Belladonna

dark landscapes and making them her own.
    Not fair! Not fair!
    Coward, the voice whispered. Even the Dark Guides have come to play.
    It wasn't a coward. It wasn't afraid. It was the Eater of the World. It was feared. Even the world feared It.
    Laughter whispered through the currents of the world. Cruel, mocking laughter.
    We're connected with the world again, another voice whispered through the currents. We're connected to the school!
    It remembered that voice. Harland. The head of the Wizards' Council. The leader of the Dark Guides. Our own magic wasn't enough to seal her in, Harland's voice whispered. And we didn't know the bitch could use Heart's Justice in way she did. But we can use the creatures the Eater has at the school. Use them up to wear her down. And then ... DESTROY HER!
    Laughter whispered through the currents of the world. Cruel, mocking laughter.
    Were there ripples of fear beneath that laughter?
    She wasn't as strong as she wanted them all to believe. Had never been as strong as she wanted them to believe. She was on Its
    ground, where It had slaughtered so many of her kind.
    It would have her. In the end, It would have her. Its creatures would attack her body. The Dark Guides would attack her mind.
    The Light inside her would beckon all the dark things.
    In the end, It would have her. It would peel off her skin. It would crack open her bones like the shell of a nut and pick out all the delicious meat. It would feast on her screams and her cries and her misery. And then, when the True Enemy was nothing more than scattered garbage, It would break open another shell — and feast on the Places of Light.
    It stepped back onto the sand, forcing the resonance of Its darkness upon the landscape that held Its first creation. Forced Ephemera to accept Its dominance, Its resonance, until the bonelovers landscape once more belonged to It. Then It changed to Its natural form, a rippling shadow beneath the skin of the world, and flowed as fast as It could to the access point that would take It to the school.

    *
    It was coming.
    Fear shivered through her, but Glorianna kept at her task of shifting the resonance of the currents of Light that flowed through the school — and through the dark landscapes that belonged to the Eater of the World. She'd set the trap and had sent the bait flowing out into the currents of the world.
    Borders and boundaries. She had brought Wizard City back into the world, and that landscape was now connected by a border with the gate that had opened to the Bridges' part of the school. If the Dark Guides tried to come after her, they would have to cross more ground, take more risks against the Eaters creatures.
    The cage was almost closed. The Eater had touched less of the world than she had expected. Not surprising, now that she considered it. There were hundreds of landscapes held in the walled gardens at the school. The surviving Landscapers would reclaim their pieces of the world and take on the responsibility of being the bedrock for others. Ephemera would survive.
    The landscapes she was leaving behind would be cared for.
    It's not a feather bed, but the nights are cold this time of year, and the sleeping bag will keep you warm.
    She'd left it behind. Had to leave it behind, along with everything else Michael had wanted to give her.
    Because kindness would kill her.
    As she pushed the image of Michael's face out of her mind, another face took its place. Dark eyes that held deep pools of wisdom. A hand holding out a white stone. That day, when Yoshani had told her about the magic of his people in using the jar of sorrows, he had offered her a white stone as a way to cleanse her heart and let go of the hurts of the past. She had refused his offer, had refused that kindness because she had known, on some level, that she would need those panels of remembered pain. For this place. For this task. Yes. She would need her sorrows.
    She looked at the sky, at the daylight growing stronger.
    The Eater of the World was coming. When It was inside the school, she would lock the last door, seal the last gate.
    Then there would be just one more thing left to do,
    The Warrior of Light must drink from the Dark Cup.
    Hold them off a little longer, Magician. Just a little longer. After that, it will be too late — and they'll he safe.

    *
Teaser saw him first.
    Michael had a moment to feel grateful that Lee wasn't at Philo's place with the two incubi. That would buy her a little more time. Besides,