Roman pushed a branch up and looked towards the house. Everything around it looked like a dry desert except for the bonfires burning. It was the middle of the day and the fires weren't needed if this had been a normal home. He knew better. There was nothing normal about the woman living in that house. He let go of the branch and looked at his three companions Seth, Jimmy and Jey.
"Mindy," Roman said. "Witch of the fire."
"She dies today," Jey grinned.
"Why are we doing her first?" Seth asked. "Fire is a fucking cruel way to go. I don't wanna be burned alive."
"I'm well aware where you're going with this. Burning alive and drowning are among some of the worst ways to go," Roman said.
"I heard hanging is up there with drowning," Jimmy said. "Or maybe choking on air."
"We'll take air third," Roman smirked. "We're gonna take them in the right order. From worst to... Well... Less bad, I suppose. I can't exactly call any of them good. They are witches. They deserve to die. Fire first. Then water, air and finally earth. Who the hell fears earth? What can she do?"
"Earthquake?" Seth shrugged. "Or drown us in quicksand."
"If there's quicksand around her place, we'll deal with it once we get there. They can only bend their chosen elemental. They can't create it which is why we need to get this fire bitch away from the fires. Or chop off her hands and seal her mouth shut so she can't call upon the flames in any way," Roman said.
Roman lifted the branch again. If the fires hadn't been burning, the entire place would have looked deserted. He nodded at the three other men, and they started moving towards the house as fast as they could. They all leaned their backs against the wall. Roman peeked in through a window to see if he could spot the witch.
"Where are you?" Roman whispered. "Where the hell are you, Mindy?"
"I'm right here," Mindy said.
All four men were taken by surprise. They turned their heads in the direction of the voice. She stood there in a knee-long, black dress that was ripped as if she had been washed ashore after a shipwreck. Her hair was long and fiery red, and her eyes were ash grey. She moved her hand forward and a fireball shot towards them from one of the bonfires. They all jumped to the side to avoid being hit.
"Have you naughty boys come to play?" Mindy asked.
"Get her!" Roman shouted.
"Spread out! She can't hit us all at the same time!" Jimmy yelled.
"Is that a challenge?" Mindy laughed.
Fireballs kept coming at them. The four men jumped around while moving towards her. They had never been up against a witch this fast and powerful before, but they refused to give up. She seemed to be focused on Roman which made sense since he was the leader. All the witches knew of the witch hunters, and they would take joy in taking them down.
"Over here, you ugly witch!" Roman yelled.
Roman did everything he could to keep her attention on him. Jimmy came running in from behind in an attempt of a surprise attack. Just as Roman thought Jimmy was going to make it, Mindy spun around and created a whirlwind of fire that set all of Jimmy's body ablaze at once. Jimmy screamed in pain as the flames ate him up.
"No!" Jey screamed in horror.
Roman had to keep his head cool for a few more seconds before he could cry over the loss of his cousin. He sprinted towards Mindy. She spun around as he came closer and created another whirlwind of fire. He leaped up from the ground as high as he could. It almost felt like flying through the air towards her. His dagger pierced her heart. He landed on the ground and groaned in pain from his shoulder taking the impact with the hard ground. He sat up and looked around. All the bonfires had stopped burning.
"She's dead," Seth said.
"Jimmy! No!" Jey cried.
Roman looked over at the twins. Jey was leaning over Jimmy's body that had been burned to a crisp. Roman crawled over to Jey, wrapped his arms around him and hugged him.
"He's gone, Roman," Jey cried.
"I know. I'm so sorry," Roman said.
"Fucking bitch!" Seth kicked Mindy's corpse. "Fucking, blackhearted, cruel, little cunt!"
Seth kicked Mindy's corpse a few more times until he ran out of air. He seemed to deflate and looked at Roman for some sign of hope.
"We chose this life," Roman said. "We always knew there was a possibility of dying in the field."
"I understand now why you wanted fire first," Jey sniffled. "Promise me we'll get them all, Roman. Fucking promise me."
"I promise," Roman said. "Water is next. She lives by the ocean."
"What a surprise," Seth rolled his eyes. "Fucking cunt can die the same as this one."
Roman nodded at Seth. He wasn't going to tell his friend to keep all these angry emotions inside. Rather get them out than lash out at his brothers in arms.
"Next time we won't be ambushed," Roman said.
Roman looked up at the house. He had been dead sure she was in there. They had to do better next time. She must have seen them from a window and walked out of the back door to get a sneak attack in. That wouldn't happen twice. He had invested too much time in researching the elemental witches and figuring out where everyone of them lived, and put a plan together to take them down one by one in the right order, and he wasn't going to let that plan blow up on him. They had lost a team member today, and there was a possibility of losing another one if they didn't get their act together.
"Let's get out of here," Roman said.
"What about Jimmy?" Jey asked.
"We gotta leave him," Roman said. "No one will find him here. No one knows this place exist. You know how hard I worked to track her down. No normal human will ever be able to find this place on their own. Say goodbye to your brother and leave him here to rest in peace."