{"id":6762,"date":"2019-09-21T16:40:36","date_gmt":"2019-09-21T16:40:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/wandering-inn\/?p=6762"},"modified":"2025-12-24T01:00:25","modified_gmt":"2025-12-24T01:00:25","slug":"6-46-e","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wanderinginn.com\/2019\/09\/21\/6-46-e\/","title":{"rendered":"6.46 E"},"content":{"rendered":"

Day 69<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Fire. Fire for Manus. Fire from the skies. Fire, lightning, acid, fog, ice\u2014the elements of the Dragons. And their children, flying through the skies, bringing death to Human lands. It had come to Riverfarm.<\/em><\/p>\n

Laken could see it. The Drake was lighting up the entire countryside. This wasn\u2019t undirected arson. There was a strategy to it. The [Emperor] spoke, his throat constricted.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s\u2014igniting every patch of forest in thirty miles. Not just around Riverfarm. Anywhere there\u2019s a settlement. Cities, towns\u2014some of the villages are already in the path of the flames.\u201d<\/p>\n

Laken couldn\u2019t see into the villages he didn\u2019t own. But he could see everywhere else. For now. Once again, his map of the landscape was burning. Totems made of wood burned like everything else.<\/p>\n

It was too dry.<\/em> The grass, the forests\u2014everything\u2014was fuel ready to go up without a drop of water in over a week. But that was by design as well.<\/p>\n

\u201cYour village must flee, Laken. Now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yitton Byres snapped. The caravan heading towards Riverfarm was stopped, and the [Lord] stood, communicating with the [Mage] frantically sending spells. Laken shook his head.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhere? And how, Yitton?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cTowards us. Or towards Gralton\u2019s lands. Anywhere out of the flame\u2019s path!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut he\u2019s still moving, Yitton. And he\u2019s cutting them off.\u201d<\/p>\n

The [Lord] looked up.<\/p>\n

\u201cWho?\u201d<\/p>\n

The villagers. One group tried to flee as the flames sprung up near their home. Laken could see them fleeing their village, belongings on their backs, some with wagons hitched to frightened animals. They\u2019d moved fast and left their village quickly, within less than ten minutes of the flames burning towards them.<\/p>\n

But the Drake had seen them too. He simply flew down the road and set a fire in the direction of the fleeing villagers. Laken clenched his fists.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat monster.\u201d<\/p>\n

There was a beautiful simplicity to it. Laken Godart didn\u2019t see it, but the Oldblood Drake did. He flew up again, letting the fire do the work that would have taken dozens of Drakes. The villagers would run into the fire. Some might escape if they found a path through the flames or if they were lucky, had Skills; their homes would be gone either way. And so would their livelihoods, the value of the region.<\/p>\n

And it had taken only one Drake to do it. One Drake, a few weather-changing scrolls, something to dry the land out, and the right timing. Not only that, he\u2019d engineered the conflict with the Order of Seasons. Weakened the only spellcasters able to do something about this situation\u2014and cast doubt on their actions. Now, the [Witches] were right in the path of the fire. The wind blew towards Riverfarm, fanning the blaze.<\/p>\n

It had been less than twenty minutes since it had begun. Already, the fires were linking. Growing bigger and bigger. Laken had heard stories of wildfires before. Australian bushfires. Californian wildfires. But he had never been able to picture them. Now he saw them.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s no way they\u2019ll get through the flames. The fire\u2019s already a hundred feet wide. The villagers aren\u2019t going to make it. They\u2019re turning left\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

But the smoke. The burning embers. Laken shook his head. And it was coming for Riverfarm. He forced himself to turn his attention back to the present. The caravan was staring at him. Goblins, Humans. The [Emperor] looked around.<\/p>\n

\u201cYitton. We\u2019re too far away. We won\u2019t make it. Send word to every city and town in the region. Tell them to prepare for fires headed their way. Evacuate the ones I\u2019m going to name.\u201d<\/p>\n

He began reciting names from memory, directing Yitton to find others based on their geography. Trying to find the safest routes away from the blaze. All the while, that damned Drake flew<\/em>. He was still setting more areas alight.<\/p>\n

And he wasn\u2019t the only one.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u2014\u2013<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Tyrion Veltras\u2019 ears rang. The lightning striking his family keep kept falling. The enchanted stones shook. The wards began to give way. The entire building was trembling<\/em>, but the [Lord] ran.<\/p>\n

\u201cUllim! Sammial! Hethon!<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

He bellowed the names of his [Majordomo], his two sons. He found Ullim in his sons\u2019 room. They were hiding under their beds, as if this were an earthquake. Lord Tyrion stared at them.<\/p>\n

\u201cLord Veltras! What\u2019s happening?\u201d<\/p>\n

Ullim\u2019s shouts were half-lost in the roar of falling lightning. The room kept lighting up with blinding light. Tyrion bellowed.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are under attack! Get my sons into the safe rooms! Move!<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFather!<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

One of his sons shouted, panicked. But Tyrion was already whirling. He ran, shouting, as his servants and guards raced through the keep.<\/p>\n

\u201cJericha! To me!<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

The [Mage] raced towards Tyrion, half-dressed, a wand in hand. Tyrion pointed at the windows.<\/p>\n

\u201cDrakes!\u201d<\/p>\n

He didn\u2019t need to see them hidden in the cloud to know what was causing the lightning. Besides a [Mage] as powerful as Archmage Amerys, only one species could fly and command that much lightning. Jericha nodded.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are at least four<\/em>, Lord Veltras! They\u2019re hitting a city and villages as well! There are two above\u2014I will rally a force of [Archers] and hold the battlements!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo. They\u2019ll destroy you. They\u2019re using the storm.<\/em> Get me the Banner of House Veltras! And my shield! Gather every [Mage] and prepare to sortie!\u201d<\/p>\n

Tyrion snapped. Jericha nodded, and both raced through the keep. Lord Tyrion himself strode to the armory where a portion of his house\u2019s treasures were kept. The Banner of House Veltras could shield him from lightning. With it, he and his retainers could hold the keep.<\/p>\n

But when the [Lord] strode onto the battlements armed for war, the lightning had already ceased. The Drake Oldbloods had failed to destroy the keep and the enchantments. So the lightning was already falling elsewhere. Tyrion stared across his countryside. And he saw the lightning falling, hitting fields, buildings. People\u2014he raised his sword as Jericha hoisted the glowing banner.<\/p>\n

\u201cWarn every city in a hundred miles! There are Drake fliers in the air!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can\u2019t see them or catch them! Lord Veltras\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

Tyrion was already calling for his horse. But he could feel it too in the pit of his stomach. It was a trap. And he realized, as more frantic [Messages] came in, that he wasn\u2019t the only one being targeted.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u2014\u2013<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cLord Erill\u2019s lands are beset by flame. Lady Ieka\u2019s are suffering from lightning\u2014as is House Veltras! Lord Erill is reporting multiple deaths\u2014Tyrion Veltras is confirming it\u2019s a Drake attack!\u201d<\/p>\n

Yitton read the [Messages] being transcribed with shaking fingers. He looked up, pale-faced.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy home.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDoes your wife report anything?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNothing. She\u2019s checked the weather, and my guards are on alert\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThen House Byres wasn\u2019t considered important enough. Focus<\/em>, Yitton! They went after me and Gralton instead of you! Can he send any [Riders]? Anyone who can fight a blaze like this?\u201d<\/p>\n

Laken snapped at Yitton. The [Lord] looked up. He reached for a message.<\/p>\n

\u201cGralton\u2014the plague. He hasn\u2019t responded, Laken. We received word his kennels were filled with sick dogs\u2014the Drakes must have\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDamn his dogs! People are dying!<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

The [Emperor] shouted. He whirled. He could see Riverfarm coming alive. They had gotten his messages. But they were so slow.<\/em> Fire moved too fast. Faster than people could run. Laken turned, his closed eyes seeking Yitton\u2019s voice.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Drakes. Tell them to call the attack off. I know it\u2019s them. Tyrion can\u2019t prove it. I<\/em> can. Tell them it\u2019s the Drakes.\u201d<\/p>\n

The [Emperor] saw nothing with his eyes. He heard an intake of breath, Yitton\u2019s voice issuing quick orders. In his head, he watched the flames moving. Saw the [Witches] gathering. Ryoka, Durene, Prost, Rie\u2014his heart\u2014and his people gathering.<\/p>\n

Laken Godart waited. But he learned the same thing Ryoka had: it was not just his story. The purpose of [Witches], a pair of City Runners\u2019 journey, the crusade of the Order of Seasons, the return of an [Emperor] and the fate of Goblins\u2014and yes, even the vengeance of Drakes\u2014was all part of a whole. Try as he might, he couldn\u2019t change it all. He was only an actor.<\/p>\n

After an agonizing wait that might have taken minutes or hours, measured only by Laken\u2019s furiously beating heart, Yitton replied.<\/p>\n

\u201cA\u2014an accusation has been leveled. But the Walled Cities claim ignorance. They reject the idea that Drakes are causing these incidents. Manus suggests this might be unusual Wyvern migrations combined with freak weather\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

Laken whirled away. He clenched his hands. And then he slumped.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can\u2019t do anything, then. Just watch. Yitton.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cLaken?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cGet the caravan moving. Towards Riverfarm.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut the fire\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

The [Emperor] ignored the [Lord]. He turned his head back towards his empire, his home. His people. He shook his head.<\/p>\n

\u201cBy the time we get there, the fire will be gone. Can\u2019t you see? It\u2019s everywhere. And there\u2019s nowhere to run. Get the caravan moving. And tell Prost\u2014retreat to the fields. The mountain\u2019s no good. That Drake\u2019s setting fire to the forest. The fields. Tell Durene I love her. To stay alive. And ask the [Witches] for help. It all depends on them now.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u2014\u2013<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

At first, the people in Riverfarm refused to believe Ryoka\u2019s warning. They listened to the picture she had put together at last and laughed skeptically, uneasily. But even if they agreed with her\u2014so what? They didn\u2019t understand. After all, how many had even seen<\/em> a Drake? They couldn\u2019t imagine what Ryoka could, what Laken\u2019s [Message] had made her realize what the [Infiltrator]\u2019s plan was.<\/p>\n

But then Mavika screamed as her crows burned, and the smiles left the skeptical faces. Riverfarm and Lancrel\u2019s people looked up as Rie ran<\/em> into the village, shouting for Prost and calling the alarm with Nesor hot on her heels. Then they saw the smoke in the distance. And above it, the huge, ominous cloud that filled the clear sky.<\/p>\n

\u201cPyrocumulonimbus cloud. That\u2019s what it\u2019s called.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ryoka panted as she and Charlay ran towards the closest plume of smoke. Riverfarm was in a growing panic, and Prost was corresponding with Laken. But Ryoka had to see <\/em>it herself. The Centauress stared at her. Charlay frowned.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe cloud. That\u2019s what it\u2019s called. It\u2019s a cloud made of all the fire.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was the most useless piece of information Ryoka could think of in this situation. But her mind wasn\u2019t being sensible. She was panicking. Because she could see the smoke. It was already in the air blowing towards Riverfarm. Ryoka wasn\u2019t controlling it. Something else was. That Drake and his scrolls. Charlay coughed. The whites of her eyes were showing.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah? How\u2019s that help<\/em> us?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDoesn\u2019t. The fire\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

Ryoka didn\u2019t see it. There was too much smoke coming this way. Charlay groaned, and Ryoka crouched lower, as if that would help. The wind was blowing it straight at Riverfarm.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s a big fire. Ryoka. That\u2019s\u2026really big. As bad as the jungle fires in Baleros. We have to get out of here!\u201d<\/p>\n

The Centauress was terrified. She began pawing at the ground, looking around frantically. Ryoka felt it too. Humans had used fire, but some animal part of her was terrified. It could sense the flames. Worse\u2014the rational part of her agreed.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s\u2014there\u2019s too many spots. Damn it, the fire\u2019s everywhere!<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

Ryoka pointed. The flames weren\u2019t coming in any one direction. There was smoke directly ahead of them. And another patch to the left, a third far to the right\u2014was that a fourth plume of smoke behind it? The young woman coughed as she turned back to Riverfarm.<\/p>\n

It made so much sense. Normal fires didn\u2019t happen like this. Wildfires happened in her world, but even arson was limited. Fire had been used in war, but this was different. That Drake could breathe<\/em> fire and fly. Moreover, he was changing the wind to amplify the flames. The lack of rain had prepared this area for a truly deadly fire. This was beyond anything from her home.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s coming.\u201d<\/p>\n

The two Runner girls felt the smoke intensify. Coughing, Ryoka turned.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have to go. Charlay? Charlay!<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

The Centauress was frozen. Then she turned and galloped past Ryoka. But not before Ryoka had seen her head turning wildly, trying to find a path of escape. That was the problem. The fire had engulfed the north and was spreading east. But more fires were popping up. If they ran south\u2014<\/p>\n

The Drake was still out there. <\/em>Ryoka could see it clearly. He wanted them to run. He could set a fire anywhere he wanted. If they stayed, they died. If they ran, they died.<\/p>\n

But Riverfarm was innocent! She wanted to scream it at him. Riverfarm\u2019s people hadn\u2019t participated in the attack on Liscor! But Laken had. Riverfarm\u2019s [Engineers] had made the trebuchets. And did it even matter? The Drakes wanted to hurt the Humans. What was easier than destroying villages, farms, cities? Destroying the infrastructure of the north with a single Drake?<\/p>\n

They had to stop it. Ryoka ran back into Riverfarm with Charlay, coughing and panting. Now, a crowd had gathered and was staring at the horizon. Ryoka panted as Rie rushed out of the house, a slip of parchment in her hands.<\/p>\n

\u201cIs it\u2026?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFire. It\u2019s everywhere. North, east\u2014and more\u2019s coming.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ryoka pointed to a smoke plume to the west. Encirclement.<\/em> Lady Rie looked uneasily down the south road. Ryoka stared west. The mountain that had once buried Riverfarm lay that way. But to get to it, they\u2019d have to go straight through a forest. And she wondered if the fire was already growing there.<\/p>\n

It reminded Ryoka of the wildfires that would torch California back home. Prost was giving rapid orders, but Riverfarm\u2019s people were trying to grab valuables, thinking of their village.<\/p>\n

If they were not out of the reach of the flames now,<\/em> they were dead. At the moment, the blazes might be small enough to avoid, but soon they would become a vision of real hell, a storm that would leave only embers in its wake.<\/p>\n

How fast would the fires move? <\/em>Ryoka had no idea how far away they were, but she feared the worst. This wasn\u2019t an accidental fire; this was arson, and more and more patches of flame kept appearing.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat did Laken say? Rie, is there any way for us to take?\u201d<\/p>\n

Ryoka looked desperately at Lady Rie. Laken could see the countryside! If they could make a break for it\u2014there were thousands of people in Riverfarm. They\u2019d lose everything. But\u2026stay? Riverfarm was made out of wood.<\/em><\/p>\n

Rie\u2019s face was pale. She looked around. The crowd was pushing forwards. Someone screamed.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s going on?<\/em> We demand answers!\u201d<\/p>\n

Councilwoman Beatica looked as terrified as the rest. Ryoka spun. Beniar and the Darksky Riders were dismounted, keeping people back. Rie looked at Ryoka.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe [Witches].\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHis Majesty says flight is unlikely to succeed. He is calling upon the coven to stop the fires if they can. Can<\/em> they?\u201d<\/p>\n

She gaped at Ryoka. And the young woman only gulped because she didn\u2019t know. She turned with Lady Rie.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhere are they?\u201d<\/p>\n

Then Ryoka really looked around. She realized the [Witches], always so noticeable with their pointed hats, were nowhere to be seen. And Riverfarm\u2019s people, many of which would have given anything to see the end of the [Witches], realized that at the moment they were needed\u2014they\u2019d disappeared.<\/p>\n

Fear began to turn into panic. And the flames came onward as the sky turned black and red.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u2014\u2013<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

The coven was, by universal consensus, one of the worst covens to have ever formed in the history of [Witches]. No one would debate that. Mother and daughter? [Witches] at odds with each other? Having to meet to discuss crises instead of gathering for a monthly or bimonthly meeting at most? That was not the function a coven should occupy.<\/p>\n

But sometimes, a coven handled disasters. And so they met. Eight [Witches]. Alevica had to be helped into a chair; the Witch Runner was still pale and weak. Even Belavierr looked focused. The [Witches] sat down, murmuring.<\/p>\n

\u201cTea, anyone?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cJust a cup.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cGot anything to eat?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cStale jerky.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cPass it over.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rustling. Chomping sounds from Hedag and Mavika. Silence. And then a voice.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, this is a mess, isn\u2019t it?\u201d<\/p>\n

Wiskeria looked at Hedag. The [Executioner] leaned against the table, and her smile was bitter.<\/p>\n

\u201cLooks like it\u2019s a mess of a war, then. The Drakes and Humans fighting. Messy business.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNot what we came for. But what we are needed<\/em> for, clearly.\u201d<\/p>\n

Califor\u2019s cup was steady in her hands, but she was glancing at Nanette. Belavierr just sat there, unmoved by the warring of species. Her<\/em> eyes were focused on something else.<\/p>\n

Her promised death\u2014and her daughter, who refused to meet Belavierr\u2019s eyes. Wiskeria glanced out the window. All the [Witches] could feel it. The fire was a distant power, growing in strength. Wiskeria shuddered. Alevica looked pale and weak as she met Wiskeria\u2019s eyes. Nanette was frightened. The older [Witches] glanced at each other. Eloise put down her cup.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe odds we could stop something like that?\u201d<\/p>\n

Mavika hissed.<\/p>\n

\u201cI cannot conjure rain. And that blaze the Drake sets would devour my flock. Him, I mark and blame. But I can do nothing of the flame.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hedag nodded.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf it were a regular forest fire, I\u2019d trust to fire breaks and the river. But the wind blows ill. I\u2019ve seen it blow like this twice before, and both times the villages were lost in front of that fire. It will travel across rivers and consume before rains take it. And not a moment before. Califor? Could you wake the river?\u201d<\/p>\n

The [Witch] tapped a finger on the table as the others looked to her. Her voice was\u2026cautious, which said a lot about the risks if a forest fire was bearing down on them.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s slept long and deep, and the water\u2019s low. Waking him might do little at all; the river might well flee. I would rather summon rain. A grand working.\u201d<\/p>\n

At this, the coven stirred. Alevica burst out, nervous.<\/p>\n

\u201cWait, a real<\/em> working? Oliyaya\u2019s only ever taken me to one, and that was with two full moons and a place of power! We have none of these things, and it\u2019s not even our land! Do we have the magic for it? Is this even our fight?\u201d<\/p>\n

The question went around the circle. The other [Witches] shrugged or frowned. Wiskeria held her breath. Califor\u2019s gaze focused on Alevica.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have the need<\/em>, Witch Alevica, and that must be enough. There is time yet to stop this\u2014if the wildfires keep growing, it will become a force no [Witch] can stop. Before that moment\u2014we will try.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her words about the wildfire becoming unstoppable earned a faint scoffing sound\u2014from Belavierr. However, when Califor stared hard at her, the Witch of Webs simply nodded her head.<\/p>\n

\u201cYour plan is sound\u2026if the goal were to save this village, Witch Califor. The coven came to entreat an [Emperor] on behalf of [Witches]. In face of this Circle of Thorns and old threats returning. But if there is no empire, our purpose is gone. Is the magic worth the cost?\u201d<\/p>\n

It was the most pragmatic thing anyone had ever heard from her\u2014and at the worst time.<\/p>\n

\u201cWitch Belavierr! We cannot leave this village in front of the flames.\u201d<\/p>\n

Eloise snapped as she put down her cup. Califor faced down Belavierr.<\/p>\n

\u201cBetter we attempt to stop the fires to save ourselves, Witch Belavierr. Or do you believe we ourselves could escape this fire unhindered? It has the width and breadth of wildfire.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI could. I can.\u201d<\/p>\n

Belavierr looked unconcerned. However, it was Wiskeria who snapped back.<\/p>\n

\u201cThen leave<\/em>, Mother. Run away again. But I\u2019ll tell you this\u2014I<\/em> will stay with Riverfarm\u2019s people. I\u2019ll throw all my magic and craft into that working and face the fire alone, if I must.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Witch of Webs\u2019 eyes shifted sideways to Wiskeria, and her look of impartiality faded. Slowly, she exhaled.<\/p>\n

\u201cAh. And thus my death remains. Very well, Witch Califor, a grand working. It can be done, even with my reduced power. If there are enough catalysts; string and needle are my crafts. Fire I have never been proficient at. And that man who burned me\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

She grimaced, and for a second, everyone remembered the burnt effigy of a woman hidden by Belavierr\u2019s magic. Califor nodded.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne attempt. Let us attempt it\u2014quickly. Mister Prost should continue preparing to evacuate the village. Witch Alevica, I have a job for you.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWho, me? I don\u2019t have that much magic\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo. You are to take Nanette to Witch\u2026Agratha would be the closest. Failing her, Oliyaya.\u201d<\/p>\n

The youngest [Witch], who had been listening to all this discussion, sat up, and Alevica blinked.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat if that Drake tries to get me in the sky?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOutrun him. I will cover your escape with Mavika.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Crow Witch blinked and nodded, but Nanette protested.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, Miss Califor! I want to stay and help! You need me for the grand ritual! Eight is better than six! Six isn\u2019t even a powerful number!\u201d<\/p>\n

On this, Califor was adamant.<\/p>\n

\u201cFire moves fast, Nanette! It can outrun people on horseback if the wind is right. And this Drake has plotted his vengeance against this Emperor Godart and his people. If he is backed by a Walled City, it explains the magic that we were unable to move. With a ritual, we might<\/em> defeat his control over the weather. But by that time, flight will be even more difficult. I will not risk your life or this coven\u2019s should we fail to halt it. You are my apprentice\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo! I won\u2019t go! This matters, and I won\u2019t abandon Riverfarm!\u201d<\/p>\n

Nanette stubbornly dug her heels in, literally, when Califor tried to drag her towards the horses. Alevica hesitated. Califor\u2019s voice was a snap.<\/p>\n

\u201cNanette, do not argue with me when every second counts!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou told me a [Witch] has to be brave.<\/em> And help people when it matters! I won\u2019t let the villagers die, like Mister Prost\u2019s family\u2014or Durene or Ryoka\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

Nanette was begging to stay. She looked up tearfully at Miss Califor. The older [Witch] hesitated. Alevica made a clubbing gesture behind Nanette, and Califor\u2019s glower made the Witch Runner back up.<\/p>\n

For the first time, Nanette tore away from Califor\u2019s grip. She held her hat tightly as she faced the other [Witches]. Belavierr\u2019s stare might have been the first time she ever looked at Nanette, and the girl flinched. But she raised her chin and spoke, earnestly and nervously, vibrating with young courage. Even Wiskeria looked at her and remembered what it had been like to be\u2026<\/p>\n

Young. That was it. Pure earnesty shone from Nanette\u2019s voice.<\/p>\n

\u201cI like it here. The people aren\u2019t always good. But there are<\/em> good people among them. They have been kind to us [Witches]. And\u2014and if we could try, surely we should? I ask the coven to hear my request. To use everything to save Riverfarm! Please!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNanette\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

Wiskeria breathed. But then she looked around. The other [Witches] exchanged glances. Belavierr paused and regarded her daughter. And Califor studied Nanette\u2019s face and sighed. She stopped trying to pull Nanette away.<\/p>\n

\u201cI taught you too well.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nanette beamed at her and looked at the other [Witches]. One by one, they nodded. Mavika tipped her hat.<\/p>\n

\u201cBy your request, Witch Nanette, and Witch Wiskeria\u2019s, this coven will try. The fire builds with each passing second. So the ritual must be done within the hour.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we must do it, we will need a place. A focus. And a purpose.\u201d<\/p>\n

Eloise spoke briskly. Califor was nodding impatiently. She sighed as Nanette beamed in relief.<\/p>\n

\u201cHold on, what if we\u2019re for leaving? I could, uh, get Agratha\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

Alevica\u2019s protest was met by seven cold stares. The Witch Runner gazed around.<\/p>\n

\u201cDamn it. Fine. <\/em>What about the river?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSympathy. I agree. We have no place of power, so it will do. Even if we don\u2019t wake the river, we\u2019ll draw on its strength. The purpose should be to call rain, obviously. We don\u2019t have the moons or anything else for a great working. And the focus? My staff may well do; it was made of a tree from one of the Great Forests.\u201d<\/p>\n

Califor looked around, hefting the staff. Hedag sighed and reached for her bag.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have something. I traded for this a time ago. It\u2019s yet to be polished, but it might do if no one else has better to offer. \u2018Tis no ordinary stone. A [Merchant] had it with thousands from Salazsar. This one alone had magic<\/em> in it. The weight of time and power.\u201d<\/p>\n

She produced a small aquamarine, uncut and unpolished, but sparkling. A glow in the stone that drew Mavika\u2019s eye greedily. Califor nodded. Belavierr peered at the stone, as if it were a curio, but produced something as well.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn that case, I will add a binding of thread, a weather-pattern charm, to both. Flame Wyvern\u2019s heartstring. Give me vessel and focus.\u201d<\/p>\n

Eloise produced a carved cup, large enough to be held in two hands.<\/p>\n

\u201cSacrifice this. It was a gift from the Kingdom of Keys; a half-Giant\u2019s cup. Weighty in value and age. Best used to save lives.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another piece of power. Mavika hesitated\u2014then reluctantly produced something long and ragged, a piece of dirty orange-red. Yet when she said what it was, Nanette gasped.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a Phoenix King\u2019s feather. No more do they fly. For this, an appropriate sacrifice I give. For a [Witch]\u2019s request, that the unworthy might live.\u201d<\/p>\n

She turned to Alevica, and the Witch Runner, red-faced, dug in her pouch.<\/p>\n

\u201cArgh! Fine! Here\u2019s a stone filled with all my mana. It\u2019s not that great.\u201d<\/p>\n

She slammed down a lesser piece of quartz, and Wiskeria produced all she had\u2014<\/p>\n

\u201cA pristine piece of Ember Salamander skin. I have nothing else related to fire to use.\u201d<\/p>\n

Belavierr inspected each piece, before arranging them in the cup.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt will do. Seven. Eight\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

She looked at Nanette, and the little [Witch] hesitated. She had no real possessions or old craft. So she produced a knife and sawed at one of her braids.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf\u2014if I can\u2019t do anything else, will my hair do?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat or blood\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

Belavierr fell silent as her daughter glared, and Nanette\u2019s hair went into the bowl. Hedag handed over the aquamarine. Belavierr produced a needle and, using Nanette\u2019s hair as thread, wove a loop around the blue gemstone before beginning a complex pattern that tied it to the wooden vessel. To that, she added each gift until the brimming cup seemed to be one object, of mismatched parts, and kept sewing.<\/p>\n

\u2026Until it almost looked like the piece of quartz were part of the cup and the salamander skin was melding with the feather to create something brighter.<\/em> The [Witches] watched for a second, then stood up.<\/p>\n

\u201cThank you.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wiskeria said it to the others. Eloise smiled. Hedag laughed.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have given my word to protect the children here. And it is a Hedag\u2019s word as well as a [Witch]\u2019s. While Belavierr prepares the ritual, let us do what we can.\u201d<\/p>\n

Califor was urgent as she rose to her feet.<\/p>\n

\u201cI will prepare the site. It must be done quick; Witch Belavierr has our sacrifice. Nanette, pack your things. Then come and find me. Witch Mavika, if you would join me?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n

The two [Witches] headed out the door. Eloise, Nanette, and Wiskeria followed. Alevica hesitated until she realized Belavierr was staring at Alevica unblinkingly as she worked. She got up and hastily went after the two.<\/p>\n

Panic in the streets greeted the [Witches]. Prost was shouting, trying to organize people to expand the firebreak while others tried to pack their things. But where would you go? <\/em>Wiskeria saw smoke in every direction but the mountain and forest that bordered Riverfarm. And she had a feeling that fire was already building unseen there as well.<\/p>\n

\u201cWiskeria!<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

Ryoka and Rie found her. Califor and Mavika strode past them. Ryoka halted.<\/p>\n

\u201cLook\u2014Laken\u2019s asking your coven for a favor. Wiskeria, he knows it\u2019s a lot to ask, but if you agree\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re performing a ritual. Don\u2019t worry, Ryoka. We\u2019ll fight the fire together. No one\u2019s leaving.\u201d<\/p>\n

The City Runner sagged with relief. Eloise raised one finger, eying Lady Rie.<\/p>\n

\u201cYet. However, I would not place all your hopes in this ritual, Miss Griffin, Lady Rie.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt could fail?\u201d<\/p>\n

Lady Rie looked sharply at Eloise. Wiskeria did too, heart pounding. She\u2019d seen rituals go wrong. But they had so many powerful [Witches]. Her mother was on their side.<\/p>\n

But<\/em> it wasn\u2019t the full moon, and they didn\u2019t have a place of power\u2026Eloise was clearly thinking the same things. The [Witch] shook her head.<\/p>\n

\u201cWiskeria and Nanette have convinced some of the [Witches] to stay. And I have agreed to give the ritual an attempt. But should that fail, we must all flee or attempt to stand. And this fire would consume us all, I fear.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cLaken\u2019s told Prost to put everyone in the fields. He says that\u2019s the safest space\u2014cleared grounds.\u201d<\/p>\n

Eloise paused.<\/p>\n

\u201cPerhaps. Certainly, it has the river to its back. But the smoke the fires are giving off and the wind\u2014I think many would die either way. In either case, if this ritual fails, the coven will leave. And we will only have the power to shield ourselves.\u201d<\/p>\n

The thought made Wiskeria cold inside. Lady Rie paused, licking her colored lips.<\/p>\n

\u201cCould you\u2014take a group with you? If you left earlier?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we had decided to leave now? Yes. But the fire is growing. And I<\/em> cannot walk through flame unhindered. Belavierr might. Califor could ride through it, and Mavika fly. But Hedag and I will have to run or ride. We will try if it comes to that. But we must<\/em> use every option. Have you any left? Hedag is going to clear more space at the firebreak.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cShe is? Durene\u2019s there with some people. They\u2019re trying to give us more space\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

Ryoka pointed towards the fields. She looked around. Then she slapped her forehead.<\/p>\n

\u201cOf course! Let\u2019s call for help! What if we got a [Weather Mage] here?\u201d<\/p>\n

Wiskeria shook her head.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019d have to be present to call rains, Ryoka. And it\u2019s not possible. Unless they could move like a Courier\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s possible! And there\u2019s someone else who could extinguish the blaze!\u201d<\/p>\n

Ryoka suddenly seemed hopeful. She whirled to Lady Rie.<\/p>\n

\u201cMagnolia Reinhart.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cReinhart?\u201d<\/p>\n

Lady Rie recoiled, but Ryoka grabbed her shoulder.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe can do it! She\u2019s got a magical carriage! She could send it to Invrisil! Lady Rie, tell Nesor to send her a [Message]! Don\u2019t argue\u2014Nesor! Nesor!<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

Wiskeria saw Ryoka race off, dragging Lady Rie with her. The [Witch] looked around. Nanette hesitated.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have to pack my things. And saddle the horses. I\u2019ll\u2014I\u2019ll go help Miss Califor after that. We won\u2019t need the horses, right?\u201d<\/p>\n

She glanced from [Witch] to [Witch]. Neither Eloise nor Wiskeria could find the words for reassurance. Nanette hurried off after a second. Eloise regarded Wiskeria. She seemed old. And worried. Wiskeria looked around. People were rushing down the streets, but some had stopped to stare desperately at them.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat should we do, Eloise? Help Califor and Mavika? Or Hedag?\u201d<\/p>\n

Eloise pursed her lips. She shook her head after a moment.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not one for picking up sticks or digging, Wiskeria. And Califor and Mavika have the preparations well in hand. As does your mother. No, I think our purpose is to keep Riverfarm from falling apart. The people are split. Some would flee. They would die. The fire is too thick and moving too fast. We must keep them here. And calm<\/em>. Draw on your craft.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2014I don\u2019t know. I\u2019ve never soothed a group, let alone so many people\u2014and I don\u2019t have magic to call on, Eloise.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wiskeria wavered. Eloise studied her.<\/p>\n

\u201cI cannot do it alone. And you have<\/em> your craft. Or was earlier today a fluke?\u201d<\/p>\n

Wiskeria blinked. And then she remembered. Slowly, she looked around. The people were desperate. But the ones watching her\u2014she spotted Jelov. And Chimmy.<\/p>\n

\u201cMiss Wiskeria? Miss Wiskeria, we ain\u2019t going to have to flee, are we?\u201d<\/p>\n

Chimmy\u2019s eyes were wide with fright. She looked up as Wiskeria strode over to her. The [Witch] hesitated. Then she knelt.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe might, Chimmy. But my coven and I are doing our best to keep Riverfarm safe. Trust in that. And keep a calm head. Jelov, what are you doing?\u201d<\/p>\n

The [Carpenter] sucked at his teeth.<\/p>\n

\u201cWaiting, Miss Wiskeria. Not like I can pack up and move a second time. Emperor Laken made me his best [Carpenter], didn\u2019t he? Reckon I\u2019ll trust to him to get us out of this. Got all my stuff here, and it burns easy. Hey, what should we be doing?\u201d<\/p>\n

They looked at her. And Wiskeria felt something in them. Justice<\/em>. Unity. She pulled on it, taking some of it. And she spun it, used it in her voice. In her craft.<\/p>\n

\u201cHelp me keep people calm. Stop them from packing! We need people expanding the firebreak or gathering supplies under Prost\u2019s direction! We don\u2019t need valuables like clothes\u2014we need barricades the fire can\u2019t move past! Walls of dirt, even! You\u2014Ram! Stop!\u201d<\/p>\n

She shouted, and Mister Ram stopped from trying to grab people and forcibly tow them towards the fields. And her voice was the voice of command. More people stopped, and Wiskeria shouted. Her pointed hat stood out. It marked her as [Witch]. And that wasn\u2019t always a bad thing.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople of Riverfarm! Stay calm! Don\u2019t pack your belongings; there\u2019s no time to waste! Help dig the firebreaks or follow Mister Prost and help evacuate what needs<\/em> evacuating to the fields!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cStay calm. Follow us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Eloise\u2019s voice was no less loud, but it had a confidence in it like steel. The [Witch] swept down the street, and people halted, their panic subsiding. It was a [Lady]\u2019s presence and a [Lady]\u2019s Skill mixed with a [Witch]\u2019s craft. Wiskeria followed, shouting.<\/p>\n

Some refused to go. People who were suspicious of [Witches] or too out of their minds with fear to listen. But more and more people stopped racing about, controlled by fear. Prost found Wiskeria and Eloise, and his expression was written with relief. He pointed as they came towards him.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo the fields! Children, anyone who can\u2019t grab something there first! The rest of you\u2014we\u2019re hauling barrels of water there!<\/em> If you have a shovel, get to work on a wall or just clear away the brush over there!\u201d<\/p>\n

He pointed towards the hundreds of people feverishly trying to build a safe space around the fields. The watered and tilled grounds and crops were the safest place to be. Wiskeria saw the logic in that. And already, people were building a wall to keep the fire and smoke from hitting them. The firebreak, already wide, was spreading out.<\/p>\n

In any regular fire, it would have worked. No\u2014the firebreak around Riverfarm would have been enough with a vigilant firefighting team watching for embers. But the wind! Wiskeria felt it whipping hot air into her face. The ritual had<\/em> to work. It had to.<\/p>\n

An hour seemed to pass in minutes. Wiskeria was busy shouting at people, trying to use the emotions she was taking from them, suppressing fear. She only looked up when she saw her mother striding towards her.<\/p>\n

Belavierr was holding the vessel of wood. The aquamarine hung in a web of threads, a magical design. Just in time; Wiskeria could see Califor striding towards them.<\/p>\n

\u201cI call upon this coven!<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

And her voice summoned every [Witch]. From Alevica, surreptitiously holding her broom, to Nanette, leading two horses whose eyes were wide with the scent of fire. Mavika stood in front of the ritual place as Wiskeria walked with Eloise and Belavierr. And the people of Riverfarm watched, desperate. Wiskeria felt their hope.<\/p>\n

She wished she shared it. None of the other [Witches] seemed as hopeful as the people watching them. Because\u2014Wiskeria could see the others thinking it. [Witches] didn\u2019t trust everything to magic. Against things like fire, they much preferred to trust to a bucket of water, a firebreak. Nature wasn\u2019t something you could just order around.<\/p>\n

But they had to try. Wiskeria stopped when she saw Ryoka standing close to the ritual spot. The City Runner\u2019s face was pale.<\/p>\n

\u201cRyoka. Is Magnolia Reinhart\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

The other [Witches] regarded the City Runner. Ryoka shook her head.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s too far away by carriage. She says her [Weather Mages] will try to send rain. And the person I asked for\u2014I think he\u2019s asleep.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThen wake him up!<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

Alevica snapped. But Ryoka\u2019s expression was her only reply. The [Witches] paused. Califor glanced around, and her tone snapped.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe ritual awaits. Take your positions.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was a simple working Wiskeria saw. Califor and Mavika had placed river stones in a diagram, laying out an eight-sided star on the ground with radial lines connecting to the center. In that center, Califor placed the vessel with the aquamarine and thread. She had filled it with river water. Then she planted her staff in the ground, like a lightning rod, and stepped back.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s it?\u201d<\/p>\n

Wiskeria heard an uneasy voice behind her. It sounded like Charlay. The [Witch] bit her lip. She could feel the doubt. But this was all the coven could have prepared. And it was all they needed.<\/em> She told herself that as the [Witches] took their spots around the octagram.<\/p>\n

The ritual began as a hot wind whipped towards them. Smoke made some of the audience cough. But the [Witches] stood silent. Their pointed hats didn\u2019t move in the wind. And their gazes were distant.<\/p>\n

Their shadows deepened. They seemed to twist towards the circle if you stared at them long enough. And a silence fell. The coven breathed in. Breathed out.<\/p>\n

Ryoka saw they were all breathing the same. Nanette to Belavierr. They blinked as one. Ryoka\u2019s hair stood on end despite the desperation and fear of the moment. She felt a charge rising in the air, but not of static. Of intent.<\/p>\n

Then a [Witch] spoke. Belavierr. Her ringed eyes were wide as she spoke, raising a cloth-bound hand.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cSomeone tries to bring fire and flame to those without blame.<\/em><\/p>\n

Whose malice brings death and grief without end.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Two [Witches] spoke. Wiskeria and Nanette.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cLet crying earth mend<\/em><\/p>\n

Let nature\u2019s wrath end!<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

The [Witches]\u2019 gazes were fixed on the aquamarine stone. And it glowed. The water in the cup moved, restlessly, obeying neither the wind nor physics. Califor continued with Alevica.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cMagic bows before nature\u2019s will<\/em><\/p>\n

Let not it be used further ill.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Hedag and Eloise chanted the next lines in tandem.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cAnd give us your blessing, by river\u2019s flow<\/em><\/p>\n

As from the sky we ask for the same, by a coven\u2019s will, an [Emperor]\u2019s name.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Mavika raised her hands. Her voice hissed and called, like the birds flying overhead.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cSo come water, come relief and rain!<\/em><\/p>\n

Here to end Riverfarm\u2019s pain!<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

And all eight [Witches] drew a blade. Nanette, Califor, Hedag, Eloise, Alevica, Mavika, Wiskeria, and Belavierr. Ryoka knew what was coming.<\/p>\n

All eight [Witches] cut themselves across the wrist. They sprinkled blood on the river stones. Belavierr continued.<\/p>\n

\u201cBy blood we call water.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBy river we summon rain.\u201d<\/p>\n

Who was speaking now? Ryoka couldn\u2019t tell.<\/p>\n

Now, the [Witches]\u2019 lips moved as one.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe call.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe implore.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe beg.\u201d<\/p>\n

Belavierr whispered with all their voices as a refrain.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe demand.\u201d<\/p>\n

A second cut. So deep that Ryoka felt ill seeing the blood run down Wiskeria\u2019s arm. Nanette stumbled. But she spoke with the rest.<\/p>\n

\u201cRain.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

And the aquamarine shone. The water in the wooden vessel trembled. Ryoka looked up. She felt the winds pause. The hot, angry, controlled air shivered.<\/em><\/p>\n

In the sky, the pyrocumulonimbus cloud formed by the smoke slowly changed. Ryoka saw<\/em> the distant cloud begin to darken. And in the distance, moisture gathered. Days of unspent rain began to gather. The air grew thick with humidity.<\/p>\n

It was so fast that it looked like an illusion. It didn\u2019t seem real. The wind blew faintly, and Ryoka\u2019s skin chilled as a vast cloud, dark but oh so merciful, filled the skies.<\/p>\n

It was, she realized, coming from the cup. <\/em>A near-invisible something\u2014vapor\u2014was billowing up, marshaled by the [Witches] into the air. Spreading out until it covered all of Riverfarm and was growing wider.<\/p>\n

Miles wide. Filling the sky. <\/em>Alevica\u2019s eyes were wide, and even the older [Witches] seemed to be silent with the knowledge of what they were doing.<\/p>\n

Changing the weather. <\/em>Until their great working had the mountain in shadow. Ryoka looked at the people of Riverfarm, and many had their mouths open like her.<\/p>\n

This was great witchcraft. Wild and wondrous. <\/em>Then, Ryoka heard a rumble from the skies. A crackle of sound\u2014something wet struck her on the shoulder, and she flinched.<\/p>\n

A drop fell from that dark sky. One, then a dozen pelting down. The rumble came again, vast, as the cloud continued to expand.<\/p>\n

It began to rain. Riverfarm\u2019s people turned. In the distance, sprinkles of rain began to fall from the saturated sky. Ryoka heard a whoop<\/em> of delight, then wild cheers. She turned, beaming. And saw the [Witches] had frozen. They were staring at the gemstone. The trembling water. And then Ryoka saw them each raise a hand as one and point.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cRain.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

They spoke as one, continuing the chant. And the gemstone began to pulse<\/em>. Ryoka turned. Something\u2014<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u2014\u2013<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Oldblood Drake saw the rain begin to fall. He whirled, snarled with fury. He grabbed at a scroll from his belt, desperately unfurled it.<\/p>\n

\u201cOh no you don\u2019t. [Weatherchange]!<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

The rain\u2019s fall began to slacken. But the cloud formed by the smoke wanted<\/em> to rain. And there were days of rain waiting to fall. But not now! Not now!<\/em><\/p>\n

The [Infiltrator] dropped the scroll as the magic went out of it. Those damn [Witches] were casting a spell! But he had more scrolls. Manus had predicted interference with the weather. The Drake pulled them out, reading from the burning magical inscriptions, calling upon the magic contained within. [Witches] would not stop this fire! They couldn\u2019t!<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201c[Weatherchange]! [Weatherchange]!<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

The scrolls flashed and fell from his claws as they used up their magic. In Riverfarm, the [Witches] began to chant. And the rain stopped falling. Started.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey can\u2019t do this! They can\u2019t!<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

The Drake cursed as he battled the coven. With each scroll, the rain stopped, but the [Witches] were pushing.<\/em> He could feel it, feel the cloud above him trying to disgorge its contents. But the scrolls were holding them off.<\/p>\n

And yet\u2014there was a limit to how many he had. The [Infiltrator] cursed as he reached for the last of his scrolls as the [Witches] silently battled him, pulling<\/em> at the sky. He raised it desperately and pulled something out. A speaking stone reserved for emergencies.<\/p>\n

\u201cRequesting magical support. I need a dozen [Weatherchange] spells on my position\u2014now! Hang the cost!<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

He heard a terse affirmative. But even as he burned through his scrolls, a fortune from the City of War\u2014the flickering air refused to change. The cursing Drake spat flames, howling as he saw the fires beginning to wane.<\/p>\n

It couldn\u2019t end, not after all this work! They almost had the damn [Emperor]\u2019s lands and<\/em> the Spider herself!<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u2014\u2014<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

The first few spells they fought off, like someone shoving at them, hard and heavy\u2014but unskilled. Eight [Witches] in unison could repel the magic of a scroll, even if it came again and again.<\/p>\n

But then more spells began to activate, distant, yet fast, like a flurry of blows\u2014and Wiskeria felt the strain. She tried to resist, fighting for minutes as the rain continued to intensify, but now every [Witch] was fighting.<\/p>\n

So much magic! <\/em>Far too much for any one individual to cast. Someone was unleashing spell after spell on them. If it weren\u2019t for her mother, the coven would have failed then and there. Belavierr\u2019s magic and craft was a deep web, even now, and she deflected spells trying to wrest control of the air from them.<\/p>\n

This was not their land, but they had the river before them and drew on it, their will and unity. The river groaned and, Wiskeria thought, woke up a bit. The sky rained, and the [Witches] fought\u2014straining\u2014<\/p>\n

\u201cHold fast and we will win! They cannot best us with mage\u2019s magic alone.\u201d<\/p>\n

Eloise called out. Nanette was trembling with effort, her cut braids levitating with the force of the magic around her.<\/p>\n

They could do this! <\/em>The onslaught was slackening, but something was wrong. A whining<\/em> sound filled the air, and at first, Wiskeria didn\u2019t know why. Then, she looked up from her trance and gasped. The other [Witches] broke from their spell. Wiskeria pointed.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo\u2014<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

Strain. The pressure of the conflicting magic, one to erase the rain, the other to bring it on, was pressing at each [Witch], but their will refused to break. However\u2014the rest of their grand ritual was not as strong as they were. A weak point began to shiver in the cup in the middle of the octagram:<\/p>\n

Hedag\u2019s aquamarine gemstone. It hadn\u2019t been cut. And perhaps it had a fault or it was simply that Hedag\u2019s focus wasn\u2019t strong enough to contain the magical battle. The aquamarine ensnared in the vessel of water cracked<\/em>. The web of string binding it snapped<\/em> apart. The [Witches] went flying as the magical backlash boomed and threw<\/em> them from the circle into the river.<\/p>\n

Wiskeria pulled herself out, screaming.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo!<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

She tried to get back, but it was too late. The octagram was shattered, and above\u2014<\/p>\n

The cloud began to fragment and dissolve away. The rain stopped falling.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u2014\u2014<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

In the sky, the Oldblood Drake went flying as well, the scroll bursting with the backlash. He was falling! He flapped desperately, righting himself before he crashed on the ground\u2014and then gazed up and crowed triumphantly.<\/p>\n

\u201cAgent? Successful casting after 34 burnouts of scrolls. Confirm!<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cConfirmed! We did it! Going dark and\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

The gleeful Drake began to respond when he saw the fragmenting cloud above him. The raincloud had begun to dissolve in patches as fast as it had come. Literally breaking apart. His smile froze on his face.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo. Wait\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

In horror, he saw a patch of cloud fading away stop\u2014shiver\u2014and halt. Then it joined the patch it had left as a strand of black laced through the sky. Almost like\u2014<\/p>\n

His eyes lowered to Riverfarm. And there she stood.<\/p>\n

The Witch of Webs reached up\u2014and began to stitch the cloud together.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u2014\u2014<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

They called her the Spider. Temptress. The Eater of Threads. The Witch of Calamity. Mistress of Strands.<\/p>\n

She had many names, but she had never shown them any of it. Even when Ser Raim had come to kill her, the armies and monsters she had summoned had been defensive.<\/p>\n

Not once had Belavierr worked her great magic a-purpose. So even the other [Witches] could be forgiven for forgetting her talent.<\/p>\n

Only her daughter had seen Belavierr work. Now\u2014the [Witch] stood on top of the river\u2019s waters. She balanced on the surface, as if the roiling water were simply an uneven piece of ground. And her head was turned skywards.<\/p>\n

Her eyes were aglow with wrath. Anger. The ritual was shattered, their raincloud dissolving. No one bested her.<\/p>\n

So Belavierr reached up, and with a thread made of air and wind, something even Ryoka could barely comprehend, she began to reknit the sky, gathering the rain and clouds back together again.<\/p>\n

Even the other [Witches] seemed unable to believe what they were seeing. Hedag, Eloise, Alevica\u2026only Califor and Mavika traded significant glances.<\/p>\n

\u201cRain. <\/em>Come now, harder, to drown the land. Remember my name. I call you down. Pour harder, a storm for the ages. <\/em>Harder, this witch calls! A maelstrom rages!<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

Belavierr\u2019s arms were thrown wide. She spun slowly, and the sky began to swirl<\/em> like the beginnings of a hurricane.<\/p>\n

Someone was laughing. Wiskeria realized\u2014it was her. She looked up, and her mother was there, like the mother that Wiskeria had loved, who had called the moon and caught gigantic fish by the sea.<\/p>\n

All for her. <\/em>Belavierr\u2019s eyes flicked sideways as Wiskeria stood there, laughing, hat raised. Then, for one good moment, the mother saw the daughter was proud of her, and the daughter could be so unabashedly.<\/p>\n

The sky began to truly bring a torrent down, and smoke was rising in every direction as Riverfarm\u2019s folk cheered wildly. The wildfires were going out! The dry land was begging for the rain, and Belavierr smiled at her daughter, beckoning.<\/p>\n

\u201cCome join me, Daughter, and I will show you how to command the sky.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wiskeria hesitated at the edge of the river and began to step onto it. Magic was flickering in the air; that damn Drake and his city were still trying to kill the rain, but they were up against Belavierr\u2019s magic.<\/p>\n

What could they do? <\/em>Strike at her? Califor glanced up and seized her staff.<\/p>\n

\u201cMagic attacks.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cToo far and too few. Guard me, coven. With me, Daughter.\u201d<\/p>\n

A bolt of lightning flashed down, and Califor tossed<\/em> her staff like a spear; the bolt of lightning followed<\/em> the staff as it landed a hundred paces away and struck it. Two more hit the staff like a lightning rod, and Belavierr smirked at the skies. Eloise lifted a hand.<\/p>\n

\u201cValmira\u2019s Comets, now. Oh my. I can do one\u2026[Deft Hand].\u201d<\/p>\n

She was far less showy than Belavierr, but one of the two comets moved<\/em>, and its trajectory carried it into the forest.<\/p>\n

\u201cArgh, a Hedag I am, not some [Battlemage]! Still\u2014this one I can take.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hedag was more direct\u2014she just picked up a crate filled with someone\u2019s possessions, dumped the clothing and goods to the ground, then hurled<\/em> the crate skywards. It hit the falling comet, detonated\u2014<\/p>\n

Belavierr, laughing, saw the last feeble attack coming her way. Mavika called upwards.<\/p>\n

\u201c[Flamestrike]. Guard her, flock.\u201d<\/p>\n

It seemed as though a cloak of feathers whirled across the air; birds by the hundred. They blocked a glowing jet of flames coming down and dissipated it high above. The birds circled, cawing victory, and Wiskeria began to cackle now, joining her mother\u2019s voice.<\/p>\n

All of this, and they couldn\u2019t match a [Witch]\u2019s might!<\/em> The air was filled with rain and flame\u2014she felt the unnatural fires in the distance, struggling, as Belavierr forced them to die. Water in the sky\u2014triumph in her mother\u2019s eyes.<\/p>\n

Dying fire in the skies. The [Flamestrike]\u2019s magic was just mage-magic; once defeated by Mavika\u2019s magic, it became aimless fire magic, rapidly vanishing. Whorls of random fire drifting down amidst the rain.<\/p>\n

A single spark drifted down as Wiskeria raised her eyes. A fading, dying ember. Just like Ser Raim\u2019s eyes.<\/p>\n

Wiskeria\u2019s triumphant laughter halted. Why had she remembered that man\u2019s face? Wiskeria looked up and then at her mother, and suddenly, her joy in her mother\u2019s craft was bittersweet.<\/p>\n

The spark fell down, then another, seeming to condense out of the air. Nothing like the spell itself\u2026a tiny bit of light smothered by the rain.<\/p>\n

But not going out. <\/em>Belavierr was too busy luxuriating in her triumph, the power of the storm above, and her daughter\u2019s delight. Yet Wiskeria\u2019s eyes tracked a third<\/em> falling spark, and her time as an adventurer told her something.<\/p>\n

Strange.<\/em> That magic shouldn\u2019t do this.<\/em> The sparks showered down\u2014more, now\u2014and Califor, watching for another attack, noticed.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s not a spell. Witch Belavierr\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

She called out, but Belavierr didn\u2019t hear. Wiskeria stumbled on the moving river; she couldn\u2019t walk it like her mother so easily.<\/p>\n

\u201cMother\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

Belavierr heard that, as ever, and saw Wiskeria point up. At a falling spark. She looked annoyed, at first, by the tiny thing and flicked her hand. The dying ember fizzed as rain struck it\u2026spiraling downwards.<\/p>\n

Straight at the Witch of Webs. Then Belavierr\u2019s face grew puzzled. Her ringed gaze focused on the tiny fragment, and she stared at the burning spark for a second. Then her expression changed to one Ryoka had seen only once before.<\/p>\n

Fear.<\/p>\n

Horror.<\/p>\n

Wiskeria remembered Ser Raim driving his sword into the Spider\u2019s heart. A purifying flame. A burning torch, an inferno of her magic and tapestry of power, turning it all to ash.<\/p>\n

Two deaths, Belavierr had said. <\/em>The [Witch] tried to take a step back. She flung out an arm, and the needles shot forwards, trying to stab the tiny fragment out of the air. But the burning spark landed on her dress like a fragment of Ser Raim\u2019s flame.<\/p>\n

Like a match\u2014<\/p>\n

Belavierr burst into flames. <\/em>It was as if she were made of oil; one second, she was recoiling, eyes wide, mouth open\u2014the next?<\/p>\n

Burning, like the moments before Ser Raim had died. <\/em>Engulfed in horrific flames.<\/p>\n

She stumbled and suddenly lost her footing. Belavierr splashed<\/em> into the river, and Wiskeria, losing her mother\u2019s aid, landed in the water.<\/p>\n

\u201cMother!<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

Above her, the clouds suddenly unknitted,<\/em> and Califor shouted.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo!\u201d<\/p>\n

She reached up, straining, trying to keep the rainclouds together, but they broke apart. And below? Wiskeria, treading water, thought her mother would rise, the flames gone out. Then she looked into the turgid waters and saw\u2014<\/p>\n

A burning woman flailing in the water itself. <\/em>The river heaved\u2014Belavierr stumbled out of it, pouring water and steam.<\/p>\n

The flames refused to die. <\/em>Then she was writhing on the ground, shrieking.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s on fire!<\/em> Help, put it out!\u201d<\/p>\n

Wiskeria was swimming for shore as Ryoka said the unnecessary, but the Wind Runner tried to help smother the flames\u2014and recoiled from an insane heat. She looked around, grabbed a blanket someone had been meaning to use to carry their possessions, and tossed it, wet, onto Belavierr.<\/p>\n

The blanket caught flame. <\/em>And Belavierr\u2019s scream was growing higher and higher pitched now.<\/p>\n

\u201cW-water! Get\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

The river water was useless and burnt into steam the moment it touched Belavierr. <\/em>Wiskeria was trying to pull the flame off her mother with magic, but it was the same. The exact same.<\/p>\n

An echo of Ser Raim\u2019s flame.<\/em> Her mother was still\u2014<\/p>\n

She was still burnt. And a single spark had the same effect as an ember to a vat of oil. <\/em>Wiskeria was about to leap forwards and use her very body to try and smother the fire when someone shoved her aside.<\/p>\n

\u201cMove!<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

Eloise tossed what turned out to be a full pot of tea over Belavierr. It was a good toss; the tea extinguished much of the flames, and Belavierr ripped at her dress, tossing the fragments away. She was burnt; not badly, but burnt<\/em>, and she leapt away, unnaturally quick.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis flame\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

Califor strode forwards to grind her boots over the burning dress. She snapped at Belavierr.<\/p>\n

\u201cGet back!\u201d<\/p>\n

The Witch of Webs did just that. She backed away\u2014and Ryoka saw the same thing happen again. A spark, multiple<\/em> sparks, burning from the dress flickered into the air. And instead of going out\u2014<\/p>\n

They homed in on Belavierr. <\/em>Hedag grabbed one with her bare hand, grimacing, and Eloise trapped another in her pot\u2014<\/p>\n

The rest of them set Belavierr aflame. <\/em>Once more, the [Witch] was screaming. And now\u2014she was running.<\/p>\n

Not back towards the river. Towards Riverfarm, through the village. Wiskeria ran after her, calling for Belavierr to come back, but her mother was fleeing. As if trying to outrun the fire itself clinging to her.<\/p>\n

Running through the village, and as she passed by abandoned houses, Wiskeria saw a lantern in a window flicker<\/em> as she passed. A fire from one of the kitchens blazed\u2014<\/em><\/p>\n

Anything, a candle, an oven\u2019s fire\u2014jumped<\/em> to her and added to the [Witch]\u2019s agony. Belavierr left the village, fell to the ground, and began to roll\u2014then stopped.<\/p>\n

Burning as the rain stopped, the skies cleared, and a Drake shrieked triumph\u2014<\/em><\/p>\n

Her daughter halted in horror as Belavierr lay there, burning, burning, eyes wide, mouth open in incredible agony until slowly, slowly, the fire died. She lay, smoking, skin charred black, eyes too-white in a body filled with ash. No magic to cloak her injuries this time. Belavierr lay there, then flinched as she stared at the sky.<\/p>\n

Smoke was rising again, and now? <\/em>She reached for the sky, and her arm fell back, limp. She lay there, and Wiskeria spoke.<\/p>\n

\u201cMother?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAh. I see my death remains. So that was how it came.\u201d<\/p>\n

That was all Belavierr said. So this was her second death. She looked up towards the skies and waited. <\/em>The fires resumed burning. Her eyes stole to her daughter, and she lay there, now, seeing it.<\/p>\n

Fire. Flames she would have laughed at a week ago\u2014<\/em>now, each spark a mortal conflagration. Death for the Witch of Webs. Death for Riverfarm.<\/p>\n

Here it came.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u2014\u2014<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

The disappearance of the stormcloud seemed like a trick, at first. However, as the minutes grew, the flames that had almost been smothered regrew. Some had gone out entirely, but the embers had lingered under peat or other burnable fuels.<\/p>\n

It would have taken more than a brief shower to end this. Yet it almost had ended\u2014the Drake didn\u2019t understand what had happened. He put it down to providence as he relit flames and watched them grow. If this was some trick of the [Witches]\u2014no, he doubted they were willing to let the fires rage. Something had taken out the Witch of Webs.<\/p>\n

The sky was dark with smoke, but no rain fell. The Drake breathed out, and he unsteadily glared at Riverfarm. Then he unfurled the last two scrolls and nodded. His expression was dark as he watched Riverfarm, no longer confident. Wary.<\/p>\n

He bared his teeth as he flew, searching for the final spot to finish his mission. Almost\u2026then it would be over. Ancestors, he was weary, but he murmured a promise.<\/p>\n

\u201cTime to end this.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2014\u2013<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cShe has been marked for death by flame. It has burnt away every protection Belavierr had, made her weaker to it. A single spark carries a dead man\u2019s vengeance. Should the fires reach her, even she would not remain.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was Mavika who diagnosed what had happened hours later. Belavierr, the Witch of Webs, sat in the house allotted to her.<\/p>\n

In a bed.<\/p>\n

Ryoka had never actually seen Belavierr lying down. It had felt like she didn\u2019t need to sleep, and in truth, she was not really sleeping. She was staring blankly ahead, fingers twitching, so badly burnt that they hadn\u2019t even been able to undress her; her clothing had fused with her skin.<\/p>\n

She looked\u2026horrible. Like she had after fighting Ser Raim, but the difference was that this time, she didn\u2019t disguise her ruined flesh. The fires had burnt Belavierr badly. Worse, in a way, than Ser Raim.<\/p>\n

No, this was all his doing. It was clear Belavierr was now weak to flame in an extraordinary way; a single spark would actually follow<\/em> after her and try to set her on fire.<\/p>\n

If that wasn\u2019t vengeance, Ryoka didn\u2019t know what was. It was odd to think the [Knight] had cursed Belavierr in a way that even Mavika found impressive. As it was, the Crow Witch\u2019s voice was flat.<\/p>\n

Grim.<\/p>\n

\u201cEach flame saps her power; if it were mere flesh, she would endure.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIs this\u2014is this permanent?\u201d<\/p>\n

Poor Wiskeria. Ryoka was here to observe and report back to Riverfarm. All the hope and jubilation of the ritual succeeding had turned back to fear. The [Witches] had called the rain; the Drake had broken their magic. They might have bought time with the brief rainfall, but not much.<\/p>\n

And now Belavierr, their trump card, if a deadly one, was almost comatose. Mavika hissed a reply.<\/p>\n

\u201cI doubt it is. Your mother can remake any ward, repair any damage, from flame to sword. But that takes time she does not have.\u201d<\/p>\n

Time none of them had. Wiskeria took a breath and nodded.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re\u2014you\u2019re right, Mavika. She\u2019s mentioned being cursed like this before. Of all the times\u2014!\u201d<\/p>\n

The irony was that Raim\u2019s vengeance had come at the one moment when Belavierr was doing something good. <\/em>And now\u2014Ryoka got it.<\/p>\n

Belavierr\u2019s second death was more dangerous than the first. <\/em>She would have laughed at the wildfire before this. Now? It was the most deadly thing imaginable.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re screwed.<\/em> No\u2014Ryoka was determined to do something. <\/em>She cleared her throat, looking around.<\/p>\n

Almost all the [Witches] were here. However, Hedag and Califor weren\u2019t present. Hedag had gone to help with Riverfarm\u2019s folk, now digging desperately along the riverbank, and Califor was outside, though for what, Ryoka didn\u2019t know.<\/p>\n

Perhaps they had seen Belavierr\u2019s injuries and just didn\u2019t\u2026care. Wiskeria did, and she bent over the bed.<\/p>\n

\u201cMother? Can you hear me? How dangerous is the fire to you? Mother?\u201d<\/p>\n

Belavierr didn\u2019t answer. She might not have been able to; her face was barely a face, save for the eyes staring out of burnt-off eyelids. Her fingers, though, were moving despite the trail of ash and blood they left.<\/p>\n

She was still moving, though this time, she was\u2026stitching? Sewing something together. A bunch of failed tries lay around her, and as Ryoka watched, a promising bundle of thread that moved like an odd, twisting symbol of magic\u2014fell apart.<\/p>\n

\u201cHer flame wards are failing. I doubt she can mend her weakness easily. It will take weeks, perhaps months.\u201d<\/p>\n

Eloise observed, not without a bit of satisfaction. Wiskeria\u2019s head rose, and she snapped.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, now she\u2019s unable to give us aid when it matters most! Mother! The wildfires are coming.<\/em> Can you help stop them? Califor\u2019s trying, I think.\u201d<\/p>\n

Belavierr\u2019s vague gaze turned Wiskeria\u2019s way, but for once, she was silent. The burnt witch simply stared at her daughter, and Wiskeria\u2019s hand hesitated. She was holding onto Belavierr\u2019s shoulder, burnt cloth and skin, and the woman flinched.<\/p>\n

\u201cMother, you have to have some artifact or relic in\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWiskeria. You\u2019re hurting her.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHurting?\u201d<\/p>\n

Wiskeria saw her mother\u2019s flinching and suddenly let go. She stared at her hand, her mother, and backed up a step.<\/p>\n

\u201cWitch Wiskeria, you will do no good here. Leave her.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mavika advised Wiskeria. Alevica was just shaking her head as Belavierr tried another ward, a knot, and it just\u2026fell apart. The charred Witch of Webs stared at the mess on her lap.<\/p>\n

Fear, defeat, mortality.<\/em> All things not usual to Belavierr clung to her. Ryoka gave her this: no normal woman could be that badly burned and, without painkillers, just sit there and look a bit upset.<\/p>\n

But Wiskeria looked completely torn apart, and only the reminder of Riverfarm\u2019s danger\u2014and now the threat to her mother\u2014got her out of the house.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis isn\u2019t going to end well. It\u2019s all gone bad. We should get out of here\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

Alevica muttered. She cast around the dark house\u2014all flames had obviously been banned\u2014then hurried out, hunching her shoulders.<\/p>\n

Ryoka was tempted to say something to Belavierr in this moment. Perhaps something unneeded, but maybe something about mothers and daughters. One look at Belavierr\u2019s features, which became a grimace of agony, and she decided to leave.<\/p>\n

The Witch of Webs actually glanced at Ryoka as the Wind Runner backed up. And her gaze seemed to invite\u2026what? Pity? Ryoka wasn\u2019t sure she could manage<\/em> pity. Even now, she remembered how Raim and Tagil had died.<\/p>\n

If only you had been able to do a good thing. Now you\u2019re in it, with it. That was the kind of\u2014of feeling some of the [Witches] and even Ryoka had. Only one person actually seemed to have pity for Belavierr. Even Wiskeria had only shock.<\/p>\n

\u201cU-um, Miss Belavierr? I\u2019m awfully sorry about how hurt you were. You tried to make it rain. T-thank you.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nanette approached the bed cautiously, and Ryoka hesitated. Belavierr\u2019s gaze swung to Nanette; she was stitching again, painfully trying to make something, anything. The smallest [Witch] tipped her hat, eyes wide.<\/p>\n

Nanette was tough too\u2014she didn\u2019t flee shrieking at the sight of Belavierr. But her eyes had tears in them.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou got hurt trying to save Riverfarm. I\u2014I tip my hat to you. And this is from me. It\u2019s not much, but Miss Califor made it for me. A cream for burns.\u201d<\/p>\n

She offered a tiny, half-empty jar of something herbal to Belavierr. It was probably like putting a bandaid on a cut artery\u2026but it seemed to move Belavierr. At the very least, her fingers stopped desperately dancing, and she stared at Nanette, looking her over.<\/p>\n

Slowly, very<\/em> slowly, Belavierr accepted the jar. Then she patted Nanette on the head. The girl flinched, but Ryoka saw Belavierr hesitate\u2026then produce something and twist it together. She beckoned and offered Nanette something.<\/p>\n

It was\u2026a ribbon. Brown, the same color as Nanette\u2019s hair; the Witch of Webs had seen Nanette\u2019s hair, lopsided from Nanette\u2019s sacrifice, and motioned.<\/p>\n

\u201cOh. For me? I, um\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

Nanette hesitated, but then she turned, and Belavierr gingerly, but with some expertise, wove the ribbon into Nanette\u2019s braids. She did it fast, undoing and redoing Nanette\u2019s hair like, well, another type of thread.<\/p>\n

When she was done, it was almost invisible, but it had restored Nanette\u2019s braids, so her hair looked as if it hadn\u2019t even been shorn. It was so well done that only if you stared really<\/em> closely would you see the braid.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy hair! Thank <\/em>you, Miss Belavierr!\u201d<\/p>\n

Nanette seemed touched by the gesture. She curtsied, remembered to raise her hat, and Belavierr sat back. She held the jar of ointment in her hand and stared out the window, no longer trying to sew wards.<\/p>\n

Somehow\u2026that made Ryoka realize how desperate things were. The Wind Runner beckoned, and she and Nanette left the house silently. Belavierr sat there as her death came for them all.<\/p>\n

Fire and flame.<\/p>\n

Was she afraid? Ryoka glanced back once, and the witch was staring at her and Nanette. Even now\u2026she was a bit terrifying. But Ryoka thought\u2014yes.<\/p>\n

She was afraid. But one thing occurred to Ryoka.<\/p>\n

Belavierr hadn\u2019t left.<\/p>\n

She was still facing this for her daughter.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u2014\u2014<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

The fires were spreading across the land. Merging. Becoming a single blaze surrounding Riverfarm. Oh, they spread in every other direction too, but the wind was being used to send the fire one way.<\/p>\n

It might have hit Riverfarm that very night, but the rainstorm and one other factor kept the wildfires back. The flames slowed in gathering ground over the briefly-wet terrain, and so Riverfarm dug like mad.<\/p>\n

No magic, but just what the [Witches], villagers, and Ryoka knew. Fire breaks. Cleared terrain that would hopefully keep a fire back.<\/p>\n

\u2026Unless the heat and wind just murdered everyone standing downwind of the fire, even if they were thousands of feet or a mile away. The smoke might kill them, but the hour had passed for anyone to run.<\/p>\n

Groups had gone out, desperate, and many had come back, including Councilwoman Beatica, finding fires in the ways they had hoped to flee. As if someone\u2014that bastard in the skies\u2014was igniting any escape route.<\/p>\n

Three times now, the orange glow of one of the wildfires itself had been spotted. Twice in the forest, once rolling down from the northern road. Riverfarm had been given time to lug their possessions away to continue clearing land by the other factor holding the fire back.<\/p>\n

Witch Califor. She had taken a position in an ironic or perhaps fitting place.<\/p>\n

The hill where Ser Raim had died. It gave her a larger view of the area, and the [Witch] stood there, staff in hand. When the third blaze appeared, she thrust the staff down into the ground.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou, who knew the great forests. You, the last fragment who remains. This is not your land. These are not your people. But I ask you in mercy\u2019s name\u2014burn. <\/em>And spare them all this flame.\u201d<\/p>\n

She lifted her quarterstaff up. When Califor drove it down, for a second, you could see the forest it had once been part of. A vast land untouched by any buildings of wood or metal. The power of that ancient earth coursed through the wood of the staff, and it flexed and burnt<\/em> as flames scorched the ancient wood.<\/p>\n

A relic of old. A memory\u2014the ash had consumed two-thirds of its length. The third time Califor performed this spell, the fires engulfed the quarterstaff entirely. She held it as it crumbled to ash and looked up.<\/p>\n

Sweat was pouring down her face, matting her grey hair. Her hat was lopsided, but Califor\u2019s gaze was triumphant\u2014and regretful. And despairing.<\/p>\n

The fire had gone out. <\/em>In the distance, the patch of burnt land smoldered, but Riverfarm was spared. A third time.<\/p>\n

\u2014There were too many blazes. Califor could sense<\/em> them coming. Her staff had eaten three great fires away. Now, she bent, picking up some of the ash and scattering a handful in the air. The rest she put in a pouch of her belt.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am sorry. I should have carried you a hundred more years, found a way to regrow you. Forgive me.\u201d<\/p>\n

She said that, then looked around.<\/p>\n

\u201cForgive me.\u201d<\/p>\n

The second time, she said it to the land, to Riverfarm. And perhaps\u2026to the young woman who halted there.<\/p>\n

Ryoka Griffin had wanted to speak to Witch Califor for a while. When she stopped, wide-eyed, Califor sat down.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was all I had left. My staff is gone. My cloak frayed. Too many fires remain.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2014you just erased<\/em> the fire?\u201d<\/p>\n

Califor didn\u2019t respond. Ryoka had seen the flames, thousands of feet wide\u2014just disappear. She stood there looking at Witch Califor. The<\/em> Witch Califor, Alevica had said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have failed Riverfarm. At least, I have. I do not see a solution, Ryoka Griffin. Without Belavierr\u2014we have been bested. Bested by the Drakes, the Walled Cities. Unless the Wind Runner of Reizmelt has an idea. Great magic cannot solve every issue.\u201d<\/p>\n

Califor sat with her back to the burnt tree as Ryoka opened and closed her mouth. Then squeaked.<\/p>\n

\u201cMe?<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

Witch Califor was rubbing at her face, leaving trails of soot on her skin. She was distracted, clearly, exhausted.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhere\u2019s Nanette? I\u2026I should return.\u201d<\/p>\n

She tried to get up, and Ryoka bent to offer her a hand. Califor was lighter than she looked, and Ryoka stuttered.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2014I was checking on Belavierr. Nanette\u2019s fine. She\u2019s helping dig. I wanted to find you to ask\u2026isn\u2019t there something else?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cShe does what she can. No, Ryoka Griffin. I am out of magic. All I have left is\u2026me. Tricks. Enough to kill that Drake, perhaps. Not halt nature itself. That is the hardest thing for [Witches]: to halt what should<\/em> happen.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut that bastard started the fires! This isn\u2019t nature!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFire is nature. The hand that started it might well have done so for selfish, cruel reasons. Fire does not care. The dry wood that yearns to burn will do so for whatever task it is about. Be it to burn an innocent woman or boil water. It is hard<\/em> to oppose fire. True, the storm that we conjured was sent away. It might be back with a vengeance. But not today.\u201d<\/p>\n

Califor was so tired she was rhyming a bit, like Mavika. She looked at Ryoka.<\/p>\n

\u201cBelavierr is wounded; the flames shall be her end. Mavika is the least-suited of all of us to oppose a natural disaster with her flocks. Eloise and Hedag are powerful [Witches], but not in grand scales. That role falls to me. And I have failed.\u201d<\/p>\n

She sounded so bitter about it Ryoka hesitated.<\/p>\n

\u201cM-maybe I could help? I\u2019m\u2014you know my name?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWind Runner of Reizmelt. Yes, you\u2019re the wind\u2019s friend. Perhaps\u2026though a wind will stoke most flames. And that Drake has control of it with spells. Can you best him?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t. I\u2019m sorry.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ryoka had tried to free the angry wind under his command. Califor\u2019s voice rasped.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot your fault. Though I would have asked where the power came from. It\u2019s not witchcraft nor the magic of druids nor a Skill nor regular spell. You\u2019re an odd woman, Ryoka Griffin. I meant to ask where you came from. But it was never the right time. Now?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2026could tell you. We have time, a bit.\u201d<\/p>\n

As if to defy Ryoka\u2019s words, the dark sky grew with another glow. Califor\u2019s head rose, and Ryoka saw another<\/em> fire, smaller but no less deadly, creeping through the forest.<\/p>\n

\u201cFuck.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI am curious. But no\u2026I think it has to wait. I do not know you, and you do not know me, Ryoka. If I could\u2014ah, well. What about this?\u201d<\/p>\n

Califor suddenly seemed to have a thought. She produced something and handed it to Ryoka. It was a tiny finger\u2026saucer? Yes, just a dimple of beautiful porcelain.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s this?\u201d<\/p>\n

It looked vaguely familiar to Ryoka. Without a word, Califor produced something and poured it into a copy she held balanced on two fingers. Then into Ryoka\u2019s.<\/p>\n

\u201cA thought. You don\u2019t recognize it?\u201d<\/p>\n

Her glance at Ryoka was quick, and Ryoka stared, and the almost odorless smell\u2026her tongue tasted the liquid in the tiny bowl on her fingertips.<\/p>\n

\u201cWait, is this\u2026sake<\/em>?\u201d<\/p>\n

Califor looked amused.<\/p>\n

\u201cAh, I don\u2019t know that word in Drathian, but you recognize the custom.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ryoka did a double-take. She stared at the way Califor held the saucer towards her\u2014then took a sip.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not from Drath. Not exactly\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo. You don\u2019t have the accent. But you recognize this. You\u2019re a strange woman. If I had time, I would ask you all of it. Right now? You\u2019re clumsy, like Nanette. But you\u2019re good-hearted and brave. The wind sings your name. You would have made a good [Witch], Ryoka. Though I say that of most women I\u2019ve ever met.\u201d<\/p>\n

Witch Califor sipped, and Ryoka took a gulp of the liquid, which was actually fairly mellow. It warmed her up, and she glanced at Califor.<\/p>\n

The moment of weakness was gone. Califor stood there, merely regretful as she studied the blaze.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey turned to me, you know. Prost, those who heard my story. Hoped that Califor<\/em> could save them. As if I were the better [Witch]. Belavierr has a thousand stories for every tall tale about me. I never relied on my reputation because I couldn\u2019t answer it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Califor glanced at the trees near them for some reason, and Ryoka glanced at the shadows, but sensed no lurking Drake. She took another sip as Califor refilled their tiny cups.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m\u2014but you have<\/em> done great things?\u201d<\/p>\n

She was hopeful, and Califor looked at Ryoka.<\/p>\n

\u201cSay, rather, I am capable of it. As are you.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Wind Runner flushed, both in embarrassment and gratification, and scuffed her foot on the ground.<\/p>\n

\u201cI haven\u2019t done much great with the wind. I\u2014I was trying to think of something I could do.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

Her eyes rose towards the flames now consuming the forest in the distance. Wind. Fire. Usually complementary forces, unfortunately. She couldn\u2019t create a void, and failing that, wind only turned regular fires into hellstorms. Like fire tornados. She\u2019d seen one of those on the news once\u2026<\/p>\n

Her mind was racing with ideas, a helpless desire to answer all the witchcraft and effort she\u2019d seen.<\/p>\n

Califor looked at Ryoka, and her eyes softened.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou are a brave girl. I wish I had the time to have actually taught you anything. If you have an idea\u2014do it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ryoka hung her head, embarrassed at even suggesting it.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t. I don\u2019t know how. It\u2019s not like something I can just\u2026push<\/em> and achieve. And even if I could, I\u2019m not strong enough.\u201d<\/p>\n

The [Witch] exhaled.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know the feeling. Witchcraft is not strong,<\/em> Ryoka.\u201d<\/p>\n

At the Wind Runner\u2019s incredulous look, Califor clarified.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot strong like [Mages]. Compared to an Archmage? One of them could snap their fingers, produce rain, and all of this would be over. A lot of my magic revolves around sympathy. One thing affects another. Like my staff. I made it burn in the place of the forest. Sacrifice is part of witchcraft. Emotion, too; ritual.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou do a lot with that, though. Heck, you hid all of Riverfarm! Isn\u2019t that powerful sympathy?\u201d<\/p>\n

Ryoka protested, and Califor smiled.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have Skills. And experience. But yes\u2026where I come in is providing the answer to that gap between a single staff and a wildfire. It is not enough. Yet if I may\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

Her head turned, and she lifted the cup to her lips, sipping. Looked Ryoka in the eyes.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2014The secret to success in my magic, and perhaps yours, is to take the tiniest of things. A bit of leeway. A chance in a million. Then you grab it and twist until you do what you must. However hard it must be.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Wind Runner stared at Califor, and her eyes flickered.<\/p>\n

\u201c…I\u2014I can try. If it comes to it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s all a woman can do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Again, Califor glanced sideways, then at the flames, and Ryoka knew she should go. To practice or\u2026Califor exhaled, dropped the little saucer, stumbled, and Ryoka reached for her. But the [Witch] just caught herself, held up a hand, and Ryoka stopped.<\/p>\n

\u201cI truly have let Alevica down. She knew stories of me. In my experience, Miss Ryoka, it isn\u2019t wise to walk about claiming you\u2019re a woman who does great things. Or else everyone expects it of you.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cRight. I get that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ryoka thought about reputations. And it made sense. Califor was murmuring, hand on the tree for support. She had the little bottle of alcohol in her hand, and she stared down at the delicate piece of porcelain from the Empire of Drath.<\/p>\n

\u201c…I also don\u2019t want to give Nanette the wrong idea. I am not that strong or wise or good. The secret, though?\u201d<\/p>\n

She pushed herself upright and exhaled. Her chin rose, and she touched the brim of her hat. Her eyes, like a grey storm, glittered in the darkness. Califor Weishart lifted her hat, and her voice sounded resonant.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe secret is being able<\/em> to do great things. Then you seldom have to.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Wind Runner looked her in the eyes, and the [Witch] smiled. Then she raised her foot\u2014and shattered the beautiful bowl into pieces on the grass. It made a soft cracking<\/em> sound, and Ryoka stared.<\/p>\n

Califor tilted her hand\u2014and the bottle of spirits from another land poured onto the pieces on the grass\u2014and behind her, the sky bloomed.<\/p>\n

Ryoka whirled. The fourth<\/em> fire coming her way suddenly roared<\/em> into the air. Terrifying Riverfarm. A blast, a pillar of heat and sound\u2014burning high, high\u2014<\/em><\/p>\n

As if someone had just poured something flammable on it. <\/em>Califor lifted her hands, as if compressing something, and Ryoka saw the fire burning a hundred times stronger halt\u2014<\/em><\/p>\n

Raging fire. Incinerating wood, turning it to charcoal\u2014burning out even the embers.<\/em> Until Califor released her grip, and the wood was smoking\u2014burnt black\u2014<\/p>\n

The fire extinguished by its own volatility. <\/em>Witch Califor leaned back against the tree. In the silence, the Wind Runner offered her the remainder of her drink, and Califor took a sip from the saucer.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe fires will reach Riverfarm soon. What time, I cannot say. I will find Nanette in a moment. Will you have her meet me at our cottage?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cO-of course. Thank you, Witch Califor. For the advice and\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

Ryoka stared wordlessly at the woman. Califor simply tipped her hat to her.<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t thank me, Miss Griffin. All I bought was time. Tomorrow\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

Her eyes were faraway.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2014I will let you down.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u2014\u2014<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Wind Runner had nothing to say to that. So Witch Califor leaned against the tree until Ryoka had gone, a breeze flowing with her. Then,<\/em> Califor slowly slid down the trunk and onto the burnt soil.<\/p>\n

Showing off to younger women. She would have chuckled if it were not so dire nor things so weary. Califor waited as the second person trudged up the hill to find her.<\/p>\n

\u201cWitch Califor. I didn\u2019t want to interrupt. That was splendid magic.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYour mother could do better.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wiskeria bowed her head, not denying that, as she sat down. Califor wearily opened her eyes. At this moment, the wariness between the two was gone, any gap closed.<\/p>\n

\u201cI neither helped nor hindered her greatly when the Order of Seasons sought to end her. Had I done either, we might not have come to this.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wiskeria shook her head, shamefaced.<\/p>\n

\u201cI should have been more honest with you. I should have\u2014done more with my mother when Ser Raim appeared. I just didn\u2019t believe she could ever lose. Witch Califor, I\u2019m sorry. I know you must disapprove of me, being such a poor [Witch] despite my mother being\u2014and not stopping her.\u201d<\/p>\n

Califor\u2019s head rose slightly, and she gave Wiskeria a startled look.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t disapprove of you, Witch Wiskeria.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cReally? But I thought\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

Wiskeria trailed off. Califor shook her head, sitting more upright.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou did what you felt was right. Few children could find it in their hearts to oppose Witch Belavierr, and she was your mother. You saw her; you regretted what had been done. Could you have done something later or as she came here? Perhaps. But no one in the coven, be it Mavika or Eloise, will judge<\/em> you. Least of all me. I am a selfish witch, as we all are.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wiskeria protested.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou? You\u2019re the least<\/em> selfish. You\u2019ve been doing nothing but helping Riverfarm! That\u2019s why I came to\u2014to\u2014ask if you\u2019d teach me magic. My craft. Make me your apprentice.\u201d<\/p>\n

Witch Califor blinked. She turned to Wiskeria, actually surprised, and Wiskeria blushed.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know this isn\u2019t the right moment, but I\u2014you\u2019re the only [Witch] I\u2019d want to teach me a craft.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI am honored. But Witch Wiskeria\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

The rejection in Califor\u2019s gaze was faster than Wiskeria had anticipated, but they were [Witches]. They didn\u2019t like prevaricating, and Wiskeria hung her head.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is nothing to do with your mother. Or even you.\u201d<\/p>\n

Califor clarified, and Wiskeria glanced up.<\/p>\n

\u201cThen it\u2019s because Nanette\u2019s better?\u201d<\/p>\n

Her look was annoyed, competitive, and Califor clarified with a smile.<\/p>\n

\u201cNanette is my greatest and only<\/em> apprentice. If you and I had met before her, for you, I might have reconsidered my policy on apprentices. But as I said: I am a selfish witch. Tomorrow, you shall see that, Wiskeria.\u201d<\/p>\n

The younger [Witch] tilted her head, but she didn\u2019t try to gainsay Califor like Ryoka. At last, she looked at Califor. Staff gone. Cloak gone. These were just things, but Wiskeria knew she was greatly spent.<\/p>\n

\u2026She had not bled for Riverfarm, though.<\/em> Merely wearied herself in its defense. That<\/em> was selfishness. For Mavika, or even Eloise, it was understandable, but the Califor of stories should have done more.<\/p>\n

\u201cAsk.\u201d<\/p>\n

Califor whispered, and because Wiskeria was a good [Witch], however young, she asked the right question.<\/p>\n

\u201cIs\u2014is it talent, Witch Califor? The reason Nanette\u2019s your only apprentice?\u201d<\/p>\n

At this, Califor laughed. She laughed so ruefully, with such amusement, that Wiskeria stared, then began to bristle in Nanette\u2019s defense. But there was nothing unkind about it. Califor shook her head, chuckling.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo. It is the most obvious accident and reason in itself, Wiskeria. Your mother might understand. Nanette is my apprentice\u2026and you will be a great [Witch]. I am sorry you did not meet the Witch Califor. I am indeed a coward.\u201d<\/p>\n

With that, she rose and bowed to Wiskeria. The younger [Witch] looked up, eyes flickering, and Califor wondered if Wiskeria understood. When she rose, she tipped her hat to Califor.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m grateful. I have admired [Witches] since meeting you all.\u201d<\/p>\n

That hurt most of all, but Califor embraced the pain and bowed.<\/p>\n

\u201cMay it continue.\u201d<\/p>\n

Then the night fell, and she turned her head towards the smoky landscape. By the time dawn rose the next day, the pale summer\u2019s light caught on vibrant orange and flaring red, on murky ash and carmine and crimson oblivion.<\/p>\n

Then the landscape caught flame.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Day 70<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

When dawn came and they saw the fires that Califor had delayed on the horizon, the people of Riverfarm digging along the riverbank put down their shovels. They gathered in the village with their belongings taken from the houses.<\/p>\n

Some people had found horses and were prepared to ride again rather than stay. Mister Prost did not gainsay anyone, save for people trying to loot what didn\u2019t belong to them.<\/p>\n

Yet his eyes were on the [Witches]. So were many of the villagers\u2019.<\/p>\n

It was so close, hope and hatred. Distrust became desperation\u2014and they had seen Belavierr almost stop the fires. But while Belavierr had regained her feet\u2014<\/p>\n

She was hunched, hat hiding half-fixed features. <\/em>Good skin seemed to sag and reveal the burnt flesh beneath, and she was hiding, huddling away from the oncoming flames.<\/p>\n

At least she had solved her immediate burning issue: the few sparks did not ignite her. They swerved towards her, then extinguished themselves on her clothing. But it was clear she was still a match ready to go up.<\/p>\n

\u2014Besides, it was not her that Prost and others looked at, but Witch Califor. She stood there as morning dawned, reading each and every fire from the smoke they sent up, vast trails through the sky. Nanette was coughing as a wet handkerchief covered her face; Ryoka herself had woken up choking on the smog.<\/p>\n

Califor looked around, meeting Prost\u2019s eyes, the gazes of children, folk of Riverfarm, the rest of the coven, who watched her curiously, or in Eloise\u2019s case\u2014a kind of calm, smiling resignation.<\/p>\n

Last of all, Wiskeria\u2019s and Ryoka\u2019s gazes. Then Califor\u2019s gaze travelled lower. Her apprentice looked up with wide, worried, trusting eyes. Califor gently bent over, and her grip tightened on Nanette\u2019s shoulder.<\/p>\n

When her eyes rose, they were filled with grim resolve.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am leaving, Steward Prost. I regret that I could not do anything more. Nanette, mount up.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her apprentice\u2019s mouth fell open in horror, Califor glanced at her hair with a frown. But the little girl\u2019s eyes were wide with shock\u2014then she saw the pony and horse trotting towards them, saddlebags made up. Ryoka couldn\u2019t believe it. Neither could Nanette.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat? Miss Califor! But the flames\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNanette. We are going. We can do nothing more here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Prost lowered his head. He looked at Califor, and the woman\u2019s face was impassive. Nanette tore away from Califor.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can! We might not be able to do another ritual! But we can use smaller spells! Hold the fire back! If we raise the wall higher, we could hold the flames away, conjure enough cool air to outlast the fire\u2014Miss Califor, please!\u201d<\/p>\n

Wiskeria pleaded with the older [Witch]. Califor hesitated again. Wiskeria held her breath. So that was what she\u2019d meant last night.<\/p>\n

Was she just leaving? Alevica was incredulous. Even Mavika looked shocked. This was Califor<\/em>. Hadn\u2019t she heard stories of the [Witch] pulling off feats just as grand? Surely\u2014<\/p>\n

But then Califor shook her head. It was at Nanette she gazed. And she shook her head as she addressed Wiskeria.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am sorry. But Nanette comes first. In that, I understand your mother. You should go with her.\u201d<\/p>\n

She pointed. Belavierr was walking towards Wiskeria. And her face wasn\u2019t expressionless. It was intent. Wiskeria gazed at her.<\/p>\n

\u201cMother.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWiskeria. It is time for me to leave. I cannot halt the fire any more than my death. Come. I will bear you out of this place. I have the strength for that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Califor\u2019s decision had, it seemed, helped Belavierr come to a decision. A low moan rose from the people of Riverfarm. They had no horses or magic. Belavierr ignored them. she reached for Wiskeria. The [Witch] drew back, horrified.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can\u2019t just go!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou must. Or you will die. The chance of surviving this is slim to none.<\/em> Wiskeria, listen to Witch Belavierr. She speaks with your interests at heart.\u201d<\/p>\n

Califor snapped as she crooked a finger.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo arguments, Nanette. I will not risk your life.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I want to stay! They\u2019ll die! Miss Califor, please!<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nanette sobbed, then began to kick and struggle, but Califor picked her up and put her on the horse. The other [Witch] mounted and glanced down. Wiskeria looked up helplessly at her.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a chance.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is. But part of raising a life is putting that life first. Witch Wiskeria, you may hate your mother. You may disagree with her. But she has ever put your life above her own. She has tried to protect you. And I cannot fault that. I would fault the rest of Belavierr. But never that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Califor studied Wiskeria and met Belavierr\u2019s eyes. The Stitch Witch dipped her head slightly. Califor raised her hat.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am sorry. But this day, I am a coward first. I cannot let Nanette risk her life. Goodbye. I hope you all survive.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMiss Califor!<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

The plea came from the [Witch] girl. Nanette made to jump off the horse, and Califor reached out to snatch her back, but Prost interrupted.<\/p>\n

\u201cGo on, Miss Nanette. I can\u2019t fault Miss Califor her decision.\u201d<\/p>\n

The rest of Rivefarm clearly could,<\/em> but Prost had something in his eyes. He nodded to both Califor and Belavierr for some reason. Nanette hesitated, and Ryoka called out.<\/p>\n

\u201cGo, Nanette.\u201d<\/p>\n

She didn\u2019t get it, not right now, but she couldn\u2019t bear the little [Witch] getting hurt. Nanette hesitated, and Mavika spoke.<\/p>\n

\u201cGo, child. Do not argue with your master!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

Nanette whispered, and Califor ignored her. She steadied Nanette, then pointed and whistled, and the horse and pony took off. They shot past the crowd, out of the village, and Califor didn\u2019t look back.<\/p>\n

Ryoka respected that, at least.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u2014\u2014<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Califor raced south with Nanette following. Nanette shot one agonized glance backwards. And then they were moving south between two plumes of smoke. And Belavierr\u2019s gaze followed them.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe is right, you know. She understands what it is to be a mother more than I. Daughter, come with me. I can protect you. You and perhaps a few others. Is that not enough?\u201d<\/p>\n

She reached out to Wiskeria. But her daughter recoiled. Wiskeria still couldn\u2019t take her mother\u2019s hand. Too much lay between them. And she gazed around and saw the desperate faces.<\/p>\n

Stories. Once, Wiskeria had watched an army die. They had called her their [General]. And she had seen them buried. She had come to Riverfarm and protected it. And she had once loved her mother. For this and so many other reasons, she couldn\u2019t. So Wiskeria begged.<\/p>\n

\u201cMother, please stay! Please! For me?\u201d<\/p>\n

Belavierr hesitated. She looked into Wiskeria\u2019s face. And she hesitated. The immortal, distant gaze was gone. A far more mortal one was there. Uncertain. She looked at Wiskeria and stepped away.<\/p>\n

\u201cI see it now. You<\/em> are my death as surely as the fire. If I\u2026no. Daughter, come. You have done all you can here. Come with me and take other lives to save. They will certainly live. If you stay, you risk everything.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wiskeria knew it was true. But she clung to hope. And she glanced around. At Chimmy. At Prost, Ram, Durene, Rie, Nesor\u2014and she knew what her answer was. Had to be. She regarded her mother, tears in her eyes.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t. I can\u2019t abandon them. We can still stop the fire. The fields\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

She couldn\u2019t finish. A chance.<\/em> She reached, but Belavierr stepped back. The Stitch Witch hesitated. And then she turned away. She looked back just once as she began to stride away.<\/p>\n

\u201cI must go. Daughter, please come with me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wiskeria shook her head.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo. I have to try.\u201d<\/p>\n

Belavierr paused. She almost smiled. Strangely. Awkwardly. But she just seemed\u2026sad.<\/p>\n

\u201cI never did understand you. But D\u2014Wiskeria. My beloved daughter. I do not want to end. Even for you.\u201d<\/p>\n

For a moment, she hesitated, and Wiskeria looked at her. Belavierr, who had faced down Raim and the [Witch Hunters], who had remained and worked great magic for her daughter\u2014surely she would stay. Surely\u2026<\/p>\n

The Witch of Webs turned away. Just like that, as if Wiskeria were suddenly, like Raim, a lost memory. She ignored her daughter\u2019s call, her cloak whirling, her burnt features set.<\/p>\n

Then she was gone, walking away towards a black horse that rode towards her. She mounted it and rode away like Califor did.<\/p>\n

And then it did feel like the\u2026end. Ryoka Griffin looked around. The villagers stared after Belavierr. Their panic turned into a cold certainty. They looked at each other. And they began to flee.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you run, you\u2019ll burn! With me! Everyone, dig, with a spade\u2014with your hands if you have to! We need that wall and fire break to be as long as possible! Move!\u201d<\/p>\n

Prost roared, trying to regain control, but now it was a panic of people, many fleeing in every direction. Some of Lancrel\u2019s folk and the outsiders stayed, like Jelov, and almost all of Riverfarm ran towards the river. They listened to Prost and believed this was safest. But others just ran.<\/p>\n

The coven\u2014the coven was breaking. Alevica was next. Ryoka saw her call her broom towards her. The Witch Runner grinned shakily. She was still pale and clutching her stomach where she\u2019d been stabbed.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlevica.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWotcha, Ryoka. Hey, listen. It\u2019s been great, really. But it\u2019s time to go. Catch you later if you make it out, okay?\u201d<\/p>\n

The [Witch] stopped as Ryoka grabbed her shoulder. She spoke urgently, trying weakly to prize Ryoka\u2019s hands off her.<\/p>\n

\u201cLook, our debt\u2019s settled. Me helping you with the charm? All settled! I owe you, even! But\u2014I\u2019m not staying. Not for this. Not if you paid me two thousand gold pieces. I\u2014I don\u2019t want to die,<\/em> Ryoka.\u201d<\/p>\n

She tried to take off. Ryoka let go of her. Alevica flew upwards. And then her broomstick wobbled.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo\u2014no!<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

The [Witch] crashed down to earth. Alevica rolled, tried to get up. She cursed. Eloise walked over towards her. The old [Witch]\u2019s face was grave.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re out of power. You spent it in the ritual. And your wound\u2019s taken the rest.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo! I can do this! I just need a potion!\u201d<\/p>\n

Alevica stumbled unsteadily to her feet. Eloise shook her head. She slapped<\/em> Alevica across the face. The Witch Runner stared at her.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlevica. If you fly, you will die. That Drake will pick you off. They\u2019re trained in air combat, and you\u2019ll run out of mana, even with potions. Come with us. Mavika has agreed to fly with us.\u201d<\/p>\n

She pointed. Hedag stood with Mavika. The [Executioner] was speaking with Miss Yesel. The woman\u2019s face was white. She was pushing a screaming Chimmy towards her. More parents were clustered around Mavika, Hedag. Holding children. Ryoka\u2019s mind went still when she saw that. Alevica looked up, desperate, relieved.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou won\u2019t leave me?\u201d<\/p>\n

Eloise shook her head. She pointed south, the way the other [Witches] had gone.<\/p>\n

\u201cCalifor can ride through the fire as it hasn\u2019t fully spread yet. But it will be far harder for us. I propose fire-resistance charms. We move in a group. We can take children, some villagers perhaps. No more.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cEloise\u2014!\u201d<\/p>\n

Wiskeria\u2019s voice was pleading. The [Lady] turned [Witch] peered at her and shook her head. She walked back towards Hedag. Mechanically, Wiskeria and Ryoka followed.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe cannot take all the children.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mavika hissed impatiently. Hedag cradled an infant in her arms. Her eyes were unblinking. And there was that same terrible light in them as when she had swung her axe.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo. But your crows might lift some. Some might fall and die. \u2018Tis up for the parents to decide. Those that can run will come with us. No more than fifty.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mavika paused and nodded. Eloise\u2019s gaze was distant. She bowed her head.<\/p>\n

\u201cVery well. We can try to part the flames for that many. But there are more that will follow. They\u2019ll try to stop us.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cLet them try. My flock will chase those who follow away.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mavika\u2019s eyes were dark. Wiskeria glanced around. The hope and panic had turned dark. People were watching. Listening to the [Witches]. More were congregated around the river. Some had gone back to the village, returning with hammers, wood.<\/p>\n

Galloping hooves. Ryoka spun. Charlay stopped in front of her. The Centauress gulped, coughed. The sky was orange. The flames had turned the sky glowing. In the distance, everything was smoke and fire.<\/p>\n

\u201cRyoka. I\u2019m going. Are you coming?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cCharlay?\u201d<\/p>\n

Ryoka looked up at her. And then she looked around. Wiskeria was watching her. Ryoka hesitated.<\/p>\n

\u201cCharlay, the fire\u2019s everywhere<\/em>. I\u2019m staying. The [Witches] might not give you safe passage. If you helped carry them, maybe\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo. I\u2019m going. I can run faster than anyone else. If you wanted to come with me\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

Ryoka hesitated. She felt it too. Fear<\/em>. She was afraid. But\u2014it was already too late. She shook her head.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe fire\u2019s already surrounding us. The safest thing is to go with the [Witches] if they\u2019d let us, Charlay. And that\u2019s\u2026we could survive here. I\u2019ll try to blow the fire away when it gets close. With the river, there\u2019s a chance\u2014stay here!\u201d<\/p>\n

But the Centauress shook her head.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m sorry. I don\u2019t want to die either.\u201d<\/p>\n

She turned. Ryoka shouted desperately.<\/p>\n

\u201cCharlay! Don\u2019t! No matter how fast you run, the smoke<\/em> will kill you!\u201d<\/p>\n

There was no way the Centauress could break through that much fire. Charlay glanced back once.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m sorry!<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

Then she ran. Ryoka wavered. And then she ran, shouting.<\/p>\n

\u201cCharlay! Don\u2019t! It\u2019s\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

Seeing Ryoka run after Charlay was the last straw. Wiskeria saw the last group of people not frantically working with Prost run to the river. But why there? The [Witch] saw as she spotted a group of makeshift boats. And leading them, at the head of a group of Lancrel\u2019s folk, was Councilwoman Beatica. The woman was shouting at Lady Rie, who was arguing with her.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou will not make it down the river, Councilwoman! Listen to me, all of you!\u201d<\/p>\n

Lady Rie was shouting to make herself heard. But no one was listening. Panicked, they grabbed for the overladen, crude boats. That was what Lancrel\u2019s people had been doing rather than working on the firebreaks. Wiskeria felt a surge of fury. And then she heard Beatica\u2019s high, panicked voice.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are leaving! We\u2019ll go down the river in boats! The water will give us safety!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019ll die! Do you think the river will protect you? The water will boil<\/em> you if you swim, and if you go in boats, you\u2019ll die to the heat and smoke! The wind is blowing\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

Lady Rie\u2019s voice fell on deaf ears. Beatica screamed, and the first boat shoved off. A huge crowd of people followed it into the water, grabbing at the other boats. Several capsized; the rest shoved down the river, overladen. More people followed, swimming, trusting to the water. Wiskeria looked up and saw Lady Rie\u2019s pale face.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey could make it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo. I spoke to Laken. The fire engulfs the river on both sides. The smoke is too thick. Some may survive. But they will be far too few. We may have to retreat to the river ourselves. But\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

Rie turned away. She slowly walked back towards the field. There was fire on the breeze now. Fire and ash. Eloise, Hedag, Mavika, and Alevica stood with a group of children and a few parents, all laden. They watched her.<\/p>\n

Wiskeria wavered. She searched for Ryoka. For Durene and Prost, still desperately working. Frostwing was screaming as she flew in a circle overhead. Even Bismarck was pushing dirt towards the wall the villagers were trying to build.<\/p>\n

Then someone cried out. Ram turned and pointed. And everyone looked up. Wiskeria didn\u2019t see it at first, lost amid the lurid orange glow on the horizon. And then she saw the movement in the skies. Hope finally extinguished itself in her.<\/p>\n

It came out of the storm cloud fueled by smoke. A shifting at first. And then a clear, moving, black and red shape. Everyone turned to watch. [Witches]. Villagers. Wiskeria. Ram\u2019s face was white as he stared up at the writhing pillar of wind and fire.<\/p>\n

\u201cDead gods. What is that?<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cA twister. One made of flames.\u201d<\/p>\n

Eloise spoke quietly. The old [Witch] gazed up. It was coming straight at Riverfarm. So fast that Wiskeria could see it travelling across the ground. The flames were coming with it. Embers flying through the sky. And the Drake was laughing as the last scrolls fell from his claws. The [Witches] glanced at each other. Mavika spread her arms, feathers emerging from her robes.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am sorry. But I cannot shield you from that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Eloise nodded.<\/p>\n

\u201cI understand. Go.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Crow [Witch] hesitated. Her crows were flying off, led by her raven, fleeing the approaching tornado. Wiskeria looked at Mavika. And then she felt her mother\u2019s name on her lips. Eloise and Hedag were gazing at her.<\/p>\n

\u201cWiskeria!<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

A voice bellowed her name. Wiskeria turned. She saw Durene. Durene and Ryoka. The half-Troll girl was carrying a limp shape. Charlay. Wiskeria ran over to her.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat happened?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cShe tried to go south. The wind is throwing embers<\/em> at us. The smoke\u2014she passed out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ryoka was burned across her shirt and face. She peered at Wiskeria. And then back at the twister. Wiskeria\u2019s voice was numb.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can try to get you out. And Charlay, if she wakes up. Maybe my mother can hear me still. But I don\u2019t think she can stop that.\u201d<\/p>\n

The City Runner nodded.<\/p>\n

\u201cDo what you have to do. But I still think there\u2019s a chance.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wiskeria laughed. The laughter was high, hysterical. As close to cackling as she\u2019d ever come.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow?<\/em> How can anyone flee that?<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

The young woman didn\u2019t answer. She was looking at the twister. And Mavika hadn\u2019t fled. She was watching Ryoka. Dreamily, Ryoka got up. She glanced at Durene. Charlay. Prost, who had gone to his family. Rie, the [Witches], and then at Wiskeria.<\/p>\n

\u201cStay here. The land\u2019s cleared. The fire can\u2019t spread. It\u2019ll throw embers and smoke, but you might be able to make it, like Laken said. Stay low to the ground. The smoke goes up. Get in the water, maybe, although it could boil. Either way, there\u2019s a chance. If you can make oxygen, air, do it. Shield everyone here.\u201d<\/p>\n

She pointed around. More than half of Riverfarm hadn\u2019t fled. Perhaps because there was nowhere to go. Perhaps because they still believed in an [Emperor]\u2019s words. Ryoka took another breath. Coughed. She was shaking. She looked at Eloise, Hedag, and Mavika. Alevica was sitting on the ground, her head in her hands.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2014[Witches]. If you stay, could you protect them?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe might. We could try calling air and redirecting the fire. But we could also run.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hedag leaned on her axe, eying the flames to the south. She was watching Ryoka too. So was Eloise. And even Alevica looked up. Because Wiskeria felt it too. Ryoka\u2019s fear had subsided. A calm resolve was in her. She was still terrified. But she was calm. Ryoka nodded. She addressed Hedag, gesturing the way Califor had gone.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe fire\u2019s too wide to break through. If you could fly, you might make it. You\u2019ll never do it on foot. Califor? Maybe. You\u2019re on foot. And the horses will panic. This is safest. You know wildfires.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hedag\u2019s eyes glinted.<\/p>\n

\u201cAye, I do, Runner-Girl. There\u2019s sense in what you say. Stay. But that whirlwind of flame will be our end either way.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNot if I stop it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ryoka gazed up. And her expression was bleak. But she smiled. Wiskeria looked at her, disbelieving.<\/p>\n

\u201cStop it? You?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWind\u2019s child.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mavika murmured. Ryoka nodded. She stood up, remembering what Califor had said, and suddenly she was as light as a feather. Relaxed.<\/p>\n

She was going to fail.<\/p>\n

But she had to try. Ryoka spoke to the witches, to everyone.<\/p>\n

\u201cI came here for a reason. It might have just been because Laken asked me. Maybe it was curiosity. Or maybe it was this. I\u2019ll try. The wind listens to me. If I can\u2019t change the direction the tornado\u2019s coming, go down the river. And tell Erin\u2014tell Laken\u2014I did my best.\u201d<\/p>\n

She turned. Wiskeria shouted at her back. But Ryoka was already running. Running straight ahead. And the wind blew faintly at her back. As the tornado raged and came towards her.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2014\u2013<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cYou will never thank me for this, Nanette. Nor will I be proud, but perhaps, someday, you will understand why I did it.\u201d<\/p>\n

That was all Witch Califor said as she drew a blade. She swung it and cut through a wall of fire and parted the inferno for her rearing horse. Then dismounted to drag both her horse and Nanette\u2019s pony through the ash.<\/p>\n

Behind them, the fires advanced, and Nanette felt the wildfire raging. The tornado had come to earth. And the witches and Riverfarm were trapped.<\/p>\n

Nanette was crying. The burning fire dried her tears. But the flames never touched her. She rode, clutching Miss Califor\u2019s dress. The [Witch] rode the stallion through the flames. Behind them, Nanette\u2019s horse had fallen.<\/p>\n

But they were free of the fire. They broke through the fire and burning skies into ash and clearer skies. Califor was breathing hard. But as she slowed the dark horse, she was untouched. She gazed down at Nanette.<\/p>\n

\u201cNanette.\u201d<\/p>\n

The [Witch] girl\u2019s eyes and nose ran. She looked back at the fire. She could see how far it stretched. And in the distance, the whirlwind of flame.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re going to die. All of them.\u201d<\/p>\n

She\u2019d thought Califor could save them. Do anything. <\/em>Now, Nanette knew how Wiskeria felt, and it was too painful.<\/p>\n

Califor didn\u2019t reply. She just leaned on her horse, panting. And she seemed tired. The two glanced around the ash and smoldering landscape. They had made it. Califor had ridden through the flames, refused to let them take her.<\/p>\n

But how many had her magic? Who else could run away? Nanette looked back desperately. But no one else broke through the wall of fire. Califor dismounted and gripped the horse\u2019 reins.<\/p>\n

\u201cStay on the saddle, Nanette. We must keep moving. And keep an eye on the skies for that Drake.\u201d<\/p>\n

The [Witch] cautioned Nanette, and she urged the horse forwards. Nanette was still crying. She didn\u2019t respond. The two cut out of the fire as Califor slashed a hole onto a cleared section of burnt road. No one would be able to follow; it was too deadly.<\/p>\n

However, someone was ahead<\/em> of them, standing on the road.<\/p>\n

Belavierr halted next to her dark horse, who stood there, stock-still, not even pawing the ground despite the flames being so close. Nanette blinked incredulously.<\/p>\n

She\u2019d made it!<\/em> No\u2014she looked burnt; getting through the flames had to be dangerous, but the Stitch Witch would live if she fled.<\/p>\n

But her daughter was in Riverfarm.<\/em> Nanette gave Belavierr a betrayed glance, almost as much as her feelings towards Califor.<\/p>\n

\u2014Until she saw Belavierr\u2019s face. The Stitch Witch had halted in the burnt road, her eyes cast backwards. A flaming tapestry was burning on the ground away from her, and the beautiful piece of magic\u2026a twisting girl was caught in the flames. Then, a woman.<\/p>\n

Belavierr didn\u2019t move. She stood there and watched them. Califor and Nanette halted.<\/p>\n

\u201cBelavierr. Your daughter wouldn\u2019t come?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo. I escaped, but she would not run. She will die there, wind or not. For the lives of the villagers. I foresee it. Witch Califor\u2014you had the strength to escape the fire.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe others might, if they stick together.\u201d<\/p>\n

Belavierr raised her hat, giving Califor a lost stare.<\/p>\n

Nanette saw Miss Califor grip the reins tighter. The horse Nanette rode snorted, eyes wide. It was as wary of Belavierr\u2019s beast as the fire. Nanette froze. But the Stitch Witch didn\u2019t say anything more. She just sat astride her horse, regarding them. And then she spoke.<\/p>\n

\u201cWitch Califor. The fire is vast. A blaze without magic. But in its way, more terrible than a [Knight]\u2019s fire. Few Archmages I remember could defeat such a blaze alone.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cPerhaps you remember them. But fewer still could put out a fire today.\u201d<\/p>\n

Califor\u2019s voice was sharp. Tired. Belavierr paused, then nodded.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy daughter remains. She refused to leave. I cannot save her. Not without facing\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

She stared at the flames and shivered. They seemed to reach for her, even as they advanced, and Belavierr\u2019s gaze swung to the tapestry. Her death.<\/p>\n

Nanette\u2019s breath caught. She looked at Miss Califor. The older [Witch] bowed her head.<\/p>\n

\u201cStubborn girl. She made her choice. We are all selfish witches in the end.\u201d<\/p>\n

Belavierr\u2019s gaze didn\u2019t waver.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes. She is a fool, but my daughter. Ever my daughter. I have never counted the cost of her to me. We are one thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Almost, she turned back, but the flames were licking higher, and in the distance, a tornado rose. Belavierr shrank from the flames.<\/p>\n

\u201cTell me, Witch Califor. Do you know of a way to stem the fire? I can think of only one way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Miss Califor paused and nodded.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know of the same way myself. But the cost is not one I would pay. Nor do I think you wish to pay it. But it is possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Belavierr whispered the words. She looked back, and Nanette saw she was afraid. Her eyes turned back, and Nanette stared into that ringed, orange gaze. Belavierr paused.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe is my daughter. But the choice is mine. I do not wish to pay it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Califor\u2019s voice was sharp. She sat on her horse, wand raised, in, Nanette realized, a standoff. The smoke was choking the air, and Nanette reached up and felt at her burnt, messy braids. They itched and seemed to rustle as Belavierr glanced at Nanette, then Califor. Califor put her own hand out, shielding Nanette.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat is every [Witch]\u2019s decision. I would not fault you either way. To protect Nanette, I abandoned the coven. I would do it again.\u201d<\/p>\n

Miss Califor\u2019s voice was quiet. Belavierr nodded. She paused\u2014then reached out\u2014and Califor caught her hand. Belavierr had taken a step forwards, a dozen feet\u2014and Witch Califor had rode forwards as well. Passed eight feet in a single horse\u2019s hoof\u2014caught Belavierr, and rebuffed her, so the other [Witch] rocked on her feet.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet us part ways now, Witch Belavierr. Fire surrounds us. Not your element. We have seen too much loss. Do not push it further.\u201d<\/p>\n

Califor\u2019s eyes were warning, her voice overly loud. Nanette saw Belavierr staring at her, and the Stitch Witch\u2019s eyes swung to Califor.<\/p>\n

Califor twisted Belavierr\u2019s arm, and Belavierr grimaced. She backed up.<\/p>\n

\u201cI merely wished to ask\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI decline to talk. <\/em>Nanette, don\u2019t let her touch you.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now, the two were circling, eyeing Nanette, but the flames were making Belavierr flinch. Nanette didn\u2019t know what to do, so she lifted her hat.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2014I bid thee farewell, Witch Belavierr. If I should meet other [Witches], I will speak your name.\u201d<\/p>\n

A traditional farewell. But it came out of her throat hard. She felt a cold shiver, like something running down the back of her neck, as she saw Belavierr\u2019s eyes on her. So desperate, now.<\/p>\n

So very afraid. Belavierr\u2019s eyes flicked to the fire, her daughter\u2019s burning tapestry. Nanette\u2019s face.<\/p>\n

\u201cOnce, Wiskeria was as small as you. I remember those days.\u201d<\/p>\n

She waited as Nanette put her hat on her head. And then she turned. She seemed old and tired as she sat on the saddle. But she straightened. And the Stitch Witch, Belavierr, looked back at the fire. It blazed behind the three [Witches]. Belavierr sighed. And she turned and nodded at Miss Califor.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor my daughter, Witch Califor. I might do anything.\u201d<\/p>\n

Califor only nodded in reply and gripped her wand tighter. Belavierr tipped her hat, then bent over the tapestry. A burning Wiskeria stood there, and Belavierr reached for the dying flame.<\/p>\n

All will die. None will remain. <\/em>Nanette was weeping again.<\/p>\n

Witch Califor had no time to watch Belavierr hesitating. She jerked her head urgently.<\/p>\n

\u201cMove, Nanette.\u201d<\/p>\n

She led her apprentice past the Stitch Witch, watching Belavierr, but the Stitch Witch just raised her head and looked at Califor, defeated. And now Califor was urging Nanette to gallop, carrying Nanette across the burned land to safety. Miss Califor kept her gaze ahead as her apprentice kept crying.<\/p>\n

\u201cMiss Calif\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

Nanette\u2019s voice cut off. The girl made a strangled noise and scrabbled at her neck. Califor halted.\u00a0 Califor, heart pounding, stared at the little, brown ribbon and fumbled for a knife.<\/p>\n

When she looked up, a woman stood behind Nanette, tipping her hat.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u2014\u2013<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Ryoka saw it burning ahead of her. So much fire that it didn\u2019t seem real. It looked like the entire world was on fire. It was like staring at hell. A vision of it.<\/p>\n

She was afraid. Terrified. The wind wasn\u2019t coming to her aid. It was shackled. Forced to blow against its will. But fire and pressure had created that tornado. And now it raged, hurtling towards Riverfarm. Ryoka had struggled to stop strong breezes. How could she stop this?<\/em><\/p>\n

The City Runner ran on. Coughing, choking as the smoke grew heavier. She tried to keep low, but beyond this point had been when Charlay passed out. She tried to call the wind\u2014ran on.<\/p>\n

Past a hill with a burnt stump and ruined grass. A bit of unmarked soil marked a traitor\u2019s grave. A [Witch] with a huge hat sat at the base of the hill. Her clothes were dark. Her eyes orange and ringed. She glanced up as Ryoka passed by.<\/p>\n

\u201cOh, hello. Terrible weather, isn\u2019t it?\u201d<\/p>\n

The City Runner stopped. She stared wide-eyed at Belavierr. The Stitch Witch was just sitting there. She nodded ahead at the burning oblivion and tornado growing in the distance.<\/p>\n

\u201cMiss Ryoka Griffin. Would you like to speak for a moment? Or is now a bad time?\u201d<\/p>\n

Ryoka nearly laughed. It was the same Belavierr. The same\u2014but different. She still didn\u2019t know what to say. She still guessed at being normal. But she was Human. And she looked weary as Ryoka halted.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can stop for a moment. But I\u2019ve got a date with the fire.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAs do we all. You run towards it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah. I guess I think I can do something about it. Why\u2019re you<\/em> here? I thought you left.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI have not decided yet. My death comes. But my daughter stays. So I wait. I am wondering. If.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIf?\u201d<\/p>\n

Belavierr\u2019s eyes glinted.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I should take her by force. If I can avoid my death.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ryoka glanced at the tornado. It hadn\u2019t grown larger. So she hesitated. Gestured back towards Riverfarm.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou seem certain. Aren\u2019t there a lot of ways you survive?\u201d<\/p>\n

Belavierr shook her head.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo. My death is fairly certain. I have seen it. I wove the tapestry with a [String of Fate] that I might see my deaths. And I saw the [Knight] and fire. This is the second of my deaths.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, but you could leave\u2014<\/em>you don\u2019t have to stay for Wiskeria\u2019s sake. Or abduct her.\u201d<\/p>\n

The [Witch] sighed. Loudly. She glanced up at Ryoka again.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf it was that easily avoided, it would not be my death.<\/em> I know myself, Ryoka Griffin. So long as my daughter remains, I do too. I only wonder if my death would save her. Or if there is a way to escape it. The last time took the death of a man. A traitor\u2019s choice. And my immortality. This time, I have neither to give.\u201d<\/p>\n

She stared at the fire in the distance. Ryoka watched it. But\u2014she still had time. So she walked over to Belavierr. She looked at the Stitch Witch. Belavierr glanced at her. She was holding threads in her fingers. Was she playing some\u2026convoluted game of cat\u2019s cradle? It seemed like it, with threads as thin as hair. She noticed Ryoka staring at it, and the threads vanished into one sleeve. Belavierr paused, peering at the City Runner.<\/p>\n

\u201cTell me something. Once, before, you called yourself my daughter\u2019s friend. And you proposed to help us reconcile. How did you intend to do that, Ryoka Griffin? Or was that a lie?\u201d<\/p>\n

Ryoka shrugged her eyes on the fire. It had slowed down, definitely.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had a plan. I was going to get you to do some magic with Wiskeria. Something positive. Like\u2014making more charms. She\u2019d have to help you and maybe learn something. And you\u2019d show her you could do good. I thought that was worth a try. I mean, I know I\u2019m not an expert. But no one else was trying to help.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHm. Strange.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat is?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou. Few people wish to aid me. My daughter has told me she hates me. What makes you wish to help me?\u201d<\/p>\n

The young woman hesitated. She sat down across from Belavierr, keeping one eye on the fire.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t agree with Wiskeria. I don\u2019t think you\u2019re good or evil. And I think\u2026it\u2019s good you survived. I just wish Ser Raim didn\u2019t die. And the [Hunters]\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

She paused. Embarrassed. Ashamed. But that was her thing. She liked immortals. Despite herself, she still liked Belavierr. Vampires, Dragons, the fae\u2014there should be a place for them in this world. Even for the [Witch] who sat there.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll you do is offer deals. And it\u2019s the people who take them that suffer. There\u2019s a justice in that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Belavierr half-smiled.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m capable of offering poor deals, Ryoka Griffin. Of making threats. I sewed your lips together, as you recall.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ryoka ran a tongue over her lips.<\/p>\n

\u201cTrue. Do you do that often?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo. My craft demands I am fair. Things taken by force have less value. But my daughter does not lie when she calls me a monster. I think.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cRight. But I can\u2019t help\u2026respecting what makes you not fit in my world. My best friend was like you, in a way.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHmm. Strange. You are much like my daughter, Ryoka Griffin.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHow so?\u201d<\/p>\n

Belavierr looked up. She shrugged.<\/p>\n

\u201cI do not understand you. Nor my daughter. I do not understand her. Despite losing my immortality. But I would rather she lived, especially now that she has found her purpose. I was\u2026happy to learn of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat? Her craft? You mean when she hit you with lightning? And she used justice against you? You liked that?<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

Ryoka had her own opinion of that moment. The idea of calling on a collective will like that made her feel uneasy. It spoke to her of lynch mobs and public will. But she was hardly about to debate that with the tornado\u2014Ryoka cast a quick glance ahead. It hadn\u2019t moved? Or had it barely crept closer? What was going on?<\/p>\n

Belavierr just smiled, though.<\/p>\n

\u201cJustice? Oh, that. Well, Wiskeria is free to make mistakes.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou think it\u2019s not her craft.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ryoka blinked at her. The [Stitch Witch] nodded back the way Ryoka had come.<\/p>\n

\u201cJustice is a fickle, untrustworthy thing. It twists and bites, and it is a harsh ruler. It can consume everything or ignore half-wrongs. It is a stupid choice for a [Witch]. But that is not what gives me joy, Ryoka Griffin. It is my daughter discovering<\/em> she could take it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t follow.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Stitch Witch paused. She glanced up and shook her head.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen she took it from the villagers, she did what no [Witch] could. Not one of us. She became a new [Witch] in that moment. A [Witch] for the new era. One who can harness the power that belongs to law. The power of order and rules. That<\/em> is Wiskeria\u2019s true craft. It will make her strong. Perhaps\u2014stronger than the old ways ever could. And most importantly\u2014I know what drives her.\u201d<\/p>\n

Slowly, she tapped her chest.<\/p>\n

\u201cMe. Her hate for me let her find her craft. And it was what made her a [Witch]. And what stopped her from finding her path before now.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut that\u2019s\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

Ryoka held her tongue. Belavierr glanced at her.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s so\u2026isn\u2019t it painful?\u201d<\/p>\n

The Stitch Witch paused. For a second, something like that flitted over her face. Then she just shook her head.<\/p>\n

\u201cBetter that I am the source of her strength. Far better that I know it. I\u2026have given her nothing. My daughter. From the day I found her and took her as my own, I tried to give her many things. I have given her food. Shelter. What I knew of\u2026love. But poorly. I know that now. And I have given her nothing since we parted. If I could\u2014if she asked\u2014I would give her what she desired.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat, exactly?\u201d<\/p>\n

Belavierr stretched her hands out.<\/p>\n

\u201cGold. Fame. Power. If my daughter asked<\/em>, I would find it and give it to her. Whatever the cost. Because she is my daughter. But she does not ask. And she never will.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ryoka paused. She sat across from Belavierr. She studied the Stitch Witch.<\/p>\n

\u201cCan I have\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat about a little charm? Like the one you put on Wiskeria\u2026?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo. I offer nothing for nothing. My daughter is the one exception.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ryoka sighed, staring at the distant fire. Time hung still around the two of them. At last, Belavierr seemed to notice Ryoka\u2019s worry.<\/p>\n

\u201cDo you wait for the fire?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYup. I\u2019ve got to do something before it gets to Riverfarm. But it\u2019s not moving closer. Are\u2026are you doing that? Or is that Drake out of wind? It\u2019s still blowing. So why\u2026?\u201d<\/p>\n

Ryoka frowned, licking her finger and feeling the air. Belavierr smiled.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou need not worry. We sit together in an [Immortal Moment].\u201d<\/p>\n

Ryoka jumped.<\/p>\n

\u201cA\u2014?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cA useful Skill. I learned it the last time I leveled up. Recently.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ryoka hesitated, then bit her tongue nearly hard enough to break the skin. Belavierr turned her head.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNothing. Uh\u2026Wiskeria doesn\u2019t want gold. Treasure? Power? She never<\/em> asks for any of it? Not even once?\u201d<\/p>\n

The [Witch] stared at Ryoka. And then she shook her head slowly.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen she was young, she asked it of me. Toys. Small things. I gave them to her. And then\u2014she asked a favor of me. On behalf of a boy she knew. On the day she became a [Witch].\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWill you tell me what happened? Since we have time?\u201d<\/p>\n

Belavierr nodded. She gazed up at the burning sky.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a different time. We had fled the village where she grew up. My craft had enraged the villagers. Perhaps she hated me then? But she never said it. And I found a second home. One in a city. I believe she struggled then, because of me. But for her, I used my craft for gold. And I attracted attention. I cared not for it, but for her I worked my spells. And she made friends. One of them was a boy. I do not remember his name. But one day, my daughter came to me with a request.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ryoka waited. Belavierr\u2019s eyes were lost. She spoke on dispassionately. Her face unchanged as it glowed in distant fire\u2019s light.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe wanted me to grant his request. For he was a [Prince]. The prince of his nation. The Griffin Prince? That was it. The new one. And she called him a dear friend. So I agreed. And the boy told me he wanted to be proof against blades that he might be the mightiest [Prince] his kingdom had ever seen. A worthy [King].\u201d<\/p>\n

She paused. Her face changed not one whit. Ryoka spoke.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd? What did you do?\u201d<\/p>\n

Belavierr looked at her oddly.<\/p>\n

\u201cI did it, of course. I gave him his protection against blades. To do it, I cut him apart, piece by piece. And I wove him of my magic again. So long as my craft endures, he will be proof against blades. I did that for my daughter, but she fled me. And she cursed my name. That was the day she told me she hated me, Ryoka Griffin. That was the day\u2026she became a [Witch]. And she left my side thereafter. Then, I did not understand why. I am trying to remember why it could be now.\u201d<\/p>\n

She paused, frowning. Ryoka just stared at her and felt cold. Here sat a monster. Or if not a monster\u2026someone else. Mortal, yes. But\u2026she cleared her throat, coughed.<\/p>\n

\u201cWas he screaming when you cut him apart and\u2026sewed him together?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWho?\u201d<\/p>\n

Another blank expression. Ryoka paused.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Griffin Prince.\u201d<\/p>\n

Belavierr stared at Ryoka. And then she blinked and sighed.<\/p>\n

\u201cOh. That was why she hated it.\u201d<\/p>\n

She shook her head. Ryoka was silent. Belavierr looked at her hands, mystified, and then tired.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt has been a long time since I took my first life. So long that I cannot even remember who it was or how. Or why. But\u2014I still remember a young woman who swore she would never forget that day. Yet that day itself? I am old. Too old to have been a mother to my daughter.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy did you do it, then?\u201d<\/p>\n

Ryoka was endlessly curious. But she felt the moment coming to a close. The fire tornado was moving again, ever so slowly. But she and Belavierr clung to this conversation. Both feared the future. Belavierr shook her head.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know. But there she lay. And she looked up at me. And she would have died had I not picked her up. So I did. Because it filled something in me.\u201d<\/p>\n

That was it. A monster. Immortal. Unfeeling. Distant. A [Witch]. But it was her, Wiskeria, alone who grounded Belavierr. Ryoka just didn\u2019t understand why.<\/em> So she asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy? Why are you going to die for her? Why can\u2019t you leave her or let her die and not care like so many others? Belavierr the Stitch Witch, why does Wiskeria matter<\/em> to you?\u201d<\/p>\n

The Stitch Witch peered at her. And she took a long time in replying.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn any sewing, there is a first stitch and a last stitch. And there must be a knot. An ending, or else what is made must unravel.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ryoka nodded.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo is Wiskeria the first or last stitch?\u201d<\/p>\n

Another look.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe is my daughter, not a thread. I am making a comparison. We each are a tapestry, a weaving. And she was not the first or last thread in mine. I am my own work. And yet, somehow, though my first stitch was sewn long before hers, her threads and mine are interwoven. We are tangled together. But separate.\u201d<\/p>\n

Belavierr wove her fingers together, staring at them. She went on quietly.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd yet, somehow, despite my daughter\u2019s youth, despite that she and I share no blood save for the original blood of humanity, she matters to my tapestry. She is bright color on darkest cloth. Without her, night is the same as day. Without her, contrast fails. And I would have no meaning.\u201d<\/p>\n

She looked up, seeming slightly\u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is how I can explain it. Does that answer your question, Ryoka Griffin?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah.\u201d<\/p>\n

The City Runner glanced away. And she stood up. She avoided Belavierr\u2019s eyes as the [Witch] looked questioningly at her. Then Ryoka turned and nodded.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wish my mother had said she loved me like that. So that\u2019s why it\u2019s your death.\u201d<\/p>\n

Belavierr nodded. There she sat. And the moment passed. Ahead of her, the tornado burned. Ryoka gazed ahead. Belavierr spoke.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would like to be loved. I am afraid of death. My daughter must live. But I fear death. So I search for an alternative. Perhaps there is one. But a mother\u2019s love holds me here. But you. You have no child. Why do you run to your death? You fear it too, don\u2019t you?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOh yes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ryoka looked ahead. And the fire howled. The wind blew hot on her face, and she shivered. She was afraid.<\/p>\n

\u201cThen why do you run to yours?\u201d<\/p>\n

The young woman turned. And she smiled at Belavierr. At the curious face. Ryoka breathed in. And she sighed. She reached for her belt and touched a bit of frozen courage. A bit of friendship.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause I have a choice. And I\u2019m afraid of who I would be if I left. I\u2019d like to be a good person.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHow strange.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ryoka laughed. Then she began to run. She left the [Witch] where she sat. And she ran forwards, trotting, jogging, and then running. Ahead of her, a twister of ash and flame bore down on her.<\/p>\n

\u201cWind. Come on. I know you\u2019re more than a tool for someone to use. You\u2019re free. Come on. Run with me.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

Ryoka whispered. She shouted. And the wind blew around her, clearing the ash. It was all fire. Embers blew past Ryoka, smoke and sparks mixing. The ground burned. Ryoka\u2019s soles blistered as she came close to the blaze. But she looked up. The tornado was blowing waves of heat at her. She raised her arm. And she shouted.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am the Wind Runner! And I call the wind! Be free!<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

She turned. And she began to run. Fast. Faster than she had ever run. The wind howled behind her. And the tornado raged. It blew towards Riverfarm, caught by the wind that pushed at its back. Until it sensed the second breeze. And the young woman who called it.<\/p>\n

The whirlwind of fire turned<\/em>. It began to blow after Ryoka. And she laughed. She ran, trying to outrun the pillar of flames that swerved after her. She had never known the wind could turn to fire! She ran, and the ice in her hand froze her as the fire burned behind her. Chasing her.<\/p>\n

Once, Ivolethe had told her that she didn\u2019t understand the wind. And Ryoka still didn\u2019t. She could not fly. She could not run with the wind. But she could lead it. And she did.<\/p>\n

She ran. The tornado of fire raced after her over barren grass, turning away from Riverfarm. Chasing the young woman who dared it. She ran on, laughing, screaming as it burned her. Carrying it as far as she could with every step. Faster and faster until she ran with the racing fire. Across scorched ground. Through ash and embers.<\/p>\n

Faster<\/em>. The wind howled at her back. And the fire caught her. It touched her and embraced her, but she did not let it consume her. And she ran with fire. Until the fire was spent and flickering, far from its fuel. Then the young woman stopped. She glanced back and saw the trail she had run. And the fiery winds had nothing left to burn. Ryoka Griffin spread her arms, laughing. She looked at her charred body and fell.<\/p>\n

\u201cImpossible.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

Overhead, the Oldblood Drake stared as the whirlwind of fire changed course. He stared as the young Human woman ran and it followed<\/em>. She should have died in that first hundred feet. But she ran on. And the tornado blew after her. It lost the fire that gave it strength and heat. The winds refused to blow to Riverfarm! The Drake screamed his fury. He watched the City Runner fall. And he contemplated her death. But she was already burnt.<\/p>\n

The Drake turned his gaze towards the village. The wind now blew where it pleased. And the tornado was gone. But the fire was still advancing, devouring the dry landscape. He whispered as he flew lower. He had long since used his fire breath past its limit. But he had a mission to finish.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt will still happen. The village will still burn. And so will they. If I have to finish it myself.\u201d<\/p>\n

So the Drake dove. He breathed, and the fire raged. It raced over the fire break, fanned by his breath, which set the very earth alight. Until it met the five [Witches] who stood against it.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2014\u2013<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cHold it back. Hold. It. Back.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wiskeria stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Hedag, Eloise, Mavika, and Alevica. The [Witches] faced the flames as they raced across the edges of the fire break. Wiskeria\u2019s palm was raised. And all of her force<\/em> was directed towards the fire.<\/p>\n

Embers burned as they flew towards the villagers. Sparks and smoke parted as the [Witches] held their ground. The people of Riverfarm were gasping, falling back towards the river. They were surrounded by fire. On the other side, the fire was licking at the village\u2019s wooden buildings. When they went up, the inferno would trap them on both sides.<\/p>\n

It was hot. Wiskeria was trying to hold back heat and ember and smoke. She could feel the blood vessels bursting in her eyes, her nose. She staggered. The four other [Witches] stood with her, combining their power. They wavered, and the fire advanced.<\/p>\n

Durene was still trying to fight the fire with dirt and a shovel. The others had fled backwards towards the center of the fields. A shrinking circle of people huddled together as the smoke and heat drove more and more towards unconsciousness. Wiskeria gritted her teeth. Just a bit longer. A bit longer and the flames might extinguish themselves! Run out of fuel!<\/p>\n

Then a spark of light made her turn. She looked across the river and saw it. Bright flames. Burning brighter for what they consumed. A low groan escaped her lips. Riverfarm was on fire.<\/p>\n

But the fire could not spread by the wind. Ryoka had set it free. Wiskeria watched the village begin to burn. Then she turned her attention ahead. The fire had halted. The fields gave it so little to consume, and the firebreak had stopped it. Wiskeria held her ground. And she held it. They could do this. They could!<\/p>\n

Then her death fell from the skies on copper wings. The Drake breathed fire, and his breath ignited the earth itself. The [Witches] glanced up and scattered. And the fire, unblocked, raced forwards.<\/p>\n

\u201cBurn! All of you!<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

The Drake roared his fury. Wiskeria fell to one knee as the other [Witches] dodged. She saw Eloise raise her hand. Together, they tried to stop the flames. And the fire\u2019s backlash set Eloise aflame. The old [Witch] screamed.<\/p>\n

Wiskeria saw the fire racing forwards, burning and adding to the Drake\u2019s flames. They went straight for Riverfarm\u2019s folk, who cried out in fear and despair. The Drake laughed. Wiskeria lay on the ground, spent. She looked up as the fire touched her and began to burn her.<\/p>\n

\u201cI tried.\u201d<\/p>\n

She tried to cry. But it was too hot. She lay there, burning. And the scream bubbled at her lips. Her people were screaming behind her, catching flame as the Drake burned them, as the fire burned them all.<\/p>\n

Riverfarm.<\/p>\n

People.<\/p>\n

[Witches].<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u2014\u2014<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

The flames were covering the people, the [Witch], and embers fell from the sky like a mockery of rain. An inferno that would kill even if the fire didn\u2019t burn; the very air was impossible to breathe.<\/p>\n

An [Emperor] was screaming, unable to do a thing. A Drake was laughing as he looked down at enemies he had never met before this month.<\/p>\n

Fire. It could not be stopped, but perhaps\u2014<\/p>\n

Perhaps it did not have to kill all.<\/em><\/p>\n

Wiskeria, burning, saw a figure riding towards her across the river. The river was almost gone, yet the horse leapt across the gap, and a woman lifted her glowing gaze. The inferno did not touch her. The horse she rode was black. And she sat on it, her hat pointed. Her eyes flashing. Her voice was like thunder.<\/p>\n

\u201cHalt, fire! You race and burn everything away! But I? I have a life I must save! So burn and follow me!<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

Choking. Flames covering her, searing her with an agony\u2014Wiskeria\u2019s eyes were blurring. She could barely hear; her hair was on fire. She whispered.<\/p>\n

\u201cMom?\u201d<\/p>\n

The [Witch] rode forwards. Her voice called the flames.<\/p>\n

They halted, across the river, as they licked at Riverfarm\u2019s houses, and the tornado caught the Wind Runner. The flames on Wiskeria stopped burning and\u2014turned.<\/p>\n

Towards the [Witch]. She lifted her hand, beckoning them, spreading her arms wide, welcoming them, and the fire ran. It leapt off Wiskeria. She felt her agony cease, saw Prost, shielding his family with his arms, turn as flames jumped off his back.<\/p>\n

Such a cry of relief. Of life.<\/em> Wiskeria\u2019s voice was the same until she saw where they headed. Then she grabbed at them.<\/p>\n

The [Witch] was riding past Wiskeria. Her back was straight, her blue dress fluttering, the only color in a world of opposites. Red and black, streams of orange and yellow, flashing around her. Then it was as if the entire world followed after her.<\/p>\n

A stream of blue and her ringing voice and the hoofbeats sweeping through all the death, drawing it away from the others. Now, she was riding, fast, racing ahead\u2014but the fire was faster.<\/p>\n

It caught the [Witch] in a moment. Raced up her horse, and the stallion caught fire. Then the flames touched the woman and covered her in burning light.<\/p>\n

The [Witch] screamed. Wiskeria was screaming too, running after her, reaching for her. But it was too late.<\/p>\n

The flames on her had gone out. The [Witch] rode on, and the fire leapt from the people. It abandoned the ground and raced after her. She clutched her hat to her head as she galloped, a fireball.<\/p>\n

\u201cCome, flame, I offer my magic and craft. I offer a [Witch]\u2019s bones, a mother\u2019s love! I offer my life to turn your wrath! So come and burn away. That my daughter might live one more day.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMother!<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

Wiskeria shouted, but the [Witch] didn\u2019t look at her. She was riding away, now, towards the open fields with nothing left to burn but her.<\/p>\n

The flames burning the forest, the village\u2014the entire region ablaze followed after like a stream of destruction. Bound in a single woman\u2019s wake. Still, the [Witch] rode on, though the horse was stumbling, and her skin was immolating, turning molten. She was pulling, now.<\/p>\n

Pulling the flames\u2014all of them\u2014after her. They roared across the ground, leaving the village, leaving the [Witches]. Burning her.<\/p>\n

And still, her back was so straight. <\/em>Her head rose, despite the agony, and she sat, dignified. Proud.<\/p>\n

A [Witch] of legends. Wiskeria\u2019s eyes were blurring with tears, but she had to see. The [Witch] rode ablaze with light, slower, now, the horse stumbling through that empty field. And she laughed. She cackled. <\/em>With triumph and regret and all her craft. Wiskeria sobbed.<\/p>\n

\u201cMother. Mother!<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

The tears ran down her cheeks, and she screamed. Far ahead, the rider was slowing. The horse was failing. And the woman slumped in the saddle. But on they went. A blazing pair, their steps slowing as the flames found nothing left to take. They burned the [Witch]. Devoured her down to her bones, now. And there she stopped. Still sitting upright in that saddle, a skeleton holding onto a burning hat.<\/p>\n

Wiskeria ran towards her mother, weeping.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo. No.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

The Drake flew downwards, screaming. He was spent, coughing. But he had his spear. He dove. And Alevica\u2019s crossbow bolt struck him in the chest. The Drake twisted, and the [Witch] slashed at him, cutting his arm. He snarled and slashed at her, and she flew backwards.<\/p>\n

A shriek <\/em>pierced the black sky. Mavika dove, a monster of wings, and the Drake screamed and struck at her. She ignored the jabbing spear and tore at him.<\/p>\n

To earth he fell, snarling. He stood, bleeding, and drank from a bottle. He charged with his spear raised at the old [Witch] who he saw first. And the [Executioner]\u2019s axe caught him across the neck.<\/p>\n

\u201c[Headman\u2019s Last Cut].\u201d<\/p>\n

The [Infiltrator] jerked. The Oldblood Drake, the smiling man, twisted. He looked into Hedag\u2019s eyes as the axe cut into his neck and shoulder. He jerked away, stumbling. His life\u2019s blood spattered to the ground. Hedag lifted her axe for a second strike, but the Drake spat one last plume of fire, warding her off.<\/p>\n

\u201cHealing potion. Healing\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

He reached for it. And he drank it. Splashed it on the wound. But it refused to close. The Drake gazed up into Hedag\u2019s eyes. And she smiled like the sun.<\/p>\n

The Drake searched around. The [Witches] stood around him. He reached for his spear. But his arms were out of strength. He gasped, trying to slow the blood with one claw.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am one. Just one. Someday, Humans. We will bring you all<\/em> to justice. Every last one.\u201d<\/p>\n

The [Witches] said nothing. They watched as the Drake slowly sat down. He gazed at the blood on his claws. Faintly, slowly, the [Infiltrator] looked up.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m cold.\u201d<\/p>\n

He stared up at the sky and died. The [Witches] watched. Then they turned as Wiskeria wept and the last of the fire went out. They bowed their heads and removed their hats.<\/p>\n

Rain began to fall.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2014\u2013<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Charlay found Ryoka. The Centauress was weeping, running from burnt logs to felled trees, calling Ryoka\u2019s name. She found the young woman lying on the ground. Her potions had been destroyed by the fire. Her clothes were barely intact, more fused to her charred flesh than anything.<\/p>\n

But she was alive. Charlay hugged her and gave her potions, her hands slipping. It was wet. The rain was falling on the charred landscape. A light drizzle. It hurt Ryoka until the potions did their work. Gently, Charlay carried her back to the others. Ryoka muzzily kept asking whether the others were okay.<\/p>\n

Some had died. Two-thirds of the people who had tried the river had perished. Mayor Rodivek had died along with many of Lancrel\u2019s folk. Somehow, Councilwoman Beatica had survived. As if to prove that the fire had taken lives without discrimination.<\/p>\n

Those who had fled by ground had perished almost down to the last person. The fire had been too much for anyone on foot or even horseback to outrace. Only Riverfarm remained.<\/p>\n

What there was of it. For the fire had eaten away at a number of houses on the edge of the village of Riverfarm, but it hadn\u2019t consumed the village. Nor had it touched the people who\u2019d sheltered in the field. Between the [Witches] and the\u2026end\u2026Ryoka found most alive. Many were burned, but there were healing potions and bandages.<\/p>\n

She saw the corpse and rider and the gathering as Charlay brought her through the crowd. Durene helped Ryoka off Charlay\u2019s back and carried her. Ryoka asked to be put down, though she had to lean on her friends. She had to see. She stumbled forwards as the people parted. And her sigh was the only sound in the world.<\/p>\n

\u201cBelavierr.\u201d<\/p>\n

The fire had burnt her away. Her and the horse. It had made her thinner, burnt at her flesh, reduced the horse into barely\u2026but still she sat there. There was no orange glow in her sockets. No clothing left. Just a body. She and the horse still stood upright. Two charred figures fused into one.<\/p>\n

The [Witch] had died mid-laugh, her head thrown up to the sky. Ryoka wondered what Belavierr\u2019s last expression had been. Happy?<\/p>\n

People were kneeling around her, staring up at the woman. Not a single person had been spared the flames\u2014but she had taken their death. Ripped it from them. Saved them all.<\/em><\/p>\n

A bad witch? Ryoka had never seen a better one. She had saved Ryoka, too. <\/em>The Wind Runner whispered numbly.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought I could stop it.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of those gathered around the body glanced up. Wiskeria was kneeling by her mother\u2019s corpse, unmoving. Mavika looked at Ryoka. She bled, but the poison had been tended to. Her expression was sad. Nothing more. She nodded at Ryoka as the other [Witches] gathered around her. Eloise was speaking to Wiskeria, her eyes on the corpse disbelieving\u2014but her words resolute.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou could not prevent her death. But without you she might have died in vain. She made her choice. And she died a true [Witch].\u201d<\/p>\n

Ryoka regarded what remained of Belavierr. It was true. It had been a truly epic magic to end it all. She had contained a wildfire\u2019s inferno in her body and carried it away from Riverfarm. All of it. The fire that had spread for miles had gone out with the [Witch].<\/p>\n

And she was dead. Ryoka didn\u2019t know what to say. Searching around, no one did. The people of Riverfarm silently looked on as Wiskeria wept for her mother. They had hated and feared her in life. She had killed Ser Raim, turned Tagil against his companions and to his death. She had manipulated, stolen life, and she had committed atrocities Ryoka couldn\u2019t even imagine. But she had died for her daughter.<\/p>\n

Her coven stood around her. Mavika watched in silence, her crows circling, her raven perched, watching. Eloise gazed at Belavierr, mystified, her hat resting in her hands. Hedag leaned on her axe, seeming old and tired and full of grief. Alevica was just sitting, staring up at the [Witch].<\/p>\n

Wiskeria wept until there were no more tears, and she just lay there. At last, Prost spoke. He jerked his eyes away from the corpse.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe deserves to be put to rest. We\u2019ll cremate her? Or should we bury\u2026?\u201d<\/p>\n

He looked around. Ryoka stared at him, and the man regarded her blankly.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe deserves a proper funeral.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wiskeria raised her head at that. Her eyes were swollen, but she had finished weeping. At least for now. She stood, Mavika and Eloise supporting her.<\/p>\n

\u201cFire is fine. She won\u2019t mind. It\u2019s only her\u2026body. Besides, it was her death. She wouldn\u2019t care.\u201d<\/p>\n

The villagers looked at each other. And slowly, they found wood. Still\u2014glowing embers. They took the remains of houses. Built a pyre larger than any Ryoka had ever seen. It surrounded the [Witch], still mounted. And Wiskeria herself lit it. She had no words to say beyond a whispered goodbye. No one else could say anything.<\/p>\n

\u201cGoodbye, Mother.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ryoka watched the fire burning upwards, licking at the wood that refused to burn in the light rain. The fire slowly, reluctantly, built.<\/p>\n

A pyre for a great witch. One last painful flame\u2026and as they were about to light it, one last time, the last of the coven appeared in the distance.<\/p>\n

A woman on horseback and a short figure on a pony. Ryoka had hoped\u2014expected that if anyone had survived, it would be these two.<\/p>\n

It gave her a slight smile, and she raised her hand. Riverfarm\u2019s people murmured, without surprise, and Ryoka wondered how Witch Califor would arrive. Ashamed? Unapologetic for riding away?<\/p>\n

Ryoka could not blame her. The two rode forwards, the girl on the pony riding hard. The older [Witch] rode slowly, a strange languid motion to her passage, and Ryoka\u2019s lips moved to shout.<\/p>\n

\u201cNanette! Calif\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

A sudden hiss<\/em> from beside her made Ryoka pause. Mavika, eyes shaded, had stared at the two distant figures. Her crow-eyes had seen something Ryoka had not, and as the Wind Runner turned back, she saw Eloise blanch.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo. She didn\u2019t\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

The [Witches] looked ahead, then behind, and Ryoka, like a silly girl, stared at their faces. Then the racing girl, riding on horseback, leaving the [Witch] behind. Then\u2014Ryoka heard a shout from Nanette, who rode, crying something out.<\/p>\n

A horrified, weeping shout from a daughter. A desperate scream.<\/p>\n

\u201cMother!<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

The fire was rising around the burnt [Witch]. As Nanette rode towards Riverfarm, she saw the blaze rising higher. But she almost threw herself onto the flames. Ryoka stared at her until Hedag seized the girl, and the pony reared, screaming, and fled from the flames. But Nanette kicked and tried to leap onto the pyre. Hands outstretched, tears in her eyes.<\/p>\n

\u201cMother! Mother! Mommy!<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

The sound broke the silence. It twisted the solemnity, turned it to confusion and discord. Ryoka raised her head. She saw Nanette struggling, tears running down her face.<\/p>\n

Wiskeria stared at Nanette. She looked at the burning corpse. Her<\/em> mother.<\/p>\n

\u201cMother? Nanette, that\u2019s Belavierr. Wait, was she your\u2026?<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

No, that couldn\u2019t be right. Belavierr, Nanette\u2019s mother? Wiskeria stared at Nanette without comprehension. There was nothing to support\u2026<\/p>\n

Ryoka turned slowly. She felt it. The coven gazed up. Wiskeria held Nanette as the blood drained from her face. Slowly, Ryoka looked to Hedag, who had let go of Nanette and stepped back. And Hedag\u2019s eyes were fixed on the woman riding towards them in the distance.<\/p>\n

\u201cMiss Califor?\u201d<\/p>\n

She was so distant, yet. Unhurriedly returning after it was all over, sitting tall on her stallion. A tall, imposing woman. Robes so dark as to be almost midnight, but blue, with a splendidly large hat.<\/p>\n

Witch Calif\u2014<\/em>Ryoka\u2019s head swung back to the burnt figure on horseback, to Nanette, screaming as she reached for the dead [Witch]. Then back to \u2018Califor\u2019.<\/p>\n

And her treacherous eyes revealed the truth: it was not Witch Califor, a tall woman, but not that tall. Face calm as she surveyed the devastation and death.<\/p>\n

Relaxed, even triumphant. Regarding the ash-filled sky and mourning people as if they were amusements she were passing by.<\/p>\n

Then, Ryoka understood and lost the ability to speak or even think.<\/p>\n

Belavierr rode back into Riverfarm as the people looking for Miss Califor turned and saw not the woman who had saved so many, but the Spider, the Witch of Webs. They fell back in shock, turned to statues themselves. Looked up and met her callous eyes. And she?<\/p>\n

She smiled in the best of moods and tipped her hat, and they flinched and fled. Stumbling away from her like scattering leaves.<\/p>\n

Wiskeria\u2019s eyes were locked on her mother\u2019s face. The coven turned to the burning witch\u2014and now Ryoka saw Nanette\u2019s face. Filled with tears and grief and guilt. And her throat\u2014<\/p>\n

A brown choker, a ribbon, tight around Nanette\u2019s neck. <\/em>As Belavierr dismounted and lifted a hand, it unravelled, and Ryoka recognized it. The ribbon Belavierr had given Nanette.<\/p>\n

Hidden <\/em>in her hair. Then\u2014Ryoka was sick enough to vomit, and only the horror kept it in. Belavierr walked forwards as the ribbon slithered away from Nanette and towards her. She tucked it into her cloak.<\/p>\n

When she halted, she just stood there. In front of the coven. Surrounded by Riverfarm. Facing the burning [Witch]. A monster dressed in darkness, the greatest smile of satisfaction on her face.<\/p>\n

Belavierr spread her arms wide, wide<\/em>, and her beaming grin grew. She turned to Wiskeria, the folds of her robes fluttering in the breeze. With ash and death drifting from the folds of her dress. With damnation falling with each word from her mouth.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy beloved daughter.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

The mourners looked up. Then they turned to the burned [Witch]. And they understood. Ryoka stared into Belavierr\u2019s eyes, and she saw Belavierr\u2019s true heart. The Stitch Witch\u2019s spread arms beckoned Wiskeria, a mother inviting her daughter to leap to her arms.<\/p>\n

\u201cI found a way to live and save you, Daughter. Come to my arms.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wiskeria stood there, looking back at the real Miss Califor. The burnt witch. At Nanette, who had begun to scream until she had no voice\u2014and then at her mother.<\/p>\n

Her mother who had done what she always did: trade.<\/p>\n

In this case, a life for a life. Nanette\u2019s\u2026the brown ribbon\u2026for Wiskeria and all of Riverfarm\u2019s. And Belavierr\u2019s.<\/p>\n

A glorious bargain. She looked so satisfied with herself. So pleased<\/em>\u2014<\/p>\n

Belavierr didn\u2019t react to Ryoka until the Wind Runner was almost on top of her. Then her gaze flicked sideways, and Ryoka, screaming, punched Belavierr in the chest. She drew something\u2014a knife\u2014and stabbed Belavierr in the side.<\/p>\n

Or tried to. Her blade skidded off Belavierr\u2019s dress. Ryoka punched Belavierr in the face, in the chest, and her fist nearly broke. Belavierr tilted her head.<\/p>\n

\u201cAh, Ryoka Griffin. What a fine day it is, isn\u2019t it?\u201d<\/p>\n

The Wind Runner tried to murder her\u2014and Belavierr stared at Ryoka and flicked her aside with one hand. Then she looked up.<\/p>\n

\u201cHello, my coven.\u201d<\/p>\n

The [Witches] looked at her. A [Witch]. A fellow [Witch]. They had not judged her, not before this. Now?<\/p>\n

Alevica drew a wand and sword. Mavika\u2019s claws were talons. Eloise drew a wand, and Hedag lifted her axe.<\/p>\n

Mavika slashed across Belavierr\u2019s face. Eloise fired a glowing, pink spell into Belavierr\u2019s side, and Hedag brought her axe down as Alevica fired two shots from her wand at Belavierr\u2019s leg.<\/p>\n

The Witch of Webs did not react. She tilted her head as Mavika slashed<\/em> through her features, claws rending her nose, tearing apart her face and eyes\u2014<\/p>\n

And in the next second, Belavierr\u2019s features were whole. The three spells struck her robes and did nothing. Hedag brought her axe down\u2014and it bit deep. Belavierr lifted a hand and caught the axe as Hedag tried to drive it deeper through her shoulder to cleave her in half.<\/p>\n

She gently removed the axe and tossed it aside.<\/p>\n

\u201cAh, a coven no longer, I see. I grant you those blows, sisters, as proof of the friendship we shared. But I tell you it was the best deal I struck. For Riverfarm, for me, and for thee. Now, begone, little women. I wish to speak to my daughter.\u201d<\/p>\n

They kept attacking her, and Ryoka, sobbing, tried to tackle Belavierr, grab a leg\u2014move her. She could not. Belavierr\u2019s head swung down towards Ryoka, and she gently picked Ryoka Griffin up. Put her on her feet.<\/p>\n

Even patted her on the head, and a finger lifted Ryoka\u2019s chin. Belavierr whispered, a smile on her face.<\/p>\n

\u201cDo not make me angry, girl. You are alive, and I am in the finest of moods. Step back, be silent. <\/em>Or I shall make a new pact.\u201d<\/p>\n

She caught Mavika\u2019s hand as the crow-witch began to grow.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe same to you, sisters. In this place, at this time? You have everything to lose.<\/em> I swore to let Califor\u2019s daughter live in exchange for one great deed. Nothing else.\u201d<\/p>\n

Belavierr pointed a finger at Nanette, who didn\u2019t move, reaching toward her mother\u2019s corpse. The [Witches] hesitated.<\/p>\n

\u201cBelavierr. You will pay for this. No [Witch] in the world will give you shelter or aid, I swear it by my hat.<\/em> You have a witch\u2019s grudge\u2014you wretched thing. You worthless pile of shit.\u201d<\/p>\n

Eloise was trembling with fury, her voice ringing like someone else\u2014and Belavierr glanced at her dismissively.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom Mavika that might be a threat, but she knows better than to earn my<\/em> grudge. The only other woman who could make it well is dead. Begone, broken [Lady] and humbled, little witch. Now see, my daughter, what I have wrought? I am my old self, as you never knew. Do you see? I did it all for you.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

Belavierr swung one arm out, and her smile was a terrible thing. She walked forwards and bent towards her daughter. She reached out, and Wiskeria raised a shaking hand. It had a knife, but Wiskeria was shaking so badly that she could barely hold it. Belavierr captured Wiskeria\u2019s hand, ignoring the blade. Her voice was soft, delighted, as she stroked her daughter\u2019s head. Gently. So lovingly.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy beloved daughter. You will remember this day forever. You have found your craft, and you will be the first [Witch] of a new era. One of law. Of order. And you will be the greatest [Witch] of us all. This is my love for you, Wiskeria. This is what I can give you. I will be your craft. Stop me. Hunt me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Belavierr bent. She kissed her daughter on the forehead. Then she held Wiskeria\u2019s face in her hands, turning it right and left, as if memorizing it. Belavierr\u2019s hands tightened a second\u2014and for a second, she seemed to hesitate, as if about to do something else. Twist?<\/em> Then she let go.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat a strange weakness you are, my daughter. I do not hate it. I have enjoyed being a mother. I will watch you grow and delight in your every stride. Until the day I die, we are mother and daughter, Wiskeria. Until the day I die.\u201d<\/p>\n

And then she turned and walked away. She looked back once at Wiskeria, waved, and then she was gone.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

Previous Chapter<\/a> Next Chapter<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Day 69 \u00a0 Fire. Fire for Manus. Fire from the skies. Fire, lightning, acid, fog, ice\u2014the elements of the Dragons. And their children, flying through the skies, bringing death to Human lands. It had come to Riverfarm. Laken could see it. The Drake was lighting up the entire countryside. This wasn\u2019t undirected arson. There was […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":52856846,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_searchwp_excluded":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"patreon-level":0,"patreon_level":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[11693086,349],"tags":[],"twi_volume":[11693135],"twi_collection":[],"class_list":["post-6762","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-volume-6","category-writing"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n6.46 E - The Wandering Inn<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/wanderinginn.com\/2019\/09\/21\/6-46-e\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"6.46 E\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Day 69 \u00a0 Fire. Fire for Manus. Fire from the skies. Fire, lightning, acid, fog, ice\u2014the elements of the Dragons. And their children, flying through the skies, bringing death to Human lands. It had come to Riverfarm. Laken could see it. The Drake was lighting up the entire countryside. This wasn\u2019t undirected arson. 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