Ghoul Break: The Familia's Final Outing:
Day 4: On The Trail With "Grandma"
"So, here's the rearrangement," Lilith said, "Alador, Darius, Raine, Camila, and Sally would take the children on the Kiddie Trail while the rest of us accompany Edalyn to ensure she doesn't bring the mountain down on us. Does that sound agreement?"
The group, with the expectation, Jacob nodded. Lilith returned the gesture and then went over to her daughter. She got down on her knees and looked Amity in the eyes.
"Can you promise me you would be on your best behavior for everyone, Sweet Raven?" she asked softly.
"Yes, Mommy," Amity replied cheerfully, smiling brightly.
Though it has been nearly a year since she had adopted Amity, and just as long as she has been knocking her down to give Amity a second childhood, every time Lilith sees that smile, it still causes her to gush.
"OOWW, you're just so precious," Lilith gushed as she scooped her daughter into a hug.
The ex-coven head thought about switching places with someone in the kiddie group, but she decided against it. The only one who could keep her sister in line when she gets like this was her.
Not even Raine could reign Eda when she gets super competitive.
So, she gave her daughter one final look, ensuring nothing was out of place. She nodded when she saw everything was in place and gave Amity one more hug.
She looked at the guide, and he understood. Lilith returned to her group as the guide approached the paths' entrances. He made two spell circles, and the rocks that blocked the path sank into the ground.
With the paths opened, the two groups began their hikes, with Eda and Ericia running ahead of their group.
A few minutes after the group began their hike, the rouge witches appeared and followed them.
(SC)
"OOWW!" Heather moaned as she looked behind a rock.
"Found something, sweetie?" Sally asked.
With a big smile, the "knocked-down" human nodded and showed the older woman. In Heather's hands was a disk, about the size of a quarter. The item was black with a yellow outline and the number 3 on it.
"That's great, sweetie," Sally exclaimed, taking a pouch from her belt. "What to put in your bag."
Heather peeked into the pouch and saw the two other point markers she had found soon after hitting the trail. She dropped the item into the pouch, smiled up at the woman, and went to rejoin her group.
Sally watched as Heather joined Boscha, Willow, Gus, and Emira. She didn't miss the sour look the three-eyed witch was giving the group consisting of Luz, Amity, Vee, Masha, and Edric.
Sally did see Boscha's look slightly soften when Heather rejoined them and got close to the witch. The columnist looked to her right when she heard a noise and saw King struggling to free himself from Camila.
"No, No," the human beast-keeper said gently. "You're too little at the time to be on your own."
But the "knocked-down" titan wouldn't listen to reason and tried to continue to get free. Thankfully, the "knocked-down" mother kept strong, and King soon tried himself out.
Sally watched this with a smile, pleased with the other mother's skill.
Suddenly, the mountain trail shook slightly, and the group watched as the path in front changed. Some rocks appeared in front of them, and the path became a little wider.
The shaking stopped after a few seconds, and once they knew it was safe, the "knocked-down" coven hurried off, eager to find more point markers.
"We just barely begun, and the kids are already having a blast," Sally said as she joined Camila.
"Si," the "knocked-down" mother said and gently held out King. "Can you watch King for a bit? I don't like it when kids get too far away."
Sally nodded and gently took the titan from her fellow human. Camila offered the currently older woman a smile and then hurried after the group.
Unknown to the group was Terra; the ex-head was close by, waiting for the right time to make her move.
The plant witch saw that the human girl, Liz or something, was trying to climb an unstable rock formation, and she made her move. She summoned some flame root flowers and threw them when she had a clear shot.
The flowers caught fire as they soared to their target. Suddenly, Hooty came out of nowhere and knocked the Flame Roots back to where they came from.
Terra was too surprised to react and took the flaming flower on the chin. With a grunt, the rogue witch fell onto her back as Hooty returned to his spot on Raine's back.
"Everything okay, Hooty?" The "knocked-down" bard asked, oblivious to what just happened.
"Everything's hunky-dory," the house demon said chirpily. "Just saw a tasty-tasty bug."
Raine frowned but decided to leave it as is. Instead, they walked up to Camila as she tried to get a squirming Luz under control.
"Is there anything I can do to help?" they asked curiously.
The human beast-keeper sighed as she managed to get her arms around her daughter and held her tight.
"Luz saw a point marker," Camila explained, somewhat tiredly. "And you know how my Mija gets."
Raine chuckled; they knew how their little songbird could get. They looked at the rock formations and saw the point marker at the very top. They looked back at the two humans and offered Luz a smile.
"Songbird," Raine said softly. "If you want to get that marker yourself, I can help But you must remember to listen to your mommy during this trip. Okay?"
Luz stopped her squirming, looked at her O'Pa, and nodded eagerly. Raine and Camila laughed at the sight, and the human sent her daughter down. Luz ran to the formation, and Raine got ready. They whistled, and the human witch was coated in bard magic.
Luz giggled as the magic filled her and lifted her into the air. She rose until she was at the point marker, and she grabbed it. She frowned when she pulled and found the object stuck in the rock.
The "knocked-down" human witch scowled as she began to pull, trying to free the point marker. She kept pulling, and the unstable formation began to shake. Camila frowned as she noticed this and took a cautious step forward.
"Mija," she said urgently. "I think you should be-"
The human didn't finish as Luz pulled the item free, and the entire rock formation crumbled. Camila gasped as she jumped away from the rock slide, Raine joining her without stopping their whistling.
"LOOK OUT, EVERYONE!" She screamed.
The group looked up and saw the rocks heading their way. Though the rocks weren't all that big, the "knocked-down" adults were going to take any chances.
Darius and Alador summoned abomination goo and went to work; the inventor created a platform and rose it high upon the incoming rocks. Darius quickly used his abomination to grab everyone and brought them onto the platform just as the rock rolled by.
The Familia watched as the rocks continued "harmlessly" down the trail and eventually off the cliffside. Once they were sure the coast was clear, the two abomination witches helped the group down.
Once the group was safe, they turned their attention to the cause of the rockslide. Luz was back on the ground and looking at the ground so she didn't have to see the look her mother and O'pa were giving her.
"Sowwy," Luz muttered shamefully, head hanging.
Camila and Raine continued to stare down at the "knocked-down" human with scolding glares, and Luz shrunk a little more. After a second, Camila sighed and got down on a knee.
"Mija," she said softly. "Please look at me."
Luz refused to look her mother in the eyes. Camila sighed again and gently grabbed Luz's chin. She brought her daughter's face up and offered her a smile.
"I'm not mad, Luzura," she said softly. "But you were warned that even the kiddie trail could be dangerous."
Luz nodded and had tears in her eyes as she stared into her Mami's eyes. Camila wiped her daughter's eyes clean and then gave her a soft kiss on the forehead.
"I know you didn't do it on purpose, but can you be more careful… for me?" the mother asked.
Luz nodded, and Camila sighed.
"But you still failed to listen to both the guide's warning and ours," Camila added sternly. "So, as punishment, you can't keep that marker."
Luz gasped as she looked up at her mother, ready to use the puppy dog's eyes on her. The stern glare Camila was giving her daughter to stop Luz's protest.
So, with a defeated sigh, Luz dragged herself over to Boscha's group. She held out the marker to her frenemy while looking away. Bosca looked at the token with dissatisfaction, and she took it while looking away.
Luz looked at her human mother with a sad smile, and Camila offered her apologetic smile. With that incident out of the way, the group returned to their hike.
Suddenly, Terra jumped to her feet, looking punch-drunken. All around the ex-head were thick vines with slabs sticking out of them.
"I'm okay! DOOOOH!" the plant witch exclaimed and then fell on her back.
A few seconds later, Trilight came trotting up to Terra and turned. It lifted its right leg and proceeded to pee on her. Once done, the three-headed dog threw dirt on the disgraced witch and hurried after its family.
(SC)
"So?" Sally asked her sister-in-law inquiringly, "How's the race going?"
Currently, the two groups were at a rest stop, enjoying a quick snack before hitting the trails.
Danna sighed and put down her sandwich. "Honestly, not as thrilling as I hoped. There's been moments, but most of the time, Eda and Ericia are just throwing shade at each other."
The historian looked around and then leaned in close.
"But, we should keep our eyes open. I have been seeing some magic auras, but no one is around. I think we're being followed."
Sally frowned as she chewed over her in-law's words. She wouldn't lie that she had felt like she was watching her and her group.
"I can tell you that we are being followed," Darius said, sitting beside the two humans.
Sally and Danna looked at the witch suspiciously, and Darius offered a playful smile.
"I understand your concerns," Darius reassured, "But those tailing us are mostly harmless. Besides, the show that is to follow isn't something we should miss."
Almost as if answering him, Roca came running with a pair of blue trousers. The human mothers watched as Trilight grabbed the trousers and played with the shrunken stone sleeper.
Danna sighed and looked at the witch. While some of her fears remained, she would trust the voice of experience and let things play out.
Soon, the break was over, and the two groups went their separate ways.
Sally was still on edge when she learned about a witch tailing her group, but she was trying to take Darius's words to heart and not worry. Still, she couldn't help but look over her shoulder every couple of minutes.
The human woman was looking behind her back when the group she was looking after came up to her, cheering. Sally tried to smile warmly when the group.
"Yes, what is it?" the columnist asked kindly.
Boscha, Heather, Gus, Willow, and Emira wore big smiles as they showed Sally their haul. The human genuinely smiled when she saw the kids had two point-markers. More impressive, the markers were three or more points.
So, Sally grabbed the pouch on her belt and held it out as she opened it. The group dropped the markers into the bag, and Sally couldn't help but give it a jiggle, the sound of the half-filled bag filling the air.
"You all doing good," Sally said warmly.
The group cheered, and then they went to find more. Sally couldn't help but laugh at the cute scene as she was more at ease than a few minutes ago.
She was about to join the others when her feet tipped against something. She looked down and saw a six-point marker at her foot. She shook her head and then hurried after the rest of her group.
"Everything okay?" Darius asked. "You were looking at something at your foot."
Sally shrugged and replied, "Fine a dud, that's all."
The ex-coven head nodded, and the two continued down the trail.
Once again, the group ignored Terra when she popped up from wherever she was hiding. The rogue witch looked at the booby-trapped marker and grinned as a thought came to her.
(SC)
"Woca!" Luz giggled as she ran ahead, "Catch me!"
The shrunken stonesleeper wiggled its tail as it chased after its bonded witch. Luz stopped to allow Roca to catch up, and just when the sleeper was about to pounce on the "knocked-down" human, she jumped to her right.
Luz grinned when she thought Roca would run right past her. That grin disappeared when the sleeper dug its claws into the ground and changed its heading.
Roca pounced on Luz and began licking her face. The human giggled as she playfully tried to get Roca off of her. After a minute, the "knocked-down" human finally pushed her bonded beast off her and rolled onto her stomach.
She was getting up when she spied something with her little eye. She "oww'd" when she saw a point marker and reached for it. She stopped when she was about to touch the marker and then pulled her hand back.
She stood up, dusted herself off, and went back to her group.
"Am-Am!" Luz screamed as she hugged her fiancee from behind.
Amity wasn't prepared for the extra weight, and the two went to the ground, giggling like the children they currently were.
"Uz-Uz!" Amity giggled as she rolled onto her back. "No Faiw!"
The human gave her future wife an all-to-innocent smile. Before Luz could do anything, however, Amity leaned up and quickly peeked the human on the lips.
"Oh, Cwikey!" the human quipped out with a goofy grin.
Amity giggled again, and Luz rolled off of her. She was about to jump to her feet when she spied another point marker and snatched it up without a second thought.
"Luz! Amity!" the "knocked-down" couple heard Camila call. "Don't fall behind!"
"Otay!" the two called and hurried back to the group.
"Found anything, Mija?" Camila asked when she saw the big smile on her daughter's face.
Luz nodded rapidly and showed Camila the point marker. The human mother brightly smiled as she took out her pouch, and Luz dropped the token in.
Camila looked in the pouch and was pleasantly surprised to see it half full. She closed the pouch and placed it back on her belt. She then looked at Raine as they began speaking.
"We're about to reach the next rest stop soon. So if Eda's group is there, this would be the perfect time to have lunch."
The group nodded and was about to head out when the ground shook. They watched as the land flattened out, and a few trees grew in front of them. Once the shaking stopped, the group resumed their hike.
Terra popped out of the ground, growling deeply. The rogue witch was ready to burst; she couldn't figure out how those brats kept seeing through her fake point markers. She summoned her copy plant and had it spit out one of her markers.
Terra studied the fake; she had made sure the copies were perfect. She even made sure the point value wasn't too high. So what was going on here?
The rogue witch was about to call off her copy plant when Owda and Rath came down on it. The owl blinked, the raven beast blinked, and finally, Terra blinked as she realized something.
"Oh, Titan-" she didn't get to finish that thought as the bomb disguised as point markers went off.
(SC)
"You were right," Sally admitted, "This was worth that lady tailing us to see this."
Darius nodded as he watched Terra barely manage to create a plant dome to shield herself from the blast. He frowned as he watched the dome move towards the edge but stopped just an inch before going over. Suddenly, Terra's fellow rogue witches came flying in from nowhere and collided with the plant dome, sending it over the edge. "...Maybe I should have arrested them after all," Darius muttered as he watched them disappear over the edge.
Sally nodded and then frowned as a thought came to her. "You should," she said, "but why did you have to kick those poor beasts?"
Darius scoffed and looked at his right boot. There was a small stain on the edge of his boot, and this caused him to scowl as the abomination he summoned a few seconds ago returned with replacement boots.
"I don't like getting dirty," Darius gruffily replied.
Sally gave the ex-head a look, then shrugged and looked back at the path. She smiled when she saw Odwa and Rath coming down the path, looking no worse for wear. She meant the beasts halfway and picked them, checking them for any injuries just to be on the safe side.
(G Corner)
So if anyone could guess why the "knocked-down" Coven members could see through Terra's trap, you win a cookie.