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He’d fallen asleep.
Hunter jolted up onto one elbow, his free hand tightly gripping the tuft of blond hair on the crown of his head.
Good Titan, he’d actually fallen asleep!
A knot began coiling in his stomach and liquid fear coursed through him, making his pulse feel like thunder pounding in his chest. His lungs couldn’t seem to take in enough air as he racked his brain to think of what happened last night. How could’ve he been so careless?! He didn’t remember dreaming, meaning that Belos hadn’t entered his mind, but he’d still have to be careful; just because he’d woken up before Belos cast the spell this time didn’t mean he wouldn’t—
Hunter paused, chest still heaving as his dark brows drew together into a pensive expression.
There was something foreign hanging around his neck. The small weight felt comfortable— whatever it was— grounding him in an odd sort of way.
Curiously, he released the strands of hair on his head and moved his hand to his neck, hooking his index finger around the small chain looped there. He pulled it forward. A gold leaf pendant slipped out from under his shirt, the tiny links catching the dim light of the room as it swayed in front of his eyes.
Willow’s necklace.
That’s right, Hunter thought, his breathing steadily relaxing. He tucked the necklace back under his shirt. We found Hex-Me-Nots last night… the enchantment potion must’ve worked.
Waves of relief washed over him, soothing his panic-stricken mind like a cool balm. Another shackle from his uncl— from Belos— had been stripped away… At least for now. The Emperor was a smart man; if anyone would find a workaround for a charmed piece of jewelry, it would be him. But with the Day of Unity creeping closer, Hunter hoped the Emperor would have too much on his plate to devote time to breaking the enchantment.
Even if Belos wanted his galdorstone back.
Hunter grimaced, placing a hand over his chest and feeling his not-really-a-heart heartbeat. He blew his bangs out of his eyes and slowly shook his head. He didn’t want to think about being a grimwalker; not now. Not after everything Willow and Gus had done for him. Maybe it was foolish, but he wasn’t ready to stop pretending to be a witch— not if it meant losing this small shard of friendship.
Hunter pushed up and crawled over the hammock he vaguely remembered Willow creating last night, moving across the giant leaf like a shadow and noiselessly stepping off it. Willow and Gus were still sleeping somewhere on it after all— covered head to toe in pillows and blankets— and he didn’t want to wake them.
Despite Hunter being quiet enough to sneak out of a Slitherbeast’s den, a little red cardinal popped up from the palismen pile in the middle of the hammock, softly tweeted, and hopped across the leaf and onto his shoulder.
“There’s no escaping you, hmm?” he whispered, a small smile tugging at the corners of his mouth at the peck he got in response.
He breathed a stifled sigh and lowered himself to the ground, stretching his back longways against the floor. When he felt ready, he brought his knees in toward and rocked along his spine into a crossed-legged position, releasing a long breath as he leaned forward to stretch his thighs. He followed a familiar stretching routine that had been engraved in his mind as a scout— moving to each new posture with slow, controlled, and perfect motions.
A mirthless hum escaped Hunter’s lips, his brows creasing low on his face.
Perfect, right? he thought, a sad feeling weighing his heart down. The expectation to be a perfect soldier had been thrust upon him since the day he’d opened his eyes. And now, if he was no longer a soldier, then what was he supposed to be?
His ear twitched, catching the sound of rustling fabric behind him.
“Hunter?” Gus yawned, not sounding fully awake yet.“It’s barely seven in the morning—” he tried pushing up but fell to a heap on the hammock— “Go back to sleep.”
Hunter blinked, his heart nearly skipping a beat.
Seven?!
He turned to look out the Plant Homeroom’s window. The sky was growing steadily pink on the other side of the glass. Hunter breathed out a low hum. Gus must be right, he thought, running his hands through his blond hair and letting them latch together behind his neck, sighing at the warm stretch he felt in his pecs.
He would’ve either needed to be dead or dying to sleep to such an hour back in the Emperor’s Coven— and even then Hunter was sure the healers would’ve found a way to patch him up and send him on his way before sunrise.
Flapjack landed in Hunter’s messy mop of blond hair.
Tweet?
Hunter gently shook his head, careful not to shake his palisman off, and moved into the next stretch.
“I’m not tired.”
He was genuinely surprised that he’d actually meant it too.
Willow and Gus didn’t wake up until almost nine.
The first question from both of them, unsurprisingly, was if the Hex-Me-Not potion had worked. When Hunter informed them that the potion was indeed a success, they were thrilled! Not because it meant Hexide was safe from Belos, but because it meant he was safe from Belos— which was just way too strange for the Golden Guard to process— and before he knew it, Willow and Gus were dragging him by his sleeves out the Homeroom’s door.
They wanted to have breakfast together in the cafeteria to celebrate.
They wanted to celebrate with him.
It made Hunter dizzy, causing the weird ‘I’m-not-sad-but-I-feel-like-crying’ feeling from last night to return.
“Let’s cut through the gym,” Gus said, his loud voice putting an end to Hunter’s thoughts. The young witch pushed through a door and held it open for his friends to follow. “Maybe if we hurry, we’ll still be able to make it before the food gets cold!”
The door opened to a backstage hallway behind the gym’s stage, covered by props and other old set-pieces that had been saved from earlier that school year. Gus weaved through cardboard cutouts of what looked to be trees and led Willow and Hunter through a pair of blue curtains tacked to the ceiling.
Hunter shaded his eyes with his hands, rapidly blinking as he adjusted to the sunshine spilling into Hexide’s gymnasium.
Willow pressed on ahead of the boys. Once she’d reached the middle of the court, she spun on her heels to face them again, the ends of her twin braids flaring out as she moved. “Hurry up,” she said, giggling and adjusting her round glasses. “We’re almost there!”
Gus’ footsteps echoed across the empty gym, quickly catching up with Willow.
Hunter didn’t move.
Something felt off. They were being watched, something deep within him knew it.
Sensing Hunter’s concern, Flapjack wiggled out from the satchel at his waist and moved to perch on his shoulder. He chirped a quiet note and nestled closer to the boy’s neck.
Hunter scanned the room.
The red bleachers on either side of the gym were empty, and the light shining through the room’s large, purple windows left no shadows for someone to hide in. Hunter continued to look around, focusing on every corner of the gym as he took a few tentative steps forward, each squeak from the floor sending jolts of electricity up his spine.
“Pretty soon the gym will have championship flags hung for Flyer Derby too,” Willow called out, gesturing at the banners lining the walls. “Right now it's still a bit oversaturated with Grudgby for my taste.”
Hunter moved his gaze up. Yellow and blue banners for Grudgby and a few other sports he didn’t recognize decorated the walls. Willow must’ve thought that’s what he’d been looking at, but the banners hadn’t been what caught his attention.
“Something’s wrong,” Hunter suddenly said, dropping into a low, defensive stance.
“What do you me—”
Willow was cut off by her own yelp of surprise.
Purple abomination goo sprang up from the middle of the gym, grabbing Willow and Gus by the ankles before completely enveloping their bodies and teleporting them away in the blink of an eye.
“Gus! Captain!” Hunter cried, the shock of seeing them vanish felt like a kick to the stomach. He ran to where they’d stood and crouched to the floor, placing a gloved hand at the center of the gym. His pointed ears suddenly twitched, and the boy froze.
A shadow fell over Hunter, and a familiar voice began speaking.
“Do you have any idea how embarrassing it is that Graye found you before I did?”
A gasp slipped past Hunter’s throat, but he quickly snapped his mouth shut and ground his teeth into a snarl. So, the Emperor had finally decided to send a member of his Court to collect his wayward grimwalker.
Flapjack sourly tweeted and flew to Hunter’s hands, transforming into a staff in a brilliant shimmer of golden light.
The gym floorboards squeaked as Hunter pushed up on the heels of his boots— careful to keep his stance low— and faced the Head of the Abomination Coven, Darius Deammone.
“Where did you take them?!”
Darius quickly raised his hands, his cape swishing to the side at the sudden movement. Hunter’s eyes shrank into skeptical, magenta slits at the older witch’s display of submission. What was the Coven Head playing at?
The boy tightened his grip on his palisman and steadied his breathing, all too prepared for Darius to make his first strike.
The witch didn’t move.
“They’re safe and sound with Principal Bump,” Darius evenly stated, speaking slowly as if he were only trying to calm a skittish griffin instead of preparing to return a piece of property to Belos. “I’m just here to tal—”
Hunter ran toward the gym doors before Darius could finish.
“Sweet Mother of Titans,” Darius muttered, dragging one hand down his face and lazily lifting his free hand. He traced a circle into the air, a glowing ring closely following his finger as he closed the loop.
Abomination goo sealed the gym doors shut just as Hunter reached them. He tried to teleport through the door but smacked hard into a translucent barrier that sprang from the ground, coating the walls, ceiling, and floor of the gym like sheer, lilac sheets.
“You’re not making this easy,” Darius said, still standing in the middle of the room.
Hunter whipped around, a small trickle of blood leaking from his nose. He curled his lips back and wiped his sleeve across his cupid’s bow, licking the copper tang off his teeth as he brought his palisman in front of him.
“And I don’t plan to!” he shot back, blinking out of existence in a flash of gold.
Darius barely had enough time to defend himself. An abomination shield morphed to his arm as he moved to cover his head. A sudden, fiery blast of magic made the edge of the shield bubble and boil. He took quick steps back to avoid a swing from Hunter’s palisman.
“Not going to fight back?” Hunter snapped, hurling daggers of ice toward Darius. The Coven Head summoned a purple wall in front of him, catching Hunter’s attack like a dart board before the abomination magic melted back into his arm.
Hunter circled right, planning his next move and carefully watching Darius’ abomination-covered arm.
“I know Belos must want me alive,” he continued, “but I’d rather meet my end fighting you!”
“You melodramatic—” Darius breathed out a frustrated breath as he blocked another blow from Hunter—“I’m trying to help you!!”
“I’m sure Uncle will want to kill me himself,” Hunter flatly said, crouching low and getting ready to charge, “but he’ll overlook your misstep once you hand my galdorstone back to him— I know that’s what he really wants!!”
A small sound escaped Darius’ throat, the purple magic around him wavering.
Hunter dryly laughed.
“You’re the Head of the Abomination Coven, don’t tell me you didn’t know what I was!”
“That’s what I came to talk to you abo—”
A frustrated yell tore out from Hunter’s throat as he ran forward and held Flapjack up to Darius’ jugular. “You knew, and you kept it from me!”
“HE WOULD’VE KILLED YOU!!”
Darius’ words stunned Hunter long enough for the Coven Head to grab the tip of the boy’s palisman and yank him off balance. He caught Hunter by the shoulders as he stumbled forward, twisting the staff from his hands and throwing it to the gym floor with a clank .
“…Belos would’ve killed you,” Darius repeated, quieter and more controlled this time. His green eyes pierced into the very ones that reminded him so, so much of his mentor.
Hunter didn’t dare breathe, looking much like a small animal caught in a trap as he swallowed and desperately fought the urge to tremble in Darius’ grasp.
“He said he’d make you suffer if you ever found out because of me,” Darius continued. “And while our dear Emperor isn’t always a witch of his word, I never doubted for a second that he wouldn’t go through with it.”
He released his grip on Hunter’s shoulder and watched as the boy wrapped his arms around himself.
“I promised your predecessor I would protect you. He said being the Golden Guard was dangerous. I didn’t understand it back then, but when I saw you for the first time…” his voice trailed off into a sigh, moving his gaze away from the boy in front of him.
With a wave of his hand, the lilac barrier around the gym disappeared.
“…You must hate me.”
Darius looked down at Hunter, the boy’s voice had been so small he’d nearly missed it.
“You must hate me,” Hunter repeated, louder this time. A burning sensation grew behind his eyes but he didn’t dare let a single tear fall. His voice betrayed him though, wavering and cracking as he continued. “Your mentor’s gone and I… I replaced him. I took him awa—”
Darius wrapped his arms around Hunter, holding him in a tight hug.
“The whole of my hatred is directed toward one sole witch,” Darius firmly said. “And it isn’t you. The one who took your predecessor from me was never you.”
Hunter buried his head into Darius’ cape and returned the hug, lacing his fingers behind the witch’s back.
“Why did you teleport Willow and Gus away?”
“I wasn’t sure if you knew you were a grimwalker yet, and I wasn’t about to reveal that to you with an audience.”
Hunter bunched the fabric of Darius’ cape tighter into his fists. Belos had revealed that fact about him so candidly in front of the human— yet here Darius was, going through such lengths to make sure he would be the first and only one to know.
He felt Darius sigh as he continued to speak.
“If they question my methods, I informed Bump that I was just making sure you weren’t a spy for the Emperor. The Golden Guard is a rather formidable foe after all.”
Hunter’s laugh was muffled by Darius’ cape.
“A bit dramatic, Deamonne.”
“You’re one to talk, Little Prince.” Darius released Hunter from the hug and gave his head a little pat. “Or were you not willing to fight to the death mere moments ago?”
A red flash flew between them and landed on Hunter’s shoulder. Flapjack squawked a number of colorful, angry tweets and stamped his little foot.
“Oh, um,” Hunter swallowed, a sheepish blush spreading across his face— he’d never heard Flapjack say such things before. “My palisman wants you to apologize for tossing him on the floor.”
Darius breathed out a laugh.
“I apologize, bird.”
Flapjack trilled a sour tweet and moved closer to the crook of Hunter’s neck. Hunter rubbed a finger over the soft feathers of the cardinal’s belly and looked back at Darius.
“The previous Golden Guard… What was he like?”
“A lot older than you,” Darius replied, walking with Hunter closer toward the gym doors. “Confident, courageous, and a very strong magic wielder. He had the sense his magical prowess upset Belos though—” he cut himself off with a short laugh as if a fond memory suddenly resurfaced— “Oh, and he was always self-conscious about his hair color too.”
“Really? What color was it?”
“Copper— sometimes strawberry blond in the sunlight. Apparently the Emperor hated it.”
Hunter hummed. That tracked. Belos had always hated redheads for some reason. Lilith hadn’t dyed her hair for nothing.
“Do… do you think he would’ve…” he trailed off, circling his thumbs around one another and sighed.
“He would’ve loved you, Hunter.”
Hunter looked up at Darius, his eyes wide. The witch didn’t look like he was lying. After a moment, Hunter nodded and pushed out the doors and into the hallway.
“Oh, and one more thing,” Darius said, drawing a quick magic circle into the air. A familiar scroll fell into Hunter’s hands. “You left this at the castle. Try to keep in touch; I may have a mission for you in the next few days.”
A short gasp rang out from Darius, his floating hair wavering as he did a double take toward his own shoulder. “You got blood all over my cape!”
Hunter rolled his eyes. “Yeah, from the bloody nose you caused! I practically sprinted face first into that barrier you summoned.”
Darius huffed and pulled his cape into his hands, casting spells over the garment to clean it. He couldn’t very well smuggle students back to their families with blood on him.
The older witch looked over Hunter’s shoulder. The boy was already on penstagram and was responding to a message from someone from his Flyer Derby team— the girl who’d been at the gym.
“Is that the one powerful witch from the Plant Track?”
Hunter nodded. “Yeah, she just wanted to make sure I was alright. She’s really upset that Bump wouldn’t let her and Gus go back to the gym.”
Glistening, golden light caught Darius’ eyes. He lowered his gaze toward Hunter’s chest, spying a leaf necklace hanging there.
“Is that a gift from someone?”
Hunter looked down and quickly grabbed hold of the leaf pendant— it must’ve slipped out of his shirt during his skirmish with Darius.
“Willo— er, the Captain— She— I’m borrowing it—” each half-finished thought Hunter struggled to process caused a bright red blush to spread across his face until he practically glowed.
Darius only laughed at the boy’s expression.
“Oh you sweet summer child,” he ruffled Hunter’s hair, and a knowing grin spread across his face, “We’re going to need to have a talk after the Day of Unity.”
Hunter shrugged Darius off of his head, too flustered to press the witch for answers, and continued walking in step with him toward Hexide’s cafeteria.