A shadow fell over Zoey, and she looked up to see Duncan and Sjin looming over her. "Oh, look. The neighborhood freak's out again," Sjin smirked.
"Go away, you guys," Zoey said, turning back to the mushrooms on the ground in front of her.
"Actually Zoey, I think you should go away. This is our tree," Duncan motioned to the large tree behind her.
"Since when?"
"Since now," Sjin said, grabbing Zoey by the arm and jerking her onto her feet.
Rythian was walking by, spell book in hand, when he found the trio. Sjin and Duncan he recognized from the countless times they'd bullied him, but he'd never seen the girl before.
Nonetheless, he dropped his book and rushed over, putting himself between the new girl and the boys. "Leave her alone," he said, but he was unsure of himself, and Duncan and Sjin could tell.
"Look who came to stand up for you, mushroom girl. It's the hermit," Duncan sneered, then turned to Rythian. "I'd call you the neighborhood freak instead of her, but you're never in the neighborhood. What do you do in your room all day, anyways? Read?"
"It helps me learn things," Rythian said defensively.
"Learn things?" Sjin snorted. "Like what?"
The smallest smile graced Rythian's lips. "Like this," He pointed his middle and index finger at the pair, and slowly lifted his hand into the air. As the fingers raised, so did Duncan and Sjin. Rythian stopped them at 30 or 40 feet up.
They flailed in the air, each demanding to be put back down. "You really want to come down?" Rythian called up. They nodded. Rythian grinned, and in one smooth motion, jerked his hand down towards the ground.
The two falling boys clung to each other and let out embarrassingly girlish screams, even after Rythian had stopped their fall a good 5 feet off the ground. All earlier anger forgotten, they pulled away from each other and stared at Rythian with eyes the size of Ender Pearls.
"Now," Rythian asked them commandingly, "you won't be messing with this girl anymore, correct?" He gestured at the girl with his free hand. They shook their heads back and forth rapidly, neither daring- or able- to speak. "And I don't suppose you'll be making fun of me from this point on, either?" Again, the two shook their heads. "Good,"
Rythian lifted the two back into the air, and moved them over a nearby lake. They looked down and shook their heads one last time, but Rythian only smiled. He clenched his fist and brought it back to his side, ending his control over the pair. They fell, and landed in the water below with an almighty splash. He and the girl doubled over laughing.
"That was amazing! Thank you!" The girl gushed. "I'm Zoey, by the way,"
"Rythian," They shook hands. Now that he was able to get a good look at the redhead, he saw she was actually quite pretty. "Hey, we should get out of here before they get out of the lake. They might not go after you again, but they'll definitely want to get back at me,"
"Sounds good," Zoey grinned. "Let's head back to my place,"
"Let's," he agreed, and together they walked off, away from the sopping, sputtering boys behind them.
