"What is it now Granny?"

A young boy in his mid-teens is heard as he responds to his Grandma's call with a foul attitude. His Grandma gives him a scowl as thumping can be heard from the floor above them. A small girl runs down the stairs next to the young boy. She gives her Grandma a warm smile before hugging her tightly. A small voice comes from the girl that is so heartwarming it could melt ice cubes.

"What is wrong Granny?"

The two children's Grandmother had called for both of them with a worried voice as she had walked into the house. Now that they are both here, their Grandmother breaks the bad news to them.

"Byron, Aerin, something has entered our swamp."

The hearts of the two elvish children sink to the bottoms of their chests. Aerin, the young girl, is the first to speak up about the situation.

"But Mama and Papa are fighting in the war right now?! How are we going to protect ourselves?"

Tears are starting to form into Aerin's eyes as she is being slowly consumed by fear. The Grandma senses this and hugs her youngest grandchild close and tries to soothe the fear inside Aerin. The Grandmother looks at Byron to see how he is reacting to this and she can see his face is full of anger but inside, he is instilled with fear. His hands are balled up into fists and he is grinding his teeth back and forth.

Byron knows that he has to protect his family and house if this something comes for them, but he doesn't know how. He is weaker than your average elf and his father never taught him how to use a bow or a sword. Living in the middle of the swamp, Byron puts his hopes on the fact that all of the ground surrounding them is covered by sludge, so it will most likely deter this unknown entity. Byron looks into his Grandma's eyes and she can tell what he is thinking and shakes her head back and forth, telling Byron that sludge won't stop what's coming for them.

Knowing this, Byron runs out of the living room as his Grandma yells out his name. He ignores her and runs into his parent's room. On the wall is an iron long sword with a bow and a quiver above that. He jumps up and grabs the three items. He strains to hold the long sword as his skinny arms begin to shake violently when he picks it up. He attaches the scabbard to his back and he puts the quiver around his shoulder. Byron is so weak that he doesn't even think he can swing the sword but maybe he can scare whatever it is away with just his presence. Byron checks the quiver and sees 10 silver tipped arrows. Byron has never shot a bow but he has seen his dad do it before so he will just copy what he remembers.

As he goes to leave his parent's room, he is confronted by his Grandmother and his younger sibling. His Grandmother is crying and so is his little sister. Even though fear is eating away at Byron, after seeing his family distraught, he can feel himself calm down.

'I want to protect my family... No. I need to protect my family.'

With this boost of confidence, he gives his sister a kiss on the forehead and looks his Grandmother in the eye once more. She is now filled with horror as she knows what her Grandson is planning to do and she also knows he is not ready for what is out there.

"Byron put the weapons away, we can hide-." The Grandmother goes to suggest another option but is interrupted by Byron.

"Granny, where is it?"

His Grandmother hesitates but she knows that she will not be able to stop him even if she wants too. She gives in and tells Byron where it is, praying to Leon for the best.

"It is near the Tree of Life. Please, I beg you to rethink!"

With tears pouring from the Grandmother's eyes, Byron can feel something inside of him twist and turn, telling him not to go and just hide. He almost gives in to this feeling but then he remembers where his father and mother are. They are out fighting for their family and Byron plans on doing the same. He shakes his head "No" and runs past his 2 family members and out the door.

He climbs a tree and jumps from branch to branch, avoiding the terrifying substance below him. Byron knows the path to the Tree of Life and gets there quickly. As he arrives, a horrible stench fills his nose and he can feel something churn inside of his stomach, almost forcing Byron to throw up. He looks around and sees what is causing this awful stench to permeate throughout the air.

A pile of rotting flesh trudges through the green sludge, moving towards his home. Byron can feel himself freeze up on the tree as hundreds of eyeballs appear onto the surface of the Abomination, and they stare directly at Byron. Seeing the young elf and knowing it can get bigger if it eats him, the Abomination lets out a loud shriek and slowly moves towards the tree Byron is standing on. As it reaches the bottom, Byron can feel himself snap out of his paralysis and his body moves on his own.

A hand can be felt touching Byron's shoulder and he knows what is happening. Byron is being blessed by his God and Creator, Leon. Byron takes out an arrow and puts it on the string of the bow like his father once did. The Abomination is about halfway up the tree and the shrieking is getting louder and louder.

'Don't worry young one, I am here with you. You cannot die yet for you will be my hero.'

The arrow that Byron had pulled back is now shining brightly with a green light. Wind begins to wrap the bow and Byron can feel himself become more and more powerful from the God's blessing. Byron feels like he can do anything now with Leon on his side. The Abomination can feel the power coming from Byron and starts to climb faster and faster before Byron can release its inevitable doom. Byron smiles at the Abomination and closes his eyes before he lets the arrow fly, saying one last prayer to Leon.

Byron finally releases the string to let the arrow fly but something pushes him from behind, causing him to fall off balance. The power filled arrow misses the Abomination and lodges itself into the deathly sludge, exploding a few seconds after impact and sends sludge everywhere. Before the arrow exploded though, whatever pushed Byron sent him off of the branch and into the rotting flesh of the Abomination. Screaming for help, Byron can feel the flesh from his body being ripped off of his bones and absorbed. Byron feels betrayed as he thought God was going to save him but it would seem that he was wrong.

The Abomination finishes eating the young elf and slowly makes his way down the tree. The Abomination searches for who was talking in its head and soon it spots a skull stuck inside of the sludge. It has a brightly glowing blue dot in its eye socket and The Abomination can feel an instant connection to this skull.

'Come here my child, come to your creator. You will be my Hero and free me from this situation.'