Witches Among Humans (TOH)

Chapter 25: The Demon Realm

"So, what do we do with him?" Eda asked, looking at the coven scout that was still passed out on the couch. He had a bandage around his head and a bruise on his cheek. He looked peaceful, but despite what Luz had said, Eda knew he was a potential threat.

She and Luz had managed to find the key on the very top of the destroyed building. It had an odd appearance. It was a bronze key with what appeared to be a yellow eye design. It was covered under a bunch of rubble that they had to move out of the way by hand since Luz was too exhausted to use her magic. Luz had used the last of her energy to break the sphere that held Amity and to cast a sleep spell on the scouts.

They had encountered a couple of scouts that had missed Luz's initial sleep spell, but Eda was able to take care of them herself quite easily as everyone had been disoriented. She had used her baseball bat to knock them out. Luz had called to Eda to leave one of them alone, but it was too late. Eda had smashed the bat over his head. When she questioned Luz, she was told that that one had helped her.

Eda gave her a quick, "heh, whoops?" before she swung him over her shoulder once they were ready to go. She felt a bit bad for hitting him, but she also felt a bit suspicious of his motives. Why would he help Luz? What did he want from her?

By the time Luz and Eda had arrived, her friends and Lilith were already there and had tended to Amity's wounds. 

When Eda and Luz had walked in, everyone was relieved. They had been worried sick about them, wondering if they had made it out alive. But their relief was short-lived when they noticed someone else in tow. 

It was a coven scout, one of the enemies that had attacked Luz and Amity. He was unconscious and tied up with vines. Eda had ordered them to ask any questions later and to deal with the wounded first. Luz, despite her half-hearted attempt at a protest, was forced to sit down and receive medical attention from Eda and her friends. Lilith tended to the scout named Steve.

Once Luz was taken care of, or as well as they could for a witch who refused to sit still, they brought their attention back to what would happen next. They had a lot of questions and concerns. 

They wanted to know why Luz and Eda had brought the scout with them, what he had done to help them, and what they were going to do with him. They also wanted to know more about the key that Luz had found, the one that could take her back to her world. 

Luz looked over to Steve, thinking hard about Eda's question. She hadn't actually thought about that. She just knew she couldn't have left him there to fend for himself against the Golden Guard or the Emperor. He probably would have been thrown in the conformatorium at best or petrified at worst.

Amity limped over to Luz, placing a hand on her shoulder. She gave her a reassuring squeeze and a small smile. She glanced down at the scout who no longer wore the mask.

He looked a lot less intimidating without his mask on. He had a pinkish complexion, pointed ears, turquoise eyes, thick eyebrows, and dark purple hair. He also had a short bone-white horn sticking out of the right side of his forehead. 

"He was the one who went against that other one's orders, wasn't he?" Amity asked, referring to the Golden Guard. She remembered how he had refused to push her over the ledge. If she remembered correctly, he stated that he believed that what he was doing wasn't right. He had gone against his commanding officer.

Luz nodded in response. She turned to the others' to explain why there was a coven scout with them. "This is Steve. I've had a few run-ins with him in the past. While I don't think he was ever aware of it, he had been given assignments that benefited the resistance against the Emperor. He would often pass off intelligence to the rebels, such as where they were taking prisoners or supplies."