The Witch Among Humans

Chapter 2: The Gateway

"Uncle, I have the wild witch Luz Noceda outside of the room. She was found in an alchemist store."

"Well done, Hunter. Once she is awake, bringing her to me. Chained, just in case."

Luz was beginning to wake up but quickly remembered her situation and kept her eyelids shut tight.

"Yes, my liege." The voice sounded like the Golden Guard, who was likely talking to... Emperor Belos. The Emperor of the Boiling Isles, who had killed who knows how many wild witches. The one who filed with an iron thumb.

The one who took her mother away.

Luz gripped her hand tighter, struggling to control the emotion within her. In fact, she almost missed the rest of the conversation but began paying attention when they mentioned one thing.

"There is Palistrom Wood in her bag as well. It seems untouched." There was a noise, likely Goldie handing over the wood. She heard leather scraping against wood.

Okay, now or never.

Luz opened her eyes, taking a solid second to adjust to light before spotting the Palistrom Wood in Belos' hands.

She leaped forward, creating a spell that blasted light towards the emperor. While he flinched, she wrestled the wood from the evil man and began sprinting away.

She summoned Owlbert, who luckily was in the bag she had packed. Only a second later, and she had taken up a fighting stance.

Emperor Belos simply turned his head, taking a good look at the wild girl. He had a similar outfit to the Golden Guard, yet with some distinct features.

The main thing was his golden mask, having large horns sticking out, reminiscent of a demon.

Luz created a circle in secret, placing the wood piece into a pocket dimension created from her magic. To the emperor, it looked as if she had hidden it behind her cape.

Belos began, "It has been too long, Luz Noceda. I believe our last meeting was when I confronted your mother, correct?" He took a step forward, which Luz responded to by taking a step backward. "Camila has been well, I assure you. The Titan has made sure of it."

Luz furrowed her eyebrows: she wouldn't be falling for any tricks today. Not that it was easy, but the Palistrom Wood mattered more than-

Belos simply chuckled. "No response, then? Nothing to say for her? I would be disappointed if it were my daughter." She gripped the staff, prompting Owlbert to quietly chirp to her, as if a warning. "Well, it's no bother. The Boiling Isles knows Camila was not the best of parents, since she hasn't appeared to take care of her only daughter. Instead, she chose rebelling against me over her family. Pathetic."

That was the straw that broke the camel's back.

Luz charged forward with Owlbert, creating a magic circle that produced a flame. Before she could land the hit on the emperor, Golden Guard knocked her away by swinging his staff. Before Luz could fully recover, he used the dash from before to appear right in her, and swing once again.

The wild witch fell onto her back, before pointing the end of her staff at GG to fire energy blasts. Shadow owl heads began trapping the Golden Guard where he was standing, immobilized.

Luz spun her staff at high speeds, focusing her magic into a big attack. From the spinning staff came a large blast of fire headed straight for her target.

Golden Guard dashes away once again, dodging the blast entirely. He charged forward silently at her, his staff glowing a bright red at the tip. Luz drew a circle into the ground, and slammed the staff point into it. A pillar of ice rose from the ground right as Golden Guard reached her.