A Valeween Night To Remember

Prologue - Auburntide

"At least once in a decade, in the season of Auburntide, a force of nature sweeps the Boiling Isles and terrorizes our residents, and with it, invites the tides of change. We call this day 'Valeween'"
- Valeween for Witchlings, Page 1, An Introduction

It normally only took Amity an hour or two to complete her weekend homework. Ever since her fourth year at Hexside, Amity made it a point to wrap up her assignments as soon as she got home. That way, the threat of late work no longer hung over her head, and Amity could concentrate on her personal plans or perhaps get in a few hours of private study, depending on her mood.

Right now, however, Amity was on hour four and no closer to finishing. The green-haired witch stared at the blank sheet on her desk, trying to piece together new ingredients for an Abomination.

"Maybe if I add more manticore venom, I can... No, no..." Amity muttered to herself, crossing out the ingredient on her notes. A thin frown crossed her face and let out a small growl from the back of her throat. "It shouldn't be this hard! Surely there's a better way to make Abominations talk?"

In truth, Amity knew which ingredients to use: a simple basilisk fang and a bezoar clump could make an Abomination sing like a songbird. She was the Top Student of the Abomination Track at Hexside, after all– She knew exactly what she was doing.

That only applied to regular witches though; for those without magic, wholly new ingredients were required. A new concoction, something that was never tried before on the Isles, due to a lack of necessity. Now Amity had that necessity, but no clue where to start.

Amity wasn't just doing homework for herself, but that of her friend, Luz the Human. Magic wasn't innate to humans, due to their lack in a bile sac, and as such Luz needed a new method for crafting Abominations. And while Amity would have helped any of her friends, Luz was...

...Very special to her.

"Oh, Luz," Amity slumped her shoulders as her cheeks burned oink. Just thinking of Luz's smiling face made her heart do jumping jacks. "Even when you're not around, you've got me wrapped around your finger."

Pitter patter, pitter patter.

Glancing from her textbook, Amity looked out of her bedroom window. Dark clouds were rolling in from the east, and a few stray droplets fell from the sky. When the droplets hit the window panel, they sizzled softly and evaporated on impact. There was the distant rumbling of thunder, and deep inside the clouds, blue-white lightning flickered, like the sky itself was ready to explode.

A storm had arrived, and just from a glance, it was clearly a large one at that.

"... Oh, for Titan's sake," Amity grumbled, snapping her notebook shut. The weather oracle predicted clear skies for the rest of the week. Yet the size of the thing was enormous – Even from her desk, Amity should have noticed the storm before now.

With a twirl of a finger, Amity cast a spell circle and summoned a brass bell, which was encrusted with an eyeball-like gemstone. She gave it a single ring, and after a few seconds, a knock came on her door.

"You may come in, Beckham."

With much grace and poise, a three-eyed butler entered Amity's room. The butler gave a respectful nod and said, "You rang, Ms. Blight?"

"Yes, thank you for arriving so quickly. As always, you're swifter than the wind, Beckham," Amity said, giving the butler a smile of gratitude.

"No thanks is required, Ms. Blight." The butler's shoulders relaxed. So often, he found himself acting stiff and formal inside Blight Manor, but around Amity, the butler found he could breath more easily. Out of all the Blights, Amity was the only family member who treated staff with total decency and respect.