CONTENT NOTICE: This chapter contains violence with fantasy magic, brief bloodshed, mentioned animal death, implied animal cruelty, and allusion to substance abuse.
"THE LAST GRIMWALKER"
CHAPTER TWO: INTO THE WOODS
The Bat Queen's forest was a safe haven for the hurt, the abused and the outcast. Perhaps that was why Hunter found it so peaceful. Every week, he'd come to the woodland sanctuary to replant palistrom trees, care for the Bat Queen's subjects, and learn the art of palisman carving from his wise and kindly mentor, Dell Clawthorne.
Upon learning of Flapjack's tragic sacrifice, Eda introduced Hunter to her father, who had been seeking a successor to teach the family trade to. Dell immediately took a shine to the boy, and offered him an apprenticeship, which he gladly accepted.
Over the months, Hunter learned the ins and outs of carving, and honed his skills through practice projects, many of which were gifts to his loved ones. A set of spoons for Camila, a hand-painted Captain Avery figurine for Gus, and a lovely flower sculpture for Willow's birthday were among his favorite works. Of course, these were all made from common woods. Today was Hunter's first time working with palistrom.
"Sir, I don't think I'm ready for this..."
Hunter anxiously stared at the cerulean log he held in his shuddering grasp. "What if I mess this up?"
"Then we'll try again. But I don't think you'll need another chance. Look how well you've been doing." Dell gestured to a row of oaken animal carvings—a duck, a frog and a butterfly—all of which were Hunter's handiwork. "Besides, I'll guide you through it."
"Thanks, Mr. Clawthorne." Hunter replied, a wave of relief coming over him. His whole life, he walked on eggshells around his cruel and abusive first mentor. Thankfully, Dell was a kind, patient tutor, which was truly a Titan-send.
"Now, what are you going to carve?"
For the next couple hours, Hunter carefully shaped and whittled the wood with his knives and chisels, while Dell supervised. However, the elder Clawthrone rarely needed to assist him, as the boy was quite the quick learner. When he finished, the palistrom was carved into a familiar avian shape.
"Beautiful." Dell complimented. "You did such a good job."
"I couldn't have done it without you." Hunter replied, a smile clear on his scarred face; Dell's accolades were soothing music to his pointed ears.
"It was no problem. We Clawthornes specialize in birds. Isn't that right, Gregor?" The old carver mused. The yellow cardinal palisman on his shoulder twittered happily in reply. "So, are you going to paint it?"
Dell handed Hunter a small paintbrush, and a palette holding a wide variety of hues. At first, Hunter's eyes were caught by a familiar shade of scarlet. He took the paintbrush and reached towards the red dye, but stopped just short of it.
Hunter looked back at his carving; it had a striking resemblance to the fallen friend who helped him find himself. He knew all too well what it was like to be made in the image of a lost loved one—to be seen as somebody he wasn't. He couldn't do that to Flapjack, or his new companion. Instead, he dipped his brush in a dollop of blue paint, and began to make something unique.
As the paint dried, Hunter examined the end result of his artistic decision. The bird was painted to resemble the markings of a blue jay. He'd seen them flying around Gravesfield Park, or pecking around in the trees by the clubhouse. Sometimes they'd even come to Camila's feeders for a meal. They were beautiful birds, and a perfect pick for a palisman.
"It comes to life when I tell it what I want, right?" Hunter queried. Of course, he knew a lot about palismen thanks to the books on them he read, but it never hurt to ask an expert. Dell nodded affirmatively in response, and the carver's apprentice inhaled deeply as he approached his lifeless creation.
"Well, I wanted to learn wild magic, carve palismen, study at Hexside, and play Flyer Derby, but I'm already doing all that now. What I really want...is for you to be my friend."
After a tense few seconds, the idle carving began to glow a radiant white. Awestruck, Hunter gasped, and involuntarily began tapping his feet on the ground out of pure, unadulterated excitement. After what felt like an eternity, the light faded away, revealing a living bird.
Hunter was at a loss of words, as the jay on the workbench stared into his soul. The blonde-haired boy cautiously reached out to the palisman, who hopped into his palm, and warbled cheerfully. Amazed and overjoyed, he held her up to admire her, tears of joy welling in his eyes.
Without warning, the bird fluttered up to Hunter's face, and tried to eat the forelock of hair hanging down from it! Startled, Hunter stumbled back and fell on his rear end, causing Dell to chuckle. As the blue jay exuberantly hovered around her creator, Hunter beamed, ecstatic to have a new companion.
"Welcome to the world, Waffles..."
Waffles was fast asleep in her nest atop Hunter's nightstand, when she was awakened by the sound of someone sneaking in through the window. Luckily, it wasn't a home invader. It was merely Hunter, back from his six-hour vigil.
Excited to see her master, Waffles flitted up to him and chirped happily. Not wanting to cause too much noise, Hunter shushed her, and held his hand out for her to perch on. "I missed you too, girl." Hunter whispered, then placed a kiss on the little jay's head. He'd had Waffles for only a month, but she already meant the world to him.
Hunter set Waffles back down in her nest, then stripped off his handmade vigilante outfit. He then examined his exposed body in the mirror. Despite his scrap with Black Fang, he sustained no major injuries during his patrol. Whatever minor scrapes and bruises he had could simply be explained as Flyer Derby mishaps.
After putting on his pajamas, Hunter took out a box from his closet, and stashed his costume inside. He never had a name for his masked persona; "Scarlet Sentinel" was just what the public called it. Titles came with expectations, and with them, consequences. He found it more liberating to protect the Isles from the shadows, as a witch with no name.
Hunter put the box back where it came from, and climbed into bed. "Goodnight, Waffles." The palisman chirped goodnight back, and Hunter closed his eyes, ready to drift off to sleep.
Alas, he couldn't get a wink of the stuff; not with all the questions he had. As Hunter tossed and turned, thousands of thoughts raced through his mind at top speed. For one, Viney's friend Jerbo was among the ever-growing number of missing citizens. That answered why she was so ill-tempered while playing Flyer Derby, but it raised even more questions.
Hunter had stalked the mean streets of Bonesborough every night, yet he never witnessed any kidnappings. Who was responsible for all these missing civilians? Where were they taking them? Why did they send Black Fang? And whose hands did the Golden Guard staff fall into? Hunter didn't have any answers to these puzzling mysteries. What he did have, however, was a lead...
Hunter walked through the hallowed halls of Hexside, his palisman perched on his shoulder. School may have been out, but by popular demand, the campus remained open to the public. Viney and her ex-Detention Track buddies usually hung out in their secret hideaway, hence the healer was always early to Flyer Derby practice.
Upon entering the nearest classroom, Hunter drew a square with a keyhole on the chalkboard, and used the chalk as a key to open the hidden door. Inside was a short hallway leading to one of Hexside's most mysterious areas, the Secret Room of Shortcuts.
Hunter had been to the SRoS a few times to celebrate victories with his teammates. While he wasn't as close with Viney as he was with Gus and Willow, she was still an Emerald Entrail, and Entrails stick together.
Hunter knocked on the door, which had an ominous "KEEP OUT" sign hanging on it. "Viney, you hear? It's me, Hunte—"
Before he could finish, the door was flung open by Puddles, who shrieked loudly as she pounced on the former Golden Guard. Outraged, Waffles flapped her wings and squawked harshly at the griffin. She was a hundred percent ready to fight a creature a hundred times her size for Hunter's safety, but before she could do so, an exasperated voice called out.
"Puddles, cut it out! Hunter's a friend." Viney trudged over to her pet, and Hunter looked up at her. She seemed exhausted; her hair was unkempt, her posture slouched, and there were bags beneath her eyes, just like his. She had on an orange tank top, tan shorts, white sneakers, and a jacket the shade of the healing track's blue, all of which had seen better days.
"Can I help you, dude?" The brunette asked.
Hunter stood back up and brushed himself off, as Puddles climbed back onto his shoulder. "Yeah, actually. Can we talk about something?"
"If it's about yesterday, I'm sorry I didn't—"
"It's something else, actually. May I come in?"
"Just make it quick. This really isn't a good time."
Hunter followed Viney into the secret room, while Puddles watched him like a hawk. He looked around the room, and saw not only doors all over the place, but all sorts of items from all over the school. They included potted plants, clay vats of abomination goo, a potion-brewing set, a crystal ball and a punching bag. What caught his attention, however, was a desk with books of hidden magical techniques strewn across it.
"You're learning wild magic?" Hunter eagerly inquired. Viney nodded, igniting his passion for the subject. "That's awesome! Are you reading about ancient rituals, or magic-mixing techniques? What about curses? Ooh! What book is that?" He reached towards the nearest book and flipped it over, revealing the cover. Alas, the title of the tome gave him quite a shock:
"THE LEGEND OF GRIMWALKERS"
Hunter gasped, and dropped the book on the floor. He'd read that book before; it mostly consisted of sensational stories and harrowing myths, hardly any of of which were true. Some portrayed grimwalkers as violent and volatile creatures, while others depicted them as emotionless automatons. Hunter knew firsthand that neither stereotype was true, but unfortunately, such falsehoods were rooted deep in the public psyche.
"That's just some scary book." Viney retorted. "So, what do you want?."
"Well, first of all...are you okay?"
"I'm fine."
"Well, where are your friends? I haven't seen them around lately. Do you know?"
Viney couldn't keep the facade up any longer. Her stoic expression broke, and she began to weep. Her manticore palisman Needle curled up around her neck to console her, and Puddles nuzzled her as well.
"It's okay, Viney. I'm here for you. Now, what's going on?"
Viney sniffled, rubbed her puffy eyes, and began to share her woes. "Jerbo's been missing for days. Nobody's heard from him, it's like he just disappeared!"
"What about the dog guy?"
"Barcus went out looking for him, but he never came back..."
"Oh..." Hunter sighed. Looks like things were worse than he thought. "Do you have any evidence?"
"You don't believe me?" Viney asked, her gloom quickly turning to anger.
"N-no! I mean something that can help us find them!"
"You...you want to help?"
"Of course. Entrails stick together." Hunter answered. Viney took a breath, then reached into a box and pulled out a clear bag containing a few used potion bottles.
"We found these at Jerbo's place, but Barcus couldn't tell what was in them." Viney handed the bag to Hunter, and he carefully examined the flasks. They seemed empty, but upon closer inspection, there were little bits of residue stuck to the glass. He wasn't sure what to make of it, until noticed a painting of a familiar young witch, which was surrounded by graffiti.
"Luckily, I know someone who's an expert on potions..."
To get to the bottom of things, the two teammates headed to the Owl House, where they sought the counsel of Chancellor Edalyn Clawthorne. Eda had been chosen by the other members of the CATs to act as head of the new government's executive branch, despite her reservations. After all, a witch who didn't want power would be unlikely to abuse it.
That didn't make Eda find her new job any more enjoyable, of course. The living room of her abode was littered with folders, documents, and envelopes—all part of the monumental amount of paperwork the position required.
The only thing Eda liked about being Chancellor was the stylish new outfit she got. It consisted of a crimson vest with dark gray sleeves, black pants, brown boots, and a crimson cape that reached down to her knees. Topping it all off was a Titan skull badge on her vest, which acted as both the sigil of the new government, and a memento of her adopted son, King.
Despite how busy she was, Eda was happy to help the teens with their predicament; she'd take anything over mind-numbing desk work. With her state-of-the-art brewing set, she ran various tests on the mystery material. After liquefying the trace amounts of residue with a burner, the Owl Lady inspected them with a magnifying glass, then sniffed the vial. Whatever the results were, she was clearly surprised by it.
"You found this at your friend's place?" The wild witch wondered. Viney nodded affirmatively in response, confirming Eda's fears. "Then he's on thin ice, Fishhook. This ain't just any potion, it's Titan's Venom."
King, who was playing with the witches' palismen, overheard the words "Titan" and "venom," and thus became very excited. "I have venom? Where's Hooty, I wanna bite him!"
"You're not venomous, King. It's a street name from a whole mess of potions mixed together." Eda corrected, dashing the young Titan's dreams. "The stuff's dangerously addictive. I knew people who wrecked their lives just to get another drop."
Viney was at a loss of words. She'd learned about the detrimental effects of potion misuse in her health classes; she couldn't believe one of her closest friends was doing Venom behind her back.
"But there's something else in this sample that's not supposed to be there. I've never seen it before." The chancellor added. "Tell you what. Once I figure it out, I'll help you find your friends."
"Y-you would?" Viney asked, shocked that the legendary "Lord Calamity" would take time out of her busy schedule to do so. Hunter was just as surprised.
"But you're so busy nowadays. I mean, look at all that paperwork!"
"Nonsense, Blondie! The work can wait."
"Thanks, Chancellor Clawthorne." The healer replied.
"Ew, don't call me that. Eda is fine." Before the wild witch could take action, a transmission abruptly appeared on her crystal ball.
"CHANCELLOR CLAWTHORNE!"
The call was from a government official, who was in quite a state of distress. "We're in urgent need of your help! A pair of rogue basilisks are terrorizing our town! They're draining all our magic!"
"Finally, some action!" Eda readied herself for battle by transforming into her beastly harpy form. Viney was astonished; in all her studies of beast keeping, she'd never seen anything that awesome. "Sorry, kids. Looks like it'll have to wait."
"Let's kick their scaly butts! King exclaimed, as he jumped into his mom's poofy hair, with Owlbert on his left horn. The harpy heroine took to the skies with her Titan son in tow, off to save the day yet another time.
"Well, there goes that plan..." Hunter spoke dejectedly. He wasn't surprised that Eda couldn't help him; the Chancellor of the Boiling Isles had much more pressing matters than a few missing witches. Viney, however, wasn't deterred just yet.
"Follow me. I know another way we can track them down..."
Hunter and Viney cruised above the dense woodlands beyond the Owl House on their flying staves, until they reached its center. Then, they landed on the leaf-littered forest floor, where rays of sunlight poking through the crimson canopy were few and far between.
"So, what's the plan?" Hunter wondered. Viney cast a spell circle that opened up a portal, and reached into it to pull out a large weighted net.
"We set a trap." She replied, as she used a levitation spell to suspend the net from the treetops above. "For a tamandruin."
"A what now?"
"A tamandruin. It's huge, hairy, and has the best sense of smell in the beast demon kingdom. But it won't tame easily."
"Right! The bigger the beast, the tougher it is to tame!" Hunter eagerly replied. "You must be a really good beast keeper to keep your griffin under control."
"Actually, I've had Puddles since she was a cub. I've never tried my hand at anything bigger than her." Viney explained, while concealing the net with dirt clumps and leaf litter. "To get on a tamandruin's good side, I brought its favorite food." She then set a jar containing a fiery, gel-like substance with an amber hue atop the hidden trap.
"Fire bee honey? Where did you—"
"Found it in Eda's pantry. She won't mind that I borrowed it, right? Besides, that stuff's way harder to get a hold of now. A third of the fire bee population's gone, and no one knows—"
"Shh! Someone's coming!" Hunter shushed. The two witches and their palismen hid behind a nearby bush, and waited as the sounds of crunching leaves and swaying branches grew louder by the second. The darkness of the forest floor, along with its thick foliage, made it nearly impossible to see what was coming; the anticipation was killing them.
Eventually, the unidentified creature stepped into the light, revealing themself not as a beast demon, but a bipedal one with pale ochre skin, three-fingered hands and a single eye. Of course, her most distinctive feature were her curved horns, which made her head resemble a crescent moon.
As for her attire, she had on black sweatpants, gray shoes, an oversized violet hoodie, and a matching band with dark yellow spikes wrapped around her left horn. In the demon's sleeve-covered hands was a glowing crystal ball. She looked deep into the orb whilst she walked—something an oracle should never do.
"Look out!" Hunter warned, but alas, it was too late. As a result of her carelessness, the girl unknowingly stepped into the snare, triggering the trap. In a split-second, the net rose up and trapped the poor demon inside, causing her to let out a frightened yelp. Hunter and Viney rushed to the girl's side to make sure she was okay.
"Celine?" Viney asked, shocked to see one of her Hexside classmates in the heart of the wilderness, of all places. Celine, on the other hand, smiled awkwardly, her cheeks tinged red with embarrassment.
"Hiiii..."
Between ace athletes, multi-track prodigies and world-saving heroes, Hexside Academy had quite the selection of remarkable students. However, Celine Crescentine was not one of them. Of course she'd been around for the Grom Night fight, the Emperor's Coven's attack on the campus, and the Collector's chaotic takeover, but she was never a major player; the sidelines were more her speed. But today was going to be different, she thought; it had to be.
After freeing Celine from the net, Hunter and Viney weren't sure what to make of the unusual—yet thankfully familiar—interloper.
"What are you doing out here?" Viney curiously queried.
"I'm, uh...on a hike."
"Alone?" asked Hunter.
"In the middle of tamandruin territory? Not to mention thornhawks, skin badgers, fairies—" Viney could've kept listing off the frightening fauna that roamed the woodlands, but Celine suddenly interjected.
"Okay, I'm not hiking!" The young oracle sighed deeply, and admitted what really brought her to these woods. "I'm trying to find my mother. She's been missing for three days, and I'm really worried for her."
"Oh...I'm sorry to hear that, Miss, um..." Hunter consoled, realizing mid-sentence he didn't know his fellow Hexolio's surname.
"Crescentine." She answered, surprising the former Golden Guard.
"Crescentine? As in Chief Justice Lunelai Crescentine? From the Bonesborough Trials?"
After the end of the Collector's reign, the witches and demons loyal to Belos were tried for their crimes by the Covens Against the Throne. The president of the tribunal was Lunelai Crescentine, a judge highly reputed for being tough, yet fair.
Some of the accused were absolved due to the deceitfulness of the fallen Emperor, while the more immoral ones were sentenced to community service, or even imprisonment in Boiling Isles Penitentiary (formerly the Conformatorium). However, none were executed for their actions; it was decided early on that any dead witch or demon would be a posthumous victory for Phillip.
"Yep, that's my mom. See?" To prove her parentage, Celine used her crystal ball to show her classmates footage from one of her mother's most infamous cases, "Boiling Isles v. Terra Snapdragon."
"For the heinous crimes of child endangerment, brainwashing, attempted murder and successful murder, the court sentences you to life in Boiling Isles Penitentiary."
The only dissenter against the judge's ruling was the accused herself. Enraged, the disgraced Coven Head lashed out by summoning a trio of giant predatory plants, much to the horror of the gallery.
Lunelai, however, was unfazed, and brandished her Venus flytrap palisman staff, ready for a fight. Backing her up were fellow tribunal members Eda Clawthorne and Raine Whispers, both of which were itching to get back at Snapdragon for all the strife she caused them.
"ORDER IN THE COURT!"
Just as the climactic duel began, Celine shut off her crystal ball, much to the disappointment of her colleagues.
"Aw, right at the best part!" Viney griped.
"Man, your mom's cool." remarked Hunter. For giving Kikimora a three-year sentence, the Chief Justice was alright in his book.
"She left home to fill in for a sick judge in Pectorburg, but apparently she never made it there. I consulted the spirits for help finding her, and I guess they led me here." The oracle nervously explained. "Titan, I miss her..."
"I get how you feel; my friends went missing too."
"That's why we're looking for them. We can help you find your mom, too." Hunter offered.
"R-really?" Celine asked, to which Hunter nodded with a smile. "Thanks, you're the best!" After her initial elation wore off, the demon realized she had no idea what her new allies' plan was. "So, now what?"
"We're going to catch a—"
"T-t-tamandruin..." Viney suddenly stammered, her voice shaky.
"Yeah, that thing." Hunter commented, oblivious to the source of his friend's distress. It was only when Waffles squawked in alarm that Hunter turned around, and caught sight of a truly imposing animal.
True to Viney's word, it was huge and hairy, but that was just the tip of the iceberg. The brown-coated beast possessed a long, tubelike snout, tiny black eyes, a bushy tail, and hooked claws that would dwarf even a grizzly bear's. It had a striking resemblance to a certain insect-eating mammal Hunter once saw at the Gravesfield Zoo, except this creature was as big as a draft horse.
"Nobody move." Hunter warned. "It's got little eyes. Probably can't see us."
"But it can smell us."
As the tamandruin sniffed the air, Celine shuddered anxiously, a cold sweat running down her rough skin. The animal stood up on its hind legs, and picked up a scent it immediately recognized; fear.
The angry animal let out a spine-chilling bellow, and charged towards the trio of teens. Hunter acted fast and took hold of the girls, then teleported out of the tamandruin's path with both of them in tow.
Alas, the demon wasn't done just yet. It turned back around, and swung wildly at the witches with its claws. They all dove out of the way, and Viney drew a large spell circle, out of which leapt Puddles. As the adolescent griffin engaged the enraged brute with beak and claw, the teenage triad took cover behind a shrub.
"This is crazy! Tamandruins aren't usually this aggressive!" Viney exclaimed. She peered over the bush and watched her pet bravely battle the beast. Puddles ripped a chunk of thick fur off the tamandruin's shoulder, laying bare the cause of its violent streak; a steel spearhead was lodged deep in its flesh!
"We need to get that spear out!"
"How?" asked Celine. Thankfully, Hunter was quick to think up a strategy.
"Okay, here's the plan. Celine, help the griffin keep it occupied. While it's distracted, I'll pull out the spearhead, then Viney'll heal its wound." His palisman then perched on his shoulder and chirped excitedly. "Waffles, you stay here." He ordered, causing the blue jay to trill frustratedly.
The two Entrails then leapt into action, while their oracle ally stayed hidden in the safety of the shrubbery. Celine took hold of her crystal ball, which began illuminating a bright shade of violet. She used the orb to summon a shroud-covered spirit, and sent it after the rampaging beast. Just as the tamandruin got the upper claw against Puddles, the apparition yanked on its hairy tail, drawing its ire.
While Celine's phantom partner distracted the tamandruin, Hunter dashed around the area, and teleported directly above the beast. He landed on its back, and began pulling the blade out from its shoulder.
The demon let out a pained howl, and threw Hunter off its back. He tumbled to the ground, and the tamandruin raised its clawed hands. But before it could bring them down upon him, Celine's apparition yanked the loosened spearhead out from its body, making it cringe in agony. As the keen-nosed beast sniffed around for the offending oracle, Waffles flitted to her downed master's side and chirped.
"No, Waffles! It's too dangerous." Hunter warned, when the tamandruin started charging towards Celine. The one-eyed demon froze in fear, whilst Viney rushed to help her out. She summoned a shield to protect them from the creature, but said barrier was splintering with every strike of the tamandruin's talons. It became clear to Hunter that to save his allies, he'd have to leave his comfort zone.
"Alright, you can help. Just be careful!" Waffles converted to staff form, and Hunter used her to dash towards the rogue tamandruin. He swung the magic staff upward, causing a ring of rocky outcroppings to jut from the ground, containing the beast in a makeshift pen.
"Viney, now!"
The beast keeper flew upwards with her staff and landed atop the rocky barrier Hunter cast. "Easy, big guy." She consoled, as she drew a sizable circle, then cast a healing spell upon the animal. The damaged tissue on the tamandruin's shoulder mended itself back together, and the wound's swelling eased.
Viney then hopped down from the rocks, and Hunter cast a spell that reduced them to gravel, freeing the tamandruin. The now-healed beast rose up on his hind legs and slowly approached Viney. He reached out with his powerful arms and gave the healer a big hug, which she eagerly reciprocated.
"All better now." Viney petted her animal ally's long snout, and he rumbled contently, making her smile. Although her friends' disappearance had her stuck in dire straits, the creature's companionship comforted her greatly. "How 'bout a treat?" She gave her new pal the jar of fire bee honey, and it eagerly lapped up the spicy substance with its extraordinarily long tongue.
As Viney continued doting on her beastly buddy, Hunter and Celine sat at the base of a tree, while Puddles, who was all tuckered out from the tamandruin tussle, snoozed in the branches above. The one-eyed oracle had noticed the graphic on Hunter's black T-shirt, and found its design most intriguing.
"I, uh...like your shirt."
"Thanks. I sewed the wolves on myself."
"What are wolves?" Celine inquired, igniting Hunter's passionate excitement. After all, the elegant animals were one of his favorite subjects.
"Okay, so wolves are these awesome, beautiful creatures from the Human Realm, and they live together in groups called packs. Humans used to think they had leaders called "alphas," but that's actually a myth. Instead, they—"
Hunter continued listing off facts about the wild canines, only stopping to breathe so he could talk more. Celine, however, was totally quiet, hanging on every word. Listening to his infodumping calmed her frayed nerves; It helped that the subject was one she found surprisingly fascinating.
Now that the tamandruin was tamed, Viney held out the bag of used Titan's Venom bottles, and the beast took a whiff of it. Then, he pointed his snout in the direction of the smell's source.
"He's got the scent, now get on!" Viney ordered, as she hopped on the quadruped's back. Her two allies got up and mounted the mammal as well; Viney was steering from the front, Hunter was behind her with Waffles on his shoulder, and Celine was holding onto him for dear life.
"Giddy up!" On Viney's command, the tamandruin took off running towards the source of Jerbo's scent. The creature galloped with an apelike gait, which made for one bumpy ride. Hunter looked back and noticed Celine's unease, which was understandable since they were riding a wild animal bareback through the woods. Luckily, he now knew how to get her mind off her worries.
"Anyways, where was I? So, wolves have an amazing sense of smell, just like this thing we're riding! And they can run up to thirty-eight miles per hour!"
"Really?"
"Yeah! That's way faster than this guy." Hunter remarked, causing the offended tamandruin to snort.
"He didn't mean that." Viney commented whilst stroking the fur on his scalp. The trio rode onward through the forest on beastback, eager for answers to their pressing questions. Hopefully, their trusty steed would lead them to their lost loved ones...
The keen-nosed creature followed its nose through the dark, dense woodlands, only stopping just short of a steep drop-off. The teens dismounted the tamandruin, and it sniffed the air, then growled.
"Someone's down there?" asked Viney, who could understand the animal thanks to her newly-forged bond with it. Hunter curiously peeked over the edge of the crag, and spotted a campsite in the shady valley below.
The encampment was a meager one, consisting of only two tents and a fire pit with a cauldron hanging over it. Inside the pot was a bubbling liquid of a blackish-violet hue. The station was manned by a group clad in unusual attire; Hunter counted seven witches wearing black, hooded coats, dark-lensed goggles, gray gaiter masks, slate-shaded robes, and mustard-toned boots and gloves.
"Who are those guys?" Celine quietly asked, to which Hunter replied simply by shushing her. Not to be rude, of course, but so he could hear what the strangers below him were saying.
"When's the dealer coming? We can't stay here much longer."
"Be patient. The kid'll be here any minute."
A single exchange made it clear the witches were up to no good. But before Hunter could intervene, a strange cloud of mist blew into the camp out of seemingly nowhere, obscuring the people below. However, it seemed they weren't to blame for the haze, as it bewildered them just as much.
"Where's that fog coming from?" One of the masked witches wondered. Before anyone could investigate the unusual weather's cause, a large, star-shaped creature made of an otherworldly blue material zipped to the encampment, and hovered above its astonished denizens. Everyone immediately recognized the black-eyed being; it was one of the Collector's sentries!
Upon seeing the star-shaped spy, Viney and Celine instinctively hid behind the tamandruin. They both had dealt with the Collector's minions before, and knew how dangerous they could be. But why in Titan's name had one returned?
"No, not again!" A uniformed demon cried, as he hid behind a stack of crates. The sentry fired crescent-shaped projectiles at its foes, who panickedly dodged and ducked for cover.
"I thought that little freak went back to space!" exclaimed the leader of the crew. To fight back, she spun her snail-tipped magic staff in a circle, and used it to fire a stream of green energy at the sentry. When the spell hit its mark, the Collector drone poofed into nothingness.
"It's an illusion! Spread out, find whoever cast it!" The captain ordered, when one of her comrades was struck by a hurled rock.
"IT WAS ME!"
On the other side of a fog, a caped witch rose above his adversaries on a stone pillar that jutted from the ground. With a magic spell he cleared the mist, revealing himself to the rogue witches.
He was a short, skinny witch with brown hair, beige skin, and a mustache that looked like it was drawn on with marker. He had on a pale orange shirt with ripped sleeves, brown pants, black boots with fingerless gloves to match, and oddly enough, a tattered gray cape with a spiked pauldron on his left shoulder. He cast an illusion above him, which displayed his name in a font not out of place in an action movie poster, as he shouted it aloud.
"MAN THOLOMULE!"
The witches responded simply by firing off spells at their blustering opponent. To avoid them, he jumped off the pillar and glided down on his magic staff, which had a copper-colored elephant palisman atop it. Then, he used it to send a pair of stone columns sliding towards his attackers. However, they dodged out of the way, and two more engaged him.
"Is that Matty?" asked Celine, who was shocked to see yet another of her schoolmates scouring the woods.
"He's gonna get himself killed!" Hunter exclaimed.
One of the witches summoned thorny vines that lashed out at Matt, but he impaled them on a spike that jutted from the ground. Another fired an ice spell his way, but he deflected it by rapidly spinning his staff. However, a bard banged on his bass drum, creating a powerful sonic wave that knocked Tholomule off his feet, and into a stack of crates. The haughty boy dropped his staff, and the miscreants started to surround him.
Before the fiends could harm Matt any further, Hunter dashed into the fray, a black cloth wrapped around the lower half of his face. He quickly swept the legs of the witch directly in front of him, then cast a volley of energy bolts at the others, causing them to disperse.
One of the witches charged towards him with an axe, and swung it ferociously. Hunter dodged by teleporting around him multiple times, then took him out with several swift jabs to the head and chest. Another hostile launched a fireball at him, but it was quenched in mid-air by a deluge of foamy gel. Hunter looked to the direction it came from, and saw Viney atop the tamandruin's back.
"Fun fact: tamandruins have flame retardant spit!" The aspiring veterinarian announced. "And 'cause of their diet, they can do THIS!" On her order, the tamandruin breathed red-hot flames at his enemies, who fled in terror.
While Viney and her mount caused chaos in the campsite, a couple of the enemy witches closed in on Matt, who was still disoriented by the drummer's spell. They seized hold of the boy, and dragged him to the bubbling cauldron.
One witch restrained him with abomination slime, while the other scooped liquid from the pot with a ladle. Matt struggled in his constrictive restraints, when suddenly, a shrouded phantom darted at his captors, and took them both down in one fell swoop. The spirit then returned to the crystal ball of its concerned summoner.
"Matty, what are you doing here?"
"I could ask you the same ques—LOOK OUT!"
A stream of green fire hurtled towards Celine, who used her orb to create a dome-shaped energy barrier to hide behind. The psychic shield protected her and Matt from the blaze, but its caster dashed towards them, and used her staff to smash it to bits. The concussive force caused by its destruction made Celine drop her crystal ball, and it rolled out of her reach.
"Face it, kid. You're out of your league!" The leader of the witches launched a flurry of magic bolts Celine's way, thinking she was defenseless. However, the moon demon still had a shocking secret trick up her sleeve. From thin air, she summoned a staff of her own, and used it to block the projectiles.
Unlike most staves on the Isles, Celine's had no palisman atop it. Instead, it was tipped with a white-and-gold apparatus, which had a curved wing and a red, pointed conduit. Both Matt and the enemy witch immediately recognized the item; It was the staff of the Golden Guard!
Even more shocked was Hunter. For years, that weapon was his inheritance, as the latest and last in a lineage of lies. However, he eventually phased it out in favor of Flapjack. Seeing that staff up close again brought back memories of a life he wished he could forget.
The drum-wielding bard took advantage of Hunter's spaced-out state, and sent him flying across the campsite with a thunderous thwack of his sticks. He marched towards the downed grimwalker with ill intent, when Waffles swooped down and scratched him with her tiny talons.
However, Waffles's courageous act had put her right in the danger zone. The masked witch grabbed her tightly, and she cried out in distress. Upon seeing his poor palisman writhing in the witch's grip, a furious fire lit in Hunter's heart.
In a split-second, he dashed towards the bard and punched him in the face, shattering the lenses of his goggles. Enraged, Hunter kept beating on the fiend with his fists, until he let go of Waffles. As the palisman fluttered to Hunter and perched on his head, he looked at his knuckles, and saw they were stained with blood. What's more, the ex-Golden Guard wasn't sure whose it was.
The captain of the hostile witches dodged a series of energy bolts from Celine's appropriated artificial staff, and drew a spell circle. Before she could cast any magic, Celine lifted her in the air with a levitation spell, and slammed her into the ground.
"Where is my mother?" The crescent-headed demon angrily interrogated, whilst pointing her staff's glowing head at the masked menace. "Where is Lunelai Crescentine?"
The captain said nothing; she simply grabbed her staff off the ground, and used it to sweep Celine's legs, knocking her down. Now free from the staff's telekinetic grip, she took to the air, and called out to her underlings.
"Retreat! Retreat!"
On their leader's command, the other six uniformed witches made a break for a rack of magic broomsticks, and flew off. Celine fired wildly at them with her staff, but they all managed to avoid her wrath, and escaped to the skies, where they were out of range.
"Get back here, you cowards!" Celine shouted, her voice boiling over with rage. The silence in the campsite was deafening, until it was broken by a question from Matt, who was still tangled up in abomination matter.
"A little help?"
No one knew what to make of the battle's aftermath. The bad guys got away, and the teens were no closer to finding their missing loved ones. Hunter was feeling especially melancholy; he'd wasted a whole afternoon chasing a dead end...or so he thought.
Sniffing around the campsite with his trunk was Matt's elephantine palisman. Judging by his chipped right ear, broken left tusk and frayed tail, Hunter could tell he was adopted from the Bat Queen's sanctuary. The wood-carved pachyderm picked up a scent, then trumpeted at his master.
"You smell something, Schnoz?" Matt queried. The palisman stampeded into one of the battle-scarred tents, with Matt, Viney and Celine following close behind. Hunter got up from the rock he was sitting on, and entered the other one. He looked inside, and saw nothing but an empty potion brewing kit. Then, he heard a familiar voice call out from above.
"Alright, weirdos! I got the Venom, now spice it up."
Standing atop the cliff above the camp was a girl wearing a black hooded sweatshirt, a matching beanie, silver earrings, gray leggings, and crimson boots. Her defining features were pink-tinted skin, free-flowing violet hair, and three aqua-toned eyes. On her person was a maroon satchel containing various potions.
The girl scowled with disgust when she saw the ruined encampment. However, her revulsion turned to surprise when she made eye contact with Hunter, who had just exited one of the tents. The ex-Golden Guard recognized her immediately.
She hurriedly rummaged through her bag, causing one of her fluid-filled bottles to fall off the cliff and shatter. Once she found her fog brew, she slammed the potion on the ground, creating an all-concealing haze. By the time the fog cleared, she was gone!
Bewildered, Hunter was at a loss of words, until his allies exited the tent.
"No one was in there." Celine despondently admitted.
"I swear, when I get my hands on the jerks who took Steve—" Matt snarled, when Hunter interjected with a question.
"Steve? Steve the B.I.R.D.?"
"Yeah, he's my brother." He replied, much to the blonde's surprise. He knew Steve since he joined the Emperor's Coven, and never knew the man had a brother. Or that said brother was Gus's weird, tiny frenemy.
"Did you find anyone in the other tent?" Viney inquired.
"No, but I just saw that bossy three-eyed girl. What's her name again?"
"Boscha." Matt spat out her name like a curse. "Sounds like she's up to no good."
Hunter nodded affirmatively, and looked around the cliffside. He noticed the fragmented remains of the potion bottle Boscha dropped, and carefully inspected them. Two of the glass shards had etchings engraved on them. Hunter put them together like pieces of a puzzle, revealing a hexagon symbol with the letters "V" and "C" inside it. Then, he converted Waffles to staff form, and readied for takeoff.
"Where are you going?" asked Viney.
"To get to the bottom of this."
"Can't we come with you?" Celine implored, causing the scarred boy to sigh.
"You've done enough, now go home. You don't want any part of this."
"We're trying to help you, you tool!" Matt snapped, then lightly punched Hunter's arm. The specific phrasing of his insult, combined with his admittedly weak jab got the better of Hunter's temper. He retaliated by twisting the younger boy's wrist, making him yelp.
"I'm not a tool." Hunter growled. He then took off on his palisman staff, and soared into the skies. While the girls watched him leave them to go who-knows-where, Matt just rubbed his aching wrist and grumbled.
"Who peed in his apple blood?"
The headquarters of VitiCo Potioneering & Alchemy was a bustling hive, nestled in a valley on the Titan's right arm. Apothecaries wearing protective gloves, masks and goggles busily brewed great batches of potions, with equipment of all different shapes and sizes. As they buzzed around the industrial laboratory, they were monitored from above by the founder, CEO and namesake of the company, Vitimir.
"Get a move on! I want those elixirs of virility done yesterday!" The potions magnate barked from his lofty catwalk, when one of his aides approached him.
"Sir, you have a visitor."
"Did they schedule an appointment?" Vitimir queried. He spoke with an unusual accent, one a human would identify as Eastern European. Of course, there is no such place in the Boiling Isles, so to its denizens, his cadence was simply strange.
"No, but he's already in your office."
Vitimir raced through the halls of his facility as fast as his birdlike legs could go, and flung open the unusually tall doors to his office, a volatile potion in hand. He prepared to hurl it at the insolent intruder, but stopped short of doing so once he saw who it was. As the ex-Head Witch of the Potions Coven, it wasn't hard for him to recognize the Emperor's reformed right-hand man.
"Golden Gua—I mean, Hansel!"
"It's Hunter." He sternly replied, whilst sitting at his old colleague's desk. Waffles curiously poked around the workspace, much to its owner's chagrin.
"Well, Hunter, what brings you and your bird to my factory unannounced?"
Hunter responded by showing him the shards that bore the VitiCo emblem. "This was on a bottle used by a Titan's Venom dealer. Know anything about it?"
"No, why would I?" Vitimir scoffed. "How my customers use my products is none of my beeswax."
"What does beeswax have to do with anything?" Hunter asked, his tone brimming with frustration. Even when he was the Golden Guard, the Coven Heads hardly gave him any respect. Back then, not even Darius gave him the time of day.
"Look, kid. I've already suffered enough. This place is a withering husk of what it used to be."
"Because it used to be controlled by the Emperor."
"Look who's talking."
That shut Hunter up. Bringing up the worst night of his life tends to do that. Of course, there was no way Vitimir could have known about the tragedy in the Old Gravesfield cemetery. Aside from the witnesses, the only people Hunter told about it were Darius and Raine.
"I don't need you dragging me into one of your little missions, I have work to do. Now get out of my office, and go bother Darius or something."
Hunter did exactly as the former Coven Head said, and flew out the window without saying a word. The force of his takeoff caused a gust of wind to blow through the study, scattering plenty of papers, and flicking Vitimir's prized hat off his head. Exasperated, the needle-nosed demon shook his fist at the boy, and cursed him under his rotten breath...
Back at the Deamonne residence, Hunter was in his bedroom, preparing for what lay ahead. Unlike most nights, he wouldn't be gearing up as the Scarlet Sentinel, but as a less conspicuous civilian. He was in the middle of zipping up his brown leather jacket, when he heard a knock on the door.
"May I come in?" Darius politely asked.
"Yeah."
Darius pulled out the chair tucked into Hunter's desk, and sat down on it, his legs crossed. "My friends are coming over tonight. Raine, Camila, the Clawthornes...even Alador. You're welcome to join us. I'm even making a scarcuterie board."
"Thanks, but I already have plans tonight." Hunter apprehensively replied.
"Fair. You're better off with friends your own age, after all. Just remember to enjoy yourself, little prince." Darius teased, as he headed back downstairs. Now that he was gone, Hunter opened up the window and began to climb out, until Waffles warbled at him. She excitedly hopped back and forth while flapping her wings. After getting a taste of witch-fighting action, she had developed an insatiable craving.
"Stay here, Waffles. I can't risk anything happening to you." He stepped onto the rooftop, but Waffles eagerly perched on his shoulder, causing him to groan. He re-entered the bedroom, reached into one of his desk drawers, and pulled out a tin of homemade bird treats.
"Will you stay here if I give you a treat?" Hunter queried. Waffles bobbed her head up and down, so he gave her a morsel made from raisins, sunflower seeds and peanut butter.
As Waffles happily munched on her snack, Hunter caught sight of the sheathed sword of Esau. He needed an extra edge in case his mission went awry, and there was no way he'd put his precious palisman in harm's way. Perhaps it was time to actually use Darius's gift.
With the sword strapped around his waist, Hunter snuck out the window, and left the safety of his home. Tonight, he had one goal; track down Boscha, and get some answers out of her...
Waffles gloomily watched as her master headed out alone on yet another adventure. She longed to help him uncover the mystery of the missing witches, but for some reason she couldn't possibly fathom, he wouldn't let her.
She continued lying morosely in her nest, when an idea suddenly came to her. Hunter may not have allowed her to help him, but that didn't mean she couldn't help somebody else.
The blue jay palisman nudged open the window, and took to the skies. She flew across the town of Bonesborough, passing titanic bones and claws that jutted from the ground, until she reached Hexside's campus. Once she was inside, she used the chalkboard door her master made earlier to pass into the Secret Room of Secrets.
There, Viney was beating on her punching bag, her hands covered in magical wraps that healed them with every punch she threw. As she kept whaling on the bag, Waffles fluttered over to her palisman Needle, who was sitting on a stack of books. The jay caught the manticore up to speed on Hunter's situation, then he floated up to Viney to relay the message.
"He did what?" Viney turned around to see Waffles perched on the table, the bird clearly disheartened by her owner's absence. "You poor thing. Don't worry, we're gonna help Hunter, even if he thinks he doesn't need it." She then took out her scroll, and opened up her list of contacts.
"But first, we'll need a team..."