Chapter 1

A young man is running around in the middle of a bustling street. He is carrying a basket of apples and showing a big bright smile. As he is running through the small village, everyone greets him with smiles and laughter. He is a loved kid, everyone knew him, and he had helped everyone at least one.

Einar, my boy, why did you bring the apples? you didn't have to!" A middle-aged man saw Einar running towards him with the basket of apples. He was a busy man, and he needed the fruits for food, but he never had time to get them himself.

"Don't worry, old man; I want to help the village where I can!" He gave the man a small smile. He enjoyed helping people. "I am off; my dad is coming home today!" He gave an exciting smile.

His father had been at the border, to the deadlands, protecting the kingdom from the beasts. Today was the day he and his small guard would be coming home.

The deadlands was a cruel place, filled with monsters. The problem here is that there are no resources at all. It is unfertile land, where no creatures but monsters can live. Even the demons have started not living there and are invading the human territory. Hence the reason his dad had been sent to protect the border.

Today was the day he had been at the border for a year. That means it was time to get a break and return to his village.

At the moment, Einar was running to the village entrance in hopes of catching his dad there. The village was small, and there was no protection at the entrance. All the soldiers they had, had been brought to the border to the deadlands.

As Einar came to the entrance of the village. He saw something. Something he had hoped that would never happen. He saw a monster from the deadlands. It was a wolf-like creature. The difference was that it was much bigger, it had pikes coming out from its back, and its eyes were blood red. It was a frightening sight.

"Everyone ... GET IN YOUR HOUSES!!" Einar yelled out loud. Everyone heard what he said, and they all looked at him. They also saw the monster coming from outside the village as they looked at him.

They all started to panic now; this monster could wipe out the village. All the houses were made of wood, and they were not that strong. If this monster charged towards the houses, they would tumble.

Einar obviously knew this; he also knew that his dad would come soon with warriors. He just had to hide and wait for his father to come and save them. Einar then ran straight to his own home, which was the most prominent house in the village. On the way, he warned everyone that he could.

As he arrived at his home, he heard screaming from the village. He knew that the monster had made it into the village. It had now begun its slaughter so that it could feed.

"AAAAAAAAH! HEEEELP!"

"HEEEEELP, MY CHILD!!"

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Einar heard all of this; he got a small tear in his eyes. He was sad, very sad. How could this happen to the village? Why was his dad not home yet? The village can not die. Einar loved all the people too much.

Einar stood at his home for a little bit. He was thinking of what to do. A few seconds later, a determined look came forward. He started running straight back to the village. He had set his mind on killing this monster, he had never fought before, but he would rather die trying than let it rampage through the village any further.

Einar picked up a spear from the blacksmith on the way there before running to the monster again. His heard felt both pain and pure rage. He would use that rage to kill this monster.

He arrived at the center of the village, where the monster was. He saw a scary sight. There was blood everywhere, a pile of bodies in the middle, and a few half-eaten bodies at the edges. Einar almost threw up, but he held it back.

He finally saw the monster. Its previous black fur had now become crimson from all the blood. Einar could feel all his blood bubbling up in a fury. All he wanted now was to kill the monster. The problem is that Einar has no way to kill the beast in a head-on fight; he has to be smart.

He knew the village better than anyone; he had run the streets many times throughout his life. He caught the monster's attention by throwing a stone at its head. The beast turned its head to look at Einar. It dashed straight at him, but before the monster hit Einar, he had already run to the small streets of the village.

The beast followed straight away, with no hesitation. It knew that no one could fight it in this village. It was much quicker than Einar, but it was also much bigger. So Einar used this to his advantage; he only took the small roads.

Einar's big plan was to run the beast tired. He wanted it to lose all of its energy so that he could kill it in the end. He didn't mind if the village got destroyed for that to happen, as long as no more lives were lost.

As he was running, tiring it out, he was also getting tired. This was a big problem that he also thought would happen. He had just hoped that the monster would lose its energy first. His plan B was to fight the monster head-on since that was all he could do. He would rather not do that, though.

Einar chose that was the final solution, so he went to a hill in the back of the village. He wanted to use the big stone there, to help kill the monster. It did not take long since the village was small.

As they arrived at the top of the hill. Einar was panting loudly. Einar breathed in and out heavily, ready to lay down his life for the village. He stood in front of the stone, prepared for the monster to pounce at him.

The monster jumped straight at the Einar, baring its giant claws. He placed the spear hilt on the stone, pointing it to the monster. It pierced the monster's heart, but the monster's claws hit Einar's shoulder before it did that. It was cutting him deeply, almost ripping his arm off.

The monster died on top of Einar, with a spear in its chest. The monster easily weighed a ton, and it would easily kill Einar if the spear supported by the stone didn't hold it up.

Einar was lying on the ground at the moment, with his arm half severed and bleeding. He was in so much pain, but he could not cry. He was also happy since he had saved what remained of the village. He had done what he set out to do.

"So, this is it?"

He was a 16-year-old kid who saved a village. He felt proud and happy. He thought that death was good; he was ready.

NO! He was not ready. He wanted to live; he wanted to survive. He wanted this village to thrive once more. He was not prepared to die at 16. How could he be ready to die? He had so much potential still.

"HEEEEEEEEEELP! SOMEONE ... HEEELP!" He yelled out in hopes someone heard him. He was waiting for a few minutes for someone. No one came. He started to cry. He might have just killed a monster, but he was scared through it all. He only seemed fine since he had lots of adrenaline and anger.

"Someone ... please ... help" The last part of the sentence was a whisper. His eyes slowly closed. He lost his consciousness. His final thought was that he was definitely a dead man now.