AllFreeNovel
Share Us
"No, the Lego has to stay here with Grandma. She'll take good care of your ship, and it'll be here waiting for you when you come back."
Rory pouted, but she came readily enough. "I guess I won't be able to fly it yet, so I have time to build the best space ship ever. You keep it safe, Grandma!"
Mum promised she would, so with a final flurry of kisses and cuddles, Tacey managed to hustle Rory out the door and into the car.
SEVEN
If you'd only help me...
It came as a whisper on the wind, but Wystan heard it from his vantage point on the roof. He could almost feel her frustration, as if it were his own. But it was a command he could not ignore, so he slipped through the walls to where he could find her, and help.
Only to find himself at the pointy end of a sword that was almost as big as the one who wielded it.
"I can bring you in warm or I can bring you in cold, monster!" the pint sized girl proclaimed, baring her teeth.
How someone so small could wield such a large sword...
Wystan touched a finger to the underside of the blade. It was warmer than metal. More like silver gilded wood, but wood so light that...
The girl lifted the sword and thwacked it down on his hand with enough force for the blow to actually sting. A little, at least.
"That's nothing compared to what my mum will do to you if she sees you in here! No monsters allowed in the house!" she snapped.
Wystan cocked his head. "If you do not wish for my help, why did you summon me?"
Her eyes widened. "You're here to help me?"
"You asked for my help, so I came. I am bound to protect..." The red-haired woman, he almost said, for that's what the others had told him, and he knew it to be true. Yet he'd heard the child's call and answered it as a command. "It is my duty," he finished instead.
Now her eyes narrowed. "So you're not a monster, then?"
He gestured toward his wings. "I am as you see me." In monstrous form with wings and horns and a tail, just like the others.
The girl chewed her lip. "Mummy says monsters come in all shapes and forms. The worst ones look like normal people, so you don't think they're monsters until they try to hurt you. And some people look scary, but they're actually really nice. Protecting people is nice, isn't it?" Now she didn't seem so sure of herself, she lowered her sword.
"You should not lower your weapon, unless you are certain your opponent will not harm you," Wystan said, tugging the blade up to point at him again. Yes, it was light, and not particularly sharp. At worst, if wielded strongly enough, it might bruise. "But I will neither hurt you, nor allow anyone to harm you. That is the duty of a protector."
The girl nodded slowly. "Which is why you're allowed in the house. You're a nice monster protector."
He could not argue with that. "I am."
Someone hammered on the door. "Rory? Are you ready for bed yet?"
Panic flared in the girl's eyes, and she almost dropped her sword. "I'm just finishing my sword practice, Mummy!"
"Enough practice for tonight. You have one minute to get your nightie on, or it's lights out!" Mummy called through the door.
"Yes, Mummy!" Then the girl dropped her voice to a whisper. "You need to go right now, before Mummy comes. If she sees you, she'll call Auntie Callie and Auntie Octavia and they won't care if you're a good monster or a bad monster, they'll kick you right out of the house. Quick, hide!" She shoved him toward the wardrobe.
Wystan allowed her to push him inside the wardrobe. She grabbed the door and started to close it, before she changed her mind and held out the sword. "Here. So you can fight the bad monsters, if they come."
He accepted her offering in the spirit it was given, not wishing to tell her that a blow from his living stone fist would do far more damage than her flimsy weapon.
"Time's up!"
The door slammed open as darkness engulfed Wystan once more.
EIGHT
