Lucas' POV
"No! Darren! No!" I screamed out.
Darren was completely consumed by fire while rolling on the ground.
The fire got stronger because it was fueled by the fallen leaves and twigs on the ground.
Desperate, I looked around and tried to look for something to put out the fire.
I saw a puddle of water on the side, so I ran towards Darren and grabbed his arms.
My hand was burnt and charred, but I clenched my teeth and didn't let go.
I dragged him into the puddle of water, but to my surprise, the flame was still there.
Then I noticed. The color of the flame was blue instead of orange and red. Even though the flame was fierce and he was obviously in tremendous pain, Darren's face, clothes, and hair were still intact.
"Darren, what happened to you?!" I shouted.
"Go... away..." he whispered.
Blood kept coming out of his mouth and eyes. Veins popping on his forehead. It seemed that he was about to explode at any time.
"Someone helps him! Help!" I screeched.
All of a sudden, the wind started to blow and a blast of mist appeared in the forest.
"Vincent! Will!" I recognized the figures slowly emerging in the mist.
"Step back, young lady," Vincent said, taking off his cape.
Will grabbed my hand and pulled me back. He was surprised to see my charred hand healing itself.
"Don't worry. Father will take care of it, Lisa." Will looked up and said to me.
Vincent wrapped his cape around Darren's head and whispered something next to his ear.
Almost instantly, the fire around Darren's body was put out. Then, Darren's body stopped twitching and he dropped to the ground like a stone.
Vincent removed the cape from his head and put it back on his shoulder.
Darren's blood-smeared face was calm. It looked as if he was soundly asleep.
"What happened to him?" I asked.
Vincent looked at me and said, "It was the imprint. His master must have pulled the string and tried to torture him with the imprint. I hypnotized him, so he's temporarily safe and free of the pain. But I'm not sure if the imprint is still going to be there when he wakes up. Don't worry, young lady. I'll stay with you for the time being and look after him."
"But... That's not possible. Finn will never do anything to hurt Darren like this."
"Finn? Do you mean the giant wolf that took you away the other day? He's Darren's master?" Will looked confused.
I nodded worriedly.
Vincent grabbed Darren's arms and lifted him in his arms.
Then, he turned to me and said, "Lisa, one thing that I've learned in the past few decades of my life is that werewolves are just like human beings. They're mysterious and unpredictable creatures. There's nothing impossible for them to do."
"But..."
Vincent interrupted me and walked with me to the cottage, "Don't take me wrong, Lisa. I'm not blaming werewolves or human beings. They're very complicated and there's nothing wrong with being complicated. They do unimaginable things to themselves and others for concrete and justified reasons. But their motives and drives are always carefully hidden. That's why they're unpredictable. On the other hand, a warlock's life is much simpler. He serves one master and one master only. When he doesn't do what his master asks him to do, he gets punished."
"Vincent, do you know something that I don't know?" I frowned and asked him.
Vincent smiled and said, "Young lady, we have existed as a species in this world for thousands of years because we follow one golden rule - we know what we have to know. For now, I only have to know that you're my friends and I'll protect you as much as I can. I have no interest in learning anything else. I hope you could understand what I mean."
The truth was, I didn't understand what he meant. But I guess what he was saying was that he knew something, but he didn't want to reveal it to me for a certain reason. When the time comes, he might let me know.
"What shall we do with that?" Will pointed to the dead body of the hog.
I looked at its giant body and thought for a while.
"I can drag it back to the cottage if you want. I'm very good at dragging things around, you know." Will offered. I realized that he used to drag people's bodies all the way from the cave to the village.
"How can you do that? You're just a little boy." I frowned and said.
"I pull and drag them like this," Will said and grabbed the hog's legs.
Then, he started to pull the hog forward almost effortlessly.
I was shocked.
I didn't expect such a little boy could possess so much strength.
"Your appearance sometimes is your best disguise." Vincent winked at me and smiled.
When we got to the cottage, Colt had already built almost half of the watermill.
And Darren's shed had already been enlarged by him. It had become twice the size as it used to be.
"Zowie guacamole!" Colt jumped off the giant watermill and looked at me in surprise, "What happened to you?! Why are you covered in blood? What happened to Darren? Who's that man holding him? And who's that boy dragging a hog?"
I knew I had a lot of things to explain to him and I wasn't surprised to see him overreacting after he learned everything.
Vincent put Darren in the shed and offered to cook with me, while Colt insisted on staying with Darren and taking care of him.
When we walked out of the shed, Will walked towards us, looking a bit upset.
"What happened?" I asked.
"It's the Salamanders," he said, "I tried to play with them, but they refused to get out of the stream. I tried to feed them with some frogs, but they didn't want to eat."
My heart sank.
Somehow, I just couldn't handle one more piece of bad news on that day.