Escape // Lumity

Chapter 9: The Skull

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"Hecate brandished the sword on the ground, and in one fell swoop, she sliced the Guardian's foul offspring in half – determined to keep herself alive," I narrated, my brows furrowed in concentration as I stood on edge. "With this act, however, the cave of which they were standing in began to quake. An ear-splitting screech entered the ears of the two witches. They had done it now. The Guardian had awakened."

"Hecate!" Luz continued in her best Azura voice. "Take your golden sphere quickly. We have to make it out before the cave collapses!"

I quickly catch on, "Hecate did as told, swiping her golden sphere from the pedestal. Her staff had gone far too long without it. She feared it would lose its magical value if it had gone even longer." I switched to my Hecate voice. "I've got it! She called, to which Azura nodded at. Let's get out of here!"

"With no time left to spare, the witches hopped on Azura's white, trusted staff," Luz kept up, too immersed in the universe. "They swerved, and turned, and twisted across the tight, confined cave, avoiding falling debris in an attempt to make it out alive. Before they could even see the opening end, the screeches had amplified. Behind them, the Guardian rapidly pursued the two as though they were moving targets, livid, and in grief for its fallen child. Oh no!" Luz closed the book, which made me look up at her in worry. She covered her mouth as she held it up, her eyes showcasing distress. She looks at me anxiously. "Are they going to make it out alive?"

I stifle a laugh. "Luz, I thought you already finished reading book 5."

"I have, but it still feels like I'm reading it the first time." She brings the book down and shows me her arm. "Look, I'm still getting goosebumps from the thrill. The Good Witch Azura is too good!"

"In that case, we must continue reading, Luzura! Will they outrun the menacing Guardian or will they fall to their demise?"

"Right!" With a determined look, she opens the book. "Azura searched her brain for a plan, a definitive strategy for an escape. She couldn't let herself and Hecate die now – not after they had just become friends." Luz paused, now frowning. "But alas, all she could do at the moment was guide her staff so as to avoid crashing against the massive rocks of the chamber. She couldn't help but feel helpless."

"Azura," I called. As Hecate, of course. "I think... I might have a way to get us out of this mess."

"What is it?"

"You'd have to trust me on this one."

"Azura had trouble obliging her suggestion. She hadn't been the most trustworthy in all the years they encountered each other, but what other choice did they have?" Luz turned the page. "Hecate, the good witch called. I trust you."

"Without warning, the rival turned friend jumped from the staff and into the Guardian's mouth–"

"Hecate, NO!"

I tried not to break my focus when Luz screams that – it wasn't even in the book. "Azura fought her instincts to go and rescue her, but it was proving to be difficult the more the seconds passed. She couldn't stomach the thought of Hecate dying, but the cave's exit appeared in her field of vision, and she knew it was a chance to escape. What was it that her partner planned? Why did she throw herself in the heart of the beast?"

With a shaky breath, Luz continues, "suddenly, a flash of light appeared from inside the Guardian. A golden color – one that resembled the hue of Hecate's magic, such as the color of the sphere on her staff." She gasps, stars slowly forming in her eyes. I couldn't help but smile at her reaction. "The Guardian shrieks in agony, bits and flares of blinding light slowly overtaking its body. In a show of luminosity, the enemy's vessel slowly dispels, as it was made of the darkness of the trespassers it had eaten beforehand. Hecate emerges from the radiance. Azura stared awestruck at the magnificence of her once rival, and without further hesitance, she caught her in her arms, unwilling to let her fall along with their current enemy."