"Why aren't Seth and Joseph back?" Josephine asks after bottling the last of our tonics and pastes. She had a knack for it. I was impressed.

"That's a good question." I was getting nervous. The sun was setting. "I'm going to put you to bed and wait for them, ok?" She nods and I carry her up the stairs. I kiss her goodnight and she falls asleep quickly. I rush out of the house and mount Hazel. I rushed her in the direction that I was sure the boys had gone. Good lord, please let them be ok.

My long silver braid flaps in the wind behind me. I speed through the woods. The trees bend out of my way. I use their roots to find my boys. The sun was set. I looked up at the sky and saw smoke. I steered Hazel.

"Mommy!"

"Mariposa!"

I jumped off my horse as the boys rushed to me. I picked up Joseph. "What's happening? What's on fire?"

"There's a village up ahead." He looks at me. "I think a witch burning went wrong." His voice quivered.

"Oh no." I whispered and looked at the little boy shaking in my arms. "Hold him." I handed him to Seth. "We are going." He just nods.

The entire village was up in flames. The flames were red, an angry red, not a fire red. It turns light purple as I take control. I trace the threads of magic back to the center of the town. The girl on the floor looked to be fifteen years old. She was curled up in a ball with her hands covering her head as she trembled. I extinguished all the fire and she looked up.

I kneeled next to her. "Hey, are you ok?"

"Who are you?" Her eyes were red and slowly fading to blue. Her hair was a midnight black. Her limbs were long and thin.

"I am Mariposa." The giant scrape on her cheek catches my attention. I heal it. "I am a witch. Just like you."

"I didn't mean to set the village on fire!" She cried and latched on to me. I wrapped my arms around her as she cried. "I didn't even know I was a witch until they lit that stupid fire! I was so scared!"

"Hey, hey, hey." I pushed her to arms length and snapped in front of her face. She forced her tear soaked face to look up at me. "Listen to me." She nods. "Take deep breaths." She started to breathe deeply. "Everything you did was justified." I run a hand through her hair. "Everything is going to be ok, ok?" She nods.

"Witch!" A horde of villagers start rushing towards us. "There's two now!" One screams and they begin to chant, "burn the witches." The girl's eyes start to change colors and popping noises fill the air. I take care of the magic.

"Take deep breaths." She nods as she sobs and tries to breathe deeply. I stand.

"You! You will burn too!" A fat man yells.

"Hahahaha no." I laugh more. "No, I won't." He stares at me and then signals for the villagers to rush towards me. Humans are sixty percent water. I raise my hands. My magic takes control of the water in all of the villagers' bodies. "Fire didn't work the first time." I hissed. "So, do tell me, why would it work now?" My magic is now flowing through them. I make them kneel. I knew I would be able to control the water inside of people. Water is water after all.

I laugh slightly at my powers. "You are a witch, you go against the words of our king!" The fat man spat. I turned my eyes to him and he shut up quickly.

"Then, you go against my words, if that's the logic you want to push." Then he explodes. While the other villagers stare in horror, I help the girl to her feet and we run out of the village. "What's your name?"

"Elliot."

"Elliot, do you have any family you want to save?" I ask her carefully.

"Yes! My little sister and my older brother should still be in our cottage! The villagers tied them up and left them there to die!" Her eyes looked sad.

"Alright, lead the way!" She pushes ahead of me and leads us to the smallest cottage I have ever seen. My magic rips the door off its hinges.

"Adeline! Bastian!" Elliot yells into the house. Grunts sound from the other side of the room. We rushed over. The girl looks to be the same age as Josephine and Joseph. The boy looks like he is seventeen. "Oh thank god you are ok."

We work quickly to untie them. Bastian lifts up Adeline. "Who is she?"

"This is Mariposa, she is saving us!" Elliot tells them.

"What about the man and the kid?" He glares at them.

"That's Seth and the child is Joseph." I say impatiently. "We don't really have time for this. Let's go, I have somewhere safe for all of us."

"You are pretty." Adeline says to me and I smile.

"Do you two have any injuries?" They shake their heads. "Good because it's gonna be a rough run." The young man just nods. I rush out of their cottage and we rush into the woods. We found my mare, Hazel. "Seth, take Joseph and Adeline back to the house. Wake up Josephine when you get there."

"Wait!" Bastian shouts when Seth tries to take Adeline from his arms. "How do I know that we can trust you, Seth?"

"I trust him." I say flatly. I glance at the former witch hunter. "He would never hurt her." I go up and lift up Adeline from the young man. "Hello, Adeline. I am Mariposa. I have a little girl waiting at home that is just about your age. She will be so excited to see you. Her name is Josephine."

"Josephine?"

"Yes." I place her on top of Hazel. "This is my horse, Hazel. She is very friendly." Adeline pets the horse. She was obviously in shock. I lift Joseph up on the horse behind her and he waves shyly. "This is Joseph, Josephine's twin brother."

"It is nice to meet you." He says sweetly.

"And this," I pull Seth over, "This is my best friend, Seth. He will keep you super safe and take you straight to Josephine. Is that ok?"

"Yes." She nods. Seth gets on the back of the horse. "Bye bye." She says and they rush off.

"Now, Elliot, Bastian, I am Mariposa. I am a witch." They stare at me. "If anything happens to either of you, I can heal it, if we are followed, I can kill it. You will not be safer anywhere else but with me. Do you understand?"

"Yes." Elliot and Bastian say at once.

"Good." Then we ran off into the woods.