The girl ran through the forest. Two men were quickly catching up to her. And a stream of dew trailed behind them. The front part of the trail of dew coalesced into a single ball of water by the time it reached the girl. As it passed her, it flattened itself out into a small blade. It whitened and solidified into ice, becoming a small knife. It slowed its pace, and allowed the girl to catch up with it. More dew was following behind her, forming into another small ball. She reached out and grabbed the knife with her right hand, and ran for a while more. She was able to go a few more seconds before the closest man reached out and grabbed her left arm with his right hand. He pulled her into him. The knife arced itself into his belly. The girl stabbed again and again, trying frantically to loosen the man’s grip. He yelled fiercely in pain. Right behind him, his friend yelled in rage. He raised his axe, ready to kill the girl assaulting his friend.
The ball of water formed into a needle, and shot at the man’s hand. It pierced through, striking near a nerve. He dropped his axe, and howled in pain. The man being stabbed finally loosened his grip, his abdomen soaked with his own blood. The girl cut at the hand to push it away, and ran away as quickly as she could.
“What’s going on? Is it an ambush?”
The rest of the group came pouring in. All were armed with axes, and they were still high from the raid they just finished. They were answered by their comrade, holding his right hand in pain.
“A girl escaped! She’s going to warn the next village! She surprised Jack. Someone take care of him!”
One of the older men rushed over to the injured man, and laid him down to tend to him. The rest of them streamed forward to catch up to the girl. The first man picked up his axe with his left hand, and led them.
She bought herself some time, somehow. She afforded herself a look at the weapon which had mysteriously floated before her just seconds ago. It was a small knife, even for her. Very sharp, but not long enough to do serious damage. It was made of ice, and was coated with water. It glowed with a faint white light. The same color as the light which healed her moments before. As she was inspecting it, another orb of water caught up with her, and formed itself around the knife. Most of it crystallized around the knife, lengthening it. The orb of water floated behind her at an angle, feeding itself on trailing pockets of dew.
The first man was catching up to her, furiously sprinting to pay the girl back for his friend. The rest of the group was far behind him. The girl ran as fast as she could, but the knife suddenly lurched back. Holding on to the knife for dear life, she was forced to spin around, and face her attacker. He lunged forward, leading with the weapon in his left hand. The knife shot back, and the girl did the same. She jumped back from every furious swing of the axe. The man gained ground, and overreached himself with a downward backhand swing. The knife shot forward this time, and the girl stepped forward with it. The knife stabbed the man a few inches below the wrist, and the axe passed harmlessly over the girl’s shoulder. The knife cut itself away with a downward slice, flaying the man’s arm open. It spun to face away from the man. The girl took the hint and started running again.
The man cursed, and grabbed his arm, squeezing to stop the flow of blood. As the blood left his arm, it separated into two parts. One was the dried blood, turning to dust in the wind. The other was the pure water in the blood, trailing after the girl. The man kneeled over in pain, as his comrads caught up and continued the chase.
The girl kept on running. The orb behind her split into two parts again, feeding the knife. It lengthened to about the girl’s arm length, and widening to about her arm’s width. Looking at the weapon gave her faint hope. But she kept on running.
The three fastest runners came up, and surrounded her. The sword turned her around, to face the one in the middle. The other two ran behind her. He jumped at her, swinging with a powerful overhand swing. The sword brought itself up to parry the attack. The ice shattered. The water held the fragments of ice in place. And the light repaired the weapon. This happened so fast, the axe rebounded from the force, out of the attacker’s hand. As this happened, the two other axemen circled around the one in the center, and began their attack. Two bolts of water, each the size of a fist, shot out and hit each one square in the shoulder, knocking them off balance. The sword brought itself over the girl’s shoulders, pointing to the first attacker. And it thrust, stabbing him straight through. It twisted, and sliced away in a gentle arc.
While the other two were recovering, the girl spun around and started hacking. They backed up, out of the girl’s reach. One brought his axe up to block the attack and set himself up for a counter. The weapon shattered again, and rebounded the axe away when it repaired. The weapon spun in her hand, and came down for two quick hacks on his right arm, before quickly thrusting itself in and out of his gut. The last attacker took this chance to hack at her back, but the weapon was shot out off course by another bolt of water. As the sword freed itself from the body it was in, it shot toward the forest, queuing the girl to keep running.
More water, from the blood spilt, and from the air around the scene, was brought into the orb of water. It split again, and formed itself around the weapon. It lengthened to about four feet long, and an inch thick. It was lengthened to a simple javelin. A small weapon, but a fair size in comparison to the girl. She held on to it with both hands. She did this both to stabilize the weapon in her grip, and to stabilize herself as she ran.
The man attacking just seconds before gave close pursuit. As he got close, the weapon stopped suddenly, and pointed its heel back. It jutted back, into the man’s gut. The weapon pushed back more, forcing the girl’s body to push against the man’s, until he fell back. It pushed forward again, telling the girl to run.
The angle she was running made it easier for the rest of the group to catch up. A group of five suddenly swarmed around her. They all attacked at once. The javelin arced forward, pushing a horizontal attack over the girl’s head. The forward movement pulled the girl out of reach of the two attackers behind her, but she was still in reach of the two on either side of her. Two large bolts of water shot down from above at those two men’s hands with enough force to tear the connective tissues between the hand and arm. As the weapon parried the axe in front of it, it thrust forward, aiming to the right of the attacker. This pulled the girl to the man’s right; making her more vulnerable to his attacks, but less vulnerable to the men behind her. The first attacker threw a heavy vertical swing to the girl’s head. The javelin tilted itself vertically to block the strike, shatter itself, and throw back the axe as it rebounded back into its repaired position. The weapon struck forward again, this time to the man’s left. It hit another attacker, coming around his comrade, and not seeing the attack in time to defend against it. It stabbed deeply into his chest, and came back out smoothly. It stabbed again, quickly to the left, piercing the first man’s arm as he was trying to regain control of his weapon. The heel of the weapon lowered itself, forcing the girl to step forward. Then it raised, and the weapon spun around behind the girl, forcing her to spin clockwise. The heel of the weapon stabbed the last attacker just above his jaw, as he was readying his attack. The weapon lurched back, pulling the girl back with it. Then it spun the girl again, stabbing the first man through the chest. The other two men behind him were still screaming in pain at their hands, which fell limply from their wrists. The weapon pulled back from its chest, and the girl took that as a queue to start running again.
The rest of the group was already close behind her. She only bought herself a few seconds with that last skirmish. It was enough for the orb of water to feed the weapon again, though. It grew two more feet taller, and one more inch around. The top of the weapon formed into a star shaped blade. The top spike was a foot long, and four more spikes came out at 45* angles from the base of the main spike. Two pointed up, two pointed down. Each of the smaller ones were six inches. The heel of the lance retained its simple point. Above her, the orb of water had grown to three feet in diameter.
The weapon turned her around again. She learned to trust it. Or rather, she learned to depend on it. Following its movement was the only hope she had of living. She faced a crowd of twenty men. Her feet were shoulder width apart. Her body was turned at a 45* angle. She held her arms down, keeping the lance pointed at the mob. The weapon was massive in her hands. She was only able to lift it because it was the one moving her. Her eyes were wide with fear and panic. The adrenaline rush, mixed with the alien peace in her heart, let her see everything at once. The orb of water above her split into two.
She lunged forward, the weapon amplifying the effect of her swings. She stabbed wildly into the crowd, not knowing what to hit. But, her speed and reach were great enough that her attackers had difficulty closing the distance. The ones in back circled around to try to get behind her.
Needles shot out of the orbs of water. Their aim was random, and didn’t hit anything important. But it served as a distraction, allowing the girl to step in and stab one of her attackers. Before she could pull the weapon out of his chest, the two around him stepped in past her effective range. She was forced back, parrying their blows back and forward. The weapon couldn’t shatter, so only its enhanced speed were keeping the blows in check. A great bolt of water shot out from an orb, and instantly snapped the neck of one of the attackers. When this happened, the lance pulled the girl forward past an axe swing, and up too close for either of them to attack. Then it pulled her back, and gave a mighty arc, slashing his belly.
The attackers kept on pressing forward, however. Too many were attacking her at once for her to do anything, even with all the help she had. She defended herself as well as she could, for as long as she could. Eventually, the attackers noticed something in the sky, and backed up. The girl backed up and looked, too.
A great cloud had been pulled down from the sky. Its waters were being drawn into the orbs of water. Its dust was left to hang in the air, completely blocking the view. Nobody could see what was in front of them. The dumber attackers stood around, and tried to see what was happening. The more cowardly ones took this as a queue to run.
A minute passed before the dust settled. The globes of water combined, and straightened. The water elongated and snaked around itself. At one of its ends, the water flattened into a fin. At the other, it separated into a maw. Behind the head, great wings grew and stretched outward. After it stopped being shaped, a water beast stared at the attackers.
The dumber ones ran too.
The snake shot forward, and bit the closest attacker. It coiled around once, and shot to the next. It struck out at them all, one after another, dancing through the air too fast to clearly see. After it struck its last victim, it rested near his corpse, and looked back. It hung in the air like an ornate wreath, rested in a half coiled position.
The girl had long since collapsed on to her legs. Even with everything she had seen these last few minutes, this was too much for her. Every man in the mob lay in front of her, slain. Blood flowed where body parts should be. And the winged snake responsible for this carnage looked right at her.
It raised its head, as if to roar. And a loud noise erupted. The snake instantly evaporated into mist. A great, cool wind blew as the mist expanded. The lance suddenly started crying, as the water that had held it together dripped off it. The girl looked at the weapon, and the white light faded from it. The ice which she comfortably held in her hands suddenly grew painfully cold. She dropped it in shock, and it shattered on the floor. She tried grasping for the pieces, but they kept melting in her hands. And suddenly, the peace in her heart faded.
The panic in her which had been focused all this time suddenly had no direction. It welled up in her, threatening to tear her apart. She kneeled over, panting heavily to the forest floor. The memories of the last few hours suddenly surfaced all at once. The attack on her village, her torture in front of her father, running for her life and being saved by… something.
It was too much for her. She curled up into a ball and sobbed uncontrollably. She remained like this for several minutes, as the corpses decayed around her. When she had her fill, she stood up, and moved.
“There’s a village… over here… maybe… maybe they’ll help…”
