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Enjoy the chapter!
I do not own 'The Owl House.'
Chapter 4
Kept Hidden
Luz hummed a song to herself as she stirred the contents of the cauldron. A common chore assigned to her, Luz found this particular job more enjoyable than the other chores on Eda's list. In truth, anything was better than having to give Hooty his bath, and that was enough to be grateful for.
But this chore actually contributed to the family business, if you could even call it that, and played to Luz's limited ability in the art of witchcraft. Brewing potions since she was old enough to read a brew book, Luz knew enough about mixing elixirs for Eda to trust her with the task. The stuff they normally brewed and sold to the public were basic things: common medicines, mixing ingredients, certain concoctions that Eda refused to identify to Luz 'for her own sake' as she put it, and other such things.
Humming her little song, Luz tossed a few blue leaves into the bubbling cauldron. A puff of blue smoke and the correct-smelling odor confirmed that the potion was almost ready. Luz smiled to herself, taking pride in her abilities. It was, unfortunately, not a feeling she was accustomed to, and made it all the more pleasing.
Luz heard the basement door open. Then the sound of high heels walking down wooden steps, followed by Eda entering the basement.
"Hey, little owlet. How's that brew coming along?" the Owl Lady asked.
"It's almost done," Luz answered. "Just needs to boil for a little while longer for softening."
Eda walked up to the cauldron and wafted some of the fumes to her nose. "Mmm. Smells perfect," she said. "Once you're done, come on up for lunch."
"Si, Mamá," Luz replied, choosing to speak Spanish, knowing it irritated Eda because she couldn't understand it. "¿Y qué hay para almorzar, si no te importa que te lo pregunte?"
"I'll 'pregunta' you, a little…" Eda rolled her eyes. "Oh, forget it."
A Crow suddenly came flying down into the basement. It landed on the brim of the cauldron and started cawing at Luz.
Eda, looking panicked, grabbed the Crow before Luz could. "Listen, you annoying sellout, if you're gonna pester me then that's fine, but you stay the hex away from the kid, you hoity-toity lapdog!"
After a moment's pause, the look of outrage on Eda's face washed away, instead now looking friendly and welcoming. "Oh." Eda offered Luz the Crow. "It's for you."
Confused and somewhat startled, Luz carefully took the Crow from Eda, as if worried she might set her off again. "Something wrong?"
"Nah, I'm still just getting used to the fact that you have friends now," Eda said.
"Honestly, so am I." Luz brought the Crow up to her ear. "Hello?"
"Hey, Luz! It's Willow!"
"Oh, hey, Willow!" Luz replied, happy to hear from her friend. "How are ya?"
"I'm good," said Willow. "Is, uh…is something up with your mom?"
"Oh, she's fine," Luz said. "I guess she thought you were a telemarketer or something."
Eda glanced to the side.
"Anyway, what's up?" Luz asked.
"I was wondering if you were going to the Sabbath tonight," Willow asked.
Luz blinked. "The what?"
"The Blue Moon Sabbath," Willow explained as if it were obvious. "Haven't you heard? Tonight is the night of the Blue Moon, the entire Boiling Isles will be celebrating!"
"Really?" Luz asked. "I've never heard of that."
"Well, it only happens…once in a blue moon, I guess," Willow explained. "Students from all three of the schools are going to the Palm to celebrate. There's gonna be a huge bonfire, music, dancing, snacks and drinks. I was thinking you, me, and Gus should go."
"All the way to the Palm? Students from all of the schools?" Luz gulped and began drumming her fingers along the rim of the bubbling cauldron anxiously. "I'm…not sure I–"
"Come on, Luz, you can't miss out on this," Willow said. "It'll be fun!"
"It's just that…" Luz chewed on her lip. "...I've never actually…been to a party before."
"Neither have me and Gus," said Willow. "But everyone is invited to the Sabbath at the Palm, so long as they're a school student. That includes the three of us."
"Oh. Well…" After giving it some thought, Luz took a deep breath before answering. "Okay, I'll…I'll see if it's okay with my mom."
"Great!" said Willow. "Gus and I will do the same! I'll call you back later."
"Got it. Bye." Luz hung up the Crow and the feathered creature flew out of her hand and perched up on one of the shelves.
"You'll see if what's okay with me?" Eda asked.
"Oh, i-it's nothing." Luz took the handle and continued to stir the brew. "I guess tonight is the night of the Blue Moon."
"Oh, shoot! It is, isn't it?!" Eda exclaimed excitedly. "Titan, I completely forgot that was tonight! You know what that means?"
"Uh…no," Luz admitted.
"It means I got a whole list of special potions to brew!" Eda declared. "Brewed under the light of a Blue Moon? The right suckers will pay out the nose for that kind of stuff!" Eda cocked her head at Luz. "And what did Willow want? Something about a party?"
"Yeah, I guess the students from all three schools are going to the Titan's Palm for a Witch's Sabbath to celebrate the Blue Moon," Luz explained. "I understand if I can't go, I'm sure you need help with preparing the potions for brewing tonight–"
"Nah, you can totally go," Eda said.
"...Uh…" Luz stopped stirring the brew. "Are…are you sure? If this Blue Moon brew deal is gonna be such a big payday, then shouldn't I be here to help you out?"
"I'll be fine," said Eda. "You should go to that party with your friends."
"But…" Luz's grip on the stirring stick tightened. "There's gonna be, like, a hundred people there."
"It's a Blue Moon Sabbath, those don't happen all too often in a young witch's life," Eda said. "Luz, you're fifteen. You should be out there having fun with your friends."
"But, Mom–"
"But nothing." Eda placed her hands on her hips. "Kid, I know you're not used to socializing, and I'll admit, that's partly my fault. But take it from me, you gotta take the opportunities where you can. You're honestly gonna tell me that you would rather stay home with your oddball family instead of going to a rare-occasion party with friends that you finally have?"
Luz looked to the side anxiously. "I like my oddball family."
"Me too," said Eda. "And we'll be here when you get back. Go to that party tonight with your friends. I promise, you won't regret it."
Luz sighed, hanging her head in defeat. "Alright, fine. I'll go."
"That's my girl." Eda patted Luz's head. "Don't be so glum, this is something you're gonna enjoy."
Luz didn't look convinced.
"Now come on, let's have some lunch." Eda made her way upstairs. "After that, we'll bottle this brew and sell it in town. I've got a whole lot of ingredients to buy for tonight's Blue Moon brew. Try saying that five times real fast."
"I'll be right up," Luz said as Eda went upstairs. Once she was gone, Luz took a brief moment to shudder. She took out the stirring stick and picked up the lid, placing it over the cauldron.
"Now would be as good a time as any to catch a mold," Luz grumbled to herself before heading upstairs.
Later that day, Luz, King, and Eda were making their way down the streets of Bonesborough, seated on a ratworm-drawn, wooden wagon. Loaded in the wagon were dozens of bottles of the elixir Luz had been brewing in the basement. A pale blue liquid filled each of the corked and wax-sealed, glass bottles. Luz and King sat at either side of Eda as she held the reins and drove the wagon.
Luz, as she usually did when she went out, wore her cat-hood up and her owl mask on. Although Eda seemed mostly calm, even with the hood of her dark red cloak pulled over her hair, Luz kept looking in one direction or the other, wary of any Coven Guards or Scouts coming to arrest the Owl Lady and her associates. Fortunately, no one from the Emperor's Coven came to bother them as Eda pulled the wagon up next to a small shop. The sign above the shuttered service window read 'Mr. Elixir.'
"Is he open?" Luz asked.
"He better be." Eda hopped off the wagon and walked up to the store. She began banging her fist against the shutter. "Morton! Open up, will ya? You're pickin' a bad time to flake on me!"
The shutter was raised up by a witch wearing a metal funnel for a hat. Morton was a thin man in his mid-twenties with a somewhat narrow face. He had dark brown eyes and his pointed ears poked out through his thick, brown, almost shoulder-length hair. He wore a light, mint-green, long-sleeved shirt with fingerless gloves underneath a long, brown robe tied with a brown cord around his waist and a frog necklace hung over his neck.
"Sorry, Eda," Morton apologized. "You got here sooner than I thought you would."
"Not doing a lot of business today?" Eda asked.
"There's a Blue Moon tonight, everybody in the potions business is getting their cauldrons ready," Morton said. "But I'm always open for you, Eda. You here for your…" Morton raised his hand up to the side of his mouth. "Usual supply?" he whispered.
"Yeah, that, and," Eda pointed her thumb over her shoulder. "I've got a wagon full of Dreamer's Delight for you."
Morton leaned his head out of the window to look at Eda's supply. "All of that? Your elixirs might not be cheap, but that whole shipment will be more than enough to cover it."
"I also need potion brewing supplies and ingredients," Eda said. "Like you said, there's a Blue Moon tonight. I ain't about to pass up that kind of payday."
"Yeah, me neither," Morton said. "Which is why I can't give you much."
"Aw, come on, Morton!" Eda complained.
"I'm sorry, Eda, but I'm an apothecarist, not a herbalist," Morton argued. "And I doubt the usual suppliers will have anything but slim pickings left anymore. Most potion brewers ordered their stuff weeks in advance, you should have done the same."
Eda growled and slammed her fist against the counter. "Fine. Just give me my usual supply of elixir and I'll give you what I owe in potions."
"You got it, Eda." Morton knelt down and struggled to lift up a large, heavy wooden box. He set the box down on the counter for Eda, who lifted up the lid and took a peek inside, smiling at all of the round bottles of golden brew inside.
"Wonderful," Eda let the lid drop back down. "How's four crates of Dreamer's Delight sound?"
"In order to actually turn a profit?" Morton asked. "I'm gonna need at least six."
"Six crates of my Dreamer's Delight!" Eda demanded. "Morton, I'm hurt. You're really trying to cheat me now? After all these years we've done business together?"
"It's not my fault, that elixir is getting harder and harder to come by," Morton said. "You know this stuff is a difficult and powerful brew. It's hard enough finding a guy who actually makes and sells it, let alone one I can actually afford to bargain with."
"Morton, this is…" Eda glanced over at the wagon to make sure her kids weren't listening. "This is the only thing that will do the trick," she said a little more softly.
"I'd help you out if I could, Eda, but I can't," Morton said meekly. "Five crates of your Dreamer's Delight, and I can break even, if I can sell to the right buyer. Six, and I'll barely be able to turn a profit."
Eda sighed. She turned around toward the wagon, where Luz was feeding the rat worms each a piece of cheese. "Luz! Unload the stuff for Morton. Six crates!"
Luz nodded at Eda as the rat worms ate the cheese from her hands. Luz giggled and patted the creatures' heads affectionately. Valued on the Boiling Isles as beasts of labor for their simpleness, rat worms were prone to obedience, and were used for all kinds of purposes, mostly transportation, sometimes even for racing. About the size of Human Realm mules, rat worms had rodent-like heads with red eyes and buck teeth. Lacking any limbs, their bodies below the neck were worm-like, turning more pink as they reached the tail.
The rat worms licked their lips clean as Luz rounded the wagon to start carrying the crates of potion to Morton's shop. She lifted up a crate and began carrying it to Morton's shop.
"Luz, is that you?"
Luz turned around. To her relief, it was just Willow and Gus. No longer wearing their student uniforms, Willow now wore a yellow and orange dress with striped, gray pants and brown boots. Gus wore a pale, turquoise tunic with white sleeves along with dark, navy blue pants and brown shoes.
"Gus! Willow!" Luz put the crate down on the ground for a moment to lower her hood and raise up her mask. "How's it going?"
"What's with the mask? Is it part of the work uniform?" Gus asked. "If it is, it honestly kinda makes me want to work for the Owl Lady."
"Trust me, you really don't." Luz lowered the mask back on her face and pulled her hood back up. "I have a…thing with masks."
"Oh, yeah, Hooty said you have a whole wall lined with masks, right?" said Willow.
"Dangit, Hooty." Luz picked her crate of potions back up. "You wanna help? We'll be done in two trips."
"Sure." Willow picked a crate up out of the wagon with little to no effort and headed to Mr. Elixir. Gus also picked up a crate, with obviously more strain than Willow, and followed her to the shop. Luz carried her crate as well to the store's open counter.
"Oh, hey, dweebus. Hey, four-eyes," Eda greeted as she carried her wooden box of elixirs to the wagon. "Appreciate the free child labor!"
"We have names, you know," Gus said.
"I'm sure you do, dweebus."
Luz, Gus, and Willow lifted their crates of potion up onto the counter.
"Hey, Luz," Morton greeted.
"Hey, Morton," Luz replied. "How'd that poison-tasting event go last week?"
"It was a lot of fun," Morton said. "But that whole weekend, I got really sick for some reason."
"No kiddin'?" Luz asked. "Can't imagine why."
Morton started storing away the Dreamer's Delight and the three teenagers went to go get three more crates for him.
"So, you coming with us to the Blue Moon Sabbath tonight?" Willow asked.
"Oh. Uh, y-yeah. I guess so," said Luz. "Mom said it was okay."
"I still can't believe we'll be going to an actual witch's sabbath," Gus said excitedly. "This is gonna be so cool!"
"I had to do a lot of arguing and begging to convince my parents to even let me go to it." Willow reached the wagon first and picked up another crate. It looked no more difficult for Willow than picking up a pillow. "Some parents aren't letting their kids go to that party."
"Why not?" Luz asked as she picked up a crate. "It's just a high school party. Are they afraid of becoming grandparents sooner than expected if you run into the wrong guy?"
"You think I can't handle running into the wrong guy?" Willow asked flatly.
"It's a Witch's Sabbath, like the Skull Tribe and the witches of the Savage Ages used to perform," Eda answered for them. "The Emperor doesn't agree with Sabbaths. He sees them as a testament to wild magic. Likes to call them Black Sabbaths, which just makes them sound evil. But Witch's Sabbaths are meant to praise the Titan, they're nothing evil. It's one of those things the Emperor has trouble actually convincing the people. Kinda like his opinion on palismans."
Owlbert poked his head out of Eda's hair. The cute palisman hooted at Eda, who gave his head a little rub.
Eda smiled. "Wild magic, shmild magic. The Emperor doesn't know what he's talking about."
"Well, in any case," Gus picked up another case. "The party starts at midnight on the Palm. Supposedly, it'll last till the end of the witching hour at, like, four in the morning, when the full moon will be at its peak."
"Yeesh. I don't think that I'll be able to stay up that late," Luz admitted as she picked up another crate.
"Oh, Titan, do I have to stay up that late to brew my Blue Moon potions?" Eda asked with dread. "It's hard enough getting any sleep when you have three kids."
"Me and Luz?" King asked. "That's only two."
"I'm counting Hooty," said Eda.
Luz, Gus, and Willow placed the three crates of potion on the counter for Morton. "So, we'll try to be at the party by midnight?" Willow asked. "I think Viney could give us a lift to the Palm."
"Are you sure we can't…have our own Sabbath or something?" Luz asked. "Do we really have to go to a party with a whole bunch of people we don't even know? I just think it seems like, I don't know, kind of a lot."
"Luz, it's a once-in-a-lifetime gathering of witches to celebrate the Blue Moon," Gus said. "It's gonna be a super-fun party of students from Hexside, Glandus High, and St. Epiderm. And for once, there will be no school rivalries causing full-on riots. What's the worst thing that could possibly happen?"
"I think we would've been safe if you hadn't said that," said Luz. "But now, I mean…freakin' dealer's choice."
"Come on, Luz, I know you're nervous, but really, there's nothing to worry about," Willow assured her. "It's just a party."
Luz sighed. "Yeah, maybe you're right. It might be good for me to finally be more sociable."
"Hey, come on, you're plenty sociable," Willow said.
"You remember how me and Gus first met, right?" Luz asked.
"I remember," said Gus. "I remember quite clearly."
"It'll be fine," Willow placed a hand on Luz's shoulder. "I promise."
Luz smiled behind her mask, the shine in her eyes was enough to show Willow that smile.
"Alright, Luz, get on the wagon, we're leaving," Eda ordered as she walked back over to Morton's store. "The shrimp and the florist can jump in the Boiling Sea for all I care, they just can't stick around."
Luz groaned from embarrassment. "Sorry, guys. We try not to stick around in one place for too long. Coven Guards, you know?"
"It's cool," said Willow. "See ya tonight, Luz."
Luz walked over to the wagon and Gus and Willow headed down the street. Morton, who had just finished putting away the Dreamer's Delight, walked back up to the open service window.
"I'm really sorry, Eda," Morton said. "If I could hook you up with ingredients, I would."
"There's gotta be somebody who can still supply me with what I need," said Eda. "Don't you know any suppliers, Morton?"
"Suppliers, no," Morton replied. "But there is…another option."
"You make it sound like I won't like it," said Eda.
"Well, it's…" Morton shrugged. "incredibly illegal."
"I love incredibly illegal!" Eda grinned. "And you thought I wouldn't like it."
"I know a few places where you could actually forage and harvest all of the ingredients you need for your potions," Morton explained, speaking softly so as not to be overheard by anyone. "It'd be free, but difficult to get, like most potion ingredients. But harvesting and gathering potion ingredients without a permit is highly illegal, by decree of the Emperor's Coven."
"What?! Since when?" Eda demanded.
"I mean, the law doesn't apply to all potion ingredients," Morton explained. "For things like fire bee honey, gremlin tears, gnome dandruff, basic stuff like that, the most the Emperor's Coven could pin you with is a warning and maybe a small fine if they really don't like you."
"Well, as we all know, the Emperor's Coven absolutely loves me," Eda said. "So I should be fine."
"But for the potions you're looking for, for the good stuff, stuff you'd wanna use during a Blue Moon brew, you need a permit to legally gather and harvest them."
"Yeah, well, let's skip that part," Eda leaned in eagerly. "Where the hotspots at?"
Morton pulled out a map and laid it on the counter. Taking out a marker, he drew a circle around specific areas on the Boiling Isles. "Now, this isn't exactly going to the market, you won't be able to choose what you find or ask if they have anything in the back. But you will be able to find some pretty potent ingredients in these areas, I'm just not sure what exactly. I just know that these are the places where potion brewers go to find the best stuff for the best brews. It might be slim pickings once you get to these places, what with the Blue Moon happening tonight, but your odds are way better at these places than they would be at any store right now."
Eda took the map and folded up the paper, tucking it into her hair. "Thanks, Morton." She gave him a smile. "I knew I could count on you."
"Just…please don't tell anyone I'm the one who told you about these places," Morton begged. "I really don't want to lose my license or my store."
"Morton, after everything you've done for me?" Eda asked. "I would never rat you out. Not unless I absolutely had to."
"Uh…thanks, Eda," said Morton. "I hope you get to enjoy the Blue Moon."
Eda nodded. "You too, Morton," she said before walking back to the wagon.
Sitting on the couch, Luz read from a book Eda had stored away. The book, titled The Signs of the Titan, was about the weather patterns, celestial events, constellations, and various superstitious omens of the Boiling Isles. Luz was currently reading the section about the Blue Moon, a semicentennial celestial event that was first recorded by the Skull Tribe, who saw the event as a sign from the Great Titan attempting to inspire peace, tranquility, and hope among the people. The Blue Moon had been worshiped by Wiccans ever since, every fifty years, in a Sabbath of celebration to the Titan.
Eda walked into the living room, a wicker basket full of bags in both hands and tucked under both arms.
"This whole Blue Moon thing actually sounds really cool," Luz told Eda. "The Blue Moon is supposed to be some kind of stress reliever for the entire Boiling Isles, pacifying everyone who gets caught in the moon's glow."
"I've heard that more unexpected pregnancies happen during Blue Moons than at any other point in the century." Eda put her baskets down. "So be careful if you end up hooking up with someone at that party."
"Mom!" Luz's face lit up. "Come on!"
"Oh, you come on." Eda crossed her arms and grinned. "A gathering of hormone-ridden teens getting shined by a Blue Moon? Titan, those kids will be all over each other. Even a shy, antisocial weirdo like you might be able to find your soulmate at a party like this one. A little bit of," Eda made a kissy face. "and you'll finally have a sweetie to smooch instead of making and talking to masks all day. Think that spiderweb you sleep in can hold two?"
Luz let out a miserable groan and buried her face in her book. "Pleeeease stop," she whimpered.
Eda laughed and shook her head. "Sooner or later, little owlet, you're gonna take an interest in another little birdie." Eda picked her cloak up off the living room table and threw it over her shoulders. "Me personally, I hope you find yourself a nice bird of prey, with sharp talons and a strong beak, but soft feathers, the kind you can caress."
Able to notice even with that book covering her face, Eda could see Luz's face reddening. The Owl Lady grinned before bringing her fingers up to her lips and letting out a whistle.
With her face buried in her book, Luz didn't see Owlbert fly down the stairs into the living room, nor did she notice what the palisman was carrying in his talons, nor did she see Owlbert drop the item into Eda's hand and perch onto her shoulder.
"Hey, Luz. Check this out."
Luz raised her head from the book just enough to look. When she saw what Eda was holding in her hands, she lowered the book and raised her head up more, eyes widening in surprise.
It was a cloak. Midnight-blue on the outside and iris-purple on the inside.
Luz stared at the cloak. "...Is…is that for me? For tonight?"
"And every other night from here on out." Eda tossed Luz the cloak. "Made from witch's wool. It can repel powerful spells, but don't go thinking it'll make you invincible. A little something I've been knitting in my spare time."
Luz quickly stood up and put the cloak on, clasping the golden button over her chest. She moved around a bit, holding either side of the cloak and swishing it around, having fun with it and enjoying the feel of the garment.
A look of utter delight and happiness formed on Luz's face before she rushed up to Eda and trapped her in a great big hug.
"I love it!" Luz exclaimed. "Thank you, Mom!"
Eda chuckled and rubbed Luz's back. "You're welcome, Luz," she replied. "Take care of that thing, I put a lot of effort into the stitching."
"I will." Luz pulled away from the hug and beamed up at Eda. "I promise."
Eda ruffled Luz's hair before she walked over to the steps. "King, come on! We're going ingredient picking!"
King, after a few seconds, came down the stairs, looking like he was pouting. "How come I don't get to go to an awesome party?" he complained. "It's not fair!"
"I need help finding the ingredients I need for tonight's Blue Moon brew, and Luz doesn't need to babysit you while she's at the Sabbath with her friends," Eda explained. "And besides. A party that size? No way I'm letting a little demon like you run around, with or without Luz trying to keep an eye on you."
King crossed his arms and pouted.
"Hey, come on, we'll have our own fun." Eda came up and picked King up off the floor. "It'll be you and me, illegally scavenging for potion ingredients and brewing elixirs under the light of the Blue Moon. Loads of fun."
King sighed. "Okay, fine. But I get to go to the next Blue Moon party. When's the next one again?"
"Fifty y–uh–weeks. Another fifty weeks," said Eda.
King thought it over. "Well…okay. I guess that's not too long."
"You're leaving right now?" Luz asked.
"Yeah, I wanna get an early start on finding those ingredients and making sure the Emperor's Coven doesn't catch us in the act." Eda set King back down. "Just lock up the place before you leave, make sure to feed Hooty, oh, and take a few of those glyphs you learned with you, just in case you need to defend yourself from any jerks or creeps or unpleasant witches who need to be taught a good lesson."
"Uh…" Luz blinked. "Sure."
"Good." Eda picked up her baskets, picking King up out of the one he tried to hitch a ride in. "Have fun at the Sabbath. Be careful, stay near your friends," Eda headed for the door. "Never befriend a man in sandals, measure twice, cut once, brush after every meal, look both ways before crossing the street," Eda opened the door. "And never give them your number, no matter how good the hookup was. If they want a second date so badly, they'll find you, believe me."
The door closed, leaving Luz alone in the house.
It was late in the evening, and the full moon dominated the stars up in the sky. Although the full moon was bright and splendid, illuminating the night for any and all night wanderers, it had yet to turn blue, as the book Luz had read promised it would. That would only happen once the clocks struck midnight. Sitting on the ground and leaning back against the door, Luz waited for her friends to show up. Eda and King hadn't come back yet from finding potion ingredients, and although Eda made it seem likely that Luz would be gone before they came back, the young girl still worried for her mom and her little brother.
It wasn't a very cold night, but still, Luz wrapped her new cloak around her, enjoying the feel of the gift. In addition to the cloak, Luz had donned one of the masks from her wall in lieu of the owl mask she normally wore. Made from papier-mâché and Sharpie marker, it was a smooth-painted white skull with black rings drawn across the eyeholes. The particular mask seemed the most appropriate for the event.
"I like your owl mask better," Hooty commented from up above Luz's head. "But I still think you look nice, hoot hoot!"
"Thanks, Hooty," Luz said.
A shriek was heard up in the sky. A moment later, a griffin landed on the front lawn, carrying three teenagers garbed in cloaks on her back.
"There you guys are." Luz stood up off the ground.
"Sorry if we kept you waiting." Viney patted Puddles' head, who was wearing a brown leather helmet with yellow glass goggles that matched the one Viney was wearing. "She fusses with me whenever I try to put her night gear on."
"Hop on, Luz," Gus said. "If we leave now, we'll be there by midnight, right in time for the party to start."
"I like the skull mask and the new cloak," Willow told Luz. "Is that witch's wool? You can sit in front of me, that looks warm and comfy."
Luz walked up and got on the griffin between Viney and Puddles.
"Ooo, I was right, that is comfy," Willow commented before Viney flew Puddles into the night sky.
"Bye, Hooty!" Luz shouted as Puddles flew her away.
"Have fun, Luz!" Hooty shouted back. "...I wonder if a pair of wings would look good on me, hooty hoot hoot."
One griffin ride later, Puddles was descending down to the Titan's Palm. The right hand of the Titan was a popular place for holding events on the Isles. Weddings, birthday parties, and whatever else you thought deserved a celebration. With the Titan's actual palm facing the sky, his fingers curled over his hand, their tips hanging over the palm.
At the very center of the Palm was a bonfire the size of a small house. Around the bonfire, either feeding large logs of wood to the flames or hanging out near one of the snack tables or one of the large, wooden, drink dispenser barrels, was an army of teenagers. Demons and witches from all three of the schools, but for once, there were no school rivalries going on. Everyone on the Palm looked like they were having a good time, and the party hadn't even kicked off yet.
Viney landed Puddles down on the Palm. Once she was out of the air and on the ground, Puddles stretched her wings and let a yawn out of her beak.
"Yeah, I know it's past your bedtime." Viney took off her helmet and rubbed the griffin's neck. "Let's find a comfortable place for you to rest."
A witch teen with apparent demon heritage, red skin and maroon-colored hair, walked up to Puddles and the four teens atop her back. "If you're looking for a place to keep your griffin, we set up a stable over there." She pointed over at a nearby stable, a simple-looking structure filled with griffins fast asleep in nests of straw. "The Beast Keeping and Construction students from St. Epiderm had it built, but it's open for everyone."
"Oh, perfect, thanks." Viney and her three passengers hopped off of the griffin. "You guys go ahead without me, I gotta put this big baby to bed." Viney led Puddles to the stable.
Luz readjusted her skull mask to make sure it was on right and pulled the hood of her cloak over her head. She, Willow, and Gus looked around at all of the teens they both did and didn't recognize.
"So…" Luz looked at her two friends. "What now?"
Then the full moon above them all, which had been the color of silvery wax, phased into a new color. The moon now sported an added, incredible, lapis blue glow. Luz stared up at the moon and was almost immediately hypnotized by the glow, the blue light reflecting in her pupils as if she were being possessed. Willow and Gus were obviously feeling the effects of the Blue Moon too, as was literally everyone else on the Palm. You know that one song you listen to in order to ease away your anxiety? That one really soothing and pleasant song on your playlist? That's what being exposed to the light of the Blue Moon was like. Every worry Luz had, every fear, every anxious and nervous thought was washed away by the moon's calming glow.
The red and orange flames of the bonfire suddenly turned sapphire and aquamarine blue. And from somewhere on the Palm, party music began to play.
"Now," Willow smiled at Luz. "Let's have fun."
The following two hours consisted of Luz and her friends dancing to the music along with the rest of the students, taking part in games and activities, and scarfing down junk food and tossing back glass bottles of Sprite's Blood–a popular elixir among school students on the Boiling Isles that could be compared in the Human Realm to Red Bull. Viney introduced Luz to her friends Jerbo and Barcus. A whip-thin, long-faced boy in the Plant Track and Abomination Track, and a demon boy resembling a dog with brown fur wearing square glasses who was in the Oracle Track and the Potions Track. Willow and Gus introduced Luz to some of their friends from their classes, and the members of the H.A.S. practically flocked around Luz, eager to get to know an actual human who had been to the Human Realm.
Luz was having fun. She wasn't about to deny it, despite her initial reservations toward even going to this Sabbath and the anxiety and awkwardness she felt when she was around other people her own age. Pretty much everybody at the Sabbath was wearing a cloak, and some of them were even wearing masks, so Luz hardly felt out of place, and the Blue Moon was numbing the normal amount of anxiety and worry she normally felt.
To Luz's surprise, for the first time since she could even remember…she didn't feel out of place. She didn't feel like the black sheep in the entire flock who immediately stuck out, she didn't feel inferior or useless compared to everyone else, she didn't feel like she had to compete with the rest of the world just to feel normal.
For a single, sweet night…Luz finally felt like she belonged.
Under the light of the blessed Blue Moon, Luz parted from her partying friends for a moment to head to one of the beverage tables where the Sprite's Blood was being served. Staying up so late was beginning to take its toll on Luz, and she needed another boost of what she truly hoped wasn't actual blood. She had already drunk more than a few of them.
Luz reached for one of the bottles on the table, only for her hand to bump into someone else's.
"Oh, sorry," they both said at the same time.
Luz's eyes widened behind her mask and she fought the urge to gasp. It was Amity Blight again. The mint-haired girl was wearing the same black blouse and magenta pants as the first time Luz had met her, in addition to the shadow-black cloak she wore and the pendant worn around her neck. The pendant was a round, smooth disc of darkened amethyst and gold, resembling a waxing moon.
"It's you," Luz squeaked.
Amity frowned and knitted her brow. "Do I know you?"
Luz blinked. 'She doesn't recognize me,' she realized. 'Not with this cloak and not with this mask.'
Luz pulled her cloak a little more over the sports jacket she was wearing underneath it. "Uh…no," she replied, trying to make her voice sound less recognizable. "But you're Amity Blight, right? From the Blight family."
Amity sighed and rolled her eyes, which reflected the blue light of the moon above. "Yeah, that's me, I guess." She grabbed a bottle of Sprite's Blood from the table. "The Blight."
Amity pulled the cork out of the bottle and drank the sparkling, white potion. Luz grabbed a potion as well, but didn't drink it. She just held it, not even popping the cork out.
"...Some party, huh?" Amity asked, sounding like she was simply trying to practice talking to people.
"Yeah, yeah, it's…" Luz looked around. "It's a whole lot of fun. More fun than I usually have."
Amity chuckled bitterly. "Tell me about it."
Luz tilted her head, noticing the bags under Amity's eyes. "You…don't really seem like you're having fun."
Amity shrugged. "It's a great party and all, but…honestly the only reason I even came was because my brother and sister somehow goaded me into going with them."
"You don't normally go to these things?" Luz asked.
"I go to these things all the time." Amity drummed her fingers along the glass bottle in her hand. "Whether I want to or not."
"I never go to these things." Luz looked down at the ground. "I figured I would never actually be welcome at one of these things."
She failed to alter her voice to fool Amity, and thus caused the witch girl to finally notice something that might've been familiar about this girl wearing a skull mask.
"I'm sorry, I don't think I caught your name."
Luz panicked for a brief few seconds.
"...Most people don't know or care what my name is," Luz answered, choosing to hide behind honesty.
It seemed to work. To Luz's surprise, Amity actually snorted at her.
"You think that's a bad thing?" Amity turned around to leave. "You should appreciate invisibility."
Luz was taken aback by the comment. Before she left, however, Amity stopped and stood there, her back facing Luz. Then she sighed and turned back around.
"Look, please don't take that the wrong way." Amity moved her hands around like she was trying to figure out how to say what she wanted to say. "...No one expects anything from you, alright? And, you might think otherwise, but that's hardly a bad thing."
Luz looked to the side. "Well, I think–"
"Let me give you an example," said Amity. "Have you heard about how Hexside accepted a human student?"
Luz immediately returned her gaze to Amity, staring at the mint-haired girl. "...I…heard about that, yeah."
"She's a human. I mean," Amity shook her head incredulously. "She's a human. Why would Principal Bump accept her into Hexside? More importantly, why would she do that to herself?"
Luz blinked. "What do you mean?"
"She is a human. Like, a legit human from the Human Realm. Humans aren't born with magic, I don't even think magic exists in their world. So why is she trying to become a witch?" Amity asked. "No one expects her to be a witch, nobody expects anything from her. So why the Titan would she even go through all of that? She's trying to fly to the sun, but she's just going to plummet into the Boiling Sea. If that human were smart, then for her own sake, she'd forget about being a witch and go back to the Human Realm."
"...Well…" Luz shrugged. "Maybe she wants to prove that she's capable?"
"She's going to get herself hurt," Amity bluntly remarked. "Even with the Owl Lady having her back. Seriously, how desperate do you have to be to go work for the most wanted criminal on the Boiling Isles?"
"That doesn't necessarily make them bad people," Luz said, fighting to not sound defensive. "Do you…do you honestly think that the human is just a crook trying to run a con or something?"
"I mean…" Amity tossed aside her empty potion bottle and wrapped her cloak closer around her, looking off to the side. "I've only met her twice, but, she seemed…nice, I guess. On her first day at Hexside, believe it or not, she was able to convince the principal to allow multi-tracking. So, yeah, maybe she has a few clever tricks up her sleeve. Maybe there's more to her than meets the eye. And, maybe…"
Amity released a soft sigh. "...I dunno, maybe–"
"Mittens!" Edric and Emira suddenly appeared from the crowd and at either side of their little sister, who looked both embarrassed and vexed by her siblings. "There you are!"
"You two are harder to get rid of than parasites," Amity complained sourly.
"Love you too, sis." Emira gave Amity a big kiss on her cheek. In return, Amity looked prepared to bite her sister's nose off.
"Who's your skull-faced friend?" Edric asked. "Look at you, actually making new friends."
"Wait a minute." Emira narrowed her eyes. "Luz, is that you?"
"Hey! Owl-cat! It is you!" Edric exclaimed. "Love the new mask, but the nickname don't make no sense no more."
Amity's eyes shot wide open at the girl in the skull mask. "Wha…y…you're…"
Luz chuckled nervously before lifting up her mask, revealing an embarrassed smile on her face. "...Surprise?"
The Blue Moon did nothing to stop Amity's face from slowly turning the same color as a tomato as she glared at Luz. Then she turned around and stormed away.
Luz raised her hand toward Amity as she left. She wanted to stop her and say something, to apologize for fooling her. But instead of saying anything, Luz simply lowered her mask back down over her face.
"Sorry about that," Luz said to the twins.
"Ah, she'll be fine, don't worry," said Edric.
"She doesn't like being taken off guard, hates it when you manage to slip past her defenses," said Emira.
"Is that what I did?" Luz asked.
"First person to actually do it in years," Edric commented.
"Nicely done," said Emira.
"Hey, Luz, we lost you back there." Gus came up to Luz, Willow alongside him. "Hey, this guy, Matt, he doesn't believe I know a real human. You think you could help me out, Luz?"
"Oh, hey, Willow," Emira greeted kindly. "Don't see much of you anymore."
"Hey, Emira," Willow greeted back.
"You know each other?" Luz asked.
"Yeah," said Emira. "She and Amity–"
"It's not important," Willow interrupted, sounding a bit defensive for some reason.
"Oh. Uh, alright," Emira said, backing down. "Hey, you guys wanna do something really fun?"
"Like what?" Luz asked.
"Come on, we'll show ya," Edric said. He and Emira turned around and began their way through the crowd, beckoning for Luz, Gus, and Willow to follow. The three friends glanced at each other.
"Should we go?" Gus asked.
"Why not? Could be fun." Luz pocketed her bottle of Sprite's Blood before going after the twins. Willow followed after Luz and Gus followed after her.
The Blight twins led Luz and her friends away from the party, heading toward the Titan's Wrist instead, a forested area east of the Palm. Eventually, they came to a group of students who had also strayed from the party. They must have been from all three of the schools, because the only ones Luz recognized were from Hexside. Unfortunately, it was Boscha and her regular clique–Skara and Amelia, along with a few others.
"Sorry we're late," Emira apologized to the group. "We brought some friends."
"You brought the Half-a-Witch and her little illusionist buddy?" Boscha asked. "And some weirdo wearing a skull mask–wait a second, is that the freakin' human?"
"Titan, Amity's taste in friends has really soured," Emira commented.
"Where is Amity?" Boscha demanded. "I thought you were going to go get her?"
"She ran off. I don't know where. I'm a crappy big brother, I know," said Edric. "What's it matter? We can do this without Amity. Chances are, it doesn't even exist anyway."
"Chances are what doesn't even exist?" Willow asked.
Edric grinned excitedly.
"We're looking for a dragon."
Luz blinked. "Seriously?"
"Yup," Emira confirmed. "According to rumor, a dragon lives somewhere in these parts."
"A dragon?" Luz asked. "Giant lizard? Breathes fire? Typically can fly? That kind of dragon?"
"They have dragons in the Human Realm?" Edric asked.
"Well, they're native to Westeros, but no one has seen one since the civil war between the Targaryens ended," Luz said with sarcasm nobody but herself could understand. "Although, there is a rumor that a really mean one is hiding up in Erebor."
"Oh, come on. Dragons aren't real," Willow said. "They're just a bedtime story. Something parents tell kids so they don't go out at night or wear too much jewelry."
"Seriously?" Luz asked. "Willow, I'm sorry, but this world has demons, griffins, slitherbeasts, we're all walking on the corpse of a literal giant! But something as basic as dragons can't exist? That's where the line gets drawn as far as absurdity is concerned? What is a Boiling Isles edition dragon supposed to be like anyway?"
A thin, bookish-looking witch girl with dark skin and copper-colored hair whom Luz had never met before came up and pushed her glasses up closer to her face.
"According to legend, dragons are a species of demon that the early founders of the Skull Tribe summoned from the Spirit Realm, otherwise known as the Otherworld," the bookish witch explained in her somewhat nasally voice. "The first of the First Generation of Witches were very successful. The most elite and powerful of the Skull Tribe witches and warlocks had entire loads of treasure and riches and valuable relics. But they were always competing with each other, always trying to steal from one another, trying to make their collections the best collection."
"Because having more than everyone else isn't even enough," Willow commented bitterly. "Right?"
"So in order to keep thieves from stealing their treasure, and to put an end to the competitions between them and declare a truce, the Wiccans of the Skull Tribe decided to assign guardians to their treasure troves. Beasts so fearsome and protective, it would put an end to any talk of trying to take from anybody's treasure," the bookish witch girl continued. "So the most powerful and skilled of the early Skull Tribe got together and summoned these incredibly powerful and ancient beasts from the Otherworld. The dragons."
"So, what happened?" Gus asked.
"Well, these Otherworld beasts, these dragons, were an incredibly powerful species of demon. Very old, and very proud," the girl continued. "They decided that they had no business being summoned like dogs, and being forced to obey these witches who had brought them to the Demon Realm. So, they rebelled. They killed their 'masters' and took their treasures for themselves. They had no way of going back to the Otherworld, some stories say they actually liked it here, so the dragons all took the treasure they stole from their former masters, and flew off across the Boiling Isles, each of them finding a good hiding place to stash away and protect their hoard. Some say they've been adding to their collections ever since, flying off every night to find treasure to add to their hoard, sometimes through theft, in some rarer cases, through barter."
"Dragons are a myth," Willow stated. "My parents used to tell me dragon-based bedtime stories all the time. 'Don't go out at night, or a dragon will carry you off back to his cave,' and 'Don't wear so much jewelry or a dragon will mistake you for a treasure to add to its hoard,' and so on. You're telling me a dragon lives somewhere around here?"
"According to my research, gathered from both fact and fiction, there is a chance that we may find a dragon living somewhere on the Titan's Arm, close to the Wrist," said the bookish witch. "If we're lucky, we may find his cave somewhere near the east side of the Wrist, most likely near the Boiling Sea. Southside, in the general direction of the rest of the Isles. If it really does like to go out at night and find treasures to steal and carry back to its hoard, then that's where we'll most likely find it."
"I've heard dragons never even leave their hoards," Gus said. "The only thing that matters to them is protecting their treasure, never leaving it for a single moment."
"If the dragon's not on the southside, then we'll just search the northside," Boscha said like it was no big deal.
"We should start with the southside though," said the bookish witch. "It's more likely that the dragon is on that side of the Arm."
"Are we really doing this?" Willow asked. "We're ditching the party to find something that probably doesn't even exist?"
"What's wrong, Half-a-Witch, scared of dragons?" Boscha asked.
"Believe me, I really hope this dragon is real," said Willow. "If you're actually stupid enough to go near one, Boscha, maybe you'll get eaten."
There was a collective snicker among the group. Boscha gritted her teeth and narrowed her three eyes at Willow.
"Can we go now?" Edric asked. "Maybe the dragon is real, maybe not. We can still at least go and try to find him."
"If Boscha is right, then we have a dragon to find," said Emira. "If Willow is right, then we'll at least get a fun adventure and a calming walk through a forest."
"Oh, yeah, 'cause nothing bad ever happens out in the woods at night," said Luz.
"I, for one, think we should get on with it already." A witch girl stepped forward. She was short, not much taller than Gus, but she had a healthy figure for a girl her age. Fair-skinned with short dark violet hair held back by mint-green hair clips. Amber eyes and a trio of freckles on each cheek. She wore a Glandus High edition uniform underneath her brown cloak, consisting of a gray short-sleeved tunic with dark gray trims, dark gray boots, brown gloves, and brown tattered shorts, suggesting she had to have been a student from the Construction Track. She carried a broadsword in a brown sheath at her side, as if she were already a Coven Scout.
"Bria," Boscha said sourly, suggesting a school-student rivalry that not even the Blue Moon could shine away.
Two more of the Glandus students walked up next to Bria, as Boscha called her. One of them was a tall, dark-skinned boy with grayish-blue hair wearing stylish, white and yellow shoes who appeared to be in the Abomination Track. The other was a shorter, huskier demon boy with golden skin and lemon-blonde skin, wearing a student uniform that identified him in the Plant Track, complete with a black and green cap over his head.
"Standing here arguing over its existence isn't gonna help us find this dragon," Bria said. "So let's get going and find this dragon! Come on, everybody!"
"I'm with freckles, we should do this before we run out of moonlight," Edric said.
"Don't call me that," said Bria.
Willow sighed and rolled her eyes. "Alright, fine. Because the hex with a once-in-a-lifetime party, am I right?"
"Gavin. Angmar. Let's get going." Bria started heading south, toward the shores of the Arm, and her two friends followed. "Everyone who wants to find that dragon, Follow me!"
"Hey, Hexside is leading this search, not Glandus!" Boscha and her girls raced after the Glandus team, and everyone followed the two squads, except for the Luz trio and the twins.
Luz looked over at Emira and Edric. "You honestly think we'll find a dragon? Something that's supposed to be mythical even by Boiling Isles standards?"
Emira shrugged. "No harm in having a look around."
"You're free to leave if you want," said Edric. "I'll admit, the party sounds more fun anyway."
"I think we should go with them," said Gus. "We'll be able to say afterward that we went on a dragon hunt."
"Then it's settled." Edric and Emira started after the rest of the group. "Let's go!"
Willow sighed. "Let's all hope I'm right," she muttered before they all went after the rest of the group.
The walk through the forest was the easy part. Barely twenty minutes of traveling until they reached the shores. That was when the hard part began. The southern shores of the Right Arm weren't exactly a family-friendly beach. Waves of boiling seawater crashed against the rock shores that made up the opposite side of the treeline. The group of adventuring teens kept to the trees, looking out across the rock beach that looked only barely passable.
"Now what?" Boscha looked at the bookish witch from before. "Amy, you're the dragon expert here. What do we do?"
The heat from the Boiling Sea had caused Amy's glasses to fog up. She took them off and wiped them clean with her shirt. "It makes sense that a dragon would hide somewhere along these shores. Less likely for wandering witches to accidentally stumble across the entrance to his cave. We should start searching due west, away from the Hand. More likely the dragon's lair is in that direction."
"Then that's where we gotta go." Bria took the lead once more, stepping onto the stones that made up the shores but keeping close to the treeline. "Don't stray too far from the trees, everyone. You get hit by those waves, and it'll be the last bath you ever take."
Boscha and her clique were fast to keep up with Bria and hers, and the rest of the group followed. But even Boscha and Bria showed caution, never veering too close to the part of the shores that kept getting blasted with waves of boiling seawater. Luz, Willow, Gus, and the twins kept to the back of the group.
"I'm starting to agree with Willow on this, maybe we should just head back to the party," Gus commented. His nerves only seemed to increase when a wave of boiling sea water splashed a little too close to the group. "There is honestly a very slim chance of us actually finding a dragon, but Boscha and that Bria chick obviously aren't going to back down before the other one does."
"I'm honestly not sure why Amity even hangs out with Boscha," said Emira. "She was a lot nicer back when she was hanging out with you, Willow."
"Wait, what?" Luz asked. "Willow, you used to be friends with Amity?"
Willow glowered at Emira, who gave her an apologetic smile, before letting out a sigh. "Yeah, when we were little," Willow admitted. "We used to be best friends, we did everything together."
"So, then, what happened?"
"She's rich, and I'm not, what do you think happened?" said Willow. "Sure, no one cares about that stuff when you're little. But when reality finally sets in, we all learn to shift to our own groups on the social pecking order."
"She's honestly not wrong," said Edric.
A refraction of moonlight on her glasses hid Willow's eyes from sight. "She was a Blight. And, apparently…I wasn't good enough to be friends with her."
"Seriously?" Luz asked. "She stopped hanging out with you just because you don't live in a big-ass mansion like she does?"
"Well, that, and…" Willow clenched her fists. "You know, the whole 'Half-a-Witch' thing."
"I thought that was because you stunk at abomination magic," said Luz. "How long have they been calling you that?"
"I was a late bloomer with my magic, I was always behind all the other kids," Willow admitted, sounding like she hated every memory that the confession brought to the surface. "I got made fun of for it a lot. I didn't come from money, and I couldn't even perform magic like all the other kids could. I guess I wasn't 'worthy' of being friends with someone from the wealthy Blight family."
"Hey, if Amity couldn't be friends with you because of a stupid reason like that, then that's on her, not you," said Luz. "And, you know what? I sort of feel bad for her. The only people she's allowed to be friends with are people like Boscha. At least you get to be friends with people like Gus and Viney."
Willow smiled gratefully at Luz. "...Maybe you're right," she said. "After all, being friends with you is pretty great too."
Luz smiled behind her mask. The smile then dropped when she noticed that the group had come to a stop.
There was a cave.
With Boscha and Bria at the front, the group had found a cave along the shore. The mouth of the cave opened toward the Boiling Sea, and all of the rock spires on the floor and ceiling of the entrance made it look like the maw of a savage monster. The waves of the sea were almost splashing right into the mouth, discouraging most from wanting to actually try to venture into the cave.
"Oh, shoot. A cave," The bookish witch Amy marveled. "...I don't wanna go in there. Don't make me go in there."
"Oh, we're going in there," said Boscha, suddenly looking excited, as if she were about to begin a Grudgby match. "If there's an actual dragon in there, I'm taking some of his fire. According to legend, potions brewed and boiled with Dragonfire are said to be the best potions a witch can brew. It's like having each of your potions blessed by a god or something."
"Hmm…" Bria tapped her chin thoughtfully. "We need to be careful going in there. We might get hit by the splash of the waves. That'll leave a pretty bad burn."
"Yeah, no kidding," said Boscha. "Let's try jumping, you go first."
"I have a better idea." With a smug grin on her face, Bria walked up and drew a big magic circle. A section of the rock in front of her extended, forming a high, stone arch bridge from where they were standing all the way into the mouth of the cave. Even the biggest waves didn't reach the top of the bridge with the splash they made.
"There we go." Bria sneered at Boscha. "Try doing that with a potion."
"Out of my way, Glandus girl." Boscha pushed past Bria and stepped up to the bridge, looking over her shoulder at everyone else. "Let's go, people."
Amy stared at the mouth of the cave with a frightened look on her face. "...Nope. nope, nope, nope." She turned around and quickly walked away, pushing past the rest of the group and heading back down the shore. "I am not going to get eaten or burned to a crisp! I'm going back to the Sabbath!"
"Are all St. Epiderm chicks as spineless as you?!" Boscha shouted after her. "Get back here!"
"I'm with her," another student said before following after Amy. "The dragon's all yours, I'll go enjoy the Blue Moon like everyone else."
Most of the rest of the group also went with Amy, leaving behind the expedition. That only left Boscha, Skara, and Amelia, as well as Bria and her two boys, Luz and her friends, and the Blight twins.
"St. Epiderm's gone, we've got eight from Hexside, and only three from Glandus." Boscha crossed her arms and grinned triumphantly. "Number of people surprised by that: zero."
"Well then, you won't mind leading the way," Bria said, her voice holding an obviously mocking tone. "If things go south, we can all make our escape while the dragon's chewing on your burnt corpse. You know, 'taking one for the team,' and all that."
"If you want to wuss out, that's fine, but come on, at least be honest about it," Boscha said before heading over the bridge. "Let's go, team."
Although they appeared apprehensive, Skara and Amelia followed after Boscha over the bridge. Bria growled angrily at the three-eyed girl's back.
"Come on," Bria said to her two flunkies before marching over her bridge. The two boys went after her, leaving Team Hexside behind on the shore.
Willow turned to the others. "We shouldn't do this."
"Uh, I'm with Willow," Edric admitted nervously. "Can't we just go back to the party?"
"You really think there's a dragon in there?" Emira asked skeptically.
"There's probably something in there," Gus said. "If it's not a dragon, it might still be dangerous."
"Then we should go in there in case they get hurt." Luz went to the bridge and began crossing to the other side. "Maybe they do suck, but they're still people."
Edric groaned anxiously. "She's just as self-righteous as Mittens," he grumbled before following after Luz.
"I think it's cute," Emira said before following after her brother. "She just wants to help."
Willow and Gus glanced at each other before following after the twins over the bridge.
The cave sloped slightly downward, sinking into the Arm of the Titan as if a giant maggot had chewed its way into the Titan's flesh. The cave was dark, with dripping stalactites and rising stalagmites, but there were luminescent mushrooms that provided a gentle illumination. The cave was certainly big enough for a dragon to comfortably travel through. And a big cave, meant a big dragon, unfortunately.
Luz gulped. 'Here's hoping Willow was right after all," she thought.
Gus, looking the most nervous, moved in closer to the twins. "So, uh, you guys wouldn't happen to know any, like, safety protocols for when you do run into a dragon, would you?"
The twins looked at each other and shrugged.
"Run," they both said.
Gus nodded, looking no less relieved. "Terrific." He faced the path once more. "Just terrific."
Boscha and Bria were still competing to lead the group, guiding them deeper and deeper into the cave. Eventually, the cave ended, the path leading into a subterranean, half-dome chamber of sorts. But the group didn't dare step into the chamber, instead choosing to immediately hide behind stalagmites big enough to provide cover. An unbearable sense of dread had befallen the group. You would think they would be excited, for the entire back half of the chamber was covered in a pile of treasure, enough gold, silver, and jewels to fill up someone's house and more.
The catch was the dragon sleeping on top of it.
In Luz's personal opinion, the beast was really a gorgeous creature. The jeweled tarantula from school paled in comparison to this splendid, giant reptile. But that seemed to be what made it all the more terrifying, like finding a woman as beautiful as she was scary. The ancient demon was a giant lizard twice the size of a bus, with obsidian-black scales and an ultraviolet underside. Its scales looked like polished metal, and its colors were an impossible shade of black and purple. Its tail had black barbs at the end, making it look like a whip designed specifically for death by torture. Its back legs were strong and muscular and its clawed feet looked like they could stomp through cinder blocks like they were acorns. The head at the end of its neck was long-faced and aerodynamic by the look of it, making for good flying, no doubt. It made the monster look almost handsome, like a prized stallion. The horns atop its scaly head looked like expensive, polished, coal-black mahogany, and gave the impression of a crown of nobility. As the beast snored away in its slumber, a puff of smoke blew out of its nostrils.
Instead of front legs, the dragon had a pair of large, bat-like wings. The membrane of skin that made up its impressive wings were the same, startling purple color as its underside, and sported a pair of claws. Unlike the claws on its back legs, the claws on its wings were long and thin, with pointed, sharp, needle-point tips. Despite its size, the dragon might've been able to pickpocket an unsuspecting witch with those stiletto claws. That, or it could have impaled you through several parts of your body at once, leaving you to bleed to death.
Gus and Edric were both shaking in their shoes at the sight of the dragon. And although they were the only ones who were shaking, they were obviously not the only ones who appeared afraid.
"Okay, we found it," Gus whispered as quietly as he possibly could. "Take a picture and let's go."
"Or we skip the picture, and get the hex out of here," Edric suggested, whispering just as quietly as Gus.
Bria and Boscha stared at the sleeping dragon from their hiding place. They both looked scared, but when they looked at each other, they refused to show it.
"I got a dare for ya," said Bria.
"Yeah?" Boscha asked. "Let's hear it."
Bria pointed at the dragon sleeping atop its hoard. "The dare is this: sneak up to the dragon and steal something from his treasure. Simple."
"What?" Luz squeaked as softly as she could. "Are you out of your mind?"
"Bria, come on, don't do this," the demon boy, Angmar, suggested nervously. "We found it, let's just leave."
"Angmar, I'm touched you care," Bria said, smiling kindly. "But if you tell me what to do again, I'll feed you my sword."
Luz grimaced. 'Eesh,' she thought to herself.
"So it's a dare, then?" Bria asked Boscha, challenging the other girl with her smile and her stare.
"Oh, it's on." Boscha looked back at the dragon. "Me first."
"Boscha, you're going to get yourself killed," Luz said. "Don't do this."
"Oh, shut up, human," Boscha said. "If you're not in, then just leave this to the real witches."
Boscha then crept her way toward the sleeping dragon and its hoard of treasure, taking extreme care with every single gentle and quiet step she took.
Bria looked over at Luz. "You're a human?"
"Yeah, and you're a bitch, so I guess we both have problems," Luz replied sourly.
Bria's face darkened at Luz, even with that smile on her face. "You'd better hope this dragon kills me," she warned.
"Believe me, a small part of me will," Luz said. "But unlike you, my accomplishments come from what I can build up, not from what I can break down. You're in the Construction Track, right? That kind of magic is supposed to add support and structure to the world. Instead, you're no better than Boscha. You act like you're some kind of leader, but the only thing you know how to do is pretend to be intimidating and dominant. You're a joke. And you're not even a good one."
"Look who's calling who a joke. At least I actually have magic. And I'm good at magic." Bria leaned her face closer toward Luz. "And when I'm a member of the Emperor's Coven, I'll remember that. And I'll make sure you remember it too."
"I'm not afraid of the Emperor's Coven." Luz narrowed her eyes at Bria. "And I'm sure as shit not afraid of you."
"Uh, guys?" Emira pointed at the dragon. "Boscha made it to the treasure hoard."
Everyone turned their attention back to Boscha. Sweating bullets, but motivated by her own pride, she made it to the edge of the treasure pile. The dragon didn't awaken, didn't even stir in its sleep. This offered some minor comfort for Boscha, who did all she could to hide her fear. Incredibly slowly, as if she were standing on a roof made of thin glass, Boscha knelt down and picked up a single golden coin from the dragon's pile.
Bria blinked. "...Huh."
"You're up next," Luz quietly muttered to her.
Boscha turned around and made her way back to the others and away from the dragon. Her pace was just a little bit quicker than last time, eager for the dare to finally end. Boscha was still smart enough to move slowly though, as if every step were on an eggshell. As much as she disliked the mean girl, Luz was honestly almost rooting for Boscha. Halfway back to the others, Boscha even began to smile victoriously.
And then the dragon opened its eyes.
Blood-infused garnets set into orbs as black as night. Those were the dragon's eyes. Boscha's first tip-off that something was wrong was no longer being able to hear the dragon snoring. The second tip-off was seeing the looks of utter horror on the group's faces as the dragon lifted his head.
Boscha turned around and lost almost all hope of survival upon seeing the dragon staring down at her. At first, the dragon seemed almost surprised and confused by Boscha's presence. Then it noticed the golden coin in Boscha's hand. The dragon barred its pearl-white fangs at the triclops girl, smoke rising out of his mouth and nostrils.
"Thief!" The dragon spread its wings and let out an enraged roar, sounding like an erupting volcano.
"Boscha, run!" Luz screamed.
Boscha bolted away from the dragon, who was taking a deep inhale. By the time Boscha reached the rest of the group, the dragon breathed out a column of unnaturally hot, blue fire at her.
Before they could all get burned alive, Luz ran up and slammed an ice glyph down on the ground. She wasn't even sure how she did it, but Luz summoned a giant column of ice in front of them. The column of dragonfire hit the ice and immediately began to melt it into a cloud of steam and vapor, but the dragon ran out of breath before Luz ran out of ice, just barely saving them from being burned alive.
The dragon shook his head and grunted, as if he had just been surprised by a joke he didn't find funny.
"Why would the Great Chieftain teach his lexis to one such as yourself, Masked One?" the dragon demanded. His voice was deep and menacing, sounding almost evil. "Who are you?!"
Gus drew a magic circle and in a burst of blue smoke, a large unkindness of ravens appeared and flew up at the dragon's face. The dragon roared and shook his head as the ravens flew around his face.
"Run!" Willow shouted. No one argued with her, they just ran as fast as Willow did back down the cave. Some ran even faster.
The dragon blew flames at the illusions flying around him, disappearing the flock of birds, and roared before advancing after the teens, crawling off of his treasure hoard and chasing after them.
"Boscha, just toss back the stupid coin!" Luz shouted. "Maybe he'll leave us alone if you give it back!"
"No!" Boscha shouted back. "I earned this trophy, I'm not giving it up!"
"You can't be that stupid!" Willow commented angrily.
"Watch it, Half-a-W–"
The dragon roared and shot a ball of blue fire at the teens. The ball of flame sailed over the heads and hit the cavern ceiling. Broken stalactites and bits of blue fire rained down on them from above.
A small bit of the fire that fell down from the blast hit Edric in the back right between his shoulder blades. He screamed in pain as a hole was burned through his shirt. "AHHHH! It burns!"
Emira, who was running right behind her brother, looked at the burn on his back. "Don't worry, it doesn't look too bad. Most of the burning was done to your clothes, thankfully." Emira winced. "Still, that's gonna leave a mark. Nothing a little bit of healing magic can't get rid of though, if it's treated quickly."
As she was running for her life, Luz stared at the burn on Edric's back. "Hold on…it did leave a mark."
Luz wasn't sure how Emira hadn't noticed it, but there was a symbol burned onto Edric's skin. A circle topped by a triangle, set on top of another such design, making the symbol resemble a tower maybe. Or perhaps, more likely, a rising fire.
"Edric!" Luz quickly took out a pen and a piece of notepaper. "Don't move!"
"I am not stopping!" Edric yelled.
"Then just run in a straight line!" Luz commanded as she struggled to copy down the symbol. Drawing the circle while running was the hardest part, and drawing the symbol inside the circle was only slightly less hard.
"This better be what I think it is," Luz said before she tapped the symbol on the paper with her thumb.
Luz spun around and tossed the glowing glyph at the dragon, aiming for his head. The piece of notepaper formed into a ball of fire as it flew from Luz's hand. It struck the dragon's face, exploding on impact. The dragon roared and came to a stop, but the fireball did no visible damage. And if he didn't look angry before, he sure did now, glaring pure murder at the girl who had just thrown a fireball at his face.
"You dare challenge my flames?!" The dragon let out a great roar at Luz. His teeth gleamed in his open maw and there was a blue fire burning in the back of his throat. Luz could feel the heat even from where she was standing.
Luz yelled and bolted down the cave. Pure fear-induced adrenaline helped her catch up to the others, who had already made it to the entrance of the cave.
Everyone dashed out of the cave and ran over Bria's bridge, avoiding the waves that continued to crash against the shores. The Blue Moon offered illumination to the night for the fleeing witches, but did little to quell their terror.
With another, blood-chilling roar, the dragon rushed out of the cave, crashing apart the stone arch bridge and appearing impervious to the boiling water of the sea.
Luz grabbed Boscha by her arm and dug her heels into the ground, stopping both of them, even as Boscha fought to pull her arm out of Luz's grip. The rest of the group ran on, oblivious to Luz and Boscha being left behind.
"Give him back the coin before you get us all killed!" Luz yelled.
"Let go of me!" Boscha demanded.
The Glandus students all kept running, but the Hexside students stopped and turned around, seeing the angry dragon approach the two fighting girls.
"Boscha!" Skara cried.
"Luz!" Willow yelled.
"Mommy," Edric whimpered.
Luz and Boscha finally stopped struggling when they saw the huge dragon looming over them. They stared up in total dread at the enraged beast with smoke rising out of his nostrils and flames licking around his upper lip. The dragon spread his magnificent wings, and opened his flaming maw.
"I blame you for this," was apparently what Boscha wanted her last words to be.
"That's fair," was Luz's choice.
The dragon took a deep breath.
Then his attention turned to the bright and splendid Blue Moon up above in the night sky. A blue glaze passed over his black and red eyes, and he exhaled out of his nostrils, spewing two columns of flames into the air. He lowered his wings, setting his claws down on the stone. Almost as if he had suddenly forgotten about the two girls, the dragon continued to stare up into the sky at the beautiful Blue Moon.
"Has it truly been so long, since I have witnessed your gentle glow, O' Great Chieftain?" the dragon asked to the moon. "You welcomed my brethren and I into your domain, when your acolytes summoned us. But were we ever truly grateful?" The dragon closed his eyes and bowed his head. "We should have shown gratitude, Great Chieftain. But instead, we showed only wroth."
The dragon reopened his eyes and stared down at Luz and Boscha.
"Begone, Masked One," the dragon commanded Luz. "My quarrel is with the Three-Eyed Thief. You and the other younglings were wise enough not to steal from a dragon, now show that same wisdom and challenge my power no further. I pardon the young Conjuror for his trickery and I pardon you for challenging my flames. Return to your homes, and leave the Thief to her fate."
"Give him," Luz hissed at Boscha through her teeth, unable to keep her eyes off of the dragon. "the fucking coin."
Finally, Boscha complied. She tossed the coin at the dragon, and the piece of gold landed in front of the beast's claws. Using the long, stiletto talons on his wing, the dragon picked up the coin and brought it up to his maw, swallowing the coin as if it were a tiny pill.
"I thank you for returning what you have stolen, Thief. However, your life is not spared," said the demon. "No one steals from a dragon and lives to tell the tale."
Boscha gulped. "I…I-I can give you five times what I stole. Ten times, even. My family is rich."
"I am richer," said the dragon. "You have nothing to give that I do not already have."
"I-if I may," Luz took a single step forward. Fighting for courage, she took a deep breath before continuing. "We…w-we can work something out, can't we? No one has to die."
The dragon laughed. "Trying to barter with a dragon? After enraging me, it is smart of you now to amuse me." He tilted his head curiously. "And yet…if the Great Chieftain found you worthy of his written tongue, then perhaps there is more to you than meets these old eyes."
"Uh," Luz blinked. "...Okay."
"Hey, I don't need your help!" Boscha angrily told Luz, sounding scared, but not quite humbled enough. "If you think I need a useless human to save my skin, then you are–"
Boscha wasn't able to finish that sentence due to Luz swinging her fist and hitting Boscha square in her jaw. Boscha's look of shock was brief before she fell to the ground. Luz caught her before Boscha could hit her head on the rocks, but she was still out cold.
The dragon grunted and blinked his eyes.
"Sorry about that," Luz said as she gently set Boscha down on the rock. "I've been wanting to do that literally since I first met her."
"Your apology is not necessary," said the dragon. "It amused me."
"Well, glad to hear it then," Luz said.
The dragon lowered his head closer to Luz and gave her a good sniff. A grumble formed in the dragon's throat as he stared at Luz.
"Reveal to me your true face, Masked One," the dragon commanded.
Luz's eyes widened as she stared back at the dragon. As the others watched from a distance, Luz lowered her hood and took off her skull mask.
The dragon grumbled once more. "That will suffice, I suppose," he decided. "So my sense of smell proved true once again. You really are another Outworlder." The dragon blew smoke out of his nose. "It has been quite some time since one of your kind has come to me to barter."
Luz frowned and knitted her brow. "One of my kind?" she asked.
"Do you have a name, Outworlder?" the dragon asked. "The last one did."
"...Luz," she said. "Luz Clawthorne."
The dragon blew a blast of fire out of his nostrils once more. Luz recoiled, scared and surprised by the sudden response.
"You bear the Thief's name." The dragon leaned in a little closer and sniffed Luz once more. "...But you do not possess her blood, nor the Giver's."
"Why doesn't anything you say make sense?" Luz complained. "Boscha and I don't have the same name, I'm not even sure what her last name is. And frankly, I don't care. She sucks."
"Not this one whom you wish to save from my flames," said the dragon. "The former Thief. The Scoundrel. The Mistress of the Red Songbird. The one who was saved by the Giver's generosity."
"Who the hex is the Giver now?" Luz asked.
"The White Bane. The Outworlder before you," the dragon said. "To save the Thief's life, he gave unto me a treasure most sacred to him. His Outworld name suited him poorly, it was proven."
To Luz's relief, the dragon moved his head away from her, regarding the girl curiously.
"What is the meaning of your Outworld name?"
Taken off guard by the question, Luz hesitated for a while before answering.
"...Light," Luz finally said, sounding like she was admitting a secret. "From…what I've read, it…it means light or…or daylight."
The next grumble that came from the dragon's throat sounded thoughtful.
"This was the name given to you upon your birth?" the dragon asked. "Was it your mother or your father who gave you that name?"
"Why do you care?" Luz snapped angrily, not caring if she offended the dragon. "How about you mind your own fucking business?"
The dragon growled at Luz, but it sounded more entertained than angered. The dragon seemed to smirk at the girl before him.
"You remind me of the Giver," the dragon said. "He was a kind mortal with a strong heart, with much pain hidden underneath his surface. I see yours quite clearly, regardless of your attempt to keep it hidden."
Luz looked away, unable to make a reply.
"The White Bane was also chosen to learn the Great Chieftain's lexicon. And just as I was unwilling to do harm to him, I am unwilling to do harm to you, Daylight."
Don't call me…" Luz bit her tongue. "So are we done here?" she demanded, wanting to get this over with.
"No," said the dragon. "I require something from you, as I required something from the White Bane Giver."
"I have nothing to give," Luz said.
The dragon stared at Luz for an uncomfortably long time, deep in thought.
"...Do you have an empty container, Daylight?"
Confused, and after taking a quick moment to be confused, Luz reached into her pocket and pulled out the bottle of Sprite's Blood she had taken from the party. She popped the cork and guzzled down the contents, feeling the rush of the effect of the potion, before offering it to the dragon.
The dragon reached his long, thin claws toward Luz and plucked the empty bottle from her hands. He brought the bottle up to his mouth and, with the most gentle blow, breathed his blue fire into the bottle. He offered the bottle of fire back to Luz.
"Cork the bottle, but be cautious, Daylight," the dragon warned. "For it is hot, you see, as Dragonfire tends to be, even when contained."
Luz corked the bottle as instructed, then using the fabric of her witch's wool cloak, took the bottle from the dragon. Even through the magic material of the cloak, Luz could still feel the warmth emitted from the bottle.
"What…what is this for?" Luz asked.
"For your troubles," said the dragon. "For the favor you are to do for me, in exchange for the life of the Three-Eyed Thief."
"And…what do you want me to do for you?" Luz asked carefully, getting the feeling that she wasn't going to like the answer.
Luz heard a rumble in the dragon's throat as she examined her curiously.
"When you finally perish and pass on from this world, I can only assume you will pass on to the place that the Giver now resides in," said the dragon. "And when you do, you must relay a message to him for me."
"...Sure," said Luz, feeling confused and unsure. "Uh…what's the message?"
"The debt has been paid," the dragon said. "That is the message."
Luz blinked. "I…I don't understand."
"Nor need you," the dragon replied. "But you must swear to me, by your blood and by your soul, that you will relay my message once you meet him in your afterlife."
"Yeah, of course, I promise." Luz ran her finger twice over her chest. "Cross my heart and hope to die."
"That is the idea," the dragon said. "The barter is complete. I give you and the Thief my leave. Now, if you will excuse me, or even if you will not," The dragon turned around back to his cave. "I must take my hoard and find another place to hide from the mortal greed of this world. Farewell, Masked Daylight."
"You had me take off the mask," Luz said to the dragon as he left.
At this, the dragon laughed. He replied without even looking back at Luz.
"I doubt you will ever take off the mask."
Luz watched as the dragon crawled back into his lair. She stood there for a moment, simply staring at the mouth of the cave, until her friends and the other Hexside students walked up to her.
"Okay. That was pretty badass," Emira said.
"How the hex did you do that?" Gus asked.
Skara and Amelia walked up to Boscha, who was still asleep on the ground. "She is never going to forgive you for punching her lights out, even though you saved her life," said Skara. "if anything, that's only going to make her hate you even more."
Willow, noticing that Luz wasn't reacting to their presence at all, frowned and walked up to her human friend. "Luz, is something wrong?"
Luz spent another few seconds staring at the cave before letting out a sigh. She put her skull mask back on and pulled up her hood, keeping her bottle of fire held in her cloak fabric.
"Listen, I'm not sure how much longer the party is supposed to last, but, I think I'm just gonna head home," Luz said. "I'm sure Viney can give me a ride back to my place."
"Oh. Uh…alright," Willow said, still sounding concerned.
"Luz, are you okay?" Gus asked. "That guy had a pretty big voice, but we didn't really hear everything he said. What exactly did the dragon say to you?"
"Nothing that actually made sense." Luz turned around and walked away as Skara and Amelia picked Boscha up off the ground.
"I think he called you, like, Daylight or something?" Edric asked. "Is that what 'Luz' means? In 'Spanish' or whatever you called it?"
Luz stopped. Everyone glanced at each other when she didn't say anything.
"...Yeah, do me a favor and…don't call me that."
Luz walked away without another word.
Six different cauldrons had been set out on the front lawn of the Owl House, being heated by the fires burning beneath them. Each one of the boiling cauldrons was filled with a different colored elixir. The reflection of the light of the Blue Moon made the potions almost shine, like they were subjected to some kind of radiation.
Eda went from cauldron to cauldron, checking the temperatures and texture of the boiling liquids, a big grin plastered on her face.
"This is so worth staying up past my bedtime!" Eda rubbed her hands together in excited anticipation. "It's like brewing snails."
King leaning back against the house and looking utterly exhausted, let out a big yawn. "Oh, yeah, totally worth getting chased through the woods by Coven Scouts, goblins, chupacabras, and flesh-eating fairies."
"My thoughts exactly," Eda said, still grinning. "Can't argue with free potion ingredients."
"I'd argue if I wasn't so tired," said King.
"You can go to bed if you want," Eda told him.
"Okay, thanks." King plopped down on the ground and immediately went to sleep.
Eda felt a gust of wind and looked up into the night sky. A griffin descended from the sky and landed in front of the cauldrons. Luz, wearing her mask and the cloak Eda had given her, hopped off of the griffin's back.
"Thanks for the ride, Viney," Luz said to the girl on the griffin.
"Ah, don't mention it, Luz." Viney patted Puddles' neck, who opened her beak and let out a yawn. "I gotta get this sleepyhead back home anyway. Party was fun though, I'm glad I went."
"Yeah. Yeah, me too," Luz said. "Goodnight, Viney."
"Goodnight, Luz." Puddles took off into the sky and carried Viney off into the night.
"Hey, hey, kiddo! Couldn't last 'till the end of the witching hour, huh?" Eda asked. "How was the Sabbath?"
"It was a lot of fun. I'm honestly glad I got talked into going." Luz was carrying something, holding it with her cloak. She showed it to Eda, revealing a bottle of blue fire. "This is for you. Dragonfire. Yeah, we found a dragon, and he gave me some of his fire for…some reason."
Eda's eyes went wide and her mouth hung open. "You…met a dragon?" Using her nails, Eda took the bottle from Luz and held it up, gazing into the blue fire as if it were a large diamond. "And…he gave you some of his fire?"
Luz nodded.
"That is…awesome!" Eda exclaimed excitedly. "Man, I wish you had brought me this stuff before I set up all the cauldrons. We'll be the best potion brewers in Bonesborough with this stuff!"
"Mom, have you…met a dragon before?" Luz asked. "The dragon seemed like he was familiar with the name Clawthorne. And he said something about 'the scoundrel.' You sort of fit the bill pretty well with that description. I have absolutely no idea who the 'giver' is supposed to be though."
"I'm flattered," said Eda. "But I've never met a dragon before. My Grandad told me he did once. But he didn't try to steal from the dragon. He told me he actually enjoyed talking to the dragon he met, developing a sort of friendship with it."
"The dragon we met had a weird way of talking." Luz took off her mask and held it in her hands. "He called me the Masked One."
Eda laughed. "Grandad told me the dragon he met called him the Wise One. Good name for him. Apparently, dragons don't talk in metaphors. Quite the opposite, they're actually more literal with the way they talk, saying it how it is. The way Grandad told it, dragons are talented judges of character. They can read a person like a book with a really big font. Actual names mean little to them, titles are earned from dragons. They look at you. They See you, with a capital 'S', and then they title you."
Luz stared down at the mask in her hands.
"...Luz?" Eda asked, growing concerned. "...What did that dragon say to you?"
Luz stared at the mask for another few seconds, then looked up at Eda.
"...When you found me…how did you know to name me Luz?"
Eda's eyes widened and although her mouth made the movement, no gasp came out.
"...I…I snuck around the human town, everyone was talking about…what happened to your real parents," Eda explained, speaking calmly and gently. "I heard your name, just, through the grapevine, really."
"Do you…" Luz seemed to prepare herself to ask the question she wanted to ask. "...Do you know which one of my parents gave me my name?"
Eda shook her head. "No. I'm sorry."
Luz hung her head. "...Okay." Luz went to the house and opened the door. Hooty was fast asleep, hooting while he was snoring. "Goodnight, Mom."
"Goodnight, kiddo," Eda replied gently. "Sleep in all you. I'll have lunch or maybe even dinner ready for you when you wake up."
Luz smiled before heading inside and closing the door. Once she was gone, Eda let her smile drop. The Owl Lady looked up at the Blue Moon that dominated the night sky, shining its magical light on the world below. Though the influence of the moon's light did what it could to ease Eda's despair, it could only do so much against so much.
I'm a big Game of Thrones fan, I loved the books though I've never watched the show. Doing a dragon chapter in this fanfic was inevitable, be thankful I got it out of the way early.
Until next time! Stay tuned!
