The sun was gone. Sunk beneath the lineof trees, the wild forest was lightened only by a partially shroudedmoon and many, shining stars. It was more than enough for most ofthose who walked the broken trails that led them through the windingwoods. There was a sense of purpose to their walk, but they were allclinging to the last vestiges of strength. Each step was a struggle,but it also brought them closer to their final destination.

"You holding up okay, Kat?"Stallion asked, readjusting the un-moving Maria Garcia over hisshoulder when Gust's dozing form unconsciously reached out with anarm to wrap around his neck. "Whoa! Careful there!"

Kat smiled. She held Maple over herback, having to angle herself forwards enough to keep her fromsliding off, only having one arm to brace her backside. "I'mfine, but maybe I should be the one asking you?"

"Gah." Stallion grunted, pausingfor a moment when Maria tried to struggle again in her root bindings,screaming and cursing out mumbled things behind the vines wrappedaround her mouth. "I should just drop her."

"You could," John offered and thenwinced when Trout reached up and lightly smacked his cheek.

"No," the boy said in a strainedvoice, still fighting off sleep as he lay sprawled awkwardly inJohn's arms.

"Well," John continued as he casta glance back towards Gus. "Gus, do you see dropping her as a badidea?"

Gus shook his head, eyes downcast."Sorry, I think I overdid it today. My vision is going to beclouded for awhile," he said in a rasping voice.

"I can hold her," Lilly assured,her hand wrapped in the blonde boy's, more for his sake than hersas he stumbled at the back of the group. "Also, the ground stoppedshaking."

That gave everyone pause, althoughthey could not afford to stop walking and risk being tempted to stopforever. Stallion's eyes trailed back to the back of Kat's headas she continued to lead them. There were things he wished to say toher privately, but even as he thought the words he had an innatefeeling like he could no longer share them with her. As if thatconnection between them had been severed.

So, instead, he said the words outloud. "We might be too late."

"I know."

"Sorry," John mumbled, his gazedowncast on the young boy in his arms who had begun to softly snore."I lost control of Shadow. Because of that—"

"You came here originally becauseyou wanted to help that Swan girl, right?" Kat asked withoutturning around

John looked up. His brow furrowed andhe bit the inside of his cheek harder and harder the longer thesilence stretched out. "Something like that."

"Well, your shadow tried to kill meand I tried to kill you," Kat went on, glancing back at John withher one good eye. The way it seemed to twinkle in the moonlight madehis insides squirm. "I'd say that makes at least you and I even."

"I already have several grudges I'mstill working through," Stallion tossed in, nodding his headtowards the bound witch on his shoulder. "Don't think I have thetime for more right now."

"I—" Gus started to say,fumbling with the right words as he struggled to catch his breath.

"I still don't like you," Lillycut in, her glare steady when John turned to look back at her.

"Right." John averted her stare."I don't know everything Shadow did, but for what it's worth,I'm sorry."

"Sure."

An awkward silence settled on thesmall group. Gus swallowed his words, not needing his foresight totell him it was best to leave things as they were for now. No need toupset a girl who could control plants while she was holding his hand.

I am still on your side, John. Hethought instead, his eyes boring on his friend's head until theireyes met. I'll look after you now that Jack is gone.

He wasn't sure if John couldget everything he thought and felt through just a look alone, but Gusfelt his anxieties settle a bit when his friend cracked the smallestof smiles back at him.

A sharp sound of rustling foliagecaused everyone to stop. Half a dozen pairs of eyes scanned the woodsthat had grown less and less dense the further they traveled. Kattried not to think on how much darker the world seemed to become. Andthat sound...

"That was way too close," Stallionsaid in a hushed voice, his eyes meeting Kat's as he voiced herthoughts. "Why didn't we hear anything?"

"There's still someone by thehouse," Lilly quickly informed, speaking a bit louder to be heardby everyone. "I'm sorry I didn't notice anything—it'sgetting harder to concentrate on—"

Another sound. A strong flap of wingsand a dancing branch caused Lilly to yelp and everyone else to freezeup. Kat looked from the lilting branch to the surrounding tree linebut could find no source of the noise. It vanished somewhere into thedarkness.

"Stooop," Trout complained as heshoved his face into John's chest. "No yelling."

Everyone held their breath, waitingfor someone else to react to Trout. After a few seconds, when nothingcame, there was a visible wave of relief that passed over the smallgroup.

"It's alright," Kat assured."We're all stretched thin at this point. As long as we sticktogether, we'll be fine."

There were a few nods, a few words ofagreement, and then the group proceeded. Kat remained at the front,doing her best to pierce through the darkness before them.Wordlessly, Stallion slowed until he was walking beside Lilly and Gusnear the back, giving them both an assured nod and an attempt at asmile when they looked to him worriedly. Now alone in the middle ofit all, John readjusted his sore arms around Trout. The child had tobe at least four or five—way too old to be held like this—butJohn didn't complain. He held him closer, cradled the child'shead, knowing he was keeping more than one person safe.

No one spoke again until they reachedthe clearing. Though, clearing wasn't exactly the right word for itany longer. The land was broken. Large, gaping cracks split it apartlike deep gouges, filled back up with fresh earth and stone insteadof blood. The remnants of an ancient stone path could barely be madeout between the crater-like depressions. Kat no longer needed tostrain her eyes to see through the darkness. Without the cover of thetrees, the light of the nearly full moon shone bright, illuminatingthe destruction and where it all seemed to originate from.

A massive crater, far larger than thecollapses that surrounded it, took form near the center of theclearing. Sections of the decrepit manor that once stood in its placestill stuck out, like boney limbs reaching out from a grave, and theycast long shadows in the moonlight. A small figure who had beenstanding near the crater stepped out from one of these shadows.Flecks of blonde hair hung out from a tight braid, some sticking toher pale face with sweat. She was breathing hard as if she had justrun a great distance, but her cool blue eyes looked across thecracked distance between herself and the group with barely a hint ofinterest.

"We've won!" she cried out. Shetook careful steps down and away from the crater as she continued toshout. "Wildwood is gone! Everyone has either run away or died! Westand now amidst the field of their destruction!"

John, Lilly, and Gus had locked up assoon as the woman had begun shouting, the boys trying to remember whothis person was and Lilly focused on keeping her senses trained onwhat she could around them. Now that she could focus on their moreimmediate surroundings, she could feel something was coming.Something that moved like a wave of life. When she tried to warn theothers, she found she could not open her mouth. Her entire body hadfrozen in place, eyes staring forward, hand locked tight around Gus'.

Something else was squirminginside her chest. A wave of life of its own was working through herbody and it did not want her to cry out.

At the head of the group, Kat andStallion shared a look. Despite the positive words, there was a tingeof something darker that only they could sense. A slight madness inthe way Mouse approached them.

"Where's Leaf?" Kat asked, hervoice hoarse and breaking, but she forced it to be loud enough forMouse to hear. "And Foxy? Have you seen them?"

Mouse stopped approaching when aparticularly wide gap in the ground stood in her way. It was a widtheasily cross-able, but she chose to simply stare into it beforeglancing back towards the crater.

"Something took over my Master andsent me away into the woods. By the time I came back, my Master wasold and the thing was gone but the place was falling apart andfalling into the ground. I only had time to save him. I didn't seeanyone else."

Her answer came fast and she was nolonger shouting, so Kat couldn't be sure she heard her properly.She had to get closer—had to see for herself.

"Stallion, watch Maple," Kat saidas she began to lower the Quincy girl to the ground.

"Kat, wait." Stallion releasedMaria who let out a muffled groan when she hit the ground. Heattempted to more gently place Gust down, but found the boy'stree-arm had a pretty tangled grip around his chest and his otherarm, so let him be in favor of placing a free arm on Kat'sshoulder. "It's dangerous."

"It's my family!" Kat snappedback, the pain in her voice causing Stallion to let go of hershoulder as she whirled around, fixing him with a fierce green eye."It's our friend. I'm going. Watch them, please."

"If Alex is gone, this is close tohow he would have wanted it, don't you think!?"

The shouted question caused Kat andStallion to focus back on the small girl who still stood across greattears and piles of earth and stone. She wasn't facing them, so hercontinued shouts were slightly muffled as she stared back towards thecrater.

"He always did stupid, selfish,reckless things! Making us worry! Making us hurt! And claiming it wasall for our benefit! Here he can die still thinking that he helpedus—He can finally be the martyr he always wanted to be!"

"Have you seen the body?!" Katshouted, her voice cracking. She took a step forward, and nearly fellon the uneven surface, but was caught by Stallion. She let him holdher as she continued. "If you haven't, you can't say any ofthat! Especially with him!"

Mouse heaved a long sigh. She shookher head back and forth as a light chuckle escaped her lips.

"You can hold on to that if youwant," she said, hardly loud enough for Kat or Stallion to hear."You can waste the last of your time and energy digging into hisgrave, but I'm done. I'm taking my Master and leaving beforesomeone comes back and makes Alex's meaningless sacrifice even moremeaningless."

Kat bit the inside of her cheek,fighting off the desire to hurl something out of anger or hate. Shewatched as Mouse half-turned and began to take slow, careful stepsacross the clearing and towards the edge of the woods. At no pointdid she seem inclined to look their way.

"I'm sorry!" Kat shouted at her,pulling free of Stallion's arm to take a few, staggered stepstowards the other woman. "Mallard wanted you back, but it was myidea to use Alex to get to you! If I never see you again, I want youto know it was all me!"

Mouse stopped. For a time, she did notturn her head. When she did, Kat was surprised to see a slight smileon her face.

"If that's true, then thanks. Youmight not have intended it this way, but having someone to save iswhat kept me going till now."

Kat felt her own throat tighten.Though Mouse's smile remained, her expression turned to somethingelse before she turned her face away. Before she could continuetowards the woods however, there was a slow rising of noise.

Wings. Cries. Calls. Chirps. Caws. Thesound of hundreds of birds was in the air. Almost at the same time,the trees and bushes that surrounded them began to shake and stir. Inthe darkness, they could see creatures emerging. Squirrels climbeddown from the trees and sprouted from tall grass. Families of rabbitsand hogs broke through tangles of shrubs. Deer crept out alongsidewolves, and even a few bears were breaking through the tree-line.Some were as silent as the shadows they nestled in, others gruntingand growling and salivating. All had their eyes on the crater.

Mouse stood staring around in shockand horror at her surroundings, no longer finding an easy means ofescape. Kat looked around as well as she heard Stallion curse andstep back towards the others. She meant to immediately follow him,but stopped when her eyes fell on a distant, red figure that wasstepping out beside its fellow creatures of the woods. As the lonefox emerged and joined its fellows in staring into the crater, Katfelt her breath catch in her throat.

"Kat!" Stallion shouted to her,breaking her out of her stupor as she whirled around to see himkneeling over Lilly. "Something's wrong with Lilly!"

The young girl was on her back, a handstill tightly wrapped around Gus', and the poor boy was hunchedover and pale as Lilly spasmed. Her eyes were wide open and staringup into the night sky and foam bubbled out of her mouth as shetrashed. All thoughts—for the moment—fled Kat's tired mind asshe rushed over and knelt beside Stallion, gripping Lilly'sshoulder and gently squeezing it.

"Hey, hey," Kat gently cooed,"it's alright, we're right here. It's going to be okay."

"Too loud!" Trout snapped over thesounds of the rapidly approaching birds and the throaty call of thebeasts. "Make them stop, Lizbeth!"

"Hey, buddy, one thing at a time,"John whispered to him, trying his best to rock the large child andpat his back all the while staring wide eyed between the growing armyof animals and Lilly's breakdown. "Gus, you sure you can't doanything? Find us a way out maybe?"

"Can't," Gus mumbled, shuttingtight his eyes and shaking his head side to side. "If I even thinkabout trying I just get a blinding white light and it feels like myhead is going to split open. I'm sorry. I'm sorry."

"It's fine," John quicklyassured, seeing tears start to leak from the corners of Gus' eyes.With Kat still in the midst of trying to soothe Lilly, he found hiseyes averting to Stallion who was standing back up. "What do wedo?"

Maple and Gust were stirring. Maplewas curling in on herself, hands digging into the dirt where Kat hadplaced her. Gust was shutting his eyes tighter as he pressed his bodyfurther against Stallion's.

"What's happening?" Gust asked,still refusing to open his eyes.

"It's alright," Stallionassured, looking down on the small boy as he started to kneel again."Keep resting, but do you think you can let me go? I've got anice bed for you here to sleep on."

"Mmmkay," Gust mumbled, letting goof Stallion with his human arm while the tree one slowly uncurleditself. He was already slightly snoring again before Stallion hadeven fully placed him on the ground.

"You're good at this," Johncommented.

"Being the big brother for a groupof crazies has its perks," Stallion answered as he looked from Gustto the clearing. "Speaking of, I am going to get Mouse out ofthere. Help Kat watch over them for a second and—" Stallionwalked over, lifted a foot, and drove it into the bound ankles ofMaria as she tried to crawl away. He continued over the sounds of hergroans, "—make sure she doesn't get too far."

"Sure," John said as he shiftedhis weight. He looked down at the boy still in his arms. "What doyou think, Trout? Is it okay if Shadow comes out to play?"

Trout mumbled something unintelligibleas he rolled his face against John's chest.

"What was that?" John asked

Trout moved his face only just enoughfor part of his lips to be exposed as he muttered, "No hurtingpeople."

"No hurting people," John agreedwith a nod before looking down with a slight smile at the combinedshadow of himself and Trout. "You heard the boss."

"Consider it done," awispy voice said from the shadows. "Retrieveyour friend, Stallion."

"Thanks," Stallionsaid. Stepping off Maria, he cast one last glance towards Kat. Shehad her back to him and was now cradling the twitching body of theQuincy girl. He thought about saying something, but held his tongue.Like John had said, one thing at a time.

Racing out into the clearing, Stallionwas immediately aware of how much slower and heavier he felt. Thedivots in the earth tripped him up. Larger gaps had to be movedaround—not over. He attributed the feeling to a mixture ofweariness and still getting used to having his original body back.There was still a disconnect between his brain and body. Part of himdesperately missed the body of a beast. The power. The mystery. Howit made it so easy to pretend he was something else entirely.

That's why you kept her alive.That nagging voice returned. The same voice he started to hearever since he learned the truth of his Master. Even though shekilled Sonsetta, you're keeping her around so you can have thechance to go back.

Stallion did his best to shake freethe thoughts. Falling and scraping his hands and then knees and thenhis arms was almost welcome, as the pain made it easier to focus. Heswitched his focus between Mary and the animals. Neither had movedmuch. Mary seemed to be struggling to come to terms with hersituation. It almost looked like all the creatures of the woods hadeyes on her.

"Mary!" Stallion shouted when hereached the large gap in the earth that had originally separatedthem. If he were still a horse, he could have crossed such a widthwith ease. Hell, if he weren't so tired and heavy he could havecrossed it now. Instead, all he could do was reach out a hand towardsher as she whirled to him. "Jump! I'll catch you!"

"Stallion!?" Mary shouted back, asif surprised to see him there. Her eyes went back to the edges of theclearing, as if expecting the animals to descend upon them at anyminute. "What's happening!?"

"It has to be Ninovan!" Stallionkept his hand out, but had to stumble back when his foot began toslide off the side of the vast gap between them. "Come on! Jump!Let's get out of here!"

The sounds of the birds had becomealmost deafening. They were starting to fly over them now. Theirsheer number almost blotted out the moon and stars, but theirconstant motion let light flash in and out through the clearing. Theywere moving and landing into the trees around them. The ones who hadsettled were already adjusting themselves so they could have a betterview of the crater.

Mouse looked from them, to Stallion'soutstretched hand, and down into the darkness below her. She shut hereyes tight as she shook her head back and forth. "I can't!"

"Sure you can!" Stallion shoutedback. "I've seen you jump this far hundreds of times! It'll beokay!"

"No!" Mouse cried. She gripped thefront of her torn and dirty shirt and held her closed fists close toher chest. "Something's wrong with my body! It doesn't feel thesame! I can't jump!"

"It's just fear!" Stallionassured, shutting out the feeling of déjà vu. "You're tired andscared and it's holding you back! I'm right here! I'll catchyou and then we can get out of here! Trust me!"

Mouse stared hard into Stallion'seyes. He held her stare, refusing to even blink. When her eyes wentback to his hand, he adjusted his footing, ready to do whatever ittook to get her over on his side.

Mouse took in a deep breath and beganto take steps backward. Just as she was about to start running, athick, throaty voice shouted down at them.

"Stop, you fools!"

Mouse staggered, barely able to catchherself from falling into the craggy earth. Stallion looked from her,his stomach doing cartwheels, and up towards the source of theinsult.

Birds were still crying and flying andlanding. Their uniform motion made it seem like a tornado was slowlydescending into their clearing. Dozens and dozens of loose featherswere breaking free and raining down during their descent. Thecreatures who were more of the earth hardly seemed to acknowledgethem, and between a pack of stoic wolves Stallion spotted a man.

He stood with pale white skincrisscrossed with new and old scars. A long and thick mane of saltand pepper hair obscured most of his untrimmed face, but Stallioncould make out the dark eyes that glared down at him and Mouse.Beside him, resting against a tree, was a young woman coated in thedebris of the wild.

"Has Fawn truly taught you nothing?Has she lived and died in service of Wildwood, leaving behind such asorry generation of familiars?"

"What?" Stallion asked back,trying to remember if he had ever seen this strange old man before.Glancing over at Mouse, he could see she was staring at the man witha much more controlled look. As though she knew who he was and deemedit best to not speak.

"Don't 'what' me, boy!" theold man snapped, a snarl in his voice. He then pounded his chest witha closed fist. "Do neither of you understand? You've spent somany years with it coursing through your veins; can you not tell whenit is gone? Your strength, gone. Your senses, blinded. Left like ababe, naked in the woods. Weak and vulnerable—"

"Wh—" Stallion started to saybefore cutting himself off with a curse. "Get to the damn point,man!"

The old man let out a frustrated sigh.Several of the wolves near him lounged and sat, all watching thecrater, gave a warning growl when he strayed too close as heapproached where Stallion and Mary stood.

"I was trying to leadyou children to the point," he said, coughing toclear his throat but it remained gravely and strained as hecontinued, pounding his chest a few more times for emphasis. "We.Have. No. Power. Our gifts are gone. No longer familiars. Justhuman."

"What?" Mary said.

"The hell?" Stallion said, staringdown at his hands now, eyebrows furrowed. A tightening feelinggrowing in his chest. "That's not..."

As he trailed off, Mary stepped awayfrom the gap between them and then closer to the old man. "Is shedead then? Is Ninovan dead?"

"That would explain it, wouldn'tit?" The man looked between them before his eyes trailed to thecrater to join all the animals of the woods that now sat and stared."That's what I thought too when I found the girl once driven madby her power now asleep like a baby and I despaired. But then I sawthem. The animals. Collectively driven here by something unseen. Isit to mourn or is it to welcome in something new?"

Mary's eyes widened as a smilefilled with broken and missing teeth spread across the old man'sface.

"I think we both know the answer tothat."

Something inside the crater shifted.Stallion looked up from his hands and Maple shifted so that now theytoo were observing. Sharp, angular protrusions of wood began totopple. Stone rolled across and against stone. From their angle,neither Mary nor Stallion could see the source of the newdisturbances, but Shepherd could see. His smile softened as he saw anew, smaller hole being dug from the inside out within the crater. Heclosed his eyes, bowed his head, and knelt after he saw the large,hairy thing pulling its way out from the hole.

"What are you doing?" he heard thevoice of the mouse girl ask him.

"Paying my respects," he answeredfor her as he kept his head low and eyes closed. "Offering myallegiance. If either of you wish to live beyond tonight, you mightwant to consider doing the same."

"Alright, Mouse, whether the crazyold guy is right or not, something is coming. Something thatsurvived this." Stallion talked as he tested his edge of the gap,finding the best, closest spot where he could plant himself. "Noneof us are sticking around for that—whatever it is. And power or nopower we can get you across this gap—"

"I can go my own way, Stallion,"Mary interrupted, not turning away from the crater as she spoke.

"No, man, come on,"Stallion pressed. Finding his spot after a few test pushes with hisfeet, he dug into the upturned earth as best as he could and readiedto reach for her. "You are closer to it than we are. If it'sNinovan you can't outrun her and you can't out-fight her on yourown. Come back with me and we can fight together. We have theQuincys. I've seen them in action myself so believe me when I saythey can match pretty much anything Wildwood or Ninovan has left toput in our way. We also have a weird shadow that is basicallyinvincible. So those things combined with your big, strategic brainand I'm sure we will think of something. Just let me get you overthis and we can go!"

"Stallion, stop," Mary said with aslight chuckle and a shake of her head. "Just because Alex is gonedoesn't mean you have to play the hopeless hero trope. No matterhow much it suits you."

Stallion's hands tightened intofists. His first instinct was to shout at her, but he had enoughexperience arguing about nearly everything with her that he knew herintentions right out the gate. Get him emotional. Get him shouting.After that, no matter what the original topic or their positionswere, she had already won. This was little different. The only thingthat changed were the stakes.

So, Stallion took a breath. He relaxedhis hands. He stared hard at the back of Mary's head as he said,"If I'm sounding and acting like Foxy it's only because heisn't around anymore to babysit you."

Mary's shoulders tensed. Stallion'seyes flashed from her to the crater when he heard something likefalling stones. Nothing had crept to the edge of the crater wherethey could see, but something was coming. He didn't have much time.

"You thanked Kat earlier for givingyou someone to save, but that's not really it, is it? You werescared of Mallard. Scared of us coming back for you. So when you sawthe weak, innocent, and clueless kid we sent in our stead you jumpedat the opportunity. You knew it was a trick but you didn't carebecause you knew Mallard and Wildwood were inevitable so you tookFoxy and made him like you. Made him want to protect you. Made foryourself someone who could suffer right alongside you—"

"And now he's dead!" Marysnapped, whirling around to face Stallion again, tears that somehowthe latter did not expect fresh in her glaring eyes. "What is thepoint, Stallion? Are you trying to save me or convince me tothrow myself off this ledge?

"I'm trying to get you to listento me. Yeah, the shit you did was terrible. What we did was terrible,too. The point I'm trying to make is we're all fighters.Survivors. Now, I don't know what you are thinking, but stayinghere or going your own way isn't the answer. We went our own waybefore and look where that's gotten us. Mutt and Foxy are dead. Katis barely holding it together—shit I'm barely keeping it togetherand—"

"I'm fine," Mary interrupted,her expression suddenly softening.

It was said so nonchalantly, Stallionhad to pause. "Huh?"

"I," Mary repeated, placing bothhands on her chest for emphasis, "am fine. Alex died because he didnot listen to me when I told him to play his role until I was ready.Mutt died because Alex stole him away and then let loose a feralfamiliar. You and Kat suffer because you abandoned your Masters andfollowed Alex into the wild with no plan. You see, that's the realproblem here. The sweet boy I built up to be my knight had you allfollowing him around like he was a king. His single-minded caring andstrong emotions were what I loved about him, but he didn't knowwhat it meant to think in the long term. To sacrifice more than justhimself. To compromise more than he thought he could. He's left youall thinking there is only one way forward. One chance to succeed. Soyou can take that chance and risk further suffering and death if itfails. I will continue to play my role."

Shepherd smirked as he kept his headbowed. "Spoken like a true witch."

With that, Mary turned away fromStallion and took a few steps towards the crater. Stallion started toshout something to her, but stopped when a figure emerged from thesmall crest the crater had formed. Mary stopped as well, and quicklyfell into a graceful kneel, head bowed with one arm crossed over herchest and one across her back.

Stallion could only note what she didout of the corners of his eyes, as his focus locked on the figure assoon as he saw it. It was tall, draped in long fur, with a hunchedback and legs that bent the wrong way. It struck a pose eerilysimilar to Ninovan's, but as it moved Stallion could immediatelytell there were striking differences. This one was thinner thanNinovan, disturbingly thin for its size. Its snout was thinner tooand the tail thicker. Everything about the creature was angular withsleek red fur instead of Ninovan's patchy white. As Stallionwatched it—studied it, the creature moved along the outskirts ofthe crater, several figures—women in long dresses—draped acrossits back and arms. It stopped beside a particularly large rock thathad been forcibly dredged up from beneath the ground. Stooping, itallowed the two women it was carrying on its back to slide off andpropped them against the rock as if they were no more than dolls.Stallion looked on with a sickening feeling in his stomach as one ofthe women were missing her legs from the knees down.

"Alright, Mary, you said your pieceand I get it—I really do—but have you considered that maybe, justmaybe, you've just gotten lucky up till this point? Playing nicewith the witches. Going behind their backs and helping us. It allcould have gone wrong at any point like it did with us; the onlydifference is you would have been alone. If Alex hadn't done whathe did we all could have died that way."

The figure was descending the crestnow. The two women were left against the rock, but it carried athird, smaller, person in its thin, misshapen arms. As moonlighttraced across its body Stallion saw more red hair. Dirt smearedacross its chest and arms. Old and fresh blood stained on its clawedhands and feet. It was too far away to tell who, specifically, itlooked upon, but it was close enough to tell it was walking directlytowards them.

"Alex died alone," Mary said,keeping her head bowed. "Ashling still had a connection with himwhen it happened and she told me about it. Shot in the head by one ofthe witches. None of the friends he worked so hard to protect werearound to even see it happen. If he had just listened to me—"Mary shook her head, took in a breath, and continued. "It doesn'tmatter. Go back to them, Stallion, if that is what you feel like youhave to do. I'm staying right here."

"Damnit, Mouse, I won't leave youalone here!" Stallion shouted, pulling himself a few steps awayfrom the gap. He looked down its depths, across the expanse, uptowards the slowly approaching figure, at Mary's kneeling form.Then, taking in a deep breath, Stallion shouted back towards thewoods behind him. "John! Kat! Take Gus and the kids and get themout of here! I'll be right behind you with Mouse!"

"What are you doing?" Mary asked,glancing over her shoulder at Stallion as he took more steps awayfrom the gap, bouncing from one foot to the other. "Didn't youhear Shepherd? We aren't familiars anymore. You can't make thatjump. Just go back!"

"That thing isn't Ninovan!"Stallion said, pointing at the figure. "If we don't know what itis we don't know what it wants. And I won't sit here or leave youwaiting to be potentially killed!"

Mary looked back, staring up at thething Stallion pointed to, before shaking her head and pinching atthe corners of her eyes.

"What's wrong?" Stallion asked,concerned over the new expression of pain on Mary's face.

"I need glasses again," Mary spatout bitterly. "And I'm nearsighted, so I can't see what you arepointing at."

"Yeah, I do too," Stallion saidwith a sympathetic smile, though it soon went away as he went on."But I'm farsighted, so believe me, some other horrible thingthat isn't Ninovan is coming our way."

"Whatever it is, it commands herpower," Shepherd supplied, smiling over at the two with his brokengrin as he continued to kneel. "And, like her, it can give power tothose it deems worthy. Or useful."

"Come on, Mouse!" Stallion calledwhen he saw her still kneeling. "Are you going to listen to yourfriend or are you going to listen to this crazy bastard?"

"Shepherd is a second generationfamiliar. I am going to listen to the person with the mostexperience."

"You know better than most how muchthis witch-shit messes with people's heads! And this guy hasprobably lived his life more like an animal than a person at thispoint!"

"Sadly not true," Shepherd deniedwith a frown.

"I made my decision, Stallion,"Mary said, turning her face away from him. "If you aren't goingto make yourself useful than go back!"

"Damnit, Mouse. Damn you!"Stallion shouted, taking a few more steps back, his eyes now on thegap between them. "If you will only listen to crazy then I have nochoice but to do something insane! This one is on you, not me!"

"It isn't crazy, it's stupid!You can't—!" Mary cut herself off when she heard Stallion startto scream. She whirled her head around to see him charging towardsthe edge of the gap. "Stallion!"

And Stallion leaped. He screamed somemore when he saw just how far the crack in the earth went down. Hisscreams turned to expletives when he looked up and saw that he wasn'tgoing to make it. Several feet short of the edge, Stallion impactedwith the inside wall of the cleft. He turned his face away in time tosave most of it, but his hands, arms, legs, chest, and the right sideof his face hit the rocky, uneven surface. It was a heavy weight thatimpacted his torso. Jagged edges that cut his palms and thighs. Buteven as the many hurts assaulted his body Stallion scrabbled forsomething to grip. Hands, feet, sheer balance, anything to buy him aprecious second or two. The missing fingers on his right hand made ita challenge, while his left had suffered a scrape deep enough to drawblood. He had landed with a slight protrusion of rock sticking outjust enough for his toes to balance on but another, higher protrusionwas pushing too strongly against his gut, constantly attempting toknock him off.

It was a balancing act that Stallionhad less than seconds to master. As he scrambled for bloody rocks heheard his name being shouted above him. Mary calling him an idiot andto reach up for her. He couldn't focus on her without risking thefatal fall, but he knew even if she could reach him she couldn'tpull him up in their condition. If he could stop almost falling forjust a second he could take in his surroundings and climb. He dug histoes into the wall as far as they would go, doing his best to ignorethe feeling of his toenails cracking. He sucked in his gut and founda rock above his head that protruded enough for his left hand tocomfortably grip. He winced and his heart sank when said hand, slickwith blood, slipped. But, thanks to the more sure footing, he hadtime to bend himself in a painful position to reach out and grab therock with his right hand.

He held himself there for a fewseconds, gasping and trembling, before wiping his bloody hand acrossthe rock wall until he had more grit and dirt on it than blood.Carefully, he switched hands so he could be in a much better positionto figure out where to go next.

Looking up had him looking right intoMouse's saucer-like blue eyes as she stared down at him. She waslying prone on the ground with her small arm reaching down as far asit could go. There was about three or four feet that still separatedthem.

"You damn idiot," she said, hermouth and voice trembling. "I really thought you were going tofall."

"I still might." Stallion lookedfrom her and down the gap again. Regretting it immediately, he closedhis eyes and lightly thrummed his forehead against the wall. "Shit.I really thought I could make it."

"Well, if it helps, I see now howimportant being right means to you. Get out of there and I'll goback with you. I promise."

"It's going to take me some time,"Stallion said, opening his eyes to look over his options again. "Yougo on ahead before it catches up. I'll make it."

Mary spun her head around for a momentor two before looking back down at Stallion. "It's gettingcloser. I can sort of see it now but it's far enough away that ifit keeps just walking you have plenty of time. And I'll hear it ifit gets too close and I'll run, I promise."

"Mouse, I don't know," Stallionsaid, his brow furrowed as he continued to search the rocky wall. "Ifucked up here. If it convinced you to go thenn great, but you shouldgo before we both pay the price."

Mary sighed. "I didn't want totell you this and risk having you make a mistake, but I'm prettysure Kat and the others are coming. People are coming out of thewoods where you came from. I doubt they'll leave before you are outof here."

"Shit. Shit! Why didn't theylisten? I told them to go!"

"Birds of a feather," Mary said,outstretching her hand in preparation to grab hold. "Now startclimbing. You're farsighted, right? There's an outcropping youpassed over three times now just a little above your right hand."

"Shit, for real?" Stallion let outa breath when he found it. "Okay, you can help, but don't try andgrab me or we'll both fall."

"Obviously. I'll help keep youstable as you get closer to the edge. Why else would I be doing this?Next rock is up and a little to your left from where your left handis now."

Stallion chuckled as he reached outand felt around for the supposed rock. "Oh no, you can't fool me.I know what I heard."

"And what's that?"

Finding the rock, Stallion tested hisstinging grip a few times before looking back up at Mary. "Yousaid..."

There it was. Red hair. Bloody claws.It stood right above Mary. It was monstrously tall, at least eightfeet, it's body far too thin aside from where the smooth hairpuffed out around its chest and shoulders. But now, this close,Stallion could see the worst of it. Its long, narrow snout openenough to reveal dozens of sharpened and stained teeth. And, abovethem, the largest, bluest eyes Stallion had ever seen gazing down athim.

It was a sickening, weakening feelingthat built up inside him. He had stood before a creature like thisbefore, but he hadn't been entirely human himself then. Now heunderstood what Shepherd meant. This was powerlessness. This washaving your opportunities stolen. This was human.

Mary shrieked, but Stallion quicklyrealized she had not even turned and noticed the thing behind her.She was still looking at him. Reaching for him. Screaming his name ashe unconsciously released his grip from the wall.

In a blur of motion the creaturereached down past Mary and into the gap. It gripped Stallion by hisarm and pulled him up and out in one, smooth motion. Stallion onlystarted screaming when his backside hit the ground, pulling andwrenching at his arm but only getting it free when the creaturereleased him. Mary meanwhile had flipped around, unable to let anysound out herself when she beheld what stood above her. She scootedback, wide-eyed and open mouthed, only stopping when she nearly fellinto the crevice herself.

"You're two of the otherfamiliars, right?" a somewhat nasally, feminine voice inquired.

Thrown off by the casual cadence tothe question, Stallion and Mary looked beyond the creature and saw ayoung woman sitting atop a massive tree that had been uprooted andforced on its side during the collapse. She wore what seemed to bepajamas, a light pink shirt a few sizes too big for her with imageryof a smiling sun over a rainbow decorating its front and baggy pajamapants lined with cavorting, anthropomorphic rabbits dressed in fancydresses and suits. Her hair was long and greasy, the dark bangsbrushed over her face to the point where neither of the formerfamiliars were sure she could see clearly.

"Stallion," she said, provingtheir theory when one of her pale, bony arms pointed in Stallion'sgeneral direction before shooting over to Mouse's. "And Mouse."

"Yeah," Stallion said cautiously,"that's us." He looked between the girl and the red beast. Itstood stock still, almost motionless, but Stallion quickly lookedaway when its bright blue eyes turned in their sockets to look backat him.

"Former familiars," Mouseclarified as she pulled herself up and back into a kneeling position."It seems we recently lost all our abilities."

"I'm trying to rememberrrrr,"the girl said, stretching out the last word as she slowly tilted herupper half in a circular motion. "It's all so foggy right now.Mouse is the familiar of the Stalwart, right?"

"I was, yes," Mary said, bowingher head. Stallion held his own breath when he saw the red beast'sgaze fixate on her.

"And Stallion..." the girl trailedoff, deep in thought. Stallion stared at the red beast as it staredat Mary who continued to have her head bowed. "Whose Stallion'sMaster again?"

When the creature took a step forward,Stallion took two. "Hey, hey," he said, swallowing his fear whenthe beast's eyes swiveled back to him. "Don't do anything hastyhere."

"You're the one being hasty,"Mary hissed, her eyes glaring daggers. "It's fine, Stallion."

"Hey!" the girl called a littlelouder. "Whose Stallion's Master?"

Stallion was about to answer, but Marywas quicker. "He was Sonsetta's familiar, but she was killed andreplaced by Maria Garcia."

"You knew?" Stallion asked, hisface stuck between horror and anger.

"I watched them do it," Mary saidquietly.

"Aw, Sonsetta died?" the girlmused, the mouth barely exposed between strands of hair gaining aslight curve to it. "I mean, good for her but bad for you I guess,huh?"

Where she looked was neither atStallion or Mary, so Stallion had to assume the comment was for thered beast, but it simply went back to staring down at Mary. It'smouth was now opening and closing, as though speaking but with nosound coming out.

Still, against his better judgement,Stallion couldn't ignore that comment.

"What do you mean, 'good forher'?"

"Stallion—" Mary started, butbefore she could finish another voice cried out.

"Stallion!"

Across the wide gap that nearlyclaimed Stallion's life, Kat was approaching, racing towards themas fast as her body could carry her. She stumbled and had to slow andjump at several instances, but her eye never left the four of them.But, as she got closer, Stallion saw she was looking more and more atthe red beast and she froze completely when it looked back across thegap at her.

"Hey!" the girl called, her smallvoice carrying easily over the hollowed out grounds. "Are you afamiliar!?"

Listening to the echo, Stallion wasreminded of the beasts of the wild that still encircled them. It hadbeen easy to forget them, as the clearing had become silent at somepoint while he had been struggling to climb. The only difference toany of the birds in the trees or the wolves, deer, bears, andsquirrels on the ground was that their eyes had shifted from thecrater and now all looked upon the red beast.

Kat looked at him too. Only at him.Only at the blue, blue eyes that seemed to shine in the moonlight.

"Foxy?" she asked, her voicecoming out barely more than a breath.

"Kat, don't," Mary warned as sheslowly shook her bowed head side to side.

"Don't what?" Stallion asked,his heart falling deeper and deeper into his gut as he now lookedupon the beast with fresh eyes. "Is that really him?"

"It is you!" Kat calledacross the gap, moving much too close to the edge for Stallion'sliking. "Isn't it?!"

"Alex is dead!" Maryshouted, slamming a fist into the ground. "He got shot in the head,Kat! You were there when Ashling showed us! Snap out of it! This isjust some monster or some fucking Knowledge that's trying to toywith us!"

Mary remained kneeling, but she wastrembling now. Stallion could see the knuckles of her fist where shehit the ground were raw and already bleeding. He moved to approachher as she started to fight a sob, but stopped short when the darkhaired girl called out.

"Hellooooooo!" she said, rollingher head around her shoulders as she said it. "I still have aquestion over here!"

Everyone froze, even the girl, whenthe red beast raised one of its blood-stained claws. When nothinghappened right away, Stallion took the chance to walk the rest of theway to Mary, leaning over her to try and offer what support he could.Though his eyes never left the red beast, whose eyes never left himnor Mary.

"You sure you want to?" thedark-haired girl asked the beast, head angled towards it and mouthforming a firm line. "I figured you wouldn't. It's only goingto make it harder."

The red beast only nodded and thenplaced a clawed hand gently on its own throat. Stallion, Mary, andKat each winced when they heard the popping sounds that followed, butMary could most clearly see the way the muscles and flesh appeared toroll like waves and rearrange themselves.

They all heard the sounds. Whinning.Grunting. Growling. The thing vocalized as its throat squirmed,making the beastly noises both high and low pitched and both near andfar. With a shudder running through their skins they each evenbelieved they heard what sounded like throaty, garbled vowels beingpronounced. It only took a few seconds before the beast deemed thework satisfactory and when it opened its mouth it spoke in a voicenone of the three would ever forget for the rest of their lives.

"Stand up, Mary," it said. Itsounded out the words slowly, but among the growls and the rumblingof its throat it was still difficult to make out. "Don't kneel.Please."

"Foxy?" Stallion found himselfasking aloud. Kat could only stare, a line of tears trailing down herone functioning eye.

Mary stared up, wide-eyed at thecreature for only a moment before she shot a glare past him and atthe smiling girl. "You enjoying yourself, Rosetta? Manifest aKnowledge and decide you are going to torment us with it?"

"I have no power," the girl,Rosetta, proclaimed, throwing up her arms casually as if asking 'whatdid you expect?' "I figured the familiar of the Stalwart wouldknow that better than anyone."

"Don't bullshit me!" Mary nearlyshrieked, rising up to her feet. When the beast tensed, Stallionfound himself rushing to Mouse's side and placing a calming hand onher shoulder, only to have it swatted off as she continued to shoutpointedly at Rosetta. "Enough with the games! What do you want withus? If you want me to serve, I'll serve. If you want me to leave,I'll leave. If you want me to die—!"

"Mouse!" Stallion wrapped an armaround her as she attempted to move towards the girl. "Calm down!You're going to get everyone killed!"

"It's not up to me," Rosettasaid, calm smile going nowhere as she placed a hand on her chest. "Idon't have the power here. I'm just along for the ride."

"Your mother then?" Mary asked,gripping the wrist of the arm Stallion had around her. She eyed thetwo distant figures that lay motionless further beyond Rosetta. "Ifthe leadership of Wildwood is gone this would be the perfect chancefor her to step in."

"Mother is a bit...indisposed."Rosetta's smile grew. "She won't be able to hurt anyone againfor a long time. Maybe ever."

"What happened to Foxy?" Stallionasked before Mary could shake him off or say anything further. Heeyed the beast that watched over their exchange silently. "If thatreally is him, how did he get like that? Did Ninovan—"

"Hey now, are you really goin' tokeep embarrassing us like this?" the growling voice of Shepherdcalled down. He was still kneeling among the silent beasts, but wasglaring down at the pair of Mary and Stallion. "Look, I get you allwere friends, but that doesn't excuse blatant stupidity. Foxy—"

"Enough!" the red beast hollered,his own twisted voice causing everyone to jump. It stared up at theold man with its wild, blue eyes as if daring him to speak again.

Immediately, Shepherd lowered hishead. "Yes, Master."

"No," the red beast growled. "NoMasters." It turned from the old man to Rosetta who simply nodded,then to Stallion and Mary who could only stare back. "Nofamiliars."

It then turned to Kat who remainedsilent and standing on the other side of the gap. She felt the coldchills again go down her spine when she found his gaze, but did notbreak it. She stared at him, through him, and knew what she saw. Shewas never good at reading people, but she learned to read him. Evenif she was now no longer a familiar and he was now something more,there was still a connection. An unseen link. A way for her to alwaysknow exactly what he was thinking.

And it felt like all the blood haddrained out of her body when his eyes left hers to stare at somethingin the woods beyond her.

"No witches."

He leapt across the clearing fasterthan Kat could cry out. He raced past her faster than she could turnaround. He was nothing but a distant, red blur as she was taking herfirst steps, reaching out for him, and hearing the cries and shoutsfrom her friends behind her.

 Then, seconds later, came the screamsfrom ahead of her.