The Change of Sides - Ch. 1 - The Journey Begins

          The sky was growing from blue to black as day turned to night. Lightning lashed across the sky, thunder booming through the dark. Rain poured out of the sky in waves; but barely half of it made it through the treetops down to the undergrowth.

          Being so, the man trudging through the wood wasn’t at all wet. He heard the storm rage all around him, but the rain didn’t hit him through the treetops.

          When he’d seen the storm approach earlier, he’d thought he’d have to use his magic to stay dry, but as it turned out, the trees in the forest provided more than enough coverage. He walked through the wood with his head, his steps, and his heart heavy.

           Only three days prior, his friends – or at least he thought the were his friends – had abandoned him. Having no one turn to, he left them behind and went out on his own. He’d been traveling for three days now. Three days, ten hours, thirteen minutes. He was lonely, tired, and cold. But above all, he was afraid.

          As he traveled, lost in thought, he heard the terrifyingly familiar crack of bone behind him. He gasped and spun around to see a skeleton pulling an arrow out of its quiver.

          He held up both hands immediately – but nothing happened. His eyes widened. “Wh-What?” As he stared at his hands incredulously, the skeleton loosed its arrow.      

          He cried out in shock and pain as the arrow struck his chest and he fell to the ground, losing consciousness almost instantaneously as the skeleton closed in for the killing blow.

          There was another man travelling through the wood that night. He had originally been going for a simple, relaxing stroll in the rain under coverage of the forest. But of course, when he heard the terrified shout, he was immediately on high alert.

          He pulled his diamond sword out of the sheath behind his back with expert speed and sprinted through the trees after the cry.

          He burst into the clearing and took in the scene. There was a man clad all in purple in black laying on the ground unmoving with an arrow buried deep in his chest. The skeleton that had been about to shoot the man again now had its attention drawn to the newcomer.

          His eyes widened and he ducked out of the way just as the arrow whizzed past his head thudding into the bark of the tree behind him.

          He changed his grip on his sword and ran forward. Before the monster could reload and fire again, the sword had run through it. It collapsed to the ground, now nothing but a bow, a quiver, and a pile of bones.

          The man took a deep breath and resheathed his sword. He headed quickly over to the stranger. He took hold of his hand and felt for a pulse. For a single scary moment, there was nothing. Then he felt it and sighed in relief. He stood up and looked around, lost in deep thought. Then he nodded to himself as though he were deciding something.

          He first picked up the bow and quiver or arrows the skeleton had dropped, then knelt beside the downed man.

          “Kim…” He thought aloud, his tone at a murmur. “Kim can heal.”