Horses skittered and bucked under the captain and her soldiers as the menacing blue glow continued to envelop the space. Henrick lunged forward slashing captain Madea across the leg, angering the captain, as the pain radiated from her leg. 

“Why you little-!” she cried, drawing her sword and dismounting. Henrick hurried back to Elsies' side as the now furious woman strode towards them. “You could have come quietly. But now, killing you is going to be so much more fun!” 

“Elsie, you ready?” Henrick whispered as the menacing figure stalked towards them. Elsie smiled under the hood, the fear replaced with confidence as she watched her new power defend her and Henrick in ways she never thought possible. With a smirk of determination, Elsie turned and pointed her hands at Maeda ready to strike. Gathering her strength, she thrust out her hands expecting to see the brilliant blue ropes protect her and Henrick.

But they didn't come.

“Um, Elsie, why aren't you doing anything?”

“I-I don't know. Why isn't anything happening?!” Elsie's confidence began to dissipate as her newfound power refused to show itself, and the menacing figure of captain Madea came ever closer. The pair began to back away until they were cornered by a tree. There was no way out as Madea closed the gap and drew her sword. 

“Well, little prince; looks like your friend isn't as good with magic tech as you thought.” Madea stuck the edge of her sword into Elsie’s hood. Pulling it back, she revealed the scared girl behind it. Madea chuckled.  

“Did you really think that this little girl could beat us, prince? I mean really that's just pathetic, thinking that a child could spare your life.” The two watched as Madea pulled her sword back raising it behind her to deliver the fatal blow. Elsie's pulse quickened as she watched the blade fall. Time once again slowed as Elsie’s hands went to cover her face, creating a bright blue shield that blocked the attack, sending the sword shattering in two. 

The captain was reeled back by the force of the blow, landing a few meters away in shock. Within seconds she was on her feet looking at the young girl that had just done the impossible. “How- how did you do that?” she growled looking down at Elsie's hands that still glowed with a faint blue light. The girl only stared back, still too shocked to give a proper answer. 

“Elsie! Run!” Henrick grabbed Elsie’s arm leading her way from the clearing black towards Aron and Max. The captain began to trail them unsheathing a knife from her boot, yelling back to the few men that had reigned in their horses. “You men, follow me! We hunt to kill!”

*

Aron and Max sat quietly as Elsie and Henrick ran off, the atmosphere tense as Aron tried his best to tend to Max’s wound. 

“Ok man this is going to hurt a bit,” Aron spoke in a soft and grave tone as he snapped the head off of the arrow. “You ready?” Max didn’t respond. His eyes were shut tight in concentration trying his best to overcome the pain. Aron sighed. He had seen this in his soldiers at home. The ones that wanted to be brave, but only ended up creating more unwanted tension on their bodies. 

“Hey… Max.” Hearing his name Aron looked up. Aron stared back at him, trying his best to calm the teen. “I need to pull this out, ok?” Max gave a slight nod, prompting Aron to move into place. “On three then,” he said, taking a firm grip on the arrow.

“Wait!” Aron stopped, as Max looked back at him. “Do you have any anesthetic or something? It’s gonna hurt a lot if I don't have any.” Aron stared confused.

“I’m sorry, I have no idea what that is.”

“Anesthetic?” Max grunted. Aron continued to stare. “You know… The thing that helps people handle the pain?”

“Oh! You want something like that?! Yeah I can do that!” Max sighed in relief as Aron wandered off a few paces returning with a stick. “Here you go!”

“Aron.”

“Yeah?”

“That's a stick.”

“Yep.”

“How is that going to help me?”

“Like this.” Aorn kneeled back down, placing the stick into Max’s mouth, earning an annoyed grunt from the injured boy. “Ok, here we go. One, two…” In one swift movement, Aron had pulled the arrow out of Max, earning a muffled shout of pain from the latter. “Good,” Aron sighed. “Now that that's out of you, I can work on patching you up.”

Suddenly, a rustling noise in the trees prompted Aron to abandon his efforts at healing Max, as soon after looking for the source of the commotion Elsie and Max came running through the trees, panic in their features. “Hen, what's wrong?” Aron said, helping Max to stand.

“No time. We need to hide. Now!” Henrick rushed past the older boys with Elsie in tow. Behind the Aron and Max could hear the quick and metallic steps of soldiers approaching. 

“What happened!” Aron shouted, trying his best to follow Henrick. Unfortunately, with Max wounded it was much slower going. Finally, Aron picked up the lighter boy, moving quickly to catch up with his charge. 

“I- We don’t know exactly,” Henrick explained ducking into a small ditch covered in bushes. “Elsie tried to use her magic but it wouldn't come!”

“And now you have an entire army on your tail?!” He whispered ducking in with Max. The group was silent as they listened to the unmistakable sound of horses and men march above their heads. A call to halt came from the ground, and suddenly the forest grew quiet. Moments later a harsh and angry voice shattered the silence. 

“You and your magic friend can’t hide from me forever princey! Do you really think you can escape that easily?!” 

Elsie’s heart was pounding as she heard footsteps come closer to their hiding spot. The groups did not move, the forest growing quiet once again as captain Madea scanned the surroundings looking for any sign of the prince and his interesting companion. Suddenly another voice broke through the quiet, this one less violent, but terrifying nonetheless.

“Captain, I want a report. I trust everything has gone well so far?” Henrick and Aron froze, as the all too familiar voice of Mordal was heard throughout the forest. The groups peeked out from their hiding spot to see a purple outline standing in front of the captain; a stern frown plastered onto his sharp features. 

Elsie and Max were confused as they watched the two boys freeze with fear. “Who is that guy?” Elsie whispered, not terrified of the floating figure but still cautious of the violent captain, who she was all too willing to keep away from. 

“That's Mordal,” Henrick explained, pulling the two back down into the ditch.

“Really?” Elsie asked picturing the skinny face, the thin stature, the slightly ridiculous goatee. “He doesn't feel like a threat.”

“Oh trust me, he is.” Whispered Aron as he sunk even lower into the crevice. 

“Please, what's the worst he could do?” Elsie scoffed as she settled in to listen in on the captains and Mrodals conversation. She glanced over to see that Henrick had gone pale, and his eyes had glossed over. “Henrick… What could he do?”, she asked; more worried about what an actual answer might entail. 

“You don’t want to know,” Henrick whispered crouching deeper down, leaving Elsie with a sense of dread, as she strained her ears to listen to what was happening a few feet away. 

“The mission so far has gone almost exactly to plan my king. The Fretan army retreated and we've advanced approximately two miles past the stronghold they have with the Esaltian border.” There was silence as medal pondered what he had just been told. 

“Almost, gone exactly to plan, captain?” Mordal asked a chill in his words that sent shivers down everyone in the ditch, not to mention the soldiers nearby.

“There were complications, my king. There was this girl. I don’t know how to describe it but she impeded our path. Caused quite a skirmish. 

“Hmmm. I see.” Mordal mused, considering his orders. “Very well. Captain, you are to place your second in command in charge of securing the land you have taken. Meanwhile, you will return here to tell me all about your mystery girl.”

“Understood sir.” There was silence only for a few moments as the mage canceled his spell, then, with a few orders shouted amongst the ranks, the army began to retreat to their newly conquered fort, their fading footsteps bringing a sigh of relief.

“Ok. Let's never do that again, ok?” Aron grumbled climbing out of the ditch, with Max still in his arms. Elsie followed, gasping at her brother's arm. 

“That's getting really bad,” Henrick grimaced, noticing the all too familiar crimson stain that was beginning to spread across the boy's shirt. “We need to get him to a healer fast.”

“Well get him the healer in the castle, when we get there. But we have to get there fast.” Aron stressed, trying his best to hold onto Max who was slipping in and out of consciousness.

“Way ahead of you.” Henrick pulled out another rune from his bag, earning a look of doubt from Elsie. “Didn’t those just drop us in the middle of nowhere?” She asked, hesitant to step into another circle.

“It only dropped us here, because your darling brother decided to jump in at the last minute! Now it should be more accurate.” He said tossing the rune on the ground and snapping his fingers causing the purple sphere to once again appear. The group stepped into the barrier, and Henrick took one last look before stomping on the rune and transforming the group into a small violet orb, sending them flying towards their intended destination.

After they had gone, Captain Madea emerged from the trees, suspicion etched into her brow. “Well well well.” She mused as she made her way back to her camp to prepare for the ride to her master. “This certainly is interesting.”