We kept running.

  The sound of our boots hitting the dirt was the only thing I could hear, over and over, like a drum that wouldn't stop.

  Thud-thud-thud-thud.

  My legs felt heavy, like I was wearing lead boots, and every breath I took felt like I was swallowing needles.

  I tried to look at the trees as we passed, hoping to see a squirrel or a bird or something nomal but everything was just a blur of green and grey.

  For a while, I felt a little bit different.

  Not better, exactly, but... steadier.

  This time, I was calmer.

  My brain wasn't shouting as loudly as it was when the first scout died.

  My heart still hurt, but it felt like it was being squeezed by a giant's hand, and my mind was clear.

  I remembered what Papa said about the Greatsword and honor.

  I remembered Mama's voice telling me to stop being lazy and work hard. I realized that if I were lazy now, Frans might not make it.

  And if Frans didn't make it, I wouldn't either.

  Then, Frans stopped again.

  He didn't look tired at all. His face was like a mask made of stone.

  "We'll fight here," he said, his voice as sharp as his blade.

  He looked around, checking the shadows, then pointed at a huge tree nearby with branches that reached out like big, protective arms.

  "Climb up. Hide. Don't shoot anything until I tell you to."

  "…Got it." I nodded, my neck feeling stiff.

  I hurried to the tree, grabbing the bark with my sticky, scratched-up fingers.

  I climbed as fast as I could, my feet slipping once or twice, but I didn't stop.

  The branches were thick and covered in moss, perfect for hiding.

  From up there, I could see everything.

  It was like being at the puppet show in the village square, only the stage was the forest floor, and the puppets were real people.

  Frans walked forward alone and sat down on a rock.

  He rested his heavy sword on his shoulder, looking out into the trees. …I had to admit.

  It was a cool pose.

  He looked like the heroes in the old tapestries…someone waiting, not someone being hunted.

  He looked like he owned the forest.

  But then, the waiting ended.

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  They came. I heard them before I saw them, the clank-clank sound of metal armor and the snorting of horses.

  Four heavily armored knights rode into the clearing, their armor bearing the bright, scary emblem of Starheim.

  They looked so big, like silver monsters.

  And behind them, two soldiers with no emblem, holding bows.

  I felt the panic start to bubble up in my throat again.

  Archers.

  The "cowards" Papa warned me about.

  They were scarier than the knights because they didn't have to get close to hurt you.

  Their horses slowed when they saw Frans just sitting there, calm as a summer pond.

  One of the knights laughed.

  It was a mean, jagged sound that made my skin crawl.

  "Oh? Waiting for us?" he said in a mocking tone.

  "Finally giving up, little Avenir?"

  Frans didn't answer.

  He didn't even blink.

  He just watched them with those eyes that were starting to change.

  They dismounted, their heavy armor making a loud thump as they hit the ground.

  They spread out, moving slowly, like wolves surrounding a lone deer, forming a circle around him.

  "…Kill him," one of them said.

  The archers raised their bows, the wood creaking as they pulled the strings back.

  The knights moved in, swords drawn.

  Frans's eyes changed.

  Four layered colors.

  The forest seemed to hold its breath.

  I held my breath too, gripping the branch so hard my knuckles turned white.

  The first knight charged with a roar.

  CLANG!

  The sound of steel on steel was so loud it made my ears ring.

  Frans blocked the strike and twisted his body in a way that didn't even look human, narrowly avoiding another blade that tried to bite into his back.

  Whoosh!

  An arrow flew past his head, so close it probably cut the air.

  He stepped to the side, and another arrow struck the ground right where he had been standing a second before.

  He was surrounded.

  Four against one.

  My heart was screaming Run, Frans! Get out of there!

  But he didn't run.

  He moved like water.

  Like wind.

  He slipped between the heavy blades, ducked under swings that would have smashed a rock, and aimed for the gaps.

  He knew exactly where the armor was weak: the joints, the neck, the places where the metal didn't meet.

  With one quick strike, the first knight fell.

  Blood poured from under his helmet, soaking into the dry leaves. T

  The second knight roared a sound of pure anger and rushed him.

  Frans didn't move away

  He stepped inside the man's guard, right up close, and stabbed upward.

  The blade went through the gap under the chest plate like it was nothing.

  Dead.

  "Watch out! Don't let him…" one of them started to scream.

  Too late.

  An arrow flew from the back.

  Frans twisted his torso by a hair's breadth.

  It missed him by a hair, nearly grazing his cheek.

  He glanced up.

  At me.

  I felt a jolt go through my body. It was like a spark of lightning. Now.

  I raised the heavy, ugly crossbow.

  My hands were shaking, and my eyes were stinging with tears I didn't want to let out.

  Don't be lazy, Rick. Don't be a coward. Save him.

  I aimed at the first archer.

  My vision felt weirdly sharp, like the world was moving in slow motion.

  Thuut.

  The crossbow kicked back against my shoulder, but I saw the bolt fly. The first archer's head snapped back.

  He didn't even make a sound as he fell.

  Dead.

  "What!?" the other archer shouted, his voice cracking with fear.

  The second archer panicked.

  He saw his friend fall, and he ran, trying to hide behind a big oak tree.

  My hands moved without thinking, just like Mama said they should when I was doing my chores.

  Pull the lever.

  Place the bolt.

  Aim.

  Thuut.

  His head jerked as the bolt hit. He collapsed into a heap of messy clothes and wood.

  The forest went silent, a heavy, scary kind of silence that made me want to cover my ears.

  The two remaining knights froze.

  They looked at their fallen friends, then at Frans, then at the trees.

  Their support was gone.

  Their formation was broken.

  They weren't the ones hunting anymore.

  Frans didn't waste the chance.

  He moved like a flash of silver light.

  Two flashes of steel.

  Two more bodies fell, their armor clattering one last time.

  It was over.

  I sat in the tree, my chest heaving and my stomach feeling like it was full of cold stones.

  I looked at the crossbow in my lap.

  I had used it.

  I had been the coward hiding in the trees.

  I felt a big sob try to come out, but I swallowed it.

  We didn't celebrate. We didn't speak.

  Frans just looked up at the tree, his eyes still glowing with those terrifying rings, and I scrambled down as fast as I could, my knees shaking.

  We ran.

  Again.

  Leaving the bodies and the broken circle behind, disappearing into the dark, quiet forest.