He couldn't believe his eyes. The entire village was flooded, with brown, strong water flowing, carrying fences and straw with it. White water was spraying up, and that was when he noticed a small girl about eight holding onto a tree branch for dear life.
Taking care not to drop his candle, he rushed to her and climbed up the tree, the only way to save her from the horribly strong current.
Her hair whipped into her face, covering her eyes. But if she tried to take it out, there was a high chance that she would fall into the flood and get washed away. Dark, dirty water carrying jagged, massive sticks reached up to the girl, grasping for her - it slid down the tree and into the depths.
The scenery was a catastrophe; it was appalling to look at the broken and torn apart houses with animals wailing from under the water. He felt his heart shatter when he saw a tool jab into a pig's abdomen. The animals were to be butchered for food, but that only took a second. This way, they would drown for minutes in excruciating pain. He wasn't going to let that be the case for this girl.
He stretched out a hand and grabbed the child by her waist. He had been working at the farm using his arms to take the crops, so he was used to carrying large baskets. However, the fear made his muscles quiver, and his right hand on the tree slipped.
He was only holding on with his legs now. He wrapped both arms around the terrified girl and hoisted her up with all his strength. He got down the tree carefully and led her toward the town square to gather all of the people and get them out of the storm.
They sprinted, panted, and he covered the candle with his hand to protect it from the rain.
They had finally gotten there, and he ran around with the child, calling for people to follow him out. The water here was ankle deep - but it was still dangerous, for it had sticks and human tools lurking under.
"Follow the light! Follow the light!" Elias shouted and began heading for the big hill in a jog. He heard a bunch of footsteps smushing and going against the mud, and although he was relieved, water was rising, so he jogged a little faster with the girl's hand clutching his small hand.
"Muchacho," an elderly man wheezed. "We can't see the tiny light." That was right, Elias himself was so frightened that he had been clutching the candle in his hand.
He realized this instantly and raised the candle high, right above his head, and covered it a little to prevent it from going out.
Elias could tell that it was helping everyone, since they sighed relieved breaths.
They continued to walk and climb up the hill, gradually going out of the slightly withering storm.
He was beginning to feel tired, and that was when he found an abandoned barn that they could stay at on the other side of the hill.
They moved into the shelter, and Elias noticed that a lot of people were shivering in the light.
He went to look for blankets and, fortunately, found a pile of them. Instead of using all of them for himself, he gave a huge blanket to each of the groups.
"Thank you, Elias," an old woman whispered. His mom and she were fantastic friends. "You have made your mother proud."
He smiled shyly and went on to give to the other places. He strolled over to the corner of the barn and curled up.