The House Of Gaian

...
    An Inquisitor looked up, saw him, and screamed, “ It’s the Evil One !”
    He laughed as he watched them flee, running deeper and deeper into the Pit.
    Feast.
    He followed them deeper into the Pit. And he hunted.
    Frowning, Selena studied the sky above the stones. The Black Coats and their followers were gone, so the magic had worked, but where was the anchor of light?
    One by one, the Sons and Daughters rode away from the stones to help the humans deal with the prisoners and find the wounded until only Rhyann stood with her. Then Ashk joined her .. . and Liam.
    “I don’t see the anchor,” Selena said quietly. Steam rose from the ground inside the circle—ground that was now cracked and barren.
    “There.” Ashk pointed to a glow barely visible among the stones.
    “But”—Rhyann shook her head—“it’s going down. Why would it go down?”‘
    A chill went through Selena. “Dreams and will. His dreams. His will. He made the world he wanted.
    Mother have mercy.”
    “Vengeance and justice,” Ashk said. “You gave him both, Huntress, in a way no one else could have.”
    Selena turned to look at Liam, who stared at her with unreadable eyes. “I am sorry the anchor had to be placed here.” She hesitated. “Your people should build a wall just beyond the circle. What was made here ... I don’t know what would happen to anyone who stepped onto that barren ground or climbed among those stones.”
    “When all the bodies are given back to the Mother, this will be a field of the dead. I don’t think anyone will go near those stones after what happened here today, but we’ll build the wall.”
     
    Aiden and Lyrra rode up on Minstrel, followed by Breanna and Falco on another horse. Aiden helped Lyrra slide down from behind him before dismounting. Hand in hand, they came forward. “It’s done?”
    Selena nodded. “The Witch’s Hammer and his followers are gone.”
    Morphia rode up, followed by a few of the Fae. She gave them a brilliant smile, her face lit with happiness and relief as she dismounted to join them. “Ashk! Morag’s here. Did you see her? I only caught a glimpse of her as she rode back into the trees, but she’s here.”
    Selena felt Ashk shudder. Then Rhyann said, “Selena,” in a quiet, tense voice.
    She heard a muffled cry of fear, watched men scatter, leaving a clear path for the dark horse that walked toward her.
    “Morag!” Morphia called. Then, puzzled and a little fearful, “Morag?”
    Selena saw Aiden and Lyrra rush over to Morphia. She heard Liam whisper, “Mother’s mercy.” And she felt Ashk walk away as Morag dismounted and walked closer to them.
    Morphia’s face crumpled in disbelief and horror. “ Morag !”
    Selena grabbed Rhyann’s arm, pulling her sister behind her. An illusion of protection, nothing more. But Morag stopped a man’s length in front of her. She saw something savage in those dark eyes, something that would ride through villages and leave nothing but empty corpses in its wake. But the woman Morag must have been was also shining out of those dark eyes, pained and so weary.
    I have the power to shape a world beyond this world, but I don’t know how to change this. I know nothing that can change this.
    “What do you want, Morag?” she asked gently.
    One tear spilled down a dark, leathery cheek. “I want to go home.”
    Silence.
    Then . ..
    “Merry meet, and merry part, and merry meet again.”
    A moment caught by the eye, frozen by memory.
    Morag, standing straight and tall, turning toward that voice.
    Ashk, waiting, the bow drawn back, her eyes clear and yet filled with a terrible grief.
    Then the arrow sang Death’s song. Pierced the chest. Found the heart.
    And Morag fell.
    “ Noooo !” Morphia screamed as Aiden struggled to hold her back.
    Ashk dropped her bow, moved forward slowly.
    “How could you?” Morphia screamed. “How could you?”
    Ashk stared at the body. “I promised to do what needed to be done.”

    Mist rose from the body, took the shape of a slender, lovely woman.
    Morag turned to look at her sister. Raised a hand in farewell to Aiden and Lyrra. When she looked at Ashk, she smiled.
    “You’ll be missed,” Ashk said softly. “Don’t stay away too long.”
    Morag raised her arms. Her ghost changed into the shape of a raven. As she flew toward the shimmering road that suddenly opened in the field, Selena watched ghosts flow up the road behind her as Morag led the spirits of the dead to the Shadowed Veil