5

A few days later, the ghouls announced that there would be a war on the kingdom. My parents and I heard it on the news.

    Mom paled.

    Dad held her.

    I understood that Mom was more worried than most people because she was more invested in protecting others. The ghouls would come after her specifically because they hated her and wanted to eliminate her because she was a problem for them. Ghouls were cruel and sadistic. They had a power over snow and they had used it in the last war. They could bury people and houses in snow.

    My heart sank.

    I couldn’t believe there would be a war.

    I started thinking of how to handle it. Mom was able to protect people in the last war. I would do that too. I thought of the ghouls hurting or killing people and animals and my heart hurt. I couldn’t stand the idea. I would do what I could to help people.

    Technically, the spell and the agreement from thousands of years ago said that the species that was in the lead could do so in any way they wanted, but there were a lot of people, not just Mom and me, who knew this was wrong and did something about it. I started picturing situations in which I would help someone so I would be ready when the war started.

    Dad released Mom.

    I put an arm around her.

    No one could do anything to stop the ghouls from attacking, so some people would defend themselves.

    A few hours later, the ghouls attacked our neighborhood!

    We heard a lot of things crashing.

    Then, people started to scream.

    Ghouls yelled threats.

    Mom and I ran to the window and saw the attack.The ghouls were black monsters the size of a human with claws.

    Ghouls were chasing people.

    They were attacking them with snow that came out of their hands to bury them.

    People were running away, terrified.

    The ghouls were using weapons to destroy buildings.

    One of them started burying a house under snow.

    It would take him a while.

    I was horrified.

    My heart pounded.

    Mom and I ran to the door.

    We wanted to help the people who were being attacked.

    I saw a man who was injured and it upset me.

    I went to him to see if he was okay.

    “I’m scared,” he said.

    “We’re all scared,” I told him, sympathizing.

    Two ghouls came closer.

    “Go to the hospital,” I told the man.

    I fought the ghouls to keep them away from him.

    Then, I found Mom.

    Two ghouls attacked us.

    Each of us fought a ghoul.

    We protected each other.The ghouls had an advantage in that they had power over snow and used it on everyone. But their necks weren’t strong.

    Mom and I were physically stronger than a lot of people because of our training. So when we got a chance, we each grabbed a ghoul’s head and turned it.

    It wasn’t easy.

    The ghouls struggled.

    That made it harder.

    They hurt us with their claws.

    We turned as hard as we could.

    Human necks were stronger and could never be snapped so easily.

    Each of us managed to snap the neck of the ghoul who attacked us.

    Another ghoul attacked a woman.

    She ran away.

    I ran to her.

    I stood in front of the ghoul, between it and the woman.

    The ghoul attacked me instead.

    I fought him.

    It took me several minutes before I was able to grab his head and turn it.

    The ghoul struggled.

    It scratched me repeatedly.

    It injured me more than once.

    I kept turning its head until its neck snapped.

He remembered her.

    He attacked her with snow.

    My heart stopped.

    I ran to Mom.

    Mom got away from the snow.

    The ghoul leader attacked her again.

    Mom kept getting away from the snow.

    Mom and I fought the ghouls like a team.

    We protected a lot of people and fought off the ghouls who attacked us.

    The battle took a long time.

    The ghoul leader hated Mom.

    He was starting to hate me.

    He seemed to be smarter than the other ghouls because he could figure out some of our attacks in advance.

    But we figured out his attacks more often.

    The ghouls retreated after causing some damage to the city. There were some people who stood up to them, so they had new enemies now too. In several places in the city there were people who stood up to them and the ghouls couldn’t kill them. I knew the ghoul leader would come after Mom again.

    My heart went cold again.

    Mom could protect herself, but I would be in every battle to protect her.

    We were both shaken.

    This was the first time I was in a real battle and not sparring. Mom had been in real battles before, but they were still terrifying.

    Mom hugged me because we both needed it.

    I looked around and saw a teenage girl and her dog. The girl was holding her dog and they were both shaking. I felt bad for them and approached them.

    “Are you two injured?” I asked the girl.

The ghoul leader saw Mom.“No,” she said. “But we were chased by two ghouls earlier and managed to get rid of them when we ran from them.”

    We talked for a while and the girl seemed to feel better.

    “Do you want me to hold you?” I asked.

    “Yes.”

    After a few seconds, I had to go to the hospital because I was bleeding. Mom was injured too, but not as badly.