Chapter Seventeen: King's Daring Rescue

The forest looked a lot different now that Luz knew what it was underneath. As the three of them walked past the trees, she couldn't help picturing the enormous trunk that most, if not all, of the trees were part of. She had expected Willow of all people to be more excited about this, but she and Gus both walked on without a word. "So…you think Sang–I mean Lithian will keep his promise?" she asked, trying to make conversation.

"Hmm? I dunno. I hope so." Gus didn't seem too enthusiastic, either. "He also said he'd come after you again if he had to."

"Well then, let's hope he doesn't have to!" said Luz, hurrying to the front of the group. "Y'know, I think this guy could be an ally against the Inquisitors, or even against Belos! Think about it: if we work at him a bit more, we might be able to convince him to be our man on the inside! We could arrange these inside meetings where he could tell us all the Emperor's Coven's dirty secrets! A-a-and then–"

Willow recognized when the girl was going on one of her nerd-rants again, and put a stop to it before she overexcited herself. "Oookay, it sounds like you're getting a little ahead of yourself. I know you hit it off with the man whose pet monster tried to maul us, but let's not immediately assume he's friendly, okay? I seriously doubt he'd be working on Belos' private hit squad if he was."

"B-but that's only because he doesn't want to lose his palisman!" Luz countered. "And you saw him back there, he protected us when Briares went too far! I… Look, I know he's a bad guy, but he doesn't seem like a bad bad guy, you know?"

Gus stared blankly for a moment. "So, if he isn't a bad guy, or at least a bad-bad guy…is he a good-bad guy? Or a bad-good guy?"

Luz was all too happy to provide him with an answer. "I'm glad you asked! In my experience, the main difference between good-bad guys and bad-good guys is the issue of loyalty. Their morals are mostly the same, it's whether they're on the heroes' or the villains' side that differentiates them. Our guy, because he's a bit nicer than the others, but still works for Belos, is probably a good-bad guy. But the main point is, a little pushing is all we need to bring him to our side!"

"Um…" Willow obviously wasn't as convinced. "Luz, I think it's very sweet that you want to see the best in this guy. You really do have a way of doing that–you got through to Amity, for crying out loud! But maybe now isn't the best time to be making friends?"

"What do you mean?" Luz asked. "Wouldn't making him our friend, or ally at the very least, solve the whole trying-to-maul-us issue?"

"That's exactly what I mean," Willow continued, putting a hand on Luz's shoulder. "Luz, if there's one thing you're good at, it's making the best out of a bad situation. But…you do have a tendency to rush into situations without thinking."

"No I–um…okay, fair enough," she admitted. "Maybe I can be a little impulsive, but it's not like I never think about these things! Back there in the mine, I–"

"You mean when you threw us off a bridge?" asked Willow.

"That's different!" protested Luz. "I knew you would save us in time! I even warned you what I was going to do ahead of time!"
Willow was keeping her cool well, but it was clear she was growing frustrated. "You didn't warn me of anything, you just asked me if I could catch us. My point is, I know you mean well, but in the future, could you at least come up with a better option before throwing yourself headlong into danger? You're not always going to have someone to catch you if you fall."

Gus perked up, looking at Luz. "Huh? What did you say?"

"I didn't say anything," answered a confused Luz. "Did you mistake Willow's voice for mine? I don't think we really sound that much alike–" But Luz heard it too: a faint voice, sounding far away, yet at the same time right in front of them.

"There's definitely someone saying something," Willow said, trying to locate the source of the voice. The three of them followed it to an old, hollowed-out tree beside them. Peering into its trunk, they found that it led into the mine they had just escaped from.

Listening closely, they could discern that it wasn't a single voice, but two having a conversation. Bits and pieces of it could just barely be made out: "...somewhere in…" "...that flood would have…" "...keep looking!" "...days 'til…"

"Is that…Tia's voice!?" Gus suddenly realized.

"Yeah, it is! And I think that's Kade with her!" said Luz. She leaned over the hole, shouting down into the depths. "Kade! Tia! It's us, we're up here!"

A distant, echoing voice returned from the hole: Kade's. "Luz!? Is that you? What are you doing up there!?"

"Long story short, there were some Inquisitors in the mines, then a flood, and now we're up here!" shouted Gus. "We were just about to go home–wanna join us?"

"I was so worried about you guys!" called Tia. "Let's see, just gotta…Aha! Stay right there, we'll be up in a sec!"

After that, the trio waited for a few moments. Soon enough, something began to move the earth not far from them. Suddenly, three large claws pierced through the ground, causing Luz to reach for a glyph, expecting a giant monster or a clawed Inquisitor. But her fear was put at ease when the claws' owner revealed itself as an oversized star-nosed mole–literally, its nose was a glowing, yellow, five-pointed star.

The mole moved out of the way for Tia and Kade to appear, carried by the latter's staff. "You're alive!" exclaimed the former, rushing forward and squishing all three together in a huge hug. "I was so scared when that sinkhole opened up! Sorry I didn't rush in after you, but I didn't want to put myself in danger too!"

Willow gave Luz a look as if to say "See? She looks before she leaps." Luz replied with a playful nudge.

"I headed straight to the library to try and find a map of the underground, which is where I ran into this guy!" Kade waved. "He said he knows you, and he offered to help me find you! We went down that same sinkhole and started looking, but…well, that's when the flood happened."

"Yeeeah, that one might have been my fault," Luz said bashfully. "Wait, you weren't caught in it, were you!?"

"No, but it was pretty startling," said Kade. "We were both worried that you had been caught in it–which I guess you were. I had a feeling you'd pull through, though!"

"Yup, sure did!" said Luz. "Actually, Kade, what were you doing at the library? Looking for some books on poetry?"

He chuckled. "No, believe it or not. Eda's doing this favor for the Bat Queen, and asked me to help out. I was supposed to be translating some Old Wiccan, but that can wait for later. She'll be glad to know you're alright."

At the mention of Eda, Luz's good mood grew melancholy. She had forgotten just how much she missed her mentor. "H-how is Eda?" she asked. "Is she holding up okay?"

"Oh, she's just fine, don't you worry," said Kade. "It'd take way more than that to break her spirit, believe you me. Still…" He looked away for a moment. "We can really tell how much she misses you. Not just you, Hooty and King too. One's probably locked up at the Emperor's Palace, and who knows where the other ran off to. I think she'd really like to see you, but with how dangerous it is right now, it's–"

"...Best if we stay separate," Luz finished. "I know. Just…tell her it hasn't been the same without her, okay? And that I miss her"

Kade honestly wasn't expecting Luz to be on the same page with him. "Huh. Okay then. So…you all ready to head home?"

"Please!" Gus interjected. "I think I've had enough adventure for one…well, for a while. Let's get back to civilization, please? I miss my couch!"

Kade held out his staff. "Alright, it's gonna be a bit cramped, but Mr. Crawly can handle anything! Everybody on board!" It was incredibly awkward and nowhere near comfortable, but somehow all five of them managed to fit on the staff. The centipede on the end spread his legs, and they were airborne.

"So," said Tia, "how did you manage to escape from those Inquisitors anyway?"

"Okay, so who do you think would win in a fight: Darius, or Alador Blight?" asked the guard.

"Depends," replied the other one. "Darius can turn into an abomination, but Alador can't really do anything without his toys. Does that factor into the fight at all?"

"Well, you're forgetting that Alador can still summon regular abominations, he doesn't need to rely on his machines," the first of the two said.

"Well, yeah, but Alador's still got his whole…deal, y'know?" said the second. His partner didn't know.

While these two members of the Emperor's Coven rambled on, they were unaware of the tiny critter scampering his way through the rafters overhead. King, as softly as he could manage, was descending into the castle's lower levels to rescue the trapped palismans, Owlbert in particular. The guards weren't exactly vigilant, but the sheer number of them didn't make sneaking downstairs easy.

The castle was practically a maze, which wouldn't be bad in and of itself if King had a map. Which he didn't, not for lack of trying to find one. He had at one point considered dressing up as a covensman and asking another for directions, but reasoned that such a plan would be too risky. But as he had failed to come up with a better one, he was becoming much more willing to take a risk.

"This is getting unbearable," King decided, after listening to a few solid minutes of the two guards and their 'Who would win?' discussion, which was going nowhere. The only path he could take led him back towards the main hall, so that was where he crawled. His true mission was to make his way into the basement, but so far he had limited success on that end.

He shooed some rats out of his way as he further crawled through the castle walls, following the pinpricks of light that led the way. Sliding on his belly through cobwebs and dust, he hoped that he would be at least the smallest bit closer when he reached the next room…only to realize, when light met his eyes, he was back in the same hallway he started in. This was where he had seen Lilith take Owlbert to Belos' chambers, and back down to the dungeon.

With that, King slumped down in defeat, which was impressive considering he was already laying prone. "Oh, who am I trying to fool? Myself?! This whole thing is hopeless. I'm not the hero like Luz is…I'm just some charming side character." He rolled over onto his back. "If only I was a palisman, then they'd take me right to him! Argh, if only I was a small, cute critter of some nature…"

Eyes widening, King sat up. After all this time, he had given himself an idea. One that was risky, yes, but he was prepared to take risks at this point.

"Wait a minute…I am a small, cute critter of some nature! I could easily pass for somebody's palisman, right? Okay, now, what does Owlbert have that I don't? …He connects to Eda's staff! I just need a staff to connect to, and somebody to find me, and it's off to the dungeon! …Hopefully not permanently, though."

Although King had no idea where he was going to find a staff, Luz had mentioned that humans often thought witches flew on brooms. As goofy as that would have looked, it did give him the next part of this plan. He just had to find a broom closet…which he soon did. It was surprisingly easier to get to than the dungeon.

A short listen told King that there was nobody around. Gnawing through the drywall only took a moment, and he was inside. There, he found his prize in the form of a mop. "Okay, a mop is close enough to a broom, and a broom is close enough to a staff." After only a little struggling, he was able to pop the head off of the handle. "There! Nobody'll know the difference!" After admiring his handiwork for but a moment, he was back in the walls, dragging the faux-staff with him.

He had to be even quieter now, dragging the long stick of wood behind him. It clanked and rattled as it bounced along, threatening to alert anyone who walked beneath him. Granted, he wanted to be found eventually, but he had to make sure it was someone who didn't recognize him. But considering that Shrike likely had the whole castle on lockdown, there was no telling who was and who wasn't on the hunt for him.

"You there! What are you doing!?" He froze at the sound of the voice, which he swore he had heard somewhere before. It took him a moment to realize that it wasn't addressing him. He peered out of a nearby crack in the wall to see what was going on: an Empire's covensman was being accosted by that guy who was sometimes with Belos. The Golden Guard, or something like that.

The covensman seemed confused. "Um…I'm standing guard," he said. "Y'know, that thing the Emperor ordered us to do?"

"All right then." The Golden Guard seemed disappointed he didn't get to accost the guy. "Keep up the good work. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to access the library. For research purposes." Shrugging, the guard let him pass.

And there it was–King had found his perfect patsy. The Golden Guard had made no mention of King being loose in the building, which probably would have been a top priority if he had. He followed the Guard into the library, where he prepared his next move.

The Golden Guard was deep in thought as he skimmed over the pages for what seemed like the hundredth time. He didn't trust this Mattias guy–a feeling that Lilith seemed to share. He had heard mention of something called a "Dominum signum," which he swore he had heard before…but where?

His readings were interrupted when he heard something clatter to the floor nearby. His eyes shot up from the pages and he slammed the book shut, turning around towards the sound of the noise. He was certain he was alone…wasn't he? He set the book on Boiling Isles history down, hand ready to summon his staff should he need it as he crept across the library.

Expecting something a bit more ominous, he was a little disappointed to find it was merely a fallen staff. But what was a staff, let alone one complete with a palisman, doing here? "Did…somebody leave this here?" he asked himself, bending down to examine it.

Unbecounced to him, King was doing his best palisman impression: staring blankly forwards, sitting as still as if he was carved from wood. He gripped tightly to the end of the mopstick, silently hoping it was working. Luckily for him, the Golden Guard didn't seem to have much experience with palismans.

He picked up the 'staff,' which took more effort than he thought. "Woah, heavy! Whoever you belonged to must have fed you too many treats, little guy!" King resisted the urge to protest. "Here, let's put you with the others." Unscrewing King from his perch, the Golden Guard placed him under his arm, and left the room.

Nobody paid him any mind as he strolled through the castle, his innate authority preventing anyone from asking why he had a small critter under his arm. Or why said critter seemed to be standing as still as a statue. That took plenty of effort from King as well, not only because such a position was uncomfortable for so long, but being held in a manner was so degrading. As he lamented the sacrifices he made to save his friends, the Golden Guard reached a large door blocked by a covensman.

"Open the door," he proclaimed, "I found a palisman laying on the floor. I need to put it with the others."

The guard eyed King suspiciously. "That's a palisman, huh? And what exactly was it doin' on the floor?"

"How am I supposed to know?" the Golden Guard retorted. "Most likely, one of you left it sitting there instead of doing your job! Now, while I don't really care about picking up the slack from your incompetence, Uncle Belos might think different. Maybe I should bring this lapse in judgment up to him, hmm?"

The guard opened the door. "Go on in." King wasn't sure if she was intimidated by this remark or just wanted to get rid of him, but it worked either way, as the two descended the staircase. It wasn't long before King started hearing a cacophony of screeches, calls, and cries coming from deeper within the dungeon.

Then the Golden Guard opened a door, and King's eyes widened, almost letting out a frightened gasp. The room was filled with cages upon cages, each one full to bursting with palismans, each rattling against the bars in an effort to escape. The room was filled with so many noises that it was hard to think, save for one thought that suddenly occurred to King: the Golden Guard was going to put him in one of these cages. So what exactly was he supposed to do then?

The Golden Guard banged on one of the cages. "Quiet down, all of you! Shut it! You have a new friend, so quit your complaining." He placed King on a nearby table, trying to shoo the palismans away from a cage door. "Would you cut it out!? I don't like this any more than you, so the least you could do is make it easy for me!"

"Hunter!"

All the rattling, screeching, and calling suddenly went silent. "Oh, great," the Golden Guard muttered, turning around to the one who had called his name. "What do you want, Shrike?"

The Inquisitor descended the staircase, with Stygma following close behind. "I should think you, of all people, would be on high alert right now." He paused near one of the cages, the palismans within clearly terrified of him. "A prisoner of utmost importance has slipped through my grasp. I've nearly the whole castle on high alert looking for him. I don't suppose you've heard anything of this, have you?"

"No, because I have more important things to worry about than your twisted experiments," said Hunter. "For instance, some incompetent left a palisman lying around, and it fell on me to bring it here. Come to think of it…if this prisoner of yours is so important, why are you down here instead of looking for 'em yourself?"

Shrike crept through the room, tracing his hand across the edge of the cages. "Because 'important' does not mean 'essential,' dear boy. My research on this 'King' is merely a personal project. I have other duties to attend to in the meantime."

Hunter cast a glance at Stygma, who was hovering near the door like a bouncer. "Right, well, you do your job, and I'll do mine: putting this palisman where it belong–" He froze when the 'palisman' he had placed on the table was missing. "Oh, come on! Now look what you did! That thing's loose in here now, thanks to you!"

"Right, because we're the ones who left it sitting there," said Stygma, floating down. "Why don't you run along and let us handle things in here? I'm sure such things are beneath the Emperor's own student, right?"

Although he knew they were just trying to get rid of him, Hunter ascended the stairs anyway, huffing as he did. "Just try not to let it escape. We have enough problems without that thing running around." He loudly closed the door behind him.

Stygma looked away from the door and towards her superior. "So, that 'palisman' of his is absolutely King, yeah?"

"Most likely." Shrike didn't seem the least bit concerned, nonchalantly browsing the palismans like they were items at the grocery store. "I wouldn't be too concerned. Both entrances to this room are sealed. We can take our time. Now, you're the expert." He gestured to the cages.

As Stygma made her way over, a nervous pair of eyes peered out from underneath the table. King was stuck in a room with not one, but two Inquisitors, one of which was the same one who had captured him in the first place. And Stygma was right: there were only two ways out, neither of which seemed viable. The door was closed, and although there was a window on the far wall, it was too high for him to reach. Even if he did find Owlbert, he was trapped.

"What am I supposed to do?" he wondered quietly. "If Eda was here, she'd know what to do. Or Luz…even Hooty would be more useful here! But instead, I'm just…me." Glumly, he scratched a picture of his face on the sideboard. "If any of them were here, they'd know what to do. Even if the odds were against them, they'd just give it their all, no matter… Wait…if they'd give it their all, who's saying I can't give it my all? I may not have magic, but…" He looked down at his claw, clenching it into a fist. "That's it! I'm gonna get out of here, or die trying!"

"Did you hear something?" King froze when he heard the voice. He didn't have to look to know that Stygma was floating over to his location. "You don't think he'd be dumb enough to draw attention to himself, right?"

She passed right through the table, scanning the area behind it. She looked back and forth, just barely missing King, who was hidden around the corner, silently praying she would think to go the other way. Luckily, her attention was drawn to something else.

"Looks like he marked his territory," she said, examining his drawing. Shrike peered over, but otherwise was disinterested. "You sure we should just leave him?"

Shrike chuckled. "As I said, he has nowhere to go. Any attempt he can make at escaping will alert us to his presence." Hearing a faint rattling noise, the two of them turned towards the door. "Case in point…"

Counting on the two of them being distracted for a moment, King had planned on making a break for the door, finding somewhere to hunker down until they left. Unfortunately, he hadn't counted on the door making so much noise when he jumped up to the handle. Having been spotted, he furiously pulled on the handle to get the door open before they were upon him.

Faster than should have been possible, Shrike rocketed across the room, pinning King to the wall with his staff just as he got the door open. As King struggled, he slowly shut the door, as though to further mock his catch. "You see? He has nowhere to run. Now that he's made the fatal mistake of showing himself, why don't you make sure he's a little less…spirited?"

His ghostly partner floated over to King. "With pleasure." Four spell circles, one in each hand, began draining King of his stamina. His will to fight back was gradually sapped away as he grew more and more tired.

"Y-you…!" King's struggling slowed. Even if he was still fighting with all his strength, a part of him knew it was futile. "I'm not gonna…stop fighting…that easily…" His hands couldn't grasp the staff anymore. His eyelids were getting heavier. The empty eyes of Shrike's skull gazed into his own.

"I understand this must be hard for you," Shrike said, his voice both threatening and soothing. "So used to being treated like a king. But I assure you, I will be able to get so much more use out of that magic inside of you than you ever could. Sleep well, King, with the knowledge of all the good your power is going to do."

He had magic. In all the excitement, King had forgotten the very thing he had been brought here for. Somewhere, somehow, deep down inside him, there was an ancient and unique magic just waiting to be brought to the surface. But just how to bring it to the surface, he had no idea. He wasn't even able to think, with every last ounce of his strength going to resisting Stygma's draining spell.

However, as he fought, Stygma noticed something strange happening to his energy. "What the…?" she said, bewildered. "This shouldn't be–How powerful did you say this thing was!?"

Frustrated, Shrike pushed his staff harder, the prongs almost digging into the wall. "It doesn't matter how powerful he is if he's too exhausted to use it! Keep the pressure on!"

As Stygma did so, it became harder and harder for her to maintain the spell. "H-how are you doing this?"

"Because…I have to get home!" said King, pushing back against both of them. "My family is counting on me–Owlbert, Eda, Luz, even Hooty–I have to make it back to them! And I w-won't…let…you…WEH!"

King's shout echoed through the room as an explosion of sound burst forth from his mouth. The shockwave threw the Inquisitors away from him, as well as shattering the bars of all the room's cages. Panicked by the loud noise, blast of force, and sudden freedom, the palismans went into a frenzy, flying and stampeding around the room in complete chaos.

Shrike recovered almost instantly, swatting at the palismans as he returned to where King had been moments before–but although the door was still closed, the demon was nowhere to be found. In his anger, he slammed his staff against the floor. "Do not let him escape!"

Stygma grabbed at the passing palismans to prevent them from escaping, but they all amassed in a cloud towards the window, which had also been shattered by King's shout. In the swarm, she could barely make out her fellow Inquisitor, let alone the tiny demon. "Not exactly that simple!" Her draining spells filled the air, causing some of them to drift downwards after they exited the castle.

Before long, the room was empty, save for the two left behind. Shrike absolutely seethed, almost snapping his staff in half while Stygma looked around for any sign of King. "Sorry chief, he's gone. He must've snuck out in the confusion. Real sorry about that. Like you said, though, it's just a side project–you aren't too upset, yeah?"

Without a word, Shrike walked over to the wall, let out a loud bellow, and drove his fist into the stone, leaving a visible crack.

"...Okay, I guess that means you are." She floated over. "Let me see it."

Shrike held out his hand. He had cut through his gloves when he struck the wall, but rather than skin or even blood underneath, there was an assortment of leaves, the same color as the ones that made up his cloak. "I want everyone we have securing the perimeter. If that thing escapes, Belos will never trust me with anything of this nature again."

Stygma gazed out the window, where the palismans were flying in all directions away from the palace. "Yeah, I think the ship has sailed on that one. …Actually, does he even know about this project?"

"That's why he won't trust me." As Stygma healed Shrike's wounds, he walked over to the window, staring at the ground below and hoping to catch even a fleeting glimpse of the King of Demons that had slipped through his grasp.

Down below, the very same King of Demons that had slipped through his grasp was frozen in shock after having been carried out the window by a flock of palismans. Only after he was lowered to the ground did he realize how it was that had rescued him. A familiar "Hoot!" had him turn around, face to face with…

"Owlbert!" cried King, embracing the owl, who nuzzled against him. "I did save you after all! But wait…then you saved me. So we saved each other! How's that for a dynamic duo!" Owlbert hooted again, apparently agreeing.

But all was not well quite yet, as the Emperor's soldiers had begun to coalesce around the ground under the broken window. Owlbert tugged King by the tail into a nearby bush as the covensmen approached, just managing to evade their sight.

They were in an uproar, with Belos' entire stockpile of palismans escaping in one fell swoop. King watched as the last few of them vanished over the horizon. "Wow. I saved a lot of people today." He looked down at his claws again, this time in wonder at what he had accomplished. "I-I never knew I was capable of something like that. Do you think Eda would know about that?"

Owlbert took flight once the coast was clear, perching in a tree and waiting for King to follow. The demon scampered after him, beginning the last leg of the pair's escape from the castle. It was a long walk back to Bonesborough.

Making sure that there were no imperial guards in the area, Kade touched down in an empty lot in downtown Bonesborough. Everyone stepped onto the ground, still wary. "Everybody keep your heads down on the way back," he said. "If they know enough to trick you with a fake King, and to find you in the mines, there's know telling what other traps they have ready."

"No need to worry about us!" Luz assured him. "We can handle anything they throw at us!"

Kade climbed back onto his staff. "That's what I'm afraid of…" He hovered above the four of them, once again searching for danger. "I'll give your best to Eda. Anything I should let her know?"

Luz smiled. "Just that her pupil's making good use of her tutelage!"

"Ha, will do! Don't worry, you'll see each other again soon!" With that, Kade flew off, returning to the Bat Queen's lair. The young witches made their way back to Tia's house.

"Sorry our search for King turned out to be a bust," Tia said. "We can go out to look for him again tomorrow if you want! Like you said, he can't have gotten far on his little legs."

As much as Luz wanted to keep searching for King, she was exhausted from the day's affairs. "If we do, we'll have to come up with a better plan than just wandering through the forest. Even if we don't run into any Inquisitors next time, I doubt we'll just find him by chance."

"Right now, I think we should all get some rest," suggested Willow. It was almost nighttime, and they had been through a lot. "We'll head home once Luz is safe with you."

"You sure you don't wanna sleep over?" asked Tia. "We've got some extra beds, I'm sure we could–" Her train of thought died there as they were greeted by an unwelcome sight right outside of her home.

A handful of guards stood just outside her house as though it was a crime scene. But that wasn't the worst of it: through a window, she could see an Inquisitor, specifically Loxton, sitting in her living room, speaking with her family. There was no doubt what he was doing there.

Gus hastily made the four of them invisible. "Was that Loxton!?" he said in a hushed shout. "What's he doing here?"

"He's here for Luz," said Willow. "That pair we fought over the sinkhole must have sounded the alarm."

Despite being the one of them who should have been most worried, Luz was the least worried. "Okay, this is fine, not a problem. We can fight him, right? We beat him once, we can do it again!"

"Technically, Eda's the one who beat him," Gus reminded her. "And even if we could, look at all those guards! They'd sound the alarm the moment we set foot in the house."

Tia stamped her foot as she tried to come up with a plan. "My house is compromised. It's not safe for you here anymore, Luz." She escorted the human girl by her shoulders to a safe distance. "Even if I convince them to leave, there's no telling if they'll come back, or if they bugged the place. We'll have to find somewhere else for you to hide."

"But we can–" Willow placed a hand over her mouth.

"No, we're not fighting them. We'll try out places–Tia, see if you can smooth things over with him in there. He shouldn't have any reason to suspect you."

She saluted. "You got it! 'Smooth' is my middle name! Good luck to you." She strolled back in the direction of her home as Gus dispelled his illusion. She pretended to act surprised at all the guards, then acted worried something had happened while she was gone.

"...She's not a bad actor," observed Gus. "Now c'mon, let's get you to my place. I'm sure Dad's got a spare bed for you to use!"

But unfortunately, things were not in their favor. Their enemies had been thorough in their mission to find the human, or at least deny her a safe haven. Gus' house was also occupied by guards, and also by Caelano. Willow's was the same, this time with Mandrake. Even the trio's last ditch effort at a hiding place, Amity's house, was occupied by Grace. Eventually, they made their way to the town square, brainstorming for ideas.

"Okay, so Amity's place is out," Gus said, slumping down on the bench. "Not that it was a good idea anyway. Her parents probably would've found out soon, and that's a whole other can of rat-worms."

"I'm sure we'll think of something," Luz said. "If nothing else, I could always hide in the library. Amity's got that little nook of hers that she barely uses anymore. You think they'd look there?"

"Probably." Willow spotted some classmates of their in the distance. "You think Boscha has a spare room?" she suggested jokingly.

Luz snorted. "If I asked her, she'd probably turn me in just so she didn't have to deal with me! She'd be all, 'It's bad enough I have to deal with you at school, human, why would I–'" She went silent, her eyes widening. She then leapt to her feet; "That's it!" she cried.

"What is?" Gus asked. "Boscha?"

"No! I know where I can stay without the Inquisitors finding me!" Luz ran off, beckoning for the two to follow her. "Come on, you guys, we're going to school!"