“Let go of me, you witch!” Prince Claude yelled.

But no matter how hard he kicked and how loud he yelled, the magic bubble he’d been trapped in did not give in. All it did was aggravate the young woman in long dark robes who was none other than Jynet Darkbloom, the witch who’d kidnapped prince Claude.

“Oh, could you shut up, just for a single minute!?” she finally snapped. “Believe me, if I could let you go and throw you into the nearest aboleth-infested waters I would. Now shut your trap.”

“I shall not tolerate being spoken to in this manner,” Claude muttered. Despite the airs he was trying to put on, the thought of serving as food to psionic fish, or worse yet drowning and getting his corpse enslaved by one, did send shivers running down his spine. So, he did keep quiet for the following few hours, as the magic floating forcefield, he’d been entrapped in followed Jynet’s hasty steps through the cursed forest.

“Where are you taking me, witch?” Claude asked, after a long period of silence. As worried as he was about being eaten by aquatic monsters, he was also not too keen on the idea of spending the whole night in this forest. He could hear eerie animal noises in the distance, and he could have sworn that they’d already passed that one man-shaped pine at least twice.

“Away from the castle,” Jynet replied in an annoyed tone. “And now that you mention it since we are too far away for you to try anything stupid like running back, how about you walk on your own?”

Before Claude had had the time to protest, the magic bubble he’d been floating in burst, and he landed arse first onto the ground.

“What did you do that for, witch?” He asked as he rubbed his sore posterior. When he lifted his eyes, he was met with the satisfied expression of the woman who’d kidnapped him.

“It will teach how not to whine. Now come.” She gestured for him to get up, without offering a hand to help. “Or the dire wolves will eat you.” She added, seeing a lack of response on his side.

Claude instantly jumped up, forgetting about the pain in his posterior, and caught up to the cloaked woman.

They walked in silence for a few more minutes, before the prince spoke up again:

“You’re lost, aren’t you?”

Jynet slowed down, almost coming to a full stop. She clenched onto the side of her cloak, before calming down and picking up the pace again.

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“We might be slightly off from the rendezvous point.” She admitted with a sour tone.

“Rendezvous point? I thought this was about a ransom or-” Claude cut himself off before he could give her any ideas.

“It’s about-”

Jynet was interrupted by an animalistic howl, and shuffling in a nearby bush.

“Stay behind me.” The witch hissed as quietly as she could.

The prince nodded and obeyed, as droplets of cold sweat pearled on his face. He watched, from behind the woman shielding him, as a wolf as big as a man emerged from the bushes. It has dark dried stains on its paws, and saliva drooling down from its massive fangs all the way to the forest floor.

“Fireball!” The witch yelled.

A ball of fire appeared in front of her and flew at the dire wolf. It hit its dirty brown fur and disappeared with a fizzle. The beast groaned, in anger and annoyance more than in pain, before lunging at the duo.

Jynet grabbed the prince’s arm and jerked him to the side. The poor man got a first-row view of the beast’s drooling maw, and his body got suddenly filled with adrenaline. He didn’t want to die here.

“Run!” he yelled as he grabbed the witch’s hand, and pulled her behind him.

They ran faster than either of them had run before. Jynet cast spells to dispel and create obstacles, before and behind them respectively, as Claude guided her through the trees. It was only when they reached that man-shaped pine, that they finally came to a halt.

“I think … we… lost … lost it,” Claude said in between two pants.

Jynet didn’t reply. She had fallen to her knees and was struggling to catch her breath. Her head felt light, and when she leaned against the pine in hopes of regaining some balance, Claude spotted blood dripping down from her nose.

“Are you alright?” he asked, as he kneeled beside her, having regained some of his own strength.

“Magic – too much – too fast.” The woman muttered, with her eyes closed.

Claude pulled out a hand chief from his pocket and pressed it under her nose. With a weak hand, she grabbed the thing to hold it on her own. And thanked him with a brief nod. She then shifted positions, leaning with her back against the pine. Claude soon imitated her.

“So why did you kidnap me, witch?” the prince asked once he saw that she was in a state to answer.

“Can’t say.”

“What? Are you saying you do not have a reason? You just broke into my castle, took me out of bed, and dragged me to this forest before almost feeding me to some beast for no reason?”

“No you stupid royal prick.” The witch replied as she turned towards his with spite in her eyes.

She threw off her cloak and began unbuttoning her shirt.

“What are you doing?” Claude asked, his face suddenly turning red.

“Oh, stop being a pig for two seconds!” The witch swore as she opened the top of her shirt to reveal a magic seal.

It glowed ever so gently with blue light, an unmistakable sign of divine magic.

“If I reveal any important information to you, this thing will stop my heart,” Jynet explained, pointing to the magic seal.

“So I’m assuming that involves the why, how and who that have led to my kidnapping?” the prince asked.

Jynet nodded.

Suddenly, their idle discussion was interrupted by another howl coming from the distance.