Witches Among Humans (TOH)

Chapter 13: Story of the Isles

Three months ago

It was a dark and stormy night. The rain hit the ground, incinerating everything around it. It boiled the ground and grass, destroying all that it touched. No one dared to go outside. No one sane at least.

There was a witch who ran through the cover of darkness. This was just the kind of weather that she was hoping for. She had her cape pulled up over her head. Thankfully, it was made from enchanted string, bound together by a magical talisman that shielded anyone who wore it from certain charms, enchantments, and luckily, the boiling rain of the Isles.

The girl under the hood hid under the cover of a house. She took off the hood to reveal the wild witch known as Luz Noceda. She had been in hiding for the past few days. After the last run-in with the Emperor's guards, she had to wait until the heat died down. She may or may not have been caught breaking out thirteen other wild witches who were supposed to be on their way to the conformatorium for petrification. Luckily for her, a couple of others had helped her escape. She usually ran off and did those kinds of missions on her own, despite the plea from the others of the little resistance that was growing against the emperor. She was under the impression they kept her back because she was so young. Truthfully, it was because of what had happened to her parents. The resistance was supposed to help, but after her father died, they had no idea where the young witch and her mom wound up. Only to come across Luz years later, with the news that her mom had been captured. Of course they took the young witch in.

Luz was surprised when she first came across them. She had tried to attack, but quickly recognized friendly faces from when she was much younger. It was at that point Luz was brought into the light about the true past of her parents, and just as to why the emperor was after them. They did a lot of damage, only making his reign much harder. And since Luz had joined, she had quickly become a very annoying thorn in his side, especially that nephew of his. The golden guard. He was the one to take Luz's mom from her. She made it her life's mission to return the favour.

That is what led her to the current moment. She had, once again, snuck out of the concealed camp of witches and demons. The little group called themselves the 'Wilds Against the Throne', better known as the WATTs, but that didn't have the right ring to it, according to Luz at least. Luz had come to know a certain bard known as Raine Whispers. They had helped her escape the conformatorium the last time she was captured. Apparently, they had their own little resistance growing within the castle walls. Their little merry band was known as the Bards Against the Throne, aka 'The BATTs'. Much cooler in Luz's opinion. Since then, she had been conversing with Raine. They had been very helpful in some of the more recent missions. And that is where it left Luz off in her current position. Raine was her informant. Apparently, there was something that the emperor kept under close lock and key just above the conformatorium. They weren't sure what it was, but it was thought to be something that would help him turn the tide in this war.

Luz glanced up at her target. She held explosives in her bag, some of the demons in the resistance had conjured them up under her specific request. She had exactly three minutes to plant them and then get out. Luz didn't need to know just what the emperor was hiding in there. It only mattered if she could blow it up. Even if there happened to be nothing worth the effort in there, she would still damage the conformatorium. It would make it much harder for Belos to capture wild witches if he had nowhere to dump them.

Luz took a deep breath, calming her nerves. Her palisman should be back soon from lookout duty.

She had sent Stringbean ahead to scout out the area, to ensure that the coast was clear. While Luz trusted Raine to a degree, they were still a part of the coven system. Even worse, they were head of the Bard Coven. It meant they worked with the emperor and The Golden Guard very closely. It's what allowed such inside knowledge that was so beneficial to the resistance, but also made them incredibly wary. At any given point, the BATTs could turn on them, with a simple change of their mind. Or they could've been infiltrated themselves with false information to pass along, only to have the wild witches and demons captured.