Grim, Speak the Shadows

Part 19

"Aren't you--Darius?" Willow squeaked. She pointed her staff at him and glared. "What do you want? Why are you here?"

Hunter brought a hand up to cover his mouth right before a gasp escaped, eyes wide. Darius? As in Abomination Coven Head Darius? What was he doing here? How did he find him--shoot, he saw him in the woods last night, didn't he?! He should've been more careful--Oh no, no, no, no...He was here to arrest him, wasn't he? He was going to bring him back to the castle and make him face Belos, who would try to kill him again, and--

"Relax witchlet," Darius' exasperated voice said. "I'm not here to hurt anyone. I just want to talk to Hunter."

Willow's eyes narrowed and her glare intensified. "How do you--"

Darius casually pushed Willow aside and stepped into the house with a roll of his eyes. He met Hunter's gaze, who found himself stumbling back in alarm, waving his arms like a madman and pointing his staff at the older witch. While it was true that Darius had been acting kinder to him for the past two weeks or so, after what happened last night, Hunter didn't trust anyone at the castle. He couldn't.

"Hey!" Willow angrily exclaimed, her staff glowing. That's right, Willow was here. Maybe she wouldn't last long going toe-to-toe with Darius, but together, maybe...He wasn't alone right now, at least.

"What-what do you want?" Hunter stuttered as his back hit against the wall. Calm down, calm down, he told himself. He had to act rationally about this...That was much easier said than done, though. His hands trembled as he gripped his staff. His legs felt weak too, and it took a lot of effort to not drop to the ground in a heap. He was still recovering from his panic attack last night, not to mention the little freak-out he had in town earlier this afternoon. He already felt completely drained before Darius got here, so neither his mind nor body was handling this extra stress very well right now. There was only so much one person could take.

"Calm down, both of you--honestly, must I repeat myself?" Darius pinched the bridge of his nose and exhaled deeply, before continuing. "I only want to talk." Something in his expression softened, and he held up both of his hands to show that he meant no harm.

Hunter glared at him, trying to appear fierce despite it all, but then hesitantly brought his staff down. He wasn't one to deceive others. If he wanted to capture him or attack him or something among those lines, he would've already done it. Willow still held her staff pointed at him though, obviously not trusting him.

"Talk about what?" Hunter narrowed his eyes. "Are you planning to hand me over to Belos?"

Now that Darius was standing in front of him, Hunter could see that the older witch had a very serious look on his face. The shadows under his eyes signaled that he probably hadn't gotten much sleep, if any, last night. He looked uncharacteristically disheveled, and that was saying something since he was usually a stickler for tidy appearances.

"No," Darius said gravely. "But there are scouts out looking for you as we speak. That's why I'm here, I came to warn you and get you to safety. You're only putting yourself and--" he glanced at Willow. "--Your little friend in danger by staying here."

Hunter knew he should say something, but all he could do was stare at Darius. His mind suddenly went blank, and the right words just wouldn't come to his mouth. He was an idiot, a complete idiot. He thought he had more time, just because he didn't see any wanted posters up earlier. He went into town, and even with the cloak, what was he thinking?! Oh, and the lack of scouts in town? Idiot, idiot, that was probably because Belos sent a good number of them after him and Luz...Oh Titan, Luz! She was all wrapped up in this mess too.