The crowd is gathered around an empty platform. It's made of wood with black and red paint on the top. A wagon, with horse tied to it, waits nearby. A man stands on the stage with a ring of gold on his head. His hair is a light brown, and he has blue eyes. The entire crowd is watching him, and I suddenly realize that he's the king. King James of the Goldeneye kingdom. This festival if for his birthday, isn't it? So why doesn't he look happy?

"........were found in the woods and captured. They crossed the border and are obviously spying to plot our downfall. And what better day for their punishments then today?", the King declares to his subjects. What was captured? Why are they being punished? Some of my questions are answered when people wearing armor and carry weapons walk over to the door of the cart. They seem to struggle with something before it's pulled out of the wagon.

By breath hitches in my throat. It's a boy wearing black and white clothes, black hair, and extremely pale skin. His gray eyes shift frantically around the crowd. And he looks scared, but not for himself. A girl is dragged out who had the same pale skin and simple clothing style. That's when I remember what they are. Zemrlt. And this kingdom is at war with them and other hybrids on the other continent. But why? My heart sinks when another boy is pulled out of the wagon. He looks only five, with tears streaming down his face. What are they doing!? Can't they see how scared he is?

The two older Zemrlt fight and try to get out from the guards grip, but there's simply too many of them. But they don't make any noise, quiet like the history books say. They're marched onto the stage and held in front of the crowd. "Did you really think you could sneak in? What was the plan? Cross your fingers and hope that we're stupid?", the king snarls at them. "We didn't m-mean to cross the b-boundaries! We were only picking berries with our y-younger brother! You can't-", the girl sobs, but is cut off by the king's yell for silence. Her voice is hard and scratchy like it hasn't been used in a long time. "You Zemrlt can't trick us. We know how your kind work. You only do things for your benefit. You only keep promises for as long as it's useful to you", he yells.

The crowd around me starts shouting for the Zemrlt's death. Didn't they hear? Just three siblings picking berries! You can't kill them for that! And I know other people agree, they're just too scared to speak up. I have to do something. I have to stop this. If I don't, no one will. I quickly make my decision and leave the crowd.

I take two big breaths before lifting myself up onto the stage. Hushed whispers immediately come from the crowd, as I stand with my back to them. I stare directly at the king, head up and back straight. My feet are firmly planted on the wood, and I refuse to move until I have been heard. "What is this? Get off the stage, kid", the king scolds me. "No", I calmly say. The king seems to be baffled that a mere child is disobeying him. "Can't you see how scared they are! Don't their lives mean anything to you!? What's gonna happen when their parents find out that they are dead!? How can you be so heartless?", I scream at him.

"Look boy, Incase you haven't noticed, these are Zemrlt. They deserve to die for what they have done!", King James growls at me. "Nothing these people have done should deserve death! They're no different then us", I growl right back. "Oh yeah!? THEY KILLED MY SISTER!! DO THEY NOT GET PUNISHED FOR THAT!?" He screams at me. "Well these ones aren't the ones who did it! You can't kill them all for something that happened in the past!", I reason. "You just don't know when to shut up, do you!? You obviously don't know what you're talking about. Maybe your punishment will be next!"

The entire time during are conversations, I could se the two older Zemrlt giving each other looks and moving their hands in strange ways. The oldest boy suddenly looks me in the eye. He then mouths, "take him and run". He doesn't waste any time. Quick as an arrow, he and the older sister have their younger brother out of the guards grasps as more run to swarm them. They shove him towards me and continue to fight the guards. I don't hesitate.

I reach my arms under his arms and hold him to my chest while jumping off the stage. I hear shouts behind me, but I don't stop. The boy wraps his arms around my neck and cries into my shoulder. I run down the streets as fast as I can. I can hear the metal boots of guards chasing after me, but I continue running. I quickly make it to the gate that I've seen every day from my room. I run straight out of it and into the darkness of the forest. Branches lash out at me and give me small cuts and bruises.

It's too dark for me to make anything out, but I don't slow until I can't hear the guards. I look down at the Zemrlt boy to see that he's passed out in my arms. I hold him close while looking around for a place to hide. I quietly groan before using one arm to pull myself into a tree. My feet scramble at the bark while trying to push the rest of me up. I settle in the fork of the tree with the young boy on my lap. A bit of his blood is smeared on my arms, but I don't mind. He squirms a little bit, so I start humming a soft tune to try and calm him down. It luckily works.

My heart slowly starts to slow. I don't regret anything. What was going on was wrong. Movement from the corner of my eye makes me panic before I see what it is. The spirit floats by the branches of my tree. "Welcome back", I whisper to it. The smile feeling comes back again. I smile back and settle down for a long night.