The night breeze blew as the full moon illuminated the festive villagers. The children ran around playing, the women danced around the bonfire, and the men happily chatted as they drank their beer. A little girl by the age of five with wavy brown hair and beautiful doe eyes ran towards the men, "Papa! Papa!" James welcomed his daughter as he lifted her to sit on his lap."Liya, what did you break this time? You know you shouldn't make your Momma angry." Robellia pouted, "I swear I didn't break anything." James smiled, "Then what is it this time?" "Come, let me show you, Papa."
James sighed and looked at his friends, "Well, Papa also wants to spend time with his friends." Robellia looked at his friends, "Uncle Sam, would you mind me taking Papa away for a moment? I promise to bring him back." The men laughed, "Well, who am I to say no to such an adorable kid?" Robellia smiled, "Come on, Papa." James followed her as she pulled his hand. She led him straight towards the barrier. "So we were playing hide and seek, and I found this Papa." "How many times have I told you to stay..." James looked horrified as he looked at the corpses before him. How had they not sensed this? By the looks of it, they were human. " Liya i want you to run to your mother. Now Liya"
James walked out of the barrier to examine the bodies. It seemed this was a ritual. He looked back at the barrier and froze. It was gone. He rushed back to inform the others. The barrier kept them safe and hidden from hunters and humans. It acted as a camouflage. This only meant the hunters were after them, and soon, but by the looks of the ritual, a witch had done this. The hunters were working with a witch. He ran back to the others, "Stop the celebrations, the barrier is down. All the women take your children and hide. Men, we have to reinforce the barrier by ourselves sometimes."
The people started to rush into their duties. "We could do this faster with Robellia's help," Sam suggested. James glared at his friend, "Don't even think of it, she is still young." "She is a hundred times stronger than any of us, James," Sam retorted. "She is only five, and I don't care what some prophecy says about her; she is my daughter. Imagine Pamela in her stead. Would you sacrifice your daughter, Sam? Soon enough, the hunters arrived. It was a disaster. They did their best to hold them off, but the end was going to be tragic. James ran back into his hut. He went straight to the closet, opened it, and came into sight of his wife, Roselyn, hugging the terrified little Robellia.
"James...." "Shh! We need to get you out of here." James helped her out. "Is it almost over?" Roselyn asked, worry etched all over her face. James sighed and kissed her forehead. "It is almost over, that's why I need you both to leave this village. There is a carriage at the back a few women and children are in there. It will take you to Manhatra. you can wait for me at your sister's house," he went towards the dressing table and came with a silver ring with a beautiful red sapphire at the center.
He placed the ring on Robellia's finger, and its shape adjusted perfectly to fit Robellia's tiny finger. "This will help control your powers for now." Tears rolled down Robellia's cheeks. "This is all my fault; if only I hadn't gone to play that stupid game." James wiped away her tears. "You saved us, Liya. This wasn't your fault. Do you understand me? Now I want you to listen to Momma. no more disobedience. Can you do that for Papa?" Robellia nodded. "I love you, princess." James kissed her forehead. " I love you, Papa." James smiled and cupped Roselyn's face. "Take care of our daughter." Tears streamed down Roselyn's face. "Don't say it like that, please let's go together." James kissed his wife. "I have to hold them back with the rest of the men. I promise we will catch up with you soon. We can start a new life in Manhatra no one will know what she is. We can live in peace, my love. she can finally have a normal life," Roselyn nodded. "Now go. Use the back door. The carriage is at our favourite spot in the forest. Go!"