"Deep beneath the meadow grove..."

The seven of them walked in silence. Rhenoa Abigail, Maria Garcia, and Connor Kelly, the last of Wildwood's witches, were at the core of the group walking side by side. To their left, Fawn had her eyes and ears focused on the silent woods around them, ready for the next surprise attack. Her arms were caked with dried blood with her shirt mostly torn away from the most recent ambush, but otherwise she was unscathed. To their right was the source of the only noise permeating through the air.

"Through the grass, below the snow..."

Maple was softly singing a song to Trout as she rocked him gently in her arms. It was a lullaby none of them were familiar with, but it was the only thing that stopped the toddler's wailings since they took him outside for the first time in half a year.

"That is a lovely song," Connor whispered to Maple, flinching only slightly when Rhenoa and Maria shot him dark looks. "May I ask, where did you learn it from? Please only answer if you truly wish to."

He spoke in such a quick breath; Maple almost missed the question as she was suddenly pulled from her day dreams. She looked over at the older man, met his bright blue eyes, and quickly looked away again.

"My mother sung it to us. I don't know where she got it from."

"Ah, I'm sorry."

Maple's grip tightened ever so slightly around her brother. He was getting bigger. Heavier. He was almost three. He should be able to walk on his own, but he always insisted on being carried. Spoiled. That's what he was. His father and siblings always spoiled him.

He slowed them down, the dark voice in Maple's head hissed. If he wasn't there—

"Why do you say that?" Maple asked Connor.

"Connor..." Rhenoa began in a warning tone, but the red-headed man held up a calming hand to her.

"It's alright," he said before turning back to Maple, looking down at her with a soft but anxious smile. "You're asking why I said sorry. Part of it is a force of habit, I'm afraid. I've had to do a lot of apologizing in my life."

Maple was quiet for a moment. She closed her eyes when she felt Trout's small hands rub across the patchy parts of her scalp. If she still had her hair—her bows—he'd be pulling them right now.

"And the other part?"

"We're all sorry for the way things turned out. I shouldn't say more than that right now. But Minverva was one of us—"

"I think you've said enough," Rhenoa cut in. "Connor, this is neither the time nor place. She has enough to worry about, don't you think?"

"Yes," Connor said, dropping his eyes to the ground. "Sorry."

"Please, Maple, focus on helping us secure Gust and Lily," the stone-skinned woman continued, looking around the now hunched man to meet Maple's eyes. "Once we know they are safe, we can talk about what's happened and what will happen."

"I already know what's happened and what is going to happen," Maple said back, her voice taking on a hint of the darkness welling up inside her. "I'm getting my family and we are leaving. End of story."

Rhenoa smiled, smaller and tighter than Connor's smile. "Yes, of course."

The small group stopped when their seventh member, a German Shepherd with a missing ear, suddenly froze in place. He had been leading them, head down and nose focused on the ground, but now he stood straight up, his hackles raised and solitary ear alert.

"Fawn?" Rhenoa asked, her focus entirely on the dog. "What is it? What is he saying?"

"It's her," Fawn answered, a sort of tremble in her voice that Rhenoa had yet to hear from the woman. "There is no question this time. She has another with her, but he does not recognize the smell. He estimates them a little over ten miles away but they are heading straight for us, and fast."

"Just one with her?" Rhenoa wondered aloud. "What of the children and familiars?"

"Less than two miles. The children are still masking their scent, but Kat won't let them far out of her sight."

The witch took this in with a nod before hesitating. "And the...other thing?"

Fawn and Shepherd exchanged a look before the former answered. "Madame Terrebonne and her dogs are holding it off, but not by much."

"Very well. Connor, tell Shepherd he may join his Master in subduing the creature."

"Ah-Alright," Connor said, clearing his throat. "Shepherd? You may join your Master—"

The words barely left the man before the dog suddenly took off into the woods in a sprint. Cutting through the underbrush, heedless of thorns and brambles, he was gone from their sight in an instant.

"Ah, shoot, sorry, Rhenoa," the man mumbled sheepishly. "I should have spoken faster."

"It's fine. He knows what to do," Rhenoa said quickly. Her mind was whirling. No doubt Shepherd's Master had been calling for him for awhile now, but Connor had been overriding that order up till now, just as she had hoped.

But that didn't guarantee anything. Distance could still be a factor. No, the true test was about to be upon them.

Rhenoa looked to Fawn who was already watching her, waiting for further orders. "Without Shepherd, I will need you focused on Ninovan. Get some distance and alert me as soon as she comes within your senses."

Fawn hesitated. Just for a second, just long enough to make Rhenoa's heart catch in her throat. She gave her Master a nod and took off in the opposite direction of Shepherd. The footfalls of her bare feet were heard for less than a few moments and, once gone, silence pervaded through those that were left.

"Was that really the best call?" Maria asked. Her voice was cracked. Her words trembled. "We have monsters at our doorstep and you just essentially told our best protection to fuck off."

"Fawn will not be far, if we really need her," Rhenoa said, hardly acknowledging her fellow witch as she turned to Connor. "Besides, if everything goes to plan, there won't be a need for us to lift a finger. Right, Connor?"

"Yuh-Yes," the man stuttered. "Wuh-Well, I had hoped we could all just talk. I heard my son was good friends with the other familiars. Once they learn he's okay maybe they will be willing to come to a sort of agreement."

Maria looked away, fidgeting with the increasingly wrinkled bottoms of her dark shirt. Rhenoa offered Connor another one of her tight smiles.

"Yes, that is my hope as well."

Connor blinked at her, surprise clear on his face. "Really? Th-That's great! I-I mean, I was going to bring it up before—buh-but I didn't know when would be a good time. I just think that if everyone had a chance to talk—"

"Yes, I know," Rhenoa interrupted, holding up a calming hand of her own. "I know you must feel uniquely affected by all of this, Connor, what with one of these rogue familiars being your son, but we all wish for this to be settled with as little violence as possible. We are all together in this, aren't we? All family."

"Yes," Connor said with a sigh of relief. "That's right. You always know exactly what to say, Rhenoa."

Maria and Maple both watched Rhenoa. Both looking for something. Maria searching for even a hint of the guilt she felt eating away at her stomach. Maple searching for what could be true and what had to be lies.

"Well, I was good at my job, once upon a time."

But nothing could be found on the face etched in stone.

...

The deep breath I took in hurt. Like knives dancing around inside my throat and nostrils, dragging across raw flesh. It made me want to not breathe again, but it was automatic. Deep and slow, like I had been running a marathon. It was a sensation I was just becoming aware of before another override it.

I became aware of my arms and legs when something hard and jagged pulled itself out from each limb. My body trembled at the feeling of it scraping against the bone as it slid out. It was a horrible feeling, worse even than the fire in my lungs, but it was thankfully brief. I was deposited on the ground in their absence, every inch of my muscles sore and throbbing.

My vision was slowly returning, but there wasn't much to see. I recognized the blurry blue fire of a torch that hung loosely from one of the dirt walls. I recognized the thick roots that were retreating back to the other side of the room now that they had released their hold of me. And I recognized the two boys that stood in the open doorway before me.

"Welcome back," the shorter of the two greeted. He had a hand placed loosely against the shoulder of the taller boy, but tightened his grip when my eyes drifted to it. "I wasn't sure you were going to make it."

"Let him go," I tried to say, but all that came out were hoarse gurgles.

"Foxy..."

Leaf was staring down at me, his eyes wide and mouth half-open. He kept his body stiff despite the casual hold Edgar had on him. He knew just as I knew what the Overseer could do with a thought.

"You must be thirsty," the Overseer observed. I couldn't pick out any humor or malice in his tone. His face was free of any line of worry or concern. "Lady Louise? If you don't mind."

Another familiar face stepped into the pale light of the fire. The Lady looked similar to Leaf. A mixture of surprise and horror. But she composed herself enough to walk over to me with a clay cup in her hands and kneel down. I noticed her hands trembling as she moved to hold the back of my head as she slowly poured the water down my burning throat.

"Alex, if you can hear me, it's going to be alright. I'm with Mary. We are going to do everything we can to get everyone out of here alive."

I met her eyes for only a moment as she stood back up. I hoped it was enough to let her know that I did hear. For some reason, my mind wasn't working properly. There was something akin to an ache, or a distant pounding, like a dull drum being beaten somewhere far away from me. Somewhere deep and dark. I thought about following the sound, but now wasn't the time. I needed focus. Information.

"Can you speak?" Edgar asked me after the Lady had moved to stand on one side of the room. "I can get you more water, if you need it."

I coughed, cleared my throat, and swallowed a few times for good measure. The pain and burning was still there, but it was manageable now. With some effort, I was able to crawl into an awkward sitting position, my entire body protesting every step of the way. With just a glance I could see I had lost more weight and muscle than I last remembered having.

Last remembered. What did I last remember? Trying to think about it made the pounding grow louder. Certainly I had been running. I had been with my friends. I had been captured. Then...?

"What happened?" I asked.

"You died," Edgar answered. So matter-of-factly that, for an instant, I thought I had misheard him. "Shot through the head, to be specific."

He tapped his forehead with two fingers for emphasis. I raised my own fingers without thinking and my stomach dropped when I felt a divot in the bone and the smooth texture of scarred flesh.

"I brought you back," Edgar went on, holding up his free hand to me as if he were asking for a handshake. "Do you remember? Back when you shook my bare hand I gifted you some of my power. Enough to bring you back from the clutches of death."

I stared at his hand and then down at mine. What was I expecting to see? Bones? Decayed flesh?

I had died. As soon as Edgar had said that a sharp ringing had entered my ears that wasn't going away. It was the exact same ringing I had heard when the bullet had made impact with my skull. It was the last thing I heard when the magical iron entered my brain.

Then what?

I shivered. My body trembled. I was suddenly drenched in a cold sweat as the ringing continued, loud and incessant, in my ears.

There was more, wasn't there?

There was something there. Something in between the bullet entering my brain and waking up again.

"This isn't the first time I've done this," the Overseer continued. "Far from it. I've tested this power countless times on countless people. None of them have been able to satisfy my curiosity. They either don't remember or go mad from the memory of it. People with power, people with no power, it made no difference. And I had to be careful with my targets. Using this ability willy-nilly would just get me locked up somewhere, or worse, and then I'd never learn the truth."

His voice was hard to make out amidst the constant wailing. It was dull and empty in comparison. But I didn't miss the sudden spark of life in his eyes as he went on. His words were coming faster as his voice grew more excited.

"But I was beginning to learn that those with powers had to be the key. The ones who went mad from their death experience, nine times out of ten they had power. They were remembering something, but didn't have the necessary strength to comprehend it. So, I thought, why not create someone who could? I wasn't born with this power, you see, it was gifted to me so why couldn't I gift someone else in turn?"

"The familiars," Lady Louise said, not taking her eyes off of me.

I barely caught what she said. I had to read her pale lips. The ringing was only getting worse. I cupped my hands over my ears, shaking my head side to side, but, of course, it did nothing.

...

Edgar flashed a rare smile in the Lady's direction before turning his attention back to Foxy. "I'm sorry if this is painful to hear, Alex. But I would like you and your Master to understand. Wildwood was a fledgling coven on the brink of collapse when I stepped in. They just needed a proper goal and someone to help steer them towards it. Though my father had no powers, he had used the majority of his wealth and influence to help build Whispermist into the society it is now. They were more than happy to provide me with the witches needed to help me achieve my goal. Of course, they thought I was merely expanding their influence just as Wildwood believed I was simply providing a much needed security force. Familiars. Down and out children tweaked and improved with power. Each generation steadily improved upon the one before it as the witches who provided their power grew stronger. I had to be careful, patient. I did not know what happened to someone when they died. Did mental strength matter? Physical? Would certain powers be more of aid to others? Eventually I settled and focused on five powers."

The Overseer held out his gloved hand again, while still keeping his bare hand on Leaf's shoulder. One at a time, he counted them off as he lowered a finger in turn.

"Madame Terrebonne's bestial strength, Lady Louise's resistance to power, Lachlan Copper's foresight, my fast healing, and, of course, Ninovan's ability to change into an animal." Edgar stared at his pinky as he kept it up with a sort of wistful smile on his face before opening his hand up completely. "To be honest, I'm not sure why I stuck with that last one. It had been around from the beginning for its use in hiding in plain sight but it didn't seem necessary in the grand scheme of my plans. I guess there was a sort of spiritual nature to it. Everyone could only ever turn into one animal. Some creature linked to something perhaps akin to a soul. Maybe spiritual strength is just as important as mental or physical when it comes to retaining your sense of self after dying."

Lady Louise continued to watch Foxy. He had long ago lowered his arms and they now lay uselessly at his sides as he sat in the dirt. She was fighting her own instincts to not try and see if there was something she could do for him, but the Overseer was acting erratic. He had always been hard for her to read, but there was a manic in the back of his voice now that was reminding her unnervingly of Lachlan.

"I don't believe I've ever heard you speak this much at once, Overseer," she commented, watching the boy now—gauging his reaction.

"Right?" he said back, chuckling to himself. "I've been holding this all in for years. Years. It feels good to finally let it out, but I guess I have been getting carried away. We don't have much more time I'd wager."

Edgar moved himself and Leaf closer to Foxy, his hand locked firmly on the latter's shoulder. "Tell me what you saw after death, Foxy. Tell me everything, truthfully, and I will let you and everyone you care about go. Your friends, the Quincy children, Lady Louise and her child. Everyone."

"My child—"

"Yes, my Lady, your child is indeed alive, but, if you want to see her, he need only tell me what he saw."

Edgar was not looking away from Foxy, and Foxy was not looking up from the ground.

"Foxy, you cannot hide it from me. I've seen it all before. I know what it looks like when a person forgets or when they go mad from the knowledge. You look like neither. Tell me, and I will make everything end. Your nightmare will be over."

Foxy did not answer, did not move. Leaf let out a small groan of pain when he felt the Overseer's fingers dig in deeper.

"TELL ME!" Edgar Crooster shouted, raising his voice louder than he ever had in years. It made both Leaf and Lady Louise jump. It bounced around inside the room and the hall beyond.

But Foxy did not move, and it made Edgar pause.

"Foxy? Alex?" he called and, when he didn't get a response, he pushed Leaf down with him as he kneeled before the familiar. He couldn't see anything of the boy's face through the sheet of dirty red hair. Without saying a word, he raised his free hand beside Foxy's head and snapped his fingers right where he believed his ear to be.

Nothing. Not even a twitch of movement.

Edgar Crooster smiled despite himself. "Ah, I see now."

It was the Overseer's turn to jump in surprise, pulling him and Leaf back up into a standing position when Alex Foxy raised his head. His eyes were downcast, focused on nothing, but when he spoke Edgar knew it was directed towards him.

"Your endless time is running out, Edgar Crooster," Foxy said, his voice barren of emotion. "That's all I remember."

A brief moment of shock crossed the Overseer's face before he took a step closer to the familiar. "But did you see anything?" Edgar pressed until something seemed to cross his mind and, releasing Leaf, he kneeled back down to be at eye level with Foxy. He angled his head to try and meet the boy's empty eyes. "Foxy? Look at me."

Foxy's eyes trailed up towards him, ever so slightly. His cheeks were hollow, skin stretched tight over the bones of his face. For all intents and purposes, it appeared as though he had died again. But Edgar focused on his failing gaze and on the movements of his own lips as he asked again: "What. Did. You. See?"

"Nothing," Alex said, as deadpan as Edgar had sounded when he told him he had died. "If I did, it was probably erased so I could give you the message."

Edgar stared at him for a moment before a wide smile suddenly broke across his face. He began to laugh, quietly, as he hung his head as if in defeat. Leaf slowly backed away from the two of them before running into Lady Louise's outstretched hand. When he looked back at her, she gave him a reassuring smile.

"Please stay close," she whispered to him, hoping her voice was quiet enough to be hidden beneath Edgar's laughing. "I am going to get you and Alex out of this place."

He nodded wordless before turning away from her. When he did, the Lady's smile faltered as she focused back on Edgar. He was vulnerable now, knelt down and lost in his own crazed mind. But she knew now wasn't the time to attack. One mistake and she was done for. Better to wait until she could afford to make more.

"Overseer?" she called to him. "Edgar, is everything alright?"

"Hm? Oh, yes. Perfectly alright, in fact," he answered, still laughing between his words as he slowly stood back up. "Just years of research, years of manipulation and death and sacrifice all for a cryptic message."

By then, the Overseer's laughing had stopped. He stood looking down at Alex Foxy, and the Lady couldn't be sure what the expression on his face was with his back to her.

"I guess I should be happy, right? This is the most I have been given in almost a hundred years. Maybe it means I am getting closer to him or her and they are becoming frightened enough to try and scare me away. Or, maybe, just as likely, they enjoy watching me flailing around blindly and decided to give me just enough to make me want to waste another hundred years in vain trying to find them. It is the not knowing that truly is maddening, Loretta. I'm sure you must understand, to an extent. Why me? Why this power? It is almost worse because you cannot truly know your source, whatever he or she or it may be. I almost wish I were just like you. Ignorant."

With a sigh, Edgar turned around and looked past Leaf and Lady Louise. "Well, I am a man of my word. Come, gather Foxy and let us go to your daughter and then be free of this place. As I am sure you understand by now, he is now both deaf and powerless, so it will be slow going."

As Edgar Crooster made to leave the room, the Lady and Leaf moved around him to tend to Foxy. They both knelt beside him though Foxy made no move to acknowledge either one.

"Is he okay?" Leaf asked, worry etched in his face.

"He's alive, that's what we should be focused on," the Lady answered, grabbing Foxy's thin arm to drape over her shoulders. "Help me with him, please. Even in his current condition I'm afraid I won't have the strength or stamina enough to carry him on my own for long."

Leaf nodded before grabbing Foxy's other arm. "Hold on just a little longer, Foxy," he whispered in his ear. "It's almost over."

Alex Foxy's eyes had been closed since he had given Edgar the message, but they fluttered open for a moment at the feel of Leaf's breath on his ear. The smell was next to hit his senses. A strong, sour musk that wafted off the boy beside him. It was a strange smell, but a familiar one that made his stomach turn.

"Mr. York?" he asked, but his words could barely escape his throat and died before either witch could hear him.

His body was no longer that of a familiar's, and it was still fighting off the fatigue of death. He didn't have much more time to think before his frail body was assaulted by all kinds of pains and uncomfortable sensations as the Lady and Leaf raised him from the ground and half-dragged-half-carried him out of the room after the Overseer.

Edgar was waiting in the hall just outside the room, his eyes shifting between the two directions they could take.

"My Lady, I'm afraid we will have to double back just a small ways if we are to retrieve your daughter. I am not sure what to expect of the outcome between the witches and familiars outside, but stay close to me and I will keep you all safe until we see this done."

The Lady simply nodded, biting back the desire to even appear frustrated.

It doesn't matter, she told herself. It doesn't matter that Foxy is alive, or that she now knew for an almost certainty that her daughter was also alive, or even that the Overseer might stay true to his word. It wouldn't change the plan. In fact, it only gave her more of a purpose. It was more than just her own escape from this life now. She was going to get her daughter and Alex out of it as well.

And anyone who threatened that had to disappear. One way or another, they had to be wiped clean of this world.

"We'll be right behind you, Overseer," Lady Louise said before the four of them set off down the long, dark hall of dirt.