"El? Is Emely in her room?" my mother calls in panic.

"Yes she is, she is playing with her toys" I answer,

"Ok good! tell her to hide in her closet and only come out when we come to get her and you have to lock every window and door quickly, I'm going to get your grandfather,

stay with your grandma while I'm gone!" She instructed him, and before he could give her an answer he heard the door being pulled shut.

El quickly runs into his sister's room and repeates what his mother told him to do, surprisingly she obeyed him, with an uncertain face but she seems to understand the seriousness of the situation. After that El ran through the whole house, every window he passes he locks and checks twice before running to the next one, the bells have long since stopped. After they are done El and his grandmother Elise are gathering in the living room, the old woman is holding a wooden box in her arms, after placing the box on the floor she opens the bronze latches, revealing an old rifle, the light from the candle on the desk reflects off the shiny mahogany that makes up most of the weapon, the barrel however seems to have no reflection,

the deep black steel seems to literally repel it, on the left side of the handle a plaque can be seen,

_______

S.N.o 1126 Rockatansky Steel

Civilien Carbine

_______

The last time I saw the rifle was when my father went into the forest with a group of Villigers to kill a wolf that had killed a sheep.

When Gran saw my hesitant look, she pulled the gun out of the box and into my hands.

"You know how to shoot?"

"Yes father showed me a few years ago"

"Then go to the window and shoot anything that is small fat green and ugly don't let them get near the house"

Nodding El moves towards the window

"You forgot the ammo."

Gran says emphasizing the bullets on her hand, all 5 of them are held by a thin piece of sheet metal,

El hesitantly takes the ammunition from her hand and places it at the opening of the gun and squeezes.

One by one the cartridges slide into the container under the gun and when the last one disappeared into the weapon a metallic sound rings through the room and the metal sheet pops out.

Fascinated, Elm watches the process, noticing too late how the breech of the gun springs back and crushes his thumb.

Panic-stricken, he tries to pull his finger out of the rifle trying to not cry out in pain. When Elm looks up, he sees Gran's worried face.

"E-everything is fine" he says pressed.

And with a jerk El pulls his finger out of the lock.

Not wanting to make the situation more awkward, El rushes to the window next to the door, resisting the urge to look at his finger.

After pushing the window open and making sure he has enough ammunition in his pocket, he puts the barrel down on the window. The edge of the forest firmly in view.

The sounds of shots rings distant from the direction of the rest of the village.

hoping that his father is still alive, El concentrates on his task again.

And then there it is a rustling in the high grass left from the road, El jerks the barrel of his gun in the direction of the movement waiting,

Nothing happens...

Another one a little further back apears

Ready to pull the trigger at any moment,

El moves the rifle in that direction

Nervously he grips the wooden handle more tight till his knuckles turn white.

"El, we're back, open the door."

Suprised he triggers the gun, the recoil of the stock presses against his shoulder and with a bang the bullet shoots into the nearest tree. His ears almost deafen from the sound of the gun.

The tension of the last few seconds fades and El slumps down with his eyes closed,

Not a second too late, a poorly made javelin whizzes just above his head and penetrates deep into the wooden floor behind him.

Hastily El picks himself up,

standing at the edge of the forest is a goblin about the size of a child, his skin as green as the grass and his belly bloated like a baloon, his pointed ears stick out from his hairless head and yellow eyes glint through narrowed slits in to my direction, his hands protected by sheets of bark are already reaching for the next javelin on his lether belt at his hip.

In one motion El points the end of his rifle at his opponent and pulls the trigger,

"Krieeeeee"

the javelin the monster raised above his head falls on the grass, the hand that had held it before now presses in vain on the gaping wound on his belly, pain written all over its face, its body slowly sinks down to the ground still fighting for its life.