Alex’s heart was pounding like a drum. She held her iron sword in one hand, and her shield in the other She was suited up in full diamond armor that was enchanted with Protection V and Thorns. Alex knew the deathmatch would begin soon, and she was a nervous wreck. Beads of sweat trickled down her forehead as the sun beat on her face and helmet. She scanned her surroundings, seeing if anyone was nearby, but no movement was seen. Though Alex had what she needed to defend herself, there was one thing that she didn’t have that was essential to the human: food. But no cows were around, nor oak trees that contained juicy red apples.

Alex dropped to her knees on the soft grassy terrain. “This is hopeless. I should have never signed up for the SG. What was I thinking?” A tear ran down her cheek. “I’ll never win this with no food… and no teammates. All I wanted to do was show those idiotic boys that I can fight too, but now… I don’t care anymore. I just want to go home.” Just before she was going to call quits, Alex caught something in the corner of her eye that she longed to see for the past half hour.

A herd of cows.

Alex’s heart soared. All the hope that was seeping out of her rushed back in. A huge grin flashed from her face. Finally…. after all this time I found them. She thought. She scrambled to her feet and, without warning, darted to the herd of cows. “FOOOOD!” she screamed, but just before she was 10 blocks from the herd, an arrow whistled through the air and found soft flesh in Alex’s arm. She screamed in agony as the pain throbbed in her arm, going up to her shoulder and flashing red. She crashed into the soft grass, dropping her sword and shield. Tears of pain and defeat trickled down her cheeks. No. No, this can’t be the end. She thought. She heard the sound of footsteps and saw the guy who shot the arrow standing over her.

“Well, well, well, look what I caught! A noob in enchanted diamond armor with a stupid iron sword. Pathetic!” he laughed mockingly. “Prepare to die, scrub.” He raised his sword up, ready to deliver the final blow and destroy Alex. She closed her eyes, ready to accept her fate.

After that, everything seemed like it was in slow motion. A few seconds passed, but nothing happened. Alex opened one eye and looked up, seeing a horrifying sight of her assassin slowly bringing his sword down onto her. Voices started to play in her mind.

Don’t let anyone intimidate you.

Show people that they shouldn’t judge you by your size.

Show people that you shouldn’t be underestimated.

Then, as the last voice came, everything went even slower.

You should never feel as if you must prove you’re good enough to others to be accepted. Be the best version of yourself, and accept who you are, and don’t be concerned about what other people think.

Then, without even thinking, Alex immediately grabbed her sword and held it up, blocking the boy’s attack. Everything went back to normal speed as the two swords clashed together, creating sparks. The boy had a look of shock on his face as Alex held her sword, proud and strong. She then kicked him hard in the stomach, sending him flying through the air and crashing into a tree, flashing red. Alex flipped up onto her feet, a grim look of determination and courage on her face. I’m NOT going to let this jerk bully me like the rest. She thought. But just as the boy was trying to hit her with his diamond sword, her iron sword was already there, blocking the attack. She quickly then took her sword and sliced it into the boy’s arm. Chunks of armor fell and the sword found soft flesh, causing the boy to scream in pain and flash red.
Suddenly, it was a dance of death as the boy and Alex battled. Everytime the boy tried to land a hit, Alex’s sword was already there, blocking the attack cauing the swords to clash together, forming sparks. Chunks of the boy’s diamond armor fell to the ground as her rusty iron sword landed countless hits, depleting the boy’s HP. When the boy’s HP was dangerously low, he dropped his sword and fell backwards, landing on the green grass. The tables had turned, for Alex was the one standing over the boy.

As Alex was about to swing her sword again and destroy the boy, her eyes locked onto his. She could see the look of fear and uncertainty in his bright blue eyes. She stopped, then paused.
“I’m not going to kill you, but if you make any rash decisions, then you will be destroyed. I only fought you to defend myself, not to kill. Please, let me by on my way. I don’t even know why I signed up for this, but now I realize that I should accept myself for who I am. I’m not going to let others push me around and judge me by my size and opinions. I will defend for what I think and not be concerned about what others think of me.” She put her sword into her inventory. “I will let you go if you don’t hurt me.” she added. The boy quickly nodded. “Good. Well, goodbye.”

Suddenly, Alex arose from her pillow, soaked in sweat. She looked around to find that she was in her bedroom. It was all a dream. She thought, sighing in relief. She glanced over at her clock, seeing the time was 4:00 A.M. Before she went back to sleep, she climbed out of the covers of her bed and hopped onto the carpet. She walked over to her desk, grabbed some sticky notes along with a pencil, and wrote:

 

Have faith in yourself, and don’t worry about what others think. You must do what is right for those you care about, even if it means stepping aside for another to lead. Friends and family are more important, and sometimes, the sword is not the answer.

The End