Changeling Witch

Cliffside Bonding

As the demon hunters wheeled the house through the forest, Hunter---who'd been tied up with Willow, Gus, and Amity---kicked at the door. "Hooty, come on! You have to wake up!"

"If you want this to end as you say," Hooty chanted, "all must join hands. It's the only way."

"Ay, no hablo así!" Hunter looked over his shoulder. "Can one of you give me a hand here?"

Amity bowed her head. "This is all my fault."

"Now's not the time to feel sorry for yourself, Blight!" Willow snapped.

The house lurched, sending the four of them tumbling backwards. "Did the house stop moving?" Hunter whispered.

Gus groaned. "My insides didn't."

The door swung open, revealing the demon hunters on the other side. Two of them grabbed the group and pulled them to their feet, pushing them out of the house and onto the grass. Hunter bit back a torrent of fear when he spotted that they were at the edge of a cliff.

"Take the house and rip out the house demon," the leader ordered. "We can sell it to restaurants as exotic meat."

"No, no, no!" Hunter exclaimed. "Hooty would taste terrible!"

"Hey!" Hooty said, still in his trance. "I'm a refined taste, hoot hoot!"

A green demon hunter pointed at them. "What should we do with the worms?"

The leader smirked. "Throw them off of the cliff."

Green cracked his knuckles and grabbed them by the rope, dragging them over to the cliff.

"All right, kids," he said with a menacing grin. "Here's the end of your short, little lives."

"Wait, wait, wait!" Gus yelped. "Is this really what you wanna be doing with your life? Tossing kids from cliffs?"

"Actually, yes," Green answered. "It's been my dream since I was a boy."

They stared at him.

"I was a strange child." He shoved them off the cliff with a happy cheer.

Thankfully, their rope got caught on a tree root, but there was still the chance that they could fall---and Hunter did not like the look of the steaming, bubbling ocean.

"If we're not killed now, we will be when Eda finds out about the house," he said, willing himself to not freak out.

Amity sighed. "I'm so sorry, Hunter. You wanted to turn back, but I just had to show off to my brother."

"It's not your fault---" Willow started.

"No, it is." She bit her lip. "Me, Edric and Emira were inseparable growing up, but Ed and Em were prodigies right from the beginning. I told you before that it took a bit for me to get the hang of my powers, but what I didn't tell you is that Ed stopped hanging out with me after that. And I was already super insecure, and worried that I'd never be good enough, but he just... he kept on pushing ahead, and putting me down, and I just never got over it."

"Guys, is now the best time?" Gus snapped.

Amity ignored him. "I guess I just wanted to prove to him that I was a powerful witch, too."

"That's insane," Hunter told her. "You helped bring a house to life! I've seen you do Abomination magic---you're incredible! Aside from Eda, you and Willow are the most powerful witches I know!" He paused. "Uh, no offense, Gus."

"No, no, not at all," Gus said. "I know what I'm about."

The root that they were on started to crack.