We are nearly done for the night when suddenly someone breaches my wards I had set up. My wards are my own invention. They do not keep anything out nor can they be detected by anyone else but me. But they do tell me if anything approaches. It's comparable to spiderwebs. You barely notice them when you walk through them, but the spider knows they are broken.
Silently I alert the others and we fade into the forest after erasing all traces of our presence in the clearing. Bobby takes his blades along.
Fifteen minutes later they enter the clearing. There are seven of them. Four guys and three girls. And the are literally oozing magic.
Sandy and Bobby were the same when we first met, but I tought them how to keep their auras contained without leaking like crazy all the time. It keeps people with magic sensitivity from noticing us.
Those guys are not even making an effort to hide. Looks like they have always been the strongest around. Only those defeated are prudent enough not to announce their existence.
I have nearly as good hearing as Bobby does and can listen to their conversation. They think the hilltop is the ideal place for meeting and practicing. I can hear Bobby growl low besides me. Sandy is on his other side and deduces what they say.
No way! Hell no. This is our place!
We move quickly to catch them in a triangle and step out between the stones simultaneously. It takes the intruders a couple of seconds to notice us, because Sandy and I are still wearing the long cloaks with hoods. They cover us from head to toe and are a colour that fades into the background. Bobby is dressed in dark brown and green clothes with his sword strapped to his back and his daggers at his waist.
The guy I think of as the leader, because his energy is the most concentrated, is right in front of me. I did that on purpose. Startled they form a circle. The weakest face Sandy. For quite some time we just stand there.
Then the leader breaks the silence to ask:'What do you want?'
I pause for a while before I answer.
'This place is ours. Go away.'
The leader laughs and soon the gang join him. They just noticed that we are a lot younger than them. But one thing they will learn is that age doesn't equal power. He says:'Well, now it's ours. I think we'll stay.'
I smile. This will be interesting.
'I think not.'
Bobby pulls his long dagger and slashes at the two guys closest to him. Soon he has them immobilized. Sandy takes on the two girls facing her with two very easy binding spells that are nonetheless very effective. I freeze the guy and girl next to the leader but leave him unharmed.
It only takes us seconds, and the leader is still preparing to fight when a moan catches his attention. He turns around to find two guys bleeding on the ground, two girls struggling in invisible bonds and the other two frozen immobile. He turns back to me and raises his hands in surrender.
'I apologize for our rudeness.' he says.
'I guess this place is yours.'
With that he turns to help his comrades. But try as he might, he can't release any from their bindings. As he goes to help the injured guys, I surround him with a barrier. It's not over yet. He has not learned the lesson yet.
This barrier is different than my wards. The wards use barely any energy to maintain, while the barrier is like a invisible wall.
He has to watch as Bobby roughly drags the guys to the edge of the clearing. Sandy does the same to the girls while I levitate the two popsicles to lean uncomfortably against the stones.
Then we close in on the last man standing. Sandy has placed a binding spell on the two injured guys just in case.
