They walked along a narrow trail for some time, Elaine and Scarlet in the lead. Andrew's initial sense of unease seemed to be coming back, and he felt his hands tremble slightly. Scarlet slowed her pace to match his and hung back with him. She was humming the tune of a song he didn't recognize. When asked, Scarlet shook her head and told him that he wouldn't know it, that it was a lullaby from a different realm. "Your realm?" he asked and she shook her head again.

  She made small talk and Andrew gradually found himself growing less uneasy. Scarlet was easy-going, loud, and lively. She spoke with enthusiasm, always using hand gestures to emphasize her words. Elaine on the other hand, he noticed, seemed to be more cautious and of a rather serious nature. She kept telling Scarlet to quiet down and focus, and Scarlet kept waving her off.

  Another hour or so had Andrew on his hands and knees on the ground. He informed them that he could not walk any further and his stomach gave out a long and loud growl to second that. It was already late in the afternoon and he hadn't eaten since breakfast.

  The witches had on them, very small bags, the likes of which would be unlikely to carry the core things one would need for a camping slash foraging trip. In comparison, after all the hours, Andrew's backpack felt hard and heavy. He stared in astonishment as the duo pulled rather large items out of their tiny bags. Tents, packs of food, his microwave, a large carpet, his living room sofa, and other such camping necessities.

  "We should have noticed how hungry you were," said Elaine, guiltily.

  They all sat on the sofa, Andrew in the middle, and ate corn chips. There was nothing to plug the microwave to but Elaine inserted three cups of water into it and pressed some buttons. It obeyed the given commands and began to spin the cups inside. Andrew wondered if the use of the microwave was even necessary if they were going to use magic anyway. Were all witches this extravagant? After a few minutes, Elaine passed the tea around. The cups floated their way into their hands. The drinks weren't even warm, but rather cool and refreshing.

  "How is it cooling them?" Andrew asked.

  "Well, I noticed that it warms whatever is entered, so I enchanted it to be able to do the opposite as well!" Elaine exclaimed, huffing with pride.

  Andrew refrained from asking if the microwave was really needed, and if she couldn't just cool it herself with magic. He enjoyed his drink in silence.

  There were two tents, each already set up even before their exit from Elaine's bag. Elaine told them that they were allowed three hours to rest and they could spend it as they liked. However, after the allotted time, they would have to continue their journey.

  Andrew asked if it would be safe to set up camp there, and Elaine simply waved her hand. A bubble-like dome formed around the campsite. "Now it is," she declared.

  Since every minute was precious, Andrew went into his tent (the inside of which seemed oddly spacious) and slept (on a queen-sized bed, no less). He hadn't realized how exhausted his body was. When he woke up after three hours to the sound of his cell phone alarm, he felt as though he could cry. Andrew thought he could just pretend the alarm hadn't woken him and sleep a little while longer until they'd call for him. Even if it would buy him just five more minutes. But having regained some of his senses, he remembered that they were in the forest. Despite Elaine's protection dome, he couldn't feel very safe. It was a hard sensation to go back to sleep with. He grudgingly rolled off the bed and ambled over to the girls' tent. He knocked on the flap and waited. "Come in, Andre!" Scarlet called and he slid in.

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  There was a bunk bed, the top part of which was occupied by Scarlet. She was leafing through a book which floated in midair in front of her. Elaine sat at a desk on the far end of the ridiculously long interior, digging through a very thick stack of papers, occasionally marking certain parts of the pages. "Do you have firewood in this realm?" she asked, not looking up from her study.

  "Firewood?" Andrew repeated. "The type you use to start fires?"

  "The kind that's already burning," Scarlet said. "You know, kind of red in color. With green flames."

  "Oh," Andrew took a second to ponder on the existence of such a thing, and then "No," he said confidently. Elaine bit her lower lip. He watched them both from a rather luxurious seating arrangement in the center of the tent.

  "What now?" Scarlet asked Elaine. Elaine looked disconcerted. "Let me consult my notes." She opened a drawer with several large files. She picked one out and leafed through it. Then throwing it on the desk, she took out another one and began to skim it. Andrew looked over at Scarlet.

  "She's trying to find alternative potions," Scarlet explained. "Ones that we can make with ingredients from this realm. We found 32 ingredients we need which aren't available here- no wait, 33 including the firewood."

  Andrew stayed quiet for some time, thinking of how to ask what he'd been contemplating. "Why don't we just go to the other realm and get them?" He asked innocently enough. Or at least he hoped he'd sounded innocent. The truth is, he wanted to go and see it himself. Scarlet and Elaine looked at each other, their respective books dropping in front of them. They looked conflicted at his proposal. Elaine sighed. "Andrew, do you know how dangerous that would be?"

  "More dangerous than this forest?" He asked.

  "This forest," Scarlet gestured around them, slightly irritated, "is nothing!" She leapt off the top bunk and sat beside Andrew. "We'd like to go, but your grandmother would kill us if we took you with us!"

  "We've talked about it with Sylves-ver and we're not so sure about leaving you alone here anymore either..." Elaine said gravely. "I'm sure your grandma wasn't expecting us to leave you alone either... It's just... she didn't leave us with any instructions before she left..."

  "Why?" He asked, his voice growing desperate. "Why won't she let me go there?"

  "Because," Elaine said, "she was trying to protect you."

  He waited for more.

  "You remember those people who tried to kidnap you? She was trying to protect you from them."

  "Why do they want me?"

  Scarlet and Elaine exchanged a look. They often did that, he noted.

  "Because you're special."

  "What?"

  The witches looked uneasy. "We can't go into the details. I think we told you more than we should have. Let's wait for your grandma..."

  Andrew sat in silence. So all his life, he was special? His grandmother raised him to feel like the most ordinary person ever. No amount of magic had ever made him feel otherwise. Yet he was so special that there was an entire organization of people after him? He got up and went back to his tent. His thoughts were a mess.

  Andrew lay on his queen sized bed for another hour before the witches knocked on his tent. When he didn't answer, they invited themselves in. They sat on the edge of his bed, and Scarlet ran a hand through his hair.

  "Are you upset?" asked Elaine.

  Andrew pouted.

  "Would a bunk bed make you feel better?" asked Scarlet. It would make him feel better, but he didn't answer. Yet again, exchanging a confirming look, the witches turned to him.

  "We have a proposition, Andre," declared a resolute Scarlet.

  "Why don't you become our apprentice?" asked Elaine.