It was another normal day in the land of the Abomination Coven. Flowers dried and withered away, people were still scavenging for shelter and supplies, and the darkened clouds filled the entire skies, blocking the sun from the village.

Some of its people were seen struggling outside while some used their magic to make their abominations creatures work for survival. For years they have done the same thing. Struggling to live, to seek shelter, and to have enough resources to survive.

But even though it was tough for all of them, they all had the same rule along with the other raided covens.

"Lead as a one, work as one, survive as a team."

Ever since the lead coven defeated this clan, they took their remaining resources with them to mark as a warning. Every coven received the same.

The cold morning air now breezed inside the room, sending shivers to go down the teen's spine. She yawned and rolled out of her hammock. She peeked outside the window, seeing nothing but the everyday chaos that occurs in the village.

She smiled and stretched her arms up, yawning at the scene. "Geez, do I have to do everything here myself?"

The teen shrugged, walking towards the exit. There she grabs her specialist bow and the glyph-powered arrows near it.

"I could never survive without you." She chuckled before wearing the quiver-filled arrow around her shoulder.

The teen stepped outside her small hut, it may be falling apart but it was one of the best ones in the village

A girl with curly purple hair and two horns walked past her, holding the spared remains of a bird for their feast. "Good morning, Luz."

The human named "Luz" nodded and waved back. "Morning stranger, you got lucky today, huh?"

She giggled, pointing at the roadkill. The witch laughed and returned the same expression. "Yeah, a bunch of them we're flying near the forest, want some?"

"No need, I'm heading there myself."

"Ah, I see." The girl started, glancing at Luz's bow after. "Hunting again? Careful, other covens hunters might be roaming the same forest."

The human nodded and started to walk away. "Will do, thanks."

Being one of the poorest in the land, the one thing she lacked the most was food. The sighting of animals in any forest began to decrease because of the greediness of other clans.

On the way towards the nearest forest, she saw her fellow abomination members, striving for food. And yet, something else caught her attention.

There she saw the village's most beloved bakery. The owners of it were known as the wealthiest on the abomination track. Even by just selling bread and goods, they made a living out of it.

But the worse thing was they charged their fellow "abominatians" If you don't have any snails on you, they'll watch you suffer or even die of hunger and they won't care.

"Titans, they're disgusting." Luz scoffed as she walked past the bakery. "I'll rather bet my name with the emperor's coven than buy their precious bread"

After a few steps into the path, Luz finally reached the forest. There she took hold of her bow and silently made her way behind a bush.

Doing this every day for the past 3 years made her instincts grow better. Even the smallest sound will get her attention.

She grabbed a fire-glyph arrow on her back and placed it on her bow, steadying her hand for an incoming hostile nearby.

She closed her right eye and focused. "I know it's here." She smirked.

Moments later, a deer suddenly jumped across a branch, leading her to be in Luz's peripheral, marking it as easy prey.

"Oh, wow, you're a big one." The human licked her licks and pulled her arrow towards her, steadying the nerves before she misses her shot.

But before Luz could even let go of the arrow, a loud snap was heard in the distance, causing the deer to scatter in fear.

Luz on the other hand quickly reacted to the sound, instead of shooting the deer when she had the chance, she immediately redirected her aim into the direction of the sound.

"Who's there? You just made my breakfast go away, idiot!" She growled out of rage.

Footsteps were closing in on her, making her defensive stance trigger. But when Luz heard the familiar laugh, she lowered her bow and face-palmed herself.

"Oh for the love of Titan." She sighed, placing her arrow back to her quiver. "Get out here, King! You just scared the hell out of that deer, aka. my breakfast!"

Once the name was mentioned, a small demon stepped out of the bushes. Clapping his paws to surprise his friend

"Oh dang, did I scare you?" he victoriously laughed. "Relax, Luz. It's just me! You're favorite shoulder demon."

The human giggled and sat down, opening her arms to make King run up to her. He climbed up to her shoulder and patted the teen's hair.

"Sorry, I just thought it would be funny if I'll scare you." He paused and looked where the deer once walked by. "And not your food, sorry."

"Awh." Luz grabbed the demon-like dog and patted him. "Don't worry little buddy, it's gone now so there's nothing we can do."

The human smiled and placed her forehead on her demon friend. "But you know how hard it is to find more food, right? You know, since we're sharing the forest with the "Potions track." They most likely overtook this territory now"

King crossed his arms. "It's not fair! This forest is more marked to our coven. How about we burn down theirs for revenge and-"

"No, King. Attacking them will only make it worse. Besides, we already made peace with them."

"But why are they-"

"No, "buts" We can't blame them," Luz admitted, sounding defeated. "Even if we confront them about it, they'll start another war. You know who their leader is, right?"

"I can't say I know her but I heard she's a huge jerk." King sat down beside his friend. "Pink hair, three eyes, coven leader. Yeah, I heard of her"

Luz stood up. "She may be a feared witch but her clan won the last two "Coven clash games" Imagine if she herself competed in the games, we don't want to mess with her"

"Yeah." King followed. "She probably doesn't have the heart to spare someone. Anyways, you hungry?"

The human arched an eyebrow at his small demon friend. "Obviously. But you scared away that deer."

King laughed and picked up a rock. "Watch this." He smiled before throwing it over a bush in the distance.

And there a swarm of birds flew out when the rock hit. "Go!" King yelled in excitement as he watched the bird fly away from the threat.

With Luz's quick instincts, she quickly took hold of another arrow and aimed at the bird. She releases a fire-glyph arrow and shot one straight in its eyes, sending it down to the ground.

"Still got it." The teen gave her friend a quick high-fiver before rushing towards the fallen animal. She picked it up and removed the arrow from its eye to stop the fire from spreading.

King happily jumped beside her. "Nice aim, right in the eye as always!" He started. "But why did you used a fire arrow, wouldn't that just set the bird on fire."

"I wanted to burn off its wings before it could fly away with the rest but I guess my shot aim was accurate enough to get it in its eyes."

"You're one true marksman, I say." The King of Demons giggled before placing the bird carcass into Luz's bag. "Here's your breakfast! It's not big as a deer but I hope it's enough."

"It is, thanks, King." Luz patted his head before walking back to the path back to the village. Then suddenly, her friend stopped her.

"Hey, wait!"

The hunter stopped walking. "Huh, what is it, buddy?" She turned around and followed the demon run into the deeper parts of the forest."

"H-hey! Where are you going?"

"There's something I wanna show you, follow me!"

"Wait, there may be hunters nearby!" Luz worriedly yelled out as she slowly catches up with her friend.

After a few seconds of running, they suddenly lost track of the path to the village. Luz stopped running and looked around her surroundings.

"King, where are you?" She shouted, preparing to ready her bow.

But when she saw her friend jump through a bush, she followed him. Once she removed all the leaves in the way, her eyes widened as a magnificent view of the land's only waterfall flowed in front of her.

Not only that, but she also saw the borders of other covens in the distance. A flag of the Bard coven was raised, declaring that they have begun the opening ceremony for the upcoming games.

Few flowers were seen blossoming near the cliff's edge, and the trees surrounding the sides looked healthy unlike the others back at the trail.

Luz rubbed her eyes, thinking if this was somehow a dream.

"W-wow..."

She gasped in amazement, she glanced around the sight as she realized King has brought her to the end of the Abomination clan's territory.

On the other hand, King sat there, watching the water splash below the cliff. The human smiled and sat beside him.

"I haven't seen this part of the forest, how'd you find it?"

"I've been exploring for dead carcasses yesterday and I saw this." He added as he slowly removed a rock in front of him, revealing a secret compartment filled with bread. "And of course, I wanted to keep this spot for myself... and you."

"Want some?" He added, handing Luz half a bread.

Luz's eyes widened. "H-how did you get this? Is it legit?!" She asked in shock. "Did you steal from the Blights again?"

"No way, those witches are brutal, they'll kick me out whenever I try to sneak in into their shop."

"Then that means." Luz's tone suddenly changed after realization. "You placed a bet with the Emperor's coven?"

The demon nodded. "Yeah, I placed another raffle with my name on it. Now, my chances of getting picked for the clash just increased. "

The teen's smile faded. "Awh, King..." She pulled her friend into a hug. "You d-don't have to do that, it's basically suicide. You know I can get you some more food, right?"

"I don't want to burden you, Luz. You have been so strong and fierce all these years that you managed to live on your own. I on the other hand just depend on other people like you to help me survive"

"Hey, it's okay, dude. I'm just happy that I have you, alright?" His friend weakly smiled and pulled him into her arms

"How many times did they write your name?"

"32 times. My name will get picked later, any bets?"

Luz leaned on a tree behind her. "No, trust me. Out of the 80 people in our coven, there's a chance you'll be safe."

"Heh, thanks, Luz." King snuggled in closer to Luz, walking around on the grass to find a comfortable spot for him to lay on after.

But once the two began to doze off, both of them were awakened when they heard a loud trumpet play in their base.

"Oh sh-" Luz's eyes widened, showing fear and unawareness from what's happening.

Not long after the first trumpet call, another one played from another coven. The other clans followed the same movements as they raise their flags with their coven's symbol.

Luz and King looked at each other, nodding at the same time when they realize the situation at hand.

The human took a few steps back and looked up. A smirk formed on her face when she saw their own flag being raise back at the village.

"King, do you know what time it is?"

The cute demon ran up to Luz and claimed up to her shoulder. "Yeah, we better get back to the village before they finish roll call."

Luz smiled and grabbed her bow, taking one final look at the beautiful view behind her as it may be her last time seeing it after the ceremony.

She faced back in the direction through the forest, still presenting her forced confident smile to hide her true fear from showing.

"Let the games begin."