Maria watched Connor's body go limp as it hung in the air. As soon as it did, the tendrils retreated, sliding out of his body and letting him crumple to the ground with a sickening splatter. Maria had a hand over her mouth, tears in her eyes, and forced herself to look away from her friend as she crawled backwards into the woods.

The two boys remained on the ground, the fat blonde crying out for help. But what could she do? If she tried to help, she would just die like Connor died. Ninovan fled as soon as Connor was struck, she should do the same. Just run. Run and never look back.

"That was not a kind thing you did, Gustifer," Connor's killer continued, the twisted body of Jack dragging across the ground as the many tendrils of his neck pulled him forwards while many others whipped and sliced and snapped at the trees and other plant-life that rose to get in its way. "Trying to steal away my reason for existence."

"Wuh-what about you?" Gustifer answered back, rolling himself over so that he was now lying atop John. "Yuh-you are kuh-killing people. Juh-John doesn't kill people."

"The boy and I have done things his way for awhile. There were successes and failures, but now the boy has placed himself in a position where soon neither of us will be free to choose. His brother attempted to control him so I was forced to kill him. This man attempted to control me, so I killed him. Until we are both free to choose I will not stop."

The thing inside Jack's body was getting close. Hardly any foliage remained to rise up and try to stop him. Maria backed herself up enough until she was safely hidden inside a patch of shrubs, hardly noticing the thorns poking and tearing into her in places. Run later, she repeated in her head like a mantra, hide now.

"Buh-but John wouldn't want this!" Gustifer argued, cowering into a ball as Jack's body hovered over him and John. "You keep going down this path and he won't even want to be a part of you!"

"Does your power tell you this? Or is this an assumption you make out of desperation? I do not actually want the answer. Until the boy is free of this familiar curse then I can never know truly what he wishes."

Maria bit her lip. Did that thing say something about familiars? That John was one?

Gustifer began to shout and cry when the tendrils that had once dragged Jack's body now raised into the air, poised to pierce down into the child. Maria tried to look away, but it only led her eyes to Connor who lay still and bleeding in the dirt. His eyes were half-open, and it was almost as if they were staring back at her. As if they were telling her to do something.

"Please, Maria, help me!"

Shit, Maria cursed inside her head. Shit!

"Now let us pick up where we left off, Gustifer."

"Wait!"

Maria was up and out of the bushes before she could stop herself, her arms spread out before her. The tendrils had stopped in their descent, but there was no sign of a face that told her she had caught its attention. Gustifer, however, had turned to her with tears and snot running down his face.

"I am a witch of Wildwood and I can help you with your familiar problem," she declared, digging her nails into her palms to try and keep her arms from shaking. "But you have to promise you'll protect me until all this is over."

There was a strange sound that came from the dried wound in Jack's neck. Almost like a deep sigh that sucked in all the air around it and let out again in a slow, deliberate fashion.

"At last."

...

Ninovan strained her eyes against the wind that broke against her body again and again at each bound. Trees and stones and hills whipped past her and she had to occasionally use her own body to break apart the obstacles in her path to avoid breaking her stride. Each time she was forced to land, each time a tree or rock shattered against her bulk, she could feel the muscle and bone straining and on the verge of snapping. This was the longest she had ever tried to remain in this form and she could not afford to ignore the effects for much longer.

Occasionally she would look behind her, though all she ever saw were the ever thickening of the woods and the sun sinking lower and lower. Her mind's eye played out the death of Connor on repeat. The speed and lethality of the tendrils were faster than even she could have kept up with. Letting that thing catch up would certainly mean the end. End for her and the end of all the time spent patiently waiting and planning and building up power.

The familiars had gotten her this far, they had done their job even if they had attempted to betray her. So, it didn't matter if she abandoned them now. They were trying to do the same to her.

Ninovan glanced down at the sleeping girl in her arms, matted hair whipping around a face crusted with dirt and blood.

So, why then, she asked herself, are you still carrying her?

Not paying full attention to her surroundings, Ninovan missed the shallow rocky stream she was crossing until one of her padded feet got wedged between a pair of slippery stones mid bound. She had hardly the time to howl out against the twisting of her ankle before she was sent tumbling through the air. Tucking Crane into her furred bulk, the witch crashed and rolled against the ground before mercifully slamming against a tree that was sturdy enough to withstand the impact and allow her to fall still.

Her breathing came out ragged and fast as she remained lying against the tree, hugging the young familiar close to her. Even with the supernatural healing, the hole that Jack had blown into her chest hit several vital organs, and it was still a seeping wound that would eventually claim her life. Looking back down at the young girl cradled in her arms, Ninovan surprised herself with a sigh of relief that escaped her upon seeing the familiar uninjured.

It had all been a ploy, hadn't it? Telling them they were her children. Promising them their freedom. It was so half-assed they had seen through it immediately and betrayed her.

She was so close to the end. She would be dead soon. So, what did it matter?

Ninovan slowly released Crane, resting her against the tree before standing up. It hurt to keep her foot with the twisted ankle on the ground, but she forced it to comply. She would have a limp for the rest of her life. There was not much of it left, so what did it matter?

"When you wake up you will not serve me any longer," Ninovan said. "Wake up."

Crane's eyes fluttered open. Immediately after, she was on her feet, fingers curled into claws, and whipped her head every which way before her focus finally settled on the witch. When their eyes met, Crane visibly relaxed. She stood up straight, looking down at herself before looking back up at Ninovan.

"Why?" she asked.

"I will be reuniting with my family soon," Ninovan said. "My real family. It is time you do the same."

"Family?" Crane stared hard at the ground, her forehead wrinkled. "Don't understand."

"If I find Mr. York and kill him some of your memories may return," Ninovan offered. "If not, you will certainly outlive him if you are careful. I waited over thirty years for this chance. Yours will come if you are patient."

"Wait!" Crane shouted when Ninovan turned away from her. "Don't go! Didn't mean—Didn't mean...before. Was angry. Scared. Don't. Still need momma. Momma need Crane."

"Foolish child," Ninovan hissed, a growl rising up her throat. "I do not need someone weak and broken like you. You are a burden whose boyfriend nearly killed me. You would have been more useful to me fighting and dying with the other familiars!"

"No!" Crane shouted back, shaking her head violently, tears in her eyes. "Don't mean it! Momma don't mean it! Won't scare away!"

"I don't need to scare you." Ninovan lurched in front of the girl, looming nearly three feet over her head. "Crane, stay away from me. Stay far away until the day I die."

"No," Crane repeated as she wept, as she took deliberate steps backwards. "No. Can't go. Can't remember. Momma—"

"I am not your mother."

Ninovan turned away from the sobbing child, intending to bound away into the distance, but let out a snarl of pain when she was reminded of her twisted ankle. One slip up and it was already like this. She couldn't properly fight whatever Wildwood still had in store for her like this. Would she come all this way just to die before reaching the end?

"Momma!" Crane shouted, her figure disappearing deeper into the woods. "Please!"

Ninovan closed her eyes and forced herself forward one limping gait at a time. She listened to the desperate pleads of the familiar for awhile, but they eventually faded. Soon enough she was truly alone amongst the creaking pines and nettled ground.

"Hold on just a little longer," she told both herself and someone who couldn't possibly hear her. "Just a little while longer."

...

Kat awoke with a throat dryer then she could ever remember. So dry that when she tried to cough out words it felt like pins and needles scored up and down the jagged flesh. The coughing fit that ensued caused Stallion, who had been cradling her as he walked, to set her down and shout for the Quincy children to help.

"Are the roots too tight!?" Gust asked.

"No, I am sure I secured them perfectly!" Lilly insisted.

"She needs water," Maple observed. "Lilly, are there any sources nearby?"

"Hold on. Yes! Just ahead a ways is a weak stream!"

While faces and voices surrounded and confused the bewildered familiar, she felt a small, soft hand grip hers.

"Lizbeth," Trout said.

Even if Kat could have responded, she wasn't given the time to as Stallion scooped her back up and ran with the children towards the stream in question. Along the way, she blacked out a few times only to regain consciousness a few seconds later. Her vision was slowly returning— stronger each time— and she could see Gust, Lilly, Maple, and even Trout running around Stallion. With the air blowing against her face and through her hair, Kat could almost pretend she was the one running. That she was back on the path leading up to the cabin, the children laughing and shoving and calling her name.

"Kat!"

"Kat!"

"Elizabeth, you need to drink!"

Kat coughed and gagged at the sudden rush of something cool going down her ravaged throat. Though her insides clenched and initially rejected the sensation, her dry throat cried for relief and Kat forced more of the cool liquid down, practically sucking on the palm that acted as a scoop for her.

"Kat," Stallion said again, smiling down at her while stray tears escaped his eyes. "You're okay."

Kat opened her mouth and tried to answer him, but instead flinched against a flare of pain digging into the flesh of her neck and the inside of her throat. She reached up her hand to feel for it, but all she felt was the rough texture of a root that had bound itself around the injury.

"I wouldn't go that far," Maple said to Stallion, stepping around the large familiar to look down at Kat. "Your throat got cut, so you probably shouldn't stress it for awhile."

Kat met the eyes of her Master, her focus soon trailing to Maple's forehead. With surprising grace and speed she was up on her feet, Stallion and the other siblings hardly having the time to move around her to keep her from falling as she stood on unsteady ground. There was a chorus of concerned and reasonable voices, but they all were fading into the background as Kat stood over Maple.

"Listen," Maple started, but stopped short when Kat reached her hand out towards her. She watched the hand until it nearly touched her head, taking a step back before contact could be made.

Kat let her hand hang there for a moment before letting it drop at her side. "Mmm sorry," she mumbled out.

"Don't try to talk," Maple said, unable to meet her familiar's eye. "But, okay. And I'm sorry too, if it really means anything at this point."

Maple practically leapt back when Kat took a step forward. The familiar wouldn't stop looking at her and the witch felt her words catch in her throat when she saw a small smile spread across her familiar's scarred face.

"Does," Kat managed to say.

"It's getting closer," Lilly interjected, her eyes trailing back to the woods behind and beyond them.

"Can you move on your own?" Maple asked and then held up a hand when Kat opened her mouth. "Don't talk! Just nod or shake your head no."

Kat nodded.

"Great, we are moving then." Maple pointed a finger to Stallion. "You fill her in on the way."

And Stallion did. As he and Kat ran with the Quincy children, Kat heard all about Trout's new power, Ninovan's retreat, Stallion's encounter with the Wildwood witches, and Lilly's struggle with the shadow.

And while Kat listened closely to every word, her eyes were drawn to her friend. The strong angle of his jaw. The puffed hair. The scraggled beard. Each and every scar that criss crossed his face and lined his arms and chest. Near the end of Stallion's spiel, their eyes met and he gave her a weak smile.

"Everything okay?" his concerned voice asked, vibrating inside her mind. She shook her head side to side in a vain attempt to stop it from echoing back and forth over and over.

Concern written on his face, Stallion opened his mouth to speak before being cut off by Gust spitting on the ground as they ran. He was gasping and panting, his injury clearly slowing him down.

"That thing sounds ten times scarier than when we last saw it," he said despairingly between gasps for air.

"I can't beat it on my own," Lilly said. Though she was keeping pace with the others, she had to hold Gust's hand and use him as a guide while her focus remained on the ground. "I can't even slow it down anymore."

"Everything will be fine if we stick to the plan," Maple called back from the head of the group, meeting Kat's look for a moment. "We use Trout to steal the power from the shadow's witch—"

"John," Stallion supplied.

"Right, and that should be it. The shadow should be under Trout's control and, if not, my fire will be back and that should be enough to at least subdue it."

Kat nodded to show she understood. Stallion's question was still bouncing, but it was getting quiet enough to keep her head from aching. She glanced back at him to find their eyes meeting once again.

"You're back," she said.

"Yeah." Stallion looked away from her, his eyes focusing on the path ahead. "Maria is my new Master."

If this was news to the Quincy children, they didn't act surprised. Kat could only watch her friend as they ran, her stomach tightening. She knew the implications. They all had to. And while she did not know Stallion's relationship with his previous Master, if it was anything like how she felt about Maple, then there were no words that could be said.

"We'll get as close as we can to Wildwood's base before the shadow catches up to us," Maple called back. "We take care of it and then go after Ninovan and whatever witch remains in that place."

"Someone's confident," Gust managed to say between wheezes.

"I'm not," Maple quickly corrected, keeping her head trained forward, her arms wrapping tighter around Trout. "Leaf and Foxy are still there, waiting for us. We're the only ones who can do anything."

There was a pause.

"Dad didn't raise cowards, did he?"

While Gust could only let out an exasperated laugh, Lilly and Kat both looked up to stare at her back.

With a sudden jolt, Lilly stopped in her tracks, releasing Gust's hand and nearly causing her brother to topple over.

"What the—!?" he started, but she was already shouting over him.

"It's coming faster!" she warned, whipping around to face the trees behind them. "I can't keep up anymore unless I'm connected!"

"That's fine!" Maple stopped and gently set Trout down, patting him on the head when he started to complain. "Everyone form up like we planned!"

Kat stood, dazzed, as her family moved around her. Lilly knelt in place, stabbing her hands into the earth and tensing when they disappeared beneath the surface. Gust moved just in front of her. Though his tree-arm still hung crooked, he gritted his teeth as the wood groaned and stretched, opening and spreading like a shield before him. Stallion's muscles tensed and he let out a calming breath as he moved to stand before the siblings, squaring his shoulders as he faced the trees that were just beginning to shift and stretch unnaturally. Maple remained standing behind them all, her hand still on Trout's head.

"Maple?" Gust called back.

Maple kneeled down beside her younger brother. His eyes were focused on the ground, mumbled complaints about being put down still on his lips. She squeezed his shoulder.

"Trout, I know it's going to be scary, but something is coming and I am going to need your help to keep everyone safe. Do you think you can do that?"

Trout shifted his feet on the ground, swaying side to side.

"It's almost here!" Lilly shouted.

"Trout? Do you remember what you did when you took my power?" Maple asked, keeping her voice calm.

The young boy remained silent, staring at the ground. As quick as she could manage without making her movements sudden, Kat made her way until she could stand beside the two siblings. The Master and familiar met eyes for a moment.

"Fire," Kat croaked out. "Remember?"

Trout looked up. His dark eyes were swimming with the promise of fresh tears, but they were clear as they stared up at Kat. The latter held in a breath when Trout reached up to touch one side of his face.

"It's—!" Lilly started.

"Shit, shit!" Stallion interrupted. "I think I see it!"

Before he even finished his exclamations, the sounds of splintering woods and rustled leaves broke through the once silent forest. Maple and Kat whirled around to see the darkness approaching them. Though the sinking sun was being heavily obscured by clouds and trees, it still shined down enough light to illuminate the dozens of whip-like tendrils that thrashed and wailed and sliced through the foliage that tried in vain to rise up against them. Through the falling trees and torrential storm of leaves that broke free in their wake, they could all make out the shadowed bodies of several figures being held aloft by some of the tendrils, hovering like unused puppets above the carnage.

"It's cutting through it all like it's not even there!" Gust exclaimed, terror making his voice shaky as he looked between everyone. "It's going to tear us all apart!"

"It won't!" Lilly exclaimed. Her eyes were shut tight and she let out little gasps of pain here and there with every jerk of her shoulder or arm. "Your arm is ten times stronger than any tree and I will slow down its attacks. Stallion is strong and will keep it busy too. We're going to be fine. Right, Maple?"

"Right," Maple said back before focusing back on the youngest Quincy. "Trout, please, remember what you did to me and do it to that thing!"

"Lizbeth's face is hurting," Trout said, not even seeming to register the calamity heading straight for them.

"Trout!"

"I'm going to try and help slow it down!" Stallion called back, already running ahead before anyone could respond.

"Wai—!" Kat tried to call out, only to have her throat seize up and send her into a violent coughing fit. She tried to take a step forward— her eye on Stallion's shrinking back— but stopped when she felt a grip on her wrist.

"It's the right move," Maple said quickly. "We need more time and I need you here. He's only really responding to you, Elizabeth."

Kat watched Stallion go until she could no longer see him through the broken foliage and debris. She jumped when she felt Trout's small hand wrapping around her fingers. The fingers on an arm that no longer existed. Kat spun around, pulling away from the boy who was grasping at thin air.

"Where is it?" he asked, watching her.

"I see. You are a bit quicker than the others. Are you a familiar too?"

A chill went down Kat's spine. The voice whispered like it spoke right beside her but when she looked back the source was still dozens of yards away, its tendrils striking out against trees and a single, solitary figure. There wasn't time for this. If Trout couldn't help them then she had to be out there with him.

"I've seen you before. The one who commands the forest."

"Kat!" Stallion shouted in her head. "I can't—!"

But it was too much. Stallion's words bounced and clanged and echoed so loud it felt like she was going deaf. Kat cried out, throwing a hand over an ear while throwing her shoulder into the other, as if it would do any good. The sound wasn't outside, it was in her head. And it shook her to her very core.