Part One: The Border

Chapter Five: Trouble

Luz could not keep walking. Her legs were starting to feel like jelly, and her knees felt like they were about to give out. Too much. She has been walking too much for today. For hours now, she has been following the witch, and before then, she had been marching Paladins. Not to mention the battles with the Cavechild, Shadewoman and even her brief fight with Amity. She needs to rest, but Amity will not allow her. Somehow the witch has more stamina than Luz could have ever imagined.

"Wait, Amity," Luz breathlessly calls out. "Can we just stop for a minute?"

"We are almost there," Amity groans, barely looking over her shoulder at Luz. "It's just over that hill."

"…"

Luz gasps as she follows Amity's finger pointing towards the steep climb in front of her. "She's trying to kill me," Luz cannot see herself making it up there even if she was well-rested. The ice clinging to the incline looks slippery, and the snow threatens to come down on the two girls in an avalanche at any moment. Luz cannot understand why Amity has even considered climbing such a dangerous-looking hill.

Luz looks at her and sees Amity already approached the bottom of the hill. She has even begun to melt the snow and ice with waves of her wand. Luz watches, mesmerised by the sight of green flames floating a few milometers above the witch's wand as it melts the snow and ice blocking their path. She must slap her check to snap out of the trance so she can catch up to Amity.

"Is it really just over the hill?" Luz asks as she catches up to the witch.

"Yes," Amity tells her, still sounding irritated. "Once we reach the top of the hill, we should see both the human and witches' side of the border and can go our separate ways."

"I guess we will have to say our goodbyes," Luz mutters, struggling to understand why that made her feel so sad. "So, what will you…"

"Amity, get down!"

Before Luz knows what happened, something explodes next to knocking her over as a burst of wind slams into her body and a burning heat washes over her skin. Luz lands in the snow and rolls back down the hill having her breath stolen from her lungs by the impact. Before Luz can even get up, she is surrounded. She can see the boots of multiple people all around her and the wands of numerous witches pointed directly at her.

"Don't move, human!" A man with brown hair and eyes glares at her.

"Father, wait!" Luz turns her head as she sees Amity running towards her, only to be stopped by two people with green hair that matches the witches.

"Mittens stay back," One of them tells her, but Amity continues to struggle to get closer to Luz.

"But it's not what you think," Amity tries to explain, but those two who are holding her back quickly take her away. "Father!"

"Tie her up," The brown-haired man orders. "We will take her back with us."

Camila Noceda feels her world collapses as she hears the man before her give her the horrible news. On his hands and knees, the powerful Paladin tells Camila what has happened to her daughter that the man himself promised Camila he would look after her. Camila falls next to the man, tears rolling down her cheeks and the strength drained from her body.

"I'm sorry," The Paladin repeats over and over again, lowing his head. "I couldn't keep my promise. I'm sorry, it is all my fault."

"Please tell me this is a mistake," Camila sobs. "Please tell me that she is okay."

"I'm sorry," The Paladin repeats.

"She can't be…" Camila cries. "She was only meant to stay in the back…"

"I'm sorry,"

Amity stands in front of her father, staring up at him in the hope that he would hear her out despite the anger in his eyes. Amity watches as her father pace back and forth in front of her, well glancing occasionally at Luz. Luz has been forced to kneel with her hands tied behind her back while a pair of witches keep their wands trained on her. Amity herself may not have been bound or forced to kneel like Luz, but that does not make her feel any less of a prisoner. Emira and Edric may be giving her sympathetic looks. Still, they stand behind her to prevent Amity from while her father gives her a look of disappointment that hurts Amity more than she could have ever imagined.

"Amity, why are you out here with a human?" Amity watches as her father finally stops pacing and gives her a look more terrifying than Amity thought he was even capable of making.

"I was…" Amity looks away feel embarrassed about her reason for sneaking out of her home. "I wanted to go with you… so I snuck out and tried to catch up…"

"Amity, it is dangerous out here," Her father tells her. "Not only are there humans but monster as well."

"I can handle myself," She tells him, but she fails to sound tough when her sister calls her cute.

"You are not ready to be out here, Amity," Her father points out. "If we had not spotted you, then you would have ended up in a human prison awaiting execution Amity."

"I wouldn't…"

"Amity humans are dangerous, manipulative monsters," Her father says, letting out a hefty breath. "Even if she had told you she would not harm you, that human would have killed you without hesitation. You can't trust anything a human tells you."

"But father!"

"We are not talking about this, Amity," Her father nearly yells. "We will take the human back with us. She would be tried for the crimes of her people. Then we will have a long talk about why you should never talk to a human and how you will be punished for sneaking out."

Next Time

Luz arrives at the witch's capital.