The woods were peaceful.

Stilas had shown Bethany every planet he had ever been to. There were volcanos, space stations, forests, plains, caves, mountains, and cities. Each time he had changed the scene she had snuggled closer and closer to him. The body heat relaxed him and he slowly let his focus slip from his shield. The song of the birds, every chirp and peep was drowned out by the silence between them.

Stilas ran his hand through the back of her soft red hair. His mission was forgotten. All his life he had wanted nothing more than to prove that he was worth notice. He had tried to get power to do that, but right now he felt more powerful than he ever had. It was weird, but he felt untouchable.

A twig snapped behind him and he tried to twist around, but his left arm was asleep. The cold steel of a shotgun barrel on the nape of his neck froze him.

“What have we here?” A thick Cajun accent asked,

“Looks like some soldiers.” A second voice answered,

“Whatcha lookin' at?” A third voice asked

Stilas flexed his fingers and dismissed the image, “Nothing. Just catching our breath.”

The shotgun traced its way up his skull and tapped his ears.

“Them are some funny ears ya got there.” The first voice said, “You one of them aliens?”

“Shot him!” The third voice hooted.

Stilas reached for his shield, but it had vanished over an hour ago. He silently chastised himself for letting his guard fall.

“Whatcha think about that?” The gun moved to the back of his skull, “I wonder what color you bleed.”

Stilas gritted his teeth. The owner of the first voice was really getting on his nerves. There was a twig close to his hand, but he wasn’t fast enough to cast a spell before the redneck pulled the trigger.

“Don’t.” Bethany begged, “He’s helping us.”

“Helpin'?” The second voice asked, “Helpin' do what? Round us up?”

“You have powers?” Bethany asked.

The sound of another shotgun pumping answered her, “We got all the power we need right here.” The third voice said.

“Then you don’t have to worry about us.” Bethany said, “We’re only looking for people that are misusing their powers.”

“I don’t trust him,” The first voice said, “let’s just kill him and be done with it.”

Stilas twisted to his left. As he rotated he slapped the shotgun aside with his left arm. The gun went off as he slid behind the owner of the gun and wrapped his right arm around his neck.

Stilas pawed at his pockets, searching for his pen as he eyed the owner of the second voice. He dragged his captive to the left so he could shield Bethany from the other shotgun that was pointed at them.

The first voice belonged to a man in his late fifties He was only wearing overalls and brown boots. Dirty, silver chest hair poked around the bib. Stilas’ Elf hearing detected the faint wheezing of smoke-damaged lungs.

The second one was in his early thirties. He was wearing the same outfit as the older man, but his hair was black and he stood straighter. A cigarette stuck out of his lips. Anger burned out of his eyes as he lifted his shotgun for a second shot.

The third voice was nowhere to be seen. Stilas finally found his pen and pulled it out.

Stilas wove the pen in front of him, “Shield!”

The shield snapped closed around them. Stilas smiled as he leveled his gaze at the second. With a quick twist of his arm, he snapped the neck of the older man and pushed the dead body out of the shield.

“PA!” The second screamed. The shotgun blared as it fired. Cracks spiderwebbed across the shield as the slug smashed into it.

“Are you ok?” Stilas asked as he scanned for the third voice

“You killed him.” Bethany’s voice wavered

“Better them than us.” Stilas pointed his pen at the second. A quick flick and a fireball shot out of the end of it.

The second man dove behind a tree and the fireball passed by him harmlessly.

“I have to get you out of here.” Stilas said as he began backing up, “Stay close to me, the shield will protect you.”

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Stilas grabbed Bethany’s hand and started pushing her back. If it had just been him, he could’ve blasted his way out, but there was no way he could keep two shields up.

A few more fireballs kept the second man tightly hidden behind the tree. The scent of pine filled the air as needles started burning.

Thin wisps of smoke clouded the air. Stilas tossed a few more fireballs at piles of pine needles. He threw one fireball at a cedar tree and it erupted in flames.

With the smoke to cover them, Stilas navigated them away from the rednecks.

“Where are we going?” Bethany asked

“Somewhere quiet, so I can make a portal and get us out of here.” Stilas glanced behind them, but he couldn’t see anyone following

“Did you have to kill him?”

“Who?” Stilas smiled when he heard water. Water meant rocks. He could make a portal on a rock.

“The old man,” Bethany stopped, “Why did you kill him?”

Stilas grabbed Bethany’s arm and pulled her back in motion. She moved three steps, but found her footing and pulled back.

“Why?” Bethany crossed her arms, “You didn’t do that hand thing on him. Why did you kill him?”

“I don’t know.” Stilas sighed, “He pointed that gun at you and-“ He turned around, “We need to get out of here.”

Bethany skipped forward and kissed him on the cheek. It was warm and sent heat down his body and out his toes. He watched as she began jogging in the direction that he had been trying to drag her.

“You coming?” Bethany asked,

“What just happened?” Stilas thought as he ran to catch up with her

They ran for a good five minutes before they reached the creek. There were rocks. Lots of rocks. Just none of them were bigger than his hand.

Stilas looked up and down the creek. Upstream the creek turned to the right after about fifty feet. Downstream it looked like it went for over two hundred feet before it curved to the left. Neither direction promised any bigger rocks.

“Let’s go.” Stilas pointed upstream. He jumped across the three-foot creek and landed in the mud on the other side.

“What’s this way?” Bethany asked as she fell in behind him

“Hopefully something I can make a portal on.”

“Can’t you draw one on the ground?” Bethany swatted at a mosquito

“Portals are directionally challenged. If I make one that is facing down, then we can only come out facing down.”

“Oh.” Bethany looked behind them, “Do you think they are following us?”

Stilas stopped jogging and looked at Bethany, “What kind of soldier are you?”

Bethany blushed, “I joined last week. With all the trouble they fast-tracked everyone.”

“So you’ve never fought before?” Stilas asked

“No.” Bethany hung her head, “Does that mean you don’t want me?”

“I-um.” Stilas stuttered, “It just means there’s more stuff I’ll have to show you.”

Stilas gestured up the creek, “Look for anything wide and tall enough for us to walk through.”

“Yes sir.” Bethany saluted.

Stilas stifled a grin as he started running back up the creek.

“Hey!” Bethany grabbed Stilas’ shoulder as they reached the bend.

Stilas scanned the trees for more rednecks, “Where?”

“Where what?” Bethany asked

Stilas pulled her away from the creek. He crouched with her behind an oak tree that was large enough to give them both decent cover. A fireball blossomed in his right hand, “Where are the humans?”

“I didn’t see anyone.” Bethany

Stilas dismissed the fireball as he stood up, “Then what did you say hey for?”

Bethany brushed herself off as she straightened. She pointed at Stilas’ belt, “Do you think I should have a gun?”

Stilas thought for a moment. Ten hours ago she had been trying to kill him. He had killed her friends and was trying to conquer her world. Every part of his training told him that he should kill her where she stood, but something tugged at his mind. Something he couldn’t put his finger on. The more he thought about it, the more he knew he could trust her. He tossed her the pistol from his belt.

“You know how to shoot?”

Bethany nodded as she sighted the pistol, “It’s light.”

“It’s supposed to be.” Stilas leaned against the tree, “Any Elves that are stationed in this system are issued blaster replicas of modern Earth weaponry.” He pointed at the pistol, “It might look like a normal pistol, but it’s Gnome engineered. The power cells are solar charged and they can fire continuously for over an hour.” He nodded at a small tree that was lying across the creek. “Try it.”

Bethany squared her stance. A flash of green light shot out of the end of the pistol. The light raced towards the tree and ate a hole through the center. Steam rose from behind the hole where some water had been vaporized.

“Cool.” Bethany grinned

“Yes it is.” Stilas pointed upstream, “We need to hurry before they catch up.”

Bethany stuck the pistol in the front of her pants and took off behind Stilas, “You think they’re following us?”

“Yes.” Stilas answered,

“Why?” Bethany asked

Stilas swatted a low tree branch, snapping it so it hung crooked. “I’ve been a hunter my whole life. I feel like we’re being hunted.”

“Oh.”

They ran in silence for a few more minutes. Stilas started to wonder if they hadn’t lost the rednecks. Maybe the bad vibe he was feeling was just him being paranoid. He followed another turn in the creek and saw what he was looking for. Up ahead there was a road with a bridge going over the creek. He could make a portal under the bridge for them to escape through.

“I’ll make a portal there.”

“Stilas!” Bethany screamed

He turned around and saw her pointing the pistol at him. Confusion ran through his mind as he twisted to his right to avoid the first shot. She was too close for his shield to work. And there was the little clause of how he had intended it to cover both of them when he had created it. Magic was tricky like that. It didn’t like you asking to change the rules.

Anger fueled his motion as he grabbed her gun hand. He squeezed so hard that his knuckles began turning white, but she kept shooting over his shoulder. At that distance, she should’ve had no problem hitting him, but she kept missing.

The fear he saw in her eyes was the last thing he saw before pain exploded at the base of his skull. He fell into her and realized that she dropped the pistol to catch him as his vision clouded over.