The lone witch of an isolated cottage

It was a day like no other within a small and fairly unknown remote village, located within the south east of the kingdom Veria known as Asul. Despite the settlements small population, it was very much bustling and rife with life within it's village square- traders setting up stalls for the locals to buy, farmers carts padding their way up dirt lanes with produce and livestock beside children who were already energetically running around playing their games. The sounds of the village all merged together to produce a harmony of normality within the active village life. Now the early summer period had started, Asul was more alive than it ever had been.

It was quite the contrast in fact to the discreet location of the small cottage that stood on a tiny hill looking over the village, almost as though as it had been pushed away from the average day to day life of the people below it, hidden away by the branches of the orchard tree s around it. This vine and bramble covered cottage that was not too far from the nearby river was always rather quiet. Very few people visited it and even then, they only visited if it were necessary. It was in fact rather perfect for the young girl that lived there known as Erika Hartell, a fifteen year old "wise woman" so to speak who had medium length curly strawberry coloured hair she'd always have done up in a pony tail. Some of her defining traits were the few freckles on her face and the rounded silver glasses she would wear that would mask off her blue, almost purple in hue eyes- overall many would say she was a rather average looking girl living in a strangely isolated area. But Erika didn't mind the loneliness of her location, rather she appreciated the quiet serenity of the cottage she lived in... for many reasons. She loved her quaint and humble home town village for all the same reasons. Life here was uneventful, yet truly peaceful... and that was all that Erika truly wanted.

Erika was a talented young girl with medicine, to the point where those who did visit her, did so for medical related issues that could not be cured by normal doctors... this was because Erika herself was not a normal medic...

"Hmmm... seems like my Lavender hasn't quite blossomed enough yet..." Erika told herself that fairly peaceful morning, looking at the herbs that grew in a small garden patch in front of her house she had been working on. She was hoping she could harvest some today, however it looked like the sleeping aid she was going to make would have to wait a few more days... it was as she was contemplating what she should do about such a matter that a voice called to her behind the white picket fence that surrounded her cottage.

"Hello, miss Hartell?" The voice spoke to her attention, Erika turning to see that one of the villagers had come up to her gate. "Do you have my medicine ready yet?" The old woman questioned prompting Erika to stand up straight, dusting herself down and straightening out her dress.

"Ah yes, if you don't mind bearing with me a moment, I'll go grab it for you!" Erika replied with a smile, turning back towards her cottage, walking over to it.

"Ah, Mira, be careful..." were the muttered words of Erika as she opened her door to see a small black cat slink around her legs whilst she walked inside. The black cat giving her a small meow as Erika walked inside before then stopping on the step, sitting down to seemingly bask in the fresh breeze and sunlight of that afternoon. The old lady who came to see Erika waited by the fence patiently as the cat known as Mira cleaned her paws and face gently. This passing mundanity was soon interrupted however by the sound of a very chipper voice approaching the cottage.

"Yoho, I bring mail!" were the words of the local village messenger that caught both the old ladies and Mira's attention, Mira pausing momentarily mid clean to look up at the young man with shaggy dusty brunette hair in patchwork clothes who turned up at the fence.

"My that's strange, it's not often Miss Hartell gets mail, most people visit her directly for orders..." the nosy old lady mentioned tilting her head to the messenger. This didn't stop the messenger stopping by somewhat frequently however with different notices or newsletters whenever he got the chance- Mira proceeded to stare at the boy before she continued to clean herself, listening in nonchalantly.

"Well, this is a message from out of town... not just that but it looks to be a pretty important one too!" The messenger claimed, revealing the envelope to the old woman who let her curiosity get the better of her. It was with a single glance that she gave a rather surprised gasp.

"It has a golden crest on it..." she commented as Mira decided to clear by her ears now.

"Yup, it seems like some important people want to chat to our local wise woman! It's a big day for her!" He noted, seeming pretty prideful for Erika as the old lady clasped her hands in excitement.

"Oh I do hope it is something nice, she is such a kind girl, she deserves good things to come her way!" The old lady mentioned whimsically, the messenger giving a wry grin in response to the old woman's expectations.

"Well if worse comes to worse, she can always sell the envelope somewhere. Just with the seal alone, this letters worth its weight in some gold!" The messenger explained as it was to these words that Mira finally stopped cleaning, laxly opening one eye to the messengers direction as she glanced in his direction.

"Well I hope she can but something nice with the money. She does a lot for the people of our village just as her grandmother has. Though we are pretty poor so there is little we can do to fully repay her..." the old woman reminisced as the messenger wafted the letter round casually.

"You never know, maybe this letter will be positive news for all of us! We could ask Erika to maybe read it to us-" the messenger started to speculate when all of a sudden, his words were cut off as Mira leapt up at his dangling arms, snatching the letter right from his hands, much to his horror.

"H-Hey?! What?! AGAIN?!" He cried out, twisting around awkwardly to spot where the cat had suddenly run off to. "That cat- GET BACK HERE!" He yelled, pointing over to Mira who was quick to vanish up a tree with a letter and out of both of their sights.

"Oh my..." the old lady next to him uttered in surprise as the messenger stared at the tree defeated.

"There seems to be quite the commotion, your medicine is here by the way miss..." were the word of Erika, who had finally left her home with a small brown satchel in hand.

"Ah wonderful, thank you Miss Hartell!" The old woman bowed her head to her in gratitude as Erika turned her attention to the distraught expression of the messenger.

"Gus, what's the matter?" She asked him as the messenger placed his hand to his head, pointing over to the tree.

"Your cat stole your mail again..." he groaned as Erika's eyes widened faintly to this as she looked over to the tree.

"Ah- Mira!" She shouted over in it's direction as at the silence from the trees she gave a small sigh shaking her head. She looked over to the disheartened messenger with a small smile of reassurance. "She'll definitely bring it back to me soon, don't worry..." she told him confidently as Gus could only give her a curious expression to this.

"Well... I guess she has brought the other ones back to you..." he mentioned before sighing once more, frowning at the tree. "I swear that cat doesn't like me..." he noted as Erika gave a faint chuckle.

"I doubt that... Mira just likes to do her own thing... I'm sure she likes you..." Erika assured him as Gus glanced over to her, freezing up a little with a fluster, before shaking his head.

"Ah- well, I guess..." he uttered vaguely before he then quickly changed topic. "Though it is important you do read that letter Erika- it's an important letter from-"

His words however were cut off by the old woman next to him nudging him as she gave a kindly smile to Erika. "Hey-"

"We'll leave it a surprise for you dear, if it's possible though, do tell us about it tomorrow!" She chimed with a hearty expression, Gus rubbing his somewhat sore arm from next to her with a frown. Erika gave a faintly curious expression however she then smiled to them with a nod.

"I'll be sure to then!" She agreed as the villager lowered her head to the young girl, before grabbing onto Gus's arm.

"Yes, well, we best be off now in any case, you seem busy as it is, have a nice day dearie!" She announced, dragging a reluctant Gus with her, who at a loss shouted back to Erika.

"Erika, I mean it, read that letter as soon as!" He told her as Erika watched him being carted off, a bemused look in her eyes as she cupped her one hand beside her mouth and waved at them.

"Will be sure to! Thank you again!" She cried as it wasn't too long before just as usual Erika found herself alone at her home.

Despite this, she still wore a rather pleasant smile on her face at the visit she had gotten. She may be in solitude a lot of the time, but the people if the village were always so friendly and nice. The absence of them after their visits made her value their small drop by's even more. She picked up a small basket filled with plants and herbs from beside her feet, before giving a somewhat perturbed sigh to herself now she knew she was alone. She looked back to the direction of the door of her cottage.

"Now Mira, I want to know what you did with my letter!" She brought up in a stern tone as it was to her raised voice that her pet black cat exited gracefully from behind the door, taking the time to stretch her paws in satisfaction after she did so.

"What letter? I never took a letter..." the cat suddenly spoke up in a coy human voice as Erika continued to frown in disapproval at her. She walked over to the cat, crouching before her with a dull expression.

"Don't give me that, this isn't the first time you have done this... it's obviously an important letter if you've hidden it so give it back..." Erika pointed out as Mira simply swished her tail to the young girl.

"Maybe so... but I want to evaluate it's importance before you do..." the cat simply replied, Erika's face remaining placid as Mira wafted her paw towards her casually. "Stop looking at me like that, I have your safety in mind too! Us demon familiars are excellent body guards against poisons you know! We aren't just fancy pets..." Mira continued to make up excuses as Erika gave up, grabbing her basket and standing up with a heavy sigh.

"I don't recall demon familiars being letter thieves either... honestly what would granny say?" Erika pondered wistfully, walking into her house as Mira turned around to follow the young girl inside with a faint chuckle.

"Well if Granny said something, it'd be a different story..." she held no pretences up as they both walked into the main room if the cottage surrounded by bookcases and shelves of multiple herbs and ingredients. Within the centre if the room seemed to be what looked like a small work station, scattered with books and ingredients, a large array of chemical and cooking tools stood proudly upon it. Erika remained quiet to the cats words for a moment... well she wasn't wrong, her Granny was the only person Mira would truly ever abide to... that being said-

"I see, maybe I'll skip cooking up that large fish the hunter caught for us this week later?" Erika brought up casually as she fetched out some pans from her one cupboard, leading it to her desk as it was to this that Mira flinched.

"Hey, hey! I'm not stealing it completely! I just wanted to inspect its value! I'll bring it back to you later I swear, so lets not be hasty!" Mira spoke up, her usual cocky air devolving to a panicked one; Erika raising an eyebrow to this as she placed some herbs within a motar before she started to grind them up.

"Value of a letter...? How can an unopened letter be that valuable?" Erika inquired as Mira twitched her ear faintly to this, regaining her confidence.

"That's for me to know and for you to find out!" she chuckled as Erika remained puzzled by her claims as she poured the crushed up herbs within a small pot of water that was already boiling above a large candle. The concoction slowly started to bubble, the evaporating water of it going up a small glass tube and pouring down into another tube beside the mixture.

Erika gave a small sigh, turning away from her work bench.

"At the very least, can you stop bullying our mail man?" she questioned her cat as she walked over to one of the bookshelves, the cat in question appearing to have quite the scheming look come over her eyes.

"He's very easy to bully though..." Mira didn't hesitate in her response.

"Mira..." Erika shook her head in a disheartened tone as she looked around the bookshelf... funny, she could have sworn that book was-

"It's the second book on the top shelf!" Mira commented casually as Erika look up to see the book she needed was there.

"Oh- thank you!" she replied gratefully momentarily... however as she recalled she was meant to be cross with her cat, her tone deescalated with some caution- though Mira had already gotten enough validation to feel less in trouble.

"Eh, don't worry about it! If it means I get tasty fish tonight, I don't mind pretending to be your familiar... even if you can't actually summon one..." Mira replied, hopping onto a stool next to Erika, who didn't respond to Mira's comment as she looked through the book before her.

It was true though... despite Mira staying at her side like a familiar would, Mira was in fact not bonded to Erika, but her grandmother. In all the fifteen years of Erika's life, she had not been able to hold a successful familiar bonding ritual. Not with animals, demons or anything else for that matter. It was one of the simplest entry spells one could learn and yet every single attempt Erika made proved a failure. Despite taking a cats form, Mira was in fact a medium class demon spirit summoned in to the human world by her Grandmother many eons ago. Subsequently, Mira also successfully had a bonding ritual with her grandmother, making Mira in fact Erika's grandmother familiar. Such a reason made Mira somewhat tricky to control or co'operate with as she had no obligations to Erika outside her grandmothers request to look after her.

Despite this, it wasn't as if Mira was a bad companion to have by her side, the two got along quite well... and her failure to bond with a familiar didn't reflect her overall magical ability either as Erika propped up her glasses, looking up from her book and putting her hand up to the flask of liquid collected from the condensed mixture from before. There was a small burst of blue light that appeared in Erika's hands, scriptures peeling off the book in her hands before they both shot at the flask, which gave a small flash of light. The result was a bluish purple powder being left at the bottom of the flask as Erika walked over to it to investigate the substance in the flask... seemed like it was correct! Erika continued to stare at the mixture, a conflicted expression growing on her face amidst her initial satisfaction with the result... she could do most basic spells and potion making like these ones... but not one of the most simplest spells... even if it wasn't the end of the world, it still somewhat troubled her... could she even really be counted as one of her own kind if she couldn't bond a familiar?

Yes... for Erika was in fact one of the very few witch's that remained in Veria... A rare sort of person in this age of witch hunts and bans on magic... Such hunts were what cost the life of her parents, or so her grandmother once said, and had forced her into a life of seclusion from the main village.

"The remedy spell was a success!" Erika turned back to Mira, bouncing back to her usual cheerful self.

"Well done!" Mira congratulated her.

Even with the threat of witch hunts however, such days and small pleasant conversations were still a common occurrence in Erika's life. Her identity was of course kept a secret from the vast majority of the village, most the villagers knowing her as a wise woman and doctor. This was a role she had inherited from her late grandmother who had taken her in when she was a baby and despite the danger of her identity being revealed potentially, she prided herself in using her powers to help better the lives of the kindly villagers nearby... afterall her own grandmother had spent and risked her whole life doing the very same thing... it was a legacy that Erika sincerely looked up to.

So even with the fear of witch hunts striking closer to her small village, Erika paid it little mind.. For her identity as a witch was a well concealed one and such worried would hold her back from the job she loved doing so dearly.

So soon had the day began, so soon did the evening greet the village which was slowly coming to a peaceful halt before nightfall. A small flame flickered about amidst a cupped hand in the wind, it's colour matching that of the golden sunlight that spattered through the branches and leaves that surrounded the cottage, escaping form the incoming darkness of night. Erika stood outside her cottage with Mira, sheltering the small flame that was on a candle in her arms, the two standing before a well decorated rock. She lowered it down on to the rock, sitting before it as she did so and smiling towards the rock.

"Hi granny, it's me! It was another peaceful and warm day today.. I know it doesn't sound too different from how it was yesterday... but as you said, that isn't a bad thing..." Erika spoke towards what was the headstone of the grave to her dear grandmother, the flame resting before some flower and charms surrounding the grave. Mira bowed her head towards her departed master in respect before looking over to Erika.

"Hmm... I do sometimes wonder about that you know..." She mentioned as Erika glanced down to her curiously.

"Hmm?"

"I never mean to disrespect my masters words of course, I agree that peace is far better than the senseless brutality I have witnessed before... though I wonder if that makes you happy at all Erika..." Mira mentioned briefly as Erika's eyes widened faintly to this...when she then firmly shook her head.

"I'm happy! I may not go out often but the people who visit are nice... I get to practice lots of magic- plus I have you Mira, why wouldn't I be happy?" Erika told her with a smile as Mira tilted her head to this.

"Hmm... though what if I wasn't here..." Mira mentioned as Erika paused to this, not really knowing what to reply in this instance... "Don't get me wrong, I don't intend on leaving you at all, it was my masters strictest orders to watch over you once she left... though part of me wonders if I wasn't here, how you would do if I did choose to return to the soil along with my master... you can't summon your own familiar and you spend most your days isolated..."

"That doesn't bother me... besides, you are here Mira. Even with granny gone... we at least have one another's company, that's honestly enough for me" Erika pointed out to reassure the cat... and though her words seemed genuine and her smile was warm... Mira couldn't help but sense a hint of loneliness within the young girls words. The cat had technically been watching over Erika ever since she was a baby... she had watched the young girl go from someone who was somewhat reckless and outgoing, to a person who became very sheltered and withdrawn, especially after she had lost her grandmother... she knew that the young girl wanted to live up to her own grandmothers kindness and yet... she pondered if it was in fact holding her back... despite these worries, Mira simply stretched, a pleasant look on her face.

"Well, I can agree on that at least... Of course, my master is the most important person to me, but I guess you aren't half bad either..." Mira mentioned jovially as Erika laughed in response to this.

"I think the same goes for both of us... though on the topic of interesting things, maybe we should bring up your mail man bullying habits-" Erika began playfully as Mira jolted straight up at this.

"Don't just admit that right in front of masters grave!" Mira exclaimed in a panic as the two share pleasantries to the grave of her departed grandmother as the sun vanished behind the hillside of the village, welcoming in the sea of stars above.

It was the end to a perfectly average day... for the most part...

After a warm serving of fish and a gentle wish goodnight, Mira slinked out a open window outside Erika's bedroom as she slept, jumping off the windowsill and onto a branch from a nearby tree. She poddled her way up the winding tree bark until she came to what appeared to be a small ledge to a hole in the roof as she looked around to anything else that could be out there in the night... before she jumped into the small crevice in the roof with ease.

Inside this small somewhat sheltered hold within the thatched roof lay an assortment of different "treasures" as Mira would call them. Things that seemed to hold grand value despite the initial thought of humans. As a cat, Mira had no such need for materialistic trades such a money in this world... however as a demon, she was hopelessly drawn to things of grandeur and indulgence. As such she had quote the horde of items she couldn't use, but simply admired for their value as a whole to humans... part of this very stash was the letter she had stolen from the mailman earlier that day, part of an ongoing collection. From just a glance you could tell the envelope was from a posh sender, the card around it being patterned and embossed- the letter being sealed with a shiny and luxurious looking golden coloured wax seal. Apparently just this alone was worth quite a bit of money... though she couldn't say if the same rang true for the contents inside... and though it pained her to see such a pretty looking seal get any type of damage, she knew at the very least she had to give the actual letter to Erika, given it's stressed importance... not just that but she couldn't lie in being a little curious herself as the cat then swished her tail, there being a small whipping sound as the seal of the envelope came undone, revealing the letter from within it. It took a little bit of pawing, but with some small effort, Mira was able to drag the letter from out the envelope.

The cat had to wonder though now, who and why did someone send such a fancy looking letter Erika's way. There wasn't any real rich people for miles of this area as far as she knew.... and as far as the rest of the world knew, Erika was just a simple village doctor... part of her had been somewhat puzzled by it since the moment she heard any such letter was coming Erika's way. Maybe it had been misent... in which case, wouldn't it be fine if she also kept the fancy looking piece of paper in front of her too once she had conveyed the message to the young girl? The paper itself was well decorated with patterns, golden lettering scaling across the paper, shimmering in the moons light.... she supposed she would find out once she read the letter... in which she proceeded to do with a fair amount of intrigue at first.... though as she continued to read the letter, the cat started to back away faintly, her hairs starting to stand on end as she dropped any notion of keeping such a letter in that moment.

"Oh... Oh no....!" she cried , scampering out the of her hidden hideout in a panic. It turned out the letter was far more important and dire than anyone could have imagined.

********

"Say granny, why do you think I have been unable to summon any familiar from the demon realm...?" A somewhat younger and rather defeated feeling Erika questioned her grandmother as she looked over to floorboards that had been scorched from the sparks of failed summons... her grandmother who sat looking at a book nearby remained somewhat quiet for a moment... unsure on how to reply to this herself...

"I would say it may be because you are incompatible with such creatures... however from what I have seen with you... I would say that's far from the case?" her grandmother proceeded to mutter to herself as Erika seemed rather confused with her words.

"Huh?"

"No, no, nothing too serious... though Erika don't give up yet... you are still young. In time I know you will find a familiar... it could be a demon familiar or a creature of our world. There's no rush to find one yet. You may find some day your familiar will come to find you..."

Her grandmothers words echoed through her mind as Erika found herself dreaming of such a far off and distant memory... her grandmother... she said those words and yet... it had been far past the years most young witches would find themselves connected with a familiar, either from another realm or from this world... and yet no matter how hard she tried, no matter how many times she trained all her magic skills, such a simple entry level spell was one she still couldn't pull off to this day... Though she didn't want to doubt her grandmothers words, it was on days like these where she recalled such things that she had to wonder... if she wasn't really cut out to have such a thing like other witches do... maybe she wasn't as much of a witch as her grandmother or her parents were...

*************

It was to this heavy thought in her sleep though that quite suddenly Erika found her dreams and the image of her grandmother being disrupted, by the sensation of soft paws heavily plodding onto her face, stirring her out of her dream.

"-rika.... Erika..." a voice called out to her as Erika groggily opened up her eyes to see that Mira was now standing on her chest, looking directly into her face with a panicked look in her eyes.

"ERIKA!" Mira shouted, making the girl jump up as Erika sat up in her bed, looking down to the cat confused.

"M...Mira...? What's gotten you so worked up at this time of night?" Erika asked drowsily, reaching over for her glasses and using a small fire spell in her hand to light the candle next to her. The cat couldn't stop moving around as she seemed to desperately be thinking of what to do next as she spoke.

"We have to get out of here Erika! We have bad news! Very bad news!!" Mira proclaimed, leaving the young witch before her a little disorientated.

"H-huh? What...? Right now?" Erika double checked, not quite understanding where this frantic behaviour had suddenly come from with this cat as Mira nodded firmly.

"Yes right now! Erika, we are in danger!" Mira pointed out to Erika who only grew more bewildered and pale to Mira's words.

"I'm sorry, I really don't understand... What danger??" Erika questioned as Mira jumped off Erika's bed, the wardrobe door opening and clothes falling out from before her as Erika got up and followed the cat.

"We don't have too much time to explain! I read that fancy letter you got earlier!" Mira proclaimed as Erika crouched down to where the cat was, picking up the clothes she shoved out in as a faintly surprised expression.

"The one that Gus delivered earlier?" she double checked as the cat rushed around again, looking for more items to gather.

"Yes that one!! It was apparently a really fancy and important one, which is why I grabbed it!" Mira shouted, a little frustrated with herself as Erika nodded, continuously baffled by what was going on before her.

"So it was important..."Erika frowned.

"I didn't know it was going to be 'THAT' important! Get your clothes on, we have to keep moving!" Mira pointed out, ordering the girl around as she did so, the young witch complying but not without a sceptical expression on her face.

"But why is it so dire that we leave the cottage right this instant?" Erika asked once more as Mira dragged out a bag from under Erika's bag so she could pack her essential with her.

"Because, there are people on their way to come and get you right now! They said they'd be here to collect you by tonight!" Mira emphasised the danger more as it was to this that momentarily, Erika dropped the clothing in her hands, somewhat shocked to hear such news.

"People are... coming to find me tonight?" Erika repeated, picking up her clothes once more, starting to pack things a little more hastily now as Mira jumped up on her bed.

"They aren't coming to find you! They are coming to collect you! Big difference!" Mira corrected her in a consternation as Erika tripped over both her thoughts and herself as she found herself only getting more questions than answers.

"Who are??" Erika questioned, at least wanting to know who is was that would cause such a fuss as Mira gave a dire look in Erika's way.

"The letter is from the royal palace Erika..." The cat told her gravely as at once the room fell quiet, Erika pausing where she stood... a cold feeling lump began to grow in her throat as Mira's words began to truly set in... the royal palace... someone from the royal family wanted her of all people to go there and see them... the royal palace that housed the family who were responsible for all the witch hunts... the ones that took her very own parents away from her... that could only mean...

Erika clenched her hand, before quickly staring to rush, throwing things into her bag... this was bad...! THIS WAS VERY BAD!!!

The two hadn't even begun to finish collecting everything that they needed when very suddenly in the depths of the night, there came a loud thudding noise the echoed from the front door of the house, right down to the bedroom that made both the girl and the cat freeze up in terror... though it was Mira who was quick to jump back into action at this.

"Drat, they are already here!" she muttered as Erika ran over to her bedroom window, opening it and looking down the side of their cottage to see near the front there was indeed what appeared to be a carriage, some guards standing watch next to it- the fire from the torches ion their hands seeming to fiercely cry out their arrival in contrast to the humble spark that was now quivering on the candle that was behind Erika at the breeze that had just been welcomed into the room.

"It... really is them..." she muttered quietly as there came another loud thudding from the front door as well as a rather rough and loud sounding voice.

"Hello? Is this the residence of a Miss Hartell?!" The voice called as Mira ran past the candle, the flame in it going out as she did so, before she then nudged at the bag on the bed.

"Come on Erika, we have no time! We have to run for it! Now!!" Mira whispered roughly to Erika who at first did nothing but stare out at the guards that waited at the front of her cottage, almost in a trance at the own fear she felt in her heart at the sight of them... when it was then that her mind began to panic as she thought of something, moving away from the window hastily.

"Wa-Wait there... I have something I need-" Erika muttered as Mira simple jumped at her, chasing after the girl to stop her.

"Need something?! What could you possibly need right now?! Erika we have to go!" Mira snapped at the young witch who looked back to the small cat palely, pointing to the door that lead back into the house.

"But... Mira... this is granny's house... what if they do something to her-... her grave... Mira what about gran-"

"Erika, what do you mean, what about Granny! She is gone! They can't do anything to her, as much as I hate to acknowledge it myself, she is no longer in this world!" Mira brought a harsh reality to Erika, who seemed to have the realisation of such a painful thing redawn on her... ahh... that was right, her grandmother was no longer... "Look, I know this is confusing and hard for you, but please, for granny, lets run away right now" Mira did her best to help Erika come to, the girl somewhat sobering up to her fear as she gulped deeply, taking a deep breath... before turning back to the window, grabbing the bag from the bed next to her. Mira was right, her grandmother would want her to escape more than anything right now.

The two scrambled out the window clumsily, hearing more knocks coming from the front of the house from the guards and calls...

"Right... you ready... we'll talk more when we lose them..." Mira whispered as Erika nodded distantly, her eyes tracing back to her cottage with a torn look in this... she rarely ever left this building... and now she was running away... "Erika!" Mira snapped her out of it once again as Erika had to force herself to snap her eyes away from the room, quickly picking her bag up once again and getting ready to run away with the cats, doing her best not to get swept away by a sea of her own thoughts and emotions in this moment.

Indeed, the two had started to run away, running no more than a few steps to the back of the house in plans to vanish into the woodland behind them... however it was with these few steps that the golden red hue of light began to flicker its way round the corner that led to the back of the cottage, along with it being many large looking shadows, as the fear on their faces only seemed to become more solemn- their quick pace starting to slow as a number of guards now walked from the back of the house, taking away their exit from that direction.

"So... this is where you were huh? Trying to run away?" A rather large and fearsome looking guard dressed in gold coloured plated armour matched with blue robes to go along with it, a rather intimidating crowd of men following close behind him as Erika felt her breath get stolen away from their appearance.

"Dammit, Erika, other way!" Mira snapped over to the girl as Erika couldn't even find the words to reply to the hulking man, dropping her bag where it was and picking up the cat she she could race off quickly with her in the opposite direction, much to this mans anger.

"H-Hey! Where do you think you are suddenly running off to?!" he beseeched after her as Erika didn't even try to look back, running as fast as her legs would carry her to the front of the house, planning on hopping the fence from over there and running into the village to lose them. She had no time to truly think or come up with any major plan, she just knew that she had to escape... for if she was caught... if the royal family found out who she was...

Tears welled up in her eyes, her vision getting blurry as it was then very abruptly she felt someone grab onto her arm, pulling her to a quick halt and dragging her back, the girl giving a loud cry.

"No-wait, please let me go!" Erika pleaded with them, doing her best to struggle away from the guard who had been waiting near the fronts grip; Mira hissing and clawing at the man.

"Stop fighting! There is no need to struggle so much! Hey general, is this the girl?!" the man told her off firmly, before looking up, noticing the well built man approach from the darkness with his torch and the man guards that had followed him.

"Yes it is... seems she was in a hurry to avoid us..." the general spoke up as Erika kept trying to get away, her heart pounding against her chest and tears coming down her eyes in terror... though it was all soon to stop as the general then spoke up rather loudly to her, with a voice that could boom through her soul.

"I believe you are Miss Erika Hartell right? I believe you got a letter that we would be coming... so is that why you were in a rush to sneak away in the middle of the night?" the general questioned her coldly as it was with these words that she felt all her ability to fight drain away from her, her body starting to feel cold and numb with the dread that she now felt... she felt the words she needed to say to even begin to reply now trapped within her gut, unable to come out as she simply stared at the general and the multiple magic protection charms and gems embroidered over his armour, realising that this was it for her... with so many people around and the type of power these guards seemed to have in just a grip alone... there was no way she could escape... not even if she tried to use magic against them... the general simply raised an eyebrow at her, the flickers of the the fires of the torches raising up to the sky as thought they were taunting her with their ability to break free and escape into the camouflage of stars above.

"You have been summoned to the palace by his majesty the prince....."