Chapter 3: A Hero!

Lark's black chain pulled itself back to his right hand.

"Prepare the machine, Steffen!" Lark whispered.

Steffen took it out of the bag and placed it on the ground. The two demons moved forward to stop them as Lark shortened his chain and held it as a shield, now that the demon in the front tried to attack with its claws out. He tried to lean backward, but three deep cuts sliced over his chest as he released a little bit of the chain in the movement, and it tangled around his arm as he pushed with all his strength, pulling the demon to the side as it rolled on the ground. He fell on his knees and threw the chain to the right as it twisted around the foot of the other demon, but it reached Steffen, who did not react in time as the right side of his cheek got all cut up. Lark pulled with all his strength, making the demon fall flat on the grass as he pulled it towards himself. Steffen moved quickly to the middle of the field and kept pushing his finger until the lamp changed color, indicating that it was ready.

Lark slowly got up from the ground when a hand with long nails pierced through his stomach, and his whole body caught fire. With the demon behind him, screaming in the air, he stood still and dragged the other demon toward him as it tried to move toward Steffen, who was in a state of shock. Lark leaned backward as he fell on the demon behind, using his weight, making it impossible for it to move the arm that had gone through Lark. After dragging all the way towards himself, he released the chain and just made a short throw around the neck and pulled the demon as it fell on its back on Lark's legs, and he grabbed its head and pulled it up to him, holding a tight choke hold on it as it struggled to breathe. After a minute, it stopped moving, and he released it and pushed out a little bit of the chain and twirled it around the arm on the stomach, and he pulled with full strength as the demon under him struggled when blood splattered everywhere as the arm got ripped off. Lark leaned to the right to get loose from the remaining hand, and the demon was struggling on the ground, moving around in pain. It tried to get up and reach Steffen, but Lark managed to get up on his knees and threw the chain around its throat as the anger got worse, and he made a hard pull as the demon's head got ripped off. There was no more strength left in him as he leaned with his hands on the ground. Lark knew he wouldn't make it back home. Steffen approached him and helped him get up on his feet as they approached the machine.

"We push the button and run for our lives!" Steffen said with an upbeat tone.

Lark pushed Steffen away as he fell in front of the machine.

"There...is not we...run and I will push the button!"

"What are you saying, there is no more enemy here? We can make it."

"Idiot, I can not move anymore. If you carry me, you will die also." Lark uttered.

"But...But you saved my life!"

"No, I only made sure we managed to complete the assignment we got."

There were tears in Steffen's eyes as he stared at Lark with sad eyes.

"If you meet my family, please say that I am sorry. There was no other way!" Lark said and slammed his palm on the button as the machine started to make sounds before he fell on his back.

Steffen ran as fast as possible through the woods, and all he thought about was moving as far away as possible from the machine. Moving through the woods, he saw a white-haired girl running towards him, and in the exact moment she was about to pass him, he grabbed her and kept running as she struggled to try and get loose from his grip.

"LET...ME...GO!" She screamed as Steffen kept moving further away when an explosion occurred.

A light moved towards them, and Steffen threw the girl forward while he threw himself to the ground. The light's movement stopped only two meters from Steffen, and a blue barrier in the sky started to cover the whole area.

Several portals had opened up around Lark's dead body as different species of Valiant came through, and a witch kept directing them to keep moving past the body. The white-haired girl showed up at the edge of the woods with Steffen beside her.

"He...Saved all of them." Uttered to the girl as he looked in surprise at how many species were walking through the portals. They were moving fast through, as the portals won't be open for long.

Steffen noticed a figure in a black cloak standing above Lark's body, with what appeared to be the spirit of Dendarven beside it. Did Dendarven wish to see if they accomplished what they had to do before leaving?

The one in a black cloak raised its arm and pointed down at Lark as Steffen noticed the skeleton hand and fell backwards. The white-haired girl looked back at Steffen.

"Did you see it? Steffen uttered in surprise.

"See what?" The girl answered.

"The...The Grim Reaper!"

The girl looked at him with a weird expression.

"Have you eaten the Mush Potion? Who are you anyway?" She asked him.

"I...I am Steffen! Who...Who are you?"

"My name is Veronica Von Silfver. I live nearby and responded to the signal, but I couldn't find anyone at my teacher's cabin, so I followed the signal of the witch spell that exploded in the air." Veronica explained.

"I...I need to go!" Steffen uttered, got up from the ground, and started running away.

"WAIT!" Veronica yelled after him, but she did not follow him. She needed to focus on the situation unfolding on the field, with more citizens from Valiant flocking into the woods.

After running for half an hour, Steffen saw a blue barrier rise into the sky. He stopped for a moment in front of it, put his hand through, and pushed through, ending up on a big grassy field. He looked back and could see the entire barrier circling the woods.

"You do not have to worry about anyone seeing the barrier. It is closed to all humans." A female voice behind him commented.

He turned around and saw a young woman smiling with a small dog on a leash. He looked around and saw a building with a big sign that read 'Bergvika gymnasium'.

"W-Where am I?" He asked the woman.

"You are in Sweden!" She replied.

He was surprised; it was not his home, Reykjavik, in Iceland. What was he doing in Sweden?

"How...why...you...?" Steffen uttered, completely surprised by everything.

She laughed as she approached him.

"We are quite a few Witches here on earth, scattered around. Dendarven sent a message to all of us to give shelter to all who walk past the barrier. You were not hard to feel inside the barrier, as your smell as a human made it obvious."

Steffen felt pain after the adrenaline in his right cheek and touched his face, noticing it was bleeding. Why did he recover from getting his throat sliced off, but the injury on his right cheek was not healing?

"How can a Witch smell human?" He asked suspiciously of her.

"Because my father was human, sadly, both my parents passed away, leaving me all alone. I am happy that there will be someone to talk to now, without things getting weird, as you came through the barrier and know what kind of world we are from."

Steffen looked at her, thinking about what the next move should be. The demons who were after them were after Steffen; the best is to keep a distance from the barrier and keep the information to himself.

"My name is Lindeh Wendinforan, from the rebellious Wendinforan family of Witches. I thought it would be good to make an introduction, and your name is?"

"I...I...I am Steffen Tartaursen!"

She smiled up while the small dog circled him, wagging its tail. It made him a little bit nervous when he thought about the four-eyed dog, but this one was very small. He remembered he had seen these in Reykjavik. It is a chichuacha.

She moved close to him and touched the right side of his cheek with a worried look. He saw now how beautiful she was, with her blue eyes and brown, wavy hair, wearing a thick sweater and pants that were too big for her.

"You are my responsibility now. I live 30 minutes by car in Solna. We should move before people start waking up.

"How do I know I can trust you?" Steffen asked.

She smiled.

"Because I would have killed you if I had any intention like that!"

Steffen said nothing, and she turned and walked away. He had no choice but to follow her if it meant he would be safe.

2 years later...

He finished up the last words of the letter as he saw his wife Lindeh leaning by the door, looking at him.

"Are you sure that we are going to do this?" Lindeh asked Steffen.

"Yes, that is the least I can do for the man who saved my life."

Lindeh smiled at Steffen, feeling it was a great honour for her that she was not the best-known witch to adopt the famous Trissa Van Polan's son into her family, and she had high hopes that the boy could also protect her son, as well as the daughter who was only a few months away.

"You know, there is no guarantee that they will take the letter seriously in Paladin Woods. What if they reject it and do not accept what you have written?

He looked at Lindeh and smiled to himself.

"The white-haired girl is running the newly created Von Silfver organization there. Two years ago, she was there, and I saved her life from an early end. She will read the letter and tell the citizens in Paladin. She will know that it is me who has sent the letter, the description of her saving is included."

"I hope so, you know I can't pull strings with the witches as I have left all communication in the witch community in Paladin."

"It is okay, Lindeh! Just focus on our daughter."

A baby boy crawled into the room, moved towards his father, Steffen, and tried to climb onto his father's legs as both husband and wife laughed at him.

Steffen was happy, feeling that the only thing in life left for him was to take in Zark Van Polan and raise him properly. He is, after all, a son of a Hero.