The Witch from The Human Realm

10 Escape

The trio gasped as they faced the man blocking the doorway.

He's now holding an iron sword in place of his helmet, which is now absent. The man then made his way slowly to the group.

As he did, Maddie noticed that he had blue-gray eyes and a scar was on his right cheek.

"Well well well…" he said, "it's nice to see you here, Reina. Coming to the light on your own instead of getting caught. That's very… nice." He smirked.

The woman rolled her eyes as she placed a hand on her hip. "Don't flirt with me, Charming. You already have a wife and a daughter."

Maddie raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Was it Darling?" she asked, causing the man to laugh.

"That princess was never my daughter," the man replied.

"There are a lot of unrelated Charmings in the Land of Fairytales," Crow whispered to her.

"Better listen to that bird," the man said, pointing the tip of his sword at the raven. "He's one of the rare few that doesn't squawk. Yet they don't know how to keep their mouth shut."

He then stopped walking when he was just two meters away from the trio.

"What exactly are you doing here, Eric?" Reina asked as she crossed her arms.

The man then winked at her and drew a glowing green circle in front of him, making green vines wrap around Reina's wrists and Crow's claws. The bird fell down from his perch on the woman's shoulder.

"I knew you'd come back for that necklace. So I obviously came here to catch you, m'lady," Eric responded with a wink.

Reina growled. "I told you to stop flirting with me!"

The man shrugged. "Old habits die hard."

Reina continued to growl, and Maddie thinks that the woman would end up barking in a few moments. There was really tension building up between the two adults, and she doesn't want to be burnt into a crisp when they end up throwing flames at each other.

"Erm, I hate to interfere," Maddie suddenly spoke up, getting the attention of the others. But when all their gazes were set to her, her voice was caught on her throat.

'Woah,' Maddie thought. 'For the first time in my life, other people, and a bird, other than my mom actually wanted to listen to me.'

She cleared her throat. "But we really need to get out of here, Mr. Charming. I really need to get back home," Maddie said with a wince.

The second she finished, she was pulled to the ground by vines and landed on her stomach. She struggled to get free, but to no avail.

"You stay out of this conversation, human," Eric said. "Or you'll never get to go home."

Maddie stopped moving and swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat.

Eric then turned back to the woman. "Now let's get you all to your cell."

He drew another glowing circle, making the trio levitate off the ground. Eric then opened the door with a wave of his hand and walked out, with the three following close behind.

Maddie was floating beside Reina, and she could hear the woman growling once more. The tri-colored haired girl then felt feathers brushing against her left shoulder. She turned her head, only to see Crow floating upside down.

"Uh… Is it a bad time to ask why the two of them were acting like that back in the confiscation room?" Maddie whispered to Crow.

The bird chuckled once. "They were exes back in high school," he whispered back, making Maddie's eyes go wide in shock.