The woods were terribly quiet in the wake of Gretel's discovery. A chilling standoff had presented itself and the hunter tried to make herself as nonthreatening as possible to try and elevate some of the tension.

"Are you going to come down or not?" snapped Hansel, hefting his shot gun onto his shoulder. His voice was irritated offering no room for sympathy to the plight of the individual taking refuge in the tree.

"Hansel!" hissed Gretel, turning sharply on her brother. He shrugged at her scowl and took a couple of steps back; kids were never really his strong suit. All traces of her annoyance vanished as she refocused on the young girl tucked up high in the tree, holding on with a death grip. "We're not going to hurt you." For added reassurance, Gretel wiped some of the blood and grime that inevitably ended up sprayed across her face.

The little girl looked through tear clouded eyes down at the pair; apprehension and mistrust rolled off of her in waves and her little fingers that were painfully gripping the rough bark refused to relinquish their hold. The monsters that had descended upon the small group of girls out berry picking for their families had been the thing nightmares were born from, but could people that killed such creatures be trusted? Monsters were by default bad, these people that had shown up and challenged them were a variable that hadn't presented itself to the child before. She bit her lip under the weight of indecision; stay in the tree or climb down to the strangers that had managed to scare away the beast?

A sharp howl echoed through the land and all three flinched slightly.

"Staying up or coming down kid? We can't stay here much longer; you won't like what's going to be following us," warned Hansel with his usual brashness.

"She's already scared, she doesn't need you making it worse," Gretel criticized, giving Hansel a slap upside the head. This wasn't just about saving a young girl, this was the first time that the Lamiae had attacked someone other than Hansel. More importantly none of the children in the group had been male.

Hansel hunched his shoulders at the hit but didn't hesitate to return the gesture, taking a half hearted swat at his sister's shoulder before pointing back to the tree. The little girl had shimmied down in record time, fear driving her from her previous place of refuge. She hugged the trunk tightly, not venturing closer to the siblings but the decision to trust them over the coming threat was clearly present on her face.

Hansel resisted the urge to crow about being right. Sweetness was nice and all but in a jam, fear was a motivator that produced results. Gretel could be sweet enough for the both of them.

Gretel kneeled down just within arms reach of the child. "My name is Gretel and this oaf is Hansel," she started, her calming tone indicative of someone who would be a great mother some day. What's your name?"

Small hands picked at the threads in her dress that came loose climbing the tree as she rubbed her toe in the dirt. "Mary," murmured the tiny girl around a trembling lip. Her voice was so quiet it could be mistaken for a whisper on the wind.

"It's nice to meet you Mary," Gretel returned with a warm smile. "What do you say we get out of here before more of those creatures show up?"

Mary warily looked past Gretel to Hansel who was fidgeting, his hand tapping along the barrel of his gun. Eventually she nodded, allowing Gretel to scoop her up in her arms, though her gaze never wavered from Hansel for very long. Even without trying he had that murder you facial expression that made people uneasy.

"You wouldn't happen to know where home is from here would you?" asked Hansel. It definitely wasn't an area the siblings had traveled before and only having a vague sense of the direction the other children fled wasn't going to keep them ahead of their foe.

Wrapping her arms tighter around Gretel's neck, Mary nodded again, pointing down one of the trails. Hansel gestured for Gretel to proceed before he followed in line putting one tired foot in front of the other.

It felt good to be helping someone again. The problem with the Lamiae had been unrelenting and all consuming, wearing both hunters to the bone simply to keep one step ahead. Any satisfaction that could be taken from their line of work had been forfeit to saving their own hides instead of others. It was almost enough to begin to recharge Hansel's energy had he not been pushed past the point of utter exhaustion. It was Gretel, her safety and refusal to give up that had kept him putting one foot in front of the other, fighting against the silver creatures that managed to get a little too close, a little too often lately.

He was just about to ask for a break when Mary began to squirm frantically in Gretel's arms. The small blonde fidgeted like a person possessed, forcing the hunter to release her grip on the child. Immediately survival instincts kicked in and both siblings were mentally preparing for battle. The action to grab weapons was aborted however as a group of women ascended the hill ahead of them.

"Mommy!" cried Mary as she ran towards the group, practically lunging into the arms of one of the women. Mother and daughter embraced in a tearful reunion smothering each other in kisses.

One of the other four women took a step forward, placing herself between the happily reunited pair and the two outsiders. It was a defensive position that also spoke of authority over the group. "Thank you for returning her to us but you must leave."

The hunters stood their momentarily stunned at the reception while the remaining women began to shepherd mother and daughter back over the crest of the hill.

"Wait," implored Gretel, "my name's Gretel and this is my brother Hans…"

"We know who you are," snapped the woman, her cold hard eyes boring into Gretel's. What had started as a warm reception, the unification of a mother with her child which always hit close to home for the hunters, had quickly turned arctic. "That is why you must leave, now!"

Hansel let out a huff before rolling his aching shoulders. It was more of the same. They had been turned away at every turn, firmly cementing the idea that they were well and truly alone. They couldn't in good conscious take refuge in any of the towns; they had no right to bring the Lamiae down on anyone and the creatures had made it very clear they would let nothing stand in their way to get their claws into Hansel. That had left them sleeping with one eye open under the stars along the backwoods trails that were conducive to anything but a goodnight's sleep. With the recent revelation of white witches, the small remote communities that the hunters had often passed through without notice or incident had turned out more often than not to be entire or partial sanctuaries to covens of witches; all of which had steadfastly refused to help or allow the siblings to stay, no matter how short their respite might have been.

"You know who we are?" questioned Gretel. Their reputation often preceded them but she doubted it had traveled that far north that they would be recognized by sight alone.

"The whole magical community knows of the witch hunters Hansel and Gretel. Knowledge of threats to our safety is important to our coven's continued survival." The woman refused to back down an inch, maintaining her ridged stance before them.

"Please, you clearly know about the Lamiae. You can give us information," pleaded Gretel, though the woman's hard exterior seemed unaffected by the young hunter's pleas. "They were after one of your children; perhaps we can help each other."

"They're after our children because of him!" she shrieked, pointing a long boney finger towards Hansel.

"Me?" Hansel choked. He was use to being blamed for a lot of hardships in people's lives but this was the first time it had been by a community he had had no previous contact with; usually they waited until after they started their hunt before blaming the hunters for their troubles.

"You're the one they seek and now you've put all our youth at risk. Leave now or I'll offer you to them," warned the woman brandishing her wand.

The magic wouldn't do anything but frightened and anger people had a way of being dangerous. Hansel steeled himself for their continuous journey to nowhere but Gretel didn't seem that willing to let it go. "We're just looking for some help. We…"

"We're not going to beg, Gretel," barked Hansel. It was frustrating watching his sister give the situation her all, only to come up empty handed every step of the way. She was only forestalling his inevitable demise but watching hope being constantly dangled in her face was what was breaking Hansel's heart.

"But…"

"But nothing. If they want us gone then we'll go."

Gretel's hand clenched in to fists. No one was willing to help and worse yet, Hansel seemed complacent in the fact that there was no hope; he was giving up. Perhaps he had been giving up for a while and Gretel just wasn't willing to accept it, but she certainly wasn't going to. The woman had retreated back down the hill during their brief discussion and Gretel had never felt more alone in her life. There was no skill she possessed or idea she had that was going to keep her brother safe.

"Wait," called someone in the distance. Both hunters turned and looked towards the crest of the hill. Mary's mother paused at the top to catch her breath. She looked hesitant as she glanced over her shoulder at the way she came before speaking. "You saved my little girl and I don't know if I can ever repay you for that but I want to try. I can't help you and you'll be hard pressed to find anyone brave enough, but there are rumors of someone who can."

"We'll take whatever we can get," injected Gretel, rather enthusiastically as the sparkle made its way back in her eyes.

"The Lamiae are charged with destroying threats to the delicate balance of magic. Males who are cursed with their family's magic can't control it and so the Lamiae hunt them down and destroy that magic. You can't stop them and you can't out run them; many have tried. That is why many covens have taken up the practice of killing the male children that show signs of processing magic," explained the blonde.

"So not all children of witches have magical abilities?" Despite hunting witches their whole lives, Gretel had to admit, their knowledge base was solely comprised of curses and how to kill them.

"No. It's rare for a girl not to take after her mother but it happens. The first born male is most likely to be cursed but that's not a certainty. Some poor women have several sons doomed to a short life, which brings me to how I might be able to help. There is legend of a boy that survived his coven's attempts to spare him a death at the hands of the Lamiae. This story is forty years old making him the oldest living male witch in existence."

Gretel perked up at the new information. If someone survived the Lamiae then there was a possibility that Hansel could as well.

"They say he found a way to hide his magic from them. If they can't sense it, they won't hunt you."

Gretel's voice trembled in the face of possibility. "How do we find this man?"

Mary's mother turned and pointed towards the daunting blue mountain in the distance. "He's said to dwell at the top of the mountain."

"That's going to be a hell of a climb," Hansel scoffed. They were still several days from reaching the base of the mountain that covered the forest in the shadow of its might, let alone the days it would take to make their way up such rough terrain.

"But be warned," the witch cautioned, "you'll find no friends amongst the covens, even if your mother was a grand white witch. The Lamiae don't have children of their own, they steal ours. That's why they were after the girls this afternoon; they were looking for children to alter magically and make theirs and replace their numbers."

"Great, so it is my fault they're going after other people." Hansel knew he was tired; he usually did a better job of hiding his miserable self introspection. Turning away from the group, he fought back the burn of threatening tears. His own mother didn't want him and everybody they met afterwards seemed equally excited to have him leave. Having another reason to see him as nothing more than a problem darkening their door certainly would never endear him to anyone.

"Then that's where we'll go," covered Gretel, taking the attention off of Hansel. She offered the witch a genuine smile, probably the first one she felt in the last month. "Thank you."

Unable to ignore her motherly instincts, Mary's mother reached out to place a gentle hand on Hansel's shoulder. "I'm sure she had hoped you'd been spared. You are far too old to have shown no signs by now. It's a mother's greatest fear and a terrible burden for a witch to watch for signs in her son. I'm sure she thought you were safe," she whispered.

"How did you.." stammered Hansel. He never spoke of his mother or the fears he had in regards to the subject, especially his newest crop of demons that had surfaced in light of his current predicament, yet this woman seemed to know.

"A mother can tell and you look so lost child. Now go, it's a long arduous journey and they'll be on your heels shortly. They say his territory is guarded by birds. Good Luck."

Hansel and Gretel stood in silence taking in the task that lay before them. It looked to be quite the undertaking and they had already travelled so far.

"Last time I checked we weren't part mountain goat, Gretel."

"Well close your eyes and wish really hard, maybe hooves will appear because we're doing this." With a determined nod, Gretel took the first step towards their new destination.