I gasped when I saw what she was talking about. Another Reaper blocked our path. I didn’t exactly know what was going on. However, what I did know was that we were trapped between two Reapers that apparently wanted me dead. Not that the cheery thought actually brought me any real comfort. If I lived through this thing, little Miss Snow White and Colin of the Queensmen had a lot of explaining to do.

The Reaper raised its sword at us and Snow White ripped a knife from her back pocket. She pointed it at the Reaper, spreading her feet wide apart. She couldn’t be serious! Ever so slightly I saw Snow White readjust her weight between her two feet. This had to be a joke. Snow White flexed her hand around the knife experimentally. Was she crazy? “When I say run, get as far away from here as you can!” she told me.

“You are not serious!” I sputtered. She turned her head. Even from underneath her hoodie I could feel the glare that she was giving me. Yes. Yes, she was very serious. I went pale. This girl really was insane!

“Just run and get to safety! One of us will find you again after this is all over,” she told me.

I saw the Reaper move from the corner of my eye. “Look out!” I gasped.

The Reaper’s sword came down, aimed for Snow White’s unprotected head. My hands moved without conscious thought and I grabbed her by the back of her hoodie at the exact moment the sword completed it’s swing. The blade fell just shy of her head, but the Reaper quickly corrected its swing. I pulled Snow White’s head to my chest protectively. I raised my hand. There was no way we were going to avoid this strike. My actions were pointless. I closed my eyes and turned my head in anticipation of probable death.

Dad died in a car crash. He’d been minding his own business when a semi driver fell asleep at the wheel and plowed through his car. One moment Dad had been here, and the next he was gone. Dad’s death had put a lot of things in perspective for me. Made me realize my own mortality. However, I’d never really considered death itself. I never imagined what my own death would be like. It was too difficult. Now, however, as I stared death in the face I knew for a fact that I definitely didn’t want to die. Not now! Definitely not now! I wanted to live, desperately. For Luke. For my friends. For myself!

I didn’t want to die!

The Reaper let loose an unearthly screech. The sword hit, but not my hand. I looked up and quite quickly figured out why the Reaper was so angry. It was also the reason Snow White and I weren’t dead. A pearly, white shield of light had closed around us and deflected the Reaper’s blows. Didn’t stop it from trying though. It continued to wail on the shield as hard as its muscle-less arms could.

I winced as the Reaper landed a particularly brutal blow. It almost felt like it had struck me somewhere deep inside my mind. I let go of Snow White to raise my other hand. I bit my lip and willed the shield to hold up long enough for Snow White to think up a better plan. Of course, judging by the way she was staring at me she wasn’t thinking very hard. “What now?” I asked.

Another tremor of pain ran through me as the Reaper brought its sword against the shield. Something splintered inside me and it mirrored on the shield with a jagged crack. “Gen!” screamed a voice from somewhere behind the Reaper.

My breath caught in my throat. That was Luke’s voice. Luke was here. No. No. “No!” I gasped.

Snow White called my name but I wasn’t paying attention. I saw Luke rushing up behind the Reaper at full speed. He had a hoodie on with the hood drawn up over his face but there had been no mistaking his voice. It was Luke. “No Luke! No!” I screamed.

Luke screamed angrily and leapt at the Reaper. The color drained out of my face. The Reaper turned to look over its shoulder as Luke came flying at it. A scream died stillborn in my throat. At the last possible moment, Luke pulled a sword from literally no where and twisted around. The blade came savagely down across the Reaper’s neck. Its skull separated from its neck with an audible snap. The rest of the Reaper collapsed to the ground along with its bone sword. Luke stabbed the skull through with his sword right as my shield finally gave way.

“Gen!” Luke cried. He flung his arms around my neck, knocking his hoodie from his face. I wrapped my own arms around him instinctively. “Thank God you’re okay,” he whispered.

“Luke,” I said, my voice shaking beyond my control. “What just happened? And why do you have a sword?”

“You’re the brother then I take it.” Snow White stood up and shook the water from her hands. Luke stiffened and turned to look at her.

“I am,” he replied curtly. There was a cold look in his eyes. Had I not been so confused I would have called him on it. Actually, on second thought, if I wasn’t so confused I’d probably be freaking out. “Wasn’t the Queen supposed to tell you to back off and keep your distance?” he asked somewhat scathingly.

“Luke, what are you talking about?” I demanded. “Do you have any idea what’s going on?”

“Something came up. We had to intervene,” Snow White said quickly. Her voice was apologetic, desperate even for Luke to understand. They were both ignoring me now. Seriously?

Luke grit his teeth. His hands wrapped tighter around me. “Was it big enough that justified the Queen breaking her word?”

Come on! Was I invisible or something?

“We had no choice!” Snow White snapped. They were getting pretty close to each other now. Snow White’s hand was clenched into a fist. Her next words came out as a hiss through clenched jaws, “They know who she is.”

Luke froze, his mouth falling open. He shook his head in disbelief. Who knew I was what? Oh God! This had something to do with Snow White telling me that the Troll had been trying to kill me specifically. It had too! “Luke,” I called quietly.

Both Luke and Snow White froze instantly. Luke’s eyes went wide when he remembered me standing right next to him. His sword disappeared from his hand. Apparently my brother had magic. Then again, apparently so did I.

Luke wrapped his hands around my forearms. His skin was burning in comparison to mine. He must have thought so too because he started rubbing my arms fiercely. When he stopped I suddenly realized I was shaking and not because of the cold either. “Gen!” Colin yelled from behind.

Great! Just what I needed. Over eager Colin. Luke’s arms tightened around me protectively. It only lasted a moment though. “C...Colin?” he asked in confusion.

“Luke? Is that you?” Colin replied as he ran a dirty hand through his hair.

“Luke, do you know him?” I whispered.

“Yeah,” he sighed, “yeah I do...and so do you.”

I shook my head, “I’ve never seen him before.”

Somewhere deep inside me though, I knew that was a blatant lie. It was probably the same thing that told me the creature that had ambushed us was a Reaper. The same thing that had allowed me to create a shield. I just knew. There was no other way to explain it. “Somebody,” my voice broke halfway through the word, “Will somebody please tell me what is going on?”

“We will!” Colin said enthusiastically as he reached for me. I pulled away towards Luke who had a way better understanding of reading atmosphere. Snow White turned towards Colin.

“Maybe we should let Luke explain the most important things to her,” she said through clenched teeth. Snow White wasn’t suggesting anything. She was telling him. “It’s the least we can do since the Queen made us break an Oath.”

Colin looked as though he wanted to argue but after a moment he growled in frustration before nodding reluctantly. “I guess I’ll see you soon Gen,” Colin told me with a small smile. “Luke it was good to see you again.”

“Yeah, sure…” Luke shrugged distractedly.

“The Huntsman will want to see her. I’ll make him hold off until tomorrow, but you know how important this is.” Snow White told him.

“Yeah,” mumbled Luke. “Let’s go home Gen.”

I nodded numbly and let Luke lead me back to the main street. “Are you going to explain to me what that was all about?” I questioned without much feeling in my voice.

Luke held out his hand and a taxi pulled up in front of us. He opened the door for me. I stood there, staring at him, until he gave me my answer. “When we get home. I promise.”