In the three months it took me to polish up the old sword, I barely began my training. Mother had surprisingly allowed me to keep it, as she started to fear what other humans were capable of doing if I chose to follow in Aspen’s footsteps. Especially now, there was talk of another missing child a few villages away. As long as I didn't use the sword on anyone with the intent to hurt them, as of now. My father, on the other hand, had become completely against the whole idea. And the two would often start to fight over the matter at every turn.

  “She doesn’t need a sword; she can barely play with Rune without hurting her,” my father said across the table. Interrupting the unusually quiet meal.

  “With the right training, she won’t harm anyone who doesn’t need it,” my mother replied. Making a point to drive her knife directly into her food.

  “And who needs it? Some brat who pisses her off, and now we're dealing with the mess? What if she messes with the wrong person? What then?” he didn't even look at me as he spoke; he didn't have to. His icy tone froze me in place till the warmth of Aspen's hand rubbing against my back snapped me out of it.

  “She’s a smart girl, Wren doesn’t go picking fights with anyone besides Corbin.”

  The arguing would last late into the night. And I would hear bits and pieces of it as I tried to force my eyes to close. For once, I was desperate to go to sleep. To forget everything that seemed to be haunting this family. Even Aspen seemed to be off lately. As I watched her start her shifts in the commoner town up the mountain, she would come home in a daze. As if something always seemed to be stuck on her mind.

  “Are you alright?” I asked her one morning before she left, her eyes constantly fighting sleep as she started to slug around. If her eyes didn’t shoot open every five seconds, I was sure she was going to fall over.

  “I’m fine, just sleepy, that's all,” she said between yawns. Catching herself leaning now and again.

  “You sure?”

  She rubbed the top of my head, “promise.”

  Then there were times it felt like I hadn’t seen her for days, and when she did come home, she slept every second. Only ever waking up to eat. It felt like she was a walking ghost, sometimes even scaring Rune, who’d accidentally woken up in the middle of the night.

  “What’s going on here?” my mother would say, trying to cling to her clothes as the winter cold began to set in the house.

  “I’m sorry, mother,” Aspen would say, trying to soothe Rune as she handed her over. “My sleep schedule is just a mess. I must have scared her sitting at the table.”

  “Well, since you’re awake, you can train me. I can’t sleep either,” I chimed in, trying my hardest to avoid mother’s burning gaze.

  “We’ve been over this; you’re not ready for sword training.”

  “Oh come on,” I said, throwing my hands up, “I practice all the time, and soon I’ll even catch up to you to take the knight exam in two years.”

  My mother grabbed at my shoulder, wiping me around to face her. “Says who? I thought you just found the sword interesting? What’s with all of this knight stuff all of a sudden?”

  “Well, I did just want to understand the sword, but now, I want to understand people, too. Like the people who cut Aspen’s hair. And if I become a knight and finally see why, I can protect other people from them.”

  Mother just scoffed, rocking rune and walking away before I could provoke another headache. But Aspen gave me a nudge, a soft smile lined her lips, and without any words, I knew she was on my side. Now, with both of my parents against the idea of me taking the exam, I had no choice but to practice in secret. Trying to memorize the steps I watched Aspen make a thousand times.

  I’d spent the next week just trying to get the stance right, sometimes even swinging around the sword just to see how it feels. It was incredibly light, as if I was holding air. Nothing at all like Aspen’s sword that felt like trying to swing around a brick. But even then, the sword edge was rather dull, barely enough to pierce anything, even if I put my weight into it.

  “Oh my word wrenly, are you training?” said a sardonic voice from the window. “ I thought mother said she said no to you taking the knight exam.”

  “She did, for now. Plus, I’m not training for the exam.”

  “Really?”

  “Yes, in fact, I’m just educating myself on how to-” the lie simply wouldn’t come fast enough, and I found myself getting annoyed by the minute, having seen Corbin’s snarky face.

  “Well, when you come up with a lie, do tell me so I can hear how stupid you sound,” he laughed.

  “Whatever, why did you even come out here anyway? You never speak to me unless you have to.”

  He sighed, trying not to roll his eyes as mother was quick to pop him about the nasty habit, “My dear half-wit sister, you’re right, for once. Mother wanted me to tell you your friends are back, or whatever.”

  Quickly dusting off my dress, I tried my best to sneak around front. If I could just get past my mother, I’d make a run for it and meet Krew and Zera, my best friends. They both live thiry minus from me, but as krew house was always the quietest and his mom made the best sweets in was our best hangout.

  Creeping around the front, I nearly made it past the front door when Mother swung it open.

  “If you think I can’t see you sneaking about, you must take me for a mole, young lady,” she yelled.

  As I slowly turned around, she waved me forward with her finger, and I could only mope towards her as she sat me at the table. Lying out her pair of combs and scissors, I dreaded what was coming next. The most out fashioned hair cut i could imagine.

  Wiping away the flour on her hands, she began to snip away any out-of-place hairs that made me look like a drunken fairy had cut my hair in the middle of the night. The hair itched at my neck as I could feel her cutting it shorter and shorter. Having to come to realize I might be bald before the whole thing was over.

  “Stop your squirming, or I’ll take off more than an inch of hair. Maybe even a bit of your ear,” she said, giving them a pinch. I wanted to laugh, but with her quiet tone, I knew joking was the worst thing to do.

  “I’m sorry, mother, but it’s just so itchy.” I reached to scratch my neck before she popped my hand away.

  “Well, maybe if you didn’t take the liberty to cut your own hair, you would be here.”

  “But that was months ago,” I groned.

  “I know, and you’ve been avoiding me cutting your hair for months. I won’t have you going to see those friends of yours looking like a mess, and you shouldn’t either.”

  I never understood why I had to care what other people thought when they saw me. She never once reminded Corbin about his looks when he walked out of the house half dead. Just my sister and me, and still in the end, not one of us actually cared to remember.

  “Mother, Krew, and Zera don’t particularly care what I look like. As long as I play fair.”

  The moment she finished and brushed away the hair, I was quick to hop down, trying my best hide the sword out of my mother's sight. She didn’t even want me training with it, much less showing it off to others. But as I was quick to get out of the house i dashed it. Having to stop every so often to keep the sword from slipping out of my makeshift handle.

  Running along the right side of the river, I watched as the warm wind blew hundreds of leaves. I loved the way they made ripples across the water. Almost as if giving the river a little kiss. I tried to keep my mind focused as I could see Krew’s farm coming into view.

  His family wasn’t like mine, as they owned their own land, selling the most unusual crops at times. And for some reason, their field was flooded with rows of water along wet mounds of dirt. But even in their strange techniques, their land was always rich in produce. And when father was away, Mrs.Grakgor would always stop by to give us vegetables from what she couldn’t sell.

  As I carefully made my way across the field, I could see Krew moving things about in front of his house, which had also been much nicer than ours was.

  “Krew,” I yelled to him, waving my hands as I tried not to stumble into the water. Croaking his ears at my voice, he turned to me, giving a toothy smile that barely revealed his tusks. Running towards me, I could see his earthy green skin and the tan lines that lined his arms and legs.

  “What’s with the tan lines?” I asked him, trying not to seem out of breath as I spoke.

  “Oh, these? We went to help my uncle at his farm, which is much bigger than ours, and I felt like my back would give out the entire time,” he replied, stretching his arms. Krew wasn’t as big as other orc boys, even if he could beat just about every other boy in my village.

  “he’s one who spent you that bow, right?” I asked, pointing to the beautifully crafted piece that had just been collecting dust on his porch. Krew only gave me a nod, shrugging off the thing like some old forgotten toy. If I hadn’t been so focused on my sword, I might have taken the thing for myself.

  “And your?” he gave me a wide-eyed look as he pointed to my head.

  “Long story, I’ll tell you when Zera gets here.”We walked around his house for a bit, waiting for Zera, knowing that after three months of traveling with her parents, she’d have to drag herself once more just to see us.

  “Hey guys,” said a tired, sweet voice as it approached us. Getting up to greet her, I could see her skin had darkened to almost a glossy black brown and had a healthy glow that, at times, made me a bit jealous to look at. Zera wasn’t like me or my siblings or me, having long pointed ears and being nearly a couple of inches taller than me. She was just as dark as Aspen, but had these big, round brown eyes, and had her hair in multiple large braids, and always held them together with a shiny pink bow. She was easily the beauty of her village, and maybe in the whole valley, depending on who you ask.

  “Zera!” Krew and I said unanimously, taking her into a group hug before we all began to talk over each other. As we babbled on, Krew’s mother quickly came out, wearing a bedtime gown. shushing us all as she yawned before every sentence.

  “Now, Krew, why don’t you take the girls to that empty field over there? I’m trying to get some sleep, you know?” she said in a sleepy, soft voice. Something I’d wished my mother would try just once instead of her usual yelling that could leave anyone deaf after a while. Krew’s mother was a sweet older Orc woman, with braids twisted into her raven black hair and huge tusks and a golden cap on one. With her husband's around her neck.

  Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

  “Sorry, mama, I’ll take them now,” he told her, leading us across his crops to a large empty field that sat between his house and the next. As we messed around, playing our usual games of tag and hide and seek, I took the time to show them my sword. Letting them both handle the sword if they promised not to drop it, giving them simple guides that Aspen had taught me. Not enough to count as sword training, but enough to keep me from hurting myself.

  Out of breath from playing with one another, we told each other everything that had happened in the past three months. I told them about the General, Aspen’s attack, and the choice to cut my hair. Zera told us all about how her parents took her and her siblings on their yearly voyage, an elf tradition to connect you even more to the world you came from. And Krew told us about how he finally got to meet his cousins after his pop’s death, never realizing how much rougher orc children could be.

  “They gave me bruises every time we played,” he joked.

  “I got them too, constantly climbing is not something I’m fond of,” Zera would add.

  The whole evening had been going pretty well, till I heard my name being called across the field, and, just recognizing the voice, dreaded any fun I planned having for the rest of the evening.

  “Is that your sister?” Krew asked. I didn’t even bother to answer him, just giving out a loud, annoyed groan as I forced myself off the ground.

  “What do you want?” I yelled, watching as she struggled to make her way through the water.

  “Mother said I could come play with you,” she said, clutching her toys.

  I scoffed, “No way, mother doesn’t even like it when I come by myself, she would have told me to bring you along when I left. Go home before you get in trouble.”

  “Well, believe it or not, it’s true, plus, what would mother have to say if you made me walk home all byself when it’s about to get dark soon?” she said in a whiny tone, sticking out her tongue as she skipped past me to show Zera and Krew her dolls. Always damned if I do, always damned if I don’t, I told myself.

  And with no choice now but to play with Rune, we were under her every word, because if we didn’t play to her liking, she was quick to bring out the tears that any of our parents would fall for.

  “What do you want to play?” kindly asked Zera, walking along with Rune.

  “Hmm, we’ll act out one of my plays,” she responded.

  “No,” I protested, “you always either go too far or get mad if the acting isn’t perfect. It’s not even fun, just unpaid labor at that point.”

  Surprisingly, Rune didn’t say a single thing, just gave a menacing smile as her eyes lowered to my sword. “Fine,” I said as I gritted my teeth. Trying to prepare myself for what drama that was about to unfold, she assigned us all roles. Krew was a Knight, Zera a princess, and I was an evil knight. Zera sat herself on a Rock as Rune narrated our every move, sometimes changing things as we were already in motion, nearly causing us to crash into each other.

  “Princess,” she called out loud, “are you ready to sacrifice your one true love for the people? For Escrin?”

  “Yes!” Zera shouted softly.

  “Knight --”

  “Yes!” Krew interrupted before she could finish,

  “Are you ready to sacrifice your life for the safety of others?”

  “Yes!” he repeated.

  “And evil knight, are you ready to sacrifice your family for your version of the greater good?”

  “Why do I have to be the evil knight?”

  “Wrenly, you’re ruining it,” Rune whined. Flailing her hands about.

  “Fine, yes i’m ready.”

  “Then let this battle be to the death.”

  With large sticks, Krew and I traded light blows, as Rune and Krew cheered us on. The whole thing looked like one of those duels you’d see when a knight felt disrespected, and the fight itself lasted no more than a few minutes before I swept Him off his feet.

  “Surrender?

  “Yes, now help me up.”

  Pulling him to his feet, he and I breathed heavily, both of us were drenched in sweat and were weak-kneed as we made our way back to the others.

  “Awesome,” Rune giggled as Zera nodded in agreement, “okay, let’s do another.”

  “No more Rune, we’re tired, and it is going to start getting dark soon. Go play by yourself for once.”

  “That’s not fair,” she stomped, “if you don’t let me play i’m telling mother about the sword.”

  “I don’t care anymore, you’re such a brat, you just get me into trouble sooner or later.”

  “Come on, Wren,” Zera stepped in, “she’s your sister, give her a break.”

  “Look, you two don’t get it, you’re the youngest in your family, Krew is an only child. Y’all don’t get what it’s like to have some loudmouth, trouble-making, whiny sister, who you wish for once would leave you alone. Better yet, not even have a little sister.”

  I froze the moment the words came out of my mouth. Krew and Zera gave me a horrified look as Rune’s face began to scrunch up. Her eyes got big with tears before turning to run away.

  “Rune,” I called out, but she ignored me, running deeper into the field as we all began to chase after her. And for someone so little and stubby, she was wildly fast, leaving me gasping for air as we tried to catch up to her. No matter how many times I called for her to come back, she did not answer, or even turn back to look at me. If I didn’t catch her now and something awful happened i;d have a lot more to worry about than a talking to, or a spanking.

  For a second, she disappeared from my sight, and a blood-curdling scream echoed across the valley that stirred up the birds all around us. “Hold on, Rune i’m coming,” I yelled, gripping the handle of my blade hard as I charged forward.

  Coming out of the filed I saw a familiar awful face that was begging for trouble. He was pale, with freckled skin and dull brown eyes, dressed in rags he only thought were better than ours. He would often bring his little group down to the villages to threaten farmers too old to actually fight back. And thought he was top shit just because his older brother was a knight. But in reality, he was just a poor boy, the same as us.

  “Oh, Wren, is this your sister?” he said, squeezing her arm as she squirmed around. “She shouldn’t be out here all alone, you know, might get hurt.”

  “Let her go, Marcoso,” I told him in a stern voice, unable to make myself let go of the handle.

  “Is that the way to thank your hero?”

  “Hero? You?” Krew let out a belly laugh that didn’t even sound fake, “Please, no one in your family can even be given such a title. You’re just money hungry, wanna be nobles.”

  “Orc, don’t be mad, my father actually works, and yours is too busy taking a dirt nap,” he laughed. In a blind rage, Krew began to step towards him, not taking his eyes off him for one second as Zera held him back by his arm. It wasn’t because she was strong, but because Krew would much rather look weak than hurt anyone he cared about.

  “And look, you have to have that elf girl hold you back, and that mutt defend you.” Holding his belly, he let out a donkey laugh. Nudging his friends to join in as Rune sobbed in his grasp.

  “Insult all you want, but just give me my sister back.”

  “I don’t know, I think I need some compensation for saving her.”

  Swallowing the words that tried to force their way out, I took a deep breath, shaking away my trembling hands as I began to approach him. “Give me my sister,” I said firmly, causing his friends to back up at the sight of my sword.

  “Should have known mutts don’t carry around gold,” he said

  “Neither do poor town boys,” I replied. And in that moment, a serious look dropped down on his face. Letting Rune fall to the ground as he let her go, but Zera was quick to pick her up and bring her back over with Krew. who gave a toothy snarl as Marcoso's friends tried to approach.

  Marching over to me, he got inches away from my face. I could see his face turning a bright red with a vein building on the top of his forehead.

  “Struck a nerve?” I asked.

  He grinded his teeth as he threw his fist into a ball, “Keep talking, mutt, and I’ll beat your ass myself.”

  “Okay then, let’s do it.”

  Zera quickly jumped in front of me, forcing me to back up as she spoke, “Wren, are you crazy? His brother is a knight; he’s probably been training to take the exam too.”

  “So? My sister is also a knight,” I replied, taking her hands off my shoulders. “Don’t worry, I won’t let myself get hurt.”

  She stepped aside, holding Rune’s hand as Marcoso took out his own steel blade, which looked much heavier than mine was. And I could tell the weight threw him off as he tumbled from one side to the next, trying to hold his stance.

  “Ready?” I asked.

  He didn’t answer, just spat on the ground as if that was something he thought men did to look cool. Counting down from three, we raced towards each other, our swords clashing like the sound of a cat fight in an alley.

  With every hit, he throws more power into it, making my sword tremble, trying to recover from the blows. His form was decent, but he was too slow to recover, allowing me to take advantage of his open spots and jam my fist into them. Respecting the processes over and over was draining itself. And I could feel the sting in my hand after every hit. But I had no intention of using my sword for any fatal blow, but the thought of me beating him only sent him more into a rage.

  He began to throw around his sword any which way, nearly striking his friends who managed to dodge. As he huffed for air, trying to charge towards him, I flipped the handle of my sword, dove beside his attack, and butted him in the head with the metal end.

  A gush of blood trickled down his face as he collapsed to the floor. Still trying to force himself to stand, his legs gave out from under him, and he tumbled back before lying down out of breath in the grass.

  “Surrender?” I asked, turning my blade around to point at his chest. But the moment I did, an eerie feeling began to grab hold of me. It twisted around my whole body as a strong gust of wind shook the trees like mad. Even as Marcoso crawled backwards i still did not raise my sword from his body. I wanted to drive the blade right through him.

  His eyes welled up with tears, reaching out his hands as he said something to me. Something I couldn’t understand as a fuzzy noise filled my head, as if someone were mumbling a million different things to me.

  Grabbing my head, the noise only got worse, and the sword stuck to my hand like glue as I yelled out. As I pulled my arm back to pierce him with the sword, a quick hand grabbed my arm. Holding me back as the noise finally began, the calm as the trees settled down, and everyone looked upon me with a terrifying look.

  Aspen had been holding me back, and as my body began to relax, I dropped the sword, feeling like I could finally take a deep breath again. Marcoso slowly picked himself up, covering his wet pants as his friends helped him back up the mountain, still crying to himself as they left.

  “Krew, Zera, go home,” she commanded in a firm, sharp voice.

  “Okay,” Zera spoke up, “but what about--”

  “NOW!”

  Zera gave Rune a quick hug as Krew gave a slight bow, the two walking away, but never fully stopping themselves from constantly turning back to look at me. Aspen held a tight grip on my arm, the type of grip she had only used on my force before, leaving me with a bruise on my wrist. She only let go to pick Rune up, not saying a word as I fell to my knees and she began to walk away.

  The walk back home was so quiet that not even Rune dared to make a peep, holding onto Aspen as I dragged myself behind them. I had only ever seen Aspen angry a few times in my life, and more importantly i had rarely seen her so angry with me. She wouldn’t even stop to look at me. Every time my legs felt on fire, I had to stop, and then run again just to make up for the distance between us.

  “Aspen, can you slow down?” I asked, but she only ignored me. “Aspen,” I screamed again, making her stop in her tracks. Gently putting Rune down, she marched towards me, pushing me nearly off my feet. Before I could even speak, she did it again, then again, and again until I shouted at her to stop.

  “Raise your sword,” she said.

  “W-What?” I studdered.

  “Raise your damn sword. Or now are you not so quick to pull it out?”

  Not saying another word, I took the sword, trembling as I raised it towards her. I didn’t understand Aspen at all as I tried to not let myself cry.

  “Did my pushing you make you angry?” she asked, pushing her body toward the blade as I tried to step back. But she only grabbed my arm, forcing me to stay still as the tip began to pierce herdark red rolled down the length of the sword. “Answer me.”

  “Yes,” I answered, trying not to choke on my tears.

  “Do you want to use this sword on people when you're angry? Huh? Do you want to drive the blade right into them, want to watch them bleed out for you, so you can feel like a hero?”

  “I didn’t mean to go that far,” I cried, “I was just trying to protect Rune and my friends.”

  “What’s the point of protecting someone if you take the life of another? Were they going to die if you hadn’t fought? Were you never going to see them again if you had lost? Damn it, you think all the time, yet this once, when it’s not a nuisance, you don’t think at all. What were you going to do if you killed that boy tonight?”

  I only shook my head, gasping for air every time I let a cry out. Aspen finally let go of me, and I fell back as I watched the deep red spread across her shirt like a fire out of control. Stuck on the ground, I couldn’t bring myself to stand, feeling I might vomit if I looked at her again.

  “You don’t have to look at me, Wren, but let me tell you I was attacked because someone else couldn’t control their anger, if you even dare to dream of following in my footsteps with this same anger, i’ll cut you down myself before someone does it much worse.”

  That night, she picked up Rune and left me there on the ground, never once turning back to me.

  That night, for once in my life, I asked myself a question I didn’t know if I could even answer. “How can I dream of being a knight, if it’s a nightmare for someone else?” I was stuck, my brain stopped thinking, stopped moving, and I began to sink.