Boiled Lamb
~|o|~
'And today was going so well…' Eda silently lamented, glaring hatefully at the cloud of smoke and dust that had once been the woolen aggressor. Appearance wise, he had reminded her of a King a little, being a small, fluffy demon only coming up to her knees. Any other day she would have found the little guy adorable if he hadn't been standing over a prone Hooty like a demon hunter posing for a post on Pentstagram. She saw red and in a break from her usual "sarcastic, unflappable rogue" archetype, she immediately cast a powerful blasting spell with the intent of blowing the little demon into the next county.
Inky black swirled along the edge of her amulet and she could feel the buzzing in her ears.
She quickly shook her head and took a breath.
'Can't afford to lose control here, not now. Pull yourself together girl.' She told herself. There was still King to rescue and a guild to punt all the way to the Toes.
"E-Eda?"
The witch stiffened and grimaced, guilt quenching her anger. She glanced back to Luz, the kid doing a poor job of how worried she was. About King, Hooty or her? Probably all three.
'You are seriously too good for this world Luz.'
Eda forced a grin. She was the adult here, she couldn't let her charge see her sweat.
"It's alright kiddo." She said calmly and jabbed her thumb to the door. "Just get inside and keep quiet. I'll let you know when I've got things wrapped up."
"But Eda, I can help, can't I?!" Luz protested. Eda couldn't help the little chuckle escaping her mouth. Bless this girl's bile-sack bereft heart.
Still didn't make her a witch yet though.
"No offense, but it's going to take a little more than a light spell to deal with these guild chumps. Guess that's what I get for putting off your training. That's on me." Eda said, wincing at the slump of her apprentice's shoulders.
"But Eda, that little guy's crown-"
"Will fetch a pretty penny to cover Hooty's medical expenses." Eda cut her off. "Inside, now." She ordered sternly.
Successfully cowed, Luz nodded and ran inside. With a snap of Eda's fingers, the door and all the window shutters slammed shut, followed by a choir of clicking as the locks all slid in place.
She hated having to do this, but protecting Luz from harm was a higher priority over her feelings at the moment.
"That'll hold." She said, finding her work sufficient with a sniff before her smile twisted back to a frown. "Now to find the creeps holding my little demon king."
"My, the rumors don't do you justice."
Eda stiffened and spun back towards the clearing. The cloud of dirt and smoke began to dissipate, revealing the woolen demon in all its glory. His hands were held out in front of him, white shifting energy covering his form like a veil, leaving his person completely untouched aside from the trenches scoring the dirt on either side of him.
The creature lowered its arms, letting the power ebb away. "That almost got me. You are proving to be as powerful as I had hoped."
Eda narrowed her eyes, tightening the grip on her staff. "Color me surprised. Not a lot of folks I know who can take a hit like that." She leveled Owlbert at him. "I'd be impressed if I didn't feel like turning you into a winter coat."
The lamb waved his hands (paws? hand-paws?) in a placating manner. "Please. I just want to talk to you."
Eda made a scoff snort. "Oh really? That's what you want?"
He nodded vigorously, a light chime coming from the bell under his chin. "Look, this whole thing is just a big misunderstanding!"
"That's what you're calling it?!" She yelled, stomping her high heel. "First you and your guild buddies kidnap King, then you invade my home and beat the tar out of my house demon! People trying to chat with me don't hurt my people!"
"Aww, you do care!" The incapacitated demon smiled.
"Not now Hooty!" She cast a spell circle. He was promptly enveloped in light and quickly reeled behind her, the lamb making no move to stop her.
"Y-Yay, ow…it hurts to cheer..."
The lamb frowned. "Buddies? I hardly know these fools. I was just following them here so I could find you. They attacked, not me. I only defended myself when your door knocker tried to eat me. And what King? Isn't your ruler an emperor?"
"He sure as spit isn't my emperor! And YOU are just making stuff up! You've got nothing to back up your story and I'm not the patient sort on the best of days!" Eda stabbed the ground with Owlbert, releasing her magic in a bright flaming aura around her. She lowered herself, glaring daggers at the diminutive interloper. "So get ready pal, because I'm about to beat you so hard your great grandkids are gonna feel it!"
It pleased her to no end at the gleam of concern within the lamb's horizontal pupils, stepping back slightly and briskly waving his arms. "Please! Just listen to me! I promise, I come in-"
That was as far as Eda allowed him to get, disappearing and reappearing behind him in a streak of light! She swung with Owlbert, aiming to send her enemy flying. Magic wood clanged against black and silver steel, a sword appearing to block her attack. The force launched the lamb a few yards away, where he twisted in midair and landed in a crouch.
The lamb pursed his lips, drawing himself up. "I see. If my words won't reach you, then I shall indulge you in your righteous fury. Perhaps then you will be ready to talk."
"Just shut up and fight, Muttonchops!" She barked.
"Well there's no need for that." He sighed.
Eda let out a low growl and shot at him like a bullet, a small boom ringing out and the ground shattering under her feet. She closed the distance in an instant and began swinging, looking to clobber the lamb. Back and forth, he blocked one strike, two, then rolled back.
If he thought that would keep him safe, he was sorely mistaken. Eda flourished her staff like a baton, magic coursing from both ends and erecting a yellow spell circle in less than a second. With a flick, a torrent of white hot flames exploded out and surged to consume her foe.
The lamb's eyes flashed red. His palm slapped the ground and the temperature plummeted, a cascading wave of blue ice erupting from his hand into a wall in front of him. The flames washed against it, a violent burst of steam and hissing filling the air. The lamb met her gaze from the far side, his face a mixture of caution and calm.
Eda scowled. "Not bad, let's see how you deal with THIS!" She yelled, already making another spell circle with the tip of her staff, then slamming it into the ground.
A tremor rocked the plateau. The lamb glanced at his feet. His eyes widened and he leapt back as a pillar of stone shot up with the intent of smashing his jaw. More and more pillars violently burrowed out, an owl face carved into each one, whose beaks opened and closed, hooting incessantly. The lamb could only roll around, leap and dive over and under each of the constructs like a mad tangle of snakes, all of them guided by Eda's hands. She quickly gestured up.
A ring of owl-snakes burst out around the lamb on all sides, quickly encasing him in a sort of cage.
She pointed down.
The owl's arched and rocketed back to earth, right over the lamb's head. Eda lost sight of him in the moshpit and snorted.
Her satisfaction was short-lived. Another flash of red, then-BOOM! A shockwave of wrathful power exploded from within the pile, shattering all the owl-snakes in one fell swoop, sending shards of stone scattering all around.
A familiar shape leapt out from the smoldering ruin, looking disheveled with a couple light scrapes . But just from the narrowed brows she could tell he was not deterred, not even close.
"Are you done yet?" He asked, shaking some stray pebbles from his head fleece.
Eda only sneered, gathering magic in her fingers.
"Oh, we're just getting started Muttonchops!"
~|o|~
A deafening crack and boom! The walls of the Owl House shook from the blast, knicknacks, books and bottles rattled on their shelves.
Luz yelped, keeping her head with her hands over her ears. She struggled not to slip onto her rear, using the inside of the door frame to hold herself up. Her heart hammered in her chest, ears ringing with each shockwave coming through walls.
This was insane! The only time Luz had seen Eda this fired up was when she was dueling her sister at the Coven-tion last week. The sheer force of the spells and explosions outside made it feel like her teeth were going to loosen and fall out.
"Guess she took King getting grabbed and Hooty knocked out worse than I thought." She muttered to herself, glancing up and nervously eyeing the more expensive and sharp things hanging on the walls in case they saw fit to drop onto her fragile human body.
Guilt and frustration bubbled up at the thought, making the girl sigh. If only Eda had taught her more magic by now, she could totally be helping her fight! Even though she had taken the blame on herself, Eda's words still hurt. How many situations would have been completely different if she was able to conjure something more substantial than a floating lamp? Don't get her wrong, the light spell was TOTALLY awesome, but what she wouldn't give to be able to shoot fire or punch the little lamb thing with ghost fists!
'W-Well maybe… it kind of feels like I'd be punching a baby.'
Speaking of the miniature Caprinae, Luz couldn't shake the worry worming itself up into her brain like it was an apple. From what she barely saw of the little guy, she knew in any other situation she would have scooped him up and rubbed her face all over him until she was coated in shed wool, at least before Eda blasted him anyway. She would have cried at the sight if he hadn't apparently taken Hooty down. But considering she could hear him talking meant he had survived the attack and more importantly, holding his own against Eda, the freaking Owl Lady!
Another blast shook the cottage, making Luz scream and scramble to keep her grip on the wall. She could hear pots and pans clang somewhere in the kitchen and a pyramid of King's plush toys(minions) toppled over.
"That little guy can pack a punch…" She swallowed, reaching into her back pocket and pulling out the Death Card. The crown stared at her in a silent, unannounced contest. Luz didn't dare blink, for fear that something would happen if she did.
The lamb had been wearing the same creepy crown, she was sure of it!
"But what does it mean?!" She groaned, quickly stowing it away. Clauneck had said something about it representing finality, an end or a great change. What the heck kind of change was this leading up to? Eda getting killed?! Luz held her teacher in high regard from all the amazing, impossible things she had accomplished in the weeks they had been together, but it didn't stop her mounting worry.
"No! No! E-Eda's got this, she totally does!" She shook her head, wearing a wobbly smile while her knees quaked. "Everything is going to be fine! Eda will beat the mutton monster, save King and we'll all laugh about this over ice-scream, yeah! AAH!"
She actually did lose her balance this time, falling to the floor from a rapid series of earthshaking blasts from outside. They were so powerful she could see light leaking out from under the door. Animated framed pictures and glowing medieval weapons alike swung on their hooks, the magic lamps flickering in and out for a moment. It sounded like the house was going to come down on her any second!
Shielding her head with her arms, Luz waiting with baited breath. After a few more seconds the shockwaves abated and the rattling ceased.
Emptying her lungs in relief, Luz raised her head. Her eyes shot open, pupils shrinking at what she saw.
A round flask of glowing, orange elixir perched right on the edge of the coffee table. A paper tag was tied around the neck, reading; "Emergency Elixir, DON'T FORGET! - Eda".
Luz's hands were clammy with sweat.
Did Eda take her elixir today?
In that moment a spell or something crashed against the house and the flask wobbled, rocking back and forth on the edge for a second before submitting to gravity and toppling over.
"YIPE!" Luz made a dive that would make her peewee baseball coach proud, sliding across the hardwood floor like a greased weasel, arm outstretched.
The flask fell and slapped into her open palm.
"Whew…" Luz panted, the magic serum swirling with each breath. She didn't waste a second longer, quickly clambering back to her feet and running to the door. Her hand gripped the knob and she pulled, but it didn't budge much to her dismay.
"No!" She slammed her fist against the door. Of course Eda locked it behind her. She glanced up to the two peepholes housed in the wood, fashioned to be like two eyes in the back of Hooty's head. She had never actually used them before, the house demon always willing and eager to just open the door and tell them himself if anyone was outside.
With the windows magically sealed, it was the only way she could think of checking how Eda was faring.
Standing up on her tiptoes, she brought her face up to the peepholes, only to hesitate.
With how it was positioned… was she looking through Hooty's..?
Luz shuddered. "Eugggggh… don'tthinkaboutit! Don'tthinkaboutit! Don'tthinkaboutit!" She muttered, mustering her determination to win out over her disgust and bringing her eyes to the glass.
It took a bit of adjustment to her angle, but she could finally see some color coming through. Her eyes adapted and she could see something. Or well, half of something. Only the right peephole was showing anything, the other was completely black. And for some reason the whole view was sideways, as if the entire planet was pivoted ninety degrees to the left.
Luz squinted in, then perked up. "Wait, am I looking through Hooty's eyes?! This is so weird and cool!" She laughed. "Wait, no, not the time to geek out. Focus!"
Shaking her head, she tried to scan as much as she could from such an awkward position. The whole clearing was in ruins. Wide and narrow trenches were carved through the soil. Trees and foliage were either on fire, frozen or even both if the icy blue flames spreading and encasing a bush was any indication.
And standing amidst all the destruction was her teacher and the cloven hooved omen, facing off in the center. Luz watched as Eda wrote spell circles mid air with both hands in tandem, summoning a veritable jungle of vines only second in size to that of her friend Willow. With a flourish the giant vegetation lurched and moved to swat the lamb, who in turn broke into a sideways sprint. He rolled and skipped around and over the giant vines with relative ease, barely avoiding getting shredded by the wicked sharp thorns on their sides. Another slide, then a leap into the air and he spun. His sword flashed and the vines were all bisected in a second, a spray of thick chlorophyll staining his wool and the ground.
"Wow, he's definitely tougher than he looks." She noted, eyes running up his form. He had definitely taken damage, but it was all small bruises, shallow cuts and small singes in his fur and his little red cape(which made him so darn PWECIOUS). Otherwise he didn't even look winded.
Luz shifted her gaze and hissed. Eda was the exact inverse. She didn't have a single scratch on her, even her clothes were untouched. But she was breathing heavily, leaning on Owlbert as she struggled to recover.
And on her chest was Luz's fears come true. The jewel in her amulet was becoming cloudy, almost half of the gold overtaken by black.
This was bad, very bad. Any other day Luz was sure Eda would have mopped the floor with the lamb demon, but it looked like she HAD forgotten her elixir today. Too much magic was being used to hold back a very big and angry problem and it looked like she didn't have much left.
"EDA!" Luz screamed, pounding on the door. "OPEN THE DOOR! YOU NEED YOUR ELIXIR!"
But it looked like her pleas fell on deaf ears, as Eda said something she could quite make out, straightened her back and an aura of magical power surrounded her.
"Come on, come on!" Luz whined, hanging off the wall sideways as she desperately pulled and jammed the door knob. "OPEN! EDA!"
~|o|~
Body practically humming with magic, Eda stood across from her opponent, awe, apprehension and frustration swirling around inside her like a storm. This was the toughest fight she had fought in a while and hadn't expected to use this much power. Her breath was heavy and sweat dripped lazily down her brow.
Meanwhile the lamb just stood there with his sword held to the side, his posture straight and resolute. Sure, she was doing damage. He hadn't gotten out of the last several dozen spells without a few nicks and bruises, but normally by now Eda's enemies were groveling at her feet or were running screaming. The problem lay in that he was annoyingly nimble yet also surprisingly durable, like a rock-squito. Titan she hated those things and she hated him!
Her free hand clenched in a tight fist, her nails digging into her palm and trembling.
But that wasn't what was angering most.
"Come on you little goblin!" She stamped her heel. "Fight back already!"
The little guy had the audacity to give her a look of disappointment at her outburst. It reminded her of so many of her teachers growing up, complete with the wrinkled brow and gentle shake of the head.
"That wouldn't be very conducive to my goal, now would it?"
His admonishing tone only made Eda grind her teeth back and forth like a band saw, her hackles rising higher and higher. Did he really think she was that gullible, that she didn't see through his olive branch act? If there was one thing(of many) things that was guaranteed to set her off, it was being underestimated.
"Give it up buddy, you're not convincing me by holding back! It kind of pisses me off actually! If you think you can win against me by not taking me seriously, then I've got news for you…" Her magic flared and rose with her seething temper, all caution being thrown to the wind. "...YOU'RE PLAYING THE WRONG GAME!"
Spinning Owlbert like a propeller blade, she pirouetted, simultaneously casting and shooting a large ring at her foe like a disk.
A twinge discomfort throbbed in her temple and she felt a familiar burning in her chest. With a grimace, she pushed the feeling down.
'Come on, just keep digging Girl.'
The lamb only answered her attack with a stoic frown and bending his knees in wait. The ring buzzed and bore down on him and he tensed to jump.
Only for it to flip over and fly over him.
He raised a brow and regarded her with a look of confusion. "Did you mean to do that?"
Eda's grimace turned into a smirk. "Yuuuuuuuup!"
"What're you-"
Eda splayed out the fingers on her off hand. With a crack, the ring split in half, then each of those smaller rings split as well. They continued dividing, over and over again until the air was filled with them, hummed with energy.
It was only then the lamb seemed to understand what was about to happen. Eda relished how his jaw dropped as he spun every which way, only to find that he was surrounded on all sides by spell circles.
"Huh… okay, that's new."
Eda chuckled. "I learned this one from a pickleman."
He boggled. "What?"
"You heard me. Spellzone Grenade!"
Eda closed her fist. At her command each of the dozens of spell circles crackled and unleashed a barrage of elemental might. Gouts of white hot flames, geysers of water, spears of ice, heavy stones and lightning bolts. All converging on one wooly little pest.
The sun glinted off Eda's golden fang with how wide she was grinning.
"No way you can dodge or cut this!"
The magic attacks all shot closer to their target. Just as they were about to hit-
The lamb closed his eyes and sucked in a deep breath, his sword fluidly shifting back into a crown. Eda watched in shock as very the air around began to warp and darken, the epicenter formed his crown. Said black cap was emanating a deep, droning hum.
The lamb crossed his arm in an X across his chest and tucked in his legs, lifting off the ground by a few inches by an unseen force. The droning's pitch rose and reached its peak.
He threw out his arms and the sound reached a hellish peak. His eyes blazed red and from his fingertips flew dozens of small, crimson darts with ashen tails. They swarmed about him like an angry flock of birds, then suddenly shot out to meet the spells rushing in.
An earth shaking peal of thunder battered Eda's ears as the sky was filled with clouds of explosions, bathing the clearing in crimson light! Wind whipped past her as she watched on in shock, all of her spells nullified in the blasts, leaving the lamb unscathed. Said lamb was still levitating in a sort of trance, his aura coming off in waves of power Eda had scarcely ever experienced.
But that wasn't what was running down her nerves like fiddle strings. It was the nature of his magic. How it radiated with such unbridled, directionless anger that she could practically TASTE it! It made the unwelcome passenger hiding within her claw and scrabble at the sides of its cage, as if it would try to dig its way out through her back and run.
She narrowed her eyes. 'This little runt really is bad news. How insane do you have to be to use THAT as a weapon?!'
Eda pursed her lips and shook her to get rid of the flicker of fear trickling down her back. 'Whatever, this fight isn't over. I still have plenty left in the tank! I just need to dig a little mor-'
"UNGH!" She let out a pained gasp and grabbed her arm. Lifting it up, her eyes widened at the gray feathers poking through the skin on the underside of her forearm reaching her elbow. Only now did she notice how dark her amulet was, almost all of the gold swallowed up in black.
'Crap, not now! I've got to get my elixir!' She quickly reached into her voluminous hair for the flask she kept on backup. Seconds passed and her searching became more frantic, pulling out bags of snacks she kept for King when he had tantrums, some wallets she lifted earlier, even a small eye cactus she had bought for the garden. But no flask, no elixir.
"Where did it go?! I swear I pulled it out of the pantry this morning!" She hissed. Then paused, her pupils shrinking to pinpricks. The elixir. The coffee table. Had she forgotten it in all her excitement for Bizarre Bazaar? "Uh oh."
Meanwhile the lamb had finally returned to the ground and was regarding her with a look of concern, his eyes and aura returning to normal. "Are you well? I didn't hit you did I?"
Eda bared her teeth in a low growl, trying and failing to stop her anger from rising again when she had more important problems like stopping the tide of feathers spreading up her arm. She could feel her manicured nails lengthening into talons already. "Stop DOING THAT!"
He blinked. "Stop what?"
"Being nice! This is a fight, curse you, start acting like it!" She barked back. "The last thing I want is your pity when you've shrugged off everything I've thrown at you! And I'll never forgive you for kidnapping King!"
The lamb pinched the bridge of his snout and breathed, exasperated. "Please. For the last time, I did not take your king! I just want to talk." He said in as close to a calm tone as he could muster while slowly taking a few steps forward, to which Eda backed away just as fast using Owlbert to support her shifting body.
'This is bad, really, really bad!' Eda breathed laboriously. 'I'm about to turn and this creep is still going! If only I had my elixir then I'd barbecue him! Can things get any worse?!'
"AYYY!"
The lamb paused and Eda slapped her face with her palm.
"Oh great, not these guys…" She mumbled, both she and her opponent turning their attention to the edge of the clearing. Pushing through the foliage was Mister Rolls, closely flanked by his two bodyguards. Wriggling in the tight grip of the one on the right and sporting a wad of cloth in his mouth was King, eyes wide and pleading for help as he struggled.
"EDALYN CLAWTHORNE! You've run long enough you two-bit con artist!" Mister Rolls continued, waving his hands in a beckoning gesture with his thumbs, pointer and middle fingers rubbing together. "Today the bill comes due! No one messes with the ITG!"
"Yeah, tell 'er boss."
"Shaddup!"
Eda rolled her eyes. "I just had to ask."