Sorrel

Living Room

(Σαλόνι)

"Does it hurt much?" he asked kneeling next to 'Gwen' observing her wound.

"Yes, it does!" she said hissing and punching the floor.

"Eníschysi Magévo: Therapeía epitáchynsis"
(Enhancement Hex: Sped healing)

,I declared. The wound slowly began to patch up until it was completely sealed. Like nothing happened. The boy suprised stood up.

"Thank you"

His eyes golden brown twinkling with gratitude and a weak smile. Gwen touching the former wound, rose dusting herself. Her face shifted to look behind me. Nikól did as well.

"Hera!" Dad came running huffing and puffing with a crossbow. He stopped once he saw the two of them.

"Who are these? Is everything okay?" Dad asked constantly switching his gaze to either of them.

"It is now. These...are refugees from Thórakas. They were hunting for a place to stay and...met us"

Nikól started singing but in a low volume.

"Is that so?" Dad asked partly believing the story eyes still fixed on either of them.

"Yes" the boy said "My name is Nolan and my sister here is Gwen"

Dad thought for a while. Hercules had regained himself strutting towards me glaring his sharp canines at the boy. Dad looked up then let out. "Well then. You are welcome to stay with us"

My eyebrows rose then lowered. Dad had a kind soul and always made efforts to help those in need whenever he came across them. That's what brought him to his wife. Though I hoped this wasn't a mistake.

"Thank you very much sir" Nolan said.

Gwen turned to her brother frowning as he smiled at her.

Dad led us all to the house and made breakfast. He gave Hercules some food as well, raw red meat. The table was silent throughout the meal. No one had said a word since the garden. On the way to the house, the only sounds heard were the birds and our footsteps. Dad finally spoke after finishing his food.

"Hera, Nikól will share your room while our guests will stay in hers until I'm able to arrange the guestroom. I'll be heading out now to get extra provisions. If they need assistance please help out. Hercules you help out when you can"

Hercules looked at him briefly before bending back down to finish his meat. By 'when you can' Dad meant 'if our guests pose a threat'. He got up, cleaned up his plates and went out with his truck. The table was still quiet after Dad left. Nolan and Gwen finished before us. They wanted to do their dishes but I told them not to bother. They went to the living room, still silent.

Nikól and I finished, gathered the plates and went to the kitchen to clean up. She was humming.

"Do you think they'll be a problem?" she asked in a low tune, not looking at me.

I thought about it. I couldn't really see what harm they could be. They weren't Triumph troops, judging from no signs of Gray Hex in either of them. Bandits was the only possible thing if at all they were evil. But I knew potential harm could be hidden.

"I honestly don't know. But I think I'll be able to handle them"

"You think so? The boy can literally turn into a beast."

Nikól said immediately after me with seriousness and concern radiating from her.

"True but with Hercules' help like in the garden, I should be able to cope"

"We won't be of any harm, you don't have to worry" Nolan said, overhearing our conversation.

He was a bit over my height, with brown hair and matching brown eyes. Gwen was the female version of him but my height exactly.

He tried starting a conversation but was discouraged as none of us said anything.

We were done there and Nikól moved on to get things from her room to mine. The siblings were together in the living room again but Gwen was asleep with her head on Nolan's laps.

"Mind if we talk?" Nolan whipped to me as I sat on the chair adjacent to him. For some reason I felt easy. My instincts weren't picking up anything from him.

"Not at all. Thanks again for allowing us to stay." he said stroking his sister's hair. She was beautiful and looking more carefully she seemed to be the older one between them.

"Tell me about the raid"

His face deflated. His eyelids half over his eyes. He took a gulp of air then began facing upwards.

"Triumph troops came to Thórakas about a week back, our home was first hit. My father and I were not at home and had no idea that Triumph were in the city. My mother and Gwen quickly fled to find us. They did but Triumph troops were raging and destroying. Father told me like he always did that he and I, the men, were to ensure Gwen and Mother were safe. We all began making our way out but the stampede of both troops and people fleeing for safety divided us"

Hercules joined me at the foot of the chair. Nolan looked straight towards the TV then down to his sister.

"I found Gwen but couldn't find our parents. We called out for them while still trying to move. We could hear them answering but couldn't see them."

"Father then yelled out that he would move with Mother while I moved with Gwen. We would try to rendezvous at a near valley, hopefully where the whole Triumph action would be less and we could move together again. But, when we got there, they were no where to be found. We waited almost an hour and would have waited more but some troops spotted and came after us"

I had now relaxed into the chair absorbing his story. He paused to take a breath.

"We ran away praying they would be safe and we would meet later on somehow. Gwen and I have been on the move since, resting at places we could. We got here and saw your sister singing and apparently sculpting. Gwen instantly took hold of her telling me to check for more people."

"Why did both of you attack?"

"You see before we got here..." he adjusted himself a bit "...we met some people who said they'd let us stay with them. We stayed the night but when we woke up they were gone and so were our supplies and money. Gwen went mad and swore from then on she wouldn't trust anyone. She assumed your sister was a threat. I attacked because you shot an arrow at me."

"Wouldn't you? You could have just walked up to me instead of hiding in the bushes"

"What if you were actually a threat? I would be literally walking to danger. But it's okay, we both did what we did because of what we've been through"

Nikól came down and coincidentally Gwen woke up. They both looked at each other then at us. Nikól stood beside me looking at them.

"Your room is ready"