Chapter 6: He Was Kind of Thrown Down a Well

Once Stiles dropped me off at my house, I immediately ran towards my room, to try to find the spell Deaton had given me a while back. He originally gave it to me so I could practice, casting spells. But I thought it might work to find the last cipher key if all else failed. I rifled through a pile of papers on my desk until I pulled out an old piece of parchment. "A spell to reveal hidden things" was written at the top of the page. Although it wasn't very specific, and I had never successfully performed it, I figured it was worth a try. I grabbed it and put it in my bag before going to the garage; I quickly texted Stiles that I would meet him back at the sheriff's station when they were done. But then I got a call. I looked at my phone and saw it was Deaton; I quickly answered, knowing that something must have happened for him to call me.

"Hello," I said, answering the phone. "Amaya, it's Deaton. Scott got attacked by Kate and the Berserkers. Chris found him and is bringing him to the clinic, but we may need your help," Deaton said. "Okay, I'm on my way," I said and hung up. I hopped on my bike, started it up, opened the garage door, and started towards the clinic.

"I'm here!" I exclaimed as I ran through the back door. "Is he okay?" I asked, walking over to the table, and looking at Scott's unconscious body. "He will be after we remove this," Deaton said, pointing to the Berserker claw sticking out of Scott's abdomen.

Right as Deaton said that Scott's eyes opened. "Hey there," Deaton said softly. "I was actually hoping you would be out for a few more minutes," he continued. "Scott, this is going to hurt," Chris said as he walked over to Scott and then looked over at me. I put out my hand over the claw, and they glowed silver. A howl echoed through the clinic as I pulled the claw out of him. "Are you all right?" I asked as Chris helped him off the table. He groaned and nodded.

"Where's my dad and the Sheriff?" he asked after a moment. "There at the hospital. They're both doing fine." Deaton answered him. "It was Kate, it was her and the Berserkers," Scott said, "We know," Chris told him. "But they move fast, and they don't leave much in the way of tracks." He added. "We have to find her. She's got, Violet. I think Violet knows where Liam is." Scott said.

"Wait, what happened to Liam?" I asked. "Garett took Liam so I would help him get Violet out of custody. But then Kate attacked us. She killed Garett and took Violet." Scott replied; I just stood there for a moment, taking in what he said.

"Then, as much as this hurt, it could probably also help. Can you get a sent?" Deaton said, holding the claw up for Scott. He quickly tied but shook his head.

"Maybe I can help," I said, and Scott looked at me, surprised. "You'll need this then," Deaton said, handing me the claw before walking out of the room only to return moments later with a map of the city. Scott just looked confused, but I had a feeling Chris knew what I was doing. I laid the map out on the table and hacked off a piece of the claw.

Once I was done, I handed the claw back to Deaton. Then I took the small piece and placed it in the middle of the map. I closed my eyes and focused on everything I had on the claw piece, whispering a phrase Deaton had taught me in Latin.

Scott watched as the piece of the Berserker claw glowed silver and began to rise off the map. And after repeating the chant for the third time I opened my eyes. Suddenly, the piece of claw shot to the left and dropped onto the map.

"That's where you want to go," Deaton said. Scott looked up at me, my eyes glowed a bright silver, only for a second before I blinked, and they went back to their normal blue. "Good job," Chris said, "Now let's go," he added. "Thank you," Scott said looking over at me. "Always," I replied with a smile. Scott nodded before he and Chris rushed out the door.

"Oh God," I whispered as I felt my heart begin to beat faster. What if they didn't make it in time, what if Liam died? He was just a kid, he didn't deserve to get caught up in all of this.

"Are you okay?" I heard Deaton ask; I didn't realize it until I looked down at my hands, they were giving off a slight glow. I quickly tried to calm myself. I closed my eyes and took a few deep breaths, repeating the lyrics to my favorite song in my head as I did. When I opened my eyes and looked back down at my hands the glow was gone. "I'm okay," I said softly looking up at Deaton.

I walked over to my bag and pulled out the spell I believed could help me learn the cipher key. "I need the supplies to perform this spell; I think I can use it to find the last cipher key," I said handing the spell to him. "Are you sure this spell takes a lot of power, and you've never done it successfully," Deaton warned. "I have to. I need to do something!" I yelled, immediately regretting it. I looked at Deaton apologetically, "Sorry," I muttered.

Deaton just nodded at me before gabbing some things and putting them on the table. He explained the process of what I needed to do, even though I had heard it before. I had tried this spell one other time and failed. But my hope was this time, I could get it to work. I had to get it to work.

"Now focus on what you want to know," Deaton instructed once I had mixed the ingredients together in a bowl. I nodded and held my hand over the bowl, soon it was letting off its normal silver glow. My head began to fill with thoughts of my friends, Liam was in danger, Scott had gotten hurt, and people were being hunted. But I quickly tried to push those thoughts aside and focus on one thing that was important right now. The last cipher key.

I poured every ounce of energy I had into the bowl, focusing everything I had on the cipher key. Then all of a sudden, smoke puffed up out of the bowl, but I could see something in it; there was something there, an image in the smoke. It was a symbol; I had seen it before, but where? Slowly the image began to fade, and then it disappeared. I turned off my magic and took a step back, my legs wobbled beneath me, and I placed my hand on the wall to hold myself up.

"What did you see, Amaya?" Deaton asked, rushing over to me. "I don't know; it was just a symbol, I've seen it before, but I don't know where," I said, shaking my head. And then I remembered where I had seen it. Derek, it was Derek's tattoo. But why would Derek's name be the key?

Stiles POV

After failing to get any answers from Meredith, I had driven Lydia back to my house. Now I was pacing back and forth in my room as Lydia sat at her laptop. I had texted Amaya a while ago to see if whatever her idea was had worked, but she hadn't answered yet.

"Okay, well, we know one thing. Both of the first two keys, Allison and Aiden, they're both names of the dead. Right?" I said to Lydia. "But we've already tried every other dead person's name we could think of. And if you haven't noticed, there were a lot of tries." Lydia said. "Yeah, I noticed," I snapped.

I let out a sigh and looked over at her; I could tell she was worried, "You okay?" I asked softly. "The only other banshee I've met. And I think I might have just drove her over the edge." Lydia answered me.

"Lydia, it wasn't your fault. I was there too," I said, trying to make her feel better. "And you are probably not the only one," I said before my phone began to ring. It was Amaya.

"Hello?" I said, answering the phone. "I know. I know the name for the last key." I heard Amaya say over the phone. "Banshees predict death. The last key is someone who isn't dead," she continued.

"Stiles, if I'm right. It's Derek," she whispered. "Are you sure?" I asked, unsure of how to process what she had just told me. "I'm sure," she replied. "Okay. Thanks," I said and then hung up. It was Derek. Derek was going to die.

"What did she say?" Lydia asked me. "Banshees predict death. The last key is someone who isn't dead," I said repeating what Amaya said to me. "But will be," Lydia said, finishing my thought.

"Amaya says it's Derek," I said. Lydia looked at me in shock. "Is she sure?" Lydia questioned. "She sure," I replied. Lydia nodded and placed her hands on the keyboard, I watched over her shoulder as she slowly typed in the letters. I held my breath as she hit enter, and the third part of the list began to appear.

Amaya POV

A few minutes later I received a text from Stiles, it had worked, we had the last part of the Dead pool. I looked at the message from Stiles and sighed, but then another message popped up.

My breath caught in my throat as I read it. "What's wrong? I heard Deaton ask, but his voice seemed far away. I slammed my hands down on the table, staring down at the map that was still laid out. I have to find him; he's going to die, he's going to die. The words kept repeating in my head. Anger ran through my body; it was my fault; I should have been there to protect him.

I squeezed my eyes closed, and then all of a sudden, I felt a rush of energy. My eyes snapped open, and I saw something, it was a faint glow, but I recognized it. It was Liam's energy, his aura; I could see a faint trail of his energy. "I know where he is!" I yelled as I stood up and ran out the door.

Deaton POV

I watched as Amaya ran out the door with no explanation. Honestly, I had gotten used to people doing that. Besides, I had a feeling I knew what she had done; she had found a way to use her ability to see people's aura to track Liam's aura. I smiled, but then my eyes landed on the table where Amaya's hands had been. There, on the table around where her hands had rested, were two handprints outlined by ice.

There was something that I had discovered when Amaya first came to me for help with her powers. I knew she was a witch as soon as I saw her powers. There weren't many differences between witches and Druids, other than the fact that witches could produce power in a way Druids couldn't. Witches sometimes were even chosen as emissaries just like Druids. However, I found it interesting that her abilities didn't start manifesting until she was ten. Typically, a witch's power awakens when they are about five and grows with their body as they get stronger and learn.

But Amaya was different; having one's magic awaken so late was unheard of unless someone put a seal on it. My suspicions were confirmed when I saw the mark on the back of Amaya's neck, it was hidden in the hairline, but it was a seal mark. A four-ring seal, to be exact, and one of the rings was broken.

Amaya's outburst of emotions when she was eleven had broken the first seal, releasing some of her magic powers. This was most likely why she only had the ability to use telekinesis and see auras because most of her magic was still sealed away. She wasn't whole. I had always assumed that if the other three rings of her seal were broken, her true power would emerge.

See most witches only pose magic to cast spells. However, there are some who possess the ability to cast spells and summon power from within themselves; these powerful witches are known as wild witches. And often these witches are born with a special ability, like Amaya's ability to see auras, and her telekinesis. However, those things were only pieces of Amaya's true magical ability.

But there is a danger to Amaya's powers being sealed away. Like I said before, normally a witch's power grows with her body. However, most of Amaya's power has been sealed away her whole life. And if she was to ever break the other three rings of the seal, her body would be flooded with power it was not prepared for. And it could destroy her. But as long as she maintained control of her emotions, and slowly broke down the seals little by little, she would be safe.

Amaya POV

I hopped on my bike and began to follow the faint golden glow. It led me to the forest and down an old logging road; slowly getting brighter as I got closer.

All of a sudden, I saw Scott up ahead. "What are you doing here?" I asked once I reached him. "I heard him howl," Scott answered. "You?" he asked. "I can see his energy, it's like a trail, like following a sent. I don't know how, but I can see it," I explained. "That's why your eyes are glowing," Scott yelled as I started up a hill. Liam's aura was its normal brightness now, he was close, but it was almost like the glow was coming from the ground.

"Over there," I pointed, as my eyes landed on an old well further up the hill. Scott raced towards it and I followed after him. As I reached the well, I saw him pulling Liam out. Liam was shivering and he sat down on the edge of the well. His eyes drifted up to look at Scott and then at me. "You're okay, Liam," Scott said, as he knelt down and engulfed him in a huge hug. I let out a sigh, "Thank God," I whispered as I collapsed on the ground the glow of my eyes fading.

"Are you okay?" Scott asked me, still holding onto Liam; I nodded as I pulled myself up next to Liam. "I just used way more power than I ever have. I'm not sure how I did what I did," I said. "I'm just glad you're okay," I said to Liam who looked over at me and nodded as Scott let go of him. We just sat there for a moment catching our breath. Liam rested his head on my shoulder, as he did I noticed his body begin to shake harder.

"He still as yellow wolfsbane in his blood!" I yelled at Scott. We both started to panic again, Scott quickly picked Liam up, and we both rushed back down the hill.

"Get him to the clinic. Now!" I instructed. Scott nodded and picked up Liam before disappearing into the trees. I quickly rushed back to my bike and headed for the clinic.

I was at the clinic in a matter of minutes; I ran inside and saw Scott, Chris, and Deaton surrounding Liam's unconscious body. I stood back as Deaton began to cut into him, a yellow cloud of gas escaped from his chest as Deaton cut. It was exactly the same as what happened to Brett. I watched as Liam's jagged breathing began to calm, and I let out a breath I hadn't realized I was holding.

"I don't want to keep watching people die," Scott said as he looked down at Liam. "I'm not sure if you have much of a choice about that," Chris replied. "Maybe I do," Scott muttered, shaking his head. "That's a lot of burden to carry, Scott," Deaton said, "I don't care," Scott replied. "No one else dies. Everyone on that list. Everyone on that dead pool. It doesn't matter if they're wendigos, or werewolves, or witches. I'm going to save everyone." Scott insisted.

"You're not alone," I said as I took a step closer, resting my hand on the table. "No one else dies," I said, looking Scott in the eyes.

A little later after Chris left, Scott got a text from Stiles. "He wants me to meet him at my place," Scott said looking down at his phone. "Go. I'll watch over Liam," I told him. He nodded and thanked me before running out the door.

Now with everyone gone I made my way to the corner of the room and sat down, leaning my head against the wall. I don't know when I fell asleep, but the next thing I knew someone was shaking me awake. I opened my eyes and saw Liam crouched beside me. "Sorry, I must have used too much power and energy," I whispered, propping myself up.

"You should be resting," I said as I looked at the boy. "I'm fine," Liam said as he took my hand and helped me up. We both winced as we took a step forward. "God, if I would have known how much pain it was going to cause me, I might have never saved Scott's ass that night," I whined, and Liam laughed.

"Good your both up," I heard Deaton's voice say, causing me to jump. I turned around and saw him looking at us, a soft smile on his face. "How are you feeling?" Deaton asked, examining Liam. "Better," he answered simply. "Okay then, you are free to go, but be sure to give yourself time to heal," Deaton instructed. "And Amaya you get some rest too okay," he added. I nodded before walking towards the door, Liam followed behind me.

"You want me to take you home?" I asked once we were outside. "I don't want my parents to see me like this," he said softly. "Okay, well, take this and hop on," I said, throwing him my leather jacket as I got on my bike. He hopped on, and then I started it up and drove out of the parking lot. "Where are you taking me?" Liam asked. "Well, you might not want to go home, but I do," I replied.

Just as I pulled into my driveway, it began to rain. Quickly I hopped off my bike, and so did Liam, "Go wait at the front door," I said to Liam, pointing to the cover porch. He nodded and ran over while I drove to the garage and pushed my bike inside.

Once my bike was parked, and the garage door was closed I ran through the house and to the front door. "Hey," I said, opening the door, and Liam shot me a smile before he tried to step into the house, only to be pushed back out by an invisible force. "Oh, shoot, sorry, I forgot about the protection spell. Liam Dumbar, please come in," I said, extending my hand to him. He gave me a weird look before taking my hand and stepping inside; this time, there was no resistance, and he walked into the house.

I closed the door behind him and walked toward the living room. "I put up a protection spell a while ago to keep my mom safe. It keeps everyone out unless they're invited in by one of us," I explained, and he nodded.

"Amaya! Is that you," I heard my mom's voice call out as she came down the stairs. She stepped into the living room, and her eyes landed on Liam. "Amaya. Why is there a half-naked boy in my living room?" she asked me; I looked over at Liam. And he looked down; we both realized at the same time that once he took off the leather jacket I had given him, he was shirtless. I'm not sure why; maybe it was because both of us were exhausted, but I started to laugh and then so did Liam.

I collapsed on the couch, as I laughed. "He was kind of thrown down a well. " I chuckled. My mom looked at me, totally confused. I took a couple of deep breaths trying to compose myself.

"Mom, this is Liam," I said, " Liam, my mother," introducing the two of them. "It's nice to meet you, Mrs. Blair," Liam said as he walked over to us. "It's nice to meet you too, Liam." She said, then she looked over at me, "Werewolf?" she whispered. I smiled, looking at Liam, who I knew heard her, "Yes," Liam answered, and my mom looked at him and smiled. "Witch?" he asked, looking at my mom. "No, that's just Amaya," my mom said with a laugh.

"How about I get you some fresh clothes," my mom said after a moment. "That would be great," Liam said awkwardly. I let out a sigh as my mom disappeared. Slowly I pulled myself off the couch and walked toward the stairs; I heard Liam follow behind me. I reached my bedroom door and opened it, my room was pretty large, but that was the benefit of being an only child.

The bed sat in the corner, my desk sat tucked between the wall and the window which was surrounded by a built-in bookshelf and window bed. A black and white tapestry of the solar system hung above my bed with lights draped across it.

I watched as Liam looked around my room, "You can sit anywhere. But avert your gaze from the closet; it's a mess," I said and watched as Liam sat on the large window bed. I quickly grabbed some clothes out of my closet and walked into my bathroom; I changed into a sweatshirt and some Nike shorts and quickly washed my face. As I stepped out, I saw Liam standing there in sweats and a t-shirt.

"You feel better now that you are not in clothes drenched in well water?" I asked with a smirk. And he nodded, "Still cold though," he admitted, and I nodded before walking over to my closet again. "That's the leftover wolfsbane in your system," I explained, handing him a hoddie. "Thanks," he said, taking it and pulling it on.

"Hey, so I need to go talk to my mom. Because honestly, I'm surprised she didn't completely freak out when she was you, so umm, yeah," I said as I stared towards my door. "Hey, Amaya!" I heard Liam call after me. "Yeah," I said and turned around. "Thank you; I've never really had a friend like you before," he said awkwardly. "Of course," I said with a smile as I walked out of my room.

I walked downstairs and saw my mom sitting at the table. As she looked up at me it took everything I had not to burst into tears.

"One of the assassins hunting people on the dead pool came after Liam. They poisoned him with wolfsbane and then threw him in a well," I said sitting down across from her. "Is he okay?" she asked her voice filled with worry. I nodded, "He just needs rest. But he'll be okay," I answered. "Are you okay?" she asked softer. "Yeah. I'm just tired," I replied. "Everyone safe, that's what matters," I added, and my mom smiled. "Ever since you were little you've always felt the need to protect the people you care about," she said. "Just make sure that you take care of yourself too. I don't want you to lose yourself in this fight." She continued. "I know," I whispered.

The room fell silent for a few moments before I spoke again. "Liam's going to stay here. His parents don't know anything. And he didn't want them to see him like this," I told her. "That's fine for tonight. But I don't want any funny business," she said, looking at me sternly, and I couldn't help but laugh. "Mom, it's not like that. He's my friend," I insisted. "Okay," she said, and I just shook my head, as I got up and made my way back upstairs.

Once I reached my room, I saw Liam curled up on my window bed, fast asleep. I took a quilt off my bed and threw it over him before I flipped off the light and made my way over to my bed.

As soon as my head hit the pillow, I was out, the stress of the day disappeared as I drifted into sleep. Everyone was safe, at least for now, and that had to be enough.