"What is it?" Alice said as she stepped away from the corner where she was splitting wood, toward the fireplace and El there.
El could see their heat signatures, could hear their growling, could see the aura over them, burning red with pure blood-thirst.
"Some kind of four-legged beasts."
"What, what do we do?"
"What do you mean, what do we do? You stay here, and I go hunting. Otherwise, this whole place will be a bloodbath before the morning comes."
El looked around. Since he arrived, he did not even have sufficient time to make himself a proper staff. Alice's constant complaining and gibbering made him just want to walk fast, get her out of breath and words, and find the first habitable place where he could properly orient himself. The cold and memories of the last battle he lost did not help either.
Two pounds of metal that he was allowed to bring with him, he decided to split between gold and silver coins, thinking that would probably be required to get him going in a new environment. Thus, bringing a proper steel sword did not make the list. Not that it helped him the last time around anyway.
So, he looked at the axe, but, no matter how much he looked at it, it was just never going to be his favorite option.
"Trim seemed to soldier before. Maybe he has a sword someplace," he whispered out, but no sword was hung anywhere, so he went to the room next to the children, expecting it to be Trim and his wife's bedroom, and as he was proven right, he looked under the large bed and found something wrapped inside a woolen blanket.
It was a heavy, iron sword. No steel, but its edge was sharp, and it was a far better option than an axe.
Just as he was wielding it in the air, getting the feel for it, the window suddenly crashed and almost caught El off guard as the beast unlike any he ever saw jumped inside the cottage and stumbled over its floor.
He wasted no time but jumped at it, and swung the sword upward, from the floor to the ceiling, getting the beast across the face. Then he stepped to its side and struck it over its neck, severing its head in one powerful blow.
As it bled over the floor, Alice asked, "What the hell is that?" looking at the body that was some kind of a cross between an oversized wolf and a lizard. The skin was made of scales, thick and leather-like, eyes reptilic, but the mouth and paws were all wolf-like.
"I do not know," El answered honestly, examining it.
"What do you mean, you do not know?"
"Why are you asking me? I see it as well as you do."
"But I thought you knew shit."
"Well, let me tell you what I don't know. Don't know of any cold-blooded reptile that hunts in snow. Don't know of any wolves that have that kind of skin and eyes. But what I do know is that whatever they are, they mean to kill. And probably eat you."
"No shit."
"Do you even know how to wield a sword?" El suddenly remembered to ask, unsure of her answer.
"No, not even a marching band stick," Alice answered honestly. "Never even shot a gun before. I mean, why would I want to? Why would I want to hurt anyone?"
"I do not know what a gun is, but I do know that it must be a privilege to live in a world where you do not need to hurt anyone in order to survive. So… You better move aside, go to the bedroom, and lock yourself there. More of them are getting close, and might be coming through," El said and pushed her toward the fire as he jumped toward the crashed window.
Just in time as another one of the beasts came jumping through the window, forcing El to dive and slice it across its belly while it was still in the air.
Then he swung Trim's sword sideways and made a nasty cut across another beast's face that stuck its face through the window, slicing it right over its eyes, making it squeal as it backed away.
He then went to the body of the still-breathing beast and planted the sword into its head, driving it through the neck all the way till it came through its mouth.
Then he sighed and looked toward the crashed window.
"You're not going out there, are you?" Alice asked, scared and frozen.
"Of course I am."
"But they will…"
"Hush! I will not hide!" he said with anger. Then, still steaming, he added, in a cold and cruel voice. "I guess that's why you need a guide. And why I did not need a guide. You hide. So, do as I say, go to the room and lock the door there, hide under the bed. And be quiet. And I'll go out and see how good this sword is."
"You're a prick, you know that?" she answered him all upset. "I could help, you know."
But El just shook his head and pointed his finger in the direction of the room, showing her where to go.
"Don't know what a prick is, but if it's something not nice, that means at least you got something right," he said and turned his back on her.
Not wanting to lose any more time, he stepped outside through the broken window, filling his lungs full of cold air, calling on his energy, and bolting it into the sword. The iron took it readily, lighting up, looking sharper and deadlier than ever before.
Outside, the snow had stopped falling down, but the wind had picked up, forcing the snow into his eyes as it blew from the north, carrying it together with the cries of villagers in distress. Clearly, the beasts were coming from the North, down the mountains, running and rampaging through the village.
Maybe this is as far as they got, he thought as he could not see any of them down the road and passed Trim's house. So he ran to the neighboring house where the loudest growling of the beast was coming from.
The door of the house was broken and a particularly large beast was slowly stepping inside, so big, it rubbed its side against the door as it was getting in.