Aphroditessister: Thank you for your review! That is how you spell 'unique' well done :) Thank you so much for calling it unique, you made me fill with pride :)
Chapter Five (Eric's POV):
Seriously, what had he done in the previous life to get stuck with the most obnoxious kid in the land?
Who - and Eric was asking himself this while furiously thinking of a way to kill the beast before it killed William - who flung himself on a bloodthirsty monster's back?
It damn well wasn't heroic - just reckless!
Sprinting towards the beast, he realised the stunt could actually be effective.
While it tried swiping William off its back, Eric had a clear view of the beast's underside. And it wasn't covered in scales.
Reminding himself not to thank William after, it took Eric only a few seconds to slide underneath and swing his axe into the place where the beast's heart would be, and embed it deep into its flesh.
There was a hissing noise as the beast drew in its last breath, and Eric tugged his axe out, backing away as fast as he could, because the beast would surely fall forward as it died.
Every creature of nature did in these circumstances.
Waiting at a safe distance for the beast to fall, a terrible thought crept up on him as he watched it.
It seemed to want to defy gravity, and reared up until it was straight as a pillar, and he saw William desperately try to cling on, while his legs dangled down.
The thought then struck him. The beast was going to topple backwards, in a last attempt to kill the annoying human on its back, who'd poked its eye out.
It was cleverer than Eric had given it credit for.
"WILL - MOVE TO THE FRONT! HURRY!"
He saw William look towards him, then the ground, then back at him.
It was almost as if Eric could see the engines of his brain working.
The beast started falling backwards, and Eric prayed that Will would move faster.
He tried to keep him in sight, but with an almighty crash, the beast collided with the ground and a massive cloud of dust rose up, obscuring Eric's view.
Crouching and picking his way forward, he called "William?"
He heard nothing but silence. "William!"
Desperately straining his hearing, he remained still for a long time.
No...How could this happen? It hadn't even been a day since the fairy's warning to look after each other, and he had failed!
Finally straightening up, he turned around...and almost cried out.
There, in front of him, was a very much alive William - battered looking, with bruises and scrapes - but alive.
Eric could have hugged him, he was so relieved...
...but of course he didn't, choosing instead to grab him and drag him back to the place they had been resting, his hand firmly clenched around William's arm.
Once there, he turned back around .
"What do you think you were doing? I thought I told you to stay where you were?"
"If I did that, you wouldn't be here now."
Okay, that may or may not be true, but the huntsman had given an order, and he had expected it to be followed.
Moving closer to William, he lowered his voice "Next time I give an order, you obey it. If I say 'run' you run, if I tell you to stay still, you stand still."
"But - "
"It doesn't matter if I'm trapped, or about to die or something. You do it, okay?"
William just stared at him, disgruntled.
"Say the words, Will!"
"Okay, I'll do it!"
"Good."
Turning with his back to him, Eric participated in a conflict within his head...
Relenting, he glanced back at Will and said "Err...good bow work by the way."
Eric saw William do his best to hide a smug smile.
"But tomorrow, the day after that, and the day after that and so on, until we find Snow and go our separate ways, you'll be training with me on your combat skills. Bright and early."
Grinning at the instant change of expression on William's face, he lay down for the night.
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