The Elementors

Chapter 1

I crept up to the camp, careful not to rustle the bushes. Through the leaves I could see three men dressed in gray and black, talking around the ashes of a fire pit, and I could hear the sounds of two more arguing in one of the tents. I waited patiently, and when one went inside the tent to help keep the peace, I raised my hand and gave the signal.

On cue, two girls and one male dropped out of the trees and headed for the tents, while another girl emerged from the other side of the forest. At the same time the girl and I rushed and tackled the men, and we knocked them out. They were so surprised they hadn't even had time to react and defend themselves.

Two similar looking red heads were busy burning down the tents, one keeping the fire under control, and the other collecting anything important. The third one turned towards us and knelt by the bandits. She opened her hand and motioned in a circle. Following her hand's motions, vines grew out of the ground and wrapped around the men, trapping them against the ground.

The other two strode over, grinning. The female held up a scroll and a smile spread across my face as well.
"Alright, we got what we came for. Should we bother taking them to trial, or destroy them on the spot?" I asked, taking the scroll and carefully putting it in a holster on my belt.

"Destroy them." Three voices said simultaneously, but the third red head that knelt by the men, my sister, shook her head.

"We have to take them to trial. We weren't even supposed to burn the others. We're going to get into major trouble." She reminded us, staring at the ground.

I nodded. "Yep, Rose is right. We gotta act responsible and bring them back home. Who's carrying them?"

Everyone looked at the white haired girl, Crystal, and she sighed. "Alright, I can carry them."

"And I'll take the other," I added, and Crystal winked at me.

We all got up and gathered anything left from the ashes and started our journey back home.

"So, when we get home, whadya think we should do first? Return the men or take the scrolls to Zoey?" Nikki asked.

"I don't want to have to lug around these guys, we should probably drop them off first." Her twin, Thomas stated.

"You aren't even lugging anything around!" Crystal exclaimed.

"Well, I was being a very compassionate person that cares for the health of others, and I don't think that YOU guys should have to lug it around." Thomas said with a wink.

Crystal just scoffed and shifted the man on her back. "You alright Lillian?"

"Yeah, he's not too heavy." I responded.

Rose was busy examining the scroll, her brows furrowed. "I don't understand this. It can't be in Elven language either, because I don't recognize a single word."

Nikki laughed and nudged her. "Leave that to Zoey, magic scroll reader. She will know what to do with it."

Rose shrugged and put away the scroll, and pulled us to the right, keeping us from going on the wrong path and getting lost.

Nikki and Thomas messed around as Rose hummed a song. I nudged her with my free arm.

"You singing a song that Ethan taught you?" I asked and Nikki laughed.

"Yeah, do you miss him already?" Nikki joked.

Rose's face turned bright red and she stared at the ground. "Well, the other day I was out picking flowers, and he sung to me from in a tree. The song got stuck in my head. It's really pretty."

"Hey, a pretty song for a pretty girl," Thomas imitated Ethan.

"I bet he actually said that!" Nikki exclaimed, and we all started laughing except for Rose.

"Alright guys, I'll admit it was quite sweet. But can we focus on the matter at hand? Lillian you are about to drop the poor man on his head. And Nikki, be careful you are getting dangerously close to some poison ivy."

I hoisted the man up on me shoulder as Nikki hopped away and I looked at Crystal who was frowning up at the sky.

"It is starting to get late, we really should hurry up." She stated and started trekking forward, "We're almost there anyway."

I nodded and followed, motioning with my free hand for the others to hurry up.

After another half an hour or so we reached the edge of town, and walked towards a bustling town, the lake shimmering towards our left as the sun began to set.