The House Of Gaian

sense of the size of the storm .. . and almost whimpered.
    If she released it, it would devastate this Old Place, drown the crops for miles around, flood the creeks and cause even more damage.
    Start with the simplest thing first.
    Stepping away from Mistrunner, she banked the wall of fire until it was nothing more than a smoldering circle. Then she pushed the circle holding the storm outward just beyond the fire circle. The ground sizzled and steam rose as the rain and standing water rushed to fill the larger space.
    As soon as the fire was out, other Fae men rushed into the storm to reach the Ladies of the Moon.
    She ignored them as she gathered the wind in the clearing, shaped it into a wide wedge, and sent it flying toward the farthest edge of the storm. It sheared the cloud bank, driving the clouds before it, heading east.
    Broken off from the rest of the storm—and the magic that had prevented it from releasing anywhere but in the clearing—the rain poured down.
    Selena flinched when she saw the flash of lightning, but she shaped another wedge of wind and used it to slice off another piece of the storm and send it eastward.
    The third time she sliced off a piece of the storm, she felt another power brush against hers, another wind grab the storm, pulling it further apart, draining some of its energy and sending it back in a way that would keep some of the storm restrained as it was sent on so that not all of it would fall here.
    Rhyann, playing with air and water in a way that would spread the storm farther and farther, diluting it in the process.
    Selena’s heart lifted. She worked to slice the storm into pieces, trusting that Rhyann would catch those pieces and send them on, driven by fast winds.
    The storm would keep spreading out, driven east by the winds. Other witches who could command the branches of air or water would catch the storm when it came to them and continue to send it on. It would fly over the Mother’s Hills, softened by the many witches who commanded those branches of the Great Mother. Perhaps it would go even further east, but it would diminish to a soft rain, a farmer’s rain that would nourish the crops instead of destroying them.
    She worked the storm. She didn’t know how long it took. It might have been hours. If felt like days before she sent the last clouds toward Rhyann and the rain in the clearing finally stopped. Overhead, the clear night sky was filled with stars.
    Shivering from exhaustion as much as the chill in the air, Selena slowly grounded the power that held the circle in the clearing. The standing water poured out, spreading itself through the woods.
    She walked back to Mistrunner, wondering if she had the strength left to mount—and wondering if he would be able to find his way back to Ella’s house.
    As she rested her forehead against his neck, someone said hesitantly, “Huntress?”
     
    She looked up and saw the woman standing nearby, watching her anxiously. She said nothing. She simply waited.
    The woman came forward slowly, then went down on one knee. “I, Gwynith, here and now pledge my loyalty and service to you, Selena, the Lady of the Moon ... and the Huntress.”
    Since she didn’t know the correct response to this part of the ritual, Selena said nothing.
    Gwynith looked at her. “Do you accept?”
    “I accept.”
    A look of relief that was almost brutal to see filled Gwynith’s face. She rose and stepped aside.
    Her four companions immediately stepped forward and made the same pledge of loyalty and service.
    The rest of the women came forward more slowly, more warily, but they made the same pledge. While they did, Selena noticed the intense, whispered conversation between Gwynith, her companions, and some of the men who were with them.
    When the last woman stepped aside, one man came forward. “Huntress ... Lady Dianna is badly hurt and needs a healer to look at that arm as soon as it can be done.”
    Dianna. So that was the name of the woman who had denied her right to be the Lady of the Moon after the power had already accepted her as such.
    “It is your right to deny her access to any Clan territory where you are present, especially after ... after she shamed her Clan by acting as she did.”
    “Is there a healer in the Clan who is connected to this Old Place?” Selena asked.
    “There is, Huntress.”
    “Then take her there to get the care she needs.”
    He bowed. “Thank you. She will not disturb you while she is there.” He