The next day saw Tum getting up late when the sun was already up in the sky. There was no sign of the others, only signs that they had slept there with him. The princess, Tum quickly thought, alarmed. He was going to tell her who he was yesterday before they were attacked by the trolls. Now, she was no longer here.

Was it a dream? He wondered. Was last night a dream?

Getting up from his sleeping spot under the tree, he looked around carefully and slowly this time. There was no one around. Then he heard footsteps headed his way.

Quickly, he swiped his sword from the ground where he had kept it while he slept. After the attack last night, he could not sheath his sword, not when the trolls could come calling again. They were the guardians of this place and would be furious that they had already missed their prey.

The person that appeared was neither his companions nor the trolls. The man had scars all over his face and looked like he had been to hell and back. He still had his sword, but his chest was bare and he had scratch marks all over it. Tum watched him cautiously.

"Who are you?" the man asked.

"Who are you?" Tum asked. He had gotten rid of the knight's wear that made movement difficult for him right from the start of their journey.

"You have to leave the forest at once," the man said. "The crystal sword is a myth. It does not exist."

"How do you know what I am looking for?" Tum asked. The hilt of his sword was burning into his hand because of how tightly he held it.

"Everyone that has ever come into this forest was looking for something. The ones who will come in will look for something. There is only one thing in this enchanted forest: the crystal sword."

"Well, that is not why I am here."

"Then you need to leave!"

The man's voice changed and so did his eyes. They became darker and darker till every part of his eyes was an eerie black color. Tum was scared for his life, but at the same time, he wondered if the man could still see. His question was answered when the man charged at him with a sword, which materialized from his hand.

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Tum, swift of foot, moved quickly away from the path of the sword and was just in time to get a scratch across his cheek. With his sword, he swung down on the strange man's sword, parrying his thrust even as he moved to the side. The first onslaught had been too fast and unexpected that were he a slower person, he would have had the point of the spelled man's sword buried in his head.

The man swung again, this time bringing his sword down hard on Tum. Tum raised his sword to meet his, parrying once again and dancing out of the man's way. They did a little dance with Tum moving backward and away from the strange man's onslaught while the man continued swinging hard, trying to batter Tum into submission.

Finally, he struck Tum hard, and although Tim put up his sword to defend against the attack, the force of it pushed him backward, and before he realized what was happening, he had already fallen to the ground.

Quickly, he rolled over giving his attacker no chance to impale him against the ground. Soon, he was upon his feet again.

Breathing hard, furious at missing his opportunity to end Tum, the spelled man dashed towards Tum, throwing all caution to the wind. Tum dodged his attack smoothly, swirling beside the man's thrusting sword and towards the man. Ashe got close to his attacker, he took a swipe at the man's bare body, cutting him deep in the side and drawing blood. Then he posed again for another onslaught.

The only acknowledgment Tum got from his blow was a grunt from his attacker. The spelled man looked at his bleeding wound, then at Tum before he dashed towards Tum again. Prepared, Tum stepped to the side again, moving away from the blade. He was about to bury his sword in the man's chest when he saw another blade in the man's free hand. He saw it late. The blade seemed to just quickly appear whenever the man wanted to strike him.

Tum quickly changed his direction and pulled away from the blade that was coming quickly for him. Life moved in slow motion as the blade came towards his face.

The blade struck a part of his hair, cutting it off. His change in direction pulled him into another trajectory where he lost his balance, staggering to the ground. He rolled over and came to a halt, feeling pain in his sides.

The spelled man came towards him, his sword raised. Tum breathed with difficulty. His own sword had fallen off his hand in the last attack and now lay far away from him.

"You will leave the forest, dead or alive," the man said and was about to bring his sword down on Tum when Tum remembered Buckle's scream: you have a gun, dammit!

He quickly reached for his gun, pulling it off the holster hanging around his body fast, aimed, and shot, all before the man could bring his sword down on him. A red hole appeared in the man's head, halting him. He kept shooting till the man staggered backward and away from him. Tum quickly scrambled away from the man and watched him fall. Still, he kept shooting, frightened off his wit.

He could not bring himself to stand up and walk over to where the man had fallen. His sword lay some distance away from him, closer to the man than to him. He wanted to go pick it up, and at the same time, he was scared the man could stand up at any moment.

"Bonnie," he said, suddenly remembering his companions. "Buckle! Meredith!"