Luz, Amity and Eda moved cautiously through one of the abandoned quarries on the edge of the city. They had already searched three different quarries that afternoon for a mysterious signal that Lilith had detected but so far they were drawing a blank, "Maybe this is one of Those Lilith lessons", Amity suggested, "like a test of our patience or something".
Rolling her eyes, Eda responded, "We wouldn't be here without a good reason".
Luz meanwhile was trying to sense any additional presences in the area. Sighing in frustration, she reached for her communicator, "Lilith there's nothing out here", she began, "are you sure the signal's still in the area".
"I find you lack of faith disturbing", Lilith snarked back, "the energy signature's still out there and its similar to the ones to us".
"Us?" Amity asked.
"No everyone's currently accounted for", Lilith replied, "the signal's getting stronger and it's moved to about 300 hundred meters to the north east".
"Fine", Eda groaned, "we'll keep looking but if we don't find anything in the next ten minutes we're coming back", she abruptly cut off communications and pointed in the direction Lilith had given them.
Looking down over the Owl trio, Golden guard and Silver knight ready to fight. The duo shook their heads as the Owl house crew continued their fruitless search, "Look at them", Golden Guard began, "two hours of searching and they haven't even thought to look up".
"As much fun as it is leading those guys on a wild goose chase", Silver knight began, "shall we get this over with? I'd like to finish this off before dinner time".
Golden Guard nodded and pulled his staff off his back, "I'm thinking pizza at tonight", he joked and the pair jumped down to the floor below.
The Owl House trio were startled when the two landed in front of them. For a few moments no one moved as a silent tension descended on the quarry. "No way", Luz broke the silence, "man you guys are dumb", she slowly began to approach the newcomers.
"Guys keep back", Eda called out but it was too late. Luz reached out towards Silver knight, "Look we don't want any trouble", Eda added.
"What if we do?" Silver knight sneered, he turned to Luz and kicked her hard in the stomach. Luz was pushed back but she didn't fall down, instead she staggered into line with Eda.
"Hey that wasn't called for", Amity began.
Golden guard swung his staff towards the unprepared teenage but fortunately for her, Eda intercepted it with her own staff, "At least one of you isn't incompetent", he said to the Eda.
"I don't want to hurt you", Eda spat, "but you leaving me no choice".
"Trust me, you won't hurt us", Silver knight chuckled and blasted Eda in the arm. Eda dropped her stance which left her open to a stiff kick in the ribs from Golden guard. Eda rolled across the ground and held her chest in pain, "This is your final warning", Silver knight continued, "surrender now".
The three Owl house witches froze for a moment but all it took was a silent look between them to decide on their next course of action. They quickly charged, attempting to confuse the Golden Guard and Silver Knight. Golden Guard though just scoffed at the trick and pointed to spot above the Silver Knight's head. They both opened fire, the duo stopped the Owl House crew in their tracks. The trio skidded across the dirt in a heap, "Using Emperor's coven tactics against us", the Silver Knigt called out, "not going to work. Seriously did you morons fail magic 101 or something".
"These guys are getting on my last nerve", Eda was quickly on her feet and unleashed a barrage of kicks against the arrogant Silver Knight. A couple of blows found their target but on the whole, Silver Knight was equal to Eda, Silver Knight caught Eda's arm and twisted it behind her back. He pushed Eda away and shot her back. Eda cried out in pain and fell to the ground.
Golden Guard meanwhile was caught in a two on one battle against Amity and Lux. The Golden Guard leapt over Amity and blocked her next attack, "I do like a feisty woman", Golden Guard chuckled as he grabbed the girl's wrist.
Amity wrenched he arm free and kicked Golden Guard in the abdomen, perhaps a little further south than the Golden Guard was expecting, "Feisty enough for you", she spat back.
"Trust me sweetheart, we're just getting warmed up", Golden Guard groaned and dropped to the ground. The pair thought he was defeated but instead Golden Guard shot at the back of their legs. Amity and Luz stumbled backwards, giving the Golden Guard enough time to leap back to his feet. His weapon crackled with dark green energy. He fired at the two teenagers and it caught them across the chest. The extra energy charge knocked the pair into the air and they crashed back to earth with mighty thud.
"This is even more disappointing then I thought it would be", Silver Knight sighed. He surveyed the fallen witches but to his surprise, they were slowly getting to their feet, "They're a resilient bunch aren't they", he said.
"We have been going easy on them", Golden Guard added, "maybe it's time to show them the true power of the Emperor's coven". The pair raised their staffs, and charged them with blue and green energy. They waited for the witches to get to their feet and unleashed the blast at the unsuspecting trio.
When the attack hit the Owl House trio it felt like every single muscle in their body was crying out in pain. The surge felt like it was going on forever but it was their bodies that finally gave out. Their legs crumpled underneath them and they fell to the ground. Amity coughed deeply and Luz twitched involuntarily, residual energy still surging through his system. "Listen up Owl House", Golden Guard began, "there's no way your going to stop us".
"Yea", Silver Knight added, "the choice is yours, stay out of our way or face the consequences".
"We'll be ready for round two", Golden Guard chuckled to himself, "will you?" The duo turned around and walked away leaving the Owl House trio exposed in the middle of the quarry.
Owl House
"Man that sucked", Luz groaned. She held an ice pack to the back of her head to reduce some bruising from the attack, "Look, my arm's still twitching", the finger's on her left hand spasmed periodically.
The Trio still weren't sure how they made it back to base. A mixture of resilience and self preservation had seen them arrive at the edge of City. King picked them up in the flying bathtub and flew them the rest of the way as they were too exhausted to move another inch. None of them had suffered any serious injuries, the most damage they had sustained was to their egos, "I get the feeling they were holding back", Amity added as she stretched a couple of stiff muscles in her neck.
"We were ambushed", Eda hissed, "and they were toying with us", she shook her head, "fucking Belos".
"Emotions are high on both sides", Lilith interjected to their conversation but aimed her words at the whole group. "Both sides have lost some of them will not be returned to us". She paused to let that sink in, "The Emperor's coven fight with passion and they believe their cause is the right one. Sadly that is a potentially dangerous mix for us. I would suggest we seek out an old legend, hopefully they can help us strengthen our failing magic".
"That should be our first priority", Eda added she looked at her watch, "I need sleep".
Lilith and King watched Luz, Amity and Eda leave, "Great, just when we thought this couldn't get any worst", King grumbled.
"We ha to get stronger", Lilith replied, "either way Luz's glyph magic can't get us threw this ".
