Layla Grove sat alone in front of the boiling river. She watched Wilton walk into the forest, presumably back to his post. As he got further away, Layla wondered how someone could be so smart yet so stupid.

When they were in school, she and Wilton had always been top of their class, usually competing against each other to see who could get better grades. More often than not, Wilton won. If he was smarter than her, how could he not see through the Emperor's lies, especially now that they were enforcing his laws? While some of the people they had arrested had actually committed serious crimes, others were simply taken because they didn't choose a coven. They didn't do anything wrong. Why couldn't Wilton see that? Layla punched the rock she leaned against.

Layla sighed. She knew she shouldn't be mad at Wilton. Up until a month ago, she had the same thought process as he did now. Then, she met Amber.

It all happened three weeks before Layla joined the Emperor's Coven. She was leaving her third class of the day, this one focused on different types of mind-altering spells that came with the Bard track she had chosen. She was walking towards her locker when a large case slammed into it, right next to her face. Layla turned around to see a group of students terrorizing one of the girls from her class.

"Why do you care which track I chose? You're all from different tracks, why don't you beat up each other?" The girl asked in a panic. She had dark-purple skin and pink hair. Layla had never spoken to her. She didn't even know her name.

A girl stepped forward from the group, this one with indigo hair and the outfit of someone from the Construction track. Bria. Layla clenched her fist. "Because," Bria started, using a telekinesis spell to bring the case to her, "Bards are weak. What are you going to do, whistle at me? You're powerless without this thing." She opened the case. Inside was a recorder.

"Hey! Wait! Give that to me." Amber pleaded, "Do you know how much that cost?"

Layla stepped in. She was tired of Bria, anyways. "If Bards are so powerless, then how come I'm on the Grudgby team and you're not?" She said as she stepped towards Bria.

Bria turned toward her, a furious expression on her face. "I barely tried to get on that team! This doesn't concern you, Grove."

"You're messing with a Bard. You fight a Bard, you fight me. I'm all up for a rematch if that's what you want," Layla taunted. A few weeks earlier, Bria and her gang tried out for the Grudgby team. On the same day, Layla happened to be trying out. When Layla got accepted and Bria didn't, Bria ordered her gang to "put her in her place". With a little help from Wilton, Layla ensured that Bria wouldn't ever challenge her again. She wasn't proud of it, but that's the way things went at Glandus.

Bria stepped towards her, clearly ready for a fight, but one of her members held her back.

"Maybe this isn't the best idea, Bria." He warned.

"Can it, Matty! I'm not going to fight her. Detention isn't worth it for her." Bria walked right up to Layla, their faces only inches away. "I know the Emperor's Coven tryouts are just around the corner," She whispered, "And when you and your boyfriend get in, this school will be ours. Keep quiet and we'll spare any friends you have left here, got it?"

Layla only glared.

Bria turned to her gang and commanded them, "Let's go." Before leaving she tossed the recorder at the Bard girl.

The Bard girl got to her feet and turned to Layla. "Thank you." She said.

"No problem. Always happy to help out a fellow musician. I'm Layla."

The other girl nodded, "Amber. Nice to meet you. Did you say you were on the Grudgby team?"

"That's right. Do you play?" Layla asked.

"Not much. I probably wouldn't be much good on an actual team."

"You should try out! Once I'm in the Emperor's Coven, someone's gotta take my place." Layla offered.

Amber winced, looking almost disappointed. Had Layla said something wrong? The look only lasted for a moment, before she returned to her cheerful self. "I'll think about it. Nice to meet you, Layla. Thanks again."

Layla watched as the girl left, confused. The next class wasn't for another five minutes. Why was she leaving so soon?

Layla found Amber again later, at lunch. Layla didn't usually sit with anyone else other than Wilton, but something about this girl intrigued her.

"Oh, hi again," Amber greeted her as she sat down.

"Hey. Just wanted to check in, make sure Bria hasn't been bothering you since this morning."

Amber shook her head, "Nope. I think you scared her off," She said, laughing.

"Good."

The two sat in silence for a minute, before Amber spoke again.

"So… Emperor's Coven, huh? What makes you want to join that?"

Layla shrugged, "It's a good opportunity. Why?"

"Just wondering why you wouldn't want to stay as a Bard."

"Bard's fun, but there are other magic types out there. I want to learn more about them, y'know, legally." Layla said. Suddenly, she felt something slowly creeping onto her arm. Looking down at it, she realized it was just her palisman, Beezy. The sloth slowly made his way onto her arm, before wrapping around it and closing his eyes.

Amber eyed the palisman, "You know what the Emperor's Coven does once you get inducted, right?"

Layla nodded solemnly. "Yeah. It's going to be weird not having this little guy around." She patted her palisman on the head.

Amber lowered her voice, "If you want to learn everything, why don't you become a wild witch?"

Layla laughed, "Because I prefer not being in jail."

Amber chuckled, "That's fair." She took a bite of her food. "Hey, did you ever have Professor Whispers?"

Layla sighed, "I wish. Their study of the soundwaves produced during spells was what got me interested in the Bard track."

"Well, I hear they're being considered to replace Scooter Crane as the Bard's Coven Head."

"Woah… Where did you hear that?"

"I know people." Amber shrugged.

"So what, you're some kind of secret agent?" Layla joked, smirking.

"Something like that."

For the next week, Layla spent every day after school with Amber (Wilton was busy studying for the Coven entry exam, anyways). Even though she only started talking to this girl out of curiosity, Layla soon found that they had a lot in common. They agreed on nearly everything.

One night, the two were at Amber's house. They had just finished discussing their favorite Grudgby team when Amber posed a peculiar question.

"So…" She started, "Coven system: Love it or hate it?"

Layla's heart skipped a beat. She would never be allowed to talk about this at her home. "Maybe we shouldn't talk about this," She said nervously, "Is there anyone you uh… like at school?"

"Oh, don't dodge the question, Grove." Amber rolled her eyes, "No one can hear us talking down here. Not even the Titan."

"Fine."

"So?"

"Hate it."

Amber grinned. "Knew it."

"Why do they have to make us focus on one thing, anyways? I mean, how much harm could knowing how to play music and heal a bruise really do?"

"Exactly! It makes no sense, right?"

"And who even is Emperor Belos?! He shows up out of nowhere, tells everyone he can hear some long-dead Titan, and people just believe him?" Layla couldn't believe the words coming out of her own mouth. Her parents would kill her. She calmed herself, "Sorry. That all just kind of came out. I probably shouldn't talk about the Emperor that way."

Amber put her hand on Layla's shoulder, "Hey. It's all good. It's good to get stuff like that off your chest. I won't tell anyone." She made a "zipping" motion across her mouth.

"Thanks." Layla smiled. That did feel good. Wilton would never listen to her rants like that.

"Oh, I almost forgot to tell you! There's this party tomorrow, and it'd be really cool if you showed up. I know you have the Emperor's Coven stuff coming up, but-"

"The Emperor's Coven can wait. I'll be there."

The next day, Layla snuck out of her house, leaving behind an illusion of herself in case her parents checked in on her. When she got to the address Amber had sent her, however, Layla was confused. It didn't look like a typical party from the outside. No decorations, no one outside, and Layla couldn't hear music. To top it all off, the building was a cabin in the middle of nowhere. It gave her a weird feeling she couldn't quite describe.

Layla knocked on the door. Amber answered about a minute later.

"Oh, you're here! Great. We've been expecting you…" Amber said that last part in a low tone, before trying her best evil laugh. Layla imagined it was what a dying bird would sound like. "Come inside."

Layla stepped in, looking around. There was barely any furniture, and the only decorations were maps that were suspended on the walls and sprawled over tables. "I'm guessing this is where you murder people, no?" Layla said sarcastically.

"Ouch. We did the best we could with this place. Gotta keep a low profile if you're going to house a resistance."

Layla turned towards Amber, her eyes wide. "What?"

Amber walked into the room over and made a motion to someone there. Almost immediately, music began to fill the house, seemingly surrounding Layla.

"Amber, what's going on?"

Amber snickered. "Calm down." She walked to the front of the room and picked up her recorder. She pulled out a mask from her pocket that resembled a bat and slipped it over her eyes.

"It's time I introduce you to some friends of mine!" She shouted, her voice echoing in the nearly empty building.

First came a tall man with black hair. He held a horn that Layla wasn't familiar with in his hand, which he had clearly mastered playing. He removed his mask and took a bow.

"Derwin!" Amber announced.

Then, a girl of similar height, playing a tambourine. Layla noticed two fangs coming from her mouth. Like her friend, she removed her mask and bowed.

"Katya!"

The lights dimmed.

"And now, the Bard of the century…"

Another person came in, sporting mint-green hair. They held a violin in one hand, and a string in the other. Layla stared. Surely it couldn't be…

"Raine… Whispers!"

The bard set their instrument down and removed their mask. "Sorry for the theatrics," Raine said, "Amber insisted."

Layla almost fainted. She remembered the phrase "don't meet your heroes", then quickly forgot it. This was the best day of her life.

They called themselves the Bards Against the Throne, or BATS. It didn't take a lot of convincing on either side for Layla to join them. Deep down, Layla had always wanted to stand up against the Emperor's rule, and going against her parents was a bonus. Whenever one of the BATS became skeptical about Layla, Amber vouched for her, citing the conversation that they had about the Coven system.

Layla tried out for the Emperor's Coven to avoid suspicion. In addition, Raine welcomed the opportunity to have an eye inside the Emperor's personal coven. They promised her that they'd find a way to get her palisman back.

Yesterday, they followed through on that promise. Amber delivered her special directions from Raine on how she could find her palisman. The only problem was that the palisman were all locked up in the Emperor's Castle, far from where she was stationed. If she was going to sneak into the Emperor's Castle, she needed Wilton at her side. Amber was great, but she made it very clear at one of the BATS meetings that she was not one for silent missions. No, Wilton was the only one.

Layla stood up, took one last look at the boiling river, and walked back to her barracks. Maybe she would have to do it alone, but that didn't mean she would give up on Wilton. Layla knew there was some part of him that disagreed with the Emperor.

The next afternoon, Layla returned to her spot at the river. She considered practicing the Construction spells she had been reading about, but Layla opted to watching the river instead. She didn't understand it, but there was something so calming about the way the water flowed, the way the-

Something caught her eye. A piece of paper, pinned under a rock. She walked over to it and picked it up. She carefully unfolded the paper and found a note written within it. Layla smiled.

I'm in.

- Will