Caleb was frozen in place. 

It was a risky move to charge forward and he knew that. He was willing to face the consequences if it meant saving Thorn City though. [i]Or so he originally thought.[/i] He was now filled with fear as he desperately tried to pry himself from Darmae's hold. It was becoming a struggle with each passing second as his body began to drain of energy. A familiar ache and subsequent exhaustion came flying back like a bad memory. Roger's concoction began to lose its effectiveness, no doubt. It was likely a delayed effect from the spellcaster's incantation. And now the evil witch herself was aiming straight for him. 

"I'll show you not to interfere with my plans." The blood pounding in Caleb's ears made it difficult to fully register the woman's threats. His wide eyes were focused on the glow that came from her free hand. [i]This was it.[/i] He was going to become little more than magical dust on the carpet within the blink of an eye. He could only tremble and gulp in fear now that he was completely at Darmae's mercy. "I don't even care that you're a child. You're old enough to know better. Did you want to walk away as the hero or something? As a knight? Pathetic. This world isn't very nice and I'm going to show you just that." 

[i]"Caleb!" [/i]

The glow of arcane energy became brighter. This time, however, it wasn't from Darmae. It was from the rablin that was now grasping onto her left arm. It was too dangerous to cast the scroll while she was holding onto Caleb, but this was the best opportunity that he could find. He just needed to break her grasp on the boy. And so a small foot was directed towards the woman's other arm to achieve such. "I won't let you hurt him!"

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"Grandma needs you to be strong now, Jake. You head back to the house and have some cookies with your sister." There were a few more choked sobs from Jake before he eventually fell silent against Ribbon. She managed to calm him between friendly licks and allowing the boy to pet her. Sara had given him a hug too, which also seemed to help to some extent. He was eventually on shaky legs before long though he was also constantly reminded of his encounter thanks to dried blood smeared underneath his chin. The young boy could only wordlessly watch as Sara pulled daggers loose from her sleeves once more. "I'll take care of this. Caleb and the others will be just fine."

"Okay." There was a wave of a despondent hand. "Come on, Ribbon. Let's go home."