve.
But far behind them, deep in the forest
The trees shook with a new tremor.
The forest pressed in around her as Kaelira urged her horse forward, the sound of hooves muffled by fallen leaves. Her black hair whipped across her face, but she barely noticed, her eyes were fixed on the path ahead, sharp and unyielding.
A flash of red drew her gaze. She slowed, letting her horse sink into the shadows of a massive oak. From her hidden vantage, she saw them: soldiers in red and black armour, marching in tight formation. Horned helmets gleamed in the fading light. Their banners-stitched with the two-horns symbol-fluttered violently, a harbinger of terror.
"These bastards…" she muttered, her voice low, bitter. "I knew… I knew this would happen."
Her hand rested on the hilt of her sword, feeling its familiar hum under her fingers, alive and eager.
The distant village, innocent and unknowing, pressed against her chest. Smoke curled lazily from chimneys. Children played too close to danger. She could not let them fall into the soldiers' path.
The army's march grew louder, the clatter of armour echoing through the trees like the heartbeat of war. Kaelira mounted her horse again, crouched low, cloak wrapped tight. Her eyes glimmered with determination. She was ready.
"You think you can march here and take what is ours," she whispered to the wind, "but you don't know who waits in the shadows...."