• If there were no sounds to be heard in this fine scenery, it would be quite peaceful. It was an ordinary visual of a run-down barn, abandoned, under-cared for, and depressingly gray. Its roof was caving in, its walls missing a few of its planks, window frames broken, and all of the animal food holders were either completely empty, or had tons of dirt and mildew living inside of them. The fields were quite dead, as their dried-up yellow corpses lay helpless to forever drift in the directions of the winds until one day, they will eventually meet their fate and disappear in the dust, just like everyone else after they’ve died and their souls have left their empty shells. Gloomy clouds sustained their positions in the air, obviating the sun’s rays from wrapping the land with their warmth, and bringing a sort of sadness to hang in the atmosphere.
    However, despite its unhappy state and seemingly serene position, this scene was nothing compared to peaceful once one heard what was going on within the barn.
    “Theron! DUCK!”
    “I hope you’re not pointing out another animal because of your stupid short attention span—”
    “NO!” she shouted, cutting him off. “I meant as in—”
    Thunk. An object went flying over Theron’s head and shattered against the wall. The frantic teenage girl jumped from one foot to the other, ready to dodge another object. A not-so-older man was next to her with his blue eye slightly squinted as he reloaded his gun and steadily aimed it towards the shadows. He held his shooting hand carefully to keep it balanced.
    “Ophelia, do that spell again,” he commanded.
    “Which one? The one with the explosion or the—”
    “The explosion! Do the explosion spell again!”
    “Alright!” Ophelia nodded, bringing her hands into the air. She bent her wrists in an upward motion as her fingers pointed down, and then she thrust her palms and under-wrists downward. Her shoulders suddenly hunched upward and her luminous emerald eyes seemed to flash. “Praemium!”
    FWOOSH—BOOM! Another object that came flying their way had blown up, causing sparks to fly in all directions and illuminating the darkened section of the barn for only a mere moment; this was the only moment Theron needed. He pulled down the trigger.
    A figure slumped forward and landed with a thump upon the dirty barn floor. The creature was breathing its last few breaths for the final moments of its life before it suddenly fell silent. Neither one of the persons left standing in the barn had said anything, not even the jumpy girl who had glued her two feet to the floor after the creature’s death. Both were panting.
    Ophelia, the jumpy girl, sighed in relief and wiped her brow. “Phew! I actually thought I was gonna get hit in the—”
    Suddenly, a blow from above nailed her in the head. She fell onto her rump and rubbed the top of her head irritably, glaring at the fallen piece of wooden roof with narrow eyes. Theron, the man next to her, smirked. “It’s what you get for being so cocky.”
    The magician girl leapt onto her heels and sprang up, her weight then leaning onto her toes as she hissed her words at Theron. “Cocky?! I’m not the one who just went ahead and barged right into the blasted barn, shouting out ‘who’s there’ and being completely stupid as to be out in the open in such a way!”
    “And what did you have in mind?” he argued.
    “A well thought-out and organized plan as how to approach the barn and be able to eliminate the target without having to cause as much ruckus as we just did! Well, not nearly enough, not certainly,” she added. She gave him a little shove. “Ugh! Why are you always so mean to me?”
    “You haven’t seen mean until you’ve stared it in the face, Ophelia.”
    Ophelia let out a “hmph!” and pivoted her heels and toes, turning herself halfway. She put her hands on her hips. “And you haven’t seen cockiness until you’ve stared it in the face.”
    Theron, rolling his eyes, pulled out a burlap sack from Ophelia’s pack that hung at her shoulders. He then proceeded to behead the dead human-like creature, pull on its hair and stuff the head into the sack. He tied the knot tightly to try to prevent the smell. “You nag me like you’re my mother,” he muttered. Ophelia turned and whacked him upside the head with an open palm.
    “I could have very well been your mother if I wanted to, if I was older than you, but I wouldn’t raise such an incompetent and intolerant child like you!”
    Theron stood up with the sack slung over his shoulder. He bent down slightly to Ophelia’s height and flicked her in the nose. “I could have very well been your son if I wanted to, not that I would if I was younger than you, but I would have rather run away and been raised by a pack of wolves than you.”
    Ophelia winced and rubbed her nose. “Well, I would’ve let you go instead of calling for the authorities to find you and instead let you die in the wild.” Theron rolled his eyes again and turned to start heading out the door.
    “Oh, you’re such a woman, Ophelia,” he sassed. Ophelia tugged on the strap of her pack and followed after him.
    “Woman?! Are you being sexist now? What was that supposed to mean?!” she shouted after him. He didn’t even turn his head or slow down to let her catch up with his pace.