The night was alive with fire. Elderleaf burned like a pyre offered to the gods, its once-peaceful homes reduced to collapsing pillars of flame. Smoke swallowed the sky, turning the stars into faint ghosts of light. The air was heavy with ash and the screams of the dying.
Erynder stood at the heart of it all, sword in hand, back straight against the chaos. His emerald eyes, sharp as glass, reflected the inferno consuming his village. Around him, humans surged like a tide, armored in steel that glinted with the reflection of the flames.
He breathed in the smoke, and it scorched his lungs. But he held his ground. Behind him, down the forest path, Mara was fleeing into the woods with Kael, Alex, and Lyanna. His family. His everything.
That thought anchored him.
"Not one step closer," he growled, his voice steady despite the exhaustion gnawing at his bones.
The nearest raider sneered. "One elf alone? You'll be kindling before the night ends fool ."
Erynder didn't waste words. He moved.
His blade flashed like silver lightning, cutting through the raider's throat before the man even finished speaking. Blood sprayed, dark against the orange glow. The raider fell with a gurgle, and the others hesitated, realizing too late that this elf was no ordinary villager.
They came at him in pairs.
Steel rang against steel as Erynder twisted, parried, and struck. One man's sword came crashing toward his head he ducked low, slashing across the human's leg, severing tendon. The man screamed and collapsed, leaving an opening that Erynder filled with a thrust straight through his chest. Another lunged from behind, but Erynder pivoted, catching the strike on his blade and shoving it aside. His elbow slammed into the raider's face with a crunch, staggering him long enough for Erynder's sword to pierce his heart.
The bodies piled quickly at his feet.
But for every enemy that fell, more spilled into the village. The raiders moved like ants swarming honey, relentless, endless.
Still, Erynder fought.
He thought of Mara's smile, soft and radiant as sunlight through leaves. He thought of Kael, stubborn and proud, swinging a wooden sword with determination beyond his years. He thought of Alex, curious and thoughtful, with those emerald eyes so much like his own. He thought of Lyanna, tiny hands clutching her doll, laughter ringing like bells.
Every memory became a weapon. Every image became fuel for his resolve.
"I will not let you take them," he whispered under his breath, cutting down another raider. "I will not."
A spear darted toward his ribs he twisted, the blade grazing his side but not enough to stop him. Pain lanced through him, hot and sharp, but he ignored it. He caught the shaft with one hand, yanked it free of the raider's grip, and drove it back into the man's chest.
Blood dripped down his arm, slick and hot, but his grip did not falter.
More came. Five this time.
Their boots pounded against the cobblestones, their faces twisted in grim certainty. Erynder set his stance, sword steady. His breath was heavy, but his eyes burned with unyielding fire.
"Come, then," he snarled.
They charged.
The first swung high Erynder sidestepped and drove his blade into the man's stomach. He pulled it free and pivoted instantly, blocking the downward chop of the second. Sparks flew as steel clashed. Erynder shoved the blade aside and slashed across the raider's neck. The man staggered, choking on blood.
A third came with an axe. Erynder ducked beneath the heavy swing, rolling to the side. His blade shot upward, slicing through the man's arm. The axe clattered uselessly as the raider screamed. Erynder ended it with a clean thrust through the chest.
But the fourth and fifth pressed in together, blades crossing, forcing him back a step. Sweat poured down his temples, smoke burning his eyes. He caught one blow but the other grazed his thigh, a searing pain that nearly made his leg buckle. He gritted his teeth, slashing wildly to force them apart.
His sword caught the fourth in the gut. The fifth swung again, striking his shoulder. Agony ripped through him, but Erynder roared, turning his blade in a deadly arc that cleaved through the man's side.
When the last fell, Erynder stood swaying, chest heaving, wounds bleeding freely.
But he still stood.
In the forest, Alex stumbled with each step, his hand gripping Lyanna's as if she might vanish if he let go. His heart hammered, but it wasn't just from the running.
It was the bond. The connection to his father.
Every clang of steel, every grunt of pain, every surge of fury Alex felt it deep in his chest. His father was still fighting. Still holding the line.
"Papa…" he whispered, tears streaming down his face.
Kael's grip tightened on his shoulder. "Don't look back, Alex! He told us to run!"
But Alex's feet dragged, his heart splitting in two. He didn't want to leave. He didn't want his father to be alone.
Mara, pale and bleeding, forced her children forward with trembling strength. Her mind screamed for her to turn back, to run to him, to stand beside him one last time. But Erynder's final command echoed louder than her grief. Take them. Run.
She obeyed, because she knew if she turned back, all of them would die.
Back in the burning village, the tide turned again.
A horn bellowed deep, cruel, triumphant. The sound made the very ground tremble. Dozens more raiders marched into Elderleaf, their boots pounding in rhythm, their weapons raised.
Erynder's breath hitched. His arms trembled. His wounds burned. But when he looked at the army advancing, something inside him hardened.
He stood taller. He lifted his sword once more.
The humans laughed. "He still thinks he can fight!"
They came as one.
Erynder became a storm. His sword danced, flashing arcs of silver light in the inferno. He weaved between strikes, cutting, thrusting, parrying. His movements were no longer just skill they were desperation forged into steel. Every step was defiance. Every strike was love for his family.
Steel clashed, blood sprayed, bodies fell.
He killed ten. Then fifteen. His wounds multiplied, his tunic soaked crimson, his breath ragged. But still he stood.
A blade slashed across his back. He staggered, teeth bared against the pain. Another cut his arm. Another pierced his side. His vision blurred, but his fire did not die.
He roared, striking down two more in a frenzy, his sword dripping with blood.
Then the raiders pulled back, circling him like wolves around a wounded stag.
Erynder dropped to one knee, his sword trembling in his grasp. His body screamed to surrender, to collapse. But when he closed his eyes, he saw them.
Mara's gentle smile. Kael's determined stance. Alex's curious gaze. Lyanna's tiny hand in his own.
Safe.
They were safe.
He drew in one last breath. His lips moved, whispering into the smoke:
"Goodbye, my love. My children… we will meet again."
The raiders charged. Erynder surged up with the last of his strength, his sword a final blaze of light. He cut through one, then another, before the blades struck him all at once.
Steel pierced his chest, his back, his side. Pain exploded through him. His sword fell from his grasp.
He collapsed to the ground, the flames roaring around him. His emerald eyes dimmed, but a faint smile lingered on his lips.
And then… silence.
Far in the forest, Alex fell to his knees. A scream ripped from his throat, raw and broken. The bond snapped, leaving only emptiness.
"Papa!" he cried, voice shaking the night.
Lyanna clung to him, sobbing into his shoulder. Kael stood frozen, fists clenched so tightly his knuckles went white. Mara's tears fell silently down her face, her body shaking.
They all knew.
Erynder was gone.
Alex pressed his face into the dirt, fury boiling in his chest. Fury at the humans who destroyed his home. Fury at his father for staying behind. Fury at the world for taking him away.
"He should've come with us," Alex whispered, voice trembling. "He should've run with us…"
But deep inside, he knew why his father had stayed.
And that knowledge hurt more than anything.
The fire's glow still flickered in the distance, painting the sky with smoke and ash. Elderleaf was gone. His father was gone.
But Alex's heart burned with a new fire one of grief, anger, and a promise unspoken.
The humans would pay.
And one day, he would make sure of it.