What if #6
Amity touched down on the knee, her boots crunching into the blanket of snow as she dismounted her staff. It was after dark and her vision was limited thanks to the cloudy night sky. She contemplated casting a light spell. Even a tiny orb of light would have been an improvement, but she worried it would attract any dangerous creatures which could be lurking nearby. Although she also had to consider that the lack of light would be even worse for her.
After mulling it around in her head a little longer, Amity drew a small spell circle and conjured a mote of light. She held it out at arms' length, keeping her staff ready in her other hand just in case. Her eyes scanned what little of her surroundings were illuminated and she cautiously stepped forward. Once again, the snow crunched under her foot and she went still. She watched for any sign of movement and listened for any sounds from the darkness around her. After confirming there was nothing, she continued moving along.
Still proceeding with the utmost caution, Amity moved through the area. The sound of her boots on the snow kept her on edge every step of the way. She slowly advanced towards the old ruins where she had trained with Edric and Emira. At least she hoped she was heading in the right direction. Between her paranoia and the sheer difference in how the Knee looked in the dark of night, Amity wasn't feeling very confident.
An odd shape came into view at the edge of the dim light cast by her spell. As Amity took a couple steps closer, she discovered it was a broken pillar, sticking out of the snow at an angle. She smiled a little, knowing that her destination was close by. Feeling a bit more at ease, Amity started to quicken her pace.
In her haste, Amity failed to notice a mound of snow just ahead of her. When the toe of her boot reached it, she felt something solid. She lost her balance and fell forward into the snow, losing her grip on her staff. Something began moving near her, emerging from the snow mound on which she had tripped.
The creature had a long body covered in shimmering white scales. It reared up its diamond-shaped head, which hovered a foot higher than Amity's did when she was standing upright. Now that she was on the ground however, she found the serpent was towering over her, flicking out its blue forked tongue and leering at her with its black eyes. Amity wasn't very well versed in Beast-keeping knowledge, but she did know what she had encountered from the cautionary tales she had been told about the Knee.
This was a snow adder. A deadly beast that fed on almost any other living thing. Its venom could instill symptoms similar to frostbite and was very difficult to treat. They were dangerous enough when they were hunting, but Amity may very well have agitated this one. Any sudden moves could prove to be a fatal mistake.
For the next few moments, Amity didn't dare to do anything more than breathe and stare. The snow adder stared back at her, its tongue flicking out of its mouth, judging whether she'd be its next prey. Amity silently scolded herself for her carelessness and regretting having lost her staff. Without it, she wasn't sure if she'd be able to fight the creature off. Her best option was to just keep watching it closely and be ready to react when the time came.
The serpent went to strike, moving at near blinding speed. Amity managed to get out of the way in time, but only barely. She could feel the adder's body grazing her own as it passed by, her heart starting to pound at the thought of how close those fangs must've been to getting her. With a brief window of opportunity opened to her, she put some distance between herself and the snow adder and tried to locate her staff. To her dismay, she saw it laying in the snow on the other side of the creature. Cursing her luck, Amity resorted to drawing a spell circle, conjuring up a purple flame.
Amity watched the snow adder as it turned to face her again. When it noticed the fire hovering over her palm, it stopped for a moment. Amity held the flame out at arm's length and the adder pulled its head back a bit in response. Slowly, cautiously, Amity began to move. She tried to make her way around the adder to get to her staff, the serpent hissing angrily at her as she kept her fire directed at it to keep it at bay.
After what felt like the longest minute of her life, Amity got to her where her staff was laying in the snow. She knelt slowly, keeping her eyes on the snake the entire time. It moved and she held up the flame again warningly, using her other hand to feel for her staff. Her fingertips felt it and she quickly pulled it into her grasp, standing upright again. Now that she had a means of escape, she felt a bit more confident about handling the situation.
With a quick circular motion of her staff, Amity created a larger flame. The snow adder hissed and retreated from the light and heat it despised so much, making Amity smirk. She went to increase the flame's size even more to scare the serpent off for good, but wound up making a mistake. She made the flame grow so quickly that she lost control of it and she found herself having to back away from the intensity of her own spell. In the process, she fell backwards onto her rear end, losing focus and causing her fire to extinguish. By the time she even realized it had happened, the adder was closing in for another strike.
It moved so quickly that Amity was hardly able to block the attack with her staff in time. The snow adder's open mouth caught her staff, its icy venom dripping from its fangs. Then it reared back its head to go in for another try, Amity not sure if she'd be able to block it again. It lunged and Amity prepared for the worst… but the snow adder's fangs never reached her. Something had gotten to it instead.
A massive form had come out of the darkness, swooping down from the night sky. At first, Amity wasn't sure what it was. But as she cast another light spell, she recognized the intimidating form of the owl beast before her. Eda had the snow adder in her jaws, the serpent flailing and hissing. It tried to bite Eda, but she clenched her jaws shut around it, cutting clean through the other creature's body.
The upper half of the snow adder fell to the ground, its tail end landing a short distance away a second later. It squirmed vainly for a moment, staining the snow blue with its blood before it went still. Eda spat out the bit of the snake's body that was in her mouth, not pleased by the cold flesh. Then she turned on Amity, snarling as she started to close in on her next.
Once again, a form emerged from the night to intervene. This time a much smaller, yet still very familiar one. It was that of a human girl and she took a spot standing firmly between Amity and Eda. The sight of her coming to help filled Amity with relief and brought a light blush to her cheeks as well.
"Luz!"
"Don't worry, Amity. She isn't going to hurt you. I won't let her." Luz told her assuredly, locking eyes with Eda. "No! She is not food, Eda! You know her!"
Her words didn't seem to do much. Eda stepped closer, baring her fangs and growling. Luz stood her ground and spread her arms out to the sides as widely as possible, giving Eda a stern glare.
"No, bad Eda! That's a naughty owl beast! We don't eat our friends!" Luz exclaimed. "Amity is our friend! Be nice to her!"
Eda kept growling, looking past Luz at Amity. Luz slowly stepped back, not taking her eyes off the owl beast for even a second. She eventually reached Amity, who moved cautiously closer to her. Then Luz put her arm around Amity's shoulders and pulled her into a hug, surprising the young witch.
"Look, see?" Luz said, pressing her face against Amity's. "She's a friend. We like her. We like her a lot."
Amity felt her face heat up as she blushed fiercely. Her heart started racing and it was becoming harder for her to notice the cold. She closed her eyes, becoming lost in the moment. When she opened them again, she found that Eda had moved in much closer, practically in her face.
"That's right, good Eda." Luz said softly, squeezing Amity closer. "Amity isn't here to hurt us. So let's all get along, okay?"
Luz slowly let go of Amity and stepped aside. The loss of contact made Amity let out a soft whine. Eda picked up on the almost inaudible sound and tilted her head as she leaned in to inspect Amity more closely. She started to sniff Amity, eliminating what little space remained between them. Amity let out a cry and grabbed Luz, clinging to her for a moment before realizing what she had done. Then she let out another cry and pushed away from Luz, losing balance, and falling into the snow rear end first.
Eda let out a noise. It was a repetitive wheezing sound. Amity stared at Eda, wondering what was going on. She quickly realized that Eda was laughing at her, or at least doing the closest thing to laughter she could manage. It left Amity with some mixed feelings, including anger. But she held her tongue and just let it go.
Getting back onto her feet, Amity brushed the snow off herself and took a deep breath. Eda started to wander off, in search of prey. Luz began walking off as well, gesturing for Amity to follow. She led her to the ruins where she had set up camp. Amity could see a dim light as they ventured into the broken walls. As they approached it, Amity noticed that Luz had set up an oddly cozy looking little area for herself and Eda.
The section of the ruins which Luz had settled into was encased in a dome of ice. The dome was made up of thick blocks and covered the walls surrounding the camp. Luz had also used ice glyphs to fill in any holes in the walls of the ruins and for added measure, created ice pillars that supported the dome and blocked off any other openings along the boundaries. And the only way to get in which wasn't blocked with ice was barred by a heavy, metal gate.
"I know it's not what you're used to, but try to make yourself at home." Luz said, taking out an ice glyph from her pocket. "And don't worry about me leaving the door open. Eda will be close by in case something tries to get in and eat us."
She approached the gate and put the glyph down in the snow. After she invoked it, the glyph created a sturdy pillar of ice which forced the gate up high enough for them to walk through. Luz gestured for Amity to go first, giving a little bow. Amity held back a giggle and stepped into what now served to be Luz's home.
There was very little inside of the dome. Only a large nest to one side and a small fire in the middle with patches of moss nearby. Luz went and plopped herself onto one of the spongy tufts, giggling a bit as she bounced. Then she threw a glyph onto the fire, making it flare up a little bit.
"Sorry I can't make it any bigger than this." Luz said, adding some sticks to the flames. "But if I make the fire too big, it bothers Eda. You going to be warm enough?"
"I'll be fine." Amity replied, making herself as comfortable as she could on the moss. "But what about you? It's been a while since we last saw each other. I… I saw what happened at the Emperor's Castle when they tried to petrify Eda."
"Yeah… that was a day. I honestly have no idea how long we've been on the run." Luz admitted. "After Lilith sacrificed herself to free us, all I could think about was getting as far away from Bonesborough as I could. I felt so bad leaving King and Hooty for you, Willow, and Gus to look after."
"Don't worry about it. They're both doing fine. But they miss you a lot."
Luz smiled sadly. "I miss them too. But I'm glad they're okay."
"And are you doing okay?" Amity asked. "Do you have enough food?"
"I have plenty to eat. I can grow berries with my plant glyphs and I'm starting to get the hang of fishing." Luz told her reassuringly. "Plus, Eda has been providing for me too. Not that I can always eat what she catches."
"Well, I brought some things for you just to be sure." Amity told her, reaching into her pocket. "Extra blankets, plenty of food and other essentials. It should hold you over for a little while, until I can bring you more."
She pulled out a tiny satchel from her pocket and set it onto the snow. Two more followed, Amity keeping them all a short distance from each other. With the spinning of a spell circle, the three tiny satchels grew. They all became much, much larger, to the point where Luz herself could have used one for a sleeping bag if she so desired. Luz got up to inspect the nearest one, finding it full of canned food.
"Aw, thanks Amity! You're awesome!"
"It's nothing, really." Amity said, blushing a little from the praise. "I'll be happy to get you anything else you need. So don't hesitate to let me know, okay?"
"Kay!" Luz chirped, returning to her seat. "And since you brought up things that I need… I gotta know, when did you get that?"
Luz pointed to Amity's staff, which she had laid across her lap. Amity looked down at her white cat Palisman and a small smile came to her face and she held out her staff, the white cat becoming animate and jumping down to the ground. Then the cat walked over towards Luz and greeted her with a friendly meow, making Luz squee in delight.
"This is Ghost. I carved her from a block of Palistrom wood that my mom got for me. It was part reward for getting back my 'Top Student' badge, but mostly because my mom wanted me to stay ahead of the rest of the class."
"Lucky!" Luz commented, reaching down to pet Ghost. "I'm guessing that everyone else will be getting their Palismans soon. I wish I could get one."
Amity's smile faded. "I wish you could too. I hate not being able to see you at school anymore. And I hate that you had to go on the run like this. You shouldn't have to live out in the wild, surviving against the elements!"
"I know things aren't great right now. But there's not a lot we can do about it."
"There has to be more I can do for you!" Amity blurted out. "Let me help you find a proper home! If we're careful, we can take you in and…"
"No." Luz cut in firmly, her expression serious. "Everything you've done to help me already has been risky enough."
"I don't care about the risks!" Amity exclaimed, standing up and stomping her foot into the snow. "I care about helping you in any way that I can! Food, clothes, books, you name it and I'll bring it to you! I'll take notes for you at school and bring them so you can still learn magic! I'll help you learn, no matter how long it takes!"
"Amity, really, you don't need to do all that…"
"I do need to!" Amity countered. "Because you're important to me, Luz!"
Her declaration left Luz stunned silent. Amity had not realized it, but she had been much louder than she intended. Things became uncomfortable for Amity over the next few seconds. Luz was staring at her, her expression unreadable. Then as Amity's words sank in, Luz smiled and got up, rushing over to give Amity a big hug.
"Thanks. I know I already said this, but you're awesome, Amity."
The hug ended much too soon for Amity's taste. Her disappointment was quickly forgotten however as a loud crash caught her attention. When she turned to see, she saw that the gate had slammed down and Eda was walking over. She approached the fire, but stopped before getting too close. Luz got up and went over to Eda, reaching up to pat her head. Amity saw Eda drop something from her mouth into Luz's hands and Luz recoiled a bit in response.
"Oh… thank you, Eda. You're such a good hunter!" Luz said, Amity detecting a trace of disgust in her voice. "I'm going to go and eat it right now!"
Luz returned to her seat by the fire. Amity saw a half-eaten rat demon in her hands as she sat down. She paled a bit as Luz lifted it up, a grimace on her face. Then Luz opened her mouth and Amity almost tried to stop her, but Luz winked at her. With exaggerated movements, Luz took a pretend bite of her 'meal' and pretended to chew.
"Mmm, so good!" She said, putting the rat down in the snow. "I'll just save the rest of this for later." She added, then lowering her voice as she focused her attention on Amity. "Don't worry. Eda will probably eat this tonight after I fall asleep. I'm so going to eat some of the food you brought me first chance I get."
Amity giggled, covering her mouth with her hand. Luz blushed a little and sat upright again, her gaze meeting Amity's. The two stared at each other, their faces bathed in the glow of the fire. To Amity, it almost felt romantic. If the circumstances could have just been a little different…
The moment was ruined as some snow flew onto the fire, making it hiss loudly. Amity turned to see Eda kicking the snow at the fire with her hind legs. The dying flames were hit by more snow, extinguishing them, and casting the area into darkness.
"Welp that is the signal for me to get to bed." Luz said. "Eda keeps me to a strict schedule."
Eda strode over to Luz, Amity barely able to make out their forms in the dark. She cast a tiny light spell, barely able to give her enough illumination to see them. Fortunately, it wasn't enough to agitate Eda, who picked Luz up by the collar of her coat in her teeth. Luz allowed it, waving to Amity as Eda carried her to the nest.
"Thanks again for everything, Amity! Will you be able to get out okay, or do you want some glyphs?"
"I'll be fine." Amity replied. "But before I go, let me get you a blanket."
Amity opened one of the bags she had brought and got out a thick blanket. She followed Eda to the nest and set it down for Luz. Eda set Luz down on the blanket and then settled down herself. Luz got under the blanket and snuggled against Eda's side, looking bizarrely comfy.
"Hey, could you do me a favor and tell King and Hooty that I'm doing okay?" She requested.
"Of course." Amity replied. "I'm sure they'll be happy to know that. And I'll be back again soon to check on you and bring more supplies. Until then, be safe, okay?"
Luz nodded. "I promise I will. You be careful too. Goodnight, Amity."
"Goodnight, Luz. Sweet dreams."
With a great deal of reluctance, Amity walked away from Luz and Eda. She made her way to the gate, using her magic to lift it up long enough to get out. As she got onto her staff and floated up into the sky, she looked down to the dome. It would serve for shelter, but Amity worried how well it would protect Luz from something other than nature. If the emperor ever sent someone searching up on the Knee…
Amity shook her head. She was worrying too much again. Sure, it was a likely chance that the Knee would eventually be searched by members of the Emperor's Coven. But Luz was resourceful. She had broken out of the Conformatorium, twice. She'd be able to handle herself and Amity would do everything she could to support her.
Finding solace in her reasoning, Amity took off. She looked at the dome as she departed, waiting until it was out of sight. Then she sped up, beginning the long trip home. There was no telling how long it would be before she could risk venturing out to see Luz again. She would make the most of the time until then doing what she could to prepare. After all, just because Luz was starting to live in the wilderness didn't mean she had to do it the hard way. And Amity was going to everything she could to support the wild human-witch of the Boiling Isles.
What if Eda had stayed the Owl Beast?