Amity sat nervously with Braxas to her left and Mattholomule behind her separated by the high back of the seat made from abomination goo. She knew if her parents discovered she had taken the abominamobile prototype from her dad's storage shop, she would likely never see daylight again before she was eighteen. It was essentially a gooey, purple cart without giant rat worms to pull it, able to reach far greater speeds due to an abomination's durability.
Four wheels, a cavity for transporting people, and a crystalline heart to assist the witch in concentrating on operating the creature, was bombarded with an assortment of low frequency vibrations that gave it all a rumbling sound. Also unlike regular abominations however, it did require a constant low dosage of magic to move, and Amity was continually rotating a finger in the air, tracing and retracing a small spell circle in order to control it all. It had taken a bit of trial and error to get the vehicle out of the storage shop and through the Manor gate, but eventually they had gotten onto the road. Amity wiped a lens of her goggles after a fairy spattered against them. "Ugh." She noted in disgust. It was no wonder her parents didn't take the abominamobile out more regularly.
"Are we there yet?" Mattholomule whined from the back seat, arms crossed. This had been the tenth time he had asked and Amity was growing more and more tempted to toss him out of the abominamobile and onto the road to the various night creatures. Very few beings traversed the roads at night unless they could either fly or had powerful magic to protect themselves with, and Amity wasn't interested in slowing down to test that theory.
"For the last time, no!" She shouted back over the rumble of the vehicle. The sun was descending at a steady pace and if she wanted to pick up Boscha and get back home before her siblings and parents, they would need to hurry. The forest's usual wilted-red hue was dimming and the road was getting harder to see. It wouldn't be much further to Latissa, despite her frustrated answer to Mattholomule, as the collective lights and lamps of the city were beginning to glow on the horizon.
"Did you think to bring any snacks?"
Amity shut her eyes for only a moment. She could feel the tips of her ears and her cheeks beginning to warm as her temper rose. She was barely holding it together with everything that had happened during the day, coupled with the random events of the afternoon, and she balled a fist, looking back at Mattholomule threateningly.
"Watch it!" He shouted, pointing forward.
Amity spun back around to catch sight of a large, fan tailed crustacean on the road with mandibles as large as Amity herself and bulbous compound eyes that somehow grew wider at the abominamobile's approach. The demon was bound to a long trailer that was barely suitable for the creature's size, and it reared up and screamed as Amity retraced her spell circle in an attempt to veer the vehicle out of the way. Suddenly, a small group of witches in dark hoods and leather armored padding seemed to appear out of the darkness, waving their arms to warn Amity of their presence. Time felt as though it slowed to a crawl as Amity passed through the crowd, narrowly missing a large male demon with green skin and a fang filled mouth. She made eye contact with him, and caught the look of a very, very angry individual. Seconds felt like minutes as Amity watched him begin carving a gold spell circle in the air, aimed at the vehicle.
The abominamobile continued on, sliding sideways as the cables that had been holding the crustacean demon down on the trailer snapped and sprang up, catching the large biped demon across the face. His spell circle was interrupted, sending a flash of lightning into the sky instead of his target. Amity turned back to focus on steering their transport, weeving and sliding again before finally straightening out.
"Are you okay, Braxas?" She asked, letting out a breath she had just noticed she had been holding. To her surprise, she could hear the deep voiced demon child laughing and clapping.
"I'm ok…"
"Didn't ask." Amity replied to Mattholomule.
The boy let out a 'Hmmph' before adding, "There should be a law about steering one of these things while distracted."
Amity growled. The boy in the back had his hands out to either side to keep himself from sliding back and forth on the slippery bench seat, a look of terror on his face. Amity faced forward again to keep her attention on the road, but grinned at his misfortune none the less.
The abominamobile and its passengers rolled into Latissa, slowing to a more manageable speed as people and carts began to occupy the roads, many of them taking an uncomfortable interest in the kids and their ride. The sun had already set, and torches of various color lined each pathway and shop, casting eerie flickering light over everything and everyone, giving the entire environment a creepy feel that made Amity swallow nervously. While the Emperor's Coven held a presence here in the city, the outskirts were where the outcasts of society lived. The kind of people that belonged in the Conformatorium. Dangerous people. Amity had no doubt that this was probably where Luz and her Owl Lady friend were from.
"We need to find the hookworm station." Amity said, more to herself than her companions.
"I need a bathroom." Mattholomule replied.
"Hold it!" Amity growled back, summoning up her scroll. Finding the station on her scroll should be no big deal.
"I need to go too, Ms. Amity." Braxas whispered as well as he could.
"Ugh. Boys. Fine, we'll pull over." Amity steered the abominamobile off of the road and up to a store marked Meat-2-Go with an illusion of a portly, moustached witch wearing a red butcher's apron and matching hat waving welcomingly to customers to come in, and she parked between two carts. One was fairly small, being towed by a single giant ratworm while the other seemed to be a carriage carved out of the shell of a beetle, with millions of tiny legs that clicked and quivered as the abominamobile drew near. The beetle carriage had a sunken in head, protected by its great shell, but Amity could feel dozens of tiny, sparkling eyes stare at her as she exited the vehicle. The rat worm paid her no mind however, continuing to munch away on the garbage that was littering the walkway outside of the shop. "Mattholomule, take Braxas in to use the bathroom. I need to figure out where we're going."
Mattholomule crossed his arms and made a disgusted face. "Ew… I'm not a babysitter! You take him."
"Help me out, or I make the abominamobile eat you." She cursed, shooting the boy a death glare. The vehicle rumbled and spat Mattholomule out the side to bounce off of the beetle carriage. "Assuming you're even palatable." She dug into her pocket and pulled out some snails. "Here, get him something to eat too."
Mattholomule picked himself up off of the dirt and brushed himself off again, taking the money offered and walking into the shop. "Fine. Come on Braxas."
The demon toddler had started doing a dance, waiting for someone to take him into the shop, and ran in ahead of Mattholomule once he entered the building. "This night can't get any worse." Amity said to herself, searching for the Latissa Hookworm Station on her scroll. As expected, it was in the heart of the city, and still a substantial way away. The Hookworm was a great beast that had burrows all over the Titan corpse and could transport passengers to and from its many stops, thanks to the Beastkeeper Coven. She rubbed her tired eyes and took a breath. She wanted to give up. She wanted to just call Boscha's parents, tell them where their daughter was and leave it at that. She was feeling overwhelmed and tired and still stinging from everything that happened at the Covention that she just needed to lie down and not think for once.
But she was here. She was making it work, and maybe helping Boscha out of this would actually have a lasting effect on their friendship. Amity let her breath out again and found she was clutching the bottom of her shirt in one hand while blindly staring at her scroll. She sniffed, smiled, and was immediately covered in abomination ooze as the abominamobile exploded beside her, creating a perfect silhouette of her form on the front of the Meat-2-Go window as the rest of the store front was bathed in purple.
Amity spat, then scooped ooze from her eyes to check on her surroundings. The abominamobile was gone, it's purple crystal heart lying at her feet after having bounced off of the shop window, and leaving a sizable star in it. Both the ratworm and the beetle carriage were also covered; the rat worm was slithering away with its cart on its side, leaving splinters of wood as it was dragged down the road. The beetle carriage had pulled in its legs and head, turning into a bunker despite its single passenger berating it to move. Amity's mouth was agape as she looked up at a yellow spark that had appeared, and her eyes focused on a half dozen individuals in black cloaks and leather armor, riding staffs topped with a variety of vicious looking palismen. The large male with the spark in one palm was glaring at her out of one eye, the other covered by a new patch. It was the demon hunters they had passed on the way to Latissa. The ones that lost the fan tailed crustacean demon.
"You cost us a lot of coin, girl!" The demon shouted from high above. "That crystal will make a nice repayment!" Amity looked back down at the crystal, shaking ferociously as she reached down to cup it in her palm. It was surprisingly small, and had a sparkling blue core once the ooze was wiped off. She also knew it was nearly irreplaceable, being the heart of the abominamobile, and where her father managed to find it, she wasn't entirely sure. She held it tightly, looking up at the group of Demon Hunters again. "That's a good girl." The man grinned, snuffing out the lightning bolt in his hand. "Give it to me and we can forget all of this happened."
Amity's mind was racing. If she gave the stone up, there would be no way to hide that she had taken the abominamobile. It was a work of art, a one of a kinda possession of her parents and the next stage of her father's work for the Abomination Coven and Blight Industries as a family company. To lose this much, this badly… she wasn't sure her parents would even allow her to continue existing. But if she didn't, the Demon Hunters would hunt them down, likely take the crystal anyway, as well as hold both her and Braxas for ransom. They might eat Mattholomule too. Probably. She would have to settle for plan C.
She ran. Mattholomule and Braxas were just inside the shop door, each holding some kind of meat on a stick when she rushed in, clutching the crystal in one hand. "Out the back!" She shouted. She hoped that the Demon Hunters wouldn't risk too much collateral damage as that would attract attention from the Emperor's Coven. She pushed Mattholomule towards the back of the shop and lifted Braxas into her arms.
"What's going on?!"
"The abominamobile is gone. Hunters want its crystal heart!"
"Why?!"
Amity continued pushing Mattholomule toward the back of the shop, her boots slipping on the ooze she was tracking in. The store owned shook his fist at her, shouting "Eh! Whatsa the big idea?! You makin' a messa!"
"Sorry!" She replied, shouldering through a swinging door into the back of the shop where an over head conveyor was being pulled along by a tall, lanky witch in a green apron and hat and the same moustache as the shop owner. On the conveyor were slabs of various bug and beast demons that were in various states of being turned into meat.
"Eh! You shouldn'ta be back 'ere!" The tall lanky man shouted over the sound of a saw cutting through bone.
"That way!" Amity gestured, pushing Mattholomule toward the back door. She could hear yelling from the front of the shop where the demon hunters were bursting in, arguing with the shop owner.
Mattholomule stared at the meat on a stick he had just purchased and was nearly turning green from the gruesome environment he found himself in. "Oh man, that's nasty!" Braxas on the other hand had shoved the length of the stick past his teeth and pulled it out clean, clearly unfazed by the sight of his demon brethren around him.
Despite having her arms full with Braxas, Amity fashioned a small spell circle and flicked her finger at the door. An invisible force struck it, throwing it open as they charged through. In one direction, the borders of the city and back into the forest. In the other, a bridge that led further into the city where it would be easier to get lost in the crowds, and hopefully some way of repairing the abominamobile in time to pick up Boscha and get home.
"To the bridge!" Amity ordered. Her arms were getting tired, carrying the heavy demon child, and her breath was getting haggard. They would need to find somewhere to hide. For once, Mattholomule didn't argue and sped ahead, his unencumbered gait leaving Amity behind. "I hate you so much…" she whispered.
Amity reached the middle of the bridge and nearly collapsed, putting Braxas down gently before supporting herself on her knees in an effort to catch her breath. Her vision was swimming and her heart was pounding in her ears, but she could feel Braxas reach for her hand. She raised her head, taking several more breaths before being able to stand straight again.
Mattholomule was facing her with a grim look on his face, being held in place by a large group of witches dressed in various arrays of red leather, buckled together by shiny gold studs. Amity counted at least twenty of them, and they did not look friendly. "Oh, come on!" She gave an exasperated sigh.
"Well looky here, boys and girls. A lost sheep from the other side of the ribs." Came a voice from the middle of the pack. A tall, thin man with pale skin dressed in even more decoratively buckled red leather than the rest of his gang, adding a pointed hat to the ensemble and a long cane that shifted in colors of purple, grey and black and echoed through the air with every tack on the cobblestone bridge. He had long black hair that curled at his waist and green eyes that pierced through the darkness. While one hand was on his cane, the other was on Mattholomule's shoulder. "You should know this bridge has a toll."
Amity looked back to see the Demon Hunters were coming up the other end of the bridge, looking somehow even more angry. "Look, we don't have any snails on us. We're just here to pick up a friend and we'll be out of your city again."
"You think I don't recognize the girl that lost a witch's duel with a human? It's been all over Penstagram and every viewing orb." The man laughed, shoving Mattholomule forward. "You're Amity Blight. Now either pay the toll, or take your freaky forehead and get out of my city."
Amity felt her forehead and frowned. "What's wrong with my forehead?"
"It's not small." Mattholomule whispered. Amity growled. Again Luz was somehow managing to get her in trouble, however indirectly. She was about to retort and when Mattholomule spoke up first. "Yeah, that's right! She's Amity Blight, and she's going to knock you trolls off of this bridge!"
"What are you doing? Shut up!" Amity said, her eyes growing wide.
"Don't worry Amity, I got this." He replied, returning to the man in red. "You want a piece of her, you'll have to go through me!"
Amity could only assume that Mattholomule was having some kind of spurt of gallantry at precisely the wrong time, or had gotten into some spiked apple blood in the Meat-2-Go, but it wasn't welcome. "Mattholomule…" she said, her voice low and warning.
"Better listen to your girlfriend, short stack. Before someone…" the man lifted his cane and as he grinned, the bottom of it shot down, piercing Mattholomule's shoe and causing a fracture in the cobblestone under his foot. "Gets hurt." He laughed as the boy's face grew paler than usual. "Don't fool with Mammon's Children."
Amity quickly traced a spell circle, wrestling control of the abomination goo that made up the man's staff in an instant and reversing it back up out of the bridge and up through his hand, and sharpening to a point just high enough to catch his nose and forcing him to his tip toes. The man in red let out a surprised scream, wobbling around, trying to balance. "Don't fool with a Blight!" She shouted back. "Now, you're going to let us pass on your bridge and collect your toll for each of us from the next group. Understand?"
The man's eyes were beginning to water, and he tried to nod despite the razor sharp point in his nostril. "Yeah. Yeah, we understand."
Amity began pulling Braxas by the hand with her as Mattholomule began limping along behind. She was continuing to trace the spell circle, holding the spike in place as they brushed through the crowd of witches and reached the other side. But as they progressed further from the leader of the gang, her concentration began to fail and the man in red regained control of his cane. "Head for the river." Amity said, knowing what was about to happen.
"Are you kidding?" Mattholomule asked, looking between Amity, the gang, and the side of the bridge.
"Get'em!" Someone in the gang shouted, and the mass of witches began moving toward them, multiple glowing rings of light shining in the dark as they began preparing spells to make them immobile.
Amity picked up Braxas and ran for the edge of the bridge, leaping off in desperation while kicking the air before hitting the surface of the fresh water that ran through the city. Mattholomule struck the water next to her with a high pitched scream, then bobbed up to the surface in a small boat. He was sputtering out water as he pulled Braxas and Amity into the wooden construct. "Score one for the Construction Track." He laughed, then winced at the pain in his foot.
"You could have mentioned you knew construction magic earlier!" She shouted, looking up at the battle that had broken out on the bridge between the Demon Hunters and the Mammon's Children. Streaks of lightning and fire could be seen plainly shooting from either side with the clash of metal weapons against magical staves rang out. She laid back to take a breath before looking at Mattholomule complaining. They wouldn't be able to move very fast in his condition. "We need to find a Healer."