There was a sullen gloom in the sky, as clouds beckoned closer over the little cottage in the middle of the woods. Birdsong echoed through the swaying leaves as a warning of the coming storm. The earthy scent of rain in the distance was carried over by the wind, sifting through the air. 

Alistair reached over to grab another rock, brushing it clumsily with his fingers and handing it to his sister. She gurgled happily, stubby fingers adding it to the growing pile of rocks sitting in front of her. 

“Ali,” she cried while clapping in excitement, “cold!” 

As she spoke, he felt cool droplets hit his hair and arms, a welcome change to the humid heat they had been having for the week. “We need to get inside,” he declared with as much decisiveness as a 7-year-old could have. Brushing off dirt from his shorts, he helped his little sister up right after, tugging her to her feet. 

“No,” she wailed, reaching for the rocks on the ground. “What about Pebble and Stony?” 

Alistair huffed out a sigh and grabbed her wrist to tug her away, “they’ll still be here after the rain,” he assured, “they might even be cleaner too.” 

Faintly, he heard their mother call from the house. “See, even mother is calling us back now.” 

At that, his sister relinquished their playthings, grumbling as she trudged back up the path. Alistair smiled and ruffled her hair, pleased he didn’t have to try harder to get her to go home. She protested valiantly against him but ultimately failed, hair sticking up with a close resemblance to the bird nests in the trees. 

The rain started falling faster as they walked back to their little cottage, soaking the earth and dyeing it a darker shade of ochre. Alistair tilted his head back, letting the droplets cool his face, and opened his mouth to catch the rain. 

His sister mimicked him, one hand clasping his and eyes open with wonder as the rain caressed her. “Doesn’t taste like much,” she declared after a short while. Water dripped from her chin and hair like clear pearls. 

He laughed and resisted the urge to muss her hair again. “No? It is just water.” 

She frowned and raised her face to the sky again. “ water from sky should be different.” Her tongue stuck out as if it would make a difference in the taste. Alistair shook his head and left her to it, content in her busy silence. 

A leaf crackled, making him perk up. That was odd. When storms were coming, animals usually hid in their burrows or nests, unwilling to step out onto the wet earth. His mother was the only other person apart from them in the area, and no one else was due to visit. 

Something felt off. 

“Lulu,” he said, heartbeat hammering in his ears, “do you want to play a game?” 

“A game?” his sister repeated, peering up at him. “What game?” 

Alistair smiled, “a race, whoever reaches the house first wins.” 

She pouted, eyebrows dropping down and nose scrunching. “You just want us to get back faster,” she concluded. Alistair didn’t reply and simply continued smiling. His hand trembled slightly, adrenaline rushing through his veins like ice. 

“Lulu,” he prodded. 

“Fine, but you have to give me a head start!” she replied. 

“Okay!” Alistair shouted as she took off. He followed after a second, hoping he was wrong. That his bad feeling was wrong. That it was just something in the forest that was heading back to its den.

An unnatural glint caught his eye from the forest. Without any other warning, an arrow shot towards him, metal glinting as it headed straight for his right eye. He cried out, dropping to the floor. Hot, sticky liquid dripped from his cheek and he slapped a hand over it in horror. 

Crimson, bright and vibrant, mixed with rain on his fingers. Just a scratch, for now. 

“Lulu!” he yelled, desperation lancing through him. His sister was just a few metres ahead, and he kept running, glancing back every so often. The forests were dark, trees obscuring much of what lay within, and the overcast skies did nothing to help visibility. 

A person, cloaked in dark green with leaves hanging from his clothes, intercepted him. “Who are yo-” his words barely left his mouth when a blade sliced through the air. 

Alistair jumped back, tripped over his feet, and fell to the ground. Mud soaked through his clothes, and he scrambled for purchase and distance from his attacker. Desperation gave way to fear, and he stared wide-eyed as the blade raised above him. 

“No hard feelings, kid,” the man spoke, voice muffled through his mask. 

A shriek in the distance made Alistair freeze. Lulu. Something cold, even colder than the fear he had felt just moments ago, trickled through him, pooling in his gut. His stomach churned. 

Rain bounced off the silver sword as it arced down. Alistair stared, transfixed, as it completed its arc in the sky and headed for his skull. The cold spread to his chest, leaving him breathless. Then, the sword stopped, and it bounced. 

A blinding spark accompanied by a screech of metal erupted barely a second later. Alistair cowered with his hands over his eyes. He blinked, the light etching itself into his eyes as if he had stared at the sun briefly. 

The man jumped back, blinking rapidly. 

Alistair gasped for breath. They watched each other warily, one in consideration and one in fear. 

“Well,” the man muttered, “this changes things. Consider yourself lucky, boy.” 

Alistair felt something in the air shift, and on his next blink, the man was gone. The only thing to mark his existence was the footprints moulded into the mud. 

He scrambled to his feet, limbs heavy as if he had run for miles without break. Lulu. His interaction with the stranger had only been minutes at best, he had to get to his sister. Now. 

The silence was deafening. 

The rain obscured his vision until he could only see a few feet in front of him. He stumbled forwards, eyes on the road and his feet, forcing his body to move. His knee thudded into something solid, but there was nothing in front of him. Alistair moved his hand forward, baffled when it ran into the same invisible barrier. 

Slamming his fists into it, he felt nothing shift, it was like hitting a concrete wall that had a smooth texture. Still, he persisted, eyes stinging as tears sprang up. “Let me in!” he cried, “leave my sister alone.” 

He felt the same feeling as before, an icy pit in his gut. The feeling spread to his hands, leaving them numb and tingling. This had to work. Alistair took a deep breath and slammed his fists again. 

There was the sound of something splintering, and cuts appeared on his palms and fingers like they were drawn with an invisible pen. Heedless of the blood welling up, he continued on, limbs even heavier than before and vision tunnelling. 

“What a surprise,” he heard someone say from his side. He turned his head but found himself on his knees instead. His head throbbed along with the sound of his heartbeat. 

“Truly, at his age too it’s almost unheard of.” He recognised the voice of the stranger from earlier. Where had he come from this time? 

Alistair felt his arms give out, falling to his side on the ground. He managed to turn his face to avoid falling face-first in the mud, but that was all he could do. “Lulu,” he breathed out. 

“Your sister is fine, you’re lucky you gave us your impressive little show before we caught her,” the first person answered. 

“We’ll meet again, little turtle,” his attacker said. There was a whoosh of wind, and Alistair knew they had gone again. Turtle? He filed that information away for later, too tired to think. 

He faded in and out of focus, not knowing how much time had passed. Footsteps brought his attention back, but his body still refused to cooperate. Gentle fingers lifted him, and he relaxed, recognising the familiar warmth of his mother. 

“Ali, sweetie, I have you,” she whispered, holding him to her chest. “I’m sorry, I didn’t think he’d find us so soon.” 

“Lulu?” he asked, unsure what his mother was talking about and not caring at the moment. 

“She’s okay, she ran to the house and fetched me,” his mother replied. 

“I guess,” Alistair sighed with a small grin, “she won the race.” He let himself drift off, exhausted. The cold that had encircled his body faded, curling back into the core of his body, waiting for the next time he called upon it. Even if it was subconscious.