Chapter Text
The castle was big, but the world outside seemed even bigger and the maps in the books made his uncle's castle look like a spec. He couldn’t remember going outside of the castle, everything was contained within the coven walls, but he’d heard stories and seen pictures.
His uncle said everything came from the Titan, and Hunter wanted to see it all.
So, at the age of four, he decided to go on an adventure!
Hunter picked up his large book of maps and put it in his satchel bag since that would be the most important thing. Next, he packed his crayons and pencils, with the final thing his favourite toy, a pink frog with a dark green hat.
He smiled, and slipped the bag on, feeling proud of himself.
“What are you doing, Hunter?” His uncle’s voice made him jump.
Hunter turned around in surprise and felt his confidence waver when he saw his uncle in the doorway wearing his scary mask. Somehow his uncle always seemed to turn up and know everything that was happening in the castle, and he'd assumed it was because he was able to speak to the Titan. Which was sometimes scary because then it felt like uncle always knew if he was being bad or could know what he was thinking.
“Um…” He looked down and fidgeted with his bag strap. “I’m going on an adventure.”
His uncle tilted his head. “An adventure?” He chuckled faintly, removing his mask to show his kind face beneath. “And where would that be?”
Hunter relaxed when he saw his uncle’s smile. “Outside!” He told him, smiling as he pointed at the window. “Like on the maps!”
“Oh?” His uncle gave another small laugh, walking over to him. “That’s quite far, don’t you think?”
He nodded, smiling still. “Yeah, but am not scared!”
His uncle hummed, but there was something odd about his smile. “Ah, I see.” He reached out and took the bag off Hunter’s shoulders. “Well, when you’re the Golden Guard you’ll have lots of time for adventures.”
Hunter frowned as the bag was taken from him. “But—”
“The Boiling Isles is a dangerous place still full of wild magic.” Uncle took the book of maps out of the bag and then placed it on the dresser. “And you’ve barely been potty trained.”
Hunter’s cheeks and ears burned pink. “Yes, I am!” He’d stopped wearing nappies for nearly a year now. “I wanna go outside—”
“Hunter.” His uncle’s voice sharpened. “No.” His smile dropped, making him tense. “You’re a powerless witch, remember? Do you know what that means?”
His stomach churned, gaze lowered in shame. “No magic…”
And, having no magic was a bad thing. It meant you were useless.
“Exactly.” Uncle’s voice was kind again, kneeling to his level. “You’d be helpless.” He gently traced the notch in Hunter’s ear with his thumb. “That’s why you need to stay here. Where it’s safe.” He smiled pleasantly. “Then, when you’re older, you can go outside. That sounds like something to look forward to, doesn’t it?”
Hunter’s brow furrowed. "But... why can't we go outside together then?"
His uncle was the most powerful witch there was, surely if they went outside together they'd be safe.
"Hunter..." His uncle held his ear a little too tight. "I have important plans for the Titan that have to be carried out here," he said sternly, making him feel guilty. "Or would you rather I disobey the Titan's will?"
Hunter's eyes widened in horror. "No!"
His uncle always said not carrying out the Titan's will would doom them all and bring worse things than boiling rain. He didn't know what those worse things were exactly but his uncle made it sound scary like the sky would cave in and everything would boil.
He kept shaking his head, as his uncle’s grip softened. "Exactly." He traced the outline of his ear. "Which is why you need to stay inside for now until you're stronger. You understand that don't you?"
Hunter nodded, shifting uneasily on the spot. "Yes, uncle..."
“Good.” His uncle patted his head, before rising to his feet. “Besides, there’s no need to go outside when you have everything you need right here.”
Hunter frowned, as his gaze shifted towards the window where birds were chirping from outside.
Later on, three coven scouts hung near the back of the gates.
“Ugh! I hate supply runs!” Mara complained, dumbing an axe, shovel, and blanket onto the cart.
Sebastian sighed, grooming the demon beast pulling the cart, the creature furry with large fangs. “It’s not going to take long.”
Keith yawned, walking over. “Yeah, it’s just palisman wood. The stuff is easy to pack up.”
Mara sighed, adjusting her white plague mask. “Titan willing…”
“Hey!” One of the senior scouts, Gavin, yelled at them. “Stop slacking off and go! We got quotas to meet!”
“YES, SIR!” The three scouts saluted, and then scrambled to set off.
Sebastian scratched the beast demon behind the ears. “Come on, boy, let’s go get some palismen!” The demon grunted and licked his hand. “Ha! Come on.”
None of them noticed the small witch climbing on the cart and hiding underneath the blanket.
Hunter hugged his pink frog close as he lay under the blanket in the cart. The road was bumpy but he couldn’t help but feel excited. The air already smelt different than the castle, new and fresh.
He grinned and reached into his bag, taking out his book of maps. “We’re going on an adventure,” he whispered to his frog toy as he opened onto the page showing an area in the shape of an arm. “That’s the Titan’s forearm.” He pointed at the map. “Uncle says all of the Boiling Isles comes from the Titan and that’s why the land is important, and we have to respect the Titan by using magic properly or else bad things will happen.”
He didn’t really understand what it all meant, but his uncle was the emperor, so it must all be important.
His uncle told stories of wild witches being cursed because they'd disobeyed the Titan's will and practised wild magic. That was why so many of them had to be turned to stone, though, he wasn't really sure what being turned to stone meant but one of the nice scouts, Sebastian, had said they were just sleeping and they'd wake up when the day of unity came, so it was nothing to worry about. It was still a bit confusing to understand but he was sure it would all make sense when he was older...
Then the cart came to a stop, and he quickly put his map and toy back into the bag. He lifted the blanket a little to peek outside.
It looked like they were in a forest, and there were lots of different noises, with people yelling.
“Hey, Mara, get the axe!” One of the scouts yelled.
Hunter grinned and slipped out of the car, his feet hitting the rough grass, and then ran over to the bushes.
Everything was so bright and different!
Hunter picked up some interesting spiked acorns, the ones he’d read about in his books on nature and potions. He slipped them into a bag and then hurried over to a beautiful purple flower, his eyes sparkling when the flower ate a whole bug in one bite.
Everything outside was amazing!
He went deeper into the forest, exploring more as his excitement grew. It was so amazing, and it was all because of the Titan just like his uncle said.
“Wow!” He stared in wonder at a very large tree that looked old with weird symbols on it. “Look, Froggy!” He held up his toy to show him the tree. “It’s tall!” He looked at his toy. “I bet I can climb it.”
His new instructor already said he was athletic, and he’d never gotten to climb a real tree before. The castle hardly had any nature, it was just rocks and bones with large pipes seeping into the ground.
Hunter secured Froggy back in his bag before climbing the tree. The wood was rough, so it was easier to get a grip on it as he climbed, hoisting himself on the branches. Getting higher and higher until he started to—
His hand hit a sticky translucent substance that clung to his fingers. “Huh?” It looked like a web, like the small ones that gathered in the corner of his room. “Ugh!”
He couldn’t unstick his hand, and he kept pulling but it was like glue.
A shadow overcast, causing a chill to run down his spine.
Hunter tensed and looked up and saw a giant spider creature with a skull head and large pincers. “HELP!” He screamed and fell off the branch, his bag falling as he got more stuck in the web. “TITAN, HELP!” He kicked frantically as the spider started to wrap web around his legs, and flinched when the creature screamed in his face, spraying spit all over him. “HELP!”
Then a few seconds later, a drop of boiling water hit his forehead, burning his skin a little.
The spider screeched when it started to rain, the boiling drops dissolving the web and causing the spider to retreat. For a brief moment, he felt a swell of relief that his cries for help had been answered, that somehow the Titan had listened to him.
But, that relief faded when the web dissolved like frost in the sun.
“Ah!” Hunter yelped when the web gave way and he fell, the branches breaking his fall and bruising him up. He landed on the grass with a thud, wincing from the impact and as more rain burned his skin.
He grabbed his bag and ran towards the bushes, taking cover in a large bush and tucking himself inside for protection.
Hunter sniffled and tried not to cry, rubbing his eyes when they stung, uncle always said only babies cried and if he wanted to grow up strong he shouldn’t cry, but he couldn’t stop himself. There were small burn patches from the rain making his skin hurt and his back was bruised up from falling on the branches.
He hugged his bag close, hugging his toy for comfort. He just wanted to go back to the castle where it was safe, and then have his uncle tell him stories about the Titan and other interesting things. He wanted to go home.
His eyes welled up with tears until he finally cried, burying his face in his toy as his shoulders shook.
Kikimora did not join the emperor’s coven to be a babysitter, but ever since that baby had arrived, the past four years had been hell! It was like the emperor was seeing less and less of her potential the older that spoiled brat grew.
Kikimora grumbled, dragging her feet as she made her way up the steps to the boy’s room. “Honestly…”
It wasn’t like she hated the boy… that much. Titan knew there were bigger idiots to worry about, but he was still a threat and she did not appreciate how he thought she was his playmate or nanny! Because she certainly wasn’t.
She did not spend years climbing up the ranks to have her respectability reduced, Titan knew the scouts were probably starting to see her as a nanny since the boy’s instructor’s were constantly pestering her.
The boy was four, why was it her responsibility whether he knew how to read or not?
Kikimora sighed and smoothed out her robe as she approached the door. “Child?” She did a quick spell to open the door. “Your uncle requests your presence in the library…”
She trailed off, the room was empty and silent. The boy wasn’t there, he was gone.
For a full minute, Kikimora stared at the empty room, trying to process it, before devolving into a panic. “GUARDS!”
She was going to be blamed for this. Oh, Titan, the emperor was going to kill her.