To Be Wild, To Be Happy, To Be Free

by DMLizaVet

Summer has just about come to an end, which means a few things for Luz, most of which she'd rather not think about, and her attempts at finding a way to make a portal to the Human Realm so far have all led to dead ends. Desperate to make it back and let her mom know she's okay, Luz ventures to an island that even Belos won't touch, in hopes of learning more about wild magic.

16. Rotten Corpse, Fresh Wounds

Chapter 16: Rotten Corpse, Fresh Wounds

---

Skara Alvera:

'Hey Skara darling, quick question; WHAT THE BLOODY HELL ARE YOU DOING!?'

Skara ran through the tunnels as fast as she could, skidding around corners and fumbling around, desperately trying not to drop that sickly looking boy that she had draped over her shoulder. And not dropping him was proving to be exceptionally difficult considering how heavy he felt, his metal chest plate pressing down hard on Skara's shoulders. The only reason she hadn't dropped him like the sack of potatoes he felt like was because of her Grudby training.

As she rounded another corner, shaking in fear at the sound of a bloodthirsty roar and the massive demon slithering after her, Skara scolded herself, gritting her teeth as she fought against the pain of her heartbeat. Stupid! She was being stupid! Taking off her handcuffs and casting a spell in the tunnel system was risky enough, but straight up attacking that demon? Then stealing its prey? It was insane! What the hell was she thinking?

'Seriously? You're gonna risk your life for some random kid you saw?' Skara thought bitterly. 'Why? Why the hell did you do that?' She had a feeling she knew why she was doing it, but couldn't quite put her finger on it. But there had to be some reason why, because this was not the kind of thing you just did on a whim.

*THUMP THUMP

Skara barely managed to keep herself from falling flat on her face, stumbling to the side and leaning on the walls of the tunnel as her heart screamed in pain, begging to burst. Deciding to survive before she continued her existential crisis, Skara forced her thoughts down, pushing herself off the wall and taking another turn, setting down the boy she was carrying. She needed to stop the flow of bile through their bodies. That would help mask them. As long as their magic wasn't moving, they would be okay.

Pulling the handcuffs out of her pocket, Skara gave the boy a quick once over with her eyes. She hadn't gotten the chance to get a proper look at him before. When she first spotted him on her way over to the ship, he stood out from the crowd of rowdy-looking brutes, his white and gold attire clashing with their muted browns and blacks. Something about that colour scheme was familiar, but Skara was too far away to get a proper look at what he was wearing. In the end, curiosity got the better of her, and she followed after him, keeping far back to make sure she wouldn't get seen.

But now, he was right in front of her, and she… really wasn't that impressed. The boy was scrawny and sickly looking, his skin looking unhealthily pale, as if he hadn't seen sunlight in years, with circles under his eyes dark enough to give the abyss a run for its money. He had a massive scar running up his right cheek and a notch taken out of one of his pointed ears. His dirty-blonde hair looked dry and messy, sticking in whichever direction it wanted with a long strand poking over his face.

His armour though, now that was interesting. As she had seen before, he was wearing a golden breastplate, strapped over a navy-blue shirt, a white hooded cloak with gold pauldrons draped over his back. The uniform was so familiar, but Skara couldn't see it properly in the dark, and she didn't have the time to think about where she had seen it before. She needed to make sure the two of them lived long enough for her to figure it out.

So instead of wasting more time gawking, Skara snapped one of the manacles of her handcuffs over her own wrist, hissing in pain as her bile sac was forced shut. 'Never going to get used to that,' she thought, before reaching over and pulling the glove on the boy's left hand down so she could put the other part of the handcuff over his pulse point, only for her eyes to widen in surprise at what she saw.

A coven brand. A coven brand for the Emperor's Coven.

'What.'

The sound of the demon's slithering getting closer and closer knocked Skara out of her confusion. 'LIVE NOW, CRISIS LATER!' she repeated. Acting fast, she snapped the handcuff over his wrist, then pulled a knife out of her boot with her free hand. 'Sorry buddy,' she thought, 'But there isn't a chance in hell I'm lugging you around with all that armour.' With a few quick slashes, Skara cut away the straps holding his armour, letting it fall to the ground with a *CLANG.

"Crap," Skara hissed, wrapping her arm around the boy - the coven member - and ungracefully tossing him over her shoulder again before taking off in a sprint, trying so hard to ignore the feeling of sticky and warm blood on her arm from the slashes on the boy's back. And holy hell was it so much easier to run when her heart wasn't on the verge of melting into a puddle of bile and blood, and when she didn't have cold and heavy metal trying to crack her shoulder blades.

Skara zigged and zagged through the tunnels, taking random turns without thinking. If she didn't think about what she was doing, there wouldn't be a pattern to her movements and she'd be harder to track. 'Don't think, just move! Go off instinct!'

Once she figured she got far enough away, Skara copied what she did before, ducking into the first indent in the wall she could find, taking the boy off her shoulder so she could hold him close, pressing her free hand over his mouth to mask his breathing while trying her best to make her own breathing as quiet as possible. She closed her eyes, straining her ears to listen out for the creature chasing them.

It got closer… closer… closer… further… further… closer… closer… further… further… further… and then she couldn't hear it anymore. Was it gone already? Did she throw it off her trail? Maybe, but it could be a trick. Skara would rather be safe than sorry, so she stayed where she was for a few minutes longer, making sure to listen closely for even the slightest bit of noise… but there was nothing. The tunnels were completely silent.

Finally letting herself breathe, Skara let out a long sigh of relief. She was so done with this place. Skara turned back to her new companion, a strange feeling crawling up her throat as she stared at him. He really didn't look good. That scar on his face looked old… really old. And Skara had a feeling that there were more wounds hiding underneath his full body armour.

What was she feeling? It was like some kind of dread eating away at her. Worry? It felt like worry. But why would she be worried about this kid? She didn't know him. He was just some random… member of the Emperor's Coven.

A lightbulb went off over Skara's head. Of course! That was it! He was a part of the Emperor's Coven! And a higher up too, based on the fact that his uniform was unique. He had to be someone important. That was why she was worried, because he could be useful to her! It would be bad if he died. That must have been why she saved him… it must have been.

With newfound resolve, Skara hefted the boy up once more, carefully checking the tunnel again before slowly creeping her way out of her hiding spot, and starting to stalk her way back towards the exit (which meant wandering around aimlessly until she found a landmark she could use to find her way out). She could work with this. She needed to keep this kid alive. He was her ticket to redemption. Her plan to capture the multi-trackers had failed, but she could still salvage this! She just needed to nurse the guy back to life, then convince him to forgive her for coming to a forbidden island. He'd be so thankful that he'd put in a good word to the Emperor for her, and she'd be set. Plus, he was probably her only way off the island, since the ship he came on almost certainly wouldn't leave without him.

First things first, she needed to get back to her camp. It was one of the only safe places on the island, and it was a hell of a lot closer to them than the ship. Skara didn't want to risk getting ambushed by a pack of Dryads with dead weight. So, camp first, heal the boy, then get off the island. A simple three-step plan. Easy.

"Don't you dare die on me," Skara whispered. "I need you alive… so please… please don't die."

---

Hunter:

Screaming. Burning. Dying.

The fires raged on eternally, over and over. Corpses with blurred bodies and scratched-out faces littered the floor. Screams echoed out into infinity, overlapping and echoing off of each other, creating a distorted cacophony of wailing voices. Hunter tried to close his eyes and cover his ears, to block out the pain, but his body wouldn't obey. He wasn't in control anymore. But then, when was he ever in control?

Hunter ran and ran and ran. Where was he running? Away? Away from what? The fires were everywhere. The screams were everywhere. The corpses were everywhere. There was no escape. Why bother running? What was the point? But he had to run. Someone told him to. Someone important… they begged him to run. To leave. He had to run. To get away from… whatever was chasing him. He was being chased?

Something grabbed his leg and he tripped, crashing down painfully on the floor. He turned around to see someone gripping his pants. They were a friend. He knew them. But they weren't a person anymore, just a faded memory covered in blood. They pleaded with him, begging him to save them. They were hurt and scared and dying, but Hunter couldn't help them. He had to run away. He kicked his leg into their face, forcing them to let go, then scrambled back to his feet and kept running.

The town came into focus around him. Buildings he once knew were reduced to rubble and ash, bloodstains covering the painted walls. The crimson grass beneath his feet was charred black. Smoke poured into the sky as Hunter ran along the worn dirt pathway. The quiet little village was filled with screams. Home… Hunter missed his home.

Wait, no, that wasn't right. This wasn't his home, it couldn't be. His home was the castle. His home was with Belos, his family. That had always been his home. His uncle had raised him since before he could remember. This wasn't home. Where was this? When had he been here? Was it on a mission?

He tried to put a name to the place, but the roads around him flickered and glitched. He ran and ran and ran until the dirt under his bare feet turned to red carpet, walls closing in around fires burned outside the windows of the castle. The corpses never ceased. How much of the carpet was stained with their blood? He couldn't tell where scarlet ended and crimson began. The only thing he knew was that he had to keep running. It was still after him.

Just keep running.

Faster.

Faster!

FASTER!

IT'S BEHIND YOU!

Raspy breathing on his neck. A tongue licked his ear. His chest burned, burned, burned, buRNED BURNED BURNED BURNED IT BURNED SO MUCH IT HURT IT HURT MAKE IT STOP MAKE IT STOP MAKE IT STOP!

A hand touched his shoulder.

The pain stopped.

The castle disappeared.

The fire was snuffed out. The corpses were gone.

A flash of bright blue cut through the everything. It washed over Hunter, seeing everything. It wrapped around him, draping him in comfort. His soul softened under its gaze. Everything was right. Everything was perfect. Everything was okay. He was safe. He was warm. He was happy.

His heart was empty.

And he fell into the darkness.

---

Skara Alvera:

Skara really did not like how quiet it was.

She had managed to drag herself and the boy back to her camp (despite how very NOT FUN it was to carry an unconscious boy while climbing, a feat she only managed thanks to a Boscha's absurd Grudby training exercises), finally earning herself a break and the chance to just breathe. Unfortunately, having nothing to do and no adrenaline running through her system meant that Skara's mind started to work in overtime, which led her to realise something she really hated.

The island was completely silent. Normally, that was a good thing. It meant that there were no Dryads crawling around trying to murder her, which Skara quite enjoyed. But considering the boy had come along with a pack of thugs that were running around slaughtering the demons, Skara figured that there should have been something. Some flashes of lightning or explosions. Feral roars and battle cries. Just… something! But the island was completely still. So something was going on.

As far as Skara was concerned, there were two options; the idealistic one, and the pessimistic one. Ideally, the thugs had just retreated back to their ship and were waiting for the boy from the Emperor's Coven. Skara stood at the mouth of her little cave, glaring at the boat which was still sitting near the beach. She really hoped that the thugs were just waiting for their boss to return, because that would make things easy.

Option two though, the pessimistic one, was that the thugs were dead. And it was just Skara and her unconscious tag-along left. That would be… a problem if it were true, so Skara was really, really hoping for option one. Things had been going pretty badly for a while. She could use a win right about now.

She turned away from the ship to look back at the Emperor's Coven member that she had, wincing a little bit as she did. He was lying against the wall nearby, handcuffs locked over both his wrists. Which, okay, maybe treating the member of the Emperor's Coven like a hostage wasn't the best idea, but she really didn't have much of a choice. If he had decided to attack her instantly, then Skara would be in trouble. She needed to get him on her side before she trusted him to not immediately lock her in the Conformatorium. Convince him she can help, then take the magic-binding handcuffs off of him.

And the first step to getting him on her side was going to be fixing him up. As soon as she had gotten back to her camp, Skara had fed the last of her healing potions to the boy to try and stabilize him, sealing up the worst of his injuries and significantly slowing down any bleeding until she had recovered enough to give him a proper check-up. Since she had a bit of time to rest, Skara was feeling a bit better, so she walked over to the boy and drew a tiny spell circle, giving him a quick scan.

The first thing she checked for was any cuts or wounds. At least he seemed to be in a decent condition on that end; he had a hastily healed up cut on his shoulder, as well as a not-so-closed-up gash on his back. Those were both definitely going to scar. Skara positioned her spell circle over the boy's back, getting ready to properly close the wound.

But as she was removing the boy's cape to get it out of the way and closing up the gash on his back, Skara noticed that he was wearing something underneath his tunic; a sheet of thick black fabric. She narrowed her eyes, pulling up his shirt and hissing as she noticed that he was wearing a binder. That was definitely not helping and explained how shallow his breathing was. Skara was loathe to do it to him, but that thing needed to come off. And since she couldn't pull it off due to him being handcuffed… that meant cutting it.

So Skara pulled out her hunting knife and very carefully began to cut away at the fabric until it snapped away as the tension of the tight fabric was released. As soon as it was off, the boy let out a long sigh, his body instinctually greedily grabbing all of the oxygen it had probably been begging for. Skara winced in sympathy as she noticed the bruises around the boy's ribs and the way his bottom rows of ribs stuck out a bit further than the rest; he definitely needed to not be wearing that thing. She had no idea how long he had been wearing it for, but it was definitely way too long.

The other thing that she immediately noticed was just how marred the boy's torso was. Skara felt strings rising up and wrapping themselves around her lungs, slowly pulling them down into her stomach as she realized that he was more scar tissue than skin, his chest and stomach a collage of white lines and faded gashes. What the hell had this boy been through? He… he couldn't be that much older than her, but he had enough scars to make a grizzled war veteran cringe. What kind of life did he live?

…and how many people in the Emperor's Coven had similar lives?

Questions for later. Skara shook her head, focusing on her treatment again. First up, the gash. It had been mostly closed up by the healing potion from before, and it wasn't bleeding too much anymore, but it still needed proper healing, both to properly close it and to make sure it didn't get infected. Skara put her fingers through the spell circle, positioning them over the tip of the gash and lightly pressing down on the opening, slowly dragging her fingers and the circle across the gash. As she did, the skin began to stitch itself back together, rapidly expanding to close the wound. And just like she expected, she was too late to stop it from scarring, the growing skin a slightly different colour to the rest of his skin and slightly pushed up.

As soon as that was done, Skara moved to the boy's shoulder, giving it a quick spell to make sure that the wound wouldn't instantly re-open once he started moving his shoulder around. Finally, she made a couple of small spell circles, placing them over the boy's bruises and tugging at the strings of his pain, dragging them away and causing the bruises to mostly fade away.

Skara let out a breath, wiping the sweat from her forehead. This was a lot for her, made worse by the fact that she was still dealing with the magic-draining problem that Necrozia had. It was definitely nowhere near as bad where she was, since she was so far away from the Academy, but it was still there. Skara took a couple of minutes to recover from the back-to-back spells before she moved to the next step; an internal scan.

Drawing another crimson circle in the air and placing it over his chest, Skara closed her eyes and pressed her palm against the boy's stomach, seeing inside him with her magic. Immediately, she noticed two things; firstly and definitely most importantly was the poison in his system. Skara winced as she saw his internal blueprint in her mind, watching the bright yellow liquid flowing through his veins as she tried to figure out what it was. She was still only working with the basics that she could get from reading. That was great for healing bruises and closing cuts, but poison was waaaaaaaay outside of her skill range. Which meant that she had to hope this wasn't something fatal, and something that the boy's body could fight off on its own. And then there was the second thing she noticed — or more accurately, didn't notice.

Where was his bile sac?

It wasn't just that, the entire anatomy of his heart just looked so weird. His heart was massive, and completely devoid of a bile sac, or even a valve that would lead to one. Plus, he didn't have any of the accessory organs that he was supposed to have around his heart and lungs. Skara was half convinced that she had done the scanning spell wrong, but how could she mess it up so badly that she missed some of the most obvious organs in the body?

Releasing her grip on the spell and opening her eyes, Skara looked over the boy one more time, trying to figure out what his deal was. He was obviously a very skilled witch and an accomplished member of the Emperor's Coven. But he was also just another teenager. One with way too many scars and some abnormal anatomy. How was she supposed to feel about any of this?

Letting out a sigh, Skara stood up. She couldn't answer any of these questions by herself. She needed to wait for the boy to wake up. And if when he did, she would ask him a few questions, convince him to not arrest her, and secure herself a way home and get an in into the Emperor's Coven.

Until then, Skara would keep watch. She moved back over to the mouth of the cave, sitting down and pulling up the hood of her jacket as she glared out into the distance, trying to spot a sign of… anything.

---

A few hours later, Skara heard groaning and movement behind her, turning her head around just enough to see that the boy was waking up. The boy curled in on himself for a moment, before starting to push himself up, his eyes rapidly opening and closing as he shook his head, seeming disoriented, which Skara couldn't really blame him for. She let out a quiet sigh of relief, glad to see that the poison hadn't killed him… somehow. Maybe it was just made to paralyze or knock him out?

Deciding to focus on more important matters, Skara readjusted the hood of her jacket, making sure that it obscured her face, and drew a small spell circle, placing it in front of her throat to mask her voice like she did when she spoke to that woman in the tunnel.

"Good morning," Skara said, her spell making her voice deeper and layering a second voice on top of it, making it near impossible to recognize her real voice. The second she spoke up, the boy's head snapped toward her. He squinted his eyes, looking like he was trying to make out her form. With a growl, he tried to stand up, only for his legs to give out underneath him, sending him right back down to the ground. "You might wanna sit still for a bit," Skara advised. "Pretty sure that poison hasn't finished working its way through your system. You're gonna need a minute."

"Where am I?" the boy demanded, though the fact that his voice was quiet and weak and that he had just faceplanted into the dirt made it far less intimidating than he probably wanted it to sound. He moved to point at Skara, flailing a bit as he did, only to look down and finally notice the handcuffs clasped to his wrists. "The hell?" he hissed. He turned his eyes back to Skara, glaring at her and snarling. "If you value your life, you will release me right NOW!"

Skara gave the boy an unimpressed look, even if he couldn't see it under her hood. "Okay, take a chill pill babe," she deadpanned. "I'll take off the cuffs once I'm sure you won't immediately try and murder me."

"Do you have any idea who I am?" the boy yelled.

"A scrawny teenager with anger issues?" Skara immediately responded, before mentally slapping herself. No! Bad Skara! Stop sassing the boy you're supposed to be convincing not to kill you! "I mean, uh, you're a member of the Emperor's Coven, right?" she corrected. "I saw the brand on your wrist."

"While you were locking them in handcuffs, right?" the boy sneered.

"Uuuuuuuuuuhhhhhhhh, yeah," Skara drawled awkwardly, rubbing the back of her neck. "Sorry about that by the way, but again, I don't feel like dying today, ya'know?"

The boy raised an eyebrow, giving Skara a deadpan expression. "And yet, here you are, on an island that no one has ever come back alive from." His expression shifted into a smug grin. "You're not very smart, are you?"

Skara pouted at the boy, narrowing her eyes. "Hey! I'm here for a super important reason!"

"Oh yeah? And what's that?"

"I was trying to catch a group of wild witches for the Golden Guard." Skara snorted to herself sarcastically, bringing her knees up to her chest and resting her head on them. "Look how well that went," she muttered to herself, quiet enough that the boy couldn't hear her.

"Wait, what?" the boy shrieked. Skara glanced at him, seeing that he looked completely baffled. Which, okay, why did he look that confused? Like sure, what she did was stupid and dangerous, and no one in their right mind would have actually volunteered to go to Necrozia, and— okay actually no he was totally right to be that confused. Fair enough.

"Yeah yeah, I know, it was dumb," she scoffed. "But I messed up badly, and I needed to make things up to a friend of mine. And I figured that the best way to do that was to help out the Emperor's Coven and get us closer to joining, and I knew that the Golden Guard was looking for Luz the Human and I found out she was coming here so-"

"Okay no, time out," the boy demanded, moving his hands to make a T but failing due to his handcuffs. "Let me get this straight; you chased Luz to Necrozia, an island that no one has ever come back from alive, that is forbidden for anyone to travel to, BY the Emperor's Coven, might I add… because you wanted to help me?" He glared at her for a few seconds, shaking his head. "That might be the stupidest thing I ever heard."

Now normally, Skara would have fought back against someone calling her stupid. However, there was something much, much more important for her to focus on. Namely-

"YOU'RE THE GOLDEN GUARD!?" she screeched, making the boy wince in pain as he tried and failed to cover his ears.

"Titan's bloody knuckles, never do that again!" he snapped. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

Skara continued to stare at the boy incredulously. No way. No absolute freaking way. There was not a chance that the Golden Guard, the person that she was trying to capture Luz for, was right in front of her. Holy crap. Holy freaking crap. What? No. What? How? What? WHAT? Seriously? This scrawny teenager was the freaking Golden Guard? That- that was just-

"But you're like, my age!" Skara eventually settled on. The Golden Guard scowled at her, his lips twisting into a sneer, revealing one of his fangs, a low growl echoing through the cave. "That's-"

"That's what?" the Golden Guard snapped. "Go on. Say it. I've heard them all. Tell me what you think. That it's dumb for someone like me to be the Golden Guard? That I'm too young? That I-"

"That's amazing!"

The Golden Guard paused his tirade, blinking in confusion. "Wait, what?" he faltered, his voice sounding… weirdly quiet. Skara would have raised an eyebrow, but she was too focused on the fact that the Golden Guard, THE Golden Guard, was basically the same age as her!

"I can't believe this!" Skara exclaimed, shooting to her feet and excitedly pacing around the mouth of the cave. "You- you're the same age as me! And you're the freaking head of the Emperor's Coven! That's just- you're better than everyone there! All of those people that have spent their lives training, and you're in charge of them! You just- you, ugh, that's so amazing!" she gushed.

Skara's feet excitedly pounded against the stone floor as she frantically paced around, her mind racing. If someone like him could make it into the Emperor's Coven, could LEAD the Emperor's Coven, then her chances were so much better than she ever realized. She just needed to prove herself! She could do that. And she had the perfect chance to do so, with the LEADER of the Emperor's Coven - she still wasn't over that - right in front of her!

"This is amazing!" she continued, losing control of any and all volume control she had. "You've already done it! You've reached the top! Do you get how amazing that is?" she asked. "You- you're safe! No more worrying about your future, no more having to deal with people trying to kick you down, no more people doubting you, no more-"

"Ha… haha… hahahHAHAHAHAHA."

Skara paused her rambling and pacing, turning to look at the Golden Guard, seeing him doubled over laughing, tears in his eyes. She stared at him for a few seconds as he cackled like a madman, his body contorting in weird ways as he laughed and laughed, his manic voice making Skara squirm in place, a deep chill creeping through her bones.

"Hah, you're kidding right?" the Golden Guard eventually asked, a twisted grin on his face and a crazed look in his tired eyes. "You think I'm SAFE? You think I'm done? What, are you some kind of idiot?"

Skara bristled at the insult, scoffing indignantly. "What the heck is tha-"

"Do you have any idea how much I have to work to get even a speck of respect?" the Golden Guard demanded, his eyes glinting with barely restrained anger. "No one respects the stupid kid that has a position they don't think he deserves! Even when I do everything right, when I give everything I have, it's not enough for them! Do you have any idea what that's like?"

"I-"

"Of course you don't," he sneered. "You don't know a damn thing! You don't know what it's like to have everyone vying to take you down, to steal your throne! To have to constantly watch your back, worried that if you take a single step out of line, say the wrong thing just one time, that someone will be there to drag you down, to take everything that you've worked for! You think I'm safe? I'm fighting for my life every single day, AND NO ONE GIVES A DAMN!"

The Golden Guard huffed and puffed, his chest heaving as he greedily took in air, glaring at Skara with the fury of a thousand suns. Skara, for her part, could only stare at him in shock. What- no. No, that couldn't be what it was like at the top. She… she was told that it would be better. That it wouldn't be the same. That she wouldn't have to fight anymore once she made it to the top. That was supposed to be the end! The goal! The prize! But it was just more of the same!? What was the point then?

"Was… was it all pointless then?" she quietly asked. "I thought if I could get to the top, I wouldn't have to keep kicking people down. That I wouldn't have to worry anymore. But-"

"The Emperor's Coven isn't some playground where you can hide away from the world." The Golden Guard moved to sit cross-legged, his glaring eyes never leaving Skara. "I'm not at the top because of some childish notion of safety. I'm here because I have to be. Because the Titan has plans for me. We select few are needed to enforce his divine will." He rolled his eyes, scoffing condescendingly. "Not that a spoiled brat like you would understand that."

Skara narrowed her eyes, giving the boy a deadpan stare. "You do realize that you would be dead without me, right?" The Golden Guard didn't respond, simply continuing to glare at her. With a sigh, Skara looked away, anxiously rubbing her fingers into her palms.

Nothing had gone to plan. Everything had fallen apart. Skara hadn't managed to catch Luz, she got stuck on Necrozia with no way home, and to make matters worse, everything she had done was pointless, because the Golden Guard was a scrawny brat that hated her, despite the fact that she saved his life, and apparently, the Emperor's Coven wasn't the haven she had been hoping for. Closing her eyes and taking a calming breath, Skara made a decision. Better to cut her losses and just… go home.

"If I remove your handcuffs, do you promise not to murder me?" She looked back at the Golden Guard out of the corner of her eye, making sure he couldn't see her face, and yup, he was still glaring at her like he was just waiting to get his hands around her throat and strangle her. "Look, I don't want any trouble," Skara continued. "And if I wanted to do something to you, I would've done it already. I just… wanna go home and forget all of this."

The Golden Guard narrowed his eyes to slits, still saying nothing, but Skara could tell that he was considering her words. He just needed a little bit of a push.

"Again, I did save your life," Skara said gently. "Don't you think that deserves a pardon for coming here, and transport back to the mainland on your ship? You don't even have to do anything for me, just let me tag along when you leave." The Golden Guard's eyes narrowed even further, to the point where Skara wasn't even sure if he could see her anymore. He… really wasn't as intimidating without his mask.

"Fine," he eventually sighed, holding out his arms. Skara held back a sigh of relief, walking over and pulling the key for the handcuffs out of her pocket. She hesitated for a moment before kneeling down in front of him, a voice in her head telling her that this was a horrible idea, that he was going to go back on his word and hurt her. He had no reason to hold up his end of the deal after all. But Skara forced it back down. He was already angry with her, pissing him off more by making him wait would just make him more likely to go back on their deal.

So as quickly as she could, Skara slipped the key into the lock and twisted it, the handcuffs falling off the Golden Guard's wrists with a satisfying *CLICK. He immediately ripped his arms back, rubbing his sore wrists, his eyes never leaving Skara. She saw his eyes dart down for a moment, eyeing her throat, Skara instinctually, ducking her head down to protect herself, until he twisted his lips into another sneer, looking away and rising to his feet.

"You're lucky I have better things to be doing than dealing with you," he said. "Follow me."

"Where are we going?" Skara asked as the Golden Guard made his way to the front of the cave. He turned back to her for a moment, glaring in frustration at her question.

"This ship. I'm going to regroup with my men, and you are going to sit there like a good girl and do nothing." Skara nodded her head. That was probably the best she was going to get.

"Alright. Just give me a second to grab my stuff." The Golden Guard rolled his eyes at that, but didn't say anything. So Skara got to work, picking up what few things she had left — her handcuffs, her knife, the remains of her medical supplies, a coil of rope, and most importantly, her Mom's staff.

The moment she grabbed it off the wall, she heard the Golden Guard let out a quiet gasp, barely audible, but just loud enough for a trained bard to hear. Skara looked over at him, seeing that he was staring at her - or more, accurately, the staff - with wide eyes.

"You… have a palisman?" he asked, his voice filled with a strange emotion that Skara couldn't place.

Despite how off-put she was by how weirdly he asked, Skara couldn't help but look down at the staff with a tender expression, a familiar heavy weight finding its place on her chest. "Yeah. It was my Mom's. It's how I got here in the first place. I would use it to fly back home, but… for some reason, it's gone into some kind of coma. Nothing I do will get it to wake up. I think it might have to do with-"

She trailed off as she saw the Golden Guard out of the corner of his eye, looking like he was barely listening as he stared at her Mom's palisman, looking almost… hungry. Skara immediately held the staff closer to her chest, twisting her body to shield it from him. The Golden Guard snapped out of whatever trance he was in, shaking his head and crossing his arms for a moment. He blinked, looking down at his chest with a look of fear, before his head snapped back to Skara, glaring at her for the umpteenth time.

Realizing why he was upset, Skara moved into damage control mode. "Sorry, but you needed that thing off," she said, adjusting the spell altering her voice so that she could sound placating. "The pressure was making your cuts bleed more, plus your chest was covered in bruises."

"That's none of your business," the Golden Guard snapped, stomping a foot forward. Skara couldn't help but scoff, rolling her eyes under her hood.

"Please, you should be thanking me! You were injured. Plus, you were definitely oxygen-deprived. The second I took that thing off you, your entire body sighed in relief. You needed some air." The Golden Guard didn't respond, just continuing to glare at her like she had stabbed his dog. With a sigh, Skara gave up on trying to convince him that she helped. He wasn't doing anything to attack her despite clearly outclassing her, so better to just keep quiet and move on. "Whatever. Let's just go."

The Golden Guard glared at her for a second longer before letting out a huff, grabbing his cape off the floor and sweeping it over his shoulder with a dramatic flourish and stomping out of the cave. Skara rolled her eyes, muttering "Drama queen," under her breath, before following after him, making sure to keep a firm grip on her Mom's staff.

---

After ten minutes of walking, Skara was glad to almost be at the ship, because she could swear that the Golden Guard was doing everything he could to make her life miserable.

While Skara was stepping as lightly as she could to avoid disrupting the soil and releasing the spores in the fleshy dirt, holding her shirt up against her face to try and save herself from the rotten stench, the Golden Guard angrily stomped across the island a short distance ahead of her, seemingly completely unphased by everything except for Skara gagging and coughing behind him, which apparently was annoying enough for him to look back at her and glare.

'Isn't this rich!' Skara fumed in her mind. 'This jerk is the reason I'm about to throw up, and he has the NERVE to be upset about it! What an absolute brat!'

Her fist tightening around her shirt, Skara fought back against the growl creeping up her throat, stomping it back down into her gut. She was absolutely not in a position to be getting angry at the Golden Guard. She was on thin enough ice already. So instead, she steeled herself - notedly refusing to take a deep, calming breath, as she valued what remained of her sense of smell, thank you very much - and strolled over to the Golden Guard's side.

Hoping that he was being genuine about not arresting her, since he hadn't attacked her or tried to do anything, Skara pulled back her hood, revealing her face. She saw the Golden Guard watching her out of the corner of his eye, scanning her up and down in a way that made her want to crawl into the nearest rotten tree and shrivel into a witch-sized raisin, but he wasn't saying or doing anything, so Skara took it as a good sign. Hoping to try and earn some brownie points with him, Skara did her best to attempt to make conversation.

"I, uh, don't think I ever introduced myself," Skara said lamely, mentally slapping herself for her lack of confidence. "I'm Skara. What's your name?" No response. Which was fine. Totally fine. Maybe she could try something less personal? "So… what's it like in the Emperor's Coven?" Nothing. "Like, how often do you go out on patrol?" Still nothing. "And what are your co-workers like? Do you share a barracks with the other scouts, or do you get your own ro-"

"Right, I'm adding a new condition to our deal." The Golden Guard stopped, turning to face Skara head-on, jabbing a finger into her chest hard enough to make her take a step back. "Either you keep your mouth shut, or I toss you into the Boiling Sea. Got it?"

Without giving her a chance to respond, he set off again, looking even angrier than he was before. Skara deflated like a dying witch's bile sac, her entire body sagging to the point where she was at risk of falling over. "Right. Got it." With a heavy huff, she got back to walking, this time making sure to stay far enough behind the Golden Guard that she didn't bother him any more than she already had.

Luckily, it only took a couple more minutes of walking to reach the blackened, blood-stained beach. Skara eyed with putrid fluid that burst out of the flesh-sacs across the island and flowed downward towards the beach, seeping through the sand as it drained away into the Boiling Sea, staining it black and sickly brown. She quickly covered her mouth and nose before the smell could hit her as she got dangerously close to it, speeding into a speed-walk to try and quickly reach the makeshift stone docks which had been risen out of the ground, stretching across the beach and into the sea, the ship they were headed towards docked next to it a fair distance out.

Skara looked up at the hulking vessel as she walked over the docks, a massive behemoth of wood and metal, all sharp edges and jagged edges. The hull of the ship was made of dark wood planks, with the front and underside covered in metal plates that were bolted down to protect the wood from being damaged by the Boiling Sea, the metal slightly corroded from extended exposure to the sea. A series of massive chimneys rose up into the sky, black smoke pouring out of them, the smell of burning charcoal growing stronger and stronger the closer she got to the ship. Large, thick pipes extended around the hull, following its curve and poking in and out, the familiar sound of hissing steam rumbling inside them.

As she and the Golden Guard reached the end of the docks, stopping in the shadow of the ship, the Golden Guard stood up, cupping his hands over his mouth to project his voice. "Oi, brigands! I'm back! Drop the gangplank!"

…no response. Skara raised an eyebrow, a pit of worry finding its way into her stomach. The Golden Guard's lip twisted into a snarl, Skara barely able to hear his quiet groan of annoyance.

"Did you hear me?" he yelled. "Drop the gangplank, you vacuous pillocks!" Skara almost snorted, laughing about his word-a-day calendar insult, but she couldn't find it in herself to laugh when her stomach was twisting into knots, dread finding its home in her heart.

"I don't like this," Skara said quietly. "I don't hear anyone talking, or doing anything. Are you sure-"

"That doesn't sound like keeping your mouth shut," the Golden Guard snapped. Skara's mouth closed with a click, her eyes glaring at him.

'I really don't like this kid,' she decided. 'Even if he is the freaking Golden Guard.'

The Golden Guard stomped his foot loudly, yelling up a third time and still getting no response. "Bunch of lazy idiots," he muttered. "They're probably below deck, getting drunk and passing out on whatever surface they can find. Bloody mercenaries." A brief look of surprise washed over Skara's face. She knew that the people who came with him looked strange, but she figured that they were just in camouflage or something! Why was the Golden Guard travelling with mercenaries? Why didn't he have a squad of Emperor's Coven troops? She was about to ask, before remembering that he demanded she keep quiet, slowly closing her mouth and biting her lip.

With another huff, the Golden Guard snapped his gaze over to Skara, pointing at the gangplank and commanding her to pull it down. Despite desperately wanting to ask why he couldn't do it himself, Skara complied, spinning a quick spell circle and causing the gangplank to glow red for a moment before pulling her hand back, the gangplank obeying and sliding off the ship and connecting to the dock. Not wasting a moment, the Golden Guard began climbing up, Skara quickly following behind.

As soon as she reached the top, Skara spun another spell circle to retract the gangplank to make sure that nothing could use it to climb on board, before looking around the deck. Like the Golden Guard had suggested, there was no one in sight aside from them. She could see a large boiler towards the forecastle of the ship, piles of coal surrounding it, waiting to be shovelled in. Towards the back of the ship, Skara could see what she assumed was the captain's cabin based on what little she knew of ships. She didn't see any light coming from inside though, so she assumed no one was in there.

She stopped looking around when she saw the Golden Guard stomping across the deck, heading toward a large metal hatch towards the back of the ship, grabbing the valve and twisting it around, opening the hatch to reveal a ladder leading below deck. Skara followed after him, her shoulders hunched up around her neck. Her entire body shivered, feeling like something was crawling underneath her skin.

Something was seriously wrong. Ships weren't supposed to be this quiet. Skara took great pride in her exceptional hearing. She was a bard for Titan's sake! They could hear a fly beating its wings a mile away! So the fact that she couldn't hear anything was enough to make her hair stand on end. After all, rowdy sailors and mercenaries made way too much noise. Even if they had somehow all passed out in a drunken stupor, she should have been able to hear at least a few of them snoring. But there was nothing.

She and the Golden Guard moved below deck, and she heard nothing. They walked down a long, narrow corridor, and she heard nothing. They took a left, then a right, and another right, passing by over a dozen doors, and she still heard nothing. They descended down a flight of stairs. By then, the Golden Guard must have realized something was wrong as well, his eyes narrowed and darting between each door they passed, glaring at them with suspicion. They took another left, another right. They descended down another flight of stairs, and she still. Heard. Nothing. They walked down another corridor, and…

…she heard footsteps.

Skara and the Golden Guard both froze in place, eyes trained on a shadow of a person peaking out from around a corner just ahead. The shadow grew larger and larger, moving to the beat of mismatched, stumbling footsteps, the figure shaking and shuddering as it moved. Skara listened closely to the footsteps. Step, stumble, shuffle, step, stumble, shuffle. The figure was dragging one of their feet. Were they injured?

The shadow climbed up the wall as the figure reached the corner, their hand reaching forward to steady themself as they pulled their body forward, revealing a tall witch wearing muted brown clothes, leather gloves and sleeves covering most of their body. Their face was obscured behind their hair, which was hanging in front of them. They turned their head slightly toward Skara and the Golden Guard, just barely acknowledging their presence.

All three of them stood there silently, bodies as still as the sulfur-and-coal-infused air. Seconds passed painfully slowly, until the Golden Guard leaned forward ever so slightly, taking a hesitant foot forward, reaching his hand out.

*SKREEEEEEEEE

The figure's jaw snapped open and let out a guttural, high-pitched screech as they threw themself forward, arms outstretched as they pounced toward the Golden Guard. Body moving before her mind could stop it, Skara grabbed the Golden Guard's shoulder and threw him behind her, her other hand ripping her tambourine off its holster. She slammed a hand down hard on the head of the instrument, a resounding *BOOM filling the hallway as a shockwave ripped forward, slamming into the figure right before their hand reached Skara's face and violently throwing it backwards, their body cracking against the cold metal wall and slumping down immediately.

Breathing heavily, Skara looked down at the figure, finally getting to see its face, its hair blown to the side by the shockwave. A witch - or at least, what was once a witch - sat before her, their skin a deathly grey, pulled taught against their bones. Their eyes were sunken and filled with glowing green light that was quickly fading away as what little semblance of life they still had turned to ash. Tiny sparks and green embers drifted down out of their open jaw, sputtering and dying as they landed on the figure's lap.

The corpse's lap.

Skara was violently spun around by the Golden Guard, his hand gripping her shoulder painfully. "What the hell were you thinking?" he shouted. "You just told everything within a mile where we are!" He let go of her with a shove, her back hitting the wall behind her. "Useless bards," he muttered, just loud enough for her to hear. Her body shook with anger, muscles tensing, begging to throw a right hook into his smug jaw.

"That… THING already screamed! If anything else is here, it already knows where we-"

*SKREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

Skara and the Golden Guard covered their ears, knees wobbling and threatening to give out under them as a dozen unholy screeches echoed through the halls, bouncing off the metal walls over and over, growing louder and louder. The two looked up at each other, coming to a silent agreement that they could strangle each other after they got the hell off the ship. Without another thought, they charged back down the corridor, sprinting up the staircase as they desperately ran to get above deck.

They barely made it two steps down the corridor before a door to their right was slammed open, another mercenary with eyes full of green fire leaping out, wildly swinging a curved sword at the Golden Guard, who nimbly weaved between the strikes. The Golden Guard grabbed the mercenary's arm, ducking down and twisting their arm behind their back, forcing them to drop the blade and pushing them against the wall. Before the mercenary had a chance to try and break the grapple, the Golden Guard grabbed the back of their head and slammed it against the metal wall, the corpse falling to the ground when he let them go.

The two sprinted down the hall, turning a corner to find another three mercenaries waiting for them. Before they had the chance to charge, Skara whipped her lyre from her hip and plucked at a couple of strings, a trio of red blades slashing through the air and cutting through two of the mercenaries who leapt forward mindlessly. The Golden Guard ducked underneath Skara's arm and charged forward, grabbing the arm of the last merc and spinning it around him before kicking it in the back, leaving it stumbling towards Skara, who let loose another blade of magic to slice through it.

Over and over, the two ran into more and more undead mercenaries and even a few dryads as they sprinted through the halls, working together to dispatch them quickly before moving on. But something was wrong. For some reason, the Golden Guard was holding back, only using physical attacks, usually just grabbing anyone who got in their way by the arm and tossing them back towards Skara, or grappling them against the wall, or sweeping their legs out from underneath them. Most of what he was doing was incapacitating them and letting Skara deal with them. Skillfully, sure, but… shouldn't the Golden Guard have been able to handle this on his own? Why was he relying on Skara so much? And why wasn't he using any magic?

Skara didn't get an answer as they reached the end of the halls, the two of them desperately climbing up the ladder and throwing open the hatch and practically leaping onto the deck… only to find themselves surrounded.

The deck was flooded with dryads and ashen mercenaries who were circling around Skara and the Golden Guard, taunting the two as they creaked and groaned. Skara's eyes darted around, seeing more of the monsters climbing up the side of the ship, crawling on the deck and joining the horde.

Pressing herself as close to him as possible, Skara grabbed the Golden Guard's shoulder. "Now would be a great time to teleport us out of here," she whispered, voice full of fear. The Golden Guard didn't respond, head moving side to side as he looked around desperately. "What are you waiting for?" Skara hissed. "Get us out of here!"

"…I can't."

"What do you mean you can't? Of course you can! I've seen you do it a thousand times on the crystal ball! Just zap us out of he-"

"I SAID I CAN'T!"

Skara stared at him with wide eyes, horror washing over her as the pieces clicked together in her mind. The Golden Guard hadn't cast a single spell the entire time he was with her. He didn't have a bile sac. He was almost never seen without his staff, which he currently didn't have.

He was a powerless witch.

One of the dryads rushed forward, the Golden Guard intercepting and swinging it around, throwing it into another charging dryad and knocking them both over, and Skara realized that she'd have to get them out of this mess. She slammed a hand onto her tambourine, throwing another group of dryads back with a blast and wracking her mind. She needed something big to clear a path. But she was still in training, her big spells required a lot of concentration.

"Buy me some time!" she yelled over the noise. The Golden Guard looked back at her for a second, studying her. He must have found whatever he was looking for, because he took up a protective position over Skara as she kneeled down, cradling her lyre in her hands.

She took a deep breath, before strumming her fingers against the strings, playing a long, tumultuous song, frantic and full of high-pitched whines. The Golden Guard danced around her, lashing out at any dryads that got too close, tossing them into each other to throw them off balance and push the horde back. As Skara's song swelled, storm clouds began to gather above them, the waves starting to roar as they crashed against the ship. The sound of cracking bones and crunching twigs filled the air, but Skara kept her head down, focusing on the song.

As the music started to reach a crescendo, the ship started to sway from the waves rocking it back and forth. The Golden Guard stumbled and knocked his legs into her back, almost falling over her. "What the hell are you doing?" he demanded, but Skara ignored him and continued playing.

With one final strum, she ran her hand across the entire lyre, commanding a massive wave to crash into the side of the ship, sending it rocking to the side and threatening to tip it over.

Everyone began to slide down the deck as the ship listed to the side, dryads and mercenaries falling off the ship into the Boiling Sea, screeching as their bodies boiled and fell apart. As they slid down, Skara stowed her lyre at her hip and pulled out her trumpet, wrapped an arm around the Golden Guard's waist and yelled, "Get ready to kick off!"

Instead of questioning her again, the Golden Guard gave her a quick nod, wrapping an arm around her and preparing himself. As soon as they reached the railing of the ship, the two kicked off in unison, using the momentum to throw themselves into the air. Skara twisted them around in the air so that their backs were to the island and blew a strong note into her trumpet, creating a blast of wind that violently threw the two backward. She kept the note going as long as she could, her lungs burning from the effort as they began to slowly descend, getting closer and closer to the sea.

"You can stop!"

Without question, Skara let the note go, the wind dying immediately as she and the Golden Guard were dropped onto the beach, the two skidding to a stop against the sand. Skara was completely out of breath, coughing and sputtering as her lungs tried to both breathe and reject the toxic air around them. The Golden Guard mercifully lifted her into a sitting position, patting her back to help her get his bearings.

"Incoming!" he yelled, pointing down the docks. Skara cursed silently as she saw a small group of dryads rushing down the docks towards them, the remains of the horde that hadn't made it onto the ship yet. Fighting against her body's desire to lie down and die, Skara pushed herself up and ran over to the docks, drawing the biggest spell circle she could with both hands before slamming them onto the stone. A deep note rang out as the dock began to shudder, the vibration ringing through the stone as it began to crack and crumble.

All at once, the dock fell apart, dryads screaming as they were dropped into the ocean, claws flailing as they tried to save themselves from their fate until they sank beneath the still-roaring waves.

Skara fell to her knees, completely and utterly exhausted, her heart hammering against her ribs and her lungs burning in pain. She curled in on herself, still gasping for air, flinching when she felt something touch her back. She looked up to see the Golden Guard at her side, gently rubbing her back, notedly not looking at her.

"Thank you," she whispered, barely able to get the words out. The Golden Guard didn't give any response other than a slight nod, still staring off into the distance.

"You sunk the ship," he noted instead. His voice was strangely calm, and Skara assumed the worst. She winced, getting ready for him to berate her again, lacking the energy to fight back against him. She didn't regret it. There wasn't another way — if she had cut a hole in the ranks, they'd have just filled it back up. She had to take them all out in one go. She might have overdone it though…

Except that when she risked a glance at the Golden Guard, he didn't look angry. No, he looked almost impressed. Skara let out a sigh. As much as she wanted to bask in the fact that she had impressed the Golden Guard, there was something they needed to address.

"You can't use magic without your staff, can you?"

The Golden Guard's eyes immediately snapped over to her, glaring with a burning hatred, but the fire in his eyes died barely a second later as he let out a defeated sigh, slumping to the ground. "Yeah yeah, laugh it up," he muttered. "I'm a powerless witch. Isn't that just hilarious?"

Skara frowned, giving him a pitying look. She shook her head. "I think it's impressive."

"Yeah, sure," the Golden Guard scoffed.

"I'm serious," Skara softly insisted. "Like, I have to work so hard just to stay at the top of my bard classes, and here you are, with no bile sac, and you're still miles ahead of me, despite the fact that we're the same age! Heck, you're miles ahead of everyone!" She gave him a gentle smile, lightly punching his shoulder. "I already thought you were pretty amazing, but this? This is something else."

The Golden Guard let out a short laugh, smiling softly. "Thanks." He looked over at Skara, raising an impressed eyebrow. "You're not so bad yourself. Not every bard can capsize a ship that large."

Skara blushed slightly, waving her hand dismissively. "Ah c'mon, it wasn't that great. I had to sit down and focus. A real bard can make a thunderstorm by pulling a few strings!"

The Golden Guard rolled his eyes. "Don't sell yourself short. It takes time to get there. The 'real bards' have been studying for decades. You'll get there. You've definitely got the skill and dedication for it."

A smile fought its way onto Skara's face. The Golden Guard thought she was good! Maybe even good enough to match some of the bards in the Emperor's Coven! Grinning wide, she jumped to her feet with renewed energy, stretching her arms into the air.

"Alright then," she said, turning around and starting to walk up the beach, towards the woods. "Let's get back to camp. We've got work to do."

The Golden Guard gave her a confused look. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Skara turned just enough for the Golden Guard to see her face, giving him a winning smile. "We've got a demon to kill."

The situation was hopeless. They were stuck on an island with no ship or working staves, a witch that could have their magic drained if she got too close to that monstrous demon and another that couldn't use magic without his staff, which was lost somewhere in a tunnel. Absolutely hopeless.

But Skara wasn't the strategist of the Banshees for nothing! This wasn't the first time she had come back from a situation others called hopeless. She had everything she needed. The game was set, the pieces were on the board, the problem was easy to see, and the solution they needed was clear. All she needed was to work out a strategy. And to do that, she needed to know everything about their position.

"Get your butt in gear, Goldilocks," she insisted. "We're burning daylight." She turned back around, walking further up the beach.

"…Hunter." She stopped, looking back at the Golden Guard again. "My name is Hunter."

Skara's smile softened. "Alright, Hunter. Nice to finally meet you. Now, let's go kill a monster."

---

Hunter, the Golden Guard:

"Alright, first things first, info."

Hunter sat with his back against the wall of the cave, making sure that the entrance was in his line of sight, watching as Skara tapped away at her scroll, typing up a list. He had to admit, it was impressive how quickly she shifted over into battle mode. That kind of focus, the ability to flick a switch and immediately be ready for anything, was valuable in his line of work. Maybe he had underestimated her.

"So, let's go over what we know about that demon."

"Ocras," Hunter corrected. "That's the name he gave me."

Skara nodded, adding the name to her list. "Right, so as far as I can tell, he's some kind of advanced Basilisk, even stronger than a Greater Basilisk. He can drain magic from anyone on the island, but it gets weaker the further away you get from him. Unlike a regular Basilisk, he doesn't need to open his mouth and suck it out, or eat one of your spells. He can kinda just… do it."

"It's definitely a lot stronger when he's in close range of you," Hunter added. "And much more fatal. I've seen the reports of the Basilisk attack on Hexside and Glandus. Victims were drained of their magic and left in a crippled state, but they were alive. Ocras… he drains you to the bone." He rubbed his arm uncomfortably, thinking about what happened to Harriot. "He leaves you as nothing more than a withered corpse."

"…lovely," Skara shuddered. "He does have a weakness though. He's blind." Hunter's eyes snapped back over to Skara. "Figured it out while he was chasing me through the tunnels. He can't see anything, but he can see, or maybe sense, magic. The second I put my handcuffs on, he lost sight of me."

Hunter slapped his forehead as hard as he could, letting out the loudest groan possible. "Titan, I'm SUCH an idiot!" he bemoaned. That explained so much, like how he always knew where Hunter was teleporting, or why his flashbang didn't work on him, or why he had so much trouble spotting Hunter until their fight started and he began throwing around spells.

"Don't beat yourself up," Skara insisted. "I figured it out by accident. It's not exactly something that obvious when you're in the middle of a fight." Hunter scoffed but didn't say anything. He had plenty of time to think over his first fight with Ocras before he came for his rematch. He should have put the pieces together. But what's done is done, and now he knew. He would put the information to good use.

"Whatever. Anyway, on top of his innate magic-draining ability, he's also covered in Titan-Bone scales." Skara looked at Hunter in horror. "Yeah, there's a reason I want him dead. He can absorb magic through the scales, so most offensive spells are useless against him."

Skara grimaced, the sound of clicking and clacking filling the cave as she tapped away at her scroll. "That takes out a lot of my best spells." Hunter narrowed his eyes at her, a hand hovering near his ribs. Ocras' scales certainly made most of her spells useless… at least, her bard spells. But she had more than that, didn't she?

Deciding to get into that later, Hunter continued with his briefing. "The fire in his stomach is an indicator of how much magic he has," he explained. "I noticed it getting smaller the longer the fight went on, sputtering whenever he cast a particularly big spell. Especially whenever he used his magic to heal his injuries."

"He can regenerate?"

"Only his flesh. I melted some of the scales on his face with a vial of acid, and he wasn't able to fix them. But there are a few chinks in his armour. If we can hit his weak spots and force him to burn up his magic healing himself, we can whittle him down."

Skara bit the nail of her thumb, looking unsure. "A war of attrition…" she shook her head. "I don't like that. You might be immune to his magic draining, but I'm not. I think it takes a few seconds for him to spot me once my handcuffs are off, but as soon as his eyes are on me, I'm dead meat. Fighting a war of attrition while handicapped like that doesn't sound like a good idea."

"You'll just have to rely on hit-and-run tactics," Hunter shrugged nonchalantly. "Take the cuffs off while his eyes are on me, hit him as hard as you can, and snap them back on before he can retaliate."

"That's probably my best option. It'll hurt like hell, but it's something." Skara sighed, shaking her head again. "Still, I'm not confident we can win that fight. Plus, you can't fight him without your staff."

"Obviously we'll have to find it before we even think about killing that thing."

"Right… so how do we do that?"

Hunter clicked his tongue and scowled. "It's probably still where I dropped it in the tunnels. That thing couldn't see me even while I was holding my staff, so I doubt it has enough magic to show up on his radar." Which made sense. His staff wasn't made of palistrom wood, or imbued with magic. It was just a focus for him to channel his own magic into, since he didn't have a bile sac.

"Meaning he would have no way of knowing where it is, or any reason to pick it up," Skara groaned. "And since those tunnels are an absolute maze, we can't exactly retrace our steps to find it.

"So what, we wander around until we just happen to bump into it?"

The two sat in silence for a moment, trying to think up any ideas. But Hunter was coming up blank, and based on Skara's annoyed expression, she probably wasn't having any better luck. "Let's put a pin in that for now," she eventually said, sticking an imaginary pin in the air. "Imagine we get your staff back. What's step two?"

"Kill Ocras," Hunter stated simply. "But how do we kill a demon that can heal basically anything we do to it? Quickly enough that it doesn't have time to take us out? Cuz you don't like the idea of just hitting him until we burn through all his magic."

A strange look passed over Skara's face, a shine in her eyes. "Burn through his magic…" she muttered. "Burn… burn… burn! That's it!" she yelled, jumping to her feet. "We can literally burn it out!"

"Did you miss the part where he's immune to almost all offensive magic? Especially fire."

Skara gave Hunter a wicked grin that reminded him far too much of Kikimora whenever she was feeling particularly murderous. "Maybe. But he isn't immune to the Boiling Sea, now is he?" Her fangs poked out of her mouth, glinting in the firelight. "It'll be just like the Dryads! We get him into the sea, and it'll burn straight through his flesh. Even if he can regenerate, the sea will just keep eating away at him! He'll be boiled alive in record time!"

As much as Hunter really liked the idea of boiling that disgusting blight alive, there was one problem. "There's no way we can bait him all the way over to the sea," he said. "And even if we could, throwing him in could be difficult."

"Who says we have to get him to the sea?" Skara shot back. "What if we brought the sea to him?"

"Explain."

"The chasm with the main entrance to the Academy. It cuts all the way through the island. Right up to the edge. I'm sure a witch as capable as you can make a blast big enough to destroy the wall and let the sea flood in."

Hunter matched Skara's grin, shaking with excitement. "Oh, you bet I can," he laughed. "Oooooh, I like this plan. Flood the entire chasm, and destroy that rotten demon and the cursed academy all in one fell swoop. That's what I'm talking about."

Skara smiled wide at the praise, tapping away at her scroll. "So, we've got our end goal; get your staff, then flood the chasm. The water should flood the academy and take out Ocras-"

"No, we need to lure him out," Hunter cut in. "The entrance to the academy is too small. It'll bottleneck the flood, give that demon too much time to react. I'm not taking any chances. We need him in the chasm when the flood comes in, make sure he dies fast."

"…fine," Skara conceded, clearly not happy about the decision. "So we need a plan to lure him outside." She looked down at her scroll, letting out a defeated sigh and hanging her head. "…I'm gonna have to be the bait, aren't I?"

"What?"

"He's too smart to follow you all the way out," Skara explained. "He doesn't gain anything from it. But he wants to feed off me. If he thinks he can get a good meal out of me, he'll follow me out. Like you said, it's easier for him to drain people when they're close. He'll want to catch me."

Hunter bit his lip, glaring at the ground. She was right. He knew she was right. It was the best possible decision for them to make. Skara was both the most expendable person they had and the one that would make the best bait. She was the obvious choice. So why was he hesitating to agree with her?

"So," Skara continued, cutting through Hunter's crisis. "Once we get your staff, I'll sneak through the academy with my handcuffs on, taking them off to get his attention. I've got good ears, so once I hear him starting to get close, I'll put the cuffs back on and move further towards the exit. Rinse, repeat, and hopefully, victory. If I need to, I can yell and taunt him just so he knows I'm real."

"…and since he can't see me, I can stick close to make sure that you don't collapse from getting your magic drained," Hunter added. "As long as I don't cast any spells, he won't know I'm there."

"And once we're outside, you teleport down the chasm, blow the wall at the seaside to hell, and flood the chasm while I keep Ocras busy. Once everything is ready, we seal the entrance back into the academy to make sure he can't run away, and you get me out so we can watch that sucker drown!"

"Woah woah woah, why are we sealing the academy?" Hunter snapped. "I want that place flooded and destroyed."

"We can remove the blockade afterwards," Skara said with a wave of her hand. "Better to let the chasm flood quickly rather than having the water drain out. It'll make sure he dies faster." Hunter narrowed his eyes for a moment, before admitting that she was right, letting her go on. "So we've got a decent plan sorted out. Now back to the pin," she said, pulling her imaginary pin out of where she placed it. "How do we find your staff?"

The two swapped ideas back and forth, shooting them down for this reason and that. Pretty much anything they came up with was either quickly shut down, or was such a stretch to begin with that the other didn't even need to other coming up with a reason on why it wouldn't work. An hour later, the two still didn't have any ideas on what to do, Skara eventually calling a break to "destress". Which made no sense. How was sitting around and doing nothing about the problem supposed to make Hunter less stressed?

So while Skara wasted time lying down with her feet kicked up against the walls of the cave, Hunter moved to the entrance and kept lookout, wracking his brain while he scanned the island. There had to be something he could do. Some way to find his staff! If he could just cast a simple oracle spell, he could easily track down his staff. But unfortunately, he would need his staff to cast the spell that he needed to find his staff, a stupidly annoying circle that made Hunter want to scream. And even if he could have cast the spell, Harriot had told him that there were no spirits on the island. No spirits meant no way to use oracle magic.

Hunter let out a huff, glancing back at his companion, eyes going wide as he did. She was in the same place she was before, but she was holding her left hand over her head, staring at a spinning purple arrow that hovered over her hand, eyes lazily following it.

A tracking spell.

She had an active tracking spell!

Why the hell hadn't she said anything before?

As if sensing his eyes on her, Skara tilted her head back, giving Hunter a strange look. "What?" she asked. Did she not realize how big of a deal this was? This was the solution to all their problems!

"Why didn't you tell me you had a tracking spell?" he demanded. Skara blinked in confusion, tilting her head to the side.

"This? Why would I?" She pulled her legs off the wall and moved to sit up straight, crossing her legs. "I bought it from an oracle to help me keep track of Luz. Not that it did me much good in the end."

"Well it's gonna do us some good now!" Hunter said, a grin breaking out on his face. "We can alter the spell to change its target and track down my staff!"

Skara's eyes went wide and she sat up a little straighter for a moment, before immediately sinking back down, looking a bit concerned. "But, wait, you can't use magic without your staff. Which means…"

"You'll have to do it."

She clearly hesitated, looking away. "I can't. I bought a scroll in the market. I'm a bard, not an oracle. " Hunter raised an eyebrow. 'Still sticking to that story, huh?' Hunter thought to himself. 'Alright, guess we're doing this now.'

"Really now?" he asked. "Are you sure you don't know any oracle magic?" Skara's eyes flicked over to Hunter for a brief second before darting away, but it was enough to give her away.

"Of course not."

"Just like how you don't know any healing magic, right?"

It was subtle, but Hunter could easily see Skara tense up. The hand resting on her knee twitched, her shoulders went stiff, and her gaze hardened ever so slightly. He could see the gears turning in her mind, trying to come up with an excuse, but he didn't give her the chance.

"You know full well the dangers of wild magic," he warned. "I'll make an exception this time and guide you through altering that tracking spell, but I suggest you rethink the path your on. Or the next time we meet won't be so friendly."

"Oh yeah, 'cuz you've been nothing but sunshine and pixie dust since we've met, haven't you?" Skara scoffed. "Besides, if I didn't know any healing spells you'd be dead. Don't forget that."

Hunter was about to snap back, but the last thing she said made him pause. She was right. He would've died without her. If she hadn't been on the island… if she hadn't found him… if she hadn't known healing magic, despite the dangers of mixing magic… it all added up too cleanly. It was too perfect. It was…

…it was as if it were all planned.

"You're right," Hunter whispered, his eyes going wide and filling with sparkling light. He grabbed Skara by the shoulders, dragging her face right in front of his. "Why did you start learning healing magic?"

"Wh- what? Why does that-"

"TELL ME!"

"I don't know!" Skara screamed back. "I just thought it'd be a good idea! I don't- why does it matter?"

She didn't know. She didn't know. He was right. Blessed Titan below, he was right! Of course! It was all too perfect! This was how it was supposed to be! This was meant exactly what was meant to happen.

"It's a sign," he reverently whispered as a massive, manic grin spread across his face. "IT'S A SIGN!" Skara pulled herself away from Hunter, scooting back, looking afraid. Why was she afraid? This was perfect! Didn't she understand?

"What's a sign? What are you talking about?" No, no, she didn't understand. Of course she didn't, she hadn't seen the light. She still hadn't been brought into the Titan's arms. But she would be. This was all part of the plan. Of his plan.

"This!" Hunter shouted, leaping to his feet. "You, me, everything! This was all meant to be! Everything has gone exactly how it was supposed to!"

Skara watched Hunter with confused eyes, fear flitting through her gaze. "Oooookay, you've lost it, gotcha. I'm just gonna wait for you to calm do-"

"THINK ABOUT IT!" Hunter interrupted. "Why are you here? To help me! And you're going to, you're meant to! That's why you started learning healing magic! Because you needed it to save me! That's why you're still here, why you survived on an island where no one else had! Don't you see! This is a sign from the Titan! This is destiny!"

"Wha- destiny? I don't understand! What are you-"

"What are the chances you just happened to come here at the same time as me, for the same reason! What are the chances that you survived an encounter with a demon that has murdered everyone whose ever met him, that you survived on an island that no one else has? That your palisman, the thing that got you here, just happened to go to sleep to stop you from leaving? That you just happened to be there to save me when I was injured? That you just happened to survive another encounter with that monster! That despite being a bard, you knew just enough healing magic to save me! And that you just happened to have a tracking spell, the one thing we need to make our plan work!"

Skara watched Hunter in frightened awe, her eyes going wider and wider. Yes, yes! She was getting it! She was starting to understand! He just needed to push her a little more! She could almost see the light!

"Don't you see?" he continued, running a hand across his scalp and gripping his hair tight enough to hurt. "All of this, it's too much, it's too perfect! None of this could have happened by chance! Because it didn't! This- this- THIS! This is destiny! The Titan, he wants, no, needs me to kill Ocras! He has big plans for me. And you! You're a part of those plans! You're meant to be here, meant to help me. And to do that, you needed to know healing magic. And now, you need to use oracle magic."

"Destiny?" Skara muttered, her eyes darting about, chest heaving as she took in short and deep breaths. She was still confused, still scared, still in denial. That wouldn't do. The Titan, he needed her! She had a part to play. "I- but I'm-"

"You have the Titan's blessing! Just like me, like the members of the Emperor's Coven! You're one of us!" Hunter knelt down in front of Skara, putting a hand on her shoulder again. "You weren't cursed to be here, you were blessed! You're here to help me put down that blasphemer for good!" He softened his gaze, giving her the same reassuring smile Belos had given him when he revealed Hunter's role. "This is your destiny."

"My destiny…"

Hunter watched a dozen emotions flash through Skara's eyes, her mind working in overdrive to process what he told her. He smiled, remember what it was like when he learned he was special, blessed by the Titan. It was so much, too big a task to comprehend. The weight of thousands and thousands of lives on his shoulders. But even more than that, it was an honour. A privilege. The joy of knowing that he was chosen to make the world better. And he could see the same fire burning in Skara's eyes.

"Okay," she eventually said, her eyes hardening. "Let's do this." She held her left arm out, gazing at the tracking spell on the back of her hand as Hunter smiled at her. The two sat in silence for a moment as Hunter waited for her to get started. And waited… and waited…

…why wasn't she doing anything?

"…uh, how do I do this?"

Oh, right. She didn't know oracle magic.

Hunter huffed out a breath, resigning himself to having to play teacher. "Okay, so this is a pretty simple tracking spell. When you first cast it on Luz, you planted a tracker on her, then bound a spirit to your arm that pointed you towards that tracker. Sound right?"

"Yeah."

"Right, so the spirit is still bound to your arm," Hunter explained. "With a bit of concentration, you can change what it's tracking. Just gotta rewrite its mind a bit so we can-"

"Woah woah woah, we're messing with this thing's head?" A look of horror passed over her face. "Wait, this thing is ALIVE?!"

"What? No. It's a spirit."

"Like the ones we have on our fearleading squad? The school spirits?"

"Ugh, no!" Hunter scoffed. Did she not even know the basics? What were they learning at Hexside? Did he really need to teach her everything? Fine. "Look, there are ghosts, spirits, and spectres. They're different, okay? Ghosts are the only ones that are 'alive'. They're souls that refused to move on and merge with the Titan. Spirits and spectres are just… memories.

"Memories? How does that work?"

"It's like…" How could he explain this in a way she could understand? "It's like… a picture! When you take a picture of someone, that picture isn't the person. It's just a picture. The person is still the person, even after they die. Spirits and spectres work the same way. When the person dies, their soul merges with the Titan's magic, living on forever within it. But combining with the Titan leaves behind an imprint, a memory-"

"Like a photo of a person's soul!" Skara finished with an excited grin.

"Exactly!" Hunter snapped his fingers. "That photo is what oracles use. And that is what's on your arm. You aren't messing with something living, you're just editing a photo, drawing on it with a marker."

"Okay, okay, so how do I do this?"

Hunter got into a meditative pose, crossing his legs and straightening his back, motioning for Skara to do the same. "Close your eyes," he instructed. "Place your other hand on top of the spirit." Skara did as she was told, cupping her palm over the spectral arrow. "Now focus. Look inward. The spirit is bound to you. There is a tether between your soul and it. Find it."

"Where should I look?"

"You're already doing it wrong. You aren't looking for a place. The tether isn't physical." Hunter tapped his knee impatiently. He didn't have time for a full explanation of the metaphysical properties of magic and the soul. He needed a shortcut. "Okay, take your hand off the spirit and cast a spell. Something small. And when you do, focus on how it feels. Follow the movement of the magic through your body. Not the bile, the magic. Don't look for it, feel it."

Skara skrunched up her closed eyes, looking even more confused, but she did as she was told, drawing a small spell circle in the air and summoning a crimson ball of light. The tightness in her face slackened a bit and she tilted her head to the side. She dispelled the light, quickly summoning another one, a serene look passing over her. Hunter nodded in approval. She had found it.

"Good. Hand back on the spirit. Feel that core of magic inside you? There should be a tether between it and the spirit. Find it." Skara slowly tilted her head back and forth, letting out little hums and quiet noises. After a minute she stilled, straightening her back again. "Found it?"

"Yeah, I've got it," she confirmed with a grin.

"Follow the tether. Bring the spirit into the forefront of your mind."

"…okay. I think I've got it."

"Open your eyes."

Skara did as she was told, but instead of seeing her pupils, Hunter saw her eyes clouded over by violet cataracts, clouds in a dozen purple hues floating through her gaze. "Woah," she whipered in awe. A stab of jealousy ripped through Hunter. Here he was teaching a novice to use a type of magic he would never be able to. He was tempted to ask her what she was seeing, what it felt like, but he bit his tongue. It would only make the emptiness hurt more. Besides, they had more important things to do than sate his curiosity.

Pushing all of the thoughts and emotions away, Hunter got back to the task at hand. "Alright, now for the hard part. Time to edit the spell. Draw a spell circle, and focus on the tether."

With a nod, Skara drew a spell circle in the air, then winced in pain, the spell circle wobbling, then fizzling out. She drew another, and another, and another, each of them falling apart, Skara wincing painfully each time, frustration cutting through the clouds over her eyes.

"Focus," Hunter snapped, growing impatient.

"I'm trying!" Skara growled. "It's hard to cast a new spell in a track I haven't studied."

"That's the problem, you're trying to cast a new spell. Stop doing that. The spell is already there." He paused, clicking his tongue a few times, trying to find a way to explain that she would understand. "Someone else has already started the concert. The band is on stage. You're just jumping in mid-chorus with a new instrument."

Skara stared vacantly ahead for a few seconds, before nodding her head. She moved to draw a spell circle, hesitated for a moment, then moved her finger, drawing the circle directly over the tracking spell on her hand. The line wobbled for a brief moment before steadying, Skara grinning to herself in satisfaction.

"Looks like you've made a connection to the spirit," Hunter said. "Good. Now, look into the spirit's mind. The only thing there should be-"

"Luz," Skara finished. "I see her."

Hunter gave her an impressed hum. She was a fast learner. Good. That would serve her well in the future. If everything went according to plan…

…well, he could focus on that later. For now, he had a demon to kill.

"Alright, then do what I said before," Hunter instructed. "Cross out her image. Draw over it in marker. And then replace it with an image of my staff."

Skara nodded her head, running her finger over the spell circle again and again, playing with the magic. Her eyes shone with purple light, the cataracts shifting and moving through her iris'. She winced and hissed, the spell circle wavering for a brief moment before she corrected it.

"What's wrong?"

"It's not holding," Skara said. "I'm trying to put the staff on top of the old image, but it won't accept it." Hunter narrowed his eyes. That didn't sound right. As far as he could tell, she was doing the spell properly. Why wouldn't the spirit accept the new target?

"…you do know what my staff looks like, right?"

"…"

"…right?"

"…mostly?"

"Skara."

"I'm sorry! Your coven posters don't show your staff, and it's really small and hard to see on the crystal ball! I have a vague idea what it looks like-"

"Not good enough. You need a clear image or the spirit won't be able to find what it's looking for." Hunter let out an annoyed groan. This was complicating things. Describing the staff for her wouldn't be enough. She needed to know what it looked like. Which meant that tracking the staff wasn't an option. But if she had seen his promotional posters, then they could use something else. "Do you know what my mask looks like?"

"Of course."

"Then focus on that instead. I lost it at the same time as my staff. They should be right next to each other, so we can just track that instead."

Skara gave him a nod and resumed her casting. Ten or so seconds passed. The spell circle began to glow brighter, then faded away, the purple arrow underneath it spinning wildly as the cataracts faded from Skara's eyes. She and Hunter both looked down at the arrow, waiting for it to stop. It span and span and span until-

-it stopped, pointing in the direction of the academy.

"WE DID IT!" Skara screeched, Hunter wincing and clasping his hands over his ears. Titan below, her shrill voice was going to be the death of him! He was going to bleed out through his ears before the day was done if she kept this up! "Oh man, I can't believe that worked!"

"Well it did," Hunter stated simply. "And keep your voice down!"

"Oh, uh, right. Sorry."

"Whatever. It worked. Now we just have to get into the tunnels and find my staff."

"One problem," Skara said. "The tracking spell is muffled when I have the handcuffs on. And if we're in the tunnels-"

"Then Ocras can find us. Right." He huffed in annoyance. There was always something. "Then we'll just have to play it smart then. We'll travel on the surface over the tunnels until we're right above the staff, then cut our way inside. The ground here is soft, and most of the tunnels aren't too deep. It should be too hard."

"It won't be," Skara confirmed. "I fell into the tunnels from the surface in the first place."

"Perfect." Hunter pushed himself to his feet, dusting off his pants. "Then let's get a move on."

"Wha- now?"

"You're right, maybe we should go another time. How does next week work for you? That fit in your schedule?"

Skara scoffed and rolled her eyes, crossing her arms. "Naw, I've got a dinner date with my boyfriend, guess we'll have to do it another time." She gave Hunter an impressive glare. It wasn't too bad. He'd definitely seen more threatening stares, but she could work on it. "Look, I'm exhausted. I've been running around and casting spells non-stop. The only break I've gotten is when we were brainstorming ideas, and that spell just took a lot out of me. I need a rest."

"Tough," Hunter replied. "We have a mission to do, and I can't be away from the castle for much longer. You'll just have to grit through the pain like the rest of us."

"Oh come on!" Skara insisted. "I'm no stranger to all-nighters, but I need something here. Just a couple of hours!"

Hunter narrowed his eyes, biting his lip. "Fine," he huffed. It couldn't be helped. She wasn't in the Emperor's Coven. She was still weak, untrained. Her metal hadn't been hardened by the Titan's blessed flames. Hunter would have to give her a brief moment of respite.

Not waiting another second, Skara moved away from the fire, tucking herself into a dark corner of the cave. She took off her jacket and smooshed it into a ball, resting her head on it like a pillow. Not even a minute later she was out cold, her breathing evening out.

Since he didn't feel like staring at her sleep, Hunter moved to the mouth of the cave, deciding to take watch. He leaned up against the wall, staring out across the island, his eyes glaring daggers in the direction of the academy. It was almost time.

"I hope you're ready, demon," he snarled. "Because you're not getting away from me this time."

---

A/N: And the sassy brats have come together! I've been waiting for a long time to bring Skara and Hunter together. These two have a really fun dynamic to write, constantly taking potshots at each other and running along with each other's sass. I'm super excited to write more of them, especially when they get along a bit better and aren't in a life-threatening situation. But for now, our angry trauma boy and our preppy bard are working together, and they're out for blood!

Hunter's nightmare was a lot of fun to write too. I can't talk much about it for #reasons, but I hope that it had the intended effect! I'm not super used to writing dreams and nightmares and such, and they are a very different and very weird beast to tackle. But to be Hunter is to suffer, even when asleep (or knocked out by deadly poison).

And of course, I can't not talk about Hunter's little manic breakdown. Destiny is a funny thing, isn't it? And our dear Hunter believes in it fully and completely. To him, everything happens for a reason, especially when it comes to him. The Titan has big plans for him after all. So whatever hardships come his way must be a test, and anything given to him must be a blessing, Skara included. Coincidences, luck, those aren't real. They can't be. It's his destiny to bring about the Titan's will. And now, Skara is a part of that destiny. What will that mean for the future? Who knows. But for now, he's very interested in keeping Skara around.

I would talk more about the chapter, but its 3:30am and I'm tired, so ima just blap and go to bed instead. I hope you all have a good night, that you enjoyed the chapter, and that you don't have to wait so long for the next one!br /
...no promises on that last one, but I'll do my best! Anyways, bye!

Stick around for desperate times, desperate measures, and a desperate play.