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“...and when we got back, Hunter panicked and ran off. But I’ve been in contact with my girlfriend, and she said that he was hiding out at Hexside, but now he’s staying with our friend Gus. So…he’s safe.”
For now, Darius thought. However, not wanting to worry Luz, he gave her a small smile. “Thank you.”
Luz gave a small smile in return, then was called over by Eda so they could continue their palisman carving lessons.
Raine clapped their hands. "Alright, CATs. Let's go over the plan again--see if there's anything we missed."
Darius rolled his eyes at the group name, but nonetheless took his spot next to Raine, and the discussion began. However, the Abomination Coven Head soon found himself thinking about Hunter. After hearing Luz's story, there was no doubt in his mind that the emperor would send search parties out for the little prince.
If he was found and taken to Belos…
A hand on his shoulder brought Darius out of his thoughts. He blinked and looked to his left to see Raine looking at him with concern.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
“...You’re worried about Hunter, aren’t you?”
“I--”
“I am,” Raine admitted. At Darius’ stunned silence, Raine continued. “We both heard what Luz said--Belos destroys the grimwalkers. I may not know exactly what a grimwalker is, but…I do know that Hunter’s just a kid.” Raine paused. “I think we should look for him.”
*****
Around noon, Darius and Raine made it to the forest outside Bonesborough. They took the cart a decent distance into the forest, then obliterated it. They would’ve hidden it, but they didn’t know how long it would take to find Hunter, and they didn’t want to risk anyone finding the cart and getting suspicious.
The walk through the forest was a relatively quiet one, until a gold flash caught Darius’ eye. “Did you see that?”
“See what?”
“A gold flash. It came from over there.”
Raine focused their attention in the direction Darius pointed. A few moments later, the two Coven Heads saw another flash of gold through the trees. They shared a look, and silently agreed to investigate.
Their investigation led them to the edge of a clearing, and--to their surprise--Hunter. His back was to them, and a small, red bird was flying next to him and chirping.
“I know, Flapjack,” Hunter said. “I just want to make sure I’m ready if--” he cut himself off as he sensed he wasn’t alone. In the blink of an eye, Flapjack’s staff form was in his hands, and he whipped around before adopting an offensive stance.
"Who's there? Show yourself!" Hunter demanded.
Darius and Raine shared a look. They hadn’t really discussed what they were going to do when they found Hunter, but now it seemed they were out of time.
With a shrug, Darius stepped into the clearing. “Now, now, Little Prince. We just--”
“You aren’t taking me back!”
Raine appeared next to Darius. “Hunter--"
“No!”
As Hunter yelled, he aimed his staff at the two Coven Heads, and sent a burst of gold energy toward them.
Darius intercepted the attack with a wall of abomination matter, and Raine summoned their violin. Neither one of them wanted to fight Hunter, but he wasn’t giving them much of a choice.
*****
Darius had to admit--he was impressed. Even though he and Raine weren’t going all-out, Hunter was still doing a good job of holding his own. He seemed to have really bonded with Flapjack, and his skill with the palisman staff was already on par with--if not greater than--his skill with an artificial staff.
However, without either staff or glyphs, he was magicless.
Both Coven Heads knew this, but it had taken Hunter teleporting out of Darius’ abomination matter for them to fully realize that they’d have to get the palisman staff away from him if they wanted to stop the fight without hurting him.
Raine glanced at Darius, who nodded. With a pluck of their violin string, a red aura appeared around Hunter’s hands and he was forced to drop the palisman staff. As Raine went to catch it, it transformed back into Flapjack, who proceeded to fly down and peck at their head.
Now unable to teleport, Hunter was unable to get away from Darius’ abomination matter, and the Abomination Coven Head wasted no time in capturing him.
Concerned for his friend, Flapjack changed his target from Raine to Darius. He managed to get a few pecks in before Darius grabbed him.
“No, please! Don’t hurt him!” Hunter pleaded. “I’ll-I’ll go back quietly, just…don’t hurt him.”
“We aren’t going to hurt him, Little Prince,” Darius said. “And we aren’t taking you back to the castle.”
“You’re…not?”
“We’re not,” Raine responded as Darius let go of Flapjack. “We were worried about you.”
Hunter’s disbelief showed on his face. “I-I don’t know what he told you, but--”
“He didn’t tell us anything,” Darius said. “Well, he did, but we didn’t believe him.”
“Then why--”
“It’s like Songbird said--we were worried about you.” Darius paused. “The human girl, Luz, she…told us what happened.”
Hunter’s eyes widened in shock, but he didn’t respond.
With a snap of his fingers, the abomination matter holding Hunter disappeared, and Darius pulled him to his chest. “I'm sorry, Little Prince."
Hunter remained frozen in shock for a moment, then his emotions overwhelmed him. He threw his arms around Darius, and sobbed into his chest.
As Hunter sobbed, Darius moved a hand to his hair and ran his fingers through it, but said nothing. Meanwhile, Flapjack landed on Raine’s shoulder. The Bard Coven Head gave him a few pets, and chuckled at his happy chirps.
Eventually, Hunter's sobs turned to sniffles. “I-I’m sorry, Darius. I--”
"Nonsense," Darius interrupted. "You have nothing to be sorry for, Little Prince.”
“He’s right,” Raine said. “Belos is the one that should be sorry.”
Hunter flinched at Belos’ name, and Darius glared at Raine while Flapjack flew off their shoulder and pecked at their head again.
“Ow! Ow! Stop! I’m sorry!”
Darius’ glare turned into a smirk at Raine’s torment, then softened as he turned his attention back to Hunter.
“Don’t worry, Little Prince,” he said softly. “I won’t let him hurt you--ever again.”