The trees swayed in the wind as the old house creaked. It looked like it would barely stand on its own, and yet there it was. The young teenager didn't hesitate as she ran through the creaking door, pursuing something. The opening glowed as she passed through, then continued to glow behind her, lighting up the area in front of her enough so she could see the culprit. A small owl that had stolen her book now dropped it as it scurried away from her grasp. She grabbed the book hastily.

" Yeah, you better run! That'll teach you to steal from...Luz.." Luz looked around in awe. The inside of the house looked much different from the outside. In fact, it didn't look like a house at all.

Luz held the book tight against her chest as she snooped it out a bit closer until she heard talking. She moved towards the voice to the front of the weird room, finding an opening in the fabric of the wall. Peeking through, she saw an old woman with large grey hair speaking to the little owl as if she understood it.

" Finally, you're back. What? What is it? You did what?" She seemed to grow irritated at whatever the owl had told her and quickly looked behind her. Luz stumbled back, falling for a second before getting back to her feet and attempting to scramble away. She couldn't make it to the door before it shut and flew to the old woman past the curtain. She had to find another way out.

Her legs carried her out another way, pushing under another part of the curtain through the back. She was fast, faster than the old woman could catch. Once she was out, however, a new problem presented itself. Out in the open, she was surrounded by many other tents put up for shop. Among those tents were monsters. So. Many. Monsters. She yelped in fear and surprise, then dove into the crowd. The old woman emerged from the tent, holding a wooden staff with a familiar-looking wooden owl on top.

" Now look at what you did. That blood is gonna be your wings, pal." She seemed frustrated, but not angry as she went back into her tent. Luz wondered what she meant by that, though she didn't have to wonder long.

She made her way through the crowd of creatures, trying not to draw much attention to herself, but failing miserably. She knocked into carts and tents as she tried to get away from what she assumed was her demise wrapped in a crowd of creatures with gnashing fangs. She stumbled into creatures, knocking them down or into others. The mess she caused seemed to alert the wrong kind of attention.

" Well, well, well. What do we have here?" A gruff voice pitched up behind her. She could feel the hair on her neck standing at she shivered. When she turned around, what was in front of her was a sight to see. Two large men with black outfits and grey plague-doctor-like masks loomed over her. Their eyes pitch black with bright blue irises. " Looks like we got a troublemaker."

—

The back of the truck was dirty and slimy, possibly from the past monsters that were thrown in it. Luz sat patiently, gripping her book against her chest for comfort. Not even 2 minutes in this strange new world and she was arrested.

Not the kind of fantasy world I was hoping for. She thought. This surely was nothing like she's read before, except of course the terrible fantasy novels that she dare not read. These kinds of worlds are less fun than they are terrifying, and what better luck than to be trapped in this kind of world. Luz could only pray and hope that where she was headed wasn't as bad as these guards made it out to be.

The cart pulled to a stop as the guards came to the back to retrieve their catch. Luz didn't struggle much, she already lost the first time, so why try again? She held her book tight while the guard lifted her out. " Hey, haha look at this. Stiff as a board. Love when they're scared like that." He laughed as he carried her inside.

The place she was taken was a large prison but like medieval style. The darkness of the halls was barely lit by the fire-filled torches on the walls. It was murky and damp, disgustingly perfect for criminals.

Luz wasn't brought to one of the cells, however. She was brought into a completely different room. It was bare aside from another room connecting to it with a large double-sided mirror and a table with 2 chairs. The dim lighting from above made it hard to keep your eyes open. The guards put Luz down on one of the chairs facing the mirror.

" Now just stay put and wait for the cavalry to arrive haha." He chuckled like a jerk. If these were the guards, Luz was terrified to know what the cavalry meant. Suddenly, the door opened. From the frame stepped two other characters looking very different from the guards Luz had met. One was tall, donning a white bird-like mask with a blue gem on its forehead, and a white cloak with a yellow triangle on the chest. The other was much shorter, wearing a similar-looking mask and cloak, but underneath they wore a faded purple vest with black sleeves and pants.

The very air grew cold as they walked in.

" Other room. Now." The tall one spoke. The guards scrambled out of the room into the door connecting to the room behind the mirror. Possibly to watch something gruesome from afar. The two new characters stepped under the dim light, towering above Luz as she began to shake. The tall one leaned close, grabbing Luz by the ear and examining it. " I knew it. A human."

" Do you think she let her in? Humans don't usually have access down here." The small one spoke up. The tall one seemed to be an older woman, while the smaller one seemed to be no older than a young teen girl.

" I think she's getting old. She'd never let that owl be so careless otherwise. Tell me human, where did you come out of?" The black holes in the woman's mask were terrifying and burned deep into Luz's soul.

" I uh..I came out of my mom?" Luz smirked sheepishly, hoping to divert her fear. The woman slammed her hand on the table, releasing Luz.

" Where did you come out of when you walked through that door! You were spotted in the market, so which tent did you come out of?" Her patience was wearing thin and her anger was growing.

" I don't know! I j-just came through a weird glowing door and was in this weird old lady's tent. I don't know where it was okay, please don't feed me to any monsters I'm skin and bone!" Luz cried out, holding up her book to defend herself from the glare. The young girl took a notice to the cover, seeming to recognize it.

" Fine. If you really do know nothing, then we have no use for you."

" Does that mean you'll let me go home?" Luz perked up a bit, hopeful.

" No, it just means you'll get to see a little bit more of the Boiling Isles before being devoured by a random monster or some killer plant."

Luz gulped, sweat forming on her forehead as she began to breathe heavily. The small one looked at her, her face showing sympathy under her mask.

" Wait!" She spoke up. " U-uh, look!" She grabbed the book out of Luz's hands, Luz giving some mild protest. " Look this is a book about witches, just like us, Lilith."
" And? Humans are always fascinated with that which they cannot have." Lilith scorned.

" But, uh, this book is special! I have the other ones, I know what they're like. This human is probably more like us than other humans." She turned to Luz. " Right? You want to be a witch?"

Luz took a second, not saying anything, but nodding quickly, unsure of what was happening.

" See, see. No other humans like these specific books, only those who don't fit in."

" Where is this going, Amity?" Lilith grew impatient.

" What if we train her instead of throwing her out into the wild to die? I mean, at least give her something to have a fighting chance…Or we just don't throw her out at all?" Amity smiled under her mask, a meekish smile. Unsure of the consequence.

Lilith scoffed. " Why would we train a human to learn magic? There is no use for her, so the Isle will handle it."

" No, no, trust me! If she was able to sneak into the Isles, as no human could before, wouldn't that mean something? At least let me try?" Amity pleaded, seeming to care about Luz's life. Lilith sighed, putting her fingers to her nose bridge, pressing it.

" Fine then. How's this? You have a week to teach this human magic and if she cannot perform a single spell perfectly by the end, she will be thrown to the Isle and you," She paused, awfully dramatically, " will be demoted back down to guard position, including losing your staff." Amity shook a bit, but steadied herself.

" Deal."
" Hm, then she's your problem now. Anything she does is your responsibility until she inevitably fails and you both suffer greatly." Lilith then walked out of the room.

Amity breathed out, falling forward a bit, leaning on her hands on her kness. The tension of the room lifted, but was still heavy.

" Uh…can I have my book back now?"