The Strength of Family

Christian, Cloud and Gemini were returning from a night out at the local tavern with a couple of friends.  When their house came into sight they expected to find a torch lit for them outside and Katiana waiting for them inside.
Christian was the oldest of the twins and thus the oldest of them all, he was tall 6 foot 3 with muscles circling his entire body so his brown leather tunic clung to his body and his brown cotton tights were tight against his legs, his black hair was tied back into a ponytail to keep it out his eyes. Christian had been a mighty warrior in the last war but now his main job was too look after Cloud and his other siblings.  Cloud, the youngest of the twins and also the most frail, working on his spells he had put his body through great trials and it left him weak. Cloud was the same height as Christian but he was thin and looked tired most of the time. He was huddled in a clock over the top of his cotton shirt and black cotton trousers, his black hair lose around his face.  Cloud was the sole reason to the end of the war but it had left a toll on him. His already failing health now Christian was his constant companion.  Gemini the youngest of the brothers and the middle child was a spitting image of Christian, Gemini spent most of his time trying to follow in Christian’s footsteps but he was a little smaller standing at 6 feet tall. Katiana was their youngest sister and as the only girl in the family she was raised by her brothers and followed Christian but in her own way she had surpassed him, she was smaller and quicker than he could ever be. Katiana was loved dearly by all her brothers.
The brothers turned into the street and froze at what they saw. There was no torch lit for their return, the front door was broken and lay on the floor. Gemini ran towards the house while Christian stayed with Cloud who had picked up his pace but couldn’t run.
The house was a mess, tables and chairs thrown around the house; most of the damage was in the kitchen and the sitting room.
“Katiana!” Gemini yelled running into the back of the house.
“Kat!” Cloud yelled staying in the doorway.
“She’s not here,” Gemini said coming back into the sitting room.
“No one move,” Cloud said and reached into a pouch of his cloak. He grabbed, rose petals, thyme and sage he crushed them in his hand and then through them through the room chanting under his breath.  He felt the magic begin to work, felt his energy leave him, he would have fallen but Christian grabbed him from behind.
Cloud opened his eyes and looked through the room; the magic was replaying the events of that night before they came home.
Katiana was there in the kitchen cooking something for dinner, she looked out the window her long black hair out and reaching her waist, the front plated and tied back to control it. She was wearing her favourite blue dress that reached the floor and a black corset over the top.  The brothers watched her as she turned and walked towards the front door as though she was actually here with them. She walked towards the torch they kept outside, to light it for their return.
Suddenly she quickly turned and ran into the house slamming the door behind her. She ran towards the back of the house to the weapons closet but the door burst open and in came eight Goblins dressed in Ranched’s military clothes.  The fight didn’t last long as Goblins are stronger than humans and she was no match for eight of them.
“The goblins took her,” Christian said sounding outraged as they watched Katiana lose and get dragged off by a goblin. 
“Let’s go,” said Gemini grabbing a sword and throwing one to Christian. Cloud sat down on one of the upturned chairs and grabbed out a pouch of mixed herbs, he chanted under his breath again and once again felt his strength and energy leave him.
“No more magic,” Christian said, walking towards Cloud with a worried look on his face.
“It’s a simple spell,” Cloud lied and stood up he walked slowly towards the front door and there was a trail of blue light showing the way to Katiana, “it’s a tracking spell.”
Together the three brothers walked off into the surrounding forest. Gemini lead the way sword out ready for what might come. Christian brought up the back so he could try and keep an eye on everything, while Cloud walked in the middle and tried to keep putting one foot in front of the other.

It had been two hours since they had started tracking Katiana and her kidnappers but they were still some distance away.
“This isn’t good,” Gemini said, “we have no idea how much further they are in front of us.”
“We’re catching up,” Cloud said examining the blue line they were following. Cloud was incredibly tired but his love for his family drove him on.
“How do you know?” Christian asked.
“The blue line is getting darker, it means we are getting closer,” Cloud started walking in the direction of the blue line and the others fell back into place around him.
Thirty minutes more and the brothers had stumbled across the goblins resting in the bushes. Katiana was tied up next to one of the bigger goblins; he was obviously the commander of the group.  Christian grabbed Cloud and Gemini and started dragging them away from the goblins.
“We need a plan,” he said, “Cloud you are too weak, Gem and I will go and get her and take care of the goblins.”
Cloud nodded but he knew what he would do, the others may think they could handle goblins but eight of them at the same time, they would struggle and most likely get injured.  Cloud knew Christian wanted him to stop using his magic and rest so that he could recover but Katiana was in trouble.
Gemini and Christian walked towards the goblins and Cloud hanged back, he didn’t need to be near them to cast the spell, all he needed to know was what they looked like, keeping that image in his head he grabbed out some more sage and some thyme and chanting a new spell under his breath he opened another pouch hidden in his clock and extracted a small metallic box, he opened it and place the herbs inside while he continued to chant. 
Suddenly he could hear noises, the screams of goblins as the magic took them and placed them inside the box. Cloud watched as all eight of them shrank and disappeared. He knew where they were going and the moment they had all vanished he closed the box wrapped some string around it and chanted again, trapping them forever in the small metallic box.
Gemini rushed over to Katiana while Cloud walked into view and saw Christian giving him an evil look but Cloud didn’t care, Katiana was safe and they were together again. Cloud turned away and walked towards home.