‘Who are you?’ the princess said.

Sparrow looked behind him, then back at her, ‘Who, me?’

‘Yeah, the guy who appeared on top of my turret. The one I’m about to kill if he doesn’t start explaining himself.’

Sparrow swallowed, ‘I’m Sparrow - I don’t know if you remember…’

The girl shook her head, ‘I don’t.’

‘Well, I used to go to Swan Academy. I was kicked out early on,’ Sparrow scratched his head, ‘I was just passing by and heard there was a battle happening so thought I’d take shelter, I didn’t know that you’d be here.’

Princess Jade was staring at him. She had a thoughtful look about her.

‘Pelican? No, no… that wasn’t it, Quail? Chicken? Hawk?’ She held up a finger and nodded, ‘Sparrow.’

Sparrow smiled, ‘Yeah. Sparrow.’

‘Well Sparrow,’ She said, pointing a flat palm toward him, ‘I’ve got to say, it’s a little suspicious appearing up here like this.’ She dropped into a fighting stance, ‘Someone like me can’t afford to take chances during a time like this.’

She swallowed, ‘I hope your death treats you better than life did.’

A purple light erupted from her palm and smashed into Sparrow’s chest, throwing him backwards, his heels smashed on the back of the turret, pain shot up his spine.

He gasped as his body twisted backwards. His shirt was blistering.

Time seemed to slow. He found himself twisting in the air. A cloud of fire arrows passed by leaving trails of orange smoke. People were screaming below him, but the sky looked so peaceful.

Sparrow’s body flipped and he found himself looking at the cobblestone ground. It was getting closer and closer and…

Stoneskin, he thought to himself. I need stoneskin.

He felt his skin begin to go rock solid just as his face smashed into the ground. His nose - the first to touch down made an awful cracking sound. The rest of his head just left a dent in the cobbles as stoneskin took over.

Sparrow let out a raw moan then tried to sit up. His body was too heavy, instead he just lay there for a while watching the blood slowly leak from his nose.

****

A pounding sound echoed its way through Sparrow’s skull. At first, he thought it was the headache smashing into the back of his skull, but no… even that wasn’t as powerful as the sound that echoed through his skull.

He sat up. Wiped at the dried blood that coated his lips.

In front of him was a crowd and beyond the crowd was a door.

The door was small, and all boarded up. But it didn’t have the wall of rocks placed against it that the gate did.

He blinked as another pounding thud spread its way out from the door. The crowd jumped back and Sparrow stared at them, they were mostly soldiers with a few cultivators thrown in. The soldiers pointed a shishkebab of spears at the doorway.

The door made a crashing sound this time and splinters flew from it and into the crowd. Yellow dust was thrown up and shapes moved behind it and into the castle.

Sparrow spat a wad of blood onto the cobblestones. The spit was soaked up by the layer of ash that coated the surface.

The shapes were taller than any of the humans. They carried cruel swords with unfinished edges and clubs the size of tree trunks. They were so tall they had to crouch onto their knees as they went through the door.

The first of The Horde fell onto the spears of the humans. Where the spears pierced through their armour a green liquid sprang out and dissolved any metal or wood it touched.

The pierced horde pulled the spears further into their guts, then bent down, unlocked their jaws and ate the soldier's heads in one gulp.

There were two cultivators that Sparrow could see. One man. One woman. They stamped on the ground and stone blocks flew up behind them. They pushed their hands forward and the blocks smashed into The Horde. They kept the stone flying straight at the doorway, they piled the blocks up one after another, trying to plug the gap.

Eventually, they managed to stop the flow. The gap was fully plugged and the speared horde began to die. Sparrow watched as Princess Jade touched down on the concrete in front of him. She was shouting something. Sparrow watched as the spearmen reformed and the two earlier cultivators bowed to her.

Another thump rang out from the hole and a giant stone axe passed straight through the doorway sending blocks spinning into the castle. One block smashed into a soldier, crumpling his armour.

The second wave through the door carried no armour - yet even the soldier’s spears couldn’t pierce their skin. The horde slashed their longswords through the crowd, clearing soldiers like scythes clearing wheat.

Princess Jade twisted her hands in the air, a beam of purple energy shot into the hole, and high-pitched screams shot right back. There was a smell like rotten meat burning. Sparrow staggered to his feet and took off his burnt shirt.

The slashers who’d already come through the hole made their way straight for Princess Jade. The two cultivators moved in close beside her, blocks of stone whirled around them in an incomplete shield. Princess Jade dropped her hands and the beam of purple energy stopped. Sweat dripped down her face and her fingers were shaking. Sparrow started to walk toward her.

More slashers poured through the hole and headed straight for her. Sparrow took off his belt.

The slasher broke through the cultivator’s circling wall of rock. The man received a dagger in his eye, the woman had her heart ripped out.

Princess Jade raised her hands, they shook with exhaustion. Her beam of purple cut through the slashers, chopping them in half as more poured through the hole. Her beam cut out and pale white spread across her face.

She felt something slip around her waist. It was… a belt?

Its buckle slipped into place and heard the slashers give a scream.

‘I want that back afterwards,’ A voice said.

She turned, a guy with a burnt, bloody, ash-coated face stood shirtless in front of her. He winked, ‘So take care of it for me.’

‘Sparrow?’

Sparrow turned and ran for the hole. He kicked off the shoes he’d stolen felt his skin grow strong, punched his fist straight through the face of a goblin, pulled out its brain and then used it like a cleaning rag to wipe the dust from his neck.

The slashers around him went nuts, their screams cracked the cobblestone.

They rushed him, smashing fists, swords, and entire branches on him. For a moment Sparrow was swallowed by the mass. Then the next moment he was soaring above them. Their weapons clattered to the ground in a cacophony of smashed feet.

Sparrow spun, more and more of The Horde were pouring through the hole. He could still take them, but… he remembered the mass moving through the fields toward the castle. There was no way he could take all of them.

Sparrow stared at the doorway. An idea hit him, but it was an idea filled with only pain. He felt his knees grow weak. He felt his heart beating out of his chest, then he gritted his teeth and flew to the doorway.

He smashed his feet straight into the ground and felt his earth magic start to take over. Strength and energy flowed from the ground and into his body.

Sparrow smashed his fists into the stone again and again until he was satisfied it couldn’t break, then he closed his eyes and imagined the stoneskin spreading out to not just encompass him but the entire doorway. When he opened his eyes he found he was fused to the doorway. He couldn't move a limb. And neither could anyone else.

He was facing into the castle. Backup spearmen had arrived as well as the military man Sparrow had seen earlier. The man just shook his head when he saw Sparrow.

A sword hit Sparrow’s back. It didn’t hurt as bad as he thought it would. A club smashed against his leg and he heard the satisfying crack of the wooden shaft shattering.

The soldiers speared each of the slashers and separated their heads from their shoulders. From behind him Sparrow heard a hideous screaming. His throat was dry and he tried to swallow but all he tasted was blood.

Massive feet shook the ground behind him. Sparrow’s breath shook. He felt a tear run down his cheek. He was scared - scared of the pain to come.

A giant stone club smashed into his back, knocking the air from his chest and stretching his arms. Sparrow let out a cough and tried to suck the air back into his lungs, but the damn things didn’t want to work properly.

A second blow smashed into his back. He gritted his teeth and went deeper into stoneskin then he’d ever gone before. The third smash didn’t hurt the same - or maybe it was just because the first two had destroyed the pain receptors in his skin.

The hits kept coming until the stone club snapped in half. The horde gave another scream and they fell on him in a sea of arms and knives and swords. But none of them could get through the hole.

Sparrow blinked dust from his eyes and looked up, a crowd had gathered - he saw the baker, the military man, and hundreds of others all standing in silence, just watching him.

The arms and legs stopped and a cruel laughter took his place. Sparrow felt a cold liquid spread it’s way across his back. He looked at the people, some were gasping, others had tears streaming down their cheeks.

He heard a chanting from behind him, then he felt heat spread up his back. In moments he was engulfed in flame. The heat tore at him. Stabbing every cell of his body, flying into his lungs. He couldn’t breathe.

Then cool water splashed across his front. He gasped, looked up and saw the people of the castle running at him with buckets of water.

Fire spread up his front again, but it didn’t live long as another cool bucket tamed his side. A floating glass of water appeared in front of him. He drank, long and deep. Then took a bite from the floating bread that was beside it.

'Thanks,’ he whispered, the burning in his vocal chords made him sound twenty years older.

‘You’re crazy,’ Princess Jade said, she put down the water and the bread and he could no longer guess where she stood, but when she next spoke she was close. Sparrow felt metal stabbing at his back.

‘Why are you doing this?’ she asked.

Sparrow shook his head, ‘Don’t ask that.’

‘Why?’

‘Because I don’t know the answer,’ he said, ‘I just am.’

‘And you’re going to keep doing it until…’

‘Until I die.’

‘Very dramatic,’ she said and then her voice became a little softer, ‘Thank you Sparrow. Thank you.’

Sparrow coughed. Another sword fell. This one chipped off a small piece of his shoulder. The pain was worse than anything he’d experienced.

Princess Jade left him, and the hours crawled by, his ribs, his shoulders, his knees and his ankles took a beating. Chips of stone-flesh lay all around him. And yet, Sparrow held on still. Above him the sun rose and burnt his stony flesh.

He heard the sound of the goblins screaming and he knew he was in for another round of punishment. His arms had started to shake - maybe if he was still a tree he’d be able to stand it, but no…

Sparrow collapsed onto the ground in front of the hole. As he did he could see everyone staring at him.

‘I’m sorry.’ He tried to say, but his throat was so bloody and bruised it just came out as a moan.

Then a man appeared in front of him. He wore an elegant silk robe and had his long black hair tied back. The man lifted him easily off the ground and then flew up towards the castle turrets.

Why aren’t The Horde attacking? Sparrow thought, then he stared at the man carrying him, maybe I’m dead?

Or maybe you’re a hero. A voice said in his head. The man in white was looking down at him and now Sparrow could see specks of greeen and red blood coloured his robe.

Surely there’s no blood in the afterlife. Sparrow thought, Who are you?

The man carrying him smiled, Everyone knows who I am. The real question is... who are you?

I’m Sparrow.

And what do you get up to when you’re not being beaten up?

Sparrow tried to shrug, but the pain in his shoulder was far too intense.

Getting beaten up is basically my main occupation, Sparrow thought, I guess I do a bit of travelling too.

They reached the second tallest tower of the castle, and in one easy bound the man lept through a window.

‘We have an injured soldier.’ The man was saying to someone, ‘Take good care of him – the sort you’d give to my family.’

On the edge of Sparrow’s vision someone wearing white nodded nodded.