The Hunted

Chapter 10

...

"Sister, please!" I cried girlishly. I rushed after her. "You have to do something!"

"No. It's too late now. What's done is done," the witch replied.

"How can you say that! Just try, for me, and forget about Magra..." I began.

"Forget Magra!? Look, Cassidy, Magra has been able to manipulate me from the day of my birth. Do you really think, once she's free, she'll just let me go? Honestly, sometimes you can be very stupid," the witch explained.

"So Magra is the problem, I see...why can't you just kill her?" I asked.

The witch began to say something, but then paused, looking dumbfounded. "I never really thought of that. But killing has never been our thing..."

I nodded. "We'll just lock her away somewhere she won't survive for long."

"Okay. I know where she is," said the witch.

"Where?"

"In a small herd called the Shell Tribe on the edge of Twin Eagle Sea," the witch answered.

In my head I didn't want to go. The walk could take hours. But freedom for my family and friends was worth the walk.

So we were off.

...

Joven gasped. "She really does have a sister!"

He jumped out from behind the bush he'd been hiding in near the witch's house.

He'd only heard bits and pieces of what they said. He knew the sister was a witch, he and all the other humans were under a spell, and that Fig and her sister were going to Twin Eagle Sea.

Which was hours away.

He began the short walk back to the reserve. The sun was peeping through the clouds, and the city looked magnificent.

He was so distracted by the pleasantness of the day Joven forgot to disguise himself.

Joven quickly ran back behind a wall as soon as he saw the group of hunters. They were standing behind what looked like a butcher's shop, talking away.

One of them was saying,"So then, Ross says, I'm gonna get the next one with a single bullet. And I was like, no man, you totally can't do it. And then Ross says, five bucks says I will. So we bet on it. Ross aimed his gun, and hit the human straight in the heart. But then she fell of the cliff! So I only gave Ross two dollars, since he lost the kill."

The other hunters laughed.

Joven thought to himself, "Are they talking about Aren?"

He leaned out further to get a better look. And then one of the hunters saw him. He pulled out his gun.

...

The witch teleported us there, to save time. It felt weird, but I had a lot of fun.

We walked along the grey shore together, looking for The Shell Tribe. All we could see for miles was sand and grey rocks, and endless blue ocean.

Then we spotted an opening in the rock. I hurried ahead, peeking through. There was a group of people sitting inside the cave. None of them looked familiar, except for one. She had wrinkled skin, and unkept grey hair. Her eyes were still full of malice, as I remembered. Only now she looked much, much older.

"Sister!" I called. "She's here!"

The witch came running.

"Who are you?" The people inside asked.