“Nothing of the sort,” Helena argued back, holding Kala behind her and hiding her from the men, “She will not be leaving this place.”

“Huh?!” the High Inquisitor exclaimed, his eyebrows raised in indignation. “You dare defy our holy quest?! I knew you were an old troublesome woman, but I wouldn’t allow something like this to pass! By the Goddess’ will, I will strike you down if I must!”

The man reached for the sword strapped on the side of his hips, but before he could pull it out, Father Sieg quickly moved over, placing his hand on the man’s to block him from doing so. “Please, Lord Theius, it wouldn’t do any good for a future Hero to start hating the very country she’s supposed to save.” He then glanced behind Helena, at the scared Kala that was trying to hide from them, “The girl clearly fears us, and we can’t take her by force, so calm yourself before you turn yourself into an enemy of a future Hero.”

Lord Theius glared at Helena, but after a moment, he released the hilt of his sword and backed away. “You’re right. However, we cannot leave like this.”

“Yes, I agree…” the Priest said, turning his smile to Helena. “I think it would be good to speak to the children’s parents. We could offer them a great reward and a lot of benefits as a way of showing our commitment to the child. If you could show us who they are, we’ll—”

“She doesn’t have any,” Helena interrupted, “She’s an orphan and I’m currently taking care of her.”

“Ah, is that so?” the priest answered with an awkward smile. “Then I understand your unwillingness to work with us, especially when” —he glanced at the High Inquisitor— “we’ve not been very kind to you.”

Lord Theius scoffed, crossed his arms, and looked away. Helena glared at them, and as she was opening her mouth to tell them to leave, the priest raised a hand to stop her.

“Before you say anything, I think you should know that we carry enough coins to pay for a few years of your existence in this small town,” the priest said, but noticing that Helena’s expression didn’t change, he continued, “though, if that’s not to your liking, you can always come with the child to the capital, where you might see her whenever she has some free time—if there’s any, that is.”

Helena refused to change her glaring expression. The High Inquisitor’s eyebrows had also turned into a frown. The priest noticed the way the children in the room were about to break into tears, and realizing that things weren’t going the way he wanted, the priest took a step back.

“Okay. I understand that we’re not in the best spot to talk about it,” he said and tapped Lord Theius in the arm, causing him to look back at him. “We’ll be leaving now, but we’ll stay for a while longer in town if you change your mind. Remember: this is for the best of the world, so please, consider our offer while it still stands.”

“‘While it still stands’?” Helena asked with a frown, however, the priest just smiled back and turned away, followed by the High Inquisitor and the men that stood guard the whole time.

Once the room was left in silence from the men leaving, Kala shuffled to the side of Helena, and pulled on her dress. “I-is everything okay? Should we get Korr and run away…?”

“No,” Helena firmly answered with her gaze firmly placed at the back of the men that were getting further away. “We won’t be going anywhere.”

* * *

Later that night, Helena had already returned to her home with both Korr and Kala. The girl was shaken, standing still in the middle of the small house’s living room, while Korr looked at her with a concerned frown.

“A-are we really going to be okay?” Korr asked, taking hold of Kala’s hand and squeezing it tight. “Maybe we should run away.”

“We won’t be going anywhere,” Helena answered, strapping a bag on her back and a bottle of water to her waist. “Listen, I have to go fulfill the request of the Herb store. It’ll be an excuse to not go to town tomorrow, so you’ll stay here while I’m gone. I should be back before night tomorrow, so the shapeshifting spell should last you until then; however, just in case it doesn’t, I want you to stay inside and not answer the door to anyone.”

“Yes,” Kala answered with a nod, “I won’t be going anywhere, Elder.”

“Korr?” Helena asked, stopping by the entrance of the house.

“Mister Kaus wanted me to help him tomorrow…” he answered, slightly lowering his head. “Should I not listen to him? Grandpa said that I should always listen to elders and mentors.”

“I’ll explain to him when I come back, so in the meantime, you’ll stay in here, understood?” Helena said, giving her bag one tug. Both children nodded, and Helena looked at the dark woods. “There’s also enough food for a week, but don’t eat more than you should.”

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

“Yes,” Kala answered, giving a glance to Korr. “I’ll make sure that we only eat what we need.”

Helena looked back at them and after a smile, she set out to the dark woods with a small light spell leading her. Both children looked from the door for a while, watching for as long as they could until the light was no longer visible, which is when they firmly closed the door.

* * *

“Korr!” Kala shouted from the door. It was noon the next day. “The Elder gave us the order not to step outside until she returned!”

Outside, standing on the small clearing that the house had at the front was Korr, swinging a small wooden sword that Kaus gave him the day before. He stopped after a swing and looked at her with a determined look. “Yes, but the spell should last us for a while longer, and I want to be strong enough to protect you, so I need to practice what he taught me as soon as possible.”

Kala tightened her mouth for a moment and then shook her head. “No! You shouldn’t be breaking the Elder’s word!”

“Sister! We need to be strong! We can’t stay here and depend on her forever!” he shouted back, doing a vertical swing from top to bottom. “We’ll protect her too…! And I think that…” he glanced at her, “You should practice too. Come help me. The Elder said that you were good with magic, so you should train too.”

“Hnng… I don’t know…” Kala replied, biting her lower lip as she did, but seeing the earnest look in her brother’s eyes, she gave in, and with a nod, she stepped outside of the house. “Okay, but only for a while!”

Korr widely smiled and took a stance with the sword towards her. “Yes! Now, shoot me with some rocks or water, and I’ll dodge and block it.”

“Um… I’ll… I’ll use water, I think,” Kala replied, and once she was a few steps away from him, she created a small water bubble that was shot at him.

Korr widened his eyes, but dodged to the side at the last moment, watching as the water bubble hit a tree, only wetting it. With a smile, he turned to her and nodded, his way of asking her to continue, and so, she did.

* * *

“Did that old woman really run away? She couldn’t have taken such a promising child away from us!” Lord Theius barked, pushing aside a branch that was in the way.

Next to him was Father Sieg, calmly walking on the dirt road with the same soft smile that he usually carried. “I don’t think so. The people in town did say that she didn’t do classes everyday, and after yesterday’s events, it wouldn’t surprise me if she’s taking a day off. Thankfully, her home’s not far from town, so I think we should try to convince her once more—just the two of us. That should keep her at ease.”

“Hmph, we should just take the kid and be done with it,” the High Inquisitor said with a scoff as they turned around a tree.

“No, no, let's leave that as a last resort. After all, we wouldn’t want the child to—”

The loud slap of a spell hitting a tree caused them both to stop in their tracks and take cover. Lord Theius reached for the sword on his side, while Father Seig carefully looked for the place where it came from. It didn’t take long for them to notice that there was someone casting spells, so they quietly moved through the bushes to get a vantage point.

“Is that… the promising child…?” Lord Theius asked with a whisper, “She’s doing symboless casting!”

Father Seig’s eyes glinted with joy and his smile widened. “She’s been chosen by the Goddess! But who is she fighting…?”

He focused his eyes on the target and noticed that someone small fell on the ground after the last water spell that was shot. Once the water particles cleared, he saw dark green skin and a sword on the little thing’s hand.

“A goblin!” exclaimed the High Inquisitor, “We must cleanse that monster!”

As he was standing to get to it, the priest grabbed him by the arm, causing Theius to look down with a questioning frown. “Wait a moment. Let us see if the child is able to deal with it.”

Both then focused on the fight taking place. However, Kala only pulled her hands to her mouth in surprise. In a panic, she looked around, said something, and then ran back into the house. The men watching sighed while shaking their heads.

“I guess she’s still a child,” the Inquisitor said, taking a step forward with his hand on the sword, “Better get rid of it before it becomes a problem.”

“I’ll do it,” Father Seig said, giving Theius a soft thug, “I was the one that suggested we watch—besides, I think the child would be too scared to cooperate if she saw you.”

“Hmph, fine. Be swift then, the goblin is running into the house,” Lord Theius answered, pointing with his chin at the running Korr.

“It won’t be a problem,” Father Seig answered, and with a swift step, he ran towards the house.

* * *

Inside the house, Kala rushed to hide into the room Helena had fitted for them; the one next to her own room. Most of the things inside she took to her bedroom, leaving enough room for a couple of makeshift beds made out of dry grass and hay, covered by blankets, for the little goblins.

“We shouldn’t have done this, Korr!” shouted Kala from the room’s door, pointing a finger at him. “H-her shape spell was broken! What are we going to do now!?”

“W-we’ll stay inside and wait for her to come back. I-I’ll tell her that it was my idea that—”

“It’s okay, child!” shouted Father Sieg, storming into the house, and causing both children to look at him with widened eyes. “I’ll get rid of that Hellborne monster. Everything’s okay!”

“H-huh?! Who are you!? Why are you—”

Korr tried to ask, but in the middle of his sentence, Father Seig pointed his index finger at the goblin’s forehead. In the next moment, a small white magic circle formed, and a thin beam of bright white light was fired from it. It pierced straight through the goblin’s head, leaving a bloody hole through it, and finally causing his body to keel over backwards, hitting the floor with a lifeless thud.

“No!” shouted Kala from the door, but there was no response.