At the Emperor's Castle, Lilith had just come out of her office after spending hours finishing her paperwork. "For Titan's sake," Lilith said as she stretched her back with a pop, "Can't Kikimora do her own paperwork? I have enough to worry about when running the coven." As Lilith walked down the hall she spotted her most competent scout, Steve, on his scroll.
Lilith cleared her throat, gaining his attention, when she got close enough to him. "Oh, madam Lilith. What can I do for you?" Steve asked.
"You know the rules about scrolls in the castle Steve."
"Only be on them, when no one can catch you?"
"No, Steve," Lilith said in exasperation. "You're only supposed to be using one once all of your duties are complete and it's your lunch hour."
"Oh, right. Sorry, madam Lilith. I got a message from my brother."
"I didn't realize you had a brother," Lilith said in surprise
"Yeah, we're only half brothers, but I still care about him a lot. He was telling me about all of the new classes at Hexside," Steve said, showing Lilith the message on his scroll.
"I didn't realize that Hexside had made any changes to their curriculum," Lilith said as she read the message on Steve's scroll. Her eyes widened as she read a particular message. "Is this correct? Hexside is allowing students to study more than one track at a time?"
"I was surprised about it too, ma'am. Looks like it's something pretty new and only a few students are actually invested in it. Maybe it's nothing to worry about," Steve suggested
"This most definitely would be something to worry about. If the Emperor were to hear about this, at best the students would simply be expelled from Hexside. At worst… he could force us to brand those children," Lilith said solemnly
"…You don't actually think the Emperor would do that, right ma'am?" Steve asked with worry.
"We'll of course not. The Emperor is always protecting the people of the isles." Lilith put her hand on her chin in thought. "There might be a way for us to help these children without causing any problems for them. I'm just wondering, why would Bump decide to allow his students to multi-track."
"From what I heard, a couple of humans managed to convince him that it was a good idea," Steve said, shocking Lilith.
"It was… humans? I didn't realize the humans were attending Hexside. In that case it's even more imperative that we deal with this immediately. And I think I might have an idea on how to handle this situation."
"Are you planning to force the multi-tracks to end?"
"Not necessarily, at first that idea did cross my mind. But now, we might have to deal with this in a different way. But first, I'll need a favor from a certain coven head," Lilith said as she and Steve began to walk out of the castle.
At the Owl House, Luz was sitting in the kitchen practicing using the new plant glyph that Cruz had found. She had managed to grow a multitude of different flowers and hung them in all sorts of spots in the house.
"This plant glyph is so useful, we can use the vines like barricades and we can swing from trees," Luz told Eda, who was stirring a pot as King finished his breakfast.
"I'm glad you two found another new glyph, but do you have to hang these flowers everywhere? They're getting in the way," Eda said as she grabbed a potted plant and threw it away.
"It's just for practice right now, Eda. I'm trying to get it just right so I'll have more in case I need them. And besides, we also have to figure out what new glyph combos we can use now that we have the plant glyph," Luz said, showing a doodle of a failed glyph combo.
"Why is that Cruz is the only one that can come up with these combos?" King asked looking at the doodle
"He's not the only one who can make them," Luz said as she grabbed the paper back from him. "It's just… these combos seem to click in his head easier."
"Why don't you try and look at it from a different angle. He said something about a computer, whatever that is, so why don't you look at it in your own Luz way," Eda said as she sat down with her mug of Apple blood.
As Eda sat down, Luz looked at the paper before looking at some of the glyph combos that they'd already found to see if she could notice anything in the way they were drawn. As she stared at the papers for a few moments, Luz began to focus as she noticed a pattern and something clicked.
"That's it!" Luz exclaimed as she grabbed her pen. "The glyphs all represent something different. Like an effect they'll have once they're activated." Luz began to draw a plant glyph in the center of her paper, surrounded by two circles with an ice and a light glyph connected by a bigger circle.
"Let's hope this works," Luz said as she tapped on the paper. The three waited for something to happen, but after a few moments of nothing happening, Luz let out a frustrated groan. "Oh come on, I thought it would work this time for sure. Maybe I really should just leave these combos for Cruz to figure out."
As Luz was about to scratch out her latest failure, a large clear disk formed over the paper and stopped the pen from getting closer. The three looked at the bubble in amazement as Luz took her pen away and the disk disappeared and reappeared as she brought the pen back to it.
"I did it… I did it!" Luz exclaimed happily. "Did you see that, Eda? I found a new glyph combo!"
"Good job, kiddo. I knew you could do it," Eda said ruffling Luz's hair. "I knew Cruz wasn't the only one who could find these things. Speaking of your brother, where is he?"
"I think he was working on one of his projects. He didn't really tell me what it was, but he said it was almost done," Luz said. A second later, a large explosion was heard from the tower. The three looked at each other before running out of the kitchen to look towards the tower.
As they got outside, they ran towards the front of the house where they could see Cruz's room easier before another explosion was heard and Cruz came flying out of his window.
"Hooty! Catch me!" Cruz yelled as Hooty stretched out from his place in the door and wrapped his body around Cruz before bringing him down to the ground. "Thanks Hooty. You really saved me there," Cruz said as Hooty went back to his spot.
"No problem! Anything to help out a friend!" Hooty responded with glee
"What kinda crazy idea did you come up with now?" Eda asked, looking at the smoke coming from the tower.
"It's not something crazy. I was just tweaking a project of mine. The power was a bit too much and it ended up hitting some of my explosive potions," Cruz explained, holding up a smoldering marble shooter.
"What did you try to make this time?" Luz asked as she reached for the marble shooter before Cruz pulled it away.
"Careful, it's still hot."
"Then how come you can hold it just fine?" King asked looking at his hand. "I can't, this thing is really starting to hurt." Cruz said as he threw the marble shooter onto the ground as his hands were red from the heat.
"You've gotta be more careful with these experiments of yours, kid. We're gonna end up running out of healing tonics at the rate you're using them," Eda said
"Don't worry about that, Eda. After all, I found a new glyph combo that should help me out." Luz looked towards the paper that Cruz had pulled out trying to see if the new combo he'd found was the same one she'd just discovered.
"It wouldn't happen to be a shield spell, right?" Luz asked with slight worry that her brother had beaten her to another combo again.
"A shield spell? Not really. But that would be useful," Cruz said with thought, not noticing Luz's relief. "The combo I found is a little different than what you thought up. Behold!" Cruz placed the new combo onto his hands and the three noticed that the paper disappeared before a faint blue hue covered Cruz's hand and the burns began to fade away.
"You found a healing glyph! That's so cool! Now we don't have to worry about the healing tonics or those healing patches anymore!" Luz said with excitement
"She's right you know, this little glyph could actually help us out in the long run. It's pretty impressive that both of you found a new glyph this morning," Eda said, gaining Cruz's attention.
"Wait. What do you mean, both of us?"
"Yeah, Luz found a new glyph combo a little while ago," King said, holding up Luz's new glyph combo for Cruz to look at.
"Seriously? Let me see," Cruz said with a smile as King handed Cruz the glyph combo.
"Weird," Cruz said as he looked over the combo. "I've never seen one like this before. What does it do?"
"Tap on it and I'll show you," Luz said. Cruz tapped on the glyph combo and waited for something to come out of the paper, but after a few moments nothing happened.
"Is something supposed to—" Cruz looked up from the glyph to see Luz throwing a book at him. In a panic, Cruz raised his arms to cover his face before a large glowing shield appeared in front of him and stopped the book.
"You could've warned me first!" Cruz exclaimed as the disk disappeared. "But then it wouldn't have been a surprise!" Luz said with a smile. Cruz shook his head as he looked back at the, now blank, paper.
"Looks like it's pretty solid from how it blocked the book. Either that, or you just can't throw very hard," Cruz said with a smirk.
"I can just throw something bigger next time," Luz said with slight annoyance as she stuck her tongue out. Cruz looked at the paper before looking towards his gauntlets.
"You know, if we try to engrave the glyph combo onto something besides the paper, it might make for a pretty good things to carry around. If I put half of the combo on one of the gauntlets, and the other half on another, the glyph combo might activate when I put my arms together."
"That's great and all for you, but how does that help me out?" Luz asked
"Easy, I can put the glyph combo onto one of those necklaces I made and it'll work when you tap on it."
"That sounds great! But can you do that later? We're going to be late for school," Luz pointed out as realization hit her.
"You're right. We've gotta go," Cruz said as he took out his staff. "I'll grab my stuff from my room and we can go."
"No need!" Hooty said as he slithered in from the tower before he started to heave and regurgitated Cruz's bag onto the floor. "Time for some delicious knowledge!"
Cruz looked at his bag in disgust before grabbing it reluctantly as it was still covered slightly in saliva. "I really should just leave my textbooks at school from now on." Cruz shivered slightly as he slung the backpack over his shoulder before he and Luz hopped onto the staff.
"We'll see you later, Eda! Try not to cause too much chaos, King!" Luz called out as she and Cruz began to leave
"Don't eat anything that's going to make you sick, Hooty!" Cruz called out to the house demon as they flew off towards Hexside.
As Luz and Cruz flew off, Eda watched the two with a look of slight worry. "What's the matter?" King asked, noticing the look on her face. "It's probably nothing. I've just got a bad feeling for some reason," Eda said as she walked into the house with King scampering closely behind.
At Hexside, Principal Bump sat in his office watching the crystal ball for the daily news while getting ready for the upcoming Hexside events. "It's almost time for Grom." Bump looked at two different papers in front of him with information on two students. "We have two rather promising individuals. The question is, which one should I chose." The door to his office suddenly opened, and when Bump looked up, he saw Lilith standing at the entrance.
"Well this is a surprise. To what do I owe the distinct pleasure of a visit from the head witch from the Emperor's coven?"
"Good afternoon, principal Bump. I've come here with concerns about some news I've heard regarding your school's curriculum."
Bump's eyes widened for a moment before his stoic look returned. "And what might be your concern?"
"The concern are these new multi track students. As you are well aware, the Emperor does not look kindly onto the mixing of magic. Under normal circumstances these students would be expelled for this and you would be taken to the Conformatorium for allowing it to occur."
Bump began to worry when Lilith said this. The stories of the Conformatorium were never ones that people enjoyed to hear about, but his main worry wasn't his safety.
His main worry was what would be happening to the students that had finally gotten their chance to choose their tracks and were excelling in those tracks. As Bump began to worry, he realized something that Lilith had said.
"You said 'under normal circumstances'. What exactly do you mean? Are these students not in danger of being expelled?"
"I'm glad you noticed that, Principal Bump. You're right, I don't think these students should be expelled. At the very least, not for wanting to expand their knowledge. I have actually come to propose a deal for you and the school," Lilith said as Steve handed her a folder.
"The proposition would be for the students taking on the multi-track to undergo a bit of training. It would be a type of exercise similar to one done by Emperor's coven trainees."
Bump raised a brow at that. "I've heard some rumors about that training. Don't you think it would be far too dangerous and demanding from students?"
"You have nothing to worry about," Lilith reassured. "The training would be toned down quite a bit. We won't be taking these students to the knee where it's usually done. It'll be here on the left arm, in the forest."
"That's quite a dangerous area, Lilith. Especially considering the recent rumors circulating about the forest."
"Yes, the nasty rumors about some creature attacking witches that wander the woods. The Emperor was quite disturbed by them and had a few squads sent to investigate. Once the squads returned, they all reported these rumors to be false. You'll have nothing to worry about, rest assured."
Bump let out a sigh. "Very well, Lilith. But how are you planning to do this? If only the multi-track students are taken, they'll suspect you're there to punish them," Bump pointed out.
"I've thought of that as well. I believe if we have a few classes of the tracks attend, then it will seem more natural. With the number of students, it will match the same number of trainees that the Emperor's coven had in some previous years."
"It seems you really have thought of everything," Bump said leaning back into his chair. "However, what does the Emperor think of this? Like you said, he doesn't approve of mixing magic. I'm not so sure that he'd approve of a plan that would allow this to continue."
"I understand the reluctance. However, you have nothing to worry about. I have already presented this plan to the Emperor and he has approved, hoping that these students will understand the appeal of joining his coven in the future."
Bump began to mull over her words before he gave his response. "Very well, Lilith. I'll inform the teachers of this, and the students will be taken to the forest with you. I'll assume you'll have enough members of your coven to make sure all of the students are safe."
"Yes, Principal Bump. In fact, due to the opportunity this presents us, I have asked two other coven heads to act as security and to possibly see if any of the students studying their respective magic would have the potential to join them."
"Two coven heads?" Bump asked in surprise. "And who exactly might they be?" Bump asked with slight worry. He remembered his encounter with Terra Snapdragon and how she'd acted back when he was vice Principal.
"Head witches, Darius and Eberwolf. They have both agreed to help. Although, Darius was a bit more reluctant due to it being in the woods," Lilith said with slight annoyance.
"It would seem then, that everything has already been taken care of."
"Indeed, we can have the students go on this trip as soon as after school. I have made all the preparations. I'm sure you remember how I handled projects such as these."
Bump looked at Lilith with a fond smile. "You're right, I remember back when you were just a student. Always having everything organized was one of your strong suits. Very well Lilith, I'll trust that the students safety will be taken care of. Of course, I'll also be in attendance to see to it myself."
"Thank you, Principal Bump. I'll take my leave now. We will return later to pick up the students," Lilith said as she and Steve left his office.
As the two wandered the halls Lilith looked around reminiscing about her days in Hexside with Eda and their friends.
"Even after all of these years, some things in Hexside don't change," Lilith said fondly.
"I can't say I feel the same way, ma'am. I attended Glandus," Steve said
"That's right, I almost forgot about that. Glandus must have been much different from Hexside. I still remember when—"
Lilith was interrupted when the lockers in front of her swung open like a door, startling the two. "We've gotta hurry, Luz. We're gonna be—oh, hi." Cruz said as he noticed the two.
"Cruz! Wait for me," Luz said as she walked out bumping into her brother before noticing Lilith. "Oh, no."
"Hello, you two," Lilith said, noticing the room of shortcuts behind them before turning back towards Steve.
"Steve, why don't you go and see your brother. You mentioned that he was a student here, right? I'm sure he'll be happy to see you."
"Are you sure ma'am?"
"Yes, I'll be alright. I wanted to talk to these two for a bit," Lilith said as Steve walked away to look for his brother.
"Now then, you two. How have the new multi-track classes been treating you?" Lilith asked, turning towards the twins as Luz tried to sneak away.
"Multi-track? What multi-track?" Luz asked failing to lie
"Luz, we're wearing colorful uniforms. I think your plan failed the second she saw us," Cruz pointed out
"Aw, dang it."
"He's right you know," Lilith said as she looked into the room. "It seems the room of shortcuts is still being used. I'm glad to see that Principal Bump didn't shut it down."
"You know about the room, Lilith?" Luz asked curiously. "I do. In fact, Edalyn and I were the ones that created it," Lilith said, surprising the twins. "We were the first two to use it. Of course Edalyn used it for her many pranks. But I used it to get to my classes quickly and always used it responsibly."
"Eda using the room for pranks doesn't surprise me one bit. I'm just surprised you helped her make this room," Cruz admitted
"I would've thought that you wouldn't have gone along with Eda's plan considering they were for pranks," Luz said
"I'll admit, I did know that Edalyn was planning to use them for pranks. However, I saw the benefit of a room like this and thought it was worth it. Now then, you two. There's something important we must discuss regarding your multi-track classes and those other students," Lilith said seriously.
Cruz and Luz gulped nervously. "Are you planning to punish them?" Luz asked
"Can you not please? I know it might seem wrong but they're all good witches," Cruz pleaded.
"Don't worry, you two. I'm not planning anything of the sort. In fact, I've come up with an idea to help out those students. Principal Bump will explain to your classes more about it later. I can guarantee that this will offer a great opportunity for you all," Lilith said as she began to walk away.
"See you, Lilith," Luz said waving to the coven head
"See ya, Aunt Lilith," Cruz called out, surprising Luz and Lilith who stopped in her tracks before looking back towards Luz and Cruz. She smiled before giving a small wave and continued on her way.
"Aunt Lilith?" Luz questioned
"Well, she's got a kind of Aunt vibe to her. And besides, back with the troll incident she mentioned how I kind of act how Eda's kid would act if she had one. So I just thought, why not call her Aunt Lilith," Cruz explained
"Does that make us Eda's kids?" Luz questioned
Cruz thought about it for a moment before he smiled and responded. "I don't see why we can't think of her as a second mom. Don't know how she'd feel about it, but nothing says we can't think of her that way."
"Yeah you're right!" Luz said with a bright smile. "On the Boiling Isles we're Eda's kids! We're Luz and Cruz Noceda-Clawthorne!"
"Yeah!" Cruz cheered as the bell screamed. "Okay, now we really have to run!" Luz and Cruz ran back into the room of shortcut racing towards their respective classes.
As the day at Hexside ended with no incident, the classes with multi-track students were informed about the training exercise being led by Lilith and the coven heads.
"I can't believe Miss Lilith is actually doing something like this," Amity said as stood with Luz, Cruz, Willow, and Gus in the halls.
"It really surprised me too. I didn't think my class would be going since we don't have any multi-track students," Gus admitted
"I think it might be a way to make sure the students don't feel targeted. I guess taking all the people we usually interact with makes a bit of sense," Cruz said
"Do you think that they'll try and force the multi track-kids into a coven?" Willow asked
"I'm not sure, but Lilith said that she was trying to help them. We asked if she was planning to punish them and she told us she's not," Luz said, she remembered that Lilith had tried to brand her back when she'd switched bodies with Eda. But she'd also saved Cruz, so her feeling on Lilith were a bit mixed.
"You'd know Lilith better than anyone, Amity. You did train under her for a while," Luz said. Amity gained a thoughtful look as she remembered the training that she'd gone through with Lilith in preparation to one day join the Emperor's coven.
She also remembered the bitter memory of Lilith tricking her by using a power glyph to make her magic stronger during her duel with Cruz. The humiliation from cheating had left her feeling hurt by the mentor that she'd looked up to for so long. "I'm not entirely sure what she has planned exactly. But whatever it is, I doubt it'll be something that's going to be easy."
The bell screamed gaining their attentions. "Looks like it's time to go see what this plan is," Cruz said as the group left the school and saw that at the front steps was the bus and a few air ships that was going to take the groups towards their destination.
After arriving in a clearing at the top of a large hill in the forest, the groups all got out of the buses and ships that were prepared for them. The groups that had arrived were a single class for the: healing, plant, abomination, oracle, beast keeping, potions, illusion, and bard tracks.
"Looks like they brought every track here," Luz said looking around. "Not the construction track. Looks like they're the only ones not here," Cruz pointed out. "Guess since there's no multi-track students there, they didn't get called out here."
"Maybe, but the illusion and bard tracks are here too. And we don't have any multi track students either," Gus said
"It might be because you and Skara are friends with Luz and Cruz," Willow said.
"So our guess was right. They brought in students from those tracks specifically for that reason. And besides, if they want to see more students, this is a pretty good way of doing that," Amity added. Suddenly they could hear a whistle blowing, gaining their attention.
As the groups all turned, they saw Lilith standing next to Principal Bump, along with Steve and two other witches. "Hey, Luz. Look," Cruz said pointing out towards a small bipedal demon with auburn hair that was tied up in a large ponytail. They had orange fur covering most of their body with small blotches on their cheeks looking unkept.
"Aww! They're so cute," Luz cooed as the bipedal demon reminded her a bit of King in stature. "Um, Luz. That's the head of the beast keeping coven, Eberwolf," Willow informed her.
"I'm pretty sure if you hadn't said anything, Luz would've tried to pet him," Cruz said with a chuckle as Luz glared at him but knew it was true.
"Can I have your attention everyone," Lilith called out. "Now then, you're all most likely wondering what this training exercise will be. At the moment, we are all at the top of the largest hill in the forearm forest, your goal is to reach the bottom of the hill towards the clearing. There, Principal Bump along with your teachers will be awaiting you all as the end goal."
"It will not be as simple as it sounds however, along the way towards your goal, you will all be attacked by either creatures of this forest, or more than likely, other students." The students all began to mutter among themselves with worry. "Yes, you've heard me correctly. The reason you will more than likely be fighting amongst yourselves will be simple. You will be scored by how quickly and efficiently you are able to reach the bottom."
"You will be evaluated by myself, along with head witches Eberwolf," Lilith motioned towards the bipedal demon. "As well as, head witch Darius." The dark skinned witch stepped forward. He had bright green eyes with abomination colored hair that seemed to be moving slightly.
"You will split into groups of five or six, and make your way down together. You can break into groups of the same tracks, or you can spilt into groups of different tracks to show off your individual magic. It's up to you," Darius finished explaining.
"We've got our group already!" Luz said happily looking at her friends as the others all smiled with agreement.
"Willow is going to be the person with the biggest advantage considering we're in a forest," Cruz pointed out.
"Don't worry, you guys can rely on me for this. I'll make sure nothing happens to any of you," Willow said happily.
"Hey, you guys," Skara called out as she walked towards the group. "Do you mind if I join your group too?"
"Wait, you want to join us? Weren't you going to join Boscha's group?" Luz asked
"Well I was at first," Skara said scratching the back of her head, "But I'd rather join you guys instead."
Luz and Cruz looked at each other before looking back towards their friends to gauge their reactions. They saw that no one looked opposed to the idea. "It'd be great if you joined us!" Cruz said happily, causing Skara to smile.
"Alright everyone!" Lilith called out, gaining their attention. "Now that you've made your groups, it's time to begin! We will be waiting for you all at the bottom of the hill. Good luck." Darius made abomination goo rise into the air, surrounding himself and the rest of the coven head and teacher as it teleported them towards the bottom.
"Alright! Let's go!" Luz cheered as she began to run towards the woods with the rest of the group following closely behind.
As the groups moved through the woods, Cruz lowered his goggles as he looked around trying to see if he could spot anything that might be coming towards them.
"Looks like it's all clear. I don't see anyone else, or any beasts either," Cruz said as he lifted his goggles back up. "It's pretty straight forward to just reach the bottom."
"I expected this to be a lot harder, since it's something the Emperor's Coven does," Gus pointed out
"We should still stay on our toes. Who knows what's going to happen," Amity warned
"Oh come on, Amity. What's the worst that can happen?" Skara asked as Luz and Cruz winced.
"What?" Skara questioned
"You never temp the universe like that. It never ends well for anyone," Luz said
"She's right, every time someone says that, the worst always happens. It happens way too much in movies," Cruz added in
"Oh come on, that only happens in movies. That's not going to happen here," Skara waved it off. Suddenly a large wave of abomination rose from the ground as an abomination formed in front of the group.
"I'm guessing this isn't you, Amity," Luz said, turning towards her as she shook her head.
"I should've seen this coming," Cruz deadpanned.
"I've got this," Willow said as she created a spell circle as large vines shot out of the ground and pierced the abomination. As the vines wrapped around the abomination, it began to split off and reform around the vines as it got closer to the group.
"I don't think a student made this one," Amity said, seeing the size of the abomination.
"They did bring in the abomination head, my best guess would be he made it," Gus said
"Then let's try something new. Luz, ice glyph," Cruz said as he brought out an ice glyph. Luz quickly took out an ice glyph knowing exactly what Cruz's plan was.
As the abomination got closer, the Noceda twins activated their ice glyphs before slamming them down onto the ground. Ice quickly spread across the ground before it encased the abomination completely freezing it into a block of ice.
As the ice cracked the abomination broke apart into chunks before falling onto the ground. "Try controlling that goop now," Cruz said with a smirk.
"How'd you know that would work?" Skara asked
"Well, abominations are made out of a goop that acts pretty similar to water. If we freeze it completely there's no way for anyone to be able to use it," Luz explained
"Well at least we'll be fine if we come across any more abominations," Gus said as the group continued to head towards the bottom.
As they walked, Cruz noticed that Willow was looking at her hands with worry. "Hey, what's wrong?" Cruz asked
"Nothing, it's just… I thought that since we were in a forest you could all rely on me. I was confident in my magic, but that abomination was just too much," Willow confessed
"Hey," Cruz began as he placed a hand on her shoulder. "It's okay, it was an abomination from a head witch. He's got way more experience and magic than you. If it was anyone else from Hexside, then I'm sure you could've taken them down no problem," Cruz reassured.
Willow smiled at him as she heard this. "Thanks, Cruz. And you're right. I'm a lot stronger than I was before." Willow straightened her glasses before joining Luz, Amity, and Gus.
"You really do know just what to say," Skara said startling Cruz. She giggled when she saw his reaction. "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you."
"I wasn't really scared," Cruz said, trying to hide his embarrassment. "But what did you mean?"
"It's just… whenever we're having a problem, it always seems like you can just tell exactly what we need to hear. I'm glad we have someone like you to rely on," Skara said with a smile causing Cruz to blush a bit.
Cruz coughed, turning away to hide his face. "Well, I just try and help out any way that I can. It's not really me trying to be reliable. It's just that I care about everyone here, and I want to make sure you all feel safe," Cruz said, feeling his face grow warm.
Skara smiled fondly when he said this knowing that he'd be there for all of them. Suddenly, Skara and Cruz both felt a chill run down their spine as they looked around.
"Did you feel that?" Cruz said with worry
"I did. What do you think it was?" Skara asked
"Not too sure, but we should catch up with the others."
"You're right, let's go." As the two caught up with the group, they never noticed someone standing closely behind them.
As the group continued to head towards the bottom, Luz, Willow, Amity, and Gus were eerily quiet. "Hey you guys, are you alright?" Skara asked with worry
"Yes, we're fine," Luz responded as she turned to look at the two with a blank look on her face.
"Something's up," Cruz whispered to Skara. "My sister has never been this quiet for so long."
"You're right. And everyone is really quiet too. They just started acting like that out of nowhere."
"First the chill, and now everyone's acting like this. Let me check out the area." Cruz pulled down his goggles and activated the heat reader function. He was startled when he saw that the only heat signature in front of him was Skara's. Cruz quickly pulled up his goggles.
"They're not real!" Cruz said gaining Skara's attention
"What do you mean?"
"They don't have a heat signature, they're nothing but illusions!" Cruz said as he heard a twig snap directly behind him.
As Skara and Cruz turned around, they saw a hooded figure standing behind them. Before they had time to react, they saw a pair of glowing amber eyes before the world around them turned completely dark as they fell unconscious hitting the ground.
"He's smarter than I thought. I should've watched them a bit more before making my illusion," said the hooded figure. "Oh well, at least the plan worked long enough for me to grab my prizes." The figure grabbed both Cruz and Skara, throwing them over his shoulder as he began to walk further away from where the group was walking.
"I'll keep the illusion of these two going for just a bit more, just long enough for me to have my meal," the figure said as he walked into a nearby cave. "I wonder how long this meal will be able to sustain me this time?" Luz and the others were not aware that their friend was in danger, so the figure laughed to himself as he entered the cave carrying the unconscious Skara and Cruz, over his shoulders.