With nothing left to lose, Velvet closed her eyes tightly, opened the palm of her right hand, and shouted at the top of her lungs, "BLINDING LIGHT!!"

Screams and grunts were heard and she felt the grip on her arms loosen, then disappear completely. The sudden lack of restraint caused her to fall. She opened her eyes and found herself on the ground in a sitting position.

"Arghh!" Roger was rubbing his eyes with both hands and groaning. Spike was doing the same thing about a meter away from him. Looking to her right, she saw Penelope rolling on the ground, covering her eyes with her sleeve, "My eyes! My eyes!"

Velvet looked down at her hands in disbelief. "Did I just...?"

It didn't take long though for her to realize that this was not the time to be spacing out. This was the very window of opportunity she so desperately craved just moments before. It was now or never! Quickly jumping to her feet she grabbed Penelope's hand and started to pull her up.

"Stand up, we need to get out of here! Quick!"

"But I can't see anything!" the girl whined, still holding the sleeve over her eyes.

"Don't worry, I will guide you, just keep running!" Velvet said, pulling on her hand and making her way to the other side of the camp, where Lucas also blinked furiously, trying to feel around where he is with his hands stretched out before him and walking directly towards the fire.

"This way, follow me!" she shouted as she grabbed onto his left hand and pulled him away from the fire and into the bushes. They were running out of the camp, between trees, over their roots, and through the thick undergrowth. She made sure to steer them clear of any obstacles that lay in the way but still, every now and then, one of her blinded companions would trip and stumble over a root, almost falling. One time Lucas actually did fall, but quickly pushed himself back up with the girls' help and continued to run. They all knew how important it was to get away right here and now.

Despite being blinded, despite the branches of wildberry bushes batting them here and there, rustling their hair, and thorns tearing their clothes, they pressed on, huffing and puffing as far away from their captors as possible. Finally, after running for a good few minutes and their legs starting to hurt, they sought shelter under the upturned roots of a large fallen tree and took a moment's rest.

"I think...we lost them...for now." Velvet gasped for air.

"You think?" Lucas asked under his breath, leaning forward and holding his knees. He looked up at her and found his vision slowly returning to normal. It was still blurry and the dark forest made it hard to see anything at all, but he could make out the shape of Velvet's pointy hat and her silhouette, along with Penelope's next to her. The latter was rubbing her eyes, trying to get them to work again. After a few moments of silence, the blonde girl posed the question that was on all of their minds ever since they started running.

"What...just happened back there? I saw a flash of bright light and then I couldn't see anything anymore!"

"V-Velvet! Y-your hand! It's glowing!" the boy stuttered, pointing his finger towards her right hand, where a faint yellow glow could be seen emanating from the back of her palm. Velvet lifted her hand almost up to her nose, closely observing the phenomenon with a surprised face. She turned it left and right, looking at it from all angles.

An itch resided in her arm all the while as this was happening. It wasn't exactly painful, mostly just uncomfortable. The kind of itch you really want to scratch to make it go away. But she dare not touch it. Slowly, the glow began to fade and after a few seconds disappeared into nothingness. In its place, however, a sign appeared in the shape of a circle with four rays extending from it in different directions.

"The mark of light!" she whispered, her eyes wide. This can't really be happening, can it? a voice inside her said, doubting what she just witnessed. Extending her hand before her, she marveled at the beauty of the symbol. She got lost in thought, her mind overcome with the joy of seeing her lifelong dream being quite literally in the palm of her hand.

I can do magic. I can do magic! I'm a real witch now! And light magic out of them all, it's like fate! I can use light magic just like the great Thoracc!

Her train of thought was interrupted by Penelope, who quickly and swiftly brought her back from her daydreaming by pointing out the reality of the situation. "Can you not just stand there and stare at your hand, smiling like an idiot?! It's like you're possessed or something! Creepy! We need to start moving. If our vision is back to normal, so is theirs! They are probably coming after us as we speak!"

And how right she was. As soon as she finished talking, they heard the distant sound of voices. They did not seem happy at all and were getting closer and closer.

"Right!" The newborn witch lowered her hand. "Looks like this is all the rest we will get. Let's get going!"

Lucas grunted at the thought of more running. He felt like he did enough exercise for a whole week today! There was no choice though, it was run or get caught. So they started sprinting again as fast as their legs would take them. This time they thankfully could each watch their own step and handholding wasn't necessary. It was still pretty dim in the forest though. Even with your eyes on full alert, you could easily miss a branch that blocked the path or a root that was sticking out.

And they did so on more than one occasion. Penelope got her skirt caught in some thorny vines and was forced to rip part of it away so she could carry on without being left behind. Velvet tripped on a root and fell flat on her face for the third time that day. Lucas got tangled in some thick spider web and was flailing his arms around, trying to get it off his face. But none of this stopped them from advancing. Despite their best efforts, however, the angry voices kept closing in. Louder and louder they became and soon they could clearly make out what they were saying.

"Ain't no way ya' kinds can outrun us!" Roger yelled after them. "Just give it up!"

"Oy, I got a clear shot!" Spike called out to him, holding his crossbow as steady as he could before him as he ran. "Can I shoot 'em?"

"No, you fool!" his friend blatantly denied his request. "We can't sell 'em if they dead!"

"They're catching up to us!" The blonde girl turned toward Velvet with a pale face. "What do we do?!"

"I don't know!" the other girl replied, starting to gasp for air. Meanwhile, Lucas had already fallen behind the both of them and could almost feel Roger breathing down the back of his neck. A few more steps and he would catch up with him.

"I gotcha now, ya' little shit!" the raging man shouted as he leaped forward, tackling the boy to the ground. Lucas let out a desperate cry for help as he realized his chances of escaping dwindled down to a fat zero. At that moment, Velvet stopped in her tracks and turned around.

"What are you doing?!" Penelope shouted, stopping as well.

"I'm going to fight them!" the girl with the pointy hat announced.

"Are you insane?! We have no chance against them!"

"We do now!" she replied, pointing her right index finger towards where Lucas was wailing on the floor. Roger stood back up and unsheathed his sword. He raised it high above his head and was ready to knock the boy who was lying beneath him out by hitting him on his head with the hilt. "Good night fella!" he yelled as he swung down.

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»Piercing Ray!« Velvet shouted. A warmth enveloped her arm as if she dipped it into a barrel of heated-up water. It didn't hurt but felt rather soothing. Almost intoxicating. She would want her entire body to be soaked in this sensation if she could. But only lasted for a split second. After that, a thin beam of light emerged from her extended finger, shooting across the air and going straight through the man's arm.

"Ack!" he winced in pain and grabbed his injured arm with the other one, dropping the sword. With a loud clang, it fell to the ground next to a frightened Lucas.

"How did you do that?!" a surprised Penelope asked upon witnessing this.

"I don't know!" the young witch answered. That was a lie though. She knew exactly what she was doing and how she was doing it. Reading about them in books, hearing stories of Thoracc using them, practicing them at home...these spells were engraved in her memory like the mark of light was now engraved on her hand. The only difference was that for the first time ever, the magic she cast actually answered her call. And despite the situation they were in, it was one of the most exhilarating feelings she'd ever felt. She splayed her fingers before her and curled them like she wanted to reach out and grab something that wasn't there. Then she clutched them together tightly in a fist as she shouted, "Light Binding!"

A strand of light escaped her clutched hand, falling to the ground like a stream of golden liquid poured from a bottle, and swiftly, like a snake hunting its prey, it slithered across the ground, coiling itself around the man who was holding his hand in pain. First around his feet, then up his legs and around his arms. Higher and higher the snake-like stream of light went until it reached his neck. As it did, it squeezed him tightly and he fell to the floor, neatly bound and completely immobilized. It all happened so fast that no one even had a chance to react.

"What the hell is that?!" The blonde girl recoiled.

"Now! Get him Lucas!" Velvet ordered the frightened boy who still didn't really comprehend what happened.

"She's a witch!" Roger shouted to his friend who was standing a few meters away, visibly shaken. "Shoot her! Shoot her dead!"

With an unsteady hand, Spike took aim. He closed one eye and looked down the middle of his crossbow.

"Shit! Get away!" Penelope grabbed Velvet's left hand with both of hers and tugged on it, trying to pull the brown-haired girl back. But the girl wouldn't move. She firmly stood her ground and looked at the man aiming at her with fearless determination. Her amber eyes met his aiming gaze as she extended the open palm of her right hand before her. The man didn't know why, but for some reason, his finger hesitated on pulling the trigger. Was it because deep down he didn't want to kill an innocent child? Was it her looking at him intently like that? Whatever it was, he felt every fiber of his being fighting against it. This eerie feeling that something bad will happen if he does overtook him and he faltered in his stance.

"WHAT ARE YA' WAITING FOR! SHOOT HER DAMN IT!" his friend protested and tried to wiggle free of the binding spell that was cast on him, but his efforts were in vain. The rope made of light only seemed to coil tighter around him the more he moved.

Lucas who had just managed to compose himself enough to stand up grabbed the sword which was lying next to him. With all his strength he lifted it up above his head with both hands, almost falling backwards, and swung it down as hard as he could, hitting the back of the bound man's head with the blunt part of the blade. His shouting fell silent and his struggles ceased as he fell unconscious from the hit.

Seeing his friend get taken out like this, Spike raised his crossbow once more with renewed vigor, determined to pull the trigger this time. Penelope closed her eyes and squeezed the arm of the girl in front of her even tighter, readying herself to be pierced by the bolt at any second now.

Please work, Velvet thought to herself as she took a deep breath. "Light Barrier!"

A circle of light was drawn in front of her and from its outer edges, countless small strings of light emanated, meeting and connecting themselves in the middle, like a very tightly knit web. At that very moment, the trigger was pulled and the arrow was sent flying directly towards the both of them. But it never reached. Instead, it bounced off the web of light and whizzed past an unsuspecting Lucas' head, ramming itself into a nearby tree.

"What?!" The man took a step back, his face in shock.

Velvet lowered her hand and the web of light disappeared into nothingness. Already tired from all the running, her arms and legs seemed to be getting heavier and heavier with every spell she cast, the last one putting a considerable amount of strain on her body. Still, she was determined to finish this and ensure their escape. Just one more spell. One more will do it!

Her heart racing and her chest heaving, she took a step forward and threw her arm as far back as it would go. "Haaah...haaahh...my turn!" She exhaled and clenched her fingers, like she was holding an invisible ball. "Light..."

As soon as she uttered the word, a small ball of light appeared in her palm, growing larger and larger until it covered the entirety of her hand. She was now holding a literal ball of light, ready to hurl it at her opponent.

"Wait! Wait a moment!" Spike dropped his crossbow to the floor and raised his hands above his head as a sign of surrender.

"...Nova!" Velvet finished the chant and hurled the ball forward with as much force as she possibly could. It hit her opponent directly in the chest and exploded in a blinding light which illuminated the entire area and forced everyone to look away and cover their faces.

When the light died down, Penelope opened her eyes. She was still clinging on to an exhausted Velvet, who was panting heavily. Apart from her labored breathing, no other sounds could be heard. A few meters away from them, Spike was lying on the ground, unmoving. An aroma of burned meat was in the air and small trails of smoke were coming from his clothes and body.

Penelope let go of Velvet's hand and took a few steps forward, carefully approaching the lifeless man that lay before them. Some mild burn marks could be seen on his exposed arms.

"Is he...is he dead?" she asked quietly, breaking the deafening silence.

Lucas dropped the sword which he was still holding on to with both hands and walked over, standing by her side. After a few moments of looking at the man and noticing him breathing, he spoke up. "I think he's just unconscious."

"Haaah...haaahh...guys..." Velvet finally managed to say. They both immediately turned towards her. "I...haaah...I don't...haaaah...I don't feel so good..."

Just after saying that, her knees buckled and gave way as she collapsed to the ground. The last thing she heard was their voices calling her name.

"Velvet! Velvet, stay with us! Velvet...Velvet..."

Thank you for reading this part of the story!

Thank you for reading this part of the story! [https://img.wattpad.com/5da7b231df644cdffb76a6916b20e36de425e9de/68747470733a2f2f73332e616d617a6f6e6177732e636f6d2f776174747061642d6d656469612d736572766963652f53746f7279496d6167652f4c50474a635962745a7a355764413d3d2d313235343633323534372e3137303763653536336463623138353233373830393933333633302e6a7067?s=fit&w=1280&h=1280]

Velvet has fallen unconscious. Will she be alright?