Lost Magic

Attack in the night

Kai and I were sitting around the small fire that he had created. We had passed through many woodlands, creeks and meadows during the day, and had walked until it had grown too dark to travel anymore. So eventually we had decided to set up camp here. In a creepy forest.
I was tense, and every noise I heard would cause me to reach for my dagger. Kai, unlike me, seemed to be at ease though. He sat cross legged next to the fire, eating some of the fruit I had brought, seemingly unfazed by the eery noises around us. Every now and then, when I reached for my dagger, he would chuckle and point out that the noise I had heard was just a tree creaking in the wind, or even an owl. Then I would blush and look down at my feet, trying to ignore the fact that I had just been picked on by a boy.
Kai finished eating and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. Then he stood up.
"I'm going to find some more fire wood." He said, blue eyes sparkling in the light of the fire. "You'll be okay won't you?"
I wanted to say "You can't just leave me in this creepy place with all those noise making creatures!" but I didn't want to sound scared, so instead I just nodded. I watched as he disappeared through the darkness of the forest.
The minutes ticked by and Kai still hadn't returned. How long does it take to find fire wood?
A twig snapped and I was immediately aware. I jumped up, yanking my dagger from my belt. Walking forward, I looked around. There didn't seem to be anything here. I relaxed my grip on the dagger a bit. Something flew past me and brushed my cheek. Shoulders tense, I looked up. There was an owl staring at me from a branch. It's just and owl. I told myself. Suddenly, a figure darted out of the shadows and pinned me to a tree. A man with yellow - green eyes and a foul breath was firmly holding my arms against the trunk, his face centimetres from mine. I opened my mouth to scream but the man clapped a grimy hand to my mouth.
"No you don't, pretty girl" He snarled at me. Realising one of my arms was now free, I struggled to break away from him. Unfortunately this only made him angrier and he tightened his grip on my other arm, twisting it backwards in the process. I yelped in pain, but my voice was muffled due to the hand that was still clapped over my mouth. The man's eyes travelled to my neck, where he noticed the necklace from my nan. He grinned, and I almost gagged when I saw that his teeth were all black and rotten. He took his hand off my mouth and reached towards the necklace. Glancing at my mortified face he said, "Don't mind if I borrow this, do you pretty?"
"No! Please no! Anything but that!" I shrieked. He didn't pay any attention to me and grabbed the necklace in his hand. Suddenly, he yanked his hand away and stumbled backwards, letting me go completely.
"Curses!" He muttered under his breath. I wasted no time snatching up my dagger up from the ground and pointing it at him. When he saw the dagger pointed at him he slowly raised his hands in surrender. There was a massive welt forming on one of his hands, the same one that had been holding my necklace. I glanced down at the necklace around my neck. It looked normal except........the stones embedded in the swallow's wings were glowing. I looked up and glared at the man. For a moment he looked genuinely scared. Then he smirked.
"So what? Are you going to kill me now?" He snarled.
"No." I said, "I'm not going to kill you, I have no interest in hurting anyone, but beware if you show up here again I won't be as nice about it." I tried sounding more confident than I felt.
With that I walked past him, back towards our campfire. I had my back turned on the man, not realising that meanwhile he had stood up and was preparing to lunge at me. I felt a breeze behind me and then heard a strange crackling sound. I spun around. The man's face was only a few inches away and he had one hand balled up into a fist, ready to hit me. But he wasn't moving. His eyes looked as though they had frosted over, and his lips and skin were a funny blue colour. With a start I realised what was wrong. He was frozen. I stood there in shock, eyes wide and mouth open.
Kai ran to me from somewhere behind the now frozen man, but I barely noticed him. To think that I would have probably been dead by now was scary enough, but knowing the extent that some people would go to to get what they wanted was even worse.
"Are you alright?" I heard Kai say next to me. I gulped and nodded, still not taking my eyes of of the frozen statue.
"Come on." He said, placing a hand on my shoulder. "We're not staying here anymore."
For the first time since the man had been frozen, I looked at him. His anger was evident. We walked back to our camp fire, which had now begun to dim considerably. Kai didn't ask any questions about what had happened. I figured he either guessed or knew I didn't really want to talk about it.
While I gathered my bag Kai stomped out the flame, leaving a small pile of ashes. Then we turned and left, trying to ignore the frosted eyes of the man boring into our backs.