I was sitting in a comfortable chair. A fire raging in a nearby fireplace was the only source of light as everything around me was illuminated in a deep, orange glow. What I saw wouldn't be what I could call encouraging. I was chained to the chair by both hands and legs and no amount of shaking would budge them. The rug beneath my feet was a deep crimson with dark shadows of animals dancing within the fabric. What wallpaper I could see showcased flying birds of all shapes and sizes. It was all familiar. Sickly familiar.

But, most un-encouraging of all, was the man who sat in the chair opposite of me.

"I believe it's time we finally had our talk," Mr. Mallard said.

Although he was cloaked mostly in shadows, I did not miss the frayed display of his thinning white hair or the ruined state of his glasses. They were practically dangling off his nose, and obviously no use to him.

"What's wrong, kit?" he asked with a wide smile wrinkling his already wrinkled face. "Isn't this what you've been waiting for?"

"I don't have anything else to say to you."

Mr. Mallard lost his smile. "Nothing at all?"

I shook my head. There used to be a lot I wanted to say to this person, but everything that happened died with him. All the humiliation, all the torture, it was nothing compared to what I've been through in the years since. Mallard himself was nothing but a pawn to something far worse.

"Fine."

The old familiar closed his eyes and I watched in horror as his face was suddenly beaten repeatedly by an invisible force. His face swelled, turned black and purple, and broke over and over again until it was completely unrecognizable. His body sagged and fell out of the chair.

"Then what about me?" a voice from the darkness asked, which was soon followed by a pale face appearing just over the top of Mallard's chair. I was firmly pressed against the back of my own chair as Lady Louise peered down at me with a thin smile. "Anything to say to me?"

"Ash?" I asked as I looked around the darkened room. I rattled futilely at my chains again. "I know this is you. Just come out already and end this stupid charade."

"I'm afraid this is no charade."

I spun my head back to the other chair to see the Lady sitting there and watching me with a patient smile. "Hello, Alex. It's been awhile."

I opened my mouth, then closed it again to viciously grind my teeth together. "Cut the shit, Ash!" I shouted into the darkness. "I wont fall for this again!"

"I know what's going on," Lady Louise continued. She reached for me, but pulled back immediately when I flinched. "I've been told this woman has been making your dire situation even worse, but she has agreed to let me see you. She has, ah, 'had difficulties' probing your mind, in her words, and believes seeing me might give you some peace."

"If that's really the case then tell me something I don't know about you," I said, trying and failing to not practically spit it at her. I turned my glaring from the woman to the darkness that only deepened around us. "I know Ash could just make something up, so whatever you tell me better be damn convincing."

I looked back at the witch when she didn't answer right away. She had a finger to her lip and was tapping it rhythmically as she appeared deep in thought. When our eyes met, I had to fight to keep from breaking it.

"Wouldn't it be more convincing to tell you something only you and I would know?" she asked.

I grinned in triumph. "Maybe Ash wanted me to forget, but I remember her saying that her little figments will know everything I know about them, so that won't work."

"Ah." Lady Louise crossed and un-crossed her legs, though it was difficult to tell exactly beneath the long, black dress she wore. "So either I tell you something Ashling could easily make up, or I tell you something she already knows?"

"And either way I'm left taking it up on faith. Just the way she wants it."

Lady Louise took a moment more to tap her lip and think before meeting my eyes again with another soft smile. "Let's try this, then. Why don't you start off by telling me something about this woman who has been tormenting you. The one called Ashling."

"Why?" I asked right away. I tensed in my seat as I looked around the dark room. If this was another ploy by that witch, then what was she trying to get at?

Lady Louise held up her hands as if to say 'why not?'. "I know this witch hardly at all. She was never a threat to my allies nor I before, and I never even knew she existed until just a short while ago. I might be able to better answer your question if I knew more about the person who was making you ask it in the first place."

"If you really are just a figment of my dreams, then you already know everything I know," I said. And as I said it I could feel my body relax.

There was no point in getting angry. In this world, I was nothing more than her pawn.

"Then what is the harm in telling me?" the Lady pressed. She reached over and placed her ice cold hand on top of my burning one. "The worst that can happen is that nothing changes."

I let her hand stay where it was, but found my eyes drawn to the fire still burning strong beside us. It was the only thing with real color and life. It reminded me that I wasn't just trapped in an empty void.

"There isn't much I know about her. She's been in a coma for a long time, maybe her whole life. She never acted like she really understood how people worked. She's insensitive, overbearing, and curious about the stupidest of things. For the longest time I used to think she was no better than a doll--or just another piece of background." I clenched my jaw as I stared deep into the raging fire. The heat on my skin grew until it was practically pouring inside me. "But now I know better. We were always the dolls to her. Not people with feelings or wants or needs, just toys she could poke and prod and play with. She's a cruel, thoughtless monster just like every other w—"

"Alex."

Lady Louise's voice pulled me away from the fire. Her cold hand tightened around mine as the fire that once surrounded us died away and shrank back. I followed the fading embers as they slunk back into the fireplace. I didn't even realize our dark little room had been burning down around us.

"I think that should do it." Sweat was pouring down the Lady's face, but she released my hand and sat back in her chair with the unnatural amount of composure I had grown used to seeing. "Do you remember the men who would come to see me from time to time? Not the other witches, but the know-nothings usually dressed in expensive business suits."

It took me a moment to recall it, but I did remember. It was back when I couldn't understand most of what the people around me were saying. The one time I had asked Hornroot about it, he only responded with a vague "Our Lady is securing our future" and nothing more. It was only one of hundreds of vague answers to my many, many questions at the time and I let it slip past me without ever figuring out what was truly going on.

But what did that prove? Sure, it was vague, but I still remembered it.

"Yeah, I remember," I answered. "So does Ash."

"Hornroot never told you why they visited me so frequently, did he?" the Lady continued, undaunted. "He shouldn't have. I had asked him not to."

Something about her expression just then made me hesitate in my answer. She was smiling at what she was saying, but it was not a happy smile. It looked like she was in pain.

"No, he didn't."

"It was the source of all of my wealth, Alex, as well as one of my greatest of shames." The witch cupped her hands together and took her turn at staring solely at the now tame fire. Her smile stayed where it was. "The way they were so afraid to even say my name. Witches with powers far more dangerous than mine dared not even approach me. And it landed me a man far more interested in my wealth and influence than anything having to do with me. None of them knew the truth. The truth that the source of all of my power came from a few wealthy, indiscriminate know-nothings who used my Knowledge to make themselves sterile."

Lady Louise paused and looked at me. I looked back at her, not knowing what to say.

"Sterile?" I repeated back. The word sounded strange as it came out of my mouth, like I had said the wrong thing. There was no way she was saying the word as it meant to be said.

"'The Magic Touch' as they liked to call it," the Lady continued, holding up her right hand. There was nothing but dark shadows on her face now. "As you know, my Knowledge is only temporary. Whatever I choose to no longer exist will return eventually. So, I remove the potential for these wealthy, influential men to reproduce for a short time, they are free to sleep with whoever they choose, and I am payed quite well for my 'service' and my indiscretion."

I didn't know what to say. I wasn't sure what she wanted me to say to something like that. We stared at one another until the Lady looked down and pressed a balled up fist against her chest.

"It hurts to say it out-loud," the witch said. "But I hope you see why I've said it. If it is true, and Ashling has spent so many years away from the real world, she could not hope to replicate this ugly bitterness welled up inside me. And you could not create this version of me, because you never knew it existed until just now."

"I'm sorry I made you do that." I tried to move towards her, but the chains kept me firmly in place. I stared down at my bare knees instead. "For what it's worth, I believe it's really you."

"Then it was worth it."

White finger tips entered my field of vision as she touched my knee. When I looked up, the shadows were gone and the Lady was smiling again. It was a smile free of pain.

"I am glad we are able to see each other again, Alex."

I returned her smile. "Me t—."

I was cut off when Lady Louise suddenly pressed her lips against mine. Her tongue shot it my mouth and I bit down out of reflex. There was the sharp taste of blood before I shoved my body back hard enough to knock over the chair.

"What are you do...!?"

The shock drained out of me and was replaced with something much worse when I saw Ash standing there. Ash in the Lady's black dress. Ash licking up the blood dripping out of the corners of her mouth.

"Sorry." She smiled wide. Her teeth were stained crimson. "Was that not something she would do?"

I woke up screaming.

It was muffled, as something was tied around my mouth. I gagged, but when I tried to move, I found I was tied pretty securely to a tree by some thick rope. The screams quickly faded away to deep breaths as I looked around at the other tall trees that surrounded me. I had almost completely calmed down when I lowered my head and my eyes fell on August, and the hand he held out.

"Guess Kat was right about wanting to keep you bound like that," the witch said. He kept his hand outstretched, like he was waiting for a high-five. His palm was aimed straight at my head. "Bad dream?"

Somehow, he looked in worse shape than I remembered. The furry coat he had stolen from that clothing store months ago was barely clinging to his body. His pale skin was almost see-through with how tight it seemed to stretch against his cheek bones. It looked like he hadn't eaten in weeks.

"What are you doing here?" I asked back, intentionally ignoring his question. "And where is Kat?"

"I'm guarding you. Or keeping you hostage. I don't know. Kat said the first thing and Maple the second, so maybe both?" August seemed to ponder on the question a bit longer before remembering I had asked a second. "Oh, Kat and Maple are trying to find us some food before we head out."

"No, August, what are you doing with Maple? Why are you helping her?"

"Because she's all that's left?" August shrugged then scratched his cheek with his free hand. "Everyone else is with Wildwood. If not her then I'd be with them and, honestly, as long as she wants me alive she's the lesser of two evils."

"Is that all?" I laughed. I had to. It was just like him to say something like that. "Then its fine now that I'm here, right? We can work together like last time."

August's scratching moved to his scalp as he avoided eye contact. "I don't know, Alex. Last time I worked for you things didn't...Well, everything got screwed, didn't it? No offense, but this is Maple we're talking about. She's not going to like it if I decide to work with both you and her."

"So just work with me," I offered. "I know I screwed up before, but I've got my priorities straight now. Maple won't be an issue."

"What?" August blinked and waited for me to go on or clarify. When I didn't, he more firmly aimed his palm at my head. "Th-That's even worse, Alex! She'd kill us. She'd kill the both of us without even trying!"

"I don't think she will." I rolled my shoulders, testing just how tight the rope was around my body. Definitely not tight enough. "Let me out of here and I'll show you. I give you my word she won't be an issue."

"Do you even see—Okay, I know you can't really see, but there are hand prints burned on the sides of your face, Alex! Maple did that to you, remember? She did that while her familiar held you to the ground with a knife to your neck!"

"And yet I'm still here. Look, we're just going in circles. I'm giving you the option to help me out of here, to gauge if you're one of the few witches worth keeping around, but if you aren't concerned about your own well being then I'll make my own escape."

"I-I can't let you do that!" the witch declared. He grabbed his extended arm as though to ensure it would not sag away from my face.

"What are you trying to do, exactly?" I asked while not looking away from his palm. Nothing changed around us besides the consistent fall of rain.

"If you try to escape, I'll strike you with lightening," he threatened.

I paused. I had a pretty good plan laid out, but this sudden reveal threw a pretty big wrench into it.

"You can do that now?"

"Well, sometimes, but it doesn't always—"

Fuck it.

I shouted as I strained all my muscles at once, and the rope tore apart like it was nothing but thread.

"Shit!" August shouted.

As he did, a crack and a flash of light answered him. I leapt forward as a bolt of lightening ignited the tree I had been tied to. Familiar pain raced across my nervous system, but I didn't stop. I close-lined the frail witch before he could fully stand up and kept running. I didn't stop or turn to see if he was okay, but took the sudden dispersing of dark clouds and rain as a sign that he would be out of the way for awhile.

That just left finding Kat and Maple. Not an easy thing to do when they've both spent months out in the wild. They smelled just like everything else.

"Kat!" I shouted in my head. I never really learned how to fine-tune the whole 'speaking with your mind' thing. Hornroot never had the time to finish his teachings. But I knew if Kat was close, she could hear me. "If you can hear me, I'm coming for you. If Maple is with you, tell her I'm coming for her, too."

I intended that last part to sound sinister, but who knows how my voice sounded in other people's heads. For all I knew they were expecting hugs and high-fives when I found them.

Kat didn't answer me. I ran for a few minutes without a sound save for the wind blowing across the mountain. I ran back through the path where I had built my body back up years ago. The wind almost sounded like Gust's taunts as he ran ahead of me, waving that stick like a deadly weapon.

Something had to be done about everyone that was on this mountain. The children, Tusk, Maple and August. We couldn't keep getting picked away like this. Stallion was missing, Kat was being dragged back into the dark void that was her Master. We weren't going to survive like this. Not unless I did something.

So, I stopped running. I closed my eyes and shut out the children's voices echoing in my ears. In the darkness, and the lack of sound, a whole new world re-opened to me. The dirt at my feet, the sap oozing from pine trees, strange and mysterious things that kicked up and floated amongst the ever changing wind. I could smell it all. August's rain still dampened everything, and it only enhanced the range of smells. The decaying house was miles behind me now, but I could still smell its rot. If I concentrated, I could even pick out August still laying among the grass and mud. He still carried with him the faintest trace of bitter cologne.

I could smell Kat, too. The blood that seeped from dozens of small scrapes and scratches that riddled her body. The sweat that poured down her bare skin as she ran. Actually, it was almost embarrassing to admit I never smelled her until now. I knew her. Every part of her. She could never be lost to me.

But, sadly, her smell wasn't what overpowered all the others. It was fire. Fire that scored up branches and devoured all in it's path. An overwhelming intensity that singed my nose hairs even though I knew she was still miles ahead of me.

Maple smelled just like that fire. She didn't have any other smell. It warned every instinct in my body to stay far away.

But those were all animal instincts by now. That part of me helped me find her, but it wouldn't help me confront her. That part was me. Maybe it was all that was left of Alex.

The pain of knowing her, of ruining her life, and not regretting it. Really, it was a lot of different, smaller pains that intertwined into the feeling I couldn't, at first, name. This feeling that sunk in deep and wouldn't let go.

She was the one that pulled me out of my pit. She gave me Lionel and told me it was okay to cry. She used Kat like a puppet and forced her to try and kill me.

Kat's blood and Maple's fire were racing in my direction, but I decided to meet them half-way. When we met, Kat was breathing heavy and hardly able to stand on two feet. Maple glared at me as her fire danced all around us. She asked what happened to August, and I took a step forward.

There were tears in her eyes when she screamed the question at me, but I just continued to walk towards her. Kat asked me what I was doing, all while trying to meet my eyes. Maple heard the uncertainty in her familiar's voice and backed a step away from me. She threatened to make Kat stop me, and I told her Kat wouldn't be able to stop me.

I think Maple knew what was happening then. She pointed at me as she tried to back away. "Stop him," she screamed at Kat. "Kill him."

Kat threw her knife at me faster than I could keep up with, but it did not hit me. It scored across my skin, cutting open the flesh on my shoulder, but it did not kill me.

"Stay away from me," Maple cried. "I'll kill you."

She tried to run away, but I was faster. Kat tried to get in my way, but I was stronger. One blow to her stomach and she was on the ground. A few bounds and I was in front of her.

I grabbed Maple's arm as she screamed and tried to pull away. I felt the skin of my palm practically sizzle, but I held firm. It would heal. I've felt worse.

"Let go of me or I'll kill you," the little girl said.

"I already told you, you can hurt me, but you can't kill me." I glanced over at Kat who was struggling to get up. I met her eyes as the green one pooled with tears. "And neither can your familiar. That might mean we are at a stalemate, only I am not afraid."

Maple's face of desperation quickly fell away to a prideful sneer. "Liar—"

The punch to her chest was enough to cut her off and force her to the ground when I released her arm. As she wheezed and groaned, I fell on top of her, one hand on her throat and the other on her face. I let my sharp nails dig slightly into her warm flesh, pinching dangerously close to her eyes.

"Foxy, please!" Kat cried as she struggled to get up.

"I'm not going to kill her!" I shouted at my friend. I quickly glared back down to the girl who started to squirm in my hands. She stopped when our eyes met, and there were no sneers, no glares, and no threats. "But I could, Maple. Your fire doesn't hurt me. Your threats don't scare me. I could kill you just like this and there would be nothing you could do to stop me. Do you understand that?"

The young girl nodded very slowly. She was only able to tilt her head as my hands kept her neck tight against the ground. But I didn't really need her to answer. I could see it all played out very plainly in the tears streaming down her face and the lack of burning on my palms.

"Good. Now, I want you to understand something else." I released Maple, but still kneeled over her as she gasped for breath. "I'll let you and the other witch stay with us, on one condition: you both take orders from me now."

Maple laughed as she rubbed her throat. The attempt was quickly broken up by hacking coughs and she didn't look up at me when she said, "You can't be serious."

"Very serious," I answered with the most pleasant smile I could muster. "If you don't like it, you both can leave this mountain."

"This is my home," Maple hissed, meeting my smile with a scowl.

"I'm freeing your brothers and sister, finishing what I started with your mother's familiar, and killing the witch who created me if she doesn't go along with what I want. If you want any part of that, you will take orders from me. Otherwise, I'll kill you if you try and get in my way."

Maple didn't say anything, so I got up and turned my attention to my friend. Kat was still kneeling where I had left her, hand to her stomach. When I walked over to her and offered her my hand, she only stared at it.

"I'm sorry I hurt you," I said.

"What are you doing?" she asked. When she looked up at me with her cold, green eye, I did my best to hold it without blinking.

"Stallion said you and Mary wanted me to take charge."

"Would you really kill her?" Kat's eye darted to the girl who was still trying to catch her breath. "Did you mean everything you just said?"

"I won't let her terrorize us anymore." I turned around and caught Maple's eye so she knew I wasn't just talking to her familiar. "And I've given her the option to leave if she doesn't like it."

"Well, look whose finally embracing the monster he's become," the witch spat.

"If you aren't running away should I assume you've agreed to my terms?"

Maple glared at me, fumed some more, but then finally stared at the ground. The fire that once burned so bright and so hot was nothing more than little blue wisps barely clinging to life.

"If you do anything to hurt my family, I really will kill you," she muttered darkly.

"Right back at you," I said without flinching.

Kat looked between the two of us without saying a word. I wasn't sure if she knew what either of us were really feeling inside. Would Maple share such a thing with her? I had a feeling my friend didn't know the complicated mix of pains that tore away inside me. She always asked, but I never chose to tell her. Maybe, deep down, I never really trusted her from the start.

"Is there no other way?" her voice echoed out into the empty spaces between the three of us.

But there was no answer to the question, because the answer was obvious. This was the only option. I wasn't about to let Gust, Trout, and the twins be engulfed in Maple's madness, and she won't let me be a part of their lives again. Before this was over, one of us had to die.

"For now, this is the only way," I said to Kat's question.

"Right." Maple stood up and stared at me with eyes as black as the void. "For now."

...

*Author's Note*

As our dear Alex Foxy so eloquently put it, he is taking charge now. For better or worse, he is calling the shots again, and getting prepared for the eventual consequences.

Do you guys have high hopes for our dear protagonist, or is he doomed to fail? Whatever your thoughts, I would love to hear them!