“You!” he screamed, alcoholic breath wafting all the way to Leena’s nose. Grandfather grabbed Bo’s arm and raised his axe.

“No!” Leena shouted, trying to grab her grandfather’s arm. Lightning flashed and caused Grandfather to hesitate. Bo kicked him in the chest. Grandfather fell down. Bo turned and grabbed Leena’s arm.

“We can’t stay, Leena,” he shouted over the sound the rain, “It’s too late!”

“No!” she shouted, pulling away from him. She ran up to Grandfather to see if he was okay.

Grandfather pulled himself up using the front door, axe dangling in his fingers. He looked straight at her as she helped pull him up.

“It’s you, isn’t it?” he wheezed, alcohol smacking her senses.

“What? Yes, it’s Leena. It’s me, I’m sorry, Grandfather, I’m so sorry I left you.”

“It’s you…” he said, more loudly, standing fully in front of her. She cowered.

“It’s you!” he howled, raising his axe. Leena stepped back, heart dropping, eyes darting between the axe and her grandfather’s face.

She screamed as Bo pulled her down the stairs and out of the way of the falling blade.

Grandfather’s axe hit the front porch. He roared at them, teeth exposed like a vicious animal.

“No…no…” Leena cried, “It’s me! It’s Leena!”

“Let’s go. Let’s go,” Bo exclaimed, pulled her to her feet and dragged her away.

“No!” she cried.

But she followed Bo because she had nowhere left to go.

They fled far into the dense woods until they were well out of sight from the run-down farmhouse. Leena trudged a little way behind Bo, hoping that he would stop for a short rest so they could recover their breath, but he kept walking at an exceedingly fast pace. The rain had thoroughly soaked both of them and the mud in the forest made for difficult travel.

“I…I need to rest. Can’t we stop for a bit?” she gasped. His head turned toward her, still keeping his pace.

“Not yet. There’s a place close by we can stop at,” he replied, a bit caustically. His nostrils flared, and Leena recoiled.

His pace quickened, but her adrenaline was fading quickly. Her stomach started to eat itself, and she started to feel the pain throughout her body.

“Um…Can you…slow down…a little?” Leena panted. Bo halted and waited for her to catch up, then continued walking at his rapid gait.

“Wait…Stop please…I can’t…go…that fast.”

He turned and glared at her, and she felt a flash of anger.

“I…I can’t keep up…I haven’t eaten…All I’ve done is run for the past…hour? I don’t know. My grandfather tried to kill me. And…and…” she started to cry, “I have to pee.” Sobs came out of her in pops and bursts, muffled by the rain and the thunder.

Water dribbled down his cheeks as he faced her, his glare turned weary.

“I’m…sorry, Leena,” he said, taking her hand, “We are almost there. I promise. Just hold out a little longer.”

He held her hand and led her along. She sobbed as she went, unable to stop herself.

At some point, he led her to a clearing, dead grass matted to the earth from the downpour. On the far edge was a small shelter made from what looked like earth and grass. It stood lopsidedly, and it would have blended in with the grass if the grass was tall enough to cover it. There was a small opening, just large enough for a single person to crawl through.

She followed him into the small opening, shivering from the cold.

“We’re here,” he said, “You can…um…” He blushed a bit.

“I’ll…go outside,” she said, crawling back out into the rain.

After she relieved herself, she took her time going back, feeling dazed and numb. It was so difficult to walk now.

Floating, glowing, towards the top of the room was a small orb, illuminating their wet figures. Bo had already taken off his shirt in the hut and was wringing it out on one side of the small area.

She dripped, hunched over, at the entrance, staring at the orb.

“What’s that?” she asked, pointing.

“A light orb. It’s useful when traveling, but we can’t use it all the time or it will run out of power.”

“Oh, it’s warm,” she said, putting her hand close to it. Realizing Bo was half naked, she turned red and focused on her fingers, cold and raw like meat.

She pulled off her wet jacket. The rain had soaked through to her shirt. She had no other clothes. She sat in the dirt, resigned to getting her pants muddy.

“I’m sorry,” Bo said. She looked up at him, half dressed, his pants still on, but soaked.

“I’m sorry about your grandfather,” he clarified. She shrugged.

“Where…where are we going?” she asked.

“To see your mother.”

“Where did the hut come from?”

“Well,” he started, “I made it before I went to get you.

“You made this?”

“It’s just a temporary shelter. I stayed here a few days to finish it. I figured we would need something close by.”

“How do you know about me?” she asked.

He sighed as he sat down across from her.

“I used to play with you. When we were young. Do you remember?”

“No.”

“Your mother sent me to get you.”

“But how do you know my mother? Where do you come from?”

He set his face in a grimace.

“Look, I know you have a lot of questions, but I…I can’t answer them right now. Not all of them. Just…here, we can’t have wet clothes, so…I can do something about it, but please don’t freak out or anything, okay?” he responded, standing tall. She nodded, expecting him to pull out a heat stick, some kind of functional item like his light orb. Instead, he closed his eyes, holding his hands out.

She felt a weird anticipation in her gut.

Little beads of water formed on her clothing, as if her clothing was like glass. She saw them float gently off of her clothes, off of his clothes, off of the floor. The beads of water pooled into a gelatinous orb between them. Bo’s eyes were open, his mouth twisted into a small grin as her mouth dropped open in amazement.

“How…How is this…what?” she started, standing to her feet. Her clothes were dry. Her jacket was dry. Even the ground was dry.

Bo took the orb of water in his hands; it was large enough to take up too much room. He compressed it in his hands, smaller and smaller, until all she saw was a fist sized ball of ice. He handed it to her.

She took it, the ice turning her fingers instantly cold.

“How is this possible?” she asked, staring up at him. He grinned.

“I’m a water elf.”