No one moved outside. They all waited for any sign of movement inside the building but nothing happened. Noah glanced over to Gabriel but he had his vision dead set on the window. Gabriel readied another arrow and aimed for the window again. Then he heard a soft whisper.

You're aiming for the little boy's heart bowman. Gabriel lowered his bow and everyone's attention was on him.

"Gabriel what the hell are you doing," Noah loudly exclaimed, "Shoot the arrow."

"Shut up." Gabriel directed Noah without looking over. "She has him in my aim." Noah horridly glanced over at the broken window. What was she planning with Theo?

What do you want with the boy? Gabriel thought. Hopefully, she was listening to his thoughts more than his words. A few seconds meant before she answered.

The voice that answered was no longer the soft whisper of a young girl but a hoarse broken chorus of the dead. HIS SOUL!

"NO," Gabriel yelled and attempted to ram the door down. He was met by an invisible force holding the door closed. "You fucking witch."

Ciro pushed past Gabriel laying his hands on the door. He whispered a few words before bright blinding light was shining through the small gaps between his fingers and the door. The door gave out as a scream erupted from the inside. Everyone rushed in to find an unconscious Theo laying at the feet of the deer witch who was holding her left arm and now had horrific burns.

"YOU BASTARD," The witch spat towards Ciro. She then launched for him with long claws aiming for his throat.

Ciro readied himself for the hit but she stumbled back as an arrow sunk into her left shoulder. The hit barely fazed the witch as she sprang up ready for another attack. An unruly growl came from her as she bared her teeth. Gabriel let another arrow fly. With reflexes as quick as lightning, the witch caught it this time. It clanked to the ground and snapped as she walked right over it.

Gabriel backed up figuring out his next move. "Ciro, you better have a plan!"

"I do," Ciro called back. He knew the only way to kill a witch was to burn her. "Don't get in my way." Gabriel cursed him under his breath as he tried to find a way out. As the witch stalked closer, Gabriel saw a fireball from the corner of his eyes fly toward them. He dove in time and the witch was hit on the side of the face. She let out a blood-curdling screech.

"That was your plan!"

Ciro ran over pulling Gabriel away from the preoccupied demon spawn. "It worked didn't it?" Gabriel rolled his eyes. He knocked another arrow just in time. The witch was ready for another round. Half her face melted away. Her eyes filled with rage as she growled at them. "I fucking hate this place."

~~~*~~~

Noah had flattened himself against one of the walls trying to find the best path to Theo. With everything hanging within line of view and a crazed witch running around, he didn't know where to go. That was until he saw Gabriel appear from the abyss of the room.

"He's laying in the center of the room. If you can get to him and just drag him this way, I'll give you cover," Gabriel explained. Noah couldn't see his face but he could hear the tiredness and fear in Gabriel's voice. Not once before had he ever heard Gabriel so fearful.

Noah gave a quick nod and headed in with Gabriel close behind. He bent down to see if he could get a better view of where Theo was laying. Through the semi-darkness, Noah saw the silhouetted body of his brother and started moving faster. He heard Gabriel shoot a few arrows overhead and strange growls from different places in the building. He finally reached Theo who was completely unresponsive. Noah laid his head on Theo's chest and heard the sweet sound of a pumping heart even though it was weak.

"Don't worry we're getting you out of here," Noah whispered in his brother's ear. He turned Theo around so that he lifted Theo up from behind under his arms and dragged him towards the door.

He was stopped by a shadow, however. Silence had fallen over the place as the shadow grew and formed into a black deer. It growled at Noah and started forcing him back away from the door until he felt a presence behind him. Noah looked up to see the demonic witch hovering over him and the body of Theo.

"There's nowhere to run now, little one. Your brother's soul is mine." And with that, she went to plunge her dagger into Theo's chest.

"NO," Noah yelled as he flipped his body on top of Theo. He waited for the piercing pain but it never came.

All of a sudden something started glowing under Theo's shirt. The monstrous black deer vanished and the witch was violently thrown back crashing into her many shelves. Noah had no time to process what had happened. He pulled his brother out of the building and into the warm sunlight. As soon as the sunlight hit Theo's face he gasped for air and sat up. Noah looked over to see his brother frantically looking around and quickly went to calm him down.

Gabriel grabbed Theo and ran with Noah on his heels. They wouldn't stop until they made it back to the horses. Ciro snapped his fingers and slowly flames took over the cottage. He walked out without so much as a scratch on him. The row of the fire grew louder and louder as he walked to meet up with the other three. The screams of the witch echoed throughout the town as she was slowly overtaken by the flames. The three watched the flames as Gabriel and Noah checked Theo for any harm.

Gabriel ripped his mask off. He closely inspected Theo's eyes the best he could as Theo freaked out. He finally found a firm hold on Theo's shoulders and did his best to keep Theo still. "Hey! Theo! Theo, it's over. She can't hurt you now. The witch is dead."

"He's coming! He's coming," Theo frantically yelled with tears streaming down his face.

"Theo, look at me. I need you to tell me who." Gabriel glanced at Noah for help, but even Noah stood in horror watching his brother like this. He didn't know how to help. "Just breathe and calm down a bit okay." Theo took a deep breath and coughed a bit but looked at Gabriel the best he could.

"The shadow was coming for me," Theo sobbed. New tears started to fall and he collapsed in Gabriel's arms. Gabriel looked over at Noah and then Ciro who was now walking over to see what the commotion was about.

It took all three of the boys to try and calm Theo down enough so he wouldn't hyperventilate. Theo was still in tears and very much shaken from the events that had occurred. Gabriel was at a loss now for a solution to calm Theo enough to get back to the horses and out of this damn town before unwanted attention showed up. Gabriel threw Theo on his horse and sprinted out of the town with the others following close behind. They wouldn't stop until Gabriel felt the eyes of the town turn from them.

Noah walked alongside glancing over ever so often at his brother. His mind is still running in circles about the incident. "What exactly was Theo talking about when he said shadows," Noah asked Ciro.

Ciro gave a small shrug. It had been weighing on his mind as well. "I'm not sure. It could be anything honestly. These witches are always wanting strange things."

"Will he be, okay?" Noah peered over his horse's head. He could see the brown hair of his brother appear ever so often as Gabriel's shoulders dipped with the stride of the horse.

Ciro shrugged. "It's hard to say."

"Hard to say." Noah whipped his head around. Ciro was too casual about this whole situation and Noah didn't like it. "My brother was almost killed by some freak of nature and all you can say is 'It's hard to tell.'"

Those golden eyes bore into Noah as Ciro narrowed his gaze. "What I'm saying is we have no clue what she did to him. So, before you go off on me for not having the answers you want, think about what just happened."

Noah swallowed his pride and bowed his head. The headache wasn't worth the fight. Ciro rode ahead as he scoffed at Noah.

"Asshole," Noah said under his breath.

"I heard that," Ciro called back.

Heat rose on Noah's cheeks.

As Ciro made his way closer, Gabriel stopped near a small opening off the path. It was clear this was often used by travelers. The large ferns almost hid it from view if you weren't paying attention to the surroundings.

Gabriel peered over to Ciro. "We'll camp here for the night." Theo had fallen asleep against the horse's mane. Ciro didn't argue once he saw the poor boy.

They sat up camp without much discussion. Ciro made a small fire while Gabriel set up a tent that they were given. Noah and Theo watched the fire crackle and embers fly up into the air. They could hear Gabriel cursing to himself as he struggled with the tent. At some point, Ciro went over to help and both began arguing.

A laugh escaped Noah which caught Theo's attention. Noah motioned his head towards the others. Theo turned around to watch. Gabriel had thrown something towards Ciro which received a string of cursing.

"Is that what we sound like when we argue?" Theo laughed as he turned back to face the fire.

"Probably." Noah's smile faded as he stared into the fire. The flames floated around each other in an unsung dance. It was captivating and peaceful as the soft yellow and orange hues intertwined. His mind wandered back to the roaring flames that engulfed the witch. There was no dance of colors but destruction. It reminded Noah that the soft things in life could also be your destruction as well. "What happened earlier today? You kept saying he was coming after you."

Theo's smile vanished and his body became rigid. The last time Noah saw Theo act this way was when their parents had died. "It was this monster. Its breath reeked of rotting flesh and blood that looked like ink dripped from its teeth and eyes. It was in my mind taunting me."

"What was it taunting you with?"

"It showed me all of you." Theo pulled his attention away from the fire. Streams of tears fell into his lap. "You were dead... all of you were dead and I couldn't do anything." Theo's voice hitched as he tried to continue but the lump in his throat protested. Noah wrapped his arm around his brother pulling his head to rest in the crook of his neck. "It said that they would kill you if I didn't stay."

The pain in Noah's chest was too much. Tears spilled over Theo's head as Noah held him close. The failure he felt was beyond anything he had felt before. "I can promise you that we wouldn't have left you behind. No one or entity threatens my brother."

"What if it did kill you?" Theo pulled back. "What if none of you got to me in time?"

"Out of the question. Because no one will lay a finger on you or me or those two idiots trying to put up the tent." Faint cursing and insults flew between the two preoccupied. Laughter erupted between the brothers. Noah grabbed his brother by the shoulders. "As long as I'm here, no one will hurt you. They'll have to kill me before they can touch you and even then those two over there will raise hell."