Chereads / Storm's Hand (The Owl House AU) / Chapter 4 - Chapter 4: The Slitherbeast

Chapter 4 - Chapter 4: The Slitherbeast

The placement exams at Hexside were approaching fast. Luz learned that she had to know at least two spells to be in the same class as Amity, and she panicked. Luz only knew the light spell and couldn't cast it naturally.

If Luz didn't master a new spell soon, she would be put in the baby class.

The girl begged Eda to teach her a new spell. At first, Eda refused, but after being told Luz would be put into the baby classes if she failed, Eda agreed, but only because her pride was at stake.

And so, Eda took Luz to the Witch Arena, located on the Knee of the Boiling Isles, where the earliest witches developed their magic millennia ago. They arrived at a ruined castle, meeting up with Amity, who also happened to be there practicing with her siblings using her training wand and Magic 101 Manual.

But to Luz's frustration, Eda's 'lessons' consisted of tasting snow and smelling moss, making her believe that Eda was not taking any of this seriously. However, Eda was adamant about trusting her teachings. She wanted Luz to connect with the nature of magic, to learn from the island. And so, she had Luz sit in front of a view of the Boiling Isles.

Eda left, and Luz took a deep breath.

"Alright, Luz. Look. Look with everything you've got. Focus," she said to herself before raising her right hand and speaking through it.

"Focus? On what? On you'll be stuck in the baby class?"

"No! Don't think like that!" Luz said before her left hand entered the chat.

"Face it, you'll never get a second spell following Eda's lessons."

"Silence, hands!" Luz demanded.

Just then, a booming sound got her attention. She looked behind and saw a line of trees obscuring what was happening on the other side. She waited for a moment and saw lightning cracking between the branches.

"Eh? What's happening?"

Luz got up and went over there. She stepped through the trees and saw an isolated section of the ruins, but it had less to offer than the rest of the area. It only consisted of a few pillars and some used paths.

To her surprise and amazement, she saw Sturm running through a makeshift course. She recognized him because of his white hair and dark clothes. He raced through the tracks at blinding speed and even leaped off the pillars, spinning in the air and doing masterful flips. Luz compared his moves to that of a parkour professional, but he was much faster than any human she'd ever seen.

"Woah! COOL!" Luz beamed.

Sturm then jumped one more time and landed at the center. He clenched his fists and built up electricity within his forearms. He then extended his fist at a stone wall and released his energy, creating a lightning bolt that shattered the wall into countless steaming pieces.

Then he turned ninety degrees to the right and shot another lightning bolt at a pillar, shattering its top half. He turned the third time and fired at a tree near Luz.

The girl screamed in panic and jumped out of the way as the tree was destroyed near her. Sturm heard the scream and zoomed over Luz's location to see what was happening. When he got to the spot, he was surprised and mildly annoyed to see Luz again.

The girl got a better look at him now. He wore the same outfit except for a gray sweater under a navy blue jacket with a fur hood.

"Um... Hi, Sparkles- I mean, Sturm," Luz smiled nervously and gave a small wave.

"You again? What are you doing here? I almost obliterated you."

"Uh... I'm here to eat snow," she said, picking up a snowball and biting it before spitting it out. "What are youdoing here?"

Sturm looked at the girl with an eyebrow raised, thinking how weird she was.

"I'm on break from work, and I'm here to practice my magic. There's no other reason for anyone to come up here."

Luz tried to create another excuse to save herself from embarrassment, but after searching her brain for a few long seconds, she gave up.

"Okay, I don't have the imagination for this," she sighed, getting up to be at eye level with Sturm. "I need to learn magic so I can enroll at Hexside. I must learn two spells to pass the placement exam, so I came here with Eda to train."

"The Owl Lady?"

"Yeah."

"And how's the training going for you?"

"Terribly! I expected Eda to teach me something useful, but she only taught me that rocks have different smells."

It took Sturm a few seconds to process what Luz had said. And when he did, he put his hand over his mouth, barely stifling a laugh. The girl could hear him snorting as he tried to hold it in.

"Hey, don't laugh!"

"I'm sorry, it's just... For such a powerful witch, Eda sucks as a teacher," Sturm smirked, walking toward the spot Luz was forced to sit, and the girl followed him.

"Yeah... She keeps rambling about the 'becoming one with nature' cliché," she replied, holding her arm and avoiding eye contact. But she quickly perked up. "Ooh! What if you teach me?"

Sturm stopped moving and turned around to give Luz a strange look.

"You what, mate?"

"I've seen you in action just now, and your powers seem much cooler than Eda's. Think you can help me?"

Sturm blinked and hid his left hand inside his pocket.

"Okay, first off, I don't know what makes you think I can teach you what I can do. Second, unless you have a bile sack, I don't like your chances of you casting any spells. And sitting on this mountain won't help you much, either. If you can't cast spells naturally, you need to get that power from an outside source. Like an instrument or something like that."

When Sturm finished explaining, a crashing sound got his and Luz's attention. They looked around and saw Amity destroying a pillar with her training wand.

"Amity! Dinner's ready!" Emira called.

"I caught a bat!" Edric announced.

"Edric, don't eat that," Amity said as she approached her siblings' campsite.

From the ridge, Luz and Sturm watched Amity place her book and wand into her tent before walking away, leaving them completely unattended. Seeing the tools, Sturm smirked and got an idea.

"Well, I didn't expect her to be here. But here's the instrument. Say... You don't think Mittens would mind if you... 'borrowed' her stuff, do you?"

Luz thought for a moment. Part of her tried to say that this was stealing, but the other part wanted to learn the spell now.

"You're right, Sturm. If I wanna be in the same class as Amity, I'm gonna need to learn magic like Amity," she said before raising her left hand again.

"Great work, Luz!"

"Shh! I don't need your validation."

"Why do you talk with your hands?" Sturm asked, confused. Luz looked at him for a moment before raising her right hand.

"No reason..."

With Sturm's advice, Luz snuck into the Blights' camp. She did her best to not be seen. While out of sight, she watched Edric holding a bat, with Emira and Amity glaring at him.

"Ed, give me the bat," Emira said in annoyance.

"No! If we're not gonna eat it, I wanna keep it as a pet!" Edric protested as he ran off with the flying animal. Emira and Amity were having none of it, and they followed him.

"Get back here before that thing bites you!" the eldest Blight yelled.

Once the siblings ran off, Luz snuck into their tent and took Amity's wand and book. Her conscience told her this was wrong, but her desires overcame reason.

Once she got what she needed, Luz returned to the ledge near her and Eda's tent, where Sturm was waiting, sitting on a rock.

"You have guts, I'll give you that," he smirked. "You ready to do magic like Mittens?"

"Born ready."

The girl knelt down and opened the book, where she found a drawing Amity made of herself casting a 'Magic Star Beam,' and in the corner had her initials, including a 'do not steal' warning.

"Huh... Her crosshatching has improved," Luz said, moving Amity's drawing to show a page titled 'Fireball.' Under an image of a witch casting the spell was the word 'FOCUS' written in runes.

To say she was excited would be an understatement.

"Oh, man, oh man..."

After reading the page and memorizing the instructions, the girl placed the book on the ground and got on her feet. She aimed the wand forward and carefully drew a circle before placing it in the middle. She gasped in amazement as a fireball appeared at the tip.

"Yes!"

She then shot the fireball off into the sky, watching it explode in the distance like a firework.

"I did magic! I did magic!" Luz exclaimed, jumping with joy. "Without drawing anything! This thing is the coolest!"

"Well done," Sturm clapped, but it wasn't out of genuine admiration. "Now's only a matter of-"

"Hold it right there!"

The hearts of both teenagers skipped a beat upon hearing a familiar voice. They both turned and saw Eda standing a few yards away from them. She looked angry and disappointed.

"What are you doing with that?" Eda asked, pointing at the wand and then glaring at Sturm. "And who's this?"

"Name's Sturm. Glad you noticed," he gave her a sly smirk. "No, I'm not here for your autograph, Owl Lady."

"I'll deal with you later. Now, step off. This is between Luz and me."

"Fine. No need for you to sound like my mom," Sturm grumbled, getting up and zooming past the Owl Lady but still stuck around to watch what would happen.

"What were you doing there?" Eda asked Luz, who glared back at her.

"I'm doing magic, and Sturm was helping me out! What would you have me do? Eat more snow? Lick a rock?"

Eda paused for a moment, shocked by Luz's words. Part of her wanted to yell at the girl for backtalking, but she remained calm.

"Okay, so maybe my methods are... unique, but so is your magic. Connecting to the island can help you. That wand can't."

"Well, it's already helped me. Just watch what I can do!"

Luz drew out another spell circle to shoot another fireball. However, something went wrong. The power bar on the wand flashed a low battery bar. Suddenly, Luz began losing control of the spell.

She tried to pull the wand away from the direction of Amity's campsite before it fired. The fireball flew over their heads, going further into the Knee, before causing a massive explosion as it landed someplace in the forest. At first, it looked like nothing happened... until a deep roar echoed from the woods.

Sturm's eyes widened upon hearing it, and he flinched when he saw the Slitherbeast jumping over the trees and landing before him, Luz, and Eda. It roared angrily at them, and they saw a large patch of fur had been burned off over its mouth.

"You've angered the Slitherbeast..." Eda said, horrified.

"Great job, 'witch,'" Sturm said sarcastically, looking at Luz.

"Will it accept a heartfelt apology?" the girl asked nervously.

The Slitherbeast sniffed the air and looked around, trying to detect the source of what attacked it. It looked at Sturm first, who nervously pointed at Luz without looking at her as if to say, 'She did it.'

The monster then smelt burning wood and turned to Luz, who was still holding Amity's training wand, which had a smoldering tip. Upon learning that the girl was responsible for its injury, the Slitherbeast roared and ran at Luz.

Luz screamed in fear, but Eda was ready to save her.

"Watch out!" Eda yelled, pushing the girl out of the way before the Slitherbeast grabbed her. The monster held the Owl Lady up while growling.

"Eda!" Luz yelled as she got up from the snow.

"Luz!" Emira called out. The human girl turned and saw the Blight siblings running over to her.

"What did we miss?" Edric added. Amity noticed Sturm and pointed at him.

"What are you doing here?!" she demanded. Sturm zoomed closer to her to give a clear response.

"I came here to train!" he retorted. "I didn't think you and the twins would be here!"

Amity found it hard to believe, but his excuse was the last thing on her mind. She turned to Luz and saw her training wand.

"Luz! What are you doing with my wand?"

Luz trailed off, unable to think of an explanation that would not make her look bad. Before she could form a sentence, Amity took her wand and her book from Luz. She looked at the girl suspiciously while holding her possessions close to her chest.

"Mittens, we've got bigger problems," Emira said, pushing her sister behind her. The Slitherbeast advanced on the group, with Eda still being held in one claw.

The Slitherbeast growled menacingly at them as the twins ran in front of Luz, Amity, and Sturm.

"Aw, he's so cute. Can we keep him?" Emira smirked.

"It's no bat, but we could try," Edric responded.

Together, the twins cast lasso spells at the Slitherbeast's hands. The magical lassos wrapped around the monster's wrists, making it growl angrily. Undeterred, they yanked the beast down to the ground. However, Edric and Emira struggled to keep their hold on it as the monster tried to pull at the bonds.

"You got it! Now finish it off!" Eda yelled at them.

"I'm on it!" Amity spoke up, running up to the creature. She pointed her wand at the monster and drew a spell circle, conjuring a pink flame. However, the spell fell apart, much to her shock. "What?!"

Amity smacked the wand against her palm, trying desperately to get it to work. Then she looked at the power and was shocked to notice the low battery light. She angrily turned to Luz.

"Did you use this all up?"

"I... I didn't know!" Luz said fearfully. Sturm rolled his eyes.

"Ugh. Leave it to me!"

The white-haired teen approached the Slitherbeast, and Amity stepped out of his way. He extended his hands at the monster and shot a constant stream of lightning from them, making the monster screech in pain. Thankfully, he ensured the electricity didn't pass on to Eda or the twins' lassos.

However, to everyone's shock, the Slitherbeast didn't go down as expected. It just pulled harder on the magical bonds and became much more aggressive. When Sturm saw this, he stopped his assault.

"Uh, guys... I think we just made it angrier," Sturm said, worry building up in his voice.

"Come on, Luz!" Emira yelled, struggling even more to keep her hold on the lasso.

"Do those powerful spells you were talking about!" Edric added. Luz stammered as she finally came clean. She didn't know how to hide her secret any longer, so she stopped trying.

"But I don't actually... know any."

No one had time to react. Due to the prolonged inaction, the Slitherbeast suddenly lashed out, breaking free from the lasso and knocking the Blight twins forward.

"Edric! Emira!"

Amity was about to try and help her siblings, but she was scooped up by the beast along with Emira and Edric. However, it unintentionally dropped the young Blight.

"No!"

The Slitherbeast put Edric and Emira into the claw that held Eda before looking at Sturm, who got in a defensive pose. Using its free hand, it swung its fist at the red-eyed teen. However, Sturm was quicker than the monster had anticipated. He zoomed backward near the girls and shot a lightning bolt at the Slitherbeast's face. But it only flinched, seemingly unaffected.

It then ran off with a roar. The captured witches yelled as the monster retreated into the woods. Amity and Luz followed them for a bit, then stopped, panting. It was no use chasing after them. They watched the trees shake as the Slitherbeast ran through them.

"What do we do?" Luz asked.

"I am going after them," she said before turning to Sturm and pointing sharply at him. "And you're going to help me!"

"What? Me, help you? Fat chance!" Sturm retorted, not bothering to hide his disdain for Amity, to no one's surprise. He was the last person Amity wanted to work with, but she had no other choice.

"If anything happens to Edric and Emira while you do nothing, my mother will fire you or worse!"

Sturm thought for a quick second. He hated to admit it, but Amity's words held some truth. She had him in a corner, and he had no choice but to agree.

"Hmph. Fine," he scoffed. "But only because I want to keep my job."

"I'm coming with you," Luz interjected.

"No! You are staying here," Amity said, looking at Luz.

"But the beast has Eda!"

"And because of you, it also has my brother and sister! Now stay put!" the witch yelled, making Luz back off. Luz stared at the witch as she paused, watching Amity's expression turn from anger to unease. "You'll only get hurt."

She drew a spell circle in the air, making a purple ring on the ground surrounding Luz. Amity made a cage rise from the ring.

"Let's not waste any time," Sturm said, getting Amity's attention. "Get on my back so I can get us both there faster."

Sturm turned to the direction of where the Slitherbeast ran before Amity wrapped her arms around his neck, and the white-haired teen gave her a piggyback.

"Just don't expect me to be gentle," Sturm continued. "You can hit a tree for all I care."

He then zoomed off into the forest, leaving Luz behind.

"Amity! Wait!" Luz called out to her and tried to reach out to her. However, when she touched the cage, she was shocked by it. Luz held her hand while hissing in pain. All she could do was watch as Amity and Sturm disappeared into the woods. Luz was all alone.

Following the tracks of the Slitherbeast, Sturm and Amity ran out of some trees and stopped when they found its lair. Growling could be heard from a large cave on the side of the mountain obscured by an icy fog.

The two teens crept into the cave to see what it was doing before coming up with a plan.

The Slitherbeast carried Eda and the twins as it walked deeper into the lair. It climbed onto a stone and spat a purple phlegm-like goop at the wall. It then shoved its captives against it. The goop closed around their torsos and arms, making them unable to use their hands to do magic. The Slitherbeast hopped away to get some things before preparing its food.

"Don't worry. We'll be fine!" Emira smiled nervously at her brother.

Whatever semblance of optimism they may've had went right out the window when two goop-covered skeletons dropped from the ceiling.

"No, we're gonna die," Edric said, watching skeletons slowly slide off the stone.

Meanwhile, Amity and Sturm silently used the stalagmites for cover while sneaking into the cavern. They got behind one of them and peeked around it. However, neither of them noticed Luz popping up behind them.

"So, what's the plan, Miss Top Student?" Sturm asked sarcastically.

"Ugh, can you not be a jerk for five minutes?" Amity groaned in annoyance.

"Look who's talking."

"Guys, arguing isn't gonna solve anything!" said a familiar voice behind them.

"Yeah, you're probably right-" Amity stopped and turned around to look at Luz in surprise. "Luz!"

"Hello!" Luz smiled at her. Sturm saw Luz as well and ducked behind the boulder.

How did you get past the barrier?" Amity asked.

"Magic! Literally!" Luz said.

"Nothing you ever say makes sense," Sturm deadpanned.

"Well, forget that, because the three of us have to work together if we want to save everyone," the girl continued. "Okay, here's what we're gonna do."

Then, the three teens huddled up and whispered as they discussed the plan.

Shortly after, the Slitherbeast returned and approached its prey. It crawled up on the stone again and sprinkled assorted seasonings on Edric, Emira, and Eda's heads, making the latter sneeze.

"Achoo! Ugh, I hate garlic."

The Slitherbeast leaned in closer to indulge in the smell, but once it got too close for comfort, a booming sound echoed from behind, shortly followed by a surge of pain in the back of its neck, making it scream.

"Hey! Those are my coworkers, fur for brains!"

The beast turned around and growled, only to see Sturm standing a few yards away with his fist smoking from the lightning bolt he had just fired.

"I ain't gonna let you make me lose my job!"

It roared at Sturm and jumped at him. However, the teen avoided the attack by leaping backward and doing a backflip before landing on his feet. He shot another bolt, aiming at the monster's face.

"You wanna fight? Let's take it outside!"

Sturm quickly turned and ran off. The Slitherbeast chased after him as he zoomed out of the cave and into the woods.

The teen ran and jumped off the rocks, avoiding the monster's slashes. After playing with the Slitherbeast's patience long enough, he landed before a tree a few yards from the cave's entrance.

He turned and faced the Slitherbeast as it charged at him, which growled loudly before letting out a roar.

"Gotcha!" yelled Luz, running out from behind the tree.

She stepped on a gigantic ice glyph drawn into the snow in front of the tree. She and Sturm backed away, and the glyph created a giant rising pillar of ice with the Slitherbeast at the top of it. The monster was launched into the air and roared before landing on its back.

After being freed, Eda and the Blight kids ran out of the cave. Their eyes widened when they saw the pillar of ice. However, the Slitherbeast got back up and screeched at the witches before running toward them.

"You want me to teach you kids something cool?" Eda smirked at the Blight siblings.

"Yes!/Yes, please!" they all said.

Without another word, the Owl Lady ran forward and drew a complicated spell circle with her hands before launching at the monster.

"Sleep spell!"

Eda's circle passed around the Slitherbeast, and it immediately fell to the ground and began snoring.

With the monster down, Luz and Sturm peeked around the ice pillar and saw that everyone was unharmed, and the beast was down.

"Now, THAT'S my mentor!" Luz smirked, rushing over toward Eda with joy. "Did you see? I learned my second spell! I made the connection!"

"I saw," Eda said as she ruffled Luz's hair. "Nice work, kiddo."

Meanwhile, Sturm approached the siblings while Emira sighed as she looked at her sister.

"You showed some real bravery in there, sis," she said to her sister, placing her hand on her hip.

"Yeah, nice work, kiddo," Edric said, copying Eda and ruffling Amity's hair, much to the girl's annoyance.

"Grr, stop!" Amity snapped, pushing his hand away. The twins then turned to Sturm and approached him, too.

"We didn't expect to see you here, but thanks for saving our butts. You were awesome," Edric said, playfully punching Sturm in the shoulder and making him smile.

"We owe you one, Sparkles," Emira smirked as she winked at him.

Upon hearing the nickname, Sturm's smile quickly fell into an annoyed frown.

"On second thought, I should've let the beast eat you," he deadpanned, but the twins chuckled at his reaction. Amity fixed her hair as she approached Luz.

"So it looks like we'll be in the same class," she told her.

"Azura Book Club? Azura Book Club?!" Luz asked excitedly. Amity blushed and smiled at her.

"As long as it's a secret club, okay?" she whispered.

"Should've said it more quietly," Sturm said, getting her attention.

"It's not a secret!" Edric waved at her.

"We're gonna tell everyone!" Emira finished. Amity sighed in annoyance. Out of nowhere, Eda sneezed between them, making them jump.

"Alright, your adorable banter is literally making me sick. Let's go home already."

"On it, teach!" Luz declared, pointing her finger in the air.

Luz drew the ice glyph onto the snow before slapping it, creating a diagonal pillar of ice that sent them flying. Eda and Luz yelled as they soared through the air together as Sturm and the Blights watched in confusion, thinking those two had gone nuts.

"I think we can go the normal way," Emira said before turning to Sturm and smirking at him. "Think you can carry us there, Sparkles?"

"Ah, just because you called me that, you three will go home yourselves."

"Wait, Sturm, no-" Edric tried to protest, but the white-haired teen had zoomed away into the woods, heading back to Bonesborough as the siblings were left alone to find their way off the mountain.

"Eh. Fair enough," Emira deadpanned.