An Unwelcome Acquaintance

"No! Leave him alone!"

Margaret cried, while the bandit held his sword towards Jack's throat. She ran towards him in full speed but the other bandit kicked her down.

"Pathetic" the bandit laughed wickedly.

"I know this one, he's from the kingdom. Tell me now child, how do you think it feels rotting out here while you rich hide in your cozy high towers?"

"Let me show you how it feels boy" He held the blade closer to his face, it sunk into the child's cheek, he cried as blood seeped from his wound.

But the bandit felt something around his ankles, in a rapid motion the bandit feel to the ground and thrashed about.

"Huh, what is this trickery? witch!" As he said this he too felt something pull him and he too thumped down onto the forest.

"The tree's roots, they're holding them down"

They were standing below a giant hallow tree, legend was that these trees were created by Mason, the God of Equilibrium.

Within a minute the roots, one by one engulfed the bandits whole until there was no sign of them but only a few young daisy flowers.

"Get up Jack, Oh God you're hurt! I am such a terrible sister we never should've come this way!"

As she lifted him up she noticed a shadow of a large person, in a furious motion she took out her shortsword to face her foe.

But before she could turn completely a sort of mist came before her eyes, she felt tired, her legs could no longer hold her up. She fell to the ground.

"Huh?" Margaret awoke slowly. She did not feel any injuries but her head felt like someone was hitting it with a pan.

She looked around, there were chairs, a window, the walls looked as though she was in a dungeon. She was tied. Frustrated, she lashed out jumping and struggling, trying to get up but she couldn't.

The door threw open, a large silhoutte of a man entered the room.

"Ok, ok calm down now little one." He stood in front of a potion table, mixing two green liquids with a red liquid, skillfully he threw the bottles into the air and caught all of the liquid into a bowl while the bottles perfectly found their place on a shelf.

"Here drink this, it will heal your headache"

"What have you got me tied for? what do you want? a ransom? where is my brother?"

"tut tut questions later, drink first" Sensing that Margaret did not trust him, the man first took a sip and then place the bowl in front of her. He then cut off her ties.

Reluctantly, she drank the liquid, it tasted bitter. "So who are you then and where is my brother?"

"I am Sir Alfred the IV, knight of the Polish Guard. Your brother is in our camp, me and Sir William found you two on the road, you fell from exhaustion, Sir William took your brother and went ahead, I had to stay behind with you"

"And why should I trust you?"

"We are knights young lady, we honor our word and I took a knight's oath that we shall never harm the innocent and leaving you to die on that road would have been the same as killing you. Come on then, we have a long way to go"