Azara groaned as she walked through the front door. She was covered in mud, feathers, twigs and dirt. Her hair was a mess and all over the place, as her ponytail was becoming undone, hanging down from her face. She shivered in disgust feeling the cold mud slid down from her arms and legs.
"I'm never cleaning Hooty, again." She cringed from the memory.
It was dead early in the morning, the sun was about to rise. I'm front of the owl house, Azara was holding a cloth in her hand. She was trying to clean up the owl beast, but Hooty was making it difficult. He laughed as he rolled himself in the mud and splashed some on Azara as she tried to catch him.
"Hooty, stop!" She shouted.
Eventually, she managed to grab him, but Hooty quickly extended his long neck, rocketing Azara into the air, failing her about like a rag doll. She screamed as she tried to hold on while Hooty smashed through trees, baffled into bushes, then back to rolling in the mud again.
Hooty smiled as he hovered over Azara's shoulder looking at her. "That was fun!"
"NO! There was nothing fun about that!" She shouted, pushing his face away from her. "You deranged bird worm!"
Then Azara smelled an irresistable aroma that made her stomach growl. She hadn't eaten anything since yesterday when she came to this world. She was starving! Her stomach let out a growl. She walked into the kitchen, while Eda was busy looking at her phone. On the stove was a pot that Eda was cooking for breakfast. Inside was some kind of strange stew. It had a yellow liquid to it, and a little chunky, and also it looked like there was something swimming in it.
"So hungry," Azara said as she picked up a spoon and dipped it into the pot, scooping up a bit of the stew. "Ooh, It guess one bite wouldn't hurt." She brought the spoon to her mouth, while Eda walked in.
"Kid, what are you doing in here?" Her eyes widen and gasped when she saw Azara was near the stove. She quickly ran over to her. "Spit that out! Your human body can't handle our type of food." Eda shouted. "It's poisonous!" Azara turned to Eda with the spoon still in her mouth, with wide eyes. It was too late. She had already swallowed some.
"Uh, too late." She smiled, nervously. Eda walked over to her placing her hands on Azara's shoulders with a worried look in her.eyes.
"How do you feel?" She asked. "Nauseous? Any indigestion?" Azara stared at Eda, confused.
"I feel fine," she told her as she tried to reassure her. Eda frowned, staring at Azara with a suspicious look. The first time Luz tried to eat food from this world, she puked her guts out for a couple of days. Her stomach couldn't handle their food. So it was hard to find something in this world that she could eat and something that didn't disgust her or had a face on it. Eda stared at Azara with more confusion. So, how could this human can?
"Hey, it's that witch from before!" Eda snapped out of her thoughts to see Azara pointing at her phone that had Raine's initiation video on it.
"You know, Raine?" Eda asked, surprised.
"Yeah, I ran into them on my way back here. They were very nice," She told her. "Kind of a dork, but nice."
"Yes, they are." Eda smiled, her cheeks turning a little red. Azara noticed that Eda was acting strangely, well stranger, than her usual self. Did she like or know this person before?
"Eda, are you blushing? Do you know them?" Azara asked in a teasing tone of voice. Eda's eyes widened.
"No! And that's none of your business," Eda told her. "Come on, we got to get you some outfits to help fit in more around here."
"Shopping!" Azara exclaimed, and squealed excitedly. "Am I going to get a witch's cloak, too?!"
"Yeah, and maybe some shoes while we're at it," Eda teased.
"No thanks," Azara replied, frowned with her arms crossed. "Too uncomfortable."
Then Luz and King walked in as they came in from the front door. Eda and Azara walked back into the living room to see them come in, taking a seat on the couch. Luz was holding her backpack away from her, cringing in disgust, as she walked past Eda and Azara, with King following behind her.
"What happened to you?" Azara asked.
"King got a little sick." Luz told her.
"We were practicing for the race!" King explained.
"Race?" Azara asked, interested. King ran over to her and Eda holding up a pamphlet, showing it to them.
"It's the Gland Pre!" Luz explained. "Hexside, Glandus and St. Epiderm students race to win glory, honor and-"
"Fame! And the winners also get an interview with the Boiling Isles news. Do you realize what this means?!" King interrupted Luz asking Eda and Azara.
"We're going to enter the competition to get King on camera to send a message to his dad!" Luz told them.
"Oh, that's great," Eda replied, smiling. She looked happy, but from the tone of her she also sounded sad. Azara turned to her, confused, but didn't say anything. She then looked back at Luz and King.
"Um, do you think that I can try out, too?" Azara asked. Eda, Luz, and King's widen in surprise.
"Kid, you don't have any flying experience," Eda chuckled. "And, it get be a little too competitive. You could get hurt."
"But, I want to try! I'm a really fast learner," Azara insisted. "I know that I can do it. Please!"
"Eda, I think she's going to do it, no matter what we say to her." Luz told her mentor. "I think that we should let her try." Eda smiled and looked back at Azara.
"Kid, your cute. But, strange," Eda laughed. "I'll give you the basics on flying on our way to the town as we shop." King looked at Eda. He looked like he had something really important to tell her.
"Eda there's something that I need to talk with you about," he started. " I think that it's time for me to leave-"
"LEAVE the talking for later!" Eda quickly interrupted, getting up from the couch. "If you want to win, there's no time to talk. You got to go practice, now!"
"But, Eda-!" Eda grabbed Azara by her arm, and dragged her towards the door.
"Gotta go! BYYYEEEE!" Eda shouted as she slammed the door behind her, leaving Luz and King with very confused looks on their faces.
In the town Eda had taken Azara into a clothes shop. So she could try on some clothes and pick out a cloak that she liked. Azara stepped out, wearing a light blue tunic and black pants. Wrapped around her was a dark red cloak.
"Eda, what do you think?" Azara asked. She received no response. "Eda?" She turned her head to see Eda looking out the window with a dazed look on her face. Azara frowned in concern and walked over to her. She waved her hand in front of Eda's face, to get her attention.
"Eda, you've been acting strangely. Is there something bothering you?" Azara asked. Eda sighed and was about to answer when she stopped when she saw something. Azara frowned and turned to her direction to see a witch struggling against two guards as they tried to drag her with them.
"Hey, get off!" she shouted.
"Don't fret, citizens. We are helping this wild witch find her place in society!" one of the guards announced.
"No, I don't want to join a coven," the witch shouted as she tried to get away from the guards. But, they had her tight in their grips. "Let me go!"
"Eda?" Azara asked her unsure. Eda growled and stormed over to the guards, while Azara followed behind her.
"Let her go!" Eda shouted.
"Back off, owl lady!" One of the guards barked.
"No coven wants a powerless witch!" Another one laughed. Azara looked at them confused.
"What do you mean powerless?" she asked. The two guards laughed and looked at her. "She got herself cursed by wild magic. There's a beast dwelling inside of her that takes control of her magic and transforms her into a giant owl. Hence, why she is called the owl lady." Suddenly, Eda punched him right in the face. The crowd "ooohed" started to gather around.
"How's that for powerless?!" Eda smirked. Suddenly, a violin began to play and everyone turned to see a group wearing bat masks, standing near a statue. Azara noticed that the leader had green hair that looked familiar and Eda noticed them too.
"Look at the emperor's lackeys, trying to uh,...Do I really have to say this?" They asked, embarrassed.
"We all agreed on the script," one of the members told them.
"Trying to mute the music of our hearts?" The leader groaned as he cringed in embarrassment. "Ugh!"
"And weaken magic by forcing witches into covens against their wills!" Another member shouted pointing at the emperor's guards.
"Blasphemy!" One of the guards shouted.
"Blasphem-YOU!" The rogue leader yelled back.
"See? You're a natural." a member told them, smiling.
"That's right, Bonesborough," the leader told the crowd as more people started to gather around. "They take your magic." They plucked a string from their violin. Red magic appeared underneath the two guards legs, and began making them dance. Azara's eyes widen in realization, knowing who it was. It was Raine! "They restrict your knowledge." They plucked another string. " They say they do it in the name of unity. But, what they really want is control! You know what we say to that, folks?" They plucked another string, and the guards began to walk away against their wills. "Shove off!"
"Who are you heroes?" a small creature child with a big nose asked.
"We are the Bards Against The Throne, aka,-"
"Surrounded!" A guard declared. More guards had shown up as they were summoned by the others.
"Psst!" The bat leader looked down to see Eda below him as she lifted up the sewer lid. They motioned one of the members as the guards began to inch closer. The member blew a huge red cloud of smoke from their horn.
As the smoke disappeared, the guards saw that the group had vanished.
"End of the line, folks!" Eda said, as she pulled away a loose pipe. Everyone hopped out from the sewer tunnels, one by one. "Word of advice, next time you put on a performance like that, make sure that you have an exit strategy."
"Thank you! How can we ever repay you?!" one of the bat members asked.
"You could let me join your little team?" Eda smiled mischievously. The other two members had stared at her with unsure looks on their faces.
"Hey, I may not have magic. But, I am an agent of chaos!" Eda insisted. The leader jumped down from the tunnel in front of Eda.
"Sorry, we're not accepting new members," they replied.
"Is that anyway to greet an old friend," Eda smirked and flipped the leader's bat mask off his face. "Raine Whispers."
"So, the head witch of the bard coven likes pretending to be a rebel," She snickered. "Too bad they're not very good at it."
"Eda! You're embarrassing me!" Raine blushed.
"Hi, Raine!" Azara waved. Raine smiled, seeing her.
"You're the little songbird from earlier," they said. "I've never thought that you were with Eda."
The bat members watched in confusion.
"It's alright everyone the owl lady is an old friend," Raine them.
"Nice to see you again!"
"Is she going to join our group?"
"She doesn't seem like a good fit to me. "
"Actually, she's the who inspire me to make the group!" Raine told them. Eda's eyes widened in shock.
"Huh?!"
"It was a while ago," Raine smiled as they blushed a little. "You remember, THAT day. Something about giving an whack to peoples faces."
Eda blushed a little. Azara smiled when she noticed it. Raine continued as they spoke.
"I thought that you were just joking around. I only learned what it meant when I started teaching for the bard coven. The emperor prioritizes recruitment through force and anyone who refused to fall in line, disappeared. Well, I wasn't going to stand for that! So, I took matters into my own hands, I carefully moved up from the ranks, and I found people who wanted to change things, like me. And that's when we formed the Bards Against the Throne, aka, The BATT's!"
Suddenly, everyone heard a guard coming closer above them. Raine quietly told the others to move then turned to Eda.
"Hey, if you've got nothing to lose we could use the help," They asked holding out their hand to her. Eda blushed, taking it.
As the group arrive at the School race, Azara saw a small boy with brown skin, black hair wearing a blue uniform and cloak. Next to him, was a girl with pale skin, wearing round glasses, short green curly hair and wearing a green uniform and cloak.
"Azara, meet Guz and Willow!" Luz introduced her to them. "Guz, Willow meet Azara. She will be attending here at Hexside!"
"Wow, another human!" Guz exclaimed.
"Nice to meet you!" Willow smiled.
"Same here." Azara smiled and asked the two. "So what's the goal of the race?"
"You got to be faster than the other racers, go around the big ring and make it back here," Willow explained to her. Azara nodded, understanding.
"Sounds easy enough," she replied. Then she noticed that Luz was looking around as if she was looking for someone.
"Luz? Who are you looking for?" Azara asked.
"Probably Amity I bet." Willow teased, smirking. Liz's eyes widened. Her cheeks turned best red, blushing, embarrassed.
"No, I wasn't!" She exclaimed.
"Who's Amity?" Azara asked.
"She's Luz's girlfriend!" Guz told her.
"No, she's not!" Luz whined. She looked like she was dying in embarrassment. "Why would you say that out loud!?"
"Hey, Bumpty," Eda asked the head principal. "Can you allow Azara to borrow your staff for the race?"
"It is against the rules to allow in an late entry as well as no palisman," he replied.
"Don't let her face fool you, Bumpty," Eda smiled. "She has potential of a witch."
"Very well," Bump hesitantly agreed, handing Azara his staff. "But, you better not break it!" Azara smiled and nodded nervously.
"You got this kiddos!" Eda cheered at Luz and her as she headed over to the stands with the crowd.
"If you think that you're going to win," one of the glandus students replied. "then you've got another thing coming, humans." Luz frowned and blew her tongue at them. Azara smirked.
"Well, I'm pretty sure that this human is going to prove you wrong," she taunted them. Some of the students and crowd oohed while the glandus student glared at Azara. Everyone got onto their staffs, Luz using Owlbert while King was riding on front, Azara was next to her on Bump's staff.
Eda got an notification on her phone and looked down. She frowned.
"Not now,..." she murmured, looking at her phone then back to the race.
The race started as soon as the signal was given and all flyers took off with Azara trailing behind them. She struggled to gain control of Bump's staff as she flew straight. She went higher, higher and higher into the air, now above the other students and Luz as they tried to make it to the big round ring. Azara felt an rush of adrenaline as she felt the wind blowing in her hair. She couldn't explain it and she didn't know why but she was born to do this! she leaned back on the staff and flipped backwards in midair as she closed her eyes. Azara smirked and opened her eyes and darted down, zooming past, through some of the other students until she was right behind Luz and the glandus student.
Luz used a plant glyph to whip around the ring and slingshot herself, getting a head start. The glandus student went around the ring, along with Azara as well, as they followed after Luz.
"Luz, I think I'm gonna-" King groaned. Luz's eyes widen. "King, no! King!" King puked, making Luz lose her balance on Owlbert, falling.
"Luz!" Azara shouted, stopping.
"No! Keep going!" Luz shouted. "I'll catch up!" Azara nodded and continued ahead, chasing after the glandus student. It was her, then it was the glandus student, then the two were neck and neck.
The crowd went silent. No one said a word as they all had shocked and surprised looks on their faces. The winner was Azara! The crowd cheered as they stood up from their seats in a loud uproar. Eda stood up from cheering. Luz came in with King who still looked a little bit sick.
"You did it," she smiled and cheered. "You won!"
A camera floated in front of Azara. King hopped onto her shoulder, looking at it.
"Hi Dad, if you're out there watching this i uh, like to intro myself. I like cheesy foods and conquering kingdoms though I haven't conquered any of my own, yet. But, maybe you have, and we can compare notes! I'd love to meet you. We could do parent/kid stuff, toss some ball, burn some cookies, catch me going on some weird websites or something? Also I found this symbol in the tower that I hatched in. Maybe, you could teach me to read it? I live with my two favorite humans and a cranky old witch."
"Hey!"
"But, cranky or not, she's the one who raised me. Which is why I am...legally changing my name to King Clawthorne!" He announced happily holding up the papers. "Surprise, Eda! Now we're connected for life and there's nothing that you can do about it! " Eda's eyes widen in shock.
"What?" She her mouth dropped in shock. "Is that what you were trying to tell me this whole time!?"
"And, if you sign here, it'll be official!" Luz told her, holding out a pen. Eda cried and took it and happily signed the papers.
Eda smiled as she watched Luz and King cheering with Azara. Then frowned as a sad and an angry look appeared in her eyes. Raine had been captured by the Emperor's coven.
She remembered their final warning as it haunted her memory. She cried as Raine told her, while she tried to save them, from being pulled away by the abomination coven leader. But, Raine saved her as they let go of her hand so she wouldn't get captured as well.
"The Emperor is planning on something called the Day of Unity. Watch yourselves..."
Soon, the news began to spread all over all throughout the land as everyone watched. A strange creature that looked like King but with wings had a surprised and hopeful look on his face. However, the news didn't stop as it had spread to the emperor's coven as well. Hunter was training in the training room as he was trying to do some sit ups on the bar when two guards walked in holding their phones.
"Hey, did you see that a human won the race at Hexside," one of them laughed.
Human? Hunter frowned and looked to see Azara with King on her shoulder waving at the camera. Her?! His eyes widen and his legs slipped from the bars as he lost his balance, falling face first onto the floor. The two guards walked away, not noticing Hunter had fell, leaving him on the floor as they left. Emperor Belos was sitting on the throne hearing the news from the guards as their voices echoed through the hallways.
"She's getting stronger," He replied and let out an evil chuckle, and glowing blue eyes illuminated through his mask.