Griffin jogged out of the house, the rays of sun barely reaching the tree tops.
The land was eerily quiet as the nature was slowly waking up. Griffin held the two buckets firmly in his hands as he marched through the silent meadow to the Enchanted Forest.
The bright moon was being replaced with the sun and the darkness was slowly fading, which meant the most dangerous creatures that lived in the forest had retreated further north for the day.
As Griffin walked over the tree line, he felt the sweet song of the forest trying to lull him to sleep. Most of the time he was immune to it, but with his sleepy mind it was harder to stay awake.
He forced his senses to be alert, Enchanted Forest was sneaky thing. He might've been part of it, but even for him it was dangerous.
He stopped near the Golden Lake. It was the purest and cleanest lake there was. Yet the townsfolk were too afraid of the forest to come anywhere near it. If they stepped in the forest, it would've probably tried to spit them out.
Grif crouched down, filling the first bucket with the clean water.
Something golden and shiny made him narrow his eyes.
He looked up, where he was met with mesmerizing golden eyes. A sweet Sirens humming reached his ears.
Griffin let out a low growl, to scare the golden Siren away. The Siren's eyes narrowed, her golden eyes turning completely black. She hissed in anger and annoyance and with that, she was gone in the deepest parts of the Golden Lake.
He had no time to waste, there was probably many more of them coming. They are rather stubborn creatures if it comes to victims, especially men.
Griffin stood up and turned to leave. As he heard the sweet song of many Sirens he started jogging, lowly growling under his breath to ignore the song.
He breathed out in relief when he crossed the forest line.
As he walked through the crispy and frozen morning meadow, Griffin made out a woman's silhouette waiting for him on the porch of their old and tired house.
Irma glared at him, earning a cheeky smile from Griffin.
"Griffin Erazmus Llane. What on earth were you thinking! You know those awful creatures would've ripped you in half." Irma scolded her older brother as he came to a stop in front of her, being slightly taller then Irma.
"Sorry, mother. I just thought some clean water would've done some good for your unwashed hair, but hey, I could just throw it on the herbs and -"
"Be quiet and get inside already, its cold here." Irma slapped his head slightly as Griffin slipped inside.
His mother, Elaine, was mixing something in a bowl. It included some kind of new leaves, berries and something else he didn't recognize. Kayla appeared from her small room, looking sleepy and tousled. Kayla was the youngest and oddest in the small family. She was already thirteen winters old, yet no one really knew the limits of her true powers.
When Kayla was just five winters old, she had fallen into the Golden Lake, it happened in the spring when the waters were full of creatures. She was saved by a forest fairy. It's often said that whenever you touch a fairy, you either will lose your soul or die in the spot. But that did not happen with little Kayla, no.
Next day when Kayla woke up, her ears had turned a bit more pointed ones, her beautiful curly and white hair turned dark, with a greenish glint to it. The freckles on her nose disappeared and her skin paled, it almost looked like porcelain.
Griffin dropped the buckets on the floor and ruffled Kayla's madly curly hair. The girl laughed and slapped him away.
"Ugh, stop acting so immature Grif."
"Well, I would. But the face you always make is worth all the stupid actions I come up with."
Kayla giggled and went to help her mother who smiled warmly at her youngest daughter.
"Irma darling, would you be so kind as to go to the village and buy some cheese? We don't have much left, and take the coins I left on the windowsill."
Griffin snorted, feeling angry at the people in the village.
"But mother, why should they even ask coins from you? You are saving their lives and they still ask coins from you." Griffin fumed. How could humans be so disrespectful.
His mother only smiled sadly at him.
"Well, sister dearie, put on your red hood and let's get to the village before it starts buzzing."
Irma glared at her older brother who ignored her easily.
"Mother said that I am going, not you. Besides, I am no little red riding hood and you're not the big bad wolf. You are the wolf and I am the hunter." She said with a wicked smile.
Irma was a great hunter, it was pity that the downs folks didn't agree with female hunters. Griffin would never admit it out loud, but Irma was truly a skilled hunter and a gifted witch.
He was proud to have a sister like Irma.
Griffin only chuckled and opened the door for his sister, she was stubborn creature that sister of his.
Head held high, Irma stepped down the few steps, Griffin surely and quietly marching next to her.
He didn't trust the villagers, he tagged along to watch over his sister and perhaps if his skills didn't fail him, get the milk for free.
As they walked through the village, Griffin didn't fail to notice the few lads who turned their heads as Irma passed by. He glared at them, hating how greedy and stupid villagers were. His sister would surely deserve better then them.
"Stop glaring at everyone, you look like you're feeling sick rather then intimidating if that's what you were aiming for." Irma hissed, making Griffin snicker. She wanted the attention didn't she.
"Sure, sure Irma. Hey Anna!" He walked past Irma towards Anna. Anna looked nice, not as nice as the other girls in the village, but still nice. She didn't get as much attention as others, but that made Griffins job easier.
He stopped and bowed lightly, smirking as he noticed the blush covering her round cheeks.
"How have you been?" He asked with a charming smile. He could almost feel his sisters eye roll.
Anna giggled and looked up through her eyelashes. "I've been fairly good, father is searching for a proper suitor for me, but sadly, the villagers here don't have enough lands nor intelligence." She sighed and looked down. It was like the mating game of birds, you have to notice the signs. Right now, she was trying to get Griffin do be her future husband.
Hell no.
Griffin smiled and kissed her hand.
"Do not you worry, Anna. You'll surely get the best husband there is out there." He winked at the girl who was beaming up at him.
Suddenly Griffin grimaced, looking down at Anna with apologizing eyes.
"What is it, Griffin?" Anna asked worry obvious in her eyes.
"Mother wanted me to buy her some fresh cheese but I forgot the coins at home." Griffin sighed and looked down. He bit the inside of his cheek to keep from smirking when he felt a cold arm touching his shoulder.
"Don't worry, I'll go and get you some cheese, if you don't tell anyone my father won't hear about this, yeah?" Anna smiled reassuringly.
Without another word, the girl turned around and ran into the shop. Griffin looked over his shoulder at his sister who glared at his back.
Anna ran out of her family shop, holding a wrapped up nice piece of cheese in between her fingers.
She pressed the cheese in his hands and ran back inside.
Griffin turned towards his sister who glared at him. She snorted and snapped the cheese from between his fingers.
Chuckling, Griffin followed his sister the whole day around the market place. She didn't really buy anything, she just admired the beauty of dresses and expensive jewellery.
They had both lost the track of time, when they finally decided to head home, the sun was almost set.
Bickering like always, Griffin came to a sudden stop as Irma walked into him.
"Mother?" He asked carefully as he eyed her up and down. She was sitting outside, staring into distance and her tears had long ago dried.
Griffin ran to his mother, picking her up as flow of tears once again escaped down her pale cheeks.
"They took her, they took my baby girl!" He was starting to panic. "Who, mother! Who took Kayla?"
"The Kings men."