The twins were panting heavily as they used every ounce of energy their little bodies contained to escape. They jumped over branches, zig zagged around tree trunks, and dove between bushes when they thought the men were nearly upon them. They wanted to return to their village, but there were several witches hidden amongst the townsfolk. The girls couldn’t go home without bring the seekers straight to them.

Before they had time to form any real plan, the men had caught up, snatching Ophelia by the hair and dragging her back towards them. Ophelia screamed as her sister’s nails scraped against her skin. Anya tried to hold on to her but couldn’t. The seekers were too strong, and she didn’t want to get caught either.

Anya hid, scurrying up a tree as she watched them struggle to tie their rope on her sister’s wrists. She trembled as she tried to think of what she could do.

“NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!” Ophelia shouted, kicking and biting the men. “LET ME GO!!!”

 The man with the deep voice slapped the young witch. Her tender cheek instantly swelling. Tears fell from the shock of it all. Unlike her sister, she didn’t know many spells by heart, and she couldn’t cast them without speaking. Even if she could, she didn’t know anything powerful enough to help her out of this bind.

Ophelia was terrified. She flinched as the men dragged her bound arms further away from Anya. She dug in her heels to the ground, trying anything to slow them, but it wasn’t enough. She screamed again when she turned her head to find they were approaching a single-horse wagon with a wooden cage atop it. Ophelia resumed her squirming and screeching when the seekers tried to put her in the cage.

“AHHHHHHHHH!!!” her voice was hoarse, but she didn’t relent. “NOO! LET! ME! GO! SEEKERS!!”

“Stupid, witch!” One of them spat at her as they struggled against her volatility. “Just get in and shut up!”

Suddenly, the man with the high-pitched voice shrieked, loosening his grip on Ophelia long enough for her to break free of his hold. It was then that she spotted a boy, just a bit older than her with a thick wooden sword in his hands. He whacked the heads of the seekers fearlessly and with enough force to get them to let go of her completely.

She ran behind him, shaking so fiercely she didn’t know how she was standing. Ophelia was mesmerized by the boy’s quick strikes and graceful movements. She almost couldn’t look away, but then she felt her restraints loosen. The young witch wasted no time in pulling her arms apart so that the rope would slide onto the ground.

“Ophelia!” Anya cried, jumping into her arms. She checked her sister’s wrist, finding them bruised but ultimately ok. Anya sighed in relief, but she couldn’t relax yet. “Come on, let’s go!”

Ophelia started to run off with her but then slowed. She stared at the mysterious boy who came to help her and couldn’t quite get herself to just take off. It didn’t seem right. Anya pulled again, but she resisted. “I have to help him.” She declared, and despite how terrified she was, Ophelia lifted her hand, focusing only on helping her savior.

The wind picked up a bit as she opened a portal without the aid of water. If they weren’t in such dire straits, Ophelia might have even cheered. Instead, she picked up a rather large rock and threw it with everything she had at the small shimmering gateway. The rock whirled through and slammed into the head of the high-pitched seeker, knocking him out.

The boy looked shocked but shrugged as he continued to clobber the second kidnapper so badly with his wooden sword that it snapped upon the final blow, causing the last man to finally lose consciousness.

Anya swiftly cast a spell in her mind. The ropes that bound her twin now slithered and crawled until they constricted around the wrists of the seekers. Anya added a little extra oomph to the spell, making sure that when they awoke, if they tried to free themselves from the restraints, it would only dig in harder.

“Ah, man…” the boy’s mouth twisted in disappointment. “The captain is going to be so mad at me for breaking another one.”

Anya’s jaw dropped as she saw her sister rush over to the boy. She would have thought she’d want to disappear from this chaos. Ophelia was never one for strangers, but for some reason, she made an exception for this boy.

Ophelia was out of breath, still shaking a bit as she approached him. She looked up at the boy who was a full head taller than her. “A-are you ok?”

The kid threw the broken half of his sword off to the side before his viridescent eyes locked onto the witch. His gaze scanned over her, noticing her swollen cheek as well as the bruises and scratches she sustained from the seekers. He felt that he should be asking her that since the worst he suffered was a piece of broken wood.

“I’m fine. I’m glad your safe though!” he chuckled, revealing a toothy grin that was missing one of his top canines.

Ophelia’s eyes were aglow with admiration. She couldn’t help thinking the boy was the embodiment of summer with his sunset red hair and peridot eyes. His skin was ivory, and his cheeks were flushed from fighting. Not to mention that his outfit was ruffled from the skirmish. He quickly fixed the dark blue vest, white tunic, and tan bottoms. He wore a dark brown belt with a loop where his wooden sword used to be, and his boots matched the belt.

“Hey, would you two mind helping me throw these guys in the cage? I’m going to deliver them to my captain.” The boy said, acknowledging Anya with a nod.

Anya made a face. “I don’t want to touch them.”

However, in the same breath, Ophelia agreed. “Ok.”

Anya snapped her head towards her twin to argue, but when Ophelia smiled sheepishly at the boy and lifted one of the unconscious men up with him, Anya sighed. “Fine.”

The three children struggled to get the heavy men in the small cage, and they were anything but gentle as they shoved them roughly and locked the door.

With the men secure, the boy sighed in relief before smiling again. “Thanks! The captain is going to be so surprised when I bring these two back with me.”

“Captain?” Anya asked, arms crossed over her chest. “And who are you?”

“And thank you.” Ophelia added, her voice gentle.

At her sincerity, the boy’s eyes widened. “You’re welcome!” Ophelia felt that his grin was almost infectious as she gave a small smile in return. “I’m Emery, by the way.” His eyes fell on the other sister. Her gaze was filled with annoyance. “I’m actually a knight-in-training. My troupe just settled nearby earlier today. I snuck off to get some extra training with my sword.” He pouted as he glanced over at the remnants of it. “Unfortunately, we don’t get a real one until we’re thirteen. But!” he chuckled. “I’m only a year away from that. Then I won’t keep getting yelled at for breaking my swords. I hope.”

“A knight…” Ophelia whispered, awestruck. “Wow.”

“Yeah, I’m lucky I get to tag along.” He paused, appearing thoughtful. “Say, we’ll be in town for a while. What if the three of us become friends?”

“Friends?” Anya and Ophelia inquired, mirroring each other’s shock.

“Yeah, why not?” he shrugged. “I assume you were training out here too when these seekers spotted you.”

“Maybe…” Anya glowered, squinting at the boy.

“Well, we can all train together!” Emery’s eyes shifted side-to-side as he stared at the twins. “By the way, what’s your names? If we’re going to be friends then I should at least know that much, right?”

The sisters peered at each other, and though Anya was skeptical of this new acquaintance, they both nodded as they introduced themselves.

“Anya.” She huffed.

“Ophelia.” She whispered.

Emery smiled gently. His gaze softened at the injured twin. He felt she had been very brave to fight back like she did. He appreciated her will to live. He found it admirable, and it made him proud of himself to have protected someone like that.

“Good to meet you. I should bring these guys to the captain before they wake up.” he headed towards the horse, but before he took off, he shouted, “I’ll see you soon!”

The girls waved back, exhausted from the day’s events.

“Oh no!” Anya shrieked as realization struck her. “I have to pick all these dumb herbs again! UGH! Stupid seekers!” she looked down the path that would take them to the clearing. “Ophelia, help me pick whichever ones got crushed, would you?”

“Sure…” her sister acceded absentmindedly.

Feeling that her twin was dragging behind, Anya turned to see what the hold-up was. To her surprise, Ophelia never moved. Instead, she watched Emery go, and Anya, watched Ophelia.