The Song of the Titan

Chapter Twenty-Seven

"Come on, Caleb!"

A younger boy with short brown hair, dark brown eyes, wearing a white shirt and overalls with one strap on his shoulder while the other hang off to the side. He tugged on his brother's hand, pulling him along. The older boy had short blond hair, tied in a small ponytail, a strand hanging down from his face, light hazel brown eyes, wearing a white shirt and overalls as well, neatly.

"Okay, okay, Philip. What do you have in mind?" Caleb laughed, smiling. Philip stopped and he bent down as he picked up two sticks, pretending that it was a wand and handed one to his brother.

"Let's play witches!"

Caleb looked around to make sure that there was no one around. "Okay, but, let's try to keep our voices down." He said softly. Philip smiled and pointed his wand at Caleb, pretending to cast a spell as he waved it around.

"I, Witch Hunter, Philip Wittebane, shall cast you back to where you belong, you vicious barbarian!" He declared loudly. Caleb dodged the pretend spell, quickly stepping to the side. He laughed.

"Witch Hunter? I thought that we were witches together?" He asked his brother.

"No, there has to be an evil witch and that's you!" Philip smiled. "I'm going to protect everyone with my own powers."

"Well, then, witch hunter, prepare to meet your demise!" Caleb yelled out, pointing his stick at Philip. Just before the two could lunge out each other. A harsh voice exclaimed, enraged.

"STOP!"

The two boy's eyes went wide and they immediately stopped and looked up the hill to see several villagers and a older man, armed with torches and pitchforks in their hands. The sticks fell from their hands, falling on the ground. Caleb faced them, while Philip hid behind him, seeing the man approaching them slowly.

"You children should be ashamed of yourselves!" He hissed in anger, looking at the two before focusing back towards Caleb. "And you Caleb, I thought I raised you better than this. What would you're mother think if she saw you boys doing this?!" Caleb looked away avoiding the man's eyes. Philip came out from behind him, looking at their father.

"We were just playing!" Philip argued, grumbling under his breath. "Maybe you should try it once in a while."

"You dare talk back to your elder, boy!" The man yelled at him, getting ready to hit him. Philip flinched but Caleb stepped in between them, their father stopped. Caleb looked down at his brother.

"Philip." He whispered to Philip. "I'll handle this."

"But, Caleb!-" Philip cried out, holding Caleb's arm. Caleb looked back at their father, who was expecting an answer from either of the two boys.

"We were just having fun. We're not doing any harm."

"Nonsense! Witches are dangerous!" The man spatted out as the said the word "witch" like it was venom. The two brother's eyes widened.

"They can bewitch you into doing what they want!" Another villager added in. Caleb and Philip's eyes widened even more in fear.

"They can cast a curse on you or your entire family!" Another one shouted.

"They can snatch you away and you'll never to be seen or heard again!" The last one shouted out, hysterically.

"I don't ever want to see you boys doing this again, do you hear me?" The boys father ordered as he looked down at them.

The two boys stared at them with fearful looks in their eyes, feeling guilty as well.

The sun was setting later on that day. Caleb and Philip were sitting down by a tree. Caleb was writing in a book, while Philip played with a piece of grass.

"Dad was sure mad." He mumbled, softly.

"Yeah, he was." Caleb replied.

"Caleb, do you think what they said is true?" Philip asked him. Caleb closed his book and looked down at Philip, who was looking down at the ground, sadly. He smiled and ruffled his brother's hair.

"Yeah, a witch would love to snatch up cute little boys like you and eat you."

"Caleb, stop!" Philip laughed, pushing his brother's hand away. Caleb laughed along with him and looked up at the sky.

"It's getting late. We should head back home."

"Okay, and don't forget, you promised that you would carve a new mask for me!" Philip said.

"I didn't forget." Caleb told him, getting up.

Philip got up as well and started running off ahead. Just before Caleb could follow after him, his eyes widened in shock as someone came down from the tree, hanging upside down right in front of his face. It was a girl. Her eyes widened as well, seeing him. Caleb inspected her, noticing her strange clothes that looked completely different from theirs, more wild and revealing. She was wearing a dark red cloak, had emerald green eyes, wild and poofy, untamed dark green hair, tan brown skin. However, what stood out the most was the girl's ears, they were pointed. She was not a human.

Caleb yelled in fear and he fell down, backing away from the girl. She hopped down from the tree, looking at him with a curious look in her eyes and slowly began to inch closer to him.

"What are you?" she whispered as she got closer to him. Caleb screamed as she grabbed his face, holding it. She looked at his ears, seeing that they were rounded. "Your ears they're round and not pointed like a witch's. Are you a human?"

Caleb didn't say a word to her, looking at her more fearfully. He was ashamed of himself for being so scared. He was supposed to be brave! He couldn't believe it! An actual witch was standing right in front of him! Was she going to curse him?! Bewitch him with her magic powers? Take him away from his brother!?

"Get away from me!" Caleb yelled and pushed her away from him. The witch fell back, landing on her butt. She blinked and stared back at him, surprised. Then the two noticed Philip as he came back.

"Hey, Caleb, what happened? I thought that you were right behind me." He called out as he approached them. Philip froze as he saw the witch and Caleb a few feet apart from each other. The girl quickly got up and ran and Philip ran over to his brother.

"Was that a witch?!" Philip exclaimed, worried. Caleb got up and chased after her.

"Come on! We need to get her!" He shouted as he ran. Philip followed after him.

The two chased after the witch and grabbed some pitch forks while alerting the villagers. Caleb and Philip noticed a large crowd and their father, surrounding a tall cabin, their house. It was completely engulfed in flames.

"The witch's inside!" a villager shrieked.

"She set it on fire! I saw it with my own eyes!" Another one shouted.

"Get some water to put out the fire!" The two boys father shouted before he noticed them. "You two, stay right here and don't move!" He ran off with some of the villagers to grab some buckets to help put out the fire. Suddenly, during the commotion, Caleb noticed a rustle in the bushes not to far off from the house. His eyes widened in shock to see that it was the girl and she was completely unharmed. He ran after her and Philip followed behind him, chasing her.

"It's her! It's the witch!" Philip cried out.

The two ran through the forest and brushes along the path, trying to keep up with her. As they did, Philip tripped over a root from a tree, falling down. Caleb stopped and ran back to help him up.

"Come on, we're going to lose her!" He shouted as the two continued to run. They saw a bright flash up ahead of the woods. As they approached closer, stepping out from the thick bushes. They looked around and were surprised to see that the girl was nowhere to be found.

She had completely vanished.