Thwap!
It was only when the second arrow hit him that Allan-a-Dale sensed something was wrong. There was the pain, of course. It was the kind that made his knees buckle, made random groaning sounds come out of his mouth even when he was trying his best to be quiet. But he wasn't convinced he was dying until he began to see things, things he hadn't seen in years.
There was his father, hammer clanging against anvil, his mother handing him a piece of warm bread, little Tom falling out of a tree because he didn't know how to climb down. Then, inexplicably, he was back in the forest, chasing through the trees with a giant of a man at his side, the laughter of other men ringing in his ears.
All the while, a pair of green eyes watched him and a lilting foreign voice kept calling to him…stay with us, don't go. More arrows, and the forest floor rushed up to meet him. Evil sneered at him and the world began to go dark.
Not being funny, but…
--
"Is he going to be alright?"
"Yes. Not right away, not for a long while. But he will be alright."
Silence fell as the two watched their friend breathe, the sound shallow and almost healthy. For a man who had nearly died, Allan was doing remarkably well.
"You know…"
"What?"
"We can't just leave him here, Djaq. The others are gone." And maybe they don't even want him.
She smiled at Will. "He is coming with us. Wherever we go, he is coming with us."
--
