Bark stood absolutely still, his presence looming over the room like a cat staring down a nest of mice.

Everyone in the room froze, but the room itself started moving. The wood in the floors and furniture started warping, twisting as green stems started sprouting from every surface. Within moments the room resembled a garden, filled with a cornucopia of flowers and other flora.

Lord Revan turned and threw his weapon at the hulking plant beast. The short sword, hardly more than a decoration, clanged against the writhing vines like they were made of iron.

I couldn’t see his face, since he was facing away from us, but looking at how menacingly Bark stood, hardly moving, even I felt a tinge of fear in the back of my mind. The only thing keeping that feeling suppressed was the voice that had spoken to me moments before. Looking up to mom, I could tell that she’d heard it too. The look of relief on her face lifted a weight from my chest.

“I’m not going down like this!” Lord Revan shouted, spinning on his heel.

For barely a moment, I saw a flash of light reflecting off of something in his hand. Then I felt something hit me in the side. A Warm, wet feeling started spreading out from the are, pulsing with a dull, aching throb.

The window behind us exploded, spraying glass all over the room, pelting mom and me in shards of razor sharp shrapnel.

Thick, brown tendrils flew in through the open window, wrapping around the man before dragging him, screaming through the window.

I could feel my head becoming fuzzy as the air became harder and harder to breathe.

A large shadow passed over us and I looked to see that Bark was gone from where he’d been standing.

The world started to spin as mom stood up, taking me out of the room. It was hard to focus, but the house had an unusual amount of red inside of it. And the smell, everything had a smell that made me nauseas. Before I could realize, we were in the dining room and mom had laid me on the table.

Standing over me, I could see mom’s face more clearly now. She was saying something, but it sounded like my head was under water. She was crying, but I didn’t understand why. Then I followed where she was looking. Something was sticking out of my right side, just over my waist.

Then the pain came. Like a web of fire spreading through my skin, burning away at everything inside.

“Mom,” I blurted, “it hurts.”

“I know. I know, sweetie.” Mom said, her hands shaking as she held them over me. “Just hang on, stay with me.”

Mom was a healer, so she should be able to just heal me if I’m hurt. What’s stopping her? Why isn’t she helping me?

Tears starting to sting my eyes. “Mom, please…” I whimpered.

I could hear mom crying. She sounded so sad.

A warm light filled my vision, obscuring everything. It was so warm and comforting, promising to wash away all of the pain. It reminded me of when I was really small. Whenever I got scared, I could run to mom or dad and they would hold me in their arms and it would all go away.

I reached out to the light, and it reached back. It was so familiar, but I couldn’t quite tell why.

“You can’t leave yet, Veria.” A voice came from the light.

Blinking, I could see something standing in front of me. It took a moment for me to see it fully.

“Dad?” I muttered.

“Yes, sweetie. I’m here.” He said, opening his arms wide.

I ran to him and felt his arms wrap around me.

“Why are you here?” I asked, burying my head in his chest.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

“That’s not important right now.” He replied, setting me back down. “I need you to turn around.”

“Why?”

“Because it’s not time for you to leave yet.” He answered. “You can’t leave your mother alone.”

“Mom…” I thought hard. “She was… crying. What… what happened?”

“You got hurt. Bad enough that your mom couldn’t help you.” He explained. “But you can still go back.”

“I-I got hurt. I… You… D-dad?” I couldn’t get the words out.

“I know it’s hard, but you’re strong. I know that you can do it.” He dropped down to one knee. “You’re my daughter. You’re incredibly special.”

“What are we going to do without you?”

“I don’t know.” He kissed me on the forehead. “But I know you’ll get through. You have so many people there to help you.”

“Can I really do it, dad?” I asked, looking him in the eyes.

“You can.” He smiled. “Your mother needs you. Your little brother needs you.”

“Little brother?”

“Your mom and I were going to wait until we were sure everything was right. His name is Castor.”

“Castor…”

“He’ll be a lot of trouble, so make sure to look after him.”

“I understand.” I nodded. “I’ll do my best.”

“Good.” He patted me on the head then stood. Gesturing behind me, he said. “My friend here will take you back.”

Turning around, I saw something familiar. It reminded me a lot of what Bark looked like not too long ago. But while Bark was big and green and wiggly, this one was black and smooth. It took a moment for me to recognize that it was the creature on our family crest.

“Climb atop me.” The creature spoke. “I will bring you back to the world of the living.”

Turning away from the beast, I hugged my dad’s legs one more time. “I’ll make you proud.”

“I know you will.” He picked me up again. “And I’ll always be watching over all of you.”

He walked me over to the creature and set me on it’s back.

Taking one last look at dad, I smiled as big as I could.

And then he was gone.

I felt the breath fill my lungs, sending a icy chill rippling through my body. It was different, almost better than before. I could feel static in the air, sharp against my tongue. I could hear sobbing.

“Veria…” Mom whispered my name as she cried into my chest.

“Mom?” I said, struggling to make my lips move.

Everything felt cold and numb.

Lifting her head, mom stared at me, dumbfounded. “Veria?”

Suddenly, a surge of power erupted from my chest, running throughout my entire body. I lost control, my limbs and head rolling and thrashing as the energy forced it’s way through me. Mom tried to hold me down, to stop me from hurting myself. The moment she touched me, a flash of light erupted from where our skin touched and she pulled away.

Through the spasms, I caught a glimpse of the knife sticking out of my side. Lightning arced across its points before streaking down to the table.

The energy reached a peak and I could feel it rippling through me until, with a flash of brilliant light, it died.

Relaxed, I looked down at where the knife had been stuck in me. It was gone and had been replaced by a thin streak of scarred flesh. I found the knife a moment later, looking up to the ceiling. It was blackened and partially melted and fused to the metal fittings in the wood.

Sitting up, I looked down at the table and saw scorch marks spread out across from where I was lying like a massive spider web.

I quickly found mom sitting on the floor next to the table. She looked shocked, in both meanings of the word. Her hair was frazzled.

Almost throwing myself off of the table, I dropped down next to mom and grabbed onto both of her shoulders. “Mom, are you alright?”

She blinked a few times before her eyes focused on me. Immediately, her eyes filled with tears. She pulled me in tightly and started blubbering words that I couldn’t understand.

“I’m… I’m okay, mom.” I said, trying to push myself away.

“What happened?” Mom asked, wiping the tears from her eyes.

“I’m not sure. I think… I think dad did this.” I explained, dropping to sit across from her.

“Your father? What… what did he do?”

“Mom… dad, he…” I could feel the tears building in my eyes.

The next several minutes were a lot of crying and talking, but it didn’t seem like mom understood exactly what I was saying.

After some time, mom and I went outside. We had grown curious about the odd silence that had replaced the utter chaos that preceded it. What waited outside was a quiet chaos. It was like how dad’s office looked when Bark was there. The entire estate was overgrown with all kinds of plants and the ground was riddled with holes. Bodies littered the ground, some familiar.

Mom tried to keep me from witnessing the carnage, but it was virtually everywhere, in and out of the house.

Looking up at the dark sky, I drew in a shaky breath.

We were trapped in. Thick, spiky columns stood high, completely surrounding the estate. They shifted occasionally, rising higher into the sky.

Rounding the house, we found Bark in the garden. With him, tightly and completely wrapped in vines covered in thick thorns, Lord Revan hung in the air, blood dripping through the gaps.

Before anything, mom ran up to him, shouting. “You said you’d protect us! Veria almost…”

“I saw no reason to stop the attack.” Bark responded, seemingly speaking to our minds. “You both are protected.”

“I… should have… killed you…when I had the chance.” Lord Revan sputtered out.

The vines wrapped around him visibly tightened, causing the man to cry out in pain.

“Why is he still alive?” Mom asked.

“This man is their leader. He has done great evil. His judgment will wait until my master returns.”

“What about those things out there? What are they for?” Mom asked, pointing to the columns that blocked off the estate.

“Those are there to protect.”

“From what?”

“The army that waits outside. They have been trying to get in for some time now.” Bark explained. “They are bringing in men with bows, so I ask that you wait inside.”