Wow, sorry for such the long wait! It was a longer chapter this time, so it took a little longer.
Hope y'a'll's enjoy! :)
Hunter's body rippled with fear. Cruising down to his very fingertips with power, flowing. His eyes were narrowed, his nose scrunched into a crest shape. His eyes traced the invisible outline of a being— Volley. It had tracked them to the Knee.
But why?
Hunter was astounded by the realization that the Guardian took all the effort to just kill them. It was that determined to have his and their team heads.
Volley's eyes were glowing spheres in the dark cast of shadow from the illusion of trees. His chest felt compressed to his lungs, burning. He couldn't breathe right, heaving for breath; he felt the graze of Willow's strong grip on his offhand.
"Hunter?" She whispered, voice trembling, and eyes darting to the trees and back to him.
"Willow, you're shaking." Hunter replied back at the same volume. It was weird— seeing Willow scared. He'd known her emotions were a big part of her strong self, and that's why he'd gotten to love her. For her brutality and honesty, she liked him for the same reasons.
"I know," Willow validated, gripping his hand a little tighter. "Just stay close." She summoned Clover to her side, holding it outwards defensively. So did Luz and Amity.
Hunter felt his arm subconsciously move in the same direction, only to grip air the next second. Oh, right. He thought, to himself that it was a stupid reaction. Flapjack was gone, but he still couldn't help to feel the quick jab to his heartstrings. Instead, a phantom pain twitched his fingers with an invisible grip., which was a complete shift change from his usual. He readied his back leg, pressed against Luz's in the same defensive position; though, she seemed more on the attack or offensive. Since he only wanted to defend everyone else, knowing that he made barely a dent with the help of her power and his knowledge combined.
It was as if their minds went right back to Belos' castle. Ready. Prepared. Having backup this time.
But was it really going to be enough?
"Do you see—"
"Yeah, I see 'em," Luz replied, looking forward, back turned.
Hunter took a second to realize what she was saying to him. He looked forward. Watching the pacing eyes of the prowler Guardian stared back at him. Left. Right. Left. Right. "There's one pacing in front of me, Luz." his voice was trembling, and he could feel his arms shaking with fear. They barely got out of there with their lives, now there were two?
"How? I'm staring at one right no—"
"There are two Luz!" Amity snapped with a nervous grip on her palisman.
Volley launched with its full might onto the group, like a wild animal. A predator. Whilst the other unknown specimen launched from the other side of the forest cover.
"Oh— TITAN!" Willow yelped, ducking down just in the nick of time before the Guardian slid back into the trees to loop around (so we can call Volley's friend Blue Eyes). Her power flared, a green aura surrounding her body as she created a wall from the roots. it stretched past the illusionist skyline, and further.
Hunter watched, jaw dropped. The craziest part? The witch wasn't even winded. "Holy cr—"
"DUCK!" Amity screamed from the other side of the clearing, and he did as ordered - allowing Volley to also cruise right over his head. The moldable (and forever shapeshifting) blades it called hands sliced a good grass trim off of the roof of his head.
He sighed in relief, only for it to be zipped up in a quick effort to save Luz's backside from being shredded queso. He leaped in, feeling the whirs of his power amping up a few dozen notches. The world slowed for a moment, reeling vividly as he yanked Luz down in one fluid motion.
She gasped but quickly nodded in a frantic thanks. She got up, summoning Stringbean to her side once again, but in staff form this time. "Where the hell are they coming from?"
"It's only two!" Willow informed, pressing her back up against Hunter's in defense. Luz cast a huge golden and violet ring - and Hunter watched the glow turn to a sparking flame that blasted in one fireball down the deep abyss of trees.
"Amity, send a flare!" Luz commanded, and Amity quickly created a small purple circle with her trembling hand - a flash of bright green and multicolored fire shooting up into the air like a rocket on its way to the Moon.
That was when Hunter noticed the crackles. Like a human world screen when it finally lost connection to the channel. That was it. He thought. In order to stop the frizz, and end the illusion, he had to—
"The magic box isn't working anymore," Hunter grumbled, scowling in the corner on his floor pillow.
"You mean the TV?" Vee giggled, shaking their head as they slugged their body off the cozy beanbag.
"Yeah, that." he clarified, scooting a little closer, but flinching back every time the static came on for a brief second.
"It always took me a while to figure it out," they clarified, tinkering with the turn dials. "… but in order to make the signal better to watch your shows, or rom-coms— whatever…" they continued, before it popped right back onto his fantasy shows. "You just got to find the right connection. The frequency." they smiled, settling back down, legs cris-crossed next to Hunter.
"Oh," Hunter felt his neck needed to itch. "You make it look so easy, I could never."
Vee raised a gentle, yet firm hand on his shoulder. "You'll get there, it just takes time. I still don't understand everything there is to the human realm. I get confused."
"I know— it's just," Hunter's head dipped for a moment, before kicking back up. Hoping to pass on the rough patch of a subject, he cleared his throat. "Thank you, for being here."
"No problem, besides," Vee shrugged. "We're in this together, right?" they hugged their legs with their hands, rocking back and forth playfully.
"Yeah, we are."
Hunter snapped back into reality, his mouth gaping for breath, but also the fact he figured out how to disable to barrier around them. If illusions could even be disabled. "Luz!" His voice echoed to call his friend from the other side of the forest.
"What? I'm kind of—"
"Shoot at the forest!"
"What—" Luz paused for a moment, casting an earth spell that summoned roots from the ground to her side, pinning down the Guardian momentarily. The blue-eyed one growled and howled, and Volley quickly went to its side in aid. "Did I just hear you correctly?"
Oh Titan, they can communicate with each other.
Blue Eyes growled, snapping and twisting through the vine restraints. Volley clawed at Amity, making her body fly like a pinball into Willow and Luz.
"Oh crap," Hunter's eyes darted, honing on the rustling leaves surrounding him. There were only two, and they were getting owned. Amity and Willow stacked upon Luz, their magic still fully powered but unable to move from exhaustion and stress to their minds. They were going to lose.
Hunter was going to lose.
His body lifted upwards, and he was panting heavily. He too was drained - not only that, but the prickling feeling in the back of his head hadn't gone away. But there was a chance they could all get out alive, rather than staying to grab the cure. He would still risk them being chased for an eternity by the Guardians, (For some unknown reason) he still can't even fathom to comprehend.
Sprinting over, he slid under Blue Eyes and created a wall with his own body. They all looked like cornered cats between the two stalking beings. For something that had no emotion... they sure enjoyed the hunt. Not even to imagine the kill.
"Hunter—" Luz coughed. "What are you doing?" her eyes weren't focused, nor was her struggling mind to stay conscious.
Hunter didn't reply at that moment, and she could sense the magic beginning to radiate off him again... almost identical to his pattern at the castle.
"Hunter..." She prodded again as if warning. "You don't know what—"
"I'm saving you! That's what!" he snapped back, and the friendly warm glow emitting from his palms swirled. Climbing up his arms, and slithering around the ground like a python. He kept his eyes aligned with the beasts, and Willow tucked her body close, gripping Amity.
"Hunter don't do it!" Luz's voice broke. She had already had to deal with her own power trip with the Titan blood running through her veins at a constant speed. She was powerful now, yes. But she didn't want to end up being reckless with her power even though she knew she couldn't control it fully yet.
She wasn't the only one swimming in uncharted waters, and she hoped Hunter would get the facts to his head before it was too late. She still didn't understand what he was exactly, nor did any books in the Boiling Isles! It was unheard of. She just wanted to protect him... or maybe she was in the wrong?
His arms rose into his chest, elbow to elbow, hands clenched into tight fists. Shaking. She couldn't tell if he was pissed off, or struggling to contain his power. Or worse, both. His magical, golden particles created an impenetrable shield around them. Transparent enough to see the futile attack attempts from the outside by Volley and Blue Eyes.
Hunter could hear the static crackles of the old TV, Vee's encouraging words that meant so much more now in his desperate time of need. "Hold on!" he felt the hands of everyone latch onto his shoulders and waist. His body swayed left and right, feeling the golden charge illuminates his eyes and surrounding them brightly.
All sound had drowned out into nothingness, the world stretched to vivid lengths, and he felt numb to the head. Nothing existed anymore, no plane of reality could contain his travel between.
Willow felt her stomach drop faster than her body could handle. The wind that had once caressed her cheeks felt stingingly painful. Her eyes snapped open to hear the sounds of her friends screaming. She had to act quickly. They were falling— how did they even get there in the first place? Did Hunter's teleport really work out the way he planned?
"It's a flare spell!" Eda's voice rang out, while oblivious to what Eberwolf was really watching. The bodies of Luz, Willow, and Amity crashed back down to the Boiling Isles at alarming speed.
"Over there!" Gus pointed over to the far distance, and everyone contained joined yelp of fear.
"Let's go! Now!" Camila ordered, and Darius straightened as stiff as a wooden plank.
"I agree with Luz's mother, we must go, quickly!"
Camila jumped onto Gus' palisman, and they both flew out there, hearing the growing screams of panic by Amity and Willow. The whole Luz was knocked out, unconscious. "Oh no," she whispered in a fearsome gasp.
Gus kept himself from stopping, the world spinning in orbit faster than light.
They weren't going to make it in time, they were hundreds of meters away. They weren't going to get there to save them before they hit the ground.
A small boom, like a meteor hitting the atmosphere at lightspeed, where a small figure popped out.
The Collector. He flew on his hovering star, traveling faster than sound, faster than Luz in some cases - if not all. He swooped in with two man stars that grew once they touched air, spinning to catch their falling plummet to a slow stop. Camila and Gus exhaled in relief, her head slipped back with the occasional pop of a kink.
She didn't lose Luz.
All thanks to her enemy.
No.
Friend.
But... she only saw three bodies descending.
All the air escaped from her dry lungs.
"Where is Hunter?"
This concludes Part One of Inheritance! So, with that coming to a momentary end, I will be taking a week or so long break to get the story all ready and set for Part Two!
BBBYYYYYYEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!