Chapter Four
The rest of the week was a strange experience for Hunter, like an exercise in duality.
On one hand, it may have been the best week of his life. He had been assimilated into Luz and Willow's friend group as if he had known them for years. Amity was a bit distant, but he was assured that her attitude was typical for people she didn't know and she would slowly warm up to him. Gus seemed thrilled to have another guy in the main group and even offered a place in the HAS that Hunter politely declined. And of course, Luz was a ball of sunshine and Willow sweet as sugarcane. They made him feel far more welcome in five days than anyone in the Emperor's Coven had in five years.
On the other hand, Hunter quickly realized a glaring flaw in his plan to learn abou- help Willow give up wild magic. Even though he knew about it, as far as his new friends were aware … he shouldn't know about it. Willow hadn't displayed her power at school and no one except Luz was aware of his real identity or the circumstances that brought it to his attention. Therefore, he needed to find a way to "discover" it so that he could address it with her. And he had no idea how to do that!
Hunter had wracked his brain every night for a viable strategy and had come up empty-handed. From what he had seen during their scuffle with Glandus, her tapping into wild magic seemed to derive from outbursts of intense emotion. His best plan was to order some of the lowest-ranked Emperor's Coven to shed their cloaks and helmets and pretend to mug them to force her hand — and that was a terrible plan!
After that kind of week, his plans for the weekend came as something of a shock. "You want us to do what?" Hunter asked.
"Eda told me about this natural lake near the coast that is way less boiling than the Boiling Seas," Luz explained. "It sounds a lot like these things called hot springs in the Human Realm, where people go to enjoy the hot water and relax." She shrugged. "I just thought it would be fun to have a relaxing day with friends and take a break from school stuff."
"Luz, if you're going to suggest something like this, at least be honest about your reason," Willow chided in a distinctly motherly fashion, then smirked. "You just want an excuse to see Amity in a swimsuit, don't you?"
Both girls blushed hard at that accusation and looked away from each other.
"W-what?!" Luz said shrilly. "No way! I mean, I wouldn't mind that! Uh, Amity's beautiful and stuff, and - no, wait! I want us all to have fun, and- um, uh …" She deflated as she just gave up.
"It sounds like a wonderful idea, anyway," Willow said kindly, letting their resident human off the hook. "And I, for one, would love to come."
"A human-inspired relaxation time?" Gus asked. "How can I say no? I'm in, too!"
"Amity?" Willow asked patiently.
"I'll go," she squeaked out, face now pink instead of red.
"And Hunter, how about you?" Luz asked. Her lips curled in that crafty grin she always wore when covertly referencing his true identity — frankly, it was a wonder she hadn't blown his cover yet. "We all know you couldn't possibly have anything else to do."
"We do?" Gus asked.
"I may have a job," Hunter pointed out drolly.
"Really?" Luz asked, crossing her arms. "Then why haven't we heard about this 'job' of yours? Hmm …?"
"Luz, that's enough," Willow said sternly. "If he has to work this weekend, then it's his business."
Hunter thought furiously for a few moments, weighing his options. Fact one: he needed to catch up on coven work that had slowly piled up over the last few days. It wasn't too much, but it needed to be done. Fact two: this might give him the chance to make progress on his primary mission. And given how much overtime he was doing to keep up with paperwork, he could use some relaxation. "Actually, I'm pretty sure I can come along," he decided.
"Awesome!" Luz shouted with genuine joy. "How about we all met up at the library tomorrow around nine? We can make our way from there."
Everyone gave their agreement before dispersing for the rest of their Friday. Willow settled her staff and waved to the group as Amity took her seat and they sped off. With all of the progress their friendship had made over the last several weeks — including Amity publicly proclaiming Luz, Willow and Gus as her friends to her parents' faces — the two had finally decided to try a sleepover for the first time in years.
It was a relatively short flight from Hexside to Bonesborough and then to the Park apartment, and soon they were at the door. Amity was wringing her hands with nerves, the weight of her past actions against Willow pressing upon her like lead. She flinched at the feel of Willow placing a hand on her shoulder and relaxed at her reassuring smile.
They made their way inside and greeted Willow's dads. Gilbert looked a bit concerned at Amity's presence, but Eun was overjoyed at the big step in rebuilding their friendship, which Willow had naturally told them all about. He offered the girls snacks and drinks before excusing himself and gently steering Gilbert back into the kitchen and leaving the girls in peace.
Willow led the way to her room, the decor very floral-themed and most of it actually living. Clover separated from Willow's staff and buzzed over to an adorable little bed that she snuggled up into and began faintly buzzing with snores.
"Can you believe that your room is almost exactly how I pictured it?" Amity said with a faint smile.
"It's not like I hide my interests," Willow said with a shrug. She removed her cowl and sat on the bed to remove her boots, Amity doing the same in Willow's desk chair. After the boots came off, Willow gently pinched the top of one of her socks and slowly pulled it up with a sigh of relief before rolling the wool off her foot entirely. "One of the small pleasures in life is taking off your socks after a long day," she commented.
Amity rolled her eyes as she rolled her socks off and then placed her feet on the fluffy rug covering Willow's floor. "Not as good as flexing your toes in a good rug," she said. Both girls chuckled at revisiting a memory from long ago, before they were forced apart; one where they said exactly the same things.
But the smile slowly melted off Amity's face before refreezing into a look of deep thought. Willow tilted her head at that and thought before smiling. She spun on her behind to present her back to her friend. "Hey Amity?" she asked, drawing her attention. Willow leaned backward with her spine along the side of the bed, now upside down. "Come join me," she said.
Amity gave a sad smile now at another memory; a collection of memories. Whenever Amity was feeling down during their first friendship, Willow would lay upside down and ask her to talk it out as if being upside down would relieve the pressure of her problems. Once, and only once, Amity had done the same for Willow after she first met Amity's parents. Amity settled on the bed and spun just as Willow had before leaning back to join her.
"So, what's wrong?" Willow asked.
Amity was silent for a few moments as she considered her words. "Was it a good idea for Luz to invite Hunter on our trip?" Amity asked.
Willow blinked in surprise at the question, even if she had been expecting something like it at some point. "Why? Gold eyes turning green?" Willow asked with a teasing grin.
"No," Amity said, and she meant it. "I just-" She cut herself off. "I feel like Luz is hiding something from us about him," she explained. "And I don't mean just me, I mean us. You, Gus, and me." She shifted uncomfortably. "And that worries me."
Willow thought over Amity's words and tried to impartially weigh her concerns. Luz was friendly and outgoing as a general rule — it was this very facet of her personality that drew Willow and Gus, and then Amity, and now apparently Hunter to her. She was a ball of light and warmth that made everything seem better.
But now that Amity mentioned it, Luz and Hunter's interactions seemed to have a bizarre layer of subtext. Not romantic; Luz had eyes for Amity alone, anyone could see that. And Hunter treated Luz as more of a friendly rival, or even an unwanted little sister than anything else. But some of the looks they traded, smug grins from Luz and narrowed, frustrated eyes or exasperated eyerolls from Hunter … it painted a picture of far more than what they presented on the surface.
"You may be right," Willow conceded, her brows furrowed in thought. "But I think there's one big question you need to answer," she said. Amity turned her head to look at Willow with questioning eyes. "Do you trust Luz?" Willow asked. Amity's eyes widened in shock. "Do you think she would willingly bring someone close who was dangerous to us?" Willow continued.
"Luz can be unbearably naive," Amity said, her cheeks coloring at said "unbearable" quirk.
"She also sees the good in people that even they don't see in themselves," Willow argued. "Case in point," she added with a pointed look. Amity snorted and nodded to concede the point. "So, do you trust Luz's judgement?" Willow asked again.
"... Yes," Amity decided.
"Then there you go," Willow said with a smile that faded into discomfort. "Maybe we should move before we pass out," she said thickly.
"Uh huh," Amity replied woozily as both girls moved to roll off the bed with a pair of thuds and groans.
The next morning found the group of five witchlings meeting up as the sun cleared the horizon. Amity, early riser and punctuality queen, had arrived first with a pink sundress covering her swim clothes. She idly flicked through her scroll while she waited, and was soon joined by their newest addition.
Hunter was clad in yellow swim trunks and a form-fitting white shirt, most of it obscured by the towel hanging around his neck. When Amity examined his attire, she was uncomfortably reminded of the Emperor's Coven. He looked at her and gave a roguish grin before bringing a book from the satchel he had had brought and began to read. And so for fifteen straight minutes, they ignored each other, neither willing to confront the faint awkwardness that small talk would bring.
Soon enough, Willow arrived, dressed in a yellow sundress much like Amity's, then Luz in jean shorts and a loose white shirt, and finally Gus in a billowy tunic held closed with a belt at the waist. With everyone here, Luz took her place riding with Gus while Amity seated herself on Willow's staff, leaving Hunter to fly solo.
Luz had considered bringing Owlbert — the better to fly with her girlfriend — but had decided not to ask in light of the fact that Eda's staff was her main line of self defense until she got a better handle on glyphs. And so, flying with friends it was. Gus took the lead as they flew northeast of Bonesborough, Willow close behind and Hunter taking up the rear.
About a twenty minute flight led them to the spot Eda had described and drawn on a map, nestled on a thin strip of uneven land between the Boiling Sea and the crags of the Titan's upper ribs. Among the sharp hills and cracked ground bathed in the orange light of the sun rising over the distant sea were pools of steaming water that smelled faintly of cooking eggs. "We're here!" Luz shouted as Gus began their descent.
When everyone had landed and set up their beach camp, including two large umbrellas for shade and several lounge chairs, everyone started preparing for the springs. Luz shucked her shirt and jeans shorts to reveal a high-necked, sea green tankini with a purple octopus on the front, a thin strip of tanned skin showing at her navel. Amity removed her dress to show off a black one-piece spaghetti-strapped swimsuit with white accents as she tied her purple locks back in a tail while Gus rocked a black-and-white striped single piece suit that made Luz mention something about "the 40's."
Hunter smiled a bit at the obvious ease all of these kids his own age had with each other, even if Luz and Amity blushed upon seeing one anothers' outfits. As he finally removed the towel from around his neck and folded it on a chair, he glanced around to find Willow … and felt his line of thought halt with a mental record scratch. Willow was wearing a navy blue sleeveless one-piece, the sweetheart neckline held up by a halter-style spread of mesh. The swimsuit clung to her like a second skin and showed off her curves.
Hunter absently felt heat rising from his collar to paint his cheeks as he came to a realization that he could no longer ignore: Willow was gorgeous! She may not be slim or svelte like the "accepted" standard of beauty for witches, but she was healthy and full-figured, especially for her age. But more than that, she held herself with a balance of kindness and confidence that was attractive on a far deeper level than the mere physical.
"Hunter?" Willow asked innocently. "Are you alright?"
Said witchling cleared his throat as his senses returned and he turned bodily away to regain his composure. "Uh, yeah. I'm good- great! Um, uh-" Was it always this hard to talk before? "You, uh, y-you look really nice." His voice hadn't risen or cracked; small victories.
"Oh!" Willow said with a shy smile as she approached and circled to face him. "Thank you." She glanced down at his own attire and felt her cheeks pinken. Hunter's towel had hidden it before now, but his shirt clung to his torso and hid nothing, putting lean, wiry muscles in sharp relief and emphasizing defined pectorals and abs. He wasn't buff, per se, but it was clear he took care of himself. "You look like you work out," she commented without thinking.
"I do," he could only bring himself to say. "Uh … springs?" he asked, looking at her and willing himself to focus on her ... sparking, emerald … eyes and no lower.
"Of course," she giggled, turning on her heel. "Come on!"
Within minutes, everyone had sunk into one of the larger, steaming pools with a chorus of hisses and relaxed groans and sighs. No one thought to ask what to do next, simply happy to feel the tension in their muscles and bones melt away in the hot mineral water. After several minutes, Luz picked up the conversation ball and everyone began talking between stretches of relaxed silence.
As new as he was to the group, Hunter contented himself with listening. He caught some ridiculous and funny stories from Luz and Gus, and even a few cute stories of Amity and Willow's childhood antics. Amity even spoke up about carving her own palisman soon, using a palistrom tree that the Blight family had cultivated for centuries.
Soon enough, somehow Luz got on the topic of her work with glyphs, and that drew Hunter's attention. Even the thought of the relaxing water was forgotten as he worked to commit everything Luz said to memory. The rest of them even got in on suggesting combinations for different effects, such as Willow theorizing a combination of plants and fire for healing.
Hours passed by like that, with bouts of discussion punctuated by long stretches of silence. Hunter felt aches and pains ease away that he had forgotten were there, as if he were melting into the water himself. But eventually, as the sun followed its path and was hidden behind the peaks of the Ribcage, Amity suggested packing it up before it got too dark.
Everyone dried off and tried to rub away the wrinkles from the water as they redressed, all of their movements languid and without rush. "I need to remember this place," Hunter said distantly.
"Maybe we could make it a regular thing?" Luz suggested, and everyone was happy to support the idea.
When everyone was ready, they settled on their staves — this time Luz riding with Willow and Amity with Gus — and took to the skies. And as they flew, Hunter kept stealing glances toward Willow, then looking quickly away and pretending he hadn't. 'Stupid hormones,' he thought bitterly. That was of course the only explanation. Thoughts of "the talk" took him back to other, older, bittersweet memories that he forced into their cage in the back of his mind. Better to focus on the now.
His teen angst was interrupted by a sound at the edge of his hearing, faint over the rush of wind in his ears. It was like a deep, rhythmic fluttering, only louder. He glanced around and caught a dark blur before something crashed into him and sent him hurtling off his staff with a panicked yell.
"Hunter!" Luz and Willow cried out at once, and Willow guided Clover into a sharp turn and dive to try and catch him.
Acting on Emperor's Coven training, Hunter spread his arms and legs to increase air resistance and slow his fall. Granted, hitting the ground at this speed would ensure his death, but he could get a few more moments to think. Shamefully, he realized that his greatest regret — besides not curing his uncle — was that he'd never kissed a girl. 'Really?' he thought to himself.
He was broken from his thoughts by Lil Rascal prodding his back before growing into his staff form. Hunter grabbed and held on tight as Lil Rascal slowed their descent and approached the ground at a soft angle. After all, a sudden stop could kill someone as much as hitting the ground. By the time they reached the ground, Hunter hit the grass of a clearing in a controlled but still very painful roll and landed on his feet.
He held his staff in a stance he'd used countless times in training and live combat, extending his senses and tensing himself to react to any situation. "Hunter!" He yelped and spun to face Luz and Willow, who had landed and ran up to him, quickly followed by Amity and Gus. "Hey, easy there," Luz chuckled. "You okay?"
"Get behind me," Hunter snapped. "Whatever knocked me off my staff might still be here."
The quartet glanced at each other — Luz, Willow, and Gus getting a bit of deja vu from the previous week — before arming themselves with their staves, a primed fire spell, and a collection of glyphs and taking positions behind Hunter and facing away from him in a circle.
"I really wish I had taken the time to craft my palisman," Amity groused, a ball of purple flames the size of her fist held above each hand.
Everything was silent for a handful of moments, but as soon as the group of witchlings began to relax and think that the threat had passed, a bone-chilling cry ripped through the clearing. Something dark and big streaked from the sky and crashed to the ground before them.
The thing rose up to more than eight feet in height and for a moment was covered in some kind of dark shroud or cloak that spread open to reveal massive, jagged black wings. The creature was cadaverously thin, though in a way that somehow implied great strength, and its limbs ended in three long talons, two on top of its hand and one curving down like a thumb. Long, blade-like antennae stretched from its head and it was covered in short, dark hair except for a grey patch on its chest and eye-like markings on its wings. Its huge eyes burned with angry red light and its wide mouth had no lips, perpetually baring a mouth full of long fangs. It opened that maw to taste the air with a long, thin, pointed tongue and released another cry of challenge, a raucous, warbling hiss. And as if on cue, a tree on the other side of the clearing fell, its base shattering into splinters.
"Is that Mothman?!" Luz shouted in both fear and wonder.
"It's the Scarbury," Amity whimpered. "An ancient bug demon that targets powerful witches and leaves them dead or dying with no warning."
"This thing's been on the Emperor's Coven hitlist for decades for assaulting and killing members," Hunter said, before realizing what he'd said. "I mean, that's what I've heard."
"And worst of all, there's no pattern," Gus said. "It hits any part of the Isles at any time. Man or woman, child or elder, all across covens and specialties. It just targets the strongest and no one knows why."
"Anything you wanna add, Willow?" Luz chuckled nervously.
"I kind of wonder if we should be flattered that it attacked us or just terrified," Willow commented seriously.
The Scarbury slammed its foot and hiss-shrieked again, the ground rumbling in response. The witchlings all shifted their weight to compensate, but the damage was done. The quake had formed an opening and the Scarbury lunged in the blink of an eye to crash into Amity and send her careening into the treeline with a pained shout. Hunter, trained in combat, reflexively struck out with his staff and targeted the creature's knee, but it seemed to flow around the wood and lashed out to strike him away before lunging into the air and getting distance to rush back down.
Hunter teleported out of the way in a streak of yellow light, his training taking over completely and leaving his new friends to fend for themselves. He reflexively channeled a beam of lightning-esque destructive magic at the Scarbury that it wove around before lashing out at Gus, who dispersed into mist to reveal an illusion. As he spun his staff and struck out, Lil Rascal wreathed in fiery power, Hunter marveled, and grimaced, at how different using his new staff felt against using his mechanical one. This was going to make the fight harder.
And as he thought and fought, his friends were not idle. Luz triggered a light glyph to form a burst of light that blinded the Scarbury, then crumpled three ice glyphs in a move she had seen Lilith use and had practiced since, conjuring three large spikes of ice that darted at the demon and slashed its hide to draw out a pained hiss.
Gus had apparently taken his own advice from before the Looking-Glass Ruins and, while still focusing on Illusion magic, had broadened his horizons a bit. He spun his staff and sent bolts of blue-white lightning — real lightning — that battered and burned the Scarbury. They also tired him out, as unused to real effects as he was, but he conjured an illusory mist to cloud the creature's vision and make it harder to land it hit on his friends. Just as he'd done to Gavin the week before.
Willow traced a huge spell circle with her staff and summoned a massive cluster of thorny vines that crisscrossed above them, severely restricting the Scarbury's ability to fly. And while she maintained that with her staff in one hand, the other turned a seed into a long vine she lashed out with like a whip.
And as Amity jumped back into the fray, she summoned an Abomination twice her size and decked in basic metal armor and sent it roaring at the Scarbury to attack it directly. Then she formed gauntlets of Abomination clay over her hands and forearms so that she could attack it herself.
With all of this and his own barrage of spells, Hunter actually felt hope light in his heart. These kids younger than him, with no official combat training, were fighting an infamous and dreaded demon with cooperation and teamwork that most of his fellows in the Emperor's Coven could hardly dream of.
Which naturally meant it wouldn't last.
The Scarbury, seemingly fed up with the struggle, burst into a massive swarm of moths that writhed and roiled around them all, blinding and disorienting them. Then it came back together with all of its superficial wounds repaired as if they had never happened. It hissed its battlecry again, and the ground split open as steam burst from the ground and scalded the witchlings to further confused them. And then, as if to one-up itself, poisonous red light pooled around its talons and it slashed at the Abomination that crumbled to inert sludge at its touch, then struck at the web of thorns that trapped it on the ground that withered and rotted in seconds.
"It disrupts magic," Hunter whispered in horror.
That had been a quick leap in logic, but it was sound. What happened next was sheer intuition, a gut instinct. Though he should never have been able to notice, Hunter felt the Scarbury turn its attention to the one who had tried to trap it: Willow. Hunter was moving before he could think about it, forming a protective shell of yellow magic as he jumped between the "Mothman" and Willow, those long black talons slicing through his shield like soft wood and knocking him away. He slammed into a tree with a cry of agony, feeling his arm snap like a wet branch.
"HUNTER!" Willow cried out in shock and fear, rushing for her friend without considering where she was. The Scarbury tried to strike at her turned back, but was interrupted by another Abomination grabbing its arm, only to be sliced in half that melted into more useless goo.
"We're not done!" Luz shouted, clapping two plant glyphs that sprouted viney tendrils to try and ensnare the beast.
Willow jammed her staff into the ground as she knelt next to Hunter. She bit her lip at the sight of his arm purple and swelling, and his teeth clenched as he struggled to bite back any sounds of pain. Despair began to grip her heart as she looked up, back at her friends who were desperately battling a demon that seemed unable to be killed.
And as the despair and hopelessness seemed to reach its peak … she remembered her goal in life. The one that had drawn Clover to her: I want to be strong and wise to protect everyone that I love. Willow stood up as her despair burned away in the wake of sheer, searing fury. And if anyone gets in my way, they'll feel the sting of defeat.
Oh, this thing that threatened her and hers would certainly feel that sting.
Power suffused Willow and her eyes began to shine with solid emerald light, raw magic being drawn into her from all around her instead of inwardly from her bile sac. She took up her staff and felt Clover's buzzing support burning with ire at this threat to her partner and friends. A strange human turn of phrase came unbidden to her mind, but in a haze of protective instinct she took hold of it with relish.
Like a moth to a flame.
Willow snarled and raised her arms, her staff glowing with magic, and out of the ground burst a crowd of blazing bushes, the oily leaves igniting and writhing to sling globules of flame in accordance with Willow's overpowering will: at the Scarbury.
As burning oil splashed against it, the Scarbury cried out again, not a hissing challenge this time but a wail of pain. It tried to disperse into a swarm, but the moths were still burning and spreading the licking tongues until it reformed and wailed again. Gus picked up on the idea and conjured an illusion of a wall of fire surrounding them and pressing in on them, making sure the Scarbury felt the illusory heat. Luz and Amity, on the other hand, formed very real flames and cast them at the demon to further frighten and sear it.
As the Scarbury's wails of agony grew higher and higher, Willow screamed in challenging rage. More vines, her instinctual response, burst from the ground and tried to bind the demon and drag it to the ground to face its fate.
In a final act of defiance, the Scarbury hissed its cry again … and the sky was suffused with blinding light and deafening sound as lightning struck all around the clearing. The force of it drove the witchlings to their knees as they covered their ears and screwed their eyes shut. And it gave the Scarbury time to flee for its unnatural life.
Everyone's breathing was ragged as the adrenaline began to fade, their movements sluggish and eyes drooping. The intimidating light in Willow's eyes faded, dribbles of blood running from her nose, and she folded to her knees before collapsing to the grass like a felled tree. Hunter's eyes, though, were wide open. He had gotten the pain under enough control to witness everything, had seen the terrifying display of Willow's rage … and clear, unambiguous wild magic.
But that wasn't important. What was important was that Willow was on the ground and no doubt hurt. He clenched his teeth and supported his broken arm as he dragged himself to Willow's side with the other, nausea keeping him from standing. The others gathered around them as Hunter shakily felt Willow's pulse and put his palm in front of her nose to check for breath.
"She's alive," he bit out. "Just exhausted." And like that, his eyes rolled into the back of his head and he passed out too.
Can I just say how amazing "Eclipse Lake" was?! I mean, it throws my work into definite AU territory but that doesn't matter - it was excellent!
*The Scarbury demon was heavily based on the cryptid known as [the] Mothman first seen in Pleasant Point, West Virginia. In this continuity, the Scarbury is the Mothman that was transported from the Boiling Isles to Earth and back. The term "Scarbury" was inspired by Roger and Linda Scarberry, the first people to sight the Mothman. His ability to cause devesation is inspired by the mothman being tied to several disaterous events, most famously the collapse of the Silver Point Bridge in Ohio.
I hope you all liked this! Leave a review if you had something you liked in particular. And have a wonderful day!