Chapter Nine: Unwelcome Guests
As the morning sun cast a beam across her face, Luz rolled over in her sleep to keep the light out of her eyes. Despite her best efforts, she awoke, sitting up as she yawned and stretched. She got to her feet as she rubbed the last bit of sleep from her eyes, the excitement of last night's events having been all but forgotten. But despite that, the anticipation of today's and tomorrow's were as alive as ever. Luz made her way into the kitchen.
There, she found Eda and King already at the table. "So," she said, "what're we doin' today?"
"This," King said, sipping juice. He didn't even look up from his newspaper comic.
"I thought you were the one who wanted to start planning our attack on the Inquisition," Eda said.
"Well, yeah, but that's not going to take the whole day," Luz replied. "Besides, Amity and Willow and Gus probably won't show up until this afternoon. I was wondering what we could do 'til then."
Eda thought about this as Luz sat down. "Not a whole lot going on today. I don't have my potion route, you don't have school, King doesn't have...whatever King does on a daily basis."
"Important, kingly business," he said. "Fit only for the King of Demons."
"So, what do you want to do?" asked Eda.
"Well…" Luz kicked her feet beneath her chair. "If we've got some time, you could always teach me some more magic. I've only got five spells, I could always do with some more. Especially if we're gonna take on those Inquisitors!"
Eda smirked. "Wanna add some more oomph to your arsenal, huh? I guess I could see what I have in store! What exactly were you thinking about?"
After only thinking for a moment, Luz knew. "I figure I have a pretty good number of offensive spells, how about something defensive? Maybe you could demonstrate a shield spell for me?"
"Hoot hoot! I know what we can do today!" said the unwelcome owl head, pushing past Eda as he made his way into the group.
"Speaking of offensive…" muttered King, taking another sip.
"Hooty, we already know what we're doing today, get your nonexistent butt back in that door," Eda said, clearly irritated.
"I know, but I wasn't included!" said Hooty. "I want to do something that involves me instead!"
"If you want, Hooty, you can watch me practice magic," Luz said, trying to sound nice. "Maybe you can help me!"
"You can't let him do that to ya," Eda said. "Give him an inch and he takes a mile. Hooty, get back out there before-" Suddenly, Eda went silent. Her eyes widened, fixed on something seen through the now-opened door. "Hooty," she said, her tone now hushed and urgent, "close the door."
"Aww, am I not invited?" whined the door demon.
Eda slowly rose to her feet. She held out her arm, and her staff flew to her hand. Her gaze was still on the outside. "Close the door." Hooty, realizing something was amiss, retracted himself and sealed the front door tight.
"What's wrong, Eda?" Luz asked. She didn't see Eda like this often, but she knew that it was serious when she did.
"Someone's out there," Eda replied, stepping in front of King and Luz. "And not one of your friends." She walked up to the door.
"You think it's someone from the Emperor's Coven?" Rather than wait for an answer, Luz walked up to the door as well, only to be stopped when Eda held out an arm. "Should I go get my glyphs?" Eda didn't answer as she looked through the peephole. "Oookay, I'm gonna go get my glyphs."
Luz retreated back to her room while Eda looked outside. It wasn't just that she had seen a figure moving; this same figure had been massive, almost impossible to miss. Now certain that he had been seen, the mountainous demon stepped clear of what little cover he had into clear view of the house's occupants.
"Edalyn Clawthorne!" came the bellowing voice of Briares. "By order of Emperor Belos and High Inquisitor Mattias Archoman, we have come to arrest you and the Human Luz! Your domicile is surrounded! Surrender yourself peacefully, and neither you nor the human will be harmed!"
As Luz hurried back into the living room, pouch of glyphs in hand, another voice responded. "What, did those horns grow into your brain? You never announce yourself during an ambush!" This voice belonged to Mandrake.
"It is customary to give your opponent ample opportunity to surrender!" Briares replied. As he and Mandrake began to argue, Eda sighed.
"Alright, party's over. Send 'em packin, Hooty."
"Party time, Hoot!" With that, Hooty shot out of the door like a rocket, his face colliding with Briares. The towering Inquisitor stumbled back, slightly dazed, but wasn't knocked out. He reached for his hammer, but Hooty wrapped himself around his arm, preventing him from grabbing it. "I was just talking about how I had nothing to do today! How nice of you to drop by!"
Briares growled in indignation, unable to remove Hooty from around his arm. "I will handle this overgolem, you enter the house and apprehend our targets!"
"Got it!" Just then, something hit the window to the right. Everyone turned to see Mandrake staring in at them. "Knock knock! Let me in!"
"Not on your life!" Eda simply closed the blinds.
"Oh no? Then I'll huff, and puff, and tear this place to splinters!" Loud scraping sounds could be heard outside, which were undoubtedly vines looking for weaknesses in the walls.
In addition to that, something big landed on the roof. Whatever it was, it seemed to be looking for openings as well. "Um, Eda?" said Luz. "Any chance of them getting inside?"
"Not likely," Eda said. "Nobody gets in here unless I want 'em to."
"Is that so?" Luz's heart skipped a beat at the voice coming from right behind them. All three of them wheeled around as Stygma rose up from the floor. Each of her four hands held a spell circle. She aimed them at the trio, but Eda acted before she could.
With a twirl of her staff, Eda summoned a large pillar of stone from the ground, bursting through the floor just as Stygma fired beams of blue light from her hands. Eda pulled Luz and King closer behind the cover as the beams chipped away at its sides.
Stygma rounded the pillar, combining her four spell circles into a single larger one. "You can't run from us forever, Owl Lady!" she shouted, preparing to unleash her attack.
"I can, and I will!" Eda stepped in front of Luz and King, drawing a large spell circle of her own. Stygma's blue beam was met with a yellow one, sparks flying from the colliding attacks. Luz rooted through her pouch for a glyph.
"Hold on, Eda!" Luz shouted. "Just give me a minute!"
"Eda can handle this! It's us we should be worried about!" King said. Just then, Eda and Stygma broke off their beams with a massive shockwave, blowing back just about everything in the room. Luz picked up the Demon with her free hand, lifting him up to her hoodie, which he enthusiastically climbed into.
"You seem a bit fatigued," Stygma said, preparing another spell. "Perhaps I can help with that!" A ball of energy appeared before her, growing larger as she absorbed power from her surroundings. She raised it behind her head, preparing to throw it, when Luz flung a fire glyph in her direction.
Although the fire only seemed to bother her a little bit, the sphere of energy exploded, launching Stygma against the wall. She grunted in pain, before disappearing through it with a glare at the human. "Ha!" said Luz, pleased with her small victory. "And don't come back!"
"Don't celebrate just yet, kid," said Eda. "We're a long way from done here!"
As he continued to wrestle with Hooty, Briares eventually gained something of an advantage, yanking on him hard enough to pull the door open. "Inquisitor Mandrake, here is your opening!" he shouted.
Before either Luz or Eda had time to react, the room was suddenly filled with vines blocking their only escape. Before either of them could head upstairs to avoid the encroaching plantlife, Stygma reentered through the same wall, glaring daggers at them both. Her body crackled with bright blue energy, which seemed to be flowing into her from outside. She let out a shockwave of this energy as she began charging up another beam attack.
Eda grabbed onto Luz's arm. "New plan: hold on tight!" She spun her staff towards the vine-covered doorway, creating a large spell circle. Just as an enormous wave of fire incinerated the blockage, she pulled Luz and King through the door and outside. "Let's go!"
In front of them, Briares was still struggling to remove Hooty from his arm. To their left, Mandrake was seemingly dazed from Eda's fire attack. Suddenly, Luz caught a glimpse of movement from a nearby tree: Sanguinus was perched on a branch, preparing to strike.
As soon as she saw him, Sanguinus leapt towards them. Rather than a staff or spell circle, he held a long, thin sword above his head, aiming for not either of them, but Hooty's vulnerable neck.
"No you don't!" said Eda, throwing an arm towards him. A circular portal appeared in his path, and he travelled through it before he could reach Hooty. Luz saw him falling from the sky a short distance away.
"Thanks, hoot!" replied Hooty. However, this brief lapse was enough for Briares to gain the upper hand. Wrapping his hand around Hooty's head, he yanked with all his might, and his strength was enough to pull the Owl House's door off of it's hinges.
The door slammed into a nearby tree, further loosening his grip on Briares. The giant followed up on this by smashing Hooty's head into the ground, causing him to let go completely. He raised his foot to stomp on the owl, only for a blast of fire to knock him back.
Eda rushed over to Hooty, who had retracted back into his door. "Hooty, speak to me!" she said, lifting him up. "Are you hurt!?"
"Hootality…" Hooty said, dazed, his eyes rolling around. "Hoot…"
Deciding he was fine, Eda tucked the door under her arm before turning back to Luz. "Kid, we need to get out of here," she said.
"And go where?" Luz asked.
"Anywhere!" Eda replied, returning to her protege. Before they could run off, however, Mandrake blocked their path.
"Not today, lady," he said. "You already got away from us once-the human twice-we're not letting that happen again."
Mandrake blocked their exit to the right, and Briares stood up, wielding his hammer, blocking their path straight ahead. Sanguinus reappeared, cutting his way through the forest, and their escape off to the right. Stygma blocked the door to the Owl House, and Caelano perched on its roof. "End of the line, Owl Lady," said Stygma.
Eda looked around, trying to find an escape route, but they were surrounded on all sides. Although, she realized, there was one way they weren't covering. "Luz?" she said. "I think it's time to show these clowns the light."
It only took Luz a second to pick up on her meaning. "Ah! Gotcha!" She reached into her bag and pulled out a glyph, squeezing her eyes tight as she threw it into the air. The light glyph burst in a huge flash, momentarily blinding the Inquisitors. Eda took this moment to unleash a sweeping burst of flame, further putting them out of commission, but she figured it wouldn't be for long. Once the fire had knocked each of them back, she placed Luz onto her staff, hopped on it as well, and took to the skies.
Mandrake got to his feet, unsteady because of the burns. "Dammit, she's getting away!" he yelled. "Someone do something!"
"On it," Caelano said. She took to the skies as Stygma tended to the others.
Luz gripped tightly to the staff, and she could feel King doing the same to the back of her neck. She knew going up against the Inquisitors wasn't going to be easy, but she had never expected them to make the first move. How had they even found them? "Eda?" she asked shakily. "What do we do now?"
"First, we lose 'em," Eda replied. "Once they're off our tail, we'll have to find somewhere to lay low, somewhere they won't think to look for us."
"But...what about the Owl House?" asked Luz.
"Right now, it's theirs," Eda said. "We'll worry about that later. Right now, we're all safe, and that's what matters." Hooty, usually the talkative one, stayed silent.
For Luz, this didn't quite feel real. In less than an hour, five of the nine Inquisitors had managed to completely overwhelm Eda and her, take over the Owl House, and send them running. Her confidence that she would be able to take them on, even with help, was slowly vanishing, and she shuddered to imagine what all nine of them at once could- "Look out!"
Eda swerved to the side just in time to avoid Caelano attempting to ram into them. Her talons grazed by, narrowly missing Eda's shoulder. If Luz thought she was holding on tight before, now she almost felt like she was going to snap the staff apart.
"This is gonna get bumpy!" Eda said, continuing her evasive maneuvers. "Hold on tight!"
"What do you think I've been doing!?" yelled King, before Luz could say the same thing.
Caelano had abandoned her divebombing strategy, and now attempted to intercept the trio-plus-Hooty by placing transparent walls in their path. The glass-like barriers were just visible enough for Eda to dodge and weave between, but Caelano was practically blanketing the skies with them.
Just when it seemed like Eda was getting away from the bird woman, there was a disturbance in the trees below them. All of a sudden, a flock of birds burst up from the forest towards them. They moved erratically individually, but as a group they were too coordinated to be natural. Both Eda and Luz were disoriented by the sudden assault of flapping feathers and noisy cries. Neither of them noticed the barrier in front of them until it was right on top of them.
Just as they exited the cloud of noisy birds, the barrier appeared right in front of them. Eda tried to swerve to the side, but it was too late; their momentum carried them directly at it. Just before the impact, however, Hooty rushed forwards out of his door with a determined "Hoot!" He took the brunt of the impact, the barrier shattering into shards of glass. Despite this, however, Eda lost control of Owlbert, and they plummeted towards the ground.
As they fell, Eda summoned a barrier of her own, creating a yellow bubble around all of them before they hit the ground. As they crashed through tree branches on their way down, they were all jostled around quite a bit. Luz's grip on the staff loosened, as did King's grip on her. The barrier disappeared, though Luz wasn't sure if it was just before or after they hit the ground. Either way, for a moment, everything went black.
Luz came to lying in the grass, her head pounding. She looked around, trying to get a grasp on her surroundings. The first thing she saw was Eda, trying to pull herself to her feet. Hooty lay nearby in his door, seemingly unconscious. "E-Eda?" she said weakly. "I can't find King…"
"I'm sure he's nearby," Eda said, staggering over to Luz and helping her up. "He's survived worse, and so have we." She glanced around as well, searching for the demon. However, while she didn't find him, she did find another figure standing nearby. She pulled Luz behind her.
Sanguinus slowly walked towards the two of them sword by his side. "So," he said calmly. "We meet again."
Eda gave him a strange look. "I'm sorry, am I supposed to know who you are?"
"No, I suppose not," Sanguinus replied. "We only met once, a long while ago. I tried to capture you then, too."
"Huh," Eda said. "Some things never change."
"Indeed." A pause. "He wants you alive, you know." He glanced at Luz. "Her, too. If you'd just cooperate, it would make things so much easier."
Eda held out her hand, and her staff flew into it once again. "If you've tangled with me before, you know that's not my style, bud."
Sanguinus nodded. "I suspected as much. I'm a man of action myself, as well." He drew a spell circle, but it vanished seemingly with no effect.
Luz and Eda waited for a moment for something to happen. Sanguinus stood there in silence, not making a move. Then, off in the distance, they heard it: a slight rustling in the leaves, growing closer and closer. Luz glanced up at Eda nervously, realizing that whatever this was, it had to be pretty big, and fast. Sanguinus chuckled quietly.
With an explosion of foliage, a massive shape burst through the undergrowth. Luz only had time to make out its rust-colored skin and piercing eyes before Eda pushed her out of the way. "Run!" Eda shouted to her, a burst of fire further obscuring the creature. Luz normally would have stayed to help, but the burst of adrenaline made running seem like the only option. She sprinted away from the scene as fast as her legs could carry her.
As she ran, she heard Sanguinus call out. "Ophelia, retrieve her! I'll handle this one!" More loud footsteps told Luz that his beast was following after her. She rooted around in her pouch, throwing a plant glyph behind her. A tangle of vines burst up from the ground, which she hoped would be enough to slow the thing down.
It wasn't. The tremendous shape leapt over the blockage, and resumed chase. Ophelia seemed to be a massive reptilian beast with six pointed legs. She opened her maw to screech at the fleeing human, inspiring Luz to run even faster. Just as she was gaining, a small shape darted out of a nearby bush.
"Stop! Your king commands you!" said King, standing between Luz and Ophelia. "Leave her alone!"
Ophelia didn't care in the slightest, passing right over the small demon. "King!" Luz called out, unable to see if he was hurt or not. What she did see was Ophelia leaping off of a tree, directly in front of her. She skidded to a halt, falling onto the ground. The monster stalked forward, growling slightly as Luz backed away. "N-nice giant, monster lizard thing!"
"You dare defy your king!?" King ran forwards past Luz, jumping right up onto Ophelia's face. The monster reared back, surprised by his sudden maneuver. "Luz, run away! I'll handle this guy!"
Unfortunately, but expectedly, King was unable to handle Ophelia for long. She easily shook him off, and he tumbled to the ground. None too happy with having been distracted from pursuing her target, she bore down on him, growling.
"Hey!" It was Luz's turn to rescue King. "I'm the one you're after, not him! You want me, come and get me!" Luz ploy worked. Ophelia lost interest in King, turning back towards the human. Unfortunately for Luz, she was at a loss as to what to do now. "King, run! We'll meet up later!" The demon scampered away.
Luz turned to do the same, but the monster was quicker than its size would indicate. Luz felt herself jerked back, lifted up by her hoodie. She squirmed futilely as Ophelia carried her back to her master. Although being captured was far from pleasant, Luz couldn't help but think in the back of her mind that the beast was being careful not to injure her, even though it easily could do so.
Meanwhile, as Ophelia had sprinted away after Luz, Eda attempted to chase after them. She raised her staff to fire a spell at the creature. Sanguinus blocked her path, knocking her staff aside with his sword.
"Don't worry about the child," he said, raising his blade. "Ophelia will not harm her. She knows when to be gentle."
"I don't," growled Eda, swinging her staff at Sanguinus with all the strength she could muster. He quickly raised his blade to deflect it, and swing his own weapon in turn. His sword collided with Eda's staff, unable to cut through the wood. Eda pushed him away, and fell back to prepare a spell.
Once the circle was drawn, a pillar of pure earth shaped like Hooty sprang up underneath her opponent. Sanguinus was thrown upwards by the imitation, but quickly regained his composure. The stone owl face moved closer, opening its mouth to swallow him, but he cleaved it apart with one swing of his sword. He fell back to the ground, slicing through the pillar with his sword to slow his fall.
Upon reaching the ground, Sanguinus drew a spell circle and thrust his arm towards Eda. The same flock of birds from before flew at her from behind him. But before they collided with her, she created another portal, sending them harmlessly into the sky above them. Once the barrage had ended, she charged him.
Eda's momentum sent both herself and Sanguinus crashing through what was left of the stone Hooty. Once they rolled to a stop, Eda leapt into the air before he could get his bearings. She wreathed her staff in flames, bringing it down on Sanguinus with enough force to cause a tree-shaking shockwave when he blocked it with his sword.
"Stay away...from me and...my kid," Eda growled, pushing Sanguinus further down towards the ground. Both of his hands were pushing against her, but he was being forced down regardless.
"You know I can't do that," he said, struggling both to speak and to avoid being pushed down. "Like I said, I have my orders. Belos wants you back…"
"Then maybe I will come back!" Eda said. "I'll come back to show him, Lilith, and your Inquisitor buddies what happens when you mess with my family!"
"Family? Is that what this is about?" he asked.
Then, she heard it. A distant sound, it almost seemed to blend into the background. But it was too distinct to do that. It was a sound, a song, that Eda had heard before. Just hearing it was almost enough to distract her, but the music had another effect. As the sounds echoed through the forest, Sanguinus grew stronger, pushing back harder against Eda. His body seemed to glow with a reddish aura as he rose, eventually shoving Eda a good distance away.
Eda had no time to ponder this, as there was a sudden flash of movement to her side. She only just had enough time to create a barrier as Briares, likewise sporting a scarlet aura, swung his giant hammer at her. The barrier shattered, and Eda was thrown into a clearing several feet away.
Briares stomped after her as she got up. Sanguinus wasn't far behind, and Mandrake appeared as well. All three sported the red glow. "So, three against one, huh? I guess that makes things fair."
"Oh, it's more'n that, love," said a voice. Eda turned to see Loxton, leaning up against a tree as he nonchalantly played his guitar. That was where the music was coming from, at least. "A lot more."
"You again," Eda said. "Didn't get enough after the beating I gave you last night?"
Loxton scowled at her. "That wasn't a fair fight. I thought at least seven or more blokes would even the odds a little. And guess what? I brought the whole pack!" He spread out his arms, indicating to the edges of the clearing.
Stygma appeared behind Briares, who rested his hammer on his shoulder. Mandrake summoned numerous vines at his feet, and Caelano landed from above. Sanguinus held out his blade, and Ophelia appeared beside him, still holding onto Luz. "Hey! Put me down!" she shouted, unable to reach her glyph pouch.
"Luz!" Eda said, turning to glare at Sanguinus "You better not have hurt her, or I swear I'll-"
"You'll what?" asked a darkly calm voice.
There was one last section of the clearing that hadn't been covered, which was where this voice had come from. Eda recognized it immediately; she slowly turned to face him. "You," she spat.
Mattias' grin grew wide as he stepped out of the shadows. "Me," he said. Shrike stepped forwards beside him, with Grace on his other side. All of the other Inquisitors seemed to go rigid at his presence. "Are you glad to see me again, Eda?"
"Yeah, you wish," Eda scoffed. "You here to ask me out again?"
"Oh, I'm afraid that ship has sailed," Mattias said with a laugh. "Now that Belos has recognized my true potential, I've been reunited with my true love. But if it's any comfort, she enjoys playing hard to get." Although he was still smiling, his eyes glared. "She gets that from you, I'm sure."
The Inquisitors stepped closer, forming a tight circle around the Owl Lady. Luz, held tightly by Ophelia, reached for her glyphs, but couldn't quite reach. Eda rotated around, surveying the competition. "So, Matt, I take it you're just going to sit back and watch as your thugs do the dirty work, as usual?"
Mattias drew a pair of spell circles, twin abominations appearing beside him. "Far from it. This time, I'm here to finish this for good. And these men and women-" He gestured to the Inquisitors. "-are not 'thugs.' They are some of the finest warriors the Boiling Isles has to offer, each of us handpicked by Belos himself due to our skills, for the sole purpose of hunting you down. You are a strong witch, Eda, but you're only a witch. This is it: no escape, no hope of victory, nobody to show up at the last minute and save you. A lone wild witch and her pet ollryn against nine of the emperor's finest. Even you can't hope to win against those odds."
Steeling herself, Eda prepared her staff. "Watch me."