Chapter Two

She had to be strong. She couldn't afford to cry right now. With nothing left to do, Hannah wrapped his long hooded robe tightly around his slender body and dragged it enough to cover the upper part of her face. She grabbed the slingbag with her little sister and made her way through the woods in order to avoid bumping to anyone who might suspect her of escaping or be remotely interested in confirming her identity.

She rushed through the forest until she reached a hill with an opening. She knew the spell her mother cast on Kayla will last until sunrise so she didn't have to worry about her waking up in between their journey. She stood on the hilltop and scanned the vast green in her line of sight and almost swore she saw the rising of smoke which soon disappeared like a mirage.

Could that have been smoke?

Hannah couldn't be sure and to honor her mother's request to not turn back, even against the soft buzz in her fingers humming with magic to unvail the blanket she was sure was meant for her eyes, she knew not to defy her mother's plea.

She sighed before continuing on until she felt the change in temperature to signal that she is no longer in the grounds of her forefathers, the lifeforce of everything here screamed different but Hannah knew it was her new normal, one way or the other. She couldn't afford to stop and think with the panic rousing the bile to her tastebuds but now she felt that she was safer so she sighed again and took a large gulp of air before she took to sit on a rock that her eyes landed on, thanks to the illuminating magic emanating from her hands.

She looked into the darkness, her eyes overcast by a brooding shadow that seemed to darken the color of her calm ocean blue eyes. She fluffed her robe out and stretched her back and sides to release the tention she felt from carrying Kayla all the way up here.

"Just a little longer now little Kayla . . . mama and Papa are going to be here in no time at all" she prayed that it wasn't just an empty promise but one that will hopefully come to pass as she hummed the song of Solemn Prayer in her native tongue.

"Just a little longer . . . " she must've fell asleep due to exhaustion because now she just jumoed up in fright after realising that she was no longer with just her sibling. Someone was approaching their direction from the North at a frightening speed that she didn't have time to decipher the situation but she atleast tried to mask their location by raising an invisibility barrier around them so that whoever is here will not discover them at first glance.

She cursed under her breath when the person walked right through her barrier as if it wasn't there to begin with and held her in a choke while closing her mouth with his free hand.

"Shhh . . ."

"No dont . . ." she was already unconscious by then from the sleeping spell that went mutely fluent with the signature shushing sound.

This male, whoever he was, he was powerful enough to induce her to a temporal sleep with a spell but he was wrong to think she was just going to go down that easily, especially after the image of a sleeping, vulnerable and completely defenseless Kayla made its way to her mind. Her subconscious responded to her will to stay awake before she muttered the revoking spell silently so as to not alert the stranger of her efforts to defy his spell. She had no clue of the man's intentions as she couldn't seem to be able to follow the train of his thoughts. They seemed to be a prohibited area for her or was everyone?

She freed herself from the induced sleep and her eyes scanned the vicinity for her sister, she spotted the empty bag in the ground and paled instantly but before she could let out a shriek, a hand came around her mouth as if to muffle her screams and now it stopped being an issue of magic and became physical. This male was not as huge as her papa but he is a giant alright. Her heart hitched up to almost come out through her mouth but she knew its important to set her free.

A cricket's chirping sound rang loud from close by and Hannah knew its a Godsend! She tapped inti its vocals and gradually increased its sound, if to achieve anything more than annoying her opponent.

'Where did Kayla go'

She heard the male curse under his breathe when all her attempts to annoy him got cussed and deflected, she had resorted to biting the hand covering her mouth.

"You're a young stupid female witch if you think I pose the danger" the male growled in a voice that left her with a mind wrecking nostalgia.

Hannah frowned at the male's impolite tone but decided that it doesn't matter since he is a stranger whose true intentions she was yet to figure so she tried to remain indifferent and asked "what did you do to my sibling?"

The male seemed to have anticipated her response as his body went rigid for a moment as were his eyes that became hooded for an instant before he snapped his head up to the skies "It wasn't you they were after" he said as if something just dawned to him.

That's just it . . . this male is drunk from the nonsensically powerful aura of magic surrounding him.

"Did your people take my sibling? I need to find her before mama and papa arrive" she tried to reason again. She squinted her eyes to look through the throng of trees and saw that dawn was almost coming to an end. The sun was about to rise soon.

'Papa will not forgive me if I lose Kyla without even trying to protect her and mama . . . oh mama can't handle it'

Her mood was soiled considerably and she lowered her head to avoid showing the stranger that she was swimming in a sea of misery. What made her lower her guard down . . . a young female witch as herself in a new territory, far away from her home, fell asleep while tasked with taking care of her younger sibling. She wanted to be strong and not shed a tear for Kayla but now . . . now she had failed and that knowledge constricted her chest painfully.

"Kayla . . . Kayla" she sobbed silently with hiccups in between. The gravity of all the pain she has been putting a leash on came crashing down on her. She sagged until she fell to the ground on her back. She was bitter. She was alone and it was her fault.

She shouldn't have left without her parents and she could've stayed awake for Kayla's sake but she failed at both now she didn't know what to do.

"We can still find your sibling before it's too late if you will sit up and stop wallowing in a misery that can become a tragedy real fast" at this the male was scowling at her as if the sight of her tears was a detestable thing.

That too can be ignored if this person can help her find Kayla so she wiped her tears which seemed to automatically wipe the scowl on the male's face.

"Come with me" He said to her now that the female witch had a hold of her emotions, he took a few steps before turning arpund to the small female "do you have anything useful to fight in that slingbag?" he glared down at her, his piercing black eyes holding her glued in place. She swung her neck to dace the slingbag before deciding to dash to it, she untied the knot and removed something ragged inside before returning to the male's side.

"Is it me or I've never heard of a ragged doll being used as an instrument of war?" he questioned while shaking his head, his face forming an even deeper scowl before deciding he will fight alone.

Females!

He released an exasperated sigh and proceeded in the direction of the traces of magic that still permeated the air. He inhaled and felt his lips arch up in an involutary grin.

'Isn't this great'

He thought to himself as his spine tingled with the sensation of intimacy at the traces of magic left behind.

Hannah had to try to keep up with the long strides of the giant male. She had just tried to quicken her steps to ask him a question when he saw an amused grin floating in the male's features and it was her turn to scowl but she couldn't bring herself to figure anything amusing in the situation but still . . . her question was important so she halted her steps which prompted the male to turn around and face her.

"Do you have a death wish small female?"

He was glaring at her again but Hannah couldnt be distracted from her question twice. It was usually her who subtly deflects people not the other way round so she just fired away "do you happen to have a name that I can use to call you?"

It seemed even that was amusing as the hulking male flashed her a cocky grin "what would you like to call me?"

Now that . . . that was unexpected. No, it was just impolite and unacceptable!

Hannah kept her mouth sealed shut after deciding not to say anything more to him. If he wants to be rude and impolite then it was fine by her, she didn't come here to make acquaintances.

"Let's find your sibling now, shall we" he marched on leaving her flabbergasted