Author's Note: Okay, so this one took a while. I promise, I was always working on it, but damn was there a lot that I wanted to get right with this one. This is, of course, the culmination of the last three chapters, and it's gonna get pretty rough. There is a trigger warning for violence, so watch out. Other than that, enjoy.
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TW: Blood and Death
…
Destiny
Chapter Five
Pained perseverance
It was a particularly dark night. The clouds were an almost unnatural gray. The deafening screeches of the Isle's wind slammed against the teens as they pushed forward toward the nearing Conformatorium. It was as if the world itself wanted them to stop, but they couldn't be deterred so easily.
The sky crackled all around them with green lightning in the direction of the prison. As they came closer, they could feel the growing pitter patter of the acidic rain against their skin. They had to be quick.
Even as their arms began to singe, they couldn't imagine what pain the adults were suffering.
They grew near to the roof of the prison and the blasting rain had not ceased. As they made their landings, they tried to communicate, but even while screaming in each others' ears, their speech was unintelligible against the impossibly loud storm around them.
Knowing her attempts at speaking would be in vain, Luz turned to the roof's spire and pointed to it, noticing the large openings that surrounded it. Surely they could fit themselves through. Hunter sighed, trudging through the burning rain and plunging himself into the hole and landing softly with his palisman's assistance. The others followed behind, shaking off the rain as they found themselves atop a massive staircase.
Even after most of the rain was rid from them, their breaths were ragged. Their odyssey of a journey had been unexpected. Now that they had arrived, there was no turning back.
The sound of the rain outside only continued to pound. It was easier to hear now that they were inside, but the prospect of escaping after their mission was a daunting one.
"Alright, are we all here," Luz asked, her gaze bouncing across the scattered witches until she determined that all were accounted for. Amity trekked to her side and wiped some residual acid from Luz's arm. She smiled with acute appreciation before turning back to the group.
"Good," remarked Luz before looking over the rails of the stairs. It was quiet, empty. The first time—and even the last time she had been here, the cells had been lined with wild witches, but now…
Everyone was gone. There was nothing left of the wild witches that dared to defy the Emperor. She tried not to think of what fate they must have met, but even then the sight of the cells was horrifying.
"We need to hurry," Luz remarked, turning back to the teens with a face of anxiety. Hunter stepped past her, peering over the edge of the stairs. There were endless troops in the building. Coven scouts and abomitons lined the halls. The Emperor must have known they were coming.
"Luz is right, but there are too many of them. How are we supposed to get past so many," Hunter inquired, his face anxious.
Luz scribbled away on a small piece of parchment. Hunter sighed.
"This is stupid," he remarked as Luz handed him a hurriedly-drawn glyph. Luz merely smiled, handing a glyph to each of the other teens. She came to Amity last, holding out her own glyph.
"Let's go together," she suggested, earning an appreciative grin from the lavender-haired Blight. Edric and Emira smiled at Luz's adorable antics, but before they could comment, Hunter raised his doubts once more.
"What if one of us gets caught," he asked, his hands shaking as he held the glyph.
Willow flashed a sympathetic glance, instinctively coming to Hunter's side. She leaned over the protective rails beside him. He tried to distance himself, but Willow was unrelenting. "We'll have each other's backs, okay," she assured, her gaze unanandoning despite his clear attempts to not meet her eyes.
She waited several moments, and finally, Hunter was forced to nod. His shoulders fell as he stared at the glyph.
After a long silence, he met Willow's warm gaze. He involuntarily smiled, but as he opened his mouth, Luz finally broke the silence among the group.
"Are we all ready," she asked, stepping to the center of her scattered friends. All eyes shifted to her as the teens fell totally silent. Luz sighed, understanding their silence to be their answer.
"Look," she began, sighing "We have to do this." She paused for a moment, resting her chin in her hand as she considered what she would say. In her moment of need, her mind circled around the question of 'what would Eda say?' After an abbreviated bout of thought, she came to her conclusion.
She had to speak from her heart.
She took a deep breath, closing her eyes before exhaling and meeting her friends' expectant gaze with determination.
"This isn't going to be easy," she admitted, gesturing toward the stairs.
"It'll be a miracle if we manage to get past all of the guards without sounding the alarms, but-" she paused once more, her friend's deflated expressions giving her a new idea.
"...but even if things don't go to plan, we can get past anything they have for us," she finished, smiling brightly despite the clear doubts of her friends.
She waited a moment, perhaps expecting a delayed reaction, but naturally, none would come. She sighed, not allowing her lack of confidence to dissuade her.
She sighed, covering her eyes and playfully scanning her friends with an outreached, pointing arm. Hunter turned to Willow, confused, but after a few seconds, Luz stopped, her finger pointing steadily in the direction of Gus. Hunter tilted his head in confusion.
"Augustus Porter," started Luz in a playful tone.
"Yes," he questioned, his tone not nearly as cheery as her own. She didn't falter.
"What has Eda done for you," she questioned, smiling as she awaited his answer. He opened his mouth to speak, but couldn't quite find words. He took a mental step back and realized the weight of the question. Eda was crazy. She had no manners. She was everything his parents had warned him to avoid when looking for a friend, but in the end, she had proven them wrong at every opportunity.
"She-" he stammered, fumbling over his words. "She taught me to trust," he uttered, unable to comprehend the weight of his own words. He stared at the ground as he continued to think.
Luz grinned. Her plan was working. She rotated slightly, pointing to Edric, who stood a few feet behind the younger illusionist.
He stared back for a moment before realizing that he was being questioned. It only took him a moment to realize what Eda had done for him. "She made me feel important," he admitted to himself in a sheepish tone, nervously backing away as he realized that he had said it aloud.
Hoping to ease the embarrassment, Luz turned to Emira, whose mouth was agape at her brother's unexpected admission. Emira turned to Luz, with a knowing grin. Without commenting on her antics, she gave her answer.
"She showed me that love doesn't have to be shown through teasing," she determined, nodding as Luz's smile continued to grow.
Luz turned to the girl at her side, patiently waiting for her answer. Amity smiled as she quickly came to her answer. "She showed me that even the people who make the rules don't always mean well," she reminisced, smiling as she remembered her duel with Luz at the Covention.
Oh, how things had changed after that night.
Luz then turned to Willow, who was already smiling. Having already chosen her favorite memory, she smiled. "She showed me that it doesn't matter what other people think," she said, brushing her green stripe of hair over her ear.
Last but not least was Hunter. He wasn't smiling like the others. His eyes were on the ground as he guiltily professed. "She was there for me even after all of the harm I caused her," he admitted.
Luz's smile faltered for a moment as she realized that she had dredged up a tough memory for the former Golden Guard. She paused for a moment, instinctively reaching out, but without warning, he lifted his gaze with a furrowed brow and pushed her hand to the side.
"Let's just hurry up," he asserted, turning his back to her and staring down the stairway. Luz's eyes lingered on him for a moment before she turned back to the group.
"Ok," she said, refocusing. "Eda has touched every one of us in some way or another. It's time that we repaid the favor," she explained, her tone noticeably more serious than before.
Luz turned to Amity. The Blight nodded, pulling her staff from her side and mounting it. Luz took Amity's hand and joined her. Without a word, most of the others followed suit.
Gus's gaze lingered on the ground. Luz opened her mouth, but Gus had already begun to speak. He paused before Luz gestured for him to speak first. Sheepishly, he continued.
"We should choose a name," he remarked. The teens exchanged confused glances, and in a moment, he clarified, "...you know, for the whole… rebellion thing."
The group fell silent. Willow and Gus slowly turned their heads to Hunter, earning an incredulous glare before a deep sigh.
"We can call ourselves the 'Unbound Witches'," Hunter suggested unenthusiastically.
Willow chuckled to herself. As Hunter turned to her with a confused expression, she explained. "You're just too good at making names," she remarked, jabbing at his shoulder. He rubbed his arm confusedly, but for some reason found himself smiling. He looked at Willow with appreciation.
Luz smiled, giving the two a moment before giving her input.
"I think she'll like it," Luz remarked. After a moment of quiet contentment, Hunter and Willow found their staffs once more. This time, Gus followed suit. Luz turned to Amity. As the two lifted from the ground, Owlbert flew to Luz's shoulder.
"Okay, remember," Luz began, "We won't be able to see each other, so you have to remember the directions."
She paused for a moment before speaking slowly and clearly. "It's just two lefts and a right. Then we can get together and move forward," she explained, giving them a moment to remember the directions before quietly speaking once more.
"Good luck," she said quietly as she pulled her glyph into her hand and grabbed Amity's hand with her opposite hand.
The two locked eyes and nodded to each other. Luz looked to the glyph, her eyebrows furrowing. She closed her eyes, taking deep breaths until finally, she began her countdown.
"One," she began, opening her eyes and locking into Amity's. Her friends around her watched, awaiting their departure.
"Two," she said several seconds later. Amity's shoulders fell. She felt the urge to reach out, but before she could, Luz finished her countdown.
"Three," she finally finished, taking a deep breath. Amity followed suit as Luz pressed down on the glyph. Before she knew it, Amity vanished from her vision. As unsettling as it was, Luz didn't lose her composure. She kept her breath as prisoner as the duo began to move.
Luz held onto Amity's waist with every ounce of her being, despite not being able to see her. It was terrifying. They zoomed toward the ground at an impeccable pace. She knew that Amity was a capable witch, but a part of her was afraid her journey would end at the ground.
They continued their approach beyond the height that Luz would have pulled up at if she had her way. She began to sweat. It felt like her heart was sinking further with every inch. She couldn't help but close her eyes and squeeze her girlfriend's waist.
She felt the back of the staff smack against the ground. She jerked forward, but maintained her grip. As she opened her eyes, she was shocked to still feel Amity's waist in her arms. A chill ran over her as the two quickly ascended above the scouts and abomitons.
A breeze flew over them. A few of the scouts looked back, but were confused to see no possible source. Luz's eyes widened.
She looked forward, expecting to see Amity with a sly smile, but there was still nothing. As they approached their first turn, the two rounded the corner sharply. Luz tightened her grip, furrowing her brow and bracing herself. Amity was doing everything she could.
…
Hunter watched as Luz and Amity disappeared from sight. He felt an empty feeling in his stomach. His eyes shifted to the glyph in his hands. His brow furrowed and spread apart.
"Hunter," Willow called.
A chill ran down his spine as he heard his name called. He couldn't help but be reminded of who else might be in the building. Finally, he turned to Willow, his face tense.
"Don't-" she stammered, straightening her posture and trying to put on a smile. She decided to try a different approach. "Just have faith," she finally suggested following several awkward seconds of silence. Gus watched with similar anxiety. He came to Willow's side and nodded to her.
Hunter sighed, his eyes falling to the glyph again. Out of the corner of his eyes he saw Willow fly to his side. He slowly glanced at her with a downtrodden expression. She met him with a grin, but it was clear she was anxious as well.
"Come on," she said in a soft tone, "We don't wanna fall behind."
He stared at the glyph once more before sighing and nodding. He turned to her with the glyph in hand. With her fingers, she counted down from three. Once she finished her countdown, she pressed the parchment to her chest and vanished with a deep breath. Hunter quickly followed suit, pressing the glyph to his chest and holding his breath.
He made no delay diving down the massive tower. He reached the bottom quickly. He was a talented flier, which made this easy for him. He couldn't see them, so he would have had no way of knowing whether his friends were doing as well as him, but as he rounded the first corner, not a single scout had acknowledged his presence.
He smiled, chuckling to himself without releasing his breath. This was really going to work. He was going to make it. It made no sense. It was such a simple plan, and yet-
He rounded the second corner with a smile still plastered on his face, but as he glanced to the end of the hall, his heart skipped a beat. He immediately ground himself to a stop, his mouth hanging open in horror. At the end of the hall was the very last thing he could face, Emperor Belos, staring back at him with a crooked grin. A chill ran over him. His body began to disobey his every command. He froze. His breath escaped him. His hands began to shake.
Just below, a voice shouted out, "Up there, it's one of the rebels!" His eyes widened in fear. His eyes darted back to where Belos had been, but there was nothing. His shoulders tensed. He couldn't move.
Below him, the scouts began to conjure spells. Almost immediately, a familiar voice came to his side. "Hunter, we have to go," Willow shouted against the screaming spells below. He turned to her, realizing that she had come out of hiding.
"I-" he stammered, "I saw him." Willow's brow furrowed. Hunter pointed at where Belos had been, but as Willow looked, there was still nothing there. She sighed.
"We need to go," she repeated in a solemn tone. After a moment of ragged breathing, Gus flew to their side. Hunter exhaled, nodding. Still, he couldn't move.
"Give me your hand," Willow commanded. Reluctantly, he held it out. Immediately she took it. In a hushed tone, she uttered a single word. "Together," she said, looking into his eyes. After a second, he nodded and she flew away, pulling him onto her staff.
…
Luz held onto Amity's waist tightly. They had picked up their speed and as appreciative as Luz was, it was impossible for her to be calm. At some point, she closed her eyes and pressed her cheek against her back. She hadn't even realized it when it happened, but eventually, she felt their pace slowing.
As Luz opened her eyes, she realized that they had escaped the corridor. In front of her, Amity came into vision. Luz gasped, releasing her breath as she wrapped Amity in a loving embrace.
"We made it," she shouted, twirling Amity in the air.
The two smiled brightly, enjoying each other's presence as they soaked in their surroundings. The room was dark. It was an atrium for a massive wooden door that she remembered from her last visit. She knew what would be behind it and she wasn't sure she was ready to face it.
She turned back to Amity, her expression growing serious. Neither spoke a word for several moments. Amity opened her mouth, but Luz's gaze slowly drifted behind her. Amity turned around and her eyes widened. Descending from the air were her two siblings, both smiling and hopping from their staffs to hug her.
Luz initially smiled, but their presence raised a question.
"Where are the others," she asked. The twins glanced back, coming to the same realization.
"They-" Emira stammered, "They left just before us. They should be here."
Luz glanced past them again, staring expectantly at the end of the hallway. There was nothing. No noise, no shadows, not even a scout or abomiton. There was just the torchlight and the chilled breeze that came with the night.
…
Hunter remained in near-catatonia. He blinked as he blankly stared ahead. Abomitons heaved sludge in their direction. Willow dodged and ducked around it all, but Hunter couldn't force himself to move.
The residual goop from the attacks splashed onto his face, even still he couldn't process what he saw. Belos wasn't supposed to be here. They promised him that he wouldn't be.
He knew what he had seen. But where had the man gone?
His lack of focus was damaging. Willow glanced back at him with concern, but before she could look ahead, she was sent reeling by a spell. She lunged forward from her staff and landed hard on the ground. Hunter quickly followed suit, glancing around with confusion as he got to his feet.
They were surrounded by the abomitons and scouts. Their space became sparse as they closed in. Hunter rubbed his head while Willow fought against their advances.
Gus glanced back in horror. He watched as Willow took every strike, his stomach sinking with each new blow. Hunter was unmoving, still in shock. Gus furrowed his brow, blasting off on his staff in their direction.
His eyes were overcome with an intense blue glow, and the second he hit the ground, the teens became encompassed in black smoke. Gus looked around with confusion, quickly coming to the realization that he was the caster of the spell.
He turned to Willow. "Come on, we have to go," he shouted with annoyance. Willow glanced at Hunter. Without a word, Gus shook his head. Willow glared back at him, turning her back to him and grabbing Hunter's hand again. He pulled her staff from the ground and flew away. Gus watched as she flew away, his shoulders only falling when she finally rounded the corner.
…
"We can't wait for them, the adults could be getting petrified right now," shouted Emira with Edric close behind. Luz glared back at them.
"We can't leave them behind either! We would just lose anyways," Luz shouted, standing stoically at the bottom of the stairs leading to the massive door. Amity stood behind her, but could only timidly stare at the ground.
Emira sighed, crossing her arms and stepping up the stairs further. "Maybe me and Edric will just have to do this ourselves, then," she retorted as she gripped the door's handles and pulled as hard as she could, but she couldn't move the door on her own. She turned to Edric for help, but he backed away, shaking his head.
Luz sighed, her eyes falling to the ground. Amity came to her side and pulled her into a caring embrace, but from the hall, they could hear growing noises. Luz slowly peeled from the hug and glanced toward the empty hall. The sounds grew louder. Slowly, shadows formed at the corner, and after several seconds, their source was revealed.
"Willow- It's them," Luz shouted, running in their direction with a massive smile.
As she met Willow's eyes, she realized something was wrong. Her smile faltered for a moment, and as she stopped in her tracks, her eyes drifted beyond her friends.
Coming around the corner seconds behind her friends was what must have been making all of the noise. Droves of Abomitons and Coven scouts screeched in their direction. Their cover was blown. They had to move quickly. Seeing this, Luz furrowed her brow and sprinted to the large wooden doors, helping Emira to the best of her ability.
The door was impossibly heavy, but as her friends came to her assistance and Willow landed, the door began to budge. When Gus joined the effort, the door finally began to open. They continued pulling with all of their effort until it was just open enough to fit through. Gus came through first with the Blight twins coming next. Only then did Amity follow Luz inside behind Willow.
They turned to the door, expecting to only see the emperor's troops, but Hunter stood on the other side, staring at the incoming forces with horror. With a grunt, Willow pushed through the teens and pulled him through the door. Almost immediately, Emira pushed against it, the teens slowly joining her until the door was once again closed. Only then could they drop the door's jam to secure their safety.
Seconds later, thuds came against the door followed by the pounding of the troops. They couldn't have come any closer to being caught.
A collective wave of relief fell over the group as they bent to their knees gasping for breath. There wasn't a word spoken for several moments, but after enough staring, an explanation was likely due.
"We made it," Willow remarked, trying to avoid the topic, but as Luz's brow furrowed, she knew that it was wishful thinking. Luz got to her feet and pointed in her direction.
"We thought you three got caught. We were terrified," Luz exclaimed, still fighting for control over her breath. Hunter's shoulders fell. Gus turned away and crossed his arms. Luz backed away, furrowing her brow in confusion.
Before she could inquire, Willow was quick to make an excuse. "Look, it's a long story," she explained, gesturing to the dark hallway ahead of them, "We need to just move forward."
Luz locked eyes with the girl, her expression growing more solemn by the second until, finally, she broke her stare and turned away. She stared down the short hallway. Turning back to her friends, she exhaled, pointing toward the near-abyss.
"They're just ahead," she warned, her face anxious.
She fell silent as her friends looked up to her for any words of encouragement. She could feel their desperation, but she was even more afraid than them. Unable to form her own words, she sighed. "Anyone have anything they wanna say," she asked, rubbing the back of her neck.
Another short silence ensued. Luz's eyes bounced across the small circle before she made her determination.
Again, she exhaled, turning to the hall with dread. Taking the first step, she gestured ahead. "Then let's go," she said, her eyes stagnantly pointed at the hallway's end. After a bout of exchanged glances behind her, they slowly followed.
…
It was torturously quiet in the room in which they were contained. Eda sat on the floor of the cage, her back against the bars. None spoke a word, none had any fight left in them. As hard as they had tried, the cage was too solid for them to escape from.
It was about an hour ago that they had been left alone with their thoughts. Terra had left them, for better or worse. She boasted of a planned attack of the Owl House, but they knew better than that. They knew Luz by now. The Owl House would be found empty. From there, it was only a matter of time before the teens were found and all would be over.
They should have been better than to lose. The witches of the Isles were depending on their success, whether they knew it or not, and now that they were caught, nothing stood between the Emperor and total domination.
Not only were the rebellious coven heads compromised, but Luz and her innocent friends as well. The fate of witchkind was already decided, which left Eda wondering if Luz would have been better off simply not having known about the Isles in the first place.
She sighed, sagging against the cell. She yanked her hands apart, but her metal constraints held her hands in place. She groaned, pushing from the ground and facing the cage walls. Gripping the bars, she stared at the room's only entrance.
Raine and Lilith exchanged worried glances, pushing to their feet and standing beside her wordlessly. Eda's eyes fell to the ground.
"There has to be a chance that they aren't coming, right," Eda questioned with a tinge of desperation. Lilith's face fell as Raine glanced at Eda with concern. They placed a hand on her shoulder, unknowing of what to say.
Their silence was as clear of an affirmation as a verbal confirmation would have been. She knew Luz too well to assume that she could do the smart thing in such a situation. It just wasn't the kind of person that she was.
Only minutes later did she hear sounds coming from the hallway leading into the room. Her eyes widened as the footsteps grew nearer, and when she saw Luz sprint around the corner, her legs grew too weak to stand. Falling to her knees, her eyes filled with tears.
Luz beamed, her face practically aglow as she sprung across the room and gripped the cage's bars. Eda was on the ground then. Luz tilted her head in confusion, unable to voice her concerns. Lilith turned and shook her head.
"This was a mistake, Luz," she remarked in a sorrowful tone. Luz's brow furrowed as her friends came into the room behind her.
"What-" she stammered, pulling several glyphs from her pocket and pressing them against the bars. She tried her fire, but the flame dissipated as quickly as it lit. She tried her ice, but as the bar froze, it immediately shattered the ice and cast it away. Panicking, she pulled her final glyph, planting it at the foot of the cage in an attempt to blow off the roof. Confirming her worries, the vines she created wilted away and shriveled to death within seconds.
"I-" she quivered. Lilith's face fell as the message finally came to her. Amity came to Luz's side and stared at her with confusion. She turned to Lilith's waiting eyes and quickly realized the direness of the situation. Her ragged breaths slowly came to a close as more sounds began to come from the hall. Hunter glanced back, his eyes widening as he quickly realized what was coming.
Wiping her tears, Eda pushed from the ground and grabbed the bars between Luz and herself. "Get out—while you still can," she pleaded, her eyes spilling over once more. Her tears were contagious. Luz quickly lost control of her emotions as well.
"I won't leave you," she shouted through tears.
Amity's eyes flickered between Luz and the hallway. She felt tense. Every ounce of her being wanted to grab Luz's hand and fly away, but she simply couldn't do that to her.
Eda opened her mouth to speak, but her cries inhibited any speech that she might have had. Luz pressed her forehead against the bars, closing her eyes as her tears streamed out of the corners of her eyes. Eda pressed her head against the same bar, placing her hands over Luz's.
"Go," Eda commanded, still pressing herself against the cage. Luz shook her head, choking on her words. She pulled her hands away, wiping her tears and walking in front of her friends.
"It's time to fight," Luz determined, pulling glyphs from her pocket and standing at ready. Eda's eyes widened. She shook the bars in front of her, screaming, "Don't do this."
Luz grit her teeth, blocking out Eda's cries and narrowing her focus ahead.
Amity locked eyes with Eda and nodded. It was time for her to fulfill her promise. Without a word, she came to Luz's side, readying her magic as her hands became enclosed in abomination goop. Eda's face fell as she slowly dropped to the ground, squeezing the bars of her cage as she wept.
In a cacophonous blur of purple and white, the Emperor's troops surged forward. Luz lowered her stance, preparing for their arrival. Without a word, the others stacked behind Luz, anxiously awaiting the arrival of the opposition.
It felt like things were moving in slow-motion. Her breath left her. Her blood ran cold. There were so many of them that it felt like no matter what she did, she was doomed.
But as they finally arrived, they just stopped. Feet in front of them, the troops all ceased to move, posturing themselves in a collective salute.
Luz's mouth hung open in a dazed confusion. All went silent. She could hear her own breaths. She could even almost hear her own heartbeat. So, when she heard the faintest of noises behind her, she knew something was awry.
She turned around in an instant, tossing a light glyph in the direction of the noise. The light flew over the adults' cage and into a thick shadow that lay behind. Inside the shadow, Terra Snapdragon smiled, crookedly stepping from her concealment.
"You're lucky," Terra determined, lifting herself from the ground with the help of her plant magic. Amity looked to Luz, but her determined gaze was unmoving from the head witch of the plant coven.
Finally reaching an ample height, Terra flicked her finger downward and her viney throne ceased to grow. "I wanted to do this myself," she concluded, casting a vine toward the teens.
Luz reacted quickly, dodging to the side and sliding under the witch. She pulled another glyph from her pocket and planted it to the base of Terra's vines. As quickly as Luz had moved, Terra fell even faster.
Hitting the ground hard, Terra scoffed.
"Oh, you'll regret that," she said, wiping dark blood from the corner of her green-coated lips.
Luz's eyes fell from the woman to her friends that stood just behind her, then snapped back to Terra. The dastardly woman smiled, realizing Luz's weakness.
She locked eyes with the human, rising from the ground and summoning all of the strength she had. As Luz prepared to be attacked, Terra turned and surged her vines toward the ill-prepared teens.
Hunter stared at the incoming attack and froze. Willow dove toward him, tackling him to the side as the vines arrived. Gus looked on with frustration, taking the opportunity to blind the woman with a flash.
Reeling, she blinked away her inhibitions and fired in Gus's direction, knocking him against a wall.
Furious, Luz charged the woman from behind with an ice glyph, but before she could make contact, she took a strike to the chin. She flew back with saliva spilling from her mouth. Seeing this, Amity stepped between the two.
Terra smiled, but before she could attack, Edric and Emira slid between the two. Amity tilted her head, confused.
Before she could question, the two began their advance. Combining their efforts, the twins created copies of themselves surrounding the witch.
The duplicates closed in steadily, but before they could get close enough to strike, a budding flower rose from the ground. With the flick of a finger, an eroma coursed through the air. Edric fainted almost immediately, and when Emira turned to him with her hand over her nose, Terra slashed her cheek with a sharp thorn.
"You are no match for me," she taunted as the eldest blight crawled away. She was at the center of the younger witches, but none were attacking. She pivoted in place, but even found those that she hadn't harmed to be too afraid to attack.
The room was silent after that. There was a foreign fear among the young witches that they hadn't come to know until now, but in their weakness, a light flickered among the group.
Her body was aching. She was already exhausted, but she couldn't give up now. She pushed from the ground, her body trembling as she finally found her footing. With blood dripping from her nose and off her chin, she lowered her stance and raised her arms to fight.
Terra perked a brow, surprised by her persistence.
Hunter watched in awe at her bravery, and as Luz passed Amity. He got to his feet, unable to look away.
Luz stopped in place, pulling her glyphs from her pocket again. She turned to her side, meeting Amity's anxious eyes and nodding. Amity's expression slowly hardened to match Luz's, and as Luz sprung forward, Amity pulled her abomination from the ground, boosting Luz into the air as Amity attacked from below.
In a blaze of courage, Luz flew towards the witch. Smiling, Terra cast Luz to the side before she could even make contact. Luz slammed against the floor, writhing in pain for a moment, but once more, through immense pain, she persisted.
Rising from the ground, she ran towards the coven head. Again, Terra sought to cast her aside, but Luz was able to dodge multiple of her swings, finding the perfect moment to smack a glyph against her and cast her to the side.
Still, almost immediately after, in a fit of rage, Luz was thrown to the side. Amity continued to assist her, but every time Luz was knocked down, Terra would swing at her instead. She wasn't as quick as Luz. She found herself absorbing most of the blows.
Among the spectators was Emira. She held Edric in her arms, but as he was clearly incapacitated, she laid him down on the ground carefully, turning her attention to the ongoing battle.
She smeared the blood on her cheek and balled her fist, watching as her little sister was being put in danger. Without so much as an effort to cast a spell, Emira sprinted towards the woman, punching her in the jaw as she turned to face her.
Reeling, she popped her jaw and glared at the eldest Blight. In a flurry of anger, Terra sent a slew of vines in Emira's direction, but, inspired by the bravery of her friends, Willow intercepted the attack and cut it with vines of her own.
Terra scoffed, pulling Willow's feet into the ground with her roots, but as her attention was taken, Amity launched Luz into Terra's back. As Terra turned, Luz slid beneath her next strike, slapping a glyph to the ground and freezing Terra's feet into a block of ice.
She groaned, but as she turned to swing for Luz, she vanished.
"Missed me," Luz remarked, standing several feet away at Gus's side. She seethed with rage, bursting from the ice at her feet and pulsing with adrenaline. She swung for the two, knocking them to the side.
Sensing an imminent attack, she swung a vine behind her and knocked Amity to the ground as well.
"Amity," Emira shouted. While her attention was taken, Terra screamed, squeezing her with tight vegetation. The room fell silent, the loudest noise being that of Terra's breath, ragged and sporadic. Behind her, in silence, Hunter stood, staff in hand.
As if she had a sixth sense, she slowly turned to face him, adopting her usual smile once more.
"Now it's just the lost boy," she remarked to herself, cherishing the anger that she felt in him. But to her surprise, after a bout of calming breaths, he never attacked. Instead, he too smiled.
Around her, the witches slowly got to their feet. Beaten and bloodied, they wouldn't give up.
Hunter didn't say a word, but Terra's smile slowly faded.
Her eyes steadily widened as her face grew anxious. As the teens closed in, she dove towards Hunter in a last-ditch effort, but he dashed to the side in a blur of golden brilliance. Tumbling to the ground, she tried to get to her feet, but was quickly pinned down under the combined weight of Amity's abomination and Willow's forceful thorned grip.
She squirmed and struggled, but their combined strength was too great.
"You- Stupid children—always ruining everything, I-"
"You've lost," Luz interrupted, balling her fist unconsciously.
Terra snarled, continuing to fight against her constraints, but as Luz planted her foot on the woman's chest, she was pinned down once more.
"Emperor Belos will destroy you," she taunted, spitting at Luz. Amity pressed harder against her, but she only laughed, despite hardly being able to breathe.
"The Emperor is a liar," Luz argued, "He doesn't want to help everyone, he wants to kill them."
Terra cackled to herself, refusing to accept the idea that it was merely possible.
Eventually, her laughs died down. Still, in an almost playful tone, she prodded on. "You're naive, Luz the Human," she remarked, sighing.
Luz's brow furrowed. She lifted her foot and stepped back, facing the cage. Eda looked at her with confusion, but quickly got to her feet and pressed herself against the cage bars.
Amity glanced at Luz, watching as she made contact with Eda.
Seeing this, Terra formed a sharp thorn in her hand, fastening her grip as Amity remained distracted. Hunter looked down at her, his hand shaking as he worried about what she was preparing to do, and seconds later, she sprung from her binds. Hunter lunged forward, tackling her against the cage. There was a loud crack, then silence.
All eyes snapped to her writhing on the floor. She crawled forward, but her legs weren't moving. She reached for Hunter with her makeshift knife and swung, but dropped her shiv as her immense pain stung at her. She reached for her stomach, squeezing as her body ached.
Blood slowly spilled from her mouth and onto the ground around her. Hunter stepped away with wide eyes. He looked to Darius, but was met with as much horror as he felt himself.
She just laid there, bleeding with her hand outstretched, and even still, with a bloody mouth, she snarled out, "You'll pay."
Moments later, she had breathed her final breath. With her life being drained, she collapsed to the ground in front of him.
…
From the shadows, on a small platform far from the ground, the Emperor scoffed, turning around and walking through a door.
Below, the scouts and abomitons eased their stances.
…
The teens began to panic, watching as they began to be surrounded once more. Being quick on his feet, Darius pointed to Terra's body.
"She-" he stammered, "She had a key—look in her pocket."
Initially recoiling, Luz turned to the body and reached into her pocket, retrieving the key and staring at it in her shaking hand. The entire time, all they would have needed was the key. She didn't have to die.
As their opposition encircled them, Luz pushed the key into the cage's door, swinging it open and helping the adults to their feet. They were injured, limping from the cage. The teens were quick to action, mounting their staffs and preparing for their passengers to follow suit.
Owlbert flew to Luz and landed in Luz's hands. Even being inexperienced, Luz was in a better condition to fly than Eda. She lifted the staff and mounted, holding out her hand for Eda. She stared at Luz anxiously for a moment, but as the abomitons were getting close, she took Luz's hand and mounted.
Following Luz, the group flew above the scouts, dodging more attacks than they thought possible. When there wasn't magic to dodge, there were the fists of the abomitons.
Eventually, when the group miraculously passed the troops, they zoomed towards the spire and ascended as quickly as they could.
As they reached the spire, they realized that their mission wasn't over.
It was still raining.
…
Author's notes: Alright, so I don't have a lot to say here, but I hope this was a tone setter. There was a lot that I needed to happen in this chapter and I hope to god that most of that worked out as well as it was intended to. This story is going to be very serious at times and some people may die. Take Terra for example. The teens tried to talk her down, but she took her first opportunity to try and hurt the kids. Her death was unintended, but was always going to happen. Like they said in the show, people don't want to believe that they've spent their entire lives serving someone evil. Some people just won't see reality.
As for my time taken for the chapter: this is probably for the best. Every time I've brought it up, people have told me that quality is better than quantity and I find myself in agreement. I'm an ameteur author, so I don't yet have the skill to pump out high quality stuff as fast as I'd like. I just hope that it's worth the wait, because I really do try. The only obstacle is finding time and as of right now I'm heavily considering quitting football, so we'll see how that goes.
Comments:
TheFranninator: "Always keep the crikey. The kids are gathered, now it is time for a
rescue. Great chapter! See you next time!"
I agree, can't leave out the crikey. As for this chapter, I really hope it lived up to the hype. I appreciate the support!
Death(s):
Terra: Ruptured Spleen, Blood Loss.
…
Okay, until next time.
See you soon.
~ lucas