Everlast

Chapter 10; Fighting is NOT the answer...unless you are being attacked by elves.

Ajay had been terrified many times in his life. For example, there was the time he had gotten an F on his report card an his parents had seen. THAT had been quite terrifying. Or there was the time he had been forced to sing on stage for a school project back in primary school. Horrible times, really.

But both those things paled in comparison to being attacked by Dark Elves in the middle of a creepy forest.

At first when they charged, everyone else had sprung into action, whipping out swords or magic spells or something else equally awesome. Emmer was using her twin swords to battle enemies left and right. Jareth and Thistle were fighting back to back; their techniques looking more like a circus performance than anything else. Grimble was launching lightning from his fingertips, knocking foes down in an almost elegant fashion. Ajay, however, just sort of stood there, too petrified to move and thinking about how awfully pointy the Dark Elves' teeth were. Very pointy.

Finally, it was the gentle, wise, and encouraging words of Grimble yelling, "Don't just stand there, you idiot, do something useful!" that snapped Ajay out of his trance.

Holding his dagger out before him, he waited until a Dark Elf took notice of him and leapt at his face, to which Ajay promptly responded by stabbing the creature in the eye. It screamed, a horrible grating wail, and clawed at him, catching him on the arm but not hard enough to break any skin. It howled in frustration, trying to sink its claws into his body while he dodged every blow, feeling like he was doing alright so far.

He wished Emmer could see.

Ajay stepped back as the elf came at him again, springing on top of him and knocking him to the ground. It was then that they had a wrestling match of life and death. NOT the sort of situation one wants to find themself in. They scrabbled for a hold on one another, ripping, biting, clawing, and--in Ajay's case-- yelling for help since he had no idea what he was doing. But suddenly, he felt the weight of the elf lifted off him and he looked up to see Emmer chase it off, back into the shadows from whence it came. The fight was over soon after that, much to Ajay's immediate relief. Standing up, his muscles aching sorely, he tried his best to look tough, as if the whole ordeal had not made him want to curl up in a ball and cry. Which it did. Quite a lot actually.

Emmer then walked back over and gave him a look, "Are you alright?"

Crossing his arms, Ajay puffed out his chest and tried to look a little taller. "I'm quite alright. It was like another day of playing with the boys, you know?" he cleared his throat, "I wasn't scared..."

And he might've gotten away with that lie too if his voice hadn't cracked at the end there.

Emmer snorted, then winced and held her arm where a bloom of red had blossomed on her sleeve, spreading slowly.

Sucking in a breath, Ajay looked closer at the wound, "You're bleeding."

"Really? Is THAT what that is?" the elf replied sarcastically, "I hadn't noticed."

Ajay ignored her and bade her to sit down while he rummaged around in his supplies for a bandage and finally finding a strip of clean cloth. He supposed rubbing alcohol was not yet a thing here, so he simply took Grimble's flask and emptied out onto Emmer wound.

"Ouch!" she hissed, "In future, warn me next time!"

"Sorry." Ajay wrapped the wound carefully, his slender fingers moving deftly along Emmer's arm, their skin nearly touching at times. He tried to remember everything he learned from First Aid the previous year; trying to wrap the wound tight enough to stop the bleeding, but not too tight. The entire time he was doing this, he felt Emmer's eyes on him, watching his every move. And when he finished, her gaze flicked to his.