The Witches Hunt

4

There was a sound behind her, rustling in the bushes. Asteria sat on her horse in silence; when suddenly the twang of a bow in the bushes and the sound of an arrow pierced the air next to her ear, it hit a tree in front of her. She turned her head hastily to see a tall figure standing there, aiming another arrow at her. Asta had no time to react, it all went so quickly, all she remembers is the figure as it let go of another arrow. The arrow hit her horse and they both fell,hitting the ground hard; her horse trapped Asta under it and didn't see the tall figure that was walking towards her, trying to grab her , Asta wedged her legs free just in time to kick the figure in the face before putting her hand up and focusing on the man's heart, it began to slow before it stopped entirely and he crumpled to the ground. Asta saw another figure and put her hand up,the red glow of her powers was still there, then a strong voice called out;

"Wait!"

Asta kept her hand up

"Who are you" she called out

"If I wanted to hurt you, I would have already done it"the voice called again, a boy's voice. He walked slowly over to Asta

"I'm not going to ask again, who are you?" Asta replies

"where did you get that pin?" the boy asked , ignoring Asta's question,his sky blue eyes straying to the pin on her top

"I found it"

"It's mine"

Asta stayed silent

" it's what you receive, to tell people your rank among the witch-" The boy stopped in the middle of his sentence, seeing the look on Asta's face

"You're a witch hunter!"Asta exclaimed

"Yes I am, how did you come across my pin?"

"It was in my house, after my mother was kidnapped"

The boy pushed his long charcoal hair out of his eyes

"You were there!" Asta yelled as she jumped to her feet, her eyes filled with rage "where is she, where did you take her!"

"Now why would I tell you that?"he said

"Because I could stop you heart right now"

"Fair point"

The two of them stood there, waiting for the other's next move.

The boy finally spoke

"I'll take you to her, just know that your bleeding" he acknowledged, nodding to Asta's head

Asta noticed her head was stinging, she touched her temple and realised he was telling the truth,

"Why should I trust you?"She asked slowly

"You probably shouldn't, since my job is to capture and kill you" The boy admitted. Asta stood there thinking, the boy looked her age but was intimidating enough for her to not trust him, she will just have to stay alert

"fine" Asta concluded

"let's go, i'm freezing" he shivered

The two of them walked in silence for what felt like days, through the cold snow, why this boy didn't have a horse Asta didn't know but when they reached his camp,the temperature had dropped immensely and there was now a thicker layer of snow and ice on the ground. Asta had to stay on high alert; this boy might be lying to her,he is dangerous, his kind have been killing Asteria's people since the war and he might very well be hiding something behind the mask of a boy who made an agreement to help a witch.

The mysterious boy turned to her and said

"I'm going to find firewood" before disappearing into the trees, they seemed thicker than the other ones Asta had seen on this journey, their leaves were large and dark and their wooden limbs were longer and thicker . The boy reappeared through the leaves a couple minutes later with armfuls of dry wood, that were previously chopped

"Where did you get that?"she asked

"Stash" he grumbled, putting half of the pile in a corner and setting some up for a fire inside a circle of rocks that already had burnt coals and ashes inside it and lighting the wood pieces into a golden,orange flame; sparks and embers floating through the air.

The fire quickly warmed them as they sat on the floor,on opposite sides of it

"Your sweater is soaked"he said, his gaze drifting to her

Asta haven't paid attention and didn't notice until he said so; still she said

"Oh really?" sarcastically

"The other guy's clothes are over there, find what you want"he said, waving his hand lazily towards a corner that had a bag. She looked at it sceptically

"Or don't,I don't care,"he added.

Asta walked over to the bag and dug through until she found a thick, camouflage jacket; she put it on and sat back at the fire

"Where's the rest of your crew?" She asked, sceptical as to why the camp was in a cave,and why there was no one there

"Why do you care?"The boy asked, irritated

"It was just a question" Asta snapped back

"Well if you must know, miss snoopy, it was just us two" he answered, looking at Asta

"Oh" she said,looking into the fire, unsure what to say next

"Were you close?" she asked eventually

"Not at all, never really liked him actually, he was always too violent, you technically did me a favour"

Asta looked disgusted

"He was to violent"She exclaimed

"You haven't seen the worst of me yet" he smirked

The boy gestured to the sleeping bag on the floor,

"Rest if you want to be able function tomorrow" he said nodding to a sleeping bag

Asta hesitated

"Or go catch dinner if you must, I really don't care" the boy mumbled to himself

"What's your problem" Asta complained

"You, darling"he admitted

"And what exactly did I do?" She exclaimed

"Exist love"

Asteria looked outraged, she then stomped over to the sleeping bag and laid down, facing the cave wall. Asta thought that night about the day and her future plans, what if it was too late , what if her mother was already dead; she'll find out soon enough, hopefully not.