Just below the top jaw of the Titan, smoke, and steam billowed up from the earth, the ground around the cavern entrance was a mixture of black volcanic soil and sharp rocks that shone like glass when the sun hit them. Even from up in the air Luz could hear the billows of the geyser fields below as she flew into the dead being's skull, she emerged over a small town that sat on the edges of a glittering cyan and emerald spring lined by orange minerals.

It reminded her of the Grand Prismatic Spring in Yellowstone, a place she visited with her parents when she was a little girl.

"Dad would have loved the view from up here," Luz said softly as she flew down to land amongst the small cluster of buildings that sat on the northern edge of the spring, which all sat on large steel stilts and were interconnected by a series of wooden walkways.

As she landed, she took out her map and unfurled it, unaware of the cloaked figure watching her from a nearby rooftop.

"Alright, Owlbert." She began as the palismen perched on her shoulder. "Robin said we need to find a shop called Malon's Restorative Elixirs, apparently they harvest the minerals from this spring to create one of the most rejuvenating bath bombs ever!"

Luz rounded a corner, stopping dead in her tracks when she was the cloaked figure in front of her.

"Hello human." He said as he summoned his staff to his hand.

Luz put her map away and started walking forward, a determined scowl on her face as Owlbert returned to his place on her staff.

"I bet you're wondering how I found you, well a little birdy in the town market told me you'd be coming here and now-" He said, summoning his staff with a flourish. "it's time for us to settle this once and for-HMPH"

Luz placed a hand on the figure's golden mask and moved him to the side with hardly any effort.

"Otra vez Hunter?! Do we have to do this now? I have things to do!" She grumbled as she continued walking down the street. Hunter sputtered and grumbled as he took his mask off in a huff.

"That was rude."

"I'm not in the mood for your monologues and devil may care attitude. I'm gonna need to get a rain check on…whatever this is." Luz told him, gesturing to the air around her.

She and Hunter had been enemies for a long time, to the point where an encounter with him was more of an annoyance than anything else. He was always content to toy with her rather than fight her in a meaningful way.

"First off, I spent all morning practicing that monologue in case Kikimora had her spies following me again. Which leads to my second point, I'm here to warn you."

"Warn me about what?" Luz asked, stopping and turning around.

"The Blight's have hired an assassin to kill you," Hunter said flatly as he stowed his staff.

Luz's right eye twitched as she groaned.

"Whyyy."

The young man sighed.

"They find you a threat to their family lineage as well as previously established social norms and class-"

"That was a rhetorical question."

"Oh, sorry."

Luz raised an eyebrow, pointing a finger at him.

"Here's a real question though, why did you come all the way out here to tell me that?"

Hunter turned away from her.

"You getting killed before the Day of Unity would be bad for The Emperor's plans…and for me."

Luz shook her head.

"You're a real pal Hunter. A real pal."

"What are you doing out here anyway?" He asked her.

"I'm getting something for Amity."

"It wouldn't happen to be a bath bomb would it?"

"Uh…what if it was?"

"I would then ask if you were planning on getting it from Malon's Restorative Elixirs."

"What if I said that's exactly where I was planning on getting it from?"

Hunter sighed as he started walking.

"You're going to want to follow me."

The pair walked through the town in silence for several minutes before coming to a large storefront that looked like it had been ripped open from the inside by a massive explosion. Embers drifted off piles of splintered wood, and shattered glass was scattered all over the wooden walkway which had large pawprints charred into the surface.

Sitting on the steps of the shop was a red-haired woman, bent over and hugging her legs as she sobbed while frightened onlookers did their best to put out the small fires that burned on the walkway and inside the shop itself.

"What happened here?" Luz asked.

Hunter shrugged.

"I just got here. Same as you."

Luz walked over to the crying woman and sat down next to her while her companion kept his distance.

"Excuse me, are you ok? Are you hurt?"

The woman looked up and shook her head.

"I wasn't harmed during the…the attack." She managed.

"What happened?"

"It was my wife. We were getting ready to open up for the day when all of sudden she was swallowed up by a column of flame and when it disappeared, some horrific beast was standing in her place."

"Probably a curse," Hunter said flatly. "Doesn't your wife have an elixir she uses to control it?"

"I don't know. She never even told me she was living with a curse."

Hunter huffed in annoyance.

"This complicates things."

"I saw the beast! The last I saw her, she was running towards the caldera. I've only seen a creature like that once in my life and it can only be one thing! That woman was cursed with a firefang hex!"

"Hunter, does that ring a bell?" Luz asked earnestly.

He nodded.

"Basically, the longer she stays transformed the more dangerous she becomes. Soon she'll be so strong it will take an entire army to stop her."

"What do we do?"

"Deal with her before it gets to that point." He said before turning towards the north.

"No!" The red-headed woman sobbed as she jumped to her feet

"Malon we don't have a choice!" One of the townspeople yelled.

The small crowd was quick to turn on one another, and a shouting match erupted amongst the townspeople as Luz stormed over to Hunter and grabbed his arm.

"Hey hang on, you need to stop and think about this."

The young man scowled at her and yanked his arm away from her grip.

"Luz look at this place! You know as well as I do, she needs to be stopped."

"I agree but we need to find a way to do that without hurting her."

Hunter rolled his eyes and crossed his arms.

"You know Luz, you may be a skilled witch but you're unbearably naïve. Sooner or later you're gonna have to learn that you can't solve everything by being nice."

Luz grabbed him by the front of his cloak, and held him in place even as he tried to pull himself free.

"Let me be clear then, I'm doing this my way, Hunter. If you want to help me, you're more than welcome to. Otherwise, go home or stay out of my way." She shoved him back and started walking away. "Don't give me an excuse to fight you, especially after what you tried to do to Amity at Eclipse Lake."

Hunter groaned and looked at his palismen who was now perched on his shoulder.

"Don't give me that look."

The cardinal's gaze remained locked on him before cocking its head to the side ever so slightly. Hunter shook his head before he started to follow Luz.

"This is such a stupid idea."

As he caught up to Luz, she looked back at him over her shoulder.

"So you're going to help me?"

"I'm going to do what I need to do to keep you alive."

"Well, I'll take what I can get at this point."

"Wait!" A voice called, making them both stop in their tracks.

"Please, I beg you don't hurt my Kiri. Please!" Malon said as she ran up to them, both her hands clasped together.

"I'm going to do everything I can to bring her home to you safely, I promise," Luz assured her, putting a hand on her shoulder.

"I have something that might help. I have no idea if it will work but it's the only thing I can think of." She explained, pulling a small teal-colored ceramic instrument out of her pocket and handing it to Luz who carefully took it into her hands.

"An ocarina?" She asked.

Malon nodded, smiling fondly at the instrument.

"I learned to play this to impress her. She's in the bard coven."

Luz held the instrument up to her lips and played a short song, an almost melancholic tune with an air of mystery to it, like the notes themselves were trying to call for lost memories of times long past.

"You play?" The red-haired woman asked.

Luz nodded.

"A friend taught me. They're in the bard coven too."

"How is this supposed to help us exactly?" Hunter asked.

"I learned a song on this ocarina when I asked Kiri out for the first time, and when I asked her to marry me. If my Kiri can be saved, this song will make her come home to me."

Malon held her clasped hand to her chest and whistled a short song and when she was done, Luz repeated the song on the ocarina. The notes were full of emotion, from sweeping ecstatic highs to mournful lows before ending on a soft hopeful note, as if the song itself was asking: Would you spend the rest of your life with me?

As Luz lowered the ocarina, she wiped a tear from her face.

"It's a beautiful song."

"It pales in comparison to my Kiri's music; I hope you can hear it for yourself one day," Malon replied as Luz put the ocarina away and summoned her staff.

"We'll be back soon, with Kiri. I promise." She assured her before taking off into the sky with Hunter close behind.

Once they were high above the town, he shook his head at her.

"Don't make promises you can't keep Luz."

"Cállate." She replied before she spurred Owlbert to fly faster.

Counting down the hours now hermosa!

Amity melted a little inside when she read that only for a familiar voice to pull her gaze away from her scroll

"Hey, Amity?" Viney asked, her arm stretched into the air. "I could use some help."

Amity sprang to her feet and pulled up a chair next to Viney's desk, who started explaining before she could even sit down.

"So in this story, there is this king and his kingdom is on the verge of revolution. He catches the rebel's leader and has him dead to rights in the dungeon, but he ends up sparing his life while all his advisors warned him that this would guarantee the continuation of the revolution, but it doesn't. The rebellion disbands and things go back to normal. My teacher wants to know how this shows how powerful the king is but here's the thing, I don't think this shows how powerful he is. I think it just makes him seem stupid. That was a huge risk to take!"

Amity smiled as she picked up the novel and opened it up, flipping through the pages.

"I remember this book, my mom hates it for the same reason. She says the ending doesn't make sense to her. I didn't get it either, not at first anyway." She explained as she reached the halfway point of the novel.

"Do you remember this chapter?" Amity asked, tapping on the page as Viney leaned in and squinted at the words on the page.

"Yeah vaguely. It's the king recounting the death of his father, right?"

Amity nodded.

"Exactly. He died after he killed one of his advisors for conspiring with a rival kingdom that was funneling weapons and supplies to the rebels. The same rebels who he is fighting in the present day."

Amity could see the gears in Viney's head-turning.

"So why do you think the king spared the rebel leader?"

Viney's eyes widened, and she looked at her friend, but the smallness of her voice told Amity she wasn't confident in her answer.

"He knew how it would end?"

Amity smiled at her.

"Yes, you got it! The thing that I took away from this book is that power is viewed by many as being able to use freely. To knock down obstacles in your way. To make things the way you want them to be no matter what anyone else says and that can be true, but a lot of people don't realize another element of power is knowing when to use it and how to use it."

"Just like magic, it doesn't matter how powerful of a witch you are, if you're just throwing spells around willy nilly, you won't help anyone," Viney said quickly.

"I think you just found what to write about it," Amity said as her student picked up their pencil and hurriedly wrote down her thoughts.

"You're the best Amity!" She said as she wrote while Amity went back to her desk and picked up her scroll, checking the time. There were only a few hours left now.

Luz groaned as she trudged across the rocky surface of the caldera that sat in the back of the Titan's skull. The air wreaked of sulfur and the heat from the scattered pools of lava was so oppressive it hurt just to breathe. Her eyes and lips were dry and her clothes were drenched in sweat.

"We must be getting close." She announced as they continued following a trail of large pawprints to the center of the massive crater.

"We better be," Hunter replied as a red tendril of lightning cut across the sky. "That storm is getting worse."

The two hiked in a silence that was only broken when one of them burst into a coughing fit triggered by the smoke and ash in the air before Hunter started up a conversation.

"How's your girlfriend been?"

"She's doing good," Luz said, letting some warmth and pride seep into her voice. "We'll be celebrating our first anniversary soon."

"Exciting. Is that why you're helping Malon? Do she and Kiri remind you of you and Amity?"

"I'm helping them because it's the right thing to do," Luz said earnestly.

"How touching. Part of me wonders if Amity has been keeping anything like that from you."

Luz shook her head forcefully.

"No way. We tell each other everything."

Hunter scoffed.

"I bet that's what Malon thought this morning."

Luz stopped and pivoted to face her companion, fire in her eyes.

"I don't get you, Hunter. You're helping me one minute and then you're trying to make me feel like garbage the next. What part of you thinks it's ok to treat people this way?"

"I'm just trying to give some advice to a friend." He replied sharply.

His uncle had always taught him that people would get defensive when they knew they were wrong, even if it was buried in their subconscious. It was why he was so hard on him because he needed him to understand where he was coming from.

Luz Noceda was a lot of things, but he knew she wasn't stupid.

So why?

Why couldn't she see he was trying to help her?

Just like his uncle helped him!

Her cold response provided at least part of an answer.

"As long as you're helping Belos you and I are not friends."

He gripped his staff tightly, remembering his uncle's words.

Some people are going to hate you for what you represent, but in time, they'll see you were only trying to help them. The ones who don't…need to be dealt with.

"Well…that's a shame," Hunter said as he brushed past her, a hint of sadness in his voice.

"Yeah, it is," Luz muttered before the ground beneath them started to roll like they were standing on a giant waterbed.

Lighting flashed as a hot dry wind swept through the caldera, and its howl superseded by another far more animalistic.

Hunter summoned his staff to his side.

"Get ready." He growled as the ground in front of them cracked open, revealing a wolf-like creature rising out of the lava, which rolled off it like water. The wolf's 'fur' was composed of jagged fragments of black obsidian, its silver claws had the texture of liquid mercury and its thee eyes blazed red like the lighting that filled the sky above them.

The wolf howled as it burst into flames before it started galloping towards them, snarling and snapping as it thundered across the barren surface of the caldera.

"What's your plan, human?"

"We need to lock her down, then I'll use the Ocarina!" Luz said as she pulled out two construction glyphs and slammed them down onto the floor. The earth underneath her feet trembled as two large cuffs of rock wrapped themselves around the charging creature's wrists forcing it to stop.

The wolf roared in fury as it struggled against its bonds, the roar turning into a chillingly feminine scream as it reached the end, making Luz's blood run cold as the creature smashed its head into the stone, shattering it in a few strikes before using its free hand to destroy its other restraint before it launched itself forward, less like the pounce of a seasoned hunter and more like a desperate lunge. As the creature landed it, it snapped at Hunter who scrambled to get away while Luz pressed an invisibility glyph to her chest and rushed away from the flailing creature.

"You sure we wanna stick with that?!" Hunter called as he flew up into the air.

"Yes, distract her!" Luz said as she reappeared before slamming down another construction glyph, a shockwave ripping across the caldera's floor. The blackened rock and stone were crushed into sand within the blink of an eye. The tremors drew the gaze of the firefang which stopped trying to snatch Hunter out of the air and surged towards Luz, opening its mouth and shooting a jet of flame at Luz.

The witch smashed the clay disk in her gauntlet and raised her shield as the flames struck and encompassed her entire body in broiling heat. She could smell her burning hair. The force of the flames forced her backward as she reached into her pocket and pulled out a plant glyph and slapped it against her shoes. Vines shot out and wrapped around both of her feet, anchoring her to the ground.

"Luz!"

Behind the creature, Hunter raised his staff to attack, knowing if his aim was true, he could land a killing blow to the back of the creature's head but hesitated as she felt Luz's gaze fall on him even through the flames she was engulfed in.

"Hunter! Don't hurt her!" She yelled.

The young man shouted angrily before he attacked, a ball of fire shooting from the top of his staff and striking the sandpit his companion had created and turned it to glass before firing a concussive ball of energy from his staff, striking the creature in the back.

"Hey hey over here!" He shouted as the beast spun around, allowing Luz to finally lower her shield, its surface layer shimmering like polished glass and letting Luz see her reflection on the edges while the firefang slipped and slid across the glassy surface that it was now surrounded by.

Luz's arms were shaking and the heat from the beast had been so intense she had almost passed out, as another lighting bolt cut through the sky, Luz looked up and studied that bolt as it was in flight, remembering how she had helped her father study for his bi-annual flight reviews as a child, pacing back in forth in his office with a handful of flashcards while he sat behind his desk.

List the three factors needed to create a thunderstorm.

Moisture, lifting action, and an unstable atmosphere.

Good job papa, you got it!

I did? Awesome! High five!

Yeah!

As her hand met her father's, thunder boomed and shook her from her stupor and even as the lighting bolt fizzled out, she could make out a glyph in the clouds above. She hurriedly drew it on a spare card, and as the glyph took form, the hair on her head stood up on end and the smell of sulfur and smoke was overcome by the smell of ozone.

She looked up from the card to see Hunter being swatted out of the sky by the firefang, striking so hard he bounced before he came tumbling to a stop and fear seized her heart. She wanted to get Kiri home, but she knew that she had to get home too, some people needed her. People who loved her. Her thoughts drifted to her mother, who came home one day and fell on the couch, not even changing out of her scrubs.

She had lost a patient that day.

A 7-year-old Akita who developed GDV commonly referred to as stomach bloat.

I don't know how you do it. I feel like if I ever lost just one, I would just want to give up.

Mija, one thing this job teaches you is that you can't save anyone, but that doesn't mean you don't try to.

Luz looked at the glyph in her hand before instinctively throwing it into the air and pulling out her staff, spinning it around as the sky split and a lightning bolt streaked towards her, striking the staff and bouncing forward, impacting the ground between the Kiri and Hunter, creating a wall of crystalized sand between them as the crack of thunder shook the bones in her body and temporarily deafened her.

Kiri turned and charged back toward the witch who stowed her staff and pulled out two construction glyphs and slammed them together over her head, making a crescent-shaped wall of rock envelope her, almost like a stage, before she came to a stop and pulled out her ocarina.

"Luz no!" Hunter shouted, forcing himself to stand. "Get out of the way, this isn't worth your life!"

Kiri roared as Luz brought the ocarina to her lips and she started to play, one long mournful note which resonated through the stone behind her, the sound carrying out across the caldera. Kiri snarled as she picked up speed, but Luz stood her ground, starting to play the song Malon had taught her. Kiri roared again and threw herself forward, landing just a few feet in front of Luz who continued to play as Kiri rose to full height, her three eyes locked on the young woman before she put her head back and let out a long, lonely howl.

Luz stopped the song as Kiri's gaze fell back on her before she started slowly walking forward and before flopping down in front of her and howling again.

Luz followed suit and matched her pitch, surprising Kiri who looked at her expectantly.

The young witch took a breath before playing the first few notes of Malon's song and stopping.

Kiri looked at her quizzically before howling again, the pitch of her voice struggling to match the ocarina, but Luz took this as a sign of progress and continued with the song and Kiri matched her as best as she could.

As Luz played the song, her thoughts drifted to Amity. From their dance together at grom, and the night they finally became a couple, to late-night confessions about past scars and traumas. Her mind carried her forward to the future she hoped for, a life with Amity.

Slowly, Kiri began to shrink as the flames that covered her body flickered out and the obsidian shards that covered her skin crumbled to dust, leaving the form of a blue-skinned three-eyed woman with a long-braided ponytail lying face down in the sand. Luz dropped to one knee and covered her with her cloak before looking up to see Hunter hobbling over.

"I can't believe that worked." He said, still clearly shaken from the battle.

"Me neither," Luz admitted earning a chuckle from her companion.

"Are all humans as crazy as you?"

Luz scoffed.

"Not even close." She replied before helping a groaning Kiri to her feet.

"Where am I?" She asked.

"You're in the Titan's Skull, You're curse flared up and-"

Kiri gasped, her eyes darting around as she grabbed onto Luz.

"My curse? Oh no, is my wife ok? Is Malon-"

"Malon is fine, but she is really worried about you," Luz said as she put an arm around her.

"Come on, let's get you home."

The flight back to Titan's Maw was uneventful, but their landing in front of Malon's Restorative Elixirs drew quite the crowd. As Hunter limped away from the crowd to tend to his wounds, Luz watched as a red-haired woman shove her way past confused onlookers.

"Kiri!" She said as she crashed into her wife, tears running down her face,

"Mal, I'm so sorry I didn't tell you." She whimpered as her wife held her close.

"It's ok, you're safe and you get to come home with me tonight. That's all that matters."

Malon turned to look at Luz, her voice full of relief.

"Thank you so much for bringing her back to me. I don't know how we can ever repay you."

Luz just smiled sheepishly at the couple.

"It's ok! My dad taught me that you should never hesitate to help someone in need."

Kiri shook her head.

"There's got to be something we can give you. How about Malon shows you what we have in the store. There's probably not much left but you're free to help yourself to anything you fancy." She began. "That also gives me some time to find a change of clothes so I can give you your cloak back."

The three chuckled before Luz followed them into the store, where Kiri went off to a back room while Malon pulled out a small wooden chest.

"I did manage to save one of these!" She said opening it up to reveal four different bath bombs, eight pairs of candles with a variety of scents, and three small jars of water.

Malon tapped on the water jars with a finger.

"These are great, they are enchanted bottles with water right from the spring. It's like having a whole hot spring in a bottle. It's one of the most popular items we sell." She explained.

"I'll take it. This is exactly what I was looking for when I came here. Thank you, Malon."

"Thank you uh…I don't think I ever got your name."

"Luz. Luz Noceda."

"Well thank you Luz Noceda for keeping your promise," Malon said as Kiri walked out of the backroom in a fresh set of clothes with Luz's cloak draped over her arm.

"Here you go, kid." She said, handing the young woman her cloak which was riddled with holes, tears, and scorch marks.

"Will you two be ok?" Luz asked as she put the cloak back on.

"We will now," Kiri assured her.

Luz smiled before her eyes went wide.

"Oh!" She yelped, fishing the ocarina out of her pocket. "Almost forgot-"

Malon shook her head.

"You can keep it. One last gift from us to you." She told her.

Kiri chuckled at Luz's concerned expression.

"Don't worry kid, she's got a spare. The one I gave her as a wedding present." She explained as Malon nodded.

"One day you can come back to visit, and we'll play together." Kiri offered.

Luz smiled up at her as she pocketed the instrument.

"I'd like that." She said before pulling out her scroll and checking the time.

"Oh jeez I gotta go, it was nice meeting you!" Luz said as she bolted toward the smoldering hole in the front wall.

"I hope your girlfriend enjoys those bath bombs," Malon called out, making the young witch stop in her tracks and turn around to face them, her cheeks bright red.

"Was it that obvious?"

Malon and Kiri nodded, making Luz laugh as she got going again, coming to a stop when she found Hunter in a dark alley, leaning up against a wall and staring at the ground.

"I suppose you'll be heading home, back to your friends."

Luz pursed her lips before responding.

"That's right."

Hunter sighed and looked up at her with a scowl on his face.

"The next time we meet, we'll be enemies again. I hope you'll be ready."

Luz rolled her eyes.

"Do you think I like fighting with you Hunter? Do you think I enjoy this?" She asked, gesturing to the space between them.

"It's just like when I met Amity. We fought all the time and it sucked! I put on a brave face and told everyone I liked having a rival, I didn't. I never did! I want friends! I have enough enemies back in the human realm!"

Hunter's expression softened ever so slightly as she continued.

"I don't care if you don't like me, I don't care if you hate me, but I'm tired of you toying with my emotions, so if you want to be enemies then get in line, but if you really want to be friends… you know where to find me."

She summoned her staff in the blink of an eye, before zipping into the sky. Flying off towards her next destination.

Hunter watched her go through the sky before feeling as if he had fallen under someone's gaze, a chill running up his spine. He did a quick scan of his surroundings before his palismen chirped at him with concern.

"It's…It's nothing." He insisted as he willed his mask to materialize, examining the face of it for a few seconds before reluctantly placing it over his face and drawing up his hood.

"Come on, let's go home." He said to his palismen but even as he said that the word home sounded hollow.