The Coven heads rarely met together, even less so willingly and without a summon from the Emperor. But this morning was an exception.
"I have foreseen a great calamity coming." Osran began, his Oracle magic producing an illusion of the Boiling Isles being covered in darkness and light before vanishing into the silohette of a young half witch. "One that, unchecked, has potential to unravel everything the Covens have worked towards. And it all ties back to the son of the Owl Lady."
Lilith and Raine remained silent throughout the whole meeting, the former grateful than Belos was training with the Golden Guard all day today and the latter not wanting to draw attention to themselves.
Osran created a spell ring and summoned a deck of cards and cloth into the pair of arms on his back. The hands began to tie the cloth over his eyes while his cane holding hand took the deck and began shuffling it.
"The boy must be brought into a Coven so that his magic is limited and under control. But instead of us going after him willy nilly, I believe it would be best if we took turns and in order to truly be fair, the order shall be by a random card draw."
The deck, now thoroughly shuffled, floated between the Heads, who each took and read their card. Judging by his chirping and delighted barks, it seemed that Eberwolf would go first.
"Excellent." Hettie mused,
"Oh come on! Not third!" Adrian groaned.
Raine kept their number to themselves, as did Mason and Osran. Vitamir seemed pleased with whatever number he got, as did Terra and Darrius, who chuckled and then returned their cards. With the order now set, the Heads began to go about their days, after grabbing some breakfast.
"I'm surprised you're alright with this, Clawthorne." Darius mused, getting Lilith's attention.
"I'm not." The Emperor's second retorted. "But if anything, this may force my sister to turn herself in, for Olivier's sake."
"You think Belos can help him like he claims he can your sister?" Darius asked.
"But of course, he follows the Titan's will…" Lilith began.
"Did he ever apologize?" Darris asked.
"Beg pardon?"
Darius sighed in annoyance. He admired Lilith, he truly did. She earned her spot as the top of the Emperor's Coven and was one of the smartest witches he knew…but she was also, in his mind, selectively stupid and naïve, especially when it came to the Emperor.
Still, with how eventful her life and the lives of her family were, some clarity was needed.
"Did the Emperor ever apologize for that incident on Olivier's ninth birthday?"
Lilith tensed, as did the other Coven heads. They recalled that event…it was the day that all but assured Raine would be the next Bard Head (and Gray the next Illusion) and sped up Wrath's ascension to Warden of the Conformitorium. It was also the day that Eda went from a simple wild witch to Public Enemy #1.
"If he never did, that's not someone I'd put my faith in." Darrius mused. "But what do I know? I was just trained by the strongest Golden Guard to ever live. You're the Emperor's right hand woman; it's in your nature to do as your told."
Daris then walked away, leaving Lilith in her thoughts.
BOILING AMPHIBIA
Back in the Owl House, Anne was sleeping in Eda's nest, a smile on her face. She was awoken by the creaking of a door and spied Olivier coming in with a tray
"Morning, Annie." He cooed. "Sleep well?"
"Yeah, I really did." Anne smiled as she took the mug from the tray and sipped at some tea, "Didn't realize I'd gone two days without sleep, with all the craziness."
"Yeah, we figured you needed the rest." Olivier retorted as he put the tray down and sat beside his girlfriend. "Mom scrambled some Hydra eggs. They're not exactly legal, but by Titan they're delicious. And surprisingly cheap. Well, that and Mom knows how to remove the poison."
Anne, who found the eggs sublime, now gaged on the reveal they had been poisonous…ad then remembered how skilled Eda was and continued to devour her breakfast.
"So, what're we going to do today?" She asked.
"Well, mom's prepping for the trip to the Human realm," Olivier recalled. "King is putting his troops through boot camp…"
Anne giggled at the thought of King commanding his stuffed animals.
"Fleetwing and Fangora are playing with Hop-Pop and…Oh yeah, Maddie, Sprig and Polly went exploring in the forest."
Anne stopped eating.
"Your spell is still up, right?" She asked.
"Of course, why?" Olivier asked.
Anne let out a sigh of relief before she remembered something.
"Um….when you cast the spell, did you ban ALL the covens? Cause, I don't remember all of them, but I do remember one had plant and animal controlling magic…"
Olivier's eyes widened in shock and worry. The two downed their breakfast and then raced outside
"CHECKING ON THE OTHERS, BE BACK SOON, THANK YOU FOR BREAKFAST MOM AND HOP-POP, LOVE YOU! BYEEEEEEEEEE!" Olivier quickly waved.
BOLING AMPHIBIA
It had been a fun and exciting morning for the kids; Sprig and Polly snacked on the Boiling Isle bugs and had enjoyed making the fairies cry their tears. In their defense, they'd mocked Polly's legs and the tadpole quickly made them regret that.
"We got a few Snaggleback teeth at the house…"." Maddie said as she looked over the list.
"He's a surprisingly easy-going demon for his strength." King admitted.
Maddie still wasn't convinced Snaggleback was the strongest demon on the Isles, but kept that to herself.
"And Gwendolyn gave us some fire-Bee honey, all we need now is the Porcupsine Quills."
"And I happen to know were to find one!" King remarked, pointing down a darkened path covered with splintered trees, dying leaves and bones. "Huh…It's…not normally that ominous. Or messy."
Sprig, his slingshot at the ready, silently asked where the Porcuspine usually was.
"Sprig, maybe we should get Olivier or Eda." Maddie said. "King's right, the aura of this place feels…off."
Sprig took a look.
"Y-yeah, maybe we…"
"COWARDS!" Polly screamed as she raced on in, her knife at the ready.
"POLLY!" Sprig shouted in fear, racing after his baby sister, Maddie and King behind him. "DANG IT, SIS!"
Maddie inwardly remembered Rosemary, Lavendar and Ginger.
"Going to have to teach her some control…" King mused.
Polly kept on running until she was halfway through the oath. It was quiet. Too quiet. And now that she stopped…yeah, this place felt wrong. But they needed those Quills to check on Wartwood! And maybe Lilith too, she seemed off too.
Polly was now moving so slowly, she didn't see eyes in the shadows behind her.
She did hear the familiar sound of a magic circle, though.
"..Ollie?" Polly asked as Sprig picked her up. Before he could say a word
CRASH!
A hideous creature, that resembled a giant worm with the head of a blind rat, snarled at the kids, as did the werewolf like being riding it. The Porscupine, now dead, was in the creature's mouth.
"BEASTKEEPING HEAD EBERWOLF!" King shouted in fear. "RUN!"
Not needing to be told twice, the kids did just that. The darkness of the path suddenly lifted, revealing bat like creature made of plants and lizards made of stone. Sprig grabbed his sling shot and blinded the monsters while Maddie whipped out several curse bags, turning the rat-worm to stone and in doing so, knocking Eber off his steed. However, being raised by Dire-wolfs, the small witch was used to such and chased after the kids, inwardly delighted.
When you grow up under beasts, you don't learn the morals and beliefs most Witches and people do. To Eber, life was simple; gain pack-mates, protect and aid those pack-mates and eat whatever and whoever else got in your way…unless they could do that to you, in which case you fight until your last breath.
"Quick! Hide in there!" King said, pointing to a small cave under a tree. The frog children did as he ordered while he hurriedly climbed upwards and then leapt onto their pursuer.
King snarled at Eber, who snarled back. The normally tiny monster looked surprisingly feral as he and the youngest Head circled each other.
Eber smelt the air and then shook his head at where the Frogs had gone. He then willed a circle into existence and the Fire-bees formed a familiar silhouette….
Meanwhile, Sprig, Polly and Maddie huddled inside as a Shadow-Bat Plant clawed at the entrance. They made their way to the back, Sprig poking his head out to see if it was okay…
"SRPIG!" Maddie pushed her friend down, just narrowly saving him from having his head sliced off by another Shadow-Bat Plant, which clawed at the entrance.
Meanwhile, Eber formed another circle and sent the bees towards the back entrance of where the kids where hiding.
"No, wait!" King begged, but he was kicked aside. Still, the little monster raced to his feet and followed.
The fire-bees burnt the Shadow-Bat-Plant and the back entrace, the dying fused creature flapping its wings to make the fire grow stronger. Now the frog kids had only the entrace to escape from…and Eber and the other creature were waiting.
Smoke filled the passage, the kids' lungs…and Maddie's curse pouches.
"No!" Maddie shouted, hurriedly trying to salvage something before her fingers and thoart burnt too much. Then came the real sign of how dire the situation was:
"Sprig, I'm scared!" Polly admitted tearfully to her big brother, who just couldn't find it in him to be angry at her. He tucked her into his chest and grabbed Maddie.
"We only got one chance…!"
Maddie nodded…and they burst through the burning flames, rolling away.
Eber had not seen that coming, but smirked. This prey was braver than he'd thought. Now if only…
"MADDIE!"
Ah! There he was!
"SPRIG! POLLY!"
And the other one, too!
The half-witch and Human girl hurriedly grabbed their froggy friends, who were close to tears in relief of seeing them.
"Wait, where's King?" Olivier asked.
"He was fighting Eber last we saw…" Sprig started, only for Eber to leap in front of them.
If not for the dire circumstances and Sprig and Polly;s states, Anne would've squealed at the Head Witch. Her worry was not helped when Eber snarled at and then leapt at Olivier…
"WAAAAH!"
With a squeal, King jumped at the Beast Coven head, trying to slash at his neck with his tusks. Eber manifested tusks of his own and knocked King off him before drawing a magic circle and summoning Fire-Ants to surround the kids.
Anne drew her sword and began slicing away what she could while Olivier fired a blast of dark magic. Eber then tried again…only to be grabbed by the foot.
There was the little monster, glaring at him with all the hate in his little body.
"You want him? You go through me!" King declared. "Sure, he doesn't give me the respect I deserve! And he chases me around the house! And when he was a baby, he used me a steed! And he always makes me second guess myself, BUT TITAN BE DARNED, HE'S MY LITTLE BROTHER AND ITS MY JOB TO LOOK AFTER HIM!"
A memory filled King's mind…
14 years ago
"Why won't he stop crying?" King hollered as Eda cradled her new baby, who had been screaming for the past hour. "His diapers clean, dinners not for a while, he has toys and 'Brewabuddies' is on! We've tried everything!"
"No idea, Kale." Eda smiled weakly as she tried patting a screaming Olivier's back with no result. "No idea at all."
King, not knowing how he thought it would help, reached up and let Olivier grab one of his fingers. The crying stopped instantly and Eda handed the baby to Kng..
"Hold up his head…" Eda started on reflex, calming when she saw King fit Oliver as comfortably as he could, the little monster cringing at the feeling he was getting looking into a now babbling Olivier's eyes.
"I suppose I should've suspected this would be hard for you." Eda mused. "Your poor little ears must've been bleeding from all of Ollie's crying."
King's face mellowed.
"Not really.…" He confessed. "Well, actually yeah. It's just…well, I…You see I…."
"Just spit it out already." Eda groaned.
"I can't stand to see him cry, okay?" The small monster finally confessed. "Ollie's happy and he should stay that way. Anything makes him cry, it has to go."
Present day
He was outmatched. Exhausted from running on short legs. Had no magic in him that could be sensed. And yet he was willing to die just to prolong their freedom and lives.
Eberwolf could respect that.
He drew another magic circle, sending all his beasts back, Then he drew another and placed his hand through it, waiting for King to shake it. When King did, he heard this promise:
'I won't go after your pack on your territory or in Bonesborough. Anywhere else is fair game.'
The magic vow now in place, Eberwolf headed back home, shooting King a smile and the tossing the quills the kids needed.
Only when he was gone did King finally collapse.
BOILING AMPHIBIA
Suffice to say, no one wanted to leave the Owl House after that. Eda had already begun healing Maddie and Sprig, who'd be right as rain by morning. Hop-Pop had yelled at his grandchildren for being so reckless but then hugged them for being safe.
He and Eda had then doubled down on getting ready to leave for the Human relam. Instead of a week, it would be three days.
And Olivier hadn't let the sleeping King out of his sight, bringing him into his room and NOT taking down the memorial…because as he looked at the pieces, he saw many good memories. And that made him realize something; he HAD always considered King his brother…but after what happened with THEM, he stopped treating him like that.
Something Olivier deeply regretted after that display in the forest.
When it came time for bed, Olivier opened the blanket and set King inside.
"Night…big brother." Olivier smiled, even pecking King on the head before he fell asleep.
Unknown to the witch boy, King had been awake and settled deeper in.
Anne had snapped a picture and shared it with Eda, who was elated.